Stay in School...

Then you can make robots and other cool things.  Star Wars, R2D2s!

We accept bitcoin donations.

Here's what Dell has to say about it.

Bitcoin donations are great.  No fees, it's easy, and the transaction is secure and fast.  If you don't know how to use bitcoin go to reddit.com/r/bitcoin and you will find plenty of resources to help get you started.

Bitcoin address to donate to us:

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LinkedIn Post - The Benefits of Playing Magic: The Gathering

Read it here!

Salaries at major universities swell as student loan debt balloons out of control.

A short, yet interesting read, about administrators getting pay raises year over year while tuition prices sky rocket.

Chark

History!

The Spanish Re-Conquest of New Mexico and the Pueblo Revolt of 1696

The Pueblo Revolt of 1680 forced the Spanish out of New Mexico for twelve years, but they eventually returned to reclaim their northern province. Diego de Vargas Zapata Lujan Ponce de Leon, then governor of New Mexico, organized and carried out the re-conquest and re-colonization of New Mexico in 1692. In that year, de Vargas succeeded in persuading twenty-three pueblos to rejoin Spain's empire. By 1694, the settlers had re-occupied Santa Fe after a quickly-crushed attempt by the Tewa and Tano to rebel and drive the Spanish once more from the area. But de Vargas's problems with rebellion were not yet over.

De Vargas came from a prominent and influential family in Spain. Appointed governor and captain-general of New Mexico in mid-1688, he assumed the position in February of 1691. Although his original intention was to immediately undertake the re-conquest of New Mexico, economic conditions in El Paso and hostilities between the Spanish and tribes in north New Spain prevented his departure until 1692. De Vargas planned two separate expeditions. The first one was to be a reconnaissance of New Mexico while the second was to be the re-colonization and actual reestablishment of Spanish hegemony in the region.The first expedition, in the estimation of the Spanish, was an unequivocal success. During the four months of the expedition's reconnoitering, de Vargas succeeded in obtaining the loyalty of twenty-three pueblos. However, the expedition was not without hostility. At Santa Fe, Jémez, and the Hopi pueblos, the governor's forces had to contend with aggressive native forces who outnumbered the Spaniards by a factor of ten to one. While the Indians seemed eager to fight the Spanish, de Vargas's diplomacy prevailed, and bloodshed was avoided. De Vargas then returned to El Paso to begin preparations for the re-colonization of New Mexico. For the next year, New Mexico remained in the hands of the Pueblos. The re-conquest was only a formality at this point. Pulling together a re-colonizing expedition of one hundred soldiers, seventy families, and eighteen Franciscan friars, together with some Indian allies, de Vargas left El Paso for Santa Fe on October 4, 1693. In addition to the personnel, several thousand horses and mules and almost a thousand head of livestock followed the main force of the expedition. Six wagons and eighty mules hauled supplies, including three cannon. Despite the relatively peaceful nature of de Vargas's preliminary expedition and the submission of the twenty-three pueblos, the Spanish re-colonization force found resistance when they arrived in New Mexico. Of the twenty-three pueblos that had submitted, only four, Pecos, Santa Ana, Zia, and San Felipe, remained loyal. The governor of Pecos, Juan de Ye, met de Vargas before the governor reached Santa Fe to warn him that most of the province was preparing for a fight. When de Vargas arrived at Santa Fe, he found Tewas and Tanos gathered in the plaza. The governor decided not to precipitate violence by pitching camp close to the villa. The Spaniards camped outside Santa Fe for two weeks in the cold. Twenty-three died of exposure while rumors of Pueblo hostility ran wild. Finally, the Spanish concluded that the Indians remaining in Santa Fe should be returned to their pueblo of Galisteo and that the Spanish should enter the town and reoccupy it. These objectives would be accomplished by force if necessary. The Indians situated in Santa Fe could clearly see and hear the proceedings of the meeting and proceeded to plan a resistance.

Early in the morning on the twenty-eighth of December, de Vargas was aroused by a messenger who warned of an imminent attack by the native forces in Santa Fe. The governor of Pecos was sent to his pueblo for reinforcements while a squadron of Spanish soldiers approached the walls of the villa to find them manned by a force of armed warriors. Another force of Pueblos arrived to aid those on the Santa Fe walls. With most of the soldiers, de Vargas then proceeded to the walls and attempted a diplomatic solution to the crisis. The leader of the Indians, Antonio Bolsas, agreed to discuss the situation with his people and give an answer to de Vargas by evening. By early the next morning, a group of 140 reinforcements had arrived from Pecos but an answer to the governor's diplomacy had not. De Vargas began to move towards the villa and those on the walls began to shout that the whole province was against the Spanish and would kill them all, except for the friars, who would become slaves. Arrows and stones followed the insults and de Vargas cried the Santiago, urging his men into battle. The battle lasted until early the next morning--the Spanish being the victors.

