thedeadone.net » WTF

$29.99 does not equal €29.99, Steam

Mark Cunningham — Wed, 16 Feb 2011 12:44:17 +0000

That’s disappointing.

I’m not a big computer gamer but when I heard news of Felicia Day doing a new web series based on Dragon Age (I’m fan of theguild webseries), I thought I might check this Dragon Age RPG out on my new shiny Windows 7 laptop. It sounds like a game I might like.

First obstacle is that there was no demo of Dragon Age: Origins available, so I couldn’t check if it played well on my laptop (though I did read of problems with DA on Windows 7 during my googling). This is pretty much a blocker for me. Not having played much of the new RPGs on PCs, I wasn’t sure I’d enjoy it, and I wasn’t about to fork out on a game that wasn’t sure would even play.

But then I figured, may be it’s quite cheap now with the sequel coming out shortly. If it’s cheap enough then I won’t be annoyed if it doesn’t play well or I don’t like it. So I thought I checked Steam. I don’t use Steam, but I’ve heard so much good about it from other sources (like reddit.com) and even my wife uses Steam (she bought the latest Civ game from them), I figured it’d be a good place to get it. I’m not bothered about owning manuals or having a physical DVD.

When I checked in work the price quoted on Steam was in dollars: $29.99. That’s not bad. Converting it to Euros, that’s about €22, which is reasonable. I’d rather it was under the €20 for me to justify the purchase.

I couldn’t find a way to tell the website to show me the prices in Euros, so part of me wondered if it would be even slightly cheaper if bought in Euros, you know rounded down to €20 (unlikely, but I was hopefully) or there might be some Euro-specific offers (I’m guessing not). So I got home and installed the desktop client, went to the store and looked up Dragon Age: Origins, in Euros.

It’s €29.99. It costs €7 more, just to buy it in Euros (in US dollars that’s $40.55). Really? It looks like they just took the US dollar price and stuck a € at the end (and apparently subsequent googling revealed I’m not the only one to notice this). Steam has just lost a new customer, because now if I happen to look at game price on Steam, I have to wonder if I’m not paying more, just because I’m paying Euro.

And not only that, I’ve since discovered: You can buy it on Amazon.co.uk for £9.20, which converts to about €11, not including delivery charges. So I would have to wait a few days to get it, but for a saving of around €15, that’s really a no-brainer in terms of cost.

So did I buy it? Nope. The lack of a demo means I’m not sure I’d like it or can play it on my hardware and it’s not cheap enough nor convenient enough to buy it on the off-chance I may like it.

(I used XE as my currency converter for this blog post)

Just a little bit creepy: Bohemian Grove

Mark Cunningham — Mon, 19 Nov 2007 14:15:57 +0000

I’ve never heard of Bohemian Grove before until I came across this site. I only came across it because the blogger behind the site started used my tdomf plugin, funny how you find links.

The first store I entered was a small market with various items and I asked the lady at the counter if she had ever heard of the Bohemian Grove. … I noticed that she was a bit nervous that I asked her. She sort of shook her head and then pointed to the guy who was now standing behind me with an item and said to ask him. He looked at me and I asked, “have you ever heard of a place called the Bohemian Grove”. He sort of said something to the effect of, “um, oh, its like over there somewhere” (pointing). … I asked “do you know anything about it”? He said, “naw, just that it is over there if you want to find it”. He then cut the conversation off quickly and headed out of the store. The woman behind the counter seemed to be avoiding looking at me after that.

But luckily he found someone who opened up a bit…

They then began to open up a lot and the guy told me of an encounter a couple of years ago where he and a friend were kayaking down the Russian River and decided to rest on a beach shore. As soon as they pulled there kayaks to the sand a couple of guys came down out of the trees on the ledge with guns and told them to leave immediately or they would be shot.

Yet it gets more mysterious…

Then the woman said a couple of suspicious things. Call it the gumshoe in me, but I did find it too strange to ignore. She told me how to get to it, how far you could go before you would be stopped and then said that if I get in to tell her how I did it. I told her that there is no way I am trying. She then told me that she was going to have to research the history of that club someday. Now, what I found suspicious about that is that she at one point was naming attendees of the grove, she knows the date it happens every year, she has “heard rumors” about it, she had lived there much of her life and she never did research on it? He said he had been threatened to be killed and that many others had stories such as that and still, it provoked no interest to research it? She said she could see them flying people in with helicopters every year and if you saw these streets, there is no way you would not notice all the cars going into it. What is the most bizarre is that she knew how far one could make it in before being confronted at a guard booth. Lastly and certainly no least, when we went to find the entrance to the grove, it was less than a half mile down from the bridge. It was like, right there. That whole scenario just seemed weird.

It sounds like the perfect opening for some sort of Lovecraft/X-Files thing. A open-secret government protected meeting place with MIBs and a town with creepy inhabitants… But it gets just a little creepier, because the blogger actually tried to go up to the grove. Excellent location for all sorts of modern day roleplaying settings and adventures!

So here we go approaching the grove. My wife is driving and as soon as you get to the property you see no trespassing, private property signs everywhere. It is not unlike my wife to ignore such signs and onto the property we went and I told her we should turn around and get out of there. Before I got the words out of my mouth, here comes a pickup truck hauling ass down an inside area for parking. We were no more than 20 feet in the grove and here comes somebody. As we were driving out onto the main road and back toward town I noticed through the trees that the truck was following us directly to our left. I had not noticed before but the parking lot and Bohemian property extended down the road a bit and it also had private property signs all over. My wife and myself had chills as we watched this truck literally drive directly beside us until the parking area came to an end verifying that we were being scoped because it then turned around and headed back.

Bloom’in hell. That would give me the willies too. The strange thing is, the guy wants to live there? My my!

More Irish were sold as slaves than Africans?

Mark Cunningham — Mon, 03 Sep 2007 12:03:53 +0000

Or more exactly “that from 1600 to 1699, far more Irish were
sold as slaves than Africans”. This is the claim from this article.

Reading the article, there is a certain amount of sense there but I can’t verify any of the facts or info on it as I’m not a big history buff. If it is true, how did I miss this in my Irish history class in school? Why is it something that’s ignored by modern Irish culture? It would seem to me to be a greater tragedy than the potato famine.

The Irish slaves, apparently, even got treated worse than other slaves because they were cheaper and Catholic:

Although the Africans and Irish were housed together and were the property of the planter owners, the Africans received much better treatment, food and housing. In the British West Indies the planters routinely tortured white slaves for any infraction. Owners would hang Irish slaves by their hands and set their hands or feet afire as a means of punishment. To end this barbarity, Colonel William Brayne wrote to English authorities in 1656 urging the importation of Negro slaves on the grounds that, “as the planters would have to pay much more for them, they would have an interest in preserving their lives, which was wanting in the case of (Irish)….” many of whom, he charged, were killed by overwork and cruel treatment. African Negroes cost generally about 20 to 50 pounds Sterling, compared to 900 pounds of cotton (about 5 pounds Sterling) for an Irish. They were also more durable in the hot climate, and caused fewer problems. The biggest bonus with the Africans though, was they were NOT Catholic, and any heathen pagan was better than an Irish Papist.

Is this bullshit, “bad history” (ala “bad science”) so to speak, or is this true?

America’s Next Top Cylon

Mark Cunningham — Tue, 15 May 2007 09:18:14 +0000

That should be *Canada’s* Next Top *Model*, actually!

Battlestar Galaticia’s latest season had just finished on Sky One a week ago when my wife informed me that Canada’s Next Top Model was showing on Living TV.

