tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-16421782Thu, 04 Feb 2010 10:51:09 +0000An inside perspective for an outside audiencehttp://www.antyx.net/antyx@antyx.net (Flasher T)Blogger494125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-16421782.post-2801470127082689426Wed, 03 Feb 2010 12:50:00 +00002010-02-03T15:56:50.298+02:00Estoniapolitics-miscawesomeMore lawmaking commentary today. Two interesting bills are up for a vote in the near future:1) Establishing an LLC without cash. There are a bunch of different ways to do business as an individual in Estonia - from signing ad-hoc contracts with your customers (the way I do it with translation agencies), to registering as self-employed, to starting a limited liability company. Self-employed statushttp://www.antyx.net/2010/02/february-mailbag-of-legislation.htmlantyx@antyx.net (Flasher T)2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-16421782.post-5073273523417542206Fri, 22 Jan 2010 11:08:00 +00002010-01-22T13:43:12.549+02:00EstoniaawesomeA few things have piled up, none of them deserving a whole blog post, but it's been quiet around here.1) It appears that Estonia will be joining the Euro in 2011. There could still be a political decision to keep us out, but the numbers are seemingly in order. I won't dwell on this; I've already written at length why accession is good and why the common arguments against it are stupid. The Euro http://www.antyx.net/2010/01/january-mailbag-of-awesomeness.htmlantyx@antyx.net (Flasher T)0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-16421782.post-5545101832523543045Thu, 14 Jan 2010 09:34:00 +00002010-01-14T11:34:29.185+02:00Otepää WinterOriginally uploaded by Flasher THere's a nice photo for you. Also: account numbers for the Estonian Red Cross for donations to the victims of the Haiti earthquake. I gave a bit, you should too.Philosophically, I'm against humanitarian aid as a matter of course and policy, but this is an emergency relief operation. I donate to the Red Cross for the same broad reason that I pay http://www.antyx.net/2010/01/otepaa-winter-originally-uploaded-by.htmlantyx@antyx.net (Flasher T)0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-16421782.post-6579337795350996145Thu, 31 Dec 2009 10:39:00 +00002009-12-31T12:39:28.227+02:00I guess it's been a rough few hours... My jaw's taken nothing but blows, the coffee ran out, I had to grab a cold shower, and my car got stuck in the snow. Someone suffered a stroke on the subway train, and I swore I'll never have a smoke again, and if it's all the same - I'd rather not be taking any calls today!The fellow on the corner goes "The end is near!", and there's a fair amount of http://www.antyx.net/2009/12/message-for-new-decade-in-someone-else.htmlantyx@antyx.net (Flasher T)0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-16421782.post-8894981492500895538Mon, 28 Dec 2009 22:48:00 +00002009-12-29T11:48:58.958+02:00In all the worries about the inefficiencies and shortcomings of the European Union as we know it, we must recognize that it is the most noble and significant endeavor by this century’s generations. The example, if not necessarily the template, of Europe is the key to building a global society that would implement our greatest humanitarian desires. In a very practical way. The succession of http://www.antyx.net/2009/12/role-and-purpose-of-europe.htmlantyx@antyx.net (Flasher T)0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-16421782.post-4392672381711486546Tue, 22 Dec 2009 11:05:00 +00002009-12-22T13:35:05.070+02:00Estoniapolitics-miscawesomestupidWe made it. The crap decade is just about done; let's hope the next one will be better. The 21st century started on 9/11; I think the twenty-teens will be remembered as having started in '09, with Obama's inauguration. In this country, should the next decade really be better, it will have started on 2011 - when we adopt the Euro. The Bank of Estonia says we're quite likely to meet all the http://www.antyx.net/2009/12/we-made-it.htmlantyx@antyx.net (Flasher T)0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-16421782.post-6878971374850589355Thu, 17 Dec 2009 10:12:00 +00002009-12-17T13:22:39.655+02:00EstoniastupidOver at Keith and the Girl, the inimitable Patrice mentioned how Tiger Woods was particularly unwise/unfortunate to become the center of attention in December, because this is the time when nothing interesting happens. If you do anything wrong, you're the center of attention.One person who didn't get the memo is Jüri Pihl, leader of the Social Democrats and former government minister, now the http://www.antyx.net/2009/12/over-at-keith-and-girl-inimitable.htmlantyx@antyx.net (Flasher T)1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-16421782.post-5940192448649704622Mon, 30 Nov 2009 19:51:00 +00002009-11-30T21:53:27.964+02:00visualthink09externalA blogger whom I met at Th!nk About It works for Bulgarian national television, and asked me to comment on the Copenhagen summit. Here's the video. (Yes, I'm growing an evil goatee.)http://www.antyx.net/2009/11/blog-post.htmlantyx@antyx.net (Flasher T)0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-16421782.post-9196722676737721927Mon, 30 Nov 2009 18:12:00 +00002009-11-30T21:17:28.204+02:00stupidhumanityEuropeJulien Frisch is very upset about the Swiss referendum banning minarets.I disagree.Julien says that a ban on minarets goes against the values of liberty, democracy and Europe. Now, I've said this before on AnTyx, but I'll say it again: as someone born in the Soviet Union, grown up in 90s Eastern Europe and now living in the EU, I think I can speak about democracy and freedom with some degree of http://www.antyx.net/2009/11/europes-choice-switzerland-or-serbia.htmlantyx@antyx.net (Flasher T)14tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-16421782.post-2469546194521513445Tue, 24 Nov 2009 11:22:00 +00002009-11-24T15:41:29.825+02:00EstoniastupidsolutionstuffToday, we shall be discussing an aspect of life in Estonia that every enterprising resident has encountered, and everyone else has at the very least bitched about: buying stuff in the US. (I'll be talking about electronics, because that's what I have experience with.)There's a number of reasons why certain things cost a lot more in Estonia. One of them is market segmentation: the manufacturer http://www.antyx.net/2009/11/right-and-wrong-ways-of-shopping-online.htmlantyx@antyx.net (Flasher T)8tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-16421782.post-70524840434893282Wed, 18 Nov 2009 13:59:00 +00002009-11-18T16:33:18.141+02:00TartuawesomeNot that I'd want to impinge on comrade Mingus's territory, but I do make an effort of publicising outstanding businesses when I encounter them in Estonia. At the moment, I'm quite impressed by the Moka cafe.The location is most known for its thin-crust pizza, and back when I was in university, I'd spend many a free period in the Pronto Pizzeria that was Moka's previous iteration. The cafe was http://www.antyx.net/2009/11/moka-bravo.htmlantyx@antyx.net (Flasher T)3tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-16421782.post-399671842966502642Mon, 16 Nov 2009 08:39:00 +00002009-11-16T12:15:20.915+02:00Estoniapolitics-miscEFPTangent: the previous post was number 500 on AnTyx. A little over four years down. Not going to celebrate terribly, but still a nice little anniversary. Also, since Baltlantis seems to have gone the way of the dodo, this article also appears on the Estonian Free Press; I've turned off the comments here, so go to EFP to leave feedback.Interesting article in Postimees this morning. Interview with http://www.antyx.net/2009/11/ansip-grows-balls-once-irrelevant.htmlantyx@antyx.net (Flasher T)0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-16421782.post-4120526079581924326Wed, 04 Nov 2009 17:51:00 +00002009-11-04T19:51:25.037+02:00http://www.antyx.net/2009/11/dedicated-to-ratification-of-lisbon.htmlantyx@antyx.net (Flasher T)3tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-16421782.post-4327174183845333533Mon, 02 Nov 2009 09:54:00 +00002009-11-02T11:54:39.452+02:00Same guy who did the Europe according to Estonians video. Lots of local memes, but hilarious.http://www.antyx.net/2009/11/tourist-guide-estonia-according-to.htmlantyx@antyx.net (Flasher T)10tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-16421782.post-5476973648697467624Fri, 23 Oct 2009 08:04:00 +00002009-10-23T11:35:09.332+03:00quotestupidexternalHere's a news article linked from one of my forums. The news story itself is a couple of days old now. The gist of it is that a Frenchman paid some Kosovar gangsters to kidnap a German and drop him off near a French courthouse. The German had previously been convicted in absentia in France of the manslaughter of the Frenchman's daughter; the German authorities found the case to be without merit, http://www.antyx.net/2009/10/i-dont-think-you-know-what-interesting.htmlantyx@antyx.net (Flasher T)1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-16421782.post-6082232815885520990Fri, 16 Oct 2009 07:05:00 +00002009-10-23T11:34:06.167+03:00EstoniavisualexternalTragically true, though there are exceptions. Found via Colm of Corcaighist. Anyone know the author?http://www.antyx.net/2009/10/estonian-girl.htmlantyx@antyx.net (Flasher T)4tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-16421782.post-7600564105883877737Tue, 13 Oct 2009 11:46:00 +00002009-10-23T11:34:48.158+03:00Estoniapolitics-miscsolutionIt's less than a week until the election. I've already voted online; ended up choosing Mihhail Lotman on the IRL list, for no better