Byron Unplugged

It's been twenty years since Nirvana's famous Unplugged in New York concert and this style is still making proselytes. I discovered today a DVD recorded by Byron (a Romanian band) a few years ago. I listened to a few songs from this LP and they sound very nice, but I picked this one where they sing together with Paula Seling: "Rad cand imi vine sa plang" (which means I laugh when I feel like crying). Enjoy!

A vota sau a nu vota?

Iar se apropie alegerile si spre deosebire de alte dati am vazut in ultimul timp mai multe apeluri de boicotare a votului. Argumentul adus este ca toti sunt la fel si ca partidele existente nu ne reprezinta. Insa acest argument este fals dupa parerea mea. Chiar daca nu vorbim despre masurile economice propuse de diferite partide, eu am un criteriu foarte simplu dupa care clasific partidele in momentul de fata: atitudinea lor fata de membrii de partid cercetati sau condamnati penal. DNA a anchetat foarte multi politicieni din toate partidele in ultimii ani. Sunt unele partide care in aceasta situatie au organizat mitinguri de sustinere (cazuri recente sunt presedintele consiliului judetean la Ages, primarii din Navodari sau Constanta, toti de la PSD) sau chiar au promovat in functii guvernamentale oameni trimisi in judecata (cum a fost Fenechiu de la PNL). Ori acest lucru este inacceptabil din punctul meu de vedere. Un minim standard de etica in politica ar fi demisia dintr-o functie publica in care ai fost ales sau numit in momentul in care esti cercetat pentru fapte penale. Cum putem avea incredere in cineva sa ne administreze banii publici in momentul in care este suspectat de furt sau coruptie?

In concluzie voi merge la vot si voi vota unul din partide care respecta aceste minime standarde etice. Si ii incurajez si pe cunoscutii mei sa mearga la vot, caci e important ce rezultatele sa fie determinate cat mai mult de optiunile unor oameni independenti decat de a celor dependenti de ajutorul autoritatilor si care sunt incolonati la vot de primari sau alti functionari.

P.S. 1. Asta nu inseamna ca nu sunt de acord cu propunerile celor de la Uniti Salvam: legea partidelor si cele electorale trebuie schimbate pentru a permite mai usor intrarea unor actori noi pe scena politica. Dar aceste schimbari trebuie facute de parlament si solutia este sa punem presiune pe parlamentari sa faca aceste schimbari, nu sa nu mai venim la vot.

2. Tot astazi au loc alegeri in Ucraina, iar in unele zone oamenii nu vor putea vota din cauza amenintarilor separatistilor pro-rusi. Noi macar putem de aproape 25 de ani sa votam liber si fara alte amenintari.

3. Priviti acest clip de mai jos. E vorba despre niste puscariasi care vrajesc oamenii cu vorbele lor. Acolo e doar o metafora, dar asta se intampla chiar in realitate la noi din pacate...

Prima problema de matematica

Am vazut recent o serie de articole despre Olimpiada Internationala de Matematica si interviuri cu fost castigatori, asa ca am zis sa incep si eu seria de postari despre matematica la care ma gandesc de ceva vreme.

Povestea asta este de cand eram in clasa a doua. Intr-o seara a venit mama la mine cu manualul de matematica de la scoala si mi-a zis: rezolva problema asta. Era o problema de genul Ion si Gheorghe au impreuna 100 de mere. Ion are cu 20 de mere mai multe decat Gheorghe. Cate mere are fiecare dintre ei? Am stat eu un timp si m-am gandit, apoi am dat raspunsul corect, insa nu am fost in stare sa explic cum am ajuns la el (sper ca nu am facut prin incercari totusi :)). Chestia e ca eu nu aveam problema asta la tema, caci nu ajunsesem inca la lectia respectiva, dar mama auzise la niste colegi de serviciu ca li s-a dat copiilor aceasta tema si nu prea au reusit sa o rezolve si a vrut sa ma testeze.

Peste multi ani am citit intr-o carte despre olimpiadele de matematica cum ca aceasta este prima problema de matematica din scoala. In sensul ca chiar daca stii materia predata pana atunci (adica adunarea si scaderea), nu e un simplu exercitiu in care aplici ce ti s-a predat, ci trebuie sa gandesti o solutie la ceva nou. Desigur ca daca ti se explica cum se face poti sa rezolvi pe urma o suta de probleme asemanatoare, dar daca vreti sa vedeti daca copilul vostru are inclinatie spre matematica, dati-i problema asta sa o rezolve singur dupa ce a invatat adunarea si scaderea. De aici porneste toata aventura in lumea fascinanta a matematicii.

1Q84

Magic realism style was invented as far as I know by the Latin-American writers (like Marques or Llosa), but Murakami si very good at it too. In 1Q84 the world described has a strange feeling even from the first pages with that surrealistic descent of Aomame from a suspended highway to escape a traffic jam. By the beginning of the second volume (where I am currently) the space-time has serious flaws and the two parallel stories of Tengo and Aomame are on a collision course. Can we get as far as in "Time Out of Joint" or it will be something else? I'll see when I finish the book.
As in many other of his books, Murakami makes many references to various musical pieces, from classical music to jazz and rock. Some of them are recurring like Janacek's Sinfonietta, but others appear like gems hidden deep down in the ground, like the one page description and analysis of the Atlanta Blues by Loius Armstrong and the All Stars (in this description the clarinetist Barney Bigard is the actual star). So I searched this song on YouTube and it really sounds nice. And if you have the curiosity to read the comments from the video posted below you will see that many people landed on that page after reading about the song in 1Q84. Enjoy :)

Cover Power: Don't Believe a Word

One more cover power session, this time it's one of the most celebrated Romanian hard-rock bands, Iris, which covered in 1996 a song from Thin Lizzy. The Romanian version is quite well known and for a long time I didn't even know it was a cover of another song. Below are the two versions: Sa nu crezi nimic from Iris and Don't Belieave a Word from Thin Lizzy. Enjoy!

Greenback Boogie

I started watching recently Suits TV series. It's a nice one, but what I noticed from the first episodes was the title song. So here it is, Greenback Boogie:

Cover Power: I Want You

I stumbled upon a nice cover of Bob Dylan by a Romanian blues singer Alexandru Andries. In fact he did a full LP (Alb-Negru, i.e. White-Black) with covers from Dylan in 1999. He took some songs, wrote brand new lyrics in Romanian that only resemble the original ones. The result is nice, I'm puzzled that only recently I discovered these covers.



Here is also the original song:

Nadal, Federer and the New Year's Resolution

I read a few months ago the biography of Rafael Nadal, Rafa: My Story. Maybe it is not the book of the year, but nevertheless it contains an important message: in order to achieve anything important one needs not only talent, but also a lot of hard work. His arch-rival, Roger Federer, posted recently a similar message on his Facebook page, so if there is a resolution that I should have for the new year is to work hard: on my job, at home and also on the tennis court (don't show this message to Madalin though :). Since some of my work at home is entertaining Sabina, that would mean that I will also have play hard ;)

Cand ai scoala, dar nu ai rusine

La doua zile dupa scandalul legat de modificarile codului penal Varujan Pambuccian continua sofismele pe facebook legat de definitia functionarului public din Codul Penal. Dupa exegeze privind dictatura lui Hitler si imunitatea parlamentarilor, afirma urmatoarele aici:

"Ceea ce am votat ieri se referă la faptul că parlamentarii și funcționarii publici sunt lucruri diferite. Dealtfel, legislația care se referă la cele două categorii este complet diferită și disjunctă. Singurul loc în care lucrurile s-au amestecat este cel al codurilor. Cele două coduri (penal și civil) au fost modificate repede și pe picior anul trecut. Există o grămadă de lucruri contradictorii în ele, și din ce în ce mai multe ies la lumină odată ce judecătorii le sesizează (de cele mai multe ori la cursurile pentru aplicarea lor). Unul dintre ele este și cel legat de asimilarea celor două categorii.

