Subject: ackanomic digest V3 #113
From: [email-masked] (ackanomic digest)
To: [email-masked]

ackanomic digest       Saturday, April 18 1998       Volume 03 : Number 113

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

Date: Sat, 18 Apr 1998 02:13:05 -0400 (EDT)
From: Uri Bruck <[email-masked]>
Subject: acka : CFJ ineligibility

I am putting myself on the CFJ ineligibligy list.

Niccolo Flychuck

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

Date: Sat, 18 Apr 1998 02:18:56 -0400 (EDT)
From: Uri Bruck <[email-masked]>
Subject: Re: Acka: House

On Fri, 17 Apr 1998, Hubert wrote:

> Has anyone else seen the French and German translations of "Jabberwocky?"
> I was especially impressed by the translations of the nonsense words; they
> kept the same almost-meaning as in English.  
> 
> - -Hubert

Isn't there a side by side reprint in Methamagical Themas?
Unfortunately neither my French nor my German are sufficient to fully
appreciate it. There is a decent Hebrew translation, too.

Niccolo Flychuck

> 
> Necrotelecomnicon: Book of telephone numbers of the dead 
> 
> ------------------------------
> 

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

Date: Sat, 18 Apr 1998 02:36:25 -0400 (EDT)
From: Duncan Richer <[email-masked]>
Subject: Re: Acka: Web site changes

On Fri, 17 Apr 1998, K2 wrote:

> At 19:59 17/04/98 -0400, you wrote:
> >>The sites I am maintaining as Clerk of the Courts have moved. They can
> now be
> >	Excellent.  Geocities was pretty annoying.
> 
> Acka: Web site changes
> Fri, 17 Apr 1998 19:59:55 -0400
> The Harf is back and I want a winter cap. 

Orange devil, wear sandals!

- -- 
Duncan C. "" Richer aka
Slakko (Lost) Warner - http://dcr24.quns.cam.ac.uk/ - Queens' College
Cambridge, 1st Year PhD(Pure Maths), CUDipSoc, CUSFS, CUSTS, CURS etc
Acka - ex-President/still Web-Harfer RuneMaker ChessUmpire Map-Harfer

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

Date: Sat, 18 Apr 1998 02:38:11 -0400 (EDT)
From: Duncan Richer <[email-masked]>
Subject: Re: Acka: Web site changes

On Fri, 17 Apr 1998, K2 wrote:

> At 19:59 17/04/98 -0400, you wrote:
> >>The sites I am maintaining as Clerk of the Courts have moved. They can
> now be
> >	Excellent.  Geocities was pretty annoying.
> 
> Acka: Web site changes
> Fri, 17 Apr 1998 19:59:55 -0400
> The Harf is back and I want a winter cap. 

Correction: The harf is back, here is your cap!

Now please send harf list messages with Acka: in the subject.

- -- 
Duncan C. "" Richer aka
Slakko (Lost) Warner - http://dcr24.quns.cam.ac.uk/ - Queens' College
Cambridge, 1st Year PhD(Pure Maths), CUDipSoc, CUSFS, CUSTS, CURS etc
Acka - ex-President/still Web-Harfer RuneMaker ChessUmpire Map-Harfer

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

Date: Sat, 18 Apr 1998 02:58:02 -0400 (EDT)
From: Duncan Richer <[email-masked]>
Subject: Re: Acka: Winner of Cycle 18.

On Fri, 17 Apr 1998, Dice server wrote:

> # The Winner of Cycle 18 will be:
> # 1  K 2 
> # 2  else...if
> # The player who's number apears at least three(3) times below,
> # will win Cycle 18.

On what basis is this?  The Frankenstein Monster's complete Blueprint has
yet to be announced in a single public message (corrections do not count
as a complete issuance, and the first supposed Blueprint was incorrect).

Further, being a Blueprint, it would defer precedence (through Rule 594)
to Rule 600, turning a "cycle win" into a Winning Condition.  Assuming
either of you could actually achieve it.

> 
> No. of sides on every die:      2
> No. of dice for every roll:     1
> No. of dice rolls requested:    5
> No. of rolls per line:          5
> 
>       2      2      2      1      2

- -- 
Duncan C. "" Richer aka
Slakko (Lost) Warner - http://dcr24.quns.cam.ac.uk/ - Queens' College
Cambridge, 1st Year PhD(Pure Maths), CUDipSoc, CUSFS, CUSTS, CURS etc
Acka - ex-President/still Web-Harfer RuneMaker ChessUmpire Map-Harfer

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

Date: Sat, 18 Apr 1998 03:01:53 -0400 (EDT)
From: Duncan Richer <[email-masked]>
Subject: Re: Acka: Web site changes

On Sat, 18 Apr 1998, Duncan Richer wrote:

> On Fri, 17 Apr 1998, K2 wrote:
> 
> > At 19:59 17/04/98 -0400, you wrote:
> > >>The sites I am maintaining as Clerk of the Courts have moved. They can
> > now be
> > >	Excellent.  Geocities was pretty annoying.
> > 
> > Acka: Web site changes
> > Fri, 17 Apr 1998 19:59:55 -0400
> > The Harf is back and I want a winter cap. 
> 
> Correction: The harf is back, here is your cap!

