Thursday, December 31, 2015
Friday, December 18, 2015
Germany further eases working visa rules
Source
This is another indicator of the German demographic situation and the falling number of available (skilled) workers there.
More info with links
Tuesday, December 15, 2015
Bruce Dickinson visits Sarajevo again
Article in Slobodna Bosna
Thursday, December 10, 2015
The future is jobless
Wednesday, December 09, 2015
Tuesday, December 08, 2015
Benefits of spending time in nature
Current Australian stats are depressing
Sunday, December 06, 2015
A few interesting TED talks on sleep
Monday, November 30, 2015
Battery technology inflection point
Earlier this month, the investment bank Lazard published its first analysis of the costs of various storage technologies, and it showed that for some of them, costs were rapidly declining. The bank said the energy storage industry was at an "inflection point" similar to the one renewable energy saw eight years agoSource: On Clean Energy, the Wind Blows From Germany
Friday, November 27, 2015
Problems
"Happiness is not the absence of problems, it's the ability to deal with them"
Happiness is not the absence of problems, it's the ability to deal with them
A photo posted by Posts by Dr Happy (@thehappinessinstitute) on
Link
Wednesday, November 25, 2015
A range of interesting books, available under CC
http://2012books.lardbucket.org/
Monday, November 23, 2015
Genetic Maps (of Europe)
For me, the interesting group to follow is I2a1, shown below.
It is a base for a theory of the oldest known inhabitants of Europe, from the last ice age. The concentration is the highest in the Balkans mountaneous area.
More significantly, it also proves that there really is no difference among the many nationalities in the region who were involved in bloody conflicts throughout known history.
Extremely interesting is the full world map of human migration. More specificaly, map of genetic migration:
Sunday, November 22, 2015
Politicians in Western Balkans born in Bosnia
BiH, rasadnik balkanskih lidera: Najvažniji političari porijeklom iz naše zemlje (link)
Zen Stories
I love the koan about the finger and the dog.
http://truththeory.com/2015/11/13/7-zen-stories-that-might-just-give-you-a-glimpse-of-enlightenment/
Friday, November 20, 2015
Islamic State creation contemplated in 2012
In any case, this current development of relations was to be expected, in a way. Al Qaeda was not a much better example.
Dealing with People
Source: Dealing with People, Chapter 3: The Road to Hell is Paved with Good Intentions
The end of the article contains the scheme used to understand the type of behaviour while the whole text above explains each of the types.
More on the topic in the book "Dealing with difficult people".
Wednesday, November 18, 2015
How to handle the rise of the robots?
NY Times review
To solve this, we might need an algorithm (a robot).
Monday, November 16, 2015
What ISIS really wants
Excellent (and long) story about ideological and religious pillars of the califate.
http://www.theatlantic.com/magazine/archive/2015/03/what-isis-really-wants/384980/
Saturday, November 14, 2015
The "way of life"
- "I'm concerned with a preservation of a way of life."
- "And a damn good one."
Link to the scene from Missing (1982).
All quiet on the Western front, it seems. Nothing's changed in a while. If ever.
Thursday, November 12, 2015
More support against sugar
Tuesday, November 10, 2015
Some updated Bosnian stats
Unemployment
IMF estimate: ~28% (link).CIA World Factbook: ~45%
Income
World Bank puts the country into the Upper middle income group (link). Well situated compared to the rest of the world.Salary Explorer (link) shows the average monthly salary in Bosnia to be ~1,300 BAM and median 1,200 BAM. This is €650 and €600, respectively.
Of course, to even get to this survey, one would be educated enough to know English, have an access to the computer, *and* be employed, all at the same time. Quite a feat, considering that almost the third of those who are able, actually do not work.
Another survey (link) states that 25,000 BAM is the most common salary. This is clearly expressed on an annual level, making it higher than 2,000 BAM per month. Phew! Again, only 71 correspondent there so hardly a representative sample.
Xinhua reported in 2014 that the average salary in Bosnia was €422 (link). The negative side is that this was 1.4% less than the year before.
