Θέλησα σήμερα να ακούσω λίγο ελληνικό ραδιόφωνο μέσω Internet, έτσι για να κάνω λίγο πιο special τη μέρα. Σκέφτηκα να βάλω κάτι ήρεμο και όμορφο, οπότε και μπήκα στο site του Love Radio. Προσπερνώντας τη γελειότητα του Flash που ονομάζουν website, πάτησα να ακούσω live. Τι κρίμα, μετά την απογοήτευση του Flash, αντιμετώπισα και την απογοήτευση της επιβολής χρήσης του media player της Microsoft. Αλήθεια, στην Ελλάδα γνωρίζουν ότι υπάρχουν και άλλα λειτουργικά συστήματα εκτός από τα παράθυρα; Απ' όσο βλέπω, μάλλον όχι. Γιατί πρέπει να έχω παράθυρα για να ακούσω το σταθμό σας; Συγχωρέστε με, αλλά έχω linux. Βέβαια, γνωρίζοντας τον τρόπο που λειτουργει, μπόρεσα να πάρω το link για να το βάλω στο totem να ακούσω. Θα μπορούσατε όμως κύριοι να έχετε το link κάπου στη σελίδα, γιατί δε γνωρίζουν όλοι από HTML! Και σα να μην έφτανε αυτό, το αγαπητό live24.gr δεν μας επιτρέπει να σώσουμε το URL και να το χρησιμοποιήσουμε αργότερα! Βάζει ένα visitorID που προφανώς μετά από κάμποση ώρα λήγει. Γιατί κύριοι; Γιατί μας επιβάλετε τον τρόπο σας; Γιατί πρέπει να ασπαστούμε τον media player για να σας ακούσουμε; Δεν είναι τρόπος αυτός για να μας κερδίσετε. Πρέπει να ξεφύγετε από τις αναχρονιστικές ιδέες σας για το τι είναι internet και πως προσφέρετε τις υπηρεσίες σας μέσα από αυτό. Τρόποι ρατσιστικοί σαν αυτό δεν ανήκουν στο net. Δεν υπάρχουν ευτυχώς μόνο τα παράθυρα. Υπάρχει το linux υπάρχουν και οι Mac! Αλλά μάλλον δε μας θέλετε, οπότε θα πάμε στο δίπλα μαγαζί να ακούσουμε ραδιόφωνο!
Και σα να μην έφταναν τα παραπάνω, σκέφτηκα να ακούσω RED, γιατί άναψαν τα αίματα με το live24.gr και ένιωθα πολύ rock. Πήγα λοιπόν στο website, και αφού ενεργοποίησα πάλι το Flash, ανακάλυψα την ποιότητα υπηρεσιών τους και εκεί. Να'ναι καλά, γέλασα πολύ! Πατάς Live και σου λέει ότι η σελίδα δε βρέθηκε. Πως να βρεθεί αστέρια μου; Αφού ξεχάσατε το http:// πριν από τη διεύθυνση σε absolute link.
Προσπερνώντας και αυτό τον σκόπελο, μπαίνω στη σελίδα του myradios.gr. Να σημειώσω εδώ, πως ο μέσος χρήστης θα είχε εγκαταλήψει και θα άκουγε κάποιον άλλο σταθμό. Έφτασα όμως σε ένα σημείο που ο οποιοσδήποτε χρήστης θα πρέπει να εγκαταλήψει! "1 year Subscription offer (Euros36.00)". Εδώ γελάμε. Δε φτάνει που χάσαμε χρόνο για να βρούμε το site και που με μεγάλη αυθάδια δηλώνετε πως οι απαιτήσεις του site είναι:"Macromedia Flash Player 7, MI Explorer 6 / Netscape 7.1, Windows Media Player 9, Adobe Acrobat Reader", μας ζητάτε και χρήματα από πάνω! Έχετε σκεφτεί ποτέ ποιες είναι οι απαιτήσεις των χρηστών σας; Το αποκλείω! Και εκεί έχετε αποτύχει! Για να πετύχετε θα πρέπει να φτάσετε τις απαιτήσεις των χρηστών σας, και όχι να περιμένετε οι χρήστες σας να πληρούν τις απαιτήσεις σας!
