tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-16188597270804912622012-02-16T17:11:41.694+08:00Thoughts and rants about China, Russia, movies, life in Ningbo and basically everything.Mr. Desmanhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/06684557752811280659noreply@blogger.comBlogger1231100tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1618859727080491262.post-87257179884698782412011-12-24T12:24:00.000+08:002011-12-28T00:26:49.313+08:00

Just yesterday got some info from our head office in Moscow: Due to the expected slowing in the sales growth there's a possibility that they'll start cutting salaries. And ai have a hunch that it ain't gonna be the salaries of some overpaid people in Sales or marketing or Logistics and Sourcing.Looks like it well may be our department – after all, running around China enforcing quality

Mr. Desmanhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/06684557752811280659noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1618859727080491262.post-83342493150806977722011-12-20T12:23:00.000+08:002011-12-28T00:26:49.960+08:00

See here: Prosecutors claim Bradley Manning wanted to remove 'the fog of war'. The man used terrible l33t hacker tools to download top-secret crap! Well... not exactly. His tools were just a program called 'wget' which – surprise! – comes with every installation of Linux. And if he was able to download these cables with wget, it can only mean one thing: the data was not secured adquately. It was

Mr. Desmanhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/06684557752811280659noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1618859727080491262.post-13956464237838523772011-12-15T15:11:00.000+08:002011-12-28T00:26:47.944+08:00

No comments. See here: http://www.bbc.co.uk/go/rss/int/news/-/news/world-us-canada-16153511.

Mr. Desmanhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/06684557752811280659noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1618859727080491262.post-28312747442009485062011-12-15T14:13:00.000+08:002011-12-28T13:43:28.434+08:00

A nice article in The Guardian shows the stupidity of the Nobel commttee. As they report, that monkey Obama – he's a monkey not because of his ancestry, but because of all his stupid jumping and chittering – anyway, that monkey is going to sign the bill that would allow for indefinite detention of terrorism suspects arrested by military on the US soil. Land of the free, ihndeed...At the same time

Mr. Desmanhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/06684557752811280659noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1618859727080491262.post-71568715101342504002011-12-11T16:30:00.000+08:002011-12-11T16:34:15.726+08:00

I came upon this article: "50 technological advances your children will laugh at" on the website of The Daily Telegraph. The guy have tried to put together the list of technologies that will be obsolete soon... showing in the process his own ignorance. I gather from the text of the said article that he lives in the big city (London?) and never has to go anywhere where there's no easy access to

Mr. Desmanhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/06684557752811280659noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1618859727080491262.post-13424231339552748142011-12-10T19:01:00.000+08:002011-12-11T16:34:17.946+08:00

High-level Anti-radiation Mysterious Mouse Evil Spirit Pad. That's a real product, sold in Ningbo at the Tesco supermarket. For only ¥12.90 you can have it – it's "Highly effective 2 gather 1"!

Mr. Desmanhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/06684557752811280659noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1618859727080491262.post-52392072913683097542011-12-08T16:04:00.000+08:002011-12-11T23:17:28.688+08:00

So I've been reading this article. Greenpeace are protesting the nuclear power and are somewhat enraged that they're not beaten up. It shows clearly that they're masochistic (they always seem to look forward to some beatings). Also they are completely and utterly nuts.You see, they get 75% of their electricity from nuclear power in France. So what's the alternative they offer? Why, none of course

Mr. Desmanhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/06684557752811280659noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1618859727080491262.post-46887361027626616372011-12-06T12:40:00.000+08:002011-12-11T16:34:12.713+08:00

I heard yesterday that they've finished the investigation of Wenzhou high-speed train crash. Preliminary reports mentioned the failure of signaling system which lead to the collision. Now they only blame poor management.But I've asked around – I have to ride these trains all the time so it would be nice to know just how much risk I'm taking – and they tell me that the company that supplied the

Mr. Desmanhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/06684557752811280659noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1618859727080491262.post-27970887233185368022011-12-06T12:14:00.000+08:002011-12-11T16:34:19.376+08:00

Here's a riddle for you: What's making annoying sounds for two hours and does not get killed? Answer: Chinese man with iPad playing stupid games. And believe me, after first forty minutes you would wish to strangle him or, at least, stuff the iPad to the place where the sun does not shine.You can try to write it of as a cultural difference, but after hearing "Niao? Niao! Niao? Niao! Niao!

Mr. Desmanhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/06684557752811280659noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1618859727080491262.post-76576918181740823732011-11-30T17:15:00.000+08:002011-12-11T16:34:23.000+08:00

Bikini-Clad Woman Searches for Dog. Now this is saying something about the sanity of human race... or the lack thereof. And it's not even a real dog, it's goddamn yipping rat. As they say in Russia, dog owners look like their dogs... and have about the same amount of brains.

Mr. Desmanhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/06684557752811280659noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1618859727080491262.post-81839055430213613892011-11-24T00:29:00.000+08:002011-12-11T16:34:20.731+08:00

I stumbled upon this little gem: Passengers Refuse To Leave Delayed Plane Until Airline Pays Up - The Consumerist. It read like some kind of joke... and then they hit me with the punchline: The passengers mentioned were Chinese from the Mainland. And they've actually got something from the airline. Well, good luck for them if they try to do it on the Chinese airlines here in Mainland. I wrote

Mr. Desmanhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/06684557752811280659noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1618859727080491262.post-76860148929947348522011-11-24T00:16:00.000+08:002011-12-11T16:34:10.615+08:00

Read this:BBC News - Ex Moscow Mayor Yuri Luzhkov: Medvedev 'dictatorial'. I find this article highly amusing. You see, the guy was one of the architects of that United Russia party. And one of it's long-time leaders as well. So now he pretends that he's an innocent bystander? Well, why doesn't he explain how his wife happened to get all the best land plots in Moscow? Why doesn't he answer all

Mr. Desmanhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/06684557752811280659noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1618859727080491262.post-35338498555653478582011-11-21T12:44:00.000+08:002011-12-11T16:34:27.067+08:00

