tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-67040758738699179582024-03-05T06:21:09.850+01:00sweet peppersprayZalimahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/04101606437274917685noreply@blogger.comBlogger75125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6704075873869917958.post-15199840608807184372015-01-11T13:31:00.002+01:002015-01-11T22:34:24.630+01:00Free unlimited worldwide calls forever with SkypeSkype currently has a promotion: every Skype user gets a free month when they subscribe to Unlimited World Calling. With this subscription, you get unlimited free calls to landlines in 63 countries* and mobile numbers in 8 countries**. Every user can use this offer once.<br />
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If you play it smart, you can use this promotion to get free calls forever (until they cancel the promotion at least).<br />
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Here's what you should do:<br />
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1) Make a Skype account (or use your current one) and grab your free month <a href="http://adf.ly/w82SW">here</a>. You will need to enter your payment details but don't worry; they won't charge you anything until the beginning of the next month.<br />
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2) Cancel your subscription as soon as possible. If you forget to cancel it, they will automatically charge you for your next (paid) month of subscription after 27 days.<br />
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3) Make a new Skype account, name it something like username1 so it's easy to remember. Currently they don't seem to have a rule to prevent new accounts from using this promotion, but I think it's safer to make the new account on beforehand.<br />
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4) Make calls, enjoy life. Make sure to put a note in your calendar so you don't forget when your free month is over.<br />
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5) When your free month is over, get the promotion with your new Skype account. Repeat this process as many times as you want.<br />
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If you're using your Skype account for anything other than calling phone numbers, this approach might not look very attractive to you because you will have to use a different Skype account for calling phone numbers. Fear not, there is a solution to this. You can run two instances of Skype on your computer. For this, you should make two shortcuts on your desktop.<br />
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I'm sure that you know how to make a shortcut for Skype on your desktop. For the second instance of Skype, just make a second shortcut and enter /secondary at the end of the target address. It will look like this:<br />
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32 bit:<br />
<i>"C:\Program Files\Skype\Phone\Skype.exe" /secondary</i><br />
64 bit:<br />
<i>"C:\Program Files (x86)\Skype\Phone\Skype.exe" /secondary</i></blockquote>
Now you can have two instances of Skype running: use one for calling phone numbers and one for your normal Skype stuff. This approach is working perfectly for me so far. Let me know if you experience any problems with this.<br />
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<span style="font-size: x-small;">*Countries with free landline calls: Andorra, Argentina, Australia, Austria, Belgium, Brazil, Brunei, Bulgaria, Chile, Colombia, Costa Rica, Croatia, Czech Republic, Denmark, Estonia, Finland, France, Germany, Greece, Guadeloupe, Hungary, Iceland, Indonesia (Jakarta), Ireland, Republic of Ireland, Israel, Italy, Japan, Korea, Latvia, Lithuania, Luxembourg, Malaysia, Malta, Mexico, Morocco, Netherlands, New Zealand, Norway, Panama, Paraguay, Peru, Poland, Portugal, Romania, Russia, Slovakia, Slovenia, South Africa, Spain, Sweden, Switzerland, Taiwan, Turkey, United Kingdom, Venezuela. </span><br />
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<span style="font-size: x-small;">**Countries with free mobile calls: Canada, China, Guam, Hong Kong SAR, Puerto Rico, Singapore, Thailand, United States.</span>Zalimahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/04101606437274917685noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6704075873869917958.post-25869666088983114992015-01-10T22:11:00.000+01:002015-01-11T20:38:42.144+01:00My Red Cherry ShrimpsIt's about time that I post another aquarium update.<br />
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Well, I have red cherry shrimps now. I really struggled to find male shrimps. When I went to the aquarium store, I asked for a mix of males and females. The seller didn't seem to know the difference between males and females. So I made sure that I got a few that had a male-like appearance and waited. After a few months, all 10 of my shrimps had the "saddle". This is the white line of unfertilized eggs that appears on the neck of female shrimps. So yeah...all my shrimps were female. Then I went to another shop, got 4 more shrimps. Again, all female. I figured that stores don't sell males here, either because they are less colorful or because they don't want people to breed shrimps themselves.<br />
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Please enjoy some pictures of my virgin female shrimps:<br />
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgcgcpRNntB7iBS5hIlObpnx1bXH_UzYn_UwaUFc0KDNIhDRueBH-cdXb02ClVta6VN2IhPTAiLhybo4BtktvrDPQWuYajJ78KUw0TPNULFOgc4ngLsSkKwOMWEGCgwiHH9XkWpLgn5hVc/s1600/Red+Cherry+Shrimp+1.JPG" imageanchor="1"><img alt="" border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgcgcpRNntB7iBS5hIlObpnx1bXH_UzYn_UwaUFc0KDNIhDRueBH-cdXb02ClVta6VN2IhPTAiLhybo4BtktvrDPQWuYajJ78KUw0TPNULFOgc4ngLsSkKwOMWEGCgwiHH9XkWpLgn5hVc/s1600/Red+Cherry+Shrimp+1.JPG" height="240" title="Red Cherry Shrimp female" width="320" /></a></div>
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgvumN1mRbHd7wz-YZw5bwfLGqjJtpunCjUkQUsOh0uFvxmKCT0H4oCaWzeiovRdoMNK4XoD-WpeDLS5VchHQSdB1wKwbQ2tzXl_r9nSnAkLcrAdLfgHIy-edBs4_QIgP6rcBjBIe_ZxYk/s1600/Red+Cherry+Shrimp+2.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img alt="" border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgvumN1mRbHd7wz-YZw5bwfLGqjJtpunCjUkQUsOh0uFvxmKCT0H4oCaWzeiovRdoMNK4XoD-WpeDLS5VchHQSdB1wKwbQ2tzXl_r9nSnAkLcrAdLfgHIy-edBs4_QIgP6rcBjBIe_ZxYk/s1600/Red+Cherry+Shrimp+2.jpg" height="320" title="Red Cherry Shrimp female" width="299" /></a></div>
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgQgYAnW2QTa63xRkrMxdq2Oy74A-K6mF1t7PFql8VgwWTRTobaTmPrtV4xvCehEUtUAilp91yvqwOnVsTKLUiuza65jKXPvtiXR1ASI-Cp-Wq4wgQ2JHM6Pgfq3V33ZkQh8s6jP0w3158/s1600/Red+Cherry+Shrimp+4.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img alt="" border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgQgYAnW2QTa63xRkrMxdq2Oy74A-K6mF1t7PFql8VgwWTRTobaTmPrtV4xvCehEUtUAilp91yvqwOnVsTKLUiuza65jKXPvtiXR1ASI-Cp-Wq4wgQ2JHM6Pgfq3V33ZkQh8s6jP0w3158/s1600/Red+Cherry+Shrimp+4.JPG" height="240" title="Red Cherry Shrimps female" width="320" /></a></div>
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEigJe0OGLAaM4oUNts3vxdkzQgGIhEns41vvirzSdVUTqoYc3uthh7pCD-_istQLHdk0poYj9h0rm7rgfAEM28451OKoschyphenhyphenyNWRZ_z5e8nOnbnVPAOeP2nDX7vBfp57tv4014uerBEFhw/s1600/Red+Cherry+Shrimp+5.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img alt="" border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEigJe0OGLAaM4oUNts3vxdkzQgGIhEns41vvirzSdVUTqoYc3uthh7pCD-_istQLHdk0poYj9h0rm7rgfAEM28451OKoschyphenhyphenyNWRZ_z5e8nOnbnVPAOeP2nDX7vBfp57tv4014uerBEFhw/s1600/Red+Cherry+Shrimp+5.JPG" height="240" title="Red Cherry Shrimp female" width="320" /></a></div>
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhpSJv9qYfN0znhPBW4wwG3R5EgOmL44xAV84eOIEH1jwY-l_Ic4299bjbiokxGoc2QXcS0xAdje3EPa2jwPHx8GHQLB6ad1CFqxtf8J1HI-DWmoISWatJIvxLne5QQznV3dk58boK-eRU/s1600/Red+Cherry+Shrimp+6.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img alt="" border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhpSJv9qYfN0znhPBW4wwG3R5EgOmL44xAV84eOIEH1jwY-l_Ic4299bjbiokxGoc2QXcS0xAdje3EPa2jwPHx8GHQLB6ad1CFqxtf8J1HI-DWmoISWatJIvxLne5QQznV3dk58boK-eRU/s1600/Red+Cherry+Shrimp+6.jpg" height="249" title="Red Cherry Shrimp female" width="320" /></a></div>
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And here, a picture of the ugliest female shrimp in the world, it's basically a man with eggs:<br />
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjSNzILaJbukA5UNu9LbUOJ0SdGfpG-Fm_f3uIJ_nUONMsJyPJxCxazF3ih4aPDN25qUM530wtk858C6MDia9pP-roQLpdGS_CQU_GGj2u2Eryav4KmEfU4wnEtwinKNJBi-LHoI7rqX_M/s1600/Red+Cherry+Shrimp+3.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em; text-align: center;"><img alt="" border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjSNzILaJbukA5UNu9LbUOJ0SdGfpG-Fm_f3uIJ_nUONMsJyPJxCxazF3ih4aPDN25qUM530wtk858C6MDia9pP-roQLpdGS_CQU_GGj2u2Eryav4KmEfU4wnEtwinKNJBi-LHoI7rqX_M/s1600/Red+Cherry+Shrimp+3.JPG" height="240" title="Red Cherry Shrimp ugly female" width="320" /></a></div>
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My females were in a desperate need for some male companions. My solution was buying some more shrimps, this time from a private seller. If you buy from a private seller, you can be sure that they have both males and females because they are breeding these shrimps themselves at home. A friendly woman came to my house to drop off these:<br />
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjQ25t8TknXgZqUZOVwFVNQRAebl1ocwbbP5ZN6uuvgz4LDINeCV4uhjvuA4Z-B1jBNG4ja_GfN5W5oi5ACFM4s8tp3JXLYaONZlnGRioRReSnC7OoMW32BZ2l93bMMf_4etLITHnlyWvM/s1600/Red+Cherry+Shrimps.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img alt="" border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjQ25t8TknXgZqUZOVwFVNQRAebl1ocwbbP5ZN6uuvgz4LDINeCV4uhjvuA4Z-B1jBNG4ja_GfN5W5oi5ACFM4s8tp3JXLYaONZlnGRioRReSnC7OoMW32BZ2l93bMMf_4etLITHnlyWvM/s1600/Red+Cherry+Shrimps.jpg" height="248" title="Red Cherry Shrimps" width="320" /></a></div>
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Baby males! Less than 2 weeks later, my females were pregnant with eggs, also called "berried" because the eggs look like berries. Interestingly, the eggs have different colors depending on the female. I had some with light eggs, some with dark eggs:<br />
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhgz16fR7rm9rkCq502dk8dCRiEXTKGDDeFbP9KF_BmgXekJSGFQ73aJ25i2BeAf-5wLdmo8oBZtQN5wKSM3oTE7KFl3PKQNo5lthgceuPDf2giToFVlDQC_I3owjJUjUUGu_jwtk3pgKg/s1600/Red+Cherry+Shrimp+berried.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img alt="" border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhgz16fR7rm9rkCq502dk8dCRiEXTKGDDeFbP9KF_BmgXekJSGFQ73aJ25i2BeAf-5wLdmo8oBZtQN5wKSM3oTE7KFl3PKQNo5lthgceuPDf2giToFVlDQC_I3owjJUjUUGu_jwtk3pgKg/s1600/Red+Cherry+Shrimp+berried.JPG" height="249" title="Berried Red Cherry Shrimp" width="320" /></a></div>
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgo5feohHRQGztfGewrZPPNSRbsW7bH1-8UXbdtwSw5t0mwgb9gBvVLyU6a21Uce89X0jAl_8SBTPTJCj1SQlBFSv2uZUyWKyCx100z9-D-w_fViB2PW0j8rFIKPRtos3s5GTAnzcCTfVk/s1600/Red+Cherry+Shrimp+berried+2.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img alt="" border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgo5feohHRQGztfGewrZPPNSRbsW7bH1-8UXbdtwSw5t0mwgb9gBvVLyU6a21Uce89X0jAl_8SBTPTJCj1SQlBFSv2uZUyWKyCx100z9-D-w_fViB2PW0j8rFIKPRtos3s5GTAnzcCTfVk/s1600/Red+Cherry+Shrimp+berried+2.JPG" height="248" title="Berried Red Cherry Shrimp" width="320" /></a></div>
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After that, my shrimps have been living happily ever after. They like eating shrimp pellets, but also fish flakes and vegetables like broccoli:<br />
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhrmKfbC5IDoo33701vt6taZtqLVPiOXDXsA7OUfk9L6BUdup2UJGqfngj0vimu6l7eshRvimWU0M1iXq2DUz6xau6EOWsIRllwOljhPDtRq3b20-mkvy6XlFBWIhoofrbkLQ2YxZwqfzw/s1600/Red+Cherry+Shrimps+broccoli.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img alt="" border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhrmKfbC5IDoo33701vt6taZtqLVPiOXDXsA7OUfk9L6BUdup2UJGqfngj0vimu6l7eshRvimWU0M1iXq2DUz6xau6EOWsIRllwOljhPDtRq3b20-mkvy6XlFBWIhoofrbkLQ2YxZwqfzw/s1600/Red+Cherry+Shrimps+broccoli.JPG" height="240" title="Red Cherry Shrimps eating broccoli" width="320" /></a></div>
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh9pyoDlzYWJ7h8nIGvv-Z8QUQeNLmNlRG0e8KLcb_eUwFqcwnTt9kWi-CxEaNpbV9KAEfoEzaQJnqQIYzLRPdXa475rmry9Xsu3X4UnL3HNq9UTEr2zZpe_3d3rhBw6czNI2w9mIw0E14/s1600/Red+Cherry+Shrimps+flakes.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img alt="" border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh9pyoDlzYWJ7h8nIGvv-Z8QUQeNLmNlRG0e8KLcb_eUwFqcwnTt9kWi-CxEaNpbV9KAEfoEzaQJnqQIYzLRPdXa475rmry9Xsu3X4UnL3HNq9UTEr2zZpe_3d3rhBw6czNI2w9mIw0E14/s1600/Red+Cherry+Shrimps+flakes.JPG" height="240" title="Red Cherry Shrimps eating broccoli" width="320" /></a></div>
<br />Zalimahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/04101606437274917685noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6704075873869917958.post-90982100064878618422014-03-09T09:46:00.002+01:002015-03-23T23:14:10.066+01:00Adding custom dictionaries to Kobo devicesI recently bought a Kobo Glo. Great little e-reader, that one.<br />
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I spent a while struggling to figure out how to install a Turkish-English dictionary on it, because it's not supported by default. I decided to write a little tutorial about installing other dictionaries on a Kobo device, in case I or anyone else ever need it to do this again.</div>
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<u>Check whether the dictionary you want is already available</u><br />
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1. Check <a href="http://adf.ly/1BP4ua">here</a> whether Kobo already made the dictionary you want. If yes, download the file, connect your Kobo device to your computer and place it in the ".kobo\dict" folder and you are done. If not, go to step 2.<br />
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2. Check <a href="http://adf.ly/1BP28f">here</a> whether someone else already made a custom dictionary for the language pair you want. If so, you can skip to step 13 for instructions on how to put the file on your Kobo device.<br />
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<u>Make a custom dictionary</u><br />
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3. Download the dictionary you want in StarDict format. <a href="http://adf.ly/1BP5VA">This</a> website has a lot of dictionaries.<br />
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4. Unzip it the .tar dictionary file. You will get a .dz, .idx and .ifo file. Rename the .dz file to .gz. Extract the .gz file so you end up with a .dict file. Give the .dict, .ifo and .idx representative names, eg. tur_en.dict, tur_en.idx, and tur_en.ifo.<br />
