Saturday, February 10, 2007

A Princeton Lab on ESP Plans to Close Its Doors - New York Times

The end of a strange era at Princeton:

Over almost three decades, a small laboratory at Princeton University managed to embarrass university administrators, outrage Nobel laureates, entice the support of philanthropists and make headlines around the world with its efforts to prove that thoughts can alter the course of events.

But at the end of the month, the Princeton Engineering Anomalies Research laboratory, or PEAR, will close, not because of controversy but because, its founder says, it is time.

The laboratory has conducted studies on extrasensory perception and telekinesis from its cramped quarters in the basement of the university’s engineering building since 1979. Its equipment is aging, its finances dwindling.

“For 28 years, we’ve done what we wanted to do, and there’s no reason to stay and generate more of the same data,” said the laboratory’s founder, Robert G. Jahn, 76, former dean of Princeton’s engineering school and an emeritus professor. “If people don’t believe us after all the results we’ve produced, then they never will.”

Princeton made no official comment.


The gaming potential alone for this occurrence is pretty phenomenal. Where do all of these researchers and the accumulated knowledge go to? I am sure that there are corporations and shadowy organizations and individuals who would want to get a hold of the knowledge and researchers.

Obviously this information, like any other, can be used for either good or ill.

Saturday, February 03, 2007

The Flying Lizards - Money


A musical interlude.

Doctor Who and the French Dalek



Imagine a mash-up of Doctor Who and Monty Python. Of course, if you click on this link you don't need to imagine it.


The Grand Gaming Library





This are photos of my gaming collection, posted here and to Flickr. Every now and then you have to take stock of your habits.

Saturday, January 13, 2007

Dave's Funky Setting Generator, v 0.1

Here's an interesting one-line campaign concept generator written by an RPGnetter. If you like the strange and unusual, and I know you do, this is for you.

Dave's Funky Setting Generator, v 0.1

Here's what I got when I clicked on the link:
Premise: Rebellious transhumanists uncover a shocking conspiracy in the furthest reaches of the Astral Plane.
Genre: Crime/Pulp

Thursday, January 11, 2007

The Binary Death of Robert Anton Wilson

You will be missed. I hope the pancakes are as good on the other side.

RAW Data: RAW Essence
Robert Anton Wilson Defies Medical Experts and leaves his body @4:50 AM on binary date 01/11.

All Hail Eris!

Saturday, December 30, 2006

The Stars Are Right Again!!

Great news for fans of Call of Cthulhu! Hopefully they will be able to maintain the high standards of quality that Pagan started with their magazine. It seems that a lot of support is building for Call of Cthulhu out there in the gaming world, which is a great thing.

Hopefully this will give Chaosium a much needed push in the market.

[TMP] Unspeakable Oath Reanimating for 2007
Skirmisher Publishing LLC is excited to announce that it is partnering with Pagan Publishing to resurrect The Unspeakable Oath, a leading periodical devoted to various manifestations of Lovecraftian horror in games, books, and films.

The Unspeakable Oath was last published in 2001, and the partnership will resurrect it in summer 2007 as an annual digest, containing top-notch articles, scenarios, and support material for Chaosium's Call of Cthulhu, Pagan's Delta Green campaign setting, Skirmisher's Cthulhu Live, and more.

Wednesday, December 20, 2006

BBC moves to file-sharing sites

Geeks around the world rejoice! It will be interesting to see how many other networks around the world embrace this sort of move. American networks already offer streaming video of many programs via their websites but I think that this is the first time that any media outlet has embraced file sharing.

Time will tell the impact that this decision has.

BBC moves to file-sharing sites

Hundreds of episodes of BBC programmes will be made available on a file-sharing network for the first time, the corporation has announced.

The move follows a deal between the commercial arm of the organisation, BBC Worldwide, and technology firm Azureus.

The agreement means that users of Azureus' Zudeo software in the US can download titles such as Little Britain.

Until now, most BBC programmes found on peer-to-peer file-sharing networks have been illegal copies.

Beth Clearfield, vice president of program management and digital media at BBC Worldwide, said that the agreement was part of a drive to reach the largest audience possible.

'We are very excited to partner with Azureus and make our content available through this revolutionary distribution model,' she said.

Dorkland Participates: The Carl Sagan-Blog-A-Thon

If you're a blogger, this is one that you should spread around. From the Cornell University Chronicle Online:
Fans and bloggers are planning a worldwide blog-a-thon to commemorate the life and legacy of Carl Sagan -- consummate scientist, communicator and educator -- on Dec. 20, the 10th anniversary of his death. Sagan was Cornell's David Duncan Professor of Astronomy and Space Sciences.



Ten years ago bone marrow disease took one of the great popularizers of science from the world. Cosmos was an incredible television series that had a great impact on me in my youth.

"We are poised at the edge of forever." -- Dr. Carl Sagan

Today, on the anniversary of his death the blogosphere is saluting Dr. Sagan with the Carl Sagan Blog-A-Thon. Perhaps a chain of billions and billions of blogs will honor his memory.

Finding a copy of Cosmos on DVD is well worth the effort of tracking it down. The book is great too. My copy of the book has seen great use and wear throughout the years.

Dr. Sagan, I hope that your travels through the Cosmos are still as enlightening now as they were when you were here with us on Earth.

You can find the blog of Nick Sagan, Dr. Sagan's son, here.

On Google Video you can also find a NASA video of a 1972 panel on extraterrestrial life that features Sagan.

Tuesday, December 19, 2006

Cartoons inspire cosplay restaurant

Because the world just isn't goofy enough. There are some things that are just better when you let them introduce themselves...

Cartoons inspire cosplay restaurant
The only cartoon-themed restaurants that I've eaten at have been at theme parks and the only memorable one was Marvel Mania at Universal Studios, Hollywood. It has since closed down (probably because the food wasn't that great), but it was kind of entertaining to have Spidey hanging out at the dinner table. Perhaps drawing inspiration from that one selling point - that it is fun to sit with the characters - from such themed restaurants, a new cartoon-themed restaurant has opened up in Toronto that takes the theme further.

iMaid Cafe is a cosplay restaurant, which basically means that all the staff members are dressed in costumes and play a certain role. In this particular case, that role is of a maid from Japanese anime cartoons. 'I call them maids not waitresses,' said 24-year old Aaron Wang, the owner of the restaurant who is originally from Beijing. 'They smile a lot and they are cute. I want somebody cute like the characters from cartoons -- big eyes, long hair and young.'

[via Boing Boing]