Dan Kjaergaard

She's getting so big...

2008-04-06T17:53:00.000+03:00

First smile on film!

2008-04-06T17:50:00.000+03:00

First scream

2008-02-23T00:47:00.000+02:00

Thinking?

2008-02-21T21:42:00.000+02:00

Now with open eyes

2008-02-21T21:39:00.000+02:00

Cutest ever

2008-02-21T21:37:00.000+02:00

Happy big sis

2008-02-21T21:32:00.000+02:00

Congratulations - WELL DONE!

2008-02-21T21:28:00.000+02:00

Behold My Son

2008-02-19T21:56:00.001+02:00

20 minutes old.

Spotlight

2007-12-11T20:20:00.001+02:00

Happy December

2007-12-03T22:00:00.000+02:00

http://www.elfyourself.com/?id=1150772661

I've done a study

2007-11-15T23:54:00.000+02:00

Our street name is "Tereschenkovskaya".

I know, I know. It's terrible. There's probably 40 different ways of pronouncing that.

But I found out that you can influence taxi prices by changing where you put stress on the word. For example:

te[re]schenkovskaya will cost you $5
where tereschen[kov]skaya will cost $7
a cab ride will cost you $10 if you are foolish enough to say tere[schen]kovskaya

If you are looking at a map and using option 3 you'll be walking home.

The locals, of course, just say tereszzkay = they pay $3 (sometimes $2)

Pregnancy side effect

2007-11-14T20:09:00.000+02:00

My wife is 6 months pregnant and is now asking to borrow my jeans... thanks woman!

Snowman with a purpose

2007-11-12T18:55:00.000+02:00

Thanks to Linda and Mary Anne for setting this up :-)

2007-11-12T18:47:00.000+02:00

Tivoli

2007-11-12T18:45:00.000+02:00

You have NO idea how crazy that ride was!!!

Happy toes

2007-11-09T18:53:00.001+02:00

International schools are very ambitious

2007-11-06T20:33:00.000+02:00

My daughter is 3, and she's attending an international kindergarten.

I just had a look at her schedule for this week. Check out Monday's activity, and then Tuesday's.

I can't stop laughing :-) School is cool!

Our very first piece of art

2007-11-06T18:35:00.001+02:00

We bought this painting from a women who specializes in making custom paintings of Kiev. You just tell her which parts of Kiev you like, and she fits it into a beautiful, colorful and one-of-a-kind image of your home city.

Now can I open them?

2007-10-09T20:26:00.000+03:00

It's a BOY

2007-10-05T09:36:00.000+03:00

Last nights scanning left no doubt; we are having a boy (seriously you didn't need a doctors degree to see that on the ultrasound).

He's scheduled for arrival during February.

WTF!?!

2007-09-10T14:41:00.000+03:00

My 3kg birthday cake

2007-09-09T22:13:00.000+03:00

Isn't she lovely?

2007-09-09T21:46:00.000+03:00

4 months pregnant and GLOWING!!!

Guess what :-)

2007-07-19T19:54:00.001+03:00

George michael live from Kiev

2007-07-09T21:54:00.001+03:00

The mums

2007-07-09T20:24:00.001+03:00

Preparing for the big event...

2007-07-08T23:58:00.000+03:00

This is the stadium hosting the 2012 European Championship final. It's estimated that €20b (€20.000.000.000) are needed in investments over the next 5 years in order to host this event. And that's Ukraine alone.
Infrastructure such as roads, airports, public transportation, hotels etc. needs an update. I heard that 20 new hotels are needed in Kiev alone. I think Hyatt spend about 5 years constructing their new 5-starred hotel, and the building was already there... Someone needs to get busy!

But I think this is Ukraines BIG chance to show its potential. This can't be pulled off based on individuals. Everybody has to work together this time despite differences in "interests". Government, local government, businessmen, police force, fire department, hospitals etc. ALL of them has to look at this as a future opertunity for turning things around. It's NOT just another happening for making some quick cash!

