08.09.08
Paralympics Medal Table
Since I saw parts of the opening ceremony of the Paralympics on TV during the weekend, I was curious to find out some more about the schedule and the current table of medals today. Of course I first went to the Zeit, since I already followed their coverage of the Olympics. But it seems that they scrapped the website they created for the Olympics (including a news ticker, table of medals, background information etc.) instead of just reusing it for the Paralympics. It's easy to miss the Paralympics-related information (even the medals) amongst all the other sports coverage that's going on in the meantime. Even Google was not very helpful. That's really a pity. Whether you have a physical disability or not, the paralympics are a big event worthy of attention. But it seems the media aren't really interested, even though I find the Chinese put a lot of effort into their impressive opening ceremony. Fortunately, I found some information on the BBC website: Amongst "Other sport...", they at least have a collection of their Paralympics coverage and even theMedals Table I was looking for.
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05.06.08
Modernes Medienfreiwild
„Woher soll der normale Fernsehzuschauer wissen, wie gefährlich ein Fernsehauftritt werden kann?“Beim Mails aufräumen gefunden: Spiegel Online schrieb schon vor einiger Zeit mal über das Schicksal von DSDS-Kandidaten, die vor laufender Kamera mangelndes Talent bewiesen. Von Hunderten von Anrufen wird berichtet; sogar die gläserne Haustür eines Kandidaten wurde eingetreten. Was mir allerdings auffiel: Es ist nur von einem Mangel an Verantwortung seitens RTL die Rede, nicht aber von einem Mangel an Verantwortung seitens einer Gesellschaft, die solche Opfer als Freiwild betrachtet. Man muss sich ja schon mal fragen, welche Affen sich hier ihr Ego boosten, indem sie ihnen unbekannte Personen anrufen und ihnen Schimpfworte an den Kopf werfen...
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28.03.08
Glückskekse
Für alle X, wobei X Element ist von Q, gilt, dass wenn P, dann auch X. Und dann dämmert es einem, dass moderne, analytische Philosophie etwas anderes ist als die Mischung aus Glückskeksweisheiten und Psychologie, für die sie oft gehalten wird.Die Zeit schreibt über Philosophen. Nett zu lesen!
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02.05.07
International Health Services
It was very helpful to have travel health insurance from a German insurance company (DKV) during my studies in Singapore. They refunded everything I paid for medical bills quickly and without any hassle, and my Singaporean friends couldn't believe that everything was paid for by the insurance.
Unfortunately, Simon doesn't seem to be as well off - he's currently having problems with International Health Services (IHS). I hope he will get his money back despite all these problems...
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23.03.07
Sex sells
Via the Schockwellenreiter I read about Muzi Mei again. The Süddeutsche also has a interesting interview (in German), and there's a video interview on YouTube.
I can't really share the ecstasy about what she was able to accomplish. That doesn't mean I want to play down the oppressive structures surely still found in the Chinese society. But it is a bit disappointing when the goal of working against these structures seems to be only to be able to live out your own sexuality freely and without constraints. At least Muzi Mei seems to hope that others will be able to enjoy the same benefits. Otherwise, I'd see her endavours as purely egoistic.
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05.07.06
The end of a dream
Since yesterday, the German aspirations for winning the world cup have come to an abrupt end. Before the cup, I wouldn't have thought that I would be so fascinated by the games. To be honest, I was always a bit cantankerous about the world cup :-). But during the cup, I was caught by the atmosphere - like so many.
For me, the best player was Jürgen Klinsmann (the German coach). I am very impressed that he managed to enforce the things he was competent in and listen to advisors when he needed it, to neither be overwhelmed by the existing structures nor to try to fight on his own. In the end, he managed to turn the image of German soccer upside down - both inside and outside of Germany. One can be justly proud of the German team's intelligent, fair and fast soccer play.
I hope that his courage will find many imitators. Not just in our federal soccer league, but also in German politics.
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22.03.06
New cooking insights
A while ago, a friend recommended parsnips to me – a rather underrated vegetable that is not used a lot in Germany. I bought some in a local organic foods shop and fried them with a bit of curcuma, garlic, mixed pepper and laurel. Very nice!
Today I found out that the remaining parsnips taste very nice if you use them to cook curry, especially if you cook curry without lime. Unfortunately, I used a remaining lime for tonight's curry. Bad idea…
Well, that happens when doing improvised cooking. In future, I will not use sour stuff for curry anyomore, I promise! I will only use lime for fruit salad and tom yam soup.
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11.03.06
What suits you
Currently, I'm looking for a new suit. Apart from driving to Metzingen and browsing through the shops at Königsstraße I also went to Google to get some more information.
The respective articles on the German wikipedia are not very detailed, but the English version is a good start to know everything about suits zu Gemüte zu führen – for example, how to button them (button up all except the lowest button). It's also nice to know the difference between a black tie (what we call a “smoking” in German) and a penguin white tie.
In the German Wikipedia I found a few more interesting things, for example a suit for lazy politicians. I also enjoyed Emily Posts Etiquette, an øeuvre from 1922, which was referenced from Wikipedia. So it seems that to cover all occasions, I should buy at least five to six different suits. And of course, I should buy each suit at least twice so I can change daily.
The Austrian Stoffwerk has a few helpful hints how to dress correctly and really makes me want to have a suit cut to measure.
