My resume:
It's about that time. Time to update my resume. Despite an update back in 2007, I hadn't updated some of the information since I retired from the Air Force in 2005, so it was a little bit out of date. If you need a copy of my resume, or you're just curious, just send me an email and I'll forward the password.
When I first posted the resume (back in 2004), it was very accessible and easy to download. Security and privacy concerns have since forced me to take some precautions regarding the posting of my resume. I've marked the resume, and the resume page, as off limits to web spiders, and I've password protected the resume. In addition to posting the updated resume, I also updated some old copies of my resume.
Password protected? That may sound sketchy, but I assure you it's not all that bad. The document is a pdf (Adobe's Portable Document Format), and thanks to the folks at Adobe, it can be password protected. If I haven't already provided you with the password, you'll have to contact me in order to obtain it. Sorry about the password, but it's the only way I could satisfy concerned parties, protect my privacy, and still provide an easy way for people to view/download my resume.
<https://www.robsworld.org/resume.html>
<https://www.robsworld.org/resume_mostrecent.pdf>
Software favorites:
GraphicConverter moves ever forward with another batch of beta releases (I caught two of them). As usual, developer has been busy updating this application. Here are a couple more releases for the product that's always getting better. More free upgrades for those who own a license. If you need a powerhouse converter, editor and browser for your graphics, grab a copy of GraphicConverter - You won't be disappointed. In addition to the GC updates, I also had a Safari update as a result of a recent Apple security update.
GraphicConverter:
Thorsten Lemke (of Lemkesoft) released another beta and a full release this week. I saw/downloaded the following updates: 6.7.4b3 and 6.7.4b4. GraphicConverter is an image converter and editor. A fantastic piece of shareware that is well worth the price ($35.00). I use it to convert image formats into web standard formats, to create and edit image maps and other graphics. I've been singing GC's praises for many years now, and I'm not sure I would do without it. The best part about GC is it's author. Thorsten Lemke is completely committed to his customer base. Constantly and Continuously responding to customer recommendations and bug reports. GC is a dynamic, evolving, application. Always on the cutting edge, an absolute must in any web developers tool box. At a fraction of PhotoShop's cost, this photo editor puts a huge wrench in your toolbox.
<http://www.lemkesoft.com/xd/public/content/index._cGlkPTE5Mw_.html>
Safari:
Apple's default web browser for OS X (also available for Windows!), is way ahead of the pack. Apple's browser contains a plethora of incredibly powerful features (over 150 features), and this release moves the browser forward for everyone (there's even a Windows version! - Microsoft stops developing IE for Mac, and Apple makes a Windows version of Safari?). I'm currently running Safari Version 5.0.1 (6533.17.8).
Battle of the browsers. Internet Explorer vs FireFox. Those are your choices right? Wrong! Think different! Think Mac! Choose Safari, the new kid on the block. A fast (The fastest available for Mac) but full featured browser, which performs like a pro. The full release version is a powerful workhorse - Featuring tabbed browsing, URL snap-back, a powerful but elegant bookmark implementation (with built-in import capability), Google, Yahoo and Bing search integration, built-in pop-up blocker, multiple standards (HTML 4.01, HTML 5, XML, XPath, XSLT, XHTML, DOM, CSS, RSS, ECMA Script, Proxy Support, SSL, TLS, JavaScript, Java, plus QuickTime, Flash and Shockwave plug-ins), and a host of other features. The beta boast a bevy of new features that will certainly enhance future versions of the browser. New features: Top sites - A visual representation of your top visited sites. Cover Flow - A fantastic new way to visualize your bookmarks. Safari Reader mode - banish all those annoying sidebars and adds. Expanded support for HTML 5. Nitro Engine - Makes Safari the fastest in the pack. That's just a small taste of Safari's features. Check out the website for more info. Safari is just one more reason to Switch! It's won a place as my default browser, give it a chance and it'll soon be yours.
So what's new with this latest update? Customize Safari with features created by third-party developers; Find extensions in the Safari Extensions Gallery, accessible from the Safari menu and extensions.apple.com. This update also contains improvements to stability, accessibility and security, including the following:
More accurate Top Hit results in the Address Field
More accurate timing for CSS animations
Better stability when using the Safari Reader keyboard shortcut
Better stability when scrolling through MobileMe Mail
Fixes display of multipage articles from rollingstone.com in Safari Reader
Fixes an issue that prevented Google Wave and other websites using JavaScript encryption libraries from working correctly on 32-bit systems
Fixes an issue that prevented Safari from launching on Leopard systems with network home directories
Fixes an issue that could cause borders on YouTube thumbnails to disappear when hovering over the thumbnail image
Fixes an issue that could cause Flash content to overlap with other content on facebook.com, crateandbarrel.com, and other sites when using Flash 10.1
Fixes an issue that prevented boarding passes from www.aa.com from printing correctly
Fixes an issue that could cause DNS prefetching requests to overburden certain routers
Fixes an issue that could cause VoiceOver to misidentify elements of webpages
With these software updates, I've updated my Software Favorites page. It's primarily dedicated to web publishing for the Mac user. Not meant for the professional, It's my hope that home users and hobbyists will find it useful. It's a listing of applications that I find useful in publishing my web pages.
<https://www.robsworld.org/myfavs.html>
Updates to the Tollgate Crossing Website: My odd-ball schedule actually works in my favor for some things. A couple of those activities are the community support activities which I enjoy - Volunteering with our local neighborhood watch, and supporting our community by maintaining the Tollgate Crossing website and mailing lists. While it started out as a website focused primarily on our Neighborhood Watch (which was originally confined to the Tollgate Crossing community), it quickly grew to encompass the whole of our community, in the form of an expanded website and a variety of email mailing lists. Later, I spun the Neighborhood Watch portions off to form it's/their own website. Now the Tollgate Crossing website is focused on the Tollgate Crossing community, with links to the Neighborhood Watch website. Here are a few changes I made at our community website in the last few days:
* Welcome: The website's opener. A page containing an introduction to our community website. Here you'll find all the latest news and announcements. I removed banners for 'An evening at the PCC', 'The PCC Annual Charity Brewfest', 'Arapahoe County Fair', and 'Flag Retirement Ceremony. I updated the NNO & Metro District banners. Next MD meeting is (24 Aug 2010).
* Events: A detailed listing of upcoming and recurring events in and around Tollgate Crossing. Here is more detailed information regarding some of the events you may have read about on the 'Welcome' page. It's also a place to look for long term/recurring events. I removed the event listing for the following events: 'An evening at the PCC', 'The PCC Annual Charity Brewfest', 'Arapahoe County Fair', and 'Flag Retirement Ceremony. I updated the event entry for the next Metro District meeting (24 Aug 2010). For more information see our Events page.
* Info: A page of links, phone numbers, email addresses and other information pertinent to the residents/community of Tollgate Crossing. I posted a new section of contacts for D.R. Horton. All the homes in Tollgate were built by D.R. Horton, and occasionally the homeowners need to contact D.R. Horton's warranty department. Hopefully this section will provide some useful contact numbers for homeowners. I also updated the available Metro District minutes. Thanks to our MD management company, I'm able to make these meeting minutes available to all our residents. So, even if you can't make the time to attend our MD meetings, you can still stay up to date by reading the minutes. I added two new months of minutes (March and April of 2010).
* Volunteer: The volunteer page is a place where our community solicits help with various non-profit community projects. I removed a call for volunteers with an the 4th of July event. For obvious reasons...
