I am rather excited to find that some serious attention is now being given to the need for interstellar travel capabilities. The Defense Advanced Research Projects Agency or DARPA for short, has teamed up with a branch of NASA to set the ball in motion. It is call the 100-year Starship Study. There will be a symposium on the subject in late September in Orlando, Florida and about 150 people will participate. They will be chosen based on panel proposals and speaking abstracts that are submitted through their site.

It is great to see that they are finally working towards this and so seriously too. If you check out the release from DARPA on this you can see how serious they are. There will be discussion not only on what new technology will get us to the nearest star but also how we choose who goes, how do we deal with the ethics of it, how do we sell the idea to the general masses, cryogenics, and a lot more.

In the end they are looking to seed a company that is created with the purpose of making this happen in the next 100 years. Personally I am hoping for some of the technology created along the way to improve my life. Mostly I really want a faster way to get from my home to Orlando, Florida for my favorite vacations as the plane ride is the only downside to my Walt Disney World trips. Maybe we will be able to say “Beam me up” by the time they head to the stars.

So despite the business that comes with the end of the school year, especially when you have two scouts and a mom who is graduating college, I have managed to find time to discover the ultimate in cute costumes for my daughter. A bit of back story if you will, my daughter is of the girly-girl type. Thankfully she is not over the top, but compared to me she is quite girly. Though she is not beyond a bit of dirt, she is girly but not too princess. Think Fairy-Pirate-Princess, a nickname she got from her step-father.

Anyways back on topic, so I found that I can order the dress from Bioshock 2 for her. Granted I could make it, but due to the time constraints put on my by work and motherhood I am not sure I have the time. That and I would like a new costume for me this year too. So she wants the dress and in purple. My girl also wants us to make her feet and hands look bloody so she plays the part. I can just see her creeping people out, “X their eyes daddy, X their eyes”.

I am also considering getting her the Big Daddy doll to go with it.
What could be better?

This will be a good Orycon!. Add to it that this year’s theme is The Lighter Side of Horror.

One of the things about role-playing is that it tends to be something you do for years and years. It also seems to be that most gamers move through a myriad of gaming systems depending on the tastes of their gaming group over the years. Of course this means an ever growing collection of gaming books and character sheets to keep track of. Recently I picked up an old copy of the 1983 TSR Red Box and needed to find a character sheet for my boy to make his first character with.

Thanks to modern advancements we no longer need to do them all by hand or make our way to a copy machine, we can just go online and find them. And in my searches I stumbled across what is to my knowledge the ultimate character sheet site on the internet, RPG Sheets. They have everything from 2300 AD to Wraith: The Oblivion. I suggest you check them out next time you need a character sheet for pretty much any game.

The Problem:

So, you have a friend that wants to game but can’t make it to the table, what should you do? Perhaps they live somewhere else, or maybe they are on vacation, or perhaps they are in a care center after having a tracheotomy? Well, no worries so long as they can talk, type, or write flash cards they can join you at the table!

The Solution:

Our friend was recently in the hospital and then care facility for a month, once he was off the strong pain meds and realized he was missing game we had to do something. So, we hooked him up with a net book complete with web cam from one of the group, and then setup my trust laptop also with web cam to take care of things on our end. We used Skype since I already have an account and is conveniently free for this sort of thing. Of course another program if you have one handy would work as well.

In Action:

We used this for two games and it worked pretty good. While we had some issues with the volume these were mostly due to an air compressor that was running on our friends end and nothing else as the problem was not as evident in session 2 when the compressor was not being used. Also I would recommend that if you have a USB web cam that you place the camera on the game side up higher if it is an option so it isn’t on one person all night, we didn’t think of this until after the game.

Alternatives:

As an alternative, I have some friends who have used Second Life for RPGs with distant people. To be honest, I didn’t really get Second Life the first time I checked it out. I can understand the appeal, I just find it doesn’t hold my interest. Perhaps I am much to busy in my first life to want to manage a second one too.

So here we are nearly done with the month of May.  Which at my house means two things are quickly coming up, first is my daughter’s Birthday and hot on its heels will be Father’s day.  While my daughter is blessedly easy to shop for, just get it in pink and she will love it – more so if it also has sparkles.

