Today's Illuminated Musing

The other day I sang the praises of USBs, noting the first version of this long-lived format hit the market in general popularity in August 1998 – over 25 years ago. As I was posting this to the Daily Illuminator, I realized something really cool that was even older than...

Music To Game To: Hole Dweller

Say what you will about Spotify, but its algorithm has an amazing way of taking you on unexpected musical journeys. I started on one of those journeys a couple of years ago when a song popped up on my Discover Weekly playlist called "The Dwarven Caravan of Rushock Bog," by...

In Praise Of USBs

I was cleaning out a box of adapters and computer parts the other day, and I came across myriad USB cables from bygone eras. Curious, I plugged one unusual device in . . . and it worked. If I wanted an IDE-to-USB adapter to muck with any ancient hard drives,...

What Makes A Good Headline?

Writing a headline should be easy, right? It's just a few words that summarize a story so people can decide whether they want to read more. How hard can it be?   Actually, a good headline can be just as challenging as writing a full article, if not more so....

One Weird Trick To Play More Games

I'm an introvert who fights with my own brain a fair bit of the time. Here's a "life hack" that's worked well for me which might prove beneficial to some of you. My little family likes to play games. However, whenever we have some free time, we're often vapor-locked by...

Leave Yourself Notes

Let's say you have a game that you figured out a house rule or solution for something to make the game more fun for your group. As a pro-tip: Write it down. Leave yourself future notes. Even if it's jotted on the back of a fast-food napkin with a ballpoint...

Recommending Recommendations

My first experience with GURPS was likely seeing a copy of GURPS Wild Cards on the games-and-geekery shelf of a Waldenbooks. (I believe I have just enough references in that previous sentence to date me like the rings of a tree . . .) I recall flipping through that book...

FLGS Spotlight: Giga-Bites Café In Marietta, GA

Earlier this month, when Steve and Jean were in town for Dragon Con, we got to sneak away for a couple hours and visit one of my favorite places on Earth.     If you're a gamer in the Metro Atlanta area, you probably already know and love Giga-Bites Café....

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