Subject: ackanomic digest V3 #303
From: [email-masked] (ackanomic digest)
To: [email-masked]

ackanomic digest       Monday, September 7 1998       Volume 03 : Number 303

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

Date: Mon, 07 Sep 1998 00:49:08 -0400 (EDT)
From: "Joseph W. DeVincentis" <[email-masked]>
Subject: Acka: RFC: Blueprint Redux

Here is a proposal idea I've had for a while now, but today I finally
wrote it all out, and then cleaned it up a bit.  The main idea is to make
blueprints once again just describe the behavior of their gadgets.  I
also cleaned up lots of stuff that would be broken by this, or which is
already broken (and I just happened to notice as I was reading the rules
carefully).  In particular, I want to know if there is any strong objection
to any of my repeals -- all but the BWG stuff has already passed as one of
K2's 'debunk' proposals, so I don't expect much opposition here.

{{[ Somewhere along the way, we made blueprints *far* too general.  There
seems to be no limits on what a blueprint can do, except that if created
as a discovery, it must initially describe the behavior of one new gadget.
Also, some things were broken by the global deference thing, or maybe even
never were really written such that they would work.

This also repeals all the blueprints that Acka voted to debunk, and the
BWG Laser and shotgun attachment which I expect were only not so voted
because K2 failed to propose that.]}}

Amend Rule 594, 'Blueprint Rule Suite', by changing the quoted occurrence
of "<name>" in section III to "Blueprint: <name>" and by replacing
section VI with the following TAOS-delimited text:

TAOS
VI. Blueprints defer to all non-Blueprint rules, except as specified
elsewhere in this rule.  [This allows blueprints to claim precedence or
defer to one another, and allows the Whamiol's trade restriction to work.]

VII. A Blueprint may only define the behavior and attributes of gadgets of 
the type which is named in its title, define ways in which such gadgets and
their attributes may be manipulated, manipulate or destroy (but not create)
such gadgets and/or their attributes, and place restrictions on how such
gadgets may be created, destroyed, or otherwise manipulated.  Restrictions
of this last type do not defer to other rules by default.  [R515 defers,
so the Whamiol's trade restriction will now actually work.]

Blueprints may not create, destroy, or manipulate any other entities,
except in the ways that they direct their gadgets to do so.  [It is still
possible to write blueprints that claim extra power, for instance, by
having the first gadget created do whatever other stuff they need, but
this will make such blueprints/discoveries look much more scammy, so
hopefully they will be voted down, debunked, etc.  It also prevents the
'instant creation' scheme which has become too popular.]
TAOS

Repeal Rule 594.6, "Blueprint: Gravitational Monopole".
Repeal Rule 594.8, "Blueprint: Jukkasjarvi Mind Control Laser".
Repeal Rule 594.11, "Blueprint: Bonus Vote Add-On"
Repeal Rule 594.12, "Blueprint: Gimme Shelter".
Repeal Rule 594.15, "Blueprint: Pulse Laser".
Repeal Rule 594.17, "Blueprint: BWG Laser".
Repeal Rule 594.20, "Blueprint: BWG Laser Shotgun Attachment"
Repeal Rule 594.24, "Blueprint: Finger of Justice".

{{[ Except for the BWG stuff, proposals to 'debunk' all these passed, and I
suspect the BWG stuff would have similarly passed. ]}}

Repeal Rule 594.26, "Blueprint: Saaremaa's Codex of Wizardry".

{{[ The Codex of Wizardry is, unfortunately, not compatible with the
recent change which eliminated scientists as gadget-builders, so it goes. ]}}

{{[ Other misc changes to make the existing blueprints fall strictly in
line with this limitation.  Most of these are simply changing 'x happens'
to 'the gadget does x'.  There are also some bug fixes, marked as such. ]}}

Amend Rule 594.1, "Blueprint: Scroll of Crumble" by changing 

"If this action is successful then the specified gadget is destroyed. If the
gadget was indestructible, three points are deducted from the score of the
Scroll of Crumble's owner."

to

"If this action is successful, the Scroll of Crumble destroys the specified
gadget if it is not indestructible, or otherwise deducts three points from
the score of its owner."

Amend Rule 594.2, "Blueprint: The Really Big Blue Thing That Doesn't Do Too
Much, Really" by changing (at the end of the next-to-last paragraph)
"then x's name is changed to the specified anagram" to "then The Really
Big Blue Thing That Doesn't Do Too Much, Really changes x's name to the
specified anagram".

Amend Rule 594.4, "Blueprint: Vending Machine" by inserting after the
second paragraph the paragraph from Rule 594.11, "Blueprint: Bonus
Vote Add-On" which begins "While an unbroken Bonus Vote Add-On is
strapped" and delete that paragraph from Rule 594.11.

