So it is now more than ten years since I started blogging on LJ, on March 22nd 2002, I actually wanted to make this entry on the same day this year, but well, 11 more days don't really matter, right? Especial as I just found out that my last public entry is from July 2010 - Ringo Starr's birthday (peace and love dude!), and not 2011 as I thought first. Since them I had only posted private entries now and then, mostly when my paper diary, which I had started two years ago, was not available, and a quick thought could not wait to be written down. Much different compared to ten years ago, that day I wrote four entries, not sure if I ever did that again later. All about Geek stuff, and it went on that way over the following months and years,
No wonder, I had started this journal only one year after after getting the best job and team I ever had until that time, and pretty much enjoying every day, even when things got rough or busy. Also with my first apartment, one thing I really really love until today to have my own place. Meanwhile I have moved to another town just six months ago, getting myself out of that tiny village and into more city life, and was very lucky to find the perfect space for me, with a gorgeous view across town, close to shops and restaurants and even work, basically nothing that I cannot reach with a short bike ride if needed. Love it! Well, that would have been one of the things that would have been worth to be posted here, but did not made it. Including the progress I am making in designing the space, in the previous apartment it took me 10 years to get everything the way I really wanted - and then I moved out LOL. Looks like it won't take that long this time though, still not everything finished after half a year, but I am getting there soon.
Another thing last year that I missed to write down was my ride to Rome, only by bike, starting exactly one year ago, taking me 20 days and 1200km to get to the eternal city, and watch the Easter festivities live and in color, even saw the pope twice. Well, at least this trip went to Facebook, including Photos every other day, so with the new timeline, this is probably coming out nicely. Also I went to New York for my second marathon, that was in November 2010 already, I remember it was freezing cold when they kicked us out at the start areal around 7am, with still three hours to go. And for the first time (well, it was only my second marathon so far), I finished in less than four hours, after one heck of a race with millions of people across the course, and musicians everywhere. Also met Cammi there ( silvercoindrive ) there, was it before or after the marathon? Nevermind, we only had two hours, but a lot of fun , thanks for taking me around! We also went for some tai food, and was also introduced to Bubble tea, had no clue about that something like this even exists;-) (we got that in Munich now, just to let you know Cammi). At least she posted a picture and short story on her journal.
Wow, got myself into a bit a bit of chitchatting haha, why did I stop doing that so long ago? I guess I all blame it on Facebook, yesssir, evil Facebook which allows shorter and quicker updates every day, or even hour to the people connected to you, sometimes just sharing a quick thought or a photo, or just telling "Good Morning!" to everybody. This what blogging used to be all about, right? And still is I hope, by now I see all those blogs specialized in single topics, photography, lifestyle, sports, news, cooking..... I actually like them and got subscribed to quiet a lot, and using Google Reader and a browser plugin called "Feedly" really makes it very easy to follow all that stuff. Still, I am still after personal blogs and journals, and still visit LJ at least twice a day. Sadly, except two brave members who keep posting in my friends list there are not much left - except some LJ groups that I am subscribed to. Well, guess that's the way it is, then again, ten years since I started here, and that's a long time in technology isn't? Now we even have podcasts and videoblogs. And Twitter, though I still not using it, been thinking about that, just for the matter of following people rather than to post myself.
Alright, before I go much further on technological philosophy, the main reason for me planning this entry to appear after this jornal exists for 10 years was to put it to an end, more or less officially. It's actually a good time for that, mainly because I had been trough some rough times in the past couple years, but now can gladly say that I am up and running again, literally in some ways, without any regrets about anything ever happend, and a lot of memories residing here, both happy and sad. What looked like an unfinished book some time ago, now has come to an happy ending, maybe not the most happy one, but personally I am now certain to have opened myself to new possibilities, just like the time when I left home and came here, and shortly afterwards, started this LJ of mine. Back then, I just had seen two Aibos playing at the biggest computer fair here, which impressed me so much that I dedicated this journal to them, and eventually got my own zoo of robodogs, including my much loved Aibos Hunter and Scoobi. They are now not here any more, after not having played with them for a long time I felt sorry to see them just collecting dust, and asked neo53 if she would mind to take care of them in the future. She was happy on adopting them, and and therefore, they now went to the UK for a happy life with along many other doggies in the Aibo hospital. So, one more reason to step back from this blog, which, BTW, does not mean that I plan to erase it, or make it private. Nope, after this, it will remain in the state it is now, with all current privacy settings preserved, for everybody to read whenever they want. I will also keep reading my friends page as long as it active, and, who knows, add further (private) entries if needed.
