Launchpad logo community design contest!

As soon as I read at launchpad that there is a logo contest, I just couldn't resist, this is my chance to give something back! Although I'm not very experienced as far as logos come in question, I spent my 3 hours in front of a Ubuntu GNU/Linux operating system and playing around with Inkscape. If you become familiar with the few tool buttons on the side and their shortcuts (e.g. "select" is F1), you'll end up making masterpieces - OK, maybe I exagerate, but you will be surprised how easy it is to create a logo.

To checkout my submission click here. I've attached a PNG image of my SVG source so you don't have to *click* and *click* and *click* all over the place.

The only thing that Inkscape didn't have for you to use instantly was a triangle, a mathematical basic shape. Beyond that point, I am excited to have mastered yet another pointless part of imaging (no offense, but it's definitely not related to my future profession).

To sum up, put up your artistic hats and give it a go! It's fun to play around and create shapes and rockets! I felt like a 10-year-old for a second there :)






Update: Added another proposal!

Caregiving and ethics

Caring is such a simple word, especially when it comes to people very dear for you. Ever cared for someone so much that you simply don't know how to do it? There are a dozen of pages if you search right at Google for them using some of the google operators I blogged about in earlier posts (*hint* "how to" care *hint*).
Social care shouldn't just be shown for relatives, you have millions of persons waiting and deseve to be loved. I'm not allowed to name such groups of persons, everyone has their own pride and see this matter differently. Be gentle and reasonable, that is always the first step towards finding real solutions.
For example, while browsing the Internet, I stumbled upon a fresh caregiving service called bettercaring, giving people a literal opportunity for a care home. I don't know how reliable their services are, but it looks very promising from my browsing point of view.
On the other hand, some may not deserve it so much. If they see you care, they get very (and I mean VERY) impolite, using you around to get their job done and generally abusing your kindness.
Finally, there are some problems if there are patients that require better caring. As a student of medicine, I'm not allowed ethically to show that I care literally for my patient and that I should always keep a "status quo", but I believe I would be able to show my caring indirectly by running all the appropriate tests and diagnosing them carefully, while I do not express my inner thoughts. Racism is out of question of course. There are certain ways to hedge embarassing moments of racist and fascist criticism, I can give you two: 1) Keep it short when explaining, no need for adjectives of extra beautification. 2) If you do make the mistake and "cross the line" just kindly say "I'm sorry, let me rephrase that". If you follow these two golden rules you'll be able to overpass some misinterpreted situations or not come to them at all!

To sum it up, care for those that really need it, be kind to everybody (including the attention "hunters"), and watch your expressions while chatting or explaining.

Burried "Live Free or Die Hard"

I was rolling on the floor laughing when I first heard about this.

Emir Kusturica has symbolically burried "Die Hard" (or "ДИЕ ХАРД" as it wrote on the cross above the "grave") in a "Graveyard of bad films". OK, maybe the director wanted to pass his message that the film series wasn't good enough, but you can't say it's not HILARIOUS! Although I didn't personally like much of Kusturica's films, he has won two Palm awards so far, proving that at least some people respect his filmmaking geniousness.

I couldn't get to see the ceremony live, but once again, Youtube comes to the rescue:

Happy new year... with side-effects!

By the old calendar (see Julian calendar) today's the first day of 2008. It's sort of a family tradition to celebrate new year by the old calendar here in Serbia. Unfortunately for me, I got sick the day before.
What was the diagnosis? With my limited (yet) medical knowledge, I believe it was either cold (viral gastrointestinal infection?), gastroenteritis or just a grumpy stomach after so much eating these days - whatever it was, the emesis was inevitable! I remembered a movie scene, where people simply puked out some fake juice. In any case, mine was not just fake juice. We had a lot of dinners during my short stay in Cyprus, lots of friends wanted to see us, some of them just to see how we're doing, what have I achieved so far etc. It looks like I have overworked my poor stomach and it declared strike! :)
To make matters worse, a headache and fairly high temperature were presented shortly after the "sailing-at-sea" nausea feeling to the symptomas, therefore I had nothing else to do than start treating myself with a doze of a domperidone-based anti-emetic drug and paracetamol.

So, 2008 - new year, new expectations, new destinations, new romance, new... everything! May this year be the best for you and your family, enjoy it as much as you can, just don't forget to grab a book from time to time.

Update: Forgot to mention the celebration that happened yesterday at midnight, fireworks literally lit up the sky over the Cathedral of St. Sava, one of the biggest cathedrals in Europe. Here are some of the pictures, taken by B92: