What's New

Aug 31, 2014

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 one of the house rules documents used in our campaign. Here are the new/updated house rules:

FAVORED ENEMY [GENERAL]:
Note: This feat is adapted/adopted from the Bonus Feats listed in the 'Generic Classes' rules in Unearthed Arcana (see Unearthed Arcana, page 76). While the "Rob's World!" campaign does not use the 'Generic Classes' rules, we have adapted and adopted the 'Favored Enemy' class feature as a Feat (based upon the 'Generic Classes' rules in Unearthed Arcana).
You have been wronged on a primal level - Members of a specific race (a specific type of creature) have assaulted you (or your family) in a manner that cannot be forgiven. You have harnessed your hatred and acquired skills which allow you to exact vengeance and meter out justice upon those who have wronged you.
     Prerequisite: A character of any class that does not include the Favored Enemy class benefit (as described in PH, page 47). Anyone can have a favored enemy. For that matter, you might have more than one Favored Enemy.
     Benefit: Upon selecting this feat, a character may select a type of creature from among those given on Table 3-14: Ranger Favored Enemies (see PH, page 47). Due to your extensive study on your chosen type of foe and training in the proper techniques for combating such creatures, the character gains a +2 bonus on Bluff, Listen, Sense Motive, Spot, and Survival checks when using these skills against creatures of this type. Likewise, the character also receives a +2 bonus on weapon damage rolls against such creatures. If the character chooses humanoids or outsiders as a favored enemy, he/she must also choose an associated subtype, as indicated on Table 3-14 (see PH, page 47). If a specific creature falls into more than one category of favored enemy (for instance, devils are both evil outsiders and lawful outsiders), the character's bonuses do not stack; he/she simply uses whichever bonus is higher. See the Monster Manual for more information on types of creatures.
     Special: This feat may be taken multiple times. Each time the character takes the feat he/she must specify the type of creature (see Table 3-14). If a character wishes to select the same type of creature more than once, he/she may only take an additional instance of the feat if the character's Base Attack Bonus has increased by 4 or more points since the last time the character selected this feat for this type of creature. The player must keep track of what level the character was when the feat was selected. Each additional selection improves any one favored enemy bonus (including the one just selected) by 2. Note: This feat may not be selected by any character with a class feature of Favored Enemy.
     A fighter may select Favored Enemy as one of his fighter bonus feats (see PH, page 38).

Advancement Rules:
While making my calculations for advancement (after the end of the 'Sewers of Oblivion' adventure (see below)), I discovered a few typos and information that was missing from the ‘Advancement’ rules (see House Rules, pages 58-60). The missing information was that regarding advancement costs for base character classes outside the classic ten (cleric/monk, fighter/barbarian, magic user/sorcerer, rogue/bard, ranger/paladin). While it’s relatively easy to assign costs to some classes; such as the Knight (assign cost as Ranger/Paladin). Other base classes were developed specifically to fill niches between two classes. For example the Dragon Shaman mixes Cleric/Monk and Magic User/Sorcerer. It is appropriate for the DM to rate these class types commensurate with their mix of abilities (assign cost of 500gp per level). I updated the ‘GOING UP A LEVEL’ rules to make that DM assignment process more evident.

I also found and corrected a material error in the ‘example of calculating the cost in time/money for advancement of a character’. Following the example would result in a significantly lower cost of advancement than the description of the process given under the rule itself. I updated the example so that it complies with the rules for ‘GOING UP A LEVEL’.

In the ’TRAINING YOURSELF’ rule (see House Rules, page 60), I reworked some of the wording and added additional clarification (an example) in order to alleviate some confusion about when a character can start training him/herself.

The ‘RETRAINING/REBUILDING YOUR CHARACTER’ (see House Rules, pages 60-61) rules have been updated to provide additional examples and clarification on which rules apply to our campaign.

These updates follow the conclusion of an epic quest - The 'Sewers of Oblivion' (see below). These updates and more make there way to the players and some interested parties (lurkers) throughout the year. You can keep up to date with our adventures by continuing to visit "Rob's World!" for all the latest campaign info. Although our traditional 'Journal' style updates have ended (No one has the time to produce the drafts I used for the official 'Journal' updates) I'm doing my best to keep the rules documents up to date for the benefit of our current players, former players and lurkers of all sorts. If you're enjoying the story of our adventurers, I encourage you to write me and let us know. Perhaps you've got an idea you'd like to share, some criticism or praise. Either way, it'll be earnestly appreciated.
Rob’s World! Feats, skills, traits, flaws, spells: <https://www.robsworld.org/dndcampaign/House%20Rules/3enewfeats.pdf>
Rob’s World! House Rules: <https://www.robsworld.org/dndcampaign/House%20Rules/3ehsrls.pdf>
House Rules repository: <https://www.robsworld.org/dndcampaign/House%20Rules/>
<https://robsworld.org/mailman/listinfo/dndcampaign_robsworld.org>
<https://www.robsworld.org/3ecampaign.html>
<https://www.robsworld.org/3ehsrls.pdf>
<https://www.robsworld.org/3enewfeats.pdf>

Software favorites:
There's been a number of software updates over the last couple of weeks. Apple's productivity applications, the 'Pedia' applications, and my favorite text editor all got updates. As usual, the developers are busy keeping these applications bug free.