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5. Go <a href="http://adf.ly/1BP0Uv">here</a> and download the latest version of Penelope.<br />
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6. Unzip the Penelope script and place it in the folder of your choice, for example "c:\Penelope". Put the dictionary files in the same folder as the Penelope files.<br />
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7. Install <a href="http://adf.ly/w82bz">Python 3.3.4</a>.<br />
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8. Download the marisa.zip file <a href="http://adf.ly/w82e2">here </a>or <a href="http://adf.ly/w832H">here</a>. It containes two Windows executables It was built from open source Marisa code by the user EbokJunkie on mobileread.com. Penelope script invokes these executables. You can put them anywhere; I put them to "C:\tmp".<br />
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9. Right click the file penelope3.py and choose Edit with IDLE. Find the variables MARISA_BUILD_PATH and MARISA_REVERSE_LOOKUP_PATH and set their location to "c:/tmp/marisa-build.exe" and to "c:/tmp/marisa-reverse-lookup.exe" respectively, or wherever you saved the marisa files. Save penelopa3.py.<br />
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10. Open the command prompt and make the Penelope folder your current folder by typing the command "cd c:\Penelope".<br />
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11. Type the following command to start the conversion: "penelope3.py -p tur_eng -f tur -t eng --output-kobo". Replace the variable "tur" with the language you want to translate from and "eng" with your target language.<br />
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12. You will end up with a Kobo dictionary file now, for example dicthtml-tur-eng.zip.<br />
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<u>Transfer the dictionary file to your Kobo device</u><br />
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13. Connect your Kobo device to your computer and go to the ".kobo\dict" folder on the reader.<br />
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14. In order to get your Kobo device to recognize the dictionary files, you have to use it to replace an existing original dictionary. To do this, you have to use the file name of an existing original dictionary. For example, I don't use the Spanish dictionary, so I renamed the file "dicthtml-es-en.zip" on my Kobo device to "dicthtml-es-en-backup.zip", so I will still have a backup in case I need it later. Then I renamed my Turkish-English dictionary to "dicthtml-es-en.zip".<br />
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15. Unplug your Kobo device, tap a word in a book and use the "Spanish" dictionary to look up words in your dictionary.</div>
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Credits:</div>
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<a href="http://www.mobileread.com/forums/showthread.php?t=196931">http://www.mobileread.com/forums/showthread.php?t=196931</a></div>
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<a href="http://www.mobileread.com/forums/showthread.php?p=2575208">http://www.mobileread.com/forums/showthread.php?p=2575208</a></div>
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<a href="https://github.com/pettarin/penelope">https://github.com/pettarin/penelope</a></div>
Zalimahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/04101606437274917685noreply@blogger.com45tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6704075873869917958.post-22436428467687248232013-12-09T19:39:00.000+01:002015-01-11T13:44:22.768+01:00Propagating African violetsThis is the newest addition to my plant family: a beautiful blue miniature African violet.<br />
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjFMZl4bxZlE7gfoEdVsVgNalfAHdlOAlFvRF1b4VMDe8orDSL-3n1QDfybIryx4M40jdbVk1TaOjz15VcppsSgErt0P9S1mRoIjcus9CkES9Xam70ixUizb9D_654pIOY5vfpCeuzqHCw/s1600/050420121687_b.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img alt="" border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjFMZl4bxZlE7gfoEdVsVgNalfAHdlOAlFvRF1b4VMDe8orDSL-3n1QDfybIryx4M40jdbVk1TaOjz15VcppsSgErt0P9S1mRoIjcus9CkES9Xam70ixUizb9D_654pIOY5vfpCeuzqHCw/s320/050420121687_b.jpg" height="320" title="blue miniature African violet" width="320" /></a></div>
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I wanted to try propagating this plant by taking leaf cuttings. This is what I did:<br />
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Cut a few leaves from the plant. I've read that it's recommended to take the leaves at the bottom of the plant, not the center. The stalk should look like this:<br />
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<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhfLiK94nKjXoHW8JE5i0U_KlAEBu8DARUCdXvv6aE6-N5tCP6qrxHDfjiPzvCu7_jIuvwvdIOlZrs9o571RFWdANCwb-lQ69siqcHb9fQcOuH1PJIXricNYGD66raDkyKXFSNkFN1pHgA/s1600/050420121682_b.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img alt="" border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhfLiK94nKjXoHW8JE5i0U_KlAEBu8DARUCdXvv6aE6-N5tCP6qrxHDfjiPzvCu7_jIuvwvdIOlZrs9o571RFWdANCwb-lQ69siqcHb9fQcOuH1PJIXricNYGD66raDkyKXFSNkFN1pHgA/s320/050420121682_b.jpg" height="320" title="African violet leaf cutting" width="320" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">18/03/12</td></tr>
</tbody></table>
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Put them in moist pot soil. The soil shouldn't be too wet, but don't let it dry out either.<br />
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhZsQ78uddwzr-ixxJlg-0JkGl5_kZB2DNhI2OgiSN2WHw711wYeLvHwzpoEpEk7zIg3whyphenhyphenLDB-i6Q-w2TM6N42NumRVOg2H7pPVf4KqEAaUOIZuXnNm6y5q5lSXU0opYR5QpXBdUv4c7c/s1600/050420121683_b.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img alt="" border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhZsQ78uddwzr-ixxJlg-0JkGl5_kZB2DNhI2OgiSN2WHw711wYeLvHwzpoEpEk7zIg3whyphenhyphenLDB-i6Q-w2TM6N42NumRVOg2H7pPVf4KqEAaUOIZuXnNm6y5q5lSXU0opYR5QpXBdUv4c7c/s320/050420121683_b.jpg" height="320" title="leaf cuttings African violets in soil" width="320" /></a></div>
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2-4 weeks later, roots will start to develop at the base of the stalk.<br />
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<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhpCuZ56QxzpTScpktMmIpCarM0etKblVmH4HR36mc52C11iIyOTCfemfU8VHPIZ43gJfXYCWFyXCiENMEEUcq8eCNlQM8DkFaOX_KLn0pp2tk0R7ZSAcgKtcZsHTA5DRMos95tVTEtoX8/s1600/050420121690_b.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img alt="" border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhpCuZ56QxzpTScpktMmIpCarM0etKblVmH4HR36mc52C11iIyOTCfemfU8VHPIZ43gJfXYCWFyXCiENMEEUcq8eCNlQM8DkFaOX_KLn0pp2tk0R7ZSAcgKtcZsHTA5DRMos95tVTEtoX8/s320/050420121690_b.jpg" height="320" title="African violet leaf developing roots" width="320" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">05/04/12</td></tr>
</tbody></table>
<br />Zalimahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/04101606437274917685noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6704075873869917958.post-49915631116645012682012-05-19T20:38:00.001+02:002015-01-10T21:25:51.143+01:00Torchlight 2 beta screenshots<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;">
So I'm lucky enough to be in the torchlight 2 closed beta. And since there's no NDA (NDA are for babies!), I'm free to share whatever I want about it. Maybe I'll write a proper review later, but I can tell you that it is totally awesome. The beta takes about 6 hours to complete and is the first act of the game. There will be 3 acts in the game, plus a 4th boss act, and a lot of end game content.</div>
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhK1Jn5XXUeN3G2UMdpHmXF_yc-p6a2V9EJUc1L7NdT_20Z7yY_R9pKXXdCsd9e7f4vBOjuFCjLBJFdQInzQRdoPtaX0Gvlo8zfy-lmpQr_h4SQLmdXtHe4MtL9mden7293Xx1YwO_XPrE/s1600/Torchlight+2_1.png" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhK1Jn5XXUeN3G2UMdpHmXF_yc-p6a2V9EJUc1L7NdT_20Z7yY_R9pKXXdCsd9e7f4vBOjuFCjLBJFdQInzQRdoPtaX0Gvlo8zfy-lmpQr_h4SQLmdXtHe4MtL9mden7293Xx1YwO_XPrE/s400/Torchlight+2_1.png" height="250" width="400" /></a></div>
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh_NKG_QcWTASyBNhM-h4B_oeDLB-WZ_ZfxlAD6CHIzzLHX8hO3NuNyiKbyzMawldxNvRQBRg_jPExOkeyp9xzHTfvAqY99bgT7Pfj28U2-x6mboAs72k0XhXbUqU_w4rVDXLmseyfywos/s1600/Torchlight+2_11.png" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh_NKG_QcWTASyBNhM-h4B_oeDLB-WZ_ZfxlAD6CHIzzLHX8hO3NuNyiKbyzMawldxNvRQBRg_jPExOkeyp9xzHTfvAqY99bgT7Pfj28U2-x6mboAs72k0XhXbUqU_w4rVDXLmseyfywos/s400/Torchlight+2_11.png" height="250" width="400" /></a></div>
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg79-L4kVQrAe-5qkyY3o28YzAU1-X4frTkwnsWuK8qPrxfo-WRDdoz4nKPdJbu7k9eCdxLWLb4MW9pJ0sPuOddzWXOCcbH2bQV6vbIldFMTNydVf89bL5JUUI4xzaXiHPws3uHZdWtr_4/s1600/Torchlight+2_12.png" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg79-L4kVQrAe-5qkyY3o28YzAU1-X4frTkwnsWuK8qPrxfo-WRDdoz4nKPdJbu7k9eCdxLWLb4MW9pJ0sPuOddzWXOCcbH2bQV6vbIldFMTNydVf89bL5JUUI4xzaXiHPws3uHZdWtr_4/s400/Torchlight+2_12.png" height="250" width="400" /></a></div>
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjhow2aGLN9Xx7lDYKj37dQGpdnF6wbuwxiDu4KYgPCb1RJprOLL9fAXKxhlSMHGcI6C7cLjQnplmpumjv2sL7VhRY_RqCwLSv13JFrZX0DF2VjI-pmy6dg5dkKXmny0Qc2olWwk3DtZxY/s1600/Torchlight+2_13.png" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjhow2aGLN9Xx7lDYKj37dQGpdnF6wbuwxiDu4KYgPCb1RJprOLL9fAXKxhlSMHGcI6C7cLjQnplmpumjv2sL7VhRY_RqCwLSv13JFrZX0DF2VjI-pmy6dg5dkKXmny0Qc2olWwk3DtZxY/s400/Torchlight+2_13.png" height="250" width="400" /></a></div>
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgTkkpVrnlAit7405N0eziJmumH9qbuGTE11y0fBJw0b0wJuoTkpHUDinJX17BX1r2vjyJ-EYBDhBA9X85tt10MljGz6FyzSoQPOBYFI9A64MlTwMHtZcNpp3SqhtOdM7SyzEh4d42pXTM/s1600/Torchlight+2_2.png" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgTkkpVrnlAit7405N0eziJmumH9qbuGTE11y0fBJw0b0wJuoTkpHUDinJX17BX1r2vjyJ-EYBDhBA9X85tt10MljGz6FyzSoQPOBYFI9A64MlTwMHtZcNpp3SqhtOdM7SyzEh4d42pXTM/s400/Torchlight+2_2.png" height="250" width="400" /></a></div>
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiPfZNcjyvSQFpwO_FLFroAxzPigShyphenhyphen_m5Cg4Mjzr6W0TqtGwfNi5zXKoLkDnnjmyt-buKOaK7jF-xANCXyBrel9CqJHBD3RLzS3c_mSi9iRBr6a_THhIfRs3KYoLl9CxVuQkYpE0sxNkg/s1600/Torchlight+2_3.png" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiPfZNcjyvSQFpwO_FLFroAxzPigShyphenhyphen_m5Cg4Mjzr6W0TqtGwfNi5zXKoLkDnnjmyt-buKOaK7jF-xANCXyBrel9CqJHBD3RLzS3c_mSi9iRBr6a_THhIfRs3KYoLl9CxVuQkYpE0sxNkg/s400/Torchlight+2_3.png" height="250" width="400" /></a></div>
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgVgntCtvPmXn7lLUfY_T8V4ZqoP9PIQO0YOUa7Yx0Xn-pG6HqOfSgXx2FZUbkmAOtbOJ0MAUl0tideSfDhn4QuPmvsLxJGHx-ftGEEpWWzvWeOTMl9-M_u7eymwsVQ0lk4Z6lqGzBhU58/s1600/Torchlight+2_4.png" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgVgntCtvPmXn7lLUfY_T8V4ZqoP9PIQO0YOUa7Yx0Xn-pG6HqOfSgXx2FZUbkmAOtbOJ0MAUl0tideSfDhn4QuPmvsLxJGHx-ftGEEpWWzvWeOTMl9-M_u7eymwsVQ0lk4Z6lqGzBhU58/s400/Torchlight+2_4.png" height="250" width="400" /></a></div>
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiue5x_5HveGFhKdKv9KdPnrt9A1h7mgoxU8slbc-U3nBp_-wVz-u0K8MLJxo29zZOgzSsP5N9juFzSHJh2YdWRndCA67k3l9YJdpTgJHMr_r0uHxf8H_PyrUHDVJ_Wdvipidh8ftj3DXE/s1600/Torchlight+2_5.png" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiue5x_5HveGFhKdKv9KdPnrt9A1h7mgoxU8slbc-U3nBp_-wVz-u0K8MLJxo29zZOgzSsP5N9juFzSHJh2YdWRndCA67k3l9YJdpTgJHMr_r0uHxf8H_PyrUHDVJ_Wdvipidh8ftj3DXE/s400/Torchlight+2_5.png" height="250" width="400" /></a></div>
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjYGjQjTvUNRg4Cg8ZQxE2VjPz3AySAP4iemqcXIi7e8IQGhPPWo1xA6Bv_vfz2HxCRoDhL2xtNZ46XyWZ31Ya9BCTSEd27IMhuOU5RIcpBhTLB8I98JFfH0sZNO9JiqY_EnV_JhzkRFtA/s1600/Torchlight+2_7.png" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjYGjQjTvUNRg4Cg8ZQxE2VjPz3AySAP4iemqcXIi7e8IQGhPPWo1xA6Bv_vfz2HxCRoDhL2xtNZ46XyWZ31Ya9BCTSEd27IMhuOU5RIcpBhTLB8I98JFfH0sZNO9JiqY_EnV_JhzkRFtA/s400/Torchlight+2_7.png" height="240" width="400" /></a></div>
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEibaMNGya4AaOte7s8eGdSQwnjghLuUiUCg0DaIE718MsfpxBHwip95gYBL5XxIvaip5ZCKpEPGOFpGhm-7XnhxxBL29Y7fz5-fbLWlrvF6bZK3jQLRyfmGrum_UhBhHrKlk0ngLOQEMLU/s1600/Torchlight+2_8.png" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEibaMNGya4AaOte7s8eGdSQwnjghLuUiUCg0DaIE718MsfpxBHwip95gYBL5XxIvaip5ZCKpEPGOFpGhm-7XnhxxBL29Y7fz5-fbLWlrvF6bZK3jQLRyfmGrum_UhBhHrKlk0ngLOQEMLU/s400/Torchlight+2_8.png" height="240" width="400" /></a></div>
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEizEZiMEs7yoZhyphenhyphenfCdyx89r3dqLtin95lmb3b2eyk3scR6Bz3aDumaG4_HZIZ8xi6rhGzYyoyhcgTFajV1_bIeX9nsOQ62Jr2rzwNazu_Ue_FfXqKunSkrsq1FPvHpdaG8XHB7tPPDV7ts/s1600/Torchlight+2_9.png" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEizEZiMEs7yoZhyphenhyphenfCdyx89r3dqLtin95lmb3b2eyk3scR6Bz3aDumaG4_HZIZ8xi6rhGzYyoyhcgTFajV1_bIeX9nsOQ62Jr2rzwNazu_Ue_FfXqKunSkrsq1FPvHpdaG8XHB7tPPDV7ts/s400/Torchlight+2_9.png" height="240" width="400" /></a></div>
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<span id="goog_433459884"></span><span id="goog_433459885"></span>Zalimahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/04101606437274917685noreply@blogger.com4tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6704075873869917958.post-11125285917502662062012-04-14T22:34:00.002+02:002015-01-11T22:42:33.645+01:00Cheat to max out your Dropbox referral space<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="http://cdn.digitaltrends.com/wp-content/uploads/2011/04/dropbox-logo-large.png" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="http://cdn.digitaltrends.com/wp-content/uploads/2011/04/dropbox-logo-large.png" height="108" width="320" /></a></div>
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I love dropbox. It has really helped me synchronize important files between computers, while making an online backup of everything. But because the 2 gb free space that you get on a basic account isn't enough for me, I've been looking for ways to increase it. Of course there are the normal ways to increase your dropbox space, described <a href="http://adf.ly/w839a">here</a>. You can get 16 gb extra space by referring 32 people, but this is hard to do if you're friendless like me. I found a way to cheat the referral system <a href="http://adf.ly/w83DM">here</a> and <a href="http://adf.ly/w83FF">here</a>. The steps on these pages seem a bit outdated though, so I decided to rewrite it a bit according to my own experiences. Who knows, maybe it can help someone.<br />
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Let me start by saying that if you have friends that could use dropbox, you should really just get them to try it out. If you have the money (and aren't a cheapskate like me), just pay for a pro account. If you're afraid of getting your account banned, don't do this either.<br />
