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Monday, December 3

the second

I went to youtube to find a song I've been listening to quite a few times while working, but, strangely, it's not on youtube. yet I guess.

nevertheless, I accidentally bumped into this in one of MVs:




guess what they meant by that... yeah right...

even Google translate knows it's an infinitive.

Thursday, November 29

duck vs horse

accidentally found this on yahoo and it made my day better:

"Would you rather fight 100 duck sized horses, or 1 horse sized duck?"

as someone wrote in comments, the choice intrigues me and now the work is doomed for the day.

Wednesday, November 28

Карлос Кастанеда о ЖАЛОСТИ

"...именно образ себя генерирует чувство жалости к себе. 
...
Жалость к себе - это воображаемое отношение между одним Я и другим Я. То есть, это существующая лишь в голове социальная позиция.
Существует фиктивный "наблюдатель" и не менее фиктивный "наблюдаемый субъект". Наблюдатель жалеет наблюдаемого. Этот процесс глубоко скрыт от нашего осознания, он заблокирован и недоступен прямому анализу по простой и такой же социальной причине, внушенной нам в раннем детстве, - ЖАЛЕТЬ САМОГО СЕБЯ НЕПРИЛИЧНО. ЭТО СВИДЕТЕЛЬСТВО ИЗЛИШНЕГО СЕБЯЛЮБИЯ И ОБЩЕЙ СОЦИАЛЬНОЙ СЛАБОСТИ. Напротив, жалеть других - хорошо, поскольку это свидетельство альтруизма и, соответственно, "силы". В связи с этим, как правило, жалость к себе выступает в превращенных формах и не склонна демонстрировать себя открыто.
Мы бесконечно лицемерны по отношению к обществу, нами построенному, и по отношению к самим себе. Одно и то же чувство, просто имеющее два различных модуса (о чем будет сказано отдельно), оценивается другими и воображаемым "оценщиком" (живущим в нашем затылке) прямо противоположным образом.
...
Зачем сознательному "Я" знать, что кто-то (более глубокая часть того же Я) регулярно жалеет самого себя? Зачем знать о себе, настолько ты себялюбив (до мелочности, до пустяков) и насколько ты на самом деле слаб? Безусловно, когда наше осознание проявляет должную настойчивость (в приступе саморефлексии, например), ему позволено знать часть правды (точно так же, как мы иногда позволяем это своим самым близким друзьям), но узнать всю правду можно только на допросе. 
...
А ведь в жалости к себе нет ничего постыдного, унизительного или противоестественного. Это - нормальная часть полноценной социальной личности. ... И все же - мы не стесняемся проявлять гордыню (в самом широком смысле этого слова), но боимся пожалеть себя без специальных условий и оговорок (таких, как "большое личное горе"). Чтобы жалеть себя без стеснений, нужно, например, "хотя бы" попасть в автомобильную катастрофу.
Все вышесказанное вовсе не исключает существования особой категории людей, для которых жалость к себе - это образ жизни, способ привлекать к себе внимание, находить комфортное положение в их социальном мирке. Они всячески эксплуатируют это чувство, если находят жертву, склонную испытывать чувство вины по любому поводу. ...
Биологическое начало жалости к себе не подлежит никакой социальной оценке, так как происходит из тривиального инстинкта самосохранения. Точнее, оно связано с переживанием допустимого предела физических и психических нагрузок. Дело в том, что смерть способна подкрадываться к биологическому существу незаметно, обходя все защитные механизмы страха. Простейшие ситуации такого рода настолько далеки от нашего представления о жалости как эмоциональной разрядке (или чувстве), что биологическое происхождение жалости заметить далеко не просто. Когда животное вынуждено в течение долгого времени непрерывно и быстро убегать от опасности, оно может оказаться на грани истощения. В этом случае страх смерти, если он продолжает гнать животное без отдыха и сна, способен не спасти, а убить. Как поступает зверь - олень, загнанный волк, косуля и проч.? Он падает на землю и лежит, пока не восстановит силы. Понятно, что никакой жалости он не испытывает - и все же корень психического опыта растет отсюда. Как поступает животное, которого непрерывно пугают и терроризируют, которому сутками не дают опомниться? Оно перестает реагировать на окружающее, забивается в угол и погружается в апатию. Если умеет, оно плачет.
Таков механизм инстинкта самосохранения. Чтобы остаться в живых, надо перебрать все возможные варианты - бежать, нападать, прикидываться мертвым. Если ничто из этого не разрешает ситуацию, остается один выход, самый рискованный, - взять паузу, которая может вернуть силы для продолжения борьбы.
Этот опыт человек получил по наследству от высших млекопитающих. Переживание вынужденного бессилия стало психическим фоном, на котором выросло могучее чувство жалости к себе. Ассоциативно оно связано с болью и страданием. Жалость и страдание неразрывны. Поскольку же социальная жизнь человека сопровождается страданием (для него слишком много причин, чтобы все перечислять), то жалость к себе работает практически непрерывно. ...
...
Возникает другой вопрос - почему жалость к себе стала универсальной реакцией? 
...
Этому феномену есть одно грустное объяснение. Оно связано с человеческой способностью прогнозировать, учиться и делать выводы. Животные, в отличие от нас, наделены этой способностью в гораздо меньшей степени. Правда, они не способны к самотрансформации, но страдают, безусловно, меньше, чем человек.
Человек быстро усваивает важный урок - социальный мир никогда не заканчивается, покуда вы живы. Никогда не заканчиваются проблемы, конфликты, угрозы, посягательства, принуждение. Никогда не заканчивается конкуренция (которая для бессознательного есть синоним "борьбы за выживание"). Никогда не заканчиваются стрессы, и не существует в тонале способа остановить удушающее давление социальной сети. Сегодняшняя победа важна только сегодня, завтра она может обернуться поражением. ... Сражаясь или убегая, добиваясь удовлетворения или испытывая фрустрацию, мы всегда с высокой долей вероятности можем прогнозировать, что рано или поздно наступит такой день, когда никакой способ действия нам не поможет. Вот почему чувство жалости к себе никогда полностью не умолкает - просто иногда оно "переходит на шепот". Тем более, что мы регулярно наблюдаем неудачников и бедолаг, которые уже встретили этот момент, а ведь мы мало чем от них отличаемся.
Поэтому первая маска или проекция жалости к себе (самая очевидная) - это жалость к другим. То, что жалость к другим на самом деле направлена на себя, легко заметить по доминирующей пассивности этого чувства. Конечно, альтруизм и сострадание давно стали поощряемыми социальными добродетелями. Время от времени мы просто обязаны убеждать себя, что действительно жалеем других людей. Тогда мы совершаем добрые дела - иногда полезные, иногда бесполезные. (Любопытно, что известное удовлетворение мы испытываем в любом случае - даже когда наш поступок не принес никакой пользы ближнему. Это лишний раз подтверждает, откуда на самом деле родился наш альтруизм.) Мы помогаем ближним и способны даже чем-то жертвовать ради них (не только деньгами, но и временем, вниманием, собственными интересами).
В этом размышлении нет ни малейшего цинизма, как может показаться поверхностному читателю или убежденному противнику кастанедовской безжалостности. Потому что цинизм начинается там, где возникает лицемерие, а я говорю о поступках, которые люди совершают абсолютно искренне.  ..."

