Nerdly is, perhaps, the best con on earth. Especially for the money.

Nerdly is, perhaps, the best con on earth. Especially for the money.

Originally shared by Rachael Storey

Greetings everyone!

In case you hadn't heard, I'm your Chief Owlbear for Camp Nerdly 2015!  Exciting, right?  Right!

I'm still working on sorting out the website (we need a new solution for the group planning site since wikispaces has stopped offering free sites for groups that aren't educational, and I'm still investigating our options), but since people are apparently chomping at the bit for details already (which, admittedly, I probably would be too since I plan stuff months in advance), here's the Official Word.

We are confirmed for Camp 2 for the weekend of 5/15 - 5/17.  This is the same camp we had last year, so we'll have plenty of space for camping and gaming.

More information will be forthcoming soon!

I have moved to the city of Nephthys, and taken lodging in the worst room of a gracious inn, with proximity to a...

I have moved to the city of Nephthys, and taken lodging in the worst room of a gracious inn, with proximity to a benevolent diety's temple. I share my lodgings with an ascetic priest[ess], stern and silent.

tl;dr - ethical rules exist for reasons, and practicing ethical behavior lets us violate the rules and remain...

tl;dr - ethical rules exist for reasons, and practicing ethical behavior lets us violate the rules and remain ethical.

Generally speaking, there are three different and incommensurate views of ethics: deontology, virtue, and utilitarianism.

There's a lot of fights about these. I've been thinking about a unified ethical theory.

First, what do these words mean?
Deontology suggests a rule-following ethic. For example "Do not kill", "Do not lie", or even "Do unto others as they would be done unto". An action is moral if it follows the rules.

Virtue suggests a state of being -- being a good person. I've interpreted this as being the best you possible -- to seek self-actualization. An action  is moral if it is the action a good person would take.

Utilitarianism suggests concern for outcomes. That the best world is the one where the best good happens. An action is moral if it creates the most good.

Here's what I think:
-- We need rules for situations that we don't know well. Having these rules helps build moral intuition.
-- The moral intuition? That stuff? That is virtue ethics. 
-- If you act in the best accordance with what you believe to be right then, pretty often, that'll result in a lot of good being done.
-- Sometimes, and this is the tricky part, we find it moral to go against a well-honed moral intuition to maximize good.

This doesn't really get us out of trolly problems. That is, there remains incommensuability. What it does do is give us a relationship. We use rules to help build a moral intuition.  When we are in novel situations -- such as trolly problems -- it is generally a good idea to follow the rules we know are generally correct.

If we have thought about and -- and this is important -- acted in a way related to ethics, then we can sometimes break the rules.

If you've thought about ethics, then you may have some good intuition that is different from standard morality about what to do in a trolly problem situation. That is, acting in ethical ways might give insight when faced with harder problems.

Much as Shakespeare can break the rules of English grammar, so too can someone like Rawls, Locke, or even Ghandi violate standard ethical rules and guildelines.

But, generally speaking, if you violate said rules., you're just rationalizing self-interest.

i want this last year.

i want this last year.

Originally shared by Sage LaTorra
http://theoatmeal.com/blog/google_self_driving_car

best. thing. ever.

best. thing. ever.

Originally shared by Emily “Syreene” Vitori

Oh Gods this is going to be in my head all day, lol....

#williamshatner   #commonpeople   #startrek  
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=zI3UfxyIdgs&feature=share

#3x3rpgs

#3x3rpgs

Most recently played: Love in the time of seith, Misericord(e), and probably Atomic Robo.

Most enjoyed: A long running superheroes game in a homebrew system, Tribunal, and Say A Little Prayer

Most want to play: When Alex Got Lost, Monster Hearts, and The Aftermath.

holy wow.

holy wow.

Originally shared by Shen Ye

Damn, the calculations involved must have been insane.

well, Elysium is pretty bad. Wish I'd known.

Undead wedding party.....

Undead wedding party.....

This is fantastic: https://medium.com/@RickWebb/the-economics-of-star-trek-29bab88d50

This is fantastic: https://medium.com/@RickWebb/the-economics-of-star-trek-29bab88d50

Effectively, arguing that the Federation has such a large minimum basic income that it isn't even income anymore. This makes sense. Can we have a MBI now?

If we imagine post-scarcity as an interval from (0,1), with the federation at around the half-way mark ... 

Then, every society can be construed to partake of post-scarcity in some limited fashion. We've always had more than enough air, and enough land. 

Now we have more than enough food, for some definition of food. So, we're getting there. The question is not, if we should ensure a minimum standard of living -- society does by definition -- but, rather, what should it be?
https://medium.com/@RickWebb/the-economics-of-star-trek-29bab88d50

I am very tempted to do a ghost-busters themed RPG using Monster of the Week.

