Subject: ackanomic digest V3 #138
From: [email-masked] (ackanomic digest)
To: [email-masked]

ackanomic digest         Tuesday, May 5 1998         Volume 03 : Number 138

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

Date: Tue, 05 May 1998 00:09:11 -0400 (EDT)
From: [email-masked] (Aaron V. Humphrey)
Subject: Acka: Not

The time has finally come.

I hereby announce my intention to resign as Financier.  And as Undead-
Harfer, while I'm at it(though I'm curious as to whether the office needs
to exist, and perhaps assigning it separately from the Financier might
be the best way to assess that).

I encourage any Financierly candidates to show their skill not only at
putting up web pages, but also at going through the daily email of
Ackanomic, not to mention the Rules, and determining what needs to go
into the entitylog, whether player actions succeeded, etc.  I'll give any
relevant information to any candidate who wishes, and while I realize that
the decision is not mine to make, I would encourage Slakko to consider
the candidate whose entitylog for the next three days is the closest to
mine(which I will, of course, supply).

It's been fun.  And a heck of a lot of work.  But I look forward to
actually having to look at the PE page to find out what everybody's got
again.

- --
- --Alfvaen(Web page: http://www.telusplanet.net/public/alfvaen/ )
Current Album--Vangelis:Chariots of Fire
Current Book--Barb Galler-Smith & Josh Langton:Druids
'Why, this is other people, nor are we out of it.'

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

Date: Tue, 05 May 1998 01:22:32 -0400 (EDT)
From: JT <[email-masked]>
Subject: Re: Acka: Salaries

On Mon, 4 May 1998, Aaron V. Humphrey wrote:
>
>The following salaries were paid out today at noon:
>
[salaries clipped]
>
>Let me know if I missed any...
>

I will assume I do not need to record these and send them back to you in
the entity log, yes?

- --JT

[-------------------------------------------------------------------------]
[ Practice random kindness and senseless acts of beauty.                  ]
[ It's hard to sieze the day when you must first grapple with the morning ]
[-------------------------------------------------------------------------]

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

Date: Tue, 05 May 1998 01:31:09 -0400 (EDT)
From: JT <[email-masked]>
Subject: Re: Acka: Not

On Tue, 5 May 1998, Aaron V. Humphrey wrote:
>The time has finally come.
>
>I hereby announce my intention to resign as Financier.  And as Undead-
>Harfer, while I'm at it(though I'm curious as to whether the office needs
>to exist, and perhaps assigning it separately from the Financier might
>be the best way to assess that).

I would like to say (on behalf of myself at least) exactly how much I've
appreciated the care and attention Alfvaen has given to the position of
Financier.

>I encourage any Financierly candidates to show their skill not only at
>putting up web pages, but also at going through the daily email of
>Ackanomic, not to mention the Rules, and determining what needs to go
>into the entitylog, whether player actions succeeded, etc.  I'll give any
>relevant information to any candidate who wishes, and while I realize that
>the decision is not mine to make, I would encourage Slakko to consider
>the candidate whose entitylog for the next three days is the closest to
>mine(which I will, of course, supply).

I am not going to be volunteering for this position, but will offer to
continue doing as I have been doing and help out whomever takes over if
they so desire it (sort of as a helpful doublecheck)

- --JT

[-------------------------------------------------------------------------]
[ Practice random kindness and senseless acts of beauty.                  ]
[ It's hard to sieze the day when you must first grapple with the morning ]
[-------------------------------------------------------------------------]

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

Date: Tue, 05 May 1998 01:33:01 -0400 (EDT)
From: JT <[email-masked]>
Subject: Re: Acka: Salaries

On Tue, 5 May 1998, JT wrote:

>>The following salaries were paid out today at noon:
>>
>[salaries clipped]
>>
>>Let me know if I missed any...
>>
>
>I will assume I do not need to record these and send them back to you in
>the entity log, yes?

I hereby call a public health hearing on myself for this :/

- --JT

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

Date: Tue, 05 May 1998 01:43:28 -0400 (EDT)
From: "Joseph W. DeVincentis" <[email-masked]>
Subject: Acka: Snowgod's Disease results

Snowgod's disease hearing results on rufus:

Yes, why just yesterday e posted a letter to eir aunt!
/dev/joe
JT
Slakko
Slakko's EBS
The Gingham Wearer
Slagothor
rufus
Alfvaen
Attila the Pun
else...if
else...if's EBS
ThinMan
ThinMan's EBS

No, e, uh, meant to do that.
Rex Mundi
Rex Mundi's EBS

rufus's prescription:
Post the instructions for setting up your mailer of choice so that by
default, replies only go to the sender or reply-to address and not to
all recipients.

