Subject: Ackanomic Digest V1 #449
From: [email-masked] (Ackanomic Digest)
To: ackanomic-digest

Ackanomic Digest       Sunday, January 12 1997       Volume 01 : Number 449

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

Date: Sat, 11 Jan 1997 19:29:10 -0600 (CST)
From: Jason Orendorff <[email-masked]>
Subject: Acka:  P1609 rejected

Proposal 1609
Inside Outside
Jammer

Yes:  10    No:  6     Present:  1   ...Proposal is rejected.

YES votes:
	/dev/joe
	Niccolo Flychuck
	G. Peefalt
	Strider
	AirHead
	Swann
	ThinMan
	Jammer
	snowgod
	Lestrade

NO votes:
	mr cwm
	Habeous Corpus
	breadbox
	fnord
	Mohammed
	Malenkai

PRESENT votes:
	Robert Sevin

Players who did not vote:
	Calvin N Hobbes
	BuzzBee
	Bascule
	Clairence
	Guy Fawkes
	23 Skidoo
	Techno

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

Date: Sat, 11 Jan 1997 19:30:30 -0600 (CST)
From: Jason Orendorff <[email-masked]>
Subject: Acka:  P1611 accepted (Cantrip 1)

P1610 was retracted.  --Mohammed

Proposal 1611
Cantrip 1
Mohammed

Yes:  9    No:  4     Present:  3   ...Proposal is accepted.

YES votes:
	mr cwm
	Habeous Corpus
	/dev/joe
	Strider
	Swann
	fnord
	Jammer
	Lestrade
	Mohammed

NO votes:
	Niccolo Flychuck
	ThinMan
	snowgod
	Malenkai

PRESENT votes:
	Robert Sevin
	breadbox
	AirHead

Players who did not vote:
	G. Peefalt
	Calvin N Hobbes
	BuzzBee
	Bascule
	Clairence
	Guy Fawkes
	23 Skidoo
	Techno

Text of accepted proposal:

Proposal 1611
Cantrip 1
Mohammed

A rule shall be created with the following text:

{{
When this rule comes into effect, there shall be a Hearing on the matter 
of Proposal Bribery.  The valid responses 
will be "Fix Bribes" and "Can Bribes".

If the verdict of the Hearing is "Fix Bribes", then Rule 793 ("Proposal 
Bribery") shall be amended by changing 

     B. Bribes may only cause the transfer of tradeable entities from the
     author of the proposal to players who voted YES on the proposal; a
     Bribe need not specify that the entities come from the author of the
     proposal, since it is assumed.

to

     B. Bribes may only cause the transfer of tradeable or gift entities 
     from the author of the proposal to players who voted YES on the 
     proposal; a Bribe need not specify that the entities come from the 
     author of the proposal, since it is assumed.

[This is a semi-necessary fix if we plan to keep Bribery around.]

If, on the other hand, the verdict is "Can Bribes", then Rule 793
("Proposal Bribery") shall be amended by removing the header "IV. Bribes" 
and everything that follows it, and by removing the sentence
"This section defers to section IV of this rule." from section I;
and lastly, Rule 793's title shall be changed to
"Fair Voting and Voting Actions".

}}

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

Date: Sat, 11 Jan 1997 17:28:00 -0800
From: [email-masked] (John Martin Lotz)
Subject: Re: Acka: Percentage of Proposals accepted, and Awards

I think I just took first place :)

Jammer
> 
> 
> /dev/joe wrote:
> 
> >Percentage of Accepted proposals out of all non-retracted proposals
> >through 1587, by player, for players with at least 5 proposals:
> >
> >ThinMan:               24/32  = 75%
> >Malenkai:             170/228 = 74.6%
> >/dev/joe:              61/82  = 74.4%
> >Guy Fawkes:            49/67  = 73.1%
> >Mohammed:              26/38  = 68.4%
> 
> [etc.]
> 
> In honor of my auspicious position at the top of the list, I am
> re-donning my Champion's Cloak.  Addressing me as "Exalted One"
> is optional.
> 
> ThinMan
> (former) Winner but still Champion

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

Date: Sat, 11 Jan 1997 19:31:57 -0600 (CST)
From: Jason Orendorff <[email-masked]>
Subject: Acka:  P1612 rejected (IJ 3.1)

Proposal 1612
Internomic Justice take 3.1
Habeous Corpus

Yes:  8    No:  5     Present:  3   ...Proposal is rejected.

