Sunday, May 25, 2014

Համեմունքներով համեմված post :)

Ողջույն, վաղուց չէինք տեսնվել, գիտեմ: Այսօր ուզում եմ պատմել համեմունքները դասակարգելու իմ փորձի մասին:

Ես երևի մի քիչ OCD ունեմ ու նախընտրում եմ, որ նման բաները միշտ միասին լինեն դասավորված, հարմար, կոկիկ... երբ արդեն սկսեցի ես էլ խոհարարությամբ զբաղվել ու սկսեցի ուսումնասիրել համեմունքները ու դրանց կիրառությունները.. մի տխուր փաստ գիտակցեցի: Շատերի մոտ համեմունքները պահվում են ոնց պատահի՝ մի մասը թղթե տուփով, մի մասը պլատմասե, մի մասը ապակե բանկաների մեջ լցված.. հայտնի չի թե ինչ պիտանելիության ժամկետ ունեն: Որոշ տարաներ էլ պարզ չի, թե արդեն ինչ են պարունակում՝ պիտակ չկա: Շատ համեմունքներ բաշխված են խոհանոցի տարբեր դարակներով մեկ, արդեն չի հիշվում՝ ինչ ունենք, ինչն է վերջացել ու պետք է նորից գնել ...

Համեմունքների անունները ու կիրառությունները սովորելուն զուգահեռ սկսեցի հարմար տարաներ փնտրել: Մի քանի կարևոր նախապայման կար.
  1. ապակե, կամ շատ լավ որակի պլաստմասե տարաներ, լավ փակվող կափարիչներով, ցանկալի է, որ ծակեր էլ ունենան, որոնք նաև փակվող կլինեն: 
  2. կափարիչներն էլ լինեն մետաղական կամ փայտից և շատ լավ որակի ռեզինով պատված
  3. լինեն թափանցիկ ու պարզ՝ առանց նախշերի
  4. լինեն տարբեր չափերի՝ տարբեր տիպի համեմունքների համար
  5. վաճառվեն հատով, ոչ թե կոնկրետ քանակ պարունակող կոմպլեկտով:

Երկար փնտրտուքներից հետո գտա իմ ուզածին հնարավորինս մոտիկ՝ 2 չափի, պարզ, ապակուց, մետաղական կափարիչով, որ տարբեր չափերի ծակեր ունի: Վաճառվում է հատով, կամ տուփով (2 հատ): 580 և 790 դրամ, փոքր և մեծ չափերը համապատասխանաբար: Միակ թերությունը դրանց արտադրության երկիրն էր՝ որի արտադրանքից ՄԻՇՏ խուսափում եմ ու նախընտրում տեղական կամ այլ երկրների համարժեք արտադրանք: Այս անգամ խուսափել չհաջողվեց ու կոմպրոմիսի արդյունքում այդ մի սկզբունքը ընկավ երկրորդական պլան:

Տարաները մի քանի ամիսների ընթացքում 1-2 հատով գնում էի ու քիչ-քիչ համեմունքները տեղափոխում դրանց մեջ:

Երբ արդեն հիմնական բոլոր համեմունքները տեղավորվել էին, սկսեցի մտածել դրանց դասավորության մասին:

Մեր համեմունքների հիմնական դարակը խորն է: Տարաները շարվում էին ներքևում, ընդ որում փոքրերը իրար վրա.. այնպես որ միայն կափարիչներն էին երևում: Բավականին անհարմար էր, տարածքն էլ էֆեկտիվ չէր օգտագործվում:
Դարակը հարմարեցնելու համար օգնության եկավ ամուսինս՝ Արեգը: Մի քանի ժամ ավտոտնակում անցկացնելուց հետո եկավ այս լուծումը ձեռքին: Փայտի կտորներից այսպիսի մի դարակ էր սարքել, որը հանովի-դնովի է: Վրան հենց իմ տարաների չափով երկար փայտեր են: Դարակի տակ էլ կարելի է շատ ուրիշ բաներ տեղավորել:
Տարաները ժամանակավոր պիտակներով դասավորված Արեգի պատրաստած դարակի վրա

