Belkin Keyboard Case for iPad mini - review

Yes, it does like a ZX-81 (as pointed out by Neil Ford)!

My new iPad mini was bought with the knowledge that it would be used for work as well as pleasure, so I bought myself a Belkin keyboard case as well as a Smart Cover.

The keyboard case looks very good - the effect is of an old style paper organiser (if you remember those by 'Time Manager' then you'll have a good analogy but it is much thinner). It should give moderate impact protection. There is a micro-USB port for power, plus an on/off switch, a pairing button for bluetooth, and an LED to indicate charge status. Pairing is no different to any other bluetooth keyboard under iOS and I had no difficulties. The keyboard is tailored for iOS: there is a Fn function key to allow keyboard access to search, show/hide keyboard, cut/copy/paste, music and volume and screen lock. The home key is also dedicated on the keyboard.

The keyboard is made of plastic, but quite solid. The build is better than the Zaggmate keyboard cover for my older iPad 1 (which had a habit of loosing keys) but noticeably less solid than Zagg's keyboard folio for the better half's iPad 2, probably as that has an aluminium chassis. The Logitech Tablet keyboard (which is close to full size), feels more solid but is far larger.

The keyboard pitch is tight and needs some getting used to, altogether understandable due the size of a 7.9" tablet like the mini. While typing this, I've repeatedly pressed "/" due to the truncated nature of the spacebar which it is adjacent too. I also find the backspace to be out of position, and keep on hitting the "=" button instead. However, both of these are noticeably becoming less of an issue as I get more familiar with the keyboard layout and action.

However, there is one design flaw, related to apostrophes. These are positioned where you'd expect them (near the enter key) but they both need to be accessed with the Fn button rather than a clean press for the single apostrophe, and a shifted press for the double quotes. This is the biggest let down about the whole device, and I've not yet convinced myself that I will get used to it. It suggests that although the keyboard case was 'designed in California' it was designed by someone that rarely does any extended typing. I would rather have the semi-colon and colon key operated by the function key and have the apostrophes directly accessible.

Overall, I do like the keyboard, but how well that I adjust to the apostrophe design decision will determine if I ever love it.

Updated 13/1 to reinstate missing key names.

First Impressions - Forbidden Island

At the weekend, I had the fun of playing a game with Nathan (nearly 6) and his Grandmother (somewhat older) which didn't end up with either a small boy tantrum, or me deliberately throwing the game. The game was Forbidden Island and I deliberately bought it because it is cooperative. You either all win, or all lose. The opponent is the game itself.

Nathan loved it, and caught on well despite it being promoted as suitable for 10 years +. That age is probably right for picking up and learning the game yourself, but if you're guided by an adult I think it's easily suitable for 5 year olds.

The premise of the game is simple; you are a team of adventurers who have travelled by helicopter to an island which is sinking into the ocean. You are there to recover four treasures which are hidden on the island and get away by calling the helicopter back for the whole team.

There isn't a game board as such, rather twenty-four sturdy and attractively designed double sided tiles that represent the different locations on the island. They have names like 'Phantom Rock', 'Fool's Landing' and 'Cliffs of Abandon'. One side is illustrated in full colour (representing the initial state of the location) and the other side is a shade of blue, representing flooding before it finally sinks into the ocean never to return. Some locations are marked as starting points for different player roles, and there are two marked for each treasure as a location they can be retrieved from by the players.

The pawns for each player are wooden, and the treasures moulded in plastic, and the game comes in a sturdy tin. The game also includes a set of cards which give each player a unique role (for example a pilot or diver), treasure cards, and the flood deck. Finally, there is a water meter that governs the rate of flooding.

Game play is simple - each player takes a role card to start. This gives them special abilities, for example the explorer can move and shore up parts of the island diagonally. The game is based around 2-4 players, and there are more roles available than the number of players.

The island is set up as a 4x4 grid, with a further two cards centred on each side. A number of flood cards are then drawn, and the relevant locations immediately flipped to flooded. This has no direct effect on them for play, but puts them one step away from disappearing.

Each player is dealt two treasure deck cards which are placed face up so that the other players can see them. There are treasure cards showing the items that you are after, cards with special effects (the sandbag card to sure up anything at anytime and the helicopter lift that allows a group of pawns to be moved from location to another at anytime, or for the game to be won) and the dangerous 'waters rise' card. This one is replaced and shuffled back into the deck if dealt at the start of the game.

Each turn, a player can take up to 3 actions. These include moving, shoring up an adjacent section of island (flipping from flooded to untouched), giving a treasure card to another player in the same location and capturing a treasure (by discarding 4 of the appropriate treasure cards at the right place). Players can also carry out their own special move if appropriate.

Once actions are completed, each player gets two treasure cards, against a maximum hand of five cards. If a waters rise card is drawn, the water meter increases one level. Initially, a normal game will be set so the flood level is 2, but this slowly goes up higher as the game progresses. The waters rise card also triggers the flood card discard pile being shuffled, then placed back on top of the flood deck, effectively intensifying the flooding locations. Pandemic players may recognise the clever game mechanic, and it should be no surprise that the games share the same author.

The final step of a player's turn is to draw the appropriate number of flood cards. The locations shown are immediately flipped to the blue side if untouched, or permanently removed if already flooded. If this happens to a location with a player, they can swim to an adjacent tile if it is a legal move, but if not then they drown and the game is lost.

Retrieving the treasure requires the player to get four cards showing the same treasure in their hand. There are five in total for each in the treasure deck, so if you discard more than one between the team then you would have to wait for the deck to refresh before finding that treasure. As you can only get each treasure in two locations, should these sink before you find it then the game is lost.

Once the treasures are retrieved, the players all need to get to Fool's Landing and then play a helicopter card to escape and win. This clearly means that Fool's Landing sinking is a bad thing to happen, as the game is lost.

Finally, the game can also be lost by the water meter raising as high as the skull and crossbones icon on its top.

In play, it feels quite tense when the flood cards are turned over and the waters rise. The limit that you can only pass cards one way in your own turn is also quite frustrating, in a good way, as you need to plan carefully. It kept Nathan's attention for the 40 or so minutes it took to play, and I suspect that a rematch would be under half an hour. It's great fun, and the mechanics and feel all combine for a lovely team game. I'd recommend this for 5 years to adult.

The game has a retail price of £19.99 but you can pick it up for £12.99 if you shop around places like Amazon.

Links:
Gamewright: https://www.gamewright.com/gamewright/index.php?section=games&page=game&show=245
Amazon.co.uk: https://smile.amazon.co.uk/Gamewright-317-Forbidden-Island-Game/dp/B003D7F4YY/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&qid=1352241094&sr=8-1

Apple Maps

The search returns ‘Odeon Crewe’, but not if you search for the Odeon!

I was deeply skeptical about Apple Maps after reading about the issues on the internet. However, the reports don't match with my experience of using it as a SatNav. I've done this three times so far, and it's taken me to the location by the shortest route, and without misdirection. Where I do find it weak is in the search engine side. For example, last night I put in "Odeon Cinema, Crewe" and it couldn't find it, but "Cinema Crewe" worked fine.

The vector tiling for the map sets is very effective for keeping a larger area within the navigation range and scaleable in comparison to Google Maps. This means you can still zoom in and out and track location when you have GPS but no cell connection.

The lack of effective public transport and pedestrian routing is disappointing. The turn-by-turn navigation works well.

Overall, as a product, it needs tweaking, but it's nowhere near as broken as some commentators have made out.

Shattered Dreams

I hate the Jimmy Saville revelations, with a passion. In revealing how he behaved and shattered the lives of people who trusted him and looked up to him, he shatters memories and illusions of goodness to others that were part of my childhood, making the world a worse place. Part of me wishes that this had never come out, but then what justice would the victims have if it was forever buried? Every part of the good works that Saville was involved in is now tainted, and what legacy he left is turned to corruption and abuse.