Note to Scorekeeper - The first message is not legal per Rule 1136, so the
second is the legal result.

+101 K 2: got a winter cap cause the Harf was back.

- -- 
Duncan C. "" Richer aka
Slakko (Lost) Warner - http://dcr24.quns.cam.ac.uk/ - Queens' College
Cambridge, 1st Year PhD(Pure Maths), CUDipSoc, CUSFS, CUSTS, CURS etc
Acka - ex-President/still Web-Harfer RuneMaker ChessUmpire Map-Harfer

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

Date: Sat, 18 Apr 1998 03:15:46 -0400 (EDT)
From: Duncan Richer <[email-masked]>
Subject: Acka: The Infrequent Ackan Volume 1 Issue 19

Volume 1, Issue 19
April 18, 1998
This issue's slogan:
"Fair and Accurate Except When Electioneering"
In this issue:
1. Editorial
2. Apologies and Retractions.
3. Poll Question #6
4. More Ackanomic News
5. The Hubert Interview
6. Party Chess Report
7. Sub-Game Summary
8. Advertisement		

Editorial

This week: The Scam, an Ackan Tradition

Ackanomic is a game of Rules, and many would have it that "Rules are made
to be broken". Well, in Acka we have ways to deal with those who break the
Rules, so that is obviously not the case. Rather, in Acka Rules are made
to be bent into torturous streams of twisted yet self-consistent logic.
Hence the attraction of the Scam.

Ackanomic has a long history of Scams, arguably dating back to the
original and only Act of Justice. Some may dispute this as a scam, but the
undeniable fact is that a Rule was used in a method other than its
intended way to deny a player an otherwise earned win. Robert Sevin was
forced to unretract retracted proposals, simply because e was President.
Since then many scams have arisen, mostly through the roving eye of
Malenkai, although many others have also stamped their name on a Scam.
Scams bring life to part of Acka. While some deal with proposals and rule
changes, and others pore over CFJs, the scammers sit back, reading the
ruleset and looking for those unlikely combinations which spell gold.

We may not always like their behaviour, especially when they need to
repeatedly try a tactic again to get it to work, but they do an important
job. Scammers find the loopholes, and force us to fix them. Each loophole
fixed is another potentially repeatable rule flaw eliminated. So each scam
that succeeds leads to better law. What better way could there be to
improve a law than to find its greatest weakness and push beyond where
Hooke's Law will go?

Give the Scammers their fair due, but at the same time do not make it too
easy for them. It is a tough job they have chosen by choice - it is not
ours to make it easier. Scambait is best removed from the rules once its
true nature becomes obvious. That is why I would suggest Beldin's Pants be
scrapped or neutered, and possibly the same with the Frankenstein Monster.
The Editor hereby rests his case.

Letters to the Ackan are always welcome. We will publish contributors
within reason, because our aim is to provide Ackans with a comprehensive
news and opinions service. This includes opinions contradicting the paper,
so feel free to criticise editorial comments. 

If you want your opinions heard, or letters published, please send them to
[email-masked]. 	 	 

Send a stamped self-addressed email to the address listed above, marked
"Acka: Ackan" and we'll do our best to get back to you.
Have another good Ackan week - banna willing we'll be back next week.
Slakko
Editor, The Infrequent Ackan 

Apologies and Retractions

The Ackan apologises for not making a mistake worthy of retraction last
week. The fact checker, after having been bought back from the Financial
Paper run by else...if, obviously did eir job well, and has been promoted
to Chief Sub-Editor. How long do you think e will last? :-)

No shootings this week at the Ackan - and all my employees breathed a
heavy sigh of relief. Do you want to make a name for yourself on the
Infrequent Ackan Wall of Sub-Editor Killers? If so, then find a factual
error in this paper and ask us to retract it - that always works for me!
The Ackan heartily apologises for any damage or difficulties caused by
these errors and/or omissions.

Poll Question

Question Number 6, coming right up:

6. What do you think of The Infrequent Ackan's new Web multi-column layout
(with smaller text for more sensible column sizes)?
(a) - There's a World Wide Web now?
(b) - I'd rather read the paper version.
(c) - It's nothing special.
(d) - Nice effort!

The minimal guaranteed reward remains in place - one lucky reply will be
chosen to receive a Trinket of guaranteed minimum value A$5. It's not
much, but if it gets a response it's worth every Ackapenny (even though
they may be indivisible).

Remember, your opinion does matter to us here at the Ackan (but we of
course reserve the right to ignore opinions which are obviously based on
malice and/or sheer stupidity :-))

It costs very little of your time to enter, and there's always the chance
of that Trinket, so please respond to the Great Infrequent Ackan Poll
Competition!

