Radio Active #74: The Sound of Distant Crashing Xboxes

On this episode of Nuketown Radio Active, I dream of a good night’s sleep, remember the adventure that is potty training my son, recount my Xbox 360 "Red Ring of Death" woes and talk about the boatload of games I’ve been reviewing. In Netheads, I try out the “Is Gd” url shortner, test drive the Obsidian Portal gaming wiki, and round out the show by geeking out over the Star Wars RPG game master’s screen.

Get the episode at Nuketown.com

Radio Active #73: The Cold Touch of Autumn

The kids are getting over colds and we've got another round of home
improvement under our belts as Nuketown Radio Active returns for more
adventures in geek parenting.

In this episode I've got a run down the video games I'll playing over the next few weeks, I take a look at Green Ronin's new Wizards and Warlocks
role-playing game and find kindergartners playing chess with spaceborne
astronauts. Rounding out the show is a review of Apple's iPod touch,
the one geeky gadget that could conceiveably replace my trusty black
iPod...

Get the episode at Nuketown.

Haunted Walking Tour of Easton

There's going to be a "Haunted Walking Tour of Easton" on October 24 and 25, 2008 from 8 p.m. to 9 p.m. Tours leave from Centre Square, Easton, Pa. The cost is $7 in advance, $10 on the tour date. Tickets are available at Pearly Baker's Ale House, Porter's Pub, the Csmic Cup, Partyology, Connexions Art Gallery, Easton Yoga and the Easton Farmer's Market.

Learn more by visiting the Scarecrow Festival page on MySpace at http://www.myspace.com/eastonscarecrowfestival

Mike's Mets: Mets 08 Lament (with an eye to 09)

OK, technically it's Dave Mills writing, but I think he sums up the Mets season pretty well. There were some bad breaks throughout the season (probably the worst of which was the loss of Wagner as a killer closer), but they fought hard, and this September's defeat doesn't feel nearly as numbingly awful as '07. Fans can always rally around cries of "Next Year!" but in this case I think they've got a lot of the foundation in place, they just need to make some tweaks, figure out their closer situation, and they'll be in prime position for another run at the pennant.

In Your Schools for 9/26

The Morning Call has posted their "In Your Schools" column for 9/26. Nothing earth shattering there, but useful all the same.

Radio Active #72: Dungeons & Dragons 4th Edition

Radio Active #72 contememplates the best way to organize a geeky bookshelf, takes another turn at chess with kids, finds out that Neutron Lad has a lot to talk about, asks questions about Nuketown's long-dormant RADIATIONS newsletter and finally reviews Dungeons & Dragons 4th Edition, the latest edition of the venerable role-playing game by Wizards of the Coast.

Get the episode at Nuketown.com.

Radio Active #71: Summer's End

Summer's over and Nuketown Radio Active's back in the saddle as I talk about a different kind of game day, dodge a bullet with a crashed hard drive, get ready for a Western-themed NukemCon 2008.

My promised review of Dungeons & Dragons 4th Edition has been bumped to Radio Active #72, and instead I talk a little about the challenges of reviewing the game, and what my gaming group's decided to do with the new edition.

Get the podcast.

A Lehigh Valley Gaming Club?

In my latest blog post, I speculate about the possibility of a gaming club in the Lehigh Valley, Pa. Check it out and if you're interested, post a comment or email me at nuketown@gmail.com

Easton Garlic Fest 2008

The Easton Garlic Fest will be held Saturday, October 4 in downtown Easton. If memory serves, they take over the entire Center Square traffic circle to accomodate the throngs of people that arrive to "Eat, Drink, and Stink".

Learn more at their web site: http://www.eastongarlicfest.com

Reason: Maybe the GOP is Worried About Barr

The Republican Party's trying to challenge the Libertarian Party's ballot access in the fall 2008 election. Reason's Hit and Run blog explains why that's bogus ... and why the Republicans are running scared from a third party candidate.

I haven't decided who I'm voting for yet, but I'm strongly leaning toward Bob Barr (the libertarian candidate) and I'm in Pa., so I'm keenly interested in how this turns out.

Photos from the 7/9 Mets vs. Giants Game

DSC05020
Originally uploaded by Nuke_18042

I've finally posted my photos from the 7/9 Mets vs. Giants game at Shea Stadium. It was a fantastic game, complete with home runs, rain delays and bright lights illuminating New York night ... and I wish I could go back there tomorrow.

Nuketown Radio Active #70: A Day at the Ballpark

On this episode of Nuketown Radio Active I talk about my trip to Shea Stadium to watch the Mets, give an update on my summer reading list, and talk about planning the next Nuke(m)Con.

In Netheads I speculate about this year's PodcampPhilly podcasting conference at Temple University, check out Dark Horse Comics' online preview of the upcoming Solomon Kane comic book, look at the Monsterpocalypse giant monster miniature battle game, and geek out about the Star Wars RPG.

Get the episode.