Plus it allows the BBC to obsess about its favourite subject, the BBC.

The Thick of It

The brilliant Peter Capaldi as Malcolm Tucker
Image ©2012 BBC - all rights reserved

I was late in discovering the BBC’s The Thick of It, mainly as the few times that I had stumbled across it flicking channels I'd usually landed in the middle of one of Peter Capaldi's brilliant swear-word filled tirades as Malcolm Tucker, the government's Director of Communications. Landing in the middle of one of these is not something that really endears the programme to you, and I dismissed it as loud and sweary rubbish passing as comedy.

However, I ended up catching the first episode of Series 4 on TV one night – from the start – when Jill and the boys were in bed. I was hooked, realising that this was one series that you couldn't just drop into mid-episode. I've watched each episode since, through a variety of means (time shifted on PVR, iPlayer and live), and they have been gloriously full of swearing, politics and – in far too many ways – believability. I'm really sad that last night saw the final ever episode, dealing with the aftermath of the Goolding Inquiry (think spoof of Leveson) on leaking, and the demise of Malcolm Tucker.

However, now I have the DVDs of the first three series and specials to enjoy as a guilty pleasure and to compensate for the loss of this brilliant show. Contrary to my original thoughts, this is a fantastic counterpoint to Yes, Minister and Yes, Prime Minister.

First Impressions - Pandemic

Set up

I picked up a copy of the boardgame Pandemic at Furnace and as I had a quiet night with Jill out and the boys asleep, I decided to give it a quick go to see how it works.

The premise of the game is quite simple; the world is suffering from a pandemic event with four diseases potentially running wild. Each player represents an agency or researcher with special skills that can help defeat the outbreaks of disease. The game can handle 2-4 players and lasts around an hour.

The components are of good quality, with a nice solid board and wooden pieces. The cards seem durable with a linen effect that gives good grip.

Infection zones

I tried a two player game on the lowest difficulty level and was thoroughly trounced! It started well, with no outbreaks in Europe, and a small outbreak in South East Asia. Africa was the worst area , with some threats looming in the Middle East. The disease outbreaks are represented by wooden blocks of different colours, and each location can have a maximum of three of each type. At the start of the game, three cities have 3 blocks, three have 2 blocks and (you guessed it) three have 1 block.These are determined by the draw of infection cards, which are then placed on the discard pile. Each card shows a city and a disease colour, determining where the next infection is. If you run out of infection blocks to play for a colour at any time the players then lose.

The mechanics are joyously simple. Each city is connected to the others in a web that dictates travel and the spread of disease. Every turn you take 4 actions, which can range from travel through to passing cards to other players, building research centres, finding the cure and healing disease. If you have a cure, you can wipe out a disease completely at a location, otherwise you can reduce it by one block.

After taking actions, you draw two more player cards. These show cities and related disease colours. You need a research station of 5 cards of the right disease colour to find a cure, unless you're the scientist role, in which case it's only 4 cards. There are also special event cards (for example money to build a research station for free) and epidemic cards. Epidemic cards are nasty. They are dealt into the player card pile with between 4 and 6 in play depending on the challenge level you want. I played the introductory version with four cards. If you draw one, the rate of infection cards you draw each turn can increase (see next bit) and a city gets infected to the point of outbreak (ditto) which is really quite nasty. Finally, all the discarded infection cards (i.e. cities that are already infected) get reshuffled and placed on the top of the infection draw pile so you can be infected in the same points again, raising the intensity of the game. The only respite is if you have eradicated a disease completely, in which case no new disease blocks can be played. If you run out of player cards, you lose as well.

The infection stage is quite nasty. You draw a number of infection cards which show the cities that gain a single extra block. Unless they already have three blocks of the same colour in which case the disease 'outbreaks' and all adjacent cities gain a block of the disease. This can result in a cascading chain reaction, which is only limited by the fact that each city can only be infected once. If you have eight outbreaks, you lose.

End Game

I quickly found the cure for the South East Asian outbreak, and for Europe, but Africa and the Middle East were proving more elusive. You very quickly get a feeling of quiet desperation as, even with the cure, you can only normally cure two adjacent cities per turn with the action limit. If you get a few adjacent cities with 3 blocks the same colour it feels really, really bad. It also feels great when you draw an infection card for a disease you've eradicated, so nothing happens.

I had beaten the European plague back, and done enough to slow the Middle Eastern Outbreaks, and was focussed with both players on eradicating the African and South American infection (maybe the hardest?) when I ran out of player cards, thinking I'd lost. It was only as I was packing away - thinking how hard, but how addictive the game was - that I realised that I'd actually won by finding all four cures.

I really like this game, and look forward to playing it with friends. I can imagine that it could be a little frustrating and hard, but it gives quite a buzz!

Furnace 2012 Report

Conspiracy of Shadows: Fall of House Atreides

Despite being one of the troika organising the convention, I managed to miss the fact that we'd opened the slots for GMs, only finding out when our efficient and glamorous Gaming Tsar Elaine asked me why I wasn't running. I ended up with a single slot booked, rather than the two to four that I have run in other years. However, as people dropped out from running and/or attending, I gradually accreted more slots until I hit four once more.

I tend to use Furnace as an opportunity to playtest material for publication, so ended up taking three Wordplay scenarios; two for my Singularities RPG, and one for the new Utopia setting (which is, in reality, another part of the Singularities universe). All these games had been run before, and the plan was to continue to hone them based on the feedback from the players.

As well as that, I resurrected my Conspiracy of Shadows game called 'The Fall of House Atreides', unsurprisingly set in the Dune universe created by Frank Herbert.

The reuse of scenarios ended up being for the best, as I ended up being at a Conference in Manchester for the two days before the convention, something that wasn't conducive to last minute preparation. I was, unusually, fully prepared with printed scenarios ready by Tuesday night before the convention. Definitely a first for me.

I arrived on Friday night, just as last orders were called, having asked Graham (Chairman-for-Life of Furnace) to make sure there was a pint of Guinness waiting for me on arrival. We had a quick catch up, and then I got on with the pressing business of assembling the badges. Big shout out to Steve Ellis here for helping me after everyone else had gone to bed, right up to the point we got chucked out of the bar. I finished around 1am, which still left me with more sleep than usual with the kids!

Mounds of badges

Saturday morning dawned, and we started set up. I'd agreed to cover the desk in the first game slot as I usually don't run a game in that time, using it to catch up. However, with the usual suspects for that catch up having to pull out (@tsoilkovsky and @ottomancer), I was mainly thinking of reading scenarios and relaxing.



Captured a video of the opening speech with my Flip HD camera, and dropped it straight up onto YouTube, and made sure that I was tweeting with the #rpgfurnace tag, because we wanted to let people know what they were missing.

Zombicide - a great fill in.

First problem hit around 10.00, when we realised the GM for one of the games hadn't yet arrived. We finally got an email from them apologising half way through the slot, despite them also sending up something in the post that indicated they knew they wouldn't make it the day before. We didn't have any spare GMs or games, so I offered the players the chance to try some of the boardgames that I'd brought. They picked Zombicide, a game I bought from Kickstarter that hasn't yet hit general release. This is a cooperative zombie horror survival game that I've discussed previously (due out November around £58 RRP). They quickly got into it, and we completed a big scenario in around two hours, and great fun was had by all. Indeed, had Jim from Patriot Games have had copies then he'd have sold to at least three people. The important thing is that the players enjoyed themselves, and we didn't feel like we'd let them down as a committee.

The afternoon brought my first game, "In a Strange Land", the Utopia scenario that I'd previously run at Continuum. I really enjoyed that game, and was excited about the chance to do it again. Some friends were playing - Tom for example - who I was certain would enjoy it. Unfortunately, the experience was marred by some of players feeling cut out of time in the spotlight. I could feel the frustration, but couldn't see an easy way out of it (it's somehow harder to consider cross words with a player if you're one of the organisers, as it could taint the whole convention). Fortunately, after a break mid-way through things stepped up a gear as two of the players decided to force a change.

