Subject: Ackanomic Digest V1 #403
From: [email-masked] (Ackanomic Digest)
To: ackanomic-digest

Ackanomic Digest      Saturday, December 14 1996      Volume 01 : Number 403

----------------------------------------------------------------------

Date: Sat, 14 Dec 1996 00:19:19 -0600 (CST)
From: "Joseph W. DeVincentis" <devjoe>
Subject: Re: Acka: Secret Decoder Ring

breadbox wrote:
> >> I won't post the map to the list, because it's kind of big (over 8K,
> >> in fact), what with all this recent discussion about large files
> >> breaking people's mailboxes. Instead, the map can be found at
> > 
> > There is at least one player (Habeous Corpus), who does not have web
> > access.  R 1348.2 allows discrimination in the treasure hunt, but it
> > would be nice, if feaseable, if you could find a way to allow those
> > without web access to participate.  If you cannot, I understand.
> 
> My apologies; I hadn't considered that. I would, of course, have been
> happy to mail it directly to anyone who wanted to see it. (Or I could
> have just mailed it to the list, if no one had any objections.) Of
> course, as it turns out, /dev/joe decoded my map in less time than it
> took me to create it. (Just how long DID it take you, /dev/joe?)

I worked on it almost continuously from the time I received your first
email until my first Traveling message.  Upon seeing that the initial
map was not simply ASCII, I chopped it into bytes, 1 per line, with
a simple macro in emacs, and sorted the file, and found that nearly all
of the characters fell into the ranges of X2 to X6, for X = any digit.
This led me to believe that it was ascii with the digits swapped; another
macro converted this, and breadbox's convenient little program gave me
map #2, which was a uuencoded file, backwards, byte-for-byte.  That took
a little time to handle, and the result was another uuencoded file, and
that decoded to another uudecoded file; there were several steps like
this, some of them with extra little tricks.  The filenames along the
way spelled out a message.  Finally, I ended up with another sequence
of hex digits:   82998581848296A77DA2408896A4A285

This didn't make much sense as ASCII, as most of the bytes were too
large.  I tried looking at it as having the digits swapped, like the
first code, but that didn't make any sense either (and still left me
with high bytes like D7).  So then I figured maybe it was some sort of
shifted ASCII.  Converting the lowest byte to a space meant reducing
each byte by 20 (hex) and this gave me:  byeadbv<87>]<82> hv<84><82>e
(where the <8x> indicate those bytes -- high ASCII).  I knew I hadn't
quite found the code used for the last part, but I recognized this as
saying "breadbox's house" in some sort of code, so I didn't need to
work any more -- I had the answer.

Sorry, breadbox, your name just has too many beginning-of-the-alphabet
characters.  If your name had been something like 23 Skidoo, I wouldn't
have figured out the last code so quickly.

/dev/joe

------------------------------

Date: Fri, 13 Dec 1996 22:54:06 -0800 (PST)
From: Brian Raiter <[email-masked]>
Subject: Re: Acka: Secret Decoder Ring

> This led me to believe that it was ascii with the digits swapped;
> another macro converted this, and breadbox's convenient little
> program gave me map #2, which was a uuencoded file, backwards,
> byte-for-byte.

Also, reversing the original file first, and THEN running my
little program, would have given you the uuencoded file forwards.

> Converting the lowest byte to a space meant reducing each byte by 20
> (hex) and this gave me: byeadbv<87>]<82> hv<84><82>e

> Sorry, breadbox, your name just has too many
> beginning-of-the-alphabet characters.

Oh, rats. And here I thought I was so clever in using EBCDIC. (For
those fortunate enough not to know, EBCDIC is a pre-ASCII character
encoding in which the alphabet is not contiguous.) You're also
fortunate in that the distance from ' ' to 'a' just happens to be the
same in both ASCII and EBCDIC. If I had used uppercase letters, the
above trick wouldn't been quite so successful.

Nonetheless, /dev/joe, excellent work. You are a treasure hunter
nonpareil. (Looks like you're going to beat me to the No Tea as well.)

breadbox

------------------------------

Date: Sat, 14 Dec 1996 02:00:19 -0500
From: Malenkai <[email-masked]>
Subject: Re: Acka: Secret Decoder Ring

Brian Raiter wrote:

[about the corpse treasure hunt]

Please publish the actual text of the treasure map (if you are indeed
declaring that /dev/joe has found the treasure), so that I may update
the appropriate web pages (forgive me if you did and I missed it, I
just went through a blizzard of e-mail, but did not see it).

Malenkai
likes to record stuff for historical purposes

------------------------------

Date: Sat, 14 Dec 1996 02:01:45 -0500
From: Malenkai <[email-masked]>
Subject: Re: Acka: Secret Decoder Ring

Brian Raiter wrote:

> Nonetheless, /dev/joe, excellent work. You are a treasure hunter
> nonpareil. (Looks like you're going to beat me to the No Tea as well.)

That appears to be the case, although he still has not found the ones
I have buried :)

Malenkai
heckling the treasure finder

------------------------------

Date: Sat, 14 Dec 1996 09:10:38 +0200 (EET)
From: Uri Bruck <[email-masked]>
Subject: Re: Acka: Promoter stuff

On Fri, 13 Dec 1996, Guy Fawkes wrote:

> 
> I've found a way that I can send the proposals list in human readable form.
> (Move the docket text file into my html directory, go to its URL, select 
> all, copy, paste), so be assured, if the email reform passes, proposal 
> dockets WILL be human readable.
> 
> I apologize for the inconvenience.
> 
> Guy Fawkes
> 
In pine you can read any text file directly into the message body by using
the control-r command (form the message body, from the head control-r just
gives more headers)
you press control-r, then control-t, and select the file from the list, no
need to move it anywhere.

Niccolo Flychuck

------------------------------

Date: Sat, 14 Dec 1996 09:12:23 +0200 (EET)
From: Uri Bruck <[email-masked]>
Subject: Re: Acka: Otzma

On Sat, 14 Dec 1996, Malenkai wrote:
> 
> This auction is supposed to be private.  R 115 seems to allow public
> disclosure of bids, but be aware that a non publically knowable bid
> may be higher than all of the publically knowable ones.
> 
> Malenkai
> cannot remember if he is Chief Cheese on the laser auction
> 
I never said the Auction was not supposed to be private. Thought this
would be clear after the last Otzma Day.

Niccolo Flychuck

------------------------------

Date: Fri, 13 Dec 1996 23:14:28 -0800 (PST)
From: Brian Raiter <[email-masked]>
Subject: Re: Acka: Secret Decoder Ring

> Please publish the actual text of the treasure map (if you are indeed
> declaring that /dev/joe has found the treasure)

Ooops. Ahem. The Exquisite Dead Guy has been found by /dev/joe. The
"text" of the treasure map, before obfuscation, fragmentation, and
presdigitation, is:

my treasure shall be found by the first player to visit breadbox's house

The map is hereby destroyed.

b

------------------------------

Date: Sat, 14 Dec 1996 02:14:32 -0500
From: Malenkai <[email-masked]>
Subject: Acka: CFJ 324 Verdict

It seems that the issue of T 111 has been decided, but the CFJ has not
been retracted.  I have had no choice but to attempt to render
judgement as best as I can in accordance with the rules, and have found
a verdict of TRUE, different than what has been discussed.  
My reasoning is attached below.

Malenkai/CotC

- ------------------------------------------------------------------------
Call For Judgement 324
  Subject: The Hubert Legacy and Treasure Hunt
Initiator: Guy Fawkes
    Judge: Malenkai (selected Dec 13, 1996, 09:24h EST)
Judgement: TRUE

Statement:

Guy Fawkes was the first player to fulfill the requirements of
the Treasure Map for Treasure 111.

Guy Fawkes' Reasoning:

Guy Fawkes' initial timestamp is a minute before /dev/joe's.  wilma sent off
/dev/joe's "Hubert" message three or four minutes before Guy Fawkes'.  I
have no crushing need to possess the Secret Decoder Ring at all costs,
but it is of moderate importance to know.  You figure it out.

Malenkai's Reasoning:

Kelly Martin once said that the overwhelming majority of nomic CFJs are
based on Rule of Law (that is to say, the facts are not disputed, but
the law (and its interpretation) is), as opposed to Rule of Fact (the 
reverse).  Moreover, she observed that the nomic justice system was
unusual in that the burden of proof generally rested on the judge, as
opposed to the adversarial system generally employed in the western
(and perhaps other) systems of law.  I was looking at what appeared to
be a Rule of Fact CFJ, and looking at doing alot of research into the
actual facts in this case.  

My first thought was to judge INVALID, as Ackanomic's justice system
only explicity permits Rule of Law CFJs.  I quote from  R 589:

> Any active player who has a question or complaint about any matter
> concerning the laws and their interpretation may email their statement
> to the Clerk of the Court, who will then distribute it to the rest of
> the Players. A call for judgement is then incurred on that statement. 

Although that appeared to be the correct verdict, there were several
things that nagged me:  
a) I found this case interesting as h**l
b) Rule of Law probably applied, as it always does
c) The questions of 'what does publically knowable mean?' and 'when to
Acka events actually occur?' still needed to be addressed, and this seemed
as good a time as any.

