if i only knew...

Today's cool find: amazing photos

Today's cool find: amazing photos at onfocus.com : photos! I was looking for a tool that would make it easy to publish photos to this blog and found this website. There are awesome photos in there.

I am in Vienna with

I am in Vienna with Bence. This is the first week of summer holiday for me and i am slacking and nappiung and reading and surfing the web whenever i want, and taking long walks and browsing in the bookstore for hours and it's s-o-m-u-c-h f-u-n!!!!

Today's cool site: Girl at play

The weekend was hot and

The weekend was hot and cool. Hot because we're having a heatwave here, 36 degress Celsius (that's around 85 F). Yikes. Yesterday we went to a beach to cool off and had a great time. But generally, the heat is unbearable. Today was the hottest day (all official temperature records broken), but tonight the cool breeze is coming. Yay!

My parents are going to Vancouver tomorrow morning for 2 weeks. O, how i envy them! I get my daily dose of vancouverite culture and trivia at vancouverbloggers.com. It's a cool site to wander around.

Yesterday marked the last day

Yesterday marked the last day of this semester! I don't have to go to anywhere near my college until Sept. 9th!!! :) YAY!

So... i already started with

So... i already started with the book. :) I only need a cool type of paper for the outside cover. Something heavier stock because too thin paper becomes wrinkly from the glue. I will have to go look for decor wallpaper, that would be perfect. Next week i will also have to start working on Anna and Orsi's summer journals. They are my two nieces, living in Vancouver, BC and they are visiting us for the summer. I decided to make two journals for them to record what they did and hwo the summer was spent. It should be fun, both making the journals and journaling with them. If you have any cool ideas on kids' journaling, leave a comment or email!

About bookmaking again: i found

About bookmaking again: i found a veery easy and clear instruction page on how to make a hardcover book. Very cool. I can't wait to start. Tomorrow i'll get supplies!

Finally: scientific evidence that advertising

Finally: scientific evidence that advertising in a violent and/or erotic/sexual context is NOT a wise thing to do. Quote from an article in the Journal of Applied Psychology - Violence and sex impair memory for television ads (PDF format) by two Iowa State University researchers:

"Participants watched a violent, sexually explicit, or neutral TV program that contained 9 ads. Participants recalled the advertised brands. They also identified the advertised brands from slides of supermarket shelves. The next day, participants were telephoned and asked to recall again the advertised brands. Results showed better memory for people who saw the ads during a neutral program than for people who saw the ads during a violent or sexual program both immediately after exposure and 24 hr later. Violence and sex impaired memory for males and females of all ages, regardless of whether they liked programs containing violence and sex. These results suggest that sponsoring violent and sexually explicit TV programs might not be a profitable venture for advertisers."

Plus, from the conclusion, even wiser words:
"It is unlikely that moral appeals from parents and other concerned citizens will influence the TV industry to reduce the amount of violence and sex on television. The bottom line -profits- actually determines what programs are shown on television. If advertisers refused to sponsor them, violent and sexually explicit TV programs would become extinct. According to former CBS programming chief Jeff Sagansky, "The number one priority in television is not to transmit quality programming to viewers, but to deliver consumers to advertisers." (Kim, 1994, p. 1434). The current findings suggest that advertisers should think twice about sponsoring violent and sexually explicit TV programs."
I hope advertising execs read the paper. If you know one, send them the link!

So it's over with Audiogalaxy.

So it's over with Audiogalaxy. :( Everything is blocked. This was the first p2p sharing service that i actually trusted and loved. The first bad sign was when a few weeks ago they released a new version of the software and forced Gator on us with it. F*** you, adware. Then came the news about the RIAA lawsuit. And now it's official, they are blocking everything so AG is dead. And teh worst thing is there is no alternative. None of the current sharing programs i know can match the usability, the selection and the unique recommendations system of AG. If you know any that you like and come close to what AG was like, leave a comment. Thanks!

Maybe i will get my

Maybe i will get my knitting needles out of the closet again...: this is cooooooooooooooool!!!!

The weekend was great. We

The weekend was great. We went to visit a friend's newborn kid and he is a cutie! We had a great time. They live about 50 kms from Budapest in a tiny village. Their house has a huge garden and we always do barbecue or other cool out food, and i always realize how i am NOT that attached to the city like i always believed. Earlier i couldn't even imagine living somewhere else other than the middle of the city, but i have changed my priorities. I want a place nearer to the city though... But not necessarily IN the city. Of course, the nearer you are to the city, the more 0's in the price of the property. :(

What do you do when

What do you do when your two favourite teams are playing against each other and one of them has to go? I chose Senegal. And they won!!!! YAY!!! How cool can they get? I love their dances and the way they are PLAYING. They brought play back into the very very Europeanised football games. Go SENEGAL!!!!

Only one more exam left

Only one more exam left to go!!!! Next Wednesday. Yesterday's was very stressy and i am glad it's over. I wanted a better mark, but i don't care any more. It's summer!!!!

Made my purchase on amazon.com

Made my purchase on amazon.com yesterday:

Fanning the Creative Spirit By: Maria Girsch, Charlie Girsch - i have recently become interested in creativity books. This one sounds interesting and fun. Here is their website.
Into That Darkness : An Examination of Conscience By: Gitta Sereny - book about the psychology of nazi officers. After reading Bernhard Schlink's The readerI am interested in the subject.
Design for Community: The Art of Connecting Real People in Virtual Places By: Derek M. Powazek
National Geographic Photography Field Guide: Landscapes By: Robert Caputo - what better way to learn photography skills then from NG's photographers? :)
And two books about making books (see previous post):
Cover to Cover : Creative Techniques for Making Beautiful Books, Journals & Albums By: Shereen Laplantz
Making Journals by Hand: 20 Creative Projects for Keeping Your Thoughts By: Jason Thompson

The last time i ordered from amazon.com was December. Yikes. How could i survive six months?? :)

I want to make books!!!

I want to make books!!! I got inspired by an online friend who is making a handmade address book for me. There are wonderful projects on the web, and i am ordering from amazon anyway today, so i will put a book on bookmaking in my cart. :)

Yay! The swedes are in!

Yay! The swedes are in! :) I also want South Africa to get in, the match is on right now.

My new addiction: Yahoo! Games. Especially the Canasta and Hearts games. It's especially cool to get this new addiction in the middle of finals because i can alsways look forward to what i will do in between reading two chapters. :)

Uhmmmm, new googles??? (see previous

Uhmmmm, new googles??? (see previous post) I meant goggles. :)

I just finished reading the

I just finished reading the 480 page Global marketing book that i need to study for Thursday's exam. I am proud of myself. Now i only need to get through the 350 page "Marketing strategy" book ASAP and then leave some time to revise all of this. Sounds good, doesn't it? No it doesn't. Really not. Wish me luck and stregth!

What's the worst in all this is that i would like to go out and walk, or go to the gym or go for a swim (new googles bought last week and i didn't even try them yet...), but i can't because i have to read and learn all this marketing crap. :( And what's even worse, i am a stress snacker. I eat chocolate while studying to keep myself happy. :(

John Ashcroft is in Budapest

John Ashcroft is in Budapest today and in talks with Hungary's justice minister. Just for the record. :)

Sad sad sad. I wanted

Sad sad sad. I wanted France to win again. I was sorry for Zidane, although i still can't see how a whole team can depend on one player in such a team sport at such an international level. I don't quite understand how this has happened. So, Plan B is in action now: Go Sweden!!!!

Fun link of the

Fun link of the day: Bored.com - Links to the most interesting sites on the internet

OH, i miss them

OH, i miss them so much!!!!! Via Jen's journal:

You are Hobbes! You're a bit too mellow to be an incarnation of Calvin, but you're still his best pal. You don't mind having fun, though, and enjoy playing tricks on your friends when they least expect it. Take the What Calvin are You? Quiz by contessina_2000@yahoo.com!