Yes, I admit it. I’ve watched America’s Next Top Model. I mean, its a series about beautiful girls wanting to be models where the biggest concern is if they are willing to do a naked photo shoot? Okay it’s got Tyra Bank’s wannable Talk-Show host constantly trying to get the contestants to “show us who you are” (i.e. cry or reveal some dirt about their past), which drives me up the wall… but thank god for Sky+ and fast forward.

Anyway, they are doing a Canadian version and Sophie, my wife, sat down to watch it on Saturday. Obviously there is no Tyra Banks. They have some Canadian Model. But do you know who it is? Tricia Helfer (her official site). Who’s Tricia Helfer? Well she plays the sexy Cylon “Number Six” in Battlestar Galaticia!

I was suddenly dizzy. Campy Fashion Reality TV show crashing with Serious Sci-Fi Drama! It was nearly Cthulhu-esque… two worlds colliding together, other alien dimensions shifting into ours. I kept expecting Tricia to explain how they would be trained to the ultimate sexy human-killing Cylon instead of how Tricia was first spotted by a talent scout, while waiting in a queue, and how she became an international super-model!

(Previous weird Battlestar-Galaticia-ness: Calling your baby Baltar!)

Seriousily, do you think I might be a terrorist?

Mark Cunningham — Thu, 03 May 2007 12:50:41 +0000

I saw this story via slashdot.

Members of the area Chinese community have rallied behind a Clements High School senior who was removed from the campus and sent to M.R. Wood Alternative Education Center after parents complained he’d created a computer game map of Clements.

So this kid, creates a mod for some FPS (First Person Shooter computer game like Doom or Quake) based on his school. Oh and he had a hammer.

The map the boy designed mimicked Clements High School. And, sources said, it was uploaded either to the boy’s home computer or to a computer server where he and his friends could access and play on it. Two parents apparently learned from their children about the existence of the game, and complained to FBISD administrators, who investigated.

“They arrested him,” Chen said of FBISD police, “and also went to the house to search.” The Lin family consented to the search, and a hammer was found in the boy’s room, which he used to fix his bed, because it wasn’t in good shape, Chen said. He indicated police seized the hammer as a potential weapon.

And he gets arrested and “removed from the campus”?

The thing is, while I was in DCU (Dublin City University) many years ago, I created two maps/mods for Quake, a very popular multi-player FPS at the time: CA Labs and Sports Hall. Both were based on buildings on the campus. (Since I did these mods, the buildings have changed quite drastically).

Am I a terrorist? Should I have been suspended from DCU for them? If I was living in America should I be expecting police officers to raid my home and if they find DIY tools, arrest me?

“Listen here, Mr. Goat, did you poo on my head?”

Mark Cunningham — Tue, 01 May 2007 10:05:48 +0000

My mother-in-law works for a publisher in France, kid’s books mostly. She gets piles of free books for kids. During Christmas, Alice my daughter, was playing with the pile of books and came across a book entitled “De la petite taupe qui voulait savoir qui lui avait fait sur la tete”. She loved it.

The book is about a mole who happens to have someone poo on his head! He then goes asks each animal did they poo on his head and compares their poo with the poo on his head. When he finds out who did it, he has his little revenge.

Here’s a scan of when he questions a goat:

Brilliant. I think it’s originally German. I have found an English translation on Amazon.co.uk called “The Story of the Little Mole Who Knew It Was None of His Business”. I love these subversive children’s books. Alice gets a great kick out of it saying “Hey Goat!! Did you poo on my head?!?” “No, it wasn’t me!“. And then she pretends to take the poo of the page and plonk it on my head!

Little Update #1: I just noticed on the Amazon page for the book that it links to “The Gas We Pass: the Story of Farts”. Excellent!

Little Update #2: megglesmcgoo points out that:

Alice mentions that book in The vicar of Dibley

Roleplaying without your GM or playing solo? What is “Mythic Role Playing”?

