Abramburica

Din punctul de vedere al lui Google, noua Abramburicã, desi mai uzatã, a detronat-o pe vechea Abramburicã, spre disperarea multora.

World War III - the battle for the Universal Currency - part 1

Here is a definition by Wikipedia about what World War 3 could mean: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/World_War_III

As expected, everybody thinks World War 3 is about a devastating (nuclear) conflict at global scale.
On my opinion this is far from even being likely to happen in the current geo-political and social context.

One should not forget that the triggers for World War 1 & 2 were well defined ambitions of a few political regimes to dominate geographical areas through territorial expansion, combined with the weakness of certain political systems, on the edge of collapse (austro-hungarian and tsarist empire).

The situation nowadays has totally changed. Political control over new territories is a bad business case, as it brings more hassle than benefits. Only think of the American occupation of Iraq. It has actually always been the case, but in the past there were less ways to get benefits from a certain region, unless your armies were occupying it.
Nowadays, the fast moving merchandise and information (in other terms: globalization) makes it possible to control and benefit from "occupied" nations or territories by far more subtle means, such as: strategic technology, strong currency, strategic resources, etc.

Since strategic resources are mostly related to the control of geographical areas and strategic technology can be very volatile in times when anyone could virtually research and develop anything, the last big battle is about a Universal Currency.

We won't go any further in this first part, unless with the recommendation for a few relevant articles, to further understand the matter:

Definition and history of a Currency by Wikipedia
The petrocurrency
Petrodollar warfare
Dollar hegemony
US dollar hegemony has got to go - by Henry C K Liu

a few readings that will help understand the considerations in part 2 of this post, yet to come...
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Buying highway vignette's in Hungary

Hopefuly this post will get indexed properly and prevent many readers from getting frustrated or feeling robbed when travelling through Hungary.
One day you will thank me for that.

Here are the facts:

1. If you get to Hungary by car, the road vignette is mandatory. However, make sure you have some 1.200 Forint (about 4€), to be able to pay for the minimum 4 days vignette.
Failing to pay in Forint or by card will put the price up to as much as 7-7.5 €, if you pay with Euro, Lei or any other currency, that are generally accepted in border areas.

2. You are in Hungary, you drive towards Austria and you stop at a gas station for refilling your tank. You get to the counter and the seller asks you if you don't need an Austrian vignette. You say "Yes, why not, why should I stop again in Austria...?".
Well, this good idea will cost you more than 4€, as the Austrian vignette (normal price - 7.9€ for 10 days) is sold 3.500 Forint (~= 12€) in Hungary, regardless of whether you pay by card or cash, in Forint.

Hope this helps. Also hope this helps authorities uderstand that too much is too much and some kind of control of the phenomenon is needed.
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Romanii, Obama si Monarhia

In momentul in care am aflat ca principele Radu si-a anuntat candidatura la presedintia Romaniei, m-a dus gandul la o diversiune FSN-ista, pentru ca dupa orice logica sanatoasa, o astfel de candidatura nu ar fi facut decat sa canibalizeze din voturile lui Antonescu.

However, ca in orice business plan serios, fie el si inscaunarea pe tronul prezidential a unui principe, studiul de piata ocupa un rol esential. In cazul de fata, studiul de piata Hotnews, la aceasta ora se prezinta astfel: Basel - 28%, Radel - 28%, Antonel - 20%, Mirciulica - 3%, Gigel, Vadimel si oricare alt schizofrenel - restul de 20%.
That's amazing, vorba lui Carl Hooper :)!
Cine s-ar fi gandit vreodata ca Mircica ar putea sa decada in asemenea hal? Sau poate PSD-ul si sustinatorii lui nu citesc Hotnews. Sau nu citesc. Nimic. Ever. Most likely...

Sa revenim la titlu.

Se pare ca in spatele candidaturii principelui Radu ar fi, cine altul decat Conu Dinu, iar in spatele conului Dinu n-ar fi exclus sa fie multe alte personaje suficient de influente incat reusita acestei candidaturi sa fie o certitudine. Vom afla asta in momentul in care Betsy Myers, directoarea de campanie a presedintelui Obama va deveni sau nu, directoarea de campanie a printului Radu.

In lumina ultimelor evenimente din Moldova, a crizei economice si a spectrului de instabilitate care planeaza asupra regiunii, ca granita estica a UE, nu este exclus ca mai marii lumii sa urmareasca stabilizarea zonei prin reinstaurarea unei monarhii parlamentare in Romania.
Marile schimbari se intampla atunci cand populatia este predispusa la schimbare, conjuncturile internationale o permit, iar marile forte strategice o accepta.

Ceva imi spune ca dinspre Obama sufla vant de Monarhie si altceva imi spune ca dinspre Basel sufla vant de capitulare.

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The Wiki model extended to business

Google announces the launch of Google Ventures - a Mio. 100$ venture capital fund aiming at supporting remarkable private business initiatives from any industry.

It seems like the most logical and natural growth opportunity for Google, who is reaching saturation in terms of revenues from online search.
If you look at the concept as an "Outsourcing plan" for R&D and Project Management activities, the idea is outstanding. Why managing internally teams of american or western european programmers or managers, when chinese, indians, eastern europeans or south americans may come up with better ideas, higher motivation and besides all, share your risk and bear some of the costs.

My bet is that in 5 years time, Google Ventures will generate more profit for Google Inc. than the current activities.
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Hai ca se poate!

Agentia Nationala de Administrare Fiscala renunta anul acesta la sistemul de trimitere, respectiv primire a declaratiilor de venit prin posta.

Altfel spus, in era comunicatiilor electronice, ne intoarcem pe vremea lui Ceausescu, atunci cand se statea la coada la orice.

Partea pozitiva: doar astfel putem spera sa scapam de Basescu si de FSN mai repede decat mai tarziu.

Hai ca se poate!
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Rain in the month of March

Ploaie in luna lui Marte - Probably the most inspired and well-known poem of the volume "A vision of feelings" by Nichita Stanescu, on a music composed by Nicu Alifantis.

English translation gracefuly offered by Anna.

Enjoy!

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