The Guardian reports that Moscow's martial arts fans boo Putin as he steps into the ring. Ok, I thought, I'd dig up some info on this. You see, there was a time when I respected Putin even though it was clear that his rise to power was staged. Pro-Western "democracy activists" have spent too much time trying to instill the feeling of guilt into my people and it was time for the return of

Mr. Desmanhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/06684557752811280659noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1618859727080491262.post-74796035494316781952011-11-18T13:57:00.000+08:002011-12-11T16:34:18.346+08:00

Ukraine to stop killing stray dogs before Euro 2012 football championship, reports The Guardian. Now there's something strange in the Western attitude toward dogs. Like they say that killing the dog on film is a big no-no in Hollywood. And now British charity is trying to save stray dogs in Ukraine...Let me tell you something. The dog's nearest relative is wolf. A pack hunnter. The pack would

Mr. Desmanhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/06684557752811280659noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1618859727080491262.post-74154931689160692882011-11-15T13:22:00.000+08:002011-12-11T16:34:16.112+08:00

Aaaand... it's BBC time again! Here: BBC Sport - NBA season in doubt after players reject new offer. It's the latest development in that NBA business. The players want more money (OK, so it's 1% more of the basketball-related income... still, that's millions of dollars). Like, you know, they're starving or something as it is.And I wonder: Do they expect me to sympathize with those monkeys? I

Mr. Desmanhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/06684557752811280659noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1618859727080491262.post-7456014716330340882011-11-15T13:05:00.000+08:002011-12-11T16:34:11.473+08:00

I stumbled upon this piece of news: BBC News - Ghana seafood restaurant denies 'whites only' policy. Now I do not like them Negroes. I don't hate them. Actually I just don't give a damn about the colour of the people's skin. Oh, and Negro in russian means "a person of African origin with black skin". Nothing more, nothing less.But it's one thing if you just don't care and don't support all that

Mr. Desmanhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/06684557752811280659noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1618859727080491262.post-74550708967501208602011-11-14T00:16:00.000+08:002011-12-11T16:34:26.741+08:00

As some of us have noticed, women sometimes wear high heels. But as you may notice if you check this link, sometimes they're plain stupid. Not because they're women, just because they're stupid. As you may see if you check the link, it's some add-on for them high heel which would enable the woman wearing said heels go out wearing them when there's ice on the road. And the stupid part is going out

Mr. Desmanhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/06684557752811280659noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1618859727080491262.post-9921687639038302862011-11-13T22:26:00.000+08:002011-12-11T16:34:14.124+08:00

Yes, you're right. It's my RSS feed again. Actually, it's this article on BBC. It's about the girl who's training to ski to the South Pole. She's 16, she's the daughter of famous British traveler/explorer and she's training in the supermarket freezer. Ok, so it's –27°C in there, but seriously... It's like training for the swim across the Atlantic in the outdoor swimming pool. By Eris, I've spent

Mr. Desmanhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/06684557752811280659noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1618859727080491262.post-83434298750557713932011-11-11T21:28:00.000+08:002011-12-11T16:34:12.055+08:00

Ok, as I have said already (well, repeated ad nauseam actually) the habit of reading the news will be my downfall sometimes. You ever try to show your wife an article you find amusing while she's busy with reading stuff she finds amusing?.. Yes, exactly. No cutlery flying as of yet, but I wouldn't rule it out. Oh, but I digress.One of the funniest things is reading various Apple-related blogs.

Mr. Desmanhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/06684557752811280659noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1618859727080491262.post-76377821822014022062011-11-11T01:38:00.000+08:002011-12-11T23:17:13.266+08:00

Found it in my RSS feed today: BBC News - Australia is the first country to ban branding on cigarette packets. That's some news, people. I just can't say what I think of it in printable words...You see, I am a smoker. I will quit some day, but right now I am goddamn lazy. And at the same time I hate when the room reeks of tobacco smoke, I hate it when people smoke on the escalators or in tunnels

Mr. Desmanhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/06684557752811280659noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1618859727080491262.post-55471848662590269812011-10-12T16:03:00.000+08:002011-12-11T16:34:23.215+08:00

Now, that addiction to newsfeeds would be my undoing. This article made me write this post instead of work, for example. The author asks some questions about British drinking habits that – as far as I can see – get straight to the heart of the problem.

Mr. Desmanhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/06684557752811280659noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1618859727080491262.post-62353968727580402672011-09-18T15:58:00.000+08:002011-09-18T16:05:27.001+08:00

You know, that RSS addiction will be my undoing. I ran across this article:Latvia election may lead to poll success for pro-Russia party.It seems strange for me that the same paper that would be frothing at the mouth about some negro being deported from the UK to, say, Ghana – because, you see, he may be beaten up by the Ghana police – the same paper would say nothing about 30% of EU country's

Mr. Desmanhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/06684557752811280659noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1618859727080491262.post-36960069713623817132011-09-12T13:14:00.000+08:002011-09-18T16:02:55.676+08:00

They call it "restaurant car" in Russia, but as it's a bullet train in China I guess the term "bistro car" is somewhat justified…Pic here.

Mr. Desmanhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/06684557752811280659noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1618859727080491262.post-13558078480261545052011-07-30T12:45:00.000+08:002011-09-18T16:02:57.709+08:00

I came upon the mention of this case on a Russian newsfeed: New Haven firefighters get $2 million in bias case. It seems that finally they started to acknowledge that racism is not confined to white people (just look how many people from India would scream: "I hate niggers!" on the Internet). Personally I think that all these quotas based on sex, race or whatever else are just plain stupid. If

Mr. Desmanhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/06684557752811280659noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1618859727080491262.post-52580192054454073452011-07-30T12:44:00.000+08:002011-09-18T16:07:19.133+08:00

Well the headline was a bit misleading in this article: BBC News - New Zealand boss Alasdair Thompson sacked in sexism row when it appeared in my RSS reader. It was displayed as: NZ menstruation-row boss sacked. And while most of his babble is more or less a load of bollocks (at least in my experience there is no clear difference in productivity between men and women – both tend to be goddamn