If you are a resident of 'Tollgate Crossing' (in Aurora, Colorado), you might want to check out the website. It's loaded with information about our community and you can even sign up for some of the email mailing lists that serve our community.
<http://www.tollgatecrossing.org/Welcome.html>
Updates to the Southeast Aurora Neighborhood Watch website: My odd-ball schedule actually works in my favor for some things. A couple of those activities are the community support activities which I enjoy - Volunteering with our local neighborhood watch, maintaining the Southeast Aurora Neighborhood Watch website and mailing lists. Here are some of the changes I made at our Neighborhood Watch website in the last few days:
* Current: A web page dedicated to the most recent news, announcements and information. I updated a banner for our upcoming National Night Out celebration. Times have changed for the neighborhood events, and I updated the banner to indicate celebrations in other neighborhoods. Be sure to check with your Area Coordinator for details regarding your community. Tollgate Crossing will be holding an Ice Cream Social to help celebrate National Night Out. We hope to see you there (starting at 1730).
* Events: A listing of upcoming and recurring events in you Southeast Aurora Neighborhood. Events sponsored by or relevant to our Neighborhood Watch. I updated the National Night Out event listing. Our (Tollgate Crossing) NNO Celebration will be held 3 August, 2010. Our Neighborhood Watch is planning an Ice Cream Social. Check out the 'Events' page for details regarding the celebrations in other Southeast Aurora communities (Tallyn's Reach and Beacon Point provided me with details for their celebration events).
If you are a resident of Southeast Aurora, you might want to check out our Southeast Aurora Neighborhood Watch website (Serving the following communities: Tollgate Crossing, Sorrel Ranch, The Wheatlands, Beacon Point, Southshore, Tallyn’s Reach, Saddle Rock - North, Serenity Ridge, Black Stone, Heritage Eagle Bend and Rocking Horse). If you're concerned about the safety and security of our community, you might want to join our group, or subscribe to one of our mailing lists to receive periodic alerts, updates and information.
<http://www.southeastaurora-neighborhoodwatch.org/Welcome.html>
Kim's Birthday: Happy Birthday to Kim! Kim celebrated another birthday on the 25th of July. Don't worry Kim, I won't tell anyone how 'old' you are. :-) Besides, you'll always be younger than me. We both had the weekend off so we did a little bit of celebrating. We went out to eat twice. Two of Kim's favorite restaurants - The Elephant Bar (In Greenwood Village), and the P.F. Chang's near our house. We even watched a movie - Kim got to pick - We rented 'Cop Out' using our AppleTV. On Sunday (the 25th) we even managed to take a little walk together. All in all it was a pretty good weekend. Happy Birthday Kim!
July 23, 2010
Software favorites:
One more release for one of my favorite software applications. XQuartz is a component of the X Window System. Part of the Mac OS's Unix underpinnings. As part of the X11 implementation on Mac OS X, this windowing system gives Mac users the ability to run many Unix applications.
X11:
One of the best things about OSX? - it's really Unix! I'm running X11/XQuartz 2.5.2, available from MacOS Forge
I've been using Unix longer than I've been using Mac's, so I knew
about the power potential when I found out that OSX was going to be based
on Unix. Some of the most powerful Unix applications run on any
OSX equipped Mac. In order to run all these fantastic applications you need nothing more than Apple's version of
X11 (which comes free with OSX, or you can download and install other versions). If you want to get a bit more advanced, you can use Fink or Macports with your OSX equipped Mac. Once you get your X Windows environment running, you'll find thousands
of Unix applications that have been a well kept secret for all this time.
With this software update, I've updated my Software Favorites page. It's primarily dedicated to web publishing for the Mac user. Not meant for the professional, It's my hope that home users and hobbyists will find it useful. It's a listing of applications that I find useful in publishing my web pages.
<https://www.robsworld.org/myfavs.html>
D&D updates:
We played our last D&D session on the 10th of July. A friend of mine from way back (we last saw Dennis in Italy, back in '91?) was visiting, and he sat in on our game. Due to some players missing the meeting, Dennis even had the opportunity to play one of the characters. Dennis had a great time on his vacation, and the D&D session was something he enjoyed immensely. Here are some of the updates from our meeting on the 10th. With the conclusion of our 8 August meeting, the players have moved into an entirely new phase of the game. Gone are the S.C.R.E.W.O.F.F.S. - Existing now as a group of non-player characters. The player characters are now members of an entirely new group. The H.A.L.L.O.W.ed Knights. This new group of adventurers have struck out from Whillip. In search of glory, fame, and justice. They seek to right the wrongs of this land. To defend the weak, enslaved and oppressed. Striking out at evil and taint; this group of characters vow to make their mark upon the land. Let H.A.L.L.O.W.ed Knights be a name both feared by evil and revered by the good citizens of these realms.
Note from the DM As of 20 February, 2010, one of the players (Mark) has taken over the duties of DM. Mark and I have been planning this change for some time. It's something I like to do, when possible. Unfortunately, the opportunity doesn't present itself too often. Once the campaign has been established, and the players familiar with "Rob's World", I like to encourage full participation by sharing the duties of DM. Mark has written the adventure that the characters are currently engaged in, and I will relinquish DM duties while Mark makes all the big decisions. With Mark behind the podium, I'll do my best to enjoy the mystery, and keep Solmar alive. So, Mark and I have switched places. He'll be running the show, and I'll be playing Solmar. What fun! I'm certainly enjoying this change of pace, the opportunity for adventure, and the mystery of Deepwood. - Robert
3rd Edition Campaign: I updated the date of our next meeting - Our next meeting is 23 July 2010 (Tomorrow Night!). I also updated some of the caption text under the small group photo. This page (The "3eCampagin" page) is the first stop for information on the campaign that I'm currently running. Here you'll find information regarding our next meeting, some notes, and an index of web pages and documents that are important to our campaign. You can also check out the latest group photo.
<https://www.robsworld.org/3ecampaign.html>
The Adventurers journal: The tale of our adventurers. A series of journal entries from various party members. This document contains details of their encounters. Victory, defeat, desire and glory. Here is the tale of The H.A.L.L.O.W.ed Knights, a group of adventurers who set forth from Whillip, seeking fame, fortune and the defeat of evil in these lands. The meeting on the 10th of July sees the party out on the road. On their way to the next adventure. It's going to be a long overland journey, and there will be many more days just like this one. This entry features another recap from Mutteran. After our last battle, everyone thought things would be easy going for a brief rest; not so! As soon as we started the session, tragedy struck - Check out the journal entry for all the details. Thanks to Lee for his continued input and support. Hopefully we can see some journal entries from Kim, Kevin, Micheal or Todd in the future.
<https://www.robsworld.org/ajournal08.html#jul10 2010>
Character Updates:
With the recent demise of Jusarian, I had to make some necessary changes to the "Who's Who?" page. I moved Jusarian's short reference to the 'Former' category, and removed the full character entry. I created a memorial page for Jusarian, and that's where links to Jusarian will point from now on. In addition to the changes necessitated by Jusarian's death, I also updated the listing of former player characters. I added strikethrough styling to the listing. The strikethrough indicates former PCs who are deceased. While Todd and Micheal have rolled up their own characters, they haven't entered the game yet. When they do, I'll update the "Who's Who?" page to indicate the campaign's newest characters. The "Who's Who?" page is a listing of characters, both player characters and non-player characters.