Mark Cunningham — Fri, 20 Apr 2007 13:08:56 +0000

I was perusing the reviews on rpg.net and I saw this one: Review of Mythic Role Playing. I’ve never heard of the game myself till I saw the review. Besides the intriguing title (“Mythic” strikes a certain chord in relation to my pet RPG projects), the summary is fascinating:

A great buy is an understatement. No GM, multiple players; No GM, one player; One GM, any number of players; Mythic, stand-alone; Mythic with other RPGs. Mythic has many uses and executes them Mythicly well. You will not be disappointed.

A game that can be Universalis-like at one time or play it solo just as a player without a GM at all? What is this?

The review isn’t necessarily enlightening. Something about a big chart and rolling percentile dice to resolve… but not too clear on how you play without a GM. The review also states:

Mythic also requires little to no preparation and very little bookkeeping. Come to the game unprepared, brainstorm, for 5 or so minutes, create characters, come up with an opening scene, and start asking yes & no questions with the use of the Fate Chart to build your adventure and build your world as you play.

This fate chart thing just sounds like some sort of dramatic “random encounter table” but the author of the review points out:

This is not a “choose-your-way” or “follow-the-paragraph” book; it is a full-fledged role-playing system.

Ok. What the fuck is it? Has anyone read it or played it that could give me a little more on it? Does it do everything the reviewer claims?

I’m dubious about the review. It’s not written clearly and it is his first and only review. And he does state that he’s doing the review to, essentially, promote it. (I guess that’s partially successful, because here I am writing about it).

Also, whats the link with “Mythic”? Is it based on mythology and folklore or the “art of telling mythic stories”? It is meant to be a “universal RPG”.

I’m very tempted to go and buy the PDF, just to see what it is. (BTW the website for Mythic Role Playing is here but I haven’t looked it in any depth yet).

Love is spam!

Mark Cunningham — Tue, 13 Mar 2007 11:33:37 +0000

It’s my wife, Sophie’s, birthday today. I had flowers sent to her work. She sends me an email with the title “I LOVE YOU” as a thank you. But apparently:

This message is considered Spam by Symantec AVF and was deleted.The message has been marked for deletion and the message body, replaced with this text.

Love is spam!

I think perhaps I was a little harsh on Valentines day with my last post…

Mark Cunningham — Thu, 15 Feb 2007 12:04:51 +0000

But I certainly was not as harsh as these guys in India: “Groups tell couples to boycott Valentines Day”.

NEW DELHI: A number of political and hardliner groups in different parts of the country, including those belonging to the Sangh Parivar, on Tuesday warned couples against celebrating Valentine’s Day on Wednesday, claiming it represented western culture.

Okay, I guess…

In Rajasthan capital Jaipur, Bharatiya Kamgar and Students’ Federation of India, organisations affiliated to the Shiv Sena and CPI-M respectively, said they would “blacken the faces” of those making public displays of affection.

Another group, Sanskriti Bachao Samiti, said teams of youth would move around college and university campuses to “detect couples abusing public places”.

Oh and…

There have also been violent protests.

And this I find the weirdest and most disturbing of all (from boingboing):

A ‘rath’ (decorated vehicle) prepared by the protesters, mainly activists of the Dharam Sena, for “forcibly marrying couples found celebrating Valentine’s Day” was seized in Jabalpur, Additional Superintendent of Police Manohar Verma told PTI.

Forcibly marrying couples? Jeepers.

(Previously on thedeadone.net: Seriously, Valentine’s day?)

Evidence of Occult activity in Dublin!

Mark Cunningham — Sun, 14 May 2006 17:28:17 +0000

I managed to take this photo of a strange occult ritual being performed in Dublin. Whats worse several Redbrick members were involved; duke, tomo, dshagins, dimples, p zircon and grimnar… I overheard mention of werewolves. We’re they trying to summon such a monster?

thedeadone.net » WTF

$29.99 does not equal €29.99, Steam

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Just a little bit creepy: Bohemian Grove

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