Bleg: Looking for a decent laptop solar charger

On the off chance that manufacturers and PR folks read this blog...

For years now I have been looking for a way to charge my laptop in case I lose power for an extended period of time (such as after a hurricane). It doesn't have to power it directly, although that would be nice; simply trickle-charging it will do. Having a battery supply that would allow me to run a box fan in order to stay cool is also a very good thing.

The problem isn't finding such a product. The problem, as always, is that I have a severely limited budget and cannot afford the several hundred dollars these systems cost. The (very) few systems that are in my price range are, shall we say, of questionable durability and I really don't want to just throw that kind of money away.

I've been told that I can assemble a rudimentary system fairly easily. Such discussions usually involve formulae of volts, amps, and watts thrown about willy-nilly. I don't do well with any math more involved than simple arithmetic and, frankly, I don't trust myself not to screw something up. What little I know about electricity has instilled in me a healthy respect for its power, and I know full-well that it is something one does not simply screw around with.

So, in the event that someone out there has an alternative energy method of charging a laptop and powering a box fan, please contact me. I am poor, but I have a good readership of techno-geeks, gunnies, preppers, and other folks who are likely to be interested in this sort of thing (my review of survival stoves was very popular and sold not a few of the ones I liked), and I would be willing to trade my pretty, pretty words in exchange for testing your fine product.

A cool, free thing for you

So, remember that nifty Cavalier order I wrote up last week? It's been prettied up and PDF-ified, and is now available for free at RPGNow. And the best part is that it's not just the Order of the Chimera -- you also get the Order of the Wolf, which is one of the two orders I wrote up for Undefeatable #21: Cavaliers. So now you can quite literally try before you buy -- you can read my stuff for free and decide for yourself if you think my work is good enough for you to spend $1.25 on it (it is). And hey, it's free stuff! Who doesn't like free stuff?

And now, a treat

 In order to entice you good folks to buy my latest writing creation, UndeFEATable #21: Cavalier (available for a mere dolla-twenney-five at RPGNow and DriveThru RPG), I now present to you a free Cavalier Order. I had originally intended to include this with my manuscript but due to its multi-class nature it didn't quite match the theme of the piece. Still, it is a very nice Order, and it deserves to see the light of day.

The Order of the Chimera

This order is exclusive, eclectic, and extremely odd, as it is composed solely of summoners who have chosen to adopt the trappings and mannerisms of cavaliers and ride their eidolons into battle as armored knights. It appeals mainly to halflings and gnomes, as their small size allows them to ride their eidolons at 1st level, but larger riders are not unknown. It is generally treated with disdain by cavaliers of other orders, who see the Order of the Chimera as farcical and insulting, and not a true order. Cavaliers of this order are only too happy to demonstrate their combat prowess, and more than one has left the field of honor victorious after answering a challenge made by a purist.

Prerequisites: Summoner class level 1; eidolon one size larger than the summoner with the Mount evolution

Edicts: The cavalier must always ride his eidolon into battle and fight alongside it (dismounting during battle to fight on foot is allowed, however.) He must never allow it to face danger while he remains in safety. He is not allowed to ride any mount other than his eidolon.

Challenge:Whenever an Order of the Chimera cavalier issues a challenge, his eidolon receives a +1 morale bonus on all attack rolls against the target of his challenge so long as the cavalier remains mounted upon it. This bonus increases by +1 for every four levels the cavalier possesses.

Skills: An Order of the Chimera cavalier adds Acrobatics (Dex) and Spellcraft (Int) to his list of class skills. In addition, he gains the Arcane Strike feat for free.

Order Abilities: A cavalier that belongs to the Order of the Chimera gains the following abilities as he increases in level:
Right Makes Might (Ex): At 2nd level, the cavalier adds one-half his class levels (rounding down) to his summoner levels, but only to determine the base statistics of his eidolon. Spells known, spells per day, saving throw, base attack bonus, and other special abilities are unaffected.
Warrior Mage (Ex): At 8th level, the cavalier gains the Arcane Armor Training feat. If this feat is already known, then Arcane Armor Mastery is gained instead.
We Ride As One (Su): At 15th level, the cavalier gains the Life Bond summoner class feature.

