Robotech_Master - Slashdot User

Submission + - Donate $20 to help Haiti, get $1481 in RPGs (drivethrustuff.com)

Submitted by Robotech_Master on Thursday January 21, 2010 @10:35PM

Robotech_Master writes: Digital RPG vendor DriveThruRPG is offering $1481 in cover price of RPG e-content in exchange for a $20 donation to Doctors Without Borders. (DriveThru is also matching $5 and $10 donations.) The content includes many popular indy RPGs, as well as the Firefly RPG, 'Serenity', that would cost $30 all by itself. Due to high load on DriveThruRPG's servers, downloads are being delayed to up to 3 business days after the donation. Still, it's a great deal for any gamer—even those who otherwise couldn't care less about the Haiti earthquake. At time of submission, DriveThruRPG has raised just over $75,000 so far.

Submission + - Africa: CherryPal's $99 "odd lots" netbook (teleread.org)

Submitted by Robotech_Master on Tuesday December 22, 2009 @01:11AM

Robotech_Master writes: CherryPal, which Slashdot last covered back in 2008, has released a $99 netbook, the Africa, aimed at the developing world but (unlike the OLPC) available for sale to the consumer. But unlike most netbooks, the Africa is not actually made to a set design. Instead, it uses a hacker-like approach similar to the way home PC builders build their cheap beige boxes. CherryPal purchases odd lots of whatever components are available most inexpensively, builds netbooks out of them, and calls them Africas. The resulting machines will at least meet and may exceed the minimum specs given on CherryPal's website, and may be built around an ARM, MIPS, or X86-based CPU depending on what parts CherryPal has on hand at the time. The device ships with 'at least' Windows CE or CherryPal's custom 'Green Maraschino' Debian-based Linux distro.

Submission + - Book Review: Rainbows End by Vernor Vinge (teleread.org)

Submitted by

Robotech_Master

on Monday August 31, 2009 @10:27PM

Robotech_Master writes: "A few years back, I wrote a review of the Special Edition of A Fire Upon the Deep by Vernor Vinge. I have now written a review of Vinge's Rainbows End for teleread.org. In this review, I look at the book's predictions for the future, and compare them to past predictions Vinge made in True Names and elsewhere. It is really fascinating to see how Vinge's concept of the "future book" changes over time, from the text-adventure-game influence of the early '80s, to hypertext in the early '90s, to virtual reality multi-media in the '00s. Rainbows End and True Names can be read on-line in their entirety, thanks to the Internet Archive."

Submission + - Pick a Codeweavers package free on Tuesday only (arstechnica.com)

Submitted by

Robotech_Master

on Monday October 27, 2008 @07:25PM

Robotech_Master writes: "As a result of falling gas prices, Codeweavers is going to offer a code good to download one of its commercial emulation software packages for free to anyone who visits the Codeweavers website on Tuesday only. Pick one of its "Windows-software-on-Linux," "Windows-software-on-OSX," or "Gaming" packages. This is one heck of a freebie; don't miss out!"

Submission + - MySpace No Place for Atheists? (secularstudents.org) 13

Submitted by

Robotech_Master

on Friday February 01, 2008 @07:11AM

Robotech_Master writes: "According to the article, since MySpace was acquired by Rupert Murdoch it has deleted a 35,000 member atheist/agnostic group, reportedly "the largest collection of organized atheists in the world." Some individual atheists' profiles have also been deleted. Bryan Pesta, Ph.D., the group's moderator, has an updates page."

Submission + - Ask Phil & Kaja Foglio

Submitted by

Robotech_Master

on Tuesday January 22, 2008 @09:28PM

Robotech_Master writes: "I will be conducting a live call-in interview with Phil and Kaja Foglio of the comics Girl Genius, Buck Godot, What's New With Phil and Dixie, and many many more this Sunday, January 27th at 4 p.m. Eastern/10 p.m. Universal (GMT) on my talk podcast The Biblio File. Slashdot readers can participate live, either by phoning in or by using TalkShoe's web-based or stand-alone chat clients. (I've written a guide to all the different ways of connecting.) It will also be available as a downloadable or RSS-syncable mp3 afterward.

