+++ Update: Und hier  noch ein passendes Hotel-Angebot zur “Eintagsfliegen”-Aktion von Condor:

Sonnerstag-Aktion bei lastminute.de: 4 & 5 Sterne Hotels bis 30,- Euro/Nacht

Bei der lastminute.de “Sonnerstag-Aktion” gibt es am Donnerstag, 26. November ein höchst attraktives Angebot: Alle Glückshotels der Kategorie 4 & 5 Sterne in Deutschland, Spanien, Italien, Prag, Budapest und Porto sind an diesem Tag für unter 30,- Euro pro Übernachtung buchbar.

Leider gilt das Angebot nur für Übernachtungen bis Ende des Jahres. Die Sonnerstags-Aktion ist also eher für spontane Trips geeignet.

Die lastminute.de Sonnerstags-Aktion im Überblick:

• Buchungszeit: nur am 26. November 2009
• Hoteltypen: Alle Glückshotels der Kategorie 4 & 5 Sterne
• Reisedaten: 26 November – 31 Dezember 2009
• Mindestaufenthalt: 1 Nacht
• Ziele: Deutschland, Italien, Spanien, Prag, Budapest, Porto
• Preise: bis 30 Euro

Aber es gilt schnell zu sein, denn dieses Hotel-Angebot ist nur am 26. November 2009 buchbar.

Update Ende +++

Condor “Eintagsfliegen”: 100.000 Kurzstreckenflüge ab 49,- Euro alles inklusive

100.000 Kurzstrecken-Flüge ab 49,- Euro (all inclusive) bietet die Fluggesellschaft Condor ab Donnerstag, 26.11.2009 um 10.00 Uhr unter dem Motto “Eintagsfliegen” an.

Eigentlich könnte man die Aktion als “Billig fliegen ohne Billigflieger” verkaufen. Denn Vorteil bei diesem Angebot von Condor ist sicher, dass man sich keine Sorgen um zusätzliche Gebühren machen muss (wie es  bei so einigen Billigfliegern der Fall ist). Auch landet man mit Condor in der Regel nicht auf irgendwelchen abgelegenen Flughäfen sondern steuert direkt die prominenten großen Flughäfen an. Das spart oft noch Shuttlekosten.

Die Fakten zum “Eintagsfliegen”-Angebot von Condor:

• Buchungszeitraum: vom 26.11.2009, 10.00 Uhr – 28.11.2009, 23.59 Uhr
• Reisezeitraum: ab sofort – Juni 2010(!)
• Preis: ab 49,- Euro Kurzstrecke, ab 199,- Euro (Langstrecke), Gebühren inklusive

Reguläre Fugziele von Condor:

• ab Düsseldorf (DUS): Antalya (AYT), Fuerteventura (FUE), Gran Canaria (LPA), Hurghada (HRG), Istanbul/Sabiha Goekcen (SAW), Izmir (ADB), Jerez de la Frontera (XRY), Lanzarote (ACE), Larnaca (LCA), Mallorca (PMI), Paphos (PFO), Sharm el Sheikh (SSH), Sta. Cruz de la Palma (SPC), Teneriffa Süd (TFS)
• ab Dortmund (DTM): Antalya (AYT), Istanbul/Sabiha Goekcen (SAW)
• ab Köln/Bonn (CGN): Antalya (AYT), Fuerteventura (FUE), Gran Canaria (LPA), Istanbul/Sabiha Goekcen (SAW), Izmir (ADB), Lanzarote (ACE), Marsa Alam (RMF), Teneriffa Süd (TFS)
• ab Münster/Osnabrück (FMO): Antalya (AYT)
• ab Paderborn/Lippstadt (PAD): Antalya (AYT)

[San José de Maipo, Chile] [Espantoso caso de tortura y maltrato animal. Para este tipo de crímenes, las penas deberían ser mucho más altas]. Lo leímos en puentealtoaldia:

Encuentran Cóndor Crucificado. Macabro hallazgo en el sector de Los Chacayes donde fue encontrado muerto un cóndor y crucificado en un árbol sin sus dos patas.
El cóndor tiene su habitad a lo largo de toda la Cordillera de Los Andes; llegando hasta las costas en la zona norte y en el extremo sur del país.
Esta ave pertenece a nuestro escudo nacional y es justamente el ave símbolo de la Cordillera de Los Andes.Es una de las aves voladoras más grandes y se distingue fácilmente tanto en tierra como en vuelo por su gran tamaño, con un largo de entre 100 y 120 centímetros, además de su característico collar de plumas blancas es excelente voladora, sabe aprovechar a la perfección las corrientes de aire ascendente, pudiendo tener interminables planeos que le permiten cruzar valles y montañas sin mover sus alas.
Sin embargo, en la comuna de San José de Maipo, unos mal llamados turistas terminaron con la vida de una de estas hermosas aves, le cortaron sus dos patas y la dejaron crucificada en un árbol, en la localidad de Chacayes, cerca de El Embalse del Yeso.
El cóndor se caracteriza porque muy rara vez ataca a animales vivos (y de hacerlo elige a los recién nacidos, enfermos o moribundos) debido a que se alimenta principalmente de carroña, animales y peces muertos que logra ubicar desde las alturas debido a su vista extraordinariamente aguda.
“Lo que hicieron con esta pobre ave no tiene nombre”, indica molesto Hugo Droguett.
El macabro hallazgo se produjo el pasado sábado 14 de noviembre.
“Veníamos con una disposición de pasar un fin de semana en torno a la naturaleza, desde siempre nosotros como familia nos hemos preocupado de mantener la limpieza y hasta hemos repartido bolsas de basura a los demás visitantes para que la cultura prime. Fue muy doloroso darnos cuenta de esto”, indica Hugo.
Eran aproximadamente las 18:30 horas y el campamento en las inmediaciones del sector de Chacayes, estaba todo listo.
Para refrescarse, parte de la familia Droguett bajó al río para refrescarse y en ese momento se encontraron con el cadáver de cóndor.
“Estaba colgado en el árbol, sus alas amarradas con unos alambres, la cabeza enterrada en el tronco y le faltaban sus dos patas. Fue terrible. Esta ave pertenece a nuestro escudo nacional, está en extinción. ¿Cómo es posible que el ser humano sea tan bestial de matar a un animal así y dejarlo de estar manera tan aberrante?”, se pregunta Droguett.

¿Es la Chepa?
Chepa es un cóndor que fue criado en cautiverio y es típico de la zona, todos los lugareños saben quién es porque el ave veía seres humanos y bajaba a la tierra.
“Es muy tierna porque como se crió en cautiverio cree que todas las personas son buenas. Yo no tengo la certeza que sea ella, sería realmente lamentable, porque es  un ave que muchas veces salió en el programa ‘La tierra en que vivimos’ porque es un ave característico de San José de Maipo”, asegura Hugo Droguett.
Asimismo indica, “lo ideal es que alguna agrupación se haga cargo del cadáver, lo embalsamen y lo tengan en un museo. No es digno que esté en este estado”.
[23 de noviembre de 2009]
[©puente alto al día]

Loving these illustrations spotted out of a book called ‘the bicycle’ from 1973.

Via Montague Projects.

Tra tutte le storie scritte per il ventesimo anniversario della caduta del muro di Berlino, la più suggestiva, per la metafora che racchiude, racconta di un branco di cervi dal mantello rossiccio. Riportata dal Wall Street Journal, e ripresa in Italia solo da Condor, un programma di Radiodue, è la storia di come, nonostante la ventennale rimozione della cortina di ferro che divideva il loro habitat naturale in due, tra Germania Ovest e Cecoslovacchia, i cervi rossicci ancora oggi non hanno il coraggio di oltrepassare quello che una volta era il confine e attualmente è solo una linea immaginaria nel più grande parco naturale d’Europa.

