Game Conventions are for Heroes

I will be heading off tomorrow to DunDraCon in Bay Area California. I've been going to this convention since 1993, though I wasn't able to attend last year. Normally I'm up to game with anybody willing to throw dice, but this year it's all about my gamer friends. I don't really plan on doing anything that won't have a friend present.

Not only will there be entertainment aplenty there will be some seminars to attend. Normally I don't even pay them much mind, but I'd like to try my hand at game design so I'll make use of the wisdom from those sharing it this time around.

I don't plan on much sleep, but I do plan on some awesome game play.

Wiz-War
Robo Rally
Deezil's Dungeon of Chaos
Slasher Flick
Full Thrust
Dungeoneer
Pathfinder
Gamma World

I'm bringing along my netbook and webcam to capture some of the action. I suppose it's not all that much action since tabletop gaming by it's nature is cerebral and not tangible in a visual sense. Unabashed nerdery will be afoot nonetheless.

I'll also be sporting a cool handmade scarf.

Sci-Fi Brain Pry -- 3D Printing & Far Future

A few years back the concept of 3D printing came to my attention. Maker's Faire 2008 really drove home some possibilities for use. There were Makerbots and large rapid prototypers on display. Since then other ways to use the technology have developed, food printing, house building, and flesh printing.

Printing out body parts on demand really makes my head explode. Bre Pettis, founder of Makerbot Industries, was on Makezine recently showing off his awesome low-cost invention. A few minutes into it a thought hit me, 'This is the first step to Star Trek replicators and transporters.'

A replicator is an obvious use. As it is right now some assembly would be required and not all materials are usable, but carbon nanotubes and similar innovations will probably be game changer for 3D printing. Scaled properly you may be able to print your next home or your next car.

If brain-taping, copying a person's brain/mind/personality/skills, becomes a reality think of the possibilities combined with 3D printing. Brain transferring is another technology benefited by 3D printing. Your body is horribly damaged, pop your brain into a freshly printed body. Your previous body could even be recycled to make the new body. This could be a form of immortality.

If you need a specialty body this opens up possibilities too. By this I mean a body better adapted for a harsh environment or for a specific task. I'd expect gender-swapping or gender-neutral and designer bodies to be the early uses. Clothing could be optional when what we hide under them aren't present in fashion bodies. Plastic surgeons could combine with 3D sculptors to add a new industry. Now you really can be that Klingon or orc you've always wanted to be.

A copy of your mind could be held in back-up in case of death or if your skill set is important. A colony on another planet could benefit from copied scientists and other successful terraformers. Where would physics be if Einsten was immortalized this way?

Inspirations: Star Trek the Next Generation, Brainstorm (movie) The Matrix (movie), Surrogates (movie), Judge Dredd (comic), The Thirteenth Floor (movie), and A World Out of Time (Larry Niven novel).

Thift Store Score! 8-Tracks are Far Out...What a Concept

Now, I didn't really grow up during the 8-Track days. My music came via vinyl or cassette tape. But the hulking monstrosity that is 8-Track is appealing. It almost seems like a toy or housing for something more than music. They are fairly close in size to 8-bit NES cartridges after all.

The first time I ever made use of an 8-Track was when my friend discovered his parent's collection of disco music. Apparently they used to compete and win at disco competitions. Either way we benefited from their youth and fell in love with Disco Inferno by The Trammps. My friend's mom even showed us some moves when she found us listening to the classic. I remember and enjoy the song, but sadly I forgot the moves. Of course I'm sure the cloud could re-teach me.

This all leads to another thrift store score. Normally I find music in all forms, but 8-Track. Today was special because not only did someone donate their 8-Track collection they also gave up their spindle carriage and the first thing that caught my eye was an 8-Track entitled Far Out. The next one to sell me on picking up 8-Tracks was a Robin Williams stand-up recording.

When I showed my mom she asked, 'How are you going to play them?' 'Tis unimportant,' I replied as I plunked down 2 bucks for the 2 oddities.

Far Out looks like its part of a larger series. It lists 20 songs on the front, but the back shows only 4 from the list.
It's a Miracle by Barry Manilow
Lady by Styx
Do Your Thing by Isaac Hayes
Who's Making Love by Johnny Taylor

Hopefully you check out all the songs. I've been a fan of Styx since I was little. Manilow and Hayes should be known by everyone too. Known not loved necessarily. I've never heard of Johnny Taylor, but now that I've had a listen I want more. Wow, who knew a random retro buy combined with an internet search could result in the discovery of such awesome. I might have to make this a new thing. Dig around old vinyl and such and see what pops up on the electronic highway.

I know not everyone is a Robin Williams fan, but I grew up with him on Mork and Mindy and am still enjoying the Koolaid. This is the audio from the 8-Track Reality...What a Concept. The jokes are certainly dated, but his talent is still as strong today. Even if I didn't get his humor I'd probably still like his performances in movies. He's friends with my favorite author, Harlan Ellison, and word is he plays tabletop miniature games. Robin Williams scores all sorts of points in my book.

So, I did find a way to listen to my 8-Tracks, just not directly.

I'm thinking the 8-Track housing would make a cool iPod dock, dice holder, or travel game case. What do you think?

Illness leads to the Mercury Men

Mercury Men is a fun little series I watched today. The episodes are about 8 minutes long, so it only took about an hour and a half to watch. It's about an office drone being caught up in an alien world destruction plot, oh and there's a Buck Rogers-type thrown in for god measure.