Hai să vedem câteva aberații care ar reieși din asimilare:
1. Funcționarii publici sunt numiți. Parlamentarii sunt aleși. Cum ar fi să ne alegem funcționarii publici sau să numim parlamentarii.
2. Funcționarii publici sunt inamovibili. Parlamentarii au mandat de 4 ani. Cum ar fi să avem parlamentari inamovibili sau să schimbăm funcționarii publici din 4 în 4 ani.
3. Funcționarii publici sunt salarizați (ceea ce presupune un anumit tip de raporturi de muncă). Parlamentarii primesc o indemnizație, tocmai pentru că (în conformitate cu Constituția), mandatul nu este imperativ.
4. Funcționarii emit acte administrative. Parlamentarii nu emit niciodată acte administrative, ci legi. Chestia cu trasul la răspundere pentru actele administrative, subiect extrem de dezbătut în presă. nu are obiect. Sau poate are, dacă de mâine cineva decide că legile sunt acte administrative. Tot printr-o asimilare de-asta. Constituția discerne clar și aici, dar atunci când statul de drept este doar o vorbă în spatele căruia se construiesc instrumentele unei dictaturi, se poate și asta. Și exemplele pot continua."

Domnul Pambuccian esta absolvent de matematica si stie prea bine ce este aceea o definitie si de asemenea stie ca orice text cat de cat organizat (articol stiintific, carte, lege) are o sectiune in care se definesc termenii cu care opereaza in continuare. Iar articolul 147 din codul penal exact asta face: defineste o categorie de cetateni care activeaza in domeniul public si pentru care apoi sunt definite diverse infractiuni. Asta nu are de-a face cu legea functionarilor publici, statutul parlamentarilor, mandate imperative sau orice alte aberatii care sunt vehiculate zilele acestea. Daca parlamentarii au o problema cu titulatura de functionar public atunci pot sa schimbele numele in ce vor ei, categoria X sau Y. Dar este inadmisibil sa vrei sa spui ca unora din cei care au functii publice nu li se aplica conflictele de interese (acest lucru este explicat foarte clar si aici). Iar afirmatia de la punctul 4 de mai sus este falsa, caci parlamentarii emit acte administrative cand semneaza contracte de munca pentru angajatii cabinetelor parlamentare. Exact pentru asta sunt cercetati unii parlamentari (nu pentru votul lor sau opinia exprimata in parlament), pentru ca si-au angajat rudele la cabinetele parlamentare. Si tocmai aceste fapte vor sa le dezincrimineze. Multe cabinete parlamentare au zero activitate, uneori nu au nici macar un sediu declarat, insa banii alocati luna de luna fiecarui parlamentar pentru acest lucru se scurg catre angajatii acestora.

De asemenea domnul Pambuccian, alaturi de ceilalti parlamentari (aproape toti de la USL, UDMR, PPDD, minoritati si 2 de la PDL) au votat urmatoarele:
- modificarea articolului 74: daca esti prins ca ai furat pana in 100.000 de euro si dai banii inapoi nu patesti nimic, daca e pana in 500.000 de euro iei o amenda; deci practic poti sa furi linistit!
- modificarea articolului 253: conflictul de interese se va aplica doar celor care au un contract de munca; adica primarii, presedintii de consilii judetene, consilierii locali sau judeteni, parlamentarii pot da contracte rudelor, firmelor personale fara a pati nimic;
- modificarea articolul 156: daca unei persoane dintr-un grup infractional i se aplica prescriptia, atunci tuturor celor care au participat la acea fapta beneficiaza de prescriptie;

Acum sa va spun cateva cuvinte despre domnul Pambuccian. Dansul este reprezentantul minoritatii armene in parlament, o minoritate mica in zilele noastre. Pentru a fi reprezentantul unei minoritati ai nevoie de un numar de voturi (vreo 2-3000 parca) care sa ateste ca acea minoritate mai exista in Ro. Cum armenii sunt din ce in ce mai putini, domnul Pambuccian si-a construit o nisa electorala: prietenul IT-istilor. Este adevarat ca de-a lungul timpului a sustinut multe initiative legate de IT, iar lumea din domeniu l-a apreciat pentru asta. Cunosc oameni care in mod constant l-au votat la Camera Deputatilor la mai multe randuri de alegeri. Chiar eu i-am indemnat uneori pe cei scarbiti de politica sa-l voteze pe el in loc sa-si anuleze votul sau sa stea acasa. Dar aici drumurile noastre se despart. Caci prietenul inamicilor mei nu poate fi prietenul meu, iar domnul Pambuccian a dovedit prin acest vot (si prin insistenta de a-l apara in plin scandal mediatic) ca este prietenul penalilor. Problema cu IT-istii este ca inteleg destul de usor ce este o definitie, ce sens are modificarea ei si ca pot comunica foarte usor intre ei in ziua de azi. Asa ca am sa fac tot posibilul ca aceste randuri sa ajunga la cat mai multi dintre ei cu urmatorul mesaj:

Nu il mai votati niciodata pe domnul Pambuccian, caci este un prieten al penalilor!

P.S. Am atasat o captura a comentariului de pe Facebook in caz ca va fi sters mai tarziu

 

Sweet Dreams

This is a cover of Eurythmics, I would call it sweet and sours dreams :), but it is still nice nevertheless:

Happy Birthday, Romania!

Today is our national day, we celebrate 95 years since all the provinces inhabited by Romanians were reunited in a single state. Since that time some parts of those provinces were lost after the second world war, the most important part being Basarabia, which was part of USSR after the war, but now it's an independent country, Republic of Moldavia. The good news is that in the last years the government of Moldavia decided to pursue the integration of the country in the European Union and just a few days ago they signed an important commercial agreement with the EU.
The weather is not very nice in this part of the year, so we just took a walk outside, but I noticed much more many flags at the windows then in other years. The politicians did their show as usual, eager to attract some sympathy from the public. In many cities they organize nowadays public gatherings for this day where often food is given away for free (most popular are beans with sausages and stuffed cabbage), so we decided to have for lunch today a similar menu: beans with sausages, pickles and a delicious apple juice from Itesti.

The proof is below:

South of the Border, West of the Sun

"South of the Border, West of the Sun" is the first novel from Murakami that I finally get to read. I tried twice before, but probably I was not in the mood for reading at that time since I didn't manage to get past the first few pages. But this one hooked me and now I'm in the world of feelings and remorses of Hajime. What strikes me most is the contrast with a book that I read many years ago: "The Book of Laughter and Forgetting" by Kundera. While Kundera writes about how our memories wear off until we don't recognize them any more, Hajime's life is full of feelings and memories from his youth. The book is full of references (including the title) to classical and jazz songs, but the most mentioned one is Star-Crossed Lovers of Duke Ellington, so here is it:

NLP for Children

Natural language processing has always been my favorite topic from artificial intelligence field. Let's remember that many anthropologists think that our elaborate language is the feature that makes us humans and distinguish us from the rest of the animals. Also, the famous Turing test for artificial intelligence says that a computer should be able to have such an elaborate conversation with a human, that the person would not be able to tell that he is talking in fact with a computer. For years the NLP field developed as computational linguistics with all kinds of grammars and tree structures, but the breakthrough is this field occurred when statistical methods were applied. On the other hand, there is a lot of research on how the children actually learn to speak. It is amazing that in about an year or so a child is able to understand what is said around her and she starts talking. In this paper are presented three cases of learning of various language features by children and the first case is how the babies of 6-7 months old learn to segment the continuous speech into distinct words. The findings suggest that they in fact apply statistical learning and segment the words on consecutive syllables the are unlikely to occur one after the other. This is just amazing, the same principle is used in many NLP algorithms. So clearly I must step up my skills in statistics to keep up with these youngsters that use them from the first months of life :)

Like a Bosch

I read this morning an editorial called Bosch's Code from a Romanian newspaper. Nothing in there about auto parts or electrical machines, nor about the factories that Bosch has in Romania at Cluj and Blaj, it was all about the painter Hieronymus Bosch. The author recently quit his career in Romanian politics and maybe the abjection of political life is what draw him into the subject of Bosch's paintings, nevertheless it is an interesting read, all about art with a twist about faith at the end. To add some background music to this reading I will post the video of Metallica's "Until It Sleeps", one of my favorite songs from them. When I first saw this video I thought that it looks like a Bosch painting, which is a bit weird in the first place, but it seems that I had a "bad" entourage in high school :) Now I just verified my feeling and there is it: Metallica actually made this video with themes from Bosch's paintings, the details are here.

