Subject: Ackanomic Digest V2 #112
From: [email-masked] (Ackanomic Digest)
To: ackanomic-digest

Ackanomic Digest        Wednesday, June 4 1997        Volume 02 : Number 112

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

Date: Tue, 3 Jun 1997 21:53:50 -0900
From: Phil Ackley <[email-masked]>
Subject: Acka: Impeach the Bastard 

Ackazens,

Has a functional officer ever been impeached before?  No?  I don't think so
anyway.  So, hell, let's make me infamous.  Let's make this the harfiest
impeachment attempt ever.  Impoeach the registrar, impeach the bastard!
Cast your vote to ACCEPT the IP.  Heck, I know I did

Mr. Registrarnacho

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

Date: Tue, 3 Jun 1997 22:14:13 -0900
From: Phil Ackley <[email-masked]>
Subject: Re: Acka: Prayer for Deliverance 

>> The time has now expired; it is June 4 Acka time.  Only Robert Sevin
>> failed to post a prayer, so his house is dangling.
>
>As a newly-bewinged player, and a loyal member of Harf, I will gladly help
>reattach RS's house, as soon as I get two other avians to help me.
>
>
>--
>--Alfvaen

As will I (Assuming I'm still winged).

I am hereby publically and unambigously going to Barry's house (that's
robert sevin to the lay person) to help reattach it (and wait out my
impeachment)

Mr. Nacho
impeach the bastard

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

Date: Wed, 4 Jun 1997 04:03:10 -0700 (PDT)
From: Brian Raiter <[email-masked]>
Subject: Re: Acka: Prayer for Deliverance

>>> The time has now expired; it is June 4 Acka time.  Only Robert Sevin
>>> failed to post a prayer, so his house is dangling.
>> 
>> As a newly-bewinged player, and a loyal member of Harf, I will gladly help
>> reattach RS's house, as soon as I get two other avians to help me.
>> 
>> 
>> --
>> --Alfvaen
> 
> As will I (Assuming I'm still winged).
> 
> I am hereby publically and unambigously going to Barry's house (that's
> robert sevin to the lay person) to help reattach it (and wait out my
> impeachment)

"And breadbox makes three."

Of course, we need to have Robert Sevin's permission first. I will
make the public action of joining Alfvaen and Mr. Nacho in reattaching
his house as soon as RS publicly allows us to.

breadbox

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

Date: Wed, 4 Jun 1997 06:56:11 -0600 (MDT)
From: Aaron Humphrey <[email-masked]>
Subject: Acka: Trinkets

Since I'm bored:

I am creating a trinket called A$50, worth A$5.  Its description is as
follows:  "This looks like A$50, but if you look closely at it you can see
that it's really A$5 with an extra zero scribbled on it in chartreuse
crayon."

I am also creating a trinket called "Travesty", worth A$10.  Its
description is the following paragraph:

On the right, a likeness of the quartz and reflection of the earth
can be moved easily by sliding along any reasonable smooth surface.
The skin of the original "The Five Hundred Misplaced Ackapennies
numbered from 1 to 23, so that the pennies into groups which are
revealed to anyone who wears it. It is said these tones actually speak,
if you listen carefully to them. No respectful Scholar would leave
the Machine that goes ping* as a housewarming present. Fresh Mints
are a bowl of nibblements in the liquid like snowflakes, until
slowly, they disappear when reaching the bottom. Kids and adults alike
find it is not being used for decoding, it makes it's own look very
cosmopolitan indeed. Guy Fawkes' Soap Box when making any sort of speech,
but they are difficult to read due to a Bronze Torch and is willing
to wear the button. It is said to bless their owner with good
timing, and it is we're auctioning today' with a feather sticking out 

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

Date: Wed, 4 Jun 1997 06:59:35 -0600 (MDT)
From: Aaron Humphrey <[email-masked]>
Subject: Acka: Rest of Trinket

Oops, my "travesty" description got cut off.  The rest of it should look
like:

of it in blue letters, "Support E.E.L. Radio" I begin to wear it.
It is securely attached to the inside containing a concoction that
is 180 proof. Across the front are printed the words "What's your
clearance, citizen?" On the right, a likeness of the name and the printing
on each is "Malenkai's Gold Coins" with a value of A$1.

There, now I'm done.

- --
- --Alfvaen(Web page: http://www.terranet.ab.ca/~aaron/)
Song In My Head--The Carpenters:Top of The World
Current Book--Steven Brust:Five Hundred Years After
Close the Dreamtime door and drive away.

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

Date: Wed, 4 Jun 1997 09:47:31 -0400 (EDT)
From: "A.K.A. TheWiz" <[email-masked]>
Subject: Re: Re: Acka: Still more silliness

>Convert them to A$, then round down?
>
>I plan to destroy the 100 Really Cheap Trinkets anyways.

  NOOO!!!  You can't take my ties!!!  I won't let you!
  (Puts ties in big, big pile, stands in front carrying shotgun, looks
around warily.)

____________________________________________________________________________
|The Mauve Baron|  Beep  [email-masked] * http://www.bergen.org/~dankna|
|---------------|  Blip  |-------------------------------------------------|
|   Dan Knapp   |  Bonk  |     This notice copyright (C)1997 Dan Knapp     |
- ----------------------------------------------------------------------------

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

Date: Wed, 4 Jun 1997 09:54:18 -0400 (EDT)
From: "A.K.A. TheWiz" <[email-masked]>
Subject: Re: Acka: P2044, Whither half-a-chip?

>I missed that. I withdraw my offer. Although I don't see why a 
>half-a-chip could be so harmful. I am voting against this proposal, 
>on the basis of its willful and needless destruction of half-chips.

  YAY!!!  Save the ties!

- -Red Barn (And while you're at it... Mad Scientist)

____________________________________________________________________________
|The Mauve Baron|  Beep  [email-masked] * http://www.bergen.org/~dankna|
|---------------|  Blip  |-------------------------------------------------|
|   Dan Knapp   |  Bonk  |     This notice copyright (C)1997 Dan Knapp     |
- ----------------------------------------------------------------------------

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

Date: Wed, 4 Jun 1997 09:56:22 -0400 (EDT)
From: "A.K.A. TheWiz" <[email-masked]>
Subject: Re: Acka: CFJ 395 Verdict

>a transfer should be made that
>     ^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^
>includes a fractional reckoning of A$, the transaction will instead be
>conducted in an integer number of A$, and the rounding shall be in favor of
>the Player or entity receiving A$. "

  It's one transfer.

>If I'm wrong, then so be it. But I'd rather not see the precedent of an
>obvious rule break being set. There are no Ackapennies - each Trinket's
>price is A$1 or more.

  Appeal!  Appeal!
____________________________________________________________________________
|The Mauve Baron|  Beep  [email-masked] * http://www.bergen.org/~dankna|
|---------------|  Blip  |-------------------------------------------------|
|   Dan Knapp   |  Bonk  |     This notice copyright (C)1997 Dan Knapp     |
- ----------------------------------------------------------------------------

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

Date: Wed, 4 Jun 1997 09:59:55 -0400 (EDT)
From: "A.K.A. TheWiz" <[email-masked]>
Subject: Re: Acka: Quite Garish Ties

>I have constructed a CGI script to describe Red Barn's Quite Garish Ties,
>just as he specified...in doing so, I've probably revealed some
>shortcomings of RB's specification.  But I felt it was not within my
>purview to make any changes...  Anyone who wishes to see it can go to
>http://www.terranet.ab.ca/~aaron/acka/qgt.html .  (That's a "q", then a
>"g".)

  D'oh.

____________________________________________________________________________
|The Mauve Baron|  Beep  [email-masked] * http://www.bergen.org/~dankna|
|---------------|  Blip  |-------------------------------------------------|
|   Dan Knapp   |  Bonk  |     This notice copyright (C)1997 Dan Knapp     |
- ----------------------------------------------------------------------------

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

Date: Wed, 4 Jun 1997 10:24:41 -0400 (EDT)
From: mr cwm <[email-masked]>
Subject: Re: Acka: Rest of Trinket

On Wed, 4 Jun 1997, Alfvaen wrote:

>
>Oops, my "travesty" description got cut off.  

How could yo tell?

- -mr cwm

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

Date: Wed, 4 Jun 1997 08:40:45 -0600 (MDT)
From: Aaron Humphrey <[email-masked]>
Subject: Re: Acka: Rest of Trinket

> On Wed, 4 Jun 1997, Alfvaen wrote:
> 
> >
> >Oops, my "travesty" description got cut off.  
> 
> How could yo tell?

Why, it was in the middle of a sentence!  What a silly question.

- --
- --Alfvaen(Web page: http://www.terranet.ab.ca/~aaron/)
Song In My Head--The Carpenters:Top of The World
Current Book--Steven Brust:Five Hundred Years After
Taking a bath with your toaster.  It's a bad idea.

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

Date: Wed, 04 Jun 1997 09:23:28 -0700
From: Alexandre Muniz <[email-masked]>
Subject: Acka: Duel

Their votes some endeavored to place
Through Common Gateway Interface.
Their names I've discovered;
Soon I'll have recovered
A prize for a poem of grace.

**two-star

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

Date: Wed, 4 Jun 1997 10:54:15 -0600 (MDT)
From: Aaron Humphrey <[email-masked]>
Subject: Acka: The Few Unknown Trinkets

Having grovelled through the email archives from November 2nd(when the
Trinkets proposal passed)to the present, I've managed to pinpoint the
creators for most of the trinkets currently extant.  (I didn't note down
any of the ones that aren't on the current Trinkets page.)  I also found it
interesting to glimpse snatches of Ackanomic history.

The following are the Trinkets I didn't find creators for:

an A for effort and an E for effort
(These were runner-up prizes in some contest or other, weren't they?)

The Bagel of Uestiox
(Not a clue.)

Cheap political favors 1-20
(Obviously near some Presidental election or other...:-)

marble pedestal
(??)

The Splendid One Man Percussion Section
(Sounds like a Band member...)

Strider's Presidental Vision
(I might venture to guess this was Strider...:-)

Victory Gin
(??)

The rest are all on my "attempt to track trinket creators" page, which
/dev/joe has been kind enough to link to off the main Acka page...  Feel
free to let me know if I've misattributed something.

