Tisvernicio.com

Dead blog...

2007-10-17T00:21:00.000+02:00

....long live the blog!
This is my last blog post here - you can continue following it on Vox, here.

Oktoberfest 2007: yep, it is officially over.

2007-10-08T00:00:00.000+02:00

Yes, today was the last day of the Oktoberfest. I have been twice this year. Each year I end up going at least once. This time, the first time I have been with work colleagues (and had my, very standard for the event, 2 liters of beer), the second time today just visiting the fair, were I got a friend of mine almost sick after a bit-too-spinning ride. I was on the verge of being sick myself as well. And I am a somewhat "roller coaster freak".
They estimate that more than 6 million liters of beer have been sold, the most liters ever. Each liter costing about 8€ (depending on the tip). And this does not count all the money made from food, ride tickets, souvenirs, etc.; you name it. How many million visitors? I have no idea. Possibly 4 to 6 million. Maybe the statistics will come out later this month.
It is now over, and Munich will wait once again for the Oktoberfest to come next year. They are even talking about expanding it, since last Saturday 600.000 people visited it. It is starting to be, to put it simply, a bit tight. And nevertheless, being overall extremely safe.
I even ended up buying today the original Steinkrug of 2007 as I liked its design since the first day I saw it. For once, a truly modern, but not forgetting tradition, design. Because after all, the Oktoberfest is about tradition. And to my surprise (see my previous post) I have discovered that some rides have even changed location this year. But the bierzelten (beer tents) were exactly in the same place.
Happy that it's over, no - not really. It gave Munich a bit of needed "noise". Sad that it's over, no - not really as well. I am not really a party animal. And as some Germans say "Oktoberfest: once a year is more than enough".

Munich: most (boring) liveable city in the world.

2007-09-16T14:46:00.000+02:00

Here it goes - after 7 years, I have finally had it - here comes the truth.

Recently the International Herald Tribune has written that Munich is the most liveable city in the world! Can you imagine how lucky I am living here?

Sure it is liveable. But they forgot something that actually doesn't make it also the "best" city on the planet. They forgot to mention that it is also the most boring city on the whole planet. And thus, not really "liveable".

Being Munich not a village in the middle of a field, my statement is even more true. Actually germans here say that Munich is a "großes Dorf", a big village. And I think they are dead right.

Munich provides undeniably a very high standard of living, and every day life here is extremely trouble-free, pleasurable, stress free. Everything works, everything is "clean", nice, safe, green. I know, people would pay to live here and I know I am extremely lucky to live here. So why complaining? why this post? what is wrong?

I have come to realise that all this comes at a very, very high price: it is a lifestyle that removes any joy of active living, any initiative, any fun from people, any networking and willing to be together, to emphatically connect with the other. There is a pervasive repetitiveness, a "being conservative", a being in a closed group, an underlying loneliness, a separation between people, a lack of interaction that, surely I have noticed in other towns elsewhere on the planet and at different levels - but here it is probably amplified by the city's size. I feel that "out there" things are happening and I am trapped here in this cocoon of stillness.

I am not the only person saying Munich is boring. That is why I waited so long to come to my conclusion - I wanted to verify, check and see what other people thought and did in their everyday life. Maybe I am boring, maybe I complain (as usual) too much, maybe people's lives are becoming boring and isolated world wide, maybe I know boring people, maybe I expect too much from life and my relationships, maybe it is my fault, maybe I am looking for something this city cannot offer, maybe I am getting old and grumpy, maybe...

In seven years here, I have never felt so bored in my life and never been surrounded by so much boringness. I see it in the faces, I hear it in what people say and tell me, I see it in the general lack of initiative, in the repetitiveness of everyday life. Maybe I am discovering "hot water" - Germany and germans are not know, as far as I know, as the most funny and entertaining people on the planet. Maybe it would be the same elsewhere on the planet. But...

And don't tell me about the Oktoberfest - since 7 years it is always the same - the tents, the food stalls, the attractions are always the same and always in the SAME position - nothing ever changes (and BTW, why should it? with 6 Million people visiting it each year, why changing even the position of a single spec of dust?). They need this 2 week orgy of beer to lighten up.

Oh BTW, generically speaking on the matter of drinking: here if you don't have a beer in your hand (and one already in your stomach) you cannot have real fun or a decent talk that goes beyond the surface. Germans tell me people here are very superficial - apart, thank goodness, obvious exceptions. Now I think I start to understand what they mean.

People that arrive here from elsewhere (Germany or not), have enthusiasm, bring in new ideas, want to do - after a couple of years, they fall into the same "boredom" trap. I have seen it in more than one person I know. It is even more visible in the Italians I know. The transformation is amazing. And people that once lived here and then moved elsewhere say that they would never come back to live here (from a social point of view). The attractiveness of a city that is certainly the most liveable in the world and with many job opportunities in different fields, comes with a high price tag (in every way), resulting unfortunately in drop dead boredom and social networking & mind numbness.

Time to move? where?
I would be interested to know the opinion of other people living in Munich on this blog, but apparently having a blog is a too far fetched concept/initiative for people living here...
I might be wrong about all this and I might have done everything wrong here in Munich, but my gut feeling and all the years here tell me I am instead dead right.

German Vacation

2007-08-19T19:12:00.001+02:00

This past 2 weeks my parents came to visit me here in Munich. I took last week off to stay with them and we went a bit around South Germany.

We visited the city of Passau (known also as the "City of Three Rivers"), close to the German/Austrian/Czech border, where the Danube is joined by the Inn and Ilz rivers.
The Mercedes-Benz Museum in Stuttgart was also on our list.
I have taken pics in both places and will post them sometime next week on Flickr.
Of the two I preferred much better the Mercedes-Benz museum, a must see for anybody interested in design, modern architecture and, why not, cars. ;) No matter all the PR from Mercedes, I am still not a big fan of their design. In that respect I prefer BMW and probably even more Audi. Though all 3 show a very traditional and somewhat dull design philosophy compared to french, italian and maybe even japanese car manufactuers selling here in EU.

We also visited a Maya exhibition in nearby Rosenheim (which unfortunately was not that great) and today the Staatliches Museum für Völkerkunde (State Museum for Ethnology) in Munich - the second biggest in size in Germany (after the one in Berlin).

Unfortunately, based on my experience, most museums in Munich for some reasons do not have english translations for any of the exhibits, or seldom, only partial translations of summaries. This is even more evident at the Deutsches Museum, the biggest science and technology museum in the world!, where even there, at least the last time I was there a few years back, everything was described only in german.

Considering the amount of tourists, the importance of certain museums and the overall international nature of Munich - it is a shame that nothing is presented fully in at least another language, at least covering the basics. One specific problem of the Museum of Ethnology is also that exhibits do not have descriptions close to them, but share common list of descriptions hanging on walls not necessarily close to the showcases - and everything is referenced to a "catalogue" that you can apparently buy at the entrance. Moreover, the german descriptions lack often a clear description of place of origin and date, making the overall visit a bit, to say the least, disappointing. OK, we paid only 1€ each because today is Sunday, but labeling of exhibits should be much improved (forget about a second language...).

What a surprise...(not really)

2007-08-19T17:35:00.000+02:00

Today it has been revealed on italian newspapers (sorry, the link here is only in Italian - I need to find one in english) what Meterazzi told Zidane during the final match of the Soccer's World Championships in Germany last year.

It goes more or less as follows, after Materazzi pulled his shirt several times while fighting for the ball (or whatever they were doing - and this detail is not really important):

Zidane: "Do you want my shirt or what?! I will give it to you after the game"
Materazzi: "No, I prefer that bitch of your sister instead."

Follows, the famous headbutt from Zidane to Materazzi.

Now, whatever Materazzi had told Zidane, during the final match of the Soccer World Championships, NO WAY a professional player would reply to ANY verbal or physical insult/attack/etc like Zidane has done. Especially if this means undermining the chances of winning the match by being expelled from the game.

So certainly Materazzi is not a gentleman and I don't approve his behavior, but Zidane is way far from being a professional soccer player. Not only Materazzi shows, in the worst of ways certainly, that he is more professional using psychology and his brain, and not just the legs, to win THE match, but he also found a sweet spot that he could use to his advantage. Playing soccer is also this. Players tell each other all sort of things, at all levels; soccer is not only "following the rules by the book".
Zidane, by reacting like he did, not only got himself expelled, throwing the whole French team into panic, but also by having them loosing all faith in themselves (Zidane was the captain), ended up offering the World Cup to the Italian team on a silver plate...

PS: many things have been written in these past months about what Materazzi could have told Zidane to get this kind of reaction; people have speculated all the way, even saying that he offended Zidane by being racist, or similar. Now, I do hope that the above is the reality, but I wasn't really that surprised that Materazzi "simply" offended his sister. Offending one's sister (even imaginary one) or better, someone's mother, is not at all uncommon in Mediterranean countries during soccer matches (at all levels). So even more, the reaction of Zidane was, even more, totally out of place.

PS2: to be a bit more nasty: Materazzi has been a "gentleman" disclosing only now what he said Zidane and why he was headbutted by him. By delaying the disclosure of these details, he has prevented that Zidane would be ridiculed for his behavior during the final, actually getting some of the blame himself...

My Japanese name is...

2007-07-26T16:51:00.001+02:00

My japanese name is 秋本 Akimoto (autumn book) 直樹 Naoki (straight tree).
Take your real japanese name generator! today!
Created with Rum and Monkey's Name Generator Generator.

Why a Solid State Drive (SSD) will soon be in my MacBook

2007-07-24T10:28:00.001+02:00

Very recently hard drives built completely out of NAND Flash chips that maintain the info when shut off, have started to be launched on the market. Currently a 32GB drive is about 400€ here in Germany, but prices are plummeting fast. Samsung SSDs are currently, to my understanding, the only market leaders. Another reason probably for the hefty price.

Why an SSD on a laptop? Laptops have possibly 2 main sources of power drain:
- screen backlight
- hard drive

By using an SSD you get the following immediate benefits:

No moving mechanical parts (ie. higher reliability and no spin-down needs)
Lower operating and standby power
Extended battery lifetime
No spin up, seek time, rotational latency
Only 0.2ms random access time
56MB/s read, 32MB/s write speeds
Improved boot times
Extreme resistance to shock & vibration
Operates in extreme temperatures
Noise free, virtually no heat emissions
Less than half the weight of conventional hard drive
And, last but not least, no more hard drive fragmentation problems - each memory location is just as fast in access/read times as any other on the drive - if the file is split in 10s of physical locations, the read/write access and read times remain constant...

So, if I then keep an eye (as I already do) on the brightness of the screen, my battery life as well as responsiveness of the system will increase by quite a bit. This is truly worth the upgrade!
The only problem is capacity and current price. 32GB is a bit small - I currently have a 80GB drive which is more than enough. A 64GB drive will do - what I need now is lots of patience before these drives are available at accessible and more reasonable prices...

Butter and olive oil

2007-06-23T14:58:00.000+02:00

Today I was wondering whether olive oil or butter are better or worse compared to each other.
Coming from Italy but with my mother mother-tongue french, I have been using both when cooking, as my mum does.
We both consider the two very tasty and have their important place in our daily kitchen recipes.
So I checked out on Wikipedia about the nutritional properties of both and this is what came out (see tables on the right).

Olive oil
Nutritional value per 100 g (3.5 oz)

Energy 890 kcal 3700 kJ

Carbohydrates	0 g
Fat	100 g
- saturated 14 g
- monounsaturated 73 g
- polyunsaturated 11 g
- omega-3 fat 0.8 g
- omega-6 fat 10 g
Protein	0 g
Vitamin E 14 mg	93%
Vitamin K 62 μg	59%

Butter, unsalted
Nutritional value per 100 g (3.5 oz)

Energy 720 kcal 3000 kJ

Carbohydrates	0 g
Fat	81 g
- saturated 51 g
- monounsaturated 21 g
- polyunsaturated 3 g
Protein	1 g
Vitamin A equiv. 684 μg	76%
Cholesterol	215 mg

As you can see, butter has 19g less fat than oil, contains vitamin A, instead of E and K, and 215mg of cholesterol. Butter has more saturated fat than oil. It provides nevertheless less calories.
So clearly olive oil is healthier (no cholesterol and less saturated fats) but from an overall diet point of view, it doesn't mean that you can use it by the liter.
I would say that one needs to use about 20-30% less olive oil compared to butter when cooking to have the same fat content, but in both cases you cannot make a feast and not worry about possible side effects.
In the case of butter, because it might clog your arteries; in the case of oil, because it will make you get fatter faster... ;)
But...if you have an "healthy lifestyle", and want to check out your weight, you can use butter or simply less olive oil.

Therefore I think I will now have a slice of buttered toast and a salad with vinegar and olive oil....

PS: in our family we never used margarine or, seldom, peanut (mainly frying) or sunflower oil. Margarine has no cholesterol, but God knows how they make it (as with all other food...) - as for peanut oil...I don't fry and after all...I am Italian... ;)

Hot Fuzz!!!

2007-06-18T23:47:00.000+02:00

If you want to see a really good movie, have fun and enjoy some good 'ole european fun and action go and see "Hot Fuzz". Entertaining, witty, funny - never boring.

Actors Simon Pegg and Nick Frost together again for another great one, after "Shaun of the Dead". Rated for me best movie so far for 2007!

The super-market scene at the end is just excellent!

Currently rated 8.4 in IMDB and ranking Top#250 at position 115!!!
A must-see!

[Update 23.07.2007]: currently at position 118 and rated 8.3. Still IMHO a must see!! ;)

Apple Store Munich

2007-06-13T23:43:00.000+02:00

For all those interested in these kind of things - here you can see a pic I took this past Saturday of the construction site of the new Apple Store in Munich due to open in 2008.
For details follow this Flickr link.

About lengthy movies

2007-06-13T00:06:00.001+02:00

"The length of a film should be directly related to the endurance of the human bladder."

Every HW update possible already announced - Apple WWDC next week: now what?

2007-06-06T00:05:00.000+02:00

Apple has already announced all hardware updates possible - the iPhone (selling in the US end of this month), the MacPro, the MacBook hw update and today the new MacBook Pro hw update.
I don't think that a new iPod will be announced, or for that matter a new iMac or new Mac Mini (or as some predict, the death of it).
So now what? is the WWDC next week going to be a "Leopard only" show? an entire key note speech from Steve about the new OS version (bum!) whose release has been delayed (read neglected) to October (bum!) because of the iPhone development (bum!!)?

BTW: one reason, apart the whopping high price tag, I will not get an iPhone - if they do like in the US, NO WAY I am getting a 2 year contract with any phone operator in Germany for the joy of Steve - I love my free and no fixed monthly payments virtual operator Simyo...

How to take pictures at weddings with a Point&Shoot Camera...

2007-06-03T18:00:00.000+02:00

Adding to the already interesting and helpful hints from Matt's blog regarding wedding photography, I would like to add a few hints from my side about the topic. I was last Friday at the wedding of long time friends Carlo and Katia near Verona. You can have a look at the pics here (this is NOT a reduced selection for Flickr!).
If I manage I will post on Flickr other pics I took always at wedding with my P&S cameras (Canon S3 and Exilim EX-Z500).

A few pieces of advice from my side to all those out there that do not have a DSLR and find themselves in a wedding with a Point & Shoot camera, that - trust me, no matter how good it is, it will make you go crazy at the wrong moments!:

- first and foremost - make sure you are NOT "the" photographer (thank goodness I never am...) - don't even think to be THE photographer; with a P&S, no matter how good it is, nobody can ask you to THE photographer at their wedding; make you and them a favor and save on the flowers and get a professional do the work or a friend that has the right equipment (first and foremost a DSLR and a good flash)

- the places were weddings take place sometimes are not enough lit for P&S cameras - the sensors these cameras have are not big and sensitive enough to the available light - therefore:
1) shoot with the highest possible ISO that doesn't produce funny looking pictures, ie. the setting that introduces a reasonable amount of noise (on my Canon S3, that is ISO400), and live with it!
2) if concerned about noise, shoot B&W - noise will be more acceptable in this case;
3) choose the lowest F# if possible (or choose the "portrait mode" even if you are shooting groups, to force the camera to lower the F#): this will make the diaphragm open to the max making sure the most light reaches the sensor - forget about using the F# to control depth of field - in these cases you will not be able to control much of it in any case - let alone be able to take significant pics; moreover, if you raise the F#, less light gets in, the exposure time increases -> blurred pics - and nobody will be still enough (especially at a wedding) for you to take their pic!
4) try to avoid flash if possible (if you don't want washed out pictures - and in any case a P&S flash will never be enough in high ceiling, big celebration halls & churches);

- because of the above and because you never know what people do: use the multiple shot mode - one of the several pics might look good, not blurred and you might catch a nice face expression that you were not expecting at all;

- play more with your camera's settings before getting to the event - things happen so fast when you are there that if you start fiddling with your camera while things happen you will loose every valuable moment...;

- for the above reasons - this is really the case where shooting more, really can pay off big time - I have sometimes shot up to 10pics for a given scene, and yes, I managed to get out a good one; this is particularly true when the couple gets out of the church and the rice is thrown at them - fix exposure, focus and just shoot continuously - you will certainly get a good pic out of the (long!!) series;

- people hardly feel comfortable in front of the camera (this is especially true for women) and don't really know how to smile "on command" (a problem for adults - kids are never a problem) - get them to laugh by saying something nice/funny, or take a pic when they are not aware of it - that is actually when you get the best shots;

- a second set of fully charged batteries ready at hand are a MUST;

- don't waste time composing a shot of people; you will not have the time (and in these occasions, you NEVER have the time) - you can crop the pic later...

- if there is (hopefully!!!) an official photographer, let him/her take the standard pics and try to focus in taking the "odd" shots or those that require a little more time to compose - let him/her take responsibility for taking the really important pics, concentrate on getting the "other" pics

- last but not least, if AF is not working that well in low light or is not fast enough (the definition of "fast enough" during weddings reduces of a factor of 10 compared to when you shoot pics in a normal situation...trust me), set manually a fixed focus (if possible) that you think will work for the set of pics/distance of subjects you are going to take and gain that extra few bits of a second that might let you take that "special/meaningful shot".

Having said all this.... I do need to get myself a DSLR with a decent ISO1600/ISO3200 with good lenses!!!
BTW: I will have another wedding coming up at the end of June and another one in mid-July - both in the late afternoon/evening - another good occasion to show all the limitations of my P&S camera...

Have a look here...

2007-05-28T00:17:00.000+02:00

Follow this link (http://www.miniature-earth.com/)

The Mac Mini is dead?: I really don't think so!

2007-05-27T20:18:00.000+02:00

I read on Appleinsider today the following article. I completely don't agree on the following closing statement:

Whether Apple will squeeze another revision from the mini, and how long it plans to allow existing models to linger, are both unclear. But as the extended Memorial Day break dawns upon us, the point being driven should be clear:

Ladies and gentlemen, AppleInsider believes in all sincerity that the Mac mini is dead.

I don't know how the sales of the Mini are going, but to me the Mini is well alive!

I currently own one and I use it as my media center in the living room, connected to my TV and Stereo. The Mini is the reason I MOVED TO THE MAC. The Mini is also the only real desktop offering from Apple.

If there is one thing that Apple will not have in it's product offering if it stops selling the Mini is the "normal" desktop for people/Mac users, including, BTW, the "switchers" like me. If you don't need a monitor (read iMac), or a laptop, or a full blown workstation, the Mac Mini is the ONLY Mac you can buy (whether you are switching or are a long time Mac user).

Certainly the Mini doesn't have the fastest Intel processor, or the biggest hard drive or best graphics card. But what it does it does good and quick (with enough RAM!!). iTunes, iPhoto, watching movies/DVDs, internet, email, office applications, image manipulation, Parallels - you name it. And if you "wait" a few seconds longer, even video/audio enconding. It is comparable in terms of speed in everyday use to the MacBook.
If you want something faster - either you buy a monitor (ie. the iMac) or you get a workstation (MacPro). MacBooks and MacBook Pros are still laptops - read again, laptops - not desktops.

If Apple is still selling the Mini after so much time, they have a reason. Otherwise they would have stopped selling it a long time ago. Apple marketing is way more smart than we might think.

So, IMHO, the Mini is well alive - long live the Mini!

The "90% rule" at work

2007-05-12T11:19:00.000+02:00

That is, when you receive 90% emails that have nothing really to do with your work, but that are connected to it enough to waste 90% of your time. Leaving 10% of the time for the things that are really related to your job description and what your boss would like you to do. Ie. I am in marketing now, and I have been working for the past 2 months 90% of the time on logistics issues, planning, pricing problems - you name it - but forget about market and competition analysis, new product launch, strategy... Man it is frustrating at times!
Is it the same at your workplace?

PS: yes, I know, it's part of time management and understanding what is important vs. what is urgent (everything is urgent) - but it's not easy to distinguish, especially when you are learning the job and "how it really works".