More Ackanomic News

Stripe Ceremony Update

In yet another week without a full-time President, the Stripe Ceremony
focus was once again firmly on Tamson House. Alfvaen, as ProConsul,
continued eir role of handing out medals to those whose Blue Cross Rank
has merited it.

The lucky recipient, for the second week running, was Slakko, who
fortuitously rose to a Blue Cross Rank of 71, despite having had only two
proposals passed since receiving a Gold Stripe (note: figures correct at
time of ceremony). He put his good fortune down to "being the right
President at the right time. It's always the right time for Slakko - hey,
is the campaign still going?"

The Ackan's tip for Future Stripe Recipient to watch is The Gingham
Wearer. With a continuing heavy presence in the proposal queue, his recent
rise to a Blue Cross Rank of 19 puts him closest to a Blue Cross of the
current non-holders. Be ready for a new President (or even an old one) to
organise a Blue Cross Ceremony some time in this coming week.

Ackanomic Overwhelmed by New Player Influx

A new contingent of new players entered Ackanomic this week. At a grand
citizenship ceremony on the Town Hall steps, each new player was granted
A$900 and their own kaa of land. Nameless Ackanomic minions also
constructed a formless house for each player, and it is hoped that the
form of these houses will soon be described. When the minions were thanked
for their efforts in providing the housing, they danced with glee, and
were promptly led away by the Caped Crusader. (Minions cannot afford to
purchase such fine Garments as Wool Sweaters).

The Infrequent Ackan welcomes Ayla, J. M. Bear and Pandora to Acka, and
hopes that their stays will be pleasant, long and full of harf.

Continuing High Prices for Gadgets

The unbelievably high prices being paid for Gadgets in Ackanomic have
continued to skyrocket. On the back of last week's record A$341 for a Good
Ballot Stuffer, bidding for a Plunky Monkey Wrench and a Pyraic Frobnotzer
have been fast and furious. Bids for the Frobnotzer have also exceeded
A$300, and it is wondered what kind of ludicrous price will eventually be
reached. The last Frobnotzer to be auctioned, by contrast, fetched a price
under A$150. Is the influx of new players contributing to this price surge
by inflating the economy? Or is it just a regular outburst of Gadget
Fever?	

Ackan Wilds Shrink

Another effect of this week's crop of new players was the previously
unseen phenomenon of Wilds Shrinkage. It had been postulated for some time
that, under extreme conditions of urban expansion, the Wilds of Ackanomia
would actually shrink to enable the expansion of the Ackan city. However,
such shrinkage had not previously been seen.

Ackan researchers were delighted to have their theories confirmed. Some
are now working on a theory of River Dynamics, which states that even the
Acka River may be diverted from its current course if present trends of
urban expansion continue.

In the meantime, the Wilds shrinkage has increased the amount of urban
land currently unoccupied and easily available for purchase. Will we see
another round of land purchase, as gripped Acka in past weeks? Or will the
threat of the loss of more of Acka's endangered Wilds led
environmentally-sound Ackans to boycott further land purchase?

Financial Follies

The Activity Index was set for a big gain on Friday, as a dull Thursday
activity performance saw the index fall by almost a point. Meanwhile,
Positivity has continued its slow but steady growth, continuing to mark
the Stock Exchange as the best short-term source of equity gains. Long
term investors are generally pleased with their returns, currently working
out at approximately 324 350% per annum (assuming compounding at current
return rates). 

Those not playing the equity market have deplored these "paper gains",
claiming they are fraudulent and attempts to realise them will no doubt
see the market crash. Plans are still being put in place to curb such
market failures, with the addition of more Board Members to the Ackan
Reserve for stability.

However, it is felt that these reforms will need to await the ratification
of the proposed introduction of trading commissions and other market
reforms. Some speculators have denounced these as "taking away our Museum
win ... oops, I mean livelihood", while others have welcomed them as a new
type of system for them to try to beat. 

The Infrequent Ackan Stock Indicator Tip for the week is: Buy if you can.
Continuing trends suggest that proposal acceptances will outstrip
rejections sufficiently to average out to long-term gains. Planned changes
may reduce or eliminate these gains, so now is still the time to buy.

The Hubert Interview

Back to the pattern as normal, this week The Infrequent Ackan brings you
our exclusive interview with Hubert. Thanks to Hubert for co-operating
with the Ackan. A note for readers: this was conducted before the recent
Presidential election results were known. Hubert is just one of a lengthy
list of Ackan celebrities The Infrequent Ackan has already interviewed.

IA: This issue we're here with Hubert, the DeeJay to discuss his life and
times in Acka. Hubert, thanks for joining us.

Not a problem. Thanks for the invite.

IA: You took the unusual step of changing your name on an apparently
permanent basis. Your original motives are well understood, but do you
intend to remain Hubert forever?

