The conventional wisdom is that in most cases the choice of a link function is largely a matter of taste. This blog is a link function.

After a long period of processing, the series of post-vacation posts begins. All of them has a bit of explanation [to whom, I don't know], why so late. Other projects will be launched next week, all of them serving as explanation for the low online activity.

Contents:

1. [trippin]:[the_cave]: Greece Video with selected music.
2. Extracurricular mixes. Two self-made attempts available for download.

1. [trippin]:[the_cave]

10 min video, re-worked with Sony Vegas Pro 8.0 and added a personal touch with the music. It was excellent – Mani Cave – highly recommended. And freaky as well, sitting in a boat and the driver telling you that the water is 90M deep.

Tracklist: Laurent Garnier – Greed (Avril Radio Mix), Audiofly – Below the Surface, Jamie Jones – The Capsule, Dan Ghenacia – Garden, Ruede Hagelstein – Der Kammblaser, Gabriel Ananda – Lamakova [out].

2. Extracurricular mixes

This part is full with disclaimers and 2 hours of electronic music. Just start the download and read the disclaimer. That will be fine.

Download the mixes – click on the name:

1. tech_x_28082008_3_zoller.zip [Dump.ro]

2. tech_x_29082008_4_zoller.zip [Mediafire.com]

Disclaimer:

1. I’m not a wannabe DJ, there are people with talent, skills, technology and time. They should do this. I was just curios to see how would a mix look like.
2. I have a poor laptop with poor sound card [on board], no midi-tap, no nothing. So, sometimes the quality could be better.
3. These are done by curiosity and trial and error. Just trial, I hope. No tech support, reading, or anything, so please be gentle when commenting.
4. One year, better equipment, 100 ebooks and a lots of time would make these mixes much much better.
5. The problem: it’s not a priority, i do not have time. But…
6. Both mixes follow a “party-logic”, not a “listen it at home” logic. At least, this is how I see the party dynamics.
7. Alternative mixes, featuring tracks that I like from a different perception.
8. Both have 2-3 minor errors, sorry.
9. ANY FEEDBACK IS MORE THAN WELCOMED – in comments, mail, messenger. It would be nice and healthy!
10. Zipped files, with tracklists. Nota bene: considering this “Youtube treasure hunt” [please please, what is the name of the track played at ...] I’ve “forgot” one track from both mixes. You find the track, and you are right=you are good.
11. Ahh, it’s mostly TECHNO.
12. ENJOY!

Zee.

When do you get 142 emails in 6 hours?

A. When your email has been hacked.

B. When you teach.

Guess what comes next!

Zee.

Due to some deadlines I had to be more than offline this week. Extra preparation and thematic expansion was needed by a seminar, so I did this work. It is pretty interesting to work and expand the Gerbner and Westley&Maclean communication models when the news present the presidential attacks launched against the press and mass media. It is similar to cooking and watching cooking shows. Eating the result always prevails. I feel an inner urge to comment on this act, but as a protest, I won’t do it. It’s nothing new, just annoying.

Research needs put me to re-read and deepen the methodological framework, so I am full of variables, non-metric data and statistical control. At this stage, the Romanian higher education system shows its real weaknesses, and generates a “no-party-weekend”, although the presence of Miss Jools was a very tempting offer to screw research. But no, it did not happen. An interesting fact on the Miss Jools’s official website: Midi Club-Romania-Roma. Hmmm…..

But still, I had the opportunity to try Bavaria Beer. Yeap, dutch! Shame on Bayern (for Cottbus, of course).

Zee.

After a bit of informatics, I managed to set the https protocol on my mobile connection, so I am writing from home. It is good to be home and the weather is exceptional.

Somebody stole a thuja (little tree) from our neighbor and he got very creative. He left a note for the thief and it sound like this: You thief! If you steal again, I will catch you!

Haha…Communication rules. Here is a pic, only mobile.

And the most important: Officially is up and running! The “manna.ro” project is working and this means that all the political content will be moved to the corporate blog, only in Hungarian.

My blog is: Targetto – Political Slaughterhouse! Enjoy!

PS: Hail for the Oscars, well done Coens!

Zee.

One of the best birthday presents on can imagine for himself: Scarlett Etienne @ Club Midi, 7th of March, 2008. Cool!

Zee.

En itt kezdtem most!

http://maszol.ro/maszol/ado_afa_kaszino_krumpli_2007_09_26.html

Z.

Next week in the print!

Zee.

An ex-colleague of mine from the university, basically I didn’t know him and he didn’t know me, but after some activities observed I’ve linked the face and person to this past, has several projects that worth mentioning. The new project launched officially a week ago (unofficially a month ago on his homepage) is LiveRail. CEO present it as well.

It is an integrated advertising platform that combines recent consumer expectations, recent consumer behavior, recent technological developments and recent advertising strategies. So it is pretty recent. The design is very neat, clear and somewhere between the elegant-professional (fonts, shading, image use) and loose-player (colors [-black], positioning on the page), clearly related to the advertiser-publisher couple. The advertisers have a professional approach, they get targeted advertising and pay just the clicks – the real clicks, the publishers are the content providers who are much younger, loose and make a bit of money that is not essential for them.

Considering that these boys started the Trilulilu, mostly considered as the Romanian YouTube, with no advertising on it and with a monthly 4000EUR money infusion in the business, it was high time for the moneymaking. In 6 month Trilulilu gained value, but more important content. So the publisher side for Liverail is somehow developed (for the initial stage of the project). And this was the perfection in this planning.

When Trilulilu was launched, the argument was the domestic content. Now, they are going from the locally restrained level, back to the international level. But the first few month of content supply is given after this parallel development.

So, the concept is a very good one (the innovative character comes from integrating four or five new advertising concepts in one place), the launch and planning was very good (really good coverage on blogs and on the publisher side), it is easy to use (no specialist is needed in the advertiser organization) and to sell this service to the advertisers you need content and stats. Or maybe you do not need stats, because of the PPC method.

If realized by the viewers that watching the ad brings money to the publisher, there will be a boom in clicking, support clicking as I call it. And support clicking undercuts efficiency of targeted advertising. Mainly, this would be my concern.

But without concerns, a 10 for the initiative and vision and if I teach next year as well, I am absolutely sure that I will invite Sergiu to give an exhaustive presentation about online advertising. I think it would be useful.

Zee.

Since 2002, my invasion of Cluj-Napoca too many things have changed. The greatest lost was obviously the disappearance of Zoro (strongly correlated with the disappearance of our friend gang)– really painful event. But other things also change. This post does not “handel um” the movie called Illusionist (although it’s worth a post, maybe later), politics or university, so it could be nice and distractive. But it won’t be a happy post.

From the Gheorgheni neighborhood (Georjeans I will call it) it takes 35 minutes to be in the Cipariu Square (Cipariu I will call it) by bus. 2 years ago it took me 12 minutes. Sooo, it’s a 191.6% increase. Nothing increased that fast, except the rents in Cluj-Napoca. When I came to Cluj-Napoca, I had to pay 17.5 USD rent – of course with a roommate, in Grigorescu. Today: 65 EUR for a room – of course with roommate and much more, in Grigorescu as well. If calculated, 271,5 % up. But this calculation is not really a correct one, from an economic point of view, because no currency exchange rate was taken into consideration. But it’s not necessary, I guess. But Zsoltika, my big good friend (and macho as well), could tell us more about this EUR-$ fight in that period (see: The case of EUR currency rate fucks with Zsoltika, phase 1 – no offense, Rudi).

But rewind…. And back to traffic ;)

Two important things happened today: the huge parking building is opened, and the new Cipariu circuit is on. You will find some pictures here (Picasa) and of course on Flickr (right). Same pictures. Same traffic.

But let’s explain the title: this effort was a beautiful one. I don’t know how will it work, seems crazy, but elegant. Like a highway in the city. Like a dozen traffic lights on the highway. The main aspect for the travelers of this change made in the Cipariu Square is a simple one: nothing changed, but it is legally OK to wait 35 minutes in the bus. Why? Because the bus waits at the traffic lights and traffic lights are always right. So “implanting” 10 traffic lights, in the most stupid places, legalizes traffic jam. Not the traffic optimization is the goal, the illusion of absolutely legitimate stop and go (or not go). And pedestrians should die – not killed by trucks, but lost in the labyrinth of the Cipariu Square. Maybe it will work, but this is the most illusionist non-solution seen by me.

Interesting taxonomy the traveler illusion of waiting created by traffic lighters.

A counterexample from The Netherlands:

„Recently, Drachten received international attention for a traffic experiment known as shared space or “naked streets”. All traffic lights and signs have been removed in the city centre in an effort to improve traffic safety, based on the theory that drivers pay more attention to their surroundings when they cannot rely on strict traffic rules.” (Wikipedia, of course)

“We have fewer accidents and the accident which do happen are less severe,” says Koop Kerkstra, a senior official in the northern Dutch town of Drachten. “We see a better flowing of traffic than when everything was regulated. With the new infrastructure, they can flow through Drachten in much less time.” The article here.

And as a libertarian, what else can I say: GOGOGO! and as my friend Norbert overheard the workers: let us have a rum!

Zee.

I have serious problems with finding the right solution to publish this post on the English page of my blog. hopefully, I will manage to overcome this problem.

Just a short trailer or appetizer for jobs, tasks, implementation. What bothers me, keeps bothering me, will bother me, ’till measures are taken:

- I do not accept the following argumentation: but just look at others, they are doing even worse, so we do quality.

– I do not accept to write projects based on partnerships, where the partners weren’t even contacted. No discussion regarding the budget, activity preferences, interest or anything.

– I do not accept introducing ghost people in the project, just because that’s normal, they do not know about the project, they do not work in the project. And we shall be happy with that, because our project goes smoother without them. But their experience and CV is needed in order to get the grant.

- I propose the introduction of a special category in the call for projects, at the human resources chapter: responsible with great and powerful CV.

- I do not accept to violate programme objectives in order to fit the project goals.

These being said, I go back and work. Doing all the things that I haven’t accepted above. And smile, and keep thinking of the impact, beneficiaries and all the project addicted people. Screw the income from the project and the idealists as well; this is not normal, I tell you. But still, others do the same and they are much more stupid than us, so why let them to get the grants.

With much frustration, Zee.