So if you have any friends, neighbors, relatives, significant others, or kids that have shown interest in learning more about it, send them to the article here.

I want it to be helpful, so if you read it and still don’t understand some aspect or think I’ve left out something important, let me know.

I don’t really have much time to play online games, so I kind of dabble with them for a while when a new one comes out. I tried Age of Conan for a bit when it first came out…I liked some things about it, but they apparently have no crafting in the game until you reach level 40. What’s up with that? I’m one of those strange people that actually likes crafting, so that pretty much sucks. I’m not going to play a character up till level 40 just so I can see if the crafting system is any good!!

Anyway, while looking at some of the concept art for Warhammer Online, I saw a character sketch for the Knight of Tzeentch that I thought was really cool. I thought “that would be fun to build” so I did a fan art piece:

While I’m looking forward to the game and I hope it’s good, I’m also hoping it’s not too good. If you’ve played these games you know what a crazy timesink they can be! I don’t know much about the crafting system yet, but hopefully you’ll be able to try it before level 40.

Read more about Warhammer Online.

Ok, maybe that’s stretching things a bit. After all, I haven’t stayed at all of the KOA’s (Kampgrounds of America for those of you that have never heard of them) so I can’t really say whether or not it’s the absolute worst.

We did a little family camping for a couple of weeks, mainly driving through Washington and Oregon and doing the usual sightseeing/photography/camping type stuff. Some of the campgrounds were state parks, and a couple were KOA’s. Forrest Gump springs to mind, with the old “Life is like a box of chocolates, you never know what you’re going to get.” The same could be said of KOA’s…it’s basically a crap shoot. Some are nice, some suck.

As we approached the KOA in Cascade Locks, Oregon, our first indication  that something was amiss was when we first pulled up to the campground entrance. It was odd because well, we were in a neighborhood. I don’t know about you, but when I go camping, I want to go camping. Which means out in the woods, or the prairie, or by the ocean, you know, away from everything and everybody, or at least as much as possible. Instead, the campground entrance was across the street from houses, with well-manicured front lawns and cars parked in driveways. And I’m like, “What the hell is this?” and the wife doesn’t look pleased either.

We pull into the campground and check in at the front office. We find our Kabin (what is with these people and the need to intentionally misspell things? I guess KOA Cabin isn’t as Kute as Kabin.) We’re getting set up, and I hear this rumbling sound. I start to feel a vibration, and all of a sudden I hear a deafening “SCREEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEK” as the kindly engineer lays on the horn of the freight train, which is now careening down the tracks which are about ten feet from the campground.

Yes, there’s a freight line, that runs past the campground every few hours or so and ALL NIGHT LONG. Every time the train came through and woke me up, again, I couldn’t help think “What kind of an idiot builds a campground next to train tracks?” Then I thought about all the thousands of poor bastards that end up here each year, thinking they’ve found a nice quiet camping getaway, but instead have entered Kamper’s Hell. Avoid this place at all costs.

NOTE TO SELF:

From now on when planning camping trips, use google maps to check out an aerial photo of the site and make sure there are no train tracks (or neighborhoods) anywhere near the campsite.

From Dana Milbanks at the Washington Post:

Republicans Vote Against Moms; No Word Yet on Puppies, KittensBy Dana Milbank
Friday, May 9, 2008; A03

It was already shaping up to be a difficult year for congressional Republicans. Now, on the cusp of Mother’s Day, comes this: A majority of the House GOP has voted against motherhood.

On Wednesday afternoon, the House had just voted, 412 to 0, to pass H. Res. 1113, “Celebrating the role of mothers in the United States and supporting the goals and ideals of Mother’s Day,” when Rep. Todd Tiahrt (R-Kan.), rose in protest.

“Mr. Speaker, I move to reconsider the vote,” he announced.

Rep. Kathy Castor (D-Fla.), who has two young daughters, moved to table Tiahrt’s request, setting up a revote. This time, 178 Republicans cast their votes against mothers.

It has long been the custom to compare a popular piece of legislation to motherhood and apple pie. Evidently, that is no longer the standard. Worse, Republicans are now confronted with a John Kerry-esque predicament: They actually voted for motherhood before they voted against it.

Republicans, unhappy with the Democratic majority, have been using such procedural tactics as this all week to bring the House to a standstill, but the assault on mothers may have gone too far. House Minority Leader John Boehner, asked yesterday to explain why he and 177 of his colleagues switched their votes, answered: “Oh, we just wanted to make sure that everyone was on record in support of Mother’s Day.”

By voting against it?

If Boehner’s explanation doesn’t make much sense, he’s been under a great deal of stress lately.

You can’t make this stuff up!

Photo by Steve Justad

Hoppy got his name because he had a limp ever since a fight he was in as a pup. Unfortunately, he’s no longer with us, since the Bush administration issued a rule permitting states to kill wolves affecting elk herds in any way in the northern Rockies. Hoppy was one of the first casualties as the federal government stripped Endangered Species protections for gray wolves in the northern Rockies at the end of March.

See a slide show of Hoppy and other wolves at Yellowstone and find out what you can do to help here.

These vehicle designs may seem completely unrealistic, or look like a technology that’s a long, long way off…but take a look at this video from the BigDog project at Boston Dynamics.

Very cool, and also a little creepy!

Read more about BigDog here.

Tags: robotics

These are great for art reference, both for seeing how things collapse over time as well as for textures. I’m fascinated by old buildings anyway, and the history of them.

You can see the photos at my gallery site, here.

So this is my idea of what the Angel of Death might look like. It feels great to finally have a new piece done, and I am starting to think about what the next one will be. I have foolishly made a New Years resolution that I will finish 10 new images this year. (!) That’s a lot considering how busy my job keeps me, especially in the summer/fall, but I’m determined to goof off less, and make more art.

You can see the full-size version at my gallery site, here.

I realize that you can get good deals on eBay for used games (and I frequently do), but there’s something extra-cool about standing in a store this large that specializes in video games.

So I would be remiss to not share said location with my fellow gaming geeks and geekettes. Here’s the rack near the front door that has all the price lists:

There are lists for new and used Nintendo 64, Playstation 1, 2 and 3, Xbox and Xbox 360, Dreamcast, Gamecube, Saturn, Neo Geo, Game Gear, Wii, Nintendo DS, Sony PSP, Super Nintendo, Game Boy, and Game Boy Advance. Plus they’ve got used DVD’s. Here’s just one of the aisles:

And here’s the Xbox section:

Anyway, if you’re a game freak and you like checking out used games, check this place out. I was there a few weeks back, and picked up Bully and Disgaea for PS2, and Exit and Crush for PSP. I just got a Nintendo DS for Christmas, so next time I go I’ll be looking for some DS games too. The best part is that when you check out, they open each case to make sure the game is actually in it, and they show you the underside of the CD so you can see the quality of the disk surface. Most excellent.

Check out their site here.

Low Carbon Kid says: “Its purpose was to expose the credulity and scientific illiteracy of many of the people who call themselves climate sceptics. While dismissive of the work of the great majority of climate scientists, they will believe almost anything if it lends support to their position. Their approach to climate science is the opposite of scepticism.”

A number of people ran with the story without even bothering to verify the source.

Read the whole story at DailyKos here.