(с) Карлос Кастанеда о ЖАЛОСТИ

Tuesday, November 20

2,800 calories

"A 150-pound person would have to run an average of 29 miles to burn off 2,800 calories. If you weigh more, congratulations! You get to run less"

Sunday, November 18

yesterday's night / bowling / Боулинг в Блокбастере


Yesterday I was out with friends and close to midnight we happened to pay a visit to one of 'entertainment' complexes (huge buildings with restaurants, cinemas, clubs, etc.
Surprisingly at 23:30 there were no movies available, so we decided to spend an hour in bowling. 

A mistake.
As far as I remembered from previous times, that precise bowling was supposed to be ok. But it wasn't.
At the photo of bowling balls you can have a glimpse of how awful they were: some had indentations 1cm deep (how one can do that to a bowling ball, for god's sake? it's as hard as rock) and most were greasy and sleak on the outside and inside. We had trouble throwing them, because they tried their best to slip from your hands - and I actually lost a lot of points because ball would slip form my hand at the swing. 
To hell with points, but I also hurt my hand because of that. It started to ache and last 15 minutes I played with my left hand (you remember that I'm re-taught lefty?).

Another con for that bowling clubs is the fact that they have small amount of balls less than 10kg - and those you can find have holes so narrow even my fingers can't fit in. 
It was also hard on me because usually I prefer 8kg balls, but had to deal with 10/11/12kg ones. 
Some girls around us were throwing 6kg balls from their lap, like children throw balls to one another - apparently because they didn't want to lift 10kg ones and couldn't grab 6kg ones any other way. 