When the capture of Santa Fe was complete, de Vargas then divided the stores of corn, beans, and other foodstuffs among the Spanish families, and the colonists then occupied the houses vacated by the defeated natives. De Vargas had succeeded in capturing the main city of New Mexico, the old Spanish capital, and gained a solid foundation for the eventual reestablishment of Spanish hegemony over the entire region. But, as de Vargas discovered, this would prove no easy task.

Santa Fe, at the beginning of 1694, was the lone outpost of Spain in New Mexico. Only four pueblos had sided with the Spanish--Santa Ana, San Felipe, Zia, and Pecos. Between April and September of 1694, de Vargas launched campaigns against those pueblos along the Rio Grande who still had not submitted to Spanish rule. Continual battles between the Spanish and the natives kept the Spaniards in Santa Fe from planting crops. Starvation was a real possibility. The arrival of two hundred and thirty additional colonists in June simply exacerbated the situation. De Vargas attacked the pueblos to gain their stores but in doing so also forced their capitulation. By January of the following year, de Vargas could claim that most of the Rio Grande valley was under the domination of the Spanish. The reconstituted colony began to grow as more colonists arrived from Mexico. Two new villas, Santa Cruz and Bernalillo were founded. Eleven missions were reestablished once the missionaries felt secure enough to be assigned to the pueblos. However, the western pueblos of Ácoma and Zuñi as well as the Hopi pueblos were areas in which the new Spanish hegemony in New Mexico was still unrecognized.

Even in the pueblos that had accepted Spanish rule hostilities began to emerge. In mid-year, 1695, the Franciscan friars were alone at their missions, and the soldiers of de Vargas were dispersed. The harsh winter of 1695-96 put material burdens on the Spanish settlers who still could not adequately feed their own. Hostile Pueblo leaders perceived that this was a propitious time for a rebellion like the one fifteen years earlier.

As early as July, 1695, the missionaries began to fear that the Pueblos were planning another uprising. In December, these fears reached greater proportions and the custodio, Fray Francisco de Vargas, held a meeting to ascertain the extent of the possible insurrection. The friars petitioned the governor to post soldiers at the pueblos for protection and evaluation of the fears of the clergy. Governor de Vargas decided not to send troops to the pueblos because of his concern that such an action would incite hostilities among more loyal Indians. Despite the fears of the Franciscans, a revolt did not occur in December, 1695, though their tasks at the pueblos became increasingly difficult and the actions of the Pueblos became increasingly hostile.

In March, 1696, the missionaries again pleaded with de Vargas for military protection as rumors of war increased. From San Juan, Fray Gerónimo Prieto wrote that natives of various pueblos, including the Hopi pueblos, Zuñi, and Ácoma, were on their way to San Juan to meet with rebel leaders there under the cover of coming to trade. The tone of the fathers' letters was one of panic. On the fifteenth of March, de Vargas responded to the request of thecustodio to place soldiers at some of the pueblos. By this time, however, the missionaries had abandoned their posts in favor of the safety of the Spanish settlements.

After eleven months of persistent rumors, increasing unrest among the Pueblos, and actions taken by the Pueblos in apparent preparation for a general uprising, rebellion broke out on June 4, 1696. Five missionaries and twenty-one other Spaniards were killed. Hostile Pueblo forces burned the missions, and the people of the pueblos in revolt fled into the mountains. Only Tesuque, Pecos, San Felipe, Santa Ana and Zia did not participate.

Unlike the Revolt of 1680, this rebellion was poorly planned, and the rebels divided into several distinct factions. One powerful faction was under the command of a Cochiti named Lucas Naranjo. In late July, de Vargas left Santa Fe with Spanish soldiers and native troops from Pecos in search of Naranjo and his group, finding them hidden in the slopes of a canyon awaiting the arrival of the Spanish. During the battle, Naranjo was killed by a harquebus shot to the Adam's apple by a Spanish soldier who then beheaded him.   Said de Vargas, "It gave me great pleasure to see the said rebel apostate dog in that condition. A pistol shot that was fired into his right temple had blown out his brains leaving the said head hollow."  The remaining rebels fled and the allies from Pecos were given Naranjo's severed head as a trophy of war.

