Röh-Röh!

Jutta's Eye

2010-07-23T15:32:00.000+03:00

Canon EOS 50D + Asahi-Pentax SMC Takumar 50mm f/1.4 + 16mm extension tube.

Me

2010-06-13T14:30:00.002+03:00

Midnight in Stockholm

2010-06-12T15:25:00.000+03:00

The System Is Improving

2010-06-12T15:24:00.003+03:00

They have finally realized that something is wrong with it and relaxed the rules. I have finally managed to apply for a Swedish ID. Well done, Sweden. I'm really glad it's improving.

KTH Massacre

2010-03-15T02:13:00.001+02:00

The Local hasn't mentioned anything about it but googling for "KTH massaker" reveals a bunch of news articles in Swedish regarding the issue. Apparently an anonymous person posted somewhere on the Internets—judging by the screenshot Aftonbladet posted (assuming it's real) it's been 4chan.org—a message of the following contents: "Ni ska fan få se. Jag ska slå de jävla finnjävlarnas för svensk polis lär ju inte direkt vara snappt på plats" that can be translated as "I'm gonna fuckin show you. I'm gonna beat the fucking finnish guys' record since Swedish police will hardly be there quickly". Seems like I'd better take my camera with me tomorrow since something interesting might happen. :)

Finland vs. Sweden

2009-12-04T17:30:00.001+02:00

I've spent the last 4 years living in Finland and I've enjoyed my life there quite much. I've had an opportunity to move to Helsinki but I've moved to Stockholm instead. I've been looking for new experiences and I found them. But so far it has been nothing but frustration. One huge frustration with pretty much everything. I do love Stockholm. But unfortunately it's in Sweden.

I've visited Helsinki last weekend to see some old friends of mine there and after I've went through some troubles with loosing my wallet I've been thinking a lot how it would have been in Sweden. And it would have been way worse. I'm pretty sure.

So I did loose my wallet in Helsinki and I was very lucky to loose it in Finland. The first thing I did is calling a special number and blocking both of my cards. Then I went to the nearest Nordea office, showed them my Russian passport which they were more than happy to accept as an ID, asked for some cash from my bank account and asked them to block my internet banking as well. Just in case. I didn't have the username in my wallet, but my passwords were there. I ordered new cards, new passwords and got the cash. Easily and without any problems.

Then I went to Helsinki train station to look for my wallet since I left it in a train on my way to Espoo. At the information desk they sent me to the station services whew a worker gave me a card of Helsinki lost and found office and told me to go get my wallet there on Monday. Unfortunately, I've lost my wallet on Friday evening and on Sunday I had to return back to Stockholm. I've explained the situation to the guy, told him that I have no chance of getting my wallet back since I can't stay here until Monday. He advised me to try to ask from conductors lounge and explained where it is.

I went there but the door was locked. Luckily, some conductor came and was about to enter. I asked him to help me and he let me in. We went in and walked into some room. He asked something some guys sitting there. One of them opened a table drawer and took my wallet out. I told her my drivers license is in it if she wants to make sure its mine. She checked it and happily returned me my wallet.

Then I had to unblock the cards and internet banking. I called customer service number and explained the situation. The worker who picked the phone told me in perfect English that he doesn't speak any English. :) Another person is responsible for English-speaking customers and he tried to connect me with him. As it turned out, the English-speaking operator wasn't available at the moment and he agreed to help me though it is not part of his duties.

He told me that my Visa card is blocked permanently and I will receive a new one by mail. Visa Electron and internet banking can still be unblocked and he told me the nearest address where I can do it. The time was about 8 pm and I was lucky that Nordea office in Stockmann is open until 9 pm. There I showed my Russian passport and successfully unblocked my Visa Electron and internet banking.

