Venus, Duck Dialects, and bad Music Labels
For those of you looking out of your windows next Tuesday (actually, you shouldn't look directly at it, better to see it over the internet) you might see a spot moving across the face of the sun. This is Venus and it is the first occasion to see it since 1882, so it's not to be missed.
After previous valuable studies such as "Why cornflakes go soggy in milk" and "How to make the perfect beer without head" Middlesex University have released a study which claims that ducks have regional accents. So that obviously explains why the ones from the south go about with the latest fashion feathers and say "quark" (cheesy german yoghurt) instead of "quack", whilst those in the north steal the rubber rings off the toy speedboats whilst asking for bread.
After all the trouble the music labels are going to to stop people downloading music over the internet (eg threatening 79 year old women with court, even though she's never used a computer, and a 5 year old girl who was looking for information for her homework), it's good to see them take a taste of their own medicine. Camden (London borough) has taken out an order of antisocial behaviour against BMG and Sony, for putting up illegal posters all over the area instead of buying advertising space.
And last but not least, I would like to wish all those who have exams all the best, and that they have all the success they need (Olga and Albakra to mention a couple).
That's all from me
Saturday, June 05, 2004
Saturday, May 29, 2004
Edible Ants, FBI Faults, Anglo-Franco Bridge and Murder in the Chatroom
With the widely acclaimed British entrepreneurial spirit, a company has finalised an order for 500 kilos of colombian culonas "fat-ass" ants. What are they going to do with these creatures? - make them into lollies and crispy snacks of course.
After the atrocity in Madrid, not much else has become public knowledge except for the blowing up of the suspects when the police got too close. Well, in an effort to show how the reliance on technology over good old intuition has become too much - even to the scale that the bombings could possibly have been foiled beforehand, check out this article at TheRegister. Basically, when detonators were found, and the local police could not find any leads, the FBI were called in, who used a badly scanned copy of the fingerprints to match up an American who has not even been to Spain ! Feeling safe in the knowledge that they had their man, the real terrorists were able to carry on with their plotting in peace, to the end of the carnage that we saw on march 11th. Afterwards, the spanish police managed to match the fingerprints to one of the bombers that blew himself up. But what if they had found this link beforehand, with a real look at the fingerprints, could it have been averted? I'll let you decide.
Now onto France where a bridge constructed to cross a river has broken records by being taller than the Eiffel Tower. Yes, yet another example of British and French cooperation in making another marvel come to light (previous firsts include the Channel Tunnel and Concorde).
Something a bit macabre now, in that a boy of just 14 wrote, over months, an intricate story of online friendships and spying which resulted in him and a friend going to a store in Manchester to buy a kitchen knife whereby the friend killed him. The fact that it was already planned out on his home computer shows that he was obviously escaping reality with his pennings and then, fatefully, trying to make them into reality itself.
Onto a few hellos and goodbyes. Susi who was here for a while, left yesterday morning to go back to Valencia where she is looking for work. Luca also came over to visit recently and goes home later this afternoon to his home town in Italy. Andrea (the colombian) left yesterday to go and visit a friend in Madrid, so here's hoping that she enjoys the great weather and hospitality that Spain offers. We say hello again to Pili (from 2002) who is coming over to visit Fabrizzio today for a break from her work in Italy.
Okay, I think that's most of the news from this end, time to go out and enjoy the hot weather.
Stay Cool
With the widely acclaimed British entrepreneurial spirit, a company has finalised an order for 500 kilos of colombian culonas "fat-ass" ants. What are they going to do with these creatures? - make them into lollies and crispy snacks of course.
After the atrocity in Madrid, not much else has become public knowledge except for the blowing up of the suspects when the police got too close. Well, in an effort to show how the reliance on technology over good old intuition has become too much - even to the scale that the bombings could possibly have been foiled beforehand, check out this article at TheRegister. Basically, when detonators were found, and the local police could not find any leads, the FBI were called in, who used a badly scanned copy of the fingerprints to match up an American who has not even been to Spain ! Feeling safe in the knowledge that they had their man, the real terrorists were able to carry on with their plotting in peace, to the end of the carnage that we saw on march 11th. Afterwards, the spanish police managed to match the fingerprints to one of the bombers that blew himself up. But what if they had found this link beforehand, with a real look at the fingerprints, could it have been averted? I'll let you decide.
Now onto France where a bridge constructed to cross a river has broken records by being taller than the Eiffel Tower. Yes, yet another example of British and French cooperation in making another marvel come to light (previous firsts include the Channel Tunnel and Concorde).
Something a bit macabre now, in that a boy of just 14 wrote, over months, an intricate story of online friendships and spying which resulted in him and a friend going to a store in Manchester to buy a kitchen knife whereby the friend killed him. The fact that it was already planned out on his home computer shows that he was obviously escaping reality with his pennings and then, fatefully, trying to make them into reality itself.
