Soukie’s Place

Putin-Kasparov
A Ruthless Game

November 25, 2008 by Pavel Soukenik

Considered the strongest chess player (Garry Kasparov dominated the chess scene for 21 years. He holds many tournament records and he is widely known for losing a rematch against Deep Blue in 1997, which is populary misrepresented as the computer surpassing humans in chess.) of all times, Garry Kasparov retired from professional chess in 2005—after having achieved everything a chess player could—to concentrate on Russian politics. His possibly toughest match yet.

President Behind the Scenes

November 20, 2008 by Pavel Soukenik

A documentary spanning 15 years, 45 hours of film and 25 hours of video tapes offers an intimate look at the presidency of Václav Havel. It is unparalleled that a head of state would allow to be captured to this extent behind the scenes arriving at key political decisions with his staff.

Modern Text Adventures
The Rise of the Community

November 17, 2008 by Pavel Soukenik

Commercial interactive fiction practically disappeared by 1989 with the demise of Infocom. In retrospect, it was probably good for the new medium. Let’s see why.

See also the first part describing the beginnings and the commercial era.

Amateur programmers were trying their hands at producing text adventures of their own already during the commercial era. Writing a game from scratch in a general-purpose programming language is a daunting task though, with most of the effort spent on the ‘backbones.’ Soon, specialized authoring systems started to appear, and the online services (and later Internet) allowed enthusiasts to connect with each other.

Modern Text Adventures
Beginnings and Commercial Era

November 5, 2008 by Pavel Soukenik

Imagine a moment from your favorite adventure movie or drama. Imagine you are the hero. And imagine what happens next is up to you. “Text adventures” (or interactive fiction) are a modern text-based medium that opens up worlds of possibilities not limited by cgi effects or a single story-line but only by your imagination. Let me briefly touch on its fascinating history that includes cave explorations, early virtual computers and the rise of graphic adventures, to finally emerge in its state-of-the-art with the spread of the Internet.
The story starts with Will Crowther, one of the three software developers of arpanet (the forerunner of Internet), who managed to overshadow this achievement by writing Colossal Cave Adventure game (or simply Adventure).

10/28
Not Just Czechoslovakia

October 28, 2008 by Pavel Soukenik

Today marks the 90^th anniversary of the official proclamation of Czechoslovakia (October 28, 1918). This day has been celebrated in various guises: First as the establishing of the independent, democratic republic and its first president, Tomas G. Masaryk. After WWII and the communist takeover, the emphasis was shifted to liberation after 300 years of Habsburg monarchy, and then to the Nationalization Decrees (The decrees were signed on October 24, 1945 and nationalized mines, banks and some industrial enterprises effective on October 27.).

Recount

October 25, 2008 by Pavel Soukenik

I did not follow the events of the 2000 presidential election in Florida the way I have the 2008 race, so I was happy that I could catch up on the subject while on the plane to Seattle with the movie Recount. Three weeks later, I watched it again.

The movie, written by Danny Strong and directed by Jay Roach, documents the legal struggle of Al Gore’s team, including the hand recounting of the ballots, all the way to the official result: George W. Bush winning the state by 527 votes, thus securing his first term.

Pardon the Mess