Ender's Game - The Movie

I recently attended a course called Personal Leadership and Influence which I liked a lot (very good trainers, challenging setting with lots of team projects in four days). It teaches you all kind of stuff about how to interact with various kind of people in various situations, to be aware about how you feel and think and how different other people might feel and think, how to work in a team and overcome blocking points and more. When I went last night to see Ender's Game movie I realized this is what attracted me to Ender's story in the first place when I read the book. It was not the fights with the aliens or whatever technologies, but the story of how Ender becomes a leader, managing and block-busting the difficult situations he encounter at each step. The movie is good, they managed to create a nice orbiting space battle school, including the zero gravity battle room, but it is very condensed comparing to the book. I would have liked to see more school battles with the associated details about various conflicts and team spirit building that is described in the book. So even if you would go and see this movie, you should not skip the book, it is much nicer and complex. Below is one of the trailers of the movie:

Memory of a song

That happened last night, I started hearing in my head at some point the chorus of a song that I didn't know very well, probably heard on the radio some years ago. It must have been a loose Halloween soul that brought it to my mind, although I didn't see any witch flying on broom by my window. The words were something with dream about you or dream about me and after a little research on Google I found it. I listened it like 10 times since last night, I even sang it to Sabina this morning and she seems to like it, so here it is: Moby - Dream About Me. Enjoy!

Is TV good for children?

Well, we all know that TV is bad for children, but this guy actually proved it using a scientific method. He replicated such an environment for mice and studied their behavior afterwards. On the other hand, the lack of interaction with a child can affect him badly too and the sad part is that the example in this case is from a Romanian orphan house.



So you'd better turn off that TV and play with your children!

Maria Tanase

I never knew much about Maria Tanase, but her songs seemed to be with me from as long as I remember. I heard and sang them at home, then I sang them with my friends at parties and now I sing them as lullaby songs to my daughter. Below there is a collage of some rare moments when she was caught on camera:



Happy 100th birthday, Maria Tanase, wherever you are!

P.S. If you want more details about her life there is a nice blog entry here (in Romanian).

Te intreb daca vezi vreo schimbare?

la oamenii din jur...



"Victoria" e unul din cele mai triste cantece ale anilor 90. Acei ani in care iluziile revolutiei s-au spulberat sub lampasele minerilor si ceata groasa a acelor vremuri.

Insa la manifestatia de aseara am vazut alti oameni, nu veniti din budele din centrul vechi cum declara saptamana trecuta lacheul de Badea, ci oameni care merg sa stranga gunoaiele din natura cu cei de la Let's do it, Romania!, sau oameni care merg sa planteze copaci cu cei de la Plantam fapte bune, sau oameni care au oprit de doua ori schimbarile la codul silvic alaturi de WWF Romania, sau oameni care merg de Craciun sa duca daruri copiilor orfani, sau oameni care merg sa faca lectii cu copii defavorizati, sau oameni care merg sa refaca marcajele turistice de pe munte, sau oameni care aduna pisicute de pe strazi si le dau spre adoptie, sau oameni care merg sa monitorizeze delfinii din Marea Neagra cu cei de la Mare Nostrum, sau oameni care curata de bucati de parc lasate in paragina sau retrocedate, sau oameni care se lupta in justitie pentru a stopa constructiile ilegale ca cei de la Salvati Bucurestiul, sau cei care scot de un an de zile pe cheltuiala lor un ziar despre Bucuresti, sau biciclisti care fac marsuri pentru a avea piste pe care sa mearga, sau oameni care alearga la crosuri si maratoane pentru cauze caritabile. Toti acesti oameni au fost aseara in strada, au marsaluit ore intregi prin Bucuresti, Cluj si alte orase si s-au simtit solidari. Iar la sfarsit au declarat triumfatori ceea ce stiau deja: Frate, am invins! Caci da, in aceasta saptamana am invins inertia si teama de a te solidariza cu necunoscutii de langa tine si credinta ca cei de la putere sunt intangibili. Aceasta e schimbarea pe care am vazut-o aseara la oamenii din jur. Si sper ca aceasta schimbare va genera o schimbare si la nivelul societatii.

Capitularea politicienilor a venit la nici jumatate de zi diferenta.

Cercul de matematica

Recent m-a contactat cineva care face o lucrare de doctorat despre copilaria anilor 80 din Romania si despre activitatile extracuriculare care se faceau atunci. In mod particular am fost rugat sa povestesc despre cercul de matematica la care participam, iar daca tot am scris aceasta poveste o postez si aici:

Povestea cercului de mate a inceput in clasa a patra. Intr-o zi m-a intrebat mama daca ne-a zis la scoala de noul cerc care se face duminica (pe atunci sambata era zi lucratoare, deci si zi de scoala). Invatatoarea de la clasa mea nu ne zisese (se pare ca nu se intelegea cu domnul profesor Dinu), dar cum mama auzise de el de la colegii ei de serviciu care aveau copii de-o seama cu mine, duminica urmatoare m-am prezentat la cerc. Si de atunci am tot tinut-o asa pana la sfarsitul clasei a opta. In primul rand era o activitate care ma prindea de minune: probleme grele, teme de pe o saptamana pe alta la care ma gandeam in timpul meu liber. Imi amintesc si acum ce bucuros am fost cand am rezolvat una din problemele cu condamnatul la moarte care de data asta scapa formuland un paradox. In clasa a cincea s-a schimbat structura cercului si profesorii. In primul rand cei care erau mai buni la mate stateam grupati la ora de mate si primeam de lucru separat. Apoi urma cercul de mate saptamanal, tot cu Craciunescu, proful de la clasa, iar in preajma olimpiadelor am facut niste sedinte integrati cu cei de la clasele mai mari care sperau sa prinda un loc la nationala, desi la clasa a cincea nu exista o faza nationala a olimpiadelor. Sedintele acestea se faceau cu cel mai respectat profesor de matematica din Mangalia la vremea aceea, domnul Henny (in memoria lui se organizeaza si in ziua de azi un concurs de matematica la Mangalia). Din clasa a sasea m-am mutat in Constanta, iar aici am continuat pe de o parte sa lucrez separat la clasa impreuna cu alti cativa colegi si pe de alta parte sa particip la cercul care se tinea pe tot orasul Constanta. Aici i-am cunoscut si pe cei mai buni elevi din oras, dar si pe cei mai buni profesori, caci profii se roteau de la o saptamana la alta si prezentau cate o alta tema. Cu majoritatea celor pe care i-am cunoscut aici am fost mai apoi coleg de liceu si chiar si de facultate cu o parte din ei.  Revolutia am trait-o bine-nteles in tabara de mate din vacanta de iarna, la Sangeorz-Bai. Profesorul Moraru a fost cel care, usor cherchelit, ne-a tinut primul discurs despre ce oportunitati ni se deschid in fata o data cu prabusirea comunismului. Conditia era, nu-i asa, sa continuam sa invatam cu burta pe carte la mate :) In clasa a sasea am mers la olimpiada nationala, iar in clasa a saptea eram deja asa de legat de gasca de la cerc incat am refuzat sa merg la nationala la fizica (luasem locul intai cu nota 10 la faza pe judet) si am preferat sa merg la nationala la mate ca rezerva, caci iesisem abia al patrulea la faza pe judet. Daca la nationala am luat o nota rusinoasa (despre care Craciunescu, aflat si el acolo cu elevii din Mangalia, m-a sfatuit prieteneste sa nu pomenesc prea des :) ), in schimb am avut ocazia sa vad in acele zile petrecute la Ploiesti primul spectacol live cu cei de la Divertis. Atmosfera de la cerc era deseori glumeata, uneori chiar si ironica, asa ca am gustat din prima umorul "ingineresc" al celor de la Divertis. Era prima data din cate imi amintesc cand pur si simplu ma prapadeam de ras. Din fericire traditia cercului nu s-a destramat imediat dupa revolutie, iar noi am continuat sa ne tinem de problemele noastre saptamana de saptamana pana la sfarsitul clasei a opta. Chiar daca pana la urma am optat pentru o cariera in informatica (dupa ce in liceu am cochetat din nou si cu fizica, caci am avut probabil cel mai bun profesor din sud-estul Europei :), pe domnul Bararu), matematica mi-a ramas intotdeauna in suflet. Caci daca in inginerie si fizica mai poti face o aproximatie (o iei la pila ca sa se potriveasca cum se zice pe la noi :)), la matematica lucrurile sunt intotdeauna clare: ai demonstrat cerinta problemei sau nu, a treia varianta nu exista.