Saturday, December 24, 2005
Tuesday, December 13, 2005
Ελληνικό χιούμορ
Θέλει πολύ χιούμορ ή πολύ ξύλο η επιβίωση στην Ελλάδα. Προς το παρόν προσπαθώ να βελτιώσω το χιούμορ μου. Προσεχώς σχεδιάζω να εξασκήσω τις πολεμικές τέχνες...
Tuesday, October 25, 2005
Greek feta and imitations
I just read this news article on BBC and I am happy that at last the name "Feta" has a Protected Designation of Origin (PDO) status.
I guess only us greeks can tell the difference between feta made in Greece, using the traditional way, and fetas made using modern factory methods anywhere in the world. The difference in taste is huge! I definitely have missed, here in London, the good feta taste I find in Greece. I tried quite a few imitations and also factory fetas from Greece and they are all very far away from the real taste.
In Achaia, the perfecture of Greece that I come from, feta is a cheese made traditionally in many farms, and many supermarkets sell this local product which has superior quality!
One thing that everyone has to know about feta is that the harder it is the more healthy it is. If feta cheese is soft then it is not ready yet! It also has a lot of microorganisms that might be harmful for the health of some people. So, if you buy feta, always choose the harder one! Most of the factory made feta cheeses I tried are soft, which of course drives to the conclusion of diminishing the quality in order to have bigger production.
So for feta, the harder it is the better it is ;)
I guess only us greeks can tell the difference between feta made in Greece, using the traditional way, and fetas made using modern factory methods anywhere in the world. The difference in taste is huge! I definitely have missed, here in London, the good feta taste I find in Greece. I tried quite a few imitations and also factory fetas from Greece and they are all very far away from the real taste.
In Achaia, the perfecture of Greece that I come from, feta is a cheese made traditionally in many farms, and many supermarkets sell this local product which has superior quality!
One thing that everyone has to know about feta is that the harder it is the more healthy it is. If feta cheese is soft then it is not ready yet! It also has a lot of microorganisms that might be harmful for the health of some people. So, if you buy feta, always choose the harder one! Most of the factory made feta cheeses I tried are soft, which of course drives to the conclusion of diminishing the quality in order to have bigger production.
So for feta, the harder it is the better it is ;)
Tuesday, August 30, 2005
Opera is now 10 years old!
My favourite browser, Opera is now 10 years old and the team is having an online party to celebrate this. Join them for the party and get free registration codes!!!! They are giving away registration codes for as long as the party lasts! Hurry!
Friday, August 19, 2005
Summer school in International Hall
This summer my hall of residence, International Hall, has become the home of summer school students from the US. Well, I found out that their knowledge of the english language is in some way poor, they don't seem to understand the notices on the wall. Take a look at the following picture and draw your own conclusions! (Click on it to see it bigger).
Well I know now why the DVD room smells so badly every time I visit it!
Well I know now why the DVD room smells so badly every time I visit it!
Monday, August 15, 2005
Local CVS on Netbeans! A nice treat!
I must admit, I have been trying to setup CVS in Netbeans for quite a long time now. I don't have a CVS server available, so I was trying to set it up as local CVS. I have some network drives mapped, that are connected to some intranet servers, so I wanted to have a directory there that would be the local CVS. It would be nice, because I could have all my versions of files and at the same time a good backup in case my hard disk fails.
After months of searching and trying to set it up in my spare time, I finally managed to do it. I confess I read all the fine manuals about CVS and also how to setup CVS in Netbeans. No luck at all. There was no material about how to set up a local CVS in Netbeans, although there was a resource in the website of CVS about doing it using the command line. Following the step by step guide there, I found out that the problem I had setting it up before was that I didn't initialise the directory I wanted CVS to use... Therefore, finding out that it is so easy to setup local CVS in Netbeans I decided to create a small tutorial explaining the steps.
Setting up a local CVS in Netbeans 4.1
After months of searching and trying to set it up in my spare time, I finally managed to do it. I confess I read all the fine manuals about CVS and also how to setup CVS in Netbeans. No luck at all. There was no material about how to set up a local CVS in Netbeans, although there was a resource in the website of CVS about doing it using the command line. Following the step by step guide there, I found out that the problem I had setting it up before was that I didn't initialise the directory I wanted CVS to use... Therefore, finding out that it is so easy to setup local CVS in Netbeans I decided to create a small tutorial explaining the steps.
