Kindle Wireless Delivery Changes

Image by Getty Images via Daylife

Amazon has announced some changes to the personal document delivery service they have for the Kindle. Currently, you can e-mail Amazon a document (many formats are supported) and they will convert the file and deliver it to your Kindle wirelessly. They charge .10 per document for this service. Beginning on May 4th, the service will increase in price to .15 per MB. Important to note that a) the service is going from a flat to a metered fee and b) the minimum charge is always the .15 cents.

I have only used this service a few times, but I do think it is a great service for Amazon to offer. You can manually convert documents and move them to the Kindle for free, but the convenience factor with this service is very nice.

i am sure that people will complain about the price hike, and make all sorts of claims about how the service should be free and how poor of a job the service does with complex PDF files. In my mind though, this is a good idea. Amazon has got to be spending a ton of money on the Whispernet service with Sprint. One of the primary reasons I like the Kindle is Whispernet. My hope is that by raising the price on this service a little bit they can recoup some of the money they are spending on Whispernet and keep the wikipedia and experimental internet parts free.

I will also note that they have added support for RTF files as well as experimental support for DocX file (Word 2007).

Mystery of the Borderlands 4e Campaign

Image via Wikipedia

Thinks have finally come together, and it looks like my 4th edition Dungeons & Dragons game will be kicking off in about 13 days on May 13th.  I can just barely remember "playing" Dungeons & Dragons with my brother and a few friends (Tony & Jerry Dunham if I recall correctly) when I was a kid.  We didn't really play correctly, but I doubt we cared.  We used to go sit in the University of South Dakota student union and play.  Good times.

I stopped playing D&D until about 5 years ago when I got interested in playing some 3 and later 3.5 edition games.  I actually DM'd my first D&D RPG for 3.5 about 2 years ago.  It went fairly well but we only had one session which kind of sucked.  In all honesty, I really didn't like the 3.x versions much.  They were a bit to fiddly for me, and you really needed to be an expert to keep things running right (or so I felt).

Enter D&D 4th edition, and some massive changes to the way the game is played.  When I first started hearing about the details of the changes I had a feeling I would like the game, and I can say that my feelings were quite correct.  From a game standpoint, I think this is going to be a load of fun to play.  The roleplaying aspect should be quite interesting as well with new Skill Challenges being used along side combat and just plain old fashioned roleplaying.

We have 5 (possibly 6) 2nd level characters almost ready to dive into the game.  I have been working on a wiki site using Google Sites to use as a home base for the game.  If you are interested in following Dara, Pax, Elizur, Olias and the others on their quest you can check in with the wiki or this blog.

D&D 4e for Free

Cover via Amazon

Way to go Wizards!!!


Wizards of the Coast has posted up PDF files containing both the quick start rules and the Keep on the Shadowfell introductory adventure.  Wizards is calling this the D&D Test Drive and I think it is an amazing way for players to get a feel for the game.  In addition to the two PDF files, Wizards is reminding everyone that the Character Builder is available for free to create characters of levels 1 - 3.

I should also mention that the Character Builder was just updated to include the Arcane Powers supplement.  Really like working with Character Builder, and it seems that Wizards is taking the product serious as the updates are coming each month (last Tuesday) on schedule.

ARGGHHH! Reading is bad for my health

Image by Laenulfean via Flickr

Well not really,but...

I have been hard at work on adventures for a 4e D&D campaign and it has been going really well.  I have been quite immersed in the setting I am creating and it has been a lot of fun.  This morning I just happen along a few posts relating to Savage Worlds and Warhammer Fantasy and my focus has gone all wonky.

Warhammer is really my favorite fantasy setting for RPG's.  It is the first game I played with any real zeal and it is  the game I have the fondest memories playing.  It is one of those games I really want to be playing.  So this morning I start thinking about how I could port the 4e game over to WFRP.

Then I start reading about some Savage Worlds fantasy settings, like Hellfrost.  I am really not that familiar with the game, only playing once at this years OwlCon.  I really like the idea of the game,  especially the use of miniatures.

