Vioin play, at the concert in Nicossia, on the 1st of December.
Thursday, December 6
Wednesday, December 5
From a Former President no Less
Francesco Cossiga is a former Italian president, having ruled Italy from 1985, until 2002.
He's also one of the few politicians considered to be more-or-less correct, as in his last two years as president, he started unmasking all kinds of overt moves made by politically-powerful people, in the Italian government. Those two years made him very popular with the Italian people, and very unpopular with the Italian parliament - which seems to be the reason he lost his presidency - I'm not sure, I haven't had much time to look into that.
That's not interesting in itself, unless you're into European history.
What IS interesting however, is the interview he gave in Corriere della Sera, where he stated (translated to English):
All this, is coming from a widely-respected former-president of Italy.
What is the most interesting of it all though, is that none of the mainstream media outlets (BBC/CNN/etc.) seem to see this as newsworthy (let me give you a hint: it's huge!).
He's also one of the few politicians considered to be more-or-less correct, as in his last two years as president, he started unmasking all kinds of overt moves made by politically-powerful people, in the Italian government. Those two years made him very popular with the Italian people, and very unpopular with the Italian parliament - which seems to be the reason he lost his presidency - I'm not sure, I haven't had much time to look into that.
That's not interesting in itself, unless you're into European history.
What IS interesting however, is the interview he gave in Corriere della Sera, where he stated (translated to English):
Palazzo Chigi [headquarters of the Italian government] circles, nerve centre of Italian intelligence, note that the video's falsity is proven by the fact that Osama Bin Laden reportedly confesses that Al Qaeda made the September 11 attacks against the twin towers in New York, while all democratic circles in Europe and America, above all those of the Italian left-wing, know that the disastrous attack has been planned and executed by the CIA and Mossad, with the help of the Zionist world, in order to accuse Arab countries and force western powers to intervene both in Iraq and Afghanistan. This is why there has been no word of solidarity to Berlusconi from the Quirinale [home of the Italian president of the republic], from Palazzo Chigi nor from members of the left wing coalition.
All this, is coming from a widely-respected former-president of Italy.
What is the most interesting of it all though, is that none of the mainstream media outlets (BBC/CNN/etc.) seem to see this as newsworthy (let me give you a hint: it's huge!).
Tuesday, December 4
Monday, December 3
Sunday, December 2
letting go
From time to time, I found lots of sources, stressing about the importance of "letting go". This is healthy, not only from the perspective of spiritual development but, if you're not into that, also from the perspective of a balanced mental life (and in the end, they amount to the same thing).
What most sources almost never tell you though, is how you go about it.
So, here it is, in all it's apparent simplicity:
What most sources almost never tell you though, is how you go about it.
So, here it is, in all it's apparent simplicity:
The secret to letting go, is realizing you don't need it.
Saturday, December 1
Life is Good
You wake up one morning and it's Saturday and instead of getting up, you decide to stay in bed and read some.
You read for a while and then look at the clock and you go oh my God, it's twelve o'clock! and you have to be at a friend's house on the other side of town, to get to a Romanian restaurant and eat Romanian food, as it just happened that on this particular Saturday, the sun rose and then it was the National Day of Romania for a while.
You jump under the shower and there's no hot water but you have no time to warm it up, so you suck it up and take a cold shower instead and while you're in the shower you remember that you have to bring the motorbike in service as the odometer and speed meter stopped working after the last rain and then you exit the shower (wet and cold and in a hurry) and see that you still have to lay the clothes you washed yesterday to dry (yeah, yesterday was a day of laziness for you) then you get out of the house and you're already late and your friend calls you and you end up speeding through traffic (and thanking the FSM for the relaxed traffic although it's a Saturday morning) and you get at the service-shop ten minutes later.
You're at your friend's and you're just five minutes late and everything is cool.
You're at the Romanian restaurant and you have a beer and Romanian whine and an unexplainable food ("bulz" is actually quite explainable, but you won't try to explain it, because you know people have to try it out to actually understand what it's all about) and you finally eat almost a whole bowl of pickles in brine, which you missed dearly for a while now.
It's late and you have to get to Ikea, because you said would and you go back to your friend's home and rest and it starts raining, but it's OK: you're inside and it's fun to watch the rain.
You're rolling on the highway and it's dark outside, because it's already five o'clock and still heavily raining, so almost nothing is visible and it's hot in the car so you fall asleep.
You wake up and you haven't had all the sleep you needed and you're groggy, but the rain stopped and you're almost there, so it's more or less OK and then you arrive and make some rounds through Ikea, picking up a strangely shaped red pillow, a computer table, rolls to mount under tables to make them mobile and a mini lamp.
You get to the car and start searching for the concert hall, to go to a concert you weren't sure you wanted to see anyway, but since you're there and didn't talk about it with the guys there's nothing better to be doing.
There are lots of cars on the highway and it seems that everybody is either going to the concert or just there to be in your way and you take a couple of wrong turns and go past the concert hall once or twice and then you turn around and the hall is just there.
You're impressed and you're taking pictures and the people are applauding and laughing and and actually singing along at all the right times (yeah, it's a good performance).
Everybody is sqeezing out the doors and they jump at the food laid around in waiting by the Romanian Embassy, and you stay there and socialize for a while (because there are all the people you stopped talking to, when you left your old job which you lost contact with). You decide you'll go home with somebody else than the guys you came with, then with somebody else still, and end up on the way back on the highway, chatting about dreams, relaxed artists, Oliver Shanti and Tamango, while sitting in the back seat of the car, in between two beautiful ladies.
Life is good.
You read for a while and then look at the clock and you go oh my God, it's twelve o'clock! and you have to be at a friend's house on the other side of town, to get to a Romanian restaurant and eat Romanian food, as it just happened that on this particular Saturday, the sun rose and then it was the National Day of Romania for a while.
You jump under the shower and there's no hot water but you have no time to warm it up, so you suck it up and take a cold shower instead and while you're in the shower you remember that you have to bring the motorbike in service as the odometer and speed meter stopped working after the last rain and then you exit the shower (wet and cold and in a hurry) and see that you still have to lay the clothes you washed yesterday to dry (yeah, yesterday was a day of laziness for you) then you get out of the house and you're already late and your friend calls you and you end up speeding through traffic (and thanking the FSM for the relaxed traffic although it's a Saturday morning) and you get at the service-shop ten minutes later.
You're at your friend's and you're just five minutes late and everything is cool.
You're at the Romanian restaurant and you have a beer and Romanian whine and an unexplainable food ("bulz" is actually quite explainable, but you won't try to explain it, because you know people have to try it out to actually understand what it's all about) and you finally eat almost a whole bowl of pickles in brine, which you missed dearly for a while now.
It's late and you have to get to Ikea, because you said would and you go back to your friend's home and rest and it starts raining, but it's OK: you're inside and it's fun to watch the rain.
You're rolling on the highway and it's dark outside, because it's already five o'clock and still heavily raining, so almost nothing is visible and it's hot in the car so you fall asleep.
You wake up and you haven't had all the sleep you needed and you're groggy, but the rain stopped and you're almost there, so it's more or less OK and then you arrive and make some rounds through Ikea, picking up a strangely shaped red pillow, a computer table, rolls to mount under tables to make them mobile and a mini lamp.
You get to the car and start searching for the concert hall, to go to a concert you weren't sure you wanted to see anyway, but since you're there and didn't talk about it with the guys there's nothing better to be doing.
There are lots of cars on the highway and it seems that everybody is either going to the concert or just there to be in your way and you take a couple of wrong turns and go past the concert hall once or twice and then you turn around and the hall is just there.
You're impressed and you're taking pictures and the people are applauding and laughing and and actually singing along at all the right times (yeah, it's a good performance).
Everybody is sqeezing out the doors and they jump at the food laid around in waiting by the Romanian Embassy, and you stay there and socialize for a while (because there are all the people you stopped talking to, when you left your old job which you lost contact with). You decide you'll go home with somebody else than the guys you came with, then with somebody else still, and end up on the way back on the highway, chatting about dreams, relaxed artists, Oliver Shanti and Tamango, while sitting in the back seat of the car, in between two beautiful ladies.
Life is good.
Friday, November 30
Please do not port software to Windows!
I found a small plea on the net for not porting GNU software to Windows. At first sight, the arguments sounded convincing, but I find them to be mainly colour-blind arguments.
They sounded to me close to believer-fervour (and that should, I believe, always be closely examined, lest it degrades to fanaticism).
The writer says (among other things):
It is the same purpose that is provided by the wine on *NIX, by the way.
Is cygwin more powerful than Windows' default software?
Arguably, it is.
Still, the reason I had it installed at my old job, was because I needed to run some shell scripts that needed it. For a Windows shell, I now use Windows PS (easier to install, though not as powerful or complete in features, as cygwin, but it's enough).
More of the arguments, made me remember the how-to that I commented on, a few days ago: instead of having an open mind, they start from "Windows is evil, how do we get about replacing it?"
Do I think windows is evil?
Not in purpose.
Are they trying to make (more) money?
Yes.
Does that make them evil?
Not as such, no.
Does it make them unethical?
Sometimes (OK, most of the time), but still, not "evil", not "bend on sabotage/destruction" which "evil" would mean.
The writer of the plea is ignoring completely Microsoft's purpose here: they don't care for "making software", but for "making money". Once you keep this in mind, they're just another corporation.
Does that make them unfit for any purpose?
No.
It is (arguably) easier for a company to get up a Windows network, than a *NIX one (if for no other reasons, then for the number of Windows administrators available in the workforce, compared to *NIX administrators).
It is also easier for a commercial development team to use a suite of products that integrate together than five or ten separate ones.
When, as a team leader, you know you have to deliver in six months, you'd rather go for the software package with the smaller learning curve, not for "yes, but after we learn vi, we'll write code really fast" (especially if the month spent customizing vi and fighting the vi learning curve, is a month the team could be writing software in).
