Blah blah blog
It just occurred to me, how obsolete the infos on this page really are. Not updating much, besides the list of concerts I’ve been to.
I might do that eventually (maybe in the end of 2013?), though for now, just browse to the portals linked from the sidebar.
P.S.: Bright Eyes
Today, a newsletter from cdwow dragged me back into the alluring world of online shopping. It lead me to spend an hour and 81,27€ to buy a total of 12 records. That’s pretty cheap from my point of view and I’m rather eager to await the mailman in the next couple of days.
In case you did the math, then you’ll notice that the prices I listed don’t match the money I pretended to pay above. That’s because of some strange incident that happened on the checkout at Amazon. All of a sudden, Amazon told me I had vouchers to redeem 11.82€. I don’t really know why… Probably some kind of special offer (buy 3, get one for free) or something like that. I didn’t complain ;)
Happy shopping!
I’ve recently been requested to translate a couple of geographical names and pondered about how to do this in a more or less effective manner. First of all:
What’s the deal with geographical names?
When referring to a place, we can either use exonyms or endonyms. As a loose definition, we might consider an endonym being the name used by the people who’re living at the place in question. For example for “Germany”, the endonym would be “Deutschland”, “Italia” for “Italy” and so on. So in general, we’d have only one endonym per name. An exonym on the other hand is the name given by other people. Obviously, we got a multitude of exonyms per endonym. Stressing the “Deutschland” example again, there’d be “Germany” (en), “Alemania” (es), “Germania” (it), “Tyskland” (sv), … It’s pretty easy to find exonyms for countries. They’re usually included in any dictionary. Though it can get quite tricky when it comes to sightseeing spots. “Berliner Tiergarten” in English? “Animal Garden”? No… “Tiergarten” as well. So we don’t translate “Brandenburger Tor” either? That one is translated again. ‘Brandenburg Gate’. There don’t seem to be any strict rules on when an exonym is a translation or when it equals the endonym.
In Germany, we got a “permanent committee on geographical names” who’re supposed to provide guidelines and recommendations on the use of geographical names. They got some information material on their website and I’ve also had a nice chat on the phone with one of their representatives. So generally, the committee suggests to use endonyms, rather than exonyms. Though there’s no legal bounding to that and the foreign names might be unfamiliar or irritating for some people. But how to find endonyms anyway?
Well, you probably read the headline and guessed the answer. For me, Wikipedia proofed to be a pretty neat tool for these kinds of translations. A feature that’s way too often overlooked in the Wikipedia are “interlanguage links”. When you browse to an article like the one about Germany, you’ll find a list of links on the bottom of the left sidebar. They lead you to the article’s counterpart in the different projects. Or in other words: By looking at the headlines of those linked articles, you can retrieve the appropriate exonyms. Nice! But it gets better. In theory, at least:
The MediaWiki API provides access to these lists. Whenever an API is available, it’s basically an invitation to write some lines of code in order to automate operations. So my thought was, that I could feed a list of geographical names to a program and that the program could pull me the appropriate German exonyms from Wikipedia. In order to test this, I wrote a bash script which is posted below. It’s not nice and there are a thousand ways to enhance it, but it served my purpose as a proof of concept:
#!/bin/bash INPUT=${1:-input} OUTPUT=${2:-output} COUNT=$(wc -l < $INPUT) while [ $COUNT -gt 0 ] do VAR=$(head -1 INPUT) tail -n +2 $INPUT > temp mv temp $INPUT wget "http://en.wikipedia.org/w/api.php?action=query&format=xml&lllimit=50&prop=langlinks&titles=$VAR" mv "api.php?action=query&format=xml&lllimit=50&prop=langlinks&titles=$VAR" "$VAR" echo -n $VAR >> $OUTPUT echo -n " " >> $OUTPUT xmlstarlet sel -t --value-of "/api/query/pages/page/langlinks/ll[@lang = 'de']" "$VAR" >> $OUTPUT echo "" >> $OUTPUT rm "$VAR" COUNT=`expr $COUNT - 1` done
At the moment, this proof of concept is really just nice for the theoretical, rather than the practical part. Like with all machine-translated text, the output needs a human editor to review it. So the problems that occur are the following:
As you can see from the list above, this is more of a toy rather than a tool. At least at the current stage.
Also: Correct me if I’m wrong, though I’m quite baffled that there doesn’t seem to be an open-source approach on localized geodata yet. Maybe something paired with Google-Maps would be nice…
Anyway, was fun to toy around with this.