DVDPedia:
DVDPedia is a great little application for cataloging and displaying your movie collection, and I'm running version 5.3.1. It's list of features is impressive, and it keeps getting better with every update. The database is capable of generating statistics, you can keep track of multiple collections, you can easily add titles by typing the name of the movie or you can scan the barcode (using your iSight camera or a barcode reader) right off the movie box (it then searches the internet, and displays choices). It has customizable HTML export capabilities, a 'borrowed' feature with address book integration, the ability to play movies in full screen mode, and many more features which make an awesome addition to your software library. I use DVDpedia to generate HTML listings of my movies and movie reviews.

The 5.0 upgrade was a paid upgrade/new version of the software. This version has been over a year in the making with lots of changes big and small to make the programs even better. What's new? Lots of new search sites including Wikipedia, Freebase and Doghouse, the Pedias' own media server built by and for Pedia users. New custom fields for broader cataloging options: TV series for DVDpedia, comics for Bookpedia and board games for Gamepedia (I may have to buy a copy now) as well as new custom fields including dedicated date fields, check boxes and multi-value fields. A 10-star rating system with half-stars; click twice on a star to make it a half. Swipe gestures for the CoverFlow and Add/Edit window to move back and forth as well as pinch-to-zoom in the Grid view. A new filter feature for the Details view and Statistics to quickly find entries with that same value. And much, much more… Below are links to some of the pages I created using this software.
<https://www.robsworld.org/iphonemoviecollection/index.html>
<https://www.robsworld.org/mymovies/index.html>
<https://www.bruji.com/dvdpedia/new.html>
<https://www.robsworld.org/reviews.html>
<http://www.bruji.com/version5.html>
<http://www.bruji.com/dvdpedia/>
<http://doghouse.bruji.com/>

CDPedia:
CDPedia is a great little application for cataloging and displaying your music collection, and I'm running version 5.3.1. It's list of features is impressive, and it keeps getting better with every update. The database is capable of generating statistics, you can keep track of multiple collections, you can easily add titles by typing the name of the artist, album, or track. You can scan the barcode (using your iSight camera or a barcode reader) right off a jewel case (it then searches the internet, and displays choices), or you can import lists of music from iTunes. It has customizable HTML export capabilities, a 'borrowed' feature with address book integration, and many more features which make an awesome addition to your software library. I use CDPedia to generate HTML listings of my music.

The 5.0 upgrade was a paid upgrade/new version of the software. This version has been over a year in the making with lots of changes big and small to make the programs even better. What's new? Lots of new search sites including Wikipedia, Freebase and Doghouse, the Pedias' own media server built by and for Pedia users. New custom fields for broader cataloging options: TV series for DVDpedia, comics for Bookpedia and board games for Gamepedia (I may have to buy a copy now) as well as new custom fields including dedicated date fields, check boxes and multi-value fields. A 10-star rating system with half-stars; click twice on a star to make it a half. Swipe gestures for the CoverFlow and Add/Edit window to move back and forth as well as pinch-to-zoom in the Grid view. A new filter feature for the Details view and Statistics to quickly find entries with that same value. And much, much more… Below are links to some of the pages I created using this software.
<https://www.robsworld.org/iphonemusiccollection/index.html>
<https://www.robsworld.org/mymusic/index.html>
<https://www.bruji.com/cdpedia/new.html>
<http://www.bruji.com/version5.html>
<http://www.bruji.com/cdpedia/>
<http://doghouse.bruji.com/>

Bookpedia:
Bookpedia is a great little application for cataloging and displaying your book collection(s), and I'm running version 5.3.1. It's list of features is impressive, and it keeps getting better with every update. The database is capable of generating statistics, you can keep track of multiple collections, you can easily add titles by typing the name of the author, book, or isbn number. You can scan the barcode (using your iSight camera or a barcode reader) right off the book cover (the application searches the internet, and displays choices). It has customizable HTML export capabilities, a borrowed feature with address book integration, and many more features which make an awesome addition to your software library. I use Bookpedia to generate an HTML listing of my favorite books.

