Incredible !ndia: Delhi in the day

After a long sleep went out around lunch time.
Welcome to the Delhi heat! Temperature: 34 C, slight wind.
The sleepy streets from yesterday were gone. The honking cars, rickshaws, bicycles and the crowds had replaced them. We headed towards the center, taking the Metro from Karol Bagh station.  The metro in Delhi is mostly overground. We climbed up and we saw a big line waiting to pass the security, similar to airport one, but separate for men and women. We bought the metro tokens and went in pretty fast.
Lesson learned: no matter how hot it is in Delhi, you are better off with long pants and closed shoes. Reason 1: all kinds of waters flow around the streets with suspicious origin and smell. Reason 2: It is highly probable that in the Metro (or any other place) you will be stepped on - a number of times.
We got off in the center, heading towards the Red Fort. It took about 30min walk to reach the Fort due to the many people and narrow streets on the way. It was about lunch time and many people were sitting on the road eating from a tiny plate. All the Indian smells were around. Everybody seemed so comfortable sitting on the floor, just like at home. I somehow liked the business in the city, because people were roaming everywhere, honking their cars, but seemed totally relaxed in the face, totally used to their daily activities.
On the way we saw a McD, advertised in India as the Family Restaurant. The first McD i see, which does not offer Big Mac.
We reached the Red Fort - right in the middle of Delhi, but the noise was far away. We realized it is actually a very nice park. We sat on the grass and observed the people for 1-2 hrs. Then two guys approached me and one of them said:
''Madam, picture?'' I thought I should take of two of them, but then the first one sat near me and the other one took a picture of two of us. I was surprised, but quickly realized that this is very common requests to tourists. ''Thank you, madam! Where are you from?'', ''Bulgaria" - I said. ''Which is the capital of Bulgaria?'', ''Sofia". "Sofia? OK, madam. Thank you!'' - we shook hands and they left.
Then we went for a crazy rickshaw ride to the central circle of Delhi. This is something that everybody should try in Delhi! These green-yellow little turtles are so fast and contribute greatly to the busy-ness of this city. 15 min of this roller coaster and you feel so happy to step on real road again.
We were dropped near the Palika bazaar - underground series of small shops, similar to the Bulgarian Ilientsi. Again you pass security to enter. We had a quick 10min look and i was totally amusing myself with the way the Indian typical salesmen were attracting customers: ''Excuse me-e-e! Jeans!!'', ''Excuse me, madam! I have exactly same pattern like your jeans, please come check if you don't believe!''
Then we went upstairs to Cannart Place, where you could see all the famous world brands in separate shops. It was interesting to see the contradiction between these shops and the world outside. There were 3-4 guards at the door of each. They were so proudly opening and closing, greeting the people.
We had a dinner at a restaurant in this area and headed to Noida City Center. This is a relatively new part of Delhi with new vibe. Then we had a drink at Radisson and i saw they offer Zumba 3 times a week. The receptionist saw me reading it and told me ''It's a type of dance, madam!'' That was one thing i did not expect to see in this part of Asia.
Then we had a nice metro ride back to the hotel and prepared ourselves for the big upcoming adventure: Taj Mahal!

Incredible !ndia: Delhi in the evening

Our first view of Delhi was a bit after midnight from the plane. It looked super bright and lots of lights were blinking. Indira Ghandi airport was big, carpeted, clean and fully packed at 1am. When we got out the hot Delhi air hit us in the face. We had to get squeezed into a taxi to reach the hotel. The taxi driver threw 2 of our suitcases on top of the car and for the whole trip i was wondering how they are not falling down. The streets were quite wide and relatively empty. Usually 50% of the cars followed traffic lights, others ddin't care. There were marked lanes, but our taxi driver was driving in the middle, similar to airplane. And so were many others.

We reached Karol Bagh, the area of the hotel. While roaming around to find the exact street, we saw some people sleeping on the sidewalks. That gave me an interesting feeling. I was surprised how comfortable they looked. They were lying in the midst of such a dirt, but they looked as if they have the most blissful sleep. I noticed a father and a small daughter, hugged together. I felt somehow happy for them, in a very strange way.

We reached the hotel, Sohi residency. In Delhi the words residency and palace have much different meaning than what you would expect. It was already about 2.30am, a very pleasant evening. We went to bed and i thought for a while about those people sleeping outside, just a block away from us. I fell asleep fast after that!

The Enzyme Factor

Wikipedia definition: Enzymes are mainly proteins, that catalyze chemical reactions.