I am very tempted to do a ghost-busters themed RPG using Monster of the Week. I'm thinking a new franchise, just opening.

I'm going to do a little hacking:
-- Instead of stats, use advantage. and disadvantage That is, whenever a stat is positive and you'd use it, take the best 2 of 3d6.

-- More importantly, I need money as pressure. I don't want this to just be fictional positioning. I want to encourage the scene from the original wherein the team is eating Chinese food, and Ray announces that "this magnificent feast represents the last of the petty cash". Maybe that's as easy as a pool of dice to give bonuses to future rolls, which we'll call "cash". 

-- It'll be great to see the overarching organization after a while. Have Ray or Egon show up and help out the team. Or, need their help.

tl;dr - I'm looking into theming MoTW for Ghostbusters. Any notion how to model economic pressure?

Uber, my favorite way to get places that don't have metro, received an "F" from the BBB for non-responsiveness to 39...

Uber, my favorite way to get places that don't have metro, received an "F" from the BBB for non-responsiveness to 39 complaints filed with the BBB. Lyft also got an F, for a smaller number of non-responded to complaints.

Apparently an F from the BBB doesn't mean what I think it means. 

I would expect their ratings to be based on how good a company is to its customers, but apparently an F can happen from simply ignoring the BBB. Which makes their ratings kind of useless.

Meanwhile, Red Top of Arlington has an A-, with the only negative listed being that BBB does not have a lot of information on the business.

The last time I called (using a phone!) a taxi, it took 20 minutes to get to my door -- and I live a 5 minute walk from a taxi stand. Uber, on the other hand, is there within 5 minutes. Taxis require that I have cash, and deal with tipping. Uber ... doesn't.

Without getting into the argument on taxies versus Uber (which is, to me, rather obvious anyway), the BBB's rating service looks perfectly useless. Which makes sense -- they act as gatekeepers, and are stuck in an older model.

Question is, with what do we replace the BBB as it becomes less useful?

There is no argument nor discussion: They were lost weeks ago.

Originally shared by Alexander Newman

There is no argument nor discussion: They were lost weeks ago.

Today, I took some time and attempted to convince an MRA that threatening to kill someone is, you know, bad.

Today, I took some time and attempted to convince an MRA that threatening to kill someone is, you know, bad. That publishing an address and a call to action for horrible things is, ya know, intimidation tactics that makes it perfectly rational to run.

I did not succeed. I didn't really expect to.

Last night, in conversation with Parker D Hicks regarding Stargate SG-1, d20 Spy games, and AW, we talked about...

Last night, in conversation with Parker D Hicks regarding Stargate SG-1, d20 Spy games, and AW, we talked about modelling weapon in RPGs. You can have tables and tables, or something like this:
P90: 2-harm, near/far, reload, loud, accurate, automatic.
Ma'Tok Staff: 3-harm, near/close, terrifying, high-tech, ap.

And moves like this:
When you use a P90 to kill enemies, roll +cool. On a 10+, hold 3. On a 7-9, hold 1. Use your hold, one for one, to:
-- Take out an enemy
-- Force a group of enemies to retreat
-- Force an enemy to surrender

When you use a Ma'Tok staff to terrify a population, roll +hard. On a 10+, hold 3. On a 7-9, hold 1. Use your hold, one for one, to:
-- Force them to give up their arms
-- Make them worship your false god
-- Make them bring their precious belongings before you.

Especially with the move, it is clear that the Jaffa Staff weapon is a weapon of terror and initimidation, while the P-90 kills people.

Even the headlines are absurd.

Even the headlines are absurd. Why isn't it "Terror threat in the heartland", or even "Cops refuse to protect students", rather than "feminist cancels speech" .

Oh right. I know why. Because women somehow do not receive the full protections of the US government.

I'm probably not going to finish anything for Golden Cobra.

I'm probably not going to finish anything for Golden Cobra. I think what I was writing was more working through some issues than building a game.

First gay marriage in Virginia, and they have flowers I brought for them.

First gay marriage in Virginia, and they have flowers I brought for them. I'm glad to've made strangers wedding pictures prettier.

I can walk again! I'm hobbled, but don't need crutches.

I can walk again! I'm hobbled, but don't need crutches.
Walking: 5/5, would recommend.

tl;dr of a post I just deleted - This is what life is like every day for people who are one privilege condition away...

tl;dr of a post I just deleted - This is what life is like every day for people who are one privilege condition away from me. Holy crap this is hard.

Per request of Keith Stetson , I was working with Rob Donoghue (which is to say, we both said stuff in a post) a few...

Per request of Keith Stetson , I was working with Rob Donoghue (which is to say, we both said stuff in a post) a few days (weeks?) ago on applying the advantage mechanic from 5e to AW.

