Monstrous Monday is coming soon.
Showing posts with label blog. Show all posts
Showing posts with label blog. Show all posts
Monday, September 24, 2012
Thursday, September 6, 2012
MONSTROUS MONDAY!
This year I wanted to do something extra for Halloween (which in my mind is the entire month of October). So I am going to be hosting the MONSTROUS MONDAY Blogfest!
The rules are really simple.
That's it!
What kind of Monster? Well that is up to you really. I am going to be posting Monster stats. You can do that, or post a monster you like/love/hate, or tell us about the monster in your new book coming out. Anything would be great really.
I will be posting some more soon.
Here are some banners for your use with some code to link back here.
Code:
Code:
Code:
OR Right-click on the picture you want and re-size as needed.
You can sign up here now.
The rules are really simple.
- Sign up below
- Grab a button and link back to my site
- Post your Monster on Monday October 29th 2012!
That's it!
What kind of Monster? Well that is up to you really. I am going to be posting Monster stats. You can do that, or post a monster you like/love/hate, or tell us about the monster in your new book coming out. Anything would be great really.
I will be posting some more soon.
Here are some banners for your use with some code to link back here.
Code:
<a href="http://timbrannan.blogspot.com/"><img alt="MONSTROUS MONDAY!" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjAY1PhNSBQ3RI5jgrciNyNqoS7fLZay3QLI5C73SjQpRXu4VybZTk9ftDUATfsZHyfYI7IP1LC0QcEbNDZrT2OhkEUxjPmuWC7R5O4Zfk9M0CICN5g7_ImhltCmcLVwPbRWExrfS290Es/s1600/MONSTROUS_MONDAY1.png" /></a>
Code:
<a href="http://timbrannan.blogspot.com/"><img alt="MONSTROUS MONDAY!" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhj0cncKUv7DNEZfBdyDZegS9sXHpDVOglPL5L664rcMlzqPZcYyhpkUYiqjsNhoIpk43DIJMIzOv_as2Exwc7JqFE7fJXPm3Tl7q9ncdr9c1Rgw6AQSvBli4RwDBehi-eJEgC6qSNJzkM/s1600/MONSTROUS_MONDAY2.png" /></a>
Code:
<a href="http://timbrannan.blogspot.com/"><img alt="MONSTROUS MONDAY!" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg4x9_A5q-bmXO4aLnhNT2FT_xuLjxK85rE4iCPTCXEWrtd9cALHohSeR-LEB8oivYF00kygA7jtPvL_2yi5qAP4_P4jjaoe9vR9az8zL27zJxZocWx-vp7aiSU13i9WyoiiGvU3mugwyk/s1600/MONSTROUS_MONDAY3.png" /></a>
OR Right-click on the picture you want and re-size as needed.
You can sign up here now.
Friday, August 24, 2012
Sunday, August 12, 2012
Posting this week
My regular posting is going to be off this week due to Gen Con.
I have some reviews of some books I have been using for years , so I have those queued up and ready to go.
There might the random/odd post from Gen Con itself.
But otherwise I am going to be enjoying the Best 4 Days in Gaming!
Wednesday, August 1, 2012
Blog Roll clean-up
First of the month, time for clean up.
I want to add some new sites, but Google puts a limit on how many I can follow, so some have to go.
Normally it is very easy. But as I deleted older blogs and replaced them with newer ones I have added more than fall out naturally.
So have to make some hard cuts. I am not lobbying for one site or another, I am just bemoaning that Google limits how many I can follow.
I want to add some new sites, but Google puts a limit on how many I can follow, so some have to go.
Normally it is very easy. But as I deleted older blogs and replaced them with newer ones I have added more than fall out naturally.
So have to make some hard cuts. I am not lobbying for one site or another, I am just bemoaning that Google limits how many I can follow.
Thursday, July 12, 2012
London Map updates
So a while back I learned about Banners On The Cheap and their desire to "get into" the RPG map biz.
There was no single tabletop map I wanted, but I have always wanted a large map of Victorian-era London for my game room. I finally settled on a map.