The Enzyme Factor is a book I read recently about the importance of enzymes - the ones produced in our body and the ones we take from our food. I remembered the biology class from high school when we were learning the most important digestion enzymes. Some of them are protease (for digestion of proteins), amylase (for digestion of carbohidrates), lipase (for digestion of lipids).
There are more than 3000 enzymes, regulating many processes in the body.

The author, Dr. Hiromi Shinaya - a Japanese doctor - gastroenterologist, proposes a theory that the human organism is able to produce primary 'miracle' enzymes - enzymes, which can be turned into any kind of enzymes that the body needs at a certain moment. For example, if we take too much alcohol, the body produces more of the enzyme which deals with the digestion of alcohol and less of an enzyme needed for other body functions. The production of this primary enzymes reduces as people get older, but their depletion also depends on the lifestyle and the food we eat.
Many studies provide data for the confirmation of this theory. So we should make sure we don't misuse this vital function of our bodies.

Here you can read more about the book and Dr Shinaya.
Here you can refresh your knowledge about most important digestion enzymes for the human body. Scroll down to the articles The Power of Enzymes Part I and II.

The Story of Stuff - watch before you head shopping

The Story of Stuff is a very fresh and insightful short film talking about the path of consumer goods: Extraction - Production - Distribution - Consumption - Disposal.

There are some quite amazing things you probably didn't know until now about the 'stuff' you and me are buying every day, every minute, even now online probably.
I loved the simplicity with which the topic is presented. You don't need sophisticated language to raise attention about such an everyday habit/hobby/entertainment/lifestyle as consumption.

Check out the movie here and think twice before you shop - are you also a part of this consumer society that you were planned for?

HOME - a wonderfully touching experience

HOME is an ecological documentary by the French Directors Yann Arthus-Bertrand.

This beautifully made movie was shot from a helicopter and was astonishing with the views and realities it provides.
Powerful words and powerful images deliver the truth of today.

Here are some extracts from the movie:

• It takes:100 l water to produce 1 kg of potatoes; 4000 l for 1 kg rice; 13000 l for 1kg of beef.
• In Las Vegas 800-1000 l of water are consumed per person per day. In contrast 500 mln people live in deserts and use water sparingly.
• Nature had carefully packed Carbon underneath the Earth's surface for millions of years. By extracting oil, we are pumping out all the carbon that made our planet a furnace in the past where no life could exist.

Please watch it and spread the word.
Here you can read more about his foundation Good Planet: http://www.goodplanet.org/en/

The most important thing is that solutions exist. If you don't have time for the whole movie, please check the last 10-15 min, which give the hope that we can restore the balance in our HOME.

What does Christmas mean to you?

My Christmas poll had the following possible answers:

a) Nice cozy atmosphere with my closest people around me
b) Super cool sales everywhere
c) Stuffing myself with food until I am become unable to move
d) Presents!!! Lots of them
e) A kiss under the mistletoe :)

Nobody was interested in the answers b), d), and e). Most people (84%) replied that Christmas makes them think of a cozy atmosphere with closest people around. 16% relate Christmas mostly with food. For me choices a), c) and d) apply. However, I think we don't need to wait for Christmas to make surprise someone with a present and we don't need to wait for Christmas to feel cozy with the family and get good food. We can do that every time we want. So why not live as if every day is Christmas?

Swiss German - A Helpful Introduction

Willkumm i de Schwiiz! :)



I bet there are many of you out there who have the idea that they speak good German and get totally frustrated when they come to the German part of Switzerland, wondering two things "What is happening here?'' and ''Why don't I get anything even when I listen to the clearly spoken news on the radio??''.

I was in this situation in the first months of my arrival in Switzerland and having in mind the difficulties I had trying to find information online about the Swiss German, I thought it is a good idea to put some of the most common words/phrases that I have come across in this part of the world.

Note: Even within the German part of Switzerland you can find many dialects and often people from Bern do not have a clue what a Zürcher is talking about. In my introduction I will talk about Züritüütsch (Zürich Deutsch). It is spoken for sure in the regions Zurich (ZH) and Aargau (AG). and maybe some other nearby cantons.
To some of the words, I will also add some comments, which might help you reading and pronouncing them (hopefully). I will abbreviate Zürich Deutsch with ZD.

**********************************

Common expressions:

Grüezi! - the most common formal greeting. Guten Tag (in German).
Probably coming from Grüss dich.

Grüezi mitenand! - formal greeting when you meet two or more people.
Probably coming from Grüezi miteinander.

Sali, Krisa! - an informal greeting between friends. Hi!
Probably coming from French influence: Salute - 'Hi' in French.

