THoughts On - Obsidian Notes for RPG's and Wargaming - Updated.

 Hi  Everyone,

                      Today's topic is about a free PC, Mobile and probably LINUX app called "Obsidian". You may have seen it on YouTube before, as it has been out for a while. It is used for taking notes on both mobile devices and PCs.

 It has a wide range of core functions and community add-ins (some paid for), which allow you to customise the setup to suit your needs. All of your notes are stored on your own device in a folder called a vault, in plain text "Markdown" format. All text editors should be able to read the .md format, so if Obsidian goes kaput, you still have all of your data in a readable format on your local hard drive, which would not be the case in many other note taking apps. 

 Obsidian supports Python programming with editors, cut and paste snippets of code where they are needed, and the code font themes can be changed to suit your wishes.

                       Inside of your text, you can link notes together with [[note name 1]],  [[Author List]], [Daily notes]] etc. Just press on the highlighted entry to go to that note. You can change the colours of the tabs and highlights.  Headings, highlights, bullet points, strike-through, auto-numbered lists, bold, and italic are all easy to implement as you type.  Tags can be used for sorting content. Tables can be added with ease. Graphics are available. The latest development to come online is the database. I have not delved into that system yet.

There are plenty of YouTube tutorials showing how particular features and functions are set up. YouTubers have tailored the Obsidian system plug-ins for their needs, including Step-by-step walk-throughs. 

For instance, Mike of "Sly Flourish's "Return of the Lazy Dungeon Master" books and blog, uses Obsidian for his weekly tips and Adventure planning broadcasts. He has converted all of his paid-for "Patreon materials" to markdown format, including hyperlink indexing of books, so that they can seamlessly be ported over into your "Vault" and be used straight away.

You can use them for world-building notes, linking plot ideas and baddies together. Wargame Club scores and games that individuals play. GM information can be amended on the fly.  It is ideal for recording inspiration when you are on the move, swapping files from mobile to PC. Planning strategies, recording troop movements. journaling results to give to players. 

The Obsidian developer community are frequently adding new functionality to the app, giving it great expansion potential. Mind mapping visuals are also included. 

I am just a novice at using it, but I am sure you will find it of great use in your gaming and wider hobbies.

Regards,

Ivor Cogdell

Red Alert Board 5

 Red Alert 5

 Hi all,

            This is where I will post my wild weather reports and general climate change information for 2026.

6 Jan 2026 - Confirmation that 2025 was the hottest and sunniest year for the UK since records began in 1884. Average temperatures reached 10.09 °C. 

Source: Government figures.

More to come.

Regards,

Ivor Cogdell

Thoughts On - Trump Attacks Venezuela. Updated.

 Hi Everybody,                                                                                                           3rd - 4th Jan 2026

                      We hear news from the other side of the pond that President Trump has just had a tizzy and commanded US forces to attack Venezuela, abducting the sitting president on the justification that they are moving drugs to the USA, which they have been doing. But the US has been blowing the boats out of the water, against International law, stop and seize, not kill them. They also swiped a couple of Venezuelan oil tankers, in part reparation for what the government is owed in the past, but I thought that was called by it's other name. piracy on the high seas?

 The Venezuelan President and first lady had been flown to New York and are being kept under guard.

                      Right off the bat. I would like to say I am not an expert in this matter, and this is only my humble opinion, whether the actions that they have taken are internationally legal or not. Could the armed forces be charged with unlawfully kidnapping a foreign head of state? Did I hear that they had been planning this move for months? So much for the Nobel Peace Prize.

                    What it will allow him to say now is that Venezuelan immigrants now pose a threat to the USA, so ICE can pick them off the streets as they please, hopefully for them with no comeback, whether that is true or not is debatable.

                    His pal "Big Bad Vlad" must be laughing his socks off right about now. There will be no more supposedly "moral high ground" for Donald to perch on when he calls him next. Not that it was making any difference. I would love to read a transcript of a few of those calls, but I don't suppose they keep them at the White House, otherwise known as the fun factory.

I am awaiting more news. Here we go - 

HEADLINE: Trump to run the country until transition.

Two points regarding that: Firstly, he cannot run the government that he has now competently, let alone take on another one that will actively be working against him. Secondly, once he does have power in there, that just means his cronies can move in and asset-strip the place as he has done with the USA, while no one is looking, or maybe he is past caring if they see or not.