Onto a few hellos and goodbyes. Susi who was here for a while, left yesterday morning to go back to Valencia where she is looking for work. Luca also came over to visit recently and goes home later this afternoon to his home town in Italy. Andrea (the colombian) left yesterday to go and visit a friend in Madrid, so here's hoping that she enjoys the great weather and hospitality that Spain offers. We say hello again to Pili (from 2002) who is coming over to visit Fabrizzio today for a break from her work in Italy.
Okay, I think that's most of the news from this end, time to go out and enjoy the hot weather.
Stay Cool
Thursday, May 27, 2004
Another Football Win
No sooner had I celebrated Valencia winning the double (UEFA and league), than Mainz's own team got promoted into the first division of the german league. You can imagine the amount of noise on the streets here over the following couple of days. Anyway, well done Mainz 05.
Maybe speaking prematurely, but Britta should have handed in her diplomarbeit today (otherwise it will be handed in tomorrow). The long and tiring journey for her, will like it did for us, finally be over. Party tomorrow then...
Going back in time a bit, newly released records show that President Nixon was often too drunk to have a conversation with the British PM about the Arab-Israeli war when it was at it's most critical point. Nice to see that power doesn't go to your head.
Now for those of you wanting a different kind of perk at work, try following the danish example. The firm gives free subscriptions to web porn sites to it's workers. I say no more.
So, as we come to the end of another week, I just wish all the lad's in Bologna all the best, and not to forget the rest of us stuck in other countries, and wish a lot of luck to all who have exams in the near future.
Study hard
No sooner had I celebrated Valencia winning the double (UEFA and league), than Mainz's own team got promoted into the first division of the german league. You can imagine the amount of noise on the streets here over the following couple of days. Anyway, well done Mainz 05.
Maybe speaking prematurely, but Britta should have handed in her diplomarbeit today (otherwise it will be handed in tomorrow). The long and tiring journey for her, will like it did for us, finally be over. Party tomorrow then...
Going back in time a bit, newly released records show that President Nixon was often too drunk to have a conversation with the British PM about the Arab-Israeli war when it was at it's most critical point. Nice to see that power doesn't go to your head.
Now for those of you wanting a different kind of perk at work, try following the danish example. The firm gives free subscriptions to web porn sites to it's workers. I say no more.
So, as we come to the end of another week, I just wish all the lad's in Bologna all the best, and not to forget the rest of us stuck in other countries, and wish a lot of luck to all who have exams in the near future.
Study hard
Saturday, May 22, 2004
The bike-unfriendly city of Mainz
I thought I'd dedicate this post to a recent study that took place in Germany about the most bike-friendly cities in the country. Mainz came in at the top of the middle group. Basically, the total distance of bike-lanes was counted, and along with other factors, provided the source for the ratings.
As a cyclist that has to travel 15kms a day through this city, I wanted to give an alternative point of view of someone who has to put up with the unfriendliness and downright dangerous driving of the car owners in this city. And so I will be using the same criteria that the ADAC test used, but giving a proper perspective.
1) Few deaths or severe injuries of cyclists.
Well, having not died yet, I can't confirm or deny this, but all it shows is that the drivers manage to brake before a fatality occurs. It does not reflect how many actual injuries take place.
2)Many one-way streets allow bikes in the opposite direction of the traffic.
Okay, it makes the journey shorter as there are too many one-way streets anyway, but it means that you have cars coming towards you that don't seem to know that you're allowed to cycle in the opposite direction, and thus try to run you down, or at the very least force you to pull into the side as they drive in the middle of the road hooting at you.
3)Roads which allow cyclists to cycle next to another, and where cars have a reduced speed limit for.
Reduced speed? That's a laugh, they seem to think it's a second lane with no traffic in and so go faster than normal! Apart from that, nearly every day I have some car park or wait in the cycle lane in front of me, causing me to go out into the (very fast) car lane.
4)30-zones and speed-reducing measures.
First of all, let's look at the speed zones. Has anyone ever seen a car do 30km/h that hasn't been parking? I think it has something to do with the limitless motorways, but only a police presence has any effect here. Sleeping policemen (bumps in the road) are another thing. These affect the stability of cyclists (especially in places they have to signal to turn off) whilst the cars just reduce their tyre pressure and fly over them.
5)Parallel routes going through inhabited areas instead of through uninhabited ones makes for better safety.
Fine, but show me where they are. Lots of the bike paths here go through fields where there aren't any inhabitants for miles, and save following a much much longer route going into the city centre and then out again. Also, it's not a matter of it being inhabited, rather being lit up. As it's hard to find lights on any roads, this makes the safety of the cyclist plummit, even if people do live nearby, at night they won't see anything.
6)Lots of bike parking places in the centre.
Many there are, but it's the type that matters. Most of them are only a little wheel-holder affair that lets you stand your bike up if it doesn't have it's own stand, but you can only lock your front wheel to it if at all (which with the popular quick-release systems, is hardly going to protect someone from stealing the bike).
