Asymptomatic

I'm a subscriber to Pyramid magazine, and some days I think the only reason I have to do so is because it's an inexpensive, consistent flow of game news. It's because of articles like the one I read today that I fail to fathom why I continue to pay them at all when less expensive tripe can be obtained more abundantly from many other sources.

The article in question is available only to subscribers (sorry), but involves a game that I discovered while meandering around the exhibit floor at Origins. The game is Rock! by Out of the Box Publishing, and is one of the more interesting new card games I saw while at the game fair.

Here is the summary of what the article said about the game, Rock!, besides ranting for several paragraphs about the quality of the materials from which the game was built:

Sadly, the artwork and the tin are the best features this item has to offer. … Alas, Rock! doesn't really rise above its "source material," and the underlying game is an inexpensive way to pay too much for what amounts to a gimmick.

Not only does that make no sense ("inexpensive way to pay too much"?), but it's outright wrong. Let me explain what Pyramid completely overlooked about this game. more

I had to replace my not-so-old Logitech webcam with something new, since it did not work under 64-bit Vista. The VX-7000 does work with 64-bit Vista, and was the highest quality camera Microsoft offered that would attach to my desktop monitor. (The supposedly higher resolution NX-6000 has a much smaller monitor connector, designed for notebook-thickness screens, but also boasts a better picture.)

I installed the camera easily, the only issue being that the CD did not autoplay and I had to run the setup manually from the disc.

The software that comes with the camera is limited to drivers and a very simple "Playskool-like" camera recording program, with the cartoony buttons and foolish animated cartoon overlay features that you would use if you were a pre-teen sneaking video calls with friends. As a business user (teleconferencing with co-workers around the world) this software was useless....

On the Habari development mailing list, Daniel Smith writes:

I am interested in learning PHP (object)/MYSQL programming in general, and Habari-specific in particular. As a php newbie, could anyone please point me to any resources, latest quality books, tutorials or whatever, that could help me to learn how this all works?

An excellent question, and something that we experienced PHP folks would all do well to answer to help bring more people in and teach better coding practices.

For beginning PHP and MySQL, I really like the Visual Quickstart series of books. They have clear chapter goals and are rife with examples. Combine the books on PHP, MySQL, and PHP and MySQL with a willingness to frequently search the online documentation for both tools, and you can accomplish pretty much anything you set yourself to. Obviously, these are not for seasoned code veterans, but I think they're just right for people just starting who don't want to be babied but instead want to learn real code....

I'll just say it plainly -- today sucked.

It started last night after the kids got home from Trick-or-Treat. I was reassembling my computer, which I had to take apart partially to hook the projector to my notebook. See, I was projecting a Halloween sign onto our garage door that told the kids to go up the street for candy. Perhaps I'll explain that more later. In any case, I was reassembling things when I noticed that, unrelated to my reassembly, my center monitor's backlight seemed to have blown out. This makes it exceptionally hard to log in.

It's kind of a strange puzzle. The center monitor is the only one on DVI, and the side monitors are both VGA-only. This might have been fine if I had a DVI to VGA adapter, but there were none to be found. So, it was time to order a new monitor, and with me being off to take care of Riley while Nana was on vacation, I saw this as a perfect opportunity to visit Best Buy and get that upgrade I've been considering. But then, events seem to collude to conspire against me. more

A few of the folks I "hang with" online are/were involved in the 9rules network. I am not a member, but I had tried to become one at one point. I've been following the recent actions of the network with some interest, and thought I would save my thoughts for later as they may be relevant for other communities in which I am involved and have influence. Some background on the current issue is probably in order.

Essentially, many people had joined the network for the purpose of being affiliated with other bloggers who created great content. Their goal was to enrich the web. These folks chose to participate in the network insofar as they posted new, quality content to their own blogs, which were syndicated specifically to the rest of the members. Although the network powers-that-be had created a site for interaction among members, these folks never saw participation in those forums as a requirement to their membership, simply their continued contribution of quality blog content.

Recently, the terms of membership changed so that you must participate in the forums to remain a member. The people who thought that their blogging contribution was enough realized (with different levels of reaction) that they would no longer qualify for membership and asked to withdraw. This accounts for more than half of the people who I relate with who are/were also 9rules members. What's bothersome to me, especially had I been a member, is the process surrounding the change of the terms of service....