Mr. Desmanhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/06684557752811280659noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1618859727080491262.post-57430940897482309212011-06-18T23:00:00.000+08:002011-09-18T16:07:18.195+08:00

Imagine it is (finally!) Sunday and you are sleeping. It's 7:30 in the morning and the alarm is turned off... when suddenly some terrible din throws you out of bed. That would be your good neighbor from upstairs or, to be more precise, the workers he hired to remodel his flat.You see, there's thing in Ningbo called hezu. It's equivalent to the cubicle farm, but done with living space instead of

Mr. Desmanhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/06684557752811280659noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1618859727080491262.post-15676818090842712032011-06-18T22:59:00.000+08:002011-09-18T16:03:01.786+08:00

Imagine that you need to go halfway across a decently-sized country, like China. As the only train that goes to your destination takes twenty-something hours to get there and the ticket price is the same anyway, you buy the plane ticket. Two hours sounds better than twenty for the same price, right? Or so you think...Well, maybe it works for some people out there, but looks like it's broken in

Mr. Desmanhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/06684557752811280659noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1618859727080491262.post-82118777814755783242011-06-15T12:17:00.000+08:002011-09-18T16:02:58.346+08:00

I really should stop reading news. Reading this article have confirmed what I always knew: The taxes I pay are used in many ways... almost none of which is beneficial.You see, Ruud Gullit is considered a star. And why should a veritable star choose to train the backwater team in bandit-infested place? Ok, the challenge may play a big part in it, but he would expect the adequate compensation for

Mr. Desmanhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/06684557752811280659noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1618859727080491262.post-17626276411890411822011-06-07T19:24:00.000+08:002011-09-18T16:02:58.004+08:00

Ok, here's the follow-up to the previous piece. According to the news on BBC's site. Far as I can see, there's no outcry condemning "those evil communists" over this execution. Now maybe I will beleive in humanity a bit more... I do not beleive that the little turd deserved to live after what he'd done, and I do hope that more little turds will take this as a warning. Sadly, human race seems to

Mr. Desmanhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/06684557752811280659noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1618859727080491262.post-24894835724633677582011-04-26T18:50:00.000+08:002011-04-29T12:37:22.910+08:00

People in the West seem to be really fond of holding vigils or paying tributes whenever some kid gets into trouble and/or dies. Here's one more cause they can gladly take to their hearts. But let me tell you the whole story first.So there was that guy in Xi'an. He was studying in the conservatory,never touched any politics, was a bright, quiet and respectful kid... and now he's to be executed.

Mr. Desmanhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/06684557752811280659noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1618859727080491262.post-68182459466457499372011-04-21T23:22:00.000+08:002011-04-29T12:17:40.078+08:00

US Department of Transportation have just put in place new set of rules for airlines. While browsing through it, I saw that they increased the compensation for the passengers bumped from overbooked flights. Now maybe I am stupid. Maybe I am just plain dumb. But in the name of Cthulhu would the whole industry do something like this? If they have to bump people from flights every goddamn time due

Mr. Desmanhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/06684557752811280659noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1618859727080491262.post-33519331299059444282011-04-21T21:27:00.000+08:002011-04-22T00:25:49.396+08:00

In continuation of the previous post:I just came over the report about riot in the Australian detention centre/refugee camp. They managed to set fire to the facilities, and when the firefighters came (because they tend to show up when there's a fire):They had had roof tiles and other pieces of furniture being hurled at them by some of the detainees, so it was impossible for them to extinguish the

Mr. Desmanhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/06684557752811280659noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1618859727080491262.post-14420550732538753712011-04-21T20:06:00.000+08:002011-04-22T00:25:48.635+08:00

'I hate two things. One's racism, the second's niggers.'––– Some unknown idiot.You know, I should give up reading the newsfeeds. Seriously, it only leads to frustration and anger. Like today when I came upon several articles about oh-so-poor refugees and that idiot who was a press secretary for the Federal Migration Service of Russia. Basically there are two things that make me furious...The

Mr. Desmanhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/06684557752811280659noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1618859727080491262.post-27759389842722753272011-04-19T20:52:00.001+08:002011-04-20T14:22:32.420+08:00

I can't say for the rest of the world, but in Russia the words "British scientists" makes most people laugh in anticipation of some stupid piece of "research". They would work on the perfect way to eat toast, for Cthulhu's sake! Because seriously, Nobody in this world have ever had a jam sandwich! But that sandwich was but a small demonstration of capabilities of British science! Now they're on

Mr. Desmanhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/06684557752811280659noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1618859727080491262.post-30010917506228077182011-04-18T23:24:00.001+08:002011-04-20T14:27:53.426+08:00

One of my big vices is that RSS reader I keep open all the time. You see, I do not watch TV that much, and after our TV set started acting up I stopped it altogether. Also, leather (fake or natural) is not the best material for the sofa... but I digress. Anyway, I was skipping through The Guardian's RSS feed when this article have caught my attention. It's a story about Chinese woman who had

Mr. Desmanhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/06684557752811280659noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1618859727080491262.post-40882758159673019932011-04-12T16:18:00.000+08:002011-04-16T13:32:25.465+08:00

Mr Bean fights two farmers, who catch badgers, paint them pink and sell them to the pet shop. But our retarded hero bravely makes some stupid faces and crashes the farmers' lorry into the police van driven by Hitler. Hitler promptly arrests the farmers and charges them with… something. Mr Bean makes more stupid faces, badgers snigger and there is much rejoicing.That's the cartoon they forced on

Mr. Desmanhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/06684557752811280659noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1618859727080491262.post-19690289986101643182011-03-29T15:07:00.000+08:002011-04-20T00:23:56.717+08:00

Well, they had me at the title: BBC News - Schools 'should let children help pick teachers'But only 18% of children had been involved in choosing a teacher, the survey added.The Nasuwt teaching union said putting pupils on an interview panel undermined the authority of teachers.The survey suggested some 87% of children feel they know what makes a good teacher.And many of those quizzed in depth on

Mr. Desmanhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/06684557752811280659noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1618859727080491262.post-75362848188004575412011-03-13T12:51:00.000+08:002011-04-16T13:32:25.908+08:00

