Alexandru Rugina - Blog

Skydiving

2011-09-02T10:59:00.005+03:00

It's my birthday again. 28 years and counting... Many things happened during the last year: getting up to speed with a new awesome job, traveling to two new continents, meeting very interesting people and trying fabulous experiences along the way. Although I'm not over excited about the fact that I'm getting older and supposedly more responsible, I'm very happy that my "bucket list" is continuously shrinking.

This year I finally crossed one top item off the list: experience human flight by skydiving. The plan was to only do one tandem jump too see how it is, but this turned into a full free fall course which I really enjoy doing now. My next plan is to get an 'A license' which certifies that I can jump out of a perfectly working airplane anywhere in the world.

Every sky dive so far was different and exciting. When the door of the plane opens and the engine slows down, there's a blast of cold oxygen, burned gas and lower pressure that turns everyone into slightly different beings. The sudden realization of the fact that in just a split second everyone will take a deep breath and disappear from the plane - singing, cheering, shouting, petrified or screaming - is priceless. And then it's your turn to jump too. It all happens so quickly, and many different emotions compete to take your mind away from the dance that you'll have to perform after leaving the plane.

Once you do that step out it's all beautiful and natural. After about 50 seconds of free fall which feels nothing like falling but more like floating somewhere above the clouds - there comes the second beautiful part: a slow canopy descent. This is the most realistic sensation of flying I had so far. I really enjoy gliding above the clouds, especially at dusk. Compare it with that landscape that you get when taking off with a commercial plane on a slightly cloudy day. In an instant you're taken to a sunny world above the sea of clouds. While in a plane you can only enjoy that through a palm sized round window in the cockpit, imagine getting that view when slowly gliding above the clouds, being able to look around you before sliding through, back to earth.

I'll post my first solo sky dive if I can get the recording and wish that there will be no malfunctions till then.

News

2010-04-30T23:20:00.010+03:00

Half of an year is already gone away, and looking back I realized that I haven't been keeping my blog up to date. Since I shouldn't waste your time with too many details, here's a quick list with what I've been up to:
- after sleepless nights and intense work, finally finished my master's program in Germany
- got a new job and met very friendly people. For the new job, I've changed cities one more time - moved from Bonn to Dublin which is a delightful city by the way
- took Yoga and some gliding classes, started to enjoy golf and playing piano. Also tried surfing, but couldn't get used with the idea of being wrapped in a wet & cold rubber costume
- got a phone line, this is a big achievement when you have to deal with Eircom's technical support. It took me almost 3 months
- traveled and explored a bit of: Ireland, Germany, Tenerife, Israel, UK.

Bureaucracy

2010-01-11T15:15:00.004+02:00

I just went to the Police to renew my passport. Last year, you had the option of doing that in "emergency mode", after paying an extra fee. They would release a new passport in 2 hours.
Now, that is not possible anymore. They removed the extra fee, and now people have to wait 30 days for a new passport. Furthermore, you cannot apply for a Romanian passport in a different country.

Now, why would you take something which is simple and beautiful and make it more complicated?

Munich going green

2009-12-07T12:25:00.007+02:00

On one of the evenings spent in Munich, I took the tram from Willibaldplatz towards Marienplatz. It's a 20 minutes boring ride, and besides staring at the different people around you, there's not much to do.
Hanging in front of me, there's one of those free brochures from Munich Transport Company. I tell myself that practicing a little bit my German can't hurt, so I start reading. Here's what I've managed to translate:

The SWM started the "Renewable Energy" campaign. Until 2015, the facilities should produce enough eco-energy to support about 800 000 private houses in Munich. By 2025, Stadtwerke Munich are to produce enough green energy to support the whole energy requirements of 7.5 billion kWh per year. [...]

For this purpose, SWM invests until 2025 nine billion Euro. [...] Together with the current projects, SWM rises the eco-energy production with 160%. With this, around 370 000 instead of currently 140 000 houses in Munich will be supported. [...]

After reading their annual report, i've also found out this:
M-Natur
M-Natur is SWM‘s green electricity product allowing customers to make an active contribution to climate protection. M-Natur green electricity is generated exclusively by SWM‘s hydroelectric power plants. M-Natur customers voluntarily pay a charge that is higher than that for M-Strom customers. SWM invests all the proceeds from this additional charge in the further expansion of renewable-energy-based power generation in Munich.

I'd like to see this sort of initiatives more often.

Decameronul lui Boccaccio

2009-11-26T02:42:00.009+02:00

Incredibil, Boccaccio descrie perfect pitzipoanca zilelor noastre înca din anul 1350.

Căci tot ce-a fost virtute, cu sfiiciune tăinuită în sufletul doamnelor de odinioară, azi se preface la noi în găteală și podoabă; iar cea care-și atârnă pe ea veșminte mai bălțate și mai înzorzonate se socotește mai vrednică de prețuirea și cinstirea semenilor ei, fără a cumpăni că și un măgar, de s-ar găsi cine să-l împopoțoneze, ar răbda pe el mai multe găteli decât oricare femeie și că, deci, nu-s nici ele mai vrednice de cinste decât e urecheatul.
Mi-e și rușine a spune, căci tot ce-i împotriva lor se întoarce și împotriva mea; înzorzonate precum sunt, boite și pestrițe, ori stau țepene ca niste stane de piatră, mute și nesimțitoare, ori, de răspund când le-întrebi, îți dai cu socoteala c-ar fi fost mai bine să tacă.
Și încă umblă a-ți dovedi că numai nevinovăția e pricina care le face să nu știe a lega o vorbă cu semenele lor sau cu barbații cumsecade, și sărăcia-n duh au botezat-o cinste, ca și cum n-ar mai fi pe lume alte femei cinstite decât acelea care nu știu să șadă de povești decât cu slujnica, cu spălătoreasa sau cu brutărița. Dacă firea ar fi rânduit cum lasa ele a crede, de bună seama într-un alt chip ar fi găsit cu cale să le scurteze ciripitul.