I suppose I will keep the 4e game working for now.  Everyone already has characters made, and I am actually very excited about the game.  Still, I am hopeful that I will get to play some WFRP or Savage Worlds  soon.

Sample mobile post. I see that blogger now offers posting via text message and thought I would give it a try.

Happy Birthday Liam

Liam Nathaniel Brady

Born: 4/7/2009

Weight: 7 lbs 1 oz

Update: After many discussions we have finally settled on Nathaniel as Liam’s middle name.

Waiting for Baby

One of the things I find most interesting about the whole baby delivery process is the difference between the dramatic TV/movie version and real life. 

My experience has involved the use of an epidural each time, and I have no idea what a birth without one would be like, but I can say without a doubt that drugs are the way to go.

I can see the monitor from where I am sitting and the contractions are coming quite regularly (about every two minutes) and Melissa is quietly eating a popsicle.  I think she might take a nap afterwards.  This is nothing like the experience portrayed in Knocked Up.  I for one am glad, and I am sure Melissa is as well.

Having a baby

Melissa and I are at Texas Women’s Hospital awaiting the arrival of our new son.  Look for a birth announcement (and the name) here when the time comes.

Iain is home with grandma, napping last I heard.  I am sure he is going to be very excited.  I will be sharing some HD video (thanks to my new Flip Mino HD) and some pictures throughout the day and night.  Pictures and video will be available on my Flickr photostream.

I will be posting some text updates via Twitter (@seanabrady) for friends and family that want to follow along.

Good AT-43 Forum Posts

Image via Wikipedia

A couple of good forum posts on AT-43 today I wanted to point out.

Universal Head has posted up some pretty amazing pictures of his gaming table including a landing pad with some LED Christmas lights in it.  Looks awesome as does the table in general.

Rgrove0172 asks for some clarification on 1/2 unit in cover rule for saves.  This is an area of the game that is always a bit silly to me as well.  Some good discussion on wrapping your head around the rule.

Finally, there is some good discussion of the shield wall drill available to AFV’s.  This is another rule that is a bit confusing, but I think is well cleared up in this article.

I am really loving AT-43, just wish I had more time to play.

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Blackberry App Store Launches

Image via CrunchBase

I woke on this fine April Fools Day to discover an e-mail in my Inbox from RIM announcing the availability of App World for Blackberry devices.  Certainly not a bad way to start the morning, and not a few minutes later I was up and running.

I was a bit worried about what I would see.  Recently most of the cool application announcements for the Blackberry have excluded the Storm.  What apps would be left in the store for me to download, and maybe purchase?

Overall, I think that my review of App World is pretty positive.  A few things to make note of.  It provides all of the features I would have looked for in the store, and it has a lot more applications on day one than I would have thought.

1. The App Center software itself makes good use of the touch screen on the Storm.  It fills up the large screen nicely and the navigation by touch is quite nice.
2. The App Center gives you the option to review what you have installed and remove unwanted applications from the store itself, much better than digging through the BB options menus.
3. The Storm was a little slow to load the images of the apps into the store.  That could be related to the relatively weak 3G signal I have at home.
4. There are a fairly large number of applications, each divided up by category.  Most of the applications cost between $2.99 and $4.99 in my quick looks around.
5. The store does offer free trials on some applications, as well as screenshots and reviews.
6. I wish there was a section for themes, and I wish that the store had a way of denoting if an application was designed for a particular model of BB.

I downloaded the Slacker Radio and I Heart Radio applications.  Both seem well designed for the Storm.  I also downloaded a tip calculator application as a free trial.  It was text based, and appeared to be designed for a non-Storm BB.  In general I will be looking at the UI and the use of the Storms screen before I buy any applications from the store.

I am glad that App World is available now.  I really wish though that Pandora and Sling would reconsider making their applications WiFi only.  I would buy both of those in a heart beat, but can’t.  I assume this is a decision that is being made due to pressure from the carriers.  I know Sling works over 3G because I use it when I am tethered on my EEE PC.  I would much prefer Verizon to just tack another 5.00 on my bill each month for “special” application bandwidth use.  Hopefully, this will change as time goes on.

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