That said, I use Kubuntu Linux at home. It is fit for my purpose at home (playing with it's settings, adding lots of things and trying them out, browsing and a bit of development), and it's free (yes, freedom in software matters, both in price and in choice).
I feel having more of the world switching to free operating systems would generally be a good idea (if for no other reasons, then for encouraging competition), but using partial arguments and trying to limit choice ("please don't port my software to windows" so windows users might be forced to switch) is the same kind of play that Microsoft does, but on a smaller scale:
It is limiting freedom, all over again.
They sounded to me close to believer-fervour (and that should, I believe, always be closely examined, lest it degrades to fanaticism).
The writer says (among other things):
Many people using Windows don't care about their freedom. They do care about quality software and for that reason try to replace all the user space software from Microsoft with better free alternatives. This is the sole reason for the existance of cygwin.which is a gross generalization. The "sole reason" for the existence of cygwin is more than one (so to speak). Among these reasons, is providing a compatibility layer.
It is the same purpose that is provided by the wine on *NIX, by the way.
Is cygwin more powerful than Windows' default software?
Arguably, it is.
Still, the reason I had it installed at my old job, was because I needed to run some shell scripts that needed it. For a Windows shell, I now use Windows PS (easier to install, though not as powerful or complete in features, as cygwin, but it's enough).
More of the arguments, made me remember the how-to that I commented on, a few days ago: instead of having an open mind, they start from "Windows is evil, how do we get about replacing it?"
Do I think windows is evil?
Not in purpose.
Are they trying to make (more) money?
Yes.
Does that make them evil?
Not as such, no.
Does it make them unethical?
Sometimes (OK, most of the time), but still, not "evil", not "bend on sabotage/destruction" which "evil" would mean.
The writer of the plea is ignoring completely Microsoft's purpose here: they don't care for "making software", but for "making money". Once you keep this in mind, they're just another corporation.
Does that make them unfit for any purpose?
No.
It is (arguably) easier for a company to get up a Windows network, than a *NIX one (if for no other reasons, then for the number of Windows administrators available in the workforce, compared to *NIX administrators).
It is also easier for a commercial development team to use a suite of products that integrate together than five or ten separate ones.
When, as a team leader, you know you have to deliver in six months, you'd rather go for the software package with the smaller learning curve, not for "yes, but after we learn vi, we'll write code really fast" (especially if the month spent customizing vi and fighting the vi learning curve, is a month the team could be writing software in).
That said, I use Kubuntu Linux at home. It is fit for my purpose at home (playing with it's settings, adding lots of things and trying them out, browsing and a bit of development), and it's free (yes, freedom in software matters, both in price and in choice).
I feel having more of the world switching to free operating systems would generally be a good idea (if for no other reasons, then for encouraging competition), but using partial arguments and trying to limit choice ("please don't port my software to windows" so windows users might be forced to switch) is the same kind of play that Microsoft does, but on a smaller scale:
It is limiting freedom, all over again.
Thursday, November 29
Friday, November 23
Thursday, November 22
Sunday, November 18
Vote of "No Confidence" in the US Dollar
Guys, if you have to sell dollars, I suggest you do so tomorrow morning. The US Dollar just got a vote of no confidence on the international market, through the accidentally (not sure it was accidental, but that's what the article said) leaked meeting of the OPEC leaders:
They said Opec should formally express its concern about the weakness of the dollar when the cartel makes its official declaration at the close of the summit today. But the Saudis, the world's largest oil producers and de facto head of Opec, vetoed the proposal. Saud al-Faisal, the Saudi foreign minister, warned that even the mere mention to journalists of the fact that leaders were discussing the weak dollar would cause the US currency to plummet.
Unfortunately his words and those of everyone at the meeting were being broadcast via a live television feed to a group of astonished reporters.
Thursday, November 15
Wednesday, November 14
deadlock party
The deadlock party is a programmer-specific celebration that occurs sporadically, whenever programmers have to solve a deadlock bug ... past eight o'clock in the evening.
Let us see how the Deadlock Party is celebrated:
I'm in office, drinking mint tea (no sugar) and debugging some stuff, at close to eleven PM. I have around 30 meters of cable (I exaggerate a bit, but I think it would be at least between five and ten meters) on my desk connected to all kinds of USB hubs, monsters, a custom machine, seven mobile phones (one of which mine), lots of papers under everything, a small laptop (closed) and - of course, my tea.
I'm currently recompiling the application to rerun with some added diagnostics code, in the hope this will cast some light over what's happening; I'm looking for the source of a deadlock.
For my programmaticaly-challenged friends out there, a deadlock occurs when a part of a program is waiting for another part to do something while the second part is waiting for the first part to do something; as a conclusion, the application stops responding.
Wish me luck at my deadlock party :)
Let us see how the Deadlock Party is celebrated:
I'm in office, drinking mint tea (no sugar) and debugging some stuff, at close to eleven PM. I have around 30 meters of cable (I exaggerate a bit, but I think it would be at least between five and ten meters) on my desk connected to all kinds of USB hubs, monsters, a custom machine, seven mobile phones (one of which mine), lots of papers under everything, a small laptop (closed) and - of course, my tea.
I'm currently recompiling the application to rerun with some added diagnostics code, in the hope this will cast some light over what's happening; I'm looking for the source of a deadlock.
For my programmaticaly-challenged friends out there, a deadlock occurs when a part of a program is waiting for another part to do something while the second part is waiting for the first part to do something; as a conclusion, the application stops responding.
Wish me luck at my deadlock party :)
Tuesday, November 13
What I really wanted to say ...
... is you should believe in God. Not only that, but it is my duty to convert you, because I'm sort-of unable to respect your beliefs, unless they're the same as mine.
... or something like that.
What is this about? I found an entry on wikihow about ways to convert your friends to Christianity, in an overt way. The list sounds mainly nice, but it ignores a few details, like ... I don't know ... teaching you to be hypocritical with your friends and hide your intentions in the name of spirituality?
How about a number 6 on that list, something about the lines of:
Focus on being honest with your peers and actually tell them you're not interested in their values at all unless you can demolish them and replace them with yours?
How about a number 7, stemming from the Kalam Cosmological Argument (suggested by the wikihow entry): If indeed everything has a cause (the first premise of the argument) then God must have a cause also. If God exists, what makes him/her do so?
How about ... I'll stop here. I don't want to make (much) fun of such a list, but the temptation is there and it's almost too easy :).
As a side note, on my way to Turkey, on the ferry, I've had the dubious pleasure to chat with a Muslim young man, who kept insisting he would convert me to Islam; He was pushy, intrusive and after a while, tiring.
For anyone inconsiderate enough to actually do that to their friends, don't worry: they won't be your friends for long.
... or something like that.
What is this about? I found an entry on wikihow about ways to convert your friends to Christianity, in an overt way. The list sounds mainly nice, but it ignores a few details, like ... I don't know ... teaching you to be hypocritical with your friends and hide your intentions in the name of spirituality?
How about a number 6 on that list, something about the lines of:
Focus on being honest with your peers and actually tell them you're not interested in their values at all unless you can demolish them and replace them with yours?
How about a number 7, stemming from the Kalam Cosmological Argument (suggested by the wikihow entry): If indeed everything has a cause (the first premise of the argument) then God must have a cause also. If God exists, what makes him/her do so?
How about ... I'll stop here. I don't want to make (much) fun of such a list, but the temptation is there and it's almost too easy :).
As a side note, on my way to Turkey, on the ferry, I've had the dubious pleasure to chat with a Muslim young man, who kept insisting he would convert me to Islam; He was pushy, intrusive and after a while, tiring.
For anyone inconsiderate enough to actually do that to their friends, don't worry: they won't be your friends for long.
Saturday, November 10
quote of the day
For some reason, this quote strikes me as relevant for me, for today:
I have no idea who said it and I have no idea why I feel it's relevant for today.
If you're going to walk in the rain, you might as well dance.
I have no idea who said it and I have no idea why I feel it's relevant for today.
Friday, November 9
python and large numbers
Well ... I was getting bored ten minutes ago, and I wanted to see if python supports large numbers. So, I created a method that would generate a prime number at every iteration, ran it twenty times, and I got this:
108020433769043901318839132754528513920805844617499642188964117099518224707733815
74011445899674627353379179210735712212091688247518797177364364065078362935163284
9134 [lots of digits removed as per Mrs. Anonymous request; to see the full number, run the python code, below] 4420807
So ... can anyone tell me if it's really a prime number?
Logically, it should be; This is the code:
Thanks :)
108020433769043901318839132754528513920805844617499642188964117099518224707733815
74011445899674627353379179210735712212091688247518797177364364065078362935163284
9134 [lots of digits removed as per Mrs. Anonymous request; to see the full number, run the python code, below] 4420807
So ... can anyone tell me if it's really a prime number?
Logically, it should be; This is the code:
primes = [1]
def some_prime():
candidate = 1
for i in primes:
candidate *= i
candidate += 1
primes.append(candidate)
for i in range(1, 20): some_prime()
print primes[len(primes)-1]
Thanks :)
Thursday, November 8
there's hope for you yet
I was preparing a post about George Orwell and the way the US fit his "Nineteen eighty-four" book. Then, I saw one of the main candidates for their elections next year, attack most of what the current US presidency stands for.
My first impulse was to say "hey, Americans, vote for him!". Then, I figured that his speech might be just ... capitalizing on inside information that Bush is going down, fast; or, it might be an attempt to rally those that oppose the current foreign politics of the White House (without any inside information, that is), or something I haven't thought about (including simply the way he thinks - to give a politician, the benefit of the doubt).
Whatever it is though, it's scary how he said so many things that have been on my mind lately, in his speech/attack, including the reference to Orwell...
