Loksins..eða hvað

Loksins segi ég bara.. loksins loksins loksins getur maður keypt sér sjónvarpsefni í gegnum alnetið og það líka bara löglega. Ímyndiði ykkur það Lost og Desperate Housewifes kominn á tölvuna ykkar fyrir minna en 200kr daginn eftir að þátturinn er sýndur í USA ... og það besta.. allt FULLKOMLEGA LÖGLEGT!

Ég hef verið að tuða um það síðasta árið að þessir þáttaframleiðendur í ameríkunni (og annarsstaðar) væru hálfvitar að eyða öllum þessum kröftum og peningum í að berjast á móti ólöglegu sjónvarpsefni sem alnetið víst er yfirfullt af. Mér fannst allt þetta svo viðbjóðslega illa hugsað allt því nánast í hverjum mánuði þá kom hver hryllingssagan á eftir annari frá þessum "vesalings" risastóru sjónvarpsstöðvum í bandaríkjunum þar sem þeir vældu um að ekkert væri hægt að ráða við allan þann stuld á sjónvarpsefni sem er á alnetinu í dag.

Þættir sem sýndir eru í bandaríkjunum og bretlandi eru komnir í stafrænt form og í almenna dreifingu nokkrum klukkutímum eftir að þeir eru sýndir vestanhafs. Hefur ýmis tækni verið nýtt til dreifingu þessa efnis, þ.a.m. pier-to-pier forrit (s.s. Kazaa, gnutella o.þ.h.) og núna nýjast Bittorrent forrit.

Það sem ég hef verið að furða mig yfir er AFHVERJU ERU ÞEIR AÐ BERJAST Á MÓTI ÞESSU? Það er greinilegt af eftirsókninni (sem vex margfalt hverja vikuna) og gæðum og hraðanum sem efninu er pumpað út á netið að GÍFURLEGUR markaður er fyrir þessa miðlun á sjónvarpsefni í heiminum.

Eru ekki einmitt viðskiptafræðingar og markaðsybbar einmitt menntaðir til að koma auga á nýja markaði nýjar leiðir til að selja fólki dót? Afhverju í ósköpunum eru þeir ekki að átta sig á því að grundvöllurinn fyrir þessu "vandamáli" sem þeir eiga með ólöglegt efni er af því að fólk VILL ÞENNAN MÖGULEIKA!

Er það ekki bersýnilegt að fólk er tilbúið til að eyða umtalsverðum fjárhæðum (sem núna fara í umfram gagnamagn hjá símafyrirtækjum) til fá ÞÁ sjónvarpsþætti sem það hefur áhuga á að fylgjast með ÞEGAR því hentar!!!

Eins og t.d. ég sjálfur. Ég get ekki staðsett mig fyrir framan sjónvarpið nákvæmlega klukkan 7 alla þriðjudaga til að horfa á nákvæmlega þann þátt sem er verið að sýna þá á RÚV!.. þá væri ég til í að kaupa hvern Lost þátt á $2 og downloada honum löglega á tölvuna mína. Þá gæti ég horft á hann þegar ÉG hef sjálfur tíma.. en ekki þegar RÚV skikkar mér að horfa á hann!

En eins og mörgum grunaði þá var það bara tímaspursmál hvenær vinir okkar í Apple myndu hefja sölu á sjónvarpsþáttum og bíómyndum samhliða sölu tónlistar í margmiðlunarforritinu sínu iTunes.

Þann 12. Október s.l. þá kynnti Steve Jobs (forstjóri Apple) nýja útgáfu af iTunes (útgáfu 6) en þar hafa þeir einmitt bætt við þeim möguleika að þú getir keypt og sótt einu vinsælustu sjónvarpsþættina vestanhafs í dag (Lost og Desperate Housewifes). Hver þáttur kostar $1.99 og sækir þú hann beint í gegnum forritið þeirra.



Húrra! Húrra!.. loksins erum við frjáls með að horfa á það sem okkur langar og þegar okkur langar!.. eða hvað?

