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Monday Feb 04, 2008

The Artwork of Antonin Manto-Mrnka

The Artwork of Antonin Manto-Mrnka


Diann and TonyI was honored to visit the Studio Manto with Diann Olden. We went there during the weekend and spent almost 3 hours talking to the artist, admiring his glasswork. Admittedly, IT IS SOMETHING! Pictures are more than words, but reality is better than any picture. We made even our own glass dishes, I'm an artist now ;-)

Quite exciting Saturday and I hope Diann enjoyed that also.Glasswork

Tuesday Jun 26, 2007

Hotel Java on Majorca

Hotel Java on Majorca

 
I thought that there won't be anything  related to Sun or Java on my vacation in Majorca, but how wrong I was. Surely, there was a lot of Sun-shine, but I also run into hotel Java, wearing my NetBeans t-shirt. What a coincidence!


Well, my wife found it funny, I think it's just the reality of Java Everywhere.

Friday Mar 09, 2007

Tag Others

Tag Others

The show must go on. I'm expanding the chain letter to other 5 people:
  • Volker Seubert, blogging HR , also my HR Business Partner, helping me with a lot of with long term projects.
  • Lukas Rovensky, always pushing other people to use Solaris. He and people from his team jump started Czech Open Solaris Group.
  • Jason Horowitz, spending his time between New York and Petersburg. Jason and me were job sharing site leadership role in the past.
  • Mimi Hills, the director, that's responsible for localization of all software to other languages. In addition to that, Mimi is also playing several instruments.
  • John Treacy, (Java Studio Creator, NetBeans Visual Web Pack),  who invited me to his house for a jam session, BBQ salmon and very tasty home-made beer. I love it all. Beer is a part  of Czech national pride, but I must admit, that John's beer that he brews in the garage is superb.

Thursday Mar 08, 2007

Tag Me More - Quiz Results, Part 5

Tag Me More - Quiz Results, Part 5

5. The game my son likes most in these days and I plan to play it with him on the weekend is
a) Operation Flashpoint, excellent game, developed in Czech Republic
b) Need for Speed, Most Wanted
c) Company of Heroes
I originally thought that Krystof is going to play Company of Heroes, as it's his favorite game, but he got a flu, so we didn't play anything.

Wednesday Mar 07, 2007

Tag Me More - Quiz Results, Part 4

Tag Me More - Quiz Results, Part 4

4. The first program that I developed was
a) Landing on the Moon in machine code for Texas Instrument 58c
That was my very first program, that I converted from paper-computer, when I was 14. Sure, with big help from my father, who explained me how registers work. Good school for optimizing a memory, it was a nightmare in these days. And if you made a mistake when you translate your program to machine instructions or storing it to the calculator? Huh, I loved debugging machine code.

b) Tank battle in assembler for PMD80
My first game in assembler, in very simple text graphics. Actually, it was a multiplayer, people could play against each other on one keyboard. Short battles, very addictive. It played even some music and sounds on internal speaker.

c) machine code for 8080 processor that controlled drum simulator
I made a drum simulator, based on scheme from Amaterske Radio, the magazine for geeks in these days. But someone had to push buttons in rhythm, when i played bass guitar. So I developed a computer code, that could do it for me. I don't remember a computer name (shame on me), it was the one that was stored in suitcase, very simple one.

Tuesday Mar 06, 2007

Tag Me More - Quiz Results, Part 3

Tag Me More - Quiz Results, Part 3

3. My 7 years old son and me love cycling. We
a) frequently cycle to Srbsko
Yes, although it's not a Srbsko/Serbia as the country, it's a small village on Berounka river, about 13km from us. We always stop by in a local restaurant there with beergarden, as they offer excellent Hot raspberry with ice.

b) rode more than 700 km in 2006 season
Sure. Here you go:

c) spent summer vacation cycling from Luxembourg through the
valley of Mosel to Koblenz
That's true also. Excellent bike trip, even for kids. Very safe bike roads, spectacular views, easy to ride 30-40km/day with kids. Krystof broke his record there, he made 62 km one day.

Monday Mar 05, 2007

Tag Me More - Quiz Results, Part 2

Tag Me More - Quiz Results, Part 2

2. I can play
a) Accordion
b) Violin
c) Guitar
d) Piano
e) Saxophone
f) Drums
g) Bass Guitar
h) All above, but saxophone
I love music instruments. I studied playing accordion for 6 years. I was almost going to continue to study music on high school, but then I decided to choose my second favorite subject, electronics and computers. That was smart, wasn't it?
I played guitar (mostly Czech folk music), bass guitar and drums (yeah, we always tried hard & failed to form a rock band at the high school). Violin attracted me when I was 20. It's pretty difficult instrument, requires a lot of training. Poor roommates at the university.
I didn't play any brass instrument yet. I need to ask
John Farey, to give me a lecture on trombone.
I must admit, that I'm far from being good at all these instruments, but it doesn't mean that I woudn't try.
i)  All above, but violin

Sunday Mar 04, 2007

Tag Me More - Quiz Results, Part 1

Tag Me More - Quiz Results, Part 1

Week is over, I need to reveal all the secret. I'll start with question 1 today.

1. My wedding reception happened
a) in a kindergarten
Yeah, that's the right answer, as I became married for the first time in the kindergarten. No kidding,  I'm the blond guy on these pictures:
Weddingwedding

It reminds me Joanthan's dilemma about saving family photos. My parents scanned all B/W pictures and gave it to me as Christmas present last year. Very cute.

b) in a shopping center in Libochovice
Libochovice is a small city with nice chateu and garden (both French and English style). My parents has a cottage close to it, on a quiet river called Ohre. But there is no shopping center there (at least nothing that people call shopping center in these days).
c) on Krivoklat castle
Boy, am I a knight or what?