My first impulse was to say "hey, Americans, vote for him!". Then, I figured that his speech might be just ... capitalizing on inside information that Bush is going down, fast; or, it might be an attempt to rally those that oppose the current foreign politics of the White House (without any inside information, that is), or something I haven't thought about (including simply the way he thinks - to give a politician, the benefit of the doubt).
Whatever it is though, it's scary how he said so many things that have been on my mind lately, in his speech/attack, including the reference to Orwell...
Wednesday, November 7
some changes
There have been some changes ...
My motorbike is no longer dirty (it rained) and my room is no longer messy either (I cleaned it up).
I got an external monitor for my laptop, and external keyboard and mouse; I also started practicing Reiki and (at least trying to) meditate every once in a while; I think it comes from that directed meditation session (more like hypnosis really) that I started listening to, every night. I like the effects.
B left Cyprus for good last night; We went for a beer on Monday evening, and chatted a bit last night also, but not enough ...
Now, I'm in office, ready to go home - It's almost 8 PM and I'm not a workoholic; really, I'm not.
My motorbike is no longer dirty (it rained) and my room is no longer messy either (I cleaned it up).
I got an external monitor for my laptop, and external keyboard and mouse; I also started practicing Reiki and (at least trying to) meditate every once in a while; I think it comes from that directed meditation session (more like hypnosis really) that I started listening to, every night. I like the effects.
B left Cyprus for good last night; We went for a beer on Monday evening, and chatted a bit last night also, but not enough ...
Now, I'm in office, ready to go home - It's almost 8 PM and I'm not a workoholic; really, I'm not.
Monday, November 5
Sunday, November 4
food for thought
Edit: After seeing this, I read the youtube comments on it, and found a link to Zeitgeist, the movie (of which apparently, this clip is a part of). The movie is also apparently available for viewing online.
Saturday, November 3
Thursday, November 1
Monday, October 29
for true believers
Most God-believing people (it seems to me that Christians and Muslims do this the most) tend to assign to God, human-specific limitations (frustrations, wishes, needs and so on).
As they do that, god (the god in their minds) looses any potential for being a discovery in their lives, a presence (I'm not talking about the subjectivity of such an experience here), and becomes an invention.
Either way, for those people specifically , I have a little kung'an important question:
I didn't think of this myself, I found it somewhere, thought it funny and figured I'd share :)
As they do that, god (the god in their minds) looses any potential for being a discovery in their lives, a presence (I'm not talking about the subjectivity of such an experience here), and becomes an invention.
Either way, for those people specifically , I have a little kung'an important question:
If God is almighty, can He create a stone so big, that not even God Himself can move it?
I didn't think of this myself, I found it somewhere, thought it funny and figured I'd share :)
Sunday, October 28
from the 10 years highschool reunion
Our old highschool teacher, at our 10 years reunion, in September.
We had met in a restaurant for an afternoon and she came to see us.
She is still one of the persons I respect deeply.
Some of my cleagues:
Thursday, October 25
working with Mercurial
Working with mercurial is a strange/new experience in version management. They called it "the new step" over traditional methods, and I was skeptic.
Now, I'm inclined to agree.
The main difference between Mercurial (and, as far as I understand GIT is the same) and traditional version control systems (CVS, Perforce, VSS et all) is Mercurial's distributed nature: here, every local copy of a repository that you make, is a new repository in itself, supporting retrieving previous versions of the code, adding new changes and merging with other repositories (among other things).
This is confusing, the first couple of times you work with it, but as you go along, you start to see the benefits:
Infact, I like it enough to have switched on my home computer from cvs, to mercurial.
In short, it rocks :)
Now, I'm inclined to agree.
The main difference between Mercurial (and, as far as I understand GIT is the same) and traditional version control systems (CVS, Perforce, VSS et all) is Mercurial's distributed nature: here, every local copy of a repository that you make, is a new repository in itself, supporting retrieving previous versions of the code, adding new changes and merging with other repositories (among other things).
This is confusing, the first couple of times you work with it, but as you go along, you start to see the benefits:
- you no longer have to wait when getting a previous version of the code (it's a local operation)
- you can (at any time) re-sync your changes with the master version (having a master version - or more - is completely optional; infact, I undestand that, for the linux kernel development model, there is no master version at all, just some preferred/priviledged repositories)
- you need not make periodical backups (if - say - you loose your HDD, you can simply clone another repository - unless all the HDDs of all the team members fail at the same time :-))
- it's under your complete control, and creating and merging repositories is as easy as typing two commands (at the moment I have three repositories on my machine, for working on different things: One for a local "master" copy, one for working, and one for testing Mercurial commands, trying various things and generally playing)
Infact, I like it enough to have switched on my home computer from cvs, to mercurial.
In short, it rocks :)
Tuesday, October 23
the best thing about changing your workplace is ...
... the music; and the food; and eating peanuts with chopsticks; and the view; and the small conference room where we all gather for lunch.
As a side note (and since somebody voted I should post more about my narcissisticly esteemed self) I really do eat peanuts with chopsticks, as the peanuts are greasy, I'm at the keyboard and I like playing with chopsticks (there! now you won't make the same mistake again. I hope you learned your lesson :) ).
Either way ... the most, I feel this change in the little differences: the music on the network is different, we order the food each day from a different catering business (and I'm not sick of it yet), we're in a small office and while there's still a work atmosphere around, we're much more into geek culture than in my previous workplace: there are cables around, people use firefox on their machines and the amount of formal rules around here is zero: they're not needed.
I missed that.
As a side note (and since somebody voted I should post more about my narcissisticly esteemed self) I really do eat peanuts with chopsticks, as the peanuts are greasy, I'm at the keyboard and I like playing with chopsticks (there! now you won't make the same mistake again. I hope you learned your lesson :) ).
Either way ... the most, I feel this change in the little differences: the music on the network is different, we order the food each day from a different catering business (and I'm not sick of it yet), we're in a small office and while there's still a work atmosphere around, we're much more into geek culture than in my previous workplace: there are cables around, people use firefox on their machines and the amount of formal rules around here is zero: they're not needed.
I missed that.
Monday, October 22
overrated
Do you know that cliché of sitting on a beach, eventually in the shadow of a palm tree, with a Piña Colada in hand, and looking at the sea?
It's seriously overrated.
I mean, I've tried it, and it's nice ... for five minutes. Then, you get bored out of your skull; even if you have another Piña Colada.
Instead, I want to see nature.
I want to see the world from the edge of mountain cliffs, in that way that makes your breathing stop for a few seconds.
The best vacation for me is not a hotel, nor a beach. I mean, sure, staying in a nice hotel is nice, as is the access to the beach once in a while, but those do not a vacation make ... so to speak.
I want to travel; I want to see people and see into their hearts (to use somewhat bigger words), see what makes them special (I will forever remember being served with tea, in Turkey, in the middle of nowhere, as I had stopped for gas for example).
I want to see grand things, but not the monuments. Monuments are not grand and I'm not sure I care much for monuments. I mean ... I saw the pyramids, and they were OK, but that doesn't mean I will go with a checklist of "items to see" on my next trip - my vacation being a time for myself, not for my checklist.
I really don't need to see the ego trip of every architect who said at some point "I want this to be the biggest thing in the world, because I have a really small ... " - well who cares, anyway?
I'd rather see a waterfall in the middle of the forest, than a monastery for example.
I'd rather see people working the field than doing a "traditional dance" because "the tourists came and they have money".
I'd rather find a monastery (be it Christian or otherwise) "by accident" and spend two hours there to rest and see the people inside, then make a list of monasteries and worship my "checklist of places to reach".
... and finally, I'd rather get on a beach on a Saturday evening and relax, than "Let's go to the beach" every X days, and stay with a Piña Colada in hand, and live the cliché just because I've seen one-too-many commercials.
It's seriously overrated.
I mean, I've tried it, and it's nice ... for five minutes. Then, you get bored out of your skull; even if you have another Piña Colada.
Instead, I want to see nature.
I want to see the world from the edge of mountain cliffs, in that way that makes your breathing stop for a few seconds.
The best vacation for me is not a hotel, nor a beach. I mean, sure, staying in a nice hotel is nice, as is the access to the beach once in a while, but those do not a vacation make ... so to speak.
I want to travel; I want to see people and see into their hearts (to use somewhat bigger words), see what makes them special (I will forever remember being served with tea, in Turkey, in the middle of nowhere, as I had stopped for gas for example).
I want to see grand things, but not the monuments. Monuments are not grand and I'm not sure I care much for monuments. I mean ... I saw the pyramids, and they were OK, but that doesn't mean I will go with a checklist of "items to see" on my next trip - my vacation being a time for myself, not for my checklist.
I really don't need to see the ego trip of every architect who said at some point "I want this to be the biggest thing in the world, because I have a really small ... " - well who cares, anyway?
I'd rather see a waterfall in the middle of the forest, than a monastery for example.
I'd rather see people working the field than doing a "traditional dance" because "the tourists came and they have money".
I'd rather find a monastery (be it Christian or otherwise) "by accident" and spend two hours there to rest and see the people inside, then make a list of monasteries and worship my "checklist of places to reach".
... and finally, I'd rather get on a beach on a Saturday evening and relax, than "Let's go to the beach" every X days, and stay with a Piña Colada in hand, and live the cliché just because I've seen one-too-many commercials.
