Game Of Dice Research Articles

Iannis Xenakis, the Initiator of a New Phase in 20th Century Music: Aleatorism

Observing the deadlock reached by serial music at the beginning of the 50's, especially in the music of Pierre Boulez - of an immense density - but obtained through an extremely exhausting compositional effort in order to respect the serial rules, Iannis Xenakis is realizing that these densities can be obtained through other techniques offered by mathematical approaches such as Markov chains and the calculation of probabilities. The idea itself can be compared to that of Schonberg, 50 years ago, when, noticing the huge coefficient of chromaticism and dissonance in Wagner's music, obtained (also with great effort) on the principle of tonal functionalism, he totally simplified the technique to obtain these chromatic melodies and dissonant chords on the principle of dodecaphonism. Relatively in the same way, Iannis Xenakis opens a new musical historical stage through these techniques by appealing to mathematical science for the calculation of the chances implied by the game of dice (alea). Xenakis's suggestion then inspired other ways for performing the game of chance, to composers who did not master the science of mathematics, unleashing the freedom of imagination, these composers being almost all in the generation 50s-80s till nowadays: John Cage, Krzysztof Penderecki, Gyorgy Ligeti, etc.

Iannis Xenakis, the Initiator of a New Phase in 20th Century Music: Aleatorism

Observing the deadlock reached by serial music at the beginning of the 50's, especially in the music of Pierre Boulez - of an immense density - but obtained through an extremely exhausting compositional effort in order to respect the serial rules, Iannis Xenakis is realizing that these densities can be obtained through other techniques offered by mathematical approaches such as Markov chains and the calculation of probabilities. The idea itself can be compared to that of Schonberg, 50 years ago, when, noticing the huge coefficient of chromaticism and dissonance in Wagner's music, obtained (also with great effort) on the principle of tonal functionalism, he totally simplified the technique to obtain these chromatic melodies and dissonant chords on the principle of dodecaphonism. Relatively in the same way, Iannis Xenakis opens a new musical historical stage through these techniques by appealing to mathematical science for the calculation of the chances implied by the game of dice (alea). Xenakis's suggestion then inspired other ways for performing the game of chance, to composers who did not master the science of mathematics, unleashing the freedom of imagination, these composers being almost all in the generation 50s-80s till nowadays: John Cage, Krzysztof Penderecki, Gyorgy Ligeti, etc.

A New Discrete Distribution Arising from a Generalised Random Game and Its Asymptotic Properties

The rules of a game of dice are extended to a ``hyper-die'' with \(n\in\mathbb{N}\) equally probable faces, numbered from 1 to \(n\). We derive recursive and explicit expressions for the probability mass function and the cumulative distribution function of the gain \(G_n\) for arbitrary values of \(n\). A numerical study suggests the conjecture that for \(n \to \infty\) the expectation of the scaled gain \(\mathbb{E}[{H_n}]=\mathbb{E} [{G_n/\sqrt{n}\,}]\) converges to \(\sqrt{\pi/\,2}\).
 The conjecture is proved by deriving an analytic expression of the expected gain \(\mathbb{E} [{G_n}]\).
 An analytic expression of the variance of the gain \(G_n\) is derived by a similar technique. Finally, it is proved that \(H_n\) converges weakly to the Rayleigh distribution with scale parameter~1.

Women of the other Epics in view of Periyar

As English has its influence throughout the world, most of Shakespeare’s works became famous. Even then, one can challenge that so far no one has written anything which can beat down the classical epics and Idhikāsams. There is no much difference between men and women in nature. Both are similar in aesthetics, knowledge, character etc. The respect given to women during Sangam period has got changed. They were refused of their rights in the later literature and in the minds of the poets. The chaste women in the Tamil epics were obedient to their husbands, and on one would have ever questioned their husbands. Akalyai, who accidently lost her chastity is also included in the list of chaste women. Panchali, who is referred as Draupathi, Krishnai, Indhirasenai, Thrihayani is the heroine of Vyasar’s Maha Bharatham, won by Arjuna in Swayamvaram, she became wife of five Pandavas on the words of Kunthi. She appealed to Kannan to safeguard her during the abuse happened to her by Dushyasana, in Dhruyodhana’s court when the game of dice was challenged to her husband. Sita, the heroine of Ramayana is adored as the ‘fire of chastity’, ‘ornament of chastity’ etc. Though Mandodhri condemns her husband’s activities, she is also added to be one among the chaste women as she died immediately following her husband’s death. Periyar appreciates only certain heroine who parallels his ideologies of reasoning, discipline and self-respect and criticizes others.