7)Possibility to take bikes on the public transport at no extra cost.
Let's check this first. The old trams have doorways that prevent bikes, wheelchairs and prams from entering. The S-Bahn also prohibits them (or makes it that you can't get out of the station at the other end with them). The new trams and buses do make it easy to take bikes on, but they do not provide space for them once they're on. At each doorway either a bike, wheelchar or pram can stand, but this prevents other people from getting on or off the transport. This leads to tension between the passengers and the bike-owners.
8)Bike rallies each month.
Okay, I'll give them this one, as I haven't partaken in one I can't comment.
9)Tested roads sometimes of bad quality.
Another understatement of the year. Having drains, holes, lamp-posts and signs in the middle of the cycle lanes and having to mount and demount the pavement every five metres is not my idea of good quality lanes. And I'm not just talking about some of the lanes, I haven't found a single one that does not have one or more of the aforementioned problems with the quality of the road.
10)Narrow cycle lanes blocked by cars and shared by pedestrians.
Coming back to the number one cause of cycle frustration here, the drivers do not respect cyclists. They park wherever they want to, opening their doors without looking, causing the cyclist to take action to avoid an accident. Pedestrians also seem oblivious to cyclists, as they walk looking down at the ground, reading their newspaper, or talking amongst themselves, meaning the cyclist has to go out of his lane onto the pedestrian part to avoid conflict, and then has the next pedestrian have a go at him for being out of his lane in the first place!
11)Sometimes the cycle lanes are too narrow.
Okay, so who manages to sit astride their bike and not have a width of more than 50cms? Why such narrow cycle lanes are created, I don't know. It just leads to cars assuming we can stay in such a narrow lane and thus driving right up close because "they're in their lane". Why not just have the road without markings, and let the cyclists ride as normal road users. If the street really is that narrow, what's the point of letting cars though it in the first place?
12)Few functioning bike stands at the train station.
Few? How about none. On top of that, they've prohibited the leaning or locking of bikes against the telegraph poles in this area. So what do you do - stand it against a wall and lock the wheel to the frame - hardly a safe option.
That's it for the ADAC test, how about a few points of my own:
13)Not having trees with thorns line the cycle paths. Every day I have to pick thorns from my tires because these trees and bushes have somehow been chosen to line every cycle-way.
14)Have traffic lights give enough time for people/bikes to cross, and the interval between them changing not be greater than 5 minutes (not like the one at HBf-West then, that is red for 10 mins and then changes to green for 30 seconds).
Well, there you have it, The real Cyclists Guide to Mainz
I thought I'd dedicate this post to a recent study that took place in Germany about the most bike-friendly cities in the country. Mainz came in at the top of the middle group. Basically, the total distance of bike-lanes was counted, and along with other factors, provided the source for the ratings.
As a cyclist that has to travel 15kms a day through this city, I wanted to give an alternative point of view of someone who has to put up with the unfriendliness and downright dangerous driving of the car owners in this city. And so I will be using the same criteria that the ADAC test used, but giving a proper perspective.
1) Few deaths or severe injuries of cyclists.
Well, having not died yet, I can't confirm or deny this, but all it shows is that the drivers manage to brake before a fatality occurs. It does not reflect how many actual injuries take place.
2)Many one-way streets allow bikes in the opposite direction of the traffic.
Okay, it makes the journey shorter as there are too many one-way streets anyway, but it means that you have cars coming towards you that don't seem to know that you're allowed to cycle in the opposite direction, and thus try to run you down, or at the very least force you to pull into the side as they drive in the middle of the road hooting at you.
3)Roads which allow cyclists to cycle next to another, and where cars have a reduced speed limit for.
Reduced speed? That's a laugh, they seem to think it's a second lane with no traffic in and so go faster than normal! Apart from that, nearly every day I have some car park or wait in the cycle lane in front of me, causing me to go out into the (very fast) car lane.
4)30-zones and speed-reducing measures.
First of all, let's look at the speed zones. Has anyone ever seen a car do 30km/h that hasn't been parking? I think it has something to do with the limitless motorways, but only a police presence has any effect here. Sleeping policemen (bumps in the road) are another thing. These affect the stability of cyclists (especially in places they have to signal to turn off) whilst the cars just reduce their tyre pressure and fly over them.
5)Parallel routes going through inhabited areas instead of through uninhabited ones makes for better safety.
Fine, but show me where they are. Lots of the bike paths here go through fields where there aren't any inhabitants for miles, and save following a much much longer route going into the city centre and then out again. Also, it's not a matter of it being inhabited, rather being lit up. As it's hard to find lights on any roads, this makes the safety of the cyclist plummit, even if people do live nearby, at night they won't see anything.
6)Lots of bike parking places in the centre.