Já nei nei, þá er með þetta eins og helv. tónlistina að gera verður STEF samning (eða eitthvað álíka heimskulegt) í hverju einasta helvítis landi áður en bjóða má upp á efnið í viðkomandi landi (já, einmitt til að vernda local sjónvarpsstöðvarnar sem kaupa þættina til sýninga!) WHAT! Comon.. þeir græða miklu meira á að selja hverjum og einum þættina til sérsýninga heldur en að selja rottunum í RÚV heilu seríuna!

Ég segi.. burt með afturhaldsseggina og tækniheftlingana, ég vill downloada sjónvarpsefni löglega! og ég vill það NÚNA!

Framför

Eureka!
I have found it!
-Archimedes

Gleði og hamingja, loksins.. LOKSINS eftir tæplega fimm mánaða vinnu þá römbuðum við á einhverja vísbendingu um að hugmyndin að meistaraverkefninu mínu sé ekki algjört kjaftæði.

Undanfarnar tvær vikur þá hefur verkefnið mitt hringsólað niðurfallið í sífellt smærri hringjum. Eftir margítrekaðar tilraunir, endalausar dead-end hugmyndir og útfærslur þá á föstudaginn síðasta tókst okkur Yngva loksins að finna fyrstu vísbendinguna um að hægt sé að bæta umtalsvert núverandi rauntíma leitaraðferðir.

Fyrir þá sem ekki vita þá fór ég í mastersnám í gervigreind og ákvað ég að sérhæfa mig sérstaklega í rauntímaleit í óþekktum umhverfum (real-time search in unknown environments). Þessar leitaraðferðir hafa verið frekar lítið kannaðar (þar sem þær eru tiltölulega nýkomnar fram.. á akademískum mælikvarða allavegana).

Rauntíma leitir hafa ýmis not, t.a.m. í leiðsögukerfi fyrir vélmenni, aksturstölvur, stjórnun netumferðar og í tölvuleikjum. Þær ganga út á það að finna sem bestu lausnina á vandamáli þar sem einungis upphafsstaðan og lokastaðan er þekkt (þ.e.a.s. við vitum hvar við byrjum og hvert við ætlum) en litlar sem engar upplýsingar eru til um umhverfið sem við ferðumst í gegnum. Ef tekið er dæmi um tölvustýrðan leikmann í tölvuleik þá veit hann hvar hann er núna staðsettur og c.a. hvert hann vill fara (t.d. að útgangi) en hann hefur enga vitneskju um hvernig nákvæmlega allt hans umhverfi lítur út (þ.e.a.s. lögun völundarhússins, leikborðsins, hreyfingar annara leikmanna eða hluta í umhverfinu o.þ.h.) nema hugsanlega þá hluta heimsins sem eru í sjónlínu hjá honum þá stundina. Auk þess að hafa óljósa heimsýn þá hefur hann einnig takmarkaðan tíma og auðlindir (s.s. tölvuminni, reikniafl) til ákvörðunartökunnar.

Nokkrar aðferðir hafa verið uppgvötaðar til að læra inn á slík umhverfi og taka vitrænar ákvarðanir út frá þeim. Það sem mig langaði að athuga var hvort að hægt væri að útfæra almenna aðferð sem gæti aukið afköst leitarinnar (með því að fækka þeim leiðum sem skoðaðar eru) og gæti nýst í sem flestar af núverandi aðferðum. Og sérstaklega þá hvernig hægt væri að gefa leitum sem þessum einhvern vott af því "innsæi" sem við sem menn notum oftast þegar við erum að útiloka möguleika.

Og núna loksins um helgina var fyrsta skrefið tekið og staðfest með síðustu tilraunakeyrslunum mínum í dag að við höfum fundið vísi að aðferð sem gæti nýst til nákvæmlega þessa :)

Húrra.. ég er hættur við að hætta (alla vegana í bili) og ætla að fá mér helling af bjór á föstudaginn.. !!!

