Romka's Bits and Bites

On Reviewing Scientific Papers

2012-01-10T15:32:00.002+01:00

A step-by-step review survival guide.

Open the review form.
Write the first sentence.
Write the second sentence.
Write the third sentence.
Write the fourth sentence.
Write the fifth sentence.
Submit the review.

On Superpowers

2011-09-22T19:06:00.004+02:00

Modern cartoons, films, and comic books spread the obsession with super powers. Captain america is super fast and strong, Magneto can lift and smash cars, Harry Potter can cast a plenty of magic spells... Our children (and not only) suck it all in and dream on of having one of these powers.

But what do we actually get from these fantasies? When in fact, the only super power that we can have is the ability to think consciously and to control our actions, the illusions wipe out these powers and we run mindlessly to watch another episode.

(Inspired by watching cartoons in the restaurant at lunch time.)

On Misanthropy, Ecology, and Vegetarianism

2011-08-16T16:36:00.004+02:00

As you might know, most of arable land (as well drinkable water) nowadays is used for producing nutriments for the livestock. This results in cutting rain forests, degradation of soils and biodiversity, huge waste of drinking water, etc.

Imagine, a time traveler comes from the future and tells us that if we don't reduce out consumption of meat, the world will come to its end in 200 years. Now, guess what most of us will do.

On Heaven and Hell

2011-06-15T16:59:00.002+02:00

Observing the luxury and poverty around the world I am getting more convinced that heaven and hell are on Earth and not for the dead, but for those who are living.

On Libya, Democracy, and Peacekeeping

2011-03-23T11:41:00.005+01:00

- Hm, they're having a civil war with a tyrant pledging no merci for the rabels? Hm, not good... No fly zone? Or may be let's just bomb them as usually, and then transfer the initiative to someone else?

- What about deploying UN peacekeeping troops in the conflict zones like in old times?

- No, no, our voters won't support risking lives of our soldiers!

On Democracy

2011-03-16T14:55:00.005+01:00

In recent years I've got a strong interest in political and economical systems and models (PESM). Research and practice in strengthening the role of computers in improving PESM seems a dream job to me. But as I am still far away from this target, I am left to criticize the existing PESM.

So, here it goes. The majority of democracies confirm to this definition:

Democracy is when there are good oligarchs and bad oligarchs and you can choose for whom to vote. In underdeveloped countries the oligarchs candidate themselves, in more developed countries they promote their deputies.

On RPGs Again

2011-02-27T14:54:00.002+01:00

From all character types they offer in Role-Playing Games I feel more like a Barbarian, just I am not big, not strong, and do not like orgies.

Da Best Strategy for Life Eva!

2011-02-25T08:26:00.004+01:00

Take all your dreams and ambitions, and wrap nicely in a plastic bag
Put this bag into a garbage container for plastic
Think of what you need to do today
Do it
When done, reward yourself with an ice-cream, movie, or anything else you like
Repeat until becomes a reflex

On Flaws

2011-02-11T16:54:00.002+01:00

"People who don't drink, smoke, or curse, always make me suspicious. I am sure, at night they chop corpses of little children or something like that."

-- Chuck Palahniuk

So, he's wrong, because at nights I am configuring my Linux.

Like in an Old Good RPG

2011-01-31T09:31:00.003+01:00

Moral(-2), luck(0), strenth(1), agility(0), knowledge(5), health(70%), mana points(0). Did I forget anything?

On New Employment Ambitions

2011-01-30T09:56:00.003+01:00

I don't have big employment ambitions, but I enjoy watching Dilbert.

Why I Hate Microsoft

2011-01-19T15:55:00.009+01:00

Microsoft is the most known software producer with its flagship product, Windows, operating around 90% personal computers. Is it because Windows is so good?

The success of Microsoft was based on the following:

they won the market of personal computers in 90-s (mainly used for typing documents)
- by buying 86-DOS and selling it to IBM,
- by producing Windows which required less resources than its competitor OS/2,
- and by giving the users nice-looking Word and Excel;
once owning the market, they are doing everything to kill any possible competitor.

I hate Microsoft because of the last point. Their tactics can be both legal and illegal (looking at the number of legal processes associated with them). Sometimes they buy the competitor, or buy their customers, or make some special deals with hardware vendors, etc.

Windows might be good for some users, but it does not fit all (e.g., it is not good for the job I am doing). The lack of competition is screwing the development of personal computers.