My initial take is one I've seen around (possibly from Rob in the first place): Replace +1 ongoing/forward/whatever with an advantage die. This also gives a similar notion of a disadvantage die -- which you roll 3d6 and take the lower two.

That's the starting point. I've used this in DW, and it is really fun. An extra tangible die is more fun than another +1, at least it seems so in early playtest.

The next step:
1. Instead of assigning numbers to stats, assign bonus dice. In DW, maybe this is 6 dice. Maybe it is 10. That'll take playtesting. It should be relatively low, but in a game where you roll more it'll need to be higher.
2. All rolls are, by default, 2d6, no modifier.
3. To get a bonus for a particular roll and have a die in the stat, pickup one of your bonus dice.

At some point, you're going to want more advantage dice. How do you get them? A few ways --
1. Take a disadvantage dice to a roll
2. Accept a disadvantage dice from the GM or another player, effectively as a fate-like compel.
3. Fail. I think accepting a hard move is worth a die or two.

That keeps it 2-12 at all times, gives a little resource management, and lets the player decide what die rolls are important to them.

Some things I'm worried about:
1. Having a crapload of dice on the sheet, and needing to keep the "strength" dice in the "strength" box. I DONT want you to be ticking them off when you use them, I want them to be physical. But, keeping 6 (or 7 if we add disadvantage) dice pools would be awful. In another post, Rob suggested having one pool and invoking aspects rather than stats to get the extra dice.

That may work, if the table is good at using aspects. 

2. I've been thinking a lot about injuries and how crappy they make you feel. One use of a disadvantage die -- and much stronger than a 1 - is to apply it to all rolls moving forward. So, that broken leg? While in vanilla AW, that'd be a -1 hard, here it is, at the minimum, one disadvantage die to all Hard rolls. If we get rid of stats and just use aspects, then it could be a disadvantage dice to ALL ROLLS.... which actually fits my own experience of injury rather well.

So Keith, you asked. That's the idea. If you go with one dice pool, then the only number you need on the sheet is the number of dice in the pool that carries over from session to session. With multiple pools, I'm not sure how to record it without numbers.

But, we can at least reduce the math at the table. the best (or worst) two on 3d6 or 4d6 is probably easier arithmatic than 2d6+3 or 4. And it ensures you can always roll a 6-, no matter the number of dice.

She likes police procedurals, I like super heroes. Will we like Gotham? I hope to find out!

MRAs be crazy; is there anything to be gained by discussing with them?

Why is Cry Baby not on Amazon Prime, but Grease is? COME ON INTERNET

Doctor Who: The Silence in the Library, Grease, or Invader Zim?

Internet: In DW terms, I have a debility. It is a pretty minor one -- a dislocated knee that is fast on the mend.

Internet: In DW terms, I have a debility. It is a pretty minor one -- a dislocated knee that is fast on the mend.

And it certainly feels like a hell of a lot more than a simple -- 1 on 2d6. (anyone who doesn't know apocalypse world: 10+ for a full success, 7-9 for success at a cost, and on a 6-, something horrible happens.)

Gamers - I figure walking around is normally an always success. I can hit the grocery, the starbucks, the library or the bookstore without much fuss. Normally. Now, those things are denied. It is a struggle to get to the nearest of those, and the furthest away is now accessible only by mass transit.

So, is there a system that models physical injury in a more ... truthful ... fashion. Where being stabbed hurts for weeks if not months, and you need PT. Where pain causes anxiety and makes you easily tired.

Or ... am i going to have to hack this game from component bits around the internet?

Yesterday, Rachael Storey Burke and I hosted (at her place) a DC Larp Day.

Yesterday, Rachael Storey Burke and I hosted (at her place) a DC Larp Day. The key to the night was the Sarcophagus, wherein you play individuals in a bomb shelter as bombs slowly fall.

Warm up exercises include: Close your eyes and imagine what happens to your loved ones if you die. What're they doing tomorrow, in a week, a month? A year? Five years?

Its a cheery game.

For those in the know, I was the Soldier.

We set up relationships - I wound up as a patriarch, with three grown sons in the vault. Their mom had gotten sick and died years ago, and now I lived in a furnished one bedroom while finishing out my career in the Navy. The sons were played by Jonathan Davis , Misha Polonsky ,  +sam zeitlin, who is in a first but I cannot plus..

We had two strangers in the vault - a loner girl (played by Melissa S Cohen ), and a stockbroker (played by Sean Leventhal ).

During the game, I tried to keep everyone's spirits up - this is the great country on earth, it'll be fine - with the normal military party line. There were these fantastic small moments where I connected with my sons. Told one to step up and be quartermaster, asked another one to support him. Told the drifter loser son that he's always been his own man.

Then ... the reveal. After that was exceptionally poignant, and there were tears. 

Five out of five for emotional heartwrench.

