Subject: ackanomic digest V3 #268
From: [email-masked] (ackanomic digest)
To: [email-masked]

ackanomic digest        Monday, August 10 1998        Volume 03 : Number 268

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Date: Mon, 10 Aug 1998 08:55:44 -0400 (EDT)
From: Tom Walmsley <[email-masked]>
Subject: Acka: Kilroy

There once was an amethyst dragon
Who lived all her life in a wagon
She couldn't be tamed
And her neighbours complained
"Just what on Eart is that old bag on?"

Just thought you might like to know this.

MTM.

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

Date: Mon, 10 Aug 1998 10:31:48 -0400 (EDT)
From: [email-masked] (Aaron V. Humphrey)
Subject: Acka: Test

This is a test.  I have no idea if this alias exists; right now my mail
server is saying "no route to host" when I try to send to muppetlabs, and
a traceroute ends at 198.104.194.89 with "!H" flag.

- --
- --Alfvaen(Web page: http://www.connect.ab.ca/~alfvaen/ )
Song In My Head--Concrete Blonde:Dance Along The Edge
Current Book--Sheri S. Tepper:Shadow's End
The meek shall inherit the Earth, if that's okay with you

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

Date: Mon, 10 Aug 1998 10:37:19 -0400 (EDT)
From: David Scheidt <[email-masked]>
Subject: Re: Acka: Test

On Mon, 10 Aug 1998, Aaron V. Humphrey wrote:
> This is a test.  I have no idea if this alias exists; right now my mail
> server is saying "no route to host" when I try to send to muppetlabs, and
> a traceroute ends at 198.104.194.89 with "!H" flag.

www.muppetlabs.com has been intermittently unreachable for me this
morning.  It seems to  be an upstream problem.

rufus

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

Date: Mon, 10 Aug 1998 11:04:09 -0400 (EDT)
From: K2 <[email-masked]>
Subject: Acka: Stuff

I offer my vending machine to breadbox with A$56 with the provision that
e buys me two boxes of chocolates and returns the Vending machine.

I offer my vending machine to IdiotBoy with A$28 with the provision that
e buys me two Magic Radishes and returns the Vending machine.

I take possession of the Little Lamb.

I buy myself a woolly jumper.

I purchase two of each of the following from my vending machine:
Rock To Wind A String Around
Santa's Beard

I remove the purple robe of justice.
I wear one of my gingham dresses, my woolly jumper and the purple robe
of justice, in that order.
I don the prosthetic forehead numbered 36 which I found in a treasure.

I apply to the herald for a thingy (blazon?) described in lay terms as:
A horizontally divided, murrey and  ocher background with K2 [note the
spelling - the mountain not the player ;) ] rampant in the center.

K 2
Waiting to chew The Ball :)

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

Date: Mon, 10 Aug 1998 11:21:47 -0400 (EDT)
From: JT <[email-masked]>
Subject: Acka: Link aufgenommen! (fwd)

Would anyone here who can speak german please translate this for me?
I don't speak german (sorry) and while I find the altavista babelfish
amusing, it's translations are usually far afield.

- --JT

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

- ---------- Forwarded message ----------
Date: Mon, 10 Aug 1998 11:59:26 +0200
From: [email-masked]
To: "JT (Traub) *Bitte zuerst Regeln lesen!*" <[email-masked]>
Subject: Link aufgenommen!

Hallo,

vielen Dank fuer deinen Besuch auf unserer Site!

Wir haben den von dir genannten Link aufgenommen. Hier nochmal die Daten, wie sie
verarbeitet wurden.

Titel: Ackanomic
URL: http://dcr24.quns.cam.ac.uk/Nomic/Acka/index.html
Kategorie: eMail
Beschreibung: Englisch. (In Nomic kann man die Regeln ändern, normalerweise
durch Abstimmung.) Seit Januar 1996 aktiv. Regeln mehrere 100K,
man braucht die allermeisten aber nicht dauernd.
Kontact Name: JT (Traub) *Bitte zuerst Regeln lesen!*
Kontact eMail: [email-masked]

Du kannst den neuen Eintrag unter

  http://www.iap.de/~taurus/search

einsehen. Solltest du noch weitere Fragen haben, so zoegere nicht eine
eMail zu senden.