Sunset at Aphrodyte's Rocks
Camera: NIKON D50
Timestamp: Sun Oct 21 19:06:13 2007
Shutter: 1/250 s
Aperture: F8
ISO speed: 200
Focal length: 55.0 mm
Focal length in 35mm equivalent: 82.0 mm
Lens: 18-55mm F3.5-5.6
EXIF data read by Exiv2 0.12
Thursday, October 18
Tuesday, October 16
Sea View, from the Top of Alanya Castle, Turkey
Camera: NIKON D50
Timestamp: Sun Sep 30 14:41:35 2007
Shutter: 1/400 s
Aperture: F10
ISO speed: 800
Focal length: 18.0 mm
Focal length in 35mm equivalent: 27.0 mm
Lens: 18-55mm F3.5-5.6
EXIF data read by Exiv2 0.12
Postprocessing done with the GIMP
Monday, October 15
Surrounded by Infinity
Camera: NIKON D50
Timestamp: Sun Sep 30 14:36:48 2007
Shutter: 1/400 s
Aperture: F10
ISO speed: 800
Focal length: 38.0 mm
Focal length in 35mm equivalent: 57.0 mm
Lens: 18-55mm F3.5-5.6
EXIF data read by Exiv2 0.12
Postprocessing done with the GIMP
Saturday, October 13
Friday, October 12
On top of Alanya Castle, Turkey
Camera: NIKON D50
Timestamp: Sun Sep 30 14:35:49 2007
Shutter: 1/320 s
Aperture: F9
ISO speed: 800
Focal length: 20.0 mm
Focal length in 35mm equivalent: 30.0 mm
Lens: 18-55mm F3.5-5.6
EXIF data read by Exiv2 0.12
Postprocessing done with the GIMP
Thursday, October 11
Everything You Do Should Be Easy
I've just finished refactoring some code and then I realized how easy it is now, to extend it further; More than that, it's a pleasure to do it, starting with clean code.
That made me think: whatever I do, whatever you - or anyone else - for that matter - does, it should be easy to do. The easier it appears to you, the closer you are to mastering that domain.
I'm saying this, generalizing from programming but I think it stands true for everything else. I'm not coming here to claim I've "mastered programming" - or something ridiculous like that.
It's not about me, and it's not about programming.
When you don't have a social life (and as a programming geek, I know what that means :D), socializing with others, can be exhausting.
When you have a flat tire on your car - as another example - you find it tedious to change that tire, until you do it for a few times. Then, it becomes easy; at some point, you jump from "what should I do?!?" to "there's nothing to it".
It's not about you becoming stronger - though, there is that. It's about becoming somehow "wiser about things".
It's about going forward in such a way that all your options keep staying open and more than that, you open to even more possibilities.
If nothing else, it's a bit of food for thought.
Have a nice evening, everybody.
That made me think: whatever I do, whatever you - or anyone else - for that matter - does, it should be easy to do. The easier it appears to you, the closer you are to mastering that domain.
I'm saying this, generalizing from programming but I think it stands true for everything else. I'm not coming here to claim I've "mastered programming" - or something ridiculous like that.
It's not about me, and it's not about programming.
When you don't have a social life (and as a programming geek, I know what that means :D), socializing with others, can be exhausting.
When you have a flat tire on your car - as another example - you find it tedious to change that tire, until you do it for a few times. Then, it becomes easy; at some point, you jump from "what should I do?!?" to "there's nothing to it".
It's not about you becoming stronger - though, there is that. It's about becoming somehow "wiser about things".
It's about going forward in such a way that all your options keep staying open and more than that, you open to even more possibilities.
If nothing else, it's a bit of food for thought.
Have a nice evening, everybody.
Sunday, October 7
random links
Well ... I haven't written in a while, and I don't have anything novel to write (well ... I do, but it's in draft state at the moment.
In the meantime, here are some links, random news pieces and trivia:
Hard Politik has some excellent (as in funny as hell) questions for fundamentalist Christians (I think) in Why can't I own Canadians?
"Lucifer" on TFProject.org (forums) describes how GreenPeace activists effectively took control of a coal transport ship in a by stretching the meaning of "peaceful protest".
ASUS are announcing a motherboard initializing an embedded linux in 5 seconds and in non-related news, muslim medical students refuse to learn medicine as being against their religion.
And for something older, the uncyclopedia has the greatest article explaining sexual innuendo.
On a more serious note, it seems calculus was not created by sir Isaac Newton and Gottfried Wilhelm von Leibniz, but instead re-created: It was initially developed by Archimedes.
In the meantime, here are some links, random news pieces and trivia:
Hard Politik has some excellent (as in funny as hell) questions for fundamentalist Christians (I think) in Why can't I own Canadians?
"Lucifer" on TFProject.org (forums) describes how GreenPeace activists effectively took control of a coal transport ship in a by stretching the meaning of "peaceful protest".
ASUS are announcing a motherboard initializing an embedded linux in 5 seconds and in non-related news, muslim medical students refuse to learn medicine as being against their religion.
And for something older, the uncyclopedia has the greatest article explaining sexual innuendo.
On a more serious note, it seems calculus was not created by sir Isaac Newton and Gottfried Wilhelm von Leibniz, but instead re-created: It was initially developed by Archimedes.
Saturday, October 6
paradise
View from the terrace, at the motel me and Si stayed, before boarding the ferry to return to Cyprus.
Friday, October 5
Thursday, October 4
the end
Well ... in the end I managed to sleep at the Bone Club Hotel. Si made a scandal, then I went back, and they were all apologies and smiles; I almost felt sorry for posting about them on my blog, but the following morning they got us out of bed at nine o'clock in the morning to make sure we would pay!
How bad-mannered can you get?!?
Either way! The following day we visited Dim Cave and the Alanya Castle, then left for Tasucu, for the ferry. We had misjudged the distance and the road to Tasucu, so we arrived there around eleven PM, much too late to get on the ferry.
We spent the night in a small gulf by the sea, a piece of heaven, a few kilometres out of Tasucu and arrived back in Cyprus on the morning of the second of October.
Where does that leave us?
I'm at my new job now, reading documentation on GSM networks all day, my bike is in need of a repair shop (I'll see to that tomorrow), and Si is going to office also.
I stil haven't finished unpacking and I'll keep posting pictures for a week or two, I guess.
How bad-mannered can you get?!?
Either way! The following day we visited Dim Cave and the Alanya Castle, then left for Tasucu, for the ferry. We had misjudged the distance and the road to Tasucu, so we arrived there around eleven PM, much too late to get on the ferry.
We spent the night in a small gulf by the sea, a piece of heaven, a few kilometres out of Tasucu and arrived back in Cyprus on the morning of the second of October.
Where does that leave us?
I'm at my new job now, reading documentation on GSM networks all day, my bike is in need of a repair shop (I'll see to that tomorrow), and Si is going to office also.
I stil haven't finished unpacking and I'll keep posting pictures for a week or two, I guess.
Wednesday, October 3
Rohia Monastery, Maramures, Romania
Camera: NIKON D50
Timestamp: Sun Sep 16 18:50:46 2007
Shutter: 1/500 s
Aperture: F4.2
ISO speed: 200
Focal length: 26.0 mm
Focal length in 35mm equivalent: 39.0 mm
Lens: 18-55mm F3.5-5.6
EXIF data read by Exiv2 0.12
Saturday, September 29
about being thrown out ... thrice (aka, the Bone Club Hotel)
I've been to the entrance to Bone Club Hotel three times now.
The first time, I told myself that the security guy was tired; He simply didn't let me get close to reception no matter what I did. It took me half an hour to convince him that I HAD to get to reception to ask one question.
The second time was today. I met the day shift (different people, some of the smiling) and I managed to leave a hand-written message for whenever Si arrived (yes, they confirmed she checked in).
Now, I've simply been thrown out, in a polite fashion-of course. WTF is this?!? Guys, I had a pre-payed reservation there. Here's a hint: if you throw out your paying customers, they'll stop comming to you. More than that, they'll put stories on the internet about you; true stories, about how you throw customers out, for no reason at all.
Maybe it was a matter of communication. Maybe they didn't like my look? But WTF?!? I was supposed to sleep there tonight, and instead wasn't even offered a place to wait for Si.
My friends (and casual readers, and people who reached this post by mistake, and all the internet): don't go to bone club hotel! You can't get in unless you speak Russian (I've checked with English, German, Italian and Romanian). Once you do get in*, you'll be ... err ... politely asked to go away - yes, even when you have a reservation (Es tut mir leid, aber jetzt mussen leider Gehen!).
* - To get in, simply stop people as they pass in front of the hotel, ask them if they speak German, English or Italian, then ask them to translate to the Turkish-Russian Security guy that you must (as in any normal hotel) speak to reception.
The first time, I told myself that the security guy was tired; He simply didn't let me get close to reception no matter what I did. It took me half an hour to convince him that I HAD to get to reception to ask one question.
The second time was today. I met the day shift (different people, some of the smiling) and I managed to leave a hand-written message for whenever Si arrived (yes, they confirmed she checked in).
Now, I've simply been thrown out, in a polite fashion-of course. WTF is this?!? Guys, I had a pre-payed reservation there. Here's a hint: if you throw out your paying customers, they'll stop comming to you. More than that, they'll put stories on the internet about you; true stories, about how you throw customers out, for no reason at all.
Maybe it was a matter of communication. Maybe they didn't like my look? But WTF?!? I was supposed to sleep there tonight, and instead wasn't even offered a place to wait for Si.
My friends (and casual readers, and people who reached this post by mistake, and all the internet): don't go to bone club hotel! You can't get in unless you speak Russian (I've checked with English, German, Italian and Romanian). Once you do get in*, you'll be ... err ... politely asked to go away - yes, even when you have a reservation (Es tut mir leid, aber jetzt mussen leider Gehen!).
* - To get in, simply stop people as they pass in front of the hotel, ask them if they speak German, English or Italian, then ask them to translate to the Turkish-Russian Security guy that you must (as in any normal hotel) speak to reception.
Thursday, September 27
priorities
So ... yeah ... it's a quarter to twelve AM (almost Friday), and I just got to Alanya.
I need to find some place to sleep, need to find Si (stil not sure if she was coming over today or tomorrow) and I desperately need a shower or three, and what do I do?
Enter the first internet cafe, to check if any new comments appeared on my pictures on flickr, of course!
Damn priorities!