Resolving 'When do Acka events occur?' seemed important.  The choices seemed
to be (assuming it was a public message):

a) as indicated on the timestamp of the original post
b) when the post hit the majordomo server at wilma
c) when the post was in the hands of all players

This question is not regulated, therefore we have to rely on game custom,
and, remembering the Tabulator reverse e-mail situation and other game
situations, game custom indicates a) as when acka events occur.  The
problem with b) is that a public message can legally be sent without
going to wilma, and the problem with c) is 'what if someone's mail
server is on the fritz (e.g. Bascule)?' or 'what if some people are
subscribed to acka-digeset?'.  Need we wait for them?  Acka events then,
are publically knowable as of the send timestamp on a public message.

What about the facts?  When did the actual posts occur relative to the
time in New York City, and was there really almost 4 minutes of network
delay at midnight between U of I and UT-Austin?  I started doing the same
reasearch that others did (but others figured out the facts of the time
descrepency for me anyway, before I was done myself (my boss had work for
me today :() when I realised those facts really did not matter for
*this* case.

I quote from R 901:

> If possible, all players must configure their e-mail software to
> correctly report the current time for the time zone specified.
> Otherwise, they must make public notification of what corrections
> need to be applied to compensate for erroneous time stamps indicated
> on their posts. All posts are deemed to have occurred at the corrected
> time, if the time stamp of a post is erroneous. 

Neither /dev/joe, Guy Fawkes, nor ThinMan indicated any corrections to
be applied to the time stamps on their posts.  I have no choice but to 
assume they are following the rules and the 'Otherwise' clause was
not applicable (as they did not invoke it), and the time stamps are
correct.  It is possible that they were incorrect, and they were
committing a crime by not posting the correction or reconfiguring their
e-mail software per R 901, but that is not the question I have been
asked to judge here.

I thus find that Guy Fawkes was the first to post 'Hubert' without 
explanation on the day in question, based on the assumed correctness
of the header of his post, and in doing so fullfilled the treasure
map for treasure 111.

I do note that the parties involved *have* posted corrections to be
applied to their timestamps, but these corrections have been posted after
the CFJ was called.  That is unfortuanate, as Judgement must be rendered
based on the rules and game state in effect at the time judgement was
called; these corrections were posted afterwords, and there is no reason
to allow that they apply retroactively to the time the CFJ was filed.
How can we know, for example, that the system clocks in question were
not changed between the time in question and the time the research was
done and the corrections posted?

As much as I would like to judge this case FALSE, based on the facts that
have come to light since judgement was called, I cannot ignore the rules,
which I find clear (215, 901).  Although these rules may be bad to
some extent, they are clear.

In some cases, we are talking about mere minutes and seconds.  Surely
game custom and spirit of the game will allow these small times to
slide.  But where do you draw the line?  1 second? 10 minutes? 1 hour?
I cannot presume to play dictator and make that call, I can only follow
the rules in front of me, and have no choice.  If we wish to design
ackanomic to be a real-time game, we should enforce the synchronicity
of the various players, or modify the rules to handle these sort of 
situations as indented.

I note that the Secret Decoder Ring is a gift entity, and that Guy
Fawkes may give it to /dev/joe, or anyone else, if he feels that is
appropriate.

The statement I was asked to judge is TRUE based on the facts and rule 
of law in force at the time.

------------------------------

Date: Sat, 14 Dec 1996 05:05:25 -0600
From: Mitchell Harding <[email-masked]>
Subject: Acka: Duel/Ghost Start 

>The ghost word is now
>
>gu
>
>It is Robert Sevin's turn.

My move: gub

Robert Sevin

------------------------------

Date: Sat, 14 Dec 1996 05:10:37 -0600
From: Mitchell Harding <[email-masked]>
Subject: Re: Acka: Harf Inquistion 

>A hearing has been called in regards as to whether the Harfmeister is
>hogging the Harf.  The voting ends 3 days from the date of the post
>you are reading.  Send votes to [email-masked].
>
>The valid responses are:
>
>> "No! He's going to share the Harf!" and
>> "Yes! He is Hogging the Harf!".
>
>The Harfmeister rules are in the 1112 series.

I would just like to say in my defense (as Harfmeister) that I am taking my
title extremely seriously (as player who first introduced harf into this
fine world), and I am maintaining very high harfy standards in order to due
justice to my title of Harfmeister.

Robert Sevin, who may or may not be...
Wearing a Silly Vacation Hat

------------------------------

Date: Sat, 14 Dec 1996 02:13:54 -0900
From: Phil Ackley <[email-masked]>
Subject: Acka: Voting, Etc 

With all the new players in the game, I thought I'd just take a moment to
clarify voting procedures in case any one was curious.  Send your votes to
me at [email-masked].  Please be sure to include the word 'vote'
somewhere in the subject line.  Any format you wish to use for voting is
fine.  Many players prefer to use the system held over from the days of our
nomicbot (which would tabulate automatically) --

#vote propnumber y/n/p (ie, #vote 1510 y)

Many other players just send me the proposal number and how they wish to
vote (ie, 1542 yes, 1543 no, 1545 present).  And some other players do
batch voting (ie, I vote yes on all proposal 1500 - 1534 with the exception
of P1522 on which I vote no and P1515 on which I vote present).

