Subject: ackanomic digest V3 #133
From: [email-masked] (ackanomic digest)
To: [email-masked]

ackanomic digest         Saturday, May 2 1998         Volume 03 : Number 133

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

Date: Sat, 02 May 1998 00:23:52 -0400 (EDT)
From: [email-masked] (Aaron V. Humphrey)
Subject: Acka: Musuem Door Prize

Vynd has won the Museum's Bonus Vote prize this month.

- --
- --Alfvaen(Web page: http://www.telusplanet.net/public/alfvaen/ )
Current Album--They Might Be Giants:Then
Current Book--Dick Francis:Hot Money
The crows seemed to be calling his name, thought Caw.

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

Date: Sat, 02 May 1998 00:58:38 -0400 (EDT)
From: Randy Hall <[email-masked]>
Subject: Acka: That's just silly

I exist as described in rule 252.

The following strings exist in this message as described
by rule 252:

saaremaa
Randy Hall
[email-masked]

saaremaa 
Speaker Emeritus
and little else :-)
who is oh so glad e used a treasure

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

Date: Sat, 02 May 1998 01:00:05 -0400 (EDT)
From: [email-masked] (Aaron V. Humphrey)
Subject: Acka: Harf

I am declaring Proposal 2935 and Proposal 2954 to be Harfy.  (I would've
gone for 2937 as well, but I said I didn't want to pick two on the same
day...and TGW just had one.  Also, that one's pretty much been through
before.)

I am also declaring Proposal 2931 to be Unharfy.  :-)

- --
- --Alfvaen(Web page: http://www.telusplanet.net/public/alfvaen/ )
Current Album--Kirsty MacColl:Titanic Days
Current Book--Dick Francis:Hot Money
Freight to me sixty dozen quart jars and twelve black pans.

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

Date: Sat, 02 May 1998 01:03:03 -0400 (EDT)
From: [email-masked] (Aaron V. Humphrey)
Subject: Acka: Deejay

I am hereby(as Deejay)changing the currently playing song to one which
my Uncle Tim really did like.  Viz, "Harvest Moon" by Neil Young.

Dance on.

- --
- --Alfvaen(Web page: http://www.telusplanet.net/public/alfvaen/ )
Current Album--Kirsty MacColl:Titanic Days
Current Book--Dick Francis:Hot Money
Be true and do not lie in the area!

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

Date: Sat, 02 May 1998 01:04:07 -0400 (EDT)
From: "Joseph W. DeVincentis" <[email-masked]>
Subject: Re: Acka: That's just silly

> I exist as described in rule 252.
> 
> The following strings exist in this message as described
> by rule 252:
> 
> saaremaa
> Randy Hall
> [email-masked]

Welcome back, elder saaremaa

> who is oh so glad e used a treasure

heheh.

/dev/joe

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

Date: Sat, 02 May 1998 01:11:38 -0400 (EDT)
From: [email-masked] (Aaron V. Humphrey)
Subject: Re: Acka: That's just silly

> I exist as described in rule 252.

> The following strings exist in this message as described
> by rule 252:

> saaremaa
> Randy Hall
> [email-masked]

Good to see you back.  Oh, yeah:

As Founder of the Church of Azpiazu, I announce that said Church is
transferring the Onyx Vase to Alfvaen, which is to say, me.

I am now frinking Right-Handed Grapefruit Juice from Malenkai's Vase.

- --
- --Alfvaen(Web page: http://www.telusplanet.net/public/alfvaen/ )
Current Album--Kirsty MacColl:Titanic Days
Current Book--Dick Francis:Hot Money
Your brains come tumbling down your snout

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

Date: Sat, 02 May 1998 02:43:10 -0400 (EDT)
From: Duncan Richer <[email-masked]>
Subject: Re: Acka: Proposal retraction

On Fri, 1 May 1998, Aaron V. Humphrey wrote:

> 
> > Damn.. Huberted again :)  I retract prop 2964 if it hasn't already been
> > judged illegal due to the fact that it duplicates (at least in intent
> > and effect if not wording) the recent proposal by K 2.
> 
> It's not a clear case of duplication, so it would take a CFJ to render
> it invalid.  Actually, I liked yours better, but maybe that was just
> because K 2's was missing a verb in the first sentence.  :-)

Seeing as the rule for substantially similar proposals requires "in the
opinion of a judge", as far as I can see _any_ case of duplication
requires a CFJ, even if the text is the same verbatim.

