Subject: Ackanomic Digest V1 #412
From: [email-masked] (Ackanomic Digest)
To: ackanomic-digest

Ackanomic Digest      Thursday, December 19 1996      Volume 01 : Number 412

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

Date: Thu, 19 Dec 1996 00:52:08 -0600 (CST)
From: Jason Orendorff <[email-masked]>
Subject: Acka:  Interpol Mug Treasure

I lied.  The package is here several minutes early, and the URL is:

http://www.cbu.edu/~jorendor/interpol.tar.gz.uu

The puzzle isn't all that difficult.  If I arrive at school later today 
and no solutions await me I'll be a little disappointed.  :o)

- --Mohammed

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

Date: Thu, 19 Dec 1996 10:47:57 +0200 (EET)
From: Uri Bruck <[email-masked]>
Subject: Re: Acka: Frobnotzer

On Wed, 18 Dec 1996, Malenkai wrote:

> I am placing the second node of my Frobnotzer on the occurrance
> of "A$500" in section III of rule 415.
> 
> The first node is still attached to the second occurrance of
> "15,000 A$" in rule 1344.
> 
> I have not set it off yet.
> 
> Malenkai
> awaiting bribes to either set if off or detach it
> 
I don't think this is going to make any difference for this Tirnado,
because the Bomb Shelter has already been built, so right now there is a
Bomb Shelter.  Changing that rule now wil not retroactively raise the
price of the Bomb Shelter.

Niccolo Flychuck

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

Date: Thu, 19 Dec 1996 10:58:58 +0200 (EET)
From: Uri Bruck <[email-masked]>
Subject: Re: Acka: Bomb Shelter Donation

On Wed, 18 Dec 1996, Phil Ackley wrote:

> I am giving A$50 (more if I could but I can't so I won't please forgive me
> if i dont) to Niccolo Flychuck for the Bomb Shelter
> 
> snowgod -50, gift
> Niccolo Flychuck +50, gift
> 
> 
Actually the Bomb Shelter has already been built.
But since this is a donation, and there are a couple of Priests giving
blessings for a small fee now I am transferring A$30 to Guy Fawkes and ask
that e bless 3 houses of eir choices, and transferring A$20 to CnH and
asking that e bless 4 houses of eir choice (I believe these are you
current rates)  These are also  worthwhile causes in light of the coming
Tornado.

Niccolo Flychuck -30 
Guy Fawkes +30 blessing 3 houses

Niccolo Flychuck -20
Calvin N Hobbes +20 blessin 4 houses

Niccolo Flychuck

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

Date: Thu, 19 Dec 1996 11:20:51 +0200 (EET)
From: Uri Bruck <[email-masked]>
Subject: acka: My Scroll of Crumble

I , Niccolo Flychuck, President of Ackanomic, have decided to take action
against the potential danger which threatens us. While Malenkai's actions
would have no effect on an already built Bomb Shelter. It would make the
building of any future Bomb Shelter near to impossible.

The responsible upstanding citizens should not bribe Malenkai to stop this
from happening.

I am unrolling my Scroll of Crumble and anouncing that reading it will
cause Malenkai's Pyraic Frobnotzer to be destroyed.

Citizens of Ackanomic, listen to the words written on this here scroll:

"
Reading these words with the intention
Of counteracting the inspiration
Summons the fires of creation
To consume that which was born of them.

All things are temporary
And come to pass
The Gadget so named
No longer Lasts.
"

Having read that I sit down and take a deep breath. Malenkai's Pyraic
Frobnotzer is no more. The forces that were summoned  here were so great,
that the scroll itself has been destroyed as well.

But I feel it has been put to good use.

Niccolo Flychuck
President

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

Date: Thu, 19 Dec 1996 06:50:53 EST 
From: [email-masked]
Subject: Acka: Auction

Habeous Corpus bids A$52 for the Grav. Mono.

HC

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

Date: Thu, 19 Dec 1996 08:41:38 -0500
From: "Bollinger, John C." <[email-masked]>
Subject: RE: Acka: Frobnotzer

Niccolo Flychuck wrote:

>> I am placing the second node of my Frobnotzer on the occurrance
>> of "A$500" in section III of rule 415.
>> 
>> The first node is still attached to the second occurrance of
>> "15,000 A$" in rule 1344.
>> 
>> I have not set it off yet.
>> 
>> Malenkai
>> awaiting bribes to either set if off or detach it
>> 
>I don't think this is going to make any difference for this Tirnado,
>because the Bomb Shelter has already been built, so right now there is a
>Bomb Shelter.  Changing that rule now wil not retroactively raise the
>price of the Bomb Shelter.

I agree with Niccolo.  More importantly, no change will take effect for
a week after Malenkai sets off the Frobnotzer in any case.

