TEDxBucharest 2010

Yes, I've lived to attend a TED event. I'm totally sold! Can't wait for tomorrow! I am very confident in the people involved and all the effort that went into this. It will be an unique experience, I'm sure of it!

I always wanted to take part in such an event and now my dream came true. It's one of those things that you can't help but tell everyone around you how cool it will be and so on. But enough talk, I'm a man of a few word (especially when they need to be more). Suffice to say I'm in select company, only 500 others will be attending.

In case you're curious about what will be going on, here it is:

9:00 AM Conference Check In Opens & Caffeine
Check in at the Venue / Lobby of the Crystal Palace. Grab a coffee and a bite to eat before heading into the first session.
10:00 AM Auditorium Doors Open
Join hosts in the Auditorium for a non-threatening ―get to know you warm-up. Think tai qi for the brain.

10:15 AM TEDxBucharest Session 1 TODAY IS a GOOD DAY TO CHANGE YOUR PERSPECTIVE
Musical performance for a good day. Featuring TEDTalks and live talks from Catalin Stefanescu, Radu Tatucu, Eric Weiner and Adrian Stoica.
11:30 AM Take a Breather!
Hot coffee, flavored tea, cold water and delicious sweets. All waiting for you while you take time to grasp the ideas and meet the audience. Enjoy, yes you are at TEDxBucharest and it is a good day!

12:15 PM TEDxBucharest Session 2 TODAY IS a GOOD DAY TO CHANGE YOUR THINKING

Energy from Drum Cafe followed by live talks from Adrian Bejan, Andrei Rosu, Raluca Ioana van Staden and Magnus Scheving.

1:30 PM Feed Your Tummy

TEDxBucharest wants you to stay energized, so plan to enjoy lunch with your new friends at TEDxBucharest. Search for people with similar passions; discover people who could become your new partners in meaningful conversation. Check out gifts shelf, as well as Bloggers Alley to share meaningful conversations.

3:00 PM TEDxBucharest Session 3 TODAY IS a GOOD DAY TO CHANGE YOUR LIFE

Energy from Drum Cafe followed by live talks from Mihai Panaitescu, Nik Halik and Arnoud Raskin.

4.30 PM Take a Breather!
No doubt by now your mind is on overload. Take a minute to stretch your legs, share some ideas, and check out what’s going on in the lobby. Don’t forget to get a snack and a fresh drink.

5:00 PM TEDxBucharest Session 4 TODAY IS A GOOD DAY TO CHANGE YOUR SURROUNDINGS
Head over to the amazing performance of KOTKI Visuals and live talks from Roland Hermann and Oana Pellea.

Make tomorrow a good day!

The Italian "Job"

Actually, the correct name would be The Italian Experience, but since they didn't have any movie with that name, I chose this one instead.

Because I've already written on the company’s social network about my professional experience, now I will concentrate on the personal side of the trip. Hope you won't get lost. The memories are pretty fuzzy.

First of all I would like to say that, overall, it was a nice experience, I had my share of fun. But it was also a cultural shock for me. Really. I went there with certain expectations but saw that my Italian counterparts were very easygoing and laid back, something unfamiliar for me. I'm such a New Yorker deep down inside. :) And then there was the coffee! Oh, the horror! Let me tell you a little about this.

So, it went something like: on the first day I ordered a black coffee. You know what you get in Romania (and USA) when you order black coffee. You get black coffee. But not in Italy! No! You want to know what they gave me? They gave me an espresso! You know, the little one, just a sip, but with the highest available concentration of caffeine. My heart started pumping so hard it almost ripped my chest out. Damn!

The next time I ordered coffee, I was thinking, okay, no more black coffee mister! Try something else! I thought I figured them out. But no! I ordered "normal coffee". And guess what the waitress gave me! Cappucino! Double damn! By now I was already pissed!

The next morning at the hotel I asked them if they had “you know, normal coffee” and started explaining to them what I meant by that. After 5 minutes or so, they got it. Thank god! And that’s when I found out that for Italians, unlike the rest of the world, American coffee is what we call dark coffee. I was saved! I could finally enjoy my first cup of real coffee in three days! Eureka!

I think that's all about the "coffee trouble".