Gambling with Justice: A Juridical Approach to the Game of Dice in the Dyūtaparvan of the Mahābhārata

Abstract This article draws on Sanskrit jurisprudential literature (Dharmaśāstra) and on Nīlakaṇṭhacaturdhara’s (seventeenth century) Bhāratabhāvadīpa to uncover the motivations behind various characters’ actions before and during the infamous game of dice in the Dyūtaparvan of the Mahābhārata. The Pāṇḍavas and the Kauravas employ diverging lines of subtle Dharmaśāstric reasoning in mutual attempts to entrap one another. This dangerous game of juridical brinksmanship, with Dharma as the stake, results in a decisive moral and legal victory for Yudhiṣṭhira—despite his losing the formal game of dice. Consequently, recent literary analyses of this scene emphasizing Dharma’s fundamental opacity are problematized by encouraging a scholarly focus on legal subtlety and strategy.

Evolving Dharma Consciousness of Dharmaputra Yudhishthira within the Mahabharata

The objective of the paper to comprehend a deep implication of what dharma meant to Yudhishthira through the length of historical events related to war and philosophical questioning on the issue. He had to fight through so much in terms of pitting his intuitive understanding of dharma against a whole gamut of mundane ideas of what dharma stood for. For instance, his struggle with his brothers on the complexity of svadhrama and its rejoinder in form of sukshadharma or knowledge of subtle consciousness. His inner conflict continued and there came a time in the last parva, Svargarohana parva, when he just denounced dharma. It was through these trials and tribulations that Yudhishthira was finally able to evolve his own idea of what real truth, conduct, duty, morality and inner consciousness were about. In other words what was true dharma. Through this paper the author attempts to tease out complexities of the philosophical queries that bothered Yudhishthira and also trace his historical trajectory in the quest.
 The method of investigation would include historicizing the text. This means locating our source, the Mahabharata, on a time line and within a geographical expanse so that we get an idea when the logic of dharma mutated and in what particular region. The text had an expansive period of formulation right from the 8th Century BCE to 4th Century CE, that is, what we understand as the Gupta period. But the text had many later regional recensions as well. We are primarily looking at the older Sanskrit version of the text as recorded in V.S.Sukthankar edited Critical edition (Bhandarkar Oriental edition, Poona) of the Mahabharata. The exercise also requires reading of the magnum opus, locating the usage of the term in association with Yudhishthira and raising some significant issues. These may include queries such as what is dharma according to the Mahabharata. Is definition fixed or is it dynamic? Do all people speak of it with the same voice? Is the notion of dharma same for Yuthishthira and his Pandava brothers? Does his wife. Draupadi, subscribe to his idea of dharma? If his notion of dharma changes over time, does it have anything to do with changing consciousness of the society or at least some people within the society? Can we get a sense of a subtle move towards a shift from karma yoga to jnana yoga and finally to bhakti yoga? In this changing paradigm where do we locate the dharma philosophy of Dharmaputra Yudhishthira, especially as there comes a time when he himself begins questioning the idea of dharma? In a sense his character brings out the dilemmas arising out of the differences in meanings and approaches of comprehending the complexities associated with the concept of dharma.
 Another point of our methodology would be to understand the etymology of the term dharma and its location in the ancient language. The Sanskrit root of the word is dhr, 'to support', 'to sustain'. In other words, it means that whereby whatever lives, is sustained, upheld, supported. More often than not, the word dharma in its ancient usage denoted the moral realm in its widest sense, meaning both morality as an ideal— man's eternal quest for the good, the right, the just—as well as the given, actual framework of norms, rules, maxims, principles that guide human action. It was integral to the doctrine of purushartha or that of the four goals of a human being; these being artha (success/material possessions), kama (passion/procreation), dharma (virtue/religious duty), moksha (self-perfection). All the four are intertwined. Throughout the epic we witness the evolution of Yudhishthira’s notion of true dharma. What comes out strongly is his holding fast to the value of nonviolence (anrishṃsya), his identification with the sukshma or subtle nature of dharma, his insistence on constricted use of brute force as a part of Kshatriya dharma, his ultimate benevolence towards his family and people. These were actually revealed to be the cause of his indisputable success in Dharma’s recurrent tests. Somewhere by the end of the epic, Yudhishthira’s error in entering into the game of dice, getting in conflict with his brothers on the issue of his duty and not being able to answer Draupadi’s queries initially appear as stepping stones in self-realization to a deeper understanding of what dharma as duty, conduct, search for truth and morality were all about. The orderly world of dharma, which was so central to his character, was eventually arrived at only through repeated trials and tribulations

