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SJ Games vs. the Secret Service (1990)

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Re: SJ Games vs. the Secret Service (1990)

#41

Post by _0ffh »

bradknowles wrote: post #21

There’s another part to the story which I have told to the folks at SJG, but to which they never responded. In late 1990, I was working in the basement of the Pentagon, supporting the Joint Chiefs of Staff, in the J4 Logistics Readiness Center, inside the National Military Command Center. I was a gamer, but I also had a TS/SCI security clearance. I had heard about the SS raid on SJG, and I was pissed off. So, I decid…

"It also happened to use an actual classified military code word in the context of explaining what a classified military code word was and how they were used."

Was the true meaning of the code word described, or might it just have been a coincidence? Like, if I used the words "CASE NIGHTMARE PINK" as an example of a military code word, and it just so happened to be a real military code word? Because stuff like that is probably bound to happen.

Re: SJ Games vs. the Secret Service (1990)

#42

Post by barry-cotter »

eh78ssxv2f wrote: post #35
kregasaurusrex wrote: post #22

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Scheduling at the Columbus Convention Center really seems to be done without any regard for neighboring events. An Ohio Linuxfest a couple years ago was done right alongside a youth cheerleading competition, which had made some parents seem noticeably uncomfortable. And other weekends have mixed conventions like Wizard's World Comic Con and Origins, where I'd guess there's an overlap of people who'd like to go to bot…

May be I am missing something about the American culture...What's wrong with having Linuxfest next to cheerleading competition?

Nerds and men with wizard beards near loads of young women, almost all of whom are still in high school. Men with lower than average social skills, grooming and attendance to the normal rituals of social behaviour. American high school stuff, basically.

Re: SJ Games vs. the Secret Service (1990)

#43

Post by wernsey »

_0ffh wrote: post #41
bradknowles wrote: post #21

There’s another part to the story which I have told to the folks at SJG, but to which they never responded. In late 1990, I was working in the basement of the Pentagon, supporting the Joint Chiefs of Staff, in the J4 Logistics Readiness Center, inside the National Military Command Center. I was a gamer, but I also had a TS/SCI security clearance. I had heard about the SS raid on SJG, and I was pissed off. So, I decid…

"It also happened to use an actual classified military code word in the context of explaining what a classified military code word was and how they were used." Was the true meaning of the code word described, or might it just have been a coincidence? Like, if I used the words "CASE NIGHTMARE PINK" as an example of a military code word, and it just so happened to be a real military code word? Because stuff like that i…

It has actually happened before. In 1944 a bunch of codenames used by the allies for the D-Day invasion appeared as answers to the crossword puzzle in The Daily Telegraph newspaper.

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/D-Day_Daily_Telegraph_crosswor...

Re: SJ Games vs. the Secret Service (1990)

#45

Post by Jtsummers »

eh78ssxv2f wrote: post #35
kregasaurusrex wrote: post #22

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Scheduling at the Columbus Convention Center really seems to be done without any regard for neighboring events. An Ohio Linuxfest a couple years ago was done right alongside a youth cheerleading competition, which had made some parents seem noticeably uncomfortable. And other weekends have mixed conventions like Wizard's World Comic Con and Origins, where I'd guess there's an overlap of people who'd like to go to bot…

May be I am missing something about the American culture...What's wrong with having Linuxfest next to cheerleading competition?

The issue at that convention center (from my experiences there) are that multiple events really occupy the same space, not adjacent spaces. Like if there are 4 event halls in a row with two groups (A and B) it won't be AAAB, it'll be ABAA. And you have to travel through the common (very large) hallway to get to these areas.

I could understand parents being somewhat disconcerted with finding their teenage daughters surrounded by a bunch of adult men. Especially if they didn't know that another convention was going on (at first). Imagine you take a large group of young teenage girls somewhere and find that there are a couple thousand adult men seemingly at the same event. At first it'd seem very odd.

Re: SJ Games vs. the Secret Service (1990)

#46

Post by Jtsummers »

katastic wrote: post #28
Jtsummers wrote: post #19

In 2011 (2010?), at the Origins convention in Columbus then VP Biden was conducting a fundraiser at the same time at the same convention center. It was hilarious to see the secret service agents walking around. At first I thought it was some kind of MIB LARP or something. Seeing Secret Service agents trailing behind the (armed with swords and maces and such) entourage of a minotaur was hilarious. Sadly, no one got th…

Please tell me you've got pictures. I would very much like to see them.

Unfortunately no. I wasn't in the habit of taking pictures with my phone at the time.

Re: SJ Games vs. the Secret Service (1990)

#47

Post by LanceH »

algorias wrote: post #34
bradknowles wrote: post #29

Earlier quoted context omitted.

So, I'm sure that some people here are still unclear on how I can come to the values I referenced above. Let's do a little thought experiment, and I'll show you my thinking on the subject. Let's say that someone in the military decides to use the word PANDA as a classified military code word to cover a certain type of activity -- for example, all signals intelligence (see " rel="nofollow">https://en.wikipedia.org/wik…

Sorry, but this seems like cartoon logic to me. What power would knowing the word PANDA give me in this case? None. What knowledge does it give me? That the US does signals intelligence, and that someone on wikipedia/HN claims that such SI includes programs X,Y,Z, without any actual evidence. For all I know, SJG picked a cool sounding word a 16 year old would like, e.g. SHARK, and it just happened to be an actual cod…

I think they had to do this once before when Roosevelt was photographed and the code word stamped at the top was legible. I think they gave up when the puzzle palace book revealed the replacement word around '90.

Re: SJ Games vs. the Secret Service (1990)

#48

Post by WorldMaker »

PhasmaFelis wrote: post #25
kregasaurusrex wrote: post #22

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Scheduling at the Columbus Convention Center really seems to be done without any regard for neighboring events. An Ohio Linuxfest a couple years ago was done right alongside a youth cheerleading competition, which had made some parents seem noticeably uncomfortable. And other weekends have mixed conventions like Wizard's World Comic Con and Origins, where I'd guess there's an overlap of people who'd like to go to bot…

Hahaha, many years ago I went to a MarCon in Columbus that had been scheduled alongside a high school prom. Not necessarily a problem, but there are always people in costume at these things, and there happened to be a dominatrix leading two gimps on leashes through the main concourse at the same time that the kids were parading through...

Many Cons have had to establish boundary rules for that sort of "play" regardless of if they are scheduled alongside a more "normal" event. Also, BDSM culture itself has fought hard to move towards a more consent-based culture and publicly displaying such things without public consent is increasingly considered rude.

Re: SJ Games vs. the Secret Service (1990)

#49

Post by katastic »

Jtsummers wrote: post #46
katastic wrote: post #28

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Please tell me you've got pictures. I would very much like to see them.

Unfortunately no. I wasn't in the habit of taking pictures with my phone at the time.

That reminds me!

Pre-smart phone era. I was outside a club and out of my eye I see a homeless guy in a wheelchair. But he's going super fast. Like... way too fast.

Then I realize, he's got four little dogs pulling him on leashes like a tiny bobsled team.

He was BOOKING it fast.

Never in my life had I wished more for a camera. People online always think I'm making the story up.

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