Category: Personal

  • Ce ar fi să pavăm drumurile din Chişinău?

    Ce ar fi să pavăm drumurile din Chişinău?

    Când afară e un timp urâcios aşa cum e astăzi – ba ninge, ba plouă, e bine să stai acasă la călduţ, să savurezi o ceaşcă de ceai şi să hoinăreşti pe net. Aşa mi-am petrecut eu dimineaţă de azi, şi după o pauză de vreo jumate de an de când nu am mai postat nimic pe blog (postările mele sau redus la reposturi pe Supă), am găsit un subiect interesant (şi nici nu e legat de alegerile de mâine) pe care vreau să îl prezint.

    E vorba despre o maşină de pavat drumuri numită Tiger Stone. Se pare că această inovaţie a olandezilor a devenit recent topic de discuţii pe mai multe bloguri mari: BoingBoing, Gizmodo, Inhabitat, dar şi pe un blog românesc Alice in WonderNet. Idea este foarte simplă – o maşină semi-automată care aranjează cărămizile formând o suprafaţă de drum pavat. Mai jos e şi o prezentare video a acestei maşinării:

    Mai dăunăzi treceam pe o stradă de pe colina Puşkin din Chişinău care mai păstra din caldărâmul din pietre a străzii de la început de secol trecut, şi care arăta foarte bine chiar şi pentru zilele de azi. Este indiscutabil faptul că astfel de acoperire de stradă durează mult mai mult decât asfaltul folosit de noi astăzi. Şi dacă e aşa, de ce să nu revenim la străzi pavate?

    Printre avantajele unei străzi pavate versus asfaltate ar fi:

    • DURITATEA – rezistă mai mult timp; nu se fisurează; tolerează apa şi îngheţul
    • ABSORBŢIA DE APĂ – pot absorbi apa de ploaie în pavaj; apa ajunge direct în pământ reducând fluxul de apă pe şosele
    • UTILITATEA – cărămizile sunt uşor de procurat şi reutilizat, dar şi de reparat sau înlocuit.
    • COSTUL (?) – nu sunt sigur de costurile implicate (chiar m-ar interesa să aflu cheltuielile pentru asfalt vs pavaj)

    Nu ştiu cât de util ar fi să pavăm drumurile centrale cu mult trafic, dar cred că a pava drumurile din ogrăzile blocurilor şi cele minore – ar fi o idee care merită atenţie. Auzisem la ştiri că primăria Chişinăului intenţioneză să facă nişte împrumuturi pentru reparaţia capitală a acestora. Ce ar fi să le pavăm?

    Aceasta e ideea, are cineva replici, sugestii?

    P.S.: Aici este site-ul oficial a companiei olandeze producătoare a “Tigrului de pietre”Tiger Stone. Mai multe imagini şi video. Lăţimea posibilă a pavajului – 6m, capacitatea de producţie – 400 m2/zi.

  • Expoziţie de fotografii din 7 aprilie

    Expoziţie de fotografii din 7 aprilie

    La Chişinău, în preajma monumentului Ştefan cel Mare şi Sfânt în perioada 3-10 aprilie este organizată o expoziţie de lucrări fotografice în aer liber cu tematica 7 aprilie. La această expoziţie particip şi eu cu câteva lucrări şi dacă sunteţi în preajmă vă îndemn să o vizitaţi.

    Expoziţia se întitulează “7 aprilie – Ziua Libertăţii” şi este organizată de tineretul liberal, deşi cred că puţin contează de cine e organizată ci mai mult mesajul prezentat. Mai multe detalii despre eveniment găsiţi pe facebook şi în declaraţia de presă de la PL. Jurnal TV a făcut şi o ştire de la lansarea acestei expoziţii:

  • Vise electorale

    Vise electorale

    Ştiţi cum visele uneori sunt o aiureală completă dar se întipăresc bine în memorie atunci când te trezeşti la o bucată de noapte şi tot începi să te gândeşti la acel vis şi la cum oare mintea ta a realzat acest filmuleţ scurt şi care o fi oare semnificaţia, şi dacă e una de fapt?

