Daily Illuminator Archive for January 2025

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January 1, 2025:

What's In A NamNO CARRIER

I discovered an interesting article on Ars Technica that talked about how some names seem to have been hard-coded to lock up the ChatGPT system. I'll leave it to you to read the full explanation as to what's happening, but – as a gamer – one element that caught my eye was how someone triggered this by including one of the "forbidden" names in a light, barely legible font on an image upload . . . read article

January 2, 2025:

Every Part Of The Meeple

Note: The following article comes to us courtesy of guest contributor Jay Dragon.   Hi everyone, my name's Jay Dragon! I'm a tabletop RPG designer (author of Wanderhome and co-creator of Yazeba's Bed & Breakfast), editorial director at Possum Creek Games, and friend of Steve . . . read article

January 3, 2025:

The Transhuman Space Bundles Of Holding Are Leaving The Solar System!

Welcome, traveler, to the strange future of . . . 2025! If you're reading this, it may not be too late – to pick up the Transhuman Space Bundle of Holding! . . . read article

January 4, 2025:

FOMP?!

I suspect most of us have heard of "FOMO" – "Fear of Missing Out." I have Fear of Missing Pieces. I generally buy games because I love them . . . read article

January 5, 2025:

Could This Be One Of Us?

If this is you, send a wave my way!   -- Steve Jackson . . . read article

January 6, 2025:

Enter The Forbidden Corner

It would appear that Meta knows I'm a gamer. While I've been intrigued by Puy du Fou for a while now (more on that later), this morning Instagram let me know about an attraction that seems tailor made for a TTRPG fan like myself . . . read article

January 7, 2025:

Become Part Of My Feature Of Habit!

One neat aspect about working at Steve Jackson Games is that it's home to a tremendous number of creative individuals – with too many ideas to be contained by just one beloved hobby. To that end, I've embarked on a personal project in my downtime: Feature of Habit . . . read article

January 8, 2025:

Finding Fantasy Settings At Puy Du Fou

I have no idea why Facebook decided to start showing me videos of French theme park Puy du Fou one day, but I'm glad it did. While I'm generally not a theme park aficionado, I've been entranced by footage of knights fighting next to rotating castles and gladiators duking it out in a full-scale replica of a Roman circus ever since joining one of the park's fan groups . . . read article

January 9, 2025:

Who Goes First?

I'm always amused by the way boardgames determine who goes first. Often it's left to the dice ("roll to see who goes first") . . . read article

January 10, 2025:

What's In The Box?

Our household has a game collection that goes back decades (and encompasses a before-times era when we were two households). It's always an interesting time-capsule treat to open a boxed game from bygone years and discover something else in there: promo pieces from past Gen Cons, bits of ephemera, scraps of house rules or clarifications . . . every so often, we come across dot-matrix printouts of errata or homemade record sheets . . . read article

January 11, 2025:

I Miss Book Covers

When I was a schoolboy – last millennium – I remember being somewhat enthralled with book covers. These were either "official" store-bought covers, or homemade ones crafted from paper grocery bags . . . read article

January 12, 2025:

Add-icted To Math?

Electronics company Casio has apparently tapped into desires I didn't even realize and made available a line of affordable calculator watches. Sporting a look and feel that evokes their 1970s and 1980s brethren, these watches are available in a few different colors and styles . . . read article

January 13, 2025:

Bring Back Knightmare

One of the fun things about being married to a European is that you learn about elements of nerd culture you never knew existed. My husband first introduced me to the British show Knightmare many years ago, back when we were having a moment of television nostalgia . . . read article

January 14, 2025:

Help Us Steer Car Wars In The Right Direction

Hello, Car Wars fans! Do you have opinions about Car Wars Sixth Edition? . . . read article

January 15, 2025:

Take Me To Your Ruler(s)!

One site I find myself visiting more often than I'd expect is PrintableRulers.net. It does what it says in the URL, providing a variety of ready-to-print rulers for various needs . . . read article

January 16, 2025:

Monster Show For Monsters

Every third Monday, after the sun goes down, the Red Light Cafe in Atlanta, GA comes alive with a primal howl. This is the traditional opening of Monster Show for Monsters, the world's only variety show exclusively by and for monsters! . . . read article

January 17, 2025:

The Elegoo Saturn 4 Ultra 3D Printer: Best Beginner's (Or Expert's!) Resin Printer: Part 1

The first 3D printer I ever saw in action was one of the early MakerBot filament (FDM) printers. It was for sale in a Sam's Club . . . read article

January 18, 2025:

The Elegoo Saturn 4 Ultra 3D Printer: Best Beginner's (Or Expert's!) Resin Printer: Part 2

The Saturn is also self-leveling and self-adjusting. This is truly a plug-and-play printer . . . read article

January 19, 2025:

Who Goes First, Gamers' Choice!

I recently posted about how games determine who goes first. Of course, this doesn't account for the myriad ways that players can decide that all-important question . . . read article

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