sigtrent

Buy our stuff! Or simply marvel at our sillyness :)

sigfried@gmail.com — Tue, 23 Jun 2009 00:06:07 GMT

My talented wife Anne has created an on-line gerage sale.

Instead of hocking our wears on the street corner we have decided to make them digital and available to the public through the might of the internet.

Most of the items are games or game related and a few of them are pretty much new. We also have the special "next time we see you" delivery method which is free but not always timely.

You can find this wonderland of merchendice at...
http://store.annetrent.com/

Shop smart, shop Anne's Mart ;)

Celebrating Anne's Graduation

sigfried@gmail.com — Sun, 15 Mar 2009 20:24:39 GMT

Your invitation for Anne’s graduation!

Anne is getting her bachelors in computer science this weekend to celebrate we are hosting a couple of gaming events on the weekend of March 27^th.

Friday the 27^th is games and Lasagna night @ 5:00 PM to LATE

· Gamers and non gamers welcome

· Board games and card games will be played, bring a favorite if you like

· Console games like Rock Band 2 are also on tap

· Sigfried will run some 4E demo games (volunteer DMs also welcome!)

· Movies, Anime, and drinks are on tap

· Find out if the cake is a lie

· Party starts at 5pm

Sunday the 29^th is LAN party and pancakes day @ 8:00 AM TO LATE

· Come early, bring a computer/console, and settle in for a long day of computer and/or console gaming.

· You are welcome as early as 8am and can stay until the wee hours of the night

· We have a couple older systems available for those not wanting to bring a rig

· Bringing a hub and network cable if you have one is encouraged, although we also have wireless

· Pancakes will be provided in the morning, food will be summoned for lunch and dinner

· Console and handheld gamers are also welcome although screen space is somewhat limited

· Please RSVP for Sunday

Where is it? Our house is at

14510 12^th Ave NE

Shoreline, WA 98155

206-245-6278 or 206-465-6315

KEXP Fund Raising

Anne did her senior internship at KEXP, a great local radio station. She requests that family members wishing to offer money as a graduation gift instead donate to KEXP. At the party we will also have a KEXP donation box. KEXP buttons and bumper stickers abound! Free KEXP Vol 4 CD & KEXP Shirts to the top 4 donations above the $80 range.

Sig endorses Capital One credit card

sigfried@gmail.com — Fri, 13 Mar 2009 07:09:58 GMT

Why Capital One is a good Credit card company

Their on line payment system is really nice and easy to use
When they change terms the letter you get is easy to read and up front about the changes
You can build your own card which is quite cool
You can put your own picture on it
Their rewards system is easy to use, just buy tickets with the card and it credits your points against the charge, easy!
At end of year you get a booklet showing all your expenses for the year and breaking them down in various ways with graphs and charts.
Nice helpful people on the phone
They call you right away when any suspicious charges show up on the card.
Their commercials are usually amusing.

Pretty much at every turn they have been cool and surprised me with their excellent service while every other card I have has been basically neutral or somewhat deceptive.

Stress and Sigfried

sigfried@gmail.com — Fri, 23 Jan 2009 16:44:51 GMT

Generaly stress doesn't bug me too bad. I have stuff to do, I do it, or I chill a bit and then do it. Except for whan I'm relaxing I feel about the same general level of stress and anxiety most of the time which is a bit but certainly not enough to really bug me out.

But there are two areas where stress gets the better of me.
#1. Is that when I'm good and tired I'm not as on my game as I could be, with low energy levels I'm just not as smart or as good as I am at high levels and long periods of stress and work will make me tired.

#2 Is that when very stressed it also means very busy and there just isn't much room for the unplanned or unexpected making it much harder to sucesfully adapt to changes which can lead to a point of failure and I really don't like points of failure, especialy when that point is me.

The answer that works most often is to keep at it things, focus on the tasks at hand and eventualy everything gets taken care of. It helps having a lot of faith in that plan and it pretty much always works out in the end. The backup plan is to just put the universe on hold adn take a long nap, which is also pretty effective but more of a last resort.

Off to kick some ass,
Sig

Victories and Defeats

sigfried@gmail.com — Wed, 21 Jan 2009 06:00:52 GMT

The Obama inaguration was nice. The CEO at MRS gave us leave to watch it during work hours, were a pretty leftie kind of office which I find a bit embarasing and comforting at the same time. I usualy try to leave politics to the internet or the rare soul who likes arguing about it. It was cool to see a president give a speach I could imagine myself giving and saying the kinds of things I often say when roused to patriotism. I hope he does great things.

