Monday, December 08, 2008

An amazing veggie burger

I am in Salt Lake City, Utah, for the second time in a few weeks, and I am going to stay here for two weeks.
Today I went to the Gateway, the big and nice open air mall in Salt Lake City, looking for a place to eat, and I finally went to the "The Counter Burger".
There I filled the form for the order of my custom veggie burger (in their website you can see all the options available, www.thecounterburger.com) and I was served with the beautiful one in the picture below



Not a very healthy lunch... but definitely something you have to do at least once in your life (or week).

Wednesday, November 12, 2008

Another nice quote by Sclavi

Ormai sono sicuro che Dio esiste. Ora si tratta solo di trovarlo e riempirlo di botte.
Tiziano Sclavi, "Non e' successo niente"

Wednesday, October 15, 2008

Abigail

Another quote from an Italian book that I have loved (during the last nights I couldn't sleep and spent some time re-reading pages of books from my shelves).
This one is from "Tre", Tiziano Sclavi:
Aveva incontrato Abigail in un mare di whisky, quel giorno che avevano distrutto la distilleria clandestina, giu' a Centostelle. Non poteva dirle niente e non poteva lasciarla andare. Abigail aveva reazioni diverse, Abigail rideva e parlava d'altro, Abigail voleva ucciderla e vivere con lei.
"Come diavolo ti sei conciata?"
"Eh?"
"Dico, cos'hai addosso?"
"E' un vestito nuovo".
"E' un costume da pagliaccio".
"Cafone. Tutti gli altri mi hanno trovata elegantissima".
"Si?"
"Proprio".
"Tu conosci troppa gente-con-le-fette-di-salame-sugli-occhi".
"Senti..."
"Hm?"
"Niente".
Facevano i discorsi piu' assurdi della galassia, e la loro strada piu' breve tra due punti era l'arabesco. Avevano passato insieme una fetta di vita parlando d'altro, in un campionario di allusioni e doppi sensi. Lui parlava di un'altra per dire lei, lei parlava di un altro per dire lui.
"Sono innamorato di lei".
"Sono innamorata di lui".
"Vorrei poterle dire..."
"Vorrei potergli dire..."
Si guardarono negli occhi e lei sorrideva con i suoi che erano azzurri.
"Un soldino per i tuoi pensieri".
"Non penso niente. Hai le occhiaie".
Allora pensava che non avrebbe mai capito.
"Sono molto giu', sono stufo..."
"Io ti voglio bene..."
Allora pensava che forse aveva capito.
Quando lui spariva, lei lo andava a cercare, lo riportava su' per la sua scala di frasi a meta', e alla fine di ogni onda chiudeva gli occhi.
"Ma cosa vuoi capire, deficiente!"
"Forse capisco troppo, stupido!".
Era una storia troppo vecchia, aveva cominciato a bere, era scappato e ritornato, e lei gli aveva sparato e aveva fatto andare il film al contrario.
Erano passati anni di quel tiraemolla, e lui stava per morire, ma si sapeva che non sarebbe morto.
"Io ti ho ingannata per tutto questo tempo, perche' io non sono di questo mondo e ti ho fatto credere che si'. Ho l'ombelico tra i capelli e mi manca un dito del piede destro. Io sono venuto da un pianeta di nome Tre. Sono venuto su un razzo d'argento, e questo e' il mio grande segreto".
Lei aveva scosso la testa.
"Non capisco. Io ho sempre amato lui, lo sai".
"Non scherzare adesso. Ricordo i tuoi occhi azzurri, i tuoi discorsi cominciati e non finiti. E il 20 aprile mi hai detto che mi vuoi bene".
Sorrideva imbarazzata.
"Si, ti voglio molto bene, sei un caro amico... Ma i miei occhi sono verdi".
"Io sparivo per il tuo bene e tu mi venivi a cercare..."
"Non ricordo".
"Sei sempre stata tu a condurre il gioco. Io non potevo dirti niente, eri tu che dovevi capire".
Aveva nascosto la faccia tra le mani.
"Oh, scusa, mi viene da ridere... Scusa... Sapessi come sei ridicolo..."
Non aveva creduto ad una parola, naturalmente. Non era Abigail quella. Forse era una mutante di Sirio. Forse era solo la sua immaginazione, perche' il suo pensiero era Abigail, che veniva e andava.
O forse era proprio lei, che si era cambiata la faccia di bioplastica e aveva un'amnesia.
I suoi occhi erano verdazzurri. Abigail, cosi' abile nel costruire labirinti con una sola uscita e una di scorta.
Era impossibile che lui fosse annegato in quel mare di whisky, giu' a Centostelle.