PS2: I have an old couple living in the flat above me - we both have the kitchen windows on the same side and one on top of the other - they're on the 4th floor, I'm on the third. Above their window is the border of the roof protruding outside the building. They have told me that in the evenings when I cook and I leave my window open, the vapor (say, when I cook pasta or rice) goes out of my window, gets "blocked" by the overhanging roof and gets into their kitchen (if they have the window open - which is obviously what people do in the kitchen after they cook). Because we cook at different times, that is, I cook later than they do, they get my vapor inside their kitchen in the evenings. Now what? should I cook with my window closed and then open it at a later time? or buy a ventilator/filter to install over the stove so that it can "trap" the vapor? will it work? or they have just gone insane and they found a wrong explanation for another problem (maybe they get the vapor in the kitchen for another reason?)

The way to the good life

2007-04-23T22:55:00.000+02:00

Eating things you like, meeting a friend for a chat, making a new acquaintance, drinking a glass of fresh water, appreciating little nice things said and done by the people you meet everyday and keeping it all as simple as possible. And because we live in a materialistic society, there's no denying it, enjoying what you have without making it the main focus of your life or a way to hide your big and small everyday problems.
And when something bad comes...not sweating about it and facing it right in the eye.

The rest - the good life - maybe will then come by itself.

Easy to say - difficult to do?

PS: thanks to Estelle and Rebecca for their touching thoughts - I really appreciate it. Sorry for "replying" only now.

Mac thoughts on OS X 10.5 Leopard's delay

2007-04-15T12:10:00.000+02:00

I have been a happy Mac user for the past 2 years. I currently have a Mac mini and a MacBook. I have updated regularly what is IMHO a very stable, reliable and good looking OS, Mac OS 10.4.
I read that the new 10.5 version (Leopard) has been delayed till October. I am also reading that Mac fans (and I don't consider myself one) are freaking out about it.

Well...:
- 10.4 is a great OS that IMHO has nothing urgent to be changed
- 10.5 as far as I could see is simply an upgrade of 10.4 (in the same way Vista is for XP - I have not seen anything revolutionary in it - at least from the common user's perspective; XP is still a good OS and Vista to me is not THAT compelling - not to mention the new "crazy" Vista hardware requirements); here are some screenshots of the latest build handed out to developers
- 10.5 needs to solve the current problem (common to all software out there - Windows and Mac, and possibly Linux, alike) that multi core processors now available are not properly supported both from the OS and the software running on it; parallel programming has still a looooong way to go
- speculations are (and facts show?) that Apple is focusing more and more, as a non-computer company, on other products that little have to do with Macs and OS X: Apple TV, iPods, iPhone - well, people are buying Macs because they buy these "consumer gadgets", not the other way round - especially for PC users switching (I switched because I was convinced of the quality and ease of use of iTunes+iPod shuffle AND I wanted an XP alternative; sorry guys, Linux to me is still made by programmers for programmers)

So my final thought is: 10.5 is late; do we really care?

Personally I don't. I don't feel handicapped in comparison to Vista users, I don't feel I am using an obsolete system, I don't feel 10.5 will be revolutionary (unless the new "secret" features are really revolutionary) rather an upgrade to 10.4. After all it is not OS X 11.0 that we are talking about. And iLife apps are for the time being OK. My Macs are "getting the job done".

As long as the 10.5 is a solid and good quality release, I don't see all this tragedy around the delay - it's not that Apple in the meantime has been idle: trust me, to introduce a GSM phone on the market is not an easy task - especially if it's your first time and you enter a market where Nokia, Motorola and SonyEricsson (to mention a few) have been in, for the past 15 years...

So Mac people out there - for the time being, chill out!
Apple has not given signs to be shutting down the Mac business (yet).

What I really think it would be necessary is an update of the MacBook Pro, of the Mac mini, of the iMac, the Apple Cinema Displays and last but not least, the introduction of something in-between a mini and a Mac Pro, between a match and a fire starter; a Mac (the current in-between solution from Apple) with a monitor containing a fast aging PC inside is a short-sighted solution IMO; i.e. the iMac: a screen can be used much longer than any PC attached to it - and that is no exception for the Macs.

BTW: .Mac should be provided for free or for a very low low fee - the pricing model is simply outdated and I don't honestly understand how Mac users can subscribe to it's outrageously expensive services.

Apart from that - I am happy of my Macs and advice anybody with "normal" computing needs to get one and forget about the whole Windows world. If you really feel the need of Windows there are always the excellent Bootcamp and Parallels to do the job.

FYI: even though Mac's market share is a mere 5-6%, it is (surprisingly?) making up to 30% of Adobe's business...

Away...and finally back.

2007-04-09T22:42:00.001+02:00

Here I am, finally writing a decent blog post after months. My last meaningful post was back Dec. 5th.
Since then I have changed job, started working for a new company, luckily, always in Munich. It has happened so fast. Usually notification period in Europe is about 3 months. Instead this time...: I resigned from my former company on Friday Dec. 15th and on Wednesday Dec. 20th I was already out "enjoying" my last vacation days. We had to shut down the office I was working into all by myself and ship several things to a few different locations - man, that was a quick move out!
On Jan 4th, without managing to breathe and really relax, I was already starting in the new company - I needed badly to get back to a job that gave me motivation, something to do, something new and different...
And in fact, I have not only changed company, I changed - literally - job. I moved out of Application Engineering (I had been there for the past 6 years and it was starting to be repetitive, boring and frustrating, especially in the last company) into Product Marketing. To make things more complicated I even changed markets - working not anymore for mobile phone applications, but moving to the automotive market...
So here I am, after 3 dense months, where my days have shortened so much I can hardly breathe - learning everything from scratch, getting to know people every day, getting to know a new market, new products, new everything.
I sometimes wonder if I did the right thing. Certainly I have reached my goals by making this switch: getting into marketing, staying in the same town, working for an international company (though I am speaking more german now than ever - making everything the more challenging and adding an additional layer of difficulty to the whole thing), doing something completely new. But sometimes I still wonder whether I made a step longer than I could manage, if I made the right choice. At least now I have something to do each day...
I am worrying more often than I would like to on the job, whether what I will do will be right or wrong, whether my manager will kick me out in a few months, etc. etc. etc. You name it. And outside of the office I easily freak out for anything out of the "ordinary" - especially regarding health. I badly need vacation, but I cannot do much about it until the end of June (you can usually take vacation after the first 6 months of employment).
And because I wanted to learn a new job and get into marketing, even though I am not really interested in the products and the market I ended up in, I simply have to stick here at least another year - only in this way I can learn something and improve my CV - leaving after only 6 months will never look good. Patience, patience, patience...
Only during this Easter "break" I could get back to my blog, my pics, my emails and do some very needed spring cleaning in my apt. - the room I intended to use as a study was stuffed with all sorts of things I either had to get rid of, or get sorted. I haven't finished yet, but at least when I get in, the library doesn't look like as if a tornado just passed by...I am glad that my parents came to visit me for a week - I have the much needed company and they helped me sort out several things - including hanging a much needed kitchen cabinet...
I have decided to shutdown my website www.tisvernicio.com. I just don't have the time to work on it anymore. I will keep this blog though (together with its original twin on Blogger) and with Flickr. I managed to take a few pics this weekend and work on some images on my laptop - I have uploaded some of them on my account. Certainly not the best pics (I wasn't that inspired), but a few decent ones should be there.
What I do hope though, is that spring will bring me the inner peace I need, the time and courage to go ahead, the force to get back to my life, my interests, my friends; to get back order into my life and into my new job, to the happiness I have been waiting for, to get back where I left off in my private life a few months ago.

Cleaning a 14 year old IBM keyboard

2006-12-17T14:45:00.000+01:00

After 14 years, I have decided yesterday that my keyboard looked dirty enough to get cleaned.

So I did - it is an IBM all-metal clunky sounding keyboard - I doubt they do these anymore.

This is what it looked like at the beginning:

It doesn't look terrible from here, does it? I assure there are stains all over the place and some keys are blacked - not really the best place to put your fingers on...
After removing the keys, which are nothing more than plastic caps placed on non-marked switch keys, I started to see how bad the situation was:

EW!

Double EW!!

And finally, after removing all the switches....my goodnees....that looks gross!:

After 1 hour of cleaning, vacuuming all the dirt/dust/food residue/you name it, washing all the keys and scrubbing each one of them with hand soap, I got a brand new keyboard that now looks like this:

Probably next time I am either cleaning it after 1-2 years, or getting a new one altogether. If you have a keyboard you have been using for several years, prepare for terrible sightings and lots of scrubbing...

Bartók and Schumann are not my types

2006-12-05T00:21:00.000+01:00

This evening I went after some time to a classical music concert. I like the atmosphere, the people (that look often stiff, old and dusty - while at the same time artistic - all strictly middle class - like me), the fact that everyone knows apparently what to do and when (when to seat, when to applause, etc.) like following some unwritten plot.
The concert was only piano and violin with 2 exceptional players - Martha Argerich and Gidon Kremer. The Gasteig Philarmonie concert hall here in Munich was full, but not packed, and I was seating, as usual, high above in the last rows (at reasonable €33, rather than at €52 or better yet a few rows further at a whopping €92!!), but still enjoying a nice view. Acoustics are not a problem in the wonderful Gasteig - wherever you seat, you will listen perfectly everything - even what people on the other side of the hall say or do...

At classical music concerts I like when, amazingly and suddenly, an "enormous" audience falls silent, like as if you can hear them all breathe and their hearts beat.
But sometimes reality is much different like today. In fact depending on which days you go to a classical concert, what music and what time, you can find yourself into a retirement home with coughing like no one ever heard, or a more varied but still dusty and coughing audience. Today it was the former case, unluckily. People with cough seem to get together at concerts and have crisis exactly during the performance - nothing similar at cinemas, why? (maybe it really has to do with age...) Obviously, sign of times, there has been a phone ringing (the weirdest ringtone ever, but still it rang).

NOTE: Regarding phones and classical music concerts: people, if you cannot manage to turn off your handy when at these events, do us all a favor and stay home (and let us enjoy the coughing).

At classical music concerts it's always like that: there you are, during a moment of bliss, of rare pure silence, when maybe a single note fills the air.......and there you go - there always has to be somebody coughing, moving, noisily shifting position in the seat, a phone ringing - you name it. I wonder: is it too difficult to just sit there still and listen? is it really that difficult?
In any case...that's part of the game and not being used to it, like in my case, surely doesn't help...

What really was not good was the music. If there is one thing I got out of this concert is that I definitely don't like Bartók and Schumann. This is what was played:

Schumann	Sonate für Violine und Klavier Nr. 2 d-moll op. 121
Bartók	Sonate für Violine Solo SZ 117
Bartók	Kinderszenen op. 15
Schumann	Sonate für Violine und Klavier Nr. 1 SZ 75

The last piece from Schumann was so un-melodic, so painful, so nonsense, that I almost fled the concert hall at the end gasping for air. I have never had done it, but this time it was just simply unbearable. I had to blast some dance music into my ears to regain knowledge and rejoice with melody and rhythm (this is to give you an idea of how dreadful the last piece was). Then back home, I needed to add a bit of Mozart - just to remember me what classical music is like. It certainly takes two great players like Argerich and Kremer to play such things, they were really up to their fame - but it also takes ears other than mine to really appreciate these types of compositions. Maybe I am still not enough dusty, old and stiff....

PS: service note - I have started a new blog also on Vox here; the new blog will have the same content as this one, so you can read either this one or that one - only the template changes...

Upgrading to the Intel Core Duo Mac mini / part II

2006-10-23T22:04:00.000+02:00

After owning and using the Mac mini Core Duo for about a month, I have re-tested again the boot times of the OS and some apps, as well as RAM usage, to see how the system optimised itself of the past few weeks. All measurements this time have been done on 10.4.8.

RAM Usage:

	PPC	Intel 512MB	Intel 2GB	Intel 2GB (after 1 month)
Wired	62MB	135MB - 124MB* - 153MB**	173MB	178MB
Active	66MB	180MB - 67MB* - 73MB**	70MB	75MB
Inactive	76MB	171MB - 102MB* - 101 MB**	92MB	101MB
Total	206MB	460MB - 293MB* - 327MB**	335MB	354MB

* = values after using Monolingual and about a week's use. All applications are Intel native.
** = after upgrading to MAC OS X 10.4.8 from 10.4.7

I woud say RAM usage is about the same - no changes here (a mere 19MB more).

Speed differences: I have been using the mini now for a while and the difference with 2GB RAM can be seen a lot - Parallels works beautifully and after the apps have been loaded once, due to caching, they can be reloaded in fractions of a second after quitting them. Encoding of M-JPEG VGA clips about 1' long to H.264 (same fps and resolution as original) requires few minutes rather than tens of minutes on the PPC mini. I know this is a very qualitative and subjective judgement, but there are plenty of reviews out there for this and I am just giving my user's perspective. The mini is really fast for my day to day work/fun and a good upgrade from the PPC version (now on sale!!).

Boot section/program launched	1.42GHz G4 mini 1GB RAM	1.83GHz Intel CD 512MB RAM*	1.83 GHz Intel CD 2GB RAM*	1.83 GHz Intel CD 2GB RAM (1 month later)
Boot apple grey screen	10"	8"	10"	11"
Spinning lines	13"	14"	14"	16"
Blue screen	26"	26"	28"	27"
Desktop	33"	31"	40"	32"
All services up	1'06"	33"	47"	35"
Mail	6"	6"	4"	5"
iTunes 7 (with about 4400+ songs library)	11"	8"	8"	8"
Firefox 1.5.0.7	10"	7"	7"	8"**
iPhoto 6 (with about 5800+ items library)	9"	8"	6"	9"**
NeoOffice 2.0 Beta 3 patch 1	34"	31"	28"	27"**
Shut down	21"	10"	8"	10"

* = CD stands for Core Duo
** = Firefox 2.0, iPhoto with 6100+ items library, NeoOffice 2.0 Beta 3 patch 2

I would not say there has been a huge change, but though the single boot up sections of the OS require more time, the desktop and all services are now down to the values I originally had when the Mac was delivered with 512MB RAM. So I would say that loading times are now limited to disk performance and, with respect to the PPC versions, bigger memory footprint. I feel the machine will be much faster after the code gets optimised in the future and will start exploiting the multi-core architecture (none of this software, and I believe OS X as well, has been written or compiled with multi-core parallel processing in mind).
I am curious to see what will happen in the future and with 10.5 Leopard...

A brief encounter with a MacBook

2006-10-17T12:38:00.000+02:00

I have bought my father a MacBook 2GHz white version with 80GB HDD. After struggling for 6 years with an aging Toshiba, with a self shutting down screen, horrible customer service and two service repairs - and after seeing my mother's 12" G4 iBook - he asked me to get him a Mac. OK, well...I suggested he should get a Mac and start enjoying real modern computing... ;-)

Speed: After upgrading the standard 512MB RAM with 2GBs sticks bought at an Internet store, I can say this machine is fast! I haven't done any tests like I did for my new Mac mini, but certainly this machine is not slow at all.

Construction and external appearance: It is slightly bigger than an A4 sheet of paper and slightly heavier than I thought. The white plastic casing is certainly better suited for fingerprints - you don't really see them. On the black version you see everything...Construction quality is excellent (no surprises on that) and the packaging and delivery was flawless. The edge of the case is slightly sharp (I had doubts about it) but on normal use it is not a problem.

Fan noise: actually none and it's relatively silent: the CPU fan seems to be always off during regular use and the only audible noise is due to the HDD spinning; but all in all it is not an unpleasant whir.

LCD Glossy Screen: The glossy screen is great and I have not encountered any problems so far with reflections. A friend of mine, used to Sony's glossy screens, said that Apple's is not as reflective. The resolution is good and it looks quite sharp. Certainly blacks look more black than on a regular screen and therefore working with pictures is more pleasant. The screen is also quite bright, for what I could see, and more than usable at the lowest setting in dimly lit environments.

Keyboard: The keyboard is good, though it took me a while to get used to it. You need to press the keys decisively to make sure you get the input on the screen. But overall feedback is good. I am only concerned how dust and dirt can be removed underneath each single key. The new design is nice and quality seems to be good - but I think they could have done a better job.

Track Pad: The track pad is "huge" (maybe even too big) and the single button works fine. The only problem I have found so far (and I believe it to be a software one, since I have noticed something similar on my mother's iBook) is that sometimes after using the keyboard, the mouse pointer fails to respond immediately to new input. Maybe fiddling with the settings can improve it, but I haven't had time so far to do it.

Battery life: I really don't know and cannot comment much about it - the MacBook's manual says that the battery needs to be calibrated about once a month, and that requires you to let the laptop run until it goes to sleep by itself when the battery is almost completely drained. After that you have to keep the laptop switched off for 5 hrs or more and then it can be recharged. In this way, supposedly, the timer on the menu bar should show a more accurate estimate of the charge/time left. Surely before doing the calibration the timer would tell me I would have, e.g., 3h40' and after one hour usage, it would show 3h20'... I did the calibration the other night and the battery is now recharging (it takes about 2 hrs to do so) while I am writing this. In the process I discovered that Macs do hibernate: after I left the MacBook in sleep, this morning it was completely switched off (no white pulsating LED). I was thinking the worst, but after connecting it back to the power supply and turning it on, instead of booting from scratch, it showed like a "ghost" image of the screensaver and at the bottom, rather than the typical boot spinning lines, there was a series of bars a-la Windows, as it does when coming out from hibernation. So hibernation in Macs is used only as a last resort (and a functionality not accessible directly from the users), and sleep is used instead as a much faster and convenient way to interrupt your work without losing any data or shutting down completely. [I have discovered today, Oct. 19th, that this functionality is called "Safe Sleep" and that has been introduced since the PowerBook G4 came out - read more about it on Apple's website here]
The Mac does get warm in the bottom right part of the case and slightly warm in the top right portion of it, but nothing different or strange from any other laptop I have worked with. Surely I wasn't running the cores at full load for minutes, but still for general use I haven't noticed anything particularly strange.

In-built iSight camera: The camera is a VGA CMOS Micron sensor that provides decent to very good image quality (depending on the light conditions). Considering the size of the module, the lens do a very good job considering also the purpose of this useful integrated "gadget". I have not had a chance to use it though in video conferencing on Skype or iChat.

Parallels: A brief note about this - it is truly interesting to see XP reduced to be an application running in a window at full speed with no visible lag or performance hit on this MacBook or on the Mini. But, luckily enough, my father will not need it - so he will probably dump Windows for good...

Conclusions: After reading all the different stories regarding batteries to be exchanged, white plastic discoloring, random shut-down issues and so forth - I do hope this laptop will keep up to my expectations and provide years of trouble-free computing to my dad, in the same way, the iBook of my mum has been doing so far for the past year.
As for myself, when the Core 2 Duo versions of this model come out, I will surely buy one. If you cannot wait, the MacBook is certainly a good "bang for the buck" and on certain things (considering also the price difference) it certainly better than its bigger brother the MacBook Pro. As for price, after using and "touching" it for a while, it is certaily worth every Euro. If you are tired of using Windows and want to have a good alternative, this laptop is the way to go.

Vista vs Leopard - Since when?

2006-10-07T20:39:00.001+02:00

The whole "Vista vs Leopard" to me is only a topic for computer enthusiasts/geeks and Apple users. For everybody else Apple doesn't even exist, if it weren't, maybe, for the iPod. Talk with anybody who needs to buy a computer, and they will only have in mind a regular PC, with Windows (yeah, forget about Linux). Unless they know someone of the above mentioned computer users' categories to let them know that there is something else out there...

So when I read this article here and in particular this phrase:

"...Vista is the next version of Windows that Microsoft hopes will trump Apple's Leopard..."

it just makes me laugh and grin. How naive is the writer of this article? He surely has a distorted view of the (computer) world...

Microsoft doesn't care at all of what Mac OS looks or will look like. Even if Leopard will be spectacular, it will still run on 4-5% of worldwide computers. On everything else there will be XP and Vista, and the crumbles will go to Linux. That simple. There is simply no "Vista vs Leopard" except for Apple users and geeks, who hope that the new Apple OS will increase Macs market share. But what these people forget is that for 90% of people having to deal with a computer this law is valid:

computer = PC = Windows

and nothing else. And to run Mac OS X, you need to buy a Mac - and "normal" users simply don't buy a Mac, unless they know someone or a friend of that 5% that is also convincing enough to make them switch. And habits (ie. buying regular PCs) are hard to die...

New zooming feature in Mac OS X 10.4.8

2006-10-05T01:14:00.000+02:00

As reported here - the newest update of Mac OS X 10.4.8 has a new built-in zooming feature for the entire desktop.
I have tried it and it works as described. The quality of the zoomed image is not the best, but still it is useful when wanting to read a paragraph without squinting your eyes (or getting too close to the LCD...;-) ) or when writing something.
I wonder why these upgrades are never publicly announced by Apple...

The beer maß, and the 6.5 million people drinking it...