Yeah, I’m going to write a regular blog again soonish… Though for now, it’s more of a request. I got a growing list of concerts that I’m going to attend and I pondered if some of you were floating around there as well.
The list currently reads as follows:
Btw: There’s always an up-to-date version of this list at LastFM.
So as it stands, I’ll be moving back to my hometown in April (and – thanks to Dani – I’m already having nightmares about that). It will be a pretty rough cut to how my life looked like so far and I’m not yet sure what to think about it. I guess I’ll find out quite soon…
Anyway, I tried to make some plans for that month, wrote them down on a list and now… I’m blogging about it. I’m aware of the fact that I should not do so. I usually try to honor that principle, though since my poor blog looked so neglected again and since I don’t want to write about the last couple of weeks (or the four weeks still ahead), I might just add that list here.
My plans for April are, to
Sweden seems to suffer from a serious lack of elks and reindeers. I’ve not seen neither. Not even a dead one as decoration at the wall of a restaurant or on a bloody engine hood. Though I should start my blog at the journeys beginning, I guess:
U2 360°
Last Saturday, Katrin, Dani and I drove over to Berlin in order to see U2 live in concert at the Olympia Stadion. Well, Dani and I did… Unfortunatly, we weren’t able to get a cheap last-minute ticket for Katrin in the right category, although tickets were flying. Some guy sold 2 tickets of the 150€ category for 50€ in total. Insane. Which incidentally also happens to be the appropriate adjective to describe the concert itself. The designer of the stage might have very well been some megalominiac on amphetamins, since this gigantic monster was unbelievable. There is a whole set of concert pics at Flickr, with this here beeing one of my favorites:
90.000 people partying to a U2 greatest hits show with some goodies for long time fans. I was so happy that it didn’t rain albeit all forecasts. It was surely the most spectacular show I’ve ever been to, even outnumbering Micheal Jackson’s History tour in 1997, where he had a real tank on stage.
After the concert, we dropped Dani at some bus station where her father picked her up. We hugged good-bye and continued to drive to Rostock in order to catch our ferry to Trelleborg.
Mark Twain meets Jules Verne
The last kilometers on the autobahn to Rostock were so bumpy that they gave the impression of a multi-lane farm track. On the upside, this was keeping me awake until we arrived at around 3:30 AM. After parking the car in the right queue, we grabbed our pillows and tried to rest for a few hours (two, to be precise). The rest of the time consisted of waiting until we were allowed to enter the ferry. What I found remarkable from the beginning were their names. The one we were entering was called “Huckleberry Finn”, while the one I was about to take on my way back one week later was called “Tom Sawyer”. Something inside of me was secretly awaiting that it would either change it’s course in order to head over to the Mississippi or that someone would hand us brushes and tell us to paint the ferry’s railing. Needless to say that none of that happened.
I’m not sure how the topic arose, though I remember Katrin mentioning something about safety. In my best attempt to spread confidence, I replied along the lines of “No worries. They advertised this ship as being unsinkable!“. I think this earned me a pinch, a glance or both, though it also made me being more curious about the ships lifesaving facilities. While there were users manuals for lifejackets placed in the cabin, it was lacking the jackets as such… I later found them on deck, next to the lifeboats. Whew, these certainly made me feel more confident. Two lifeboats, each capable of carrying about uhm… maybe 20 people? or 10? Both hanging on a weird ‘n mysterious looking craine construction which was supposed to be handled via a crank. In case we’d be able to alight them (as opposed to sinking them), we’d certainly be save. So how about the rest?
There was also something that seemed to be some kind of barrel or buoy and I wondered if people could get in there and maybe use it as a one-man-submarine so they could drown in style. Another users manual on the wall revealed that these were actually packed lifeislands where people could get in, though I eyed the manual sceptically. Since I seemed to be the only one on board bothering to have a look at this manual anyway, I wondered how many people would get the intent of these barrels in a case of emergency. My imagination formed a scenario where the crew already left the ship via the lifeboats, while the panicing passengers were still trying to rescue themselfs. In this scenario, at least three of these barrels were already exploring a new world twenty thousand leagues under the sea, before the first person started to ponder what it was that they were just throwing over the railing. The next three of them would find their way to the seabed in a clumsy trial and error approach based on the users manual cryptic instructions on how to lower and unbox the islands. It seemed hopeless to get out of this swimming coffin alive. Except… Well, except when someone read and understood the users manual beforehand. Someone with patience. Someone with technical knowledge. Someone, able to handle the situation. A hero. Me.
