Other Wise

Twitter Week: 2010-07-25

J C Lawrence — Sun, 25 Jul 2010 06:41:00 +0000

@brettspiel The analytical austerity of Corner Lot may well be it's greatest strength & its greatest weakness. in reply to brettspiel #
RT @jamesoreilly Thought this was an Onion headline "Earth's upper atmosphere collapses. Nobody knows why" Apparently not http://is.gd/dxGJ7 #
RT @newscientist: An evil atmosphere is forming around geoengineering http://bit.ly/9ZITxm #
@alizatw: AIR you were the one napping in that 18C2C game. in reply to alizatw #
♺ @chadaustin: Perspective: it takes 1000 pounds of coal to power a 100 W lightbulb for one year. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Coal #
♺ @chadaustin: One reason to hire new people is that it breaks your organization out of local optima. #
RT @sciam: RT @mims: USDA: There's a clear link between the use of antibiotics in livestock & drug resistance in humans http://bit.ly/apsrWn #
@icheyne: League of Legends? I'm not that testosteronal any more. in reply to icheyne #
@GamesOnTheBrain 3.5hrs sounds about right for a first play of any member of the Riding Series. in reply to GamesOnTheBrain #

Anatomy of a three company dump

J C Lawrence — Thu, 20 May 2010 22:31:08 +0000

Three company dumps in 18xx are frequently discussed but far less often successfully executed. They are hard to pull off well. Additionally, according to my email, there’s also a fair bit of confusion on how to arrange a three company dump.

The minimal form:

You are the president of CompanyA, CompanyB and CompanyC.
When CompanyB runs it has no train and has to buy one.
CompanyB buys a train from CompanyA for face value or less¹
CompanyB doesn’t have enough treasury to buy the train for that much, and neither does the CompanyB president, so the CompanyB president sells shares in CompanyC to fund the train, sufficient to dump CompanyC on another player (who holds at least two shares of the company) in the middle of an Operating Round.

You’ll have to flesh out the details of how to arrive in this minimal state, and what related conditions you want to be true when you do. Presumably one of the pre-conditions is that CompanyC doesn’t (or won’t) have a train.

Getting all the details right is tricky. In several hundred 18xx games, I’ve seen two well-executed three company dumps. A well-executed three company dump can be devastating to the player the company is dumped on, especially if it lands them needing to buy a $1,100 diesel they were unprepared for (as it was for me in one of those two cases).

Notes:

The company selling the train (usually) can’t be the one being dumped as the sale/control-transfer happens before the presidential authorisation for the train sale and the new president is unlikely to authorise the train sale.
Some games explicitly disallow three company dumps. Check the rules for the game you are playing. The games that disallow, usually do so by requiring that forced train purchases must be from the bank and not from other companies.

Footnotes

The 1830 rules allow trains to be purchased for up to face value during forced emergency train purchases – so pick a value just high enough to accomplish the dump ↩

And upon the far horizon in the east

J C Lawrence — Thu, 22 Apr 2010 07:33:41 +0000

Kanga.nu and its services have been moved to a new host. This marks the final decommissioning of the box I built from parts while working at VA Research. It has been a long time..and it is somewhat sad to see her fade into scrap.

If you notice problems or inconsistencies, please comment below or email me.

Twitter Week: 2010-04-17

J C Lawrence — Sat, 17 Apr 2010 08:00:00 +0000

RT @alleyinsider:Steve Jobs responds to Adobe furor, tells you to go read John Gruber's post http://bit.ly/9B53Es [Doh!] #
@rholzgrafe: I dropped #Facebook. instead as I can find no use for #fb, but find Twitter extremely useful. Far more signal on #twitter. in reply to rholzgrafe #
@rholzgrafe: I don't use #FB or #Twitter (much) for friends. I do use Twitter for news, tech info, and professional interests. in reply to rholzgrafe #
@andsoerinsaid: I'm a less impressed with Samarkand. Stephen's Rocket is one of Knizia's two best games in my mind. Quite wonderful. in reply to andsoerinsaid #
@rholzgrafe: Oh, and you said to give you a shout when I'm dumping games toward the Endgame auction… Consider yourself yelled out. in reply to rholzgrafe #
@rholzgrafe Grab me on #bgdf_chat & I'll try & remember what I'm selling. in reply to rholzgrafe #
@BrenoKummel Historicity is clearly important to some. I don't know how dominant the trait is. I like it, but not critical to me. #18xx in reply to BrenoKummel #