Amend Rule 594.5, "Blueprint: Automatic Sculpture" by changing 

"When an Automatic Sculpture is buried as, or as part of, a Treasure, it is
possible that the panel may open up, minute polyjointed arms may sneak out,
and the Gadget may carve itself into a fascinating (though perhaps
offensively avant-garde) stone figurine. In fact, when a Player other than
the Player who buried the Automatic Sculpture finds it, he or she shall see
that the Automatic Sculpture has transformed itself into a Trinket worth
A$123. (The Trinket's name is "Sculpture", followed by a space and then by
a number, the least prime number that would result in a unique name.)

When an Automatic Sculpture transforms itself into a Trinket, The Officer
in Charge of Random Things shall choose a player at random(who will be
called the Mad Sculptor). The Mad Sculptor shall be responsible for
providing a description of the trinket formed by the Automatic Sculpture.
Should the Mad Sculptor not publicly post such a description within three
days of being selected, e shall lose one point and the description shall
become "it is X", where X is one of the colours defined in Rule 1155."

to

"An Automatic Sculpture is always in one of two states, active and dormant,
and begins dormant.  When a player other than the player who buried a
dormant Automatic Sculpture finds the treasure containing it, it becomes
active, and minute polyjointed arms sneak out of the panel, carving the
gadget into a fascinating (though perhaps offensively avant-garde) stone
figurine.  When an Automatic Sculpture becomes active, it designates a
player at random to be its Mad Sculptor.  The Mad Sculptor is responsible
for posting a description; when he does so, the Automatic Sculpture sets
its description to that description.  If e does not do so within 3 days
of being selected, the Automatic Sculpture deducts one point from the Mad
Sculptor's score, and sets its description to "It is X." where X is one of
the colours defined in Rule 1155, chosen at random, or green if no such
colours exist.

When the description of an active Automatic Sculpture is set, it transforms
itself into a trinket worth A$123, with the same description the Sculpture
had, and the name "Sculpture X" where X is replaced by the least prime
number that would result in a unique name."

Amend Rule 594.9, "Blueprint: Spell Book of Chorg" by changing "one of
the following effects shall occur" to "the Spell Book of Chorg shall cause
one of the following effects to occur".  {{[ A handy shortcut... ]}}

Amend Rule 594.10, "Blueprint: Plunky Monkey Wrench", by changing "The
Wrench is then destroyed, and the mechanical Gadget into which it was
thrown becomes broken" to "The Wrench then causes the gadget it was thrown
into to become broken, and then the Wrench is destroyed" and by changing
"the mechanical Gadget then ceases to be broken" to "the Wrench then causes
the mechanical Gadget to cease to be broken", and by deleting "; whether
or not this happens shall be determined by the Inventor, unless the rules
assign that duty to someone else".  {{[ Oops, the inventor is no more. ]}}

Amend Rule 594.14, "Blueprint: Cheez-Whiz", by changing "The cheese in
question will then be destroyed" to "The Cheez-Whiz will then destroy the
cheese in question" and the sentence "All sentences that follow this one
are, or describe, attributes of grapefruit, and they conflict with this one."
is deleted.

Amend Rule 594.16, "Blueprint: Silver Spaceship" by changing "the launcher is
transported to the Location named" to "the Spaceship transports the launcher
to the location named".

Amend Rule 594.18, "Blueprint: Butler" by changing "then any player who
wishes to may enter that player's Home" to "then whenever any player
publicly asks to enter that player's Home, the Butler will transport em
there".

Amend Rule 594.19, "Blueprint: Pyraic Frobnotzer", by changing "those two
noun phrases trade location within the Rule set" to "the Frobnotzer swaps
those two noun phrases within the Rule set".

Amend Rule 360, "Hearings", by adding the following to the end of the
fifth paragraph: "If exactly one Good Ballot Stuffer attempts to shut
Evil Ballot Stuffers out of a hearing, then no responses from Evil Ballot
Stuffers shall be counted in determining the verdict."

Amend Rule 594.21, "Blueprint: Good Ballot Stuffer" by replacing the
paragraph which begins with "The boring lever is used" with:

"In any hearing or election, the owner of a GBS may flip the boring lever
by privately telling the hearing harfer that e is doing so.  The GBS
will then attempt to shut Evil Ballot Stuffers out of that hearing.
[See the Hearings rule - this makes EBS votes not count, if and only if
no other GBS was used in this way.]"

In addition, in that rule, replace "2. One bonus vote is created"

with "2. The GBS creates one bonus vote",

and replace "3. The owner of the GBS receives"

with "3. The GBS gives its owner",

and replace "4. The game state is changed such that any player who posts a
public message in the next week that does not contain the word "harf" (or a
derivative of it) shall lose one point for every such message."

with "4. For the next week, each time any player posts a public message
that does not contain the word "harf" (or a derivative of it), the GBS
deducts one point from that player's score."

and replace "Upon a GBS starting to shake and shimmy uncontrollably, one of 3
things will occur with equal probability. A GBS may not be used between the
time it starts to shimmy and shake and the time the this random determination
is publicly knowable at which time it shall cease to shake and shimmy:"

with "Upon a GBS starting to shake and shimmy uncontrollably, one of the
following 3 things will occur with equal probability, except that if item
4 on this list above occurs, it will shake and shimmy for one week before
one of the 3 things happens.  In either case, when one of the 3 things
happens, it will stop shaking and shimmying uncontrollably.  A GBS may not
be used while it is shaking and shimmying uncontrollably."