Besides, I have been thinking of getting back to blogging again, to spend some time writing down short or long stories about what's going on, rather than just one line updates. You know how that is, something funny/serious/weird happens and your thoughts start bouncing up and down creating a story in your head just waiting to be written down? However, this will be on a different place, maybe again here on LJ, who knows. I will, of course, let you know:-)
So...thanks for all the memories, and everybody who has been a companion of this journal. It's really been a great time with you - all of you :-)
Homemade explosion scheme of my Brionvega AlgolJust completely disassembled and reassembled my TV, which kept getting on my nerves by constantly switching off after 10 seconds running time. Had tried to fix it several times, first suspecting a broken cable, then a transformer, then finally went on re-soldering every joint I could find on the main board, which finally seemed to fix the problem for good. More than three hours making a big mess, but amazingly, after all the fiddling this thing still works.
BTW, Brionvega Algol 12" portable. A classic design from 1964 with modern electronic inside, and actually my main TV at the moment. If I want a bigger screen, I can still use my MacBook (15") ;-)
First public entry in a long time, and for this I'd like to introduce everybody to a new friend and family member that I got myself for Christmas last year:
Lada Niva 4x4, made in 2009. Coming from Russia, he's everything but a modern SUV, his appearance and technology has barely changed since the first models coming out in 1977. No fancy electronic gadgets, no extensive padding to reduce running noise, the gearbox is always audible, plastic interior and chrome handles like in the 70. Not much storage space, except three(!) ashtrays. And yes, not as environment friendly as I'd prefer, still, being one of the smaller SUVs, still fair compared to his big and bulky brothers. He does not like autobahns and highways very much, rough roads, mud and puddles are his true playground, where he can be a happy child and explorer. I named him Shevardnadze after the former Russian foreign minister, because he is also a representative from Russia and supposed to travel a lot. And as I just found out on Wikipedia, Eduard Shevardnadze's nickname was "White Fox", and this car is white as well. Nice:-)
We are together for almost five months now, almost 7000 kilometers (4500 miles) on the meter, and driving him has been nothing but fun. Plus, it's the first car I ever got that is actually new and not used. Took me at least half a year to make this decision, but this way I got all the features I wanted (larger mirrors, auxiliary heating) from a Russian dealer and mechanic who actually know these cars inside out and make sure it got well prepared to last, unfortunately the original vendor does not deliver quality straight ahead, including sufficient rust protection. But they took care of it, and except a stuck windshield wiper once no further problems.
And best, if Lada Niva driver meet each other on the road, you always receive a smile and a friendly wave, what other car can provide you that?
Quick trip to Olympic Hill to watch the fireworks over Munich. Along with at least ten ten thousand other people celebrating there and taking advantage of one of Munich's highest peaks. So wishing all of you a happy new year, and make it happy all year long:-)
PS: Nope, this is not an abandoned journal, just took some time off. Stay tuned.....
We are currently in the peak period of the Perseid meteor shower (Tuesday to Thursday), and for that spaceweather.com provides an audio stream from the US Air Force Space Surveillance Radar.
Every time a meteor or similar object (satellite/airplane) crosses you hear a short or long "ping!". Fascinating, I am now watching meteors while at the office, although at the moment, not much going on there. At least more than last night when I was out with some fellow astronomers, and all we saw was clouds. Well, and a nice Jupiter, surrounded by four moons in my binoculars.