Twitter Week: 2010-04-10

J C Lawrence — Sat, 10 Apr 2010 08:00:00 +0000

@scottsturn I'll take that as a solid reccomendation. Thanks. in reply to scottsturn #
@scottredracecar: Even more so because the iPad users are affluent early adopters, and that's a key market for much of the 'net. in reply to scottredracecar #
@jdludlow: There's no good way to support Flash on a (multii-)touch device. Interaction model too different w/o a multi-typed fine pointer. in reply to jdludlow #
@jdludlow: All the larger porn houses are converting all their content to work with the iPad. Most already have. They see the money. in reply to jdludlow #
@jdludlow Flash (games) reads the keyboard & mouse. It is inherent to the Flash UI model even with video. in reply to jdludlow #
@andsoerinsaid Yep, 1848 is a facinating game of capital control — & we're playing #18xx with Lonny Orgler here ATM! in reply to andsoerinsaid #
End of a 3P game of 18 FR-RCE with Lonny Orgler of Double-O games: http://twitpic.com/1dw2dt #
Lonny Orgler at the start of a 3P game of 18GL: #18xx http://twitpic.com/1dw35d #
Heading strong into the middle of 18GL: #18xx http://twitpic.com/1dw3o4 #
End-game track for 18GL: #18xx http://twitpic.com/1dw3wu #
@andsoerinsaid 1848 is a local & often played favourite. Lonny is visiting for three days, so we're playing #18xx every night with him. in reply to andsoerinsaid #
Lonny goes on his way & I am eviscerated in 1824 (DFL by 30%): #18xx http://twitpic.com/1e0wbr #

Twitter Week: 2010-04-03

J C Lawrence — Sat, 03 Apr 2010 08:00:00 +0000

RT @timoreilly: Racism at the heart of Tea Party rage? http://nyti.ms/br9RMC (via @Michael_Finberg) There's good evidence, says Frank Rich. #
@andsoerinsaid Woot! in reply to andsoerinsaid #

Twitter Week: 2010-03-27

J C Lawrence — Sat, 27 Mar 2010 08:00:00 +0000

@andsoerinsaid 20% error-rate outside of cheap questions (eg which hemisphere do you live in, north or south?) until I ran out of patience. in reply to andsoerinsaid #
Multiplying hummingbird: http://twitpic.com/1ap7ny #
RT @newscientist: The Bacteria Diet: For a trimmer figure, add an extra helping of gut bugs http://bit.ly/ajKvKR #
RT @GreatDismal: Dear Texas: Please shut up. Sincerely, History http://bit.ly/bFzNq1 (Praise be the choir) #

Twitter Week: 2010-03-20

J C Lawrence — Sat, 20 Mar 2010 08:00:00 +0000

@pontusnalle The problem I have with 2P 1889 is one player buys four 3-trains & mostly wins right there. #18xx in reply to pontusnalle #
@pontusnalle I'm only aware of one good 2P 1830-style #18xx & that's 1860, but it is a terrible newbie game. in reply to pontusnalle #
Wonderful 4P 18FR-RCE yesterday (Aliza $7,234 JCL $9,492 Jim $3,675 Daniel $7,620) #18xx http://twitpic.com/18rtnu #
@pontusnalle Confucius is about creating ties that resolve in your favour; that's what I expect to happen, esp with the admiral to win. in reply to pontusnalle #
@pontusnalle Eh, that just means that one player failed to create sufficient incentives for their direction. The struggle still happened. in reply to pontusnalle #