So 2936 is still in the voting queue.
- -- 
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 - President, Web-Harfer, RuneMaker, ChessUmpire, Map-Harfer

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

Date: Sat, 02 May 1998 02:45:22 -0400 (EDT)
From: Duncan Richer <[email-masked]>
Subject: Re: Acka: An Old Head Spinning Question

On Fri, 1 May 1998, Aaron V. Humphrey wrote:

> This assumes that inclusion(or whatever "in" represents)is transitive.
> That if X is in the Library, and the Library is in the Treasury, then
> X is in the Treasury.  I see no reason why this should necessarily be
> the case.

Last time I checked, inclusion was transitive.  It kind of makes set
theory possible.  :-)

You can make the earth flat, or even try to turn it into a cube, but start
messing with Peano arithmetic and I'll be looking for those holes faster
than you can say "Incompleteness Theorem".
- -- 
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 - President, Web-Harfer, RuneMaker, ChessUmpire, Map-Harfer

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

Date: Sat, 02 May 1998 03:09:36 -0400 (EDT)
From: Duncan Richer <[email-masked]>
Subject: Re: Acka: That's just silly

On Sat, 2 May 1998, Randy Hall wrote:

> I exist as described in rule 252.
> 
> The following strings exist in this message as described
> by rule 252:
> 
> saaremaa
> Randy Hall
> [email-masked]
> 
> saaremaa 
> Speaker Emeritus
> and little else :-)
> who is oh so glad e used a treasure

So what happens to the undead known as Malenkai?  As far as I can tell, it
remains an undead, because no player has Returned with the name Malenkai.
Congratulations saaremaa for bifurcating your existence.

- -- 
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 - President, Web-Harfer, RuneMaker, ChessUmpire, Map-Harfer

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

Date: Sat, 02 May 1998 03:13:24 -0400 (EDT)
From: Duncan Richer <[email-masked]>
Subject: Re: Acka: That's just silly

On Sat, 2 May 1998, Duncan Richer wrote:

> On Sat, 2 May 1998, Randy Hall wrote:
> 
> > I exist as described in rule 252.
> > 
> > The following strings exist in this message as described
> > by rule 252:
> > 
> > saaremaa
> > Randy Hall
> > [email-masked]
> > 
> > saaremaa 
> > Speaker Emeritus
> > and little else :-)
> > who is oh so glad e used a treasure
> 
> So what happens to the undead known as Malenkai?  As far as I can tell, it
> remains an undead, because no player has Returned with the name Malenkai.
> Congratulations saaremaa for bifurcating your existence.

Sorry - my mistake there.  On further examination, no player called
saaremaa exists.  The procedure for Returning players converts the undead
_with_that_name_ into a player, and does not make a new player.  So
despite saaremaa's registration, there is still an undead called Malenkai,
and no player called saaremaa.

Just as well, really, otherwise it would be a trivial way to avoid paying
the standard Harfer fee to change your name, if your score were zero or
less.

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 - President, Web-Harfer, RuneMaker, ChessUmpire, Map-Harfer

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

Date: Sat, 02 May 1998 03:23:27 -0400 (EDT)
From: JT Traub <[email-masked]>
Subject: Re: Acka: Proposal retraction

>> Damn.. Huberted again :)  I retract prop 2964 if it hasn't already been
>> judged illegal due to the fact that it duplicates (at least in intent
>> and effect if not wording) the recent proposal by K 2.
>
>It's not a clear case of duplication, so it would take a CFJ to render
>it invalid.  Actually, I liked yours better, but maybe that was just
>because K 2's was missing a verb in the first sentence.  :-)

Heheh.. Well, I already retracted mine anyway.. (I don't think you
can retract a retraction, can you :) Not that I really want to.  I think
K2's solves the problem (even missing the verb (CSR anyone :)).

- --JT

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

Date: Sat, 02 May 1998 03:41:58 -0400 (EDT)
From: Duncan Richer <[email-masked]>
Subject: Acka: Preservation Declaration

As Archivist, I am issuing a Preservation Declaration on the following
possessions:

The Purple Key to the Vault
The Chartreuse Key to the Vault
The Gold Key to the Vault
The Bronze Key to the Vault

I am also chiding Alfvaen for changing the P/E page to once again include
these entities halfway through my proposal's voting period.  Bad
Financier! No treat for you!

I retract Proposal 2960, as most of its effects can be achieved by other
means, faster means.

I also point out to Vynd that Treasure 137 is not listed as Buried on the
P/E page (which does list Buried Treasures).

- -- 
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 - President, Web-Harfer, RuneMaker, ChessUmpire, Map-Harfer

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

Date: Sat, 02 May 1998 07:50:35 -0400 (EDT)
From: "Tom Walmsley" <[email-masked]>
Subject: Acka: Herald Nomination

If you want the office of herald then reply to this post to nominate
yourself.

TGW, Count Tabula.

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

Date: Sat, 02 May 1998 07:50:41 -0400 (EDT)
From: "Tom Walmsley" <[email-masked]>
Subject: Re: Acka: That's just silly

> > > The following strings exist in this message as described
> > > by rule 252:
> > > 
> > > saaremaa
> > > Randy Hall
> > > [email-masked]

> Sorry - my mistake there.  On further examination, no player called
> saaremaa exists.  The procedure for Returning players converts the undead
> _with_that_name_ into a player, and does not make a new player.  So
> despite saaremaa's registration, there is still an undead called Malenkai,
> and no player called saaremaa.

I disagree. I think that there is no undead called Malenkai. The message did
include the real name (Randy Hall), a valid email address ([email-masked])
and the Ackanomic name (malenkai). The fact that the Ackanomic name wasn't
delimited by white-space and included a slight misspelling  (small m) do not
seem to matter. So it looks like we have Elder Malenkai back. Welcome back!
Which now means we have three elders in the game, wow (okay, so we did very
briefly before when Mr. Lunatic Fringe rejoined temporarily but that was only
for one message). I also note that I am unlikely to be the most vocal
campaigner for the repealing of anti-voting and points any more :-).

> Just as well, really, otherwise it would be a trivial way to avoid paying
> the standard Harfer fee to change your name, if your score were zero or
> less.

Aren't there some sort of restrictions on how quickly you can rejoin after
you quit? I thought there were but I could be wrong.

TGW.

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

Date: Sat, 02 May 1998 07:51:01 -0400 (EDT)
From: "Tom Walmsley" <[email-masked]>
Subject: Re: Acka: Harf

> I am declaring Proposal 2935 and Proposal 2954 to be Harfy.  (I would've
> gone for 2937 as well, but I said I didn't want to pick two on the same
> day...and TGW just had one.  Also, that one's pretty much been through
> before.)

Just because I only need one more for a cheddar. :-) I also note that if that
one by Vynd passes then he'll go back in front of me for number of harfy
proposals passed. Thirdly I ask why those literature ones me and Vynd did on
the same day were never harfy. Then I recall that it was because Illusion was
having problems with his email. Finally, I point out that when Alfvaen says
"that one's pretty much been through before." he is indeed correct; it is a
modified version of my first ever proposal.

TGW.

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

Date: Sat, 02 May 1998 08:38:54 -0400 (EDT)
From: K2 <[email-masked]>
Subject: Proposal 2920: Tidying up

I realize that the following really falls under the aegis of the OiCoRT
- - the fact that the entities were distributed is correct,
the recipients may not be ;)

Pursuant to rule 1010 the following events occurred with respect to
organizational ownership:

* Shell#10 is a society and consequently cannot own gadgets.
* Shell#10 distributed its Whamiol automatically to else...if
* Shell#10 distributed its Silver Spaceship to The Gingham Wearer
(just what the org would have done had it been able to earlier)

RexBank is a society and consequently cannot own Otzma Cards, Garments
or Trinkets. Fortunately for Rex trinkets are only destroyed when they
are received be a society.

* RexBank distributed its otzma go fish to Rex Mundi
* RexBank distributed its wool sweater to The Gingham Wearer
* RexBank distributed its trinket I Opposed P2241 #1 to K 2

If it is the case that I own I Opposed P2241 #1 I gift that entity to
Rex Mundi. If Rex Mundi wants to get eir hands on Rex Bank's money, I
can leave and the VSO will take care of it....

I'm not sure about this but if extra heads are entities then Vulcan (a
party) and cannot own em.
* Vulcan distributed 1 extra head mutation to Vynd
* Vulcan distributed 1 extra head mutation to ThinMan

I suggest the organizations named Shell#n where n is replaced with a
number between 1 and 9 disband, I then leave those organizations.

Shell#1-9 are now VSO and may not own A$.
* Shell#1-9 each transfer A$25 to Slakko
* Shell#1-9 each transfer A$25 to else...if

I suggest that all organizations of which I am a member and contain the
string Shell in them except Shell#10 disband.

> > Create a new rule, numbered 1010 and entitled "Spotter," with the
following
>

> > If any organization at any time owns one or more tradeable entities
in
> > violation of the rules specifically pertaining to that type of
organization
> > (e.g. R1009 for Political Parties; R1003 for VSOs), then those
entities are
> > immediately divided among the members of the organization as evenly
as
> > possible. In particular, the entities of each class (e.g. A$,
gadgets,
> > trinkets) are divided as evenly as possible. Where the number of
entities
> > of some class being divided is not evenly divisable by the number of

> > members of the relevant organization, some members will receive one
more
> > entity of that class than the others do; which members receive the
extra
> > entities is determined randomly.

The effects of this is described above

> > Any organization may surrender any organizational power it owns to
the
> > Treasury, upon which action the Power is destroyed. Any Organization
which
> > does so will receive back the original purchase price of the Power
from the
> > Treasury, less the standard harfer fee. This paragraph takes
precedence
> > over all rules governing organizations. This paragraph is deleted
from this
> > rule exactly one week after this rule was added to the rule set.

now that the Matress has disbanded no more organizations are in this
position

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

Date: Sat, 02 May 1998 08:39:00 -0400 (EDT)
From: K2 <[email-masked]>
Subject: Acka: This and *That*

I leave my house.
Go to the Library.
Into *that* room.
Read *that* book.
Enjoy it immensely.
Return to my house.
Close the black plastic.

K 2

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

Date: Sat, 02 May 1998 08:59:07 -0400 (EDT)
From: "Tom Walmsley" <[email-masked]>
Subject: Acka: Re: Proposal 2920: Tidying up

> * RexBank distributed its otzma go fish to Rex Mundi
> * RexBank distributed its wool sweater to The Gingham Wearer
> * RexBank distributed its trinket I Opposed P2241 #1 to K 2

If this is the case then I give (or offer if I can't gift) a wool sweater to
Rex Mundi).

TGW.

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

Date: Sat, 02 May 1998 09:27:58 -0400 (EDT)
From: Duncan Richer <[email-masked]>
Subject: Acka: Organisational Disbandments

I support the disbandment of the organisations Shell#n, where n is
replaced by any positive integer between 1 and 54 inclusive, except for
10.
- -- 
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 - President, Web-Harfer, RuneMaker, ChessUmpire, Map-Harfer

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

Date: Sat, 02 May 1998 09:55:01 -0400 (EDT)
From: "Gavin M. Doig" <[email-masked]>
Subject: Re: Acka: Re: Proposal 2920: Tidying up

>If this is the case then I give (or offer if I can't gift) a wool sweater to
>Rex Mundi).
>
>TGW.
>
I accept this, with thanks to TGW. I ask him to leave, too. ;-)

I gift 25 A$ each to The Gingham Wearer and K2, as thanks for their help.

Rex Mundi.

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

Date: Sat, 02 May 1998 09:55:04 -0400 (EDT)
From: "Gavin M. Doig" <[email-masked]>
Subject: Re: Proposal 2920: Tidying up

>If it is the case that I own I Opposed P2241 #1 I gift that entity to
>Rex Mundi. If Rex Mundi wants to get eir hands on Rex Bank's money, I
>can leave and the VSO will take care of it....
>

I thank K2 for this, and politely ask him to leave (although I suspect that
then the money will be split between TGW and I).

Rex Mundi.

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

Date: Sat, 02 May 1998 10:03:52 -0400 (EDT)
From: "Tom Walmsley" <[email-masked]>
Subject: Re: Acka: Re: Proposal 2920: Tidying up

> I accept this, with thanks to TGW. I ask him to leave, too. ;-)
> 
> I gift 25 A$ each to The Gingham Wearer and K2, as thanks for their help.

I thank Rex Mundi and then leave Rex Bank.

TGW.

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

Date: Sat, 02 May 1998 10:23:48 -0400 (EDT)
From: K2 <[email-masked]>
Subject: Re: Acka: Re: Proposal 2920: Tidying up

> > I accept this, with thanks to TGW. I ask him to leave, too. ;-)
> >
> > I gift 25 A$ each to The Gingham Wearer and K2, as thanks for their help.
>
> I thank Rex Mundi and then leave Rex Bank.
>
> TGW.

RexBank is a VSO it cannot own anything;it distributes its acka as follows:
K 2 A$ 115
Rex Mundi A$ 116

If it is the case that I just recieved A$ 115 from RexBank I gift it (ie A$ 115
) to Rex Mundi

I leave RexBank.

K 2
I thank Rex for the A$ 25.

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

Date: Sat, 02 May 1998 12:11:36 -0400 (EDT)
From: "Gavin M. Doig" <[email-masked]>
Subject: acka: Nyarlathotep

Did I eever do zis? I cen't remembeer.

Vell: It's alive! Nyarlathotep IS ALIVE!

I rezign ez Mad Zientizt.

Rex Mundi.