It's all up to you... I'm easy.

snowgod

BTW, I'll release the voting results through Saturday when I wake up
tommorow morning. Now that school is out, I am hoping to get on a schedule
where I can tabulate the results every day.

------------------------------

Date: Sat, 14 Dec 1996 02:16:00 -0900
From: Phil Ackley <[email-masked]>
Subject: Re: Acka: Voting, Etc 

>BTW, I'll release the voting results through Saturday when I wake up
>tommorow morning. Now that school is out, I am hoping to get on a schedule
>where I can tabulate the results every day.

Tommorow is really today!  No, I won't be sleeping straight through till
sunday :)

snowgod

------------------------------

Date: Sat, 14 Dec 1996 05:16:23 -0600
From: Mitchell Harding <[email-masked]>
Subject: Re: Acka: Problem with P1559 - Summaries 

>1) The paragraph allowing the Senate to revoke the title of expert is
>too vague for me to support in its present form. Expert commentary
>should have a concrete number of summaries allowed per calendar month.

Please elaborate on your first statement. What would you suggest?

>2) The expert should be asked to summary of the proposal, not recieve
>points for an summary unasked for.

I disagree. If an expert is commenting on proposals that have no need of
summary, they will most likely have their title revoked, or at least be
warned by the Senate. 

>3) Some players could, from my point of view, be called experts in
>almost all fields. There should be a limit of 2 fields to which a player
>can be a summarizing expert. 

Again I disagree. Being an expert is a service to others, it is not intended
to be something to benefit a player in any major way. If a player can be an
expert in many areas, good for them -- they can be that much more help to
other players.

Thanks for the response, I want to discuss this with all who are interested.

Robert Sevin, who may or may not be...
Wearing a Silly Vacation Hat

------------------------------

Date: Sat, 14 Dec 1996 02:18:06 -0900
From: Phil Ackley <[email-masked]>
Subject: Re: Acka: Harf Inquistion 

>I would just like to say in my defense (as Harfmeister) that I am taking my
>title extremely seriously (as player who first introduced harf into this
>fine world), and I am maintaining very high harfy standards in order to due
>justice to my title of Harfmeister.
>
>Robert Sevin, who may or may not be...
>Wearing a Silly Vacation Hat

If that is truly the case, than I certqainly have no objections to Robert
Sevin maintaing the title of Harfmeister.  However, so we know what to
strive for, can you please release some of the criterion you would use in
determining a proposals Harfiness?

snowgod
Author of the Harf Series

------------------------------

Date: Sat, 14 Dec 1996 05:18:06 -0600
From: Mitchell Harding <[email-masked]>
Subject: Re: Acka: Problem with P1559 - Summaries 

>I oppose 1559 on grounds that it limits players' freedom to discuss
>anything they like.  Players may babble and discuss anything, if they do
>not consider themselves experts on those matters.
>I supported Experts because I think they provide a service to 
>Ackanomic. Summaries does not provide such a Service.

I am curious as to how you interpret this as limiting players' freedom to
discuss anything they like. Any player can still discuss anything they want,
but only Experts can offer Expert summaries. As I have said, these summaries
would allow less active players to more easily understand proposals that
might otherwise be too overwhelming. 

Robert Sevin

------------------------------

Date: Sat, 14 Dec 1996 13:25:53 +0200 (EET)
From: Uri Bruck <[email-masked]>
Subject: Re: Acka: Problem with P1559 - Summaries

On Sat, 14 Dec 1996, Mitchell Harding wrote:

> >I oppose 1559 on grounds that it limits players' freedom to discuss
> >anything they like.  Players may babble and discuss anything, if they do
> >not consider themselves experts on those matters.
> >I supported Experts because I think they provide a service to 
> >Ackanomic. Summaries does not provide such a Service.
> 
> I am curious as to how you interpret this as limiting players' freedom to
> discuss anything they like. Any player can still discuss anything they want,
> but only Experts can offer Expert summaries. As I have said, these summaries
> would allow less active players to more easily understand proposals that
> might otherwise be too overwhelming. 
> 
> Robert Sevin
> 
Specifically, it limits Experts' freedom to discuss areas of Ackanomic in
which they are not recognized Experts. Since the proposal says nothing
about how we distinguish a summary from another posting, any posting one
makes about any subject can be deemed by someone as a Summary, a
conception which would have the effect of the Expert's Expert status
revoked.