Naturalmente, gran parte dei cervi che hanno conosciuto l’epoca del filo spinato elettrificato sono ormai scomparsi. Tuttavia, spiegano gli studiosi che hanno osservato questo fenomeno, i genitori hanno tramandato la memoria del confine ai cuccioli, così che – a parte pochi temerari – i cervi dal mantello rossiccio rimangono negli angusti spazi della guerra fredda, piuttosto che andare e scoprire gli spazi disponibili in quella che una volta era “l’altra parte”.

Questa storia non racconta solo un curioso fenomeno naturale, ma rimanda istintivamente alla sinistra – non solo italiana – e alla reazione che ha avuto davanti alla caduta del muro e, più in generale, davanti ai processi di globalizzazione che, oltre a generare forti squilibri e intollerabili ingiustizie, sono stati anche processi di apertura e libertà.

Sono passati vent’anni dalla caduta del muro e a giorni si conoscerà la precisa composizione di quella che sarà la Commissione Europea più a destra della storia. Solo 6 commissari su 27 proverranno dal campo socialista e democratico, contro i 12 o 13 del gruppo popolare e gli 8 o 9 del gruppo liberale: una proporzione che rispecchia, oltre che gli equilibri tra gli stati membri, anche i risultati delle elezioni europee.

Negli scorsi vent’anni, come accadeva ai cervi rossicci, troppo spesso la sinistra ha diffidato di chi suggeriva di oltrepassare il confine delle proprie tradizioni. Casi molto diversi, ma più chiari e coerenti degli altri – come quelli di Blair e Zapatero – sono stati trattati spesso come bizzarri o, peggio, giudicati con aria di sufficienza dai detentori dell’ortodossia continentale. Hanno continuato a dominare richiami a tradizioni del passato, un conforto mentale nell’uso di  categorie novecentesche, la preoccupazione di tramandare alle generazioni successive pregiudizi e automatismi, piuttosto che la passione per la ricerca di terre inesplorate, in un mondo cambiato profondamente. I modesti risultati, evidentmente, sono davanti agli occhi di tutti.

Copyright Photo: Harri Koskinen.

Finnair Technical Services (Helsinki) has completed the installation of Aviation Partners Boeing Blended Winglets to the first Condor Flugdienst (Frankfurt) Boeing 757-300. 757-330 D-ABOE (msn 29012) is pictured being towed today (November 22) to engine run-up area at Helsinki.

The scheduled departure will be tomorrow afternoon. Finnair Technical Services will install the winglets on all 13 Condor Boeing 757-330s. A second aircraft arrived at HEL on Friday evening (November 20) and a third will arrive tomorrow (November 23).

The first entry on this site – the one that brought the site into existence – was my write-up of the Exmoor Beast. It would have been more satisfactory to have started before then, and the best first entry would have been an account of our time at the Blenheim Sportive a month earlier. Or perhaps it might have been better still to kick the thing off with an outline of the grand plan to do the 3 day Tour of Wessex next May.

This afternoon I did a pretty hilly 30 km ride around Hill Farm House. I enjoyed it. I liked the uphills and the downhills (though I like the severe ones less) and the miserable weather. Today’s ride also featured a stretch of “rough road” between Lydmarsh and Chaffcombe, which itself had both an uphill and then a downhill component and was all sorts of fun on my Tricross in the rain. But as I was coming back towards home I wondered, as I often do, whether I really have it in me to do five of those in a row, and then do the same the next day, and then do the same again the day after that.  That’s what the Tour of Wessex amounts to.

Knowing that it’s going to be at the margins of what I can manage, I resolved to do at least one trainer sportive first, and the one that first caught my eye was the Exmoor Beast. I was delighted when Stuart and Emily agreed to do it with me. Later, Emily came across details of the Blenheim Sportive, which is much more convenient for Londoners, and Martin, who has a place nearby, quickly agreed to join her on it. I was initially less keen – only because of the practical difficulties of getting to Blenheim for 7ish on a Sunday morning. As I reflected on it, the attraction of making my first event an easier one combined with the prospect of a nice ride with Martin and Emily outweighed the logistical issues, especially when Paula agreed to drive me there. It became a slam-dunk winner when my good friend Luca invited us to stay with him and Lori the night before. So Blenheim became the first station on the journey to Wessex, choosing the 100km rather than the 100 mile sportive as it was our first.

The afternoon and evening beforehand was perfect. We had a lovely time with L, L, Michaela, Clara and Massimo, and snuck out in the morning while the house still slept. On the way to Blenheim Palace we passed several competitors who were cycling to the event: if you live nearby I’m sure it makes sense but it was so cold, dark and early that I couldn’t imagine being outside of the car. By the time we swang into the Palace grounds it was getting properly light. We were directed to a field full of parked and parking cars and, incredibly, found that we had parked next but one to Martin, who, with Emily, had got there moments before us.

Outside, I was shocked by the cold and dithered about what to wear. I knew that the ideal bike gear should leave me a little chilly when I set off but I had no certainty about the weather that might face us over the coming hours. Luckily, as it turned out, I eschewed my warmer (and drier) Gore softshell jacket in favour of a light Rapha gilet.

Martin fixed up his Condor, which I hadn’t seen before – he has a different Condor for commuting – and which he’d reconfigured from time trial set-up a few days beforehand. It looked great. He was advised when he bought it to get a bike that he’d never want to upgrade: that sounds extravagant but is advice I’d pass on. Emily wheeled out her new Scott CR1 and that looked mean, too. I had bought my Felt at around the same time as Emily got the Scott and now, mixing it in the presence of such enviable bikes, I was glad that I’d ended up with a bike that I liked so much. I had come quite close to buying a Specialized Roubaix instead – on test, it was so easy and comfortable to ride. Ultimately, though, I preferred the stiffer-handling Felt. Equally importantly, on that morning I wouldn’t have wanted to be pushing along a bike that, like the Roubaix in Evans, was white: it’s just not me.

Before we began we had to pick up our timing chips. Emily attached hers to her shoe. Thinking that it would be more secure there, I stowed mine in my wedgie bag under the saddle and Martin followed suit. Then we crept up to the start line, Martin encouraging us to go off with the self-categorised “fast” groups. I waved back to Paula and we were off.

On paper it looks like an easy ride. As I’ve written before, all BikeHike profiles tend to look the same because they fill the rectangle with whatever hilliness the ride has. To see how comparatively gentle this is, you can look at the scale on the BikeHike profile for the Exmoor Beast: both rides are 62-63 miles long but on the Beast’s profile the y-axis runs from zero (not 164) to about 1,500 (not half of that).

By the time we started the sun had come out and the day was warming up. Literally only yards from the start line we began to pass competitors who were repairing punctures at the side of the roadway. My heart went out to them but I felt great and sped along quickly. Once we left the grounds of Blenheim and turned onto the public lanes I found that my natural speed was taking me past groups of other cyclists. However, Martin and Emily initially fell into a gentler and perhaps more sustainable rhythm and so I spent the first few miles in a speed/wait cycle that was probably not ideal for either my mood or my energy levels. But presently we settled into a pace where we were making decent progress and travelling along more or less together.

The route on the road was at it looked on the map: flatter than Somerset and, as promised, very pretty. It took us around several honey-stone Oxfordshire/Cotswold villages, one or two of which I knew from the years I spent living in Stroud. When cars passed by the number of cyclists on the roads required them to slow, and at most of the road junctions marshals either waved us through or flagged us to a stop.

The riding was perfect. Here you can see Emily looking smooth and relaxed, like a cover shot from Cycling Plus.

While we generally rode along together, the downhills tended to string us out temporarily as Emily – wisely we would learn at Exmoor – held back on the steeper ones. After one such fast stretch, Martin, who looked strong all the way, was powering up the long incline that followed. I kept with him for a while then let myself fall back, partly to wait for Emily to catch up and partly for a rest. Presently, Emily made her way up to me but by then Martin was out of sight. What we only later found out was that he had disappeared behind a hedge for a few minutes, during which time we must have passed him. So for a period around the middle of the route we cycled apart, neither party knowing who was ahead.

