apo mechanes theos

Classic games, available once more

2012-01-29T06:59:00.000-08:00

buy for $5.99

genre
download size
avg. user rating
release date
compatible with
languages
developer / publisher
game modes

shooter / action / sci-fi
26 MB
from 684 user ratings. add yours
September 26, 1990
Windows XP, Windows Vista, Windows 7 (32 & 64 bit)
English
Origin Systems / Electronic Arts
single-player

buy for $5.99

genre
download size
avg. user rating
release date
compatible with
languages
developer / publisher
game modes

shooter / action / sci-fi
1.6 GB
from 673 user ratings. add yours
December 30, 1994
Windows XP, Windows Vista, Windows 7 (32 & 64 bit)
English
Origin Systems / Electronic Arts
single-player

buy for $5.99

genre
download size
avg. user rating
release date
compatible with
languages
developer / publisher
game modes

shooter / action / sci-fi
78 MB
from 755 user ratings. add yours
September 22, 1993
Windows XP, Windows Vista, Windows 7 (32 & 64 bit)
English
Origin Systems / Electronic Arts
single-player

Shadowrun 20th Anniversary Edition by Catalyst Game Labs (Aug 19, 2009)

(25 customer reviews)

Formats		Price		New	Used
Hardcover Order in the next 33 hours to get it by Tuesday, Jan 31. Eligible for FREE Super Saver Shipping.	~~$44.99~~	$29.69		$29.69	$28.39

Sell this back for an Amazon.com Gift Card

Two books for inspiring thought

2012-01-01T18:31:00.002-08:00

I was just thinking of using Call of Cthulhu for Steampunk Chicago, with magic, and with some Lawrence Watt-Evans for spice.

A different kind of inspiration, but a fun one ;)

The Final Folly of Captain Dancy and Other Pseudo-Historical Fantasies by Lawrence Watt-Evans (Jul 18, 2011) (1 customer review)Back Cover: "... Final Folly of Captain Dancy and Other Pseudo-Historical Fantasies ..." See a random page in this book.

Hard Magic: Book I of the Grimnoir Chronicles by Larry Correia (May 3, 2011)

(63 customer reviews)

Progress, now vs. 2010 and the year 1800

2011-12-24T14:02:00.000-08:00

It is fun to read past generations moaning about general decline. In college it was interesting to read about all the technological advances that occurred in the "Dark Ages."

For perspective, an except from an essay (read it in full at http://www.sciencemeetsreligion.org/blog/2011/12/the-great-decline-of-western-society-what-are-the-facts/):

Worldwide living conditions. There is widespread concern that our global economy, while lifting up some, has condemned hundreds of millions of others to extreme poverty, particularly in light of the current worldwide economic recession. But according to the latest U.N. report (2010), its Human Development Index rose in all but three nations (Democratic Republic of the Congo, Zambia and Zimbabwe) from 1970 to 2010. For example, worldwide average income per capita in 2010 was $10,760, which is twice the inflation-adjusted level in 1970. Over this 40-year period, income per capita rose in all but six nations worldwide, with increases averaging 184% in developing countries and 126% in developed countries [UN2010].
Imagine a better-off-than-average family somewhere in Western Europe or Eastern North America in 1800 [Ridley2010, pg. 13]:
The family is gathering around the hearth in the simple timber-framed house. Father reads aloud from the Bible while mother prepares to dish out a stew of beef and onions. The baby boy is being comforted by one of his sisters and the eldest lad is pouring water from a pitcher into the earthenware mugs on the table. His elder sister is feeding the horse in the stable. Outside there is no noise of traffic, there are no drug dealers and neither dioxins nor radioactive fall-out have been found in the cow’s milk. All is tranquil; a bird sings outside the window.
Oh please! Though this is one of the better-off families in the village, father’s Scripture reading is interrupted by a bronchitic cough that presages the pneumonia that will kill him at 53 — not helped by the wood smoke of the fire. (He is lucky: life expectancy even in England was less than 40 in 1800.) The baby will die of the smallpox that is now causing him to cry; his sister will soon be the chattel of a drunken husband. The water the son is pouring tastes of the cows that drink from the brook. Toothache tortures the mother. The neighbour’s lodger is getting the other girl pregnant in the hayshed even now and her child will be sent to an orphanage. The stew is grey and gristly yet meat is a rare change from gruel; there is no fruit or salad at this season. It is eaten with a wooden spoon from a wooden bowl. Candles cost too much, so firelight is all there is to see by. Nobody in the family has ever seen a play, painted a picture or heard a piano. School is a few years of dull Latin taught by a bigoted martinet at the vicarage. Father visited the city once, but the travel cost him a week’s wages and the others have never travelled more than fifteen miles from home. Each daughter owns two wool dresses, two linen shirts and one pair of shoes. Father’s jacket cost him a month’s wages but is now infested with lice. The children sleep two to a bed on straw mattresses on the floor. As for the bird outside the window, tomorrow it will be trapped and eaten by the boy.

Looking at industry money flows

2011-12-24T09:34:00.000-08:00

Many times people do not understand how the money flows or where the costs are in an industry.Sometimes even those who work in it have no idea.http://ivanhoffman.com/moneyflow.html is a good example of someone explaining the way the money flows in a huge industry (the music industry) that many in the industry do not understand or appreciate.

Just to start (quoting from the article):

The artist will usually get a royalty of anywhere from 5% at the low end to 15-25% at the high end of the Manufacturer’s Suggest Retail List Price (the retail price) as a gross royalty but that royalty is almost always illusory.

The company will generally deduct for “packaging” (remember “packaging?” that is, when albums came with covers and liner notes?). The artist should of course negotiate not to have such a deduction for digital downloads since there is no “packaging” in such formats. The company will also deduct an amount, currently somewhere around 15% for pretty much nothing at all but which historically was an amount allocated to “breakage” (remember when there were actual records that could break?).

Now the 85% basis for royalty calculations has simply become part of the royalty structure and there is no rhyme or reason to explain it. In fact, it used to be 90% as the standard but could, in the right instance, be negotiated to 100%. Needless to say, this is negotiable as well. There are often many other deductions and reductions in the above royalty rate for foreign, mid-price, budget price as well as different rates for foreign sales.

Additionally, the artist gets a share of the licensing income (read “Is It A Sale or A License?” ). If the recording is used in a commercial, movie, television show or the like, the company negotiates a “master use” license with the user and collects the money and pays the artist’s share to the artist, which if properly negotiated, should not less than 50% of the gross and sometime much higher than that. And it is not just the rate that is important; it is the basis upon which the rate is calculated which is even more important.

Read the rest of it. Now, look for that same informatin in your industry.

A Rathkeltair Christmas Card

2011-12-23T04:12:00.000-08:00

A series of essays, written with courage

2011-12-22T04:53:00.000-08:00

Teaching Conflict Management Courses: Part 3

This is the third in a 3-Part series that discusses the Dispute Resolution teaching profession. This section focuses on the "repeat" clients of students; and how to take care of them after they have finished the course.

Alternative Dispute Resolution is easy to teach, easy to sell to students and very hard to turn into a skill that allows someone who has had training to:

(a) find employment in; and,
(b) be competent at.

As a result many programs resemble strip mining operations, bringing in students, taking their money, and depositing them on the other side as detritus, without any use but to be part of the growing slag heap of those talked out of their money, time and hope.

Very few programs honor the Ethical Duties of Mediation Trainers in the Promotion of Training Programs.

I remain very curious to see where honest examination of the profession of teaching takes ADR.

Economics, revisited

2011-12-17T08:05:00.000-08:00

What’s important about this paper – is it the figures, or the explanations they give?
For me, it’s more relevant for the figures, to know what’s been going on. Occupy Wall Street has brought the 1% to the attention of the wider public, but it was Atkinson, Piketty and Saez who brought it to the attention of the academic community over the last decade. But it’s definitely worth reading their explanations, because some of the things they say are important. For example, they emphasise that it’s very difficult to account for these figures with the standard labour supply, labour demand explanation that Goldin and Katz emphasise. That’s not going to work, and we really have to think about things like social policies, progressive taxation and the politics of it.

Read the rest of the article. Read some of the links as well.

-- critical point, he touches on rent seeking activities -- which is something that just tends to get ignored or not understood.

Female armor in FRPGs

2011-12-17T07:33:00.000-08:00

Read the article at: http://madartlab.com/2011/12/14/fantasy-armor-and-lady-bits/ -- something more designers ought to have thought about and understood.

Sixus1 and Cthulhu

2011-12-13T06:43:00.000-08:00

Gee, this guy's material is everywhere. Which is why it can be hard to find.