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

Date: Sat, 02 May 1998 12:31:16 -0400 (EDT)
From: Duncan Richer <[email-masked]>
Subject: Re: acka: Nyarlathotep

On Sat, 2 May 1998, Gavin M. Doig wrote:

> Vell: It's alive! Nyarlathotep IS ALIVE!

Of course it is alive - it is H*bert.

- -- 
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 - President, Web-Harfer, RuneMaker, ChessUmpire, Map-Harfer

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

Date: Sat, 02 May 1998 12:33:18 -0400 (EDT)
From: Jonathan David Amery <[email-masked]>
Subject: Re: acka: Nyarlathotep

On Sat, 2 May 1998, Gavin M. Doig wrote:

> Did I eever do zis? I cen't remembeer.
> 
> Vell: It's alive! Nyarlathotep IS ALIVE!
> 
 I should certainly hope I am.

 H*bert, the office of Nyarlathotep.

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

Date: Sat, 02 May 1998 12:34:23 -0400 (EDT)
From: Jonathan David Amery <[email-masked]>
Subject: Re: Acka: Preservation Declaration

On Sat, 2 May 1998, Duncan Richer wrote:

> As Archivist, I am issuing a Preservation Declaration on the following
> possessions:
> 
> The Purple Key to the Vault
> The Chartreuse Key to the Vault
> The Gold Key to the Vault
> The Bronze Key to the Vault
> 
 I oppose this on the grounds that if one should be kept then all should
be kept.

 And vice versa.

 H*bert.

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

Date: Sat, 02 May 1998 12:37:43 -0400 (EDT)
From: "Tom Walmsley" <[email-masked]>
Subject: Re: acka: Nyarlathotep

> Did I eever do zis? I cen't remembeer.
> 
> Vell: It's alive! Nyarlathotep IS ALIVE!
> 
> I rezign ez Mad Zientizt.

Am I right in thinking that Nyarlathotep gets transferred to me and I become
Mad Scientist now? Or does the existence of the office of Nyarlathotep stop
this from working? And in that case who would become Mad Scientist?

TGW.

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

Date: Sat, 02 May 1998 12:57:15 -0400 (EDT)
From: Duncan Richer <[email-masked]>
Subject: Acka: The Infrequent Ackan Volume 1 Issue 21

Volume 1, Issue 21
May 2, 1998
This issue's slogan:
"More Bandwidth, More Gizz, More Often"
In this issue:
1. Editorial
2. Apologies and Retractions.
3. Poll Question #7
4. More Ackanomic News
5. The Way We Were
6. Party Chess Report
7. Sub-Game Summary
8. Advertisement		

Editorial

Millenial Bug

Ackanomic is almost ready to celebrate the millenium.  Proposal 3000 lies
just over the horizon, a milestone which should no doubt be celebrated.
After the game lethargy of January and February, the last couple of months
have seen a resurgence in the intensity of Ackanomic play.  The proposal
queue remains consistently full, thanks to the tweaking of the queue and
breadbox's implementation of nomicbot.  A large influx of new players,
almost all of whom are becoming heavily involved in the game (a trait not
always seen in newbies by any means, well done people) has kept enthusiasm
high.

So will Acka do anything to celebrate the millenium?  Or would it be
considered inappropriate as an excuse for a party?  Perhaps not enough
time has passed since Acka's second Birthday for such a general party to
be welcome.

No Opinion

Strikingly, there hasn't been much to complain about this week.  Ackanomic
appears to be performing very inoffensively, so there's nothing more I can
add to my soapbox.

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 has nothing to apologise for this week.   We are deeply sorry
about that, knowing here how much it means to people when they can have a
public execution of a sub-editor appear in their weekly paper.  It appears
that I must have ordered too many fact checkers from the Acknomic
Institute of Genetic Replication.  I thought about getting them all pointy
ears so they could start complaining all my articles were illogical, but
decided that giving non-entities pointy ears was probably a waste of time.
The Ackan heartily apologises for any damage or difficulties caused by
these errors and/or omissions.

Poll Question

Question Number 7 this week.  Here it is:

7. Who do you believe should succeed Slakko as President?

No list of responses here - I don't want to suggest a candidate.  Just
write in your own choice (active players are of course the most likely to
succeed).