Second, let's talk food, people! We all know Italians have exquisite taste in food and wines and in general. Or so they say. I would also like to point out to you that Italy is the place where they invented Pizza. But for me it will always be the place where I had my worst pizza. Ever! It was so raw, the dough was too thin and all the sauce started dripping from it. Disgusting! The pasta were fine. Loved the gnocchi! But I couldn't live for a whole month only on pasta, could I? So I searched for familiar food. And found fried chicken. Phew! In case you didn't know, there is no KFC in Italy!

One of the great aspects of the trip was that I had the chance to visit some places, like Venezia (Venice) and Milano. Plus Trieste. Awesome architecture, buildings that were teeming with history with some amazing sculptures and stuff. I’m not very good at art and I might've used some weird terminology. I apologize to the experts, but that’s the best I can come up with without sounding too flamboyant. Took lots of nice pictures. And had a very good time, despite the wind blowing like crazy! (This sounded so corny, but I'll leave it).

Talking about the wind. When I stayed in Trieste, they were “visited” by the Bora. A wind that comes from the Pannonian plains. And oddly enough, when I was there managed to set a new record of speed: 186 km/h! This time, my fat ass saved me, otherwise I might’ve been taken by the wind, like Dorothy! :)

Trieste's main tourist attraction is Miramar castle, which I visited, obviously! This castle was meant to be the Summer residence of some Habsburgic King, Maximilian Ist. But he never got to enjoy it to the fullest, because he got shot in Mexico! Talk about bad luck.

Since I’m on the subject, I’ll tell you about the visit in Venezia as well. I had already visited the city a few years back, but didn’t like it that much back then.

Now it was way better, the weather played an important role too, the day in which I visited being very sunny. I dunno how to describe the city. Happy? Flashy? Moist? :) No cars? Even if I didn’t go during Summer time, there were still loads of tourists. Loved the masks, took some pics and even got to play with them.

When we returned to Trieste we managed to take the wrong train back and instead of having a 3 hour journey we had a staggering 6 hour one! But we got back! Safe and sound.

Then came Milano. The fashion city. Home of Inter and AC Milan. Clubs I totally hate! I'm not going to say which is my favourite Italian football squad, but I can share the ones I dislike the most. Which I did. What else did I do in Milano? Well, I visited the Duomo and did some shopping, mostly because I was getting bored. I hate shopping! So you can only imagine how bored I was!

And instead of a conclusion, I'll write a few words about the main reason why I was sent to Italy, to learn new things. I’m involved in some projects at work, stuff I can’t talk to you about. :P But what I can tell you is that I learned a lot of interesting stuff, and now I'll get the chance to apply that knowledge. The learning was exhaustive, full days of study. Headaches afterwords, but nevertheless they were well structured and the one teaching us did an excellent job.

All in all this is everything I remembered about the time I spent in Italy. Hope you were able to follow.

The Movies I'm Looking Forward To...

Before starting the list I'd like to put here the movie that I await the most.

CREATION.

Now for the list. First one is DAYBREAKERS. Finally, a new concept for a vampire movie! The trailer looks more than promising.

The second one would be Guy Ritchie's approach on the SHERLOCK HOLMES tale. Can't wait to see the whole thing!

Third one is COPOUT, the action comedy starring Bruce Willis and Tracy Morgan. More than funny.

Fourth...REPO MEN...Because I've been a tidy good little (okay, not so little) nerd..

Fifth turns out to be a little FROZEN.

6th is the INCEPTION of some sort of mindcrime, starring Leonardo di Caprio and directed by Christopher "The Dark Knight" Nolan.

The CLASH OF THE TITANS IS se7enth. Loved the trailer, especially the "Damn the gods part" :-)

And ending on a funny note...the BOUNTY HUNTER trailer...gotta see Gerard Butler and Jennifer Aniston make each other miserable...

Why?

Why are electronics producers favoring certain markets and not others? Definitely not because of the PPP (purchase power parity) index.

I'll talk about handheld device manufacturers in this particular case.

I've recently came across some data that blew me out of my chair (almost). For instance: the Nokia N900 costs 650 $ in USA while in my country, which by all means is a lot poorer and the wages are really low entered at about 776 $. WHY??? Don't try to wrap my head around a fancy explanation because there isn't one. It's plain wrong. And unethical!

