artificial intelligence game

Well this is something. It's been a while since it's been on the net, but never had a chance to check it out myself. So lets present the first game with a real Artificial Intelligence: facade. This a simple game, but completely different from anything i come through. Actually, it is not a game, in the traditional way. I think that the term "a one-act interactive drama" is more accurate. It's not about graphics, not about shooting, not about platforms, not about leveling and experience, not about managing, or storytelling-puzzle-solving. It's a simple story.
You've visiting the house of a couple, Grace and Troy (if i remember the names) that are not going too well. So the goal, if there is any, is to kiss and make up. Soooo, you start a conversation with them, you talk about almost anything and the characters just come to life. You can even interact with the environment. It's amazing. The storyline evolves as you "play" (interact with the characters). Almost nothing is predetermined.
As I go through the game I could say that its more like a soap opera but the script is made by you. This video actually shows one way of storytelling. You can freely manipulate the characters to stretch them to their ends.
It's only 131mb so what are you whating for?

One shallow doesn't bring back spring

Or "ένα χελιδόνι δε φέρνει την άνοιξη".
The question is about which swallow am I talking about, cause theoretically speaking spring kicked in from March, actually, spring was the succession of autumn, no winter ever involved in the procedure. Since then every good or bad symptom of Spring and the forthcoming summer is here and inspire us or trouble us. So, allergies has taken the best out of me. My skin feels itchy, my eyes are swollen, and painful, lest not talk about the nose called waterfall. Pills do nothing anymore.
The other one is the Sun-that-burns-through-your-skin-and-boils-your-blood. The day-before (as in Greek προχθές, meaning a unspecified period in past-time) while working on the sewerage I got sunburned (sewage???). My grand-mother always told me that May's sun is the worst, but it was still April.
And the inspiring things, the drunken aroma from the lemon flowers, all kind of night flowers and jasmine (lemon flowers are long before gone). The promise of a great summer, with wine, in my yard, listening the silence of summer nights. A trip to Barcelona, and visiting our favorite Island, Syfnos. Summer love, summer wine, summer journey, summer beach...and of course HEAT.
But, where are the swallows??? Have you come across one? Do they still exist? I'm searching high and low for a sign, something, but nothing is there. I'm really disappointed. I only hear the morning chattering of sparrows, but no shallows. I'm missing them, building their nests at the corners of balconies, feeding their nestlings. Not good, not good at all.

P.S. Everything was different this year, birds where preparing for their migrating trips not in September but in January. Deciduous never lose their leaves. Draught is at the gates.
Recent news state that Italy entered in emergency state as Pados, Italy's largest river, started to shrink.

DEATH NOTE

I still cannot belive how good is the two soundtracks from the anime death note. Not as good as the Cowboy Bebop's soundtrack but it does has some excellent themes, more like post-rock, there is a theme that reminds of mogwai's auto rock. And the series, just when you say you have figured everything out...great story, great animation, great dialogs, great characters. Just superb.
For a few info also check those blogs.
NOVASTORM
Random Curiosity

FOOD

well as they say..

once hungry always hungry

so after alcohol, or even better, before, or in parallel with alcohol, food is what I believe to be my TOP priority. I;m not going to present as my first post about food a site of weird recipes, or exotic dishes, but a most scientific matter.
It is called,

molecular gastronomy

just Google it and you'll see what I'm talking about. But, you are lazy bastards, so I'm going to make a brief presentation of it.
It all started when chemistry has advanced so that it could determine what kind of chemical reactions could take place while a food is being prepared (yes it is called molecular gastronomy but actually not like molecular biology, chemistry and physics are the main aspects). So a good fellow, Hervé This, with another good fellow, Nicholas Kurti, started what at the begining was refered as Molecular and Physical Gastronomy.
The basics of it as described at This theses are:

(1) investigating the culinary and gastronomical proverbs, sayings, old wives tales…
(2) exploring the recipes;
(3) introducing in kitchens new tools, ingredients and methods
(4) inventing new dishes based on 2
(5) using Molecular Gastronomy to help the general public understand how science can contribute to the well being of the society.

the reason behind this idea and the “International Workshop on Molecular and Physical Gastronomy” were as it was described by This himself:

Each aspect of our environment is studied by a specific scientific discipline, using the experimental method, introduced Francis Bacon and later by Galileo Galilei. Why should gastronomy be an exception?