Tomorrow is France's big

Tomorrow is France's big day. I hope some miracle happens and they don't get kicked out of the World Cup so early. It would be mega-embarassing. My other favourites are the Swedes and they are standing very very good. Allez France and GO Sweden!!! :)

My weekend was fun.

My weekend was fun.
Friday Bence came home and we played Canasta. Got beaten by the other team, but it was a great game. Saturday we went to the "book week" in the city. It's a huge book fair and many many many new releases. I got books to sell on eBay, and a book for my Mom's birthday (which is today and she loves the book) and Bence got 2 books for himself. I am absolutely broke and i have to save up for our holiday in July (Crete, Greece), so i couldn't buy any for myself. :(:( I saw a novel i would love to read, i think i will buy it later and take it to Crete. It sounds like a beach read - and that is *not* cheesy romance novels for me... In the evening we went to an open air festival where my favourite band played. It was fun fun fun. They have a brand new album out, which i bought on Friday and i am listening to it right now. After the concert we went home and watched the Tyson-Lewis boxing event. Well, we went home and spent the rest of the night waiting for it to start, it started 5.30am our time. :) So i slept through most of Sunday.

This is incredible! It's

This is incredible! It's an image of the Seattle waterfront in 1907 that fades into the image of the same waterfront in 2002. I wish i had this for my city, Budapest too.

One more step closer

One more step closer to fitness... i bought swimming goggles and a swimming cap today. :) So now it's only my laziness holding me from going swimming...

I am tired. Time

I am tired. Time to sleep. For a change: no exams tomorrow. I will sleep better, no doubt. But i still have to go to the stupid school (a one-hour commute...) to get some papers signed. Arggghh... Good night.

Here are my votes

Here are my votes for this year's Webby Awards. I voted in all categories but one (Politics). Here is what i said:

activism PETA.org
While they sometimes do gotoo far, i believe in their causes. I am not a vegetarian but ieat less meat partly because of what i saw in theirmaterials.

best practices Google
Doesn’t needexplanation, right? Should be up in the Hall of the Internet Godsalong with amazon.com, ebay.com and Yahoo.

broadband bthere
Didn’t know about ittill today. :) Had fun browsingaround.

commerce Amazon.com
No comment. I am anamazonoholic.

community Nerve.com
Yum. ;)

education Students Against Testing
I believe in what they do.Children shouldn’t be machines.

fashion Elle
Much better than any of theother contestants, so i entered this.

film Internet Movie Database
Fun, exhilarating, veryuseful. A classic.

finance Yahoo! Finance
I don’t use anyfinance sites apart from my web banking site, but Yahoo is goodin info-dense sites and one of my family members has this as hishomepage. It must be good then, ha?

games Shockwave games
Addictive!!! Collapse andBounce Out and Domino Dementia and Qbeez. The fun never stops.And it wasn’t even nominated… :(

government & law NASA
You can’t beatNasa.

health Physicians Committee for Responsible Medicine
Good, high quality and NEWinformation about important issues. Opens your eyes.

humor Legodeath - A Museum of Horrors
Saw this first today. Fun.Funnier than the other nominees.

kids Channel One
Hmm, don’t really knowwhy. I wasn’t very attached to any of the nominees anddidn’t know a better one.

living epicurious.com
I love the design and therecipes. And the cooking school. And and and…

music AudioGalaxy
Why wasn’t itnominated???

net art DeskSwap
Fun, but not recommended forprivacy freaks. ;)

news salon
I personally read CNN butdidn’t nominate it because i don’t think it is thebest of the web. Salon is a better news website although idon’t read it very often.

personal web site JeffHarris
Interesting one.

print & zines National Geographic Magazine
A classic again. Theirwebsite is a classic example of what magazines should be doing onthe web.

radio BBC Radio 4 website
I was wondering about thiscategory a lot. Didn’t really prefer any of them.

science Astronomy Picture of the Day
Classic again.