...

...if you are disappointed simply say, "It is not for me."
Do not insist on the whole ship returning to port because you feel seasick or demand that the whole house be burnt to the ground because you detest its color.
-- Kendall Payne

og hananú!

Verðug skilaboð til kvenna
http://www.thebestpageintheuniverse.net/c.cgi?u=women_smell

Klukk og ekki klukk

Uss.. andskotinn Solla, afhverju.. afhverju..???

Það er ekki það að ég hafi verið að hunsa Sollu vinkonu og klukkið hennar á bloggið mitt um daginn. Ég hef reyndar setið dögunum saman og langt fram eftir nætur við að reyna að finna eitthvað til að segja um mig.. eitthvað svona .. klukk-legt...

Finn ekki neitt!... Fjandinn... mér dettur ekkert í hug.. Ekki bara það að maður geti ekki sett eitthvað svona lítið og "obboslega krúttlegt" eins og "Ég horfi á kærleiksbirnina" eða "Litla táin á mér er obboslega lítil" heldur er það bara ekki neitt.. ekki einu sinni cold-hard facts.. ahhh jú augnablik..

1. Ég er með bumbu, kalla hana Runólf.

Pjúff.. eitt atriði.. lífið mitt er þá ekki jafn innihaldslaust og tómt (hmm.. tvítekning?) og ég hélt.. En HVERJUM datt í hug að þetta yrðu að vera fimm atriði.. djíses.. vá!... þetta eina atriði hefur verið þvílík kvöl og pína að finna.. hvernig í ósköpunum á mér að detta eitthvað annað í hug... hmm..??

2. Ég þekki ekki dökkhærðu stelpuna í O.C. og Jackie í "That 70s show" í sundur (tvíburar wtf!).

Nú jæja þá kemur þetta bara..

3. Mér finnst róandi að forrita, því forrit fylgja alltaf ákveðnum fyrirfram ákveðnum reglum og það er ekkert hægt að víkja út frá því.. ólíkt mörgu öðru sem maður lendir í.

Vá nú vantar bara að maður kaupi sér púddluhund og grafi 5 metra djúpann brunn inni í íbúðinni sinni... "It must put the lotion in the basket"

4. Ég elska B-myndir

5. Stundum kinka ég kolli og segji "Já" til að ACK'a í samtölum við fólk, þó svo að ég hafi fyrir löngu síðan misst allan þráð í samtalinu og er farinn að hugsa um eitthvað allt allt annað...

Hmm.. jæja .. þetta virðist hafa reddast bara ágætlega.. Hvað segir þú Rannsan mín.. klukki-klukk!

Hið óhjákvæmilega

Eftir margra mánaða afrakslausa vinnu þá hlaut að koma að því:

Ég er orðinn hundleiður á þessum helvítis skít og langar að gera eitthvað annað.

Einhverjar góðar vinnur þarna úti?

Dónaskapur

Fyrir þá sem það ekki vita:

Að skrá fólk á póstlista út í heimi án þeirra vitneskju er mjög dónalegt.

Þetta getur hljómað mjög fyndið en það er það ekki og hérna eru nokkrar ástæður fyrir því:

1. Ruslpóstur er vaxandi vandamál á alnetinu í dag og er áætlað að yfir 70% af öllum tölvupósti sé ruslpóstur, þetta veldur töfum og hægagangi á hverjum stað sem skeytið stoppar á leiðinni.
   
2. Ruslpóstur tekur upp pláss á harðadiski viðkomandi og stuðlar því að tölva viðkomandi sé hægvirkari, sérstaklega ef ýmsar leitarþjónustur eru virkar á tölvunni sem sjá um að gera tölvupóstinn okkar leitanlegan (indexa).
   
