Ken Newquist

Radio Active #70: A Day at the Ballpark

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On this episode of Nuketown Radio Active I talk about my trip to Shea Stadium to watch the Mets, give an update on my summer reading list, and talk about planning the next Nuke(m)Con. In Netheads I speculate about this year’s PodcampPhilly podcasting conference at Temple University, check out Dark Horse Comics’ online preview of … Read more

Geek Tree Ornaments Preview for 2008

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The Gods of Geekdom have heard my prayers. Or at least Hallmark has. After years of giving us dud ornaments (the Scorpion from Star Trek: Nemesis) and more so-so ones (how many variant Enterprises do we need?) they have finally released the Star Trek ornament I’ve wanted most: The Reliant. Yes, the Enterprise’s nemesis from … Read more

Off the Bookshelf: Lathe of Heaven, Wizard’s First Rule, The Subtle Knife, The Golden Globe

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Summer is in roasting and roaring its way across the United States, which means its time for me get cracking on my summer reading list. As I discussed in Radio Active #69, this summer I’ve decided that rather than buy a new armload of books, I’d delve deep into the Nuketown library and dig out … Read more

Advice on building a Second Life Island?

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So I find myself in the position of needing to buy and help build up a Second Life island for the day job. I’m excited in about it insomuch as it’s a new project, and something I’ve never done before. Plus, hey, it’s almost virtual reality. Granted, it would have been far, far cooler if the college had gone ga-ga for World of Warcraft instead, but hey, I’ll take my virtual worlds where I can find them.

In the meantime though, I find myself having to work through questions I don’t really know the answers to. Specifically:

  1. Preferred Grid Location: I know we want our island to be on the public grid, but where on the public grid? Is it better to be off by yourself? Should you be next to another college? Or the New Media Consortium? Or does it not really matter, because people will be ‘porting in, not wandering the wilds of SL looking for college islands to explore?
  2. What island shape do we want? Is one type of island better to build on than another? For example, we’re thinking of either the “donut” shape, which is an oval island with a lake in the middle, or a mountainous shape, which sticks an mountain on one side of the island. Which is easier to build on?

My 2008 Summer Reading List

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Here’s my summer reading list, as discussed in Radio Active #69, broken out for easy reference (by me). Print Novels The Last Colony by John Scalzi – A novel of intergalactic intrigue featuring the main characters from Scalzi’s Old Man’s War and Ghost Brigades Quicksilver by Neil Stephenson – adventures in science during the Age … Read more

Game Day: Fueling the D&D 4E Storm with Planetorn

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After a week’s hiatus so I could play with the kids on an island, our Dungeons & Dragons 4th Edition playtest campaign gets back underway tonight. The campaign’s officially moved to “active” status, and now has its own campaign home page in the GriffWiki. For those late to the show, we’re using Planetorn as a … Read more

Geek on an Island

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Waves rush in toward a stony shore.

I’m back from the island. No, not the Island but rather, an island on Lake Champlain on which our family friends own a cabin. We headed up there last week for a five days of sun, water and mosquitos, and while I can’t say it was particularly relaxing, it was a lot of fun. First, … Read more

Living in the Datacloud

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As I write this, I’m in a Holiday Inn in New Hampshire. I don’t have a laptop with me, but I’ve got a stack of Dungeons & Dragons 4th edition books next to me, and a review due Sunday night. A few years ago, I’d have been doomed, but now I’ve got access to the … Read more