unclevlad
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Posts posted by unclevlad
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Just now, Tom Cowan said:
Well, they would like to 'fix' regulations aimed at keeping the air and water clean and food, drugs and consumer products safe, but that cut into business profits.
They go further than that. Texas has an example. Remember the cold snap of a few years ago? The utilities were caught off-guard. Nowhere near enough power and gas...so they jacked up rates to MASSIVE levels.
One paragraph from the story:
QuoteBUCHELE: Energy economist Ed Hirs at the University of Houston believes market manipulation actually happens a lot in Texas. It can be done by holding back the product itself, the gas or the electricity, or manipulating the contracts for those products on the financial markets.
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President of Stanford University announces resignation after reviews of his papers show a pattern of serious issues.
From NYT:
QuoteThe panel’s 89-page report, based on more than 50 interviews and a review of more than 50,000 documents, concluded that members of Dr. Tessier-Lavigne’s labs engaged in inappropriate manipulation of research data or deficient scientific practices, resulting in significant flaws in five papers that listed Dr. Tessier-Lavigne as the principle author.
In several instances, the panel found, Dr. Tessier-Lavigne took insufficient steps to correct mistakes, and it questioned his decision not to seek a correction in the 2009 paper after follow-up studies revealed that its key finding was incorrect.
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Felix Gall wins stage 17, for his first Grand Tour stage win. Also got the polka dot for most combative; he was in front for most of the race. 3rd and 4th on the first 2 climbs...1st over the last one, which was HC. Also vaulted him to 3rd in KoM.
Vingegaard makes a move on the last climb that blows Pogacar out of the water. Really, seriously crushes him today. As in 5 minutes or so, just before Gall crossed the line, and the live tracking stops showing the full field.
EDIT: Pogacar just finished the stage in 23rd. Lost 5:45 today alone, so he's 7:35 back...closer to losing 2nd than taking 1st, by quite a bit. Adam Yates picked up almost 4 minutes on him.
I'm not gonna pay for Peacock, so I don't get the pics, just the live tracking. But with about 4 km to the last summit, Vingegaard and Pogacar were side by side...then Vingegaard dropped the hammer, and it looks like Pogacar *cracked*.
The next 2 days could be given to breakaways, or could go to the sprinters. Vingegaard won't lose any time on these. Stage 20 is vicious:
especially as the last really competitive stage. But it's basically a race for KoM at this point.
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MUST READ. At least the opening paragraphs.
Seriously.
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https://sports.yahoo.com/why-nfl-running-backs-devalued-190757210.html
HOW badly are they devalued now, you ask?
QuoteResult? The average salary of a kicker ($2.26 million) is greater than that of a running back ($1.81 million) in 2023, according to Spotrac.
Here's a clean layout of the numbers:
https://thefootballusa.com/average-nfl-salary
Only punters make less...and not much less.
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I agree it's high, but the tactical value means it can be very effective when used at the right time. It's definitely something where I'd want to start high, and maybe cut it down...but I wouldn't do that without considering how well it was being used.
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I'm not too worried about something like that, as it's very remote, and in a bike race, may be kind of hard to pull off. Mind, I'm not gonna say impossible....
Well, bummer. The data-driven sports predictions of FiveThirtyEight.com have been shut down. They were picked up by Disney, and initially put under the ESPN umbrella...but transferred to ABC News later. Now? Disney's cuts have completely shut down ALL their sports forecasting. The site will be kept up through the 2024 elections; that's their bread and butter. After that, tho? No one is sure.
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There has to be a point where the cost of special production for limited use exceeds the value of sales of the alternative jerseys.
And no doubt every team will test where that is.
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Further notes...
I'd missed (or forgotten) that MLB had taken over producing Padres games at the end of May. According to MLB.com, since then, nearly 3x the number of fans can watch the games, and the number of viewers is up substantially.
I've felt for some time that the blackout policies were terrible for the team. Sure, I can buy blackouts in the immediate market, but they've claimed a ridiculous swath of "home turf." I look at the Yankees. From what I could see, they've been big partners with MLB Network, letting them carry the YES broadcasts. The Braves were America's Team, Baseball Edition when TBS had its maximum reach...ok, some of that was TBS had very, very little competition. WGN, yes, but the Cubs played a TON of day games back then. It's a lot harder to draw a really big audience during the day.
EDIT: Steve Berthiaume talked about the switch just now, not surprisingly. According to him, the games went from being available in about 900,000 households...to 5.5 million. Yeah...I think the days of the RSN, outside perhaps the massive markets, are running out. Quickly.
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23 hours ago, Lord Liaden said:
I become more and more convinced that Ferengi would feel at home in America.
