my astronaut's diploma

Նրանք, ովքեր այցելել են մեր տուն վերջին մի տասը տարվա ընթացքում, գրասեղանիս վերևում տեսել են այս դիպլոմը: Իսկ մնացածը կարող են տեսնել այստեղ`

Ի հեճուկս Արթուր Պողոսյանի, այս մեկն իրական է, ստացել եմ Նիդեռլանդներում, որտեղ 9 տարեկանում մի ամիս ապրում էի: Հա, ու ես էլ մանկուց աստղագիտություն շատ էի սիրում ու Գագարինը իմ հերոսն էր :)

Kindle, my review of the great e-book reader

i've put my favorite Salome
as a screensaver :)

My Kindle arrived! I wrote about gadgets in a recent post.
Many of my friends have been demanding a blog post about it ASAP, but I could actually start writing after a week of playing with it.

In case you don't know, Kindle is a book reader device from Amazon. It is a thin, lightweight, electronic reading device that you can take anywhere and download your favorite book, newspaper, or magazine right into it.

As for the technical details...

• Display: 6" diagonal E Ink® electronic paper display, 600 x 800 pixel resolution, 16-level gray scale (no color!)
• Size: 203.2mm x 134.6mm x 9.1mm.
• Weight: 289.2 grams.
• Storage: 2GB internal (approx.1.4GB available for user content). It's said it can store approx. 1500 books.
• Battery life: up to 2 weeks with wireless connection off.
• Connectivity: 3G, works in many countries, but not in Armenia ;( check the map.
• USB port: USB 2.0 (micro-B connector) for connection to the Kindle U.S. power adapter or optionally to connect to a PC or Mac.
• Audio: 3.5mm stereo audio jack, rear-mounted stereo speakers.
• Content Formats Supported: Kindle (AZW), TXT, PDF, Audible (Audible Enhanced (AA, AAX)), MP3, unprotected MOBI, PRC natively; HTML, DOC, JPEG, GIF, PNG, BMP through conversion.

My impressions

iPad and Kindle, why compare?

It's the best e-reader of everything I've considered. It's certainly better than iPads as a book reader.. they are actually not comparable! My thoughts on Apple are here, and actually, i think that having multi-functional devices is not the best solution. To me, cellphone should be mostly for mobile conversations, a photocamera for photographing, e-reader for reading, PC or a good laptop for work, and netbook for browsing, working from home, writing etc... I can't find a good use for a tablet (especially iPad) so far :)

my netbook and Kindle. each of them has its place in my heart :-))

good for eyes
E-ink makes it so easy to read on... I've actually discovered that "weekend reading" thing can be real :) I've read an entire book on Kindle in just 1 weekend! And i was not just reading, but also going out occasionally :)

text-to-speech
you know, you can make Kindle to read for you :)) Just plug the headphones and enjoy a male or female voice reading for you :)))) (you can choose also slower and faster speech)

music
you can put some music into the respective folder in Kindle and it can be played during reading. some instrumental music would be good to focus on reading and isolate from the ambient noise.

easy to transfer
when plugging the USB cable, the computer instantly recognizes a new device as a removable memory. there are folders for documents, audiobooks and music. just drag and drop the files.. no software needed for transfers.

cool features
Kindle has a Built-in Dictionary with Instant Lookup. In text format documents you can put the pointer to a word, and its definition will be instantly shown from the Oxford dictionary. Very useful! Also, it's possible to highlight quotes, make annotations on interesting parts, put bookmarks etc.. (that's what the qwerty keyboard is useful for).
Also, unlike a laptop or smartphone, Kindle never gets warm so you can comfortably read as long as you like.

file formats
while text formats are preferred, PDF files can be easily read on Kindle too. I noticed that it's better to convert PDFs into text format (like .prc) since the fonts will be scalable on Kindle and it will be possible to highlight interesting parts in text and make notes on it.

file converting
turns out the old good Mobipocket reader (the only e-reader app that worked on my symbian phone) has been acquired by Amazon and it converts PDFs to a favorable format.

screen

reading on a beach :)

it's not touch screen. But the coolest is: Read in Sunlight with No Glare. Kindle's screen reflects light like ordinary paper and uses no backlighting, eliminating the glare associated with other electronic displays. As a result, Kindle can be read as easily in bright sunlight as in your living room.
The screen has a sharp display with 16 shades of gray and is very unusual for someone not familiar with electronic ink technology. At first i had to persuade someone that it's not a sticker on the screen i didn't scratch, but the screen itself :D

interface
The device has a 5-way controller (joystick) enables precise on-screen navigation for selecting text to highlight or looking up words. There are buttons for Menu, Home, Back, Next page and Previous page.

