CircleCount helps you better understand Google+

2013-05-23 15:20:40 (2 comments, 0 reshares, 8 +1s)

Taking the time to put in the hard work of polishing a piece of written material is agonizing, but ultimately satisfying.

2013-05-23 02:07:00 (17 comments, 0 reshares, 16 +1s)

When are we going to get some kind of blood augmentation that makes human blood repellent to mosquitoes?

scratch scratch

seriously!

I'm trying to edit/rewrite an RPG tonight. I ain't got time to scratch.

2013-05-21 15:47:09 (0 comments, 0 reshares, 6 +1s)

Reginald Hunter gives probably one of the most profound answers to a question about censorship in this video. Particularly at about 7:23

Reginald D Hunter Interview Part 2

2013-05-21 01:37:55 (15 comments, 1 reshares, 59 +1s)

Just had to cuddle, rock, and calm down a screaming boy because he wanted to stay up and keep reading the 3e D&D Monster Manual for a few more minutes.

I feel ashamed and proud at the same time.

2013-05-20 03:06:21 (4 comments, 0 reshares, 27 +1s)

Hahaha! Just finished plugging the holes in the A&A document.

It only took a few days of limiting my engagement on G+. Wow.

Time to actually print it and do a final editing pass with the wife.

Feels good to see the finish line coming into view.

2013-05-18 14:30:33 (14 comments, 1 reshares, 10 +1s)

When they finally end Dr. Who, it is going to make the Firefly cancellation look like a non-event.

/blasphemy

2013-05-16 17:47:05 (8 comments, 0 reshares, 14 +1s)

Alright, I want to get back on track. I am going to be radically transparent about the state of reality so that I will have realistic goals. Talking it out helps..... a lot, actually.

The first project I am going to get out the door will be Ambitions & Avarice. A&A is a dungeon-crawling classic RPG design, with a focus on breaking out of the D&D legacy in many ways.

Here is the BETA version:
http://www.rpgnow.com/product/105884/Ambition-%26-Avarice


So let's take a look at where that project stands right now.

----------------

Indesign File: 86 pages (full size, unlike the BETA)

Cover (1)

Credits & TOC (2)

Ch 1. Introduction (3-7)
Player Skill
Mechanics

Ch 2. Character Creation (8-30):
Checklist
Attributes
Race
Class
Possessions... more »

2013-05-16 14:34:53 (65 comments, 0 reshares, 50 +1s)

Today is my birthday. I don't like how the new G+ layout looks. And my good friend +Stuart Robertson declared that he is taking a break from G+ to think about the utility of the service. This leaves me in a very contemplative mood.

I have been remarkably unproductive in the past six months. Way out of line with my historical trend line. I have been so unproductive that I barely check or respond to my personal e-mails anymore. Unless it is from one of the guys that I actually game with, I kinda just slack off about it.

Now my first thought was to think that maybe I am depressed. But I'm really not. I have a very strong relationship with my family. I am doing a lot of things in my real life. I've been playing a lot of Mass Effect, getting a reasonable amount of sleep, and so on. Just not with respect to writing RPGs or playing RPGs via the internet.

So I think a... more »

2013-05-16 13:34:25 (11 comments, 1 reshares, 7 +1s)

EA Kills the Online Pass, you know that thing that bans buyers of used games to participate in online content without paying for it? 

I have a couple of thoughts.
1: EA will focus more on online microtransactions to make up the revenue
2: They've realized that introducing new players to online content creates a higher lifetime value.
3: They've decided not to be evil (LOL)
4: The hassle of entering an online pass and the existence of the online pass became a determining factor in the decision to buy new games.

The fact is, is that big companies like this don't make decisions like this to be nice, there's a reason for this.... #EA   #gaming   #gamemarketing  

2013-05-16 13:03:01 (10 comments, 1 reshares, 1 +1s)

Can anyone explain why the font looks normal in IE but terrible in Chrome? Running WinXP, if that matters.

2013-05-15 20:37:30 (1 comments, 2 reshares, 31 +1s)

Check out this Dragon Age map posted today on Deviant Art. So evocative for B&W. Impressive.

