Geogen - a funny thing, even if it's quite boring with my common name (ok, at least rank 13 in the ranking!). But with the names of my grandparents, it's already easier ...
Archive 9.3.2006 - 30.3.2006
Merquery, Text Indexing and Search with a Focus - a full-text search engine in Python specifically for RAD frameworks? Let's see what comes out of this.
The Spider of Doom - ouch. Destructive GET and "security" through JavaScript, cookies, and redirects. You have only yourself to blame, one might say.
Backfire for Transparency International
In response to the demands of Transparency International, Udo Vetter from Law Blog certifies the lawyer of the association a disturbed relationship to freedom of the press and freedom of opinion. With something like this, one would almost wish for an RSS feed for a possible court hearing to take place.
Münte sends agreement on protection against dismissal back to the coalition committee - is his rudimentary conscience speaking up, or is it all just show again?
Ullrich postpones season debut - that won't happen anymore. He probably won't be able to take his last chance at the Tour victory either.
Microsoft threatens with patent lawsuits in the USA - a warning signal for Europe - but will the bureaucrats in Brussels understand the warning signal? I have my doubts.
Seed: Prime Numbers Get Hitched - about the distribution of prime numbers in the universe of numbers. And why the answer is 42 after all.
IQ researcher calls Germans smartest Europeans - sorry, but if we're so smart, why do we have Merkel as chancellor?
SPD-Fraktion lehnt neues Urheberrecht ab - they will probably flip-flop again. Or will simply be ignored, as with software patents.
NASA probe makes super photo of Mars - new image material on the way!
ajaxWrite - everyone's talking about it, so I am too. Word-compatible, web-based, Ajax included. Enough buzzwords? It will probably be bought by Google or Yahoo ...
The Mac OS MUD Zone: Clients - lots of MUD clients for OS X.
Transparency International does not like criticism and sends the lawyer
Transparency International doesn't like criticism and sends in the lawyer - an employee was fired, the circumstances seem a bit rude on the company's part. A blogger reports on this. And the lawyer from Transparency International pulls out the big stick. Well, ix has a fitting compilation of further facts about this NGO. Everyone reads for themselves and judges for themselves what to make of it.
Only one thing should TI have considered: if the main goal is to present oneself and one's members as pioneers against corruption (why just present oneself? Why not be?), then one should not make such blunders at the same time. Because otherwise, one presents oneself as something quite different in the long run ...
Virtual Big Brother
I agree with Ralle from Netzbuch - Riya and similar ideas are definitely very strange and the reaction to them, or rather the enthusiasm for them, shows a very unreflective use of these systems by users. I find it surprising how much information users voluntarily put about themselves into the various allegedly social software products - and thus give themselves and their environment to the advertising partners and potentially everyone else with access to the data (law enforcement agencies, burglars, data thieves). More and more networking and less and less privacy, that seems to be the motto of Web 2.0 for some.
Federal Minister of Justice without Insight
This federal windbag is really starting to get on my nerves. Is it now a prerequisite for a ministerial position to be completely brainless and not understand anything at all? The impact on private individuals is not the lawsuits of the public prosecutor's office - but the collection of personal data by the public prosecutor's office (which they still have to do even if they do not file a lawsuit themselves). That's what the mass claimants are after - so that they can then sue on a private basis. Where private individuals are left alone because copyright issues are not covered by many legal protection insurances.
A real blockbuster, how in Berlin once again the interests of citizens are traded for a dilapidated and money-greedy industry and their legal apparatus ...
Outrage over impending death sentence against ex-Muslim
The outrage of politicians over the impending death sentence against an ex-Muslim is already a bit absurd - what did you actually believe would emerge as a legal system in Afghanistan? Fiddled around for decades, then bombed to pieces, and now you're outraged about the madness they're pulling off there?
Not that I wanted to defend the verdict - any religiously motivated verdict is an audacity to me, because religion has no place in the state. But the outrage is quite hypocritical. Do they really believe that a great democracy has suddenly emerged there?
The current development was long foreseeable, but no one cared back then. Now there's outrage. But taking action against the madness won't happen anyway.
Judgment: Dolzer's 'Domain Angel' may not strike
Everything is just social engagement, very clear. That's why you also register domains from others that become available and put sex images on them. And that's why you have a social tool that works like a Trojan horse and uses other people's computer resources. Clear, super social the whole thing. Fortunately, a court has now put an end to this.
Open Source Web Design - a bunch of web designs to download and use. Ideal for design losers like me
Abmahnwahn is everywhere
Just because it fits, Neil Gaiman is also being warned - for a link from one website to another website. Which in itself is nonsense - after all, the entire web consists of links (and no, the target website is nothing forbidden). The particularly absurd thing: he is not the one who placed the link. He only appears in a report on the website with a picture, that's all. With a tomato. And somewhere else there is a link to the website for the cult trash "Attack of the Killer Tomatoes". And the latter rights holders are probably the cause of the warning ...
The quality of research in the context of warnings seems to be suffering outside of Germany as well.
Frightening ...
