Alienating Urban Landscape from Hong Kong
Picture from Michael Wolf
A pretty impressive image collection on Hong Kong unlike anything I had ever seen about that city. It seems that, as human populations grow, our societies are behaving more and more like ant colonies whereas humans are also not required to distinguish each other as individuals for a group to remain unified. I am probably already too old to adapt my psyche to such conditions but ... if need be.
http://photomichaelwolf.com/#architecture-of-densitiy
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Like Rats, I also Learn from Experience
While commuting I usually plan 1 or 2 more walking minutes to reach my bus stop in the summer than in the winter.

Both the way, partially depicted here, and the departure time remain identical. The road traffic (nearly nil) and bus attendance are the same too.

Hint: This serves me both ways; I could have written 1 or 2 minutes less in the winter.

Will anyone guess why? :-)

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Ready for the answer? (drumroll...) Here it is:

From my second hint my goal is to arrive at the bus stop no earlier than 30 seconds before the scheduled arrival time so, in the winter time it means that I plan a shorter time to walk the distance because I walk much faster to keep warm and do not want to freeze while waiting for the bus.

In the summer season it is exactly the other way around, if I forget to include enough time then I am obliged to walk fast as well and I began to sweat in the overheated bus, thus I plan a bit more time so as to be able to walk slowly and keep the production of my body heat under a tight control.
#ZldQuiz  
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Welcome
The following is not entirely new as it comes from the old Google Buzz era. I wish I could only share it to those who have never seen it but for that I'd need Google to give me set operations (AllCircles - BuzzersCircle). Those concerned, my apologies and please Mute this post as I will certainly re-animate it a couple of times.

and thank you for your interest.
Not counting all those spammers I sorta identified and blocked, a while ago more than 1000 4000 individuals have come across my profile and decided it was worth a try peeking at the images and the ideas I share online. Many thanks for your interest.

My very own stuff or about the things I value
I mostly share my own ideas and pictures and I do treasure those who are doing the same. Occasionally I come across something that resonates a lot with my values and I will share it as well along with the reasons why I am doing it. I like using Google Plus to help me set a few ideas straight or to learn something new related to my many interests, both private and professional.

In case you missed it from my profile the following link gives you a good overview of the kind of topics that interests me. It dates back to the Buzz time and I might later do something equivalent for Google+.
http://goo.gl/YbyWW

Too many minds, too little time
Please do not be upset if I do not "follow" or "circle" you back as there is no way I can interact with several thousand persons. I suppose I would need some sort of politician training for that purpose :-), but even then, according to Dunbar, that would be faked.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Dunbar's_number

I sincerely hope I won't offend anyone by not doing so. Knowing that many of you seem be interested in what captivates me is a great honor and incentive to continue.

Welcome aboard!
Some of the discussions could possibly be perceived as if two or three were busy with each other, being acquainted from some time, joking about and around, etc. That shouldn't keep you from having a different opinion and wanted to speak it out. Please step in and do so, no need be invited.

All what you share is yours
Google Plus is a great place to learn about democracy, about respecting each other's ideas, beliefs and cultures. If you change your mind or later dislike what you wrote, you can modify or delete whatever you shared; posts or comments. I do that too every once in a while.

Please! Do interact!
A little click on that +1 button at the very least will inform or remind me that you exist but it will usually pleases me as well as then I better get to know what we have in common and allow me to share accordingly. A comment is always welcome and they don't always have to be in English. French and German are fine and Google can help me a great deal with other languages.

So, again, thank you for reading. To make sure that a maximum of you read this post I will re-activate it a couple of times so do not hesitate to mute it.

Zaid
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Drinking Whiskies and Fighting in Bars
With a very few exceptions, Woody Allen's work comes to mind, the American movie industry systematically stages their main characters in bar fights and drinking strong liquors.

These situations mainly involve men but I have also seen some women in recent years. It probably dates back from even before the westerns. Why is that?