So to continue, his idea is to collect old fashion cooking recipes, and put their statement under the harsh experimental procedures, and also introduce new methods to ameliorate the cooking experience (I mean the aftertaste). Nicholas Kurti is no longer with us, but This is active and also recently had a publication on EMBO regarding molecular gastronomy.
To give you an example lets find out what happens when you do BBQ. Meat turns brownish. NO SHIT!!!. What happens inside meat to turn to brown? Well at about 65 Celsius degrees, aminoacids compine with reducing sugar by no enzymatic means, producing Schiff bases, as posted by Maillard in 1912, Maillard reaction, and that results in the changing of color. The point is that during this reaction meat gets its flavor.

Also, for the industry, the goal is to maximize food flavor through the heat-induced Maillard reaction without impairing nutritive value or creating carcinogenic heterocyclic amines, which are formed during high temperature cooking of foods like meat and chicken that contain high amounts of protein

. And again, the reaction will give different flavor according to the chemical substances of meat, not all meat are the same. So, chefs around the world try to find ways to increase the flavor of cooked meat, without being either raw or harmfull, overcooked (the Greek way).
So how good it is? Now that is the question. Well, first of all one of the achievements of molecular is to successfully combine ingredients, that according to tradition are incompatible, with amazing results. One of this is the combination of caviar and white chocolate. I do not know if it tastes as good as they say, but it should be good, as combining cheese feta with chocolate from papadopoulou biscuits γεμιστά (one of my achievements as a youngster). And if you think about anything else let me tell you that in Fat Duck restaurant at Bray-on-Thames, a meal costs about 120 euros per person (or that's what i've read from somewhere else)...and to eat there you should reserve a table ages ago.
JAW DROPPING

interview
molecular gastronomy news
a brief listing of links
blog dedicated to molecular gastronomy
molecular gastronomy is dead?
article on Heston Blumenthal, chef of Fat Duck
Fat Duck, images form dishes served

How to

You planed for a really nice excursion in the forest, in the wild, to get away from work, routine, wife, parents, anything you need to get away from. But as most of mountain roads danger lurks in every turn of the road. You never know when and how the bad turn will arise and you might then find yourself hanging in middle air. As you sitting in your car, balancing, half of it in the void and the other half on the road, a thought crossed your mind: Why haven't I read the "how to get out of a car that's hanging over a cliff"?
Good question, the other one is why someone ever wrote a guide like that one? there are many more, like how to get out from a sinking car, etc.

Famous Lines By Infamous People

Well this will be more for Greek People or those of you that know how to read this...
λοιπόν σκεφτόμουν να κάνω κάτι τέτοιο εδώ και καιρό. Δηλαδή, να μαζέψω εδώ ατάκες που έχουν ειπωθεί από φίλους ή και από εσάς τους ίδιους και αξίζουν να μείνουν γραμμένα. Τα γραπτά μένουν (scripta manent ή κάτι τέτοιο). Όποτε θυμάμαι κάτι θα συμπληρώνω. Για αυτήν την ώρα αυτά είναι αρκετά

οπότε αρχίζω

trotos: προεξέχουν υπέροχα (για δύο όντως υπέροχα)

trotos: η αντιμετώπιση του κόσμου ως τετελεσμένου γεγονότος (ποτέ δε μπόρεσα να θυμηθώ πως ακριβώς το είπα)

Κώστας Γ: το χειρότερο πράγμα είναι να έχεις πνευμονία (στα σκαλάκια Γεροκοστοπούλου στον μώλο)
koxakies.: Αυτά είναι τα άσχημα! (βλέποντας φίλο του να ξερναει, ενώ ο ίδιος τρώει σουβλάκι)
Ηλιας Π.: Μαλάκες, κρέατα! (προφέρεται με πάθος)
sfiltros: Εγώ θέλω την κατανόηση του κόσμου (ως απάντηση, για το τι πίτσα θέλει)
trotos: Η γη αντικατοπτρισμένη απο το Σίνο κατα τη θολωτή γέννεση (τα ρεστα μας)
Νικος Κ.: Δεν κοιμόμουν, έκλεισα λίγο τα ματια μου. (αλήθεια σας λέει...)
Βλαχάντερ: Τζερεμέ! Σουρουκλεμε! Κουνενε! (και συναφείς φιλοφρονήσεις)
Νίκος Κ. (του πέφτει το τετράδιο κάτω και αυτός το αγνοεί)
ερώτηση: σου έπεσε το τετράδιο κάτω... απάντηση από Ν.Κ.: ε, το να πέσει πάνω είναι λίγο δύσκολο...