La final doua intamplari de peste ani:
- la prima ora de la cursul de computer vision de la University of Maryland, cu un profesor grec, Aloimonos, o somitate de nivel modial in domeniu; proful ii pune pe rand pe fiecare din studenti sa se prezinte si sa spuna din ce tara sunt; ajunge si la mine si ii spun ca sunt din Romania, la care se opreste si incepe sa ne povesteasca cum cand era el elev profii ii bateau la cap sa invete la mate si le ziceau ca in Romania elevii fac ore suplimentare in fiecare zi la matematica si o sa le-o ia inainte; se pare ca cercurile de matematica din Romania erau deja celebre de ceva vreme...

- la unul din primele mele interviuri la angajare din Bucuresti prin 2004 dau peste o echipa care incepuse sa practice stilurile de interviu ale celor de la Microsoft si Google. Probleme de tot felul, printre care si de logica. Fac o problema, iar pe urma imi dau inca una pe care o stiam. Le zic ca o stiu, iar ei ma intreaba un pic circumspecti: de unde o stii? Pai din clasa a patra, de la cercul de mate. Asta a pus capat acelei sectiuni a interviului, eram suficient de calificat :)

La nouvelle chansonette francaise

I didn't listen for a while any French music, but recently I saw on a wall this chansonette :)



And I liked it.

Royals

If elegance is an attitude (like in the Longines commercials with Andre Agassi and Steffi Graf), couldn't royalty be the same? Just rule your world, but also be kind with it, and voila, you are the king of your castle :)

New Placebo Song in Town

Today I heard on Radio Guerrilla a new song by Placebo, Too Many Friends. Apparently this song is so new, that I didn't find it on YouTube! Or maybe they have a very aggressive copyright protection policy. However, I found a cover of this song which actually sounds pretty good, so here we go:



I like also the lyrics about the proliferation of virtual friends/"friends" for which you will not really be able/want to be there for. And this is really true my friend...

Update: After two more weeks the official version of this song appeared on YouTube:

Dr. Spock

I started reading a new book about 8 weeks ago and it's very instructive. Dr. Spock's Baby and Child Care is a reference book for taking care of your baby and child in U.S. and I guess even worldwide. It's not only about the practical advises that one can read about like the possible causes why the baby might cry, but it also gives you an overview of how the child will develop and how the parents should learn to deal with all these new problems, learn not to panic and still enjoy the ride. It's not a book to read in a few days or weeks, but in the years to come.

Everybody's Changing

Everything changes when you have a child, so like the song says: everybody's changing and I don't feel the same :)

Se habla espagñol

"Se habla espagñol" is the poster I saw in many store windows in U.S., indicating to non-English speakers that they can be served in Spanish inside. That's what I'll try to do myself, for those who would want to talk with me in Spanish, and not in Romanian or English. I've been trying to learn Spanish for a long time, as I like very much the sound of this language (probably because I have problems pronouncing the sound "s" and I sound similar to how it is pronounced in Spanish). I also like many writers of Spanish language, like Llosa or Marquez and it would be nice to read their novels in original one day. The problem with foreign languages is that you need to make a sustained effort over a long period of time in order to become proficient and as I will do it for fun, I may become easily distracted into something else. Not to mention that I would also like to learn a million of other things, but my time resources are more and more constrained lately :) So what makes me so confident that I will manage to learn Spanish this time? Well, it's a site called Duolingo that I discovered recently (via this blog post). Their approach is very interactive, it covers all aspects of communication (reading, writing, hearing and speaking). They also have a track record, and levels that can be unlocked only if you get a certain number of points, so it's like a quest game. And they also have a mobile application, so you can do a lesson or some exercises every time you have a few spare minutes. All this content is free and even if you are not into Spanish, they also offer lessons for German, French, Italian or Portuguese.
After all the computer languages I've studied since finishing high school (Java, C, C++, Prolog, Lisp, OCaml, Python, SQL, PL/SQL, XML, HTML, BPEL and probably more) it's nice to study a human language again :)

LLA

The whole song is about going to Radio Guerrilla, right? It's like a long gingle, but it's nice though...

Off & On

If you ever asked yourself if I like obsessive songs, then yes, I do like obsessive songs. So here's a new one from Findlay, a band so new that they're still offering free mp3 downloads on their site. Kudos to Radio Guerrilla and their musical board for bringing this band to Romania's radio waves.

Robot Rock

This is one of the coolest applications of computer science I've ever seen. A group of robots performing a rock song: there is a robot playing drums with four sticks (like Bonham from Led Zeppelin) and another two playing bass and guitar, but also headbanging while playing. What's missing is the vocals, but I'm sure they're working on it.

Where Do the Ducks Go?

If you read The Catcher in The Rye by Salinger you may remember the question that one of the characters asks himself:

"I live in New York, and I was thinking about the lagoon in Central Park, down near Central Park South. … I was wondering where the ducks went when the lagoon got all icy and frozen over. I wondered if some guy came in a truck and took them away to a zoo or something. Or if they just flew away."

Since this is a famous book, the administration of Central Park felt compelled to offer an explanation here. I can confirm from my visits in IOR park from Titan that the ducks on the lake don't migrate in the winter, they are always there.

But other birds do migrate, so the question is legitimate in their case: where do they go when they go? Luckily, the modern technology is helping again, so by attaching a transmitter to a small eagle's leg a team managed to track the exact migration pattern of the bird for a couple of years. You can see in these maps how the eagle (called Narcis) flew each autumn over 10.000 kilometers from Sibiu county in Romania to Turkey, Egypt and all the way down to South Africa. And back in the spring. Isn't that amazing?

Moonlight Breakfast

The sound, the rhythm, the voice, all are very good in this band. I can't get enough of them, so I decided to post two songs: "No More", a sad song which reminds me on Amy Winehouse (although the voice reminds me of Duffy), but not quite depressive like Portishead:
and "Play", a happy song with an unexpected clarinet solo:

Is one hour enough?

Today it's Earth Hour, that one day when people around the world turn the lights off for an hour, showing their respect for the planet Earth. The cynics say that one hour in a year of turning off your lights makes no difference in the end, but this event is about much more than that. Not only that WWF (the NGO that had this idea in the first place) organizes many other events related to this day (like the contest for the official Earth Hour city which was organized in Romania and which resulted in collecting over 9 tonnes of plastics, or the pledges I will if you will), but more important, Earth Hour is about changing people's attitudes towards our environment. If that hour in the dark will make you think before you print the next day, or about the products you consume the next week, or about the water you waste every day, or about how to recycle all the plastics that you through away then the effects will be bigger and everlasting the few watt hours that you save in that hour. So go on and enjoy tonight's "dark" hour!

