Richard Vencu's blog

Learning Mandarin Chinese - 2

Richard Vencu — Fri, 20 Feb 2009 19:54:33 GMT

Recently I got a native Chinese language tutor and I am following something like an official program as taught in the Chinese language university classes around the world. The tutor confirmed the books I recommended before are very good and that she knows personally the author to be a very good teacher.

I also enjoy the free KT-Dict CE application for IPod/IPhone realised by Klaus Thul that also have a very good page on why and how to learn Chinese language at http://www.klausthul.com. As you may already know, IPod Touch is a great tool to exercise writing in Chinese, still the paper and the pen are the fundamental tools.

Will be back on this subject.

Automatizari rezidentiale http://www.richardconsulting.ro

Living a wide life

Richard Vencu — Wed, 11 Feb 2009 12:52:32 GMT

After changing my blog theme I found some bug on the new template and I attempted to fix it. Then I was thinking what to write to have some global significance. Then I came up with "Living a wide life".

I want to make my life very wide. As some wisdom man told me once, we must search to live a wide life. What is a wide life? Well everybody has a personal life. Here you may have or not a family and you may have a poor or a rich personal life. Then we should widen this life with our social life (friends, profession, etc) and with our spiritual life (create space for your own spiritual being). We should struggle to widen all of these three lives. In many cases our destiny only permits to reach a certain level of life width. We should not be angry with it but use whatever we can get in it.

I recently saw the "Yes man" comedy. Indeed we should be able to reach to the extent of our destiny.

And a big secret is this: if you make your life very wide, it also becomes very long.

I wish a very wide and long life to you.

Automatizari rezidentiale http://www.richardconsulting.ro

Thai expulsion - follow up

Richard Vencu — Mon, 19 Jan 2009 12:19:52 GMT

During my stay in Bangkok airport I was scarred that I was told even if I buy a new ticket to return home, the airline can refuse my boarding since I am not anymore a normal passenger. I wrote a notice to European Commison, Directorate General for Energy and Transport via web page and I received recently an answer not very well targeted, but here it is for anyone refference:

Dear Mr Richard Adrian Vencu,

I apologise for our late answer which is due to a temporary restrain of human resources in our unit. I realise that this reply reaches you belatedly and I apologise for any inconvenience this may have caused you.

Under the EU Regulation on air passenger rights [EC]261/2004 http://europa.eu/eur-lex/pri/en/oj/dat/2004/l_046/l_04620040217en00010007.pdf, Member States are responsible for monitoring and enforcing Regulation 261/2004 in individual cases between passengers and airlines, which means that the Commission is not competent to deal with passenger complaints.

With regard to your case, from the little information you provided, it seems that you attempted to travel without a valid visa and you were probably denied boarding. On this, I regret to inform you that in case of inadequate travel documentation (such as visa), the airline is in principle considered to have reasonable ground of refuse boarding to passengers.
Reference can be made to Article 2 of the above-mentioned Regulation, which sets out a definition as follows:

"'Denied boarding' means a refusal to carry passengers on a flight, although they have presented themselves for boarding under the conditions laid down in Article 3(2), except where there are reasonable grounds to deny them boarding, such as reasons of health, safety or security, or inadequate travel documentation".

Automatizari rezidentiale http://www.richardconsulting.ro

Scoala de schi

Richard Vencu — Mon, 12 Jan 2009 19:29:00 GMT

Recomand tuturor sa urmeze scoala de schi in Austria. Au si baza materiala perfecta si instructorii cei mai buni. Schiatul haotic oricit de rapid si plin de adrenalina ar fi nu se compara in cele din urma cu un schiat cu stil. Puteti cistiga acest stil in Austria. Eu merg anual la scoala de schi la Seefeld in Tirol, puteti vedea aici detalii http://www.schi-seefeld.at/ehtml/skischule.htm

Si aici sunt postate rezultatele concursului de slalom din ultima zi: http://www.schi-seefeld.at/sieger/20090109.htm