Fragmentul de mai sus e extras din Decameronul lui Boccaccio scris între 1350 și 1353 (ziua 1, povestea 10).

Translate the above in English

Why French?

2009-11-04T09:37:00.009+02:00

I wonder why is French the first language printed on all Romanian ID cards (upper part, title area). Is this a joke? Why is the first word on our ID cards a French word? Why not first Romanian then other languages?

Then is it really necessary to translate the Romanian "Carte de Identitate" to "Carte D'Identite"? To my knowledge, Romanian is a Latin language, same as French and Italian. We are likely to understand each other, and words like the ones above are easily understandable by French, Belgian or Italian people (in case you need to show your ID when travelling within EU countries).

I would rather use Romanian as a first language, simply because the ID card is to be used by Romanian people before others. I would use German as a second language, since the words are very different (Carte de Identitate - Ausweis, Loc nastere - Geburtsort), and definitely need translation for people who travel to Austria, Germany or Switzerland without a passport.

2009-11-02T21:36:00.005+02:00

I've always wanted to blog about this, but I just couldn't find this amazing image.

In german Inter-City Express trains, there are special wagons where it is forbidden to make noise. You are not allowed to speak, you have to mute your mobile phone and be as quiet as possible. Due to the perfect isolation from the outside, these wagons are really quiet although the trains reaches speeds of over 300 km/h.
These special wagons allow you to work like magic.
My friend Kevin actually used to say that he worked better on train than in the office, during his remote visits. I agree, they are really nice :)

Rhein in Flammen 2009

2009-05-04T00:50:00.009+03:00

Yesterday was a great day! We went out in Rheinaue Park - Bonn, to have a barbecue and watch the fireworks. If you ever come around Bonn in May, look out for "Rhein in Flammen". It is one of the things you must see before you die.
450 000 people attended this year, as Radio Bonn reported today. What a splendid day!

Please share your opinion

2009-03-27T23:24:00.014+02:00

Hi guys! I need your quick help on this one. It only takes a minute, and it's fun: I'm trying to participate into a photo competition, and I need your opinion on which photo looks better on a specific area.
Please leave a short comment, by choosing the BEST for each of the categories. You can also vote for each section using the links.
I need your votes until Monday evening, 30th of March!

Diying nature:
Photo 1:

Photo 2:

Photo 3:

Photo 4:

Quickly vote here for this section.

Rich vegetation:
Photo 1:

Photo 2:

Quickly vote here for this section.

Formerly desert area, not anymore
Photo 1:

Photo 2:

Quickly vote here for this section.

Thanks a lot for your help!

Carnival in Cologne

2009-02-26T00:32:00.009+02:00

Just a little after the Cologne carnival, I thought I should share some pictures.

I wonder a carnival like this would be seen in eastern European cities. Are the citizens of Bucharest for example ready to have a 3-day marathon with costumed people everywhere singing and dancing on famous Romanian hits?

Chocolate fondue

2008-12-10T23:14:00.002+02:00

Today was the first time I've heard of chocolate fondue, and was really curious to try it.
How to you eat it: pick one fruit piece at a time, with a little fork, and dip it into a mixture of warm black and white chocolate. Then watch the small chocolate drops falling along your fruit, let it get a little cold, and then enjoy its taste.
Damn delicious!

German Punctuality

2008-11-10T14:16:00.007+02:00

The purpose of this post is not to offend Deutsche Bahn in any way - I am sure they do a great job coordinating all those trains, but rather to inform anyone reading this how to actually plan their time when traveling in Germany.

5:30 AM - It's Monday again, and the alarm clock buzzes the beginning of a new week. I wake up ready to face it, happy that I live in a German country, where everything and everybody is Punctual. I know... that here, no matter where I am, German Punctuality applies. So, I want to also be Punctual. I want to arrive at 9:00 AM in Aachen, to get my student card from the Secretary, and afterwards, at 10 - to attend my lecture. Normally, this is a 90 km track, 2 hours time. I can do it.
With help from German Punctuality, I will catch the train at 7:01 AM, and will be in Aachen at precisely 08:48 AM.
6:00 AM - Shower, breakfast. German Punctuality works.
6:30 AM - Outside, air is fresh. It's still dark, in a cloudy cold and rainy Punctual day.
6:48 AM - I am at the train station, I buy the ticket. Train is announced to be 10 minutes late. I think I am still able to make it in time to catch the connection train - Koeln - Aachen. Few people wait silently on the platform.
7:01 AM - The billboard changes. 10 minutes suddenly change to 15 minutes. Hmm, no problem.. I am lucky to be young and can run to catch the connection in Köln. I'll do my best to be Punctual.
7:10 AM - 15 minutes become 20. OK, my connection in Köln is lost. I'll have to catch the next one, which will arrive half an hour later in Aachen. As of now I am no longer Punctual for my appointment.
7:20 AM - Billboard announces 25 minutes delay now. One employee of the Deutsche Bahn mumbles some bored excuses on a microphone. One old guy near me starts to dance something like a chicken dance.
7:25 AM - Train is still not in Bonn. You can barely move around the station, as now, the station is full of people which waited the train and 7:01, and also the ones who came for the 7:30 train.
7:30 AM - Train arrives, fully packed with people and with a delay of 30 minutes. The employee announces on the speaker that this train, although Regional EXPRESS, will have to stop in every stop on the way to Köln. That's 2 times more stops than usual.
7:40 AM - Still not at the first stop. The train advances a few kilometers, than stops for a pause. Probably this is what it takes to be Punctual.
08:10 AM - I am in Köln. Yeah!!!
Now where's the train? I look on the display on the train station. I find out that my next train which was supposed to be there at 8:20 AM will be 20 minutes late. All trains on the billboard were at least 15 minutes late. Ok, that adds up another 20 minutes to my wasted time.
8:40 AM - I step into the train from Köln to Aachen.
9:50 AM - I am finally in Aachen, almost 4 hours after leaving my house. Bummer, I won't be Punctual today. I quickly WALK to the secretary office, pick up my ID, and finally arrive at school at 11:00 AM. I enjoy the remaining half an hour left of the lecture. Wow, that's a deal: 4 hours travel for half an hour lecture.