Cheap cigarettes

2007-07-08T23:35:00.000+03:00

YES, cheapest pack is about $0,15. They are probably made out of recycled pizza boxes. But it makes me wonder how profitable this business really is back west?

Side effect from Elton John concert

2007-07-08T23:24:00.000+03:00

Ukrainian summerland

2007-07-08T23:22:00.000+03:00

Had the sky been blue that day you would know what the Ukrainian flag symbolizes.

Japanese tv tetris game

2007-07-08T19:37:00.001+03:00

?????? I'm speechless.

Credit card status Ukraine

2007-06-29T16:49:00.001+03:00

Hey, i'm included in the 96%. Maybe the boom in e-commerce is a bit further away than I thought.

Paparazzi

2007-06-29T16:36:00.001+03:00

Crystal, Calum. You made it to Kyiv Post this week :-)

Elton John

2007-06-16T21:27:00.001+03:00

Live from independence square in Kiev

Cool

2007-05-05T11:39:00.001+03:00

Shopping mall with ice skating

Balloon hair

2007-04-24T14:30:00.000+03:00

Sunday brunch with IWCK

2007-04-24T14:29:00.000+03:00

Good news come in series

2007-04-19T12:13:00.001+03:00

Yesterday Ukraine was chosen to host the UEFA European Championship 2012. And now a 3rd place in watermelon production...

I know, it's silly

clipped from www.lol.org.ua

Ukraine achieved the third place in Europe as for volumes of watermelon production in 2006

To trust the data of the official statistics, Ukraine was able to occupy the third place as watermelon producer in Europe because the country built up more than twice the watermelon production in 2006. According to the data of the official statistics, watermelon production in Ukraine constituted 687 thousands of tons in 2006.

Despite of the excessive supply of watermelon on Ukrainian market in 2006, many professional producers plan to extend watermelon cultivation areas in 2007. This crop is attractive because of the low production cost and unpretentious nature. At the same time, if there are channels to export the produce to EU countries, watermelon production can become a very profitable business.

They are back, but outnumbered

2007-04-18T16:53:00.000+03:00

Ukraine hosts European Championship 2012

2007-04-18T12:51:00.000+03:00

Ukraine and Poland are co-hosting the European Championship in 2012.

CONGRATULATIONS!

Well, I guess a lot of construction and renovation is going to take place then... new stadiums, 25 new hotels, airport modernization in the regions etc. etc.

This is GREAT news for Ukraine.

Could be my last post...

2007-04-17T21:52:00.001+03:00

According to a new survey from IATA, Russia and the other former Soviet countries are now the most dangerous places to fly from. Twice as dangerous compared to the African countries

clipped from www.iata.org

Regional Results: The Safety Report shows that not all regions of the world saw the same level of safety. For example, Russia and other members of the Commonwealth of Independent States (CIS) had the highest accident rate of all the regions in 2006, with 8.6 Western-built hull losses per million flights—13 times the global average. IATA is actively working with the International Civil Aviation Organisation (ICAO), States and operators to improve the situation.

Everybody will look like idiots in the future

2007-03-03T14:20:00.000+02:00

:-)

2007-03-02T17:39:00.000+02:00

Supermarket playroom

2007-02-26T21:38:00.000+02:00

Our local supermarkets entertainment offer for Freja.

And since she's under 3... I GET TO GO IN THERE TOO :-)

Baby Bar

2007-02-26T21:29:00.000+02:00

Baby Bar is the name of a concept restaurant we found in Kiev yesterday. This restaurant is a great example of something you CAN'T find in the West, but it is SO COOL.