At around the half way mark Emily and I came to a T-junction and a marshal waved us through to our right turn. I was a little ahead of Emily and turned first, keen to get through because the marshal was holding up cars for us. I noticed as I turned that there was loose gravel in the centre of the road. About 20 yards on, I looked over my shoulder to check that Emily had made the turn before the marshal let the cars go on: I must have missed her fall by only a second or two. If there is such a thing as a good fall from a bike this probably wasn’t it, though it lacked the severity of her fall in the Beast. I wrote in that blog that “fortunately no bones were broken”. Let me correct that: now it appears probable that Emily fractured a rib. However, at Blenheim, there was blood and there was bruising but fortunately no bones were broken.

After a short stop to check herself and her bike and gather her wits, Emily decided to press on with the second half of the ride. We continued at a decent pace and not too long later Martin caught us up again. He had been unsure whether we had stopped at the food point: we hadn’t but he had checked it to be sure. For sustenance, I was carrying a Mule bar and some Clif bar shot bloks and had a protein/carb supplement in my drink. Martin had something similar I think. I’m not sure that Emily even took water: I don’t get it myself, but we all make our own choices.

For roads, scenery and weather the second half of the sportive matched the first, although one of our party was bravely riding through her pain. With around fifteen miles to go I started to become grateful that we had signed up for the 100 km rather than the 100 mile event; but before too long the entrance back into the Palace grounds appeared, earlier than we had expected, leaving us a very pleasant final scoot through the park. Martin and I tried to contrive for the three of us to pass over the timing mat marking the end of the course together but somehow Emily nosed past us. It was academic: the timing chips that we had packed safely under our saddles didn’t register and so only Emily recorded an official time. We turned in a very decent 3:39 in 67th place out of 623 (recorded) finishers. We would only have needed to save 12 minutes when Emily fell to make the top 25.

Paula was waiting on the finish line and took the photos from the end that you can see on our gallery. We dismounted and went over to see the start of the Brompton race. It was a hoot.

To be specific, I was trying to get Condor 7.2.4 set up on these WinXP desktops, but the various executables would not start. This includes condor_startd, condor_schedd, etc. Only condor_masterd.exe could get started. The error messages just stated that whichever file it was simply was “not a valid Windows executable”. It was almost by luck that I’d decided to check the antivirus logs — only to find that, except for the masterd, all condor executables  had been quietly quarantined (no pop-up telling me about it).

I can just kick myself for not checking sooner!

+++ Update: Passend zum Condor “All you can fly!”-Flugangebot gibt es jetzt bei Tchibo einen Hilton-Hotel-Gutschein für 2 Nächte zu 2 Personen zum Preis von 198,- Euro. Bei dem einen oder anderen der teilnehmenden Hotels kann man damit ein richtig gutes Schnäppchen machen.

Teilnehmende Hilton-Hotels:
Deutschland:      Berlin, Bonn, Bremen, Dresden, Düsseldorf, Frankfurt am Main, Köln, München, Nürnberg
Benelux:      Brüssel, Luxemburg, Soestduinen, Rotterdam
Frankreich:      Evian-les-Bains, Lyon, Paris La Defense, Straßburg
Italien:      Florenz, Rom Airport
Spanien:      Valencia
Schweiz:      Zürich Airport
Österreich:      Innsbruck, Wien
Ungarn:      Budapest
Tschechien:      Prag

Ein Gutschein ist gültig für zwei Übernachtungen in einem Doppelzimmer inkl. Frühstück, unabhängig von der Anzahl der Personen, die das Doppelzimmer belegen (1 oder 2). Die Gutscheine können bis zum 31.12.2010 eingelöst werden.

So einfach geht’s:
1. Hier versandkostenfrei den Gutschein bestellen. Pro Bestellung können maximal zwei Gutscheine bestellt werden.
2. Der Gutscheincode wird anschließend (nach Bonitätsprüfung) per eMail direkt von Berge & Meer Touristik GmbH verschickt (kann bis zu 24 Stunden dauern).
3. In der eMail ist ein Link angegebenen, über den das gewünschtes Hotel zum Wunschtermin (je nach Verfügbarkeit) mit Hilfe des Gutscheincodes gebucht werden kann.
4. Ca. 14 Tage vor Reiseantritt erhaltet Ihr die Reiseunterlagen per Post.

Update Ende +++

Fliegen zum Flatrate-Tarif bietet jetzt Condor an. Für 299,- Euro pauschal kann man im Zeitraum vom 15. Januar – 28. Februar 2010 so viele Condor-Flüge zu Kurz- und Mittelflugzielen wahrnehmen, wie man möchte.

Das Condor “All you can fly!” im Überblick:

• Einmaliger Preis von nur 299 Euro (Komplettpreis)!
• Für jeden Flug Miles & More Meilengutschrift sammeln.
• Gültig für alle Condor Flugziele im Kurz- und Mittelstreckenbereich
• Buchen Sie Ihr “All you can fly”-Ticket vom 18.11. bis zum 18.12.2009!
• Fliegen Sie im gesamten Zeitraum vom 15.01. bis 28.02.2010.
• “All you can fly!” ist nur auf Condor Flügen mit Condor Flugnummer (DE) möglich.
• Die Anzahl der Flüge ist unbegrenzt – Sie können so oft fliegen wie Sie möchten. Eine Übertragung der Flüge ist jedoch ausgeschlossen.
• Ihre Flüge buchen Sie bequem bis spätestens 72 Stunden vor Abflug.
• Die Buchung der Flüge erfolgt über unsere Hotline +49 (0) 6171 65 38 29 (Mo. bis Fr. 10:00 – 17:00 Uhr).

Den Winter-Flugplan von Condor findet ihr hier

Olá a todos, e com muita satisfação que liberamos o 1º demo do nosso jogo, para que todos ja possam ver como está ficando. Para jogar basta baixar os arquivos e mandar para o celular pelo cabo ou pelo cartão de memória. Bom é isso, estão aí os links:

Memoria Matemática:

http://rapidshare.com/files/309439901/Memoria2.jar.html

Jogo das Contas:

http://rapidshare.com/files/309442573/MidContas.jar.html

All you can fly – diese ungewöhnliche Aktion gibt es zurzeit bei Condor.

Ihr zahlt 299€ und könnt zwischen dem 5. Januar bis zum 28. Februar 2010 so viel fliegen wie ihr möchtet!

Vom 18. November bis zum 18. Dezember 2009 müsst ihr euch für diese Aktion anmelden.

Hier noch mal die Infos:

• Einmaliger Preis von nur 299 Euro (Komplettpreis)!
• Für jeden Flug Miles & More Meilengutschrift sammeln.
• Gültig für alle Condor Flugziele im Kurz- und Mittelstreckenbereich
• Buchen Sie Ihr “All you can fly”-Ticket vom 18.11. bis zum 18.12.2009!
• Fliegen Sie im gesamten Zeitraum vom 15.01. bis 28.02.2010.
• “All you can fly!” ist nur auf Condor Flügen mit Condor Flugnummer (DE) möglich.
• Die Anzahl der Flüge ist unbegrenzt – Sie können so oft fliegen wie Sie möchten. Eine Übertragung der Flüge ist jedoch ausgeschlossen.
• Ihre Flüge buchen Sie bequem bis spätestens 72 Stunden vor Abflug.
• Die Buchung der Flüge erfolgt über unsere Hotline +49 (0) 6171 65 38 29 (Mo. bis Fr. 10:00 – 17:00 Uhr).