The minimal guaranteed reward remains in place - one lucky reply will be
chosen to receive a Trinket of guaranteed minimum value A$10. Yes, that's
double the value of previous Poll Questions - thanks to the recent Shell
Script I now have a little more money to use in promotional campaigns.
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

Religious Feudin' Intensifies

The uneasy truce between the Church to the Evil Ballot Stuffer and the
Church of the *spit* Good Ballot Stuffer has collapsed.  Koxvolio, holy
Founder of the Church to the EBS, has challenged The Gingham Wearer, the
sneered-at Founder of the GBS Church, to a Duel.  The response of The
Gingham Wearer, who even holds a trinket proclaiming eir cowardice, is not
yet known.

Stripey Stuff

Alfvaen, ProConsul, usurped the traditional Stripe role of the President
and gave the President a Silver Stripe this week on reaching a Blue Cross
Rank of 80.  The ceremony, occurring as it did on the banks of the
Ackanomic River, was somewhat unorthodox.  Vague mutterings were heard
that this "was a travesty of a ceremony."

Despite that, it appears that Alfvaen is still intent on handing out
Silver and Gold Stripes whenever possible.  Can this threat to the
Presidency's paramount ceremonial role be permitted to stand much longer?

Sanity Restored in Auction Market

Crazy prices and deals that couldn't be worsened if you tried - that has
been the order of the day lately when all kinds of goods have been up for
auction.

This week, however, a level of sanity was restored.  A Scroll of Crumble,
no doubt a highly prized prize in the current GBS-EBS war, was procured by
JT for the knock-down price of A$55.  Meanwhile, the Really Big Blue Thing
That Doesn't Do Much, Really created by new Archaeologist K 2 is currently
under auction for A$111.  A slightly high price, but not the most
expensive it has ever been seen at.

Rehash of Map Reveals Lost Building

The Map-Harfer, Slakko, this week revealed that the Ackanomic Map e had
been producing for the last four months was in fact bogus.  "It's a really
unfortunate situation", he told Infrequent Ackan reporter Joey Monalythe.
"The rule creating the Monolith was passed only just before I got here,
yet the old Map-Harfer never even made a note saying to add it.  No-one
complained about my map design - they all thought I did a good job. *sob*
Do you know where I can get any decent frinks?"

A sad spectacle - a Map-Harfer, out of ideas and out of luck, reduced to
frinking away eir salary.  Don't let it happen again - tell him when
something goes wrong.

Financial Follies

else...if has returned from vacation with some useful ideas to reform the
Stock Market.  The new structure of the Stock Market sees the Chair of the
Ackan Reserve joined by two other Board Members, to ensure no bias is
present in stock exchange decisions.

However, at the same time the powers of the Ackan Reserve have been
greatly expanded.  While stock prices are still free to fluctuate while
the Chair of the Ackan Reserve remains filled, the manner in which they
fluctuate is to be under more effective control.

This reform, combined with the introduction of commission for trades to
and from the Treasury, should see the Stock Market rise above its current
poor reputation as an easy source of riches, and become a truly
interesting aspect of Ackan life.

In actual Stock Market news, the Positivity Index has skyrocketed over the
past week, breaking through the 100 point barrier yesterday.  This takes
the overall Stock Value over 125 Ackadollars, slightly more than six times
its initial value.  This represents significant gains for the long-term
investors, but should not dissuade potential new investors from picking up
shares.

The percentage gain for the week, in excess of 50%, shows that while the
initial extrapolations of annual returns may be erroneous, significant
high returns are still possible.  Such gains would require a significant
excess of accepted proposals over rejected proposals, as well as high
volatility day-to-day in activity.  Given the current genial attitude of
most Ackans towards rule changes, and the sporadic nature of proposal
submission and distribution, these two conditions appear to be reasonably
easy to meet.

The Infrequent Ackan Stock Indicator Tip for the week is:  New investors
BUY BUY BUY.  Yesterday's positivity gain was close to, if not, a record.
The percentage of accepted proposals far outstrips that necessary to
maintain level pegging, indicating that long-term gains are still there to
be made.

It's a Zombie - No Wait!

An Elder has arisen from eir grave to rejoin Ackanomic.  That's right,
this very week Malenkai has re-registered as a player.  With all of eir
wordly possessions hidden in a Treasure for which only e knows the Map,
one wonders how effective Malenkai's play will be.  Alternatively, perhaps
a little visit from the Chartreuse Goose will be enforced in the near
future.

We wish Malenkai all the best, and hope eir return to Acka is long and
joyous.

The Way We Were

30th Apr 1997: Discussions of the day included the matter of what happened
with the Zzimsy entities.  It is hoped that record keeping these days in
Acka is such that such a situation will never happen again.