Create a new rule numberes 935, entitled "Holotapes", which reads in full:

"Master Holotapes and Holotape Copies are named, tradeable entities.
Each records the text of a public message from Acka's past so a player
can display this message in his home or any other place.  Master Holotapes
differ from Holotape Copies because with an appropriate device, Master
Holotapes can be copied into Holotape Copies.  When a Holotape Copy
is made, it receives the name of the Master Holotape it was made from,
with 'Copy #N' appended, where N is the smallest positive integer
necessary to make the name be unique."

Amend Rule 594.25, "Blueprint: Transtemporal Holographic Image Recording
Device" to read in full:

"A Transtemporal Holographic Image Recording Device (or THIRD) is a wonderful
mechanical Gadget created from Ancient science.  A player may use a THIRD to
create a Master Holotape containing the text of any past public message or
subset thereof.  To do so, the player must quote the text of each message
publicly, and pay into the Treasury a fee of A$1 for each week or portion
thereof prior to the present time each message was posted.  The player must
also give a name to the Master Holotape.

A player with a THIRD and a Master Holotape may pay A$5 to have the THIRD
create a Holotape Copy, which contains the same text as the Master Holotape
(this text need not be posted again to the public forum to do so)."

Amend Rule 1215, "Duels", by adding to the end of the section 4b:
"A player owning a Highlander's Sword is never untouchable at any other
time.  This takes precedence over the later sections of this rule."
and by adding the following to the end of section 4i: "A player with
a Highlander's Sword may exceed these limits, but only with a single
Challenge each calendar week."

Amend Rule 594.28, "Blueprint: Highlander's Sword" by changing "When any
player in a duel owns a Highlander's Sword, the following effects take
place at the end of duel."

to "When any player in a duel owns a Highlander's Sword, it performs the
following effects at the end of the duel:"

and delete the paragraph "A player owning a Highlander's Sword is never
Untouchable, but may still be in only one duel at a time. This rule takes
precedence over rule 1215 where it is in conflict."

and change the last paragraph to
"At the end of any calendar week for which two or more players have owned
Highlander's Swords and were not engaged in a Duel for any part of that
week, each Highlander's Sword owned by such a player, who also did not
challenge another player with a Highlander's Sword to a duel during that
week, will deduct one point from its owner's score."

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

Date: Mon, 07 Sep 1998 00:53:41 -0400 (EDT)
From: "Joseph W. DeVincentis" <[email-masked]>
Subject: Acka: ACK issue 11

                   Ackanomic Cyclopedia of Knowledge
Volume 1 issue 11                                        September 6, 1998
==========================================================================

How We Found the Curious Clock
- ------------------------------
by /dev/joe (and TJ)

First, note that we only found this through help from two-star, who has
visited Acka IRC quite a bit recently, though not so much as either of us.
Second, it was pointed out that it isn't clear that the JT trinkets are
forgeries since that rule doesn't mention former names, only former players,
so I, /dev/joe, hereby give the two trinkets I recently created containing
the string "JT" to TJ, if I have them.

Now, /dev/joe figured out the first part of the puzzle after two-star kept
throwing that StEo clue at us.  This appeared twice in his publicly posted
clues as well.  Two-star had told JT that the first of my two completions
of the Tromino Go grid from issue 9 of the ACK was right.  This puzzled me
partly because I had looked this over and knew there was no valid starting
place for a tromino go game in either grid -- all attempts to do so either
result in not being able to find a valid move; in many cases, this fails on
the third move, where the C tromino is not allowed to touch the A tromino.

Anyway, assuming this rule was missed, and that the game had been played
with all trominoes following the rule for trominoes after the 4th, I
noticed that the letters corresponding to one of the A trominoes in that
grid were 'StE', and a b tromino next to it had the 'o'.  I followed the
rest of the game, in the following order:

     h             B             G      
    hhll          BBCC          eLOo    
 9  ccdlk      C  ccACb      A  lNEfT   
 991c5ddkkp    CCAcBAAbbA    HiSctoEaHy 
gg2115566pp   aabAABBccAA   EcftEDhINEE 
 g2234467ee    abbCaacAbb    rEoGEneDTW 
  a334877e      aCCabAAb      TRidrScc  
  aabo88ff      aaBcbbCC      oSsruNEB  
  ibboomf       cBBccaC       tuIQerk   
 siijjqmm      accAAbaa      HNaAeLLT   
 ssnj qqr      aaBA bbC      AtAE wUV   
   nn  rr        BB  CC        Ug  Ai   

The first grid here has the order of the plays, 1 through 9, then a through
s.  The second in the completed tromino go game, and the third is the other
letters from the original jumbled grid.

JT had figured out, somehow, part of the mesning of the Curious Clock's
description.  The minute hand running counter-clockwise and the hour hand
running clockwise meant that the letters corresponding to each capital
tromino were to be read counterclockwise and the letters for each lower
case tromino were to be read clockwise.  Initially we were reading these
starting at the "break" in each tromino, and found about 4 transposed
pairs in the final message, but later we figured out that we were supposed
to start at the 1 o'clock position on clockwise trominoes and end there
on counterclockwise ones.  Only a few trominoes are placed so that this
even matters, but we eventually got from this:

 A   b   C   a   B   c
StE oEf RiG ndE tDh NeI
ScD Nur AHi SoT uIs Ncl
EoE WcT EkB crE eLG aNt
AEe HaT Ofo TLr AUg eQr
EEy UwL AiV tAH

Reading the lower case letters forward and then the capital letters
backward, in line with the original clockwise and counterclockwise rule,
we got "to find the curious clock create a forgery witH A VALUE EQUAL TO
THE ANGLE BETWEEN ITS HANDS IN DEGREES".

Now, another puzzle remained to be solved.  The clock's description
said it had a time while buried that had something to do with its map.
We couldn't really find much of a clue anywhere.  One of the ones that
was troubling us was this bit from one of two-star's clues:

Remember, the encryption was made by the confused sad VAX. (5, 4) 

Two-star revealed that this was a key hint, and a tip that I probably
have done a lot of these puzzles in GAMES led us (and Weishaupt, who was
also on IRC trying to help out) to believe it was a cryptic crossword
clue.  After rejecting this notion a couple times because we couldn't
figure out an answer, two-star finally confirmed for us that it was a
cryptic crossword clue.  'Confused' suggested an anagram, and eventually
Weishaupt hit on the right words to anagram, 'morose DEC' (for 'sad VAX')
which I figured out anagrammed to 'Morse code.'  So, we took the string
of letters generated from the first part of the hunt to somehow represent
Morse code, and we assumed caps vs. lower case was significant.  It took
us a while to figure out, but noticing that the sequence never had more
than 2 consecutive capital or lower case letters, we eventually figured
out that one capital letter was a dot, two were a dash, one lower case
letter was a break between dots and dashes, and two lower case letters
were a break between letters.  This gave ..... ...-- -.... .--. .-.-.-
- -- .-.-.- which decodes to "536p.m."

Now, I figured the angle between the hands by calculating the hour hand's
position relative to 12:00 is 30 degrees per hour x 5 hours, plus 1/2 a
degree per minute x 36 minutes = 168 degrees.  The minute hand's position
is 6 degrees per minute x 36 minutes = 216 degrees.  This gives 48 degrees,
but I noted that since the minute hand of the curious clock ran backwards,
it might actually be at 144 degrees or a difference of only 24 degrees.
TJ and I tried both, and he was right.

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

Date: Mon, 07 Sep 1998 01:44:48 -0400 (EDT)
From: Gabe Drummond-Cole <[email-masked]>
Subject: Acka: Robin Hood: how bout this?

Still in the Wilds, i recite the following poem:

I've travelled many days and many years
But still there is a wonder here for me
I heard Colossus falling (Come now, tears)
And Great Zeus' statue fall into the sea

I came from far, the temple long since past
the gardens rotted long ago to dust
The earthquake-toppled lighthouse, and, at last
The mausoleum, turned to naught but rust 

And now I cry, my eyes are red, I tear
I struggle for salvation in this land
I have not seen the wonders, But, what here?
The Pyramids before me, big and grand.

I figure it's worth a try...

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

Date: Mon, 07 Sep 1998 02:19:51 -0400 (EDT)
From: Duncan Richer <[email-masked]>
Subject: Re: Acka: You Know... For Kids

On Sun, 6 Sep 1998, Uri Bruck wrote:

> All of the Party Chess records are documents which are neither rules nor
> proposals.  All sub games. All Organizations memberships, names of
> officers, scores.
> 
> I object and second my objection and further object to these Gadets.

Fair enuff.
I object to this Discovery.

Even though it won't do any good - as plenty of people have already
registered their objection.
- -- 
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
Ackanomic - Web-Harfer, CotC, ChessUmpire, Map-Harfer, Senator

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

Date: Mon, 07 Sep 1998 02:31:54 -0400 (EDT)
From: Duncan Richer <[email-masked]>
Subject: Acka: CFJ 657 (K 2)

K 2 has been selected.