I need to find some place to sleep, need to find Si (stil not sure if she was coming over today or tomorrow) and I desperately need a shower or three, and what do I do?
Enter the first internet cafe, to check if any new comments appeared on my pictures on flickr, of course!
Damn priorities!
Monday, September 24
hidden beauty
Camera: NIKON D50
Timestamp: Fri Sep 21 19:18:15 2007
Shutter: 1/160 s
Aperture: F1.8
ISO speed: 400
Focal length: 50.0 mm
Focal length in 35mm equivalent: 75.0 mm
Lens: 50mm F1.8
EXIF data read by exiv2 0.15
Postprocessing done with the GIMP
J&S
Camera: NIKON D50
Timestamp: Fri Sep 21 17:08:28 2007
Shutter: 1/30 s
Aperture: F5.6
ISO speed: 400
Focal length: 55.0 mm
Focal length in 35mm equivalent: 82.0 mm
Lens: 18-55mm F3.5-5.6
EXIF data read by exiv2 0.15
Postprocessing done with the GIMP
on being creative, the smart way
Here is an excellent piece on being creative, the smart way. From the article:
No further comments necessary :)
Companies that squelch creativity can no longer compete with companies that champion creativity.
Nor can you bully a subordinate into becoming a genius.
Since the modern, scientifically-conceived corporation was invented in the early half of the Twentieth Century, creativity has been sacrificed in favor of forwarding the interests of the "Team Player".
Fair enough. There was more money in doing it that way; that's why they did it.
There's only one problem. Team Players are not very good at creating value on their own. They are not autonomous; they need a team in order to exist.
So now corporations are awash with non-autonomous thinkers.
"I don't know. What do you think?"
"I don't know. What do you think?"
"I don't know. What do you think?"
"I don't know. What do you think?"
"I don't know. What do you think?"
"I don't know. What do you think?"
And so on.
Creating an economically viable entity where lack of original thought is handsomely rewarded creates a rich, fertile environment for parasites to breed. And that's exactly what's been happening. So now we have millions upon millions of human tapeworms thriving in the Western World, making love to their Powerpoint presentations, feasting on the creativity of others.
What happens to an ecology, when the parasite level reaches critical mass?
The ecology dies.
If you're creative, if you can think independantly, if you can articulate passion, if you can override the fear of being wrong, then your company needs you now more than it ever did. And now your company can no longer afford to pretend that isn't the case.
So dust off your horn and start tooting it. Exactly.
No further comments necessary :)
Saturday, September 22
update
Well ... the Kami of the Ethernetz hasn't smiled down on me in a while: I wasn't able to post anything lately (no L., I didn't die - sorry about that!).
I've reached halfway on my journey (so to speak): I'm in Bistriţa. I've met my friends and today evening we're having a small party (my official reason for the trip), and in two days I'll be on the road again, back to Cyprus.
I can't wait :D
I've reached halfway on my journey (so to speak): I'm in Bistriţa. I've met my friends and today evening we're having a small party (my official reason for the trip), and in two days I'll be on the road again, back to Cyprus.
I can't wait :D
Friday, September 14
By the Sea
We just came back from the sea (2 Mai). It was a few days filled with beer, good food, a deserted sea-side and some cold weather (I'm underdressed for this weather :().
Ether way, here are some pictures (some of them are family pictures though):
Ether way, here are some pictures (some of them are family pictures though):
Tuesday, September 11
at home
Well ... after 1900+ km and four days on the road, I'm in Bucharest, safe and (not mentally) sound. R and D picked me from the border at Giurgiu and lead me through Bucharest.
On the road I kept a logbook of random impressions. I will try to post some of them in the following days, but (again) I'm not sure when that will be: tomorrow we're going through the country for a few days.
On the road I kept a logbook of random impressions. I will try to post some of them in the following days, but (again) I'm not sure when that will be: tomorrow we're going through the country for a few days.
Sunday, September 9
random impressions
Well ... I don't have time to stay ... I still have two hours of light to travel through ... or something like that ...
I will post some more soon, but for now, here are some random impressions:
First, there was a definite lack of burning bushes in both dirrections, so I chose for myself: I picked the trucks road (the other one was mountain road, full of holes and curves).
The Customs in Tasucu is full of frogs. I mean, the grass in front of the cutoms office is, and they all come out after dark.
There's something that the Turkish people beat the Cypriot people at, hands-down: putting garlic into food; I mean ... the Turks do, the Cypriots, don't. Cypriots should learn!
The Turks answer the phone by saying
Turkish hospitality rules. Especially since they don't do it to sell you stuff. I was invited for tea at a gas-station in the middle of nowhere, just to take a break ... well ... a tea and sign-language conversation :)
The worst decision for this trip was getting the saddlebags I got. They were held by crappy zippers (Zippers for Pete's sake!). On a bump (or another) last night, I lost the right-hand-side saddlebag as the zipper died peacefully and so went all my tools to tool heaven (I don't even have a key).
As a result, I moved all the spares in the other saddlebag into my backpack and ditched the bag: it was just breaking my balance.
Crappy saddlebags!
I will post some more soon, but for now, here are some random impressions:
First, there was a definite lack of burning bushes in both dirrections, so I chose for myself: I picked the trucks road (the other one was mountain road, full of holes and curves).
The Customs in Tasucu is full of frogs. I mean, the grass in front of the cutoms office is, and they all come out after dark.
There's something that the Turkish people beat the Cypriot people at, hands-down: putting garlic into food; I mean ... the Turks do, the Cypriots, don't. Cypriots should learn!
What would you like as a main course, sir?(I had picked four kinds of salad, bread, butter and watermellon).
I'ma vegetarian - this is my main course
The Turks answer the phone by saying
Efendi?
Turkish hospitality rules. Especially since they don't do it to sell you stuff. I was invited for tea at a gas-station in the middle of nowhere, just to take a break ... well ... a tea and sign-language conversation :)
The worst decision for this trip was getting the saddlebags I got. They were held by crappy zippers (Zippers for Pete's sake!). On a bump (or another) last night, I lost the right-hand-side saddlebag as the zipper died peacefully and so went all my tools to tool heaven (I don't even have a key).
As a result, I moved all the spares in the other saddlebag into my backpack and ditched the bag: it was just breaking my balance.
Crappy saddlebags!
Saturday, September 8
In customs
I'm ın Customs. Some people are carpenters, some are singers, or computer programmers, or insurance agents; I'm in customs.
This is what I do, and I'm happy with it.
I've been in customs, for three hours and ten minutes (and 55...56...57 seconds), but who's counting, right?
I mean ... not me!
We arrived in Tasucu around six, then my whole life changed: we arrived in customs.
I've walked to and fro, to get a stamp on the passport, then to get a visa (I thought they were the same thing, but you learn something new every day), then to pay an 18YTL tax on the motorbike (it might have been a road-tax, or a processing tax, or a "your bike is orange" tax - I'm not sure, I don't speak the language).
Now, I'm waiting for the guy who ran away with my passport and motorbike registration to come back, hopefully with a new insurance.
I can't blame them (they're solving my insurance problem and I don't see anything wrong with that).
One more thing: on the ferry, I had a nice conversation with a 30-years-of-experience truck driver.
The conversation was interesting, in that he didn't speak English (nor Romanian, Italian or German for that matter), and I didn't speak Turkish.
Also, it was interesting as it was translated by Tarik, 19, who for some reason or another got it in his head that he would convert me to Islam, but I digress.
As a result of this conversation, I have a (theoretical for now) new route, that's supposed to be shorter by a couple of hundred kilometers, and have a better road.
I'm in no position to decide though, not until I get a local map, a good night's sleep, something to eat and a divine sign.
A burning bush will do :)
This is what I do, and I'm happy with it.
I've been in customs, for three hours and ten minutes (and 55...56...57 seconds), but who's counting, right?
I mean ... not me!
We arrived in Tasucu around six, then my whole life changed: we arrived in customs.
I've walked to and fro, to get a stamp on the passport, then to get a visa (I thought they were the same thing, but you learn something new every day), then to pay an 18YTL tax on the motorbike (it might have been a road-tax, or a processing tax, or a "your bike is orange" tax - I'm not sure, I don't speak the language).
Now, I'm waiting for the guy who ran away with my passport and motorbike registration to come back, hopefully with a new insurance.
I can't blame them (they're solving my insurance problem and I don't see anything wrong with that).
One more thing: on the ferry, I had a nice conversation with a 30-years-of-experience truck driver.
The conversation was interesting, in that he didn't speak English (nor Romanian, Italian or German for that matter), and I didn't speak Turkish.
Also, it was interesting as it was translated by Tarik, 19, who for some reason or another got it in his head that he would convert me to Islam, but I digress.
As a result of this conversation, I have a (theoretical for now) new route, that's supposed to be shorter by a couple of hundred kilometers, and have a better road.
I'm in no position to decide though, not until I get a local map, a good night's sleep, something to eat and a divine sign.
A burning bush will do :)
Friday, September 7
ferry
"Excuse me sir, is the ferry circulating today?"fifteen minutes later ...
We're stilll waiting for the weather report
"Hi, is the ferry circulating today?"twenty minutes later ...
Please wait ten more minutes sir
"Is the ferry circulating today?"The people are bored here and I get the feeling I made a sensation when I appeared: the only one wearing a jacket, hair standing in all directions, wet T-shirt and all and running from place to place, asking questions.
Please wait ten minutes more
Around fourty minutes later, they stopped paying attention to me; the way I figure, they either got bored, either got discrete, or I didn't to anything interesting enough to keep entertaining.
Either way ...
After I settled down (nothing was happening anywhere around, so I got bord also) there was some agitation and some guy held a long discourse (in Turkish :(), then they all started buying tickets like crazy, so I figured I feel lucky today!
