Relevantly Irrelevant
The link. Got the article from Mario, who shared it from Facebook. He said:
Yes. Reminded me of my recent musings on Steam and my slightly less recent retelling of my conviction that my hacked Wii is the perfect embodiment of the next generation of gaming.
On the Map: Why the World Looks the Way it Does by Simon Garfield
My rating: 3 of 5 stars
I bought On The Map from Schiphol Airport when it caught Daphne’s eye in an AKO. It looks at cartography from numerous and very different angles: the digital (or tabletop), imaginary map of the contemporary game; the history of cartography from Ptolemy to Eratosthenes and from Blaeu to Mercator -and the fight between different projections and why the one bearing the latter’s name escaped its intended use for navigation and remained revelant in the 21st century; neurology’s attempts of mapping the brain; the medieval spirit of map-making that was vastly more interested in the representation of myth and fable than of actual space; the revolution -and problems- brought about by the introduction of GPS; even a more in-depth look at how men and women look at maps differently -note: not necessarily with the men being flat-out better at reading maps as is commonly believed, it’s a bit more complex than that- and many more.
My main problem with the book was that it was too geared towards Brits: there were just too many chapters on the Ordnance Survey, the creation of the London A-Z, John Snow and how he stopped cholera (don’t laugh!), the story of the London Underground iconic -and first of its kind- stylised chart (okay, that one was interesting) and others that were just too specific for me. Plus, Simon Garfield’s style was somewhat… dry, I’d say. It couldn’t convey the thrill I usually get from looking at maps (or creating them, as is the case with many of my favourite PC games), letting my imagination and abstract mind go crazy in the process. There was some magic lost here.
The chapter on the world’s atlases, on the other hand, had me salivating all over. Just for a taste: Blaue’s Atlas Maior (1665), The World Geo-graphic Atlas (1953) and The State of the World Atlas (1999, with recurring editions – nine to date). Unfortunately, the book’s black & white illustrations, scans and pictures, while indeed helping to keep the price low, didn’t help with making the maps look their best. Thank you Google DuckDuckGo.
To cut a long story -okay, maybe not so long- short, I’d say that the book was okay; a useful reference but not as mind-tickling as I’d have liked it. If you like maps though, don’t let me stop you: by all means give it a flip and see what you can get from it. To carry on with the whole British thing, there’s bound to be something in there that’s your cup of tea.
Happy birthday! 🙂 Check last year’s celebration if you’re looking for something special, I didn’t have the time had too many other priorities to prepare anything for this year. I wanted to change the theme, freshen up the place a little bit. Soon…
Finally, I have found you… As discovered first by listening to THC.
Two days ago was our anniversary with the Ραψόον, my dangerously vain, destructively virtuous, deliciously voluptuous, dramatically vivacious, dearly velobed Daphne.
Our story so far can be summarised as 2013 in its entirety. The songs I can sing for her (mainly consisting of animal sounds [vla! ♫ ] ) and the poems I can write in her name are many, but when anniversary time came, I decided – as can be perfectly expressed in this simple post – that nothing could embody my love for her more honestely and directly than food.
So I baked her a delicious apple pie.
Even in its beautiful wholeness, this is not enough: Christmas is coming, so stay tuned for more raccoon-themed love.
Ο διανοούμενος στην κουζίνα by Julian Barnes
My rating: 2 of 5 stars
Ο τίτλος του βιβλίου στα ελληνικά είναι «Ο διανοούμενος στην κουζίνα». Στα αγγλικά είναι “The Pedant in the Kitchen”.
Από το WordReference.com:
•pedant n (nitpicker, [sb] overly academic) // σχολαστικός επίθ
•intellectual adj (person: intelligent) // άτομο διανοούμενος, πνευματικός επίθ.