Wir wuerden uns ebenfalls sehr auf einen Link zu unserer Page 
(http://www.iap.de/~taurus/pbm.html) freuen.

Mit spielerischen Gruessen,

PBM - Links & Infos

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

Date: Mon, 10 Aug 1998 11:28:35 -0400 (EDT)
From: JT <[email-masked]>
Subject: Re: Acka: Kilroy

On Mon, 10 Aug 1998, Tom Walmsley wrote:
>There once was an amethyst dragon
>Who lived all her life in a wagon
>She couldn't be tamed
>And her neighbours complained
>"Just what on Eart is that old bag on?"
>
>Just thought you might like to know this.

Mr. Tambourine Man has found the Big-Nosed Kilroy Treasure.

The unencoded map was as follows:
Post a limerick using the words amethyst and dragon to the main ackanomic
mailing list.  The title of the post must contain the word Kilroy.

The encoded map that I posted was:
VUARQ HYGEB SOEYC GPEHB SEADJ YIKUP XSSDK ZXHBY IMBNC BTQSG QLQYA UNYWU
WQKGN GBAZQ EFZNM RYPBY OPDTY TYQVK IMHKA ZZGQL JDUQO BNWCP BMA

The text on the clue fragment that I auctioned was:
A gemlike color, royal hue.
A creature, mythic, flies to you.
With these two words, the cyphers clear.
As long as you know I used vigenere.
Not only once each, that's too tame
Nor smashed together, that's too lame.
With this you should have enough,
If you don't.... Well, life is rough.

The map was quadruple vigenere encoded twice each with the two keywords
pointed at above, 'amethyst' and 'dragon'.

Congratulations MTM.

- --JT

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

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

Date: Mon, 10 Aug 1998 11:33:33 -0400 (EDT)
From: "Michael Pizolato" <[email-masked]>
Subject: Re: Acka: RFC - Weekends Off

Publius wrote:
>Michael Pizolato wrote:
>>Request for Comment:
>>
>>Create a new rule, numbered appropriately, with the title "Weekends Off"
and
>>the following WEEKEND-delimited text:
>>
>>WEEKEND
>>No rule which specifies that an action must occur within some period of
time
>>shall specify a period of less than three (3) days for that period.
>>
>>{{[This was prompted by Publius' RFC specifying that reconsiderations must
>>be submitted within 24 hours.
>
>FWIW, I immediately amended my proposal when it was pointed out to me (a
new
>player) what the custom has been, and why it is like that.
>
>I guess I'd hate to see the group bind its hands this way.  I don't
perceive it
>to be a real problem; a polite pointer solved it the one time it has
occurred
>since I've joined.  Yet, as at least one other pointed out, there might be
>instances where it would be desireable to require quick action.

I wasn't criticizing Publius or his proposal - it's just that his proposal
triggered this idea in my head.

In a deliberative game like Nomic, I can't see how requiring action that
might be impossible for some players to take through no fault of their own
can possibly be necessary, and the only "desirable" case I can think of is a
manipulation to the advantage of one individual or group (not that I'm
necessarily against that, in games or in life :-).

Anyway, here is a new version for discussion:

Create a new rule, numbered appropriately, with the title "Weekends Off" and
the following CLENCHED-HAIR-delimited text:

CLENCHED-HAIR
No rule which specifies that an action must occur within some period of time
shall specify a period of less than three (3) days for that period.