On the work front I had a down right awesome day. I think I managed to make everyone at my companie a few noches happier, especialy the CEO and my department head. I think our customers will be happy too. I got my promotion thing a day ago and since then I believe I've pretty well blown folks socks off. Now for the follow through!

At home we did our first try at the P90X workout. It kicked my ass in the first 15 minuts and I couldn't raise my arms more than an inch from my sides without horribile pain. Not a good sign. Gladly they calmed down about 15 minutes later and I mimed my way through the rest of the workout. I rather liked it though. Its a very mantastic kind of exercise video and when exercising my more primitive mind takes center stage so it was happy to have someone to relate to.

Final Score: Heart 1, Brain 1, Body 0

Success and ambition

sigfried@gmail.com — Tue, 13 Jan 2009 07:45:32 GMT

Its been ages since I blogged, please forgive me. :)

I've been cranking away at work making software and verifying what I suspected, I'm better at managing than doing actual work. Not that managing isn't hard work in its own fashion but I'm definately more productive helping others be productive than grinding away on things on my own.

I've gotten some rave reviews from those I work for and gotten a lot of concrete results. I still feel like I could do a way better job with more expereince and more preperation but so far so good. After only 6 months I've been offered something of a promotion. Instead of driving the used car I've been offered the new experimental model, and can keep the old car too if I like. I was even offered to set the terms of said assignment to some extent.

The only tricky bit is there is little time to strategize or ponder. Desicions are needed soon. I've either got to pass on the opportunity or double down on my 6 months of expereince and apparent natural talent. Its already a very challenging job so I'll need good strategy to make this work. All those years of gaming are paying off amusingly enough.

I'm sure I'll be doubling down. Its my time to be ambitions for a while I think. But I've got to do this right or it could be the end of a pretty sweet run of successes.

Looking for software testers

sigfried@gmail.com — Fri, 01 Aug 2008 19:23:32 GMT

My company, and I are looking for a strong software tester. If you think you might be interested or know someone who is, the details of the job are behind the cut... (assuming I figure out how to do that...)

Software Tester

MRS, Inc. is proud to be the leading manufacturer of mammography reporting software for over 15 years. Our products are sold worldwide, and have the reputation of being the finest in the industry.

Come grow with us. We are expanding and are seeking a skilled software tester to be a part of our development teams. This position requires a strong team player with 2-4 years of software testing experience. We offer an attractive benefits package and a comfortable atmosphere. Salary is DOE.

Please send resume and salary history to hr@mrsys.com.

Responsibilities include:

Function within the Microsoft Solutions Framework model as a tester for multiple development teams. In that testing role, independently verify that the product meets requirements and is viable. Plan testing and develop schedules for each phase of each project. Execute tests and report results. Verify bug fixes. Contribute to usability testing. Perform configuration testing. The ideal candidate will have experience in software testing and in the use of an automated testing tool. This position involves scripting & testing, documentation of testing procedures, as well as assistance with the creation and proofreading of technical and user documentation.

Skills:

· Familiar with enterprise wide systems; testing both functionality and technology

· Experience with both Microsoft Office Suite, SharePoint and Microsoft Visio is required

· Knowledge of SQL Server and related databases

· Experience with medical terminology a plus

· Experience with the development of Web Based applications for the Internet / Intranet a plus

· Ability to work under pressure and independently in a fast paced environment

· Ability to work independently or in teams where necessary

· Must be a team player and willing to work with internal and external resources

· Must be detail oriented with good analytical skills

· Must have solid verbal and written communication skills

Minimum Education/Experience Required:

· BS or BA in MIS, Computer Science or related field or 2 to 4 years experience testing for a large scale application with complex rules

· 2-4 years related experience testing for a large scale application with complex rules and

New Places

sigfried@gmail.com — Mon, 30 Jun 2008 21:42:01 GMT

I just got done with almost a full week off of work (I popped in the office for a few hours to pack things for a building move). It sure was nice to chill a week, although really mostly what I did was catch up on video gaming and hanging about with my lovely wife. Good times. I had thought to do more project work but I really didn’t feel motivated for much more than a few hours of it.

Anyhow, I’m in my new office for the first time. Actually it’s a cubical now, but for me it’s pretty much the same difference. I’m not a deeply private person and I provide my own distractions if others don’t do it for me. Anyhow the new building is much more corporate but also much nicer all around. It feels very professional and a little exciting.

