: 
On 4th Jan 2011 I went to the local Planetarium to see the partial solar eclipse and got more than I bargained for: a cold! While at it, I snapped some pics of the eclipse-digging townsfolk.
Cezar, the main man, making last minute arrangements… and having some coffee.
Read more…
I’ve recently discovered a review of the most serious criticality accidents that ever occurred, plus some other radioactive stories that make any science fiction story pale in comparison. They are eerie, gruesome and shocking facts that have actually happened. Understanding these documents isn’t as hard as you probably imagine, but some negligible amount of “research” might be required though.
I use this trick to start apps later than they usually would do if handled by Windows itself. For example you can use this to delay apps that stampede Windows’ startup. There are some free tools that do this, but besides being paranoid, I’m also lazy. Thus a simple batch file works best in my case. The idea does not belong to me, and although it uses ping as the delay engine, it’s an inventive workaround that does not bother me at all.
The code:
ping -n 30 127.0.0.1>nul start "zing" "C:\Program Files\zing.exe"
This is what happens: the batch pings the localhost 30 times (I think that’s roughly 30 seconds), then it starts the application and finally closes the console window automagically. If instead of start we’d put the path and app name directly in the batch, the app would run just the same, but the console window would remain open.
You may complicate things further by tinkering with the start command.
Replace the number of pings to adjust delay as necessary and put the batch file in Windows’ Startup. You can chain up as many of these sequences as you want.
Stove panel
Read more…
Calendar story
About 3 years ago, during my great off shore adventures (i.e. sailing the web), I stumbled upon some free ready-to-print calendar layouts available for download on somebody’s personal webbinz. The following year I needed an updated calendar and somehow I ended up in the same place as before, where new calendar layouts were awaiting, just out of the oven. Being in a hurry, I never paid any attention to the rest of the website. I simply took what was mine and sailed away. Yet another year has passed and this time when I printed the calendar I started feeling a bit guilty. Using those calendars every day made me realise they were of at least some importance to me, that somebody worked to build them and I never said “thanks!” So, I fixed the problem. Anyway, long story shorter, the calendars are still there, updated and ready to be printed.
“Where have all those gigabytes disappeared?!” I’ve often found myself trying to answer this question, which usually takes time and patience to answer. Once a hard drive nears its capacity, the tree of files grows larger and becomes harder to maintain. SequoiaView elegantly fixes some of the inherent issues of space management in a straightforward fashion.
On 19th of September Targu Mures held the 7th edition of Neuzer Bike Party and I gathered enough minerals to be there. It was my first cross-country MTB “marathon”. As D-Day approached, excitement was replaced by anxiety. Looking back, everything worked out just fine.
We – my brother and I – decided to participate in the medium, 25km category, which was presented as a relatively easy trail with a total elevation of about 600m. The other options were a 10km easy trail and a 50km hard trail. I thought I’d fit well into the medium category and I’m glad I made this pick. There were enough challenging climbs and downhills to keep me busy and satisfied, and the length (or shortness) of the trail allowed for easy resource management – perfect for an inexperienced rider like myself. The 10km course was too short and deemed unworthy, while the 50km course was too difficult.
My first serious attempt at mountain biking unfolded saturday, 4th september 2010. The spot we picked is a well-known mountain, 60km away from our home town, with plenty of access routes / options. There were two climbs and two downhills, plus some transitory, flatter terrain: 40km of MTB-ing in total.
Spending time in the great outdoors is great! However, going into the wild unprepared can quickly ruin an otherwise perfect trip. You may encounter difficult terrain, muddy and slippery areas, rain, fog, low temperatures, blistering sun and many other things that are not to be disregarded if one’s going to have a nice adventure. “Nice” is a relative thing, though. Long story short, you won’t sleep in your bed and it sure won’t feel like it either.
First of all let’s get one thing straight. I’m an amateur. In my last trip, even though it wasn’t very well planned right from the beginning – and I knew that – I forgot to take with me some very important, yet basic items, including a headlamp, a spoon and/or a fork. I decided (as if this is one of the biggest things I’ll ever do ( it probably is)) to make a list of items that someone like me would need during hikes. I’ll add the Hiking item list right here, at the top of the page for quick access.
After the serious floods in northern Romania, firefighters try to clean up the bridge pillars of debris brought in by the swollen waters of Suceava river.
Pigrecords 