Nota 09.02.2008

Constatind ca exista internauti interesati sa aleaga un loc bun pentru schi, si cum unii chiar acceseaza si acest blog, va ofer citeva rute de a ajunge usor la Seefeld:

1. Cu avionul este usor daca nu trebuie sa transportatischiurile personale. Booking se face cu Austrian Arrows cu escala la Viena, destinatia finala Innsbruck. La Innsbruck in fata aeroportului vine periodic un autobuz care va duce la gara cam pentru 1 euro de persoana. La gara cumparati bilet pentru Seefeld la clasa a II-a cu 4.50 Euro si calatoriti cei 25km in aproximativ 20 minute. Trenuri sunt foarte dese si nu exista vagon de clasa I. In Seefled puteti inchiria bocanci si schiuri functie de nivelul la care sunteti. Ba chiar puteti sa le schimbati cu unele mai bune daca dupa citeva zile de scoala constatati ca echipamentul nu mai este adecvat pentru nivelul dobindit.

2. Cu masina daca trebuie sa transportati echipament de schi personal. Nu merita doar o vacanta de 7 zile pentru ca veti mai face 4 pe drum mai ales daca mergeti cu copii. Recomand o noapte de odihna la Mosonmagyarosvar, hotel Corvina, chiar inainte de granita cu Austria. Confortul este bun si pretul nu va afecteaza mult bugetul excursiei.

3. Cu trenul (eu vreau sa experimentez la anul) faceti cam 27 de ore, prin urmare trebuie sa cumparati bilet pina la Munich. Acolo schimbati trenul cu un rapid regional catre Innsbruck. Evident primul segment il faceti la vagonul de dormit ceea ce va asigura relaxare si confort. Practic nu mai dormiti pe drum o noapte decit in tren (inclus in pret) si aveti si libertate de miscare cu echipament cu tot mai ales ca mai nou in trenuri exista loc special pentru schiuri si biciclete.

Automatizari rezidentiale http://www.richardconsulting.ro

Persona non grata

Richard Vencu — Wed, 17 Sep 2008 06:54:15 GMT

Perhaps the title is exaggerated and only show my ignorance about external affairs vocabulary. But the newspapers just do the same and I could say a word or two to the one who pushed me into that trouble... The fact is quite simple to describe: I just got expulsed from Thailand.

Well, I really did nothing illegal to my understanding of the term but I was made to feel like I was a bad guy. Not by thai authorities but by the airlines. What matter most is what I did not do: I failed to ask for a thai visa at home. More precisely, I failed to ask the Thai embassy if the information in local newspapers and internet are true - they all claimed Romanians are eligible to buy Thai visa on arrival at BKK airport.

Well, it is not true, or maybe not yet... But enough to get expulsed out of the country. So first lesson is that even if you do not pass immigration control and stay in the so called international area of an airport, in fact you are tolerated there and considered on the state soil. Second thing is that if you get an expulsion decision then several things happen - at least in Thailand: 1. you lose your passport that remains at all times with immigration authorities; 2. you do not have access at your checked bags, but maybe to extract some small things out for personal use; 3. some guard is appointed to follow you, or you are appointed to follow the guard at all times; 4. you lose your normal passenger rights (details later); 5. you are normally embarked in the first flight to your home country.

Now all the actions immigration service is taking have only one end, to take you out of the country as soon as possible. But the financial side rest on the airline you used for the inbound flight. Therefore I was put China Southern's hands because i flew to Bangkok from Guangzhou with this airline.

All people treat you well there but there is some continuous suspicion behind the scene that you start feeling shortly. First sign is that nobody really take any time to explain what is happening to you. You have to figure it out by yourself. For instance very soon you are moved to some underground room. I was allowed to stay in the office next to the interrogation room perhaps because I was European. Therefore I could spend some 90 minutes trying to extract information from the office walls. So I could understand myself what is happening just looking to the report tables written with markers on the walls. Apparently I was number 11 to be added to the list. Just after 2 nigerians and one Cameroon guy. On the list were most Nigerians but I could also see one Canadian. On another list were written some statistics. The row with the label VISA was totally empty. Therefore the conclusion: Thai immigration was working on my expulsion file. They simply refused the entry without asking a single question.