Παίρνοντας το συγκεκριμένο βιβλιαράκι από το ράφι του Σπόρου στα Εξάρχεια για 2€, περίμενα κάτι σε στυλ μοριακή γαστρονομία, ανάλυση της υψηλής κουζίνας ακαδημαϊκά και τέτοια. Αντί αυτού, πρόκειται για τον συγγραφέα (που εγώ δεν ήξερα) Julian Barnes να εξιστορεί τις περιπέτειές του με τα βιβλία μαγειρικής του, που το «μία πρέζα αλάτί» π.χ, απλά δεν του φαίνεται αρκετά ακριβές. Άλλες ιστορίες του είχαν να κάνουν με τους αγαπημένους του διάσημους σεφ και τι χουνέρια τους κρατάει και καταστάσεις όπου η μαγειρική του δεν εξελίχθηκε όπως την περίμενε. Ελαφρώς ενδιαφέρουσες, αλλά δεν πήρα αυτό που περίμενα!
O pedant είναι ο σχολαστικός ψείρας που τα κάνει όλα ακολουθώντας κατα γράμμα τις οδηγίες και τη “βιβλιογραφία”. Pedantic grammar nazism, θα μπορούσαμε να πούμε. Η διανόηση είναι κάτι άλλο. Γενικά η μετάφραση δεν ήταν κακή, αλλά αυτό ήταν για μένα μεγάλο λάθος που αλλάζει όλο το κλίμα και τον τόνο του βιβλίου. Θα ήταν ενδιαφέρον θέμα ένας διανοούμενος στην κουζίνα· ένας ψείρας που θέλει να τα κάνει όλα από το βιβλίο και πώς δεν τα καταφέρνει απλά με βρίσκει τελείως αδιάφορο γιατί πολύ απλά δεν είμαι αυτής της σχολής σκέψης στην μαγειρική. Τη σέβομαι, αλλά όχι. Είμαι του άκρατου πειραματισμού, τι να κάνουμε.
Μισός έξτρα πόντος για την ιδέα της σάλτσας ντομάτας με κρέμα γάλακτος, για το κεφαλαίο αφιερωμένο στα έξτρα μαγειρικά σκεύη που όλοι μας έχουμε αλλά δεν χρησιμοποιούμε ποτέ, για την χρήσιμη συμβουλή να μην εμπιστευόμαστε ποτέ τις φωτογραφίες στα βιβλία μαγειρικής και για τον λαγό με σοκολάτα.
Καημένοι Άγγλοι, το τι θεωρείτε επιτρεπτό στη μαγειρική είναι απλά θλιβερό. Αλλά, απ’την άλλη, if you don’t know what you’re missing, you’re missing nothing at all.
Steam’s Autumn Sale 2013. Here we go again. Daily deals. Yesterday’s deals. Flash deals. Community picks.
There are 86 games in my account: most of them I’ve bought in different Humble Bundles or other sales, such as the ridiculous Holiday Sale of 2011. I’ve played less than half of them and even less than half of those have I “completed” – quotes because the games that I prefer nowadays are generally speaking impossible to complete. A relatively small fraction of those 86 games I got through Game 2.0 for reviewing. I don’t receive physical copies anymore, but I’ve long got over the need of owning real copies of games, especially after getting stuck with boxed copies of games that are tied to Steam keys and which I therefore can’t sell – I’m looking at you, stack of Total Wars!
This time around, you threw in our faces Skyrim Legendary Edition for 13€, Bioshock Infinite for 7.5€, Spelunky for 3€ and Civilization V Gold and the expansion Brave New World for 10€ each. Of all of the above I only resisted to buying Skyrim (it sounded very enticing but I doubt I can give it the time it probably deserves at this point), and still believe I will buy more games before the deals are over (eyeing Super Hexagon and Anno 2070). Only a fool would skip on those prices… And then you’re going to have the Holiday Sale, of course you will. I hope we’ll at least have enough time to enjoy Civilization V online with Garret and Daphne who both got the game the day before during the sale – actually, I got it for Daphne because she seems to love it so much; who would have thought that the hot seat would have grown this hot?
I feel as if I’m being manipulated to no end. It’s confusing to my Fi (ethical system/inner values to you MBTI beginners!) – which dictates that I should at least be trying to avoid being exactly like women going crazy in the shopping mall – as well as it is destructive to my wallet and my time management. You’re tearing me apart, Steama!