Niccolo Flychuck

------------------------------

Date: Sat, 14 Dec 1996 05:25:18 -0600
From: Mitchell Harding <[email-masked]>
Subject: Acka: Harf Inquistion 

>If that is truly the case, than I certqainly have no objections to Robert
>Sevin maintaing the title of Harfmeister.  However, so we know what to
>strive for, can you please release some of the criterion you would use in
>determining a proposals Harfiness?

Ah....to define harf -- such an elusive concept. Some have described it as
innovative and silly, but that only scratches the surface of what harf truly
is, although they certainly play a big part. I must admit that I do not know
the definition of harf, as only one person claims to know, and some even
doubt that he does. For the purposes of Ackanomic a proposal is harfy if I
read it and feel as though I should say "That proposal defies
classification". That's the best way I can describe it. Of course, inherent
in harf's nature is the fact that I may well run across a proposal where I
don't react in that fashion, and yet still consider the proposal harfy.
Nevertheless fear not, I have been vigilant in my examination of every
proposal distributed, searching for that spark of harfiness...

Robert Sevin,
Harfmeister

------------------------------

Date: Sat, 14 Dec 1996 02:26:29 -0900
From: Phil Ackley <[email-masked]>
Subject: re: Acka: Proposal P1559 

I support P1559, but would rather see an expert gain currency (or Boons of
the Ancients, should that pass) rather than points for writing a summary.
This is ot enough reson for me to vote against it, but I would like to see
it modified with a future amendment.

I think P1559 provides pushes the game in the same direction that I was
trying to do when I authored mentors, and I see no real reason to oppose
it.  It increases the value of the game, without harmful side effects...
And in it's current form would allow some of us to gain modest points even
when we don't have time to submit numerous bug-fix proposals.

snowgod

------------------------------

Date: Sat, 14 Dec 1996 05:27:28 -0600
From: Mitchell Harding <[email-masked]>
Subject: Re: Acka: Problem with P1559 - Summaries 

>Specifically, it limits Experts' freedom to discuss areas of Ackanomic in
>which they are not recognized Experts. Since the proposal says nothing
>about how we distinguish a summary from another posting, any posting one
>makes about any subject can be deemed by someone as a Summary, a
>conception which would have the effect of the Expert's Expert status
>revoked.

My first defense is that an Expert summary has a specific subject line that
defines it as such. However I do see your point, and would suggest that if
this is your only objection, that I either retract and repropose the
proposal, or pass it and then amend it, in such a way that requires the
Expert to make a clear statement at the beginning of the message that
declares it to be an official Expert summary. Would this be satisfactory?

Robert Sevin

------------------------------

Date: Sat, 14 Dec 1996 02:29:20 -0900
From: Phil Ackley <[email-masked]>
Subject: Re: Acka: Problem with P1559 - Summaries 

>Specifically, it limits Experts' freedom to discuss areas of Ackanomic in
>which they are not recognized Experts. Since the proposal says nothing
>about how we distinguish a summary from another posting, any posting one
>makes about any subject can be deemed by someone as a Summary, a
>conception which would have the effect of the Expert's Expert status
>revoked.

A public message is made a summary by it's subject line if I rememebr
correctly.

snowgod

------------------------------

Date: Sat, 14 Dec 1996 05:30:46 -0600
From: Mitchell Harding <[email-masked]>
Subject: re: Acka: Proposal P1559 

At 02:26 AM 12/14/1996 -0900, you wrote:
>I support P1559, but would rather see an expert gain currency (or Boons of
>the Ancients, should that pass) rather than points for writing a summary.
>This is ot enough reson for me to vote against it, but I would like to see
>it modified with a future amendment.

Calvin n Hobbes and I spent many hours earlier this evening discussing this
very issue. We are currently working on a radical change in the point
system, and I think we both agreed that perhaps money could be used in this
case. Although we were considering changing points to basically being
counters for game dedication and experience, in which case this would be an
appropriate use of them. In any case, that is beside the point. I am
perfectly willing to alter that minor aspect of the proposal, or someone
else can amend it if it passes. That is by no means the main idea behind the
proposal.

>I think P1559 provides pushes the game in the same direction that I was
>trying to do when I authored mentors, and I see no real reason to oppose
>it.  It increases the value of the game, without harmful side effects...
>And in it's current form would allow some of us to gain modest points even
>when we don't have time to submit numerous bug-fix proposals.

I think it will help many less experienced players get into the game faster,
and it will help experienced players (as you note) gain points (or money or
whatever prize is decided upon) in other ways than making proposals...

Again, I want to discuss this proposal with everyone so I can adjust it if
necessary.