Well, after this I was informed I should leave Thailand with first opportunity and stay only in transit area until such event. So I got myself a nice guardian that slept all night on a chair in front of my hourly hotel room in the terminal. Next day she followed me until changed places with a fresh colleague. I tried to change my Singapore Airlines ticket for that day, easy thing to do but finally when I reached the gate they refused to embark me. Then I decided to buy a new ticket directly to home, from Air France, a company that I am frequent flier with. After this I was informed that apparently any company may refuse to embark me even if I paid for the ticket. The flight was due for take off at 11pm, so I needed to wait all day in the transit area first to see if Air France will accept me, second for boarding and leave.

Interesting that the new guardian watched me from 8am to 11pm continuously. Of course I could eat and go to toilets but never got my passport until boarding was started.

Later on I heard that in Thailand in this situation people must not argue with immigration. If so, one may never be allowed to enter this country. So I think I am lucky as I never argue...

Automatizari rezidentiale http://www.richardconsulting.ro

China trip 8

Richard Vencu — Tue, 09 Sep 2008 06:03:37 GMT

Why 8? I am not sure if 8 is right but I am sure I already did at least 8 trips in China. Being lazy to post an entry every time, I decided to leave it like this and try to update some feelings about China. Now that Olympic Games are over (paralympics not yet) here is some pride to take by Chinese for the very nice and well organized games. Chinese took a lot of trouble to keep everyone safe and happy and also marked a good score on competitions. Congratulations to China!

Automatizari rezidentiale http://www.richardconsulting.ro

Home Automation - decision

Richard Vencu — Mon, 18 Aug 2008 19:45:16 GMT

I am close to finish the house construction. I went to a KNX basic course and got KNX certification last month. I think going to KNX world was a good decision because:

it is an open standard (apparently the only one to be European - CELENEC, international - ISO and recently adopted as national standard by China). It means the technology will survive no matter what happens with any manufacturer
it is based on technology with some experience. Maybe it is 8 or so years old but the principles are there for around 30 years...
it offers a range of products and applications to satisfy even the most pretending end users
it is possible to link it with other systems such as EnOcean or DALI

On the dark side, I need to mention that most of it is used inside Germany where the most product range can be found and also sold. As a consequence the English documentation is less developed than German one. Another problem is that even if the devices follow similar principles they embody a vast range of functionality that require profound study of each one. This means the end user will need a specialist to receive advice from or be prepared to pay the similar price in order to discover the best solution alone.

My KNX system will cover a vast area of systems such as:

heating/cooling management that involves automation of valves, A/C units and solar blinds. A weather station and various in house sensors are to be used as well
lighting, with dimmers, stairs lights, presence detectors
security, by using same sensors as security sensors or action devices when the security system is armed
communication, shortly said, the ability to receive messages from the house and control it remotely (SMS, web, phone extensions)
door entry system, it is not pure KNX but can be easily integrated. For both pedestrians and auto
automatic gardening: measure the precipitation level and add necessary water by pumps...

The beauty is that in time more can be done with same or little additional devices.

Some of the manufacturers involved in my system: Gira, Siemens, Zennio, Theben, Agfeo, ABB, Hager

As a matter of last minute solution, check this link for multiroom audio. It is not KNX (yet) but I think it can be easily integrated via Gira HomeServer if the manufacturer will agree to offer an API toolkit: Sonos

After my 1 month vacation I believe I will be able to finish everything in another month. I already cabled and programmed the upper floor in several days. The basic things will be done very quickly. More time will require imagining and developing the smart functions.

Automatizari rezidentiale http://www.richardconsulting.ro

China trip 3

Richard Vencu — Sat, 31 May 2008 13:48:30 GMT

This time I decided to visit as many cities in China as possible in a short period of time.

