On Tue, Nov 2, 2010 at 10:37 AM, Barrett Brown <
barriticus@gmail.com> wrote:
> Also, is this thing where the world's trade is actually tied to available
> resources and production going to be implemented in the upcoming release?
> And is that process going to be taken into account during worldgen? At any
> rate, I'm excited to see that feature on the horizon; that's really going to
> add a lot to the dynamics and I really look forward to seeing what phenomena
> arise from it.
>
> On Tue, Nov 2, 2010 at 11:20 AM, Barrett Brown <
barriticus@gmail.com> wrote:
>>
>> No need to apologize at all; I've been enjoying the fruits of your labor.
>> I'll send you something more in the line of a quick overview some point
>> soon.
>>
>> On Tue, Nov 2, 2010 at 6:02 AM, Tarn Adams <
tarn.adams@gmail.com> wrote:
>>>
>>> He he he, that's awesome. I've seen the calculators (pull levers, it
>>> adds for you), and the digital counter with the seven segment display,
>>> but I hadn't see Life in DF before.
>>>
>>> Tarn
>>>
>>> On Mon, Nov 1, 2010 at 1:38 PM, Barrett Brown <
barriticus@gmail.com>
>>> wrote:
>>> > I've been playing DF for the first time in a while so was reading the
>>> > forums
>>> > and ran across this and wanted to make sure you are aware of
>>> > it:
http://www.bay12forums.com/smf/index.php?topic=69307.0
>>> > On Tue, Jul 6, 2010 at 8:53 PM, Barrett Brown <
barriticus@gmail.com>
>>> > wrote:
>>> >>
>>> >> Give LCS another play some time; it's fun, but also feels like work,
>>> >> just
>>> >> like DF. Disciplines the mind, I suspect.
>>> >> Sorry for the delay in getting back to you; we've had a number of
>>> >> unexpected successes in the last two weeks that have required my
>>> >> attention.
>>> >> Regarding Project PM, I have pasted a more concise explanation of how
>>> >> the
>>> >> media network will work below; remember that we are also building up a
>>> >> governing network to further advance our technocratic agenda, thus far
>>> >> composed of about 120 people, most recently the head of theoretical
>>> >> physics
>>> >> at Case Western.
>>> >> Meanwhile, we are now being offered funding. A lot of funding. I had
>>> >> originally intended on doing this with no money whatsoever, but anyway
>>> >> the
>>> >> funding is meant for something else that I will be put in partial
>>> >> charge of
>>> >> and which I will explain to you further when I have more info. Again,
>>> >> very
>>> >> preliminary. Whether or not this particular source of funding comes
>>> >> through
>>> >> - and I think it will - I will be receiving something on the order of
>>> >> a
>>> >> quarter million dollars from another source probably within a year,
>>> >> in
>>> >> which case I would be inclined to purchase a portion of your time to
>>> >> help us
>>> >> solve certain problems that I am inclined to believe that you are
>>> >> equipped
>>> >> to solve.
>>> >> I apologize for being cryptic at the moment, but things are more fun
>>> >> that
>>> >> way. At any rate, here is the basic schematic; feel free to call or
>>> >> write
>>> >> with any questions.
>>> >> ***
>>> >> Information flow is fundamental to the success of every manner of
>>> >> human
>>> >> collaboration. Nonetheless, the processes by which information is
>>> >> gathered,
>>> >> handled, transferred, and acted upon receive far less attention than
>>> >> is
>>> >> warranted. The purpose of Project PM is to change this dynamic by
>>> >> developing
>>> >> new techniques with which to more efficiently conduct information.
>>> >> Because the great preponderance of information crucial to the success
>>> >> of a
>>> >> representative government is transferred through the media, Project PM
>>> >> focuses primarily on media reform. Our first and foremost effort has
>>> >> been to
>>> >> establish a distributed media cartel made up of bloggers as well as
>>> >> journalists who work at least in part through online media. Rather
>>> >> than
>>> >> simply assembling this group of exceptional media professionals into
>>> >> an
>>> >> online outlet similar to those currently in existence, we are instead
>>> >> organizing our participants into a network which itself operates under
>>> >> a
>>> >> unique schematic designed to take best advantage of the internet as a
>>> >> medium
>>> >> while simultaneously avoiding the drawbacks common to even the best
>>> >> online
>>> >> communities.
>>> >>
>>> >> In order to seed the network, we have recruited around two dozen
>>> >> bloggers
>>> >> and journalists whom we have identified as particularly competent and
>>> >> intellectually honest. Each of these individuals is encouraged to
>>> >> bring
>>> >> other bloggers into the network based on their own judgment; these new
>>> >> participants are then connected to the blogger who has brought them in
>>> >> and
>>> >> may likewise bring others into the network,and so on . As such, the
>>> >> network
>>> >> grows perpetually while maintaining a high average quality in terms of
>>> >> its
>>> >> participants, as is explained further below.