Nach “all you can eat” und “all you can drive” (Deutsche Bahn) kommt also nun “all you can fly”. Die Fluggesellschaft Condor bietet Flugbegeisterten für 299 € im Zeitraum vom 15. Januar bis 28. Februar 2010 diese Flug-Flatrate. Da ich das ganze sehr interessant finde hier die wichtigsten Infos. Per Klick auf das Bild landet ihr direkt auf der Condor-Homepage wo es weitere Infos (u.a. die AGB´s) dazu gibt.

Sicher eine interessante Sache. Trotzdem lohnt ein prüfender Blick in die AGB. Auf die Schnelle ist mir da einmal das hier aufgefallen:

“Im Rahmen des Aktionszeitraumes dürfen die Flüge ausschließlich als Hin- und Rückflug gebucht werden. Ausgenommen hiervon sind der erste Rückflug am Beginn sowie die letzte Hinflug am Ende der Aktion.”

Und dann noch das hier:

Rücktrittsgebühren:

• Aktionstarif All you can fly.
• bis 72 Stunden vor Antritt der ersten Flugstrecke kostenlos
• ab 72 Stunden vor Antritt der ersten Flugstrecke 50 €Wird ein gebuchter AYCF-Flug nicht angetreten, fällt eine Bearbeitungsgebühr von 75 Euro an.

Eine genaue Prüfung der AGB und vor allem der geplanten Reisetermine lohnt sich also! Trotzdem finde ich dieses Konzept sehr interessant und bin gespannt ob andere Anbieter nachziehen werden.

Quelle der Informationen:  Condor.com

Fliegen zum Flatrate-Tarif bietet jetzt Condor an. Für 299,- Euro pauschal kann man im Zeitraum vom 15. Januar – 28. Februar 2010 so viele Condor-Flüge zu Kurz- und Mittelflugzielen wahrnehmen, wie man möchte.

Das Condor “All you can fly!” im Überblick:

• Einmaliger Preis von nur 299 Euro (Komplettpreis)!
• Für jeden Flug Miles & More Meilengutschrift sammeln.
• Gültig für alle Condor Flugziele im Kurz- und Mittelstreckenbereich
• Buchen Sie Ihr “All you can fly”-Ticket vom 18.11. bis zum 18.12.2009!
• Fliegen Sie im gesamten Zeitraum vom 15.01. bis 28.02.2010.
• “All you can fly!” ist nur auf Condor Flügen mit Condor Flugnummer (DE) möglich.
• Die Anzahl der Flüge ist unbegrenzt – Sie können so oft fliegen wie Sie möchten. Eine Übertragung der Flüge ist jedoch ausgeschlossen.
• Ihre Flüge buchen Sie bequem bis spätestens 72 Stunden vor Abflug.
• Die Buchung der Flüge erfolgt über unsere Hotline +49 (0) 6171 65 38 29 (Mo. bis Fr. 10:00 – 17:00 Uhr).

Den Winter-Flugplan von Condor findet ihr hier

ClassAds enable a lot of power in Condor. ClassAds are the data representation used for most everything in Condor. Generally, a ClassAd is a set of name-value pairs. Values are typed, and include the usual suspects plus expressions. In Condor, jobs, users, slots, daemons, etc. all have a ClassAd representation with their own set of attributes, e.g. a job has a Requirements attribute whose value is an expression such as FreeMemoryMB > 1024, and a slot has a Memory attribute whose value is the amount of memory allocated to the slot.

ClassAds are schema-free, which means they can be arbitrarily extended. Any given ad can have any attribute a user or administrator wants to put in it. Attributes are given meaning by when and where they are referenced.

On a slot there are different classes of attributes. Resource statistics, such as Disk and LoadAvg; resource properties, such as NumCpus and HasVM; policy expressions, such as Requirements or Rank; etc.

One attribute not provided by default on a slot is a statistic representing the total amount of free memory on the system. There are multiple interpretations of what free memory might really mean. On Linux, it could be the number in the free column on the Mem: row reported by the free program, e.g.

$ free -m
             total       used       free     shared    buffers     cached
Mem:          2016       1790        225          0         93        845
-/+ buffers/cache:        851       1165
Swap:         1983          0       1983

or it might be the value on the buffers/cache line. It might be some combination of totalram, freeram, sharedram, bufferedram as reported by sysinfo(2). It might also include information about totalswap and freeswap, also from sysinfo(2).

The meaning is often a function of what kinds of policies are desired in a Condor deployment.

Once you have picked a meaning for your deployment, Condor provides you with the STARTD_CRON mechanism to include a FreeMemoryMB attribute in your slot ads. From there the attribute can be referenced by policy on jobs, during negotiation, and slot policy.

You need two things: first, a way to calculate the value for FreeMemoryMB, we’ll use the simple bash script below that pulls FreeMem: out of /proc/meminfo; second, configuration available to the condor_startd to run the program.

free_memory_mb.sh:

#!/bin/sh

FREE_MEMORY_KB=$(grep ^MemFree < /proc/meminfo | awk '{print $2}')
echo "FreeMemoryMB = $((FREE_MEMORY_KB / 1024))"

condor_config.local:

STARTD_CRON_JOBLIST = FREE_MEMORY_MB
STARTD_CRON_FREE_MEMORY_MB_EXECUTABLE = $(LIBEXEC)/free_memory_mb.sh
STARTD_CRON_FREE_MEMORY_MB_PERIOD = $(UPDATE_INTERVAL)s

Notes: First, the documentation is out of sync with 7.4.0 and the units on _PERIOD must be specified; second, UPDATE_INTERVAL needs to be defined, it specifies how often the condor_startd will periodically send updates to the Collector.

After reconfiguring the Startd, or just restarting condor, you can view the new attribute with condor_status:

$ condor_status -long  | grep ^FreeMemoryMB | sort | uniq -c
     10 FreeMemoryMB = 174

$ free -m
             total       used       free     shared    buffers     cached
Mem:          2016       1842        173          0        101        874
-/+ buffers/cache:        866       1149
Swap:         1983          0       1983

Yes, the values are different between FreeMemoryMB and free. The amount of free memory is changing constantly and we are just sampling it. You can increase the sampling rate, but beware that means you will generate more frequent updates to the Collector. Maybe not a problem when you have 32 machines and 256 slots, but definitely something to consider when you have 3000 machines and 24000 slots.

Final note: A better name for the attribute representing free memory on a system is TotalFreeMemoryMB to remain consistent with other attributes. For instance, Disk is a slot’s share of the TotalDisk free on the system.

Como será este Natal pós-crise. Será que é pós mesmo?
Qual a sua aposta?
Daniel Pinheiro

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Comércio reforça investimentos

Primeiro Natal após o fim da crise deve elevar vendas em até 15% em comparação com o ano passado

Publicado em 16/11/2009 | Cristina Rios

Fonte: Gazeta do Povo

O primeiro Natal depois do fim da crise deve ser de vendas aquecidas. Lojistas e redes de varejo estimam negócios até 15% superiores aos do ano passado e reforçam investimentos para fazer frente ao aumento do consumo. Passada a turbulência, as empresas do setor ampliam estoques e aceleram a abertura de novas lojas. Para os lojistas, o Natal deve consolidar a retomada e abrir caminho para o aumento ainda mais forte de vendas no próximo ano.

A combinação de dois fatores – renda e crédito – sustenta a es­tratégia das empresas. O décimo terceiro salário deve colocar cerca de R$ 4,47 bilhões em circulação somente no Paraná e o crédito em alta deve alavancar as vendas a prazo. Além disso, ao contrário do que ocorreu no Natal de 2009, o consumidor está mais confiante na manutenção do seu emprego. “No fim do ano passado, muita gente preferiu segurar gastos e economizar para uma eventual perda do emprego em 2009”, lembra Vamberto Santana, consultor econômico da Federação do Comércio do Paraná (Fecomércio).