Jeff Bezos - the founder of Amazon.com

sleep mode
after 5 minutes of inactivity the device goes to the sleep mode thus saving the energy. the sleep mode is a nice graphic pic usually with some great author depicted or a page from an ancient book. After digging in some forums i found a way to put custom screensavers :)

charging
it fully charges in 4 hours with its USB 2.0 cable, however it has also a power adapter included that can be connected via USB port.

audiobooks
it's possible to download audiobooks from Audible.com (in its format) and listen them on Kindle, bookmarking in some parts, like in text.

books and other content
of course Amazon's benefit in Kindles is not just from selling the devices itself, but the books which are now available widely for the Kindle format and special price. On their website it's announced that The New York Times Bestsellers are only $9.99 in Kindle format. Some content is licensed for credit cards with billing address in the US only. This concerns all magazine and blog subscriptions (it wouldn't work here anyways, due to our non-inclusion in the Kindle global wireless / 'whispernet' service)

how to buy Kindle in Armenia
As you could guess, Kindle is not available in any tech store in Armenia (unlike iPads which are wide spread here now). The only way is to order it online on Amazon.com itself. The website is promising to deliver it here:

However, I'd highly suggest to do the traditional Armenian way of shipping stuff from the US -- finding someone coming from US to Armenia to actually bring it with him. It ships within 5-7 days in US for free.. faster shipping can be available at some cost, however if you haven't yet got the Amazon Prime account, you can get a 1-month trial for free and get things delivered faster, for free :) (if you forget to uncheck a certain button there before the trial expires, it will, however, charge you some $70 for the Prime account).

collections
when i first turned on my Kindle, charged it and put some test files on it, i didn't find a way to sort books by types or other criteria. In the manual it kept saying about some collections and ease of ordering. I dug the internets and found out that the collections and some other features are available in the new software update that was out just couple of weeks ago :)

what's bad?
Ok, i know that you see that I'm quite happy with it, but there must be something that would make it not perfect :D one thing i would state is that the page flipping is a bit slow, however it's not annoying and easy to get used to.
another thing is that it doesn't support unicode... but! you can make PDF files with Russian/Armenian texts, in appropriate format and still read it on Kindle. Still, copying quotes and making annotations won't be possible if it's not a text file.

other Kindles?
Kindle was first launched in Nov. 2007 it was the 1st generation device and had a slightly different design from the current Kindles (launched Feb 2009).
In June 2009 Amazon released a bigger Kindle DX (close to A4 format) and in June 2010 Kindle DX Graphite (roughly black version and with 50% more contrast display).

the Kindle evolution

It's rumored that Amazon will release a new, thinner Kindle in August 2010.

covers

I was recommended by a Kindle owner (privet, Gaspar! ;) to buy a leather case unless i want to have the back of the device worn out.
So i ordered original Kindle's leather cover (orange) which was about $35, and, in reality, was kinda desaturated orange...
But what was most depressing... after few days of my purchase, it turned out that my favorite Moleskine has released a special Kindle cover with a small notebook in it! ;(

my Kindle and its orange cover

Moleskine Kindle cover

why Amazon rules

The next day I bought my Kindle and its cover and it was shipped, i am opening my Google reader just to read that... Amazon has reduced the price for the Kindle (from $259 to $189) to compete with other e-book readers (the day before that, practically, hours after i purchased it). And it's $70 difference!

I'm shocked, devastated.. accepting sympathy notes... writing a status on FB about how ugly Amazon is... and BAM! the power of social media comes for help :) actually it was a good friend of mine - Susan Meschian who gave a hint that Amazon should have some refund policy for these cases... I dug in help and FAQs, but didn't find a relevant info.. then i wrote to their customer service... (their reply could come in 12 hours) but i didn't resist and called them. I didn't have to explain much :) they said i'd be refunded $70 in 2 business days :) and I was!!! I also got the same reply to my email. So i'm just a happy Amazon and Kindle customer :)

Just felt like writing

I'm frozen. It's the end of January and the winter has just arrived. I took my usual longest way to home from work in order to have a walk, but when i got home, i didn't feel my feet and fingers. Hate feeling cold!
I guess I have to limit my walks, despite the fact i badly need that time for organizing own thoughts, listening to music and checking the streets for "updates" in terms of stores and other news. Oh yea, i hate missing any important update in the city (well, and in general too).

The job

Since the holidays finished, I've been working like never before. I'm being quite productive, organized and even actually efficient. If before I was mainly just generating ideas and developing some of them up to a written project, these days I'm actually implementing the ideas and creating something measurable and complete.