I rather like it, as a matter of fact. With Alfvaen's treasure and two
others spawned by it still around, there's some incentive for me to remain
Hubert. Also, my namesake Slagothor (a friend's cat) passed away recently,
so I would feel less than reverent if I were to change back.

IA: As the first DeeJay, you've certainly had Acka swinging to some mellow
tunes. Were you glad that you were able to carry out the duties of the
office you've just created?

Absolutely. I love listening to the music of the ASS, and I'm happy it's
received as strong a response as it has, with five different players so
far spending money to hear their favorite tunes. (Or to not hear their
least favorite tunes, as the case may be.) I am hoping that as some more
Esoteric Songs are created, the music will change more frequently and
become more popular. I'm working on a few Esoteric Songs that can be
bought like Mundane ones, but at a higher price.

IA: Are there any particular favourite songs of yours we can look forward
to hearing on the Ackanomic Sound System in the near future?

Not really; I tend to play songs that I feel are appropriate in some way
to the current situation rather than those I simply like or have stuck in
my head. For example, "Against the Wind" when the scam win Alfvaen and I
attempted to push through was thwarted. Of course, now that I'm no longer
DeeJay, I'll have to pay to do so. To get back to the question, since my
favorite songs tend not to apply to the game state in any way, probably
not.

IA: You've now been involved with a Duel against Goldenmean for months
now. Are you getting sick of the fighting, or do you still consider it a
matter of honour that the Duel be completed?

Well, yes and yes.
I am really and truly sick of it, but considering the Good Guys are only
one misplay away from winning, we might as well keep on going. I don't
intend to give in, but I do hope that when next Thursday rolls around and
Nyarlathotep gives me a win, that will be the Game chosen to finally end.
I suppose this game is simply a somewhat-too-lengthy comment on the
inappropriateness of long card games to play-by-e-mail adaptation.

IA: What, in your opinion, is the Harfiest bit of play you have seen since
you joined Acka?

Hmm. That's rather difficult. There have been so many actions that have
made me laugh uproariously (the finished Blueprint for Valaraukar, for
example, or Guy Fawkes' pseudo-Challenge to The Gingham Wearer) and others
that I considered harfy because of their audacity (CnH's proposal to have
the Ruleset revert to 100,000 characters on our birthday, or TGW's to
include the entire Ruleset in the Literature List) or because of the
amount of time that must have gone into them (K 2's palindromic proposal,
various other scam attempts) that it would be tough for me to pick any
single one.

IA: And what is the favourite of all the proposals you have submitted?

I would have to go for my original Stoned proposal. Yes, it was
blasphemous; yes, it was unwieldy; yes, it was complicated, but it was,
IMHO, damned funny. Since its second death by retraction, I don't think
it'll be rising again, as it were. However, anyone who wishes to
plagiarize the basic precept for emself is more than welcome.

IA: Would you be willing to tell us who you intend to vote for in the
upcoming Presidental election?

That's a tough one. On the one hand, we have Slakko, our last President,
who didn't screw things up last term and has promised not to do so again
this term. On the other hand, there's /dev/joe, one of the oldest, most
upstanding Ackan citizens around, a former President, and dual Cycle
winner. On the other hand, The Gingham Wearer has proved eir commitment to
Acka time and again, even if e is a Klingon. On the fourth hand (using the
interviewer's for emphasis) there's K 2, the Dark Knight, the Caped
Crusader, the Murray Veil(?), fighting crime strenuously throughout the
land. And on the last hand (the gripping hand, as it were), IdiotBoy, an
Elder. If I hadn't done so in the Inventor election already, I'd just vote
BAA!. As is, I think I'll keep my vote secret until such time as I know
what it is.

IA: Hubert, thank you for your time.

As I said, not a problem. Thank _you_.

Party Chess Report

Free For All as New Records Set

A Free For All began this Tuesday, with the astounding sight of no less
than eight Swingers becoming involved within two days. This unbelievable
rate of change saw Koxvolio become the newest Swinger with non-zero
Weight, and, even more impressively, the first instance of a board
containing pieces from eight different Swingers.

A big goof on the part of the Chess-Umpire saw false check alarms late in
the week, as Guy Fawkes and /dev/joe were initially told they were in
Check. Later examination (after severe prodding from Guy Fawkes) saw these
notifications reversed. Not even a Spreadsheet, it seems, can save Slakko
from himself.

Swinger weights are currently not a big issue, as the Free For All tends
to even out weight differences, and the next Swingpoint Monday is not
until the 27th. Stabber's Knives are also on hold, barring exceptional
circumstances, as the Free For All bars all forms of King Capture.
So who is most likely to take the next Stabber's Knife, and who is most
likely to have been the Stabbee? The Infrequent Ackan has investigated
this most important question and developed an elaborate hypothesis to
explain it. We've narrowed it down to 56 possibilities, excluding the
unbelievably silly impossibilities of self check.

No, seriously - here are the most likely combinations as far as we at the
Ackan can tell.

