Medical Data Policy, Gaming News (Plus), Political Roundup

[tcpip]

Slightly tangental to my work, I've been doing a bit of lobbying for Biogrid Australia. This is an amazing body which has actually managed to compile a variety of clinical patient records for research purposes in a manner that is dynamic and confidential. It started in Melbourne some five years ago, has slowly been taken up in other states and has some international contacts as well (especially through Vanderbilt). It has generated dozens of serious research papers on a variety of cancers, diabetes, neurological pathologies and disorders such as cystic fibrosis, Crohn's and so forth. The research tools have attracted some interest from major pharmecetical firms. They've done so on a shoe-string budget, and the money will run out under eighteen months. So it was with some sense of achievement that today there was a small meeting of people associated with the project (including myself) and the senior advisor to the Federal Minister for Innovation, Senator Kim Carr. The technology works; it has been proven to do and now it needs to scale up to be a truly national system. I am extremely pleased to be involved at a somewhat senior level in this incredibly worthwhile project.

Gaming-wise last week included some Cannibal Contagion, The Shadow of Yesterday, some D&D Fantasy Australia and Mythweaver along with the final episode of the Ainu Nezumi story, which concluded with a degree of regional autonomy for the Ainu following the saving of a daimyo's life from assasination by a competing clan. Next week is the continuation of the RuneQuest Prax and after that imajica_lj presents us the Complete Masks of Nyarlathotep. Apropos the former I really must mention that having picked up one last supplement I now have a a complete collection of RuneQuest (3rd edition) supplements. I also take this opportunity to mention that I've been deriving quite some amusement from recent episodes of Orcusville.

But yes, there's a plus on the gaming news. I've been working very closely with a certain Steve Perrin in recent weeks on actually finishing his almost forgotten game, SPQR. It's not unlike a synthesis of early edition RuneQuest and GURPS, both of which are games I like a great deal. Steve has been very appreciative of my remarks on design most of which he's implemented. On a somewhat related note, I received my playtester's copy of Chaosium's Basic Roleplaying, which is certainly impressive in its own right; I am currently composing a review of it for rpg.net. Finally, initial chapter outline of the new edition of Campaign Law is underway. I seem to be doing a great deal of the driving in this project and I wonder I should simply start writing the new chapters now.

Inflation in Zimbabwe has hit 2.2m% and is running out of paper to print new currency. The communists in India flex their substantial political muscle, almost derailing the government over a nuclear deal with the US. Finally, whilst the capture of Radovan Karadzic after twelve years has brought relief to many, I wonder whether it will raise again the legitimate referedum of Bosnian Serbs who wanted to be part of Yugoslavia rather than an independent Bosnia. I still find the supposed national differences between Bosniak, Serb and Croatian entirely based on irrational religious suppositions; they really aren't separate nationalities in a meaningful sense of the word.

Comments

[jamiltr0n.livejournal.com]

How are you finding TSOY?

[tcpip.livejournal.com]

OK so far. Chargen was sufficiently crunchy for my liking and the setting was quite good as well (although we had to fix the river which flowed both north and south). It has abililities, skills, advantages and disadvantages and roleplaying those disadvantages gives you experience. That's all good in my book.

[telarus.livejournal.com]

I see the Keys as more than simple advantage/disadvantages. Has the group started setting up situations where one another's Keys naturally come into play yet?

[tcpip.livejournal.com]

Not yet; although there has been back-story appropriate to the keys and players have designed characters that play off each other's keys.

[zey.livejournal.com]

Inflation in Zimbabwe has hit 2.2m% and is running out of paper to print new currency.

This takes them into rather uncharted territory. Even German hyperinflation during its darkest days never took them that far. It'll be interesting to see if their economy devolves back to barter or if they substitute some other scarce object for currency (gold? US dollars? weapons? ammunition?).

[tcpip.livejournal.com]

I suspect most of their economy is at barter and susbsistence farming already. The actual cash economy itself would be so worthless there would be no point in even attempting cash transactions.

[phasmaphobic.livejournal.com]

I've heard a lot about TSoY, but have yet to have a chance to check it out. Hopefully soon.

