When it comes to applications or websites for the masses, it's not about usability, it's about userbase. I noticed this yesterday, when a new friend of mine invited me to use facebook. Currently I'm using Hyves, a Dutch social network to keep in touch with friends and Linkedin for some business contacts. Since a few months I'm also familiar with vkontakte, a big Russian network, but I don't have my own account there. During my recent trip to St. Petersburg, I made some new friends and one asked me if I had a facebook account. I didn't have one yet, but I decided to get one, just to keep in contact with my international friends. I've been playing around with it for some time now and I must say that it's so much better than Hyves. Basically Hyves sucks; it's slow, ugly and very hairy in navigation. But why is it the biggest network in the Netherlands? Not because it's user friendly, but because everybody uses it. Obviously the nature of social networks contributes to this kind of behaviour; who wants to be on a network without any friends? But I think this statement is also true for a lot of other software. Since the days of byte-islands have passed a long time ago, it's necessary to interface, and so, using what everybody uses is key. This is true for file formats, but also for usage of applications in general. The people I know are mostly geeks or have some affinity with IT. For them it's easy to use something out of the ordinary, because they can manage (converting file formats, jumping through holes to get their linux machine hooked up to a mac, finding out how a different system works, etc), but for the masses the most important thing seems to be able to do what everybody does. Only to be able to ask a non geeky friend how things work. The geeky geeky friend wouldn't know it anyway; my usual response normally is "ooh, I don't know this windows stuff.. I use Linux.."
Archive for June, 2008
Last week was a busy, but great one. Friday morning, Jur and I took the train from Utrecht CS to Schiphol airport. There we first had to pick up our tickets, since Rossiya Air doesn't do the nifty e-ticketing yet. After the woman behind the counter finally found our tickets, it was check-in time. All went smoothly and after jumping the queue at the passport control by waving our Privium passes, we had some time to buy stuff at the duty free shops. Since Jur didn't have a present for Elena yet and we needed some extra orange stuff for the upcoming match we spent some money in one of the many souvenir shops that are at the Schiphol terminals. The rest was pretty standard; walking to the gate and finally boarding the plane.
After 2.5 hours in the air, we arrived at St. Peterburg airport. Customs took some time, but finally I saw her again in the arrival hall! It had only been 2 weeks since we'd been apart again, but I was so glad to see her again. By bus and metro we went to the apartments we rented and there, we had to say goodbye to Elena, since she had snuk out of the office and had to finish some work until 21:00. This was OK, since there was some unfinished business I had to take care of. First we went to the bakery to pay for the birthday cake I ordered. Katja, a friend of Elena helped me with preparing earlier on and helped me communicating with the girls at the bakery, but only by phone. Finally I payed and understood that the cake (with Miffy/Nijntje on it) would be ready at 16:00 the next day.
Next stop was the restaurant. I called them before and already made a reservation for 15 to 20 people, but they asked me to come to the restaurant before Saturday to discuss the evening. Since we had about 3 hours to take care of this and the restaurant was 45 minute drive from the city center, we took the metro to a train station on the north side of the city from where we wanted to take a train. When we arrived at the metro station we discovered that we took a big detour and found out that we just missed the train by 5 minutes. The next train would go an hour later, so we decided to take a taxi to the restaurant. After about 30 minutes we arrived there and had a nice meeting with an English speaking waitress and the manager. We created a menu and talked about all things involved. At first, the manager didn't allow us to bring our own cake, but after giving her a very sweet look, she finally agreed. All set, we took a bus back to the city and picked up Elena from her work. Here we met some people I worked with in a previous project and finally went to have dinner.
After dinner, Elena showed us a part of the city, next to the Neva river, where all sorts of festivities were, since it was the day that a lot of high school kids graduated. There was a big concert next to the river and lots of people looking at boats on the river. The atmosphere was very good and all people were happy. During this time of year, the sun doesn't go down and I found it pretty awkward to be on the street at midnight without complete darkness. The sun is somewhere on the horizon at 2 o'clock in the morning and it never gets completely dark.
Somewhere at 1 AM, Elena had to go home, so I decided to bring her (we took a car) and went back to the apartment. Jur and I decided to go out for a beer and finally found a nice pub where we could sit outside. Then it was off to bed.
