Welcome to my most humble Home Page. I've been working on it on and off for almost two years now. I've learned a lot. And am eager to learn more. I'm really excited by Javascript. But haven't had much time to read/learn more about it. It seems capable of performing many amazing things without requiring a high level of programming expertise. If you've found something amongst my web pages that has helped or entertained you in some way then I've done what I've set out to do. I'll keep plugging away at the site. Hoping to improve and expand it until it's complete. Yeah Right!
Robert L. Vaessen
This listing is an archive of the What's New entries from 1998.
I updated the Front Door to my web site. I placed the 'Interests' in a borderless table. That way it stays centered and aligned regardless of the browser's window dimensions. Gives it a much better appearance in my opinion. Good idea Robert!. Thanks, I needed that.
Well, I've had a change of heart. I no longer have any need/sympathy for webrings. As a result I have erected my Anti-Web Ring page. I had been a long time member of a particular web ring. I used to think that it was bringing traffic to my site. That thought was unchallenged until I installed counters on the web page that the ring linked to. I soon discovered that it was bringing virtually no traffic at all to my site. At the same time the ring itself was stagnating. The administrator refused to make needed changes and upgrades, ideas submitted by members were dismissed out of hand, and I got fed up with the ring. So I finally did it. I got tired of being bulleyed around by the "Ringmaster's" so I severed all ties. I'm now free of those 'Web-Ring' shackles, and it feels good!
Well, I admit it I've been smitten by my Play Station. Been playing a lot of 'Final Fantasy VII' lately. That and a class at work, have been keeping me busy. I did manage to update my schedule though. For those of you who care.
Posted some updates this weekend. You may be thrilled to learn that Karate Joe comics issue number two is now available for your reading enjoyment. Go Joe!.
I've added a new feature to the site. I call it 'Rules Lawyer'. It's a discussion of some of the confusing and sometimes contradictory rules which plague the AD&D® game. Rules lawyer is a result of e-mail discussions which have taken place during my AD&D® PBeM campaign. With the detachment of a PBeM game comes great objectivity. It allows me to make informed and balanced decissions, which I typically document and sometimes debate with the players. To date the page only contains two topics, but it will probably expand in the future.
I also added another House Rule to the site. This one deals with dividing Treasure that a party might find. I've been using the method for quite some time now, and I hope you find it useful in your campaign.
In addition to the Karate Joe comic, the Rules Lawyer pages, and the Treasure division rules, I also made some cosmetic changes to various other pages. Is that enough for you?
Aside from the Home pages, I've been busy upgrading my OS and web browser. I'm now running MAC OS/7.6.1, and Netscape Communicator 4.0.8. The long anticipated, but much dreaded OS upgrade went over without any major hitches. Took me approximately 8 hours to switch from OS 7.1P6 to 7.6.1 and iron out all the kinks. Most of my software seems to be handling the change o.k. Just a few loose ends to tie up. Unfortunately the upgrade seems to have caused an overall slowdown in my processor speed! That's not good. This newer version of Netscape seems to run slower, (Duh! It's like six times larger than 3.0.4) and the colors don't look as bright. This might explain some of the complaints I've been receiving regarding poor color contrast on some pages. Looks like I may need to re-tool some of the graphics. As a result I downloaded a 'web safe' color palette for ClarisWorks 5.0. Hopefully I'll avoid future problems by using this palette.
Had to make a few changes to my web page. I corrected some entries regarding Spell Book properties and use. Thanks for those discrepency reports. I also updated the Armor parts portion of the equipment listing. I even added some new rules regarding the use and acquisition of Glassteel armor by/for Wizards. Enjoy!
I have not made many changes to the web pages lately. The only thing of note has been the update to the monthly schedule. Other than that I made a few minor changes to the spell rules, index, and other games documents. I was very busy in the last half of October. Birthday, Anniversary, Three days of certification testing, working on an AppleScript project with/for the CWUG. Is that enough stuff?