YES votes:
	mr cwm
	Habeous Corpus
	/dev/joe
	Robert Sevin
	Strider
	Swann
	snowgod
	Lestrade

NO votes:
	breadbox
	fnord
	ThinMan
	Mohammed
	Malenkai

PRESENT votes:
	Niccolo Flychuck
	AirHead
	Jammer

Players who did not vote:
	G. Peefalt
	Calvin N Hobbes
	BuzzBee
	Bascule
	Clairence
	Guy Fawkes
	23 Skidoo
	Techno

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

Date: Sat, 11 Jan 1997 19:32:43 -0600 (CST)
From: Jason Orendorff <[email-masked]>
Subject: Acka:  P1613 rejected (IJ 3.2)

Proposal 1613
Internomic Justice take 3.2
Habeous Corpus

Yes:  6    No:  6     Present:  4   ...Proposal is rejected.

YES votes:
	Habeous Corpus
	/dev/joe
	Robert Sevin
	Strider
	Swann
	snowgod

NO votes:
	mr cwm
	breadbox
	fnord
	ThinMan
	Mohammed
	Malenkai

PRESENT votes:
	Niccolo Flychuck
	AirHead
	Jammer
	Lestrade

Players who did not vote:
	G. Peefalt
	Calvin N Hobbes
	BuzzBee
	Bascule
	Clairence
	Guy Fawkes
	23 Skidoo
	Techno

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

Date: Sat, 11 Jan 1997 19:33:35 -0600 (CST)
From: Jason Orendorff <[email-masked]>
Subject: Acka:  P1614 rejected (IJ 3.3)

Proposal 1614
Internomic Justice take 3.3
Habeous Corpus

Yes:  6    No:  6     Present:  4   ...Proposal is rejected.

YES votes:
	Habeous Corpus
	/dev/joe
	Robert Sevin
	Strider
	Swann
	snowgod

NO votes:
	mr cwm
	fnord
	ThinMan
	Lestrade
	Mohammed
	Malenkai

PRESENT votes:
	Niccolo Flychuck
	breadbox
	AirHead
	Jammer

Players who did not vote:
	G. Peefalt
	Calvin N Hobbes
	BuzzBee
	Bascule
	Clairence
	Guy Fawkes
	23 Skidoo
	Techno

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

Date: Sat, 11 Jan 1997 19:34:40 -0600 (CST)
From: Jason Orendorff <[email-masked]>
Subject: Acka:  P1615 rejected (IJ 3.4)

Proposal 1615
Internomic Justice take 3.4
Habeous Corpus

Yes:  6    No:  5     Present:  5   ...Proposal is rejected.

YES votes:
	Habeous Corpus
	/dev/joe
	Strider
	AirHead
	Swann
	snowgod

NO votes:
	mr cwm
	fnord
	ThinMan
	Mohammed
	Malenkai

PRESENT votes:
	Niccolo Flychuck
	Robert Sevin
	breadbox
	Jammer
	Lestrade

Players who did not vote:
	G. Peefalt
	Calvin N Hobbes
	BuzzBee
	Bascule
	Clairence
	Guy Fawkes
	23 Skidoo
	Techno

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

Date: Sat, 11 Jan 1997 19:36:09 -0600 (CST)
From: Jason Orendorff <[email-masked]>
Subject: Acka:  P1616 accepted

Proposal 1616
Fixing the Price of Land, Meditation, and Scoring Silliness
/dev/joe

Yes:  16    No:  0     Present:  1   ...Proposal is accepted.

- --/dev/joe finds a treasure because of my YES vote on this proposal.

