The Writers' Block

[Jutsa]

CWA, that, and at least one of the linked articles (namely the one about Nauru's bird poop), are golden.

I doubt you could make an issue for every single little thing there...
but, it might do wonders for an economically poor and corrupt nation to have some of those ideas as options for a broader issue, there...

[Candlewhisper Archive]

Quite tempted to do another one about a tiny island nation derecognising @@NAME@@ in exchange for bribes from Blackacre.

[Verdant Haven]

Quite tempted to do another one about a tiny island nation derecognising @@NAME@@ in exchange for bribes from Blackacre.

Is that something that happens? Like, a nation withdrawing recognition of the existence of another long-established nation? If a place like Niue decides suddenly to withdraw diplomatic recognition of France because Pakistan gave them some aid... Meh? Sounds like that's just going to result in the tiny island nation being mocked and excluded from the international community as idiots.

Rather than derecognizing, would it work as maybe an embassy closure thing? They acknowledge you're there and are the government, but no longer want to allow your formal presence in country? That definitely is a thing that happens, and could open some interesting options about creating interest sections in other nations' embassies, who you work with for that, etc.

[USS Monitor]

So this looks like 5 issues to me:

http://www.cracked.com/article_26206_th ... bills.html

I'm gonna put together one about subsidising restaurants overseas to boost tourism, but flagging the article in case anyone gets inspired by the others.

I'm so glad Thailand does that because their food is great.

And not surprised that Peru wants to get on the bandwagon now that it works. They are very interested in attracting tourists and showing them a good time so they go home and tell all their friends to visit Peru too. They actually have people that wander around the international departures at Lima airport and conduct surveys to find out what tourists like or don't like, what attracts them to Peru, etc. I was so sleep-deprived when I ran into the survey guy, I don't think I was coherent enough to be much use, but ah well.

[Trotterdam]

Maybe for a nation with AI citizens, you could have them proposing that binary notation should be the default rather than base 10, as it's more efficient and intuitive.

Really, no, it's not. Binary is the most convenient system to physically implement in electronic circuits, but its mathematical properties aren't that great. Plus, AIs, if they're of the stereotypical "can perform math as fast as a computer" kind, should be able to convert between different notations so quickly and trivially that it's not worth worrying about which notation other people use (while the kind who can't perform math that fast would care more about the same factors humans do than about being accurate to their underlying computer architecture).

[Kurnugia]

[Issue] After @@RANDOMNAME@@, a swindler now known for selling liquid excrements as chocolate pudding, successfully lied ten times to the @@CAPITAL@@ Metropolitan Police before getting caught, the need of better means to detect liars has become evident.

Is this a good premise?

[Verdant Haven]

[Issue] After @@RANDOMNAME@@, a swindler now known for selling liquid excrements as chocolate pudding, successfully lied ten times to the @@CAPITAL@@ Metropolitan Police before getting caught, the need of better means to detect liars has become evident.

Is this a good premise?

That's... kind of unnecessarily distasteful, in my mind anyway. I would probably make it about some generic con or criminality, rather than people eating diarrhea.

Unless the name is completely necessary to the premise, which seems unlikely if it's 100% random, it isn't needed in the description.

In order to keep the focus on polygraphs, I would refer to them specifically in the text. A better way could otherwise mean anything from bribery to psychics to torture to analyzing social media profiles.


With those in mind, I would probably frame it something like:

After a suspected serial criminal successfully bluffed their way through numerous police interviews before finally being caught, police forces around @@NAME@@ have floated the idea of using polygraph machines to try and catch liars in the act.

[USS Monitor]

If I was doing it, I'd have polygraphs already in the police toolbox. Then have a case where either someone was wrongly convicted after a false positive on a polygraph test or someone got away with their crimes longer than they should because they fooled the polygraph test. And people question if polygraphs should remain in use.

[Kakastania]

Please explain the purpose of this thread.

[Kurnugia]

With those in mind, I would probably frame it something like:

After a suspected serial criminal successfully bluffed their way through numerous police interviews before finally being caught, police forces around @@NAME@@ have floated the idea of using polygraph machines to try and catch liars in the act.

Thanks for the feedback <3 My issue with this one, is that it kinda sounds vanilla.

If I was doing it, I'd have polygraphs already in the police toolbox. Then have a case where either someone was wrongly convicted after a false positive on a polygraph test or someone got away with their crimes longer than they should because they fooled the polygraph test. And people question if polygraphs should remain in use.

Good suggestion! Where I live, they aren't used at all

[USS Monitor]

With those in mind, I would probably frame it something like:

After a suspected serial criminal successfully bluffed their way through numerous police interviews before finally being caught, police forces around @@NAME@@ have floated the idea of using polygraph machines to try and catch liars in the act.

Thanks for the feedback <3 My issue with this one, is that it kinda sounds vanilla.

