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BrickFair Alabama 2013

SEND STUFF! Please?   We need all the help we can get to make these events fantastic. We appreciate all your support and look forward to getting bunches and bunches of MOCs to display. If anything is unclear, please ask and we will do our best to clarify.   Less than a month to go!

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Camera Adventures

I really wasn't satisfied with my recent set review pictures, they were way too dark despite me having tons of lights on and using my flash (indirectly). So I did some research and pulled out my camera's manual and learned how to adjust the shutter speed. A bit of experimentation later, and brighter pictures appeared.   The only problem is that now I have to make sure to be very still so that I don't shake the camera when I hit the shutter button. I'm doing a 0.5 second exposure so that can have

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Return of the Notepad

Manage Notes! As a bonus, all notes from the archive are still there.   Man look at all this progress we're making already.   Don't get used to it.

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2013 Fan Conventions

So what conventions is everyone going to next year?   My current plans include BrickFair Alabama, BrickFair New England, and BrickFair Virginia. I think there's a pattern there... I'm actually going to be the Bionicle Coordinator at New England, so expect me to bug you guys about sending in MOCs.   Anyway, I'm considering seeing if I can squeeze in a fourth event, because I'm crazy and stupid like that. Bricks Cascade is unfortunately out, because they moved it to right around the time that PAX

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Announcing Ticket Closures

Recently with the new Tracker, I made some blog entries about some of the tickets that were resolved, to help get the word out. Now I know not everyone reads my blog and it seems clear that not everyone has quite gotten the hang of the Tracker or is aware of it yet, so I'm trying to figure out the best way to make people aware of tickets that have been closed.   I don't want to keep posting blog entries, because I feel like I have better things to post here, plus not everyone reads it. (But they

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Indenting Paragraphs

Apparently people like to indent the first line of paragraphs. I was totally unaware of this, and had gotten out of that habit in middle school sometime, and just included an extra break between paragraphs, or in Word used the 'space after' setting, or whatever it is. But once I was made aware of the issue, it was a pretty easy fix. I just added a new BBCode to 'tab'. It just adds five spaces wherever you put the tag. You can put it       in the middle of a sentence if you want.   [tab]Put your

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New Feature Incoming

We're currently entering the final phases of prepping a new feature for BZPower. It's something I've had in mind for a while and finally found a tool we could use to accomplish it. I'm looking forward to seeing what you guys think and hope it will help in determining how we can continue to improve BZPower.   I need you guys to help me out though. The feature will only help if you actually use it and use it as intended, so you all have to promise not to be silly.   Think you can do that?   Didn't

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Which Hobbit?

The Hobbit: An Unexpected Journey comes out in theaters next month, based on one of my favorite books of all time. I am super pumped.   So of course I want to reread the book before the movie to have it fresh in my mind. The question is - which version should I read?   I have a copy of the mass market paperback (not that exact version) that I got in sixth grade. I've read it countless times and it's definitely seen better days, but it certainly has some sentimental value.   I've also got a nice

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Back in a Bit

So the military base I work at is closing tomorrow because of the hurricane. If it's that bad, then at the very least I'm expecting to lose power at some point over the next few days. So my presence here may be a little scarce. As it is, here's my plan:   Go to bed tonight. Wake up tomorrow, work from home for as long as I have power. Edit the Powercast while I have time. In the event of a power failure, break out the dead tree books for some reading. Hope I don't lose power for too long.

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Reading Rainbow Road

I'm a bit behind on making this entry, I suppose. I finished The Thursday War last Friday night/early Saturday morning, completing my mission to reread all of the Halo novels before Halo 4. Woohoo! It was good, but not as good as Glasslands. It did have some nice twists and revelations, and a lot of stuff that seems like it will tie in to Halo 4. I'd definitely recommend it.   Now I feel like I have nothing to do though, after having spent all this time reading. To start though, I'm going to go

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Reading Rainbow Bridge

A little late on my update this week, thanks to yesterday's federal holiday. I finished Cryptum last Thursday, which was great I thought. A lot of interesting insight into the Forerunners. It was really a piece of hard science fiction that just happened to be set in the Halo universe. There were some connections to the games and other lore for people who really dig into things (like the Librarian, the Didact, and Mendicant Bias). The story itself really kept me turning pages, and when it ended I

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Tablet Research

I've been toying with the idea of buying a tablet. Almost definitely Android. I'd like a 9"-10" one, but those seem like they're still a bit too expensive for my tastes. In the 7" space the Nexus 7 seems like the clear winner. I'll probably wait until the holiday shopping season to see if I can grab any good deals.   Does anyone out there have a tablet and want to offer suggestions or advice?   Thank you kindly!