But: http://www.runtimedna.com/Sixus1/?sort=&page=4 has the heart of the Cthulhu mythos (remember, five inventory pages at least at that location), more (and different) here: http://www.contentparadise.com/searchimageviewdetail.aspx?bucket=4&searchText=Sixus1Media and the new material he is working on.

Been a while since I visited. My rendering days are probably behind me, but if you have an interest, not a bad place to start looking. Not to mention, he had hundreds of lower resolution models and material he never released.

And pages of freebies at http://www.sharecg.com/pf/full_uploads.php?pf_user_name=Sixus1Media

Short story clip, with politics

2011-12-08T19:50:00.001-08:00

Does anyone understand the elections going on? I just saw something about a “caps lock key” and how that mean the current president had to go. Ariel, you are from here, what is going on? Indigo, you understand politics, please? Wolf?

Uh, err, so Michael, what is it like to be a prince, but to know you earned it through your own merit alone?

What? That’s not the case. It was not my merit alone.

But the princes of the Elachi are selected by merit, aren’t they? Not like things were when I was raised in what they now call the dark ages. How does it work if it is not your merit?

Wolf. Think. For just a moment. Take the Amber’s new baby brother. If he was in consideration, do you think he could lose?

Why not, it is pure competition, isn’t it?

Wolf, think of a child trained by the lightwalker. Would he have training no one else could have? Think of the heritage, of the naming gifts he would have. Perhaps a small colony of elementals, ten thousand, woven into a cloak? You know that unbound, they prefer large numbers, but think of ten thousand, each lending only two percent of their strength to the cloak. That would give him the force of two hundred elementals? Should Ariel not marry me, I would, of course, die childless. I might well give him my sword.

At that point, who could match such a child in skill, power and ability? With the role models he or she would have do you think they would have greater knowledge and wisdom as well?

Now, the families of the princes are not quite so blessed as such as a child would have, but they have heritage, skill, knowledge and connections. Training, heirlooms, special knowledge and family members that provide training and insight at home that few can match.

More importantly, there is a heritage. The call is one of service and duty. I have my fathers before me and their fathers to show me a way of acting, values, history. I have a name that I value, family whose values matter to me. To take bribes, to turn away from duty would mean to abandon family, the commitment of over a thousand years of my forbearers, would mean a disgrace and a turning away.

Wolf, there is nothing I value more.

So others have no chance?

No, there is a possible chance. There are those with drive, desire, who put in time and effort and whose families back them. Then, some are taken in and nourished by the houses, becoming their wards and folding in to their lines. I have a brother who came into our home that way.

But I have no illusion that it is by my virtue alone that I am a prince of the Elachi. I am very much aware that I rest on inherited merit, not my own.

Oh. Guess it is like that, only easier for Parakyle, who is a prince of the blood.

Err Wolf, I’ve been listening. I wouldn’t say so. Of course I inherited the kingdom, but our kings stand for election. They can lose their place and standing from the voice of the people, and once lost, it is rarely regained.

Parakyle, you stand for election? Like the Norse kings, kings like Harold Hardrede?

Wolf, I don’t know how they did their elections, but upon elevation, the voice of the people is called for. If they reject a prince, he is not confirmed as a prince, and another is called. So, by birth and primogeniture, I stood for confirmation, but the people could have rejected me.

Ok, Parakyle. So, once you are confirmed, is that it?

I wish. As a Prince, I have duties. Mine, at this time, are limited, we expect the princes to fulfill many duties much like the Elachi do. You could say at this time I am one of the Prince-Champions and am in the time of trials. The people are secure. But I am open to challenge, should I not follow the hero path or should I not fulfill other duties.

We generally have brother princes who serve. My brother serves as law giver, a sort of equity judge and administrator, I serve as champion. But the moot could be called, a challenge issued and if the voice of the people turned against one of us, and if we failed, the one who failed would be removed from his or her place.

Wolf, it can be stressful. It is why the princes generally do not have expansive agendas. The counsel of elders legislates, our judges judge according to our volklaw. The princes administrate, “law giver” is how it translates, but a prince rarely gives laws, though the details of administration creates the real meaning of laws. Hmm, chief of police might almost be a better description. Perhaps “law deliverer” – the one who delivers the law – that might be better for what he does.

The champion-prince is a war leader, if there is a war, but, again, he would rarely make the decision to go to war, but instead would have the counsel bring the matter before the moot of the people and then implement what is decided.

As long as a prince is not corrupt or stupid, as long as they do not step outside of the narrow role, they are unlikely to be challenged and it is unlikely that a challenge will succeed.

But to be confirmed at first, the people have to know you, respect you, and not see a better opportunity clearly available. That means a prince-nominate need be prepared better to serve than those likely to rise up in challenge.

Parakyle, are princes challenged often?

Of course not Wolf. A challenge looks like an act of pride and vainglory unless it succeeds. The princes are trained from early age and our house keeps and nourishes its alliances and always has. In making the decision the moot looks to the house, its tradition, its history and alliances. The alignment of the houses is always important. Marriages, fosterage, cadet lines, history, we are a long lived people.

Now, a house member might challenge, there was a time some thought to raise up my sister in a challenge, but she turned away from that as the war waxed hotter. Someone might be disabled, and not acknowledge it and need to be removed. Another might let power and authority go to their head or seek bribes to corrupt justice.

Does that happen often Parakyle?

No Wolf. But we are not the only people of the snow dwarves, our steddings and holdt are not the only one. The moots are found in more than one continent, more than one world. There are those who have been thrown from their places, sometimes by the force of arms of the moot. Everyone knows the tale of Sirrian Bentlaw or Elinias the Crooked and that of Smirri the Feeble.

They will not tell such tales of me.

But, answering your question, it is not easy, but it is not hard. It would be a weak candidate and a solid challenge, supported by many houses, rarely would such a challenge arise without warning. The shift of power and of authority would be felt in the tales of the people, in the market and in the houses, in the stedt moots and they prepare for the folkmoot. It would probably be heralded by failures in the training and challenges of the prince-candidate as they trained and prepared.

So, Parakyle, do the princes always have to win every contest?

No, Wolf no. But they have to be respectable. A champion must do well in the contests of strength, a law bringer must do well in the contests of knowledge and judgment. And a Prince might be careful of just which and what kind of contest they enter. I would never enter the sprinting contests, but no one would care to face me in a trial of live weapons with the axe. My brother has the gift of truthtelling, and the eye of the north.

You can guess that he always can tell the truth when it is told or not. No one would expect a contest to allow him to enter, the others would walk away. Someone could equal him, perhaps, but it would be like a math contest with one of Ariel’s computers. Not to mention, some rituals follow the blood lines in a stronger fashion.

As long as the people might need the heropaths and rituals, to draw strength from history, myth and magic, a prince will always provide the people with a benefit, an advantage.

It is a balance between peace and times of trial, risk and trade, ability, skill and inheritance.

Do you think humans could live like the lightwalkers do?

I doubt it. Our society lives on its princes and the ability to see the truth. Your society needs layers in this world to protect from fraud and to find criminals. Mirrors would probably kill many humans. I don’t know, but I can’t see anything but anarchy. The houses have a great deal of autonomy. Our laws are fairly simple.

Princes champion the weak who do not have houses to support them, they discern truth, they view the light of others, they track wrongdoers. They hold court and judgment between outsiders and the houses when there are claims or embassies.

The houses are like clans and septs and great houses. They have their own traditions with the force of law within them.

Poser, art models and design

2011-11-30T17:18:00.001-08:00

Poser is a program for rendering ... doesn't tell you much, does it.

Poser was originally conceptualized as a computer version of those little wooden men used for models in doing art (so that you can pose the little figure and keep all the proportions and perspectives properly focused, without needing a live model). Somewhere in the process it gained the ability to render 3D models, animation and approximate real art rather well. Much to my surprise it is up to version 9. Runs about $99.00 on Amazon, which is pretty impressive for powerful graphics software.

Poser 9 by Smith Micro Software Inc. (Software - Sep 20, 2011) - Mac OS X 10.5 Leopard, Mac OS X 10.6 Snow Leopard, Windows 7 / Vista

Buy new: ~~$199.99~~ $99.99 // or from non-Amazon, 27 newfrom $79.93.

The models, or software packages you import into the software (so you don't have to write it all yourself) are very powerful. For example, from Sixus1 (a studio I like, run by people I've liked well in the past):

Product Code: Poser 6 & up
Reward Points: 0
Availability: In Stock

Price: $19.98 $8.98

Qty: Add to Cart

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Package Includes:
Ratz figure w/ morphs, textures &
9 Poses for Ratz and props
Conforming Armor/Harness (Harness, Plates, Spikes and Leather)
3 Weapons Props - Club, Axe and Hand Blades
Advanced Material settings for Poser 7.2 & up
DS3 default MAT poses

Everything you see in the advertisement the software will do for you, allowing you to create all of those images in those poses, and many others, with a number of 3D and 2D backgrounds.