Here's the concept:

half of the square meters are used as a playroom for the kids
the playroom has EVERYTHING! Toys, slides, swings, playhouse, cars, dolls etc.
two nanny's are watching the kids
the restaurant serves pretty healthy food and has a good selection
prices are the same as in any other restaurant

If somebody decided to build this in Denmark, a ham'n'cheese sandwich would cost $100+

Cool

2007-02-25T10:33:00.000+02:00

Still room for growth

2007-02-23T07:44:00.000+02:00

What I miss

2007-02-11T17:41:00.000+02:00

OK, we've been living in Kiev for more than a year now so it's about time to list what I miss the most (besides family and friends):

A really good Sunday brunch
Respect for pedestrians
Direct flight connection between Kiev and Copenhagen

Mind you, things are moving FAST in this country. A year ago, I couldn't get a decent cafe latte 2 go, and good pizza was non existing. That's in the past. Cool new places are popping up every week.

I'm getting sick

2007-02-11T17:32:00.000+02:00

Nothing serious, just a February cold. Problem is, there is no time for staying in bed next week. I have to get up in the morning and get on that plane.

Very responsible! By the end of next week all passengers on the airplane, all hotel guests eating continental breakfast AND the customer I'm visiting will be in bed because I decided to take the chance.

Why do we do that???

Whoops

2007-02-07T01:08:00.000+02:00

I feel like a bad parent. Funny thing is, she's still sleeping like a baby.

Whoops

2007-02-07T01:02:00.000+02:00

I feel like a bad parent. Funny thing is, she's still sleeping like a baby.

It's bigger than a Hummer

2007-01-30T09:29:00.000+02:00

How about it Tim?

Why buy a "mainstream" SUV, when you can get this baby:

Best of all - it's manufactured in Ukraine!!!

5 meters long
2 meters tall
4 ton
it fits 15 passengers

More pictures here (Danish article though).

2007-01-28T19:38:00.000+02:00

Brunch

2007-01-27T22:27:00.000+02:00

Oh no

2007-01-25T21:06:00.000+02:00

Thank god its pay day soon.

First snow

2007-01-24T08:14:00.000+02:00

Just deleted 89 SPAM mails

2007-01-23T22:08:00.000+02:00

Description of a new product:

An email auto-reply for spam mails activating the pay-per-kill service at the Sicilian Mafia and automatically credits my PayPal account (in theory, it could be the Russian Mafia too, but its messier).
The mark (or target) should be the initiator, not the facilitator - if possible. Either works.

This is CRAZY

2007-01-22T16:59:00.000+02:00

One of my best friends made this video. I still don't know what to think...

When you view the video on YouTube there's a link section called "related videos". I can't even begin to imagine what in the world can relate to this :-)

Anyway, he has a blog, and he is supposed to update it with all his other crazy projects. I always read it - when he posts that is!

Video editing software SUCKS!

2007-01-21T00:12:00.000+02:00

I'm a pretty advanced PC user (ahem), but still, I always run into trouble when trying to edit videos.

Everything was fine when the only video I recorded was on my digital camera. It was easy. A video file (AVI) was copied to my computer, and I could edit it using the build-in software Windows XP Movie Maker. After that I could upload it to Utube.
The disadvantage was, that I could only record 5 minutes footage before I had to empty the camera.

Now we bought this cool Sony DVD video camera. I thought everything would be just as easy because it records directly onto a DVD - but boy was I wrong.
I spend the last 3 hours trying to consider different options about PAL, NTSC, 4x3, 19x9, MPEG-2, MPEG-4, framerates, bitrates, layers, non-square pixel rendering, two-pass encodes, etc.

I don't know ANYTHING about the above, and to be honest: I DON'T CARE!!!

Where's the software with a button that says:

"I'll now read your DVD, allow you to cut out the scenes you don't want and then I'll upload it for you! I should be done in about half an hour, go read a book while your waiting! Thanks for buying Sony."

Young artist

2007-01-19T20:46:00.000+02:00

Drawings for the grandparents - her idea.