    Vise pe blogu’ meu încă nu aţi văzut, dar acuma dacă e tot trecut de 3 noaptea, de ce nu? Se face ca în visul meu să mă aflu pe malu’ stâng al Nistrului, în Podoimţa, satul de baştină a tatălui meu. Nu ştiu cum se face dar era sărăcie mare acolo prin părţile celea (de parcă nu ar fi acuma) şi lumea nu avea nici bani de pâine iar eu pun mâna în buzunar şi găsesc vreo două sute de lei şi zic că merg eu sa cumpăr pâine, dar nu în sat căci nu e, trebuie de mers la oraş la Camenca. Zis şi făcut, peste o bucată de timp mă văd în suita unor prieteni mergând la oraş, numai că oraşul din Camenca se transformase în Tiraspol (capitala separatiştilor) şi pe drum tot văd tineri mărşăluind cu mândrie şi purtând pe cap panglici albe cu trei dungi de tricolor la mijloc. La început nu-i observ parcă, dar tot mergând prin oraş şi facundu-mi treburile (căci nu numai pâine aveam de cumpărat deja) se fac tot mai mulţi, dar eu nu le atrag nici o atenţie. Şi mai aveam şi treabă pe la medic, dar în spital nu puteam intra căci nu eram locuitor al Transnistriei, iar medicul cu care ne-au permis să vorbim la telefon a refuzat să ne deservească pentru că era comunist şi noi nu eram. Aşa enervat cum eram pe netoţii de comunişti ieşim cu toţii în stradă şi eu încep a-i sudui în gura mare pe comunişti atrăgând atenţia publicului capitalei separatiste, dar nu-mi pasă!  Echipele de tineri cu panglici albe se zăresc pe undeva pe aproape iar chiar în faţa mea mai trec câţiva care poartă pe cap panglici roşii cu secera şi ciocanul în frunte şi eu numai atunci îmi dau seama că sunt alegeri! Mă uit în jur şi îmi pare bine, mă simt bine pe suflet căci stau în mijlocul Tiraspolului şi port pe braţul stâng şi eu o panglică tricoloră subţire (care e mereu acolo) şi aud cântări româneşti în stradă, iar purtători de panglici roşii se fac tot mai puţini şi ei par să fugă să se ascundă undeva, iar cei cu panglici albe cu tricolor la mijloc sunt mulţi şi se fac şi mai mulţi. Şi iată aşa umplut de furie pe comunişti şi mândru că port tricolor la braţ în mijlocul Tiraspolului – mă trezesc… (more…)

  • La Mulţi Ani!

    La Mulţi Ani!

    Intrăm în 2009, la mulți ani!
  • Chromable.com – the place for all things Chrome

    Chromable.com – the place for all things Chrome

    Just 4 days ago I was writing an article about new browser from Google – Chrome: “Meet the fastest internet browser – Google Chrome” and yesterday already I was launching and announcing my own project called – Chromable at http://chromable.com. Check it out!

    The idea of having a blog dedicated to Google Chrome hit me when I was writing the article (7/09), I thought of a domain name first, but as usually all the good names that came to my mind were already taken. Among the ones that I tried was iChrome.com and a few other, but then I came up with a brilliant idea as I think – Chromable! – it sounds well, it’s easy to remember and you can understand it’s about Chrome and all the chromable things.

    Next day (8/09) I bought the domain name and set up the hosting. One day later (9/09) the web-site was up and running with some articles already, but nobody knew about it yet. Also I designed the logo that day, which I’m very pleased with by the way. Yesterday (10/09) I announced the web-site to the public and started promoting it, submitted it to major serach engines and directories. Today I worked a bit more on the site’s design, added up the icons and stuff, but most importantly continued with SEO, feeds and added up a few plugins. Still a lot of things need to be done and more valuable content will need to be added if I want this resource to become popular. Probably will concentrate on articles tomorrow already. (more…)

  • turcanu.net – la 2 ani de la lansare…

    turcanu.net – la 2 ani de la lansare…

    Astăzi se împlinesc doi ani din momentul publicării primului articol de pe acest blog. Pe 8 septembrie 2006 îmi instalasem și eu un blog pe platforma wordpress și publicasem acest prim articol (Să fie într-un ceas bun!), astfel devenind și eu “blogger”. De fapt, acest calificativ de blogger nu mia plăcut niciodată, și nici acum nu mă consider ca atare, scriu și eu din când în când gânduri răzlețe…

    Ceea ce se numește acum “blogging“, o făceam cam prin 1998-99 pe unul din spațiile web gratuite de atunci, pe tripod sau geocities, acuma nici nu mai țin minte, dar nu aveam nici o platformă – scriam articole scurte și le puneam data în față. Ultimul din aceste proiecte de fapt mai este online (dar a fost transformat și nu mai e integral), se numea “Sergiu Turcanu’s Portal” și inițial era despre mine, dar cu timpul a devenit despre toate, îmi plăcea adresa pe care am obținut-o de la Angelfire (un alt furnizor de pagini gratis de pe atunci): http://www.angelfire.com/md/turcanu (link-ul funcționează!).