Tuesday, October 14, 2008

Sunset

Oggi sono tanto triste, cosi' faro' cadere il sole un'ora prima.
adapted from "La Circolazione Del Sangue", Tiziano Sclavi

ApacheCon - Badge

Preparing for the ApacheCon US 2008.



Here is my schedule and my profile pages.
For an overview of all the sessions related to OFBiz, visit the OFBiz Symposium page.

Thursday, October 09, 2008

Comici Spaventati Guerrieri

[...] non si puo' sopportare tutto questo capisci Lucia quando sono nella mia stanza e qualcuno urla anche con gli occhi si puo' urlare Lucia, Lucia mi chiedo, che cosa e' successo, perche' fingete di non vedere, vorrei capire qualche volta Lucia, ma sapessi che musica nella testa, negli oggetti consumati, e dopo quanto veleno ti senti addosso Lucia, e allora pensa se non fosse cosi', se non ci credessi piu', se fossi perbene Lucia saremmo una coppia normale, io e te, al ritorno dal cinema andremmo a casa e non saremmo perduti in una citta' di notte, ma quelli perbene forse sono perduti lo stesso Lucia, ma se almeno ascoltassero, se capissero che l'altra' meta' di verita' per quanto si puo' raccontare solo urlando e' l'altra meta' necessaria, non si puo' tagliare via non si puo' dimenticare, alla fine solo il dolore esiste come esisto io, un matto per strada, un matto e' una persona che non sa dove andare, niente di piu' Lucia, tu puoi capire, tu che sei benedetta tra le donne, tu che mi hai visto felice, tu che sei coraggiosa tu che a volte mi hai lasciato solo come un cane tu che adesso per favore scendi non guardarmi ti dico, questo e' un sentiero per comici spaventati guerrieri e io non voglio ne' vincere ne' perdere solo che tu mi ricordi e dopo che mi anneghino nello zero di quelle medicine e mi chiamino come vogliono e tornino a raccontare le loro storie, non sono vere, manca meta', tu lo capisci cara, almeno tu e allora scendi per favore.

from "Comici Spaventati Guerrieri", Stefano Benni

Monday, October 06, 2008

Serie A: Chievo vs Fiorentina 0-2

Thanks to the goals of Kuzmanovic and Gilardino, Fiorentina won the match today... this is the way to go!

(Copyright by fiorentina.it)

Sunday, October 05, 2008

Paranoid

Finished with my woman 'cause she couldn't help me with my mind
People think I'm insane because I am frowning all the time

All day long I think of things but nothing seems to satisfy
Think I'll lose my mind if I don't find something to pacify

Can you help me? occupy my brain?
Oh yeah

I need someone to show me the things in life that I can't find
I can't see the things that make true happiness, I must be blind

Make a joke and I will sigh and you will laugh and I will cry
Happiness I cannot feel and love to me is so unreal

And so as you hear these words telling you now of my state
I tell you to enjoy life I wish I could but it's too late