- --
- --Alfvaen(Web page: http://www.terranet.ab.ca/~aaron/)
Song In My Head--Dream Warriors:My Definition of A Boombastic Jazz Style
Current Book--Steven Brust:Five Hundred Years After
I must have a rapier wit; everyone keeps parrying.

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

Date: Wed, 4 Jun 1997 12:06:33 -0500
From: "Bollinger, John C." <[email-masked]>
Subject: RE: Acka: The Few Unknown Trinkets

Alfvaen wrote:

> The following are the Trinkets I didn't find creators for:
> 
> an A for effort and an E for effort
> (These were runner-up prizes in some contest or other, weren't they?)
> 
Yes.  They were created by /dev/joe for consolation prizes in his
Pythoncross challenge.

> The Bagel of Uestiox
> (Not a clue.)
> 
This was created in response to an IRC ghost game one evening.  I don't
remember who the actual creator was, but I'm thinking either Malenkai
or Mr. Nacho (then snowgod).  Might also have been Robert Sevin or
CnH.

> Cheap political favors 1-20
> (Obviously near some Presidental election or other...:-)
> 
Yes, but I don't remember which one.

> marble pedestal
> (??)
> 
> The Splendid One Man Percussion Section
> (Sounds like a Band member...)
> 
I remember this one, too, but not who created it.

> Strider's Presidental Vision
> (I might venture to guess this was Strider...:-)
> 
You would be correct.

> Victory Gin
> (??)
> 
> 
> The rest are all on my "attempt to track trinket creators" page, which
> /dev/joe has been kind enough to link to off the main Acka page...
> Feel
> free to let me know if I've misattributed something.
> 
Pretty cool.  As a side note, a first guess about the creator of an
unknown trinket might be its current owner.  You might therefore try
the p/e page.  Indeed, if the current owner is not the creator, then
he probably knows who is.

ThinMan

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

Date: Wed, 4 Jun 1997 09:15:02 -0900
From: Phil Ackley <[email-masked]>
Subject: RE: Acka: The Few Unknown Trinkets 

>
>> The Bagel of Uestiox
>> (Not a clue.)
>>
>This was created in response to an IRC ghost game one evening.  I don't
>remember who the actual creator was, but I'm thinking either Malenkai
>or Mr. Nacho (then snowgod).  Might also have been Robert Sevin or
>CnH.

I can state that it wasn't me, though I was a participant in the infamous
"uestiox" game of ghost.  Brrr, what a fun game that was.  Anyway, someone
(Narf maybe?) created that bagel after I played my infamous word.

Mr. Nacho

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

Date: Wed, 04 Jun 1997 10:21:57 -0700
From: Alexandre Muniz <[email-masked]>
Subject: Acka:CFJ whichever

I am accepting the first of the two CFJ's that I was assigned and
declining the other. Sorry, I don't remember the numbers.

**two-star

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

Date: Wed, 4 Jun 1997 12:16:22 -0600 (MDT)
From: Aaron Humphrey <[email-masked]>
Subject: Acka: Personal Info

I know this has been asked before(from going through the email archives),
but I will ask again about the Real People out there.  This is an
Unofficial Poll; feel free to answer or not, as you wish.  And privately or
not, depending on how much bandwidth we want to waste.

1)What do you do for a living?
2)Where does your Ackanomic name come from?
3)What are your tastes in reading and music?
4)Anything else you'd like to volunteer.  :-)

And now I'll cop out and say that you can find most of that info on my
web page, so I won't waste any more bandwidth here...:-)

- --
- --Alfvaen(Web page: http://www.terranet.ab.ca/~aaron/)
Song In My Head--Dream Warriors:My Definition of A Boombastic Jazz Style
Current Book--Steven Brust:Five Hundred Years After
I am you, and you are me, and we are all together in a Yellow Submarine.

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

Date: Wed, 4 Jun 1997 13:45:27 -0500
From: "Bollinger, John C." <[email-masked]>
Subject: RE: Acka: Personal Info

Alfvaen:

> I know this has been asked before(from going through the email
> archives),
> but I will ask again about the Real People out there.  This is an
> Unofficial Poll; feel free to answer or not, as you wish.  And
> privately or
> not, depending on how much bandwidth we want to waste.
> 
> 1)What do you do for a living?
> 
My title is "Crystallographic Computing Specialist."  I am an inorganic
chemist and an X-ray Crystallographer by training, with a fair amount
of math thrown in there somewhere, too.  And some literature and
writing, and some French.

> 2)Where does your Ackanomic name come from?
> 
Well, this was one of the old poll questions, but I think that was from
the time before the e-mail archives.  ThinMan is, in fact, a relatively
apt (if incomplete) description of myself.  It is also very close to
the title of a classic film.  Add to that that it is easy to say,
remember, and spell, and there you are.

> 3)What are your tastes in reading and music?
> 
When I have a chance to read, I read SF and Fantasy, computer-related
material, gardening/lawn-care books, political material, news,
scientific journals, and the occasional odd or end (not necessarilly in
that order).  Among my favorite authors are Robert Jordan, Orson Scott
Card, J.R.R. Tolkien, Larry Niven, Steven Brust, Isaac Asimov, and Bill
Sears.