3. Öll þessi auka vinna á tölvunni (indexing og þ.l.) veldur því að stytta líftíma þeirra hörðudiska sem eru í vélinni. Getur því stuðlað að gagnatapi hjá viðkomandi. t.a.m. þá er meðalstærð ruslpóst sem ég fékk í dag um 15KB og ég fékk 30 stykki í dag = 450KB * 30 dagar í mánuði = 13500KB = 13MB * 12 mánuðir á ári = 158MB á ári bara í ruslpóst! (Meðal 15bls word-skjal er svona um 30-40KB). Þetta tekur pláss.
   
4. Ruslpóstur tekur frá okkur tíma með því bara að berast til okkar. Tekur tíma að fjarlægja póstinn (já þó það séu bara nokkur smell.. 2-3 sec hvert)
   
5. Ruslpóstsendendur selja alltaf listana yfir netföng öðrum ruslpóstsendendum. Í versta falli getur þetta orðið til þess að pósthólf viðkomandi verður ónothæft. (t.d. hef ég þurft að loka 2 netföngum þar sem ég var hættur að geta komist í gegnum listann vegna magns af ruslpósti sem ég fékk sendann!)

Afhverju mynduð þið vilja leggja slíkt á fólk sem þið þekkið? Sjálfum finnst mér þetta ekki brandari. Ég geri þetta ekki við neinn og því bið ég alla sem ég þekki og sérstaklega þann sem skráði mig í morgun á slíkann ruslpóstlista vinsamlegast um að gera þetta ekki aftur.

Fun with unary operators

Ok.. sooo while waiting for your experiments to finish you kinda have a lot of time for other things. So while eating lunch and trying, with a collegue of mine, to find any senarios where you would possibly have use of the unary + operator in C++ a new hobby was born!

What is the most useless but still aesthetically pleasing way of implementing a horizontal seperator in code without using comments (and without altering the calculations in the code, e.g. everything is the same as before with the new line inserted). The answer is ofcourse "fun with unary operators". From this little <hr> adventure a some what obscure kind of artform was born. A perfect mixture of beauty, uselessness and mindboggling results.

This is my first "art work" in this new art-genre so bear with me ;)

Ways of separating code with style

int main (int argc, char * argv[])
{
    int x = 0;
    int j = 0;
    int a = 0;
    int o = 0;
    int lbs= 0;
    int d = 0;
    
    // Some cool horizontal lines
    int i = + - + - + - + - + - + - + - + - + - + - + - + - + - + - a;
    int n = + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + a;
    
    // Ahhh handles
    int m = -+- -+- -+- -+- -+- -+- -+- -+- -+- -+- -+- -+- -+- -+- a;
    
    // Get in shape with some weights.. 
    int k = +-+ +-+ +-+ +-+ +-+ +-+ +-+ +-+ +-+ +-+ +-+ +-+ +-+ +-+ a;
    
    // For the fantasy people, some swords *ching*
    int l = ++-- ++-- ++-- ++-- ++-- ++-- ++-- ++-- ++-- ++-- ++-- a;
    int u = --++ --++ --++ --++ --++ --++ --++ --++ --++ --++ --++ a;

    // The man in your computer
    int p =   (o)-(o)   ;
    int y =      d      ;
    int z =    i---i    ;
    
    // And of course the geek with the glasses
    int r =  (o)+(o)-j  ;
    int q =     d       ;
    int w =   i---i     ;
    
    // And the glasses-geek after too many beers
    int s =   (x)+(x)-j ;
    int h =      d      ;
    int g =    i---i    ;
    
    // The BIG weights
    int e = (lbs)+----+(lbs);
    std::cout << e;
    
    std::cout << x << j << a << o << lbs << d << i;
    std::cout << n << m << k << l << u << p << y;
    std::cout << z << r << q << w << s << h << g;
}

.. and the mind-boggling part you ask?.. Ok who can tell me why the variable e is printed out containing the value "-4" when lbs is initalized as 0 above? Can you actually create a number from nothing? *spooky music*

And if that is not enough for you, how can the value for i printed out at the end be "-3" although the variables z,w,g all printed out the number "0"?

