minor updates in my blog

I have a new virtual pet that's living on my homepage blog.

It's the cutie Hamster Ashotik! He will keep you company while you're reading my blog :)

You've probably seen and even played with the fish that I had here till this. I've let them free to swim in Sevan.

So my hamster can run in his wheel, drink water, eat the food you feed him by clicking your mouse. He will wash his face and then get back to the wheel (alternatively, you can click the center of the wheel to make him get back on it). He's independent minded and sometimes just does what he wants, so you need to accept his character :)

Besides, I've added the formspring widget so you can ask me anonymous questions. I'll answer if I like them :P

and I've added franseren.com on my reading list :) The author is new to blogging will appreciate any feedback ;)

My thoughts on gadgets and Apple

I'm a tech geek, however it doesn't fully apply to gadgets. Maybe it's because i'm a terrible saver and I can't usually afford that many gadgets and I've accepted the fact that I won't always keep up with the new technological developments. And that's one of the reasons why I'm not an iPhone user or Apple fan.
I've been always satisfied with the gadgets I owned and was able to use them to the extent of their capabilities.

Few months ago I started to implement my plan to save some money. Apart from being a terrible saver, I'm also a shopaholic. The plan was to store some amount from each month's salary in a special envelope, in a safe at my workplace. I wouldn't have access to it, unlike a bank account where I tried to put some savings which didn't work out.

The goal was to have enough money for a vacation in summer, somewhere in Italy (of course).

Due to some circumstances and I changed my mind about the purpose of the saving. The geek in me decided to invest the money in some gadgets that were crucially needed :)
Specifically, an Android smartphone and a Kindle. My post about the Kindle will follow next.
And here the story starts. 90% of people I communicate with were asking the same "Why not iPhone, iPad, iEsiminch?"
I'm not an Apple hater, but, obviously, not a fan either.

One of the reasons i didn't buy an iPhone, or a MacBook, or never thought of buying an iPad, is that I know it's addictive. The brand. But it's also a matter of convenience. Apple stuff is known to be not very compatible with other brands and it's in a sense - greedy.

My main arguments are depicted in a hilarious comic by The Oatmeal.

see the rest here: http://theoatmeal.com/comics/apple

As to my gadgets, I will show them off here, soon :) Besides, I'm planning on organizing a 'gadget presentation' party for all those who have been asking me to show and give opportunity to touch them or tell about their features. Stay tuned :)

Worship of the... gas. My discoveries in Aghveran

I spent my previous weekend in Karin resort in Aghveran. An AIESEC seminar was taking place there and I was enjoying my alumni status (which allowed me to do nothing but have the much needed rest).

view from our window

Karin resort, also known as the "Gas rest house" or Armrusgazprom's resort has been recently renovated, however was still quite affordable (AIESECers managed to negotiate the price 6000AMD per person for 2 days/1 night, including the meals for both days).

Aghveran is a popular resort for Armenians in summer. Many people drive to the river bank and organize a picnic the Armenian way. With barbecue and all related "tashakhust" (sorry, an untranslatable word!).

View from our window. The swimming pool of our resort can be seen (it was empty).
Also "Arthurs" popular and expensive resort can be seen in far right

The camping site at the river is indeed crowded and noisy. Many people can't do without turning on loud music which has to be Armenian dance/rabiz music that you normally hear on weddings here. And it's from the morning to late evening, from all the cars and pavilions. Altogether it makes an unbearable buzz (worse than vuvuzelas, i assure! :D).
Same unfortunately applies to many resorts of this kind. I was shocked seeing some people dancing to rabiz music from early afternoon to the late evening in the resort's cafeteria. I bet there wasn't any celebration. I have to accept that some people are just having fun this way.

music, reading on the fresh air. my great weekend

On the second day the music-mix heard from outside became too irritating and i had to close all the windows and doors to reduce the noise.
Now to the shocking discovery.

When going upstairs to the 5th floor where our room was, we noticed something around the corner, next to the elevator. Something we weren't expecting to see inside the resort's building. It was a... CHAPEL !

At least the writing at the entrance said so. I crossed the narrow corridor to find myself in a small room, with the walls covered with saints' images and icons. But this isn't the full story yet.

This picture is worth thousand words. There was a place to light candles, right below the gas-geyser (հայերեն ասած` բաքսի :D). I couldn't help but imagine myself the details of the worship of gas in the ArmRusGazProm's resort.

Maybe I'm a bit retarded, but is this an everyday occurrence anywhere? 

BarCamp EVN '10 impressions and pics

My geekiest weekend of the year is over. It felt like a different reality to me. I was surrounded mainly by like-minded people who were so nice and geeky :)

I was enjoying seeing familiar faces, friends and getting to know new people. Of course, there were some people who were making me to seek the "report spammer" link, but i was trying to be tolerant :D

BarCamp is all about learning and networking (as most of the conferences), but what is good here, it's that there are no strict rules and the atmosphere is relaxed and pleasant.

thanks to photobzik for pics :)

The biggest shortcoming of this format for me is that because of parallel tracks - presentations taking places in different rooms at the same time - you have to make choices on what to hear and what to miss all the time.

