What's New

Jul 31, 2014

We're Sick!
It's been a while since I was sick last (Feb, 2012), and this illness came at just the wrong time (is there ever a 'right' time to be sick?). Kim and I recently went on vacation (see below). We on a trip out west / down south, to Durango (in the SW corner of the State). Just before we left for that trip, Kim got sick. Just as we departed on our trip, the symptoms kicked into full gear. Who knows, she might have got the bug from work, or she might have actually got the bug at the gas station as we left town. Unfortunately, it didn't take long for both of us to end up sick. She got sick on the 23rd, and I got sick on the second day of our vacation. So much for that vacation... While we had a good time, it would have been a lot more enjoyable if we hadn't been sick. We ended up spending far too much time in our hotel room, and not enough time enjoying our vacation. It took a full week before that head and upper chest cold worked its way out of my system.

Kim's Birthday Vacation - 2014:
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. In July of 2014 (July 24 - 26), Kim and I took a little vacation to celebrate Kim's birthday - Happy Birthday Kim! - It was a short three day vacation in Southwestern Colorado.

On Thursday (24 Jul 2014) we drove down to the city of Durango. We took the scenic route along U.S. routes 285 (north/south) and 160 (east/west). The drive took us through the heart of the Rockies in Colorado. It's always a great drive. The scenery is spectacular, and I recommend it over the I-25 corridor any day. We arrived in Durango in the afternoon, checked into our hotel; situated adjacent to the Animas river, and enjoyed the small town bustle of a tourist town in the summertime.

On Friday we walked down to the train station and caught a bus (part of a tour) to Silverton. The drive was quite scenic along the Animas river valley, amongst the tall peaks of the Rockies. In Silverton, we took a jeep tour further north up the Animas river valley. We explored a bunch of old abandoned ghost towns; the legacy of old mining operations. After the jeep tour took us back to Silverton, we boarded a steam locomotive and enjoyed a train ride back to Durango. A relaxing trip with plenty of opportunity for photos and maybe even a nap. Upon our return to Durango we freshened up a bit, then headed out for some dining. We ate out on the patio at an excellent restaurant (Cyprus Cafe), and didn't get back to the hotel until late.

On Saturday we slept in late, and didn't leave until noon or so. The drive home was plagued with storms and we drove through rain for more than three hours. We finally got home late on Saturday, unpacked and immediately went to bed. We were both sick. Kim caught something on Wednesday, brought it with her on the vacation, infected me, and we both suffered through the next week with a miserable head and upper chest cold.

We had a good time, but we were far too rushed. Next time we go back to Durango - an excellent starting point for an 'Out West Colorado Adventure' - we'll stay longer and take our time enjoying the experience. I hope you enjoy the photos. Wow! What a Vacation - Kim and I had another awesome Colorado vacation. Happy Birthday to Kim!
<http://robsworld.org/photos/kimsbday2014/>

Jul 22, 2014

Damn Solicitors!:
Scourge of the Suburbs! It's something we all have to live with. If you own a home in the suburbs, eventually your going to be visited by a traveling salesman. Someone who wants to help you rid your home of bugs, winterize your attic, sell you some cookies - you name it, and they'll be there to sell you something. During the summer of 2014, our neighborhood was plagued by roof repair contractors. Having recently suffered through a series of highly damaging hail storms (Jun 22 - Jun 27, 2014), our community - and my home sustained considerable damage. Many of my neighbors are currently in need of some repair work, and so - the solicitors have swooped in. Some of them exhibit highly agressive and teritorial behavior. More than one of these companies posted (taped) flyers on our front door. One in particular exhibited this agressive behavior in the form of a Warning to their competitors! On one side of the paper was the typical sales pitch and contact information (with a business card stappled to the flyer).

On the other side of the flyer was a rather brazen 'Warning' to the competitors: "DO NOT KNOCK - Attention Roofers: We Have Chosen a Roofing Contractor. Kindly Respect Our Time and Our Property and Move On. - NO SOLICITATION" Quit aggresive if you ask me. I don't think I would want to do business with a company that supposes that you should not only hire them, but you should warn away any possible competitors in the neighborhood. It's almost as if they see this community as their 'turf', and all other contractors should get the hell out!

