Greetings Earthlings!

From Arizona Star.....

Porn Interrupts Super Bowl Broadcast


The pornographic content that interrupted thousands of local Comcast subscribers’ Super Bowl broadcast was the result of an “isolated malicious act,” a company spokeswoman said Monday.

But company officials have yet to determine how that act was committed, spokeswoman Kelle Maslyn said, though any sort of equipment malfunction has been ruled out.
“We did an extensive preliminary check on our technical systems, and everything appeared to be working properly when the incident occurred,” Maslyn said.
In light of the incident, Comcast says it will issue a $10 credit to any customers who say they viewed the 30-second clip, which featured full male nudity.

Meanwhile, the U.S. Attorney’s office in Phoenix said it is looking into the interruption, which lasted about 30 seconds, and featured full male nudity.

“We take this matter seriously,” spokesman Wyn Hornbuckle said. “We’re working with appropriate agencies to review the incident.”

One of those agencies, the Federal Communications Commission, was not aware of any formal complaints made regarding the porn clip, FCC media relations director David Fiske said Monday afternoon.

It is still unclear how many viewers saw the clip, from a porn movie being shown on Shorteez, an adult cable channel offered by Comcast on a pay-per-view basis.
Only Comcast subscribers who received a standard definition signal could see the clip, while those who watched the game on high-definition televisions were not affected, Maslyn said.

Comcast is Southern Arizona’s second-largest cable subscriber, with more than 80,000 customers in unincorporated Pima County, Marana and Oro Valley.

The Star newsroom was flooded with calls Sunday night from irate viewers who said that the porn cut into the game with less than three minutes left to play, just after Arizona Cardinals player Larry Fitzgerald scored on a touchdown pass from Kurt Warner to put the team in the lead.

Callers said that the clip showed a woman unzipping a man’s pants, followed by a graphic act between the two.

The Super Bowl was being shown locally on KVOA. The station sends its signals — both standard definition and high definition — to Cox Communications, which then sends the signals to Comcast, station president Gary Nielsen said.

KVOA’s signal didn’t have porn on it when the station sent it over to Comcast, Nielsen said. He said his station has received no complaints from viewers who watched the game on Cox, on satellite providers such as DirecTV or Dish Network or from people who saw it through an over-the-air signal.

“This did not emanate from us,” Nielsen said. “We are dismayed that this had to happen.”

The porn clip was actually the second interruption Comcast’s standard definition subscribers saw, Maslyn said. A few minutes earlier, a short clip showing the closing credits of a movie on another adult channel, Club Jenna, were shown.

Both Club Jenna and Shorteez are channels offered by Spice Entertainment, according to the Playboy TV Network’s Web site.

Comcast has set up an e-mail account to take feedback from concerned customers. The address is comcasttucsonfeedback@gmail.com.

Customers also can call 744-1900.

Since first reporting on the story Sunday, various online updates posted by the Star on its Web site had received more than 173,000 page views on as of 1 p.m. Monday, online editor John Bolton said.

Got this from James Mishler's blog

Wm John Wheeler of The Companions has passed
William John Wheeler, game designer and co-founder and publisher of the Islandia Campaign through his game company The Companions, passed away on June 3, 2008, at 66 years of age at his home in Chicago, Ill.

John authored The Curse on Hareth, Plague of Terror, and with his friend Peter Rice, Brotherhood of the Bolt and Gems for Death; John also edited the complete line of The Companions products, including Treasure Trove, Companion Pieces, and the Places of Mystery series. John was well-regarded for his very popular fantasy role-playing game campaign seminars given at conventions across the country during the late ’80s, especially at Gen Con, where he often gave his presentations in conjunction with Peter Rice.

A man of great intensity and intellect, he will be missed by his friends and students, including Peter Rice, Scott Thompson, and many, many others. Memorial donations can be made in his name to the American Diabetes Association or similar organizations, but the best way to remember him would be to get together with some friends and play some games.

On a personal note, I was fortunate to have been at one of the seminars that John and Peter gave at Gen Con many years ago. At the time I was just starting out as a Dungeon Master, and had fumbled around quite a bit trying to build my own campaign. I was greatly inspired by the Wilderlands and Greyhawk, but had no tools with which to further develop them, let alone develop my own campaign setting. The seminar by John and Peter gave me those tools, which eventually led me to where I am today. For that I will be eternally grateful. Thanks John

Those seminars at GenCon were incredible. The one where they demonstrated the insanity of the old AD&D encumbrance rules was great. They also did stuff on developing a pantheon.

Thanks for the good work Mr Wheeler.

Havent done one of these in a while...

From the Green Ronin website.....

Winter is almost over but today it's snowing in Seattle once again. That portent can only mean one thing: Winter is Coming! Yes, it's true; A Song of Ice and Fire Roleplaying has been approved and is now at print!

YAY!!

So last night at dinner Gordy was comparing me to Canada.

Lon is freindly and gregarious, without beiing overbearing....
Like Canada.

When people are in trouble they run to Lon...
Like Canada.

When people are asked they say Lon is ok and they would go back again.
Like Canada

And Lon is grumpy sometimes...
Like Quebec.

There were a few more, but I dont recall them. And no I do not have "beady little eyes
and flapping heads so full of lies."

I will be semi-out-of-touch thru late Saturday. Have a good holiday.

Not safe for work.......

( Oh myyyyyy........ )

From an article about Iceland's banking problems...

For richer, for poorer: the struggle to survive after banking collapse

On three shiny floors of a former fish factory is CCP, a company best known in computer gaming for Eve Online, which has 300,000 participants all over the world - as many inhabitants as Iceland itself. However, restrictions on access to foreign currency for individuals and businesses and on foreign investment into Iceland are making life difficult. "To make new games, we need foreign investors," says Eyjolfur Gudmundsson, formerly an assistant professor at the University of Akureyri, who supervises Eve's virtual economy. "The present currency restrictions are putting us in a straitjacket. We are in talks with the government, but if we can't let capital in, we might be compelled to leave Iceland, even though this would be against our wishes.

Plus...