There are literally thousands of models and props available for purchase or for free.

$7.25 $4.95

$7.50 $4.95

$7.25 $4.95

Thunes Keep: Fortifications

$7.25 $4.95

Add to Cart

Grenlow: The Cottages

$9.95 $5.95

$13.98 $8.49

$13.98 $8.98

$19.98 $8.98

Anyway, this is an explanation of what Poser is, so that when you hear about it it will make sense to you.

The illustrations at http://adrr.com/story/ are all pretty much done with Poser. If I were a real artist, they would look much, much better. But until you have an art budget (which you should get if you are intending to sell things), when you are in the proof of concept state, or just for friends, Poser is well worth understanding.

Podcasts and such on writing // Mistworld

2011-11-06T06:44:00.000-08:00

Writing is very useful for game and game design and especially scenario design.

One difference is that with a scenario you can sometimes get away with more exposition.

You would think a world where the souls of the damned sink into the ground to mingle with undead and demons in a radioactive hell wherever light does not reach would not have the description "pastoral" -- but you would have missed just how far the light reaches.

Not how I plan to introduce Mistworld if I do a D&D reboot, (introduction and link to the proof of concept pdf here: http://www.adrr.com/story/mist001.htm) -- given that I've actually got D&D adaptations that have been done of parts of it, I've been giving that some thought -- but it is the sort of thing that is possible.

Many areas of Mistworld have this for a pattern:

steadings -- one to four families.
holdts -- overgrown steading with servants and attendant families.
vills/shrines -- a place at the center of several steadings or holdts with a shrine and an attendant of some sort. No one else lives permanently at a vill, if it is just a shrine, no permanent attendant is there either.
villages -- a shrine with people living there
towns -- has tradesmen, two or more shrines, more people, may be walled, may have a patron.
cities -- has a permanent market and temples.

I've been thinking of doing something on the lines of the Regular Folks campaign to go with the reboot.

The characters would start as 0 level characters living at steadings. A message would come from the shrine with a quest of sorts, an assignment, to hunt for verdigris foxes. There probably aren't any, but they are a harbinger. d3+2 hit points, do d3-1/+1 when they bite (the physical damage is d3-1 so from 0-2, +1 magical damage from decay). unarmored, +1 from size and high dexterity. Their moral breaks easily.

Turns out that there are some (2d2 worth). The report that there really are some is not good news, it means that the beneath is drawing closer in this location

The characters are sent to the nearest town to take the news, and seek back-up, after they are sent to warn those in the steadings.

While they are at the town, refugees arrive, with news of a disaster. At this point they can choose to be initiated and begin to adventure.

The seven deadly sins: Pride; Envy; Gluttony; Lust; Anger; Greed; Sloth. Each has a species of undead tied to it.
One can gain access to matrix magic by being initiated to one of the pathways of the seven saints. In return, the initiate has a duty, a compulsion, to travel and strive against evil for a season. Many people choose this "easy" path to magical enlightenment, wear the colored magical shirt of their patron saint, and travel for somewhere between eighteen months and two years.
The seven virtues (one to each of the seven hero saints that go with the seven moons): Chastity (purity); Moderation (self-restraint); Generosity (vigilance); Zeal (enthusiasm); Meekness (composure); Charity; Humility (humbleness).

I had roughed this out, with a number of encounters, creatures, etc., before, but I lost my copy of the rough, which was done for BRP. I'm now thinking of redoing it for OD&D/D&D. I'm just not sure it is worth the effort.

But it did give me a different introduction to the setting.

Story fragment ... tangled

2011-11-03T05:36:00.000-07:00

It is dark, cold and I'm alone
tangled, I can't think
They've taken my medication, I can't remember who I am or how old I am
tangled, like knotted yarn
The blue monkeys are making me knit and it keeps sucking my mind away

A story about a place where knitting is magical, and not necessarily in a good way.

Pulp Fiction Ideas

2011-11-01T20:18:00.001-07:00

http://jessnevins.tumblr.com/post/8699508570/cheering-myself-up-with-the-pulp-ideasplosion

Game Theory Links

2011-10-27T06:38:00.000-07:00

These are old, I expect some link rot (and yes, I'd like suggestions, updates and improvements).

On-Line Course Materials: Game Theory Links:

~~History of Game Theory~~
Al Roth
Combinational Game Theory
David Levine's Theory Page
~~International Journal of Game Theory~~
Encyclopedia of Philosophy Game Theory
~~Chronology of Game Theory~~
~~Game Theory Society~~
Center for Game Theory in Economics
Game Theory and Politics
U~~niversity of Wyoming~~ -- victim of link rot

They all date from the old days, when I did a sub-web site for the Academy of Management.

Also (note that the format and such of this import is a mess) ...

ADR RESOURCES
Recommends books about...
Game Theory

Whether you negotiate, faciliate or mediate, it sometimes helps to have a deeper knowledge about the theory that explains what is really going on. Game theory sometimes helps, sometimes confuses, but is an important area of scholarship and learning. The following books are designed to help you understand game theory and how to apply it.

Thinking Strategically, The Competitive Edge in Business, Politics and Everyday Life.
This is a best selling book in Japan, required reading at many business schools and a solid introduction to the applied theory of games in real life. Scores of case studies. 393 page paperback.

.

Game Theory -- A Nontechical Introduction, by Morton D. Davis
This is an inexpensive paperback that provides an easy introduction to the topic of game theory. 252 pages. Order this book. For a book that is similar, with a social sciences cant, Games and Decisions by R. Duncan Luce and Howard Raiffa is a 484 page introductory text "unencumbered" by mathematical details.

.

Game Theory For Applied Economists, by Robert Gibbons
This is a serious review of the economics and theory for people who have found other books too abstract. Available used or new.

.

A Course in Game Theory, by Martin J. Osborne and Arial Rubenstien
This book is extremely popular and is written for graduate students and advanced undergraduates. It includes precise definitions and full proofs and over a hundred exercises.

.

Game Theory
by Drew Fundenberg and Jean Tirole.
Clear, practical introduction for the beginner and an excellent text for a first or second course on Game Theory at the graduate level. Covers all the basics and the evolving special topics. Broad and Deep.

.

Game Theory
An Analysis of Conflict
by Roger B. Myerson
568 pages, in paperback, the classic Harvard Textbook. Order this book. Also consider The Strategy of Conflict by Thomas C. Shelling, 309 pages from Harvard. Order this book.

.

Equity
In Theory and Practice
by H. Peyton Young
246 pages, from Princeton, this book applies game theory to what we mean when we decide that something is fair. An analysis of public policy concerns, including the allocation of scarce resources, how and why social ills are distributed, with many, many practical examples and discussions. While not perfect, it analyzes every major theory of social justice and how they fail to address what really happens. Graduate level and above. Order this book.
.

Co-opetition
by Adam Bradenburger and Barry J. Nalebuff
This is a major book on strategic alliances with competitors. Narrow, but interesting use of game theory and the current cutting edge in applied game theory (verses academic analysis). Order this book.

I am pleased to be able to recommend some very good books.

. Yes, I'd like feedback and improvement. This is all old now.

Useful plot kernals

2011-10-25T19:37:00.000-07:00

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Aarne-Thompson_classification_system

The system is useful because of all the detail it contains.

E.g. (a short excerpt)

The three characters in every story ...

2011-10-24T11:04:00.000-07:00

This is the recipe, not "formula" as in write to a map. It is useful for scenario design as well. The podcast is at:

http://www.writingexcuses.com/2011/10/02/writing-excuses-6-18-hollywood-formula/

Transcript is at: http://wetranscripts.livejournal.com/49969.html

Every story should answer these questions:

-who is the protagonist?
-what is their goal?
-who is the antagonist?
-what are they doing to stop the protagonist?
-who is the relationship character?
-what is the theme they are conveying?
-when do they come full circle with said theme?

As one commentator said "4 years of Film school ..." and this podcast taught him things he really needed to know.

While they explain this in the context of:

Casablanca

The podcast goes far beyond that.

Very useful.

Eric Stone Interview

2011-10-17T19:40:00.001-07:00

Here is a link. http://www.sfwa.org/2011/10/nebula-awards-interview-eric-james-stone/

Suzette Hadin Elgin

2011-10-16T09:20:00.000-07:00

I admire Suzette.

Every grandparent should read:

The Grandmother Principles

Humans should read:

How to Turn the Other Cheek and Still Survive in Today's World

Her last major work:

Peacetalk 101

I've just discovered Washing Utopian dishes; scrubbing Utopian floors. (Transcript): An article from: Women and Language and A feminist is a what?: An article from: Women and Language.