The 5.0 upgrade was a paid upgrade/new version of the software. This version has been over a year in the making with lots of changes big and small to make the programs even better. What's new? Lots of new search sites including Wikipedia, Freebase and Doghouse, the Pedias' own media server built by and for Pedia users. New custom fields for broader cataloging options: TV series for DVDpedia, comics for Bookpedia and board games for Gamepedia (I may have to buy a copy now) as well as new custom fields including dedicated date fields, check boxes and multi-value fields. A 10-star rating system with half-stars; click twice on a star to make it a half. Swipe gestures for the CoverFlow and Add/Edit window to move back and forth as well as pinch-to-zoom in the Grid view. A new filter feature for the Details view and Statistics to quickly find entries with that same value. And much, much more… Below is a link to a page I created using this software.
<https://www.bruji.com/bookpedia/new.html>
<https://www.robsworld.org/books.html>
<http://www.bruji.com/version5.html>
<http://www.bruji.com/bookpedia/>
<http://doghouse.bruji.com/>

BBEdit:
BBEdit is a high-performance HTML and text editor for the Macintosh, and I'm running version 10.5.12. It's designed and crafted for the editing, searching, transformation, and manipulation of text and code (several different flavors of code/languages). BBEdit provides a vast array of general-purpose features which are useful for a wide variety of tasks, and includes many special purpose features which have been specifically developed in response to the needs of Web authors and software developers. It's an absolute must for any HTML author, code developers and hardcore Mac enthusiasts. My needs for BBEdit no longer revolve around HTML editing. While I still use BBEdit for some of my HTML coding, I primarily use it for plaintext editing. It's ability to search, find, compare, replace text and handle documents is simply unparalleled. The 10.5.12 release is a focused update which implements a change necessary for compatibility with future OS releases.
<https://www.barebones.com/support/bbedit/arch_bbedit10512.html>
<https://www.barebones.com/support/bbedit/updates.html>
<https://www.barebones.com/products/bbedit/>

iWork 2013 Update:
Apple's productivity suite is three applications with iCloud integration. I'm running various versions of the component software: Note that the iWork suite is no longer branded with a year or decimal designator: This is an 'iWork 2013 Update'. I'm running one version of Apple's Productivity Apps on my Macs and another version on my iOS devices (that's normal as the two versions are built on a different code base).

iWork (Apple's Productivity Applications for the Desktop) now comes in two different flavors. The iWork '09 version, which capped out at Pages 4.3, Numbers 2.3 and Keynote 5.3. Then there's the new 'Apple Productivity Apps' versions. Starting out with Pages 5.0, Numbers 3.0, and Keynote 6.0. The old versions are still available, but they will no longer be updated (they might be patched for security vulnerabilities/bug fixes). The old versions and new versions can coexist on a Mac desktop (although I'm not sure if I need to/should keep both versions). The iOS versions continue to work separately, but the new iOS versions will be compatible (file sharing) with the new desktop versions only. In it's current form (which is a confusing mix of desktop and iOS applications) iWork is a home productivity contender; competing against Microsoft Office and the OpenOffice/LibreOffice productivity suites. Most home users don't need the power provided by Microsoft's productivity suite, and Apple's iWork suite provides a suitable alternative to the expensive Office suite. iWork applications are Office compatible (No it's not 100% compatible, but it can open, edit and save documents as Office documents), and the pricing is far more affordable than the behemoth on the block (The Microsoft applications).

iWork consists of three productivity applications and online integration with Apple's iCloud (document storage, syncing collaboration):

Pages - Pages is a word processing application with page layout features. Besides basic word processing functionality, Pages includes over a hundred templates designed by Apple that allow users to create various types of documents, including newsletters, invitations, stationery, and résumés, along with a number of education-themed templates (such as reports and outlines) for students and teachers.

Along with Keynote and Numbers, Pages integrates with Apple's iLife suite. Using the Media Browser, users can drag and drop movies, photos and music directly into documents within the Pages application. A Full Screen view hides the menubar and toolbars, and an outline mode allows users to quickly create outlines which can easily be rearranged by dragging and dropping, as well as collapsed and expanded. Pages includes support for entering complex equations with MathType 6 and for reference citing using EndNote X2.

The Pages application can open and edit Microsoft Word documents (including DOC and Office Open XML files), rich text format documents, and plain text documents. Pages can also export documents in the DOC, PDF, and ePub formats (from WikiPedia). Compatibility with other applications and formats is outstanding. Pages 5 (introduced in Oct of 2013) can no longer read or export rich text format documents. Pages 5 adds online collaboration across Macs and iOS devices as well as over the web via iCloud.com. Unfortunately, Pages 5.0 lacks (they were removed) many advanced features, including mail merge, bookmarks, text box linking, advanced find/replace, alternating left-right margins (along with alternating left-right headers and footers), 2-up "page spread" viewing, non-contiguous text selection, and robust Applescript support.

As of 21 Aug, 2014 - I have Pages 5.2.2 installed on my Mac, and Pages 2.2.2 installed on my iOS devices.

Keynote - Keynote is an application used to create and play presentations. Its features are comparable to those of Microsoft PowerPoint, though Keynote contains several unique features which differ from similar applications. Keynote, like Pages and Numbers, integrates with the iLife application suite. Users can drag and drop media from iMovie, iTunes, iPhoto and Aperture directly into Keynote presentations using the Media Browser. Keynote contains a number of templates, transitions, and effects. Magic Move allows users to apply simple transitions to automatically animate images and text that are repeated on consecutive slides. With dozens of Themes and Transitions to choose from, you can easily find a series of layouts and effects to help get your project started.

