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1 in General
Student of Trinity
Electric Sheep One
Member # 3431
 written Sunday, October 14 2007 04:51 Profile #83
MorningtonCrescent(symbolic_logic) + ObjectionsTo(this_thread) = this_thread

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We're not doing cool. We're doing pretty.
Posts: 3335 | Registered: Thursday, September 4 2003 07:00
What have you been reading lately? in General
Student of Trinity
Electric Sheep One
Member # 3431
 written Friday, October 12 2007 23:34 Profile #547
Maybe he has just been keeping his true grammatical orientation in the closet until now.

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Posts: 3335 | Registered: Thursday, September 4 2003 07:00
1 in General
Student of Trinity
Electric Sheep One
Member # 3431
 written Friday, October 12 2007 23:30 Profile #65
quote:
Originally written by Lt. Sullust:

It is interesting that certain elements form exponentially more complex structures when combined, i.e.,

: + ) = :)
Color is an emergent property. Interesting indeed.

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Posts: 3335 | Registered: Thursday, September 4 2003 07:00
The Political Compass (Armed and Dangerous) in General
Student of Trinity
Electric Sheep One
Member # 3431
 written Friday, October 12 2007 23:17 Profile #48
Is the compass's normalization really so trivial? The shifting of the so-called political center is usually the real story of political history. And since political views do sometimes influence what happens in the world, political opinions do matter on an absolute as well as a relative scale.

Also, a good part of political opinion is really self-image. Whether or not a view is labelled 'progressive' is a factor that tempts many people to hold or oppose it, regardless of its content. So for instance I rather suspect that some of this test's leftward bias is really overcompensation for a rightward shift of the center: we're all capitalists now. Lots of people want to think of themselves as leftist, but can't really deny the many advantages of free markets. By relabeling slight reservations against strict laissez faire as radical communism, by means of a lot of 'always' and 'every' propositions that only zealots could accept, everyone gets to have their cake and eat it too.

The result is that the left wins in appearance, and the right wins in reality. And that can make an actual difference in the world, for good or ill or both.

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Posts: 3335 | Registered: Thursday, September 4 2003 07:00
After getting passed over for the internet in General
Student of Trinity
Electric Sheep One
Member # 3431
 written Friday, October 12 2007 00:53 Profile #0
Al Gore has won the Nobel prize for peace. There will be wailing and gnashing of teeth among all the anti-HCGW-ers. Even if one grants the justice of his cause, though, has he personally really done enough to advance it, to deserve a Nobel prize? Did his movie really attract that much attention or convince that many people?

Missing the US presidency doesn't look quite so bad on a resume that can list an Oscar and a Nobel prize. I don't think anyone has ever won both those before, have they?

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Posts: 3335 | Registered: Thursday, September 4 2003 07:00
What inspired Geneforge? in Geneforge Series
Student of Trinity
Electric Sheep One
Member # 3431
 written Thursday, October 11 2007 20:37 Profile #3
Jeff has said he was going to do a sci-fi game, and evidently he had made the natural choice of a genetic engineering theme. I think he indicated in an interview somewhere that he got cold feet about the sci-fi genre when he remembered that his established market was pure fantasy, and that straying even into historical fantasy with Nethergate hadn't been very profitable. So he just reworked his sci-fi ideas into fantasy, and the rest was shareware gaming history.

Interesting how purely financial constraints seem to have helped to generate a really good and original game and world idea.

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We're not doing cool. We're doing pretty.
Posts: 3335 | Registered: Thursday, September 4 2003 07:00
1 in General
Student of Trinity
Electric Sheep One
Member # 3431
 written Thursday, October 11 2007 20:19 Profile #55
I dunno, man. In physics we love our <<, and how it is so very different from a mere <, because we can use it to justify all sorts of crimes of convenience. Even better is <<<, because it means we don't have to feel even a twinge of guilt.

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Posts: 3335 | Registered: Thursday, September 4 2003 07:00
Sanity pile near door in General
Student of Trinity
Electric Sheep One
Member # 3431
 written Thursday, October 11 2007 19:48 Profile #13
Heh. There could be a whole thread of favorite lines from Munchkin. Mine is, "You must face the gazebo alone."

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We're not doing cool. We're doing pretty.
Posts: 3335 | Registered: Thursday, September 4 2003 07:00
G5 wishlist. in Geneforge 4: Rebellion
Student of Trinity
Electric Sheep One
Member # 3431
 written Thursday, October 11 2007 13:41 Profile #166
The Geneforges in G4 were Lite versions. Great taste, but less filling. So maybe there could be a super-duper Geneforge in G5, even better than the original, which would allow you to totally blast everything to blazes. Yeah, that would be good.

