Weblog van Joep en Vladka

A bit more professional please?

Joep Hein — Tue, 27 Apr 2010 17:45:37 +0000

I have two requests. The first one is for the Czech pharmaceutics. Can anybody tell me how much tablets I should take from the picture below? They always take the doctor receipt and a pencil scrawl is all you get. For the pharmaceutical industry I would expect a printed label or something similar so it is clear how much medicine you should take.

The second request is for the Czech Sdružené inkaso plateb obyvatelstva (SIPO). This is a typical Czech pre-printed transaction form on which several payments can be combined. The goal is to eliminate the individual transaction costs. Some banks in the Czech republic offer costless transactions now so this eliminates the need for this but that’s a different story. My point is that this SIPO form is dropped without any envelope in your mailbox just as can be seen below. All personal data can be seen by the postman. A bit more attention to privacy like with the payroll slip would be great.

Regionova

Joep Hein — Tue, 27 Apr 2010 17:42:27 +0000

I use to commute every day by train. I like the train. It is much cheaper than by car and sometimes even faster. No need to find a nearby parking place and on my way I can quietly read a book, although quietly….

Squeaking brakes
Some trains really make a lot of noise when stopping at the station. Recently I have measured a noise level of over 100 dB. The squeaking seems to make no sense because it won’t help the train to stop faster isn’t it?

Regionova, a new train with a lot of noise

Some years ago they started to use a new diesel engine train called “regionova“. This train seems to be perfect. Good chairs, a lot of space for your legs and very friendly for families with strollers or disabled people. However there is one thing that annoys me a lot about these trains. They really make a lot of noise and especially while braking. The brakes generate an annoying noise of up to 110 db. This lowers the travelling comfort a lot. While braking the train looks like an old coffee mill. Talking or listening to music is not even possible in this train. And guess what. This train is a modernized version of the much older 810 series made by Škoda Vagonka between 1975 and 1982. This train is even being used on the same track and surprisingly makes less noise. The noise level does not exceed the 90dB level both during driving and braking. It is a pity they did not take more care about passenger comfort during the modernization of this train.

PF 2010

Joep Hein — Thu, 07 Jan 2010 19:52:30 +0000

Merry Christmas and a happy new year

Joep Hein — Tue, 22 Dec 2009 11:36:49 +0000

Schmap Seattle Ninth Edition

Joep Hein — Mon, 16 Nov 2009 11:42:11 +0000

Some time ago one of the Photo’s has been selected for inclusion in the newly released ninth edition of our Schmap Seattle Guide.

Watch the photo on Flickr or the Schmap Seattle Guide

Expat or immigrant

Joep Hein — Tue, 27 Oct 2009 11:46:26 +0000

Latest I have been invited to join a photo contest for expats in Brno. I do not want to take part of the contest. To be honest I do not like the word expat a lot. There doesn’t seem to be anything, except class and/or ethnic nonsense, behind this distinction between expatriate and immigrant. It’s not about whether the person involved remains primarily attached to their motherland and continue to see it as “home”. Otherwise we could ask many Vietnamese people here in the Czech republic to join the contest as well. This can be compared with many Polish workers in the Netherlands helping in the agricultural sector. The function of the word “expat” seems to be to exclude middle class people from the stigma of being an immigrant, which leads me to my main point: I’m an immigrant. I’ll say it loud, I’m an immigrant and I’m proud.

Windows 7 localisation

Joep Hein — Fri, 19 Jun 2009 19:56:10 +0000

We almost finished our localization project for Windows 7. The project started in August 2008 so it kept me quite busy for almost a year. Windows 7 was localized into 34 languages in total and Moravia fully localized 21 of these. Our work made this product available and accessible to 2 billion people, which is almost one third of the world’s population! The new version should be available in the shops on October 22nd this year. It is a pity we could not have contributed to the Dutch version Which is of course my favorite language The timing is good because we expect our second child within about one week. We almost can’t wait for it to happen.

The Bible – It is better to trust in the LORD than to put confidence in man

Joep Hein — Fri, 17 Apr 2009 20:12:35 +0000

Google translate error

Joep Hein — Mon, 30 Mar 2009 20:20:14 +0000

I just discovered a funny translation error on http://www.translate.google.com/. Please try it out yourself (as long as it works). Translate following sentence: “vylet do bratislavy” from Slovak to English. Correctly translated in English this is “trip to Bratislava”. What is the translation according to Google translate: “Trip to Prague” )) Find a screenshot below of the result: