#ramblings — Public Fediverse posts

Anyone else struggle with math/numbers?

So on the recent XLBS the question was

What Is A Narrative Wargame?

and the discussion always seems to revolve around tournament players vs campaign players and I feel there is more to this. I’ll try to do a list.

• tournament players – always ears on the ground, chasing the meta and the latest way to cheese the game in order to win.
• campaign/narrative players – setting up a scenario or campaign with (relative) strict rules and setup in order to enjoy a long play
• historical players – recreate a battle from history with all limitations, events etc in order to re-enact the battle/war and maybe even change the course of history
• casual players – just some gamers who like the setting, the models, the fluff and like to battle it out. No big digging in old tomes and chasing meta and any advantage they can get but more „rule of cool“ and a nice day with friends at the table

I think those are the main groups of people gaming companies try to address. Historical players are, well, the easiest. History is written only the rule system matters. And as long as everything stays within what history has said all is fine and good.

Campaign/narrative players, as long as the rules are mostly balanced and every faction has their ups and downs all is good and gaming is easy.

For tournament players rules should be (IMHO) play-tested to hell and back again. Every Army should have the same chances to win so that really only the brain behind creating the army list and implementing the tactics is the deciding factor on who wins. Like in racing games when everybody uses the same car and engine and only the driver makes a difference.

Now casual players. Rules shouldn’t be to much out of balance but a great backstory, fluff and flair makes all the difference. Fun first, rules second but everybody should be on the same side on how to resolve the outcome on the table.

Where do I see myself? Personally I think I’m mostly a casual player. Winning is nice but having fun is much more important. If a game (like Frostgrave) has an RPG element I also like campaigns but that is the exception to the rule. Tournaments tend to be too much stress and history… well, that just doesn’t tickle my fancy.

What about you?

So on the recent XLBS the question was

What Is A Narrative Wargame?

and the discussion always seems to revolve around tournament players vs campaign players and I feel there is more to this. I’ll try to do a list.

• tournament players – always ears on the ground, chasing the meta and the latest way to cheese the game in order to win.
• campaign/narrative players – setting up a scenario or campaign with (relative) strict rules and setup in order to enjoy a long play
• historical players – recreate a battle from history with all limitations, events etc in order to re-enact the battle/war and maybe even change the course of history
• casual players – just some gamers who like the setting, the models, the fluff and like to battle it out. No big digging in old tomes and chasing meta and any advantage they can get but more „rule of cool“ and a nice day with friends at the table

I think those are the main groups of people gaming companies try to address. Historical players are, well, the easiest. History is written only the rule system matters. And as long as everything stays within what history has said all is fine and good.

Campaign/narrative players, as long as the rules are mostly balanced and every faction has their ups and downs all is good and gaming is easy.

For tournament players rules should be (IMHO) play-tested to hell and back again. Every Army should have the same chances to win so that really only the brain behind creating the army list and implementing the tactics is the deciding factor on who wins. Like in racing games when everybody uses the same car and engine and only the driver makes a difference.

Now casual players. Rules shouldn’t be to much out of balance but a great backstory, fluff and flair makes all the difference. Fun first, rules second but everybody should be on the same side on how to resolve the outcome on the table.

Where do I see myself? Personally I think I’m mostly a casual player. Winning is nice but having fun is much more important. If a game (like Frostgrave) has an RPG element I also like campaigns but that is the exception to the rule. Tournaments tend to be too much stress and history… well, that just doesn’t tickle my fancy.

What about you?

On July 4, 1976, I was almost 7. My family lived in Janesville, Wisconsin then. I remember having a picnic on the banks of the Rock River and watching fireworks. I remember thinking that it was amazing to be alive then, and I remember wondering about the next 100 years.

I figured it wasn't super-likely that I'd be around in 2076, but I did think I'd see 2026. Given that I was starting to get an interest in space and rockets and being an astronaut, I distinctly remember thinking that by 2026, the world would be awesome - moon bases, space stations (Skylab mark 40 or something). I am sure I was barely aware of war, poverty, disease, the environment if at all, but I am sure I just thought people would figure it out and learn to get along.

I wonder if there are 7-year-olds out there today who have the kind of optimism about the world that I did then. I hope they actually get to see their dreams manifested.

And I hope they can find it in their hearts to forgive us for making it so difficult for them.

#july4th #thoughts #ramblings

On July 4, 1976, I was almost 7. My family lived in Janesville, Wisconsin then. I remember having a picnic on the banks of the Rock River and watching fireworks. I remember thinking that it was amazing to be alive then, and I remember wondering about the next 100 years.

I figured it wasn't super-likely that I'd be around in 2076, but I did think I'd see 2026. Given that I was starting to get an interest in space and rockets and being an astronaut, I distinctly remember thinking that by 2026, the world would be awesome - moon bases, space stations (Skylab mark 40 or something). I am sure I was barely aware of war, poverty, disease, the environment if at all, but I am sure I just thought people would figure it out and learn to get along.

I wonder if there are 7-year-olds out there today who have the kind of optimism about the world that I did then. I hope they actually get to see their dreams manifested.

And I hope they can find it in their hearts to forgive us for making it so difficult for them.

#july4th #thoughts #ramblings

I was talking to a friend last week about a personal/work project I had about 10 years ago where every month or so, I had to change my mind (properly!) about something I believed in – Which in this case, meant I had to go and seek things out because it’s really hard to do every month unless it’s active.

It’s half of the reason I spent so long embedded in Flat-Earth and Scientology; the other half was that I was researching pathways to radicalisation and trying to trace a lot of them to the source and exit.

I was listening to a Sherlock Holmes podcast yesterday and realised that being able to change your mind completely about something is a core investigative skill (and this is how I increased my B2B sales… No! No… Away with you LinkedIn!).

Good investigative technique means having a theory of the case from the start, but then, importantly, it means deliberately challenging it and then changing it, when new evidence emerges. It can be a lot of paperwork and mental gymnastics. Sticking to the original theory of a case and looking for evidence to support it is what created the Birmingham Six and the Central Park Five. Completely irresponsible and incompetent police work and static minds are a liability to any good casework (see also: Donald Trump who is still trying to execute the CP5).

This isn’t really going anywhere except to note that although Sherlock was excellent at changing case-theories (and does so a lot in the books), his creator, Sir Arthur Conan-Doyle, of Cottingley Fairies and Harry Houdini feud fame, was so bad at it that he’d certainly have had a leadership role waiting in the West Midlands Police any time.

Ironically, the person in his most famous stories that he can be most said to resemble, is Lestrade of the Yard.

#Books #SherlockHomes #Detective #Investigation #TrustAndSafety #Fairies #Police #Crime #Houdini #Ramblings #ASIS #FlatEarth #Scientology #Radicalization #LinkedIn #B2B

I was talking to a friend last week about a personal/work project I had about 10 years ago where every month or so, I had to change my mind (properly!) about something I believed in – Which in this case, meant I had to go and seek things out because it’s really hard to do every month unless it’s active.

It’s half of the reason I spent so long embedded in Flat-Earth and Scientology; the other half was that I was researching pathways to radicalisation and trying to trace a lot of them to the source and exit.

I was listening to a Sherlock Holmes podcast yesterday and realised that being able to change your mind completely about something is a core investigative skill (and this is how I increased my B2B sales… No! No… Away with you LinkedIn!).

Good investigative technique means having a theory of the case from the start, but then, importantly, it means deliberately challenging it and then changing it, when new evidence emerges. It can be a lot of paperwork and mental gymnastics. Sticking to the original theory of a case and looking for evidence to support it is what created the Birmingham Six and the Central Park Five. Completely irresponsible and incompetent police work and static minds are a liability to any good casework (see also: Donald Trump who is still trying to execute the CP5).

This isn’t really going anywhere except to note that although Sherlock was excellent at changing case-theories (and does so a lot in the books), his creator, Sir Arthur Conan-Doyle, of Cottingley Fairies and Harry Houdini feud fame, was so bad at it that he’d certainly have had a leadership role waiting in the West Midlands Police any time.

Ironically, the person in his most famous stories that he can be most said to resemble, is Lestrade of the Yard.

#Books #SherlockHomes #Detective #Investigation #TrustAndSafety #Fairies #Police #Crime #Houdini #Ramblings #ASIS #FlatEarth #Scientology #Radicalization #LinkedIn #B2B

I’m always learning about special days way too late. Like today was Autistic Pride Day. :drgn_flag_autism::BhjFlag_Autism::neorat_autism:

Okay, so, with my decade+ of experience of being on social media, I've noticed a trend within recent years about pretty much all social platforms. I think there's a critical mass of users on a platform where it becomes impossible to properly enforce. Inevitably, there will be a sheer volume of bad actors that no matter what the platform does, cannot stop completely and it becomes public knowledge/source of scrutiny.

There isn't a single large platform I can name that doesn't have the problem of toxic behavior, child abuse/exploitation, NSFW rings, (the kind that aren't tagged/gated properly) etc. Doesn't matter what their moderation policies/enforcement is. It doesn't matter if a platform like #Discord files millions of NCMEC reports or bans millions of accounts a year. There's simply too many malicious users to handle and it's impossible to prevent them from coming back in some form or another or new ones joining the platform.