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1. Sign in with your account on dropbox.com. Save your referral link.<br />
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2. Download <a href="http://adf.ly/w83LI">virtualbox</a> and install it.<br />
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3. Download an <a href="http://adf.ly/w83Mv">Ubuntu</a> iso (you can also use any windows or linux iso/cd if you want)<br />
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4. In virtual box manager, create a virtual machine for your ubuntu iso by pressing "New" and following the steps<br />
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5. Start the virtual machine. In the first run wizard, select the ubuntu iso as your installation media. The virtual machine will now load using the ubuntu iso.<br />
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6. On the ubuntu welcome screen, choose "try ubuntu". Ubuntu will now start up.<br />
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7. In ubuntu, open firefox and go to dropbox.com. Download dropbox for ubuntu. (<i>Download -> ubuntu 32 or 64 bit -> open .deb file in ubuntu software center -> in software center, click install</i>)<br />
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8. Run dropbox. On the startup screen, choose "I already have a dropbox account".<br />
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9. Make a snapshot of the current state. (<i>In the virtualbox menu: Machine -> Take Snapshot</i>)<br />
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10. Use your referral link to sign up for a dropbox account. You don't have to use an existing email address to sign up, it will just accept anything that looks like one. You can either do this step in your normal OS or in virtualbox itself.<br />
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11. Enter the email address and password of the account that you just created. Click forward. Now you should've gained 500 mb extra space on your original dropbox account.<br />
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12. Close the virtual box and return it to the snapshot (<i>Machine -> Close -> Power off Machine & select Restore current snapshot</i>)<br />
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13. In the virtualbox manager, start the virtual machine again by pressing start.<br />
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Repeat steps 10-13. It should only take a few minutes per referral, so it's fast enough to do once you've set it up.<br />
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EDIT: As suggested in the comments, you can try a combination of these solutions between every try if it doesn't work for you:<br />
-change the mac address of the virtual machine<br />
-change your IP address<br />
-boot back to the live cd and continue from step 5<br />
<br />
Please stop spamming this post with referral links.<br />
<br />
EDIT2: Maybe you should consider using Copy instead of Dropbox. Copy offers 15 GB of free space and 5 GB per referral. If you sign up using a referral link, you also get 5 GB extra space to start with. Here is <a href="http://adf.ly/w83QI">my referral link</a> if you're interested.Zalimahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/04101606437274917685noreply@blogger.com158tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6704075873869917958.post-69337253360833025162012-02-01T00:51:00.001+01:002012-04-23T05:59:19.831+02:00Tarepanda amigurumiI've always loved tarepanda, the cute lazy panda. Lately, I've started making amigurumi (crochet dolls) and I really wanted to make a tarepanda one. I found the Japanese pattern <a href="http://viyascorner.blogspot.com/2008/09/giant-panda.html">here</a>. At first, the Japanese pattern had me puzzled because I'm a noob at handwork and I had never seen any kind of pattern before, let alone in Japanese. But after reading <a href="http://weloveamigurumi.livejournal.com/434126.html">this guide</a>, it all makes sense to me. There seem to be some people that want this pattern written out in English though, so I'll do my best to write it out. If you see any mistakes or have suggestions, let me know so I can improve it.<br />
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjOXMAe8W6xMRZ-E4g2PEFvJI40DQbmXrESCGLtVeA4ruRHuQZCbeL-1toMMLHsoUavgiqE-LOZLSape-wt2c6q0MVYSyv_j5CdH0HeQj8LjpVm_YYZwwJlSm5RhTJ3Lsmy2fgu_t9N36I/s1600/tarepanda.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img alt="" border="0" height="240" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjOXMAe8W6xMRZ-E4g2PEFvJI40DQbmXrESCGLtVeA4ruRHuQZCbeL-1toMMLHsoUavgiqE-LOZLSape-wt2c6q0MVYSyv_j5CdH0HeQj8LjpVm_YYZwwJlSm5RhTJ3Lsmy2fgu_t9N36I/s320/tarepanda.jpg" title="tarepanda amigurumi" width="320" /></a></div>
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhP81Fk4rdEOJ5F5HiHhE5UtYzgXecmiHE9oXXG-VpuEv_TUFbUPgwTOfuuCbAGTTKrJ4j77wLBcELiwUZKWWjPQUKD3yz-W-EfMTDw1b9aKQi86Jx3yDcqiaJRDqInAXUzv_bEqGj2mpk/s1600/tarepanda2.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img alt="" border="0" height="239" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhP81Fk4rdEOJ5F5HiHhE5UtYzgXecmiHE9oXXG-VpuEv_TUFbUPgwTOfuuCbAGTTKrJ4j77wLBcELiwUZKWWjPQUKD3yz-W-EfMTDw1b9aKQi86Jx3yDcqiaJRDqInAXUzv_bEqGj2mpk/s320/tarepanda2.jpg" title="tarepanda amigurumi" width="320" /></a></div>
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You'll need white and black wool for this. Everything that should be black is highlighted in black, the rest is white. In the Japanese pattern, every round was joined with a slip stitch, but I didn't do that because it didn't seem necessary. You only really have to use slip stitch to join in the two round before you switch between colors in the body or it will look odd, so I wrote that in my pattern.<br />
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<b>Explanation of terms used</b><br />
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Ch = chain<br />
Circle = magic circle<br />
Sc = single crochet<br />
Sc-increase = increase single crochet<br />
Sc-decrease = decrease single crochet<br />
Dc = double crochet<br />
<span style="background-color: white;">Dc-triple = 3 double crochets inserted in the same stitch</span><br />
Half-Dc = half double crochet<br />
<span style="background-color: white;">Half-Dc-increase = two half double crochets inserted in the same stitch</span><br />
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<b>Head</b><br />
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<span style="background-color: white;">Ch 14</span><br />
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<span style="background-color: white;">1) 30x Sc (14 on each side of the chain and 1 extra at both ends) = 30</span></div>
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<span style="background-color: white;">2) Sc-increase, 12x Sc, 3x Sc-increase, 12x Sc, 2x Sc-increase = 36</span></div>
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<span style="background-color: white;">3) Sc-increase, 13x Sc, 2x (Sc-increase, Sc), Sc-increase, 13x Sc, 2x (Sc-increase, Sc) = 42</span></div>
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<span style="background-color: white;">4) 2x Sc, Sc-increase, 14x Sc, 2x (Sc-increase, 2x Sc), Sc-increase, 14x Sc, Sc-increase, 2x Sc, Sc-increase = 48</span></div>
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<span style="background-color: white;">5) 48x Sc = 48</span></div>
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<span style="background-color: white;">6) Sc-increase, 15x Sc, 2x (Sc-increase, 3x Sc), Sc-increase, 15x Sc, 2x (Sc-increase, 3x Sc) = 54</span></div>
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<span style="background-color: white;">7) - 8) 54x Sc = 54</span></div>
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<span style="background-color: white;">9) 2x Sc, Sc-increase, 16x Sc, 2x (Sc-increase, 4x Sc), Sc-increase, 16x Sc, Sc-increase, 4x Sc, Sc-increase, 2x Sc = 60</span><br />
<span style="background-color: white;">10) - 14) 60 Sc = 60</span><br />
<span style="background-color: white;">15) 4x Sc, Sc-decrease, 16x Sc, 2x (Sc-decrease, 4x Sc), Sc-decrease, 16x Sc, Sc-decrease, 4x Sc, Sc-decrease = 54</span><br />
<span style="background-color: white;">16) 3x Sc, Sc-decrease, 15x Sc, 2x (Sc-decrease, 3x Sc), Sc-decrease, 15x Sc, Sc-decrease, 3x Sc, Sc-decrease = 48</span><br />
<span style="background-color: white;">17) 2x Sc, Sc-decrease, 14x Sc, 2x (Sc-decrease, 2x Sc), Sc-decrease, 14x Sc, Sc-decrease, 2x Sc, Sc-decrease = 42</span><br />
<span style="background-color: white;">18) Sc, Sc-decrease, 13x Sc, 2x (Sc-decrease, Sc), Sc-decrease, 13x Sc, Sc-decrease, Sc, Sc-decrease = 36</span><br />
<span style="background-color: white;">19) Sc-decrease, 12x Sc, 3x Sc-decrease, 12x Sc, 2x Sc-decrease = 30</span><br />
<span style="background-color: white;">20) Sc-decrease, 11x Sc, 2x Sc-decrease, 11x Sc, Sc-decrease = 26</span><br />
Sew the head closed<br />
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<b>Body</b><br />
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<span style="background-color: white;">Ch 12</span><br />
<span style="background-color: white;">1) Sc 26 (12 on each side and 1 extra on each end) = 26</span><br />
<span style="background-color: white;">2) Sc-increase, 10x Sc, 3x Sc-increase, 10x Sc, 2x Sc-increase = 32</span><br />
<span style="background-color: white;">3) Sc-increase, Sc, 3x half-Dc, 4x Dc, 3x half-Dc, Sc, Sc-increase, half-Dc-increase, Dc-triple, half-Dc-increase, 12x Sc, half-Dc-increase, Dc-triple, half-Dc-increase = 42</span><br />
<span style="background-color: white;">4) 2x half-Dc, half-Dc-increase, 3x half-Dc, 4x Dc, 3x half-Dc, half-Dc-increase, 2x half-Dc, Sc-increase, 2x Sc, Sc-increase, 18x Sc, Sc-increase, 2x Sc, Sc-increase = 48</span><br />
<span style="background-color: white;">5) 6x (Sc-increase, 7x Sc) = 54</span><br />
<span style="background-color: white;">6) - 10) 54 Sc = 54</span><br />
<span style="background-color: white;">11) 6x (7x Sc, Sc-decrease) = 48</span><br />
<span style="background-color: white;">12) - 14) 48 Sc = 48</span><br />
<span style="background-color: white;">15) 6x (6x Sc, Sc-decrease) = 42</span><br />
<span style="background-color: white;">16) - 17) 42 Sc = 42</span><br />
<span style="background-color: white;">18) Sc-decrease, 4x Sc, 2x(Sc-decrease, 5x Sc), Sc-decrease, 4x Sc, Sc-decrease, Sc,</span> <span style="background-color: black;"><span style="color: white;">6x Sc</span></span>, <span style="background-color: white;">Sc-decrease, 5x Sc, join with slip stitch = 36</span><br />
<span style="background-color: white;">19) 23x Sc,</span><span style="color: white;"><span style="background-color: white;"> </span><span style="background-color: black;">8x Sc</span></span><span style="background-color: white;">, 5x Sc, join with slip stitch = 36</span><br />
<span style="background-color: black; color: white;">20) 36 Sc = 36</span><br />
<span style="background-color: black; color: white;">21) 6x (4x Sc; Sc-decrease) = 30</span><br />
<span style="background-color: black; color: white;">22) 30 x Sc = 30</span><br />
<span style="background-color: white;"><br />The extra black in 18) and 19) should be in the middle of the tummy. When I made my panda, this didn't work out, so you might have to adjust the pattern a little so it's in the middle.</span><br />
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<span style="background-color: white;"><b>Arm </b>(make 2)</span><span style="background-color: black; color: white;"><br /></span><br />
<span style="background-color: black; color: white;">Circle 6</span><br />
<span style="background-color: black; color: white;">1) 3x (Sc-increase, Sc) = 9</span><br />
<span style="background-color: black; color: white;">2) 3x (Sc-increase, 2x Sc) = 12</span><br />
<span style="background-color: black; color: white;">3) - 7) 12 Sc = 12</span><br />
<span style="background-color: white;"><br /><b>Leg</b></span><span style="background-color: white;"> (make 2)</span><br />
<span style="background-color: black;"><span style="color: white;">Circle 6</span></span><br />
<span style="background-color: black; color: white;">1) 3x (Sc-increase, Sc) = 9</span><br />
<span style="background-color: black;"><span style="color: white;">2) 9x Sc = 9</span></span><br />
<span style="background-color: black;"><span style="color: white;">3) 3x (Sc-increase, 2x Sc) = 12</span></span><br />
<span style="background-color: black;"><span style="color: white;">4) 12x Sc = 12</span></span><br />
<span style="background-color: black;"><span style="color: white;">5) 3x (Sc-increase, 3x Sc) = 15</span></span><br />
<span style="background-color: black;"><span style="color: white;">6) 3x (Sc-increase, 4x Sc) = 18</span></span><br />
<span style="background-color: white;"><br /><b>Ear </b></span><span style="background-color: white;">(make 2)</span><br />
<span style="background-color: black; color: white;">Circle 6</span><br />
<span style="background-color: black; color: white;">1) 6x Sc-increase = 12</span><br />
<span style="background-color: black; color: white;">2) - 3) 12x Sc = 12</span><br />
<span style="background-color: white; text-align: left;"><br /><b>Tail</b></span><br />
<span style="background-color: black; text-align: left;"><br /><span style="color: white;">Circle 6</span></span><br />
<span style="background-color: black; color: white; text-align: left;">1) 6x Sc-increase = 12</span><br />
<span style="background-color: black; color: white; text-align: left;">2) 12x Sc = 12</span><br />
<span style="background-color: white; text-align: left;"><br /></span><br />
<span style="background-color: white; text-align: left;">Attach the head to the body; the slit where you closed the head should be on the bottom. Then you can attach the arms, legs, ears and tail. Finally, you can make the eyes out of black and white felt and glue them on. Look at the following images for reference. You can print</span><span style="background-color: white; text-align: left;"> </span><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiFLNeXMHVqTDxr0NWNEFoz1Iy8ETCm1F_-nAoETD73TZyPC2rN7uBsViAwSiniYQtB4utxI_aYKMKbcapnOw641_-V9YUYgszt2wgpRv7FOiwf4XtJrzP02tgBLwc_Lya5MH-f6-Z4ELA/s800/p53.jpg" style="background-color: white; text-align: left;">this</a><span style="background-color: white; text-align: left;"> </span><span style="background-color: white; text-align: left;">on an A4 paper to get the shape of the eyes right.</span><br />
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<span style="background-color: white;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj1EZzzzbQhNAmG3WjIA63tphXO-i_cU6XxAsdb1IxrfagxrJjrPk0V_IiMcCJqj1dOo7om54bGzVRULnd8vbM37gr4L9qosRhrzeJ8n7CmTdyHz_UjOG2dELRRQW64Oc-O7TNTcIRumWI/s1600/tarepanda.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><span style="background-color: white;"><br /></span></a></span></div>