Therefore I arrived Hong Kong then entered China by train, to Guangzhou. This city I visited before, it is very convenient but pollution is a real big problem here. Shenzen is reachable by local fast intercity train. This train travel with up to 200km/h and it is very modern. Shenzen is closer to the sea, air is much better and it is full of IT industry.

Next I flew to Beijing to meet a friend coming also from Romania. After visiting the famous taoist temple "White Cloud" or Bai Yun Guan in chinese, we took a sleeping train to Shenyang, capital city of Liaoning province. Shenyang is a very important industrial and transportation city. The first impression is that the city is a bit crowded but one can find very nice food, especially at Korean style restaurants.

During the first weekend we took a short trip to Changchun, the capital city of Jilin, the province north of Liaoning. This city is an academic city, with more space and flexible architecture. Especially the parks are very nice.

After this next stop was in Dalian, main port of Liaoning province. A lot of industry appeared in this city that is more elegant than Shenyang, especially in downtown. Also the sea helps a lot with the air quality. However during this period of the year I encountered both in Beijing and Dalian the dust storms coming from Gobi desert. Sometime these dust storms reach as far as Japan.

After Dalian we arrived in Hangzhou, the capital city of Zhejiang province, the turism city of China, also one of the most important centres for silk. Here we visited the "Ling Yin" buddhist temple, a huge one, built in a scenic area. Ling Yin stands for Hidden Spirits. This city and the surroundings are worth for a full lenght vacation, 2 weeks minimum.

Next stop Fuzhou, capital city of Fujian province. This city is nicely placed between mountains and the sea, and seems to be very clean and carefully taken care of.

Well, seems that all cities in Fujian have something nice to show for the visitor. Next I visited Quanzhou, historically being the start (or end) of the silk road to Europe. Also Xiamen is a very beautyful city, an island city with tropical vegetation and nice environment.

At the end of the trip lies Shenzen, probably the most modern Chinese city up to date. Lifestyle tends to follow Hong Kong lifestyle and business is flourishing everywhere. Links to Hong Kong, my next destination can be by train, by metro (at the end of metro line in Shenzen there is Chinese custom, then a 300m long bridge, then the Hong Kong custom; after this one a train is available toghether with a combination of MTR for any destination in HK city), or by ferry. I will take the metro link this time to enlarge my experience. Maybe I will also post a short HD movie I will make with my camera as reference how to do it...

Below is a very interesting taoist stone from Bai Yun Guan wall, with unknown author, describing some advanced taoist practice. I suppose very few people really understand it's true meaning.

Automatizari rezidentiale http://www.richardconsulting.ro

More home automation

Richard Vencu — Tue, 29 Apr 2008 10:08:06 GMT

I registered to a 5 days seminar in UK in order to learn KNX/EIB. It was the single seminar that gave me confidence upon my web research. The company name is Ivory Egg and they also operate a website with other KNX/EIB products: http://www.knxshop.co.uk

I will attend in July and hope will return home with KNX certification.

Automatizari rezidentiale http://www.richardconsulting.ro

Home automation

Richard Vencu — Wed, 30 Jan 2008 13:16:00 GMT

Back to the home automation project. The construction project itself is in delay due to lack of qualified workers in Romania. Therefore prices went up if you want to keep good quality. Otherwise you need to relay on personal connections and good friends to get things done well.

I was dropping the home automation project after I failed to find a reliable component supplier. However at some point it happened to find such a supplier so I am back with this project. The supplier is named Gewiss and comes from Italy. I found a full product range (namely Chorus) based on KNX/EIB bus as described into an earlier post. No more technicalities now but it has all I dreamed: the bus management tools, navigator panels, internet and GSM interfaces, receivers and actuators, burglar system, video entryphone, etc. It even has some less complicated devices such as wireless triggers and actuators that listen directly for the wireless command.

Now I found that in Romania there is no company today to offer services around this system therefore I am up to start learning this area and plan and install by myself all the system. If it will be a succes, I plan to include this activity as a part of my future business.

Automatizari rezidentiale http://www.richardconsulting.ro