Le Grand Content

Came across this tonight,interesting...

links

iPod index replaces the BigMac index

Lenin in Antarctica

Ginkoviagra

Pastafarianism

My picture in an official Prague Guide

Alexandra Moss found my picture of the Prague TV tower on Flickr, and since all of my pictures are published with an Attribution-ShareAlike license, asked me for permission to use it in the Schmap Prague guide. You can download the guide here and let me know what you think (they don't have a Mac version yet, so I've no clue what it looks like). AFAIK it's free.

magic

having studied the arcane arts, I am now able to switch desktops with a gesture... niiiiice

New Year

pics from new years in Prague

Celebration

after what seemed as an awfully long time, I went out and enjoyed a beer or five. Great way to celebrate the end of this week, full of exams and work...

9%

I thought I should update my visited countries list...Since last time I've been to Cuba and Mexico (and the US and Ireland again), with Vatican City coming soon (mid-march).

Bc. Juraj Slota

I've finally obtained a university education today and can put Bc. (for bachelor's degree) in front of my name...not that I will, but at least I can say I'm smart in job applications;-)

The exam was easy enough, although if I had picked more difficult questions, the result might not have been as good.

Thanks to all of you who held their fingers crossed! It helped!

Montauk: Revisited

The trip over here was loooong. My dad drove me to the BB bus station at 3am on Tuesday. The bus arrived in Bratislava at 6:30 or so. The plane to Prague took off at 10:30. In Prague, I ran to the other terminal, just in time to see Zuzana board her plane to JFK. I had to wait 4 more hours, and then my plane got delayed. I was getting worried that I won't make the connecting flight from Paris. Luckily the Air France people were waiting for us (people w the connecting flight) and drove us expressly to the next plane, we only had 20 minutes until the next takeoff. Amazingly the luggage made it on time as well! So after cca 30 hours, I emerged from at the arrival gate at JFK, where Casey and Zuzana were waiting for me. Niice. The drive to Montauk wasn't sop smooth, Casey's car had a gas leak and we had to stop in the middle of nowhere. Luckily, he was able to fix it (with the help of my great little cell phone light;-) and we made it to Montauk eventually (2am).
The Romanians were here already...
Couple of words on our accomodation. We live in a house with a big terrace in "smurf village", up one luxury level from last year. Now it can be awarded 1 star. Andrei and Roxana have 1 room, Zuzana and two other Romanian girls share a big "room" in the middle, we'll put a curtain to separate it in two. Vierka and I will have our own room as well, niiiiiiice! There's a spacious bathroom and a non-equipped kitchen. There's a fridge and a gas stove, but no cupboard or pots and pans or table. They promised we'll have those when the landlord/lady comes back. Hopefully soon.
I started working in Gosman's on Friday, it's quite busy. Made some money already. Yesterday was a crazy night, the kitchen was slow, customers were unhappy, I was exhausted. But I walked w more than 220, not bad for 5 hours. I'm looking for a second job as well, I was offered a bellboy position in the Montauk Manor, and I might get a job in the post-office as well. I need the international driver's license though...
Before we find a cheap and suitable car, we are riding bikes that we "borrowed" from Kmart (we'll return them at the end of the summer:). We're also going to borrow a TV, microwave, AC...;-) We also have a new phone installed, along with a 100Mbps internet (nice) and a 200channel cable TV. The phone number is in my skype profile if you want to call me;-)
The weather is hot hot hot and humid. At least it's good for business;-)
Gotta run now, work starts soon...
Hasta later.

It's been a while...

Ok, found some time to post a bit finally...Let's see, the last post was 3 weeks ago, a lot of things happened since.
The last days at HEC were great, I did the last exams and presentations. The final presentation at EDS was cancelled, and Susana had to present my part to our academic tutor because the presentation took place on Friday, and was gone already. I got the grades this week: Business Project B, Management Instruments C, Network Economy A, Energy&Finance A. I'm satisfied;-)
Back to the last day on campus, the party was great. It was too big to fit inside the building so they fenced off an area around the building as well. There was the obligatory DJ, a really great live ragga band and a djembe steel band. Nice. It finished at 7am and I had to pack super fast because I had to return the keys to the room by 8am. Tom and Patrick saw me off to the train station, we said goodbye. I miss them, they were loads of fun and good friends. I'm sure I'll see them again.
The trip back to Prague was ok because I was extremely exhausted, so I slept most of the 15 hours of the bus ride. Prague was great, met the old friends again, had good beer finally. The embassy took too long to process my visas so I left for Bystrica on thursday instead of Tuesday. We went in Nakli's broken car;-) It was great to be back home, see my parents, brother (Viktor was gone in CZ already), dog...And friends. We did the usual Friday night out, Hi-Fi and Ponorka till dawn. Zaba, Nakli and I went biking one day, I missed biking a lot (I bike a lot here in Montauk now...) Other than that I pretty much just enjoyed my stay home, so much that I forgot to take care of my international driving license again. Hopefully my dad will be able to get it again this year. Tuesday, Last day in BB, Nakli and Miso(Urda) drove to Donovaly and enjoyed some Kofola in the mountains. I miss mountains as well. Paris has one little hill and Montauk is as falt as it gets. Maybe att the end of the season we'll go to the Rockies...

