Note: this is about the virtualization of reality, not the virtualization of physical software systems. Regardless of what you thought it would be about, read on ;-)I think there is a fundamental problem with the idea of living in a simulated world.… more »

De ce mă regăsesc întruna-n zbor, din polul sudspre polul nord? more »

Cititorule, imaginează-ți ce s-ar întâmpla, dacă de mâine nu ar exista religia. Dacă ar dispărea conceptul de religie, cu tot cu religiile care implementează acest concept. Meditează timp de vre-o 3 minute, apoi revino la lectura acestui text. more »

Unworn pairs of bootsare still looking at me,I wonder what elseI could be. more »

Consider că e straniu să te mândrești cu ceva ce nu e al tău, cu o imagine pe care nu ți-ai construit-o singur sau cu ceva ce nu e o consecință a eforturilor tale. more »

Sunt mai multe lucruri, ultimele trei cu care m-am ciocnit... Poezia lui Grigore Vieru, "Pasărea" (după ce am observat reacția mamei la poezie, o percep altfel). Când s-a întors La puii ei cu hrana, găsise cuibul gol și amuțit. I-a căutat Până… more »

It is interesting to observe how people who hang out together (either physically, or logically) tend to embrace each other's quirks. more »

The idea is simple - make a list of really bad things that you have been through and keep it around. It doesn't have to be visible at all times, but it has to be available within minutes, should you want to take a look at it. more »

There is a special bond between mothers and their children. I don't know what kind of a protocol it is, what kind of a mysterious signal carrier it uses... But it was effective before I could blink an eye, before she even heard her mom's voice; when she did - the change was instant and significant. Take a look at the graph, her state changed from -INF to +INF :-) more »

I had no voice the day that chancesdefined how planets must align.My choices are a mere illusionembedded into the design. more »

Potential surrendered to blight,for I killed a baby last night. more »

For all the things I have done,and all the people I've helped,the universe offers edge cases,hand-picked from /tortures-in-hell.The reward for adapting to edge cases is... more edge cases! more »

Hey, it's time for you to quit wearing this cap. It is old, it doesn't stretch properly, and you look dumb in it. Give it up already!- No mom, don't you understand that this is a special cap? I got it from my sister, it is more than just a cloth,… more »

Imagine that you walk on a hypothetical path, you don't have a specific destination, you don't have a map, you don't know anything about the area. You reach a fork, either way is equally unknown and equally attractive to you. Which one will you choose? more »

Rezultatele referendumului nu inspiră optimism; chiar după ce pragul validării rezultatelor a fost redus, oricum au venit mai puțin de 1/3. Opinia și-au exprimat-o doar ~30% din alegători (datele exacte pot fi găsite pe alegeri.md). Mulțimea alegător… more »

If you wish to set up a new social movement and make it successful, here is what you need to do. more »

I was in class with my students. It was quite dark outside, it felt like autumn. I was trying to concentrate on the people around me, but my mind was focused on other activities. Juggling the pieces of the puzzle - phone numbers, names, dates, places...… more »

Click to see the full version Some things are reserved for special use. Some gestures are reserved for special use. Some words are reserved for special use. Some actions are reserved for special use. Use them for other purposes if you wish to dilut… more »

Distanța dintre noi era constantă,până-n momentu-n carete-ai oprit. more »

[video:vimeo:13538989] This video tutorial explains the basics of creating a TCP server using the BSD sockets API. The code is very simple and the comments are very verbose. This was recorded during a class, in the context of the BEST summer cou… more »

Cu pas grăbit văzusem ca prin ceaţă, pe cineva în depărtare ce se ţinea de-o aţă. Poate vedeau mai bine alţii? Sau poate nu erau grăbiţi? Ştiam că m-aşteptai acasă, acolo m-am şi repezit. Avea suficientă aţă? Puteri să se mai ţină? Să mă în… more »

Zi de zi nu-mi pot găsi locul și capul mi-l dau de pereți. Încerc să-nțeleg - care mi-e scopul, dar nu pot nimic să dezleg. Cine pe nori va păși când te ține de mână? Cine pe inima sa te va face stăpână? Cine va fi incapabil un zâmbet s-as… more »

Trecuse-un veacde când am mai ţinuto mână-n mână. more »

Când vine timpul să te angajezi şi ai mai multe oferte de muncă, trebuie să alegi una şi să fii sigur că ai ales-o pe cea mai bună. E important să conştientizezi un lucru - un interviu e un joc multiplayer. Ei te chestionează pe tine, iar tu îi chesti… more »

De mai multe ori mi s-a întâmplat să discut cu cineva şi să aud "Dumnezeul pe care îl promovează biserica - nu există; dar totuşi acolo sus este cineva (sau ceva)".E trendy să fii aşa în ziua de astăzi. Probabil că lumea începe să piardă încrederea î… more »

[video:vimeo:10011691] This is an instructional video I made for my students, as an aid to a practical assignment. The tutorial explains What a network sniffer is and how it can be used How to look at a network sniff and tell what happens a… more »

Saying the same words,meaning it every time;breaking the speed of light,leaving the past behind.Having the same feelingsover and over again;"But now they are true and authentic,I'm really, completely awake!I'm finally, clearly awake!I… more »

This is a review of Robert Cialdini's "Power of persuasion" (a ~1h talk in which he describes some basic ways of influencing people).I recommend you to go through the original video, but if you have a shortage of time, you can take a look at my notes… more »

Flipped bit in a databasetells me winter lasts longerthan I thought. more »

This one is for my students, but generally the answers apply to anyone else who is studying - so I decided to share this. Here are the answers to some questions I got when collecting feedback about my classes. Do we really need to write the rep… more »

Un cioban se odihnea pe un butuc, întâlnea amurgul sub un brad de lângă baltă. Alături îi erau dulăul şi o barză. Dulăul îl întrebă: "stăpâne, spune-mi ce cărţi să citesc?". Orice limbă are o proprietate - perioada de îmbrăţişare^. O limbă există… more »

Some time ago I held a special lecture about efficient note taking and learning in class. It was filmed, I have the edited the pieces and made a video. The sound is not perfect, so comprehension suffers; the plan was to write the subtitles and then go pu… more »

There is a trend among students - skip classes because they have a job. I've seen this happen to my colleagues when I was a student, and I see this happen to my students today, when I am a teacher. I always disagreed with this, for a very simple reaso… more »

Articolul dat îţi va fi de folos dacă eşti în situaţia în care mai mulţi oameni utilizează calculatorul tău. Nu e o lecţie de istorie, nu-ţi voi povesti că înainte sistemele de operare nu erau "multi user" şi nu erau nici "multi tasking". Îţi voi povesti… more »

You've already met the evil bit, now I will introduce you to another concept that is handy when analyzing social interactions - tit-for-tat. Tit-for-tat is another way of saying "do to others what you would like to be done to you". The best and most i… more »