reason than the fact that my parents were students of his father, the famous semiotician. Lotman is a university person, and while certifiable intelligence in no way precludes one from making really bad decisions, it's as good a differentiator as I'm going to get inhttp://www.antyx.net/2009/10/i-dont-care-just-vote-against-incumbent.htmlantyx@antyx.net (Flasher T)19tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-16421782.post-8894947883220442361Mon, 05 Oct 2009 19:56:00 +00002009-10-23T11:35:04.298+03:00visualawesomeexternalOutstanding. Simply outstanding.http://www.antyx.net/2009/10/tim-minchin-storm.htmlantyx@antyx.net (Flasher T)1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-16421782.post-2628820844564571199Mon, 05 Oct 2009 19:07:00 +00002009-10-05T22:52:24.514+03:00TartuawesomestuffI've often said that there are only a few international consumerist icons that I really wish existed in Estonia, and that among them are Subway (the sandwich place), and Waterstone's bookstores. I have a vocational disorder where I cannot read a book in translation if I know the original language - I keep getting distracted by the artifacts, keep going "I see what you did there". The selection ofhttp://www.antyx.net/2009/10/slightly-used-book-shop.htmlantyx@antyx.net (Flasher T)7tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-16421782.post-2917572638958254863Wed, 30 Sep 2009 09:36:00 +00002009-10-23T11:35:21.580+03:00visualtrippingShenandoah MõmmiOriginally uploaded by Flasher TTaken on the Skyline Drive, in north Virginia. Didn't dare get out of the car.http://www.antyx.net/2009/09/shenandoah-mommi.htmlantyx@antyx.net (Flasher T)1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-16421782.post-7719440887834000905Tue, 29 Sep 2009 17:08:00 +00002009-09-29T21:19:42.373+03:00stupidhumanityI was looking through a bit of junk mail the other day, and saw a piece of really good translation in the Maxima supermarket chain's circular. Accurate, idiomatic, native - something this type of publication never seems to boast. For a while, I thought I might actually be starting to get my faith in humanity back. Obviously that didn't last.Someone commented on a recent post that I am at my http://www.antyx.net/2009/09/reverse-nimby.htmlantyx@antyx.net (Flasher T)20tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-16421782.post-4809969173303090528Mon, 21 Sep 2009 12:14:00 +00002009-10-23T11:35:59.321+03:00EstoniastupidexternalMy sister (who lives in Brussels and does something with international labour law) asked me to comment on a link she was sent. I started writing a response, but it grew enough that I might as well post it here, for general consumption.It's claptrap. The author mentions no economic theory to explain how the impending doom will actually come about. He begins with forced misdirection, using private http://www.antyx.net/2009/09/telegraph-folly.htmlantyx@antyx.net (Flasher T)7tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-16421782.post-1364575833353275147Sun, 20 Sep 2009 16:59:00 +00002009-10-23T11:36:11.319+03:00self...yes, well. I've come to the realization that not many people particularly care about the details of the UStrip, and those that do will have already heard them over a drink. So I shall say no more of it, except to mention that NYC has joined Stockholm and Barcelona as a city where I would genuinely love to live - but with the caveat that I would need to already be rich. It is natural for me to http://www.antyx.net/2009/09/back-to-your-regularly-scheduled.htmlantyx@antyx.net (Flasher T)0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-16421782.post-9126745509984496330Thu, 06 Aug 2009 19:57:00 +00002009-10-23T11:35:34.375+03:00trippingIMG_9257Originally uploaded by Flasher TThe next morning I head out into NYC, armed with a Lonely Planet guide. I gawk at Grand Central and take pictures of the United Nations building before walking through a street fair on Lexington Avenue. I go up to the Apple store, and purposefully sit there for half an hour, browsing on their free WiFi with my Nokia. I meet up with a friend and we go into http://www.antyx.net/2009/08/uptown-downtown.htmlantyx@antyx.net (Flasher T)1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-16421782.post-3060417717805464992Mon, 27 Jul 2009 19:09:00 +00002009-10-23T11:35:34.375+03:00trippingBroadwayOriginally uploaded by Flasher TThe Jumbo lands, and I walk onto the gangway of Newark Liberty International Airport to see the Manhattan skyline in the distance. I watch the CNN coverage of Iran riots in the line to border control, where an impressively muscular gentleman with an accent straight out of a bad stereotype grills me on the finer points of my last visit to the States. http://www.antyx.net/2009/07/ustrip-arrival.htmlantyx@antyx.net (Flasher T)3