It is London of 1890, rather than my preferred of 1838, but that is cool. This is the "classic" Victorian London and good enough for me. It will work great for nearly all the Victorian games I own.
The process could not have been easier and frankly the prices were a lot cheaper than I expected. I'll get this one by the end of the month and I will let you all know how it works out.
If you want to try them out for yourself then here is the link.
I have pretty high hopes for this. If it works out well, and takes dry-erase or water markers well, then I have a bunch of others I'd love to do.
There was no single tabletop map I wanted, but I have always wanted a large map of Victorian-era London for my game room. I finally settled on a map.
 |
| Click for a really, really big version |
The process could not have been easier and frankly the prices were a lot cheaper than I expected. I'll get this one by the end of the month and I will let you all know how it works out.
If you want to try them out for yourself then here is the link.
I have pretty high hopes for this. If it works out well, and takes dry-erase or water markers well, then I have a bunch of others I'd love to do.
Tuesday, July 10, 2012
LinkWithin, part 2
Well I am going to stick with LinkWithin this time around.
Not only is it working better now it is also pushing up the hits on some of my older posts and that is a cool thing.
It looks like I could expand it to 4 or 5 links per page instead of just 3. Will have to see how that works out.
ETA: Tried it, was a snap. Is 5 too much?
Not only is it working better now it is also pushing up the hits on some of my older posts and that is a cool thing.
It looks like I could expand it to 4 or 5 links per page instead of just 3. Will have to see how that works out.
ETA: Tried it, was a snap. Is 5 too much?
Friday, July 6, 2012
Tales of Woe
It is a sad day here at The Other Side.
My hard drive died a couple weeks ago. Normally this is a cause for panic, but I didn't because having been doing this for a while I thought I had everything backed up. Well. I didn't.
I didn't lose any of my PDFs save for maybe the most recent ones I bought since May, but I can always go back to DriveThruRPG and re-download those. My current OSR/Old-School books were in the hands of editors, so they were saved.
I did though loose all my documents for my Ghosts of Albion adventures Blight, Obsession, Wilderness and Synchronicity. I have printout of Blight and Obsession, so that isn't too bad. And I lost all my personal emails from 2011-2012.
Figuring it was the circuit board (given the errors I was getting) I worked with a company that specialized in this brand of hard drive (Seagate Barracuda) called PCB Solution.
I worked with Kevin to find a new board for this drive and in truth my hopes were high, even if he felt (and he did tell all this upfront) that my drive might be further gone that I thought it was. Undaunted I picked up their repair kit and got it in a couple of days. It easy easy to do as long as you have no fear of cranking open your computer or drives. I got it in installed and slapped it into a new external drive enclosure and ... nothing.
I worked on a few other tricks I have picked over the years. Back in the day I ran the official usenet alt.sys.pc-clone.gatewat2000 FAQ, so I consider myself a bit smarter than the average bear in this respect. But if there is one thing I have learned, there is always someone smarter. And it will take someone smarter than me to fix this one.
Here is what I have learned (and should known already):
1. It doesn't matter how much you back up. Back up more.
2. Stop buying Seagate drives. Every single one has died on me and took much valued data with it.
So that is what I know.
I do want to publicly thank Kevin at PCB Solution. He really went above and beyond the call of duty to help me.
My hard drive died a couple weeks ago. Normally this is a cause for panic, but I didn't because having been doing this for a while I thought I had everything backed up. Well. I didn't.
I didn't lose any of my PDFs save for maybe the most recent ones I bought since May, but I can always go back to DriveThruRPG and re-download those. My current OSR/Old-School books were in the hands of editors, so they were saved.
I did though loose all my documents for my Ghosts of Albion adventures Blight, Obsession, Wilderness and Synchronicity. I have printout of Blight and Obsession, so that isn't too bad. And I lost all my personal emails from 2011-2012.
Figuring it was the circuit board (given the errors I was getting) I worked with a company that specialized in this brand of hard drive (Seagate Barracuda) called PCB Solution.
I worked with Kevin to find a new board for this drive and in truth my hopes were high, even if he felt (and he did tell all this upfront) that my drive might be further gone that I thought it was. Undaunted I picked up their repair kit and got it in a couple of days. It easy easy to do as long as you have no fear of cranking open your computer or drives. I got it in installed and slapped it into a new external drive enclosure and ... nothing.
I worked on a few other tricks I have picked over the years. Back in the day I ran the official usenet alt.sys.pc-clone.gatewat2000 FAQ, so I consider myself a bit smarter than the average bear in this respect. But if there is one thing I have learned, there is always someone smarter. And it will take someone smarter than me to fix this one.
Here is what I have learned (and should known already):
1. It doesn't matter how much you back up. Back up more.
2. Stop buying Seagate drives. Every single one has died on me and took much valued data with it.
So that is what I know.
I do want to publicly thank Kevin at PCB Solution. He really went above and beyond the call of duty to help me.
Friday, June 29, 2012
LinkWithin
Well I have been trying out LinkWithin on my blog for the 3rd time (or maybe the 4th) and this time it seems to work much better.
In earlier versions of the Other Side layout I had written large parts of my own CSS. The new Blogger layout now gives me the advanced features I wanted without needing to muck around with coding. That is nice since my own coding also has disabled some of the nicer comments features. It also was not very compatible with LinkWithin.
Well now it seems to work better. I am not seeing how the algorithm works; for example how a post on the Zatanna and Hex Girls will also direct you to Dracula, Shakespeare, and D&D Basic. But I guess in my world that makes sense.
The one thing I am noticing that my hits for older pages are way up. That is a good thing. I have over 1200 posts here now, some of that older stuff has to be good too!
Do you like the LinkWithin widget? Are you finding any hidden treasures, not just here, but any blog that uses it?
In earlier versions of the Other Side layout I had written large parts of my own CSS. The new Blogger layout now gives me the advanced features I wanted without needing to muck around with coding. That is nice since my own coding also has disabled some of the nicer comments features. It also was not very compatible with LinkWithin.
Well now it seems to work better. I am not seeing how the algorithm works; for example how a post on the Zatanna and Hex Girls will also direct you to Dracula, Shakespeare, and D&D Basic. But I guess in my world that makes sense.
The one thing I am noticing that my hits for older pages are way up. That is a good thing. I have over 1200 posts here now, some of that older stuff has to be good too!
Do you like the LinkWithin widget? Are you finding any hidden treasures, not just here, but any blog that uses it?
Tuesday, June 5, 2012
Dear Google Visitors...
I am sorry. But despite your efforts over the last week you can not find "Supergirl Porn" here.
As a consolation, here is this image.
May you have better luck on other sites.
As a consolation, here is this image.
May you have better luck on other sites.
Sunday, June 3, 2012
Edits
I just got back the edits for both Eldritch Witchery and The Witch within hours of each other.
I have not looked at either yet, but I am expecting there to be some pretty extensive changes and edits to be made.
This will certainly cut into my blogging time here. Just wanted you to know.
I have not looked at either yet, but I am expecting there to be some pretty extensive changes and edits to be made.
This will certainly cut into my blogging time here. Just wanted you to know.
Monday, May 7, 2012
A to Z: Reflections Post
So the A to Z Blog Challenge is over for another April. Not sure what I'll do next year, but I am sure I am going to plan ahead for it better.
How did your journey through the alphabet go? Did you meet new bloggers with similar interests? Are there any you would like to feature and share with others?
Yes. I joined several new-to-me blogs and found a bunch of books I wanted to read from my travels.
What were the highlights for you? (lowlights too...we want to hear it all)
Highlights for this blog was to get the word out on so man great games out to people that didn't know about them. Lowlights...trying to do this for two blogs at the same time!
Did you enjoy posting daily? What was your biggest hurdle? What was your easiest task?
I tend to post everyday anyway. Biggest hurdle was coming up with something appropriate for the letter in question that also fit with my theme. Easiest part was finding games to talk about.
