Daily Illuminator Archive for July 2007

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July 1, 2007:
As SJ mentioned last week, GURPS Martial Arts is on the water. Specifically, our pallets are on the NYK Athena . . . read article

July 2, 2007:
A quick-thinking hero saved a group of New York fast-food workers who had been charmed by a disguised vampire . . . read article

July 3, 2007:
A bunch of us are heading to Origins Games Expo. SJ will be doing the Special Guest schtick, running the Pirate Game, showing off Munchkin previews, and chatting about Steve Jackson Games . . . read article

July 4, 2007:
On this day, in 1776, the United States of America declared independence from Great Britain. Here in the States, we'll be celebrating this anniversary in a wide variety of ways: Not being in the office (that includes Warehouse 23 and e23!) . . . read article

July 5, 2007:
As you've heard for a looong time . . . but it's true now, really . . . Bavarian Fire Drill, a new expansion for Illuminati, is going to press, and should be shipping in August. One of the Artifact cards is "Hitler's Brain," using the great illustration from INWO . . . read article

July 6, 2007:
Aliens and UFO Art is an odd thing to call your site when your contention seems to be that the artwork actually serves to reveal a sinister alien side to your subjects. People in the highest echelons of power hide their true origins, and some websites one views at one's peril . . . read article

July 7, 2007:
The shortlist for the 2007 Diana Jones award has been announced. The Diana Jones Award is given to whatever the Diana Jones Committee believes has best demonstrated ‘excellence in gaming’ in the previous year . . . read article

July 8, 2007:
Pinnacle Entertainment Group has seen fit to provide me and mine with the best Old West game I know aught of: Deadlands. And who doesn't like to run steampunk ghost stories set in the Old West . . . with a dash of alternate history, Poker-based spell-casting, and super-technology powered by what just may very well be the souls of the damned? . . . read article

July 9, 2007:
It's Sunday night as I write this. I'm alive . . . read article

July 10, 2007:
GURPS High-Tech has moved out of the "editing" phase of its lifecycle, and has entered "art." During the early part of this stage, the raw text was poured into a Quark template, and art holes were identified. Those art holes are now being filled with cool art designed to help readers visualize the information more clearly . . . read article

July 11, 2007:
I'm sure SJ will have his impressions of the overall convention shortly, but here's an important bit: the Origins Awards list. The vast majority of my experience at Origins centered around the Adventure Retail booth . . . read article

July 12, 2007:
I can't believe I'm giving a testimonial for a RAZOR. But it works . . . read article

July 13, 2007:
Here is our latest release, now shipping to the shelves of a game store near you: Munchkin 5 – De-Ranged More of the twisted humor of Steve Jackson and John Kovalic in a 112-card supplement for Munchkin! De-Ranged has everything you love about Munchkin, including: A new Class! Rangers can tame monsters and ride them! . . . read article

July 14, 2007:
Steve Jackson Games announces for release in November, 2007: GURPS High-Tech All the Gear Is Here! In 256 meticulously researched pages, GURPS High-Tech gives descriptions and stats for hundreds of kinds of historical weapons and personal armor, vehicles from the stagecoach to modern helicopters, and much more. GURPS High-Tech also has the gear and gadgets characters need . . . read article

July 15, 2007:
Is it really illuminated, or just really pretty? Visit NumberSpiral.com to see the numbers rolled up into bigger and bigger patterns . . . read article

July 16, 2007:
After a bout of technical difficulties, the ninth Fnordcast is now available for download, either directly, via RSS, or via iTunes. This episode covers our experiences at the GAMA Trade Show . . . read article

July 17, 2007:
While my camera was nigh-useless, our old friend J. Hunter Johnson was more responsible than I . . . read article

July 18, 2007:
We've been playtesting The Good, the Bad, and the Munchkin around the office for the past couple weeks, and SJ even took the prototype deck to Origins for showing and telling (and some playing). But now the art specs and card titles have been sent over to John Kovalic and the production team, respectively . . . read article

July 19, 2007:
Spoilers happen – it's a fact of modern society. And given the modern marketing professional's need to interact with that society, I'm in a high risk group for discovering the endings of my favorite fiction well before I've finished the media on my own . . . read article

July 20, 2007:
If you're tired of getting sand kicked in your face, give yourself over to Berzerker - Viking Fighting Arts. Learn to spear, spike, hit, scream, and slam like the Norsemen . . . read article

July 21, 2007:
A reindeer breeder found a extremely well preserved mammoth, in Russia. The Deputy Director of the Russian Academy of Science's Zoological Institute has squashed the possibility of cloning, pointing out that the frozen cells have burst, damaging the genetic material . . . read article

July 22, 2007:
Recently a Chinese dolphin species, the baiji or Yangtze River Dolphin, was declared "functionally extinct" – that is, scientists can't prove they're all dead, but they couldn't find a single one. It was wiped out by habitat destruction, accidental entanglement in nets, and deliberate illegal fishing . . . read article

July 23, 2007:
True to my plan, I was up way too late Friday, and was way too distracted on Saturday, but I finished Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows less than 20 hours after I purchased it. I managed to avoid all internet related news sources, and listened to the CD player instead of the radio on the drive to the Saturday game . . . read article

July 24, 2007:
Warren Spector, one of our most distinguished alumni, has just sold his development house, Junction Point Studios, to Disney. This is especially cool because Warren is a longtime Disney fan . . . read article

July 25, 2007:
Ok, perhaps "madness" is a bit of hyperbole, but it's definitely snappier than "More Bibliographies Have Been Posted." Which they have, by the way. Four new bibliographies, linked to Amazon for your purchasing pleasure, have been posted – one each for GURPS Dinosaurs, GURPS Discworld, GURPS High-Tech for Third Edition and GURPS High-Tech for Fourth Edition . . . read article

July 26, 2007:
The Associated Press reported on Monday the discovery of a triangle on the side of a building built in 1832. Any resemblance to this building is purely coincidental . . . read article

July 27, 2007:
The Weekly World News is ending its print editions. How, now, will we learn the truth about alien invasions, psychic predictions of the end of the world, and of course Bat Boy, all while standing in line at the supermarket? . . . read article

July 28, 2007:
GURPS Supers has been uploaded to e23. What? . . . read article

July 29, 2007:
Doing the dishes. Vacuuming . . . read article

July 30, 2007:
We expect to be announcing some fairly extended downtime soon, for a server upgrade . . . probably Monday or Tuesday. Update: Our web and game servers will be offline tonight starting at midnight US Central time for emergency maintenance. We expect them to be offline for three to four hours . . . read article

July 31, 2007:
On the other hand, if you cannot see this post, then probably our servers are still down. Unless, of course, you're not trying to look at our site at all . . . read article

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