After the fall of Naranjo, the rebellion began to collapse. The most active rebels in the central Rio Grande valley were destroyed. Those who had fled their pueblos to the mountains were leaderless and in desperate circumstance. The Spanish had appropriated stores of food after each victory, and the people remaining in the mountains faced the choice of either returning to their pueblos and accepting Spanish governance or starving.

Although de Vargas succeeded in subduing the rebels closest to the center of Spanish power in New Mexico, the pueblo fringe was still unrepentant. Picurís, Taos, and of course the western pueblos of Ácoma, Zuñi and the Hopi were outside the reach of de Vargas, his troops and Indian allies. In August of 1696, de Vargas mounted an expedition against the recalcitrant pueblo of Ácoma. Having come to the mesa, de Vargas and his troops could not mount an assault, but proceeded to gather the sheep the Ácoma had left at the base of the mesa. After waiting below the mesa for several days and issuing threats and ultimatums, de Vargas instructed his men to burn the Ácoma fields and then departed to the east. The Ácoma remained on their mesa.

In September, the governor moved against the northern pueblos still in rebellion. The people of Taos were talked down from the mountains after the peaceful capitulation of the pueblo's leaders. At Picurís, de Vargas found no one. The Spanish set out after the inhabitants of the pueblo who, in the company of some Tewas, Tanos, and Apaches, were fleeing eastward. In late October, de Vargas caught up to the retreating Indians and, in a short battle, captured around eighty of them. The rest continued to flee eastward and were captured by another band of Apaches in western Kansas. Those who had been captured were distributed to the victors to be held as hostages until the remaining Picurís returned to their pueblo.

With Picurís no longer a threat, the general peril to the Spanish of New Mexico was erased. Slowly, Indians remaining in the mountains descended to their pueblos. Some leaders of small rebel bands voluntarily surrendered while others were tracked down with the help of friendly Pueblo allies. Still other Indians did not return to their pueblos along the Rio Grande, but continued to hide with the Apache and the Navajos and at the pueblos of Ácoma, Zuñi, and Hopi. The Pueblo Revolt of 1696 was over by the end of the year. With the exception of the western pueblos, the Pueblo Indians of New Mexico had once more submitted to Spanish authority.

Student Loans and Life as an Educator in America

Student loans create incredibly large amounts of debt, and it's a big business.  Except for in very rare circumstances, this debt cannot be forgiven by bankruptcy.  Here is a Huffington Post article on the subject, you really want to read this.

Zack Barrett: Black Lotus

Interesting article.

It makes some good points, but I think ultimately, it is the parents that are the deciding factor in whether or not a child who plays video games will succeed in school.  If a parent lets their son or daughter play for hours on end and ignore their schoolwork, then of course they will suffer.  You will see this same effect with any hobby that is practiced in excess.  I've known dozens of kids with strict parents who don't care what games their kids play as long as their schoolwork is attended to.  In any case, it is food for thought, and it is always good to look at both sides of an argument.


http://www.parentingscience.com/Effects-of-video-games-on-school.html

Brain Myth

Apparently, the left brain, right brain theory is a myth!

Bill Gates says robots are going to take your jobs.

Yup, read it all here, your job may be in jeopardy of being stolen by a robot.

Excellent place to find new books to read.

http://www.reddit.com/r/books

Open Library

Hey guys, there is this awesome site to read books for free and lend ebooks really easily!  Check them out, tons of great reading material at no cost to you.

Follow Us

We get many visitors and some of those are repeat visitors.  We would greatly appreciate it if you followed us on blogspot and liked us on Facebook, either one of those really would help a lot!  And it doesn't cost you anything, everybody wins.

In-N-Out Truck

April 27th in Oak Park!  We have several locations in mind, but we will update when we have finalized a specific spot.  There will be live entertainment, food (in addition to the truck), a couple ways to help out the non profit without donating money, although of course you can do just that, and we will be selling prints from some of the artists that we support.  Hope to see you there!  Email us at jjohnpotter@gmail.com or call 818.297.2164 if you have any questions or comments.  Make sure to spread the word!

Battlemaster

Some memorable quotes made by players of BattleMaster, mostly on the discussion list:

"I am amazed at this game. It is really a beauty of a design. It's fairly simple and straitforward yet generates a lot of depth. The name for that is art."