Easton Recycling Guidelines

It seems there's a huge amount of confusion surrounding recycling in Easton, so I thought I'd help clear it up with a post on ye olde blog.

The city government's Curbside Recycling page spells out exactly what they'll accept, and how they accept it. A big change in recent months has been that they now accept a wider variety of plastics: #1, #2, #3, #4, #5, and #7 (note they don't take #6).

This was huge for my wife, who used to stockpile the #4, #5 and #7 stuff to take over to the Bethlehem recycling center. Another important note is that when you put out newspapers, you should bundle them in paper bags, not plastic ones; the city gets penalized for when you use the plastic ones.

Waxed cardboard and food contaminated cardboard (like all those pizza boxes) are still no-nos.

Radio Active Promo: Short Bumper

This is a short, 13 second bumper-style promo for Nuketown Radio Active. It simply says "Nuketown Radio Active: A podcast dedicated to life, liberty and the pursuit of geekdom. Get the show at nuketown.com. Get the promo.

Radio Active #66: Gut Checking Your Productivity

On this episode of Radio Active, geek fitness gets a gut check, Nuketown delves deep into statistics, I discover a new path to gaming adventure with the Pathfinder RPG alpha, I try two new online productivity tools and offer my thoughts on how to write a better role-playing game adventure in less time. Get the podcast.

Free Comic Book Day (5/3/08)

Free Comic Book Day is today (Saturday, May 3). In Easton, you can head down to Phantom of the Attic, 125-129 3rd St. and check out a whole bunch of free books from a dozen or so publishers.

Radio Active #65: Escaping to the Ballpark

On this episode of Radio Active, Jordan loses her first tooth, but finds Narnia with the Magician's Nephew, baseball season gets underway as I discover the wonders of DVRing games and having a new AAA baseball team in the Lehigh Valley, Nuketown's comment section explodes with conversation, gaming advocacy gets a new voice with the EscapistCast, I check out a new podcast dedicated to the Mets and find a blog for the Lehigh Valley's new AAA baseball team, the IronPigs.

Get the podcast.

Primary Day

It's Primary Day in Pennsylvania, that long anticipated Democratic political apocalypse. Obama's got chalk signs on campus, while Ron Paul activists have papered College Hill with signs. We got three phone calls from the Democrats yesterday reminding us to vote, and our house has been hit by both Obama and Clinton volunteers, neither of whom stayed to talk, instead choosing to slip fliers into our door. I blame the dogs, though they never scared off the Mormon missionaries...

As for me ... being the independent minded guy I am (and registered Libertarian to boot) I don't get to vote in either primary, so I'll just sit back and watch the spectacle.

Re-imagining Reusability

My wife Sue's got a new Earth Day-inspired post about reusability up on Red-tail Designs. The 1941 Singer sewing machine she talks about is a beauty, but geeks will probably appreciate the steel & stained glass chandelier more; it looks like something out of the Addams Family mansion.

The Original Iron Pigs Blog

I haven't been to an Iron Pigs game yet, but I have been trying to keep up with the team. The Original IronPigs Blog helps with that, providing summaries of the team's home and away games, player profiles, news off call-ups to the Phillies and notes about other team happenings.

Radio Active #64: Opening New Portals to Geek Parenting

This is old news now, but I figured it was still worth a crosspost: Radio Active #64 is available over on Nuketown. It's got a review of the excellent puzzle game Portal, reviews of the Critical Hits and MacMommy blogs, and speculation on when Jordan should see Star Wars.

And on an entirely different note ... this is the 400th blog post on The Atomic Age. Not bad for a little backwater blog I only remember to post to about half the time.

Blog It

The folks at Six Apart (Moveable Type, TypePad) have created Blog It, which allows you to post to a variety of services, including Blogger and Twitter, from within Facebook. If you live in Facebook, this app makes a lot of sense; for those of us who are just visiting, well, it could still make a lot of sense. Being able to update all of your online apps from one location at once is very appealing, as is the ability to only update a handful of them.

Cosmic Coffee Collaboration

The Cosmic Cup in College Hill, Easton, is hosting a coffee cupping on Friday, April 18th at noon.  At a cupping, you try samples of several different kinds of coffee and report on their fragrance, taste and body. It's quite the process as you look at the grinds, the initial mixture after hot water is added to them, and then finally the completed cup of coffee. I think it took about an hour the last time I tried it; if you're into coffee, it's well worth checking out.

Obama, Clinton campaigns opening Easton offices

I'm not a Democrat (I'm more of an independent, thank you very much) but I still find this notable: Obama campaign to open Easton office. Apparently, Hillary's opening one too.

While more than a few talking heads have lamented that the Democratic primary season has dragged on this long, I for one welcome it. Hell, I wish all primaries were as indecisive. It gives people a chance to really grok the candidates, and allows party members throughout the country to participate in the process, rather than just the handful small-but-influential ones who traditionally tried to crown a front runner.