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<span style="background-color: white;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj1EZzzzbQhNAmG3WjIA63tphXO-i_cU6XxAsdb1IxrfagxrJjrPk0V_IiMcCJqj1dOo7om54bGzVRULnd8vbM37gr4L9qosRhrzeJ8n7CmTdyHz_UjOG2dELRRQW64Oc-O7TNTcIRumWI/s1600/tarepanda.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><span style="background-color: white;"><br /></span></a></span></div>
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</span></div>Zalimahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/04101606437274917685noreply@blogger.com32tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6704075873869917958.post-20305209965467501382011-11-16T19:54:00.001+01:002012-04-15T13:25:35.076+02:00java fern plantletsSo my java ferns are starting to produce little plantlets on their leaves. I don't know whether this is a last attempt to get some offspring before they die, or because they are flourishing in my aquarium and are thus healthy enough to produce offspring. They do have some brown spots on their leaves, but apparently that's normal for java fern, so I don't know...<br />
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For now, I'm just happy to have baby plants and hopefully I'll be able to pluck them off the mother plant soon, so I can try to plant them.<br />
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<br />Zalimahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/04101606437274917685noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6704075873869917958.post-51301339598604969302011-10-31T20:29:00.000+01:002012-04-15T16:40:05.380+02:00virtual lifeI'm a real sucker for artificial life games, although it seems like no one makes them anymore. My favorite game of all time is Creatures 2. It had 3 species of creatures: the cute Norns, the industrious Ettins and the dangerous Grendels. Each individual creature has it's own digital DNA, with genes that control their biochemistry, organs, brains and appearance.<br />
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<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="http://secondpersonshooter.files.wordpress.com/2010/08/norn3.jpg?w=374&h=249" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img alt="" border="0" height="213" src="http://secondpersonshooter.files.wordpress.com/2010/08/norn3.jpg?w=374&h=249" title="creatures 2 ettin, grendel, norn" width="320" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Creatures 2 Ettin, Grendel and Norn</td></tr>
</tbody></table>
Raising Norns was a challenge, they were very dumb and hard to keep alive. It wasn't uncommon for a Norn to die of starvation, surrounded by cheese blocks, and me telling it to "EAT FOOD", damnit. But all those hardships made it so much more rewarding. They lived in a world that had an interesting ecosystem: plants, insects and animals that lived their own life cycle, independent of what the player is doing, though you could also influence them. There was a splice machine, vulcano, oceans, deserts... I loved this game so much that I started working on my own Norn breed, which looked like red squirrels, although I never finished it.<br />
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiZlFdq6z43rjZ8S1vjZVEVhWuDEitKsEoQYpxiDHoAgrs8oiuYdRyA9ZwKSguwBKiR95MBE3yVoSmfYq60z3cG5XzoiBz4_ED4qdyS1Pnmj1ISc89_yn7m2DjIEtLNacFR1kef0AvUFu0/s1600/meet+b-g.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img alt="" border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiZlFdq6z43rjZ8S1vjZVEVhWuDEitKsEoQYpxiDHoAgrs8oiuYdRyA9ZwKSguwBKiR95MBE3yVoSmfYq60z3cG5XzoiBz4_ED4qdyS1Pnmj1ISc89_yn7m2DjIEtLNacFR1kef0AvUFu0/s1600/meet+b-g.jpg" title="creatures 2 squirrel norn breed" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">my own Norn breed</td></tr>
</tbody></table>
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Now, it's about 10 years ago that the last creatures game was released. The docking station servers are down, downloadable content is no longer available, none of the games work properly on the newer operating systems anymore...the games are truly dead. And there haven't been any new games in the artificial life genre that I know of. It seems to be a niche that no one cares about, and no one wants to develop games for. It's such a wide, open field, with a lot of possibilities...It's a shame. I wish that I was a programmer, so I could develop my own artificial life form.<br />
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Currently, a new Creatures game, Creatures 4, is being developed by the Belgian indie game studio Fishing Cactus. I've never heard of them, but I hope that they'll do a good job. The game should be released early 2012.<br />
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<a href="http://www.dealspwn.com/writer/wordpress/wp-content/uploads/2011/08/4828CREATURES4_teaser_600x400-540x360.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img alt="" border="0" height="213" src="http://www.dealspwn.com/writer/wordpress/wp-content/uploads/2011/08/4828CREATURES4_teaser_600x400-540x360.jpg" title="creatures 4" width="320" /></a></div>
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The graphics look very simplistic and colorful. This isn't necessarily a bad thing, but I just hope that it's not an indication that the rest of the game will be simple, childish and lax any complexity. The Norns look so different from all the previous games. They just aren't cute. Their eyes are too small, and they look like little trolls. On top of that, there won't be any Ettins and Grendels in this game. I just hope that they don't downgrade the importance of ecology, biochemistry and genetics, which were very present in the previous games. I'm a little concerned because only genetic feature that I've heard them talk about in their interviews is colour... Let's hope that they didn't dumb it down to just that.</div>
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<a href="http://i.fokzine.net/upload/11/09/110908_174027_creatures-4-1314452664-3.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img alt="" border="0" height="180" src="http://i.fokzine.net/upload/11/09/110908_174027_creatures-4-1314452664-3.jpg" title="creatures 4" width="320" /></a></div>
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After I found out about the new Creatures game, I started playing Creatures 3 again. Boy, what I've seen of Creatures 4 looks very bad compared to it predecessor. But there's another type of virtual life being developed that looks a lot more promising...<a href="http://www.kickstarter.com/projects/1508284443/grandroids-real-artificial-life-on-your-pc">Grandroids!</a><br />
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<a href="http://i3.photobucket.com/albums/y58/don21a/Grandroid.png" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img alt="" border="0" height="257" src="http://i3.photobucket.com/albums/y58/don21a/Grandroid.png" title="grandroids steve grand" width="320" /></a></div>
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This is a new game/research project of Steve Grand, the person that was responsible for making the artificial life engine used in the Creatures series. It will have real virtual alien life forms that can live in a virtual world.<br />
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I'm not talking about a computer game designed to simulate lifelike behavior; I mean genuine artificial life. I mean virtual creatures constructed from complex networks of virtual brain cells and biochemical reactions and genes. They'll learn things for themselves and have their own thoughts. I don't program them to behave in a certain way - they make their own decisions. If they get sick it will be because something has disturbed the delicate balance of their biochemistry, and remedies must be discovered that can rebalance it. If they evolve new traits or suffer from unknown hereditary diseases it'll be because nature has taken its course, not because it's part of the plot. If you conclude that they're conscious, thinking, feeling beings then it won't be because I've somehow fooled you. I'm not here to fool you; I'm here to celebrate the beauty and complexity of life with you...I think I have the key to an artificial life form that can actually think. Norns could react but they couldn’t think – they couldn’t make plans, have hopes or intentions, dream dreams, learn physical skills, etc. Higher consciousness can’t exist without an imagination either. It remains to be seen how smart they actually prove to be but they’ll certainly be much more realistic than the norns in lots of ways and hopefully a lot more fun to look after.</blockquote>
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Seriously, that stuff is so interesting. He's a computer scientist and life philosopher, and what he's basically doing is being a God, creating new life that lives in a virtual world... And by doing something like that, you can learn a great deal about what life is really about. It's a different approach than scientists use in the lab; instead of researching life that's already there, making life of your own. Both ways will teach you a great deal about life forms.<br />
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These games are a perfect mixture between fun and educational for me. They stimulate my mind in many ways.<br />
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If you want to read more about Grandroids: <a href="http://stevegrand.wordpress.com/2011/03/02/grandroids-faq/">faq</a>, <a href="http://interview/">interview</a>, <a href="http://www.kickstarter.com/projects/1508284443/grandroids-real-artificial-life-on-your-pc">kickstarter</a>Zalimahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/04101606437274917685noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6704075873869917958.post-51019274664612921112011-10-25T16:42:00.000+02:002011-10-30T16:43:17.141+01:00ordering jewelry on ebayOne of my newest discoveries: there is cheap jewelry for sale on ebay. For about $1-3, you can buy very nice and fashionable necklaces, including free shipping from China. Sometimes they look a bit different than in the ebay photo, but only minor differences and they always look nice.<br />
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Some examples of things that I bought:<br />
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhrCdNzQ2zWw3sGxxV4UTxmWF49kBG8EcwRbVmAaTTd-beVoDHYsVA7xuhKUpqVsgLh8YsR9QaebfuDGAaC5dDUag3Il2EpU1v7Xn1xACO4hOtkOqFH2zcEOTZ69tLMwmvd7O6zdt4nonM/s1600/IMGP4905.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="212" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhrCdNzQ2zWw3sGxxV4UTxmWF49kBG8EcwRbVmAaTTd-beVoDHYsVA7xuhKUpqVsgLh8YsR9QaebfuDGAaC5dDUag3Il2EpU1v7Xn1xACO4hOtkOqFH2zcEOTZ69tLMwmvd7O6zdt4nonM/s320/IMGP4905.JPG" width="320" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">owl; the colors looked less intense on the <a href="http://i52.tinypic.com/2i91ra8.jpg">ebay picture</a></td></tr>
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<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgeT4ETn3AJGML6L8HXiMaFix0mJAeSUTGZs9SmhlskefxxC-nb8KQFq_ZL4HeVt5Gc9NVSP4B3nWiK38Iz4M3NtEWJ4gqULKHtrqMElTVgexON3dGScdTOCHH_k9SL0EdlyqvmjS48uec/s1600/IMGP4903.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="213" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgeT4ETn3AJGML6L8HXiMaFix0mJAeSUTGZs9SmhlskefxxC-nb8KQFq_ZL4HeVt5Gc9NVSP4B3nWiK38Iz4M3NtEWJ4gqULKHtrqMElTVgexON3dGScdTOCHH_k9SL0EdlyqvmjS48uec/s320/IMGP4903.JPG" width="320" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">another owl; it had white diamond eyes on the <a href="http://i53.tinypic.com/sgoizp.jpg">ebay picture</a> though</td></tr>
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<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjRoTxMz3Sa9ETB_6x5QU7ymRrjFhScqOxP1viqmOTJDqVh243jcUt5A9-YNX3_SKazQ503mnn7IsMp4wTMKiR9pgV1S_OKEY8xRbKno96rqRRXO8r53TdMC_7B4057HsnzHBD-O8ENdig/s1600/IMGP4904.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="213" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjRoTxMz3Sa9ETB_6x5QU7ymRrjFhScqOxP1viqmOTJDqVh243jcUt5A9-YNX3_SKazQ503mnn7IsMp4wTMKiR9pgV1S_OKEY8xRbKno96rqRRXO8r53TdMC_7B4057HsnzHBD-O8ENdig/s320/IMGP4904.JPG" width="320" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">octopus</td></tr>
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<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjzTE6qXvZOw6_MksdNGhMh7bwivC_ruoc8WVkOoj1OsE1yuTJYJZivvhNfKSZQNMX2dutM1FkX3k9kjg5ssJydHB25pemJaKmkr5TJCHJ8cSNKjcGUuiM15D5LdbjGvfXFQmlKNEUiFj4/s1600/IMGP4906.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="212" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjzTE6qXvZOw6_MksdNGhMh7bwivC_ruoc8WVkOoj1OsE1yuTJYJZivvhNfKSZQNMX2dutM1FkX3k9kjg5ssJydHB25pemJaKmkr5TJCHJ8cSNKjcGUuiM15D5LdbjGvfXFQmlKNEUiFj4/s320/IMGP4906.JPG" width="320" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">eaten apple</td></tr>
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</div>Zalimahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/04101606437274917685noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6704075873869917958.post-7124124597815831962011-10-23T23:14:00.003+02:002012-04-15T16:41:26.584+02:00aquarium updateI added 3 more Endlers, so now I have 9. I think that I'll add 2-3 more, and that should be enough. I really don't want to overstock.<br />
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhs4FtRMOWLdrrDBX0jHxVW-Prk83eNYUq_O5sTjZPRmLG1JmU752ZqnWz243-1mTwXzc2K3DsjFh9fggc2blXzERNmty8ktp3WCQlgzfcqdIb0D042mALxztgEqDv-CvxcHJyMJiDFCV0/s1600/P1030840+%2528Medium%2529.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img alt="" border="0" height="240" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhs4FtRMOWLdrrDBX0jHxVW-Prk83eNYUq_O5sTjZPRmLG1JmU752ZqnWz243-1mTwXzc2K3DsjFh9fggc2blXzERNmty8ktp3WCQlgzfcqdIb0D042mALxztgEqDv-CvxcHJyMJiDFCV0/s320/P1030840+%2528Medium%2529.JPG" title="Endler's livebearer" width="320" /></a></div>
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh1Sz_YGHV_YGWphmIaYxzQ-Dt9MJH2ZnTJVA38wS1teqGLE-XhPFvG9f3keew_-_uFUx-R75g7t_7GGZvJFOmySOTpIEhTmWSmixb87-xLOn0Ov0p_ab38to7OyI2qVpZNctMXCBiqCJ0/s1600/P1030842+%2528Medium%2529.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img alt="" border="0" height="240" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh1Sz_YGHV_YGWphmIaYxzQ-Dt9MJH2ZnTJVA38wS1teqGLE-XhPFvG9f3keew_-_uFUx-R75g7t_7GGZvJFOmySOTpIEhTmWSmixb87-xLOn0Ov0p_ab38to7OyI2qVpZNctMXCBiqCJ0/s320/P1030842+%2528Medium%2529.JPG" title="Endler's livebearer" width="320" /></a></div>
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I've also added 2 red ramshorn snails to the tank. They add some extra colour and life, but..they also proliferate like crazy.<br />