This seemed to work, and I think people ended up satisfied at the end of things, but it left me with a bad taste. I was incredibly down after the game, and a bit shaken in confidence, as I hate not delivering for players and it's something I rarely have to deal with. However, thanks to some kind words and a review of what went wrong with Matt Nixon in particular I was back in a fit state to run by the next slot.

This was meant to be the first Singularities scenario that I had ever written, but that wasn't to be as I had no sign ups. A couple of games had suffered the same fate, the curse of Saturday night, so we dug out my boardgames after grabbing a pint. We started with the new Junta: Viva el Presidente, a reworking of the old classic game Junta. This captured the essence of the sprawling original but plays out in under an hour with very simple mechanics. And sunglasses for El Presidente! It was fun, and I'd like to try again. I was bluffed out of victory by the use of a spy card - rather than attacking my chief rival, I went for the former president who was planning to attack me. Great fun.

After this, Zombicide came out again, with the same scenario. In the time that I spent getting a pint, one of the players from the morning session had taught the others the basics which is a good endorsement of the way that the game works. We played it ruthlessly, had a few hairy moments solved with a Molotov cocktail, and managed to play the scenario out in 90 minutes. The more that I touch this game, the more I like it.

Sunday morning is the slot that I run a collaborative 'indie' style game. In this case, the game had co-creation, but some great conflict between the members of House Atreides. It ended messily, and Thufir Hawat was revealed as the Harkonnen Agent responsible for the fall of House Atreides. Good stuff, especially when the players got stuck in.

Raffle time

The raffle went well, with quite a few happy people grabbing games that they wanted when their ticket was drawn out. I was happy that we could keep this, especially as we had dropped the free food on Sunday afternoon as the cost had gone up enough to have forced us to put the con-ticket price up if we'd have kept it. The raffle and free coffee & tea are part of the Furnace experience.

Sunday afternoon brought the second running of the second game I had written for a military sci-fi feel for use in Singularities, featuring 'Houllier's Heroes', a group of Terminator-style bodied cyborgs carrying out a punitive strike against an enemy world. It started slowly, but gradually the players really got into it, grabbing at action. Kudos to Keary for this, as he helped to drive the game from planning into action. I have number of highlights in my head from this including a vicious battle with fusion, gravitational and coherent radiation weapons in the main corridor of a lightchaser STL starship, the commandeering of said ship, and then the manipulation of an entire planetary population through clever social media activities that resulted in total victory for the players!

It was great catching up with friends, although a few people were noticeable by their absence - @tsoilkovsky, @ottomancer and Dr Moose especially. My only regret is the fact I couldn't make it there earlier on Friday night, as there's definitely a social vibe in the pre-con meet-up.

I'm looking forward to Furnace 2013, just have to check how many badges we got back to make sure we don't have to buy more!

First Impressions - Zombicide

A few turns into the game

I decided to give Zombicide another workout earlier this week, as I really enjoyed the potential that the tutorial game suggested. As everyone had gone to bed and the kitchen table was free, it seemed a perfect time to experiment. For the game, I selected the first full scenario in the book City Blocks which uses all the tiles that come in the box. As a single player game I selected four characters from the basic game; Amy the Goth, Wanda the Roller-skating Waitress, Ned the Survivalist and Phil the Policeman. Each has slightly different basic skills and/or equipment, and their development tracks also add variety. For example, Wanda starts with double movement from her skates, while Phil starts with a pistol.

The set up went smoothly, taking about 20 mins as I found and punched the counters needed and aligned all the tiles. Production quality of the pieces and tiles is very good, feeling robust and looking excellent. The injection moulded miniatures are also well detailed and excellent.

The objective of the game was to come out from the starting point in the centre of the board, and then collect the four objective counters from the buildings to the North-East, North-West, South-West and South-East of the board whilst searching for basic supplies (water, rice, canned food). Once these are collected, the characters need to exit from a point at the south-western edge with the supplies.

Complicating matters were 4 zombie spawn points spread around the board. Now zombies want one thing ("brains") which they can only get from the characters. The numbers and types that spawn are determined by a card draw for each point cross referenced with the danger level. Zombies include Walkers (slow but plentiful), Runners (faster but as easy to kill as the Walkers), Fatties (harder to kill and always bringing Walker buddies with them) and the dreaded Abomination, which is nigh-on impossible to kill without a Molotov cocktail.

Danger levels relate directly to the success that your characters are having. If you kill a Walker, a Runner or a Fatty, you gain an experience point, Abominations get you five points, as do taking the objectives. As the experience for each character stacks up they'll eventually cross a threshold into a higher level of danger which gains them skills or extra actions. It also means that the zombies that spawn get nastier, providing an escalation mechanic as the characters succeed. The overall danger level for the game is that of the most experienced character, which provides an incentive to initially spread experience evenly across everyone whilst initial searches for equipment and weapons are going on.

Zombies, once spawned, move towards the largest group of players in sight, or failing that the loudest source of noise (from opening doors, shooting, chainsawing, moving around). This means the game is nicely suited to solo play. I made a few small mistakes initially on this, not noticing that noise in buildings can also draw the zombies in.

It pays to be aggressive - it’s not called Zombicide for nothing! Noise counters = weapons use!

One thing I quickly learned was that it pays to be aggressive and carry out 'zombicide'. The game mechanic for turns mean that it is in your interest to make sure no zombies are in your zone at the end of the player's turn, and ideally that adjacent zones are cleared out too (as it is progressively harder to escape the more zombies present). I spent too long in the middle of the game pinned down to the north of the board scared to move lest the survivor's were swamped by the evil dead. I only started making progress once I started being bellicose and carrying out hit and run attacks and gaining ground.

Combat is simple - both melee and ranged weapons work with a mechanic that defines a number of dice to be thrown and the target number to be achieved. Each success is a kill, and zombies are eliminated from weakest first. If you shoot into a zone with a survivor, they take the hits preferentially! A pistol rolls a single d6 with a target of 4+ and damage of 1, while a chainsaw has 5d6 and targets of 5+ with 2 damage. It's good to have a range of weapons from the brutal melee effects of chainsaws and katanas through to the punch of shotguns and SMGs, and the long range power of the rifle, knocking out the enemy before they reach you.

Combat brings short relief, as the game escalates based upon your success. More hordes massing!

The escalation in the game, both in threat and character ability, leave you in a position that you always feel threatened. The feeling of respite when you momentarily clear the streets near you is great, only to be faced with more and greater hordes massing as time goes on!

I recommend the game whole-heartedly, and look forward to playing it with friends. Or even solo again. If only Glory to Rome or Eminent Domain were also so suited to solo play, then I'd have tried them already!

Gratuitous Pics

A short selection of recent uploads to Flickr…

No, I'm not getting an iPhone 5

Several friends have asked me if I want to get the new iPhone 5, and I've told them "No", which seems to be a surprise. It shouldn't be. My iPhone 4S is doing just fine, with a little over 12 months left on its contract. I'm happy with it, and it gets most of the software driven features of the new phone on 19th September when iOS 6 rolls out. I've always viewed smartphones as having a two year upgrade cycle. I don't remember an iOS device that has had a really compelling upgrade argument after just a year (except maybe the iPhone 3G); most people wait for their new contract to come up and the two year technology jump is usually significant.

The iPhone 5 has also pretty much got rid of my urge for an iPad 3 to replace my original iPad. As I'd expect the next tablet I get to last 2-3 years, I'm waiting for one with the new Lightning adaptor so my next phone and iPad will be aligned.

Hearing but not Listening

I find it amazing how people can be told about the consequences of an act repeatedly, but seem shocked and upset when they do it anyway and have to face the music. Behaviour I expect from children, not leaders. Isn't human nature wonderful?

Creation Myths?

On the iPad creation myth
Prompted by a genuine question from a friend on whether the iPad is any good for creation, or is really a consumption device, here are my thoughts. As a starting point, the iPad is a great device for consuming media; the web, films, news, TV streaming, books and social media all work extremely well, and you can definitely pass (waste?) many idle hours with your new found friend. The lack of Flash is not a real issue either, as most sites stream H264 video these days, and it’s not something that I've really missed(*).

(*)And you can get around it for video with Skyfire, which converts the streams on the fly to H264.

But is the iPad a device for creation? There is a commonly held myth out there that you cannot create with a tablet, that you need a full computer. Now, I'm writing this post on the iPad, but must confess that I decided to pull out the bluetooth keyboard after I realised that I could be spending some time typing. But isn't that still creation?

How easy it is to use an iPad creatively will depend to some measure with what you want to do with it. It will also depend on how much you want it to meet those needs. I've no doubt that if I had an 11" MacBook Air then my iPad would definitely see a significant reduction in the amount of work with prose and some photography related activities that I do with it. However, I have a 13" aluminium MacBook which is doing just fine, but is nowhere near as portable.

Evidence of Creativity?Rather than circle around debating how many angels can creatively dance on the head of my iPad, perhaps I should tell you what I do with my iPad, and you can judge whether it meets your idea of creativity or not?

I write on my iPad using apps like Drafts, iA Writer and Pages. The first two fill the same niche, the second tends to be used for more formal work like material. Some of the finished product will be used 'as-is' – for example for blog posts – and other material may be tweaked in Word on either my Mac or work PC before it is used. It's fair to say that Pages isn't a favourite, and that I will buy Microsoft Office for iOS if it ever becomes something beyond a rumour.

I've written three gaming scenarios to the point of running at convention and taken one to the first draft of publication on the iPad. I've also experimented with synchronising a more detailed project with Scrivener on the Mac via Dropbox and PlainText, but haven't had the need to do it again.

I produce mind-maps for work and gaming writing using Mindnode, which is probably the best mind-mapping tool that I have ever used, anywhere. The touch interface is a joy to use. I produce flow-charts and diagrams using OmniGraffle, which is expensive, but excellent, and provides a portable Visio style tool.

I proofread and annotate drafts of gaming and work material using iAnnotate, these days in conjunction with the excellent Cosmonaut stylus made by Studio Neat, mainly because it feels like using a highlighter. This is supported with the excellent iOS versions of the Collins Dictionary and Thesaurus for reference.

I sketch, using Paper and Penultimate, and can produce useable vector images with Inkpad. There are other art tools like Adobe Ideas, ArtRage and Brushes which are all excellent, but not really something that I have had cause to do any more than mess around with. If I was talented this way I could see the interface being a joy to use.

I outline, sometimes with Carbonfin Outliner, sometimes with OmniOutliner, depending on my mood. Not something I do too often, but it happens.

I've knocked together presentations with Keynote, and also used it to show PowerPoint slides from work. I've taken meeting minutes with the ever-so-useful ActionNotes, and have moved most of my notes from a Moleskine to DayOne. I dabble with Evernote, but mainly for a capture-system for gaming related material.

I've used Photogene, Touch Up and Snapseed to edit photos before carrying out batch uploads and other changes using Flickr Studio. I've used Skitch to annotate webpages to explain functions to friends and relatives.

If I needed to edit code on my server, I could use Diet Coda, from Panic, which seems subtly powerful. Fortunately, I rarely need to do this. I've used the Wordpress application to update websites that I manage when away from access to a full computer and browser.

Concluding Thoughts
I find the iPad a fantastic tool which supports a number of my workflows really well. Many are the times I've sat staring at the iPad screen, capturing ideas and inspiration and working them through for a while. The work may not finish on the iPad, but a lot of the hard slog is done there.

My laptop and desktop aren't going to go away anytime soon, as they still have unique advantages (higher performance, screen size etc.), but they have a companion with a unique niche. And that niche is getting bigger, as developers continue to push the envelope of what iOS can do as time goes by. The applications that were around when I bought my iPad 1 have nowhere near the sophistication that current generation applications do, and this can only continue to progress with each iteration of iOS and the hardware platform underpinning it.

In conclusion, I think the iPad is a tool for creation as well as consumption. My evidence is above, but it will always be a matter of how it fits your personal workflow.

__
Note: I started this in Drafts, using the on-screen keyboard. I then shunted it to Phraseology (a longer form writing app I'm trying out) and got my Logitech Tablet bluetooth keyboard out when I realised that this could be a longer post (c.1,000 words if you're counting). This will then be sent to Dropbox (or maybe emailed to myself) and I will import it straight into Rapidweaver on my Mac for upload to my personal blog.

Secondly, there are a lot of apps mentioned here. I haven’t bothered linking, as you can just search for them in iTunes…

So Quick!

As we headed out to Wetherby this morning, I noticed that Nathan has done one of those growth spurts that kids have again. Suddenly he's become taller, longer and leaner. I suspect that the hair cut yesterday has brought it all out, but then again it's only four months until he's six years old and he's now in his second year at primary school.

Aidan is also sprouting well, a very different little boy to his big brother. He'll be two in January! He tends to think things through more before he acts, and is incredibly stubborn once his mind is set on something. He doesn't lose heart very quickly either, refusing to be defeated. His coordination is great for a small child, with very accurate throws and kicks (as my nose has felt on several occasions).

Random Holiday Musings

Hope Cove, South Hams, Devon

I always plan to write a blog entry after I've been on holiday, or even during the holiday. Well, this year I've decided to create a blog by capturing random thoughts and observations over the fortnight. There may be some jumps in continuity, and perhaps a lack of coherence, but I guess it's worth a go. The big challenge will be moving it from my iPad to the blog; I really need to look at Tumblr or Wordpress for my website's blog entries.

Fearless

We took Aidan and Nathan to the beach in Inner Hope the second day that we arrived, which was popular. Two things stood out. Firstly, Aidan was absolutely fearless about the sea and not bothered that it was cold. He's a few months older than Nathan was the first time we came here, and its later in the year, but he went quite deep and two duckings from tripping didn't phase him. I can see that we're going to have to watch him.

Secondly, Nathan actually got stuck in digging when we started on a canal. In previous years I've had to do all the labouring, but he was big enough to use a large spade and that made quite a difference. I also found what would be better described as a mini-spade, or perhaps trenching tool. Metal bladed, wooden shafted but still only just bigger than a large child's spade, it promises to make things a little easier.

Truly Wonderful

I've just finished Jo Walton's superb book Among Others. Set in 1979/1980, it tells the tale of a fifteen year-old twin who has suffered a trauma, loves SF and Fantasy with a passion, and just might be able to do magic. By magic, I mean the old Celtic magics of subtle influence rather than Harry Potter or Dungeon & Dragons style *Magic Missiles*.

If you like SF and Fantasy, and can appreciate growing up in that period (which I guess puts you becoming a teenager somewhen between 1975 and 1985, or maybe more), then this book will bring back nostalgia for the first time that you discovered other authors or people who shared your passion for the genre. Brilliant stuff, and possibly my best read of the year so far.

Pennywell Farm

If you're ever looking for something to do with kids in easy reach of the A38, Pennywell Farm is worth considering. Entry isn't extortionate, nor the food prices (but bear in mind my last experience was Olympics London). It's a petting farm, and has a ride on a train, a tractor ride and a number of other things included in the price (the only extras we saw were pony rides and cash for powered go kart slots). There are lots of small slides, trampolines, picnic tables etc. scattered around, and a wide variety of animals and activities.

Aidan also learned a valuable lesson about why you don't stick fingers into hen cages, ignoring mummy and daddy. He still has all ten fingers and thumbs.

Best Laid Plans

Jill and the boys both in bed asleep by 9pm tonight (13/8). Perfect time to sort out the layout work that I'd wanted to resolve this holiday. Unfortunately, whilst the wireless is up, the internet connection is very much down. Best read a book then!


Wool

I was far too late to bed last night as I got hooked completely by Hugh Howey's *Wool* sequence, which has been released as an omnibus edition on Kindle. It's set in a silo where survivors of a forgotten apocalypse live on, a subtly dystopian society and right up my street after some of the writing that I've done for Wordplay recently. Criminals are sentenced to *cleaning*, made to go out into the toxic wasteland and clean the sensor sets. The title of the sequence is multilayered and not as odd as it may seem at first. I wholeheartedly recommend this, but you may find yourself suffering from the 'one more chapter' problem.

The Other Face

Devon is showing its other face today, with constant rain. Admittedly, it's warm rain, but the beach is out unless we break out the tent and the wetsuits. Jill and Nathan have popped out to Salcombe to look for a present and also do a recce on the swimming pool. Aidan and I just had fun.

Dungeon World

Enjoyed reading the pre-release (and pre-proofing) copy of Dungeon World which I received courtesy of backing the Kickstarter campaign. Loved what I read, but ended up proofing it as it was a PDF and on my iPad. Send it off to the authors, who were happy for the feedback. I'm really looking forward to this being released as it really catches the essence of old school D&D with a modern twist, in a far less crunchy way than Burning Wheel and the more direct D&D derivatives.

Proofing tools

Speaking of proofing, iAnnotate from Branchfire, combined with a Cosmonaut Stylus from Studio Neat, is a great way to proof PDFs on the iPad. The stylus feels like a highlighter and is very accurate, and iAnnotate handles basic PDF annotation really well. I recommend both.

On the Trains

We had our third visit to the South Devon Railway this week, and our second to the Rare Breeds Farm at Totnes (which is at the far end of the line from the start at Buckfastleigh). Both the boys enjoyed this, and Aidan started to show a very independent streak, wanting to walk and go and explore things himself. He was fascinated by ducks, saying "Oh look, duck!" and chasing one of the flocks around their enclosure giggling and going "qwak qwak" at them. He liked the train as well, maybe not quite as much as his brother.

The Farm also has a collection of rescued owls, which fascinated Nathan and gave me flashbacks to the owlet that fell the ground in the garden of the cottage that I stayed at in Devon when I was a child. Naturally, we called him "Plop" after the story The Owl that was Afraid of the Dark.

Tucker's Maltings

Rain was forecast again today, so we looked for another expedition. We wanted somewhere we could be under cover, so settled upon a visit to a working Maltings in Newton Abbot. Of course, when we arrived, the sun came out and was cracking the flags. The site was over a hundred years old, and catered really well for visitors, even 5 year olds like Nathan.

It was very much the industrial process of a century ago, still viable and working. And we got to sample the local brew at the end, which was nice. Nathan was most disappointed that he didn't get beer too! I even managed to put my safety professional head to one side during the visit, which was well organised and the hour passed very quickly. Aidan was less fascinated, but loved the museum at the end where he could run around and touch things.

Afterwards, we had a picnic in the park opposite - not a particularly attractive park, but fresh air and some much needed food to keep the boys quiet.



Are we nearly there yet?

The picnic didn't keep them quiet. Every car journey has been somewhat stressful, ranging from Nathan's question time ("What is there bad like black holes?", "What will happen when the sun dies?", "Mummy, is God dead?", and more) through to manic playing, giggles and squabbles on the back seat. That's the parenting experience, I guess. It's due to turn back to sunny tomorrow, so hopefully we'll be able to get them to burn off some energy on the beach!


My Kind of Traitor

I've started the latest John le Carré novel Our Kind of Traitor, which is deliciously sharp so far, continuing the return to form he has had since Absolute Friends. Something to thank the politics of George W Bush for, I guess, as he fired up le Carré's passion and anger again.

The only dark side I can see came from reading the bio, which made me realise the the author is now 80 and wonder how many more great novels are left for him to write. Many, I hope.

Updated - finished now, and I can recommend it. In common with most of le Carré's work, please don't ready if you expect a happy, Disney-fairy-tale ending.

Grand Day Out

Not quite all day, but most of the afternoon was spent on the beach at Inner Hope, building sandcastles, engineering the surface water outflow route on the sand to create moats and lakes, jumping waves and exploring rock pools. Back home with two exhausted boys, sun-kissed and happy. An incredibly cheap day too, compared to those when it rains!

It was Aidan's first proper day on a beach when he really knew what he was doing. He dug holes, threw sand, paddled in the pools and sea and ran around very excited. He was shattered at bed time!

Missing Opportunities

I think that major publishers don't get digital, and some small press publishers don't see the allure of print. Two examples from this evening follow:

1) Caught up with the Saturday edition of the Guardian, which has an interview with one of my favourite authors (from a young age), Alan Garner. Apparently, he has a new book coming out - always a great thing - called Boneland, which is an adult aimed sequel to his superb Weirdstone of Brisingamen and Moon of Gomrath. Those books have a special place in my heart as they lit up the Cheshire countryside of my youth, and made Alderley Edge an even more special place for me.

So, I go onto Amazon and pre-order the Kindle edition for release on 30 August. All excited, and knowing my Garner books are currently in storage while the extension goes on, I decide to buy Kindle versions of the first two books. These aren't available, and neither are any others in Garner's back catalogue. The publisher has just failed to make two or more novel sales that duplicate paper copies I already have. Isn't it foreseeable that people may want to buy the first two books electronically as well?!

I had a similar experience with M. John Harrison's Empty Space, the third and concluding book in his Kefahuchi Tract Trilogy). Third book is out electronically, but the first two? Again, this would have been duplicate sales for the publishers.

[Update 9/9/2012 - the second book in Harrison’s trilogy, Nova Swing, is now due out on Kindle at the end of September. Hopefully the first will follow.]

2) Smaller press. I'm reading Graham Walmsley's excellent Stealing Cthulhu, an inspiring revisitation of Lovecraft's Cthulhu mythos. Half-way through, I think "it'd be nice to get a copy of Ken Hite's excellent Tour de Lovecraft, which summarises and critiques the original HPL texts. Head to RPGNow, and discover there's no print edition (to complement the PDF I have) available via the Lightning Source POD link. Likewise, nothing on the publisher's site as it is now out of print. Disappointing, as it would be a nice compliment to Walmsley's book. I can get it Kindle… The thing is, it was produced in an age when not having the POD version is completely crazy.

Beach

Great day on the beach yesterday with oodles of sand engineering creating a plethora of castles, lakes and canals. Also had fun with Nathan 'wave jumping'; I hold his hand, he jumps, often with a helping hand from me, sometimes with waves bigger than his head. He gets very excited by this. I did have to take him back in though when he started shivering, no matter his denials that he was okay! He'd tried a body board the day before, even hough he was obviously scared by the idea, and loved it.

Aidan excelled himself by falling asleep, mid-lunch, on top of Jill for an hour and a half's nap!

Rain, rain come again

Loading the car to go was a somewhat damp experience as the heavens opened for the hour and a half that I was packing. As usual, we seem to have more for the return journey than the way here. Anyway, we're away and I'm writing this at the Beachcomber Café at Hope Cove (linked to the Hope and Anchor) where we are spoiling ourselves with a full English before we embark on the seven hour drive(*).

(*) Actually 10 hour in the end due to weather and traffic

Nathan's best bits

Nathan tells me that he "liked the beach because it was really nice and there was lots of shells and there was big waves that you could jump in. Sometimes I needed Daddy if the waves were too big. I liked it a lot because it was the best thing in the world".

A success, I think!