YES votes:
	mr cwm
	Habeous Corpus
	/dev/joe
	Niccolo Flychuck
	G. Peefalt
	Strider
	breadbox
	AirHead
	Swann
	fnord
	ThinMan
	Jammer
	snowgod
	Lestrade
	Mohammed
	Malenkai

NO votes:

PRESENT votes:
	Robert Sevin

Players who did not vote:
	Calvin N Hobbes
	BuzzBee
	Bascule
	Clairence
	Guy Fawkes
	23 Skidoo
	Techno

Text of accepted proposal:

Proposal 1616
Fixing the Price of Land, Meditation, and Scoring Silliness
/dev/joe

1. Amend rule 207 as follows:
   Number the 8 paragraphs of the rule I through VIII, and insert
   these titles at the front of the respective paragraphs:
     I. Timing of these score changes
     II. Timing when results are reported simultaneously
     III. Scoring on Accepted Proposals
     IV. Scoring on Rejected Proposals
     V. Effect of Proposals which do not meet Quorum
     VI. Short Proposal Bonus
     VII. New Player Author Bonus/Soft Penalty
     VIII. Null Proposals

2. Amend rule 1554 to read, in full:
   "Any active player may purchase a kaa of empty, common land by paying
    the current Price of Land (rounded down to the nearest whole number
    of A$) to the treasury.  This purchase does not require senate
    approval; this paragraph takes precedence over rule 839.

    Every two weeks, at the time officer's salaries are paid, the
    Officer in Charge of Random Things shall choose one of the following
    five possible events to occur:

      A. The Price of Land increases by five percent (5%)
      B. The Price of Land increases by 1%
      C. The Price of Land does not change
      D. The Price of Land decreases by 1%
      E. The Price of Land decreases by 5%

    If this results in the Price of Land having more than 3 digits to
    the right of the decimal point, those beyond the third are truncated."

    {{[This prevents having the price of land being 49.871562302625 after
    many months of doing this, while still being reasonably exact.]}}

3. Renumber rule 1554 to 844.

4. Renumber rule 728 to 207.1  {{[ Scoring for silly proposals ]}}

5. Repeal rule 1564.  {{[ Days of Meditation -- the strident approach
      of showing how much work it is to keep this idea changed some
      minds.  I'm leaving the Festival for Malenkai or Mohammed or
      somebody else to fix up. ]}}

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

Date: Sat, 11 Jan 1997 19:37:50 -0600 (CST)
From: Jason Orendorff <[email-masked]>
Subject: Acka:  P1617 accepted (Point Reform)

Proposal 1617
Yet Another Stab at Point Reform
Mohammed

Yes:  12    No:  5     Present:  1   ...Proposal is accepted.

- --Mohammed bribed Tammany A$10 to vote YES.

YES votes:
	/dev/joe
	Niccolo Flychuck
	Strider
	AirHead
	Swann
	fnord
	Lestrade
	ThinMan
	Jammer
	Tammany
	Mohammed
	Malenkai

NO votes:
	mr cwm
	Habeous Corpus
	G. Peefalt
	breadbox
	snowgod

PRESENT votes:
	Robert Sevin

Players who did not vote:
	Calvin N Hobbes
	BuzzBee
	Bascule
	Clairence
	Guy Fawkes
	23 Skidoo
	Techno

Text of accepted proposal:

Proposal 1617
Yet Another Stab At Point Reform
Mohammed

This is a modest proposal.

Rule 220 ("Winning by Points") is amended by changing:
- ---
     Immediately upon a single player reaching the Magic Number of points
     exactly, that player will be declared the Winner of the Cycle, and
     all rules pertaining to what happens when someone wins the cycle,
     including, but not limited to, Rule 666, shall apply.

     If 2 or more players reach the Magic Number at exactly the same
     time, as determined by the Scorekeeper, the Magic Number shall be
     incremented by 13, and none of the players shall be declared winner
     of the cycle at that time.
     
     If 2 or more players reach the Magic Number at substantially the
     same time, and the Scorekeeper, in a good faith attempt, cannot
     determine which of the players reached it first, then the players
     are deemed to have reached the Magic Number at exactly the same
     time, and the preceding paragraph shall apply. Making this
     determination is a duty of the Scorekeeper.
     
