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Sunday, 29th January, 2012, 08:01 PM #1
Seminar Transcript - Reimagining Skills and Ability Scores
This is the transcript of the final seminar of DDXP 2012: Reimagining Skills and Ability Scores. The role of skills has fluctuated throughout the life of Dungeons & Dragons, and ability scores have been of varying importance in each edition. Find out what the design team has done to reimagine these aspects of the game, and how they arrived at a system to marry the two concepts more closely together. Seminar includes Monte Cook, Bruce Cordell, and Robert Schwalb, and is followed by a Q&A session.
This transcript is paraphrased, with some responses shortened. It is compiled from various tweets (thanks especially to Critical Hits and Rolling20s for their live tweeting - I suggest you check out their Twitter feeds) plus WotC's live chat feed, and other sources.
Greg: You've talked about the importance of ability scores in D&D in the recent past. What kind of things are you planning for ability scores for the next iteration of D&D?
Monte: We wanted to distill down the essence of D&D. We wanted to make sure that the ability scores and their modifiers had a big influence. Looking at all the editions of the game, you can easily see that ability scores are really important. Often times, people will use ability scores to help them define their character, or they'll have an idea for a character and then look at the scores first to make them fit that idea.
A couple of days ago I talked a little bit about how we want the core mechanic of the game to be the interaction between the DM and the player. And one of the great tools for that is the ability score. So what we want is to empower DMs and players so that if you want to attempt to do something "I want to open the door" then the DM doesn't have to even have you roll, he can just look, see you have a 17 strength and says "Yeah, you burst through that door". We want to get past some of the mundane rolls and not tie up a lot of table time with that and move on to the more interesting stuff and the table narrative.
Bruce: An example I saw yesterday was a rogue going into a room and looking for traps. You can describe what you're doing and roleplay what you're doing. If he says I look in the jar and I know there's a gem in the jar, I'm not going to have him roll. However, if something is more hidden, like a secret compartment on the shelf I would look at their intelligence and see if he can just automatically find it or if he's looking in the exact right place. However, if he's doing that check in the middle of some other stressor like fighting, then I'd have him roll.
Rob: Earlier this week I had some players fighting some kobolds in the room. One of the guys wanted to jump over a pit, he had a 15 strength so I let him just do it - it wasn't that big of a jump and it sped up combat. It's very liberating to be able to do that kind of thing and just keep the flow going.
Greg: Another thing we've been talking about recently is saving throws and what you guys think about them and the future of D&D?
Monte: Making a saving throw against something has become something that's really a part of D&D. So again, what we've done is tie those into the ability scores. For example you'll make a strength saving throw or wisdom saving throw against a certain effect and so far it's become a big part of some effects and abilities. The attacker makes a check and that sets the DC for your saving throw.
Rob: Right now, Cha is linked to saves for fear and charm effects. However, if you describe it well, you could use different stat. For example the big monster is grappling you, you might use dexterity to save and get out. But you can also have some other ways of getting out that grapple. Maybe there's a gem on that creature's head and you can make an intelligence saving throw to realize that if you mess with it, the creature would die and let you go.
Greg: How the the different ability scores matter for different characters or classes?
Monte: Different ability scores will still be important to different classes, but there's also plenty of room to focus on all the ability scores. For example if you want to be a charismatic fighter, there's definitely room for that.
Rob: What we want to do when looking at how we handling ability scores in D&D Next is to make sure that the ability scores have their own area carved out. It should make sense to the players why the ability scores are linked to the things they are and make sense in the world.
Monte: Another thing that we're trying out is not only having races give you ability scores changes, but the classes also give you bonuses. It makes sense that if you're a cleric that you would get that bonus to wisdom - you've had training or experience that help you out there.
Bruce: I also see it as kind of puzzle pieces or guiding. I can pick the half orc and lets say that gives you a +1 strength. I can then look at the classes and see that fighter gives me a +1 strength and see the synergy there.
Monte: It allows you to make the weird choices, too. Half-Orc Bard gets Cha bump, so you're still a good Bard.
Greg: Speaking of ability scores, how are you guys planning on ability scores generation?
Monte: (joking) It'll be 2d6 -10.
Rob: Looking at all the iteration of D&D, the classic way of doing ability skills is rolling. So the very basic we're working from are 4d6 drop the lowest for each stat. But since we're also looking at the modularity, those core books will also have options for other ability score generation which might be point buy, point arrays and other things.
Monte: Or you can just buy your DM a pizza and get all 18s.
Greg: Talking about ability scores leads easily into skills. What are you guys tossing around for skills and their uses?
Bruce: Looking at the playtest characters here, you might have noticed that a class or a theme might have given you a bonus to skill, but you didn't have a skill list. Normally if you were to call for a check, you would just call for the ability score - like a dexterity check for sneaking up. But if you have a class or character feature that gives you a bonus to sneak, you would add that in. There are a lot of different expressions for skills. Trained, sneaking at full speed (stealth twice). Lots of options.
Greg: Could you talk about some of the challenges you faced while building the current skill system idea?
Bruce: What we started with was actually a lot like what we've come to now, but it didn't reflect your ability scores directly, it was a bit more derived. It was accomplishing its goals but it didn't necessarily look or feel like the heart and soul of D&D, which is one of the challenges we always bring ourselves back to. So we changed it and we're running with this idea now.
Monte: With skills it hasn't necessarily been easy to pick how skills have iconicly worked in D&D, because each edition has changed the way those kinds of abilities work. So we really keep going back to how do we make this feel like the most D&D that we can. We're really looking forward to feedback on this one so we can see if people agree or if they feel something else has a better D&D feel.
Rob: It's been a difficult problem for a while. In 3E and 4E skills were sort of the doorway to interaction with the world.
Monte: In previous editions, ability scores played into skills. We want skills to play into ability scores. Maybe more open-ended.
Bruce: If skills are not the portals to ability scores, but rather the tweaks to them, we can add interesting tiny skills. More flavor. Because the ability scores are the core, we can make any little skills we want.
Monte: It means that if you're a DM and you don't even want to deal with skills, you can totally do that.
Greg: So some players want to be able to use a bluff skill to say convince the ogre to join the party, roll and then bluff it. Other players want to come up with an elaborate story about working with the hobgoblins and acting as their emissary. What are you doing to cater to both of those different play styles?
Monte: On the one hand you want to reward the guy who's done the RP to support his actions. But on the other hand, we don't want to train players to know how to use swords to attack in the game. In other words, you want to reward behavior but you don't want to penalize people for not playing a certain way. We shouldn't force players to be penalized because they can't be personally eloquent on the fly.
What we've done now is we have this thing called "advantage" that a DM can hand out if the players set themselves up with a good description.
Greg: Bring a real sword to the table, get advantage?
Monte: (joking) Absolutely.
Bruce: If you just want to roleplay, ignore the ability scores, and let the roleplaying win the day.
Monte: Player/DM interactions is the most important thing. Interact first, go to making checks second. Yeah, the DM rules would focus on a few things. First you would look at the character and the situation and if it all fits, you don't have to look at the ability score or the dice. If it's not clear at that point though, then the next step would be looking at the appropriate stat and comparing it to the DC.
Greg: So what's the current difference between feats and skills?
Rob: As of *right now* skills specifically interact with your ability scores, outside of, and a little inside combat. A feat is bigger and chunkier and changes the ways you interact with the game. A skill would be something that's a reflection of a stat or a specific feature of a stat. A feat is more like a feature that is beyond that, more unique and not inherent to an ability score.
Bruce: Adding to that, a feat might provide a bonus that is always on, or a power or ability. Feats are always on, (e.g. Toughness), skills are used situationally. Feats are the territory that lie beyond ability scores.
Rob: Feats also cover stuff that would be like your at-will powers. For example if you saw the javelin of fire at-will in the playtests, that was from a magic feat.
Greg: What about players who want to be awesome at potion-making, or blacksmithing?
Monte: We have themes for that. Kind of like kits in 2E. They reflect your background and life before adventuring. If you want to continue to improve in that theme (with feats, etc), you can continue to express the story of your background. Or, instead of focusing on a theme, you can choose skills and feats to sort of customize your own theme.
Greg: How do you envision building a character going?
Monte: What we're working with now is that you pick you stats, class, race and then you also have a theme. So you might be a commoner, a noble, a knight, aprentice, etc. These themes would offer you skills. As you go up in level you could expand on that and express the story of your background and character by picking more options that support your theme. But if you want to get into a more complex character development system (modular option), then you could pick other features and things to basically build your own theme.
Greg: Any favorite themes?
Greg: Are there any themes you really liked or things from themes you've really enjoyed?
Monte: We're doing a lot of really cool things with themes. For example, you could have a planetouched theme that would give you some extraplanar stuff.
Bruce: This is on the edge of what we're thinking of, but maybe something like being a deva would actually be a theme instead of a race. There's a more basic one that I really enjoy is the pubcrawler. You're that guy when you walk into the bar everybody knows your name, and it has some other flavor like that. It doesn't really speak to the combat or some other character areas, but it really helps inform who that guy is.