By Black Sabbath

Wednesday, October 01, 2008

The Art Of War

I have recently read the amazing "The Art Of War", an ancient strategy manual that is attributed to Sun Tzu, but in reality was compiled by various anonymous authors that collected oral precepts, in the ancient China of the 4th century BC.
Even if, as it is common with similar Oriental literature, the concepts in the book are not expressed and developed in a linear and formal way, as we are more used to in western literature, the book is really impressive.
Here are some remarkable excerpts:
And so swift like the wind,
Slow like the forest,
Raiding and plundering like fire,
Not moving like a mountain,
Difficult to know like yin,
Moving like thunder.
and:
There are roads one does not follow.
There are armies one does not strike.
There are cities one does not attack.
There are grounds one does not contest.
There are commands of the sovereign one does not accept.
There are also interesting concepts that are stated and not explained, but that become clear (or reveal additional meanings) as you read other parts of the book. Consider for example this sentence:
Leave a way out for surrounded soldiers.
When I have read it for the first time I must confess that I thought it was a remarkable example of humanity, but not very useful in a manual about war. But later on in the book there are these sentences about the efficacy of danger to motivate the soldiers:
Throw them where they cannot leave.
Facing death they will not be routed.
Officers and men facing death,
How could one not obtain their utmost strength?
and also:
Therefore, in dispersed ground, do not do battle.
In light ground, do not stop.
In contested ground, do not attack.
In connected ground, do not cross.
In junction ground, join with allies.
In heavy ground, plunder.
In spread-out ground, move.
In enclosed ground, strategize.
In death ground, do battle.
Victory is the final goal, not War or annihilation of the enemy.

CL - Second draw for Fiorentina


After the good draw in the first match of the Champions League 2008/2009, Lione - Fiorentina 2-2:


(Copyright by fiorentina.it)

yesterday night, Fiorentina played the second match, in Florence, with Steaua Bucarest:


(Copyright by fiorentina.it)

unfortunately it was another draw (0-0) as Fiorentina was not able to break the strong defense of the Romanian team.
2 points after the second match is not a good score, but Fiorentina is still there, waiting for the next match, with Bayern Munich of the ex Luca Toni.

Tuesday, September 30, 2008

Countdown to ApacheConUS 2008 - 1 month

The ApacheCon US 2008 is getting closer, minus one month to go: November 3-7, New Orleans.
This year, OFBiz will be an important part of the Conference and there will be several training sessions and presentations about this amazing Open Source ERP software.
And the company I work for, HotWax Media, is a Platinum Sponsor of the event, and will play a big role in this.
From this page you will find the links to the sessions I am going to hold.

Sunday, September 28, 2008

Fiorentina vs Genoa and first part of the season

Yesterday night Fiorentina won (1-0) an important match versus Genoa, the 5th match of 2008/2009 Serie A Season.
Again, thanks to a beautiful goal by Gilardino:

(Copyright by fiorentina.it)

This is an important result, after the difficult match won last week with Bologna (in the picture below, Jovetic in action):


(Copyright by fiorentina.it)

and the bad one (Lazio vs Fiorentina: 3-0) of Wednesday:


(Copyright fiorentina.it)

The match with Lazio was the 3rd of the Season, the 2nd one was Napoli vs Fiorentina (2-1):


(Copyright by fiorentina.it)

and the first one was Fiorentina vs Juventus (1-1, in the picture Gilardino after the beautyful goal in the last minute of the match):


(Copyright by fiorentina.it)

Thursday, September 25, 2008

Fade to Black

Life it seems, will fade away
Drifting further every day
Getting lost within myself
Nothing matters no one else
I have lost the will to live
Simply nothing more to give
There is nothing more for me
Need the end to set me free

Things are not what they used to be
Missing one inside of me
Deathly lost, this Can't be real
Cannot stand this hell I feel
Emptiness is filling me
To the point of agony
Growing darkness taking dawn
I was me, but now he 's gone

No one but me can save myself, but it's too late
Now, I can't think, think why I should even try
Yesterday seems as though it never existed
Death Greets me warm, now I will just say goodbye

by Metallica

Wednesday, September 24, 2008

Summary of Main new features in OFBiz - August

Here is the summary of the most interesting features developed in August 2008 by the Apache OFBiz open source project's community:

Framework:
  • Generics markup added to several Java classes.
  • Refactored FlexibleStringExpander - less memory used.

MyPage, ProjectManager:
  • It is now possible to create a customer request from an incoming email.
  • Creation of a project task from a customer request.
  • Allow the customer to login to the backend system in mypage using OFBiz security system and showing the status of the customer requests
  • Allow the customer to login to the backend system in mypage using OFBiz security system and showing the status of the customer requests
  • Customer can now add new requests and update the priority of exiting requests
  • Customer can also see and download his own invoices in his currency in pdf format
  • Many enhancements in receiving email into the system
  • create an invoice from all hours reported per timesheet on not yet invoiced project tasks

Order Component:
  • Miscellaneous enhancements to the order detail screen, mostly related to the action links for shipment related operations