2006-10-04T10:46:00.001+02:00

Yesterday was the last day of the 173rd Oktoberfest in Munich (you can read more about here). Reportedly 6.5 million people have attended the event (which this year lasted 18 days, usually 16). This means that on average each day 360.000 people converged on the Theresienwiese - that is the huge "lawn" on which the fest takes place. People come from all over the world, mostly from US, Italy (italians and their campers invade town typically on the 2nd weekend), UK (supposedly the 3rd weekend is theirs), Australia and New Zealand. All the major breweries in Munich have one or more "zelten" (tents), usually brightly decorated and with a band playing music. The biggest tents hold possibly thousands of people and some of them, it is said, have a direct pipe connection to the brewery to bring the beer directly to the fest...
This year about 7 million liters of beer have been sold (that excludes all other soft drinks which many people drink in the tents - it is totally acceptable! and usually a way to take a break from drinking...).
Since each maß costs about 7,2€ (with tip this means usually about 8€), the overall Oktoberfest machine has generated this year a minimum of 52M€, excluding all profits deriving from all other food stands, thrill rides, souvenirs, etc. The whole event this year lucklily has run without a single glitch or major security problem (excluding the occasional fight; but security is extremely tight and police does a great job in keeping everybody safe).
I have been to the fest twice this year, and for me it was more than enough. If you don't like crowds, you better avoid the place, but even if you don't drink beer, a visit is always worth while - it is a one of a kind type of event.
If there is one thing that will continue to be held here in Munich until the city exists, is the Oktoberfest. But as the even the germans say, once a year is more than enough!

Upgrading to the Intel Dual Core Mac mini

2006-09-24T13:47:00.000+02:00

I have bought my very first Mac back in April 2005. A 1.42GHz version quickly upgraded to 1GB RAM. After using it extensively with lots of satisfaction, I decided that for my usage patterns I would benefit from an upgraded faster version. ;-)
I therefore decided 3 weeks ago to buy myself a 1.83GHz Dual Core version with 80GB HDD. The Mac Pro is still out of my league and needs. The iMacs are plenty powerful, but I love my 20" Apple Cinema Display...
As for RAM I was stuck for a while with 512MB, definetely in need for the planned 2GB upgrade. BTW: forget about using Parallels with 512MB RAM.
I had to dish out about 100€ for 2x1GB sticks (it was 75€ only 2 months ago...). Because of this delayed upgrade (I had to wait 1 week to get the RAM) I could experience the differences between running the mini with these 2 different RAM setups.

First impressions: the new mini is more silent than its PowerPC counterpart, therefore I can now sometimes hear the HDD (on the PPC the HDD noise is covered by the whir of the somewhat noisier fan). But I don't think the Intel chip runs cooler: I think the fan is more silent but the air coming out seems to be hotter than on the PPC mini.

External differences: the 2 minis are virtually the same, with small minor differences. The build quality is the same on both machines: excellent in my opinion.
The plastic cover with the grey apple sports a whiter background, the DVD/CD slot is slightly wider (to accomodate the IR sensor) and the back has a new set of ports (check the Apple website for all details). That's all there is to say really...

RAM usage: here I was really disappointed. The Intel architecture either requires more RAM (ie. code for the Intel chip has a bigger memory footprint) or the software is far from being optimised...lots of room for improvement!
The numbers below are the memory usage values as reported by the Activity Monitor utility soon after booting. For the 512MB column there are 3 set of numbers as I noticed consistent differences after using Monolingual and running the mini for a few days; moreover I upgraded to Mac OS X 10.4.8 before upgrading to 2GB, and the RAM usage changed again.
All programs running on the mini are Intel native (therefore RAM usage is not affected by Rosetta or PPC apps running in emulation). Both the PPC and Intel minis were running the SAME applications so comparisons are possible IMHO.

	PPC	Intel 512MB	Intel 2GB
Wired	62MB	135MB - 124MB* - 153MB**	173MB
Active	66MB	180MB - 67MB* - 73MB**	70MB
Inactive	76MB	171MB - 102MB* - 101 MB**	92MB
Total	206MB	460MB - 293MB* - 327MB**	335MB

* = values after using Monolingual and about a week's use. All applications are Intel native.
** = after upgrading to MAC OS X 10.4.8 from 10.4.7

On average the Intel architecture requires 2.5x more RAM than the PPC counterpart - either the software needs HEAVY improvement and optmization (I hope so), or it is really memory inefficient compared to the PPC architecture.

Upgrade procedure: the overall operation was in true Mac style - flawless. I connected the 2 minis with a normal Firewire cable, restarted the PPC one in Firewire Target mode (by pressing T at boot time) as prompted by the Tiger setup procedure, and trasferred all my data (43.3GB) in about 1h. After the Intel mini setup was over, I rebooted and it looked like I never changed machine - everything was were it should be.
Then I started chasing the PPC apps around and reinstalling them or upgrading them to Universal/Intel versions to avoid using Rosetta. The whole upgrade procedure took about 30 mins (excluding the 1h needed to transfer data) - not a glitch.

Using Monolingual: soon after trasferring my data I run the Monolingual app to get rid of all PPC architectures, unused languages and 64bit architectures. I managed to reclaim a total of 795MB HDD space, but I lost the ability of running PPC applications using Rosetta (Rosetta requires the PPC architecture in the OS - I removed it... ;-) ): not a big issue, since I am not planning to run anything in emulation and I have lucklily found all Universal versions of my apps.

Speed differences: with 512MB RAM I wasn't too much impressed of the speed gains obtained on the Intel mini. Certainly the graphics and applications (once loaded) tend to be snappier, but with the higher RAM consuption, 512MB are really not enough and my PPC mini was, in a way, faster. The problem is that Mac OS X optmises itself and defrags the HDD over time, so I had to time the applications and OS boot times over several days and several times to find a meaningful average. Moving to 2GB so far has not made much of a difference from 512MB (it is actually slower in booting...why?), but I plan to re-take the timings in a couple of week's time to see if something happens. Certainly once booted, 2GB provide snappier response, switching between apps is fast and you can use Parallels without any trouble side by side to other applications: it is an interesting sensation to see Win XP reduced to be run like any other app ;-) Certainly video encoding and iPhoto pictures browsing now is much faster than on the PPC mini.

Boot section/program launched	1.42GHz G4 mini 1GB RAM	1.83GHz Intel DC 512MB RAM*	1.83 GHz Intel DC 2GB RAM*
Boot apple grey screen	10"	8"	10"
Spinning lines	13"	14"	14"
Blue screen	26"	26"	28"
Desktop	33"	31"	40"
All services up	1'06"	33"	47"
Mail	6"	6"	4"
iTunes 7 (with about 4400+ songs library)	11"	8"	8"
Firefox 1.5.0.7	10"	7"	7"
iPhoto 6 (with about 5800+ items library)	9"	8"	6"
NeoOffice 2.0 Beta 3 patch 1	34"	31"	28"
Shut down	21"	10"	8"

* = DC stands for Dual Core

As you can see, shutdown is about 2x faster and the system (once the desktop is visible) is available in about 30% less time. All applications load times currently are a couple of seconds lower from their PPC counterparts. I think booting apps is closely related to disk performance though rather than available RAM, as it seems from the numbers (which are almost the same between the 512MB and the 2GB configurations).
Another thing to consider is the problem about the bigger memory footprint and code optimization: I would expect all these numbers to become smaller for the Intel mini in the next few months as code gets optimised and new compilers are used. It will be interesting to see how Leopard 10.5.0 will perform with respect to Tiger 10.4.8 (assuming Apple will work a lot on optimising existing and new code for the new release).
PS: having two cores so far has not made much of a difference to me - I wonder how many of the apps are actually compiled to make use of it... (most probably none...).

Front Row and Infrared Remote: FR is a well designed, simple and elegant interface to the media on the HDD - it does handle though only media types that Quicktime can show (i.e. if you can watch it/listen to it with Quicktime/iTunes, you will see it in FR). To view pictures with family and friends is really easy, elegant and straightforward, as well as to access music for parties and the such. The IR Remote works well and can be used also as a remote for the DVD player to pause, fast forward/rewind, play/stop, set up volume. Overall a nice addition.
PS: I still haven't found a way to start Front Row without using the remote - there is no "FR Icon" in the Application folder...

Worldwide logistic nonsense?

2006-09-22T11:41:00.000+02:00

Complaint of the day...

I have ordered from Apple last Friday a new Mac mini. I have bought the 1.83GHz version with 512GB RAM soon to be upgraded to 2GB as soon as RAM prices go down (1GB now costs a whopping 100€!! - used to be 75€ 1.5 months ago).

As predicted by Apple the shipping happened exactly on Sept. 20th from Prague. Yes, the minis for Europe are made in the Czech Republic. And that is great, as for once goods don't have to travel half way through the world and are made locally (certainly some of the components are not, but everything is assembled in Prague).

So, going back to the logistics nonsense - the mini has been sent by Apple using TNT. I thought it would be shipped to Munich, but....I was wrong. It would make too much sense to do that. And because there are no direct flight connections or train lines between Prague and Munich...with a huge 300m tall wall between the 2 coutries, they have decided to send my mini for a touristic tour to Liege in Belgium... From there finally it has then been sent to Munich and it is supposedly heading here.

Certainly the service is excellent and the predictions on delivery times are correct, but why add an extra step and ship to Belgium first, adding a total of 1500km extra to the trip? I wonder...

Buying movies on iTunes - why?

2006-09-08T12:44:00.000+02:00

I read this post on ArsTechnica today and the answer to the question is, simply: no.
Why would I want to buy at 10$ or even 15$ a movie on iTunes Music Store (or any other internet service, for that matter) when I can get the real thing (the DVD!) for 6-15€ in stores (and keep it and see it wherever and with whomever I want)? or rent them for a couple of euros?

For that matter, I am also not buying music on iTunes. The file quality is in my opinion poor (and not only in my opinion) and to download a complete CD it can cost 10-15$. For 10€ or less I can get the real thing, full quality, with booklet (i.e. the CD!). And for the newly released stuff, I just need to wait 3-6 months to get it at a decent price. The same applies for DVDs.

And in any case I consider DVDs and CDs like books. If I like them, I want them to be on my bookshelf. Files on a HDD (with DRM limitations) are not for me. And I want to be able to rip my CDs with the quality I choose and play them on as many computers and MP3 devices I own.

I simply don't understand all this hype about iTunes and similar internet stores. If TMS sold also the real thing (i.e. CDs and DVDs) I would probably buy them from there (if competitively priced, obviously). TMS is a great music portal and I use it sometimes to retrieve information on tracks, albums and hear previews of new releases (when not available on Amazon).

The iPod is a great product, iTunes is very good software and TMS is well designed, but I still want to have complete control on my music.

3 new photo galleries! - Botanical Gardens in Munich

2006-08-11T14:52:00.000+02:00

I managed yesterday to post 3 new galleries with pictures of a recent visit I made to the Botanical Gardens here in Munich. One gallery is only about the gardens, the second one about the greenhouses and the third one is about a rose exhibition which was far smaller than I thought it would be, unfortunately. Nevertheless - it was a fine day and the visit paid itself off.
As for the other galleries I said I would post - you'll have to wait a bit more...

Last weekend, bladenight, iusethis and dishwashers

2006-07-25T14:42:00.000+02:00

This past weekend I have been visiting Davide and Patrizia in Winterthur, CH. I had a great time though the temperature was 36.5C when I arrived on Friday afternoon at 5pm and stayed at about the same levels the whole weekend: the weather has been mostly hot, but dry - so it wasn't too bad. I thought often how it would have been in humid Florence... But in the evenings it has been cooler and very pleasant.

We have been to Zurich, to the Pfäffikersee near Pfäffikon, Kyburg, to Neuhausen near Schaffausen to view the wonderful (and Europe's widest) river Rhein waterfalls. I have made several pictures that I will post soon on the Photo section of the site.

Yesterday night I went to my first bladenight ever here in Munich. I went with Alexandre, and he was telling me that Munich is one of the biggest bladenight events in the whole world. He mentioned to me that in New York bladenights are organized, but about anything from 15 to 200 participants (only!!!) attend - therefore traffic is not deviated or stopped when the bladers pass by. In Munich instead entire roads are blocked off for the bladers. Yesterday night we were about 13.000 people. After the "race" around town (this time we did the West route), you end up at the starting point were there is music, food and obviously, refreshing cool beer...;-)
(some pictures of the event can be found here)

On a completely different topic, for those out there using Macs, I would like to raise your attention on a new website called "i use this". On this website, registered users (registration is free) select the applications that use on their Macs and other users that log on can see what they use and how much a single application is used. The site still claims it did not gather enough information, but eventually it will be able to tell you if there are better / more used applications that could replace the ones running on your Mac. If an application is not listed, it can be added pretty easily. To me the main benefit of this site is to discover new applications, and if I will ever have friends (and not some unknown guy) using Macs registered to the site, being able to see what they use, discovering that they have found better solutions for my computing needs.

Last but not least, something I wanted to talk about since the topic has come out several times this past couple of weeks with friends of mine - it is weird to talk about it on a blog, I admit - actually it is weird to simply talk about it...but maybe it is a way to close the whole story? And after all I am considered as one of the "best house cleaning single guy".
The main point was about the benefits and disadvantages of dishwashers (don't ask me why we ended up talking on the topic, I don't know myself as well - and yes, with guys mainly, not girls...).
I personally hate washing dishes and when I bought my kitchen, I first bought the dishwasher, and then everything else: to me, it is this fundamental home appliance that keeps my kitchen livable and usable; the lack of it would mean stacks of dishes and pans to clean on any kitchen surface on any given moment.
Now some of the above mentioned friends said they think a dishwasher is a waste of resources and use this point to justify that they are better off doing their dishes by hand (I would say they are masochists, plain simple). Well, at least as water consumption goes, and as long as Wikipedia can be considered an authoritative source, dishwashers consume on average far less water than any hand dishwasher out there. As for energy consumption and washing powder pollution, I cannot comment on that, though my feeling is both methods (hand and dishwasher) are about on par. So much for the "ecological" dish hand-washing method...
In any case, I still hate doing the dishes and I will always try to have a dishwasher in my apartment! You guys can go on doing your dishes by hand... ;-P

Over the Hedge!

2006-07-21T11:49:00.000+02:00

This past week I went to the movies to see "Over the Hedge". Invited by my friend Tanja, I didn't even know what it was about...It was a pleasant surprise: if it wasn't for a couple of unnecessary songs in between scenes and a bit too many standard-american-movies-"I am proud of you, son"-kind-of dialogues, the movie was excellent, extremely funny - I haven't laughed so much watching a movie since "Wallace & Gromit: the Curse of the Were-Rabbit". A couple of scenes are pure genius and the "opening of the chips bag" and the "faster-than-laser-beams squirrel" are the funniest I have seen in a while. It's worth the money.

I give it a 8 out of 10 (current rating on IMDB is 7.3). It would have been a 10 if it wasn't for the cheesy dialogues, as mentioned above, still...I think I will get the DVD once out and, well, I'll to skip the cheesy parts!

Finally some new picture galleries...

2006-07-16T00:19:00.000+02:00

This time I managed to post six new galleries (I cannot believe I managed to put six of them all at once!!!) of Barcelona, during my business trip in February to the 3GSM World Congress (which used to be in Cannes - and now finally in the roomier Fira de Barcelona) and of its astounding Sagrada Familia and Cathedral of Santa Eulalia.
Also a few pictures of odd encounters in Zürich, back in March, with a F1 car hanged on the wall and with the HUGE Lego Man!...
...And a set of very cold pictures of Lindau. This very small german town is on an island on the lake Constance which borders 3 countries - Germany, Switzerland and Austria.
The galleries are posted HERE. Enjoy!

Fading bits.

2006-06-22T08:05:00.000+02:00

I have read yesterday on the May issue of IEEE's Spectrum an article ("Digital Photographs" - Reflections section) regarding digital picture taking, archiving, printing and the sense of all this in the new digital era.
Mr. Lucky rightly observes:

"I have often contemplated the beauty of being digital. A bit is a bit—a 1 or a 0 and nothing in between—and it lasts forever unchanged. My digital pictures won’t fade like my mother’s sepia photos. A century from now, they should, in theory, retain the same resolution and colors that they have today. However, the notion of permanence in digital representation is a chimera, because the bits must be instantiated in some physical medium—and media come and go. Strange to think that while shoe boxes have been around for more than a century, the magnetic and optical drives of today are surely only passing phenomena. So in digits we have a curious mixture of permanence and transience.
Even the supposedly pristine and immutable bits in our digital pictures are themselves suspect. Typically, they aren’t the original bits from the camera’s sensor but different bits derived from them using the information-lossy JPEG image format. As with my mother’s faded pictures, you can’t go backward from these images to the originals. But at least I can still see those old paper photographs, whereas it seems unlikely that a century from now JPEG will be the compression technology of choice for digital photographs, if indeed compression is being used at all.

I know what I should do. I should go through all my digital pictures and pick out a small set of ones that are really good and important. I should print those out and find a shoe box to put them in. Then I should throw out all the old floppies from that dreaded bottom drawer of my desk and put the shoe box there.

However, I’m too busy taking more pictures to worry about that now. "

I think I need to start printing the pictures I like the most, as suggested, before something happens to my hard drive or, worse, that technology will not be able to recover itself. I can always take a look at a faded picture.

You can read the whole article here.

PS: BTW, the whole "theory" applies to music, MP3 (and other formats) files and the fact that more and more people are stopping (un-wisely, IMHO) to buy CDs (that have a certain life-span, in any case).

How to feel old

2006-06-18T20:52:00.000+02:00

You and your thirty-something year old friends go (maybe also together with some 25-year old friends) to a disco (like the "Nachtgalerie" in Munich) that clearly says at the entrance "Admittance only if older than 18". Get asked the ID ("yippieee - we look young" - not exactly meaning it), get in and suddendly realise that you have effectively raised the overall age average from 18 to 28. But that is not it, yet.

You start dancing with your friends and when, during a mix between songs, you recognise in the never aging dance beat, the chorus of 1983 song "Paris Latino", you look at your friends and get all excited about it and sing and dance happily to it.
Only then you realise that only you and your 30-something year old friends are the only ones among everybody else (the young lot) making such a fuss of it, and that the 25-year old friends that came with you, are looking a bit lost wondering what is all the excitement, for a song you realise they never heard of...after all they are only 8 years younger than you, and yet still another whole 5 years older than the average age of the disco people.

Then you further realise that you are really 33 years old, that some youngsters could almost be your children, and that you look exactly like those "50 year old people" you weirdly looked at when, in your twenties, went to the disco. The "50 year old guys" were only 30-year old people just like you now, that were having the time of their life remembering, through songs you never heard of, of when they were young.
That is when you really feel old...;-)

PS: the disco was in any case very good and had overall a very good time - music was good and drinks were cheap - and lots of girls!!
PS2: maybe next time I should go to another place or just forget about this whole old/young thing and enjoy myself (which I did in any case...;-) )

Newton, Apple and the Da Vinci Code: the circle is now closed - the truth is finally revealed.

2006-05-24T12:07:00.000+02:00

It's a joke, it's a waste of time, it's art, it's good/bad web design: I find it funny and ironic - I like it!: check this web site out! http://www.icryptex.com/

Original source: http://www.theappleblog.com/2006/05/23/apple-and-the-da-vinci-code-collide/
About the author of the page: Darren Barefoot

Since when black notebooks have become "cool"?

2006-05-21T11:24:00.000+02:00

Apple has released last week the new MacBook in glossy white and matte black finishing.

The black version is 120€ more expensive than the comparable white model (after adding 40€ to get the 80GB HDD; this would take into account for the only internal difference between the 2 models; otherwise, they are identical - except color, of course).

I am reading more and more on several MacBook reviews on the web that the black version looks "cooler" than the white one: since when black laptops have become "cool"???
There are zillions of black and grey laptops out there from other brands other than Apple - and nobody ever said that they are cool.

(hip) glossy white or (standard) matte black? ;-)

To me, the glossy white case is what really makes Apple notebooks cool: nobody out there, except Apple, is making them that way (not to mention the metal finishing of the Pro models...).
When you buy a white glossy Apple notebook, everybody might well notice you, because you are holding in you hand something that nobody else really has and that stands out from the black/grey laptop crowd out there.

And in any case I personally think that spending 120€ more for a matte black finishing is a bit nonsense (BTW, why not glossy black? - afraid of greasy fingertips that will reduce the coolness factor?). But it does make perfect sense for Apple marketing: Apple knows that people will pay a premium just to get a black MacBook and is charging for that (you cannot really blame them - it makes perfect economical sense).

I will save the money when I get my MacBook, to get a 2GB RAM upgrade in any internet store - NO WAY I am giving Apple 499€ for the built to order upgrade (yes, you read correctly, 637$ at today's exchange rate; in this page is even more expensive - 600€!!!!). But apparently, even in this case, there are people out there willing to dish out that sum of money to get the upgrade from Apple rather than doing it themselves for a fraction of the price or ask the geek next door to do it for them. Apple are no fools in pricing, I am pretty sure, so they have their reasons to price RAM upgrades like that.

Paolo's Really Red Smoothie

2006-05-12T18:18:00.000+02:00

If you like strawberries and raspberries, this is the smoothie for you. I tried it today, inspired by a book I bought in the US recently about smoothies, and it tasted great.