I’m actually very fond of new and unfamiliar surroundings. I think it’s one of the things that drives my love of games as I like exploring spaces and learning the way things work there. It was fun exploring the new space, a little bit like having a new job.

Speaking of which, I applied for a new position at my office. It’s called a Program manager and is a bit more of a project management kind of gig rather than a pure coding job. It really is more my kind of deal as I program as a means to organize information rather than out of a love of code itself. I’ll know in about 2-3 weeks if I get the position.

A taste of venom

sigfried@gmail.com — Thu, 19 Jun 2008 03:45:33 GMT

Wizards of the Coast made their new license for publishing 4^th Edition material available this week along with the accompanying system reference document. I like 4E and I was looking forward to the license release but having seen it I am sorely disappointed.

When WOTC made the third edition they took the revolutionary step of publishing the rules under an open license called the OGL , and they licensed a logo for it under the d20 license. It let anyone publish their own D&D supplements and adventures so long as you followed a few basic rules. By using the license you similarly gave permission to others to use and build on your work. WOTC kept all their most of their supplemental material off limits, but the core game was there for everyone to play with.

Well this time they have drop kicked the whole “open” aspect and gone with a more traditional kind of license allowing people to publish 4E supplements. While that is still more than what most game publishers offer, there are a number of devils lurking in the details of the license. For starters it essentially punts any obligation on wizards part and proclaims its subject to change at any time without any notification and gives WOTC broad digression in determining what is or isn’t allowed under the license.

A troubling clause for many publishers is that any “conversion” of a project published under the OGL must be discontinued to publish a version of it under the GSL (game system license). Again WOTC reserves the right to judge what is a conversion and what is part of the same product line making this a potential danger for any company that has been successful with 3E products but would like to make 4E ones.

But the big killer for me is the SRD (system reference document) which has gone from a nearly complete set of core rules to a mere list of terms and game components. Instead of being able to incorporate the game rules into your publications you are merely allowed to make reference to them. Compared to the SRD of old, the new one is a useless pile of shit. Even in comparison to no SRD at all in has almost no value of any kind other than to name the things you cannot describe. What was once a fantastic gift to fans is now a barbed wire fence for publishers.

I can see how the license will still allow certain kinds of publications to be made, and I don’t think it is utterly worthless or believe that WOTC is eager to shut down independent publishers, but it is a big step backwards and extremely unattractive to fan projects. It is attractive to me as a non-profit content maker to simply give them the big metaphorical middle finger. It’s especially disappointing because I really like the rules system they have put together this time.

News from Sigland

sigfried@gmail.com — Wed, 04 Jun 2008 21:22:28 GMT

I’m delighted to see Obama get the tentative nod as democratic nominee. Politics rarely seem to choose the kinds of candidates I support, but this year both parties picked my favorites among their contenders. I’m solidly behind Obama but I’m very much looking forward to debates between the two. No doubt there will be plenty of BS but there will be some jewels of thought and debate in there under the spin. I think that in the end, Obama will win and if that happens it will be a pretty amazing moment.

I’m trying to plow through the 4E rules between all the other stuff I’m up to. It’s very interesting and I think I quite like it. I’m unsure how flexible the new class and powers systems are as they are currently presented. I’ll need to actually play to find out. But many of the other new mechanics seem very smart to me. Many have complained that the rules are too cold and without flavor. But for me the flavor has always been separate from the rules. My experience is that the art and context is what sets the stage for imagination, and not the mechanics which serve two rolls: a framework for the story telling, and simply a mechanical game to play. I think as a game, the new rules are pretty good.

I now have a mac and an ipod touch on my desk at work. We are looking at doing some iphone development and those are the tools of the trade. I’m excited as I got my start on macs and it’s been a long time since I played with one. The only down side is its one more “hazards unknown” kind of project that lately has made work kind of unproductive and frustrating as I fumble around in territory that isn’t my usual domain.

And that’s the news in Sigland.

Gaming update

sigfried@gmail.com — Fri, 30 May 2008 21:47:15 GMT

Well, I’ve been busy so I haven’t dipped deep into any game but I try to go to game after 10pm for at least an hour and I’ve squeezed in a bit of gaming elsewhere so I’ve tried out some new stuff.

DDO: Looking forward to next module with monks, still haven’t hardly played much of the last one…

Age of Conan: Played a few hours. Looks pretty, neat story/setting, average game play for an MMO.