How would it be in Sweden? First of all, I have no means of proving my identity in Sweden. My Russian passport is not considered to be a valid ID due to "insufficient level of security" and I cannot get an ID issued by Skatteverket since I have no relatives with Swedish citizenship who could vouch for me. Therefore even though I have a Swedish residence permit and a personal number, I have almost no rights in this country. In Finland I enjoyed and still enjoy all the rights and freedoms just like any other citizen who has Finnish personal number does.

Here I can't open a bank account, I can't get a phone subscription. I can't do anything just because I can't prove my bloody identity and I have no way of doing it! In Finland my Russian passport was accepted everywhere. I could get any subscription I wanted, internet, phone, car insurance, bank account etc. I've never had any problems. Banks used to issue IDs here but they don't do it anymore. The system used to be pretty bad and now it's even worse.

Second, Swedes do enjoy bureaucracy. I've never seen so much of it in my life! Everything is so complicated and takes awfully long! Getting Swedish personal number took me more than a month. It took me couple of days in Finland. Dealing with taxation issues was also quite a pain in the ass. I am still working for my Finnish employer but taxation office in Finland told me I have to pay taxes here. I was ready to pay taxes here. I went to Skatteverket and explained the situation. I was told that it's possible but it took me more than two months to get taxation percentage estimation! In Finland I would have got it right away!

And Swedes do enjoy rules and following them strictly. I tried to open a bank account here. KTH has an agreement with Nordea and students can open accounts even without a Swedish ID card. I just happened to go to the wrong office. Couple of friends of mine and me went to Nordea office near Sergels torg. Got queue numbers, waited for our turns. Two friends of mine managed to open their bank accounts. I didn't. I was the unlucky one to get a very mean worker who refused to open an account for me.

I've had all the forms filled in with me, everything ready. All he had to do is just check that everything is correct! But no! He told me to go to the office near Odenplan. And instead of explaining nicely he was very rude to me! I tried to draw his attention to the fact that the two friends of mine, also KTH students, have managed to get their bank accounts about a minute ago from different workers and it didn't seem like a big deal for them. He still refused to help me. I tried to address the other workers who agreed to open the account but the guy told her something in Swedish and I left with nothing.

I went to Odenplan office the next day and I faced rudeness again. It turned out they deal with students only on Mondays after 6 pm. And I wasn't told that nicely. No! I was almost literally told to piss off! These are the rules. No can do. What's the big deal to open an account for me on Tuesday? Why am I any worse than other customer just because I don't have a valid ID? I went home, calmed down and the next Monday I returned to Odenplan office, got the account, got the papers. I was told I will receive my Visa Electron card by mail. I still haven't heard from them. And I don't even want to bother to go and ask why.

I simply don't want to be their customer anymore! I was very loyal to Nordea Finland because of their excellent service but Nordea Sweden turned out to be totally different! I am treated as a nobody by the Swedish government but Nordea Sweden is making it even worse. And Nordea workers aren't the only ones who were rude to me. When I went to Skatteverket to ask about possibility of getting an ID card, the worker was pretty rude to me as well.

These things have ruined the whole impression of this country. I'm pretty sure if I would loose my wallet here, nobody would bother to help me. I wouldn't be able to prove my identity in bank to get anything. I'm pretty sure nobody would give me my wallet back unless I go to lost and found even if they would have it in their drawer. These are the rules and we don't care if you are in trouble and have to leave the country before lost and found office opens.

I really did have high hopes and expectations about Sweden but it has been a disappointment for me. I really hope my opinion about this country is wrong and it's just me being unlucky. But I really don't like the way I am treated here. Finland used to be way more friendly to me.

Stockholm by Night

2009-11-26T04:01:00.003+02:00

Kista

Slussen

La Neta

2009-11-25T01:41:00.001+02:00

Looking for an authentic Mexican experience in Stockholm? Head straight to La Neta. Don't even consider Taco Bar though to my taste their stuff is pretty good. It just won't be authentic. I am not the one to judge but my picky Mexican friends do not approve.

In case of La Neta they really did enjoy today. So did I. Owned and ran by Mexicans, this place is the closest to Mexico you can get here. Delicious tacos and quesadillas, authentic salsa and hot habanero sauce. You have to taste them! They will change the way you think about Mexican cuisine.