Being a curious personality made me find an interesting topic in every half-hour track so in the end i was very exhausted.

While last year I was just a participant, this year I decided to present something myself. It's a great opportunity to train the public speaking and presentation skills. I'm so thankful for all the people that approached me with a feedback. It's invaluable!

photo by Sedrak Mkrtchyan / PanARMENIAN Photo

On the first day me and my friend Yervand made a presentation entitled "Geolocation Fun" that was about geolocation in general and Foursquare in particular. (find the PPT link below)

The room was very crowded and I was excited that some people actually downloaded the app right there and started to use Foursquare :). And also many people, whom i didn't know were approaching and saying that they liked my presentation :))) It felt great!

That night, when i was unable to sleep, I was planning my next presentation on Sunday. Right before the sleep i got the idea that I should present my "thing" on internal communication in companies and newsletters. I had a very few time to prepare, however I was feeling confident still everything was already in my head and i had already written a detailed blog post about it.

Even though I didn't have much time to prepare, it was good too :)

While I did my first presentation as @arpik, the second one was by Arpiné Grigoryan / PanARMENIAN Media (this is how it was written in the schedule). I was pleasantly surprised hearing that people came to hear a presentation because it was PanARMENIAN involved :) some even thought it was just about PanARMENIAN.Net :D

I really encourage all IT-related people to attend BarCamps since there's always lots of learning and networking. Not only you see meaningful faces of promising young people, you can actually watch for potential employees.

I really can't understand how anybody in IT wouldn't go there or thing that it's "useless". First of all it's a great platform to showcase new projects/services. Besides it's a great place to train presentation skills :)

Here are the links to my presentations:

• Geolocation Fun
• Newsletter as an internal communication tool

Presentations will be soon put on the barcamp.am website together with the links to articles and blog posts about BarCamp and photoalbums.

More pics below.

BarCamp EVN '10, for all the geeks out there!

I was just going to write about the upcoming BarCamp EVN, but decided to check my last year's post first :) Turns out I've described it pretty well then, and there's almost nothing new to add :D

This year i actually have my contribution in the organization.

Besides, i'm going to make a presentation this year and hope to see you all in the audience. You know, i'm still in the process for collecting experience for public speaking and I need your support and feedback :)

This year there will be 4 simultaneous tracks and still no breaks :)

There will also be livestreaming from all 4 BarCamp halls (hope the internet will be good enough :)

Don't forget to check the #barcampevn10 hashtag, there will be live-tweeting during the whole event. Hope this year there will be more of us tweeting :))

RSVP to the FB event and don't forget to register on the website.

There will be an afterparty at the Lovers Park and more opportunities for socializing :)) 

Btw, on Saturday Armen Grigoryan is inviting for "Innovative Talks" in Lovers Park which is definitely worth checking out and participating in :))

Festival of the Italian Cuisine in Yerevan

Great news for lovers of everything Italian. Hey, I know you are reading me ;) allora, tieni duro!

Embassy of Italy in Armenia and Ermenegildo Zegna Group organize a Festival of Italian Cuisine in Yerevan. It will take place on May 10-16, during which, the delicious Italian food will be available for a special promotional price in 11 restaurants of Yerevan.

the poster was spotted near 'Mama mia' pizzeria on Sayat Nova str.

Here are the locations and the Italian region whose cuisine will be represented there:

• "Cucina" Marriott-Armenia (Amiryan 1) - Cuisine of Piemonte (Milano). I've heard only good reviews about their cuisine and waited for an occasion to visit. Will try to do it this time!
• "Rossini" Golden Tulip Hotel (Abovian 14) - Cuisine of Campania (Napoli). Must be a nice place, I may go. btw, Napoli is the hometown of pizza ;)
• "Raffaello" Congress Hotel (Italia 1) - Cuisine of Lazio (Rome). I've been here once and it's nice, may go again too. 
• "L'Atelier" (Mashtots 37) - Cuisine of Emilia-Romagna (Bologna). I have no idea what/where this is :)
• "Le Bouchon" (Abovian 26) - Cuisine of Sicilia. I haven't been here either, but heard pretty good reviews, will possibly go this time.
• "Mezzo" (Isahakyan 28) - Cuisine of Lombardia (Milano). This location is on my "to visit" list. Seems a nice occasion, will definitely go.
• "Noyan Tapan" (Amiryan 12) - Cuisine of Abruzzo (L'Aquila). hm, i didn't know they serve food there (I thought it's a brandy store)
• "Ai Leoni" (Tumanian 40) - Cuisine of Veneto (Venezia). This is probably the best Italian restaurant in Yerevan. Seems to me, i won't miss the opportunity to visit it for the festival. And can't wait to have my favorite spritz (only in Veneto) again! 
• "Ankyun" (Vardanants 4) - Cuisine of Toscana (Florence). I love this place, will probably go.
• "Rembrandt" (Abovian 14/6) - Cuisine of Veneto (fish). I have heard that this is a pretty expensive place (especially the sea food), not seems to be "my place". 
• "Mama mia" (Alek Manukian 7/2) - Cuisine of Puglia (Bari). beh... i'd just say i'm not dreaming of eating there at all :D but i wonder what Puglia is famous for...