Many there are, but it's the type that matters. Most of them are only a little wheel-holder affair that lets you stand your bike up if it doesn't have it's own stand, but you can only lock your front wheel to it if at all (which with the popular quick-release systems, is hardly going to protect someone from stealing the bike).
7)Possibility to take bikes on the public transport at no extra cost.
Let's check this first. The old trams have doorways that prevent bikes, wheelchairs and prams from entering. The S-Bahn also prohibits them (or makes it that you can't get out of the station at the other end with them). The new trams and buses do make it easy to take bikes on, but they do not provide space for them once they're on. At each doorway either a bike, wheelchar or pram can stand, but this prevents other people from getting on or off the transport. This leads to tension between the passengers and the bike-owners.
8)Bike rallies each month.
Okay, I'll give them this one, as I haven't partaken in one I can't comment.
9)Tested roads sometimes of bad quality.
Another understatement of the year. Having drains, holes, lamp-posts and signs in the middle of the cycle lanes and having to mount and demount the pavement every five metres is not my idea of good quality lanes. And I'm not just talking about some of the lanes, I haven't found a single one that does not have one or more of the aforementioned problems with the quality of the road.
10)Narrow cycle lanes blocked by cars and shared by pedestrians.
Coming back to the number one cause of cycle frustration here, the drivers do not respect cyclists. They park wherever they want to, opening their doors without looking, causing the cyclist to take action to avoid an accident. Pedestrians also seem oblivious to cyclists, as they walk looking down at the ground, reading their newspaper, or talking amongst themselves, meaning the cyclist has to go out of his lane onto the pedestrian part to avoid conflict, and then has the next pedestrian have a go at him for being out of his lane in the first place!
11)Sometimes the cycle lanes are too narrow.
Okay, so who manages to sit astride their bike and not have a width of more than 50cms? Why such narrow cycle lanes are created, I don't know. It just leads to cars assuming we can stay in such a narrow lane and thus driving right up close because "they're in their lane". Why not just have the road without markings, and let the cyclists ride as normal road users. If the street really is that narrow, what's the point of letting cars though it in the first place?
12)Few functioning bike stands at the train station.
Few? How about none. On top of that, they've prohibited the leaning or locking of bikes against the telegraph poles in this area. So what do you do - stand it against a wall and lock the wheel to the frame - hardly a safe option.
That's it for the ADAC test, how about a few points of my own:
13)Not having trees with thorns line the cycle paths. Every day I have to pick thorns from my tires because these trees and bushes have somehow been chosen to line every cycle-way.
14)Have traffic lights give enough time for people/bikes to cross, and the interval between them changing not be greater than 5 minutes (not like the one at HBf-West then, that is red for 10 mins and then changes to green for 30 seconds).
Well, there you have it, The real Cyclists Guide to Mainz
Thursday, May 20, 2004
Prophecy comes true?
I'm not one to scaremonger or spread false information about like grass seeds (I never spread them out anyway). However, after my recent post questioning the use of the Ten Commandments on certain people up on high (no, not that far up, even though they think they are, I mean 'elected' presidents of large nations) I can't believe it's only coincidence that a plague of locusts (ok, they're really cicadas) is sweeping across America. Maybe what goes around does come around...
Now as a country with so much to offer (landscapes and food at least) Italy has a lot going for it. However, like all countries, it has it's downsides as well. But I've covered most of them in previous posts, what I want to mention today is that a new law has been passed there to make it a criminal offense for people to upload or download copyrighted material over the internet (ie P2P networks). Starting from now, anyone caught downloading films or music can expect between six months and three years in proson on top of the fine. Of course, I suppose if a certain leader were to do it, there would also be a law passed to exonerate him...
Anyway, on a lighter note, the weather's looking more like summer now here in Mainz. Meaning at ten o'clock at night 24 degrees is not unusual. Just hope that it doesn't continue like this until september...
Birthday announcements again (maybe I should make this a seperate section of the website...) Amir (again, friend from home) celebrated his, um, next birthday on the 19th (yesterday). So here's hoping he celebrated it in style (and as I know him, I'm sure he did).
Also, Leanna (who's over in London at the moment for her sister's graduation) will celebrate hers later on this week. Maybe we'll see some photos afterwards...
Okay, now I've had my fun for the holiday that is today in Germany, best get out to enjoy the sun.
Tan well...
I'm not one to scaremonger or spread false information about like grass seeds (I never spread them out anyway). However, after my recent post questioning the use of the Ten Commandments on certain people up on high (no, not that far up, even though they think they are, I mean 'elected' presidents of large nations) I can't believe it's only coincidence that a plague of locusts (ok, they're really cicadas) is sweeping across America. Maybe what goes around does come around...
Now as a country with so much to offer (landscapes and food at least) Italy has a lot going for it. However, like all countries, it has it's downsides as well. But I've covered most of them in previous posts, what I want to mention today is that a new law has been passed there to make it a criminal offense for people to upload or download copyrighted material over the internet (ie P2P networks). Starting from now, anyone caught downloading films or music can expect between six months and three years in proson on top of the fine. Of course, I suppose if a certain leader were to do it, there would also be a law passed to exonerate him...