Well, it's been a while since I've posted any changes to my web site. That doesn't mean I have'nt been working on it though. Quite the contrary in fact. I've been hard at work on the web site. Making many changes and updates.
That sure is a lot of stuff. I've been working on all the projects above for quite some time. They finally came together. My PBeM campaign on the other hand has slowed down a bit. I recently received a Flatbed scanner and drawing slate in the mail. Those items combined with some new software, and licensing, will permit me to do some really neat stuff in the future. Well time to get to work.
I've recently been working on some proposed alternative graphics for use with the AD&D ring. I've proposed the use/implementation of an 'Icon' and alternative Banner via the adnd_ring_d discussion list. This project to me quite some time, and I learned quite a lot about JavaScript and client side image mapping.
I added some more information for my PBeM campaign. Updating the "Who's Who" page. Other than that I've been working on an HTML version of my Character sheet. It's not online yet, but it's shaping up rather nicely. I also posted a prototype 'Icon' for use with the AD&D ring. I've proposed it's use/implementation via the adnd_ring_d discussion list. Also did a few minor updates to some other pages.
I just updated my schedule. And added an Anti-Spam Spam Offer to my front page.
I added some more information for my PBeM campaign. Updating the "Who's Who" page, and adding more maps and graphics to the Maps page. I also updated some of the refuge room/area descriptions.
I added some more information for my PBeM campaign. Updating the "Who's Who" page, and adding more maps and graphics to the Maps page. It took me quite some time to create the graphics. First I tried to scan them using a freinds scanner but that didn't work. So I ended up drawing them using the Paint application in ClarisWorks 5.0v2
I just added an AD&D® Character Sheet to the 'Playing Aids' page. I posted it in both RTF and ClarisWorks 5.0 formats. I also provided a set of thumbnails as a preview.
I just completed the first revision of my site index. It contains a site wide index containing all the relevant/important links. Certain links were intentionally omitted to prevent spoiling, and bypassing of certain intro pages. I hope that it will make your visits more enjoyable.
I also updated my monthly schedule of events.
Corrected some problems with the PBeM files, and the equipment lists.
I just completed some major work on my web pages. All those changes I started last week have been completed. I added the Index keywords, numerous META tags, and many more counters.
You may be interested in the Karate Joe Comics. I added the first installment of the comics and will post the others as time permits.
I corrected some minor problems found by my loyal followers, and I updated/checked many of the pages for content/formatting problems. Thanks for keeping me on my toes. Keep on checking my web site for new and improved stuff. I promise I'll keep trying to make it a better site for all my visitors.
I've been hard at work on my web pages. I haven't posted all the changes yet. But I'd like to tell you what I've been working on. It's been a major project. I'm planning on making a site index available at the Front door. From it you should be able to jump to just about any page at my site. It's requiring quite a lot of updates and page tweaking. I hope to finish it sometime next month.
Aside from the major index work I've also been hard at work with META tags. I've been editing many pages to add META tags to the headers. That way my pages will be more likely to show up in searches made from 'Yahoo', 'Excite', 'Hot Bot', etc. When all the META tag additions have been completed I should start seeing more hits on my web pages.
I added a bunch more page counters. And got rid of one. I split up this What's new page. Placing the 1997 and 1996 entries on archive pages. If you would like to view one of the archives scroll to the bottom of this page.
I've added a Guest Book, Answering Machine, and a whole new Feed Back page to the front page of the site.
I made some minor changes to the Misawa page.
I added a description of Garavar, and made a few other changes to the 'Who's Who' PBeM page.
I updated many of the PBeM files on my web site. Adding another illustration as well as more character descriptions.
I've been at work updating the Refuge pages. Adding more rooms to the level 1 descriptions, as well as a bunch of monsters and some schematics.
Added another spell to my list of Spells.
Made some minor changes to my Campaign pages.
And updated the Scanner frequency listing.