Call for Judgement 657 - September 7, 1998
Subject: Forgeries
Initiator: Weishaupt (sent 07 Sep 1998, 02:27 Acka)
Judge: K 2
Judgement:

Statement: 
the trinket JT's Barrel of Monkeys was transferred to the treasury, not to
TJ

Reasoning: 
The trinket did not contain the name of exactly one current player
as per 506, so it was not transferred to TJ

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

Date: Mon, 07 Sep 1998 05:18:46 -0400 (EDT)
From: Bernard El-Hagin <[email-masked]>
Subject: Re: Acka: CFJ 655 (Rig R. Mortis)

Geez, I go home for the weekend and all hell breaks loose! Much as I
hate to do this I decline judgement of this CFJ. The reason for this
is that I'm very busy at work and this CFJ requires more thought and
attention than I could spare it at this time. Sorry, I hope to avoid
this in future.

Cheers,
Rig R. Mortis

"Santa Claus doesn't believe in you, either."

On Fri, 4 Sep 1998, Duncan Richer wrote:

> Rig R. Mortis has been selected.
> 
> Call for Judgement 655 - September 4, 1998
> Subject: Voting Eligibility
> Initiator: breadbox (sent Sep 4 1998, 12:02 Acka)
> Judge: Rig R. Mortis
> Judgement:
> 
> Statement:
> 
> breadbox is eligible to vote on proposals.
> 
> Reasoning:
> 
> If my other CFJ is ruled False, then this CFJ must almost certainly be
> True. So, assuming the truth of the statement "There is no Current
> Government of Ackanomia", where does that leave me?
> 
> Rule 106 only states how the players that are eligible to vote on
> proposals may do so. (Though note that Voting Players are specifically
> permitted to abstain.) And who is eligible to vote? It is nowhere
> specified in the rules. Rule 320 specifies no provisions for the
> situation when there is no Current Government and Anarchy is not an
> existing Government Type.
> 
> The fact that I was eligible to vote before Proposal 3495 was adopted
> doesn't help. Suffrage is not an entity; it is not guaranteed to
> continue existing when the rules that granted it are removed.
> 
> Nor can we fall back on "permissibility of the unprohibited", since
> the right to vote is clearly still regulated by Rule 106.
> 
> The only conclusion I can come to is that no players have been granted
> the ability to vote on proposals at this time.
> 
> 

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

Date: Mon, 07 Sep 1998 06:24:05 -0400 (EDT)
From: Bernard El-Hagin <[email-masked]>
Subject: Re: Acka: an observer among us

On Sun, 6 Sep 1998, Micah Smukler wrote:

> >John Culbertson (email [email-masked]) has decided to join us
> >as an observer, and says he hopes to join the game in the future after
> >watching it and making sure he has an idea about what's going on before
> >joining the fray.

I guess John will be joining us in about four years. 

But serioulsy, folks...welcome to Ackanomic, Johnbo. Can I call you
Johnbo? <smack> M'kay, Mr Culbertson.

Cheers,
Rig R. Mortis

"Santa Claus doesn't believe in you, either."

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

Date: Mon, 07 Sep 1998 06:31:43 -0400 (EDT)
From: Bernard El-Hagin <[email-masked]>
Subject: Re: Acka: You Know... For Kids

On Sun, 6 Sep 1998, Uri Bruck wrote:

> All of the Party Chess records are documents which are neither rules nor
> proposals.  All sub games. All Organizations memberships, names of
> officers, scores.
> 
> I object and second my objection and further object to these Gadets.
> 
> Niccolo Flychuck

I know my opinion is completely useless and irrelevent, as I am, in
fact, dead at this point in time, but I strongly agree with Niccolo.
This gizmo could wreak havoc and, let's face it, that's one thing
Ackanomic has enough of without these gosh darned watchimacalits
around.

Cheers,
Rig R. Mortis

"Santa Claus doesn't believe in you, either."

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

Date: Mon, 07 Sep 1998 07:24:03 -0400 (EDT)
From: [email-masked] (I am the Water Boatman)
Subject: Re:  Acka: CFJ 656 (Ethelred)

ThinMan:

>This
>case is not clear cut, but the problem I see with the initiator's argument
>is that an infinitessimal amount of time has no duration (by definition),
>thus there is no such thing as "during the infinitesimal ammount [sic] of
>time."

I just submitted my verdict to the CotC, and this comment does a much better
job of saying what I tried to say in my verdict.

Ethelred

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

Date: Mon, 07 Sep 1998 08:06:37 -0400 (EDT)
From: Duncan Richer <[email-masked]>
Subject: Acka: CFJ 655 (two-star)

Rig R. Mortis has declined.  two-star has been selected.

Call for Judgement 655 - September 4, 1998
Subject: Voting Eligibility
Initiator: breadbox (sent Sep 4 1998, 12:02 Acka)
1st Judge: Rig R. Mortis (chosen Sep 4 1998, 12:29 Acka) (declined)
2nd Judge: two-star
Judgement:

Statement:

breadbox is eligible to vote on proposals.

