Shocking News
Germany is in bemusement today, as they come to terms with the high school massacre that occured in Erfurt (East Germany) yesterday. An expelled pupil came back to school whilst the class was taking a maths exam and shot 13 teachers, 2 pupils and a policeman that was summoned. The most moving part of this saga was the fact that whilst the shooting was going on downstairs, the pupils upstairs could do nothing except put up a paper sign on the window saying "Hilfe" as they didn't know what was going on. At the end of his rampage, the ex-pupil took the coward's way out and shot himself as well. Apparently he had on him enough ammunition to do a lot more damage.
hopefully better news tomorrow...
Saturday, April 27, 2002
Tuesday, April 23, 2002
Quickie
Lots of revision going on, but I still manage to find out what's happening around the globe.
Despite the lack of celebrations, today is Saint George's Day, the patron saint of England. So take to the streets proudly sporting your red cross ! (unless you're foreign, that is).
Tonight also sees one of the most gruelling and interesting football matches being played. Madrid are playing their arch-enemies Barcelona in the semi-final of the european cup. Just one thing to add. Up Barce !! (only because I don't like Real).
Classes have started again back in blighty, and revision lectures are the order of the day. However, as a change from the other years, this year they aren't a complete waste of time. I am actually understanding the points that are brought up, and this makes a big difference to how positive (or is it realist? - philisophy of science lecture) you feel.
For anyone in the Birmingham area over the next week, the spanish film festival is currently taking place at the Electric Cinema. However, what with revising in the library all day, and getting home at various times of the morning (no naming of the culprit, but you know who you are :) I haven't found time to see any of the films. Maybe sometime next week.
Taking a quick break from study schedule to go to an IT Security conference in London tomorrow, but come wednesday night I'll be back in good ol' brum.
feel the force.
Lots of revision going on, but I still manage to find out what's happening around the globe.
Despite the lack of celebrations, today is Saint George's Day, the patron saint of England. So take to the streets proudly sporting your red cross ! (unless you're foreign, that is).
Tonight also sees one of the most gruelling and interesting football matches being played. Madrid are playing their arch-enemies Barcelona in the semi-final of the european cup. Just one thing to add. Up Barce !! (only because I don't like Real).
Classes have started again back in blighty, and revision lectures are the order of the day. However, as a change from the other years, this year they aren't a complete waste of time. I am actually understanding the points that are brought up, and this makes a big difference to how positive (or is it realist? - philisophy of science lecture) you feel.
For anyone in the Birmingham area over the next week, the spanish film festival is currently taking place at the Electric Cinema. However, what with revising in the library all day, and getting home at various times of the morning (no naming of the culprit, but you know who you are :) I haven't found time to see any of the films. Maybe sometime next week.
Taking a quick break from study schedule to go to an IT Security conference in London tomorrow, but come wednesday night I'll be back in good ol' brum.
feel the force.
Saturday, April 20, 2002
More bits and bobs
A few bits of news in a second, but first I need to mention that Jordi has now arrived in Mainz again, Alberto is in Naples, and I'm still stuck here in Birmingham.
Now a bit of internationalisation. Amidst fears of further economic collapse, Argentina has closed all banks, not allowing anyone to withdraw their money. Although this is for the good of the country, it really doesn't inspire confidence if people need to buy food or something. In fact, surely it means that businesses will go bankrupt because no-one can buy anything from them any more.
Next up is the 'friendly fire' incident. In case you haven't heard, an american bomber dropped a 227kg bomb on a bunch of canadian soldiers in the middle east. Certain scenes from South Park come back to me at this point. For those of you that still remember the Gulf War, you will recollect that there were more allies killed by 'friendly fire' than by the enemy. America says that accidents do happen, and people have been killed by 'friendly fire' before. But if you look at the details the 'friendly fire' has always come from the american military. I don't want to draw any conclusions (don't want the FBI knocking at my door), but...
Last, and most interestingly, if you look up into the sky just after sunset over the next week, you should see Mercury, Venus, Mars, Jupiter and Saturn all lined up. As the week goes on they will move closer together, so to be able to distinguish them better, look as soon as possible. The next time this will happen will be in over 100 years, so it's worth looking now.
Off to the symphony hall tonight, 'til then.
A few bits of news in a second, but first I need to mention that Jordi has now arrived in Mainz again, Alberto is in Naples, and I'm still stuck here in Birmingham.
