Netherlands and more

In my last post I offered you some insight into the Hell’s Kitchen, usually labelled with a sign Почта России (Russian Post).

This story is about a quest called “getting a Russian visa”. I have to warn you it won’t be as dramatic as the previous one. Partly because the main burden is usually on the shoulders of the receiving person.

As I had ho experience with a Russian visa, I decided to get a private one, which means you need an invitation from someone living in Russia. It might be a better idea to get a tourist visa instead. Because even getting an invitation is a task for a smart, swift, brave, patient and lucky.

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I have to admit that the Russian Post has well earned its popular nickname “Hell’s Office”. It’s a very good example of the importance of The Rule to the life in the country, as opposed to the common sense. The Rule, one of many, established by those mentals sitting in Russian Duma.

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Summertime is the high time for flying.

One of my colleagues has got a Private Pilot Licence (PPL) and his own share of a light aircraft Diamond Star DA40-TDI. Which he offered us to fly.

It’s been my first, but hopefully not last, experience with this type of aircraft.

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It’s been a while since I posted about replacing an iMac’s HDD with a solid-state drive (SSD) Samsung 840 EVO, and also about tuning your Ubuntu for it. Once done, you can enjoy the awesome overall responsiveness of your system and instantaneous application startup. And all that at an affordable price.

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I’ve always wondered how those mile-long roadside hedges get trimmed. And recently witnessed the process, which, expectedly, makes use of technology:

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I managed to upgrade the best-selling Koss PortaPro headphones using a couple of items I’ve bought on eBay. The headphones are some ten years old now, yet sturdy and rocking, and now have become even better:

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Out of curiosity I’ve ordered a couple of USB voltage testers from eBay (there’s plenty of them there).

For your information, a USB voltage and current tester is a device for measuring voltage and current coming from a USB output into a gadget (usually being charged).

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Location

This TV can be either attached to the stand or mounted on the wall.

The first option seems arguable to me: because of its huge size (and the related windage), the panel will sway at any breath. And it won’t survive its falling down (neither will its owner).

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Video

The built-in video player features an impressive list of codecs and containers. It includes modern formats such as FLV and MKV, and even the recently introduced H.265 and VP8 (WebM):

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Smart Hub

This TV has an interactive mode, the so-called Smart Hub, which offers the following four panels.

Panel one: Applications

You can install free and paid application, for which a Samsung account is required. Out-of-the-box the TV has YouTube, NetFlix, Spotify and a bunch of others. Applications can be installed on an external USB drive. And, of course, you can update and uninstall them.

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Even though this TV is a pricey, it doesn’t stop Samsung from trying to earn even more on their customers. Selling accessories with a five hundred percent margin is a popular way to make money among vendors.

Camera

An HDMI cable isn’t the only thing Samsung saved on. The TV is also lacking a camera out-of-the-box, which I definitely don’t appreciate, considering numerous functions it’s required for, like Skype or Motion Control.

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Available connectors

All available connectors in this TV are located at its rear side:

Namely they are:

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