{{[This was prompted by Publius' RFC specifying that reconsiderations must
be submitted within 24 hours. My Acka mail comes to me at work, so I almost
never see mail received over the weekend until the Monday following. This
doesn't account for long weekends or vacations, but vacations at least are
dealt with elsewhere. As for long weekends, this is an international group
and holidays vary from country to country; unless official Acka-holidays are
designated there's no good way to deal with them (not that designating
official Acka-holidays for other purposes is a bad idea :-).]}}
CLENCHED-HAIR

Amend all rules which specify that an action must occur within fewer than
three (3) days so they refer to a period of not less than three (3) days.

{{[For example, a rule containing the text "within 2 days" changes to
"within 3 days" (I'd have given an example take from the rules but I can't
get to the Acka web page at the moment), but the final sentence of Rule 205,
paragraph (1), subparagraph (c) ("They must do so within 3 days") remains
unchanged.]}}

Thanks,
Piz

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

Date: Mon, 10 Aug 1998 13:04:59 -0400 (EDT)
From: Tom Walmsley <[email-masked]>
Subject: Re: Acka: Kilroy

>Mr. Tambourine Man has found the Big-Nosed Kilroy Treasure.

I give A$50 to /dev/joe for help with this treasure.

MTM.

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

Date: Mon, 10 Aug 1998 13:11:20 -0400 (EDT)
From: "Michael Pizolato" <[email-masked]>
Subject: Re: Acka: RFC - Weekends Off

Publius wrote:
>Michael Pizolato wrote:
>>Request for Comment:
>>
>>Create a new rule, numbered appropriately, with the title "Weekends Off"
and
>>the following WEEKEND-delimited text:
>>
>>WEEKEND
>>No rule which specifies that an action must occur within some period of
time
>>shall specify a period of less than three (3) days for that period.
>>
>>{{[This was prompted by Publius' RFC specifying that reconsiderations must
>>be submitted within 24 hours.
>
>FWIW, I immediately amended my proposal when it was pointed out to me (a
new
>player) what the custom has been, and why it is like that.
>
>I guess I'd hate to see the group bind its hands this way.  I don't
perceive it
>to be a real problem; a polite pointer solved it the one time it has
occurred
>since I've joined.  Yet, as at least one other pointed out, there might be
>instances where it would be desireable to require quick action.

I wasn't criticizing Publius or his proposal - it's just that his proposal
triggered this idea in my head.

In a deliberative game like Nomic, I can't see how requiring action that
might be impossible for some players to take through no fault of their own
can possibly be necessary, and the only "desirable" case I can think of is a
manipulation to the advantage of one individual or group (not that I'm
necessarily against that, in games or in life :-).

Anyway, here is a new version for discussion:

Create a new rule, numbered appropriately, with the title "Weekends Off" and
the following CLENCHED-HAIR-delimited text:

CLENCHED-HAIR
No rule which specifies that an action must occur within some period of time
shall specify a period of less than three (3) days for that period.

{{[This was prompted by Publius' RFC specifying that reconsiderations must
be submitted within 24 hours. My Acka mail comes to me at work, so I almost
never see mail received over the weekend until the Monday following. This
doesn't account for long weekends or vacations, but vacations at least are
dealt with elsewhere. As for long weekends, this is an international group
and holidays vary from country to country; unless official Acka-holidays are
designated there's no good way to deal with them (not that designating
official Acka-holidays for other purposes is a bad idea :-).]}}
CLENCHED-HAIR

Amend all rules which specify that an action must occur within fewer than
three (3) days so they refer to a period of not less than three (3) days.

{{[For example, a rule containing the text "within 2 days" changes to
"within 3 days" (I'd have given an example take from the rules but I can't
get to the Acka web page at the moment), but the final sentence of Rule 205,
paragraph (1), subparagraph (c) ("They must do so within 3 days") remains
unchanged.]}}

Thanks,
Piz

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

Date: Mon, 10 Aug 1998 15:27:46 -0400 (EDT)
From: Brian Raiter <[email-masked]>
Subject: Re: Acka: Link aufgenommen! (fwd)

> Would anyone here who can speak german please translate this for me?
> I don't speak german (sorry) and while I find the altavista babelfish
> amusing, it's translations are usually far afield.