So I came to the digital market of Ningbo. Found some useful stuff, browsed the stalls, that sort of thing. I am usually not that easy to scare, but seeing the mouse branded, of all things, "JIZZ" is a bit too much even for me…

Mr. Desmanhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/06684557752811280659noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1618859727080491262.post-63123673687843519572011-03-12T11:13:00.001+08:002011-04-20T14:30:51.714+08:00

While reading BBC feed I came upon this bit of nostalgia. While my firs very own computer was not a ZX81, I do remember the spawn of Sir Clive Sinclair quite fondly. Mine was a Soviet copy of ZX Spectrum with whopping 48 kilobytes of RAM. As my only tape recorder had that annoying Dolby noise reduction you can't turn off, I was deprived of any way to save anything, but it never stopped me from

Mr. Desmanhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/06684557752811280659noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1618859727080491262.post-7961640296245066772011-03-12T10:48:00.000+08:002011-04-16T13:32:26.223+08:00

I have that habit of reading news feeds in the morning. Mostly it's the usual stuff like murders and wars, but sometimes you get a real gem like this one. You see, this so-called scientist looked for the new horizons in science, for some great breakthrough that will give mankind new meaning of life... only to forget about it and look for the perfect way to eat his toast. Ok, maybe I'm dense as a

Mr. Desmanhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/06684557752811280659noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1618859727080491262.post-50898439353374585662011-01-11T13:05:00.001+08:002011-04-20T14:32:36.138+08:00

I am preparing for a vacation in Indonesia. Me and my wife have agreed that such a vacation is long overdue, we will have good company, lodging problems were sorted out before they even appeared, and even tickets were bought with relative ease. But it's always a good idea to know something about the places you are going to visit, right? So we decided we needed a travel guide... As you have

Mr. Desmanhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/06684557752811280659noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1618859727080491262.post-90546407403304341772011-01-11T10:20:00.000+08:002011-01-11T13:43:10.694+08:00

I remember that short story... There was a man, shortly after the Russian Revolution and the Civil War, who dreamed of learning to play helicon. He looked at it in the shop window every day... but had no money to buy it, as it was 100 roubles in gold. He started saving money, and after a year saved just enough to buy the object of his dream. There was even the "Teach yourself to play Helicon"

Mr. Desmanhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/06684557752811280659noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1618859727080491262.post-85941669121402898692010-11-12T12:34:00.001+08:002011-04-20T14:33:42.297+08:00

As I have explained in the previous post, Maps.app just would not do it for me. While it has it's uses, I needed something more fitting my purpose. The next logical step was to look for some free navigation apps. There were 4 apps that I checked out: ABCMaps Free app created in China. It claims to fix that annoying positioning error in Google Maps and it actually does that. But, sadly, it

Mr. Desmanhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/06684557752811280659noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1618859727080491262.post-57191641298283088492010-11-08T18:50:00.001+08:002010-11-11T12:26:50.282+08:00

You know that joke about the guy marrying nice Jewish girl? It goes like this: “The guy rushes into the surgeon's office: – Doctor, please castrate me! It's urgent! After trying to persuade the guy not to make drastic decisions, the doctor does the operation. While washing hands afterward, he asks: – Pray tell me, what made you to do this? – Why, there's that nice Jewish girl I'm going to marry,

Mr. Desmanhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/06684557752811280659noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1618859727080491262.post-72567400372212174402010-11-08T18:19:00.000+08:002010-11-11T12:25:05.758+08:00

If you have an iPhone, you know that it comes with Maps.app pre-installed. So why on earth would anyone need anything else? Well, life is hard and Maps.app has its shortcomings, and severe ones.But first of all, let's take a look at the features of built-in maps, shall we?First of all, the Maps.app is merely a client for Google Maps. There's nothing wrong with that, is there? Well, see for

Mr. Desmanhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/06684557752811280659noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1618859727080491262.post-39562935940453827792010-11-06T21:28:00.000+08:002010-11-11T12:25:05.761+08:00

Have you ever tried to find a needle in the haystack? Well, neither did I, but here's the second best thing for you: Finding some place in China. Speaking the language does help a little. You see, they have, like, a dozen dialects only around Ningbo. So when you say something you can't be sure that the driver has got it right. Sheraton may be heard as Shangri-La by them (which happened to me –

Mr. Desmanhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/06684557752811280659noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1618859727080491262.post-66208703739718597252010-11-06T17:36:00.000+08:002010-11-11T12:25:05.763+08:00

So the boss came, messed things up a bit and — as any polite natural disaster should do — left for Wenzhou. Leaving me with all the results of this visit. He was here for only one day and met only two suppliers and managed to scare one of them speechless with quite a minor problem. The second one was threatened with all the terrible things we can think of and managed to shrug it off and forget

Mr. Desmanhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/06684557752811280659noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1618859727080491262.post-34294610782263171882010-11-03T11:45:00.000+08:002011-01-11T13:48:15.581+08:00

As you have probably noticed, on October 30th lots of people have celebrated Halloween. That was not the case for me. All I've got was take a look at the party nearby and then – back to work... Or was it so?..

Mr. Desmanhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/06684557752811280659noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1618859727080491262.post-65213522292928387032010-10-25T09:06:00.000+08:002010-11-11T12:25:05.766+08:00

There's a webcomic I read regularly called Schlock Mercenary by Howard Tayler. I was a Sci-Fi fan from my childhood, having read most of the classics (Asimov, Clarke, Niven...), so when in 2005 I stumbled upon this comic – purely by accident, just because it's name sounded funny – I was immersed in it, reading several years' worth of archives non-stop (Ok, I did sleep for some hours... but not

Mr. Desmanhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/06684557752811280659noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1618859727080491262.post-5187973841226842502010-10-23T14:55:00.000+08:002011-01-11T13:43:14.723+08:00

This is a puppet show I saw in Xiamen. The quality is awful, but that's what you get trying to record it from some back seat over the heads of spectators (without watching the screen of your camera, as your eyes are glued to the show).But believe me, the show was really beautiful. The puppets were hand-made, and the play was a part from Chinese classic (how's that for Punch and Judy show?). They

