https://outsidetheasylum.blog/ Trying to be a little less insane than everyone else. en-us Fri, 13 Mar 2026 16:43:26 GMT Fri, 13 Mar 2026 16:43:26 GMT http://blogs.law.harvard.edu/tech/rss Outside the Asylum is.aaack@yahoo.com is.aaack@yahoo.com https://outsidetheasylum.blog/the-economics-of-organized-play The Economics of Organized Play Mon, 21 Aug 2023 01:07:00 GMT https://outsidetheasylum.blog/rational-agents-cooperate-in-the-prisoners-dilemma Rational Agents Cooperate in the Prisoner's Dilemma Mon, 04 Sep 2023 04:21:00 GMT https://outsidetheasylum.blog/teaching-magic/ Teaching Magic Wed, 06 Sep 2023 23:48:29 GMT https://outsidetheasylum.blog/negotiation/ Negotiation Assistant Sat, 16 Sep 2023 01:07:18 GMT https://outsidetheasylum.blog/cr-backups/ Stop Trying to Make CR Backups Happen Wed, 20 Sep 2023 00:10:16 GMT https://outsidetheasylum.blog/the-one-ring/ A guide to rules and policy interactions with The One Ring. Sun, 15 Oct 2023 19:19:20 GMT https://outsidetheasylum.blog/draft-bracket-printer I threw together a simple draft bracket printer, for running ODEs, top 8 drafts, cube drafts, or whatever else you might need such a thing for. Tue, 07 Nov 2023 17:30:49 GMT https://outsidetheasylum.blog/prediction-markets-are-not-polls/ Prediction markets have been growing in popularity lately, and I address a common point of confusion. Tue, 28 Nov 2023 20:12:46 GMT https://outsidetheasylum.blog/the-worst-crime/ I contemplate what's the worst thing a judge could do. Wed, 29 Nov 2023 05:47:23 GMT https://outsidetheasylum.blog/understanding-subjective-probabilities/ Does it make sense to talk about the probability of a future event that's more complicated than a die roll or coin toss?Traditional entry-level math education leads people to many misconceptions in this area, which can cause problems when trying to accurately predict the real world. Sun, 10 Dec 2023 05:46:10 GMT https://outsidetheasylum.blog/strange-loops/ Loops are another one of those areas where Magic's rules and policy intersect in an awkward way. I don't have all the answers here, but I provide the ones I do have. Fri, 15 Dec 2023 04:58:51 GMT https://outsidetheasylum.blog/handling-counterfeits-in-a-tournament/ Counterfeits are a delicate subject. People tend to have strong feelings about them, and when something goes wrong, players often get upset. I try to go over the reasoning behind the counterfeits policy and touch on some best practices. Mon, 08 Jan 2024 05:25:27 GMT https://outsidetheasylum.blog/an-actually-intuitive-explanation-of-the-oberth-effect/ The Oberth effect is an aspect of orbital mechanics that has been bugging me for the better part of 5 years, and I think I may have finally figured it out. Wed, 10 Jan 2024 20:41:21 GMT https://outsidetheasylum.blog/surviving-cedh/ I ran my first cEDH event this past weekend. It was ...interesting. Thu, 15 Feb 2024 00:22:02 GMT https://outsidetheasylum.blog/an-actually-intuitive-explanation-of-p-values/ Academic science revolves largely around one number, the "p-value". This number has been the cause of a huge amount of confusion, so I spent a week trying to figure out what it actually means. I think I've mostly figured it out, and have written up an explanation for laypeople. Sun, 25 Feb 2024 02:39:59 GMT https://outsidetheasylum.blog/the-duality-of-machine/ In which I am grumpy about bad philosophy of mind. Thu, 29 Feb 2024 22:54:46 GMT https://outsidetheasylum.blog/dont-go-to-tcg-con I explain why you shouldn't go to TCG-Con. Tue, 12 Mar 2024 23:50:33 GMT https://outsidetheasylum.blog/tournament-simulator