A maior parte das empresas está aumentando investimentos para o Natal nesse ano. Uma pesquisa da Associação Brasileira de Shopping Centers (Abrasce) com os 72 maiores shoppings centers do país revela que o valor aplicado em decoração e campanhas para o Natal nesse ano será até 50% maior do que no ano passado. Cada centro vai investir, em média, R$ 1,5 milhão. A previsão é que as vendas cresçam 11%.

As grandes redes de varejo, por outro lado, reforçaram os estoques. Os pedidos de eletroeletrônicos aumentaram 25% em relação aos do ano passado. Os de eletrodomésticos de linha branca estão 15% maiores. O presidente da Associação Paranaense de Supermercados (APRAS), Pedro Joanir Zonta, estima um aumento de 13% a 15% nas vendas natalinas. O setor de supermercados deve encerrar o ano com um crescimento real – já descontada a inflação – de 6% em 2009. “Em 2010 esperamos um crescimento de 6% a 8%”, afirma. Para fazer frente a esse movimento, as redes estão acelerando a abertura de lojas. Zonta, que é presidente da rede Condor, conta que o grupo deve investir R$ 80 milhões no próximo ano na abertura de mais três lojas e na reforma de unidades já existentes.

O comércio de rua e de shopping center também segue a estratégia. Com previsão de um aumento de vendas de 15% a 20% nesse Natal, o grupo Omar Calçados, hoje com 21 lojas, se prepara para aumentar o ritmo de investimentos em 2010. A empresa deve abrir entre duas e quatro lojas no próximo ano, segundo Luiz Henrique Linhares, gerente do grupo. “Em 2009 não abrimos novas lojas. Em 2010 retomamos o nível de inaugurações que tínhamos em 2008”, diz.

Expansão

Com o aquecimento das vendas, a rede de lojas Marisa, que previa inaugurar seis novas unidades em 2009, revisou seus planos e deve encerrar o ano com 12 novos pontos no país. Em 2010 serão mais 28 lojas. A Lojas Americanas anunciou que planeja abrir 400 novas lojas no Brasil nos próximos quatro anos, com investimentos estimados em R$ 1 bilhão. A rede de livrarias Curitiba prevê inaugurar mais uma loja no fim de novembro em São José dos Pinhais, na região de Curitiba, outra em Joinville (SC) em abril de 2010 e negocia instalação de mais três unidades no Paraná, Santa Catarina e São Paulo.

Segundo Vamberto Santana, da Fecomércio, o comércio chegou a adiar alguns projetos de ampliação em função da crise principalmente no primeiro trimestre de 2009, quando as vendas foram mais fracas. A retomada a partir dos meses seguintes fez com que a maior parte das empresas voltasse a pensar em investimentos a partir desse segundo semestre. “Fecharemos esse ano com um volume de investimentos menor do que no ano passado, que, apesar da crise, foi muito bom entre janeiro e setembro. Mas em 2010, o volume deve voltar a crescer”, diz.

De acordo com ele, além da renda e do crédito, a Copa do Mundo, as eleições e a intenção do governo de acelerar a conclusão de algumas obras do Programa de Aceleração do Crescimento (PAC) são fatores que devem ter impacto positivo nas vendas do setor.

Classes D e E são cortejadas

Beneficiadas pelo aumento do salário mínimo acima da inflação e pelos programas de distribuição de renda como o Bolsa Família, elas contam ainda com outra vantagem: como em geral não têm acesso a crédito, as classes D e E têm pouco comprometimento com dívidas de médio e longo prazo.

Leia a matéria completa

Apesar da crise, setor continuou a crescer

Apesar de 2009 ter sido marcado por incertezas, principalmente no início do ano, o comércio conseguiu driblar a crise econômica. Enquanto a indústria entrou em recessão, o comércio acumula crescimento de 4,7% de janeiro a setembro na comparação com o mesmo período do ano passado, de acordo com dados do Instituto Brasileiro de Geografia e Estatística (IBGE).

Incentivos como a redução do Imposto sobre Produtos Industrializados (IPI) sobre automóveis, eletrodomésticos de linha branca e material de construção fizeram o varejo ampliado registrar um avanço de 9,1% em setembro na comparação com o mesmo mês do ano passado.

“Desde a eclosão da crise, em outubro do ano passado, o comércio praticamente não conheceu taxas negativas”, diz Fábio Silveira, analista da RC Consultores. Ele prevê que, depois de crescer cerca de 5% em 2009, o comércio varejista deve avançar 5,7% em 2010.

Dois fatores devem puxar esse resultado, segundo ele. Em primeiro lugar, a massa salarial deve fechar 2009 com crescimento real (já descontado a inflação) de 3,2%. Em 2010, esse avanço deve ser de 3,8%. Em segundo lugar, o crédito deve continuar em alta. Além de fechar o ano com crescimento de 10% a 11%, o saldo de operações de crédito para pessoas físicas no país deve crescer 14% em 2010.

A previsão dos analistas é que o crescimento do consumo retorne aos níveis de antes da crise em 2010. Um estudo da MB Associados projeta um crescimento de R$ 90 bilhões no próximo ano – contra um avanço de R$ 52,6 bilhões nesse e de R$ 85,2 bilhões no ano passado. Em uma conta simples, considerando-se a participação do Paraná na economia nacional, o consumo no estado poderá crescer R$ 4,5 bilhões em 2010, 70% mais do que os R$ 2,63 bilhões em 2009. “Além desses fatores, o emprego deve voltar a crescer, o que gera mais renda e consumo”, acrescenta Silveira. (CR)

Emily writes that her life changed when she bought her first Rapha base layer. At around the same time, Cycling Plus ran a review of base layers and found that Rapha’s were, they admitted, technically very good but, as ever, they balked at the price. Similarly, their review of rain jackets in the same issue found that Rapha’s had superb water resistance and a great fit; but that didn’t get to be one of their product picks either. I suspect that there’s something just too Continental about Rapha for many people. Gore, say, are straightforwardly American and it’s no surprise to find that Altura are based in Thirsk. But when you buy something from Rapha, and even when you don’t, they’re likely to send you a delphic postcard depicting cobblestones in Belgium or a booklet of grainy sepia photographs of a blurred cyclist traversing desolate Norway.  Even their web site address eschews the corporate .com norm for the more self-consciously styled www.rapha.cc.  It either rankles with you or you buy it, and I buy it – metaphorically and literally.

For me, Rapha is the new Apple. I bought my first Apple product – a Powerbook – six years or so ago. I had only previously bought one computer and any positive feelings I might once have had for it were scrubbed from me by a sustained programme of negative conditioning in the workplace. Departments of engineers driven by standards gone awry and wrong-headed views about security ensured that every encounter I had with Microsoft software was a bad one. The Powerbook was wonderful. It was beautiful. The Mac OS – Panther at the time – was rock solid and didn’t permanently grind to a standstill running virus protection routines more damaging than any virus. The built-in software was all about the things that I enjoyed with not a spreadsheet or a powerpoint presentation in sight. When we went travelling for a year I used it every day for photo management, blogging, internet access, downloading podcasts, watching movies and TV shows, and email. During the year I upgraded to the new version of Mac OS – Tiger – and that was better still. It validated at a personal level a lesson I’ve learned many times professionally: the separation of hardware and software only works for stuff you don’t care about.

Since then I’ve bought several other Apple products: an iPod mini (I can’t recall whether this came before the Powerbook), an iPod shuffle, an iMac, a first generation iPhone, an iPhone 3GS, a Time Capsule, iLife, Aperture, Leopard, Snow Leopard, the MacBook Pro that I’m using now. I’ve been given a classic iPod stuffed with music and photos as a gift. I’ve bought MacBooks for Zoe and Heidi and an Air for Paula and countless iPods for everyone. It’s a lot of gear but we use it all the time and it’s all just fantastic. When I go to work and use Windows it makes me want to break things and be harsh with reasonable people. But it’s all okay: next year we get a web browser that has tabbing and hasn’t been deprecated by large parts of the world’s software-writing community, and in 2011 we’re due to get Windows 7, which, they say, is very good.

