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If you're looking for my old blog, you can find it at http://sambear.livejournal.com.

eSet is not fair!

I've been using eSet's "Smart Security" for nearly a year now and I really like it. It protects my family's PCs from virii and malware and other nastiness, doesn't seem to slow us down any, and runs without a hitch. The icon sits in my systray and turns orange if there's a problem. Usually it's just a nice teal color. Right now, though, it's orange.

Did it have a problem with downloading a virus definition update? No.

Did it catch a nasty virus? No.

Did it detect someone 0wnz0rring my PC? No.

It is detecting that there are 14 days or less left on the year license I bought.

That's just not fair. I have become conditioned that Orange Eset icon = bad. Now every time I look at it, it looks orange and that just bothers me.

I think they should be required to just pop up a little notice and go back to blue. After all, there's nothing altogether wrong. I have time left on the license.

I've sent a bunch of people their direction, and I'll still stay by them as the anti-virus and anti-spyware of choice.

But I'm not happy about the "false orange" thing.

Help name the new ISS module! Name it Serenity!

From here - please vote for the name "Serenity"!

Contemplation…

This week has left me feeling contemplative. Nothing specific doing it, just taking a moment. You know, writing is frickin' hard. I've been sitting and staring at a cursor a lot on the train.

I know the words will come. Just takes some time and focus.

I find that, as I grow older, the stuff that I used to get up in arms about still ticks me off, but I don't get as upset. I would prefer to wait and see what happens, and learn from the outcome.

Anyway, that's pretty generic. And it is Friday. I try not to fall into the trap of worshiping Friday, but I gotta say this is a very welcome one.

I'm looking forward to the weekend; spending time with Cyn, playing some great Ravensong with her, and some City of Heroes with my old and new friends.

BTW, if you play City of Heroes, you should listen to the City of Heroes Podcast. Just sayin'. It rocks.

(And I have a total platonic voice crush on Viv! *blush*)

Free awesome RPG!

I interviewed Rob Bohl on Episode 45 of The Bear's Grove and he's now releasing the game we discussed, Misspent Youth, as a free roleplaying PDF!

So, I would encourage all of you of a roleplaying bent to go out and get this game, play it, and feel its awesome.

Here's the link:
http://indie-insurgent.livejournal.com/39752.html

The Red Baron of Failure and “Consider the uses of adversity….”

I used to do Rune readings using Ralph Blum's system of runes.*

One of the reading elements that used to come up a great deal for me was a rune that meant "Consider the uses of adversity." Something I always took as a euphemism for "you're screwed!" But lately I have begun considering it as a literal concept.

Ryan Macklin was on a podcast I enjoy just recently (no, not his own, although I like that one too), one called Stabbing Contest where he talks about failure in game design and how it's a good thing.

I think this dovetails also into the rather poignant interview Jeff and Judd had on their podcast Sons of Kryos with the folks who did the Ashcan Front this year. The AF guys were reporting that sales of ashcans were down, and that designers who weren't at the Front didn't sell as many games as those who were willing to sell the ashcans in person. What was also discussed was that only one of the 20 or so games that have gone through the ashcan process has "graduated" into a published game. (I suspect that Rob Bohl's game "Misspent Youth" will be the next game that graduates, but that's just me.)

What struck me was that the Ashcan Front people say that they don't count success as being that 1 game, rather, they won a mental victory by getting people to agree to draw out their game design process and craft a complete, well-put-together game instead of rushing it to completion before Gen Con.

I myself feel shot down quite a bit when either a.) I find out that the idea that I had spontaneously and was in love with has already been done by people like Luke Crane in "Burning Wheel," Vincent Baker in "Dogs in the Vineyard, or Fred Hicks et al. in Spirit of the Century and b.) when a line of design just doesn't go anywhere useful or c.) I get told that the game I made wasn't a game even though I think it's perfectly playable.

Getting shot down means you failed, and you have to take off again to the skies to try again. I hear a lot about the idea of "Fail Early, Fail Often," concept and, at least, I can be assured that I am following this maxim!

I am still, however, committed to bringing the visions I've had of games to come to life. I've made a good effort in good faith. If I hear the Red Baron of Failure's bullets rip apart my engine, if the black smoke of failure starts billowing, that just means that I've just got to learn from that impact, and try again.

So here I go again...wish me luck, I'm off to find another Sopwith Camel.

*Now, Blum created that system out of whole cloth, utilizing other oracles like the I Ching to help him figure out what each of his 25 runes meant. I've had practitioners of Asatru tell me that his rune interpretations are full of crap; however, I think that what I've learned from interacting with all such oracular systems is this: Tarot, astrology, I Ching, etc. - these are all just means for the subconscious mind to talk to the conscious mind. All mysticism aside, this is a psychological tool for me to get at deeper structures in my brain.

Huzzah!

I'm quite happy that the man I voted for got elected, and now, today, he's going to take office. As much as I don't believe he's a miracle worker, I think he is the best choice for the job today, and I'm heartened by his intelligence and his drive.

I hope all the naysayers will give him a honeymoon period to prove himself before they weigh in against him.

I'm picturing in my mind the same scene that happens at the end of The West Wing TV show, where Bartlett leaves the White House for the last time while the new president moves in. This is going to be a great day for the nation!

Non Sequitur: Sixteen Things

I have been tagged by Mr. Kris Johnson of http://kjtoo.com to write sixteen random tidbits about myself. So here we go.

1.) I was in an adult production of "Godspell" on a military base in Atlanta when I was 8. I sang the song that started "On the willows there, we hung up our lyres..."

2.) I was in a terrible car accident when I was 16, and broke my nose so badly that I had to have plastic surgery to restore it to anything that looks like a nose. The surgery freaked me out so badly that I never went back under the knife to have it further corrected, which is why my nose looks like I've been beaten in a boxing match.

3.) I once bought a $200 down overcoat for $50 in the Empire State Building, thanks to the intervention of my then-soon-to-be-ex.

4.) I once spent an entire day riding rollercoasters at Six Flags Great America with the guy who did the Friday the 13th movies (Sean S. Cunningham) and my best friend.

5.) I ran a LARP for 40 kids at an expensive new age summer camp in upstate New York.

6.) I was part of the recruiting team instrumental in hiring a Vice Chairman for Ernst & Young.

7.) I love to make peanut butter sandwiches from toasted bread so that the peanut butter liquefies from the heat. If I can have this with freshly brewed, ice cold sweet tea, I am in heaven.

8.) I once used an Excel spreadsheet to plan my romantic life. Not any more, mind you!

9.) I have travelled through many of the American states. I've ridden horses in the Colorado mountains, seen the Grand Canyon from a helicopter, been propositioned in Las Vegas, had a fantastic hot tub in New Mexico, and I saw the King's house in Memphis.

10.) I walked in a protest march in Forsyth County, GA, back on January 24th, 1987 along with 20,000 other civil rights activists.

11.) Many of the dishes I can make that I love to eat have been taught to me by lovers of mine: biscuits and baked ziti, for example. And yet, before 1986, I had no idea how to cook anything, even boiling water was a mystery to me.

12.) Among my Facebook friends are friends I've known since I was in kindergarten, including more than one childhood sweetheart.

13.) I have been growing beards since I was 17 and in a production of "Man of La Mancha" in high school. We had to grow out our beards because we were all supposed to be prisoners. I played "the Governor" or "the Innkeeper," and my solo song was "Hail, Knight of the Woeful Countenance"

14.) I am totally mesmerized by redheads, especially redhead women - but my life partner Cynthia is a brunette, and I actually prefer her that way.

15.) I once put a three year old to sleep by reading aloud the environmental hazard rules in the 3rd edition D&D Dungeon Master's Guide. In fact, I am known in my family as the baby whisperer, because I can make just about any baby go to sleep safely and peacefully.

16.) I am hell on earbuds. Despite trying to be careful, I always end up catching them in car doors or something, even though I've bought doodads to help me keep the cords tight. So I go through about one pair every two to three weeks. It's ridiculous. One day, I hope to have a bluetooth transceiver so I don't get my cords tangled in everything.

Sixteen people to tag? OK. Technomom, Katie, Hope Evey, Waya, Redcub, James, Amazon Blonde, Bill, Cunning Minx, Debbie, Eddy Webb, J.R. Blackwell, Natalie, Ebony Pearl, Rikibeth, and Wendi

Please don't feel any obligation to do so: this is all in good fun.

Obamicon Me!

Get yours here.

Happy birthday, Genevieve!

My beautiful, talented, and creative daughter, Genevieve, has turned 17 this day. I remember that cold December night she was born; how her mother was in labor for a long time over the evening, how we walked and walked and walked during the labor, stopping every so often to press hard into her mom's back to relieve the back labor pains. The Chieftains' Christmas album played over and over and over on our little CD player and I was so glad I was able to be there to help. I welcomed my daughter into the world that night. She was the sweetest baby in the universe!

I hear from her mostly though Facebook these days, she's living with her mom in the Bay Area, but I am very happy to have that Facebook thread. I hope she has a most excellent day. She was a wonderful Solsticetide gift to us, and I love her so much, no matter where she is in the world.