The American Dream

De ce nu vreau sa plec in America

1. Fiindca desi lumea de acolo luata individual e foarte ok si ai cu cine sa vorbesti si sa schimbi idei, ca societate pe ansamblu sunt supusi unei constante spalari pe creier prin toate canalele media. Ce ma ingrijoreaza e ca dupa o vreme ajungi sa nu mai observi ciudateniile si sa le iei de bune. Si am inteles ca eu am fost prin partea mai "rasarita" a Americii, vestul.
2. Fiindca acolo fiind, traiesti pe o alta lume decat Romania. Diferenta de fus orar face practic imposibila orice fel de comunicare afectiva cu cei din tara.
3. Fiindca americanii prin natura lor de oameni nascuti haiduci au inteles foarte prost cam cum ar trebui utilizate armele, le au peste tot, si la scandalurile pentru o femeie de exemplu, nu risti sa iti iei bataie, ci sa fii impuscat in cap.
4. Fiindca toate costurile vietii mai mici de acolo (si sunt mai mici, luate cum vrei - mancare, masini, benzina, chirie, electronice, cam tot practic) sunt sustinute de politica infecta de a face pe politistul si moralistul planetei cand tu te duci peste oameni in case pentru petrol si alte mizilicuri.
5. Fiindca m-as duce sa lucrez in aceeasi companie in care lucrez si in Romania, deci mai mult sau mai putin, sa fac acelasi lucru in alt decor, pe o firimitura de bani in plus. In momentul de fata nu am asa mare incredere in planurile pe termen lung in care sunt implicat si eu ca sa pun pe masa 3-4 luni din viata mea. Been there, done that...
6. Fiindca sunt atatea oportunitati si lucruri de facut in Romania noastra, langa cei cu care imparti un destin comun, incat e pacat sa nu incerci sa cresti odata cu ei.
   

Cum e sa renunti

paradoxal, la viata grea nu se renunta chiar asa usor..

Thoughts on the current SE2 development phase

I have been working intensively on the mockup we decided to use to get a grasp into the project for the past two weeks, when I got back from vacation. It's going forward, but the most pressing feeling I have is that I am working too much by myself, thus bringing a strange resemblance with the previous period I had on SE2, when I was the only one on the project actively working, talking to Ioan for feedback. This time there's Joy involved and while she's still bringing a very good contribution with specs and the larger picture of organizing the project as a project manager, but I feel again that we're lacking more people on the active development side to start make things happen and work together.

I feel that we have more people "orbiting" the project this time and a bigger management commitment, and that the thing that's lacking now to jump start the project is a clear picture of the medium term goal. (in my head at least) it's somewhere between getting it functional for some tests we want to make, doing some usability test with selected users to double check on the workflows and gathering some feedback internally from people involved in projects that will be plugged in as modules. If we decide to focus on one of these goals, we'll see the need to start working together on interconnected modules. If we decide to start doing tests on the listing system to see how it scales, then we need to get the database in place, feed it with some items and listing criteria and manage those on a test account on Amazon, the only venue we can support out of the box. If we want to do usability tests, then we want to put more research into what our customer target is, what is their current business position, what are their problems, what are they looking for, from what background, technical and business-wise they come from, establish some official contacts with such few companies/users and start working with them on what we agree it's more important, balancing our need for system testing with their immediate business needs.

It's not my role to set directions for how the project moves forward and what our goals are, the thing I want to participate the most with in this project is designing it for usability and pleasure of interaction and use. I tried however focusing more on defining the project structure and connecting it to the market business needs while I was in London and most likely because of that I see certain paths to follow to get to a desired end result. It's sort of a thing I want to achieve personally that's not necessarily connected to a business project, but more as a tendency to see clear into a structure and get its pieces in order so they work together as I want them to. For this particular project I want it to succeed so I'm sharing the bits of information that I think can make a difference with helping us be more efficient.

To get back to the main idea as I've sort of mixed it with other crazy stuff from my head, I think that the thing that would give the project a push forward (and a boost in my personal feeling of usefulness) is to define a clear goal that we want to reach as a team, and start a common work towards putting pieces together to get there.

Saptamana fara fum

va urma...

La multi ani ceausescu cica, dar mai bine la multi ani noua

Am auzit astazi vorbindu-se despre ceausescu cum ar fi implinit el 90 de ani. Mai bine ii spunem altfel zilei sau o uitam, ne sarbatorim pe noi, ne imbatam, orice merge. Ce e cel mai tare e ca o sa fie oameni astazi care o sa-l sarbatoreasca pe om si cei vreo 50 de ani de retardare pe care comunismul ne-a facut-o cadou.

Ma intreb oare cat de multe din "finele" trasaturi de caracter ale romanului i se pot imputa anilor de transformari prin care s-a trecut. Poate cumva doar s-au nimerit sa fie cele mai rele politici aplicate pe un fond care si asa nu era el vreo minunatie de caracter si le-a inghitit.

De exemplu tot observ cum romanii in general nu reusesc sa lucreze bine impreuna, sa se puna de acord ca fac o treaba, o fac cat pot ei de bine si la sfarsit isi impart rezultatele. La roman gandul de baza legat de mai orice productiv e sa castigi cat mai repede, cat mai mult, fara sa conteze daca urmarile a ce faci dauneaza in vreun fel sau nu, si eventual si in detrimentul celorlalti care ar fi mai bine sa o duca cat mai rau si el sa se bucure ce mult mai bine o duce ca toti ceilalti. Ma rog, cumva chestii clasice printre noi. Totusi azi am facut o conexiune noua care mi-a scapat pana acuma: colectivizarea. In esenta, treaba suna cam asa: se dau niste romani care faceau ei ce faceau pe la casele lor, le iei cam tot ce au (pamanturi, astea, lucruri nesemnificative...) si ii fortezi sa lucreze, surpriza, impreuna, pentru un bine comun din care lor le se da o mica ratie. Ce rezulta din asta? Chef maxim de munca si furat cat se poate pe la colt. Super tare, nu? Ce bine o fi stiut romanul cu munca inainte, dar ce bine s-a mai si antrenat intre timp...

Experience

Why does my bed hate me at night and loves me in the morning?

Sa dorm sau nu? Sa accept ca cliclul noapte-zi e si el relativ ca mai toate lucrurile si sa ma duc (cu capul) la treaba in mijlocul noptii? Daca simt ca pot face ceva la 4 noaptea de ce sa ma opresc si sa ma gandesc "lasa, mai bine maine dimineata"? Care dimineata? In care nu ma trezesc?