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cavtroop - who has written 56 posts on ArsGeek.

Cavtroop is a Senior Editor for Arsgeek.com He works for a fairly large software company that you've all heard of, managing networks, systems, and seemingly lots of cranky people. His role at Arsgeek is to be an advocate for change, a catalyst for socioeconomic...nah, too lofty. He's more interesting in chipping in with (not so) relevant news and insights into things that interest him - role playing games, computers, technology, etc.

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Where (computer based) D&D went wrong?

Monday, July 21, 2008

15 Comments

The Escapist is running an article titled I Want My D&D. Supposedly the author pens a treastie about the downfall of the CRPG (Computer Role Playing Game), but I find it more fitting as a critique of D&D in general - and I find it even extrapolates out well to the new 4E. It seems to me that the days of creating a well thought out and personalized character are gone for the most part. Especially with the advent of 4E, players are being shoehorned into roles they may or may not want to play.

Tor.com launches, with a great new short story

Sunday, July 20, 2008

1 Comment

The new Tor website launched today - they are the publishers of one of my favorite new authors, John Scalzi. Mr. Scalzi penned the great novel, Old Man's War and several sequels, all of which are a fun read. John has a way with dialog, and weaves a wonderful story. I highly recommend his work.

Alienware Area-51 M9750 hands on impressions

Thursday, March 27, 2008

1 Comment

So a few months ago, Arsgeek called me up and said “Hey, want a new laptop?” Well, of course I do! The only catch was, I had to give it back after a month of use. “So let me get this straight,” I said ”I get to use an Alienware M9750 notebook for a month, [...]

Blogger posts from beyond the grave

Tuesday, January 8, 2008

3 Comments

The Guardian and the Army Times are both carrying stories on a blogger by the name of Andrew Olmstead. Andrew blogged for the last 5 years for a local newspaper, and had quite a following, as well as several blogging awards. Why is this story interesting? Andrew died in early January in Iraq, and had [...]

Do you use Steam? Join the Arsgeek group!

Wednesday, October 31, 2007

1 Comment

I recently purchased The Orange Box through Valve Software‘s Steam, and decided it might be fun to have an Arsgeek community. Nothing fancy, just a way for us Arsgeek editors and readers to share some gaming time together, or heck, just join another group to pad stats. To join, simply go to the ‘My Community’ [...]

Installing an Ubuntu monitoring system with Cacti, Zenoss and Smokeping

Monday, October 8, 2007

16 Comments

I work for a major Fortune 1000 company, and recently had occasion to specify, purchase and install a network/systems monitoring server. I decided to go with Ubuntu 7.04 running on an HP DL360G5, using the Cacti, Zenoss and Smokeping FOSS software packages.

Bad site design got you frustrated? Bookmarklets to the rescue.

Friday, August 24, 2007

2 Comments

I stumbled across the Bookmarklets for zapping annoyances page today – and what a boon it has been! What is a bookmarklet? From the site: Bookmarklets are free tools to help with repetitive or otherwise impossible tasks in your web browser. These bookmarklets help you deal with annoying web pages. There you have it, in [...]

Cavtroop reviews ‘Dungeon Runners’

Monday, August 20, 2007

8 Comments

So I was bored out of my skull the other day, wondering what I could play on my PC. I’m bored with the games I have and the others just aren’t good enough to keep me coming back for more (see: Cavtroop reviews Combat Mission:Shock Force, or Neverwinter Nights 2). So I loaded up an [...]

Cavtroop reviews Combat Mission:Shock Force

Monday, July 30, 2007

12 Comments

Today, Arsgeek.com begins the first (of hopefully many!) game reviews. We choose games based on both our interests, and what we expect our readership to be interested in. Let us know if you find this review helpful, not helpful, or if there are other products out there you’d like us to review! We’ll begin [...]

Virgin Galactic/Scaled Composites spaceport explosion kills 2

Thursday, July 26, 2007

3 Comments

CNN is reporting that an explosion during a rocket test at the Mojave air and Spaceport killed two people earlier today. It happened at the Mojave Air and Space Port during a test of a new rocket motor for SpaceShipTwo — a spaceship being built for Virgin Galactic, Richard Branson’s space tourism company, a source [...]

Viking Treasure Hoard Found in England

Tuesday, July 24, 2007

1 Comment

Straight from the horses mouth: “One of the biggest Viking treasures ever found has been discovered on an English farm by a father-son team of treasure hunters, the British Museum announced Thursday. The trove of coins and jewelry was buried more than 1,000 years ago, a collection of items from Ireland, France, Russia and Scandinavia [...]

Running Vista? Need shortcut keys?

Tuesday, June 26, 2007

1 Comment

Computer Productivity has the scoop on Windows Vista shortcut keys: Windows Vista is the next version of Microsoft Windows, an operating system for both home and business. As with its previous counterparts (Windows XP, Windows ME, Windows 98, Windows 95), developers of Vista have made available many shortcut keys to make our lives easier. We’ll [...]

Ziggurat Con 2007 followup

Monday, June 18, 2007

6 Comments

Spc. David Amberson, from Camp Adder/Tallil Airbase in Iraq, sends us the following correspondence on the the recent Ziggurat Con 2007, the worlds first (known) roleplaying convention held in a war-zone. I’m proud to say my gaming group put some stuff together, and sent it over for the troops use. Pictures of the event can [...]

WotC to launch Gleemax.com

Tuesday, June 12, 2007

5 Comments

Gamingreport.com has the scoop on a new (fugly, if I do say so myself) website that Wizards of the Coast is launching. Wizards of the Coast has revealed plans to launch Gleemax.com, an online destination for hard-core strategy and hobby gamers. Building on its heritage in the hobby gaming space with Magic: The Gathering and [...]

Jericho to make a return?

Wednesday, June 6, 2007

2 Comments

In looking at CNN.com, it looks like Jericho may be making a return: ‘Jericho’ fans assail CBS with 25 tons of peanuts – CNN.com CBS, deluged with calls, messages and shipments of nuts signifying viewer displeasure, is reconsidering its decision, a source close to the production said Tuesday.