Expensive Phonenumber and Disappearing Countries

Some people just have too much money, and some just want more. The most expensive telephone number has just been bought for equivalent of 1.1 million dollars. Okay, so the number sounds like the word rich repeated, but surely he would have been richer if he hadn't bought the number in the first place.

Did you know that the US could wipe out another country on a whim? But I bet you didn't know that they had done just that. Namely, Libya has been wiped out (well, it's internet presence anyway) by some unknown reason. So mysterious is it, that nobody has been found that could shed light to the situation.

Spurred on by an article at TheRegister using an online asteriod guide to see what would a normal person off the street would notice if an asteroid hit a town nearby, I thought I'd do the same thing for this city from where I am writing this post, Mainz, to be exact. Purely in the name of research, of course. The results will follow shortly.

Now back to Mexico where an entire state police force has been sacked and put in jail on corruption charges. That's over 500 policemen. Of course, the probability of them being kept locked up will obviously be affected by the fact that these prisons were controlled by said police force, and therefore any escape routes will be known to all the inmates.

Ok, now for that asteroid impact data:

Assuming the asteroid hit the river Rhine, and we were at Uni (about 2km away), that it has a diamter of 50m, and was made of dense rock, landed at 90 degrees to the surface, and hit water, these are the effects that we would feel:

Energy: 9.38 MegaTons TNT
Crater size: 2.61 km
Visible fireball radius: 0.7 km
Effects of Thermal Radiation: Much of the body suffers second degree burns; Deciduous trees ignite
Richter Scale Magnitude: 5.2
Max wind velocity: 440.1 m/s = 984.5 mph
Sound Intensity: 113 dB (May cause ear pain)
Damage Description:
Multistory wall-bearing buildings will collapse.
Wood frame buildings will almost completely collapse.
Multistory steel-framed office-type buildings will suffer extreme frame distortion, incipient collapse.
Highway truss bridges will collapse.
Highway girder bridges will collapse.
Glass windows will shatter.
Cars and trucks will be largely displaced and grossly distorted and will require rebuilding before use.
Up to 90 percent of trees blown down; remainder stripped of branches and leaves.

So, now you know. To make your own calculations, please visit the site here.

Avoid large craters...

News Roundup

Cycling in to Uni this morning, I came across 6 police vehicles and lots of policemen and women with sticks. Not for hitting people (at least, I hope not) rather searching for something. Interested in what's happened (seeing as so many unusual things have happened here recently) I took a look at the website of the local police force. Although there is nothing there yet about this case, there are a number of things that have already happened this morning around here whilst most of us were tucked up in bed. Just makes you think that policing is a very busy job.

Since the spate of terrorist activities, many governments have seen fit to implement extra controls on people travelling, buying things, even asking for information. The latest case is of the US 'no-fly' lists telling airlines which people they should not allow to fly. Fine, you might think, that's the way to stop people that may want to cause harm to other people. But the creation of these lists is causing many problems, as the system takes general data and uses statistics to produce the lists (and we all know how reliable statistics are). This means that if you happen to have the same name as a suspect, belong to a different religion from the 'norm', work in an industry that might be deemed suspicious (like politics then?), or just went to the same kindergarten as one of the aforementioned, you're likely to find it difficult to travel anywhere in the US. Of course, as I've mentioned a little while ago, the EU and US are trying to form a better 'passenger data exchange' which could mean that we'll soon see the same problems over here.

Something else that has been going on for a while now, is the mysterious killing of 73 animals in the Sao Paolo zoo (Brazil). Still no clues as to who it is, but now that the toll has risen considerably, it is hard to believe that it is an 'alphabet killer' like TheRegister proposed when the killing of animals with consecutive first letters in their names started.

Now that irish smokers have been banned from lighting up in public buildings in Dublin without too much fuss, the chief medical officer of Scotland is calling for a complete ban on smoking throughout Scotland. Of course this move won't affect the many sheep inhabiting the country, but it would be interesting to see this novel country-wide approach in action, maybe causing other countries to consider the move to a more healthier environment in the near future.

Now one for those animal lovers amongst you. Barcelona has voted to ban bullfighting throughout the region. It would be the first abolishment of this traditional sport in the country, and may set a precedent for other forward-thinking regions to do the same. The only thing standing in the way now is that the regional government enacts this ban.

The next article is not for the easily squeamish amongst you. A woman in Mexico gave birth to her child by DIY caesarean. As she was so far from the nearest hospital, and had lost a previous child giving birth naturally, she got hold of a kitchen knife, drank some hard liquor, and cut herself open. Both mother and child survived. I suppose that's one situation where drinking Tequila could be forgiven.

Stay Informed

Condolences

It seems like recently things are getting worse. No sooner have we mourned those of the Madrid blasts, than news reaches me that an old schoolfriend Amir's sister, Nadia died last friday. Thoughts are with him and his family at this hard time.

Not wanting to only relay bad news, I scoured the press to find something that might cheer people up. Or at least take their minds off things. So for those of you that like 'alternative' cinema, this one in Norway should be right up your street. It's made up of ice, and is a drive-in for snowmobiles - no, really.

And for those of you that regularly use instant messenger services at work in the UK beware that companies are to obliged to record all data sent through them. And for those of you in Spain there's no reason to be smug, as it's more than likely that your company is already recording all conversations (70 percent of companies record, and 63 percent archive, compared to just 20 percent and 9 percent in the UK.

On a final note, Carlitos had to hand in his thesis today, so I'm sure they'll be some celebration in the bar tonight.

As the Monty boys say, "always look on the bright side of life".

Goodbyes

Most importantly, Luca left for Italy and promptly came back with his dad and a car to pick up the rest off his stuff. He has, however, finally left Mainz and I'm sure we'll miss him a lot (let's hope his italian improves over there, seeing as his dad was correcting him the whole time...)
Equally of note, is that Sylvia also left over the weekend, using her parents as the baggage-carriers on the ryanair flight home :) Here's hoping all goes well for her back in sunny Spain.

Now to more general things. NASA has achieved seven times the speed of sound with a new jet that they developed. So next time you want to go to Australia it'll take just 10 mins. Only kidding - it will take more time to rescue the passengers from the water afterwards.

In China, something strange has happened. A woman was driving a BMW which got scratched by a tractor passing by. As the peasant farmer and his wife got out to apologise, the lady revved the car and drove into the crowd that was forming, killing the wife and injuring others. Apparently because of her contacts and conections, she only got a two year sentence for "accidental traffic disturbance". I say no more.

And to show that Bush has a great sense of humour (yes I am being sarcastic), in a dinner for journalists, he showed slides of himself looking under his furniture, and made jokes about not finding weapons of mass destruction there. So now we all know that the war against Iraq was just a joke for him. Equally so for the lives that were lost as a result of this ongoing war.

Well, know that the weather has improved and we've got sunshine and a reasonable temperature, what better way to spend the morning than to go cycling aling the Rhein.

Get tanning

Back in the Box

That is, of my office at the Uni. After spending nearly a week under the sunshine (and strong winds) of England, I arrived back in Germany to a temperature of 5 degrees. Oh, what joy.

Well, apart from seeing the excellent Bullring shopping centre in Birmingham, I didn't really have time to do much sight-seeing, so no great stories to tell or photos to show this time :(

Of course, whilst I was away, some people were celebrating. Namely Fatma (for her birthday) and Luca (for his leaving party). Sometimes I think people organise these things knowing I won't be there...

A warning to all windows users out there, that there are a huge amount of new viruses being created every day, and I'm receiving most of them in my inbox (which, as I've said before, means that somebody who has me in their addressbook has been infected. So get updating those virus scanners. Of particular note is that each new strain seems to be using a different cunning method to entice it's victims. Some purporting to come from microsoft (it never sends out updates by email) others from your local sysadmin (making you think it's actually for you) and others using various vulnerabilities to propagate themselves without any attachment being opened. For the best info on viruses, check the website of an antivirus vendor (eg www.symantec.com or else, read some more info on The Register's Virus section.

To finish on a light note, a lesbian student apparently auctioned her virginity on ebay, getting about 12,000 euros in order to pay her university fees. Just wait til the fees go up - I dread to think how people are going to get hold of the money for them then !!

