Technology Review (c) Experts are projecting that the rate of growth in supercomputing power is about to plateau, making predictions like this one obsolete

You all know I am a technophile (I love technology). So, just this morning as I was waiting to start my normal work day I read an article on Technology Review (one of my favorite technology news sources) which talked about the end of Moore’s Law, which says that roughly every 18 months the amount of computing you get for a buck doubles.

The High Performance Computing expert Thomas Sterling, that was interviewed to talk about his predictions/calculations about the end of this era of technology based on chips, says that roughly around 2019 the current era of silicon based chips will not be feasible any more.

Anyway, I do not mean to go any deeper into this as it is relatively abstract to most of you, the end of the article talked about how by the end of this century computers will be expected to work at a completely different level and format.

Another Physicist Michio Kaku mentions “machines based on protein, DNA, and optical devices as possible replacements. When the time comes to transition to a new medium, he thinks the world will migrate to 3-dimensional chips. That technology would be followed by molecular computers and, eventually, by quantum computers around the end of the 21st century.”

I know Albanians will be able to benefit from these types of technologies as well in the future. Meanwhile, being aware of how technologies have changed and progressed just these past 30 years (since I’ve been alive) the only thing I am wishing at this point in time is to want to be around by that time.

Original article on Technology Review: http://www.technologyreview.com/blog/mimssbits/27836/

In fact, the challenges of serving a global market, based in Albania, are greater and it does require a good measure of patience as well as trial and error to figure out what works best in most situations. However, for us, these challenges are welcome in that they allow us to establish our own rules by virtue of being leaders in this sector and also creating many comparative advantages in the local and international market as well.

Upgrading the core ecommerce system

In March, we had to carry out a hasty upgrade of our core ecommerce system to a new and much more effective one. There were several major reasons why it was hasty but the most important thing was about enabling our visitors and customers to utilize the information and services of the website at a greater level of efficiency than before. The upgrade meant an almost whole week of long-hours of intensive work configuring the new system and getting the server support people in the U.S.A. to make the transition as smooth as possible. Sadly, for us and our customers, we had to face a couple of days where the site was down, which truly worried us in light of the credibility issues that it could present to our customers, but then we are very thankful to have the type of customers and visitors that we do.

Payment and shipping issues managed from Albania

Two major issues that continue to burden any international type of business regard a) payment options and b) shipping charges, which all tend to ultimately burden the overall process of ordering and processing orders for customers.

Offering various payment options is always best as it allows your customers to choose the best option for them. Meanwhile, security and processing time are also important issues which always have to be kept in mind.

The other issue regards international shipping rates, which are always higher compared to local ones, mainly due to the fact that books much more than other stuff.

These two issues are harder to deal with if your business is operating out of Albania. For one, the payment options are rather limited and transactional costs higher due to lack of infrastructure, competitive options and generally higher risk for a relatively young financial industry. But also international companies such as PayPal offer limited services with have become more accessible in the past one to two years. This was not so, when we started out five years ago.

With regard to shipping rates, though the national mail service – Posta Shqiptare – continues to have the most competitive rates currently on offer, the fact remains that they are limited by two factors: 1) they are set by the government, which makes it almost impossible for them to change, and 2) despite the increased volume of goods being transported mailed, the rates and reliability remain a challenge which has seen little competitive changes.

Building toward eBooks in Albanian

For us, the next obvious step is eBooks in the Albanian language. We’ve already set up most of the technical aspects that would make this possible. Moreover, this was a major reason for the upgrade and we are confident that it will be of great value to our customers, publishers and business onward.

The month of May also marks the start of my third year as an entrepreneur which started when I gave up on the corporate world and the strict eight-hour/day job which I still loathe. Though technically working for a newspaper means that I am back to working for a corporation, the fact is that this decision is in full keeping with my decision to continue as an entrepreneur, meanwhile providing my consulting and support services on a monthly wage basis. More to the point I only get to work a few hours a day and still get a decent pay for the time I put into it. The added income will also help me to invest some more funds into getting some better tools for myself i.e. new laptop and later a good tablet.

Returning to the Block area of business and entertainment

Another aspect of taking on this new responsibility regards my return to the “Bllok” are of businesses and coffees, which I left about two years ago to start my journey as an entrepreneur. It seems that whatever I do I still somehow return to this same area over and over.