-- Mark Gerdes

"I come home every day from a stressful work environment, physically exhausted and mentally drained. Logging on to BM and checking what is going on in the realms I'm in and plotting the demise of the realms opposing us helps me to focus, relax, and unwind."

-- drlundy

"I have seen me so ill that I have not wanted to get out of bed. Then doing so merely for the fact I wanted to know how my characters were fairing. This game is totaly addictive."

-- Mearhinas Traylon

"It's the most fun I've had playing a computer game, ever."

-- Aaron Bennett

"We all love BM as it's clearly the finest online game on the planet [...] never before have I played any game, every day - twice a day, for over a year. And it just gets better."

-- George Thompson

"Today marks one year of playing BM for me. BM surpassed my expectations by a wide margin."

-- PJ Passalacqua

"This is a unique game experience [...] It is more fun than any video card intensive, processor sucking, bandwith hogging MMORPG out there."

-- David Wierbiki

"I'm studying political sciences and the game was introduced to me as a 'tool', a 'political simulation' to understand in practice how society, international relationships, internal affairs and the total of the political attributes function! And of course how some silly persons can spoil an effort of a whole realm-government! I have to admit that the game not only met my expectations but surpassed them by far!"

-- Julie Alexia

"My bride is more jealous of this game then the cute next door neighbor!"

-- Phillipe Schumacker

http://battlemaster.org/basics.php

Battlemaster is a turn based browser strategy game.  It is of course multiplayer, and you start out as a noble or adventuring commoner (as more of a side game) who works to execute their own ambitions and schemes within a greater workings of the current government and status quo.  You can priest and spread your own religion, a heroic battle weathered commander who lives for the battlefield, a shady infiltrator who works behind the scenes to help topple empires from within, and many, many more options.  It only takes 5-15 minutes a day to play, and you don't have to play everyday to be involved, and it is a highly social game.  If you like roleplaying, there are plenty of chances to do just that.  This game is being updated quite a bit, mostly based on the suggestions of the players, and of course it is free to play.  So check them out, you'll be glad that you did.

"I've been playing this game on and off for a long time, but each time I come back I'm consistently amazed at how closely certain institutions, feuds, and general interactions among characters mimic their real world counterparts. I work in government and have had a lot of exposure to power hierarchies and the like. Seeing the same dramas and plots evolve in a game has made it easier to understand the motives and relationships of various actors/individuals in the real world. It also got me thinking about all the possible parallels that could be drawn between the game world and the real world."

-- Aaron Champion

"when your spouse hates the Cagilan Empire but has never played the game, you've got a problem"

-- Solari

"During my time playing Battlemaster I have been a Soldier, Husband, Father, Widower, husband and father again... This game is part of who I am now. If the game were to go to hell in a hand basket...I would be here playing. I do turn a little red in the face when my friends and Wife introduce me as Wilson, the King of Lukon...but I am used to it now."

-- Valast'

If you want to help spread the word about BattleMaster or just fancy chilling out with your fellow players elsewhere, why not check out other BattleMaster communities and hangouts across the internet?

• Might & Fealty
  
  • Tom's new project. Not unlike BattleMaster, but with even greater player agency and player driven world-building
• Might & Fealty Crowdfunding
  
  • Might & Fealty IndieGoGo page. Go and donate!
• Tom's YouTube Channel
  
  • Repository of videos for M&F, BattleMaster and various other side projects.
• Steam Community
  
  • Join us on Steam. Compares stats or see if you can get a group together
• BattleMaster on Reddit
• BattleMaster on Facebook
  
  • Don't forget to check out War Islands and Might & Fealty!
• BattleMaster on Last.fm
  
  • Discover how good/awful (delete as appropriate) the music tastes of our players are
• BattleMaster IRC
  
  • Chat with your fellow players in real time (or head here to learn about additional access methods)
• BattleMaster Wiki
• Help add to the rich knowledge and roleplay of BattleMaster or just browse what's already there!

Permafrost Day

It is a new day with the same predicament; the people must abandon the city of Itorunt through the north gate to warmer lands. The soldiers are recovering from the past battle but still they must continue to protect the civilian’s caravan, only a handful of them remains, many left wounded, and others leave to escort the caravan of people. Still the city will not be empty in about two days, time they don’t have.