'til then

Weather Forecast

Snow, snow and more snow. Yes, Mainz has recuperated the days of snow we didn't have last year, by providing them now, mid-march !! As I look out of the window in my office all I can see is a white curtain cutting of the view of...erm...physics buildings, I think (maybe there is a benefit to the snow after all).

On to somewhere with lots of sun, namely Granada in Spain. After being a muslim capital over 200 years ago, it has recently enhanced it's religious tolerism by building a new mosque and allowing tourists to visit, whilst teaching children arabic. Somehow I don't think it can compete with the Alhambra, though.

Some of you may have heard of the new obsession in the US for young people to pledge themselves to being virgins until they get married, and to carry a card around with them saying so (which has received lots of financial support from President Bush recently). Well, according to research just published, those that pledge are just as likely to get STDs as those that don't pledge. Makes you wonder if this is in fact a safety campaign or just a religious message.

Next up for the stupidity prize, is a woman who was arrested in Georgia, USA trying to pay with a fake one million dollar note at the supermarket. The fact that notes that high have never even existed, is of course obvious. Assistants were probably first alerted when they saw a woman with five tonnes of carrots in her trolley :)

For those of you who don't already know, D2 Vodafone in Germany have an offer on this month for Call-Ya customers, allowing you to call all D2 and landline numbers every saturday and sunday for just five Euros for the month (to sign up there is a differnet number for contract customers and Call-Ya ones). Of course, the first weekend has already passed, but for those who like to talk (why is everyone looking at me?) this offer is amazing.

Well, as many of the inhabitants of this city are off to Valencia for the Fallas, and some of us are off to the England, we'll just have to see if anything interesting crops up to tell when we all come back.

Wrap up warm

Smelly Neighbours and Gay Sheep

Despite wishing it on my Spanish page, Happy Birthday to Javi who celebrated yesterday. We also celebrated for him here in Mainz as Olgui made two huge lasagnas, Jaume made another exmple of his great tortillas, and I made a loaf of Ciabatta. Along with the obligatory bottle(s) of wine, it was a very well received sunday lunch. Here's hoping that we repeat such events with more frequency.

First up, one for Jordi. Scientists (I suppose we still have to call them that) have researched the minds of gay sheep and deduced that the brains are genetically different from 'normal' heterosexual sheep. Well, now you know.

A 52-year old kenyan bachelor was physically forced to have a wash after 10 years without. For those of us overnighting at Javi and Albe's we could also have used this example on a certain somebody there...(akakakakak).

Oh, and for those tea-drinkers amongst you, new proof has come (from surprise surprise, Italy) that coffee, in particular, expresso is good for you. Good to hear, although personally I still adhere to the beer and ice-cream diet.

Well, that's all folks...

What's Happening

Amongst the many nations that I consider in need of a change of leadership, it's good to see that in Venezuela someone important had the courage to say so. Namely the UN embassador resigned, citing primarily the lack of democracy under the present rule. Let's just hope this, along with the many protests currently going on, can cause a change.

Along the same track is an archbishop from Zimbabwe who is calling for South Africa to cut off electricity supplies to the country so that it's dictator, sorry, leader will have to hold talks with the opposition. Here's hoping...

Back in the UK, a new bus service has started up offering trips from London to Birmingham (3 hours) for one pound. That's one euro and fifty cents to those continentals reading this. Compare that with the nearly two euros it costs to get from Hechtsheim to the Hauptbahnhof in Mainz (20 mins) and you might be left wondering if in fact prices are really expensive in England. Check the Megabus website for more routes.

And on that note, I leave you to have a good weekend (now that it's not snowing and I can actually see the sun, maybe it'll be safe to go for a bike ride..)

Back to the grindstone

Well, after the week-long break in Bologna with a reunion of Mainz Erasmus students, past and present there are many memories to savour. The pasta and pizza (one euro a piece), the placards advertising Intimissimi clothes (well I think it was the clothes they were advertising, despite everyone looking only at the woman) the ladies of the night along the road leading to Albe and Javi's place (made it easy to find in the night coming back from the parties..)

I suppose the only downside to the week was at the final party when Laura's bag was stolen with her mobile phone and driving license in (if anyone knows anything about it, please contact me through this website).

What else has happened? Well, the friday when we returned I went off to the concert of Juanes and surprisingly did not collapse due to exhaustion. Carmen came over to visit Luca for his birthday and went back home this morning. Many other people also celebrated being another year older, so best wishes go out to Jordi, Laura, Lou, and to Javi who celebrates his on the 7th.

Another thing that seems to crop up every day, is that many variants of new viruses are currently in circulation, sending themselves off to eveyone in the address books they find. This has resulted in my inbox filling with over 10 email viruses a day. Luckily they are automatically deleted before they can go any further, but it just shows that you should not open emails from people you don't know, and definitely not open emails with attachments in .exe .pif .src endings. If unsure, email the sender asking what they have sent you. Hopefully I (and millions of others) can then have some calm in the inbox.

Here endeth the lesson

Romance in Italy, Lost in the US

So who forgot it was valentine's day on saturday then? Well, the italians definitely didn't. As one of their inhabitants managed to kiss his girlfriend for 31 hours and 18 minutes, thus winning him enough money to pay for their marriage. I would say that's pretty romantic, wouldn't you?

Now another case of, um, dare I say it, stupidity. The border between the US and Canada was shut when a grenade was found in the car of a woman who was lost. What's particularly important to note here is firstly that the woman didn't know the grenade was in the glove compartment of her car (it was her husband's apparently - as everyone needs a grenade for self defense nowadays anyway...). Secondly, that she was on her way from Texas to Vancouver. Not the big city, but a little town (in the state of Washington if I'm not mistaken). You would assume that one would take a map when one's travelling such a distance, and would realise that a big sign saying "Welcome to Canada, Vancouver this way" is probably not talking about a little american town...Never mind.

For those of you who have gone into the centre of Mainz recently, you may have noticed something new. A restaurant has opened up, calling itself "Besitos, tapas bar y mas" which one would normally dismiss without thinking any further, but the fact that it is situated opposite a certain establishment otherwise known as "el loco" warrants a bit of thought as to whether it is just a coincidence...

Well, for those who have exams, I wish success.

Study hard

He's Back

No, it wasn't for partying that I haven't been able to write for a while (see my spanish site where I have been able to write) just for a lack of anything interesting to tell. But that's all changed now.

First up, there's lots of action going on at Jordi's website in the guestbook, just try to keep it clean, lads.
Secondly, the site of Albe and Javi has some new additions, namely some audio files purporting to depict the fate of Jordi so take a look.

Now to the news. For those of you with MS Office 2003, if you have a look at the characters for the font "Bookshelf Symbol 7" you will find some surprises.

Scared of all electrical appliances in your home coming alive and keeping you hostage? Well, that's how the inhabitants of an Italian village are feeling at the moment. So just be careful how you treat your toaster next time.

Oh, and not to let the US of the hook in the posting either, it has been discovered that Chile's representatives to the UN were phonetapped during the run-up to the Iraq war. Hmm...

Don't worry, be happy.

I'm Freeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeee

Usually associated with criminals escaping prison, this is now my cry as I handed in my thesis/diplomarbeit/good quality toilet paper midday yesterday. Yes, after the toils, troubles and tribulations (I will someday look up the meaning of some of the words I use, honest) I am now free to do what I want. Well, ok, free to look for work is probably more accurate. So, be prepared, as I have spare time on my hands and I'm not afraid to use it !!

Note on the previous virus warning, Novarg is now being named MyDoom virus, is much worse than feared (I received 6 copies in my inbox this morning - don't worry, it get's filtered before I even get near any viruses). It seems to add a stealth element in that it doesn't send itself to government or military emails, however, as it fakes the 'from' field, there are lots of automatic responders falsly claiming to tell innocent parties that they sent a virus, when in fact they just happen to be in the email list of someone who got infected (admins take note).

Well, another day passes by, and another job has to be done.

Keep busy

The Final Countdown

Marking the 125th anniversary of a noteworthy battle, British and Zulu officials gathered to re-enact some of the major battles that took place between them in Southern Africa including the battle for Rorke's Drift, made famous by the film "Zulu" (starring Michael Cane).

As the Chinese new year festivities die down, a new law is passed protecting the rhesus monkey (they are coloured like that, really). Of course, this year is the year of the monkey, so it's quite apt really.

The European Space Agency has released spectacular pictures of the surface of Mars after a successful arrival of it's orbiting probe "Mars Express". Amazing as the pictures may seen, I still have yet to see traces of little green men.

As the EU tries to stop imports from outside of its borders, it manages to win in the UK by forcing CD retailer CDWoW to increase prices of the CDs it imports from asian countries. Read this explanatary article at The Register to find out what this means to us.

Now we all know of the problems with speed cameras, but I bet you never thought that they could be used for breaking records? No? Well you should see how a Peugot 406 managed to clock up 406 mph (653 km/h) on a cheshire road.

After the Beagle virus started causing havoc with systems recently, we have a new virus, discovered today, which seems to be distributing itself extremely rapidly. It's name is Novarg and looks like it's going to have immense effects on systems worldwide, so update your antivirus programs now !!

Practice Safe Surfing

What a match!

Last night saw a 'friendly' game of football between Mainz 05 and Bayern Munich. To say that Mainz played well would be an understatement. They beat the many-times champions 2-1 !!! So well done Mainz !

Tomorrow sees the chinese year of the monkey roll in, so all those of you born in 1980, it's your year. So go take your friends out for a meal :)

Now for something quite disturbing, that despite many efforts to stop smoking, especially in children, there is a town in Italy, north of Rome where nearly all the children smoke. And I'm not talking 16 or 18 year-olds, rather 2, 4, 6 year-olds !!! Unbelievable that this wasn't known beforehand !!

Another computer worm is doing it's rounds, so update your antivirus programs now, and check the info on W32.Beagle.A@mm.

A couple more worrying things happening. With people being taken to court, jailed and fined for having child pornography on their computers, or for hacking offenses, it would be serious if some of those arrested were not actually guilty, wouldn't it? Well, very serious it is, in that there is little to stop trojan programs planting evidence on your computer to set you up. Now this has also been turned on it's head, as anyone could claim that a trojan did these deeds, so not only do innocent people get arrested, but guilty people could claim this as their defense. Read more about this here.

Oh, and for those of you who thought that Europe sharing its passenger data with the US could cause no problems, well, here's why you are wrong.

Bye for now

Playing Catch-Up

Before getting stuck into some of the serious news, how about a bit of light-hearted instead? The Ig-nobel awards page gives out awards for people to make us laugh and then to make us think. Examples include "An Analysis of the Forces Required to Drag Sheep over Various Surfaces" and "Documenting the first scientifically recorded case of homosexual necrophilia in the mallard duck". Go on, have a laugh.

Okay, we hear a lot about people taking advantage of modern technology in order to cause mischief. Well, here's a case which goes back to the old radio transmitter. Someone is tapping into the Burger King drive-in restaurant in Michigan and telling customers that they can't have the food because they are too fat. Maybe they're actually health specialists trying to reduce obesity in the US...

A man was recently arrested in Germany for stuffing a newly bought computer with potatoes. Twice. He apparently brought it back to the shop claiming it didn't work, and wanted a replacement. Soon after leaving with the new computer, he returned and said it had the same problem and he wanted his money back. If he had waited a bit longer, at least he could have got some chips out of it...

You would have thought that the strict security measures going on in the US would mean the flights leaving would be some of the safest. Well, a man who flew from Washington DC to London was found to have carried bullets in his coat. I don't see how he could have got through with them though, when for me the metal in my belt sets the alarms off !!

Talking about airports, some US pilots were arrested in Brazil for making obscene gestures at the control point of the airport. Reading the article, it seems like whilst it's quite ok for the US to carry out these procedures on people entering it's country, the citizens don't feel that any other country should have the right to do the same. The bit to note here is when the airline added that the pilot had "not intended to be disrespectful". Since when has sticking the middle finger up at anyone been anything but disrespectful???

Ever wondered why so much junk mail gets through to your email box, despite sometimes implementing a filter? Well, read this report to find out. Brings a new light to things.

Now one for the ladies. I reported a while back on a device that women inserted in order to orgasm at the touch of a button. Having not heard much more on that, I presume there were some doubts on the uncomfortableness of wearing it all day. Well, here comes a new invention to the rescue. The "Slightest Touch" operates with electrodes in the shoes on the ankles. Just drink an electrolytic sports drink 20 mins beforehand and when you press the button, the nerves up your legs are stimulated to such and effect, that you are literally "turned on".
So why do men exist again?

Well, that's it for now, lots to write up, very little time.

Revise well

Mission to Mars, Italians Strike and Sims Safety

After the italian air-traffic-controllers strike on thursday caused chaos at the airports throughout Italy, the other transport unions decided to strike on the friday, thus affecting bus, train and metro services. Makes the UK transport system look like it's successful !!

George Bush has said he wants to put a man on Mars. Assuming of course he knows that it is actually a planet, and not some small town in Europe, I think here is the opportune moment for that well-known saying "If you want it done properly, do it yourself". I bet there's loads of people throughout the world who would like to see him from that sort of distance :)

And just to show that the USA never goes too far, we have the story of a mother in Massachusetts who went into a store and asked about a flight simulator for her ten-year-old son. The assistant called up police and the following day a state trooper was shining a torch through their house window at night.

Mainz is slowly starting to fill up again with the foreigners returning from their home countries to continue studying here, so there should be some more local news coming soon. But in the meantime I would like to wish good luck to all those currently taking exams.

Study hard...

New Year, Same Story

Well, Happy New Year to all and sundry, here's hoping it will be more enjoyable and less stressful than 2003.

Back in the cold wet rain of Mainz with barely a soul to talk to, there isn't much gossip to be telling, so on to a couple of newsbites then.

The Beagle 2 explorer has still yet to be contacted on Mars, so if any martians out there happen to have seen it, please let me know through the "Contact Me" link on the left of this page :)

The ship to break all records is getting ready to be officially named Queen Mary 2.

So, starting the year easily, more will be written in the following posts :)

til then

To sue or not to sue...

First up, a postman prepares to sue a professor, that he says "sent too many letters" and caused him to pull a muscle in his back. So that's my excuse for not having sent out any christmas cards this year...

On the subject of taking people to court, the National Health Service has decided to take seven drug firms to court for fixing the price of penicillin. Yes, that's right, the service that we most love to hate has actually got our best interests in mind this time.

Now on to marriage. Now I know us men don't like to mention that word, but this needs to be said. According to a recent survey, men's health declines when they marry. Yes, even though for married women their health increases, for us men it's just downhill.

Now we all remember the wartime saying "careless talk costs lives". Well, putting this into the twenty-first century has become easier with this latest example of a cracker being caught by his chats with another cracker. So just remember, they're always watching you...

A new one for the Nigerian 419ers. No, they're not an american football team, but people who offer you large sums of money if you can help them transfer huge funds out of Nigeria for them. Obviously the previsouly need a couple of thousand in order to get all the paperwork done first...
Well, they have relocated to Iraq, judging by this latest article at TheRegister.

And finally, snow fell for the first time this winter in Mainz yesterday. Yes, the cold weather arrived early and froze up the roads, public transport system, and many a body. Let's just hope the airports are okay as I'm off home tomorrow, yippee !!

And with that I'll say a very frozen, Merry Chrsitmas and a Happy New Year.

Another Channel Tunnel, Saddam, and Bad IE

Probably the most important story of the day, is that is has been reported that Saddam Hussein has been caught. I know I'm not a military nor political genious, but I have two points I would like to make about this:
1) Does the photo on this page really look like Saddam? After having heard reports of him having various 'doubles', it's hard to believe that an ex-leader of a country would let himself be seen with a beard like that !!
2) Wasn't the "Where's Wally" search meant to be for Osama Bin Laden? Wasn't it meant to be him and his Al Queda group that were responsible for the attacks on New York, and was the reason for this "War on Terrorism"?? Maybe I got mixed up, perhaps the dangerous man's name was Bush...

Now on to continental divides. We all know how the relation is between Spain and Morocco (need I mention Perejil...) and also between Spain and the UK (hehem, Gibraltar). Well, the spanish government have decided they are going to build a tunnel between Africa and Europe. I just hope that they have investigated the effects this link will have on the influx of illegal immigrants (just look at the anglo-french version).

And now a little bit of info for those of you wandering around cyberspace without a map. I have, on my page of useful sites, a link to the magnificent Firebird/Mozilla browser. However, I know that most of you don't see the reason in changing when you are quite happy with the one you have. I don't want to force you to make the change (okay, I do, but I know you wouldn't listen), but I would like to point out the many security problems which occur when your version is not updated with the latest patches. There are various examples that will remove data from your hard-drive, crash your computer etc, but I'm not going to show you the hard way. Instead I'll just show you a harmless example that takes you to a site that isn't what it seems. Just click on this link to be taken to the test site. Once you click on the button you are taken to another site of theirs. But have you checked the address bar in your browser. Are you really at the MS site? This hiding of addresses only happens on Internet Explorer. I will now leave you to decide...

And here endeth the lesson

News, news and more news

Lots to catch up on now, where to begin...

The US has decided to be selfish again, and not let any country who didn't help it in it's war against Iraq be able to bid for reconstruction contracts. Yep, after doing the same for the oil contracts, it seems more and more like the only country who's going to benefit from this war is the US (instead of the Iraqi people).

Keeping on the same subject, an Iraqi secret service is to be formed by, guess what, the US' CIA. What's important here is that it's goal is "to spy on enemies of the US-backed authorities in Iraq". And again, there was I thinking it would be a multinational role, trying to help defend Iraq from it's enemies...

Meanwhile in the UK, whilst on one front trying to secure the release of British hostages by the US in Guantanamo Bay, it seems to be cleverly concealed that it has it's own camp within it's borders, in the form of the new anti-terror laws.

Meanwhile, in Guatemala, something equally as horrifying is happening on this island, with around four women or young girls being killed every week.

On a different note, it has been motioned that nursery rhymes are unrealistic and put kid's at risk.
Some times political correctness just goes too far.

And for those of you wanting to build your own cruise missile from household materials for just five thousand dollars, you will have to search a bit harder for the info, as the site where the info was held (in Australia) has been shut down by, surprise surprise, the US.

Finally, for those of you permanently stuck in front of daytime tv in the UK, and sad after hearing that Zora Suleman will no longer be shown on the box, will hopefully be pleased to learn that she will be returning to the media, in the form of radio. Doesn't quite have the same effect, does it?

Well, after all that, your tea is probably cold, and the food is burnt in the oven. So why not go out to the pub instead. I will, unfortunately, not be able to as tomorrow I will be giving a physics exam to the chemistry students, and then marking it.

Oh, what fun !

More Violent Women, Toilet Art, and Brazil's Power Cut

Following on from the story last monday, another case of violence in women has arisen, and this time takes with it the case for fast food being bad for your health. A woman in Texas decided that the best way to complain that she didn't get any mayonnaise in her burger was to run over the manager of the drive-in and drag her around the car-park. Yes, it really is unbelievable, that for a dollop of sauce someone could harm another person in this way. Of course, some people might draw conclusions from this about the sanity of the average fast food customer...

Vistor's to London's Tate Britain gallery will be seeing an unusual test of courage displayed outside the building. A one-way mirrored glass toilet stands in the middle of the pavement for people to use. Of course, many people become to nervous once they have entered, because although from the outside is seems to be covered in mirrors, when inside you see all the people walking by. Are you man enough?...

And now looking at the Brazilian Foreign Ministry we see...nothing. That's right, the next victim of the forgot-to-put-the-cheque-in-the-post excuse for not paying the electricity bills became a government department. Just goes to show, not even politicians are immune from the wrath of the capitalists...

Other things that have been happening recently, is that Javi has come back from his trip to Stuttgart, and is back off to Bologna tomorrow, and then goes off with Albe to Greece in a ship. Oh, to live the life...

Carlitos gave his presentation today in front of the whole research group. Of course, some of the profs managed to interrupt him every two seconds. Ah well.

Oh, and for those of you who use the Klite file sharing program, it would be wise to read this article from TheRegister which talks about the fact that the sites offering this program are being shut down by the original Kazaa.

That's it for now...

Violent Women, Drugs and Baby-Money

Sounds like a new action film, doesn't it?

In Kenya women are taking the fight (literally) back to their husbands, as there has been a recorded rise in domestic violence against men.


The U.S. military has got in a fuss again, this time about the European Galileo Satellite System. They don't see it as necessary that another country has a Global Positioning System in place (that works down to metre accuracy), obviously as this would mean some foreign power would have the same knowledge as the U.S. would. That cannot be tolerated, apparently, and they are trying to incorporate a blocking system, whereby at the touch of a button, they could switch off the European System. Doesn't quite seem fair, does it?

In another political nonsense move, Italy has decided to award families who have at least one child, 1000 Euros if they have another before the end of 2004. Of course, they have so far not mentioned anything about changing sex-education lessons in school (which decrease the birth rate slightly - except if the children attend the lessons in England, of course, where they get to see pornographic films from the age of 6, in which case the birth rate would shoot through the roof, metaphorically speaking). Maybe someone should tell the Italian government that.
On another note, there's obviously no better time for Javi and Albe to be living in pasta country !! So for all those males out there, get down to Italy now. Hint: if you go to a village called Laviano, near Naples, the mayor is offering 10 thousand Euros with no strings attached - that makes 11 thousand per child. It should just about cover the first year at University then. Who said making money wasn't fun?

Some people may have heard the news that Jordi went off to Bologna for the weekend, for the graduation ceremony (or party at least) of Paolo the Sard. Well, I daren't guess what antics those lot got up to over the last couple of days, but suffice it to say that Jordi missed his plane back to Germany this morning. Last I heard, he was begging in the car-park for money to help him buy a new ticket.

Donations will be accepted to help him come back...

Weekend News

Something to have with your morning coffee, 67 year old Ursula Andress in James Bond - Dr No has been voted TVs most sexiest scene. Just goes to show that age doesn't matter. What is interesting in this article is that at number eight in this list, is Jessica Rabbit. Enough said.

Be careful when you next go shopping, especially around Christmas and New Year's, as one lady in Florida was knocked unconscious when the doors opened for a sale to begin. However, the store in question decided that it's condolences were enough, and they didn't even offer to give her the 30 dollar DVD player for free !

In Italy, plans are afoot for a new 'Mussolini' political party. I thought that was the ruling one at the moment anyway? Sorry, that's Berlusconi. Silly me.

Now some new scientific revelations. Did you know that there is a formular for a perfect family game? Well now you do. It was invented to stop all those post-monopoly fights that always occur at christmas time.

And for those of you wanting to know how to butter toast correctly, there's an equation for that too :)

Well, we're back to the winter weather again here now, and just in time the christmas markets have arrived to Mainz. That means there's going to be some nice warm spicy wine to cool up those evenings spent waiting for the bus.

New week ahead...

Going Too Far

We all know how far political correctness can go in some areas of life, especially in the office, but now it's managed to creep it's way into the IT sector. The standard way of labelling devices in a computer is to have a 'master' and a 'slave', one that takes priority and that doesn't. However, in LA they are declaring this labelling method as politically incorrect. Like it really affects people how you call your hard disks !!

For those ladies out there who are having particular problems, there is a new device that has been invented which gives orgasms at the push of a button. However, in order for trials to go ahead, they need enough volunteers, which so far they haven't found. So anyone interested, give them a call.

Now a piece of news for the non-squeamish amongst you. Animals which have entered people's bodies whilst they have been on holiday in exotic places have been discovered in the most alien-like fashion (lumps moving about on the top of the head, wormheads poking out of noses...). Read this story from the BBC to find out what can happen.

Sweet Dreams...

News, News and more News

Ever had enough of all those offers for body enhancements, prescription drugs, and Nigerian money transfers? Well, so did someone else, but he took it a stage too far and threatened the spammers as well.

After mentioning about German authorities planning to abolish the wearing of headscarves in schools, a French judge sent a woman juror home after she turned up wearing a headscarf. She was muslim, but one has to note in this article that she originally turned up for the selection procedures without one (ie that she did not feel it necessary to wear it all the time).

And finally, doctors have called for a complete ban on smoking in public places, citing definite evidence for passive smoking being the cause of more than a thousand deaths a year in the UK. About time too !!

On a more personal note, this Sunday sees a certain Frenchman celebrate his birthday. Sources have it that he is hoping for a cake wherefrom five scantilly-clad women come out. If anyone is planning to get him this, please give a warning to me so that I can get my camera ready in time :)

back to the drawing board...