<https://www.robsworld.org/3ewhoswho.html>
<https://www.robsworld.org/jusarian.html>
Players in our campaign: With the return of Micheal and Todd to our table; not to mention the loss of Joe's character (Jusarian), I had to make some changes to the character annotations beneath the group photo. I also made some updates to the mouse-over tool-tips (See Note from the DM above). A group of crazy characters constitute the players in our campaign. Many players have graced my gaming table over the years, some are old friends, some are new, but in the end - friends are what I call them. The players page contains a photo of our group (yes, I know it's out of date) and a short listing of who we are.
<https://www.robsworld.org/players.html>
Monsters encountered: On the road - As the party takes to the open road, they find themselves to be the target for numerous hungry, belligerent, and simply curious creatures. During our most recent gaming sessions, the party learned about three new monsters. A flying creature as large as a house - The Roc swooped in, carried off Jusarian, and instantly reduced our character count by one! Something accompanying a Wemic hunting party - Thudhunters are strange domesticated subterranean guard creatures and hunting companions. Our encounter with the Wemic provided more information about the dangerous prey they're hunting. The Bulette is begining to sound more deadly by the day. The monsters page is a listing of monsters that the party has encountered, read about, or heard of.
<https://www.robsworld.org/monsters.html>
House Rules:
Like any other D&D campaign (outside of tournament play), the campaign that I manage makes use of various house rules. You can pick up a new copy of these House Rules online. The House Rules are published in pdf format, and they define the 'flavor' of our campaign. Every good DM has his own list of House Rules. Recently, I've updated some of the house rules documents used in our campaign. Here are the new/updated house rules:
Campaign improvement and your input: Recently, Mark and I have engaged in a discussion regarding 'Automatic' success and failure in the game... Mark's input (like all player input in our campaign) is valued for it's campaign improvement impetus, and I encourage all the players to provide their feedback on any rules they feel may lack clarity or seem broken. Please feel free to forward your questions, suggestions or recommendations. I may not always agree with your opinions or suggestions, but I will always read, consider and respond to your input. Your input, feedback and suggestions are an integral part of the "Rob's World!" campaign.
Automatic/Critical Success or Failure: As a result of our discussion (see above), I have revised several House Rules. While there were several changes, they all concerned my efforts to clarify this 'Automatic success or failure' maxim. It has always been my contention/house rule, that a natural roll of '20' is automatic success (on any d20 check), and a natural roll of '1' is automatic failure. Unfortunately, the house rules were sometimes ambiguous on this point, and the rule was not succinctly stated (outside 'To Hit' rolls).
The ruling can be summed up most clearly by the revised "AUTOMATIC/CRITICAL SUCCESS OR FAILURE" rule (see below for part of the rule). I've added the word 'AUTOMATIC' to the front of the rule heading (It used to be 'CRITICAL SUCCESS OR FAILURE'), added a clarifying paragraph, and modified various other rules declarations.
Simply stated, the rule is this: If you roll a natural 1 on any d20 check, you fail. If you roll a natural 20 on any d20 check you succeed. This automatic success/failure maxim applies regardless of the check score required for success. For additional clarification and details, please read the full rule(s).
AUTOMATIC/CRITICAL SUCCESS OR FAILURE: Automatic Success/Failure: During any in-game d20 roll, a natural (unmodified) roll of 20 is considered to be success. During any in-game d20 roll, a natural (unmodified) roll of 1 is considered to be failure. This maxim applies for all in-game d20 rolls: To-Hit, Save Throw, Skill Check, Ability Check, Search for secret doors, etc. (This rule does not apply to d20 rolls made before or after the game. For example: Luck of the Day determination (see HEROIC LUCK above), during character generation, or rolls made to determine random effects such as weather, magic item generation, or encounter rolls (when made out of game (as determined by the DM)).
Critical Success/Failure: When a player rolls a natural (unmodified) 20 on a check, he/she must make another check. If the second check is successful, the character has achieved a ‘Critical Success’ with the use of that skill or ability, and something particularly good happens. If the second/confirming roll (after an initial roll of a natural 20) is a natural (unmodified) 20, the critical success is automatic (regardless of the score needed). Likewise, if a player rolls a natural 1, he rolls again. If the second check is a failure, the character has achieved a ‘Critical Failure’ (made a critical blunder), and something particularly bad happens. If the second/confirming roll (after an initial roll of a natural 1) is a natural (unmodified) 1, the critical failure is automatic (regardless of the score need).
(Note: This is not the entire ruling, and there are other rules (HEROIC LUCK, TAKING 10/TAKING 20, TO HIT ROLLS. AUTOMATIC HITS AND MISSES, CRITICALS, FUMBLES) affected by this rule change. Be sure to check out all the changes by reading/viewing the updated house rules document.)
In addition to the 'Automatic/Critical Success or Failure' changes, there have been a few other updates. As aresult of Micheal's new character creation process two new flaws are now available for your player characters. Thanksgo out to Mark and Micheal for their input/contributions. In addition to these new Flaws, I've started adding 'Credit' bullets to the new Feat, Flaws, Skills, etc. When you provide and or collaborate on the creation of a new Skill, Feat, Flaw, etc, I'd like to recognize your input using this new tag line. Thanks again for helping to keep our campaign fresh, innovative and rewarding (If you observe that I've missed any credit (and I probably have), please forward me a note containing the proper attribution).
Murphy’s Luck
When something goes wrong, it really goes wrong. Things don’t go wrong for this person any more than the average person, but when they do go wrong, they really go wrong. Whenever you roll a natural one (on a d20 roll), the results are more likely to be ‘critical’ than usual. Effect: The only way to avoid a ‘critical failure’, after the roll of a natural ‘1’ (on d20), is a follow-up roll of a natural ’20’ (on d20). Special: Keep in mind that you may not influence the roll of a natural ‘1’ or ’20’ by expending ‘Heroic Luck’. Another note for the DM/Player. The results of a ‘Critical Failure’ are entirely up to the DM. In the case of ‘Fumble’ (A critical failure during a ‘To-Hit’ roll) there is a chart available for the DM. As usual, the DM isn’t required to use the chart. It’s simply there to provide some consistency in play. In addition, a ‘Critical Failure’ could be something as simple as ‘You missed badly’ or ‘You trip on a crack’. It needn’t result in something catastrophic every time it occurs. See House Rules for information on ‘Heroic Luck’ and ‘Automatic/Critical Success or Failure’ rules. Credit: Micheal Scanga and Robert Vaessen (Created July, 2010 - Used with permission)
Overlooked by Tymora
Good luck doesn’t come your way as often as for your companions. When the gods were handing out luck, you got the short straw. For some reason, your character isn’t quite as lucky as he/she should be. Effect: You have a -2 penalty to the number of luck stones you can use in a gaming session. Special: Keep in mind that this penalty cannot reduce a character’s number of luck stones below zero. See House Rules, ‘Heroic Luck’ section for additional information. Credit: Mark Gipe (Created July, 2010 - Used with permission)
That's it for house rule updates. As a player, you are under no obligation to download or print this information. You can make notes during the game, you can print out these documents, you can memorize the info, request to review it, or have it repeated to you each time you come across specific situations. These house rule changes and additions represent some additions and updates. They do not constitute a significant impact on our campaign or the framework of 'official' rules. Reminder: The '3enewfeats' document is protected with a password. If you need the password, please contact me.