Anyway, on a lighter note, the weather's looking more like summer now here in Mainz. Meaning at ten o'clock at night 24 degrees is not unusual. Just hope that it doesn't continue like this until september...
Birthday announcements again (maybe I should make this a seperate section of the website...) Amir (again, friend from home) celebrated his, um, next birthday on the 19th (yesterday). So here's hoping he celebrated it in style (and as I know him, I'm sure he did).
Also, Leanna (who's over in London at the moment for her sister's graduation) will celebrate hers later on this week. Maybe we'll see some photos afterwards...
Okay, now I've had my fun for the holiday that is today in Germany, best get out to enjoy the sun.
Tan well...
Sunday, May 16, 2004
Food for Thought
Ever get the feeling that your government is not working for you any more? I seem to find myself in this situation more and more often recently. Not specifically my government, but the governments that make up this world.
Those of you who have the opportunity, watch Panorama on tv tonight in the UK (2215 BST). It's amazing that after so many atrocities, some people still don't think that it affects them.
For those americans amongst you that are fed up with the 'elected' president's way of things. Maybe you should get yourself across the atlantic to see the new film by Michael Moore "Fahrenheit 9/11" and see why your government is trying to stop you watching it.
Ending on a happy note. The European Parliament has voted to insist on the immediate release of all hostages of the guerillas and paramilitaries in Colombia. Let's see if words are mightier than the sword...
Before I forget (ok, it's already late I know) we had a few birthdays recently. Namely Carlota on the second of the month, and Will from home on the tenth. So all together now - happy birthday to you...
Stay young
Ever get the feeling that your government is not working for you any more? I seem to find myself in this situation more and more often recently. Not specifically my government, but the governments that make up this world.
Those of you who have the opportunity, watch Panorama on tv tonight in the UK (2215 BST). It's amazing that after so many atrocities, some people still don't think that it affects them.
For those americans amongst you that are fed up with the 'elected' president's way of things. Maybe you should get yourself across the atlantic to see the new film by Michael Moore "Fahrenheit 9/11" and see why your government is trying to stop you watching it.
Ending on a happy note. The European Parliament has voted to insist on the immediate release of all hostages of the guerillas and paramilitaries in Colombia. Let's see if words are mightier than the sword...
Before I forget (ok, it's already late I know) we had a few birthdays recently. Namely Carlota on the second of the month, and Will from home on the tenth. So all together now - happy birthday to you...
Stay young
Wednesday, May 12, 2004
So little time, so much to do
No sooner had Jordi left Mainz, than Laura, Giulia and Ale came over for a visit for a few days.
Not sure quite what they got up to during the few days they were here, except for finding a complex method to decide who sleeps where each night. Carlos made some great flour tortillas and chicken with sauces that we ate when I finally managed to meet up with them on sunday evening.
As per the title, not enough time to tell everything that has been happening, will try again before the weekend...
Til then
No sooner had Jordi left Mainz, than Laura, Giulia and Ale came over for a visit for a few days.
Not sure quite what they got up to during the few days they were here, except for finding a complex method to decide who sleeps where each night. Carlos made some great flour tortillas and chicken with sauces that we ate when I finally managed to meet up with them on sunday evening.
As per the title, not enough time to tell everything that has been happening, will try again before the weekend...
Til then
Friday, April 30, 2004
Farewell and Abuses of Power
First off, after Jordi handed in his Diplomarbeit on Tuesday, this morning saw (speaking theoretically - nobody was up at this time anyway) him leave off for Valencia (or was it Austria...?) in his fully-laden car. Around about now he should be crossing the border into Spain. We wish him all the best in his future occupation (anyone interested in golf course apartments?).
Yesterday saw Olga get a year older. Not that you would notice it (phew, that addition saved my bacon). Celebrations were held at Quartier Mayence (although the promised dancing on tables didn't happen...). So in case you forgot, you could still get away with wishing her a belated happy birthday today.
Talking about birthdays, both Nick from home, and Julio from Malaga had their's last week, so here's wishing them all the best.
Now onto the news.
After the revelation that a train driver of Japan's Bullet Train fell asleep whilst travelling at 300 km an hour, a pilot of said country decided that he could beat that, and did so twice whilst piloting a 767 Jumbo. Makes you just feel really safe whilst up in the sky, doesn't it.
Talking about planes, on my way back from Stansted on Wednesday I had an interesting flight. Firstly, due to the fog at the aiport, we were delayed on the runway 40 minutes, constantly starting and stopping the engines. Then when we finally got into the air we had so many bumps that the seatbelt sign only went off for 5 minutes in total. Apart from that, lightning hitting the wing outside my window just made me feel all relaxed when we landed. No really.