How'd the Contagion game go?

[tcpip.livejournal.com]

Contagion was pretty good, although we're still working out in our playtester heads how to reduce the number of cards in the pile at the end of a scene and so forth.

[phasmaphobic.livejournal.com]

Reduce? Why would you want to do that?

[tcpip.livejournal.com]

Because we found that the process of adding many facts to the result of a scene interrupts dynamic play.

[phasmaphobic.livejournal.com]

Huh. Interesting. I haven't noticed that. Can you tell me a bit more about this? What impact do Facts have on Dynamic play?

Also, why are there a lot of cards left over?

(thanks for the feedback, too!)

[phasmaphobic.livejournal.com]

Hey Lev! I wanted to inform you of some changes I've got planned that just might address this.

Let me know what you think, as I value your input.

[tcpip.livejournal.com]

When you win a Showdown, the number of cards in the final spread (the cards played by all involved contestants) determines the amount of Hurtin’ you can deal. Each Ace or Face can be exchanged for either an additional Fact added to the moment, or a bonus Awesome token.

I reckon that might do it..

[phasmaphobic.livejournal.com]

I'm hoping to try it out soon, along with the new changes to agsomafa (no more!) and jokers.

[mr-figgy.livejournal.com]

Yeesh, and I thought the inflation in some of the Latin American countries I've studied was bad. I can't really imagine what life is like with such rates; only enough to know that I really wouldn't enjoy it.

The Bosnia/Serbia/Croatia thing came up in one of my third-year courses, and there was also the suggestion that the differences in language--at least starting from the time things got roughest--wasn't even as great as the differences between some dialects in Italy, and the divisions really did seem to go along religious lines. It was a challenge, though, as a student from one of these republics really took exception to the implications of the discussion.

[tcpip.livejournal.com]

It's quite true, the language differences are next to zero - indeed with some of the Italian dialects there's a good argument that they're actually separate languages (lack of mutual intelligibility).

It was a challenge, though, as a student from one of these republics really took exception to the implications of the discussion.

Deeply ingrained prejudices are very hard to move.

[cluebyfour.livejournal.com]

Inflation in Zimbabwe has hit 2.2m%

There has to be a point where those numbers just cease to have meaning. You'd think Zimbabwe would have devolved into a pure barter economy by now.

I still find the supposed national differences between Bosniak, Serb and Croatian entirely based on irrational religious suppositions; they really aren't separate nationalities in a meaningful sense of the word.

Really? I think religion plays a big part, but there seems to be rather complex cultural entanglements with other nationalities (the Serbs with Russia, the Croats and Slovenians with Austria and Hungary, etc.), mostly due to dispersal of the various groups following wars, that have fueled tensions as well.

[tcpip.livejournal.com]

You'd think Zimbabwe would have devolved into a pure barter economy by now.

*nods* Of course much of the world hasn't actually progressed from subsistence farming and barter in the first place. What it does indicate is that the developed section of the economy is effectively paralysed and the civil service has ceased to function.

I think religion plays a big part, but there seems to be rather complex cultural entanglements with other nationalities

Those cultural entanglements are religious-based (Catholic for the Croatians, Islam for the Bosniaks and Orthodox for the Serbs). In terms of their mother tongue they are the same people.

[(Anonymous)]

I still find the supposed national differences between Bosniak, Serb and Croatian entirely based on irrational religious suppositions; they really aren't separate nationalities in a meaningful sense of the word.

Explain "nationality" in a "meaningful sense", not connected to 19th Century "blood and soil" ideology.

[tcpip.livejournal.com]

I tend to use mutual intelligibility of shared symbolic values.

[crankynick.livejournal.com]

Get the biogrid people to drop me a line at work - I wouldn't mind having a chat about the project - either now for background or when they've got something that they think is newsworthy.

(My office contact details are there somewhere).

[tcpip.livejournal.com]

Done... Marienne Hibbert should be in contact with you pretty shortly. She's the Project Director (http://www.vpac.org/staff/uid/mhibbert)