It wasn't a very happy ending for the evening, I can tell you.  A shame. A shame for a place. It used to be ok.
But they charged pretty good money for that hour - 240hrn or $30.




Saturday, November 17

and this is FUNNY

Today I had a conversation with you-know-who and then late in the evening something made me browse my old posts here.

Guess what?
I found a post dating back to November 2008 with similar things we discussed today. Déjà vu. 

 An extract fitting today's topic:

"
В последнее время что-то моя планка раздражительности пошла вниз...
Т.е. начали меня раздражать разные люди. Намного быстрее, чем обычно.
Наверное, это все потому, что своих проблем прибавилось. И не видно, когда они закончатся.
Теперь я не могу *долго* выслушивать стенания окружающих, особенно склонных к преувеличению... "Не с кем на работе выпить", - Боже, какой ужас! Как можно спокойно жить дальше?..
"Начальник идиот", - плохо, да. Но где вы видели нормальных начальников?.. Ну хорошо принимается... Что, опять? "Начальник-идиот-начальник-идиот-начальник-идиот-начальник-идиот..."?.. Это мы уже слышали. Что-то новое есть?.. "На работе не ценят", - плохо, да. Но кого из низшего звена сейчас ценят? "На-работе-не-ценят-На-работе-не-ценят-На-работе-не-ценят-На-работе-не-ценят-На-работе-не-ценят-..." (см. выше, а кого сейчас ценят, в этой-то стране?). Пытаешься вставить слово, хотя бы перевести разговор на другую тему - без толку. "На-работе-не-ценят!!!". Понимаешь ли.
"Не с кем на работе выпить!", "Городской транспорт достал, машину хочу!!", "Машину-хочу-машину-хочу-машину-хочу!!"... Что там еще? Ой, простите, я, может, и слушала, но не особо запоминала. Все равно еще 1200 раз расскажете, как у вас все плохо.
Да, млин, что я вам, Мать Тереза? Чего пристали?.. Пожалеть вас, да? А меня кто пожалеет? Подсказать? Явно не вы...
"

a song I fancy lately

I know this song isn't the brightest of all, but what got me hooked up is music - no matter how strange it sounds. The MV also sux, but youtube is the easiest way to find the song you need to share somewhere.
I even listened to instrumental quite a few times, trying to learn something from it. In terms of compilation of beats, percussion and rhythm. 


Though my latest music projects weren't the same genre, this one certainly had an impact on me. Maybe if I get some time I'd get back to dance / trance and try making one more melody. 

Blunders

Ok, this isn't funny at all.
While Google was "making transition" of my picassa account into Google drive, they managed to change links to many of pictures I had there. Meaning anything I've put somewhere else (or on this blog) that was hosted in picassa albums is now unavailable.
All hail Google support.

I still have a sour taste in my mouth when I remember my discussions with Google support team regarding some of my AdWords accounts...

Tuesday, November 13

quote

"...мотивация каждого героя ожидаемо умещается в старой как мир концепции борьбы бобра с ослом, и это даже не плохо, плохо то, что местный бобёр какой-то непонятный и атрофированный, а осёл слишком осёл." (с) smoke

Thursday, November 8

text shouldn't be changed -

Today I had interesting conversation with one of our clients.
Topic of discussion was mock-up of flyers which I was renewing for them.

... 
me: "But yesterday you said that text shouldn't be changed -"
client: "It shouldn't - it just has to be in Ukrainian, not in Russian"
[silence]
...

Apparently, translation into different language doesn't count as 'change'. And - of course - they didn't consider it something worth paying for. 'Anyone can do it'... pff... then do it yourself.

Yet another reason why I hate to work with Ukrainians.

Monday, November 5

Yesterday

Yesterday we went to watch a movie.
While a movie was so-so, a couple that sat next to me was amusing.

They were clearly on the first or second date, and the girl was talking non-stop. Oh God, what she talked about... :) For one thing, she was telling him over and over how strictly she's measuring her calories intake (though she wasn't that thin, you know, more like average woman in her twenties) and how she's calculating how many calories she's got in her shopping cart. She even said that when she has a choice which trademark to buy, she's depending on calories... meaning she must be eating a lot of junky food. She also said that since she adores cheeses, but they have too many calories, she switched to ice-cream instead. 
The man didn't know what to say - or didn't listen, which proved more viable afterwards - and was giving her short 'yes, yes' from time to time. 
Moreover, she was gossiping about anyone who came in the range of sight with popcorn or other movie-theater bought snacks, telling him how many calories they were to consume and how stupid it was. While the calories part was true, she managed to put it all as an ode to her own 'smartness' in the way of eating, which was ... simply laughable.