You know what's exhausting? Crutches.

You know what's exhausting? Crutches.

You know what's worse? Pushups.

Internet: I have failed you.

Internet: I have failed you.

I was supposed to do 29 pushups. I did zero, adn am not going to do any for the next few weeks, at least.

Why?

I dislocated my knee. This is the third time in 10 years. This time was the best way it could possibly have gone:
-- Dianne is amazing. She called 911 immediately when she saw it.
-- Within 2 minutes, it was back in the socket, thanks to falling correctly and the EMTs the second time, who told me how to get it back into socket.
-- EMTs showed up within 5 minutes. They were firemen, and amazing.
-- Arlington's ER has an Express lane - ! We were out in 2 hours.

The pain is perfectly manageable, but I'll be off my feet for a few days. As I am between contracts at the moment, this is about the best time for it to happen - though I do need to cancel a client meeting tomorrow. I probably won't get that contract.

Anyway, if you have to dislocate your knee:
1. Do it within shouting distance of your wife.
2. Do it in a rich area. Holy crap.

So, no more pushups.

I will do pushups for every +1 on this post, PLUS the +1's on the original pushup +1 post.

I will do pushups for every  +1 on this post, PLUS the +1's on the original pushup +1 post. I may regret this, but it is my compromise as, after a bachelor party, I ain't doing 20 pushups.

When can we stop pretending things have value and admit that we pay for other people's time?

When can we stop pretending things have value and admit that we pay for other people's time?

That the only capital that matters is human attention, not, say, the gigahertz of my laptop. 

Instead, what matters is that it is connected to the internet and I can talk to you people. And access the wealth of knowledge in google and other databases. That I can get a person on the phone. Or, hell, that I can pay a chef to make me deliciousness. Or a farmer to grow me some crops.

You horrible people that made me do 50 pushups. 

Soon, I hope?

let's see what happens.

let's see what happens.

Originally shared by Neila Rey

Challenge me: Push-Ups
How to play: if you want to challenge me, plus one and give me work to do, if you want to be challenged, re-share or post on your stream and let others decide what your plans for this weekend will be.

Why play: the gamification of fitness is what makes it fun, the X-factor adds suspense and making it a public commitment that helps with accountability. Fitness is often about doing something, anything and just keep on doing it consistently. Every rep adds up and makes a difference - energy invested is never wasted.

Credit: trend from the Fitness community by the Fitness community, for #fitfriday  
https://plus.google.com/u/0/communities/105008312335704126105

Challenge me and/or challenge yourself for a fitter, healthier and happier world Google+

tl;dr - the dragon ate a vampire. With blood brandy!

tl;dr - the dragon ate a vampire. With blood brandy!

In #UrbanShadows  last night:
-- We had two PCs, a ghost and a dragon
-- The dragon (that's me!) ran into a vampire who would not accept that Dragon trumps vampire. So, I ate her. That's right: I ate a vampire.
-- The Ghost, while in the dragon's lair, found a sword that she said belonged to her. When she gripped it, she had flashblacks to another life -- when she was burned at the stake.
-- The dragon kidnapped the ghost's reason for living -- her fiance -- while saving him from the now-digested vampire. Why? To get the Ghost to talk.
-- The ghost and the dragon came to an accord, and can now take over the city with minimal opposition.
-- The Dragon was shooting for the corruption, to get the move that lets you become a dragon. I am the Great and Terrible!

Last Week Tonight with Jon Oliver rarely tells me anything I didn't already know, but does make me angry.

Last Week Tonight with Jon Oliver rarely tells me anything I didn't already know, but does make me angry. So very, very angry.

Just watched the clip on payday loans. Can we start giving out low interest loans at post offices yet?

Note: hammer in effect, should it be needed.

Today: 227.1

Today: 227.1
Daily Change: Down 1.4 (too high, but OK as an outlier, which this is)
Weekly Change: down 1.4 (perfect)
Monthly Change: Down 4.2 (good)

I like the accountability inherent in doing this publicly, but,, I'm pretty sure that is limited to me.

Our friend, Brian Burke is starting a Patreon for his newest comic, Wayfarer 1805.

Our friend, Brian Burke is starting a Patreon for his newest comic, Wayfarer 1805. 

He'll be at gen con, with his wife Rachael Storey Burke . Ask him for a card, and he'll draw you something to remember him.

/end commercial.

I'm leaving comments open, but the I'll be borrowing a mallet of doom to use if need be.
http://www.patreon.com/brianchristyburke

Ask the internet: What is the yearly cost of owning a car that is not used for commuting?

Ask the internet: What is the yearly cost of owning a car that is not used for commuting? That is, a weekend and after hours car.

Some arithmetic in a comment.

