Honest Trailers - Star Wars

With less than a month to go before The Force Awakens, the folks at Screen Junkies has provided us with an Honest Trailer of Star Wars "...the first one..."

From everything I'm hearing, The Force Awakens will reboot the whole Star Wars franchise.  That is, a lot, if not all the material in the "expanded universe" (EU) will be null and void.

Attempting to reconcile Breakout from Bongolaan and the Redshift Chronicles with whatever direction The Force Awakens will take Star Wars, will be far too difficult for me. 

(I know this blog looks dormant, but I assure you I am working on posting content--I'm just moving at glacial speed--thank you for your patience).

So this tiny Star Wars niche will be some alternate reality.

In the meantime, I hope The Force Awakens meets, or exceeds our hopes and expectations.

Of Spammers and Derelict Sites

(Image by Seraphmx)

My apologies for this late post. 

Thanks to a Google-search, I discovered the sources of the spam I mentioned a few weeks back.  I posted the results on my Stern Rake Studio blog, but forgot to do so here on the Redshift Chronicles.

Here's what I found out:

 Last week I discovered the Reading List on my blog's administration page was overrun by Indonesian gambling sites. 

In response, I changed my password and filed a complaint with Google, who owns and runs Blogger.

The gambling spam was still in my Reading List the following day, so I fired-off another complaint to Google.

On the morning of the third day, the spam was gone, so I thought my problems were over.

But then a couple days later, I discovered two spam posts from the same Indonesian gambling sites.

This time I Googled "Spam found on Blogger Reading List."  Fortunately, I found a woman who had the same problem two years ago.

The first person to respond told her that the problem wasn't her blog, but one or more of the blogs she had on her reading list.  Spammers hijacked one of the blogs she was following and was using to spam other blogs.

It was like facehuggers infesting a derelict spaceship.

(Image:  The derelict ship in "Alien," found on Electric Shadow)

The recommended solution was to find the infected blog and delete it from her Reading List. 

I was following over 100 blogs.

Was I reading them every day?

No, of course not, but they were blogs I was interested in and would check out some of them when the mood struck me.

So I scrolled through my list.

I found five that were infected.  

However, I didn't just delete the five infected ones--I deleted over 40.  Some of them were from close friends and family.

These blog owners hadn't posted in anywhere from 1-5 years.  I figured sooner or later, these "cyber derelicts" would be too inviting for facehugger/spammers.

There were some I hated deleting, but I didn't want to run the risk of being spammed, or worse, passing along viruses.

(This Halloween-appropriate image found on The Richest: The 10 Most Dangerous Computer Viruses Ever)

Now I scroll down my Reading List every day I log on and scan for facehugger/spammers.

Possible Blogger Account Hack

I know it's been a while since I posted.  I'm currently working on Chapters 12-14 of Breakout from Bongolaan.

Unfortunately, a status update on my webcomic isn't the topic of today's post.

I think my Blogger account has been hacked.

On my Blogger homepage there's usually a Reading List displaying the latest posts from the blogs I follow.

About an hour ago, instead of seeing other bloggers' activities, I now have a list of Indonesian gambling sites.

I filed a complaint to Google, which runs Blogger, along with initiating a password change.

I'm not tech savvy enough to determine whether reading any of my blogs will cause any virus or malware to be transferred, but I thought I'd transmit this warning.

I hope to get this resolved soon.

Please accept my apologies.

Webcomic Chapter 11 Posted

 



I finally managed to get getting Chapter 11 of Breakout from Bongolaan (pages 330--363) posted. 

For this chapter's theme song, I stumbled across a piece of Epic Chase Music by Ross Bugden.

I now have nearly a year's-worth of daily material, which I mentioned as my trigger point in my previous webcomic post.

My life has been busy this year, involving work and family matters, so I haven't devoted any time exploring for new format for this webcomic. 

Now that 2015 is about 2/3rds near it's end, I want to set Monday, 4 January 2016 as the launch date for Breakout from Bongolaan's new format.

In the meantime, I'll be working on Chapter 12.

Thank you for your continued interest and support.

Family Emergency/Last-Minute Cross-Country Trip

My mom passed away just over a week ago after spending the past several months in the hospital, rehabilitation center and nursing home. 

I got "the call" from one of my sisters when I was on duty. Fortunately, the folks my wife & I worked for (WA State Emergency Management and Alaska Airlines) pulled out all the stops to send us back to my hometown of Binghamton, in Upstate NY.

We didn't make the wake, but were in time for the funeral mass at Saints John and Andrew Church.

I didn't post anything earlier for two reasons.

One, is that I was simply too busy at work and then preparing for cross-country travel. Second, I don't like broadcasting impending travel plans on social media. In fact, when we returned late Monday night, we discovered my wife's car was broken into while at the park & ride. Fortunately the thieves didn't follow-up and break into our house. (I've heard reports of crooks breaking into cars just to get the addresses of the drivers so they can break into their homes). Fortunately, our house was secure, but we weren't expecting to call-in a police report and schedule an auto-glass appointment when we got back.

But, despite the circumstances, there were a couple silver linings surrounding this trip.

The First Layer of the Silver Lining was that I had a chance to see all my siblings. Like most families, it's difficult for all of us to gather, unless it's a significant event, like weddings and funerals. The Second Layer of the Silver Lining was a chance to see most of our friends from a family that lived one house up from ours.  (Or for all intents and purposes "next door").