services Ryze
Just discovered it thanks tothe Webbies. Sounds interesting.

spirituality BeliefNet
I took their religion quizand came up with an interesting result. Fun!

sports Backpacker.com
ESPN’s front pagetoday shows only a few lines about the World Cup in the sidebar.COME ON??? It’s the Football World Cup and espndoesn’t care??? And this on the day the US beat Portugal3-2??? Sorry, my vote doesn’t go for you!

technical achievement Google
No comment.

travel IgoUgo
I am a guide myself, and love it!

tv BBCi
So much stuff!

weird spamradio
Funny in a way. Some peoplehave too much time on their hands…

Interesting article on AlterNet: The

Interesting article on AlterNet: The Ego of Oprah. I have only seen about 2 Oprah shows in my life, because we don't get her show here in Europe, but i wasn't evry impressed. While i sometimes visited her website and found nice causes, articles, inspirational things, i always thought most of her stuff is more her own self-made-woman marketing and NOT sincere at all. When i last saw her show, i watched the audience weep and look somehow enchanted, hocus-pocused ... in a bad way. The look on their faces was all about emotion and not about thinking. The show was about following your dream and making it your passion and guiding light. There was a self-help author giving advice and Oprah agreeing with her. We saw 2-3 women who followed their dreams and now live happily ever after. When i looked at the women's faces in the audience, some crying, some watching with their mouths wide open from fascination, some smiling like they have just heard that they are getting a baby, i kept thinking they are just thinking "oh, wow, i *have* to live that life too!". Which i think its a very very bad thing. Because the women were emotionally monopolised into thinking they have to do it this and that way and they will have a better life. The story wasn't about individuality, but about a certain kind of idealized womanhood that they should follow. And they gave in to this rhetoric, you could see it on their faces. I don't think Oprah is doing good to these women, i think she is manipulating them emotionally and in the meantime selling her magazine, her ad spots during her show, her book labels and her image. Quote from the above mentioned article that inspired this entry:
"Perhaps most telling detail is that every issue of the two-year old magazine has featured Winfrey's own face on the cover of every single issue -- a level of self-promotion even Rosie O'Donnell and Martha Stewart have not insisted upon in their self-named monthlies."
That's what i am saying. Even her magazine cover promotes that you should be her. And not yourself. Very sad.

I am casting my votes

I am casting my votes at the Webbies (or is it Webbys?) and checking out the websites i don't know. I stumbled upon a very interesting article on GreenHome.com: Internet, New Economy Foster Widespread Energy Savings.

"We calculated the ratio of building energy per book sold in traditional bookstores versus on-line retailer Amazon.com to be 16-to-1. And contrary to what most people think, Internet shopping uses less energy to get a package to your house: Shipping 10 pounds of packages by overnight air - the most energy-intensive delivery -uses 40 percent less fuel than driving roundtrip to the mall."

Wow. I never really thought about this aspect of the internet "revolution" and it fascinates me. Maybe this would be a subject for my diploma thesis next year?

Well. I am still braintired

Well. I am still braintired but at least today's exam was worth taking... i got a 4 (the best is 5 in Hungary). Yayness! :)

Tomorrow: PR exam.

Ok, i am fed up.

Ok, i am fed up. I feel like my brain can take no more stupid business bullshit. After this week's three exams so far (and it's only Tuesday afternoon....) i feel brainwashed, exhausted and ready to turn my back to all the books and have some fun for a change. But i can't. Tomorrow is Public Relations. Next Tuesday is Global Marketing (huge exam), and Thursday another stupid exam (which i already failed once...). So no rest... yet. Wish me luck and strength.

Wow, for the first time

Wow, for the first time ever, i was acting before the trend... Domino Dementia and Qbeez cruished Collapse's top place on shockwave's top 5 most popular games... Collapse is addictive, but when you get to the point where you can only barely top your own record, you get tried of it. The new fun: Domino Dementia and Qbeez.

{Currently procrastinating: studying for Monday's two exams...}