Dear Santa, please make so that Microsoft goes bankrupt till the next Christmas, otherwise there is no-one else to stop their greed.

Programming Style

2011-01-13T09:07:00.004+01:00

A computer program can be compared with a work-shop. If the master is good, a visitor of his workshop can only wonder how well everything is organized: the tools, the spare parts, and the entire space with machines and tables. He or she can see that the owner has careful thought about every little detail and every arrangement has a purpose.

Sometimes I get the same feeling while reading someone else's program. In such moments in my thoughts I'm sending my appreciation to the author. Now I am changing someone's code and cursing, cursing, cursing ...

On Communism

2010-12-15T17:55:00.003+01:00

- Where are you from?
- Latvia.
- I don't know such country!
- It is an ex-republic of the USSR. Do you know USSR?
- Yes, it was a communist country like North Korea. I hope you are not communist, are you?
- No-no!

Sad Truth

2010-12-15T17:53:00.001+01:00

If you want to know how I am doing, look at my eye-brows. If they are fine, I am fine.

News

2010-12-01T01:13:00.002+01:00

News is also a business, so they won't offer you anything you don't want to buy.

Reachmen's World

2010-10-21T06:19:00.003+02:00

It is a well-known fact that money makes politics and in some countries lobbying is a common practice. In Latvia it is still done behind the scene, but hopefully soon all these deal will become transparent for the public. At least now there are some articles like this one(in Latvian) which bring some of the deals into the light.

Some Like It Hot

2010-10-20T13:24:00.006+02:00

Some nations, like Mexicans, Thai, or Indians, prefer quite hot-spicy food, which is prepared using one of the chilli pepper species. I knew that some peppers are not hot-spicy at all, some are little hot, and some are very hot. I was wondering if all hot peppers are equally hot, and how dangerous are they for the health. Wikipedia again answered my questions. Apparently, there exists a hotness scale, called Scoville scale, according to which mediterranean peperoncino is among the least hot. One of the hottest chilli, called naga jolokia, is around 10 000 times hotter than peperoncino and 400 times hotter than tobasco.

The active components of chilli are called capsaicinoids. Opposed to what I thought before, capsaicinoids do not destroy our tissues similar to bases or acids, but trick our nerve receptors simulating the effects of the extreme heat. Despite that, the effects of capsaicinoids can be very severe and even lethal, because the reaction affects many processes starting from ion exchange to breathing. One more thing I was suspecting - the water can only cool down the affected area, but to remove capsaicin you are suggested to use soaps, detergents, and even oils and vinegars.

Escapology

2010-10-20T13:06:00.005+02:00

I still haven't found the ideal place for myself. So far I visited around 20 countries, but luckily, there are more than 200 countries left, and I am looking forward to the interplanetary travelling. Some home-grown psychologists may conclude I am escaping from something. It could be so, but I usually try to pay all the bills before I leave. I wouldn't call it escaping, I am rather looking for something.

Some People are Special

2010-10-10T11:15:00.003+02:00

Some people are better than others in cooking, wrestling, or memorizing numbers. There were and are plenties of gifted people possessing great abilities of excellent level. But among many abilities I value a lot the ability to risk your own life in order to save the life of another. I don't know if I could do that, but I've just read about a woman, who did it 2500 times, which is more than inspiring. Her name was Irena Sendler.

On Virtual Countries

2010-10-10T10:56:00.005+02:00

When I got upset by the nationalistic moods in discussions around the elections in Latvia, I started to think of a country that would appreciate their citizens despite their ethnic origins. Certainly, none of the existent countries would match, so I started to think of a virtual country that doesn't have any territory, but is recognized by others and has most of formal attributes, such as passports, government, (virtual) diplomatic missions, etc.

Of course, I asked the mighty internet if anyone had already had such idea, and, of course, they had. An article of the DaVinci Institute covers the possibility of creating new countries. It shows that it can be both good and bad. For example, international corporations, such as Microsoft, can declare themselves as independent countries to avoid the pressure from local governments.

On Nationalism and Politics in Latvia

2010-09-23T12:33:00.004+02:00

October 2, 2010 is the day when the new parliament is going to be elected in Latvia. As you might know, only 60% of Latvia's population are ethnic Latvians. The other part is composed of ethnic Russians (27%), Belorussians, Ukrainians, Poles, Lithuanians, Jewish, etc. I have very international ancestry that defines me as non-Latvian (even though my grandmother comes from Mitava/Jelgava), and I am very upset to see the internet full of nationalistic calls from ethnic Latvians.