Next in his sights, we hear it may be Canada or possibly Greenland. More of his allies to duff up. If you read it in a novel, you would think the plot was far-fetched. But here we are. Strange days indeed. He is totally off his trolley, but no one seems to care. Is this the beginning of the end for the USA?

Good luck, everybody,

Ivor Cogdell

Thoughts On - Panic Mode and war between the land and the sea

 Hi everyone,                                                                                                              3rd Jan 2026.

 A very warm welcome to JB. 

                    I hope you all had a good time over Christmas. I mainly stopped is as I was coming down with a cold and did not want to spread any germs. As I type this, there is still snow on the ground, not a white Christmas here, but closer than we usually get.

                    As for the title of this post, that was me just a few moments ago, when I tried to log on here, and Google, bless their cotton socks, couldn't find it. I was doing an email to a pal and wanted to include a link to my website, so that he could take a look at my mini painting skills, or rather, lack of them

                  I typed in tears from the front, nothing, added blogspot. com that usually does the trick, still nothing. Added Quotes, zippo.  I tried searching for red alert, page, got shedloads, but none were mine. I rechecked the spelling, which was ok. 

                 I finally hit on tears from the front blogspot.com and just blogspot.com. Have they shut up shop completely? I am very glad to see that I was wrong about that.

Now that I have got my breath back, did you see the Dr Who spin-off by Russel T Davies, The War Between the Land and the Sea? (No spoilers). A five-part story, released in two pairs and the final instalment. It was a quality production all around. The sets and special effects were realistic. A couple of the UNIT crew would be recognisable to fans of the show.  It features an enemy that should have been given more airtime over the years.

            Quality acting from all of the cast, giving the plot conviction and weight. At the end of each episode, you were wondering where the storyline was going to lead next. I hope they do a sequel.

For your information, the next Dr Who series is planned to show at Christmas 2026.

Regards all,

Ivor Cogdell

Thoughts On - My birthday and "Beyond All Reason"

 Hi everyone,

                     This is just a bit of a filler to keep you informed on what I have been up to lately. It was my birthday recently, and a very good mate and I had an afternoon walking around Lichfield town centre. We visited most of the local charity shops and acquired some DVDs and a couple of paintings each, plus she found a couple of summer dresses that she liked.

                     I did a quick sketch of one of the statues in the Library Square while we were having a break, then had a quick glance in one of the antique shops. Time was getting on, so we had a very nice meal of fish and chips with cider in the Acorn pub before getting the bus home. I put my feet up and had a film night with one of my new DVD's and a chilled bottle of wine.

Success

 I found the Chepheus Engine RPG rules amongst my files earlier today. I thought it had been lost, but in fact, it was a case of not being renamed from its extracted .zip file name in the first place, so my search engine could not find it. Better late than never.

                        I gave my new strimmer its first run around the front garden today. It felt much lighter than my old one, which I am pleased about. I also treated my conifer to another haircut with the trimmer. It's now a truncated pyramid.

Something New

By chance the other day, I found myself watching the Virtual TableTop wargame "Beyond All Reason" (C) on YouTube (C) for the first time. To let you know, my wargame viewing habits are usually just of the miniature fighting variety or occasional sniper sims, so to see a ginormous 8-player electronic battle simulation in full colour blew me away completely. How the team leaders can plan strategies among the chaos is beyond me. 

The graphics are superb. Each warring team is colour-coded, so they can see their own forces easily. Power plants spawn weaponry, tanks, gunships, and many other sorts of tiny nastiness that were scurrying all over the place at the eight warlords' whims, trying to get and keep the upper hand and gain victory by wiping everyone else out. 

I think the commentator said there were over 19,000 units on the board at one point. Fantastic. Explosions range from small to devastating. They were even throwing multiple tactical nukes at each other at one point; these were being deflected by defending force fields until their hit points gave out. It was utter madness, but great to watch. I have now seen some other battles with different landscapes and numbers of troops. It makes for very entertaining viewing.

That's all for now, take care.

Ivor Cogdell

Thoughts On - Busy Bunny

 Hi Everyone,

                       This is just to let you know that I have not deserted you good people out there in gameland. I have been catching up with real life stuff, as you do and it has thrown a spanner into my gaming stuff. It had been so long since I was on here that I had to search a few times to find it with google.