I expect that there will be no more novels from her. But she left a body of work, a message of love and peace, truth, that will remain for those who find it.

Details about Syria and the Arab Spring

2011-10-16T04:40:00.000-07:00

It was transitioning from Austria to Jordan that led to my grandfather's stress heart attacks and his being retired from the diplomatic corp as disabled. They gave him an apology and sent him home to die. Much to his surprise, he lived for along time afterwards.

He later remarked that if he had only known he was going to live he would have started a second career or done more.

That said, this: http://www.wheatandtares.org/2011/10/15/did-the-arab-spring-just-come-to-washington/ is a brilliant post. You could easily map everyone of the points to a fictional world and use it for a scenario, but you can also look at it to understand what is going on behind the scenes right now.

A political aside. Completely off point. Two things could save Obama's presidency. If gas drops back to $2.50 a gallon or so (which, at the current price of oil, is actually what one might expect). If the free trade agreements get implemented. NAFTA saved Bill Clinton's presidency (which, it appears, was one of the best we've had in a while, in terms of balanced budges, legislation that actually ended up improving lives, and such -- though a longer perspective is needed) because of what it did for the economy.

Economic surges are kryptonite to presidents if they go the right way, like magic if they go the other.

I'm not going to get into the way people have created such surges in the past, the impact of wars or many, many other things. Though I do remember, one day, getting gas at seventy-five cents a gallon under Bill Clinton.

Just meandering. Ignore all of this post except the link.

Otherworld Minatures

2011-10-09T16:51:00.000-07:00

I had no idea Amazon carried things like these.

Otherworld Miniatures (The Undead): Shadows (2)

Otherworld Miniatures (The Undead): Wraiths (2)

Otherworld Miniatures (Dungeon Monsters): Gargoyles (2) b

and ...

Yes, the vulture race counter-part to phoenix and rukhs. Perfectly executed.

Though these are pretty neat too:

Otherworld Miniatures (Dungeon Monsters): Harpies I

An Essay by Moon (link provided) and Starstrands comment

2011-10-08T11:39:00.000-07:00

Moon's essay is at http://robinmckinleysblog.com/2011/10/02/speed-of-writing-guest-post-by-elizabeth-moon/ -- all I can say is that is a guest post that would make anyone proud. ;)

I also recently was sent a link to a map that was connected to Starstrands.

The map is here: http://members.cox.net./~stormber/Auctions/DCP03483.JPG

This map is a completely new, Shook's creation.

But it made me think of something else. An artist's improvement of a hand drawn map and encounter key for a space created by what I could best describe as an extraplaner mollusc. Looking at the map you can tell there are lots of differences (once I start describing it all), but it just made me think about a partial plane.

Much like some snails burrow tubes into the sand, and shell and all are at the bottom, some magical creatures extrude themselves into extraplaner space, creating a partial plane (since it has all the characteristics of a plane of reality except independence from the plane it is tethered to, size and durability).

Unlike a typical mollusc, as they grow their shell spirals larger towards the center, and "outwards." The "tube" portion of the space will often accrete other bits and pieces (think of them as parts of things torn loose from reality). Mostly those are just mass, but if there has been a great disruption (think a city, like the City of the Revenaunt) torn apart by very powerful magic, sometimes structures add themselves in.

So, you have the creating creature, in the process of estivation. Some minor creatures in the unused spaces created by the jumble that was the "tunnel" portion of the space (the entranceway repulsing/shrinking so as not to allow powerful creatures in). Flotsam and jetsam in the form of broken buildings collapsed up against one side. And deeper in, but not to the back (no one wants to awaken the sleeping creature at the heart of it all), a colony of Ogre Magi and gnolls. A very small one, think a bandit leader.

The flotsam portion had downgraded elementals and constructs (imagine what a three hit die brass golem would be like), a few undead (zombies and planer zombies, a skeleton mage or two), and some traps.

Some other small ecologies.

The space is reached by a simple ritual magic, and exited by a simple ritual magic that happens to require a ring finger on the left hand. You can lock someone away in the space by amputating their left ring finger (which the Ogre Magi have done to some prisoners).

Gary had suggested to Eric Shook that the space be connected to Starstrands, which he had turned over to Eric to finish developing (though the maps, encounter charts, monster write-ups and other material all appear to have not made it to Eric as a side effect of the transition between Gary and Lorraine Williams.

So, what Eric has in his map, with professional quality artwork, is something completely different and unattached from what I was doing.

But thinking of it brought back a re-visualization of the spaces and I'm hoping a reworked encounter key. There were a number of customized creatures and small set encounters (a "reduced" air elemental should not just be an air elemental with fewer hit dice).

Otherwise, it was a lot of fun.

To recap Starstrands (or why it was also called Dream Web)

I had the idea of a dream spider creating a large web, tethered to various planes. Dream Spiders are, as a friend would say, monsters "way above my pay grade." This one was in interplaner space, its web catching things and gaining mass. You can think of them as a cross, in danger, between very old, very magical dragons and plankton feeding kraken.

A servitor of one of the gods was caught in the web (you know how it is, speeding in a construction zone ...) (the material for Starstrands included twelve cards for each of the twelve servitors, and the implied pantheon, god, etc.). In the ensuing fracas, the dream spider leaves the world of the truly alive, the servitor continues on her way.

But that means that the web is no longer alive (the webs are dream material extensions of the spider), but is still accreting mass. The result is a world.

With funny rules of physics. Gary liked the idea of actually defining the places it connected to, so as to connect various campaign worlds and rules set (e.g. this world is AD&D, this world is under the Boot Hill rules, etc.). Turns out Eric Shook actually caught some flack over that.

I was contacted about the entire revival of interest in the concept and actually did some material. You will note, if you look at the links, the material I did is from the perspective of writing stories and providing background material for a 12 to 16 year old girl/young woman. My daughter Heather was my primary audience, given how much I've written for projects that did not complete.

The on-line material is here: http://adrr.com/story/sketch.htm#StarStrands

Map
Introduction
- Project Outline // Compare with Shattered Norns (a full set of rules).
- Simple Rules
- Rules and Extras (to use StarStrands as an FRPG setting)
- Related Style Scenarios
Birthday Party (the Shadow Cat) Amber
- (An introduction to StarStrands)
- roachephants, spider geckos, cats and mice.
- related rules, creatures and others (complex rules, lots of creatures, etc.)
- Wizardry, Dance and Chant magic, etc.
A Second Visit
- brindle cats, spider squid, drift nets, and spindryads.
- our boat.
- glyphs
- Rough Draft on Nature Spirits (pre-clean-up OCR)
The heretic, a visitor (off topic).
Visiting the City
- spiderkin, guardsmen, and others
- star shrines
A Day in the City
- scorpiods, scorpionmen and another star shrine
- the one-eyed king, a star shrine, hints
A Journey for a Box (10) (Introduction)
The Journey Begins (and a box comes home) (12)
- Sand
- A fell troll, trolls, greater shadows, blood worms and other creatures
Another Journey (Mother and daughter) (15)
- A great weapon Ma'at Shekath Ptah
- A great weapon dire song
- A visit to the zoo.
Visiting the City Again (17)
- Spider-toads
- Bracken trolls
- Mist wraiths
- A lightwalker encounter
- And a giant (amoung other things).
All we have to do is .... (updated June 23, 2001)
The City of Glass (July 23rd, August 4, 2001)
- spider midges
- spider-camels (and other such things)
- sun nettles
- glass wraiths
The Maze (details, first three levels, lots of story), (September 9, 2001)
Getting Home
Travels

Hope that provides some feedback and perspective.I know, a long post to answer questions about a map Paul Stormber sold for Eric Shook and that really has little else to do with the post.But it brought back some memories.

Makes me wish I'd kept a series going ..

2011-10-01T13:41:00.001-07:00

http://www.worldofsuperheroes.com/wp-content/uploads/2011/09/aquaman3.jpg

That is the picture.

The older Shalgathi line of stories at http://adrr.com/story are the stories.

YA Novel outline -- a novel where the heroine is eaten at the start of the second chapter

2011-09-19T18:26:00.000-07:00

I'd have never been so happy if I'd realized I was about to be eaten alive that afternoon.

(or how to start a YA novel where the heroine gets eaten at the beginning of the second chapter).

But the day before I had started my day off with an arm full of fresh petticoats, just dried in the Queen's flower garden. The smell of flowers and fresh clothing, setting out the week's clothes for my maids in waiting. The next day (today!) was to be my birthday, when I would be invested as princess of the land, so the clothes each would wear, and the matching jewelry, was more important than ever.

