Twitter is the insanely popular buzzword everywhere right now. But what is so great about Twitter?

It depends on what you want to get out of it.

Many people use Twitter to stalk celebrities. I’m sure that’s great, as far as it goes. I do follow some celebrities that I know won’t follow me back. (But not this one:)

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Many more people use Twitter to advertise their business. I have seen a lot of successful (to me) podcast novels launched using Twitter in combination with a lot of other intensive advertising. I know many other people who use Twitter in combination with Etsy to sell their handmade goods. Both of these have worked very well, from what I’ve observed. (Wanna buy my Etsy stuff?)

I would say that the main reason I personally use Twitter is to chat. It isn’t an IM but it has evolved to be pretty close to one, with the @ commands and direct messages. I originally started following podcasters, to tell them I liked their shows. But many of them have become closer acquaintances now. I’ve met them! Still, it’s not the same thing –  ”knowing someone via Twitter” does not make them a close personal friend, even if you do know their dog is sick and they got a latte for breakfast.

That being said, it is still a great way to form connections!

Far and away the most highly lauded app I have heard people speak of is Tweetdeck. I claimed I would research and talk about a bunch of applications people suggested, but it turns out I am too lazy. I will just say that this app turns your screen (though two monitors work even better) into columns of streaming Tweets that you can group by various topics/etc. Sounds useful to me!

I will also mention that the Twitter plugin I use with Firefox is called Twitbin. It sits in the bottom tray, and if you click it, it opens a slim column on the left of your browser, where you can watch/post/interact with your Twitter stream. And then close when you’re done. Very handy and simple.

But I have to go now – someone just Twittered that he was doing a live show on Ustream!

As mentioned in the last journal I bought a card game, called Rage. I also bought Farkle, and played Save Doctor Lucky. (Note: not Kill. You lose points if you accidentally say Kill.)

Now, Rage was very fun, even though I don’t like trick taking games. The fun part was the company I played with. Farkle was less fun, because I lost, and I’m not always a good sport – and it was so hard I had to make a house rule to add an extra die. We also tried it with two extra dice, but that made it too easy. Save Doctor Lucky worked surprisingly well, considering we only had 3 people. I used a chunk of glass that looked like an ice cube for Doctor Lucky’s meeple. I didn’t think about how ironic that was, on the Titanic. 

I was playing with my family. And it turns out that shorter games work better with them. Much as I wouldn’t have minded buying a copy of Wealth of Nations or Pandemic, I can’t see many of my local friends playing it. (Not counting my game group – they are actually an hour away so I don’t consider them “that local”.)

Here are some more fairly-quick-to-play games on my radar screen. If you have any experience playing these I’d love to hear about it. (Also I shall be checking out BoardGameGeek.com)

• Fairytale, (Zman seems to have a lot of good games!)
• Earthquake (out of print, I think)
• Fist of DragonStones (out of print also, I think)
• Alibi, and
• Elixir.

Tuesday I began a game of Spirit of the Century, a storytelling game of pulp action heroes! Let me just say that any game that involves crazy scientists with explosives (note: they were not the enemy!), and fighting ninjas on a train in 192- is 100% supreme in my book. The game play may be podcast, and I apologize in advance for my own voice and annoying (to me) laughter. But I do not apologize for picking on Chance Random, the Improbable Man With The Strange Arm Of Living Wood That He Inexplicably Got From Mysterious Druids Under Cardiff* Being a woman of [mad botanical] science (in this game, especially), that bothers me to pieces. The next time we play won’t be until April, but I’ll be working on my maniacal laugh.

 *Perhaps that is not his official title.

