Blonds...

Infamous Greek jokes involving blonds...

Two blonds are talking...

-"Is your father home?"

-"Hello! Have you lost your mind? He's a man!"

Again two blonds are talking...

-"Is your father working?"

-"Why,your's broken???"

Immortal Greece...

Nea Makri's hot Metal act : Tardive Dyskinesia

Some Metal for today... my hometown's (Nea Makri,Greece) best Metal act : Tardive Dyskinesia! Formed in 1997 (as Override) ,playing a unique kind of Metal which is kinda difficult to be described,the best description though could be something like Alternative/Progressive/Death Metal the "Messughah" type... Got only one cd out at the moment ("Distorted Point of View",2005),currently rehearsing for their second coming out early 2008. They're signed in Venerate Industries,an Indie Greek label. They're also unlucky of being Greek, if they were playing in whatever other European country or in the U.S. they would be one of the brand names in their scene...

Here's their videoclip "Accelerated (R)evolution" from their debut cd "Distorting Point of View"

You can download it (mp4,17,49MB) HERE

Tardive Dyskinesia's LINKS

Tardive Dyskinesia at MySpace

Tardive Dyskinesia at Soundclick

Enjoy!

The Greek ADSL saga continues...

The Greek ADSL saga continues...

THE FACT For nearly 7 hours (between 10:43am-05:38pm) the bigger part of Greece was unable to access the Internet (me included).What happened
this time? As the "officials" of the NATIONAL ISP(!) said some technicians were performing an scheduled maintenance and broke two fiber cables at THE EXACT SAME TIME(!) in TWO DIFFERENT LOCATIONS!!!
Way better this time,last year FOUR fiber cables were broken at the same time!!! Anyway,nice fairytale, except...

1) All Greeks know that fiber cables SIMPLY DON'T EXIST in our territory! We had our chance 3 years ago at the 2004 Athens Olympics to built
a (really) great network but the money just weren't enough for our enlightened "officials" (this is called "miza" in Greek thus bribing or better "black money").
Our government preferred to buy some more fighter planes in a great bargain price...

2) After about an hour from when the initial incident happened our always-telling-the-truth National channels said that "the damage will be soon fixed" and that "the
problem is accessing foreign ip's and NOT domestic ones!! True - i saw it myself! On the other hand we must be the only country worldwide
with racist fiber cables! Or perhaps they are jealous of the Chinese or Afghanistan's internet policies...

3) Another SLIGHT DETAIL : This EXACT SAME INCIDENT happened TWICE before in the PAST 30 DAYS!!!
Ofcourse it was fixed in a shorter time period than today (1h30min/27min accordingly) but noone mentioned that the problem was "due to the cutting of a fiber
cable"...

CONCLUSION : There isn't a SINGLE MOMENT of boreness in this country...

SUGGESTION : New Democracy's (Government Party) new sign could be something like this...

UPDATE 07:38pm (Greeks only!) Visit this excellent link!!


OTE

CRITICAL UPDATE 08:34pm The majority of Greeks are unable to use p2p programs!!! This must be called THE ULTIMATE ISP THROTTLING!!!

ULTRA MAJOR UPDATE 11:28pm Everything is back to normal again! Until next time...

The Allmighty Greek ADSL Adventure

Let's begin with a listing of some useful info and stats...

-I live in Nea Makri which is a city 32Kms away from Athens,Greece's capital and host of the 2004 Olympic Games.

-DSL (we only have ADSL to be accurate) arrived in Greece in May 2003; As a completely new technology for the Greek standards it had to overcome some serious (technical) difficulties... Luckily it arrived at my small town in Jan 2004.

-I was one of the first (Feb 2,2004) to have a "fast" internet connection with the lightning speed of 384/128 kbps... (real speed approx. 290/100 kbps based on over 10 different ADSL speed tests) paying the incredible small amount of 61 Euros ($78) per month.

-Things were always going smooth with a slight problem lasting for over 45 days (Jun-Jul 2004) when the actual speeds went down to Pstn dial-up level... Nothing extraordinary happened,as we learned 3 months later (!) some innovative men had put 120 ports where the maximum limit was 60... No apologies from my ISP,no refunding,no comment...

