US Election, NaNaWriMo/Gaming, IT Issues

[tcpip]

The election of Obama was pretty convincing, although I would hope that American conservatives are beginning to understand why their electoral system needs preferential voting and proportional representation, in the same way that Canadian liberals are hopefully beginning to understand. Many are having problems (hat-tip to jhubert), to which schadenfreude pie is on offer. To many conservatives this was a "referendum on socialism" - which was lost. Whilst there is some socialist orientations in Obama, in the centre-left, European social-democratic model but more realistically one must avoid the twin errors of cynicism and overconfidence. It is also worth keeping on eye on what Bush will do in his remaining days of office.

My NaNaWriMo game-design project is going very well; so far I'm pushing 20,000 words which is reasonably good for the four days although I did have a fair amount of notes and material to draw upon. It is certainly easier to write about something that one already has an interest and background in without the strict requirements of veracity as I discovered in 2006 when I started a historical fiction novel. The greatest strength of the process is, of course, providing one a discipline habit of concentrated writing. On a related topic I have started bringing articles together for the next issue of RPG Review. One of the nice discoveries over the past few days is to find that I have been listed as a playtester for most recent edition Traveller; something I didn't know about! It would be good to get into some sf gaming, it's kind of a big glaring empty spot in the various genres I'm involved in at the moment. Blue Planet would be a nice choice, although I'm also fond of Traveller 2300/2300AD. Any others?

The past couple of weeks in IT has been very interesting. Minister Conroy must now realise that almost nobody supports his proposed clean feed (156 against, 1 for). Andrew Keen has established himself as a person who appears not to understand technology or economics; "Economy to Give Open-Source a Good Thumping". In enormously good news (hat-tip arjen_lentz), the US Court of Appeals for the Federal Circuit (CAFC) has thrown out most software patents! Has your Internet feed been slow in the past 36 hours or so? Mine has at work and at home; that's because Sprint and Cogent are having a little dispute.

Comments

[tcpip.livejournal.com]

Fixed!

Yes, there is indeed cause for some celebration.

This stuck out for me:

If you are incapable of mustering pride in this moment, and if you cannot appreciate how meaningful this day is for millions of black folks who stood in lines for up to seven hours to vote, then your cynicism has become such an encumbrance as to render you all but useless to the liberation movement. Indeed, those who cannot appreciate what has just transpired are so eaten up with nihilistic rage and hopelessness that I cannot but think that they are a waste of carbon, and actively thieving oxygen that could be put to better use by others.

This election does indeed matter. No, it is not the same as victory against the forces of injustice, and yes, Obama is a heavily compromised candidate, and yes, we will have to work hard to hold him accountable. But it matters nonetheless that he, and not the bloodthirsty bomber McCain, or the Christo-fascist, Palin, managed to emerge victorious.

[decrypt-era.livejournal.com]

I admire the sentiment in the population,
but still believe they'r being played.