Hopefully my last shift forever will be finished in 17 minutes...
Hopefully the light at the end of the tunnel is not a train.
Tags Hope
Thursday, March 02, 2006
Physics seems to get sexy...
Found another blog on physics, which tries to transmit physics (and physicists) to the real world:
Cocktail Party Physics
It seems that physicist try to get rid of the image they have as being very intelligent, but strange people, who look even weirder. Trying not to be the Doc from Back to the future. Which is nice. Most of them aren't. Even within physics there are some astonishingly normal people, some even looking normal. The problem is - there is also a lot of weirdos, and there is a certain geek-culture.
Sometimes you get the impression that people try actually to look like a physicist (meaning look like Einstein), trying to behave like a Physicist (meaning erratically, complete out of this world behaviour), chosing carefully clothes which scream around "I do not care about clothes and dress whatever I find". Nothing against geeks. I think I am one myself. But can't stand the "We are geek! We are different!"-attitude some tend to develop...
And there is very hard problem: the only ones which stay in physics (at least here in Europe) are the weirdos, who will not survive outside university care. All the normal ones leave physics to get a job which is payed much better, has more or less finite working hours and no strange people...
Tags: physics
Cocktail Party Physics
It seems that physicist try to get rid of the image they have as being very intelligent, but strange people, who look even weirder. Trying not to be the Doc from Back to the future. Which is nice. Most of them aren't. Even within physics there are some astonishingly normal people, some even looking normal. The problem is - there is also a lot of weirdos, and there is a certain geek-culture.
Sometimes you get the impression that people try actually to look like a physicist (meaning look like Einstein), trying to behave like a Physicist (meaning erratically, complete out of this world behaviour), chosing carefully clothes which scream around "I do not care about clothes and dress whatever I find". Nothing against geeks. I think I am one myself. But can't stand the "We are geek! We are different!"-attitude some tend to develop...
And there is very hard problem: the only ones which stay in physics (at least here in Europe) are the weirdos, who will not survive outside university care. All the normal ones leave physics to get a job which is payed much better, has more or less finite working hours and no strange people...
Tags: physics
Tuesday, February 28, 2006
Saturday, February 25, 2006
Thursday, February 23, 2006
Comments on Strike
First a short translation for the non portuguese readers: Nuno's and Mariana's comments basically said with said reasoning (see last post) it never works striking against "The State" and if we don't strike now against the raise of 18 minutes, we will have to cope with a lot more minutes in a couple of years. Unions, as corrupt as they may be, at least are fighting for the right side.
Which I don't really discord. My problem with this strike and with a lot of other strikes is: it simply does not work. And that we don't know about anything else is not true. The strike right now transmits no message or the wrong message. The message I get is: Unions tell people to strike about nifty things, cannot prove their point and people will not be on the side of the workers who have to work more and in the end actually fear about loosing their job. Which I thing is a signal that striking in the sense of we just won't work fails.
I can think of a couple of things which you should do better, you might as well. What you want is tor transmit your message to the work, to your employer and to get your rights. So, why don't they use the full PR machinery? The trash removers pass every house. Why not put flyers in the letterboxes. Why not talk to people. Why not get the people on your side instead of just pissing them off? Where is the big announcments in newspapers? Where is the message you want to translate seen? I have not yet seen any consistent thing what they actually strike for and why it is necessary to whine about 18 minutes per day or about working 40 hours a week (by the way, explain why this is bad to somebody who will work something like 60 hours this week, getting paid for 18.5 hours).
Unions (and the left in general) might actually be fighting for the right cause (I never really understood what the left actually wants, if you ask two of them, you get three different answers), but they just can't get the message past. Not even between themselves. Ever talked to them? Ever tried to get a consistent picture what any left wing political party wants?
Don't get me wrong. This is ment provocative. I am actually considering myself on the left side of the political spectrum and think the workers should fight for their cause. I also think if we don't do it now, it might turn much worse and then it is too late. But: having to fight with a very well organized right, fighting against people who will use all your weaknesses, you just cannot afford being dumb. Where are the big posters from the creatives? Where are the left intellectuals we used to have? Where are the consistent movements? All of them disappeared for some leftish gibberish, trying to revive the oh-so-golden days of Soviet Russia, under their great Führer Stalin...
So, to the left: the future is ahead of us. If you want to change anything, look there. Learn from the past, but think for the future. Use whatever media you want, but use all of them and use them aggressively and consistent. Printing flyers you distribute to the masses who pass the factory gate does not work anymore. Print flyers and distribute them everywhere, get the TV, get the Radio, get the Papers. Don't be the left of Marx. Be the left of the future. No longer Viva Marx, Viva Castro. Viva our children! Viva their children!