Keynote supports a number of file formats. By default, presentations are saved in a Keynote format. Keynote can open and edit Microsoft PowerPoint (.ppt) files. In addition, presentations can be exported as Microsoft PowerPoint files, QuickTime movies (which are also playable on iPod and iPhone), HTML files, and PDF files.

As of 21 Aug, 2014 - I have Keynote 6.2.2 installed on my Mac. I don't have Keynote installed on my iOS devices.

Numbers - Numbers is a spreadsheet application that was added to the iWork suite in 2007 with the release of iWork '08. Numbers, like Microsoft Excel and other spreadsheet applications, lets users organize data into tables, perform calculations with formulas, and create charts and graphs using data entered into the spreadsheet. Numbers, however, differs from other spreadsheet applications in that it allows users to create multiple tables in a single document on a flexible canvas. Many prebuilt templates, including ones designed for personal finance, education, and business use, are included.

Numbers 2, which was included with iWork '09, integrated with other iWork applications. Charts that are pasted into Keynote and Pages are automatically updated across documents when they are changed in Numbers. Additionally, Numbers 2 lets users categorize data in tables by column, which can then be collapsed and summarized (from WikiPedia). This cross-application support was not included in the Numbers 3.0 release (which came with Mac OS 10.9 upgrade). Number 3.0 also added the ability to create interactive charts, and a new user interface resembling the new Keynote and Pages design. Numbers comes with dozens of templates which include embedded formulas, charts and graphs to help you with your planning, tracking and analysis.

As of 21 Aug, 2014 - I have Numbers 3.2.2 installed on my Mac. I have version 2.2.2 installed on my iOS devices.

The new versions of Pages, Keynote and Numbers all use a completely new file format (as of the iWork update in Oct, 2013 - Released in conjunction with the new Mac OS 10.9 upgrade) that can work across OS X, Windows, and in most web browsers by using the online iCloud web apps. As a result of this change to the basic file format, the current version of iWork (iWork 2013 update) does not open or allow editing of documents created using previous versions. Users who attempt to open older iWork files will see a pop-up telling them to use the previous iWork 09 (which users may or may not have on their machine) version of the application. The current version of iWorks for OS X (the iWorks 2013 versions released with OS X Mavericks 10.9) moves any previously installed iWork 09 apps to an iWork 09 folder on the users machine (in /Applications/iWork '09/), as a work-around to allow users continued use of the earlier suite in order to open and edit older iWork documents locally on their machine.

This complete overhaul and re-design of the iWorks suite changes the application's look and feel, eliminates some advanced features (I predict an eventual return of all these lost capabilities), and makes the old versions incompatible moving forward. These are all draw-backs to the new applications. The iCloud integration should turn into a benefit, but so far Apple hasn't really delivered on this iCloud integration. The best part about these new applications? As of September, 2013, Apple has announced that iWork, iMovie and iPhoto would all be available as free downloads on any new iOS devices activated since the 1st of Sep, 2013. So the desktop suite comes free with the Mac OS, and now the iOS apps are free on any new iOS devices. That's good news. That's way cheaper than the $100+ price tag for the Microsoft applications.
<https://www.apple.com/ios/pages/compatibility/>
<http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/IWork>
<https://www.apple.com/numbers/>
<https://www.apple.com/keynote/>
<https://www.apple.com/iwork/>
<https://www.apple.com/icloud/>
<https://www.apple.com/pages/>

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>

Aug 18, 2014

D&D Adventure - The Sewers of Oblivion:
It's finally over. My group of D&D Players has finally completed the epic quest: "The Sewers of Oblivion" - An adventure I wrote in the 80s. This quest took 2 years and 8 months for our players to complete. During the adventure there were several player and character changes. Despite the disruption to the story line, and the difficulty involved in reconstituting a large portion of our player line-up (it took appx seven months to reconstitute a core group of players), I'm very happy with the way that the adventure concluded. I'm especially pleased to see my epic quest finally completed in its entirety. I've had groups of players attempt this quest in the past, but this is the first time that any group has actually completed the entire adventure.

