Where is my bike?
lundi 28 juin 2010
Non, ce n'est pas Ben Harper qui jouait cette année, c'était l'année dernière...
Concert en plein à Circo Massimo à l'occasion de l'Earth Day 2010, sponsorisé par une chaîne de documentaires bien connue. Sauf qu'il a commencé à pleuvoir et que nous étions crevées ce qui a pour conséquence, qu'on a jamais vraiment entendu le gros du concert :)
(c'était le 2 mai)
vendredi 25 juin 2010
////
voyages divers
Day 0 -WEDN-
The meeting was postponed several times. Today as well, we had to wait late afternoon to be able to present our tool.
The meeting in Khartoum takes place in about 2 weeks. Greenlight!
Day 1 -THURS-
I first need to be officially invited by the meeting chairman.
I draft an agenda and start requesting visa documents as they tell me the authorities are slow to process visas.
Day 2 -FRIDAY-
I get the confirmation from our contact in Sudan.
The Visa requirements and forms arrive. Half arabic, half english, a bit counter intuitive. I have an appointment scheduled with the nurse for next Tuesday. :) First time to the heart of Africa.
A colleague gives me the Security clearance link, where I have to register all my travel details before leaving. We are not allowed to travel before having received the security clearance.
I request flight plan to the assistant who requests them to the travel agency. I have to coordinate with another colleague before choosing.
I check what are the different types of malaria medicines (link). Scary!
Day 5 -MON-
Monday 9.30.still no answer from Sudan office, I absolutely need this authorization letter to join to the visa deposit. Visa docs have to be submitted by today 11am. I try to call them, no answer. Lotus Notes is down for many staff.
10.45 I submit the docs without the letter, but embassy is going to withhold proceeding until letter is received.
2pm I try to call again Sudan, I finally get through. Some time later I receive the Note Verbale. I bring them to the protocol office but there I understand that actually the MOFA in Sudan has to give permission to the embassy in rome before they can deliver the visa.
Day 6 - TUE-
I get my three shots (out of 6, luckily I had already Hepatitis vaccines done in the past) + malaria pills and the yellow booklet. I won't take the tough treatment and I just have to start one day before arriving in the country, what is good news in case I don't get my visa on time!
We book flights through DHX what is Dubai and not Djibouti as I thought. But the trip is on two days (leaving in the evening, arriving the next day in the afternoon) as we have 9 hours stopover in the UAE.
Visa? visa?? visa???
I discuss about my presentation with a colleague and she names our colleagues in the field "the cow boys" :) so you should better know what you are talking about...
After work I pass by MAS at piazza Vittorio Emmanuele to get long skirts and large shirts. Not easy to dress light but covered!
Day 7 - WEDN-
Second shopping wave, flip flops for the shower (and camping this summer) and a nice tunique (size L while for Europe I would take S). I'm also looking for a cheap watch but there is no way I can find something for less than 30 euros...
Days 8-11
I'm on leave. Checking emails once in a while. Enjoying friends and family in Rome.
Day 12 - WEDN-
Only three days left before departure... I get my flight tickets and the venue is confirmed. I now have to book an hotel. Good question?
And my passport is still at the embassy and protocol office tells me the consul is sick :)
Day13 - THURS-
Thursday is the last working weekday in Sudan.
I'm still trying to book that hotel through the assistant there before the office closes... what a mess!
On the other hand I receive 847 sudanese pounds + ask my bank to increase my daily withdrawal rate. No international mean of payment is available in Sudan, you have to take it all cash.
And finally I try to arrange an appointment with an ex-classmate working in Dubai...
Day14 - FRI -
Last working day before leaving.
I finally get my passport back with a nice hand written visa!
But I'm a bit worried because I still have no security clearance.
And I start withdrawing my cash reserves: 6x200eur
Day15 - SAT-
In the morning I call the airline to book the complimentary hotel in Dubai, but it's too late for the same day.
And I just have to finalize my packing, no stress the plane leaves at 22:00.
The meeting was postponed several times. Today as well, we had to wait late afternoon to be able to present our tool.
The meeting in Khartoum takes place in about 2 weeks. Greenlight!
Day 1 -THURS-
I first need to be officially invited by the meeting chairman.
I draft an agenda and start requesting visa documents as they tell me the authorities are slow to process visas.
Day 2 -FRIDAY-
I get the confirmation from our contact in Sudan.
The Visa requirements and forms arrive. Half arabic, half english, a bit counter intuitive. I have an appointment scheduled with the nurse for next Tuesday. :) First time to the heart of Africa.