It would be OK if this was an one-time case, but it happens 4 times out of 5 when traveling to Aachen and back. One good friend also had this happening to him, but in his case he didn't miss one lecture, but a whole flight. In return, he didn't receive at least one excuse, but had to buy a brand new plane ticket. That was at least 5 times more expensive than the one for the flight he lost.

Bungee jumping

2008-09-15T10:33:00.005+03:00

A weekend or two ago I finally did something I wanted to try out for a lot of time. Together with Bianca and Cristi, we went to Stockhorn, near Interlaken to see how falling 135 meters really feels like. It's an interesting experience, filled with lots of existential questions and adrenaline rush.
They call it "bungy" here. Funny :)

Below, it's me in the picture, doing my bungee jump.
And here are some impressions from other people too:

Rheinfal and Rapperswil

2008-08-05T23:52:00.004+03:00

Last weekend I got to see yet another amazing places in Switzerland. One was Rheinfall, a nice waterfall on Rhine river, and the other was Rapperswil, in the South of Lake Zurich. Like always, I took some photos.

More pictures here

Zürich mountains

2008-07-27T07:38:00.003+03:00

Last week I got to do a little bit of hitch-hiking through the Swiss Alps. It takes around two hours to get there from Zürich (we went to Gimmelwald, a nice place near Interlaaken), but the road is really scenic, with many beautiful landscapes (lakes and green alpine plains surrounded by high mountains and many waterfalls). I should maybe let the pictures speak.

More pics here: Swiss Mountains

Zürich - Cultural milkshake

2008-07-07T01:41:00.013+03:00

I've decided to call Zürich "cultural milkshake". It represents best the diversity of the people you see in the street, or in the bus/tram.
In the last post, I was complaining of how hard it is to find a place to live. I didn't mention the nice things that impressed me here, and it would be unfair leave it so.
I also made some photos, sorry for the bad quality. I'll get a proper camera soon.

Cool things in Zürich:
- "green" and clean city;
- relaxing walk from Central to Bellevue during twilight;
- scenic landscape of Alps at horizon;
- tall hills surrounding the city;
- many old beautiful buildings by the main river;
- smaller rivers cutting their way through the city.

Renting a room in Zürich

2008-07-07T01:23:00.004+03:00

It is very difficult to find a room to rent in Zürich:
- because most adds are in German, and you need to switch to German;
- because you only get mails from persons who might accept you (which might be scam attempts);
- because you need to send around 10 mails to get an answer;
- because you don't know your way around the city;
- because there's lots of paperwork to be done;
- because you haven't seen the city yet and instead of doing so, you need to search for rooms.

Luckily for me, Emi and Matthias were nice enough to help me with all these. Thank you guys!

Moved to Zürich

2008-07-07T01:18:00.004+03:00

Written on Tuesday, 1st of July:
I just finished my second semester in Media Informatics, and now I am heading towards Switzerland. New thing ahead: I will be doing now an internship in Zürich for the next couple of months.
I'm now in the train, somewhere near Basel and I already feel the difference between the two countries. Swiss language is like a weird mix of German and French, spoken with strong Italian accent. Probably because of the 3 official languages spoken in Switzerland.
Two policemen just passed by me without asking for my passport. Damn... no control! I could have taken two bottles of Jägermeister with me.

My favourite place in Romania

2008-06-22T14:52:00.007+03:00

The video was taken last year, in Bucegi Mountains, Romania. This is one of the most amazing places in Romania. What you see is just one of the breathtaking landscapes along the pathway to the top of the Omu Peak. If you decide to spend the night on top at Omu Cabin, take a glimpse of the sky at midnight. You will see millions of shiny stars that punch an infinite immaculate black curtain. An exclusive nature show only for you.
Sometimes in the morning, you find near the two thousand meters plateau a sea of clouds, and give you the impression you really are in an isolated, heavenly place.

I go there at least once per year. Unfortunately, this year I'll be far away. :(

Credits for video and pictures goes to Ionut and his cool Canon S5. :D

Gmail domain taken

2008-06-13T11:09:00.007+03:00

"Give to Germans what belong to Germans"! Today, when trying to access gmail.com, I got the following message:

Apparently, Gmail lost a trademark trial in Germany, with some guy who owns G-mail, another website. Now, I have to access my mail using the address http://mail.google.com/. I don't like it.

Google translates Romanian

2008-05-08T21:56:00.005+03:00

Finally, Google translates from Romanian to English and vice-versa. Is this a sign that the number of Romanian programmers at Google is getting bigger? :D

Via Vivi

Translate this post in Romanian

WTF

2008-05-05T23:25:00.002+03:00

This song just keeps popping into my mind with apparently no reason.

Weird, it took me some time to find it.

Iasi on Google Maps

2008-04-18T18:41:00.002+03:00

Finally, Iasi - my home city - can be seen in better quality on Google Maps. I could even find my block of flats.
Thanks Loredana :)

What I learned today

2008-04-18T00:34:00.009+03:00

These are some random things that I learned/found out today:

- If you loose something in Germany, you have big chances to find it at the local City Hall. If you don't claim it in 6 months, the City Hall sells your stuff for almost free, in a public auction.

- If you loose your wallet in Germany and police recovers it, you receive it by post. One friend Ada, lost her wallet. After two days, she received it by post - sent by the local police. Both money and documents, cards were still there.

- Buying a bike in Germany is cheaper than buying a new wheel for an old one.

- I have 6 phone numbers where I can be reached. Two of them can be used to perfectly track where I am with a precision of less than a meter.

- If you listen to your mp3-player while riding your bike - and have an accident - insurance company won't pay you any money. I still listen to music when I ride my bike.

- One in three women will trade their password for free chocolate (sorry, it's only in German :(). I will try this during the next month.