The adventure took place in the sewers of a ruined city, isolated in a vast accursed desert. The party was sent to the 'Dry Steppes' in order to retrieve a lost relic - Eivobrin's Incanabula. Unfortunately, the party aren't the only ones looking for this book. Not only do the characters have to contend with the accursed desert and the infested sewers. They also have to avoid destruction at the hands of 'Glan Sarin' - A mad wizard with an egotistical plan to take over all of Oerik. Before he can achieve his goals, he must do the same thing that the party was hired to do - Locate Eivobrin's Incanabula! You can read more about the adventure on my website. In addition to the journal entries, I've also decided to create a gallery of many illustrations and handouts which were provided to the players over the course of the adventure. Note that this is not a complete collection. This is just a collection of the ones that I documented through the journals.
Handouts and illustrations from the adventure: <https://www.robsworld.org/sewerclues/sewercluescatalog.html>
The party's ninth adventure: <https://www.robsworld.org/ajournal09.html>
<https://www.robsworld.org/3ewhoswho.html#eivobrinsincanabula>
<https://www.robsworld.org/3ewhoswho.html#hallowedknights>
<https://www.robsworld.org/wherenow.html#sewersofoblivion>
<https://www.robsworld.org/wherenow.html#drysteppes>
<https://www.robsworld.org/3ewhoswho.html#glansarin>
<https://www.robsworld.org/wherenow.html#lingiceenz>
<https://www.robsworld.org/players.html>

Software favorites:
The updates keep coming, but this time around I just have one to talk about. Many updates are spurred by Apple's recent release of new Operating Systems. As a result of those recent updates, Apple (usually with help from a community of developers and security researchers outside Apple) has identified and corrected some serious problems with Safari.

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, and this release moves the browser forward for everyone (there's even a Windows version! - Microsoft stopped developing IE for Mac, and Apple makes a Windows version of Safari). I'm currently running version 7.0.6.

Battle of the browsers. Internet Explorer vs FireFox. Those are your choices right? Wrong! Think different! Think Mac! A fast 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, CSS3, ECMA Script, Proxy Support, SSL, TLS, JavaScript, Java, plus QuickTime, Flash and Shockwave plug-ins), 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 and the new JavaScript Nitro Engine implementation - Makes Safari the fastest in the pack.

Some of the newest features (under the 7.0 release) include: Improved performance for JavaScript and memory usage. A new look for the Top Sites (shows page thumbnails in a grid) and the sidebar (which now includes bookmarks, a reading list, and new social links), A new Shared Links feature. New power saver feature which pauses unused plugins (when not in use). Safari also works seamlessly with the new iCloud Keychain; auto filling credit card info and passwords and syncing that secure info across all you Mac and iOS devices. This time around, Apple really focused on making Safari more memory efficient and reduced it's power consumption. Keeping Flash from constantly running, keeping looping videos and graphics from sucking up your memory and battery life.

By the way, Safari is fully compliant (it was the first Browser to meet that bench mark) with the advanced Acid 3.0 test. So, if you're concerned about standards and compliance, you've nothing to worry about. Develop your web site using the Safari webkit and you won't have to worry about rendering problems or sticky browser compatibility issues. 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.

This particular update (7.0.6) is released for Windows (version 6.1.6) and four different Mac OSs: OS X Lion 10.7.5, OS X 10.7.5 Lion Server, OS X Mountain Lion 10.8.5 and OS X Mavericks 10.9.4. This new version doesn't have any new features, just security fixes and updates (a major Webkit vulnerability and multiple memory corruption issues).
<https://support.apple.com/en-us/HT203035>
<http://www.webstandards.org/action/acid3>
<https://developer.apple.com/safari/>
<https://www.apple.com/html5/>
<https://www.apple.com/safari/>

Aug 12, 2014

SpamCop discontinuing email service:
For many years, SpamCop (a spam diagnosing tool and reporting service) provided paid email accounts through Corporate Email Services (CES). I was a paying user of their email hosting services since Mar of 2003 ($30.00 per year for filtered email with the 'SpamCop.net' domain). Unfortunately, they've decided to discontinue that service. It's not core to the SpamCop business model. Principally, they make money by configuring, selling and maintaining spam filtering routers for large corporate customers. In March of 2014 I made my last payment of $30.00 for my SpamCop.net email account. In August of that year, I received an important notification from CES (the provider of the SpamCop email service): "[a]s of September 30, 2014 (Tuesday) 6pm ET, the current SpamCop Email service will be converted to email forwarding-only with spam filtered by SpamCop for all existing SpamCop Email users" and that "SpamCop will no longer provide IMAP or POP service [after that date]."

Unfortunately CESmail ceased operations in September of 2014 - They were the exclusive provider of email service to SpamCop.net (since 1998). SpamCop (Became a division of Cisco in 2007) decided not to continue the email service. I'm not sure (speculation above/here), but I would assume that an outsourced email service wasn't really increasing/enhancing the core business of the SpamCop/Cisco relationship. SpamCop worked with CESmail to ensure an orderly shutdown/conversion to forwarding only services, and the email service was shut down at the end of September of 2014.