The only fighting where I was involved, that I can barely remember of, took place when I was around ten years old and for me liquors have always been way too expensive to drink in bars, at least in the typically shown quantities.

This cannot not have an effect on the character--forming audience, our teenagers. Is that a U.S. reality? If not why don't I hear voices against it?
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Freiburg im Breisgau, Hauptbahnhof
Same position but about 15 meters below. Another test, going toward black and white which is quite adequate for such massive concrete building but just not fully getting there.
Location: http://g.co/maps/qdcey
3 exposures, Canon 7D, Canon EF-S 10-22mm
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Empty Cartridges = New Printer
What a crazy world we live in...
The technology embedded in my new printer is enabling the sending of an email when its factory delivered ink cartridges level passes below 10% (or whatever I configure), and a lot more of course... Given the laughable price difference and unless I find reasonably priced alternatives I think I might as well put a new such printer right back in my shopping cart instead.

The general consumer printer manufacturers are playing a very sick game.
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Look at this +Barry Smith, so much beauty one can hardly handle it.
#ZldMountains, #ZelidarDslr, #Switzerland
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Thank You
As has happened already before, in similar circumstances, my previous post has triggered 8 to jump out of my outgoing stream. I am sorry for them that I didn't meet their expectations. I thought I had made it clear in my About page. I just cannot restrain myself at sharing bucolic images of Switzerland and the Alps as my concerns are going beyond those.

The environment we live in matters to my eyes and it does not stop next door: Some of the atoms I am breathing right now have already been breathed by dinosaurs, bits of plastic floating in the Pacific Trash Vortex comes from me, I have released several tons of CO2 on a number of motorcycles for the sole purpose of satisfying my selfish pleasure.

Prevailing droughts and poor environmental managements in North Africa bring a constant flow of new refugees in our northern countries where instant integration is expected but of course impossible. Not to mention the often neglected absorption capacity that should ensure sustainable social systems. Nowadays it takes a mere few hours to travel the time equivalent of several centuries of cultural differences.

The rather poor track record of the Obama administration following the terrible Bush years and with Romney waiting at the next curve have repeatedly affected my reserve of optimism. Readily built confidence prevails in the political and media realms and lead to that always so desperate worldwide procrastination competition and so when a step is taken back I can not restrain myself from responding. We are doing so little already.

My dear friends these stats also made me realize that I am putting you under a lot of stress with my mistakes and not only the spelling ones, my half baked posts (like when posting before the next bus or train stop) , my many interests of which I might often be the only one interested in, my myriad of travel pictures, my rather radical views on our societies, etc.

Thank you for your endurance, for sharing my concerns and I very much appreciate and value your company.
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Flavor Changing Tax
Some creative pricing seen this afternoon. That is why we often get bad grades in international tourism comparison.
- Preis pro Kugel = Price per scoop of ice cream
- Aromawechsel pro Kugel = Surcharge for changing flavor per scoop of ice cream
- Rahmzuschlag = Cream surcharge
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Quiz
What is the best word which will summarize the sentence below?
"Causing losses to another person or to a group of persons while himself deriving no gain and even possibly incurring losses"
Tip: Denial is awfully close but not strong enough
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Our Dolphins
Anyone can guess which one was drawn by Lucy, my nearly 10 years old daughter? ... and to make it a bit harder, why?
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Hopeless Futility and Very Proud of It
Twenty-one kilograms of gold were wasted in the remaking of this recreational vehicle. How long will the rulers of the Emirates persevere with such inanity? What opinion can the rest of the world have getting such messages.
P.s.: Did you notice? Just behind all that gilding one is also gently reminded of the importance of women in this society
Via the Syrian community on Facebook
A better image: http://hdforums.com.au/userpics/3480/HD.jpg
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Over 300 KPH or 200 MPH
Even after tens of times, it is still hard not to be impressed by the sheer speed and I could not help but worry a bit about the tremendous centrifugal forces applied to the wheels of the train. Writing this a day later obviously means that everything went fine, of course :-). These came from yesterday morning on my way to Paris.
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Dear Chocolate,
sorry to have arrived too late to honor you.
I have been back in Nantes the last couple of days and, among the many highlights of that stay, there was this display that got my full attention for a few intense seconds as I was pondering about returning the next day during the opening hours. That moment, 5 cruel millimeters of glass kept me away from heaven.
Confiseur Georges Gautier, Nantes, France
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Offsetting Garbage
This concept is mostly known for CO2 (and is also questionable) but I have come to use it for the common piece of garbage as well. It is both very easy to apply and efficient. Now I hope I can spread the idea among you, read on... ;-).

