Monday, December 05, 2005

Q-Unit - Greatest Hits

Who knows how long this will be up (it seems like a couple of the sites have already been taken down, but this is a pretty brilliant Mash-Up of 50 Cent and Queen's Greatest Hits. Check them out while you still can.

Q-Unit - Greatest Hits

Note: This is a different link than the one on Boing Boing, that one appears to already be dead. Google is a great thing.

Sunday, December 04, 2005

USPS - 2006 Commemorative Stamps

From part-way down the page:

USPS - 2006 Commemorative Stamps

"DC Comics Super Heroes Ten comic book heroes will be saluted on the 'DC Comics Super Heroes' stamps next summer. Half of the pane of 20 will be portraits of the characters; the other half will show individual comic book covers devoted to their exploits. The characters include Aquaman, Batman, The Flash, Green Arrow, Green Lantern, Hawkman, Plastic Man, Supergirl, Superman and Wonder Woman."

Here is a link to a jpeg of the stamps.

Thursday, December 01, 2005

MAKE: DIY GPS tracking

MAKE: DIY GPS tracking

"DIY GPS tracking with 'disposable' phones - Mod a GPS enabled Nextel and fauxjack yourself...or your car, or your kid, or a big dog, or an elephant. We really, really want to track an elephant. Mologogo is a free service that will track a 'friends' GPS enabled cell phone from another phone(gps not required) or on the web. It currently works on pretty much any Nextel phone with Java and GPS - even a $60 no-contract Boost Mobile phone."

Tuesday, November 29, 2005


Stills from the upcoming Aeon Flux movie (opening in theaters 12-2-05...this upcoming Friday). Playing at a theater near you.
Aeon Flux Gallery

Stills from the upcoming Aeon Flux movie (opening in theaters 12-2-05...this upcoming Friday). Playing at a theater near you.
Aeon Flux Gallery

Stills from the upcoming Aeon Flux movie (opening in theaters 12-2-05...this upcoming Friday). Playing at a theater near you.
Aeon Flux Gallery

Stills from the upcoming Aeon Flux movie (opening in theaters 12-2-05...this upcoming Friday). Playing at a theater near you.
Aeon Flux Gallery

Stills from the upcoming Aeon Flux movie (opening in theaters 12-2-05...this upcoming Friday). Playing at a theater near you.
Aeon Flux Gallery

Aeon Flux Still Gallery

Below are some stills from the upcoming Aeon Flux movie (opening this upcoming Friday). Be sure to also check out the official movie web site.

Monday, November 28, 2005

Bosnia unveils Bruce Lee bronze

Bosnia unveils Bruce Lee bronze

"A bronze of martial arts legend Bruce Lee has been erected in the Bosnian city of Mostar - a day before a second statue of him is unveiled in Hong Kong.

"The life-size 1.68 metre statue depicts the Chinese-American actor in a typical defensive fighting position.

"Hong Kong unveils its own statue of the kung-fu star on Sunday, at a ceremony to be attended by Lee's widow Linda.

"The Mostar unveiling was attended by the ambassadors of China and Germany, both of whom assisted the project.

"The city witnessed fierce fighting between rival ethnic factions in the 1992-95 war.

"Symbol

"It remains split with Bosnian Muslims, Croats and Serbs still deeply divided.

"Lee was chosen by organisers as a symbol of the fight against ethnic divisions.

"'We will always be Muslims, Serbs or Croats,' said Veselin Gatalo of the youth group Urban Movement Mostar.

"'But one thing we all have in common is Bruce Lee.'

"Lee, who died in 1973 at the age of 32, was born in the US but moved to Hong Kong as a child.

"The statue there will be unveiled on what would have been the Enter the Dragon star's 65th birthday."

Sunday, November 27, 2005

Risus In Print

S. John Ross' rules very light RPG, Risus, is now available as a POD product through Lulu.com. A very interesting system, and S. John is a designer full of interesting ideas. It is ironic, though, that a six page RPG now comes in a 200 page edition.

If you haven't check it out yet, you should. The Risus homepage can be found here.

Google Blog Search

Never one to leave any stone (ever) unturned, Google now has a Blog Search in Beta. I'm sure this this old news to some, but not to me. Enjoy.

Google Blog Search

GURPS Powers

This is something that I want to plug for a couple of reasons. First, it is going to be a kick-ass book. Finally, with Fourth Edition, GURPS is able to handle super-powered characters. Second, I get my first GURPS Playtest credit in this (check the Table of Contents preview) which is pretty darn cool for me.

My first "professional" attempt at becoming a game designer was back in 1986. After seeing a "want list" for proposals (back in Roleplayer, the zine for GURPS that SJG originally published) for the first edition of GURPS Supers, I sent in a proposal. It was awful and, rightly so, I received a rejection letter about it. It was a personal rejection from Steve Jackson though, which I actually thought was pretty cool.

If you haven't yet, you really need to check out GURPS 4e, it is the best version of the system to date.

GURPS Powers

"Save the World . . . or Destroy It!

"GURPS Powers is the ultimate book for the ultimate characters in the new Fourth Edition of GURPS! Here's everything you need to create every kind of amazing, off-the-chart superhero you can imagine . . . as well as amazing wizards, wuxia fighters, shamans who command spirits . . . even gods!