End of polemics.
Which I don't really discord. My problem with this strike and with a lot of other strikes is: it simply does not work. And that we don't know about anything else is not true. The strike right now transmits no message or the wrong message. The message I get is: Unions tell people to strike about nifty things, cannot prove their point and people will not be on the side of the workers who have to work more and in the end actually fear about loosing their job. Which I thing is a signal that striking in the sense of we just won't work fails.
I can think of a couple of things which you should do better, you might as well. What you want is tor transmit your message to the work, to your employer and to get your rights. So, why don't they use the full PR machinery? The trash removers pass every house. Why not put flyers in the letterboxes. Why not talk to people. Why not get the people on your side instead of just pissing them off? Where is the big announcments in newspapers? Where is the message you want to translate seen? I have not yet seen any consistent thing what they actually strike for and why it is necessary to whine about 18 minutes per day or about working 40 hours a week (by the way, explain why this is bad to somebody who will work something like 60 hours this week, getting paid for 18.5 hours).
Unions (and the left in general) might actually be fighting for the right cause (I never really understood what the left actually wants, if you ask two of them, you get three different answers), but they just can't get the message past. Not even between themselves. Ever talked to them? Ever tried to get a consistent picture what any left wing political party wants?
Don't get me wrong. This is ment provocative. I am actually considering myself on the left side of the political spectrum and think the workers should fight for their cause. I also think if we don't do it now, it might turn much worse and then it is too late. But: having to fight with a very well organized right, fighting against people who will use all your weaknesses, you just cannot afford being dumb. Where are the big posters from the creatives? Where are the left intellectuals we used to have? Where are the consistent movements? All of them disappeared for some leftish gibberish, trying to revive the oh-so-golden days of Soviet Russia, under their great Führer Stalin...
So, to the left: the future is ahead of us. If you want to change anything, look there. Learn from the past, but think for the future. Use whatever media you want, but use all of them and use them aggressively and consistent. Printing flyers you distribute to the masses who pass the factory gate does not work anymore. Print flyers and distribute them everywhere, get the TV, get the Radio, get the Papers. Don't be the left of Marx. Be the left of the future. No longer Viva Marx, Viva Castro. Viva our children! Viva their children!
End of polemics.
Wednesday, February 22, 2006
Garbage.
The following is generally oversimplified and much too short. But I don't want to bore you more than I do anyway...
In Germany, public services are on strike. They fight against a rise of the weekly working hours from 38 to 39.5 hours (or something in that order), so roughly 18 Minutes per working day. That's why garbage is lying around in the streets, why kindergartens and schools are closed.
In my, maybe naive, understanding, a strike is thought to be something you use against your employer, something to pressure your employer. Which is a valid weapon to get yourself heard and to get your rights garantueed. So, whom do they hurt in this case? Children, Parents, basically everybody. Except: the employer, who is "The State". And who does not get hurt by definition. The State does not bloody care. Next elections are in three years, by then everybody forgot about it. Government is a big coalition, opposition is ridicully to non existent, and even if they would be there, hey, they are opposition, so they are generally moaning about. Publicity you get from the strike: look, those idiots fight for a ridiculous cause, using arguments which are void (If you hear them, you wold note that they are definitvely void, as you can use them also to argue against the unions...)
Whom does that strike do good? Maybe the unions, because they had too much money... Politically, these strikes are the dumbest I have seen in a long time (OK, university politics is dumber by far, but that is a different world of students and professors trying to play real people and failing miserably). Time to move on, maybe time to get into the 20th century. The 21st seems still too far. Nowadays wars are fought on different levels, the old methods don't work if you are lucky, and fire back if you aren't.
In Germany, public services are on strike. They fight against a rise of the weekly working hours from 38 to 39.5 hours (or something in that order), so roughly 18 Minutes per working day. That's why garbage is lying around in the streets, why kindergartens and schools are closed.
In my, maybe naive, understanding, a strike is thought to be something you use against your employer, something to pressure your employer. Which is a valid weapon to get yourself heard and to get your rights garantueed. So, whom do they hurt in this case? Children, Parents, basically everybody. Except: the employer, who is "The State". And who does not get hurt by definition. The State does not bloody care. Next elections are in three years, by then everybody forgot about it. Government is a big coalition, opposition is ridicully to non existent, and even if they would be there, hey, they are opposition, so they are generally moaning about. Publicity you get from the strike: look, those idiots fight for a ridiculous cause, using arguments which are void (If you hear them, you wold note that they are definitvely void, as you can use them also to argue against the unions...)