Mr. Desmanhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/06684557752811280659noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1618859727080491262.post-69413664582556265582010-10-22T16:36:00.000+08:002011-01-11T13:43:13.516+08:00

What do you do when you have to visit 17 places in a week? Why, you either forget the stupid idea or plan a pretty tight schedule. The second option was chosen by my superiors.Now, you'd reasonably expect they'd stick to it once they started moving, won't you? Well, no way in all the seven hells! The dates got all mixed up and now I don't know even when they start arriving! So much for planning

Mr. Desmanhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/06684557752811280659noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1618859727080491262.post-76886354491556421962010-10-21T22:12:00.001+08:002010-10-22T14:34:32.808+08:00

As I have said before, I was going to Hong Kong. Or… so i thought? Anyway, quick phone call before ordering them tickets have changed everything. “Yes, you can get the visa. No, you’ll have to stay in Hong Kong for five days. No, no way to make it shorter… but we can make it even longer if you like. No? Oh… OK then, bye!” Now, that meant that I will have to start everything all over. And – lo

Mr. Desmanhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/06684557752811280659noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1618859727080491262.post-79895246852923556582010-10-19T18:06:00.000+08:002010-10-22T13:04:02.117+08:00

You know, I hate sports events. I still remember how I was stuck in Russia in 2008 when I was late two weeks to apply for visa (restoring the passport stolen in Beijing took longer then I expected). All you can get long before the Olympics was some crappy one week tourist visa when I needed something like 1 year multiple-entry. I got what I wanted only when the Olympics have ended… end after that

Mr. Desmanhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/06684557752811280659noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1618859727080491262.post-19271105820484154552010-10-15T09:35:00.000+08:002010-10-22T13:04:02.118+08:00

No I'm not going to Hell (yet?) as some people believe I will. It's just Hong Kong. Quite probably and quite soon. And this prospect fills me with dread as I hate it there. It's crowded and noisy and…But the worst part are those Pakistani (or whoever they are) who jump you at Kowloon every 7 meters shouting: "Watchy coppy!". They see that you have turned down the very same offer for the last

Mr. Desmanhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/06684557752811280659noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1618859727080491262.post-6623362739976889262010-10-14T09:19:00.000+08:002010-10-22T13:04:02.120+08:00

This week I went to Xiamen. It's a small (population of about 4 mln people, if I remember correctly) but lovely city. No factories within city limits as it's situated on an island, good weather, blue sea…What made me love it was the fact that it's surrounded by beaches. Natural sandy beaches within city limits easily accessible by bus. Combine that with good restaurants, good climate, good

Mr. Desmanhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/06684557752811280659noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1618859727080491262.post-78794228100964182032010-10-14T09:03:00.000+08:002010-10-22T13:04:02.121+08:00

What do you call a billboard that advertises another billboard's space?..Just saw exactly this. I'd say we're going a bit too far with all that "meta" thing…

Mr. Desmanhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/06684557752811280659noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1618859727080491262.post-52132848169946207212010-10-14T08:57:00.000+08:002010-10-22T13:04:02.122+08:00

What would you think people would do if they want to visit a factory in China? Why, they'd arrange for the meeting before going, wouldn't they?Well, that's not the case with my colleagues as they never bothered to provide the person responsible for said arrangements with any contacts for those factories. So I'd have to pry it from them and then scramble to arrange everything to everyone's

Mr. Desmanhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/06684557752811280659noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1618859727080491262.post-11438027109384375172010-10-12T00:09:00.000+08:002010-10-22T13:04:02.124+08:00

It so happens that I had to fly a lot during last two weeks. And when you fly by anything other than your own private plane (as most of us do), you have to pass the security check in the airport. Well, maybe it's the same for the guys with private jets, but it's hard for me to tell.Anyways, the way they'll try to take away your lighter, and bottled water and (gasp!) that really small and blunt

Mr. Desmanhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/06684557752811280659noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1618859727080491262.post-4920296000955112212010-10-11T17:49:00.000+08:002010-10-22T13:04:02.126+08:00

So I am taking off to Xiamen. That's got to be what you get for working in a big company — constant running everywhere instead of working quietly at your desk.Anyway, maybe I will get a glimpse of something other than a factory…

Mr. Desmanhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/06684557752811280659noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1618859727080491262.post-33808577186392594332010-09-08T18:01:00.000+08:002010-10-22T13:04:02.126+08:00

With all the increases in my workload there's not enough time to blog about it. Well, that's actually may be good — less of totally random rants is a good thing, after all.When I came to Ningbo last June, I had seven factories to supervise. Oh, and some of these would need my attention only once in two or three months. Surely there were some quality problems but that's part of Chinese way of

Mr. Desmanhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/06684557752811280659noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1618859727080491262.post-48520992149949460372010-08-28T21:21:00.000+08:002010-10-22T13:04:02.128+08:00

I was browsing some site and suddenly this sprang up. Well, at least you can call it organic. Also, this article confirms that modern art is shit... and piss, apparently.

Mr. Desmanhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/06684557752811280659noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1618859727080491262.post-49191351403558103772010-08-28T20:47:00.000+08:002010-10-22T13:04:02.129+08:00

This week there were a couple of Western apparatchiks who confessed to the world they were gay. Came out of the closet, as they call it. One was Ken Mehlman, another one – Crispin Blunt, UK prisons minister. The first confession seems to have made quite a splash in the news...Also, it makes me wonder: Why should I see all this stuff? Why should anyone in the general public give a a flying

Mr. Desmanhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/06684557752811280659noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1618859727080491262.post-67748358402767736872010-08-28T19:48:00.000+08:002010-10-22T13:04:02.130+08:00

It was quite a long time since I had posted anything here. It has to do with my life being messed up quite a bit... as well as me being lazy. But recently there is too much stupidity in the world for me to remain silent.Take a look at this link, for example. Here we have a refugee from Somalia who'd been quite a pain in the behind. Far as I can tell, she's been plain nuts... and still was not put