Happy Shiny People

Last week(s?) have been great. We had a barbecue by the lake on Friday. On Saturday I went to Cyrilles's housefor another barbecue. It was awesome. He has a mediterranean style house in the suburbs, huge garden, pool...We drank fresh caipirinha, grilled great meat, watched the world cup, fooled around in the pool, ate some more...great day, it was very warm, and as always, getting out of campus is a treat in itself.
Oh, last week I passed two exams - Energy and Finance and Network Economy. They weren't too difficult, epsecially the former one as it was open book;-) We had yet another presentation on wednesday in EDS, it was alright but there was low turnout so it kinda missed the point. That is why they cancelled this week's final presentation, yeeeeehaaaaaaaw8-)
I just got back from my last exam, Management Instruments and Social Behaviour. I have no idea how I will be evaluated, the questions were quite general...but I'm sure I wrote enough to pass, especially since the test accounts for only 30% of the grade.
Now it's party time!!! Actually I need to pack stuff first, take care of a lot of paperwork etc...and then its party time!!!
As I said, last weeks were beautiful, sunny, warm...horrible weather to be sick. Yeah I am sick again, I can't bring myself to take it easy so it keeps coming back.
I'm going back to Prague on Friday, I don't know how though. Carpool hopefully;-)
K, i'm gonna end my random rants here, got a lot of things to do.
have a good 1

Another LOL

Apple wil be giving every MBA at HEC an iPod with the school's logo.

About half of all lectures will be captured in digital video and saved in massive network servers, where students will be able to review them, in the form of video podcasts, as little as an hour later. The iPods also will be stuffed with a wealth of useful tools and information, such as campus maps, class schedules, RSS feeds of news stories, and language training courses.

Visited countries map

There's a LOT I haven't seen yet!!


You can create your own visited countries map here

P.S. Emil reminded me that I HAVE been in Spain, San Sebastian, so I updated the list

LOL

I have heard comments from many of you saying what a great time I'm having here. Let me set the record straight. I am having a good time, I met great people, I'm in a great city (well, close to it:) and I will miss it. But it's not all party and laid-back time. Let me describe this week for example.
Yesterday I woke up early (9am), got the same shitty breakfast (baguette, butter, jam), prepared for the afternoon class of "Management Instruments and Social Behaviour", then spent 3 hours in that class. Had dinner and went back to my room to work on my business project presentation, watched an episode of the Daily Show before going to bed at 1:30am.
Today I woke up at 9am, had the same ol' breakfast, talked to Vierka a bit, now I'm gonna study for tomorrow's "Energy and Finance" exam and finish thee presentation with my group for the business project, we are presenting Wed. afternoon. Then I'll run back and study for my "Network Economy" exam.
As you may have noticed, I have not been posting for quite some time, this is solely due to the fact that nothing, nothing worth mentioning happened, I just stayed on campus, went to class and worked on BP, all the while being sick. Voila. My blog might make my stay here seem glorious, and thats great, because thats how I want to remember it. I dont' want to remember all the administrative problems, the horrible bureaucracy, bland food, the boring people, not to mention business project and bank problems! This post will be a thorn i the otherwise almost idyllic, fun and party filled picture of my semester here at HEC.

A great read

http://www.nybooks.com/articles/17726

Summary of three books dealing with differences between Europe and USA. Very sober, doesn't take a preference, rather points out strong and weak points in both.

Consider a mug of American coffee. It is found everywhere. It can be made by anyone. It is cheap—and refills are free. Being largely without flavor it can be diluted to taste. What it lacks in allure it makes up in size. It is the most democratic method ever devised for introducing caffeine into human beings. Now take a cup of Italian espresso. It requires expensive equipment. Price-to-volume ratio is outrageous, suggesting indifference to the consumer and ignorance of the market. The aesthetic satisfaction accessory to the beverage far outweighs its metabolic impact. It is not a drink; it is an artifact.