I tried to ignore her (which was hard, since she sat right next to me and was hitting me with her arms from time to time, articulating, nevertheless, I didn't help noticing that she shut up only when her date started to make attempts to get under her short skirt. And she wasn't set against it :)

-----

On the way home a mist hit our city once again, and very thick it was. 
While driving not high above the river, one could see no more than 20 meters ahead. We even missed the turn and had to drive to the gas station from the 'exit' driveway. 
Since my place is situated high above the sea level, the mist dispersed when we got home, leaving only a wet unpleasant feeling in the air and a bit of light diffusion.

Friday, November 2

...

It's kinda funny to get results like this about the things you write


Monday, October 15

flight

what always amused me in air transportation is that you can travel to another part of the world in several hours.
it feels kinda weird to be in one region in the morning and arrive in another in the afternoon.

Tuesday, September 18

"Когда они пришли..."

Когда нацисты пришли за коммунистами,  я оставался безмолвным.
Я не был коммунистом.

Когда они сажали социал-демократов, я промолчал.
Я не был социал-демократом.

Когда они пришли за членами профсоюза,  я не стал протестовать.
Я не был членом профсоюза.

Когда они пришли за евреями, я не возмутился.
Я не был евреем.

Когда пришли за мной, 
не осталось никого, кто бы заступился за меня.
(c)  Мартин Нимёллер

Sunday, September 16

the genius of a sleepy person

today I woke up, went to make myself a cup of tea, sliced the lemon, put in a spoonful of sugar, went to fetch hot water, came back, opened the kitchen cabinet again and added instant coffee on top of all that... something like that haven't happened to me in years.

Wednesday, September 12

...

"у наших людей с утра лица как будто им с самого волосатого места отодрали пластырь" (с) Задорнов

#4 - on ergonomics

 Ergonomics is... hmmm... well, something people forget these days.

I've been suffering from eye pain for a week or two, before  I understood what's wrong.
I - myself - remember that my stupid monitor has auto-adjust button right next to power switch (who the hell came up with that setup, really?) and if not me, someone else would accidentally push it while trying to switch monitor on/off. AND auto-adjust forces changes on top of everything you had set up.Strange thing is, auto-adjust can never quite decide which changes to make, but it knows one thing - that it must set brightness to 100%. Because it thinks everyone needs that extra-bright and colorful image, right? Like they promote in ads...
So, of course, someone pushed that damned button and it decided to switch full brightness mode on me. And I didn't recognize it at first, due to my overall tiredness - thought eyes are playing tricks on me. 

Urgh.

I went as far as setting up 20% brightness in my video card drivers, which overrides monitor's 100% (let it have it on auto, as it wants). But it seems that it won't do, after all.
Video card drivers force that setting on any application, meaning that if an app has its own brightness setting, it sets it to 20%, resulting in 20%*20%  brightness in some cases (4%). Too dark.
-.-

It all started with the one who decided having auto-adjust button right next to power button is fun. 
Damn you.

#3 - Android 4.0

As a [proud? no, not that...] well... somehow satisfied owner of Android 4.0.3 device, I can share my thoughts on the OS. 

First description I had for it was this: 

"A bastard of Frankenstein and Snow White: pretends to be good-looking, still an abomination inside"

Most of its brand-new features won't work unless you have wi-fi connection. For a mobile device that is too much to ask for.

Also my personal opinion - Samsung has better pre-installed software. Oh to hell with software. 
OS itself didn't match my expectations in many things, like:
a) not multitasking when it comes down to working with file system, copying big file - go fetch yourself a cup of coffee; 
b) switching between apps proves to be a pain - they just lose your app state randomly, say good-bye to saving a position in the document you've been reviewing, if you fancy switching between music tracks that you listen to;
c) not intuitive enough for mobile device, many tasks require 'thinking for a while' before understading how to do it or where to click;
d) very small buttons and active zones, hard to hit even with my small fingers.

The device... 
the biggest issue is: 
screen with 'guerrilla glass 2.0' produces heavy glares under any lighting, which is a pain if you use it indoors under some lighting meant to spread, the only solution is to hold it so it won't catch light, right... like that would be comfortable enough in many circumstances.