Myself, well always in red and garnet, given the earring that never was removed from my left ear.

... More on this novel, since the start may not seem promising ...

Thud and Blunder Revisited

2011-09-14T19:36:00.000-07:00

A long time ago, in a magazine called Amra, there was an article called "Thud and Blunder" about some of the action oriented heroic fantasy that was stewing about. Now, at the time there was not a lot of fantasy, but there were a fair amount of Conan clones (as in 5-10 stories, maybe a novel or so, every year -- times were slow).

Poul Anderson, who I admire as a writer, attempted to interpose some "realism" into thinking.

In that regards, let me note that a competitive quick draw artist can draw, shoot two separate targets and reholster his or her pistol inside the normal reaction time.

For someone shooting five targets in about a second. There are lots of videos with two shots in under half a second (from holstered pistol to reholstered).

With a sword there are people who are just that much faster than a typical trained person with a sword.

I trained with Bob Barrow for a while. When Chuck Norris took a team on the road, Bob was the guy on the team who had the highest total points scored (though, Norris, of course, became famous as the guy who won the most). Compared to a garden variety first degree black belt of the 1970s and 1980s, Bob could literally have mowed through large numbers of them. He could well have been a real action hero in different circumstances, rather than becoming an attorney.

As modern MMA has shown, muscle works as armor (and Bob was an early proponent of steady weight training), hitting like a mac truck really makes a difference, and doing so very, very quickly can really make a difference.

Coming back to Anderson, the original essay is very, very good. However, many of those who read it, learn from it (and there is a lot to learn) and think about it forget that there is another side to realism (one noted by Anderson, though not by those who followed him).

I just wanted to make the point that part of realism includes people who as a result of training and experience can do things that seem unreal. When Poul Anderson notes Incomparably drilled and disciplined, the Roman legionary almost always made hash of his foes he is not exaggerating, but he is also talking about a military that considered a soldier green until he had been enlisted and drilled for at least ten years.

Ok, so I'm agreeing with Anderson on almost every point, only disagreeing with the abuse his essay has been put to over the years.

Other points: Rapiers are usually heavier than broadswords. A man with one does not worry about a broadsword/migration era blade cutting the rapier in half if he makes a mistake with a parry. (Anderson doesn't talk about that, but it is a common mistake made by the Thud & Blunder types). Shields are even more useful than you would think.

Heck, read the essay: http://www.sfwa.org/2005/01/on-thud-and-blunder/

Then you are ready to think again about designing FRPGs and writing heroic fantasy stories.

Chemical Weapons ...

2011-09-10T13:21:00.000-07:00

– useful only for committing war crimes and acts of genocide. It is easy to forget that Hitler had huge stocks of chemical weapons he never used in combat. Understanding the realities about and behind ABC weapons is useful for any game designer or writer who is interested in realism -- and for anyone who wants to understand modern politics and military matters.

His only successful deployments were in committing acts of genocide. Saddam Hussein had significant stocks from time to time, yet as the war crimes trials in Iraq noted, the only significant use his government ever got of them was in committing acts of genocide.

The Taliban and the Russians both had access to the same chemical weapons. Neither got any significant use out of them at all. And as for the nerve gas assault on the Tokyo subway that made the news? The gas used is flammable and killed fewer people than if they had just lit the canisters on fire and thrown them into the crowd.

Part of the problem is the threshold – you usually don’t buy the weapons off the rack like you would with guns and bullets and anti-tank weapons (just visit Armada International — www.armada.ch — to read reviews of MBTs, coastal diesel submarines, etc. to get an idea of what is being sold “off the rack” to governments).

Thus, to begin with, you have to develop a chemical agent. Once you have one, you have to figure out how to deliver it. Both tasks take about ten years and developing delivery systems only works after you have the weapon. Then, after the twenty year lead, you have to find a way to deploy them effectively.

The rub comes in at every level. First, there are lots of poisons, but developing one that you can make, store and use takes more effort than you would expect. Then, there is deployment. Nerve gas seems pretty simple. But as the Tokyo subway incident shows, getting it to actually affect anyone is harder than it looks.

An acquaintance of mine, who specializes in ABC weapons and disarmament said she told her husband to only get her out of the shower next time when it was a “real” attack, once she saw the fatality numbers from Tokyo.

She referred to it as the pseudo-Sarin attack (it may have been nerve gas in canisters, but a real weapon would have killed thousands, not a couple score of people). Finally, there is the issue of getting the targets to sit still for the weapon’s use.

Not that there is not a huge market. The United States manufactures, uses, and sells more nerve gas products than the rest of the world combined. They are called “insecticide” and on a perfect day, against insects who don’t move out of the way, they work pretty well. But as many dictators have discovered, to use them against people you basically need to be able to line the people up in controlled areas using firearms.

By the time you are able to successfully use poison gas against them you could have already shot them hours (or days) before. Anything else in the way of targets and the wind blows your gas away, or on your own troops (the Russians, when doing maneuvers and training with fully geared and protected troops, considered 15% casualties in the practice troops a success).

The problems are severe enough that the end of Hitler’s war saw the Germans unwilling to use the stockpiled chemical agents. The benefit was never as great as the downside even when the downside was complete and crushing defeat.

Next I’ll cover Biological Weapons – good for shooting yourself in the foot and nuclear weapons – or a way to pay five times as much for half the result. Then we can move on to other topics, like why it is better to defend than attack, and other military facts. But if you have questions about WMDs, why people are so emotional about them, or why they are so useless, I’ll be glad to talk

Dispute Resolution Links

2011-09-09T05:19:00.001-07:00

Cherryh has a series of novels where the protagonist is a mediator. The following are some links to materials that would help anyone trying to use a mediator as a protagonist.

Barbara McAdoo: Negotiation Skills Fundamental in Teaching - VideoBarbara McAdoo discusses why a negotiation class is the most important class a law school student can take.
McAdoo, Barbara: Transparency and Clarification - VideoBarbara McAdoo emphasizes the importance of clearly defining what the party is and is not getting through mediation.
McAdoo, Barbara: Mediate.com InterviewThis is the complete interview with Barbara McAdoo, longtime mediator and faculty at Hamline Law School, filmed as part of Mediate.com's "The Mediators: Views from the Eye of the Storm" Series.
Barbara McAdoo: Disappointing that Mediation is not Defined - VideoBarbara McAdoo shares her disappointment with how the field has not been defined and how mediators cannot communicate what mediation is to consumers.
Barbara McAdoo: Importance of Defining Mediation - VideoBarbara McAdoo explains reasons why the mediation profession should be clearly defined.
McAdoo, Barbara: Ethical Issues with Judge - VideoBarbara McAdoo shares an anecdote about a judge who revealed to her that he mediates all his cases before he tries them.
Barbara McAdoo: High School Project Leads to 'Helping' Values - VideoBarbara McAdoo shares a life-changing experience she had as a senior in high school when she chose to do a project on segregation.
McAdoo, Barbara: Lack of Research - VideoBarbara McAdoo observes the little research that has compared parties' settlements and experience from mediation to parties' settlements through other processes.
McAdoo, Barbara: Seeing Litigation as Wrong Path in Many Cases - VideoBarbara McAdoo speaks of her experience with litigation and feeling like the clients were not addressing the problem in the right way. She felt they could have communicated more openly and directly with each other.
McAdoo, Barbara: Consequences From Spread of Mediation - VideoBarbara McAdoo discusses that the spread of mediation is what most pleases her about the field. However, she is also concerned with the institutionalization of the practice.
McAdoo, Barbara: Neutral Evaluation - VideoBarbara McAdoo shares her concern with mediators not being able to clearly define what mediation is compared to neutral evaluation as well as the acceptable, ethical boundaries that each has.
McAdoo, Barbara: Lawyers Need Communication Skills - VideoBarbara McAdoo describes her concern with lawyers waiting for mediators or others to be able to relate bad news or other news to their clients.
A Style Index for MediatorsThe Mediator Classification Index (MCI) is designed to assist in understanding the approach or style a mediator tends to use during the mediation process. The MCI is a valuable tool which you may ask prospective mediators to complete as part of the mediator selection process. This is also a valuable tool for mediator self-examination.

I'm in a podcast interview

2011-09-05T15:31:00.001-07:00

At http://saveordie.info/?p=596 -- I'm afraid it doesn't offer much new, but it was a lot of fun.

Klingons in the first sentence

2011-09-01T05:40:00.000-07:00

"See, we don't need your imaginary Klingons" said Kathryn as the porch failed to shake, the blast doors remained down, and the imploding reactor cores of the incoming battleships failed to light up the night sky. Knitting needles continued to click.