Γράψτε στα comments κάτι που είπατε ή ακούσατε και έχει μείνει.
[EDIT] christobal έβαλε το χεράκι του
[EDIT] sfiltros, σύσωμη η εκδοτικη αρχή του ΝΙΟΥΣΛΕΤΕ έδωσε το παρόν

...news

Let's started:
Student writes essay, arrested by police
...WTF???!!! I mean freedom of speech? pfffff I tried to find a link to read what the students essay was about and how could cause any trouble, and i did. As it has been posted

"Allen Lee made references to violence, drug use, and a dream about a shooting spree where he had sex with dead bodies"

oh my god i'm in trouble, i think i hear police knocking on my door, well so does Steven Kings, Paolo Pasolini if he was alive, almost every contemporary American novel writer, like J. G. Ballard, most of Japanese film directors including Takashi Miike as their leader and so many other people.
Create a WANTED LIST on the comments. Feel free to add yourself also.

NEXT

Japanese Railway


I do get furious with Greek public transportation and especially when i compare Greece with the rest of the world, so after the previous news of TGV and the speed record achieved recently i found that its great rival in public transportation, Japan, started a new project on magnetic elevated trains (our friends call us MagLev. So one thing in mind...
BOB SAGET help us


...last but not least

Broadband to go free in 2 yrs

In Greece, oh no, dream of it. In INDIA. Yes in India. The point is that if i had heard of it like 1 day ago, i would be there (at the enemies auditorium, demokritos) and kiss India's president feet, no in fact beg him to adopt me.

working on it...

I'm still working on this blog, it has been a while since i read anything regarding html code, and also thinking of what i want to do with it, since i like and dislike lots of thinks. What you see is not what i have in mind. I find it complicated.
...will it be a calendar of those? will it be Me? will it be something or nothing? will it keep going? does it worth spending time in frond of the screen to write anything?
Well who cares?
One day you wake up and decide to do something. If half of it comes to existence, it is good. If you fulfill your wish, then you are a happy man. So I will try to make me proud.

P.S. the worst thing about this blog, εκτός από το να έχει πνευμονία, το οποίο είναι όντως ΤΟ χειρότερο, is that i always liked a name as onedayitwillbe, but another guy has TM the link...pffffffffff

OHMYGODITBURNS

...after serious searching over the internet i finally rediscover it...the best site on cheap vodka. OHMYGODITBURNS. Its latest post was on 2005, so i hope those heroic guys to be OK and still enjoying their vodka.
...and kids PLEASE DO TRY THIS at home, i'm not responsible for the hungover.

Sea, money, and fire

Well those three words always were describing, and will be, Greece, from ancient Greece till now days. And I mean it. Lets look over at today's and yesterday's news. TOP leading articles all over the press: (something is wrong with syntax but i had to let go of my proof-reader)

first there was fire

1. Assault on Precinct 13...hmmm wrong, but not quite, OK the real stuff. Assault yesterday and today to police stations by the Usual Suspects. What I've heard from the news, imagine like 30-50 people crossing a distance of 2-4 kilometers, and then as easy as taking a crap, unload a few molotovs, to the police stations. The surrounding area, bursts in flames (I'm really sorry for those poor bustards that watched their cars burned to ashes). And all of that shit because the demand the release of a convict, who was not imprisoned because of his believes, but of robbery (i found out, by the news reporters that he has confessed his participation in one of the robberies he is accused with (I'm hating writing down in English, but since i started it...).
...sooooooo where else anyone can prepare a few homemade molotov and burn to ashes a police station (well it wasn't burned but you get the picture). how did this joyful party arrived or left from the area in daylight, without any police officer even start a pursuit, even notice anyone to track them down. What the hell do those cameras ever exist? and so on, and so on. I will try to keep this post informed.
links, most in native language:
in.gr
flash.gr