Reasoning:

If my other CFJ is ruled False, then this CFJ must almost certainly be
True. So, assuming the truth of the statement "There is no Current
Government of Ackanomia", where does that leave me?

Rule 106 only states how the players that are eligible to vote on
proposals may do so. (Though note that Voting Players are specifically
permitted to abstain.) And who is eligible to vote? It is nowhere
specified in the rules. Rule 320 specifies no provisions for the
situation when there is no Current Government and Anarchy is not an
existing Government Type.

The fact that I was eligible to vote before Proposal 3495 was adopted
doesn't help. Suffrage is not an entity; it is not guaranteed to
continue existing when the rules that granted it are removed.

Nor can we fall back on "permissibility of the unprohibited", since
the right to vote is clearly still regulated by Rule 106.

The only conclusion I can come to is that no players have been granted
the ability to vote on proposals at this time.

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

Date: Mon, 07 Sep 1998 08:08:15 -0400 (EDT)
From: Duncan Richer <[email-masked]>
Subject: Acka: CFJ 656 (FALSE)

Ethelred has judged this FALSE.

Call for Judgement 656 - September 5, 1998
Subject: Government Type Change
Initiator: Weishaupt (sent Sep 5 1998, 17:16 Acka)
Judge: Ethelred (chosen Sep 5 1998, 17:54 Acka)
Judgement: FALSE

Statement:  
Any attempt to change government type will effectively result
in eternal Anarchy.

Initiator's Reasoning:  
Rule 320 (Governments Rule Suite) says in its first
paragraph: "There exists a type of unownable, named entities called
Government Types. All Government Types are either Active or Dormant. At
most one government type may be Active at any one time; if the rules cause
one to become Active and there is already an Active Government Type then
the latter will become Dormant an infinitesimal ammount [sic] of time
before the former becomes Active. If no Government type is Active then the
Government Type Anarchy (if it exists) becomes Active. The Active
Government Type is known as The Current Government of Ackanomia."

When the rules are applied to change the government then, during the
"infinitesimal ammount [sic] of time" "no Government type is Active"
causing Anarchy to become active.  At the end of Anarchy there must be a
change which causes "no Government type... ...(to be) Active".  Therefore
the Government Type will go to Anarchy, stop, go back to Anarchy, stop, go
back to Anarchy.... etc.

Fah!

Judge's Reasoning:
It is a de facto impossibility to describe something that "happens" for an
immeasurably small amount of time. In fact, it is absurd to even
contemplate it as having happened at all. The amount of time that "exists"
between changes of government is immeasurably small, thus any attempt to
describe it as a period of time when there is no government is absurd.

Furthermore, I believe that the rules and game custom support an
interpretation of "infinitessimal amount of time" as logically equivalent
to "no time at all".

Hence I conclude that there is never a period of time when there is no
government, because even if such a state of affairs were to come about, it
would not exist in any way such that it would be reasonable for anyone to
consider it to have existed before Anarchy takes over, and any
rule-sanctioned change of government type to another government type than
anarchy would be successful.

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

Date: Mon, 07 Sep 1998 09:49:15 -0400 (EDT)
From: [email-masked] (I am the Water Boatman)
Subject: acka: the peasants are revolting

I change the value of my Rebelliousness characteristic to On.

I'm not sure I understand why there is a problem with voting on proposals with
the passage of Proposal 3495. As I understand it, we are now under a Government
Type Democracy, and all active voting players are allowed to vote. Or am I
missing something?

This would never have happened if we'd kept Anti-voting.

Probably.

Ethelred

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

Date: Mon, 07 Sep 1998 10:37:08 -0400 (EDT)
From: "Joseph W. DeVincentis" <[email-masked]>
Subject: Re: Acka: CFJ 657 (K 2)

> Call for Judgement 657 - September 7, 1998
> Subject: Forgeries
> Initiator: Weishaupt (sent 07 Sep 1998, 02:27 Acka)
> 
> Statement: 
> the trinket JT's Barrel of Monkeys was transferred to the treasury, not to
> TJ
> 
> Reasoning: 
> The trinket did not contain the name of exactly one current player
> as per 506, so it was not transferred to TJ

I am adding the following reasoning to this CFJ with my bronze torch:

Note that the rule uses the test "name of a current or former player"
to determine if the trinket is a forgery, and "name of a current player"
to decide whether or not to give it to TJ.  TJ is not a former player, so
the relevant parts of both tests are "name of a current player".  Either
the trinket was a forgery and given to TJ, or it was not a forgery at all.

/dev/joe

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

Date: Mon, 07 Sep 1998 12:11:09 -0400 (EDT)
From: John Frederic Mc Coy <[email-masked]>
Subject: Re: Acka: Please Welcome....