Number 1: Hubert stabs The Gingham Wearer. Hubert is just under 50 weight,
a good working weight which still allows triple plays outside of Free For
Alls. Lying with a high two figure weight, The Gingham Wearer is
vulnerable to being pushed over 100 and into the Atomic Play Only Zone.
The extra two APs per round should make a checkmate easy, given the
existing proximity of Hubert's pieces to the Klingon King.

Number 2: Hubert stabs Slakko. Similar reasoning, but Slakko's heavy use
of Cantors makes blocking all of his King's escape routes more difficult.

Number 3: Guy Fawkes stabs Niccolo. Guy also has a low weight, possibly
too low for a decent attack at this stage. His Copycat could prove useful
in taking out some of the Tarzan's Tree House pieces, especially with the
help of Slakko's SPAM Tornado. The triple move combination could again be
the key factor.

So remember folks, high weight does not mean high probability of survival.
The bigger they get, the faster they fall.

Sub Game Summary

Every week - every subgame going.

Abstract Crescent

Abstract Crescent remains in the danger zone, with three players
theoretically capable of producing a one round win (while in practice only
two are likely to do so). Hubert and /dev/joe are both within striking
distance, while Alfvaen is just on the borderline, needing a bonus 14
(where no-one else plays) to actually win.

Moves have again shrunk on average, as the last round saw four attempted
first turn wins. Obviously only one of them could be successful - this
time it was IdiotBoy, who scored eir first points of the game, a big 12.
This saw em move into fourth place, but still well behind the top trio
(although given the current close nature of the chosen numbers in this
game, the gap could be quite easily caught up in a single round).

If you're not currently playing Abstract Crescent, and you want to be,
then as Umpire I'm still accepting submissions from people who want to
play. I'll be inserting them into the rolling congruences as soon as
possible after I receive them, provided the game is not over first. So
come and play Abstract Crescent! You'll be pleasantly surprised.

Eleusis

The first ever games of Eleusis are starting up, with Game 1 having been
underway a couple of days, while Game 2 is revving up for some large
multiplayer action. This double playtest should cover a large amount of
ground regarding the extensibility and flexibility of the game - the most
thorough early playtesting of any subgame except possibly Ye Olde Rusty

Lantern.

Game 1, as refereed by newbie JT, is off to a flying start, with six
legitimate plays to no incorrect plays so far recorded. Hubert, the Deus,
is remarkably surprised about this turn of affairs - no doubt e was hoping
that the guessers would not cotton on to his crafty scheme too quickly.

Fictionary

Game 3 of Fictionary is continuing at a very slow pace. We are still in
Round 2, with the final voting almost complete, but results not yet
posted. We sincerely hope that the game's speed picks up somewhat, to
maintain a high level of interest, and hopefully a large number of
players.

The good guessing of the Bluffers continues, as for the second round
running the word picked was not completely unknown. This time, "nullah"
only garnered one correct response, and hence voting has finally been
enabled. At this early stage it is far too soon to spot scoring trends, so
we'll wait until next week at least before commenting further.

Viruses

Viruses looks dangerously close to heading for a conclusion. /dev/joe has
stormed back into the Viruscount lead from a position thought to be of
doubtful value. Now on 8 Viruspoints, /dev/joe is within striking distance
of the magical 10 points needed for a win. 

breadbox and two-star are still poised to strike a blow against /dev/joe
however, with the Viruscounts at the top of the table very close indeed.
Meanwhile, The Gingham Wearer, now only a joint Viruspoint leader, bides
his time towards the bottom of the Viruscount league. Will he be able to
strike, or will a winner emerge first.

Slakko, on the bottom of the ladder, has put in a particularly inept
performance. Each small attempt to improve his Viruscount has been
short-lived, and has failed to deliver anything like the necessary count
to garner a point. After his initial fast start, Slakko has proved the
most disappointing of these long-term Virus players.

Word Un-Association 

Four rounds in and Game 2 scores lie tight at the top of the table. About
the only thing apparently certain this game is rufus' failure to play. The
other linkers have swung wildly between genius and incompetance, with
no-one yet managing to get a stranglehold on the scoring. Perhaps the only
significant pattern to emerge will be that there is no really significant
pattern to be found. Stay tuned for more late-breaking Word Un-Association
news.

YORL

What story are we telling here exactly? The Bards' Tale has undergone a
metamorphosis of a Hofstadterian nature. While once we thought we were
looking at the story, apparently now we are looking at the story of the
story. What is worse, our original story's storyteller apparently lies
dead, so how can the original story itself be ended?

Loose ends abound, but so do cards for our Bards to use. We hope that
/dev/joe will have some more cards available soon, to add to a drastically
depleted deck. Otherwise, mere interrupts alone could see the tale end
lamely without a winner. And that, dear friends, is something that YORL
could well do without.

Cheer on Hubert and the other Bards as they attempt to complete the tale.
Plenty of loose ends to be tied up, provided we can actually get back to
Sam (Romeo Sam, not the other Sam - boy is this confusing!)