Sure, if you have say, 10,000 users, that's way easier for a small team of mods to handle, but what about 1 million? 10 million? 100+ million? There's no way a company/organization can afford a team to handle that sheer volume of communication and interaction, and we all know automated systems are deeply flawed and clearly do not stop the problem. Inevitably, a larger and larger number of bad actors slip through the cracks. Those cracks widen as more users join and moderation systems become increasingly strained. Regarding the NCMEC bit, Discord alone files over 500,000 reports, do you seriously think the NCMEC has the resources to look into every report and do something about it? Obviously not. And that's just Discord.

It's a huge reason why punitive actions don't work well, nor things like telling parents to monitor their kids. There's simply too many to keep track of all at once, and it's why I stress the importance of educational methods when it comes to protecting people. Education is a form of preventative measure instead of all the reactive ones we see on these platforms. Teaching a kid why this kind of content is harmful, how to avoid it, what to do if they do come across it, how to not get sucked into it or become a bad actor themself, etc will do way more than just a losing arms race of updating moderation systems and filters. It better addresses the cause rather than just the symptom.

All of this is simply the consequence of mass-centralization and the network effect on steroids. It's easier than ever before to connect with so many people and the possibility for interaction-- good or bad exponentially increases. Until eventually, it becomes unsustainable and causes huge swaths of harm.

#Essay #LongPost #Ramblings #SocialMedia #Commentary #Centralization #Reddit #Tumblr #YouTube #Roblox #Twitter #Facebook #Instagram #TikTok

Mini data centers outside your home. Yeah… no thanks! https://youtu.be/ZoYeJwN7Rkw?si=xlBMS054F-uIQxHl

Mini data centers outside your home. Yeah… no thanks! https://youtu.be/ZoYeJwN7Rkw?si=xlBMS054F-uIQxHl

:wlfHide:
Well I’m not cured but I am feeling a lot better than I was earlier this week for sure. I’m on antibiotics now. I really wanted to attend the fossil festival. Now I gotta wait until next year. 🫩

:BlobCat_Masked::BlobCat_Googly_Sad: Tired of being sick already

Well. A stranger on the internet calling my situation with my dad “white people problems” brought on a new type of pain for me. Do I have to say ABUSE for you to understand? Or is it only abuse if he hits me or worse? Are you one of those who make fun of emotional abuse normally? I checked his profile, man’s in his 40’s bullying someone 12 years younger than him while also posting hypocritical things. Wow. I really hate us humans sometimes.

Okay, I feel a lot better after eating and getting more rest. Still not feeling 💯 though. I really don’t want to have whatever virus my parents got. They cough a lot and my mom lost her voice. I live in the same house and it’s small so it’s hard to avoid their germs.

So I’ve got this interesting situation with my tv. I don’t live in an apartment complex. My neighbors’ houses are the typical distance from my own in the cul-de-sac. Still, I think that one of my closet neighbors must be accessing my tv. Three times now audio has played from it while the tv is off. It sounds like a kid’s show usually. When we turn the tv on it immediately goes away and we get full access as usual. My parents are going to casually ask our neighbors if they have Roku ones too.

So I’ve got this interesting situation with my tv. I don’t live in an apartment complex. My neighbors’ houses are the typical distance from my own in the cul-de-sac. Still, I think that one of my closet neighbors must be accessing my tv. Three times now audio has played from it while the tv is off. It sounds like a kid’s show usually. When we turn the tv on it immediately goes away and we get full access as usual. My parents are going to casually ask our neighbors if they have Roku ones too.

Asleep with his head beneath his sister’s legs. They’re pretty funny sometimes.

Asleep with his head beneath his sister’s legs. They’re pretty funny sometimes.

@[email protected]

I might start getting these soon. 😅🥲

Den Framework Follow-up: Issue Fixed ! @ https://not-a-number.io/2026/den-framework-follow-up-issue-fixed/

#blog #Nix #Den #IaC #ramblings

Den Framework Follow-up: Issue Fixed ! @ https://not-a-number.io/2026/den-framework-follow-up-issue-fixed/

#blog #Nix #Den #IaC #ramblings

All credits to inwardavide on tiktok. I need you to see this too.

All credits to inwardavide on tiktok. I need you to see this too.

Oh fuck. Well I’ve probably pissed someone off. That’s usually what a sudden influx of notifications means in my experience.

🎧 Currently listening to: my stomach making loud funny sounds (I ate already, why are you noisy?)

📳🗯️
Wow, 23 notifications. That’s the most that I’ve ever come back to.

📳🗯️
Wow, 23 notifications. That’s the most that I’ve ever come back to.