Setting up a local CVS in Netbeans 4.1
Monday, June 20, 2005
Banks, cards and security
In times that the transactions with cards are in danger of fraud, banks don't really seem to care and choose partners that have very poor security!
I lately received a letter from a company completely unknown to me, claiming that they are authorised by my bank to deliver my cards on their behalf. The letter was generic and generated, with my name and address stuck on it with a white sticker. I believed it was fraud. It was not signed, and the name of the person was quite common. This rang another bell for fraud. Their address was a PO BOX somewhere in east London. I was now completely sure that it is fraud and thought of throwing away the letter, being angry at the same time that some company that I used to do shopping online has sold my details to these people.
On a second thought, I didn't throw away the letter and decided to go and ask the bank, whether it is fraud or not, and, if it is, to let them go after this "company".
The next day I went to the bank, being completely sure that I will pass them a case of fraud. Well things were not really like that. They said that this letter is original and legit and that I should go online to the site written on the letter to register for my card to be delivered. I accepted it and left. Later I went online to the site.
I was hoping to find more details about this "Security services" company on their site. I believed that a company employed by my bank should be transparent and that I could find more details about them, if I wished so. Well, things were not like that. The website was minimalistic. I only had 4 options. To "Arrange delivery" of my card, to read the terms of use of the site, and a privacy statement. The fourth option was taking me to the company that designed the site. I must say I didn't like that at all. No info about this company, a company that seemed that it was only delivering things... I pressed "Arrange Delivery" to find out that I was asked personal details on a page with no security!
I wonder whether the people of my bank that employed this company, ever thought that a site like that could easily be made by fraudsters! A site created with Dreamweaver, using free scripts to do fancy stuff with HTML. A site that gives no information about the company. A site that uses no security and asks my personal details! How can I trust such a website?
I haven't used the website yet. And I don't think I will! Back to the traditional way of paying using cash, and queueing to withdraw money!
(Or maybe time to change bank!)
I lately received a letter from a company completely unknown to me, claiming that they are authorised by my bank to deliver my cards on their behalf. The letter was generic and generated, with my name and address stuck on it with a white sticker. I believed it was fraud. It was not signed, and the name of the person was quite common. This rang another bell for fraud. Their address was a PO BOX somewhere in east London. I was now completely sure that it is fraud and thought of throwing away the letter, being angry at the same time that some company that I used to do shopping online has sold my details to these people.
On a second thought, I didn't throw away the letter and decided to go and ask the bank, whether it is fraud or not, and, if it is, to let them go after this "company".
The next day I went to the bank, being completely sure that I will pass them a case of fraud. Well things were not really like that. They said that this letter is original and legit and that I should go online to the site written on the letter to register for my card to be delivered. I accepted it and left. Later I went online to the site.
I was hoping to find more details about this "Security services" company on their site. I believed that a company employed by my bank should be transparent and that I could find more details about them, if I wished so. Well, things were not like that. The website was minimalistic. I only had 4 options. To "Arrange delivery" of my card, to read the terms of use of the site, and a privacy statement. The fourth option was taking me to the company that designed the site. I must say I didn't like that at all. No info about this company, a company that seemed that it was only delivering things... I pressed "Arrange Delivery" to find out that I was asked personal details on a page with no security!
I wonder whether the people of my bank that employed this company, ever thought that a site like that could easily be made by fraudsters! A site created with Dreamweaver, using free scripts to do fancy stuff with HTML. A site that gives no information about the company. A site that uses no security and asks my personal details! How can I trust such a website?
I haven't used the website yet. And I don't think I will! Back to the traditional way of paying using cash, and queueing to withdraw money!
(Or maybe time to change bank!)
Tuesday, June 07, 2005
Η Ελλάδα πάντα με πληγώνει...
Η Ελλάδα για άλλη μια φορά με πλήγωσε. Για άλλη μια φορά αποδείχτηκε πως η Ελλάδα τρώει τα παιδιά της, ανεβάζοντας άτομα με μοναδικό κριτήριο τη διαφθορά. Η διαφθορά στην Ελλάδα με πληγώνει καθημερινά. Ανησυχώ πως με το ρυθμό αυτό η Ελλάδα θα πηγαίνει από το κακό στο χειρότερο και πως δε θα ορθοποδίσει ποτέ.