     If the score of any player becomes greater than the Magic Number,
     then the Magic Number is increased by 16, or to 11 points above the
     highest player score, whichever is greater.
- ---
to:
- ---
     If a single player has a number of points equal to or greater than
     the Magic Number, that player has achieved a Winning Condition.
     [See Rule 666 for the effects of winning a cycle.]

     If two or more players reach the Magic Number at exactly the same
     time, as determined by the Scorekeeper, the Magic Number shall be
     increased by 100, or to 11 points above the highest player score,
     whichever is greater.  None of the players shall win the cycle at
     that time.

     If two or more players reach the Magic Number at substantially the
     same time, and the Scorekeeper, in a good faith attempt, cannot
     determine which of the players reached it first, then the players
     are deemed to have reached the Magic Number at exactly the same
     time, and the preceding paragraph shall apply. Making this
     determination is a duty of the Scorekeeper.
- ---

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

Date: Sat, 11 Jan 1997 17:41:37 -0800
From: [email-masked] (John Martin Lotz)
Subject: Acka Renumbered rule set.

When will the renumbered ruleset be on the Website?

Jammer

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

Date: Sat, 11 Jan 1997 19:49:26 -0600 (CST)
From: Jason Orendorff <[email-masked]>
Subject: Acka: P1618 fails quorum (PLEASE NOTE)

If you believe you voted for this, first check the automatic reply you 
received in the mail; then complain ASAP.  The sooner the error is 
corrected, the better.

If this indeed failed to achieve quorum, then everyone not already on 
vacation who failed to vote on it is penalized 5 points and placed on 
vacation (see R207).  I do not have a reliable list of who is and isn't 
on vacation.  Mr. Registrar?

Proposal 1618
Reorganization IIa
Malenkai

Yes:  7    No:  0     Present:  0   ...Proposal fails quorum.

YES votes:
	ThinMan
	Robert Sevin
	Mohammed
	Malenkai
	snowgod
	fnord
	Swann

NO votes:

PRESENT votes:

Players who did not vote:
	G. Peefalt
	Jammer
	Calvin N Hobbes
	BuzzBee
	Bascule
	Niccolo Flychuck
	breadbox
	Clairence
	Guy Fawkes
	23 Skidoo
	Strider
	Lestrade
	Techno
	mr cwm
	AirHead
	/dev/joe
	Habeous Corpus

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

Date: Sat, 11 Jan 1997 19:53:40 -0600 (CST)
From: Jason Orendorff <[email-masked]>
Subject: Re: Acka: P1618 Correction (!)

On Sat, 11 Jan 1997, Jason Orendorff wrote:
> If this indeed failed to achieve quorum, then everyone not already on 
	[snip]
	I know what's wrong with this.
	The proposal was only distributed on Wednesday, and won't be 
accepted or rejected until four days from now.
	Sorry to all for the fright!

- --Mohammed

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

Date: Sat, 11 Jan 1997 17:59:26 -0900
From: Phil Ackley <[email-masked]>
Subject: Acka: Exalted Ones 

I am calling ThinMan and Malenkai 'Exalted One'

snowgod

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

Date: Sat, 11 Jan 1997 21:02:59 -0600 (CST)
From: Jason Orendorff <[email-masked]>
Subject: Acka:  Proposal 1621

Proposal 1621
Gift Gadgets
Mohammed

Rule 595/9 ("Gadgets") is amended by changing
- ---
(iii) Gadgets are tradeable entities.
- ---
to:
- ---
(iii) Gadgets are entities.  A Gadget is tradeable unless its Blueprint
specifies otherwise.  A Blueprint has the authority to specify that
Gadgets made from it are nontradeable or gift. 
- ---

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

Date: Sat, 11 Jan 1997 21:18:47 -0600 (CST)
From: Jason Orendorff <[email-masked]>
Subject: Acka:  Official correction (Tabulator)

Techno voted YES on proposals 1600 thru 1605.  I listed him as not having 
voted on those.

Techno's votes were not, in any case, enough to cause any of those 
proposals to pass; but this will boost Techno's score....

- --Mohammed

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

Date: Sat, 11 Jan 1997 18:41:20 -0900
From: Phil Ackley <[email-masked]>
Subject: Acka: IRC 

I have fixed the "you can only listen" problem with the advanced java IRC
client.  I believe it is now ready for mass consumption (yes, there are
still bugs but hopefully nothing major).