Այդպես քիչ-քիչ, համակարգում էի համեմունքները նոր տարաներով ու մտածում ինչ-որ սիրուն պիտակներ սարքելու մասին: Pinterest-ի օգնությամբ այսպիսի մի Spice jar labels template գտա ու հասկացա, որ որոշ համեմունքների անգլերեն անունները չեմ իմանում:

Այդտեղ մի նոր գործ բացվեց՝ սկսեցի ուսումնասիրել տարբեր համեմունքների անունները անգլերենով ու ռուսերենով: Կազմեցի աղյուսակ, ահագին բացահայտումներ անելով: Օրինակ, մեր տանը կար душистый перец, և կար բահար՝ տարբեր տարաներում: Ամոթ ինձ, որ չգիտեի, որ նույն բանն է, ընդ որում անգլերենով՝ allspice (էլ չասեմ, որ խանութներում 2 տեսակի բահար հանդիպեցի, մեկը հենց "բահար", մյուսը "բահար 7"):
Հետո հասկացա որ մեծ շփոթություն կա тмин, кумин, зира, cumin, caraway, քիմիոն, զիրա, քեմոն անունով համեմունքների հետ կապված: 
Շատ խանութներում և համեմունքների սրահներում նայելուց հետո, ինտերնետային փնտրտուքներից, տարատեսակ YouTube վիդեոներ ուսումնասիրելուց հետո եկա այն եզրակացության որ՝ тмин = քիմիոն = caraway, իսկ кумин = зира = cumin = քեմոն: Նման բացահայտում էր որ ծիտրոն = чабер = savory: Ծիտրոնը նաև անվանում են հայկական ռոզմարին:

Գտածս սիրուն պիտակները սկսեցի հարմարեցնել իմ համեմունքներին, ավելացնելով անվանման հայերեն ու ռուսերեն տարբերակները:
Ստացվեց այսպիսի մի ֆայլ:


Տպեցի դրանք AG Print-ում կպչուն թղթի (sticker) վրա, այնուհետև կտրատեցի սև գծերով: Փակցրեցի տարաներին ու սկսեցի վայելել :)


Եթե հավանեցիք՝ կարող եք ներբեռնել պիտակների ֆայլը PDF ֆորմատով, որը կարելի է տպել: Եթե տեսնում եք, որ ինչ-որ հաճախ օգտագործվող համեմունք մոռացել եմ՝ գրեք,
կավելացնեմ ֆայլում :) Հիմա ներառում է 60 համեմունք ու կանաչեղեն: Եթե հանկարծ ինչ-որ սխալ նկատեք, խնդրում եմ տեղեկացրեք, որ ուղղեմ:

Tuesday, March 26, 2013

Theory of a stable relationship (guest post)

Until I find time to publish what's going on on my side, I'm publishing this "scientific paper" sent to me by a .. friend, who preferred to stay anonymous :) Let us know what you think of it in comments.


This paper describes the relationship between two human objects of opposite sex, discovering correlations between those two based on Newton laws of mechanics.
We particularly focused on gravitational forces affecting this relation mistakenly referred by general public as "addiction" as well as counter-forces that may potentially break relative stability known to public as circumstances.

The paper concludes on a formula derived to describe this phenomenon that can be used in the relationship science to support decisions and further development of the science of love.


General rule of addiction 
There are billions of study objects around the world. Some of them create families, others don't. Significant numbers of families break up after t period of time. The importance of this study comes even more vivid if considered that relationships between various human objects break at the stage of formulation even without reaching the state of a stable equilibrium. The phenomenon becomes even harder to analyze given that these billions of objects have over 35 billion communications daily and around 580 million people travel per day. 

To understand this phenomenon, we suggest looking at the stars. There are countless space objects moving, however the universe still keeps its firm structure over millions of light years. This is mainly happening due to the gravity forces between all objects that create network of forces to support the overall structure. This same gravity (although based on human specific parameters) creates forces between two humans to provide acceleration towards each other. This “addiction” (as we fictitiously call it) can be described by the formula below:
Where:
F - addiction force - is the actual force by which one object is pulling the other one.

G - addiction constant. This constant is not affected by any variable other than time. It can be calculated by the following formula G = B × (tn - t0), where B is the base underlying the relationship typically mol. mass of either oxytocin 1007.19, adrenaline 183.204, or pheromones varying between 230-280; and tn - t0 is the total number of days in relationship.