GDP
Index Mundi (link) has a generally good collection of statistics. It is great that the GDP doubled since 1998, making it to US$ 9833 in 2014.The rest of stats - link.
References
Sources:Star and Crescent
Wikipedia - Star and Crescent
In addition to this, there is an interesting text titled The six pointed star and the crescent, that describes some history behind the symbols.
Monday, November 09, 2015
Taking breaks at work
Sunday, November 08, 2015
Friday, November 06, 2015
Thursday, November 05, 2015
That Sugar
Plus it was great seeing Melbourne again. Even if only on the big screen.
Borders reemerge in EU
Immortality
Tuesday, November 03, 2015
Story of Carlos the Jackal
Saturday, October 31, 2015
WHO Q&A on the carcinogenicity of red and processed meat
Q&A on the carcinogenicity of the consumption of red meat and processed meat
Friday, October 30, 2015
Lithium-Air: A Breakthrough
A breakthrough has been demonstrated that would allow creation of Lithium-air batteries that would have five times larger capacity than the best batteries in use today. This would mean either batteries five times smaller or batteries with five times more energy stored. In any case, if this works out I'm looking forward to having smaller mobile phones (again) as well as finally getting that electric motorcycle!
Where have the blueberries gone?!
Blueberries faked in cereals, muffins, bagels and other food products - Food Investigations
Unfortunately, the situation in Europe is not much better: Fake food being sold by criminal organizations across Europe
Thursday, October 22, 2015
Corn - genetic engineering at it's best?
http://mobile.nytimes.com/2010/05/25/science/25creature.html?referer=&_r=0
Wednesday, October 21, 2015
Ena Kadic was from Bihac
She was born in Bihac, Bosnia and Herzegovina (former Yugoslavia).
http://news.yahoo.com/ex-miss-austria-dies-mountain-fall-094148695.html
Tuesday, October 20, 2015
A case that shapes data transfer rules
Monday, October 19, 2015
Saturday, October 17, 2015
Sonic Pi - learn to code
This also explains why I love my profession so much that I spend a lot of my spare time doing the same thing.
Friday, October 16, 2015
Receive SMS Online
- http://receivefreesms.com/
- http://receive-sms-now.com/
- http://www.receiveonlinesms.biz/
- http://freesmsverification.com/
Tuesday, October 13, 2015
Hybrids match diesel fuel economy
Certain grades of the Prius that goes on sale in Japan in December will achieve as much as 40 kilometers (25 miles) per liter under Japan standards.That is 2.5 liters per 100km. Half the fuel it used to take on the diesel cars I considered quite good in fuel efficiency.
Source: Prius Takes on Diesels as Hybrids Seen Gaining From VW Scandal (link)
Sunday, October 11, 2015
Syria
Interview(s) with Zbigniew Brzezinski
https://youtu.be/MMmLkNw--JE
At 11:11, excellent comment on Islamic fundamentalism.
List of Bilderberg conference participants 2015
It is impressive to see so many participants from Austria, considering it's geographical size. Obviously, the sphere of influence is not that small.
http://www.bilderbergmeetings.org/participants.html
Saturday, October 10, 2015
Syria: The Last Assignment
One version of the film can be seen online at Al Jazeera (link).
More about cold and flu
Once you already have a flu, there is not much you can do. But some remedies are universal - chicken soup and ginger tea.
http://www.webmd.com/cold-and-flu/cold-guide/chicken-soup-and-recipes-for-cold
Prevention, as usual, is the best medicine.
http://www.webmd.com/cold-and-flu/cold-guide/exercise-when-you-have-cold
Thursday, October 08, 2015
How to avoid the flu
Here's something very practical. Scientific facts about flu.
Bloomberg - How to Avoid Getting Sick This Fall http://bloom.bg/1JUYane
Wednesday, October 07, 2015
Collection of documentaries on history
Out of the collection above, here is a documentary on the second siege of Vienna in 1683.
Holy Roman Empire
https://www.google.com/search?q=history%20of%20holy%20roman%20empire%20youtube
Now I can finally learn more about this piece of history of European civilization.