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Reading Rainbow Unicorn Attack

As anticipated, Halo Evolutions took me the majority of last week to get through. That's okay though, it's a great collection. I love the twist at the end of Palace Hotel - it may be my favorite just for that. Human Weakness and The Impossible Life and the Possible Death of Preston J. Cole are also good reads. But so are the other stories, so give the whole thing a try.   I started Cryptum last night, which is very different so far. I only got through a chapter, so I'll reserve my judgment for n

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Name my Bricks

BrickFair VA 2012 was the tenth LEGO fan event I've attended. As a result, I'm accumulated a lot of engraved bricks, most of which have my name, Black Six, and the places I've lived. I need to start mixing things up, and I need your help.   Suggest some fun nicknames, phrases, and other things I could put on a badge.   Bricks I already have include: Black Six Sixboss Mandrew DON'T PANIC   Let's see what you can come up with!   Edit: Alright, nice! Here's the current frontrunners: KEEP IT

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Reading Rainbow All the Way Across the Sky

So I finished Ghosts of Onyx last night and First Strike a couple days before that. It makes me sad that Eric Nylund hasn't written any more full-length novels since then, I really loved his take on the Halo universe. He's great at creating characters you actually care about and seems to have a good grasp of military lingo and tactics (not that I know from experience, but what he says seems plausible and doesn't completely conflict with the many former and active servicemen I've interacted with)

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The Reading Rainbow Connection

Against all odds, and at the expense of some sleep last week, I finished both Contact Harvest and The Cole Protocol. Six books in three weeks! Halo Evolutions is up now though, and it's almost as long as both of those books combined, so I'm expecting it to take up this entire week.   Contact Harvest is interesting among the Halo books as it's the first where there are no Spartans involved. They don't even get mentioned at all. It makes sense, since the book takes place before they received their

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Operation: Reading Rainbow

I realized yesterday that Halo 4 comes out in just over two months! How crazy is that? I still need to preorder my copy and make sure I take off from work. On the plus side though, the footage that came out of PAX this weekend helped me decide that I should go to the midnight opening for it.   But what I really thought of when I had this epiphany was that I'm still three books out of date in the Halo series. I haven't read Cryptum, Primordium, or Glasslands.   I've decided to rectify this by rea

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The Colors Duke, the Colors

Just so everyone is aware, the colors for some of the groups have changed. Now that the Reference Team is no more, the Reporters have adopted the old RK yellow. Retired Staff, meanwhile, have taken the Reporter orange. This makes them look similar to OBZPCs but still stand out (as opposed to the ugly-ish gray from before).   Yep, so that happened.

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What Do You Want to Ask LEGO?

If you had the opportunity to ask LEGO a question, what would you ask?   Similarly, is there anything you'd like to ask TLG's very own Kevin Hinkle? I hear he's a pretty big deal.   Post in the comments or send me a PM with your question. No guarantees that you'll get and answer (or one you'll like) but I'll try.

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Milestones

Tomorrow is August 2, 2012. That will be the eleventh anniversary of my joining BZPower.   It is also the first day of BrickFair 2012 Virginia, the fifth such event held. (Congrats Todd!)   BrickFair 2012 Viriginia will be the tenth AFOL fan convention that I've attended.   Sunday, August 5 is my twenty-fifth birthday. A quarter-century!   Monday, August 6, will mark my eleventh year as a member of the BZPower Staff.   All this right after BZPower celebrated its eleventh anniversary.   It's craz

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Bionicle Card Game at BrickFair

Story time!   Back in the shrouded mists of the past, there was a Bionicle fan named Carl. Carl really loved Bionicle, so much that he began creating his own card game. He contacted LEGO to tell them about his game and to offer it to them to use.   Then LEGO cancelled Bionicle, and everyone was sad.   But wait! The people at LEGO thought, 'Wow, this guy is really dedicated, we should get him in touch with our ace Community Coordinator for North America, Kevin Hinkle.'   And then Kevin Hinkle was

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Life on the Internet

I can't believe how long our little corner of the Internet has been chugging along. I'm kind of proud that we've continued on despite downtime, attacks, and all the changes in our audience and the Internet as a whole.   It made me think about how long I've actually been on the Internet (it's a long time) and the things I've taken part of and the people I've interacted with. Here's a quick list of some of the communities I have been or am still a part of: Super Soakers Nerf Warcraft II Star T

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Audiophilia

A week or so ago I brought my car into the dealership for service and was sitting in the waiting area listening to some music when I realized someone was trying to talk to me and I couldn't even hear them. That reminded me how much I enjoy a good pair of noise-isolating earphones, which in turn reminded me how awesome it is to listen to music on quality equipment.   The phones in question were Etymotic hf2s, and I could not recommend them any more highly. Before these I owned a pair of Etymotic

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Mailbag

Man, it's been a while since I made an entry here, hasn't it? I remembered I had this PM waiting for a reply, so it's as good a reason as any for a blog entry:     Without question, my favorite team is the New York Football Giants. Football is really to only pro sport I follow. I like it because there's only sixteen games (plus playoffs) so there's a fairly limited commitment compared to other sports. Plus it give me something to talk about with my coworkers.   I used to follow basketball pretty

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