Needed: The World's Smallest Crown Royal Bag
Billed as the smallest dice in the world, each one measures 0.3 x 0.3 x 0.3 mm (for perspective, see the photo above showing one of the die next to a 0.5-mm diameter mechanical pencil lead). The tiny dice are painstakingly crafted one by one from BsBm (brass) in a 9 hour long fabrication process that relies on the latest in micromachining technology. Each one weighs 0.00016 grams and the pips measure 0.05 mm in diameter.
Pious gratitude to: duckydan
12:23 PM Dec 21, 2005
10:15 AM Aug 8, 2005
From Ye Olde Smoking Gun:
Crusader Nabbed By Michigan CopsMedieval sword, mallet, armor no match for ye olde Taser
AUGUST 5--Meet Robert McClain. The Michigan man, 42, was arrested last week after he attempted to literally go medieval on cops. According to the below Royal Oak Police Department report, officers were dispatched to McClain's home after a motorist called 911 to report that McClain had fled the scene of an auto accident. When they arrived at his crib, McClain allegedly tried to strike a cop with a four-foot sword. After missing, McClain retreated to his basement, where he donned a chainmail armored vest and leather gauntlets to protect his arms. He also added a giant wooden mallet to his arsenal and beckoned officers to come downstairs and get him. "I'm gonna crush your f***ing skulls," McClain warned. Then, in a nice rhetorical flourish (for a lunatic, at least), he added, "I have a thousand years of power." That omnipotence, however, was no match for a police Taser, which felled McClain. He was then carted off and charged with felony assault and a misdemeanor count for failing to remain at an accident scene.
Putting on the armor was a definite tactical mistake; the cops gain a +3 bonus on attack rolls if the opponent is wearing metal armor .
5:42 PM Aug 3, 2005
Naked Man With Sword Chases Complaining Neighbors
The naked swordsman is pleading guilty. Curtis Rarick of North Liberty, Iowa, was accused of chasing his neighbors with a sword.His neighbors told police a nude Rarick was standing in his front yard and they complained.
According to the neighbors, Rarick got upset then ran into his house, came back out and threatened them with a sword. He's now pleaded guilty to assault with a dangerous weapon.
Rarick will be sentenced next month and faces up to two years in prison and a $5,000 fine.
Unless he has a high Dex, a swordsman who wears no Armor has an AC of 10.
I only have one question...
...about this story:
Kenyan, 73, kills leopard with bare hands
NAIROBI - A 73-year-old Kenyan grandfather reached into the mouth of an attacking leopard and tore out its tongue to kill it, authorities said Wednesday.Peasant farmer Daniel M’Mburugu was tending to his potato and bean crops in a rural area near Mount Kenya when the leopard charged out of the long grass and leapt on him.
M’Mburugu had a machete in one hand but dropped that to thrust his fist down the leopard’s mouth. He gradually managed to pull out the animal’s tongue, leaving it in its death-throes.
Is the brave and lucky Mr. M'Mburugu a monk, or a high-level commoner?
7:27 PM Apr 27, 2005
Kathy trolls through the deepest dungeons of the Internet in an effort to understand gaming.
Sadly, what she finds is all too representative....
(Hyuk..."trolls"...I slay me!)
Another D&D Monster Siting
Last week, I wrote about the use of the term homunculus in a column, and pointed out its use in the d20 D&D game.
Well, here's another one, from CQ:
The stone golem of the 2000 election was the hanging chad, and this time around it looks like exit polling. Two reports out today continue the post-mortems on the National Election Pool, one discounting allegations of conspiracy theories and the other boosting them.
According to the d20 SRD, a Golems are described as:
[M]agically created automatons of great power. Constructing one involves the employment of mighty magic and elemental forces.The animating force for a golem is a spirit from the Elemental Plane of Earth. The process of creating the golem binds the unwilling spirit to the artificial body and subjects it to the will of the golem’s creator.
In addition:
A stone golem is 9 feet tall and weighs around 2,000 pounds.Its body is frequently stylized to suit its creator. For example, it might look like it is wearing armor, with a particular symbol carved on the breastplate, or have designs worked into the stone of its limbs.
Yes, I truly am a geek. Expect more of this giddiness now that the election is over.
I'm talking to you, Kathy!
Unflattering
Donald Luskin describes Paul Krugman:
As anyone knows who has seen him on television or in person, he is a short, pudgy, whiny, stuttering, shifty-eyed, ill-groomed, gray little homunculus.
(Emphasis added by me).
I really like the word homunculus.
Dictionary.com defines homunculus as:
1. A diminutive human.
2. A miniature, fully formed individual believed by adherents of the early biological theory of preformation to be present in the sperm cell.
In the world of the D&D d20 game, homunculi are described as:
...a miniature servant created by a wizard. These creatures are weak combatants but make effective spies, messengers, and scouts. A homunculus’s creator determines its precise features. Homunculi are little more than tools designed to carry out assigned tasks. They are extensions of their creators, sharing the same alignment and basic nature. A homunculus cannot speak, but the process of creating one links it telepathically with its creator.
More game-related information on them here.