Mr. Desmanhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/06684557752811280659noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1618859727080491262.post-89238430549305350142010-03-11T19:57:00.000+08:002010-10-22T13:04:02.132+08:00

You know it's fun to read BBC news. Every day they will prove that we're as far from eradicating stupidity as we ever were. There were reports of job adverts not published for being 'discriminating' against unreliable people, for example. But what caught my attention today was this piece of... well, news. They make an opera out of life and death of the great hero of our time - a model from

Mr. Desmanhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/06684557752811280659noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1618859727080491262.post-42887241558683542642010-03-11T17:52:00.000+08:002010-10-22T13:04:02.134+08:00

It was quite a long time without blogging. Having to work does that to you sometimes… Anyway, during that time I had updated my phone to the 3.1.3 firmware and lost my jailbreak in the process. It would not be a big problem was it not for the fact that I somehow lost tethering in the process.You can see on the 'Net that legally unlocked iPhone is supposed to have tethering. Now if only someone

Mr. Desmanhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/06684557752811280659noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1618859727080491262.post-38416627830800105182010-01-25T23:49:00.000+08:002010-10-22T13:04:02.135+08:00

You know what I like about China? They can be serious here about things that will make you laugh your behind off. Just five minutes ago we stopped at the local "supermarket" in the middle of nowhere and there was that stuff called "snake oil hand cream". Guess it is as much use as all that "Injun snake oil" stuff they were selling back then in Old West days, but there it was… They do love their

Mr. Desmanhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/06684557752811280659noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1618859727080491262.post-88996287144879801332009-12-29T17:52:00.000+08:002010-10-22T13:04:02.136+08:00

I have that habit I sometimes feel really ashamed of. There's no point in trying to conceal it, it still shows, like the proverbial needle in the sack. I mean that I read the news. And what's worse, I think while reading...The last piece of news that made me think was this article about that nutjob from Nigeria trying to blow up the plane. Immediately I can see that traveling by airplane is going

Mr. Desmanhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/06684557752811280659noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1618859727080491262.post-85742370853684348892009-12-19T20:43:00.000+08:002010-10-22T13:04:02.139+08:00

So I bought the iPhone. It was China Unicom 32 Gb iPhone 3GS. I will not write about the box contents — it's pretty much the same all over the world (by the way, that handsfree thingy works really good with Mac Book Pro's audio jack, iTunes remote and all) — it was beaten to death before me. Let's cut to the chase.The only major and annoying difference is the lack of Wi-Fi connectivity on the

Mr. Desmanhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/06684557752811280659noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1618859727080491262.post-58837448956342942692009-12-19T17:26:00.000+08:002010-10-22T13:04:02.141+08:00

As you have probably heard, Apple has launched their famous phone in China. At the time of launch there were millions of iPhone users already — Hong Kong was the primary source of those for quite some time now, for both jailbroken and legit devices (they were selling iPhones without carrier lock for quite some time now). My wife was dreaming about the gadget since it was launched… So when iPhone

Mr. Desmanhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/06684557752811280659noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1618859727080491262.post-60828822450808314232009-12-14T21:38:00.000+08:002010-10-22T13:04:02.142+08:00

Here is a photo from one of the factories I work with...  Pomelo trees with chicken feeding underneath. The fruit is almost ripe now, so maybe next time I'll be posting the picture of me eating one of these...I like just go out of the office and breath some fresh air. And the view reminds me of China in general, the country where simple subsistence farming can coexist with high-tech factories

Mr. Desmanhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/06684557752811280659noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1618859727080491262.post-59091206989032893192009-12-14T21:26:00.000+08:002010-10-22T13:04:02.144+08:00

As I mentioned before for many, many times, I'm doing quality control. Now, if your country is something more visible on map than Tuvalu, it's bound to have certification requirements for all things electrical. If it does not... well, consider emigration to somewhere where government at least tries to impose some safety requirements on the stuff. But I digress (as usual).Maybe some years before

Mr. Desmanhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/06684557752811280659noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1618859727080491262.post-49229043883871691002009-12-14T21:23:00.000+08:002010-10-22T13:04:02.145+08:00

Browsing BBC website I came upon this article. Finally them analysts started to acknowledge that janitors and social workers worth more than bankers and lawyers. In other words, they (finally!) understood that people doing real hard work need to be paid more and parasites paid less.You know, there's something inherently unfair in our consumerist, post-capitalism society. All media teach us that

Mr. Desmanhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/06684557752811280659noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1618859727080491262.post-49544774504634420302009-12-14T19:34:00.000+08:002010-10-22T13:04:02.146+08:00

It looks like I've been lost for blogging for 2 months exactly. That's what you get when you have your boss coming to visit your quiet little village... but that's not what I wanted to tell the world about.You  see, I have that stupid way of wasting my time... I read the RSS feed off the BBC World News site. Sometimes it's boring (Who in his right ming would read all that stuff about India and

Mr. Desmanhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/06684557752811280659noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1618859727080491262.post-26127260391917946922009-12-14T17:43:00.000+08:002010-10-22T13:04:02.148+08:00

It happens. Seemingly perfect couple splits and they start dividing everything, from bank account to children to cutlery to roaches in the trash can. Everybody is left bitter, unhappy and with that peculiar aftertaste of faeces.It is the same between countries. If you look at all the rhetoric that politicians of Ukraine, Baltic states, Georgia or Poland spew at Russia, it leaves you with image of

Mr. Desmanhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/06684557752811280659noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1618859727080491262.post-87979478216388746072009-10-14T12:23:00.000+08:002010-10-22T13:04:13.574+08:00

It's almost two weeks now that I made a switch to OS X. It was a smooth ride... well, almost. All that hype about how it "just works" was basically true. Even Windows seem to be running smoothly in Parallels, apparently due to the fact there's not that much apps installed.But as you may have guessed, there are issues. First of them was VPN (which I should have checked before purchase). There is

Mr. Desmanhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/06684557752811280659noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1618859727080491262.post-65146433750457557982009-10-10T08:20:00.000+08:002010-10-22T13:04:13.576+08:00

