Cameron Goble's Page

A few weeks ago, my friend Pendar died. We had a memorial -- a couple memorials, actually -- and this is going to be a strange post because I'm going to try not to eulogize him. At the same time, this post *is* about one way that his presence enriched my life, and I don't want to ignore that.

The immediate problem is this: there's an empty chair at my group's gaming table.

Now, that obviously doesn't sum up the life of my friend and the love we all held for him. But on the other hand, it is an… Continue

Introduction

One never knows when true love may appear, and in these days of heady galactic expansion, true love can take surprising forms. You might, for example, intentionally maroon yourself on a distant world only to discover intimiate companionship. Or perhaps you might find yourself stationed on a crossroads between space-faring races, excited by the possibilities. You might even rationalize an unexpected mating to yourself as easily as this: "It seemed logical at the time."

Whate… Continue

Our best photo of Azathoth to date. Thanks to Astronomy Picture of the Day for this particular nightmare.



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Here's the CON's cover story:

Our Galaxy's Central Molecular Zone Credit: A. Ginsburg (U. Colorado - Boulder) et al., BGPS Team,

… Continue

Lord knows, I do love me some Alphasmart goodness when I write. The instant-on, the complete word processing focus, the incredible battery life: it's all good.

It pre-supposes, however, that I know what I want to write before I turn it on.

That's a problem for me sometimes. Sure, I may bang out a little poetry or the beginnings of a short story with ease, but when I want to really get down to brass tacks and write something big, I end up stymied.

Don't get me wrong: I'm all for the NaN… Continue

Here are some handy interface tips that I worked out. I didn't find any reference to these in the manual, and I've come to rely on them. Somebody at EA was thinking -- they just didn't write it down. Or I blinked during a tutorial.

* HOW TO KNOW WHEN YOU SHOULD SELL OR TERRAFORM (Solar System Screen): You can save some time figuring out if a visit to a planet is worth it. Watch your cargo screen when you approach planets. Icons will blink for one of two reasons: either you just picked so… Continue