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhc1p-BptJorR0hh5tj4Fr5BclSMPoM7Ld0zslOBwSvcFEH-uh7T3mm3QkAcuHY2i2RQWbO6irh0gSEQhzTHhsSXBIuWpJDBpvkx1G-DBAeHsFm2D98bCpRS1vd-3eK5VQtwtFNKGC4vs0/s1600/P1030742+%2528Medium%2529.JPG" imageanchor="1"><img alt="" border="0" height="240" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhc1p-BptJorR0hh5tj4Fr5BclSMPoM7Ld0zslOBwSvcFEH-uh7T3mm3QkAcuHY2i2RQWbO6irh0gSEQhzTHhsSXBIuWpJDBpvkx1G-DBAeHsFm2D98bCpRS1vd-3eK5VQtwtFNKGC4vs0/s320/P1030742+%2528Medium%2529.JPG" title="red ramshorn snail" width="320" /></a></div>
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhAmy3VQOJkBE0MsDjz7oL7DvL1SZlM4yfDPwQivoF4YbCaU8dTKjMEXbv8UIo5dIetbg0PZOFNzcLSJv_z0q0AynDDM6lhzKaco8EXKZDdzno0zEJgWmjwxTK0iT1gMs0Bww9P5h6D160/s1600/P1030849+%2528Medium%2529.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img alt="" border="0" height="240" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhAmy3VQOJkBE0MsDjz7oL7DvL1SZlM4yfDPwQivoF4YbCaU8dTKjMEXbv8UIo5dIetbg0PZOFNzcLSJv_z0q0AynDDM6lhzKaco8EXKZDdzno0zEJgWmjwxTK0iT1gMs0Bww9P5h6D160/s320/P1030849+%2528Medium%2529.JPG" title="red ramshorn snail eggs" width="320" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Ramshorn snail eggs on the glass. They almost exclusively lay<br />
eggs on the plants, though.</td></tr>
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjnqnGTukt7Dk3o0sTHZ9l1RUDA-V4UUzJXzfy3kmRbb5u12l0cmyFtY5KeMD1y1Mo_oIGeN1OV8SaCc4Inr90xEKsvcjC5t1eatPbt-6ptAv6Hr0iucDCAZZ1j0WOR-rjRAWwXGAP6FQE/s1600/P1030890+%2528Medium%2529.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img alt="" border="0" height="240" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjnqnGTukt7Dk3o0sTHZ9l1RUDA-V4UUzJXzfy3kmRbb5u12l0cmyFtY5KeMD1y1Mo_oIGeN1OV8SaCc4Inr90xEKsvcjC5t1eatPbt-6ptAv6Hr0iucDCAZZ1j0WOR-rjRAWwXGAP6FQE/s320/P1030890+%2528Medium%2529.JPG" title="red ramshorn snails" width="320" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">This is how big the babies are, 3 weeks after I put the parents in the tank. <br />
They sure do grow fast.</td></tr>
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I also have small pond snails that probably came with my plants. I've started removing all the snail eggs that I can see from my tank, so I don't get a snail plague. But because I also feel bad about just throwing the eggs away, so I put them in a cup next to my window with <i>salvina natans</i> in it and give them small pieces of vegetable as food. I'm hoping that they will start proliferating less rapidly. If not, I'm thinking that I should get one of those cool assasin snails (<i>Anentome helena</i>). Would surely make things more interesting, but I'm not sure that my aquarium is big enough to keep one fed without completely destroying my population of other snails. </div>
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The mondo grass was starting to look bad, so I took it out of my aquarium and planted it with my sanseveria's. As compensation, I added a moss ball to my aquarium. They seem pretty neat, because they are actually algae, they should prevent other algae from growing by competing with them for nutrients. I've also read that fish sometimes nibble on it, which could help them survive the weekends, when I can't feed them.</div>
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjl4zsR0xAr_iJxQymvFXgGgGRFSfgxEnt_useXGvrywE0UptLmiNucOJOyfNAKn867SLVQeuMax1h6fi9dj0XPRHwk6O8rypJRmwNS78uu3uTstul7fxvyXkCxeQ7xoqnC_RKDT9fBcTM/s1600/P1030924+%2528Medium%2529.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img alt="" border="0" height="240" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjl4zsR0xAr_iJxQymvFXgGgGRFSfgxEnt_useXGvrywE0UptLmiNucOJOyfNAKn867SLVQeuMax1h6fi9dj0XPRHwk6O8rypJRmwNS78uu3uTstul7fxvyXkCxeQ7xoqnC_RKDT9fBcTM/s320/P1030924+%2528Medium%2529.JPG" title="aquarium" width="320" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">My aquarium as it is now. Note the moss ball (right).</td></tr>
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As floating plants, I have <i>salvina natans</i>, duckweed and some unknown plant. I got the latter two from the water in which my Endlers were transported. They all seem to be thriving in my aquarium and have grown quite a bit.<br />
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiPeXjnTgt2jT9aRy-adRqLb-mQDXdltCouH_6U7h-2sXobu1M8_mN6fdnGmfz-vn53bBGuxIO_DvTaFIQ11QucMN11vGejrcQnm7iM1Eh4I-Yfm2Hk95s8r1MX99RR1OEvmfgzo3rWsGw/s1600/P1030932+%2528Medium%2529.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img alt="" border="0" height="240" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiPeXjnTgt2jT9aRy-adRqLb-mQDXdltCouH_6U7h-2sXobu1M8_mN6fdnGmfz-vn53bBGuxIO_DvTaFIQ11QucMN11vGejrcQnm7iM1Eh4I-Yfm2Hk95s8r1MX99RR1OEvmfgzo3rWsGw/s320/P1030932+%2528Medium%2529.JPG" title="salvina natans in aquarium" width="320" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Top view of my aquarium</td></tr>
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<span id="goog_1549956101"></span><span id="goog_1549956102"></span>Zalimahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/04101606437274917685noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6704075873869917958.post-66343484567952611292011-10-22T23:40:00.004+02:002012-04-15T13:23:46.926+02:00A song of ice and fire<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;">
About a month ago, I ordered a boxed set of the first 4 books of George R. R. Martin's series "A song of ice and fire" on amazon.de. I did this after watching the HBO series "A game of thrones", of which the first season is based on the first book. The TV series was very good, so I decided to give the books a try, after reading a few chapters online first.</div>
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By now, I've read the first book and I must say that George R. R. Martin writes very well. The story is very intriguing, and although I already knew what was going to happen because I watched the TV series, it was still a good read. </div>
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg45wESktc_NwAptEmJ4HBrhOCaUICnR9W89cY9YZDq7YRZJjLhOpjT58gqoKt8FBydaYoH9fCIxbG4gfLyUTRbmArS5aP8UMEFUPKC9t74dGrpeThHw2pwHbcqILQDEcKzJvoneL9FCVQ/s1600/IMGP4922.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img alt="" border="0" height="213" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg45wESktc_NwAptEmJ4HBrhOCaUICnR9W89cY9YZDq7YRZJjLhOpjT58gqoKt8FBydaYoH9fCIxbG4gfLyUTRbmArS5aP8UMEFUPKC9t74dGrpeThHw2pwHbcqILQDEcKzJvoneL9FCVQ/s320/IMGP4922.JPG" title="A song of ice and fire boxed set amazon" width="320" /></a></div>
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgrtMW2zfXEGICfwzOZVm8WpM4BgQfxqWaQtObanIpNOusog_0wA-OL_V9vIwBBClYWsAuUY11V-kjSvll1D_fA0hMo1iPlbpQNTDxYF-h1ahxjlWEnPEzMotY-IkHCjHM-FUwPGYPiZqA/s1600/IMGP4924.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img alt="" border="0" height="213" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgrtMW2zfXEGICfwzOZVm8WpM4BgQfxqWaQtObanIpNOusog_0wA-OL_V9vIwBBClYWsAuUY11V-kjSvll1D_fA0hMo1iPlbpQNTDxYF-h1ahxjlWEnPEzMotY-IkHCjHM-FUwPGYPiZqA/s320/IMGP4924.JPG" title="A song of ice and fire boxed set amazon" width="320" /></a></div>
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjB-wjNkq_v5xdyZX_P-oimB-eEulF9iboVhX-_0X5s50ieiHgdi8BiGis5eV0_GySczIfCkib7KaK6AFkmo8vS43GcARutlUXY2S93Cc-N7UNz3ZdyDTCqSslXTCKgtIrVBHG4KvFcMwY/s1600/IMGP4926.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img alt="" border="0" height="213" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjB-wjNkq_v5xdyZX_P-oimB-eEulF9iboVhX-_0X5s50ieiHgdi8BiGis5eV0_GySczIfCkib7KaK6AFkmo8vS43GcARutlUXY2S93Cc-N7UNz3ZdyDTCqSslXTCKgtIrVBHG4KvFcMwY/s320/IMGP4926.JPG" title="A song of ice and fire boxed set amazon" width="320" /></a></div>
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Before buying the boxed set, I was pondering for weeks whether to buy it or not. Mostly, I was worried about the quality of the print. I had read some reviews saying that the cover breaks easily, the paper being too thin and the print too small. But I finally decided that it was worth the risk of paying €15 for about 3500 pages to read. (Damn, just checked and they sell it for €13 now! I feel so ripped off...)</div>
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So, I'm posting this review to help other crazy people like me decide to buy it. I really am crazy in this aspect, I looked at any review I could find, photos of every detail. These pictures were taken today, after I read the first book. I took it with me on the train, bus, on the plane to Africa and it even survived the horrible mess that was my suitcase while I stayed in the middle of the Kruger park. You can see that the edges have a bit of damage, there's also a crack in the middle of the spine. But those things are very minor and don't bother me at all. The print is fine and the paper is thin, like other reviewers said, but still it's easy enough to read. All in all, I think it's very good value for the small price that I paid for it and I'm looking forward to reading the second book.</div>
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhtOA3PxfFWtKBLrdTCK9to4DkiEa4BL-hine4Nm9yTFGiWBuJTcNT7_n7Lt2JCiXhwHrwY98eS00j82BvwEZSSFe4Czni4SvyhMalBiKJytxfH3fcKCzZozroG23yfSiMzgWJERXXKXhI/s1600/IMGP4911.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img alt="" border="0" height="213" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhtOA3PxfFWtKBLrdTCK9to4DkiEa4BL-hine4Nm9yTFGiWBuJTcNT7_n7Lt2JCiXhwHrwY98eS00j82BvwEZSSFe4Czni4SvyhMalBiKJytxfH3fcKCzZozroG23yfSiMzgWJERXXKXhI/s320/IMGP4911.JPG" title="A game of thrones paperback book" width="320" /></a></div>
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiwjsrnz8jcwmaRFqAXgRWbgritdaRJqUGJE5m6v1PI4_zpWd6PQSAn08ARC1oucPB7nq9ENv-HOIcgCBpW_LgaKud7Ge-hHpzTq0p8Xr1dSsu2KBCSZQDlvdwKL0T7LjWb-P-_ne04fvU/s1600/IMGP4918.JPG" imageanchor="1"><img alt="" border="0" height="213" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiwjsrnz8jcwmaRFqAXgRWbgritdaRJqUGJE5m6v1PI4_zpWd6PQSAn08ARC1oucPB7nq9ENv-HOIcgCBpW_LgaKud7Ge-hHpzTq0p8Xr1dSsu2KBCSZQDlvdwKL0T7LjWb-P-_ne04fvU/s320/IMGP4918.JPG" title="A game of thrones paperback print" width="320" /></a></div>
<br />Zalimahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/04101606437274917685noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6704075873869917958.post-70194165038116726612011-09-27T16:35:00.000+02:002012-04-15T16:41:55.710+02:00and then there was lifeI decided that it was time to add fish to my aquarium. Because my aquarium is only 37 liters (10 gallons), it's best to keep smaller fish. I was thinking of <i>Boraras brigittae</i>, Endler's Livebearer and Ember Tetra. After reading up about these fish a bit, Endler's Livebearers seem to be the hardiest, which makes them a good choice for me. This is my first aquarium ever, so I'll probably do a lot of things wrong. On top of that, this is a dorm aquarium, so they'll have to survive weekends without feeding and getting moved over the breaks. I already feel bad for my fish, heh. If I go for Endlers, I'd have to get all males because they breed like crazy and I don't have any idea of what to do with all the babies.<br />
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After visiting several local fish stores, I found one that sold Endlers, but they didn't look very pure. They all had different colours and patterns, so they were probably hybrids that had been crossed with guppies. And they were very expensive. So I looked at online ads, and found someone that sold Endlers. I bought 6 male Endlers from him, 5 adults and 1 juvenile. To get them to my dorm room, they had to survive a car drive to my house and then a train and bus trip to my dorm. They got there safely, and they're already happily swimming around.<br />
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This is what my aquarium looks like now, with the 6 small Endlers in it.<br />
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhpagA_gVgUrXsUjK2vQsAeJOLmRzXwO40zSc22n4HV0jpRP3Num4cFZ-9KkOrDzbCv7ta9A4BBa4ASCsJTOd_PUjufXs6ZMm7vi_5qKsr2fXpbUIpC8sGy49jRCN4R1tadu9g9eA7ssps/s1600/P1030673_b.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img alt="" border="0" height="253" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhpagA_gVgUrXsUjK2vQsAeJOLmRzXwO40zSc22n4HV0jpRP3Num4cFZ-9KkOrDzbCv7ta9A4BBa4ASCsJTOd_PUjufXs6ZMm7vi_5qKsr2fXpbUIpC8sGy49jRCN4R1tadu9g9eA7ssps/s320/P1030673_b.jpg" title="aquarium 10 gallon" width="320" /></a></div>
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These fish are very lively, they are swimming around and playing with each other all the time. It's very entertaining to watch, but hard to take pictures of.</div>
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgoX2JRtA_E-ofEbG5bygWGM_98456pBFoIsvYw6IWMDzfRcVQpFKFK-O5bTNZVqWMoSRPCDahbbe5NiC4UUaCNT4pFGstPxj20nWloSety5O2UOYGege3Dgfc2fmF85yVMtyU01JCO5zo/s1600/P1030662+%2528Medium%2529.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img alt="" border="0" height="240" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgoX2JRtA_E-ofEbG5bygWGM_98456pBFoIsvYw6IWMDzfRcVQpFKFK-O5bTNZVqWMoSRPCDahbbe5NiC4UUaCNT4pFGstPxj20nWloSety5O2UOYGege3Dgfc2fmF85yVMtyU01JCO5zo/s320/P1030662+%2528Medium%2529.JPG" title="male Endler livebearers" width="320" /></a></div>
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiPXP9HOoAixwaEsDUxyS_iofrzDsPcyxgSoEWMwAewIx6yo1mepQkei-SKtod1NNQATMvbV9OifvO_dq32Zoa6YtndmuRqSmJjtU5lRT8sOrhpNGoTgvPuShyjzqA3wRuj79kvQl4PExY/s1600/P1030664+%2528Medium%2529.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img alt="" border="0" height="240" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiPXP9HOoAixwaEsDUxyS_iofrzDsPcyxgSoEWMwAewIx6yo1mepQkei-SKtod1NNQATMvbV9OifvO_dq32Zoa6YtndmuRqSmJjtU5lRT8sOrhpNGoTgvPuShyjzqA3wRuj79kvQl4PExY/s320/P1030664+%2528Medium%2529.JPG" title="male Endler livebearers" width="320" /></a></div>
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhnxhUXHGfpLrXevFezit1lkCN23WFnjH4oh8wBV4pmOzGjty1qPRc44zK9DfjQa1_aL6sBY5DwFxxnrffTPkoWlVmyNmgPA2AWV-u-Vt3KeaTMj8MVgzwvrY1gIQzt-LkpEN9WSKHkuIs/s1600/P1030666+%2528Medium%2529.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img alt="" border="0" height="240" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhnxhUXHGfpLrXevFezit1lkCN23WFnjH4oh8wBV4pmOzGjty1qPRc44zK9DfjQa1_aL6sBY5DwFxxnrffTPkoWlVmyNmgPA2AWV-u-Vt3KeaTMj8MVgzwvrY1gIQzt-LkpEN9WSKHkuIs/s320/P1030666+%2528Medium%2529.JPG" title="male Endler livebearers" width="320" /></a></div>
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgsfA3KZMEYkNik6UTAX0rpIVX8G3O2zDMTx6PtzJwyzkW0kZSoM_ctMTsNN1AtCvxfyc0jIf__YGHfwQSHmrh_h136qmFWLD6qMdPTZQlLTroEB5pHIt0AhoiqDB6-UBr83VmK_W23I5U/s1600/P1030667+%2528Medium%2529.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img alt="" border="0" height="240" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgsfA3KZMEYkNik6UTAX0rpIVX8G3O2zDMTx6PtzJwyzkW0kZSoM_ctMTsNN1AtCvxfyc0jIf__YGHfwQSHmrh_h136qmFWLD6qMdPTZQlLTroEB5pHIt0AhoiqDB6-UBr83VmK_W23I5U/s320/P1030667+%2528Medium%2529.JPG" title="male Endler livebearers" width="320" /></a></div>
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgL4sFBWu8KrLPC_PKEVaZdtYiMgpSz3_xojz97XEejzJyiqeUjXOVkQF1s8M059y0wwzLWmrsej1CG0lgr9xzFOSC81DhEZju6m4ycI9nzSXsZN5bT_RE9PGSVB6u-iqXnYvrcg7TH_j8/s1600/P1030675+%2528Medium%2529.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img alt="" border="0" height="240" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgL4sFBWu8KrLPC_PKEVaZdtYiMgpSz3_xojz97XEejzJyiqeUjXOVkQF1s8M059y0wwzLWmrsej1CG0lgr9xzFOSC81DhEZju6m4ycI9nzSXsZN5bT_RE9PGSVB6u-iqXnYvrcg7TH_j8/s320/P1030675+%2528Medium%2529.JPG" title="male Endler livebearers" width="320" /></a></div>
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhVC83aIdcyCtGBDHVQlBxfTbJkVgKbIzNdwmkMX6N6b2Zf0-A0F4Lj4nHnwfLrdysXUN2kY0q4d3fUG53CLfAgl_vimt_5GX1vsM8bNS7uU7WVd9yZ_2L1otxfifMcyqwe-ilM1NCCENg/s1600/P1030679+%2528Medium%2529.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img alt="" border="0" height="240" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhVC83aIdcyCtGBDHVQlBxfTbJkVgKbIzNdwmkMX6N6b2Zf0-A0F4Lj4nHnwfLrdysXUN2kY0q4d3fUG53CLfAgl_vimt_5GX1vsM8bNS7uU7WVd9yZ_2L1otxfifMcyqwe-ilM1NCCENg/s320/P1030679+%2528Medium%2529.JPG" title="male Endler livebearers" width="320" /></a></div>
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Here's a short video of my aquarium:</div>
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<embed allowfullscreen="true" allownetworking="all" flashvars="file=http%3A%2F%2Fvid3.photobucket.com%2Falbums%2Fy70%2FYifski%2FP1030728.mp4" height="300" src="http://static.photobucket.com/player.swf" type="application/x-shockwave-flash" width="400" wmode="transparent"></embed></div>Zalimahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/04101606437274917685noreply@blogger.com3tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6704075873869917958.post-37378351023034231232011-09-20T15:59:00.000+02:002012-04-15T16:42:21.194+02:00things had died while I was goneAfter I got back from my vacation, I saw that my CFL had broken while I was gone. Could've been because of some water that got in the hood, or because the lamp was kinda squashed between the glass and the plastic of the hood. Who knows. Either way, I wasn't going to risk buying another €18 lamp just to have it break again.<br />
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On top of that, some of my plants had started rotting and died while I was gone. Most of the <i>salvina natans</i> was falling apart, and the <i>bacopa lanigera</i> was gone altogether. The water was brown, and very hot. I bought a thermometer, and apparently the thermostat didn't work correctly. It should have kept the temperature around 25°C, but instead it was about 30°C in there. I solved this problem by turning the thermostat down a bit. It does keep the temperature constant, but always warmer than it's supposed to be.<br />
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Without a lamp, I wouldn't be able to keep any plants, and I saw no way that I could keep a decent lamp in this hood. I went to the aquarium store to see if they had any solutions for me. They had 18W clip-on lights but they were €40, more than I had paid for my aquarium originally. It just seemed too much money to spend. After all this, I didn't feel like carrying on with the aquarium.<br />
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Luckily, my boyfriend convinced me to just buy that clip-on light, because I had been wanting an aquarium for so long. So I bought it, and after removing the hood and spending quite some time cutting through the plastic on my aquarium with a butter knife, I was able to attach it to the glass. I also had some glass cut to act as a cover for my aquarium.<br />
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiCIZgkTZOjz4JZyHrF8H3fVgUT4rw5M1x8RJsluyDwUHgHwOFwqr-swPJ92gAQl69Q6ohsh1OATiWUNh7Dpdl0rNiZ996gPTco0frSYSY1TVdiExD92RWER0La9H08s61rZDo32NhwWIQ/s1600/P1030682+%2528Medium%2529.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img alt="" border="0" height="240" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiCIZgkTZOjz4JZyHrF8H3fVgUT4rw5M1x8RJsluyDwUHgHwOFwqr-swPJ92gAQl69Q6ohsh1OATiWUNh7Dpdl0rNiZ996gPTco0frSYSY1TVdiExD92RWER0La9H08s61rZDo32NhwWIQ/s320/P1030682+%2528Medium%2529.JPG" title="clip on light aquarium" width="320" /></a> </div>
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I removed all the water from my aquarium twice, because it was really a rotten mess. Most of the plants survived though, and all seems well for now.</div>Zalimahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/04101606437274917685noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6704075873869917958.post-36661504593886021852011-09-17T13:28:00.000+02:002012-04-15T16:38:29.974+02:00I was in africa<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh9gDbDMdZEMYZegJXuaotFqRnODTAfuJ4zfVuTNGJWUy0G-5oNVYd5m5Zw2atU0s5HH8Vl0cRBk7KuZIVQmNOWSDSqz06sV3Zwk1aMHSz_BKkcqsqOKn7smtbRPYGs9X56IwPnhy3ZZNg/s1600/P1010100+%2528Medium%2529.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img alt="" border="0" height="240" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh9gDbDMdZEMYZegJXuaotFqRnODTAfuJ4zfVuTNGJWUy0G-5oNVYd5m5Zw2atU0s5HH8Vl0cRBk7KuZIVQmNOWSDSqz06sV3Zwk1aMHSz_BKkcqsqOKn7smtbRPYGs9X56IwPnhy3ZZNg/s320/P1010100+%2528Medium%2529.JPG" title="leopard kruger south africa" width="320" /></a></td></tr>
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiwZnU21UGD7u6MeVisCniOYmuHe_YRsZsJCzJSTpX-u8f0UTM_OTd84x0i3Yk409WFzJ7xA1KzfWGUUDCb0tq9G4exrRFa8yRCvmKaeXDyjAF-64UTCbL6tNJce-KEqNx80PvSm2J0oPw/s1600/P1000790+%2528Medium%2529.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img alt="" border="0" height="240" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiwZnU21UGD7u6MeVisCniOYmuHe_YRsZsJCzJSTpX-u8f0UTM_OTd84x0i3Yk409WFzJ7xA1KzfWGUUDCb0tq9G4exrRFa8yRCvmKaeXDyjAF-64UTCbL6tNJce-KEqNx80PvSm2J0oPw/s320/P1000790+%2528Medium%2529.JPG" title="hippo kruger south africa" width="320" /></a></td></tr>
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhq1vPZYEp9mWTzqak4HD10uLXXZPbdRkIsoCH2IOOzcIdQdl0zVR6QzOCh2xCso2CT0Q1p5lT_wQff0JAizwVp8Mky5-FWUpc82Eih5-heBncAQEAgcZgqMfWbTIdHXfypZN4t5mJxiOw/s1600/P1000558+%2528Medium%2529.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img alt="" border="0" height="240" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhq1vPZYEp9mWTzqak4HD10uLXXZPbdRkIsoCH2IOOzcIdQdl0zVR6QzOCh2xCso2CT0Q1p5lT_wQff0JAizwVp8Mky5-FWUpc82Eih5-heBncAQEAgcZgqMfWbTIdHXfypZN4t5mJxiOw/s320/P1000558+%2528Medium%2529.JPG" title="kruger sunrise south africa" width="320" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Kruger sunrise</td></tr>
</tbody></table>Zalimahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/04101606437274917685noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6704075873869917958.post-13894689385558111232011-08-29T14:47:00.003+02:002012-04-15T16:43:54.909+02:00birth of an aquarium<div style="text-align: left;">
A few months ago, I decided to get an aquarium on my dorm room. So I purchased one on a second hand site, only to find out later that it had an incandescent light bulb instead of TL lighting which is usually used for aquariums.</div>
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg7hamOXsHQ-S4n8U8Vvjp-VFZWWKESrZSIsrQ10t77drKO-f8ONWEsmUu32HfID5MGhsS5CCivdR6Hjio6hggvXzH0Q_hJ9sTbhO-ZHo2rryXXWF8HrimHhSx2I8KfQ5fqjX68e-z5m7Y/s1600/27062011639+%255BDesktop+Resolution%255D+%2528Small%2529.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img alt="" border="0" height="240" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg7hamOXsHQ-S4n8U8Vvjp-VFZWWKESrZSIsrQ10t77drKO-f8ONWEsmUu32HfID5MGhsS5CCivdR6Hjio6hggvXzH0Q_hJ9sTbhO-ZHo2rryXXWF8HrimHhSx2I8KfQ5fqjX68e-z5m7Y/s320/27062011639+%255BDesktop+Resolution%255D+%2528Small%2529.jpg" title="aquarium incandescent light bulb" width="320" /></a></div>
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But that wasn't something that couldn't be overcome. I would just go buy a CFL with 6500K light (you need that kind of light to be able to grow plants in an aquarium) and small enough to fit in the hood. Only I couldn't find a CFL like that anywhere, not in any of the 4 DIY stores that I visited. Luckily, I found one eventually, but it was very expensive and needed an E27 socket. The socket in my aquarium was an E14, much smaller than the E27. There are adapters that can convert an E14 socket to an E27, but they weren't available in any local store. My only option was ordering one online in China; it didn't cost me much, but...the first one they shipped me got broken, the next one got lost during shipping, so I only got a working one after 1.5 month.</div>
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhSzbUsm4sdqFzH9HBJqko1_HFfjG9IX7FUB5v7ZZFQKSD_FSYZFIjnusUp-cDJR_GPn6ovRUNenM5G4qHCYK9dXOHpiSp-NCM2nzqBBQX40VqQKHU-0OWilnf5Qn7h7NrOhRW_T9-wfxA/s1600/adaptor_e14_to_e27.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img alt="" border="0" height="240" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhSzbUsm4sdqFzH9HBJqko1_HFfjG9IX7FUB5v7ZZFQKSD_FSYZFIjnusUp-cDJR_GPn6ovRUNenM5G4qHCYK9dXOHpiSp-NCM2nzqBBQX40VqQKHU-0OWilnf5Qn7h7NrOhRW_T9-wfxA/s320/adaptor_e14_to_e27.jpg" title="E14 to E27 socket" width="320" /></a></div>
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Finally, I was able to put the lamp in the hood. I decided to put in some plants right away: </div>
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<i>-salvina natans</i>, a floating plant that I got from my pond</div>
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-<i>hygrophila guanensis</i>, which I planted in the left background</div>
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-<i>bacopa lanigera</i>, which you can see on the right of the aquarium</div>
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-<i>microsorium pteropus </i>or java fern, which I tied to the driftwood</div>
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-java moss, which I also tied to driftwood</div>
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-<i>Ophiopogon japonicus</i>, better known as mondo grass</div>
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjlWv7abUnCT8kMar9FW5bkD9bT1mdaptjnuOjUYJonOTtxfBy5iVO4zp9a2ofK__HjEwEtNSw9TIAnVOVNPIr0z4ZRDY6voRzqNG6yeKVB8JAp-GEHHIKukhQJAlWPosaRQVF41QdvXFU/s1600/29082011968_b.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img alt="" border="0" height="219" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjlWv7abUnCT8kMar9FW5bkD9bT1mdaptjnuOjUYJonOTtxfBy5iVO4zp9a2ofK__HjEwEtNSw9TIAnVOVNPIr0z4ZRDY6voRzqNG6yeKVB8JAp-GEHHIKukhQJAlWPosaRQVF41QdvXFU/s320/29082011968_b.jpg" title="aquarium 10 gallon" width="320" /></a></div>
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After buying the plants, I looked them up and found out that the mondo grass isn't a real aquarium plant, it's actually a garden plant and will die and rot after being submerged for a few months. I decided to keep most of it as a house plant, and put a bit in my aquarium to see how it</div>
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Because I was going on a vacation, I decided to just leave the aquarium on my dorm to cycle until I was back.</div>Zalimahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/04101606437274917685noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6704075873869917958.post-4229566914254377812011-06-12T20:26:00.008+02:002012-04-15T16:44:36.499+02:00Schmidtea mediterraneaWanted to share this little fellow with the world: <span style="font-style: italic;">Schmidtea mediterranea</span>, a planaria species that we're doing toxicology research with at university. I find them absolutely adorable; too bad that we have to kill them in the name of science..<br />
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On the pictures, they are shown on milimeter paper. One little square is 1 mm, the whole photo is 1 cm².<br />
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiQtktfJRnTqVT9miFiTWjOtVCb21zpkaAybsoFb0obO1zFwu2ciEkY6ZDiRoDoG03xna9Al88OY_gcGfCTmfJvelYAx468mHE5APF8_EuT0purY_Fgjq9IBonSBtPF5Ki8d5vX1WCaa3I/s1600/Schmidtea+mediterranea+%25282%2529.jpg"><img alt="" border="0" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5617401469995410738" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiQtktfJRnTqVT9miFiTWjOtVCb21zpkaAybsoFb0obO1zFwu2ciEkY6ZDiRoDoG03xna9Al88OY_gcGfCTmfJvelYAx468mHE5APF8_EuT0purY_Fgjq9IBonSBtPF5Ki8d5vX1WCaa3I/s320/Schmidtea+mediterranea+%25282%2529.jpg" style="display: block; height: 320px; margin-bottom: 10px; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; margin-top: 0px; text-align: center; width: 320px;" title="Schmidtea mediterranea" /></a><br />
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEijRbXCctTkbZVXw4QGOeatnuNKfRnsb0FDzAR-jWcuto7v8i50Q9Iv1RXtEkvBFTlG6D30kJcOzLeGjKTxtgwg3BLhojbo8LpQaVUJfOD1KKWX44WQL7zJVSAVumJXXmBqeYh9szaofGU/s1600/Schmidtea+mediterranea.jpg"><img alt="" border="0" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5617401465033762338" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEijRbXCctTkbZVXw4QGOeatnuNKfRnsb0FDzAR-jWcuto7v8i50Q9Iv1RXtEkvBFTlG6D30kJcOzLeGjKTxtgwg3BLhojbo8LpQaVUJfOD1KKWX44WQL7zJVSAVumJXXmBqeYh9szaofGU/s320/Schmidtea+mediterranea.jpg" style="display: block; height: 320px; margin-bottom: 10px; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; margin-top: 0px; text-align: center; width: 320px;" title="Schmidtea mediterranea" /></a><br />
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhP38-E6soAEug7pN9vNfi09-zyo9dkn-gzhhO4wYY319rmI4_AEkBKl_M2H0DM78mCRyiZoi9sPrKZlc7BZDn80GGXd4yxwk3cIHIPxzIE5J4DrnCKGnWJgcz1nrQe8zddQ29S4J9ZjmU/s1600/Schmidtea+mediterranea+%25283%2529.jpg"><img alt="" border="0" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5617401476941797330" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhP38-E6soAEug7pN9vNfi09-zyo9dkn-gzhhO4wYY319rmI4_AEkBKl_M2H0DM78mCRyiZoi9sPrKZlc7BZDn80GGXd4yxwk3cIHIPxzIE5J4DrnCKGnWJgcz1nrQe8zddQ29S4J9ZjmU/s320/Schmidtea+mediterranea+%25283%2529.jpg" style="display: block; height: 320px; margin-bottom: 10px; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; margin-top: 0px; text-align: center; width: 320px;" title="Schmidtea mediterranea" /></a>If you look closely, you can see that they have these cute little eyes (photoreceptors).<br />
To me, they look like this:<br />
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiqslhnm_uSfRjsfXbo9yNnCCSMArNH8IA5NajJiNaeHK2vspWZtz7rXar9R18S61WvpooI2lhSar7wLjeNK988ZlaNpmQ_WWqGfZuolxwFLtInSPeAN2obP-J2E3TyFayeLZDYUwZAHyQ/s1600/schmidtea+mediterranea1.jpg"><img alt="" border="0" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5617407590198842578" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiqslhnm_uSfRjsfXbo9yNnCCSMArNH8IA5NajJiNaeHK2vspWZtz7rXar9R18S61WvpooI2lhSar7wLjeNK988ZlaNpmQ_WWqGfZuolxwFLtInSPeAN2obP-J2E3TyFayeLZDYUwZAHyQ/s320/schmidtea+mediterranea1.jpg" style="display: block; height: 147px; margin-bottom: 10px; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; margin-top: 0px; text-align: center; width: 320px;" title="Schmidtea mediterranea cartoon" /></a>All cute and innocent, heh.<br />
