Dungeons and Dragons Revisited - A Great Overview of the Phenomena

My highest recommendation for "Destroy All Monsters" by Paul Lafarge from a 2006 issue of The Believer magazine. For anyone who grew up playing D&D, this article is a must read.  For anyone who didn't play, you can learn what the fun, and the fuss was all about, and with the benefit of time, a little of why it was important to its adherents.  It covers the basics of the game (and its complexity), the history and controversy of its creation, extraordinary growth through corporate ups and downs, its cultural place, effects and backlash, and takes a look at what was at the heart of the obscure game that created its own niche and captured so many adolescent imaginations, including mine.

Engaging writing, perceptive analysis, and even some intrepid investigation (like going to Gary Gygax's house!) make this piece fun, informative and thought-provoking.

It takes me back to when I got my first Basic Set at around 8 years old...

Moment of 80's Nostalgia Zen

Or why we "dial" the phone, what "high speed dubbing" is used for, blowing on game cartridges, the scream of a modem connecting, watching TV shows at a certain time and (working) pay phones..

And we didn't get Gopher, WAIS and Lynx until sophomore year of college!

For the exhaustive list, 100 Things our Children May Never Know About from GeekDad...

Credit for Sharon from Texas for inspiring this post.

My Blackberry Is Not Working!

Like a tech version of Abbott and Costello's "Who's on First?" - check out this brilliant skit from "The One Ronnie" on BBC:

How to Free Up Space in iCloud

I found that after my first sync after upgrading my iPad to IOS 5, I was already running out of space in my iCloud account.  Of course, the option to buy more space was immediately offered, but after doing a little digging, I was able to drastically reduce the amount of space I was using for backup.  Here's how:

1.  Go to Settings, then choose iCloud, then Storage


2.  Select Backup/Manage Storage


3.  Select the device you want to edit


4.  Deselect any Apps which you don't need to backup - especially those that don't include any data, those with data you have backed up in other places (like my photos) and apps that you can easily re-download from the App Store if you need to.

That's it - I was able to cut my iCloud usage by about half by eliminating just a few apps.  Now I need to figure out how to use the space I freed up!


Here's an Apple Support article with more details:  http://support.apple.com/kb/HT4847

Solution for IOS 5 Download Problems - Error -3200, -3259, -3002

As Apple servers are overwhelmed right now by users trying to download IOS 5, many users are reporting "Error -3200" or "Error -3259" for iPads.  The error is just an indication that your download is timing out because of all of the demand.  If you want to bypass this problem and get IOS 5 as soon as possible, here's what to do:

MAKE SURE TO BACKUP YOUR DEVICE BEFORE UPGRADING.

1.  Download the IOS 5 Firmware directly from Apple by clicking on the links below, save the file to your desktop:

iOS 5 IPSW Firmware Update Files

• iPhone 3GS - appldnld.apple.com­/iPhone4­/041­-8356.20111012.SQRDT...
• iPhone 4 GSM - (AT&T)- appldnld.apple.com­/iPhone4­/041­-8358.20111012.FFc34...
• iPhone 4 CDMA - (Verizon) - appldnld.apple.com­/iPhone4­/041­-9743.20111012.vjhfp...
• iPhone 4,1 (4S?) - appldnld.apple.com­/iPhone4­/041­-1317.20111012.UVTgr...
• iPad - appldnld.apple.com­/iPhone4­/041­-8357.20111012.DTOrM...
• iPad 2 WiFi - appldnld.apple.com­/iPhone4­/041­-9618.20111012.Zxb22...
• iPad 2,2 – GSM (AT&T) - appldnld.apple.com­/iPhone4­/041­-9619.20111012.y34Nx...
• iPad 2,3 – CDMA (Verizon) - appldnld.apple.com­/iPhone4­/041­-9620.20111012.pnB4r...
• iPod touch 3G - appldnld.apple.com­/iPhone4­/061­-8360.20111012.New3w...
• iPod touch 4G - appldnld.apple.com­/iPhone4­/061­-9622.20111012.Evry3...
• Apple TV2 - appldnld.apple.com­/AppleTV­/061­-9621.20111012.Vgijx...

2.  After downloading the desired firmware, you can shift-click (PC) or option-click (Mac) the "Update" button in iTunes. A file dialog will open and let you choose the downloaded ipsw-file from your desktop.

3. Proceed with the upgrade as usual.

4. If you get Error -3002 at this point, try to do a Restore, rather than an Upgrade - remember to shift-click (or option-click on a Mac).

Please let me know if you have any issues with this procedure in the comments section below.

UPDATE - Similar solutions for iOS 5.1: http://obscureport.blogspot.com/2012/03/solution-to-ios-51-download-problems.html