Rob: I like the idea of possibly taking what might have been classes in other editions and making them themes. For example, I love avengers, but an avenger themed Paladin is really cool too. It opens up the space for working with a class from a previous edition that there might not be space for as it's own class, but still has some great flavor.
Monte: The themes work well with the open-ended skills system. We can make skills just for specific themes.
Greg: It sounds like this is something that could be one of the options a DM could apply or not apply based on the way the DM wants to run it?
Monte: Yeah, as I was saying earlier if you wanted to play the most basic version of the game you could ignore themes completely.
Greg: Anything specific from previous editions that you really want to see in the next game?
Bruce: I really like the warlock, that there are several different pacts that you can choose right out of the gate. The customization is a bit more complex, but being able to choose from a strong number of pacts is very important to me and I hope that as it exists in our current playtest, we can move forward with that.
Rob: The electrum piece. I want to bring back the Great Wheel of cosmology. That would be awesome to have back.
Monte: There really are a lot of things. I want the ritual system to be expressed in some way. I love the idea of magic existing in a lot of different forms in some way. Part of D&D is those really classic magic items that we all know, the flame tongue, the holy avenger, the wand of wonder. All of that has to be in the game for it to really feel like D&D to me. The Ritual system expressed in some way (magic in many different forms), and iconic magic items.
Greg: You've talked about a scale of running a game with a lot of magic items or no magic items. Since we're talking about ability scores today, how do you see magic items affecting/not affecting ability scores?
Monte: There will always be room for stat-boosting items. But they might play a different role. Maybe a hard cap on non-magically augmented ability scores. Mortal limits. Can boost with magic. I think there's definitely room for a things like the gauntlets of ogre power and have items that could affect stats, but we're looking at having caps on what those items could raise your stats to.
Greg: How will mundane equipment be in the game - more the standard? How will that affect the game and what else goes along with that?
Monte: Mundane equipment is important and we're trying some different things there. For example, at this point nobody starts with the ability to have plate armor.
Bruce: One of the things we're doing is moving things more to a silver standard instead of a gold standard. We also have mundane implements for some caster classes that are their equivalent of a fighters sword or their slightly better armor. This opens up space for some interesting magic items that help you in rituals. but if you have a magic item, maybe it's a totem that has a little creature in it that is summoned to help you and do other cool things. A mundane wand might be 100sp, like the fighter's scale mail.
Greg: To what degree do you see weapons playing a roll in D&D? Should you have to change weapons for fighting different foes - how do you see weapons playing out in the next interation?
Monte: Something I'd like to see is characters that are good with weapons become more broad with a number of different weapons or maybe any weapon he comes across. We're defining weapons not by specific names, but but their categories. So you wouldn't say I'm really good with a battle axe, you'd say I'm really good with axes. So you could be good with axes, swords, and bows for example.
If a fighter is good with swords, and they find a really good axe in a dragon's horde for example, I'd love for him to be able to just pick that axe up and be good with it - not have to worry about ignoring it because you didn't make the choice to be an axe guy.
Greg: What kind of transparency are you looking for when it comes to Monsters and abilities. Should players know what they're facing when they see something, or is some of the information hidden?
Monte: We were just talking about throwing in some extra abilities to monsters. So you might have a normal orc, or you might decide to make him a vicious orc that would add an attack that to a nearby creature when the monster dies. That kind of thing could be added in by a DM on the fly because it doesn't really change the challenge too much or make you rewrite anything. It might give you a little bit of an experience bonus if/when you defeat it too.
Greg: Alright, we're opening the floor up to questions.
What is going to be the differentiation between weapons? In previous editions it could have been keen, two handed, damage die, etc. In the playtest, classes had critical features, not weapons.
Rob: We're looking at accuracy and damage expression right now. In addition to the damage type, we're also looking at damage types like slashing, piercing, etc. In addition the plan right now is that we're going to have some weapon specialization benefits. So if you're specialized in a certain weapon type, it opens up all sorts of neat little benefits, some of which are the at-will kind of attacks we've seen in 4E.
A couple days ago you were talking about having different iterations of the cleric - with the cleric being a class that is melee and casts some healing, but having the priest be more of a guy channeling holy magic and being a cloth wearer. Do you have any plans to have a magic class that caters more to people who don't like the Vancian wizard - maybe some other arcane casting option?
Monte: Yes, definitely. We're interested in magic classes that handle their abilities or magic differently than the Vancian style wizard.
Are races going to have positive and negative ability mods or just positive?
Monte: We're looking at having both positive and negative modifiers for races.
What kind of things are going to change or advance in your character as it levels?
Bruce: We think that there's a lot more, if you don't scale things quite so dramatically, there's a lot of room for interesting things to happen. For example, equipment stays interesting for longer, monsters stay interesting and challenging for longer. There's a lot that opens up when you don't boost abilities scores as much through progression.
Monte: Not having ability scores advance as quickly also makes magic items more relevant at higher and lower levels. Because level will mean less dramatically for things like attack bonus, those things will scale a lot less, we can play around with you having other options to improve your ability scores or skills so those choices really matter instead of just having them advance as you level. The current playtest system allows us to do fun things with scaling. Attack bonus scales less, so ability mods mean more.
Sounds like D&D Next puts a lot of work on DM. What are your thoughts on bringing in new DMs?
Monte: We want to work hard to provide actual meaningful guidance on how to be a good DM. We want to embrace the 4E idea of quick prep time. New monster, 5 mins. High level NPCs in 10 minutes. Lots of 4E ideas. Decoupling the idea that NPCs have to advance or be built in the same way as PCs.
Bruce: By giving power to the DM and a very robust rule set we can make it easier for the DM to make a calling and not feel like he's lost at sea. This will keep the game going and improve things for everyone.
Monte: We're not just giving more power to the DM, we're giving more power to the players. In a way we're giving more power to the players, and not just the characters. We're giving the player the ability to come out with his crazy ideas and say I want to do this. And instead of giving the DM lots of concrete rules, give him rules for making calls and keeping the action and roleplay going. So when a player goes I want to jump up onto this table and kick the magic helmet off the monsters head, the DM will know that he can just let it happen because of the ability score and/or require a roll for some of the things that are going on.
How is XP going to be rewarded? XP for gold, or alternative advancement mechanisms?
Rob: We want to provide a bunch of different options for how DMs can reward the players for doing different things. So yeah, we'll have an experience table for the monsters, but we'll also have information for doing things like giving XP for quests, or giving XP for exploring a whole area, or give experience for finding the hidden treasure. There are things we're doing so that you can reward your players for what you or they are trying to accomplish in the game.
Are the themes limited to certain classes?
Bruce: Simply, no. Whatever makes sense.
I'm very interested in how race will interact with ability scores. Can this be explained?
Trevor: What we're running with now is that a race might grant something like a +1 bonus to a specific stat. This could change of course.
Will you be using themes to limit class sprawl?
Bruce: Yes, we can use themes to express non-core classes.
Rob: It's useful to take classes that are mechanically similar, and differentiate them with themes.
Will we see a return of the "gritty" low levels?
Trevor: I've heard a lot of people talking about how at first level they are concerned with their characters dying. Probably not the lethality that original or early D&D had, but surviving at low levels and beyond is something that players will be careful of it they're doing more dangerous tasks.
Monte: We're looking for a lot of feedback on this idea. Is this theme better as a class, or vice versa? Give feedback!
Ritual and magic components - do they have a place in the game?
Bruce: As we're looking at it right now, rituals are the only thing that really have magic components. We think they have a place in the world that's archetypical but rituals might be the best place for that.
Rob: We assume that when a Wizard is casting, there are gestures and components, but they're not explicit.
Monte: One of the great things we can do with a ritual system, is that we can have the components for some crazy ritual to be actually a quest - go find this rare component so that you can use this ritual. It opens it up to be important to the story.
Will gridded combat be something that groups need to have in mind in order to plan their characters? How are you going to include tactical combat and class features that care more about tactics than the theater of the mind style games would provide?
Monte: In every edition of the game, the DM has had the ability to play out the the combat in a theater of the mind style, or pull out a grid and miniatures to be more more precise. Nothings changed with that - a DM will still be able to do that. But if you want to make things more tactical, then the DM would choose to apply the tactical rules module. The DM would let his players know that when he's setting up the campaign, and then there are certain options that would or might be flagged as specifically useful in a game using the tactical rules module.
Bruce: Those options would also still be useful in the theater of the mind kind of games as well. While an option might be flagged to make it easy to find and use if your game is using the tactical rules module, it's just as useful in other game styles as well.
Monte: And this tactical rules module that we're envisioning would be covered in the initial book release.
Will the open playtests only be in stores, or available for home play?
Trevor: We're not really set in stone for how the open playtest would work, but it sounds like it would be available for home play.
How do you feel about skill challenges going forward?