- Bucharest, a city that I don't personally find special, can look very well from up above.

Image of Bucharest, Copyright doisase

Romanian words - ciufut

2008-03-31T14:43:00.008+03:00

Ciufút
English pronounciation: cioo-foot

One that is ciufút can either be avaricious or simply somebody who has bad moods very often. I personally think that the second definition fits better.
Ciufút can also be an attitude, a way of living. Ciufút people can also be funny sometimes.

Example of ciufút attitude:
- I can't find my watch.
- You lost it! (notice the ciufútness)
- Hmm, I don't think so.. I never loose things.
- Then one of your friends must have stolen it from you.

The future has come

2008-02-19T18:55:00.005+02:00

Yesterday I took part at a very interesting speech of Professor Hiroshi Ishii from MIT, which was the keynote of the TEI Conference taking part in Bonn. He presented very interesting work in the area of Tangible User Interfaces coordinated by him at MIT. It wasn't one of that boring technology speeches, but more like a quick look into the future. It was more like a vision of a creative and happy humankind interacting with high-tech physical objects.

At the end of his presentation, one of his students showed the video of a project on which he worked on, and which will be released in 2-3 months from now: G-Speak (an identical application like the one Tom Cruise used in Minority Report). Cool! That's even more science fiction than Microsoft Surface! Imagine 3 years from now, every police department having such a wall.

Plumb - Damaged

2008-02-17T21:38:00.003+02:00

Here is a song that just sticks in your memory once you hear it. I like its soft & melancholic rhythm (doubled from time to time with short piano strokes), simple lyrics and the spatial and dreamy melodic line.

Recommended by Tudor.

UAE shocks again

2008-02-11T15:19:00.000+02:00

After shocking the world with Burj Dubai, an almost 1 kilometer tall skyscraper, UAE does it again: Masdar City will be the first non-polluting city on Earth.
I definitely would like to see other cities investing big amounts of money in that, in the near future.

German grade conversion formula

2008-02-08T23:57:00.001+02:00

Today, I got my first result from a German exam. If you didn't know, the German grading system is a bit different from the Romanian one: the grades are from 1 to 5, where 1 is the maximum grade and 4 is the last passing grade (5=failed). So, if you get 1 at your exam in Germany, you don't have to cut your veins, or jump from a building - but rather go out and buy your friends some beer, because you're da' man.
Also, you can have grades with fractions, like 1.3, 1.5, and so on.

Today I got a result that didn't tell me too much, because where I come from, the grading system goes from 1 to 10 (where 10 is the maximum grade). So, I came up with a formula to convert from German grades to Romanian grades:

RomanianGrade = 5/3 * (7 - GermanGrade)

If you want to have fun converting your grades from Romanian to German grading system, use the following formula:

GermanGrade = 7 - 3/5 * RomanianGrade

Glass noodles

2008-02-06T23:04:00.000+02:00

Today, my colleagues from China gathered in my flat's kitchen to celebrate Chinese New Year's Eve. They also cooked "glass noodles", and invited me to try. They are really tasty, and very spicy. Actually, delicious!!!

Plate of "glass noodles"

The upper-left part says "medium spicy", but my mouth was already burning :D

This is how the pot looks like.

People gather around the pot, and eat for a couple of hours. It's more of a social thing like shisha, or chimarrao. Everybody picks stuff from the pot (shrimps, noodles) and when it gets empty, they refill. Cool!

Rheinland goes crazy

2008-01-30T21:25:00.000+02:00

Tomorrow is Altweiber. All shops will close, and the carnival will be celebrated on the streets. Everyone will wear costumes, dance and sing carnival songs. Although I am not a fan of buying costumes for just one day, at least I tried some of them on. :D

Funky ...

Jailbird costume :)

Leapsa de voci

2008-01-29T20:35:00.000+02:00

I was tagged by Simona, with the "vocal tag" ("leapsa vocala"). Hmm, 3 of my favourite voices in romanian music industry? Simplu .. (not the band) ;)

1. Andra (and here)
2. Holograf
3. Celia

Tag goes further to Bianca and Marius :)

Un blog interesant

2008-01-10T01:00:00.000+02:00

Iata un blog care merita tot respectul! E al lui Marius Ursache, fondatorul Grapefruit. In fiecare an, cam jurul Craciunului, omul isi alege o destinatie exotica si porneste, incercand sa evite pe cat posibil drumurile batute des de turisti. Cititi mai multe aici ...

Winter holidays

2008-01-07T23:24:00.002+02:00

I just came back from Romania, where I've had great times with my relatives and friends. The new year's eve caught me and my girlfriend in Baile Herculane, a wonderful resort with thermal spas in the South-Western part of Romania.

All the above pictures are from Baile Herculane. To see more, visit my Picasaweb gallery.

Above is the entry to Brancusi House Museum; very traditional. Check out other pictures here.

Cellphone finder

2007-12-20T16:23:00.000+02:00

I found a cool service from O2 Germany. You can locate your phone if you loose it, or it gets stolen (only in Germany). To do so, you need Internet to login to your O2 web-account, and click on some link. The good part is that it's free too.

You can also use the service to track others.

Going home for holidays

2007-12-19T09:09:00.001+02:00

Finally, some free time! First half of the semester is over, so I have a small holiday. The school is quite tough here. I have to better appreciate free time. For the next weeks, I will try as much as possible to be a couch potato, and to ignore my laptop (including Internet, Facebook, messenger).

Now I'm in Bonn, attending my last lecture. Later, this evening, I'll be in Vienna, enjoying Elisir D'Amore, by Gaetano Donizetti at Vienna State Opera, and hopefully visiting the Christmas Market too. Tomorrow morning I'll be in Bucharest, and by the end of the week I'll arrive in Iasi, my dear home city.
I'm really looking forward to spend some time with my family and friends again.