I developed a workaholism of a certain level and didn't even notice how my job took over my entire life at the moment. My brain's CPU is 100% busy with job-related tasks, even if I'm taking a walk, having a shower or going to bed. I'm constantly making charts, organizing information into tables, creating task lists, reading stuff needed for specific projects. Although my super accessible netbook and the lovely MindManager are making my work more efficient and easy, i'm actually afraid that i will feel lost when i won't have them around. I also started to rely on an online task manager TeuxDeux, my daily planner (portable hard copy) and also a weekly planner that hangs out on my desk in the office. It may seem that i have to spend quite a while in synchronization between them, but actually I use all of them for different planning and so far it has made me considerably more productive.
So what, that I work on Saturdays and holidays and evenings and (shame on me) even Sundays (from home though)? To the people who wonder why I do this - I just wish them someday to have the amount of satisfaction, recognition and appreciation in the workplace that I do. I am never forced but driven by an intrinsic motivation.

via Design Crush

Btw, a small and interesting e-book on motivating creative people for your reading.
I hope this energy boost won't decrease in the near future, however I will put some emphasis on my social life too.

The habits

I also advanced in terms of self-management, getting rid of some bad habits and working on improving my health. I mostly used to have a plain coffee in the mornings and then having some buns at the lunch time. I did realize that it's unhealthy but didn't have an idea on what I can manage to prepare for myself as a breakfast when I'm in a constant rush in the morning (that's the reason for not having a breakfast at all). [oh yeah, I am a long sentences' fan]
Also, I almost didn't eat any dairy product which was bad for my teeth and bones.
In the recent weeks I started to actually eat curds mixed with mashed apple. This mix is both easy, light and tasty. Thanks to my cousin for the tip!
After that I am having my coffee in the office and I'm actually being early in the office! что не может не радовать..(и не только шефа :)

The music

I'm very busy and I do a bunch of critical stuff. I can't allow myself to feel down or negative in any way. I didn't choose it intentionally, but I feel that the only TV channel I actually feel like watching/listening is the MTV Dance. I'm jumping, dancing, singing like a teenager. I completely overwrote my music playlist and no pixel of melancholy can be seen there. It really helps to keep my mood up high.

The death
A relative passed away last week. He didn't live only 2 weeks till his 50th anniversary. It was a lung cancer. The ironic thing was that the wife of that man who died, has been smoking extensively the following days, because she had to calm her nerves and nothing could be done about it. She had lost her son just the previous year. Nobody can even begin to imagine how she actually feels now. Cigarettes help to calm the nerves, but they often become the reason people suffer.
I can't help myself from being anxious, realizing that my dad won't even consider quitting or limiting his smoking.
I also discovered something rather shocking for me. It's that the relatives sometimes prefer to hide from the cancer patient the real reason of their illness. The man died without knowing what he was dying from. And I was being convinced that it's a right thing to do. I won't go into details now, but I strongly believe that it's very, very wrong. Not for everyone, however...

photo via Titania Aelita

Yoga in Armenia: what is yoga and how to get started?

One of my discoveries of the last year was certainly - yoga. Not that I learned about it just this year :) I just realized it this year that it's the perfect thing for me this period of my life and found the most amazing yoga studio in Yerevan. I had some friends who have been attending there for quite some time already, but never actually considered to enroll myself into a class too. I knew almost nothing about yoga but I was driven by curiosity and the promise of getting some peace after the hectic work days was convincing.
I had no problem deciding with the studio, since I only started yoga because of discovering Shoonch.

While this post will be about my perception and experience of yoga, it may also contain some voluntary advertisement of Shoonch yoga studio.

So what are you doing now? about micro-blogging, twittering, status messages etc...

This question should be answered differently depending on who's asking or what is the time frame of the question.

--If it asked my friend who I'm chatting with quite often, who's aware of my daily life, i'd answer:

• reading a project management literature related to the recent changes in my company.

--If it was asked by a cousin whom i meet on family occasions - birthdays etc, i'd say:

• I'm on the same job - managing website projects.

--If it was asked by my course-mates whom I last saw 2 years ago on graduation, i'd tell them:

• I'm working.. mid-management position, right by profession. Not married yet :)

--If it was asked by school-mate, whom i encounter once in several years, i'd answer:

• Graduated with Master's, working! Not married yet :) /don't get surprised, 90% of this kind of people asking about myself actually want to know if I'm married and have kids already/
  

--If it was asked by smb whom I met for the first time in my life, i'd probably reply:

• None of your business! :D ,- but seriously, i always get stuck by this question trying to guess what activities does the 'interviewer' expect to hear me telling about...
  

so what is twitter?