There are six siblings in this family and we all grew up together--and more often than not--got in trouble together. Our respective moms were friends as well. Their mom passed away 11 months ago, and the siblings still in the local area attended our mom's wake and/or funeral.

Not only were our "K-12 Friends" the last to leave the reception, but we got together the following night at their mom's house, now up for sale, in The Old Neighborhood.

We spent our time lounging in the backyard, reminiscing and catching up.  In fact, the radio station we were listening to, WAAL 99.1 ("The Whale"), is now plays classic rock.  So we heard the same songs we did during our collective childhood/adolescent years.

When I think about my youth, I like to say: We didn't just watch The Little Rascals (aka Our Gang)--we lived it!

Product Review--X-Wing Miniatures Game, VT-49 Decimator Expansion Pack

(Image from:  Boardgame Geek)

I bought this VT-49 Decimator because I thought it would make a good addition to the Imperial side of my Redshift Chronicles Campaign, and, I have to admit, because I felt it was really cool looking.

I'm happy to report that the same quality that went into making the Tantive IV was incorporated into this Imperial assault ship.

(Image:  A VT-49 on patrol "out in The Black")

Like the Tantive IV Expansion Pack, this kit contains a beautifully detailed model, lavishly illustrated cards, playing aids and an additional scenario, Mission 11:  Interdiction. 

Several famous, or infamous, individuals in the Star Wars Expanded Universe (SWEU) are associated with their time spent aboard Decimators.  Three of the four ship cards included in this kit are:

Captain Barrow Oicunn (game special ability card)

Commander Kenkirk (game special ability card ), and,

Mara Jade Skywalker (game special ability card)

With my attempts at being cinematic, what I like most about this expansion pack is the model's scale seems appropriate to the other ship figures in my collection.

(A Decimator overtakes a possible smuggler)

While the members of the cast of characters listed above are long-gone by the current Redshift Chronicles Campaign, there'll still be plenty of Decimators patrolling the galaxy, giving non-Imperials grief.

Decimators are highly rated by other buyers, and are still available at a discount on the following sites:  Miniature Market, Amazon.com and Boardgame Geek's Marketplace.  (At this time, they're sold out on E-Bay).

Notes:

The clear-plastic stands in Pictures #2 and #3 were edited out, while the images were done over with an "ink sketch" program using Paint.Net. 

The star mat used as a backdrop is by Monday Knight Productions, while the YT-1300 light freighter seen in the last picture, is actually a toy of unknown origin I bought from my friend Adrian.

Webcomic Chapter 10 Posted

Breakout from Bongolaan's Chapter 10 has been posted (pages 274-329).

Later this month, I plan to start working on Chapter 11.

I'm still exploring options on a new, webcomic-based format for this story.  But I think I'll wait until I reach, or surpass 365 pages.  Once I accomplish this, I'll have a year's worth of daily material to introduce Breakout from Bongolaan to a new audience.

In the meantime, I'd like to thank the "old audience" for your patience and support.

Chapter 10 is the initial fight scene in the Star Wars RPG (Role Playing Game) adventure this story was based on.  Since it took place in the Presidential Palace's Ballroom, I thought a fitting theme song for this chapter would be--what else?--The Ballroom Blitz by Sweet.

On Jury Duty

(Image from:  Wookiepedia entry on the Galactic Senate)

Hey Folks!  I know it's been a while since my last post.  Thank you for following this blog.

I've been working on Chapter 10 of Breakout from Bongolaan, but I'm also hoping to resume the Red Shift political/military campaign eventually soon.

In the meantime, today starts my first day of jury duty.

This life-getting-in-the-way will take a week or two, depending on how the court schedule and the jury selection goes.

I hope all of you had an enjoyable Holiday Season and best wishes to you in 2015!

Webcomic Chapter 9 Posted

Breakout from Bongolaan's Chapter 9 is available for viewing (pages 243-273).

While looking for a suitable Soundtrack Interlude for this chapter, I stumbled across the impressive music from Two Steps from Hell.

I felt their song Juggernaut best expresses the relentless advance of the battle droids.

As I start my work on Chapter 10, I'll be exploring new format options for this webcomic.  I've been getting the feeling that using a blog format for this webcomic is becoming unwieldy, if it isn't already.

Normally, webcomics are formatted like Christopher Mills and Gene Gonzales' Perils on Planet X, with the most recent page displayed and an archive section, along with a cast of characters and other interesting side-sections.

I'd like to reformat Breakout from Bongolaan in this way, but I want to do it right--and only once.  So for now, I'll be researching webcomic set-ups and templates.

Webcomic writers usually post 1-3 new pages per week.  Due to the nature of my job, with its rotating shift, I won't  be able to duplicate this kind of schedule.  I'd rather continue my updates in chapter-sized chunks.

Your patience is appreciated and I hope you enjoy the story.

Breakout from Bongolaan Book Trailer II

For the past several weeks I've been working on Chapter 9 of Breakout from Bongolaan, which I hope to post within the next couple of weeks.

During this time I also took a look at Breakout from Bongolaan's "book trailer," and decided some renovation was in order.

After spending more time tweaking it than I originally planned to, I posted it on my YouTube Channel.

Thank you for watching.