A 5-part series (link)
Saturday, October 03, 2015
Etiquette in Vienna U-Bahn
Pay attention to the #12. "Act disgusted if the waiting time is more than 3 minutes"
http://www.viennawurstelstand.com/index.php/how-to/a-guide-to-viennas-u-bahn-etiquette/
Thursday, October 01, 2015
Big Oil's problems
I’ve read that over $1.2 trillion of scheduled Big Oil investments have been delayed or taken off the table. The majors have a depletion problem. They have to find new oil, and in size, to be able to make up their losses from reduced production from older fields. While small, independent companies can do very well drilling 10 or 20 wells at reduced costs, the majors need to find huge “plays,” which are typically in inhospitable places and cost more per barrel to pull out of the ground. $50 oil just doesn’t cut it.
Someone is going to eat those losses. Depending who it is and how big they are, we could see some sizable energy industry defaults and bankruptcies over the next year. There’s an outside chance the spillover could affect some hedge funds and make them unwind other positions. That’s how you get a “contagion” going.
The core of good business idea
The comic below illustrates how this works. Coincidentally, this whole concept is described in the latest book by Nobel laureate Robert Schiller and George A. Akerlof, Phishing for Phools. The point being the quesion whether the artificial creation of this need is ethical.
For reference, here is a description of phishing for those not familiar with the concept.
This is well portrayed in the movie The Wolf of Wall Street with the example of selling a pen. How to do it right, and how not to do it.
Wednesday, September 30, 2015
Super blood moon eclipse
Awesome photos of Sunday night's rare super blood moon eclipse — there won't be another one until 2033
Tuesday, September 22, 2015
Introduction to models for Android apps
Monday, September 21, 2015
Full circle - create a desktop application with Node.js
Thursday, September 10, 2015
Finding a mobile phone
Currently, my favourite from that list would be Lenovo P70.
Thursday, August 27, 2015
Thursday, August 20, 2015
Customize installation path of Visual Studio
Visual Studio (in this case 2013) installer accepts command-line parameters.
/CustomInstallPath parameter (reference) should help in this case.
Here is another useful utility - TaskKill, which can kill (/im
Friday, August 14, 2015
Use different colours based on the theme
- In attrs.xml, define an attribute that references an item in a theme. Add a line, i.e.
name="calculator_button_background" format="reference" /> - In themes.xml, add the item
- name="calculator_button_background">@color/color_dialog_number_button
- The colour can be a direct @color or, in this case, can use predefined colour in colors.xml
name="color_dialog_number_button">#474747
Thursday, August 13, 2015
Wednesday, August 12, 2015
Field naming convention for Android Java
More: Code Style GuidesFollow Field Naming Conventions
- Non-public, non-static field names start with m.
- Static field names start with s.
- Other fields start with a lower case letter.
- Public static final fields (constants) are ALL_CAPS_WITH_UNDERSCORES.
Sunday, August 02, 2015
Disable windows defender in Windows 10
Friday, July 24, 2015
Visual Studio 2015 and Visual Studio Code
Downloads
Monday, July 13, 2015
Disable annoying Tools panel in new Adobe Acrobat DC
The solution, in brief, is:
Go to the install directory, i.e." C:\Program Files (x86)\Adobe\Acrobat Reader DC\Reader\AcroApp\ENU". Create a new subfolder (I used "Disabled"). Move 3 files from the "ENU" folder into the new "Disabled" folder: AppCenter_R.aapp & Home.aapp & Viewer.aapp. Open a PDF and no more Tool Pane! I originally moved just the "Viewer" file but if you clicked on "Home" or "Tools" on the toolbar you couldn't go back to the "Document." Moving all 3 files takes care of that issue.Link
On a positive note, the new Reader is very fast when opening documents and is a welcome upgrade to the previous version.
Android version, on the other hand, takes a bit longer to start.