/dev/joe

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

Date: Tue, 05 May 1998 02:44:35 -0400 (EDT)
From: Duncan Richer <[email-masked]>
Subject: Re: Acka: Snowgod's Disease results

On Tue, 5 May 1998, Joseph W. DeVincentis wrote:

> Snowgod's disease hearing results on rufus:

This was not sent more than 3 days since the hearing was announced.
It was in fact sent about 60 hours after the Hearing was called.
- -- 
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: Tue, 05 May 1998 02:57:57 -0400 (EDT)
From: Duncan Richer <[email-masked]>
Subject: Re: Acka: Not

On Tue, 5 May 1998, Aaron V. Humphrey wrote:

> 
> The time has finally come.
> 
> I hereby announce my intention to resign as Financier.  And as Undead-
> Harfer, while I'm at it(though I'm curious as to whether the office needs
> to exist, and perhaps assigning it separately from the Financier might
> be the best way to assess that).

I announce the opening of nominations for Financier.
I announce the opening of nominations for Undead-Harfer.

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: Tue, 05 May 1998 07:36:25 -0400 (EDT)
From: K2 <[email-masked]>
Subject: Acka: Treasure

I am creating a _Trinket_ called Established Riches worth $A 73:
It is a framed picture. When it is owned by an organization it depicts
that organization digging for treasure. At all other times it is life
size picture of the Chartreuse Goose - Sneering.

Woo, that hideous sneer... I can't stand it.... nooooooooooooo!!!!!!!!!

I am burying my Automatic Sculpture and Established Riches as a
Treasure.

The first Organization to legally complete the following list:

Take Possession of the Little Lamb.
Chew the Gumball.
Have all members vote in the same manner on (10-size) proposals.
Recite Poetry.
Dance on the Town Hall Steps.
Bury a Treasure (worth at least A$50).
Play a song on the ASS.

while having not more than half (rounded down) of the membership with
proxied votes,  shall find this treasure. Each of the actions must have
been performed after this treasure was buried and as an organizational
action.

In case you were wondering - This treasure may _only_ be found by an
organization. VSO's are prohibited from finding this treasure. If a
church wishes to attempt to find the treasure, the actions must still be
performed as though it were a political party of the same size... and
before you say it - those organizations of which I am a member are also
permitted to find the treasure.

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

Date: Tue, 05 May 1998 07:43:27 -0400 (EDT)
From: K2 <[email-masked]>
Subject: Acka: Pulse

As Archaeologist I am going to start building a Pulse Laser. It will be
complete in 3 days.

K 2

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

Date: Tue, 05 May 1998 08:53:46 -0400 (EDT)
From: AARON KEESLER <[email-masked]>
Subject: Acka: Argh.

I realized that my last post was to acka-research, and probably didn't
count.  I also realize that this will happen automatically, but I insist
on doing this right.

I approve of the Moral Kiosk's Secret Lab building an EBS for Koxvolio.

- ------------------
Aaron Keesler
Lotus Notes Administrator
Intranet Administrator
Adtran, Inc.
- ------------------

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

Date: Tue, 05 May 1998 12:04:55 -0400 (EDT)
From: "Joseph W. DeVincentis" <[email-masked]>
Subject: Acka: Ackanomic Cyclopedia of Knowledge

                     Ackanomic Cyclopedia of Knowledge

      Volume 1, issue 5                                  May 5, 1998

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

In this issue:

GAMES T-Shirt to remain buried
Spellbook reading

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

GAMES T-Shirt to remain buried for several months
by /dev/joe

Nobody found the GAMES T-Shirt based on the hidden contest in the April
issue of GAMES, so it will remain buried until the next hidden contest
appears, possibly as early as the next issue in about a month, but maybe
not for 3 or 5 months.  The first treasure based on GAMES Magazine's
hidden contests, Orion's Crystal (a reference to a joke in last April's
GAMES) was found in a relatively short time by Mohammed.  When the next
GAMES came out with a hidden contest last fall, /dev/joe buried another
trinket with a similar map.  This makes the second hidden contest which
has passed without anybody uncovering this artifact.

The hidden contest was hidden as a phony Wild Card puzzle this time,
in which the first letter of each of a series of words was missing,
to be filled-in-the-blank.  Those first letters spelled out the message
telling people how to enter the hidden contest.  Reported one of our
hidden-contest-finding specialists at the ACK, "The dead giveaway was
that the Wild Card in question was submitted by one of GAMES's editors.
Wild Cards are normally submitted by normal readers with unfamiliar
names."

Phoebe found the hidden contest, and revealed its location in encoded
form, revealed to the world by the lucky person who found Phoebe that day,
but this didn't seem to help the Acka populace.