Wait, WHERE is Liguria?? I wanna try the genuine genovese focaccia! :( and if there would be a restaurant representing Friuli-Venezia Giulia (Trieste), i'd definitely have an Illy espresso there ;)

I guess i'll be having my dinners in these (marked with pink) fancy restaurants for the whole week :)) I really hope the special promotional prices will be affordable, as announced. 

By the way, a sample of Italian gastronomic products and touristic brochures of the Regions involved will be available in the restaurants. It's unmissable!

Couple of years ago I was involved in all the activities connected with Italy in Armenia. I was frequent in the Embassy, participating in all of their events and was in a very good relations with the staff. It seems to me that it's time to reestablish the ties :) especially when my italiamania (Italian bzik) is totally having a comeback.

P.S. Haykush, amic, mi sei mancata tanto tanto! E per il tuo compleanno, farò un brindisi per te, con un vino Italiano!

P.P.S. Bagi, un brindisi speciale sarà fatto anche per te !

Introducing Foursquare in Yerevan

Geolocation is the Trend for 2010. I already enjoy Google Latitude and occasionally post buzzes from my cellphone (even if it's an old-style non-touchscreen and without GPS) but my new "crash" is Foursquare!

I wasn't using it for a long time since i didn't know it would be possible with my cellphone. I wish I had an iPhone, Android phone like Nexus One or Blackberry to use the full functionality of Foursquare, but for now i'm doing good with the mobile version for all other "less-trendy" (or less-smart) devices.

So what's Foursquare?

foursquare is a cross between a friend-finder, a social city-guide and a game that rewards you for doing interesting things.

In my words - foursquare is a game you play with your friends, it's about discovering new interesting places in the city and competing for becoming a "mayor" of a certain venue, for reward points given for check-ins and attractive "badges".

Below you can find the basic "ideas" of foursquare:

Check-ins
4sq user checks-in when goes to some venue that is on the map (4sq uses Google Maps), if the venue is not listed, user can add it and check-in there.

When you tell foursquare where you are, that's called "checking-in". You can check-in from parks, bars, museums, restaurants... really anywhere. When you check-in we'll let your friends know where they can find you and award you points and badges based on your adventurousness.

Mayorship

If you've been to a place more than anyone else we'll crown you the "The Mayor" of that place. We see lots of bars and cafes now offering "Mayor Specials" - a free coffee or appetizer or maybe a special discount to the mayors of their venues.

 

Badges

Badges are little rewards you earn for doing checking-into interesting places. For example, staying out late on a school night or frequenting too many karaoke bars. 

Example of badges unlocked by a user

Points

Most foursquare checkins will earn you points. You can earn points for your first checkin at a certain place or by adding a new place to our listings. We display a list of the users who have racked up the most points on the "leaderboard". The idea is that the more you experience, the more places you visit, etc. the higher your score for that week. The leaderboard resets every Sunday at midnight.

Tips/To-Dos

Every foursquare user has the ability to create both "Tips" and "To-Dos" for places. Tips are generally things you'd recommend to other ("Go to PDT and try the bacon-infused Old Fashioned") while To-Dos are more "notes to self" ("Remember to come back and try the pesto noodles"). 

Foursquare in Yerevan
As for what i know, there are so far 4 of us who actively use 4sq in Yerevan. It's me, Yervand A., Harut M., Matthew A. Many others are registered with few check-ins, and probably will start using it soon :)

Some statistics on Yerevan active users
Number of check-ins: Yervand - 69 Harut - 52 Matthew - 44 Arpik - 33	Most friends: Arpik - 17 Yervand - 12 Harut - 10 Matthew - 6	Most mayorships: Yervand - 8 Arpik - 5 Matthew - 4  Harut - 1

I'm now excited to unlock as many badges as possible and become a mayor of at least 10 venues (to earn a certain badge). It's not always obvious how the badges are earned. In fact there are many city-specific badges i will never earn unless i go travel in the US. I found this interesting list of foursquare badges and their "unlocking" methods.

There have been lots of buzz around Foursquare in all popular blogs on Social Media and not only.

• Each year on April 16th (04/16) the world celebrated the Foursquare day :)
• Recently there has been a race for the North Pole check-in!
• And it was announced that 1,000,000 foursquare app downloads were registered few days ago.

P.S. I'm thinking of doing a small presentation of foursquare on the upcoming BarCamp Yerevan ;) And I'm sure the number of active users from Yerevan will increase by then.