Success and More Photos

The major news story is that yesterday England beat Australia to win the Rugby World Cup. The first time a country from the northern hemisphere has won it.
Talking about winning, an englishman has just won the transatlantic boat race.

There are many jokes about the German sense of humour, but I would like to disprove them with the following news story. In Berlin they are introducing rubbish bins that talk. Yes that's right, they thank you in one of various languages for throwing away your trash. Apparently they wanted them to encourage people in a "nice, funny" way. I think something went wrong in the translation, as to most of us we would call it a "stupid" way. However, maybe I should be careful about what I say, as the following story proves.

A cannibal who ate people he met on the internet in Germany, has said that he's sorry. Well, that makes us all feel better now then, doesn't it? Just goes to show there are all sorts of people out there - be careful who you annoy...

Now for those of you have been on the edges of your seats for ages awaiting the photos from the summer parties to be put up, I can now tell you, the fiesta de la fresa and hechtsheimer sommerfest 2003 photos are now up for viewing. Sorry for the delay.

Just a brief note to say that Friday night I finally got back to my old habit of cooking a load of crepes, this time at Lobelto's place. And Saturday night saw me take my turn at chinese cooking for them (seeing as I have now discovered the Asiamarkt in Mainz).

Well, about dinnertime now..mmm....

News news news

First up, a little bit of natter from Germany. A little village in the north of Hamburg has been living in a tax-haven for the last 300 years, but now it seems the finance ministry wants to end this and change it's status of the most unfashionable tax-haven. I'm sure this really affects lots of you.
The state of Baden-Wuerttemberg is making moves to ban the wearing of headscarves by muslims in schools. Six other states are also planning to follow later on in this headwear-discrimination act. However, christian or jewish religious clothing is not to be banned. Furthermore, Hesse, Berlin and Saarland want headscarves banned in all public services. Talk about racism, this is just plain ridiculous !! Next thing we won't be able to wear t-shirts with foreign bands on, nor listen to music that isn't of the German Folkmusic type !!

Due to economic problems in Russia, the inhabitants have had to endure many things, but this last measure just went too far. Due to the extremely dry year they have had, there is a severe shortage of water in the region of Vladivostok, which has meant that people only get 3 hours of water every other day. That makes 10.5 hours of water in a week !! However, ingenious as ever, the people have managed to find a way to access more water by tapping into their radiators. That's right, once the water has finished heating the house, it is taken out for drinking, cooking, washing etc.

Next time you travel through an airport, you never know what they could be looking at as you pass through the screening area. New tests have shown they can scan through clothing to see anything hidden underneath, including your body. Of course they are being told they will have to add little fig-leaves to the image to cover up the delicate parts...

And finally, a new site has started up to inform all your friends (and enemies) when you die. All sorts of possibilities spring to mind...

Now something more personal, Alex (Cortega's big bro) came over from where he's currently working (near Frankfurt) to visit us here in Mainz and we went out for a few drinks to the renowned Eisgrub. Very welcome.

Well, that's the way the cookie crumbles...

Remembering the past and protecting the future

Today at 11:11am will be, like every year since the end of the First World War, two minutes of silence will be held to remember those that lost their lives fighting for us. To find out why we wear poppies on this day, or what the significance of the 11th minute of the 11th hour of the 11th day of the 11th month is, visit the remembrance section of the BBC.

Now most virus warnings go out without much notice being taken, as most people who have an anti-virus program installed, and regularly update the virus definitions do not get affected. However, due to the fact that I have received no less than 7 copies of this virus sent to me within the last few days, at least one person I know is not fully protected. It's very difficult to trace from whom the viruses come, as they use names and addresses stored on the infected computer as the sender of the emails. So if you're not fully updated, do it now. To find out more about this virus, visit this page at the Symantec website.

Now for anyone roaming through london with their laptop, or any workers taking lunch outside (I know it's cold and possibly raining, but there are some mad people in this world :) If you head towards Piccadilly Circus, you will find blanket (ie total) Wi-Fi (wireless internet) coverage, thanks to a company named Broadreach. More info at The Register.

Well, no rest for the wicked...

Birthdays and a bit of news

This last week has seen a mountain of birthdays go by, so here goes...Ana (31st), Mavi (1st), Patricia (2nd), oh, and mine (1st) (sorry if I've forgotten anyone - tell me and I'll add you in :)

Not as a celebration, rather as a medical checkup I also went back home (ok, parent's home then) for a couple of days. Mostly did my christmas shopping (well, ok, just shopping really, but it sounds like I'm organised if I say I've already done my christmas shopping :)
The flight over was interesting, as we were in the middle of a hailstorm in Hahn, so we skidded all over the runway, and when we took off we were also tilting in all directions. However, this was nothing compared to the shock we got when we saw a bolt of lightning hit the wing of our plane. Seeing an explosion of light hitting the thing that stands between you and about forty thousand feet of air to fall through isn't the most reassuring of things, but after the lights got turned back on and we moved out of the hailstorm we managed to put our hearts back into their normal places.

Apart from classes starting this week, and those of us who have them attending them, nothing else has happened to detract from the coldness of the weather here in Germany (in the UK we had 16 degrees !!)

A couple of news briefs, however, have come to my attention.
A study was carried out in Oxford Street (I went there on tuesday to do my shopping :) to find out how to recognise a geek (ok, physics student). Read this article to find out how.
For those of you who thought that Paris was the centre for high society, take a look again. One of it's main department stores has decided to offer courses in stripping to it's female customers. Of course, it doesn't state if it's offering courses in videoing for it's male customers :)
And now for a truly ingenious idea, is that of anonymous blogging. That's right, those people that don't want other people to find out who it is writing web logs can now type away in safe knowledge that they can't be found out.

Well, got a project to do, and not much time to finish it in.

see ya

Back from the Brink

Of Lake Leman, that is :)

The weekend was great, good to see our old friend (old as in more experience than the rest of us put together) Laurent before he sets off for Angola. It will definitely be a change of lifestyle...let's just hope he stays safe there. On this trip we also made some new friends, and Jordi noticed how beautiful some of the swiss women are, for a change (some?? he was noticing them all !!!).

Now for a bit of news.
As always somebody else is to blame, which is why Italy is blaming Switzerland for the electricity blackout they had the other day.

As most of you will know by now, we English are a bit strange. Now you can have some proof, as the cathedral choir of one of our southern cities (Portsmouth) have stripped off for a calendar. Okay, they are raising money for the church after all...

Now for something you really have to read. A man's mechanical lifesize dog which, let's say, has 'wind problems' was stopped and thoroughly searched at an american airport following their sensors going off for high explosives.

Well, that's how the world stands at the moment. Just left for me to say that Ruben (the andaluz) is off tomorrow back to the sunny parts of Spain, so let's bid him a fond farewell.

Ciao for now

Farewells

Probably the most international goodbye goes out to Concorde, who's last journey is due to take place this morning. And to think I never even got to ride in it once !

More locally, a brief goodbye goes to Mainz, because Luca, Jordi and myself are off to Switzerland to see our main man Cortega celebrating his graduation before he goes off to, where was it again? Iraq, Israel, never mind, somewhere dangerous, for sure.

And finally, we have said goodbye to the moderate weather of autumn (did it really exist this year?) as the frost has finally arrived and we walk with frozen feet, noses, ears and hands through the streets. Now where did I put my mittens...

that's it for now, got to pack,

Au revoir

Breakfast News

What would you say if I told you that a man encased himself in a perspex box and hung it from a tower bridge for 44 days and only drank water? Impossible? No, illusionist David Blaine has just walked out of it (with the aid of a stretcher)

In Buenos Aires an arsy bit of art has been put on display. Images of 600 bottoms are shown in the exhibition by Chilean visual artist Catalina Riutort.

Now we all know that women never like their own bodies (despite the fact that men like women's bodies very much) . But after a survey of forty-five thousand women commissioned by AOL, the figures are staggering. Sixty percent couldn't stand the way they looked, and nearly ten percent said they would change their whole bodies if the cosmetic surgery was free !!! But the most important figure is that of twenty-six percent of women find shopping for clothes makes them more unhappy about their bodies. Well, there's a simple solution to this one, which men have being trying to tell their wives for centuries - that they don't need any more clothes !!!

And finally, another strange story from this land that is Germany. A judge found in favour of the Mainz coucil, that it should not have to pay for a new toilet seat for a person on social welfare, when it broke through normal usage. Very important decision, wouldn't you say so?

Post-note: Olguis plane had electrical difficulties and so she's waiting for a new one. Let's hope she gets back fine, safe, and above all soon !

South American Special

Not really that special, but the only news is of South America, so why not call it that?

Bolivia now has a new president, and the rioting has at last calmed down there. Let's hope he can succeed where the last one failed.

After citing the article on my spanish webpage about the positive effects of coffee on potency in men, it is therefore surprising to find that one of the largest producers (and consumers) of coffee spends so much on other methods of aid.

And to finish off this trans-atlantic posting, Olguis will be coming back tomorrow. Bon voyage !

bye

News Titbits

Most importantly, Alberto went home back to Spain yesterday. Let's hope his Seat Ibiza got hime there safe and sound, and that the 3 cases of beer arrived without a bottle being opened...

Now onto some more international news.
One of the main leaders of the rebel group FARC in Colombia has made moves towards a peace talk. What with the hostages still being held near Santa Marta, and the continued attempts on the lives of mayoral candidates before the elections, let's just hope this new move is taken seriously by both sides.

Something a bit closer to home now (ie Germany) in that a man has been arrested on suspicion of teaching his dog to do the Nazi salute. It could only happen here. Oh, and the dog's name is Adolf.

Well that's about it for now, although congratulations are in order to the chinese for being the third nation to put a man up in space. In fact, they were meant to be the first nation to put a man and his dog in space, but when the sweet-and-sour-pork packet burst on take-off there was no other option...

Also, congratulations go out to Olgui who has now been excepted on her course in psychology here. As everyone knows, it's very difficult for foreigners to get on these limited-entrance courses, so well done to her !

Better get back to putting variables into my program (yes, it really is that interesting).

As the new governer of california says:

Hasta la vista, baby :)

Back to School

Well, I managed to do it again. It's been over a month since I last posted, but I'm not even going to explain why ! That's because you'll already have read that I went off to Colombia for 3 weeks. Yes, my final continent has at last been conquered, another place to tick off my list...hold on...that's not true. There is really so much of it to see, and if it wasn't for political reasons (hehem, kidnappings) I would have loved to have seen more. I have at least promised that I will return soon and see as much as possible that I missed.

I will not bore you with notes from my diary there, though I will mention a couple of things that will stay with me for a long time. Firstly, arriving with hurricane Florian was a bit of an experience, although the flight itself had already put me a bit on edge (within an hour of taking off from Frankfurt, the air hostess managed to spill orange-juice over my trousers, shirt, and book that I was reading (Noticia de un Secuestro - Garcia Marquez, very apt). We then had someone smoking in the toilets (very safe...).

What amazed me was the variety of the people, food, climate, and how despite all the problems that this country endures, how relaxed, happy and friendly the people were (in fact, I only got called "Gringo" once, and that was by a schoolkid in the library of Bogota). It really is dificult for me to put into words what I experienced there, but suffice it to say that I enjoyed myself a lot, and will definetely return.

Another thing I will remember, is Olga's driving. I don't mean this in any form of bad way, just that she gets very frightened of the big buses (with good reason, I've seen how they drive, and the consequences! It isn't for nothing they're called "Borradores" - erasors). Also when we hit a big hole (and there are numerous to hit in the roads of Barranquilla, in fact, it's harder to find a bit of road which isn't part of a hole!) and the engine caught fire...that was something I won't forget quickly! (see, it had nothing to do with her driving, just that she was driving at the time these things happened).

So all in all, an amazing time, and can't wait to go back (possibly when the weather gets back to normal - 32 degrees Celsius at midnight with 100% humidity requires about 3 showers a day minimum).

Back in Mainz we have a different problem. It's freezing !!! Snow in the south, snow in the north, but here everything looks the same, except we can feel the cold entering our bones. It really has skipped autumn and gone straight into winter. I feel sorry just looking at the new Spaniards thinking of their homes....

What else is new...many people have finally gone back to their home countries, and many more have arrived to start their Erasmus year here in this village, sorry, should that be town?

And finally, as many of you already know, I'm looking for a place to live. I have until the 20th of this month to move out, so if anyone hears of a place, you can use the form on this website to email me. Thanks.

Okay, that's all for now, better get some shopping in before I starve again.

we'll meet again

Birthdays and Goodbyes

This week we have a triple. On Wednesday, Carlitos celebrated his, hehem, all the threes (and I'm not talking three hundred and thirty three). Today (Friday) saw Juanfran edge nearer his third decade, and Saturday is that of Albakra, sorry, Alberto
. Many happy returns, hope you all celebrate accordingly, and afterwards show me the photos :)

Today also saw the lovely, sorry, great friend, Javi head off for his homeland. Not one to miss an opportunity, I accompanied him to the airport to take a last beer before he boarded. Of course that wasn't my only reason for going to the airport (although a good enough one). No, I was to take advantage of Lufthansa's great day-before check-in procedures. That should make tomorrow a lot less stressful for me.

After taking and passing her final exam today, Noelia goes off back to Galicia tomorrow, but this time by bus. So here's wishing her a lot of sleep for the 18 hours or however long it takes to get there. Oh, and how did last night go? ;)

Oh, did I forget to mention where I was going? How silly of me. Tomorrow I will be leaving Germany to head off to a far more beautiful, interesting, and unseen-by-me land. Yes, it's off to Colombia. Wish me luck, and wish the colombians a lot of patience in trying to understand me.

Next post will be from the other side of the atlantic (and a bit further south :)

Cheaper Calls and Dumbest Criminal of the Year Contender

First up, for those of you with landlines in Germany, the page www.billigertelefonieren.de advises which prefix to use to get cheaper calls. Also on this site is announced that the D2 Call-Ya prepaid tariff has an offer on in September and October, whereby if you spend 10 euros in calls, they will give you 5 euros to call free. Check the offer out here.

And for those that thought that criminals were getting cleverer, have a look at this article about a man who stole a GPS tracking device !

Okay, back to the office

A day like no other

Where to start, that is the problem. I woke up on August 30th due to the alarm on my phone. Upon viewing the screen, I noticed it had the words "security failure" written across it. Not good news. Investigating further, I came to the conclusion that the service provider (o2) had cut me off. Admittedly, I had cancelled my contract for the end of the month, but by my calendar, that's midnight on the 31st, not the 29th. Moving on to today, we had to get up extremely early in order to get Olga on her plane to Colombia.

So, with the freezing weather settling in, and therefore having to shut the window at night, we got up at 3.30 this morning. After the usual showering, coffee etc, we needed to get to the Hauptbahnhof (where we had left the luggage the night before) to catch the train to Frankfurt Airport. As the first tram arrives at the station at 5am, and we needed to catch the train at 5.02am, after collecting the luggage, a taxi was required. Due to the reason mentioned above, I no longer had use of my phone. Olga's had run out of credit, so I went to the callbox in the halls of residence. Only takes phonecards, and I only had change. Okay then, over to the military base where there are three phoneboxes, one of which accepts coins. Enter it. Look for number of taxi company. No phonebook. Go into cabin next door. Flick through phonebook, only to discover that the page with taxis in has been ripped out of the book. Great ! Move onto third cabin, find full book, remember taxi number and go back to booth one. Whilst picking up the receiver to dial, my brain starts sending me bad signals which force me to look at the front of the machine, where I see pictures of the coins that are accepted. As the receiver is reaching my ear and I am not hearing a tone, I realise that the pictures of coins I am looking at are of the good old Deutsche Mark. Yes, the only coin-phone in the vicinity is stuck in the pre-euro times.

Back I go, collect our stuff (lucky we had dropped the big bags off at the station the night before) and we start walking towards Berliner Strasse. We stop to look at the bus timetable, on the offchance that one would pass before the first tram. Someone had kindly ripped the timetable off of it's holder. We carry on, only to find that there are no taxis at the next stop. By now it was 4.45am and within seven minutes the tram would be passing us by, but determined to get a taxi and arrive at the station in enough time to get this train, we continue. Pariser Tor. Here we see two taxis (they always come in twos, haven't you noticed?) arriving at the petrol station on the other side of the road. We dare the traffic, and run across the roads to get there. Finally, a ride ! Of course, we forgot that it's a perilous one way system over here, so we had to drive back to Berliner Strasse in order to turn around.

Arriving at the station at 4.53, and therefore 9 minutes to spare, I rushed in to get the luggage out whilst Olga tried to sort out paying a taxi fare of eight euros with a fifty euro note. We had made the train ! All the check-in etc went fine, and so after saying our goodbyes, I went on my way back to Mainz. Arriving at 8am I got the tram straight back home, as I had plenty of things to do today. First thing, speak to the caretaker. Arriving at his office I see a little hand-written sign saying he's just popped out - be right back. Go back to my room to sort a few things out before returning to see him. Okay. Go back to sleep as two and a half hours is not enough for me. At eleven o'clock I wake up. Feeling better, I wonder how it feels to be starting your first school day in Germany. How do I know this was their first school day here? Because I was awoken at eleven o'clock by the familiar sound of children screaming through the windows of the halls of residence, which signals that it's term-time again. Oh, what joy.

Anyway, I get up, and have a little chat with Ruben and Almudena. Whilst I am speaking to them we here a little 'ping' sound. At this point I notice that my glasses are falling off my face. Yes, the screw that holds my glasses together, decided that today was the day it was going to fall out. More than that, because after ten minutes looking for it all over the floor, and still not finding it, we decided it had gone to a better place (or the goblins had got it).

So, what I actually ended up doing was going to the opticions to get a new screw fitted. Before catching the bus to the Mensa to eat lunch, I stopped at our old friend, the turkish call shop, and bought myself a new simcard for my mobile. Which is why I am no longer available on my old number. If I haven't informed you of the new number, please send me an email, and I'll send it to you. Oh, whilst I'm on the subject. As I can no longer access the old simcard, I have also lost a lot of telephone numbers. So if you think I haven't got it (eg if I haven't phoned you in a while) let me know.

What a day !

Goodbye Lou and hello Sobig Virus

Tuesday saw Lou, Lourdes, "paso de vosotros" leave for her home, Madrid. We will all miss her a lot, but let's hope that we can meet up again soon.
Whilst some of us are now leaving, we also have a few arrivals, namely the families of Alberto and Jordi are visiting for a few days before returning to Valencia with their sons later on.

After the chaos caused by the "msblast" virus, you would assume people would be protected from another outbreak. Oh no, now the "Sobig" virus has been doing it's rounds and in the space of a week has become the most virulent virus ever. So protect yourselves now (download latest virus definitions from your AV vendor).

Nothing else very urgent at the moment...

Quickie

The attack on the microsoft update servers, due to start today, did not go quite as planned. The website targeted (an old address) was taken down beforehand. However, the increased network activity effects were seen, as I can verify at 00:45 this morning the Uni Mainz/Hechtsheim connection to the internet no longer worked (which is why I had to finish updating my site this morning). Of course, when America finally wakes up it will probably get worse...

Talking about updating, the useful sites and friend's sites pages have been updated, so give them a look.

Hey-ho and off to work I go...

Doing Nothing, Best Buys and Virus Alert

A new craze has hit Europe after making it's way through America, called "flash mobbing". This is when groups, organised through the internet receive an email telling them to do a particularly pointless thing at a certain time soon afterwards. This information is then disseminated by mobiles and text messages so that, for example, groups of about 200 people went to a bookstore in Rome asking about "Pinnochio 2 - The Vendetta" (doesn't exist) and to Macy's in New York asking for a "love rug" for a "suburban commune". Check out the following websites for more info: cheesebikini, flashmob.com, and an article by the telegraph.

Ever wanted to be mister handyman? Well, with the help of the German supermarket chain Plus and their special offers for screwdriver sets, you can :)

Now time for an important virus warning. The msblast virus seems to be affecting a large amount of home, as well as business users, and since it isn't distributed by email, rather anonomously though the computers network ports, it is a lot more difficult to stop. So here's what you have to do to prevent/get rid of it (for a full explanation, read this page at symantec.com) :

1) Firstly, you should install the latest microsoft patch (Windows 2000, or Windows XP, if your windows is not the english version, remember to select the correct language, or the update won't work) which prevents this virus from entering your system any more.

2) Reboot the computer.

3) Download the symantec fixblast tool (to desktop is a good place).

4) Close all running programs (like messenger clients, Word etc.).

5) If you have Windows XP, right-click on the "My Computer" desktop icon, and select "properties". Now click on the tab labelled "System Restore". Tick the box that says "Turn off System Restore" and then on the "Apply" button. When asked if that is really what you want to do, say "Yes".

6) Run the Fixblast.exe program (double click on the desktop icon if that's where you downloaded it to) and select "Start" for it to start checking your computer.

7) When this has finished, restart the computer.

8) Run Fixblast again (as in step 6) to check that the virus is fully removed.

9) If you have WinXP, turn on System Restore, following the same method as in Step 5.

After completing all this, update your virus signatures and install a firewall to help prevent other viruses of this nature entering again.

Remember to practice Safe Surfing.

News, news and more news

First up, safety in airports. You would think that we are now over-cautious with the safety controls that are in place, but as this article from the BBC shows, knives are still able to be smuggled through airport security. Makes you feel really safe, doesn't it.

France, always one for flouting the rules when it feels like it, has decided to allow excess water from it's nuclear plants to leak into the rivers at higher temperatures, ignoring any possible impacts it may have on the environment. Of course, they could have done like the swiss and just cut output during this hard time, but they had to do it their way. Ok, it's not fair always picking on the french, I know, so I would also like to point out that Germany too has taken to using the same method.

For those of you that like to stay up late (or those that can't get to sleep because of this ridiculous heatwave we're having) tonight at about 2-3am you should be able to see the meteor shower of Perseids.

Amongst the latest lot to leave for their home countries, are Pau, Nuria, Giulia, Carmen, David, and Juanfran. Best wishes go out for whatever they go on to do with their lives.

That's it for now

Heatwave, Monkeys and Virus Warning

As most of Europe suffers under the effects of the sun, the UK seems to be looking more like the med. It's not all good news, however, apart from Germany sweating without the help of air conditioning, the UK has used the hot weather as an excuse for slowing down the trains. We can never win.

Next up in the news, is a virus warning, although it doesn't seem to be so advanced, it hasn't stopped people from contracting it (not literally people, their computers...) As ever, the advice is to keep your virus program up to date, and to patch this critical vulnerability in Windows.

As more and more firms are moving abroad in order to reduce costs of labour, an Iowian firm has found a different method. They hire monkeys. Yes (this goes out especially to Griff) whilst we have all thought that the guy at the other end of the helpline was some form of primate, now we have the proof. This shows us two things; labour is very cheap indeed hiring chimps instead of humans, and that Visual Basic is in fact just a language written for apes.

bysie bye

BBQs, leaving, and photos

Well, the semester has ended, the temperatures have reached record levels and most of the Erasmus students are slowly making their ways home. Which means there ar elaving parties nearly every night, and what better way to celebrate than to have a barbie :) Unfortunately, it does become a bit repetitive after a while, up to the point where I can't see another sausage nor burger for a month !!!

Finally found time to put up the photos from Argentina that Fernand and Joan sent a while back, which can be found under Photos->Others->Fernando and Joan. Also, Alberto's photos from the meal at Olga's are now available to see, Photos->Meals->Olga Cena.

Well, that's it for now, more news later on.

Bits and Bobs

Before anything else, it has to be mentioned that Kutre Concierto 3 will go ahead in the Vegis tonight at 9.30pm. Be there or be square.

On to the news. For all those culinary enthusiasts out there, it is now being claimed that Lasagne is in fact British. The recipe was found in the first ever cookbook, found in the British Museum. Of course, there is the small matter of defining what is lasagne first.

A spurge of online search-engine games has manifested itself, meaning that when you get bored at work or at uni you can have a go at typing in various word combinations to the Google site, and hitting the button "I'm feeling lucky". Some of the current favourites are "weapons of mass destruction", and "french military victories".

Enough fun for today

Scam update

First warning goes out to AOL users who are particularly being targeted by a porn trojan.

Next up is an interesting story about the methods of credit card thieves.

And finally, for those london folk, a telephone scam has been discovered that involves paying lots of money to listen to cheesy elevator-music. Great.

Be Aware

Newsnight

First up, we welcome Roberto the Italian back to Mainz. After completing his degree in Italy he has now returned to rub it in for those who have yet to complete theirs :)

No doubt everyone has become aware of the comradeship going on between the Italian and German members of the European Parliament. Well, the latest shot was fired by the Germans, and is detailed here.

A new way to stop that unstoppable menace that is SPAM, or unsolicitated emails, has been found by the Internet Research Task Force. It has to be read.

Now for the serious stuff:
Bad news for Bangladesh, as a ferry carrying over 750 people sank, with about 400 currently missing.
Good news for a man from Arkansas who awoke after a lengthy 19-year coma. Apparently, he is now trying to catch up on what has happened.

As it becomes apparent that various mis-truths (not going to be sued here, thank you very much) were fed to the public as regards the reasons for war in Iraq, Tony Blair stands defiant (alone) that the proof will materialise as quickly as you can say "rehash me a ten-year-old thesis and pretend it's from a reliable source".
Also, that tear-jerking story of the female US soldier shot and stabbed in Iraq, and then heroically rescued (Saving Private Ryan, anyone?) by the american military turns out to be as far from the truth as The White House is from finding weapons of mass destruction in Iraq.

A couple of IT bites now; consumers up to their eyebrows (for want of a more explicit expression) with paying too much to the music industry monoloths, are getting together and organising a revolt. Join in the fun.
Information about a replacment for the humble barcode has been released (inadvertantly) showing that it is yet another method to control the population. Read about this new invasion of privacy here.

That about it for now, tomorrow is the summer party of the nuclear physics institute, and seeing as we're in Germany, the beer starts flowing from 11am !!!
Friday also sees Carlitos, Lobelto, Makek (el croata), Alberto, Pepe, Eme, Pau, David, Bruno, Natalia, Consuelo, Mirian, Helene (la francesa), Ana, Maria, Pili, Tere and Susi head off to Berlin for the much-acclaimed Love Parade.

Can't wait for the photos :)

Graduation, Breadmaking and Parties

Another trip to the UK, this time it was for the graduation of Douglas, my lesser half, sorry, my brother :)
This was attended after a six hour journey from London up to Durham (near the border with Scotland). The kindest way to talk about the weather up north is to say that it didn't snow...although I'm sure it tried. I admit, maybe I should have warned Olga of the temperatures up there so that she would have been able to bring something more than summer clothes, but it was amusing :) So, a big posh meal at a hotel that night, followed by the ceremony in the morning in Durham Cathedral, and then packing up all Dug's belongings into the trailer to bring home with us (along with five of us in the car). Getting home at half past one in the morning, my parents then had to leave for france the next morning, and Olga and I set off for London (I assume Douglas has now woken up).
In the Canary Wharf area of the capital we met up with Nick, who managed to take an extra long lunch-break in order to eat with us. We met up with Joe (Colombian from Mainz) and went shopping along Oxford Street. Rushing for the plane, we arrived at City Airport half an hour before take-off, and within ten minutes we were in the plane for Frankfurt, exceptionally efficient in my opinion, especially considering the palava in Frankfurt airport on the way out (after the usual bag scan and walking through the beep machine, they then scan the bag again and do a very intimate body search. If it wasn't for their authority in the airport, I would seriously consider reporting them to the police for sexual assualt, and Olga would back me up one hundred percent, as hers was even more explicit).

On Saturday, after shopping to fill up the fridge (after four days away there was no food left), I went off to work, not without first setting my bread-machine for a loaf of oregano bread (doesn't have a recipe, I made it up as I went along). It's not just me who liked the result, Olga thought it had just the right amount of salt, Alberto managed to chew it, despite having his four molars taken out, Andres also approved, and even Magda put aside her impressions of english men to say that she was impressed.
This same night there was a big selection of parties to going on around here. In Hechtsheim Lucia and Christina had their leaving party (which I could observe from my room :) there was a street party in Frankfurt which was attended by Ramsey etc. also, in Muenchfeld there was a party at the house of Mauri, and near to Wiesbaden there was a latin-american party. Which was great, and many people enjoyed themselves. Which one did I visit? None. I was too tired after work (does my age show?).

Tonight Fatma is coming over for dinner (let's hope the tomato-bread is ready by then) and then we'll be meeting up with Nick (yes, the one from London) and his brother in town for a couple of drinks.

On a less personal note, theregister reports that printer ink is now seven times more expensive than vintage champagne. I don't know who did this study, but speaking for my self, I don't usually drink the ink from my printer.

And relax...

Writer's Block

Okay, biggest apologies go out to every one of you, I will not attempt to explain my lack of communication, albeit to say that I was just a little stressed.

So now's the bit where I try to recount everything that's been happening over the last (gosh!) eight weeks. With the help of Lou's diary pages (no, I didn't steal them, she gave them to me) and what's left of my decrepid memory, I will now go back to the beginning and reveal all (no, not in that way. no need to hide the kids).

So, April 26th saw Roberto (the italian) have his leaving party. Highlights of the evening were Alicia's tortilla, and the amount of wine drunk. Also on this same night saw a repeat Kalimocho party in Alberto's flat, which ended up with not many people remembering much of the night, including me, although there are vague recollections of some people close-dancing...

On May 22nd Don Albe (jose alberto to you and me) came over to visit us. Time was spent drinking, chatting, drinking...

Dinner was provided by Olga on May 23rd, so Lou and I went over to Bretzenheim to eat our plate's worth. Very nice. Afterwards, fiesta brava in the Mainzer Kolleg, where it was also the last day behind the bar for Antonio, before he left to go back to Seville. Very good night had by all, Albe certainly enjoyed himself, as did the rest of us dance-a-holics. At about 6am most people made their way home. Apparently Carlitos and Roberto stayed on a bit longer, whilst the latter painted the steps to the bar a nice shade of pink-with-carrots.

After his brief visit, Albe went back to Valencia on May 27th, promising to return soon. So the night of the 26th we had a leaving get-together for him in Hechtsheim Bar, where I got out a couple of special beers that I had brought back from England (one from chocolate, the other made with honey).

June 4th saw a strawberry-party organised by the Hechtsheim halls. So naturally we all went to Carlitos' place (about 3 metres away from said bar) and had our own super party (despite certain people trying to stop the fun).

Lobelto, sorry, Roberto the frog, um, frenchman laid on a Paella on June 6th for his housemates (including Olga) so Lou and I went along to give our opinions.

June 9th-12th I spent in my humble village in England, getting together my books, beer and sauces to bring back to Germany, whilst showing Olga around London on her first trip to the UK (crossing roads was a particular difficulty she had...). During this time Alberto (aka Albakra) and Jordi went back to Valencia for a week (it was uni holidays, honest).

The birth of Marcus the baker happened on June 14th, when, with my newly bought bread-baking machine, I baked my first loaf. Not wanting to die alone, I invited Lou to come along and try the bread first :)

June 15th saw me back in the experiment room in the physics building, where all sorts of computer problems occured. At 8pm I quickly ran away back home.

The preparations started well in advance, for on June 18th the halls of residence in Hechtsheim filled with about 3000 people for the annual summer party. Not before I cooked my Indian meal (a korma, for those in the know) for Andres, Carolina and Olga, and served it along with a freshly baked loaf of bread.
So, as expected of us, we had our own private party in Carlitos' flat. Again, some people not understanding the idea of a private party, nor that a person's toilet is not for communal use for a population of 3000, and that somebody saw fit to steal Lou's camera and also to push over the kitchen shelves. But apart from those little mishaps, it was a very good party, and Carlitos is to be commended once again for his organisational skills.

This Saturday just gone (June 21st) I went on a little shopping trip with Olga, to buy food. Why is this worth writing on this website you may ask? Because when it came through the checkout at 120 euros, and filled two boxes and five carrier bags, and had to be transported back home by bus, I would consider it something out of the ordinary. Highlights of the shopping trip: Colombian fruit (can't remeber what they were called), flour of type 1050 (no, I have no idea what that means either, but it's the one required for some of my bread recipes) and a Tigger toy.
After a meal of chicken with rice (attended by Sylvia), and sleeping the siesta (Olga has a problem with quantities when cooking, so yes, after eating it all up everyone needs a siesta) we had a pasta dish prepared by Nuria, wish was also very nice.

Now that I think I've done the majority of the news of late, I will let you get back to your cups of tea and coffee, that will definitely be cold by now.

Sorry.