"The Laadan Ladies Knitting and Terrorist Society is not a soft target."

More knitting.

"Kathryn, no one ever said that our brand identity, 'The power of women talking' .. "

      ... "and knitting" a voice interrupted

"And knitting," almost an eye roll "meant that we were a soft target."

"But those battleships show"

    ... "that a strong force can't even penetrate our Oort cloud"

Knitting needles clacked.

"That people still think we are a soft target."

"You know, we all know, it is words and perception, it is the talking that has the most power. After all, we did not get to be the most successful linguistic metaphor wielding terrorists in humanities' history without words."

   ... "But ..."

"No buts. Fictional or not, over 20% of the confederation population believes that Klingons are a part of the real history, over 90% are willing to accept them."

   ... "No, please ..."

"It has to be done. I know that you prefer to be anonymous, we all do. However, with this announcement, no one will doubt that we are an impossibly hard target and these attacks by fools will cease."

The knitting needles stopped for a moment.

"It is agreed, as the press announcement will read, we will give thanks for the repulsion of this latest attack to K'thrnn, Battlemistress of the Fifth Klingon Mercenary Protective Force."

Slight smile, more knitting. The quiet night continued.

Or what I got from Writing Excuses yesterday. ;)

Writing Excuses -- Killing Sauron in Every Chapter

2011-08-29T18:50:00.000-07:00

Apo Mechanes Theos is my alternative blog, for everything off topic for my "other" blog.

While I did one link to Writing Excuses with http://ethesis.blogspot.com/2011/08/writing-excuses-podcasts-comments.html I've decided to put the rest here.

This is about a novel where you have to kill Sauron in every chapter (inspired by one of their podcasts).

It hit me as we sat plotting (which is all anyone ever does). "Where did Sauron Nine Lives get his name?"

Kara snorted, the beer sputtering everywhere. "You idiot, everyone knows it has to do with the fact he is alive in nine places, nine bodies at once. That is why we are having such a hard time figuring out how to kill him."

"No, I know that. Sheesh. Where did the 'Sauron' part of his name come from?"

Dead silence. "Uhh."

"Never mind" I said, "Now we just have to figure out how to kill him nine times -- maybe ten or eleven if we don't do it fast enough and he brings a body or two back while we are at it."

And that is how you write a novel where you kill Sauron in every chapter. ;)

Next, how to write a YA novel where the first person narrator, protagonist/heroine gets eaten at the start of Chapter 2 and parts of it are written in second person imperative.

Drawing Down Law (Drawing Down Law, a Spirit's Guide)

2011-06-21T17:57:00.000-07:00

Drawing Out Law: A Spirit's Guide by John Borrows

In the 1970s I began working on a project involving narratives and heroquests [1]. It was more or less finished in 2004 [2]. Since I started law school in 1979, well after the project began, Drawing Out Law was a welcome perspective, blending as it does the themes of narratives and heroquests in connection with First Nations law.

It was interesting to see the blending of perspectives and the organic nature of the way ideas were presented, often without any prescriptive conclusions. I've been following the ethics writings of Dr. De Mars, which stem from a First Nations perspective [3]. Doing the same with law seems natural.

Dome of the perspectives are though provoking, ones I would never have considered. For example, in a discussion of abortion, he draws an analogy between reproductive rights and the (re) development of tribal entities as mature(ing) life in the body of another nation. Throughout discussing the rights and interests, autonomy and perspective, Borrows refuses to engage in prescription, merely providing multiple reframings with a bottom line that more reframing from a First Nations perspective would be valuable.

The pattern of acknowledging multiple approaches, perspectives and frames, suggesting more in the context of soft bordered stories, but not prescribing a result, prescribing a frame or insisting on any perspective, is what marks the book. It invites thought rather than provides conclusions.

In reading the book it helps if the reader is able to accept Jared Diamond's core premises: (1) that those distant from us in time or culture are not "the other" and (2) regardless, it is wrong to abuse, exploit, exterminate or dominate other groups regardless of whether we consider them inferior or less organized than our reference or not. [4]

If you come to the book rejecting those two premises, you are probably not going to get very far.

The book does not go astray very often. [5] Over and over it presents attacks on the author or his discussions and meets them not with responses or answers, but with narratives and invitations to explore.

I was amazed to see the last chapter was titled after the Wendigo (Windigos in the book).[7]

Recommended. Then read Kevin Worthen's essays again.[6]

[1] I eventually gave in and read Campbell in the 1980s. I would suggest that he is more enjoyable if you do not know the Ishtar cycle before you read him.

[2] Arcane Lore, Heroquests and Heroquesting August 2004 Issaries Press (now generally publishing under Moon Publications).

[3] http://www.spiritlakeconsulting.com/intranet/blog/

[4] Cf Collapse, pages 9 and 10.

[5] I've just run across the trickster and dogs looking for their tales story too many times to appreciate it once more, though telling it twice (early in the book and then at page 215) made me smile.

[6] Such as http://papers.ssrn.com/sol3/papers.cfm?abstract_id=1462378

[7] I know, this note is out of order, but it should be the last word, so I've put it this way. Cheeby-Akeeng is really an afterword, a coda, rather than a last chapter.

ADR Web Sites

2011-06-05T14:52:00.000-07:00

I used to do a newsletter and as a part of that I would note new websites and links. Here is one:

http://www.internationalpeaceandconflict.org/main

Guide to MA Level Programs in Conflict Resolution and Related Fields

Guide to Ph.D. Programs in Conflict Resolution and Related Fields

Guide to Training in Conflict Resolution and Related Fields

Guide to Scholarships and Fellowships in Conflict Resolution and Related Fields

Materials for Writing a Successful Scholarship Application

Worth a visit,

Full Engagement

2011-06-01T18:20:00.000-07:00

The HR Director swiped the book, so my review is late.

While I put that off a little longer, here is an article, used with permission:

How to Create Good Conversation
By Brian Tracy,
Author of Full Engagement!: Inspire, Motivate, And Bring Out the Best In Your People

Almost all successful and happy people are good conversationalists. They have developed an ability to communicate naturally and spontaneously with almost anyone they meet.
Good conversationalists are a pleasure to be around and they are welcome wherever they go. Learning the art and skill of good conversation can help you in virtually every human relationship, both at business and at home.
In this post, I'm going to talk about some of the things that you can do to become a more effective conversationalist. As with anything worthwhile, these ideas require practice, over and over, until they become a normal and natural part of your personality. Once you begin putting these points into action, you will feel more confident and competent in your interactions with virtually anyone and everyone you meet.
There are three aims and purposes of conversation.
Aim #1:
The first is the plain enjoyment and pleasure of self-expression and interaction with other people. One of the most enjoyable things we ever do is to spend time with people we like and whose company we find stimulating and fun. This potential pleasure is the driving force behind all of our social activities. We like to get together with people with whom we have a lot in common and just share ideas, letting the conversation go where it will.
Aim #2:
The second aim or purpose of conversation is to get to know the other person better. In sales, and in all kinds of business, you require prolonged exposure to another person in order to get a feel for how he or she thinks, feels and reacts. This can't be accomplished in a short meeting. Many customers will have a salesperson come back several times to converse and explain his product or service. These conversations may cover some of the same ground but their major purpose is to help the customer assess whether or not he or she wants to get involved with the salesperson and his company.
In our personal relationships, there is no substitute for extended periods of conversation in the social development of friendships and more intimate relationships. People who get along very well together have almost invariably spent a lot of time just talking about various subjects as they come up.
Aim #3:
The third aim of conversation is to build trust and credibility between two people. This is perhaps the most important thing we do as we proceed through life and it is only possible with the kind of continuous conversation that reveals us to each other.
Sometime ago, I was asked to present a proposal for a strategic planning session for the senior executives of a billion dollar corporation. This presentation was to the president of the company and two of his senior executives. When the presentation was over, the president concluded the formal meeting and suggested that he and I go for a drive.
He called for his car to be brought around to the front of the company offices. We took the elevator down, got in the car and he had his driver take us to a large city park some miles away. When we arrived at the park, he suggested that we get out and walk for a while. We ended up walking for about an hour and a half, with the conversation going back and forth from business to personal life and touching on other subjects. There was no detailed discussion of my proposal, the cost of the strategic planning session, or the logistics. What he seemed to want more than anything else was to get an idea of my general philosophy and approach to life.
At the end of the hour and a half, as we got back into the car, he told me that he had decided to go ahead with the strategic planning session and that he would leave it to me from that moment onward. We then drove back to the company where we parted until the strategic planning session some weeks later. The conversation during the walk in the park had been the clincher.
Conversation Tips:
One of the very best ways to learn about another person is to spend unbroken time in their company. I've found that a two or three hour car trip is one of the most revealing experiences you will ever have with another human being. People who have gotten along well for many years working or socializing together in brief stints will often find that an extended car trip brings out elements of their personalities that they did not even know existed.
Before you enter into any serious business or personal relationship with anyone, you should spend several hours with them experiencing the ebb and flow of sustained conversation. It's amazing what you will learn.
Many people think that the art of good conversation is to speak in an interesting and arresting fashion, to be noted for your humor, your ability to tell stories, and your general knowledge of a variety of subjects. Many people feel that, if they want to be better at conversation, they must become more articulate, outgoing and expressive. They think that they must become better talkers.
Nothing could be further from the truth. As you've heard many times before, we come into this world with two ears and one mouth and we should use them in that same proportion. In conversation, this simply means that you should listen twice as much as you talk if you want to get a reputation for being an excellent conversationalist.
The art of good conversation centers very much on your ability to ask questions and to listen attentively to the answers. You can lace the conversation with your insights, ideas and opinions, but you perfect the art and skill of conversation by perfecting the art and skill of asking good, well worded questions that not only make the conversation go in the direction you want, but it gives other people an opportunity to express themselves.
© 2011 Brian Tracy, author of Full Engagement!: Inspire, Motivate, and Bring Out the Best in Your People
Author Bio
Brian Tracy, author of Full Engagement!: Inspire, Motivate, and Bring Out the Best in Your People, is one of the top business speakers and authorites in the world today. He has spoken in almost every city in the US and Canada, and in 58 other countries. He addresses more than 250,000 people worldwide each year. He has written 50 books and produced more than 500 audio and video learning programs on management, motivation, and personal success. He is the president of Brian Tracy International as well as Business Growth Strategies, which is the preeminent Internet business learning portal in the world today. He lives is Solana Beach, California.
For more information please visit http://www.briantracy.com and follow the author on Facebook and Twitter