Δεν είναι τυχαίο που τα μεγαλύτερα Ελληνικά μυαλά υπάρχουν στο εξωτερικό. Στην Ελλάδα κανένας δεν ενδιαφέρεται για την πρόοδο της χώρας. Και αυτοί που ενδιαφέρονται, σε μικρή ή μεγάλη κλίμακα, αποκλείονται από τους υπόλοιπους που μόνο την τσέπη τους σκέφτονται. Με αυτό τον υλιστικό τρόπο συμπεριφοράς δυστυχώς μόνο πίσω θα πάμε. Δε φαίνεται όμως να ενδιαφέρεται κανένας. Και είναι κρίμα.
Όταν άνθρωποι, που με έργα έχουν αποδείξει πως μπορούν να βελτιώσουν το κλίμα, αποκλείονται από τα πόστα των αποφάσεων, δείχνει πως η πλειοψηφία αδιαφορεί για το μέλλον του τόπου, όσο και αν όλοι διατείνονται για το αντίθετο.
Έλληνες βάλτε μυαλό. Βάλτε ένα τέλος σε αυτή την λογική που κάθε άλλο παρά ελληνική είναι. Μάλλον τουρκική συμπεριφορά θυμίζει, συμπεριφορά κατσικοκλέφτη, μιζέριας.
Ελπίζω σε αλλαγή του κλίματος, και σύντομα, αλλιώς φοβάμαι πως η Ελλάδα που γνωρίζουμε δε θα υπάρχει για πολύ καιρό ακόμα. Ελπίζω πως η νέα γενιά θα δει πως το μέλλον δεν είναι αυτό που της αξίζει και θα επαναστατήσει για αλλαγή.
Γιώργο, για μας είσαι πάντα νικητής!
Δεν είναι τυχαίο που τα μεγαλύτερα Ελληνικά μυαλά υπάρχουν στο εξωτερικό. Στην Ελλάδα κανένας δεν ενδιαφέρεται για την πρόοδο της χώρας. Και αυτοί που ενδιαφέρονται, σε μικρή ή μεγάλη κλίμακα, αποκλείονται από τους υπόλοιπους που μόνο την τσέπη τους σκέφτονται. Με αυτό τον υλιστικό τρόπο συμπεριφοράς δυστυχώς μόνο πίσω θα πάμε. Δε φαίνεται όμως να ενδιαφέρεται κανένας. Και είναι κρίμα.
Όταν άνθρωποι, που με έργα έχουν αποδείξει πως μπορούν να βελτιώσουν το κλίμα, αποκλείονται από τα πόστα των αποφάσεων, δείχνει πως η πλειοψηφία αδιαφορεί για το μέλλον του τόπου, όσο και αν όλοι διατείνονται για το αντίθετο.
Έλληνες βάλτε μυαλό. Βάλτε ένα τέλος σε αυτή την λογική που κάθε άλλο παρά ελληνική είναι. Μάλλον τουρκική συμπεριφορά θυμίζει, συμπεριφορά κατσικοκλέφτη, μιζέριας.
Ελπίζω σε αλλαγή του κλίματος, και σύντομα, αλλιώς φοβάμαι πως η Ελλάδα που γνωρίζουμε δε θα υπάρχει για πολύ καιρό ακόμα. Ελπίζω πως η νέα γενιά θα δει πως το μέλλον δεν είναι αυτό που της αξίζει και θα επαναστατήσει για αλλαγή.
Γιώργο, για μας είσαι πάντα νικητής!
Monday, June 06, 2005
Greasemonkey (and Opera user JavaScript)
I found out a great extension to Firefox, which is called GreaseMonkey. It allows users to add their own Javascript code to add, remove or amend features of webpages, playing with their DOM. A great feature, that exists in Opera too, called user Javascript (check this too), although still a bit hidden.
Great news I guess! Quite a lot of scripts already exist on the web, but it would be wise that you install scripts that you know what they do! You don't want to install scripts that spy on your browsing, do you?
Great news I guess! Quite a lot of scripts already exist on the web, but it would be wise that you install scripts that you know what they do! You don't want to install scripts that spy on your browsing, do you?
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