Rob: (jokingly) I really want skill challenges to die in a fire. The plan was great for those, but I always felt it subtracted too much from the narrative. I think we can do complex skill checks within the narative and provide a robust amount of information to help the DM just weave them into the story.
Monte: The only thing I would add is that I don't want to take away from the idea of a player saying "I want to do this thing". And the DMs response isn't just "well make the check and you do it". Instead I want to encourage or empower the DMs and the players to describe what they're doing and what happens in response. You see a lot of interesting story and conversations at the table when someone comes up with a cool way to cross that pit.
Greg: Do you think there's room for that player or players who might not be comfortable with really roleplaying out what they're doing when they do these kind of skill interactions.
Monte: Oh yes, if you want to roll the dice and make your check, you can still do that. But I think that once that player dips his or her toe in that water and starts describing their actions, things will open up and that kind of activity will continue. You see it happen at tables all the time
Alright all. That ends the coverage of the last of the seminars. The designers are packing up and doing a bit of mingling. Thanks much to all of you for joining our live coverage and putting your questions out there. For those that we didn't get to answer, we are gathering the questions and we will get them in front of R&D to see which ones we can answer in future articles and other areas. Stay awesome everybody.
Last edited by Morrus; Monday, 30th January, 2012 at 02:39 PM.
Sunday, 29th January, 2012, 08:23 PM #2
Scout (Lvl 6)
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Hmmm... Just as much excites me as disappoints me.
I like themes being integral parts of the game. I like the idea of a lot of things being taken care of without a roll (though sometimes those rolls can be hilarious when they go poorly, but I also understand the chance of that discourages many players from doing certain things), I like the new take on saving throws, and getting At-Wills through weapon choice sounds like it could be neat.
I'm worried that the Avenger will be reduced to a theme, I don't like rolling for ability scores and don't feel that should be the default (especially after the results of the poll; point buys had the clear majority), and I'm not sure I like the way the intend to handle the skills, by making them little more than tweaks to ability score rolls.
I'm starting to wonder if maybe what maybe my best approach to D&D in the future is to strive to be a Renaissance Man of D&D editions - Be willing to play any, because each has its own niche... Though I get the feeling that for all its flaws, 4e will continue to be my favorite.
Sunday, 29th January, 2012, 08:25 PM #3
Thaumaturgist (Lvl 9)
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I'm a little worried about the "at-will feats" bit - I hope every class gets at least one for free. Otherwise it'll feel like too much of a feat tax. First house rule? I dunno. Gotta see the playtest first.
Sunday, 29th January, 2012, 08:31 PM #4
Superhero (Lvl 15)
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Two things concern me:
1) With the new emphasis on stat importance, rolling is a horrible idea. To always be second best to the guy that rolled better than you did for the life of your PC? No thanks. Point buy absolutely has to be the default for this.
2) Feats. It sounds like feats will be incredibly important to customize your PC beyond your choice of class and theme. So how fast do you get one? Considering it sounds like bonuses won't advance much, I'd like to see a feat EVERY level. And you should start with more than one or two.
Sunday, 29th January, 2012, 08:32 PM #5
My favorite part is that NPCs/monsters do not need to built like PCs. It makes game prep and designing so much easier.
I also think themes sound interesting.
Seems like taking 10/passive skills are the default. Which I'm good with.
The abilities/skills reminded me of how Dragon Age works. Everything is an Ability (skill) check (I.e. Strength [Climbing]). If you have a bonus in that Skill (called focuses in DA) you get a bonus, otherwise its just an ability check. It seems to work well in Dragon Age.
The part that I liked the least was that for one attack you roll an attack and a saving throw. I'm okay with attack rolls for spells, I'm okay with saving throws against swords, but having both just slows the game and increases swingy-ness. (Pathfinder changing opposed grapples to rolling Combat Maneuver Attack vs. Static Combat Maneuver Defense was a good thing.)
Sunday, 29th January, 2012, 08:36 PM #6
Superhero (Lvl 15)
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If feats are few and your precious few feats have to be spent on things you need as opposed to things you think would be cool from a story aspect, that would be frustrating.
Multiple feats for 1st level PCs, plus a feat every level sounds good to me.
Sunday, 29th January, 2012, 08:41 PM #7
Superhero (Lvl 15)
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Going back to feats, perhaps they have different types of feats. Like Major feats that you only get one every two levels and Minor feats that give smaller situational bonuses and such but you get those every level.
It sounds already like there will be class specific feats. Like Arcane feats that give casters at-will attacks and such, so maybe having different types of feats that are acquired in different ways is a model they are looking at.
Sunday, 29th January, 2012, 08:58 PM #8
Superhero (Lvl 15)
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Oh and racial penalties need to die in a fire!
I get that some races are naturally better in some areas and providing a bonus acts as positive reinforcement when playing classes that use that particular stat. So playing a halfling fighter as opposed to say a rogue is already a sub-optimal choice.
Therefore, having a racial penalty is like being double punished for playing against type. I'd like to make more races viable to play more classes, not less.
Let's not mechanically punish players more than necessary for trying to be creative and playing against type.
Sunday, 29th January, 2012, 09:08 PM #9
Usually, it has a bit of an effect at first (not much) and by 5th level there's no difference to note between a hafling and a half-orc. But I WANT there to be a real noticeable difference between those two choices for the entire character life. A half-orc should be big and strong, and halfling should not (unless you do some weird stuff).
I'd go further. I'd make the usual modifiers +/- 4. You KNOW that's a half-orc. He's big and strong, whatever career he chooses. The halfling is never going to be as strong as a half-orc.
I think I'm in a minority there. Certainly Monte Cook doesn't agree with me.
Sunday, 29th January, 2012, 09:10 PM #10
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Linda Isaacs
Linda's early training was in Buckinghamshire and later with The Weston School of Dance and Performing Arts in Chelmsford. She danced professionally in the UK and Europe, then moved on to obtain her teaching qualifications after which she opened her own school which she ran for 18 years. During that time she also taught for The Theatretrain Trust and Southend-on-Sea Arts Council.
Linda is presently teaching at Newhall School in Chelmsford and Absolute Arts Performing Arts School in Westcliff-on-Sea. She has in the past taught at the Cecchetti Centre, The London Associates and Cecchetti Junior Summer School. Linda guest teaches at local events and for The Chelmsford Ballet Company.
Pupils of Linda have demonstrated at Cecchetti London Congress Day, Cecchetti Examiner and Teacher Training courses, many now dance or teach professionally. She has been the recipient of The Peter Pearson and Betty Major Scholarships and is Cecchetti Area Organiser for The South East and joint organiser of Cecchetti Teachers Summer School and The Vocational Students Summer Course. Linda is a Fellow and Examiner and has served on Faculty Committee since 2010.


text:
The St. Patrick's Catholic Daughters of the Americas sponsored the blood drive which was held on Thursday, Feb. 10 at the Duhigg Center. About two-thirds of those signed up came in to donate and we were able to collect 66 units of blood which can go to aid almost 200 patients in need.
Vicki Garrelts received her 1 gallon pin-way to go Vicki!
Many of the donors enjoyed the vast array of goodies provided by the Catholic Daughters and even stayed to visit a bit longer and snatch another cookie.
At 3 p.m., we were joined by five brownies who worked in the canteen area in order to achieve their Community Service patch. It is so nice to see such young people giving their time in an effort to help others. Thank you brownie Troop #136, keep up the good work.
I have heard some grumbles that the Red Cross is pushing the Sioux Valley Blood Service (who serve Avera Holy Family), out of Estherville. This is NOT true. Sioux Valley comes each June and December for blood drives at the hospital, and if I am able, I go and donate there. I worked this schedule out with Mike, who manages the hospital lab and is in charge of having Sioux Valley come for their drives twice a year.
The Red Cross plans drives only in February, April, August and October here in Estherville.
The next Blood Drive is scheduled for Tuesday, April 26 from 12:30-6:30 p.m. at the Duhigg Center and is being sponsored by Sleep Inn. Please mark the date on your calendar and call me for an appointment at 721-209-0922.
Thank you to everyone who comes out to donate and support the Red Cross in the many wonderful activities they are involved in. Remember the Red Cross is not just about blood; we do so much more.
Donna Day-Templin
Red Cross Blood Drive Coordinator for Estherville


text:
Find Our Latest Video Reviews on YouTube!
If you want to stay on top of all of our video reviews of the latest tech, be sure to check out and subscribe to the Gear Live YouTube channel, hosted by Andru Edwards! It's free!
Tetris in 3 Dimensions
Posted by Hector Martinez Categories: Misc. Tech,
When you combine a hot videogame like Tetris with the Connect 4 concept, you get something like Radica's new Tetris Tower tabletop game. Basically the machine indicates which piece the player must drop into the upper slot area. When you pick up a game piece and drop it in, it slides straight down, guided by bulit-in plastic ridges. You then indicate to the system which of two competing players accomplished a line by flicking a switch on the side of the unit. Not quite as portable as the Gameboy edition, but maybe just as cool.