<https://www.robsworld.org/3ehsrls.pdf>
<https://www.robsworld.org/3enewfeats.pdf>
<https://www.robsworld.org/3ecampaign.html>
These updates follow our meeting on the 10th of July (as well as changes brought about as a result of email discussions with various players). This session, and the previous ones (this year) represent the early days of a new adventure. The eighth adventure for our group. In search of glory, fame, and justice, the H.A.L.L.O.W.ed Knights seek to right the wrongs of this land. To defend the weak, enslaved and oppressed. Striking out at evil and taint, this group of characters vow to make their mark upon the land. Let H.A.L.L.O.W.ed Knights be a name feared by evil and revered by the good citizens of these realms. Departing on the 1st of Mavis, the party has decided to help the citizens of Deepwood in their quest to vanquish a Blue Dragon from their backyard. After picking up supplies, horses, and some information in Westgate, the party has taken to the open road. The road has proven dangerous and long. The party has fought many foes along the way, lost two of their own, and recruited a new companion to strengthen their numbers. After losing Gregor and Jusarian in battle, the party maintains it's conviction, strives to continue the journey, and vows to overcome all obstacles placed in their path. After a moment of mourning, the party is back on the road again. Sharpen your steel and hitch up your horses - Adventure calls and danger beckons!
<https://www.robsworld.org/3ecampaign.html>
July 20, 2010
Hot, Hot, Hot! in Aurora:
Recently, we suffered through one record hot day. On the 17th of July, 2010, Denver set a record high. The temperature there went up to 102 degrees. The previous record was 101 degrees, set on 17th of July back in 1971. On that same day, Aurora had it's own little heat wave going on. At the Dove Hill personal weather station (It's the nearest (location: 393719n/1044248w) weather station to my house), the temperature made it all the way up to 99.3 degrees. That's Hot man! Damn Hot! It felt like we were living on the sun! Yeah, it's summer, so it should be warm. Right?
Updates to the Tollgate Crossing Website: My odd-ball schedule actually works in my favor for some things. A couple of those activities are the community support activities which I enjoy - Volunteering with our local neighborhood watch, and supporting our community by maintaining the Tollgate Crossing website and mailing lists. While it started out as a website focused primarily on our Neighborhood Watch (which was originally confined to the Tollgate Crossing community), it quickly grew to encompass the whole of our community, in the form of an expanded website and a variety of email mailing lists. Later, I spun the Neighborhood Watch portions off to form it's/their own website. Now the Tollgate Crossing website is focused on the Tollgate Crossing community, with links to the Neighborhood Watch website. Here are a few changes I made at our community website in the last few days:
* Welcome: The website's opener. A page containing an introduction to our community website. Here you'll find all the latest news and announcements. I updated the banner for our next HOA meeting (10 Aug). I removed the banner for a special meeting of the Metro District board (held 13 July). I added a banner for an upcoming Plains Conservation Center event - A charity beer tasting! (23 Jul).
* Events: A detailed listing of upcoming and recurring events in and around Tollgate Crossing. Here is more detailed information regarding some of the events you may have read about on the 'Welcome' page. It's also a place to look for long term/recurring events. I removed an event announcement for a special meeting of the Metro District board (held 13 July). I updated the event entry for our next HOA meeting (10 Aug). I also added an event entry for the upcoming Annual Charity Brewfest at the Plains Conservation Center (23 Jul). For more information see our Events page.
If you are a resident of 'Tollgate Crossing' (in Aurora, Colorado), you might want to check out the website. It's loaded with information about our community and you can even sign up for some of the email mailing lists that serve our community.
<http://www.tollgatecrossing.org/Welcome.html>
Southeast Aurora Neighborhood Watch website: My odd-ball schedule actually works in my favor for some things. A couple of those activities are the community support activities which I enjoy - Volunteering with our local neighborhood watch, maintaining the Southeast Aurora Neighborhood Watch website and mailing lists. Here are some of the changes I made at our Neighborhood Watch website in the last few days:
* Current: A web page dedicated to the most recent news, announcements and information. I added an entry about a recent news article. Judy was interviewed by Sara Castellanos for an article which appeared in the Aurora Sentinel. This article about the Southeast Aurora Neighborhood Watch is available online for those who are interested. See our Current page for links and more info. I also updated a banner for our upcoming National Night Out celebration. Tollgate Crossing will be holding an Ice Cream Social to help celebrate National Night Out. We hope to see you there. If you're interested in volunteering to help with this event or others, please contact the Head Area Coordinator: Judy Van Meter:
* eMail lists: A web page containing details about our mailing lists. The Neighborhood Watch runs numerous email mailing lists, and this page contains details regarding all of those lists. I corrected some links on this web page. There were some errors with the sign-up link for the newly established: Tallyn's Reach Alerts mailing list. It's all patched up now, thanks to one astute resident who spotted the snafu.
If you are a resident of Southeast Aurora, you might want to check out our Southeast Aurora Neighborhood Watch website (Serving the following communities: Tollgate Crossing, Sorrel Ranch, The Wheatlands, Beacon Point, Southshore, Tallyn’s Reach, Saddle Rock - North, Serenity Ridge, Black Stone, Heritage Eagle Bend and Rocking Horse). If you're concerned about the safety and security of our community, you might want to join our group, or subscribe to one of our mailing lists to receive periodic alerts, updates and information.
<http://www.southeastaurora-neighborhoodwatch.org/Welcome.html>
July 11, 2010
Yet Another Vacation: May, June and July have been some very busy months for Kim and I. Busy with vacations! In May we had our 'Grand Canyon Vacation'. In June, Kim's sister and her family (Mark, Sam and Emma) came to visit, and finally - On the morning of June 25th, we started another vacation. This time we were privileged to host a good friend from way back. Dennis hails from San Vito Italy (or at least, that's where we first met him). We met him way back when Kim and I were stationed in San Vito, Italy. We were stationed in Italy from 1985 - 1992, and Dennis was one of the people who made San Vito our favorite assignment. Dennis was in the Army when we met him, but that didn't last long. He soon left the Army and Joined Evie - a local Italian girl, for an exciting life in Italy. While we managed to visit Dennis and Evie on a few occasions, and he couldn't resist the call of our weekend D&D gaming sessions, we really lost track of the couple after we left Italy. Eventually we reestablished contact on the internet. After some trying times and a delay of far too many years, Dennis decided to pay us a visit in Denver. Dennis flew into Denver on the 25th and the adventure began on the morning after...
Dennis's visit was another whirlwind tour of our favorite place - Colorado (Aurora, Denver, Colorado Springs, Manitou Springs, Buena Vista and a few other places). We packed up the Volvo and headed off on our adventure. We managed to make it back to Aurora every night but two. During the trip, we took a lot of photos, and I managed to collect my thoughts enough to pen this synopsis:
25 Jun 2010:
I got home from my mid shift at 0530 - Yes, in the morning. After a brief nap, the Alarm announced - "Let the Vacation Begin!" Kim and I made our way to the airport. The flight was delayed a bit, so we thought we'd be early. Surprise, surprise! Dennis managed to make it past the arrivals gate before we could spot him.
We drove back to the house and had a bite to eat. After that, I crashed. I just couldn't survive on three hours of sleep. I took a brief power nap while thunderstorms rolled through the area. Apparently, I slept through a thunderstorm so intense that it set off our fire alarm!