M1 - the mass of positive attitude and support provided by addicting object (further referred as addictor).

M2 - the mass of positive attitude and support received from subject of addiction (further referred as addictee).

R - the average distance between addictor and addictee.

Both M1 and M2 comprise of the aggregation of the following:
  • support provided to counterpart 
  • level of forbearance 
  • attention to its counterpart 
  • quality of gifts 
  • rest time shared 
  • etc
Thus, the force of addiction is positively correlated with the time of relationship (as provided in the G constant formula) and the relative weight of objects for each other, and negatively correlated with the distance between the two.


Circumstances or the surrounding universe
Given that there is no other object and movement around the addictor and the addictee, the addiction force described above would be the only force affecting the objects. Thus they would either pull each other until their integration into one object with no distinctive individual properties, or in case of long distance and/or negative M1×M2 product, would have insignificant mutual relations. 

In reality, all the human objects spin around the world and, as described in previous chapter, have a large number of other interactions. Thus, there is another force, giving us a tendency of avoiding integration and pushing objects away from each other. In universe this rule is known as the centrifugal force

In our study, the formula of avoidance provided below best describes the imprint of so called circumstances on the relationship.
Where:
F2 - is the force of avoidance

M1 - mass of positive attitude and support provided by the addictee

V - the speed by which addictee is being spinned around routine realities and the universe around itself

R - the distance between addictor and the addictee

Thus we can say that there is a clear hyperbolic positive correlation between the speed of our life and the force pushing us far from our addictors. Another interesting finding of this study is that the closer two object are − the higher is the force pushing to break up.


State of equilibrium
Any two human objects with positive M1 and M2 values are able to reach equilibrium stage at T point of time.

To prove the statement above, lets calculate through the formulas presented above. To reach the stage of equilibrium the addiction force F1 and F2 shall be equal, therefore:
Based on our assumption in the hypothesis, M1 is positive value, thus:
or
or
As we can conclude from the equation above, there can always be a positive M2 for given distance, speed of life and duration of relationship to bring the equation to solution. The faster the environment and longer the distance − the more positive energy and care is needed to sustain equilibrium. On the other hand, the longer relationship lasts − the less M2 is required for equilibrium given that V and R remain constant.

In conclusion, this study proves, that to reach a stable relationship, it is critical of addictor itself to provide necessary M2 weight to relationship. In the meantime, both addictor and addictee can calculate necessary V speeds and R distances to leverage the lack of Weight at a given point of time. This type of adjustments may provide short-term equilibrium situations to free up time to recover the M2 and M1 levels. Failure of recovering necessary mutual weights of objects will lead to shifting of V and R values to unrecoverable margins.
Once M2 value is sustained at the equilibrium value, the relationship can enter long-term stability stage.


Sunday, January 20, 2013

My Top 15 Music Addictions of 2012

Some of the music here was discovered via friends, who shared it. I have quite a diverse taste and I hope my post will help you to find some of your new favorite songs too :)

15. Kishi Bashi - Manchester - lovely song.. and an artist worth checking out.

14. Passion Pit - Take a Walk - hipster music at its best :)) Watch the video and check out other songs of this band.

13. The Sundays - Goodbye - and oldie suddenly discovered by me. Great tune and very optimistic :)

12. Matt Cardle - Starlight - the song and video has to do with stars, so I love it. Nice tune.

11. Ellie Goulding - Figure 8 - Love Ellie since "Starry Eyed". Nice video with dubstep-ish catchy music.

10. Bag Raiders - Shooting Stars - Great song, especially the second part :) *Stars* at their best in this funky-house track.

9. Florence and the Machine - Spectrum - Florence never ceases to amaze me. The Spectrum was the best one this year. Exactly this one, not the Calvin Harris's mix played on MTVs.

8. Epic45 - Future is Blinding - "You say there must be more to life than this. How much more do you want?".. GREAT indeed.

7. Ben Rector - White Dress - Romantic song right in my mood. A really underestimated one.

6. Phoenix - Too Young - Great fan of Phoenix, but this song was played the most in my ears this year. LOVE.

5. Bombay Bicycle Club - Leave it - My great discovery of 2012.. Listen to "Shuffle", "Lights Out, Words Gone" too.. But "Leave it" caught me most.

