Games, General Geekery, and what knots found on the web
Wednesday, August 8, 2012
Tuesday, August 7, 2012
Gen Con updates Event Spotlight
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Monday, August 6, 2012
Sunday, August 5, 2012
Elizabethan Curse Generator
Thou brazen folly-fallen codpiece!
Thou saucy unchin-snouted barnacle!
Thou distempered dismal-dreaming hempseed!
Thou grizzled empty-hearted horn-beast!
Thou vain bat-fowling egg-shell!
Thou whoreson flap-mouthed dogfish!
Thou roguish clay-brained crutch!
Thou prating folly-fallen codpiece!
Thou spleeny full-gorged mumble-news!
Thou greasy lean-witted flirt-gill!
Thou goatish shag-eared dewberry!
Elizabethan Curse Generator
Thou saucy unchin-snouted barnacle!
Thou distempered dismal-dreaming hempseed!
Thou grizzled empty-hearted horn-beast!
Thou vain bat-fowling egg-shell!
Thou whoreson flap-mouthed dogfish!
Thou roguish clay-brained crutch!
Thou prating folly-fallen codpiece!
Thou spleeny full-gorged mumble-news!
Thou greasy lean-witted flirt-gill!
Thou goatish shag-eared dewberry!
Elizabethan Curse Generator
Saturday, August 4, 2012
The History Blog Stolen “Sarcophagus of the Quadrigas” returns after 21 years
The gaming side is the need to either steal or recover thevitem.
The History Blog » Blog Archive » Stolen “Sarcophagus of the Quadrigas” returns after 21 years
The History Blog » Blog Archive » Stolen “Sarcophagus of the Quadrigas” returns after 21 years
Friday, August 3, 2012
Brewing stone age beer.
Brewing Stone Age beer
July 20, 2012 - 07:10
Beer enthusiasts are using a barn in Norway’s Akershus County to brew a special ale which has scientific pretensions and roots back to the dawn of human culture.
Jørn Kragtorp (left) and Manfred Heun brew beer from the primitive wheat known as einkorn. Here they are adding a malt of einkorn, ready to start the brewing process. (Photo: Asle Rønning)
“This is fun − really thrilling. It’s hard to say whether this has ever been tried before in Norway,” says Jørn Kragtorp.
He started brewing as a hobby four years ago. He represents the fourth generation on the family farm of Nedre Kragtorp in Aurskog-Høland, Akershus County.
Part of the barn has been refurnished as a meeting room, but space was also allotted for small-scale beer production.
Prehistoric beer
In the past year this brewing has become more scientific after Kragtorp teamed up with a rural neighbour, Manfred Heun, a plant geneticist and a professor at the Norwegian University of Life Sciences (UMB).“This is experimental. We’re trying to brew prehistoric beer,” explains Heun.
Heun has conducted research on einkorn wheat for years and came up with the idea of brewing ale here in Norway from malt made of the ancient grain.
Einkorn may have been the first cereal to be cultivated by the original Stone Age farmers.
Original farmers
Manfred Heun, who is an expert on einkorn genes, has helped trace the origin of the domesticated form of einkorn to the highlands in Southeastern Turkey.A wild einkorn that's genetically similar to the domesticated strain still grows in this region. This region is also considered by many to be the cradle of agriculture, with indications that farming started here 10,000 years ago.
Einkorn might have played an important role in the transition from a hunter-gatherer society to agriculture in this part of the world.
When the wort is ready it smells good. Jørn Kragtorp gives it a whiff. (Photo: Asle Rønning)
In Scandinavia
Six thousand years after people pioneered agriculture in the Near East, it spread to most of Europe. Einkorn was a part of this slow-rolling agricultural revolution together with other cereals from the Middle East and Turkey.It’s known that einkorn was raised as a crop in the south of Scandinavia during the region’s Bronze Age (1700 - 500 BC). Scientists aren’t sure, however, whether einkorn was cultivated in Norway.
In any case this cereal has fallen into disuse for the past 2,500 years as other kinds of wheat were developed which gave bigger yields.