The next day, Jur and I went to get a car we rented, but we couldn't find the rental place so we decided to skip this because we didn't need a car anyway. After, I went to Elena's house to meet her parents for the first time. I'm not a hero when it comes to the meet-the-parents-thing, but now I was even more nervous, since I didn't know what to expect in terms of the language barrier and cultural differences, but finally everything turned out very well. I felt very welcome and after the tour around the house, I had nice conversations with both Elena's mom and dad. I felt at home very quickly.
After some time Elena had to go to the hairdresser to get a new haircut for the evening and I went with her. The girl at the salon did a great job and she looked stunning. After she changed clothes at home we were off to go to celebrate her birthday. First we took a taxi to the apartment, so I could change my clothes and met there Oleg, a friend of Elena. I quickly went to get the cake, which turned out great. Then we took a taxi to the restaurant.
The restaurant was about 40 minutes by taxi and we arrived secondly, just after Julia and her boyfriend Andrei. The table was made and the menu was printed and closed with a seal. The cake was put in to the fridge by the staff. In 30 minutes all guests were there and the party started. Elena got a load of gifts from her friends and lots of flowers. For starters, guests could choose from the menu and as a main course the restaurant prepared a big meat and fish dish, a couple of big plates on the table where people could take from. The food was really good and very tasty and also the service was super. Dirty cutlery was replaced instantly and our waitress was very friendly, but also nice to look at. Especially Jur found her very interesting. Somewhere during the evening, Elena whispered to me that she would get the girls phone number if Jur didn't ask himself. As far as I know, everybody had fun and enjoyed the food, drinks and talks. After dinner we went for a quick walk to the beach, just to look at the sun going down and get some fresh air.
When we got back after 30 minutes, the soccer match between the Netherlands and Russia was about to start. Before, we had decided to watch it at the restaurant, since they had put up a big screen. Even though Jur and I were the only Dutch guys there, we still were dressed in orange. The match was very exciting, but finally Russia turned out to be the stronger team. Too bad for my country, but I think we were lucky to be in Russia when they won and not back home, since the party then really started. People dancing, shouting, singing and going completely crazy. One random guy in the restaurant came to us to thank for the game and was shouting "My friends! My friends" all the time. After taking some pictures with him, I decided to give him my orange "Holland" cap. After some time, we decided to go, but not before Elena got the waitress' (called Maria) number for Jur. We got a ride from Slava back to the apartment. Since I was completely exhausted, I decided to go to sleep, while Jur decided to go out. He wanted to go to the city center, but since all bridges open during the night, his ride there took him over an hour, but apparently he had a great time there, partying with people in the street.
The next day, I spent some time with Elena in the city center, before going to her parents house again for dinner. This time, Jur joined us also and we had great Middle Asian food, prepared by Elena's dad. After lots of nice stories from her parents, we went back to the city center to check St. Pete's night life. Finally we ended up in a place called Rossi's with lots of girls on the dance floor. After some time, Elena said goodbye, for she was very tired. Jur and I stayed until very late and drank too much.
The day after, we decided to go to Peterhof, the Russian Versaille, but first, Jur and I had to go to some office to get a registration for our visa. After we met with Elena to go to Peterhof. At first, Maria would join us, but since she had exams, she didn't have time. However, she told us that I had left my credit card at the restaurant, but that she woulld take it with her, so we could get it from her. By hydrofoil boat it took about 30 minutes to arrive at Peterhof, which is located on the south side of Spb. Peterhof is a lovely place with lots of fountains, golden statues and nice trees. After walking around for some time and taking pictures, we took a bus back to the city, where we had Sushi at a great restaurant and some cocktails at the 7SkyBar, a trendy bar located on the top floor of a big shopping mall. After this I went back and off to bed and Jur decided to go to the city again to party.
The following day there was news that the invitation for my Russian business visa was ready. Also, we had to get our registration. First Jur and I went to the registration office, only to find out that the registration wasn't finished, but should be picked up later that day. Jur would take care of this after his visit to the Hermitage museum. Me and Elena met in a different part of the city to get my invitation. After this, Maria called where we could meet her so she could give me back my credit card. We met her, but she didn't have much time to talk, because she was going to celebrate her holiday, but told us that we should really call her next time we were in Russia. Then Elena en I went to her parents place for dinner again. Jur was also invited, but spent 2 hours in the queue for the Hermitage, so he decided to get some dinner by himself after the museum. After lovely dinner and a nice conversation, we went to the theater to watch Tchaikovsky's Nutcracker. Elena got two tickets from her colleagues for this beautiful ballet. Since we were in a big traffic jam while driving there, we were about 10 minutes late. Our tickets said that we had places in a lodge somewhere, but since we were late, they put us in a very nice place, just in front of the stage!
After the ballet, I went back to the apartment again and said goodbye to Elena. On the way, I bought some beers to celebrate our great time in Spb with Jur. At the apartment we drank a bit, just until Jur got a text message from a girl he had met in a taxi, the night before, asking him to join her at a birthday party somewhere in the center. Even though it was going to be a short night (we had to get a taxi at 6 AM back to the airport), he decided to go there anyway. I packed my stuff and fell sound a sleep at 1 AM, for I was exhausted.
At 5:45, my alarm clock sounded and I got up, took a quick shower and waited for the taxi. Elena called that we should go downstairs, because she arrived. 30 minutes we were at the airport. After standing in a queue for security it was time to say goodbye. This part is always the hardest. After a long kiss, I finally went through security. Before check-in we had to wait again in a very big queue, but finally we checked in our stuff. Then through customs, security again and then to the airplane.
Some 2.5 hours later, I arrived on Dutch soil again. Completely exhausted, but it was all worth it. The hardest is the emptiness that sets in after saying goodbye, but I'm going back to Russia in 25 days. I decided to shorten my trip to NYC by one week and then go to see my girl again.
Looks like things are really coming together. As I wrote before, I'll be in Saint-Petersburg the coming weekend. People who watch the Euro 2008 soccer championship know that the Netherlands is through to the quarter finals, but who will they play there? Well, this really depends on who will win the match Russia vs Sweden. The one who wins will be second in that group and will play the quarter finals agains the Netherlands. Obviously, I hope that Russia will win, but not only because I have a special connection with that country, but also because it would be very nice to watch that game in Russia itself.
I've already spoken about this with a Russian friend of mine and he already booked seats at a sports bar, somewhere in the city center of Saint-Petersburg. Elena also wants to see this match, so after her birthday, we will go there to watch the game.
As I wrote before, I'm going to be in St. Petersburg from next Friday until the Wednesday after. Obviously, I'm very much looking forward to this and really can't wait to arrive there. Since it's Elena's birthday, but she didn't want to organize something big, I decided to organize the party. Because it should be a surprise, I can't tell too much about it here, but I'm almost ready in organizing it and I hope it's going to be a blast. It's very interesting to organize a birthday from 1700 km away and do much of it online. Luckily, some friends of Elena are very willing to help me, which makes things easier.
Next to that, the place to stay has finally been arranged. Since the 21st of June is mid-summer night (in Russia, they call this white nights, since the sun will not go down), the city is swamped with tourists and other people that want to be there for a lot of festivities. As far as I heard, that weekend there will also be lots of festivities because of students graduating and thus partying. Elena called more than a hundred hotels to check for vacant rooms, but all hotels were booked. Finally she found an apartment in a nice location.
So, all is set and I'm really excited to be in Russia again! I even found a solution for my cats; Sanne offered to look after them and will sit my house as well during my stay in Russia. Super!
Last weekend I went to Kiev, Ukraine. This was because the Ukraine is one of the few countries me and her can visit without a visa. Since I made a great business deal last week, I decided that we should celebrate this. Therefore we decided to meet in Kiev. Since we both couldn't take days off we only had a weekend.
Last Saturday morning, I took a plane from Amsterdam and arrived in Kiev around 11:30. She was already there and from the airport we took the bus and metro to the apartment we rented, somewhere in the city center. Kiev is nice city, but since the whole purpose of the trip was to be able to see eachother again, I didn't see too much of it. After spending some time at the apartment, we went out for diner and had sushi in a place across the street. After, we went to the main square and walked around a bit. Then we went back to the apartment to spend the night together.
The following morning, we took it easy and finally went back to the airport, because her flight left at 16:50. After saying goodbye, I went back on my own to the apartment again, since my flight would be at 6:45 the next morning. I figured I should get some sleep, since my taxi would pick me up at 4:00, but I couldn't sleep actually after the lovely time we spent together. I only slept for about 2 hours before I got up. The taxi ride was pretty ok and I even had a chat with the driver, half in English, half in Russian. At 8:40, I landed in Amsterdam again. Since I had a business meeting in the afternoon in Leeuwarden, I rushed back home, fed the cats and took the train to Leeuwarden, which is a 2 hour trip. After the meeting, I went back home, completely exhausted. Luckily, last night I was able to get some sleep finally. Too bad it was only 30 hours I spent with her, but it's only 15 days until I travel to Russia again! Really can't wait.
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