Please buy my stuff

 LPJ Design's UndeFEATable #21: the Cavalier has officially gone on sale at RPGNow.com. For the low, low price of $1.25 -- what you'd spend on a soda & a candy bar -- you get 15 feats and 2 Cavalier orders, all painstakingly hand-crafted with care and precision by your local lurking goth gamer girl. These feats will last you much longer than a snack ever will, and are undoubtedly healthier. In addition, each time you purchase, I get some money and am one step closer to becoming a successful writer.

Thank you!   :D

The James Bond Kit

Those of you who are following my Twitter feed are no doubt aware that a week ago I received, as an early birthday present, a shiny new laptop: an Acer Aspire 5515. Unfortunately, it runs Vista; fortunately, it has 3 gigs of RAM so it's actually fast enough to run that beast at a decent speed. But its best feature, as far as I'm concerned, is an inbuilt wi-fi, because that means I can now escape to the nearest library or coffee shop and write without the constant distractions of my family, whom I love dearly except when they're bothering me.

However, there is one small, almost trifling problem: this laptop is too big to fit my old (non-wi-fi) laptop case.

You'd think this wouldn't be a problem. It gives me an opportunity to shop for accessories, and according to cliche', that's what women live for. And I do like looking for the right bag. The problem, my dears, is that I can't find what I'm looking for.

When I was 6 or 7, my parents took me to see my very first James Bond film, and like most children I was immediately captivated by all the gadgets. Not only by how nifty they were, but how small they were as well (this was years before the Transformers came out, by the way), and how they were used at precisely the right time.... oh, Eddie Izzard explains it much better than I:



Yes, quite. So anyway, after seeing this James Bond movie, one of my first acts was to go home and assemble what I called a James Bond Kit. It sounds impressive, sure, but really it was just an old tote bag filled with various toys that I thought could be marginally useful in a James Bond style scenario:

• a cheap flashlight
• a plastic canteen
• a toy compass
  
• a toy knife
• a jump-rope, which I could turn into a lasso, or tie someone up with, or use as a garrote
  
• a set of my mother's old crochet hooks, which I thought looked a little bit like lock picks
• some jacks, which I thought could make dandy caltrops

As you can see, it rather failed at being truly James Bond-ish, but you can't deny the thinking that went into it: These are things I think will be useful in a pinch, and I want them all in an easy-to-carry bag. I'd also like to note for completeness' sake that I spent my elementary school years on military bases in Europe during the Cold War, so that also helps explains why my kit was closer to a half-asses Boy Scout's rucksack than actual cool super-spy gear.

No joke: I actually grew up afraid that one day, we'd get a call in the middle of the night that the Russians were pouring across the borders, and that I'd have to abandon my dog and my toys to go hide in the countryside while my father went off to war. That probably explains quite a lot about me and my quirks.

Now, fast-forward many years. I'm older and more sophisticated, but I still haven't outgrown the notion of a James Bond kit. Nowadays, I have a backpack that I take most places (hanging rakishly off one shoulder, natch) that contains the following:

• first aid kit
• sewing kit
• duct tape
• electrical tape
• Leatherman tool
• wire cuttters/strippers
• 15-in-1 screwdriver/ratchet
• Swiss Army knife
• Husky multi-wrench
• carbide-blade pocket saw
• wrench thingie offered with above (sometimes you need 2 wrenches, amirite?)
  
• Emergency Pro hand-crank flashlight/cell phone charger
• portable World Band radio (chargeable with above item)

Then there's the stuff in the trunk of my car:

• bolt cutters
• survival blanket/tarp/poncho
• entrenching tool
• big-ass Mag Light flashlight

I don't do this out of paranoia. I'm not afraid that at some point I'll need to flee civilization and survive in the wild for years. (If I did, I'd own an off-road vehicle, and it would have camping gear and rations in it.) No, I just kind of pick this stuff up, because it seems nifty and useful and, well, James Bond-ish.

Which brings us back to my quest for the proper bag for my laptop. You see, it can't JUST hold my laptop; it also needs to hold all my other crap, too, because at this point I'm carrying several pounds of metal and I'm starting to get funny looks when I set my bag down and it goes clink.