But actually, they don't have a mouth there. They have one in the middle of their body. This is a more realistic drawing, with the circle being the mouth:<br />
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjySre-qj8idaRZWaSN4EUYYnIbTZ7kQ6LSE2RTF0akELWiWrqaPIO4-T1jLtcXOVxXBIQJ9mnTxAIQMxlauCY2D-xAAJZ19ZdbKgoGnEQHZWXqkdeIOeYHKmzX4tKz_STYk3UG1UdCnwA/s1600/schmidtea+mediterranea2.jpg"><img alt="" border="0" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5617407590001553170" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjySre-qj8idaRZWaSN4EUYYnIbTZ7kQ6LSE2RTF0akELWiWrqaPIO4-T1jLtcXOVxXBIQJ9mnTxAIQMxlauCY2D-xAAJZ19ZdbKgoGnEQHZWXqkdeIOeYHKmzX4tKz_STYk3UG1UdCnwA/s320/schmidtea+mediterranea2.jpg" style="display: block; height: 320px; margin-bottom: 10px; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; margin-top: 0px; text-align: center; width: 157px;" title="Schmidtea mediterranea cartoon" /></a>Zalimahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/04101606437274917685noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6704075873869917958.post-65545420670222397792011-06-12T19:50:00.008+02:002011-10-20T18:41:33.494+02:00One photo a dayI thought that I'd try taking a photo every day from now on. Seems like a nice experiment.<br />
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These are the rules:<br />
-one photo has to be taken every day<br />
-no more than one photo can be taken; if it's a crappy photo, so be it<br />
-the same camera will be used to take all the photos<br />
-no editing of the photos<br />
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I will use a very old and bad webcam/camera. But the crappiness of this camera is part of its charm, if you ask me. We got the thing for free a long time ago. I don't know exactly how long ago, but probably before 07/05/2003. Why do I think that? Well, it marks every photo as being taken on 07/05/2003. It's a pretty odd camera<br />
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11/06</div>
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjK47B2IToqNLQ14T8IUruGl-kz3aV0k3Us8hyO7yfbzHMmz-JsnkorNw3w60jFajGGLBw840x1JHlkJGZO0YnWIiGpcHP-5DGNQzfK_z2DhWwx6BprDhfQxs-bXMRloQ__Y3Z1gpVmJDM/s1600/IMG_0034%252811-06%2529.jpg"><img alt="" border="0" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5617392366012251362" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjK47B2IToqNLQ14T8IUruGl-kz3aV0k3Us8hyO7yfbzHMmz-JsnkorNw3w60jFajGGLBw840x1JHlkJGZO0YnWIiGpcHP-5DGNQzfK_z2DhWwx6BprDhfQxs-bXMRloQ__Y3Z1gpVmJDM/s320/IMG_0034%252811-06%2529.jpg" style="cursor: hand; cursor: pointer; display: block; height: 256px; margin: 0px auto 10px; text-align: center; width: 320px;" /></a><br />
12/06</div>
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi4O4YcSSQ_g9zqxw38nv6UL0XF-maAhabf9cpDqSQwL755Rz8nbeGcRTdOgykujg0yHXpqGTgSitWycFmEYIHR_4-jpdpRRZETJc6yfe898y7MT5w8MZ5y8k0SMCbTOWqALiMyTiG1E9M/s1600/IMG_0035%252812-06%2529.jpg"><img alt="" border="0" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5617392374360482946" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi4O4YcSSQ_g9zqxw38nv6UL0XF-maAhabf9cpDqSQwL755Rz8nbeGcRTdOgykujg0yHXpqGTgSitWycFmEYIHR_4-jpdpRRZETJc6yfe898y7MT5w8MZ5y8k0SMCbTOWqALiMyTiG1E9M/s320/IMG_0035%252812-06%2529.jpg" style="cursor: hand; cursor: pointer; display: block; height: 256px; margin: 0px auto 10px; text-align: center; width: 320px;" /></a><br />
13/06</div>
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEid521Uv51aRwnR5IW-e6TULzdOxMyP1py_HzqLU2aAf5VEGvFRe1MMdioHFwhFZRUsZYtoQNqrt97YzInRB1I3SGV6d_4V3AdoqoM1OACFGTZI_Xssjs4HYLcPhOVAAOj2U8U1S_C3WPc/s1600/IMG_0036.jpg"><img alt="" border="0" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5617802796505196546" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEid521Uv51aRwnR5IW-e6TULzdOxMyP1py_HzqLU2aAf5VEGvFRe1MMdioHFwhFZRUsZYtoQNqrt97YzInRB1I3SGV6d_4V3AdoqoM1OACFGTZI_Xssjs4HYLcPhOVAAOj2U8U1S_C3WPc/s320/IMG_0036.jpg" style="cursor: hand; cursor: pointer; display: block; height: 256px; margin: 0px auto 10px; text-align: center; width: 320px;" /></a>14/06</div>
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjvQ6FwS_KU737s-1y18kkJpxAgMOxkZYR2nIS0ET6K_LPrcOIRU-ouOVpxLW_w7MWYvqUMSNn2XShbXxDZOaRE9qsyiKQ4Vt98Pgv7GQpzC0jHL8nBm_uOwthMhtsRBpIorf7lhRPkd5k/s1600/IMG_0037.jpg"><img alt="" border="0" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5618075360284625938" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjvQ6FwS_KU737s-1y18kkJpxAgMOxkZYR2nIS0ET6K_LPrcOIRU-ouOVpxLW_w7MWYvqUMSNn2XShbXxDZOaRE9qsyiKQ4Vt98Pgv7GQpzC0jHL8nBm_uOwthMhtsRBpIorf7lhRPkd5k/s320/IMG_0037.jpg" style="cursor: hand; cursor: pointer; display: block; height: 256px; margin: 0px auto 10px; text-align: center; width: 320px;" /></a>15/06</div>
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh8HSgVzIGFDZT-VRbidvs59ftAjK0nm7su0PFcguaiSwNJkfPo6BernJC4f1yHz7rS1FUS-EpolUd05793wegy_4tAAYPLodRtnufhQm9UOqKolims2tJENJqbC615Kot0EH9Gjrs_38Q/s1600/IMG_0038.jpg"><img alt="" border="0" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5618543969510579714" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh8HSgVzIGFDZT-VRbidvs59ftAjK0nm7su0PFcguaiSwNJkfPo6BernJC4f1yHz7rS1FUS-EpolUd05793wegy_4tAAYPLodRtnufhQm9UOqKolims2tJENJqbC615Kot0EH9Gjrs_38Q/s320/IMG_0038.jpg" style="cursor: hand; cursor: pointer; display: block; height: 256px; margin: 0px auto 10px; text-align: center; width: 320px;" /></a><br />
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16/06</div>
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17/06</div>
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18/06</div>
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19/06</div>
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjPhVjwDEUdA5NajQbqZjZ9ME1vpycNk9RIWVAQZNthyphenhyphenJc9hb_fU1XLMtsZPGuUw4fLojREjd13bOi5n-WuaQmN5m9-41oytQdBfivKa_Zjwz7LDYE2I1ToYpM-TDnzgQa-Ti1aEpsvZi8/s1600/IMG_0042.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="256" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjPhVjwDEUdA5NajQbqZjZ9ME1vpycNk9RIWVAQZNthyphenhyphenJc9hb_fU1XLMtsZPGuUw4fLojREjd13bOi5n-WuaQmN5m9-41oytQdBfivKa_Zjwz7LDYE2I1ToYpM-TDnzgQa-Ti1aEpsvZi8/s320/IMG_0042.jpg" width="320" /></a></div>
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20/06</div>
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjP57xSTgNCMe5rLf81NquEn6Q2_y4bYrxgCiyzAKvPoBMIMOByI7u2QMTKsTVUxxNpZvAL9L1mr_jF1av9ooqhDmLWFaxPrDM0XKV-pu-miVLu1BLMg9t-jR0xViTKjdVul3bZyj0jlJY/s1600/IMG_0043.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="256" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjP57xSTgNCMe5rLf81NquEn6Q2_y4bYrxgCiyzAKvPoBMIMOByI7u2QMTKsTVUxxNpZvAL9L1mr_jF1av9ooqhDmLWFaxPrDM0XKV-pu-miVLu1BLMg9t-jR0xViTKjdVul3bZyj0jlJY/s320/IMG_0043.jpg" width="320" /></a></div>
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EDIT: ah well, this project got cancelled because the old crappy camera, being old and crappy, dies within 2 hours of charging it (even if I leave it turned off). fail.Zalimahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/04101606437274917685noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6704075873869917958.post-47104103489233283282011-06-06T21:59:00.000+02:002012-04-15T16:45:55.745+02:00How to make little holiday cactiI love these plants: very easy to take care of, and they flower beautifully. Just look at this:<br />
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEivsuECcUsw169YXCXPQlJmLGYQj8rxXF7w5aBBc-YzSi9W-MhGelJhHKf-yEHDkvo5gxzT3hWkv0SPOGa2YLzOG7e8Yhnuk0IJLmb3Ma9aOPSFqB4qruqCKHGjZvX5uYiLWghbNEc9WUA/s1600/P1030361+%2528Medium%2529.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img alt="" border="0" height="230" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEivsuECcUsw169YXCXPQlJmLGYQj8rxXF7w5aBBc-YzSi9W-MhGelJhHKf-yEHDkvo5gxzT3hWkv0SPOGa2YLzOG7e8Yhnuk0IJLmb3Ma9aOPSFqB4qruqCKHGjZvX5uYiLWghbNEc9WUA/s320/P1030361+%2528Medium%2529.JPG" title="red Christmas cactus" width="320" /></a></div>
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The ones that I have are Christmas cacti by the way. There's also Easter cacti, which have flowers that look a bit different and flower around Easter instead of Christmas. These plants are very strong; they've managed to survive on top of my heating, where it gets really hot and dry. Another reason why I love them is that they are very simple to propagate. You just tear one of their parts/leaves off and let them dry for a couple of days, like this:<br />
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgR-Jg4qNQLOhTRHbX25SJbeSMM_lOmc2P2bsN_pqa3mM6TsZ2ASXVA7n0ZujQqFGDHJvDgt-d8MaeDIKnG8qM44RSxunjcTvLikcib-7uvtZ49i91dczbi3XVO3U9PFsjYZDoO0qDvpv4/s1600/05062011481+%2528Small%2529.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img alt="" border="0" height="240" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgR-Jg4qNQLOhTRHbX25SJbeSMM_lOmc2P2bsN_pqa3mM6TsZ2ASXVA7n0ZujQqFGDHJvDgt-d8MaeDIKnG8qM44RSxunjcTvLikcib-7uvtZ49i91dczbi3XVO3U9PFsjYZDoO0qDvpv4/s320/05062011481+%2528Small%2529.jpg" title="Christmas cactus leaf cuttings" width="320" /></a></div>
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Then you plant them in soil, I used normal potting soil, and keep it a bit moist but not too wet. At first, the leaves will wrinkle a bit, as if they're drying out and dying. But no worries, that's normal. After a few weeks, they'll get roots and start looking healthy again. And before too long, they'll start growing new leaves of their own.</div>
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiLWk9H9WnzTKyo_meuhBQ7a-nGO0OgFsTv2nsNNtT2R39OSVFuu1-_oT52meTQYiPa4BBZIL3plhJfpHaNFkVbvjneJ35GxLKAaA4Rp47AbE1oMMdah-a57cFmeM2eRssG7ovNzzg0aP8/s1600/05062011477+%2528Small%2529.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img alt="" border="0" height="240" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiLWk9H9WnzTKyo_meuhBQ7a-nGO0OgFsTv2nsNNtT2R39OSVFuu1-_oT52meTQYiPa4BBZIL3plhJfpHaNFkVbvjneJ35GxLKAaA4Rp47AbE1oMMdah-a57cFmeM2eRssG7ovNzzg0aP8/s320/05062011477+%2528Small%2529.jpg" title="Christmas cactus leaf cuttings" width="320" /></a></div>
<br />Zalimahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/04101606437274917685noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6704075873869917958.post-6284425276582330482011-01-03T22:09:00.000+01:002012-04-15T16:47:32.892+02:00Ice sculpture festivalWent to the ice sculpture festival with my grandparents. I couldn't take too many pictures, because I had to stay within 1 meter of them, they were afraid that I'd get lost and they'd never find me back. Or something. You know how grandparents are. But I'd still like to share some photos, it was rather pretty there. And cold.<br />
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgScL-peQZTi_PaH1tZp2P-Z8kVMZ-Ri2vKxUfEjAn5P9_cFzDFkHZbRy6Y0jus2Dl6Yaq8KujfH7LVSwdeu_SgTDRV7lS9MQyqenvm2fe2jtBUcrxvBLtwDkOWvy0kH7F-aRR97fqu2h8/s1600/P1030456+%255BDesktop+Resolution%255D.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img alt="" border="0" height="239" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgScL-peQZTi_PaH1tZp2P-Z8kVMZ-Ri2vKxUfEjAn5P9_cFzDFkHZbRy6Y0jus2Dl6Yaq8KujfH7LVSwdeu_SgTDRV7lS9MQyqenvm2fe2jtBUcrxvBLtwDkOWvy0kH7F-aRR97fqu2h8/s320/P1030456+%255BDesktop+Resolution%255D.JPG" title="ice sculptures" width="320" /></a></div>
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiEx8PwzTJbdgmi7b3W4EgTXMmcxB54eCe3oX7l4zYSlqDKaQWWvZZbfRSEuoojsRoHonFqwfaTWmfEJEamMKhWHrNuu6Z_N1cQFigRJ4Vq3YNAkiLml5UjpXhrwfNd9A_IT7-4vEPjUq8/s1600/P1030462+%255BDesktop+Resolution%255D.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img alt="" border="0" height="239" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiEx8PwzTJbdgmi7b3W4EgTXMmcxB54eCe3oX7l4zYSlqDKaQWWvZZbfRSEuoojsRoHonFqwfaTWmfEJEamMKhWHrNuu6Z_N1cQFigRJ4Vq3YNAkiLml5UjpXhrwfNd9A_IT7-4vEPjUq8/s320/P1030462+%255BDesktop+Resolution%255D.JPG" title="ice sculpture che guevara" width="320" /></a></div>
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEie61sUVbTXRzFXlWZmfqSuFIRWJ5fSjA1ujap4MkT6Na5zqvroX6owmD-V-Rh_E6t45NXemyDay4yOD9x2XPwst3c6iAxLuj9udm_MXX6Lut0LSqF4ZHICevnaAdo-gxT0FpapCaWsSt8/s1600/P1030464+%255BDesktop+Resolution%255D.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img alt="" border="0" height="239" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEie61sUVbTXRzFXlWZmfqSuFIRWJ5fSjA1ujap4MkT6Na5zqvroX6owmD-V-Rh_E6t45NXemyDay4yOD9x2XPwst3c6iAxLuj9udm_MXX6Lut0LSqF4ZHICevnaAdo-gxT0FpapCaWsSt8/s320/P1030464+%255BDesktop+Resolution%255D.JPG" title="ice sculpture temple" width="320" /></a></div>
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiHf6nwl3mRBzUI6XeEQYkxc2Yw8LMpYfFD8U4OUb2TcsyUjfi8RLIRO87yDWrxT8bBgwbEz2p101sxS1YUo1bYKCet1N17c4vISNVEV1WNFyXnWUQT0DoyfmQngTondjsRXvEeFYU2vuY/s1600/P1030472+%255BDesktop+Resolution%255D.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img alt="" border="0" height="239" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiHf6nwl3mRBzUI6XeEQYkxc2Yw8LMpYfFD8U4OUb2TcsyUjfi8RLIRO87yDWrxT8bBgwbEz2p101sxS1YUo1bYKCet1N17c4vISNVEV1WNFyXnWUQT0DoyfmQngTondjsRXvEeFYU2vuY/s320/P1030472+%255BDesktop+Resolution%255D.JPG" title="ice sculptures" width="320" /></a></div>
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjkbykfKD0wbDRspHaD_OUwmUJzcUEfwgUOr2ckyjasOFCm1IhHcOfPygcMBZzMwD7PWye6bX7TQhzCOZARTlE2S2JHM0V3Bo_Rneh1ubximu7WIK59CUTWYGiyCOfWsU2shbSzTlsiq_4/s1600/P1030474+%255BDesktop+Resolution%255D.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img alt="" border="0" height="239" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjkbykfKD0wbDRspHaD_OUwmUJzcUEfwgUOr2ckyjasOFCm1IhHcOfPygcMBZzMwD7PWye6bX7TQhzCOZARTlE2S2JHM0V3Bo_Rneh1ubximu7WIK59CUTWYGiyCOfWsU2shbSzTlsiq_4/s320/P1030474+%255BDesktop+Resolution%255D.JPG" title="ice sculptures" width="320" /></a></div>
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgrlzuyq_9BFMIXeQxCSGyfTocAKBBvOMwMb4PvCHj19SBqhu4LUz6CASGdHO-bkEwT0ylLHW6uAoDpe8TfOmF_W04UiQjKgpK7j3_uZdEjLhGXF1kvvxkxYNWjGk0ezlOgS_ZcIv5HK_E/s1600/P1030478+%255BDesktop+Resolution%255D.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img alt="" border="0" height="239" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgrlzuyq_9BFMIXeQxCSGyfTocAKBBvOMwMb4PvCHj19SBqhu4LUz6CASGdHO-bkEwT0ylLHW6uAoDpe8TfOmF_W04UiQjKgpK7j3_uZdEjLhGXF1kvvxkxYNWjGk0ezlOgS_ZcIv5HK_E/s320/P1030478+%255BDesktop+Resolution%255D.JPG" title="ice sculpture egypt" width="320" /></a></div>
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The city, Bruges:<br />