Post on Economics

2011-04-25T16:36:00.001-07:00

At http://www.wheatandtares.org/2011/04/21/lets-talk-economics/

Finally, a better book (508 pages worth) on International Mediation

2011-03-07T18:17:00.000-08:00

International Comparative Mediation: Legal Perspectives (Global Trends in Dispute Resolution ) by Nadja Marie Alexander (Nov 19, 2009)

When International Comparative Mediation: Legal Perspectives (Global Trends in Dispute Resolution arrived, and I got my first look, my heart dropped. I've slogged through a number of texts that were really useless literature reviews, hitting the same tired notes (med-arb discussions anyone) with footnotes that were really recycled dry sawdust.

While Nadja Alexander's book does have footnotes (e.g. Chapter 1 is about 60 pages and 165 footnotes; Chapter 7 about 42 pages and 221 footnotes), only a handful date to the 1982 to 1985 era (the 1880s cite doesn't count). Most are post 2000 and almost all of them are relevant.

The best way to think of the book is to approach it as a cross between a text book and a broad analysis of the topic, spanning most international ADR procedures (that is, it includes arbitration and a wide range of mediation pratices, though it does not include peacemaking facilitation).

There is a light touch of the literature survey (such as "In Smits' words" or "Coben and Thompson call") but is a bare scattering that does not reduce the value of the book or distract from the content.

Pages 1 to 60 are introduction. Chapter 2 orients mediation in the legal context and from page 61 to 105 (and 166 footnotes) it provides a useful review and a solid national and international setting. It provides useful integration into policy considerations (Pages 106 to 114 especially). Chapter 3 covers pre-mediation -- how mediators are selected and matters referred (Pages 115 to 170 and only 252 footnotes).

Chapter 4 covers mediation clauses and agreements (see also the model language in Appendix A) and the various considerations appropriate to many jurisdictions. Chapter 5 develops the implications of the intent of the agreements by addressing the legal context, duties and conduct of mediators and participants.

Chapter 6 begins on page 245 and addresses confidentiality. Chapter 7 begins at 293 and covers post-mediation issues from a legal perspective. It addresses jurisdictional affects of mediation on limitations (tolled in many countries, not in others, by ADR/mediation procedures), enforcement, challenges and remedies and the reporting duties of some jurisdictions. Any mediator who travels should realize that some jurisdictions require a mediator to retain notes for seven years, others encourage destruction at the end of a mediation session. It reaches other issues as well.

In all of these chapters the policy considerations are set out and often contrasted with each other. The core of the book completes at page 336. he book then goes forward to analyze the UN efforts to create a model law for international commercial mediation.

Since UNCITRAL continues to press forward with multiple nations adopting various parts of the MLICC (a model law with roots that go back to 1968 and with current promulgation date of 2002), the history and basics of the MLICC are very relevant to any international context. Even the United States has enacted portions via the Uniform Mediation Act sections used by nine states adn the District of Columbia.

There is a solid policy and theme analysis of the act and its critiques. From 350 to 383 the book contains an interview with Jerney Sekolee, former secretary of UNCITRAL. That interview provides an excellent insight into the UNCITRAL mindset.

Chapter 9 is the actual model law, with comments on the MLICC (2002). Appendixes A, B & C start on page 441, the index starts on page 485.

But this is finally, the better book. Given the number of bad books I've read that tried to reach the topic, I'm glad there is one that is finally worthwhile I can review and recommend.

What Could Happen If You Do Nothing: A Manager's Handbook for Coaching Conversations

2011-03-07T17:58:00.000-08:00

What Could Happen if You Do Nothing? A Manager's Handbook for Coaching Conversations by Jane Murphy (Jun 14, 2010)

There are a number of different books on coaching. Some are fad de jour books, froth attempting to be at the top of what may be a new fad bubble. Other books are solid lumps, making up in mass what they lack in anything to say.

Then there are a few useful books that are clear and detailed. Or should I say, there appears to be one book that is concise, clear and that goes forward to show one how to coach, step by step, example by example.

How useful, how clear? Enough I can add it to the short list of books stolen from me within a month of my getting it.

I tend to categorize books by whether they are useful or not and whether they are capable of pragmatic application by real people or not. Some are good enough that I buy copies for friends and family. A very few are good enough that they walk out the door in the hands of the sort of person who can evaluate value quickly.

That is the category this book fits. Not to mention, good enough I paid my own money to replace the missing copy.

I would note that the book is divided into 4 sections:

Listening - This section covers the different ways to listen to employees in order to save time and money, and to ensure better alignment between performance and business goals.

Asking - This chapter includes the process, tactics, and themes in the ways managers ask questions to produce motivating responses

Suggesting - Discusses the “when,” “what,” and “how” of suggesting

Conversation Maps – The book concludes with a discussion of the organic growth of a conversation, and how different conversations can lead to different outcomes.

But the sections do not capture that the book is filled with useful material that can be applied, not just read. It really does answer the question about what could happen if you do nothing -- as well as the question about what you should and can do instead of nothing. Worth buying. And to the house guest who stole a copy from me, read the parts that suggest better ethical behavior.

What is going on with the Russians, the ABM site and how to solve it.

2010-11-17T19:33:00.000-08:00

First, some time for reality. The Russians use the same "o" rings we use for our missiles. We make sure they can steal them. Why? Our "o" rings fail if they freeze (ever wonder why the space shuttle uses "o" rings that cause it to blow up if they freeze? That is so the ones available for the Russians will do the same thing).

Russian ICBMs are kept in Siberia. Want to guess how many of them get below freezing every winter? Given that the Russians have yet to have a successful complete operational practice of their bomber fleet, want to guess how many non-nuclear submarine missiles the Russians have available at the start of the year on May 1?

That is why they are threatened by an ABM (anti-ballistic missile) system designed to "only" shoot down 5 or 6 missiles. The sooner everyone acknowledges the truth, the better.

So, does that mean that it is impossible to get a deal with the Russians where they will embrace an ABM site rather than oppose it bitterly and refuse to give an explanation that is logical or real.

Of course. Ask the Russians to provide site security. If they have a combat battalion on site that would (a) provide some security and (b) provide them with some assurance the system would not be used against Russia. In addition, incorporate Russians into the operation of the system.

That way the site would also protect Russia and they would have some insurance that it would not operate against them. All you need is a location, where there are political forces that want closer relationships with both the U.S. and Russia, in different ways.

The need for focus // A very positive review of Competitive Selling

2010-08-24T17:59:00.000-07:00

Too often I read books, talk face to face, or hear approaches by people who are afraid to lose an opportunity. If asked which of two offices they would prefer to work at, they say both. If asked which of two specialties they handle, they claim “either.”

By failing to make a choice, they become a last choice. The person who says “both” as to which city they would take a job in, no matter how well they support the proposition, has said “neither” – dropping to last place for both locations. The choice of “both” of “all” or “any” is really the choice of “none.”