Mix in a blender at max speed for no more than 30 secs:
1/4 apple juice (if possible, not the clear one)
1/4 pear juice
1/4 fresh or frozen strawberries (cut in chunks)
1/4 fresh or frozen raspberries

If you have a mixer like the Braun handprocessors, make sure you let air mix with the liquid - else it might not become frothy enough. If too thick, add a little of mineral water. If too liquid, add a little bit of plain yoghurt. No sugar!
Apart washing the non-frozen ingredients (e.g. the strawberries and/or the raspberries), it takes literally less than 1 minute to prepare it. If you are not using frozen fruit, then add a couple of ice cubes in the blender.
Enjoy!

End of Italian Politics Entertainment - what a pity...

2006-05-12T12:25:00.000+02:00

I read today on the May 1st issue of "Time International" (European Edition), the following final answer from recently appointed Prime Minister Romano Prodi in the "10 Questions For" interview by Jeff Israeli (pag. 21):

Jeff Israeli: What do you say to those who worry that Berlusconi's defeat means Italian politics will never again be as entertaining?
Prodi: [Big smile.] Tell them I'm sorry, Mr. Prodi is indeed much more boring than Mr. Berlusconi. I can't offer them any hope for such entertainment. But entertaining didn't get us very far.

Oh, what a pity - I was just getting used to Berlusconi's entertainment...

Two interesting books to read

2006-05-07T16:33:00.000+02:00

I have finished reading a few weeks ago "State of Fear" by Michael Crichton. The book is pretty good, in typical "Crichton-style". Full of suspense, surprises, interesting scientific details (for those out there who like this kind of stuff). The way of writing is pleasant and it is easy to read through. The story is based on a thourough research the author has done during a couple of years about studies on climate change and global warming. The basic idea is: "it is really true that there is a global warming problem and an abrupt climate change will soon occur?". The answer is "we don't know". And moreover, we don't know if the current situation is the result of mankind current and recent past activities, or it is the result of a natural process started several hundreds (if not thousands) of years ago. Another comment is that the climate is a too complex system to simulate it in any reasonable way and therefore all results based on models and relative assumptions are completely inconclusive. He presents in the appendix several references to sources of information and studies (all publicly available) that sometimes conflict each other and more often say the exact contrary of what is today's popular belief around the topic "global warming". Certainly media and industry play a big part in all this and the population is kept in a constant state of fear to achieve certain results and control. I believe the message here is to have a more critic approach to the problem and avoid believing blind-folded whatever the media is telling us. I recommend reading this book.

Another book I have finished in about the same time frame as the one above and that I quite enjoyed is Bill Bryson's "Neither here Nor there: Travels in Europe". It was given me as a gift for my birthday by Paulo, Yuki and Tanja. Though very funny, it is in a way a bit outdated (the author traveled through Europe in the early '90s). But some observations are pretty good and true, especially for Italy and Italians:

"...Rome is not an especially good city for walking. For one thing, there is the constant danger that you will be run over. Zebra crossings count for nothing in Rome, which is not unexpected but takes some getting used to. [...]

It isn't that they [Italian drivers] want to hit you, as they do in Paris, but they just will hit you. This is partly because Italian drivers pay no attention to anything happening on the road ahead of them. They are too busy tooting their horns, gesturing wildly, preventing other vehicles from cutting into their lane, making love, smacking the children in the back seat and eating a sandwich the size of a baseball bat, often all at once. So the first time they are likely to notice you is in the rear-view mirror as something lying in the road behind them.
Even if they do see you, they won't stop. [...]

I love the way Italians park. You turn any street corner in Rome and it looks as if you've just missed a parking competition for blind people. Cars are pointed in every direction, half on the pavements and half off, facing in, facing sideways, blocking garages and side streets and phone boxes, fitted into spaces so tight that the only possible way out would be through the sun roof. Romans park their cars the way I would park if I had just spilled a beaker of hydrochloric acid on my lap. [...]

Italians are entirely without any commitment to order. [...]

At the time of my visit [ca. 1990], Italians were working their way through their forty-eighth government in forty-five years. The country has the social structure of a banana republic, yet the amazing thing is that it thrives. It is now the fifth biggest economy in the world, which is a simply staggering achievement in the face of such chronic disorder. If they had the work ethic of the Japanese they could be masters of the planet. Thank goodness they haven't. They are too busy expending considerable energies on the pleasurable minutiae of daily life - children, good food, arguing in cafés - which is just how it should be."
from chapter "13. Rome", pages 161-174

The book is the author's travel commentary of visits to several European cities. He points out with irony and funnily the good and bad of all places he visits; many comments, I dare say, are true: I have experienced the same things while traveling every now and then around the continent. The book is very pleasurable to read, I recommend it.
If it had a bit of insight and "analysis" of why things are in a certain way it would be perfect. I.e. people in Rome park their cars all over the place because simply no parking lot was never built and people (have to) use their cars because public transportation is, generically speaking, pretty poor in Italy.

Me talk pretty one day

2006-05-02T22:00:00.000+02:00

I have recently started reading the book "Me Talk Pretty One Day" by David Sedaris. My friend Laura gave it to me as a gift assuring me it would be extremely funny. Well, I found myself laughing to tears on the plane yesterday (possibly leading everyone to think I had gone completely insane after 9 hours of flight) when I read the following chapter called, exactly, "Me Talk Pretty One Day". Here Sedaris describes his experience attending a French language course in Paris. I could not help but making comparisons to my own personal experiences while (trying) to learn German:

"At the age of 41 I decided to go back to school, and was forced to think of myself as one of those students that my French textbook defined as "true debutante".
[...] I moved to Paris with the hope to learn the language. The school was conveniently located 10 minutes away from my apartment, and therefore the first day I arrived early and started observing the other students that greeted each other in the hallway, telling about each other's vacation and talking about common friends with names like Kang and Vlatnya.
Regardless of their nationality, all of them talked French in a way that sounded to my ears excellent. Some had accents better than others, but on the whole those students were showing ease and a confidence that intimidated me.
[...] The first day was really unnerving, because I knew that I would have to talk in front of the entire class. It's like this: in the great swimming pool of language, either you learn how to swim or you drown. The teacher walked in big strides in the class, still tanned, and started immediately speaking with a series of internal communications. I had been for several summers in Normandy, and before leaving New York I had a language course for a full month. I wasn't completely unaccustomed to French, yet of all the things that lady said, I understood half of them.
'If you don't have yet the meimslsxp or the lgpdmurct, then you should not been in this room. Does everybody have apzkiubjxow? Everybody, really? Good, then let's begin.'
[...] Surely the two Annes from Poland [two girls attending the course] had very clear ideas on what they liked and what they hated, but, like everybody else, they also had a quite limited vocabulary, which wasn't making them look too sophisticated. The teacher continued undaunted, and discovered that Carlos, the accordion-player from Argentina, loved wine, music and, citing his own words: 'To make sex with the women of the world'. Then it was the turn for a beautiful Yugoslavian girl, who defined herself as being optimistic and said to love all the things life had to offer.
[...] When my turn came, I started listing without trouble the things I hated: blood-sausages, the liver-pateès, brain pies. All words that I learned with quite some effort. After thinking about it for a short while, I moved on declaring openly my love for IBM electric typewriters, for the French equivalent of the word livid and for my electric floor polisher. Even though being a short list, I managed nevertheless to pronounce IBM in the wrong way and to assign the wrong gender to both the polisher and the typewriter. The teacher reacted like as if in France similar mistakes were considered capital crimes.
'Have you always been so palicmkrexis?' she asked me. 'Even a fiuscrzsa ticiwelmun knows that the gender for typewriter is feminine!'
[...] The teacher then continued humiliating everybody, from the German Eva, who hated laziness, to the Japanese Yukari, that loved brushes and soap. Italian, Dutch, Koreans and Chinese: all of us got out of the classroom with the stupid notion that the worse was over.
[...] My fear and my uneasiness stepped outside of the classroom, and started being with me outside, along the big boulevards. Stopping to drink a coffee, asking for directions, making a bank deposit: all things out of my reach, since they required the use of the spoken word. Before starting the course there was no way to make me stay quiet, now I was convinced that everything I said was wrong. I would not answer the phone. I would pretend to be deaf when asked a question.
[...] The only consolation was to know that I was not the only one. Gathered together in small groups, making huge efforts in making the best out of our pathetic French, my class mates and I would venture in those type of conversations that usually are heard in refugee camps.
'Sometimes I cry, when alone night'
'Probably happen to everybody, because also me. But try be strong, you. Work hard and see one day you talk pretty. Soon people want you good. Maybe tomorrow better.'
Differently from the course I attended in New York, here there was no competition. The day the teacher poked a freshly sharpened pencil in the eyelid of a very shy Korean girl, it was of no comfort to us to know , except from the poor Hyeyoon Cho, what the irregular form of the past tense of the verb defeat was. In all honesty it must be noted that the teacher did not poke her intentionally, but it is also true that her excuses were quite hurried: 'Well, you only had to vkkdyo together with kdeynfulh.'
[...] Understanding a language does not necessarily mean that you can speak it all at once. Quite the opposite. It is a tiny step, nothing more, that generates unexpected as well as misleading results.
[...] 'You wear me out with your stupidity, and what I get in exchange of my efforts is only pain, do you understand what I say?' [said the teacher one day]
The world unexpectedly opened itself to me, and it was with joy that I answered: 'I understand things you say, now. You speak to me again. Plus, please, plus.'"

This has been more or less my experience with German (though my German teachers, Gudrun and Christian, are way way more gentle and well mannered that the French teacher described in the book).

New iBooks/MacBooks in June?: Nooooooooooo

2006-04-07T00:48:00.000+02:00

New Apple iBooks/MacBooks in June.....noooooooooooooooooooo!
What am I going to do until then?!?!? how am I going to survive?!?! ;-)
(rumors are always wrong, right?)

Apple, you make my day! (maybe...)

2006-04-06T22:46:00.000+02:00

Yesterday Apple has announced the launch of a new application for Mac OS X called Boot Camp. Paul Thurrott has briefly, but precisely, commented in this very funny way the "event":

"OhmygodOhmygodOhmygodOhmygod"

And I add "Ohmygod" as well.

Boot Camp is essentially a very easy wizard (i.e. in full Apple-style) to install Windows XP (Home or Professional versions) on an Intel based Mac without too much fuss and at boot time enables to choose which operating system to load (that is, either OS X or Win XP). How the process works is described quite a bit already all over the net (here and here, and of course - here).

Since the launch of the new Intel based Macs (after Apple announced the processor switch late last year) everybody has been trying to run XP on these machines (and the other way round as well, i.e. OS X on regular PCs). Several people have been successful doing so but this announcement from Apple blows everything away.

First and foremost, for me, Apple shows to understand what is the market they are playing in and trying (not always with success) to do something about it: we live in a world full of PCs with XP installed - if you can't fight them, live with them. This means, not only supporting NTFS and FAT drives, implementing and using open standards (IEEE, USB, H.264, PDF, open source operating system software, etc.), making a switch to a new platform and processor (and not some strange chip nobody uses, rather the most used processor on the planet - Intel; BTW, this doesn't necessarily mean it is the best one...), but also making the most out of it. And Boot Camp is the perfect example of this: "we have an Intel machine available for our customers, why not making it easy for them to run the operating system they want (or need) to run?"

Because, let's face it, many programs for XP are not available for OS X, Office and Adobe programs are not yet available for the new Intel-Mac platform, Open Office for Mac is really slow (why?), people think 20 times (and not twice) before making the "switch" (like me) and games get ported to Macs only after their bigger "PC brothers" releases have been out on the market for ages. Surely Macs have never been the ultimate game machines, but people still want to play a decent game every now and then and don't want necessarily to buy a PC for it (BTW: wanna play games?? get yourself a console...)

So now there is nothing stopping me (and many other people) from buying an Apple Mac laptop. I have already had (and still have) a very good experience with the Mac Mini (Power PC version), my mother's 12" iBook looks great and both machines are very well built, OS X is in most ways far better than XP (though XP has its good things as well) and its user interface is simply beautiful and a pleasure to work with. XP (and Vista) I must say have interfaces that look pretty dull, designed by engineers and programmers, for engineers and programmers - even Linux's KDE and Gnome look way, way better than aging Microsoft software. It is clear that Apple really puts an effort, by employing the right people, in making everything look beautiful and I must say, usable, modern and contemporary. XP is really old (looking).

So when you buy a Mac you buy a solidly built machine (at least in my experience), where Apple puts a real effort in design and making it look like something not for geeks only. Now they even have given their blessing to use the operating system you want. They let you just work. Apple you make my day!

Why do I write then in the title "(maybe...)"?

Apple clearly sells hardware, that's what they want and need the buyers to do. Software is just a (nice and functional) complement. With this move (Boot Camp), you have one more reason to buy a Mac - it is simply an excellent and beautiful machine that doesn't depress you each time you look at it, and now runs all the software out there.

But I wonder (i.e. here's the catch):

if they were not making games for Macs, now they will never make them - you can run them in XP natively, with OpenGL and DirectX support, why bother? (maybe a reply here)
why making software that works natively in OS X when you can run them on the same machine on Windows XP?
what is the purpose of having OS X at all?!? what will happen to the Apple-OS X software eco-system?
this whole thing makes Microsoft sell more XP licenses - it is not really a threat for them, rather there is a risk to become the opposite.

I am being provocative here, and after using OS X for just a year I doubt that I will stop using it just because I can use XP on a Mac. I don't really like XP and its user interface, but this could be a solution for others.

What prevents anybody to buy a Mac and just run on it XP continuously (even, currently, with a few drawbacks)???

In any case, I am going to buy a Mac laptop when the new iBooks will come out (when?), so that I have more choice, and Boot Camp will permit me to get rid of my old PC that is lying there unused in a room since many months (precisely since I bought the Mac Mini back in April 2005). If I really need to run XP, I will just reboot my Mac; but I am not expecting to do that much often: why else would my PC now be there all alone getting dusty?...

PS: I noticed that Apple has given more away than just Boot Camp on its web page - they talk (on the right side column) about the fact that Leopard will be talked about (at least that) this August:

Mac OS X Leopard

Developers can learn all about the sixth major release of Mac OS X this century at Apple’s Worldwide Developer Conference, to be held August 7-11 in San Francisco.

about how "cool" they are at Apple because they use EFI:

EFI and BIOS

Macs use an ultra-modern industry standard technology called EFI to handle booting. Sadly, Windows XP, and even the upcoming Vista, are stuck in the 1980s with old-fashioned BIOS. But with Boot Camp, the Mac can operate smoothly in both centuries.

(I still don't know, BTW, what is the difference between EFI and BIOS - never took the time to look into it...)

and that you need to be "secure" with XP (like as if OS X is going to remain immune forever...):

Word to the Wise

Windows running on a Mac is like Windows running on a PC. That means it’ll be subject to the same attacks that plague the Windows world. So be sure to keep it updated with the latest Microsoft Windows security fixes.

All in all, Apple is pretty bold about its move and feels comfortable in having people using XP on their machine. They probably think that users will with Boot Camp directly compare OS X and XP and realise the same things that all Mac users, including myself, have got used to by using Apple software: that is, for many day-to-day tasks, Apple is (at this point in time) better and gets the job done wrt to XP - and why not, all packaged in a pleasing and sleek design.

Notes from a Big Country

2006-03-24T12:22:00.000+01:00

I finished reading this very nice and funny book from Bill Bryson yesterday night. If you want to read something interesting, entertaining, ironical, with insights on American culture and written in excellent and very readable English, this is the book for you. It is in the form of short stories, as it is a collection of weekly articles published on an American newspaper in a time span of 2 years (I think the time period is 1996-98). It is the perfect thing to read to end a long day.
I particularly laughed a lot when reading one of the last articles titled "The Accidental Tourist" (pages 390-94):

"Of all the things I am not very good at, living in the real world is perhaps the most outstanding. I am constantly filled with wonder at the number of things that other people do without any evident difficulty that are pretty much beyond me. I cannot tell you the number of times that I have gone looking for the lavatory in a cinema, for instance, and ended up standing in an alley on the wrong side of a self-locking door. [...] I am, in short, easily confused.

I was thinking about this the last time we went en familie on a big trip. It was Easter, and we were flying to England for a week. When we arrived at Logan Airport in Boston and were checking in, I suddendly remembered that I had recently joined British Airways' frequent flyer programme. I also remembered that I had put the card in the carry-on bag that was hanging around my neck. And here's where the trouble started.

The zip on the bag was jammed. So I pulled on it and yanked at it, with grunts and frowns and increasing consternation. I kept this up for some minutes but it wouldn't budge, so I pulled harder and harder, with more grunts. Abruptly the zip gave way. The side of the bag flew open and everything within - newspaper cuttings and other loose papers, a 14-ounce tin of pipe tobacco, magazines, passport, English money, film - was extravagantly ejected over an area about the size of a tennis court. [...]

I always have catastrophes when I travel. Once on an airplane, I leaned over to tie a shoelace just at the moment someone in the seat ahead of me threw his seat back into full recline, and found myself pinned helplessly in the crash position. It was only by clawing the leg of the man sitting next to me that I managed to get myself freed.

On another occasion, I knocked a soft drink onto the lap of a sweet little lady sitting beside me. The flight attendant came and cleaned her up, and brought me a replacement drink, and instantly I knocked it onto the woman again. To this day, I don't know how I did it. I just remember reaching out for the new drink and watching helplessly as my arm, like some cheap prop in one of those 1950s horror movies with a name like The Undead Limb, violently swept the drink from its perch and onto her lap.

The lady looked at me with the stupefied expression you would expect to receive from someone whom you have repeatedly drenched, and uttered an oath that started with 'Oh', finished with 'sake' and in between had some words that I have never heard uttered in public before, certainly not by a nun.[...]

Now on planes when the food is delivered, my wife says: 'Take the lids off the food for Daddy' or 'Put your hoods up, children. Daddy's about to cut his meat.'"

The best card for Singles...like me!

2006-03-13T00:40:00.000+01:00

(this post was meant to be published Jan. 30th; better than never...)

Yesterday night (Jan 29th.), in a bit of a rush due to the move, I have managed to invite my friends over at Zoozie's for a drink to celebrate my birthday (BTW, I was not aware that Wolfgang A. Mozart was born on my same day, Jan. 27th). We had a great time and I thank them all again for coming on such a short notice. Unfortunately not everybody managed, I'll catch up with them soon.
I have received several very nice gifts and the great, amusing and most true Birthday Greeting Card (considering my single status) below from Paulo, Yuki and Tanja - thanks guys!:

(YOU ARE THE MAN, that women desire.

Nobody irons and vacuums so well as you do.
Let yourself be celebrated, you hot guy.
Happy Birthday.)

5 things

2006-03-13T00:25:00.000+01:00

5 things I like here in the Munich area:

biergartens - during wonderful sunny, but cool, spring and summer days - to meet with friends for a chat and, guess what?, a beer
though germans have (in my limited experience) a more reserved way of expressing friendship, once they have decided to be your friends (and that can take quite some time, way more I was accustomed to in Italy) - you'll never "get rid" of them - though less spontaneous, they are there to stay, truly
meat dishes and Rotbratwurst served in a bun with mustard at Viktualienmarkt (they're SO good!)
things that just work, thoroughness, being on time, planning (though sometimes a bit too pervasive, especially when it comes to private time...), being focused, hard working people, respect of one's private time
trees all over the place - they build something new, there are trees as well; they re-do a road, they plant new trees; and so on; and yes, I like bike lanes too.

New Intel-Mac Mini: cool, but expensive?

2006-03-01T01:00:00.000+01:00

I have been owning a Mac Mini since April last year and I am pretty happy about it. The hardware and construction quality is great and I am pretty pleased with Mac OS X, iLife (especially the new much faster version '06) and the overall Mac experience (with all its pros, and yes, cons).
Today Apple announced the Intel version (I should say migration) of this tiny super PC (IMHO) and my first reaction was: I would buy it again, immediately.
But...let's analyse a bit more the new Mini, because price is not really the best part of it - if at all (unfortunately).