Artist:
http://miasma-shadow.deviantart.com/

2013-05-15 19:59:21 (1 comments, 2 reshares, 9 +1s)

Stumbled across this on Reddit, and thought it would go nicely here:

http://randomwizard.blogspot.com/2013/05/public-domain-hex-icons.html

2013-05-15 18:36:02 (53 comments, 0 reshares, 13 +1s)

So, this is being reshared all over G+ today.

https://plus.google.com/u/0/108316670838828910396/posts/CimjeVSVNZM

I don't dispute the results. In fact, I am fairly certain that Kimberly Chapman gathered accurate data on the phenomenon. My dispute is with the conclusions.

For a long time now, Google has been providing personalized results. Their ultimate goal is to understand how people think so that they can predict their decisions. Lots of people have talked about this, including Eric Schmidt.

http://www.forbes.com/sites/kashmirhill/2011/08/29/googles-eric-schmidt-says-plus-is-an-identity-service-not-a-social-network/

As the refrain goes, if you are not paying for the service, you are the product.

Why do you think Google is providing all this stuff for free? Google wants to know you. All about you. So they can predict you. Why? To sell... more »

2013-05-15 17:40:05 (18 comments, 0 reshares, 5 +1s)

oh noes....

Apparently, Google is rolling out a new layout AGAIN

2013-05-15 17:35:55 (18 comments, 0 reshares, 2 +1s)

Things like this make me glad I never finished my Ph.D. and went into teaching.

Syracuse University Expels Student Over Facebook Comments

2013-05-15 15:53:42 (4 comments, 0 reshares, 1 +1s)

This is really spot on. Resist the peer pressure! Fight the power!

The Danger of Free Speech

2013-05-15 12:49:23 (25 comments, 1 reshares, 27 +1s)

I wonder where this door leads.

Artist:
http://jordangrimmer.deviantart.com

2013-05-14 19:42:29 (15 comments, 4 reshares, 10 +1s)

Capslock is Cruise Control for Cool

They were fired by Ramsey for being "too difficult to work with."  Huh.  Go figure.

#hownotto   #socialmedia  

2013-05-14 13:56:37 (65 comments, 0 reshares, 13 +1s)

So I went to the first orientation session for parents of incoming Kindergartners last night. It was probably the single lowest point of emotion I have ever felt about the future of our society.

Only 20 minutes outside for the entire school day. Sitting at desks almost the entire time indoors. Strict criteria for measuring competence. 

For 5 year olds. For frickin' five year olds!

No wonder they are diagnosing so many children as learning-disabled....

I have never hoped for more the alien invasion to commence.

edit: my 3 year old couldn't take it after about 30 minutes of boring powerpoint slides, so I was able to hide a lot of my discontent in a playing with him outside while my wife endured the main event.

2013-05-14 13:25:48 (27 comments, 0 reshares, 3 +1s)

Just went through my circles and removed about 20 people because their G+ accounts were deleted. Some of the names surprised me. I haven't seen any of the rage-quit type messages from people until recently regarding how the stream seems to be nonsensical or more Facebooky these days (as in a post I shared yesterday).

As someone who deleted their Facebook account, I wonder if eventually I will do the same to this account. I hope Google gets their act together.

2013-05-13 21:20:06 (0 comments, 0 reshares, 3 +1s)

A small production colony on the mostly oceanic Talos has discovered that the continent on the planet is actually floating on top of a massive metallic super-structure. Scout submarines have discovered the continental shelf is false and dives around the edge have revealed entrance portals leading into this structure from below. 

The Industrial Robotics company is hiring individuals to explore this super-structure and report back. Limited rights to uncovered technology will be granted in proportion to the capabilities of exploration teams. Compensation will also be provided, subject to......

[ TRANSMISSION TERMINATED ]


Photographer:
http://hunterkiller.deviantart.com

2013-05-13 21:14:42 (9 comments, 3 reshares, 25 +1s)

A small production colony on the mostly oceanic Talos has discovered that the continent on the planet is actually floating on top of a massive metallic super-structure. Scout submarines have discovered the continental shelf is false and dives around the edge have revealed entrance portals leading into this structure from below. 

The Industrial Robotics company is hiring individuals to explore this super-structure and report back. Limited rights to uncovered technology will be granted in proportion to the capabilities of exploration teams. Compensation will also be provided, subject to......

[ TRANSMISSION TERMINATED ]


Photographer:
http://hunterkiller.deviantart.com

2013-05-13 20:55:48 (0 comments, 1 reshares, 3 +1s)

This has to be useful for anyone thinking about futuristic networking possibilities in fiction/games.