Kim and I are currently soliciting bids for repairs on our house, but the company that taped this flyer to our door will NOT be one of the companies that we contact for bids. We're going to need new shingles, some painting, and repairs to the windows on the south side of our house. The frames around the windows have been severly damaged. It will take a while to get a proper bid, and work through our home owners insurance, but eventually we'll get all the damage repaired. If you'd like to see the full flyer, I've made a copy available on my website:
(Fair use exemption claimed in order to comment on/criticize the copyrighted work)
<https://www.robsworld.org/wimmerroofing.pdf>

Business trip to the Maryland:
Since I started my new job, I expected that I might be selected to go on a business trip every now and then. Unfortunately, for the first year and a half (appx), my work environment wasn't the greatest... Everyone in our office (literally every employee in the same category as me) had gone on one or more business trips. For some unknown reason (never explained to me), my boss decided not to send me on any business trips. That was just one of the reasons why I volunteered to accept a 'temporary' assignment outside that branch - That temporary assignment became a permanent one after a protracted period of additional personnel issues, but that's a different and much longer story. Today's story is about a business trip to Maryland.

Now that I'm working in a new branch, my contributions, skills, knowledge and leadership abilities are actually valued. This was my fifth business trip since moving to a different branch/office. In July of 2014, I spent a week in Maryland (in the Baltimore area) on a business trip. I traveled there with one coworker. We didn't have much time to enjoy the sites, but I did manage to eat some Blue Crab (appx $8.00 / crab!) and visit Baltimore's Inner Harbor (too bad it rained that evening).

Once again I was reminded why I don't want to move to (live in) that area. Too busy, too many people, bad traffic, and not enough parking. Our trip to the Inner Harbor was quite expensive. ~$10.00 to park in a garage, ~$50.00 for an appetizer, sandwich and drink at the Hard Rock Cafe, ~$25.00 for an umbrella at the Barnes & Noble next door. FYI: Kim and I lived in Odenton, Maryland from 1992-1995.

The good parts? A drive up to Liberty Lake in the middle of Maryland. Beautiful forests and some actual solitude in the midst of all that hubbub. Previously mentioned Blue Crabs, and a short visit to a small museum. Here's a few photos of the Inner Harbor on that gloomy day (15 July, 2014). We (myself and a coworker) stayed in the area from 14-18 July, 2014.
<http://robsworld.org/photos/baltimore2014/catalog.html>

Jul 12, 2014

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: 9.3 (b1659). 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 5.2.2. 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 5.2.2. 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 5.2.2. 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/>

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>

Old School Classic - Planet of the Apes Legacy Collection:
It's old school classic sci-fi, action with tons of drama. It's the original Planet of the Apes legacy collection - A digital collection of five movies bundled into one download/purchase through iTunes. The movies are: Planet of the Apes (1968), Beneath the Planet of the Apes (1970), Escape from the Planet of the Apes (1971), Conquest of the Planet of the Apes (1972), and Battle for the Planet of the Apes (1973) - All movies are presented in HD format and each movie also comes with iTunes Extras such as: Scenes from the movie, Extra/Special feature video clips, Cast & Crew information, and related titles. All five movies contain iTunes Extras. The cost - Initial release on iTunes was $22.99 and I jumped at the option - Come on that's a huge savings ~$5.00 per movie!

I remember watching these movies when they first came out (in the theater and on television). I didn't see all of them on the big screen, but I was a big fan - I even remember the television series. I had a 'Planet of the Apes' lunch box, and I loved all the movies - Especially 'Beneath the Planet of the Apes'. Take a trip back to the classic age of 70s sci-fi with Charleton Heston and Roddy McDowall in the series that explored the origins of man through this dark exploration of an apocalyptic future. You too will want to shout "Get your stinking paws off me you damn dirty ape!"

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:

KNOWLEDGE OF WHILLIP:
(A House Rule that I concocted all on my own) This particular house rule is often used in conjunction with another house rule which governs something called 'Renown' - Better known as 'Knowledge - Local (Whillip)' FYI: Whillip is a town used in our campaign as a 'Base of Operations' by the Player Characters/many Adventurers.

Some player characters are introduced into our campaign with an assumed knowledge of Whillip. i.e. As part of their background, it is taken that a particular character may have lived in or used Whillip as their base of operations for any number of years. When this happens, the DM must generate a number of Whillip addresses/businesses that the character already knows. This background knowledge consists of 1d20 addresses/buildings per year of assumed residency.

In addition to this house rule update, I also spent some time correcting typos and formatting issues with the house rules.
<https://www.robsworld.org/3ehsrls.pdf>

Players in our campaign:
Over the last few months (Oct 2013 - Jul 2014) we've seen several players cycle out and in:

Monte - Formerly playing Ditty (and Rex the familiar), departed in Oct of 2013. We all assumed that Ditty was dead (after he was last spotted being carried off in the maw of a Sand Dragon), but that may not be the last we've heard of Ditty and Rex.

Shane - Formerly playing Rascal, left in June of 2014. He indicated that he was working non-stop and couldn't continue to make our meetings.

Alexis - Formerly playing Julianne left the campaign. She left, came back briefly, then left again - Now running her own campaign.