ThinMan

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

Date: Thu, 19 Dec 1996 05:41:23 -0800 (PST)
From: Brian Raiter <[email-masked]>
Subject: Acka: Internomic Proposals 317-318

The senate has decided that Ackanomic should vote YES on both
Internomic Proposals 317 and 318.

breadbox

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

Date: Thu, 19 Dec 1996 09:02:12 -0500
From: Malenkai <[email-masked]>
Subject: Re: Acka: Internomic Proposals 317-318

Brian Raiter wrote:
 
> The senate has decided that Ackanomic should vote YES on both
> Internomic Proposals 317 and 318.

Just for the record, the rules require disclosure of how each senator
voted.  In this case, breadbox voted no on 317, and yes on 318, all
other senators voted yes on both.

Malenkai

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

Date: Thu, 19 Dec 1996 08:47:40 -0600 (CST)
From: Guy Fawkes <[email-masked]>
Subject: Re: Acka: Bomb Shelter Donation

On Thu, 19 Dec 1996, Uri Bruck wrote:

> Actually the Bomb Shelter has already been built.
> But since this is a donation, and there are a couple of Priests giving
> blessings for a small fee now I am transferring A$30 to Guy Fawkes and ask
> that e bless 3 houses of eir choices, and transferring A$20 to CnH and
> asking that e bless 4 houses of eir choice (I believe these are you
> current rates)  These are also  worthwhile causes in light of the coming
> Tornado.

I now bless Niccolo Flychuck's house.
When winds and rain do us bedouse,
He shall then know security:
His tether's unbreakability.
His house might bounce within the storm
Like leaves upon the torrents borne
And all the things within be shattered
(Or like Phoebe's matchbox, battered)
But the house shall keep its station.
In blessing's enperpetuation.

There are no more unblessed dangling houses.  There are a few dangling 
public buildings, but houses are the only buildings which stand the 
chance of being blown off the face of the earth.  And so, I give the 
remaining funds as a rebate to snowgod and Bascule, whose houses I 
blessed yesterday. (especially since Bascule derived no benefit other 
than seeing yet another installment of my ecclesiastical doguerel).

snowgod +10, gift
Bascule +10, gift
Guy Fawkes -20, gift

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

Date: Thu, 19 Dec 1996 09:50:00 -0500
From: [email-masked] (Super-User)
Subject: Acka: *ping* 

Today is Thursday, the 19th day of December, in the Year of Our Lord 1996,
and the Machine That Goes *ping* Has Gone *ping* today.
Since I have been scholar, the Machine has gone *ping* 8 times.

Malenkai
Scholar of *ping*

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

Date: Thu, 19 Dec 1996 12:27:36 -0500
From: Malenkai <[email-masked]>
Subject: Re: Acka: Auction

[email-masked] wrote:
 
> Habeous Corpus bids A$52 for the Grav. Mono.

Pretty cheap.  Just because some houses have been blessed doesn't
mean they still aren't dangling.  Moreover, Habeous Corpus can 
summon another Tornado himself whenever he pleases.  Don't keep
paying quack priests, buy a permanent solution :)

Chief Cheese

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

Date: Thu, 19 Dec 1996 11:59:07 -0600 (CST)
From: Jason Orendorff <[email-masked]>
Subject: Re: acka: My Scroll of Crumble

[ scroll deleted ]
	Wow.  You've got my vote for the next silver moon, nf.

- --Mohammed

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

Date: Thu, 19 Dec 1996 12:50:14 -0600 (CST)
From: Guy Fawkes <[email-masked]>
Subject: Re: Acka: Auction

On Thu, 19 Dec 1996, Malenkai wrote:

> [email-masked] wrote:
>  
> > Habeous Corpus bids A$52 for the Grav. Mono.
> 
> Pretty cheap.  Just because some houses have been blessed doesn't
> mean they still aren't dangling.  Moreover, Habeous Corpus can 
> summon another Tornado himself whenever he pleases.  Don't keep
> paying quack priests, buy a permanent solution :)
> 
> Chief Cheese

Call not the followers of the weather gods quacks, lest ye, too, too well 
might know the meaning of the world thunderbolt :)

Guy Fawkes

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

Date: Thu, 19 Dec 1996 12:52:17 -0600 (CST)
From: Guy Fawkes <[email-masked]>
Subject: Acka: Proposal 1576

Proposal 1576 -- Thu 19 Dec 12:46 CST 1996
Modest Palindromes 
Malenkai (Randy Hall)

This is a Modest proposal.

[gist:  Allows someone to achieve the title of Sage O' Doe Gas for
a palindromic rule without the voters needing to worry about handing
out a win (the old way), while preserving the new way.

