by Chris Billowsin Playstates Theory, Political Ponderings, Republic of Bloggers2 commentstags: Blogging, Human Condition, Political Opinion, Republic of Bloggers, Virtuous Discourse
Brian Green wrote on his Psychochild blog an interesting post about how MMO games are a means to understanding Socialism. First of all, its an interesting post to just think about games in terms of political economics. Second of all, I think Brian makes a typical mistake of associating positive qualities with something he favors, known as the Halo Effect. Games as Socialism… I’ve run into an interesting situation with some people in FFXIV. Many times people have needed items which I have gladly been able to provide (or acquire easily), but people feel bad taking the items from me. They insist on paying for the items somehow, or they want to trade. One friend said she felt bad always asking me for stuff, even if I offer on a regular basis. I wanted to take a look at this, and look at why it really didn’t bother me to offer these items or services to others. Why I’m a big-hearted socialist in MMOs. Okay, I used “the scary S-word” in the title. Intentionally. 😉 Since many Americans have a terrible understanding of what socialism is, let me give a basic definition here. This delves into some economic theory, […]
by Chris Billowsin Republic of Bloggers0 commentstags: Blogging, Change of Mind, Comprehensive Analysis, Human Condition, Republic of Bloggers, Virtuous Discourse
An open letter to Chris Bateman responding to his blog-letter Wherefore Philosophy? Whence Emotions? at Only A Game as part of the Republic of Bloggers. Feel welcome to provide your own input via the Comments! Dear Chris, Thank you for your letter as it was written with such care and attention I could really see your passion for your discipline of Philosophy and your commitment to virtuous discourse. It was heart-warming and welcome. I do feel that you have interpreted my articulated disinterest in the discipline of Philosophy as some kind of failure on my part. There are many topics in the world that we can readily admit to having little interest in knowing more about it, or in actively engaging with it. My interest in this discussion was to see if I could articulate my disinterest to a spectrum of Philosophy. Yet, as I think about it I’m not really disinterested in Philosophy. Disinterest is actually the bane of an engaged person. What I did was think deeply about why when I think of Philosophy (the Discipline) it holds little appeal to me. Most people would just accept their apathy and not even engage with it. I chose to […]
by Chris Billowsin Mental Mischief0 comments
Ideas are important and so is execution to implement those ideas. They go hand in hand. But how do you decide if an idea is worth pursuing? I did a bit of research of how to vet out business ideas. One system of vetting that I came across was from the Fizzle podcast: Corbett’s Vetting List Demand — is it something people want? Competition — who else is doing it? Are they successful? Care — how much personal interest do you have in this topic? Expertise — how much do you know about this topic? Specificity — how broad or narrow will your lens on this topic be? Differentiation — how will you differentiate yourself from others in this market? Likability of Customers — do you like them now? Will you like them later? Can/Will They Pay — do they have moneys and will they share those moneys with you to solve this problem you’re helping them with? Lifestyle — if this became successful, what would your life look like? Would this be a 200 person company? A single laptop on a beach? Does that fit with your personal goals? That is a great list! But since I […]
by Chris Billowsin Mental Mischief0 comments
I really appreciated this post by Derek Sivers. Being the type of person who has lots of imagination and ideas, I can fall into the trap of thinking that ideas are worth something. To me, ideas are worth nothing unless executed. They are just a multiplier. Execution is worth millions. Explanation: AWFUL IDEA = -1 WEAK IDEA = 1 SO-SO IDEA = 5 GOOD IDEA = 10 GREAT IDEA = 15 BRILLIANT IDEA = 20 ——– ——— NO EXECUTION = $1 WEAK EXECUTION = $1000 SO-SO EXECUTION = $10,000 GOOD EXECUTION = $100,000 GREAT EXECUTION = $1,000,000 BRILLIANT EXECUTION = $10,000,000 To make a business, you need to multiply the two. The most brilliant idea, with no execution, is worth $20. The most brilliant idea takes great execution to be worth $20,000,000. That’s why I don’t want to hear people’s ideas. I’m not interested until I see their execution. This makes sense to me but I would argue that idea must have some kind of power of attraction. Otherwise, you lose your energy to persist and it falls apart. Execution will not happen unless the idea can hold our attention. I highly doubt a weak idea being perfectly […]
by Chris Billowsin Jets Flight Control0 commentstags: Atlanta Thrashers Relocation, Jets Draft, Jets Improvement
We are hours away from the Winnipeg Jets sixth season and its a time of new beginnings. It is also a time to recount what’s been accomplished since the Winnipeg Jets have establishing their own non-Atlanta Thrashers identity in the past five years. One word can summarize these years: Mediocrity. A mediocrity that was inherited from the Atlanta Thrashers, who were a poorly run team that struggled to be competitive. The Jets too have not been competitive but we can fairly blame the Thrashers for this. Below is an explanation how the Winnipeg Jets are still paying a debt of mediocrity because the Thrashers were inept in drafting. To start here is a season-by-season summary of the Atlanta Thrashers last five seasons before moving: Season Conference Division Regular season Postseason Finish GP W L OTL Pts GF GA GP W L GF GA Result 2006–07 Eastern Southeast 1st 82 43 28 11 97 246 245 4 0 4 6 17 Lost in Conference Quarterfinals vs. New York Rangers, 0–4 2007–08 Eastern Southeast 4th 82 34 40 8 76 216 272 — — — — — Did not qualify 2008–09 Eastern Southeast 4th 82 35 41 6 76 257 280 — […]
by Chris Billowsin Jets Flight Control0 commentstags: Jets Farm Team, Jets Improvement