Happy Saint Patrick's Day!

And a traditional Irish song for today:


And if this doesn't say much to you, try this version:

Pure nostalgia

I always liked this song, but I never knew who sings it. Until yesterday when I heard it on the radio in the car and I decided to find out its name once and forever. This was not on the playlist of Radio Guerrilla, the voice didn't sound familiar and I couldn't remember the lyrics, so it was a tough task to find it. I looked first at a list of most famous alternative rock bands, I picked some that I didn't know so well, then I started looking among their songs: Radiohead, Pearl Jam, Soundgarden, but no luck. Then I searched some tops of all time best alternative rock songs and I tried listening the ones I didn't recognized on the list, but it was too time consuming. Then I found another type of top, a collage of best songs compiled but somebody. So I just listened the collage until I recognized the song I was looking for: 1979 from The Smashing Pumpkins.

Another plugin bytes the dust

Two years ago I went to a conference at University Politehnica of Bucharest and in one of the panel discussions there was a topic about the future of web technologies. I stated my point that plugins in browsers are annoying and the trend in the following years will be to get rid of them. Some guys from Adobe Romania were very vehement and upbeat about the future of Flash especially. Two years on the situation is clear: Flash was banned on iPhones and iPads for stability and security reasons, Adobe announced that they will no longer develop Flash and open-sourced the Flex platform, we have a version of YouTube that runs videos using HTML5 player. And a few days ago Mozilla released a new version of Firefox that has a PDF viewer, so you can see PDF files in browser without using the Adobe Reader plugin. I am on the beta update channel for Firefox, so I had this feature for a couple of months and it works just fine. Since the PDF viewer is written in JavaScript and it's open source I expect a similar feature to occur in the other browsers in the near future. Enjoy!

El Plato Supreme

The patent war goes to Super Bowl. Maybe you heard about patents, but even if you didn't, they already affect your life one way or another. The principle behind the concept of patents is correct, namely to protect one's invention for a period of time, so that he can excessively benefit from her idea. The problem is that this system leads to everybody rushing to claim a patent on any idea they have each morning and to formulate their brand new idea as vague as possible, so one can later claim that is applicable in different places than where was used originally. In IT field the result was also a series of patent wars and lots of litigation, which further made companies acquire as many patents as possible in what is effectively an arms race. The latest war of this kind is between Samsung and Apple over the design and features of smart phones and this war was brought to the most watched television event in U.S., the Super Bowl final in American football, by the commercial bellow. Enjoy the game!

More good music and good tennis

It seems the year started well for my stumble on music discovery, cause I found another cool band, this time on the monitors from Hard-Rock Cafe in Bucharest. Silversun Pickups produced 3 LPs so far, but they are still in the phase of opening concerts for other bands (like Muse or Placebo).



On the other hand, the first grand slam of the year in Australia produced an epic match between Djokovic and Wawrinka. Below is the match point after 5 hours of play, one of the most beautiful match points I ever saw:

A Short History of Nearly Everything

After his analyses of English and U.S. societies and into Shakespeare, Bill Bryson turns his eye on science in his book A Short History of Nearly Everything. Mr. Bryson was trained in humanities, but he still remembers a diagram from the fifth grade describes how the Earth looks inside if slice it to its core. What haunts him is the question: how the heck do the people know what is inside the Earth since nobody really dug a hole to its center? That led him to embark on a quest of three years of documentation about the history of natural sciences that resulted in this book. His write is entertaining as always and he shed light not only on the various scientific discoveries, but also on the many characters behind them. From well know figures (like Newton or Einstein) to less know people who were often unlucky to discover something but not be recognized for it or even worth be derided for it (like the Englishmen who had the intuition of the periodic nature of chemical elements a couple of years before Mendeleev, but was not taken seriously). It is a fascinating history that makes you fully appreciate the great distance that science evolved in the last 300 years. We are know taught in school in 12 years the gist of the work of thousands of people over hundreds of years, so no wonder it's so hard to get a grasp of it for many of us.
What amused me most was the attitude that was prevalent towards the end of the 19th century. After the discovery of gravitation, laws of mechanics and electricity, magnetism and thermodynamics and the principles of chemistry many people considered that the science discoveries were almost done, with only a few nuts and bolts remaining to be clarified to complete the picture of how nature works. As Mr. Bryson says: "In fact, of course, the world was about to enter a century of science where many people wouldn't understand anything and none would understand everything. Scientists would soon find themselves adrift in a bewildering realm of particles and antiparticles, where things pop in and out of existence in spans of time that make nanoseconds look plodding and uneventful, where everything is strange."
At least we are more humble know about science, especially that the two main theories from the 20th century, general relativity and quantum mechanics, are yet to be reconciled. The quest goes on!

511

I don't watch actively the music scene nowadays, but sometimes I stumble upon gems like the one below. Although they sing for many years and I even heard about them sometimes at Radio Guerrilla, only a few days a ago I listened some of the songs from Alternosfera. The sound is incredible and I also like the Moldavian accent of the lead vocals guy. Enjoy 511, a kind of ars poetica from Alternosfera.

Cum am devenit producator de ler

Pe cand eram student la Maryland am avut parte de o experienta foarte interesanta. ASTROM (Asociatia Studentilor Romani) era condusa de unul din colegii cu care locuiam in casa, asa ca am participat si eu la multe actiuni de-ale lor. Iar una din preocuparile constante ale ASTROM era organizarea de spectacole cu artisti romani care faceau turnee prin State (asa am ajuns sa ii vedem pe cei de la Divertis sau trupa teatrului Nottara, de exemplu). In acei ani inca nu era moda concertelor de sarbatori in Romanai, asa ca Hrusca, fiind stabilit de multi ani in Canada, facea in respectiva perioada spectacole pentru comunitatile de romani din Statele Unite si Canada. Intr-unul din ani s-a hotarat sa vina si in zona Washington DC si cautand oameni de contact in zona a ajuns la ASTROM. Cum nu prea erau oameni disponibili la acel sfarsit de an pana la urma m-am oferit eu sa ma ocup de organizarea acelui eveniment, adica sa fiu un fel de producator. Primul pas a fost sa cautam o sala, de obicei gaseam sali in campusul universitatii, dar atunci a fost o problema, asa ca a trebuit sa caut in alta parte. Pana la urma am ajuns sa inchiriem o biserica anglicana din zona. Am batut palma cu cei de acolo, am trimis emailuri la oameni cu data si ora spectacolului si acum credeam ca lucrurile sunt gata. Insa cu trei zile inainte de spectacol ne suna Hrusca sa ne spuna ca a ramas fara instalatie de sonorizare. In mod normal el isi aducea singur instalatia, dar de data asta la intrarea in State vamesilor li s-a parut suspect ca se cara cu asa ceva dupa el, desi nu declarase ca vine in scopuri comerciale (va dati seama ca toate spectacolele astea se faceau la negru, banii incasati nefiind declarati la fisc), asa ca nu l-au lasat sa intre cu aparatura respectiva. Iar noi fiind printre primele locuri unde avea sa vina ne-am trezit ca trebuie sa facem rost in doua zile de o instalatie de sonorizare. Pana la urma am gasit o firma care inchiria asa ceva, dar era nevoie sa o si transportam. Am gasit mai multe masini si am carat boxele alea cum am putut, am intins cabluri, testat microfoane, dar pana la urma total a fost gata la timp. Desi am "produs" si eu la ler in acel an, nu am aflat nici atunci mai multe despre ce e acest ler. "Leru-i ler" va intra in legenda definitiilor recursive alaturi de "GNU in not UNIX", asa ca mai bine urmez indemnul celor de la Kamikaze: ler it be :)

La Multi Ani! si tot ce va doriti in 2013.

Why is Romania different?

