Oct13
Posted on Oct 13 by Tudor Bercea
Monday, 5th of October 2015 Since Robert and Annika haven’t yet arrived back from Istanbul, I worked from home. Saving 2 hours which I usually spend commuting from home to work and back might not seem much, but when I can use that time to get an extra hour of sleep, it’s magical. 🙂 I can’t say that my work is stressful or exhausting, but years of freelancing and waking up whenever I could damn please, have made their toll on me, so it takes a while to adjust to a schedule. Tuesday, 6th of October 2015 In the evening the internet went down. This is probably the worst thing that can happen. Someone has accurately updated Maslow’s Pyramid of Needs, and you’ve probably seen this before: Wednesday, 7th of October 2015 We ate at Cooko’s but I forgot to take a picture. 🙁 So I’m just going to show you a picture of some bruschettes I baked in the oven: They’re kinda like pizza, but less tasty. Remind me not to buy them again. Thursday, 8th of October 2015...
Oct05
Posted on Oct 5 by Tudor Bercea
Monday, 28th of September 2015 False alarm. I’m not going to Istanbul, but my colleague, Annika will. I am happy for her, but I wonder if I will get another opportunity like this until the end of my internship. Now that I think about it, I kinda wish I was the one appointed to accompany Robert at the startup fair in Turkey. However, I do feel happy for Annika and I hope she will have an awesome time there. Today was quite a productive day, which came as a surprise, since Robert was out of town. I had to rebuild the entire web app wireframe in UXPin, as the previous version became corrupt for unknown reasons and wasn’t able to save it. Very disappointing, UXPin… very disappointing. Tuesday, 29th of September 2015 I wasn’t a coffee drinker at all before coming to Hamburg, but now it seems easier to be more energetic by starting the day with a nice, milky, hot cup of coffee. We usually drink the free coffee prepared by Primo Portal Hub (the building where we...
Sep28
Posted on Sep 28 by Tudor Bercea
Monday, 21st of September 2015 Today was a casual working day. Robert had to leave for a few days, so feedback came slower than usual due to the fact that he has scarce access to an internet connection. So while waiting for feedback, I read some more about design and user behavior. For instance, did you know that while you are reading this post, you are actually following the so-called “F-Pattern”? Here’s an example (the more reddish, the more your eyes are drawn to that particular area): To simplify the image above, take a look at the scheme below: When you first open a website / webpage, the first place your eyes look at is the upper-right corner. I don’t know if you’ve noticed, but that’s where the logo of that website is usually placed. Then, your eyes scan the first horizontal line, moving to the right. Usually this is when you take a look at the menu of the website, which is placed on the first line. As you begin to read this article, you search for keywords,...
Sep21
Posted on Sep 21 by Tudor Bercea
Monday, 14th of September 2015 This morning at the subway two guys with saxophones and a boombox begun entertaining people. I think one of them was Romanian, although that’s not very important. What is important is that these guys, who didn’t seem to have higher education, managed to find a way to earn their living, in a quite original manner. I mean, how many times do you hear sax music on your way to work? Getting his saxophone out… …and playing like he was on a stage. Today, while waiting for Robert I read some more about flat design. I weighed the pros and the cons, and the conclusion was quite balanced: even though flat design is the new hype, sqeuomorphic and realistic design may still be appropriate, depending on the situation. I liked the analogy one author made by comparing a classical curved sink with a modern, almost minimalistic, flat-bottom one. The flat-bottom sink may look new and modern, but when the water from the faucet runs, it splashes all over the place, while the classical curved sink, although...
Sep14
Posted on Sep 14 by Tudor Bercea
Monday, 7th of September 2015 As I was riding the bus to work, something unexpected happened. A blonde lady made a U-turn right in the intersection, cutting the bus driver’s way. Can you guess what happened next? You guessed wrong! The driver didn’t say absolutely anything, didn’t lose his temper, didn’t honk, didn’t even sketch a grimace. He just waited patiently for the lady to finish the U-turn and go about her way, after which he continued driving calmly to the next station. I can only imagine how many curses the blonde lady would have received if she was in Bucharest. We should all learn from this, a true example of driving fair-play. At lunch, Zarko and I went to an Asian restaurant called Wild Rice. The food was excellent and plenty, probably the best way I could spend 7,50 EURO today. I had some crispy duck with sweet-sour sauce, while Zarko had chicken with curry: Every day I take the subway to and from work. And every day I pass by miles and miles of graffiti painstakingly drawn on the...
Sep07
Posted on Sep 7 by Tudor Bercea
Monday, 31st of August 2015 It was quite a normal start of the week. Robert left for Berlin until Friday, and I have quite a lot of tasks to resolve until he returns. When I left the office I came across a bizarre appearance on the streets of Hamburg – a tractor in the center of the city, driving alongside Volkswagens and BMWs: I arrived home and checked my mailbox… and surprise: I have received my brand new debit card from Haspa bank. Although it looks a bit weird without the 16-digit card number and I wonder how I am going to use it for online shopping. Tuesday, 1st of September 2015 While Robert is gone I have quite a lot of work to do, and unfortunately I still depend on him giving me prompt feedback. Things are not going very smooth because of this and I have to work at least 3 tasks in parallel. After work I went to the bank machine to withdraw some money. I managed to accomplish this task from the first trial, even...