Advertisement

Unsatisfied with the performance of your Spell Book of Chorg?  Bring
it over to /dev/joe's Spell Book Reading Service.  Here, under the
expertise of many successfully deterministically read pages, and the
Shades of Chorg, /dev/joe will get you the otzma card you want for
a small fee, rules permitting.  Special pages that offer other prizes
may also be read.  Fees may vary according to the item desired. BYOSB*

* Bring Your Own Spell Book

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

Date: Tue, 05 May 1998 13:20:20 -0400 (EDT)
From: Frank Schmidt <[email-masked]>
Subject: Re: Acka: Church Action

> >The Church of the Good Ballot Stuffer joins Metamorph.

This is hereby approved by me.J. M. Bear

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

Date: Tue, 05 May 1998 13:34:27 -0400 (EDT)
From: "Tom Walmsley" <[email-masked]>
Subject: Re: Acka: Shells

> 	I suggest that Shell#10 create a Silver Spaceship and transfer it
> to K2.

I support this action. Since I'm not totally sure this will work I also
suggest that Shell#10 create a Silver Spaceship in the possession of K 2.

TGW.

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

Date: Tue, 05 May 1998 14:15:55 -0400 (EDT)
From: John Frederic Mc Coy <[email-masked]>
Subject: Re: Acka: Campaign Promises

On Mon, 4 May 1998, Eric Plumb wrote:

> 
> I hereby create a Trinket called "The Politeness Moon" with a value of
> A$23, with a description of "It is a shiny hadrathium medallion about
> one-seventeenth of a standard cat-height in diameter, with Ayla's portrait
> on the obverse and a lengthy commendation of eir outstanding record of
> stellar Acka etiquette on the reverse, written in really tiny letters so
> it all fits."  I gift this trinket to Ayla.

I'm pretty sure this creation failed, "The Politeness Moon" isn't a legal
name for a trinket, is it?

                                       - Vynd

[email-masked]

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

Date: Tue, 05 May 1998 16:45:56 -0400 (EDT)
From: JT <[email-masked]>
Subject: Acka: the Vault

I don't believe anyone has entered the vault today, therefore,
I am going to the library.
I am entering *that* room.

- --JT

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

Date: Tue, 05 May 1998 16:55:24 -0400 (EDT)
From: Towsner <[email-masked]>
Subject: Acka: Let the fun begin...

	I call an Auction them Entities on the AR-F.  Count Tabula, don't
forget about the AR-P election.

- --
- -Henry Towsner

	<[email-masked]>

	Success is the child of audacity.
		-Benjamin Disraeli

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

Date: Tue, 05 May 1998 16:59:48 -0400 (EDT)
From: "Joseph W. DeVincentis" <[email-masked]>
Subject: Acka: Snowgod's Disease results

Look what happens when I post at 1AM, I posted these about 14 hours early.
Now it's really over and no new votes came in since this morning.

> Snowgod's disease hearing results on rufus:
> 
> Yes, why just yesterday e posted a letter to eir aunt!
> /dev/joe
> JT
> Slakko
> Slakko's EBS
> The Gingham Wearer
> Slagothor
> rufus
> Alfvaen
> Attila the Pun
> else...if
> else...if's EBS
> ThinMan
> ThinMan's EBS
> 
> No, e, uh, meant to do that.
> Rex Mundi
> Rex Mundi's EBS
> 
> rufus's prescription:
> Post the instructions for setting up your mailer of choice so that by
> default, replies only go to the sender or reply-to address and not to
> all recipients.
> 
> /dev/joe
> 

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

Date: Tue, 05 May 1998 17:00:43 -0400 (EDT)
From: JT <[email-masked]>
Subject: Re: Acka: Let the fun begin...

On Tue, 5 May 1998, Towsner wrote:
>	I call an Auction them Entities on the AR-F.  Count Tabula, don't
>forget about the AR-P election.
>

Only the Financier may call an Auction Them Entities if I'm not mistaken.

- --JT

[-------------------------------------------------------------------------]
[ Practice random kindness and senseless acts of beauty.                  ]
[ It's hard to sieze the day when you must first grapple with the morning ]
[-------------------------------------------------------------------------]

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

Date: Tue, 05 May 1998 17:02:08 -0400 (EDT)
From: "Tom Walmsley" <[email-masked]>
Subject: Acka: CFJ 549 (FALSE (upheld))

This has been upheld on appeal by the Supreme Cortex of breadbox and ThinMan.