Why is Romania different? is the title of the latest book by Lucian Boia. It is not a book about how Romanians are the chosen nation, au contraire. It explores the reasons why the Romanian society is behind other western and even eastern European societies. This is in fact a compared history of the institutions and social habits from Romania (or the former regions of Valachia, Moldavia and Transilvania) and other countries. The book already generated a lot of reactions in the media, two examples being those of Dan Tapalaga (here) who complains about the last chapter where the current political situation is analyzed and Alina Mungiu Pipidi (here) who argues that the whole Balkans region has the same characteristics. Since I liked all the books I read of Mr. Boia, starting with the one which shook the view of Romanians about their history 10 years ago (Istorie si mit in constiinta romaneasca), I highly recommend this one too.

An die Sonne

First snow of this winter in Bucharest and we are fast approaching the smallest day in the year. The candidate I endorsed didn't do well in the elections, he will not get a seat. It seems pork-barrel and not sound policies it's still the way to win the elections around here. So let's think about the sun for a moment, it gives us all our energy in the end, but it's up to us what we do with it.

A candidate to vote for

Another round of elections is approaching in Romania and I am among the fewer and fewer people that will go to vote again. Most of the people complain that all politicians are the same and none of them cares about their problems, but only to get rich. This is a dangerous point of view in my opinion, because the consequence is to ask why do we bother to organize elections if all politicians are the same? Since after each elections we end up with different laws and policies, there must be some difference between those who vote for one law or against it, isn't it?

Since 2008 we have a uni-nominal voting system and you actually vote for a person, not a party list. So, like four years ago, I decided to endorse a candidate that represents me best in these elections. His name is Gabriel Biris and he is a lawyer specialized in the tax code. What he promised in this campaign is not just something for his electoral college, but for the whole country: to push for a change in how labor is taxed. The truth is that labor is heavily taxed in Romania and this leads to people trying to declare their income in any other possible way than payroll in order to pay smaller taxes. Or not to declare it at wall and work on the black market. So only a small part of the population appears in the statistics as being an employee. This is unfair in two ways: first for the people who honestly declare their employment contract because they end up paying far more taxes then other people and secondly for the people that are forced on the black market due to these taxes because their are cut from social benefits in the future (like retirement benefits).
As a professional in this area Mr. Biris understands very well these problems and he wants to improve the tax code so that these huge discrepancies can be closed. Also, he is already rich and not from businesses involving the public sector, so probably he didn't enter politics just to get richer. His campaign also has a fresh style, including many town-hall meetings with the citizens from his electoral college, not just for shaking hands, but also for discussing their problems.

So if you have your residence in D3 electoral college from Bucharest I recommend you to look at this candidate and vote for him. If you are not in these college I still encourage you to take a look at the candidates in yours (you can easily find that here), see who is the best for you and the country from your point of view and go to vote. I have a strong opinion about an alliance that should not win in these elections, but even if you don't share my view, I think that informed and active citizens will lead in the end to better politics and policies.

Tired of you

That's it, I'm going home. No computers until Monday :)

I vote for N.A.D.

Is this a new political party or something? No, N.A.D. stands for National Anti-corruption Department and it's much better known by the Romanian acronym DNA. Eu votez DNA! (I vote for NAD!) is a book written by Cristian Ghinea, a social activist and contributor at the most prestigious Romanian weekly newspaper, Dilema Veche. Ten years ago Cristian Ghinea coordinated an issue of Dilema on anti-corruption and he remembers that there was not much to tell about it: Romania was a corrupted society, but without any corrupts. Police and judicial system were prosecuting only small cases, but no big fish was even questioned. In fact, although there are some legendary figures on making justice in our history, like Vlad the Impaler, in the modern history of Romania (since Cuza and king Carol I) no big fish was ever convicted for corruption charges, although there were many scandalous stories uncovered in that era too (you can read in Romanian about a few examples here and here). Politicians in Romania had de facto immunity from the judicial system, a better word being impunity. But in the last 8 years DNA became a feared enemy. They prosecuted members of the parliament and of the cabinet from all major political parties, mayors, judges and attorneys, police men, army generals and even soccer referees and club owners for fixing soccer games. And they also have an impressive success rate with about 90% convictions of the prosecuted cases. You can imagine that most of the politicians are not happy about this, biased media outlets constantly unleash attacks on this institution, so this book is even more remarkable for describing an inside story about DNA with interviews with some attorneys and other interesting commentaries.

In the end I should note that DNA was created at the request of the European Union during the accession negotiations between Romania and E.U. There are a couple of benefits for Romania from being an E.U. member country, including money received for various development projects, but I think the creation of this agency is the best thing that happened to Romania due to E.U. influence. That's why I also vote for N.A.D.!

Bourne trilogy

I liked the Bourne movies, so when I found out that they are based on some books I decided to read them. Usually the books have more details that are not present in a movie, but in this case I was really surprised: the action from the books barely resemble what happens in the movies. Apart from the names of the main characters and the basic plot (a secret agent suffers from amnesia and fights for his life and to find out who he is) the rest is totally different. Although it dates from the cold war era and the technology described in the novels is now obsolete, the story of all three novels is far more entertaining and the conflict between various characters is doubled by the geo-political conflicts of that era, from U.S. and Vietnam to the British Hong Kong and the Soviet Union.

Of course when reading a book you use your imagination to picture yourself the scenes described there, but a movie always adds a soundtrack, so I will finish this post with the cool theme song of the Bourne movies:

Me and my Monkey

It's a chilly, foggy morning outside, so "me and my monkey drove in search of the sun".



And by the way, Good Morning, Bucharest!, the newspaper about Bucharest is at the second edition. In case you don't meet me or any other people distributing it in the city you can read it online here (in Romanian).

Blame it on the rackets

What do you do when you win a set?, you celebrate, isn't it? What about when losing one? It appears that you can always blame it on the racket as both Djokovic and Murray did it yesterday in the final of the Shanghai Master (see the video below). Or maybe they were just angry that no matter who would had won Federer would still be number one, for the 300th week. I hope that Head is happy now, they will just sell them two additional rackets :)

Electoral debates

Here we are again with elections looming both in U.S. and Romania this fall. I guess most of you are bored and scared of what politicians can say or do (it's better than being like Inna anyway :) ), but in an interesting twist this year George Washington University organized a debate not between the two presidential candidates or their running mates, but between two media presenters that consistently side with one of the two main U.S. parties. The "republican" Bill O'Reilly from Fox News and the "democrat" John Stewart, the host of the Daily Show on Comedy Central. Here you can watch their debate and I can assure you that it's more lively than any official electoral debate you will ever watch. Because they don't have to lie to you or hide specific facts for fear of antagonizing a specific electoral category and the like.



Wouldn't be funny to have in Romania as well a debate between let's say Mihai Gadea and Robert Turcescu? :)

UPDATE: That video with Inna where she says "I'm scary" and "I'm boring" is no longar available on YouTube, but you can see a transcript here.

International Book Week

I keep seeing in the last few days statuses and posts about the International Book Week. According to Wikipedia, this is not a formally established event, but anyway let's play the game:

It’s international book week. The rules: Grab the closest book to you, turn to page 52, post the 5th sentence as your status. Don't mention the title. Copy the rules as part of your status.

"I take back my previous statement; he really is a terror."

P.S. It took me a while to join this movement because I actually didn't know how to go to a certain page on Kindle, as this device displays the percentage of the book that you read until now, not the actual page number. Luckily a fellow reader helped me with that, as it seems I'm a dumb e-book user, I just read and press next page until I finish the book, so far I didn't use any other functions of my Kindle. Also, I choose the post from the book I read at this moment, not just from the physically closest book around me. I really hope people read more books than just a random sentence once a year, I surely do.

Open

Open is much more than a book about tennis, it's rather a bildungsroman on how Agassi grew out of the tennis life that was forced upon him into a respectable person with lots of money and good understanding on how to use them in life. So if you want to know what it takes to succeed and how easily you can fail go ahead and read this book. Meanwhile I read an interview (here in Romanian) with Florin Mergea, the most talented Romanian junior in many years, who didn't manage to kick start his career as a professional tennis player, but not is having a come back.