A colleague gives me the Security clearance link, where I have to register all my travel details before leaving. We are not allowed to travel before having received the security clearance.
I request flight plan to the assistant who requests them to the travel agency. I have to coordinate with another colleague before choosing.
I check what are the different types of malaria medicines (link). Scary!
Day 5 -MON-
Monday 9.30.still no answer from Sudan office, I absolutely need this authorization letter to join to the visa deposit. Visa docs have to be submitted by today 11am. I try to call them, no answer. Lotus Notes is down for many staff.
10.45 I submit the docs without the letter, but embassy is going to withhold proceeding until letter is received.
2pm I try to call again Sudan, I finally get through. Some time later I receive the Note Verbale. I bring them to the protocol office but there I understand that actually the MOFA in Sudan has to give permission to the embassy in rome before they can deliver the visa.
Day 6 - TUE-
I get my three shots (out of 6, luckily I had already Hepatitis vaccines done in the past) + malaria pills and the yellow booklet. I won't take the tough treatment and I just have to start one day before arriving in the country, what is good news in case I don't get my visa on time!
We book flights through DHX what is Dubai and not Djibouti as I thought. But the trip is on two days (leaving in the evening, arriving the next day in the afternoon) as we have 9 hours stopover in the UAE.
Visa? visa?? visa???
I discuss about my presentation with a colleague and she names our colleagues in the field "the cow boys" :) so you should better know what you are talking about...
After work I pass by MAS at piazza Vittorio Emmanuele to get long skirts and large shirts. Not easy to dress light but covered!
Day 7 - WEDN-
Second shopping wave, flip flops for the shower (and camping this summer) and a nice tunique (size L while for Europe I would take S). I'm also looking for a cheap watch but there is no way I can find something for less than 30 euros...
Days 8-11
I'm on leave. Checking emails once in a while. Enjoying friends and family in Rome.
Day 12 - WEDN-
Only three days left before departure... I get my flight tickets and the venue is confirmed. I now have to book an hotel. Good question?
And my passport is still at the embassy and protocol office tells me the consul is sick :)
Day13 - THURS-
Thursday is the last working weekday in Sudan.
I'm still trying to book that hotel through the assistant there before the office closes... what a mess!
On the other hand I receive 847 sudanese pounds + ask my bank to increase my daily withdrawal rate. No international mean of payment is available in Sudan, you have to take it all cash.
And finally I try to arrange an appointment with an ex-classmate working in Dubai...
Day14 - FRI -
Last working day before leaving.
I finally get my passport back with a nice hand written visa!
But I'm a bit worried because I still have no security clearance.
And I start withdrawing my cash reserves: 6x200eur
Day15 - SAT-
In the morning I call the airline to book the complimentary hotel in Dubai, but it's too late for the same day.
And I just have to finalize my packing, no stress the plane leaves at 22:00.
Vendredi soir.
Je suis dans ma cuisine en train de manger du fromage pour faire patienter mon estomac en attendant le dîner. J'ai lancé un podcast de France Inter. Pas de visite à la librairie ce soir. (c'est ma tradition du vendredi soir) J'ai besoin de créativité et de changement alors au travail! Je vais devoir affronter mon four à gaz :)
Et voici la meilleure, une émission de Karambolage (arte) sur la sauce tomate d'une italienne à Berlin et le magasin du vieux campeur. Excellent-issimo!
Et voici la meilleure, une émission de Karambolage (arte) sur la sauce tomate d'une italienne à Berlin et le magasin du vieux campeur. Excellent-issimo!
jeudi 24 juin 2010
mercredi 23 juin 2010
////
:) I'm proud of my new formula. Well I'm not an expert in algorithms, so I'm just happy it works and produces the expected result...
HOW TO IDENTIFY THE FIRST SAILING FOR A GIVEN SHIPMENT?
Case explanation
One shipment can be split and shipped at different times on different vessels. Each sailing is represented by a delivery. Among all deliveries (one delivery = one line of my file) from the same shipment, which one has the earliest departure date?
Calculation Steps
1) You need a unique shipment identifier. The batch is serving that purpose. STO cannot be used as you may have a PO creation without STO created yet.
2) Let’s identify the smallest non-zero value from a range. (“non-zero” because I have deliveries that have not sailed yet, their Bill of Lading date is of course 0 what will unfortunately be the value returned by a simple MIN function). To counter this issue I found an intelligent function on the web. It is a combination of the SMALL and COUNTIF formulas as shown below:
=SMALL(A1:A100,COUNTIF($A$1:$A$100,0)+1)
SMALL returns the k-th smallest value in a data set. Where the countif is counting the zeros in the range and adding one and is then used to tell SMALL to return the k-th smallest value.