Hoi! - an informal greeting between friends. Hi!
Hoi zäme! - an informal greeting when you meet more than one friend.
Probably coming from Hoi zusammen.

Adie (often pronounced as Adee)! - Byee (formal and informal)
Adieu = Good bye in French.

Uf Wiiderluege - Aufwiedersehen.
AU in ZD is pronouced U: Aus - uus, Haus - Huus...
luege = sehen. In ZD infinitives of the verbs are spoken out without N at the end.

En Guete! = Guten Appetit.
In ZD U is often pronounced as UE.

Gueten Aabig! = Guten Abend.
In ZD words ending in -ung are pronounced with -ig at the end: Stimmung, Heizung, Buchhandlung = Stimmig, Heizig, Buechhandlig.

Merci vilmal! = Danke schön
French influence once again:)

Wie gaat s Ine? = Wie geht es Ihnen?
Again the N at the end is not spoken.

Häsch guet gschlaffe? = Hast du gut geschlafen.
Note: in ZD the use of 'du' in the sentence is not necessary like in High German.

Häsch scho es Velo? = Hast du schon ein Fahrrad?

Wo wonsch? = Wo wohnst du?

Wo gaasch ane? = Wohin gehst du?

..... wäisch? = similar to 'You know?' in English, when you tell as story to somebody. Weisst du? - in German.

Mini Mueterspraach isch Bulgarisch. Und dini?
Mini/dini = mein/deine

Töörfs na öppis sii? = Darf es noch etwas sein? (you might be asked when shopping)

Zmorge, Znüni, Zmittag, Zvieri, Zabendässe = all the different meals during the day

Gääl = right?, ok?, very often used in the end of the sentences.
Das isch schöön, gääl?

Tomäätli, Wörtli - this makes the nouns smaller, like '-chen' in Hoch Deutsch

Numbers:

1 eeis, es
2 zweei
3 drüü
4 vieri
5 föif
6 saachs
7 sieebe
8 acht, ächt
9 nüün
10 zää
15 föifzah
20 zwanzg
23 drüüzwanzg
30 drisg
1000 tuusig

Saying the time of the clock:

Wie spaat isch es? = Wie spät ist es?
Wivil Ziit isch?
S'isch eis, zwei, drüü, vieri, föifi, sachsi, siebni, achti, nüüni, zää, elfi, zwölfi
Note: it is common while saying the time to put -i after the number.
Halbi nüüni = 8.30h
Zää ab achti = 8.10h
föif vor halbi Sibni = 7.25h



Days of the week:

Wuchetääg = Wochentage
Wuche = Woche

Meentig = Montag
Zeehnsschtig = Diennstag
Mittwuch = Mittwoch
Doonschtig = Donnerstag
Friitig = Freitag
Samschtig = Samstag
Sonntig = Sonntag


Conjugations of the most common verbs - to be, to have, to go:

sii = sein in German
gsii = gewesen (3rd form)

ich bi
du bisch
er/si/es isch
mir sind
ir sind
si/Si sind

simer = sind wir

Note:
mir = wir in German
ir sind =/= ihr seid in German. The three conjugations in plural in ZD are always same.

haa = haben
ghaa = gehabt (3rd form)

ich haa
du häsch
er/si/es hät
mir/ir/si/Si händ

haämmer = haben wir

gaa = gehen
ggange = gegangen (3rd form)

ich gaan(e)
du gaasch
er/si/es gaat
mir/ir/si/Si gönd

gömmer = gehen wir

Some important vocabulary:

I schaffe zBade. = Ich arbeite in Baden.
Schaffe = arbeiten
z..... = in some place

... uf Züri? = ... nach Zürich?

Gaasch mit dem Bus go poschte? = Gehst du mit dem Bus einkaufen?
Gaasch always goes together with go.
poschte = einkaufen, shopping

Gisch mer en Franke? = Gibst du mir ein Frank?

Was gits bim Metzger? = Was gibt's beim Metzger?
Was chauft me bim Beck? = Was kauft man beim Becker?
Was bruucht me susch na hüüfig i de Chuchi? = Was braucht man sonst noch heufig in der Küche?

Das gits mir z dänke. = Das wundert mich.

Gits ächt...? = Gibt es viellecht ...?

