Happy Birthday, you old Blog, you!

Today is (roughly) the second anniversary of ANOTHER POINT OF SINGULARITY here on BLOGGER.COM. I ran a previous incarnation, the POINT OF SINGULARITY, on Xanga for a few years before bailing to come here, so all in all I've been a so-called "serious blogger" for about five years, and I maintained a web presence (not really a blog but kind of a catch all static webpage that got updated often enough) fairly constantly since about 1997. Why? Well, in part, web development was my job for a while, and you get into the habit. For another, I enjoy sharing not just my thoughts with other people, but also something they can put to use in a hobby sense (particuarly, in the wargaming hobby). Some of my earliest "resource pages" saw a lot of mileage over the years, being referenced in many places and used again and again (such as the PBeM Emporium, on the web since 1997, and my Wild West Skirmish page, which has been around about the same amount of time). About four years ago I started getting out of the static web page stuff and devoted more time to blogging style web pages. Why? Well, it's easier to update for one thing, and generally pretty network friendly wherever I go. Constantly updating pages (as I did back in the Emporium's heyday) gets very old, very quickly. I just can't do it any more. A blog post, though, that takes a few seconds.

During the last year or so, I've noticed the traffic for this blog has gone up dramatically. Part of the explanation for the traffic is undoubtedly the fact that I'm not shy to link to a post of my own in another forum-- after all, I took the time to write it, why not have someone read it? Some folks have come back,and I even have a few regular customers, you might say (judging from the traffic reports). That's a lot of fun, and I appreciate that they think this thing is worthwhile enough to return occassionally.

During the year since the LAST anniversary, I've also noticed a lot more critical reaction to some of the posts that I have put on here. For instance, I recently received my first hate mail about a post that dared to question the policy of reimbursing GMs for conventions. I have also been called (literally, at my house) for posts that were critical of individuals in this or that group. Yes, I have people who scan this blog on behalf of other people, with the express purpose of reporting back to the 'offended person', to try to whip up trouble for yours truly. I'm not exaggerating. I've always been somewhat astounded that people take posts on a hobby so deadly seriously. Especially when there are so few of those "hobby organization" posts to begin with! As a result of the new "Label" feature on the current incarnation of Blogger.com, I've been able to categorize posts better, and thus have found that it's become easier to collect statistics on any topic posted here. For instance, oh, just taking something out of the blue, it turns out that the term "HMGS" only shows up in less than 2% of the posts on here. Don't take my word for it, count it yourself. And when it does, it always ignites a sh*tstorm, so to speak. Oh well, it should hardly be surprising in an age that values perception over substance.

In closing, I'll be continuing on here for another year at least. I enjoy this pastime. If I offend somebody with something I write, feel free to comment on the "Post Comments" section. Heck, if it's that important I'll post your point of view on the subject, no skin off of my nose.

Thanks for reading, everyone, and I hope you continue to read in 2007.

Mister Nizz

know-it-all-itis, the Bane of the Internet

I was on BOARDGAMEGEEK, the popular boardgaming information portal, recently, reading reviews about one of my favorite recent acquisitions MEN OF IRON by GMT. Here's what one wag had to say about it:

I really wanted to buy this game ... but I finally choked on the price; I just couldn't justify $65. Maybe if I see it cheaper through an online retailer, but wargames are finally really hitting a point of pain. That's OK; I'd like to see the companies and designers making more money. But it also means I didn't buy this.

(posted by "Chris Farrell")

I certainly don't disagree about the high cost of wargames (or any other kind of game) these days; I've often written on the value of SMALL IS BEAUTIFUL when it comes to wargame publishing concepts and pricing. Yet, I have to wonder-- BGG reviews are a rating system. You go through this exercise to assign a score to a product that other people may or may not be interested in. What is the point of telling me you can't afford something? That's useful to me? The SRP is what it is. That's the ONE element of information that is usually always available and it's the element of information I can readily make decisions on without any other opinions entering into the decision-- I know what I can afford, personally. Looking at some of the "reviews" on BGG I see a lot of "No Rating: I don't own it yet, but let me talk to you about it anyway" reviews, just like the one posted above.

This sort of information is about a useful as mascara on a boarhog. If I had my druthers, the system would require you to actually have PLAYED something you are attempting to criticize. No offense to the poster, personally; his post just made me more aware of the trend. I entirely agree about the pain of buying wargames, I just think that empty non-ratings makes the the BGG rating system somewhat suspect. And I apologize to Mr. Farrell if he thought I was picking on HIM, specifically (he even called me "Dude" in anger! see the comments!).

