Programming, NaNoWriMo, Gaming and Social News, the Socialist Tide

[tcpip]

Not surprisingly both prior employers have contacted me asking for advice. One requested that I come back in the future saying "that your finger is really on the pulse" on what needs to be done. Er, thanks but no thanks. I still have one hefty web contract outstanding and as such I've spent quite a lot of time reviewing and rebuilding my Apache, PHP and MySQL knowledge along with installing OpenSuSE in preference to Ubuntu on my desktop - and just in time for major changes between Novell and Microsoft. Further, because it rocks, I've started programming in Free Pascal, something I haven't done for a good fifteen years.

Also simpy because I can I've joined NaNoWriMo yesterday. My novel is entitled "The Outcast Girl" and is loosely based on the Ten Thousand Islands PBeM roleplaying game I ran many months ago. In a nutshell, it's a historical and anthropological study of Malay society in the early sixteenth century, with a monomythic narrative. Two thousand words done, fourty-eight thousand to go!

Gaming this week consisted of further development in our DragonQuest world (I'm really enjoying the additional grounding in the earth sciences this is giving me), a new initiative system for AD&D that actually makes sense, Urban Arcana last Sunday where the noble PCs saved St Kilda's prostitutes from a "Jack The Ripper" demon, and Diplomacy and Carcassonne (courtesy of anthanum on Tuesday. Came second in Diplomacy, but was thoroughly thrashed in Carcassonne, which I played for the first time. The latter is really quite a brilliant production. The rules are very simple but the strategic depth is excellent. Social life included a wonderful fourtieth birthday party for splodgenoodles with culinary delights provided by tenbears and halloween drinks and zombie movies with severina_242 and _zombiemonkey

In world politics over recent months I've noticed a run of victories for various left-wing and socialist parties, including the re-election of Lula in Brazil, the re-election of the socialist president in Bulgaria, a surprise win by the Social Democrats in Austria, and even little Montenegro. The only exception is Congo where the politics are personality-based rather than ideological. Alongside all of this, the world's biggest union has just been formed. Is the world going a slight shade of red without the mass media noticing? And what will this mean for that Stern Report? It takes New Zealand newspaper to accurately display Australia's view.

Comments

[tcpip.livejournal.com]

Oh, only for about twenty five years or so. Even did some writing for ICE once upon a time.

My collection, others will attest, is indeed mighty.

[anthanum.livejournal.com]

truly it is :)

[tcpip.livejournal.com]

I should mention I picked up 54 Dragon magazines yesterday as well. There's quite a lot of reading there; I've already picked up two useful articles for my Sunday AD&D game...

[goatunit.livejournal.com]

Yeah, I've got a nice collection myself. I've got a nearly complete set of Planescape books, a complete set of 3rd Edition Forgotten Realms (with a healthy sum of 2nd Edition for reference), and quite a few early AD&D Modules (Tomb of Horrors, White Plume Mountain, etc). I'm very proud of it.

Do you play any White Wolf? We've got a nice World of Darkness campaign going. Mortal characters in 1930's Louisiana, dealing with Voodoo practitioners, Indian Burial grounds and a submerged French Colonial Cemetery.

[tcpip.livejournal.com]

Planescape - now there's a setting that's a lot of fun for higher level D&D characters. I always quite liked those appendicies in the Players Handbook about the Planes of Existence. Not a bad bit of syncretic mythology on Mr. Gygax's part.

I have played a fair bit of WoD in my time and the particular game your playing sounds very good. It sounds like a southern version of Deadlands.

[goatunit.livejournal.com]

I haven't played much beyond D&D. Just a little WoD and even less GURPS. We've always just messed with the D&D rules to fit whatever we're playing. We do a lot of historical settings, like the English Civil War and Spanish Missionaries in the New World. That kind of thing. But I love Planescape to pieces.

[tcpip.livejournal.com]

The English Civil War is a great setting. I've written up some draft notes for a game based in that period myself. I was hoping to do it for the new edition of Basic Role Playing which Chaosium is planning to release early next year.

[curufea.livejournal.com]

You mean - there are IT folk out there that DON'T roleplay?
;-p

[tcpip.livejournal.com]

I've met a couple in my time... But only a couple. And they should.

[reddragdiva]

OHHH NO WE SHOULDN'T.

[tcpip.livejournal.com]

*sotto voce*

Of course, Mr. Diva decided that indie rock was more fun than fantasy and science fiction. That's the sort of fanzine he ended up with.