Also fixes a minor loophole, and clears up the ambiguity (at least in my
mind) of which cycle the score changes are applied in if someone wins.]

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

Amend the Rule created by Proposal 798 [either "Palindromes are
Inheritly Amusing" or "Winning by Palindrome"], as follows:

I. Replace the sentence which reads:

"
Upon each creation of a Rule fulfilling all three of the following
conditions:
"

with

"
Upon each creation, via Proposal, of a Rule fulfilling all three of
the following conditions:
"

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

II. Replace the text in the rule which reads:

"
      (1) win the current cycle of the game 

      (2) receive the honorific title "Sage o' Doe Gas" to hold until such 
time as another Player wins a cycle of the game under this Rule. 
"

with:

"
      (1) win the current Cycle of the Game, if the Proposal which created
the rule was non-Modest.  This win, if it occurs, shall occur immediately
after the score changes as a result of the Proposal being accepted are
applied.  

      (2) receive the honorific title "Sage o' Doe Gas" to hold until such 
time as another Player achieves that title under this Rule. 
"

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

Date: Thu, 19 Dec 1996 12:52:31 -0600 (CST)
From: T Joffrain <[email-masked]>
Subject: Re: Acka: Auction 

> Habeous Corpus bids A$52 for the Grav. Mono.

I bid A$61

CnH

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

Date: Thu, 19 Dec 1996 12:52:42 -0600 (CST)
From: Guy Fawkes <[email-masked]>
Subject: Acka: Proposal 1577

Proposal 1577 -- Thu 19 Dec 12:47 CST 1996
Players
Guy Fawkes (Robert Shimmin)

Create a new rule with text as follows:
{{
Perform the following actions, in the order they appear.

- ----

I. [Registered players]
Renumber Rule 218 "Registered Players" to 250.

II. [Player names]

Amend Rule 570's text to that delimited by the ~ symbols.

~
Every player has exactly one Ackanomic name.  This name must be a string 
of name characters from three to twenty characters in length.  Neither 
the first nor the last character in this string may be the space character.
All official nomic business shall use this name to refer to that player.

A player may change his Ackanomic name, so long as the new name complies 
with all appliccable rules.  This shall be accomplished when the player 
announces his old name, new name, real name, and short explanation of the 
change.  The Registrar shall record the change.  When a player changes their 
Ackanomic name, all Ackanomic business will be changed to follow their 
new name.

When choosing or changing their Ackanomic name, no player may take any 
name previously held by any past or present player, unless they are the person 
who was previously registered under that Ackanomic name [no one could take the 
name pTang1001001sos unless they really were the Mark Nau who held that name 
previously.]  It is the Registrar's duty to make sure all names comply with 
this rule, and it is the Registrar's right to reject any name choosing or 
change which violates it. 
~

Renumber Rule 570 to 251.

- ----

III. [Joining the Game]

Create a new rule, entitled "Joining the Game", with text as shown, 
delimited by ~ symbols.

~
For the purposes of this rule, a player whose most recent departure from 
Ackanomic prompted the creation of an Undead is considered a Returning 
player.  All other players are considered New.

A person wishing to join the game, and who cannot do so as a Returning  
player, should notify the Registrar, providing a valid email adress, 
their real name, and the legal Ackanomic name they wish to play under.  Upon 
them providing this information, should the requested name indeed be a 
legal Ackanomic name, the Registrar shall post a public message 
announcing the new player and providing their Ackanomic name, real name, and 
email adress, and if the prospective player provided it, how they discovered 
the game.  Upon the posting of such an announcement, the person becomes 
registered as a player.

Upon the regisration of a New player, the following procedure takes 
place, in the order shown.
1) The New player is granted 1 kaa of urban land and a Small building 
thereupon as their legal residence.  This building shall be known as 
their Home.  This building shall also be known as "player name's House", 
where "player name" is replaced by their official Ackanomic name.  A player may 
change the name of this building by publically announcing the new name and 
unambiguously identifying the building they wish to rename.
2) The New player is paid from the Treasury the lesser of A$900 or the 
average A$balance of all other extant players.
3) The New player is given 100 newly created PFBonds associated with 
himself.  The Financier shall assign a label that may be used to refer 
to the PFBonds associated with the New player, although this procedure 
may continue without waiting for him to do so.
4) The Registrar shall select a Mentor for the new player.  The Mentor 
receives A$25 from the Treasury.  

A person able to join the game as a Returning player may do so by posting 
a public message to that effect.  This message must include their 
Ackanomic and real life names, as well as a valid email address.  The 
Registrar shall then record their return to the players list.

