Daily Illuminator Archive for November 2005

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November 1, 2005:
We took the day off and played games. There was also a certain amount of dress-up . . . read article

November 2, 2005:
Tiny parasitic wasps, which do not sting and have a very acute sense of smell, are being trained as living "chemsniffers" by two Georgia researchers. Read the Washington Post story . . . read article

November 3, 2005:
How busy are we with In Nomine stuff this week? So busy that Scott Haring and I both needed the core rules this afternoon . . . read article

November 4, 2005:
What's new at Steve Jackson Games? Find out tonight when GURPS Line Editor Sean Punch and Managing Editor Chris Aylott hold a chat in the Pyramid auditorium . . . read article

November 5, 2005:
Visit RPG.net for this thorough and well-written review of GURPS Banestorm. And we're not just saying that because the good Reverend liked the book! . . . read article

November 7, 2005:
I've actually been back from "vacation" for a week. I put "vacation" in quotes because I am advised that proper vacationing is not easy; that one needs practice to get it right; and that I should not really call it a vacation if I was reading e-mail several times a day and jumping to respond to anything from two real estate agents, two lawyers, and several staffers dealing with various aspects of the new office . . . read article

November 8, 2005:
Time for my annual reminder to get that flu shot. No, I haven't gotten MINE yet . . . read article

November 9, 2005:
This past weekend the folks at BoardGameGeek.com held the first of what will hopefully become annual conventions. BGG.con was one of the most enjoyable cons I've had the opportunity to attend . . . read article

November 10, 2005:
No, no, we're not mad at it or anything . . . This year's Games 100 has once again named a Steve Jackson Games title to its list . . . read article

November 11, 2005:
If you wear this headset, you can be steered with a joystick like a toy car. Read the CNN story, and fear the day when they won't need the headset . . . read article

November 12, 2005:
The final pieces of art are arriving for GURPS Traveller: Interstellar Wars. Munchkin 4: The Need for Steed will go to the printer next week. We've gotten the keys to the new office, and the long process of packing 20+ years of reference material, contracts, first drafts, and tracking documents into big brown boxes has begun . . . read article

November 13, 2005:
NEC in Japan has released PaPeRo, short for "Partner-type Personal Robot." It has a vocabulary of 3,000 phrases, can recognize faces, and has a host of other tricks. The manufacturer sees it as something that can help to tutor children . . . read article

November 14, 2005:
Since the first episode aired, gamers have been drawing parallels between Joss Whedon's Firefly and the classic SF RPG, Traveller. The main character opts out of the military with a ship, some skills, and not much else. The shipment of cargo (some of it even legal) is the group's primary occupation . . . read article

November 15, 2005:
Look, our new office! You can see it pretty well despite the presence of Black Vans 5, 17, and 23 . . . read article

November 16, 2005:
Today - Wednesday, November 16- the In Nomine Core Rules go up in PDF form. Then on Friday, November 18, get psychic with the first GURPS Traveller supplement for e23, Psionics Insitutes! . . . read article

November 17, 2005:
As I write this, Austin's about to have its second freeze of the year - the first one was a fluke a few weeks ago, the earliest freeze ever, that didn't last long enough to make anybody miserable. But it's about to get cold for real . . . right, right, some of you would argue that Austin never gets REALLY cold, but I'm a wimp, and when it gets close to freezing, that's plenty cold enough for me . . . read article

November 18, 2005:
There's a stereotype that RPG authors are bald overweight men with facial hair. Well, GURPS author Jonathan Woodward (Hellboy RPG, GURPS Banestorm) is in fact all those things, but he's also a candidate for The 8 Hunks of Hanukkah under the name "woodwardiocom" . . . read article

November 19, 2005:
Here you see the "battleship," the one-time machine shop that has served as our warehouse for the last couple of decades. It's about 100 feet long, 25 feet wide, and two and a half stories tall . . . read article

November 20, 2005:
Looking to break in as a writer for Steve Jackson Games? Our new and improved wish list is back online! . . . read article

November 21, 2005:
The Steve Jackson Games offices will be closed this Thursday and Friday, November 24 and 25, in observance of the Thanksgiving holiday. No one will be here to take phone calls and no orders will be processed. Pyramid will post Friday morning, as usual . . . read article

November 22, 2005:
Yesterday, November 21, marked a full Mars year of duty for the rover Spirit . . . and it's still going strong. You can read more at NASA's Rover site . . . read article

November 23, 2005:
Fantasiapelit, in addition to being Steve Jackson Games' only Finnish distributor, runs a chain of excellent retail outlets. As Tuesday was their 20th anniversary, they're having sales and celebrations all week, culminating in an all-day extravaganza on Saturday! . . . read article

November 24, 2005:
Today is Thanksgiving here in the States, and as a result, the office is closed. We'll all be home, giving thanks for turkey, cranberries, and a pie of some sort . . . read article

November 25, 2005:
GURPS Traveller: Interstellar Wars is coming along nicely. The editing is complete, the layout is finished, and the final bits of art are coming in on time . . . read article

November 26, 2005:
Okay, the weekend is well past by now, but . . . Saturday I was at my alma mater, Rice University in Houston, for a Game Day. 'Twas fun . . . read article

November 27, 2005:
We have a couple bits of GURPS Powers news to share. The first two samples arrived from the printer just before the holidays . . . read article

November 28, 2005:
It's a holiday tradition - filling footwear with toys and candy. But what if you're buying online? . . . read article

November 29, 2005:
Vignettes help create a memorable experience with a gaming book. For instance, in GURPS Banestorm's seventh chapter, one Varlak the Northman has his final confrontation with his nemesis, a necromancer . . . read article

November 30, 2005:
I write today with bad news, good news, and other news. The bad news: Our poster printer has died a horrible, ghastly death . . . read article

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