Dear Latvian nationalists, please acknowledge that there are 40% of non-Latvians living in Latvia. If you really want "Latvia for Latvians", please do something about them, because trying to ignore them proved to be an ineffective approach. Yes, I know the history. Independent Latvia was forced to self-annex to the USSR under the threat of war in 1940, and most of these 40% of non-Latvians came from other USSR territories after 1940. Some of these 40% have now even the right to vote, and they vote for their "Russian" parties who promise them more rights, such as making Russian a 2nd state language.

Fairy Tales

2010-09-03T17:50:00.002+02:00

It could appear that life IS a fairy tale, just you are not one of its main characters.

Cyberihippie

2010-09-03T05:19:00.003+02:00

By analogy to cyberpunks, I think I am a cyberhippie.

Alfredo Sauce

2010-08-31T04:21:00.002+02:00

While living in Italy for 5 years I have never heard of Alfredo sauce. However, it is one of 5 most common pasta sauces you can find in Italo-American restaurants alongside with bolognese, pesto, aglio, and pomodoro. Also this time wikipedia has an answer.

It appears that the dish "fettuccine alfredo" became popular among American tourists after Mary Pickford and Douglas Fairbanks tried it in Alfredo di Lelio's restaurant in Rome in 1927. In it's essence, "fetuccine alfredo" is di Lelio's version of "pasta al burro" which could be found in southern Italy.

On Fashion

2010-08-30T16:46:00.003+02:00

It is funny to observe how new words appear in the popular culture. For example, now it is cool to call "vintage style" what 5 years ago was called "retro style".

Memories

2010-08-14T03:44:00.003+02:00

Some good memories come only if you search for them, while the bad memories always come on their own and tend to stay.

Diagnosed

2010-08-08T14:11:00.003+02:00

Thanks to the Internet and particularly Wikipedia, I was able to identify my decease. It is called trichotillomania and it is probably my reaction to stress. Since the stress causers are not likely to reduce unless I change my life style, I will have to search for some treatments for it. Any advice is welcome!

P.S. Never buy a laptop with a German keyboard, it is unbearable for a computer scientist! (",/,\,|,[,],=,ctrl+z,etc.)

The Deep Thought Was Wrong

2010-07-23T08:53:00.002+02:00

The answer to the ultimate question of life, the universe, and everything is not 42, but obviously "vafanculo".

Please Change the World Again

2010-07-03T21:45:00.005+02:00

The movie is called "Home" (2009). It tells you many facts accompanied with catchy images. You know most of the facts. In 15 years we will run out of drinking water, get all our planet's ice melted, exterminate 95% of animal and plant species, etc. You also know the main reason for that - the human activity in the last 50 years.

We, "the wealthy nations", got the power to extract and use a lot of resources to surround ourselves with luxury conditions. We are wasting them very much and you know that as well. We might witness the end of our civilization with our own eyes, but it is still not too late. We, "the wealthy nations", can change the world again. Start with learning about the harmful activities, non-consuming the products resulting from these activities, and forming the mechanisms to limit them.

Human life doesn't cost anything. Every moment some people die, and some new people are born. We have intellect and power, but without any worthful ideals we are no better than a horde of hungry locust. Most parasites breed fast until there is plenty of food and die out as fast when the food is finished. Is it also our scenario?

Another Simple Truth

2010-04-28T23:00:00.004+02:00

Life is unfair, it has never been fair, and it will never be fair. Just accept it and don't expect anything. Instead, be proactive, move towards your goals, and cover your back.

Open-Mindness

2010-04-20T14:50:00.001+02:00

I am not mad, I am open-minded. Just sometimes it leaks out.

Career Choices

2010-04-18T21:31:00.001+02:00

My children will not do Ph.D., they will become soccer players.

Three Reasons not to Work in IT Research in Academia*

2010-04-10T18:26:00.005+02:00

*These reasons describe my common observations. If you do not agree with them, please express yourself by leaving a comment!

You would usually get paid more in the private sector, or work less in the public sector.
Your colleagues usually possess a subset of properties from {old, geek, male}.
Your work will usually not make any impact on the world outside the academic community.