Anyone thinking that Berlusconi already has too much power in his country must be really sweating now that a new media law allowing him to control more of the media himself has just been passed. Will this (did someone say dictatorship?) ever end?
Shocking news, as photos have been released of US soldiers abusing their prisoners in Iraq, stripping them naked and wiring their genitals up to an electricity supply. If this is what they are trying to show the inhabitants of the country they have to look forward to with the new regime, no wonder they are having problems controlling the place.
A couple of things are to note here. Firstly, that the soldiers have apparently been asking their superiors for rules and regulations regarding PoWs, but have so far been denied them. So we're getting men who are trained to kill to look after the needs of prisoners - first mistake. Secondly, that even if they didn't have rules of the Geneva Convention to hand, surely they must have realised that torturing the prisoners and videoing it as well wouldn't be anywhere on that list. I'm only guessing, but wouldn't a bit of good old Common Sense be required here. Please, just a bit. Maybe we should start writing a list of things that are generally considered bad to do to people in your trust, and send it to the troops. Even better, considering they are representing a good upstanding god-fearing nation, maybe the Ten Commandments would be appropriate.
Now we all know that in England talking about one's feelings is not the done thing. We seem to get embarrassed, go red in the face, and try to change the subject. However, a new law coming into force this week stops children from being able to kiss. Gone are those days of snogging behind the bike sheds, fumblings at the school disco, and spin-the-bottle then.
As of midnight tonight, the European Union becomes 10 countries larger. Well, to be precise, nine-and-a-half. As Cyprus is half Greek, half Turkish, only the former half becomes a part of the EU. That will give customs controllers a headache then, stopping free trade between two parts of the same country.
Well, that's about it for now, time to relax again.
Stay Cool
First off, after Jordi handed in his Diplomarbeit on Tuesday, this morning saw (speaking theoretically - nobody was up at this time anyway) him leave off for Valencia (or was it Austria...?) in his fully-laden car. Around about now he should be crossing the border into Spain. We wish him all the best in his future occupation (anyone interested in golf course apartments?).
Yesterday saw Olga get a year older. Not that you would notice it (phew, that addition saved my bacon). Celebrations were held at Quartier Mayence (although the promised dancing on tables didn't happen...). So in case you forgot, you could still get away with wishing her a belated happy birthday today.
Talking about birthdays, both Nick from home, and Julio from Malaga had their's last week, so here's wishing them all the best.
Now onto the news.
After the revelation that a train driver of Japan's Bullet Train fell asleep whilst travelling at 300 km an hour, a pilot of said country decided that he could beat that, and did so twice whilst piloting a 767 Jumbo. Makes you just feel really safe whilst up in the sky, doesn't it.
Talking about planes, on my way back from Stansted on Wednesday I had an interesting flight. Firstly, due to the fog at the aiport, we were delayed on the runway 40 minutes, constantly starting and stopping the engines. Then when we finally got into the air we had so many bumps that the seatbelt sign only went off for 5 minutes in total. Apart from that, lightning hitting the wing outside my window just made me feel all relaxed when we landed. No really.
Anyone thinking that Berlusconi already has too much power in his country must be really sweating now that a new media law allowing him to control more of the media himself has just been passed. Will this (did someone say dictatorship?) ever end?
Shocking news, as photos have been released of US soldiers abusing their prisoners in Iraq, stripping them naked and wiring their genitals up to an electricity supply. If this is what they are trying to show the inhabitants of the country they have to look forward to with the new regime, no wonder they are having problems controlling the place.
A couple of things are to note here. Firstly, that the soldiers have apparently been asking their superiors for rules and regulations regarding PoWs, but have so far been denied them. So we're getting men who are trained to kill to look after the needs of prisoners - first mistake. Secondly, that even if they didn't have rules of the Geneva Convention to hand, surely they must have realised that torturing the prisoners and videoing it as well wouldn't be anywhere on that list. I'm only guessing, but wouldn't a bit of good old Common Sense be required here. Please, just a bit. Maybe we should start writing a list of things that are generally considered bad to do to people in your trust, and send it to the troops. Even better, considering they are representing a good upstanding god-fearing nation, maybe the Ten Commandments would be appropriate.
Now we all know that in England talking about one's feelings is not the done thing. We seem to get embarrassed, go red in the face, and try to change the subject. However, a new law coming into force this week stops children from being able to kiss. Gone are those days of snogging behind the bike sheds, fumblings at the school disco, and spin-the-bottle then.
As of midnight tonight, the European Union becomes 10 countries larger. Well, to be precise, nine-and-a-half. As Cyprus is half Greek, half Turkish, only the former half becomes a part of the EU. That will give customs controllers a headache then, stopping free trade between two parts of the same country.
Well, that's about it for now, time to relax again.
Stay Cool
Friday, April 23, 2004
Missing Post and Dangerous Loads
I have been wondering for a while now why it is I haven't received any letters through the post, until I read about a German postman taking packets and selling the artefacts on eBay. What he might want with lots of postcards saying how the weather in Spain is lovely, I don't know, but maybe that's why I haven't got any for a while...