Sometimes it is unavoidable, especially with kids, to litter a natural place. For a majority of us it will mostly happen unintentionally, like the other day while rafting down the Aare one of the kids lost a plastic container in the water. He was trying to catch fishes <large grin>. Other kids or myself have probably also lost something in the water, we just do not know about it.

At first this little event was upsetting me, upsetting us. We tried to catch it back but a transparent piece of plastic floating below the surface of moving water is very hard to see.

Then I realized that this was just bound to happen. To reach a zero pollution risk that would have implied a list of measures to better control the kids, to their displeasure, of course. They are kids and just want to have fun.

Fortunately there is a very simple solution to my dilemma. It is fairly easy to pick up the trash of others without having to do much searching. Mostly by just looking down at our feet. By doing this I know that our garbage impact on natural places is largely negative as I tend to pick up much more than what I left behind me.

I even consider taking part at some of those river cleaning actions that are organized every summer. That should easily offset me a couple of decades, those when I was a kid myself.
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Having confidence in his fellow
Every now and then life serves me such a flower which definitely helps reset some of my preconceived ideas.

Our little art museum in Thun shut down their little coffee shop sometimes this year to replace it with this self service corner that is now providing us with enough of everything and in quite a cozy setting.

The absolute highlight of these new arrangements is that no one was watching us and I also did not even detect video surveillance. They are fully trusting visitors to not steal anything, to not vandalize and dirty things up, and they are even hopping that visitors will financially participate for the upkeep of the place as well as drinks and food that they have drunk and eaten.

That made my day and a couple more after this one
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"All thinking men are atheists"
Ernest Hemingway
He must have been quite upset when he wrote these words like, I suppose, one can become in the U.S.A, in most of South America or in many North African countries when repeatedly confronted with religious zealotry assaults.

Some further and related thoughts this quote inspired me:

-- Some thinking men are not atheists

-- Some religious men are thinking persons

-- Einstein was neither a religious person nor an atheist but he certainly was a thinking man

Nonetheless for urgent and life critical missions I'd rather favor someone counting on his knowledge, experience and cognitive abilities rather than solely on the words of god. A declared atheist would get an edge in my eyes but I would prefer an agnostic. Live and let live.
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Milan, Take 1
We only spent a few hours in Milan this week but it was just long enough to persuade me that I should come back here soon, alone and with the sole purpose and pleasure to photograph these magnificent architectures. This time I just made a few shots because I could not resist trying it :-).

It was so easy, we only needed from our regular city bus to hop aboard one of those modern tilting trains, seat there quietly a bit less than three hours as we went through the Alps and bingo, Milano - Italia.
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Nancy, France
Last month we spent a weekend in Nancy which happens to be located quite exactly midway between Switzerland and Belgium.

Came Sunday morning and a bit of luck got us a parking spot just next to the cathedral. Of course I couldn't resist peeking in and I was quite rewarded. A majestic carved stone interior hosting an ongoing religious celebration bathed by a great sounding organ.

Silence and contemplation reached everyone effortlessly. Time stopped, several times...
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Nancy,_France
http://www.frenchmoments.com/Nancy_Cathedral.html
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