From: jive@spanky.ssc.gov (Jim Ivey)
Subject: Re: The INL council (was about INL scheduling)
Organization: SSC Laboratory, Dallas, TX
	<1eq4rmINN3d3@agate.berkeley.edu> <Uf4GOSC00WB2Arg5Ft@andrew.cmu.edu>
Date: Mon, 23 Nov 1992 21:10:05 GMT


Nanci writes a bunch of stuff, most of which I neglected to read on an
in-depth basis, except for the following sentence which, like others,
caught my eye for an unknown reason.. maybe fate :

> (If the ladder proposal had come from somewhere other than CMU - Berkeley
> for instance, would Tom have shot it down so vehemently?  I wonder....)

     Way way way way way doosh way way way back near the beginning of the
INL council (okay, well it was really only June 29th), I initially
suggested the ladder idea.  We've been discussing it, tossing it out,
bringing it back, discussing it some more, tossing it out, etc. etc. for
almost (lessee.. one..two..a-three-hee..*crunch*) five months now.  The
ladder proposal didn't come from Rob.  The ladder proposal didn't come from
Kevin.  It's something that I kicked out after a really intense season of
racquetball, that seemed like a 'cool' idea.  It answered some problems,
created some others.

     I'm not really sure what my point in answering this article was (other
than to get some free campaign time...  bav and FITB in '04!  Veep! Veep!).
Some points to consider are :

     Tom's a little hot-headed, but he's a nice guy.  No, really..  Well,
okay, he's a psychopath that haunts the streets of Berkeley on a heavily
equipped Bike o' Death (tm).  But regardless of the unnecessary flamage, he
was trying to make a couple points in the article.  Ignore the flames
(s'what I do:) and look for the meat of the article.  If you don't find
any, just remember that he's living in Berkeley, and there are an awful lot
of vegetarians out there.

     The ladder system was my idea.  I invented it back in the early 6th
century, when some twink-knights were having problems scheduling jousts
with each other, and I wanted to get them out of my hair.  Since the guy on
top gets the most challenges (and therefore the most abuse), the rankings
change constantly and they were forced to learn New Math (tm), thus
ushering in a new age of enlightenment.  However, if you want to use the
Ladder System (yes, I have the patent, and five others covering similar
ideas), you'll have to get my express written permission (obtainable only
with a large sum of money and lots of grovelling).

(The real meat of the article coming up)
     Implementing the ladder system will be a pain in the butt.  Hopefully,
however, it will solve more problems than it creates.  A stimulated
discussion among the council members will ensue, as we tackle this crap
once again in an effort to come out with something reasonable.  Along with
this discussion will no doubt be a brief but heated argument about policy
on posting what we do to the net.  Something will be done to keep people up
to date.  The largest problem is that most, if not all, of the council
members have Real Lives (tm) that keep them busy, and summarizing / posting
council nonsense doesn't really hit high on the priority list.  We will
try, though.  My suggestion will be to condemn..er..appoint a "Public
Relations" person, that will post and take the heat for the council, along
with accepting mail from everyone with suggestions to be brought in front
of the council.
(End of real meat)

     I haven't the foggiest idea what I've said in this article, and I have
a major migraine, so to anyone that wants to flame me, go back to playing
with your mouse.

     Jim Ivey / FillInTheBlank