A tool to help with top 8 math, designing prize structures, cEDH tournament structures, etc. Sun, 24 Mar 2024 23:56:04 GMT https://outsidetheasylum.blog/judge-calls-in-the-21st-century/ A modest proposal to reform the system of summoning judges to assist players in need. Mon, 01 Apr 2024 08:19:37 GMT https://outsidetheasylum.blog/duct-tape-and-fence-posts/ From computer security to writing the MTG rulebook, there are some failure modes that everyone tends to fall into. Wed, 24 Apr 2024 02:58:18 GMT https://outsidetheasylum.blog/twitter-blocker/ I put together a quick script to mass block people on Twitter, since all the old tools to do this have stopped working. Fri, 03 May 2024 22:32:03 GMT https://outsidetheasylum.blog/the-confidence-game/ I present a new, definitely-intentional tool for helping judges practice their ability to tell valid reasoning apart from confident nonsense. Thu, 20 Jun 2024 21:40:49 GMT https://outsidetheasylum.blog/parker-dimensional-analysis/ Trying to figure out why people have so much trouble with certain kinds of math. Tue, 25 Jun 2024 23:16:31 GMT https://outsidetheasylum.blog/in-defense-of-lawyers-playing-their-part/ A response to Michael Huemer, who recently argued that defense attorneys should recuse themselves from cases where they believe their clients are guilty. Mon, 01 Jul 2024 01:22:56 GMT https://outsidetheasylum.blog/random-walk-calculator/ For all the times in your life when you've desperately needed to know the outcome of a particular random walk. Mon, 15 Jul 2024 03:38:27 GMT https://outsidetheasylum.blog/a-chiller-twitter/ Making Twitter a bit less psychically harmful. Thu, 18 Jul 2024 03:33:01 GMT https://outsidetheasylum.blog/team-events/ Team events have a lot of subtle challenges that individual events do not. I attempt to compile a guide to everything you need to know to run them. Thu, 16 Jan 2025 17:26:42 GMT https://outsidetheasylum.blog/beating-four-dead-horsemen In which I enter a debate 12 years after it stopped being relevant Sun, 09 Feb 2025 00:08:51 GMT https://outsidetheasylum.blog/generation-tech/ How can some Youtube channels get so popular while having absolutely no idea what they're talking about? Wed, 26 Feb 2025 01:26:52 GMT https://outsidetheasylum.blog/my-security-bounty/ I try to stay ahead of scams, and appreciate knowing what to look out for. I'm now offering $100 to anyone who manages to fool me in a significant way. Wed, 26 Mar 2025 05:03:31 GMT https://outsidetheasylum.blog/humans-are-insecure-password-generators/ And They're Currently Being Cracked Wed, 21 May 2025 04:58:45 GMT https://outsidetheasylum.blog/password-generator/ Can we have our cake and eat it too? Sat, 21 Jun 2025 01:49:38 GMT https://outsidetheasylum.blog/hire-me/ I figured I would put together a brief overview of my skills and experience for those who might want to hire me for something. If that's you, feel free to reach out! https://outsidetheasylum.blog/hire-me/ Mon, 11 Aug 2025 07:02:53 GMT https://outsidetheasylum.blog/using-rule-1071c-to-steal-us-government-secrets/ I've discovered a critical national security flaw in the Magic: The Gathering rulebook. Following the principles of responsible disclosure, I have written up a guide to the vulnerability. Tue, 12 Aug 2025 23:56:56 GMT https://outsidetheasylum.blog/screeps/ A friend invited me to play Screeps a few years back, and I fell in love with it immediately. Unfortunately, turns out it's evil. Sat, 24 Jan 2026 22:34:32 GMT https://outsidetheasylum.blog/the-intent-is-clear/ Sigh Fri, 13 Mar 2026 16:43:26 GMT