Copying music and DVD's - INSIDE the shop

2007-01-18T20:39:00.000+02:00

They could at least be a bit descrit about it :-)

Dentist ad - not kidding

2007-01-18T19:25:00.000+02:00

Book review: "Den ukendte hustru"

2007-01-15T22:36:00.000+02:00

Leif Davidsen does it again. This thriller takes place in Copenhagen, Nice and of course Moscow. Not one single boring page.
It has everything; a beautiful wife with an ugly past, an all-knowing intelligent father, a Russian oligarch with questionable motives, a street wise young victim of the evil empire, terrorist and the hero; an ex-elite soldier with every life-detail planned who gets thrown into a universe where nobody knows what the next hour brings... all motivated by love!

It's like Kiefer Sutherland's 24 - in print.

It's not out in English yet, but it will be - I'm sure of it!

Having fun

2007-01-15T21:50:00.000+02:00

Botanical gardens new playground.

Champagne

2007-01-13T20:08:00.000+02:00

Igor, do they have to know the exact level of alcohol in this shipment?

Sound asleep

2007-01-13T18:36:00.000+02:00

... And my first mobile posting :)

The return of bad call quality

2006-12-17T21:58:00.000+02:00

I remember when I got my first GSM mobile phone. Back then I accepted the low call quality and the occasional fall outs, and almost every call would have the following dialog at some point:

Hello... HelloOOoo... can you hear me? I hear you fine, can you hear me? Hello, Helloooo

Those days are over. The mobile is always excellent even if you are in different countries. But now Skype has started the next revolution in phone call flexibility and functionality, and now I find my self again:

Hello... HelloOOoo... can you hear me? I hear you fine, can you hear me? Hello, Helloooo... Wait, just a sec, I'll hang up and call you back... or maybe you should try calling me up, OK? OK? HelloooOOOooo!

By the way, I LOVE Skype. I spend more money on Skype now, than I do on landlines and mobiles!

Cooperate Cocktail Menu

2006-12-17T14:08:00.000+02:00

At yesterdays Christmas party, the girls from HR had been really creative. That's a pretty cool menu for a party with 250 engineers. The prices were: $2 for a cocktail and $1 for a shot - pretty good!

And by the way, I won an award :-) I'm still not completely sure why, since everything was happening in Russian (really fast Russian), but my best guess is that the award was for being the biggest pain in the ass!

Later last night I found myself in an alley catching some fresh air. Then these Ukrainian guys offered me this:

JESUS CHRIST!!!!! I don't smoke weed, and even if I did, what makes you think I would put my lips on a burning peace of plastic and inhale???

I know who you are guys, but don't worry - your secret is safe with me! But seriously, I think they should use another pipe for their weed. Inhaling from a plastic container HAS to be toxic!

The Ukrainians are RICH

2006-12-10T14:37:00.000+02:00

I just walked through Pushkiskaya Street. I counted 2 Bentleys, 3 Hummers, 1 Masarati, about 10 Mercedes, maybe 5 BMW's, 4 Range Rovers, 4 Porsches and 1 flat red Ferrari. All cars were pretty new, and all in the same street.
I've been here too long to still notice the Ukrainians impressive cars. I heard Ukraine is the 11th biggest car market in Europe, and the number of sold Porsches has exceeded Poland. It is true that many people will choose to live in a tent and drive a Porsche, but the purchasing power is impressive. And it's mainly cash funded - not credit funded like in the West.

On Friday I was told by a Danish official, that what business forget about Ukraine, is the 2 million EXTREMELY rich and the 8 million with the same living standard and purchasing power as the Danes. Most people (me incl.) mainly thinks about the 37 million poor people.

But all this is about to change. Not by the government, not by the foreigners - but by the banks.

Many banks are beginning to give their customers credit lines without security for a fair interest (not Western fair, but Eastern fair).

This could be a breakthrough. Giving people the opportunity to consume their way out of poverty. I think it's plausible. I think it might be a great solution. The politicians are crooks anyway.

But thinking about what the Ukrainians have been able to do with their cash in 10 years, it's scary what they'll be able to with a credit line :-)

Danish inovation

2006-12-05T23:26:00.000+02:00

Here's a new product that might be a clue about nothing is left to be invented:

www.tislet.dk

The most famous Dane!

2006-12-05T23:14:00.000+02:00

A few months ago I argued in this post that most people outside Europe don't know any Danes. They know about LEGO, but they don't know it's Danish. They know some of H.C. Andersens fairy tales, but they don't know he was Danish (or gay).

But I finally found a famous Dane who is VERY famous in the U.S general public. His name is Morten Andersen and he plays football (american football). Aperantly,he is about to break the all time record of scoring points. That's pretty cool, to have a Dane holding that record. Then we would be known for something else besides cartoons.

The ironic part is, that nobody in Denmark knows who he is.

The Santa Claus Union of Kiev

2006-12-03T21:27:00.000+02:00

I KNEW it wasn't over! A few weeks ago I posted this information about Santa Claus's retirement. At the time, I thought only the children would hurt from this event, but today I saw these guys demonstrating in downtown Kiev.

It seems the Santa Claus Labor Union Of Ukraine (SCLU) is performing a legal demonstration against missing paychecks from the last five months.

Alcoholics

2006-11-29T00:57:00.000+02:00

There's a homeless drunk guy sleeping on our stairway right now. It happens too often!

Alcoholism is probably the greatest killer in Ukraine, and I usually feel sorry for these poor men and women who has no other choice than a $1 bottle of vodka. But if this guy is not gone by tomorrow morning, I'll make sure he never returns again (though I'll most likely chicken out).

One time I came home late, and a guy was sleeping right in front of my door - blocking the door. I had to kick him to wake him up. He smelled as if he hadn't had a shower in months, which was probably true because there had been no rain for a long time. He just mumbled something in Russian, walked down one floor and started to sleep again.

Product development

2006-11-28T20:43:00.000+02:00

Here's something you don't see every day - BEER MIX:

What is that? Well, it's just product development in the wild wild east! How come nobody ever thought of mixing beer with oranges or lime fruits and sell it in a can?

This picture was taken in a Ukrainian mini market. Which brings me to another observation - juice:

In the supermarkets you can buy all sorts of juice. Weird ones too. It seems that the Ukrainian retailers are thinking more about getting as many different items on the shelves hoping to increase probability of customers finding something they want, in stead of figuring out exactly what customers want and then optimize sales on those products.

Again... juice:

In Danish supermarkets you can get orange juice, apple juice, grape juice, pineapple juice and a few others. Then you can get the more exotic mixes like orange/carrot.

In Ukrainian supermarkets you can get juice with all fruits and vegetables available in the world, and of course a mix of all available combinations. For example, you can buy green grape juice and you can buy blue grape juice. I would not be surprised at all if I found a mix of green and blue grape too.

That's one more difference between the boring West and the Wild Wild East, which by the way goes for other products as well in the supermarkets.

It seems pretty harmless, but I think theres a bit more to it. Our nanny is 28 years old, and she once told me a story from when she was 12; She stood in a line somewhere ALL DAY just to buy 12kg of salt. Not that her family needed 12kg of salt, but because they could trade some of it for bread, milk, butter, meat etc. In other words; buying basic groceries was very difficult and time consuming, but so important that families had to send their kids to wait in a line.
This is not more than 10-15 years ago, so EVERYBODY can remember the terrible food shortage.

I think it's plausible to argue that this fact from recent history is why Ukrainian retailers are OVER PACKING their stores with too many weird products.

Security guards

2006-11-26T17:55:00.000+02:00

Just bought a new camcorder. It's always fun to buy electronics in Ukraine. Lots of papers with stamps, and lots of security guards.

I went in to the store and found the camera I wanted. Then I paid for it and got all the papers and stamps. Then I walked the 4-5 meters to the exit door and was stopped by the security guard who wanted to see ALL the papers that his colleague gave me. It not just me he checks - it's everyone leaving the store.

It's a waste of customers time, but the worst thing is, that they give paying customers a bad experience as they leave. It's bad retailing, that's what it is. I should know - I used to be in retail!