Of course there are many positive exceptions and if you know some of them, tell me that I just got pessimistic! :)

Benzine or Gas?

2010-03-06T09:33:00.007+01:00

Economics so far is not about making our life better, it is about filling someone's pockets. So it doesn't matter if your car runs on benzine or gas. Soon they will rise prices on benzine because it is not ecological, and on gas, because of a higher demand.

Software Engineering is not Engineering

2010-02-04T09:17:00.002+01:00

After I discovered for myself hackaday.com I realized that our faculty does not educate engineers. We are producing middle-ware "specialists" between the framework developers and the end users, that are able to compose high-level scripts that can pop-up forms and query databases. We are so got used to all possible abstraction layers that we don't see further than one layer below. Is it really engineering? Most of these "engineers" don't know how their fridge is working, not really their computers. Where is a creative thought? Where is deus ex machina?

Believing in Believing

2010-01-14T23:30:00.004+01:00

Things might happen if you really want them to happen. But if you don't want to want then they won't.

Observations

2010-01-09T23:24:00.004+01:00

If you want something to be done your way, either you do it yourself, or you become a Buddhist and let it go.

No company is better than a company with different interests.

If people are monkeys who use their intellect to get more bananas then I am a stupid monkey.

On Retardation

2009-12-28T00:13:00.000+01:00

I am not retarded, I am old-fashioned.

Got Pink?

2009-12-08T11:03:00.006+01:00

Have you ever found you clothes in shades of pink after washing? I am trying to be very careful and wash always my white clothes separately. Unfortunately, last Friday I washed most of my white things with a red napkin hidden in a pocket of my shorts.

The first reaction was, of course, panic and despair. Then I tried to put them overnight into "Vanish", containing hydrogen peroxide, I guess. No results. Then I left it for a day in a bleach for wool, silk, and cotton. I guess it did not contain any chlorine. So, no difference. Then I asked internet, and it appeared that there are several products designed exactly for this cases. The one I could get in Italy is called "Remedia" and it contains sodium carbonate and sodium ditionite. It comes in two packages solvable in 8-10 liters of water. I emptied one package into 15-20 liters of water (yes, I spoiled a lot of clothes) and left overnight. In the morning I found everything almost white, so I used the second package and left the washes for some more hours.

As a summary, this thing cost me just around 2 euros and saved my 6 T-shirts, 1 pair of shorts, 3 pairs of socks, and a bar of underwear. I made a promise if it worked I would made an advertisement for it. So it here is. In addition, they write it is also applicable to non-white clothes. I did not try!

La Verità Triste

2009-12-05T14:11:00.003+01:00

Per essere il principe azzuro, devo essere almeno un figlio di un re.

Western Mantra

2009-11-14T10:58:00.005+01:00

Everything is getting better and better, all the time, all the time ...

On Dating Scam

2009-11-04T13:55:00.004+01:00

Hello! You don't know me, but I shall be very glad to know you better. My name is Irina. I from Russia. To me of 25 years. I tired of games and I look for serious relationship. Could it be you? I am a pleasant woman, I like sport and I love kids. I shall write more about myself and I shall send the photo when you on write to me the letter. Thenks!

Irina. irinchik@yahoo.ru

I received many messages like this one, sometimes with pictures of beautiful women in attachment. I did not really believe that so many women in Russia are so desperate to get out of the country that they broadcast it over the internet through spamming channels. I got curious what is behind it and the internet, of course, already has the answer.

The phenomenon is called "Dating Scam" or "Russian Dating Scam". The women profiles are fictional. Once you respond to such a message, an impostor will attempt to convince you to transfer some money for travel expenses, legal fees, etc. There are several initiatives against dating scam. Those include on-line databases of faked profiles, e-mail black-lists, etc.

If you know any person who is involved in such a dirty business, make him suffer until he understands his mistake.

Random Wisdom

2009-10-30T12:10:00.001+01:00

If the things look too complex - zoom out!

Never Say Never

2009-09-22T12:58:00.001+02:00

- Never! Oops!

Return to Nature

2009-08-28T15:15:00.002+02:00

After I finish PhD I should plant and take care of at least 100 trees to compensate the amount of wasted paper.

On Paradoxes and Murphy's Laws

2009-07-14T09:43:00.002+02:00

If you wait for the death you will live longer.