Evaluating Den - A Dendritic Configuration Framework: https://not-a-number.io/2026/evaluating-den-a-dendritic-configuration-framework/
#blog #Nix #Den #IaC #ramblings

Evaluating Den - A Dendritic Configuration Framework: https://not-a-number.io/2026/evaluating-den-a-dendritic-configuration-framework/
#blog #Nix #Den #IaC #ramblings

Edit: ignore this, problem solved

Hey fedi, should I be using Mastodon.social instead of other instances? The reason that I ask is because of this: (queue image)
Not being able to see all of someone’s posts isn’t ideal, plus it seems like Mastodon is largely the most used(?) :wlfThink::BlobCat_ThinkGlare:

Edit: ignore this, problem solved

Hey fedi, should I be using Mastodon.social instead of other instances? The reason that I ask is because of this: (queue image)
Not being able to see all of someone’s posts isn’t ideal, plus it seems like Mastodon is largely the most used(?) :wlfThink::BlobCat_ThinkGlare:

I’m watching The Boys episodes that were released recently. The parallels to our real problems in this country… well, the writers have always been good at that. Any brain-rotted conservatives who watch this show are probably too dumb to understand that there’s so many jabs at them in it.

Ah, the Intercept's groundbreaking revelation: if you don't want #ICE agents snooping through your devices, maybe just don't fly? ✈️🔍 Who cares about practical #advice when you can fill up 90% of the page with donation pleas and unrelated #political ramblings? 💸📢
https://theintercept.com/2026/03/25/ice-airports-phone-security-privacy-safety/ #Intercept #Revelation #Privacy #Travel #Ramblings #HackerNews #ngated

While I’ve never had the opportunity to properly mess around with a car for fun, I know I have that interest in me and would absolutely fuck about with an old 90s Civic hatchback or Jeep Cherokee. Maybe a used WRX that someone treated well (impossible). That would be the dream.

But to satisfy my life needs and be free of fossil fuels in my day to day life, an EV is the reasonable way to go. The whole EV landscape has changed dramatically since I first started my search back in 2020. Whether I buy new or used I don’t know. I’ll hunt for a deal. I’ve been pretty patient as it is.

There’s one EV in particular that’s always caught my eye, ever since it first came out. It just has everything I’m looking for in a car in a shape and size I really like. It’s the Hyundai Ioniq 5. The newer version of the Solterra also has my eye since I’m a fan of Subaru’s offerings and they seem to have done some solid work to make it worth a look. Maybe I’ll find something else. Only time will tell.

#cars #ev #ramblings

It’s so cold here that the sticky double sided stuff holding my blinds gave up on one side. Gotta fix that. It’s already getting too bright for adequate sleep conditions. 😣

I’m watching the feds spin the story in real time. Not surprised. The horrors never stop. They just stop making the news.

Now You Are Cooking With Gas

https://friendica.rogueproject.org/display/b71a4a1e-8469-74f2-6577-b1d146026053

Skippy was neutered and microchipped yesterday. They also trimmed his claws. :3 :A_BlobCat_Sparkle:

I can’t believe that it’s over. I cried. Might consider crying more later.

I was feeling some of the lowest lows of my life last night/today. Then I saw a news article about an exoplanet that’s shaped like a lemon. The universe is so unserious sometimes. Maybe there’s things worth sticking around for after all.

🖥️ Wow, what a #groundbreaking idea: feeding 24 years of #digital #ramblings to a #Markov model! 🤖 Just what we needed—a bot that regurgitates decades of 💤profound💤 musings. Can't wait for the next installment: "I trained a #neural #network on my #grocery #receipts." 🛒
https://susam.net/fed-24-years-of-posts-to-markov-model.html #idea #model #HackerNews #ngated

The review of an #esoteric tome on #continuations blunders on like an over-caffeinated grad student's fever dream 💤💻. The author can't decide if it's groundbreaking or a $100 paperweight 📚❓. Spoiler: it has no exercises - because who needs practice when you've got #theoretical #ramblings, right? 🤷‍♂️
https://swatson555.github.io/posts/2025-09-16-compiling-with-continuations.html #literature #HackerNews #gradstudent #HackerNews #ngated

It's so bastard COLD that I've just dug out some woolly winter socks to put on.

(Not allowed to put the heating on yet)

In 3 days time, it's 27C.

Mountain weather amirite 🌄🤷

#ramblings

Just #jasperthecat causing CHAOS this morning, as he tried to follow me to the post office 😂

(Got my first order in 10 days)

- Check the cat - cat is asleep
- I leave the garage
- Turn at bottom of driveway to check again: no cat

Halfway down the road, he bombs past me 🐈‍⬛😅

WAAAIT FOR MEEEE...

#feralcat #ramblings

I’m watching Repo the Genetic Opera for the first time. 🫀🧠🫁🩸