Just Nina Mae: The Struggle of an Early African American Movie Star

Just Nina MaeThe Struggle of an Early African American Movie Star Kristine Somerville Click for larger view View full resolution Nina Mae McKinney, 1931, Courtesy George Eastman Museum [End Page 67] During Hollywood's early years, tantalizing stories of discovery flourished, luring young hopefuls to the fledgling industry out west. According to movie lore, The Hollywood Reporter founder Billy Wilkerson came across sixteen-year-old Lana Turner drinking a Coke at a soda fountain. Photographer David Conover spotted Marilyn Monroe while she was working on an airplane assembly line. And John Wayne was a prop man on John Ford's movie set when the director made him an extra in his film. Fame and fortune for these actors soon followed. Nina Mae McKinney's story of discovery was no less fantastic. She left high school at sixteen to join the chorus of impresario Lew Leslie's all-Black Broadway musical revue, Blackbirds of 1928. Hollywood directors and producers regularly raided Broadway productions for fresh, inexpensive talent to fill their stables at their California studios. After failing to sign jazz singer Ethel Waters, one of MGM's top directors, King Vidor, was on the lookout for an extraordinary Black actress to play the title role of Chick, a singer and dancer in Hallelujah. The movie was a serious look into the lives of African Americans in the South. When he saw Blackbirds, McKinney stood out. He later recalled, "She was third from the right in the chorus. She was beautiful and talented and glowing with personality." When they met after the show, he offered her the lead, skipping the usual preliminary screen tests, acting classes, and makeovers. There is no evidence that McKinney was seeking a movie career; she had fallen in love with theater as a young girl growing up in South Carolina and trained herself as a singer and dancer, borrowing songs and choreography from the movies she saw at the local theater. In many ways, films were still inferior to Broadway, which in 1925 staged over two hundred productions; nevertheless, she accepted Vidor's offer. McKinney portrays Chick, a seductive cabaret dancer who lures a cotton picker into a crooked game of dice. As an actor, McKinney had nuance and depth, and the camera loved her. Dressed in a fringed drop-waist dress, bangles on her arms, gold chains around her neck, she wisecracks, dances, and sings. Vidor praised McKinney's performance and her ability to take direction: "She just had it. Whatever you wanted, whatever you visualized, she could do it. Nina was full of life, full of expression, and just a joy to work with." Critics were also smitten. The Daily News of New York wrote that she was "an honest-to-goodness film star." In the 1930s, Black performers were promoted by identifying them with white movie stars. The press labeled McKinney the "Black Greta Garbo," even though the only things she had in common with [End Page 68] Click for larger view View full resolution Nina Mae McKinney, Safe in Hell, 1931, Courtesy George Eastman Museum [End Page 69] Click for larger view View full resolution Nina Mae McKinney, Safe in Hell, 1931, Courtesy George Eastman Museum the Swedish actress were youth, talent, and beauty. She evoked the era's "It" girl and was anointed the "dusky Clara Bow." Her offbeat, wacky sense of humor drew comparisons to Carole Lombard. African American newspapers simply referred to her as Nina Mae. MGM gave McKinney a five-year contract and rolled out the red carpet, lavishing limousines, hotel suites, and a smartly decorated dressing [End Page 70] Click for larger view View full resolution Nina Mae McKinney, Safe in Hell, 1931, Courtesy George Eastman Museum room on her. Yet her meteoric rise from chorus girl to star quickly stalled. After her successful film appearance in Hallelujah, starring roles did not follow. In 1930, during a fallow period, McKinney followed in the footsteps of minority performers such as Josephine Baker, Anna May Wong, and Paul Robeson and sailed to Europe for a three-month tour. The press covered the eighteen-year-old's departure and noted her fashionable appearance in black satin and a black velvet...

