Daily Illuminator Archive for July 2009

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July 1, 2009:
CONvergence is a convention in the Minneapolis area that's been getting a lot of buzz among my group of geek friends. So, for my vacation, I'm combining visits with family and friends with a busman's holiday, and will be attending CONvergence . . . read article

July 2, 2009:
Of course, when the scale is "1:1" and the item is question is a mech -- specifically, a RX-78-2 Gundam -- "model" becomes completely insufficient to describe it. Bandai has built the 18 meter tall structure in celebration of Mobile Suit Gundam's 30th anniversary . . . read article

July 3, 2009:
Nearly everyone knows Wikipedia, that treasure trove of knowledge occasionally corrupted by knuckleheads with more typing skill than sense. And we've all seen the various non-English versions on the http://www.wikipedia.org/ page . . . read article

July 4, 2009:
Happy Fourth of July! Here in the States, this day traditionally involves outdoor grilling and pyrotechnics . . . read article

July 5, 2009:
Sounds dry, doesn't it? But when the archives in question are online, searchable, and drawn from 49 London-area newspapers from 1800 to 1900, things get a bit more interesting . . . read article

July 6, 2009:
Now all you iPhone-using munchkins can get an unfair, yet completely legal, advantage when you play Munchkin or Munchkin Quest! The Munchkin Level Counter keeps track of your level (duh) . . . read article

July 7, 2009:
Or: Where was my e23 release last week? We were, indeed, closed from June 29 through Sunday July 5. Being out of the office last Thursday prevented us from doing our normal weekly upload of PDF awesomeness . . . read article

July 8, 2009:
Last time we told you about the likelihood of giant armored spiders roaming the countryside (short recap: Oh, it's comin'), but that was Mother Nature's fault . . . with just a little help from our industrialized society. Sensing somehow (spider senses?) that Mankind was flirting with disaster, someone has answered the call . . . read article

July 9, 2009:
Over the past couple of weeks, we've had staffers flying all over the country. Randy took a road trip north and then wandered over to Origins . . . read article

July 10, 2009:
Me" being Karol Bartoszynski, Road Warrior fan extraordinaire. He and his leather-clad friends from Roadwar USA love the Mad Max post-apocalyptic film series . . . read article

July 11, 2009:
Revolution! is currently on the boat, heading towards our warehouse, where we expect to turn it around to land on shelves in August. But there are copies out there, being played by MIBs at various times . . . read article

July 12, 2009:
(This may seem like a long trip, but this is just how my brain works sometimes.) So, I'm channel-surfing the other day, and see Jon Stewart doing something goofy with a bunch of fake coffee products . . . read article

July 13, 2009:
When the Evilbad Cartel fired a missile into the home of Anton Hollick, there was one thing they didn't count on. Joe Kuzenza. Now the Evilbad Cartel face a man that missiles couldn't kill. With him is his companion Rolphie, a talking dog uplifted by Hollick . . . read article

July 14, 2009:
Phil discovered the Dallas Games Marathon about a year ago, but has been too busy to return to the monthly festivities with anything like the frequency he'd like. So this month, between his vacation in June and our GenCon plans* in August, he's heading up . . . read article

July 15, 2009:
Another quarter has flown by, and that makes it time to recap the releases of our favorite digital retailer, e23. Here's the brand-new items: GURPS Hot Spots: Renaissance Florence GURPS Martial Arts: Gladiators GURPS Spaceships 3: Warships and Space Pirates GURPS Spaceships 4: Fighters, Carriers, and Mecha Pyramid #3/6: Space Colony Alpha Pyramid #3/7: Urban Fantasy Pyramid #3/8: Cliffhangers Transhuman Space: Personnel Files 2 - The Meme Team Vorkosigan Saga Sourcebook and Roleplaying Game The grand total is 9 releases, with a total of 564 pages . . . read article

July 16, 2009:
Everyone needs shelves. Eventually, everyone will need a coffin . . . read article

July 17, 2009:
So Phil asked me if I wanted to come along to the Dallas Games Marathon. And I said "Sure." A couple of days of gaming sounds like a very good idea . . . read article

July 18, 2009:
Anyone can roll dice. But for online games, you need an objective roller, capable of generating as many rolls as you need . . . read article

July 19, 2009:
Everyone uses and abuses it, but does anyone ever think to ask the Internet for its opinion? No, too busy selfishly ego-surfing and what not . . . read article

July 20, 2009:
GURPS Classic: IOU! We all know the joke. "What does the O stand for?" Well, maybe that's the wrong question to ask . . . read article

July 21, 2009:
Suspended animation" has been a staple of science fiction for years. So far, it's still science fiction . . . read article

July 22, 2009:
We've got two new bookmarks we created for Fairy Dust and Waiting for Santa. We're saving them for the release dates . . . well, except for the handful SJ took to LibertyCon a few weeks ago . . . read article

July 23, 2009:
The Alcor open house will still take place at our office Saturday at 4pm, as planned. At the moment, though, it looks as though the medical professionals from Alcor will not be here; they've been called to a standby . . . read article

July 24, 2009:
This month marks eight years since Munchkin was first shipped from our warehouse. The first print run was 6,000 copies; the second run was only five months later . . . read article

July 25, 2009:
Back in 1994, Jupiter got punched in the eye. Well, not the "eye" of the Great Red Spot, but Comet Shoemaker-Levy 9 did slam into the gas giant with enough force to cause an impact spot the size of Earth . . . read article

July 26, 2009:
Here at e23, we're always trying to do what we can to make our products the best we can. And sometimes, that means making existing products even better. Case in point? . . . read article

July 27, 2009:
Dice. We all started with the classic six-sider in those boardgames we played as kids . . . read article

July 28, 2009:
Um . . . All, uh, words? . . . read article

July 29, 2009:
How's this for a denial? "We completely understand the public's concern about futuristic robots feeding on the human population, but that is not our mission." Harry Schoell is the CEO of Cyclone Power Technologies, makers of the Energetically Autonomous Tactical Robot (EATR). I would SO like to shake the hand of whoever came up with that acronym . . . read article

July 30, 2009:
Yesterday, the pallets of Revolution! arrived in our warehouse. Next Monday, the massive flood of cases will begin to flow, from us to various distributors to the shelves of your favorite game store . . . read article

July 31, 2009:
Back in 1980, when Steve Jackson Games was just a fledgling publisher, Elisabeth Zakes handled editing, playtesting, and the million other hats everyone at a start-up wears. She wandered away after a time, but now has returned! . . . read article

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