You need to include that condition because the number of zero values can vary in your sample, and you need to set the k accordingly. Yes, if you have a sample {2,4,3,4,5} : 0 zero => smallest non-zero value is the 1-st smallest (0+1). However if you have {4,0,8,0,5}: 2 zeros => smallest non-zero value is the 3-rd one (2+1) and this is 5.
This formula is perfectly working on a fixed range. The issue is that I don’t want to return the earliest BL date among all B/Ls (my full column) but I want to consider only the values linked to the same shipment (batch).
3) In order to consider a sub-sample we need to include an IF array function.
Note: enter “ctrl+shift+enter” combination to validate an array formula
= IF($AB$2:$AB$3852=AB2,$AO$2:$AO$3852)
The formula returns an array containing all B/L dates ($AO$2:$AO$3852) provided they have the same batch number (AB2). This is the range we need to consider in our SMALL function instead of a fixed range like A1:A100.
4) The combination would look like below and return the smallest non-zero value (earliest B.L date) for a shipment based on its batch number:
=SMALL(IF($AB$2:$AB$3852=AB2,$AO$2:$AO$3852),
COUNTIF(IF($AB$2:$AB$3852=AB2,$AO$2:$AO$3852),0)+1)
Unfortunately this is not working! Because COUNTIF cannot be used with an array input!!!
5) However COUNTIF is equivalent to a SUM IF combination:
=SUM(IF(A1:A100=”a”),1,0) returns the same as =COUNTIF(A1:A100,”a”)
6) Let’s do this change in our formula, remembering that we have the variable range. It will look like this:
=SMALL(IF($AB$2:$AB$3852=AB2,$AO$2:$AO$3852),
SUM(IF(IF($AB$2:$AB$3852=AB2,$AO$2:$AO$3852)=0,1,0))+1)
This is our final formula.
7) Copy paste it in the first cell of a new column. And then validate it as an array by typing ctrl+shift+enter. I should look like this:
{=SMALL(IF($AB$2:$AB$3852=AB2,$AO$2:$AO$3852),
SUM(IF(IF($AB$2:$AB$3852=AB2,$AO$2:$AO$3852)=0,1,0))+1)}
#NUM! is ok, it appears when there is no B/L date to be returned.
8) Only after you have done that, double click to extend the formula to all cells of the column. To be sure you extended the right formula, check if the variable cell is changing according to the line number.
For any delivery (line), it will display the earliest B/L date for the given shipment. Meaning that all deliveries with the same batch should show the same result, isn’t it?
9) Last step, create a new column to identify for any delivery if it is the first one! This is a simple comparison between the earliest B/L date we just identified with our magnificient formula and the actual B/L date of that delivery.
=IF(AO2=0,"no bl date",IF(AO2=CJ2,"1st sailing","-"))
Here I also eliminated the case where we have no B/L dates entered because otherwise the test results in an error.
As a result we have categorized any delivery into 3 categories:
- “no BL date” (has not sailed yet)
- “1st sailing”
- “-“ (sailed but is not the first one)
ILLUSTRATION
HOW TO IDENTIFY THE FIRST SAILING FOR A GIVEN SHIPMENT?
Case explanation
One shipment can be split and shipped at different times on different vessels. Each sailing is represented by a delivery. Among all deliveries (one delivery = one line of my file) from the same shipment, which one has the earliest departure date?
Calculation Steps
1) You need a unique shipment identifier. The batch is serving that purpose. STO cannot be used as you may have a PO creation without STO created yet.
2) Let’s identify the smallest non-zero value from a range. (“non-zero” because I have deliveries that have not sailed yet, their Bill of Lading date is of course 0 what will unfortunately be the value returned by a simple MIN function). To counter this issue I found an intelligent function on the web. It is a combination of the SMALL and COUNTIF formulas as shown below:
=SMALL(A1:A100,COUNTIF($A$1:$A$100,0)+1)
SMALL returns the k-th smallest value in a data set. Where the countif is counting the zeros in the range and adding one and is then used to tell SMALL to return the k-th smallest value.
You need to include that condition because the number of zero values can vary in your sample, and you need to set the k accordingly. Yes, if you have a sample {2,4,3,4,5} : 0 zero => smallest non-zero value is the 1-st smallest (0+1). However if you have {4,0,8,0,5}: 2 zeros => smallest non-zero value is the 3-rd one (2+1) and this is 5.
This formula is perfectly working on a fixed range. The issue is that I don’t want to return the earliest BL date among all B/Ls (my full column) but I want to consider only the values linked to the same shipment (batch).