... when Ajax, JavaScript, Web 2.0 even make it into the Tagesschau newsfeed. Well, the Schieb, of course - the revival of Wolf-Gang, only thinner and no duet. And with less destructive tendencies towards technical equipment.
Freedom of opinion à la Euroweb
No idea what other services Euroweb Internet GmbH uses to make money, but publicity stunts should not be one of them, as they are currently reaching new lows with their approach to dealing with unfavorable criticism. Somehow, I don't understand such companies and their lawyers. On the one hand, it is constantly being said that the internet is not a lawless space - but through the massive approach and the potentially high costs, such actions make the internet de facto exactly that lawless space. And from the political side, there are at best drafts to escalate the whole situation, instead of providing useful tools against obvious excesses such as mass cease and desist letters. Or even considering to what extent the means of cease and desist against privately operated websites make sense at all, or whether the means of cease and desist should not be focused much more strongly.
And because the absurdities are not enough yet ...
... sues Google Kinderstart - because they are not ranked number 1 on Google, unlike other search engines, when searching for the term "Kinderstart". Is this somehow a permanent full moon?
The Frogs Make You Dizzy
First, they wanted to ban private copies and P2P software, then legalize private copies, then ban them again, and now they want to ban the distribution of P2P software:
According to him, up to three years imprisonment and a fine of up to 300,000 euros should be imposed on anyone who "knowingly" and publicly distributes software that is "obviously designed" to allow unauthorized access to protected works or other objects. Even the distribution of information about such programs can be punished just as severely. The article, which is clearly directed against P2P software, is not intended to affect programs that enable telecooperation, research, or the exchange of works that do not require compensation, according to Christian Vanneste, the parliamentary reporter responsible for the law.
With their back and forth, one gets quite dizzy. And apparently, common sense is left by the wayside ...
Münsterland-Giro as a professional race
Wow, the Münsterland is getting its own professional race:
Münster is having a professional race again. At a press conference on Friday, the "Münsterland-Giro" was presented, which was immediately classified into the UCI category 1.1 and will take place on October 3rd.
Very nice. Groningen-Münster wasn't really a hit - the starting lists were rather poor. But if a race in the same category as Henninger Turm or Rund um Köln takes place, you actually have a chance to see some of the top riders.
PS3 comes with Linux
PS3 to ship with Linux, Sony confirms:
Sony President Ken Kutaragi confirmed that the Playstation 3 (PS3) has been delayed, at a press conference in Tokyo earlier this week. Kutaragi additionally confirmed that the gaming console will ship with an upgradable 60GB hard drive pre-installed with Linux, according to in-depth coverage at 1up.com.
Wow. This is already an amazing thing if it actually happens - at Sony, you only know what they are doing when they have done it. Wouldn't be the first plan that is quietly dropped. But a gaming console with an "official" Linux would be interesting.
Great SAP Work Environment
After so many people have cried to me that SAP has such a great corporate philosophy that is incompatible with works councils, there is now a clear statement from the company management:
SAP would then see the possibility of establishing research laboratories in Latin America or Eastern Europe, and of intensifying the competition between the ten laboratories currently existing worldwide. One would then be global enough, but nevertheless more than half of the world's development capacities would still be concentrated in Walldorf.
Yeah, people, keep telling yourselves you don't need a works council. Dreamers ...
What to do if you are sued?
So, for example, the complaints of the Guantanamo detainees? Quite simple in the USofAbsurdity: one simply forbids the detainees from filing complaints.
Dave Winer Breakdown
Somewhere it was to be expected, nevertheless the way Dave Winer is now completely nuts is pretty rare even for him. I mean, with Rogers Cadenhead he had someone who, despite all his troublemaking (especially around the RSS Advisory Board), tried to make him look somewhat good. Well, that's over now. Dave Winer is just the prototype of an internet sociopath. Shitty Software. Shitty Manners.
Google buys SketchUp
Google has acquired SketchUp - a manufacturer of 3D software. This makes you think, especially if you've just been dealing with virtual 3D worlds. Could something like Second Life from Google be on the horizon in the long run? If you look at what multi-user 3D virtual environments need: render farms, disk space, network bandwidth, distributed architecture, delivery of massive amounts of data, user management, chat architecture, accounting system, payment processing - Google already has all of that. And the subscription model could be interesting for Google, as it is similar to the advertising stories.
Horizon - a sketchbook for the Nokia Tablet.
TUD:OS - TU Dresden Operating Systems - a few determined individuals keep the idea of the microkernel alive. Good so!
Karlsruhe: Rezzo Schlauch advises EnBW - News | SWR.de - Money doesn't stink after all ...
Avimator - Animation software to create animations for Second Life. Should be compatible with Poser format, as they actually use Poser. Maybe interesting for small animation projects also outside Second Life?
Protesters ride down ...
... will soon be back in NRW again. Although in 2003 all units were abolished due to the far too high costs.
LambdaMOO (with LambdaMOO Map) An Introduction - Multiuser platforms are all the rage right now. How about one that only needs one port - and then comes completely text-oriented? So to speak, a multi-user Infocom adventure?