Read More | Gadegtry Blog
MobilePC Presents The Greatest Gadgets of All Time
Posted by Hector Martinez Categories: Accessories, Cameras, Cell Phones, Handhelds, Misc. Tech, PC / Laptop, Portable Audio / Video,
When I first read MobilePC's "Greatest Gadgets" article in the magazine's print edition, I remember thinking to myself: "This is one of the best gear articles I have ever read. Thank God I didn't cancel my subscription." Two days later, I find out that anyone can find the same article for free at the magazine's website. Highly informative, entertaining, and a must-read for anyone with even a remote interest in consumer technology. I still won't cancel my subscription…just in case something else comes up.
Read More | MobilePCMag.com
Free Subscription To Sync Magazine
Posted by Andru Edwards - Categories: Announcements,
Hey, if Gear Live is to be your hookup for the coolest tech out there, then we need to do it both at and away from the PC. I mean, we know a lot of you guys prefer sitting in front of your HDTV or bumping the latest tracks on your sound system instead of surfing the Internet. In the spirit of providng you with gear news in any situation, we are now giving our members free 1 year subscriptions to Sync Magazine. If you want one, simply sign up here, and indicate that you would like a free subscription. Don't worry about your info - Gear Live does not sell it or give it away, as we hate spam as much as you do. The only people that will see it is us, and Ziff-Davis (the Sync people).
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Paris Hilton's Sidekick Hacked (Again)
Posted by Andru Edwards - Categories: Cell Phones, Misc. Tech,
Well, maybe it isn't really much of a hack since all it takes is for Paris to leave her mobile device laying around. Nonetheless, this is a great find. Why? You get to see all the pictures Paris takes using her Sidekick, which includes girl-on-girl action. You get to see the kind of notes she leaves to herself, which reveals that she even had unprotected sex once (gasp!), as she needed to remind herself to get a "birth control kill pill". Oh, and you also get a peek at her entire address/phone book - and she has quite a few you might know of. Ashlee Simpson, David Lechapelle, Ashley Olsen (where's Mary Kate?), Christina Aguilera, Vin Diesel…or you can see the email addresses of people like Usher. I, for one, am still waiting for a call back from Lil Jon. Careful with the link, as some content may not be appropriate for minors - or for work.
Read More | HiltonHacked.com
Sony Ericsson S710a Launches
Posted by Oscar M. Cantu Categories: Cell Phones,
The day many were waiting for has come. The Sony Ericsson S710a has been launched by Cingular. The phone was supposed to be launched in December, but after a long wait consumers can now get their hands on one of the hottest phones Sony has to offer. The S710a is a feature rich phone which includes the following:
- 2.3 inch 262K color TFT display
- Swivel-style design
- EDGE high-speed data
- 1.3 megapixel digital camera, 8x digital zoom
- MemoryStick Duo card slot
- Bluetooth
On the downside – the price is set at $449.99 with a 2-year contract, $499.99 with a 1-year contract and $549.99 without a contract. At a price higher than true smart phones, we can only ask – what were they thinking?
Read More | Mobile Tracker
Free Gas Courtesy of Sony
Posted by Oscar M. Cantu Categories: Video Games,
We all love free stuff, and hate high gasoline prices. Now thanks to Sony you can fill up for free. Before you get too excited, this offer is only for residents of Los Angeles, California. The lucky drivers will get a chance to play Sony's latest video game for the PS2: Grand Turismo 4. The event will take place at the Mobile station on Sherman Way in Van Nuys, CA on February 22, from 7 – 9 AM – the same day the game is released. Be sure to show up early since many people are expected to attend.
Read More | 1UP
Sony NW-E505
Posted by Oscar M. Cantu Categories: Portable Audio / Video,
The newest rumored Sony flash memory based MP3 player, the NW-E505, is looking very good. It is said to be available in blue or silver with a 512MB capacity and 3-line OLED display. The NW-E505 also includes an FM radio and built-in lithium battery that will be able to power the 37 gram MP3 player up to 50 hours. With so many features (especially the screen), Sony's NW-E505 will without a doubt be very good competition to Apple's iPod Shuffle. Why are people buying those again?
Read More | Dapreview.com
iPod Mini To Get Color Screen
Posted by Oscar M. Cantu Categories: Portable Audio / Video,
ThinkSecret has learned that Apple will announce an updated version of its iPod mini. The new Mini will sport a color display and boast a higher capacity hard drive. We had informed you of how the mini could possiblly hold 5 GB of data in its current state; however, the new hard drive will be a Seagate drive instead of the current Hitachi. ThinkSecret's sources claim the capacity will be 6GB, however Seagate currently makes a 5 GB 1" drive. According to their source, the current non-photo iPods will also see an update to color screens soon. The word is that you will be able to pick one up in the next week or two with no increase in price.
Read More | Think Secret
Monkey Thoughts Move Robotic Arm
A team of scientists at Pittsburgh University has used small probes attached to monkey's brains to test a robotic arm operated by thought only. The limb has a fully mobile shoulder, arm, and gripper hand. The probes were attached to the monkey's brain, with their natural limbs being restrained. After a while, the monkey were able to control the robotic limbs with their minds as if they were their own. The idea here is that humans with missing limbs may be able to to train their minds to use a robotic limb as if it were the original. Currently the brain probes only last about six months, as organic matter begins to grow over them at that point. The team is working on developing a better probe.
Read More | BBC News
Robots Come Closer To Natural Walking Movements
Posted by Hector Martinez Categories: Misc. Tech,
It looks like robots are getting better at replicating the human walking motion, just another one of those things we take for granted until we hurt our backs shoveling snow. Recently, three concept robots were unveiled by researchers from Cornell University, the University of Michigan and Massachusetts Institute of Technology in the US and Delft University in the Netherlands. While walking robots are nothing new, these are doing it with much more efficiency by utilising the natural dynamics involved. In fact they use about the same amount of energy a human being would, where Honda Motor Co.'s ASIMO, was using approximately 10 times that. I would love to see a movie of the new robots in action, as the article describes the walking as "awkward but amiable." Very cute.
Read More | New Scientist
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text:
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Although the phenomenon of leaves changing color is still not completely understood, we know that it is primarily influenced by three things.
The least variable of these factors is the increasing length of night.
As nights grow longer and cooler, biochemical processes are triggered in leaves.
The second contributor is the pigmentation present. Chlorophyll is the dominant pigment that makes leaves green.
It absorbs sunlight to produce sugars for food.
From release
At the intersection of Highway 9 Bypass and Highway No. 9, a Blue Star Memorial marker stands proud, once again, to pay tribute to the present and fallen members of our military.
This is an ongoing project of the Lancaster Council of Garden Clubs, the Veterans' Administration, and the South Carolina Department of Transportation.
This Memorial Marker to all Veterans was placed on the Bypass about 10 years ago.
The Lancaster 4-H Horse Club is collecting non-perishable foods for HOPE in Lancaster, Inc., through Dec. 21.
Just one or two items can go a long way in helping families in need.
While all non-perishable foods will be appreciated, HOPE has the following needs at this time: self rising flour, cornmeal, sugar, grits, canned evaporated milk, jelly, peanut butter, juice, canned beans (except green beans), canned squash, canned sweet potatoes and canned tomatoes.
From release
Artisans from South Carolina, North Carolina and Georgia will gather at St. Luke United Methodist Church in the Elgin Community on Dec. 1 from 8 a.m. to 4 p.m. to display and sale fine quality folk art that reflects Southern Heritage through a variety of art forms. Art will include – but is not limited to – pottery, textiles, carvings, baskets, jewelry and paintings.
"The scarlet of maples can shake me like a cry of bugles going by."
– William Carman
I have loved maple trees since I was a little girl living on a street named Maple Lane.
I remember playing in our schoolyard and watching the double-winged fruit of old maples spiral slowly to the ground.
We children called them "helicopters."
One of the first things I did when I came to our farm in 1982 was plant two maple trees near the house.
Michele Roberts
For The Lancaster News
USCL's Rotaract Club held a meeting recently at a newly constructed picnic shelter on the grounds of the University of South Carolina Lancaster, behind the Gregory Health and Wellness Center.
The shelter was the result of a great deal of community effort, said Professor Robert Collins, instructor of Economics at USCL.
Enthusiastic crowds recently came to the courts to support players and to play in the Bocce Ball Tournament at Sun City Carolina Lakes. The tournament was a fundraiser for Safe Passage, a local organization that helps victims of domestic abuse.
After three days of fierce competition, the following trophies were awarded to the winners:
◆ First place: Marc and Brenda Piette and Joe and Dell Lamoureux
◆ Second place: Roger and Lois Unbehagen and Michael and Frieda Nellenbach
◆ Third place: Bill Toflinski, Bonnie George and Bruce and Joan Vanetti
The 2012 Sun City Volunteers and Helping Hands drive for Safe Passage was a big success.
Susan McClure, who served as event co-chair with Jackie Sharp, said more than $700 in checks, cash and gift cards were collected, along with 158 cellular phones and hundreds – if not thousands – of toiletry items.