Having heard about the rail cash in North Korea, my attention wasn't immediately drawn, as crashes happen all over the world, and I didn't know anyone there. However, reports out from Red Cross stating the number of people killed don't give the full picture, until you read about how many houses were flattened (1850) and how many seriously damaged (6350). Then the scale of this blast begins to dawn. It was huge. Over six thousand houses seriously damaged, allowing for about three people in an average house (I have no idea what the actual statistics for this country are) that means about twenty thousand people living nearby were affected !
What else is new...a night out was organised yesterday, whereby we met up at the Uni and had a few drinks, but the Mainzer Kolleg Bar was shut, Kultur Cafe had one person dancing in it (well, I say dancing, more a type of square movement of the feet to a three tempo) and the Studihaus was overfull. So we ended up in the Inter II bar, where it seemed it was a male-only night. Highlight of the evening of course, was Jordi telling a particularly annoying guy to wipe non-existant dirt from his mouth.
Oh, it was meant to be a secret, but I think people are finding out now, that Javi (Saverio to you and me) has arrived for the weekend. Expect a drink in his honour.
Don't let the weather get you down
I have been wondering for a while now why it is I haven't received any letters through the post, until I read about a German postman taking packets and selling the artefacts on eBay. What he might want with lots of postcards saying how the weather in Spain is lovely, I don't know, but maybe that's why I haven't got any for a while...
Having heard about the rail cash in North Korea, my attention wasn't immediately drawn, as crashes happen all over the world, and I didn't know anyone there. However, reports out from Red Cross stating the number of people killed don't give the full picture, until you read about how many houses were flattened (1850) and how many seriously damaged (6350). Then the scale of this blast begins to dawn. It was huge. Over six thousand houses seriously damaged, allowing for about three people in an average house (I have no idea what the actual statistics for this country are) that means about twenty thousand people living nearby were affected !
What else is new...a night out was organised yesterday, whereby we met up at the Uni and had a few drinks, but the Mainzer Kolleg Bar was shut, Kultur Cafe had one person dancing in it (well, I say dancing, more a type of square movement of the feet to a three tempo) and the Studihaus was overfull. So we ended up in the Inter II bar, where it seemed it was a male-only night. Highlight of the evening of course, was Jordi telling a particularly annoying guy to wipe non-existant dirt from his mouth.
Oh, it was meant to be a secret, but I think people are finding out now, that Javi (Saverio to you and me) has arrived for the weekend. Expect a drink in his honour.
Don't let the weather get you down
Thursday, April 22, 2004
Naked Sushi and Multilingual Virii
China has shut down a restaurant offering sushi served up on the nearly-naked bodies of young women. Obviously there was some concern about the hygiene of the girls, although one has to wonder if the use of chopsticks to eat from the bodies maybe considered as torture.
We've all heard of surgery to make our bodies look younger. Now you can also be operated on to make you sound younger too. Why men need to pay for that is a mystery, when all they have to do is forget a special date and let their girlfriends kick them where it hurts, and they can talk with a high pitch for free.
As the next version of the current series of computer virii, Netsky-X is special. Other varients have used newer improved tactics to make the recipients open the infected attachments, but this latest one has gone one step further. It now supports a variety of languages. Yes, the author of X has been visiting the online translator service of Babelfish to make foreign recipients feel more at home when being infected. Expect version Y to come out in Zulu and infect the nomadic tribes of southern africa...
For lovers of all things mafiosi, alleged leaders of the mafia are in court for following the film Donnie Brasco and killing the members that let the FBI agent into their family. If you haven't got a clue what I'm talking about, read the article and watch the film.
The weather's hot, the girls are taking off their clothing, could it be summer? Then again, maybe I should try to stop daydreaming :)
Keep cool
China has shut down a restaurant offering sushi served up on the nearly-naked bodies of young women. Obviously there was some concern about the hygiene of the girls, although one has to wonder if the use of chopsticks to eat from the bodies maybe considered as torture.
We've all heard of surgery to make our bodies look younger. Now you can also be operated on to make you sound younger too. Why men need to pay for that is a mystery, when all they have to do is forget a special date and let their girlfriends kick them where it hurts, and they can talk with a high pitch for free.
As the next version of the current series of computer virii, Netsky-X is special. Other varients have used newer improved tactics to make the recipients open the infected attachments, but this latest one has gone one step further. It now supports a variety of languages. Yes, the author of X has been visiting the online translator service of Babelfish to make foreign recipients feel more at home when being infected. Expect version Y to come out in Zulu and infect the nomadic tribes of southern africa...
For lovers of all things mafiosi, alleged leaders of the mafia are in court for following the film Donnie Brasco and killing the members that let the FBI agent into their family. If you haven't got a clue what I'm talking about, read the article and watch the film.