Jill's best bits

Jill's answer to the what was your best bit of the holiday was "The beach, Overbecks and the South Devon Railway, especially the salad at the Rare Breeds Farm".

Aidan's best bits

The beach, and sleeping in a grown up bed.

31 August 2012

Temples of Science and Evolution

Temple of Evolution: Natural History Museum

One of the great things about London for the visitor - and I guess for the locals - is the wide and excellent variety of Museums and places to visit. As this was Nathan's first trip to the Big Smoke, we decided to take him to two of the biggest; the Natural History Museum and the Science Museum.

Both have the things that will interest a five year-old boy *and* his parents, but overall our experience was that the Science Museum wins for overall excitement. Space rocket, lunar landers, cars, planes, bubbles, old technology, the Red Arrows and more won the heart of Nathan over the Dinosaurs, Creep Crawlies and Amphibians. Admittedly, he loved it all, but the Science Museum was the clear winner in the running from display-to-display and actually listening to videos and audio material stake. I also lost Jill & Nathan for thirty minutes after they got detoured into the Launchpad activity area when they had supposedly nipped quickly to the toilets!

The Natural History Museum (NHM hereafter) was also a bit more blatant in its commercial operations, with a wincingly expensive café and in-your-face promotion of dinosaur toys as part of the displays (cleverly wrapped up as 'dinosaurs in modern culture') which just happened to available immediately opposite the gallery exit. The Science Museum wasn't quite as blatant, although a can of soft drink was still £1.80 against the £2.00 in the NHM.

I went into an adult aimed temporary exhibit in both Museums; at the NHM it was 'Scott's Last Expedition', which cost £9 to go into. This was excellent, recounting the last, fatal, journey of Captain RF Scott and his men as they arrived second to Amundsen at the South Pole. There were a good variety of artifacts and interesting displays, giving a good understanding of the logistical and scientific achievements of the expedition. One thing that was apparent was the different focus applied by Amundsen and Scott. Amundsen was completely focussed on achieving the pole, whereas Scott had a huge scientific agenda as well. It's particularly painful when you realise just how close Scott's party got to the supplies and safety of 'One Ton' camp. I really enjoyed the Exhibition and would recommend it if you can get to London before it ends at the start of September.

Temple of Science: The Science Museum

In the Science Museum, I visited 'Codebreaker', an exhibition on the life and influence of Alan Turing, WW2 cryptographer, computer pioneer and philosopher. Free to enter, there was less to see than "Scott's Last Exhibition", but it was interesting material. I've read a fair amount on the Engima codebreaking operation at Bletchley Park, so that was a familiar story, but the early computing and morphology work was new to me. There was also a classic engineering example, with a section of the failed Comet airliner displayed. Apparently, the Pilot ACE computer designed by Turing was key in carrying out the calculations that demonstrated that the cause was fatigue cracking of the square windows. Again, and especially at the price, worth a visit.

All in all, we had great days both times we visited and it is fair to say that we could easily have spent all-day at both venues rather than the four-to-six hours that we were there at each.

Interestingly, Nathan actually gives the NHM '3 thumbs up' and the Science Museum '2 thumbs up' on the grounds that he felt the NHM had more stuff (but we only did two floors at the Science Museum). However, for all the NHM is the winner in the questions afterwards, the Science Museum was definitely the one that fascinated him most on the day. Intriguing.

Thank you, Danny Boyle

Olympics - our view of the games when we went down

The 2012 Olympics Opening Ceremony was an act of genius that restored the chance to be proud of this countries' heritage, a chance that was cruelly ripped from us when the celebrations of winning the games were cut short by the atrocities of 7/7 (*)

The opening ceremony brought back all those emotions of pride in our heritage, of the way that the UK has influenced and led the world from the industrial revolution, to universal health-care and the birth of the world wide web and more.

Yes, there were moments of irreverent humour as well as the pomp and circumstance, but that just captures the national psyche accurately.

Initial viewing figures (which don't include iPlayer and streaming usually) suggest 26.9 million watched the opening ceremony in the UK. As it was alleged to have cost £27 million, that's the best pound I've spent in a long time! A hat tip to one of the government ministers I usually excoriate, Jeremy Hunt, for the vision to increase the budget even when the outcome may not have played best with some of his colleagues.

(*) If reports are true, NBC cut the 7/7 memorial in the US showing of the opening ceremony. If so, they have nothing but my contempt. Imagine if the UK had done the same about 9/11 and the pain that America feels about that atrocity?

Counterpoint
A fortnight later, the closing ceremony was a classic example of over-promising and under-delivering. Too many suggestions of the greats of British rock and pop being involved were hinted and suggested into the media and not delivered upon. For me, it only came to life with Eric Idle's performance of 'Always look on the bright side of life' - which was genius - and had a few more high points that followed; the Royal Ballet performance, Rio, and 'The Who' at the end.

Queen were great right up to the point that Jessie J arrived, with Brian May reminding us why he is the best astronomer playing guitar in the world. There's nothing wrong with Jessie J as such, it just felt that her performance style in Freddie Mercury's place trampled over everything that Queen had been (**). In fact, Jessie J had delivered a performance earlier which – either accidentally or deliberately – skewered the ethos of the Olympic Movement's organisers: "It's all about the Money". In saying this, I talk of the International Olympic Committee whose corruption has become a matter of legend. I know that the song was a big hit, so I'm not certain if it was a sly dig, or just coincidence! Likewise, the Indian dancing in Eric Idle's performance makes me wonder if it had been added after the PM's recent contemptuous remarks.

Anyway, I'm certain that the closing ceremony - rather than being the "after party to end all after-parties" - is an event that is destined to be forgotten, unlike the opening ceremony. I have the soundtrack of the latter and love it, but haven't the slightest intent of buying the latter!

(**)Arguably something that the rest of the band members have been doing for years.

Final thoughts
The participants in the Olympics have my utmost respect, except for those that tried gaming results or doping to win. Their dedication and effort made the games.

Against all predictions, the LOCOG delivered a superb games for the athletes and the spectators. It felt incredibly welcoming and extremely well organised. It helped me feel proud to be British, despite our political classes.

The Armed Forces also deserve respect for the way they stepped up and covered for the ineptness of G4S, who look like they're back to the same reputation that they had when they were plain old 'Group 4'. It was great to see so many of our uniformed services making sure that the nation looked great and not feeling intimidating at all. I still remember us saying hello to two police-officers that had been seconded from West Yorkshire to find that one of them polices Wetherby, showing how the whole nation has pulled together to deliver this!

So now the Para-Olympic Games are approaching, which I hope will be at least as good.

Respect
Danny Boyle set the scene for the Olympics and ignited the nation's passion and pride for the games and itself. He - and Team GB - gave us reasons for hope and patriotism, and touched more of the heart of this this nation than Cameron, Clegg, and Miliband can ever hope to achieve.

I'll stop gushing now.

Continuum 2012: After Action Report

Wordplay!

So after the general overview of the convention, here are some thoughts on the games that I ran and played in. The comments here are deliberately spoiler-free.

Continuum as whole had a strong flavour of Wordplay for me. I ran two Wordplay scenarios and played another.

1) Wordplay: Singularities "Turing Test"
Run on Friday night, this was the third time that I had run this scenario, the previous sessions having been at Furnace over the last two years. The scenario aims to present a more military espionage style than I usually adopt, in the style of some of Neal Asher or other modern SF. The players are all heavily armoured 'Chines, effectively human brains and spinal cords mounted in a Terminator style armoured chassis. The scenario is full of nastiness and aimed to show that the Singularities Universe is not black and white but somewhat grey and morally ambiguous. I think it succeeded. We had a great bunch of players who were admirably flexible in their approach to a mission that some would find distasteful. They also took a completely different tack to the previous player, one that really paid off towards the end of the game.