"In fact, we have so many, I'm going to give some (toiletry items) to Lancaster Children's Home and the men's shelter in Charlotte," McClure said.
DES PLAINES, ILL. —September is Mold Awareness Month and the National Association of the Remodeling Industry (NARI) wants homeowners to know how to recognize signs of mold or water damage, how to catch these issues early on or prevent them all together.
On a late August morning while enjoying coffee beside our pond, we noticed a flurry of activity high in a slender tree near the water's edge opposite our chairs. Binoculars revealed a large number of juvenile blue birds, red bellied woodpeckers and American goldfinches picnicking on the dark blue berry-like fruits of a Black Gum Tupelo.
Copyright © 2019
The Lancaster News is your source for local news, sports, events, and information in Lancaster County and Lancaster, South Carolina, and the surrounding area..


text:
Administered objects are placed in a readily available object store where they can be accessed by client applications by means of the Java Naming and Directory Interface (JNDI). There are two types of object store you can use: a standard Lightweight Directory Access Protocol (LDAP) directory server or a directory in the local file system.
An LDAP server is the recommended object store for production messaging systems. LDAP servers are designed for use in distributed systems and provide security features that are useful in production environments.
LDAP implementations are available from a number of vendors. To manage an object store on an LDAP server with Message Queue administration tools, you may first need to configure the server to store Java objects and perform JNDI lookups; see the documentation provided with your LDAP implementation for details.
To use an LDAP server as your object store, you must specify the attributes shown in Table 11–1. These attributes fall into the following categories:
Initial context. The java.naming.factory.initial attribute specifies the initial context for JNDI lookups on the server. The value of this attribute is fixed for a given LDAP object store.
Location. The java.naming.provider.url attribute specifies the URL and directory path for the LDAP server. You must verify that the specified directory path exists.
Security. The java.naming.security.principal, java.naming.security.credentials, and java.naming.security.authentication attributes govern the authentication of callers attempting to access the object store. The exact format and values of these attributes depend on the LDAP service provider; see the documentation provided with your LDAP implementation for details and to determine whether security information is required on all operations or only on those that change the stored data.
Initial context for JNDI lookup
Server URL and directory path
where administered objects are stored in the directory /App/mq1.
Identity of the principal for authenticating callers
The format of this attribute depends on the authentication scheme: for example,
If this attribute is unspecified, the behavior is determined by the LDAP service provider.
Credentials of the authentication principal
The value of this attribute depends on the authentication scheme: for example, it might be a hashed password, a clear-text password, a key, or a certificate.
If this property is unspecified, the behavior is determined by the LDAP service provider.
Security level for authentication:
none: No security
simple: Simple security
strong: Strong security
For example, if you specify simple, you will be prompted for any missing principal or credential values. This will allow you a more secure way of providing identifying information.
If this property is unspecified, the behavior is determined by the LDAP service provider.
Message Queue also supports the use of a directory in the local file system as an object store for administered objects. While this approach is not recommended for production systems, it has the advantage of being very easy to use in development environments. Note, however, that for a directory to be used as a centralized object store for clients deployed across multiple computer nodes, all of those clients must have access to the directory. In addition, any user with access to the directory can use Message Queue administration tools to create and manage administered objects.
To use a file-system directory as your object store, you must specify the attributes shown in Table 11–2. These attributes have the same general meanings described above for LDAP object stores; in particular, the java.naming.provider.url attribute specifies the directory path of the directory holding the object store. This directory must exist and have the proper access permissions for the user of Message Queue administration tools as well as the users of the client applications that will access the store.Table 11–2 File-system Object Store Attributes
Initial context for JNDI lookup
Directory path


text:
Pembroke, NC - The UNCP men's basketball squad picked up their first win of the 2004-05 season and the Jason Tinsley era on Tuesday night, downing visiting Coker College by a 74-60 score in the Jones Center. Sophomore guard Frank Foster paced the Braves with 13 points and six assists. Pembroke now stands at 1-3 on the young season, while the Cobras fall to 0-2.
Despite shooting a blistering 61 percent from the floor in the first half, the Braves could only forge a five-point halftime lead at 39-34. Pembroke struggled from the line, only connecting
on six of twelve attempts.
Foster led the Braves in the half with seven points and four assists, while Arne Danielsen came off the bench to help UNCP erase a late five-point deficit with two bombs from behind the arc.
Both teams struggled to start the second half. Coker managed to knot the score at 47-47, only to see the Braves put together a 9-0 run led by Foster and fellow senior Anthony Crank. Like Foster, Crank finished with 13 points, including two crucial free throws down the stretch that sealed the win.
Jabarr Adams and Adam Shepherdson also scored in double figures for UNCP, turing in 12 and 10 points, respectively. Rollie Boone pulled down eight boards.
For Coker, Jay Farrow led the way with 17 points, nine of which came at the charity stripe. Michael Pierce and Johnny Jackson chipped in with 13 and 11 points, respectively.
UNCP finished at a little over 60 percent accuracy for the game, compared to the Cobras' 37. UNCP also knocked down seven of fourteen attempts from the three-point line.


text:
Two helicopters spent the daylight hours Thursday dropping giant nets filled with straw mulch onto the land scorched last fall by the devastating Fourmile Fire.
The two choppers picked up loads of weed-free straw, each weighing thousands of pounds, from a staging area in the Sugar Loaf community and dropped them on the rugged landscape around Emerson Gulch, where the fire began. After being dropped from nets, the straw was flung apart by the turbulence of the rotors before falling lazily to the ground.
The Fourmile Fire burned more than 6,000 acres and destroyed 169 homes in the mountains west of Boulder after the blaze began Sept. 6.
The $2 million mulching effort is meant to mitigate flooding and debris flows when the inevitable summer thunderstorms deluge the now-blackened mountain slopes, and when operations are finished, about a third of the burn area will be covered with straw.
"What we're really trying to do is duplicate what would have happened on the mountain as part of natural ground cover," said Bryan Burr, owner of Mountain West Helicopters, which is heading up the mulching efforts.
Burr said the straw on the ground works by breaking up the raindrops as they hit the ground -- just as pine needles would -- lessening the force of the water before it soaks into the burned earth.
Helicopters began dropping mulch on some of the areas that were the worst burned by the Fourmile Fire. Here's a look at the mulching project by the numbers:
$2 million Cost of the project, which is being covered by state and federal grants
2 Number of helicopters making drops
1,960 Total acres expected to be mulched
1,200 Bales of "wood straw" mulch stacked at the Sugar Loaf staging area when mulching began Thursday
1,400 Bales of weed-free straw mulch at the staging area Thursday
2 Number of weeks the mulching operation is expected to last
Up-to-date information:
Residents and workers in the areas being mulched each day will be asked to leave while the mulch is falling. The aerial mulching will also cause road closures when helicopters pass over roads. For up-to-date information on which area is being mulched, call the Fourmile Rehabilitation Hotline at 303-413-7010.
When mulching began, the staging area in Sugar Loaf was stacked with 1,400 straw bales and another 1,200 bales of "wood straw," a mulch that is made from scraps left over from the plywood manufacturing process.
The heavier wood straw can withstand winds of up to 50 mph, Burr said, and it will be dropped in some of the steepest areas of the worst-burned areas, including Nancy Mine Gulch.
"We went with the wood straw because of the wind," said Claire DeLeo, senior resource specialist with Boulder County's open space department. "But we couldn't buy much of it because it's so expensive."
Aerial mulching is scheduled to continue for around two weeks, depending on the weather, especially the winds.
Burr, whose company has worked on 22 previous aerial mulching projects, said his pilots can fly in winds that are 15 to 20 mph and in some rain.
"But you've got to be able to see; you can't have fog," he said. "And you have to be careful of the big wind gusts."
When the helicopters have emptied the straw bales stacked in Sugar Loaf, which could happen in another day or two in good weather, they will begin picking up straw from a staging area in Sunshine Canyon, DeLeo said.
The Sugar Loaf staging area is on private land owned by Jack Thompson and his wife, Michele Nahas, who lost their home in the Fourmile Fire. They also lost a home on another piece of property in the Black Tiger fire, which blazed across Sugarloaf Mountain in 1989.
Part of their land is flat and -- now that the charred trees have been removed -- wide open. When Thompson heard that the county was looking for a staging area, he called the county to offer up his property.
"It's the perfect place," he said.
Thompson -- president of Satinwood Construction Inc. -- was on his land Thursday working to clear an area where his home will go, once he rebuilds it. Despite having lost two homes already, Thompson figures he's safe now that there isn't anything left on his property to burn -- and he's got a great view.
"We can see all of James Peak and Sugar Loaf," he said, looking at the horizon.
Contact Camera Staff Writer Laura Snider at 303-473-1327 or firstname.lastname@example.com.