Now a bit of internationalisation. Amidst fears of further economic collapse, Argentina has closed all banks, not allowing anyone to withdraw their money. Although this is for the good of the country, it really doesn't inspire confidence if people need to buy food or something. In fact, surely it means that businesses will go bankrupt because no-one can buy anything from them any more.
Next up is the 'friendly fire' incident. In case you haven't heard, an american bomber dropped a 227kg bomb on a bunch of canadian soldiers in the middle east. Certain scenes from South Park come back to me at this point. For those of you that still remember the Gulf War, you will recollect that there were more allies killed by 'friendly fire' than by the enemy. America says that accidents do happen, and people have been killed by 'friendly fire' before. But if you look at the details the 'friendly fire' has always come from the american military. I don't want to draw any conclusions (don't want the FBI knocking at my door), but...
Last, and most interestingly, if you look up into the sky just after sunset over the next week, you should see Mercury, Venus, Mars, Jupiter and Saturn all lined up. As the week goes on they will move closer together, so to be able to distinguish them better, look as soon as possible. The next time this will happen will be in over 100 years, so it's worth looking now.
Off to the symphony hall tonight, 'til then.
Wednesday, April 17, 2002
A Bit of News
1. No, that was just a joke (only those that understand binary and computers will get it, so don't worry).
Listening to the great SWR3 whilst studying 'philosophy of science' it was brought to my attention that there was an attack on Java (the island, not the programming language) earlier on in the week. Despite the fears from all the germans out there that this was a direct attack on them, it has since emerged it was against israel/america. Oh, that's okay then.
A new book has just been released in Germany. Nothing spectacular in that, except that it is a dictionary with seperate definitions for males and females (eg for 'fidelity').
I will keep you updated when I find out more.
Another quick bit of info, the american supreme court has just deemed virtual child pornography legal. They did this because it was decided that if the law was kept as it was, all pieces of artwork must be removed from museums if they depicted something of that form. Interesting development.
That's it.
1. No, that was just a joke (only those that understand binary and computers will get it, so don't worry).
Listening to the great SWR3 whilst studying 'philosophy of science' it was brought to my attention that there was an attack on Java (the island, not the programming language) earlier on in the week. Despite the fears from all the germans out there that this was a direct attack on them, it has since emerged it was against israel/america. Oh, that's okay then.
A new book has just been released in Germany. Nothing spectacular in that, except that it is a dictionary with seperate definitions for males and females (eg for 'fidelity').
I will keep you updated when I find out more.
Another quick bit of info, the american supreme court has just deemed virtual child pornography legal. They did this because it was decided that if the law was kept as it was, all pieces of artwork must be removed from museums if they depicted something of that form. Interesting development.
That's it.
Sunday, April 14, 2002
Helping the World
Now that some people are actually exploring this site more, I have put up some new links under useful sites. The most important of which are the hunger site, save the rainforests, and breast cancer sites. Just by visiting these sites and clicking on a link you help these worthy causes. So come back and click on them every day and make this a better world.
Also there is a link for downloading a piece of software that runs in the background, using your processor when you are not using it, to find a cure for cancer. I have started up a team as well, so any of you that start using it can join my little group.
And for those jetsetters among you, there are also links to the major budget european flights, so you can get that cheap ticket and come and visit me :)
Cheerio
Now that some people are actually exploring this site more, I have put up some new links under useful sites. The most important of which are the hunger site, save the rainforests, and breast cancer sites. Just by visiting these sites and clicking on a link you help these worthy causes. So come back and click on them every day and make this a better world.
Also there is a link for downloading a piece of software that runs in the background, using your processor when you are not using it, to find a cure for cancer. I have started up a team as well, so any of you that start using it can join my little group.
And for those jetsetters among you, there are also links to the major budget european flights, so you can get that cheap ticket and come and visit me :)
Cheerio
Friday, April 12, 2002
News Clippets
Firstly, I would like to confirm that Marilo is alive and well (unless someone else is using her mobile - video phones would be able to help here). Yep, I received a response from the long-time-no-see malagan after wishing her the best for her birthday (yesterday). Apparently she gets so scared of computers that she is developing an allergy to keyboards :)
A few IT bits and pieces now. Anyone who has actually done the dirty and installed MS Windows XP will find along with the numerous critical updates that have been coming out, when searching for files on your hard drive it tries to connect to the internet to transfer information. Now do you trust them?