Cocaine

2009-11-25T01:40:00.001+02:00

Saw a chick doing cocaine on the subway. She was squatting on the floor and the only thing she cared about is getting another dose. I’ve seen pretty disgusting stuff on Friday and Saturday nights after going out but this was way beyond regular puke every three meters. This is the side of Sweden I haven’t experienced yet.

One Day in Berlin

2009-11-15T14:03:00.002+02:00

Kista Science Tower

2009-11-04T01:38:00.001+02:00

Stockholm Transport Museum

2009-11-04T00:08:00.002+02:00

I was very skeptical at first before visiting this museum since I don't usually get very excited about transport in general but when I entered my attitude changed completely! I do love vintage stuff and as it turned out, I do love vintage transport. The place was definitely worth the visit. The only problem was, that I came too late, just few minutes before the closing time. I have just had time to quickly look around, fall in love with the place and take couple of photos.

Solna Centrum

2009-11-02T04:30:00.000+02:00

Swedish Football Fans

2009-11-02T03:51:00.002+02:00

On my way home from Ramblas (a good restaurant that even my Spanish friend approves) where I went to have some Spanish beer and tapas with Javier and Sergio, I stumbled across a cheering crowd that I decided to follow. What the hell was that I found out later on today while reading The Local, AIK defeated IFK, though it was pretty clear from the beginning. They took off at Solna and so did I.

It was a typical crowd of cheering football fans and it seemed to be insane. People were literally climbing up the moving stairway. Everybody went out and walked into the nearest shopping mall. Then I realized that something is wrong with them. And the missing thing was... violence! Really! Where are all the broken windows and wrecked cars?

The biggest damage done that I've noticed was a bunch of stolen bananas from a supermarket on the way there and one overturned chair of a coffee house! Seriously! Even though there was no police around to stop them. The crowd just climbed some kind of stage inside the mall, cheered for awhile and then peacefully went home. Where are all the fights? Where's the drama? Damn Swedes, can't even have fun properly!

Happy Hallowe'en

2009-11-01T15:06:00.003+02:00

2009-10-30T16:08:00.001+02:00

Kreditbanken at Norrmalmstorg

2009-10-26T15:26:00.000+02:00

Stockholm is an extremely interesting city to live in. You just have to know or know someone who knows something about the city and has a story or two to tell you.

I've passed by this building many times without paying any attention to it until one day a friend of mine told me that it has something to do with Stockholm syndrome. I just had to look it up and indeed it does. This is the place where the Stockholm syndrome was born!

The syndrome wasn't actually born in this building but the Norrmalmstorg robbery that took place in it in 1973 led to the introduction of the term which is used world-wide nowadays.

Rotating

2009-10-26T15:08:00.000+02:00

Swedes undoubtedly do love rotating things be it roundabouts or rotating doors. They are everywhere and they are building more and more of them. I don’t know whether they do any good but rotating doors are annoying. So are the roundabouts.

I haven’t noticed that many in Stockholm where I live at the moment. I guess the reason is that the city was built long before the trend has started and there’s just no space to build the new ones. But there’s always some space to put yet another rotating door in.

When it comes to less inhabited places like Haparanda, Swedes do go wild and Finns are trying not to stay behind. I haven’t noticed that many rotating doors there but roundabouts are everywhere!

Let’s say you’re driving from Kemi, Finland to Kalix, Sweden. When you cross the border you have to go through 6 (six!) roundabouts within 5 (five!) minutes! Check out yourself if you don’t believe me. And look at the number of roundabouts around those six. I’ve instantly spotted six more.

Insane! Do they really like to rotate that much?

Scientific Communication and Research Methodology

2009-10-26T14:16:00.002+02:00

Blah blah blah blah. Sounds like fun. Blah blah. Overslept the first lecture but heard a lot of "nice" things about it. Trying to make myself do something useful. Haven't opened my work laptop for weeks. Exam period was an excuse earlier but now I have none. Shitload of time and shitload of things to do. Gotta stop slacking off. Somebody spare some willpower!