übercho = bekommen
Wienacht = Weihnachten
Samichlaus = Sankt Nicolaus
Guetzli, Mailänderli, Bräunli = different kinds of Christmas cookies
Bueb, Burscht = Junge
Mätli, Meiteli = Mädchen
Dä = der
s = das, it is read connected with the word after it, 'sMeiteli'
öppis = etwas
öpper = jemand
öppe = etwa, ungefähr
es bizeli, echli = ein bisschen
nachli = noch ein wenig
es manglet = es fehlt
hüt = heute
Lüt = Leute
tüür = teuer
nöd = nicht
susch = sonst
Gmües = Gemüse
Schuel = Schule
näi = nein
odrr = usually put at the end of most sentences, while explaining something, similar to 'Right?'
widrr = wieder
sueche = suchen
parat = bereit
sowiit = soweit
gits au = es gibt auch
nu = nur
häi = heim
Lose mal! = Hör mal!
na, gna = nehmen, genommen
la, gla = lassen, gelassen
elei = allein
zerscht = zuerst
die Stube = Wohnzimmer
rütschen = etwas bereit zum Kochen machen
Süessmoscht = Saft
brüle = weinen
de Psuech = der Besuch
Güggeli = Hähnchen
Anke = Butter
furtrühre = wegwerfen
es Biispili = ein Beispiel


Some fruits and vegetables you probably wouldn't guess the meaning of if you knew High German.

Rüebli = Karroten (Carrot)
Chnobli = Knoblauch (Garlick)
Herdöpfel = Kartoffel (Potatoe)
Guggumere = Gurke (Cucumber)
Epeeri = Erdbeer (Strawberries)
Peperoni = Paprika (not hot pepper); Paprika is only used for spice in ZD

Some connected/shortened words:

devoo = davon
nanig = noch nicht
zumene = zum eine
wämene = wenn man
durenand = durcheinander
nahdinah = nach und nach
nu no = nur noch
en = eine
nümme = nicht mehr
dinne = drinnen
use = draussen, aus
deet = dort
me = man
verbi, debi = vorbei, dabei
niemer = niemand
nienet = nirgends
dethi = dorthin
bissoguet... = bitte, sei es so freundlich...

Die Fälle - Nominativ, Akkusativ, Dativ, Genitiv:

In ZD Nominativ and Akkusativ have THE SAME endings:

When the word starts with a consonant:
bestimmte Artkeln: de Maa, dFrau, sChind = der Mann, die Frau, das Kind
unbestimmte Artikeln: en Maa, e Frau, es Chind = einen Mann, eine Frau, ein Kind

When the word starts with a vowel:
bestimmte Artiklen: der Aff, dAmsle, sAffli = der Affe, die Amsle, das Affli
unbestimmte Artikeln: en Aff, en Amsle, es Affli = einen Affe, eine Amsle, ein Affli

bestimmte Artkeln Plural: dMane/Affe, dFraue/Amsle, dChind/Affli
unbestimmte Artikeln Plural: Mane, Fraue, Chind

Dativ:

bestimmte Artkeln: em Maa, de(r) Frau, em Chind = dem Mann, der Frau, dem Kind
unbestimmte Artikeln: eme Maa, ere Frau, eme Chind = einem Mann, einer Frau, einem Kind

When the word starts with a vowel:
bestimmte Artiklen: em Aff, der Amsle, em Affli = dem Affe, der Amsle, dem Affli
unbestimmte Artikeln: emen Aff, eneren Amsle, emen Affli = einem Affe, einer Amsle, einem Affli

Plural before consonant: de Mane, de Fraue, de Chinde
Plural before vowel: den Affe, den Amsle, den Affli


This post is regularly updated.

Poll 3: What made Mr Obama the next US president?

Inspired by the outcome of the US presidential elections, I was curious to see which were the biggest advantages of Sen. Barack Obama's campaign. My visitors were able to choose one or more of the following answers:

a) His charisma and skin color
b) The current economic situation
c) His intention to make education more accessible
d) His intention to create reduce the jobs outsourcing tendency
e) His choice for running mate, Joe Badin
f) John McCain's choice for running mate, Sarah Palin

Answers b) and c) were equally chosen the most. Here is my interpretation: The current economic situation obviously showed to people the inability of the current government to deal with the situation, which made US citizens look for and believe in other promises and solutions. The choice for running mate Joe Badin was also an immensely important step due to the significant political experience of Joe Badin. This was suited perfectly Mr Obama's profile because he has been discussed to be not experienced enough in foreign policy. Together they made a really strong candidacy, especially targeted for middle class Americans. Together they seem to be able to get things done. People believed that CHANGE CAN HAPPEN!

Read more online: http://www.barackobama.com

Poll 2: Which way of shopping do you prefer?

This was my second poll question, running in Oct-Nov 2008.
Again visitors were allowed to choose one or more than one answer of the following:

a) Online
b) Stores
c) Catalogue

Most answers were b) and only 10% would select option a). Surprisingly, not even one person selected Catalogue as a preferable shopping way. I, personally, became quite comfortable with catalogue shopping thanks to the English cosmetics company Avon. The Swedish cosmetics company Oriflame has exactly the same sales strategy. And it should be there, because people really prefer it.

Their remarkable marketing strategy has numerous advantages for the buyer:

Firstly, you can shop while sitting at home and watching a movie.
Secondly, you can any time consult your own distributor for advice, because Avon took their time and money to train them so that they can help their own customers in almost all cases. Third, you can always ask your distributor for samples, if you don't know which color of lipstick you need, for example.
Fourth, if you don't like the product (for a convincing reason) you can return it right away and you certainly get all your money back.
Fifth, you have all the time you need to go over and over through the 150-paged catalogue and investigate all the promotions and combined offers, which you wouldn't really be able to know so fast in a store.
Sixth, you pay when you hold the product in your hands. Who wouldn't love that?
Seventh, (only for perfumes) you can actually smell the newest perfumes on the specially scented page.
Eight, you are often given instructions how to use the products for the best results.

Of course, a disadvantage is that you need to calculate a couple of days until you get what you ordered. Sometimes it also happens that the colorful pictures and smooth silky skin of the models makes you buy a product you wouldn't need. This is probably the biggest danger. Still, I consider this a very convenient shopping method, once you have built trust in the catalogue's products and the expertise of your distributor.

Poll 1: What is your little contribution against global warming?

This was first poll question I made for my blog visitors, which was running in Oct 2008.
People could select one or more of the following answers:

a) I ride a bike or walk, instead of using my car
b) I take quick showers
c) I plant trees
d) I pay for my carbon footprints

As expected most of my visitors selected a). This is perhaps the most common way to clear your conscience (at least that is what helps me the most). For me only option a) is the answer.

What are Kiva loans?

I read about the Kiva loans some years ago in Business Week. Today I stumbled upon their websites and I got reminded of this remarkable initiative.

Kiva loans are directed to entrepreneurs around the world, with very good potential and in a real need of finance. The curious thing about these loans is that they can be as small as 25 USD. It turns out, when given to the right person they can really make a difference :)

Check out Kiva online, and get inspired to help :)

Some more solar power insights

I really like one specific sales technique - when you explain to the customer what your product is worth, by describing it in units and words that have an obvious meaning for everybody, regardless of their knowledge.
See here 10 important reasons, which the company Solel Solar Systems gives, explaining why power from the sun makes sense to invest in.

Here is one product you would need if you want to build a solar power plant - highly reflective foil:


Solar Energy has always been there. Hence, using it for heat production is not completely new idea. It has been there for a while and has been put into implementation.
Here are some examples of CSP plants:

Kramer Junction, California, USA:





Solar One, Nevada, USA
This power plants uses parabolic troughs as thermal solar concentrators.





Solar Two, Barstow, California, USA:
This power plant uses mirrors, which move tracking the sun light, similarly to plants :)



Seville, Spain:
All the heat from the sun's radiation is concentrated in the top of the tower (Receiver), where the working fluid is heated to become steam. The following process is the same as in most electricity power plants - the so called Rankine cycle.





And the world's largest solar plant, Mojave Desert, Israel:



And here is how they remove desert dust from the huge mirrors:)



The main question in an engineer's mind about production of electricity is on first place: 'How to generate heat?'. One obvious answer is there, staring at us :) The sun's radiation is our perfect completely renewable source of heat, if we only want to use it. And, one more green point, completely CO₂ free :)

Sun, wind, water, geo - which has biggest potential?

Recently, I have been growing an interest for renewable technologies for energy production. Therefore, I visited a lecture of Prof. Aldo Steinfeld at Zürich University, entitled: 'Global Potential of Renewable Energy Technologies'. Having a restricted beginner knowledge in this field, I benefited a lot from this presentation. Here I would like just to mention what struck me the most.

Prof. Steinfeld took a scenario (made by the oil company Shell), which predicted a global increase in demand of CO₂ free electricity of ~30 TW. (1TW =10¹²W). Two reasons for that:

* Almost doubled population
* Higher amount of energy per capita

Which technology of renewable energy production has the chance to close the energy gap?

After looking at the practical and theoretical potentials of all possible technologies - wind, hydro, biomass, geothermal and solar - the answer was given: SOLAR!

Solar energy can be the real solution to the expected 30TW gap. Currently the overall energy consumption on Earth is 1.2 x 1014 W. To satisfy that using only solar power, we will need a square area of 500 x 500 km. The theoretical potential of solar power is 120 000 TW, practically 600TW can be achieved. So it is worth discussing.

Prof. Steinfeld presented two main technologies for solar power:

PV - Photovoltaic (Solar Cell) Systems. Through this technology the light (photons) is directly converted into electricity (voltage). Here is a short explanation from http://www.renewableenergyworld.com/: 'Solar cells are made of semiconducting materials similar to those used in computer chips. When sunlight is absorbed by these materials, the solar energy knocks electrons loose from their atoms, allowing the electrons to flow through the material to produce electricity.' Typically, a solar cell has a 15% efficiency, so only 1/6th of the energy that strikes it is converted to electricity. The first solar cell was used in 1950-s and had only 4% efficiency. Today there are also some cells which can reach up to 40% effiiciency. The world growth of PV technology is 34%; European growth - 87%, half of which is in Germany.

CSP - Concentrated Solar Power. Here is a short Wiki Explanation: 'CSP use lenses or mirrors and tracking systems to focus a large area of sunlight into a small beam. The concentrated light is then used as a heat source for a conventional power plant (Rankine plant - a thermodynamic cycle, which converts heat into work. The heat is supplied externally to a closed loop, which usually uses water as the working fluid.). A wide range of concentrating technologies exists. These methods vary in the way they track the Sun and focus light. In all these systems a working fluid is heated by the concentrated sunlight, and is then used for power generation or energy storage.
'What happens when the sun sets?' - you might ask. The advantage of CSP systems is that they can use fossil fuel during the night and thus generate electricity 24 hrs. This combined system is possible due to the fact that the solar power plants work on the principle of conventional power plants. The only difference is the method of heat generation.

BUT Solar power is not competitive with other energy production methods. For this reason the governments of some countries provide a feed-in tariff (in Spain it is 0.27 EUR/kWh) for investments in solar energy. This is the estimated cost of producing solar electricity. This makes the investment in this business profitable and attracts more interest.

Important issue to consider for every investment is Energy Pay Back: the number of years that the factory must work in orer to repay the initial investment.
For PV, depending on the cells used, it can be from 1 to 3.5 years.
For CSP, only about 0.5 years.

Sounds good to me :)

Conclusion: with solar power you can claim a sustainable production of energy, which has the potential to close the energy gap between today and the year 2060.

Electrolube Product Poster

Electrolube is a sister company of AF International. It is a manufacturer of cleaning supplies and other chemicals for very specific users - Electronics and Manufacturing Industries. It was tough to make a poster about products that I don't know anything about, but the poster was very needed for an upcoming fair in Romania. Therefore I asked one of the few engineers working in Freckles to enlighten me about the applications of Electrolube chemicals.
He helped me a lot to come up with this poster. If you have seen the AF Product Poster, you will notice some obvious similarities. I wanted to emphasize that both companies are related.



The EL products fall into 6 categories:

• Cleaning - these is the category that resembles a little the AF product range. However, these products are also suitable for much more technical purposes like cleaning motherboards and PCBs.
  
• Conformal Coatings - with these you can make a protective layer on circuitry against environmental attacks from chemicals, moisture and other contaminants.
  
• Resins - they have a similar application as conformal coatings, but their specific feature is that they consist of two liquids (resin and hardener), which when mixed in a correct ratio, react to form a solid according to customer requirements.
  
• Thermal Management - due to the ever-growing complexity of electronic circuits, they generate more heat, which needs to be dissipated so that they function for longer time. This is exactly the purpose of this group of products - they ensure effective operation by dissipating heat away.
  
• Contact Lubrication - simply said, if you want your switch to last longer (3x its usual lifetime), use these products to reduce friction and enhance electrical performance in switches and connectors.
• Maintenance and Service Aids - a wide range of products vital to any service engineer, coming in different packages.
  

It is nice to know some engineering sometimes ;) Therefore, I feel very happy about my involvement with Electrolube.

EnergyDay 08

Das ist mein erstes Blog in Deutsch. Wie alles anders, jeder Anfang ist schwer und es wäre gut, wenn Sie meine Fehler übersehen und der Sinn des Blogs ergreifen :)

Seit 2006 gibt es jedes Jahr einen Anlass in der Schweiz, der Energy Day heisst. Dieses Jahr läuft dieser Tag unter dem Motto 'Abschalten!'.