"Written by GURPS Line Editor and Fourth Edition co-author Sean Punch, GURPS Powers introduces some new rules, but it is mostly about using the rules that are already in the GURPS Basic Set to cover superpowered characters, megawizards, and earth-shattering psionics. GURPS Powers also include guidelines for 'special effects' and several different ways to vary a power on the fly -- two crucial concepts for comic-book superheroics.

"GURPS Powers is a Fourth Edition GURPS book that completely replaces the Third Edition books GURPS Supers and GURPS Psionics. Like our other Fourth Edition supplements, it's a gorgeous 240-page, full-color hardback.

"If you've got a high-powered campaign . or high-powered players . you want GURPS Powers!"

Saturday, November 26, 2005

Get Killed By Stephen King!

Here's a cool one for geeks...win an ebay Celebrity auction and become a character in a book by one of your favorite authors.

Writers' Plot Thickens Into Auction for Free Speech

"Now's your chance to die in a Stephen King novel or be portrayed 'in a good light' in the next thriller from John Grisham -- while championing the cause of free speech.

"That's the idea behind a charity auction on eBay that starts Sept. 1 and features 16 authors selling character names to the highest bidders. All proceeds go to the First Amendment Project, a nonprofit legal group dedicated to free speech."

Gamers Seeing Glitches in New Xbox

I'm not really a computer gamer, but I figured that this was worth passing along, since I am sure that there are video game playing dorks out there.

Gamers Seeing Glitches in New Xbox

"Microsoft's Xbox 360, the much-anticipated video game system that made its debut earlier this week, is apparently experiencing some technical glitches -- screens freezing only minutes into a game, for example -- and that has left some users pretty upset.

"At gamer-oriented Web sites, Xbox 360 owners have reported system crashes in games such as the space-marines-vs.-aliens title Quake 4." [Washington Post site does pop-ups]

Thursday, November 24, 2005

William S. Burroughs: A Thanksgiving Day Prayer

The link is a direct link to a .mov file of William Burroughs' Thanksgiving Prayer. Not your traditional prayer, but then Burroughs wasn't a very traditional person. I do, however, think that it is still pretty relevant in America today. It is well worth checking out, particularly if you aren't familiar with Burroughs' work. Just keep in mind that the link isn't very work-friendly.

Enjoy, and Happy Thanksgiving.

William S. Burroughs' Thanksgiving Prayer

Wednesday, November 23, 2005

Sustainable Housing for Refugees via Mass Production

While this may, or may not, take off here in the real world, this is something that could be of great use conceptually in Cyberpunk or other "dark future" types of role-playing games. Reading this reminded me of some of the imagery from Neal Stephenson's novel Snow Crash. Pile enough of these onto a decommisioned naval battleship and you have the Raft. Of course in a cyberpunk world, this type of thing would most likely end up being used for permanent housing.

Vestal Design

"The SHRIMP (Sustainable Housing for Refugees via Mass Production) is an attempt to bring housing and other relief to large displaced or homeless populations, especially those who have suffered in a natural disaster. Providing shelter to a family of four, it folds up into 1/4 of a shipping container for efficient deployment."

By the way, for those who haven't heard yet, R. Talsorian Games has announced that Cyberpunk v3 is finally done, and about to go to the printer. Will this actually happen in our lifetime? Who knows.

Monday, November 21, 2005

Open Core Quick



I am putting the finishing touches on my next project, and more "rules light" approach to a system. Like the baseline Open Core System, OCQ has been developed from the best in available open content. However, this is not just the Open Core System with some of the options cut out. OCQ is a complete role-playing system that has been structed from the ground level to be fast and robust, with many system difference between it and the parent system.

Playtesting of the book is winding down and I am finishing the layouts...getting them into just the look that I want them to have. People who have been playtesting and people who have seen the early layouts have been really impressed with things. I think that I have developed the system that I really want with this one (not that I don't want the other system).

OCQ will be available through the usual outlets, as well as our new online retailer of Steve Jackson Games' e23 store...once we've finished all of the paperwork for the site. Keep your eyes open for more information.

Saturday, November 19, 2005

Baen Books to launch online sf mag edited by Eric Flint

Boing Boing: Baen Books to launch online sf mag edited by Eric Flint

"Copyfighting SF writer Eric Flint will be editing a new online adventure sf magazine for his publisher, Baen Books. The magazine will be called Baen's Astounding Stories.

"The magazine will focus on publishing side-stories from the long-running serials that are Baen's stock-in-trade, and promises to pay enough that writers could make a substantial portion of their living from for them."

Monday, November 14, 2005

Boing Boing: Sony anti-customer technology roundup and time-line

Here's a round-up up what Sony's been up to lately:

Sony anti-customer technology roundup and time-line

"Since Hallowe'en, we've been posting the details about he revelations relating to Sony's DRM systems, which show jaw-dropping contempt for their customers, for copyright law, for fair trading and for the public interest. With all these posts strung out over a couple weeks, I thought it was high time we put together an omnibus post, summing up all the posts to date."