I'm back in Erlangen.
And found an interesting article on liberal communism. (via 3QD)
Saturday, April 01, 2006
Friday, March 24, 2006
Just one more day...
These people here don't have a life. They have meetings instead; even if everybody goes out to get hopelessly drunk, it's called the offsite-meeting. They don't have the time to send around a mail (which would take something like 5 minutes and inform about 50 people when sent to one of our many mailing lists), they have a meeting with three people for about an hour, to which agglomerate some other five who don't have any idea what the meeting is about nor any clue about the things discussed, but are happy to utter their completely nonsensical statements nonetheless.
If you show stuff on a meeting about which you do not had the time to reflect or which you don't understand, you get shouted at for doing so. If you want to discuss it with the two other people who have any idea at all what the stuff is about, at least ten other people completely unrelated, uninformed and dumb show up and you get shouted at for having a secret meeting and not let all have a share of the enjoyment of a meeting. Not mentioning that now you can forget the result of the meeting.
And while I am ranting about: today I cleared my desk and tried to leave everything in a reasonable state. I talked to my would-like-to-be-boss about who takes care of my on-call-expert-phone, as I will leave within days. He started to whine that I can't leave, it's all against his wishes and he could call my boss and "do all kind of cheesy things". This is the second time he threatend me in a week, showing his complete inability to be in any kind of position where he has to deal with people... The only good five minutes today were when a colleague basically told him "You have no life at all, and that little you have is really miserable, ain't that funny...". Naughty bastard, hope he does that again :-)
If you show stuff on a meeting about which you do not had the time to reflect or which you don't understand, you get shouted at for doing so. If you want to discuss it with the two other people who have any idea at all what the stuff is about, at least ten other people completely unrelated, uninformed and dumb show up and you get shouted at for having a secret meeting and not let all have a share of the enjoyment of a meeting. Not mentioning that now you can forget the result of the meeting.
And while I am ranting about: today I cleared my desk and tried to leave everything in a reasonable state. I talked to my would-like-to-be-boss about who takes care of my on-call-expert-phone, as I will leave within days. He started to whine that I can't leave, it's all against his wishes and he could call my boss and "do all kind of cheesy things". This is the second time he threatend me in a week, showing his complete inability to be in any kind of position where he has to deal with people... The only good five minutes today were when a colleague basically told him "You have no life at all, and that little you have is really miserable, ain't that funny...". Naughty bastard, hope he does that again :-)
Wednesday, March 22, 2006
Religious Concerts...
I am just coming home from a concert of the First Second And Third Reformed United Baptist Church of Hamburg Choir and Brass Band, listening to chorals and sprituals the honorable Reverend and Godfather of Soul would be proud of. For some reason only at the time of leaving the fun part comes to light and you meet the interesting guys and beautiful girls...
And, 1 hour and around 40 minutes too late, my part to the world day of poetry, Joachim Ringelnatz:
and another one:
And, 1 hour and around 40 minutes too late, my part to the world day of poetry, Joachim Ringelnatz:
Abschiedsworte an Pellka
Jetzt schlägt deine schlimmste Stunde,
Du Ungleichrunde
Du Ausgekochte, du Zeitgeschälte,
Du Vielgequälte,
Du Gipfel meines Entzückens.
Jetzt kommt der Moment des Zerdrückens
Mit der Gabel! -- Sei stark!
Ich will auch Butter und Salz und Quark
Oder Kümmel, auch Leberwurst in dich stampfen
Mußt nicht gleich so ängstlich dampfen.
Ich möchte dich doch noch einmal erfreun.
Soll ich Schnittlauch über dich streun?
Oder ist die nach Hering zumut?
Du bist ein so rührend junges Blut. -
Deshalb schmeckst du besonders gut.
Wenn das auch egoistisch klingt,
So tröste dich damit, du wundervolle
Pellka, daß du eine Edelknolle
Warst, und daß dich ein Kenner verschlingt.
and another one:
Logik
Die Nacht war kalt und sternenklar,
Da trieb im Meer bei Norderney
Ein Suahelischnurrbarthaar. -
Die nächste Schiffsuhr wies auf drei.
Mir scheint da mancherlei nicht klar,
Man fragt doch, wenn man Logik hat,
Was sucht ein Suahelihaar
Denn nachts um drei am Kattegatt?
Monday, March 20, 2006
Only Monday and already completely pissed off
Today I mentioned again that this will be my last week in Hamburg (yes, I did say that already quite often, but this time I'm serious). Which made my local would-like-to-be-boss say something that I can't, as the detector is not yet in a stable state. Well, it never will be... And he said something in the line of if I leave I never will get my PhD. (Yes, he said that, not for the first time! I have until now ignored it. Next time I will answer to it...) I am pissed off. Luckily he has not anything to do with my PhD.