>>> >> Upon the launch of our network, each of the initial bloggers will be
>>> >> connected to each other via a widget which is embedded on their
>>> >> respective
>>> >> blogs, as well as connected to those whom theyve recruited. When a
>>> >> particular individual composes a piece of work that he considers to be
>>> >> of
>>> >> particular merit, the individual pushes a single button which causes
>>> >> the
>>> >> article in question to be sent to all of the bloggers to whom he is
>>> >> connected. Each of those bloggers in turn then decides whether or not
>>> >> they
>>> >> agree that the article is worthy of greater attention; if so, they
>>> >> push the
>>> >> button and thereby send it along to every blogger to whom they
>>> >> themselves
>>> >> are connected. Thus it is that information deemed worthy of attention
>>> >> by
>>> >> some great number of erudite and honest individuals from a variety of
>>> >> backgrounds will tend to perpetuate through the system and gain a
>>> >> larger
>>> >> audience than they might otherwise receive.
>>> >>
>>> >> As the network expands by way of the process described above, it is
>>> >> inevitable that there will be failures of judgement on the part of
>>> >> participants when choosing additional bloggers to bring into the
>>> >> network.
>>> >> Let us say that Blogger X, who is rather competent, brings in Blogger
>>> >> Y, who
>>> >> is only moderately so, and who in turn brings in Blogger Z, who is a
>>> >> giant
>>> >> douchebag. Blogger Z begins composing and pushing forward posts to the
>>> >> effect that Barack Obama was born in Tehran or that ethanol subsidies
>>> >> are
>>> >> awesome or some such thing but these posts only initially go to
>>> >> Blogger Y
>>> >> and whatever horrid bloggers Blogger Z has brought in himself,
>>> >> assuming he
>>> >> has brough in any. Blogger Y may or may not be inclined to push
>>> >> forward
>>> >> these nonsense posts, but Blogger X will almost certainly delete them
>>> >> immediately and is quite likely to disolve his connection to Blogger Y
>>> >> for
>>> >> displaying such poor judgement. Thus it is that the system is defended
>>> >> from
>>> >> deterioration by the high competence of the initial round of bloggers
>>> >> and
>>> >> consequently comparable competence of those brought in gradually
>>> >> afterwards,
>>> >> coupled with the nature of the schematic itself. No supervision is
>>> >> necessary
>>> >> for the network to expand while maintaining a high level of quality.
>>> >>
>>> >> A few other characteristics bear noting. Any participant may connect
>>> >> to
>>> >> any other participant who agrees to the connection, no matter where
>>> >> each
>>> >> participant resides in the network, and thus the network is likely to
>>> >> evolve
>>> >> from the shape of a pyramid to that of a web, which is advantageous in
>>> >> terms
>>> >> of ensuring that good information does not become overly
>>> >> regionalized. All
>>> >> participants are equal regardless of the order in which they joined.
>>> >> Participants are free to bring on as many other bloggers as they would
>>> >> like,
>>> >> although they will find that it is to their own advantage to be
>>> >> selective in
>>> >> this regard.
>>> >>
>>> >> The system is capped off with another widget distinct from that used
>>> >> by
>>> >> the bloggers the reader widget, a downloadable application which
>>> >> displays
>>> >> those posts which have been pushed forward a certain number of times
>>> >> (as set
>>> >> by the individual reader). The end result should be the best system of
>>> >> news
>>> >> and information filtration that has ever existed.
>>> >>
>>> >> On Fri, Jun 25, 2010 at 4:48 AM, Tarn Adams <
tarn.adams@gmail.com>
>>> >> wrote:
>>> >>>
>>> >>> > Thanks again for taking the time to respond to these questions. For
>>> >>> > some
>>> >>> > reason I can't get a response back from the gaming mags to save my
>>> >>> > life
>>> >>>
>>> >>> I'm not sure you'll do well in mainstream American print gaming mags.
>>> >>> We've pretty much never made it into them (maybe once?), though we do
>>> >>> well elsewhere and online. I'm not sure if it has to do with the
>>> >>> close links between content and ads and so on, or what, since I only
>>> >>> hear the occasional story from the periphery about how it works.
>>> >>>
>>> >>> > Also, I mentioned to you my eccentric project a while back, Project
>>> >>> > PM.
>>> >>> > I
>>> >>> > don't know how closely you follow these things, but my friend and
>>> >>> > project
>>> >>> > participant Michael Hastings seems to have just fucked up all kinds
>>> >>> > of
>>> >>> > shit
>>> >>> > with his new Rolling Stone piece on McChrystal, who's now been
>>> >>> > summoned
>>> >>> > to
>>> >>> > Washington.