Upon the registration of a Returning player, the following procedure 
takes place: 

1) The Undead created in response to their most recent departure from 
Acka, who bears the Ackanomic name that player had immediately prior to 
his most recent departure from Acka, transfers all entities it is 
haunting to the Returning player.  These entities are now no longer haunted.
2) That Undead is destroyed.
3) All Bond Promissories in that player's real life name are converted to 
PFBonds associated with that player.  Their label is the same as the PFBonds 
whose conversion created the Bond Promissories. 
4) If the player left during the current cycle, his score is the minimum 
of 0 and the score he had upon last leaving the game.  Otherwise, his 
score is -15N, where N is the number of cycles he has won.  If this 
causes his score to be negative, he is given a Victory Eggplant, and his 
Eggplant Weight is set to -15N, where N is defined as above.
~

Renumber Rule 1577.1 to 252. 

In Rule 362 "No Dead Players Allowed", delete all text between the string 
"and treated as if he never joined the game" and the end of the paragraph, 
inclusive. Add a period to the end of this paragraph.

Amend the first paragraph of Rule 1051 "Mentors" to read, "When the 
Registrar must select a Mentor for a new player, he shall follow these guidelines.  
No one may become a mentor except as specified in the rules."  Delete the 
sentence containing the string "A$25" from Rule 1051.  Renumber Rule 1051 
to 253.

Repeal Rule 1026 "New and Returning players".

Delete the paragraph beginning, "Each player who has not previously..." 
from Rule 839 "Buildings".

[This next few bits attempts to account for either the passage of failure of 
reorg-1.  Please scrutinize carefully.]

If Proposal 1539 passed, do the following: (1) Delete the second 
paragraph of Rule 665, section I. (2) Delete the third paragraph of rule 507.
(3) Add "(vii) the name and email address of their Mentor" to the end of 
Rule 409, section (b).
[money, PF's, Registrar]

If Proposal 1539 did not pass, do the following: (1) Delete the second 
paragraph of Rule 480. (2) Delete the third paragraph of rule 481.
(3) Add "(vii) the name and email address of their Mentor" to the end of 
Rule 424, section (b).
[same in current ruleset]

- ----

IV. [Player States]

Create a new rule, entitled, "Player States" with text as follows, 
delimited by ~ symbols.

~
At any given time, exactly one of these three states shall apply to a player.

Pending
Active
Vacation

Upon registration, a player is Pending.  A Pending player becomes Active 
when it becomes publically knowable that he has voted or made a proposal.

Only Active players may be randomly selected for anything.
~

Renumber Rule 1577.2 to 254.

Renumber R457 "Vacation" to 255.

In Rule 306 "The Magic Potato", replace all occurrences of the string, 
"randomly chosen player" with "randomly chosen Active player".

Amend Rule 201, "Quorum and Active Players," to read, "In a vote on a 
proposal the quorum required is 50% of (the sum of the number of 
Vacationing players who voted on the proposal and the number of Active 
players, less the number of players in Gaol)."

- ----

V. [Leaving the Game]

Amend Rule 962.2's text to that delimited by the ~ symbols, and change 
its title to "Leaving the Game."

~
Upon a player leaving, the following procedure takes place, in the order 
shown.
1) All of his mimsy possessions are taken away and considered unowned.
2) The player is removed from all offices.
3) The rental period for any rented entities in his possession ends.  
[They return to their true owners.]  If there exist any entities being 
rented from him, such entities are no longer considered rented; the 
rental period for such entities does not end, but simply cease to exist; 
their current possessors become their owners in fact.
4) If the player was never at any time Active, all of his A$ are 
transferred to the Treasury, every PFBond associated with him is 
destroyed, every rented entity in his possession reverts to its owner, every 
entity remaining in his possession is destroyed, and then the player is 
deregistered.  In this case, the procedure ends here.
5) If the player was at any time Active, the procedure continues.
6) Every PFBond assiciated with him is converted into a Bond Promissory 
in his real life name.  Bond Promissories are tradeable entities.
7) An Undead is created; its name is that of the player.
8) All entities in the player's possession are taken away, considered 
unowned, haunted by the just-created Undead, and in the Treasury.
9) The player is deregistered.
~ 

Renumber R 962.2 to 256

All Bond Promissories associated with currently registered players become 
PFBonds associated with that player.
}}

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

Date: Thu, 19 Dec 1996 12:52:59 -0600 (CST)
From: Guy Fawkes <[email-masked]>
Subject: Acka: Proposal 1578

Proposal 1578 -- Thu 19 Dec 12:47 CST 1996
Horn Section
Malenkai (Randy Hall)

This is a Modest proposal.

