Andy's Mind

A few days ago media reported about the closure of ThePiarateBay.org, a Swedish torrent site. It was not only one of the biggest torrent sites on the net, but also one known for ridiculing law threats received from American companies. Its operators believed that their site is legal under the Swedish law and laughed openly at letters coming from US lawyers. So, when the Swedish police raided their hosting center and removed all servers found there (including some belonging to other businesses and organizations) media articles were full of gleeful statements [PDF] from MPAA and RIAA. (more…)

My stay in Berlin was a bit different than planned because it rained almost the whole first day. So instead of walking we mostly drove around the city in the car. We visited some of Berlin’s numerous parks. I saw the famous Nazi Olympic Stadium – which we could not visit already as they plan to use it again for the football championship matches. In the end we spent a leisurely evening at a lounge – restaurant, which was not only eclectically decorated and had a good DJ on duty but also had a surprisingly wide range of great dishes. (more…)

I’m in Berlin again, came yesterday to my friends here. Last time I was here it was -20C / -4F and middle of January. Now it’s the beginning of June and one could expect something more than 10-15C / 50-60F. My friends don’t complain too much – they are the kind of people who sleep with their windows open in winter. So last night they were enjoying evening air – t-shirts etc. – while I was curled on a couch in my thick, warm jacket, blanket over my legs, cup of hot tea in my hand. But still, it is way better than snow etc. so I expect to quite enjoy my day here.

After a few months of experience I have to say that developing a business in Poland is akin to trying to run in a swamp. You can start fast, but no matter how hard you try the mud will slow you down. The mud in this particular swamp is composed of two main ingredients – people and bureaucracy. (more…)