Author: Amit Schreiber

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Second Day In Istanbul

As always, when I get to a new place, I started walking around aimlessly. I’m very close to the tourist attraction that is Taksim Square and Istiklal street so that’s where I chose to go. I walked for a few hours and enjoyed it a lot. I can’t explain what exactly I enjoy when I walk around foreign places. It’s not like I’m interested in buying anything or going to a specific attraction. I just enjoy the walking.

I feel really comfortable in Istanbul but I can’t explain this either. I wonder if it’s because of the “travelling experience” I got from the trip at the beginning of the year or if it’s something specific about this place. People here are nice, helpful and inviting and that’s all it takes to make me feel comfortable.

I went to rest for a few hours and then went out again. This time the streets were swarming with so many people walking around, sitting in the various restaurants and pubs in extreme density. Then the lights went out – a complete blackout of the entire area. Everyone went “oooohhhhh” and there was a lot of laughing, whistling and clapping. It was funny. Consequently, power generators kicked in. Apparently blackouts are expected and most businesses are ready for them. But then the street was still darker and noisier with the sound of generators.

After walking around some more I decided to go back to the hotel. Sitting alone in such commotion on a Diet Coke doesn’t appeal to me. On the way back this very friendly man tried to con me into sitting with him in a pub. Unlike that time I was scammed in Bangkok, I departed from him as soon as I realized he was after something. At least I’ve learned my lesson. Looking it up on the Internet it appears as though I managed to dodge the Turkish Single Male Scam.

Here are a few pictures from yesterday and today. Nothing exciting, but still…

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I’m In Istanbul

I’m in Istanbul. I arrived at the hotel pretty late, so I don’t have much to report. I got here partly by Metro, which was a good thing because I got to ride it with locals and that’s always interesting. Then I got a taxi instead of a bus for the rest of the way because I was too tired to start asking around which bus I should take (also, at night things seemed a little shady.)

The three young guys manning the hotel at nights were expecting me and immediately took care of my bags and thirst. My room was upgraded, too, which leads me to think that I’m currently the sole guest currently staying in the hotel. Which I don’t mind even one bit, but we’ll see in the morning during breakfast.

Tomorrow I’m going to walk around a bit. Hopefully the kind staff here will be able to point me to some interesting places.

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The New Stereo System

I finally got my new stereo system (the speakers had to be shipped from France) and I’m having an amazing time listening to The Prodigy with it. It’s true happiness. I’m expecting the neighbors to knock on my door any time now.

Speaking of The Prodigy, I’m going to see them in Turkey this weekend in Rock N Coke festival. Anyone wants to join me?

Oh, and if you want to hear your own music like you’ve probably never heard it before, drop by anytime and bring some CDs with you.

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My Online Will Idea – Not So Far Fetched

The Guardian came out with a story named When I’m dead, how will my loved ones break my password?. Basically, it handles the same problem as my own Online Will idea the same way snail mail and email handle the same problem.

Here’s a quote of the proposed solution from the article. The 8 readers of this blog may find it familiar :)

Finally, I hit on a simple solution: I’d split the passphrase in two, and give half of it to my wife, and the other half to my parents’ lawyer in Toronto. The lawyer is out of reach of a British court order, and my wife’s half of the passphrase is useless without the lawyer’s half (and she’s out of reach of a Canadian court order). If a situation arises that demands that my lawyer get his half to my wife, he can dictate it over the phone, or encrypt it with her public key and email it to her, or just fly to London and give it to her.

As simple as this solution is, it leaves a few loose ends: first, what does my wife do to safeguard her half of the key should she perish with me? The answer is to entrust it to a second attorney in the UK (I can return the favour by sending her key to my lawyer in Toronto). Next, how do I transmit the key to the lawyer? I’ve opted for a written sheet of instructions, including the key, that I will print on my next visit to Canada and physically deliver to the lawyer.

P.S.
Thanks to blog reader rom for pointing the story out to me.