This contrast can stand for the differences between America and Europe —differences nowadays asserted with increased frequency and not a little acrimony on both sides of the Atlantic. The mutual criticisms are familiar. To American commentators Europe is "stagnant." Its workers, employers, and regulations lack the flexibility and adaptability of their US counterparts. The costs of European social welfare payments and public services are "unsustainable." Europe's aging and "cosseted" populations are underproductive and self-satisfied. In a globalized world, the "European social model" is a doomed mirage. This conclusion is typically drawn even by "liberal" American observers, who differ from conservative (and neoconservative) critics only in deriving no pleasure from it.

To a growing number of Europeans, however, it is America that is in trouble and the "American way of life" that cannot be sustained. The American pursuit of wealth, size, and abundance —as material surrogates for happiness —is aesthetically unpleasing and ecologically catastrophic. The American economy is built on sand (or, more precisely, other people's money). For many Americans the promise of a better future is a fading hope. Contemporary mass culture in the US is squalid and meretricious. No wonder so many Americans turn to the church for solace...

Awesome tornado pictures

http://www.weatherstock.com/tornadocat3.html#TTT00

Gerrup outta that

It's been a while again since my last post, so here's a rundown of what happened, or at least what I remember happened.
First of all, I had Edo visit me here in Paris for a week, it was nice. I was a terrible host though, I was really sick (almost pneumonia) so I stayed in bed for days and couldn't show him around Paris. I even forgot about my birthday until my folks phoned and congratulated me. LOL.
Not being able to organize any party, my friends showed up in my room suddenly and we had some fun, but kept it mellow. It was nice to see they remembered even if I didn't;-)
What else...yeah we had to present our work to the CEO of EDS Consulting on Wednesday. I admit I was very nervous, presenting in French for the first time. In the end it went rather well, i.e. we weren't the worst:-) No, I have to give some credit to our group, we did a good job.
Edo was leaving that day, so after presenting I went to meet up with him in the Tuileries, walked around a bit, and went to his friend's flat near Montparnasse to pick up his luggage before leaving. Things turned out differently though, I saw Edo off and then stayed with his friends in the flat. We ended up drinking Ricard and having a dinner, and in the end I slept there.
Came morning, I helped clean a little, put on my suit that I was wearing all the day before, and headed back to the campus.
My friends found it quite amusing to se me walk into the canteen, after not having seen me for a day, in my suit and my briefcase, with the tired look on my face;-)
Did some work in the afternoon, and then it was time for the infamous Thursday party. It was a good one, Pepa (a CEMS guy who studied in Dublin last semester) visited, great guy, had a lot of fun.
Friday morning we presented our "project" for the Network Economy class, which did not go too well, I have to make the presentation more coherent before submitting it...But the effort was there;-)
Evening was celebration time again, as it was Eamons birthday (he's the Irish guy who we crashed at before going to Dublin). It took place in a small bar in the 11th arrondisement. It was absolutely packed, and we loved it! It was incredibly refreshing not to see the same old HEC faces at a party. The thing about the bars and clubs in Paris is that they have a lot more bouncers, and they make their presence felt. The bouncer in this tiny bar threw out 3 or 4 people while we were there, for such things as bringing a can of beer inside etc. Funny thing is, the guy who got thrown out tried to fight back (he was thin, almost transparent) and kicked the bouncer, resulting in having his face smeared on the sidewalk. I mean, how dumb can u get, picking a fight with someone who's biceps is thicker tah your leg?
Anyway, Alex, his girlfriend, and two other friends came from Holland at around 2:30 am, picked us up, and after some searching we got our bearings right and drove to the campus.
Saturday was work day. Alex and his friends went to Paris to do the tourist. I stayed and pretended to work, but it was soo nice out, warm and sunny, that I didn't get much done. Instead, I went to the campus lake to watch a horse-jumping competition, a very chic event indeed.
In the evening we went to Paris again, and I've seen it like never before. It was warm and people were everywhere, having drinks and enjoying themselves, music everywhere, just a great atmosphere. We ended up going to the Bastille area, which I've never been to before and which is absolutely amazing at night. Bars everywhere!, I mean everywhere!, lights and colors, music and happy people all around, nobody stressed out. It's probably time to define we, I've noticed I haven't been doing a good job at describing this crucial variable. We on the 3rd June meant: Tom, Eamon, Taylor, Richard (all Irish or British), Mallory (an American girl doing an internship at a law firm here, earning copious amounts of money), Tomas (Czech guy here at HEC) and his girlfriend, Vasek (architecture student in Paris), Pepa, Stepan (VSE CEMS guy studying in Belgium now), Sonia and Christoph (French and German CEMS).
After some bar hopping (about 5 hours of it), we decide to take a taxi to Eamons and crash there, and this is when a surreal thing happened. We flagged a taxi, it stopped, and we were explaining where we wanted to be dropped off, when this black guy with a white girl jumps into the taxi and basically tells us to piss off. We objected, it was our taxi and was hard to find one there, the taxi driver objected, and this is when the most ridiculous threat I ever heard was uttered. He(the black guy) said, in an angry voice, that he was gonna call the cops because this is an act of racism. Flabbergasted, we stared in amazement, didn't know whether to laugh or what, when Mallory said he was full of shit and told him to get out of the car. He got even more aggressive, "You're saying my people are shit, you say my brothers are shit????!!", he gets out of the car and tries to come on to Mallory, a girl for chrissake!!! What a loser. He starts threatening us, a group of 5 much taller guys. At this point I just started laughing in his face and we let him go, even if the taxidriver didn't want him. He just repeated his racist argument, poor bastard. It was like from some Hollywood comedy where a black guy blames everything on everyone else being racist...;-) Long story short, we came to Eamons place, talked for some time, and took the first train back to Paris. Unfortunately we fell asleep on it, got off a couple of stations later, so we ended up missing breakfast at HEC.
Today I'm staying here, Alex and co. are in Paris sightseeing, coming back later in the evening. I need to prepare for a painful class tomorrow, very boring and obvious stuff described in an unnecessarily complicated terms...