Robert Sevin

------------------------------

Date: Sat, 14 Dec 1996 13:39:19 +0200 (EET)
From: Uri Bruck <[email-masked]>
Subject: Re: Acka: Problem with P1559 - Summaries

On Sat, 14 Dec 1996, Mitchell Harding wrote:

> 
> My first defense is that an Expert summary has a specific subject line that
> defines it as such.
The current language doesn't appear strong enough.
I'd prefer something more explicit than 'should be'.

> However I do see your point, and wouldsuggest that if
> this is your only objection, that I either retract and repropose the
> proposal, or pass it and then amend it, in such a way that requires the
> Expert to make a clear statement at the beginning of the message that
> declares it to be an official Expert summary. Would this be satisfactory?
> 
> Robert Sevin
>
That is my objection, and you suggestion is satisfactory. I'm sorry I
wasn't clearer about this right away. I was in a sort of sleepy state of
mind just then...

Niccolo Flychuck

------------------------------

Date: Sat, 14 Dec 1996 05:41:18 -0600
From: Mitchell Harding <[email-masked]>
Subject: Re: Acka: Problem with P1559 - Summaries 

>That is my objection, and you suggestion is satisfactory. I'm sorry I
>wasn't clearer about this right away. I was in a sort of sleepy state of
>mind just then...

Ok, sounds good. Would you prefer I retract it (once I find out everyone
else's objections) and repropose it, or is an amendment good enough? It
would seem like for your objection, not much damage could be done before it
could be amended...

Robert Sevin

------------------------------

Date: Sat, 14 Dec 1996 14:47:23 +0200 (EET)
From: Uri Bruck <[email-masked]>
Subject: Re: Acka: Problem with P1559 - Summaries

On Sat, 14 Dec 1996, Mitchell Harding wrote:

> >That is my objection, and you suggestion is satisfactory. I'm sorry I
> >wasn't clearer about this right away. I was in a sort of sleepy state of
> >mind just then...
> 
> Ok, sounds good. Would you prefer I retract it (once I find out everyone
> else's objections) and repropose it, or is an amendment good enough? It
> would seem like for your objection, not much damage could be done before it
> could be amended...
> 
> Robert Sevin
>
It's your call. Should I get Expert status before it is fixed, I can just
preface my posts for a few days with "this is not a Summary" :)

Niccolo Flychuck

------------------------------

Date: Sat, 14 Dec 1996 04:56:24 -0800 (PST)
From: Brian Raiter <[email-masked]>
Subject: Re: Acka: Experts

> It's your call. Should I get Expert status before it is fixed, I can just
> preface my posts for a few days with "this is not a Summary" :)

Start prefacing. The Senate has confirmed your Expert status on the
following two subjects: Otzma Cards and Party Chess.

breadbox
senator, seat sinecure 33

------------------------------

Date: Sat, 14 Dec 1996 07:47:10 -0600 (CST)
From: Guy Fawkes <[email-masked]>
Subject: Re: Acka: Proposals 1555 and 1561

> >         Is it true in general that parenthetical statements are
> > non-binding?  Often I put ()s around rule/proposal text that is
> > technically necessary but merely annoying from a stylistic point of
> > view.
> 
> I never thought parnethetical content was non-binding.  If so, I sense
> a paradox win or a Chartreuse Goose coming my direction soon ...

I'm nearly certain that () text is binding, while [] text is the 
non-binding clarification protocol.

Guy Fawkes

------------------------------

Date: Sat, 14 Dec 1996 07:49:04 -0600 (CST)
From: Guy Fawkes <[email-masked]>
Subject: Re: Acka: Traveling

On Fri, 13 Dec 1996, Phil Ackley wrote:

> I am climbing to the top of the tallest Tower in Ackanomic (Oh, but I can't
> remember it's name) and awaiting the arrival of the Brass Monkey.  All
> assuming I have the tower owner's permission, of course :)
> 
> snowgod

You have my permission, of course, but I really don't see why you'd want 
to be there, getting incinerated by the the eternally-lit 
not-quite-Bronze Torch that's on top :)

Guy Fawkes

------------------------------

Date: Sat, 14 Dec 1996 08:48:23 -0500
From: Malenkai <[email-masked]>
Subject: Re: Acka: Duel/Ghost Start

Mitchell Harding wrote:

The ghost word is now

gub

It is snowgod's turn

Malenkai
referee

------------------------------

Date: Sat, 14 Dec 1996 09:03:47 -0500
From: Malenkai <[email-masked]>
Subject: Acka: Praetor

The nomination for Praetor is over.  ThinMan was the only volunteer,
so he becomes Praetor.