Jeremiah - Joined our group in Apr of 2014. Jeremiah briefly played a Human, Male Monk with a disposition for heavy drinking, named 'Hoo Wan Sum'. Jeremiah left the campaign to spend more time with his family.

Samir - Joined our group in Jun of 2014. Samir briefly played Sandor the Elven, Male Rogue. Samir left our group due to health issues.

Chris - Joined our campaign in July of 2014. Chris played Falco Hearthfoot, the adventurous Halfling Rogue/Druid with animal companion Raya the leopard.

As I am writing this in July of 2017, all of these players and characters have come and gone. Some of the characters live on in Rob's World! as NPCs. Keeping a Face-To-Face D&D campaign running is no easy chore and I do my best to run a campaign where all the players act respectfully. I ask that all the players treat the other players and characters the same way that they would like themselves/their characters treated. Sometimes one has to remember that a Face-To-Face campaign requires a greater amount of social interaction and tolerance - This type of setting is 'Real Life', not a simulation or Multi-player on-line role playing - Playing D&D with other real people, sitting three feet away isn't something you can pause, rewind or do-over! Players come and go, but the Game Must Go On. Keeping the campaign fully staffed is a full time endeavor. Thankfully the Aurora/Denver area has a large pool of sociable people who are willing to engage in this highly social game. 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 (updated in Apr, 2017) and a short listing of who we are.
<https://www.robsworld.org/players.html>

These updates follow one of our meetings in July of 2014 (sort of). You can keep up to date with our adventures by continuing to visit "Rob's World!" for all the latest campaign info. I'm trying to keep these 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.
<http://robsworld.org/mailman/listinfo/dndcampaign_robsworld.org>
<https://www.robsworld.org/3ecampaign.html>

July's Jukebox of Jammin' Tunes:
Here's a list of some of the music I recently acquired. Where do I get all this stuff? Well, I used to find/discover a lot of free (actually free) music by visiting several music web sites (Pandora, 3hive.com, musicalfamilytree.org) and music blogs (Analog Giant, Brooklyn Vegan, Fluxblog, Gorilla vs. Bear, etc), and listening to a few different music podcasts. Then I discovered new music using MOG; until that got shut down... Now? Now (as of June 11, 2014) I subscribe to an online music streaming service called rdio. In addition to rdio, I started (as of Sep 2011) using eMusic 'Radio' stations for music discovery. Combined together, these two services provide full-play access to more than 50 million tracks! (35m on rdio (as of May 2015) >23m on eMusic (as of Jun 2015)) Two fantastic ways to discover music, and no need for illegal downloads or pirated tracks. I occasionally use a few of the other methods (music blogs and podcasts), but rdio now serves as my Primary Music Discovery source.

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 (July of 2014) I downloaded 56 tracks (from eMusic) at the low cost of $23.06! Normally I pay a $19.99 monthly fee, which makes the tracks extremely cheaper - That's right I didn't actually pay $23.06, 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 $23.06 worth of downloads. The price for these tracks came out at ~$0.36 per track - Way less than the cost on iTunes or Amazon. A non-subscriber/non-member would have paid more than $50.00! If you bought these tracks on iTunes you might have paid more than $60.00!

* Outside Society - Patti Smith: (18 tracks) Classic revolution rock/punk predecessor Patti Smith is a counter-culture icon that led the woman's rights and progressive music scene for decades. The poetry and lyrics make her music unforgettable and outstanding. Discovered by listening to eMusic recc's on MOG.
* Happy Families Too - Blancmange: (15 songs) Electro-synth pop with exotic dance rhythms. Mixing musical genres, instruments and electronics. Discovered while listening to rdio reccomendations.
* Keep The Beat / The Very Best of the English Beat - The English Beat: (16 tracks) One of my all time favorite bands from the 80s. One of my all time favorite bands - Ever! The English Beat was a white reggae ska band. A multiracial band with a distinct sound and alternating vocals by Dave Wakeling and Ranking Roger.
* Out of the Woods / Reggie Song (Live) - Public Image Limited: (7 tracks) Public Image Limited (aka PiL) was originally a quartet led by vocalist John Lydon (aka Johnny Rotten), with guitarist Keith Levene (formerly of the Clash), bassist Jah Wobble (John Wordle) and Jim Walker on drums. Eventually, all the band members have changed except John Lydon. So PiL is basically John Lydon, former vocalist for the Sex Pistols. He's been a favorite of mine since the 80s. This release of live recordings (from the performance at New York City, Terminal 5 in 2010) features two singles from their 'This Is PiL' albumn. Out of the Woods is a song about Stonewall Jackson and Reggie Song is a song about a friend of John's.

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>
<http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/MOG_(online_music)>
<https://www.robsworld.org/music.html>
<https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/EMusic>