Amend R 667, "Fat Lady", to add the following text to the
end of the rule:

"
Any player who possesses both the Great Trombone of Ackanomia, and
the Great Tuba of Ackanomia, may accompany her, provided they publically
post an original lyrical composition of 8 or more lines while she is
singing, for her to sing, and provided they were not the player who
most recently accompanied her as described in this rule.  Upon doing so,
a Bonus Vote shall be created and transferred to the player.  It is
considered good form for the song to contain at least one truly
deplorable pun.
"

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

Date: Thu, 19 Dec 1996 12:53:16 -0600 (CST)
From: Guy Fawkes <[email-masked]>
Subject: Acka: Proposal 1579

Proposal 1579 -- Thu 19 Dec 12:47 CST 1996
Bartender
Habeous Corpus (Ed Graham)

Create a new Rule entitled:  Bartender,  with text:

The Title of Bartender is created.  There will be at most on Bartender at
any one time.  Whenever the start of a Festival of Torkula,  Parade or
any other festivity allowing the frinking of alchololic beverages is
anounced,  the Officer in Charge of Random Things shall randomly select
one Player to hold the Title of Bartender.  That Player shall hold the
Title for the duration of the festivity for which e was selected.  Once
selected,  no other Player may be selected as Bartender for the duration
of the festivity.  If the Bartender should go on vacation,  resign from
the game,  be placed in Gaol,  or for any reason become ineligeble to
serve as Bartender,  frinking of alchololic beverages shall no longer be
allowed for the duration of the festivity.

The Bartender is responsible for dispensing drinks and snacks to Players
during the festivity for which e was selected to serve as Bartender.  The
Bartender shall collect all moneys for drinks and/or snacks due per
applicable Rules and maintain an accurate account of all Tabs.  At the
end of the festivity,  the Bartender shall remit one half of all moneys
collected for drinks and/or snacks to the Treasury.  The other half shall
be retained by the Bartender as payment for services rendered.  

If any Player frinks the maximum allowable of alchololic beverages during
a single festivity,  the Bartender shall call a Taxi for that Player to
transport em home.  The charge for taking a Taxi shall be A$2,  paid to
the Bartender who may keep the entire sum.  If the Player involved does
not have A$2,  or wishes to decline paying for the Taxi,  e may instead
entertain the other revellers with a Frinking Song of at least six (6)
lines and not longer than twelve (12) lines in length.

During the period that a Player holds the Title of Bartender,  e may not
frink any alchololic beverages nor give away any alchololic beverages to
other Players.  E may,  however,  munch on as many snacks as e likes.

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

Date: Thu, 19 Dec 1996 12:53:39 -0600 (CST)
From: Guy Fawkes <[email-masked]>
Subject: Acka: Proposal 1580

Proposal 1580 -- Thu 19 Dec 12:48 CST 1996
No Frinking and Driving
Habeous Corpus (Ed Graham)

Create a new Rule entitled:  No Frinking and Driving,  with text:

At any time should a Player in Ackanomic be found to be consuming or in
possession of alcholoic beverages while in possession of any Ackanomic
conveyance or golf balls,  that Player shall be considered guilty of the
Crime of Frinking and Driving.

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

Date: Thu, 19 Dec 1996 12:53:55 -0600 (CST)
From: Guy Fawkes <[email-masked]>
Subject: Acka: Propsoal 1581

Proposal 1581 -- Thu 19 Dec 12:48 CST 1996
Sanctity of Harf
Robert Sevin (Mitchell Harding)

No player may have the character string (delimited by the quotation marks)
"harf", nor any variation wherein the only difference is capitalization,
contained within their Ackanomic name.

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

Date: Thu, 19 Dec 1996 12:54:12 -0600 (CST)
From: Guy Fawkes <[email-masked]>
Subject: Acka: Proposal 1582

Proposal 1582 -- Thu 19 Dec 12:48 CST 1996
Auction Reform
Malenkai (Randy Hall)

This is a Modest proposal.
- ----------------------------------------------------------------------

[gist:  I have put R 1023 back the way it was when it worked, with some
minor changes, as follows:
      a) I have made public auctions extend 3 hours past the most recent
bid.  The old public auction worked because bids were sent to Chief Cheese,
who disclosed them when he got around to it.  This new way will make an
auction truly public, but eliminate the "hubert" condition.  As for the
argument that you may not be on-line during those 3 hours, if you really
want it, you will bid what you are willing to pay at any time during the
normal 3 days.  The only alternative is to make all auctions private,
which is boring, or extend the thing a day for each bid, which is too 
much.  Under the old R 1023, you generally had to be on-line near the end
of the auction anyway.  A mix of public and private auctions seems the
most fun.

       b) I have required each bid, in a public auction, to exceed the
previous one by 10% or more.  This will eliminate an unending ++ing of 
the bid near the end of an auction.

       c) I eliminated the odd/even business, and made the player calling
the auction the auctioneer.  It really does not matter for a public 
auction anyway.

       d) I eliminated the private auction style introduced by P 1392.
So far, two seperate Chief Cheeses have got it a little wrong, and it
seems confusing and bizzare, and the simple private auction seems to
play better and easier for Chief Cheese.  Also, in the last auction
done this way, a player got an item for free, which seems silly.

       e) I have given the RuneMaker the freedom to make an auction
public or private, per Niccolo's request, and made auctions public by
default.]