Clerk of the Courts
- -----------------------------------------------------------------------
Call For Judgement 549 - March 23, 1998
Subject: *ping*ing
Initiator: Atilla the Pun(sent March 23, 1998, 00:38)
Judge: Rex Mundi (selected March 23, 1998, 12:35)
Judgement: FALSE
Appealed by Guy Fawkes
Judgement: FALSE

Statement:

It is possible for the following text, delimited by quotation marks,
to be a legal announcement that the Machine that goes *ping* has gone
*ping*, if it is taken as the entire body of an e-mail message sent to
the public forum:

"Today is Friday, the 21st day of July, and the Machine That Goes
*ping* Has Gone *ping* today. Since I have been scholar, the Machine
has gone *ping* 1 time.

Avacado."

Atilla the Pun's Reasoning:

Game custom would seem to indicate a verdict of TRUE (and, as scholar,
my life would by made easier if this were judged TRUE); however, the
Machine rule (#1209) says in part:

>...It is the duty of the Scholar to inform the rest of Acka of this
>occurrence. He must do so by posting a public message with the form,
>"Today is Someday, the xth day of Month, and the Machine That Goes
>*ping* Has Gone *ping* today. Since I have been scholar, the Machine
>has gone *ping* n times." In the actual message, Someday, xth, and
>Month shall be replaced by the appropriate elements of the date of
>the *ping* which is being announced, and n shall be replaced by the
>number of times that the Machine has gone *ping* during the current
>Scholar's term. "

The above hypothetical message does not match the template given in
the rule; no provision is made for either grammatical exceptions
(i.e. 1st, 2nd as opposed to 1th, 2th) or anything in the message
besides the announcement. Thus, a strict reading of the rules would
seem to indicate a verdict of FALSE, unless I'm missing something
(which is entirely possible).

Judge's Reasoning:

I think that 1st and 2nd would be probably acceptable as misspellings
of 1th and 2th, but the message would not have the form given in the
rules, so I do not believe it would be valid.

Guy Fawkes' Reasoning:

The Rule regarding the *ping* template does _not_ say that x should be
replaced with the appropriate date element, but that xth should be
replaced with the appropriate date element. The original Judge does
not explain why e believes that constructs such as "1th" and "2th" are
appropriate date elements in any sense of the word, much less more
appropriate than the proper ordinal abbreviations "1st" and "2nd". In
fact, it is my belief that structures such as 1th and 2th are so
inappropriate that I would be ashamed to see anyone under the age of
at least 17 exposed to such grammar -- surely, such abominations
should only be allowed between consenting adults, and even then, only
in the privacy of their own homes, and even then, such grammar should
not be practiced in excess of twice a month.

Seriously though, 1st is the appropriate date element for the first
day of the month, and as such, it replaces xth in the *ping* template.
This should be judged TRUE.

Supreme Court's Reasoning:

The Court agrees with the appealer's comments regarding the
replacement of "xth" in the template, and has nothing to add there.

On the issue of replacing "n times" with "1 time" (i.e., without the
final s), game custom would argue that this is acceptable. However,
this game custom was mainly accumulated under a different form of the
"mispelling" rule. The older rule mandated that misspellings were to
be treated as being replaced by the correctly spelled word, which
would certainly apply in this case. The current rule, however,
regulates only the meaning of a misspelled word and not its form. This
would seem to indicate that the example given in the statement would
not be considered correct.

Finally, there is the issue of the extraneous text. Rule 1209 requires
only that a public message with the given form be sent. It does not
state that this message must be the entire contents of the email. The
rules nowhere require that each public message must exactly correspond
to one email message, and there is overwhelming game custom to
indicate the opposite. (Consider, for example, the wording of Rule
104. Every Promoter has permitted proposal submissions to be sent in
email messages that also contains extraneous text and/or further
submissions.)

In short, the example quoted (ignoring for the moment the problem with
the text "1 time") contains a legal announcement of the Machine that
goes *ping* going ping.

However - and this is a fine but important distinction - the statement
of this CFJ asks us to consider whether the quotation itself is a
legal announcement. Indeed it contains one (or nearly does), and were
it the entirety of an email message, that email would provide a legal
announcement (or nearly would). But the quoted text itself, including
as it does extraneous material, is not a legal announcement. This is
perhaps not what the initiator meant to ask, but it is how the Court
believes the statement should be interpreted.

For the above two reasons, the verdict of this CFJ must remain False.
The appealer is penalized 15 points.

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

Date: Tue, 05 May 1998 17:02:11 -0400 (EDT)
From: "Tom Walmsley" <[email-masked]>
Subject: Acka: CFCJ 147 (FALSE (overturned))

This has been overturned to FALSE on appeal by the Supreme Cortex of breadbox
and ThinMan.

Clerk of the Courts
- -----------------------------------------------------------------------
Call For Criminal Judgment 147 (March 31)
Subject: Gumball
Initiator: K 2 (sent March 30, 1998, 23:53)
Judge: Illusion (declined)
Second Judge: Guy Fawkes
Judgement: INVALID
Appealed by The Gingham Wearer
Judgement: FALSE

Statement:

Slakko committed the Crime of Blatant Disregard on 26th of March 1998.