I’d be like John McClane of Die Hard, while the sinking ship would be my skyscraper Maurice Moss of The IT Crowd, while the sinking ship would be my burning office.
Well, to cut a long story short, the ferry didn’t sink, I’m not a hero (yet?) and instead of reading the manual again, I went to the cabin to get an additional four hours of sleep before we arrived in Trelleborg.
to be continued…
There’s been quite some stuff happening since my last posting. I’ll try to cut it short and not turn it into a lengthy novell.
The Depeche Mode (dM) concert in Leipzig was quite nice. Dave was doing surprisingly well after his surgery, the setlist was the expected “best of” and the light show was OK with the obligatory LED video walls and stuff. I liked the band, though the audience was kinda lame. dM played two encore blocks, though the people didn’t really seem to care to much about it. The applause wasn’t very loud and after the last song, people stopped to clap hands just a few seconds after the last band member went off stage. I felt sorry for the band and was embarrassed to be part of such an unthankful audience. Anyway, I had a nice evening with friends and great music.
The day after dM, I drove to Berlin to meet up with a friend. It was the first time that I’ve met someone from Second Life in Real Life, which made me quite excited and a lil nervous. It turned out that the nervousness was baseless. Danica is such a great company with a superb taste in music and movies, as well as an outgoing, friendly and charismatic personality. We visited the Reichstag building whose stunning roof made of glass and steel offered a wide view on Berlin. Passing the Brandenburg Gate, we walked through the Memorial of the Murdered Jews of Europe afterwards, heading to the Sony Center for dinner. I was kinda sad to say good-bye at around 11 PM – never know when/if we meet again – though I was happy that I had the opportunity to meet her at all while she’s been to Germany.
One day before my birthday, I received a mail from my parents, announcing their visit as a surprise. It was a surprise indeed, considering that I already had a ticket to visit Faith No More (FNM) and therefor wasn’t even going to be at home during that day. Glad they were able to postpone their visit to the day after my birthday, since they haven’t had their hotel booked.
The FNM gig was great, though they had very few tickets sold. I guess about 50% of the tix would have been available still, which resulted in a shockingly empty open air. Although there wasn’t much of a lightshow or special effects, the band was overwhelming. Mike Patton is nothing less than the best singer I’ve ever seen live. I could go on and on with superlatives describing FNM, though I guess you just gotta see and hear it to believe it. Epic!
The day after the concert, my parents visited me in Magdeburg, bringing along my grandma as well. We had some nice dinner and chat and went to a cocktail bar afterwards, which was quite cool and relaxed. After just one Mai Tai (the first one I ever drank), I felt quite dizzy. Lacking routine :p
I read online that Katrin got her language course in Sweden, which will start at July 19th, and which is the start of her two semesters abroad. Since I’ll drive her there and stay for a week of vacation, we booked the ferry today. 22 hours drive (including the ferry, excluding any stops) according to an internet roadmapping page. Whew… Let’s see what that will get. Though looking forward to it!
Well, enough spam for today. I’ll continue playing some Final Fantasy VIII and will then proofread a chapter of our doctoral candidates dissertation. I’d add that I’d blog more frequently from now on, though read that it might not be a good idea to write something like that. So I’ll just say bye :-)
I’m currently having some neat days in Leipzig, due to the upcoming Depeche Mode (dM) gig tonight. Originally, we wanted to attend the one yesterday, though dM singer Dave Gahan appearently had some surgery a few weeks ago, which resulted in many concerts beeing canceled. I hope he’s fine again. We exchanged our tickets for better ones at the gig tonight. It’s the first time that I’ll see them play live and I already struck them from my ‘bands I’d like to see live’-list. Their new album only had about two spins in my record player, though they might not play to many songs of it, I hope. At least Wrong is great!
On Saturday, we’ve all been to an Irish pub and went nuts on their table soccer. Although we had to exchange bills for coins ever so much, we just coudn’t stop it for hours. I’m so looking forward to see the pics taken at that night. The previews on the digital cameras looked hilarious! We also weren’t sure if the barkeeper took proper note of all the guinness and cocktails we ordered, but since we didn’t count them either and since it were less than expected, we didn’t complain.
I think I’ll write some more after the gig and after I had a look at the pics. Got to fight a war with some all-in-one printer/scanner/coffee-machine-thing to make it run in Linux. What a headache. Cross fingers plz!