The beer now being brewed among the patches of forest and fields in inner Akershus County could be the first made from einkorn in this country – at least since the Bronze Age.
Imported malt
Bronze Age methods are not used in the brewing process. It’s brewed like any beer.“Now it’s most common to brew beer from barley. But you can make it from all kinds of grains, from corn, rice and wheat,” explains Jørn Kragtorp.
Malt, made of sprouted grain, is always the starting point. In this case the einkorn malt was imported from Germany.
It’s ground up and warm water is added for half an hour while the temperature is closely monitored. The process is called mashing and the sweet liquid this produces is called the wort. This is filtered and boiled for just over an hour before it's all allowed to cool.
Devil in the detail
Then yeast is added, which starts the fermentation and sugar is converted to alcohol. The beer these hobby brewers make from einkorn is a pale ale.Kragtorp explains that einkorn, or other wheat varieties, have different characteristics than barley and these can complicate things when the wort is made.
Einkorn beer brewed on a hobby basis at Hemnes has won acclaim from near and far. (Photo: Asle Rønning)
The brewers have experimented with various combinations.
The minor details make beer brewing exciting. Small alterations in room temperature, the amount of time used in yeasting and additives such as hops can all have a big impact on the final product.
“It’s a life-long learning process,” says Kragtorp.
Protein rich
Heun is an eager einkorn enthusiast.“Einkorn is the healthiest thing you can imagine,” he says, referring to its high content of protein and other nutrients.
“And it tastes good too,” he adds.
Those who are lucky enough to have tasted the light and pale einkorn ale, which cannot be bought in stores, all seem to agree.
Einkorn beer from inner Akershus County has been sent in for expert academic evaluation to Munich – a city where beer is famously appreciated, and it has received the stamp of approval.
This autumn, attempts could be made to produce the beer from malt based on Norwegian-grown einkorn. Experimental crops of the ancient cereal have been planted in Aurskog-Høland and it will be exciting to see how the harvest turns out
Christopher Tolkien interviewed by Le Monde
Seems that Cubical 7 had to pull The One Ring PDF's from RPGNow due to request of The Tolkien Estate. Follow the link for a break down of the interview.
Sedulia's Translations: Christopher Tolkien interviewed by Le Monde
Sedulia's Translations: Christopher Tolkien interviewed by Le Monde
Thursday, August 2, 2012
D&D Next Q&A
Will there be rules or guidelines for smaller or larger groups? 1 DM and 1 Player? Groups of 10 or more?Our plan is to have our DM’s guidelines on designing adventures cover any possible spread of characters and character levels. Since our idea of adventure design is largely based on the characters’ abilities and how much punishment they can take, the DM should be able to simply take the level of each player character and the number of characters in the party, reference our adventure design rules, and come up with an appropriate adventure challenge. This also handles having players at different levels, so that groups that like having players at different levels can do so without worrying about the adventure balance.
That’s obviously just the basic adventure balance. There are certainly social issues that arise from having 10 players in a game (time between turns, ability to get spotlight time, etc.) that no amount of mechanical design can help with, but there have been many volumes of DM advice written in the past to cover such things.
Will NPC villains in D&D Next be "built" like player characters, with classes and specialties, or will they be "built" more like monsters?
How will you define the "adventuring day?"
The conceptual definition is, “The quantity and relative danger of hazardous challenges that a character can handle between long rests.” The more practical definition is that it’s the amount of XP worth of monsters, traps, exploration hazards, and other things that players can overcome in between long rests. The long rest—a.k.a. sleeping overnight—is our “reset button” for player abilities. In order to help the DM design adventures, we provide guidelines for filling the time between long rests with challenges that are appropriate for the characters’ levels, based on the resources we have given to those players. This is expressed in the form of an amount of XP. Since most hazards and monsters should have an XP value associated with them, the DM can simply populate the adventure with that many XP worth of challenges and feel secure that the adventure is balanced so as to provide a challenge for the players. Of course, we also provide guidelines for running adventures that are easier or harder than our expected middle ground, allowing the DM to tweak accordingly.