3) In order to consider a sub-sample we need to include an IF array function.
Note: enter “ctrl+shift+enter” combination to validate an array formula
= IF($AB$2:$AB$3852=AB2,$AO$2:$AO$3852)
The formula returns an array containing all B/L dates ($AO$2:$AO$3852) provided they have the same batch number (AB2). This is the range we need to consider in our SMALL function instead of a fixed range like A1:A100.
4) The combination would look like below and return the smallest non-zero value (earliest B.L date) for a shipment based on its batch number:
=SMALL(IF($AB$2:$AB$3852=AB2,$AO$2:$AO$3852),
COUNTIF(IF($AB$2:$AB$3852=AB2,$AO$2:$AO$3852),0)+1)
Unfortunately this is not working! Because COUNTIF cannot be used with an array input!!!
5) However COUNTIF is equivalent to a SUM IF combination:
=SUM(IF(A1:A100=”a”),1,0) returns the same as =COUNTIF(A1:A100,”a”)
6) Let’s do this change in our formula, remembering that we have the variable range. It will look like this:
=SMALL(IF($AB$2:$AB$3852=AB2,$AO$2:$AO$3852),
SUM(IF(IF($AB$2:$AB$3852=AB2,$AO$2:$AO$3852)=0,1,0))+1)
This is our final formula.
7) Copy paste it in the first cell of a new column. And then validate it as an array by typing ctrl+shift+enter. I should look like this:
{=SMALL(IF($AB$2:$AB$3852=AB2,$AO$2:$AO$3852),
SUM(IF(IF($AB$2:$AB$3852=AB2,$AO$2:$AO$3852)=0,1,0))+1)}
#NUM! is ok, it appears when there is no B/L date to be returned.
8) Only after you have done that, double click to extend the formula to all cells of the column. To be sure you extended the right formula, check if the variable cell is changing according to the line number.
For any delivery (line), it will display the earliest B/L date for the given shipment. Meaning that all deliveries with the same batch should show the same result, isn’t it?
9) Last step, create a new column to identify for any delivery if it is the first one! This is a simple comparison between the earliest B/L date we just identified with our magnificient formula and the actual B/L date of that delivery.
=IF(AO2=0,"no bl date",IF(AO2=CJ2,"1st sailing","-"))
Here I also eliminated the case where we have no B/L dates entered because otherwise the test results in an error.
As a result we have categorized any delivery into 3 categories:
- “no BL date” (has not sailed yet)
- “1st sailing”
- “-“ (sailed but is not the first one)
ILLUSTRATION
lundi 21 juin 2010
Je voudrais bien visiter l'ambassade de France à Rome. C'est possible mais un peu compliqué... C'est en semaine, il faut réserver, et l'été ce n'est pas ouvert... Et puis la moitié du temps j'oublie et je laisse passer mes jours de vacances à Rome, seules chances d'entrer. L'autre fois j'ai essayé d'amadouer il caribinieri de service, il était désolé mais ne pouvait pas me laisser passer :) Dernière solution, le 14 juillet, me faire inviter et trouver de la galante compagnie parce qu'il n'y rien de pire que d'y aller toute seule :p
mercredi 9 juin 2010
////
link
The other day I was browsing the internet with a special purpose.
Yes, I can say it loud: "I'm looking for a new job". However the world is big, there are offers all around the place, and I have no fetish company I would love to work for (I'm already in there) so I have to use my neurons to make intelligent connections. And that evening I was trying to find out new ventures/project ideas (because I have none, I could join someone who has one and looks for a partner). I didn't really succeed to be honest... A third level connection made me try to read the project forums of the Rebelution (another blog with feed included in the right column >>) but could never access them because you need to register and submit 2 essays! and I was not in a creative mood that evening so it made me browse on the public website of the blog and somehow (my connection memory stops there) I ended up on Boundless.
And that's what I wanted to share with you: I really like Boundless. This is a very good webzine with fresh articles every day, a blog, podcasts, etc. Target audience is build on a period of life: The time between the home of your youth and the home you'll make for yourself someday. I added the feed (in the right column >>) for your reference. Today's article rewriting well-known miracles with modern contextualisation was refreshing: the 5 breads and 2 fishes became turkey sandwiches and 5 cokes... =) Yes it's serious stuff! and good quality.