4. Martin Solveig - Night Out - Cool video with a scooter, great song (also nicely remixed by Madeon). Been listening to this a lot in 2012...

3. Lana Del Rey - Ride - Lana -- my biggest music inspiration of the year & most listened artist. Been listening to her albums non-stop, discovering more and more great songs over several months. She's a style inspiration for me too. Couldn't select just one song from her. Here is my favorite top 3 songs of her.
Summertime Sadness
 National Anthem

2. Madeon - Finale (full version) -- I'm a big fan of this young French boy. This song is my ringtone for a few months now. Check out his "The City", "Pop Culture (Live Mashup)", "Icarus" too.
 

1. M83 - Midnight City - BIGGEST discovery of the year... My most played song, most favorite one for this moment. Check out also "Reunion".

Sunday, November 18, 2012

I typed "y"... I am now suddenly, geekily and happily engaged :)

...or "How to propose to a geek girl".

The rumor spreads and everyone keeps asking - how was it? what did he say? Since it was very unexpected, geeky and with so many details, I thought it would be best to write down here and share my happiness with the world.

It was an ordinary Wednesday (November 7). The only 2 things that could be counted as "not ordinary" were the facts that a) I was sick and bedridden on Monday and Tuesday and b) my (now) fiancé was on a business trip in Stepanakert, Artsakh (or so I thought).

The card

On Tuesday evening, while tracking his journey on latitude, I asked him to call and wake me up on Wednesday morning and so he did. I promised I'd get up soon. But since my tummy was till aching, I decided to cuddle in bed a few more minutes and eventually fell asleep again. I woke up a couple hours later to find his messages like "Asleep again?". I started to slowly dress up and get ready to go to work. My friend Lia called to ask me if I was still at home and could take the pocket books I had promised to pass to her. It was around 1pm already. Then it turned out I had to buy my dad's newspapers. So I went out, bought the papers, brought them home and headed to work. (see the bullet points below the post to find out why I described these details)

On my way to work, next to the Charents monument pathway, a teenage boy handed me something. I asked "what's this?", in order to avoid the religious pictures that kids give on streets and ask for money. The boy eagerly replied - "vizitka!" (business card). I took it and saw a nicely designed business card (pictured below).
the QR code reads "Will"
I went on a few more steps and checked the QR code on a side of the card, which read "Will". "Hm.. Interesting", I thought and entered my office.
I told about the card to Azar, my boss. My guess was, that this is some promotion or maybe a puzzle, a quest..

The Facebook tag

In about half an hour I am being tagged on a picture on Facebook. It was in a closed group of AIESEC alumni. See below:
I was tagged together with a bunch of other people.. It had the same logo as on the business card.. and a QR code reading "You". The description was "Cool initiative, guys i am sure you will like this! Detail coming soon!". I started to suspect that it had something to do with AIESEC - some kind of a new project and I was lucky to get the card on the street! The comments on the post didn't shed any light to what it was.

The hack

At 6pm I had an appointment with Kristine, Gohar and Lia (TEDxYerevan organizing team) at The Green Bean Coffeeshop. Kristine had written us a week ago asking to get prepared for a dinner with the US Ambassador John Heffern (who attended TEDxYerevan 2012). We had to discuss our possible cooperation. Kristine asked us to dress nicely, no jeans or suits -- just a cute dress. She also asked me to bring my netbook, since we had to discuss things in Green Bean, before going for the dinner. I didn't suspect anything yet :D
I got there and we started to discuss our stuff. The waiter approached, and I ordered a bagel and no drink. Gohar ordered tea and Kristine insisted that they bring another cup for me to drink too, since i was recovering from cold. I got the Green Bean mug... and it had the "liveit" logo and again a QR code!
I got surprised and started telling them about the card and the picture from facebook... and then finally got to scan the code. Guess what? It read "Marry me?" ..... I blushed and smiled... and then immediately got a call from Azar (my boss), who told me that supposedly panarmenian.net was hacked and I should check it quickly and call him back, since he was outside, far from a computer. I turned on my netbook and opened panarmenian.net. I got this console screen instead (click to view bigger):
I typed "y"...

