belgium | Alexander Mikhailian

I am a Mobile Viking now

My first request for number porting from the Proximus mobile business acount of my former employer to Mobile Vikings dates from 6th of June. A few dozen emails, several phone calls and one complaint to the Telecom Mediator later, I had my phone number ported to MobileVikings today, July 29.

Liars, big liars and risk managers

This is how the Belgian public credit risk insurance body evaluates risks in select world countries. The country that has the world record of being without the government is rated best, the other, buried down in a full-fledged civil war, is just marginally worse, and the most stable political regime on earth is very risky.

Lies, damn lies and the World Bank

The recent Doing Business '2011 report states on page 98 that Belgium has no limit on the maximum length of fixed-term contracts. AFAIK, this is wrong. The maximum length of fixed-term contracts is 2 years (exceptionally, 3 years). In some sectors, this is down to 6 months. My knowledge dates from 2007, but I bet nothing changed since then.

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Tell me, Sodexo, tell me, Accor, where those unused 7 mln € go each year?

Even Metro can be source of insightful information. Look, 1.4 mln belgians get luncheon vouchers, 0.35% of luncheon vouchers stay unused, so how much do the distribution companies pocket each year on these unused luncheon vouchers?

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Sur l'importance des majuscules

La Première a annoncé aujourd'hui dans son journal de 9 heures le limogage du maire de Moscou Yuri loujkov, qu'ils ont prononcé comme [jʊri jʊjkov]. Le nom du maire est Юрий Лужков, transliteré le plus souvent comme Yuri Loujkov et prononcé comme [jʊri lʊʒkof].

The Belgium Root CA homepage ran with an expired SSL certificate for well over a year, now

It's not that I am searching for epic fails, they are searching for me. Check that site, it comes high in Google SERPs for the eid keyword.

There are more house cleaning jobs in Belgium than IT jobs

Look at the list of 100 most popular professions in Belgium. Sales and medical care jobs are topping. There are two times more public administration workers than IT workers, but IT workers already outnumbered accountants and haulers.

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ICT

Controversial popularity of Belgian music and films

«When I use a word, Humpty Dumpty said in a rather a scornful tone, it means just what I choose it to mean — neither more nor less». © Lewis Carroll

Check out that article from Metro. Seems like the text was written by the Belgian anti-piracy association, and the title — by a Metro editor who tried to please the public by indicating that some still like belgian music and movies.

Now, do the numbers given in the article make any sense to you? What would have changed if they were divided by 100 or multiplied by 1000?

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Intervat or Fight agains the electronic windmills

Belgium has a multitude of e-government solutions. Local residents have now ID cards in the form of a banking card with a chip, there are services to order certificates online with these cards, pay taxes and check for medicines.