The intellectual "tag, you're it" :))

2007-12-18T21:52:00.000+02:00

I was tagged by Marius. Here are the rules:

Take the book that is the closest to you.
Open it at page 123.
Find the fifth sentence (including).
Post the text of the following 4 sentences on your blog.
Don't dare to search for that very special or "intellectual" book through your bookshelf.
Pass "it" to 6 friends.

The book I always carry in my backpack is "Fundamentals of Computer Graphics" by Peter Shirley and at page 123 you can read:

These days, postmultiplication using column vectors is fairly standard, but in many older books and systems you will run across row vectors and premultiplication. The only difference is that the transform matrix must be replaced with its transpose. The transpose A(T) of a matrix A is one whose rows are switched with its columns.

Tough book, but interesting if you can understand all the mathematical concepts. I hope I will pass the exam :P

Later edit: I tag you, the one that read this post. If you pass it on, write a comment.

Want to be cool?

2007-12-07T17:26:00.000+02:00

After reading Simona's post, I thought I should do it too. You should now call me AREKKUSU. :))

Japanize your name too

Lasers over Bonn

2007-12-07T16:41:00.000+02:00

As I was walking near the Marktplatz two days ago, I noticed a laser-ray crossing the skies of Bonn.

Image source: uni-bonn.deApparently, they celebrate 150 years since the birth of Heinrich Hertz.

Autumn is gone...

2007-11-29T22:07:00.000+02:00

Another winter is coming...

Parenting classes?

2007-11-24T17:03:00.000+02:00

An interesting idea proposed by Mai.

Shift happens

2007-11-22T14:37:00.000+02:00

The idea of a "computer" first came up in 2400 BC, with the Babylonian abacus. 4 300 years later (1960), it evolved into the first computer.
Within 40 years, the computer became as we know it today. This is an amazing development rate, but where will it get us?

A "must see", from Karl Fisch, and Scott McLeod, based on true facts.

Unusual way to become famous

2007-11-21T15:15:00.000+02:00

Mina, a 13 years old girl, became famous in less than 3 months after sharing a video online.

Mina 13 - How the angels fly - MyVideo

She now has a contract with a music studio who sponsored her, and a brand new video.

Coolness factor

2007-11-19T19:39:00.000+02:00

Have you ever seen one of those spoiled kids that talk a lot without actually saying anything? I was coming from Aachen recently, and on the train there were three (probably British) fancy guys sitting next to me: two girls, and one cool guy.
I couldn't stop taking my laptop out of the bag, and writing down what they said while trying not to laugh. Let me put here parts of their conversation (mostly between the alpha-girl, and the "cool" guy). I won't comment much on their physical aspect, since that is not nice. Let's just say... the girls ate too much in their lives, and the guy was too fancy to be a guy.

She: Do you like... like people in Cologne?
He: Well, yeah.. it's like.. people in Cologne are like... nice.
She: Yeah exactly.
He: Cuz when I.. like.. went to Prague and back.. it's like.. good. (*wtf did he mean? :|)
She: yeaa, exactly.... like.... yeaaaa, definitely, like...... yeaaa, german guys are like really cool, and like.... yeaa
He: Yeah... no.... definitely.

She: I'd probably like.. say like... I don't know.
He: Yeah, it was like.. 4 hours.. like woow, I was like... oh my god! (yes, he-s a guy :|)
She: Ahahaha (cool laugh).
He: Can you like.. stir it? (talking about a drink)
She: Well ya, no, it's like.. yea, like you can also stir it, but it's not like........ you don't have to, you can just like.. drink it like that.

I wonder how two of this people become lovers. How do they communicate?
She: - Like... yea... like... it's so... oh my god!
He: - Do you like... like me?
She: - Like, yeah, definitely!
He: OK.. cool, let's like.. get married or something. (:|)

Are spammers intelligent people?

2007-11-13T18:17:00.000+02:00

Have you ever asked yourselves how intelligent people that make spam really are? I think most of them are just idiots. Why are they even bothering? Is there still anybody out there who would even open a spam e-mail?

Do you want to meet new people? Maybe yes, but at least not by clicking on some blinking link in a suspicious mail written half in Chinese, half like "g E t so.me R Ea1 C h1ck$". Even if you're curious enough to open such a link, you would end up in some really cheap site asking money from you.
Punch the monkey!!! and win 1 000 000 000$. Send this to 10 friends, and you'll go to heaven!

You spammers out there reading this, if you send spam, at least do it intelligent! Convince us to click on your stupid links! :D

Cellphone Bus Ticket

2007-10-28T17:12:00.000+02:00

Walking on the streets of Bonn, I've noticed a poster, advertising for the Handy-Ticket concept. So what is it about? You can buy your buss/tram ticket by sending a SMS to a special phone number of Deutsche Bahn, and they charge you accordingly. Afterwards, you receive a ticket via MMS or SMS, at the normal price.

This is a rather old concept for Bonn, but it would be cool if we also had it in some big cities in Romania. We have enough mobile phone subscribers :-D

Activ and Late Night Alumni

2007-10-24T19:12:00.000+03:00

The song above is one of my favourite songs from Activ. Apparently, they also have some good "inspiration". :)
P.S.: Watch the video from Activ till the end if you don't know it. The ending is quite sad.

South Park Yourself

2007-10-09T16:38:00.001+03:00

South Park Yourself too :-)

Free time

2007-10-05T16:04:00.000+03:00

Finally, I have some free time to write on my weblog. So, I'll write some impressions about my last road trip through the Balkans.

We traveled in a group of three, with my sister and my girlfriend, Bianca. The road through Serbia and Macedonia, then Greece was great. There is a good motorway once you get close to Belgrade, and from there on, you could go without stopping till your destination in Greece. Border crossings are also quite easy. For example, when we entered Greece, they only asked where we were from. We said we were from, Romania, and then they let us go, without even checking the passes :D

On the road, we first slept in Skopje, Macedonia. We didn't really have the time to stay more and visit the city, but the company of Viktor and Anca, the two AIESECers who hosted us for one night was definitely more fun than a night walk through an unknown city. We all had a cold Skopsko (local beer) before going to bed, and next morning we were back on our way, after thanking Anca for her hospitality.