K 2's Reasoning:

On the 26th of March Slakko was seen attempting to chew The Gumball:

"Today is Thursday, the 26th day of March, the fourth Thursday in the
month, and I am chewing the Gumball. It has a hint of a Blue Lagoon in
the taste this week - probably a continuation of the cocktail party I
went to last night."

The venerable rule 903 is emphatic on when the moist chewyness of the
gumball may be sampled:
"the gumball"[sic] ... "can be chewed only on" ... "the second and fourth
Wednesdays and the first and third Thursdays of each calendar month."

The heinous criminal not only puckered up and commenced chewing on the
_fouth_ Thursday, but went as far as to flaunt the fact in the faces of
all law abiding Ackan citizens.

A vile criminal act if ever there was one, but of what type? A player is
guilty of Blatant Disregard according to rule 701, if e "breaks" the
rules. In this instance if a mistimed mastication is not breaking, what
is? (unless of course 'breaking' is a "Weasel Word" ); Clearly a case of
Blatant Disregard for the cherished rules of Acka.

Suggested Penalty:

One four line apology to The Gumball, once a day, for a week and an
injunction on further chewings for a month.

Judge's Reasoning:

Rule 710 regulate's the submission of CFCJ's. In particular, its says:

> 5) It shall include a "suggested penalty" section, which is a
> recommended penalty to be imposed on Player X, should a verdict of TRUE
> be reached.  More than one class of penalty may be recommended. The
> valid classes of penalties are:
> [penalties ensue:]

An injuction against further chewing is not among the valid suggested
penalties (although it probably should be), and so this is not a valid
CFCJ. The Judge finds this CFCJ INVALID.

The Gingham Wearer's Reasoning:

CFCJ 155 established the game custom that an invalid suggested penalty
does not invalidate a CFCJ. I shall quote from the Supreme Court's (as
was, i.e.  breadbox and ThinMan) reasoning:

"Secondly, the specification of the player in the penalty is
unfortunate, but is, again, certainly no reason to consider the CFCJ
invalid (especially since the Court will be supplying the actual
penalty)."

This is also too interesting to me to see it judged invalid. I want to
see whether my attempt to eliminate this sort of thing was
successful. I have a niggling suspicion that this will be judged TRUE
but I hope it will be judged FALSE, I'm just pretty certain it
shouldn't be judged INVALID.

Supreme Court's Reasoning:

The Court agrees with the appealer with respect to the incorrectness
of the INVALID verdict.  It remains to be decided, therefore whether
the correct judgement is true or false.

It is clearly the case that Slakko attempted to chew the Gumball in
violation of rule 903, but did he in fact commit Blatant Disregard by
doing so?  That appears to be the question before the Court.

The Crime of Blatant Disregard occurs when (and only when) a player
breaks the rules.  It is alleged that Slakko chewed the Gumball on an
unacceptable day, thereby breaking rule 903.  

By rule 903, the Gumball can only be chewed on the first and third
Thursdays and second and fourth Wednesdays of each month. It therefore
cannot be chewed on any other day. The Gumball is wholly an Acka
entity, therefore its behavior and manipulation is wholly dependant on
the rules. Slakko's attempt to chew the Gumball on the specified day
failed, and that thus he did not actually chew it. It follows, then,
that he did not commit Blatant Disregard.

The original judge is penalized 3 points.

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

Date: Tue, 05 May 1998 17:02:12 -0400 (EDT)
From: "Tom Walmsley" <[email-masked]>
Subject: Acka: CFJ 580 (TRUE)

JT has judged this TRUE.

Clerk of the Courts
- -----------------------------------------------------------------------
Call For Judgement 580- May 03, 1998
Subject: Invalid?
Initiator: Slakko (sent May 03, 1998, 03:21)
Judge: JT (selected May 03, 1998, 07:30)
Judgement: TRUE

Statement:
Proposal 2936 was never declared invalid and removed from voting
consideration, and nor was it retracted.

Slakko's Reasoning:
Pandora never retracted Proposal 2936.  While it may appear to have been
similar to Proposal 2928, at no stage was the opinion of a judge asked
for.  Therefore, as Rule 309 says that the proposals must be substantially
similar "in the judgement of a judge to adjudicate such matters", and no
such judge has been chosen because no such CFJ has been submitted,
Proposal 2936 is not invalid.

Judge's Reasoning:
Rule 309 does in fact seem to be very clear that a judgement needs to be
made in order to rule it invalid.  Therefore, the statement made above is
true.  On first looking at the rule, it was unclear if the paranthetical
phrase referred to both the first clause or to the second one 'or the game
effect ...' as well, but given the recent discussions about just this sort
of ambiguity (with respect to Majiks and Trinkets), I'd have to believe
that the same considerations would apply here. 