Man kann überall die Wichtigkeit des Tages fühlen. Die Schweizer Zeitungen widmen viele Seiten dem Energy Day und erzählen ausführlich warum Energie sparen eine grosse Bedeutung für den Staat hat.
Die Zeitungen stellen den Begriff 'Energieeffizienz' vor. Das bringt manchmal ein weitgehendes Missverständnis, dass ich diskutieren möchte. Energieeffizienz bedeutet nicht, dass man den gewohnten Lebensstandard abgeben muss, sondern die gleiche Nützen mit weniger Energieverbrauch erzielen. Das ist durchaus möglich, wenn man eine Reihe von praktischen Tipps folgt. Am Energy Day werden die Schweizer noch ein mal mit diesen Tipps bekannt. Ein dieser Tipps ist der folgende:

'Say Good bye to StandBy'

Wenige von uns erfassen wie viel Elektrizität gespart ist, wenn man die Elektrogeräte abschaltet. Dieser 'Halbschlaf' der Geräte kostet annähernd 130 Millionen Franken pro Jahr!! Aus diesem Hintergrund, bieten verschiedene Geschäfte am Energy Day freie Steckerleisten vor. Damit kann man nur mit einem Knopfdruck viele Elektrogeräte auschalten. Zudem machen die Geschäfte grossen Rabatt von energieeffizienten Haushaltgeräte. Da in jeder Haushalt es ungefähr 15 Elektrogeräte gibt, ist es extrem wichtig an die Zukunft zu denken und sich für die energieeffizienteste Geräte zu entscheiden. Vergessen Sie nicht auch die Licht auszumachen, wenn Sie nicht in dem Zimmer sind. Das alles hilft Ihrem Geldbeutel und auch die Umwelt.

Es gibt noch einen Begriff, den ich hier vorstellen möchte - die EnergieStadt. In der Schweiz gibt es ungefähr 160 Städte, die einer nachhaltige Umwelt-, Transport-, und Energiepolitik führen. Diese Städte sparen jährlich zusammen etwa 74000 Tonnen CO2, 30 Millionen Litre Brennstoff und 68 Millionen Kilowattstunden Strom. (COOP Zeitung, 21 Oktober 2008). 10 von diesr Städten haben auch die European Energy Award GOLD bekommen, unter denen sind Zürich, Basel, Lausanne, Schaffhausen.



Den European EnergyAward® Silber erhalten Gemeinden, wenn sie mindestens die Hälfte der möglichen Maßnahmen umgesetzt haben.
Um den European Energy Award® Gold zu erreichen, müssen in einer Gemeinde mindestens 75 Prozent der möglichen energierelevanten Maßnahmen umgesetzt sein.
(Infoblatt).

Als ich klein war, wurde ich oft von meiner Grossmutter gesagt: 'Lichte aus, Kleines!'. Dann habe ich mir gedacht, 'Ja, vielleicht sagt sie dass, weil sie kein Geld hat den Strom zu bezahlen'. Das war wirklich so. Deshalb habe ich gedacht, es war modern, wenn man so viel Elektrizität verbrauchen kann, wie man will. Ich habe gedacht, dass das ein Zeichen von der fortgeschrittener Welt war. Heute denke ich anders. Heute glaube ich, dass Energieffiezienz sehr nötig für unsere erfolgreiche Zukunft ist. Wir und niemand sonst gestalten die Zukunft. Wir sollen so wenig wie möglich benutzen, um unsere Ziele zu erreichen. Also... noch mal die Botschaft meines erstes Deutschblogs und des EnergyDay 2008: Abschalten!

My favorite Radio Host :)

Retro radio scored a 10 by entrusting the morning show in the hands of this guy :) Here he comes in all his glory - Dimitar Pavlov:



He is the funniest, most original and most sincere host I have heard. There is nothing that can stop him from sharing what he thinks. When Retro Radio was running, I could not imagine more fun from 7 till 11am. He writes his scripts alone. He makes his program alone. He makes people laugh out loud while being stuck in a typical boring Sofia traffic jam. And by no further means than just being himself :)
Dimitar Pavlov is a truly cool person, with a happy heart, whose best quality is that he doesn't take himself too seriously. That is what makes me like him and listen to him daily. When he is given the freedom to talk what he wants, I seriously can't get enough of him.