Sunday, July 05, 2015
Reduce the size of WinSxS directory
How to Reduce the Size of the WinSxS directory and Free Up Disk Space on Windows Server 2012 R2 and Windows 8.1 or do we even need to? (link)
A couple of useful hints:
- There is a scheduled task in Servicing folder, that cleans up the WinSxS automatically.
- Running Disk Cleanup Wizard will run the above task, too.
- Console command for the above is "Dism.exe /online /cleanup-image /StartComponentCleanup"
- /ResetBase ("Dism.exe /online /Cleanup-Image /StartComponentCleanup /ResetBase") removes all the superseded versions of files, which prevents uninstalling updates but also saves quite a bit of space.
- Check space used with "Dism.exe /online /Cleanup-Image /AnalyzeComponentStore".
Wednesday, July 01, 2015
Font Icons in Android Apps
Font Awesome, for example, is a great way of using a custom font that contains icons instead of letters. That way, icons can be drawn anywhere in a very simple way. They scale well, and their colour can be customized. They are monochrome, with one colour available for the icon content and, being usually transparent, another one is available as the background colour.
This is quite enough for most purposes. It is very light on resources and easy to implement.
Here are a few links to articles and the library that allows the same for Android apps.
The implementation is quite easy and this represent the easiest way to use scalable graphics in Android apps so far.
Below are some useful services that allow operations on icon fonts:
Monday, June 29, 2015
8-core Lenovo phone for 135 Euros!
Lenovo A806
List of custom ROMs for Lenovo phones - here
There are also Xiaomi models available and those could be an even better deal.
Sunday, June 28, 2015
Updating Amazon country settings
http://www.amazon.com/myx
Saturday, June 27, 2015
Sunday, June 14, 2015
DriveDroid
Mount drives to a PC directly from an Android device
https://play.google.com/store/apps/details?id=com.softwarebakery.drivedroid&hl=en&referrer=utm_source%3Dgoogle%26utm_medium%3Dorganic%26utm_term%3Ddrivedroid&pcampaignid=APPU_1_Mi59Ve6EG8H1UsOigJAK
Saturday, June 13, 2015
What is Code? A perspective of the other side
Friday, June 05, 2015
Wickr - a safe messenger
Link
Thursday, June 04, 2015
Adding a dropdown (spinner) to toolbar in Android app
Add a Spinner as menu item and set the action view class
<menu xmlns:android="http://schemas.android.com/apk/res/android"
xmlns:yourapp="http://schemas.android.com/apk/res-auto" >
<item android:id="@+id/spinner"
yourapp:showAsAction="ifRoom"
yourapp:actionViewClass="android.widget.Spinner" />
</menu>
Then handle the contents in onCreateMenuItem, as usual.
@Override
public boolean onCreateOptionsMenu(Menu menu) {
getMenuInflater().inflate(R.menu.menu_layout, menu);
MenuItem item = menu.findItem(R.id.spinner);
Spinner spinner = (Spinner) MenuItemCompat.getActionView(item);
spinner.setAdapter(adapter); // set the adapter to provide layout of rows and content
s.setOnItemSelectedListener(onItemSelectedListener); // set the listener, to perform actions based on item selection
}
Source
Saturday, May 30, 2015
Android Studio and 32/64-bit JDK
Initially I had 64-bit JDK, running on 64-bit Windows, using 64-bit Android Studio.
After installing SmartGit, it required me to install 32-bit JDK. Hm... A little bit of research shows that there is no bit difference in my circumstances, so I go ahead and replace the 64-bit JDK with the 32-bit one. This made SmartGit run fine.
The next issue was running the Android Studio. It complained that it needs a 64-bit JDK. Whoa!
Fortunately, it turns out that Android Studio comes with two .exe files - 32-bit studio.exe and 64-bit studio64.exe. The default shortcut uses the 64-bit version.
Running studio.exe (and adjusting the shortcut to use this file) fixes the problem. All systems go, again.
Friday, May 29, 2015
Google Photos
Picasa, Google+ Photos have finally evolved into an independent site that only handles your photographs.