The harder shopping feet in our house is what the kids are going to get their dad and step-dad.  Both are not into the typical gifts so often advertised on sale this time of year.  No ties or bbq aprons will be purchased around here.  When you are shopping for a “gamer guy” it is best to find an appropriately geekish gift that they will actually like.  So I would highly suggest Think Geek, if you have been to their site you know what I mean.  If you haven’t been then you should go check it out.  I know that I am ordering my husband’s present from them.  I would tell you what it is but I don’t want it getting back to him.

If you are a gamer girl looking to make a geek gift for the dad in your life, then I recommend the Star Wars Craft Book. If I could knit I would say make my son the R2-D2 knit cap. Speaking of Star Wars, I was happy to get to watch most of the opening ceremonies for the redone Star Tours at Walt Disney World. I am sad to see a ride that I have always enjoyed change, but I understand that change is a part of life and so will manage. Though with our next vacation to Disney World coming up end of next year, I am excited to see the new version of Star Tours. It has been converted to 3D, of course, and now features a variety of different Star Tours to go on, which will give the ride some exciting variety. Can’t wait to report on what I think of it.

Looking for a way to make sure your young, or freaked out, lost child can get back to your caring arms?  I know when we have taken our kids into crowded places like conventions, zoos, or bigger places like Disney World we are always trying to keep an eye on them so they can’t get lost.  But as all parents know some kids are simply slipperier than others, for those that may get separated from you, here is a product I found tonight that can help.

It is a removable tattoo with the means to write your cell phone number on it.  No more need to take a sharpie to their arm when you to the Country Fair to be sure that a concerned adult can call you to claim your lost little one when a separation occurs.

According to the write up on Think Geek, the tattoo is highly durable and can last as long as two weeks.  They also suggest using it for things like medical conditions and food allergies when dropping your kids off in the care of another adult that may not know, like a B-day party.  The only downside I see is that it takes a special pen to go with it, guess you better set it all up in a zip-style baggie so you don’t lose it.

So cruising my favorite Science News site tonight I stumbled on what is being dubbed the future of computers.  Especially in regards to smart phone technology I can see this coming fast, but then doesn’t all the tech come fast these days?

A group has developed a flexible phone that duplicates the myriad of features that a smart phone has, though it adds another way to interact with the device in that you can bend it in a variety of ways and you can program the response the phone will have to these various bends.  Here is the link to the article on Science Daily which first caught my eye.

Here are a couple of videos from You Tube that show off the tech.  I can’t help but think the arm mounted one is the start of Shadowrun type arm computers.  Another step closer to Shadowrun being our reality, what Corp will you work for?

Snaplet: A Flexible E Ink Wristband Computer That Senses Its Shape by Human Media Lab

Paper computer shows flexible future for smartphones and tablets by Human Media Lab

So while searching the web for fidget toys for my son to use in class I discovered these great pair of gloves from The Therapy Shoppe.  Obviously they are designed as therapy gloves for people with sensory issues, but I can help but see them as also being potentially cool costume additions.  I must admit I have no idea what costume I would use these with, but they are simply too neat to keep to myself.

Also if you are looking for a quiet fidget toy for the gaming table this website has a pretty good selection.  That way you can manage your ADHD without driving your gaming group bat crazy clicking a pen in and out, or constantly rolling your dice.  I haven’t ordered anything for my boy from them yet, but hope to manage to sit him down soon and make a couple selections to try out.

If you have any ideas of a costume that would go with the gloves let me know.

So sad news really hit the public today.  Seems that the funding is no longer sufficient to keep the Allen Telescope Array up and going.  And while they are working to restore the program as soon as possible we could be missing the crucial moment of first contact (at least official first contact).  Seems to me that at a time where it is becoming ever more obvious that mankind really could use a helping hand, we are forced to back away from trying to find it.  Perhaps this is just part of the steps that have to happen for the big events of 2012, if we can’t see it coming it will only add to the drama, wouldn’t want SETI to foreshadow anything.

But if you are hoping to find a way to help out and bring the array back online, SETI is working towards moving away from ties to the government so as to avoid budgetary pitfalls.  This means they have set up a way for you to donate to the cause.  Click here to donate to SETI.

So I am sure that many of you are familiar with the variety of web comics that are out there these days.  Really any print comic can be found online as well as a large number of comics that can only be found online.  Sure there are old classics that are still out there, I know Charlie Brown is quite popular with my kids.  But here is a list of the web comics that are followed in my gaming group.  I would love to say I am all caught up on these, but with college still a part of my busy life these haven’t made it to the top of my to-do list.  Hopefully you have more free time then I do.

Order of the Stick

Erfworld

Schlock Mercenary