Have a very happy Purim! And remember, it’s a mitzvah to drink until one cannot tell the difference between “cursed be Haman” and “blessed be Mordecai”!

It has now been four days since I got my electronic cigarette. Four days I haven’t had a real, burning and smoking cigarette. And I am happy, and I feel great.
This thing really works, I must say. I remember the agony of quitting smoking (last time I tried that was in October 2006) and I am really, really glad that I don’t have to go through that again. I’m grateful that I have this great …

Yesterday evening I finally received my long-anticipated electronic cigarette, or, as they’re now called, nicotine inhaler. So, since about 7:20pm yesterday, I haven’t smoked a real, burning cigarette – and the good news is, I don’t even want one.
I was thinking about buying a nicotine inhaler for a long time for all of its benefits – cheaper, healthier and more comfortable than real smoking, but still giving you the feeling of the real thing. And …

Yesterday I had the pleasure to see the We Will Rock You musical in the Dominion Theatre, and, tell you the truth, they really did rock. Me and everyone else there.
It’s a comedy from the future, set in about 2300s when all musical instruments are banned and the world is ruled by a corporation called GlobalSoft, and the Earth is called Planet Mall. Like in today’s world, most people go with the flow and don’t …

I’m sorry for recent radio silence and lack of posts, but as many of you know, I found a job and I am now dedicating my time and efforts on excelling in that – which also effectively means that the amount of daily posts in this blog is reduced significantly.
I promise, however, that I won’t neglect you, my dear friends and readers, and time permitting, in some evenings I’ll try to write occasional posts about …

I remember a time when I was a little boy. I was in a small village in east Estonia, in the middle of winter. My grandfather went to take the car to his garage about a mile away from where he lived. I went with him.
The temperature outside was about -30°C (-22°F). Could have been even colder, because the village was one of the coldest places in the country. When we walked back from the …

The Empire Chronicles received 1,710 unique visitors on average a day in December, altogether 53,011 unique visitors came to the site in the last month of 2009.
December was slightly slower month than November (1,961 unique visitors a day on average, and 58,834 unique users a month altogether), but that can be explained by the slow nature of December – a lot of people take holidays and refrain from using their computers; so smaller figures in …

I wish everyone a very successful, and a very happy new year of 2010. May the last year of the decade be a lot better than the previous one.
2009 was a tough year for everyone. Some say it was the toughest year in last 70 years. The global economic crisis affected most of the people, in some places less, in some more. Britain suffered a great deal, more than any other developed nation, mainly because of all the wrong decisions made in the last 12 years, and the only hope is that the General Election in 2010 will provide the chance for better decisions by better leaders.

Legend says that on 25th December, 2009 years ago, a bearded and long-haired carpenter was born in a barn in Bethlehem, Israel. Some say that later in life, he walked on water, and that he turned water into wine. All we know is…

Despite what we know or don’t, I want to wish a merry Christmas to everyone who’s celebrating it. May this holiday be nice, peaceful and joyous and may all your wishes come true.

Merry Christmas, ladies and gentlemen!

Having now spent about two hours at a south London Tesco, I developed quite a lot of suggestions how to make people’s 24th December a little better and less frustrated.
As they say, 13.3 million people do their Christmas shopping today, which is quite a considerable amount, however, most of those are actually Christmas shopping at the 11th hour and they have no one else but themselves to blame.
I, on the other hand, went to get …

On the weekend I worked on my new personal website, which I can now declare ready and up, and which you can find at www.hankewitz.com. I decided to separate the blog and my personal website, as this blog is more about news and views, and the other page about who and what I am, and what I do.
So please, take a peek and look around there, perhaps you’ll find out something interesting about me. I’ll …

Dear friends,
I wish you a very happy and joyous Hanukkah!
Eat a lot of latkes and sufganiot, spin the dreidel and most importantly, don’t forget to light the candles.
!חנוכה שמח

On average, 1,961 unique users a day visited The Empire Chronicles in November, which is a rather strong result for a one man blog.
November’s daily unique user average was slightly lower than in October (2,061), but still hundreds more than in September (1,252). October has been so far the best month for The Empire Chronicles.
Altogether, 58,834 unique users visited The Empire Chronicles during November (63,898 in October) and they generated 833,390 pageviews (880,090 in October).
The …

Climatologists are puzzled as to why average global temperatures have stopped rising over the last 10 years – some attribute the trend to a lack of sunspots, others explain it through ocean currents. But one thing is certain – “global warming” appears to have stopped, German magazine Der Spiegel writes.
People have been told for last decade or two that it’s the fault of the humans – supposedly it’s something we do that has developed this …

October was an incredibly good month for The Empire Chronicles as our daily average unique visitor count was 2,061 – which is over 800 more than in September (1,252) and over 1,000 more than in August (1,002).
September was so far the best month for The Empire Chronicles and nothing makes me more happy than seeing that it actually wasn’t the peak. 2,061 unique visitors a day for a one-man blog is, I think, quite a …

September was another excellent month for The Empire Chronicles, our daily average unique visitor count was 1252, which is over 250 more than in August (1002) and over 300 more than in July (936).
The surge in daily unique users is of course understandable, as many people returned from their summer holidays and started reading their favourite news sites and blogs again. Altogether 37,562 people visited The Empire Chronicles during September (31,071 in August) and they …