The average wage in USA in 2008 was $41,334.97. In contrast, in Romania, was only $12,285. That's 3444$ a month compared with 1023.75$. More than thrice. So shouldn't the prices in Romania be lower? Common sense and business ethics would dictate so. "But in USA we sell more!", manufacturers shout. Yeah, but that's not the point. By following the same logic, in China and India you would have to pay people to take your phones! C'mon, be real!

If you want another example, here it is: Samsung's Omnia 2 was launched at about 380$ in USA and in Romania at the staggering amount of 600$!! WTF?? This is exploitation. If I were to have a huge wage, like the ones from Deutschland, France or the UK, I would buy a phone like this. But most Romanians earn around 550$ a month. Yes! Your eyesight is not impaired in any way! Of course, we are better off than a lot of other people who are barely scraping their existence, but I'm comparing the country with other EU states and USA. We are in the EU, after all. Or that was another scam?

I'm again asking WHY? Oh, and don't get me started at the carrier prices, those suck as well.

So, in conclusion, I'm asking you "good" people who make phones, import and distribute them in less favored parts of the world. Consider the fact that the internet is offering us access to see what's going on all over the world. I don't give a shit damn about your lame excuses and would much appreciate it if you could come with a way to satisfy all your customers in a way that doesn't insult our intelligence.

In case I'm wrong (always possible, that's why I put it here) please let me know. But bring solid, logical arguments to the table.

Privatizing Conflicts - A Solution for World Peace?

Okay, first of all I'd like to say I'm not a violent person. I hate conflicts. Unless you count video games, case in which I'm guilty as charged.

But let's talk about War and it's more prolific counterstate, Peace. We've all seen at least the trailer from War Inc. - that crap movie with John Cusack in it, I think. That went wrong. Actually it was totally awry.

Now for some better news. What would happen if we were to privatize not just conflicts, but the world? I know it sounds a little bit too much, even to me it does, and I'm writing this! But let's think about it for a minute.

Companies, except the ones that produce military equipment (and that can easily shift production to more interesting domains, like space research and whatnot) are interested in a climate of peace and understanding so that they can sell their products. They don't care about the consumer like, let's say, a state would.

They're not interested in using your race, political affiliation, hair colour, religion and so on unless that helps them sell you more goods. The state, would, however, try to manipulate you into thinking the ones who are different from you are bad and you should fear them and try to keep them at bay and god knows what other crap citizens have inculcated in their heads by political regimes.

Companies see you as a means to sell their products. Yes, competition is already present, corporate espionage is better and just as widespread as "regular" one. But companies would not wage war on one another, at least not in the main understanding of the word. They fight, but that fight usually benefits consumers. We are graced with better, cheaper products and funnier ads. We love it!

States on the other hand, when they go to war, man, they overdoit! Lots of ado about nothing. When did war ever solve something in the long run? We need sustainable development. We are all human, we all bleed red, to paraphrase some newyorkers I know.

Another question comes in mind at such a moment. What about the rules? The legislation. States are there for the rules (and the church is our moral compass. Yeah, right!). Or are they? I'm pretty sure (I've said it before) that we only need a basic frameset on which a society can be built and function. And a few people to update the laws - that's until computer AIs will be able to do it for us.

The question I'm asking - do we, as a species, as humans, really need states/countries, religions and politics? Or we were just brought up into believing these are fundamental parts of our lives, when in fact, we could do just as good, if not better, without them?

We need democracies. Not the dust-in-our-eyes type we are fooled with each day. Real democracies, where all people are informed and they all participate in decision making. Or at least the important decisions. That would resemble a democracy!

I believe I've said enough. If some people read this, they might hate me even more. So I'll stop now.

One last thing. Have to mention I was inspired to write this by none other than Tony Stark's line from the upcoming Iron Man 2 movie: "I've privatized world peace!".

The Mobile Phone Craze

I wasn't going to write anything about this. Ever. But the recent fuzz about the Google phone determined me to do it.I hate it when people get overexcited about stuff. Its weird. :-P

I can't believe how gullible some people are. And how the manufacturers are just playing with the customers. Launching tons of new devices, none of them being a true smartphone, but kinda-smart phones.

What do I mean by that? Well, we have cameraphones, like Samsung Pixon, Sony-Ericsson Satio and so on, we have business phones, like Blackberry and competition, trendy phones, Apple's IPhone (which I think is overhyped) and the recent Google Phone. Ah, every nerd's dream. The Google-HTC offspring, much awaited, coveted, much ado about nothing. Really, it's just a damn phone. Grow up!