Question of the day

If God is omnipoten, and able to DO anything (not just create), can he then create a rock so heavy that even he can not lift it?

A nice little paradox in there.

If he is NOT able to create such a big rock that he can not lift it, he is not omnipotent. And if he can not lift the rock, he has the same problem, about not beaing able to do EVERYTHING.

What do you think?

Kill everyone but me

If you think that programming is in anyway sissy, just consider this: "Programmers have to make a decision every day to create programs that perform tasks that could be considered 'Electronic genocide'". So think once, think twice.. think don't make fun of your fellow programmer! (and don't drive you car on the pavement)...

#include "KillEveryOneButMe.h"

OSStatus KillEveryone(Boolean KillFinderToo)
{
    ProcessSerialNumber nextProcessToKill = {kNoProcess, kNoProcess};
    ProcessSerialNumber ourPSN;
    OSStatus status;
    ProcessInfoRec infoRec;

    Boolean processIsFinder;
    Boolean processIsUs;
    Boolean specialMacOSXProcessWhichWeShouldNotKill;
    Boolean finderFound = false;

    GetCurrentProcess(&ourPSN);
    
    do{
        status = GetNextProcess(&nextProcessToKill);
        
        if (status == noErr){
            //First check if its us
            SameProcess(&ourPSN, &nextProcessToKill, &processIsUs);
            
            if (processIsUs == false){
                infoRec.processInfoLength = sizeof(ProcessInfoRec);
                infoRec.processName = NULL;
                infoRec.processAppSpec = NULL;
    
                if (GetProcessInformation(&nextProcessToKill, &infoRec) == noErr){
                    processIsFinder = false;
                    if (infoRec.processSignature == 'MACS' && infoRec.processType == 'FNDR') 
                              processIsFinder = true;
                    
                    //since this is Mac OS X we need to make sure we don't quit certain applications
                    specialMacOSXProcessWhichWeShouldNotKill = false;
                    if (infoRec.processSignature == 'lgnw' && infoRec.processType == 'APPL'){
                      //don't want to quit loginwindow on Mac OS X or system will logout
                      specialMacOSXProcessWhichWeShouldNotKill = true;
                    }else if (infoRec.processSignature == 'dock' && infoRec.processType == 'APPL'){
                      //don't want to quit Dock on Mac OS X
                      specialMacOSXProcessWhichWeShouldNotKill = true;
                    }else if (infoRec.processSignature == 'syui' && infoRec.processType == 'APPL'){
                      //don't want to quit the SystemUI server on Mac OS X
                      specialMacOSXProcessWhichWeShouldNotKill = true;
                    }

                    if (    ((processIsFinder == false) || (KillFinderToo == true)) 
                      && (specialMacOSXProcessWhichWeShouldNotKill == false))
                              (void)SendQuitAppleEventToApplication(nextProcessToKill);
                }
            }
        }
    }
    while (status == noErr);
}   // KillEveryone

Eitthvað til að gera eftir menninganóttina

Hehe.. áfram JÓN!!!

Eventful past couple of days

Yup.. as you guessed I'm shamelessly lying in the title of this post. Not much happened.. not much at all.. :)

The first weekend of August, for those of you that don't know, is the weekend before the "Frídegi verslunarmanna" (the following Monday) which is the day where all the shop-girls and -boys get the day off. Somehow this day-off translated to the rest of the nation and now everybody in Iceland gets the day-off. Crazy Icelanders..

This weekend is the renowned "icelandic alcohol consumption and partying weekend" where numerous out-door festivals are held (the biggest of them all in the Westman Islands, a group of islands just of the south-cost of Iceland). Each year every youngster grabs a tent/sleeping bag/raincoat and a supply of alcoholic beverages (usually in such a volume that it would be considered a year-supply in any other civilized society) and goes to anyone of these "festivals". This behavior results in a traffic-chaos and usually cost several people their lives each year (as well as other alcohol-related accidents). So these past four years I made it my policy not to partake in this insane behavior and just stay in the city for the weekend.