The desktop and mobile apps can back up your photos automatically and the capacity is unlimited as long as you keep the photos at certain size. This is not a bad option but I still believe Flickr is a decent competitor.
Sharing is still on Google's side because of integration with Google accounts.
Sunday, May 24, 2015
Developing Universal Windows Apps with HTML and JavaScript Jump Start
Introduction course to Universal Windows Apps.
Developing Universal Windows Apps with HTML and JavaScript Jump Start
Monday, May 11, 2015
Android Emulators
Recently I've heard about two viable alternatives to the Android emulators I knew - Bluestacks and the emulator that ships with Android SDK. That tells me there is plenty going on in this area so here are some links for the reference:
- Genymotion
- Andy
- Bluestacks
- Android SDK
Links:
Sunday, May 10, 2015
Saturday, May 09, 2015
Lock down dependencies in npm package versions
Shrinkwrap command allows specifying which package versions to use. Often there is a mess when upgrading one package in a chain, or (trying) migrating from Node to io.js, when one package doesn't work and brings down all the others that depend on it.
Friday, May 08, 2015
Android Drawables
Excellent resource for Android drawables. Here you can see all the drawables (icons) available in Android system and visually compare their appearance across different OS versions.
Useful when searching for an icon to use in menus (actionbar, toolbar, drawers, etc.).
Force Git to use https:// instead of git://
Put
[url "https://"]
insteadOf = git://
into your .gitconfig
Thursday, May 07, 2015
Andy the Android Emulator
Here is an Android Emulator for desktop machines, that claims more features than the other existing emulators out there. It is free and worth trying out.
Tuesday, May 05, 2015
Monday, May 04, 2015
JavaScript Instance Methods
Wonder how many developers actively use instance methods - apply, bind, and call.
Sunday, May 03, 2015
Wednesday, April 29, 2015
Microsoft to run Android
Wednesday, April 22, 2015
Microsoft Expression Web is no more
However, it turns out that it does not exist any more, for all practical sakes and purposes. Visual Studio 2013 (and onward) will be the tool recommended by Microsoft.
Let's see if that works. This might mean that Web Storm is to become my default editor for HTML pages, as well.
Microsoft Expression Changes | Microsoft Expression
Thursday, April 16, 2015
CyanogenMod & Microsoft - is this now official?
After the April fools' joke, there are reports that look official
Cyanogen Announces Strategic Partnership With Microsoft
Friday, April 10, 2015
Enable swipe typing on CM12
Monday, April 06, 2015
Sunday, March 29, 2015
Saturday, March 28, 2015
Fix for unknown baseband on I9300
After flashing the latest TWRP with Flashify, the phone fell into a boot loop. Here is a list of recovery procedures performed in case I need them again.
So, first I used a USB stick modem to get Internet. SIM extender or an original remains of the card were needed to fit the SIM card into the USB modem.
Recovery
Then, via PC, I flashed TWRP with Odin, using PDA option. This fixed the recovery and the phone booted into OS.Baseband / Modem
However, the phone would not connect to network. The baseband was unknown and IMEI did not show up at all when trying with *#06# code on the phone.The solution for this was to flash the modem.
- Get the latest firmware from SamMobile
- Extract the files to get modem.bin.
- Download img2tar tool from xda. It is also possible to use Tar for Windows but this is safer as it generates md5 hash as well.
- Flash the resulting modem.tar.md5 file using Odin, via Phone option (not PDA). This is with Odin 3.07.
Wednesday, March 25, 2015
Beautiful Markdown editor
Thanks to the article I just read, I learned about a few more Markdown editors. There used to be very few to choose from and none had a great performance. Nowadays the situation is a bit better and here is a gem:
Haroopad - The Next Document processor based on Markdown
Monday, March 23, 2015
Android App Launching Made Gorgeous
Great article on mechanics of launching of Android apps.
If you were annoyed by the blank screen that shows up before your app starts, here are a few tips on how to make it look good.