 

read about it here.

some twitter fun :)

 

  

  

  

  

  

  

Coffee & cigarettes... in the office

I've made an interesting observation about offices... more specifically - about how people socialize on workplaces...
I realized that people who smoke often or at least drink coffee (for example a morning one), socialize more and get to know more people from the office, in the same way, people know more about them.

They are more successful and productive. Though i cannot prove it with any research, but i think it's not needed )

I know better the people whom i chat with in the corridors or staircase, while they smoke or drink coffee, meanwhile I know almost nothing about ones that never spend time in corridors.

In my company there are about 80 employees and in the morning, right when we arrive at work (around 10.00-10.30), the morning coffee trapeze starts :) it's always almost the same company, same people.. we share our personal and work updates, we discuss what's going on in the office etc... it's always very informative and nice (our company has its souls of fun :))).. this way we know more what every department is working on, since there's not so much interaction between our departments.
Sometimes people who didn't smoke or drink coffee, were starting to take some drinks and were joining us, so we were knowing them better also and even changing our opinions about them.

I'm not a smoker (in fact, I'm an active anti-smoking campaigner), but luckily i drink coffee :D Even if i didn't drink coffee, I'd think about smth else to drink, since i wouldn't miss the chance to get to know my co-workers).

Often it's also useful, like when you urgently need a cellphone recharger, or if smb has giveaway tickets to some events... there's always a lot of things to share :)

Sometimes we notice our CEO's not-so-approving looks, and wonder why wouldn't directors and managers approve their employees' socializing. Well, maybe they think that we lose a lot of time on 'useless' chats, but I'm ready to prove, if needed, that this way we are more productive. We work better with colleagues whom we know even a bit out-of-work.

If I was a boss (when I become one ;) I would never discourage people to socialize, instead, I would join them during the breaks :) and of course I would organize more "legal" corporate parties.

I'm looking forward to tomorrow's coffee break in the office :)

a Monday in November

8 cups of different teas, 2 cups of coffees, some warm water to drink. This is my today's liquid consumption statistics :D 2 days ago I got flu and today was my first day with a free nose but with hard coughing.

My day was successful also because of Sinead's voice today - loud and in a good quality, at my favorite and the most coziest department of our office with the most creative people - our Designers! ...  I just love watching the creative flow there - it's when they draw, brainstorm, joke and fool around :)

If you will be reading this, I must confess my workdays would be too boring without you, guys. I enjoy your company very much :)

So here are they:

(cookies by me :)

Zucchero concert on November 12

Got the tickets !!! we're going to have fun :) 5 girls - mostly italo-holic :)

Researching his website trying to find a possible song-list for the "All the best" tour, i found the following: (i supposed we're in the Eastern Europe region)

01. Wonderful Life
02. I Won’t Let You Down
03. Senza Una Donna (Without A Woman)
04. Baila (Sexy Thing)
05. Everybody’s Got To Learn Sometime
06. Nel Così Blu
07. Il Volo
08. Bacco Perbacco
09. Occhi
10. Così Celeste
11. Blue
12. Diavolo In Me
13. Dune Mosse
14. Diamante
15. Va, Pensiero
16. Amen
17. Miserere

*Gone to learn all lyrics by heart by the concert day! :D

Cyanide & Happiness

Another website where I'm subscribed. The comics are cynical, rude and sometimes not very nice, but some of them are really funny and make you feel guilty for laughing at them.

A Russian community dedicated to the translations of the comics in Livejournal: Цианистый калий и счастье.

Комиксы «Цианистый Калий и счастье» - это одни из самых неполиткоректных, циничных, переполненных чёрного юмора, комиксов в интернете. Рисуют его оторые рисуют Kris Wilson, Rob DenBleyker, Matt Melvin и Dave McElfatrick. Они никогда не виделись в реале и называют себя командой Explosm.

Это очень смешные, очень циничные, очень чёрные комиксы. Они заставляют тебя (ну меня-то уж точно) порой стыдиться того, что ты смеёшься над этим. А иногда стыдиться, что ты принадлежишь к животному по имени «человек». Часто «Калий» заставляет задуматься над современными мужчинами и женщинам. Или над, казалось бы, прописными истинами. А ещё чаще - над обществом в котором мы живём. Но всегда-заставляет посмотреть на себя и окружающий мир со стороны, подождать пока приступ смеха пройдёт и после этого отослать ссылку на очередной смешной стрип своему другу. from LookAtMe

Cyanide & Happiness is a daily web comic. Some of those I liked:











and a short flash :)

Cyanide & Happiness @ Explosm.net