I want a bag that can hold all this stuff, but more importantly, it can't just be thrown in there. Oh no. Because, you see, this is a JAMES BOND KIT, and that can't be girly. Stuff just tossed into the main pocket? Exceptionally girly, because that's just an oversize purse.

I want something that's tough. Utilitarian. Military. Perhaps even ridiculously macho.

I want this sucker to have reinforced grommets. I want it to be made from ripstop nylon. I want it waterproof, rainproof, bulletproof if possible. I want my laptop to be cradled in a shockproof cocoon of foam rubber. And I want it to have dozens, perhaps hundreds, of pouches, snaps, tie-downs, pockets, and those expandable holdy-things that can hold a 2 liter soda bottle but compress into a slot the size of a credit card.







God help me, I want a computer bag designed by Rob Liefeld, because there is something just obscenely decadent about each tool having its own little pocket, snuggled up asleep in an individual cocoon.

... okay, on second thought, having a little nest for every tool is actually pretty girly after all. I would indeed tuck them each into place, like a mother putting her children to bed at night. But I digress...

Still, the problem with desiring a Rob Liefeld Bag is that, much like his anatomical drawing, such things are clearly impossible to find in real life.

So I turn to you, my dear readers, to help me find the nearest equivalent of a Rob Liefeld Bag for my James Bond Laptop Kit. It doesn't even have to be an actual laptop bag (in fact, I'm pretty sure it won't, as those seem restricted to either "oversized purse" or "leather attache case" categories); I'm fine with repurposing bags designed for other uses.

So far, the closest I have come to fulfilling my design aesthetic is a SWAT Bag, but even that not quite what I want. I definitely feel that military surplus is the way to go, but am willing to consider other options (like what they transport camera lenses in) as long as they satisfy my "tons of pockets" needs.



Color, of course, needs to be either gray or black.

Price should be in the "expensive, because you're paying for quality" range, but lower than "Oh my God you paid HOW MUCH?",
which is probably in the $50 - $100 range.

I can't really promise any fabulous prizes for helping me find my ideal Rob Liefeld Bag, but as longtime reader Nathan Tamayo will attest, if you do something nice for me, I do something nice in return. So send me your ideas, your links, your witty comments, and not only will I write a follow-up post containing the best of these, but I will do or give something quite spiffy to the winner.

Now if you'll excuse me, I need to go put on my jam trousers.

Mystery solved!

Many many hugs and kisses to John, who was able to identify the mystery book as Buying Time by Joe Haldeman. Ironically, once the title was known, it was easy-peasey to find information and reviews on it.

Hail Eris.

For those interested enough to Read More About It, I recommend this review by none other than Orson Scott Card.

More book information

I've remembered more information about the book I'm looking for.

• It cannot have been printed after 1999.
• It was in hardback.
  
• The cover was green.
  
• It was not part of an anthology.
  
• There is a sequence where the heroine's private spacecraft is launched into escape velocity by a massdriver. I further suspect this is at a spaceport in or near the Canary Islands.
  
• The heroine is an immortal, just like the hero.
  
• It was fairly hard sci-fi.
  
• It is categorically NOT "Holy Fire", by Bruce Sterling.
  
• It was not, to the best of my knowledge, written by any of the "big guns" of science fiction.

Looking for a book

Okay, I need help in finding a book.

Like you might expect, I can't remember the title or the author, but I remember enough details that perhaps a helpful librarian or bibliophile might be able to help.

• I read it about 10 years ago, and I believe it was new at the time.
  
• It is science fiction.
  
• The protagonist is a fabulously wealthy man with a kevlar-reinforced skull.
  
• He and his girlfriend are immortal, but this immortality is surgical in nature; every 20 years or so, they need to have their genes re-set in a hideously expensive and complicated procedure. In fact, it's so expensive that it bankrupts whoever has it done.
  
• Somewhere along the line, they discover that the procedure is being deliberately botched; done properly, the recipient never needs to have it done again.
• They flee to the asteroid belt and take refuge in a colony called Novosibirsk.
• They are pursued by bad guys (naturally) who like to incapacitate their victims with a drug called zombie, which slows the victim's perception of time such that seconds seems to last minutes.
  

Can anyone tell me what book this is? I can't recall how it ended and I want to reread it.