Also speaker is very silent. I mean, very. You do need headphones to listen to it play something. 

Oh yeah don't forget that the same guerrilla glass gets dirty just from any touch and you have to clean it like crazy if you want to see something. 

#2 - SID - Rain

Have been listening to this often:





A nice song, isn't it? I kinda fancy piano version more than original, therefore won't post original here.

 If I had a lot of free time in the nearest future, I'd try to learn to play it. Not that it'd be easy with my basic skills.

「雨は、いつか止むのでしょうか
ずいぶん長い間 冷たい」

but sometimes when I listen to it I hear 「ずいぶん長い秋が冷たい」

Updates... #1

Ok, here's short update on what I've been up to recently.

[had no time / desire to try and morph my thoughts / feelings into written words]

Starting with the smallest thing, eh? 

I've got a new keyboard, and the slightest differences in form-factor, button layout, etc. is driving me crazy. Not that I wanted a new one. It's just that no one ever saw a keyboard that would work long enough for warranty to actually EXPIRE. 
You know, how it happens.... tea, coffee, spilled and voila - it's dead. 
Laast one served me almost two years. Almost reached its warranty's limit. Almost.

Tuesday, August 21

Vindictus II

Two new screens of Vindictus.
First shows the raid of 16 people killing one 'small' bear. He has 30 health bars, while normal boss has maybe... 3.

Here we have a screen that I find funny: my char in sweetie bear armor set and karok character in 60+ armor set.

Sunday, August 19

Vindictus


Mostly because I needed a way to get rid of strange thoughts on my mind I started to play Vindictus Online.
It was meant to be a free 'small brother' of upcoming Guild Wars 2, I guess.
Nevertheless, so far the game amuses me to a certain extent.
But I know from past experience, that this would pass soon. Thankfully, I am not the one to be sucked into games.

Basically, Vindictus Online is a hack-n-slash hub-based game, meaning that you have action-oriented missions meant to be completed by a party of people. You gather your party or head out alone, choose mission and gear, push start button... and here it is, the hack-n-slash, thankfully it's more intelligent than just 'click-until-you-die'.

Bosses also usually present some sort of challenge, because you need certain strategy to defeat each of them. 

Another good point - most missions can be completed under 15 minutes, so it's not really a time-eater. 

All character classes present variety of play styles and battle animations.
Of course, my main character is a magician. Who'd guess?

That's how she looked at character creation:


And below I've added some random screens from ~lv.20

  

Friday, August 10

Kalafina - Progressive

I like Red Moon performance of 'Progressive' very much, better than studio version of the song.

video is on youtube and can be found here: http://youtu.be/aOV_ehXTaaQ
 sadly, some people still think it'd benefit them to disable embedding of their youtube videos.




Wednesday, July 25

on relatives

had an interesting conversation today. ofc half of it was said jokingly

we've discussed who can be considered a relative, and my opponent said that only a person related by blood is considered a relative.
i indicated that by this logic children would be considered relatives, while a husband wouldn't.
my opponent said, well, then husband is considered a relative too, but only he and people connected by blood.
then i asked what if one had several husbands?
it appears that the one you love the most is considered a relative :)

such a relative term it is, 'relatives' :)

Wednesday, July 18

Sunday, July 15

Tuesday, July 3

updates

lately I've been having a busy schedule, plus certain friends have developed a habit of dragging me out at nights, so...
weeks come by in a flash. work, work, work, night walk, new day, repeat...

Wednesday, June 27

a doll







a doll I bought for my niece.
believe it or not, it was THE PRETTIEST doll in the whole store.
doll departments have become freak shows lately. . .

Wednesday, June 20

Украина : Англия

вот она - Украина. ще не вмерла. ну хоть не опозорились.

Tuesday, June 19

. . .

фотографии в отличие от родственников не кусаются

Saturday, June 9

extract from skype conversation

[...] for example today i saw sci-fi earth in my dream, earth 40 years after meeting other sapient life in galaxy, they only started showing up at earth.
The otherworldly species were pretty much like humans, but they had more developed DNA, some telepathy and such and they regarded us like 'little stupid brothers'.
i was talking to one.
i was irritated by his attitude.
and he was saying that everywhere he went he met ppl who didn't like looked down upon, but to fix that mankind should evolve
ntn else to do if u r really inferior to someone
and also they brought their own mafia down to earth, the worst representatives came to earth to make a living from exploiting idiots
sth like that
u can imagine that society.
it was also mentioned that since we can't cross-breed, lots of human girls are employed as prostitutes [...]