One of my highlights was running for Mark Galeotti, author of Mythic Russia, who is also working on a Wordplay engined game called "1510". Mark played the leader of the mercenary unit perfectly. Overall, the game went well, and I think there was enough of a mix of pace and action to keep the interest. One thing that I could kick myself for was using the supporting dice incorrectly, something that Graham Spearing pointed out the next morning when I returned the favour and played Mark's scenario.

Wordplay 1510: Left Graham S, Right: Mark G

2) Wordplay: 1510
The scenario was set in the unique and flavoursome world of sixteenth century Italian clockpunk and espionage that is 1510. It is a fantastic setting and one that I can't wait to get hold of in final form.

Venice!

Due to an error, we ended up with eight players rather than the six planned, something that our narrator coped with admirably. I ended up with the character that I secretly wanted when the descriptions were given out (a somewhat out-of-favour priest who dabbled in alchemy) and had great fun thundering on about the perils that our opponent's immortal souls were in should they continue to oppose us. A little over the top, but it worked well after the far-too-late night before. The scenario went well, as we fumbled along trying to carry out an extraction operation in Venice for the glory of Florence. It got messy, but it was great fun with a good bunch of players.

3) Wordplay: Utopia "In a Strange Land"
In the evening, I ran a game from the forthcoming short Wordplay theme I've written called Utopia. This was set in a dystopian SF colony with flavours of Logan's Run, The Island, THX1138 and Big Brother. This was the game that had me most nervous, as I had drafted it for Furnace 2011 but it had not been run in the end. I spent a little of the afternoon amending and updating the plot, as I wanted to avoid too much of a feeling of comedy Paranoia RPG in space with monsters!

I think that I just managed to avoid that, and also managed to give the players a good time. The scenario also identified a few weaknesses in the characters I'd written which need to be written out. Overall, a dark but fun game which preceded another late night chatting.

4) A Taste for Murder
'A Taste for Murder' is the exquisite Agatha Christie style 1930's country house murder game written by Graham Walmsley. It's completely player driven, and so made a great idea for Sunday morning. Between the 5 players and myself we created a very twisted, sordid tale of upper class hedonism and inbreeding. Very much like the first time I ran this at Furnace. It does make me wonder if there is something in the mindset of the average UK player? I didn't run this as such; the best way to put it would be that I acted as a facilitator for the players. We wrapped up a few minutes late, but had a good time. If anything, it reminded me why I don't especially like 3 hour slots.

Last Night on Earth: Left Peter Griffiths, Right: Dave Maple

5) Boardgame: Last Night on Earth
I met up with Dave Maple at Continuum, a friend who I first met at the tender age of 18 during my year-out before University working in Cumbria. We'd agreed to play a boardgame or two (after Dave played in my Utopia game) but ended up just playing 'Last Night on Earth' after Newt of d101 Games bamboozled us into a very interesting two hour long ('one hour, honest') panel on game publishing(*) with himself and Neil Gow. Once we left the game, Dave, myself and Peter Griffiths prepared to see who could survive!

Last Night on Earth is a zombie survival game, which was of interest to me as I am waiting to take delivery of the Zombicide Kickstarter. The components were excellent, and I think that it captured the feel of a Zombie Movie really well. Dave took the Zombies while Peter and I cooperated to try and survive. What amused me was that the character I least expected to survive from my initial hand – the Prom Queen – lasted the whole game, most of it trapped in a hanger, but also managed to kill the most zombies. Good fun, and a game I'd happily try again.

Thoughts on Continuum 2012

My room is somewhere here!

Good Things
* Look and Feel: Continuum has a generally leisurely feel, especially the gaps between the gaming slots. Totally different to the frenetic feel of Furnace. I'm actually glad we're trying the longer meal breaks at Furnace 2012, as it was a great opportunity to catch up and get something to eat.

* Balance: There was a good, balanced choice of games at the convention. Four years ago, the freeform / desktop RPG balance was completely out which resulted in a dearth of games. This time it felt about right, although sometimes the signing up process meant that you would miss the chance to play a game because the sheet went up during a slot when you were GM-ing. I do think that Continuum could consider giving GM's advance sign up rights in a similar way to Furnace to counteract this.

* Standards: The desktop games were of good standard. I especially enjoyed the good Doctor Galeotti's Wordplay: 1510. And the challenge he set me to release Singularities before he releases 1510 in 2013. The players were also great, supportive and getting into the swing of things. I overcame my terror at having a 'great old one' of the UK roleplaying scene (Phil Masters) sign up for my Wordplay: Utopia scenario, and hopefully he enjoyed the the game as much as I did!

* Catch-up: As ever, Continuum gives me a chance to catch up with people I only see on Facebook or via the Internet for two years at a time. That's always a plus. The nature of the convention also means that it's a lot easier to get people to play the games you want to try, but would could never do with your local group because they just want to play Pathfinder (or D&D, or... you get the picture).

* Selling stuff: The Bring and Buy is brilliant, as it's twice helped me to fund the whole convention attendance and also get brownie-points with the better half as I get rid of some of my older, underplayed or unwanted games.

* Organisers: The openness of the convention committee is a great plus - they are willing to listen to suggestions, and also help out, even if they're meant to be on a break.

* Environment: Although it was warm, the heat seemed much less oppressive this year. Whether it was weather dependent, or whether things had genuinely got better, I'm not sure. All I know is that I didn't melt like I did in 2008!


Opportunities I originally called this 'bad things', but it doesn't warrant that moniker as they are more niggles.

* Wifi access: free WiFi is always a bonus (especially as the venue wipes out Orange and 3's signal) but it was a real pain logging in and out every time a device went to sleep. However, that's more the University's issue rather than the committee's.

* Food prices were deceptive. The food was better than I remember (where was the soggy pizza?) but if you wanted to do something crazy like have some vegetables with your 'sausage and mash' then you really paid for it (green beans for £1!). I sorted this by buying a mound of fruit from Asda which served my Wordplay: Utopia and 'A Taste for Murder' games well.

* Now for the biggy. The Real Ale shortage. Hailing from Yorkshire these days, I was overjoyed that the bar had 'Black Sheep' on, and further satisfied that Timothy Taylor's 'Landlord' followed it on Saturday. And then they ran out. This needs to be sorted in the future.

Finally; to absent friends. Two larger-than-life Continuees were missing; Loz Whittaker and Tom Zunder. Gentlemen, you were missed. I hope to see you return!

Continuum and the Brave Little Boy

So, I'm off to Continuum for the weekend after a hiatus of four years. I'm both excited and full of trepidation. Excited as I'll catch up with friends that I haven't seen in some cases for four years or more, and full of trepidation that the kids will mess around to the point that Jill will want me to come home early, or will be very fraught with the fact that I've been away. I had hoped that we could somehow turn the weekend into some kind of mini-break but it just didn't work out.

I've got three games ready to run, and over a hundred books and games to put into the Bring and Buy sale. Hopefully, most of them will go to save me the pain of putting them onto eBay. I'm booked into another game, Mark Galeotti's *Wordplay: 1510* 'clock punk' scenario, and the rest of the time is open to do as I will.

Preparation got a bit stressed last night when Nathan came off his new scooter and managed to embed a lot of gravel within his hand. He was not happy with Jill or I trying to take it out so a trip to A&E at Harrogate ensued, with us getting to bed around 1am in the end. It blew the whole evening out, but I did have a nice time with him 'being brave' and playing pretty much every game on my iPad. He's subsequently been wearing his bandage as a proud war wound!

Anyway, I'll try and post some more updates but I'm not going to guarantee anything!

What happened to the Star Wars that I used to know?

Brilliant!

A Good Day

It's surprising just how fast the day goes when it is packed full of things to do. It started early, with Aidan waking in the early hours as it was so hot, and ending up in bed with me to try and settle him while Jill grabbed some sleep on Nathan's lower bunk. By 7am, Aidan was wide awake again (having been very restless ever since he came in to me) and bouncing on me, demanding that I read him a story (he's very attached to Thomas the Tank Engine at the moment) and generally be fun.