NeverWinterNights 2: Finished main story with Anne and just started sequel. Great game, playing solo with evil character as well and about 1/3 the way through.

Starcraft the Board game: Got to play this at a friends. Really well designed IMO and lots of fun. Manages intense combat and strategy in a game under 4 hours (with 3 players) by getting you right into the action from turn 1 and having a decisive game mechanic for winning.

D&D 4^th Edition: Got a bootleg copy and am reading the rules. It’s very different, almost more so than 3.0 was from 2.0.

D&D 3.5: Had a good session a couple weeks back, always fun for me.

Pendragon: Final (or semifinal) session coming up next week. To arms!

Summer Sabbath goes live

sigfried@gmail.com — Fri, 30 May 2008 21:08:33 GMT

Ah summer is nearly here and with it a bit more free time for Anne and I.

I’m planning on trying out my Sunday Sabbath 2.0 for the summer. If you missed the original post the idea is to pick a day and to make sure you get a good bit of relaxation on that day of the week. I’m not sure if I’m doing it every week, but possibly every other week or every week there arn't special sunday plans.

So much like the religious Sabbath this one’s got some rules that I’ll be trying to follow

#1. No work or chores which are anything other than fun stuff you want to do

#2. No driving more than 5 miles and no going out to do errands

#3. Sleep in and go to bed early

#4. No schedules or alarms or timers of any kind, just ignore the clock (other than rule #3)

#5. Keep cooking to a minimum

#6. Encourage people to visit and share in the slackerdom

Sabbath 2.0

sigfried@gmail.com — Thu, 15 May 2008 22:53:56 GMT

So I was thinking today…

I was feeling pretty zippy thanks to recovering from a cold and getting lots of bed rest for a day. I have that lots to do so little time feeling, instead of the lots to, would rather play a game feeling I usually have J.

So I had a though that perhaps the whole Sabbath day concept is a pretty good idea from a purely humanist perspective and that it came up out of some common wisdom (as with many religious ideas). Pick a day (Sunday seems the best in M-F work life). Do nothing you feel obligated to do, only things you would find fun and relaxing. Sleep in and go to bed early or at least take a mid day nap (whatever works best for your natural cycle but definitely get at least 3-4 hours more sleep than you normally do.

Depending on who you are rules could vary. For me it would also be a space of time for casual socializing. No long trips or parties, just having friends round or visiting nearby friends in the middle of the day. You can do chores but only if you think it’s fun and relaxing to do them.

I’m thinking it would be hard to arrange at first but you could settle into it and it might just make life more pleasurable and help you be more productive the rest of the week. If you have a family you would have to get everyone on board for it of course.

I’m not sure I can do it myself these days but perhaps… At any rate I thought it was worth sharing and wondered what others thought.

What's New

sigfried@gmail.com — Wed, 14 May 2008 03:36:25 GMT

Not a lot. I've got a nasty little cold at the moment, trying to sleep this bad boy off with small bouts of wakefullness to cram food and take care of nessesities.

Life has been somewhat chalenging but none the less generaly good as of late. There never seems to be a shortage of obsticles and obligations but I always manage to pick my way through them and find some time for love and recreation, two of my favorite things in life!

I've been utterly defeated at work this last week. I'm trying to get a DLL to run from java script in a simple web page plugin and despite doing everything I'm apparently supposed to do, none of it is working. Thats the worst thing about working with "tech" there are just a million possiblilities of what might not be working and until you find it you can just get totaly shut down. I keep getting this kind of work at my job as of late as we try to get our product to work wtih other software but its always diggin around in things I just don't have any expereince with so its a lot of shooting in the dark and mostly missing the target.

Been mostly playing Neverwinter Nights 2 with Anne and am really enjoying it. A superb RPG. Its like TV, there are just too many good games these days to really enjoy them all and not be a hermit of some kind.

RPG Update

sigfried@gmail.com — Wed, 23 Apr 2008 18:23:55 GMT

Zobeck Game

This one wrapped up the current story although the group vows to start up a new story once we can get a workable version of 4E. It was a great game with great folks.

My Dwarven battle mage, Malkus, turned out to be quite the hero as he and his companions managed to lift the siege of Zobeck after many adventures and trials. He by persistence to get the powers to be accept that he was a Gryphon Knight and not a mere Gryphon Scout thus ensuring his legacy as the founding member of that soon to be glorious order.