I don't care much for the 'reality' shows on SyFy, but tend to really enjoy the fictional series they put on. Despite the quality of the show I wonder if there is room for it to become a 30 minute show. I wonder how much background was written for the show. I've seen a few shows fail because they started off with a good premise, but the writers/producers didn't spend enough time fleshing out the world.

Mercury Men has steampunk elements, which is great, but the last show I can think of really showcasing that style was The Secret Adventures of Jules Verne. Before that Briscoe County Jr. We're seeing steampunk show up more often in movies, Sherlock Holmes, Pirates of the Carribean, The Three Musketeers, and Hugo (The Invention of Hugo Cabret), so it wouldn't be a stretch that it comes back to TV.

Check out Mercury Men even if you're not a steampunk enthusiast. It's set in the 70s and shot like a noir serial. Here's the link to their main website.

After I wrote this I came across The League of STEAM. It looks fun too and I may have to do another blog soon.

What does everyone else think? If you have more I should see in the steampunk genre let me know.

I just realized after writing and posting that Mercury Men is really pulp era, though it still has a steampunk sensibility. I think steampunk and pulp would mash-up greatly. I must be way sicker than I thought.

George Foreman SEO genius?

While George Foreman is famous for boxing and his grill he's also famous for his child naming convention. He has 5 sons named George, 4 daughters of mixed naming, but he does have a daughter Georgetta. When you Google his name mostly you'll find information about him. What happens if one of his children named George Foreman become famous or Google-worthy? Will the name, George Foreman, help his sons, will his son's fame help him, or will it break search engines?

Considering his children were born before search engine optimization it's difficult to say he was able to foresee this possibility, but name checking has always been around. What says, 'My dad is famous,' more than having his name? There's such a genius to this I think everyone should change their names to match the famous. Even the infamous would work.

Though a rash of people changing their names to match serial killers might be a bad idea.

A Strange Benefit of Lying

I think Gordon Ramsay is an interesting fellow. My mother loves watching his shows and I will sometimes watch them with her, especially his new travel show. He was in Asia helping a family with their business and one of the menu items was shark fin. He tried the dish and said it had no flavor. There was nothing spectacular about the dish. He asked why they serve it when some sharks, specifically the great white, are on the endangered species list. The answer was tradition and prestige. Basically the delicacy started as a dish only for royalty and is now a high priced item sold to the wealthy.

Sharks need a dorsal fin to live. The fact that a dish involving an endangered animal that has no flavor is even worse. That tradition is so powerful it demands a lack of integrity.

I'd much rather a dish involve a mineral, say gold. There is at least a return on investment later on.

From an economics stand-point I don't see the need to use shark fin when the dish has no distinction. Chicken or even tofu could be used in its place. Sure, you'd be lying, but you'd pocket more money in the long run and an endangered animal gets a little longer to live.

Matthew Broderick and Marlon Brando were in a film called The Freshman . In it an endangered (I believe last of its kind) animal is going to be served to the rich. *SPOILER ALERT* In the end it turns out the animal is sent to a refuge and the rich are served a gourmet dish of chicken. The point is there was no way to know how the meat tastes so they could have been fed nearly anything, but the value was based on what they thought they were eating. Side note: people tend to value higher food they spend more money on, so these dinner guests would fool themselves into thinking the dinner was amazing.

Something that wasn't in the movie, but I thought about later was something of a prisoner's dilemma. The dinner guests wouldn't be able to talk about the dinner except with other guests because it was illegal.

I wouldn't put it past someone to think Canned Unicorn Meat is really made of unicorns, but since unicorns don't exist is it really a crime to tell someone they're eating shark fin soup when it's really catfish?

Coffee is the closest thing to magic for my brain.

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The question was posed the other day if the cost of a coffee maker was worth it. I think it is and here's how my logic circuit works.

If you're 3 cup a day guy like I am that equates to about $6 at your average coffee house. I haven't tried fast food places recently because past experience taught me that gagging shouldn't happen when consuming something I like.

Your average pound of coffee at the grocery store costs $12. Yes, Peet's and Starbucks are pricier, but then again did you ever notice that their pound is 12 oz and not 16 oz. I measured today that the 4 oz difference is the equivalent of 12 cups of coffee missing. Instead I recommend grinding a pound at the store. Often the coffee is good (your taste buds are your own, so try a few out to find the one you like), you can get a real pound aka 16 oz, and to rotate stock the price often drops to less than $10 per pound.

Taking the $12 average per pound I figured out that about 2 oz makes roughly a 10 cup pot of coffee. I'm a 3 cup guy so 1 oz will do. This means 16 oz lasts about 16 days. (I say about because some days I use a scoop or 2 more for added richness to flavor).

This means I spend $1 a day instead of $6. Which means a $30 coffee maker is paid for in 6 days. More expensive coffee makers are paid for by way of the $5 difference per day. So, yes, making your own coffee is way better.

Someone might say I forgot the other costs like filters, coffee mug, and electricity. I didn't. Those costs are so minor to be negligible. Filters cost about $2 for hundreds. Who doesn't already have a coffee cup? (BTW, mom has an Etsy shop with beautiful mugs ) As long as you don't leave the pot on 24/7 (ewww, burnt coffee) you'll only pay pennies a day for that.

Besides when you make your own coffee you get a chance to try blending your own beans. Or adding new flavors directly to the pot. I like adding cocoa powder and cinnamon to the coffee before brewing.