229.3

229.3
Change from yesterday: down 0.3 (Good)
Change in last week: down 1.2 (good)
Change in last month: down 2.2 (OK)

I wish the monthly measurement was better. I had allowed myself more sweets, and its time to reduce that once more.

Will a Nexus 5 increase, or decrease, my ability to strive for Arete?

Do you like RPGs? Do you seek the emotive moments in them? Does needing to cry after an RPG appeal to you?

Do you like RPGs? Do you seek the emotive moments in them? Does needing to cry after an RPG appeal to you?

Then, if you're in DC, join us for Larp Day at Rachael's house. I've put in on meetup, here:
http://www.meetup.com/AARGGH/events/199181382/

Last time I shared this with just those who were in my gaming circles. This time, wider audience. We're looking for a few good people.
http://www.meetup.com/AARGGH/events/199181382

Random musings: Does war act as an evolutionary pressure against violence?

Random musings: Does war act as an evolutionary pressure against violence?

 In the Ringworld series, there is a race of predatory, sentient cat people called the Kzin. When they get space travel, they reach out and destroy whomever they can fight. This includes several wars with humanity.

And here's the spoiler: The humans and Kzin are kept at the appropriate technological level by a hyper intelligent race of cowards to ensure that neither one wins outright.

Why? To breed aggression out of the Kzin, and various other things to humanity. The Kzin that are on the front-lines die, and its the ones that stayed home that produce children. Continue this for a couple of thousand years, and you wind up with a species that can be reasoned with.

I wonder -- here's the musing -- have our wars done the same? Are we, as a species, simply less warloving than we were in 1066?

228.7.

228.7.
Daily Change; Down 0.4 (good)
Weekly Change: Down 0.3 (bad)
Monthly Change: down 5.7 (good)

I'm still working off the pound that appeared yesterday, so the poor weekly measurement starts to make sense.

I think I'm going to call this good, despite the poor weekly measurement.

For those following along: 229.

For those following along: 229.1, up 1.1 from yesterday. Down 1.2 for the rolling week, and 5.3 for the rolling month.

Daily ups and downs happen. The rolling weekly metric is probably more relevant, and so long as it is greater than 1 then I am still on the right track.

We just re-watched Fight Club -- probably the first time together.

We just re-watched Fight Club -- probably the first time together.

Fight Club was a really meaningful movie to me - and I find it very difficult to explain why. The importance and meaning for me has never been in the fighting. Nor the soap.

Instead, that our protagonist chooses to become a charismatic cult leader to accomplish his goals -- that of getting the girl and having a more connected life. He goes from a life where the most intimacy he has is crying on Bob's tits, to having the love of a hundred space monkeys, and the devotion of Marla.

And that's really the point -- we're not bound by history, and can choose who we are going to be.

I woke up one day and started going by William. I moved from Oklahoma City to Pittsburgh, and everything in my life changed. I described it as becoming Tyler Durden -- and I think it still applies. I'm not destroying financial history, but am choosing who to be and how to live.

That was 10 years ago, nearly. Now, I'm married and live in a condo. I just left a shitty job early this year, and am creating the freedom and responsibility of forming my own business.

This is our world. We can choose who we are. And that's really the point -- we are as empwered to change the world as we want to be.

Note, though, for those following along -- yes, I'm a cis-gendered straight white dude with a masters from a fancy-pants university. Yes,  this means I play life on the easiest difficulty setting. And yes, I'm sticking to the point that we can all decide who to be -- though, it is easier for me to be taken seriously.

Was my #firstrpg really deadlands? I think so, and I played a zen buddhist pacifist priest with a shotgun.

This is a post about charity, and doing good.

This is a post about charity, and doing good.

In the very beginning, let me stress that this is not a dismissal of the good works done by activists, volunteers, the peace corps, or anybody else. People do good work.

And, this is not meant to say that you should give away your money if you don't want to. Clearly. 

But.

The point -- it seems -- of going to the peace corps, or volunteer for a green organization, or running a soup kitchen, is to help people. That is, to do good in the world.

That is, the ultimate point isn't to make yourself a better person, or get to know yourself, or to understand the plight of the agricultural worker. The point is to make the world a better place.

So, shouldn't we -- ought we, in fact -- do charity in the way that creates the most good?

As an example from pop culture, in How I Met Your Mother, the lawyer Marshall wants to do good in the world by being an environmental lawyer. But, he has a wife and kid (spoilers) to support, so he works for the evil corporate GNB. His expenses increase, and he cannot afford to not work there.

Let us pretend for a moment that Marshall GNB salary is approximately that of a first-year associate doing big-law in DC: 160k. And that his environmental law job is 60k.

That's a huge difference, yes? So much so that Marshall could take $60,000 from his big-law firm to pay for a younger version of him to, you know, work for the environmental lobby and still wind up with more money.  And the younger version of him, who doesn't have a kid and house, would be happy.