The weather's hot, the girls are taking off their clothing, could it be summer? Then again, maybe I should try to stop daydreaming :)
Keep cool
Tuesday, April 20, 2004
Hello
Mainz is filling up again as new students arrive for the start of the new semester. One of note is Andrea who arrived at the weekend from Barranquilla. Let's hope she gets used to the German way of life soon, and fills out all those forms...
Not new, but Albe and Paolo have come to visit us in Mainz for the next five days, flying from Sardinia, where Albe has been fattened up by the family of Paolo (not sure if they were planning on roasting him afterwards...)
Now to the news. Gravitational effects are being tested with a launch today of a plastic sheet and some balls. No seriously. A lot of thought and preperation has gone into making the balls the nearest to perfect spheres, with the plastic sheet being taken from a trampoline. Ok, that last bit was made up.
In the UK a woman is seeking divorce because her husband has been taking Viagra and she can't control him. It's a good job they don't live on a farm, is all I can say.
Onto Latin America. Whilst most of the news is focusing on the kidnappings in Iraq, the thousands happening a year in Mexico are not being noticed. The BBC has a report on one of the kidnap negotiators. Maybe with this in the media, some more people might take notice and try to help stop it.
The 'hand of God' is being given a second meaning at the moment, with Diego Maradona relying on it whilst in hospital with various problems including with his breathing and high blood pressure. I recommend following the link to see his life through pictures.
And now to Colombia where the leader of the paramilitary group AUC, Carlos Castano has gone into hiding after an attempt on his life from, apparently, other paramilitaries not content with him negotiating with the authorities. Of course, when it's your own men out to get you, it becomes very difficult to find a safe place to hide. Maybe this could finally allow the disarming process to advance and hopefully end up with there being no more paramilitaries. With 'just' the Farc and Eln to contend with, maybe a solution to this civil war that has lasted over 40 years will become easier to achieve. Here's hoping.
For those of you who love sculptures, or even for those that don't, in Harbin, a city in northern China, they are having a snow and ice festival. Many intricate sculptures and even houses are built with ice and snow, and the pictures on this site are amazing. Another place to put on the holiday list to visit...
On closing, in case you hadn't heard, Spain announced that it will now bring home it's troops from Iraq, thus following the wishes of its people. Let's hope that other leaders might take the hint and also listen to the people that elected them...
Peace
Mainz is filling up again as new students arrive for the start of the new semester. One of note is Andrea who arrived at the weekend from Barranquilla. Let's hope she gets used to the German way of life soon, and fills out all those forms...
Not new, but Albe and Paolo have come to visit us in Mainz for the next five days, flying from Sardinia, where Albe has been fattened up by the family of Paolo (not sure if they were planning on roasting him afterwards...)
Now to the news. Gravitational effects are being tested with a launch today of a plastic sheet and some balls. No seriously. A lot of thought and preperation has gone into making the balls the nearest to perfect spheres, with the plastic sheet being taken from a trampoline. Ok, that last bit was made up.
In the UK a woman is seeking divorce because her husband has been taking Viagra and she can't control him. It's a good job they don't live on a farm, is all I can say.
Onto Latin America. Whilst most of the news is focusing on the kidnappings in Iraq, the thousands happening a year in Mexico are not being noticed. The BBC has a report on one of the kidnap negotiators. Maybe with this in the media, some more people might take notice and try to help stop it.
The 'hand of God' is being given a second meaning at the moment, with Diego Maradona relying on it whilst in hospital with various problems including with his breathing and high blood pressure. I recommend following the link to see his life through pictures.
And now to Colombia where the leader of the paramilitary group AUC, Carlos Castano has gone into hiding after an attempt on his life from, apparently, other paramilitaries not content with him negotiating with the authorities. Of course, when it's your own men out to get you, it becomes very difficult to find a safe place to hide. Maybe this could finally allow the disarming process to advance and hopefully end up with there being no more paramilitaries. With 'just' the Farc and Eln to contend with, maybe a solution to this civil war that has lasted over 40 years will become easier to achieve. Here's hoping.
For those of you who love sculptures, or even for those that don't, in Harbin, a city in northern China, they are having a snow and ice festival. Many intricate sculptures and even houses are built with ice and snow, and the pictures on this site are amazing. Another place to put on the holiday list to visit...
On closing, in case you hadn't heard, Spain announced that it will now bring home it's troops from Iraq, thus following the wishes of its people. Let's hope that other leaders might take the hint and also listen to the people that elected them...
Peace
Wednesday, April 14, 2004
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...
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...
Thursday, April 08, 2004
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
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
Tuesday, April 06, 2004
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".
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".
Monday, March 29, 2004
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
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
Tuesday, March 23, 2004
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
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
Wednesday, March 10, 2004
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
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
Monday, March 08, 2004
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...
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...
Friday, March 05, 2004
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..)
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..)
Wednesday, March 03, 2004
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
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
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