I have broad tastes in music, including 60's - early 80's rock, modern
country, classical/orchestral, some jazz, sometimes "oldies," and a few
other tidbits here and there.  I dislike rap, and do not care for most
"new age," or most modern pop music.  To my knowledge, I have never
heard a TMBG song.

> 4)Anything else you'd like to volunteer.  :-)
> 
I am married, 28 years old, have a 20-month-old daughter (go look up
the proposal "Kate's Birthday" from the middle of last September), own
my own house, and attend church regularly.  My social security number
is not 346-28-9210.  My Visa card number is not 2901-3412-7606-6341.
My mother's maiden name is not "McVeigh."

> And now I'll cop out and say that you can find most of that info on my
> web page, so I won't waste any more bandwidth here...:-)
> 
Oh yeah?  Not what your Visa card number isn't.  I say, lets pass a
truth-in-advertising rule!

ThinMan
exploring the merits of BWG

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

Date: Wed, 4 Jun 1997 14:56:36 -0400 (EDT)
From: "A.K.A. TheWiz" <[email-masked]>
Subject: Re: Acka: Personal Info

>1)What do you do for a living?
  I'm an HS parasite (student).  Member of the generation that's been
replacing everyone else's for 2000 years or so.

>2)Where does your Ackanomic name come from?
  "Name, name, need a name.  Hmm, colors.  Blue, green, yellow... RED!.
Red, red, red... barn!  Red Barn, yeah, that's it..."

>3)What are your tastes in reading and music?
  SF, preferably hard.  Classical if anything.

>4)Anything else you'd like to volunteer.  :-)
  Yes.

____________________________________________________________________________
|The Mauve Baron|  Beep  [email-masked] * http://www.bergen.org/~dankna|
|---------------|  Blip  |-------------------------------------------------|
|   Dan Knapp   |  Bonk  |     This notice copyright (C)1997 Dan Knapp     |
- ----------------------------------------------------------------------------

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

Date: Wed, 4 Jun 1997 15:55:02 -0400 (EDT)
From: mr cwm <[email-masked]>
Subject: Re: Acka: Personal Info

On Wed, 4 Jun 1997, Alfvaen wrote:

>
>I know this has been asked before(from going through the email archives),
>but I will ask again about the Real People out there.  This is an
>Unofficial Poll; feel free to answer or not, as you wish.  And privately or
>not, depending on how much bandwidth we want to waste.
>
>1)What do you do for a living?

Teach physics to undergraduates.

>2)Where does your Ackanomic name come from?

I've long found "cwm" a fascinating word, being without the usual vowels,
and being composed entirely of letters lacking ascenders or descenders. 
At the time I joined, the minimum name length was 4 characters, so I
tacked on "mr", which would be fascinating in the same way if it were a
word.  (The rules didn't allow spaces in names, then, but I quick scan of
the other names at the time told me that game custom would let me get away
with it.) 

>3)What are your tastes in reading and music?

I'd say SF, but, realistically, I only read SF by Stanislaw Lem, now.  And
I'd say amateur memoirs of the Great War, but it's been a while since I
found anything good that I haven't already read.  (I suppose suggestions
would be welcome.)  Which isn't much of a problem, since my reading has
fallen off considerably since I came here. 

Blues, reggae, bluegrass.  Which means I rarely hear anything good on the
radio.

>4)Anything else you'd like to volunteer.  :-)

I never volunteer anything :)

- -mr cwm

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

Date: Wed, 4 Jun 1997 16:37:04 -0400 (EDT)
From: [email-masked]
Subject: Acka: Enlightenment 

I am creating a trinket worth A$3, called Enlightenment.  It has the
following description: "Enlightenment is a normal 60-watt bulb."

#trinket Atilla the Pun : Enlightenment : 3

I am "getting rid of Enlightenment" by destroying it.

#award Atilla the Pun : -Enlightenment
#award Atilla the Pun : +3 A$

(is this right?)

Micah Smukler
- -AKA AtP

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

Date: Wed, 04 Jun 1997 13:37:26 -0700
From: Joshua Nave <[email-masked]>
Subject: Re: Acka: Enlightenment

[email-masked] wrote:
> 
> I am creating a trinket worth A$3, called Enlightenment.  It has the
> following description: "Enlightenment is a normal 60-watt bulb."
> 
> #trinket Atilla the Pun : Enlightenment : 3
> 
> I am "getting rid of Enlightenment" by destroying it.
> 
> #award Atilla the Pun : -Enlightenment
> #award Atilla the Pun : +3 A$
> 
> (is this right?)
> 
> Micah Smukler
> -AKA AtP

Unfortunately, players can still become enlightened.

Also, unless things have changed around here, I don't think you can
destroy a trinket.

Narf

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

Date: Wed, 4 Jun 1997 15:17:09 -0600 (MDT)
From: Aaron Humphrey <[email-masked]>
Subject: Re: Acka: Enlightenment

> > I am creating a trinket worth A$3, called Enlightenment.  It has the
> > following description: "Enlightenment is a normal 60-watt bulb."
> > 
> > #trinket Atilla the Pun : Enlightenment : 3
> > 
> > I am "getting rid of Enlightenment" by destroying it.
> > 
> > #award Atilla the Pun : -Enlightenment
> > #award Atilla the Pun : +3 A$
> > 
> > (is this right?)
> > 
> > Micah Smukler
> > -AKA AtP
> 
> Unfortunately, players can still become enlightened.