 I have got a couple of bits of terrain from my pal M, (a bit less to pack) and they will star in my reworking of my Nations battle report, which I have been trying to get done for ages. I may just do a reset. I have a few more celtic warriors to do, thanks to Wargames Illustrated Magazine adding them to their front cover.

                      I have also started to work on a painting that has been idle for a while, as I needed some ideas on where to go next. I have seen a rock formation that has what I needed in the way of lighting, so I am starting to amend the skyline.

                      I am in the middle of pruning in the garden and the Jazz festival has just sailed through, I visited three new venues and bands. I visited the tribute area to Ozzy Ozbourne Passing Away in the local museum.

                      There has been no Alien gaming for a while, but I am still in touch with my other gamers. All are doing ok.

                    Now I have got the site updated and added a bit more into Red Alert 4 page, I can do a bit of painting with a clear conscience. I will see if I can find any wargaming podcasts to listen to while I am slopping paint about.

Regards all,

Ivor Cogdell

P.S. Oh yes, on the subject regarding to my mate being evicted by his landlord, which I mentioned in a previous podcast, well social services said that they have found him a place to rent about an hour away from where he is now, but he has not got the keys or a moving date as yet. He said he is swamped with boxes and can hardly swing a cat in his living room, as they say. He needs to be able to shift some stuff before he can do any more packing. But he is more cheerful than before, now that the process is under way.

 

Thoughts On - Trump Month Three

Hello Everyone,

 This is a bit off topic, although it does pertain to the fight against climate change and its causes and it may possibly lead to an American civil war, so that would count.

They say the Internet will live forever, I have my doubts, but just in case...

"To our Climate Change researchers and people in general in the future, who may wonder what those of our generation were thinking to vote in Donald J. Trump for a second term. (I hear that he is talking of a third term, which I predicted, which at the moment would be illegal, but that will not stop him from trying to do it.)"

         "May I pen an apology on behalf of the American people who voted for Donald Trump in the 2024 USA election. (That was not me, I live in the UK. My sin is that I voted for Mrs. Thatcher in the UK 1982 election, so we all make mistakes.) They heard the promises, they wanted things to change, but they just did not see the implications of what those actions would have to themselves or the people around them, or in some cases, did not care."

Why did they do it? 

Why is a question I have pondered? Big money swaying big advertising? Biased "News Channels" spouting promotional rubbish. The courts were rigged in his favour, Republicans had voted in flunkies (Not all of them). Most Republicans are too afraid to speak the truth for whatever reason, following his orders meekly like sheep. Regular Trump voters have admitted that they are now in deep trouble through Trump's actions. Considering that each business venture Trump has gone into, every one has gone bankrupt. He has been sued in the courts and is a felon. The "Tariff" spin had a lot to do with it, the thought of getting others to pay for their own improvements and debt relief.

Being Honest

To be honest, most governments are not set up to tackle the big picture like climate change. People in power mainly just want to keep the power they have and get more. The same for big companies. The profit margin is what counts to the shareholders, nothing else. It does not seem to matter that their families will have to pay the price of what they are allowing to be done today.

Consequences

I hope that the consequences of their actions are not too reaching and can eventually be clawed back. The Universities are fighting back against his immigration policies and funding rip-offs. They are going to court. 

       I am not a financial expert, but the stock market nosedive will have ripples in other economies too. That will affect my pension (UK) too. Since it is being orchestrated, the rich buddies know when to buy shares and when to sell to make the most profit. I heard $ Billions were made by Elon Musk and his pals. 

Change

Change is coming, so prepare the best you can. I fear that for the next few years, they will be downhill in our fortunes and standards again. I do not play any post-apocalypse wargames anymore, fearing that they are a glimpse of our future. I hope not, for my family's sake. I do not want to believe that we have seen the best of the world and just threw it away. Time will tell.

Live life the best that you can, and see the beauty around you. Hope is not all gone; it is just a bit dimmer at the moment.

Unbiased

Just in case you think I am talking complete rubbish, try a completely unbiased view for a change. There is an Artificial Intelligence  - "ChatGBT" that has analysed Donald Trump's performance in office in a totally unbiased way. Take a look at the blogs. Then see if your conclusions have changed or not.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ml_XrFvVSnM Month one.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=GU4PhXQRWH0  Month two.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Gpordab_GT0  Month three.

Regards all,

Ivor Cogdell

Birmingham

England

P.S. I tried to add it to my Facebook page, but it would only allow a certain amount of text. Typical. I suggest adding the link, perhaps.