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Listen carefully because some of your options may have changed.
Posts: 3335 | Registered: Thursday, September 4 2003 07:00
Canister happy in Geneforge Series
Student of Trinity
Electric Sheep One
Member # 3431
 written Thursday, October 11 2007 10:59 Profile #7
Yes, you can use a few canisters with no serious effects. That proves they're completely harmless.

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We're not doing cool. We're doing pretty.
Posts: 3335 | Registered: Thursday, September 4 2003 07:00
Sanity pile near door in General
Student of Trinity
Electric Sheep One
Member # 3431
 written Thursday, October 11 2007 10:47 Profile #8
If you click the 'faq' link in the upper right corner of the screen, you can find out exactly when your titles will change as your post count rises. Custom titles that don't follow that scheme are granted, or inflicted, at the whim of the administrators.

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Posts: 3335 | Registered: Thursday, September 4 2003 07:00
1 in General
Student of Trinity
Electric Sheep One
Member # 3431
 written Thursday, October 11 2007 10:36 Profile #47
Obviously,

/!/ = !
/?/ = ?
/./ = .

That last one is a bit ambiguous.

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Posts: 3335 | Registered: Thursday, September 4 2003 07:00
Canned in General
Student of Trinity
Electric Sheep One
Member # 3431
 written Thursday, October 11 2007 09:25 Profile #7
No, we don't band anyone. Once they're released into the wild, we really don't care where they go.

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We're not doing cool. We're doing pretty.
Posts: 3335 | Registered: Thursday, September 4 2003 07:00
Canned in General
Student of Trinity
Electric Sheep One
Member # 3431
 written Wednesday, October 10 2007 22:02 Profile #2
quote:
Originally written by A can of muffin soup.:

Does a caning that follows after a banning ever go away?
The welts will eventually fade.

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We're not doing cool. We're doing pretty.
Posts: 3335 | Registered: Thursday, September 4 2003 07:00
1 in General
Student of Trinity
Electric Sheep One
Member # 3431
 written Wednesday, October 10 2007 21:57 Profile #40
No, I just read this, and it's definitely the other way around:

d?/dt = !

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We're not doing cool. We're doing pretty.
Posts: 3335 | Registered: Thursday, September 4 2003 07:00
Canister happy in Geneforge Series
Student of Trinity
Electric Sheep One
Member # 3431
 written Wednesday, October 10 2007 13:15 Profile #4
Canisters are of course one of the best things in Geneforge, because no RPGer can resist an instant stat boost or new ability. The swirly green look and that sound effect become Pavlovian after a while. What's great is that this mimics nicely the addictive effect that the canisters are supposed to be having on your character. It's a cool gimmick.

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We're not doing cool. We're doing pretty.
Posts: 3335 | Registered: Thursday, September 4 2003 07:00
Do you like changes in Avernum or not in Avernum 4
Student of Trinity
Electric Sheep One
Member # 3431
 written Wednesday, October 10 2007 13:08 Profile #10
Problem is that figuring out a route is not an easy AI task, and it gets harder with distance.

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We're not doing cool. We're doing pretty.
Posts: 3335 | Registered: Thursday, September 4 2003 07:00
So many choices, So little time. in Geneforge 4: Rebellion
Student of Trinity
Electric Sheep One
Member # 3431
 written Wednesday, October 10 2007 13:05 Profile #14
Doesn't Kyhryk teach this, if you play the dialog right?

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Posts: 3335 | Registered: Thursday, September 4 2003 07:00
What have you been reading lately? in General
Student of Trinity
Electric Sheep One
Member # 3431
 written Wednesday, October 10 2007 06:48 Profile #543
In fact I've had a small reading binge lately because I was travelling. I read The Fencing Master by Arturo Pérez-Reverte, translated from Spanish, and Imperium by Robert Harris. I'd recommend them both.

The Fencing Master is a short but absorbing novel about an apolitical fencing master getting entangled in a revolutionary plot in Madrid in the late 1860's.

Imperium is a Grisham-ish politico-legal thriller about the rise of Marcus Tullius Cicero to the Roman consulate, as told by his secretary slave. According to reviews and to my own judgement for what it is worth, it's historically very accurate. I liked it a lot.

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Listen carefully because some of your options may have changed.
Posts: 3335 | Registered: Thursday, September 4 2003 07:00
Do you like changes in Avernum or not in Avernum 4
Student of Trinity
Electric Sheep One
Member # 3431
 written Wednesday, October 10 2007 06:00 Profile #3
I think the poll text was just awkwardly worded there. I think it was supposed to mean that the change from A4 to A5 was not drastic.