Probably that dream was inspired by the madness that's going on in this country - the damned Euro 2012. When it ends I'd be relieved.
People who come here for Euro must perceive us the same way as above-mentioned visitors from another planet. Lol. It does feel like we live on another planet sometimes.


Tuesday, May 29

google search results

мне нравится и строка поиска, и результаты выдачи, и подпись под картинкой...
Вся суть интернета в одном флаконе.

Sunday, May 27

'Blue' llive (kor)

...and this is Korean version of BIGBANG's 'Blue', I like the editing, but guys screwed up at performance a bit.

also their stylist should be hanged on the nearest tree :)

2 songs

A new release from AAA 'Still love you'. They kinda repeat themselves, but the song is ok.

And this is yet another song - or a sample - that I liked. JOKER - 'Liar'

Saturday, May 19

Catchy songs

Two catchy songs that I've been listening to lately.
And some others songs of theirs...

BIGBANG - Blue:


D☆DATE - Love Heaven

Friday, May 18

Ukrainian realities

Ukrainian realities:

people who have survived WWII cannot find means to survive in 'free democratic Ukraine'
people who have survived USSR repressions cannot find means to survive in 'free democratic Ukraine'
'children of Ukraine' who experienced hunger in early 1990's are scared their children would experience the same thing soon

Wednesday, May 16

re-distribution

One gets mixed feeling upon stumbling on something he/she created (we're talking about paid work atm) for someone on someone else's website.
The first reaction is 'Hey, wtf, that's mine! They stole my work!'. Then you understand that even if they did, they stole it from that someone who paid you to do it. And if they don't care, why should you?

Tuesday, May 15

lately

Ok, here goes keeping this blog up to date.

What's been happening recently?

The thing that irritates me on a daily basis is my Samsung galaxy gio phone. The worst money investment ever. After 6 month of use battery dies in less than 8 hours of standby. I bought it to be able to sync my mail while on the move, yet I can't use we-fi because the phone can't survive that much power usage. Epic fail for Samsung. 
Few times I was very late for something, because after finishing recharging my phone at 11pm I would set the alarm for the morning, yet it would before sounding the alarm at 6am. I began using alarms on my tab. 
Samsung star than I had before was brilliant. Good screen, good battery, good usability. Too bad I gave it up for this atrocity. 

Of course, battery isn't covered by warranty.

Been keeping an eye for recent release in j-pop/j-rock area, found few promising bands. 

Oh ye, before anyone gets interested, I positively hate the idea of this EURO 2012 here. All the chaos they created "preparing" for it (reconstructions, constructions, take Paton's interchange as a prominent example - they've been torturing the bridge itself and citizens for half a year, still not done and what's more - never would be done properly), all the chaos they announced they'd create by closing major streets to the traffic for a freaking MONTH; all this for someone to steal more money and pretend we're ok. 
Pfff.
Just cancel already, who needs it here? Besides the prostitutes that's been making huge business plans... 
Oh yeah - decent women won't be able to walk the streets in peace now, we've seen sex tourists rummaging the city already. Now it would only get worse.
Pfff.
And if you can't cancel, just make it comfortable for people who live here. The people who wanted the thing here aren't the ones who have to suffer because of it.

Wasn't able to even try to paint something for my personal satisfaction, been too busy with work and kinda not in the mood. 

At least I've switched to English language mode again and don't start every sentence with '最近' :)
That's great.

Here's a pic that turned out nicely:


Presenting: The peculiarities of Ukrainian construction sites. And the peculiar greed of certain Ukrainians.

Monday, May 14

Time

Interesting...
I just realized that a month has passed.
April had my BD, too. Yet it went in a flash and it's kinda scary.
No wonder I give all my free tickets away to people who can find time to use them.

Tuesday, March 27

Steampunk

Finished reading Kady Cross 'The girl in the steel corset'  and 'The girl in the clockwork collar'. Still trying to find proper steampunk books I guess.
Anyhow it was OK and even enjoyable in some parts, so I think author deserves her kudos. If she'd stayed true to 'more steampunk, less romance' line in second volume, it'd be even good. Good book.
As it is I can recommend only first volume, since it's more fun reading and story flow is generic, while in 2nd book it is a bit... artificial. You almost can feel author's tension to come up with next scene. May be a result of over-editing, though.
Who knows. 
Hm, but I like the cover of the 2nd book better :)
The concept of the world is good, though. Kudos. 