So this weekend I just stayed home, invited myself to a dinner at mom's.. twice!, went to one out-door concert which was held in the Reykjavik Zoo (which is just a bunch of farmyard animals.. no giraffes or anything.. still fun though..) and just did almost nothing. It was so sweeeet :) and I didn't die or anything.

My girlfriend is only two weeks away from handing in her final paper for her undergrad diploma so I have nothing to do (but stay out of the house) so if you aren't doing anything either.. give me a call, I'm always up for a coffee/walk/talk/biking/hiking/movie.. just about anything..

Yes	No
Out-door activities	Sitting indoors playing a stupid computer game!

WoW!

Well this week I've been working from home. Just haven't been able to get myself to go to school for work... I don't know what I was thinking working full-time at school in the summer also.. you just need a break from this environment in the summer.

As to help me with my shit-this-sucks mood a good friend of mine gave me his 10day guest pass for World of Warcraft (a relatively-new massive multiplayer online game from Blizzard). I've been playing for these past five days and I have to admit that this game is just awesome. First impressions are great and then it just gets better :) Much more fun than the previous MMO-game I played (which was Eve-online, which basiclly just bored me).

I just love the multiplayer aspect of the game, the developers really made an effort in making sure that communicating and teaming up with other players is as seamless and effortless as possible, and has a huge gain. Previously in similar games I usually just soloed the game but now I find myself much often grouping up with other players to be able to finish assigned quests/missions. Which I think is just the essence of a game like this, getting people to work together towards mutual goals. Also something I was not used to (having not played Everquest) is that when you meet other players (same or different class/race) just walking past them in the world they usually help you out by casting on you their beef-up spells (beef-up spells are spells that give you enhanced abilities as strength, intelligence etc.). This is something that I didn't expect but is a good indication of the over-all playing atmosphere in the game. So now, when I pass some one I check their status and if needed throw a couple of spells their way, why not :)

Another great thing is that the game is just one big instance (that is everybody is playing in the same world at the same time, although dungeons are an exception). Thus you have the opportunity to influence other players (as with the beef-ups before). That is the reason why you usually aren't fighting some monster alone for a long time. There is kind of a general rule that if you see a low-level player fighting a high-level monster that is obviously going to kill him (although death is not a big problem in this game) you usually join in and help with the killing. Just a spell or two, an arrow or bullet. It's a nice thing to do and gives you a sense of comradeship.

After this 10day trial I'm currently using is over I'm going to buy the game and if somebody wants to try out the 10day pass I get with it just mail me. :) Although not being an expert in games I rate this one high on my scale and very likely to be the game I'll still be playing a year from now.

This summer is my awesome MMORPG-summer

Stupid kids...

It's amazing to stumble across web-pages as these, that have had the "Under construction" text for up to a year (or even more).. jezzz... if you're not going to open it.. stop paying the domain fee. This is usually what you get when you hire some dumb-kids to do this work for you (along with an endless supply of irritating gif animations... stupid kids..)


Fjölvi Publishing

Anyways.. I'm working outside today.. or as I like to call it "Working out!"

The Coffeehouse Experiment: Day 7 (last day)

For the last day of the Coffeehouse Experiment I (finally) decided to go to Núðluhúsið (the noodlehouse) for dinner with a couple of people. We then where going to visit the Pakistani/Azjerbajan coffee house that was just next door, but when we finished dinner then we discovered that it was closed. We then decided to just walk down town and grab a cup of coffee on the way and maybe a nice desert.

Ended up going (again) to Te og Kaffi, where Kári and Rannveig left me and Solla after a nice (and excessivly large) slices of cake. So the two of us just decided to grab a beer and walk downtown, that ended with a lot of stops and a LOT of beers/bitchpops.