Was time management an issue? (I know, silly question, when isn’t time management an issue - but, it is worth reflecting on)
It did cut into my schedule quite a bit to be honest.
And what about your content - did you have a theme or did you wing it? Was it easy to come up with ideas for each letter, or were some harder?
I had a theme and I stuck with it. But I had thought about it a lot and tried to find games ahead of time.
How about commenting - did you stumble upon lots of sites still using word verification? Did this prevent you from leaving a comment? What worked for your blog?
I tried to visit every blog in the challenge. Yes, I ran into a number that had Word Verification still turned on and it was annoying. Though much worse than that were the people the had to approve my post/comment and then never did.
I keep word verification turned off. I would rather have it easier for my readers than worry about spam.
What will you do different next year? (Yes, you are doing this next year, you know you are, even if your brain is telling you to run for the hills - it appreciates the exercise)
Try to get more posts in before April! Craft the posts in such a way to encourage more feedback.
What pearls of wisdom do you want to share with the Co-Hosts of this event? (We would love to hear from you and know what you think would make this awesome event even better)
There were a number of "dead" sites on the list and some were some that didn't link to their blog, but some other page. You might want to get more Co-Hosts next year to help clean out the non-participants (the ones that signed up then never posted) and dead links.
So I ended up with a bunch of new followers. 50 on the Other Side and almost 20 on Freedom of Nonbelief, and very little overlap between the two.
My growth in views was not as much relative to last year. But that is to be expected really.
I will be participating again next year.
How did your journey through the alphabet go? Did you meet new bloggers with similar interests? Are there any you would like to feature and share with others?
Yes. I joined several new-to-me blogs and found a bunch of books I wanted to read from my travels.
What were the highlights for you? (lowlights too...we want to hear it all)
Highlights for this blog was to get the word out on so man great games out to people that didn't know about them. Lowlights...trying to do this for two blogs at the same time!
Did you enjoy posting daily? What was your biggest hurdle? What was your easiest task?
I tend to post everyday anyway. Biggest hurdle was coming up with something appropriate for the letter in question that also fit with my theme. Easiest part was finding games to talk about.
Was time management an issue? (I know, silly question, when isn’t time management an issue - but, it is worth reflecting on)
It did cut into my schedule quite a bit to be honest.
And what about your content - did you have a theme or did you wing it? Was it easy to come up with ideas for each letter, or were some harder?
I had a theme and I stuck with it. But I had thought about it a lot and tried to find games ahead of time.
How about commenting - did you stumble upon lots of sites still using word verification? Did this prevent you from leaving a comment? What worked for your blog?
I tried to visit every blog in the challenge. Yes, I ran into a number that had Word Verification still turned on and it was annoying. Though much worse than that were the people the had to approve my post/comment and then never did.
I keep word verification turned off. I would rather have it easier for my readers than worry about spam.
What will you do different next year? (Yes, you are doing this next year, you know you are, even if your brain is telling you to run for the hills - it appreciates the exercise)
Try to get more posts in before April! Craft the posts in such a way to encourage more feedback.
What pearls of wisdom do you want to share with the Co-Hosts of this event? (We would love to hear from you and know what you think would make this awesome event even better)
There were a number of "dead" sites on the list and some were some that didn't link to their blog, but some other page. You might want to get more Co-Hosts next year to help clean out the non-participants (the ones that signed up then never posted) and dead links.
So I ended up with a bunch of new followers. 50 on the Other Side and almost 20 on Freedom of Nonbelief, and very little overlap between the two.
My growth in views was not as much relative to last year. But that is to be expected really.
I will be participating again next year.
Saturday, March 31, 2012
A to Z Challenge
Tomorrow begins the April A to Z blogging challenge.
This year I am doing it not just once, but twice.
I have signed up my other blog, The Freedom of Nonbelief, to the challenge as well.
I felt that my other blog could also gain from the exposure and it would help me collect my thoughts some on what I think that blog should be about.
So please join me over there as I go through the A to Z of atheism, skepticism and free thought.