Anyway, security guards are everywhere. They just stand there and look evil, trying to make everybody scared. They are ugly elements in this country, and I'm sure that every dollar they prevent being stolen are lost tenfold in lost profit from customers not feeling welcome.

So here's my tip: IGNORE THEM!

"A thief thinks that every man steals"

I'm seeing Denmark EVERYWHERE (in Kiev)

2006-11-25T13:39:00.000+02:00

I'm getting used to explaining people what Denmark is. That goes for both Ukrainians and Americans. Most people knows it a country, but nobody knows where it is and who we are. Those who DO know something about Denmark usually mentions the Muhammad Crisis (that's the Americans) or they mention the soccer match from 1985 where Denmark beat The Soviet Union 4-2 (that's the Ukrainians). Biggest profiles from that match were Michael Laudrup from Denmark and goalie Desejev from Soviet.

Anyway, TODAY walking home on Gorkova Street, I suddenly saw a new shop called "Dan Mark", which is almost Danish for Denmark. Royal Danish Shop the sign says above the door. That's pretty cool. 100% owned by a Ukrainian by the way.

So what are they selling? Clothes! Very symptomatic, they sell the classical Danish brands, and not the trendy brands that are VERY popular in Asia.

It's a cool shop. Lot's of Danish flags. Hope they make it.

I think this is more a coincidence. But in the top left corner of this Ukrainian business journal, it says "Denn Mark". Strange.

A typical magazine. Mixed Roman and Cyrillic letters.

Book review: "Dostojevskijs sidste rejse"

2006-11-23T23:04:00.000+02:00

This book is GREAT! Written by Danish journalist and author Leif Davidsen who spent several years in Moscow during the 80's and 90's.

This book is a must read for everybody who comes to these regions for business. Forget about Ernest & Young's annual "Doing business in Ukraine" or "Doing business in Russia" etc.
This book beautifully maps out the cultural differences and the attitude you'll meet when you start working here.

I guess in all businesses it's people who makes the difference. So it's a good idea to look in the recent past if you want to understand why people act and react the way they do. And that's what Mr. Davidsen does.

Sorry, couldn't find it in English :-)

Dostojevskijs sidste rejse

DotComeBack for online media

2006-11-23T22:41:00.000+02:00

I like this logo. It's one of the new newspapers in Denmark's online version. The domain name is pretty cool too. Directly translated it would be newspaper.com.

Notice the "BETA" sign. For those of you who are not familiar with all the hype around the online industry, BETA means that this service is not completely finished yet but apparently good enough for us to use it.

I like BETA's. They give an insight in tomorrows trends. But in this case... I mean: BETA NEWS? What is that? News that hasn't happened yet? Test news maybe? News that'll change? Come on! It's a do over :-)

www.avisen.dk

Or check this out: http://e-avis.avisen.dk/index.php

Supply status

2006-11-23T22:23:00.000+02:00

November is almost over and here's a status on the basic supplies:

Power outs: 3 times
Heating "outs": 1 time
Water "outs": 4 times

There was no water today, so we used bottled water to flush the toilet. That's a $2 flush. Then our bottled water delivery company called us - very conveniently - and asked if we needed a few extra bottles. Maybe they work together; cut the water pipes and supply the customers with expensive bottled water!
Damn, now I'm seeing conspiracies everywhere too...

By the way, WHY do they deliver water in 18,9 liter bottles? Who came up with that number?

Santa Claus has retired

2006-11-23T20:25:00.000+02:00

It's both sad and true. Santa Claus has lost his funding for his non-profit business. Since World War II, children could send a letter to Santa, and he would always reply. Sometimes a reply with a small gift. I remember that from when I was a child.

But now, the post office in Greenland (YES, that's where he lives), has stopped helping Santa replying all of those letters from hopeful young children.

Why would anybody do something that cruel? Well, the Greenland (or Nuuk) municipal said they wanted to spend the money on something else in stead, and I'm sure they can find something.