Duel Summary

This week also saw a rash of duelling break out amongst Ackans sick to
death of each other's Yorkshire references, Klingon forgeries, and
suchlike. The Gingham Wearer and Slakko fought the first ever drawn Duel,
leaving honour somewhat unsatisfied. Single-Capture Go is increasingly
looking to be marginalised as a Duel choice.
Meanwhile, The Gingham Wearer won a Ghost duel. Perhaps his attempts at
Duelling are aimed at fulfilling a certain little Agenda Hat, but who
knows?

The third Duel for the week is a Viruses duel, so /dev/joe has graciously
agreed to be the Umpire. Joe Java and else...if are through Round 1, with
an unexpected tie game meaning that 1 round still leaves 0 Viruspoints. We
hope the scoring rate increases in future rounds.

Advertisements

The Ackan is still looking for more interviews. If you have yet to respond
to the Ackan call for interviews, and have held a public office in Acka
for at least one month continuously at any stage in Acka's history, then
the staff of the Infrequent Ackan would like to hear from you. Just email
us at [email-masked] with the keywords "Acka: Ackan" and say you would
like to do an interview. That's all. If you are accepted (which, let's
face it, is still pretty likely at this stage) then someone from the Ackan
will be around to contact you shortly. 

Late-breaking news: Slakko re-elected President!  More next week.
The Infrequent Ackan, first to you with Ackan news.
Copyright  Duncan Richer writing under the pseudonym of "Slakko", and Eric
Plumb as "Hubert", 18th April 1998.
Check us out on the web, at
http://dcr24.quns.cam.ac.uk/Nomic/Acka/infrequent.html 

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

Date: Sat, 18 Apr 1998 03:17:42 -0400 (EDT)
From: Duncan Richer <[email-masked]>
Subject: Acka: Stripe

We are gathered here today to celebrate the coming of age of another
Ackan.  The path of the Blue Cross is long and torturous, and by no means
all players manage to traverse it successfully.  Finally another one of us
has made that journey, through despair, through retraction, through
rejection to the lands beyond.  Today we celebrate The Gingham Wearer's
fine achievement.

I hereby present The Gingham Wearer with a Blue Cross, for reaching a Blue
Cross Rank of 20.  Wear it with Harf.

<crowd erupts into wild cheers>

- -- 
Duncan C. "" Richer aka
Slakko (Lost) Warner - http://dcr24.quns.cam.ac.uk/ - Queens' College
Cambridge, 1st Year PhD(Pure Maths), CUDipSoc, CUSFS, CUSTS, CURS etc
Acka - ex-President/still Web-Harfer RuneMaker ChessUmpire Map-Harfer

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

Date: Sat, 18 Apr 1998 03:46:28 -0400 (EDT)
From: Uri Bruck <[email-masked]>
Subject: acka: non-voting status

I am changing my status to non-voting

Niccolo Flychuck

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

Date: Sat, 18 Apr 1998 04:26:57 -0400 (EDT)
From: Brian Raiter <[email-masked]>
Subject: Re: Acka: House

>> I am renaming my house "'Twas brillig, and the slithy toves/Did gyre
> etc.
> 
>> Why not?
> 
> Because you've just completely stuffed the map.  Try fitting that into
> 60x60 pixels :-(

The label "the text of 'Jabberwocky'" would abbreviate it nicely.

breadbox

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

Date: Sat, 18 Apr 1998 04:57:47 -0400 (EDT)
From: K2 <[email-masked]>
Subject: Re: Acka: Web site changes

I'd like some feedback on this,
I've just crossed the magic number, but I can't win until the winning
conditions are fixed, so what if someone else exceeds the magic number and
or my score?
I was the first and we didn't cross simulaneously....

K 2

At 03:01 18/04/98 -0400, you wrote:
>On Sat, 18 Apr 1998, Duncan Richer wrote:
>
>> On Fri, 17 Apr 1998, K2 wrote:
>> 
>> > At 19:59 17/04/98 -0400, you wrote:
>> > >>The sites I am maintaining as Clerk of the Courts have moved. They can
>> > now be
>> > >	Excellent.  Geocities was pretty annoying.
>> > 
>> > Acka: Web site changes
>> > Fri, 17 Apr 1998 19:59:55 -0400
>> > The Harf is back and I want a winter cap. 
>> 
>> Correction: The harf is back, here is your cap!
>
>Note to Scorekeeper - The first message is not legal per Rule 1136, so the
>second is the legal result.
>
>+101 K 2: got a winter cap cause the Harf was back.
>
>-- 
>Duncan C. "" Richer aka
>Slakko (Lost) Warner - http://dcr24.quns.cam.ac.uk/ - Queens' College
>Cambridge, 1st Year PhD(Pure Maths), CUDipSoc, CUSFS, CUSTS, CURS etc
>Acka - ex-President/still Web-Harfer RuneMaker ChessUmpire Map-Harfer
>
>
>

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

Date: Sat, 18 Apr 1998 04:58:53 -0400 (EDT)
From: K2 <[email-masked]>
Subject: Re: Acka: Winner of Cycle 18.