Fun night out, although short for myself (came home around three-ish), but fun :)


Well so all good things must come to an end, and so does this experiment... but that doesn't have to be a bad thing, since then we have room for other new and exciting things to do :D

p.s. I've just installed WoW (World of Warcraft) and holy freck it's kewl.

p.p.s. Why humans are better than robots

The Coffeehouse Experiment: Day 6

Well the trip to Sufistinn yesterday was relaxed and nice, actually just showed up there alone. Which was very nice since I had brought a book with me to read. Had a Cappuccino and read through the "World of Warcraft: Game Manual" hehe... A friend of mine gave me his 10 day guest-account that came with his boxset and I decided to try this new massive-multiplayer online RPG out. First impressions are vveeery good :)

After sitting and reading my "book" for a couple of hours I wanted to try out the WOW game and asked the waitress if there was a wireless internet access there, but there wasn't.. damn damn... ended up calling a couple of people asking them if they knew about any hotspots in 101. Ofcourse I only had to call Solla "the woman of answers" :) and she pulled a hotspot pamphlet out of her Mary-Poppins-like purse :) The choice came down to two places Kaffitar and Te og Kaffi, and since I liked the atmos in the latter I ended up there again this week :)

Although I discovered that I couldn't play WOW at any of the popular hotspots in Reykjavik I spent some quality time chatting on the internet and fixing my website (which is now IE-bug free.. hurray!). Here are lists of hot-spots around Reykjavik for OgVodafone and Siminn

So tonight is the last day of this experiment and I have no clue as to what to do for that last day :)

The Coffeehouse Experiment: Day 5

Well a pure coffee experience yesterday when I went to Te og Kaffi on Laugarvegur. For the first time in these past five days I finally got a decent cup of espresso-based coffee. The best, even better than the other gourmé coffee house in Reykjavik "Kaffitar" (which I think has lowered it's standards considerably for the past year or so...) Got a great cup of Cappucino for only 290 and believe you me it was tasty, wheres the same cup costs 350 at Kaffitar.

Also there was a nice ambiance in this small café, quiet music so you could actually have a conversation with your friend without screaming your lungs out just to be heard over the washout pop-whore cd-track currently playing. Nice lighting and friendly staff (which is so rare to encounter in Iceland.. getting good service here is almost impossible). It was so nice that we stayed for some time, bought something to eat and drink and ended up spending much more than I had originally planned... but I'm rather willing to spend more where it's nice and cosy though it's a bit more expensive.

Well only two days left of this experiment, which is going rather well I have to say. Alot of people have taken time to participate and meet with me at some of these places.

Tonight we'd better have this more intellectual and sophisticated so I'm thinging about going to the little coffee-house Súfistinn which is on the second floor of the bookstore Mál og Menning on Laugarvegur. Grab a hot cup of coffee and a good book and let's talk literature :D

Súfistinn at 19:00 tonight

The Coffeehouse Experiment: Day 4

Well the days just zoom by, fourth day already. This time my girlfriend, Rannveig, joined the coffee-house crowd and we met Styrmir and Solla at Vegamot. Not quite a crowd but hey, good people make good company... :D

I haven't been to this coffee-house in years and was kinda surprised to discover that they're more of a restaurant now, and actually serve hellagood food. Best chicken that I've had for sometime now.. :) We sat outside for a while since it was >20deg outside, although when the shade hit us it got to cold to be outside (it's the classic thing here in Iceland).

The afternoon was very nice, we sat and chatted and afterwards I checked out the huge bookstore across the street. Actually found a book I bought and have started reading. It's a collection of modern Japanese short stories, called "Modern Japanese Stories" hehe original right ;)

"Edited by Ivan Morris, a recognized authority on Japanese literature, Modern Japanese Stories: An Anthology is a volume of the highest quality and fidelity. The anthology also contains a long critical introduction by the editor tracing the development of modern Japanese fiction, introductory paragraphs to each story giving information about the author and the story's cultural context, and a selected bibliography of modern Japanese fiction available in English translation." [more]

I'm rather excited to start reading this one ;), half-way through the introduction...

