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 just finished reading Goblins, a great web comic. It's taken me a few days to read the entire series.

With the in-jokes I recommend this comic to any Dungeons and Dragons player.

I'm still around, just busy with life and not getting time to blog. I'm trying to do many things at once and think I may be approaching information overload. I'm an info junkie and currently trying to be aware of:

• Pluto's planetary status
• The Overlander

• New US season television

  • Eureka
  • The 4400
  • Three Moons Over Milford
  • Prison Break
  • Kyle XY (need to check out still
  • The Amazing Race Sep 17
  • Jericho Sep 20
  • Desperate Housewives Sep 24
  • Heroes Sep 25
  • Smallville Sep 28
  • Lost Oct 04
  • The Nine Oct 04
  • Prison Break
  • Weeds
  • Treasure Hunters (finished, wasn't very good)
• Movies on the big screen
• Watching the old Farscape
• Dungeons and Dragons
• Books to read
• Podcasts to listen to
• Blogs to read
• Sites to check out
• Tech to be aware of
• Local and world events to be aware of

Seeing someone special.

Currently looking for a flatmate, so if you know me personally and can recommend someone...

I use Heroforge for creating Dungeons and Dragons characters. I was involved in a minimal amount of testing. (I reported bugs relating to characters I'm currently using.) It's now had its official release.
Here's the press release:

Heroforge, the popular Excel-based character management tool, has been officially released in its newest version. Originally created by Chris Mathieu and supported by Shannon Greene, Heroforge has become one of the most popular and most downloaded free character management tools for everyone's favorite third edition d20 fantasy roleplaying game. This newest version was created by the Heroforge Project, a community of over 500 individuals who volunteered their time, energy, and programming skills to revitalize and update Heroforge for use with both PC and Mac formats.

Heroforge 4.0.4 is now fully compliant with revised 3.5 edition rules and with the requirements set forth for RPGA Living Greyhawk players. Individuals who utilize Heroforge for character management will still be required to own any source books that the program covers (including core books) since the program will not replace the need for those books. Instead, the program will serve as a supplement to the books and allow for easier and faster character management but still maintain a need to own the books for reference purposes.

Heroforge 4.0.4 may be downloaded at the following websites:
http://d20zines.com
http://4thsphere.com/
http://www.dguys.net/heroforge/
http://games.groups.yahoo.com/group/NorthAustinGamers/files/Tools/
http://homepage.mac.com/groups.heroforge/FileSharing1.html
http://www.nidome.org.uk/Heroforge
http://www.spellbooksoftware.com
http://www.tassek.anang.com/heroforge/
http://www.xvart.com/Heroforge

Direct downloads may be obtained from these locations:
http://tinyurl.com/7s8w8
http://216.248.169.11/HeroForge/HeroForge4_0_4.zip
http://www.carybishop.net/Heroforge.htm
http://www.cobbgahomes.com/heroforge/HeroForge4_0_4.zip
http://www.dguys.net/heroforge/HeroForge4_0_4.zip
http://www.gwalcmai.com/HeroForge/HeroForge4_0_4.zip
http://www.heroforge.org/HeroForge4_0_4.zip
http://heroforge.roundcon.com/HeroForge4_0_4.zip
http://homepage.mac.com/skwyd/HeroForge4_0_4.zip
http://www.mcvaugh.com/HeroForge4_0_4.zip
http://www.nordvinland.net:81/HeroForge4_0_4.zip
http://www.paregulators.com/HeroForge4_0_4.zip
http://www.sage-sc.com/public/HeroForge/HeroForge4_0_4.zip
http://www.spellbooksoftware.com/HeroForge4_0_4.zip
http://uk.geocities.com/dealwargames/HeroForge4_0_4.zip
http://uk.geocities.com/smutchings/HeroForge4_0_4.zip
http://uk.geocities.com/ryukai_jamie/HeroForge4_0_4.zip
http://uk.geocities.com/smutchings/HeroForge4_0_4.zip

Heroforge 4.0.4 is also available in Bit Torrent format at: http://www.nordvinland.net:6969/

The Heroforge Project community may be found at: http://games.groups.yahoo.com/group/Hero_Forge/ (membership subject to approval).