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Girl 2 Episode 1 End

Yesterday Girl 2 and I broke up. We had a very good time together up until the last moment of this relatively short relationship. But while everything was great, I grew increasingly uncomfortable with the fact that I wasn’t falling for her. I thought it was just a matter of time but as time passed I started feeling like I was being dishonest. As always in this relationship I talked to Girl 2 about it and she decided she prefers to end it now instead of being hurt even more later.

I’m wondering if it’s immature of me to expect to fall in love. Crushes last only so much. After that you get to see the person you’re with for what he/she really is and not like that image you built yourself in the head. So that’s a big advantage of slowly-evolving relationships.

I learned already that many breakups are not as final as they initially seem. So I consider this the end of Girl 2 Episode 1 (G2E1?) Maybe in the future things will work out for us. Maybe when I grow up.

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The Prodigy Take 4 Places Out Of Top 10 In Dance Chart

If you had any doubt that The Prodigy rule, maybe this will take care of your doubt: In the UK Dance Singles Chart, The Prodigy have 4 tracks in the Top 10 and 10 tracks in the Top 40. The tracks are:

  • 2. Warrior’s Dance
  • 4. Omen
  • 7. Everybody In The Place
  • 9. Smack My Bitch Up
  • 17. Out Of Space
  • 18. Wind It Up
  • 19. No Good (Start The Dance)
  • 20. Voodoo People
  • 21. Breathe
  • 31. Voodoo People/Out Of Space

Some tracks appear twice because they are remixes. Also, some tracks are originally from 1991. Prodigy WIN :)

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The Stereo System Search Is Over

I decided to end the search and confusion by buying the system I liked two days ago. I went to the store to listen to it again and make sure this is what I wanted. I even got a chance to compare it again against other amplifiers and speakers. It still sounded like the best option for me.

So the specs are:

  • Focal JMlab 716 Chorus speakers
  • NAD C355BEE amplifier
  • NAD C515BEE CD component

I’m very excited and hoping I will be able to take it home from the store before the weekend.

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Another (Short) Stereo Demo Leaves Me Confused

Yesterday, for the sake of being a good consumer, I went to see another stereo demo at another store. My audiophile friend from work talked me into it. He’s helping me a lot but eventually I got really confused. It turns out in this market the sellers make huge margins, so basically you can get a lot of discounts if you bargain a lot. Unfortunately I’m not the type to bargain.

But my friend told me the first offer I got was too high and I should keep looking, even just for the sake of finding something I like even more. In the second store from yesterday I got to listen to Cambridge Audio amplifier with Mordaunt-Short speakers, both presumably better than what I liked a day earlier in the first demo. But I was a little underwhelmed – the demo was inside a very big store space, so the acoustics weren’t great, and I didn’t get that kick I like so much from the music.

I did get warned by the saleseman that getting front stage speakers can be tiresome for the ears after a while. The salesman from the first demo also warned me about that. So now I’m conflicted. The worst that can happen is that I’ll take the system home and then realize I made a bad choice.

I don’t like when things get complicated. Like I said before, I hate shopping.

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The Stereo Demo

As part of my search for a stereo system I went yesterday to hear 4 different sets of speakers playing my music. It was an amazing experience. For almost two hours I was engulfed by the same music I’ve heard thousands of times before, only I couldn’t believe the way it sounded. It was so much fun I completely forgot about the outside world for the entire demonstration.

Eventually I had to choose between two sets of speakers: The DALI Ikon 6 and the Focal JMlab 716 Chorus. Both considered good speakers but produce entirely different sound. I eventually picked the Focal pair as my favorite because their output for The Prodigy’s music was the way I like it. Specifically, the bass (at the right volume) can make your body vibrate. I actually brought specific bass-loaded tracks to test that :)

To complement the speakers a NAD C355BEE amplifier and a NAD C515BEE CD component were chosen. Cabling is also important – cables made from different materials can be used to tweak the way the music sound… I heard it with my own ears.

By the time the demonstration ended I was ready and willing to buy everything, but following my audiophile friend’s advice I decided to give it a few more days. I doubt I’ll go to another demonstration because I think it will just confuse me – how will I be able to remember what a specific set of speakers sounded like compared to a new set I’ll be listening to? But we’ll see what my friend suggests.