Twitter Week: 2010-03-12

J C Lawrence — Sat, 13 Mar 2010 07:00:00 +0000

@snicholson Uncanny valley? in reply to snicholson #
@gilhova I am pleased with my HP OfficeJet K8600 (mostly for prototyping). in reply to gilhova #
The #18xx games of yesterday: http://pic.im/ibf http://pic.im/ibg http://pic.im/ibh (1824, 18GL, 1889) #
@thisdarkpen ProGen 80s. I'm very pleased with them. See my Poker Chip Recommendations thread on #BGG for details & whys. in reply to thisdarkpen #
@BrenoKummel No, a new player that destroyed their own position & was unhappy about it & the game. They aren't used to merger games. #18xx in reply to BrenoKummel #
RT @GreatDismal & @markos: Palin: "We used to hustle over the border for health care we rcvd in Canada. And I think now, isn't that ironic?" #
Wonderful (#18xx) game of 1824 (Mike: $10,318 Ron: $11,934 Me: $13,251): http://twitpic.com/17it0z #
@BildArchiv #
@scottredracecar: He has? http://is.gd/aaFXg in reply to scottredracecar #
@pontusnalle 1844 is pretty amazing. Enjoy! Glad I could help. #18xx in reply to pontusnalle #
@andsoerinsaid Flirting is one of the great human art forms. Revel in it. in reply to andsoerinsaid #
@andsoerinsaid I think the only trick is to ensure all three parties know that the intent is to flirt & only to flirt. in reply to andsoerinsaid #

Twitter Week: 2010-03-05

J C Lawrence — Sat, 06 Mar 2010 07:00:00 +0000

Life eternal. The hummingbirds have hatched: http://twitpic.com/15oxar #

Twitter Week: 2010-02-26

J C Lawrence — Sat, 27 Feb 2010 07:00:00 +0000

@endgameoakland Please hold Container 2nd Shipment for me? I've credit to cover it. #
More sensical than most arguments. RT @hnshah:very pragmatic argument on why the iPad can't use Flash: http://bit.ly/9DTLR3 /via @yongfook #
@BrenoKummel I almost always plan to buy a diesel out of pocket in 1830 — and yes, it can be quite profitable #18xx in reply to BrenoKummel #
18io is becoming impressive. Probably not great, possibly flawed and critically narrow, but still impressive. #18xx #
@andsoerinsaid I'm thankful you are not hurt. Luck out there. in reply to andsoerinsaid #
@andsoerinsaid I have seen revolting navels and attractive navels. It much more has to do with the person bearing the navel than anything. in reply to andsoerinsaid #
In Disobedient Rooms: On J.G. Ballard: http://tr.im/PR9J (Ballard was central to my adolescent struggles with maturity & world-view). #

Twitter Week: 2010-02-19

J C Lawrence — Sat, 20 Feb 2010 07:00:00 +0000

@dafair: Player count? More is longer. Safe bet: you won't finish. I'd wager 20-30 hours for 18C2C until you're all >3 plays in. #18xx in reply to dafair #
@dafair: Avoid west coast, east is good, always redeem, privatise before destinating, get good company pairs, beware Amtrack & ConRail #18xx in reply to dafair #
Y! Messenger for iPhone reliably does background/push, unlike IM+ which times out. Also handles multiple-logins better. #

Twitter Week: 2010-02-19

J C Lawrence — Sat, 13 Feb 2010 07:00:00 +0000

@jdhuntington http://tr.im/NIhE 75 white, 100 red, 77 green, 50 black, 26 purple for a $20K bank with clean splits at $8K/10/12/20K #18xx in reply to jdhuntington #
@jdhuntington Actually I ordered a few more of each colour to have as spares. One white arrived shattered, so this was a Good Idea. #18xx in reply to jdhuntington #
@jdhuntington Err, and that's 25 purple, not 26. I'll get some pics up soon-ish (very backlogged). #18xx in reply to jdhuntington #
@jdhuntington Lastly, beware that ProGen 80s without stickers can be broken with only moderate force. Losses are guaranteed. #18xx in reply to jdhuntington #
Hummingbirds are nesting by the front door again: http://twitpic.com/12mrm8 #
@andsoerinsaid: You think 40yr old software engineers don't throw temper tantrums like two-year olds with too much sugar? Ha! I wish. in reply to andsoerinsaid #
Lack of personal bandwidth sucks, and yet is the only life-state I really enjoy. Somehow this contradiction is supposed to be poetic? #