Fortunately, Jill woke up and started to entertain him (and soon after Nathan) and I got a chance to get a little sleep back.

We headed down into Wetherby, as we had a few errands to run. Nathan and Aidan both needed some sandals sorting out - Nathan's being a change from those bought the night before as they were too big without socks. (See, that's why socks and sandals have an uncool meme). I spent an hour or so buying the essentials, then caught up with the shoe shopping party who were still in the shop. There'd been a huge queue; the shop assistant said that they had been mad busy all week since the sun decided to arrive in force!

We rushed home, and went separate ways. I took Nathan to a birthday party, and Jill took Aidan swimming to Waterbabies (which he enjoys even if he can be a little too laid back with his thumb in while swimming)!

The party involved a soft play area, and then party food and games, while the mums and dads tried to relax and at the same time watched the kids like hawks to make sure they behaved! It was Star Wars themed, so Nathan really liked that.

I'd hoped to stop off at the Muse Bar in Wetherby on the way home for a cold alcohol-free Erdinger, and Nathan was angling for a pint of lemonade with ice (it's the latter he was really hankering for), but it was mostly shut due to a wedding. Instead, we went to the supermarket and bought supplies, avoiding the need to explain to Jill.

On arriving home, it was 'gentlemen, start your barbecues' as Jill had bought supplies. I cooked without burning (and can recommend Debbie & Andrews 97% sausages as the lack of fat makes them cook well!) and Nathan was really happy as he'd requested the BBQ. Unfortunately, while I was cooking he managed to crash off his push scooter, racing the lad next door, as he hit a stone. Big graze to the arm, very upset little boy, and lots of TLC needed.

As I write this, Aidan is asleep, and Jill & Nathan are watching Eurovision. All in all, it's been a good day, a normal day.

Meanwhile, the house extension continues...

The rant I mentioned

At the start of May, I mentioned in a post that I had a rant that I intended to post. I’m not going to post it now. Things have moved on somewhat.

The rant was about the bigoted and discriminatory campaign that the “Coalition for Marriage” has been running opposed to the present consultation on the marriage laws in this country. It systematically shredded the campaign’s reluctance to present any evidence despite claiming to have a substantive and extensive selection at its fingertips. This has changed a little recently, as they have posted some supporting documents. Having read through these, I do find it amusing that in some cases they are relying on evidence as far back as 1866 to make their point, but I accept they have now built a more substantive argument.

It’s an argument that I can’t in any way agree with. The present “civil partnership” definition was a fudge put in place by the last Labour government to avoid causing offence. Well-meaning, but fundamentally discriminatory. Exactly the same case could be made for extending the provisions of civil partnerships to include heterosexual couples as can be made for extending marriage to homosexual couples.

I find it offensive that, until recently, C4M was relying on a petition to demonstrate its case rather than participating in the open - and formal - consultation process being run by the Home Office. They are now advocating that the supporters only answer the 2 questions that they feel are most relevant, rather than actively supporting the process.

Letting homosexual couples marry isn’t going to end the world.

It isn’t going to undermine the fabric of civil society.

It doesn’t have any bearing upon the religious and their rights to hold their own views and practices.

It affects a specific part of civil law that will allow 2 people who love each other to marry and have the same recognition for their relationship as the rest of society.

If you feel strongly, either way, then you can find the consultation online here: http://www.homeoffice.gov.uk/publications/about-us/consultations/equal-civil-marriage/ I encourage you to take the time to fill it in before it closes on 14 June.

Rain stopped PLAY!

We decided to take the boys out for the bank holiday as a treat and headed off to 'Play!' at Harewood House. This was a child-friendly event, with a Lego stand and lots of rides and play-buses etc. Ideally stuff for a bank holiday weekend to keep the kids entertained, really.

It was expensive (with £10 per adult entry), but we had fun in the Lego room. Then, as we had lunch the weather changed to cold, icy rain, so we decided to head home.

On reflection, I don't think I'd rush to go to this again - the Lego was nice, but nothing special. A trip to the Discovery Centre at the Trafford Centre would have probably made more sense. Most of the activities – the fun bus, the train, and the carts - had extra charges beyond the entry at Harewood, which I think was a bit cheeky.

Anyway, having got home, Jill & Aidan are napping, and Nathan is chilling out...

Unleash the OGRE!

OGRE was my first true science-fiction wargaming love. It shares its birth year - 1977 - with Traveller, the granddaddy of science fiction roleplaying. I'm not certain if it was my first wargaming love, but it may have been. I certainly purchased it around the same time that I was reading Charles Grant's seminal 'Battle: Practical Wargaming' from the local library in the sleepy commuter village of Holmes Chapel in Cheshire. I can remember going into the local toyshop - back in the days when the village still had one - and seeing a small selection of Metagaming's pocket wargames and Basic Dungeons & Dragons (the blue book box before the red box). I was so excited.

I can remember buying OGRE - it was a toss up between that and a game called Chitin, but the tanks won - and starting to save to buy D&D. I'd been tempted towards that as well by the book 'What is Dungeons & Dragons?', a Puffin book written by some public school types that hooked me into the whole idea of roleplaying. I was gutted when it was bought by someone else (unbeknownst to me, my parents for my Christmas present).

One of the other reasons I think I bought it was the fantastic Winchell Chung picture on the front which promised one hell of a fight.

Anyway, OGRE. The principle is simple. A huge, nuclear shell lobbying cybernetic AI tank attacts a Command Post guarded by a mix of hovercraft (GEVs), missile tanks, heavy tanks and infantry. Either the OGRE will die, or the CP will. The game is simple, the sole rules reference being needed is a combat results table combined with the ability to work out odds. I played this game again and again, both solo and with others. Although its very simple, there is enough randomness and strategy variations to make you want to keep coming back for more everytime you play it.

When the game was rereleased around 2000, I bought back in and purchased pretty much everything, except for the second scenario book that I just found out was printed in 2005. The whole game, counters, rules and dice with all the expansions fits nicely into a VCR case. Perfect to take away when travelling. Unfortunately, the arrival of the two boys has meant that it's been neglected for the last 5 years.

I was very excited when Steve Jackson, the author, announced that he was going to be bringing OGRE back in a huge new 6th Edition 'OGRE Designer's Edition'. It's always had a special place in his heart as it was the first game that he designed. When I say huge, the game has a monster box with an estimated weight of around 15 pounds (7 kg) due to the component quality and numbers. Have a look at the box in the video! I was then instantly disappointed when I found that the Kickstarter campaign was going to be US-only, unless some practicable way could be found to ship the package at a reasonable cost. This has since been fixed, but as you can probably guess, shipping that kind of weight air freight isn't cheap. It's around $90 to the UK!

The Kickstarter campaign (a win-win way for the publisher to gauge support) has taken on an OGRE-like approach, massively exceeding the $20,000 initial target and crushing all the stretch goals in sight. What's a stretch goal, you ask? This is when the publisher (or Kickstarter campaign creator) pledges to do extra things in the event that funding reaches certain levels. For example, additional components, better quality product and so on. As I type this, the campaign has broken through $570,000 with 5 days to go.

Isn't it amazing that a 35 year old board game can attract such support? There's a lot of love, excitement and nostalgia driving this.




Interestingly, Zombicide, another boardgame but a new one, has - in its last 12 hours - just broken the $720,00 barrier having trailed behind OGRE until the end of the week. It's great to see boardgames prospering in our digital media world, powered by a digital campaign system and the buzz on the internet.

Now I just need to find some time to play this kind of thing. Or wait another couple of years for Nathan to be old enough!

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PS There are missing posts from April, including a rant. They’ll appear in due course.