Instead, there's a lot of pretending that it is all or nothing. I think this attitude is pervasive -- either we're sellouts or we're martyrs. And its bullshit.

Give Directly has evidence -- actual empirical evidence -- that giving money to people does actual, lasting good. And, they open their books and practice a radical sort of transparency.  Not volunteering in a soup kitchen, not going to Africa to teach English, but getting as much money as possible from the market and giving huge portions of it away.

It is why Carnegie will be remembered, and it is what Buffet is trying to get billionaires to do. 

It doesn't have to come from the billionaires. It can come from all of us, producing as much as possible to extract as much wealth from the market as possible and, instead of lifestyle inflation, give the money to the needy.

So -- what's the point of this? Its half introspection, and half the message of: Do good work. If you want to do charity, don't become a lawyer who volunteers at a soup kitchen -- use your legal education to build your income, and use your income to do charity.

Shared by popular demand. I originally saw this on Newsblur. Then I lost it for months, and refound it on Quora.

Shared by popular demand. I originally saw this on Newsblur. Then I lost it for months, and refound it on Quora.

Originally shared by William Nichols

Dianne - I have been looking for this for weeks.

★Menstruation and Menstrual Hygiene Management (MHM): What is the evolutionary benefit or purpose of having periods?
Why can't women just get pregnant without the menstrual cycle?

Sorry I omitted biological from the question so late into the question guys, I realized it was resulting in some deviating answers :)

Suzanne Sadedin, PhD in Zoology from Monash Uni... (more) 

I'm so glad you asked. Seriously. The answer to this question is one of the most illuminating and disturbing stories in human evolutionary biology, and almost nobody knows about it. And so, O my friends, gather close, and hear the extraordinary tale of:

HOW THE WOMAN GOT HER PERIOD

Contrary to popular belief, most mammals do not menstruate. In fact, it's a feature exclusive to the higher primates and certain bats*. What's more, modern women menstruate vastly more than any other animal. And it's bloody stupid (sorry). A shameful waste of nutrients, disabling, and a dead giveaway to any nearby predators. To understand why we do it, you must first understand that you have been lied to, throughout your life, about the most intimate relationship you will ever experience: the mother-fetus bond.

Isn't pregnancy beautiful? Look at any book about it. There's the future mother, one hand resting gently on her belly. Her eyes misty with love and wonder. You sense she will do anything to nurture and protect this baby. And when you flip open the book, you read about more about this glorious symbiosis, the absolute altruism of female physiology designing a perfect environment for the growth of her child.

If you've actually been pregnant, you might know that the real story has some wrinkles. Those moments of sheer unadulterated altruism exist, but they're interspersed with weeks or months of overwhelming nausea, exhaustion, crippling backache, incontinence, blood pressure issues and anxiety that you'll be among the 15% of women who experience life-threatening complications.

From the perspective of most mammals, this is just crazy. Most mammals sail through pregnancy quite cheerfully, dodging predators and catching prey, even if they're delivering litters of 12. So what makes us so special? The answer lies in our bizarre placenta. In most mammals, the placenta, which is part of the fetus, just interfaces with the surface of the mother's blood vessels, allowing nutrients to cross to the little darling. Marsupials don't even let their fetuses get to the blood: they merely secrete a sort of milk through the uterine wall. Only a few mammalian groups, including primates and mice, have evolved what is known as a “hemochorial” placenta, and ours is possibly the nastiest of all.

Inside the uterus we have a thick layer of endometrial tissue, which contains only tiny blood vessels. The endometrium seals off our main blood supply from the newly implanted embryo. The growing placenta literally burrows through this layer, rips into arterial walls and re-wires them to channel blood straight to the hungry embryo. It delves deep into the surrounding tissues, razes them and pumps the arteries full of hormones so they expand into the space created. It paralyzes these arteries so the mother cannot even constrict them.

What this means is that the growing fetus now has direct, unrestricted access to its mother's blood supply. It can manufacture hormones and use them to manipulate her. It can, for instance, increase her blood sugar, dilate her arteries, and inflate her blood pressure to provide itself with more nutrients. And it does. Some fetal cells find their way through the placenta and into the mother's bloodstream. They will grow in her blood and organs, and even in her brain, for the rest of her life, making her a genetic chimera**.

This might seem rather disrespectful. In fact, it's sibling rivalry at its evolutionary best. You see, mother and fetus have quite distinct evolutionary interests. The mother 'wants' to dedicate approximately equal resources to all her surviving children, including possible future children, and none to those who will die. The fetus 'wants' to survive, and take as much as it can get. (The quotes are to indicate that this isn't about what they consciously want, but about what evolution tends to optimize.)