Later that evening we went out to eat at one of our favorite restaurants. Yanni's - A greek restaurant which recently relocated to a new location (The Landmark at DTC). We had a bit of trouble finding it (So new it wasn't on the GPS in Kim's car), but the food was amazing.
After dinner we went to the nearby Comedy Works comedy club - The headliner was Lisa Landry. We had a good time, some drinks, a bit of desert (which we skipped at Yanni's), and loads of laughs.
26 Jun 2010:
On the 26th we hung around the house. After we were all awake, we pulled a board game out of the closet (one I got for Christmas, but never had a chance to play). It took us a while to learn how to play, but 'Shadows Over Camelot' turned out to be loads of fun. We played the game many times during our vacation. We're all big gamers, and that's how we originally met.
After the game, we ate a light lunch. Kim's an awesome cook! After the lunch, I took a brief nap. Still trying to get adjusted to the days schedule.
More gaming that evening. I'm glad I had the nap. It helps keep me alert for D&D! Dennis joined our regular group for a D&D meeting. Like I said, we're gamer geeks - and we didn't want to miss our regularly scheduled meeting. Due to the fact that we were missing three of our 'regulars', Dennis helped out by playing a character.
27 Jun 2010:
Let the vacation begin. Finally leaving home base, we headed north towards Estes Park. It was a bright sunny day, and we got some great pictures outside Boulder.
By the time we arrived in Estes Park, we were all hungry. With approximately an hour to go, we ate at the Stanley Hotel. It's a historic hotel in Estes Park. Perhaps you've heard of it? The menu featured some tasty main courses, but we only had time for a light lunch.
After lunch we didn't have far to go for the next item on our itinerary. A ghostly tour of the Stanley Hotel. The Stanley Hotel is the place where Stephen King got the inspiration for the Shining. It's supposedly haunted by a variety of ghostly inhabitants. I didn't see any... But I sure enjoyed the history packed tour.
Departing the Stanley Hotel, we headed for the Rocky Mountain National Park. It's just outside Estes Park, so the drive wasn't all that bad. Unfortunately, it was getting late, so we had to skip part of our planned trip. We were hoping to drive the entire length of the scenic Trail Ridge Road. While the drive is only 55 miles in length, it can take a very long time to complete the drive. Instead of driving the entire length; which would have taken appx six hours one way! - we drove up to Bear Lake and took a hike around the lake. While Kim and I hiked, Dennis looked for 'Atmospherium' - At 9,400' a leisurely stroll can get a bit strenuous. Especially for those Flat-landers from 'Hotlanta'.
After our hike, Dennis was quite relieved to learn that we were homeward bound. The back seat of the Volvo made for great napping! I struggled to stay awake, and managed - with the help of an energy drink - to make it back in one piece.
After we got home, Kim cooked up another fantastic meal. Steaks on the grill, with potatoes, carrots and onions - Oh My! After that massive meal, we all retired early, tomorrow would be a strenuous day.
28 Jun 2010
With more fantastic weather, we loaded up the Volvo for a trip down south. Our first stop was White Water Rafting on the Arkansas river. Our rafting trip was loads of fun. We had a great crew in the raft, and our guide did a great job guiding us over the rapids. Unfortunately for some of us, the raft wasn't the only way to go down the river. After we hit a rock, Kim found herself Swimming! After I hauled her butt back in the raft, we finished the trip without further ado.
After we conquered the river, we stopped at a local Pizza joint to add some fuel to our fires. The food was great (hand tossed, brick oven baked), and after that rafting trip we were certainly ready for some carbs.
After lunch, we set our sites on something a little less challenging. Or so we thought... The next item on our agenda was a Jeep tour. We booked a tour of the Mary Murphy mine and St. Elmo ghost town. Unfortunately, the harsh winter weather had washed out the road, and we had to go on a different tour instead. Onward to Mt. Princeton. Kim and I have done this trip before, but this time it began with a bang. Bang! went the Jeep as we drove down County Rd-321. About two miles down the road, we all noticed that the Jeep wasn't handling very well. It was swaying back and forth. Weaving a bit on the road. The driver stopped. He checked the tires, suspension, and shocks. He didn't notice anything overtly wrong. We voted to continue... That turned out to be something of a mistake. Moments later something passed us on the road. Our rear wheel! The Jeep crashed to the road, the rear wheel flew past us, and we all thought - This is it!
Thankfully, we survived that catastrophe. The Jeep didn't flip over, and we eventually managed to crawl out of the wounded Jeep. The main office sent another Jeep our way and we were back underway within minutes. The ascent seemed tame compared to that death defying drive.
The trail up Mt. Princeton was quite narrow, and steep, and windy, and thrilling! Kim and I enjoyed it immensely. Others - Without naming names - found it way to 'Close to the Edge'. The peak of Mt. Princeton is more than 14,000' above sea level, and once again Dennis struggled to find some 'Atmospherium'. The drive down wasn't quite as dangerous as the drive up. Thankfully the Jeep's brakes worked properly.
After that harrowing journey, our driver took us back to Buena Vista, and we took a little leisurely drive along the river. We checked out a road that cut through many tunnels as it wound its way along the Arkansas river. Rock climbers, hikers and a couple of fishermen waved as we drove by.
After surviving our Jeep tour, we checked in at our favorite B&B. Sawatch Vistas is just a stones throw away from Mt. Princeton, and we sure were glad to get a bit of rest after that crazy Jeep tour. We checked in, but didn't waste any time hanging around. It was getting late, and we needed more fuel for our adventures. We settled on a local Asian restaurant. While we dined in comfort, the weather turned south. Up until now, the weather had been perfect. That one thunderstorm on our first day didn't dampen our plans in the least. While we enjoyed drinks and dinner, the sky opened up. A torrential thunderstorm soaked the town of Buena Vista. It was still raining when we went to leave, and we had to run to get out of the downpour.
It rained all the way back to the B&B, and the Innkeeper was busy trying to mop up water from a leaky roof. Thankfully the rain eventually stopped, and things returned to normal. Before we called it a night, we managed to play another round of 'Shadows Over Camelot'.
29 Jun 2010
After a good nights sleep, we gathered for coffee and breakfast. As usual, Dana prepared a fantastic start to our day. After breakfast we drove to Manitou Springs. It was a great drive, but I had to stop for another energy drink. Driving around noon always makes me sleepy. Especially when the sun is beating down on me during the warmest hours of the day.
We arrived in Manitou Springs around 1100, and we had time for a light lunch. Kim bought a couple of sub sandwich sack lunches from the overpriced cafe, and we had just enough time to eat before our train departed for the peak.
Pikes Peak that is. One of Colorado's Collegiate peaks. Pikes peak has an elevation of 14,410', and once again, Dennis was looking for that rarest of elements - 'atmospherium'! Taking the Cog Railway is our favorite way to ascend the mountain. The guided tour and leisurely pace help people acclimate to the temperature and elevation changes. It's also great for the driver, and the scenic vistas are a lot more fun when you can stop, open a window, and get some really good pictures. At the top, we took a bunch of great photos. Unfortunately, the peak was above the clouds, and the weather wasn't the best; threatening rain at any minute. Thankfully the threat never materialized and the rest of the day was fantastic.
After we made our way back down the mountain, we headed out for the next stop on our whirlwind tour of Colorado. Another one of our favorite spots - The Garden of the Gods in Colorado Springs. It's a wonderful park with lots of red rocks and some very scenic stops. This time, we tried something different. In the past we've done the guided bus tour, a walking tour, and even driven through on our own. This time... Segways! Our Segway tour of the park was awesome. The Segway took very little time to master, and it's very maneuverable. Being able to zip about the park, stop on a dime, and even move backwards was great. We really got a good look at the park, and it didn't take all day.
