@Scurra@mastodon.social avatar

Scurra

@Scurra@mastodon.social

Cruciverbalist, with a side-order of boardgame design.

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simoncox, to boardgames
@simoncox@seocommunity.social avatar

Currently playing Great Western Trail 2nd edition online on Board Game Arena with my oldest chum and I think i am loosing badly! (he does design board games) , ...and he nearly doubled my score.

Scurra,
@Scurra@mastodon.social avatar

@simoncox
I am not entirely convinced that the ability to design boardgames necessarily means you are any good at playing them. (Says this designer from, ahem, experience.)

davidallengreen, to random
@davidallengreen@mastodon.green avatar

Impossible to predict any jury trial.

But Trump’s defence strategy not hopeless.

By not putting forward a positive account of what happened, he has made it as much a trial of Cohen as of himself. And Cohen is a self-confessed liar and grudge holder.

The prosecution have worked hard - very hard - to corroborate Cohen’s evidence. Will it be enough? If the jury don’t believe Cohen then Trump may get his acquittal, despite the other supporting evidence.

Scurra,
@Scurra@mastodon.social avatar

@davidallengreen
True, but the prosecution clearly aren't relying on Cohen? I mean, there's no doubt that Cohen is a serial liar, but so is Trump. It's just that Trump hasn't ever admitted to that, whereas Cohen has and has gone to prison for it (as has Weisselberg, Trump's finance guy.)
Meanwhile, I'm not sure that anyone is suggesting that Daniels is a serial liar? Which makes that part of the story more convincing.
But yeah, he may still get his acquittal.

golgaloth, to writing
@golgaloth@writing.exchange avatar

Thanks for all your comments. Had a pulmonary clot, which is breaking up under medication. I'm in hospital while I still need oxygen to recover. I'll be fine once this is over, but a bit of a shock given how pleased I was with my weight loss and general fitness this year. Fortunately we have free health care in Australia.

Scurra,
@Scurra@mastodon.social avatar

@golgaloth
I don't think this publicity stunt for your KS was a good move...
(Get well soon!)

golgaloth, to ai
@golgaloth@writing.exchange avatar

Found a new name for it.

Scurra,
@Scurra@mastodon.social avatar

@golgaloth
I liked the person who proposed "Big Data Semantic Machines", which would have the side-effect of making people have to scrub their browser history regularly.

Teri_Kanefield, to random
@Teri_Kanefield@mastodon.social avatar

I am still getting hate mail for my blog post, this time from a neighbor. She was so angry it took her a few days to calm down enough to write to me (in all caps!)

(I shut down comments yesterday)

When I wrote analysis for the Washington Post, I sometimes got angry email from MAGA people.

I did get a memorable letter from a librarian in Tennessee who was enraged at how I portrayed Andrew Jackson in one of my books.

But this has never happened.

I think it's interesting.

Scurra,
@Scurra@mastodon.social avatar

@Teri_Kanefield
Yeah, understanding the media eco-system is key to what is going on here, and especially understanding that it is not necessarily there for illumination. I even understand why it is the "liberal/progressive" wing that might be most angry with you right now, but the upside is that we* are perhaps marginally more likely to eventually accept that we might be wrong? (I may, of course, be wrong about that!)
*yes, I am definitely on that wing!

golgaloth, to random
@golgaloth@writing.exchange avatar

Hitting the button on a day of relaxation and cake.

video/mp4

Scurra,
@Scurra@mastodon.social avatar

@golgaloth
Hippo Birdy, Dave! Enjoy it.

golgaloth, to writing
@golgaloth@writing.exchange avatar

26/03
In your opinion, name a book, movie or TV show where the ending spoils the story.

I mean, are we all just going to dogpile on Game of Thrones?

Does anyone remember ALF? This funny, cat-eating alien kids show. And one season ended with him getting carted off by the government for experiments. Then the show got cancelled and that was actually the horrific, dark ending of the entire show.

Scurra,
@Scurra@mastodon.social avatar

@golgaloth
My cheat answer is Doctor Who. Because if we ever got an "ending" then that means there can never be any more. Which is not possible with Doctor Who almost by definition. :)

cstross, to random
@cstross@wandering.shop avatar

Three Tory ex-home secretaries warn against politicising anti-extremism

Exclusive: Intervention by Priti Patel, Sajid Javid and Amber Rudd just before Michael Gove unveils official definition of extremism

https://www.theguardian.com/politics/2024/mar/10/three-ex-tory-home-secretaries-warn-against-politicising-anti-extremism

When Priti Patel of all people starts saying "steady on, that's a bit illiberal", this shit's definitely a bit illiberal.

