I’ve created this PDF form that players can print out and fill in with all of the information they need.

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In that message I mentioned that I wouldn’t get into a long, preachy rant about why Facebook is evil and I’m not going to do that here either.

But that is one of the reasons I am leaving. Over the past few years Facebook has made it pretty clear that they don’t give a shit about protecting your personal information. They sell it to other corporations and make a profit and meanwhile you keep buying turnips or whatever in Farmville.

I had been thinking about doing this for a while, but it was Wil’s recent post that spurred me to action:

If you’re a Facebook user, you should really understand exactly how much of your personal information you’re giving up to play those games, and you should know exactly what those developers are doing with it. You should understand that Facebook, as a corporation, doesn’t give a shit about your privacy, no matter what their press releases say.

EFF has some important and useful things about all social networks that you should read if you use any of them, but if you’re a Facebook user, you should really read How to Get More Privacy From Facebook’s New Privacy Controls.

Personally, I think you should delete your Facebook account and wait for Disapora to get going. I know that’s unlikely, though, because Facebook has become a useful and convenient way to stay in touch with people you care about. But please, please consider the consequences of trading privacy for convenience, and think about this, from Newsweek:

If you really expect this company to suddenly become trustworthy, you’ve lost your mind. Over the past five years Facebook has repeatedly changed its privacy policy, always in one direction, and every time this happens, the same movie plays out. People complain. Facebook stonewalls, then spins, then pretends to be contrite, then finally walks things back—but only a little.

Whether you use Facebook or not isn’t really my business, and I’m not getting all Dad Voice on you if you choose to use it, but I’m alarmed that Facebook is training an entire generation that personal privacy isn’t as important as it truly is. If you use Facebook, please protect yourself, and remember that, on the Internet, nobody knows that you’re a dog.

The other reason is that I really don’t use Facebook that much, and I still keep in touch with all of my real friends via email, twitter or, you know, actually talking to them.

Anyways, that’s all I have to say about this.

I really need to update this site more often.

Although I may have been idle these past weeks, the rest of the world was not. Busily churning out quality content for your benefit and mine, here are a few of the things that have drawn my attention:

Wil Wheaton has been having a lot of fun with his revived podcast Radio Free Burrito. Besides his acting and writing talents, Wil has an ear for music and other interesting sound bites that he peppers throughout his show. Definitely worth a listen.

My withdrawal from tabletop gaming has been difficult and painful. It’s absence consumes my waking thoughts and has left me a sour, mindless shadow of my former self. Dragon Age has helped ease the suffering but it is a temporary solution at best. I require creative output to soothe the savage beast within and DMing a 4e campaign right now would hit that sweet spot like the fist of an angry god.

I’ll be at PAX East at the end of March. D&D 4e? Mouse Guard? Like a desert Bedouin who stumbles out of a dust storm and into an oasis, I shall drink deep. Also confirmed for the show are notables such as the aforementioned Mr. Wheaton, Jonathan Coulton, The Protomen and 60,000 of my close, personal friends. I’m really looking forward to this show.

Last month I was trying to re-allocate some space between two partitions on my desktop and ended up losing one of the partitions entirely. Let me tell you, friends, data recovery is a bitch and she kicked me right in the balls.

There was some talk about a new device from Apple, but nothing relevant materialized. That’s really all you need to know.

I’ve been enjoying Steven Erikson’s Malazan series so I decided to delve into Gleen Cook’s Black Company, which apparently served as inspiration. Rest assured that I will inform you of what treasures (or traps!) are discovered.

I picked up Might & Magic: Clash of Heroes for the DS on Tycho’s recommendation and let me tell you that I have not been disappointed. Considered a mix of Puzzle Quest and Critter Crunch, it has so far provided hours of puzzle role playing fun.

That is all for now, until I next breach the surface to breathe in your salty air and expel what morcels I can offer.

That metaphor fell apart somewhere along the path from my brain to your screen.

I trust you can handle it.

You can also plan out dungeon maps, build encounters and treasure parcels.

This incredibly useful tool carries my highest recommendation and I’ve found it invaluable. Did I also mention that it is completely 100% free?

The author is accepting donations through paypal, so please feel free to contribute and help support this awesome work.

Check out the official site for more screenshots and details.

Link

As I absorbed the aftermath of PAX 2009 (from a distance, regrettably) his name appeared once again on my screen in bright, blinking red. The kind of red that says “Incoming missiles and would you please do something about that?”