Then, I was pulled aside by the guy I tortured with all my questions, and explained that the boat they're taking, the Express, is a small catamaran, not able to take motorbikes along, but there will be a ferry leavign around 12:30, for Anamur (93Km, according to Google Earth).
I'm set :)
On a side note, I'm in Girne, Northern Cyprus, in a net caffee, leaving in ten minutes, for the port.
On another side note, all of you guys sitting in the office right now, I'm thinking of you while I'm enjoying myself :P
Wednesday, September 5
an Article About Radical Honesty
The article talks about it, by example. It tells about telling people in the face you're attracted to them, about telling a little kid their pet bug is dead, and saying you don't like received gifts to people's faces (for just a few examples).
Even so, something about it calls to me (In truth, I want to be honest but I'm too afraid for it and lying comes automatically to me).
I tell myself it's not compulsory lying - it's giving diplomatic answers, not answering my messenger when people look for me and I simply don't feel like speaking to them and not telling the truth when people ask things of me I don't want to give.
OK, maybe it is compulsory lying and I don't really want to stop doing it: if I wanted to, I'd probably do it.
I think I'll buy the guy's book and read it: if it has good enough reasons, maybe I'll convince
Even so, something about it calls to me (In truth, I want to be honest but I'm too afraid for it and lying comes automatically to me).
I tell myself it's not compulsory lying - it's giving diplomatic answers, not answering my messenger when people look for me and I simply don't feel like speaking to them and not telling the truth when people ask things of me I don't want to give.
OK, maybe it is compulsory lying and I don't really want to stop doing it: if I wanted to, I'd probably do it.
I think I'll buy the guy's book and read it: if it has good enough reasons, maybe I'll convince
my reasoningto give it a go.
search keywords for my blog
Well ... according to blogcounter, here are some of the keywords (the weird ones) that my blog is found through, on google:
- blue lagoon multitouch - I'm not even sure what to think about that.
- random relationship throughts - She's not for you, really! You really really don't fit well together! (is that random enough?)
- open letter to eurosport I don't write them any more ... Infact, I never did, sorry!
- bada bim bada bam ... ummm ... bada boom?
- what's next to the oil filter on a motorbike Well ... duh! ... The Motorbike!
- picture of something tender I refuse to draw a conclusion from this!
- againg andg againg andg againg!
- how far can you fly well ... depends on what you smoke, I guess .. I haven't tried though, so I wouldn't know.
Tuesday, September 4
a change in location
In a project's life cycle, it is said that after you finished 90% of the development cycle, you're left with the other 90%.
Over the last few days, I've discovered that the same applies when you leave a place you've spent over three years working in:
I (almost) finished the papers, formalities, interviews and everything else I could conceive of.
Well ... everything I could conceive of, until sometimes last week; then, there came the un-official tasks: cleaning my office computer (as I really didn't want to leave my un-processed pictures on the company computer, nor my email authenticated sessions, browsing history and all that), sorting and moving the junk from my office desk to my home, sending my friends some new contact information, getting some references (I didn't do that yet), contacting the bank (you see, I'm not leaving the country, please don't close my accounts) and so on, and so forth.
On top of that, I've almost fallen behind with the preparations for my bike trip. I still have to get a sleeping bag (and maybe a one-person light-tent), decide what I'll be taking along with me, actually getting through the town and getting all the crap I'll be taking along, getting hotel reservations on the way (if I don't simply decide I'll just wing it), getting local emergency contacts, getting a travel insurance (due tomorrow morning), an international motorbike insurance, another visit to the bank, making sure all my papers are in order and thinking of all the things I might be missing (I'm sure there are some).
I also have to make sure I'll have clean clothes to take with me, charged camera batteries, to make sure I'll store my way-points on the GPS unit, did a gas fill, charge my phone card for roaming access and probably a bunch of other last-minute preparations and details.
And yet on top of that still, as I'm usually a lazy (OK, very very lazy) kind of guy.
FSM (and maybe Chuck Norris), please help me!
Over the last few days, I've discovered that the same applies when you leave a place you've spent over three years working in:
I (almost) finished the papers, formalities, interviews and everything else I could conceive of.
Well ... everything I could conceive of, until sometimes last week; then, there came the un-official tasks: cleaning my office computer (as I really didn't want to leave my un-processed pictures on the company computer, nor my email authenticated sessions, browsing history and all that), sorting and moving the junk from my office desk to my home, sending my friends some new contact information, getting some references (I didn't do that yet), contacting the bank (you see, I'm not leaving the country, please don't close my accounts) and so on, and so forth.
On top of that, I've almost fallen behind with the preparations for my bike trip. I still have to get a sleeping bag (and maybe a one-person light-tent), decide what I'll be taking along with me, actually getting through the town and getting all the crap I'll be taking along, getting hotel reservations on the way (if I don't simply decide I'll just wing it), getting local emergency contacts, getting a travel insurance (due tomorrow morning), an international motorbike insurance, another visit to the bank, making sure all my papers are in order and thinking of all the things I might be missing (I'm sure there are some).
I also have to make sure I'll have clean clothes to take with me, charged camera batteries, to make sure I'll store my way-points on the GPS unit, did a gas fill, charge my phone card for roaming access and probably a bunch of other last-minute preparations and details.
And yet on top of that still, as I'm usually a lazy (OK, very very lazy) kind of guy.
FSM (and maybe Chuck Norris), please help me!
Friday, August 31
links
Here is the funniest list of websites I've ever seen.
IQ Content make a good point about naming products.
The Story of the Little Ant is interesting. It describes one of the feelings I get in my current workplace (and one of the reasons decided I'll be leaving). I'm not the little ant (ask my friends: I wasn't that dedicated), but the feeling I get is the same.
Jeff (I think) has an interesting comparison of software projects and human relationships in his post The Myth of Software Estimation.
Amazon.com is selling The Toilet Monster. No further comment necessary.
VisibleBody is a stunning display of computer-generated inside-the-body imagery and animations.
Here is an interesting exploration of Gnegg's Space-Time Paradox.
IQ Content make a good point about naming products.
The Story of the Little Ant is interesting. It describes one of the feelings I get in my current workplace (and one of the reasons decided I'll be leaving). I'm not the little ant (ask my friends: I wasn't that dedicated), but the feeling I get is the same.
Jeff (I think) has an interesting comparison of software projects and human relationships in his post The Myth of Software Estimation.
Amazon.com is selling The Toilet Monster. No further comment necessary.
VisibleBody is a stunning display of computer-generated inside-the-body imagery and animations.
Here is an interesting exploration of Gnegg's Space-Time Paradox.
Thursday, August 30
MTG Deck
Camera: NIKON D50
Timestamp: Sun Aug 26 00:03:56 2007
Shutter: 1/13 s
Aperture: F1.8
ISO speed: 200
Focal length: 50.0 mm
Focal length in 35mm equivalent: 75.0 mm
Lens: 50mm F1.8
EXIF data read by Exiv2 0.13
Postprocessing with the GIMP
Wednesday, August 29
Monday, August 27
Pieces of News (just another random update)
Well ... my travel plans got a practical exercise in Murphology (If something can go wrong ... ): I had to delay my leave for a week, as I need to close all my connections to my current employment place.
At the moment I'm in office, covered in pieces of paper that are to be submitted to the HR department (well ... no, not really, but close).
I bruised a knee while playing beach volleyball on Saturday, but it was worth it (and I'm sure everybody is actually interested in that: my knee is important news that people need to know about).
Yahoo Inc didn't get the memo: they're rolling yahoo mail out of beta, with all kinds of improvements (like close integration with SMS-sending capabilities and Windows Live Messenger), but apparently the new design will still be centered around what yahoo managers want users to see (as in lots of ads), not around what users want to see in an email service ...
... and their market share will continue to slowly go down, or at least not climb like Google's gmail does.
In non-related news, Microsoft's Windows Genuine Advantage authentication system kind-of forked up: It mistakenly identified valid users as pirates and locked down their machines. The unofficial interpretation for this is that you're better off with a pirated copy of the OS (as the pirated copies were - of course - unaffected).
At the moment I'm in office, covered in pieces of paper that are to be submitted to the HR department (well ... no, not really, but close).
I bruised a knee while playing beach volleyball on Saturday, but it was worth it (and I'm sure everybody is actually interested in that: my knee is important news that people need to know about).
Yahoo Inc didn't get the memo: they're rolling yahoo mail out of beta, with all kinds of improvements (like close integration with SMS-sending capabilities and Windows Live Messenger), but apparently the new design will still be centered around what yahoo managers want users to see (as in lots of ads), not around what users want to see in an email service ...
... and their market share will continue to slowly go down, or at least not climb like Google's gmail does.
In non-related news, Microsoft's Windows Genuine Advantage authentication system kind-of forked up: It mistakenly identified valid users as pirates and locked down their machines. The unofficial interpretation for this is that you're better off with a pirated copy of the OS (as the pirated copies were - of course - unaffected).
Friday, August 24
defensive measures only
Here's the latest news in the irony department: the US are creating a defensive shield based on offensive missiles which they want to aim at "any rockets coming from the middle east". More than that, the new "shield" will be placed near Russia.
The Austrian Defense Minister criticized this as a typical "Cold War" type move, to which the Washington replied:
There are three situations I see here, none too flattering for you: you're either auto-ironic, ignorant in your declaration (you don't know what you're saying), or simply hypocrites.
If the new strategic environment requires us to move beyond Cold War thinking, then please DO SO, and don't create the same environment again:
The cold war was caused exactly on the placement of "strategic defenses" which threatened "the other side", for defensive purposes only, ofcourse! The next move would be for Russia to match this defensive shield, with a battery of rockets somewhere around ... I don't know - say, Cuba?
In case you're being ironic here, Mr. Gonzalo Gallegos please realize that, while five billion people appreciate your sense of irony, in the face of threatening people's lives, it becomes out of place.