Took that one last Sunday during a jog with my Blackberry. Has been snowing here a lot lately, which I really like although it is pretty late for this Winter. People already talking about spring, and indeed it is now getting warmer again.
Dear Livejournal, sorry that I haven't updated in a while, it was rather an unannounced break than abandoning you. Yes, I have been busy, sometimes, but I also have been idling as well. Happens, so at least wanted to say hello at least, happy new year with the picture above that I took about three weeks ago near my old hometown - finally vacation after working all the holidays and new year. Any news you ask? Oh sure, think there are plenty, but who wants to read yesterdays newspaper? Oh, and plans for this year? Well, for any new year resolutions please check last year's, would not say that I haven't accomplished any of them, just things sometimes went a bit different than expected. I.e. not running another marathon as planned because I was injured pretty often simply was a result of wrong training, not of not trying to get prepared. Delays that is, a year full of self experience. And some crazy stuff still to come.
Oh, maybe one thing that also encouraged me to drop you a line, I found a diary of mine that wrote when I was, uhmm, 24. In 1993 I had finished evening college and signed up for university, and wanted to log the last 100 days of my current job back then. Which I actually did, and glad I did because the changes were huge, first time that I quit a job to get out of it, a job I didn't really like with a crappy boss just tossing everybody around, the pride when I got my degree, and the absolute excitement when I was accepted for university. What especial stuns me is how busy I had been back then - after work. Of course, living with my parents included some responsibilities, but they seem little compared to today, so I had a lot of spare time, and I was actually using it up extensively with all kind of stuff, amateur radio, computing (C64!), music and TV, visiting friends and relatives. Especial amateur radio was a big story then, no day without at least one longer chat on the microphone, I also was the head of our local radio club - a lazy one though, but still it involed some paperwork and leading. So the diary wasn't just a list of activities I did at work, it is indeed a tale from an important part of my life. Don't know if I consdered it the same way back then, think I did, though. Wonder how my livejournal will read in 15 years from now, no matter if the site still exists or if it will be a PDF somewhere on my PC. Statistics show a bit more than 1000 entries since 2002, some people easily make that in a year:-) Anyways, hello my future one if you read this!
Ah well, just wanted to say hello, and I will be still here. At least two times a day reading my friends list.
It says that the last supplier of VHS tapes has thrown in the towel. Wait, it says "Major Supplier", right? And also it is about pre-recorded only, so I suppose blank tape will still be available for some longer. It's the end of an area though, and certainly not staying alive like vinyl records that once where declared to be dead, and now actually increasing again. Wait, audio cassettes have distinguished for good - so I guess it's all about stuff with tape, isn't it?
Google has introduced its new browser today, just about one hour ago. It is still Beta, and currently Windows only, fortunately I got Parallels installed on this MacBook with a WindowsXP installed.
First impression: Minimalistic yet nice
Second impression: Holy cow, that thing is fast!
Indeed it seems that pages get rendered instantly after they have completely loaded. There is the usual delay when a browser connects to a webpage, but after that, everything seems lightning fast. Cannot say much about compatibility, so far everything looks fine. It even comes with spell checking pre installed, as I am writing this. Neat.
They also (accidentally) released a comic like introduction to the browser and ideas behind.
Astrid Kirchherr Signed PrintsAstrid Kirchherr was a friend of The Beatles when they lived in Hamburg, 1960/61 I believe. Not only she did professional photographs of them, she was also the one who invented that famous haircut. Obviously that was after those photos were made;-)
(BTW, "For Sale" was the name of their second album)
Stumbled upon this on the weekend - The BBC website hosts a survey that lets you figure out if your ideal partner may be an introvert or extrovert just by comparing faces that nearly look similar:
As for me, defining myself introvert looking for an extrovert partner, it seems that I am actually more attracted by introvert people. Kinda surprising.
Oh, and just found there is a second test to that here:
good
geeky
awake
busy
silly
excited
cold