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Relationship between Personality Traits and Brain Reward Responses when Playing on a Team

Cooperation is an integral part of human social life and we often build teams to achieve certain goals. However, very little is currently understood about emotions with regard to cooperation. Here, we investigated the impact of social context (playing alone versus playing on a team) on emotions while winning or losing a game. We hypothesized that activity in the reward network is modulated by the social context and that personality characteristics might impact team play. We conducted an event-related functional magnetic resonance imaging experiment that involved a simple game of dice. In the team condition, the participant played with a partner against another two-person team. In the single-player condition, the participant played alone against another player. Our results revealed that reward processing in the right amygdala was modulated by the social context. The main effect of outcome (gains versus losses) was associated with increased responses in the reward network. We also found that differences in the reward-related neural response due to social context were associated with specific personality traits. When playing on a team, increased activity in the amygdala during winning was a unique function of openness, while decreased activity in the ventromedial prefrontal cortex and ventral striatum during losing was associated with extraversion and conscientiousness, respectively. In conclusion, we provide evidence that working on a team influences the affective value of a negative outcome by attenuating the negative response associated with it in the amygdala. Our results also show that brain reward responses in a social context are affected by personality traits related to teamwork.

Do Prospect-Based Emotions EnhanceBelievability of Game Characters? A CaseStudy in the Context of a Dice Game

To endow game characters with more realistic affective behavior, the notion of prospect-based emotions plays an important role: recent literature suggests that emotional states of such agents should not only be triggered by present stimuli, but also by anticipation on future stimuli, and evaluation of past stimuli in the context of these anticipations. Within the current study, an extension of the belief-desire-intention (BDI) model with prospect-based emotions is proposed, and is evaluated with respect to its capabilities of enhancing believability of game characters. The model has been implemented in the modeling language LEADSTO. In addition, a game application has been developed, in which a user can play a two games (tic-tac-toe and a game of dice) against an agent that is equipped with the emotion-based model. An empirical evaluation indicates that the model significantly enhances the agent's believability, in particular concerning its involvement in the situation.

Aristotle and the Cosmic Game of Dice

AbstractInThe paper works out the whole comparison to which the mentioning of the game of dice belongs. It offers a reading of the corresponding passages that avoids the perplexing consequence that certain celestial bodies move just like dice.

New Elements in the Iconography of 9th–10th Century Ural-Siberian Silver

On the basis of its technological and stylistic features, a new find of oriental silverware from the Konda River is identified as a work of the Ural-Siberian circle and dated to the 9th–10th centuries. Its scene of gender violence is interpreted using the parallel text of the “Sabha Parva,” which describes the sufferings of Draupadi, Queen of Pandavas, and the actions of Duhshasana who won her in a game of dice. The urban culture of the pre-Arabian Sogd connects the Indian source with the Turkic environment of the Ural region. Here knowledge of the story from the “Sabha Parva” had not yet been recorded but nonetheless existed judging from scenes from the “Virata Parva” which appears among the monumental paintings of Penjikent.