Ever since my return to Albania in 2004, I’ve ever been working at the “Bllok” area. Meanwhile, some of my best customers are still here. Some of them buy books, others receive consulting services and others I get to teach! But also some of my best friends continue to work here so it’s a pleasant work necessity to also see them more often!

Though the timing was out of our control, the event meant that our trip to Burrel, and then to her grandmothers village, would have to be a quick and emotional one. For me, the important thing was to help support my wife as she was very fond of her grandmother, an old lady who I learned was much loved by many other people as well.

The road trip from Tirana to Burrel

The beautiful city of Burrel is only about 36 kilometers (according to locals) on an aerial line from Tirana, however the road that leads you there is about 90 kilometers and the travel time by car is about two hours. The trip is a short one and the road is generally good all the way with beautiful scenery that can be enjoyed at its best during spring. The first 50 kilometers are on the major northern highway, thus smooth and relatively quick, but then you have to leave the national highway and go into the main winding road through the mountains and beautiful scenery, which can easily take you an extra hour to destination.

Little background

Burrel and its surroundings are probably best known as the birthplace of the Albanian self-proclaimed King Zog I. He was born and raised just a few kilometers from the city of Burrel and from there he made his journey to the heart of Albania (Tirana) where he came to establish his government and then later proclaim himself King of the Albanians.

“Burrel used to be a miners’ town during Communist Albania, but the mines are currently closed now, with the exception of a ferrochrome plant is still working near Burrel. During the Kosovo conflict there was a refugee camp near Burrel for 2000 people. The city used to be the site of one of the most terrible prisons of the communist regime, where both ordinary criminals and political prisoners such as Bashkim Shehu and Fatos Lubonja or the Catholic priest Dom Simon Jubani were held. Another famous inmate was Pjetër Arbnori, later to become a member of the free Albanian Parliament.” (source Wikipedia)

The city of Burrel

The city is mostly empty, due to major migration of its about 15,500 inhabitants. To my surprise, when we arrived there during midday, there were a lot of people (majority men) in the main square just standing around in groups chatting and doing nothing. Yes, I repeat, chatting and doing nothing and taking it easy as if time did not exist! But then it donned on me, as that explains why coffee places in Tirana are full of people, drinking coffee and doing nothing for most of the day. I’ve come to realize that especially in suburban areas and remote cities of Albania people are still used to the days under communism where the government provided you with a job and sufficient income. Then the rest of the time you were free! But, now there is also the obvious fact that there is a major lack of employments due to the destruction of all major industries which supported and provided employment for a large number of people in these districts.

Another apparent fact was the considerable number of empty buildings and houses. Since early 90’ the population had either migrated abroad or toward major cities like Tirana and Durres. Even those that remained were faced with high unemployment and even farming was largely abandoned as people went to search for better employment options.

The future

The future for the city and its people seemed dim. Unless private enterprises could invest and expand the people were left with little other options. Even the national major roadway that was supposed to was supposed to come closer to the town would not be directly in its path, indicating that even the government did not see much interest in creating greater access for these people.

Trip to the remote village of Urëzallë

The village was called “Urëzallë”, which seems a common joining of the words “urë” – bridge and “zallë” – gravell, thus a possible translation would be gravel-bridge.

We were told that the distance from the city of Burrel to the village was about 16 kilometers. The road there was half paved and the other half unpaved which made for a very dangerous and scary drive. Most people would travel by “furgon” early in the morning but we arrived late so were forced to seek a taxi. To our luck or lack of .. the drive was a crazy one. Most “furgon” drivers needed about 1 hour to drive from the city center to this remote village. Our driver made it in half that time. I realized that rally drivers in Albania were real and my wife and I were driving with one of the wilder ones.

The funeral up in the mountain

This was my first time ever to witness a traditional funeral event in a remote village in Albania. Though I was familiar with most of the traditional aspects of this type of event, nevertheless

• the number of people,
• the actual organization and
• way that it was done

was of real curiosity to me.

When we arrived at the village, there were already a lot of people waiting in the field outside of the house. As per patriarchal custom the men were all gathered into one location and the women in another. The women were standing in a big circle around the deceased weeping and lamenting in their unique traditional chants, which to me have always seemed spooky to say the least. But this was a real funeral and the feelings of people were very much real. Though the women tended to express it much more than did the men.