Here at the Other Side, I am going to be doing the A to Z of RPGs. I am going to pick a game for each letter and talk about it. I am though having trouble with the letter I. I am thinking I should do In Nomine, but not sure yet.
I am open to suggestions!
If you are coming here from the Challenge, then please leave a link back to your own blog.
This year I am doing it not just once, but twice.
I have signed up my other blog, The Freedom of Nonbelief, to the challenge as well.
I felt that my other blog could also gain from the exposure and it would help me collect my thoughts some on what I think that blog should be about.
So please join me over there as I go through the A to Z of atheism, skepticism and free thought.
Here at the Other Side, I am going to be doing the A to Z of RPGs. I am going to pick a game for each letter and talk about it. I am though having trouble with the letter I. I am thinking I should do In Nomine, but not sure yet.
I am open to suggestions!
If you are coming here from the Challenge, then please leave a link back to your own blog.
Thursday, March 22, 2012
Blog Roll Fixed
The simple solution was to split up my blog rolls.
You will now see I have an RPG one and an Everything Else one that has all the writing, horror, comic and other stuff I read.
My RPG one though is now just as full as it was before, so even if it is an RPG site chances are I'll have to add you to the other blog roll.
You will now see I have an RPG one and an Everything Else one that has all the writing, horror, comic and other stuff I read.
My RPG one though is now just as full as it was before, so even if it is an RPG site chances are I'll have to add you to the other blog roll.
Blog Roll
You might notice my blog roll is gone.
I am attempting to fix it and add the new blogs I am following and maybe even arrange them in some sort of order.
I am attempting to fix it and add the new blogs I am following and maybe even arrange them in some sort of order.
Friday, March 9, 2012
Random updates, links and posts
Hey. It's been a crazy couple of weeks with home, work and stuff. I have been neglecting you, my blog audience and that is not fair.
But don't expect it change yet today. ;)
I am though posting some half baked posts I have started over the last two weeks into one big random update. Might not be the best post ever, but it lets you know I am still here.
• First up my friend Elizabeth J. Kolodziej has a kickstarter up for her new book. She is the author of the "The Last Witch" series and I reviewed the first book here a year ago today. Kickstarter seems to be the way to go these days for starting authors.
http://www.facebook.com/events/200302106741659/
http://www.kickstarter.com/projects/1960643778/help-publish-the-last-witch-series
• Need a demon? Demonicpedia then is the internet's version of the Demoniomicon of Iggwilv.
http://www.demonicpedia.com/
It is still a little new and not very full yet, but like all -pedias out there based on the media wiki software this one can be edited by you. My readers here are diverse, but horror is something most of you have in common. So I see you all as being more contributor types than just passive readers.
• A couple years back I got a book of Sherlock Holmes stories from my friend Greg Littlejohn. I am finally getting around to reading it and I am enjoying the hell of it. Watch out Ghosts of Albion players my mind is boiling over with ideas!
• Thanks to the recent GMs day sale at DriveThruRPG I bought a bunch of stock art for my upcoming books. Now I just need to make enough money off of these to cover all the costs!
• Speaking of Kickstarters and ongoing works in progress. The Player's Companion to Adventure Conqueror King is underway. I can confirm now I did a little bit of work on the Witch class. The author of the class also drew on my 3.0 witch as inspiration. The ACKS Witch is very different from either my withes in "The Witch" or from "Eldritch Witchery" but all three are largely compatible. Once all three are out expect a post.
More soon!
But don't expect it change yet today. ;)
I am though posting some half baked posts I have started over the last two weeks into one big random update. Might not be the best post ever, but it lets you know I am still here.
• First up my friend Elizabeth J. Kolodziej has a kickstarter up for her new book. She is the author of the "The Last Witch" series and I reviewed the first book here a year ago today. Kickstarter seems to be the way to go these days for starting authors.
http://www.facebook.com/events/200302106741659/
http://www.kickstarter.com/projects/1960643778/help-publish-the-last-witch-series
• Need a demon? Demonicpedia then is the internet's version of the Demoniomicon of Iggwilv.
http://www.demonicpedia.com/
It is still a little new and not very full yet, but like all -pedias out there based on the media wiki software this one can be edited by you. My readers here are diverse, but horror is something most of you have in common. So I see you all as being more contributor types than just passive readers.