For many years (sixteen, to be precise) I was interested in them Apples. Not the fruit. Apple computers. You know, these expensive gadgets they kept telling you were the best in the world.After Apple have switched over to Intel processors, there was some hope for me at last. Prices were expected to come down, some compatibility issues (like using Windows - I have to do it from time to time) were

Mr. Desmanhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/06684557752811280659noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1618859727080491262.post-6060988134991312872009-08-31T17:06:00.000+08:002010-10-22T13:04:13.578+08:00

I have crappy visa. I knew it will be crappy the moment I submitted my documents to the Chinese consulate, but it was crappy visa or no visa at all, so...Anyway, I have to cross the border every 30 days and the easiest way to do it is go to Hong Kong. You can fly there from Ningbo for a ridiculous price or you can fly to Guangzhou and take the train from there, which would be much cheaper.Now

Mr. Desmanhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/06684557752811280659noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1618859727080491262.post-54291549901907371962009-08-28T16:32:00.000+08:002010-10-22T13:04:13.579+08:00

Sometimes I can't help but admire the human race. Sometimes it deserves admiration. And sometimes it's more like "What the?.." kind of admiration. Like humans being one of three species in which males may fail to realize what to do with the female (the other two being giant pandas and chihuahuas). Or human race constantly inventing new commemorative days to promote something.This Wednesday it was

Mr. Desmanhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/06684557752811280659noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1618859727080491262.post-90280524608835366922009-08-23T17:00:00.000+08:002010-10-22T13:04:13.581+08:00

Chinese are positively fond of the word "romantic". They use it everywhere. My favorite examples are "Romantic Club" karaoke club and 'romantic' roadside sauna.It looks like somebody told them that the whole idea of something being 'romantic' revolves around human sexuality. While technically quite correct this notion was taken a bit too far. I fail to find anything even remotely romantic in any

Mr. Desmanhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/06684557752811280659noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1618859727080491262.post-30226705688732914612009-08-23T16:44:00.000+08:002010-10-22T13:04:13.582+08:00

Today's Sunday. You know, the day most people (except firefighter, police and telemarketers) take a break from work. Now I'm one of those unlucky bastards who are not fighting fire, crime or common sense of fellow humans and still have to lay aside all that weekend stuff. The reason is simple: There's work to do and there's no way in Hell I let that shipment go without checking it. That's part of

Mr. Desmanhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/06684557752811280659noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1618859727080491262.post-83701266223097571012009-08-17T17:14:00.000+08:002010-10-22T13:04:13.584+08:00

Most of my work requires me to go to the towns surrounding Ningbo. While it tends to get boring, there's one thing that never fails to cheer me up. It is scenery.There are no true mountains on my way, but they have plenty of beautiful hils here. The car emerges from the tunnel and suddenly you find yourself surrounded by fields. There would be a small village somewhere between the hills, green

Mr. Desmanhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/06684557752811280659noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1618859727080491262.post-82371565828310628962009-08-17T16:58:00.000+08:002010-10-22T13:04:13.586+08:00

Going to the factory today, just outside the main gate of my apartment complex there are several little shops selling fruits and liquor and whatnots, as well as several so-called spas. Never paid much attention to these (high prices for cheap things ain't my bag, baby), but today one of the shops made me wonder. It's called "Double-profession massage". Makes one wonder what's their second

Mr. Desmanhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/06684557752811280659noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1618859727080491262.post-19273076995037592662009-08-14T10:22:00.000+08:002010-10-22T13:04:13.587+08:00

Sometimes I get distracted by things (Oh... Shiny!) Sometimes I get bored. And when I'm bored I tend to do a random search on the Net. You can find all sort of thing this way (I first found Schlock Mercenary via such random search). Of course, there's famous Rule #34, which usually leads to me finding things of one particular sort... but let's not get too deep into that. Last random search was

Mr. Desmanhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/06684557752811280659noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1618859727080491262.post-90985063174604397262009-08-14T02:23:00.001+08:002010-10-22T13:04:13.590+08:00

You know what I hate about Ningbo? It's supermarkets. Or complete lack of such establishments. There are 2 TrustMarts, 2 Auchans, 1 Metro and 1 TESCO... and that's about it. Oh, and 1 Carrefour. Most of them are quite far from the place I live, and only two are somewhat reachable by public transport from here. One of these is Auchan (expensive and nothing good in there anyway), and another is

Mr. Desmanhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/06684557752811280659noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1618859727080491262.post-11857090635220012372009-08-13T15:59:00.000+08:002009-08-13T16:00:02.815+08:00

As I have repeated ad nauseam, I often visit various factories around Ningbo, but my favourite is one particular factory that always make me wonder how serious they are about all that "factory" stuff. They have a literal garden and even raise chickens and goats there! That's what you see halfway between warehouse and administrative building. Yes, these are fruit trees, complete with fruit.

Mr. Desmanhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/06684557752811280659noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1618859727080491262.post-32803969471894695122009-08-13T05:05:00.000+08:002009-08-13T16:58:00.128+08:00

First, I must confess... I like Cthulhu Mythos. What's worse, sometimes I find myself with nothing to work on and that's when things start getting weird...You know what is "declawing"? It's that simple operation they like in the US. You do it to your cat. The vet will surgically remove poor critters claws, along with the tip of it's fingers so your hands will not be scratched. Ever. Surely you

Mr. Desmanhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/06684557752811280659noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1618859727080491262.post-64248086633277452582009-08-09T12:08:00.000+08:002010-10-22T13:04:13.594+08:00

Last month I have reported on my forage i9nto mobile blogging. If you remember, I came to the conclusion that TBlogger was not up to the task due to it being insanely slow. Now I must correct myself. It works just fine for me. Better, in fact, then moBlog ever did. Why is it better? Well, first of all it fully syncs with your Wordpress blog. And when I say "fully" I mean it. Well, it does not

Mr. Desmanhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/06684557752811280659noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1618859727080491262.post-89724716146881074962009-08-09T10:28:00.000+08:002010-10-22T13:04:13.596+08:00

As I have repeated ad nauseam, I often visit various factories around Ningbo, but my favourite is one particular factory that always make me wonder how serious they are about all that "factory" stuff. They have a literal garden and even raise chickens and goats there!That's what you see halfway between warehouse and administrative building. Yes, these are fruit trees, complete with fruit.

