Biggest, Badest Carp
Saturday afternoon I snowboarded under the cable car in Sinaia from the
Bucegi Plateau at 2000m down to the hotel at 1400m on the Carp ski
slope which is supposedly the most difficult and challenging in Romania.
I can't even describe the feeling I had as I was drifting slowly
through the dense fog between rocks and cliffs and then finally
descending under the clouds on the steepest frozen incline I've ever
seen. The fog/cloud was so dense I couldn't tell where the ground
stopped and the air started or which way was up and which way was down.
Cristina, thanks again for showing me the way.
The enclosed picture was taken earlier on Saturday in Valea Dorului, up
on the Bucegi Plateau (it makes a pretty cool Desktop Background :) You
just have to ask).
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| Christian Nasulea - 11.02.2008 | |
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Windows XP on Toshiba Satellite L40-14B
I ordered these 5 laptops for a client who needed something really
inexpensive. The best deal available at the moment was the Toshiba
Satellite L40-14B with its Celeron processor and 120 GB SATA HDD. It's
really a computer from the past as I was soon about to discover but it
packs a bit of power and it does the job.
When the client tried to install XP on the laptops they discovered that
the XP kit wouldn't detect the hard disk as it lacked the proper Intel
SATA drivers.
Normally, you solve this fairly quickly by putting the drivers on a
floppy and feeding them to the installation as it begins. The only
problem is you need a floppy drive for this and like most laptops the
L40 doesn't have one. I guess you have to buy a USB floppy drive in
order to install Windows making your originally inexpensive laptop 50
euros more expensive and wasting a few more days of your time.
The really COOL workaround I came up with was creating a custom Windows
XP installation CD that would include the proper SATA drivers.
After doing it manually and ruining a couple of CDs in the process I discovered nLite,
a really nifty piece of software you can use to integrate and
disintegrate Windows components on an installation CD. Its applications
are much more numerous than simple driver integration making it a
really valuable find.
Enjoy!
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| Christian Nasulea - 06.02.2008 | |
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Why She Left Me
Prologue (FYI): My girlfriend, for the past 6 years, left me in search of herself and other things that might be out there
The following is a list of reasons I came up with in order to explain one of the most shocking events of my life. The list is only meant to amuse and does not necessarily have a tight connection with real life.
Here goes:
The daughter of a wealthy arab terrorist wants me for her own and has convinced her father to threaten my former better half, with acts of terror against mankind and Earth itself, into dumping me.
My Ex girlfriend sold her soul to the Devil as part of her plan to achieve world domination. It was part of the contract, I had to go...
She is actually an agent of a foreign government who was on a mission to keep me under surveillance for the past 10 years as they believed I would eventually crack the secrets of cold fusion. Having finally realized that I'm actually pretty stupid she was reassigned.
I made a pact with a white wizard from the west in an alternate dream world 6 years ago, to make her fall desperately in love with me. The spell wore off.
The Earth is tilting on its axis and it's having a negative effect on my powers of mind control.
I carelessly wore mismatching socks on the 15th of January. It was fashion crime. She just couldn't take it anymore.
I'm doing crack, cocaine and 2 types of shrooms. This isn't really happening.
Getting my PhD is a vital element that will ensure I win the elections for World President in 2098. This would enable me to use my influence to finally wipe out the last of the Mahmudians (inhabitants of Mahmudia). They have sent her back in time to crush my will and stop me.
30 centimeters and 8 hours non-stop just aren't enough these days.
Epilogue: If you have any other theories please submit them in the comments.
Yes, I know it's a weird way to announce something like this.
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| Christian Nasulea - 01.02.2008 | |
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Advice from a Helmet
I would like to quote from a label on the interior lining of my new snowboarding helmet:
"While no helmet can prevent all head injuries, use of a helmet, taking lessons, riding responsibly and within your abilities, and common sense, can together significantly reduce the risk of catastrophic head injury."
