Entries by Brant

I had hoped that, by now, I would be able to write about Strike Rapier in a positive light. After all, he did get AWTeen's world services restored quickly and world population has increased significant week-over-week. However, I can't help but think that either DaBean or Matthew would have done an equal job in restoring world services. However, Matthew and DaBean would both have been superior Governors because both would have been considerably more helpful and forthcoming to AWTeen's Citizens than Strike Rapier has been.

Why is it that the AWTeen Caretaker position seems lately to always end up in the hands of those with excessive hubris and arrogance? While one could argue that JerMe and Dr. S developed their arrogance towards the world's population during their tenures, Strike Raper hit the ground running, chewing people out within hours of taking the position. In fact, over the past five days, the following statements are a fraction of what has been posted in the Activeworlds forums alone. First, DaBean offered a suggestion to Strike in regards to his testing a bot that constantly changed the world's attributes:

Continue reading "On Strike Rapier's lack of respect for AWTeen and its Citizens"

I have a lot of respect for how Activeworlds, Inc. handled the last election, but actions this morning have caused me to question that respect. The voting was fair and honest, the results were announced publicly, and the schedule was followed as prescribed. Flagg definitely knows what he's doing, communicates well with Citizens, and he is a great asset to the community. However, one of AWI's other employees, Martin, has not been as understanding.

After the election concluded, there was some discussion in the AW forums about how to improve the political process after Strike's term concludes. Nobody was inciting "revolution" or even stating the current results should be changed. Instead, there was what many considered a simple debate of process and procedure on how to improve the elections system in the future. Several citizens even posted real-world examples of different types of voting systems, comparing and contrasting the advantages and disadvantages of each. There wasn't any hint that anyone considered the results to be illegitimate.

Then Martin inappropriately decided to end all discussion by locking threads of which he (personally) disapproved.

Continue reading "Martin: unprofessionally representing Activeworlds, Inc."

Well, unfortunately, the news has broken that Strike Rapier won the election. I'd like to congratulate Strike on his victory, and wish him the best of luck during the coming months.

There isn't really much else to say. While I'm obviously disappointed in the result, I'm much more disappointed in the voting method. Flagg himself said that this election was won with only a plurality of the vote, and I have no doubt the results would have been different had a runoff been used. The results here show that the majority of AWTeen's citizens do not support Strike. I hope that Flagg seriously considers a runoff system for the February election.

As to me, you might recall that I had committed to writing this blog only for the duration of the election. Now that someone with opposing views has been elected, there no place for me in a Strike-run AWTeen, and my criticism would mean very little until the next election approaches. For now, I plan to focus my attention on a new Activeworlds project that I hope to propose next week. I reserve the right to write periodically, however, and to resume posting as the next cycle heats up after the holidays.

I wish Strike the best of luck in the months ahead. Hopefully, four months from now, AWTeen will once again be recognized as one of the greatest communities in Activeworlds. Live long and prosper!

Flagg has announced that the AWTeen election results will be published tomorrow, November 14. We're not completely in the dark about how the race might turn out, though, as exit polls have shown a close call. However, some interesting interviews have shown that additional forces are at work that I believe will lead to a startling upset in this race. After analyzing data from several sources, I predict that DaBean will be AWTeen's first Governor.

I recently labeled DaBean the "Ron Paul of Activeworlds." Just as Paul is experiencing a late surge in the presidential race, DaBean surged late in this campaign. Before the official list of candidates was announced, DaBean was polling with near-zero support in the straw polls. His campaign, with Kapara as co-Governor, seemed loosely defined and even more loosely organized. It looked as if he wouldn't have the slightest chance of even getting onto the ballot.

Continue reading "Why DaBean will take AWTeen"

Well, the endgame has arrived. I cast my ballot for Matthew earlier today, and there are only a few hours of voting for the AWTeen elections remaining. With the election drawing to a close, I thought it would be interesting to take a look back at the process while awaiting the winner to be announced.

The most striking detail I noticed was how non-political the elections process was. There was almost a taboo against asking or answering any questions of substance about the candidates' plans for the world. When someone did speak out, the candidates and a few other select citizens chewed the person out on the Activeworlds forums. Furthermore, anyone who chose to speak out against the "chewers" was derided either for "not having a life" or for "taking things too seriously." Well, "seriously," the community needs to have more of an open mind and be willing to discuss the issues that matter.

Continue reading "Runoffs, and what Flagg can do the next time around"

Strike Raper expressed his displeasure with the use of free speech in the Activeworlds forums with several long tirades and a series of personal attacks. His recent behavior both in the forums and in the Universe itself clearly shows that Strike is not fit to hold the office of Governor, and AWTeen's citizens will benefit most from a responsible and open leader like Matthew or DaBean. It is in the community's best interest for everyone to ensure that Strike Rapier does not continue the tyranny that has brought AWTeen down into current broken state.

Continue reading ""Crusher" Strike Rapier: Unfit to lead AWTeen"

DaBean/FlyYukon, while currently in third place out of the three candidates for AWTeen Governor, could draw a significant number of votes in this election. DaBean, unlike the other candidates, hasn't posted a detailed platform containing numerous paragraphs of text. Instead, he and Kapara have simply stated they would ask for community suggestions and implement whatever the community wishes to get done. While community input is a great idea, his lack of specificity and weak assertion of leadership could also be seen as a sign of weakness by the voting public.

Continue reading "DaBean/FlyYukon: The Ron Paul of Activeworlds"

Eric (XelNaga) recently made a post in the Activeworlds forums regarding the age of AWTeen election candidates. The topic has stirred up quite a bit of controversy in recent days. Some believe that the world should be For Teens, by Teens, while others believe that older people will have more experience and be more suited to the job.

I subscribe to neither. Nobody should care how old someone is if the person does a good job.

To illustrate, imagine that someone is chosen for AWTeen Governor and has been in the position for six months. She has done an excellent job, earning the respect and admiration of everyone who visits the world. World visitors double under her Governorship, and the world sees events the like of which Activeworlds has never seen before. AWTeen's petty bickering and squabbling dies away, forgotten in the sands of time.

Continue reading "The age of AWTeen's Caretakers"

Strike Rapier posted his "manifesto" before all of the other candidates in the AWTeen election, way back on October 21. Currently leading the polls, Strike seemed all but guaranteed a win in the election. However, with the recent announcement that GC had been eliminated from the race, Matthew appears to be gaining votes from GC and his supporters, shortening the gap.

Strike Rapier starts off well in his platform by stating that he would appoint two "co-Caretakers," Silverliner and s e V e n s. Both are good candidates for the positions, should they accept. Interestingly, Strike has chosen to limit his administration to two co-Caretakers, whereas Matthew has insisted on three people for the job. Having fewer co-Caretakers may increase the workload on the main Caretaker somewhat, but enacting such a policy also reduces the security risk of the Caretaker privilege password being divulged.

Continue reading "Strike Rapier: We need more information"

With the deadline for candidate registration having passed, today I'll start by writing one of a series of articles reviewing each of the candidates' platforms. I've chosen Matthew first because he recently entered the race to replace Jaguar Hahn, who effectively had been running a campaign in absentia.

It is a good move that Matthew became the head of his own campaign, because his commitment to Jaguar Hahn's campaign shows that he definitely has the motivation to succeed at the AWTeen Governor position, and that motivation is sorely needed. However, his stances on several key issues leave one wondering whether he would be able to maintain strong leadership throughout his tenure as Governor.

Continue reading "Matthew: Covers the basic issues, but what about leadership?"