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We're not doing cool. We're doing pretty.
Posts: 3335 | Registered: Thursday, September 4 2003 07:00
Geneforge 5 is its last... in Geneforge Series
Student of Trinity
Electric Sheep One
Member # 3431
 written Wednesday, October 10 2007 05:57 Profile #16
There isn't going to be a G6 in any case, because the story is now within shooting range of ending with a bang, and with that prospect in sight, spinning things out for even one extra game would just be a letdown for everyone. Jeff wants to wrap the Geneforge saga up well in the next installment, and move on to something new.

Maybe in a few more years it'll be time for 'Geneforge: Reabsorption', making it all 3D or something.

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We're not doing cool. We're doing pretty.
Posts: 3335 | Registered: Thursday, September 4 2003 07:00
So many choices, So little time. in Geneforge 4: Rebellion
Student of Trinity
Electric Sheep One
Member # 3431
 written Wednesday, October 10 2007 05:52 Profile #11
Yeah, a certain amount of that is inevitable. But by pumping your stats and acquiring Searer as soon as you can, you can kill a fair amount of stuff without having to run. And anyway, retreating with one character as an Agent is less tedious than manoeuvring a pack of creations as a Shaper.

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We're not doing cool. We're doing pretty.
Posts: 3335 | Registered: Thursday, September 4 2003 07:00
Oh my got I made it though the first zone without Tyro Dying! in Geneforge 4: Rebellion
Student of Trinity
Electric Sheep One
Member # 3431
 written Wednesday, October 10 2007 05:48 Profile #3
That's amazing, actually. The only halfway cool thing I've been able to do in the beginning is to hang around Greta long enough to give the killing blow to that battle alpha she fights, gaining an instant level.

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We're not doing cool. We're doing pretty.
Posts: 3335 | Registered: Thursday, September 4 2003 07:00
What have you been reading lately? in General
Student of Trinity
Electric Sheep One
Member # 3431
 written Tuesday, October 9 2007 23:54 Profile #540
Also in translation from Greek, Zorba the Greek by Nikos Kazantzakis. Although most of the fame of this book seems to be due to the character of Zorba, to me he seemed a familiar trope, the man of earthy wisdom. For all I know this trope was created by Zorba, and that's why this book made such a stir fifty years ago. But by now the trope has settled in, and Zorba himself is no great revelation.

I was more intrigued by the narrator, who is on a Buddhist-style quest to free himself from the inescapable wheel — of Buddhism. He feels himself to be trapped in detachment, and is trying to learn connection from Zorba. Of course, it isn't obvious that either the Buddhism that traps him or the meta-Buddhism of his quest for escape is genuine Buddhism, or genuine wisdom of any kind. But overall this book, which I had always imagined was some sort of Hemingway-esque celebration of wine, women and dance, is really a rather substantial western reaction to Buddhism.

Unfortunately a gruesome murder that occurs about three-quarters of the way through the book, and is passed off far too lightly by the narrator and everyone else, made me lose all sympathy with everyone in the book, narrator and Zorba included. I guess that can still figure in the dialog with Buddhism, but not in a nice way.

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Posts: 3335 | Registered: Thursday, September 4 2003 07:00
A featured question on Xanga... in General
Student of Trinity
Electric Sheep One
Member # 3431
 written Tuesday, October 9 2007 23:38 Profile #15
The apparent long retreat of religion from science is really just the long advance of science into a knowledge vacuum. That vacuum was previously filled with all sorts of superstition and speculation, which was as much an obstacle to religion as to science.

It might be worth interpreting Einstein's much-abused remark about blindness and lameness, since I think it does indicate how religion and science can co-operate instead of merely co-existing.

Albert Einstein was not a religious man in the sense of going regularly to synagogue or observing ritual rules. He was obsessively dedicated to finding out how the universe worked, and he doesn't appear to have cared all that much about much else. Even his interest in peace seems to have had a large element in it of simply wanting to make the world safe for scientific inquiry. One might reasonably say that science, as he practiced it, was Einstein's religion.

But conversely Einstein's science was religious. I don't think his frequent invocations of God in scientific contexts were merely a figure of speech. Einstein was in the first rank at crunching formidable mathematical problems and grasping intricate abstract ideas; but that brilliance only put him into the inner circle of great 20th century minds. Something else lifted him onto a pinnacle above all the rest, with at least six major contributions to physics on the scale that by current standards can win a Nobel prize, including in general relativity a single-handed achievement of millennial proportion. Einstein's scientific quest was strongly guided by some basic beliefs: he felt he knew something of what the universe's designer would or would not have done. This intuitive aesthetic sense led him, by his own account, to his great successes; it also led him in the long failure that occupied most of his life. In good times and in bad, he kept his faith.

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Posts: 3335 | Registered: Thursday, September 4 2003 07:00

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