{"id":11189,"date":"2024-09-25T16:42:58","date_gmt":"2024-09-26T00:42:58","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.rifters.com\/crawl\/?p=11189"},"modified":"2024-09-28T07:48:51","modified_gmt":"2024-09-28T15:48:51","slug":"the-three-bragger-problem","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.rifters.com\/crawl\/?p=11189","title":{"rendered":"The Three-Bragger Problem"},"content":{"rendered":"\n<p> Preamble: OK, I lied. Said last time that <em>this<\/em> time was gonna be about <em>science<\/em>, and no more of this fluffy promo bullshit. And I meant well. But this time, the fluffy promo is about <em>me<\/em>. And it\u2019s cool. And more to the point, I don\u2019t have to spend hours doing research on things I don\u2019t actually know much about, so it\u2019s fast. When you\u2019re writing to deadline, fast is good. <\/p>\n\n\n\n<div class=\"wp-block-image\"><figure class=\"aligncenter size-large\"><a href=\"https:\/\/www.rifters.com\/crawl\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/09\/Screenshot-from-2024-09-25-19-42-39.png\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" width=\"1024\" height=\"438\" src=\"https:\/\/www.rifters.com\/crawl\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/09\/Screenshot-from-2024-09-25-19-42-39-1024x438.png\" alt=\"\" class=\"wp-image-11192\" srcset=\"https:\/\/www.rifters.com\/crawl\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/09\/Screenshot-from-2024-09-25-19-42-39-1024x438.png 1024w, https:\/\/www.rifters.com\/crawl\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/09\/Screenshot-from-2024-09-25-19-42-39-300x128.png 300w, https:\/\/www.rifters.com\/crawl\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/09\/Screenshot-from-2024-09-25-19-42-39-768x329.png 768w, https:\/\/www.rifters.com\/crawl\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/09\/Screenshot-from-2024-09-25-19-42-39-1536x657.png 1536w, https:\/\/www.rifters.com\/crawl\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/09\/Screenshot-from-2024-09-25-19-42-39.png 1883w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 1024px) 100vw, 1024px\" \/><\/a><\/figure><\/div>\n\n\n\n<p>   <strong>Brag 1. <\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>  So check this out:<\/p>\n\n\n\n<iframe loading=\"lazy\" width=\"500\" height=\"280\" src=\"https:\/\/www.youtube.com\/embed\/Fgw44m1AdKc?si=rldNCGdgkpDeZxaZ\" title=\"YouTube video player\" frameborder=\"0\" allow=\"accelerometer; autoplay; clipboard-write; encrypted-media; gyroscope; picture-in-picture; web-share\" referrerpolicy=\"strict-origin-when-cross-origin\" allowfullscreen=\"\"><\/iframe>\n\n\n\n<p> I have a small hand in this universe. I\u2019m developing some of its Lore. I am not allowed to give you any details, but none of you will be surprised to learn that said Lore contains certain, shall we say, Darwinian elements. <\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>\n  I think it\u2019s going to rock.\n<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>  <strong>Brag 2. <\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>   There&#8217;s something I\u2019m allowed to share even fewer details about than EVE. In fact, I\u2019m not even allowed to say that I <em>am<\/em> involved in it, although the trailer dropped earlier than EVE&#8217;s and the curtain rises sooner. I <em>am<\/em> allowed to paste promo copy from a certain corporate entity about a certain project\u2014in effect, to place someone else\u2019s generic ad copy onto the \u2018Crawl without explaining its relevance. This is an opportunity I must regretfully decline. <\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>   A shame, though. From what I\u2019ve seen, it\u2019s gonna be awesome. Stay tuned.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p><strong>  Brag 3. <\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>\n  And this\u2014<em>this<\/em>\u2014may be the least significant item in terms of pop culture, but it is, by far, the closest to my heart. It is an honor that generally accrues only to the likes of Gary Larson, Greta Thunberg, and Radiohead. \n<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p><\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>   Niko Kasalo &amp; Josip Skejo have named a tribe of Australian Pygmy Grasshoppers after me. <\/p>\n\n\n\n<figure class=\"wp-block-image size-large\"><a href=\"https:\/\/www.rifters.com\/crawl\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/09\/grasshopper-1.png\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" width=\"1013\" height=\"770\" src=\"https:\/\/www.rifters.com\/crawl\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/09\/grasshopper-1.png\" alt=\"\" class=\"wp-image-11196\" srcset=\"https:\/\/www.rifters.com\/crawl\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/09\/grasshopper-1.png 1013w, https:\/\/www.rifters.com\/crawl\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/09\/grasshopper-1-300x228.png 300w, https:\/\/www.rifters.com\/crawl\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/09\/grasshopper-1-768x584.png 768w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 1013px) 100vw, 1013px\" \/><\/a><\/figure>\n\n\n\n<p>\n  I mean, not me <em>personally<\/em>, but one of my novels. The Tribe is<em> Echopraxiini<\/em>; the genus is <em>Echopraxia<\/em>; the species is <em>E. Hasenpuschi<\/em>. And should any of you point out that correlation is not causation, and that there might be