But COME ON. This is just plain stupid. I think Greenland has just gotten used to Denmark paying all their bills. Denmark actually owns Greenland or something, but we are not really profiting from that partnership (I guess we expect to find some oil under the ice one day). In stead of looking at all those money from Denmark as support money, they should look at it as venture capital and start doing some business!

It's pretty simple. Parents (we) are stupid. They would rather pay $50 for a stupid toy knowing that the tots would rather play with the laundry or anything from the top drawers in the kitchen. I GUARANTEE that there's plenty of parents who would gladly pay $10 for a reply letter from Santa. What's the alternative. Should we tell our children that Santa died?

The Danes do it again

2006-11-22T19:23:00.000+02:00

I don't think there's ANYTHING you can't do in Denmark.

www.speedbandits.dk

I think this displays the innovation power of the Danes, and I don't think anybody ever again will wonder why the Muhammed Cartoons was published in a DANISH newspaper.

Danish Christmas Party

2006-11-22T09:46:00.000+02:00

The Danish Christmas is loaded with traditions. Most of them are about food - lot's of pig and lots of schnapps.
Luckily there's a Danish community of about 50 people in Kiev, and some of them hosted a traditional Danish Christmas party last weekend.

Take a look at this mighty feast

We had to leave the party early though. A surprise party for Dorit (just had her birthday) was planned at Arena. She really was surprised, and all her girlfriends with husbands were there to celebrate. Here's a picture. I'll post some more pictures from that event later.

We have one more Christmas party in December, and next Saturday we are going to our very first Thanksgiving with 8-10 American families. This should be fun. From what they tell me, Thanksgiving is all about eating - just like a Danish Christmas party.

Frejas first Halloween

2006-11-16T21:50:00.000+02:00

An agreement was made in the toddler group: no scary outfits for Halloween. The kids are all in that age where clowns are scary. That's what Freja thinks anyway! Maybe I shouldn't have let her watch Stephen King's "It"?

Click the picture for... well more pictures.

From Halloween 2006

New Muhammad crisis

2006-11-10T09:49:00.000+02:00

This is an ad from one of the largest shopping centers in DK. The joke would be lost in translation if I tried translate it to English, so this is only for my Danish readers (which is about 56% of you).

Anders

2006-11-07T19:02:00.000+02:00

Anders on the trampoline. He's actually training for Beijing 2008 - but in a different sport. Jorgen is cheering.

Book review: "I'm knitting clothes for dolls"

2006-11-07T18:59:00.000+02:00

Found this book at my mums house. It seems pretty good. My mum is having a good time knitting, and my daughter LOVES to play with her dolls. win win.

Gartner Highlights Top 10 Strategic Technologies for 2007

2006-11-03T01:17:00.000+02:00

The following list from Gartner is supposed to enlighten us with the top 10 most important technologies for 2007:

Open Source
Virtualisation
Service Registries and Repositories
Business Process Management Suites
Enterprise Information Management
Ubiquitous Computing
Information Access
Web 2.0 – AJAX Rich Clients
Web 2.0 - Mashup Composite Model
Communities and Collective Intelligence

That's just great! I think I'll focus on "Information Access". Or how about "Ubiquitous Computing"? A renaissance for public libraries and ATM's!

Anyway, I don't see any surprises on this very generalized list. Most of these tendencies are already happening or has already proven their capabilities. So I feel pretty confident in adding a few more items that will certainly have an impact next year:

Seasons
Sunday brunch
Airport security
Phone calls
etc... (feel free to comment)

Back to the original list:

I think that especially point 8 (AJAX clients) will have significant impact on turning internet users into internet buyers. More responsive websites will keep consumers locked to the screen, and give them fewer exit options during "the buy".

And I think point 10 (communities) will continue to grow into even more niches reaching even more internet user groups. There's no doubt that the community sites are on to something. People spend HOURS in these communities doing nothing besides interacting with others. It's an interesting behavior.

