Gaming the Election

Robin Laws has a great piece today on the idea of treating the US primaries as a strategy game, and how Hillary’s people may have misread the rules.

So you know the Clinton campaign strategy of ceding most of the February contests to Obama and then dealing him knockout punches in the big states of Texas and Ohio? Problem is, the very complicated rules in Texas do not remotely favor this. Plain ordinary proportional delegate allocation would make it very difficult, but the weighting of districts according to past support for Democratic candidates renders it nigh impossible. When did Clinton strategists figure this out? A month ago.
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If I were a Democratic primary voter in one of the upcoming contests, this blunder of nuts-and-bolts detail would weigh heavily on my decision.

Especially in a candidacy predicated on being ready on day one, it would have been helpful to also be ready on day -346.

Interesting that Texas is suddenly so important. It’s nice, isn’t it, that one year Florida is key, then Ohio, now Texas has a turn…(sigh). Not sure why they have the make the rules so bloody complex. This ain’t Champions after all.*

I don’t have a lot to add other than I’m pleased so far with the leading candidates…on both sides of the spectrum. Oh, they all have their issues, and I’m sure we’re still in for a rough ride…but damn change will be good.

I need to figure out how to vote as an ex-pat once again…during the 2004 election my last residence had been in Boston (which was like throwing my vote into a sea of blue), although now that my last US residence was in Texas, I suspect it will be like throwing it into a red sea. Whaddya gonna do?

* I love the guys at Hero Games, and kudos to Steve, Darren, et. al. on the big news.

Posted in Current Events, Games on February 19, 2008 by Jesse
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Big Smoke Stories…Best in Show

Toronto. Friday night, cold but bearable, around midnight.

I was walking my aged dog down our street at the top of the block, watching for icy patches and guiding her around the snowbanks. At nearly 13, my malamute ain’t what she used to be. While she still has decent endurance for the winter, arthritis and muscle weakness have wiped out any sure-footedness she might once have had.

I had my hat pulled low, my hood pulled up, and was listening to Flogging Molly on the iPod. Our neighborhood is ok, but not great. The street we live in is generally quiet, older houses and older families, but the main drag one street south can be a bit rough and dodgy at times. I try to pay attention late at night, but was a bit startled to catch a maroon mini-van suddenly pacing us, watching us from the other side of the snowbanks.

Suddenly the passenger window rolls down and a hispanic dude – some kind of north of the border, suburbanite cholo – sticks his face out and says something to me. I can’t hear him, so I yank out my headphones and ask him to repeat himself.

“Are you breeding the dog?” he shouts out.

“Uh, no,” I reply, a little off-guard.

“You sure, man? It’s a beautiful dog.”

“Yes, yes I’m sure. Thank you, but she’s an old girl now.”

All this time we’re still walking, the van is still pacing us. Now the passenger door slides open, and another dude in the back leans out to check us out. He asks if she’s a pure breed, and then they roll up the windows and shut the doors and roll on down the street.

It was all very odd. We had just been propositioned like some kind of long-retired strippers, or grandmas-nee-street walkers. And the punk kids in the mini-van looking for a dog to stud or breed in the middle of the night. All very odd.

Posted in General on February 16, 2008 by Jesse
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GenCon files Chapter 11

From the GenCon site:

SEATTLE (February 15, 2008) Gen Con LLC announced today that it has filed for Chapter 11 protection in the United States Bankruptcy Court for the State of Washington. This action became necessary as a result of significant unforeseen expenses associated with attempts to expand its core business to encompass externally licensed events. Gen Con’s flagship show, Gen Con Indy, remains a vibrant, profitable event. Gen Con Indy will take place as scheduled August 14–17, 2008, in Indianapolis, Indiana.

The protections afforded by Chapter 11 will allow Gen Con to further its efforts to address its liquidity needs, preserve value for its creditors and explore strategic alternatives for the business. “Because the fundamentals of our business are strong; and because our debt problems are challenges mostly linked to one-time events, we feel confident that the profile of our company will benefit under Chapter 11 and come out strong in the end,” said Peter D. Adkison, CEO of Gen Con.

Chapter 11 refers to the section of the U.S. Bankruptcy Code that provides for court-supervised restructuring of companies as they continue to operate normally. This proceeding is intended to help companies to become stronger financially.

Gen Con LLC will continue to operate without interruption during this process and looks forward to an expeditious resolution to the short-term challenges and the ability to focus entirely on producing Gen Con Indy, The Best Four Days in Gaming. International Gen Con events are unaffected by this situation and will continue to operate as scheduled.

All of which is a little concerning, but not too terribly troubling. Peter is a smart guy, and he has lots of people who are going to make sure he gets through this intact – people who love GenCon, and have made it part of their lives by making it an annual ritual. It’s a tremendous business opportunity for anyone in – or interested in – the industry. And the increase in computer gaming over the last few years only increases its long-term viability.

In case you are wondering what they are referring to in the press release by the “externally licensed events,” dollars to donuts it’s the Star Wars Celebration show. A few days ago news broke that Lucas was suing GenCon. My pal, the punk-hacker bastard Adam Jury, talks about it here.

It’s unfortunate that GenCon LLC hasn’t been successful with the SoCal show, and now with the Star Wars Celebrations (though maybe that has as much to do with the property being corrupted lo this past decade). But I think the Indy show will continue to grow – and it should be a blast this year. Doing my best to figure a way to get there…

Posted in Current Events, Games on February 15, 2008 by Jesse
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