Today’s weather is worse, besides being colder than previous days, and having a snowfall, there is a strong breeze making everyone unable to see even at mere ten meters. The south gate is being repaired, since is dangerous to seek trees outside they are dismantling houses and using the wood for the gate.
At this point the soldiers are not wearing any heavy or metal reinforced armor; they are wearing fur clothes to warm themselves, with the help of various campfires, especially near the south wall where the Snow Trolls have been attacking. The only noble unit remaining in the city is the Black Riders they vowed to defend the city until the last man.

Captain Eugen: Move those legs! We must keep the horses warm.
Soldier: excuse me captain, but we can’t repair the gates beyond this point, any further improvement will require the Duke assistance.
Captain Eugen: If civil work is not useful anymore, let’s do some training, we must warm up and be more agile, remember we are not wearing any armor so we can’t take hits.
Soldier: this…this must be a punishment from the Titans!
Captain Eugen: what are you talking about soldier? There is no such thing as a Titan. The GODs are the one behind all this.

Suddenly loud noises started to be heard from outside of the wall, like if it was hit by a battering ram, the snow storm is raging strong and the archer can’t see what is just outside. In that moment Tanya leaves her tent, and drawing her sword talk to the two men talking outside.

Tanya: it doesn't matter on what you believe, either Deities or Superstitions in the end that doesn’t really matter, the enemy is here and we must give these people hope to leave safely.

The gates have been overrun this time 48 Snow Trolls are inside the city crushing everything on their path with their big wooden logs, the soldiers can’t see far ahead, and when they see the trolls they are already too close to do something and the archers can’t aim well, all this due to the strong winds.

Captain Eugen: My lady we can’t even charge here we need more space for momentum and the militia is being overrun.
Tanya: Everybody move to the center of the city, we rally there. Carry the wounded on the Cavalry!
Captain Eugen: My Lady there is no time, we can’t save everyone, and the wounded has to be left behind…

Tanya thinks for a while that seems like an eternity, then she turn around with her horse and start to move.

Tanya: FINE! But we have to move now.

They manage to get to the center of the city, the same place where the people are gathering to emigrate to the north, the militia start to garrison the center square facing to the south road, meanwhile the city is in chaos, the Trolls are killing all men on their path while they take the women back to their plains.
The black guards are 100 meters north of the barricade to charge at the Snow Trolls when the time is due they can’t see but they hope to be lucky ; many people left the square ad forget the caravan to move to their houses, others improvised weapons to fight with the militia.

The enemy approaches hitting everything on the south road creating loud noises on their path, they can’t be seen yet but the archers open fire in their direction, they hardly hit the Trolls the snow storm is strong that looks like a frozen hell.

The archers abandon their bows and unsheathe their swords the noise is closer, the troll begun to throw rocks and logs from the building to hit the barricade and some soldiers behind at the same time they were rushing to it.

The barricade for the Trolls was like a sand castle for the sea waves, they would be been good to stop the movement of a couple of bandits or a small unit, but not those Ice Warriors, the battle rages fiercely the militia is being overpowered. Tanya looks to the captain of her unit and he makes a “no yet” signal to her, the peasant who formed armed groups begin to fight as well making the battlefield sound more louds.

Captain Eugen: Now is the time my lady! We charge past then and keep going and turn back then repeat.
Tanya. CHAAAAARGE!

Zack Barret

Check out the amazing art work of a Southern Californian born and raised high schooler!  We are happy to say that we have already compensated him in advance to do some artwork for our organization and it will be posted shortly when it is all done.

Quite ironic...

Well, right after we made a post about Facebook here we are promoting our Facebook page!  Please check it out and like us to increase our visibility.  Thanks.

Fundraiser for California Schools

Soon we will be sending people out door-to-door in SoCal and Bay Area neighborhoods to ask for donations.  We will be focusing on Amazon purchases however.  People don't really like forking over their hard earned cash, but they DO like online shopping.  So we will get a bunch of fliers passed out and spread the word about it.  Basically they go to our blog or (soon to be up) website and they click on the Amazon banner.  After that they're practically done, just shop for whatever your heart desires on Amazon and support California schools!  We will update with specific fundraising goals later and we will personally donate bonus money for reaching certain benchmarks.  Have a good night everybody.

Facebook is bad, mmkay?

Yes I use Facebook... but I try not to log on too often, the point is that I acknowledge I am a hypocrite!  I don't have a lot of time today to write a long article, so here is an insightful Forbes piece about why Facebook makes you a sad panda. 

However, I feel I should mention that we DO do a small amount of advertising with Facebook, so perhaps I shouldn't have posted that.  If anything, this just proves that we don't let money get in the way of good writing and good ideas.  Free speech and all that jazz.