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

Date: Tue, 05 May 1998 17:02:14 -0400 (EDT)
From: "Tom Walmsley" <[email-masked]>
Subject: Acka: CFJ 587 (Pandora)

Pandora has been selected

Clerk of the Courts
- -----------------------------------------------------------------------
Call For Judgement 587- May 05, 1998
Subject: Nyarlathotep
Initiator: Hubert (sent May 04, 1998, 18:45)
Judge: Pandora (selected May 05, 1998, 15:41)
Judgement: 

Statement:
There exists a Frankenstein Monster known as Nyarlathotep.

Initiator's Reasoning:
Slakko's claim is that this would be FALSE because the creation of
Nyarlathotep (hereafter N)'s Blueprint instantiated the optional
Functional Office of N, and then later on when the Monster N would have
been created, its name conflicted with that of the Office by Rule 348, and
hence the creation failed.

My argument would be as follows:
R348 states that "An attempt to do anything that requires a name to be
chosen [such as creating a Trinket or Organization] fails if the chosen
name matches a name already in use."  The creation of the Monster N did
not require a name to be chosen, for its name was chosen long ago when Rex
Mundi announced that e was trolling for Blueprint submissions.  So the
creation of the Monster succeeded with the same name as the Office, and
since the names conflict, R348 requires that the CSRR choose a legal name
for one of them, and that the Blueprint be updated to fix this.

Note that if CFJ 583 is judged TRUE, all instances of "Nyarlathotep" in
the Blueprint must be changed to the new name of the Office, whereas if it
is judged FALSE, only the one in the sentence "There exists an optional
Functional Office of Nyarlathotep." must be changed.  Assuming, of course,
that the CSRR (who is also, coincidentally, the judge of CFJ 583) chooses
to change the name of the Office instead of the name of the FM.: 

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

Date: Tue, 05 May 1998 17:02:16 -0400 (EDT)
From: "Tom Walmsley" <[email-masked]>
Subject: Acka: CFJ 586 (rufus)

rufus has been selected

Clerk of the Courts
- -----------------------------------------------------------------------
Call For Judgement 586- May 04, 1998
Subject: Auction
Initiator: /dev/joe (sent May 04, 1998, 11:10)
Judge: rufus (selected May 05, 1998, 14:44)
Judgement: 

Statement:
JT won the auction for the first Scroll of Crumble /dev/joe created
after becoming Inventor.

Initiator's Reasoning:
It depends on whether H*bert's bid is valid.  He wrote:

> If it is still going on I bid A$50 for the Scroll of Crumble.
> Unless that is too small in which case I bid the smallest bid I can make
> for it.

At the time, the high bid was A$55 by JT.  The auction ended after H*bert
made the bid above, and before any other bid was made, regardless of the
validity of this bid.

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

Date: Tue, 05 May 1998 17:02:16 -0400 (EDT)
From: "Tom Walmsley" <[email-masked]>
Subject: Acka: CFJ 582 (TRUE)

This has been judged TRUE

Clerk of the Courts
- -----------------------------------------------------------------------
Call For Judgement 582- May 04, 1998
Subject: Weasels
Initiator: Slakko (sent May 03, 1998, 18:52)
Judge: The Gingham Wearer (selected May 04, 1998, 11:00)
Judgement: TRUE

Statement:
"as soon as humanly possible" in Rule 1240.12 are Weasel Words.

Initiator's Reasoning:
This is a Weasel Words CFJ.
What does it mean for something to happen "as soon as humanly possible"?
Does it require public knowledge?  If I am working, not reading my mail,
but with the capacity to bring up my newsreader and post a message within
5 minutes, does this mean I must do it within 5 minutes without knowing
about it?  The rules do not say.  The rules give no indication as to the
interpretation of this particular phrase, which is open to widely varying
interpretation as to the exact timeframe it specifies.  

Some interpretational questions: Does it refer to one particular
human (one who is in a position to need to post the message) or to any
human?  Does it refer to each player having to post as soon as either is
capable of doing so, or only when they themselves are capable?  Does it
allow for people to find out the need to post a message (it does not state
that the player asked to post must know they have been asked)?

I therefore submit that the phrase quoted in the statement consists of
Weasel Words.

Judge's Reasoning:
Essentially I agree with the initiator's reasoning. Specifically I notice
that rule 344 states that:

"Any words which are vague, overly broad or obfuscate the intended meaning of
a rule qualify as weasel words."

Since the initiator's has provided several different definitions  then I
think that it is reasonable to consider these words to be vague. They
therefore satisfy the conditions for weasel words so I must judge this CFJ
TRUE (well okay, I don't have to but it would be foolish of me to do
otherwise).

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

Date: Tue, 05 May 1998 17:02:22 -0400 (EDT)
From: "Tom Walmsley" <[email-masked]>
Subject: Acka: CFCJ 162 (TRUE)

Alfvaen has judged this TRUE.

Clerk of the Courts
- -----------------------------------------------------------------------
Call For Criminal Judgment 162 (April 23)
Subject: Exhibitionism 2
Initiator: K 2  (sent April 22, 1998, 22:57)
Judge: The Gingham Wearer (deadbeat)
Second Judge: Alfvaen (selected April 30, 1998, 17:34)
Judgement: TRUE

Statement:
Hubert committed the Crime of Illegal Action on 22nd April 1998.

Initiator's Reasoning:
On Wed, 22 Apr 1998 17:20:00 Hubert posted:
.....
I dance on the Town Hall Steps.  Naked.
.....

Rule 842 states:
At all times it is illegal to dance naked on the Town Hall Steps.

Of course this brings up the question of what exactly naked is in
ackanomic. Is it the fact that one is not wearing a rule defined
garment? Or simply that one describes oneself as being naked? Either way
Hubert was naked.

Suggested penalty:
Transference of a Wool sweater from the treasury to Hubert to cover eir
nakedness.

Alfvaen's Reasoning:

The suggested penalty is not a valid one according to Rule 710.  Only
a transferrence of an entity from Hubert to K 2 would be valid.  However,
I think that there is some game custom that a CFCJ shall not be rendered
invalid merely because of an invalid suggested penalty.  (See, for instance,
CFCJ 137.)

Rule 842's requirements are indeed clear.  I'm not sure whether or not it
is actually the Crime of Rampant Exhibitionism to dance naked on the town
hall steps(it is listed as "illegal", not "a Crime"), but Hubert certainly
did not pay A$2 to the First Citizen for a[sic] Exhibitionist's permit,
and the dance was not described in verse.  Therefore, e committed the
Crime of Rampant Exhibitionism.

Actual penalty:

A FINE of A$2(to cover the Exhibitionist's permit) and
a PUBLIC APOLOGY of 5 lines so that Hubert may properly describe eir dance
in verse.

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

Date: Tue, 05 May 1998 17:02:25 -0400 (EDT)
From: "Tom Walmsley" <[email-masked]>
Subject: Acka: CFJ 544 (FALSE (overturned))

This has been overturned to FALSE by the Supreme Cortex of breadbox and
ThinMan.

Clerk of the Courts
- -----------------------------------------------------------------------
Call For Judgement 544 - March 07, 1998
Subject: Shelter
Initiator: The Gingham Wearer (sent March 07, 1998, 17:20)
Judge: Hubert (selected March 07, 1998, 17:21)
Judgement: TRUE
Appealed by: Alfvaen
Judgement: FALSE

Statement:
The Gingham Wearer is sheltered.

Initiator's Reasoning:
Once more, this is something I'm not sure about. CFJ has established that
there still exists a building called rule 1 is repealed. #1 and The Gingham
Wearer attempted to go there with the following message:

"I am leaving the wilds and going to Rule 1 is repealed. #1 Headquarters."

There are a few possibilities:
1. E didn't succeed in this action because the members of Vulcan didn't let
em in.
2. E got in but isn't sheltered because the building isn't defined in the
rules.
3. E got in and is sheltered because of Rule 1 is repealed. #1 Headquarters.
4. E got in and is sheltered because e is on the same Kaa of land as Vulcan
HQ.

Basically, what I want to know, is how many of its properties R1IR#1HQ
retained after the Vulcan changed their name back to Vulcan. I'm pretty sure
that it will turn out that I'm not sheltered, but I'm not 100% sure. The best
example I can think of is that there still exists The Widget of Yendor but it
doesn't have any of it's old properties. Except entityhood I believe, oddly
enough. This is different though. Not only has entityhood been maintained but
buildingness has too. Why is this? I don't know. And if it's buildingness is
maintained why not all it's other properties. If it turns out that I am
sheltered then I think we need to set about destroying rule 1 is repealed. #1
HQ otherwise Tornadoes might not be quite as interesting.

Judge's reasoning:
If Rule 1 is Repealed. #1 Headquarters kept its other attributes such as
Extravagance and Commonness, I see no reason that it shouldn't keep its
towers as well, since they are also entities that were created by the same
Rule.  This could, however, cause things to start getting sticky.

