the occasional bug report...

downloading...

an old joke from w3schools:

customer: i want to download the internet. do i need a bigger hard drive?

download the internet here

let's go for a drink!

nice example of quite different strategies/control flows when tackling the same task..
thanks to elena who sent me this :)

Vive la France!

Sadly for quickly writing in French my knowledge is not sufficient. However it is good enough for understanding most of this wonderful page failbook.fr
Enjoy this spoof of the ubiquituos social networ, it is very ironic and brilliant, and you can even find out what LuisXIV thought of Sarkozy's way to behave ;)

Ma(r)x Planck

Wie ihr vielleicht mitbekommen hat, wurde entdeckt, dass unser bekannter Wissenschaftler über die Zeit wohl einen Buchstaben im Vornamen eingebüßt hat.. einen Zeitungsartikel diesbezüglich findet ihr auf spiegel online.

Dort fand ich auch die folgende quantenphysische Erklärung für das Abhandenkommen (oder auch die nur scheinbare Abwesenheit) dieses 'r'. Viel Vergnügen!

Flüsterpost

When I was a kid, we used to play this game of which the name is put together from 'flüstern' = 'whisper' and 'post' which is like 'mail'. The idea is rather straightforward, someone says a word into the ear of someone else who whispers it to the next and so on.. the last one has to say out loud what he understood... usually it is marginally phonetically related to what the first one said and everybody is very amused about it.

On the other hand, this can serve as a very good example of how messages, rumors, stories, etc. can transform through lack of attention. In the end something similar comes through, however, it's usually not quite the same..

When clearing up my room, I found some nice examples of this phenomenon in the form of quotes of student's exam mishaps. The nicest ones refer to some biblical stories that come across from slightly strange to miraculously amazing..

Let's start from the beginning:
"The Bible is full of interesting caricatures. In the first book of the Bible, Guinnessis, Adam and Eve where created from an apple tree. One of their children, Cain, asked: "Am I my brothers son?"

- This is already kinda unexpected, a book full of caricatures.. But not only this, it also starres interesting evolutionary evidence, involving the development step from an apple tree to fully fledged people.. rather amazing I would say, however, who knows what can happen if a lot of Guinness is involved..

Also, other countries - other customs.. Which probably justifies the following:
"Solomon had three hundred wives and seven hundred porcupines."

But let the miracles continue:
"Moses led the Hebrew slaves to the Red Sea, where they made unleavened bread which is bread made without any ingredients. Moses went up on Mount Cyanide to get the ten commandmends. He died before he ever reached Canada."

In fact, we should not only be surprised about all these wonderful stories but about the fact that, according to the following statement, the bible is not even half as old as we thought:
"It was an age of great inventions and discoveries. Gutenberg invented removable type and the Bible. Another important invention was the circulation of blood. Sir Walter Raleigh is a historical figure because he invented cigarettes and started smoking. And Sir Francis Drake circumcised the world with a 100 foot clipper."

What can you say more?

Denglish

Petition for a soundbased spelling of this language...

Nachtrag..

now, after my presentation, i will ask you one big question: what happens after the thesis defense?
--- easy answer: the preparation of the next one, it's obvious...! and there we go...




(other topics where proposed, however they were too cruel or too creative :P)

Invitation to dinner or why Bolzano needs an underground!

see for yourself! wouldnt you want to participate? cheers!

model shots

Did you ever envy those beautiful models walking around in those amazing clothes? Watch this video and then re-think :) (if you want to laugh you can watch it too)



Now check if your reaction matched the one of some newsspeakers on public television...



:)

Tetris fever - Japanese interpretation

About the gender of computers

Somewhere on the internet the following reasoning about the issue was discovered:

A SPANISH Teacher was explaining to her class that
in Spanish, unlike English, nouns are designated as
either masculine or feminine.

'House' for instance, is feminine: 'la casa.'
'Pencil,' however, is masculine: 'el lapiz.'

A student asked, 'What gender is 'computer'?'
Instead of giving the answer, the teacher split the
class into two groups, male and female, and asked
them to decide for themselves whether "computer"
should be a masculine or a feminine noun. Each
group was asked to give four reasons for its
recommendation.

The men's group decided that 'computer' should
definitely be of the feminine gender ('la
computadora'), because:
1. No one but their creator understands their
internal logic;
2. The native language they use to communicate with
other computers is incomprehensible to everyone
else;
3. Even the smallest mistakes are stored in long
term memory for possible later retrieval; and
4. As soon as you make a commitment to one, you
find yourself spending half your paycheck on
accessories for it.