After the Segway tour we headed back to town in order to check in to our rooms at the B&B. This time we stayed at another favorite place. The Red Crags Bed and Breakfast Country Inn. A four story victorian home situated on a bluff. The Inn has great views of Pikes Peak, the Garden of the Gods and the city of Colorado Springs.
After checking in (we checked in quite late - our Segway tour didn't get over until nearly 1900) we headed out for dinner. We didn't have to go far. We ate at the Craftwood Inn. Featuring some distinctive Colorado cuisine, Kim had Juniper & Garlic Grill Roasted Nilgai Antelope. I had Pan Roasted Breast of Pheasant, and Dennis had the Rojo Peach Roasted Wild Boar Tenderloin. Everything was outstanding.
We finished our dinner and headed back to the Red Crags. Back at the B&B, we moved into the Solarium with Shadows Over Camelot in tow. Since we were the only ones staying at the Inn, we didn't have to worry that we'd disturb some of the guests. We didn't get to bed until late.
30 Jun 2010
We got up late, and it took us a little while to get our things packed. We delayed a little longer to take some pictures in this historic old house. Unfortunately, most of the photos turned out all blurry. I think I had the camera set for night time shots... Once we got the Volvo packed, I took some more photos. The photos I took outside turned out much better. It helps when you've got the right setting on the camera. We finally headed out for breakfast.
Our breakfast was served a couple blocks away, at the Rockledge Country Inn. While our B&B was nearly empty, the Rockledge Country Inn was filled with guests. Breakfast was served (right on time) outside. Man the weather sure was awesome, and the view spectacular. As a matter of fact, I had a perfect view of Pikes Peak during breakfast.
After leaving Manitou Springs, we got on the highway and headed north. The drive was a bit grueling, as we took the scenic way. Driving along the front range, we drove right past Aurora, skirted Denver to the west, and continued northward until we found ourselves back in the mountains again. This time we made our way to Lookout mountain. We took a tour of the Buffalo Bill Museum, lassoed us some stray calves, did some trick shooting and paid our respects at Buffalo Bill Cody's grave. The view from the mountain was out standing, and a great way to finish the day. After another energy drink, we headed back to Aurora.
Arriving home by 1400, we had some time to kill. We unpacked, relaxed for a bit, ate some dinner and tried to transfer some photos. Unfortunately, Dennis forgot to bring his data cable with him, and none of mine worked on his Motorola Droid. While we were trying to figure out a way to get his photos onto my computer... Something horrible happened. Dennis inadvertently broke his 16GB MicroSD card. All his photo were on that card! Arrrgghhh! Curses to man, machine, and the makers of SD cards followed. The only photos he was able to save were those he had uploaded to his FaceBook account.
After the fiasco - We ate leftovers and Dennis did some packing. After we finished cleaning out the fridge, we sat down to play another game. This time we chose something different. Another game I got for Christmas (in 2009?), but never had a chance to play. Lunar Rails. It's one of the Mayfair crayon rail games. You build a railroad (drawn on die cut (or roll-up) laminated board game using crayons), ride the rails from town to town, pick up and deliver commodities from one town to another. This one takes place on the moon! We stayed up until 0200 - All hail Dennis, master of the Lunar Rails!
01 Jul 2010
In the morning, we packed up the Volvo for a final trip - Back to the airport. With Anubis and the giant blue demon Bronco (Blucifer) watching over his flight, Dennis had a smooth flight back to Atlanta. We had a fantastic time Dennis, come back soon.
Five days (six with arrival and departure) driving around Colorado. We had a great time, and I'm sure Dennis did too. Another tourist vacation of central Colorado. Prepared by Kim. Thankfully the weather was very cooperative. We had sunny days during the entire trip, with only a couple of thunderstorms to shake up or day. During the vacation we took a lot of photos. We all had digital cameras, and I collected all the photos (except the ones the Droid ate) to make a photo gallery. With nearly 500 photos to sort through, it took me quite some time to narrow it down to a suitable selection.
Software favorites:
One more release for one of my favorite software applications. XQuartz is a component of the X Window System. Part of the Mac OS's Unix underpinnings. As part of the X11 implementation on Mac OS X, this windowing system gives Mac users the ability to run many Unix applications.
X11:
One of the best things about OSX? - it's really Unix! I'm running X11/XQuartz 2.5.1, available from MacOS Forge
I've been using Unix longer than I've been using Mac's, so I knew
about the power potential when I found out that OSX was going to be based
on Unix. Some of the most powerful Unix applications (see The GIMP above) run on any
OSX equipped Mac. In order to run all these fantastic applications you need nothing more than Apple's version of
X11 (which comes free with OSX, or you can download and install other versions). If you want to get a bit more advanced, you can use Fink or Macports with your OSX equipped Mac. Once you get your X Windows environment running, you'll find thousands
of Unix applications that have been a well kept secret for all this time.
With this software update, I've updated my Software Favorites page. It's primarily dedicated to web publishing for the Mac user. Not meant for the professional, It's my hope that home users and hobbyists will find it useful. It's a listing of applications that I find useful in publishing my web pages.
<https://www.robsworld.org/myfavs.html>
Updates to the Tollgate Crossing Website: My odd-ball schedule actually works in my favor for some things. A couple of those activities are the community support activities which I enjoy - Volunteering with our local neighborhood watch, and supporting our community by maintaining the Tollgate Crossing website and mailing lists. While it started out as a website focused primarily on our Neighborhood Watch (which was originally confined to the Tollgate Crossing community), it quickly grew to encompass the whole of our community, in the form of an expanded website and a variety of email mailing lists. Later, I spun the Neighborhood Watch portions off to form it's/their own website. Now the Tollgate Crossing website is focused on the Tollgate Crossing community, with links to the Neighborhood Watch website. Here are a few changes I made at our community website in the last few days:
* Welcome: The website's opener. A page containing an introduction to our community website. Here you'll find all the latest news and announcements. I removed three banner announcements. One for the Free Concert in our community park and two different 4th of July banners. I hope everyone had a good time at those events... I had to work. Oh well, maybe next time. I added a new banner for a Flag Retirement Ceremony. A local Cub Scout Troop (Troop 42) will be holding a Flag Retirement Ceremony on the 24th of July. See our Events page for more details. I also added a banner for the upcoming National Night Out Celebration. See our Neighborhood Watch website for details. Finally, I changed the order of some page elements; did a bit of clean-up on the Welcome page and updated a disclaimer beneath the intro paragraph.
* Events: A detailed listing of upcoming and recurring events in and around Tollgate Crossing. Here is more detailed information regarding some of the events you may have read about on the 'Welcome' page. It's also a place to look for long term/recurring events. I removed three event announcements. One for the Free Concert in our community park and two different 4th of July announcements. I added a new entry for a Flag Retirement Ceremony. A local Cub Scout Troop (Troop 42) will be holding a Flag Retirement Ceremony at the Tollgate Crossing Community Park. See our Events page for more details. Finally, I updated the event entry for the 27th Annual Arapahoe County Fair. The County Fair will be held 21-25 July. The event takes place right across the street. Look to your East. See that big water tower? That's the county fair grounds, Summer Fun is only a short walk away! For more information see our Events page.