SpamCop planned to continue providing this mail forwarding service (for those who previously held a SpamCop.net email address) with no additional or future charge to their
users. As you might presume, I was/am one of the affected customers/users. They committed "to provide the forwarding service through 2015 and review the ongoing need for this service annually each fall". Since I'm from the future (not really? it's a long story), I can tell you that they will continue to provide this service until at least 2018 (I'm writing this blog post in November of 2018). I loved my SpamCop.net email address and still take pride in the fact that I have one. I will continue to use the SpamCop reporting services (and my SpamCop.net address forwarding) as long as I can. They've always been of great use to me in my efforts to fight spam, and I will continue using the SpamCop.net email address as a symbol of respect and admiration.
<http://forum.spamcop.net/topic/14280-forwarding-and-faq-update/>
<https://wordtothewise.com/2014/09/spamcop-mail-changes/>
<https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/SpamCop>
<https://www.spamcop.net>

Photo Gallery Disaster:
In November of 2018 (yes the future?) I inadvertently 'destroyed' more than three years worth of image galleries. These image galleries were created with a 'Softaculous' application called 'Gallery'. I created numerous image galleries using this 'cPanel - Softaculous' application, and in November of 2018, I executed a client-side sync of my webpages. Since all of these galleries existed on the server-side (on the server only), I ended up overwriting all the server-side files. I had the sync configured to delete all orphaned files on the server-side... Imagine my surprise when I learned that all my galleries weren't backed up. That's right the galleries existed in a sole instance on the server side, so when I deleted them, they were gone for good. I still have the original photos, but all the gallery files were gone. While I still had all the mysql database info, it doesn't do me much good without the photos. So that data is gone for good. I'll be doing a bit of investigating (digging through the mysql backups) to see if there's anything of value remaining, but for now the sad and seemingly irreversible truth is - They're gone! Seven plus years of photos gone (started using Gallery in 2011, posted photos from 2011-2018 - Yes, this post is from the future, even though the date is 2014). The photo galleries lost include the photos from my recent business trip to Hawaii (see below).

While I could rebuild everything using the Gallery application, it would take an exceedingly, excruciatingly, long time; and I would have to ditch the existing database files in order to start over, that may seem like a possibility to some, but other issues complicate that option. One being my plan to get this blog up to date - and I'm four years behind there - The other problem is the long term plans of 'Gallery'. They're 'going out of business' so to speak. The developer (Bharat Mediratta) put the Gallery project into hibernation back in July of 2014, and the development seems stalled there. He's willing to transfer development over to someone else, but they have to be serious about the actual continued development of the application. Given it's uncertain future, and my reluctance to rely on another server-side solution, I'll be turning to something else. Perhaps 'Exhibeo'? I've used 'Exhibeo v1' to create galleries, and I was impressed. There's a new version out now, so I might end up heading that way. It's independent of Dreamweaver (my CS5.5 version is at risk of not working under the next macOS upgrade), and it keeps my files local for better management and backup security.

After some research and serious consideration. I decided to go with Exhibeo (by Softpress - Makers of freeway website development software). The updated version (v2.0.3) of Exhibeo provides numerous improvements, tweaks to the interface (it's far more intuitive than before), new and improved themes and more controls for image editing. I'm excited to get all those 'lost' photos back online using a new 'Photo Gallery' application. So excited that I've already started. The photo gallery below (the one for my business trip to Hawaii) was created using the 'Gallery' application; and, as I've already explained, all those galleries were lost. This time around, I've created the galleries using Exhibeo on my Mac, and uploaded them to the website. So I've got two copies, the original (on my computer) is backed up twice (one backup is part of a bootable clone, the other is an archive of all my personal files), and there's a version online (hosted with my website). That way if I inadvertently delete something (like the 'disaster' described above), I'll have plenty of backups.
<https://robsworld.org/galleryphotos.html>
<https://www.softpress.com/exhibeo/>
<https://www.softaculous.com>
<https://www.cpanel.com>
<http://galleryproject.org>

Hello Hawaii:
In August of 2014 (4 - 9 Aug, 2014) I went on a business trip (with some coworkers) to Hawaii. We stayed at the Aqua Palms while we were there. I spent the whole time on the Island of Oahu visiting various customers. We stayed in Waikiki, not too far from the beach.

The hotel wasn't the greatest, but we made up for that by visiting some awesome beaches (nearly deserted beaches), eating at a variety of excellent restaurants, and driving around the island a few times. Work took us all over the island, and we had to cut some of our meetings short because of the hurricanes! While we were there, two Hurricanes threatened the islands. Iselle and Julio - Thankfully Iselle wasn't as damaging as many had predicted, and Julio missed the island completely. While we had to cancel some of our meetings - As people prepared for an impending hurricane - We spent one anxious day in our hotel, but we left on our regularly scheduled flight.

I had a good time, discovered some excellent places to eat (cheap and good food), and I absolutely know where we'll stay (beachside cottages on Bellows AFS) the next time Kim and I vacation there. Imagine staying in a beachside cabin for appx $100.00 a night!
<https://robsworld.org/photos/hawaiibusinesstrip_nov2014/index.html>
<https://www.bellowsafs.com/lodging-rentals>
<https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Waikiki>
<https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Oahu>

Software favorites:
Another batch of updates for my favorite Graphic editor. GraphicConverter moves ever forward. As usual, the developer has been busy updating this application. All the updates are free for those who own a license (for the most recent version). If you need a powerhouse converter, editor, and browser for your graphics, grab a copy of GraphicConverter - You won't be disappointed.

