Jon F. Zeigler

Once in a while, #fanfiction produces some real gems. Such as this absolutely brilliant piece of world-building and character study wrapped in a #LowerDecks story.

Good progress today - knocked out 9 out of 13 questions on the mathematics quiz I'm working on. Might be able to finish tomorrow, then do a double-check and post the thing bySunday. Quiz is due Tuesday, although given the time difference between me and the UK that means Monday evening.

#studying

Well, speaking as an American, there's a certain amount of empirical evidence available to support the hypothesis that many of us are . . . a bit iffy with respect to moral values.

I've observed the same thing. There's a certain brand of American "conservative" (a term I hate, because they don't want to *conserve* anything worthwhile) who consistently act like assholes and then get all surprised and huffy when people decide not to defer to or continue to associate with them.

Yesterday was a wash - after tai chi and shopping, I was so tired I just took a brisk nap. Didn't even turn my computer on all day, which is blue-moon territory for me.

Today, and through the weekend, I'll be working on higher mathematics. Assignments due next week, and the week after.

#studying

The image shows a rectangular Roman dice tower (turricula) made of four copper alloy (bronze) plates with punched cut-out Latin letters and cut-out decorative patterns. At the bottom front is a stepped exit chute with small bronze bells attached to the opening. The tower is a Roman anti-cheating device. It has an open top and is hollow inside except for three staggered, downward-sloping plates, designed to randomize dice as they fall, ensuring unpredictable dice rolls. When the dice rolled out of the exit chute they rang the bells! There is a decorative dolphin either side of the stepped exit chute. The top of the front plate has two decorative pine cone finials. Height 25 cm. There is a single die shown next to the stepped base to illustrate how it was used. The front inscription reads: PICTOS VICTOS HOSTIS DELETA LVDITE SECVRI Translated as: ‘The Picts defeated, the enemy has been destroyed, play in safety’. Around the top of the three remaining sides, a second inscription made with cut out letters reads: ‘UTERI/FELIX/VIVAS’ translated as ‘Use happily; may you live well’. Found at a Roman villa at Froitzheim in Germany in 1985.

Roman anti-cheating gaming accessory!

This Roman ‘turricula’ (dice tower) was used to ensure a fair roll of the dice! 🎲🎲🎲

Dice dropped into the top, tumbled over sloping internal levels, and appeared randomly below.

From Froitzheim, Germany, AD 300-400

📷 LVR-Landesmuseum Bonn

#Archaeology

One of my favorite Green Lantern stories, by far.

sketching with friends atm

Didn't get much done today, aside from a visit to the dentist which at least reassured me that I'm not developing a serious problem with any of my teeth.

I did review a mathematics assignment that's due in about a week, which I'll probably start work on tomorrow.

#studying

Another day mostly spent #studying in mathematics and astronomy. Making good progress. By this weekend I expect I'll be done with the current tranche of reading, so I can get started on assignments.

The math assignment will be interesting. Going to give the equation editor in Word a real workout.

While doing my #studying in astronomy today, I'm reminded of one of the more amusing tidbits in the sciences:

The quickest way to start a knife fight in the physical sciences is to ask an astronomer to define the term "metals."

The irony is that I spent the last two years of my federal career designing a curriculum that, among other things, taught Department of Defense officials about international law.

I would hazard a guess all that work has been thrown on the trash heap.

Good thing I retired when I did.

First of the month, and I set up my planning board for March, although I haven't gotten around to posting my planning message to my blog yet.

Spent most of the day doing reading in astronomy and mathematics. Some assignments coming up in the mid-month, need to be ready.

#studying

I've thought for many years that the crisis of the modern world is one of epistemology. Too many humans have some form of power without having the slightest notion of how the world around them actually works, because they never learned, refuse to learn, wouldn't recognize solid fact if they saw it.

Was a little under the weather today, plus (waves hands in all directions), but I did manage to finish and post a chapter of the current story. So that's one more check box on the list for February.