Pendragon

My portly and un-pious but otherwise very knightly knight, Sir Havenor and his companions succeeded in their quest to save king authors kingdom by recovering the mystic whetstone so that sir Gwain could defeat the grey knight. Now we are riding to the tournament of dreams for a little jousting and intrigue.

It’s been quite a fun and laid back game with some very amusing players and GM.

Age of worms

My evil monk was reincarnated as an elf and decided that he was no longer feeling quite as evil. (He had lots of issues with his past and parents and he now feels like he’s got a chance for a new and different life.)

We are in the midst of a gladiatorial tournament while trying to investigate the nefarious deeds of the arena master. And yet over all this hangs a prophesy that when we win the tournament a great cataclysm will take place.

A very fun game but also one where the heroes seem ill suited to the challenges fate has allotted to them.

Sig update!

sigfried@gmail.com — Wed, 23 Apr 2008 18:10:01 GMT

Politics

I went to our legislative district caucus as an Obama delegate and Anne went as an alternate and was sworn in when a spot was available. It was quite interesting and ultimately a lot of fun. People were very excited and it was a crowd of folks that have strong opinions and like to speak their minds. The Obama camp had lots of political fist timers and populist types. The Clinton camp were more the experienced pragmatist, women with strong stands on women’s issues, and a smattering or folks with strong views on health care. I ended up sitting in what was unofficially the Clinton side of the auditorium so I got a nice sample of the folks there to support her.

After some introductions and such they go to taking requests to change the party platform. It was fun to listen to folks get up and propose additions or redactions from the given document. I got up and proposed they add a motion to end don’t ask don’t tell, and also to strike a motion to impeach George bush (something many spoke out against as being pointless political wrangling).

Then we broke up into groups by candidate and by region to pick state delegates. I did an uncharacteristically poor job of introducing myself for the job in my short speech (30 seconds) and wasn’t quite feeling up to gladhanding the room. Those that were chosen were the ones that went out of their way to work the room, person to person or who had a very flashy gimic for folks to remember them by. I did get some votes and many kind words so I wasn’t especially disappointed.

All in all it was a rather long day and pretty tiring but also exilerating and fascinating. I especially enjoyed policy discussions with various Clinton and Obama supporters there. It was a well informed and thoughtful crowd.

Gaming

The number one game for me at the moment is Neverwinter Nights 2. I couldn’t play it on my old machine without great frustration, but it is quite fun on my new system and it’s a game Anne and I can play together.

I’m still keen on DDO but I think about it more than I actually play it. I recently stepped down as leader of my guild because I didn’t have the time to be the kind of leader I think wanted to be. (aka I hardly played more than a couple hours a week) Guilty and gaming are a poor combination so I decided to disband my guild. It turns out the guild members were understanding but really didn’t want to find new guilds. After a period of indecision one of them decided they would rather take the reigns than let the guild go.

I’ve played a smattering of other games on my new rig just to see them in action. I’ll probably finish Bioshock again, on the hard setting this time. It’s really amazingly good.

Other stuff

I’m rolling out to a Linux fest this weekend with Brett and Sarah. It should be fun although I’m not any kind of Linux enthusiast. I like the ethos but I don’t generally like to tinker around with my computer these days.

Other than that I’m just trying to keep life moving along and help Anne with school. I’m studying operating systems this quarter as it’s the class she finds most challenging.

Sigland report

sigfried@gmail.com — Thu, 03 Apr 2008 18:56:10 GMT

Life in Sigland marches ever forward!

I’ve been busy lately, that’s not especially new. I’ve always struggled between a desire to have some ambition, a deep seeded love of being lazy and relaxed, and a sense of commitment to others and to things I enjoy. So there is always a tug of war between “Wouldn’t it be great to do X!” “I need to make sure I get Y done.” and “I’d like to just spend a whole day playing video games once in a while.”

Inspiration!

I’ve decided to do something uncharacteristically ambitions and see just how far I can take the whole democratic delegate thing. I wouldn’t say I’m giving 100%, but I’m going to use my charisma and wits to try and be a national delegate for Obama this year. This Saturday I hit the District Caucus and try to wrangle to be a state delegate. If that works I go to Spokane and try to be a national delegate. If I were to bet I’d say I get to state and get edged out by long time political players. Since I’ve never done it I have no idea.

Gaming!

