ISTJ

Since I'm up early and bored, I took the Myers-Briggs personality test and came out as a ISTJ (Introverted +33, Sensing +1, Thinking +62, Judging+67) which makes me a Guardian Inspector. Here's what the site had to say about that:

The one word that best describes Inspectors is superdependable. Whether at home or at work, Inspectors are extraordinarily persevering and dutiful, particularly when it comes to keeping an eye on the people and products they are responsible for. In their quiet way, Inspectors see to it that rules are followed, laws are respected, and standards are upheld.

Inspectors (as much as ten percent of the general population) are the true guardians of institutions. They are patient with their work and with the procedures within an institution, although not always with the unauthorized behavior of some people in that institution. Responsible to the core, Inspectors like it when people know their duties, follow the guidelines, and operate within the rules. For their part, Inspectors will see to it that goods are examined and schedules are kept, that resources will be up to standards and delivered when and where they are supposed to be. And they would prefer that everyone be this dependable. Inspectors can be hard-nosed about the need for following the rules in the workplace, and do not hesitate to report irregularities to the proper authorities. Because of this they are often misjudged as being hard-hearted, or as having ice in their veins, for people fail to see their good intentions and their vulnerability to criticism. Also, because Inspectors usually make their inspections without much flourish or fanfare, the dedication they bring to their work can go unnoticed and unappreciated.

While not as talkative as Supervisor Guardians [ESTJs], Inspectors are still highly sociable, and are likely to be involved in community service organizations, such as Sunday School, Little League, or Boy and Girl Scouting, that transmit traditional values to the young. Like all Guardians, Inspectors hold dear their family social ceremonies-weddings, birthdays, and anniversaries - although they tend to be shy if the occasion becomes too large or too public. Generally speaking, Inspectors are not comfortable with anything that gets too fancy. Their words tend to be plain and down-to-earth, not showy or high-flown; their clothes are often simple and conservative rather than of the latest fashion; and their home and work environments are usually neat, orderly, and traditional, rather than trendy or ostentatious. As for personal property, they usually choose standard items over models loaded with features, and they often try to find classics and antiques - Inspectors prefer the old-fashioned to the newfangled every time.

So, do y'all think that fits?

I was interested to see how close I was to being an INTJ. Here's a brief description of that type:

Have original minds and great drive for implementing their ideas and achieving their goals. Quickly see patterns in external events and develop long-range explanatory perspectives. When committed, organize a job and carry it through. Skeptical and independent, have high standards of competence and performance – for themselves and others.

There's some of me there as well. What I fin really amusing is how much my health and PTSD probably affect my personality. Cancer survivors tend to have a strong desire for stability and order. We've had enough surprises, thank you, and want things to run like clockwork. Same for the PTSD. I want a normal life with as few triggers as possible, so I like rules and procedures that make things work with as little friction as possible. Look back through my "work" tag and you'll see that what really pissed me off was people breaking rules or not thinking logically. I really am a creature of habit who loathes change unless I'm the one who planned it.

The Ghosts of Game Designs Past Rise to Haunt Me.

Anyone who has known me for more than five minutes knows of my near-life long association with the SF-RPG Traveller. I started playing the game when isomeme brought it home from PacifiCon in 1977, and never quit. I love the game (in all its incarnations) and the setting. One of the survival goals I set while battling cancer was to write for the game. In 1996, in the wake of the death of Game Designers Workshop, a new edition of Traveller came out. Marc Miller's Traveller (better known among fans as T4) was published by Imperium Games and moved the default setting to the days of the Third Imperium's founding.

T4 was, in short, a hot mess. The problem was there was little or now editorial understanding of the game's conventions and unique attributes that had come to be associated with the name Traveller. There was also an ungodly rush to get product out the door, resulting in terrible editing and in at least two cases, the wrong draft being published. The absolute nadir of the line was First Survey, a sector book covering the area around the newly-born Imperium. Remember, the setting assumption was that this is all happening at the end of the Long Night, a near-two thousand year interruption of interstellar trade. The sector should have contained some scattered small states that had only recently redeveloped the jump drive, worlds with pre-spaceflight technologies, and many worlds where the population had died out due to the loss of trade or warfare. It should have been a howling wilderness waiting to be tamed. Instead we got what looked like a developed area of space with a ton of developed worlds. Even worse, the computer program used to generate world stats borked everything. The vast majority of the results given weren't possible under the rules, and every world's law level was exactly the same as the government code. So, 99, 88, 33, AA, CC, etc.