For those who came in late, the Zzimsy entities were a class of entities
temporarily defined so that they could be easily destroyed.  It was
designed because the Undead-Harfer had lost track (or possibly not even
ever kept track, if the job had been created not long before this
situation) of which undead owned what, and even which undeads existed.
mr cwm talked to Phoebe, albeit in a non-talkative kind of way which
enabled the rest of us to miss out on her Wisdom.

The Aliens had abducted Rule 106, which specified restrictions on voting
periods. There were uncertainties as to what the restrictions actually
were in the interim, and whether the abduction automatically delayed all
proposals for a week as compensation.

Alfvaen became registered as a player on this day as well (two observers
also joined the list).  Happy Ackabirthday for last Thursday, Alfvaen!
Alfvaen's first message was not until the following day (and hence month).
He wanted to use the name Den of Ubiquity for eir house, but because of
the name of Bascule's house Alfvaen's house then, and ever has been,
Tamson House.

Alfvaen found a Treasure within 2 days of eir joining, an interesting
achievement.  Anyway, they were the days that were, one year ago!

Party Chess Report

One change in Swinger during the past week.  J. M. Bear has taken over the
job at MetaMorph Headquarters, replacing long-time Party Chess stalwart
Alfvaen.  Alfvaen's time at MetaMorph was very productive for the
Organisation's Members.  On a number of occasions e was able to catapult
into first place on the Swinger Weight list at the right time, passing on
bonus Swingpoints to the members of eir Party.

Time will tell if J. M. Bear is as good as Alfvaen was, but rumour has it
that there is a potential Party Chess expert waiting to be uncovered.
Unfortunately, the transfer happened just hours after Alfvaen failed to
make a play, and so the Party Chess genius of J. M. Bear will have to wait
for a week, maybe two, before it can reveal itself.

Sub Game Summary

Every week - every subgame going.

Abstract Crescent

Abstract Crescent appears to be perpetually balanced on the edge of a win.
Even the addition of two new players this week, JT and H*bert, was not
sufficient to prevent at least one player from remaining within one round
of a win (potentially).

The last completed Round, Round 17, was the shortest on record, taking
just over 90 minutes to complete.  Thanks to the new improved Abstract
Crescent ruleset, there was no need to wait for everyone to put in their
moves, as the 1 of JT and 2 of Hubert put the result of the round beyond
doubt.

With 1, 2 and 3 being played in the last completed round, we wonder what
the future trend will be.  Will rounds continue with permanently low
numbers, or will a jump in the median number chosen suddenly appear, like
a staggered price-war system?  Only time, and the turns of all 8 players,
will tell.

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!

Eleusis

Hints? What Hints?
Questions abounding in Eleusis are centred not on the games themselves but
on the manner of play.  Hubert's role as Deus in Game 1 has led em to
seriously consider handing out some kinds of hints.  The value of allowing
hints, and what kinds of hints are permissible, are still under debate.
It is likely that no concrete answer will be forthcoming, rather that
individual cases will be judged appropriately and sanctions taken only if
general consensus is achieved.

The apparent pattern discovered by /dev/joe in Game 1 has evaporated, as a
triple of failed moves managed to ensnare all players.

Meanwhile, Game 2 proceeds, with Attila managing to play the same card two
rounds running (albeit the first time with the help of the Deus) and have
it accepted.

Fictionary

Game 3 of Fictionary has completed Round 4, with The Gingham Wearer as
Brainiac. For the second time in this game, definition guessing failed to
proceed.  This time four players knew the term "mho", and hence The
Gingham Wearer was the victim of much sneering.	 

Meanwhile, Hubert and JT have rocketed up the scoresheet, now both
on 12 points after only 4 rounds.  JT has guessed the correct definition
in 3 of those rounds, but, to be fair, e did provide the correct
definition in the other round.  Such definition knowledge has never been
seen before in Fictionary.  One hopes that the knowledge is a temporary
anomaly, and that sufficiently obscure choice of words will finally
flummox em into actually providing a definition to be guessed.

Ghost

A new game of Ghost has started, the first official non-Duel Ackanomic
ghost game for quite some time.  With 9 players involved, it will take a
little time to complete, but should no doubt be very interesting.  So sit
back and watch the words form - it promises to be very interesting.

Pure Skill

A game of Pure Skill has been started by Ayla, and J. M. Bear has another
in the works.  This game has not seen much play in Acka, but, as the name
suggests, is a true test of the skill of players.  The three-corner
contest makes it quite interesting, and may lead to a cross between single
player strategy and multi-player negotiation.  Good luck with the games.

Word Un-Association 

Slakko's supposedly directly-linked (no, rufus, Hubert said no :-)) round
of Word Un-Association again came perilously close to providing the linker
with maximum points.  Only Koxvolio provided a successful link between
ridicule and biting, to join Slakko atop the table on 5 points.