text:
Creating with the Stars: Week 3 - Painting
In the past 3 weeks I learned: I can do way more than I think I can. Also that Janel from Nellie Bellie is super nice (we got the boot the same week). My kids let me know it when I haven't given them enough attention. My laundry can get way out of hand, really fast. I dislike renting and can't wait to get my hands back on a house I can paint and change at will. I know I'd kick butt on Craft Wars. :) I'm so ready to relax and enjoy Easter this weekend.
The tutorial for the table will be up very soon. Thanks to Sarah, Thrifty Decor Chick, for all her advice. Here are some behind the scenes pics from this week.
Thanks to Katie from Sew Woodsy for being my Home Depot photographer last week! There's me buying supplies on my lunch break :)
At one point I made this decision for the table. Can we all say craft fail? Ewwww.
And of course the kiddos helped this time too... Cheez-Its in hand. I hope some of you liked the table! I do!
17 comments :
I was impressed when I saw your skills on Thrifty Decor Chick but now that I know you're a real person who juggles kids and work AND creativity, I love you even more. The map table is one of the most beautiful things I've ever seen and I'll be eagerly following your blog for the tutorial, and for other wonderful things you'll create!ReplyDelete
So sweet Beth! Thank you! Yes, I'm very much real! I try to find ways the kids can "help" with most projects I do. Sometimes I have it together... sometimes not so much! Ahh, found the post I was thinking of... here's an example of a day when I didn't have it together! http://whiletheysnooze.blogspot.com/2011/03/one-of-those-days.htmlReplyDelete
I just LOVE all the things you came up with for Creating with the Stars! You are amazing and give me motivation to get my but moving ;) I will be following to see all the new things that you come up with!ReplyDelete
Just over from Thrifty Decor Chick and wanted to say -- no way, you got the boot?! I totally voted (in my mind, 1st place!) for your project!! I loved it and everything you did. Super crafty, super talented! :-)ReplyDeleteReplies
I know, right?! haha Thanks!Delete
I liked yours the best this round :(ReplyDelete
I felt that it was the most original of all the projects. Nicely done.Replies
Thanks! I thought so too, but I might be a little bias. HahaDelete
Also popped over from TDC! LOVE your blog!ReplyDelete
You totally deserved to stay, this table is UH-MAZING! I wish I could find solid wood cast-offs like this!
Can't wait to read more from you! xoxo
I'm so sorry you got kicked off - that table was hands down my favorite thing from last week. All three of your projects were ones that ended up voting for!ReplyDelete
So keep on going - you're doing LOTS of things right!Replies
Thanks Laree! So sweet. Yup, I'm going to keep going and see what's next for me. These past few weeks gave me a good kick in the pants to try and make this more than just a hobby. We'll see!Delete
I am your newest follower... My friend featured you today on her blog. I had to pop on over. I love your tire you did .>OMGOODNESS I said we need to get that girl an HGTV segment .. YOUR plates were amazing and this post is amazing. I love a great blog. Mine is pretty new would love for you to join.. always blessed to make sweet blogging sisters and friends.. Hugs and happy EasterReplyDeleteReplies
Thanks Sherry! Let Hgtv know that, will ya? Haha. Of course I'll join. :)Delete
I LOVE this table! It was my favorite project from this past week--I couldn't believe you didn't make it through to the next round. A BIG congrats for making it in the competition and for going so far! And you still have that AMAAZING table to show for it! All while working and taking care of your family, good for you!ReplyDeleteReplies
Thanks! My feet are up on the table right now!Delete
Aw thanks. Like, really!!! Being nice is something I want said about me as often as possible...it is the bestest thing ever!! P.S. you are pretty great as well. And uber talented!! Don't forget that!ReplyDelete


text: On Fri, 22 Jun 2001 alvin at Mail.Linux-Consulting.com wrote: > > hi kwan > > i would use tar to copy disks onto antoher disk... > > # > # copy hda onto hdb... > # > dd if=/dev/hda of=/dev/hdb bs=1024 > > BUT..BUT...dd is bad ... > - it copies bad block info fron disk-a onto disk-b > - it does NOT know that disk-b has bad sectors where it was > good on disk-a > - it copies all the empty unused space onto the 2nd disk > unless you tell it NOT to copy all of the partition > in which case you are assuming that you know where all > the bits are for a given file/inode tree THANKS!!! May I know what is your preferred mirror method? In my LINUX PC, I already have 2 identical harddisks C: and D: (in MSDOS terminology). kwan


text:
Tuesday, June 27, 2006
This Guy...
Onto the list - The Perry Bible Fellowship.
A Mercifully Brief Interlude of Seriousness
Shami Chakrabarti? Bill Keller? A British High Court judge, giddy with power after unleashing a horde of perverts on an unsuspecting public?
Nope, Aharon Barak, ex-President of the Supreme Court of Israel, a land not noted for its history of peace, tranquility and liberalism.
Sounds like guff to me, mind you. I'd rather see Democracy trying to fight with both hands tied behind its back, butting and biting like an England football supporter being crammed into the back of a German van.
I'd love to see Democracy get Terrorism a lucky kick in the shin then sprint off down the street, while Terrorism is hopping on one leg, swearing and shaking its' fist.
Sunday, June 25, 2006
Why I Like Americans
I am very fond of our transatlantic cousins, almost sinisterly so in some cases. I have travelled extensively across at least four states and can report that every person I met was polite, friendly and welcoming.
I recall when I was 24, taking the train from Boston up to Concord to visit the site of the first battle of the Revolutionary War. It was a charming little town, a piece of Americana straight out of the fifties: a thousand flags aflutter in the afternoon breeze, white picket fences, you get the idea. On the porch of a nineteenth century townhouse converted into a restaurant I ate the most delicious burger I have ever tasted. It was a glorious summer's day and I strolled out of town listening to the O Brother Where Art Thou soundtrack, which is nice if you like that kind of thing.
At the home of Nathaniel Hawthorne I met a rather plump, dowdy yet companionable woman in her late thirties who graciously offered to drive me around various sites of local interest, including Walden Pond* and Louisa May Allcott's house. After a lovely afternoon tootling about the back roads of Massachusetts, we ended up standing by the grave of Henry David Thoreau, who is buried only yards from noted writer Ralph Waldo Emerson. I have always been a fan of HDT and admire his commitment to living life as he saw fit without the intervention of his fellow man. His isolated life by Walden Pond has been a major influence upon my libertarian philosophy, although I have long suspected that his mum did his washing for him at the weekends.
My companion advised me to surround myself with a protective aura to ward off the spirits of the unquiet dead. Not being versed in the black arts myself, I did this as best I could - it was something of a surprise when she then spent the journey back to Concord talking about pagan sex goddesses while fondling my knee and playing with my hair.
"Watch the fucking road, woman!" I screamed in a girlish voice, "You'll kill us both!". Perilously, her mind was set upon more base purposes than observing the laws of the federal highway.
Well, suffice to say, I got away unmolested. Indeed, I was grateful to her for having shown me the sights, although I would've preferred more subtle sexual overtures, or none at all. Mind you, I still let off a particularly nasty fart just before I stepped out of the car - for all I know, she could've pursued me across the train tracks, salivating and rending her clothes had I not done so.
So I think that disproves the whole 'anti-American' accusation quite succinctly. Frankly, I'm rather offended that the point was even raised in the first place.
*Incidentally, in the UK a pond would be ten feet by six feet at most and would contain goldfish and a water feature. I believe the word that the locals were looking for is 'lake'.
Update: In the unlikely event that anyone cares, the cemetery I'm talking about is delightfully called Sleepy Hollow and it has just gained another famous resident.
Big Brother: Series Seven - Some Thoughts
The Good Ship "USS Highjack This You Fags"
I must direct your attention to this article, which describes a new US Navy warship (The USS New York) which is being partly constructed using steel recycled from the wreckage of the twin towers. In the words of Commander Chris Mercer, "The sanctity and strength of all the victims, the first responders and their family members is really forged in the bow of this ship. For the next 40 years that bow will lead this ship in projecting naval power all over the globe in our global fight against terrorism."
I don't know where to begin commenting on this; I suppose, if it brings some small measure of comfort to bereaved relatives of the victims, then it can't be an entirely schmaltzy gesture. The obvious point would be to question whether the best use of the detritus of the towers is to create yet another military behemoth to blast the fuck out of brown people who had nothing to do with the attacks, thus ensuring that future generations of Americans can share in intrusive security measures and monthly terrorist atrocities. If the only lesson learned in the past five years has been "Hey guys, let's project naval power into the Gulf! That'll keep the homeland totally, like, safe!" then we are in more trouble than I had realised.
Since it appears that a certain section of American society, of which few lost relatives or friends on 9/11, are intent on turning the WTC attacks into a everlasting symbol of national victimhood, rather than a barbaric atrocity and an assault upon decency that has not yet proved fatal to the nation, I feel I must contribute some suggestions.
First, I think that adopting "never forget" as the ship's motto is insufficient to keep the wound of the atrocity fresh and raw. Without iconography, how can we keep our anger and our desire to wreak pointless destruction upon the third world at homicidally vengeful levels? What is surely needed is a recognisable figure who can articulate the pain and steely resolve of the American people.