It can also work the other way around; if the DM wants to design the adventure first, populate a dungeon with monsters as he feels appropriate with no regard for balance, the DM can then compare his or her creation to our expected guidelines to get an idea of where the break points in the adventure will come in. This can help prepare the DM for how the adventure should play out, and can also provide suggestions for places where the DM may want to include safe places to rest in the middle of the adventure, based on those break points.
The Wizards Community > DnD Next > Blog > D&D Next Q&A
That’s obviously just the basic adventure balance. There are certainly social issues that arise from having 10 players in a game (time between turns, ability to get spotlight time, etc.) that no amount of mechanical design can help with, but there have been many volumes of DM advice written in the past to cover such things.
Will NPC villains in D&D Next be "built" like player characters, with classes and specialties, or will they be "built" more like monsters? Ideally, both—or rather, whichever way the DM wants to do it. We have certain expectations for what average monsters of various challenge levels should look like, and building an enemy NPC to those specifications should work just fine. The guidelines for designing monsters should work the same way when designing enemy NPCs. That way, the DM that wants to design NPCs quickly or the DM who just wants to provide them with a few iconic abilities can do so without having to go through a more involved process.
However, we know that there are DMs that enjoy having their NPC villains built just like player characters. In those cases, what we’ll likely do is allow the DM to build the NPC, then provide guidelines for comparing the end result of that character creation system to our expected values in the monster design system, then derive the NPC’s XP value from that. Regardless of how the NPC is built, the important thing is how tough and deadly the NPC is in play, and our XP system should be able to take whatever the numbers are—no matter how you built the NPC—and help you determine the appropriate XP value. Building a highly dangerous NPC is no different from building a highly dangerous monster, and how the DM gets to the statistics should be a matter of personal preference.
How will you define the "adventuring day?" The conceptual definition is, “The quantity and relative danger of hazardous challenges that a character can handle between long rests.” The more practical definition is that it’s the amount of XP worth of monsters, traps, exploration hazards, and other things that players can overcome in between long rests. The long rest—a.k.a. sleeping overnight—is our “reset button” for player abilities. In order to help the DM design adventures, we provide guidelines for filling the time between long rests with challenges that are appropriate for the characters’ levels, based on the resources we have given to those players. This is expressed in the form of an amount of XP. Since most hazards and monsters should have an XP value associated with them, the DM can simply populate the adventure with that many XP worth of challenges and feel secure that the adventure is balanced so as to provide a challenge for the players. Of course, we also provide guidelines for running adventures that are easier or harder than our expected middle ground, allowing the DM to tweak accordingly.
It can also work the other way around; if the DM wants to design the adventure first, populate a dungeon with monsters as he feels appropriate with no regard for balance, the DM can then compare his or her creation to our expected guidelines to get an idea of where the break points in the adventure will come in. This can help prepare the DM for how the adventure should play out, and can also provide suggestions for places where the DM may want to include safe places to rest in the middle of the adventure, based on those break points.
The Wizards Community > DnD Next > Blog > D&D Next Q&A
Medieval Cities of Europe: Click, Tweet, Map, and Present
Medieval Cities of Europe: Click, Tweet, Map, and Present
By Kathryn Reyerson, Kevin Mummey, and Jude Higdon
The History Teacher, Volume 44:3 (2011)
Introduction: During sping semester 2010, a long-standing upper-division lecture course, Medieval Cities of Europe, 500-1500 CE, underwent a course transformation. Our goal was to address specific challenges with student engagement that we had experienced in the course in the past; our overarching strategy was to introduce technology into the course to allow students additional opportunities to engage with the material and get feedback. This course had been taught since the late 1970s to student audiences of between 40 and 60, but in the last decade, the course began to attract greater numbers of students, over 80 in some cases. The course format was the traditional lecture without discussion sections or small group exercises, taught with an instructor and a reader/grader. Because of the numbers of students and the increased enthusiasm for alternative learning opportunities through technology in the classroom, the instructor applied for a Course Transformation Grant sponsored by the Offices of information Technology in the College of Liberal Arts and the Digital Media Center at the university of Minnesota. The instructor, along with a graduate student who would be the reader/grader, an undergraduate, and two educational technology consultants, worked as a team for nine months to produce a plan to transform the course. The course transformation included a small budget for technology support, but obviously precluded any major investment in software or “Hollywood-like” multimedia development. The course transformation team looked instead for simple, existing technologies to facilitate transformative learning experiences in the classroom.
