Google Plus is dying

And I am grieving. It's been the impetus for SO much inspiration and joy--having connected with many, many like-minded gamers, artists, scientists, writers, cartographers, musicians, video makers, journalists, and other kinds of fabulous nerds and geeks, over the last several years.

I feel like I'm losing a close relative. 

Soon Google will pull the plug completely. Until then, I'll be firing up the furnace here on the blog. (At least until the end comes for Blogger--whenever that is!)

You can find a complete list of where I'm at on Where Am I. 

I'll post a final, updated list of links when the end of G+ finally, inevitably arrives.

Face it, your blog is toast...

So this is maddening. Google Reader (which I use to follow the bajillion blogs I read) is being shut down in a few months--July 1, 2013. Word has been circulating since last fall that Blogger may not be long for this world either.

As I think about it, it seems like Reader would be the natural, first-strike takedown before Blogger gets the axe. I was worried about losing the blog as early as 2011 so I took steps to purchase the domain for Exonauts (which has been live since last summer). I'm thinking it might be time to work on full site with a blog (a task which I've actually little time for, especially come this summer).

In any case, you fellas ought to look out for your blogs. And readers, now is the time to start looking at other reader apps. I use NewsRob on my Android phone, which works great. I'm a bigger fan of Google Reader for organizing though since it lets me categorize and tag blogs with ease. If you're looking for a place to start your quest, Boing Boing has a post/thread going on other services (some paid, some not).

More info:

• ABC News - Google shuts down Reader
• USA Today - Suggested replacements
• Google instructions for downloading Reader data

Update: This guy knows exactly what I'm talking 'bout.

Wishlist: Plastic Sci-Fi Minis

I've been wanting some decent 1:72 scale sci-fi minis for a while now. But alas, they don't exist. At least not in the style that I'm hoping for. See, what I need is something akin to pulp science fiction rendered in a cheaper plastic format like these from Caesar Miniatures:

...that look like these:

Robot on left

These are from Bronze Age Miniatures but they're metal :(

Here's an alien...

Hydra Miniatures makes awesome stuff, but again--all metal. I'd buy their entire catalog if I had my druthers.

And we all know this guy should really be holding a gun or a lightsaber:

Or anything in this post or this one.

I just can't seem to find a good cache of pulpy space-opera-y minis out there. And the key here is in PLASTIC. Preferably a box like Caesar, but I'm not choosy. Does anything like this exist? Any sculptors out there want to take a crack at this?

Irvin Kershner, Director of Empire Strikes Back is Dead

Irvine Kershner, image: Lucasfilm

The Hollywood Reporter and New York Times are reporting that Irvin Kershner, director of Star Wars The Empire Strikes Back has passed away. I'm so sad to learn this as Empire has long been my favorite of the original trilogy movies.

Empire was the dramatic engine of the trilogy and turned a wild and wooly ride into the stuff of myth. Here's to a sharp, creative mind that will be deeply missed.

I've got ape fever!

Yes, it's true. I'm going ape. Ape for sci-fi apes that is. You know I was never into Planet of the Apes too much. I think when I watched the movies on TV as a kid I just thought they were ridiculous. I'd already been exposed to Chewbacca, and really, how can you be cooler than Chewy? (The dude flew on spaceship and had a big freakin' laser crossbow. No contest.).

Anywho, I saw these on ebay recently:

I think the double impatiens will look splendid over there.

...and had to have them. Unfortunately, I missed out and they went to someone else who has no idea how freakin' lucky he is. Because (and this is a pipe dream people, if there ever was one) I wanted to turn them into an army of these:

"Oh, I'm sorry, did I break your concentration?"

That's right--MOSS APES! That dude is Moss Man from Masters of the Universe. Yeah, he's definitely not a "man". He's a plant ape. PLANT APE. Do you understand the importance of Plant Ape? It's just sitting there--ripe fodder for becoming an alien civilization. Barbarian plant apes, my friends. With laser rifles. Because everything is better with LASER RIFLES.

Better watch your ass Charlton Heston.

Bonus: consolation prize (you're welcome!)

P.S. I'm positive this is something Brutorz Bill has likely already thought of (and done better a thousand times over) but if I don't post it my gamer ADD won't let me move on. So there.

At war with the Trojan army

In the last 2 weeks my computer has been besieged by trojan viruses--about 4 of them. I've slowly been blasting them to atoms using every antivirus program I can get my hands on. The result has been fewer posts than usual for all three blogs. My computer is finally showing signs of recovery and regular posting will resume once I get through a backlog of other work and correspondence.

I also realized I'd skipped a Random Space Finds--so you'll see a post or two out of order. Perhaps it's time for time-travel themed RSF.....

Expiscor Eternus!

Wizards of the Coast: Say Goodbye to Star Wars

Now this is crappy news. I just bought a bunch of Star Wars minis and then this happens. WotC is dropping the Star Wars miniatures and role playing games, due to the "economic downturn". I get that sales may not have been what they hoped--but I know of quite a few collectors/gamers out there who love the game. I'm more of a collector than player at this point, but I'd just purchased about a dozen singles and was looking at some booster sets of more nondescript characters that would fit well with a Star Frontiers/X-plorers game setting. (An image gallery of those purchases was to appear on this blog.)

It's like West End Games all over again!
 
I'll say that I feel more like there were nearly TOO many books, supplements, and booster sets and not enough accessories to help support the game. There was only one Galaxy Tile set (i.e., Dungeon Tiles for Star Wars) released and frankly I'm not sure that Wizards did enough to link the minis to the RPG version of the game--which may have helped keep them both more prescient with the role players.

Wizards also didn't do anything to revise the mini booster sets as far as quantity and price like they did with the D&D minis. One would think they should have tried to redo their merchandising before cutting an entire license. There's speculation at the moment that another company would pick up the license, but that's likely never going to happen as there isn't another mini company with the resources that Hasbro/WotC has in place to handle a license this size. Also, Hasbro has a history of going after perceived competitors, like when it sued the Lego company over their mini figures a few years back. 

With all this said, my personal preference would have been to suspend the line, or pull back to just core books and one or two mini sets a year. But I guess, once you've pigged out at the buffet, it's hard to go on a diet.

Time will tell if the license will rebound to support a game system again. Until then, I'll be buying up the ones I need off ebay, et. al.

Update: The trading/collectible card games are also on the chopping block, as the license extends to all Star Wars properties produced by Wizards of the Coast.

Update: Hasbro (of which Wizards is a subsidiary, as we all know) is coming out with stat cards and dice for their 3.75" action figures. As the picture below from this weeks' Toy Fair in NYC illustrates, it looks as though they're turning the toys into a game. A neat concept--no where near an RPG--but still cool if you're a kid or a toy collector. Call it "the Yu-Gi-Oh-fying of Star Wars" but all in all it's an interesting way to play with the toys, even if it's a total bummer for the RPG and minis game.

 

Huge props to Rebelscum for their hard work at Toy Fair to get images and send in reports!