But among all the crap, there were a few diamonds. This was the first version of the game where members of the Traveller Mailing List got heavily involved in writing for the game. Some of the best material ever for Traveller was produced in that era. Pocket Empires, Psionic Institutes, and even with the typesetting that destroyed all the formulas, Fire, Fusion, and Steel 2. I can aslo say with pride that the terrible combat system prompted James Lindsay and myself to write At Close Quarters for BITS.

So, why this walk down memory lane? I was contacted yesterday by someone who has been tasked by Marc Miller to clean up all the errors in T4. He had been referred to me for information on Imperial Squadrons, the not-quite-the-Imperial-Navy sourcebook. I didn't write the book. That was the powerhouse trio of Tim Brown, Stu Dollar, and Joesph Walsh. I got an "Additional Design" credit because, in my gearhead glory, I designed four ships for the book. The write-ups made it in, but the designs got mangled into uselessness. This experience, and not getting paid for my article for JTAS (along with growing reports of lots of people not getting paid at all for major works) soured me on Imperium Games, and I never even bothered to bid for another project from them.

As a side note, Imperium Games was run by Courtney Solomon. The man responsible for the crappy Dungeons & Dragons movie.

Sadly, I wasn't able to provide any help at all. I don't even own a copy of the book anymore, that went in the Great Sale. Like I said above, I can't even remember the details of my designs. But I have to wonder why Marc is bothering with a dead system 14 years after it crashed and burned. Traveller fans have given up on T⁵, Marc's vaporware "next version" that has been in development for at least a decade. People these days are mostly playing Mongoose's version, which is very true to the feel of classic Traveller, or whatever legacy system they like best.

Really sorry I couldn't help more, but I'm not the right person to ask.

BAD Internet Laws Heading Your Way

Originally posted by write_light at BAD Internet Laws Heading Your Way

From the flist: 



Spread the word, even you're not a US citizen, it is important for everyone!! It easy to do and it can change everything. More info by clicking on the banner.
<center><a href="http://americancensorship.org/"><img src="http://pics.livejournal.com/justmyb0nes/pic/002q4gwp"></a></center><textarea>

Website Blocking

The government can order service providers to block websites for infringing links posted by any users.

Risk of Jail for Ordinary Users

It becomes a felony with a potential 5 year sentence to stream a copyrighted work that would cost more than $2,500 to license, even if you are a totally noncommercial user, e.g. singing a pop song on Facebook.

Chaos for the Internet

Thousands of sites that are legal under the DMCA would face new legal threats. People trying to keep the internet more secure wouldn't be able to rely on the integrity of the DNS system.

Read this analysis from boing-boing.net

Get on the phone and call your representative. Express your disapproval. Tell him or her exactly how you feel, and that you don't support this. Tell your friends to call their representatives, their Congressperson, and complain. Mention that you are a registered voter that takes your civic responsibility seriously and that you will use that vote to express your feelings about this.

http://www.rollcall.com/issues/57_60/Internet-Companies-Boost-Hill-Lobbying-210345-1.html?pos=olobh

“We support the bill’s stated goals — providing additional enforcement tools to combat foreign ‘rogue’ websites that are dedicated to copyright infringement or counterfeiting,” the Internet companies wrote in Tuesday’s letter. “Unfortunately, the bills as drafted would expose law-abiding U.S. Internet and technology companies to new uncertain liabilities, private rights of action and technology mandates that would require monitoring of websites.”  The chamber-led coalition in support of the bill includes Walmart, Eli Lilly & Co. and Netflix.

Google and other opponents of the legislation argue that restricting the Internet in the U.S. sets a bad international precedent and that the language defines infringing too broadly.

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