It is currently rufus' round, with the link being to "plumber".  Stay
tuned for more late-breaking Word Un-Association news.

YORL
The Gingham Wearer's last play is still awaiting confirmation from Umpire
/dev/joe.  In addition, there is a pending interrupt from rufus.  Other
than that, not much has happened, as the quest for the Talisman of banna
continues.

What will it do?  Why is it needed?  And, more importantly, how are the
loose ends ever going to be cleared up in this game of YORL?

Duel Summary

The Spades Duel between Hubert and Goldenmean grinds on. Early in Round 5,
we are waiting on Goldenmean, who defaulted back on Thursday.  /dev/joe
should be choosing a random legitimate card to play, enabling the game to
get back on course. Given that it has taken two and a half months to get
this far, we could well be seeing the first ever six-month Duel, provided
none of its combatants go on Holiday first. 

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. 

The Infrequent Ackan, first to you with Ackan news.
Copyright  Duncan Richer writing under the pseudonym of "Slakko", 2nd May
1998.
Check us out on the web, at
http://dcr24.quns.cam.ac.uk/Nomic/Acka/infrequent.html 

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

Date: Sat, 02 May 1998 14:11:16 -0400 (EDT)
From: [email-masked] (Aaron V. Humphrey)
Subject: Acka: Oars

The Gingham Wearer has found the Great Oars of Ackanomic this week.

- --
- --Alfvaen (Web page:http://www.telusplanet.net/public/alfvaen/)
Current Book--Dick Francis:Hot Money
Current Album--Marc Cohn:The Rainy Season
I don't play air guitar, I play water guitar.

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

Date: Sat, 02 May 1998 14:35:33 -0400 (EDT)
From: Duncan Richer <[email-masked]>
Subject: Acka: Nothing Sux

I specify the building Mohammed's Autumn Hammock.
"Hey you, get off of my cloud."

I believe this will reattach Robert Sevin's building to eir kaa at F9, but
the rule is worded badly.  Any opinions as to whether this succeeds, and
if so, how?

- -- 
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 - President, Web-Harfer, RuneMaker, ChessUmpire, Map-Harfer

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

Date: Sat, 02 May 1998 14:37:12 -0400 (EDT)
From: Duncan Richer <[email-masked]>
Subject: Re: Acka: Nothing Sux

On Sat, 2 May 1998, Duncan Richer wrote:

> I specify the building Mohammed's Autumn Hammock.
> "Hey you, get off of my cloud."
> 
> I believe this will reattach Robert Sevin's building to eir kaa at F9, but
> the rule is worded badly.  Any opinions as to whether this succeeds, and
> if so, how?

Oopsie.  

I specify the building Mohammed's Autumn Hammock.
"Hey, you, get off of my cloud."

- -- 
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 - President, Web-Harfer, RuneMaker, ChessUmpire, Map-Harfer

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

Date: Sat, 02 May 1998 14:39:51 -0400 (EDT)
From: JT Traub <[email-masked]>
Subject: Re: Acka: Nothing Sux

>I specify the building Mohammed's Autumn Hammock.
>"Hey you, get off of my cloud."
>
>I believe this will reattach Robert Sevin's building to eir kaa at F9, but
>the rule is worded badly.  Any opinions as to whether this succeeds, and
>if so, how?

I believe for this to work Mohammed would have to give you permission.
You would need a kaa of land to hold the building.
You would need to give Mohammed the amount of A$ it would cost to
rebuild the building (A$100 I believe)
You would then own Autumn Hammock.

I'm not sure this is what you want :)

- --JT

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

Date: Sat, 02 May 1998 14:48:16 -0400 (EDT)
From: Duncan Richer <[email-masked]>
Subject: Re: Acka: Nothing Sux

On Sat, 2 May 1998, JT Traub wrote:

> >I specify the building Mohammed's Autumn Hammock.
> >"Hey you, get off of my cloud."
> >
> I believe for this to work Mohammed would have to give you permission.
> You would need a kaa of land to hold the building.
> You would need to give Mohammed the amount of A$ it would cost to
> rebuild the building (A$100 I believe)
> You would then own Autumn Hammock.
> 
> I'm not sure this is what you want :)

What about the second sentence of the rule - Robert Sevin (the building is
not owned by Mohammed - check the maplynx) has sufficient kaa to
accomodate eir own building.  I'm trying to give it back to em.

- -- 
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 - President, Web-Harfer, RuneMaker, ChessUmpire, Map-Harfer

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

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