Aesthetic Perturbation: Using a Chance/Aleatoric Music Therapy Intervention to Reduce Rigidity in Adult Patients with Psychiatric Disorders

Examining music therapy from a compositional, music analytical, and musicological perspective, Lee (2003) advo- cates for clinicians to explore theories of music to help influence theories of therapy, as well as for the development of new clinical methodology. For example, Curreri (2008) explored composer John Cage's concepts of experimental music wherein the term Aleatoric Music Therapy was used to describe the clinical use of chance and indeterminate procedures with an adult patient diagnosed with depression. Moreover, Cage's philosophy of disorganized sound (Cage, 1961) was used as a method for deconstructing the patient's habitual ways of thinking.According to composer John Cage (1961), ambient sounds interact in a nonlinear fashion, are void of any hierarchal musical function, purpose, or intention, and arise from the entire space surrounding the listener. This experience of disorganized sound was for Cage the basic music in which he interrupted when his chance or indeterminate compositions were performed (Wolff, 1996), placing the performer and listener alike in a situation where time ceases and all sonic events create an illogical and imperfect musical landscape, void of personal taste, likes, dislikes, and sentiment.John Cages' music is considered illogical because it is a departure from conventional organized composition (Retal- lack, 1996). Consequently, Cage never stopped finding unusual ways to compose his music (Kostelanetz, 1989, 1996), surprising his audiences with innovative musical departures, frustrating expectations by causing, for the purpose of this paper, aesthetic perturbation in the listener. Aesthetic perturbation is defined by the author as the act of challenging the patient's aesthetic system by engaging the group participants in an aleatoric/chance performance, catapulting the participants into a new, unusual, and illogical musical experience.Aleatoric/Chance MusicThe term aleatoric music derives from the Latin word alea, which means a game of dice or the throw of a die or dice, hence the term aleator, meaning dice-thrower (Rae, 1994; Revill, 1992). This method of composition can also utilize the tossing of coins, picking cards out of a hat, and so on, to determine how the piece of music will be composed and/or performed (Griffiths, 1981, 1995). Aleatoric methods used in musical performance can vary from composition to compo- sition depending on how the piece is to be shaped and/or arranged by the performer (Kostka, 1999). Twentieth-century classical composers, such as Pierre Boulez, Witold Lutoslaw- ski, and Karlheinz Stockhausen utilized aleatoric/chance procedures in their compositions (Griffiths, 1981, 1995). However, some composers, mostly John Cage and his supporters, wanted less control over their music to give more creative responsibilities to the performer by using chance operations/procedures as a form of composition (Kostka, 1999).Chance procedures used as a form of composition subjects the entire piece of music to indeterminacy (Kostka, 1999). By using chance operations, one is not concerned with order or personal taste, but is concerned with open experiences (Cage, 1961), attending to sounds as they materialize. The aleatoric composition is free from expectations because the music relies on chance and not on memory, likes and/or dislikes. The composer creates original performance paradigms that require both performer and listener to contribute to the musical outcome (Struble, 1995).Unsurprisingly, some practitioners of chance argue that the quality of music is not an important factor when creating aleatoric/chance compositions because quality equates stan- dards and judgments, which represent prejudice and conven- tional belief systems (Cage, 1961). Chance composition is viewed as a process of discovery through experimentation and open-experience (Cage, 1967, 1973) by creating pieces of music, not in terms of creating a musical object (Stravinsky, 1970; Vare` se, 1998), concerned with organized sound, quality, style, expression, hierarchically arranged pitches, rhythm, form, etc. …

Competition as rational action: Why young children cannot appreciate competitive games

Understanding rational actions requires perspective taking both with respect to means and with respect to objectives. This study addresses the question of whether the two kinds of perspective taking develop simultaneously or in sequence. It is argued that evidence from competitive behavior is best suited for settling this issue. A total of 71 kindergarten children between 3 and 5years of age participated in a competitive game of dice and were tested on two traditional false belief stories as well as on several control tasks (verbal intelligence, inhibitory control, and working memory). The frequency of competitive poaching moves in the game correlated with correct predictions of mistaken actions in the false belief task. Hierarchical linear regression after controlling for age and control variables showed that false belief understanding significantly predicted the amount of poaching moves. The results speak for an interrelated development of the capacity for “instrumental” and “telic” perspective taking. They are discussed in the light of teleology as opposed to theory use and simulation.