At 02:58 18/04/98 -0400, you wrote:
>On Fri, 17 Apr 1998, Dice server wrote:
>
>> # The Winner of Cycle 18 will be:
>> # 1  K 2 
>> # 2  else...if
>> # The player who's number apears at least three(3) times below,
>> # will win Cycle 18.
>
>On what basis is this?  

a staight points win from the winter cap stuff... but I stuffed up :/

K 2

>The Frankenstein Monster's complete Blueprint has
>yet to be announced in a single public message (corrections do not count
>as a complete issuance, and the first supposed Blueprint was incorrect).
>
>Further, being a Blueprint, it would defer precedence (through Rule 594)
>to Rule 600, turning a "cycle win" into a Winning Condition.  Assuming
>either of you could actually achieve it.
>
>> 
>> No. of sides on every die:      2
>> No. of dice for every roll:     1
>> No. of dice rolls requested:    5
>> No. of rolls per line:          5
>> 
>>       2      2      2      1      2
>
>-- 
>Duncan C. "" Richer aka
>Slakko (Lost) Warner - http://dcr24.quns.cam.ac.uk/ - Queens' College
>Cambridge, 1st Year PhD(Pure Maths), CUDipSoc, CUSFS, CUSTS, CURS etc
>Acka - ex-President/still Web-Harfer RuneMaker ChessUmpire Map-Harfer
>
>
>

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

Date: Sat, 18 Apr 1998 04:59:25 -0400 (EDT)
From: Brian Raiter <[email-masked]>
Subject: Re: Acka: The Infrequent Ackan Volume 1 Issue 19

> No shootings this week at the Ackan - and all my employees breathed a
> heavy sigh of relief. Do you want to make a name for yourself on the
> Infrequent Ackan Wall of Sub-Editor Killers? If so, then find a factual
> error in this paper and ask us to retract it - that always works for me!

I'm not calling for any retractions here, because your subeditor has
carefully chosen language that avoids any direct statements of fact.
However, I would like to take this opportunity to state a few facts of
a historical nature.

> Ackanomic has a long history of Scams, arguably dating back to the
> original and only Act of Justice.

It would be slightly more arguable to say that scams date back to the
second week of the game, which is when Wayne made his famous attempt
to alter his score by Rule 115, and brought about the even-more famous
CFJ 113.

> Some may dispute this as a scam, but the undeniable fact is that a
> Rule was used in a method other than its intended way to deny a
> player an otherwise earned win.

Allow me to emphasize, for those of us who weren't there to remember,
that the *intention* of AOJ 101 was not to deny Robert Sevin a win.
The intention was merely to delay the win until such time as the rules
could be amended to prevent the game from ending.

breadbox

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

Date: Sat, 18 Apr 1998 05:02:40 -0400 (EDT)
From: Duncan Richer <[email-masked]>
Subject: Re: Acka: The Infrequent Ackan Volume 1 Issue 19

On Sat, 18 Apr 1998, Brian Raiter wrote:

> I'm not calling for any retractions here, because your subeditor has
> carefully chosen language that avoids any direct statements of fact.
> However, I would like to take this opportunity to state a few facts of
> a historical nature.
> 
> > Ackanomic has a long history of Scams, arguably dating back to the
> > original and only Act of Justice.
> 
> It would be slightly more arguable to say that scams date back to the
> second week of the game, which is when Wayne made his famous attempt
> to alter his score by Rule 115, and brought about the even-more famous
> CFJ 113.
> 
> > Some may dispute this as a scam, but the undeniable fact is that a
> > Rule was used in a method other than its intended way to deny a
> > player an otherwise earned win.
> 
> Allow me to emphasize, for those of us who weren't there to remember,
> that the *intention* of AOJ 101 was not to deny Robert Sevin a win.
> The intention was merely to delay the win until such time as the rules
> could be amended to prevent the game from ending.
> 
> breadbox

Would you like this included as rebuttal in the next issue?  Our first
"Letter to the Editor"?

Yours,
Slakko
- -- 
Duncan C. "" Richer aka
Slakko (Lost) Warner - http://dcr24.quns.cam.ac.uk/ - Queens' College
Cambridge, 1st Year PhD(Pure Maths), CUDipSoc, CUSFS, CUSTS, CURS etc
Acka - ex-President/still Web-Harfer RuneMaker ChessUmpire Map-Harfer

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

Date: Sat, 18 Apr 1998 06:25:18 -0400 (EDT)
From: "Tom Walmsley" <[email-masked]>
Subject: Acka: CFJ 571 (IdiotBoy)

IdiotBoy has been selected.