POS:
  • New virtual keyboards (alphanum and num) automatically accessed from fields needing them (usefull with touch screens, can be disabled with a property)

Fixed Asset Maintenance:
  • Meter readings can be entered without creating a maintenance
  • Automatic maintenance generation. If a product maintenance is based on meter readings, then maintenances will be created automatically when the meter reading crosses a threshold. If a product maintenance is based on time intervals, then maintenances will be created automatically when the time interval is passed
  • New party roles for maintenance worker, maintenance manager, and maintenance supplier (outside service)
  • Automatic assignment of parties to maintenance tasks
  • Additional parties can be assigned to a maintenance task
  • Improved user interface in the Asset Maintenance component


As usual, you can see the full list of new features here.

Tuesday, September 23, 2008

Meeting face to face with the OFBiz people - Part 2

This is a followup after my first post with the list of OFBiz committers that I've met face-to-face.
After my last trip to Indore, here is the updated list:

Olivier Heinz in Padova
Si Chen in New York
Andrew Zeneski in New York
David Welton in Padova
Yoav Shapira in Padova
David Jones in Salt Lake City
Tim Ruppert in Salt Lake City
Christian Geisert in Padova
Anil Patel in Indore
Ashish Vijaywargiya in Indore
Vikas Mayur in Indore

I am also sure that many of the guys I've met there, part the HWM crew, will be sooner or later committers, because they are doing a great job. Additionally I will meet many others at ApacheCon in New Orleans.
The above list will grow soon.

Thursday, September 18, 2008

Goodbye, Rick

As you probably already know, Rick Wright, founder and keyboardist of the Pink Floyd, passed away on 15th September.
I still remember the day in the summer of '89 when I, a young fan of the Pink Floyd, had the unique chance to shake his hand in Venice, when he arrived at the hotel in Lido (Venice) the day before the World famous concert Pink Floyd played in Piazza San Marco.
David Gilmour, in his website www.davidgilmour.com, remembers his friend with the following beautiful words:

Like Rick, I don't find it easy to express my feelings in words, but I loved him and will miss him enormously.


Tuesday, September 09, 2008

Back home - Pics of Indore

I am finally back home after spending my last two weeks in Indore, India, working with my colleagues (and now very good friends too!) of the Indore offices of HotWax Media.
Even if I have to admit that life and customs in Indore are totally different, and somewhat shocking too, from what I am used to in Padova I can really say I had a great time because I have found there a lot of good friends that did all the possible (and more) to make me feel like I was home.
Here are some pictures about this great experience, including pictures of the Sayaji Hotel, the inauguration party for the new HWM offices, a birthday party in the office (Happy Birthday Jyotsna!), me having some pleasant moments (and drinks) in a pub with Ashish, Vikas, Mridul, Ratnesh, Pranay and Rishi, the street food, the chaotic traffic of the city, etc. etc.























































Wednesday, August 27, 2008

HWM presentation at the DAVV University of Indore

Today has been a great day: we did a presentation of HotWax Media and OFBiz at the Devi Ahilya University, Department of Computer Science & Information Technology of Indore. The students showed interest for the subject and after the presentation we had the pleasure to receive a present from the Head of the University, Dr. A.K. Ramani and we also had a nice conversation with him.
For me, it has been also a great chance to see an Indian University from the inside.






Monday, August 25, 2008

Animals in Indore

Some more pictures from Indore about some of the many free animals that walk around... this is amazing: you can meet cows, but also pigs and dogs, walking, or having a nap, in the middle of very crowded streets, the cars just move around them.
In the pictures below you can see a curious cow getting too close the building's fence and hitting a parked motorbike... funny.


Sunday, August 24, 2008

My first day in Indore

As expected, the travel has been very long: it started from Venice at 10:30am on Saturday and finished at Indore at 9:30am today, with two connection flight in the middle, Frankfurt and Mumbay.
Now I am too tired to write here but I'd like to say that it has been a great day thanks to Anil, Ashish, Vikas (and their family members) and all the HWM team members (and friends).
Well... there is actually a lot more to say about this day full of events, maybe tomorrow after some rest!
In the meantime here are some pictures I took today (hotel room and city sight from its window, some street view pics with free animals walking around etc...); more to come soon.