The waiter, in a white elephant t-shirt, was looking at me and smiling. She led me to the other hall of the cafe to find my Areg. With white lilies and a ring. On his knees.


We were surrounded by friends - who were involved in all this - cheering, applauding ... By that time i was blushing with my full capacity :).. shocked to find Areg to be in Yerevan and to have a ring on my finger...

The story didn't end here.
We sat at a big table with this company and everyone was telling details of the "QRաջարկություն" operation.. Something that was being planned around me for the past few weeks.
Areg's masterplan for THE day :)

It turned out that:
  • Areg had created a secret group in Facebook for communicating the stuff for organizing matters. Sharing mindmaps, coordinating everyone's actions for the day. 
  • Areg didn't have a business trip that week. It was just to enhance the "effect".. and also have a free Tuesday for arranging the stuff. 
  • Areg was near my building since early morning when he called me. He was waiting for me to go out for several hours! Standing! Tracking me on the latitude if I was still there... until his phone drained out... (yep, I feel very very bad about this :()
  • Speaking on the latitude.. he did arrange somebody to login with his account on latitude on the trip to Artsakh. That's why I was seeing him there...
  • Lia called me to ask if I was at home to take the books with Areg's desperate request. 
  • He asked his friend to follow me on my way to work. When i went to buy the papers, I could accidentally see them. They were hiding behind a car :D
  • They arranged someone to wait for me near Charents monument, to hand the card. She was available only till 1:30 pm. Afterwards, they were trying to find someone else and in the end approached a school boy having a lunch nearby. The idea was to suggest him some "bribe" for giving me the card. The boy politely refused the money, and after some convincing ("heeey, it's our friend's birthday, we need to give her this card, blabla") he agreed to stand there and wait, only until their teacher (who was almost near) could notice him.
  • Areg followed me on my way to work until he was ensured that I read the QR code on the card. 
  • Lia had been thinking that I saw her trying to hide near the cafe at Charents monument, but in fact, I didn't. 
  • Azar reported in the FB group, that I had told him about the card. He also called Areg when I went out of the office, saying "Объект вышел".
  • Kristine had made up the story about the Ambassador and asked us to dress up, because she knew that on that important day for me, I would feel upset if I wouldn't be dressed :)
  • Areg had prepared beautiful flower compositions for the Green Bean (partly seen on the picture with the QR code mug). They are still there, decorating the tables in the cafe.
  • The hack was created by our friend Tiko and was "enabled" on panarmenian.net by Azar (CEO of PanARMENIAN.Net). It was targeted specifically for the IPs of Green Bean (Areg and Tiko have been tracking cafe's IP address for few days, to ensure it was a static one). While installing the hack on the website, Azar was testing it in our office's IPs, and as a result, the whole editorial was frustrated, unable to work while the testing and installing took place. 
  • When I just got to Green Bean, I didn't order any drink, which was a little out of the plan, but thankfully Kristine managed to convince me to ask for another cup for me to drink the tea. That's when I got the mug with the QR.
  • There were actually 2 t-shirts with a pixelated white elephant - one for the waitress and one for me.
  • Areg had prepared special "Thank you" cards signed by both of us (i did it right there) for all the participants of the "operation". 


So.. this is the story :) I want to thank all of my friends (and the Green Bean staff) who were involved in the organization of this beautiful day.. it's really something that me and Areg will remember forever :)

At the end, there are a few pics...
giving out the thank you card


Sunday, October 21, 2012

Dalma Garden Mall: Opening of the first mall in Armenia

The first real mall opened today in Yerevan. I couldn't miss the event and since everyone is asking me how it went, I decided to make a post with my impressions and photos.
Dalma Grand Opening

It's a 2-story huge (for Yerevan) building with a nice interior. The parking lot can accommodate more than 700 cars). There are several escalators and 2 elevators. Apart from a hypermarket (Carrefour, to be opened in November) and 50+ shops, there is a Coffee House (on Level 1) and a food court with Tashir pizza (not surprisingly), Mr.Gyros, Wasabi, Spago Grill (on Level 2). To the disappointment of the opening's visitors -- only Tashir pizza was operating with the usual taste-less pizza and big queues. A "Cinema Star" complex is in the plans, so is a bowling alley and children's playground.