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEihvcM4Y7jUyDvr0vlNT62SFvsVSvPxtP05UI6bggKzbtPNsjFgR4M0IzK1AA7jAwlU4MNA8nhSZX5uiCeYzcixwCg6Ep6_t5FYLMcwVSAWfLKt4BbjRK5QxL_aH_2gtbKfhJFEj_hDFPY/s1600/P1030485+%2528Medium%2529.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img alt="" border="0" height="240" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEihvcM4Y7jUyDvr0vlNT62SFvsVSvPxtP05UI6bggKzbtPNsjFgR4M0IzK1AA7jAwlU4MNA8nhSZX5uiCeYzcixwCg6Ep6_t5FYLMcwVSAWfLKt4BbjRK5QxL_aH_2gtbKfhJFEj_hDFPY/s320/P1030485+%2528Medium%2529.JPG" title="Bruges" width="320" /></a></div>
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg6w-dRgUEWLGW7X-ZzRqAnSnWle1ZjHs8ehaD7KphNuaykegJCaTycnrJ-84s69Z5WbFcKJVR-GaHnBafs0Soq1tkSxCzAFA5AZkOZMgJf8OaFWUeDbpHFk7RLw72bfy9yki97EB9FTJw/s1600/P1030487+%2528Medium%2529.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img alt="" border="0" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg6w-dRgUEWLGW7X-ZzRqAnSnWle1ZjHs8ehaD7KphNuaykegJCaTycnrJ-84s69Z5WbFcKJVR-GaHnBafs0Soq1tkSxCzAFA5AZkOZMgJf8OaFWUeDbpHFk7RLw72bfy9yki97EB9FTJw/s320/P1030487+%2528Medium%2529.JPG" title="Bruges" width="240" /></a></div>
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjmh6jLy4IsmlpH8bNKn9wgbdUbvh6KgxfPA3iXOJGSxo_v-Hl9Qb9hFG9jJO6wZclPnE-fjd2eLRowrbT2YMCflVtENrrsEgM811zsmaQnILTfzVPvcXl3sfagGFPNUf3aO2tv0m0uLTU/s1600/P1030489+%2528Medium%2529.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img alt="" border="0" height="240" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjmh6jLy4IsmlpH8bNKn9wgbdUbvh6KgxfPA3iXOJGSxo_v-Hl9Qb9hFG9jJO6wZclPnE-fjd2eLRowrbT2YMCflVtENrrsEgM811zsmaQnILTfzVPvcXl3sfagGFPNUf3aO2tv0m0uLTU/s320/P1030489+%2528Medium%2529.JPG" title="Bruges" width="320" /></a></div>
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<br /></div>Zalimahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/04101606437274917685noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6704075873869917958.post-82980037681527576342010-11-01T13:45:00.004+01:002015-10-13T15:13:00.777+02:00buying nintendo DSIt has been a while since I last posted, but yeah, not like anyone reads this anyway. =p<br />
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In September, I bought a nintendo DS lite. A grey one, USA version, which means that I can't put the start screen interface in Dutch (but no worries, I can still play Dutch/European games) and I need a European adaptor with it, but the seller was kind enough to include that.<br />
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgaupo-mP1rnUzOG5JvEqQJ0z_N42b4LgPyPubSPB_psxB4MazuDglQasI2oj1pEKrL1-AJpRHKhfclM3w3JEHX7jFOzRZoCt5mS-K9JgOqRYJ1_N2TCkDuqzv7XEru87B2TgkpSOgcLtg/s1600/P1030403+%5B800x600%5D.JPG"><img alt="" border="0" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5534575570588409938" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgaupo-mP1rnUzOG5JvEqQJ0z_N42b4LgPyPubSPB_psxB4MazuDglQasI2oj1pEKrL1-AJpRHKhfclM3w3JEHX7jFOzRZoCt5mS-K9JgOqRYJ1_N2TCkDuqzv7XEru87B2TgkpSOgcLtg/s320/P1030403+%5B800x600%5D.JPG" style="display: block; height: 240px; margin-bottom: 10px; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; margin-top: 0px; text-align: center; width: 320px;" title="silver nintendo DS lite" /></a><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhnQXuJGsVcxhcHlR8mK1wxGc-yFANwDhPGG6OFhyphenhyphenFT6qp9UFTDSg1JPIx3vRXfybFw6Aht_IQQSOfXU9RRDn5m0lW_qrGqjVQJVzj96Wwj4XTpI4W1EpUmr9J9ks7zGkXuzzCh9AzJ_kA/s1600/P1030404+%5B800x600%5D.JPG"><img alt="" border="0" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5534575576105305266" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhnQXuJGsVcxhcHlR8mK1wxGc-yFANwDhPGG6OFhyphenhyphenFT6qp9UFTDSg1JPIx3vRXfybFw6Aht_IQQSOfXU9RRDn5m0lW_qrGqjVQJVzj96Wwj4XTpI4W1EpUmr9J9ks7zGkXuzzCh9AzJ_kA/s320/P1030404+%5B800x600%5D.JPG" style="display: block; height: 320px; margin-bottom: 10px; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; margin-top: 0px; text-align: center; width: 275px;" title="silver nintendo DS lite" /></a>Just look at it, so beautiful. Grey is the best colour DS colour, imo. It looks a bit more special than the white one, and doesn't get covered in smudges like the black one. And yeah, colours like pink, green etc are just too flashy for me.<br />
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Then I started looking around the internet for a place where I could buy a R4 card and microSD, preferably super cheap, since I hate spending too much money. After extensive research, because there are too many different kinds of R4 cards, I decided to order a R4 SDHC card of <a href="http://www.r4rts.cn/">r4rts.cn</a>. R4 SDHC cards only work with the ds and ds lite. The people behind this website make other cards as well, like R4i cards that work with the dsi andR4i rts cards that support real time saving. Real time saving might've been nice, but I didn't feel like spending extra money on that.<br />
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The website that I decided to order from was <a href="http://www.digimartz.com/">digimartz.com</a>. I read some bad reviews about it, apparently their customer service is really crap and they don't want to refund if an item gets lost during shipping. But meh whatever, $5.80 for the R4 card and $11 for a 4gb microSD card, they're cheap enough to risk it. So I placed my order for a R4 SDHC card and a 4gb microSD card on tuesday 07/09, the order was processed on thursday 09/09, left Hongkong for its destination on tuesday 14/09 and arrived at my house on friday 17/09. 11 days between placing my order and receiving it, not that bad.<br />
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Now for the products. They did have a cheap feel, but really, that's to be expected for that price. The miroSD card looked very fake, definitely not a real SanDisc. But everything worked as it should, so I have no complains. Would buy again.<br />
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjTCEbo4EvwBEYXecmlAAScs9azOI9szKwI0oLArqT5_iDPClwZNw8ROLCftU5a70KG5G3jZM81qHbxPmJBXMzGMRbe2KFnR5oBwEz5pYIeY6fFfNcbn5edDGOI5wzhip3Rd9eWB6-dCfc/s1600/P1030405+%5B800x600%5D.JPG"><img alt="" border="0" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5534577967362065010" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjTCEbo4EvwBEYXecmlAAScs9azOI9szKwI0oLArqT5_iDPClwZNw8ROLCftU5a70KG5G3jZM81qHbxPmJBXMzGMRbe2KFnR5oBwEz5pYIeY6fFfNcbn5edDGOI5wzhip3Rd9eWB6-dCfc/s320/P1030405+%5B800x600%5D.JPG" style="display: block; height: 254px; margin-bottom: 10px; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; margin-top: 0px; text-align: center; width: 320px;" title="R4 card" /></a>Zalimahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/04101606437274917685noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6704075873869917958.post-2348327898918602192010-08-06T19:34:00.007+02:002012-04-15T16:48:19.780+02:005/10 - look what i saw at work today<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjuylgUkcCiJP9xRIxOncTOjXJLD4h-dHkZU_cZIWF2Aj0riYrb5lEL7dE3PAGDpuoyvllHJzIFEqVJvusfz7OxllnDGVcSMXYLu9kH3VHHFoaZBQZ_LFoIxBLh9qEAf2pq8rA8iWdaxpk/s1600/06082010959_b.jpg"><img alt="" border="0" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5502353602915115026" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjuylgUkcCiJP9xRIxOncTOjXJLD4h-dHkZU_cZIWF2Aj0riYrb5lEL7dE3PAGDpuoyvllHJzIFEqVJvusfz7OxllnDGVcSMXYLu9kH3VHHFoaZBQZ_LFoIxBLh9qEAf2pq8rA8iWdaxpk/s320/06082010959_b.jpg" style="display: block; height: 320px; margin-bottom: 10px; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; margin-top: 0px; text-align: center; width: 298px;" title="penguin" /></a> It's a penguin!<br />
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgNtFiThUVCEzrwRvzdLiZLaOk5gbQZU-m8YWmJ_Rc1SqYcMW-aCMYvxjQL5vR1vmvy0vtxcsYq_omfUL1uAwzVZ-w3yS8h37DBNr92HU-MV77lS_a_COrD1qO3SzORVOivEr_AO-IP12Q/s1600/06082010960_b.jpg"><img alt="" border="0" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5502351661177555698" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgNtFiThUVCEzrwRvzdLiZLaOk5gbQZU-m8YWmJ_Rc1SqYcMW-aCMYvxjQL5vR1vmvy0vtxcsYq_omfUL1uAwzVZ-w3yS8h37DBNr92HU-MV77lS_a_COrD1qO3SzORVOivEr_AO-IP12Q/s320/06082010960_b.jpg" style="cursor: pointer; display: block; height: 236px; margin: 0px auto 10px; text-align: center; width: 320px;" /></a><br />
This note in the cafeteria is just weird. The English is so crappy that I don't even know what the hell they're trying to say.Zalimahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/04101606437274917685noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6704075873869917958.post-79965390832195144962010-08-05T20:08:00.008+02:002012-04-15T16:48:37.852+02:00life lesson #3This one might sound depressing, but..<br />
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<span style="font-weight: bold;">The majority of life consists of just existing, and doing what you're expected to do.</span><br />
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And once you accept that, it's actually not that bad. You just have to find a way of life that you can learn to enjoy, something that's worth working for. A cage that you have built for yourself, instead of one that others force upon you. Maybe that cage won't feel like prison at all.<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhSBPsL8kZr0rpb0nH82IANsuo8esUDQ_GxtSe-mtOCTTtrmjFiE_RGxAsw6LOWUHCb98FL_3e5jNDJ2dpksir7fNsekJEn8OmcLJ6tiwiidE8dDwGTaNZ4v1K5San9TA4HBYdm3yw-HjE/s1600/cage.jpg"><img alt="" border="0" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5502008726651957794" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhSBPsL8kZr0rpb0nH82IANsuo8esUDQ_GxtSe-mtOCTTtrmjFiE_RGxAsw6LOWUHCb98FL_3e5jNDJ2dpksir7fNsekJEn8OmcLJ6tiwiidE8dDwGTaNZ4v1K5San9TA4HBYdm3yw-HjE/s320/cage.jpg" style="display: block; height: 320px; margin-bottom: 10px; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; margin-top: 0px; text-align: center; width: 233px;" title="bird in cage" /></a>Zalimahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/04101606437274917685noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6704075873869917958.post-36332612435430727672010-08-05T16:49:00.010+02:002010-08-06T19:49:02.592+02:004/10<a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiIonm7AXOGDkolYiLym91I4GB3-QpYo0mBNpR0PEu8ET71DCjfT0HgKwn3BlA4R87-YdkIl1qVgase6sQg0YJRZ1kXPFUVfKGGM_OLMhtT0zTky7ZKFsFgjsoS8x6HpKFFa1hAg-DHKAk/s1600/05082010955_b.jpg"><img style="display: block; margin: 0px auto 10px; text-align: center; cursor: pointer; width: 320px; height: 270px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiIonm7AXOGDkolYiLym91I4GB3-QpYo0mBNpR0PEu8ET71DCjfT0HgKwn3BlA4R87-YdkIl1qVgase6sQg0YJRZ1kXPFUVfKGGM_OLMhtT0zTky7ZKFsFgjsoS8x6HpKFFa1hAg-DHKAk/s320/05082010955_b.jpg" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5501977307351782786" border="0" /></a><br />Months ago, I signed a contract with my university. In this contract, I traded 8 hours and 36 min of my day in exchange for getting 7 hours and 21 min paid. We don't get paid for breaks, but we are forced to take them. Kinda sucks.<br />The contract lasts for 10 days in 2 weeks. A few hours ago, I finished day 4. I am doing what they call "maintenance" of the university, more specifically, this means that I'll be cleaning offices in the biomedical research facility.<br /><br />After the initial horror of my first day at work (I'm really not used to working, I'm a lazy bum), I learned to enjoy my job a little. The offices that I'm now giving their big annual cleaning belong to professors that teach classes to me. I now know which of my profs is messy enough to keep the floor of his office filled with unpacked carton moving boxes. He also leaves coffee stained tissues on his desk; a desk that is by the way filled with big heaps of papers, some ancient enough to be printed in 2004. I discovered that the one cranky looking prof suffers from significant hairloss; she also collects wooden insects and owns an old record player. It's also intriguing how, although they all have the same basic layout, all offices are a bit different: some profs have two desks, some have a big table for meetings, some have more closets. Just looking at these things gives you an idea of how the person works, and what their priorities are. The neatest looking office of them all (I couldn't even find any papers lying around) turned out to belong to a person that let their plants quietly wither away. They were right there on the window-sill, dying.<br /><br />Ok fine, cleaning offices is really boring and I'm so glad that I'm only doing it for 10 days. I can't even imagine the sadness of having to do this kind of work for the rest of your life. But I'm starting to learn how to find enjoyment in the little things, and get a understanding of how manual labour can be fulfilling in its own way. I know that I'll regret saying that tomorow morning, when I dread going to work and wishing that I could just go sleep again.<br /><br />But you know what...it's nice to observe my possible future workplace from the viewpoint of a humble cleaning lady. Maybe I'll even get to see a lab. Maybe.Zalimahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/04101606437274917685noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6704075873869917958.post-22799879668262913582010-08-02T22:04:00.005+02:002012-04-15T16:48:53.530+02:00life lesson #2You all know the age old problem: you come home from a long day of work and want to go make dinner. Your sleepy feet drag you to the kitchen, where you open the gas and light the cooking plate. You take a pan to bake the cute little meatballs that you prepared on beforehand. When finished, you put them aside so you can start with the delicious cherry sauce. (you have to cook things separately because you can only use one of the four cooking plates in your kitchen. yeah, your kitchen sucks that much.) The ingredients for this cherry sauce happen to be in a jar. You can't open the jar. Mission failed. Aborting plan to eat dinner tonight.<br />
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The stuck jar, it's a problem that every woman living alone will face. It's nature's way of telling a woman that it's time to get herself a man. Now there are two possible solutions to this problem. 1) Find a man to open these damn jars for you, or 2) Find a way to cheat life and open them yourself.<br />
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Since I am all alone here and don't have access to men, I had to take the second option. I tried everything: using a dry towel, bottle opener... Ok, that's about all I tried before I started stabbing the thing with a knife. And you know what, it worked. As if accepting defeat, the lid budged and granted me access to the delicious cherries inside. Awesome. Why didn't anyone tell me this before?<br />
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So my life lesson for today:<span style="font-size: 100%; font-weight: bold;"><br />Stab it with a knife. It's the easy solution to every problem in life.</span>Zalimahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/04101606437274917685noreply@blogger.com0