Going back on the motorway, the road was simply magnificent: beautiful scenery, green mountains, deep valleys, high blue river crossings and lots of illuminated tunnels. By the evening, we were in Igoumenitsa port, Greece. Getting here on time for the ferryboat, was the reason we didn't stay longer in Macedonia, a country that I personally got to admire by the end of this trip. So, by the evening of the second day, we were finding ourselves crossing
the Ionian sea, on our way to Corfu. The atmosphere was simply beautiful: the pale sun shining at dusk, light breeze of the sea blowing on our faces, and beautiful and simple scenery.

In Corfu, more precisely Kavos town, we had a very convenient pre reserved apartment, around fifty meters from the Agios Petros beach. The villa was surrounded by beautiful gardens with pineapple and lemon trees, and nice flowers. The owners, an old Greek couple living on the island, came and gave us the room, without even checking our IDs or asking for any money.
I found very funny the way the old lady was hardly trying to speak English. Many times we tried to tell that we transferred part of the money to her son, Sakis. And she would always lighten her face with proudness: "Yes! My son! Sakis... he is doctor" :-> Then, most of our conversation resumed to her asking us: "everything OK?", and us responding: "yes! ok :D" while using intense body language to strenghten our words.

The rest of the days, we were just relaxing by the beach, sleeping on a floating wooden thing covered with carpets far away in the sea, snorkeling, exploring the island by ATVs in search for paradise beaches, playing table tennis, taking island cruises, enjoying traditional Greek cuisine, or bungee-jumping. In the evening we would often choose a bar to stay. Some of the bars there had live entertainers like stage hypnotists or magicians, and also lots of the people used to spend their evening watching Friends or stand up comedy on plasma TVs in these bars. There were also lots of weird parties going on, with weird costumes. We weren't too curious or crazy for those things. :)

On our way back, we stopped again Macedonia, in a city called Ohrid. It is a big blue lake, separating Albania from Macedonia, surrounded by mountains, and hosting a beautiful old city center, with narrow streets, old byzantine churches, an antique theater, and an old fortress on top of the city. We were also surprised there by the hospitality of the people. And if I were to detail more: a German speaking taxi driver stopped us in the middle of the street, at 3 AM, to help us with finding a place to sleep. Above that, everybody seemed to open a lot to us when we told them we were from Romania. That's weird, if we said we were from Romania in Spain or Italy, the effect would be a bit different.

As a conclusion, we had lots of fun, and I would be happy to do a same trip again in the future.

Here are some photos from Greece: http://picasaweb.google.com/rugina/Corfu
... and some from Macedonia: http://picasaweb.google.com/rugina/Ohrid

Road trippin'

2007-09-05T00:12:00.000+03:00

It's been a while since my last post. At this late hour, I'm finally done preparing my road trip through Romania, Serbia, Macedonia and Greece. Everything seems to be set for what will be a mega-trip through 4 amazing countries, with breathtaking landscapes and great people. Our final mecca is Corfu Island, situated in the blue Ionian Sea.

We will leave on the 7th of September, with the car from Bucharest. If you wanna join or have any travel tips I could use, don't hesitate to contact me. I'll try to keep the blog up to date.

What an idiot!!!

2007-08-23T23:22:00.000+03:00

Today, some driver with a BMW got pissed on a pedestrian for "crossing the street too slowly", so he took the gun out of his pocket and shot the pedestrian in the feet several times, even though the guy was crossing on green light!!!

The guy is now at the hospital, and the police is searching for the aggressor. What kind of an idiot do you have to be to shoot at people for regularly crossing the street???
If the guy is caught, he risks a fine or 2 years in prison. Until idiots will be punished by law, should I also start carrying a gun on not?

See the news (Romanian)

Phone operator - epsiode 2

2007-06-18T20:23:00.000+03:00

After the amazing phone-chat with the Romanian operator at Electrica Romania, today I bumped accidentally into an example of German overpaid-services:
I found an offer to buy combined tickets to a theme-park in southern Germany, but no info on where to buy this tickets. So, I go to the train station to ask.

A nice man said "Hallo" to me when entering the train station, and asked me what I wanted. I told him, and he sent me to a info-stand. After waiting 15 minutes, I finally got to talk with a person there. This time I spoke german with her, but she didn't know about the offer, so she sent me to the Travel-center. After waiting there 5 minutes, the lady there told me there was no such ticket.

OK, maybe they are not well informed: I decide to call the trains-info hot-line. For your information, it's more expensive than the erotic-hot line. So I call, I wait on the line, and then a nice lady answers:
- Hallo, mein name ist... (first operator). Wie kann ich ihnen helfen?
- Hi, do you speak English?
- No, one moment.
Nice music on the line...
At this point she presses a button, and I'm informed that the call costs xxx cents and that it is recorded.
- Hallo, mein name ist... (second operator). Wie kann ich ihnen helfen?
- Hello, do you speak English?
- No, just a moment.
Nice music on the line...
- Hallo, mein name ist... (first operator again :| ).
- Hello, do you speak English?
- Oh, hello! I'm very sorry! Just a second!!!
Now surprise: they hang off the phone!!! :|

I'm sure it was just a stupid mistake, so I call again:
- Hallo, mein name ist... (third operator). Wie kann ich ihnen helfen?
- Hi, do you speak English?
- No, one moment.
Nice music on the line...
At this point she presses the magic button again, and I'm informed that the call costs xxx cents and that it is recorded again.
- Hallo, mein name ist... (second operator). Wie kann ich ihnen helfen?
- Hello, do you speak English?
- No, just a moment.
Nice music on the line for about two minutes.
Now I decided that it's wasting my time and money, and I should hang off.

I called one hour later, and the same thing happened. But this time, they hang up on me again.

I wonder how I'm gonna buy that tickets though. I think it's time to speak german with them. Anyway, thumbs up for the hot-line of the Deutsche Bahn :))

Next morning: I call again and speak german with them. They redirect me again to another person, and that person hangs out on me after I ask the question! Now, am I crazy or what? What do I have to do so they take me seriously???