On Wishes

2009-07-11T21:48:00.002+02:00

Another nice fairy-tale. For some we are what we eat, for others we are what we wear. For me we are what we do, and also what we wish.

On Senseless Talking and Modern Arts

2009-06-22T10:16:00.003+02:00

Blah blah blah-blah blah? Blah blah blah blah blah Blah. Blah blah blah blah?! Blah-blah blah blah blah blah blah blah. Blah blah blah, blah blah blah blah blah blah! Blah blah blah blahblah blah blah blah, blah blah blahblah blah blah blah blah blah. Blah...

Simple Truth

2009-06-13T00:16:00.002+02:00

You need to do what you need to do and there is no compromises!

On Choice and Love

2009-06-07T14:48:00.002+02:00

Some people love the things they could not get more than the things they got.

On Internet

2009-05-31T15:06:00.003+02:00

Internet is one of the greatest inventions. It gives an amazing opportunity to everyone to publicly insult the rest of humanity. You are all ugly monkeys!!!

On Populism

2009-05-30T00:53:00.002+02:00

If I decide to go for a politician's career in Italy, I'll need a picture with Dalai Lama.

On Unrequited Feelings

2009-05-28T11:09:00.005+02:00

I like fairy-tales. They can teach us many things.

On Greedy Strategies

2009-05-25T09:12:00.005+02:00

For many problems using greedy strategies does not necessarily lead to the optimal solution. In other aspects they seem to be flawless and are widely accepted.

Western Traditions

2009-04-26T17:40:00.001+02:00

Never ask me how I am, because you will always get "Fine, thank you, and you?" as an answer.

Dimensionality Curse

2009-04-11T00:04:00.001+02:00

Intelligence is rarely multidimensional.

Yet Another Clustering

2009-03-04T21:48:00.002+01:00

One can cluster all people into ones who buy pens, and into ones who doesn't mind using pens they don't remember where they got them.

To Hate or Not to Hate

2009-03-03T20:10:00.001+01:00

Should I hate people who waste my time or it is a waste of time?

Random Wisdom

2009-02-13T18:59:00.000+01:00

Got a problem? Run from it!

Arrest This Man, He Speaks in Math!

2009-02-05T16:15:00.002+01:00

On the 4th year of my studies I found out that our university's library has actually quite a solid collection of books in mathematics. As it was expected, most of them look untouched.

On Borrowing

2009-02-05T11:55:00.002+01:00

I'm OK to lend things to others. I just don't like when it becomes my problem to get it back.

Pearl of the Day

2009-01-28T11:24:00.001+01:00

There was something in her eyes. Probably a piece of broken rose-tinted glasses.

On Trends

2009-01-28T11:19:00.002+01:00

Recently they have produced high-budget movies on global warming and environment pollution (Quantum of Solace, Transporter 3, etc.). Now I'm waiting for high-budget movies about mortgage crisis.

Pearl of the Day

2009-01-13T11:48:00.001+01:00

"Say to me something positive." "Anode."

C++

2009-01-06T15:04:00.002+01:00

I realize that C++ is a very complex programming language. The reason for that is probably its general-purposeness. Whenever I open a reference book or some header file of the standard library I feel that my level of C++ programming is very lame.

On Strong Opinions

2009-01-04T15:30:00.003+01:00

I don't like people with strong opinions. They do not let others have their own opinions. They are useless to talk to, and it is never worth to make them change their mind. If it happens, the minimum amount of spent energy is equal to boiling 3.1415... tones of clear water with initial temperature +20C at the sea level.

Iededzies par Latviju

2008-12-22T13:05:00.008+01:00

Recently I visited the capital of European sex-tourism - Riga. Not in touristic purposes, but to cheer up my mother who lives there.

I don't read Latvian news frequently so I always take a bunch of newspapers on the plane. This time most of them were talking about the crisis. In the South Tirol you don't hear about the crisis because it is doing good.

In Latvia, however, the situation is tragical. Here and there I heard the evidences for it. The government doesn't have enough money to pay out pensions in March 2009. Every day up to 10 companies go bankrupt. Some facts and figures about Latvian economy can be seen in this article.

The government is viewed as incompetent even by extra-loyal electorate. One guy as a joke wrote a petition asking Sweden to occupy Latvia. I would suggest to follow the approach of ancient Russians and to hire a professional government from Sweden.