This one is closer to definition of steampunk than series i recently finished - Parasol Protectorate by Geil Carriger [Soulless, Changeless, Blameless, Heartless, Timeless] - but nevertheless not quite steampunk enough.
More jokes in this arrangement of books, but also less sense and more vampires and werewolves, which don't really fit into my perception of steampunk. Oh yeah and too much detail on CLOTHES. Really, the writer must have prized her wardrobe research, but to me it all was just blah-blah-blah dress. Provide illustrations, if you want people to crave for it :)
Also these series are a bit special because when I was reading it I had a strong feeling it was written somewhere right after WW II. Figures, the last book only came out in 2012. Lol. After giving it some thought, I decided not to judge whether it is a good or bad thing.Speculating is pointless. It wasn't the language, though, but ... the contents? Not the old-wrodly charm you can find in works of classics of 20th century, no, just ... something that gave a feeling of it being old. Can't ascertain what it was.

redesign

played around with design a little, as a remedy for the nerves...

nothing is going right today...

and certain people shouldn't be allowed to procreate...

Amen.

Friday, March 23

I am sick. . .

Do i have to be grateful that my body remembered how to produce a fever and now exercises it?

Sunday, March 11

Переводы

Прелести переводов:

Just execute the installer - просто казните монтажника.

Sunday, February 26

2011 OS usage statistics

2011 Win7 Vista Win2003 WinXP Linux Mac Mobile
December 46.1% 5.0% 0.7% 32.6% 4.9% 8.5% 1.2%
November 45.5% 5.2% 0.7% 32.8% 5.1% 8.8% 1.0%
October 44.7% 5.5% 0.7% 33.4% 5.0% 8.9% 1.0%
September 42.2% 5.6% 0.8% 36.2% 5.1% 8.6% 0.9%
August 40.4% 5.9% 0.8% 38.0% 5.2% 8.2% 0.9%
July 39.1% 6.3% 0.9% 39.1% 5.3% 7.8% 1.0%
June 37.8% 6.7% 0.9% 39.7% 5.2% 8.1% 0.9%
May 36.5% 7.1% 0.9% 40.7% 5.1% 8.3% 0.8%
April 35.9% 7.6% 0.9% 40.9% 5.1% 8.3% 0.8%
March 34.1% 7.9% 0.9% 42.9% 5.1% 8.0% 0.7%
February 32.2% 8.3% 1.0% 44.2% 5.1% 8.1% 0.7%
January 31.1% 8.6% 1.0% 45.3% 5.0% 7.8% 0.7%
by w3schools.com here

Figures, only win7 started to drive winXP out. A bit.


Thursday, February 16

do you like this style of painting?

Note that this artist's style fits coarse textures like old ragged skin more than girlish appearances.
Artist's page on cghub had one more interesting painting, but it's not there anymore. A pity.

Monday, February 13

Feline life

Feline way of life is approach, sniff, destroy, leave.

Quote

In life you have only two choices: to live or to die.
If you choose to live you must endure endless conflict.

Saturday, February 11

These days

Had too much work recently so wasn't able to dedicate much time to personal projects.
So many things to do and so little time.
Also I've got a lot of trouble these day in personal projects/family life; plus was fighting a cold. Or flu. Whatever.

Tuesday, February 7

Alma Katsu - The Taker

Finished reading Alma Katsu - The Taker yesterday.
Still have no idea why i even bothered reading it to the end.
Maybe because it is a 'best-seller'. Or because it was heavily marketed.
My impression: putting all the sexual content aside, it could be about four times shorter and not a dime less interesting. Not to mention that it wasn't THAT interesting.
The story can be put like this: not very bright, but courageous and 'open-minded' village girl of 19th century is haunted by her attraction to unworthy, but handsome and rich playboy that takes pleasure in toying with women. As a result of succumbing to the temptation(which makes one third of the book) she gets banished by her family and sent to the big city's monastery to have her illegitimate child. But upon her arrival to the city she is forced into prostitution by rich noble, who later takes her as a private lover - an immortal sex slave.
She begins to lead a life of expensive whole and kind of enjoys it. Her master is cruel, but strongly attracted to her; she even loves him for some time.
Figures, the master is an alchemist that discovered the secret of immortality by switching bodies with young men. And as he sets to have his next victim be the playboy heroine still loves, she takes action to get rid of her master and free all the slaves - and the father of her unborn child
Though, in the end, playboy ditches her again and flees to live his immortal (by this time) life without her. He never loved her and all her sacrifices were for nothing.
So, the whole idea of the book was that no matter how she desired for her lover to care for her, it wasn't possible to make him care. In the end he stayed as self-indulgent and selfish as he was in the beginning, so everything she went through was for nothing.
Mad temptation isn't a good thing. Illusions about men aren't either.
Add to this accent on 'intimate life'. . .
All of that on 448 pages in hardcover, if amazon is to be believed. Published September 2011.