But seriously. What gives? How can this even work? How can you have 1532 sales every year without cheating all of the producers and developers? How is this system viable at all? I mean, with these sales and the existence and dominance of Humble Bundle, combined with the ridiculous prices games have at launch only for them to be reduced in a matter of months through these offers (and given the extreme oversaturation of the market), it’s no wonder top AAA games are slowly becoming obsolete. Given of course that people just don’t have enough money to spend on consoles (most of the people I know don’t want to buy a new console, either because of lack of interest, money or both), it’s really no wonder that you, with your cheap, flexible and robust system (and your upcoming Steam Machines) and iOS with its innovation and low prices are looking like you will together dominate the industry even further. And really, what would happen if everybody eventually stopped buying games on day one or – god forbid – stopped preordering like tiny little consumeristic muppets? I’ll tell you what would happen: the entire industry would collapse. Again.
You know something? As cool and comfy as it is, deep down it makes me feel uncomfortable having all of my games in this digital vault made out of thin air. Now you look healthier than ever, but will that be the case in 10 years? 20? You had your DRM creep on us and had us get used to it, and now we bash everyone who tries to steal some of your limelight (yes, I know it’s fun to hate EA and forbidden to even slightly criticise mama Valve). Even if you have allowed offline play, you have made reselling games impossible. Why? How can I trust you, Steam? These cheap games are like a trojan horse: you’re becoming the Google of gaming – people put up with your shitty monopoly because you’re just so damn useful. What if tomorrow I have to buy your SteamMachine to play? What if I suddenly have to, say, pay a fee to access my games – even just a small one? I’d probably pay up just in order to still be able to play 90% of the games I own or play on a regular basis (most of which I certainly won’t have played even by then). Oh, maybe you’re like the other great benefactor, Facebook, which promises that it’s free and always will be. Isn’t that a role model of a company.
Maybe I’m expecting too much – or I’m too sceptical/paranoid. Maybe my thinking is a relic from a different era, when physical mattered more – was more tangible – than digital. Maybe in this Brave New World there really will be no difference between offline and online, the physical and its digital counterpart. As far as I can see, the counterpart in many ways has already replaced the original or is indistinguishable from it (or they really are the same thing). The strictly private has become public, a single thought or utterance shared with the world is immortalised and pinned to its creator forever (or at least for what the word ‘forever’ means in the beginning of the 21st century). The social as well as the commercial sphere is changing too quickly for us to figure out, and, well, honestly we’re just not that smart to understand in what ways we’re being manipulated, controlled and generally taken advantage of at this time by “free” or seemingly harmless services. I hope you can understand, though: all these huge companies who are operating as monopolies (mostly in the digital plane) at the same time working with the secret services of the world or using us in other mostly unknown nefarious ways are just scaring me. No corporation can inspire my trust. That’s all.
I hope you can understand and won’t block me from playing Civilization V because I told you these things. You know I still love you. Right?
A month ago I was halfway there; today, after the most exhausting run yet, I’m proud to say that I can run 5 kilometres and then some.
To be more precise, I finished Week 9 when I was in Loutra last week, but the distance I ran within the time limit of 30 minutes was 4k instead of 5. Today I did Podrunner’s Week 10 Graduation Run 1, which was 35 minutes long and at a higher BPM than usual (the whole idea of this podcast is to run with the beat provided – usually techno, house or electronic music indefinable by me). In the introduction for the graduation week it said that it would make me feel good about how far I’ve come and that I would find it easy to complete. It wasn’t easy at all, but I pushed through and finally did run 7 circuits of the Alsos in 35 minutes, with an unplanned 30 second pause to say hi to Alex and Ilias who I ran into while, um, running.
7 x 820m, which is the length of the circuit, equals 5740m. Considering that the Alsos isn’t flat (the highest point is 20m higher than the lowest one, which adds a bit to the difficulty level), I think I did quite well.