NHL training camps have opened and not all of the players will get an NHL job. Not all of the players will get an AHL job either. This leaves the 3rd tier of professional hockey known as the ECHL. In my previous article on Parent and Farm Team collective performance I noted that the Jets do not play very many players at the ECHL level. Typically NHL teams use the ECHL as a place for depth goalies and defencemen to get ice time if they can’t crack the AHL lineup. The Winnipeg Jets and their AHL Farm Teams (the Ice Caps and the Moose) have used their ECHL level affiliation in that capacity up until recently. In the chart below you see the names and total numbers of players signed to a NHL or AHL contract that were sent to the ECHL affiliate. The Jets barely utilized their Colorado and Ontario affiliates in the first four years. This changes in the 2015-16 with the Tulsa Oilers affiliation. In 2015-16 the Jets sent down 7 different players including 4 forwards, where previously they sent down four players (mostly Goalies and Defencemen) at most. Anecdotal reporting indicates that time spent in the […]
by Chris Billowsin Mental Mischief0 commentstags: Human Condition, Quotations
Fascinating news this week. We have intercepted an alien signal and the speculation is that it is so strong and intentional it is thought to come from a civilization that is more advanced than our own. Not a Drill: SETI Is Investigating a Possible Extraterrestrial Signal From Deep Space “The signal’s strength indicates that if it in fact came from a isotropic beacon, the power source would have to be built by a Kardashev Type II civilization. (The Kardashev scale is used to determine the progress of a civilization’s technological development by measuring how much energy was used to transmit an interstellar message.) An ‘Isotropic’ beacon means a communication source emitting a signal with equal power in all directions while promoting signal strength throughout travel.” The news is remarkable, but just as remarkable is that somebody has created a civilization scale that borders on the absolute fantastic. The Kardashev Scale says that we are possibly receiving the signal from a civilization that has encased its sun with some kind of material so that no energy escapes the solar system! That is so amazing it sounds like magic, but what is just as astounding is that this level of civilization is […]
by Chris Billowsin Jets Flight Control0 commentstags: Atlanta Thrashers Relocation, Jets Improvement, Minor League Stats
The professional hockey world shifted a bit when Atlanta Thrashers relocated to become the Winnipeg Jets in May 2011. Not only did the NHL get affected, but so did the pro minor league affiliations. Atlanta had existing affiliations with the Chicago Wolves of the AHL and the Gwinnett Glaidiators of the ECHL but because Winnipeg was already operating an AHL franchise, a new affiliation hierarchy had to be formed. The Manitoba Moose franchise was moved to St. John’s (made up of prospects from the Chicago Wolves) and a new ECHL team, the Colorado Eagles was chosen as the ECHL affiliate. The purpose of this post is to track how the three levels of professional hockey affiliation have risen and fallen along side each other to see if there is any pattern. It tracks the 2011 to 2016 seasons. Note that the Winnipeg Jets owned the St-John’s IceCaps and then moved it to Winnipeg as the Manitoba Moose in 2015-16. The AHL team essentially has some continuity (Chicago Wolves to IceCaps to Wolves) while the various ECHL teams do not. So what pattern do we see looking at these three levels? At the ECHL level of the affiliation, the […]
by Chris Billowsin Jets Flight Control1 commentstags: Jets Draft, Jets Improvement, Minor League Stats
The 2016 NHL Entry Draft is underway and the Winnipeg Jets are adding to their cupboard of future hockey players. This is the sixth draft for the franchise since moving to Winnipeg. When it moved from Atlanta in 2011, the Winnipeg Jets inherited an empty cupboard of players and prospects. We just need to see the Winnipeg Jets records of marginal competitiveness for proof. The Winnipeg Jets essentially had to start restocking their prospects cupboard. Drafting and developing is the single best way for a sports franchise to build success yet you will see in the year-by-year breakdown below that the Thrashers did a very poor job of drafting good players and then did a poor job of developing them. How did I track this? By tracking each Thrasher draft prospect according to a very simple, transparent statistic called ProGames (ProGms). ProGames counts the number of NHL and AHL games that a drafted player accumulates for their new team. NHL games played count as 1.0 ProGms while AHL games played count as 0.5 ProGms, and these are accumulated across both Regular Season and Playoff Games. So a drafted player who plays 20 NHL and 10 AHL games for his new […]
by Chris Billowsin Jets Flight Control0 commentstags: Jets Draft, Jets Improvement, Minor League Stats
In the anticipation of the 2016 NHL Entry Draft, I am updating my evaluation on the cumulative draft and develop progress of the Winnipeg Jets. Drafting is the single best way for a sports franchise to build success so its not surprising that Winnipeg Jets Management has made draft and develop its central strategy. This post (and the one that preceded it) will break down how the Jets have done with their 2011 to 2015 draft picks up to the end of 2015-16 season (which is why this evaluation goes from 2011 to 2016). I have created a table that tracks each draft prospect taken by the Jets according to a very simple, transparent statistic called ProGames (ProGms). ProGames counts the number of NHL and AHL games that a drafted player accumulates for their new team. NHL games played count as 1.0 ProGms while AHL games played count as 0.5 ProGms, and these are accumulated across both Regular Season and Playoff Games. So a drafted player who plays 20 NHL and 10 AHL games for his new team will accumulate 25 ProGms for his team. While the goal of the draft is to have each draftee become an NHL player […]
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