Long Story Short

2009-10-25T18:50:00.002+02:00

Where the hell have I been and what the hell have I been doing? Been working and partying pretty much the whole sumer. Traveled around Portugal a bit. Visited Lisbon, Coimbra, Figueira da Foz and Sintra. Decided to quit my job and move to Stockholm. Got a work laptop instead and was asked to continue working remotely. I guess they do want to keep me. Moved to Stockholm. Went to Spain to travel and party for a week. Came back to Stockholm and started my Master's. Been studying and partying mainly. Visited Finland twice. Frankfurt, Venice, Berlin, Tallinn ahead. That's about it.

Rainy July

2009-10-25T15:59:00.001+02:00

Gare do Oriente

2009-10-24T17:26:00.001+03:00

Lisbon, Portugal

Aurora

2009-10-24T17:05:00.001+03:00

Jutta

2009-07-07T01:34:00.004+03:00

Kemi

2009-07-07T01:34:00.003+03:00

Nikon D40 with AF 50mm f/1.8

2009-07-07T01:32:00.002+03:00

Won't autofocus on D40 but still it's a great lens. Had fun shooting with it.

Murhaniemi

2009-07-07T01:32:00.001+03:00

Me & My New Baby

2009-07-07T01:30:00.001+03:00

Canon EOS 50D with Tamron SP AF 17-50mm f/2.8 Di II LD Aspherical (IF).

Elisa

2009-06-29T16:02:00.001+03:00

Tennis & Dog Park

2009-06-18T13:20:00.002+03:00

View the whole set.

Tornio Party

2009-06-18T13:18:00.001+03:00

View the whole set.

Suomenlinna

2009-06-18T13:16:00.001+03:00

View the whole set.

Korkeasaari

2009-06-18T13:13:00.002+03:00

View the whole set.

Takajärvi

2009-06-18T13:12:00.001+03:00

View the whole set.

Beach BBQ

2009-06-18T13:08:00.003+03:00

View the whole set.

Isohaara

2009-05-14T00:17:00.003+03:00

View the whole set.

The Royal Institute of Technology

2009-05-09T13:18:00.003+03:00

Got in there as well. Into Design and Implementation of ICT Products and Systems Master's program. Option number one worked out. Stockholm, here I come!

Yes, I am quitting my job. Two jobs, actually. Selling my beautiful car, giving up my nice two-room apartment in the city center with own lovely sauna and moving to Sweden. This might seem like all I've dreamt of (and it almost is) and I'm giving it up for at least two years. I know I can manage with Bachelor's degree. But there so much more waiting for me in the future. So much more to achieve. This is no time to stop. There's no limit for perfection.

Uppsala University

2009-05-05T13:34:00.001+03:00

Got directly admitted to Uppsala University with 999 merit rating. I guess, the highest possible. I have two universities waiting for me already. Still waiting for results from The Royal Institute of Technology, my number 1 choice.

Helsinki University of Technology

2009-04-24T19:31:00.002+03:00

Got into Master’s Programme in Foundations of Advanced Computing there. Still waiting for The Royal Institute of Technology to publish the results. Thinking whether to go study for Master of Science degree or stay in Kemi for a year and continue working as a software engineer.

Once Upon a Time...

2009-04-15T00:42:00.003+03:00

Hello, Kurre!

I'm sitting in front of you and writing you a letter. You're drinking your juice taking too much in your mouth and it makes your cheeks so huge. You drink again and sneeze your nose. you keep the paper of course. You complain that I don't want to waste a paper from an exercise book but why do you save all those papers with all your snot and bacterias on them? You have in every single pocket of yours. That's why it's terrible to wear anything after you as I feel disgusted by them every time I put my hand into the pocket and meet another paper piece. You know, it's not very hauska to tutustua with them so throw them away every time. Ok?