The country is deep in debts and will have to pay them back in the following years. My aunt said: "You are a smart boy, whatever you do, don't return here." So, should I still feel patriotic?

Come to the Dark Side, We Have Cookies

2008-12-12T10:21:00.000+01:00

"Anger, hate and scare all lead you to the dark side. Once you stepped into the dark side you cannot come back."

-- Ben Obi-Wan Kenobi

I'm writing my Ph.D. research report and watching old Star Wars movies. I think I'm almost there, in the dark side.

Forever 27 Club

2008-12-12T10:18:00.000+01:00

Recently I missed my ticket to forever 27 club. I guess, forever 28 is not so prestigious.

Money As Debt

2008-11-10T15:21:00.002+01:00

"Money as dept" is a 47 minute long movie by Paul Grignon explaining How's and Why's of the current monetary system in a very easy way.

I liked it very much and I recommend to watch it for everybody > 3 years-old :)

Here is a version with Russian dubbing-in.

Repositioning

2008-10-26T19:21:00.001+01:00

Nothing in the world has a meaning by itself. People give meanings to things. Since nothing really has a meaning, we are free to do what we like. Thus, if I do a PhD it means I like it.

Bug Attack

2008-10-21T18:49:00.000+02:00

Recently we fell under attack of little worms coming out of the section where we store our of flour, rice, polenta, semolina and other dry supplies. A similar attack has happened to another student flat some time ago.

I told my mom about the accident and she said that if I want to avoid such thing happen again I should put a slice of garlic in each pack. Who would imagine. Let's see if it is working.

More on Cold Shower

2008-10-13T15:09:00.000+02:00

Being cut off of warm water already for a week I continue to discover the advantages of having a cold shower every morning.

One of the most recent discoveries: if you take a cold shower the mirror in the bathroom never gets misted, so you can smile to it and see your blue happy face.

On Pessimism

2008-10-01T12:41:00.000+02:00

I heard already more than once that I am a pessimist. I am not a pessimist. I am an optimist who saves his optimism for better times.

On Reasons of Women Chauvinism

2008-09-30T10:38:00.000+02:00

This cartoon gives some insight on the reasons of women chauvinism. Luckily, not all girls are like the ones in this animation.

Some Nostalgy

2008-09-29T20:41:00.001+02:00

This is an old nice song by a Latvian band "The Hobos". The melody is pleasant, the words are catchy, the video is funny and at the end of it you can see my school in Riga.

On Musketeers

2008-09-28T00:17:00.000+02:00

There is a certain kind of people, called musketeers. Their moto is "one for all and all for one". It should not be confused with the communism, which is an economy model dealing with material properties.

Some Violent Humor

2008-09-22T11:30:00.001+02:00

The book is called "The Book of Bunny Suicides: Little Fluffy Rabbits Who Just Don't Want To Live Any More" and I probably will get it some day.

For those, who are wondering what's inside here are some scans on the web.

An Old Joke on The Matter of Sufficiency

2008-09-13T15:17:00.003+02:00

In USSR many Georgians who lived in other republics were commercially active an thus were considered sufficiently rich.

An old Georgian stands in a church silently. After a moment enters a Russian and starts to pray:

- God, please, let me get a bonus at the end of the year! It would be so great for my family. I could buy presents for my children and a new winter-coat for my wife. Please, please, let me get a bonus!

The Georgian listens to that and says to the Russian:

- How much is your bonus?

- 250 rubles!

The Georgian opens his wallet and gives money to the Russian:

- So, here you 300 and don't disturb God with such small things.

On Meaning of Life

2008-09-07T11:29:00.000+02:00

The question of the meaning of our lives comes when we are (relatively) free and don't need to fight for our survival. It doesn't come when we are in a lack of food or without a shelter, or when there is a heavenly-blessed telling that we live to serve him.

This question is like a slow poison. It brings a chaos in our lives, weakening our strengths, killing our moral and motivation. The reason for that is obvious. We have a long history of wars and usurpation. we just don't know how to live in peace and freedom.

The solution would be to learn how to live in peace and freedom. To set up goals and values in the society that have meaning when there is no-one to fight. This is a major change to the way we live now. So it is easier to start a new war.

On Greediness

2008-09-02T10:58:00.002+02:00

Greediness closely relates to selfishness. I'm not a saint myself, but let me give you a situation I had to observe several times.