I stumbled upon a Mr. Jon Power's little Christmas gift to game geekdom recently, courtesy of Tom Vasel's blog.

Hoorah! Today is Isaac Newton's birthday (it really is! http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Newtonmas ) so let's celebrate humanity's discoveries in science and drive back those foolish, supersticious mythologies. (sic) Please add more scientific heroes with suitable games.

By foolish, superstitious mythologies, I assume Power meant belief in a Supreme Being. Unless it's merely an astounding coincidence that he posted this list on Christmas Day, the day traditionally associated with the birth of Christ?

And he weighs in with his opinions on believers in Divine Creation:

You're never to young to learn about Evolution through Natural Selection! Just think, we've evolved over millions of years, and there are still people dumb enough to think we were created by some mythological creature! What a laugh!

Note that... you who believe in what you believe are, de facto, stupid. Now that's an elevated argument. Pseudo-Intellectual hate-speak at its finest.

And let's talk about praying-- to place this in context, this is in response to the comfort of the wounded praying to God on the battlefield, and was posed as an ironic reference: 'praying to scientists' wouldn't do the trick, as it were.

I'll bet she didn't find any atheists on the battlefields. Nor for that matter, anyone sick and dying praying to scientists for help and comfort.

Why would you pray to a scientist? That's really stupid. Why pray at all? There are no voices in the sky.

I suspect, and this is only a suspicion mark you, that all the people on the battlefield were *made* to go to religious services and worship mythical creatures as part of being in the army. You know, there may even have been army officers who's entire job was to indoctrinate the soldiers in the um doctrine. If you didn't go to the mythical creature worshipping service, you were on a charge and faced disciplinary procedures.

And the dying on battlefileds (sic) generally call for their mother, I gather. Not having been on one thankfully.

No surprise there, that last one. However, the concept of the sick and dying being comforted by prayer is shrugged off as something soldiers were ordered to do. Not having been on a battlefield, how would he know?

Again, the smug satisfaction and condescension of the true know-it-all.

I loved the evaluation of Rene Descartes, life long devout Catholic;

We'll just gloss over his philosophical work, since that runs counter to this list's intentions. harumph.

Harumph indeed.. changing the rules to fit a hypothesis would have had the REAL Descartes spitting in this guy's face.

And the afterlife gets short shrift...

When you get to the end of your life, there is no comfort looking forward. That's when the liars descend and tell you to clutch this book, make this sign, and you will live for ever in Paradise. Bunkum!

It goes on and on. As you might know from reading my bio, I believe in God and am a practising Catholic, so (Duh!) I don't agree with this guy. This is not to say I ever thought that science and God are mutually exclusive. The Hand of the Creator is a hard thing to discern,and I credit Him with being subtle in his works. So yes, I do honor science and the achievements of the people 'honored' on this geeklist. Who are we to say God didn't use the mechanism of evolution to people the planet? Or that God doesn't work miracles through humanity? (I'm sure his response would be that this is a very convenient philosophy, but there it is).

Alas, the other side of the argument rarely grants the concession of manners.

The problem I have with it is the manner in which this so called "honor" of human science is in the sneering manner in which it is given. The faith of Christians, Jews and Moslems is depicted as myths and superstitions, our common God a "god-thingie". We are mocked, and our belief in the afterlife is pure "bunkum".

What a sweetheart.

Intolerance of this kind is nothing new and Christianity, particularly Catholicism, gets its fair share of this treatment. It's not very amusing to find it cropping up on Boardgamegeek, which is one of the few online communities that I did not associate with agendas. Consimworld seems almost like a pack of sweethearts by comparison-- and believe you me, we fight like cats and dogs over there, but we try to find a common ground. I used to think that the sysop, John Kranz, was a tad heavy handed in his moderation. I almost appreciate it now, seeing intolerance like the Happy Newtonmas thread popping up on BGG. Fortunately, God gave me a brain (rumor has it) and I can always ignore certain people. It's a pity that we can't filter some posters out like we can on CONSIMWORLD, or "stifle" like we can on The Miniatures Page.

At the heart of it,I don't think this guy is evil, just somebody who sponges up any kind of attention he can get, even the negative kind-- as evidenced by posting on Christmas day. He is to be pitied.