This pen is awful. I'll take another one. Now it's much better. Actually I was planning to sketch a GUI for my project on this particular piece of paper but decided to write you a letter. So here it is.

I'm looking forward to hearing from you.

Best regards,
Pupu

Pupu wrote this letter, put it into envelope, wrote address on it, put a stamp on it and asked Kurre to send it. Kurre sent it and received it few days later. Few years later Kurre was cleaning and found this letter. Therefore it is published online for the first time ever.

Hairy Sausage Cooking Experiment

2009-03-31T11:22:00.001+03:00

Dmitry's & Antti's Snowboarding Adventures

2009-03-30T10:04:00.002+03:00

Episode I - The Snow Struggle

Episode II - After The Survival

Optical Measurements Laboratory

2009-02-27T14:10:00.002+02:00

Accepted the offer. Starting there on Monday.

Dead Body Parts

2009-02-24T15:24:00.001+02:00

Back in 2004 I used to date one chick studying in medical university. I have plenty of good memories and images connected with that time.

I've been going through some old photos and found these. Enjoy!

2009-02-24T09:13:00.001+02:00

They have decided the date when they are going to decide. Tomorrow. Tomorrow it will all become clear.

Another Beauty of Mine

2009-02-19T14:39:00.001+02:00

2 months together.

Birthday/Housewarming

2009-02-19T14:36:00.001+02:00

http://flickr.com/photos/siansaparo/sets/72157613848720352/

My Beauty

2009-02-19T14:31:00.002+02:00

Looks as pretty as my unibody MacBook Pro. Yeah, I do like cars. My inner man is still stronger than my inner geek.

21

2009-02-10T10:24:00.004+02:00

Here I am, 21, independent, earning my own living and able to afford high-end MacBook Pro and Peugeot 406, working as a software engineer and having several job offers despite the crisis. Proud of myself.

2009-02-09T09:43:00.002+02:00

Job interview today. Birthday tomorrow.

Though my current employer seems to be willing to renew my contract and there's a new project in Optical Measurements Laboratory they are willing to hire me for, I would prefer to consider all the options. My wage request didn't seem to scare them away and I was invited for an interview. Going there in few minutes.

2009-02-04T09:36:00.000+02:00

Is this what you meant?
Is this what you dreamed of?
When you were making your plans
Shaking the dirt off?

Do you feel like
You and I belong?
Just keep your eyes on the road
And nothing can go wrong

CV

2009-02-02T21:37:00.000+02:00

Gotta update it here. Who knows what might turn up.

Job Offer

2009-02-02T21:32:00.004+02:00

Got one. Not an actual offer but one company seems to be interested about me and asked me to send them my CV. Let's see what's gonna happen. I haven't even been looking for it, they found me themselves through one friend. My current contract expires in the end of February. Most likely I'm gonna get a new one and I would love to continue in Mionex or in Lab but I have two years of Master's studies to pay for so I if they offer me a higher wage I'll quit without hesitation.

2009-02-02T21:25:00.006+02:00

Dreams do come true. Peugeout ain't BMW but I still have plenty of time. I have just started crossing things out from my wishlist. And I'm pretty proud of managing to cross out few of them all by myself.

2009-02-02T21:24:00.001+02:00

Why do all good things come to an end?

My New Ride

2009-01-29T09:25:00.001+02:00

2009-01-22T10:34:00.002+02:00

Seems like I'm gonna get hired by Lab to deploy Subversion + Trac for their upcoming project. Anybody else interested in freelance collaboration consulting?

2009-01-20T10:44:00.003+02:00

Ain't I handsome?

2009-01-20T10:38:00.001+02:00

Taxi Bill

2009-01-20T10:35:00.001+02:00

191.50 €

Moving

2009-01-14T09:39:00.002+02:00

City center, 59.5 m², 2 rooms + balcony, big kitchen with a dishwasher, big bathroom with sauna and a brand new washing machine!