Hardly any computer gaming since getting my new hot gaming system… ah the irony! Lots of PnP action. 3 games running, two bi weekly D&D games and one short term Pendragon game. Fortunately I’m not DMing any at the moment. I’m drooling over 4^th edition D&D coming out. I think I’ll like it. I’m trying to work on Netbook of Feats but it’s been low on the priority list. I have big plans for it though. I’m still doing the DDO podcast, more so than playing the game as of late. We got new audio software to try out. I have some vague plans to do more audio work.

I’m considering closing up my guild in DDO as I just don’t play enough now to be a good guild leader and I feel bad for my guildies who deserve better.

Money!

My life finances have entered a new stage. I now have a sort of flow from multiple income sources, multiple lines of credit, multiple bank accounts, and multiple savings accounts. It is beyond precise measurement and totally immune to short term fluctuation. Money flows hither and thither. I got a big tax refund coming this year due to 0 income from Anne and lots of education/homeowner deductions. While I’m doing a bit of borrowing on future earnings right now I’m also saving more than ever before in long term deposits. It’s a bit more like orchestra conducting than old fashioned budgeting these days.

Other!

We went to Sakura-Con for one day. It was fun, I was a bit inspired by a voice acting panel and generally had a good time. I’m not much of an Otaku though. Look forward to a Chiba Sigfried we commissioned!

We suspended toastmasters because it conflicts with Anne’s school schedule this quarter.

I decided I’m rather addicted to debating people. I knew this but I need to figure out the proper amount of debating that is stimulating without just wasting my time. I nuked almost all my links to boards at work to dissuade me.

Work goes well actually. After my annual review my boss threw me a bone and let me in on more of our new projects so it’s less boring and I’m more motivated. My job is great, just not especially exciting or interesting.

Tales of woe and joy

sigfried@gmail.com — Thu, 27 Mar 2008 23:44:23 GMT

The wife: Ann got some awesome grades this quarter after a metric ton of work by her and a fair bit of support from me. I’m quite proud considering how brutal her classes were.

The Computer: So we splurge and get new computers, build it yourself action. Very cool but I’m a newb so things don’t go so smooth for me. It starts with a struggle to get the CPU fan in place and cooling the CPU properly. I get it built, start installing and odd errors start happening. Seemingly at random the thing blue screens with various issues.

Round 2: I re-install the OS, but not much luck. Just when it looks stable it crashes like crazy.

Round 3: Anne says start over from scratch and I do that but still installing stuff pretty rapidly. Same errors after another 6 hours of installs are done. This time it crashes really hard and won’t reboot.

Round 4: Anne says start over and this time only install one driver at a time manually. I do this but none the less more random errors. I suspect/fear hardware problems.

Round 5: Anne takes the wheel and does a clean start using the patented Anne methods… still no luck, it randomly crashes. She is now on the hardware bandwagon.

Round 6: While I’m working Anne calls in my long time friend Dennis to help save me from land of the luddites. They re-install. They proceed to switch out every last piece of hardware in the box, including buying a new motherboard. Nope! Still crashing randomly.

Round 7: Ok, not every piece of hardware… one remains, the most expensive in the box, the CPU. We make a run to the store for another $400 item, hook it up and presto… no more errors. Probably my own fault for first running it without the fan firmly in place (it was close but apparently that doesn’t count in computer land). I only broke it just enough that it would crash only when heavily taxed… like when actually running software instead of just installing it. Wheee.

Huge thanks to my intrepid wife and my good friend Dennis for saving my techno bacon!

Stuff Happening

sigfried@gmail.com — Mon, 24 Mar 2008 23:09:20 GMT

So I got a sweet new computer (make it yourself style) but it isn’t behaving so well for me and ate up a lot of sleep and chill time trying to whip it into shape. (Note that whips are not especially effective, must try candy next time.) With help from my able wife who got her computer working after only two tries, I think I am on the cusp of computer functionality. It’s a sweet ride but not a gentle one.

A friend organized a 5pm to 2am night on the town as a kind of grown up prom event and kindly invited Anne and I. We got dressed up and partied all night long, Dinner, Pool, Dancing, and the inevitable crash at Beth’s Cafe. Lots of fun and good company but Anne fell ill the next day. Still, worth the price paid in cash and health.

Diet time is here again. The last one ended rather early and extravagantly as finals loomed and life became a blur. I’m going hard core, no excuses, no deviation, Atkins for a while and probably with some honest to goodness exercise thrown in. (Oh ya and trying not to dehydrate myself :P) I shall be a tower of iron will and bastion of good judgment!