The Dice Tower

This podcast offers a massive amount of information. The two co-hosts are Baptist missionaries in Korea! I think this is just great, but even if you don’t, don’t let it scare you – I have never heard them talk about religion on the show. But it does ensure the show is very family-friendly. I said they offer a huge amount of information, and it’s true – every other week they have a series of segments in their show, offering a “top ten” game list, with explanations of why they were ranked the way they were, and since each host has a separate list there are usually many more than ten games discussed. There is even a “43 second review” of a game, and they answer listener’s e-mails, and have a lot of discussion about the difference between American and Euro style games. When you know more than 10 games will be described on each show, you can be sure you will get a lot of information! The Dice Tower is sponsored by Funagain Games, which is a good source for buying games, I assume, having not actually used it. They also have a guild on BoardGameGeek.

The Game Kennel

The Game Kennel is one of the podcasts under the “Pulp Gamer” suite of podcasts. It replaces the “King’s Court” which used to actually rate games from 1 to 5 stars ( “LEGENDARY” ). The Game Kennel, in order to be, I suppose, more “PC” instead describes a game, and how it is played, and who it most likely appeals to, and then allows you to decide for yourself whether it is the game for you. It’s still good info! Check out their other podcasts too, for industry interviews.

Have Games, Will Travel

I actually got to meet Paul Tevis at Origins 08, which was exciting. He’s the first podcaster I ever recognized by voice. HGWT is not producing any more shows – but you will still get a lot of information from downloading the old shows! Some of the shows were about board games, some were about rpgs, but all had in-depth information.

There are surely more board game podcasts out there, but these are the ones I listen to.

Of course you can buy a lot of games on Amazon, but if you can find one, it’s much better to support your local game store! Even if the price is higher, the relationship you build is worth it! My local game store is called Infinite Monkey Games, and they’re good people.

Another thing that will contribute massively to your enjoyment of board games is finding or forming a game group, so you aren’t consistently 1) inflicting the games on your immediate family and 2) buying games that you hate because you didn’t know until you tried them. This is ameliorated when you can play the terrible games someone else already paid for first!

Finally, a HUGE source of information is BoardGameGeek. This big forum contains player-submitted information on just about every game ever made. You can find links to acquire out-of-print games, and discover everything from game rating, and approximate play time, to age range, or even how many forum users played the game in the last month.

So whether you’re a newbie or a grognard – why not make time for a board game today! 

When I got to work I forgot about it, checked e-mail, etc. Twenty minutes later I tried to turn it on and it didn’t turn on – and it was blazing hot. And so, somehow, my poor Zen is fried. The IT guy at work took it apart and disconnected the battery, which was running hot without stopping. He thinks it is a circuity failure and not a battery failure. I don’t suppose it matters much.

Anyone have suggestions on a replacement?
I tossed this idea out on Twitter and got various replies.

High in the list are the new Zens and the Zen X-fi. Also high in the list is the Zune.
I have around $300 to blow prayerfully consider spending, and would like at least 30G space on the thing.

No, starting with the letter Z is not a prerequisite.

• This Week in Tech (TWiT)
  Daily Giz Wiz (TWiT)
  Net @ Nite (TWiT)
  Munchcast (TWiT)
• CNET Buzz Out Loud
• Gadgettes
• Jawbone Radio
• Go Magic Go
• I Should Be Writing
• Radio Isopod
• The Secret Lair
• The Splendid Table
• Quick and Dirty Tips – Grammar Girl
• Christiana’s Shallow Thoughts
• Through the Bible Radio
• Podcastle
• Escape Pod
• Pseudopod
• Celtic Myth Podshow
• Polymer Clay Productions
• Artist Alley Podcast
• The Sonic Society
• The Red Panda Adventures
  Black Jack Justice
• Dragon’s Landing
• Pulp Gamer: The Game Kennel
  Pulp Gamer: Out of Character
  Pulp Gamer: Inside Track
• The Dice Tower and Dice Tower Musings
• Have Games Will Travel – For a Few Games More
• Voice of the Revolution
• The Game Master show
• PC Gamer Podcast
• Masterplan
• Aliens You Will Meet
• Round Table er, The Game That May Be er,  Canon Puncture
• Steampunk Spectacular
• DragonHearth
• And a few others that seem to have podfaded.