Yep, I'd say common sense is a good way to reduce the risk of any kind of "catastrophic" injury. :)))
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| Christian Nasulea - 29.01.2008 | |
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IT Support
I've been through 3 of my PhD exams and I don't even want to talk about it. I still don't have time to write something proper on my blog but I do want to post this one very funny commercial.
Since I do technically coordinate IT support activities as well I'm really wondering: do people really see me like that as well?
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| Christian Nasulea - 29.01.2008 | |
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R Statistics and Econometrics
I've practically been stuck inside the house for the past 3 days working on tons and tons of projects for the PhD exam session.
Now, at 3:30am, on the eve of our darkest hour (as the micro and macro exams approach inevitably) I find myself rejoycing at my rediscovery of statistics, not as the despised plague of my second year of faculty but as a very cool and interesting topic, with numerous applications in my day to day activities.
My thanks and eternal gratitude go to those people who spent their time and patience in the past days explaining things to me over and over again. Also, a special note on one very cool piece of free software, called R, which greatly simplifies things.
http://cran.r-project.org/
Download and install. Don't be discouraged by its initial blank look.
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| Christian Nasulea - 25.01.2008 | |
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Exam Mash Up
Just in case you find me hard to reach these days, let me say that Friday (25.01.2008) through Wednesday (30.01.2008) I will practically have one exam per day.
Besides the enormous amount of time required to actually take an oral exam there's also the slight issue of having to study for these exams.
Oh well, I'd best get going now.
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| Christian Nasulea - 22.01.2008 | |
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Kalinderu
Yesterday I went snowboarding in Busteni on the Kalinderu slope.
I think I'm getting pretty good at this as I completed 9 descents yesterday. Kalinderu is a pretty short slope, only 1500 m in length and a 300 m altitude difference but that still adds up to more than 13 km of snowboarding in a single day.
I'm also starting to like the steeper inclines so I must really get down to picking and buying some head and back protection.
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| Christian Nasulea - 21.01.2008 | |
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Lessons on Sports and Life
This weekend I went snowboarding, Saturday evening in Predeal and all day Sunday in Poiana Brasov. I'm getting better and better.
To get the stuff that bothered me out of the way first:
The ski slope lights in Predeal were supposed to stay on till midnight. They were turned off at 22:15.
The parking in Poiana Brasov costs as much as it does at the Mariott in Bucharest.
Yesterday was a particularly special day. We picked up a hitch-hiker in Rasnov, Nea Costica, a seasoned ski instructor who represented Romania at the Winter Olympic Games .... in 1948. He truly was one of those fascinating characters who enrich your life just by the few hours or minutes you spend with them.
As it was Ancuta's first time trying out a pair of skis our encounter was particularly fortunate as Nea Costica gave her the very important first pointers needed to get started properly. Not many people can pride themselves to have gotten their first skiing lesson from a living legend.
While we practiced on the beginner slope, Nea Costica, now 85, took the cable car to the top of the mountain to do a bit of sightseeing and came down on his skis fast enough to still have time enough to chat with friends, "fans" and people who knew him for a few good hours before heading back home.
It gets you thinking about what you really need to live a long, healthy, happy life.
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| Christian Nasulea - 14.01.2008 | |
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Canon PowerShot A620 Mechanic
Yes, it's 2:30 am. Yes, I really should be sleeping. But I'm so pleased with myself I at least have to write about it if I can't wake everybody up to tell them about it.
During last week's snowboard run my Canon A620 developed a mechanical problem with the automatic retractable lens cover. I guess falling 100 times can damage even the sturdiest of cameras. It wasn't very serious as I could push it out of the way with my finger but it would have cost a bit of time and money (like 2 weeks and 100 RON) to take it to the service center and get it fixed.
Well, 45 minutes ago, as if posessed by an unstopable urge to fix (or irreversibly break) something, I took it apart.
It wasn't easy. I had practically no tools, just my fingers and a crappy pair of tweezers.
And yet.... it is fixed.
I really am the greatest ... Oh, I'm so full of myself right now I can't even find a word worthy enough to describe how great I am.
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| Christian Nasulea - 12.01.2008 | |
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