a blog of Taras Filatov

Have to send faxes internationally lately so I’ve just found a number of solutions to do that using voip and other online solutions including skype:

http://www.skax.net/

http://labnol.blogspot.com/2007/08/use-skype-as-fax-machine-send-fax.html
http://www.soft-switch.org/foip.html
http://fax1.com/
http://www.faxaway.com/

I’m going to update this post when I test these solutions.

UPD:

I have tried scax.com and fax1.com. I’ve tried to fax pages to US fax number (Apple Developers support office).

Both services give you free $1 credit. Scax requires installation of ActiveX plugin for your IE to work with your Skype. Fax1 works on its own. To fax 1 page in Scax costs $0.29, in Fax1 it’s $0.12. Additionally, Scax turned out to be useless for me as it reported “Incopatible fax machine” and “Telephony error”. At the same moment, Fax1 reported “SUCCESS” on all of my 3 fax pages.

So I would recommend www.fax1.com

home prices

Lately I’ve been reading a lot about Great Depression in 30s and also about studiying graphs like this regarding the housing pricing over the last decades.  This information makes me think that people’s estimations on outcomes of the current credit crunch situation are very optimistic.

I had a great fun with Peter Nalitch’s “Guitar” video clip and soundtrack (”Guitarrr, guitarrr, guitarrr.. come to my bodoir”)

and now his album is released and available to download:

by songs:

http://rpm.peternalitch.ru/

whole album:

http://download.yandex.ru/peter_nalitch.zip

wa haa, I have passed online management test at Odesk.com 99% better than all the previous ppl and have got the 1st place

P.S. in order to show off I have put the banner in the sidebar to the right

picture illustrating wrong staff layoff strategies at some companies (especially IT bubbles) during financial crisis

Let's fire this one

“let’s fire this one, he eats a lot”

from ashmanov.com

So I have visited this Google Developers Day in Moscow.

Taras Filatov and Google girls

It was great event and all of our team have really injoit it.  Find more detailed report at our corporate blog: http://www.injoit.com/blog/2008/11/07/google-developers-day-moscow-2008/

My opinion on when it is bad for the PM to do the coding himself:

1.    When it seems easier to do the work by yourself than to explain, create specs, mockups, use cases for the developers which seems to take more time.

2.    When poor estimation and hands-on rush before the deadline becomes a system.

When it is good for PM to do coding:

1.    While demonstrating the scalability and all the features of the product during the meeting with the client.

2.    When there are single unexpected cases of overestimated workload and it is necessary to go hands-on to deliver product functional, 100% tested and on time.

3.    While researching into new ways of doing things and new technologies.

4.    When teaching the engineering teams or helping them with some particulars tasks in order to build better team relationships, increase motivation and deliver better products on time.

Have you got something to add? Please feel free to comment.

http://www.project10tothe100.com/

this is a project Google launched - everybody can submit their idea on how to help other people - the chosen ideas will bring million dollar prizes to their authors

I’m personally going to submit a couple of my ideas - maybe this format will be more suitable to  deliver message to people than the way I’ve tried before - submitting to scientific journals, not much success in there yet, people continue calling my papers science fiction

A bokken is used as an inexpensive and relatively safe substitute for a real sword, in training for several martial arts.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Bokken

Inexpensive huh? Have paid 124 euros to sensei for a bokken today. Anyway, looking forward to some stick practice

Celebrities who share your birthday:

Sharon Stone (1958)
Osama bin Laden (1957)
Chuck Norris (1940)

OMG!

check your celebrities and numerology stuff:

http://www.paulsadowski.com/BirthData.asp