TailorShirts also offers shirts cut to measure – you have to measure yourself, then you can order your shirts via the internet. I didn't manage to find out anything about the company, though. Ziami is less secretive: Their shirts and suits are manufactured in Thailand, which explains their incredibly low prices. According to them, their distribution is based on direct marketing, but to me, it seems more like an MLM scheme. They seem to be rather successful, but that doesn't mean they're trustworthy…
Verfasst von crenz um 20:55 | Kommentare (0) | TrackBack
27.01.06
If you try to be ethical, that's your fault
In the last few days, most online news sites discussed Google's new Chinese search engine that is subject to Chinese regulations and censorship. Previously, unwanted (by the Chinese government) websites could be seen via Google's search results, but were filtered by the ISPs inside China. Now, Google does the filtering itself. Today, Google posted a blog entry detailing the reasoning for their decision.
The articles I read about the whole incident mostly imply that Google is trying to wiggle its way around its own rule “Don't be evil” in order to make more profits. Some articles at least mentioned that many major search engines and web services have already quietly succumbed to the demands of the Chinese government, and Spiegel Online even went as far as to imply that Yahoo was actually more honest by plainly admitting they introduced filtering to get more business in China.
The whole issue is not simple, and both Google's arguments as well as those of the critics have their merits. But one thing really struck me: While Yahoo and other companies had been criticised for their actions in the past, they drew nowhere near as much flak as Google. Many expect Google to explain themselves, without requiring the same of other companies in the same situation (I'd be interested in the terms of MSN's spaces service that is very popular in China, for example). So what's the lesson in here?
Rather than trying to not be evil (and sometimes failing at it), it seems people vastly prefer it if you're just openly evil.
Verfasst von crenz um 23:33 | Kommentare (0) | TrackBack
17.01.06
January 17th
Today is my - and a few other people's - birthday.
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13.01.06
Caution: DRM inside
Via / musing / struggling / dreaming /, I found this interesting article on DRM consequences on groklaw.net.
For many people, computers have attained the status of a tool that helps them in many different areas of life: Recreation, keeping contacts with people, content-creation, additional or main means of telecommunication, main tool to earn a living… I certainly have become quite dependant on my machine. This makes the demands of the copyright management industry (a term I much prefer to “content creation”) all the more threatening – even more so since I create content on my machine myself, and I certainly wouldn‘t want my own MP3 or AAC files to be subject to some rootkit's scrutiny.
I hope Apple won't give in too much…
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23.12.05
Chinese Expressions
Zoe from Shanghai has a list of chinese expressions and their english translations on her blog. I guess she took them from a Chinese book to learn English, but for me, they are useful as well.
I'd say “谢谢” to her, but I don't want to sign up for a Microsoft Passport just to leave comments on a blog…
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18.11.05
Hardcore Granny
Her current lifestyle - getting up, playing computer games for a few hours, reading a good book, painting, playing computer golf with her grandchildren and then back to chasing zombies - reflects the future of our society. (...) “I am sure I will be playing computer games till the end of my life”.
Oma Hardcore im God Mode, Spiegel Online
Seems spending time to interact with and help others is not desirable anymore. That is a sad target to reach at the end of your life.
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26.09.05
Wladimir Kaminer on arts
In an interview with Spiegel Online, Wladimir Kaminer shares his very interesting viewpoint on art:
The remainder of the interview is worth a read as wellSPIEGEL ONLINE: Sie haben gesagt: „Ich will keine Kunst machen, sondern das Gegenteil“. Aber was ist, erstens, schlecht an Kunst und zweitens, was bitte, ist ihr Gegenteil?
Kaminer: Kunst fällt für mich unter den Begriff der Schöpfung. Der Künstler stellt sich mit Gott auf eine Stufe und sagt: „Find ich alles unkorrekt. Ich will das besser machen.“ Dann schafft er einen Gegenentwurf. In der Regel sieht der noch pissiger aus als die realexistierende Schöpfung - oder ist angeberisch, unwürdig.
SPIEGEL ONLINE: Und das Gegenteil dazu ...
Kaminer: ... ist Forschung. Da sagst du: „Okay, das sieht alles ziemlich schräg aus. Aber wahrscheinlich liegt es an uns Menschen. Wir werden wohl nie herausbekommen, wie alles miteinander verbunden ist. Aber wir versuchen zu forschen, um diese Feinheiten zu aufzuklären!“ In der Kunst behauptet der Künstler sich selbst. In der Forschung kniet man quasi vor der Schöpfung. Dieses Knien kann man natürlich auf unterschiedliche Art und Weise machen.
Verfasst von crenz um 06:52 | Kommentare (0) | TrackBack
09.06.05
Open Business Club
Social networks seem to be one of the "in-things" on the Internet right now. So far, I wasn't really convinced: Friendster didn't really do anything for me, and the report of Steve Lawson on sms.ac convinced me to not join.
A few days ago, Alexander Benner invited me to the Open Business Club. My main motivation to join was to get in touch with potential employers. However, after only one day of research, I managed to get in touch with former colleagues, customers and other friends. I was totally surprised to see how many people are part of this that I already know. So now I'm a believer :-).
I am especially glad that not only are the usual suspects part of this (people in business, MBAs etc.), but also musicians and pastors and from all kinds of businesses. I look forward to the fruitful exchange with people from the many areas that I'm active in.
The whole site seems to be genuine: You can use it even without paying, and there's no gratification for convincing people to join (expect the contacts coming from that), so it seems to be more about quality than quantity.
Sign up at OpenBC (and add me as contact).
Verfasst von crenz um 09:18 | Kommentare (0) | TrackBack