Twitter Week: 2010-02-19

J C Lawrence — Sat, 13 Feb 2010 07:00:00 +0000

@jdhuntington http://tr.im/NIhE 75 white, 100 red, 77 green, 50 black, 26 purple for a $20K bank with clean splits at $8K/10/12/20K #18xx in reply to jdhuntington #
@jdhuntington Actually I ordered a few more of each colour to have as spares. One white arrived shattered, so this was a Good Idea. #18xx in reply to jdhuntington #
@jdhuntington Err, and that's 25 purple, not 26. I'll get some pics up soon-ish (very backlogged). #18xx in reply to jdhuntington #
@jdhuntington Lastly, beware that ProGen 80s without stickers can be broken with only moderate force. Losses are guaranteed. #18xx in reply to jdhuntington #
Hummingbirds are nesting by the front door again: http://twitpic.com/12mrm8 #
@andsoerinsaid: You think 40yr old software engineers don't throw temper tantrums like two-year olds with too much sugar? Ha! I wish. in reply to andsoerinsaid #
Lack of personal bandwidth sucks, and yet is the only life-state I really enjoy. Somehow this contradiction is supposed to be poetic? #

Twitter Week: 2010-02-19

J C Lawrence — Sat, 13 Feb 2010 07:00:00 +0000

@jdhuntington http://tr.im/NIhE 75 white, 100 red, 77 green, 50 black, 26 purple for a $20K bank with clean splits at $8K/10/12/20K #18xx in reply to jdhuntington #
@jdhuntington Actually I ordered a few more of each colour to have as spares. One white arrived shattered, so this was a Good Idea. #18xx in reply to jdhuntington #
@jdhuntington Err, and that's 25 purple, not 26. I'll get some pics up soon-ish (very backlogged). #18xx in reply to jdhuntington #
@jdhuntington Lastly, beware that ProGen 80s without stickers can be broken with only moderate force. Losses are guaranteed. #18xx in reply to jdhuntington #
Hummingbirds are nesting by the front door again: http://twitpic.com/12mrm8 #
@andsoerinsaid: You think 40yr old software engineers don't throw temper tantrums like two-year olds with too much sugar? Ha! I wish. in reply to andsoerinsaid #
Lack of personal bandwidth sucks, and yet is the only life-state I really enjoy. Somehow this contradiction is supposed to be poetic? #

Twitter Week: 2010-02-19

J C Lawrence — Sat, 13 Feb 2010 07:00:00 +0000

@jdhuntington http://tr.im/NIhE 75 white, 100 red, 77 green, 50 black, 26 purple for a $20K bank with clean splits at $8K/10/12/20K #18xx in reply to jdhuntington #
@jdhuntington Actually I ordered a few more of each colour to have as spares. One white arrived shattered, so this was a Good Idea. #18xx in reply to jdhuntington #
@jdhuntington Err, and that's 25 purple, not 26. I'll get some pics up soon-ish (very backlogged). #18xx in reply to jdhuntington #
@jdhuntington Lastly, beware that ProGen 80s without stickers can be broken with only moderate force. Losses are guaranteed. #18xx in reply to jdhuntington #
Hummingbirds are nesting by the front door again: http://twitpic.com/12mrm8 #
@andsoerinsaid: You think 40yr old software engineers don't throw temper tantrums like two-year olds with too much sugar? Ha! I wish. in reply to andsoerinsaid #
Lack of personal bandwidth sucks, and yet is the only life-state I really enjoy. Somehow this contradiction is supposed to be poetic? #

Twitter Week: 2010-02-10