I therefore suggest a painting on either side of the ship. Two one hundred foot tall murals of that beloved symbol of American nobility, Scooby Doo, clad in a firefighter's uniform, wiping away a tear yet exuding an air of defiance. To make sure the message is not lost, a giant speech bubble saying "Re Rill Rever Rorget" should strike the right note of reverence and steely resolve. The ship should then be rechristened the "USS Highjack This You Fags" and launch into a lake of tears cried by the orphans of 9/11.
I realise that this is a controversial issue, but we must be prepared to grasp the nettle on such difficult matters.
Saturday, June 24, 2006
When Your Idols Have Feet of Clay
I became alarmed, for I couldn't think of a reason why one of the age's foremost philosophical geniuses would post a picture of a man who appears to be, quite frankly, a shit-eating retardoid.
I presume there is some ironic point being made that I am insufficiently educated to understand. I suppose that having one's ignorance exposed to the world is the price one pays for airing one's views in public.
Friday, June 23, 2006
Please, never, ever agree with me
When someone agrees with me repeatedly, even on a subject as tame as whether the weather is pleasant or not, I start looking for the cops. If someone emails me to tell me that I have made a good point, I am apt to reach for my revolver.
Obeying Blogging Conventions
Blogger conventions, from what I can see, demand that I post pictures of my domestic pets, possessions, environment and slaves. Here is my attempt to mingle with the blogger crowd, in the hope that this will speed my acceptance as a leading political thinker.
This is my household pet. You are invited to agree that he is both cute and fluffy, although it remains unclear what his position is on proportional representation at Westminster.
This is a picture I took at Celtic Park, a large football stadium in Glasgow, Scotland. As you can see, this is a place where Scotsmen gather to sing songs, reminisce and pledge their allegiance to their homeland, the Republic of Ireland.
This is my pet Orang-utan, Clyde. Clyde is a big fan of beer and country music. He is a fourteen year old male, and is pictured here next to my friend and confidant, Clint Eastwood. Clint is in fine shape for a man of seventy-eight, appearing not a day older than forty-five in this picture, despite it having been taken only last week.
This is London, a town south of Scotland. Its original name, Londinium (Latin, literally "The land of ill-gotten wealth") dates back to the year 48 A.D., when the Emperor Claudius led his legions across what we now call the English Channel to invade Britain. Moving north, he found a great city filled with ugly men selling each other trinkets out of suitcases, infuriatingly punchable spiky haired trendies yakking into wooden mobile phones and thousands of people wedged into small, shaking horse drawn carriages not looking at or talking to each other.
On the left is the Houses of Parliament, where the Great Leader Anthony Blair, Prime Minister of Great Britain, receives homage from his grateful subjects. On the right is South London, where the real debauchery goes on.
These are capybara. As flightless rodents, they do not possess any of my grace or élan, but they are good workers and can put in twenty hour shifts with only one ten minute break a day for some lettuce.
I will post further pictures of the tedious minutae of my life at a later date - this is not a threat, it is a promise.
My Political Philosophy Explained
1. I am opposed to murder.
Murder is always regrettable, even when it is committed to prevent a greater evil. I am particularly opposed to the murder of civilians by military combatants, whether they wear uniform or not.
2. This does not mean that I am some pant-wetting girly man.
I am not a pacifist. I enjoy blasting children with an M-16 and firing mortars into crowded areas as much as anyone; I am merely asking for a degree of moderation.
3. I detest moral equivalence.
Although I am unclear on the exact meaning of the phrase. According to the philosophical geniuses and mental colossi of the blogosphere, it appears to mean "implying that harming innocent civilians is always wrong, including when our side does it". This sounds like an unassailable moral position to me and I will defend the principle to the death.
4. I do not carry water for political interests.
It would be a travesty and a smear upon the good name of blogging if I were to covertly advance the agenda of a political party or group. As a radical libertarian, albeit a lefty one, I will never sully the reputation of citizen journalism with partisan propoganda.
5. Before arriving in a foreign country, always learn some key phrases.
This should really be my first rule, so passionately do I believe in it. I believe that it is ignorant to holiday in a country without learning some basic phrases. Visitors to the UK generally know how to ask directions and order food, yet the Brits are monolingual to a shocking degree.
It is therefore only good manners to learn simple sentences such as "Can you tell me where the toilet is?", "One bottle of Jose Cuervo, please", "How much for the girl?" and "Please telephone for an ambulance, I have been stabbed".
If you intend holidaying on a Mediterranean island, I would also advise learning the regional variants for "cocaine", "sucking chest wound" and "venereal disease". In Paris, one can almost pass as a native by making a series of impatient snorting noises and shooing gestures. In Moscow however, all you need to know is the Russian for "Please, don't shoot, here, take the money, it's all I've got". It helps, but is not vital, to know how to say "I have a wife and child".
Incidentally, if you ever visit Scotland, I'd advise that you stay the fuck away from me, 'cos I'm packing and I'll bust a cap through you as soon as look at you, motherfucker.
One never knows when one may need to use such information.
5. This will be the only post debating the existence of God, ever*.
One of the good points of the blogosphere is that one rarely stumbles upon theological debates about the existence of a higher power. The entire subject smacks of red-eyed, 2 a.m. discussions between beardy twats in fetid student residences, so I will lay the matter to rest right now.
If God exists, he has nothing but contempt for his creations, to whom he allows all manner of unpleasant things to happen. I'm not even talking about kids with leukaemia, natural disasters or terrorist atrocities - the small stuff is quite bad enough, as anyone who has ever suffered from piles, toothache, VD or erectile dysfunction will tell you. Speaking as a flaccid, scratching, toothless lardass, I know whereof I speak.
No, the final proof of the Lord's indifference to humanity is to be found in the horrors of nature. From funnelweb spiders to foot-long venomous centipedes, God's creation abounds with foul creatures that bite, sting, gouge and burrow under the skin to lay eggs. If, like me, you've ever seen a black mamba with your own eyes then you'd know that humanity has been abandoned to face eternity alone.
Not enough proof for you? This is a great white shark - a twenty foot long remorseless eating machine indigenous to the shallows surrounding Australia and South Africa. This is an anaconda, a creature so unpleasant that it has kept the editors of Bizarre magazine in hookers and hot dinners for the last ten years.
If there's a lesson to be drawn here, it's that we are deluded in believing that God loves us. The central message of the major religions should be, "Watch your ass, God's omnipresent and he's an omnipotent, psychotic badass harbouring a wicked grudge against mankind".
So do I believe in God? Damn right I do, with all my heart. An entity with such an implacable urge to fuck me up with scorpions, rampaging hippopotami and grizzly bears is not the kind of guy you want to get on the wrong side of.
Never mind being saved from hellfire, I'll settle for being saved from disembowelment.
*Until I think of something funny to say about it. Funny to me, that is, not you.
Why Did I Choose Such an Idiotic Pen Name?
So there I was surfing the net a couple of years ago and I came across the political compass. You're probably familiar with it - answer a set of questions on moral issues and it plots your political position on an ideological map, between the positions of libertarian/authoritarian and left/right. The final graph plots your position, relative to notable figures of history. I took the test and was deeply surprised by the result.
The questions are fairly simple, from "Should the government provide assistance for people fallen on hard times?", to "Should we reintroduce the death penalty?" and "Are your wings a shield of steel?".
As you can see, my results indicate that I'm a fairly radical leftist-libertarian, putting me smack in-between Mighty Mouse and Batfink. I had thought that I might tend closer towards Swamp Thing and the Hulk, as they were both big influences on my moral development. Plus, I also thought I was more of a centrist.
Nonetheless, the graph has spoken and it's clear that, politically speaking, I am some form of flying rodent, hence the name.
How I Learned to Stop Worrying and Love The Blog
Sadly, I couldn't be arsed at the time, since I'd just scored a copy of Rome: Total War and was distracted by the endless horde of Christians and barbarians just begging to be crucified. Plus, people were starting to push copies of the Da Vinci Code on me and it hasn't been safe to leave my bedroom for the past three years. Until now.
Undaunted, I now step blinking into the dazzling glare of the future of media, armed only with a ludicrously purple writing style and unshakable faith in my own powers. With hard work and determination, I hope to emulate the philosophical geniuses and mental colossi of the blogosphere. A war is underway for the minds of humanity and I hope that my small contribution will add to the greater glory of the whole.
Firstly, I am the Flying Rodent. This is a childish and ridiculous moniker, but I have a good reason for adopting it. As you may have guessed, this is a nom de plume, which I gather is something of a no-no for serious citizen journalists. This is unavoidable as I have to work for a living and my employers are famously intolerant of embarrassing extra-curricular activities. This would not pose a problem if I had an ordinary name, but a quick Google search for my real name turns up exactly six entries, all of which are about me. Suffice to say, I would have had an easier time at school if I had been christened the Flying Rodent.