The scenery

Without realizing it at first the whole venue was located on top of a plateau near the top of one the hills overlooking the beautiful and very spacious valley. I was so tempted to take a bunch of pictures and try to moralize every moment on camera but using a photographic camera would have been insulting to the people and at least embarrassing to me and those who knew me.

The trip back was rather slow and tiresome after an, otherwise, emotional day!

Guest writer: Florian M.

Smart phones represent a ever growing trend among Albanians.

Certainly this trend has been impacted by mobile operators too. In my opinion the desire to get a smart phone is highly driven by the various internet plans offered by the mobile operators.

The young simply love them often want the high end ones. Why? The desire to possess something that represents a certain status quo drives them almost to lust after them. Smart phones like Iphone 4s and Galaxy S2 represent what is deemed as “cool”. They make you feel cool too. This is, I’m sure, is their reasoning.

What about business people? They have a different approach. They primarily want a phone that it’s not just cool but that also guarantees them a full day of heavy usage. There are many business people that prefer Blackberry and Nokia mainly because of the battery longevity. Nokia, once top of choice for this group with the model of Series E like E90 is selling a lot of E72 mainly because of the long battery life. What about a Samsung Galaxy S2?

Samsung Galaxy S2 has become an object of desire too for this group because it is more affordable than the Iphone, offers great communication possibilities via push email, IM or web browsing. However it doesn’t come up to more than one day of usage.

So I did a test which indirectly includes a bit of promotion in the article. I gave a Samsung Galaxy S2 and an extended battery of 3200 MaH from Mugen Power to try it and see a user’s reactions. Samsung by default provides a 1650Mah battery which as previously mentioned guarantees no more than one day of normal usage. Normal usage is considered by a general standard; a one hour of phone calls, one hour of web browsing, 30 text messagers (sms) and 10 minutes of GPS.

How does the Mugen battery measure up? The battery adds a double thickness. It somehow ruins the look of the phone and phone’s thinnest which is one of the strongest points of Galaxy S2. The good thing is that it provides about two days of heavy usage. Could this be considered satisfactory for business users?

The extended two day usage of the phone was satisfactory, however the phone’s added battery thickness caused it to lose its appeal especially if you have to sit in business meetings. The greater advantage is when used for trips or as a backup battery. However, not as a primary one.

In my humble opinion it can be concluded that smartphones are a growing a trend even for business people and most people would be ready to give up to a month’s salary to get one. Give these phones more than two days of usage without being thick and Albanians as tech savvy people would give their hand to get it. Hope u like our article. Love your comments.

It’s that simple! It starts with your desire to get your thoughts out there for other people to read and comment.

• Have you been reading this blog for some time, then you know what it is about.
• Are you a new visitors, then read some of the posts to get a general idea of what I talk about.
• Are you a writer or have your own blog? Then send me a email with some of your articles and ideas that we might post on here as well under your name.

Some important clarifications:

• You don’t have to be Albanian to write on this Blog.
• You have to have sufficient proficiency of written English (duh)

What should I do to start contributing?

1. Send me an email with your idea or article if you have one.
2. refer to number 1
3. refer to number 1

Sincerely,

Elvis
Albanian Blogger
Email: eplaku (at) gmail.com

P.S. If you live in Tirana, Albania then we might even get together for a coffee.

"Long live the friendship between the peoples of China and Albania", a ubiquitous poster in China in 1960s (chinadaily.com.cn)

During Albania’s budy-budy relations with China, the country’s ruling communist regime was very friendly and open to everything from the Chinese culture and language. Though it was not required in schools, there were those who committed themselves to learning the language, but that phase lasted for about ten years until relations broke in 1967.

Today, those “warm relations” represent another episode from of our not-so-distant communist past which still lingers in the mind of people who lived during those years. However, it seems that today’s ruling regime has decided that learning the Chinese language could be an advantage for the elementary level pupils. Currently, under the government’s new directives pre-university pupils are required to study two foreign languages, of which English, French, German or Spanish were among the electives. But now, Prime Minister Berisha has suggested that they should also be offered to learn Chinese, though this will gladly be left to the decision of the administration of each school.

Chinese Premier Wen Jiabao and his Albanian counterpart Sali Berisha in the Great Hall of the People during the afternoon (ChinaDaily.com.cn)

The decision has been welcomed as another “out of the blue” type of directive that comes forth from our great leader, but nevertheless I would not undervalue it completely.