I do find it odd that some of those who seem so passionate about "the people being heard" and "making every vote count" are so quick to wish for a swift primary season. Yes, I realize that gives the candidates more time to focus on the main election ... but it also means cutting millions of participants out of the process. Which would seem to run contrary to the whole idea of listening to the people.

Fortunately, things are running long, and the candidates are listening ... and now you can go talk to their representatives in downtown Easton.

Hobby Hangout Closing

The Hobby Hangout in Easton, Pa. is closing. That's too bad -- I've been in there a few times for train supplies; they always had a good selection and a knowledgeable staff. Unfortunately, I don't do much in the way of hobby building nowadays -- I've never cleared enough space in the basement for a railroad layout, and haven't gotten motivated enough to get back into model rocketry, so I didn't have a lot of reasons to go there, but it was always nice knowing the Hobby Hangout was there.

Family Blog Tag

Sue's been blog tagged by my sister. This has spawned a post in which Sue talks about why she started blogging (which I think is all the more interesting since she just started earlier this month).

Check it out.

Camping at Cabella's

It says a lot about our family that we last Saturday at Cabella's ... and that we were there because of Sue.

Cabella's is a huge outfitter; if you can imagine an outdoor activity, it's likely they'll have the gear for it. Tents, hunting supplies, fishing gear, snow shoes; you name it, they've got it. We were there for a tent, specifically a family tent that we could fit Sue, the kids and myself into. And we went there not because I wanted a tent, but because Sue, aka Nature Girl, wanted one.

Yep, the wife wants to go camping. The husband would rather stay home and play Half-Life 2. But hey, that's why they invented Nintendo DS, right?

Radio Active #63: Geek Survival in the Drupal-Haunted Wilds of New England

On this edition of Nuketown Radio Active, I talk about my trip to the DrupalCon Boston geekfest, spend a few days playing in the snowy wilds of New Hampshire, my wife Sue starts a blog of her own for Red-Tail Designs. Meanwhile, in Netheads, I find out what it takes to survive Giant Robot attacks and live with a Pokeman addiction by listening to the Geek Survival Guide, and meet some fellow gamers who have similar apprehensions about D&D 4th edition with the 3.5 Private Sanctuary podcast. Finally, I find out how to get some great new gamer bling thanks to the blog of the same name. Get the podcast.

Red-Tail Designs Relaunch

My wife's relaunched the web site for her jewelry and craft business, Red-tail Designs. She creates horsehair bracelets, porcupine quillwork, and other niche products, like coffee cuffs. She also teaches workshops on beading and quillwork. Check out the site at www.redtaildesigns.com.

Elucidating Synthetic Culture

I've already posted about this on Nuketown, but since The Atomic Age is nominally my blog about life in Easton, I figured I'd post it here as well: The publisher of the The Elucidator, a print magazine in Easton, Pa., now has a blog called Synthetic Culture.

Radio Active #62: Do Macs Dream of Electronic Balticons?

On this issue of Nuketown Radio Active I struggle to wake my narcoleptic MacBook Pro, try out The Bourne Ultimatum as a movie on demand, discuss my upcoming convention trips to DrupalCon Boston and Balticon 42 and spend some time trying to infiltrate the Secret Lair podcast. In Netheads, I figure out how to actually enjoy exercise and take a look at a Savage Worlds wiki, and then spend some time ranting about why Wizards of the Coast has chosen to slash and burn Dungeons & Dragons 4th edition. Get the podcast at Nuketown.com and check out episode #61 while you're at it.

Jonathan Coulton in the Lehigh Valley?

Geek musician/singer Jonathan Coulton lives in Brooklyn, New York, which isn't all that far from the Lehigh Valley. Yet to the best of my knowledge, he's never played here, which is something I'd like to change.

I've created a "demand" for him via Eventful:

http://eventful.com/demand/D0-001-000000412-0

Click the link and vote if you'd like to see him perform in the area.

Future Debt

So it seems like the federal government's going to go ahead and cut everyone in America a check, which is nice and all except for a) it will likely do little to stop a recession, seeing as how it's a tiny sliver of GNP and b) we'll have to pay for it later since there aren't any spending cuts elsewhere to balance the expenditure.

We're basically borrowing (stealing if you're of a more cynical mind) from our future selves to pay our present selves. But on the plus side, it will help me pay off my MacBook Pro...

Behold ... the Dice of the Elder Gods!

Behold ... the Dice of the Elder Gods!
Originally uploaded by Nuke_18042

My new dice. Aren't they're cool?

Radio Active #60: NaNoWriMo Wrapup, Zelda, Podcast Roundup

Radio Active returns from its holiday hiatus with a wrap up National Novel Writing Month and news about my new reviews up at SCIFI.com. I also talk about my family's adoption (finally) of a TiVo, ramble on about boys and their trucks, spend some time playing Legend of Zelda: Phantom Hourglass and get caught up on a half-dozen different gaming and political podcasts. Get the Episode.