Gary Gygax Thoughts

sigfried@gmail.com — Tue, 04 Mar 2008 21:31:06 GMT

You can’t really say enough good things about Gary Gygax in terms of geekdom. I never met him but he never felt very far away. I was the icon and the spirit behind a game that has shaped a good deal of my life and who I am. There were of course many others who put their soul into it, including myself, but we all walked a path that in many ways he walked first.

I don’t believe in life after death or resurrection or the like. But I do think that everyone and everything has a soul of sorts. It isn’t a ghost or spirit but the force of their life felt by everyone and everything around them. As you live your life it touches everything and ripples out entwining and changing the souls of others in an endless wave. So for me, Gary Gygax’s soul has been a companion of mine for some time. His spirit and imagination has shaped so many parts of my life it would be impossible to separate and identify them. It will go on that way long past his death, and I’ll be passing it on to everyone I know as well.

I’m rarely sad when someone dies after a life well lived. I don’t think there is anything more you can ask for in this world. I feel good that every time I roll some dice and play with my friends that I’m keeping his spirit alive in the world.

Playing and Politics

sigfried@gmail.com — Mon, 11 Feb 2008 20:53:37 GMT

I went to the Democratic Caucus this weekend. I was excited to have the vote here mean something and also to be able to support a candidate I’m actually quite excited about. Our caucus was very crowded as were many others and my precinct was mostly folks who had turned out for the first time ever. We started with a near even split of Clinton/Obama with a small lean to Obama. I spoke on behalf of Obama as did a few others and two spoke for Clinton. In the end two Clinton and two Undecideds moved to Obama which was enough to shift the delegate count from 3/3 to 2/4 in favor of Obama. So I really felt like I had an impact there. I signed up to be one of the Obama delegates. I really enjoyed the process.

On the gaming front I picked up Armageddon Empires which is an independently produced turn based strategy game. It’s like a weird mix of settlers of Catan, magic the gathering, and an old school war game all set in a post apocalyptic wasteland of humans, aliens, mutants, and robots. It’s a wonderful game but it suffers from a bad user interface, no multiplayer, and an inadequate AI. None the less the core mechanics and ideas are strategy gold and hits all my major gaming pleasure centers.

The new DDO expansion is also out and I like it very much even if I haven’t had the time to fully plumb it yet. I do like to take my MMOs kind of slow though.

Final urgings

1. If you like crunchy strategy check out Armageddon Empires

2. Vote for Obama for president J

3. Give DDO a try if you haven’t and are looking for an MMO to play

Gaming report

sigfried@gmail.com — Tue, 22 Jan 2008 21:56:15 GMT

I haven’t had a ton of gaming time as of late, bits here and there but I did get in a nice little chunk this weekend and though I’d share my thoughts.

Mass Effect: I finished the main story and it definitely left me wanting more. The side missions involving combat felt very perfunctory and while the dialog and acting was great, the interactivity didn’t feel revolutionary, just a quality version of the same old song and dance. The game mechanics were good but not amazing, a mix of shooter mmo and traditional rpg. Good but not a lot of strategic decisions to make. None the less the acting was amazing and the story compelling and there were moments where you felt like you had real choices you could make in the course of events.

Setlers of Catan: We grabbed this on x-box live and it is a good implementation of the board game and fun to play on the console. Sadly it didn’t allow two players on the same console (no idea why since it has on line multiplayer). None the less the AI is good and the game is a fun one hour diversion.

Carcasone: Another x-box live title and in some ways better than Settlers in implementation but not quite as fun a game overall. The best part is multi player on the same console so it’s a game Anne and I can play together. We each won a game and it was well done with many different rules options.

Sam and Max Episode 1: We have the season one collection and we hooked it up with the laptop to play on the big screen tv using a remote mouse. I have to say it’s a great way to play these kinds of games. It was funny and clever and quite nicely short (about 2 hours to play). We never got stumped for longer than a minute or two yet some of the puzzles felt pretty clever. It was a little dull at times but then the comedy and cleverness would pick up.

Slush pile: The usual DDO, Pokemon, and a dash of D&D tactics.

Greed vs Virtue

sigfried@gmail.com — Fri, 18 Jan 2008 17:31:20 GMT

I’m hoping this year I get a presidential race of two candidates I like, but I could well get the usual two candidates I don’t like.

I’d love to see a campaign between Obama and McCain. The former for the hope that we can make things better with idealism and good will, the latter for a person that puts their human values and principles above greed and hollow ideology.