    A trecut mult timp până am revenit la ideea de a avea un colțușor al meu pe web unde să-mi public ideile și alegerea unei sistem de tip blog părea să fie ceea de ce am nevoie, însă a trecut și mai mult timp până mi-am procurat și un domain name pentru acest proiect (turcanu.net, pentru că .com cineva îl ocupase deja, până ce eu nu prea aveam inițiativă). Domain-ul l-am procurat pe 30 decembrie 2005 după cum arată datele din registru, și hostingul îl aveam setat cu două zile mai tărziu, dar au mai durat încă nouă luni (!) [da, interesantă descoperire, numai acuma mi-am dat seama că au fost 9 luni] până pe site a apărut setat acest blog. (more…)

  • My neighborhood getting ready for the Olympics!

    My neighborhood getting ready for the Olympics!

    Beijing is getting ready for the 2008 Olympics and the atmosphere of the Olympic Games approaching is everywhere. Even in my quiet neighborhood now you can see the red banners welcoming the games. It is quite funny actually, because they also translated the banners into English in an attempt to share the moment with laowai‘s also, but as usual it sounds Chinglish.

    I’ve made a few pictures of the banners from my neighborhood in Heping Xi Qiao, but I’ve also seen similar red banners in many other places all over Beijing. The most used is of course the olympic slogan: “One world – One Dream”, but there are also various other slogans like: “Greet The Olympic Games Display Ethical Cultural Progress Foster Healthy Tendencies” (which is the usual non-sense translation to English). Or other recorded titles like: “Foster Beijing’s Image of Propriety and Righteousness Showcase The Culture Of The Olympic Games” and “Have A Part In Devote Oneself Feel Happy”. Among the understandable titles are: “Play The Host – Build New Beijing” (they did build a lot) or “Smiling Beijing Welcomes You” (which is probably the simplest and understandable one).

    (more…)
  • The new Wanshang Hotel in Beijing

    The new Wanshang Hotel in Beijing

    Everyone who’s been in Beijing with the Carnival remembers the “Wanshang Garden Hotel” we stayed in 2004 and 2005. I was just happened to pass by around Babaoshan area in Beijing and that is the hotel I discovered.

    It is no longer the Wanshang we used to know and it is even called differently now – Mercure Wanshang Hotel. It is not open yet, but it is ready to receive the guests. It will be the official hosting hotel for the cyclists during the Olympics if I’m not mistaking. They have changed the look of the hotel completely and even added a new wing to the west side, but there’s still something there that keeps remembering of us:

    Yes! After 3 years it’s still there! They completely changed the hotel, but the parking sign it’s still there. I looked through my extensive photographs archive and I found pictures of the hotel from last summer when it was still under construction and some pictures from 2005. Below you can see how the hotel looked over the years:

  • Does Lenovo really provide international warranty service for ThinkPad users?

    Does Lenovo really provide international warranty service for ThinkPad users?

    Let me start by saying that I’m just an unsatisfied customer of Lenovo and the story I’m about to write will be a complaint about their services. I do not like complaining about things, but when I do – there’s a reason behind it. Out of all the brands on a notebooks market today I had the impression that ThinkPad users are the most satisfied by the customer service provided, but apparently I was wrong, or should I say it was before IBM sold ThinkPad to Lenovo. If you do a quick search on the internet for customer service provided by Lenovo you will come across loads of articles, stories and complaints about their service.

    I don’t want to make it a long story of what I went through, I’ll just tell you the facts:

    1. Lenovo does not provide international warranty service! Well at least not in mainland China (home of Lenovo) if you bought it elsewhere, they will however ask you to register your product in China and supposedly you’ll be entitled to the service. The only trouble is they further make it almost impossible to register your product. Be ready to provide beside your computer’s serial number and type/model code: operational system’s code, the copies of your passport, visa’s and entry stamps and extensions in the country you bought your machine as well as the country you are in, receipt of your purchase or a credit card report.
    Don’t you think it’s a little bit too much? I mean I can easily check my warranty details on-line for my machine and the database will tell me when my warranty expires, all I need to do is navigate online from my machine! I registered my product on-line and they do have already the details regarding the place I purchased it, the date, my name, email and all sorts of information like that.
    Frankly, it seems to me that they just try to avoid to provide the warranty, and that seems to be Lenovo’s policy our days. I came across some other issues on the internet when customers were complaining that Lenovo is trying to make it impossible. So, in my humble opinion of an unsatisfied customer – your international warranty offered by Lenovo does not worth a dime! The email address to inquire about your international warranty: iws@lenovo.com