Brands and marketing

The classic way to promote a brand is to associate it with other figures that people like and trust. So Uniqlo, a fashion retailer from Japan, chose the same strategy and got endorsements for their brand from two famous characters: Novak Djokovic, currently ranked number two tennis player in the world, and Maru, the cat with 175 millions visualizations on YouTube.

Here are the two endorsements:

Now I have a little bit of a dilemma: should I continue with my tennis lessons (especially since I recently bought a racket similar to the one used by Djokovic), or should I start posting videos with my cat on YouTube?

Rock me with a cello... or two

Did I really go to RHCP or something?

Yes, but I was just lazy to post about it until now :) It was not the perfect concert, but nevertheless I'm glad I had the opportunity to see such a great band live. I read on Wikipedia that when they first became famous the guitarist of the band was so overwhelmed that he left the band in the middle of a tour. Then he returned, but 2 years ago he left again tired of touring the world. Actually it can be seen that the band is not even now totally comfortably with the large crowds, they didn't even try to engage the people to sing along the chorus parts of any of their songs. This was the first concert on the new stadium from Bucharest (National Arena) and the bad news is that the acoustic of the stadium is not very good, having an annoying echo.

I liked the jam sessions between the songs (at some point they told to one another to remember a piece they played that could lead to a new song) and the fact that they don't have a fixed setlist for the concert, so you can expect almost any song (expect for the songs from "One Hot Minute" which was the album they made after Frusciante left in 1992, but which I like very much being the first that I listened from RHCP) to come up. Just to get a feeling of the concert here is my all time favorite song from Red Hot Chili Peppers, Can't Stop live in Bucharest:

Notes from a Big Country

Notes from a Big Country is a book about various aspects of life in the US. The author is an American who moved to England and returns after 20 years with his wife and teenager kids. The mixture of American childhood and European adult life leads to an interesting perspective of how things are done there: from city development and transportation, the obsession for commodity (which may defeat the purpose as in the story about how it can take you more time to get food from McDrive than stepping out of the car and walking into the restaurant), the sheer magnitude of many things in US (like the forests from New Hampshire), the changes that can transform a country in 20-30 years. I found it a very interesting reading, especially that I resonate with some of the views of the author. And for sure you will not get bored by this book, the style is highly entertaining.

I started reading this book before my trip to US and I continued my reading after I returned, having fresh impressions from the big country. To illustrate that I added some photos of the busiest highway in California, US 101. At rush hour this four lane road can be gridlocked in many places.

Strange Man - Vinyl Playback Video

Easy like a summer vacation day. But don't watch the video too many times, it might make you dizzy (trust in me, just in me) :)

A intrat in folclor

Sunt sigur ca ati auzit de expresia "a intra in folclor". Ei bine, iata ca Ponta a reusit lucrul acesta intr-un timp record. Deci se poate, tovarasi :)

RHCP approaching...

Less then a month left till the RHCP concert in Bucharest. I wrote a while ago that I would like to see Zdob si Zdub in the opening act. Well, it seems that the media partners of this concert, Rock FM, have organized a poll where you can vote which band you want to see in the opening of RHCP here. I voted for Zdob si Zdub, they are currently on the second place, behind Omul cu Sobolani(I posted about them here). The other band that have a chance to win is Vita de Vie. I posted below a live version of the most famous song from Vita de Vie, so you can compare them with the other two bands.



So go ahead and use the link above to vote. And don't forget to buy your ticket for August 31st, there are only 2000 left.

Olympic Games - High Bar Gym

What can be better than a cat picture? A cat video, isn't it? :)

Skyfall

"Some men are coming to kill us. We're gonna kill them first." That's the spirit.

I heard that a known plagiator was in London yesterday, so Bond had to save the Queen at the Olympic Games opening ceremony :)

P.S. If you see an advertisement on this page that you know it does not represent my opinion, then click on it so that we take them the money ;)

Despre copiat si alti demoni

Se vorbeste foarte mult in aceste zile despre copiat si plagiat. La bacalaureat s-au pus camere de supraveghere pentru al doilea an consecutiv si consecinta a fost si anul acesta o rata de promovabilitate sub 50% si mult sub cele de acum cativa ani. Asa ca o sa va povestesc acum despre experienta mea in domeniu, caci ar fi o minciuna sa spun ca nu am copiat niciodata. Da, recunosc deschis ca am copiat uneori sau am dat altora sa copieze dupa mine, dar per total am invatat niste lectii importante dupa cum veti vedea in continuare:

- prima intamplare vine din clasa a cincea cand la o lucrare de control la geografie mi-am scris niste date despre lectie pe sugativa (pe vremea aceea fiecare elev avea o sugativa mare cat foaia de caiet, caci se scria cu cerneala care se usca greu si te puteai murdari); totul a decurs conform planului, doar ca in pauza de dupa ora de geografie un coleg a venit si a vazut sugativa-fituica; a luat-o si a inceput sa strige indignat prin clasa cum ca Bogdan a copiat, si cum e posibil ca unul care ia premiul intai sa faca asa ceva; nu-i treaba ca si el copiase la acea lucrare ca si la multe altele, dar ce am invatat atunci e ca daca ai un anumit statut (in clasa atunci sau in societate in general) cresc si pretentiile de la tine (chestie pe care domnul Ponta nu o intelege nici azi);

- tot in clasa a cincea, dar de data asta la matematica am avut o experienta la fel de dura; Craciunescu, proful de mate, ne muta tot timpul pe patru dintre noi care eram mai buni la mate in primele doua banci si ne dadea de lucru separat; la una din lectii el tocmai asculta pe cineva la tabla, cand a batut cineva la usa si l-a intrerupt; a iesit sa vorbeasca cu persoana respectiva, iar eu observand ca solutia colegului meu era gresita i-am zis ce sa corecteze; cand s-a intors a vazut ca tipul de la tabla isi modificase solutia si s-a prins imediat ca cineva ii suflase; asa ca a zis ca el nu continua ora pana nu zicem cine a suflat; in clasa s-a lasat o liniste mormantala, iar dupa cateva secunde sau minute care au fost foarte, foarte lungi m-am ridicat in picioare si am recunoscut ca eu ii suflasem colegului meu; nu am patit nimic concret in urma acestor evenimente, dar se pare totusi ca acea clasa a cincea a fost foarte grea pentru mine, nu-i asa? :)

- trecem acum la clasa a noua, unde la fizica am avut un prof cu adevarat revolutionar: caci la nivelul anului 1991 el ne dadea lucrari de control cu cartile pe banca si chiar ne incuraja sa ne facem fituici, caci el zicea ca macar trecem o data prin materie; si iata-ne la una din primele lucrari de control cu toata lumea din clasa stresata de problemele grele pe care ni le servise Bararu; a venit si pauza si toata lumea a insistat in cor sa ne mai lase 5 minute, caci nimeni nu terminase; la care profu si-a luat catalogul si ne-a zis ca el se duce in cancelarie si ii aducem noi lucrarile cand suntem gata; cum a plecat proful am inceput sa discutam intre noi problema cea mai grea; eram vreo trei-patru care ne contraziceam pe doua solutii alternative, plus inca altii care ne asteptau pe noi sa ne hotaram care ar fi solutia corecta; pana la urma i-am convins ca solutia mea e corecta si toata lumea a scris ca mine; am dat noi lucrarile, iar in urmatoarea ora (caci aveam doua ore legate) proful ne-a prezentat solutiile corecte; iar solutia corecta era cealalta, drept care multi dintre colegi s-au jurat sa nu mai copieze dupa mine la fizica :)