If you are a resident of 'Tollgate Crossing' (in Aurora, Colorado), you might want to check out the website. It's loaded with information about our community and you can even sign up for some of the email mailing lists that serve our community.
<http://www.tollgatecrossing.org/Welcome.html>
Southeast Aurora Neighborhood Watch website: My odd-ball schedule actually works in my favor for some things. A couple of those activities are the community support activities which I enjoy - Volunteering with our local neighborhood watch, maintaining the Southeast Aurora Neighborhood Watch website and mailing lists. Here are some of the changes I made at our Neighborhood Watch website in the last few days:
* Current: A web page dedicated to the most recent news, announcements and information. I removed the banner for our 2nd Annual Picnic (held on May 15th of 2010). Photos from this year's picnic can still be found at: <http://picasaweb.google.com/ftfingar/2010PicnicPhotos#>. Photos from the 1st Annual Picnic are available here: <http://www.southeastaurora-neighborhoodwatch.org/shutterbugpages/index.html>. I added a banner for our upcoming National Night Out celebration. Tollgate Crossing will be holding an Ice Cream Social to help celebrate National Night Out. We hope to see you there. If you're interested in volunteering to help with this event or others, please contact the Head Area Coordinator: Judy Van Meter:
Finally, I added another message from our PAR - Officer John Cassell. Summer Safety Tips from Aurora's Police Department.
* Events: A listing of upcoming and recurring events in you Southeast Aurora Neighborhood. Events sponsored by or relevant to our Neighborhood Watch. I updated the National Night Out event listing. Our NNO Celebration will be held 3 August, 2010, and our Neighborhood Watch is planning an Ice Cream Social. Check out the 'Events' page for details.
If you are a resident of Southeast Aurora, you might want to check out our Southeast Aurora Neighborhood Watch website (Serving the following communities: Tollgate Crossing, Sorrel Ranch, The Wheatlands, Beacon Point, Southshore, Tallyn’s Reach, Saddle Rock - North, Serenity Ridge, Black Stone, Heritage Eagle Bend and Rocking Horse). If you're concerned about the safety and security of our community, you might want to join our group, or subscribe to one of our mailing lists to receive periodic alerts, updates and information.
<http://www.southeastaurora-neighborhoodwatch.org/Welcome.html>
July 6, 2010
D&D updates:
We played our last D&D session on the 26th of June. We skipped a meeting on the 12th (Kim and I were on vacation). Here are some of the updates from our meeting on the 26th. With the conclusion of our 8 August meeting, the players have moved into an entirely new phase of the game. Gone are the S.C.R.E.W.O.F.F.S. - Existing now as a group of non-player characters. The player characters are now members of an entirely new group. The H.A.L.L.O.W.ed Knights. This new group of adventurers have struck out from Whillip. In search of glory, fame, and justice. They seek to right the wrongs of this land. To defend the weak, enslaved and oppressed. Striking out at evil and taint; this group of characters vow to make their mark upon the land. Let H.A.L.L.O.W.ed Knights be a name both feared by evil and revered by the good citizens of these realms.
Note from the DM As of 20 February, 2010, one of the players (Mark) has taken over the duties of DM. Mark and I have been planning this change for some time. It's something I like to do, when possible. Unfortunately, the opportunity doesn't present itself too often. Once the campaign has been established, and the players familiar with "Rob's World", I like to encourage full participation by sharing the duties of DM. Mark has written the adventure that the characters are currently engaged in, and I will relinquish DM duties while Mark makes all the big decisions. With Mark behind the podium, I'll do my best to enjoy the mystery, and keep Solmar alive. So, Mark and I have switched places. He'll be running the show, and I'll be playing Solmar. What fun! I'm certainly looking forward to the change of pace, the opportunity for adventure and the mystery of Deepwood. - Robert
The Adventurers journal: The tale of our adventurers. A series of journal entries from various party members. This document contains details of their encounters. Victory, defeat, desire and glory. Here is the tale of The H.A.L.L.O.W.ed Knights, a group of adventurers who set forth from Whillip, seeking fame, fortune and the defeat of evil in these lands. The meeting on the 26th of June sees the party out on the road. On their way to the next adventure. It's going to be a long overland journey, and there will be many more days just like this one. This entry features inputs from Mutteran. It's the conclusion of a protracted battle. An altercation with an Orcish war band. Here is the conclusion to that battle. Thanks to Lee for his continued input and support. Hopefully we can see some journal entries from Kim, Kevin, Micheal or Todd in the future.
<https://www.robsworld.org/ajournal08.html#jun26 2010>
Monsters encountered: On the road - As the party takes to the open road, they find themselves to be the target for numerous hungry, belligerent, and simply curious creatures. During our most recent gaming sessions, the party learned about another new monster. Intelligent and evil, the worg is a magical beast in the guise of a very large wolf.. It's something they heard about before, but only now gained first hand information during combat with the beast. As a result of that encounter, I updated an entry for the monster; and added some info relayed by Mutteran. The monsters page is a listing of monsters that the party has encountered, read about, or heard of.
<https://www.robsworld.org/monsters.html>
These updates follow our meeting on the 26th of June. This session, and the previous ones (this year) represent the early days of a new adventure. The eighth adventure for our group. In search of glory, fame, and justice, the H.A.L.L.O.W.ed Knights seek to right the wrongs of this land. To defend the weak, enslaved and oppressed. Striking out at evil and taint, this group of characters vow to make their mark upon the land. Let H.A.L.L.O.W.ed Knights be a name feared by evil and revered by the good citizens of these realms. Departing on the 1st of Mavis, the party has decided to help the citizens of Deepwood in their quest to vanquish a Blue Dragon from their backyard. After picking up supplies, horses, and some information in Westgate, the party has taken to the open road. The road has proven dangerous and long. The party has fought many foes along the way, lost one of their own, and recruited a new companion to strengthen their numbers. With Gregor departed and Pyrceval enjoined, the party is back on the road again Fighting Air Elementals, Chimeras, Tall Mouthers, Gamorette the renegade Orc and a Orcish warband. Sharpen your blades and hitch up your horses - Adventure calls and danger beckons!
<https://www.robsworld.org/3ecampaign.html>
Encryption and email signatures:
Recently (06 July 2010) I added another new public key (encryption key) block to my encryption page. I added this new encryption key to my keychain for use with the southeastaurora-neighborhoodwatch.org domain. Spammers are continuously assaulting my digital identity by forging messages to look like they came from me. As a result, I use pgp signed messages for much of my email correspondence.
I use GnuPG v1.4.9 and the GPGMail plugin 1.2.3v62-10.6.4 for Snow Leopard (10.6.4), for Apple's Mail.app Version 4.3 (1081) for encryption, decryption, and message authentication. If you would like to correspond in secret, please take note of my Public Keys. Why do I use signatures or encryption? Well, I don't use the encryption very often, but I have been known to send myself encrypted email containing passwords or private information (banking and medical information). I use pgp signatures quite often, as a way of ensuring message authenticity. I'm tired of spammers pretending to be me. By using these signatures (which uses the message content (upon signing) and a private key to create a signature which can be verified by using my public key) I can assure recipients that the message they received was actually sent be me, and it hasn't been tampered with in transit. In addition to my self published keys, my public keys are also available on various keyservers.