That's about it I guess. This next week is crucial, I have 2 exams and have to present to all the managers of EDS on Wednesday.

iCryptex

LOL
http://www.icryptex.com/

Bordeaux: Revisited

Zuzka & Emil
Originally uploaded by empty007.

Let me say that TGV rules! I was in Bordeaux in 3 hours. And it wasn't even going top-speed all the way. By car it would take 5h:31mins and cost more than 83EUR. This way I paid 70 for a return ticket. When are they going to build something like that between Prague and Banska Bystrica? I'm afraid we'll having flying cars and cold fusion, if not teleports, before that happens...
So anyway, I enjoyed my stay in Bordeaux a lot. The first day we just chilled, ate home-made sushi and talked and talked. Friday was natural-park time, the weather turned out alright. We've also paid a little visit to Arcachon, a small town on the coast, but it was deserted as it was quite cold. Canard for dinner, kudos to Zuzka for excellent cooking! Saturday was lazy day as it rained, so we just slept in, had a great breakfast and lunch, exchanged movies and music...at around 4 we wet out to have a walk in Bordeaux before seeing the Da Vinci Code. Befroe I say that the movie was dissapointing, I'll have to say that I like Bordeaux a lot. It is small, but not too small, it has a distinct atmosphere and is just overall very enjoyable. Did I mention that the movie sucked? I did, good. Moving on.
Sunday, last day. Beautiful weather, not a cloud in the sky and very very warm. Figures. Too bad it wasn't so nice all the time, we planned on going to Biarritz among other things...Oh well, at least I have a reason extra to visit again.

It was awesome catching up with Emil and Zuzka again, we had a great time (I did at least), great food and great talks. I really needed to get out of campus, I started to feel imprisoned here.

Monday bloody monday, had 6 hours of class, back to the routine (haha, I just thought of a great line from Scrubs: J.D.: "...nightly routine: Pleasure myself, weep and repeat"; great show by the way, random humor at its best)

Back among the living

I'm feeling much better today, I knew it was nothing a couple of blankets, a good 12-hour sleep and two shots of Becherovka wouldn't fix;-)

I'm sick of something else though, the business project. I'm beginning to hate it. It seems to me that we are not doing anything really helpful to the company, that we're just used to raise awareness among students about its existence. Right now I'm translating into French a paper that I did for the company last week. Apparently our self-proclaimed team leader thinks they can't handle English, which wouldn't be a problem if he'd told me in the beginning so I wouldn't have to do it all over again. Translating is a pain, even into English. French uses different syntax and everything, I'm really struggling with the 15 pages here. And it was supposed to be done yesterday.

Can't wait to go to Bordeaux! The TGV leaves from Montparnasse at noon, so I'll have to leave here at 10 since there are some works on the rails, meaning the otherwise very punctual trains will run late. I'll be in Gare St. Jean at !5:25...planning on spending lots of time on the beach and having great wine and food (DIE! restaurant universitaire, I'm sick of you)

Ok, enough with this ranting n raving, back to translating...