After I finish asking my own questions, I'll be using whatever time is left to ask other questions of interest, including taking questions from the live call-in or chat-in audience. If you won't be able to make it, post your questions in the comments. I can't promise to ask all of them, but I'll pick the most interesting ones."

Submission + - Live interview with Carl Macek, Sat. April 14th

Submitted by

Robotech_Master

on Monday April 09, 2007 @10:39PM

Robotech_Master writes: "On Saturday April 14th, at 6 p.m. Eastern/3 p.m. Pacific, I will be conducting a live call-in talk radio interview with Carl Macek on my Robotech talk show, Space Station Liberty. Macek is sometimes known as the "animé Antichrist," but is also widely considered the man who kicked off the modern American animé industry by creating the TV show Robotech and dubs of films such as Akira and Megazone 23 .

The focus of the interview will be Macek's history in the animation industry, primarily centered on Robotech but also covering Akira and other anime dubs, Heavy Metal, Lady Death, and the rest of his varied career.

Anyone who wishes to call in to the show to listen or participate will be welcome to do so. (Due to the possibility of inflammatory "ambush" comments, I will probably not take voice calls for this episode from people I do not know to be trustworthy, but everyone is welcome to post comments and questions in the live chat area.) Questions do not need to be only about Robotech, but can cover Macek's extensive other work as well.

If you will not be able to participate live but would still like to submit questions, post them to this article or use my contact form. I can't promise I'll ask all questions that are submitted but I will try to ask any good ones. For more information on how to phone in and participate, see my TalkShoe guide page."

Submission + - Authors Try New Publishing Model: Taking Donations

Submitted by

Robotech_Master

on Wednesday December 13, 2006 @03:44AM

Robotech_Master writes: "When John Kelsey and Bruce Schneier came up with the Street Performer Protocol in 1998, it was meant to provide an alternative model of publication that would allow artists and writers to earn a living from their work even if it was immediately disseminated across the Internet as soon as it was published. Eight years later, at least four fairly-well-known science fiction and fantasy writers are using a modified form of this publishing model, the "Storyteller's Bowl," to finance the writing of books that are otherwise unpublishable. In this article, I look at how these writers — Lawrence Watt-Evans, Diane Duane, Sharon Lee, and Steve Miller — are using that model, the differences between it and the "pure" Street Performer Protocol, and the degree of success they have been having. I will also be conducting a discussion about this subject on my live call-in Internet talk radio show, The Biblio File, on Saturday, December 16th at 3 p.m. Eastern/8 p.m. Universal time. Mrs. Duane will be in attendance, barring technical difficulties."

Submission + - Jon Katz to be played by Jeff Bridges

Submitted by

Robotech_Master

on Monday November 27, 2006 @04:06PM

Robotech_Master writes: "Long time Slashdot veterans will remember Jon Katz, the editorial writer whose Slashdot articles invariably became hotbeds of controversy. It appears he may have the last laugh; how many of the Slashdot posters who ridiculed him went on to be played by Jeff Bridges in a movie?

In his new book, "A Good Dog: The Story of Orson," Katz chronicles the life and death of the lovable but troubled border collie that transformed his life. It continues the story begun in Katz's last book, "A Dog Year," now being made into a movie starring Jeff Bridges as Katz.
Katz critics may get a chuckle out of the plot synopsis for the film: "A man having a mid-life crisis has his life turned upside down when he takes in a border collie crazier than he is." Further amusement comes from this article about the movie's filming, with this quote from the owner of the house used to double for Katz's:

Mercaldi said she was looking forward to seeing the film, with her home of 13 years as a co-star, "especially since they trashed it," she said. "The character was a real slob, so it doesn't look like our house."
The film should be released "sometime in late 2007.""

Slashdot Top Deals