Yeah, unfortunately the treasure says it both ways..."as long as there is
Enlightenment" and "as long as player can become Enlightened".  I tried to
fix that with my Well-Roundedness proposal a couple of weeks ago, to no
avail.

> Also, unless things have changed around here, I don't think you can
> destroy a trinket.

And what do you call it when you turn it back in to the Treasury for money
and it no longer exists?

- --
- --Alfvaen(Web page: http://www.terranet.ab.ca/~aaron/)
Current Album--Rush:Moving Pictures
Current Book--Steven Brust:Five Hundred Years After
Innkeeper!  Slurpees and cheetos for all my men!

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

Date: Wed, 4 Jun 1997 15:29:21 -0600 (MDT)
From: Aaron Humphrey <[email-masked]>
Subject: Re: Acka: Personal Info

ThinMan write:
> > 1)What do you do for a living?

> My title is "Crystallographic Computing Specialist."  I am an inorganic
> chemist and an X-ray Crystallographer by training, with a fair amount
> of math thrown in there somewhere, too.  And some literature and
> writing, and some French.

A good variety.  (I'm sort of a Computing Science/Physics blend these days,
currently sysadminning because I enjoy it more than most work.)

> > 2)Where does your Ackanomic name come from?

> Well, this was one of the old poll questions, but I think that was from
> the time before the e-mail archives.  ThinMan is, in fact, a relatively
> apt (if incomplete) description of myself.  It is also very close to
> the title of a classic film.  Add to that that it is easy to say,
> remember, and spell, and there you are.

I ran across a few references to snowgod compiling a list of name origins,
but I never saw it posted.  It was the last Official Poll and the results
of that were never posted either.

> > 3)What are your tastes in reading and music?

> When I have a chance to read, I read SF and Fantasy, computer-related
> material, gardening/lawn-care books, political material, news,
> scientific journals, and the occasional odd or end (not necessarilly in
> that order).  Among my favorite authors are Robert Jordan, Orson Scott
> Card, J.R.R. Tolkien, Larry Niven, Steven Brust, Isaac Asimov, and Bill
> Sears.

A big thumbs-up on Brust and Card, at least, as two of my current favourite
authors...  I also like Sheri S. Tepper a whole bunch, C.J. Cherryh, Tanith
Lee, Jack L. Chalker, Dave Duncan, and bunches of others.  (Since that
might be hard to glean from my Web page, I thought I'd mention it
here...:-)  I will, however, try anything once.

> I have broad tastes in music, including 60's - early 80's rock, modern
> country, classical/orchestral, some jazz, sometimes "oldies," and a few
> other tidbits here and there.  I dislike rap, and do not care for most
> "new age," or most modern pop music.  To my knowledge, I have never
> heard a TMBG song.

What do you consider "early 80's rock"?  Are we talking REO Speedwagon and
Chicago, or do you mean more The Fixx and Depeche Mode?  My musical tastes
probably crystallized in the mid-80's, but I'm trying to keep them from
ossifying, and I have heard recent music that I like.  I tend to acquire
music for the sake of acquisition, because I'm afraid I might be missing
something that I might like.

> > 4)Anything else you'd like to volunteer.  :-)

> I am married, 28 years old, have a 20-month-old daughter (go look up
> the proposal "Kate's Birthday" from the middle of last September), own
> my own house, and attend church regularly.  My social security number
> is not 346-28-9210.  My Visa card number is not 2901-3412-7606-6341.
> My mother's maiden name is not "McVeigh."

Well...I'm married, 25 years old, no children yet, hoping to move out of
the cramped two-bedroom apartment that only barely holds us, my 2500-odd
books, and my 1500-odd tapes, records, and CDs, and agnostic verging on
atheistic.  I don't have a social security number, being Canadian(we call
them social _insurance_ numbers, for some reason).

> > And now I'll cop out and say that you can find most of that info on my
> > web page, so I won't waste any more bandwidth here...:-)

> Oh yeah?  Not what your Visa card number isn't.  I say, lets pass a
> truth-in-advertising rule!

Well, if you insist...my Visa card number isn't 346-28-9210.

> ThinMan
> exploring the merits of BWG

We'll have to let the Expert contribute his opinion...

- --
- --Alfvaen(Web page: http://www.terranet.ab.ca/~aaron/)
Current Album--Rush:Moving Pictures
Current Book--Steven Brust:Five Hundred Years After
A loaf of bread, a jug of wine, and <occupant>

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

Date: Wed, 4 Jun 1997 16:43:15 -0500 (CDT)
From: Jason Orendorff <[email-masked]>
Subject: Re: Acka: Prayer for Deliverance

> In any event, just to be prepared for the worst, I will purchase a Wings
> mutation.  Uh...I'm not quite sure how to do that up for Acrobot, I'm
> afraid...  Is that considered a "transfer" or an "award"?  (Or a pair of
> awards?)
	Thanks for asking.  It's a pair of awards.

#award alfvaen : -100 A$, wings : Wed Jun  4 16:42:30 CDT 1997

- -- 
Mohammed
Lawyers from another planet went out of control.