On Sun, 6 Sep 1998, JT wrote:

> 
> Gavin Logan, email address [email-masked] who joins us as a voting player
> under the Ackanomic Name of Eris.
> 
> Eris says that he heard about the game through psychic thoughtwaves and
> that he was convinced to join by Rex Mundi.
> 
> Therefore, Rex Mundi is his sponsor and is assigned as his mentor pending
> his acceptance.  Rex Mundi and Eris also recieve the sponsorship bonus
> trinkets.
> 
> Since Eris is psychic, I'm sure he'll just know that we all welcome him to
> the game.
> 
> --TJ, registrar

Bah.  He's not psychic.  I am the only official telepath in the history of
Acka.

=P

Vynd

[email-masked]

> 
> [-------------------------------------------------------------------------]
> [ 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, 07 Sep 1998 13:20:38 -0400 (EDT)
From: [email-masked]
Subject: Re: Acka: Robin Hood: how bout this?

In a message dated 07/09/98  05:47:25, you write:

> 
>  Still in the Wilds, i recite the following poem:
>  
>  I've travelled many days and many years
>  But still there is a wonder here for me
>  I heard Colossus falling (Come now, tears)
>  And Great Zeus' statue fall into the sea
>  
>  I came from far, the temple long since past
>  the gardens rotted long ago to dust
>  The earthquake-toppled lighthouse, and, at last
>  The mausoleum, turned to naught but rust 
>  
>  And now I cry, my eyes are red, I tear
>  I struggle for salvation in this land
>  I have not seen the wonders, But, what here?
>  The Pyramids before me, big and grand.
>  
>  
>  
Close enough. You are transported to the burial site by means most
mysterious where you may collect the treasure.

Robin Hood

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

Date: Mon, 07 Sep 1998 13:35:22 -0400 (EDT)
From: Gabe Drummond-Cole <[email-masked]>
Subject: Re: Acka: Robin Hood: how bout this?

At 01:20 PM 9/7/98 -0400, you wrote:
>In a message dated 07/09/98  05:47:25, you write:
>
>> 
>>  Still in the Wilds, i recite the following poem:
>>  
>>  I've travelled many days and many years
>>  But still there is a wonder here for me
>>  I heard Colossus falling (Come now, tears)
>>  And Great Zeus' statue fall into the sea
>>  
>>  I came from far, the temple long since past
>>  the gardens rotted long ago to dust
>>  The earthquake-toppled lighthouse, and, at last
>>  The mausoleum, turned to naught but rust 
>>  
>>  And now I cry, my eyes are red, I tear
>>  I struggle for salvation in this land
>>  I have not seen the wonders, But, what here?
>>  The Pyramids before me, big and grand.
>>  
>>  
>>  
>Close enough. You are transported to the burial site by means most
>mysterious where you may collect the treasure.
>
>Robin Hood

Woohoo!  I give the A$100 to Studge for so vociferously insisting "that's
what it has to be!!" before we had fully translated the top part.  The Big
Blue thing, i keep for myself.

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

Date: Mon, 07 Sep 1998 13:44:24 -0400 (EDT)
From: Gabe Drummond-Cole <[email-masked]>
Subject: Re: acka: Blue Thing

As requested, I point my newfound Big Blue Thing at TJ and anagram him back
to JT.  

- --Weishaupt (I keep forgetting to sign my messages)

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

Date: Mon, 07 Sep 1998 13:56:31 -0400 (EDT)
From: "Head Apollo" <[email-masked]>
Subject: Re: Acka: Please Welcome....

>> Since Eris is psychic, I'm sure he'll just know that we all welcome him
to
>> the game.
>>
>> --TJ, registrar
>
>Bah.  He's not psychic.  I am the only official telepath in the history of
>Acka.
>
>=P
>
>Vynd

I knew you were going to say that. ;-)

Eris

[Today's punchline was sponsored by Jokes That Cause Actual Pain Inc.]

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

Date: Mon, 07 Sep 1998 13:56:55 -0400 (EDT)
From: "Head Apollo" <[email-masked]>
Subject: Re: Acka: Please Welcome....

>At 07:27 PM 9/6/98 -0400, GDC wrote:
>
>Hail Eris; All Hail Discordia
>
>

Aum Shiva.

I got to the Library. I play 'Kick out the Jams' on the ASS. (Not the
original MC-5 version, but in fact the cover version by The Presidents of
the United States of America).

Eris

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

Date: Mon, 07 Sep 1998 13:59:26 -0400 (EDT)
From: JT <[email-masked]>
Subject: Re: acka: Blue Thing

On Mon, 7 Sep 1998, Gabe Drummond-Cole wrote:
>As requested, I point my newfound Big Blue Thing at TJ and anagram him back
>to JT.  

Ahhh.. I feel like myself again :)  Thank you Weishaupt.