I recently added some more legalize mumbo-jumbo to my web page. Since AT&T's ISP agreement states that I wilingly give up all rights to anything I post to public areas using their service; I added a little blurb on my Web page index stating that this is a private web site. Which it is. It's my web site. It doesn't belong to the Public. I'm paying for it. It is not contributed to by the general public. It's mine, and mine alone. I just added the little blurb on the entrance to dissuade any of AT&T's copyright attorney's from thinking that they could so easilly pry my copyrighted personal materials out of my still living fingers.
Aside from the necessary legalize I pasted onto the front page, I also updated my spell rules. A recent error was discovered by one of you. Thanks for keeping me on my toes.
The big move is over. Over the last three months Kim and I completed a PCS (Permanent Change of Station), I've been reassigned to a new base. We now call Misawa Air Base Japan our home. The move went rather smoothly, and now I've finally re-established an internet presence. I'm using AT&T Jens service to access the internet from my on base quarters. It's very expensive (compared to state side rates), and the service agreement is not to my liking. In either case, on with the updates. I've updated, and added quite a lot of data. Here it is.
Updated the PBeM maps page and the map of the Cave.
Well, it looks like there will be no redirection service. Turns out that MountainNet wants to charge me $10.00 a month just for redirection services. Get real! Anyway my page at that site is pretty much done with anyway. The only thing there is a banner.
Things at my MountainNet Home pages are drawing to a close. Today I removed everything except the redirect banner for the MountainNet web site. Still no word from MountainNet on whether they will be providing me with a redirection service.
Just changed the opening banner at my MountainNet Home page. The banner now includes a re-direct link to the new page at GeoCities. In the future that's all there will be at the MountainNet site.
Just did a little housekeeping work. I've updated the Food & Servcices portion of the equipment listing, as well as the Disclaimer pages. They had some minor formatting and content discrepencies. I've also been adding page counters to some of my GeoCities web pages.
Having to keep both sites updated is becoming something of a chore. I'm kind of growing tired of updating both. From this date forward I will only be updating the GeoCities web pages.
Well I've done it. It took me a while, but I finally moved my web pages. Rob's World! is now up at it's new location. https://www.robsworld.org/ I know what you're thinking. Geocities? I hate that place it's full of so much advertising that you can't see the web pages. Well not too worry friend. I've put my page in the GeoPlus add free zone. That's right I'm shelling out the bucks for my baby. No freebee sites for me. Only the best Baby. Only the Best! The GeoCities Plus service is great. For only $4.95 a month I get 15Mb's of web space. A free e-mail account, access to the cgi-bin library, a plethora of excellent scripts and more customer support than you can shake a stick at. Check it out. You too might see a future in the GeoCities Plus plan.
Completed a considerable amount of work on this date. Unfortunately I was not able to move my web site to a new home. It turns out that the host I was planning on using does not offer the services it advertises on their web site. Talk about false advertisement. Right now I'm waiting on some e-mail before determining how to proceed. I may end up going with GeoCities pay services. Five dollars a month is a pretty good price. Here's some of the stuff I updated/added.
It took me most of the day to complete these changes. Not to mention the new graphic headers I created. Hope you like it.
- I updated my Misawa relocation page. I added some graphics and an itinerary. I'll update the itinerary as I learn more info.
- I updated my PBeM files for the players in my PBeM AD&D Campaign.
- I added a link on the PBeM page where players can view maps & illustrations. There's nothing there right now. But there will be later as the campaign advances.
- Added a new set of House Rules on Saving Throws. The rules themselves come from someone other than me. I saw them, liked them, and use them. I hope you'll like them as well.
- I also added some more material to my ongoing project. The refuge. An online adventure scenario.
- I added a link to some info regarding my upcoming move to Misawa AB Japan. - And updated the books page.
- The only thing I've updated recently are the PBeM Files that I've made available for players in my PBeM campaign.
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Author: Robert L. Vaessen e-mail: 
Last Updated: Sun, Dec 31, 2000 8:45 AM