“MY FEET SEE BETTER THAN MY EYES”: SPATIAL MASTERY AND THE GAME OF MASCULINITY INARDEN OF FAVERSHAM'S AMPHITHEATRE

Although the long-awaited murder of Arden in the anonymousArden of Faversham(ca. 1592) takes place during a game of tables, or what we call backgammon,1critics have been quick to overlook the choice of game in this climactic scene, underestimating its importance to the play's central concerns and even mistakenly calling it a game of dice or cards.2These games do share some common features—backgammon, for instance, involves the use of dice—but the distinctions among them are significant, especially for the play's often-observed interests in geography and place. In attending to the intersection between games and theatre, I participate in a long tradition of performance studies scholarship. But in contrast to much of this scholarship, I emphasize the formal qualities of particular games—which vary widely from one game to another—arguing that different games call for unique competencies in players and in spectators of games.3Arden of Favershamreflects on spatial relations in the early modern theatre by staging and enacting the ludic competencies peculiar to backgammon.

Le Jeu de saint Nicolas : questions d'argent

The Jeu de saint Nicolas: Questions of Money Money in Jean Bodel’s Jeu de saint Nicolas has many functions. This quality of Saint Nicholas is in part used in the process of conversion, when it becomes an asset of the very young and the very old and can convert the Saracens at a time when sacrificing warriors has proved ineffective – wherever Nicholas is, wherever God and his angels are, money multiplies and saves lives. In symmetry, in an Arras tavern, where the game of dice is king – a game of chance in which God has no say – money comes and goes and only brings ruin and deception. The Jeu must be seen as a work inviting the people of Arras to participate in the crusading effort, to garner a different profit from money than that of the game and usury and to turn it into an instrument of salvation.

Cognitive Biases and Decision Making in Gambling

Heuristics and cognitive biases can occur in reasoning and decision making. Some of them are very common in gamblers (illusion of control, representativeness, availability, etc.). Structural characteristics and functioning of games of chance favor the appearance of these biases. Two experiments were conducted with nonpathological gamblers. The first experiment was a game of dice with wagers. In the second experiment, the participants played two bingo games. Specific rules of the games favored the appearance of cognitive bias (illusion of control) and heuristics (representativeness and availability) and influence on the bets. Results and implications for gambling are discussed.

The unfinished game: Pascal, Fermat, and the seventeenth-century letter that made the world modern

Before the mid-seventeenth century, scholars generally agreed that it was impossible to predict something by calculating mathematical outcomes. One simply could not put a numerical value on the likelihood that a particular event would occur. Even the outcome of something as simple as a dice roll or the likelihood of showers instead of sunshine was thought to lie in the realm of pure, unknowable chance. The issue remained intractable until Blaise Pascal wrote to Pierre de Fermat in 1654, outlining a solution to the unfinished game problem: how do you divide the pot when players are forced to end a game of dice before someone has won? The idea turned out to be far more seminal than Pascal realized. From it, the two men developed the method known today as probability theory. In The Unfinished Game, mathematician and NPR commentator Keith Devlin tells the story of this correspondence and its remarkable impact on the modern world: from insurance rates, to housing and job markets, to the safety of cars and planes, calculating probabilities allowed people, for the first time, to think rationally about how future events might unfold.