- --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, 07 Sep 1998 14:04:02 -0400 (EDT)
From: "Head Apollo" <[email-masked]>
Subject: Acka: stuff

I request membership in Klingon. Or something. No, I definitely do that.

Eris

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

Date: Mon, 07 Sep 1998 14:30:53 -0400 (EDT)
From: Tom Walmsley <[email-masked]>
Subject: Re: Acka: RFC: Blueprint Redux

> Repeal Rule 594.17, "Blueprint: BWG Laser".

It couldjust be that I haven't read through this properly (I haven't) or that the
rules have been changed when I wasn't paying attention but (you knew it was
ocming didn't you?) aren't the rules for going postal referential to this and
would repealing it without changing that rule mess things up?

MTM.

- --
Tom Walmsley [email-masked]
http://website.lineone.net/~t.walmsley/index.html
AIM: TGW666 ICQ 2925739
Bonvolu alsendi la pordiston, lausajne estas rano en mia bideo.

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

Date: Mon, 07 Sep 1998 17:00:04 -0400 (EDT)
From: Brian Raiter <[email-masked]>
Subject: Re: Acka: Robin Hood: how bout this?

> Close enough. You are transported to the burial site by means most
> mysterious where you may collect the treasure.

Does this mean that Weishaupt has found the treasure? If so, you must
post the actual map (see Rule 1217).

Until Robin Hood does so, the contents of the treasure remain buried,
so I think JT's name is still TJ (sorry).

breadbox

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

Date: Mon, 07 Sep 1998 17:10:55 -0400 (EDT)
From: Duncan Richer <[email-masked]>
Subject: Re: Acka: CSR 152

On Wed, 2 Sep 1998, Duncan Richer wrote:

> CSR 152 consists of the following changes, restricted to the Party Chess
> Rule Suite:
> 
> In Rule 1230.2, section 4, replace all instances of the phrase "Swinger's
> Office" with the word "Swingership", and then all instances of the word
> "Office" with "Swingership".
> 
> in Rule 1230.40, replace the text "the Swinger holding that Office" with
> "the Swinger owning that Swingership", and the text "the office changes
> hands" with "the Swingership changes hands".

CSR 152 has been accepted without objection.
- -- 
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
Ackanomic - Web-Harfer, CotC, ChessUmpire, Map-Harfer, Senator

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

Date: Mon, 07 Sep 1998 17:15:08 -0400 (EDT)
From: Brian Raiter <[email-masked]>
Subject: Re: Acka: RFC: Blueprint Redux

> Here is a proposal idea I've had for a while now, but today I finally
> wrote it all out, and then cleaned it up a bit.  The main idea is to make
> blueprints once again just describe the behavior of their gadgets.  I
> also cleaned up lots of stuff that would be broken by this, or which is
> already broken (and I just happened to notice as I was reading the rules
> carefully).  In particular, I want to know if there is any strong objection
> to any of my repeals -- all but the BWG stuff has already passed as one of
> K2's 'debunk' proposals, so I don't expect much opposition here.

Please don't repeal the BWG laser. If you want to get rid of that, put
it in a separate proposal. (And you'll also need to fix the reference
to it in the Postmaster's rule.) The BWG Laser is one of the few
gadgets that I actually like.

> TAOS
> VI. Blueprints defer to all non-Blueprint rules, except as specified
> elsewhere in this rule.  [This allows blueprints to claim precedence or
> defer to one another, and allows the Whamiol's trade restriction to work.]
> 
> VII. A Blueprint may only define the behavior and attributes of gadgets of 
> the type which is named in its title, define ways in which such gadgets and
> their attributes may be manipulated, manipulate or destroy (but not create)
> such gadgets and/or their attributes, and place restrictions on how such
> gadgets may be created, destroyed, or otherwise manipulated.  Restrictions
> of this last type do not defer to other rules by default.  [R515 defers,
> so the Whamiol's trade restriction will now actually work.]
> 
> Blueprints may not create, destroy, or manipulate any other entities,
> except in the ways that they direct their gadgets to do so.  [It is still
> possible to write blueprints that claim extra power, for instance, by
> having the first gadget created do whatever other stuff they need, but
> this will make such blueprints/discoveries look much more scammy, so
> hopefully they will be voted down, debunked, etc.  It also prevents the
> 'instant creation' scheme which has become too popular.]
> TAOS

This is really minor, but I would encourage putting some of those
notes in double braces, or rewriting them so they still make sense
months from now.

> Amend Rule 594.14, "Blueprint: Cheez-Whiz", by changing "The cheese in
> question will then be destroyed" to "The Cheez-Whiz will then destroy the
> cheese in question" and the sentence "All sentences that follow this one
> are, or describe, attributes of grapefruit, and they conflict with this one."
> is deleted.

I think you should keep that last sentence in there.

Overall, I very much approve of the idea behind this RFC.

breadbox

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

End of ackanomic digest V3 #303
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