...then water

2. TITANIC strikes back...i think it's been like two weeks...
the story is simple (but be aware nothing in Greece is as simple as it looks like). A ship was sunk while being at the "port" of Santorini. The "" on port is cause of the lack of a decent port in this particular island, peculiar geographic reasons make this almost impossible, for Greek standards anyway. Now even on CNN
CNN1
CNN2
CNN3
CNN4
soooo i heard today that after 14 days post-sinking and recovery of ships black box, it hasn't been sent for analysis...(??????????? probably they just trying telepathy on that black thing, who needs hi-tech??????).
Anyway, one thing left to say...CONSPIRACY THEORIES RUUUUULE. Who's gonna admit that all bad things happening are caused by aliens that are bombarding our planet, especially Greece, with strange radiation that causes a series of unfortunate events?

and then human greed create money

3. take the money and run...a few millions of euros via bond where misplaced, and now are missing??? Truly I'm not the best person, not a clue with economics, to talk about those things. So, money (actually public money, money to pay pensions etc) are in a company's or a person's pocket. Or this is the way i understood things. An then they say that those bonds should bought back from J.P. Morgan ( i seem to recall this company from somewhere...)
latest articles:
in.gr1
in.gr2

it's out of control so they called up the reporters to solve the case.

...live your myth in greece

P.S. how awfull is my writting????

Alcohol...we love it

Alcohol, i decided to start a new section related to alcohol, I will include sites that i've visited for more than 15min and afterwards i had the urge get myself a glass of alcoholic beverage

Violence, games and reality

Well, I should say that after the latest survey from the British Board of Film Classification (BBFC), computer games will not force you to MURDER DEATH KILL (MDK, do you remember this game? Apart from the name it was almost hilarious). I'm soooo disappointed, all those years of "melting" my brain will lead me to no misbehaviour? Except if you are already a little bit crazy and you already have killed most of the cats you run along in the street, then violent games could do some "good" to you and advance to people killing. This is like the heavy metal will lead you to Satan, to much violent movies will lead you to kill innocent schoolmates (like the recent Virginia Incident)and so on.
Anyway the subject is still open for debate for both sides. I will enjoy playing computer games, listening to metal (καφρίλα για πάντα) and watching violent movies (το ξύλο βγήκε από τον παράδεισο, beating arrived from heaven -free interpretation of classic Greek movie- the ultimate ass kicking movie, where dozen of schoolgirls are beaten up by their teachers, those were the good old days, a real hard-core, Avant-garde movie, from Greek independent movie productions)

from CNN.com

The Host

From Korea with love, a movie as good as fun. I've seen it like a year ago but here in Greece it just premiered this week. It's about a family, not the ordinary one, even for a korean standard, i think, that loses theirs daughter by the tail of a GIAND FISH (holy shit!!!)I'll write the rest of the plot and comments for this film... when i feel like it

verdict: 4,5/5 if it can be included in the sci-fi section is better than Sunshine. (but be warned not all of you will find this one intresting, it's one of those weird movies that you love them or you just hate them)

SunShine

Yesterday I watched the "Sunshine" by Danny Boyle. After ages (literally) a new sci-fi movie with a storyline that makes a difference.
The sun is dying and with it humanity (if humanity will be still alive when this event occurs...hehe). So, the solution: a spaceship is sent to sun with a bomb, capable of reestablish the fusion chain reaction in the sun, with the escort of a capable crew. Nice isn't it? plain and simple. Actually it would be as boring as Greek TV, if it weren't for Danny Boyle and a really good twist in this rather simplistic plot.
And do not forget the cast.
Ladies, your favorite blue eyed star is one of the best actors in this film. Cillian Murphy, had one of the leading roles in The Wind That Shakes the Barley, during it i felt asleep (it was late and i was tired the movie is OK), but i really remembered him as the scarecrow in Batman Begins...i remember asking my friends who the hell is this guy?
I liked the character played by Cliff Curtis. His role was the phycologist of the crew, the one to mend the traumas of staying for more than two years in a spaceship. He was the character i liked, almost phycho, but not actually, he was just different in the way that he felt things or comprehended situations, regarding the other crew members.
The other actors are quite good, but not in my opinion worth mentioning, so just visit the links to find more info.