In the case you're ignorant, please read a history book for all our sakes (I mean that literally, for all our sake)!
But personally, considering the source, I'd go for the third option, for hypocrisy: we're talking here about the same guys who told the world the Iraq had WMD and that are telling the world now that Iran has WMD.
Probably the next White House administrations will have to work for quite a few generations to repair the public image damage the US gained in the last seven years.
That is, if they manage at all.
The Austrian Defense Minister criticized this as a typical "Cold War" type move, to which the Washington replied:
We view the Cold War as being over. Such comments are not helpful and we now face a new strategic environment that requires us to move beyond Cold War thinkingExcuse me?!?
Gonzalo Gallegos, US State Department spokesman
There are three situations I see here, none too flattering for you: you're either auto-ironic, ignorant in your declaration (you don't know what you're saying), or simply hypocrites.
If the new strategic environment requires us to move beyond Cold War thinking, then please DO SO, and don't create the same environment again:
The cold war was caused exactly on the placement of "strategic defenses" which threatened "the other side", for defensive purposes only, ofcourse! The next move would be for Russia to match this defensive shield, with a battery of rockets somewhere around ... I don't know - say, Cuba?
In case you're being ironic here, Mr. Gonzalo Gallegos please realize that, while five billion people appreciate your sense of irony, in the face of threatening people's lives, it becomes out of place.
In the case you're ignorant, please read a history book for all our sakes (I mean that literally, for all our sake)!
But personally, considering the source, I'd go for the third option, for hypocrisy: we're talking here about the same guys who told the world the Iraq had WMD and that are telling the world now that Iran has WMD.
Probably the next White House administrations will have to work for quite a few generations to repair the public image damage the US gained in the last seven years.
That is, if they manage at all.
Thursday, August 23
US pushing for war in Iran
The US is pushing for war in Iran. It's not the first sign we get, nor will it be the last (and the American public is indoctrinated to war with the same media campaigns :( )
Nothing new here ...
Nothing new here ...
smile
Camera: NIKON D50
Timestamp: Sun Jun 17 17:05:14 2007
Shutter: 1/250 s
Aperture: F5.6
ISO speed: 1600
Focal length: 300.0 mm
Focal length in 35mm equivalent: 450.0 mm
Lens: 70-300mm F4-5.6
EXIF data read by Exiv2 0.13
Postprocessing done with the GIMP
the marine: a surprizing movie
It's one o'clock in the morning, and I couldn't sleep. I figured, a no brainer movie should put me right to sleep, with no problems.
I figured wrong.
Has anybody seen this movie? If you have, I'm sorry!
It's not that I want to badmouth the movie ... wait! Yes, it is: I want to badmouth the movie!
The Marine really is a no brainer, but not in the sense that it doesn't engage your brain to watch it: in the sense that you cannot watch it, unless you only have strait electroencephalograph lines.
It's like this:
We have the MarineTM, called John. Every time you want to designate a typical modest American - (especially if he's a hero for his country) his name is John. I think this started with "John Rambo" but I digress.
What's remarkable about him is that he's huge and makes a glorious entrance (first few minutes), by being heavily painted on the face while he butchers the "Arab terrorist camp" (they are all shooting at him while he butchers them by the way, all within 10 meters or so, but that doesn't matter because ... because he's big, or because he's the Average American Hero, or simply because he's a MarineTM - I'm not sure).
Once he's finished with butchering the terrorists (which is OK, because everybody knows that, like the Japanese, the Arabs have no soul), he butchers the "military terrorist attack helicopter" that flies above and tries to shoot things around. I'm not kidding, the dialog is like this:
Kids, don't try destroying a military helicopter at home!
Either way, after he ... dispatches the terrorists and their military helicopter and saves the American hostages with no problems (because he's John, the MarineTM), he gets discharged, on a technicality, so his life suddenly looses any purpose and direction and we can get to sympathize with the hero and his drama - the drama being that he' this super-resourceful Average American HeroTM, who's really adaptable to all situations, but doesn't know what to do when discharged (don't laugh, it's dramatic!).
His reaction to being discharged is "but Sir ... I'm a Marine!" (kind of reminded me of "but ... it has electrolytes!")
Either way, let's get past the ... emotional depth of the dialog and characters, and get to the action:
Some Very Tough RobbersTM steal 12 million in diamonds, then kidnap his wive (of course), then the whole movie is about him following them, lots of explosions, and something different knocking him out, every other minute or so.
Did you know that all explosions look as if what exploded was gasoline vapors?
I didn't, but I guess we all learn something new every day.
The first explosion is a gas-station, exploding with him inside; then, he falls (fifty to a hundred meters) from a speeding police car (that has around three hundred bullet holes in it but keeps speeding with no problems), running over a cliff and into a swamp. Then he follows the kidnappers through the swamp (because he's a MarineTM) only to get captured in a poacher's trap (not a MarineTM any longer) and hit over the head by the poachers with a club (MarinesTM are only immortal for explosions and bullets, not clubs).
He escapes from being bound to a chair, by jumping with it 1 meter high in the air and spinning so he will fall diagonally on the chair, making it break (that was a new one: I'll have to try it sometimes, as it's a very useful skill to have), then continues to search for his wife, through the swamp, as if nothing happened (everybody knows that MarinesTM never get bruises).
I stopped watching somewhere around this point, as I couldn't take it any longer.
SPOILER WARNING:
Even if I didn't see it until the end, here's how the movie ends: he defeats the terrorists one by one, in close combat (because he's a MarineTM), then takes out their leader (the meanest of them all) and saves his wife.
It may be, that the Terrorist Chick Who Dresses In Black LeatherTM is defeated by his wife, because she's the wife of a MarineTM (this is the only thing I'm not very sure of).
In the end, I learned an important lesson: the next time I won't be able to sleep, I'll simply get drunk: it kills fewer neurons!
I figured wrong.
Has anybody seen this movie? If you have, I'm sorry!
It's not that I want to badmouth the movie ... wait! Yes, it is: I want to badmouth the movie!
The Marine really is a no brainer, but not in the sense that it doesn't engage your brain to watch it: in the sense that you cannot watch it, unless you only have strait electroencephalograph lines.
It's like this:
We have the MarineTM, called John. Every time you want to designate a typical modest American - (especially if he's a hero for his country) his name is John. I think this started with "John Rambo" but I digress.
What's remarkable about him is that he's huge and makes a glorious entrance (first few minutes), by being heavily painted on the face while he butchers the "Arab terrorist camp" (they are all shooting at him while he butchers them by the way, all within 10 meters or so, but that doesn't matter because ... because he's big, or because he's the Average American Hero, or simply because he's a MarineTM - I'm not sure).
Once he's finished with butchering the terrorists (which is OK, because everybody knows that, like the Japanese, the Arabs have no soul), he butchers the "military terrorist attack helicopter" that flies above and tries to shoot things around. I'm not kidding, the dialog is like this:
How are we going to get past the helicopter?
We're not: we'll get through it!
Kids, don't try destroying a military helicopter at home!
Either way, after he ... dispatches the terrorists and their military helicopter and saves the American hostages with no problems (because he's John, the MarineTM), he gets discharged, on a technicality, so his life suddenly looses any purpose and direction and we can get to sympathize with the hero and his drama - the drama being that he' this super-resourceful Average American HeroTM, who's really adaptable to all situations, but doesn't know what to do when discharged (don't laugh, it's dramatic!).
His reaction to being discharged is "but Sir ... I'm a Marine!" (kind of reminded me of "but ... it has electrolytes!")
Either way, let's get past the ... emotional depth of the dialog and characters, and get to the action:
Some Very Tough RobbersTM steal 12 million in diamonds, then kidnap his wive (of course), then the whole movie is about him following them, lots of explosions, and something different knocking him out, every other minute or so.
Did you know that all explosions look as if what exploded was gasoline vapors?
I didn't, but I guess we all learn something new every day.
The first explosion is a gas-station, exploding with him inside; then, he falls (fifty to a hundred meters) from a speeding police car (that has around three hundred bullet holes in it but keeps speeding with no problems), running over a cliff and into a swamp. Then he follows the kidnappers through the swamp (because he's a MarineTM) only to get captured in a poacher's trap (not a MarineTM any longer) and hit over the head by the poachers with a club (MarinesTM are only immortal for explosions and bullets, not clubs).
He escapes from being bound to a chair, by jumping with it 1 meter high in the air and spinning so he will fall diagonally on the chair, making it break (that was a new one: I'll have to try it sometimes, as it's a very useful skill to have), then continues to search for his wife, through the swamp, as if nothing happened (everybody knows that MarinesTM never get bruises).
I stopped watching somewhere around this point, as I couldn't take it any longer.
SPOILER WARNING:
Even if I didn't see it until the end, here's how the movie ends: he defeats the terrorists one by one, in close combat (because he's a MarineTM), then takes out their leader (the meanest of them all) and saves his wife.
It may be, that the Terrorist Chick Who Dresses In Black LeatherTM is defeated by his wife, because she's the wife of a MarineTM (this is the only thing I'm not very sure of).
In the end, I learned an important lesson: the next time I won't be able to sleep, I'll simply get drunk: it kills fewer neurons!
Wednesday, August 22
the wonder of MS Paint
Whoa! It's like ... anyone knows where I could get this graphic editing tool?
Please?
Please?
15 minutes of fame (part two)
Some time ago, I posted a sure way to get attention through the performance of a Philishave.
Here's my new way to get attention:
Since I sent it this morning, I've been called, emailed and looked for, by people I hadn't seen in months, and the first ten minutes after sending the mail, my office phone felt like a hot-line.
Keep it up guys, you might just convince me I don't want to leave this place :)
... and by the way, I'm changing my workplace.
Here's my new way to get attention:
From: <utnapistim>
Sent: <sometimes today>
To: <managers>, <human resources dept.>
Cc: <coleagues>
Subject: resignation
Hi,
I'm writing to inform you of my decision to resign from my position of <utnapistim's position> in <company>, as of the 1st of October (as last working day).