During my MBA studies I remember reading the words of one world-renewed billionaire called Warren Buffet. I remember him talking about the growing influence of China in particular the next super-power that will dominate the world not only economically but also culturally and otherwise. Just the other day, I was listening to BBC WorldNews reporting about how job candidates for multinational corporations operating in Asian countries were preferred more if they knew Chinese besides English as a language. Today, China continues to influence the world through Hollywood and other forms of art and entertainment. Chinese students are stationed all over the world to study and live in major countries of the world under government sponsorship so that later they can become business and cultural ambassadors of their own country. This is long-term planning for whatever else is to come.

That is why I am of the opinion that in the long-term schema of things, learning Chinese, besides English could become a great asset, even a necessity for those involved in international business and relations. Personally I am intrigued by the Japanese culture, but cannot say that I have any particular interest in engaging their language!

Engine check illustration photo

The other day I went to get my car’s electronic system checked by a technician. There were some errors appearing on the dashboard that needed to get fixed. In fact those errors were nothing new to me. The car’s electronic system is such that every so many hundred kilometers it requires you to do a maintenance check. The dashboard shows some warning messages which I have seen a few times these past twelve years. Yes, my car is twelve years old and as an aging car it needs now more maintenance and checkups to stay in tune and safe to drive.

The fact is that with age more of its parts need to be either replaced or maintained in some way. Meanwhile, for me, getting those problems fixed it’s not simply a maintenance issue, but rather a security and safety one on a mechanical system that if not kept in check can easily get out of control and cause major issues!

Just like my car, the Albanian political system is itself an aging one! In this case, age could be considered a good thing as it supposedly means that the system becomes more mature and efficient at what it does. However, in the case of Albania’s political system age related issues do not so much affect its efficiency as they cause maintenance related problems! Our current political class (our current politicians) is an aging one and just like with my aging car, I am of the opinion that it cannot do wonders or perform better than it did while it was still young and able.

(illustration photo)

Thus, I suspect that major maintenance is overdue as the “dashboard warning messages” are many and indicate many hidden issues. As a disclaimer for myself, I do not claim to be neither a car specialist not a political specialist, but as a general rule, I suspect that with age the number of issues that needs to be fixed grows!

Thus parts need to be changed, especially if they some of them have been working for some twenty years now. New “oil” needs to be pumped and “filters” need to be changed!

What do you think?

The tradition and beliefs are passed on to the new generation as father and son join together with the rest of the family to celebrate through sacrificial animals (lambs) which reflect existing Bektashi and ancient religious pagan traditions that persist in the Albanian culture.

In the case of the Bektashi religious festivities held on Tomorri Mountain annually on August 15, there is much evidence that is of pagan origins mixed with later Bektashi influences. The issue is the fact that these ancient beliefs continue to have a strong influence on the lives and general conduct of Albanians who historically have behaved very pragmatically towards religion.

Today, Albania is recognized as the land of religious tolerance where interreligious harmony is studied and proudly held by our various public leaders.

Short video in Albanian (sorry)

When I met last Friday with my friend John, working at Peace Corps in Albania, he made an astute observation that other Peace Corps volunteers had passed along to him about the difference of Albanian culture with the United States one: “In America, we build our relationships through work by showing responsibility for the assigned job first and in the aftermath of it we may develop a friendship, while in Albania it is important to develop first the relationship through coffee drinking time, then afterwards along the lines you do business.”

Figure 1. Albanian coffee motif.

Although Albania is ranked 63^rd for coffee capita consumption in the world (1.6 kg per person a day), the amount of time people spend in a café bar is in average two hours per coffee drink, while drinking at least two coffees per day: in the morning and evening. Albanians love coffee either espresso or Turkish. “You’ll see that whenever they sit to have a drink, coffee will be one of them. However, when an Albanian says: “Let’s go for coffee!” this does not necessarily mean that you’re expected to drink only coffee. It is just a saying. Also, if you are offered to go for a drink, usually the offer or will pay for you. Always ask permission to pay for drinks. Doing so without your Albanian companion’s knowledge can be offensive.”

Another Peace Corps volunteer named Corey comments: “I am not sure if I have already mentioned it but coffee is fundamental to Albanian society. Going out for coffee doesn’t always mean that you have to drink coffee but more often than not that is what people order. I enjoy the coffee culture here for several reasons. Going out for coffee several times throughout the day breaks up the pace of the day and gives you time to relax and talk. It isn’t great for productivity but it is good for relationships. For example, this morning a trip to introduce myself to the postmaster turned into a half hour coffee where I was offered a tour of the local castle and use of the post office computer when I want.“

Figure 2. Café in Block Area inTirana,Albania.