Danny Hillis: The Internet could crash. We need a Plan B

2013-05-13 18:48:34 (19 comments, 1 reshares, 5 +1s)

Good morning, all!

First of all my apologies for having notified you. Let me explain:

I have been noticing for a while now that I don't see as many posts as I should see, given that I have 415 people in my circles. I checked this this morning. I saw the same ol' posts that I had plussed hours ago after maybe 5 new posts. Given that G+ is the home of people from all over the world where in every hour at least someone is awake and posting on G+, there should be a high influx of new posts every minute or so.

I went to the profiles of some of you and noticed there that, depending on how prolific a poster you are, I only saw every 3rd to 5th post of you, and as the circles are sorted by relevancy (not mine obviously), the profiles I have checked out so far are only the ones of the people on the top of my biggest circle. I will continue to visit your profiles, each... more »

2013-05-13 18:15:51 (10 comments, 0 reshares, 1 +1s)

Skill description from my game under development. It uses an attribute + skill combo like in World of Darkness. What do you think about being specific about how to make those pairings within the skill description itself?

2013-05-13 15:27:07 (0 comments, 6 reshares, 9 +1s)

This was pretty funny.

A Facebook Update In Real Life

2013-05-13 15:21:38 (20 comments, 1 reshares, 12 +1s)

Great piece. I wonder what they are praying for.....

Artist:
http://lafemmedart218.deviantart.com

2013-05-13 15:02:53 (0 comments, 0 reshares, 2 +1s)

This was a good TED talk

The Merits of Risk: Christopher Barnes at TEDxDenverTeachers

2013-05-13 13:32:46 (26 comments, 1 reshares, 14 +1s)

The survey ship Vagabond Star has not reported back in several months. It had been sent to the Far Rim systems to search for habitable planets. No distress beacon or emergency communication has been detected. Council authorities have decided to declare the ship "lost in space" and remove the ship from it's active registry.

ExoGeni corporation has offered a 15,000 credit bounty on the return of specialized sensor technology that was installed on the foredeck.

Artist:
http://odobenus.deviantart.com

2013-05-13 01:22:47 (20 comments, 0 reshares, 24 +1s)

Warning: TMI

This Mother's Day I got up early, spent the entire day at Six Flags, got wet socks early and blistered my feet, got sick and dropped a diarrhea in a public restroom while my 2 year old son provided loud commentary, got sunburn on my face and neck, spent most of the day having an allergic reaction and sneezing at least 100 times through 0.0001 ply toilet tissue and the worlds thinnest napkins, rubbed my pollen soaked eyes raw, cut my calf getting off the carousel, and carried my 35 lb son in my arms so long that my biceps ache in a resting position.

Oh, and my daughter bit me in the stomach for no reason. I guess I was looking tasty.

Now it is time to save vs sleep... critical failure

Zzzzzzzzzz

2013-05-10 21:07:26 (6 comments, 0 reshares, 8 +1s)

Friday Five Minute Map

2013-05-10 15:20:14 (1 comments, 1 reshares, 4 +1s)

Here is a possible alternative to the Normandy.

Artist:
http://ionfluxda.deviantart.com

2013-05-10 14:23:38 (1 comments, 0 reshares, 4 +1s)

Finally got around the listening to this pre-FearTheCon episode of +Fear the Boot 

Pretty good discussion about prison breaks and captivity in RPG sessions. I really liked +Dan Repperger's story about the dude who painted his prison walls with a mix of blue and green jolly ranchers to deceive the guards. Wicked smart....

http://www.feartheboot.com/ftb/index.php/archives/3176

2013-05-10 14:20:31 (22 comments, 2 reshares, 30 +1s)

This looks like a good place to retire.

Artist:
http://camilkuo.deviantart.com

2013-05-10 13:07:33 (0 comments, 0 reshares, 2 +1s)

Prothean spec ops?

Artist:
http://rhinoting.deviantart.com

2013-05-10 12:57:50 (1 comments, 1 reshares, 7 +1s)

Prothean spec ops?

Artist:
http://rhinoting.deviantart.com

2013-05-10 12:40:55 (23 comments, 0 reshares, 12 +1s)

My son dropped a piece of bacon on the floor this morning. It was immediately consumed by the dog.