Scurra,
@Scurra@mastodon.social avatar

@cstross
I shall be fascinated to see how the new definition will attempt to exclude all the Tufton Street thinktanks and every 'opinion' columnist at the Daily Telegraph though, since they are entirely ideological entities as well. (I imagine that the get-out will be that as they don't 'participate' in direct violent action, they can't be held responsible? The problem being that existing rules already cover that.)

golgaloth, to writing
@golgaloth@writing.exchange avatar

Any Theories?

Nothing About the Hugo Awards’ Inexplicable Exclusion of R. F. Kuang’s ‘Babel’ Makes Sense

https://www.themarysue.com/hugo-awards-controversy-explained/

Scurra,
@Scurra@mastodon.social avatar

@golgaloth
Camestros Felaptron is making a reasonably good case that it's more likely to be cock-up than conspiracy; a very inexperienced team running a complicated event with intricate data. And then they have doubled down by not providing any transparency to try and avoid blame - and making it worse as a result.
(That's not excluding any other explanations, of course! There may well be external factors.)

https://camestrosfelapton.wordpress.com/2024/01/24/im-coming-around-to-the-unified-stuff-up-theory/

golgaloth, to boardgames
@golgaloth@writing.exchange avatar

Chess is an inferior game because it lacks a randomised opening position. Discuss.

Scurra,
@Scurra@mastodon.social avatar

@golgaloth
Just play Zach Gage's Really Bad Chess; I find that deals with this problem quite entertainingly.

davidallengreen, to random
@davidallengreen@mastodon.green avatar

Unpopular opinion: Sherlock Holmes is not a detective. More a cold-reading mystic. More Shaman than Sherlock.

Almost none of the original stories stand up. They are great atmospheric, charismatic, characterful literature. But they are not usually rational.

In that way, Cumberbatch does a faithful portrayal.

Scurra,
@Scurra@mastodon.social avatar

@davidallengreen
I contend that the best TV version of Sherlock is still Columbo - because Sherlock (through authorial fiat) already knows whodunnit, and merely has to prove it.

golgaloth, to random
@golgaloth@writing.exchange avatar

Well, that was interesting. My evening of playing board games cut short after my dad had a fall. it looks like he's fractured his lower leg. Not his hip, fortunately. Off in the ambulance, and we'll ring the hospital in the morning to get their diagnosis.

Scurra,
@Scurra@mastodon.social avatar

@golgaloth
Urgh - that sucks. Hope it all goes well.

golgaloth, to auspol
@golgaloth@writing.exchange avatar

Well, that's a YES from me.

Scurra,
@Scurra@mastodon.social avatar

@golgaloth

Well, that wasn't great, was it? 😞

I shall be interested to see the breakdowns in the voting; I'd guess that the splits weren't that dissimilar to e.g. Brexit really (age/education/location) which may raise a lot of questions for those of us who care (those who don't, of course, just carry on with the firehose of disinformation.)

I mean, I'm not minimising the depressing result (same with NZ); it just feels part of a larger pattern.

golgaloth, to writing
@golgaloth@writing.exchange avatar

The fear of long words is called 'hippopotomonstrosesquippedaliophobia.'

What is your character afraid of? Do they even know?

Scurra,
@Scurra@mastodon.social avatar

@golgaloth
I think there's one too many P's in there? Not that I already knew how to spell this word, you understand.
(Also, what's wrong with just the "sesquipedaliophobia" bit? Sesquipedalian is the generally recognised term for long words. I assume the extra prefixes are for exaggerated comic effect, but I think they get in the way myself.)

Teri_Kanefield, to random

deleted_by_author

    •
    Scurra,
    @Scurra@mastodon.social avatar

    @Teri_Kanefield
    As a wise philosopher once observed: "Fear leads to Anger. Anger leads to Hate. Hate leads to suffering."
    I tend to thing that the disinformation highway is all about stoking the fear (and subsequent) anger, because the hate follows naturally but the stokers can pretend that they had nothing to do with it...

    StuffByBez, to random

    Good morning! Or whatever it is wherever you are whenever you read this.

    I hope you're generally well. <3

    Scurra,
    @Scurra@mastodon.social avatar

    @golgaloth @StuffByBez

    Admirably well.

    StuffByBez, to random

    Good morning!

    I'm about to get ready to playtest!

    What are you up to?

    I hope you're having a lovely day, whatever it is, and you have something to look forward to. :-)

    Scurra,
    @Scurra@mastodon.social avatar

    @golgaloth @StuffByBez

    Well I had a good time. Can't speak for Bez, mind. :)
    One good-to-promising Ell deck game, one worthwhile-but-may-need-too-much-work Ell deck game and one unexpectedly great not-Ell deck auction game (although other player numbers may turn out to make it less good.)
    Meanwhile, my own Space Pirates game wasn't as bad as I feared, and I am actively looking forward to the next test which is generally a good thing...

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