Here is his Morning Program:

Retro Radio: Mon-Fri
07:00 Wake up song
Sometimes only one song is enough to get you out of bed. Expect the wake-up hit every morning exactly at 7 :)
07:10 Breakfast suggestion
Personal recipes for a healthy start of the day.
08:10 Currency
The only currency information of its kind :) It can freak out representatives of different financial institutions. Listen daily to the adventures of the american dollar, british puns, swiss frank and the euro.
08:30 Office Aerobics
A 'useful' set of exercises for early office arrivers.
09:10 Daily Horoscope
A huge mess of zodiac signs, mentioned with no sense.
09:20 Man of the day
Three nominations, only one award. Listen to the decision of the corrupted jury.10:10 Sport for a peaceful world
10:30 What is happening with your money today
You are better off not knowing about that :)
Specials on Friday:
Honest talk with Engineer Donev (scientific discoveries of Kamen Donev - a Bulgarian actor)
Top 10 (radio version of the TV show)
Useful advice to housewives and young mothers

None of these contains practical information, just extremely funny useless selection of words, which only has for a purpose to make you laugh. But isn't this what all of us want on our way to work?
:):):)

Wallpapers for RetroRadio

For two years I was obsessed with Retro Radio. This was a very cool Bulgarian radio station, which was running from 2001 until 2007. I was so happy it existed, because it gave this fresh, intelligent, funny and smart touch to the radio media.
As every other institution, the success was there thanks to the people working in it. They worked hard to make the program as it was, the sound as it was and the effect as it was. It had a mix of everything and at the same time it was not a mess, but rather a nice everyday companion. Luckily, I got to know these people during my 3-month internship at Retro in 2005 :)

As I mentioned, I really liked the program schedule. Retro music was not just randomly aired with no meaning. Instead it was structured and served, reminding me of yummy dishes at different times of the day - sometimes it came as a lovely romantic dinner, sometimes like a rocky breakfast, sometimes bringing me a nostalgic feeling of something I liked to eat in the past, sometimes like a light Sunday brunch.
Every show on Retro had a really cool jingle attached to it. I loved listening to those jingles, so in a moment of some inspiration and idleness, I made the following two wallpapers.

Funky Time was a set of songs that made me have this 'cool' feeling about retro music. It was running every Saturday afternoon.



'I'm feeling good... on Friday... with Retro Radio' was a random jingle, not connected to any show. It was just reminding me it is Friday and I am again listening to good music.



At 12 am each night, Retro used to air an incredibly nice slow song - just instrumental. I never learned by whom it was. Not because I didn't want to. No. It was because I knew it will come every night at 12. That was exactly when I wanted to hear it. I didn't need it more than once per day.
But... es every beautiful thing, this one came to an end. And I will never know who authored this lovely romantic piece... :) Still, it is kinda nice!

Business Trip Varna - Collages

When I was working in Freckles, we used to go for business trips around Bulgaria to give presentations in front of our dealers. The purpose was to make them differentiate our products from the rest on the market, make them prepared how to handle end customers and thus help them boost their sales.
It was very educational and great fun!
Here is what else we did during our Business Trip to Varna, a lovely city located on the Black Sea coast of Bulgaria...

One quick photo session with the sea behind, before we rushed for dinner :)



The child inside :)



... and the dreamer...



Varna... I want more business trips like this one :)

Wallpapers for Alexander

Sometimes when I sit at work and get tired or lost, I make desktop wallpapers. I just take a picture I like and start playing with it. Soon after Alexander's first birthday, I made this wallpaper. It was a symbol of our closeness, stressing that we had more than just aunt-nephew relationship... a real friendship based on Fresh Curiosity!



Here are some summer wallpapers, when Alexander got his pool :)



I love these mosquito bites :)



My little nephew will always be an inspiration for me :)

BG 17 - With Love for Alexander

My nephew Alexander was born on 17 Nov 2005, the first baby in the family after lo-o-ong time. His coming to our world was a big big event for me and I was feeling the proudest aunt. For weeks he was the only topic of my talks, the only thought in my mind and I felt I wanted to do something special for him.

At that time I was doing an internship at Retro Radio, Sofia. This was my favorite station with very cool people, who really made me feel comfortable there. I was working in the sound editing department and I was all day long mixing and preparing programs, jingles and ads for airing. Still, I had lots of time when I could do something on my own, so I decided to prepare a music collection for Alexander with 17 BG songs, which I liked at that time. Before each song I make an introduction in order to explain why I chose each of them.

It turned out a pretty nice product of mine! It made few people cry because at times my explanations were very sentimental :) This was my Christmas gift for Alexander :)

Here is the CD cover, where all the singers are written down:



Later I realized that this CD could serve one more purpose - if a person from another country was interested to listen to Bulgarian songs, I could just give them that CD. It contained songs of different times and styles. For this purpose, I recorded myself in English. I actually like the English version more.

Once in a few months I listen to it and it makes me feel very good while remembering the exact time my nephew was born :) It was one Thursday evening, I heard the big news right after I came out of my hip hop practice at Alfredo Style...