And for me Rapha is the new Apple. It’s beautiful in an understated way and it’s perfectly functional. Nothing about the clothing is compromised: the fabrics are luxurious against the skin yet are highly effective in all weathers, the XL and the 34’s fit me really well, there are features where (but only where) features help and there are subtle design notes to give me a fillip when I wear them. Since I got my first Classic Jersey I’ve never wanted to wear any item of bike clothing for which I have the Rapha equivalent. I have a medium-weight Gore rain jacket, Specialized shoes, Northwave boots for wet weather and Woolie Boolie socks, which are all great, plus some Pearl Izumi socks that are just fine. But that’s about it. From Rapha, as well as my Classic Jersey (which came with arm warmers), I have a Club Jersey, a Swift Jersey, a Long Sleeve Jersey, a grey Merino Jersey, summer socks, winter socks, a cap (I wore it in Corsica instead of a helmet to save myself from the intense sun), winter tights, Fixed Shorts, more arm warmers, a winter collar, a Gilet, a Softshell Gilet, an orange Stowaway jacket and some merino baselayers (two packs). Oh, and yes: I also have the trousers. I was going to lift a photo from the Rapha website of the discreet embroidered black-on-black Rapha logo above the pocket but they don’t have one in the gallery; that’s what I like: they leave you some things to discover for yourself.

It sounds like a lot of Rapha clothes, I know: in my defence, in a typical week I go out for ten rides, all year round, in all weathers. And I can’t remember the last time I bought any non-Rapha cycling clothes. (Now that I strain to recall it, the last item was a pair of Dromarti shoes that, in truth, were disappointing.)

In principle, being a fan of anything makes me a little uncomfortable. I worry that it stops me thinking straight. Bill Gates, after all, is a more likeable guy than Steve Jobs. And what is it with Apple and U2? It suggests a fundamental flaw. Rapha makes few false steps. In my opinion, the Rapha Condor Team Stowaway, when not worn by actual team members, is over-branded and perhaps almost as gauche as the U2 Limited Edition red and black iPod. However, the relationship with Condor itself makes all sorts of sense (unlike Apple’s U2 hang-up) and the team-wear looks classy in the pro peloton.

Both Condor and Rapha are London-based European outfits. I suspect it’s Rapha’s Eurocentricity that led them to put flashes, usually in white, on the left arms/legs of their clothing: functionally, these should help to highlight the rider to a passing car, but more effectively on roads with right-hand drive. Individual consumer response to this could be used as a personality marker: realising it, does it irritate you?

Six years ago Apple had about 2% of the computer market and it’s still only 8% now. As with Rapha, it’s sometimes said that Apple computers are expensive. In reality, macs are expensive because they don’t sell computers with the compromised levels of specification and software that would make them cheap. If and as they try, they have to avoid the risk of producing the equivalent of Porsche’s 924. Similarly, Rapha is more expensive than bike clothing is on average because they only make the good stuff. It surprises me that more people don’t buy it: at our sportives we’ve been lost in a sea of Altura. I’m sure it did the job.

Freitag der 13. kann auch ein Glückstag sein – das möchte Condor wohl ab morgen beweisen. Unter dem Motto „Flytag der 13.“ bietet Condor 100.000 Flugtickets zum Billigflieger-Tarif an. Günstige Flüge gibt es ab 49 Euro, inklusive Steuern, Gebühren und Gepäck. Angebotene Ziele sind unter anderem: Antalya, Izmir, Gran Canaria und Malaga. Auch für längere Strecken gibt es hohe Rabatte. Wenn Sie zum Beispiel immer einmal nach Las Vegas oder Mauritius reisen wollten, können Sie hier richtig sparen. Buchen kann man diese Strecken zum Sonderpreis von Donnerstag 10 Uhr bis zum Samstag, den 14. November 24.00 Uhr.

Einziger Nachteil der Aktion – man muss relativ kurzfristig fliegen. Das Angebot betrifft nur den Reisezeitraum November 2009 bis April 2010. Vergleichen Sie die aktuellen Sondertarife von Condor mit den regulären Flugangeboten von Billigfliegern. Vielleicht ist das ein oder andere vermeintliche Schnäppchen doch teuerer als das ohnehin preiswerte Flugticket bei der Low-Cost-Airline!

¿Quién no recuerda esos baños públicos al principio de la avinguda de Torrent ? quizá los que lleven unos años más de vida que yo los recuerden, yo solo hablo parafraseando testimonios que me han dado fe de esos baños, pero, ¿ a qué seguro que muchos no saben que esos baños antiguamente, no fueron baños ?, pues eso, mucho tiempo atrás, remontándonos a tiempos de la guerra, fueron un par de entradas que daban acceso a un refugio antiaéreo, para que los torrentinos pudieran aguardarse de las bombas facciosas. Al menos eso me desveló una fuente, cosa que me ha sorprendido.

Fijaos en la foto, en los inicios de l’ Avinguda, ¿ no veis como dos entradas subterráneas blancas ?, pues esas eran las entradas al refugio

No tengo indicios de que se llegasen a usar mucho, pero quizá, cuando los bombardeos de la ciudad de Valencia por la Legión Cóndor y la Aviazione Legonaria , en alguna ocasión se usarían.

Actualmente, lo que fué el refugio, está ocupado y transformado para el parking que hay actualmente al principio de la Avinguda.

Y ya que hablamos de refugios antiaéreos, ¿recordáis cuando excavaron en el foso de la torre?, pues hubo un momento que encontraron otro refugio antiaéreo que parece ser que se construyó en alguna casa que antaño hubo cerca de la torre, el hallazgo de una cueva subterránea que catalogaron como un refugio particular de la guerra civil, aunque por desgracia se les ocurrió decir “sin interés cultural” … para algunos… pero para otros es de interés, como es mi caso… en fin, parece que el tema de la guerra civil y franquismo sigue siendo tabú… y otra es el foso de la torre, anda que cerrarlo… que ese tema lo dejaremos para más adelante. Bueno, el refugio encontrado al lado del foso de la torre.

Bueno, la foto en cuestión.

Fuente: http://www.lasprovincias.es/valencia/pg060223/prensa/noticias/Horta/200602/23/VAL-HOR-026.html

Leggo solo ora questo articolo sulla discussione sollevata dalla decisione di Radio Due di modificare il proprio palinsesto cancellando programmi come Sumo, Condor e L’altro lato. In sostanza – poi, potete leggere l’articolo linkato – L’Espresso ha proposto un’iniziativa, diciamo, di protesta simbolica contro tali decisioni, mentre nell’articolo de Il Giornale si scrive che tali programmi, comunque, hanno un ascolto che è sotto la media della rete.

Mi permetto un paio di osservazioni:

1 – Tralascio la questione dell’interpretazione dei dati di ascolto. Anche ad altre latitudini ho assistito a discussioni sul tema, ed anche in ambienti abbastanza professionali, a dimostrazione che, quando si parla di queste cose, si rischia di non mettere a fuoco il risultato che tali numeri permettono di quantificare. Mi limito a scrivere che il punto, per una radio pubblica, non dovrebbe essere comunque quello dello share, o come lo si vuole chiamare, ma dei contenuti che un Servizio Pubblico deve poter offrire, anche se la resa del programma non è quantificabile con masse di ascolti.

2 – Ogni gruppo editoriale potrebbe pensare prima alle sue, di radio, che a quelle degli altri e/o a quelle pubbliche. Questo vale per Il Giornale, ma anche per L’Espresso. Tra l’altro, nessuno si è minimamente sognato di creare o partecipare a lanci di scarpe colorate o altre iniziative simili quando Linus ha cambiato la rotta di Radio Capital, o quando One O One è diventata R101, per dirne due.

Con questo, gli I(r)Radiati ne approfittano per rinnovare stima e simpatia nei confronti di Federico Taddia e al suo programma L’altro lato, sperando che una soluzione si possa trovare sulle stesse frequenze o altrove, perché sarebbe un vero peccato perdere una trasmissione così intelligente in un panorama, quello radiofonico, che tende troppo spesso ad uniformarsi sull’idea più semplice.

(Maurizio)

The 4am wake up call was quite rough in the morning however, I had an important plane to catch. A Condor charter flight. That’s right, FlyerTalk had chartered a PLANE for the whole day!!!

I love these people.

We took off around 5am and headed off to Olso, Norway. The flight was ridiculous (another key adjective for this adventure) and our flight crew were our mods in Hawaiian dress. They were recreating a retro flight to Honolulu, pineapples and all!

[Note: Since this was a charter flight, there was a LOT of alcohol on board, most of it going to business class. Again, must work on status. I'm so over economy.]

We land in Olso and it’s snowing!!! Beautiful large snow flakes surrounded us as we got out of the plane.

Photo Op!
Photo Op!
Photo Op!

We entered the hangar for SAS, Scandinavian Airlines, and WOW. we were wonderfully greeted with coffee and a 737 (I think? I should really learn my planes…). Our host a SAS had a traditional Norwegian band and dancers perform for us AND a flight attendant who can sing. She came out of the plane with a ton of fanfare!

Got to jump on board the Norwegian Air Force medical rescuer plane and they had actors hooked up to heart monitoring machines and everything. Very neat! There were tons of yummy snacks and great chocolate. Stocked up for emergencies. It was a good time in Oslo, I hope to go back again sometime!

Back onto the plane to fly to Toulouse, France to see the A380 at Airbus factory!!! This time, our mods had on traditional Norwegian sweater vests! Not going to lie, totally wanted one. More booze, more bonding.

Arrived in Toulouse and took off for the Airbus factory. Good lord that is a LARGE plane. Yes I know it’s the largest plane on the planet buy there is nothing like standing at ground level with it. I’m a little sad that they don’t get fished in Toulouse, but in Hamburg. So much for that shower picture.

Back onto the plane to head back home to Frankfurt. Lufthansa threw us a reception at the Welcome Lounge and it was nice to not be in an airplane. The funny thing was that we had to go through immigration to get into the party! So I have three stamps from Germany; entered, reentered and then left.

Post facto lounge party we went to the lobby bar and got ourselves some drinks. It was nice to see that there was a good group of “young” people (not that I don’t enjoy the older folks) on the trip to make these bar trips fun. There was a quick bond amongst the ranks.

Didn’t make it to bed until about 3am…yep, that was almost a 24 day.

Again.

Viel zu schnell ist alles schon wieder vorbei! Zwölf Tage Karibik – es war einfach perfekt! Tolles Wetter, tolle Strände, super Hotel, tolle Menschen… Einfach ein Traum. In den kommenden Tagen lade ich auf meiner Seite ein paar Fotos hoch… Die Blogeinträge aus der DomRep bleiben hier natürlich weiter stehen.

Quand lama fâché, faire de temps en temps ainsi

Ayant eu la chance de partir dernièrement quelques semaines au Pérou, votre Blongo a ramené dans sa besace plein de photos, plein de souvenirs et surtout plein de correctifs à divers préjugés touchant ce magnifique pays. Qui dit Pérou dit en effet toute une série d’idées reçues pas forcément proches de la réalité. Des idées notamment véhiculées par Hergé et Tintin, avec leur fameux voyage au Pérou et en Bolivie dans “Le Temple du Soleil”. Petit passage en revue de ces imprécisions concernant le Pérou:

Quand lama fâché, lui toujours faire ainsi: dans Tintin, le malheureux capitaine Haddock se fait asperger toutes les 5-6 pages par le crachat d’un lama fâché. Eh bien, après quelques tests sur le terrain, et insistance dans l’expérience, il s’avère que le lama (tout comme d’ailleurs ses cousins alpaca et vicuna) ne s’amuse pas à cracher sur tous les touristes qui passent. Certes, l’animal affiche le plus souvent un séduisant regard hautain et semble outré quand on le flatte, mais rien ne sort apparemment de sa grosse bouche ruminante. Déception! Et pourtant… En fait, même si ce n’est pas si fréquent que cela, le lama crache bel et bien quand il est agacé. S’il est légèrement contrarié, il peut envoyer un léger jet liquide. Mais s’il est franchement hors de lui, état qui semble plutôt rare il faut bien l’avouer, c’est un imposant crachat verdâtre qui pourrait vous arriver sur le visage. Il s’agit de régurgitations gastriques à l’odeur nauséabonde. Donc, rendons hommage à Hergé, qui n’a pas, en définitive, totalement imaginé ce comportement pour le moins étrange chez le lama.

Condor passa toujours assez loin

Le condor passa: toujours dans les considérations animalières, il est évident que le bouillonnant condor qui capture Milou dans les Andes est vraiment un casse-cou improbable. Difficile à imaginer aussi de voir un homme utiliser le volatile comme parachute.  Seul le reporter à la houppette en est capable. En réalité, si l’on a la chance d’apercevoir un condor, il faut lever les yeux loin dans le ciel. Quant au fourmilier qui vient lécher les fourmis sur le visage du bon vieux capitaine, la scène est plus loufoque que réaliste. Enfin, il faut préciser que les alligators que rencontrent nos héros dans la jungle sont en fait des caïmans, seule espèce de ce type à vivre en Amérique du Sud.

Les incas ont tout inventé en Amérique du Sud: c’est à la fois vrai et pas vrai. L’origine des incas n’est pas connue avec certitude, mais on sait que leurs premières traces remontent au 13e siècle environ. Les incas ont une réputation de bâtisseurs efficaces et courageux, de génies de l’architecture et des arts en général. C’est absolument vrai, et le Machu Picchu, notamment, le prouve. Toutefois, ce que l’on sait moins, c’est que les incas n’ont de loin pas tout inventé au Pérou et en Bolivie. En fait, ces malins incas ont en grande partie chipé leur savoir chez les autres: en intégrant progressivement toutes les cultures pré-incas et en les étouffant peu à peu, jusqu’à ce qu’elles disparaissent. Et ils ont conservé le meilleur de chacune d’entre elles pour former la culture inca. Telle idée architecturale de la civilisation nazca, on la garde, telle procédé de façonnage des poteries paracas, on le conserve. Fort malicieux. Tout cela pour préciser le fait que seuls les incas bénéficient d’un certaine notoriété en Amérique du Sud, mais qu’il existe toutefois des centaines de cultures préincas méconnues.

Prévoir une éclipse: aujourd’hui, on arrive aisément à savoir à l’avance quand les éclipses interviendront. Et à l’époque d’Hergé aussi. Mais les incas connaissaient aussi le phénomène. Donc, la surprise totale des incas et leur terreur quand Tintin invoque le Soleil pour qu’il se dissimule n’est que peu crédible, même si l’idée fait son effet. Hergé, de son côté, répondait placidement à cette critique qu’il reconnaissait qu’il s’agissait “d’un point noir dans cette affaire”.

Le fameux colibri de Nazca

Les lignes de Nazca: ce n’est pas au Chili ou en Argentine que se trouvent ces étranges lignes tracées sur le désert rocheux de Nazca, mais bien au Pérou, à quelques centaines de kilomètres au sud de Lima. Découvertes dans les années 30, ces figures creusées à 30 cm ou 1 m de profondeur et allant jusqu’à 60 mètres de long entretiennent toujours leur mystère. Personne ne peut affirmer avec certitude ce que représentent le colibri, l’araignée, le singe et les 15 autres animaux et nombreuses formes géométriques qui s’y trouvent. Si la théorie des extra-terrestres vit toujours et est entretenue par certains farfelus imaginatifs, l’explication semble toutefois ailleurs. Tant pis pour le mythe. Certains parlent de calendrier astronomique, pour se repérer dans le mouvement des astres. D’autres y voient seulement des copies terrestres des constellations. D’autres encore des voies hydrauliques. D’autres des figures de prière à un dieu, peut-être pour avoir de l’eau, dans une région où il ne pleut quasiment jamais. Et si c’était tout de même des extra-terrestres?