Excluding the changes that the Intel architecture brings with it (faster processor and faster RAM), the new graphics card and the software updates (notably Front Row), the main changes I have spotted between the G4 and the Intel Minis are (excluding options):

4 USB ports (rather than 2)
(finally) audio input
5.1 optical audio output
S-ATA HDD (faster but same capacity)

Now, what I would do (like I did last time I bought the Mini for myself) is:

get the 1.66GHz Duo Core version
512MB RAM (and then upgrade it with 2GB RAM - that is about 200€, rather than the whopping 330€ they ask for at Apple, a total rip off! - what's wrong with these guys in upgrading RAM?!?; BTW, now they explicitly say that you can do it yourself and it appears that they changed the casing to access it more easily - opening the G4 Mini is a bit of a nightmare...)
maybe get a bigger drive (120GB), though any external solution will do and is way more flexible

How much would that cost in Germany? 849€ (that is, VAT included) - if you get a 20" Apple Cinema Display (789€) with it, you would spend 1638€...
The big question is now...how much the new iMac Core Duo 20" cost? 1749€ - yes, you've read right, only 111€ more...and for this small difference you get:

a faster 2.0GHz Core Duo processor
250GB HDD S-ATA drive running at 7200rpm (rather than at 5400rpm)
iSight Camera
better speakers
a faster PCI Express graphics card with 128MB RAM (rather than 64MB)

And that makes a whole lot of a difference.
In this respect the Mac Mini Intel is a total rip off, TOTAL. The G4 version I bought was more reasonably priced and the difference with the iMac was not that impressive (or was it not?). Paying all this money for hardware that is already in-house its nonsense; why do we have to pay for an Intel technology that we would have to get in any case, since Apple is migrating to it, and does the Intel Core Duo justify and increase in price with respect to the G4 model of about 100-150€? Actualy it should cost less since they can use wide-spread technologies rather than "custom" PowerPC stuff. (I must say these last 2 comments are more a passionate outburst, rather than a balanced and thought-of comment).
Either they bump up the specs (I doubt, it's too small to pack all this stuff) or lower the price about 2-300€. As it is it simply doesn't make any sense to buy it.
OK, the Mac Mini is "portable" and smaller - but it's not a laptop, and...how many times are you moving a desktop PC (after all this is what the Mini is)?

PS: buying the Core Solo version at 639€ simply doesn't make any sense. For 210€ you get a Mini that has a (way slower) Core Solo at 1.5GHz (and one core only, which makes it way slower than the 1.66GHz dual core version), a mere 60GB of HDD and an (to me outdated) DVD reader (you can only burn CDs). 639€ for this is a rip off and compared to the other version is also nonsense - what is the meaning of this version?
PS2: if they have this pricing structure at Apple there must be a reason - i.e. they know (or hope, I would say) people will buy them...? or not? (and for the RAM upgrade thing they maybe do it on purpose because it costs them more to upgrade when assemblying the machines than the RAM itself (so they want to avoid updates) or becasue they want to make the user think they charge a premium for a service (changing RAM) that would be "so complicated" to do - I think the latter reason is the true one, duh)
PS3: I am worried about the pricing of the upcoming iBooks (or whatever they will call them...)
Ps4: I "sigh" as well as Paul Thurrott does (read here) about this expensive upgrade/migration.

Brokeback Mountain - a surprising movie.

2006-02-27T00:29:00.000+01:00

Last week I went to the movie theater close to where I live (called with an excess of artistic invention "Cinema") where every Friday there is the so called "Sneak preview". Usually it starts at 22.30 or later, you pay €5,50 (rather than the usual €8): the "catch" is that whatever movie that has not been yet released in Germany can be shown - and you don't know the title until the very beginning of the film...

This time I was sort of lucky. I have heard and read about the movie so much, on magazines and on the web - I was just curious to see it. And to my surprise they've shown it: "Brokeback Mountain", the new and already acclaimed movie from director Ang Lee.
I am not too sure where and since when it has been released in the rest of the world, but here it will come out in about 2 weeks. For the story please read here.
I gave the movie an 8/10. Not a 9 or a 10. Why? I simply think I did not manage to appreciate it fully and I think I will need to see it again to change my vote: one problem being that the protagonists talk either with a Wyoming or Texan accent and using slang at times; and Heath Ledger/Ennis Del Mar almost does not open his mouth the (few) times he talks. Most of times it was simply a challenge to understand what the actors said.

The film is moving, interesting, intriguing, funny at times, ironic, tragic and sad, challenging the viewer to think and analysing the plot in a number of ways. I had trouble at one point understanding what exactly the director wanted to show, to communicate the viewer. The movie has several different levels of interpretation in my opinion and it is way far from any "gay stereotype" movie you might think of. In a way I felt the love story between Ennis and Jack is a pretext to talk also about many other topics (marriage, divorce, distance, incomprehension, silences, growing old, loneliness, friendship, intolerance, society constraints, parenthood, conflicts). Be open and receptive when watching the movie - there is so much more than the story of the "2 (gay) cowboys falling in love for each other".

Since I went to the preview alone, I left the movie theater with nobody to discuss about it and walking back home (a good 20mins - I wanted to get some fresh air) I was drawn into a thought process that the movie stirred in me. It made me think in a few different ways about my relationships, friendships, etc. The way the relationship between Ennis and Jack unfolds at the end of the movie is in a sense an eye opener and made me reflect a lot - reflections valid for all relationships, regardless of gender, age, nationality.
I could not understand the very last phrase that Ennis says (in Wyoming accent and almost not opening his mouth...) in the final scene. I read it today in a website - I don't understand what it means. I am puzzled. I am waiting for other people and friends to see the movie to discuss about it - this movie will make you think. It made and still makes me think.

This movie will not, in my humble opinion and contrary to what other reviews say, change your life and completely modify the way you look at relationships. To me, it is not a masterpiece (though the actors are really good and professional - I don't know whether I will buy the DVD though) and sometimes I felt the director sort of "rushed" on certain scenes (I wonder why?). But the movie will definetely, in those with an open heart and mind, stir thoughts, considerations and discussions that go beyond the plot of the movie. And why not, may push you to take action and stir a change in the relationships you think are OK if left to inaction.

In any case it is worth the money - go and see it - I recommend it.
I am curious to know what you think about it.

PS: reducing, as it may happen, "Brokeback Mountain" to just a "gay cowboy story", to me is like saying that the "Lord of the Rings" trilogy is just about magic, a ring, a few strange creatures and Elfs.

Evaluating through actions, not assumptions.

2006-02-23T00:34:00.000+01:00

What I am about to write might sound obvious to some, a surprise or revelation to others. Other might think it is simply wrong or inaccurate. To me is something I have learnt through travel, moving to different cities, many friendships and acquaintances, friends' experiences. And actually I will talk about a few different topics condensed and mixed together into one post.

Since a few years I stopped judging people - there are judges and parents (mums in particular) for that. And moreover, I stopped judging them simply based on where they come from (i.e. he is Italian, he will do so and so; he is French, he will do so and so, etc.) and stopped expecting that certain people will do certain things based on my (wrong) assumptions of their cultural background.

All this simply to say that I now value (and not judge) people based on their actions, not on their thoughts and on what they say. How they treat me, how they interact with me that is important. I try to avoid analysing intentions. I avoid psychoanalysing people (I almost lost a friend doing that).
I still make mistakes now and then. And I do give second chances and try to understand why a person does or doesn't do certain things to me or for me. The reasons behind some actions are somtimes difficult to understand or might be puzzling at first, without explanations. I also look at myself and try to understand what more or better I can do in terms of actions to that person. After all a relationship is a 2-way street.

And taking a more international approach to the topic: what makes a person coming from Italy, "italian", coming from Germany, "german" and their behaviour be according to this assumption? Is there really such a thing as being "german" or "italian" or "english". Or at the end of the day what really counts is what people do and how they do it regardless of where they come from?
It might happen more often that, for historical, cultural, economic reasons, for the weather in that particular country or for whatever other reason you might think of, an english might not cook very good, a german might seem not very warm hearted and an italian always be late. But I have seen italians being on time or cooking bad (yes, really), germans being really friendly and close or being late, and (believe it or not) english cook really well or being late like italians. This is just an example - I am just saying that since a few years I really don't want and will try not to fall into the easy trap of judging and evaluating people just based on where they come from (not that I was doing that all the time when I was younger, but I have made my mistakes).

Judging or expecting people to behave in a certain way based on where they are coming from and based on "assumptions" and preconceptions is simply too easy - it requires no interaction: and this, for some, is simply too hard or scary to do; well, guess what? most of the times, if not always - you will get it all wrong by "assuming".

Gratitude

2006-02-09T23:40:00.000+01:00

I have found this article saved (and forgotten) on my hard drive at home. I had translated it from Italian after somebody gave me the paper containing it back in September 2003.
It has been written by italian sociologist Francesco Alberoni, quite famous in Italy and author of many italian bestsellers including books on friendship, love (and falling in love), eroticism, etc.: a bilbiography is available here.

Some food for thought.

You do someone a favour and you don’t even get a “Thank you” in return. Or even worse, you get indifference. Here is how we can understand the reasons behind the rare feeling of gratefulness. And after all, it's not that rare.

What is gratitude/thankfulness?
Love. Gratitude is just a way to show love. Lovers remember a gift gave to them by their partner and stay by their side. True friends keep in their hearts the memory of what they have done for each other in moments of need. The same happens between husband and wife, between parents and children. But when a quarrel begins, when love disappears, all the good received is forgotten and it seems one has received only bad things. That is why really grateful people are those who are kindhearted, generous and capable of love. Instead ungrateful people are arid, selfish and avaricious in giving their affection.

But does gratitude still exist?
Surely it does. When you make a big favour to somebody, he/she will feel a strong sense of gratitude, love you, will like to hug you; he/she will think that he/she will never forget the good that you have done to her/him, and swears that will give back what received. Unfortnately, in most cases, this noble feeling and these most noble intentions last for a short time. After an interval that stretches from a few days up to a few months, they disappear. Gratitude is one of the most volatile of moral feelings.

How to understand those who are not grateful…
Usually these are people who are greedy, envious, that think they are worth more than they really are, and therefore think that everything is owed to them and they must not give anything to anybody.
You must also remember that these people: a) are haughty, full of themselves, a bit
conceited/pompous; b) they never send you greetings, wishes; c) they never praise you, make you compliments; d) often are harsh on others; e) lie, do not keep up to promises.

…and even give back hatred.
There are people who stay by your side just because they need you. Are kind, servile/slavish, but in the deep of their hearts they envy you. They would like to take your place and bear smouldering hatred and dark desires to destroy you.
This is the feeling that the famous english poet Milton, in “Paradise Lost”, attributes to Lucifer, the most powerful of angels, the dearest to God; Lucifer rejects God because “He did not accept the unbearable burden of gratitude”.
Cesar was killed not by his enemies, but by the same people he provided the most benefits. Napoleon thought that all his marshals wanted to take his place and so he had to keep down their ambitions.

This means that nobody is capable of gratitude?
No. There are people with a great noble soul and great generosity that do not forget, that remain grateful even for an entire life.
Generally speaking they are kind-hearted individuals, capable of deep emotions, of strong bindings. To spot them you only need to observe certain behaviours: the are reserved, call up to greet you, ask how are you, do not pester with requests, come at once when you need them.
Distrust others, especially those who never ask you if you need something and do not run quickly to help you when you need them.

University in Germany...

2006-02-08T14:14:00.000+01:00

I have just been told that in Germany if you fail an exam 3 times (or similarly - depends on the exam and the university) - you are excluded from Faculty - you just can't continue: aaaaaarrrggghhh!!! The only thing left is then to go to another university to do the same studies or in the same university doing something else.

If this rule were applied in Italy, Engineering schools would be empty!!!

Home is where people let your heart be.

2006-02-06T23:30:00.000+01:00

I am 33 years old and I have moved 12 times, lived in 8 different towns. My parents have moved maybe 15+ times.
"Home" is not a place, a town, where I can say "that is where I grew up". I did not really grow up anywhere specific - I grew up here and there. Actually I don't really know what "home" means or feels like, in the traditional sense.
Because of all this moving around, I also miss the typical "life-long" Friends - people you went to school with all your life - people you've played and shared experiences with during your entire youth. Never really had that. These are typically people you know from school: well, I am now in contact with 1 Friend from elementary school, none from middle school, 2 from high school. 3 total. It could have been zero. It could have been more.
Therefore most of my Friends are relatively "new". I have shared some things with them - but not had a chance to use my whole life time to build a friendship with them. I know them from anything between 1 and 10 years and are spread a bit around the world. And that is possibly why, lately, I would like to speed up as much as possible the process of knowing those I know the least, but nevertheless already decided (if there is such a thing) it is worth to be Friends with. And it may not work at all - I can be mis-understood - Friendship needs time, lots of it - a life time maybe. That is also why I have always this sense of impatience.

So what is really home for me? Florence where my parents live? Maybe, but certainly not the town (I wasn't born there). My parents, my friends, the apartment they live in (and where I lived during my universities studies - I did not grow up there; it was my granparents'), the furniture, my stuff, my books are my home. So not the place itself, the things there and its people, but possibly just the people. Other places I lived in, was never really for a long time. Maximum was for 8 years in Florence and 7 years in Civitavecchia near Rome, but that's it. Civitavecchia is where I grew up during my early childhood (elementary school), but now there is nothing there that binds me to this town. Marco - the first person who wanted to sit beside me the first day of school, in a second year class of kids already together since a year - now lives in Rome. He is from Rome not Civitavecchia. And though I know him since 28 years, we have missed 80% of our lives - we knew about each other through our moms. But when I meet him, I still see the friend I met 30 years before.

And now I live in Munich - I have lived in the area for 5 years now. Is this home? Certainly I puzzle some of my friends when I tell them "Call me home" and then they call my parents in Florence. I do call my apt. "home" and not "my apartment", because that is where I have my (new) things, my (new) pictures, my (new) CDs, my (new) stuff, my (new) indipendent life - it is here I started living by myself. And because I don't want to feel "home sick", I want my place to be "home" - I want the people I know here to be "home". With the result now, that "home" for me is not really a place, a town, Florence, and possibly not even Munich - it's a feeling of belonging and connection I have with my friends, my brother-my sister-in-law-my nephew, my parents. They are my home, even though they are all around the world, literally. I don't know if this is OK, if this way of looking at things is the best way, the one that makes me feel better - but this is all I've got.
So for me, home is not "where your heart is", but more possibly, home is where people really let my heart be.

I wonder now about other people, my friends, my family: what does "home" mean to you? where and what is your "home"?

Two sides

2006-02-02T01:00:00.000+01:00

"I'm not your mum, I'm not your father, I'm not your brother nor sister too. You already have them. Who am I then?
I am whatever you let me be but not necessarily what you expect me to be."

Ikea: the playground for kids with lazy parents?

2006-01-29T01:11:00.000+01:00

Today I went to Ikea in Brunnthal, nearby Munich. I needed some lamps, I am trying to figure out what to do with my windows missing curtains and whether or not to get a small cupboard/closet for the bathroom.

By definition, Saturday is the so-called "family-day" at Ikea. What this means is that the store is storming, especially between 11 and 17, with families (that is, with kids, lots of them).
Let me put it straight, I have nothing against children and families in general going to Ikea, this is not the point of the post.

Now, and this refers only to Ikea in Munich as I have not been on a Saturday in other Ikea stores elsewhere, what are all these kids doing on a Saturday here? Why are they not playing in a playground, enjoying their Saturdays at home with their parents and toys? Meeting other kids and making friends with them?

The weird feeling I get is in fact that instead parents are using Ikea as a place to go with their kids on a Saturday to get through the day with them: like as if they didn't know any place better to go or anything better to do with them. Not all parents in Munich are like that - no way. It's full of families strolling around in the surrounding lakes and forests near Munich, going shopping and visiting museum/attractions and all that the city of Munich and its surroundings has to offer. But Ikea apparently gathers all those parents that, as it seems to me, are asking themselves the question on a Saturday morning: "What do I do with my kids today?" and they all go to Ikea to spend the day. Like as if children are people parents "need to do something" with. I mean: is Ikea a place to spend the day with your kids to do something (with them)? or a store to buy furniture?

I remember when I was a kid that on Saturdays I would be home with my parents, either playing with my brother or with my parents, going for walks or simply watching TV. But I never felt the "what do I do with my kids today" kind of thing that I instead perceive when looking at kids, and especially their parents (that look anything but busy trying to find furniture for their flat), that are to be found each Saturday at Ikea.

I hope I am totally wrong and this is just my insane imagination...

PS: McDonald's is another place that is becoming (as an easy solution) the favourite past-time for parents that "don't know how to spend their time with their children"...What about going to the movies/circus/zoo/museum/park or maybe staying home and playing with them or cooking for them, etc. etc. etc.?

New MacIntels don't go as fast as expected? That's not the point (i.e. who cares!)

2006-01-26T17:25:00.000+01:00

A couple of weeks ago Apple has announced new models of iMac desktop computers and PowerBooks (now call MacBook Pro) with new Intel processors. Steve Jobs, when presenting them, and this is the mistake he made IMHO, showed performance increases for both machines comparing them to G4 and G5 machines that are still sold by Apple (until inventory is depleted).
Soon after on the web several reviews of the iMac with a 2GHz Intel Core Duo processor (readily available - the laptop will be available in February) started showing up with mixed comments on how fast the machines really are and what they do good and bad.

I personally find this all "speed" thing a complete waste of time.

Apple has not switched to Intel to increase speed - it has switched because IBM was not providing them any future and their PowerPC produts simply do not fit anymore the requirements of the machines Apple builds and would like to build. The main driving force was availability of a developing technology (the x86 platform) rather the stagnating (in a way) PPC architecture and power consumption (and related heat dissipation). A G5 PowerBook was never made because it was too hot and consumed too much - now Apple can make new laptops with new and less power hungry technology using Intel chips.

And this whole processor change, I would like to remind people out there, will take time: it's not just switching processors in a socket. Not only Apple has done a tremendous job in delivering new machines at lighting speed using a new hardware architecture, but delivered at the sames time OS X already running smoothly on it. Having software running natively will take time, and Rosetta is doing (silently) it's job in making the transition even smoother.

Therefore, Jobs should have stressed more the fact that buying a Mac with an Intel inside will not affect user experience, and, rather, improve it in the long term (rather than selling and showing off speed increases) and focusing more on the fact that Intel will bring more possibilities and more breath to Apple. Dual core architectures have just showed up in the user market.

If the new machines will perform better, worse or like their PowerPC versions, I personally don't care. The real success of these machines is the fact of changing everything under the hood without truly affecting the users. And this is the major achievement and strength of Apple and its user focused approach. Not to mention, that most of the software out there is not designed yet to run on multi-core processors - we are just at the beginning. These machines (and their Windows counterparts) will scream once the software is properly compiled and optimised to run on this new and exciting hardware. And this takes time - the time that apparently this world is not used to wait anymore. Things don't get done (properly) in a day...

Then we will see who runs faster and more stable - Mac OS X or Vista?
In the meantime I wait anxiously to get my hands on the new 13.3" widescreen Apple laptop (with Intel inside, of course) several websites have rumored about in the past months, that should substitute the 12" iBook and PowerBook models... I hope it comes out soon!

PS: I would like to thank Paul Thurrot, though publicly here a bit late - I apologise, for linking my post to his blog - I didn't think my post would be that interesting and I was pleasantly surprised to see it linked on his blog. Read his comment on the MacIntel speed topic here.

Various

2006-01-24T23:57:00.000+01:00

After some time here I am back again writing on this blog. Xmas was OK, my nephew looks great, I had way too much food (great food) and recently moved to town. The new apartment I am in is better than what I had remembered when I first saw it back end of November - and the furniture fits nicely in the rooms. I finally hear sounds and noises from other people and the town rather than the deafening silence I was used to in the suburbs. I hope that also this place will not turn into a golden cage. New apartment - improved life, I hope: but the first few days have been more than promising.
Many little things have changed bringing though bigger changes to my everyday life. My evenings are longer and I can do more things at once. I finally have a wish to go home after work, something I haven't felt in a while now.

It is now extremely cold and I found it somehow typical that people wait on the stairs (one person per each step, all lined up) for their S-Bahn train to come rather than waiting directly on the platform. They remind me of penguins - all close to each other, seeking the warmth of somebody else's body... Tonight coming back from the movies (I went to see Woody Allen's latest "Match Point" - a really good movie) it was really cold - I think it was something like -10C...

I would also like to finish this post with a thought for a German friend of mine who's trying to quit smoking. Though he will probably never read this post I want to express my appreciation and my support for the huge effort he is making to achieve this objective. Germany is probably the worst place to quit smoking: cigarettes are sold at every corner, social culture accepts cigarette smoke and smoking like no other place I have ever lived in or visited so far - and I have been in quite a few places, ads are all over the place, people can smoke wherever and whenever they wish, even in offices - not to mention bars, restaurants and so forth. If somebody smokes where not allowed, nobody will tell smokers to stop even in the few places where it is (unbelievably so) not allowed (these same people maybe 5 minutes before were telling off somebody for parking the car not precisely in the right spot) .
Nevertheless I know he is trying hard. He sometimes still smokes a couple of cigarettes every now and then, and it is maybe difficult for him to admit so, but he is trying. I don't know how to support or help him (a friend of mine tells me that it is virtually impossible to do so - smokers just have to decide to quit, all of a sudden) because I know cigarettes are an addictive drug, and it is difficult to trust oneself's decision/resolution to stop.
But I know he can make it: just hold on tight Christian - you'll get there.

On the shelf.

2005-12-20T10:15:00.000+01:00

I wrote last Sunday the following on this post:

"I started now instead to read "Stupid White Men" by Michael Moore: I am reading it now [...] I must confess I backed off a while from this one. I always started a different book, rather than this one. I am hoping it will be interesting and not just a continuous whining of all the problems and things Moore doesn't like of the US and its citizens (and President): I'll keep you posted..."