Aditionally, I have added a simple IRC client (6k as opposed to 187k for
the advanced) that is embedded in a web page.  This client loads lightening
fast and allows anyone to talk on /dev/joe's server but does not offer
functionality that normal IRC users are used to.

You can reach either or both client by connecting to
http://wilma.che.utexas.edu/~snowgod where you will encounter a menu asking
you which client you wish to laod.  I encourage everyone to try out each
client at leasts once and see which they prefer.

If you are unable to use java, you may still connect to /dev/joe's server
on wilma.che.utexas.edu port 9942 with any standard IRC client (including
text based ones through a unix shell).

Finally, I am officially volunteering to be assistant web-harfer for the
IRC pages if /dev/joe is willing to add a link from the main ackanomic page.

snowgod

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

Date: Sat, 11 Jan 1997 22:41:03 -0600 (CST)
From: Jason Orendorff <[email-masked]>
Subject: Acka:  Proposal 1622

Proposal 1622
In Which Justices Do Not Rock
Mohammed

The rule titled "Justices Rock" is hereby repealed.

[The President doesn't have any powers other than declaring holidays and 
building bomb shelters... and the Justices should *not* be able to 
overturn either one of those emergency powers.  Should the Justices be 
able to roll over the Senate's Internomic votes?]

[Current text:

Rule 417/5
Justices Rock
Calvin N Hobbes (Thierry Joffrain)

Justices Rock

The players that are also Justices (should the position exist) that
is, members of the Supreme Court, have the following powers,
provided all agree to use it and how to use it, on the one instance.

They may nullify a Presidential decision. That is, a decision made
by the President acting in his or her capacity as the President.

They may nullify a Senatorial decision. That is, a decision made by
the Senate acting in its capacity as the Senate.

They may nullify a previous Supreme Court decision. That is, a
previous decision made by the Supreme Court acting in its capacity
as Supreme Court, including, but not limited to, AOJs, and CFJ
appeals.

The decision must be made public by an Act Of Justice (AOJ) in which
they give a statement on what decision is being nullified, and an
explanation as to why. The AOJ must be published with the names of
all the justices at the end, with the phrase "verified and agreed"
before each of their names. As soon as it is made public, it is in
effect and cannot be overturned except by another AOJ, unless it is
deemed unlawful by a Call For Criminal Judgement (CFCJ), should such
a procedure exist.

The following types of AOJs are explicitly prohibited:

1) An AOJ to nullify a Presidential Decision to appoint a particular
player to the Supreme Court.
2) An AOJ to nullify a Senatorial Decision to confirm a particular
player to the Supreme Court.
3) An AOJ that nullifies a decision made 7 days or more prior to the
time of the (attempted) AOJ.

If either/both the Senate and president do not exist, then Justices
cannot use their first two powers.

Supreme Court Justices and acting Supreme Court Justices are
ineligible to be selected to judge CFJs.
]

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

Date: Sat, 11 Jan 1997 22:42:21 -0600 (CST)
From: "Joseph W. DeVincentis" <devjoe>
Subject: Re: Acka: *Ping*, the Truth, and a headache

Bascule wrote:
> I have a headache from studying the machine, but I believe that the 
> truth may take this form:
> 
> IF AND ONLY IF today has a date that goes by two different prime 
> numbers, THEN the Machine That Goes *ping* shall go *ping*. 
> 
> Go on then, ridicule me! See if I care.

All right, then:
Bascule's headache must have been caused by brain damage if he
believes such a ridiculous (and nonsensical) statement even
had the slightest chance of being the Truth.

/dev/joe
Still the Scholar of *ping*

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

Date: Sat, 11 Jan 1997 22:56:34 -0600 (CST)
From: "Joseph W. DeVincentis" <devjoe>
Subject: Re: Acka Renumbered rule set.

Jammer asked:
> When will the renumbered ruleset be on the Website?