I can't quite put my finger on it but there is something I just really love about bookstores.. I just go in one and I don't notice the hours just flying-by :D. Books are fun!

This afternoon at 21:00 I'm going to Te og Kaffi on Laugarvegur, which I have high hopes towards since it's one of the o-so rare coffee-houses in Reykjavik that doesn't allow smoking! Hurray, finally my clothes wont stink of cigarette smoke afterwards! :D ... besides it's supposed to serve a wicked cup of espresso ...

The Coffeehouse Experiment: Day 3

Well time sure flies when you're having fun. Yesterday was one of the best days in Reykjavik this summer, weather-vise anyways, and thus it was humanly impossible to stay indoors behind a computer screen. So after having tormented myself for a few hours staying in the AI-lab and wallowing in self-pity since my "awesome new AI search idea" wasn't all that awesome when I tried it out, I decided that enough is enough and skipped out early. Actually dragged a fellow labmate and a good friend with me out and we walked together home. On the way home we walked across Miklatun, which is a huge park centered around an art gallery in the (almost)middle of the city. Recently there was an beach-wolley ball court built there, with the beach-sand and everything ;), so we decided to check it out and ended up playing beach-hackysack (since the net was quite low.. stupid kids). Nice hour workout I'd say...

So for day three of my CE experiment I met a few people in Kaffibarinn, which is a popular coffeehouse on Laugavegurinn (the main strip). The only reason for picking this place is because it is a hotspot (has wireless internet) and we wanted to share some music.. geeks! hehe..

It ended up just being just me, Solla and Gunni for the second day in a row.. but they're fun people to hang around with so it was the best :D

Edit: well after a lot of angry messages and "That's so lame"-emails I've decided to change the coffee house for this afternoon to Vegamót, so it's at 19:00 at Vegamot, nice since you can get something to eat there for a reasonable price right! :D At least I will be!

p.s. If ever in Edmonton, Canada. Don't forget to check out my friends Chris's new coffee house Hulbert's (when it opens that is) owned by two of my favorite Canadians, and thus it's guaranteed to be a nice little place and I assume that they especially welcome coffee-needing Icelanders, right? ;)

19:00 at Vegamót tonight

The Coffeehouse Experiment: Day 2

Well as an explanation to my English readers (both of them) for yesterdays entry, was in a hurry and my English writing abilities still aren't sufficiently good enough so that I can just write fluently about the things that are on the top of my mind.. :) but that's all getting better right? hehe..

So this weekend I decided to do a little informal social-experiment kind of a intro-/outrospective thing. The deal is that I must spend at least two hours each day goofing-off in a coffeehouse in Reykjavik Central. Last Sunday was the first day of the experiment and it went quite well I have to say (although I drank considerable amount of relatively-cheap beer and had work in the morning but..) Met a couple of my friends and we just goofed-off :)

Yesterday was day two of this interesting experiment and the coffeehouse I decided to visit was a place I am ashamed to say that I haven't seen before and it's one of the oldest coffee houses in Reykjavik. Mokka Kaffi (Mocca Café) is located on a sidestreet from the main shopping street here in Reykjavik. It was opened in 1958 and has been a refuge for Reykjaviks artists through the years. My impressions are that it's small and cozy, I'm going there again.

I was joined by two friends of mine Solla and Gunni and we drank coffee/pops and talked, which was very nice :) This experiment is turning out to be much more fun than I expected.

Tonight I'm going to have coffee at one of Reykjavik's most popular hangout places Kaffibarinn (the Coffee-bar) at 19:00, being CS-people we are going to have a small music-sharing moment. I'm bringing my laptop and Solla is bringing hers since I wanted to "listen locally" to some songs she has in her iTunes library *wink* :D would be fun if everybody brought their libraries, it's fun to discover new music...

Com-on and join us guys (or you mom if you're the only person reading this blog? *smile*) it's fun and it shure beats sitting home in front of the tube all night!