After 10 pages I could not stand it anymore. Maybe I am not in the mood, or maybe it feels like reading the italian newspaper or maybe Moore is just whining without really analysing why things go the way they go. And this last thing is probably what I felt the book is missing - some insight. Knowing why things go in a certain way enables you to find a solution. Pointing out the problem, though certainly useful, will not make it go away.
The book is already on the shelf - I will not read it further: lately I have decided to do this (read here why). My deepest apologies to the person who has given it to me as a gift last Christmas (the book is not signed and I have received quite a few books last Christmas, I really don't remember who gave it to me): I have tried, but I simply cannot read it.

Now I need to read something to lift my spirits up.

My latest movies and books.

2005-12-18T23:05:00.000+01:00

A couple of weeks ago I managed to finish reading Bill Bryson's, "A Short History of Nearly Everything", of which I have talked about several times (1 - 2 - 3 - 4) in this blog - I find the book very enjoyable and I already have given it as a present to a friend of mine and to my father (in the illustrated edition). This book (thanks also to Bryson's clear, easy and funny way writing style), really makes you think (with the occasional laugh) of how insignificant, and precious at the same time, our lives (and those of all other living beings) are, and how immense everything surrounding us is. It gives you a new vision of time and space. And you "discover" how simply arrogant it is to think that we are in any way close to being powerful, mighty and so forth. We are nothing more than a speck of dust, on a planet that is a speck of dust in a galaxy which is itself a speck of dust of the known Universe. The same approach is valid when going to the infinitesimally small - I wonder if there is any connection between the two views (infinitesimally small and big)...
After reading this book your world will never look and be the same. I advise warmly to read it - an eye opener.

I started and already finished a collection of small stories, called "Strade" (Roads), written by several italian writers - I should say it was nothing exceptional, a pretty flat book.
I started now instead to read "Stupid White Men" by Michael Moore: I am reading it now after exactly a year that it was given to me as a 2004 Christmas present from a friend of mine - this is a sign of how little time I have had this year to read books...though I must confess I backed off a while from this one. I always started a different book, rather than this one. I am hoping it will be interesting and not just a continuous whining of all the problems and things Moore doesn't like of the US and its citizens (and President): I'll keep you posted...

Last week I have seen on DVD "House of the Flying Daggers" - nothing impressive, though photography, settings and costumes are impressive and extremely colorful (especially the first scenes).

Today I also went to see "The March of the Penguins" (Die Reise der Penguine) - excellent photography and settings, at times funny, showing what you will probably never see with your own eyes. The soundtrack was very interesting and pleasant (sounded a bit "Bjork-like") - I will probably buy it - all composed by (unknown to me) Emilie Simon. This movie has to be seen in a cinema. No television, no matter how big it will be, will ever give you an idea of the vastness of the icy desert of the Antarctic and the beauty and strength of these incredible animals - the penguins. If you think your life is hard and winter is cold - then go and see this movie, you will quickly change your mind... ;-)

PS: I have discovered last week that X-Men 3 will come out next May - do I really have to wait (read "suffer" ;-) ) SO long to see it?!?!?
PS2: I forgot to mention that I also saw "Everything is Illuminated" - though the movie is good and has some funny moments and all actors are pretty good (with the occasional hint to LOTR), it was nothing exceptional. The fact that I am writing about it after almost a week in a "PS" is a sign that it has not "marked" me that much...

Snow anyone?

2005-12-17T10:56:00.000+01:00

Sky & Sun

2005-12-15T11:11:00.000+01:00

This morning at 8:00...

Time slipping away - a nervous weekend

2005-12-15T00:02:00.000+01:00

Since Monday last week, I am feeling a weird sensation. It's all maybe because I will be moving to a new apartment in Munich, or because I realised that Christmas arrived faster than I expected. Or maybe some other reason. In any case I feel weird.

Last Wednesday my friend Laura came to visit me for the weekend. I have known her for about 12 years now - I have met her in the gym I started going to when living in Florence, back in 1993 (maybe? - I don't really remember the exact date).

Thursday I had to work and so she went to visit Munich by herself. After meeting for dinner and taking her to the great and beautiful "Paulaner am Nockerberg" we went straight back home as we where both dead tired. I haven't been sleeping very well the whole of last week - I discovered that I was drinking about 4 mugs of PG Tips tea each day - no wonder I could not sleep properly...

I took Friday off and we went to visit the town of Salzburg. I had already visited the place back in 1997 (maybe) with the school and I remember not being very fond of the place. I had in my mind an image of a gray and dull town. Unfortunately also this time, even with the Christkindlmarkt, it felt the same. Moreover the town was literally invaded by Italians (I heard talking german-austrian only from 4 people, 3 of which where serving in shops...) and the weather was gloomy. And enough cold to make it slightly more unpleasant. OK - I admit it, I didn't really like the place.
I posted a gallery (in my Pictures Gallery section) with some decent shots I took with my new camera - after loosing the old one in Guildford...That same night, with Mariangela we went to eat great meat dishes at "Emmeringer" in Emmering, nearby Fürstenfeldbruck. If you like meat and by any chance pass by Fürstenfeldbruck - "Emmeringer" is the place to go. If it wasn't for the cloud of smoke in which it usually welcomes you, it would be perfect.

Saturday we went to visit the "Pinakothek der Moderne" in Munich. I have been there already 3 times and each time I have found this museum very interesting (often more interesting than the art objects there displayed...). I have posted a gallery with some interesting shots and some even more interesting "works of art" (1 - 2). Comments to the pictures are missing - I am just too lazy to put them - I admit it!
After that we went downtown to see a few shops and then met for dinner with Cinzia and Nicolas.

Laura has left on Sunday morning - I really appreciated her coming to visit me. I only regret being all the time so nervous. Even the trip with Mariangela to Alpamare to try to relax has had a very limited effect.

I still feel today that every day passes by without being able to truly live it to its fullest. As a friend writes in his blog - "And the days are not full enough". And when I get back home in the evening - I feel restless and nervous. Like as if outside life is running by and I am home watching it passing by. I realise now that it has been like this for several months now...will it ever end?

The revenge of Tekamolo: the unexpected different.

2005-12-13T09:23:00.000+01:00

In a previous post I have written about how the german phrase structure follows the so called "tekamolo" rule. I thought I had found the recipe to solve all my problems with regards to the position of words in a german sentence. I was obviously wrong.

There are exceptions to the rule (there always are exceptions to the rule...). In particular, as I discovered to my "dismay" in my last german lesson of the closing 2005, the parts of a sentence that can be moved to first position is not limited to object or time (te). Also location (lo) can move to the first position of sentence as well as any other (single) element (ka and mo) that the speaker wants to have standing out. In this way the importance of a certain piece of information can be stressed by moving it to the fist position in the phrase. Everything else will then follow, according to the "tekamolo" rule.

Now there is obviously a catch: when you read/listen to a sentence and you are not prepared to the changes applied to the standard tekamolo phrase structure, it can easily take you more than a few seconds before understanding what it is being said; I cannot simply yet understand immediately why certain things are where they are - and I need to read/hear the phrase at least another time before realising where everything has moved to. I believe the same happens in other languages as well - but realising it, it's an eye opener.

Just yesterday I have read an ad on the street where the tekamolo rule was not followed, and it took me about 30 secs before realising exactly what it wanted to say...Oh well...patience.

Sky

2005-12-07T11:59:00.000+01:00

Today I woke up and looked out of the window and saw this great sky above my head. Unfortunately the picture does not give it justice.
It looked like as if it had been painted...

New iPod Shuffle 1.1.3 firmware update available and...

2005-12-01T09:35:00.000+01:00

...mine still doesn't work properly.

Since months I have unfortunately been experiencing the following problems/annoyances on my 1GB iPod Shuffle bought back in April '05:

turning the volume down makes playback skip or interrupt - if you turn it down too quickly the iPod stops playing and you need to power it off/on to resume play
if the battery status button is pressed anytime during playback the iPod crashes and one needs to turn it off/on to resume play
sometimes, if soon after turning the iPod on, one wants to listen to a previous track, playback is disrupted and one needs to turn it off/on to resume play
if any of the above happen, it may well be that the Shuffle will start playing back from the beginning of the playing list - i.e. it "forgets" what track you were listening, as instead it should remember

I have updated today the firmware with the new 1.1.3 version available from Apple here, but fixed none of the above. I have left a post on the Apple iPod Shuffle support page, and never got an answer back.
I have already in the past tried to completely empty the battery of the player (hoping to "hard reset" it memory contents) by running it until it could and also made a complete "restore to factory defaults" from the Software Updater utility, but nothing happened.
The player was bought in Japan, in a Tokyo store, and my friend who bought it at the same time has the same problems. Maybe it's a hardware fault?

Oh well, at least it does everything else OK...
(Apple, with a worm-hole).

Tekamolo

2005-11-28T18:38:00.000+01:00

What is "Tekamolo"?
Tekamolo is an acronym my German teacher has given us as a method to remember how to place words properly in a typical german sentence. In particular:

Te - temporal - Time - when
ka - kausal - Reason - why
mo - modal - Way and Type - how
lo - lokal - Location - where

By using this you are sure to make a phrase in German that the listener can hear without looking at you a bit odd and possibly not understand you (in extreme cases) if you do not follow this order.
German is a very logic, structured and, in certain ways, very strict language. For example, for main clauses, the verb is always, ALWAYS, in second position. So for example:

Gehe ich morgen. (I am going tomorrow) - Wrong
Ich gehe morgen - Correct

In this case in English it is the same (you cannot say, "am I going tomorrow" - as it will change the phrase into a question - this is not necessarily the case in German, it might simply sound nonsense).
"Tekamolo" says that you cannot simply move things around. In English you can say: "I am going by car to the cinema with friends" or "I am going to the cinema with friends by car" and in both cases it is more or less OK - I know, it's not the Queen's English, but it is still understandable. And in Italian things can be moved around possibly even more. The only thing that can be moved in German (as far as I know/remember) is time and the object (to stress the importance of it): they can be in first position like in "Morgen gehe ich...". That is acceptable and perfectly fine.

All this means that when I (try to) talk in German, I have to not only remember the proper words (some are similar, but mean slightly different things - Germans are not that "at ease" with "slight differences" in their languages), make sure I pronounce them correctly, use the right endings (the cases and the use of prepositions and articles in German needs another post altogether - that's a challenge) and, hopefully, make myself understood - I need also to be careful in the order I say them. And sometimes it feels like as if I am reciting a mathematical formula, as it happened recently, rather than trying to express a thought. At the end, I couldn't even remember what I was trying to say - though the phrase, after a couple of iterations and corrections, was perfect.

Another true example of strictness in the German language is when you use the so called "separable verbs". Many German verbs belong to this category and are the combination of a preposition+verb. An example is "aussteigen". "aus" simply speaking gives a sense of going out, "steigen" generically means climbing. So if I "climb out", it means that I am getting off something (e.g. the train).
Now comes the trick. When you make a phrase with such a type of verb, the preposition goes at the end of the phrase. So, to simply say "I am getting off", you have to say "Ich steige _ aus". If you want to add other information it HAS to be within "steige" and "aus" (i.e. where the blank _ is). No exceptions.
The same applies to normal verbs when they are used together with a modal verb (like "must" - "müssen"). The modal verb is at the beginning of the phrase (in 2nd position) and the main verb, right at the end of it. All information (according, obviously, to the "Tekamolo rule") stays between the 2.

But there's an added catch with several unexpected implications.
If you want to say that you would like to go tomorrow to the cinema with friends, you HAVE to say:

Ich möchte morgen mit Freunden ins Kino gehen (i.e. "I would tomorrow with friends to the cinema go" - sounds fun eh?).

Now, if you forget to say "with friends" before "gehen", or better, before "ins Kino" - you're screwed big time. You cannot simply say:

Ich möchte morgen ins Kino gehen mit Freunden (I would tomorrow to the cinema go with friends)

Nein! that's COMPLETELY wrong! Not only people will know immediately that you are a poor foreigner trying to speak the language, but possibly they will not understand what you want to say (and the one above is a simple example...). To add that extra information you need to start a new phrase altogether.
This means, that before you say anything, you need to be sure you prepare in advance all you have to say. You need to plan in advance what you have to say. In Italian and English that is simply not that necessary. In the German language, grammar states you simply cannot do it. There are many more examples and constructs where this "planning" is necessary. Germans do planning process simply without even realising it - they just do it - and when I tell them, sometimes they are surprised (no wonder) of what they do in their heads. Is it this maybe that, that makes the Germans plan everything in advance... Surely, to me, their entire thought process is somehow planned in advance. Not only, the phrase structure is made in such a way that information is clearly enclosed within specific, very visible, limits (the verbs/prepositions at the beginning and at the end of the phrase).

When Germans speak in Italian or English, they have problems themselves - they have to reorganise the order of the phrase they intend to say (or better, shuffle it around, increase the chaos)... and that, I am pretty sure, it is also pretty difficult. They need to think about it.
The more I study and breathe this language, the more I appreciate it and understand the thought process of those who use it. Sometimes the German language is beautiful in its (sometimes...) perfect logic.
I have learnt that studying the language of a people is terribly important. Gives you insights that possibly no book can give you. Trying to speak the language also gets you closer to the ways in which information is organised, processed and delivered. I get often frustrated
when speaking German (as you can read here), and I am discovering that I need to think a bit different to be able to talk the language. Random thoughts need to be organised, before being delivered in German!

Probably after reading this post you can better understand why I wrote this post as well about friendship and foreign languages.

I finally did it...

2005-11-22T22:23:00.000+01:00

I moved my old PC away from my desk where it has been staying since May this year close to the new Mac mini and the Apple Cinema Display 20" that I bought soon after.
My desk now it's so empty, clean, it almost disturbs me to have left a few other objects on it (a couple of CDs, a pen-holder, a notepad - nothing much really).

Since weeks I had been thinking it was time to part the Mac and the PC. My desk was "a bit crammed": it really didn't look that good having 2 monitors, so different from each other, side by side on the same table. Today, finally and for some unexplicable reason, I took the old 17", really heavy, Philips CRT (which has done an excellent job in the past 10 years and still works pretty well) and the PC tower case, back to where they were on the other side of the living room. I still have to decide what to do with them - I have to digitize some old cassettes and the Mac mini unfortunately does not come with a sound input, so I cannot really sell or give my PC to somebody yet.

Because of this change, I managed to center the LCD monitor in front of the keyboard in the middle of the table, so now I can look at it straight, rather than sideways. I also managed to push everything way to the back of the desk - I almost have to reach for the keyboard and the mouse.

I wonder if having done this has any meaning - will my thoughts be clearer because the desk is cleaner and leaner or the other way round?
In any case - I like it better like this.

Too bad I don't have my camera with me to show you the difference - it is quite a difference.

Friends and the foreign language challenge

2005-11-21T23:49:00.000+01:00

Making "friends" is often relatively easy - becoming true Friends that's another story.
If all this happens while using a language you are trying to learn (as it is happening to me right now with German), that is even more difficult - and makes it the more challenging.
What you give for granted when making friends in your own language, can become hard to do. Even the most simple things: the comment you wanted to say but didn't manage because you were too late or slow and the conversation already changed, the jokes you cannot really make, the true sense you want to convey with your words and just feel it didn't really get through, not being able to truly express with words your appreciation for things or actions,
the things you cannot say or you give up saying because you just feel hopeless and without the proper vocabulary (that is, you don't know enough words to even trying to explain what you want to say). Not to mention the odd feeling of forgetting what it has been said to you (and sometimes not just the details) because you were so busy just merely trying to understand what it was being said to you - and then feeling senile because you cannot really remember all that was said.
And last but not least, when you are tired or you just have finished talking in Italian or English and all of a sudden you have to start speaking in German and cannot get a sentence or sometimes not a word straight...and you really want to say something.

Silences, smiles and other non verbal gestures crop up to substitute, sometimes unconsciously, the normal verbal communication and to be sure you get yourself understood.

It can also be that an occasional misunderstanding arises: you say something that is simply plain wrong, or something you think has a certain meaning when in fact the words you have used have a different one. Even worse is when you express a thought that in your culture means something, while the same thought in the other culture means something slightly, or worse, completely different.

Making Friends in this situation is a challenge (at least for me) and in some cases I feel hopeless. (More) time (than usual), patience and understanding in these cases (on both sides) are vital. Jumping to the wrong conclusions can be SO easy.

But I think that, if you are lucky enough to meet people that really understand all this and its subtle implications, what you say and why you say it (even when it sounds odd because you are using the language in an apparently "weird" way) - well, you could be after all already half way there - just wait and learn the language bit by bit, word by word - and at the end, after much effort on both sides, you might end knowing the language and find yourself with a new Friend.

A short trip to Guildford

2005-11-17T00:24:00.001+01:00

This last weekend I went to visit Daniele. He is in Guildford for his PhD at the University of Surrey. He has been an excellent host and I had a very good time with him. I arrrived at Gatwick Airport and from there I took a train connecting directly to Guildford. Trains in England have (thick) carpeted floors - you can imagine how clean they can be - and are quite small and narrow compared to the ones I am used to in Germany or Italy. But the journey was brief and the English countryside is really nice (and, well..."english").

I used to live in England in Camberley for 1 year back in 1982-3 and that was quite an experience. I attended the local school there (Cordwalles Junior School at the Old Dean estate) and that is when I learnt to speak english. So each time I go back it feels a bit like home. Many things are familiar, ranging from shops to road signs, buildings, and so forth. It has obviously changed a great deal in the past 20 years and in paticulat shopping centers have improved a great deal - most of all, they are also open on Sunday (though mostly closed during the week and Saturdays at 18...).

I had long and very interesting chats with Daniele, who showed me the campus and introduced me to many people and many of his new Russian friends (actually some are from Bielorussia and Ukraine). There is a very big community in Guildford, it appears, and Daniele is right in the middle of it. On Saturday we went to London. Man!, the underground (the Tube) is narrow and small. It appears that they have built it in 1860 and never upgraded it. Some trains are really old (or look old) and you hardly have enough headroom (and I am not that tall). In its oddities and retro looks, it is quite peculiar and makes the Tube, what it is - the oldest (but not the most confortable ;-) ) underground in the world. We went to the Natural History Museum (after reading the book from Bill Bryson, I simply had to go back there again) and then had a walk along Regent St. to visit the new Apple store (simply packed with people) and to Hamleys - possibly one of the biggest and oldest toy store in the world (6 stories worth of every possible toy).

Quite tired we went back, had dinner, went to a pub to drink a very nice scottish wisky and in the process, oops!, I lost my camera. When and how exactly? I don't know...and that, together with the lost pictures, really upset me. Oh well, I will get myself a new and better one...

After that we went to pick up Anastasia, a friend of Daniele, after work. She studies at the university, but also works part time as a waitress at a local restaurant. After her and her friend were attacked by a youngster gang, and also another girl was victim of a rape attempt, Daniele goes and picks her up when necessary to walk her home. I was amazed that a nice town like Guildford could be so dangerous. We got back home via taxi...(we were also very tired...).

Weather was cold and grey (except a sunny Saturday) and it felt even more cold due to the strange way houses are heated - that is, almost useless. When Daniele moved to the house he is in right now, he and his fellow mates pretended from the owner to have the windows changed and have instead double glazed ones. After all, paying 1500 pounds a month should at least guarantee you that the little heat you manage to create, will stay inside. Nevertheless, no matter the efforts of Daniele and his house-mates, penguings where having parties all over the house - there was in particular a continuos rave session in one of the bathrooms.

I would like to thank again Daniele for the great hospitality and company! and also say Ciao to Misha, whom I managed to meet and talk to unfortunately for too short a time.
I am looking forward to have Daniele visting me here in Munich soon!!

Rotating the system

2005-11-08T13:27:00.000+01:00

I came up with this idea a few years back and to my surprise, though I was an inexperienced teenager, I have noticed this "theory" still holds true, at least for me - and as for what I can see, also for other people. Please note that what is described in this post has a very engineering approach - I know, I know, I know.

Everybody in their lifes have experiences and an everyday life through which all sorts of relationships, events and places get together in what we call "life". We go out, meet people, grow families, travel, study, read, work, etc. and through this lengthy process we build our own ideas, beliefs, theories, thoughts, scale of values, etc.
Simply put (in mathematical sense) I think that everybody has its own coordinate system in which each point represents a person, a feeling, a place, a date, an event and where the axis (one, two, how many one needs) represent a scale/a value. Everybody organises inconsciously (or not) this system in their own personal way and places (and groups) the dots closer or farther away from the origin - that is, ourselves.
The distance from the center represents the importance of things to us, and the distance between points (or groups of them), the relative importance of things among other ones.

You might think (among the understandable "this guy is crazy" or, better, "doesn't he have better things to do in his life?") that "well, what you talk about is obvious". Certainly, but have you thought about the possible "theories" one can make around it? Guess what? Well, I did and, it is fascinating to see how these "(fuzzy) theories" work on myself, my friends and people I know (or meet even for a short time) .