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

Amend R 595, "Gadgets", to replace:

"
      (d) announcing publicly that the new Gadget has been built and
initiating the process to publically Auction the Gadget, as defined by
Rule 1023. 
"

with:

"
      (d) announcing publicly that the new Gadget has been built and
initiating a public Auction of the Gadget, as defined by Rule 1023.
" 

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

Amend Rule 1369.1, "Definition of Otzma Cards", to replace

"
He also anounces the begining of an Auction for each Otzma Card. The
Auction is conducted according to R1023 "Auction", except that on those
cases that the Inventor would have been the Acutioneer, the RuneMaker
replaces the Inventor as Auctioneer. This section takes precedence
over the R1023 "Auction".
" 

with:

"
E also initiates an Auction (public or private at eir discretion) for
each group of Otzma Cards, where the cards are grouped by distinct
type.  Auctions are conducted as specified by Rule 1023.
"

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

Amend R 1023, "Auction", to read:

"
      1) An Auction can be called either as specified by another Rule,
or by any Player acting on their own.

The call for Auction must include:
      a) the item to be Auctioned, which must be unowned if the Rules are 
calling (or directing a player to initiate) the Auction, and must be a
tradeable or gift entity owned by the Player calling the Auction if it
is being called by a Player acting on their own.
      b) the quantity to be Auctioned (default = 1)
      c) the minimum bid (default = A$0)
      d) whether the Auction is to be private or public (default = public) 
      e) the player initiating the auction (default = Speaker)

      2) The Auctioneer will be the player initiating the auction. If
this is not possible for some reason, the Speaker shall be the Auctioneer.
If this is impossible as well, there shall be no Auction until the
situation is corrected.

      3) The Auctioneer is disqualified to bid in a private Auction. The
Auctioneer may use the title of Chief Cheese for the duration of
any Auction. 

      4) The Auctioneer has the following duties: announcing the start
of the auction and the relavant details of the auction; announcing the
conclusion and results of the auction; making sure the auction
procedure is conducted as specified by the rules; and accepting bids
in private auctions.

      5) The Auction shall last for 3 days, or 3 hours past the
auction's most recent bid (in public auctions), whichever is longer,
after which time the Auctioneer shall announce the results, and all A$
and items shall be transferred to their new owners. If the Auction was
private, the Auctioneer shall keep a 10% commission of all monies
transferred to the Treasury as compensation for performing the work
and not being permitted to bid. 

      6) The Auction shall be conducted as follows:
      6a) All qualified players are permitted to submit bids of an amount
of A$ equal to or less than the amount they possess. If a player submits
multiple bids, only the highest will be considered. Anyone who submits a
bid in excess of the A$ they have is disqualified, and their bids
are disqualified. Anyone who submits a bid below the minimum bid is
also disqualified. Bids may not be retracted. 

      6b) In a public auction, each bid must exceed the previous bid
by at least 10%, or it is disqualified.

      6c) Let N be the quantity of items up for Auction. The players who
made the N highest qualified bids shall each receive an item in exchange
for the amount of A$ they bid. If the number of players who made qualified
bids is less than N, then the Auctioneer shall receive all the the
remaining items, if the minimum bid was A$0. If it was not A$0, then the
remaining item(s) shall revert to the player initiating the auction. If,
instead, they were unowned when the Auction was initiated, they are
destroyed. 

      6d) If the bids are tied such that the Auctioneer cannot determine
who gets item(s), the Auctioneer shall resolve the tie(s) via random
means, and disclose this fact. 

      6e) If the Auction is private, the Auctioneer shall not disclose
the bids to anyone during the process of the Auction. If the Auction is
public, bids must be submitted to the public forum. 
"

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

Date: Thu, 19 Dec 1996 12:54:39 -0600 (CST)
From: Guy Fawkes <[email-masked]>
Subject: Acka: Proposal 1583

Proposal 1583 -- Thu 19 Dec 12:49 CST 1996
Loopholes for Sale
Malenkai (Randy Hall)

This is a Modest proposal.

Create a new rule which reads:

{{

Amend the Blueprint for "Vending Machine" in the following ways:

1) remove all occurrances of the following text:

"
A Player can equip eir Vending Machine to sell other items, if the
technology exists.
"

[let the technology, when it comes to exist as specified by the rules,
define how it attaches itself to the vending machine.] 