    2. Do not hope for a free battery replacement of your ThinkPad’s faulty battery. Lenovo states on their web-site here that they will replace your battery free of charge if it turns to be from this faulty batch produced with a specific FRU part numbers and for specific models. Models affected: R60, R60e, T60, T60p, X60, X60s, X60 Tablet, Z60m, Z61e, Z61m, Z61p, Z60t, Z61t. They certainly did not replaced mine when I brought it to their authorized center. There is a small program provided, available for download online with which you can check if your battery is from this faulty batch.
    If you do get lucky and somehow you’ll find out the address where you can replace it make sure Bringing the faulty battery along with your laptop and warranty service details will not get it replaced. You’ll just end up spending your time on customers service unable to help.

    Although there’s an announcement on Lenovo’s web-site regarding this issue, they did not let the customers know about this problem. And when it happened to my battery I did not knew I’m eligible for a free replacement, since nobody let me know. That makes me ask why did I provided them with my email address and other contact details?

    3. The toll-free telephone number they provide in mainland China for free battery replacement (800-990-8888) is not accessible from mobile phones, and of course there’s no announcement about that. During a period of time I was trying to reach it from a land-line it was playing just a greeting message in Chinese without offering you any other options. The customer support line in mainland China (800-810-3315) although very polite and talking English (and I do appreciate that) wasn’t able to provide any information regarding that issue. Moreover without further investigating the issue the customer service was just saying sorry we cannot do nothing about it because we haven’t heard about it. When insisting to find out, since the information is available on-line, the customer service did get back in touch with me (very fast) but again with no details on how I can solve my issue. When asked to provide me with a written address of an authorized Lenovo/ThinkPad center they agreed, but no reply was received. Oh, and by the way there’s no information in English available on-line regarding the Lenovo/ThinkPad service centers in China. Emailing to logistpe@lenovo.com (the email provided for battery replacement program) and asking for the address in Beijing where you can replace the battery will get you back to 800-990-8888 phone number for mainland China (surprisingly it was working this week).

    4. The customer service although well-trained and very polite follows everything by the book but will be of no help to you if facing some issue they never heard of. Same applies to their supervisors who are unable to take correct decisions in critical times. They will also refuse to offer assistance minutes after working time, even though you’ve been involved in the very same discussion for a quite long time already.

    It is a pity that a well-known brand like ThinkPad ended-up to be managed by Lenovo who happened to be a disgrace our days. I was lead to believe that Chinese brands like Lenovo care about their image and will not play their dirty games with customers, but I was wrong. And just to think of all the ThinkPad users who chosen Lenovo (IBM’s ThinkPad) mainly because of the international warranty service. That will be such a disappointment for them. I think we’ll have to look for some more reliable brand who cares about their customers first of all. Although I do like my ThinkPad Z61t machine a lot, such an attitude is a major draw back and I doubt I will ever buy another Lenovo product in the future!

    Here are a few links confirming my statements:

  • 100-Day Countdown to the Olympics

    100-Day Countdown to the Olympics

    Beijing and the whole China celebrates the 100-Day countdown to the Summer Olympic Games just before the May holidays. Some big manifestations were held around China with the main venue being Forbidden City and the Tian An Men square where for years already the main digital countdown display is located. I just happened to be passing by when the countdown display was showing exactly 100-Day left and I must say that the atmosphere in Tian An Men was so great and inspiring. Hundreds of locals with small Chinese and Olympic flags gathered to cheer and countdown. Youths with faces painted in Chinese flag were probably the most excited, but I wonder how many of them will actually be allowed to stay in Beijing during the Olympics, since the plan is to get them all out of the city during summer unless they are working or volunteering for Olympics.

    And how ready is actually Beijing for the Olympics? Well, if you watch CCTV9 – it all looks bright and awesome. But frankly I was expecting too see more things done already. Yes, you no longer see people spitting in the subway, but it still looks like some places haven’t been cleaned for months. Even the new subway lines look dirty, that is probably why they haven’t changed all the trains to new ones and haven’t opened the tourniquets yet, keeping them wrapped in plastic instead. Air pollution and congested road traffic still remains one of the biggest concerns, although most of the taxi drivers will understand English now. The city of course has changed tremendously during the past years to the better and there are still 100 days left, which seems like enough time to get done all these final touches that counts.

    And here is the countdown display as I seen it during the years, 1044 days left, 399 days left and 99 days left (well, almost a hundred):

    Countdown to the Olympics in Tian an Men Square in Beijing