The women's group, however, concluded that computers
should be Masculine ('el computador'), because:
1. In order to do anything with them, you have to
turn them on;
2. They have a lot of data but still can't think for
themselves;
3. They are supposed to help you solve problems,
but half the time they ARE the problem; and
4. As soon as you commit to one, you realize that if
you had waited a little longer, you could have
gotten a better model.

of COURSE computers can do magic!

if you believe it already, then don't bother.. otherwise you can find the proof here!
(or maybe it is just a cunning algorithm? who knows...)
either way, I think I found the solution..
have fun and tell me if you found it too!

SILENCE!!!!! my all-time favourite...

ok, you probably all know this already, but it is just too good to not watch it again! this time even with german subtitles ;)

Kisskisskiss

A friend of mine often sends me entertaining stuff by mail and I decided to share some with you. The label will be mailbox.

Insider...

sometimes life gives you nice surprises. some are also mysterious. like this invitation i got today:

Come to the party. We have cookies.

G.

Somehow this sounds familiar...
Have a nice day :)

a note on pronunciation

Here is some pronunciation stuff i found when cleaning up old emails... have fun :P

Ràtion never rhymes with nàtion.
Say prefèr, but préferable,
Còmfortable and végetable.
B must not be heard in doubt,
Debt and dumb both leave it out.

In the words psychòlogy,
Psy'chic and psychatry,
You must never sound the p.
Psychatrists you call the man
Who cures your complex, if he can,
In àrchitect, ch is k,
in arch it is the other way.

Please remember to say iron,
So that it will rhyme with lion.
A'dvertisers àdvertise,
Advèrtisments will put you wise.
Time, when work is done, is léisure,
Fill it up with useful pléasure.

Accidéntal, àccident,
Sound the g in ignorant.
Rélative, but a relàtion,
Then say crea'ture, but créàtion.

Say the 'a' in gas quite short,
Bought, remember rhymes with short,
Drought must always rhyme with out,
In dau'ghter leave the 'g h' out.

Room must always rhyme with boom,
When you're dead you're in a tomb.
Wear a boot upon your foot,
Root can never rhyme with soot.

In mùscle, 's c' is an 's',
In mùscular, it's 's k', yes!
Cho'ir must always rhyme with li'ar.
Then, remémber, it's addréss,
With an accent like posséss.

''G' in sign must silent be,
In sìgnature, pronoùnce the 'g'.
Please remember, say towàrds
Just as if it rhymed with boards.

Weight's like wait, but not like height,
Which should always rhyme with light.
Sew is just the same as so,
Tie a ribbon in a bow.

When you meet your friends you bow,
Which again must rhyme with how.
In perfect English make a start,
Learn this little rhyme by heart.

Dictionary

Thanks to Eka who placed this fantastic survival guide in my mailbox today! Enjoy :)


Nine words women use...

1.) Fine :
This is the word women use to end an
argument when they are
right and you need to shut up.
(hahahaha...)

2.) Five Minutes :
If she is getting dressed, this means a
half an hour.
Five minutes is only five minutes if
you have just been given five more
minutes to watch the game before
helping around the house.
(not really..)

3.) Nothing :
This is the calm before the storm. This
means something,
and you should be on your toes.
Arguments that begin with nothing
usually ends in "fine".
(ehm..sometimes)

4.) Go Ahead :
This is a dare, not permission. Don't
Do It!
(tricky..tricky..watch out!)

5.) Loud Sigh :
This is actually a word, but
is a non-
verbal statement
often misunderstood by men. A loud sigh
means she thinks you are an idiot and
wonders why she is wasting her time
standing here and arguing with you
about nothing. (Refer back to #3 for
the meaning of nothing.)
(hhhhh...true true)

6.) That's Okay :
This is one of the most dangerous
statements a woman
can make to a man. That's okay means
she wants to think long and hard before
deciding how and when you will pay for
your mistake.
(this is not about taking revenge, but it's all about karma, dudes!)

7.) Thanks :
A woman is thanking you, do not
question, or Faint. Just
say you're welcome.
(absolutely...).

8.) Whatever :
Is a women's way of saying
F@*K YOU!
(in your face!!! whohohohoohoho)

9.) Don't worry about it, I got it :
Another dangerous statement, meaning
this is something that a woman has told
a man to do several times, but is now
doing it herself. This will later
result in a man asking 'What's wrong?'
For the woman's response refer to #3.
(mmmm...)

About Heaven and Hell

"Heaven is where the police are British, the cooks French, the mechanics German, the lovers Italian, and it is all organised by the Swiss.
Hell is where the chefs are British, the mechanics French, the lovers Swiss, the police German, and it is all organised by the Italians."

(Dave Craine)

geek love

"There is no truth in the rumour that I love computers, it's just what I tell them to get them to bed."

 -- Terry Pratchett