GraphicConverter:
Thorsten Lemke (of Lemkesoft) completed work on a couple more updates over the past couple of weeks. I recently saw/downloaded the following update: 9.4 (b1682). GraphicConverter is an image converter and editor. A fantastic piece of shareware that is well worth the price (~$40.00). 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 what 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 (and no monthly subscription fees!), this photo editor is a highly versatile application with all the bells and whistles. On par with the 'Very Expensive' top end editors, and no 'subscription fee' required!
<http://www.lemkesoft.de/en/products/graphicconverter/overview-of-new-features-and-versions/>
<http://www.lemkesoft.de/en/products/graphicconverter/key-features/>

DVDPedia:
DVDPedia is a great little application for cataloging and displaying your movie collection, and I'm running version 5.3. It's list of features is impressive, and it keeps getting better with every update. The database is capable of generating statistics, you can keep track of multiple collections, you can easily add titles by typing the name of the movie or you can scan the barcode (using your iSight camera or a barcode reader) right off the movie box (it then searches the internet, and displays choices). It has customizable HTML export capabilities, a 'borrowed' feature with address book integration, the ability to play movies in full screen mode, and many more features which make an awesome addition to your software library. I use DVDpedia to generate HTML listings of my movies and movie reviews.

The 5.0 upgrade was a paid upgrade/new version of the software. This version has been over a year in the making with lots of changes big and small to make the programs even better. What's new? Lots of new search sites including Wikipedia, Freebase and Doghouse, the Pedias' own media server built by and for Pedia users. New custom fields for broader cataloging options: TV series for DVDpedia, comics for Bookpedia and board games for Gamepedia (I may have to buy a copy now) as well as new custom fields including dedicated date fields, check boxes and multi-value fields. A 10-star rating system with half-stars; click twice on a star to make it a half. Swipe gestures for the CoverFlow and Add/Edit window to move back and forth as well as pinch-to-zoom in the Grid view. A new filter feature for the Details view and Statistics to quickly find entries with that same value. And much, much more… Below are links to some of the pages I created using this software.
<https://www.robsworld.org/iphonemoviecollection/index.html>
<https://www.robsworld.org/mymovies/index.html>
<https://www.bruji.com/dvdpedia/new.html>
<https://www.robsworld.org/reviews.html>
<http://www.bruji.com/version5.html>
<http://www.bruji.com/dvdpedia/>
<http://doghouse.bruji.com/>

CDPedia:
CDPedia is a great little application for cataloging and displaying your music collection, and I'm running version 5.3. It's list of features is impressive, and it keeps getting better with every update. The database is capable of generating statistics, you can keep track of multiple collections, you can easily add titles by typing the name of the artist, album, or track. You can scan the barcode (using your iSight camera or a barcode reader) right off a jewel case (it then searches the internet, and displays choices), or you can import lists of music from iTunes. It has customizable HTML export capabilities, a 'borrowed' feature with address book integration, and many more features which make an awesome addition to your software library. I use CDPedia to generate HTML listings of my music.

The 5.0 upgrade was a paid upgrade/new version of the software. This version has been over a year in the making with lots of changes big and small to make the programs even better. What's new? Lots of new search sites including Wikipedia, Freebase and Doghouse, the Pedias' own media server built by and for Pedia users. New custom fields for broader cataloging options: TV series for DVDpedia, comics for Bookpedia and board games for Gamepedia (I may have to buy a copy now) as well as new custom fields including dedicated date fields, check boxes and multi-value fields. A 10-star rating system with half-stars; click twice on a star to make it a half. Swipe gestures for the CoverFlow and Add/Edit window to move back and forth as well as pinch-to-zoom in the Grid view. A new filter feature for the Details view and Statistics to quickly find entries with that same value. And much, much more… Below are links to some of the pages I created using this software.
<https://www.robsworld.org/iphonemusiccollection/index.html>
<https://www.robsworld.org/mymusic/index.html>
<https://www.bruji.com/cdpedia/new.html>
<http://www.bruji.com/version5.html>
<http://www.bruji.com/cdpedia/>
<http://doghouse.bruji.com/>

Bookpedia:
Bookpedia is a great little application for cataloging and displaying your book collection(s), and I'm running version 5.3. It's list of features is impressive, and it keeps getting better with every update. The database is capable of generating statistics, you can keep track of multiple collections, you can easily add titles by typing the name of the author, book, or isbn number. You can scan the barcode (using your iSight camera or a barcode reader) right off the book cover (the application searches the internet, and displays choices). It has customizable HTML export capabilities, a borrowed feature with address book integration, and many more features which make an awesome addition to your software library. I use Bookpedia to generate an HTML listing of my favorite books.