Appealer's reasoning:
Rule 1, at the time, created a building called 'Rule 1 is repealed. #1
Headquarters' with "six 3500-meter tall ostentatious towers attached to
it which are not associated with any player."  Rule 1 also defined other
characteristics for it, including it being a Common Location, and the
fact of only being able to be admitted by members of 'Rule 1 is repealed.
#1', a.k.a. Vulcan.

Rule 835 is not clear as to whether R1ir#H (for short) would remain a
Common Location after the Rules stopped specifying that it is.  However,
considering that the magic words "A Location may only be a Common Location
as specified by the Rules" do not appear, I think it is possible that it
could be.

So let us assume The Gingham Wearer was able to enter R1ir#H.  Would e
still be Sheltered?  Rule 841 states that "the term 'Ostentatious Tower'
is always with respect to a particular player".  I believe that this may
cause the no-player-associated Ostentatious Towers on R1ir#H(and, for
that matter, Vulcan Headquarters)to not function as Ostentatious Towers
for the purposes of the rest of the Rule.  The word "ostentatious" in what
is now Rule 1150 may be considered to be a meaningless adjective, because
the Rules do not support its attempted definition.  By elimination, the
towers on the two Headquarters must be Public(although there is the
possibility that they do not fit the criterion for Public towers either,
and may end up being towers of unspecified nature).

Thus, I believe that the Towers on R1ir#H, and VH as well, are not
Ostentations for the Purpose of Rule 841, and thus do not possess
Sheltering basements.

I also note that the fact that Towers seem to be specified to Shelter
players _only during Tornados_ would make this trivially FALSE anyway,
but I'd like to know whether TGW would be Sheltered during the Tornado
as well.

Supreme Court's Comments:
The Court is essentially in agreement with the appealer's arguments
(with one minor correction).

Rule 1 is repealed. #1 Headquarters retains those properties which
were granted to it by the rules at the time of its creation (such as
the properties of being an entity, a Building and a Common Location,
and having Towers). On the other hand, Rule 841 defines precisely what
Towers can be considered Ostentatious, and this definition disagrees
with the information given about the Towers in question by Rule
1150. This rule also does not have the necessary precedence to
override Rule 841, and so its towers are not Ostentatious.

The Court notes, however, that Rule 1150 describes the Towers
belonging to Vulcan Headquarters, while the Building being discussed
here is actually Rule 1 is repealed. #1 Headquarters. This Building
was never defined by Rule 1150, but exists entirely due to a Rule that
was numbered 1 and undeniably had the necessary precedence to override
Rule 841. So, to be precise, the fact that Rule 1150 lacks sufficient
precedence is not the reason that the Towers are not Ostentatious.
Their Ostentatious property was stripped from them by Rule 841 the
moment that Rule 1 ceased to refer to Rule 1 is repealed. #1
Headquarters, because at that time, no rule prevented Rule 841's
definition (which was essentially in force all the while, and still
is) from applying to the Towers of Rule 1 is repealed. #1
Headquarters.

The original judge is penalized 1 point.

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

Date: Tue, 05 May 1998 17:13:15 -0400 (EDT)
From: "Tom Walmsley" <[email-masked]>
Subject: Re: Acka: Let the fun begin...

> 	I call an Auction them Entities on the AR-F.  Count Tabula, don't
> forget about the AR-P election.

Uh? What's that? Is it something to do with the stock exchange? If it is then
can you please spell it out to me; I've not been following the stock market
at all.

TGW, Count Tabula.

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

Date: Tue, 05 May 1998 17:16:07 -0400 (EDT)
From: Towsner <[email-masked]>
Subject: Re: Acka: Let the fun begin...

>> 	I call an Auction them Entities on the AR-F.  Count Tabula, don't
>> forget about the AR-P election.
	1928 (the proposal) created two new Ackan Reserve seats, the
Financial and Public seats.  The Public seat is political, and the proposal
called for nominations.

- --
- -Henry Towsner

	<[email-masked]>

	Success is the child of audacity.
		-Benjamin Disraeli

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

Date: Tue, 05 May 1998 17:34:20 -0400 (EDT)
From: Duncan Richer <[email-masked]>
Subject: Acka: Stripe

Today it is once again (again!) time to celebrate a very stripey
achievement. Alfvaen, Speaker of Ackanomic, has once again reached a
rather round Blue Cross Rank, this time 120.  Only one other player in the
history of the game has achieved such a rank before.  Your gold and silver
stripes reflect in the eyes of those you pass, blinding them with the
brilliance of your proposals.

This stripe comes only a short while after the last one, being the result
of 10 uninterrupted accepted proposals, continuing your unbeaten streak to
an astounding 23 accepted proposals since your last rejection.  How do you
do it?  (And how are we supposed to catch you?)

Alfvaen, I present you with this Silver Stripe.  Wear it in good harf.

- -- 
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

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

End of ackanomic digest V3 #138
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