The transformation was intended to create more opportunities for active learning, increasing student engagement in the course lectures and in the subject matter of medieval cities. A particular goal was to limit “lights out, heads down” disengagement and distraction during in-class films. One of our goals was to provide students with new ways to master the core course concepts, such as the reality of the negotiated topography of medieval spaces, and we were interested, to the degree possible, in increasing the efficiency of the course and reducing the administrative overhead.
Medieval Cities of Europe: Click, Tweet, Map, and Present
By Kathryn Reyerson, Kevin Mummey, and Jude Higdon
The History Teacher, Volume 44:3 (2011)
Introduction: During sping semester 2010, a long-standing upper-division lecture course, Medieval Cities of Europe, 500-1500 CE, underwent a course transformation. Our goal was to address specific challenges with student engagement that we had experienced in the course in the past; our overarching strategy was to introduce technology into the course to allow students additional opportunities to engage with the material and get feedback. This course had been taught since the late 1970s to student audiences of between 40 and 60, but in the last decade, the course began to attract greater numbers of students, over 80 in some cases. The course format was the traditional lecture without discussion sections or small group exercises, taught with an instructor and a reader/grader. Because of the numbers of students and the increased enthusiasm for alternative learning opportunities through technology in the classroom, the instructor applied for a Course Transformation Grant sponsored by the Offices of information Technology in the College of Liberal Arts and the Digital Media Center at the university of Minnesota. The instructor, along with a graduate student who would be the reader/grader, an undergraduate, and two educational technology consultants, worked as a team for nine months to produce a plan to transform the course. The course transformation included a small budget for technology support, but obviously precluded any major investment in software or “Hollywood-like” multimedia development. The course transformation team looked instead for simple, existing technologies to facilitate transformative learning experiences in the classroom.
The transformation was intended to create more opportunities for active learning, increasing student engagement in the course lectures and in the subject matter of medieval cities. A particular goal was to limit “lights out, heads down” disengagement and distraction during in-class films. One of our goals was to provide students with new ways to master the core course concepts, such as the reality of the negotiated topography of medieval spaces, and we were interested, to the degree possible, in increasing the efficiency of the course and reducing the administrative overhead.
Medieval Cities of Europe: Click, Tweet, Map, and Present
Wednesday, August 1, 2012
Adam Savage’s Blade Runner Blaster Pistol : Discovery Channel
Adam Savage recording from his workshop/man cave with Will Smith of www.tested.com
Adam Savage’s Blade Runner Blaster Pistol : Discovery Channel
Adam Savage’s Blade Runner Blaster Pistol : Discovery Channel
Tuesday, July 31, 2012
Peter Jackson speaks out about Trilogy
‘The Hobbit’ To Be A Trilogy!
The Hobbit: An Unexpected Journey
Pack your satchels full of cram and fill your tankards with miruvor, because we’re about to embark on a long journey. The rumors surrounding The Hobbit were yesterday confirmed; We’re going to get a trilogy.
Speaking on his Facebook page, Peter Jackson had this to say:
What material will Jackson use though to stretch it out over three movies? Well, while J.R.R. Tolkien’s The Hobbit was only about 300 pages long — compared with 1000 pages for The Lord of the Rings — there was a substantial amount of action that occurred off page, such as Gandalf’s tussle with the Necromancer. They may also try and bridge the gap between the end of The Hobbit and the beginning of The Fellowship of the Ring, as Jackson also has his hands on 125 pages of notes that Tolkien made, expanding the Hobbit world.
However, if there’s one reservation I have about Jackson (and it’s only a small reservation, so don’t go crazy) it’s his propensity for long and bloated scenes. I thought King Kong was about 45 minutes too long and The Return of the King had about five different endings.
That being said, in Peter Jackson I trust and if he believes that there’s enough material for a trilogy, then I’m all for it.