If I was doing it, I'd have polygraphs already in the police toolbox. Then have a case where either someone was wrongly convicted after a false positive on a polygraph test or someone got away with their crimes longer than they should because they fooled the polygraph test. And people question if polygraphs should remain in use.

Good suggestion! Where I live, they aren't used at all

I dunno how much use they get nowadays. IIRC, there are some legal limits on how the evidence can be used because they are not 100% reliable.

They're mostly a tool to trick people into confessing, or to give cops a clue on where to look, and then they find other evidence to confirm what they got from the polygraph.

When I was a kid, someone stole a ring out of my mom's jewelry. We suspected the maids who had been in our house to clean it. One of them agreed to take a polygraph test, but then when she found out what it was, she confessed and returned the ring. She lost her job, but I think the charges got dropped. Once my mom had her ring back, it was kind of like, "OK, problem solved," and everyone moved on. It didn't matter if polygraphs were admissible in court because it never came down to that.

I also heard a story where a cop used a copier machine as a fake polygraph. He told the suspect it would print out "true" or "false" depending whether he was telling the truth. After every question the cop asked, he'd hit the print button. Apparently the suspect was not the sharpest tool in the shed and this worked.

[Jutsa]

Quite tempted to do another one about a tiny island nation derecognising @@NAME@@ in exchange for bribes from Blackacre.

Oh yes. Please do.

And yes I'm being serious, not sarcastic.

[Socio Polor]

Please explain the purpose of this thread.

This thread is for authors or aspiring authors to share whatever ideas they may have for a potential issue, ask if any issues relating to said ideas have been taken and added in the game already, connecting with other GI forum community members and posting announcements on anything related to GI (Though usually the editors do that one).

[Maowi]

I just read that in Japan you can be fined for being obese. I know there are issues to do with obesity but are there any specifically to do with punishing obesity?

[Socio Polor]

I just read that in Japan you can be fined for being obese. I know there are issues to do with obesity but are there any specifically to do with punishing obesity?

This is actually false, though the premise sounds pretty good.

[Maowi]

This is actually false, though the premise sounds pretty good.

Oh right, thanks better check the dodginess of my sources next time ...

[Kurnugia]

Is there an issue about racial profiling? I haven't seen it mentioned once.

[Candlewhisper Archive]

Please explain the purpose of this thread.

This thread is for authors or aspiring authors to share whatever ideas they may have for a potential issue, ask if any issues relating to said ideas have been taken and added in the game already, connecting with other GI forum community members and posting announcements on anything related to GI (Though usually the editors do that one).

Also... dancing!

*dah dah daaaaaah dah dah dah dah daaaaaaah* *shuffle* *shuffle* taaaaadaaaaa!

[Australian rePublic]

In light of New South Wales' new trains without reversable seats, would an issue about reversable train seats be an interesting enough topic to write about?

[Candlewhisper Archive]

In light of New South Wales' new trains without reversable seats, would an issue about reversable train seats be an interesting enough topic to write about?

What's the context?

[Australian rePublic]

In light of New South Wales' new trains without reversable seats, would an issue about reversable train seats be an interesting enough topic to write about?

What's the context?

Hmmm... good question. I was just throwing ideas around...

How about government wants to build new trains with/without reversable seats?

[Candlewhisper Archive]

What's the context?

Hmmm... good question. I was just throwing ideas around...

How about government wants to build new trains with/without reversable seats?

Again, what's the context? As in, why do are we interested in a lack of reversible seats?

Also, broadly, an issue can never be reacting to "the government wants to do X", because you ARE the government.

[Australian rePublic]

Hmmm... good question. I was just throwing ideas around...

How about government wants to build new trains with/without reversable seats?

Again, what's the context? As in, why do are we interested in a lack of reversible seats?

Also, broadly, an issue can never be reacting to "the government wants to do X", because you ARE the government.

Hmm... okay. How about the minister of transport wants to bring in non-reversable seats on the new trains, and the people, who are used to reversable seats, protest?

[Trotterdam]

Is there an issue about racial profiling? I haven't seen it mentioned once.

#953 The Ethnic Minority Report

In light of New South Wales' new trains without reversable seats, would an issue about reversable train seats be an interesting enough topic to write about?

Okay, hold up. Before we address whether this is an important enough concern for the government to address, what are reversible seats and why should anyone, let alone the government, care about them?

[Sanctaria]

Before we address whether this is an important enough concern for the government to address, what are reversible seats and why should anyone, let alone the government, care about them?

Underlined for my own emphasis.

Just a reminder, the Editing team decides if it's important enough for the government to address. While others are welcome to comment/give their opinions to the author on the issue, fundamentally it's the Editors who "address" it.

Given this is The Writers' Block where all authors, aspiring included, are advised to go for tips and advice, so it's important information here is accurate.