Dreams Come True

2008-12-14T18:40:00.002+02:00

Stroke out few items from my wishlist. Didn't make me any happier. Even if I get the rest of it like a BMW convertible it won't make me happy either. Am I that depressing person? Or maybe you just can't put the true values of life in a wishlist and then strike them out one by one when you buy them.

Weekend In Levi

2008-12-14T18:28:00.003+02:00

Three days of snowboarding. It was fun. Nothing else to say, actually. Just photos.

I start to wonder why do I even have a blog. Nobody's writing and nobody's reading. And the layout is screwed up in Safari because of one CSS hack to make it look the way I want in Internet Explorer. And I don't even feel like fixing it. It's much easier to shut the whole thing down.

2008-12-14T18:16:00.003+02:00

Wout's Goodbye Party

Independence Day Party

Didn't have time to blog about these and probably not going to. But at least I've published plenty of photos.

2008-12-14T18:12:00.003+02:00

I've presented my last project, did my last exam, presented my thesis. No more classes. No more exams. Now I just have to finish my thesis which is almost done as well. Makes me kind of sad.

Halloween

2008-11-02T21:12:00.001+02:00

http://www.flickr.com/photos/siansaparo/sets/72157608586824318/

2008-10-31T11:29:00.001+02:00

MacBook Pro

2008-10-24T10:16:00.002+03:00

2.53GHz Intel Core 2 Duo, 4GB 1066MHz DDR3 SDRAM, NVIDIA GeForce 9400M + 9600M GT 512MB, 320GB + Apple Remote and Mini DisplayPort to DVI Adapter adapter. This beauty is mine now as well as the new iPod Nano.

Russian Drinking Tricks

2008-10-20T11:16:00.003+03:00

Which end bad sometimes.

Starving Children of Romania

2008-10-20T11:10:00.004+03:00

And obviously thirsty as well.

2008-10-09T12:02:00.002+03:00

I'm going to speak at a conference! I feel myself super-important.

2008-10-08T20:23:00.002+03:00

I must be really pathetic because I drove to Prisma to buy canned fruits and Pringles instead of going to shop next door just for the sake of driving to Prisma as it is like a little adventure and feels much better then just sitting at home alone and doing nothing. I do have stuff to do, actually, but thinking about my thesis gives me a feeling of giant fist squeezing my stomach. I have a topic, I have an almost ready product, I have at least some idea what I'm going to write about, the deadlines are tight but it won't be critical to miss them and graduate next spring. But still something is just sitting inside of my and keeps squeezing my stomach when it notices that I start thinking about it. And the usual winter depression is on its way. I feel it.

Kemijoki

2008-09-20T23:13:00.000+03:00

Autumn Colors

2008-09-16T10:34:00.002+03:00

2008-08-29T22:07:00.002+03:00

Been to Samara. Didn't have time to do much because of driving around the city in awful traffic jams and doing some important stuff. Was diagnosed with insulin resistance. Nothing lethal. Bought my boss Rodnik vodka which is produced in Samara. Brought a bottle for myself as well. Bought him Art.Lebedev's Matryoshkus, the geek matryoshka. I hope he liked it.

Now I'm back to Kemi. Working. Working out. Soon I'm gonna start studying, the last semester is coming. Thinking about buying MacBook Pro and dreaming about buying a motorcycle. Planning to start writing thesis one day.

Mindbending Rotations

2008-07-29T00:02:00.004+03:00

Life seems to be not as bad as I thought it would be here in Kemi all alone abandoned by everyone. I don't even have to stress about variegating it myself anyhow, it all just comes by itself. I don't think I've had that much activities during the "active" part of the year. Partying seems to be fun at first but when it becomes routine it brings no joy no more.

I've spent Juhannus in Saarikoski. I've finally visited more than IKEA in Haparanda but its surroundings including the old church in Alatornio. No matter how creepy it sounds it's really wonderful to take long walks at the cemetery. I've finally visited The Church of St Michael in Keminmaa, something I've been planning to do for the last three years. It was really impressive. I visited a regional museum there which was quite interesting as well.

I've been driving ATV and sailing Katarina with my boss, colleagues and some partners, an old ship built in thirties of the last century which is still in action and in perfect condition. Dinner, sauna, few drinks, beer festival, drunk cycling :D, night club. It was really fun! I've been to Murhaniemi checking the wind turbines. They are amazingly huge! And the views are just terrific.

Exciting work and regular work outs in gym have been keeping me pretty busy these days also. And the perspectives seem to be so bright. Though the winter is coming I hope it won't be as depressive as always. I feel the changes coming.

I've been updating my Flickr album more often than my blog. I think it's worth checking.

All-Terrain Sunday

2008-07-07T21:50:00.001+03:00

My boss is flying on his ATV.

And this is me detaching.

Movable Type vs. WordPress

2008-07-06T00:41:00.005+03:00

I have tried out both WordPress and Movable Type in order to be able to decide myself which one I like the most as a stand-alone publishing platform which I've been planning to switch to for some time already. And I choose Movable Type for a number of reasons.

The main one is that Movable Type allows to run several blogs per installation which is a crucial feature for me as I'm running two blogs, one in English and one in Russian, and I would like to continue that way though centralizing the publishing in one interface. Movable Type is perfect for that whereas WordPress allows one blog per installation.

WordPress has quite bad security track record, something I haven't heard of Movable Type.

Movable Type has built-in OpenID support as well as LiveJournal, Vox and own authentication. I guess such functionality can be added to WordPress using some third-party plug-in but why should I bother when a ready solution already exists?

I liked Movable Type template engine and Movable Type Template Markup Language (MTML) quite much. The built-in template editor with syntax highlighting and shortcuts to various tags with description and included templates list is very handy.

I have test blog up and running so it's about time I say farewell to Blogger and transfer it to the main domain.

New Design

2008-06-27T23:12:00.002+03:00

Isn't it cute? I hardly ever smile in photos but when I do it might actually turn out to be something nice like this one. Now I can enjoy this wonderful photo every time I open my website. :) You can enjoy as well if you want. :)

Proud As A Peacock

2008-06-27T00:31:00.002+03:00

I'm proud as a peacock. Software integration took just one day. Probably because the code I've written is just flawless. :) The architecture I've developed for our product has been accepted by everyone and seems to be working just fine. So I have the server, I have the clients and I have the user interface. The skeleton is built and functioning. Few features left and it's done.

Show Jumping

2008-06-19T16:27:00.001+03:00

Meri-Lapin Ratsastajat.

Bachelor Thesis

2008-06-14T20:54:00.003+03:00

Seems like I'm getting more and more clear idea what I'm going to write about and what I want to write about: "Distributed Systems in Industrial Process Monitoring and Control Applications". Sounds very interesting, doesn't it? It interests me at least and this is what I'm developing at the moment so it could save me some work if I could use documentation I'm writing about the project I'm working on in my thesis. The main obstacle is the non-disclosure agreement I have signed with my employer so I have to discuss about how what can be disclosed as a part of my thesis and what cannot.

Happy Dances

2008-06-12T10:01:00.004+03:00

One of the many advantages of being alone in the office is the possibility to perform happy dances after implementing another cool feature which is working exactly the way you expect it to work. ^_^ And happy dances are especially easy to perform wearing my new supercool Bluetooth stereo-headset and listening to music without being attached to computer.

2008-06-06T23:03:00.002+03:00

wage *= 1.5;

For non-geeks: now it's 1.5 times higher.

I know I deserve even more. But you can't always get what you want. At least not at once. But my time will come. I'm 100% sure of that.

Body Center Golden V.I.P.

2008-06-02T21:16:00.001+03:00

The card is for one year. Now I have motivation to go there regularly. =)

Hedgehogs

2008-05-27T22:52:00.002+03:00

I've been cycling around nearby forests and met these two cute little creatures. One crossed the road in front of me, another was rustling in nearby bushes.