There's also a third player here – the father, whose interests align still less with the mother's because her other offspring may not be his. Through a process called genomic imprinting, certain fetal genes inherited from the father can activate in the placenta. These genes ruthlessly promote the welfare of the offspring at the mother's expense.

How did we come to acquire this ravenous hemochorial placenta which gives our fetuses and their fathers such unusual power? Whilst we can see some trend toward increasingly invasive placentae within primates, the full answer is lost in the mists of time. Uteri do not fossilize well.

The consequences, however, are clear. Normal mammalian pregnancy is a well-ordered affair because the mother is a despot. Her offspring live or die at her will; she controls their nutrient supply, and she can expel or reabsorb them any time. Human pregnancy, on the other hand, is run by committee – and not just any committee, but one whose members often have very different, competing interests and share only partial information. It's a tug-of-war that not infrequently deteriorates to a tussle and, occasionally, to outright warfare. Many potentially lethal disorders, such as ectopic pregnancy, gestational diabetes, and pre-eclampsia can be traced to mis-steps in this intimate game.

What does all this have to do with menstruation? We're getting there.

From a female perspective, pregnancy is always a huge investment. Even more so if her species has a hemochorial placenta. Once that placenta is in place, she not only loses full control of her own hormones, she also risks hemorrhage when it comes out. So it makes sense that females want to screen embryos very, very carefully. Going through pregnancy with a weak, inviable or even sub-par fetus isn't worth it.

That's where the endometrium comes in. You've probably read about how the endometrium is this snuggly, welcoming environment just waiting to enfold the delicate young embryo in its nurturing embrace. In fact, it's quite the reverse. Researchers, bless their curious little hearts, have tried to implant embryos all over the bodies of mice. The single most difficult place for them to grow was – the endometrium.

Far from offering a nurturing embrace, the endometrium is a lethal testing-ground which only the toughest embryos survive. The longer the female can delay that placenta reaching her bloodstream, the longer she has to decide if she wants to dispose of this embryo without significant cost. The embryo, in contrast, wants to implant its placenta as quickly as possible, both to obtain access to its mother's rich blood, and to increase her stake in its survival. For this reason, the endometrium got thicker and tougher – and the fetal placenta got correspondingly more aggressive.

But this development posed a further problem: what to do when the embryo died or was stuck half-alive in the uterus? The blood supply to the endometrial surface must be restricted, or the embryo would simply attach the placenta there. But restricting the blood supply makes the tissue weakly responsive to hormonal signals from the mother – and potentially more responsive to signals from nearby embryos, who naturally would like to persuade the endometrium to be more friendly. In addition, this makes it vulnerable to infection, especially when it already contains dead and dying tissues.

The solution, for higher primates, was to slough off the whole superficial endometrium – dying embryos and all – after every ovulation that didn't result in a healthy pregnancy. It's not exactly brilliant, but it works, and most importantly, it's easily achieved by making some alterations to a chemical pathway normally used by the fetus during pregnancy. In other words, it's just the kind of effect natural selection is renowned for: odd, hackish solutions that work to solve proximate problems. It's not quite as bad as it seems, because in nature, women would experience periods quite rarely – probably no more than a few tens of times in their lives between lactational amenorrhea and pregnancies***.

We don't really know how our hyper-aggressive placenta is linked to the other traits that combine to make humanity unique. But these traits did emerge together somehow, and that means in some sense the ancients were perhaps right. When we metaphorically 'ate the fruit of knowledge' – when we began our journey toward science and technology that would separate us from innocent animals and also lead to our peculiar sense of sexual morality – perhaps that was the same time the unique suffering of menstruation, pregnancy and childbirth was inflicted on women. All thanks to the evolution of the hemochorial placenta.

Links:
The evolution of menstruation: A new model for genetic assimilation
Genetic conflicts in human pregnancy.
Menstruation: a nonadaptive consequence of uterin... [Q Rev Biol. 1998]
Natural Selection of Human Embryos: Decidualizing Endometrial Stromal Cells Serve as Sensors of Embryo Quality upon Implantation

Credits: During my pregnancy I was privileged to audit a class at Harvard University by the eminent Professor David Haig, whose insight underlies much of this research. Thanks also to Edgar A. Duenez-Guzman, who reminded me of crucial details. All errors are mine alone.

*Dogs undergo vaginal bleeding, but do not menstruate. Elephant shrews were previously thought to menstruate, but it's now believed that these events were most likely spontaneous abortions.

** Scientists Discover Children’s Cells Living in Mothers’ Brains (Thanks to Robyn Adair for the link).

***I initially said 7-10 times based on my course notes, but haven't been able to source that statistic so I'm assuming I misheard. One older published estimate for hunter gatherers was around 50, but this relied on several assumptions that suggest it's a significant over-estimate. In particular, it includes 3 whole years of menstruation before reproduction (36 periods) for no obvious reason.