You remember the reddish bear? Well, I was reading Boundless offline on the plane (using a scrapbook add-on for firefox I saved some articles before leaving) while he was snoring next to me. I was probably too focused on my reading to have any parallel conversation so he fell asleep! :)
And that's what I wanted to share with you: I really like Boundless. This is a very good webzine with fresh articles every day, a blog, podcasts, etc. Target audience is build on a period of life: The time between the home of your youth and the home you'll make for yourself someday. I added the feed (in the right column >>) for your reference. Today's article rewriting well-known miracles with modern contextualisation was refreshing: the 5 breads and 2 fishes became turkey sandwiches and 5 cokes... =) Yes it's serious stuff! and good quality.
You remember the reddish bear? Well, I was reading Boundless offline on the plane (using a scrapbook add-on for firefox I saved some articles before leaving) while he was snoring next to me. I was probably too focused on my reading to have any parallel conversation so he fell asleep! :)
Rome, Italy
Al Gianicolo.
I like this part of Rome... Magnificient view on the city. Cooling breeze, roman pines and tags stating in bloody red capital letters "Piero per sempre".
I don't know how I have spent 15 months without walking up there...
NB. afternoon pictures are nicer than morning ones because in summer the city is overlighted during the day.
View Larger Map
Al Gianicolo.
I like this part of Rome... Magnificient view on the city. Cooling breeze, roman pines and tags stating in bloody red capital letters "Piero per sempre".
I don't know how I have spent 15 months without walking up there...
NB. afternoon pictures are nicer than morning ones because in summer the city is overlighted during the day.
View Larger Map
vendredi 4 juin 2010
////
voyages divers
Imagine a reddish bear.
I mean a tall, fat man, red hair, black nails, speaking out max 5 words at a time. The first contact was not exactly state-of-the-art communication. "What were you doing in Sudan, working?" "No, not exactly, I was here for a meeting" as a result the guy turns back with a grimace. Half upset... I answer: "What???" ... SILENCE "No, it's just that Sudan is usually not exactly the place for a meeting" "It sometimes happens!" SILENCE "And you why are you in Sudan?" "I'm working in oil refining, drilling, exploration but I resigned today and it's an happy day. HAPPY DAY! ... It's the second time I resign this year".
The guy is australian. He grew up in a farm. At the age of 18 he started to work in oil drilling and has been to 68 countries so far: last Sudan, before last one Doha (73°c under the sun), next one maybe China... About twenty years later, the bear is on a plane heading to Thailand. No home, married twice, divorced twice, 10 years of travelling extensively around in and out the worst places on earth, 28 days in, every day - 12hours shifts, followed by 28 days out for recuperation. The guy's resistance went up to 5 days in a row without sleep, and that I don't want to imagine. But I can feel a broken life, a lonely life, a no-hope life...
Being a bear doesn't mean you don't know how to behave. Bears sometimes offer you a glass of fresh water because you have poured your extra sugar ration in your old glass and then tell you a story about sweetness. In the end, bears have emotions, they are broken inside even if they say "it's a happy day". They want to look though but you can make them smile :) even though you might have no clue what has triggered it! Why does an observation on the taste of airplane food, made him smile???
I mean a tall, fat man, red hair, black nails, speaking out max 5 words at a time. The first contact was not exactly state-of-the-art communication. "What were you doing in Sudan, working?" "No, not exactly, I was here for a meeting" as a result the guy turns back with a grimace. Half upset... I answer: "What???" ... SILENCE "No, it's just that Sudan is usually not exactly the place for a meeting" "It sometimes happens!" SILENCE "And you why are you in Sudan?" "I'm working in oil refining, drilling, exploration but I resigned today and it's an happy day. HAPPY DAY! ... It's the second time I resign this year".
The guy is australian. He grew up in a farm. At the age of 18 he started to work in oil drilling and has been to 68 countries so far: last Sudan, before last one Doha (73°c under the sun), next one maybe China... About twenty years later, the bear is on a plane heading to Thailand. No home, married twice, divorced twice, 10 years of travelling extensively around in and out the worst places on earth, 28 days in, every day - 12hours shifts, followed by 28 days out for recuperation. The guy's resistance went up to 5 days in a row without sleep, and that I don't want to imagine. But I can feel a broken life, a lonely life, a no-hope life...
--There are really messed up lifes and places on earth --
Being a bear doesn't mean you don't know how to behave. Bears sometimes offer you a glass of fresh water because you have poured your extra sugar ration in your old glass and then tell you a story about sweetness. In the end, bears have emotions, they are broken inside even if they say "it's a happy day". They want to look though but you can make them smile :) even though you might have no clue what has triggered it! Why does an observation on the taste of airplane food, made him smile???
Last but not least, don't expect a bear to say goodbye...
------------------------------------------
Don't be put off by bears, just learn how to tame them!
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