Shadow Footprints

It's been a while since I properly posted. At the time it seemed like I hadn't be doing much worth writing about, or it was things I don't talk about here, such as work or off-line people.

Gaming

I'm enjoying playing the Paizo Pathfinder Rise of the Runelord adventures. I play most Sundays. My character is Terrick, a rogish conjurer from Korvosa. I'm not too impressed with 4th edition D&D, it seems too mechanical and limiting. I've had a couple of sessions. I should have played more but I've missed the last two.

Waikanae

The PeteNic's work on the beach house is coming along. Had a hassle about getting the right taps to match the other fittings, and the supposedly reconditioned ones leaked. On Saturday the plan was for me to get to the station and take the train to there. A flat battery caused by leaving the interior light on prevented that. AA responded quickly and I drove over, listening the Fortress Draconis on my way. Torrential rain on the way; I thought I would have to pull over for a while. I tried doing some study (see below) but wasn't able to focus too well.

Study

I'm trying to study the Business Analyst Body of Knowledge (BABOK). I'm not ready to sit the exam for certification, and understanding the formalised aspects of Business Analysis will help me. I've also recently got some books to help me. The books were recommended on some Business Analysis sites.

Recent Books

The recent Business Analyst additions to my library from Amazon are:

• The Software Requirements Memory Jogger: A Pocket Guide to Help Software And Business Teams Develop And Manage Requirements
• Writing Effective Use Cases (The Agile Software Development Series)
• More About Software Requirements: Thorny Issues and Practical Advice

The only thing gaming related I've bought is the 4th Edition Dungeons and Dragons Core Rulebook Gift Set. I will be getting Pathfinder Roleplaying Game Beta when it's available.

I also got The Non-Designer's Design Book: Design and Typographic Principles for the Visual Novice via Bookmooch. It may be 14 years old but it all applies today.

Web 2.0

Twitter remains my preferred microblogging tool. I've signed up to nearly all I find.

Last.fm now shows what I've been listening to, which if you're into music won't be of interest. Most of my listening time is with podcasts. There's only so many hours I can listen. I generally don't have headphones on at work; I want to know what's going on around me.

I try to share articles I find interesting in Google Reader.

FriendFeed is a useful way of summarising what I've been doing online.

The cat

Jack is healthy. His insulin is costing nearly $75 for a bottle lasting two months. An expensive kitty. He's in the dog-box for jumping onto the coffee table and spilling a glass of red wine onto the cream carpet. The stain is almost unnoticeable after using a couple of carpet cleaners.

I've been adding books to my BookMooch inventory. Either join and mooch them, or contact me and let me know which books you are interested in.

Here's a random selection of books still available:

I overslept this morning. I read late into the night, reading The Clan Corporate, book three of The Merchant Princes, by Charles Stross.

I woke up 45 minutes later than usual, at the time I needed to leave the house to catch my train. Deciding to drive I figured, from Monday's experience, that I'd get to work at my usual time. Nope! When I got in my car I saw the high-level brake light was dangling. I found some tape and gave it a quick fix and then was on my way. Start-stop traffic wiht the merging traffic from Dowse Drive and later added to my lateness.

Oh well, with my car I can leave later without a problem, and if Monday's experience still applies I'll be able to do the speed limit on the urban motorway during rush hour.

I've just finished Magic Bites by Ilona Andrews. I enjoyed it and want the sequel.

Our heroine, Kate, lives in an alternate Atlanta, where magic and technology come in unpredictable waves. When her guardian is killed, she seeks out the murderer.

This is fantasy, not paranormal romance, and the better for it.

Link: http://www.antipope.org/charlie/blog-static/2007/07/unpacking_the_zeitgeist.html

Imagine thirty years of Future Shock in 1977.

One of the more popular multi-person internet games is called "World of Warcraft". When you join, you start out with limited resources, and you need to collect gold and magic weapons and kill monsters and go on quests to acquire loot and gain higher levels (which come with whizzy new abilities). A bit like that new-fangled Dungeons and Dragons game everyone's talking about, except using a computer instead of dice and rule books and lead figurines. (Yes, there are several million people doing this right now. This isn't rocket science.)

Charles Stross explains what has been happening in World of Warcraft recently, specifically gold farming and the advertising of those services.

You need to read the article.

The question he asks is:

at which step in this narrative would my 1977-era audience first say "you've got to be shitting me!" ... and when would they start moaning and holding their head in their hands?

I finished The Hidden Family: Book Two of Merchant Princes last night, reading into the small hours. I'm looking forward to reading the third book, The Clan Corporate.

Link: http://www.adventix.net/blog/2007/03/18/unbelievable-graphic-art-pictures-by-rob-gonzales/

I like these pictures by Rob Gonsalves. I'd like the book.