You're assuming they haven't been here. I mean, Ferengi influence explains Reaganomics perfectly.........
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1 minute ago, Old Man said:
Apparently Brownie the Elf was the midfield logo at the Pound for last season. So a comeback is not impossible, for the logo anyway.
Nah. Brownie just woke up from a Rip van Winkle...looked around, and decided the nap was a far, far better idea....
And I tell ya, Mr. P, Northwestern should be relegated to Division III.
I mean, I'd say "why so much MAC hate"....but I stuck the Browns there, so that kinda kills THAT argument................
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Interesting, and a potential sign of things to come. Diamond Sports Group and the Arizona Diamondbacks reached an agreement to terminate their contract, which allowed D'backs games to be shown on Bally Sports Arizona. MLB has already taken up production, and there's a new channel on Xfinity for it.
The sign of things to come...Diamond filed for bankruptcy, and a major component was the rights deal they inherited...they paid the D'backs over $60M a year. The regional sports nets have been taking a beating for a couple years; there've been stories about most of them dropping out, going back at least to the start of this year.
But, the issue of rights money could extend, as sports broadcasting rights fees are SKY high in most places. I think that's why ESPN pulled back to Sunday Night Baseball, and widely scattered other games (opening week, maybe Jackie Robinson day, stuff like that). And I'm thinking...not just baseball. Diamond Sports failed to reach an agreement with the Suns...but that may speak more to the core problem of a regional sports net, and other small, sports-related networks. Versus became NBC Sports Network, but had its plug pulled a couple years ago...and now, most stuff not on NBC itself, is only streamed.
The massive gravy train on which the 3 major sports leagues have ridden SO lucratively for so long, may be becoming a victim of its own success. Cord cutting is an issue; when you put NFL Sunday Ticket, say, out there as a standalone cost, people sometimes say No. It has to be concerning to the league powers/owners.
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Or something like that. Rain shower, making a treacherous descent. Mechanical issue at the wrong time/place, altho the peloton might wait for that, depending....
But mostly...yeah, an idiot. The crowds on the climbs that pack the roadsides are barely controlled, and I'm always amazed there aren't MORE incidents. It really creeps me out when they do the long up-the-road shots over the shoulders of a rider going through those crowds, when you just don't know when some git's gonna not get out of the way in time.
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21 minutes ago, Logan D. Hurricanes said:
The Yankees are in last place. (Rays are in first.) But that division is so strong that even last place is above .500.
Or for more perspective, that division has the 1st, 2nd, 4th, 6th, and 7th best records in the AL. The other two are Texas and Houston. Tampa Bay and Baltimore can be penciled in now; Houston, Toronto, and Boston have the inside tracks, with 2 of the 3 making it, with the Yankees still there, but slipping. Seattle...they need to make a big run. If we project 90 wins to make the WC, they need to finish 43-26. Pretty big ask, there.
Seattle, the hill's too tall. Angels, too many injuries, too many basic problems. Yankees were 36-25 on June 5th...right after Judge went out...but have gone 14-20 since. And there's no indication he'll be back any time soon. If they go 3-7, say, between now and the deadline, they'll likely be practically eliminated...too far back of too many teams, with too few games left to feel they have a real shot.
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29 minutes ago, death tribble said:
Jonas Vingegaarde wins stage 16 of the Tour de France and this was a time trial. He and Pogacar beat the next best time which was by Wout Van Aert which was some doing.
WOW. Short TT...35-36 minutes for much of the field, the climbers and such more like 40. The time difference between 9th and 20th was 31 seconds. Pogacar blew the field away by more than 70 seconds.
Vingegaard scalped Pogacar by almost 100 seconds.
The GC just went from close to not close at all. Vingegaard hasn't won it; Bad Things are always possible. There are 2 more nasty climbing stages left, as well...but Vingegaard is the overwhelming favorite now.
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13 hours ago, Christopher R Taylor said:
...it means that if you buy an advantage on a power, its just a power with an advantage. A naked advantage is one that can be used on any of the listed power or powers whatever their source. Its a disembodied advantage, a ghost of a structure. It doesn't have any powers, its just an advantage and the power it attaches to has to be supplied.
OK, I agree that the power to which it applies, or the group of powers, has to be specified. I wouldn't call it "disembodied" or "ghost"...but that's getting into semantics, and POV....inside looking out, or outside looking in.
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I think Hugh's probably right, that it just became a use of Casual STR.
On 7/12/2023 at 10:34 AM, Hugh Neilson said:A lot of those made their way into later products. That Multiform was in Champions III, I believe.
Largely as written in the test doc. The writeup also has Paralysis, which shows up...structured a bit differently...as Mental Paralysis.