Imagine you found an abandoned peach tree full of ripe (big, sweet, juicy, etc.) peaches. How many peaches would you take?

I would take some 5 for me and for my friends and leave the rest for the others. A greedy person would come with a trolley and take as much as he can. A more greedy might even cut the tree to get the ones from the top.

Now, a more difficult situation. Imagine you found a pile of diamonds. How many would you take?

On Cold War 2

2008-08-28T15:17:00.005+02:00

They say now blogs can do some influence. So, this is my drop in a sea.

The first cold war between USA and USSR ended in early 90-s with a break-up of USSR. Now it has the second incarnation. This time between USA and Russia and the battlefield is former USSR republics.

Who is interested in this war? Economically: everybody who is profiting from USA defense budget and weapon production plus some of their partners in Russia. Politically: the existence of "axises of evil" helps politicians to move the public focus from some other internal problems.

Who is losing in this war? Both Russia and USA are damaging their economies, but it is incomparable to the damage done to the former republics where are provoked nationalistic confrontations and even civil wars.

I call up to the people of former USSR republics to stop electing politicians who support either of the sides. Elect the ones who are able to increase the welfare of your country, not just their own welfare and international debts.

Research Resentment

2008-08-27T15:22:00.001+02:00

There are people who believe that if you dig deep enough in one place you will find a treasure. I don't question the validity of this approach, I question its rationality.

Growing Ego

2008-08-01T10:55:00.003+02:00

I've noticed that I'm becoming very selfish. I'm doing only the things I like or the things that are good for me. Even if I'm helping somebody it is just because sometimes I like to be helpful or useful.

Is it good or bad? May be everybody do so? May be it is the best way to go? What Christian or Zen moral says about this?

On Taxes

2008-07-27T12:10:00.001+02:00

Today I had a cyber-punk dream. It was in the future. I wanted to enter some city and there was an entrance tax. That surprised me, but now I think it is quite probable to happen. May be it have had been already in the past?

Speaking with a Believer

2008-07-18T21:51:00.002+02:00

Romkas: ... and if there is God ...

Believer: There is no "if"!

Sto Lat

2008-07-18T10:16:00.005+02:00

As you might know, in the first week of July I visited Lithuania to witness a Polish wedding of my friend and colleague. In short, the wedding was good. Particularly good were:

the bride
the groom
the best man (me)
the bridesmaids
the ceremony (only 15 minutes in a nice church)
a rain right after the ceremony
the parents of the couple together with aunts and uncles who prepared the event
a banquette place near the lake
fireworks after the midnight
a couple of guests after their first bottle of vodka

I guess sooner or later there will be some pictures online. So if you don't believe me, you can see it yourself.

P.S. "Sto Lat" in the title is not 100LVL, but the name of a Polish greeting song which was sung about 10 times during the wedding.

Inflation

2008-07-17T11:47:00.000+02:00

While visiting my home city I was shocked to learn that 0.5l of beer now costs there as much as here in Italy. If I was the state leader, I would bind the state currency to beer to prevent this happening instead of binding it to euros or any other currency.

Giovanni Allevi in Bolzano

2008-07-14T10:20:00.001+02:00

Having a crisis in my research I went for the inspiration to the concert of Giovanni Allevi yesterday. In one sentence - it is nice music to hear in your headphones while working, but not worth to go to the concert.

Now in details. The cheapest ticket was 25EUR. The place was a sport palace with not appropriate acoustics. The guy is very good pianist and the orchestra is very good orchestra. As a composer he is good, but I wouldn't call him a genius. The music he writes is comparable with background music played in some hollywood movies, but he is far from Enio Morricone or Yann Tiersen.

More French

2008-06-24T16:25:00.000+02:00

Continuing French theme started here :

Pearl of the Day

2008-06-24T16:22:00.000+02:00

Growing up is about changing dreams to responsibilities. Going crazy is about giving up responsibilities and turning back to dreams.

To Change or Not To Change

2008-06-19T02:45:00.000+02:00

My colleague said that after 25 our bad habits become a part of our personality. For me the perfectionism is a religion and changing is practicing it. I met people saying "I like myself as I am and I don't want to change", or "I don't want to be perfect", or "why would anybody need to change?". From my extreme perfectionist point of view these people are heretics.

Energy Saving

2008-06-11T13:18:00.001+02:00

There is a saying that people who don't care about anything have no soul. It seems that my soul is too big for me, so I'm learning to care less.