I hope this tragedy is not an ill omen of what lies ahead.

2013-05-10 02:18:31 (12 comments, 11 reshares, 23 +1s)

And as skeptics you know we love sources:

Stephenson, G. R. (1967). Cultural acquisition of a specific learned response among rhesus monkeys. In: Starek, D., Schneider, R., and Kuhn, H. J. (eds.), Progress in Primatology, Stuttgart: Fischer, pp. 279-288.

Mentioned in: Galef, B. G., Jr. (1976). Social Transmission of Acquired Behavior: A Discussion of Tradition and Social Learning in Vertebrates. In: Rosenblatt, J.S., Hinde, R.A., Shaw, E. and Beer, C. (eds.), Advances in the study of behavior, Vol. 6, New York: Academic Press, pp. 87-88:

2013-05-09 17:20:57 (5 comments, 0 reshares, 15 +1s)

This is the first game trailer to really excite me in a long long time.

Batman + Jason Bourne = Wowza

Watch_Dogs - World Premiere Gameplay Trailer: Out of Control [North America]

2013-05-09 17:05:19 (3 comments, 1 reshares, 5 +1s)

This could almost be retitled to be "what it would be like playing an RPG with Nic Cage.

How would Nicolas Cage act in a Horror Movie?

2013-05-09 16:54:25 (5 comments, 7 reshares, 30 +1s)

Yep. 

~via Gaming Geeks

2013-05-09 16:49:06 (11 comments, 0 reshares, 3 +1s)

Is there an Exalted kickstarter going on? I get this feeling.....

2013-05-09 14:43:41 (1 comments, 2 reshares, 1 +1s)

TJ Laser: A Space Scumbag is one of my favorite ME Machinimas.  I highly recommend you check it out!  I debated making a character based on him for +Scott Alvarado's ME tabletop campaign but my love of Turians won out.

There are some spoilers so if for some reason you haven't played ME3 (what's wrong with you!?) then you'll want to do that first.

#masseffect   #machinima   #tjlaser   #spacescumbag  


+Scott Alvarado +Manda Collis +Nick Peterson +Jeff Preston and +Kay Preston should watch it so they understand references I make to it during our sessions.

2013-05-09 13:53:05 (0 comments, 0 reshares, 7 +1s)

Awesome map

http://dchan.deviantart.com/art/Fibonnaci-Fantasy-Continent-369010223

2013-05-09 12:57:38 (21 comments, 0 reshares, 7 +1s)

This is a cool humanoid concept for an RPG. What do you think it's racial abilities might be?

Artist:
http://dandzialf.deviantart.com

2013-05-08 20:49:54 (0 comments, 0 reshares, 4 +1s)

A haunting image sent back from the distant planet of Erubis in the Faerna system have triggered an outpouring of speculation that the planet may have once been a seat of civilization. 

Artist:
http://ehecod.deviantart.com

2013-05-08 20:04:40 (21 comments, 0 reshares, 11 +1s)

Why does my office copier need maintenance as often as a nuclear reactor or space station? Is it really that complex? Really? 

Breaks down more often than 50 year old car? Really?

We can put a man on the moon, can't make a damn copier that works for more than a couple weeks at a time?

/grumpy

2013-05-08 18:09:58 (10 comments, 0 reshares, 8 +1s)

Surely, there must be a way to adapt this kind of stuff to RPG mapping.

Artist:
http://massi-san.deviantart.com

2013-05-08 00:03:48 (4 comments, 1 reshares, 7 +1s)

Just got the prototypes of the revised vinyl wilderness maps by +Chris Hagerty from +JJ Haws at Memetech, and used one to plot out the personal domain of Yrammag, master of the Citadel of Fire (in the orange desert at right) and his vassals for +Peter Robbins' player-vs-player Domains at War campaign. The red X's are places settled by characters in my White Sandbox, which so far have resisted assimilation into Yrammag's principality. The glare keeps this from being a great photo, but it is a great play aid.

(You can tell this is a prototype because of the two versions of the Autarch logo in the lower right - I think Chris was right, seeing it in the flesh convinces me the placement on the plains is better.)

2013-05-07 17:18:58 (0 comments, 1 reshares, 13 +1s)

Wow, what a visual. Unique take on the Lonely Mountain

Awesome desktop image too, for multi-screen folks.

Artist:
http://gefahrlich.deviantart.com/