Daily Illuminator Archive for May 2005

All Archives

May 1, 2005:
Some "advanced civilizations" we have in this galaxy. They've got all the technology, but they make us do all the heavy lifting . . . read article

May 2, 2005:
I've had a very scattered few days, so here's a scattered Illuminator. Shuffling Along Finally got my iPod Shuffle (I know Apple insists on decapitalizing it, but that's stupid and I'm not playing) . . . read article

May 3, 2005:
Ever since I could read, I've known the story of the ivory-billed woodpecker . . . the largest North American woodpecker, and red-black-and-white monster with a wingspan of nearly three feet . . . which, as far as anyone knew, had gone extinct just a few years before I was born. So all my life I've been following purported sightings and thinking "Wouldn't it be great? . . . read article

May 4, 2005:
MIT. It might seem to you that this is rather late notice . . . but, of course, anyone who reads the announcement later can still come, as long as they've got a time machine . . . read article

May 5, 2005:
As of today, some of our people have traded hats. Despite the old saying, a change is NOT as good as a vacation . . . but sometimes a bit of change is good, and I'm hoping that this little redeployment will let people play to their strengths a bit better . . . read article

May 6, 2005:
Want to know what's worse than the nine-to-five grind? Watching someone else's nine-to-five grind . . . read article

May 7, 2005:
The folks at The CaBil put e23's online PDF business and Warehouse 23's online mail order business together in a new way we hope we'll see more of our vendor partners try in the future. The CaBil has a miniatures game called Budget Battlefield, and a strange game world for it called The Way of War, and some cool miniatures, all for sale on Warehouse 23 . . . read article

May 8, 2005:
If you're a Black Op, anyway. Or running a GURPS Black Ops campaign . . . read article

May 9, 2005:
Gotta love the Google Maps. Nothing like saying "Hey! . . . read article

May 10, 2005:
Lawrence Watt-Evans - author of a lot of good SF and fantasy; if you don't know his name, visit Amazon, spend some money, and thank me later - is trying an experiment in online publishing. I, personally, am a fan of his "Ethshar" series, which started with The Misenchanted Sword. . . and, as so often happens, that series has an enthusiastic following which is just not large enough to induce the publisher to contract him for more books . . . read article

May 11, 2005:
As we reported last week, there was a Time Traveler Convention on May 7th on the MIT campus. There is now an update online as to what happened . . . read article

May 12, 2005:
Steve Jackson Games announces for release in September, 2005: 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 know to create every kind of amazing, off-the-chart superhero you can imagine . . . as well as high-powered fantasy "spellcasters," wuxia fighters, shamans who command spirits . . . even gods! . . . read article

May 13, 2005:
Is Earth's natural machinery two-thirds gone? What's the story with evolution and intelligent design? . . . read article

May 14, 2005:
If you haven't seen the BBC story, you'll probably be interested. These self-assemblers are not going to turn Jupiter into a new star any time soon, or even a mortal paradise, but it's a start . . . read article

May 15, 2005:
Lisa Steele, author of GURPS Mysteries (which is still the best e23 selling file ever), is quoted on the "CSI effect" on juries in this op-ed piece in the Wall Street Journal . . . read article

May 16, 2005:
Most documentation, of all kinds, is so bad that it makes my head hurt. Game rules, in general, are full of ambiguities . . . read article

May 17, 2005:
Our GURPS projects have not been moving along quickly for the past few months, but they're moving. Here's a status report on the ones at the front of the pipeline: The GURPS Character Assistant is actually going quite smoothly . . . read article

May 18, 2005:
Do you people imagine for a moment I WANT to think of this stuff? It just . . . appears. (1) A Babylon 5 - MegaTokyo crossover: Sad Girl In Spoo. (2) A Zen RPG . . . read article

May 19, 2005:
This is the latest release from Steve Jackson Games, now on its way to distributors everywhere and soon to be on the shelves of a game store near you: SPANC SPANC Them All! Life is good when you're a Space Pirate Amazon Ninja Catgirl . . . read article

May 20, 2005:
You may not want to visit this site if you're feeling down . . . it's only going to add grease to that slippery slope. But if you have a high tolerance for pain, this kind of art might appeal to you . . . read article

May 21, 2005:
But not in the vampiric way. No, this one is good news . . . read article

May 22, 2005:
Congratulations to Lisa Steele, whose GURPS Mysteries remains the e23 chart-topper, and has just broken 300 copies sold. Does this mean we're going to go exclusively to PDFs? . . . read article

May 23, 2005:
Flash games are good. Shooting zombies is good . . . read article

May 24, 2005:
Warehouse 23 has recently gained the ability to print 11" x 17" posters. Each is individually printed on high-quality photo satin paper, for bright, lasting colors and comes rolled up in a hard cardboard tube . . . read article

May 25, 2005:
Are you a silly person who knows someone with a camera? Do you own any black clothes? . . . read article

May 26, 2005:
This weekend I will be at Marcon, a large and ancient SF con in Columbus, Ohio. I was there many years ago, and had a great time . . . read article

May 27, 2005:
Man of Steel. Man of Tomorrow . . . read article

May 28, 2005:
New doings at our online store . . . We've celebrated a few milestones over at e23, but this week we got to celebrate a milestone for one of our vendors . . . read article

May 29, 2005:
At Marcon. Having good time . . . read article

May 30, 2005:
The Mount Diablo Buckwheat isn't as charismatic as the ivory-billed woodpecker . . . but it's still good news . . . read article

May 31, 2005:
Master munchkin (and translator) Birger Kraemer reports from Germany: Munchkin was the most successful (e.g. played and sold) game at NordCon Hamburg (6,500 gamers). The local Crusade Tournament was won by all five finalists . . . read article

TopDaily Illuminator Archives


Steve Jackson Games
Top of Page | Home