And for people that believe their work systems are secure, read this report of people giving out their passwords to complete strangers at Victoria train station. Combine these two articles, and the next time you are on the tube you may be hearing the person next to you telling his mate about your unusual search requests. Makes me feel safe already.
For the first time last night I saw a film in which I could not understand a single word. Yep, I visited the Electric Cinema (the oldest running cinema in the country) to see a canadian film called Atanarjuat, which was all in Eskimo!!. It beats icelandic any day :) Great film, by the way (but prepare for 3 hours), definitely worth seeing.
That's all folks.
Firstly, I would like to confirm that Marilo is alive and well (unless someone else is using her mobile - video phones would be able to help here). Yep, I received a response from the long-time-no-see malagan after wishing her the best for her birthday (yesterday). Apparently she gets so scared of computers that she is developing an allergy to keyboards :)
A few IT bits and pieces now. Anyone who has actually done the dirty and installed MS Windows XP will find along with the numerous critical updates that have been coming out, when searching for files on your hard drive it tries to connect to the internet to transfer information. Now do you trust them?
And for people that believe their work systems are secure, read this report of people giving out their passwords to complete strangers at Victoria train station. Combine these two articles, and the next time you are on the tube you may be hearing the person next to you telling his mate about your unusual search requests. Makes me feel safe already.
For the first time last night I saw a film in which I could not understand a single word. Yep, I visited the Electric Cinema (the oldest running cinema in the country) to see a canadian film called Atanarjuat, which was all in Eskimo!!. It beats icelandic any day :) Great film, by the way (but prepare for 3 hours), definitely worth seeing.
That's all folks.
Wednesday, April 10, 2002
Website Update
Due to getting completely bored with revising, and in order not to fall asleep in the library too often, I managed to get a load more photos put up. Here goes:
My trip to Munich, return to Rome, Birmingham Christmas Market, Touring Birmingham with visiting friends of Nuria, the physics trip to the Lake District, going around London with the cousins of Nuria, the birthdays of Jessica, Rebecca and Valentina, meals with Nuria's Friends, my Retun to Mainz, and from New Years Party 2002. Of course you can find little additions to some of the other pages as well, but you'll have to find them out for yourselves.
Wow, now I've got that over and done with, I'll get back to "How to Cook a Christmas Pudding" - from my Diffusion and Flow notes. If only it was a practical exam...
Due to getting completely bored with revising, and in order not to fall asleep in the library too often, I managed to get a load more photos put up. Here goes:
My trip to Munich, return to Rome, Birmingham Christmas Market, Touring Birmingham with visiting friends of Nuria, the physics trip to the Lake District, going around London with the cousins of Nuria, the birthdays of Jessica, Rebecca and Valentina, meals with Nuria's Friends, my Retun to Mainz, and from New Years Party 2002. Of course you can find little additions to some of the other pages as well, but you'll have to find them out for yourselves.
Wow, now I've got that over and done with, I'll get back to "How to Cook a Christmas Pudding" - from my Diffusion and Flow notes. If only it was a practical exam...
Tuesday, April 09, 2002
Spam and the french girl
Just a little bit of news this lunchtime, as the only thing that is on TV the last few days has been the Queen Mum's funeral.
Firstly, to all those of you who hate receiving thousands of spam email in your inbox every day, there is hope. A law firm in america has taken up the case to sue a company that sent unsolicited junk email to their accounts regularly. Let's see if they win, and if this will have an effect on the amount of wasted time spent deleting emails every morning.
Despite how it may sound, there are no revelations on the next topic. I went and saw the french film "Amelie" on sunday, and thoroughly enjoyed it. Another foreign film I can recommend at the moment.
Off for lunch
Just a little bit of news this lunchtime, as the only thing that is on TV the last few days has been the Queen Mum's funeral.
Firstly, to all those of you who hate receiving thousands of spam email in your inbox every day, there is hope. A law firm in america has taken up the case to sue a company that sent unsolicited junk email to their accounts regularly. Let's see if they win, and if this will have an effect on the amount of wasted time spent deleting emails every morning.
Despite how it may sound, there are no revelations on the next topic. I went and saw the french film "Amelie" on sunday, and thoroughly enjoyed it. Another foreign film I can recommend at the moment.