Malenkai

------------------------------

Date: Sat, 14 Dec 1996 09:07:50 EST 
From: [email-masked]
Subject: Acka: Otzma

Habeous Corpus bids A$30 for OCID 107

HC

------------------------------

Date: Sat, 14 Dec 1996 09:07:50 EST 
From: [email-masked]
Subject: Acka: Auction

Habeous Corpus bids A$88 for the shiny light

HC

------------------------------

Date: Sat, 14 Dec 1996 09:09:19 -0500
From: Malenkai <[email-masked]>
Subject: Re: Acka: Fictionary: Voting Time

Phil Ackley wrote:

> It is time to cast your votes. 

> 6) A vein of petrified wood.

I vote for definition 6.

Malenkai
Bluffer

------------------------------

Date: Sat, 14 Dec 1996 08:19:14 -0600 (CST)
From: Guy Fawkes <[email-masked]>
Subject: Re: Acka: Fictionary: Voting Time

Phil Ackley wrote:

> 6) A vein of petrified wood.

I vote for definition 6.

Guy Fawkes

------------------------------

Date: Sat, 14 Dec 1996 16:31:16 +0200 (EET)
From: Uri Bruck <[email-masked]>
Subject: Re: Acka: Experts

On Sat, 14 Dec 1996, Brian Raiter wrote:

> > It's your call. Should I get Expert status before it is fixed, I can just
> > preface my posts for a few days with "this is not a Summary" :)
> 
> Start prefacing. The Senate has confirmed your Expert status on the
> following two subjects: Otzma Cards and Party Chess.
> 
> breadbox
> senator, seat sinecure 33
> 
I am honored to accept this recgonition as an Expert in those two fields.

As far as prefacing, I think I'll wait until the Summaries proposal
actually passes.

Niccolo Flychuck

ps - even thugh I find the ammendment solution acceptable, and will vote
for an ammendment, I prefer no to change my vote on this proposal. But
it's Robert Sevin's call.

------------------------------

Date: Sat, 14 Dec 1996 09:28:12 -0500
From: Malenkai <[email-masked]>
Subject: Acka: Presidential Debate

The Presidential Debate questions follow.  I had decided to limit it
to eight questions beforehand, I do not know if that is a good number.
I only had to eliminate 2 quesions.  I will announce the election 
within the next 5 minutes.  I apologize if I missed anyone's questions.
Questions are in random order.
- -----------------------------------------------------------------------

1) In the cast that the senate is unable to reach a decision on an
Internomic Proposal, it is the Duty of the president to inform the
Ambassador how to vote.  Do you stay informed of internomic news?
Would you be willing to work with the Ambassador when your job requires
it?

2) What makes you the harfiest candidate for the Presidency?

3) Please comment clearly and unambigiously on the shape of the Earth.
Most of us agree it is round.  Do you have the guts to take that stand?

4) Past campaigns have focused on the issue of Crime.  As president,
how would you deal with Presidential Pardons?  Would you be willing
to exchange pardons in return for politcal favors? Just one question
from me:

5) Are you Strange?

6) Do you feel that Organizations, such as Parties, Churhces, etc. should
have a larger role in Ackanomic, perhaps a smaller role. What do you
think could be done in order to increase/decrease the roles of
Organizations in the game?

7) Do you consider Harf an important element of the game? Can we count on
you to be a Harfy President?

8) Should it be discovered that our conecpts of some aspects of the
physics are different than what we currently believe them, how would you
handle the impact on Acka's traditions and collective psyche?

------------------------------

Date: Sat, 14 Dec 1996 09:30:42 -0500
From: Malenkai <[email-masked]>
Subject: Acka: Presidential

The following have volunteered for the office of president:

breadbox
Niccolo Flychuck
Robert Sevin

Send votes to [email-masked].  Balloting lasts for 3 days.  If
you are undecided, I have also posted the debate questions, which
the candidates may respond to.

Good luck to all the candidates!

Count Tabula

------------------------------

Date: Sat, 14 Dec 1996 07:24:18 -0800 (PST)
From: Brian Raiter <[email-masked]>
Subject: Acka: Presidential candidacy

> The following have volunteered for the office of president:
> 
> breadbox
> Niccolo Flychuck
> Robert Sevin

I just want to take a moment here and say that if I am elected, I
promise to be the most boring president Ackanomia has ever seen. I
don't promise to be tough on crime, or to give away things; I promise
to sit on my office and do nothing beyond what the rules require of
me. I won't even take advantage of my simultaneous position as a
senator. (I'm not sure that I really could, but ignore that.) In
short, I promise to be the ultimate figurehead.