As soon as I have a chance to do it after Reorg II passes.
As was noted, it is still up for vote.
I don't believe any of the proposals that passed today renumbered
any significant number of rules, but their rule changes will be
applied in a bit (after I do the score -- possible winners are
more important than updating the (mostly minor) changes to the
rules).

/dev/joe

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

Date: Sat, 11 Jan 1997 23:02:39 -0600 (CST)
From: Jason Orendorff <[email-masked]>
Subject: Acka: Church of Python?

A long time ago, I wrote:
> I make another Trinket, worth only A$7, named the Bracelet of Conjuring, a
> pretty bracelet of leather depicting two garter snakes interwoven.  When 
> the bracelet is worn, the snakes are seen to slither in opposite 
> directions around the wearers wrist.

The map to the Treasure consisting of the Bracelet of Conjuring (worth
A$ 7) was:

the Treasure of the Bracelet of Conjuring shall be found by the first
player who sends me something I find interesting, of his or her own
composition, written in Python. 

/dev/joe has found it.

He sent me not one but three interesting python programs.  I'm sure he'll
gladly forward them to any newspaper interested in publishing them, for a
token fee.

- --Mohammed

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

Date: Sat, 11 Jan 1997 23:43:39 -0600 (CST)
From: "Joseph W. DeVincentis" <devjoe>
Subject: Re: Acka: Church of Python?

Mohammed wrote:
> The map to the Treasure consisting of the Bracelet of Conjuring (worth
> A$ 7) was:
> 
> the Treasure of the Bracelet of Conjuring shall be found by the first
> player who sends me something I find interesting, of his or her own
> composition, written in Python. 
> 
> /dev/joe has found it.
> 
> He sent me not one but three interesting python programs.  I'm sure he'll
> gladly forward them to any newspaper interested in publishing them, for a
> token fee.

Hmm.  This means one of them wasn't interesting. :-o

In any case, the four programs I sent Mohammed were as follows:
1. pmsg.py, a Python program suitable for using with cron to send out
   *ping* messages automatically.
2. sp.py, a self-printing Python program.
3. unasc.py, a Python program which reads hex digit data from a file and
   prints out the corresponding ASCII characters. (Back during the most
   rapid period of my treasure finding, Mohammed reported having difficulty
   writing this program in Python, and writing it in C instead.  I had
   problems writing it too, but I finished it.)
4. pcross.py, a Python program that allows you to play a solitaire word game.
   If anybody else out there has ever bought any of the puzzle magazines
   published by Dell, you may have seen this game as "Solicross".  This
   has been updated somewhat since the version I sent Mohammed.  This is
   rather long (19kB) so I will not be publishing this in any newspaper,
   but I may make it available some other way at a later date.  The others
   total less than 3.5kB combined, and may be suitable for a newspaper
   to publish.

I'm considering making a Solicross treasure, to be given to the player
who sends me the highest scoring valid solution (based on some
dictionary) within a certain time after I announce it, but I'm worried
that only one or two players would even compete for it.  So, I'd
like to get some feedback from interested players.  If you have
access to a machine with Python installed (or you are capable and
willing to install it) and would be interested in playing a
Scrabble-style word game for A$, let me know.

/dev/joe

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

Date: Sat, 11 Jan 1997 21:45:41 -0800
From: [email-masked] (John Martin Lotz)
Subject: Acka: IRC Chat.

I was able to log onto Simple Chat with no problems.
There was no one to chat with, so I was unable
to see how it works.  

Advanced Chat takes about a week to load ;),
I stopped before it was done. I'm gonna have 
to get a faster modem.

Jammer
who currently boasts an 82% failure
rate

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

Date: Sat, 11 Jan 1997 23:54:22 -0600 (CST)
From: Jason Orendorff <[email-masked]>
Subject: Re: Acka: Church of Python?

> 3. unasc.py, a Python program which reads hex digit data from a file and
>    prints out the corresponding ASCII characters. (Back during the most
>    rapid period of my treasure finding, Mohammed reported having difficulty
>    writing this program in Python, and writing it in C instead.  I had
>    problems writing it too, but I finished it.)
	This was the least interesting one of the bunch.  :oP  :o)

- --Mohammed

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

End of Ackanomic Digest V1 #449
*******************************