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

Date: Wed, 4 Jun 1997 17:55:39 -0400 (EDT)
From: mr cwm <[email-masked]>
Subject: Re: Acka: Personal Info

On Wed, 4 Jun 1997, Alfvaen wrote:

>I don't have a social security number, being Canadian(we call
>them social _insurance_ numbers, for some reason).

Probably for the same reason the US Social Security system was described
as insurance in its publications (into the 60's, I believe), namely, to
con people into thinking a giant pyramid scheme was actually a sound
investment. 

All right, I'm done now.

- -mr cwm

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

Date: Wed, 4 Jun 1997 17:03:15 -0500 (CDT)
From: Jason Orendorff <[email-masked]>
Subject: Re: Acka: Still more silliness

On Tue, 3 Jun 1997, Ross Morgan-Linial wrote:
> > I am creating 100 trinkets called "Really Cheap Trinket N", where N is replaced 
> > by a number from 1 to 100, worth A$0.01 each (for a total of A$100).
> I am destroying those trinkets for A$. Whoever is supposed to do this should 
> figure out how much I get back (A$1 or A$100, however much I spent), and enter 
> it into the 'bot.
	You get back A$ 1, in tiny fragments.  I don't think the
fragments cement into a solid A$, but it's so hazy.  They *did* split
into fractional A$ *implicitly*.  But there was a need for it then.
	Gotta run.

- -- 
Mohammed
It's a shame how a mob of funny zebras treat bus drivers from West
Virginia.

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

Date: Wed, 4 Jun 1997 17:08:47 -0500
From: "Bollinger, John C." <[email-masked]>
Subject: RE: Acka: Personal Info

> A big thumbs-up on Brust and Card, at least, as two of my current
> favourite
> authors...  I also like Sheri S. Tepper a whole bunch, C.J. Cherryh,
> Tanith
> Lee, Jack L. Chalker, Dave Duncan, and bunches of others.  (Since that
> might be hard to glean from my Web page, I thought I'd mention it
> here...:-)  I will, however, try anything once.
> 
I have read and enjoyed Cherryh, and have read scads of Chalker with
mixed opinions (I like his SF better than his fantasy).  I don't think
I have read Lee or Duncan.

> > I have broad tastes in music, including 60's - early 80's rock,
> modern
> > country, classical/orchestral, some jazz, sometimes "oldies," and a
> few
> > other tidbits here and there.  I dislike rap, and do not care for
> most
> > "new age," or most modern pop music.  To my knowledge, I have never
> > heard a TMBG song.
> 
> What do you consider "early 80's rock"?  Are we talking REO Speedwagon
> and
> Chicago, or do you mean more The Fixx and Depeche Mode?
> 
More the former than the latter, although I wouldn't call those an
entirely representative sample.

> Well, if you insist...my Visa card number isn't 346-28-9210.
> 
That's better :)

> > ThinMan
> > exploring the merits of BWG
> 
> We'll have to let the Expert contribute his opinion...
> 
Indeed.  Perhaps he will contribute some BWG of his own when he has the
chance.

ThinMan
BWG neophyte

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

Date: Wed, 4 Jun 1997 17:13:59 -0500 (CDT)
From: Mitchell Harding <[email-masked]>
Subject: Re: Acka: Personal Info 

>1)What do you do for a living?

I am an undergraduate at the University of Texas at Austin, majoring in
Math, Computer Science, and Philosophy.

>2)Where does your Ackanomic name come from?

From my high school Debate days, when a friend of mine told me that whenever
you needed a quote from a source, but you couldn't find a suitable one, to
make one up, and attribute it to a book/interview/whatever by Robert Sevin,
who was a fictitious expert in whatever field you needed.

>3)What are your tastes in reading and music?

Reading: Virtually everything. Among my favorite authors are Mark Twain,
Kurt Vonnegut, Douglas Adams, JRR Tolkien, Stephen R Donaldson, James
Clavell, Friedrich Nietzsche, Ayn Rand, HP Lovecraft, and countless others.

Music: Most music other than country and rap, although there are some
exceptions. Among my favorite groups are They Might Be Giants, XTC, Violent
Femmes, Mighty Mighty Bosstones, Brian Dewan, Frank Black, R.E.M., Dead
Milkmen, King Missile, The Presidents of the USA, Enya, etc. There are many,
many more.

>4)Anything else you'd like to volunteer.  :-)

Harf.

Robert Sevin

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

Date: Wed, 4 Jun 1997 16:11:22 -0600 (MDT)
From: Aaron Humphrey <[email-masked]>
Subject: Re: Acka: Personal Info

> I have read and enjoyed Cherryh, and have read scads of Chalker with
> mixed opinions (I like his SF better than his fantasy).  I don't think
> I have read Lee or Duncan.

Tanith Lee is hard to come by in the States, since she's mostly out in
British editions these days, but her early Daw books might be available
if you look in second-hand bookstores.  _The Birthgrave_, _Drinking
Sapphire Wine_, _The Silver Metal Lover_, are all pretty good.  Dave
Duncan is a Canadian author who's been writing for about ten years, and
is IMHO fantastically good.  Check him out if you can.

> > What do you consider "early 80's rock"?  Are we talking REO Speedwagon
> > and
> > Chicago, or do you mean more The Fixx and Depeche Mode?