The writeup also has Splitting, C III has Duplication. I'm not sure if they're intended to be the same, as the costing is WILDLY different, but the implementations appear to be otherwise the same, altho the power in the book goes into issues the playtest notes don't, which is to be expected.
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On 6/14/2023 at 10:30 AM, Christopher R Taylor said:
OK, so it looks like this is more a stunt to protect them from legal action, because unless they are terrible with money, TSR is not bankrupt.
Uhhhh....on what basis do you say that?
Quote from Dr.Device's posted article:
QuoteDocuments filed in North Carolina paint a grim picture for TSR. They show gross revenue for the first 23 weeks of the year of just $621.93. Total liabilities — which include money owed to LaNasa himself, as well as another of his businesses, plus legal fees — total $384,941.99.
I think you're making incorrect assumptions on what they might own. This has basically no real connection to the former publisher of D&D. -
On 7/7/2023 at 7:52 PM, Certified said:
Full disclosure, as a self published game designer, these are questions I've asked myself. From when I first started publishing in 2013 to today, things have only gotten easier to go it alone. Yes, get something legal done before going to Kickstarter. At the same time, that shouldn't stop you from play testing in the slightest.
I haven't created a crowd-funded project myself, but I have backed several. Mostly new product design, rather than an IP like a gaming system...but I also backed Champions Now.
You need your ducks in a row beforehand. I've never been burned...but there've been times when the project was posted somewhat prematurely. Not all suppliers lined up...or, in one case, where something that was promised *seemed* simple, but turned out NOT to be...and the fix probably meant the project ran deeply into the red. With an IP, writing and editing ALWAYS take longer than you think, and professional editing won't come cheap.
You also need realistic goals. New gaming systems at best target pretty limited audiences. With no track record, no supporting material, they're tough sells...which also means your presentation...on KS and after...needs to be solid.
Last: whatever you think the effort will be...going formal, going published...double, if not triple it.
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I have no idea what half those might be...but from the ones I do recognize, or can at least parse to some hopefully sensible interpretation...my stomach is incredibly happy about that....
And that I'm about to start cooking dinner...rather than eating.....
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7 hours ago, Christopher R Taylor said:
What he's saying is that when you buy a power, and buy an advantage on that power, its just an advantage. What the book is referring to is, for example, a ring that grants you armor piercing punches, or a set of braces that reduces END on your running. So you can technically buy a naked advantage on a single power, but only if its something not inherent to that power.
What?
What does that even mean?
There are no restrictions on naked advantages on a single power. Never use an example as a definition of how it can be used. It's a single example. Also, it's very clear that a naked advantage is NOT an advantage. It's a power.
Note that naked advantages are already MASSIVELY handicapped by the rules. A naked advantage on, say, a defensive power that doesn't cost END...still costs END. The limitations on the base power, carry over to the naked advantage...but you don't get any cost reduction. Naked advantages are the most tightly restricted powers in the game...they're both special powers, AND they can't be applied to any power in any framework.
These aren't bad rules per se; they just take a conservative approach, to avoid gaming the system, trying to avoid potential abuses.
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2 hours ago, Cygnia said:
"Second place is first loser."
"Winning isn't everything, it's the only thing."
Is there any aspect of American life, of its national culture, where this doesn't apply now? Damn the consequences, full speed ahead!
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2 hours ago, Asperion said:
A: Betelgeuse just vanished.
Q: Who ya gonna call????
A: Those who run away, live to fight another day.
Foods for those that just don't care anymore
in Non-Gaming Discussion
Posted
Doesn't sound bad, but I'd definitely add:
--season the ground beef while browning...salt, and I'd lean to sprinking about a teaspoon of chipotle powder.
--I'd also large-dice a medium onion and saute that to translucent first, then brown the beef with the onion
Alternate recipe...pound and a half of ground beef, 12 ounce pack of bacon. Dice and brown the bacon first. Drain *and save* the bacon fat, and set the bacon pieces aside for a bit. Use some of the bacon fat to cook the onion, and a bit more when you brown the ground beef.
Also note: in this approach, I *highly* recommend a better grade of ground beef. That off-white cheapo stuff? 70% lean means 30% FAT...and you'll throw ALL of that away, even with Mr. P's starting point recipe. (Just for grins...I'm looking at Wal Mart's ground beef, as I figure they'll have multiple grades. They have 73% for $4.40/lb...just about 38 cents per ounce of meat. 85% for $5.16...almost exactly the same price per lean ounce. 90% comes out a bit higher, at about 43 cents per lean ounce.)
For something like this, note that the difference between 73% and 90% in the actual beef yield. 73% * 2 pounds...just under 1.5 points. Instead of 1.8 pounds with the 90%.