La géographie d’Hergé: l’auteur belge n’était pas un pro de la géo, comme en témoigne la première planche du “Temple du Soleil”. En effet, la grande ville du Pérou qui est inscrite se nomme Callao. Dans les faits, Callao n’est qu’une infime partie de la capitale Lima, son port marchand où arrive le paquebot Pachacamac. De plus, sur l’une des planches, on aperçoit des hautes montagnes et de la neige derrière Haddock et Tintin. Or, Lima et Callao sont au bord de l’Océan Pacifique, en plein désert qui plus est. Point de sommets neigeux autour, donc. Enfin, sur la carte présentée par Hergé, on apprend que tout le nord du Pérou n’appartient pas au Pérou, mais à l’Equateur! L’erreur provient du fait que le dessinateur a pris comme modèle (pourquoi?) une carte de propagande équatorienne, sur laquelle le nord du Pérou, donc le bassin amazonien, fait partie de l’Equateur, nourrissant ainsi un vieux conflit territorial. Cela explique aussi le fait que ce tome de Tintin ait été longtemps interdit au Pérou!

Le pisco sour: finissons par une vérité que tout le monde se doit de connaître. A un moment donné, ce soiffard de capitaine se fait offrir un pisco en apéritif. Le pisco sour est en effet la boisson nationale du Pérou. Il s’agit d’une eau de vie, généralement de raisins, à laquelle on ajoute du jus de citron vert et du blanc d’oeuf en neige. Cela paraît bizarre, mais c’est divin! Et c’est pas Haddock qui nous contredira, lui qui a assurément emporté une bouteille de ce breuvage pour que Nestor lui serve de bons petits cocktails à Moulinsart… Quant à Tintin, gageons qu’il préfère l’Inka Cola. Cet étrange breuvage jaune fluo remplace le Coca Cola au Pérou. Les Péruviens sont même fiers d’appartenir à l’un des seuls pays au monde où le Coca n’est pas la première boisson consommée, dépassé par ce fameux Inka Cola.

blongo

Par ailleurs, si vous voulez en savoir plus sur toutes les incohérences qui jalonnent les Tintin, suivez ce lien très intéressant):

One of the first things I looked into was the feasability of communting to France fro Jersey. I am sure others do it, but I have not had much luck finding them to ask about the experience. Comments I have picked up:

“I do the weekly commute from St. Malo, well from Dinard actually. I wouldn’t wan to live more than 30 – 40 minutes from the port, especially in winter. Would recommend the Dol de Bretagne area.” – JayJay35

“I did it for 2 and a half years. It gets to you in the end though …….Not sure if you are going to get home Friday night ,are the ferrys running, can I find a parking space etc etc” – J Daniels

So, we need to look in an area probably max 1 hr, ideally no more than 45 mins from St Malo. The only ferries currently running throughout the year are Condor, whichwill make the commute even harder if the ferry does get cancelled. This does happen if the channel is too foggy or rough. What will we do if this happens?

Condor Ferry link: www.condorferries.co.uk

The current timetable only shows up to March next year, and it is quite obvious that the ideal friday night ferry in, early Monday ferry out is not feasible.

Looking at a random date, Friday 19th Feb 2010.

It would be possible to get the 18:15 ferry to St Malo, which would gve us Friday night, Saturday, Sunday.There is a Sunday evening ferry back at 18:30, and a Monday evening ferry at 19:00. With the possibility of occasionally working fro home, this seems quite reasonable. Total cost is £48, but there is a 15% discout for frequent users. This is travelling as a foot passenger; the ferry port is not far from town, very walkable at the Jersey end. The plan would therefore be to leave a car at St Malo car park (how much do they charge?) or pick him up myself. Sounds like will still need 2 cars.

Frustratingly, there used to be 2 companies sailing to France, HDFerries, who were much cheaper but they stopped running last year. There also used to be direct flights – Jersey used to fly to St Brieuc, and there are airports at Rennes and Dinard. I will need to see if there are any plans to start any regular services again.

Red-tailed hawk

Condor - female

Condor - male

For more from the Luray Zoo you can check out my Flickr set or go to their website.

Saudações a todos,

gostaria de apresentar o “Projeto Condor”, que tem a seguinte proposta: criação de um jogo em J2ME no estilo “brain age” onde o usuário (jogador) otimiza suas capacidades cognitivas através da pratica de jogos voltados para isso.

O jogo já esta em criação. Em breve imagens do jogo. Até mais,,

Traffic. Così si chiamerà il programma che a gennaio prenderà il posto di Condor.

Ora devo immaginare che molti di quelli che si troveranno a passare di qui non sappiano cosa sia Condor (forse l’hanno letto qualche post fa, forse lo sanno perché li ammorbo da tempo col mio blog, ma anche no). Condor è un programma radiofonico trasmesso da Radiodue. No, vabbé, magari per qualcuno è un programma radiofonico e basta. Per me è un bel po’ di più: è un appuntamento con un amico. Un amico che tra qualche settimana sparirà, che neanche “Chi l’ha visto” potrà farci molto.

Un mio amico dice che io sono tremendo perché mi attacco alle cose in modo quasi morboso. La tazza che mi ha regalato la nonna, il maglione che comprai quando vivevo in quella casa, etc. etc. Ecco, allora mettiamoci anche Condor tra le cose a cui io sono attaccato. Perché io a Condor ci voglio bene. Ed è un bene che è cresciuto negli anni e che mi ha accompagnato per la strada. Ero a Modena e Condor c’era. Ero a Trieste e Condor c’era (e diventava Condor 2.0, olé). Ero tornato single da poco e il 14 febbraio, la notte, ascoltavo Condor in the night. Torno a Roma e Condor c’era. E ora? E ora no. Non ci sarà più.

Non bisogna attaccarsi alle cose. Le cose cambiano, si trasformano in altre cose. Ok. Va bene. Io lo so che come un’araba fenice quei due lì rispunteranno a un certo punto da qualche parte. Ma io mi dispiaccio anche e soprattutto perché la Radio che ascoltavo tra un po’ non sarà più la stessa. Insomma, per me ci perde tanto anche Radiodue in questa scellerata mossa. Dice “dobbiamo conquistare il pubblico dei trentenni”. Ok, io di anni ne ho 32 e ora passo: questa radio non la sento più mia. Certi tradimenti non si perdonano facilmente, caro direttore di Radiodue.

Quest’estate sono andato a un’arena estiva a vedere “I love Radio Rock”. Bello e coinvolgente. Ora quasi quasi vi dico come finisce. No, non lo farò perché è cattiveria. Però vi dico che ci sta una radio. Una radio bella e clandestina che sta un po’ sui coglioni ai matusa e a quella gente che non capisce cosa sia la musica bella. Alla fine di quel film io non lo so bene se vincono i buoni oppure no. Io non lo so se alla fine di questa storia vinceranno di nuovo i buoni, magari ci diranno “ok, era tutto uno scherzo” oppure se davvero continueremo a sentire sempre di più minchiate sulla radiofonia pubblica. Di fatto c’è che ora io ci resto un bel po’ male.

Tutto passa, cambia e si trasforma. E allora intanto questo post serve per dire grazie a chi mi ha tenuto compagnia in questi anni. E poi serve per sperare che domani le cose siano ancora più belle di oggi. Non so come, e non so dove, ma è quello che mi aspetto.