Android App Launching Made Gorgeous - Cyril Mottier
Cleaning up NVidia download files
The article below lists several locations that contain files that NVidia Network Service piles up. These can amount to gigabytes of junk files. Even though I have the latest drivers installed, the network service still downloads about 10 versions in the past.
Needless to say, there is no setting to prevent this. My solution was to disable the network service and occasionally check for updates manually.
Cleaning up old NVIDIA driver files to save disk space (updated) - GameplayInside
Tuesday, March 17, 2015
Oh, finally...
No, the browser is not going away but the name has so many negative conotations that it is much better that it is about to disappear.
Microsoft is killing off the Internet Explorer brand | The Verge
Friday, March 13, 2015
Google: Another service goes down
Another Google service is shutting down. This is becomming a recurring story.
A source-code-hosting service Google Code is due for burrial. On the positive side, the service was OK but never got any big popularity. It was surpassed by the likes of SourceForge, BitBucket, GitHub, even Bazaar or Visual Studio Online.
If they (Google) continue like this, soon there won't be much to use of them at all. Their new products are failures and the successful ones are getting killed by the company itself. Wonder what this will turn to.
Wednesday, March 11, 2015
Telegram Messenger
Here is a new messenger that drops most of the limitations of other chat apps. It has me interested so far and warrants some time to try it out more thoroughly.
Android Device Manager won't start
Today, all of a sudden, AVD Manager won't start, giving the
FATAL:.//android/base/sockets/SocketWaiter.cpp:88:Check failed: isValidFd(fd). fd 1132 max1024
error. The issue seems to have something to do with the network:
So, the solution is to run the emulator with parameter "-http-proxy none" or specify a real proxy.
Thursday, February 26, 2015
Sync Google Calendar with Outlook
Haven't tested this software but here it is for reference and a later trial.
Calendar Sync for Outlook and Google Calendar
Since something messed up my contact details in Google Contacts, I thought it would be useful to have an offline backup of all the important data like calendar, contacts, and notes. Just like in the old times.
Tuesday, February 24, 2015
MyPhoneExplorer syncs Android to Outlook
MyPhoneExplorer syncs calendar and address book between Android and Outlook on PC.
Sunday, February 22, 2015
Custom domains for Blogger blogs
Setting up a custom domain is now really easy...
How do I use a custom domain name for my blog? - Blogger Help
Saturday, February 21, 2015
Friday, February 13, 2015
Tiddlywiki Node version!
I am using Tiddlywiki for small searchable wikis. It is quite compact and runs in a browser. The HTML version, that is.
Now there is a Node version that works very well and offers a few benefits but also drawbacks. In brief,
Pros:
- External links now can be used, as opposed to when using the TiddlyDesktop
- easier upgrade process
Cons:
- Requires installation of Node.js
The posts are now split in separate files, which is preferrable but I can't put that into either Pros nor Cons. The served directory is clean and therefore easy to sync via cloud. It contains only one small info file in addition to your content.
Tuesday, February 10, 2015
TFS Branching Strategies
Looking for guides on branching strategies using TFS or migrating to Git.
Version Control Guide (ex-Branching & Merging) - Downloads
Friday, January 30, 2015
Microsoft and Cyanogen
This would be quite an interesting development, if it materializes.
Microsoft Said to Be in Talks With Cyanogen Over Android Deal - Bloomberg Business
Friday, January 09, 2015
Thursday, January 08, 2015
Free Antivirus review for 2015
PC Magazine tests free version of antivirus products.
The Best Free Antivirus for 2015 | PCMag.com
BitDefender still tops the charts. No replacement needed for now.
Wednesday, January 07, 2015
Official Cyanogenmod 12 nightlies for Nexus 7
Official Cyanogenmod 12, based on Android 5 Lollipop, are available for download at the link below:
Friday, January 02, 2015
Lollipop - Unofficial build for Samsung Galaxy S2 (I9100)
This ROM is also in advanced beta stage so I assume it can already be used for most daily purposes.
[ROM][5.0.2][I9100] CyanogenMod 12 [BETA][01… | Samsung Galaxy S II I9100 | XDA Forums