Modern life

2007-06-14T14:44:00.001+03:00

Do you agree with it?

Blue screen

2007-06-06T10:31:00.000+03:00

Also happens in big airports apparently. They seem to use MS Windows :)

Picture was taken in Amsterdam Schipol International Airport. Priceless.

Exercise

2007-06-05T15:32:00.000+03:00

This only takes 2 secs... How Smart Is Your Right Foot?

1. While sitting at your desk, lift your right foot off the floor and make clockwise circles with it.
2. Now, while doing this, draw the number "6" in the air with your right hand. Your foot will change directions. I told you so... And there is nothing you can do about it.

Global Village

2007-06-04T10:55:00.000+03:00

This Sunday there was an international festival in the center of Bonn, somewhat like AIESEC Global Villages, where each country had a tent where it could present its food, drinks, people and cultures.

I tried Acarajé from Brazil, a kind of bread with a very good filling of vegetables and spicy sauces, then turkish and iranian tea, and then Pisco sour, a cool sweet cocktail from Peru.

Later on in the evening, we had an african dinner at the Eritrean stand, "finger-eating" a delicious spicy Injera, while surrounded by nice africans that kept asking us if we liked the food :D

Visitors

2007-06-01T11:39:00.000+03:00

This weekend we had 10 people in a 3-people flat: 3 brazilians, 4 romanians, one chinese and 2 germans. Great guys and lots of fun!
Debora took some cool pics

P.S.: "Happy Birthday" children! :)

Here's a gum

2007-05-31T12:48:00.000+03:00

Chatting with Tudor today made me remember a funny fact about small shops in Romania. Whenever you buy something, they give gums or candies back instead of the rest of the money.

They almost never have small money, so they give you small stupid things even though you didn't ask for them. And very often, that gum, candy or whatever doesn't even cover the amount of money you should get back.

But it sounds fair for them :-P

Turning into a brazilian?

2007-05-31T11:06:00.000+03:00

Living in the same apartment with Debora is one thing I definatelly like about my traineeship in Germany!!! She is from Brazil, and also a very good cook. I've just tried a couple of brazilian/south american goodies like "Negrinho" and "Chimarrão".

I can only say that drinking Chimarrão as social activity is much better than smoking Shisha! (and healthier :D)

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Chimarrão

Google it

2007-05-24T16:17:00.000+03:00

Were you ever pissed off by people who ask you very basic things without first looking for it themselves?

Now you can help them: http://justfuckinggoogleit.com/ :D

Coolest chess players

2007-05-23T21:08:00.000+03:00

... near the train station in Köln. Notice also the useful support for the chess table :)

Bonn Storm

2007-05-22T19:47:00.000+03:00

I've just witnessed the worst storm I've seen in my life. Lots of quick loud thunders, rain was falling in all directions even pushed back up sometimes, and the wind was so strong that I've seen pigeons trying to fly away being smashed in the wall.
At some point, the pressure got so low and so quick, that I could feel my ears going a bit deaf, and sounds got more like a drum effect.

Now, half an hour later it's curiously sunny again, temperatures went from 17 to 21 degrees in a couple of minutes, but the city is still like crazy. I can hear ambulances all around, radios talk only about this like being the worst storm ever, there are trees and leaves all over the streets and traffic and trams are blocked. Kennedy bridge was just closed. Our office was flooded. Also some mobile phone lines are dead.

So weird because it was so sudden.

Update:

This street was closed.

The pictures were taken 100 meters from my apartment.

Virtual barbershop

2007-05-18T14:41:00.001+03:00

Before listening to this, make sure that you:
- use the headphones
- turn the volume up
- close your eyes

Get the mp3

More like this at: http://solodon.blogspot.com/

Biking around Bonn

2007-05-17T21:18:00.000+03:00

I like the special biking paths around Bonn. This one is Villenweg, through the Kottenforst Forest.

Drunk driving kills

2007-05-05T17:20:00.000+03:00

The Mumbai traffic police started an initiative to prevent accidents commited by drunk drivers. They distributed in most of the bars in Mumbai special beer coasters that picture a face, and contain an invisible red ink. When people put a wet glass on the coaster, the ink becomes visible, and it seems that the person is bleeding. The coasters contain the message "Just a reminder. Drunk driving kills."

I would definately like to see that initiative in other countries too.

Rhein in Flammen

2007-05-03T21:06:00.000+03:00

This weekend I'll be the chair (moderator) of Bonnfire, an AIESEC conference for new members, international trainees and also old members. It is a very big challenge for me, but for some reason I'm really looking forward to it. We'll also go to the fireworks.

Still thinking of a chair rollcall. Any suggestions?

An amazing cock-up

2007-04-18T13:49:00.000+03:00

I have just been accepted for an international master in Media-Informatics, at the RWTH Aachen University. So, I guess there is a big chance I'll spend another two years in the beautiful city of Bonn, since most of the classes will be here.

NKK 2007

2007-04-17T13:47:00.000+03:00

I've just returned from the biggest national conference in AIESEC Germany, National Kickoff Conference in Bielefeld. This was my last conference as Organizing Committee member.

We had over 400 happy delegates, hi-tech sessions (like the ones only Kevin can imagine), and the coolest Global Village ever.

What I liked the most, was meeting Sami again, the current president of AIESEC in Egypt. Getting to know him better confirmed to me one more time that egyptians are really cool and friendly people. He also did a great job as chair of the conference.

One important thing: today was the first time when I really felt that we were saving the planet :)) We had to recycle about 800 empty bottles of water left from the conference, and that got us 200 euros back. Cool, huh?

How to cross the street in Cairo

2007-03-24T00:15:00.000+02:00

This is the way you cross the street in some crowded streets of Cairo. It's quite extreme, and was one of my favourite "sports" while being there. I know it sounds crazy, but I miss that.

