Ideas

Giant Lava Lake
Atlantis Rising.com
Atlantis location has some bibliography
Atlantis: a theroy
Santorini and the Legend of Atlantis
http://wheel.dcn.davis.ca.us/~btcarrol/skeptic/atlantis.html (document moved)
Timaeus and Critias
http://hsa.brown.edu/~maicar/Atlantis.html (document moved)
Atlantis finally found

The idea is to create an item which is a combination of portable movie player and DVR. The item will actually be a set of components that work together:

1. Base Station: little box that connects to the cable, VCR, DVD, camera, cable box, ...
   It also has the port for the remote control and a plug for the "central unit"
2. Central Unit: a device very similar to the iPod. It has an hard disk where to store the movies and a little LCD display to show the list of movies and a pad to play, pause, stop, fast forward and rewind.

Mini LCD TVs will be sold separately so the user can choose the size that fits her better. The idea would be to keep the vPod in a pocket and the screen in your hand while watching a movie.

The vPod could also be used as a movie players in RVs...

Links to consider...
Build You own PVR
PC Alchemy
Archos 420

Just another ERD (Entity Relationship Diagram) tool.

Should have 2 layers one on top of the other:

• Logical layer (bottom)
• Physical (top)

Basically, I should be able to define 2 entities (tables) and then a relationship between the two. At the logical level nothing else happens while at the physical level, the child table would "acquire" an additional field which "solidify" the relationship between the two tables.

Must have the ability to define sub-schemas.

Use XML file for storage
-> 2 files (one for logical and one for physical) or just one with all the information?

If a DB is reverse engineered the physical layer is created first and the logical layer must be draw from it. If a schema is created from scratch the logical layer is created first and the physical layer is just an "enhamcement."

Use MVC (Model View Controller) or reread Patterns book for a good structure of the program. Data structure stays the same but entities and relationships can be displayed in several different ways.
I like the way Visio colors tables (you can give them a color and a transparency).

Read more about ERDs. Is there any theory behind the schema representation?

Currently, AI players for Risk aren't that smart plus they seem to rely on predefined strategies. The idea here is to create a system that has the basic rules to play the game and that will develop and learn by playing against other AI systems. In other words I'm trying to mimick what a human being would do when he/she starts to play Risk.

• Find a way to implement the basic rules of Risk.
• How to generate new knowledge and how to add it to the existing rules?

The other day I found something about a META-GAME or something like that (http://satirist.org/learn-game/projects/metagame.html)

Implement Web Services that would allow users connected to the server to play a whole game of risk.

A client would be necessary for human players in order to display the map and allow a easier gameplay.

I'll need a Games and a Players List. A single game object will contain the subscribed players, the map.

How to implement the rules in a way that are flexible/interchangeable?

Look into RFC 3229 to a method to keep the other clients up-to-date when 2 players are fighting or when a player is placing troups.

Redesign web site

• GUI
• use SOAP methods

GeoWiz is a web site, a portal for geographic information:

• countries (2, 3 char ISO codes)
• currencies (-> link to a bank for current exchange rate)
• capitals
• airports (codes)
• languages (ISO)
• rivers
• seas
• oceans

Again, have a resources box with links to different related sites like the CIA geographic section, search for zip codes, ...

Web site with a mythology/mystery background.

The Game
Users need to solve riddles and puzzles to pass a stage. The first who complete all the stages is the winner. -> Make a Hall of Fame
In some cases the users only need to solve all the riddles in a stage to pass to the next one and other times every riddle solved in a stage unlock part of the final riddle. It could be a jigsaw puzzle where a piece is added every time a riddle is solved or it could be an image that becomes clearer after every solution (like a progressive JPEG).
Some puzzles may be time sensitive (but clues must be given). If you are at the right place at the right time you can find the solution. Like in movies where a hidden city is revealed only when the sun is in the right position.

User needs to subscribe to the site. This will allow the system to store at wha point he/she left, display the clues already discovered and so on.
-> it will need a privacy policy

On the right side of each page there should be a list of resources (web sites, books, ...) related to the topic. They could be useful for the user to learn more about the topic and also to get clues aout the riddles.

Revenue
Maybe 1 type of mystery could be free and another "pay-to-play." (free games have no prize only the honor of being in the hall of fame, "pay-to-play" games may have a prize).
Ask companies for sponsorship. For example if the site is about Pirates we could strike a deal with Treasure Island in Las Vegas and the first prize could be a weekend in a suite at the hotel.
In other cases the riddle may be hosted by a different site, causing the site to receive additional traffic (what's the profile of the average user?)
-> Will need to hire 1 or more marketng persons.


K-12
A spin-off could create simpler riddles for kids to learn about subjects.

Possible topics

• Cagliostro
• Rasputin
• Count of St. Germain - Elixir of youth
• Atlantis (hotel in Bahamas)
• Incas - El Dorado
• Mayas
• Aztecs
• Egyptians - Sphynx
• Pirates - Treasure Islands (hotel in LV)
• China - Emperors
• North dieties
• Argonauts
• Vello d'oro
• Lost Galeon. (Search for Atocha. Book: "Fatal Treasure")
• The treasure of Arsene Lupin.
• Noah's ark (sightings in Turkey)
• The Amazons
• Vikings