From the "Jerusalem of the Balkans" to the Goldene Medina : Jewish Immigration from Salonika to the United States

From the "Jerusalem of the Balkans" to the Goldene Medina:Jewish Immigration from Salonika to the United States* Devin E. Naar (bio) Who are these strangers who can be seen in the ghetto of the East Side, sitting outside of coffee-houses smoking strange-looking waterpipes, sipping a dark liquid from tiny cups and playing a game of checkers and dice, a game that we are not familiar with? See the signs on these institutions. They read: "Café Constantinople," "Café Oriental," Café Smyrna," and there are other signs in Hebrew characters that you perhaps cannot read. Are they Jews? No it cannot be; they do not look like Jews; they do not speak Yiddish. Listen; what is that strange tongue they are using? It sounds like Spanish or Mexican. Are they Spaniards or Mexicans? If so, where did they get the coffee-houses, an importation from Greece and Turkey? -Samuel M. Auerbach, "The Levantine Jew" (1916)1 Writing in The Immigrants in America Review, Auerbach offered an image of "Levantine Jews" as "strangers" within the context of a predominantly Yiddish-speaking, eastern European Jewish culture on the Lower East Side of Manhattan during the first decades of the twentieth century. Auerbach, like his contemporaries writing in English or Yiddish, provided a perspective that he felt would resonate with his readership.2 Subsequent accounts of American Jewry have echoed descriptions [End Page 435] such as Auerbach's insofar as they have treated Jews from the eastern Mediterranean-described alternatively as "Levantine," "Oriental" or "Sephardi"-as marginal figures in their narratives. Others have omitted completely from their accounts the experiences of these Jews, who stray far from the mold of "normative" American Jewry. In addition to differences in language, culture, geographic origin, and religious traditions (minhagim), the relatively small demographic weight of Jews from the eastern Mediterranean also has contributed to their marginalization in American Jewish historiography. Perhaps as many as sixty thousand Jews from the eastern Mediterranean arrived in the United States between 1880 and 1924, whereas over two million largely Yiddish-speaking Jews from eastern Europe arrived during the same period.3 As a result, Jews from eastern Europe often have stood symbolically for American Jewry of the early twentieth century.4 Recent works, such as those issued in conjunction with the 350th anniversary of Jews in America, pay scant attention to Jews from the eastern Mediterranean. They do begin their narratives of American Jewish history with the tale of the twenty-three refugees who fled from the Inquisition in Recife, Brazil, and settled in New Amsterdam in 1654.5 These "Old Sephardim," however, constituted a group distinct from those Jews who arrived from the eastern Mediterranean during the early twentieth century, and whom scholars have labeled the "New Sephardim." Some members of Shearith Israel, the Spanish and Portuguese synagogue of the "Old Sephardim" in New York, initially argued in the 1910s that [End Page 436] the newcomers should not be categorized as "Sephardim" at all. Rather, they advocated labels such as "Levantine" or "Oriental," both terms with derogatory connotations, so as not to muddy their own reputation as the "noble," well-established "Sephardim," the true heirs to the legacy of the Spanish golden age.6 Contributors to the Ladino and Anglo-Jewish press in America debated and polemicized over the terms "Levantine," "Oriental," and "Sephardi," some distinguishing among the Jews from the eastern Mediterranean according to linguistic community-Ladino, Greek, and Arabic-and viewing only Ladino-speakers, the perceived descendants of medieval Iberian Jewry, as "Sephardim" in a strict sense.7 The only terms of identification not contested during the early twentieth century were those based on city or town of origin that the newcomers gave themselves and utilized internally. A few scholars have succeeded in giving voice to the Jews from the eastern Mediterranean who lived in early twentieth-century America. They have filled important lacunae by focusing on the efforts of these [End Page 437] immigrants at communal organization, their interactions with the "Old Sephardim" and "Ashkenazim," and their creation of a Ladino press in New York.8 Such scholars point out city-based identity but often represent it as a source of conflict and an obstacle...

From Chatterbots to Natural Interaction -- Face to Face Communication with Embodied Conversational Agents

In this paper, we present a game of dice that combines multi-party communication with a tangible interface. The game has been used as a testbed to study typical conversational behavior patterns in interactions between human users and synthetic agents. In particular, we were interested in the question to what extent the interaction with the agent can be considered as natural. As an evaluation criterion, we propose to investigate whether the communicative behaviors of humans differ when conversing with an agent as opposed to conversing with other humans.