MudWalker - A MUD Client for Mac OS X - can be used for LambdaMOO (hey, I don't want to just sit around stupidly in the hotel tonight!)
Naked Objects in Virtual Life
Stupid title, I know. But that's exactly what the Linden Script Language (LSL) is - the programming language used to control objects in Second Life. Every virtual object is also a program object with its own methods that react to external events. Somehow, I can imagine that Second Life would be well suited for introducing event-oriented programming, as you can directly interact with the objects.
The physics simulation in the game is also exciting - because scripts also have access to it. This way, it directly offers an experimental platform for virtual robotics experiments and the visualization of simulations (or even directly experiential visual simulations - a complete virtual world).
One does wonder why a game developer has such ideas, and why many simulation environments for "serious" research come across as so boring. Perhaps scientists should make contact with game designers to liven up classrooms and labs a bit? Dealing with such topics is certainly much easier to convey in a playful way, especially because students might actually listen then ...
NPB-BLOG - no, not a blog of the NPD, but a blog about NPD activities.
Roam - a Google-like search engine including Ads. Not for the web, but for the Metaverse - the Second Life content. Did I mention that ads are also placed there? For virtual products in virtual stores in a virtual world? Payable with virtual money?
Technical Revolution - but here in a cartoon world. About the upheaval of a steam robot world when they discover and use the electron ...
Gosling Didn’t Get The Memo - and gets wonderfully roasted. Comment and link collection on the latest "they're just scripting languages" comment by James Gosling.
Another Week in Munich
Internet only over GPRS or at the office. And anyway - why do they still have the snow machine on here? It's supposed to be spring, damn it!
What CEOs Learn Today ...
... contains nothing about the Works Constitution Act
The pillars of the company are "justice, openness, and common sense," not the Works Constitution Act. "With all due respect for the protection of minorities," he does not understand the "legislator when a 9% majority can dictate the conditions to the others," wrote Plattner. Around 91% of the staff at the SAP headquarters in Walldorf had voted against a works council.
First of all, to Heise: that was 91% of the employees who participated in the election. That is significantly less than 91% of the entire staff, even at the headquarters. But never mind. Because the real bombshell is that the company's co-founder and current chairman of the supervisory board actually believes that the Works Constitution Act is not the basis of his company. Dreamer. Funny enough, it's in the law book, Mr. Plattner. How stupid do you have to be as a company boss to let something so rarely stupid slip out? Well, it will probably be the new unit of measurement for company boss stupidity: one Plattner = ignoring an entire set of laws ...
According to Spiegel, the company now wants to propose its own electoral committee for the works council elections, which will most likely consist of employee representatives of the supervisory board and not those colleagues who wanted to enforce the works council with the support of IG Metall. The company would thus preempt the labor court, which could appoint an electoral committee.
Oh, and the electoral committee does not prescribe anything at all - and has nothing to do with the protection of minorities. The electoral committee simply ensures the proper conduct of works council elections, nothing more. And whether an electoral committee appointed by such a stupid company management is capable of doing so, I dare to doubt.
Perhaps it's time for the company management to finally understand what works council elections are: the election of employee representatives by all employees of a company. Regardless of how few are the reason for the election, every employee (ok, a few exceptions with AT contracts exist) may vote, and almost everyone may stand for election (a few more exceptions compared to the active right to vote - executive employees are excluded from the passive right to vote). And yes, this usually means that in companies of corresponding size, several lists are up for election - usually one from the union (or more correctly, a list of unionized employees) and often a list of loyalists. There is no limit to this - how about a list of women working in the company? That could certainly be interesting for SAP. Or a list of young employees. Or simply a list of those who don't feel like having a works council, even that would be completely legal.
But to understand this, the people at SAP would have to take the trouble to read the Works Constitution Act. You can't expect such idiots to do that, instead they prefer to embarrass themselves publicly ...
Official Google Blog: Writely so
Official Google Blog: Writely so - Writely has now also been acquired by Google. Current business model 2.0: build stupid Ajax applications and have Google or Yahoo buy them.
Apple applies for patents on feed viewer and browser - the next storm in the toilet walls. Winerians will gather and bash Apple. And everyone else will scratch their heads about what all the nonsense with the patents is actually about ...
Cassini Finds Signs of Liquid Water on Saturn's Moon - Enceladus may have liquid water. And so much of it that it can throw it around ...
Got the hang of Lego hats
The Lego »Mindstorms NXT« firmware is becoming open source - and this is the only way it could happen. Lego earns money from selling the construction kits and the software is enhanced by fans. This was already the case with the RCX - only the developers had to disassemble a lot of bytes to figure out how the thing works. With the NXT, things could get significantly better.
The memory equipment (256 MB Flash) and the CPU (Arm 7) also sound very good. This will be a pretty interesting device, the new robot building block.
Merkel's New Buddy?
So completely crazy as Kaczynski is Merkel should be able to handle this well after her experiences with the American counterpart ...