That’s Not the Dirk Pitt I Know

I looking through the various movie trailers on Apple.com, and saw one called Sahara. I was slightly intrigued, since Clive Cussler had written a Dirk Pitt novel with the same name. I devoured Cussler’s nautical adventure books as a kid–I read Raise the Titanic when I was in 5th grade, and didn’t stop reading his … Read more

Radio Active #1: Snowcrash, Age of Apocalypse, The Incredibles

The first edition of Nuketown Radio Active, the ol’thermonuclear’s podcast, is available for download. The podcast includes a review of Neal Stephenson’s cyberpunk novel Snow Crash, speculations on the need for Marvel’s 10th anniversary Age of Apocalypse mini-series, thoughts on Elements of Style applied to e-mail, and a quick review of The Incredibles movie and … Read more

My Podcasts: March 2005

Listening to podcasts quickly became part of my daily routine after I discovered the phenomenon last fall. I wrote about a few of the podcasts I’d found, and then settled into a groove listening to these new, increasingly familiar voices during my morning and afternoon commute. Recently though, I’ve made a concerted effort to seek … Read more

Phenylpropanolamine Chain Letter Confuses, Misinforms

Truth is corrupted by fiction in an e-mail chain letter that tries to warn about the dangers of the recalled drug phenylpropanolamine. The FDA asked drug makers to recall the drug–used in several over-the-counter cold medicines and some weight loss products–and it has been connected to a minor increase in the chance of hemorrahgic stroke … Read more

Roll the Bones with Games Quarterly

Games Quarterly is a print magazine covering a variety of non-electronic games; from RPGs to board games to collectable games to war games, if you’ve ever picked up a pair of six-siders, this magazine has something for you. The magazine’s content is diverse as its subject matter. It includes the expected industry news and interviews … Read more

Unexpected Consequences of Blogging Nuketown

When I launched Nuketown’s latest design in June, I consciously switched it away from an “issue-based” model in which content was published on a set schedule, to a blog-like model, in which content was published when I felt like it. The goal, on my end, was to relieve some of the self-imposed stress of trying … Read more

The Very Nifty Mac Mini

Last weekend my wife and I were out computer shopping. Her for a new Dell laptop, me to dream of the laptop I might be able to buy around about 2007. We traveled to the King of Prussia Mall in southeast Pennsylvania, where Dell allegedly had a store, and to keep me quiet during Sue’s … Read more

Go Critical with Torn Asunder

The latest editions of Dungeons & Dragons went to great lengths to abstract the combat system, eliminating weapon speeds, dropping call shots, and creating area-of-effect templates. All of this abstraction comes at a price though. Some of the exceptional aspects of the game — liking being able to put an arrow through an enemy’s eye … Read more