Next couple of weeks are probably going to be focused on university coursework.

#studying #writing

Statement from Major General (Ret.) Paul D. Eaton, an Army commander during Operation Iraqi Freedom:

... to create a "Metallurgy" sequence instead of having a series of disconnected items. Going to review other items too.

I'm also changing the way I generate cultural Quirks.

Finally, I'm adding situational modifiers for species that evolved on planets with unusual environments.

Progress. (2/2)

Finished my first trial run of version 0.5 of the Cultural Evolution Game today. It went okay, and it gave me several ideas for changes to the mechanics, so I suppose version 0.5 isn't finished yet after all.

Notably, I'm rearranging the list of cultural Capabilities a bit ... (1/2)

#gamedesign

I joked with my collaborators yesterday that the whole series of books, including "Architect of Worlds" and the two volumes that haven't been written yet, could be marketed as #worldbuilding "for people who get really compulsive about the fine details." They're not going to be for everyone. (4/4)

The mechanics seem to be working pretty well, though. With the right worksheets to keep records on, I imagine it wouldn't be hard to get through several rounds per hour, and the whole detailed process shouldn't take more than an afternoon. There'll be a short-cut version in the book, too. (3/4)

So far I've gotten them through the Iron Age and their first really big territorial empire.

I need to build a set of worksheets to make this process go more smoothly. I'm trying to keep track on an old Chromebook, and I keep having to flip back and forth between documents, and it's painful. (2/4)

Got some writing done today, and then got started on a trial run of the current version of the Cultural Evolution Game.

This time, I'm working up a species of (mostly) carnivores, very aggressive and callous by nature, although civilization seems to be starting to mellow them. (1/4)

#gamedesign

Scientists Analyzed the Genomes of an Ancient Culture—and Rewrote the History of Europe A study of ancient human DNA from a wetland region in Belgium, western Germany, and the Netherlands yielded surprising information about early British history.

Some interesting new DNA research on the ancient people of Western Europe.

Also started on the next chapter of my current story, and got about 500 words down on that.

Tomorrow is busy - tai chi lesson in the morning, bar trivia in the evening, so I'm not sure how much creative work I'll get done. Also need to get some reading done for my uni courses. (2/2)

#writing

Productive day today.

I'm finished tweaking the main body of the Cultural Evolution Game's mechanics. The next step is going to be the "reading the entrails" material (how to take the game's output and turn it into as detailed a history of your fictional species as you want). (1/2)

#gamedesign

... a science-fictional extension to Marxism for a TTRPG project, many years ago. He said he intends to bring it up in classroom discussion if it's appropriate.

Wouldn't be the first time he's gotten some minor kudos for the fact that his dad wrote a bunch of #GURPS books back in the day :-). (2/2)

Over dinner, my son mentioned he's about to read "The Communist Manifesto" for a writing class, as part of the degree he's pursuing. Which gave us an interesting discussion about Marx, Engels and their consequences over our mac-and-cheese.

At one point I reminded him I had invented ... (1/2)

Against the black background of space, which has distant stars and galaxies scattered across, is a large spiral galaxy filled with streaks of blue and pink. The galaxy has warped spiral arms that wrap clockwise around its bright yellow core. Toward the upper right, one of its arms appears to be breaking away from the rest of the galaxy.

Hubble Space Telescope image of Arp 25, also known as NGC 2276.

The lopsided galaxy has a core offset to the upper left and a spiral arm separated from the others. It is interacting with a nearby galaxy, just out of frame.

Credit: NASA, ESA, STScI, P. Sell
Source

Being retired helps. It’s nice to be able to work on creative projects full-time.

If (a big if) this version works well with private trial runs, playtesters' review, and collaborators' review, I may be able to push this section of the book to editing and layout.

You know, sometime in the next 2-3 months. Not going to get too excited just yet. Lots of work to be done first. (3/3)