 
a fountain and a small glass bridge
The good:
  • Many new franchise stores have opened and many more were announced on the doors of the yet empty areas. A good part of our population has been waiting for the opening of brand stores of Zara, Bershka, Marks & Spencer, Gap, Stradivarius, Pull&Bear, Topshop, Accessorize, NewYorker in Armenia. The full list of the brands is available in the description of the event.
  • Many brands that already have their stores in Yerevan will have stores Dalma as well (like Mango, Promod, Clarks, Aldo, Baldi, Bata, Chocco, Yves Rocher, Sali and others)
  • There is a Zigzag megastore! yep, an electronics megastore in Yerevan :)
the electronics megastore in Dalma
  • The interior planning and design are generally good. The coffee house on the Level 1 looks really pretty :) There were a few fountains: the ones on the level 1 were with colourful lights, really cute:)
the Dalma Coffee House 
  • A huge Zara store was opened today, with a fashion show organized in the evening. The collection was big and for almost all tastes, as always. 
  • Charles & Keith -- a shoes and accessories store had a nice collection! 
  • The prices (in case someone still doubts) are the same as in all other franchise stores of the brands.
  • There was a really great mood around the mall, because of the many familiar faces, music, scents, balloons and a sunny weather visible from the big windows on the ceiling. 

Dalma Coffee House again
Charles & Keith in Dalma
Accessorize in Dalma
Zara in Dalma
Oysho in Dalma
The bad:
  • Unfortunately, only few stores were open today. Some opened hours after the mall's official opening. You could see the store (like Accessorize), ready, with assistants inside, but there was a security guard at the door, not letting anyone in. Marks & Spencer, occupying one of the biggest areas, has invited everyone to the mall opening, but was actually closed :) with all the items set up and balloons at the door. They just replied to me saying "WE ARE EXCLUSIVE BRAND..and we need EXCLUSIVE OPENING!! YOU ALL WILL BE INFORMED !!!!!!". Well, ok :))
  • I couldn't find a list of stores which are actually open already, either a timeline for those that will open soon. 
  • There was a limited -- almost no food choice today. After walking around we got quite hungry, but resisted to stand in a queue for a Tashir pizza. The Coffee House didn't yet have any menu, or food whatsoever. We just took a good Molinari cappuccino, after waiting for a table to become vacant for quite a long time. Yeah, there were too many people for too few tables. But i guess it was because of the opening.
the food court
  • Some areas in the mall (especially Level 2) were yet dusty, not yet constructed. I had a glance through the slightly opened door of the Cinema complex. It was yet just nothing but a cement :D
  • The concert outside of the mall featuring Armenian pop stars (and then a group of some 'ancient' Russian pop chicks) was totally useless. I don't think anyone visited the opening because of the concert. It just created some unnecessary noise and problems for the parking and traffic.
The concert outside Dalma
  • The website www.dalma.am has been down for days because of an exceeded bandwidth.
  • The small brochure of the mall with the floor plan is poorly designed. The text (in English) is awful :) or maybe it's just literally translated from Russian.
the Dalma floor plan scanned from the brochure
Dalma brochure
Dalma Garden Mall is open from 10:00 to 22:00

A little background:
Dalma Garden Mall was build by the Dalma Invest company, affiliated with Tashir Group, with a $50 million investment.
The territory on which the mall was built was part of the Dalma gardens.
.. it used to be a historical monument in the form of gardens which stretched from Erebuni Museum to Yerevan Lake, then farther to Tsitsernakaberd, Hrazdan Gorge and much farther, up to Zvartnots Airport and to Echmiadzin through Argavand. It used to be a forest planted with fruit tress and vineyards, unique in their species. (Ecolur)
The land owners of the gardens have been protesting the illegal decision of the municipality for already 9 years, when they were seized their land areas and sold to new owners thus violating their rights. (here is more info on this in Armenian).

Dalma Garden Mall has been scheduled to open last year, or even earlier, if I'm not mistaken. It was being postponed without approximate dates for several times. Later it was connected with the fact that they want to open many franchise boutiques and months are needed to do the interior design and furnishing.


me caught by Anna from the escalator
me in Zara
with my friend Emma and her bump :)
Here's a professional photo report from the opening by PanARMENIAN Photo.