Details for the third movie are still being ironed-out between Jackson and Warner Bros. but it’s believed a summer 2014 release has been tentatively penciled in. What’s also interesting is the possible name of the third movie. According to Fusible, the domain names The Hobbit: The Desolation of Smaug and The Hobbit: Riddles in the Dark have both recently been registered. Intriguing.
What do you guys think? Are you happy about spending more time in Middle Earth or are two movies more than enough? Sound off in the comments below!
The trilogy begins when The Hobbit: An Unexpected Journey opens on December 14th.
Pack your satchels full of cram and fill your tankards with miruvor, because we’re about to embark on a long journey. The rumors surrounding The Hobbit were yesterday confirmed; We’re going to get a trilogy.
Speaking on his Facebook page, Peter Jackson had this to say:
We know how much of the story of Bilbo Baggins, the Wizard Gandalf, the Dwarves of Erebor, the rise of the Necromancer, and the Battle of Dol Guldur will remain untold if we do not take this chance. The richness of the story of The Hobbit, as well as some of the related material in the appendices of The Lord of the Rings, allows us to tell the full story of the adventures of Bilbo Baggins and the part he played in the sometimes dangerous, but at all times exciting, history of Middle-earth…So, without further ado, I’d like to announce that two films will become three.Wow. We’d been hearing murmurs from the studio that Jackson was considering making the series into a trilogy — he even admitted as much himself at the recent San Diego Comic-con — but now it’s official.
What material will Jackson use though to stretch it out over three movies? Well, while J.R.R. Tolkien’s The Hobbit was only about 300 pages long — compared with 1000 pages for The Lord of the Rings — there was a substantial amount of action that occurred off page, such as Gandalf’s tussle with the Necromancer. They may also try and bridge the gap between the end of The Hobbit and the beginning of The Fellowship of the Ring, as Jackson also has his hands on 125 pages of notes that Tolkien made, expanding the Hobbit world.
However, if there’s one reservation I have about Jackson (and it’s only a small reservation, so don’t go crazy) it’s his propensity for long and bloated scenes. I thought King Kong was about 45 minutes too long and The Return of the King had about five different endings.
That being said, in Peter Jackson I trust and if he believes that there’s enough material for a trilogy, then I’m all for it.
Details for the third movie are still being ironed-out between Jackson and Warner Bros. but it’s believed a summer 2014 release has been tentatively penciled in. What’s also interesting is the possible name of the third movie. According to Fusible, the domain names The Hobbit: The Desolation of Smaug and The Hobbit: Riddles in the Dark have both recently been registered. Intriguing.
What do you guys think? Are you happy about spending more time in Middle Earth or are two movies more than enough? Sound off in the comments below!
The trilogy begins when The Hobbit: An Unexpected Journey opens on December 14th.
Monday, July 30, 2012
Hobbit now a trilogy
Here’s Jackson’s full Facebook announcement:
It is only at the end of a shoot that you finally get the chance to sit down and have a look at the film you have made. Recently Fran, Phil and I did just this when we watched for the first time an early cut of the first movie – and a large chunk of the second. We were really pleased with the way the story was coming together, in particular, the strength of the characters and the cast who have brought them to life. All of which gave rise to a simple question: do we take this chance to tell more of the tale? And the answer from our perspective as the filmmakers, and as fans, was an unreserved ‘yes.’
We know how much of the story of Bilbo Baggins, the Wizard Gandalf, the Dwarves of Erebor, the rise of the Necromancer, and the Battle of Dol Guldur will remain untold if we do not take this chance. The richness of the story of The Hobbit, as well as some of the related material in the appendices of The Lord of the Rings, allows us to tell the full story of the adventures of Bilbo Baggins and the part he played in the sometimes dangerous, but at all times exciting, history of Middle-earth.
So, without further ado and on behalf of New Line Cinema, Warner Bros. Pictures, Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer, Wingnut Films, and the entire cast and crew of “The Hobbit” films, I’d like to announce that two films will become three.
It has been an unexpected journey indeed, and in the words of Professor Tolkien himself, “a tale that grew in the telling.”
Cheers,
Peter J
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