Off for lunch
Sunday, April 07, 2002
Races, Money, and a bit of Culture
On saturday the most famous horse race in Britain took place. The grand national went ahead this year without any problems, although being stuck in the library I didn't get to see it.
Another race about to take place is running across the Sahara Desert. This has to be the most difficult race known to man, and I certainly wouldn't want to do it (I would get sunburn). There is a good reason for doing it though - they are raising money for an african charity. Good luck to them all.
On to money. The Sunday Times has published its annual Rich Lists again, showing who has the most money. Apart from the usual suspects, a woman has entered the top 10 (daughter of heinken beer founder). However, the more interesting information can be found, by who gives the most (percentage) to charity. Our hats go off to Brian Souter who donated a whopping 41.1% of his foundation's assets to charity. Other interesting features are that in the top ten richest companies or bands, the Beatles come in third, with the Rolling Stones and Pink Floyd further down. Number one company belongs to Richard Branson. Now people are as proud as ever to be with a Virgin :) Others of note include Amancio Ortega of Spain at number 8 in Europe, and Silvio Berlusconi of Italy at number 11.
Well, none of my friends made it into the list this year, so no christmas bonuses for me :(
Laurent is having fun in Spain at the moment, let's see how the country copes with the swiss sexbomb :)
Went and saw "Crouching Tiger, Hidden Dragon" and "Brotherhood of the Wolf" last week, and thoroughly enjoyed them both. Great cultural experience.
Bysey-bye
On saturday the most famous horse race in Britain took place. The grand national went ahead this year without any problems, although being stuck in the library I didn't get to see it.
Another race about to take place is running across the Sahara Desert. This has to be the most difficult race known to man, and I certainly wouldn't want to do it (I would get sunburn). There is a good reason for doing it though - they are raising money for an african charity. Good luck to them all.
On to money. The Sunday Times has published its annual Rich Lists again, showing who has the most money. Apart from the usual suspects, a woman has entered the top 10 (daughter of heinken beer founder). However, the more interesting information can be found, by who gives the most (percentage) to charity. Our hats go off to Brian Souter who donated a whopping 41.1% of his foundation's assets to charity. Other interesting features are that in the top ten richest companies or bands, the Beatles come in third, with the Rolling Stones and Pink Floyd further down. Number one company belongs to Richard Branson. Now people are as proud as ever to be with a Virgin :) Others of note include Amancio Ortega of Spain at number 8 in Europe, and Silvio Berlusconi of Italy at number 11.
Well, none of my friends made it into the list this year, so no christmas bonuses for me :(
Laurent is having fun in Spain at the moment, let's see how the country copes with the swiss sexbomb :)
Went and saw "Crouching Tiger, Hidden Dragon" and "Brotherhood of the Wolf" last week, and thoroughly enjoyed them both. Great cultural experience.
Bysey-bye
Wednesday, April 03, 2002
A few tit-bITs
A few stories that have hit the press over the last few days.
Sony is being sued by an american mother because her son committed suicide soon after playing the game Everquest. She actually wants warnings to be put on the box stating that it can damage your health - like cigarettes. I haven't played this game yet, but from her comments I really want to try it out once I've finished my exams !! (probably not her desired effect).
Now a bit of a warning to anyone who has a yahoo email account. They have changed their privacy rules, and now they will be able to allow any company to email/post/phone you with offers, ie spam. This follows after the company has been having financial trouble, firing over 400 staff. The Register has more info, including how to delete your account.
Now something to really cheer up those of you who hate the letters MS, no not the disease (well, not in that sense anyway), a certain big software company. Apparently they started a big campaign to get companies to use their operating systems (yep, the one you look out of) instead of the UNIX alternative. Their promotional website, however, was soon found to be running UNIX itself. When pointed out to them, it was quickly switched to the appropriate alternative (Fenestre) and soon afterwards it stopped working. Not quite the promotional success they were hoping for. Again this clippet was donated by The Register where you can follow the whole story.
Another thing you might have noticed (at least with the english TV ads). A few months ago we had the Windows XP (ok, now I've said it) adverts showing that you can fly with Microsoft, obviously trying to allure teenagers to get high on their products. Then came the adverts for the X-box which, in keeping with the drug theme, showed what happens to you when you allow Microsoft into your life (still flying but aging quickly until after 2 minutes you crash, dead, into your coffin). Also maybe not a link they would like you to make between their products...