I’d hate to see a campaign of Clinton and Romney. The former for her nanny state offers to protect us all from ourselves and the latter for his, to me, transparent pandering to business and religion simply for the sake of power and money interests.

So I’m watching and hoping there are enough folks out there like me (which is a pretty bad bet I think) and less folks that just want to be coddled or pandered to (sadly where the safe money is). My suggestion is folks vote not for the person that promises you the most, but the one that you think would act as you would if given the presidency.

Activity Invintory

sigfried@gmail.com — Fri, 11 Jan 2008 21:25:13 GMT

Working, 2 D&D games, D&D online, Rockband, Mass Effect, Weekly 10 minute DDO podcast “Crunchy bits”, Pokemon, Household chores, weekly Toastmasters, writing for Kobold Quarterly, Dieting seriously again, helping Anne with school stuff, Visiting family, following politics, netbook of feats.

In my brain

Various bits of game design,

Warning: Political blogging ahead

sigfried@gmail.com — Wed, 09 Jan 2008 17:58:00 GMT

I’m a bit of a political junkie as you likely know. I listen to lots of talk radio (mostly via public radio channels via the internet) and I follow things in a somewhat passive manner.
I’ve been struck the last two weeks by the somewhat misleading coverage I hear about who’s winning what etc… It’s not so much that anyone is saying something wrong, more that they don’t seem to be looking at the big picture much.

CNN’s website has a nice election coverage page that is tracking the delegate counts from the state primaries. If you are interested in who is really winning and by how much, this is a good information source.

http://www.cnn.com/ELECTION/2008/

Sig’s Democratic Analysis

You can see on the Democratic side that Obama is ahead by a tiny margin. Clinton is just behind and Edwards is trailing a bit behind. I think they both Obama and Hillary have a shot at it.

While Edwards is not far behind either of the others.. he has a big gap between the two of them, and that is what he would have to make up to win. I don’t think he has a shot at it and I’m glad for that. He’s not a bad guy, but I listen to him and I hear what sounds like a tape recording of the “bleeding heart liberal” speech. Sick people, homeless people etc… It’s good to help the downtrodden but ultimately that can’t be the entire focus of a nation. You have to aspire at all levels of society. I think he will stick it out for a while though, he has enough support to at least taste victory. By the time he’s out I don’t think it will matter where his supporters gravitate.
I’m thrilled that Obama won Iowa and has the lead. I’d much rather see him as the democratic candidate in the general election. I respect technocratic skill but I think presidents don’t need to be technocrats to be effective in office. The ability to motivate the voters directly is ultimately more powerful in shaping the political and cultural landscape. I like what he represents, I like his policy positions, and I love the idea America could finally elect a non-white person to office and put some of our shameful past to bed.

Sig’s Republican Analysis

Despite the talk of huckabee and McCain as winning Iowa and Newhamshire, you can see that Romney has a big delegate lead thanks to his win in Wyoming (which strangely I have not heard one mention of on Public Broadcasting shows). Mostly they talk about him as the “morman” candidate or a “conservative values” candidate but watching him, and listening to him I think he’s the “Corporate shill” candidate. He has money and the suited moneyed interests behind him and on the republican side those folks are quite powerful in a quiet but inevitable sort of way.

McCain may have won Newhamshire but he’s quite a bit behind and will need some sizeable victories to put him in front runner status. Of all the GOP he is by far the candidate I would prefer. I think he’s tough for the right reasons, smart, independent and trustworthy. Something tells me he will get crushed once again by big money or big religion.

Huckabee is an interesting guy. Totally opposite political views that myself, yet I at least trust him to say what he means and do what he says. I like him, just don’t agree with him much. Ultimately I get the feeling he just won’t be able to get his party behind him. He can get a lot of votes, but the establishment that really makes the call won’t get on his bandwagon.

Democrats for the win

Ultimately, I don’t see any way the republicans can win the presidency this time around. McCain could possibly pull something out, but it seems unlikely. The turnout in Iowa for the democratic caucuses (2.5 to one) in a state that voted Bush last time around, shows that there is a groundswell for the democrats of fairly epic proportions. Not due to an especial love for their ethos, but because folks are disgusted with the GOP and its governing philosophy. None the less I'd like to see Obahma vs McCain. Finaly an election where I could be pretty happy that either of the candidates won, instead of mildly disapointed that eiither of them won.