I am not really sure how to react. I would like to tell him to go and f*ck himself (and I am quite sure, that if he wants to fight, it's him going to loose).
I was supposed to stay in Hamburg till August 2004. I am still here, one and a half year after that date. I have worked quite often up to 80 hours a week. I have my desk in a smelly dark container. I work with people I can't stand. (Some of my collegues I actually like, but unfortunately that's only a few). I get phonecalls in the middle of the night by incompetent shift crews. I have been in a state of being utterly pissed off for the last two years, I had not much of a private life. What do these fucking idiots want more?
This is my last week here. I want to keep at least a little self respect. I should have left two years ago...
I am not really sure how to react. I would like to tell him to go and f*ck himself (and I am quite sure, that if he wants to fight, it's him going to loose).
I was supposed to stay in Hamburg till August 2004. I am still here, one and a half year after that date. I have worked quite often up to 80 hours a week. I have my desk in a smelly dark container. I work with people I can't stand. (Some of my collegues I actually like, but unfortunately that's only a few). I get phonecalls in the middle of the night by incompetent shift crews. I have been in a state of being utterly pissed off for the last two years, I had not much of a private life. What do these fucking idiots want more?
This is my last week here. I want to keep at least a little self respect. I should have left two years ago...
Questions
I just had a look at the proposed questionary people have to fill out if they want to get german citizenship. Besides being completely ridiculous, western-german centric, too hard for 90% of the germans, there was one question I found really hard to answer, and most probably I would fail on that question:
Name three reasons why you want to become a german citizen.
Name three reasons why you want to become a german citizen.
Sunday, March 19, 2006
Health
Although I am a non-smoker: there is an interesting article on Süddeutsche on the stupidness of outlawing smoking. Nice to read, it not only applies to smoking but to other things considered not healthy as well...
Snippet, badly translated by myself:
[1] geistig can mean spritual, mental, intellectual. Not really sure which too choose, as all apply...
Tags: Health | Smoking | Sueddeutsche
Snippet, badly translated by myself:
Einen Schritt weiter kommt man beim Nachdenken über die Formel der Gesundheit, die von der Weltgesundheitsorganisation (WHO), vage genug, aufgestellt worden ist. Da wird dekretiert, Gesundheit sei der „Zustand vollständigen körperlichen, geistigen und sozialen Wohlbefindens“. Diese Definition umfasst mehr als die Gesundheitsvorstellung jedes Hausarztes. Wie könnte er auch, neben dem körperlichen, das geistige und soziale Wohlbefinden bestimmen? Das tut jeder für sich selbst. Und in dieser allgemeinen Bestimmung steckt ein Restchen anarchischer (und das heißt, genau übersetzt, herrschaftsfreier) Selbstbestimmung ohne soziale Kontrolle. Über den Zustand seines geistigen und sozialen Wohlbefindens entscheidet – wie lange noch? – jeder Mensch selbst.
You will get a step further when you think about the formula describing heath which has been formulated vaguely enough by the world health organisation. It decretes health as being the "state of complete well being, physical, spritual[1] and social." This definition implies much more as the definition of health your doctor has. How could your doctor aside of your physical wellbeing say something about your spritual or social well being? That everybody has to do for himself. And in this general designation of health there is a little remain of an anarchist (and that literally means without authority) self definition without social control. On the state of his spritual and social wellbeing decides - who knows for how long - every person himself.
[1] geistig can mean spritual, mental, intellectual. Not really sure which too choose, as all apply...
Tags: Health | Smoking | Sueddeutsche
Thursday, March 16, 2006
Wednesday, March 15, 2006
Winter Walk
Monday, March 13, 2006
Failure...
It seems that the last five years I have worked for a project which failed. It was always at the verge of failing, but managed to get along somehow, but right now my measurements suggest that the detector won't work. It might be possible to get some stuff out of it by intensive data massage, but it basically does not work.
Very motivating to have spent the last two years in a definitely not loved environment for that. I will get drunk quite soon...
Very motivating to have spent the last two years in a definitely not loved environment for that. I will get drunk quite soon...
Sunday, March 12, 2006
Saturday, March 11, 2006
Mussno Ubahnfahn
Nässeltestlletona. Bidde-ll-esteign. Ausstglnks. Ltonadieserzgndethierbddelles-steign.
Sunday, March 05, 2006
New Blog
For those interested in what my new car is doing, have a look at http://frontantrieb.blogspot.com
Tags DKW | blogs
Tags DKW | blogs
Friday, March 03, 2006
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.
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