Expect occasional updates between Monday and Thursday, and occasionally on Sunday since I generally start drinking at 5.30pm on a Friday night and don't stop until it's time to iron a shirt for work. I'll be writing about a diverse range of topics including music, literature and politics, although my chief interests are self abuse and swearing, in that order.
So, this is my blog. If nothing else, the police will find it baffling when they come to investigate it.


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Argentina's Senate is debating a proposal to legalise gay marriage.
The country's Chamber of Deputies has already approved same-sex marriage and has now sent the legislation to the Senate for approval.
The law, which would also allow same-sex couples to adopt, has met with fierce opposition from the Catholic Church and other religious groups.
Thousands protested outside Congress as debates took place inside.
Views: 245
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Sharp, Saad score twice as Blackhawks rout Starsby Steve Hunt
DALLAS -- The Chicago Blackhawks were firing on all cylinders Tuesday night.
The defending Stanley Cup champions got two goals each from Brandon Saad and Patrick Sharp and rolled over the Dallas Stars 6-2 at American Airlines Center.
"Great start, across-the-board contributions, so it was a very good night," Blackhawks coach Joel Quenneville said.
Patrick Kane had a goal and two assists, and Duncan Keith, Michael Kostka and Brent Seabrook each had two points for Chicago. Kostka had the other goal for the Blackhawks.
Rookie Antti Raanta made 27 saves for Chicago to earn his fourth win. He is filling in for starter Corey Crawford, who is expected to miss three weeks with a lower-body injury suffered on Sunday.
"He played great," Kostka said of Raanta. "He's going to get a lot of opportunity here in the next little bit to continue to establish himself. So he's just got to keep doing what he's doing and learning from maybe a few little things here and there as we all do."
Dallas got a pair of goals from Antoine Roussel, one in the second period and another late in the third.
"He's the one bright spot," Stars coach Lindy Ruff said of Roussel's performance. "They hate playing against him, and he showed why. He wasn't afraid to get into dirty places, and he got rewarded for being in the right place. I admire the way he plays the game."
Kostka, who was making his first start since returning from a conditioning assignment with Rockford of the American Hockey League, opened the scoring with his second of the season 2:03 into the opening period.
"[He] played good," Quenneville said of Kostka. "[He] had the puck, offensively involved, he got a fortunate break on his goal but a good way to start, good way to get back into the team and the locker room and fit right in."
Stars forward Erik Cole deflected Kostka's shot from the right point. Dallas goaltender Kari Lehtonen tried to cover the puck at the near post but couldn't, and it slid a few inches over the goal line. After a quick video review, Chicago had a 1-0 lead.
Kane scored on a breakaway at 12:05, flipping a backhander into the right side of the net to give the visitors a 2-0 edge heading into the first intermission.
Saad made it 3-0 at 2:46 of the second period by tapping in a rebound after Lehtonen stopped Kostka's wrister. Saad had initiated the sequence by stealing the puck from Dallas captain Jamie Benn near the Stars' blue line. He fed Jeremy Morin, who slipped the puck to Andrew Shaw inside the right circle.
Sharp scored a power-play goal at 8:20, beating Lehtonen with a slapper from the high slot that the Dallas goalie never saw.
That goal ended the night for Lehtonen, who allowed four goals on 19 shots. Backup Dan Ellis came on in relief and stopped 12 of 14 shots he faced.
"We were hanging our goalie out to dry," Ruff said when asked why he pulled Lehtonen. "When it hit 4, I knew we've got a tough road ahead. I felt Danny could spark us a little and Kari could get some rest."
But the change in goalies didn't help. Sharp scored his second of the night and 14th of the season at 11:08 when he beat Ellis with a backhand on a breakaway.
Sharp had four assists in Chicago's 6-2 win on Nov. 9 in the Blackhawks' last visit to American Airlines Center.
"We've had some success here, but it's still a tough place to play and the Stars are a tough team to play against. They're a young team. They're hard working. They've got speed on all their lines, so it's a difficult challenge every time we play them," Sharp said. "I thought we did a good job of sending a lot of pucks on net, not too many prime chances but the ones we had we made sure we capitalized on them."
Dallas broke through at 13:36 when Roussel scored his sixth goal of the season, slipping a shot around Raanta for his fourth goal in six games.
Saad added his second of the game and 11th of the season, a shorthanded goal, at 19:15. Saad skated around the right side of the Dallas net before sending a wrister from the right circle toward the net, a shot Ellis bobbled before it went in.
Roussel scored his seventh on a tip-in with 19 seconds remaining in the game.
The Stars were 0-for-5 on the power play and are now an NHL-worst 1-for-47 at home with the man advantage.
"It was poor from start to finish," Stars center Shawn Horcoff said. "I don't think there was any one area you could point to."


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Hollywood needs a slap
There's a show I've been watching, but due to pre-natal classes I've only ever seen the first half hour and miss the rest. Call me old, but I'm lovin' Grand Designs Abroad. But I never get to see how the houses turn out!
Amazon to the rescue. I log on to Amazon UK (bit torrent is naughty, don't do that) and locate series 3 and 4 DVDs and order them. Amazon's super service has them to me in super quick time. Perfect. Next I poke the DVD into my MacBook and......
Bah! The disk is coded for region 2 and I am in region 4. This sucks and blows all at the same time. Here I have done the right thing and purchased a legit copy and now can't play it - well I can, it's just that I can only change the region on my DVD drive 4 times before it's locked to the last region.
Fortunately I have a PC with a LiteOn drive wich seemed to not care so much about this region business and read the disk ok with a pesky region change. All files are now copied to disk and I'm able to watch it with VLC player. Of course you could also use this: http://www.mrbass.org/dvdrip/ ;-)
Question is what would a mere mortal do that does not have access to extensive computer hardware and software, let alone even understand this confusing region coding?
Region coding is only good for the movie studios so they can charge $35 for a DVD in Australia and 3 rupees in India. DRM is bad for the customer.


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Remember Megan? You should- she's pretty unforgettable.
Today we're saluting her continued bravery, general serve-it-up-titude and totally cute shoes with some kind words and silly pictures.
First, a bit of an explanation from CEO Roy:
"Well this week marked a first for me. For the first time in my fifteen year career as the CEO of Third Degree, I had to navigate the new reality of bidding a teammate good-bye – at least for one year. And I've learned more than I ever thought possible.
As leaders, we more often are required to be the teacher than the student. But not in this case. Megan, who I often endearingly refer to as "Major," is indeed just that. Megan Miranda, account planner for Third Degree, is also a Major in the US Army Reserves. And last week our country called her to service for the third time in a decade.
Major Megan Miranda, as of today, will assume command of a PSYOPS company that will be deployed in Afghanistan in support of the US Marines. And while I hate to see her go, I know that our country needs her and that the Army picked a great commander.
I watched Megan embrace her responsibility. What struck me the most is that before assuming command of her company in the US Army, she made sure that her fellow troopers at Third Degree were well informed and that all duties were transitioned with as little disruption and stress as possible. (As if she didn't have enough else to worry about.) She was committed through the final few minutes of her last day at Third Degree. Giving it all for the team until she walked out of her office.
Megan accepts her role, responsibility, and duty as a military officer. And while I know inside she would rather stay in her office in the renewed surroundings of the American Tobacco Campus in Durham, and her home with a vegetable garden, and a group of people at Third Degree who've become her family, she doesn't have that choice. She has a high calling and duty to do her part in defense of our nation.
I will admit that while the War on Terror has raged on since 9/11, I never truly felt personally affected – until now.
So while Megan does her duty over there, it is up to me, Third Degree and all who read this post to continue to do our duty here. And that is to continue our individual contributions to advance commerce, be thankful for the freedoms we enjoy, work as hard as she will for the next year, and never lose sight of the sacrifice that so few make for the benefit and betterment of so many.
Thank you, Major Megan Miranda. I would have picked you too."
– Roy
And now, to soften the blow- here are some light-hearted anecdotes from Megan's 1-year anniversary book:
"I love that Megan can talk marketing savvy and SHOES, all at the same time."
- Holly, Media Director
"Megan serves it up daily with her can-do attitude and team spirit. She's the force you want working with you through anything - one that does it right and does it on time. She's a force to be reckoned with and keeps the bar high for all of Third Degree and its clients."
- Natalie, Account Executive
"Megan is on it. She catches on quick, and lives the Third Degree brand daily. And she now has a smart phone so she can check emails. Oh wait, that's not good… What was she thinking there?"
- Jared, Account Coordinator
"With nerves of steel when presenting, Megan leads with a velvet voice and grace under pressure. The only time Megan seems the opposite of calm are when shoes or coffee are involved. Then, her eyes beam and footsteps quicken as her coveted treasures are within reach! A tip for newbies: do not to interfere with her acquiring said shoes or coffee or I'm sure she'll utilize some of her psych ops training and she'll torture you with mind control. At least, that's
what I hear from Roy (which explains a lot)."
- Amanda, VP Strategic Communications
Our hats (and shoes) are off to you, Megan. See you in a year.