any number of reasons why someone might name a taxon after the neurological malady without even knowing about my novel, I\u2019ve got you covered:\n<\/p>\n\n\n\n<figure class=\"wp-block-image size-large\"><a href=\"https:\/\/www.rifters.com\/crawl\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/09\/word-image-11189-1.png\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" width=\"1102\" height=\"374\" src=\"https:\/\/www.rifters.com\/crawl\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/09\/word-image-11189-1.png\" alt=\"\" class=\"wp-image-11190\" srcset=\"https:\/\/www.rifters.com\/crawl\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/09\/word-image-11189-1.png 1102w, https:\/\/www.rifters.com\/crawl\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/09\/word-image-11189-1-300x102.png 300w, https:\/\/www.rifters.com\/crawl\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/09\/word-image-11189-1-1024x348.png 1024w, https:\/\/www.rifters.com\/crawl\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/09\/word-image-11189-1-768x261.png 768w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 1102px) 100vw, 1102px\" \/><\/a><\/figure>\n\n\n\n<p>   The paper in its entirety is paywalled, but I have <a href=\"https:\/\/www.rifters.com\/real\/articles\/ThesmallestAustralianTetrigidaeOrthopterataxonomicrevisionofPeraxelpaSjstedt1932withthedescriptionsofthreenewgeneraandeleven.pdf\">uploaded a copy<\/a> for your forensic edification  just in case you think I\u2019m full of shit. After reading it you may still conclude that I faked the whole manuscript, which offhand I cannot disprove. But if I did, you gotta admit I did a bang-up job. <\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>   Anyway: now you have some idea of the stuff I\u2019ve been doing when I haven&#8217;t been writing <em><s>Echopraxia<\/s><\/em> <em>Omniscience<\/em>. I haven\u2019t just been lying around jerking off all these months. <\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>Well, not exclusively. <\/p>\n\n\n\n<div class=\"wp-block-image\"><figure class=\"aligncenter size-large\"><a href=\"https:\/\/www.rifters.com\/crawl\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/09\/Screenshot-from-2024-09-25-19-45-08.png\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" width=\"1024\" height=\"438\" src=\"https:\/\/www.rifters.com\/crawl\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/09\/Screenshot-from-2024-09-25-19-45-08-1024x438.png\" alt=\"\" class=\"wp-image-11200\" srcset=\"https:\/\/www.rifters.com\/crawl\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/09\/Screenshot-from-2024-09-25-19-45-08-1024x438.png 1024w, https:\/\/www.rifters.com\/crawl\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/09\/Screenshot-from-2024-09-25-19-45-08-300x128.png 300w, https:\/\/www.rifters.com\/crawl\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/09\/Screenshot-from-2024-09-25-19-45-08-768x329.png 768w, https:\/\/www.rifters.com\/crawl\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/09\/Screenshot-from-2024-09-25-19-45-08-1536x657.png 1536w, https:\/\/www.rifters.com\/crawl\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/09\/Screenshot-from-2024-09-25-19-45-08.png 1883w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 1024px) 100vw, 1024px\" \/><\/a><\/figure><\/div>\n\n\n\n<p>\n  Next up: science. Definitely<sup><sup><a href=\"#post-11189-footnote-0\" id=\"post-11189-footnote-ref-0\">[1]<\/a><\/sup><\/sup>.\n<\/p>\n\n\n\n<hr class=\"wp-block-separator\"\/>\n\n\n\n<ol class=\"wp-block-list\"><sup><li><\/sup><p>      Probably. <a href=\"#post-11189-footnote-ref-0\">\u2191<\/a>   <\/p> <\/li><\/ol>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>Preamble: OK, I lied. Said last time that this time was gonna be about science, and no more of this fluffy promo bullshit. And I meant well. But this time, the fluffy promo is about me. And it\u2019s cool. And more to the point, I don\u2019t have to spend hours doing research on things I [&hellip;]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[13,11],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-11189","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-ink-on-art","category-writing-news"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.rifters.com\/crawl\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/11189","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.rifters.com\/crawl\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.rifters.com\/crawl\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.rifters.com\/crawl\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.rifters.com\/crawl\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=11189"}],"version-history":[{"count":20,"href":"https:\/\/www.rifters.com\/crawl\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/11189\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":11263,"href":"https:\/\/www.rifters.com\/crawl\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/11189\/revisions\/11263"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.rifters.com\/crawl\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=11189"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.rifters.com\/crawl\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=11189"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.rifters.com\/crawl\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=11189"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}