2) Add the following text before the period that terminates the first
sentence of the final paragraph of the Blueprint.

"
, so long as the specified Vending Machine is equipped to vend the specified
item.
"
}}

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

Date: Thu, 19 Dec 1996 12:55:05 -0600 (CST)
From: Guy Fawkes <[email-masked]>
Subject: Acka: Proposal 1584

Proposal 1584 -- Thu 19 Dec 12:49 CST 1996
Creation of a PartyChessPiece DiscoBall
Guy Fawkes (Robert Shimmin)

1.  A DiscoBall is represented by the ASCII letter D.
2.  A DiscoBall may move from one to five squares in any horizontal or 
vertical direction, providing the destination square and all intervening 
squares are unoccupied.  A DiscoBall may not capture.
3.  Where R and C are the row and column, respectively, of a DiscoBall, 
and R0 and C0 are the row and column, respectively, of any
PartyChessPiece, any piece where |R-R0|<6 /OR/ |C-C0|<6 is said to be in 
that DiscoBall's "sphere of influence."
4.  A piece within a DiscoBall's sphere of influence may not capture 
another piece within the same DiscoBall's sphere of influnce.  They are 
too busy doing a strange dance called "greased lightning" to do so.
5.  A DiscoBall has a material value of 6.

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

Date: Thu, 19 Dec 1996 12:55:24 -0600 (CST)
From: Guy Fawkes <[email-masked]>
Subject: Acka: Proposal 1585

Proposal 1585 -- Thu 19 Dec 12:49 CST 1996
Otzma Card Type Fix My Gadget
Guy Fawkes (Robert Shimmin)

1.  This rule defines an Otzma Card type called "Fix My Gadget."
2.  This card is played in the public forum.  When a player plays this 
card, he unamibiguously identifies a currently broken [as opposed to 
destroyed] Gadget.  Upon the playing of this card, that Gadget is no 
longer broken.
3.  Counter-Action: The Gadget that was repaired is once again broken.
4.  At any time there may be no more than 5 "Fix My Gadget" cards.

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

Date: Thu, 19 Dec 1996 12:55:43 -0600 (CST)
From: Guy Fawkes <[email-masked]>
Subject: Acka: Proposal 1586

Proposal 1586 -- Thu 19 Dec 12:50 CST 1996
Birdhouse in your Soul
G. Peefalt (Aaron Morris)

This proposal creates a unique, non-named, tradeable entity called the
Birdhose in Your Soul.

The current owner of the birdhouse must respond to any reference to a They
Might Be Giants song with, "Ack! Not TMBG!"  This may be done a separate
message or inside a message containing other business.  It must be done within
a week of the reference, or the owner suffers a 3 point penalty.  The owner 
receives 5 points for each reference acked.  References include but are not
limited to:  trips to Istanbul, but not Constantinople, Prosthetic Foreheads,
and Rocks to Tie a String Around.

This rule does not apply retroactively.

G. Peefalt will be the initial owner of the Birdhouse.

- -- G. Peefalt

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

Date: Thu, 19 Dec 1996 12:56:00 -0600 (CST)
From: Guy Fawkes <[email-masked]>
Subject: Acka: Proposal 1587

Proposal 1587 -- Thu 19 Dec 12:50 CST 1996
Methinks the Priests have been bilking the flock; I'd ask for a refund
Malenkai (Randy Hall)

This is a Modest proposal.

Amend R 1253, "Tornado", to replace [in the second paragraph of the rule]

"
If there are no non-Sheltered players, the Tornado has no effect.
"

with

"
If there are no non-Sheltered players, the Tornado has no effect on 
players' scores as detailed previously in this paragraph.
"

[I believe the houses were safe once the Bomb Shelter was constructed,
for the next Tornado (presumably the Solstice one).

I do not see the part about the houses being blown away claiming
precedence over the statement in question, nor do I see a precedence
conflict between the new house part of the rule and this statement, so
R 210 does not kick in.  Furthermore, I do not believe game custom
allows the statement in question to be scoped exclusively to the paragraph
it is referring to, but it scopes to the entire ruleset by default.]

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

Date: Thu, 19 Dec 1996 13:05:52 -0600 (CST)
From: Jason Orendorff <[email-masked]>
Subject: Re: Acka: Treasure

> > Means nothing to me!This looks like it might be a bit of code, but it is
> > too garbled up for me to translate!  Wanna give me a hint?
> 	Got the documentation for uudecode?  Sure you do.  Look up the
> -please option.  That should help.
	I was just skimming through my sent-mail, and realized this was a 
rather rude thing to say!  I'm sorry, snowgod, it was all in jest.    :o.
	I throw myself at the feet of whatever tower snowgod is on these 
days, and beg forgiveness.

- --Mohammed
penitent
(not a hint)
parenthetical
apologetical
wasting bandwidth

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

Date: Thu, 19 Dec 1996 13:09:50 -0600 (CST)
From: Jason Orendorff <[email-masked]>
Subject: Re: Acka: Interpol Mug Treasure

> ----- BEGIN QUINE.I -----
> quine( << $ << ; "=;\n" << ; )=;
> quote( "\"" swap . + << << ; "\n" << ; )=;
> "quine quine. quote quine. quote."quine quine. quote quine. quote.
> ------ END QUINE.I ------
	breadbox has found the Treasure of the Interpol Mug.  
Congratulations!  bb was the only player to send a solution.  (In fact, 
he sent three, but this was the first.)  The map read:
- ---
All the stuff anyone on a UNIX box will need to make interpol-- the C++
source, documentation, and a makefile-- are available by request from
Mohammed.  The first player who sends me a self-printing interpol program
will find the Mug. 
- ---

	To be perfectly fair, this program uses an undocumented "feature"
of the language -- script printing.  Using script printing, even shorter 
self-printing programs are possible; breadbox sent me a 31-character 
one-liner earlier this morning.
	And, /dev/joe suggested this one:

> Do error messages count?
>
> The following (3 lines between the ---) is a
> really lame self-printing interpol program:
> ---
> Stray character ''' found.
> stack dump:  Stray
> stack dump:  character
> ---

	I probably wouldn't have accepted that, on the grounds that something 
doesn't qualify as a "program" unless it actually runs... but it's a very 
creative solution.  Hats off to /dev/joe as well.

	Now then.

	I create a Trinket known as the Interpol Crime-Pounding
Nightstick.  It is worth A$20, and weighs roughly two pounds.  It is made
of lead on the inside and cased in spongy plastic.  Two narrow silver
bands ring one end of the nightstick, just above the grip, which is
ergonomically designed to fit comfortably into any size or shape of hand,
hoof, tentacle, or claw.  Getting Pounded with the Nightstick causes 
throbs of vivid color in the brain.  However, the experience is not, for 
most people, worth the pain, which lasts much longer.

	I make a Treasure of the Interpol Crime-Pounding Nightstick, 
and bury it.  I write the following map.
	"This treasure map leads to the Interpol Crime-Pounding Nightstick. 
The Nightstick will be found by the first player to send to Mohammed a
self-printing interpol program that meets these restrictions.  First, it
can't use interpol's script-printing mechanism.  In addition, the program
must not depend on any user input, and the stack must be empty when it
finishes.  Have a nice day!" 

- --Mohammed

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

Date: Thu, 19 Dec 1996 14:27:20 -0500
From: "Bollinger, John C." <[email-masked]>
Subject: RE: Acka: Proposal 1584

Guy Fawkes wrote:

>Proposal 1584 -- Thu 19 Dec 12:49 CST 1996
>Creation of a PartyChessPiece DiscoBall
>Guy Fawkes (Robert Shimmin)

[...]

>3.  Where R and C are the row and column, respectively, of a DiscoBall, 
>and R0 and C0 are the row and column, respectively, of any
>PartyChessPiece, any piece where |R-R0|<6 /OR/ |C-C0|<6 is said to be in 
>that DiscoBall's "sphere of influence."

I'm not so sure about the general idea of the Disco Ball, but the
specific implementation described above is definately broken.  Mainly
the /OR/ should probably be an /AND/.  With the current wording, a
disco ball placed more than six spaces from any edge has a sphere of
influence covering more than 85% of the PartyBoard!  Even just changing
the /OR/ to /AND/ still allows one ball to affect more than 12% of the
board; I think that reducing its radius to four or five would be
better.  A radius of four would still produce a square area of
influence nine spaces on a side.

I also note that the Disco Ball can only be captured by a piece which
has a move longer than the Ball's radius, i.e. one that can reach it
from outside its sphere of influence.  That makes the ball invulnerable
to most lesser pieces, thus prompting me to recommend a greater material
value and shorter move.

ThinMan

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

Date: Thu, 19 Dec 1996 13:30:57 -0600 (CST)
From: Guy Fawkes <[email-masked]>
Subject: Acka: vacation

I have distributed all the proposals I have.  Until I return, send them 
to the Acting Tabulator, whoever volunteers for that.

Malenkai has agreed to be a Map Custodian for my treasure (114, I 
think).  He has been sent the real map.

Techno has agreed to play in my stead in the Fictionary game.  I believe 
I am currently the Braniac, so he needs to send out a new Ing word 
sometime within the next couple days.

That done, I am placing myself on Vacation, expected duration, 30 days.

Guy Fawkes

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

End of Ackanomic Digest V1 #412
*******************************