• A couple years back I got a book of Sherlock Holmes stories from my friend Greg Littlejohn. I am finally getting around to reading it and I am enjoying the hell of it. Watch out Ghosts of Albion players my mind is boiling over with ideas!
• Thanks to the recent GMs day sale at DriveThruRPG I bought a bunch of stock art for my upcoming books. Now I just need to make enough money off of these to cover all the costs!
• Speaking of Kickstarters and ongoing works in progress. The Player's Companion to Adventure Conqueror King is underway. I can confirm now I did a little bit of work on the Witch class. The author of the class also drew on my 3.0 witch as inspiration. The ACKS Witch is very different from either my withes in "The Witch" or from "Eldritch Witchery" but all three are largely compatible. Once all three are out expect a post.
More soon!
Wednesday, February 29, 2012
Blogroll broken
Like many of you, my blogroll seems to be broken.
I can't add or remove blogs from it. Shame really, I had found some new blogs I hoped would be nice additions. Anyone figure out how to fix it yet?
I can't add or remove blogs from it. Shame really, I had found some new blogs I hoped would be nice additions. Anyone figure out how to fix it yet?
Thursday, February 23, 2012
Sorry for the interuption
Been kind of a bad week you know.
Thanks to everyone that posted here, G+ and Facebook about my brother Mike. The world certainly is a poorer place with out him in it.
I have some posts to get back too; I have had the Blog on auto-pilot this week. Well sorta, the post from last night was supposed to post today.
What do I know?
Well. My Basic Era witch book "The Witch" is done. I just need to get all the art in.
I am doing the A to Z challenge in April. More on that soon.
The new hotness right now is the new Marvel Heroic Roleplaying game from MWP.
I have it, I have read parts of it, but I am no where near ready for a review yet.
Thanks to everyone that posted here, G+ and Facebook about my brother Mike. The world certainly is a poorer place with out him in it.
I have some posts to get back too; I have had the Blog on auto-pilot this week. Well sorta, the post from last night was supposed to post today.
What do I know?
Well. My Basic Era witch book "The Witch" is done. I just need to get all the art in.
I am doing the A to Z challenge in April. More on that soon.
The new hotness right now is the new Marvel Heroic Roleplaying game from MWP.
I have it, I have read parts of it, but I am no where near ready for a review yet.
Wednesday, February 22, 2012
White Dwarf Wednesday
Hello all.
No White Dwarf Wednesday today. I am out of town on a family emergency and I am not back yet.
You can read about it here.
http://www.buchanancody.com/fh/obituaries/obituary.cfm?o_id=1399499&fh_id=12328
Back when I can.
No White Dwarf Wednesday today. I am out of town on a family emergency and I am not back yet.
You can read about it here.
http://www.buchanancody.com/fh/obituaries/obituary.cfm?o_id=1399499&fh_id=12328
Back when I can.
Friday, February 3, 2012
Random Updates
A couple of updates this morning.
Like Victorian era RPGs? Don't forget about my Victorian Gamers Association on Facebook.
http://www.facebook.com/groups/117617184004/
There is a winner for the "I'll Tumble 4 Ya" contest!
Bob correctly identified Stevie Nicks as my big 80's (and 90s...) crush.
His 10 dollar gift code for DriveThruRPG has been sent out.
I picked up a couple of new horror games that I hope to have reviews up for soon.
Like Victorian era RPGs? Don't forget about my Victorian Gamers Association on Facebook.
http://www.facebook.com/groups/117617184004/
There is a winner for the "I'll Tumble 4 Ya" contest!
Bob correctly identified Stevie Nicks as my big 80's (and 90s...) crush.
His 10 dollar gift code for DriveThruRPG has been sent out.
I picked up a couple of new horror games that I hope to have reviews up for soon.
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