iChat Video Tester

Want to see if you're iChat Video setup is working, but don't have anyone to practice with? Try adding one of the following AIM accounts to your iChat buddy list: appleu3test01, appleu3test02, or appleu3test03. (make sure they're AIM accounts, not .Mac accounts).

Once these accounts are in your budy list, you can double click on them and start a video chat. An Apple promo clip should start streaming, and with any luck, you'll see your own video showing up in an inset window. Very cool.

Feedback for a Friend

Lance is looking for feedback on his blog, Ditlog. Please give him some.

Followers of the Earth Dragon

I've posted a write-up on the Followers of the Earth Dragon to the Griffin's Crier, providing a background of the sect in Obsidian Bay, as well as write-ups on several important NPCs.

For those who don't know, the Temple of the Earth Dragon represents a sort of benign, Conan-like cult that worships a primal earth force on the Pomarj peninsula in the World of Greyhawk. Except that they may not be so benign. Or maybe they are ... that's the fun part of being a play immerse in a larger plot, you just never know, do you?

Lost and Found

One more thing about running home for lunch that's cool: finding out what Netflix DVDs arrived. Today, after finishing up my corn beef sandwhich, I browsed the mail and discovered that Disc 1 of Lost was waiting for me. Granted, I won't be able to watch it tonight because we're having a birthday dinner with the in-laws, but still, it's good to know its there.

FreedomAds.org

I've been searching for extra content to round out Radio Active -- particularly sweepers and short blurbs I can use to break up segments. Today I found a cool site offering just that -- "FreedomAds.org", which is the final web site for a libertarian ad contest from a few years ago. I wish they'd kept it current with additional clips (and made sure that the links to the brochures were all intact), but there's definitely a few audio segments that I can (and will) use on my show.

No, I'm not looking to turn Radio Active into a political diatribe, but I will entertain the occasional philosophical detour.

Yes I can...

... run home and record a podcast during my lunch break. Granted, its a shorter one, and I didn't get to actually eat lunch, but it all was doable. That's good to know, since with a napless Jordan around it can be near impossible to get one done during the day on Saturday or Sunday. The show's not up yet -- I still have some post-production and coding to do -- but short of a disaster, I should be able to get Radio Active #16 up tonight.

Day in the Life of a Gamer

Lance, a good friend, a long-running member of my Dungeons & Dragons campaign and a fellow WoW obsessive, has launched a blog of his very own, called Ditlog: day in the life of a gamer.

Lance describes himself as "a father, husband, and homeowner still trying to find time to game...", which is a quandry that I'm sure many older gamers can relate to. So check out the blog, leave a comment or two, and tell 'em Nuke sent you.

iPod nano

Excuse me while I drool.

This new iPod is pencil thin; that's not a metaphor, it really is that thin. It looks pretty nifty, but with this -- and the iPod shuffle -- I can't help but wonder if I'd accidentally destroy it by forgetting I was carrying it. I mean, with my 2G ipod, which is like a brick compared to these things, I know I'm carrying it, and even then I have to be careful not to forget.

Town Generator

Town Generator is a new Mac OS X utility for randomly generating towns and cities based on the rules in the Dungeon Master's Guide. It's off to a good start, but I really wish there was some way to get the data out of the program -- i.e. a town statblock that I could cut and paste into some other document or heck, even a printout.

The developer has a blog entry for the program where folks can leave feedback (as I'm about to do). And yes, I'll be adding this to Nuketown's Mac RPG page as soon as possible.