>>> >>>
>>> >>> Yeah, I first read that on HP and then heard a telephone interview
>>> >>> with him on Rachel Maddow, and of course it has been ongoing after
>>> >>> that. It seems like a pretty intense scoop, and that he really just
>>> >>> needed to let the guy keep talking.
>>> >>>
>>> >>> > He also blurbed my book and I'm doing a piece on the background
>>> >>> > to all this for Vanity Fair today, so we're going to be in a much
>>> >>> > better
>>> >>> > position to act on our agenda pretty soon with the additional
>>> >>> > notoriety. If
>>> >>> > you're still interested in discussing our project further at some
>>> >>> > point, let
>>> >>> > me know
>>> >>>
>>> >>> I read the Africa page a few weeks ago and the last long email you
>>> >>> wrote and had been trying to find time to think and reply
>>> >>> intelligently, but it has been difficult. I think that since I'm not
>>> >>> involved at a practical level with this sort of activity I'd be sort
>>> >>> of wasting your time asking for basic explanations when you are going
>>> >>> to be way ahead of me on things.
>>> >>>
>>> >>> As I understand it, the network would need to be decentralized, so
>>> >>> that people that were interested in, say, cooking or sports, wouldn't
>>> >>> be able to co-opt any shared resources once they got in on the edges
>>> >>> and started linking in all their friends and pushing recipes or match
>>> >>> write-ups down the line. When you said the widget shows items that
>>> >>> have been "pushed forward a certain number of times" it made me think
>>> >>> there was some more centralized counting going on, so that the top
>>> >>> pushed items became more universally available without having to make
>>> >>> the entire journey from one person to another. At that point, you'd
>>> >>> need to account for side networks latching on that outgrow the
>>> >>> original (including a competing sub-network of the left-out
>>> >>> conservative bloggers, once one gets linked in on the fringe) --
>>> >>> something that I imagine would be a danger if you are trying to write
>>> >>> a novel, high-quality system for passing around important news (which
>>> >>> isn't going to be limited to political news once you have irrelevant
>>> >>> contributors). I'm behind on Facebook and tweets and that kind of
>>> >>> thing, so I suppose the ways around this might be obvious to people
>>> >>> that are with the times, he he he. That's my paranoid first
>>> >>> reaction,
>>> >>> anyway, based on the experience of my forum getting a little gummed
>>> >>> up. Maybe if the blogger network were named something that somebody
>>> >>> thinking about cooking or sports didn't want to see every time they
>>> >>> open up the widget, he he he. Starting with a dozen people, this
>>> >>> obviously isn't going to be a problem right away, but if the
>>> >>> registration/linking system is uncontrolled, you'll eventually get
>>> >>> whoever linked or whatever pushed and any mechanism not respecting
>>> >>> the
>>> >>> locality of the direct links could become troubled.
>>> >>>
>>> >>> If it doesn't have shared resources though, and whatever side
>>> >>> networks
>>> >>> that form are just living off by themselves and not jamming up the
>>> >>> network, then the overall concept would need to distinguish itself
>>> >>> from email buddy lists -- I guess it might be enough to emulate buddy
>>> >>> lists with more purpose and more conveniently to achieve the project
>>> >>> goals of getting information passed around quickly, but in a
>>> >>> completely decentralized system I'm not seeing the crucial difference
>>> >>> and it makes me feel like I'm misunderstanding something about how it
>>> >>> works, unless the project is more about getting these kinds of themed
>>> >>> buddy lists organized in some standardized and easy to use way.
>>> >>>
>>> >>> > Anyway, I suck at that game. [LCS]
>>> >>>
>>> >>> Yeah, I only spent a few month-long sessions with it separated by
>>> >>> periods of inactivity, if I remember, so it never really gelled as a
>>> >>> balanced game. The continuing fan-written LCS is probably more
>>> >>> winnable without cheap tactics, but it's my understanding that it's
>>> >>> more "gamey" in a way, so I can't really say how it plays or anything
>>> >>> about the atmosphere.
>>> >>>
>>> >>> Tarn
>>> >>
>>> >>
>>> >>
>>> >> --
>>> >> Regards,
>>> >>
>>> >> Barrett Brown
>>> >> 512-560-2302
>>> >
>>> >
>>> >
>>> > --
>>> > Regards,
>>> >
>>> > Barrett Brown
>>> > 512-560-2302
>>> >
>>
>>
>>
>> --
>> Regards,
>>
>> Barrett Brown
>> 512-560-2302
>
>
>
> --
> Regards,
>
> Barrett Brown
> 512-560-2302
>
