Andy's Mind

Yesterday I flown from Ukraine to Poland. What a relief it was to finally see normal, smiling people, women without cheap makeup and a clean, organized airport. Visiting Ukraine really changes one’s prospective a bit. The distance between Ukraine and Poland is much bigger than between Poland and, say, Austria.

Let’s just hope Ukrainians will manage to pull themselves out of poverty within few decades.

It’s my first time to Ukraine and most stories I’ve heard about this place turn out to be true. Arrival at the airport was an interesting experience already. When the plane landed the first vehicle to approach it was an old Soviet truck painted yellow. An elderly, unshaved man in dirty clothes descended and connected a power cable to the aircraft. Then a whole bunch of uniformed women appeared followed by the bus. (more…)

Tonight I’m at the airport. Vienna this time. I’ll be also sleeping at the airport – in the hotel on site. The hotel is rather good, but it is I think the first time when I actually sleep at the airport. The weather is such that I’m glad though that I don’t have to go anywhere – it’s cold, with a very strong wind. (more…)

I’ve read an interesting article in The Economist about the concept called “augmented cognition“. It’s a quite wide idea but the article concentrated on the software that is designed to reduce the number of interruptions to the user (be it a fighter pilot or a busy businessman). It tries to guess how busy the user is by analyzing user’s actions (typing pattern, applications open, windows content etc.) – but also brain waves or posture in front of the computer. (more…)