Remember my campaign slogan: "A vote for breadbox is a vote for
breadbox." And remember my other campaign slogan: "breadbox: you can
vote for him, or you can vote for someone else." Thank you.

b

------------------------------

Date: Sat, 14 Dec 1996 17:30:45 +0200 (EET)
From: Uri Bruck <[email-masked]>
Subject: Re: Acka: Presidential Elections vote

I can vote now. 
I vote for Niccolo Flychuck.
Perhaps we should make this part automatic

Niccolo Flyuchuck

On Sat, 14 Dec 1996, Malenkai wrote:

> The following have volunteered for the office of president:
> 
> breadbox
> Niccolo Flychuck
> Robert Sevin
> 
> Send votes to [email-masked].  Balloting lasts for 3 days.  If
> you are undecided, I have also posted the debate questions, which
> the candidates may respond to.
> 
> Good luck to all the candidates!
> 
> Count Tabula
> 

------------------------------

Date: Sat, 14 Dec 1996 17:34:33 +0200 (EET)
From: Uri Bruck <[email-masked]>
Subject: Re: Acka: Presidential

First of all I would like to thank Malenkai for eir wishes. 

I hope that these elections turn out to be as fun as the previous two
elections I was involved in. 

I expect this race to be tough, especially in light of the fact that there
are three very good and very worthy candidates.

Gentlepersons, the game is afoot.

Niccolo Flychuck
Presidential Candidate

On Sat, 14 Dec 1996, Malenkai wrote:

> The following have volunteered for the office of president:
> 
> breadbox
> Niccolo Flychuck
> Robert Sevin
> 
> Send votes to [email-masked].  Balloting lasts for 3 days.  If
> you are undecided, I have also posted the debate questions, which
> the candidates may respond to.
> 
> Good luck to all the candidates!
> 
> Count Tabula
> 

------------------------------

Date: Sat, 14 Dec 1996 10:26:26 -0600
From: "Eric L. Freeman" <[email-masked]>
Subject: Acka: Misc: What Phoebe Says

The other day I was in the woods, digging a grave for my wife.  I was 
distracted by the noise of the scraping and banging coming from the 
coffin, and was thinking that I should have made the coffin more 
sound-proof or restrained my wife in some way.  But I was happy; my life
would soon be peaceful once more.  Forty years of that foul mouth, always
accompanied by that foul breath, were about to come to an end.  My only
regret was that I had waited so long; I am old and withered, and no
young maiden would now have me.

I became aware that I was not alone with my thoughts.  Someone (or 
something) was listening to me.  I looked around, but saw nobody.  Suddenly
I noticed, in the pile of earth I was creating beside the grave, a small
object.  I picked the object up and, dusting it off, found it to be a
red and blue matchbox, very pretty, if a little battered.

I opened the box just a crack, and out jumped the most strange and beautiful
creature I had ever seen.  She introduced herself as Phoebe, the Steel Flea,
and spoke to me thus:

"I have listened to your thoughts as you toil here in these woods, and I
wish to ease your regrets.  Always remember, it is better to have loved
and lost than never to have lost at all."

With that Phoebe jumped back into the matchbox and the lid slid closed.
I placed the box on a nearby stump, intending to take it home with me.
But when I finished my chore, the box was mysteriously gone.

------------------------------

Date: Sat, 14 Dec 1996 11:40:04 +0000
From: "Matt" <[email-masked]>
Subject: Re: Acka: Secret Decoder Ring

> I worked on it almost continuously from the time I received your first
> email until my first Traveling message.  Upon seeing that the initial
> map was not simply ASCII, I chopped it into bytes, 1 per line, with
> a simple macro in emacs, and sorted the file, and found that nearly all
> of the characters fell into the ranges of X2 to X6, for X = any digit.
> This led me to believe that it was ascii with the digits swapped; another
> macro converted this, and breadbox's convenient little program gave me
> map #2, which was a uuencoded file, backwards, byte-for-byte.  That took
> a little time to handle, and the result was another uuencoded file, and
> that decoded to another uudecoded file; there were several steps like
> this, some of them with extra little tricks.  The filenames along the
> way spelled out a message.  Finally, I ended up with another sequence
> of hex digits:   82998581848296A77DA2408896A4A285
> 
> This didn't make much sense as ASCII, as most of the bytes were too
> large.  I tried looking at it as having the digits swapped, like the
> first code, but that didn't make any sense either (and still left me
> with high bytes like D7).  So then I figured maybe it was some sort of
> shifted ASCII.  Converting the lowest byte to a space meant reducing
> each byte by 20 (hex) and this gave me:  byeadbv<87>]<82> hv<84><82>e
> (where the <8x> indicate those bytes -- high ASCII).  I knew I hadn't
> quite found the code used for the last part, but I recognized this as
> saying "breadbox's house" in some sort of code, so I didn't need to
> work any more -- I had the answer.
> 
> Sorry, breadbox, your name just has too many beginning-of-the-alphabet
> characters.  If your name had been something like 23 Skidoo, I wouldn't
> have figured out the last code so quickly.
> 
> /dev/joe

*blink*

wow

Bascule

 

------------------------------

End of Ackanomic Digest V1 #403
*******************************