> More the former than the latter, although I wouldn't call those an
> entirely representative sample.

No, I suppose not.  And on rereading that was "60's to early 80's", right?
That's a big gap for me, though I have a friend who's been lending me some
"Super Hits of The 70's" collections recently...  I'm more "early to late
80's, and early 90's"; most of the 70's stuff I have is like Bowie, Queen,
Yes...some Janis Ian too.  Whatever I've managed to have a listen to.

- --
- --Alfvaen(Web page: http://www.terranet.ab.ca/~aaron/)
Song In My Head--The Yardbirds:Over Under Sideways Down
Current Book--Steven Brust:Five Hundred Years After
She left me a note, but I had to make up the chords.

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

Date: Wed, 04 Jun 1997 18:32:20 -0400
From: [email-masked]
Subject: Re: Acka: Personal Info 

>> > 1)What do you do for a living?
>
>> My title is "Crystallographic Computing Specialist."  I am an inorganic
>> chemist and an X-ray Crystallographer by training, with a fair amount
>> of math thrown in there somewhere, too.  And some literature and
>> writing, and some French.
>
>A good variety.  (I'm sort of a Computing Science/Physics blend these days,
>currently sysadminning because I enjoy it more than most work.)

For some reason, I always feel insignificant when I talk shop with Ackanomic
people. I'm a high school senior, and will be attending MIT next fall with
the other Great Geeks (tm). :v)

>> > 2)Where does your Ackanomic name come from?
>
>> Well, this was one of the old poll questions, but I think that was from
>> the time before the e-mail archives.  ThinMan is, in fact, a relatively
>> apt (if incomplete) description of myself.  It is also very close to
>> the title of a classic film.  Add to that that it is easy to say,
>> remember, and spell, and there you are.
>
>I ran across a few references to snowgod compiling a list of name origins,
>but I never saw it posted.  It was the last Official Poll and the results
>of that were never posted either.

I've never seen it either - my name was a suggestion from our esteemed
registrar. I'm not sure where he got it...

>> > 3)What are your tastes in reading and music?
>
>> When I have a chance to read, I read SF and Fantasy, computer-related
>> material, gardening/lawn-care books, political material, news,
>> scientific journals, and the occasional odd or end (not necessarilly in
>> that order).  Among my favorite authors are Robert Jordan, Orson Scott
>> Card, J.R.R. Tolkien, Larry Niven, Steven Brust, Isaac Asimov, and Bill
>> Sears.
>
>A big thumbs-up on Brust and Card, at least, as two of my current favourite
>authors...  I also like Sheri S. Tepper a whole bunch, C.J. Cherryh, Tanith
>Lee, Jack L. Chalker, Dave Duncan, and bunches of others.  (Since that
>might be hard to glean from my Web page, I thought I'd mention it
>here...:-)  I will, however, try anything once.

I offer a big "hear, hear!" on Niven, Card, Asimov, and Tolkien - at the
same time, I LOVE Harlan Ellison (cheeky bastard), Frank Herbert, Arthur
Clarke, Douglas Adams, Terry Pratchett, Robert Anton Wilson & Robert Shea
(authors of the _Illuminatus!_ trilogy), and whoever the sadistic bastard is
who wrote my AP Biology exam this year - I like his style. ;)

>> I have broad tastes in music, including 60's - early 80's rock, modern
>> country, classical/orchestral, some jazz, sometimes "oldies," and a few
>> other tidbits here and there.  I dislike rap, and do not care for most
>> "new age," or most modern pop music.  To my knowledge, I have never
>> heard a TMBG song.
>
>What do you consider "early 80's rock"?  Are we talking REO Speedwagon and
>Chicago, or do you mean more The Fixx and Depeche Mode?  My musical tastes
>probably crystallized in the mid-80's, but I'm trying to keep them from
>ossifying, and I have heard recent music that I like.  I tend to acquire
>music for the sake of acquisition, because I'm afraid I might be missing
>something that I might like.

I never really got into the music of the 80's, mainly because I was
exclusively into classical music for the entire decade. Looking back, I can
only retroactively worship Devo, Depeche Mode, Tears For Fears, and classic
songs like "Take on Me". My main love musically is Phish, but I'm also a
Gershwin/Holst/Rusted Root/Blues Traveler/Bach/Toad the Wet Sprocket/U2/Paul
Simon/Dizzy Gillespie lover...

>> > 4)Anything else you'd like to volunteer.  :-)
>
>> I am married, 28 years old, have a 20-month-old daughter (go look up
>> the proposal "Kate's Birthday" from the middle of last September), own
>> my own house, and attend church regularly.  My social security number
>> is not 346-28-9210.  My Visa card number is not 2901-3412-7606-6341.
>> My mother's maiden name is not "McVeigh."
>
>Well...I'm married, 25 years old, no children yet, hoping to move out of
>the cramped two-bedroom apartment that only barely holds us, my 2500-odd
>books, and my 1500-odd tapes, records, and CDs, and agnostic verging on
>atheistic.  I don't have a social security number, being Canadian(we call
>them social _insurance_ numbers, for some reason).