Mr. Desmanhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/06684557752811280659noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1618859727080491262.post-28167066098870105052009-08-09T09:39:00.000+08:002010-10-22T13:04:13.598+08:00

Today I went to TESCO on my weekly quest to buy food for the coming week. Little did I know that Coca-Cola started some new promotion... Now imagine walking down the aisle, minding my own business and suddenly finding in front of myself some characters from Japanese video game or anime or whatever! Now I need a drink, just to calm my nerves. Even though I noticed after a couple of seconds a great

Mr. Desmanhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/06684557752811280659noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1618859727080491262.post-63702414426891179952009-08-07T12:42:00.000+08:002010-10-22T13:04:13.599+08:00

There's an old Rusian saying that goes like this: Moving is like having your house set ot fire. Twice. Two days ago I got most of our things delivered from Guangzhou. Delivery was pretty easy (just give them your address and tell where to pile them things up once they are delivered). The hard part is finding where to put all this stuff...

Mr. Desmanhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/06684557752811280659noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1618859727080491262.post-59412411162775663242009-08-07T12:12:00.000+08:002010-10-22T13:04:13.601+08:00

Chinese love exotic food. Heck, it must be the inborn trait of humanity - that irresistible urge to try some exotic dish and brag about it. Shuddering on the inside as you remember these 7 hours you spent throwing up after that. Men are especially prone to eat everything that they find.Anyway, in China it's Western food that is considered exotic (Eating steak instead of nice deep-fried intestines

Mr. Desmanhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/06684557752811280659noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1618859727080491262.post-6695434067626862192009-08-07T10:05:00.000+08:002010-10-22T13:04:13.606+08:00

Yesterday I went to the factory. That would be nothing special in itself as I spend most of my time at the factories, but this time it was special. I had to check whether they made some changes to the production line according to our requirements. They did, which was to be expected (they are really good partners, after all), but they did it... well, creatively.First there was request for one of

Mr. Desmanhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/06684557752811280659noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1618859727080491262.post-9930701052412732692009-07-30T19:08:00.000+08:002010-10-22T13:04:13.608+08:00

Every time I fly I wonder - do these security measures they are imposing throughout the world really help to catch terrorists?Take for instance that humiliating search we have to go through every time. They will make you take off your shoes, unbuckle your belt, will look into your wallet and count all the money there... and now they even will check your laptop! And don't even try to bring any

Mr. Desmanhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/06684557752811280659noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1618859727080491262.post-30486844400865087752009-07-27T15:06:00.000+08:002010-10-22T13:04:13.611+08:00

I believe every last one person working in China who has to deal with exports will tell you that the greatest problem here is not quality or production delays but the people that are behind every order, the dreaded Export Managers. Quality tou can discuss. Production delays you can overcome, adjust order volumes or do something else. But usually the only way to do this is going through export

Mr. Desmanhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/06684557752811280659noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1618859727080491262.post-14645273613699819972009-07-15T21:38:00.000+08:002010-10-22T13:04:13.613+08:00

This morning while browsing the Web I ran into an article. Chinese final of 4th Asian Supermodel contest just finished. Now is it just me or all these contests look disturbingly like dog shows? You see, the dogs are bred to have a certain standartized look. It may not be healthy for a dog - indeed, short-legged long-bodied dogs suffer from back problems, bulldogs have problems with breathing, and

Mr. Desmanhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/06684557752811280659noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1618859727080491262.post-42446986308080604082009-07-09T20:21:00.000+08:002010-10-22T13:04:13.616+08:00

They finally did it! Google is going to release a desktop OS. That will teach those who were joking about it to be careful, eh? There were numerous warnings and rants about so-called "Google OS" over the years. Usually people explaining why it will be "worse than Microsoft" were citing privacy reasons and some half-formed fears (a Big Corporation will be holding all your data in their online

Mr. Desmanhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/06684557752811280659noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1618859727080491262.post-15583613251052401732009-07-08T23:29:00.000+08:002010-10-22T13:04:13.617+08:00

I cannot complain about my job. Well I can complain about many things related to it but still I like it. But sometimes it's just a bit too much, if you know what I mean. So I'll try to vent my frustration here.As almost everyone who worked in China will tell you, the biggest problem in China is called "Chinese people". Or to be more precise - their way of thinking. After couple of months in China

Mr. Desmanhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/06684557752811280659noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1618859727080491262.post-73312271918753643682009-07-08T19:45:00.000+08:002010-10-22T13:04:13.619+08:00

So it's time to take a look at mobile blogging again. After switching to Wordpress I thought that life will be easier as there are several freeware clients for Wordpress out there.Because of time constraints I decided to check two clients. One called TBlogger looked promising so I got myself a .CAB file, installed and... it doesn't start. Well, turned out it does start but every click makes it

Mr. Desmanhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/06684557752811280659noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1618859727080491262.post-78304385989724125552009-07-06T14:21:00.000+08:002009-07-06T15:31:00.967+08:00

Just found this on my hard drive. That's what you get when someone in Guangzhou makes "Ancient Greek" statue. Right - you get rams!And when you have the river flowing through the city Chinese are sure to try and catch some fish there! It doesn't matter that the river sometimes smells of something unhealthy and that it isn't exactly clean... no such trifle can stop a real fisherman!When building,

Mr. Desmanhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/06684557752811280659noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1618859727080491262.post-18924168561194093012009-07-06T10:05:00.000+08:002010-10-22T13:04:23.194+08:00

Now that I've got two blogs, I decided to try and keep them in sync. The best way for this? Offline blogging! You write the post once, and then publish it multiple times. After checking several pieces of software I selected one called Zoundry Raven. It's open sourcem it supports multiple blogs and it can publish to several blogs at once. Oh, and it supports installing as a portable application so

Mr. Desmanhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/06684557752811280659noreply@blogger.com0