Still, it was mostly my stubbornness that kept me reading it. I don't like throwing out books or stopping reading in the middle. Yet, it was almost the case.
Sex sells, eh?

Brightest Galaxy Ever Seen With Gravity Lens Shines in Hubble Photo [from space.com]


The distant galaxy is 10 billion light-years away from Earth and is seen through a so-called gravitational lens created by a massive cluster of closer galaxies located about 5 billion light-years away. What gravitational lens are is explained using the image above.

Original image:

 Full story here at space.com

...

There are still people around me, seemingly adult people, who thought taking responsibility for their work was something out of ordinary.
They still have no idea that everyone should work at work.

Monday, February 6

this seasons' anime series

I considered watching all these:
but nothing appealed to me. Even Nisemonogatari. A wasted season.
And more free time lol.

Friday, February 3

Comparison: vocaloids vs humans

I've been shown this video and people were over-enthusiastic about the new vocaloid and its performance.
While it may be slightly better than Miku's, it's still not a match for human voice.

It only shows more when they attempt to show off singing a complex song.
Watch and listen here:

[vocaloid3 IA] 'My soul, your beats!':


[LIA, original singer] 'My soul, your beats!':

Thursday, February 2

Ayumi Hamasaki - A song for XX

To put it simply, I like this old song.

Ayumi Hamasaki - A song for XX

...

Don't go looking for something that lurks in the murky water unless you're ready to live with knowing what's living there.

Quote

Ghost doesn't have to be real to haunt you.

Wednesday, February 1

Picture

Just found a picture that i painted while being very tired, you can say in automaton mode. The thing is, i didn't remember at first i did it; after giving it some thought i understood it was done by me and only then remembered when i did it. Vaguely .
Am i hitting the bottom with this work?

Watched movie with similar theme recently . When you get too used to work and stop enjoying doing it you should either get a good rest and reflect on your life, or get a new job.

Quote

When a person feels like there's a huge wall in front, it means that he/she is growing up.

Random mumbling

Been very tired lately . Work , odd hours are getting the better of me.

Also i seem to be having a cold. Can one have cold and be oblivious about it?

Spreading Asian culture into masses is sure easy, you just have to find a good movie series . Lol.
You know what i mean .

Oh and XT9 is acting up again . Of course that's because i am writing this from my phone now. My android phone. Yup, transferred my data at last.
Too bad tab and phone keyboards are not identical. Who could have guessed .

Well, rounding it all up, it's just another winter where i am getting older and years are just lost.

Tuesday, January 31

Quotes

History is a thing we use to hide all hideous things that has happened.

If siblings don't fight, it generally means they are hiding something they have just broken.

Monday, January 30

All-nighter

Pulled an all-nighter to finish that freaking concept. Now I am mentally tired and physically exhausted.
Gotta try and get a nap now.

Not sure how, but it's already February. Life flies by so fast. . . Crap. Good times just gotta last longer.

Heavy frosts on the way. I am past times when i loved winter - that was back in elementary school - now I find it a nuisance. Try not to go out much, warm indoors.

Thursday, January 26

. . .

Spent three hours exporting and converting my
phonebook for use on android. Imported it just to find out gmail is laggy with import. As usually.
3 hours for mere 180 entries. Madness.
And why? I like my old phone. But nevertheless I am getting a new one.

Dotgov

I love that joke someone invented on yahoo:
"Dotcom meets dotgov".
Really funny

Friday, January 6

5th of January

Oh yeah, forgot to mention - yesterday my - yet another - niece was born, approximately at 7am. She's got no name yet, so let's call her 'baby' for the time being.

750words eterity data ...

Wednesday, January 4

2012

Happy New Year myself and other concerned individuals ^^