Some more examples:
Crossing the street in Tahrir
Human frogger

And yes, bad stuff can happen :-)

CeBIT

2007-03-22T21:54:00.000+02:00

Yesterday I went to CeBIT, with a couple of AIESECers from the national teams in Germany, honoring an invitation from Deutsche Telekom, for a round table and a visit of their stand there. CeBIT in Hannover is the biggest IT fair in the world, and if you ask any IT guy to pick a fair where he wants to go, he would say CeBIT.

My general impression is that the fair is HUGE, it took me almost one hour to walk(run) from one end to the other.

Some of the interesting stuff I've seen there:
Clothes of the future, really good taste with integrated small lights and cool buttoons for music players. (washable, batteries included :-))

The kitchen of the future, with a virtual women talking on a window, where you could order products directly on Internet, or trace your stuff in the kitchen.

A television set where you could see 3D movies, without having to wear special glasses. (I would definatelly buy that in the future).

A cool 3D surrounded Deutsche Telekom conference room :D

Anyway, the weirdest thing was when I stopped in front of a computer, and the dude started drawing some squares on my eyes and mouth, analysing me, and displaying my mood.
P.S.: He didn't guess it :-D

Sinai

2007-03-17T21:33:00.000+02:00

After IPM was over, some of the delegates and organizing committee members decided to go to Sinai, while the others went to Luxor and Valley of the Kings. Since I am more of the "action" guy, and less of a "museums and monuments" fan, I decided to take the Sinai trip.
I really don't know how we all got mixed in this weird composition, but at the end, I was the only guy travelling with six girls from Egypt, Ukraine, Poland, Switzerland and Taiwan speeding with 150 km/h on a tight bumpy road, towards Dahab, Sinai.

After crossing about seven security checkpoints (barrels blocking the middle of the street) guarded by armed policeman, we finally reached Dahab. Dahab is a small resort with one main street, 100 km away from Sharm El Sheik (the most popular resort in Sinai). As far as I understood, the security checks are because of the recent bombings in Dahab and Sharm El Sheik.
The prices there were really good. We checked in at Octopus Hotel, paying only 4 euros per night, all upcoming tours or activities going to also be around 10 euros each.

In the first evening, around 11 we went on to Sinai Mountain, to the place where Moses came down with the 10 commandments. Around 1 in the night, we all arrived at the base of the mountain, in the St. Catherine Protectorate. Initially, I believed that we were the only crazy people climbing mountains during the night, but when we got there, the place was already full of tourists and salesmen. We barely got out of our mini-bus, and the bedouins "attacked" us: "Hello my friend! Do you want scherf? Buy scherf, cheap! What's your name? Wher are you from?". "Scherf" meant "scarf", and the method of barganing is typically Egyptian :-).

After passing by the metal detector here too :|, we started to climb the mountain, followed by camels, and our bedouin guide. We climbed the whole night, and towards the morning, after a short snow, we've seen the sunrise, and that was simply gorgeous. Our bedouin guide was really pleasant, talking to us the whole way, and he also found me a nickname, "habibi".

In the second evening in Sinai, we rent a jeep from the hotel, and went somewhere in the middle if the desert, in a beautiful place, surrounded by mountains. There, the bedouins were expecting us, in a hut discretely lightened by candles, and covered with palm-tree leaves. They have prepared us their traditional dinner, a mixture of chicken and vegetables, and then showed us how to build water-pipe out of 0.5L pet bottles. We had a very warm night, with clear skies, and lots of fun.

We spent the last day in Blue Hole, snorkeling in the coral reef, through fishes of all colours, that I had only seen in Windows' screensaver or in Finding Nemo before. The fishes were swimming curious around you, as close to a couple of centimeters, some in groups, some separately, then back, hiding between the corals. At the end, we went to a cool restaurant by the beach, and ate some very good food. The restaurant is called Friends, and it's really worthed: good food, and nice waiters. We all ordered very fancy dishes, and cool mixtures of cold natural juices. I found shark steak in menu, and tried it. It was juicy :D

This was the best day of all three we have spent in Sinai. We still owe lots of thanks to Mai and Maggie, our best egyptian friends who showed us around.

Wrap-up

2007-03-17T20:51:00.000+02:00

One year ago, I have planned to keep this blog up to date, but apparently my plan didn't work. Now, I am planning to do that again, so... I will start with a little wrap-up of what happened in the last year:

July 2006 - Got an internship in Germany, moved from Iasi to Bonn
July 2006 - Travelled to Belgium, visited Bruxelles
July 2006 - Visited Cologne (Köln)
August 2006 - My first visit to Berlin
September 2006 - Travelled to Czech Republic, Prague
September 2006 - Travelled to Münich, at Oktoberfest
October 2006 - First time OC (Organizing Commitee), Bielefeld, Germany
November 2006 - OC at NaLDS, in Harz Mountains, Germany
January 2007 - Visited Loredana and Sebi, in Helsinki, Finland
February 2007 - Conference Commitee member, AIESEC International Presidents Meeting 2007, Egypt
March 2007 - Travelled to Sinai, then Giza

Well, a lot has been going on. I have written some words about all this in my romanian weblog, and from now I'll also try to keep up with my posts in English.

Mino, you'd better read this, you were the one who pushed me to do it :D

2006-06-10T14:27:00.000+03:00

Interview

Interwiewing funny people is fun

2006-06-10T14:24:00.000+03:00

German Reporter

Funny reporter

The first entry

2005-12-13T23:48:00.000+02:00

This is "za" first entry in my first "international" blog. I`ve made all my posts in romanian up to now, but today I saw a great blog of Rajesh, a random guy from India. He writes there a lot of great stuff about his country, but, i couldn`t have understood them if they were written in hindi, right? :D

Also... the tendency for globalisation is very actual, and I would like my posts to be read from my friends from other countries too.

Conclusion: This will be my "international" blog :D. I`ll try to put here anything that I find interesting, and also copy some of what`s cool on my "Romanian" blog.

Keep watching ;-)