- in final ne oprim in facultate, la un examen de bazele informaticii unde printre altele am avut o problema cu masini Turing; imi rezolv eu subiectele, iar doi colegi de langa mine ma abordeaza sa le zic cum am rezolvat acea problema; le-am zis ideea in doua vorbe si mi-am vazut de treaba; cand intru la oral il vad pe asistent ca ma ia la bani marunti: sa ii zic definitii, sa ii explic in detaliu ce am scris si tot asa; acuma eram si eu mirat, caci ma intelegeam bine cu asistentul respectiv, chiar jucam si bridge impreuna uneori; dupa ce ma freaca asta bine, iar proful imi da si el cea mai grea teorema din curs sa i-o demonstrez, ajung ei la concluzia ca stiu despre ce e vorba la materia aia si imi dau 9 (aveam 8 la laborator, asa ca oricum nu aveam cum sa iau 10); iar la sfarsit ma intreaba in fata cine a rezolvat de fapt problema respectiva, caci din toata grupa toti facusera solutia standard, mai putin 3 oameni care dadusera o alta solutie;

Concluzia: ma bucur inca o data ca am avut niste profesori foarte buni, care m-au invatat mult mai mult decat matematica, fizica sau informatica, iar din punctul meu de vedere pana la urma copiatul asta nu renteaza nici cand esti destinatia, nici cand esti sursa. Caci in ambele cazuri poti foarte usor sa ajungi in situatii nasoale.

The Story of Keep Calm and Carry On

Just a day after my previous post I found on a blog an entry about the story of the slogan "Keep Calm and Carry On". So here it is, watch this movie about how to behave in life, whatever hardships are brought upon you:

Keep Calm...

...and continue fighting for what it's worth

Driving in the countryside

Prea bun, prea ca la tara (i.e. too good, feels like countryside):



The name of this song translates as "village after village" and the song evokes driving in the countryside.

An education. Which one?

In the domain which I studied and I practice now, computer science, there are four universities that are constantly ranked (often with an equal score) the best in the world: Massachusetts Institute of Technology, Carnegie Mellon University, University of California - Berkeley and Stanford University. Last week I was in Silicon Valley, on a business trip to Oracle head quarters and I took this opportunity to visit the campus of Stanford University which is nearby.
Let me give you a few facts about the Computer Science Department at Stanford:

•  one of the emeritus professors they have is Donald Knuth, the author of one of the most influential books in this field, "The Art of Computer Programming"; on the cover of one of the editions of this book there is this quote from Bill Gates: “If you think you're a really good programmer… read (Knuth's) Art of Computer Programming… You should definitely send me a résumé if you can read the whole thing."; 
• here studied the founders of Google and got the idea of the page ranking algorithm that transformed the on-line world in the last 10 years; you can read their paper here; 
• a team from this department build the first self driving car (which I think it will transform our lives in the future) and won a contest organized by the US army research labs (DARPA); watch a presentation of the concept here; 
• on the other hand this department is taking part in an experiment of distributed high quality education by offering to anyone in the world who is interested free on-line classes on various topics, like this one which I attended a few months ago, or these listed here; 

Bellow are a few pictures from campus where you can notice that all this is made possible partly by the donations of people and companies who truly believe in the value of education.
Campus entrance on Palm Drive:

Computer Science Department's building named after the biggest donor who helped to its building, Bill Gates:

The list of people and companies that donated for the new building of the Computer Science Department:

Now I'm back in Romania and here are some other facts that you might know about if you are around:

•  two months ago a person nominated for the Romanian Ministry of Education was forced to skip the nomination after it was discovered that she lied about having a degree from Stanford University (the name of the university was actually miss-spelled as Standford in her CV); 
• the next nominee, with a degree in computer engineering, was forced to resign after proofs of plagiarism in at least three of his published papers; 
•  last week the prime minister of Romania was also accused of plagiarism in his Ph.D. thesis where he copied more than 100 pages from other books and papers; 

You should ask yourself in what kind of society do you want you and your children to live: one in which education is valued and can lead to advances in science and a better life for all of us, or one in which education is just mocked? And if you care you should act every time you can.

As for myself, I know what I stand for.

Would the real good people please stand up?

This is a song called The Streets from a Romanian TV series Good Boys about mafia boys (the good ones) and the police (the bad boys):



Here is an approximate translation of some of the lyrics:

This is a place where you wouldn't dare to go
You may possibly win, but you will probably loose
So many slicks like here you can see only in Vegas
And you wouldn't believe how some turn into whores
This is Romania's capital, this is Bucharest...

Now don't get sacred, that was just a movie and Bucharest is a peaceful place, but it still has its problems (like corrupt and populist politicians), so this is my question (inspired by Eminem) for you for the coming elections: would the real good people please stand up?

Changing Skins - Baby

Well, spring is that time of the year when many animals change their skin, so I found something suitable for this season. They are a Romanian band with a very nice sound in my opinion.

A few pictures from Maldive Islands

I spent many hours under this coconut tree 

Various banana types at the local market in Male

Ocean view beach

The orchid garden

Pool - the cocktail bar is behind ;)

Baby shark

Sting-ray having dinner at the sting-ray feeding show

Sunset on the Sun Island

Tuna fish at home

A walk and a run in the city

This week-end I took a walk and the run in Bucharest. The walk was on Saturday was organized by Urban Ideas, a blog dedicated to urbanism and hot it should be applied in Bucharest. The walk was in the Unirii and Mircea Voda areas and the talk was about the new civic center build in the eighties under the direct supervision of Nicolae Ceausescu and what was the impact of this development on the city. You will see city plans and pictures from XIX-th and early XX-th century, what were the plans for city development back then and how the communist era changed everything. How entire neighborhoods where demolished including churches and how some churches were saved by being moved so that they will not be visible from People's House or the main boulevard. There were two interesting hours, followed by one more hour of discussions on urbanism in a coffee shop nearby. Apart from this tour they organize two more, one in Foisorul de Foc (Fire Lookout Tower) area and one in Mihai Bravu - Baba Novac area. 
On Sunday I went to a 4km fun-run race on the route Piata Charles de Gaulle, Arcul de Triumf, Piata Victoriei and back. The organization was not good and the weather was rainy, but in the end we ran and it was fun :)

Millennium Trilogy

I didn't see the movie The Girl with a Dragon Tattoo yet, but I decided to read the book instead. In fact, this is only the first book from a trilogy, now I'm actually at the third book and it gets better and better. If the first novel is about an old family mystery, the second and the third are getting into police investigations and secrete police activity, but keeping the main characters from the initial novel. Highly entertaining for a vacation on a tropical island :)

A Veces

Back to work... a veces :)



I've seen this song on Nat Geo Music which I didn't know it even exists until a few days ago.

Return to the twenty first century

I first heard about Ioana Parvulescu for her books about the old Bucharest from 19th century and the period between the two world wars. So now I read her latest book, Return to the Twenty First Century, which is collection of journal notes and columns from the magazine of Romanian writers union (Romania Literara). The book describes the life in Romania at the beginning of this century with the good, the bad and the ugly. Many stories are about books, their authors and their readers and how they constantly interfere with our life in the most unexpected ways. Overall, it is an enjoyable read from the land of dragons, as this is how Romania is portrayed in one of the Harry Potter novels :)

Simon's cat in his very own book

The ones that spend time on the internet and sometimes "catch" viral videos probably know about the Simon's cat who makes poor author's life miserable at time, but highly entertaining for the rest of us. Here is the first video with the cat trying to wake up his owner:

And another one which is more appropriate to the current season in Bucharest, snow business:
 The reason I write about this famous cat is that I recently got from a colleague two of the comic books which continue the career of the YouTube cat: "Simon's Cat in his very own book" and "Beyond the Fence". They are funny to read and I can testify that at least some of the chapters are real, like the ones on the cat and the vacuum cleaner and on how to put the cat into a cage :)

This could be spectacular

As usual, taken from an advertisement :)
This time it's about a legal online music site which is about to be launched in Romania: Zonga. It seems I'm in the target audience for this service, ain't I?