Whom does that strike do good? Maybe the unions, because they had too much money... Politically, these strikes are the dumbest I have seen in a long time (OK, university politics is dumber by far, but that is a different world of students and professors trying to play real people and failing miserably). Time to move on, maybe time to get into the 20th century. The 21st seems still too far. Nowadays wars are fought on different levels, the old methods don't work if you are lucky, and fire back if you aren't.
Sunday, February 19, 2006
Predictions
A few days ago a friend of mine said that now, as I have my classic car, all my friends are going to marry and I have to drive them around. I though that a funny remark. So, at 09.09.2006 I will be close to Bremervörde driving friends to their wedding...
Register soon, the price will go up :-)
Register soon, the price will go up :-)
Friday, February 17, 2006
Friday, February 10, 2006
It's all Israels fault...
I just like the reasoning of certain islamist dictators that dumb danish cartoons are all created by the zionistic international conspiracy and it's all Israels fault. Besides that, this post at cosmic variance wraps up mostly what I am thinking about the cartoon story as well.
Tuesday, February 07, 2006
Escape from Hell
The car dealer where Markus and I went last week burned down (Image above shamelessly stolen from spiegel.de). Around 50 vintage cars worth more than 10 Million of Euros were destroyed. Just by sheer luck the DKW I bought was already put on the delivery truck on friday, together with an old Volvo. These were the last two cars to leave the shop in a non-burned state.
My DKW arrived today, around 21:00, slightly wet by the rain but alive. So, be prepared that this blog will turn into a praise how marvelous DKW cars are and that my car is the coolest car evar!
Saturday, February 04, 2006
Friday, February 03, 2006
Sunday, January 29, 2006
Cars, Pimps, and Düsseldorf or The lifestyle of the rich, the famous and the average PhD studends
Markus and me went yesterday to Düsseldorf. Markus went to not buy a Rolls Royce (partly because it wouldn't fit into his garage, partly because his Golden Credit Card (TM) was on limit). Me to look at an old DKW and probably not buy it.
After arriving at what we thought would be an industrial area somewhere outside Düsseldorf but indeed being a side street of the Kö (Düsseldorf's most expensice shopping mile) entering the car saler. Spent some time looking at Bentleys, Rolls, Jags, Car-brands I never heard of the owner steps in. Just back from Cuba, sweetheart of Düsseldorf's high society, dumped his super-model wife for a 17 year old school girl (as we learned from the newspaper snips on the wall). While showing me the DKW he greets his friends, who just entered. Two guys from Köln, white clothing, just arrived with their Porsche Cayenne, both with bubble-perms, one of them huge golden sunglasses, looking suspiciously pimpy. Beginning four hours of interesting fun, chatting about Rolls, Jags, old cars dumped in a forest as art with them. I decided to buy the DKW. But I have to wait, as an arabian prince arrives in a Maybach he drove to try out, wanting to buy the Maybach and a couple of Mercedes. An hour later, I got the contract and hopefully the car will arrive soon...
So this is my new car:
A DKW F8 Meisterklasse, 2 cylinders (two stroke engine), 684ccm, 17kW (20HP), three gears with strange gear-stick (same technique as in a 2CV), build in 1939. Four seats, suicide doors, brilliant state. And mine :-)
After arriving at what we thought would be an industrial area somewhere outside Düsseldorf but indeed being a side street of the Kö (Düsseldorf's most expensice shopping mile) entering the car saler. Spent some time looking at Bentleys, Rolls, Jags, Car-brands I never heard of the owner steps in. Just back from Cuba, sweetheart of Düsseldorf's high society, dumped his super-model wife for a 17 year old school girl (as we learned from the newspaper snips on the wall). While showing me the DKW he greets his friends, who just entered. Two guys from Köln, white clothing, just arrived with their Porsche Cayenne, both with bubble-perms, one of them huge golden sunglasses, looking suspiciously pimpy. Beginning four hours of interesting fun, chatting about Rolls, Jags, old cars dumped in a forest as art with them. I decided to buy the DKW. But I have to wait, as an arabian prince arrives in a Maybach he drove to try out, wanting to buy the Maybach and a couple of Mercedes. An hour later, I got the contract and hopefully the car will arrive soon...