Clerk of the Courts
- -----------------------------------------------------------------------
Call For Judgement 571- April 18, 1998
Subject: Scientists
Initiator: Slakko (sent April 18, 1998, 03:06)
Judge: IdiotBoy (selected April 18, 1998, 06:10)
Judgement: 

Statement:
K 2 has achieved a Winning Condition within the past 7 days.

Slakko's Reasoning:
K 2 submitted the target "else...if" and the target word "excellent" to
Slakko, as President, for the List of Harf.  This message arrived at
Slakko's inbox at 23:52 BST on the 17th of April, equivalent to 18:52 Acka
time on that day.

Later that day else...if did post a message including the word
"excellent".  K 2 claimed his winter cap.  Notwithstanding Slakko's first
message, which claimed to make K 2 wear sandals, the target word
"excellent" was in the else...if message, and hence K 2 earned half of
else...if's score, 101 points.

This took K 2's score to at least 363, whereas the Magic Number was 347.
At that time no other player had a score in excess of 347, so K 2 achieved
the points winning condition.

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

Date: Sat, 18 Apr 1998 06:25:20 -0400 (EDT)
From: "Tom Walmsley" <[email-masked]>
Subject: Re: acka : CFJs declining, accepting

> I am declining any CFJ which has been assigned to me, and on which I ahve
> not returned judgement yet.
> 
> (just cleaning up before going for a short while - better than being
> deadbeat)

Unless I'm mistaken you can't decline after you've had a CFJ longer than
three days, which I'm pretty sure you have on one of them.

TGW, CotC.

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

Date: Sat, 18 Apr 1998 07:15:02 -0400 (EDT)
From: "Tom Walmsley" <[email-masked]>
Subject: Acka: CFJ 564 (JT)

As Slakko pointed out to me Niccolo is considered to have declined any CFJs
assigned to em due to changing eir status to non-voting. JT has been
selected.

Clerk of the Courts
- -----------------------------------------------------------------------
Call For Judgement 564 - April 13, 1998
Subject: Magic Number
Initiator: breadbox (sent April 13, 1998, 03:33)
Judge: Niccolo Flychuck (declined)
Second Judge: JT (selected April 18, 1998, 07:12)
Judgement: 

Statement:
The Magic Number is currently 347.

Initiator's Reasoning:
The Rule-Harfer's copy of the rules would seem to indicate that the
base value of the Magic Number, and thus the current Magic Number
itself, is 379. The Scorekeeper's pages clearly indicate that the
Magic Number is 337. (I thank Slakko for pointing out to me this
inconsistency.) However, both of these numbers are wrong.

The Magic Number's base value was 379 at the end of Cycle 17 (at which
time, it should be noted, there was much confusion). Since that Cycle
and the previous one were not won by points, the rules required that
the Magic Number be adjusted downwards. (The Rule-Harfer never made
this change to the rule, which explains the number there.) At the
time, the Scorekeeper announced that the new Magic Number was 337,
since this is the highest prime number less than 379 * 0.9 (thus the
Scorekeeper's number).

However, Rule 666 actually required the Magic Number to be changed to
the smallest prime number greater than 379 * 0.9, which would be 347.

All of these things are trivially true. The real question, then, is
whether the infamous "pragmatism" clause of Rule 701 causes the Magic
Number to actually become 337 instead of 347.

I believe that it does not, because said clause "does not apply to the
case of events which occur automatically, but whose occurrence is not
(or erroneously) reported". While it is customary for the Speaker or
the Scorekeeper to announce the rule changes that take place when Rule
666 is applied, this announcement is in no way required for those
changes to take place, but is done "merely" as a convenience to the
players.

I believe that this fact, and thus the necessary verdict, is also
trivially true. But since this could have a nontrivial impact on the
game state in the near future, the Scorekeeper and I thought it best
to make it official via the appropriate judicial channels.

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

Date: Sat, 18 Apr 1998 07:18:54 -0400 (EDT)
From: Uri Bruck <[email-masked]>
Subject: Re: Acka: Proposal 2889

On Sat, 18 Apr 1998, Brian Raiter wrote:

> Proposal 2889
> Otzma Card of Type Founder's Boon
> JT (JT Traub)
> 
> This rule defines an Otzma card type called 'Founder's Boon' which have an
> F-designation of Rare.
> 
> At any time, there may be at most 3 Cards of this type in existance.
> 
> An Otzma Card of type Founders Boon allows one of the following actions
> to be taken as a public action.
>  a) To make the person playing this card the Founder of a Church or Cult
>     to which that player belongs if and only if the original founder of
>     that church or cult is no longer a member of the church or cult
>  b) To take one single action in a Church or Cult to which they belong
>     as if they were the Founder of that Church or Cult.

I'd rather have seen this with only section b.
Furthermore, the mention of Cults is superflous. Founders have no special
privilieges in Cults.

Niccolo Flychuck

> 
> There is no Counter-Action defined for this Card type.
> 
> ------------------------------
> 

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

End of ackanomic digest V3 #113
*******************************