I only began running less than 2 months ago. It was October 5th that I did Week 1, Day 1. I had to run 60 seconds for every 90 seconds I had to walk, for 20 minutes. I’ve come far. I didn’t expect I would make progress this quickly, but here I am. HabitRPG, the proximity of the Alsos to home and the variety of places to run in to shake things up a bit – I had runs in Prespes, Loutra and Ommen, as well as the Alsos – probably helped. Another factor I still can’t say with certainty whether it helped or not but my gut says it did, was my abistence from PMs since the beginning; still experimenting with that one.
I will continue running, probably starting next week with Gateway to 8K or Bridge to 10K, I haven’t decided yet. Sofia will definitely find me running in the parks and pumping those legs! That post by The Oatmeal… Now I understand perfectly what he meant. I feel the same. It’s a goal, it’s exercise. I’m doing it for myself. What could the next challenge for me be?
I don’t want to toot my own horn here – at least, not just that, for if I didn’t want to boast just a little bit for achieving what I thought was something I could never do, I wouldn’t be posting here; no: I mainly want to encourage everyone to re-evaluate what you think is and isn’t possible and start with small steps in order to become whatever it is you would like to change into, or do whatever it is you would like to do. We tend to see the best of the best on the Web – that guy who walked across China, the other person who draws amazingly, the girl who can play the piano and take everyone within earshot for a trip – and we forget that there’s hard work, discipline, failures, self-doubt and probably years or decades of dedication that we never see. However, everything starts with something, “Rome wasn’t built in a day” or “Even the longest journey must begin where you stand” and I’m thankful that the Web isn’t just teaching us to constantly compare ourselves with the world’s best, but also provides us with the tools and community to start doing what it had never even occurred to us we could.
Yes, yes, November 25th 2013 shall be known as the day I took our burgundy Citroën Saxo for a ride on my own for the first time! But I didn’t stay alone for long: Daphne joined me! Today we’re going to Loutra! Weee! Special thanks go to Theodosis who helped me with driving after I got my license back in March. It’s a good story how I got it, maybe I’ll tell you sometime.
I know I’ve said I don’t like cars before (I still don’t like them) but I enjoy driving around and being able to reach places I couldn’t easily before. So yeah!
Related video/picture coming soon.
Take Link To The Past, a David Lynch film (or any other work based on a stream-of-consciousness or dreamscape narrative) and some Nietzsche. Put them in a blender. Blend. Serve with Indie™ sprinkles. You’ve got Anodyne.
• compact dungeons;
• card collectables;
• funny;
• well-written;
• creative use of the graphical limitations.
• the map was more Zelda ’86 and less Link to the Past;
• floaty controls (don’t use analogue sticks, trust me);
• difficult in an awkward way, ie I was falling too much into pits and not being killed by enemies enough – also had to do with the very short invincibility window after being hit.
• the ultimate broom which could be used as a weapon as well as a means to push dust on water to create a raft with;
• the Master Sword Get! moment after completing the first three dungeons (it has to do with a wind power generator);
• the philosopher bosses who always had something deep to say before and after the battle;
• the ending (which I had to fight for twice because I comically drowned after defeating the final boss the first time around);
• the humour – something we don’t see in games that often unfortunately.
• likes Zelda, especially the 2D ones;
• enjoys short games (it won’t take you more than 5 hours);
• is bored of dry dialogue (no text is wasted in Anodyne, there are no “Isn’t it a beautiful day?” or “This is the way to the lake!” moments);
• feels comfortable with philosophy and/or poetry – the game makes little sense in terms of what we’d normally expect from the genre; it takes a mind that can grasp abstract ideas to follow what might be happening or derive enjoyment from the calm realisation that maybe what is happening doesn’t matter as much as how it’s happening;
• likes it indie (just two people worked for this. I hope, if you’re that dedicated of an indie person, that you’ll overlook the fact that the game’s main outlet has been Steam. I personally got it from some Humble Bundle and would happily share a DRM-free .exe with you if you’d like me to, but I’m sure you’d rather have the achievements, wouldn’t you?)