Skype is illegal

2006-11-01T21:34:00.000+02:00

I heard a rumor from Belarus, that a guy had been arrested for using Skype. Obviously the use of Skype is the same as stealing from the state owned tele companies - everybody knows that!

I thought that it was just a rumor, but apparently others are talking about it too: skype-is-a-threat-to-the-regime-in-belarus.html

A LOT OF RUMORS exists in these regions.

Overcoming traffic

2006-10-31T00:03:00.000+02:00

On my way home from work a few weeks ago, the traffic was - as always, completely grid locked. This "van" was coming at me with about 20-30km/h. No room for me I guess!

About Ukrainian privatization

2006-10-30T23:06:00.000+02:00

The days are gone when the state owned everything. A lot of privatization has been carried out the last several years - which is good.
Sometimes, the privatization process resulted in friends and family of powerful politicians could buy state owned companies for far less than they were worth - but I guess that was just a transition phase. I mean, privatization was new concept for everybody?

Private property (like apartment buildings) has also been privatized. But only the apartments, and not the staircases and courtyards etc. The result is obvious. We are living in pretty decent and modernized apartments, but everything around it is falling apart. NOBODY is interested in maintaining our roof for example, which is highly overdue! And why would anybody be interested - it's not theirs.

Take a look at the guy in the picture. OK, it's pretty funny that he's painting in his suit and tie. It's actually very funny :-) But the fact that he's painting the building only on the surface that he owns says something about lack of community thinking in this country!

Arena

2006-10-30T23:01:00.000+02:00

Arena is one of the hottest entertainment facilities in Kiev. You can get a decent Mojito and a home brewed beer in a boot glass. YES, they have their own micro brewery, and it's a damn good beer.
It's also a place where lot's of expats hang out, which attracts lot's of hopeful young Ukrainian women - or maybe it's the other way around?

Too cute

2006-10-30T22:59:00.000+02:00

Seen in a a Kharkov magazine

2006-10-30T22:53:00.000+02:00

Ukrainian law firm. I would want those guys on my side!

Is that mustache a joke?

Hotel Kharkov limo service

2006-10-30T22:46:00.000+02:00

I got a ride this morning from the hotel to the airport in this retro limo (it's a Volga).

The driver proudly told me that it was the only one of it's kind in Kharkov - I believe that!

Anyway, a standard Volga weighs about 4 Ton, and I guess adding another meter or so doesn't look good on the gas bill. So I tipped the driver an extra $2.

Kindergarten autumn show

2006-10-30T22:02:00.001+02:00

I'm so proud of my daughter

It's getting cold

2006-10-14T14:37:00.000+03:00

I just checked the weather forecast for next week. It seems we are going as low as 4 degrees celsius (39 F) during the daytime. Just 14 days ago we had around 28 degrees (82 F).

I guess Ukraine does not have traditions for smooth transitions!

They will probably also turn on the heat next week. I don't know exactly who "they" are, but heating is done from a central location. I imagine they have a big switch (on/off), and when the temperature drops significantly they switch it on and leave it there for 6 months.
So how do we regulate the heat in our apartments? Answer: we use the windows!

Maybe some of you remember the huge gas crisis between Ukraine and Russia last year. The same crisis is expected this year.

Scary headline

2006-10-12T09:22:00.000+03:00

I'm NOT kidding

2006-10-11T16:40:00.000+03:00

The Ukrainian coffee machine ripped my note in two and returned only one half without at least giving me credit for the other half.

I don't know if the Ukrainian note or the Ukrainian coffee machine was bad!

The Water Melon Mafia

2006-10-02T23:22:00.000+03:00

I just heard about the Water Melon Mafia in Ukraine which is not organized by Ukrainians by the way. This is the Uzbekistons teritory, and they control everything (all water melons). Of course the local Ukrainians are pretty angry with them (for keeping locals out of this lucrative market), so activists frequently sabotages the water melons by... stabbing them.

I don't know if the story is true - but it's fun!

It's my wife in the picture. She's not involved in organized crime. She's just a happy customer.