Drinking coffee is very important in building proper relationships with government and business people in Albania. Since, the level of corruption is high according to Transparency International, Albaniais ranked 87 in the Freedom from Corruption Index in the Annual Report 2010 (See Table 1 below).

Very often the coffee times are associated with friendly day-to-day conversations about politics, economy and other media emphasis of the day, such as Big Brother Albania show, Money Drop, Who Wants to Be a Millionaire, Albanian’s Got Talent, Dancing with the Stars, etc.  Albanians, in their Mediterranean culture, solve most of their problems in the coffee bar and not in their offices.  They feel more at ease to talk and ask for advice around a relaxed time with an espresso rather than be confined by a power chair of authority. They like to gossip about the world’s problems: politics and economics, while at times they may hand an envelope full of money in a discrete way to government officials for favors in tenders or bids, unmerited employment, acceptance to universities, inflated grades, healthcare services, etc. Bribery is the prevailing organizational culture inAlbania.

Table 1. Transparency International Freedom Index ranking (Annual Report 2010).

Table 1. Transparency International Freedom Index ranking (Annual Report 2010).

ALBANIAN CUISINE

Food is important in Albanian life. Usually after we eat, we drink a coffee or as it is known in Albanian “Kafe.” Albanian dishes have been heavily influenced by Turkey, Greece, Italy, Armenia, and Syria. Recipes have often been adapted and altered to suit American tastes. Albanians enjoy a variety of appetizers, soups, casseroles, pilaf, pies, stews, and desserts. Salads (sallatë) are made with cabbage, lettuce, onions, peppers, olives, and feta cheese. 

BENEFITS OF COFFEE

Researchers in the United Statesstate that there are many newly found benefits to coffee drinking rather than the social time fun. “Data from the Coffee Research Organization and the National Small Business Development Support Center Clearinghouse show that coffee is the most popular beverage in the world, with more than 400 billion cups consumed per year. Americans alone, consume 400 million cups of coffee per day making the United States the leading consumer of coffee in the world. That is translated into four and a half thousand cups of coffee per second.”

Below is a graph for the consumption of coffee in America for the years 2006, 2007 and 2008:

Although, United States are ranked in consumption of coffee per capita no. 27 in the world with 4.2 kg of coffee per person in 2009, behind Finland that is ranked no. 1 and consumes 12 kg per person.

In the past, coffee was thought to be harmful. “In recent years, some 19,000 studies have been done in an attempt to understand the risks or benefits of consuming coffee. While many studies have explored the connection between coffee and certain illnesses such as cancer and high blood pressure, no evidence has been found to link coffee to these health risks.“ What might be more surprising is that recent studies have shown that coffee can actually be good for you. This is good news for the people of America and for the Coffee Industry. “”Overall, the research shows that coffee is far more healthful than it is harmful,” says Tomas DePaulis, PhD, research scientist at Vanderbilt University’s Institute for Coffee Studies, which conducts its own medical research and tracks coffee studies from around the world. “For most people, very little bad comes from drinking it, but a lot of good.””

According to a study done by Scientists at UCLA and theUniversityofSouthern Californiaand reported on WebMD on February 19, 2009, the more coffee that you drink the less likely you are to ever being diagnosed with a stroke.

“This is not the only study to show that a higher intake of coffee can lead to better health. Another example is a study done by Harvard School of Public Health; and Brigham and Women’s Hospital showed coffee consumption can reduce the risks of type 2 Diabetes. Drinking 6+ cups of coffee a day may reduce the risk of type 2 diabetes by 54% in men and 30% in women. Coffee helps to increase your resting metabolic rate, which could help keep diabetes at bay.“

In conclusion, drinking coffee in Albaniais socially acceptable and is the basis for developing working relationships, while consumption per capita is higher in Nordic countries, as well as in America, compared to Albania, it seems that this cultures do not spend the extra socializing time that comes with drinking coffee. Albanians spend a lot of time sitting in a coffee bar and solve their day-to-day problems by voicing their frustrations and complaining as well as rejoicing over issues of life.  So, this is the way one has to work in Albania to share his business ideas by spending time for a coffee.