I don't pretend that I can actually speak it, but I have some
knowledge and a darned good dictionary....

> ---------- Forwarded message ----------
> Date: Mon, 10 Aug 1998 11:59:26 +0200
> From: [email-masked]
> To: "JT (Traub) *Bitte zuerst Regeln lesen!*" <[email-masked]>
> Subject: Link aufgenommen!

To: "JT (Traub) *Please learn the Rules first!*"
Subject: Link accepted!

> Hallo,
> 
> vielen Dank fuer deinen Besuch auf unserer Site!

Many thanks for visiting our site!

> Wir haben den von dir genannten Link aufgenommen. Hier nochmal die
> Daten, wie sie verarbeitet wurden.

We have accepted your referring link. Once more, here are the facts
from which it would be produced.

> Titel: Ackanomic
> URL: http://dcr24.quns.cam.ac.uk/Nomic/Acka/index.html
> Kategorie: eMail
> Beschreibung: Englisch. (In Nomic kann man die Regeln ändern,
> normalerweise durch Abstimmung.) Seit Januar 1996 aktiv. Regeln
> mehrere 100K, man braucht die allermeisten aber nicht dauernd.

Written in English. (In Nomic one can change the rules, normally
through voting.) Active since January 1996. Rules (are) several
hundred K - one needs (access to?) them above all but not
continuously.

> Kontact Name: JT (Traub) *Bitte zuerst Regeln lesen!*
> Kontact eMail: [email-masked]
> 
> Du kannst den neuen Eintrag unter
>
>   http://www.iap.de/~taurus/search
> 
> einsehen. Solltest du noch weitere Fragen haben, so zoegere nicht eine
> eMail zu senden.

You can view the new entry under http://www.iap.de/~taurus/search. If
you still have further questions, don't hesitate to send email.

> Wir wuerden uns ebenfalls sehr auf einen Link zu unserer Page 
> (http://www.iap.de/~taurus/pbm.html) freuen.

We would appreciate a corresponding link to our page
(http://www.iap.de/~taurus/pbm.html).

> Mit spielerischen Gruessen,

Playfully yours,

> PBM - Links & Infos

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

Date: Mon, 10 Aug 1998 15:35:38 -0400 (EDT)
From: Brian Raiter <[email-masked]>
Subject: Re: Acka: Test

>> This is a test.  I have no idea if this alias exists; right now my mail
>> server is saying "no route to host" when I try to send to muppetlabs, and
>> a traceroute ends at 198.104.194.89 with "!H" flag.
> 
> www.muppetlabs.com has been intermittently unreachable for me this
> morning.  It seems to  be an upstream problem.

I'm really sorry that so many players are having problems reaching
muppetlabs.com. I've noticed that several of these sites are also
occasionally unreachable from here as well (i.e., "no route to host"
from muppetlabs.com to, for example, lineone.net). It's pretty clear
that the problem (if it is a single problem) is not at either of the
endpoints. Hopefully whatever's acting up in the middle will work
itself out before long.

breadbox

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

Date: Mon, 10 Aug 1998 16:03:10 -0400 (EDT)
From: JT <[email-masked]>
Subject: Re: Acka: Link aufgenommen! (fwd)

On Mon, 10 Aug 1998, Brian Raiter wrote:

>> Would anyone here who can speak german please translate this for me?
>> I don't speak german (sorry) and while I find the altavista babelfish
>> amusing, it's translations are usually far afield.
>
>I don't pretend that I can actually speak it, but I have some
>knowledge and a darned good dictionary....

Thanks :)  Now the question is, how did I get on this list/link site?  I
never visited them (as they implied I did), so all I can guess is that
some web-crawler found the (main?) Acka site and it thought I was the
contact.

Thanks again breadbox.