I’ve made the mistake myself. In an area I have been involved in since the 1980s I regularly see people making it (e.g. “What kind of ADR services do you offer? What are you best at?” gets answered with “all” or “anything a potential customer might pay me for” which of course is really heard as “None. Don’t hire me.”).

Landy Chase does not make that mistake. Needs analysis based selling is by far the most effective long term method for building sales relationships. Understanding it is essential to anyone who negotiates or sells. The method naturally appeals to people whose native mode is analytical or cooperative.

Chase has a book for teaching the method to the 25% to 35% of the population is competitive. He has chose a specific market, one that is underserved (at least for those who are explaining needs based approaches). His book is good enough that you should seriously consider it regardless of your approach to life and negotiation and sales.

He addresses the weakest part of his analysis first. “Weakest” = “most likely to be rejected by his audience” not faulty. That is a brave step, but it is also essential to teaching needs based approaches. Either a reader will start thinking about needs based approaches or they can’t make the jump. Addressing it first, while the reader is still open, is an excellent early way to begin.

///////////-- Aside

I should note that a good friend of the family (we decided where to live when we moved based on where they live) has been employed for the last thirty years in sales in industries where the entire industry is defined by value instead of price.

Everyone in those industries accepts that what they are really paying for is expertise, not the product. For the products you don’t even need a sales person or a vendor – for the expertise you can’t get it without one.

I’ll note that you pay the same price to go to a top 14 law school as you do to one in the bottom 5%.

////////////

Once he introduces the concept, he transitions to nuts and bolts. The nuts and bolts part of the book starts early. It is really well done. In case you’ve wondered why I spent such a long time on the opening description in a book review, the book deserves it. The book is well enough done I can recommend it even if the “predator” motif (which is extremely aggressive) is not your flavor of choice.

I’ve really just not seen the nuts and bolts handled so cleanly or clearly in many areas. I read a fair number of sales related texts for two reasons. One, they often touch on negotiation – an area that is a long term interest of mine (thirty plus years of study and reading in the area). Two, ADR is very much sales, both in practice building (see Selling the Invisible) and in delivery of service. While much of it has nothing to do with what I do, I’ve been reading sales texts for a very long time.

///////////// -- Aside

Another aside. My favorite company generally provides better value at a higher price, but lower cost. The combination translates to a lower net price over time. I had no idea until I sat through a long knowledge mapping session that those points existed or fit together. As a thriving Fortune 100 company, it obviously has clients and business, but it was fun to see the concepts set forth in this book that are applied by that company.

//////////////

The book pairs well with Conceptual Selling.

But the strongest thing about the book is the detailed nuts and bolts advice that is integrated into a consistent and organized whole. Honestly, the first thing I did after I finished the book was look for the name of his editor. The book was tight enough that I wanted to do a search for other books with the same editor.

Competitive Selling: Out-Plan, Out-Think, and Out-Sell to Win Every Time by Landy Chase (Hardcover - Jun 3, 2010)

(3)

Other Editions: Kindle Edition

You will find reviews of the book. You can find the author on-line at http://landychase.com/

But, what can I tell you about this book that you won’t necessarily get other places?

• The writing, structure and editing are very tight.

• It is a high application level book. That is, the book presents legible, consistent and organized information that you can see, hear and hold and apply directly.

• If you have not been able to get a handle on needs based approaches, this will educate you on how to use the concept in a step by step way.

• The book is complete.

How much does it cross over into other areas (i.e. non-sales)? It had some useful material on group dynamics in chapter 5, some excellent support of ethical behavior mid-way through chapter 7, and I enjoyed his final chapter on how the ordinary becomes extra-ordinary. But this is a book tightly oriented to direct selling.

I’m grateful Anna Suknov sent me a review copy. Thank you Anna.

The truth about politicians

2010-03-31T05:25:00.000-07:00

The truth about politicians

No matter what they say, some will be outliers. Does the existence of outliers make them all liars or just some? What is the alternative?

On the death penalty and homicide rates

2009-12-18T19:10:00.000-08:00

Excerpting from: https://www.blogger.com/comment.g?blogID=8597101&postID=2582150553367238939

Though I thought I should note that it wasn't that long ago that Hispanics were less likely to commit crimes of violence or to kill someone than the national average -- significantly so.

The discussion that follows goes all over the map, by the end it gets to this point:

During the 1960s, one neighborhood in San Francisco had the highest unemployment rate, lowest income, least educational achievement, and the highest proportion of substandard housing. That neighborhood was called Chinatown. Yet, in 1965, there were only five person of Chinese ancestry committed to prison in the entire state of California.

The national Canadian homicide rate for 2006 is 1.9 per 100,000. America's was 5.7.

Now let's look at the homicide rate in a few states which border Canada.

Maine 1.7
New Hampshire 1.0
Vermont 2.7
North Dakota 0.5
Montana 2.4
Idaho 1.5

http://www.nationmaster.com/graph/cri_mur_percap-crime-murders-per-capita -- five of the top ten homicide indicative countries have de minimus populations of Blacks or Hispanics. (note Liberia, Iran, and Cambodia, and others, aren’t on the list, it only covers about a third of the world’s countries, so the statistics have real weaknesses).

However, why does Russia have such a high murder rate? Latvia? Or Belarus? Estonia? Ukraine?

When you get to the answer, you are getting to reality and not being misled by red herrings

The rest of the quotes are below the line:

Few Americans appreciate that over 70 percent of American murders take place in just 3.5 percent of counties. Most of the country experiences European rates of homicide.

Maine, Wyoming, Vermont, and Idaho have homicide rates on par with Europe despite their strong gun culture, relatively easy access to firearms by citizens, and shall-issue concealed carry laws.

Atlanta, Baltimore, District of Columbia, New Orleans, Chicago, Detroit, And St. Louis all have homicide rates on par with Jamaica and South Africa despite the fact that some of those cities have gun laws as strict as or even stricter than Europe.

In 1997 Vermont’s homicide rate was 1.4. (Switzerland’s was 1.2.)
That same year in Washington, D.C., it was 57.

Calling them both "substantial" is like saying that both the Boy Scouts and Atilla the Hun enjoyed "active outdoor lifestyles."

In the District of Columbia, where Americans murder each other more briskly than in any other American city, residents in 1988 and 1989 were more likely to be killed than were people living in Northern Ireland, the Punjab, or even Lebanon. DC, of course, has the strictest gun laws in the nation.

Boise, Idaho – had a homicide rate of 0.7 per 100,000 – lower than Switzerland’s.

In 2008 New Hampshire had a homicide rate of 1.0 per 100,000. http://www.disastercenter.com/crime/nhcrime.htm
That puts it on par with Denmark.
http://www.nationmaster.com/graph/cri_mur_percap-crime-murders-per-capita

All this talk of race avoids the "elephant in the room" - geographical analysis of homicide pattern consistently reveal that when neighborhood social and environmental conditions are controlled (i.e., held constant) the effects of race are largely washed out.

During the 1930s, when the unemployment rate stood at 37 percent, the murder rate had fallen to 6.3 per 100,000 and to 4.7 per 100,000 by 1960.

Even National Public Radio got this right.
During the Great Depression there was very little crime. http://www.npr.org/templates/story/story.php?storyId=97234406.

During the 1960s, one neighborhood in San Francisco had the highest unemployment rate, lowest income, least educational achievement, and the highest proportion of substandard housing. That neighborhood was called Chinatown. Yet, in 1965, there were only five person of Chinese ancestry committed to prison in the entire state of California.

The national Canadian homicide rate for 2006 is 1.9 per 100,000. America's was 5.7.

Now let's look at the homicide rate in a few states which border Canada.

Maine 1.7
New Hampshire 1.0
Vermont 2.7
North Dakota 0.5
Montana 2.4
Idaho 1.5

http://www.nationmaster.com/graph/cri_mur_percap-crime-murders-per-capita -- five of the top ten homicide indicative countries have de minimus populations of Blacks or Hispanics. (note Liberia, Iran, and Cambodia, and others, aren’t on the list, it only covers about a third of the world’s countries, so the statistics have real weaknesses).

However, why does Russia have such a high murder rate? Latvia? Or Belarus? Estonia? Ukraine?

When you get to the answer, you are getting to reality and not being misled by red herrings.

Realities of weapons of mass destruction

2009-12-05T15:24:00.000-08:00

There are some counter intuitive truths that apply to WMDs or weapons of mass destruction.

Simply put:

Fission weapons: not enough bang for the buck.
Chemical weapons: only good for war crimes.
Biological weapons: a chance to shoot yourself in the foot.
Nuclear waste weapons: the original scorched earth method.

I'll be blogging on these topics and others.