...back to the movie,

So if you wake up one morning and it's a particularly beautiful day, you'll know we made it.

quote from Capa

That's the goal as i wrote, but something has to happen for the movie to be worth your euros. Well, let's make this mission the second one, with the first to fail just before the ending stage. And also let the first spaceship be found, empty, with no clue of what happened to the crew members (hmmmmm mate isn't this sounds like Event Horizon? You bet it does mate, actually is so similar, that i bet he has stolen material from it, nope my mate the idea is not new but the film is really different in a way. Go and watch it)
The colours were great, like the sun burning your skin...anyway I'm not the best to say anything about colors. I liked the soundtrack. And of course the director's way of visualizing madness. So to finish this...

Verdict: one of the best sci-fi for 2007 (is another one out there?)

4/5

Cool Links:

SunshineDNA
imdb link
official actually leads back to SunshineDNA LOL
and wiki


P.S. the second part is violent and completely lunatic. There are lot of cliche but you really gonna love them in this movie. As a friend pointed out and i agree on that, it resembled the atmosphere of the ALIEN. Closed corridors, no room to run, but infinite space, and with the terror that lurks somewhere out there...you'll find it in the second part in flesh.

France: after the first round of national elections, as it was expected, Nicolas Sarkozy and Ségolène Royal received enough votes to compete for the presidency at second round. Interesting is the percentage of 10% in favor of Jean-Marie Le Pen, the leader of far-right nationalist party. Well it seems to me that as time goes by far-right parties increase their popularity among citizens. Troubled times indeed...so waiting for the second round.

P.S. a lot of info derives from www.liberation.fr, excuse me for any abuse of any TM rights.

Anime...again and again

Sooooo, well ok I really do love Japanese cartoons. So under the anime category I will introduce you to Japaneese animation that worth attending to. In this first introductory notice for the anime category i would like to point out to you the exellent DEATH NOTE, plain and simple. Rest recommendation and reviews will be added, when I feel like it.

Radio Over The Internet

So I recomend you two links for web2.0 services regarding internet radio. The first one is the pandora radio, and the other the LastFm. Both of them working as a automated juckebox that provides you with songs based on your first selection, either a group/artist or song. The latter also provides you software that incoporate a plug-in for Windows Media Player that feeds your playlist to your LastFm page, in order to create an internet playlist based on your selections, or to be avalaible for other people to check it out (look at the left panel, nice isnt it?).

TGV new speed record

Traveling with train is one of my favorable meanings of transportation, the other one is the bicycle. So when i read the news that at Tuesday 3 April 2007, the famous TGC (Train de Grand Vitesse) brakes another speed record. I really got depressed.
How come, you'll ask me. Well, it takes about 1 hr 10 min by train to go from Athens to Corinth (85km), or even 4 hr 30 min for 500km (Athens to Thessaloniki), so how should i feel like? The same distance in France is no more than an hour trip.
Ok you'll argue, the geography of the countries is completely different and standards as those can not be achieved in Greece. But train "exists" only for particular destinations. For other cities/villages either there is no train, or the one that exists at full speed and without any load will reach the astounding speed of 40-50 km/h. So traveling around Greece will take you days. So you are condemned to buy a car (the root of all problems).
Why am I always hearing promises about meliorate the means of transportation but always being at the shadow of other countries? pfffffff

...to do list

well i would like to include in this blog my reviews about music i've listen, movies i watched, or plays i've attended. To plan it and to make it is a complete different thing. But i will find a way to make it easy to handle it, i've seen some great examples over the net. I'll figure it out

[UPDATED] I decided to write also in Greek (for those that can read them).

I'm still at experimental staging...

I find the so called web2.0 services quite nice, since a lot of info of different activities can be included in one page.
Anyway, i'm trying to figure a nice style for this blog.

P.S. The neighboords are reconstructing their house and the noise is killing me...and i hate closing the windows but i have to. pffffff