Please note that I was due to leave on holidays on the 3rd of September (Monday), for a month and I'd like to continue with this schedule. I believe this should be possible, especially since I will continue to be available for contact after the 1st of October (I will still be in Limassol).
Thank you,
<utnapistim>
<position>, <project>
+357 (25) xxxxxx (desk)
+357 (99) xxxxxx (mobile)
+357 (25) xxxxxx (fax)
<company> > <company motto>
Since I sent it this morning, I've been called, emailed and looked for, by people I hadn't seen in months, and the first ten minutes after sending the mail, my office phone felt like a hot-line.
Keep it up guys, you might just convince me I don't want to leave this place :)
... and by the way, I'm changing my workplace.
Tuesday, August 21
Milk and Cookies
Camera: NIKON D50
Timestamp: Tue Aug 21 16:13:59 2007
Shutter: 1/60 s
Aperture: F4
ISO speed: 200
Focal length: 18.0 mm
Focal length in 35mm equivalent: 27.0 mm
Lens: 18-55mm F3.5-5.6
EXIF data read by Exiv2 0.13
Postprocessing done with the GIMP
Saturday, August 18
a dirty word
Osho said that "God" became a dirty word and it's true: "in the name of God" there have been murders, wars, people burned alive, all kinds of prosecution and a lot of atrocities.
I believe strongly, that "love" is taking the same road, that the word "love" is used to justify all kinds of things, from having rights over another, to judging them, taking decisions for them, discounting their opinions and a whole lot of hypocritical behavior.
We come to think that we get to decide who the "loved one" is talking to and spending time with, what they like, whom they like, how they dress and a bunch of other things.
In a relationship, this seems normal, to some of us at least; I feel though, that the easiest way to see why this is so wrong, is to consider the difference between symbols and things (the concept is best described here):
When doing things in the name of love, the word "love" is a symbol of what we feel; it doesn't mean anything in itself, but designate "that which I feel"; Instead, we set it as a tag, as something signifying "a relationship", a "thing" in itself; then, we think that "relationship" implies certain things, like, for example, "because I care about you", of course I get to decide what you wear when we get out tonight.
If we leave the label aside, what is left is caring, and all the rights to choose for the other, to be hypocritical, and make decisions in their name, come to rely on ... nothing in particular. They are simply left as an obvious show of hypocrisy.
Leaving the notion of "love" aside, actually makes things more clear, easier to see and understand, more beautiful in their clarity, without changing in any way what we feel.
More than that, the clearer you are about who you are in your relationship with the other, about what your feelings actually are, the more spiritual* you become (to choose another generic label :)).
"Love" as a word, not only comes in the way of understanding ourselves, but brings with it a very dirty baggage of expectations, illusions and ways of abusing the person near us.
Somewhere along the way, love became a dirty word.
* - spiritual, meaning for me, "close to your true nature".
I believe strongly, that "love" is taking the same road, that the word "love" is used to justify all kinds of things, from having rights over another, to judging them, taking decisions for them, discounting their opinions and a whole lot of hypocritical behavior.
We come to think that we get to decide who the "loved one" is talking to and spending time with, what they like, whom they like, how they dress and a bunch of other things.
In a relationship, this seems normal, to some of us at least; I feel though, that the easiest way to see why this is so wrong, is to consider the difference between symbols and things (the concept is best described here):
When doing things in the name of love, the word "love" is a symbol of what we feel; it doesn't mean anything in itself, but designate "that which I feel"; Instead, we set it as a tag, as something signifying "a relationship", a "thing" in itself; then, we think that "relationship" implies certain things, like, for example, "because I care about you", of course I get to decide what you wear when we get out tonight.
If we leave the label aside, what is left is caring, and all the rights to choose for the other, to be hypocritical, and make decisions in their name, come to rely on ... nothing in particular. They are simply left as an obvious show of hypocrisy.
Leaving the notion of "love" aside, actually makes things more clear, easier to see and understand, more beautiful in their clarity, without changing in any way what we feel.
More than that, the clearer you are about who you are in your relationship with the other, about what your feelings actually are, the more spiritual* you become (to choose another generic label :)).
"Love" as a word, not only comes in the way of understanding ourselves, but brings with it a very dirty baggage of expectations, illusions and ways of abusing the person near us.
Somewhere along the way, love became a dirty word.
* - spiritual, meaning for me, "close to your true nature".
Friday, August 17
turtle watch (Happy Birthday!)
Last night, we were on turtle-watch. The activity starts once the giant turtles lay their eggs in the sand and ends when the eggs hatch and the little "turtlettes" are (more or less) safe in the sea.
I got there (near Paramali village) last night around eight o'clock (just as it was getting dark) and we kept watch on a turtle nest until close to one AM.
We got lucky, as most of the watchers don't get to see any turtles, or see few of them; we counted close to 30.
A bit of useful trivia: When watching turtles, you cannot use white light: they are attracted towards the light, and as long as you keep one around, they will not find the sea (and die of exhaustion walking the sand).
So, Happy Birthday to all the turtlettes we saw last night! :)
I got there (near Paramali village) last night around eight o'clock (just as it was getting dark) and we kept watch on a turtle nest until close to one AM.
We got lucky, as most of the watchers don't get to see any turtles, or see few of them; we counted close to 30.
A bit of useful trivia: When watching turtles, you cannot use white light: they are attracted towards the light, and as long as you keep one around, they will not find the sea (and die of exhaustion walking the sand).
So, Happy Birthday to all the turtlettes we saw last night! :)
Thursday, August 16
not a car commercial
Camera: NIKON D50
Timestamp: Sat Aug 11 19:02:42 2007
Shutter: 1/200 s
Aperture: F7.1
ISO speed: 400
Focal length: 24.0 mm
Focal length in 35mm equivalent: 36.0 mm
Lens: 18-55mm F3.5-5.6
EXIF data read by Exiv2 0.13
Postprocessing with GIMP
Tuesday, August 14
couple at the seacaves
Camera: NIKON D50
Timestamp: Sat Aug 11 18:55:00 2007
Shutter: 1/80 s
Aperture: F10
ISO speed: 400
Focal length: 18.0 mm
Focal length in 35mm equivalent: 27.0 mm
Lens: 18-55mm F3.5-5.6
EXIF data read by Exiv2 0.13
Postprocessing with the GIMP
Dear world ...
Camera: NIKON D50
Timestamp: Sat Aug 11 16:39:59 2007
Shutter: 1/1250 s
Aperture: F5.6
ISO speed: 400
Focal length: 300.0 mm
Focal length in 35mm equivalent: 450.0 mm
Lens: 70-300mm F4-5.6
EXIF data read by Exiv2 0.13
Postprocessing with the GIMP
Monday, August 13
pixiedust (going smooth again)
I'm not exactly sure what they do to motorcycles when you get them into service; it's like this: you get the motorbike in service, leave it there for four days or so, and when you get it back, it's running smoother.
I've tried to imagine oiling things but that only accounts for so much. Methinks it must be pixie dust or something.
It makes sense: if they put enough pixie dust it will last until the next revision. Otherwise, the bike starts loosing performance before then.
What I really wanted to say was I got my bike out of service. It's running better now and I'm one step closer in my preparations for the trip.
I've tried to imagine oiling things but that only accounts for so much. Methinks it must be pixie dust or something.
It makes sense: if they put enough pixie dust it will last until the next revision. Otherwise, the bike starts loosing performance before then.
What I really wanted to say was I got my bike out of service. It's running better now and I'm one step closer in my preparations for the trip.
red and yellow
Camera: NIKON D50
Timestamp: Sat Aug 11 16:39:59 2007
Shutter: 1/1250 s
Aperture: F5.6
ISO speed: 400
Focal length: 300.0 mm
Focal length in 35mm equivalent: 450.0 mm
Lens: 70-300mm F4-5.6
EXIF data read by Exiv2 0.13
Postprocessing with the GIMP
Friday, August 10
Wednesday, August 8
stop whatever you're doing and think
Slow Down Culture is an excellent piece, talking about why effectiveness doesn't mean "do more in less time", but take all the time you need to be efficient, Slow Food and (among others) speed leading to quantity versus slowness leading to quality (not only in work, but in life as well).
raganwald: Haggling about the price
Here is an excellent piece about salary, price, principles and in the end, spirituality. From the text:
But when it comes to money, either you incorruptible, or you have decided that your life is a commodity, something that can be bought or sold, traded or bartered, played as a pawn and sacrificed so that some contracting company somewhere makes another billion dollars for its shareholders.
Tuesday, August 7
minor progress
In the last couple of days I feel I've been stalling. My motorbike is in service and I simply took no further steps to prepare for my journey, except to check that I will have enough money for what I still have to buy.
I also added the timer to trip to my blog and every time I see it, I get a thrill, an impending sense of "the trip is coming closer!"...
Today, I went to the "bycicle repair man", the guy checking my motorbike to talk to him about "truing the wheels" (thanks for telling me the term D), as I had forgotten to do it when I brought the bike int service.
Still a lot of things to go through, but I still have time: as I'm a lazy guy, I'll probably leave some things to rush over through the last days.
In the meantime, I'm keeping the spirit of things by reading Confessions of a Long Distance Sailor.
I also added the timer to trip to my blog and every time I see it, I get a thrill, an impending sense of "the trip is coming closer!"...
Today, I went to the "bycicle repair man", the guy checking my motorbike to talk to him about "truing the wheels" (thanks for telling me the term D), as I had forgotten to do it when I brought the bike int service.
Still a lot of things to go through, but I still have time: as I'm a lazy guy, I'll probably leave some things to rush over through the last days.
In the meantime, I'm keeping the spirit of things by reading Confessions of a Long Distance Sailor.
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