18 years old, single but "dating" (don't tell my girlfriend...;v), bound for
Cambridge but stuck in Ellicottville for now, trying my damnedest to enjoy
being an arcade attendant, and still waiting for the chest hair fairy to
visit my neighborhood...well, now that the More Than You Wanted to Know
Department has been visited, let's move on...

>Well, if you insist...my Visa card number isn't 346-28-9210.

I don't have a Visa card, but if I did, that wouldn't be its number either.

Al

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

Date: Wed, 04 Jun 1997 18:38:56 EDT 
From: [email-masked]
Subject: Acka: Welcome home!!!

I'm sorry that this message will arrive a couple of days late,  but
lately in an effort to reduce phone costs,  I've only been checking and
sending mail every other day or so.  Anyway let me add my heartfelt
message of joy that Malenkai is once again back,  and I hope that eir
jaunt to the mother continent was an enjoyable,  and profitable one.  At
least profitable enough to replace eir lost luggage.

I will make an effort to let you get a couple of days' rest before
pestering you with more RFC's.

VG

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

Date: Wed, 04 Jun 1997 18:33:35 -0400
From: Malenkai <[email-masked]>
Subject: Acka: Expert Revocation Petition

I am petitioning the Senate to revoke Mr. Nacho's status as an
Expert in the subject of Headwear.  My reasoning follows:

1) As was noted at the time of application, Headwear, although a 
vital portion of Acka's rules, is a very narrow area of Acka's rules.

2) Mr. Nacho was asleep at the switch when Malenkai became eligible
for a Silly Vacation Hat.  Any Expert in the area, especially in an
area so narrow, would have and should have notified the Acting Speaker
of the event.  Had he been on top of 5 or so other occurrances at the
time I would understand the oversight; but I do not in this case.

3) Mr. Nacho, our resident Expert, has been notably silent on whether
Malenkai is required to appoint a Mad Hatter, or whether, in fact,
Malenkai is currently wearing a Platonic SVH that simply has yet to be
described.  Its not like there are a million other issues about Headwear
currently before the Expert :)

4) Mr. Nacho has given no visible evidence of coming close to finding
the Map of Jara.

Given the low volume in this area of Expertese, and the facts above, and
the importance of this area to Acka, I urge the Senate to vote to approve
this request as described in rule 1502.

Malenkai
Expert in Bandwidth-Wasting Gizz
Wearing a Silly Vacation Hat

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

Date: Wed, 04 Jun 1997 19:32:11 -0400
From: Malenkai <[email-masked]>
Subject: Re: Acka: Personal Info (serious BWG)

Alfvaen wrote:

> 1)What do you do for a living?

I'm in the internet, unix sa, software development
business.

> 2)Where does your Ackanomic name come from?

It does *not* come from Childern of the Corn (a
movie I have never seen); it does *not* come from
Hawaiian (a language I have studied briefly).  You'd
be amazed how many times I am asked those two questions
elsewhere on the 'net.  I believe it was the name of an
elf in an old B movie, I do not really know,  but I have
been using it for about 18 years; originally as the name
of an NPC in my role-playing world (and still is, I suppose,
a rather nasty character associated with Bandar and the
bad guys).

> 3)What are your tastes in reading and music?

I now generally do not read much fiction, except for that of
Clive Cussler.  I used to read Chalker; perhaps the other
Chalker fans in the audience know how I came up with the name
of the Church of the Markovian Dream :-).  I also have read
alot of fantasy in the past; perhaps some in the audience
can figure out which of my rules is an allusion to which fantasy
series?

I prefer non-fiction and philosophy (which is sometimes served
in a fictional setting).  The authors I remember the most are:
Ayn Rand, Robert M. Pirsig, Roger Penrose, Daniel Dennett,
Colin Wilson, Gunther Stent, William James, Martin Garder.  I
also read books on technical analysis of the stock market,
linguistics, and books that contain the string "Godel".

As for music, I basically listen to Western commerical music, although
I like some African stuff as well.  I like rap, and love heavy metal,
have mixed opinions about blues and jazz, and detest country and reggae. 

My favorite groups are (going down the CD collection): 13 Engines, the
Alarm, Barenaked Ladies, Blind Mellon, Blue Aeroplanes, the Call,
Camper van Beethoven, Caravan, Crack the Sky, Dead Milkmen, 
Drivin N Cryin, Erasure, For Against, Helloween, Iron Maiden, Jethro Tull,
Love, Marillion, Meat Loaf, Metallica, October Project, Offspring,
Pink Floyd, Renaissance, Rush, Social Distortion, Styx, Tool, Uriah Heep.

Sorry to TMBG and all the other great bands in the collection that did
not make the first cut :(
 
There is (was?) also a band in the Philly area called Crossharp Sharp's
Blues Review [sic] who has the best slide guitar player in the world
(at least after a few beers, anyway).
 
> 4)Anything else you'd like to volunteer.  :-)

I'm 32, married, live in Pennsylvania, no longer mosh, love the philosophy
of law, virtue, and ethics and linguistics; my hobbies are trading stocks
and options, travel, and watching college basketball.  Unlike many geeks,
I avoid tinkering with computers and software when not at work.

Malenkai
Expert on Bandwidth-Wasting Gizz (by request)
Wearing a Silly Vacation Hat

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

End of Ackanomic Digest V2 #112
*******************************