Miscellany, take two.

My computer blew up today. Well, in truth it was work's computer. But there was a loud "BANG!" and the Magic Smoke escaped from the casing... and as all Luddite users of technomancy well know, when the Magic Smoke gets out, the machine stops working.

Hence "take two" - this post never emerged from the blackness that filled my monitor as electrons went to the place where information dies. It's a post of miscellaneous thoughts - little rhyme or reason to it. But hell, it could be worse... I mean, I could be posting endless @#%#ing web tests and memes, now, couldn't I?

The War Machine demo games last Friday went really well - lots of players, and the manager rang me today to arrange a regular gaming event there. Who would have thought that a game filled with steam-powered magitech robots would appeal to people? :) The Escalation rulebook also appeared on the shelves today, and I bought a copy on my way home from work. 240 full colour pages! Huge amounts of artwork, fiction, and new rules for the game - all good stuff.

In other steam-tech news, I've been wandering through more communities of late.

anachrotech is one I've been reading for a while now - very interesting stuff in there, related to all aspects of the Steampunk genre(s). It's been the home of many fascinating discussions, and unlike a few other communities (that I've now left) it has no endless @^&*ing spam. I am gladdened by the fact that my Friends list no longer disappears beneath thousands of "I'm selling this T-shirt on Ebay" posts.

rivet_tool is a community for midnight_cat's web-comic - Toolshed. I'm a sucker for anything rendered in sepia tones... I started following the comic over lunch today, and will continue to do so if my computer doesn't explode again. One of these days, I really want to get back to playing with photoshop - some time after I write up my thesis...

I was feeling creative last night, though - so I ended up painting something new. ( Photo behind cut... )