It was this official proclamation from the office of the Secretary of Geek Affairs, and the musical tribute to said secretary which followed that galvanized my investigation.

I picked up his new live album Best. Concert. Ever. and I was not disappointed. Coulton is a geek’s geek. He is xkcd in musical form. The subjects of this songs vary from robot armies, math, love, Swedish furniture and yes, zombies.

The album is packed full with 20 songs picked from several of his previous albums and recorded live in San Francisco. The Future Soon, Creepy Doll, Kenesaw Mountain Landis, Chiron Beta Prime, Re: Your Brains and First Of May all make appearances.

As far as recommendations go, this one comes in at “Why didn’t I discover this sooner?” If you are reading this blog then chances that we share some common interest are greater than zero. Do yourself a favor and check out Jonathan Coulton if you haven’t done so already.

Rolling Stone says.

Opening on the cloud-filled skyline of Liverpool, the clip descends into the subterranean clubs where the Beatles first played, then segues into an homage to A Hard Day’s Night and the Fab Four’s arrival in America at the height of Beatlemania. John, Paul, George and Ringo suddenly find themselves in Sgt. Peppers uniforms as the video explores the band’s psychedelic phase, and the quartet ride a giant rhinophant (rhinoceros/elephant) while an army of penguins and other weird creatures march to the tune of “I Am the Walrus.” And it only gets better from there.

The opening cinematic also contains dozens of little Easter Eggs for eagle-eyed Beatles experts. For instance, as the group flies over New York City, a yellow submarine can be seen under a bridge. In the Liverpool segment, concert posters promoting bands like “Carry That Weight” and “Blue Jay Way” can be spotted. As the Beatles load into a car to escape their fans, a lovely meter maid (”Lovely Rita”) is briefly seen in the background. It’s like Where’s Waldo? or the opening sequence of The Simpsons, except insanely cool.

Do yourself a favor and click through to watch the High Def version.

Wizards of the Coast announced today (at Gencon 2009) that the D&D 4e campaign setting for 2010 would be the incomparable Dark Sun.

Back in the day of 2nd edition, Dark Sun was a post-apocalyptic wasteland. Invoking Mad Max, the setting was dark, gritty and downright deadly. And I loved it.

Straying far from the standard Dungeons & Dragons settings, the world of Athas was a harsh desert. Tyrant sorcerer kings held sway over the few city-states scattered among the dunes. Travel between the cities was extremely risky; the planet itself being as deadly a foe as the nomadic raiders and vicious beasts one was sure to encounter.

I have fond memories of the Dark Sun campaign run by my brother back in high school, so I’m looking forward to seeing what they’ll do with it this time around and how close they will be able to keep to the original theme. Of special interest was the note that they are going back to the firdt box set as far as time line is concerned, which is a good first step.

This is one I’ll be keeping my eye on.

They’ve recently announced that all of their content will now be licensed under Creative Commons.

I had participated in something similar to this back in aught-seven. A few creative minds got together to build a dungeon that could be used in any system or setting, and we ended up with The Cult of the Sapphire Dream. I really enjoyed the writing exercise and being able to bounce your ideas off others is always a plus.

Publishing their content under Creative Commons is a great move as it encourages others to participate and benefits the gaming community as a whole. When I started building my own campaign setting for D&D4e, I knew from the start that whatever I produced should be available for others to use, expand and re-share.

Everyone benefits, and it’s great to see that Jonathan Jacobs shares this view. You can follow them @NevermetPress.

Nobody knows for sure what the gunk is, but Petty Officer 1st Class Terry Hasenauer says the Coast Guard is sure what it is not.

“It’s certainly biological,” Hasenauer said. “It’s definitely not an oil product of any kind. It has no characteristics of an oil, or a hazardous substance, for that matter.

“It’s definitely, by the smell and the makeup of it, it’s some sort of naturally occurring organic or otherwise marine organism.”

…

The stuff is “gooey” and looks dark against the bright white ice floating in the Arctic Ocean, Brower said.

“It’s pitch black when it hits ice and it kind of discolors the ice and hangs off of it,” Brower said. He saw some jellyfish tangled up in the stuff, and someone turned in what was left of a dead goose — just bones and feathers — to the borough’s wildlife department.

Weird.

It reminds me of that old G.I. Joe episode with the colossal pink blob that was devouring everything in the city. If I remember correctly, they managed to stop it by luring it through an orchard of apples, which supposedly contain a lot of acid?

Source, via boingboing