And after some other slight problems not worthy mentioned here,we came to last week...

Thu Oct 25 : At about 5:30 pm i discover my router's led flashing... Got ADSL ok but the router couldn't get an IP,thus i don't have internet connection...

Step 1 : Called my ISP since i thought it was a common malfuction at their end (not that something serious has happened,in the last 10 days it occured only 3 times). Told me everything was fine at their end,it had to be something at mine,so i must call the "ADSL Help Desk" (that's NOT a translation,it's how we call it in Greece!) to inform me about the status of my line...

Step 2 : Called the "ADSL Help Desk" which informed me that i should wait it out,such things are common (!) but just to be sure i must call the telephone company and inform them about my line's malfuction.

Step 3 : Called the telephone company and informed them about my problem.

**IMPORTANT NOTICE! I forgot to mention that i use the internet for the needs of my work too!**

-1st call 6:30 pm : "Thank you for informing us,we forward your problem to our digital center,if it's something that can be fixed by them it will be fixed shortly".

-2nd call 8:30 pm : Same as above.

-3rd call 9:45 pm : Same as above plus "we're closing shortly (yes,they close at 10pm!!),unfortunately you must wait 'till tomorrow".

Fri Oct 26 : -1st call 9:15 am : "We have no newer information from our digital center".

-2nd call 4:00 pm : "Our digital center reports that your problem was fixed in 3:15pm!"
"But it isn't!!"
"Ahh,it isn't? This things happen,no problem,we'll report your situation again at our digital center".

-3rd call 7:30 pm : "We don't have any further notice from our digital center".

-4th call 9:35 pm : "We don't have any further notice from our digital center,unfortunately we're closing shortly"
"And what shall i do now???"
"If it's done until our closing time OK,otherwise you must wait 'till Monday.Someone from our digital center will call you to fix a meeting (!) inside the next two working days (if the problem can't be fixed from our digital center)".

Sat Oct 27 : No calls were made - as well known nothing works in Greece during the weekends...

Sun Oct 28,Greece's National Holiday : 10:53am (Still asleep since i work at nights and since i'm a night type of guy) : First my cell rings (ignored it),then my standard phone (again ignored it), then my cell again (decided to take it since i thought something serious has occured)
"Hello,we're from the digital center,is your problem fixed?"
"Just a minute to take a look,unfortunately no"
"Ahh,OK no problem,we'll check it out" (!)
"And what happens next?"
"If it's something that can be fixed from here OK,otherwise someone will call you to arrange a meeting in the next two working days"

**IMPORTANT NOTICE** How come they work on a Sunday which happens to be a National Holiday too? Simple... working overtime is payed double!

Mon Oct 29 : 9:15 am called the telephone company : "We don't have any updates from our digital center".

9:45 am : At a moment of despair i decided to call again my ISP since i thought my problem (perhaps) was due to my router (despite i checked it about 97 times 'till then)

"Hello,has anyone ever reported having problems with his connection due to his router?"
"Ahh,many times,it's a rather too common problem"
"OK,thanks,i'll try buying a new one,you never know,i'm desperate"
"It's better to wait for the techs to see it,why spent your money for no reason?" (words of wisdom as i discovered later...)
"I don't care about the kind of money i'm about to spent,i want my connection!"
"I understand,what can i say,all the best"

11:00 am : Bought two (!) routers : One from the "official" shop of my phone company (never heard of that brand before but it was the only one available, right after it made a great gift!!) and an ADSL2+ (despite we don't have ADSL2+ in Nea Makri!) expensive one just for my testing purposes (for the records: i kept it - hope i'll need it in the near future,thus before 2100...).
A total expense of 90,80 Euro ($130) for nothing as it proved so a little later...

12:30 pm : Returned home and found out that my connection (and router) were working fine!!! (Ofcourse noone called me from the "digital center"...). I must be the only Greek who had an 832/224 kbps connection (the standard is 768/192 kbps)!!! Must have been a reward for my patience...
**NOTICE** As i've seen in my router's log various connection attempts (done & failed ones) were made before "stabilizing" to this speed...

1:10 pm : In my extreme happiness of being able to use my connection again after 4+ days i decided to upgrade to 2048/256 kbps,which is the fastest speed available in my area (for only 29,50 Euros ($40) per month,a major progress considering it had about 70 Euros ($100) not so long ago...). So i called my phone company,gave my personal info etc.
"Ok, when you'll upgrade my connection then?"
"In 10-12 days max"
"I don't want to think that we'll have any issues with my connectivity,eh?"
"No sir,your connection will be down for about 3-5 hours max (!) for our technicians to perform the necessary upgrades"

Wondering what happened? My connection upgraded on Thu Nov 1,9:12 am and the whole process took 1:47 minutes...

**IMPORTANT NOTICE** A good friend of mine (also living in Nea Makri) is still waiting for his connection to upgrade after 9 days...

CONCLUSION

One thing's for sure about ADSL in Greece : You'll NEVER get bored...

Thoughts of a pervertive Greek mind

Let's have a look first at the latest news...

Chatty lawmakers rack up million-euro phone bill
Posted Tue Oct 23, 2007 11:13pm AEST

Talkative Greek lawmakers have saddled parliament with outstanding phone bills of one million euros ($A1.59 million), news reports said.
Greek newspapers reported that the landline and mobile phone call bills were accumulated over the last 20 months, at a time when parliament had already decided to honour older debts worth over 32 million euros ($A51 million).
The 300 deputies in parliament are entitled to an annual allowance of 13,500 euros ($A21,500) for fixed calls and 3,000 euros ($A4,700) for mobile phone calls, which they routinely exceed, Eleftheros Typos daily said.
Greece's parliament has not commented so far. The office of parliament speaker Dimitris Sioufas declined to confirm or deny the reports.
"The speaker has nothing to say," an aide told AFP, adding: "This is not the first time this issue comes up."
It is currently unclear whether the new one million euro debt will be covered.
- AFP

Source : abc.net.au

Yeah,they're the SAME politicians who declared that they can't rise people's salaries because the Greek state is poor!!!
The same politicians that a month ago (the elections took place Sep 16th) were promising us literally everything...

But the (very) latest news will make all of us happy!!!

Back-seat toilet to end mishaps in traffic jams
Posted Wed Oct 24,2007

A Japanese manufacturer has developed a new portable toilet for cars, equipped with a curtain for privacy and a plastic bag to collect waste.

The Kaneko Sangyo Co, a manufactuer of plastic car accessories, unveiled its new design to help people stuck in traffic when nature calls.

"The commode will come in handy during major disasters such as earthquakes or when you are caught in a traffic jam," a company official told reporters, according to Kyodo News.

Japan is situated on the Pacific "Ring of Fire" and accounts for about 20 per cent of the world's earthquakes of magnitude 6 or greater.

Drivers stranded by tectonic movements or stuck in traffic jams simply assemble the cardboard toilet bowl, fit a water-absorbent sheet inside and draw round the curtain.

The product is small enough to fit inside a suitcase, the company said.

But prospective customers will have to hang on until November 15 when the firm begins selling the new product online.

-Reuters

Source : abc.net.au

That's totally irrelevant most of you we'll be thinking... BUT IT'S NOT!!! The Greek state paid 600.000 euros for toilet paper last year!!! That's 2.000 euros per deputy (600.000 euros / 300 deputies)! So,since they'll have the ability to fulfill their natural need in their vehicles in the near future (and they constantly move for the needs of our country),the Greek state will pay way less for toilet paper and save the money for the phone bills! So our proud deputies will continue their Godsend work...

Thoughts of a seriously perverted Greek mind...

Knowledge is Power

A collection of marvellous quotes written by Greek students

"Sir,before the law of gravity was voted did the objects fell?"

"When Odysseus returned back to Ithaki he found the twenty fans and Penelope working them at max"

"The precise opposite of the Holy Trinity is the Diabolic Trinity"

"The seagull is a migrating bird.The summertime goes to the beach,the winter to the coasts.Intermediarily in the dumps and in harbours"

"The circle is a round line, without connections, linked in such a way that you cannot understand where it begins and where it finishes"

"The circle does not have neither beginning neither end, unless you stop the diabetes"

"The revolution of '21 took place 1821 years ago. Today we celebrate it's final fall"

"The triangle who has two corners is called diagonal"

"Ludvig the XVI, right after the revolution, was decapitated for the first time in his life in 1792"

"Despite the fact that the old man was blind,he heard everything"

and the winner is...

"The Turks couldn't bear the interindividual bombs of the Americans and were forced to release Greece"

Great Greek Quotes

Some great quotes from some great Greek people in random order...

* "It's raining at the (football) field,but it's raining outside the field also"

-Giannis Argiriou,sportscaster, Euro 1996 in England.

* "Every morning after waking up i go to my balcony and stare the Atlantic (ocean)"

-Angela Dimitriou,singer who happens to live in Greece.

* "Oh,the ball slips by his hand,he's sweating a lot"

-Stratos Seftelis,sportscaster at a waterpolo match.

* "The head of Karataidis has returned (to defence) and intercepts (the ball)"

-Sportcaster from Drama,Greece at ERA-SPORT Radio.

* "It's a boring match,nothing special happens,and goal"

-The same sportscaster at the same Radio.

* "Saravakos crosses,Saravakos header and goal"

-Manolis Mavrommatis,sportcaster at a Panathinaikos football match. (Now a member of the Greek Parliament).

* "Why does this team always play away (from home)? Don't they have their own football ground?"

-Eleni Menegaki,tv star.

* "I like all poets,even Beethoven"

-Angela Giannoy,tv star/model.

* "Where we are (on the top of a mountain) ,the snow is very frozen"

-Newscaster,ANT1 TV.

* "And now our live guest"

-Roula Koromila,tv star.

NOTE : All the above are translated exactly as there were said!

Source : Greek TV/Radio

Greece is on the 'information highway'...

Three friends,one American,one French and one Greek are talking about the level of technology at BC ages.
The first to talk is the French guy : "We digged all way across Paris and what did we found?"
"What?" respond the other two
"Plenty of steel-made boxes and antennas - we French had VHF transmitters!!" ,he says full of cheer.
"Ffff" says the American, "that's nothing.We digged all the way across Washington and what did we found?"
"What?" respond the other two
"Kilometres and kilometres of wire - we Americans had telephone way before Jesus was born!"
Then the Greek guy starts laughing...
"Why are you laughing mate,wtf did you Greeks have?" asked the other two
"See" starts talking the Greek,"we digged all over Greece and we found NOTHING!!!"
"So why are you having fun of us f***er" say the other two
"You stupid people",answers the Greek,"we Greeks had mobile telephony 2.500 years before!"

Dedicated to a Slovenian friend of mine (you know who you are!) who is over an 10/10 Mbps XDSL connection for 14 Euros/month (approx. $20) when i'm over an 768/192 Kbps ADSL for 21 Euros/month (approx. $29)...

Also dedicated to the Greek government and it's (or pretending to be) Prime Minister who declared that "Greece is on the 'information highway'" leaving those who know what's the internet reality in Greece speechless... (and inspired me for the title!)

Bizarre Greek Signs (Part 3)

(Athens,El.Venizelos airport)

(Outside an Byzantine Monastery in Ithaki)

(Unknown location)

(Korinos)

(Inside Santorini's airport)

(...)

Bizarre Greek Signs (Part 2)

(Amorgos)

(Athens)

(Samos)

("Boxes for [human] bones on sale")

(A Butcher's sign : "By eating Basilis meat you don't get fatter,you get prettier")

(Crete)

Accidents in Greece

Some really great videos...

When some kids are having fun...

When you're trying to impress...

When you don't pay attention...

...and the winner is...

When you must praise God for being lucky!

Bizarre Greek Signs

"Don't fly"

"Dance,music,hookers,drugs,shopping" (outside a bar at the Psyrri area)

"PC Learning Schools,Mr. Fatass"