Eurovision 2008

2008-05-22T21:53:00.002+03:00

I think I like Bulgaria the most.

Soft Toy USB Flash Drive

2008-05-19T10:59:00.002+03:00

The case of my Kingston USB flash drive has recently fallen apart so I made a new one. Some electric tape on the board to insulate it, some super glue on top of it, a soft toy and few stitches.

2008-05-17T10:43:00.003+03:00

I'm finally working at Mionex and I've been pretty busy for the last couple of weeks. Unfortunately I cannot tell anyone what am I doing there because I have signed non-disclosure agreement and I cannot disclose any information for the next four years. And no matter how drunk you'll make me I won't tell. Otherwise I would have to kill you and I don't wanna do that. :)

The only thing I can say is that it's something to do with machine vision and I like it a lot. It's nice to be finally part of a team, a balanced team as it seems to be. Not like at school when we have projects and I'm the one who's doing the majority of the tasks. And not like it used to be at the company I worked for before when they didn't trust me enough to delegate anything except software testing. Here everybody is developing own part of the product and I'm making a great contribution as well.

The only thing that bothers me is the wage I'm getting. It's less than I expected and asked for but it's better than nothing anyways. And there's a hope that it's going to be higher as the contract we signed is just for one month which is kind of evaluation period. And my boss expressed his interest in me working for him after graduation after he asked what are my plans for the future. So I guess he does want me to work for him.

Bread

2008-05-03T00:10:00.002+03:00

This plastic bag is full of bread. This is the amount thrown away by a rather small local supermarket daily.

Here are the contents.

It is put into a special locked container. Huge amounts of meat, diary and other products are thrown away as well.

And somewhere in the world children are dying of starvation.

Engineers To Be

2008-05-01T19:14:00.002+03:00

Boredom Is...

2008-04-24T18:30:00.002+03:00

Everybody knows Love Is... comic strip. I should probably start making Boredom Is... as I get more and more ideas almost every day. So, today's boredom is driving to a big supermarket to buy smoothie ingredients which you can get from a shop next door.

My New T-shirt

2008-04-21T12:12:00.001+03:00

Handmade. Here's the comic and here's the technology.

Balcony BBQ

2008-04-19T00:21:00.002+03:00

Thought it got a bit colder in the evening and the sun wasn't shining anymore the will to grill something outside wasn't gone. The stationary grill was still covered with snow and seemed to be in ruins so we used couple of disposable ones. On a dorm's balcony.

And then we built an empty beer bottles pyramid. Here it is with two Portuguese girls:

We should do it again tomorrow.

Snowing Again

2008-04-14T10:51:00.001+03:00

2008-04-07T13:53:00.000+03:00

Internet Explorer is the biggest pain in the ass of every web designer. Fuckin' hate it!

Svanstein

2008-04-05T20:39:00.002+03:00

New owner seem to be investing money into the place. It looks much better than it used to be previous years thanks to renovation. I hope this one won't go bankrupt like the previous owners did.

2008-04-04T12:14:00.002+03:00

Saving your ass by signing a petition blaming your teacher for incompetence just because you can't solve some assignment isn't that nice, don't you think so? If you don't understand a shit it might not be just teacher's fault. I managed to pass this course last year and no, I wasn't familiar with the subject before. So don't call me an exception. And I'm not gonna solve or sign anything.

2008-04-03T17:26:00.003+03:00

Insomnia can be productive sometimes. I couldn't sleep last night at all. To many ideas were going through my head. I felt sleepy for awhile but I couldn't fall asleep. So I went to computer and programmed a client for the XML-interface for the project I've made earlier. Seems like my teammates don't have that much left to do. I wish I could dedicate tasks and get some result out of it. But I have to deal with what I have and most of the time I have to take "if you want it to be done, do it yourself" approach.

Exactly!

2008-03-30T22:32:00.004+03:00