I may seem pissed, but let me explain. Follow me here. Don't you want a phone that can do it all? Talk on it, it's most obvious function, be able to listen to music.take quality photos and film in HD, have a GPS, AMOLED display, an additional camera for video calls, RDS radio, GPRS, EDGE, 3G, Wi-Fi, Wi-MAX and all possible sorts of connectivity plus all the neat apps and functions that such a machine would/should carry. And also, very important features as well, a Great battery life, that would allow you to exploit it without having to carry a charger around and impressive internet browsing support.

Hope I didn't miss anything. Oh yeah, the OS. I really don't care as long as the OS doesn't lag.

So, this is how I imagine it. My mobile fantasy (or delerium?). The Genius phone:

- 1Ghz proc or greater with dedicated graphs

- 4.0 inch display or greater

- all 2G/3G networks

- capacitive AMOLED touchscreen

- proximity sensor, accelerometer, handwriting recognition, a full QWERTY keyboard (or not)

- a whopping 32GB of internal storage plus microSD slot ;)

- GPRS, EDGE, Wi-Fi, Wi-Max, Bluetooth, Infrared (just in case)

- USB/microUSB, 3.5 millimeter jack (good thins Son-Ericsson are starting to see the error of their ways)

- a 12MP camera (I would settle for 8, but since I've seen that 12 is possible, why not), with all the goodies, geotagging, dual LED flash, etc, but without optical zoom. Leave that to the real cams.

- GPS with preinstalled maps for your area (or the whole world, at 32GB, you wouldn't feel it).

- all the possible internet connectivity, Pocket Office (not just doc viewer), full flash, JAVA etc...you know the drills.

I know, I'm day (actually evening) dreaming, but a phone like this would certainly be nice. The only phone you'll ever need. :-)

The only problem would be the price tag. It would clock very high. Somewhere around 800 Euros. But then again, it's not just a phone, it's a phone-camera-MID hybrid. I think it would be worth it.

Let me know what do you think.

Connections

Had some time on my hands (guess I didn't wash them so well, huh?) and decided to link all my accounts. Smart move? (no, really, lemme know!) We'll see. I hope it will be cool, but one may never know.

Did this while watching (mostly listening) the TEDxSV talks. Guess those people inspired me 'coz I did a good job (I usually do a good job - so modest of me, :-P).

The thing that bugs me the most in the whole internet is the thing that makes it very cool: the plethora of choice one has for anything he/she wants to do, whether it's searching, mailing, social networking or blogging. I am entangled in so many networks, I need to keep track of'em.

So, this concludes another post about nothing. This blog is kinda like the Seinfeld of blogging: about nothing.

The Importance of Social Media Networking

I wrote in another post on another blog that social media might end up being a curse. It might also become something of a blessing, especially for us busy people, who work for corporations, with tenuous work hours, who have to shop and pay the bills after work (if possible) and so on and so forth. Why? In part, these social networks usually attract smart people (score 1-0 social media) which means there's a greater chance of finding people with similar ideas and interests than in "real" life. I call that the old way. And I think that's what it is. Needless to say, I do not excel at the old way - hence why I blog :-D. Another reason might be the information part. Using the old way you need several incounters (dates) to get to know somebody, see how they are, how they behave, what they like etc. In the online medium, you can check out their profile, and have a pretty decent estimate if you want to deal with them from then on. You don't waste time (score 2-0 for social media). And another point, which I deem important, you can get reacquainted with old friends, meet new ones from all over the world, and have a better way to manage your activities than in the old way.

Why do I use social media? Besides getting to know people, I get info about gigs, plays, movies, showtimes and can manage my calendar. I get my daily dose of blogging (wow, really? - Yes!), both posting and reading. I get the news, I watch vids and listen to music, basically I lead my life the way Google would want me to, online :-) For some this is a bad thing, I know quite a few of those people. But they don't interest me since they have nothing in common - they are "the others". By the time they'll realize social media's importance I'll be a guru. ;-)

So, this is an empathic analysis on why I use social media networks. It's a little flawed, since I didn't write anything about it's business potential. I leave that for another post. For now I think this suffices.

RATIO EX MACHINA

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