We can make an estimate from studies of the Hadza of Tanzania, who reach puberty around 18, bear an  average of 6.2 children in their lives (plus 2-3 noticeable miscarriages) starting at 19, and go  through menopause at about 43 if they survive that long (about 50%  don't). Around 20% of babies die in their first year; the remainder  breastfeed for about 4 years. So this is 25 years of reproductive life, of which about 20 are spent lactating, and 4.5 pregnant. That would leave only about 6 periods, but amenorrhoea would cease during the last year of lactation for each child, so this figure is too low. On the other hand,  this calculation ignores the ~50% of women who died before menopause,  miscarriages, months spent breastfeeding infants who would die, and periods of food scarcity, all of which would further reduce lifetime  menstruation. Stats from: http://www.fas.harvard.edu/%7Ehb...

Is there a Dredd-style AW playbook? I don't see one on nerdwerds.

Is there a Dredd-style AW playbook? I don't see one on nerdwerds.

DW's Paladin could absolutely be a Street Judge, but I want questions and bonds fitting for the character type.

What is a game about? Whatever it is, it should be consistent.

What is a game about? Whatever it is, it should be consistent.

Fate varies based upon the fiction, but the game elements are about using aspects and your own skills to beat numbers. Fine. Diaspora (fate space hack) is about keeping a ship flying, much like Traveler.

DW characters are good at fighting, defying danger, talking, undertaking perilious journeys.The DW fighter has called out moves to be good at fighting, breaking stuff, and has a cool sword.

DnD fifth edition says there are three pillars of adventure: exploration, social interaction, and combat.

And, as I look at the fighter, what one thing is it good at? Fighting. 

Then there's too many words, and I get lost in the pdf -- and I just finished  _Words of Radiance_, the longest book Tor has ever published. I can't imagine how other people feel.

That is, folks without the time to read hundreds of pages for a game, or who don't like math, or who have never wanted to look at lists of swords.

I have enjoyed all that in the past; I don't so much anymore. It puts me in a weird position - being able to sense a value in the math, and lookup tables but not actually finding it valuable or interesting.

Passing around AGAIN.

Passing around AGAIN.

Originally shared by Vox

Go ahead, write everybody in the US a check. The sky won't fall — but poverty rates will.
http://www.vox.com/2014/7/23/5925041/guaranteed-income-basic-poverty-gobry-labor-supply?utm_medium=social&utm_source=google_plus&utm_campaign=voxdotcom&utm_content=wednesday

Internet, help me decide.

Internet, help me decide. I'm at home sick, and want to put on a movie to ignore while I work on feeling better. Should it be:
a. Equilibrium
b. Dredd (2012)
c. District B13
d. Something else?

You have until 3 PM Eastern, at which time I'll start a movie.

Help me internet, your my only hope.

We have an answer to the question: Can the Tribunal be run outside of a con?

We have an answer to the question: Can the Tribunal be run outside of a con?

Yes.

With no experts physically present, we had 8 players + Facilitator. And it worked beautifully. Hawk was oppressive as hell, mouse was scared, and Peacock was shatteringly loud.

One last push: In the DC area, we are doing The Tribunal tonight.

One last push: In the DC area, we are doing The Tribunal tonight. This is the most amazing, brutual RPG I've ever played. It changed my relationship with RPGs. I cannot give enough praise to this game.

After the first time, I thought, I wrote, I sat alone. I quoted rage against the machine lyrics. I might have even shed a tear or two. We're running it tonight

Due to last-minute cancellations, we are a few people short of a run full. If you want to play in this amazing freeform, nordic RPG, respond here.

Not convinced? Read mere here: http://nordiclarp.org/wiki/The_Tribunal

And because I may not have internet later, let me ping someone involved: Rachael Storey Burke 
http://nordiclarp.org/wiki/The_Tribunal

Will the Amazon phone be the smartphone that brings me back to the fold? I think it might.

Tribunal - Can it happen outside of a con?

Tribunal - Can it happen outside of a con?

The highlight of my Camp Nerdly was the tribunal (all other games were awesome, but only one made me unable to sleep). The intensity was unexpected and quite fantastic.

I'd like to do it again. And I'm fine with organizing it, but not facilitating it.

I'm not sure when this will happen, but it'll be in the DC area - because I'm here. I'll work on figuring out the specifics once I know I've got a few people.

So - why is this a post? Because of what i want from you - comment and I'll add you to a Tribunal Circle. This'll be a statement of interest, not a declaration that you'll do it.

When there are enough people, I'll start organizing.

I dreamed of Buffy last night.

I dreamed of Buffy last night. There was ass-kicking, and the characters on stage were Buffy, Spike, and Harmony.   Beady eyes was no where to be seen.

I beat 2048. Can i stop playing it now? Time will tell.