The 5.0 upgrade was a paid upgrade/new version of the software. This version has been over a year in the making with lots of changes big and small to make the programs even better. What's new? Lots of new search sites including Wikipedia, Freebase and Doghouse, the Pedias' own media server built by and for Pedia users. New custom fields for broader cataloging options: TV series for DVDpedia, comics for Bookpedia and board games for Gamepedia (I may have to buy a copy now) as well as new custom fields including dedicated date fields, check boxes and multi-value fields. A 10-star rating system with half-stars; click twice on a star to make it a half. Swipe gestures for the CoverFlow and Add/Edit window to move back and forth as well as pinch-to-zoom in the Grid view. A new filter feature for the Details view and Statistics to quickly find entries with that same value. And much, much more… Below is a link to a page I created using this software.
<https://www.bruji.com/bookpedia/new.html>
<https://www.robsworld.org/books.html>
<http://www.bruji.com/version5.html>
<http://www.bruji.com/bookpedia/>
<http://doghouse.bruji.com/>

Hot August Nights full of My Favorite Music:
Here's a list of some of the music I recently acquired. Where do I get all this stuff? For the long story on my music discovery efforts, see my music page. After rdio was shut down, I searched for an alternative streaming service, but the only thing that made sense (given price, catalog, service, support and my existing preferences) was Apple Music. I signed up for a 3 month free trial in December of 2015, and I've been a $9.99/month subscriber ever since - Thank you for not raising your prices. For now, eMusic is my primary download service (even though it's catalog is severely shrunken - no major labels, and the minor labels are disappearing on a daily basis), and Apple Music streaming is my primary music discovery service.

Artists want you to Hear their music - If you like it, you'll buy it, or maybe you'll buy some concert tickets. The major labels of the music industry 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 the music if I can't listen to it first, and no one listens to the radio anymore (I don't because of all the advertising, interruptions, lack of new music and lack of information - you can never figure out who/what is being played) The major labels are killing themselves with their restrictive distribution and dissemination policies. If you like new music, you can do a web 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 propaganda of the major labels - Not all free music is illegal. You can legally download and listen to all sorts of music for free (Have you heard of Pandora, Audiolizer, Presto, Jango or GrooveShark?). I download (purchase) most of my music from a couple of commercial sources (eMusic and iTunes), but I occasionally download tracks (legally) from various websites, newsgroups and blogs in order to satisfy my craving for music.

Here's a listing of some of the music I legally downloaded - and paid for!

eMusic monthly downloads:
Every month I download ~50 tracks from eMusic.com. This month (Aug of 2014) I downloaded 50 tracks (from eMusic) at the low cost of $22.81! Normally I pay a $19.99 monthly fee, which makes the tracks extremely cheaper - That's right I didn't actually pay $22.81, that would have been the price if I had purchased individual tracks. When you purchase an entire album you get a discount. Plus I got a discount for purchasing a specific plan (as a member), and I've been 'Grandfathered' with additional credits since I'm a long-time loyal member (since 2006). As a subscriber, you save even more. I only paid $19.99 for my $22.81 worth of downloads. The price for these tracks came out at ~$0.40 per track - Way less than the cost on iTunes or Amazon. A non-subscriber/non-member would have paid more than $44.00! If you bought these tracks on iTunes you might have paid more than $60.00!

* Fossil Fuel - The XTC Singles Collection (1977-1992): (31 tracks) One of my favorite bands, and some of their best songs. 31 songs! Thanks to eMusic, I was able to download the entire album for only ~$11.10. If I had gone the iTunes route I would have paid much more. I discovered this band back in the 80s, and it's been a favorite ever since. I can't imagine what I'd do without their snappy, poppy tunes ringing around in my noggin!
* The Resistance - Muse: (11 songs) Sounds like a fusion between OMD and Queen. This electric space rock is excellent - Symphonic Rock Rules!. I'm really glad that MOG turned me on to this band. Unfortunately, fast forward a few years (to 2018), they're no longer available on eMusic. This particular album actually won a Grammy - Best Rock Album in 2011.
* Pride - Phosphorescent: (8 tracks) My second album by Phosphorescent. Discovered by listening to eMusic recommendations. It's mournful and soulful. It's a brand of blues that feels country. American singer-songwriter, Matthew Houck from Huntsville, Alabama hits all the right chords as we wonder when the clouds will part. Eight songs only cost $3.92 from eMusic.

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. At less than $.50 a track (I'm currently paying $19.99 for $22.99 worth of downloads per month) you can't really go wrong. You don't have to be a member/monthly subscriber to access the site or buy music, and the membership prices (per album) are compared to the non-member prices right up front, so you can see how much you save as a monthly member. eMusic offers a really good value for your download dollar. 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. If you still want your own copies of the music, check out eMusic.

These are some of the items I added to my music collection during this 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://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Comparison_of_on-demand_streaming_music_services>
<http://latimesblogs.latimes.com/technology/2008/07/emusic-lets-the.html>
<https://www.robsworld.org/music.html>
<https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/EMusic>