The most important being, the change or rotation of the coordinate system. The first happens less and less as one grows old and, possibly, in conjuction with specific situations/events. The second, in my opinion, can happen all the time. For those who have studied maths, a change or rotation of the coordinate system already gives an idea of what I am hinting at and its implications. Let's say you meet somebody and you start talking about "things - life - hobbies - whatever". After a while you realise that new thoughts and things you have never seen suddenly come out of nowhere in your mind and you start seeing things a bit differently - well, what happened is that you have had a change of coordinate system. Everthing you have placed in your system, is now moving and looks slightly different. New relationships between dots can be seen or are added and dots can be moved around to obtain new, possibly unexpected, results.
When one changes the system, typically something "big" as happened in life (birth, marriage, loss, move, new girlfriend) and the variations can be dramatic. When one rotates a system, variations can be milder; a rotation happens typically (among other things) when you meet a new Friend.

I once read on a book that the only experiences other than ours that are truly useful, are friends' experiences. When you meet a person and by talking to him/her you feel that your coordinate system is shifting, you know you have found somebody that can become a true Friend. His/her experiences are rotating your system and helping you seeing things you haven't seen before; it helps you solve problems and engage in new adventures; it changes, in a way, your life. You feel good, at ease, everything flows better. As in maths, problems once impossible can now be easily solved.
Without being melodramatic, that is what happens to me when I meet a (possible) new friend. The change may not be pleasant, and what you see might need change. But friends are also the mirror in which one looks oneself at. And sometimes we might not like what we see.

The friend that rotates your system might be a person you know only for 10 minutes and never see again - nevertheless it is a person that will be a fixed point in your coordinate system for quite a while; it is a person that leaves a lasting trace in your life. And, as it happens, the points can move farther away from us, till we cannot "see" them anymore, or get closer each day. As long as we keep them close, they are important to us and, as beacons, help us find our way in the coordinate system we use in life.

Comments

2005-11-05T10:20:00.000+01:00

After posting my article on the meaning of blogs I have given a bit more thought and started, timidly, to give myself answers. A blog is certainly a way of communicating and sharing ideas (and in a way it provides food for thought for friendships and relationships - one is, after all, what he/she writes, i.e. thinks AND does) - but what I think a blog writer desires, is for a post to initiate a "discussion" with friends and whoever else reads and would like to join in. In this sense, comments are vital.
A blog with posts and no comments can signify, therefore & possibly, the following:

the posts are not interesting to the people reading them
people reading the posts are lazy to write their own comment
posts are interesting but not stimulating enough to initiate a "conversation"/posting of comments
there is simply nobody reading the blog...

And I believe that if number 4 is true, the blog looses its meaning and purpose, that is - to share information, ideas, thoughts, experiences. A webpage, lying alone in a server someplace on the planet, is simply dead. And in particular, if a blog stays there and nobody reads it, well, the author could simply write a diary. And to me a blog is not a diary. And when a blog becomes a diary that nobody reads AND comments - well its heading for extinction.
Then a blog is truly alive, and therefore fulfills its purpose, when not only people read it, but also when the topics are interesting enough to stir the need in the readers to write a comment (no matter how brief it is). Moreover, a post is a success when it manages to distract and catch the interest of the reader, disconnecting him/her, for even a short while, from their life, thought process and initiate a new reasoning, a new thought, introduce a new point in their coordinate system (I wll write another post explaining "coordinate systems" and people - yes, I am that messed up in my head...).
I must say that my (few) readers, are a bit lazy in this respect: my comment count is pretty low and mostly from the same (but well appreaciated) readers - but I am also sure that my posts are not always the most interesting - so who is to "blame"?
One thing is true though, at least for me: sometimes it feels to me that writing on the blog is a way for me to flush out of my head thoughts that would otherwise continue to go around in circles "forever". Once written down, they are simply and magically archived someplace in my head and sometimes I get some "mental peace" before I start thinking of something else. Unfortunately (?) this peace is pretty brief - as some of you know me, if I am restless for a reason, that is usually because I think (too much), and yes, not necessarily about useful or intelligent stuff: thoughts that turn out to be as a "useless waste of time" are popping into my head more often than I wish.

PS: and in a way, a post sometimes is a bit like sending via SMS a question you would like answered, or a piece of information you inconsciously would like a comment about: and...you wait (and hope?) for that answer/comment to reach you, but you are just not getting anything - there could be a million of reasons why it's not reaching you, but nevertheless you start becoming restless about it (and yes, BTW, SMSs are possibly the worst way of communicating when you want an answer or feedback from somebody). So similarly, in a blog, often one writes a post and (maybe without even knowing it) one expects an answer, a comment, a reaction from somebody out there, in particular (and not necessarily) from friends; and if you are not getting back what you expect - you start thinking "Why am I writing the blog at all? Cui prodest?".
Maybe a blog is an inconscious (and possibly very inefficient) way to ask friends to help you figure out where you are heading to in life - in a way posts might therefore be showing/revealing to the author himself and his readers where, more or less, he is heading (or not heading at all) to.

Wallace & Gromit!!

2005-11-01T23:27:00.000+01:00

Tonight I have seen one of the most funny and pleasing movies of the year: "Wallace & Gromit: the Curse of the Were-Rabbit".
On the Internet Movie Database it has currently an average score of 8.1 - well deserved I should say. I personally give it a 10 and advice everybody to watch it - no way you are going to be disappointed.
The movie is funny, entertaining, well-paced, (just enough) sweet and cute, witty and very well made. I should say hand-made. For once something literally hand-made. There are a couple of special effects, but else, everything is all done by hand, no computer graphics for once (though "The Incredibles" is still one of the best movies ever made).
A pleasure to watch, and hear: the voices provided by the actors are great - a special mention goes to Helena Bonham Carter providing the voice of the "spectacular" Lady Campanula Tottington and her sausage shaped hairstyle.
If you want to have a good laugh, with genuine European (or better, English) flavoured entertainment - this movie is for you. Just great - you can't miss it.

PS: this movie deserves its DVD to be bought - I will.

Mac OS X 10.4.3 has been released...

2005-11-01T23:07:00.000+01:00

...and iPhoto 5.0.4 hasn't been touched. It has simply been left in the shameful situation in which it lies. How can a modern photo gallery and management program need 200MB of RAM to handle a picture gallery of 3500 pictures, with a database of about 60MB?? (that's about 20KB per picture - what's all that stuff for? why so much data per picture?!?)
Is this the way to make a program? oh, and BTW - iPhoto 5 is also slow and sometimes it crashes too (losing whatever comments or titles or collections you have made up to that point). Not even Microsoft Word is that bad... And yes, everything else in Mac OS X works normally.
I am very, very disappointed with Apple about this OS X 10.4.3 update - other iLife and OS X programs are just fine. This is a great example of how to ruin a great OS and the wonderful machines on which it runs: with a badly designed software such as iPhoto.
Does anybody have a real alternative to iPhoto to suggest?!? please!!
When will Picasa be available for Macs?!??

Citations from the old blog

2005-10-31T01:27:00.000+01:00

I have finished today to transfer all the old posts I had made on the old version of this blog and now I am only left with the citations which I am putting all together here - in the process some got deleted as I thought they sounded a bit meaningless after some time:

"I am so cool, sheep count me"
Anonymous

"Later that day I got to thinking about relationships. There are those that open you up to something new and exotic, those that are old and familiar, those that bring up lots of questions, those that bring you somewhere unexpected, those that bring you far from where you started, and those that bring you back.
But the most exciting, challenging and significant relationship of all is the one you have with yourself. And if you find someone to love the you you love, well, that's just fabulous."
Carrie from TV Show "Sex & City" - last episode, last scene

"I've seen things, you people wouldn't believe, hmmm.
... attack ships on fire off the shoulder of Orion.
I've watched C Beams glitter in the dark near the Tannhauser Gate.
All those moments, will be lost in time like tears in rain..."
["... time to die ..."]
Roy from the movie "Blade Runner"

"And, in the end, it simply isn't worth / Your while to try and clean your life away. / You can't. For, everything you do or say / Is there, forever. It leaves evidence. / In fact it's really only common sense; / There's no such thing as nothing, not at all. / It may be really very, very small / But it's still there. In fact I think I'd guess / That 'no' does not exist. There's only 'yes'."
the Cleaner's closing phrase from Sally Potter's movie "Yes"

"When people have nothing to do, that's when usually trouble begins..."
Paolo

"There is nothing worse than judging somebody from their looks, even before they say or do something..."
Paolo

"Thank God cows don't fly. / Per fortuna le mucche non volano."
Paolo

"There is no Republican, no Democrat, no Socialist way to clean a street or build a sewer, just a right way and a wrong way."
Fiorello LaGuardia - mayor of New York City (1934-1945)

"If you are afraid of the answer, don't ask."
Paolo

"You are special, like everybody else."
Anonymous

"People should be free to do whatever they wish in their life as long as they do not interfere with other people's similar freedom."
Paolo

"People lived worse, when life was worse. / Si stava peggio, quando si stava peggio."
Paolo

Happynews.com

2005-10-30T10:28:00.000+01:00

If you feel like reading some normal news from time to time, rather than being bombarded, as it is in fashion today, with news focusing mostly on the bad side of things, check this site out: Happynews
Some news are a bit "cheesy" at times, at least to my taste, but most others are OK and you know that will probably never hit the headlines (they will not sell because they are not tragic enough, maybe?).
It has also an RSS channel for easier reading (you can use the extension Sage for Firefox to pick them up for you).

Visited World Countries and US states

2005-10-28T08:51:00.000+02:00

create your own visited World countries map

Does visiting Hong Kong mean I visited the whole of China?!?

create your own visited United States map

Driving from NYC to Washington DC (more or less direct route) does it get you through Delaware, Maryland, New Jersey, Pennsylvania and Virginia? (I did this drive about 10 years ago...and I haven't found a good enough map to check the route out)

It appears that though I have travelled a lot - I still miss about 90% of the planet...

Autumn

2005-10-26T08:37:00.000+02:00

A view from outside my living room window this morning. Though yesterday it was 18C, trees have already decided by themselves that autumn has arrived...

Blogs - cui prodest?

2005-10-25T23:22:00.000+02:00

I was thinking in these days "what is the whole meaning for these blogs?". There is a new blog starting off every few minutes someplace on the internet: what is it that there are so many people with stuff to say and images to share? why do we all feel the need to share and write about our thoughts, lives, interests? are all bloggers feeling somehow "lonely", not satisfied with what surrounds them and looking for some form of friendship? what is it so "cool" to be read by people we might not even know? are we hoping that people we know will read our posts (and comment)? we don't even know if there is anybody at all reading our posts...

So I wonder: "cui prodest?"
[it comes from latin and means "to whose benefit?"]

Who is benefitting from these blogs? unknown people reading our posts and in need of other people's lifes to fill their own? friends, far and near, that maybe we should contact directly rather than indirectly through a blog (why can't we just write an email or pick up the phone, or even better, visit when possible)? we bloggers, feeling a bit like at theraphy telling an invisible doctor what we think? some alien race that has found a method to read people's minds without any particular technology (think about it, if it was really true, it would make the whole thing quite interesting) - who is really reading these blogs and why?

I started a blog because I was travelling a lot and a friend of mine said "why don't you share with us your experiences and pictures of the many places you visit?" - the initial idea was good - but right now I'm not travelling that much and I wonder - why doing it at all?
I will eventually get bored and just stop it? is "blogging" a nonsense fashion rather than something useful? (now certainly it is fashion - and, crap, I am part of it!)

Why am I reading blogs? I believe to read about my friends' thoughts and their views of the world, to learn from their experiences, and so on - about the things we forget to talk when we meet. I am only reading blogs of people I don't know personally, when they report news of things/topics I have interest in. But question: can we just simply listen to what our friends say when we talk to them or meet them? or maybe writing gives better inspiration (and control) over what we want to say and communicate to others (including our intended audience, and not necessarily the entire internet)? Are blogs maybe an easy way and helpful tool to fill in the gaps of communications created by our super-busy-busy lives (BTW: busy lifes to do what, to go where, to what purpose)?

UFO Aftershock: check it out!

2005-10-25T20:35:00.000+02:00

To all PC gamers out there - I would like to get your attention to this new edition of UFO called "Aftershock" - released Oct. 21st after the first episode "Aftermath". The german version of the game is edited and published by my friend Morris and is available, among others, by Amazon.de and Mediamarkt. It was given a 90% Gameplay rating by Gamevision.de
Tough I don't play these kinds of games, I gave it a look and it looks impressive. If you like strategy/action games - you shouldn't miss this one.

Everything levitates

2005-10-25T10:15:00.000+02:00

From "A Short History of Nearly Everything" by Bill Bryson - page 184, regarding atoms:

"It is still a fairly astounding notion to consider that atoms are mostly empty space, and that the solidity we experience all around us is an illusion. When two objects come together in the real world - billiard balls are most often used for illustration - they don't actually strike each other. 'Rather,' as Timothy Ferris explains, 'the negatively charged fields of electrical charges of the two balls repel each other... [W]ere it not for their electrical charges they could, like galaxies, pass right through each other unscathed.' When you sit in a chair, you are not actually sitting there, but levitating above it at a height of one angstrom (a hundred millionth of a centimetre), your electrons and its electrons implacably opposed to any closer intimacy."

Life

2005-10-23T09:43:00.000+02:00

My trip visiting my nephew is almost over. Leaving in a few hours to go back to Germany. I made several new pictures of this tiny little wonderful looking boy that amazes me everytime I look at him. I have found myself watching him constantly for minutes these days.
He is so small and so cute I could not believe it. And his mother saw already some things in him that are similar to me (the ears and, between the nose and the upper lip). And in fact, though a bit surprised at this, I then thought that is obvious: after all Edoardo, my brother and I share partly the same genes.
I wondered watching him, how unbelievable it is that a baby 10 days old is already a biological "machine" growing and developing at a marvellous rate. In 1.5 days that I have been here I have already seen little signs of learning, development and growth. I image the brain growing and adapting and preparing "programs" to run the whole body and reacting to the environment. This is a very engineering view (after all, what am I? ;-) ), I know, but it is just fascinating seing it working: truly said, the miracle of life. Seeing adults "working" is a given, something we give for granted - seeing a baby actually beginning to become what we are, that's a wonder - and nothing then is given for granted.
My brother and my sister-in-law are doing a wonderful job and are so caring (all new parents do that, do they? :-) ). The funny and weird thing to me is to see my brother being a father - though I knew he would be one someday: it is quite different seeing him holding tiny Edoardo in his arms and thinking - that's his son! And even weirder is me holding Edoardo, and thinking - he is family.
He fits completely in my forearm and he is still pretty light (about 3Kgs). He reacts already to sounds, light, my brother's voice and his mother's and sometimes even mine. Sounds stupid but I find it amazing! Yesterday evening he slept close by to my brother for 2hrs straight (he is still feeding every hour or so), and he was so calm because he could feel him, his presence - he would check his presence every now and then and would feel calm and continue to sleep - if he is ever left for 5 minutes in the cradle, he feels the absence of the parents and starts crying. You really see that he is dependent from his parents (obviously) in these first days - in ways that go beyond the "simple" breast feeding. I find that, stupid to say, incredible and so nice.
A friend of mine (with 2 nieces) said to me recently - "you have seen nothing yet - when he will call you 'zio Paolo', that will be weird!" - I am eagerly waiting for the day to come!

Transferring thoughts

2005-10-20T00:32:00.000+02:00

For those interested, I have moved some older posts from the old blog to this new one. You can now access some posts of June and July (yes, I have deleted some - I didn't like them anymore).
As for the comments (not many though), unfortunately I could not keep them.

Simple things are given for granted. They shouldn't.

2005-10-19T23:09:00.000+02:00

I was particularly surprised to read this - from "A Short History of Nearly Everything" by Bill Bryson:

"In 1856 he [Richard Owen] became the head of the natural history section of the British Museum, in which capacity he became the driving force behind the creation of London's Natural History Museum. The grand and beloved gothic heap in South Kensington, openend in 1880, is almost entirely a testament to his vision.
Before Owen, museums were designed primarily for the use and edification of the elite, and even they found it difficult to gain access. In the early days of the British Museum, prospective visitors had to make a written application and undergo a brief interview to determine if they were fit to be admitted at all. They then had to return a second time to pick up a ticket - that is, assuming they had passed the interview - and finally come back a third time to view the museum's treasures. Even then they were whisked through in groups and not allowed to linger. Owen's plan was to welcome everyone, even to the point of encouraging working men to visit in the evening, and to devote most of the museum's space to public displays. He even proposed, very radically, to put informative labels on each display so that people could appreciate what they were viewing. [...] By making the Natural History Museum an institution for everyone, Owen transformed our expectations of what museums are for."

Coming to think of it - in Italy there is a saying that goes "Si stava meglio quando si stava peggio"/"One lived better when one lived worse", that is - life in the "old days" was better than today.
Well, I believe simply that "One lived worse, when one lived worse". If we can live better, making sure everybody can do the same, we just have to thank everyday about it and remember not to give it all simply for granted.

Finally pictures! - not really...

2005-10-19T14:20:00.000+02:00

I have decided to remove the pictures of Edoardo from this post. If you would like to see pictures of him please contact me. Yes - I have had second thoughts about posting pictures of my nephew directly on the Internet. Everybody posts, everybody shows - I decided in this case not to do it anymore. Call it privacy, morality, being protective, being reserved, I call it - respect for Edoardo.

Here are the first pictures of my nephew Edoardo! He looks great, doesn't he?!

In the maternity ward Thursday Oct. 13th few hours after birth - sssh, he's sleeping...

Edoardo with my mum - now nonna Edda

A closeup - he was 2.7 Kg at birth.

With mamma Iolanda and my brother papá Michele

Edoardo with my father - nonno Alfredo

BTW: no gallery as well.
I'll post more pictures in my gallery section once I get back from my visit this weekend.

Talking about being frustrated...

2005-10-17T08:58:00.000+02:00

From "A Short History of Nearly Everything" by Bill Bryson (I started to read it about a week ago andso far it has been an extremely interesting, enjoyable and funny reading):

"...Maskelyne and Mason had become friends eleven years earlier while engaged in a project to measure an astronomical event of great importance: the passage of the planet Venus across the face of the Sun. The tireless Edmond Halley had suggested years before that if you measured one of these passages from selected points in the Earth, you could use the principles of triangulation to work out the distance from the Earth to the Sun, and thence to calibrate the distances to all the other bodies in the solar system.

Unfortunately, transits of Venus, as they are known, are an irregular occurence. They come in pairs eight years apart, but the are absent for a century or more...

[in 1761 such a passage became available and many scientists from various coutries tried to reach different parts of the planet to make the above mentioned measurements. One of these scientists was french Guillaume le Gentil...read further...it's worth it]

...Unluckier still was Guillaume le Gentil...Le Gentil set off from France a year ahead of time to observe the transit from India, but various setbacks left him at sea on the day of the transit - just about the worst place to be, since steady measurements were impossible on a pitching ship.

Undaunted, Le Gentil continued on to India to await the transit in 1769. With eight years to prepare, he erected a first-rate viewing station, tested and retested his instruments and had everything in a state of perfect readiness. On the morning of the second transit, 4 June 1769, he awoke to a fine day; but, just as Venus began its pass, a cloud slid in front of the Sun and remained there for almost exactly the duration of the transit of three hours, fourteen minutes and seven seconds..."

(BTW: while reaching the closest port to go back to France, Le Gentil contracted dysentery and was laid up for nearly a year, after which he managed to get a passage on a ship that was eventually wrecked in a hurricane off the African coast. After reaching home in France eleven years later, "and having achieved nothing, he discovered that his relatives had had him declared dead in his absence and had enthusiastically plundered his estate."...

Will I ever see the light at the end of the (German language) tunnel?

2005-10-14T19:35:00.000+02:00

After living 5 years in Germany and having spoken actively the language for the past year or so, I realised that I am hopelessly still making the most basic mistakes...
Working for english-speaking international companies, doesn't help, as well as the fact that I started speaking German regularly only recently. Certainly German is not the easiest of languages, and I am not working on it the whole day - but still...it is quite depressing that I am not getting it right yet...not even to say 2 simple things in a row.
An example (for those who know the language):

Die ist die Pflanze dass ich gerettet habe. (my wrong version)
Das ist die Pflanze, die ich gerettet habe. (correct version)

I should be able to say these kind of things correctly at the first try....nah, not there yet...
Christian told me that possibly I am in a stage where I know enough the German language to recognise very quickly when things I say are wrong and therefore spot mistakes all over the place, even before I say anything.
He has been learning English in the same way I am learning German - so he knows what I am going through. I started speaking English in England when I was 10 years old: I remember that after only 3-4 months of struggle, I ended magically speaking the language not even knowing how - I never really learnt the language and I never really had a course - but I was forced to speak it continuously. Instead this time I am literally learning the language - no magic to help me this time.
Christian and Morris do help though, waiting, every day at lunch for the past few months now, for me to blurt out my faulty sentences and then, correcting and explaining me whatever wrong came out. Not a glitch, not a comment - they're just great in this, they just go ahead and help me: I am truly grateful to them, for their patience and kindness through this adventure called the German language; though I think I am slowly (literally, just speaking) killing them both...and this time not for the sheer amount of stuff I tell them... Believe it or not, I am now more silent than I have ever been in my whole life (in that sense Christian and Morris are really lucky).
I might say I am at a stage where my, so-far-ignorant-of-its-own-mistakes, brain is completely lost. I cannot even remember English words anymore - and every now and then not even Italian ones!
I do remember distinctively that at one point in time I could read and write (somewhat properly) in Italian and in a way English as well - now I feel I cannot even do that anymore...
Maybe I am too hard with myself, but I am looking forward to the day I will just get those simple german phrases RIGHT at the first shot!