So this is my new car:
A DKW F8 Meisterklasse, 2 cylinders (two stroke engine), 684ccm, 17kW (20HP), three gears with strange gear-stick (same technique as in a 2CV), build in 1939. Four seats, suicide doors, brilliant state. And mine :-)
Thursday, January 26, 2006
Education
Ientends & veulx que tu aprenes les langues parfaictement. Premierement la Grecque comme le veult Quintilian. Secondement la latine. Et puis l'Hebraicque pour les sainctes lettres, & la Chaldeicque & Arabicque pareillement: & que tu formes ton stille, quant à la Grecque, à l'imitation de Platon, quant à la Latine, à Ciceron. Qu'il n'y ait histoire que tu ne tiengne en memoire presente, à quoy te aydera la Cosmographie de ceulx qui en ont escript. Les ars liberaulx, Geometrie, Arismetique, & Musicque, Ie t'en donnay quelque goñt quand tu estoys encores petit en l'aage de cinq à six ans: poursuys le reste, & de Astronomie saches en tous les canons, laisse moy l'Astrologie divinatrice, et art de Lucius comme abuz et vanitez. Du droit Civil ie veulx que tu saches par cueur les beaulx textes, et me les confere avecques la philosophie. Et quant à la congnoissance des faitz de nature, Ie veulx que tu t'y adonne curieusement, qu'il n'y ait mer, ryviere, ny fontaine, dont tu ne congnoisse les poissons, tous les oyseaulx de l'air, tous les arbres arbustes & fructices des forestz, toutes les herbes de la terre, tous les metaulx cachez au ventre des abysmes, les pierreries de tout orient & midy, riens ne te soit incongneu. Puis songneusement revisite les livres des medecins, Grecs, Arabes, & Latins, sans contemner les Thalmudistes & Cabalistes, & par frequentes anatomyes acquiers toy parfaicte congnoissance de l'aultre monde, qui est l'homme. Et par quelques heures du iour comme à visiter les sainctes letttres. Premierement en Grec le nouveau testament et Epistres des apostres, & puis en Hebrieu le vieulx testament. Somme que ie voye ung abysme de science: car doresnavant que tu deviens homme & te fais grand, il te fauldra issir de ceste tranquillité & repos d'estude: & apprendre la chevalerie & les armes, pour defendre ma maison, & nos amys secourir en tous leurs affaires contre les assaulx des malfaisans.
Rabelais - Pantagruel - Les horribles et espouvantables faictz & prouesses du tresrenommé Pantagruel Roy des Dipsodes, filz du grand geant Gargantua, Composez nouvellement par maistre Alcofrybas Nasier.
Tuesday, January 24, 2006
Nostalgy
Re-read some posts from two years ago. Kind of interesting to see what I thought at that time, what my mood was at that time and how I thought I will only spend half a year or so in Hamburg. It's now something like one and a half year I have spent between Hamburg and Erlangen and I still prefer the little province town to the big booming city full of opportunities. Fun to see where you change and where not...
2nd Anniversary
Micha kindly reminded me that today is the 2nd anniversary of this blog... So I watched a movie. Fitzcarraldo. For me, one of the best movies ever. For various reasons:
They did carry a fucking big ship over a hill in the amazonian rain forest.
They passed some rapids with said ship. The main actor and camera crew aboard, resulting only in a dislocated shoulder of the cameraman.
And Kinski at his best. During shooting of the movie one of the indian chiefs offered to kill him, as he was always fighting with the director and generally mad.
They did carry a fucking big ship over a hill in the amazonian rain forest.
They passed some rapids with said ship. The main actor and camera crew aboard, resulting only in a dislocated shoulder of the cameraman.
And Kinski at his best. During shooting of the movie one of the indian chiefs offered to kill him, as he was always fighting with the director and generally mad.
Sunday, January 22, 2006
Saturday, January 21, 2006
Statistics...
Around 70% of the 11-15 year olds questioned said they did not picture scientists as "normal young and attractive men and women".
Among those who said they would not like to be scientists, reasons included: "Because you would constantly be depressed and tired and not have time for family", and "because they all wear big glasses and white coats and I am female".
Found at the BBC. As it speaks for itself I will refrain from any comments...
UPDATE: Also an interesting post on the same article on cosmic variance. Especially nice are the pictures :-)
Wednesday, January 18, 2006
IKB
Been to an art museum on sunday. This is the most impressive painting I saw. (Actually it isn't. This is Monochrome 79. I saw Monochrome 43 (or something). But you get the idea).
Tuesday, January 17, 2006
Women in Physics
A lot of physicists grew up as socially awkward adolescents — not exactly the captain of the football team, if you know what I mean — and have found that as scientists they can suddenly be the powerful bullies in the room, and their delight in this role helps to forge a strangely macho and exclusionary culture out of what should be a joyful pursuit of the secrets of the universe.
CosmicVariance has a post on women in physics and why there are only so few of them. Above quotation not only might indicate why, it also shows why working in physics sucks. It's not only the treatment of women, physics I think is gender-indifferent in most physicist being socially retarted idiots. Men are just used to it, as we are more prone to be one ourself. So, instead of concluding that we need more women in physics, I would conclude we need more socially apt people. Which might not necessarily be women, but, as you can also read in the post (there cited as an argument of macho-idiot-phyiscists like me), women actually do look better...
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)
