Comments appreciated :)

"Then will arise a king of the Greeks whose name is Constans. He will be king of the Romans and the Greeks. He will be tall of stature, of handsome appearance with shining face, and well put together in all parts of his body..."

Mormon Baptism Machine (the venerable KY-47)

Harry Lime (CCAL30) said:

(...a work in progress)

"A few things I know for certain:"

• Mating season runs from October-November.
• The female gives birth to one or two calves 7-9 months after mating.
• Calves weigh about 10 pounds at birth.
• The Babies can stand on their own 30 minutes after they are born and will travel with the herd within a day of birth.

• Different people mate in different positions, but in all cases the aim is to transfer sperm from the male to the female, or, depending on the cycle of the moon: vice versa.
• The male does this by inserting the mating organ at the end of its pedipalp (a spine-like structure on tip) carrying the sperm, into the female's reproductive (epigynal) opening on the underside of her body.
• In some species the tip of the pedipalp will break off during mating or a hardened secretion will block the females openings, preventing other males from mating with that female. And, in a pinch, the male will sometimes use a discarded cork from a bottle of wine.
• The sperm is stored in sacs inside the female's abdomen until she is ready to lay her eggs.
• Mating is often aided by specialised spines and spurs on the male's front legs.
• The mating spur and/or spines are on the second legs. They are used by the male to hold the female during mating.

• During the mating encounter, considerable sparring occurs until the female accepts the male.
• Both partners rear up with first legs raised against each other as the male engages his mating spurs across the bases of the female's second legs.
• The male then inseminates the female by inserting the tips of his palpal organs into the female's genital opening.

The Very Personification of the word "Suave"

• Sometimes garder-belts and fishnet stockings are used. And and in certain regions of the Southwest -- even "Chaps". And for tall girls, a small pony saddle.
• The precise choice mating position is also often influenced by moon cycles, organic dairy products, and certain television shows.
• In some circumstances, a device known as a "Pocket-Rocket" is used.

Wandering and Courtship

• Only after several rounds of mating, do the wandering and courtship periods actually begin.
• Male wandering often seems random but it can be directed by the presence of silk or air-borne chemical signals (pheromones) put out by the female.
• Having found a female, the male must first establish his identity as a mate rather than a meal.
• Most do this through various forms of courtship, which can involve vibrational, chemical, tactile and visual cues.
• At this stage, it is the male of the species, who is picking up the tab for all the drinks.
• That (the male's "relationship to the tab") never seems to change.

Pierre Omidyar: Holds the Records for Most Negative Reputation Points... on his own Network -- with a point system of his own design :)

Was lower than 75pts till a bunch of lackies baled him out -- likely by paid employee/members :)

FYI: for registration -- http://exom.harrylyme.com -- does require a unique email address: but these are easy enough to get -- for free at yahoo. google, msn, and others -- and i don't mind pseudonym (non-smapping) users :) -- and I just set up some alpha code, which allows users to create their own groups (which on http://exom.harrylyme.com -- are like mini-website communities that you can create -- under your control -- make it public, private, or by invitation -- or even change it's look and feel -- it's up to you :) Total Freedom within the confines of your individual space -- to build your own community :) -- and you get it all :) -- Blogs, Forums, Books (Wikis), Polls...

Give it a shot! And report back here -- especially if you can honestly say that it doesn't show promise :)

When I criticized o/net -- for not delivering on what could be done...I wasn't just blowing smoke out of my a__ :)

The Alpha site

http://exom.harrylyme.com/

Is running as promised :) you can register and log on, and also create some content. But it is still in a very rudimentary state -- in part because I have a project that I'm working on that takes priority over this for now.

But I encourage anyone to give it a try -- make some suggestions, whatever ... :)

"When did ever a dragon die of a serpent's poison?"

"One day had Zarathustra fallen asleep under a fig-tree, owing to the heat, with his arm over his face. And there came an adder and bit him in the neck, so that Zarathustra screamed with pain. When he had taken his arm from his face he looked at the serpent; and then did it recognise the eyes of Zarathustra, wriggled awkwardly, and tried to get away. "Not at all," said Zarathustra, "as yet hast thou not received my thanks! Thou hast awakened me in time; my journey is yet long." "Thy journey is short," said the adder sadly; "my poison is fatal." Zarathustra smiled. "When did ever a dragon die of a serpent's poison?"—said he. "But take thy poison back! Thou art not rich enough to present it to me." Then fell the adder again on his neck, and licked his wound."

My point total hit 666 on April 9, 2007.

It's time to revise my...

...personal "mission statement" :)

(slowly evolving, stream of conciousness stage)...

http://www.omidyar.net/group/townhall/news/26/?e=newcomment&page=1#comment12

The 25k Clara White Costume Debacle

The Emperor's New "Mr. Juice-Harp" Costume

From the Adventures of Harry Lyme

"The $4,000.00 tin cup

"Happy to hear that the business is doing well -- now can we have our money back? After all, you didn't spend it yet -- and you did just close a deal with a Billion Dollar Company -- without having to wear a costume. Could we maybe have some of it back? $500? $50? $5? "

(EARLY DRAFT) Open Letter to Members (once finished, I'll be sending this off to dozens of members)

FYI: O.net (Omidyar.net) Community currently in the process of determining how to distribute and spend $80,000 -- for worthy causes.

Unfortunately, the "Community" of active members is currently at about 2-3 dozen people (out of 10,000+ registered members). And no official or unofficial effort (outside of this one) is being made to broadcast even the existence of this effort, much less, actively encourage broad member participation.

(And keep in mind, this is an open process, so anyone interested can -- and should -- voice their opinion, and possible even request funding for a worthy cause)

Actually, instead of putting efforts into expanding the "Community" decision making process -- the main focus of discussion currently seems to center around making it easier for the funding lobbyist (5 person proposal teams) -- to, in multiple rounds, both vote for themselves and each other!

(currently it's an 80k total -- with a 5k cap per group/funding-round, and a 15k cap-total/group -- with 5 person funding groups -- )

The big secret: with only a few dozen active participants (and lets assume that we have five groups vying for funding)-- if funding lobbyist couldn't also take turns, in multiple rounds, voting for each other -- there are not enough disinterested members out there to get the 25 votes required!

Can you imagine a mayor of a town (let's call him "Mayor Tom") calls what is essentially a secret, or at the very least, an unadvertised meeting on how to seek consensus, using several rounds, to spent $80mil on some public infrastructure improvements -- and opened the discussion to a group of contractors -- and they arrive at a 2/3 "Community" plan solution:

• There is a vote (among themselves -- hence team members need to vote) in each funding round.
• There are subsequent rounds of voting (among themselves, until all the money is spent)
• The only thing missing in the "Community Plan" -- is the part about "Community"
• Heck 2 out of 3 ain't bad -- LET'S GET STARTED!!!.

Needless to say, if you got caught implement this type of funding scheme -- in any local community in the land (including Chicago) -- you'd be thrown in jail.

The Law of Intended Consequences:

For the ProcessWonks: the big fear is that, if we wait too long, and ("God forbid"), actually make a concerted effort to get more o.net members involved -- MORE O.NET MEMBERS JUST MIGHT GET INVOLVED!

---

"Every time I hear the term "elegant solution"..."

"...go for my revolver!"

WORK IN PROGRESS: