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With temperatures climbing across the globe it's no wonder that heat records are broken year after year in various parts of the world at a rate that the World Championships in Athletics can only be jealous of. The one held this year in Beijing (Peking) just counted one new world record, in the decathlon, the most ambitious of all events. Someone else was in Beijing this summer. His name is Vlad Niculae, and he was presenting an academic paper on (no, not on vampires) Diplomacy, the Game. Well, you're not reading this Zine to get an update on that other usage of the term, unless you're a peerifanatic (and there's enough of that too to keep everyone happy). Anyway, our Romanian-American friend came to the Chinese capital to give an exposition on one of the great challenges in a game of Diplomacy, predicting betrayal before it occurs, using only verbal clues. Or written clues, as all the data was pulled from various PBEM sources, including our own DPjudge. You can read about the discoveries that he and his team made in this issue. Summer is the perfect time to walk the dog (Rick), read a mystery novel (Mark), slurp a cup of Viennese coffee (Toby), plan an excursion to Italy (Kevin) or visit the places where the powerful reside (Larry). If I need to pick a theme, this would be it. The ice on the cake (or whipped cream if you prefer) is Harold's song on DipCon and his first multimedia experiment, showcasing his multi-faceted artistic credentials. The real intrigue for me is the introduction of Sam Spade in this issue, right after Sherlock Holmes made an appearance in Diplomacy World. Is it payback time already? Know that the story here borrowed some elements from the Maltese Falcon. After finishing you might be tempted to go back to the library and read the book or watch the movie. Go on, temptation is good, unless the subject is a long-legged lady. The articles just kept coming all through the Summer, as was the sun, plastering us in our lazy chair. Preparing them for publication took a backseat, and if we pulled it off this time, it's in no small part due to the assistance offered by Kevin Burt, better known these days as the man behind Machiavelli. Charles Roburn has been doing this job for so long and so diligently that we're eternally indebted to him. But he's ready to pass on the baton. Kevin, do you feel like relaying him? Just don't do it out of the zone, like the American relay team in the 4 x 100m finals in Beijing, or you'll get disqualified. Enjoy the Pouch!
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