On a completely different note, I hear on the grapevine that Laurent is making his way to Spain this Friday. This is the prelude to his summer trip he will be making followed by the winter semeter in Madrid he is planning on undertaking. Good luck to him :)
Back to dinner,
A few stories that have hit the press over the last few days.
Sony is being sued by an american mother because her son committed suicide soon after playing the game Everquest. She actually wants warnings to be put on the box stating that it can damage your health - like cigarettes. I haven't played this game yet, but from her comments I really want to try it out once I've finished my exams !! (probably not her desired effect).
Now a bit of a warning to anyone who has a yahoo email account. They have changed their privacy rules, and now they will be able to allow any company to email/post/phone you with offers, ie spam. This follows after the company has been having financial trouble, firing over 400 staff. The Register has more info, including how to delete your account.
Now something to really cheer up those of you who hate the letters MS, no not the disease (well, not in that sense anyway), a certain big software company. Apparently they started a big campaign to get companies to use their operating systems (yep, the one you look out of) instead of the UNIX alternative. Their promotional website, however, was soon found to be running UNIX itself. When pointed out to them, it was quickly switched to the appropriate alternative (Fenestre) and soon afterwards it stopped working. Not quite the promotional success they were hoping for. Again this clippet was donated by The Register where you can follow the whole story.
Another thing you might have noticed (at least with the english TV ads). A few months ago we had the Windows XP (ok, now I've said it) adverts showing that you can fly with Microsoft, obviously trying to allure teenagers to get high on their products. Then came the adverts for the X-box which, in keeping with the drug theme, showed what happens to you when you allow Microsoft into your life (still flying but aging quickly until after 2 minutes you crash, dead, into your coffin). Also maybe not a link they would like you to make between their products...
On a completely different note, I hear on the grapevine that Laurent is making his way to Spain this Friday. This is the prelude to his summer trip he will be making followed by the winter semeter in Madrid he is planning on undertaking. Good luck to him :)
Back to dinner,
Tuesday, April 02, 2002
Tenerife floods and Gunnar's dictionary
The quaint little spanish island off the african coast where the lovely Ethel resides saw an incredible amount of rain fall in little time over the weekend. It resulted in mass flooding where six people died and many more injured. The city of Santa Cruz has been left with many buildings destroyed and others unstable. However, I am assured that Ethel herself was not injured, albeit scared. Let's just hope that everything gets repaired and running as per usual so that I might be able to visit sometime.
Whilst searching for some catalan-spanish dictionary on the web I came across this very unusual variant. Yes, it's icelandic-catalan !! You might wander who would this dictionary be aimed at, there can't be that many icelandic people learning catalan or catalonians learning icelandic. Well, I didn't have to wait long for the answer. I happened to meet Elena Carrasco in messenger, and she was speaking to Gunnar (icelandic). They apparently speak a mix of english and german. Now hopefully they'll be able to change that to a mix of both their languages :)
Well, suppose I should be getting back to my revision again. As the University is still closed until thursday, I'm having to study on my bed at the moment, which isn't the easiest of things to do, especially not with all that chocolate close at hand.
Bye
The quaint little spanish island off the african coast where the lovely Ethel resides saw an incredible amount of rain fall in little time over the weekend. It resulted in mass flooding where six people died and many more injured. The city of Santa Cruz has been left with many buildings destroyed and others unstable. However, I am assured that Ethel herself was not injured, albeit scared. Let's just hope that everything gets repaired and running as per usual so that I might be able to visit sometime.
Whilst searching for some catalan-spanish dictionary on the web I came across this very unusual variant. Yes, it's icelandic-catalan !! You might wander who would this dictionary be aimed at, there can't be that many icelandic people learning catalan or catalonians learning icelandic. Well, I didn't have to wait long for the answer. I happened to meet Elena Carrasco in messenger, and she was speaking to Gunnar (icelandic). They apparently speak a mix of english and german. Now hopefully they'll be able to change that to a mix of both their languages :)
Well, suppose I should be getting back to my revision again. As the University is still closed until thursday, I'm having to study on my bed at the moment, which isn't the easiest of things to do, especially not with all that chocolate close at hand.
Bye
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