Software favorites:
A few more releases for some of my favorite software applications. GraphicConverter moves ever forward. As usual, developer has been busy updating this application. Here's another full release for the product that's always getting better. More free updates for those who own a license. If you need a powerhouse converter, editor and browser for your graphics, grab a copy of GraphicConverter - You won't be disappointed. In addition to the GraphicConverter update, I also updated my copies of Transmit and XQuartz.
GraphicConverter:
Thorsten Lemke (of Lemkesoft) completed work on several updates over the past few weeks. This week I saw/downloaded the latest full release - Version 6.7.3. GraphicConverter is an image converter and editor. A fantastic piece of shareware that is well worth the price ($35.00). I use it to convert image formats into web standard formats, to create and edit image maps and other graphics. I've been singing GC's praises for many years now, and I'm not sure I would do without it. The best part about GC is it's author. Thorsten Lemke is completely committed to his customer base. Constantly and Continuously responding to customer recommendations and bug reports. GC is a dynamic, evolving, application. Always on the cutting edge, an absolute must in any web developers tool box. At a fraction of PhotoShop's cost, this photo editor puts a huge wrench in your toolbox.
<http://www.lemkesoft.com/xd/public/content/index._cGlkPTE5Mw_.html>
Transmit: An FTP tool that does it all. Anyone who publishes web pages eventually needs a way to upload their pages to a web site. I've found that stand alone FTP tools are the best for this task. Transmit has a clean and easy to use interface, and some really nifty features, like the ability to resume a transfer that's been interrupted, advanced site synchronization capabilities (with simulation mode and reporting capabilities), iDisk and Amazon S3 integration, drag-to-dock sending, creation / use of transfer droplets, column views, quick navigation side-bar, multi-connection transfers, built in compression, a built in text editor, remote file editing using local editors, and secure transfer (in various different flavors) capabilities. This latest version (4.0.6) delivers a handful of bug fixes and security patches.
<http://www.panic.com/transmit/index.html>
X11:
One of the best things about OSX? - it's really Unix! I'm running X11/XQuartz 2.5.1rc1, available from MacOS Forge
I've been using Unix longer than I've been using Mac's, so I knew
about the power potential when I found out that OSX was going to be based
on Unix. Some of the most powerful Unix applications (see The GIMP above) run on any
OSX equipped Mac. In order to run all these fantastic applications you need nothing more than Apple's version of
X11 (which comes free with OSX, or you can download and install other versions). If you want to get a bit more advanced, you can use Fink or Macports with your OSX equipped Mac. Once you get your X Windows environment running, you'll find thousands
of Unix applications that have been a well kept secret for all this time.
With these software updates, I've updated my Software Favorites page. It's primarily dedicated to web publishing for the Mac user. Not meant for the professional, It's my hope that home users and hobbyists will find it useful. It's a listing of applications that I find useful in publishing my web pages.
<https://www.robsworld.org/myfavs.html>
July's eMusic Jamboree:
Here's a list of some of the music I recently acquired. Where do I get all this stuff? I find a lot of free (actually free) music by visiting several of the new music web sites (Pandora, 3hive.com, musicalfamilytree.org) and several other music blogs (Analog Giant, Brooklyn Vegan, Fluxblog, Gorilla vs. Bear, etc) out there, and listening to a few different music podcasts (iTunes new music tuesdays, discovery download, and indiefeed). Artists want you to hear their music - If you like it, you'll buy it. The major labels want you to pay for their product - letting you hear it for free is contrary to their business model. Well, guess what? I won't buy it unless I can listen to it first. The major labels are killing themselves with their restrictive distribution and dissemination policies. If you like new music, you can do a google search to find your favorite artists web site, a new music web site, or an archive of free music. Free music is available - Legally! Don't believe the major labels propaganda - Not all free music is illegal. You can legally download music for free. I download music from websites, newsgroups (when I already own rights to the music), and a couple of commercial sources (iTunes and eMusic). Here's a listing of some of the music I legally downloaded - and in most cases - paid for!
eMusic monthly downloads: Every month I download 50+ tracks (50 download credits) from eMusic.com. This month (July of 2010) I managed to download 59 tracks (due to their 'download deals', free samplers and a loyalty bonus!). Unlike some music outlets, eMusic doesn't have any DRM and they don't insert unique track id's into the ID3 tags. Their terms of service are consumer friendly; eMusic allows you to burn as many CDs as you like and copy downloads to an unlimited number of your computers and portable MP3 players, including the iPod and Zune (really?). At less than $.40 a track (I'm paying $19.99 for 50 downloads/month), it's a really good value. iTunes and Amazon still charge more. eMusic offers more music for your money, and the variable bit rate recordings make for exceptionally high quality recordings.
* Earthquake Weather - Joe Strummer: (19 songs) Joe Strummer was the lead singer for 'The Clash' from the mid 70s to the mid 80s (when they broke up). Afterwards he did a bunch of 'freelance' work. This album represents one of those efforts. Recorded with 'The Latino Rockabilly War' under contract with Sony. Despite the fact that critics liked it, the results were less than stellar for Joe Strummer and his contract with Sony ended as a result of this album (according to WikiPedia). I like it. There's a bit of rockabilly, a bit of island, and a large dose of Joe's Personality baked into these tracks.
* Silent Alarm - Bloc Party: (14 songs) My attraction to Bloc Party grew out of sidelong exposure to similar bands, and slowly I was drawn to this band like a magnet. Unfortunately, eMusic only carried a small sampling; until recently. Pop-punk, dance-punk, Electro-hip-hop. Energetic brit-pop, with cascading instrumentals and smart lyrics. Gang of four wound up and turned loose. I'll definitely add more to my 'Saved for Later' list.
* Tonight: Franz Ferdinand - Franz Ferdinand: (12 songs) Razor sharp lyrics, catchy drum beats and groovy guitar chords. Here the band is darker than their earlier efforts. A maturation process is underway, and the adult appearing in this band is becoming a bit cynical. A Scottish band that puts some pressure on the Brit pop I'm so fond of.
* Nine Times That Same Song - Love Is All: (8+2 songs) Discovered through 3hive.com, here's a Swedish band (they've got a sound I like) with an 80s sound. Reminds me of the female vocalists from those early punk bands. Reminds me of Altered Images, The Slits, Romeo Void and others. Bursting with imagery and catchy pop lyrics.
* Let It Be [Expanded Edition] - The Replacements: (6+11 songs)
Another favorite from the 80s. I've had 'Let It Be' in my collection for quite some time, and it's one of my all time favorite albums. Here I've added six additional tracks to that iconic classic. Must add more Replacements to my collection.
iTunes purchases: Sometimes I purchase music from iTunes, and sometimes I take advantage of their free downloads (check it out on Tuesdays). iTunes is the King of the Hill when it comes to the bigger names, so sometimes I find that I have to pay the higher prices.
* To The Sea - Jack Johnson: (14 songs) Here's another album (the fifth studio album) from an artist that I can't find on eMusic. I definitely enjoy his vocal and mostly acoustic sound. Here's a new album with some very contemplative lyrics. Dreams, memories, questions and a long lyrical journey to the sea.
These are some of the items I added to my music collection during the last month. Since revamping my music collection back in September of 2005, I've been slowly adding, revising and updating the collection. If you have a comment, question or correction regarding my music collection, please don't hesitate to send me an email. Please keep in mind that my collection isn't for sale, and I'm not interested in giving you any copyrighted materials. I'd rather not go to jail for music piracy. :-)
<https://www.robsworld.org/music.html>
<http://www.emusic.com/>