Russians and Eurovision

2008-06-06T12:45:00.002+02:00

Just listened to Russia's song on Eurovision song contest. I believe Russia has a great number of talented people. There was no need to appear in an international contest with a creepy remake of Cat Stevens's Wild World sang in broken English, exposing world best ice-skater. The fact that the song won the contest made it even worse.

On Purposefulness and Goal Orientation

2008-06-04T22:02:00.003+02:00

One day while being a student I came to a job interview at the company SWH-T. The position was called Lotus Notes developer which is a normal job at the beginning of the career (if you are an ambitious person you will run away from it after 1-2 years). I was already working, but SWH-T was a bigger company primarily focusing on software development which would be a nice experience for me. In addition, SWH-T was one of few big software companies in Latvia and it was collaborating with universities and having a number of students in its staff.

During the interview the main guy asked me how is my English, if I know anything about Lotus Notes, and what was my 3rd year project at the university. I answered that my English should be alright, I haven't seen Lotus Notes and my project was about approximation using cubic splines. The guy asked me why did I choose this topic and how it relates to what I'm going to do in life.

At that moment I understood that there are people that know what they want from life and they align all their activities according to their goals. I chose this topic for my project because I didn't understand it well during the course of numeric methods. I got 8 out of 10 for it, because I did it well, but nothing special from the mathematician's point of view (my supervisor was a cool mathematician). I was happy with it, because I was able to understand the topic.

I didn't get the job. I think they missed a good Lotus Notes developer, because I'm quite good at documents and scripting. Later on I was more prepared for job interviews and I got a job I was not really qualified to.

Starcraft Addiction

2008-06-04T09:30:00.000+02:00

Life is like a starcraft game - if you don't have a good strategy, you fail.

I'm back to my favorite computer game after 4 years break :) Still working hard, but trying to find some hour a day and try to kick my computer or human opponents.

On Symbolism and Emotions

2008-06-01T23:25:00.002+02:00

Symbols can be used to trigger our emotions. We learn those symbols while we grow and we develop our reaction to them as a reflex. A symbol can be anything. It is a pattern recognized by our brain. When we see little kittens we want to say how they are cute. When we read a quotation we usually agree with it, drain some motivation from it, and, hopefully, some experience.

In a company where I worked there was a ban for spreading "kitten messages". A "kitten message" is an e-mail message with attached slide show containing images, which are often kittens. As a rule, these "kitten messages" are supported with quotations.

Recently I received a "kitten message". I'm not keen on symbols, but this time I really liked two quotations. Here they are.

Never explain yourself to any one. Because the person who likes you doesn't need it, and the person who dislikes you won't believe it.

Don't let someone become a priority in your life, when you are just an option in their life.

U.K. vs. U.S.

2008-05-22T10:48:00.000+02:00

While making an illustration for my presentation I hit the fact that I don't know if it is grey or gray (I draw in PostScript, of course). The dictionary search clarified: both are correct, just one is British and another is American. Because computer trends are coming from U.S., for writing I'm using U.S. spelling. For speaking I prefer U.K. version. Sounds nicer.

Berries

2008-05-18T21:58:00.004+02:00

I often dispute about the names of some berries in different languages. Once I looked up the dictionary, so I publish the result here:

ru: брусника, lv: brūklene, en: red bilberry, red whortleberry, cowberry, mountain cranberry, de: Preiselbeere, it: mirtillo rosso
ru: клюква, lv: dzērvene, en: cranberry, de: Kranbeere, Moosbeere, it: ossicocco
ru: черника, lv: melene, en: bilberry, blueberry, de: Heidelbeere, it: mirtillo
ru: голубика, lv: zilene, en: great bilberry, de: Blaubeere, Sumpfheidelbeere, it: ?
ru: красная смородина, lv: jāņoga, en: red currant, de: Johannisbeere, Ribisel, it: ribes rosso
ru: черная смородина, lv: upene, en: black currant, de: Schwarze Johannisbeere, it: ribes nero
ru: малина, lv: avene, en: raspberry, de: Himbeere, it: lampone
ru: крыжовник, lv: ērkšķoga, en: gooseberry, de: Stachelbeere, it: uva spina
ru: морошка, lv: lācene, en: cloudberry, de: Multbeere, Sumpfbrombeere, it: ?

You can contribute to this list by adding the berries that are not in.