arcadiy.org

The "official website" of Arcadiy Kantor, trying to justify its existence.

If you have no wish, how can it possibly come true?
— Seth Godin, Ruby Slippers
June 19th, 2009 / 0 Comments / Trackback

Bing, Opera Style

If you haven't heard of Microsoft's new search engine, Bing, you should try it out. It actually works surprisingly well. Unfortunately, the Opera browser does not currently include Bing in its search box, so you have to add it manually. Here's how:

  • Go to the Bing home page at bing.com. Look at the pretty picture and read the fun captions. :) Then right click on the search box and select "Create search."
  • In the Create Search box, you can leave the "Keyword" field blank, or assign it a letter or two to quickly perform a Bing search from the address bar.
  • Click on "Details." Tick the two check boxes that appear: "Use as default search engine" and "Use as speed dial search engine."
  • Click "OK"

And you're set!

June 6th, 2009 / 0 Comments / Trackback

trimbookmarklet.png

Opera bookmarklet for tr.im

I signed up for the pretty cool URL-shortening service tr.im today, mostly because of the statistics it enables users to view about each link. (Yes, there are issues with using URL shorteners, but if you have to use them, you may as well use a good one.) To make using it more convenient, I wanted to add a button to my browser to automatically shorten a URL.

They had a convenient bookmarklet that worked in Opera, my web browser of choice, but when I added it, I realized all custom buttons get the same default icon in Opera, the "new bookmark" icon. I was already using that for my delicious bookmarklet, and I didn't want two stars I'd get confused between in my menu bar. So I whipped up a custom button using Opera's "Fit to width" image. The screenshot shows how it looks. If you're using Opera and want to add it, just drag this link to a menu bar:

tr.im URL

May 1st, 2009 / 0 Comments / Trackback

todolist.jpg

... and it's killing me.

April 10th, 2009 / 1 Comment / Trackback

Little things

Today I found out that an email I forwarded after giving it about 30 seconds of thought was one of the reasons that contributed to a friend applying for a year-long super cool leadership position in AIESEC Southern Cone.

Yet another reminder of the power of tiny actions that ripple out and have surprising effects. I don't for one second take full, or even majority, credit for her decision. I just know that I'm proud to have played a role, however small.

It makes me think: what can each of us do with just 5-10 minutes a day that can truly make a difference? If we could always change someone's life with a few minutes of thought and a few minutes of action, what would we choose to do? And how do we make our few minutes count for as much as possible?

March 23rd, 2009 / 1 Comment / Trackback

The Itinerary

Some of you might know that I am currently doing some traveling. I'll try to keep up with my blog and post throughout this time, but I can't make any promises. In the meantime, here's my tentative itinerary, not including any possible side trips while I am in Moldova.

  • January 21 - February 2: Almaty, Kazakhstan
  • February 3 - March 24: Balti, Moldova
  • March 25 - March 29: Pärnu, Estonia
  • March 30 - April 7: Traveling around the Baltic countries
  • April 7 - May 5: Atlanta
  • May 5 - May 11: Road trip across the U.S.
  • May 12 on: Seattle, WA

If you find yourself in or near any of these places while I am there, I'd love to meet you!

January 26th, 2009 / 0 Comments / Trackback
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