I am so happy!!! I have become UNCLE!!!

2005-10-13T22:15:00.000+02:00

I would like to share with you all my happiness!! Tonight at 20:05 I have become officially Zio Paolo!!!
My nephew Edoardo, mum Iolanda and father Michele are all doing fine. I will post pictures as soon as possible.

Welcome home EDOARDO!!!

Sinnliche Gedanken zum Feierabend

2005-10-12T16:52:00.000+02:00

Lass mich Deinen Hals berühren,
deinen Mund zu meinem führen.
Ich liebe Dich, du bleibst bei mir,
du heißgeliebte Flasche Bier.
(Christian W.)

New design - new blog

2005-10-10T23:49:00.000+02:00

Today after my blog stopped responding while executing .asp code (again), I have decided to transfer my blog on Blogspot - I have discovered that the Blogger service can be used also by publishing content on whatever web server - therefore from today - same website (www.tisvernicio.com) different address - www.tisvernicio.com/blogspot/blog.html
I hope you will all like the change in graphics and fonts. I do.

PS: I will port back from the old blog (still active for a while) all previous articles - I might be able to port also the comments...and maybe also the citations...

A great weekend filled with friends, movies and...flowers!

2005-10-10T18:50:00.000+02:00

I must say that this weekend has been quite busy!...

Friday I had a friend over for dinner and we watched "The Incredibles", to me currently the best computer animated cartoon ever made (the family scenes are excellent). I finally managed to find the DVD sold at a reasonable price (€13). BTW I also managed to order the Lord of The Rings 3rd part extended edition at €22.50 - this weekend was really bargain-time! I now have all 3 parts - I need to take a day off to see them all!!!

Saturday evening some friends and I went to the movies and saw first "Dear Wendy" (written by Lars von Trier). I waited stolidly till the very end and tried to be open-minded, but then my reaction to the movie was very very bad indeed - how could they produce a movie like this?!? I gave it a 2 out of 10 (see the "Stuff" section below this page, on the right). But...after talking a bit with my friends (some of which had my same reactions), I have decided that I have possilbly not understood the movie at all and its (hidden?) message and therefore I also gave a "non-vote", which means that I cannot really express myself over this movie.

After that, a friend and I remained at the theater and watched first "The Brothers Grimm" - funny and interesting, but - as it is these days, possibly way too long for what it had to say (it appears that a number of movies I get to see, seem to me always way too long). And to finish off the movie marathon (the 3rd movie started at 1.15 in the morning), we saw "Charlie and The Chocolate Factory" (yes we saw all 3 in the same movie theater...). Because the director is tim Burton - the movie is enough weird to make this child's story accessible also to once-were-childs adults. Excellent is the location chosen to represent Duesseldorf - Germany; it just hilarious!!! Moreover, no dwarfs this time to represent the Humpa-Lumpas and, yes, there are a few short songs now and then: if you hate singing in movies, you will possibly not stand this one. All in all the movie is pleasant, colorful and well made - but one question: was it really necessary for Johnny Depp to sport those "horse" teeth at all?

After going to bed at 3.30 in the morning - today I woke up at 9.30 to go and visit BUGA 2005. The exhibition was open April 28th and today was the closing day. BUGA (which stands for BUndesGArtenschau) is Germany's national exhibition for flowers, plants and gardens. I am not too sure how often this exhibition is held, and if it is always in Munich - sure it's a big thing. Amazingly we have been graced with, possibly, the last warm and sunny day of Autumn...the temperature was nice and there were literally thousands of people.

A new huge park (including a lake) in the Trudering-Riem area, west of Munich, has been built close to a new housing and office development complex, just for BUGA 2005. Riem is where Munich's old airport used to be, and has been converted over 15 years ago into Munich's huge Fair facility (Messestadt). It is also where the new Riem-Arcade shopping-complex has opened March last year.

As I heard and read in the past months, unfortunately there were not really that many flowers to see in BUGA 2005, nor splendid gardens to amaze the visitors. Certainly BUGA was not worth the €14 tag price to get in. Luckily me and my friends had free tickets. And, surprise-surprise, the cablecar ride was priced at another €7.50 per person: obviously not included in the entrance ticket to BUGA. OK, it is 3km long and they built it just for BUGA - but we all thought all together was a rip-off!

I managed to take some nice pictures - I will add comments to them this coming week - even if I never really managed to get shots of landscapes. IMHO BUGA is no match to Keukenhof in Lisse, close to Amsterdam, Netherlands. I went to see it a couple of years ago: Keukenhof is simply incredible and worth every cent (BTW the ticket is €12.5, no hefty extras after that...).

What a great weekend!

Resolutions

2005-10-08T02:06:00.000+02:00

Today I have decided to stop reading this book: "Tecniche di masturbazione fra Batman e Robin" / "Tècnicas de Masturbación enter Batman Y Robin" by Efraim Medina Reyes (Feltrinelli).

The main reason being - it is simply I book I don't like. When I bought it I flipped quickly through it and it sounded funny and interesting - it isn't, unfortunately. This is an extract of a critic found on Barnes & Noble website that actually gives me credit for putting it prematurely on the shelf (and yes, the title as nothing to do with the content, as well as the cover (the italian version has a totally different cover)):

FROM THE CRITICS

Criticas

In Medina Reyes's third novel, Sergio Bocafloja (Sergio "Loosemouth"), a frustrated 30-something writer, narrates his putative misfortunes. He complains that his only book has sold a mere six copies; he hates his mother's only affair in 20 years; and he idealizes his father, who abandoned him when he was a child. Sergio vacillates between his and his male friends' pronounced chauvinism (complete with pretentious analyses of women's love and sexuality) and his unhealthy relationships with unstable, too good or too young but always beautiful women. The novel is not that long, but it certainly feels repetitive. Medina Reyes can be funny, but few jokes resist the afterlife they are given here. The tone is tragicomic at best and often pathetic; the conclusion is indeed sad. Despite its experimental format-Medina Reyes organizes, numbers, and labels the chapters in a deliberately inconsistent fashion-the story follows a linear order. The exceptions are "Mecánica de seducción" ("Mechanics of Seduction") and "El aprendiz de foca" ("The Seal's Apprentice"), silly guides on how to swindle women that emphasize the male characters' dubious obsessions. They could have been trimmed without altering the plot in fact, it would have improved the novel. [...] Some readers may be offended by a number of crude sexual references, insulting portrayals of women and detailed descriptions of sexual encounters and violent episodes. [...]

Patricia Arancibia, Brooklyn, NY Copyright 2003 Reed Business Information.

I have always finished reading all my books - from now on I have decided that if after reading about a third of the pages a book is not any good - I'll just put it on the shelf and move to something else - life is too short to waste time on something one doesn't like, right? (wow, what an incredible discovery!)

PS: regarding books - today I saw on the train back home somebody using a money bill (5€ - not much! ) as a bookmark - I have seen all sort of thin things being used by people as bookmarks, but money - never...

Today...

2005-10-04T00:21:00.000+02:00

...it is not good - nothing goes.

Trasporto pubblico? Boh...

2005-09-24T11:58:00.000+02:00

A leggere questo articolo su Corriere.it dal titolo "Allarme del Comune, smog fuori controllo" viene, a dir poco, lo scoramento. Non solo viene descritta una situazione degna della Cina industriale od da paese del terzo mondo, invece che di un paese all'avanguardia, ma dico, non una parola, una - sul potenziamento del servizio pubblico, della metropolitana, della connessione con un servizio di treni simile alla S-Bahn (presente in molte città tedesche) o RER (a Parigi), di parcheggi scambiatori, per svuotare quel parcheggio semovente che è la tangenziale di Milano e le sue arterie cittadine e non, e permettere, finalmente, alla gente di andare al lavoro lasciando la macchina od il motorino a casa - altro che centrali a carbone!

Milano, città con una popolazione di circa 1.2 milioni di abitanti, ed un'area metropolitana di 2.7 milioni di abitanti - ha 3 linee di metropolitana urbana. Monaco di Baviera con una popolazione di 1.2 milioni di abitanti (escludendo l'Area Metropolitana, servita da 7 linee di treni metropolitani del circuito S-Bahn) ha 6 linee di metropolitana urbana. Valencia, con 0,7 milioni di abitanti, ha 3 linee di metropolitana ed una tranvia veloce. Gli esempi sono innumerevoli che si può fare meglio e di più.

Non mi venite a dire che Milano, una delle città più ricche ed industriali d'Italia, non ha soldi (finiti chissà dove) per fare qualcosa al riguardo...

Ditch the SUV

2005-09-24T11:50:00.000+02:00

Final remarks from Viewpoint article "Refining the Problem" found on Time Magazine, on page 46 - September 26, 2005, written by Matthew Yeomans:

"...Just a few weeks ago, George W. Bush suggested Americans might need to think about how much oil they use. When this President starts talking about conservation, you know it's time to ditch the SUV."

I would add - in Europe and the rest of the World as well.

Borghesia ed ombelichi all'aria aperta

2005-09-23T08:39:00.000+02:00

Da una intevista pubblicata oggi sul sito Corriere.it a Dolce & Gabbana:

Dicono che siete volgari, lo scorso anno la pubblicità con i peti, quest’anno i peli del pube...
«Non siamo borghesi e queste sono le cose che danno fastidio ai borghesi. Forse siamo sfacciati, in due poi ci carichiamo, però sinceri. I gran giurì ci scrivono, pazienza siamo volgari. Ma i peti sono uno scherzo antico fra i ragazzi. I jeans a vita bassa li portano tutti. Perché non censurano tette e culi per pubblicizzare il dolcificante? E Beautiful con tutti quei pasticci in famiglia non è immorale?».

Le donne non dovrebbero più vestire come?
«Con la pancia di fuori: ma non si vedono allo specchio? Una deve rendersi conto di età e fisico. L’altro giorno c’era una donna con un bellissimo vestito e una profonda scollatura sulla schiena brufolosa. Eravamo tentati di suggerirle di girarlo».

Ombelichi out? Ma in sfilata non si parla d’altro!
«La sfilata è il nostro sogno, un momento magico. Dove tutto cerca di essere perfetto, come le modelle che sfilano. Però sta al buon gusto delle donne vestirsi con il jeans a vita bassa sì, ma poi una bella camicetta che copra la pancia!».

For Daniele (and not just for him...)

2005-09-21T23:07:00.000+02:00

To answer back to Daniele's post about the Trusted Computer Group (TCG) - I redirect him for my opinion on the topic to this post published just yesterday of Paul Thurrott, writer that I like for his clear style, freshness, openness. He writes detailed articles regarding the world of Windows, of which he is defintely an expert, never forgetting to keep an eye (and use himself) Linux, Mac, and everything that is "personal computing". His final comment regarding security is exactly what I think about the topic myself and why things, such as TCG, come to be.

Regarding the world of Apple, I am reading right now this article that, for those like Daniele, wonder and think whether they should switch or adopt a Mac to keep company to their lonely and often ugly PC (brutalised by Windows and sometimes saved by Linux), it can be posssibly of help. Something else really interesting about "switching" can be found here and, after reading this one, here.

Ancora!...

2005-09-21T10:47:00.000+02:00

Prima i medici, ed ora gli avvocati (cosa risaputa - e poi ci si meraviglia a volte del sistema giudiziario che non funziona - pieno di raccomandati incompetenti? - o esami esageratamente difficili da portare a cercare la scappatoia?) - Italia, sarà per sempre, per le più disparate ragioni, terra delle raccomandazioni sistematiche?

Che schifo, che schifo, che schifo.

2005-09-17T11:28:00.000+02:00

"Troppo bravo, bocciamolo" Concorsi truccati negli atenei toscani
Articolo di Repubblica.it

Risaputo - ed ora ancora una volta confermato...
Prima che qualcuno mi dica qualcosa, sia chiaro: NON ME NE FREGA NIENTE di cosa succede negli altri paesi (santi non ce ne sono) - io so solo che in Italia semplicemente non dovrebbe succedere, e soprattutto, non in maniera così sistematica: l'Italia eccelle e si differenzia in queste cose rispetto ad altri paesi europei nella sistematicità con cui accadono. "Tutti" prendono le mazzette e rubano, non solo in Italia - ma mi pare che solo in Italia ci sia stato "Mani Pulite". Certo che in Indonesia, così mi è stato detto, i politici sono completamente corrotti ed i soldi sono nelle mani di pochi, mentre la gente vive nella propria merda in mezzo di strada (visto con i miei occhi) - ma l'Italia è l'Indonesia? Vuole essere come l'Indonesia? O dovrebbe aspirare ad essere un posto migliore?

Il problema è che tutta questa gente rimarrà ai loro posti - restarranno impuniti, sempre lì, "insegnando" che le regole sono fatte per essere aggirate. E' così che l'Italia prepara i suoi giovani per il modo del lavoro e della vita nella società "civile", gli insegna come competere in Italia e, sempre più una necessità, all'estero - le implicazioni di queste cose, vanno ben oltre gli atenei universitari e gli effetti già si manifestano, per benino, nel mondo del lavoro e della competizione estera.

Gli Italiani non sono sicuramente tutti così - ma a leggere certe cose (ripetutamente - questo non è il primo articolo che vedo al riguardo) - viene da pensare diversamente - i quotidiani sono in tal senso un continuo bollettino di guerra. Una pena leggere tutto questo tipo di roba (non so, vedi questione Fazio).

PS: bello poi sapere che i colpevoli verrano processati (in alcuni casi, forse) non subito, ma fra OTTO mesi (cosa faranno nel frattempo, non si sa - prenderanno il loro lauto stipendio mentre faranno anche un secondo lavoro, di nascosto - l'università italiana è piena di questi casi) - così viene da pensare non solo che le regole sono fatte per essere aggirate, ma che non c'è problema a farlo "tanto non ti beccano mai" e si rientra sempre dalla porta di servizio.
Uno tra tanti esempi? Se quello che dice Beppe Grillo è anche parzialmente vero, qui c'è un altro bell'esempio di pura e bella "italianità"...
PS2: ora che mi ricordo - ma poi giustizia è stata fatta per la ragazza morta ammazzata da un colpo di pistola "vagante" nel campus di Roma e per i suoi genitori, parenti ed amici? L'Alletto - l'unico testimone oculare che non si ricorda di niente (Dio gli ha cancellato la memoria) - che fine ha fatto? Sempre all'università di Roma?

Che schifo, che schifo, che schifo.

Wiener Schnitzel et al.

2005-09-15T08:45:00.000+02:00

Last Saturday I met with friends in downtown Munich and I managed to take some pictures. I don't usually go around with my camera, but this time I wanted to go and visit the newly opened Schrannenhalle behind Viktualienmarkt (near the famous Marienplatz). It was too full of people and have decided I'll go some other time to take pictures to post here on the blog.

Nevertheless I took some other interesting shots:

The Tower of the Alte Rathaus (ger) (the old City Hall (eng))

The tower of the Rathaus (ger) (City Hall (eng)) that holds the famuos Glockenspiel (ger).

The Maibaum (ger) in Viktualienmarkt. A May Pole is a unique Bavarian custom. Its history dates back to the 16th century. A maypole is usually decorated with pictures of the main buildings and the main crafts of the village or even city.

Yes, I admit - I felt like a tourist...(and I live here!)

Inside the Schrannenhalle we have bumped into a "porchetteria bavarase" (impossible to translate in english) - they sold mustards with different tastes, including orange and blackberries that could be eaten with slices of roasted pork. I didn't taste these mustards - but Rosaria...did!!!
Rosaria enjoying greatly one of the many type of mustard available at the "Porchetteria Bavarese" - definetely it suits her taste buds...

A mini parked on a building - literally. Found nearby the place where we went eating....

the mega-SCHNITZEL!!!

If you happen to be in Munich and want to eat a really good and enourmous Schnitzel you have to go to Steinheil 16 restaurant in Steinheilstr. 16 (where else?!?). It currently costs €8.8. You can try to book a table, but be early as they only accept 3 reservations a day. It's mainly frequented by University students, it's small and it's continuously packed - make sure you make an early reservation or you are there early, else...just wait - but it's worth it.
The version served is not the famous "Wiener-art Schnitzel" as does not come with French fries and berries sauce. There is though a salad (as big as the schnitzel itself) that comes with it and underneath the huge slab of meat there is half a kilo or roasted potatos....can you eat it all?!?!?
PS: it appears that if one manages to eat completely two servings of Schnitzel (and side servings of salad and roasted potatos) you can walk out of the restaurant not paying the bill - the owners are obviously confident that very few people will achieve the task...

Vita da bodyguard

2005-09-10T11:10:00.000+02:00

Oggi ho letto su Repubblica.it un articolo abbastanza interessante riguardo la vita professionale delle bodyguard. In particolare parla di certo Lorenzo Salvan, specializzato nella sicurezza delle star del cinema, in particolar modo durante il Festival del Cinema a Venezia Lido. Pare che il lavoro della bodyguard sia ben più complicato di quello che sembra.
Inoltre risulta che Donald Sutherland avrebbe dei grossi problemi qui in Germania a far rispettare la sua "regola" - sarà mai venuto in visita qui nella terra dei fumatori?

A brief holiday in Florence

2005-09-02T13:29:00.000+02:00

I am currently for a couple of days on holiday in Florence. Aug. 31st was my father's birthday and we went to "L'Osteria de' Pazzi" to celebrate and eat some good traditional tuscan food. The "tagliata al lardo di Colonnata" was quite good, though not as tender as it ought to be.

It is quite a change in terms of weather, coming from cool and wet Munich. Obviously a couple of days before leaving, the weather in Munich changed and it was just, as the english say, gorgeous - literally. About 25-28C, cool breeze and cloud free skies. The perfect time to go to the Biergarten after work and hang-out with friends until late dawn. I hope that when I am back next week it will hold. I am also hoping in the "second summer" that we usually get in Bayern between September and October.

Florence is not as crowded as I thought it could be - that is no real surprise, as usually it comes back "on-line" around mid-September: that is when the "normal chaos" of traffic resumes after a blissful couple of months where streets are almost empty and there is traffic as a 500.000 inhabitants town ought to have. Instead Florence usually feels like Tokyo or Mexico City with endless and hardly moving traffic jams. It is most of times a slowly moving car-park.

There are as usual lots of tourists - many more than people often realise. I often wondered what it is like to be a tourist in Florence - I could never be or feel one, since I have been living here for almost 10 years before moving to Germany. Acutally yesterday I "celebrated" my 5th Anniversary in Germany and stragely so, I am today in Florence where it all began. I still remember vividly Aug. 31st 2000 when I left with my 2 pieces of luggage for a job and a town I had accepted to move to almost too quickly. I thought then I would stay a year or two at most, and now here I am after 5 years, with no real thoughts of leaving Munich, or going back to Italy: I really have no reason to go back to Italy or to leave Germany.

I have also had the chance yesterday night to watch TV - I don't have a TV in Germany - and not because of the language barrier. Rather because man! how bad is TV! how can you guys watch TV at all?? And not really because of the shows; it is everything else that is crap: the ads, the news, the continuous breaks. My God, it is bad!
I was lucky though that yesterday night they were broadcasting SuperQuark on RAI. A program about science, nature and technology conducted by Piero Angela. This program is one of the nicest ever to be broadcast in Italy in the past decades, and the quality of the show is always very high. I was actually amazed to see Piero Angela after all these years; as always he is still conducting the show very professionally and with incredible clarity in explaining the topics. I have realised that I have actually grown up watching Quark on TV - that is possibly one of the reasons I have chosen to study engineering. It felt like meeting with an old friend in a way.

Then zapping along, I bumped into several other programs, obviously all dubbed, and all with, what sounded to me, the same voices. It appears as if in Italy there are only 10 people dubbing everything. I have bumped in an episode of "Sex and the City" - dubbed sounds so stupid, so bad - incredible. Also I have seen a couple of scenes from a "Desperate Housewives" teaser (they will start showing season one here in Italy this Autumn): my goodnes - it was really bad dubbed in Italian, really bad; in English it simply feels to me like a completely different show...

In a way, though I consider myself lucky to be able to see all the TV shows in original language and to be able to understand them all quite easily, I also consider myself unlucky because right now, as it is, the few programs I wouldn't mind watching are dubbed and to me sound terrible (it doesn't make much of a difference if dubbed in German or Italian; it is bad in any case). This is another reason I have no TV.

I am taking every now and then some pictures - I might post them in the picture gallery once back home.