>We would appreciate a corresponding link to our page
>(http://www.iap.de/~taurus/pbm.html).

Slakko, I leave it up to you as web-harfer if you wish to create a 'links
to other online PBM-type games' page or whatever.

- --JT

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

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

Date: Mon, 10 Aug 1998 16:37:12 -0400 (EDT)
From: David Scheidt <[email-masked]>
Subject: Re: Acka: Test

On Mon, 10 Aug 1998, Brian Raiter wrote:

> 
> >> This is a test.  I have no idea if this alias exists; right now my mail
> >> server is saying "no route to host" when I try to send to muppetlabs, and
> >> a traceroute ends at 198.104.194.89 with "!H" flag.
> > 
> > www.muppetlabs.com has been intermittently unreachable for me this
> > morning.  It seems to  be an upstream problem.
> 
> I'm really sorry that so many players are having problems reaching
> muppetlabs.com. I've noticed that several of these sites are also
> occasionally unreachable from here as well (i.e., "no route to host"
> from muppetlabs.com to, for example, lineone.net). It's pretty clear
> that the problem (if it is a single problem) is not at either of the
> endpoints. Hopefully whatever's acting up in the middle will work
> itself out before long.

When i did a traceroute this morning, it ended  at
sl-nwnet-1-1.sprintlink.net, which is the last hop in sprintlink land
before verio.net.  198.104.194.0, acording to ARIN's whois database, is
assigned to NWNET.NET, which according to www.nwnet.net, are now verio
Northwest.  www.muppetlabs.com is a netblock assigned (agian according to
ARIN) to NWNET.NET.  So it appears that verio.net are having problems.
They appear to be muppetlabs NSP, so you, or your network puppets, might
want to give 'em a holler and see what's up.

rufus

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

Date: Mon, 10 Aug 1998 16:48:56 -0400 (EDT)
From: Brian Raiter <[email-masked]>
Subject: Re: Acka: Test

> When i did a traceroute this morning, it ended  at
> sl-nwnet-1-1.sprintlink.net, which is the last hop in sprintlink land
> before verio.net.  198.104.194.0, acording to ARIN's whois database, is
> assigned to NWNET.NET, which according to www.nwnet.net, are now verio
> Northwest.  www.muppetlabs.com is a netblock assigned (agian according to
> ARIN) to NWNET.NET.  So it appears that verio.net are having problems.
> They appear to be muppetlabs NSP, so you, or your network puppets, might
> want to give 'em a holler and see what's up.

Actually, verio.net is the ISP for the ISP for muppetlabs.com (among
many others). They have been hollered at, rest assured.

b

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

Date: Mon, 10 Aug 1998 17:46:06 -0400 (EDT)
From: K2 <[email-masked]>
Subject: Acka: Office

The following players nominated emselves for CotC:
else...if - said not really, just I was about to apoint em :/
JT
Slakko

I appoint Slakko as CotC.

The following players nominated emselves for Scorekeeper:
Alfvaen

This one was really hard :)
I appoint Alfvaen as Scorekeeper.

K 2
Prez.

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

Date: Mon, 10 Aug 1998 18:28:13 -0400 (EDT)
From: "Joseph W. DeVincentis" <[email-masked]>
Subject: Acka: The ACK

                   Ackanomic Cyclopedia of Knowledge
Volume 1 issue 8                                           August 10, 1998
==========================================================================

Apology
- -------
Due to a severe shortage of time caused by the staff of the ACK trying to
finish a thesis and get ready to move for a job, the ACK today publishes
its second straight content-free issue.  But rumor has it that another
issue before month's end will contain all /dev/joe knows about the still-
extant treasures, excepting the Jukkasjarvi one (the accumulated clues
for which could fill an Infrequent-Ackan-sized issue easily) and those
treasures /dev/joe buried himself.  And there will still be clues for
finding the treasure with all of /dev/joe's old buried twice-over
antiquities, someday.

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

End of ackanomic digest V3 #268
*******************************