Since I’m going to delete my old webuni account, I’m rescuing/archiving an old blog entry from April 2006. It’s about a weird phone call I received and I thought it would be worth keeping. Post is in German:
Wrote this yesterday evening on my moms MacBook:
The last blog-entry ended quite abrupt. I had some prewritten parts on an USB device and when I had the chance to get the stuff online, I needed to hurry since my parents were waiting.
We went to the lake afterwards, ate something at a neat italian restaurant and watched Slumdog Millionaire in the local cinema. I remember that someone wrote in a forum that it would be ‘Forest Gump in indish’ and yeah… that fits quite well. Though I didn’t like the way it ended. If you’re scared of spoilers, skip reading till the next paragraph.
I’m not a fan of happy endings. Or more clearly: it shouldn’t have ended the way it did. I’m not sure how the best ending would have looked like, though winning lots of money and getting together with the girl he loved, was just to Hollywood (even when it was Bollywood in this case). I even thought he’d answer the last question with “Latika”, though I’m not yet sure if that would have been better or even worse.
Anyway, I think it’s still worth watching (and was definatly the best movie available in the cinema at that time) though don’t have to high expectations.
We’re having really nice weather here at the moment and although my parents are complaining that it would be to warm (usually, it’s my part to complain about this), I think it’s still ok. We drove two hours to Rapperswil in Swizzerland to meet with a friend of mine who’s now living there. During the car ride (and in every free minute since I picked the book out of the flat’s shelve), I’m reading Orwell’s 1984. I’m a slow reader and half through the book by now. It was on my to-read list for quite some time and I’m discovering that it really was worth putting there. I’ve been a fan of ‘Brave New World’ ever since I read it in middle-school and this one reads like a spin-off. Before you start arguing: No, I dunno which book came first and I’m not connected to the internet to check. I wonder how people survived without Google and Wikipedia back in the days. Though no matter which one was first, they’re both great books (so far).
It just took the first few pages to stumble upon the first quote of a Rage Against The Machine song. Or… the other way around. To stumble upon the first part that RATM quoted in a song. In ‘Testify’, Zack is singing a part with “Who controls the past now, controls the future. Who controls the present now, controls the past.”
I had a feeling what he was singing about though the part in the book showed me that I never really got it. The story of the book takes place in a world which is completely controled by the government. Everyone might be a spy and almost on any corner is some kind of camera (even in private rooms). The government fakes newspaper articles, re-writes books, poems, songs,.. all to fit their propaganda. The interesting part is, that they are even faking newspaper articles which were written years ago. They’re consequently re-writing the past, adding lies and removing all evidence which would be able to proof the difference. Once all evidence is removed and once no one is alive anymore who’s able to tell that the written stuff is a lie, it will become truth for everyone reading it. It becomes history. They are controling the presence, rewriting the past and therefor controling the future since they are able to backup their lies with history books. They’re able to show that the government was always right in the past and can justify and protect their power. It’s frightening. And it’s what Zack sang or RAGEed about in the song.
I love it to discover the sources of quotes which were somehow stuck in my mind. The last time that happened was with a quote of a movie which was used in a song by “…But Alive”. Don’t ask me how the movie was called… I wrote it down somewhere. The quote was something like (trying to translate):
‘Woman’s voice’: Would you like to come upstairs and drink some coffee?
‘Man’s voice’: I don’t drink coffee.
Woman’s voice’: I don’t have any…
I love the song. It’s about courage or better: It’s about the lack of courage. I don’t know how the guy in the movie reacts to this quite unexpected reply (I really need to watch it). I tried to imagine how I would react (especially since I don’t drink any coffee either ^^) though it obviously differs, depending on the one who’s inviting and even then it’s still quite surreal and blurry. It kept me thinking, kept me living in my head like I do quite often. The nice thing about this short holiday trip here isn’t the lake, nor the weather, nor even my parents. It’s actually that I took time for myself, without thinking about myself. Sounds odd, tho it isn’t. My holidays are the time to read another book and to dive into the imaginations of someone elses mind. So it’s not so much a physical holiday by changing the place where I’m at, it’s much more of a mental holiday by moving away from my own thoughts. Relaxing.
I wrote in the last blog that I wouldn’t know what I’d be supposed to do here. I’m happy about beeing here now, without the internet to distract me from my distraction.
There was also something else which came to my mind. It’s that the focus of this website shifted far away from it’s original purpose when I launched it many many years ago. The first version of this page really deserved it’s name (Seelenstrip.com – which means something like “Soul-Striptease.com”, exposing thoughts on various topics). I’m still exposing thoughts on topics though it turned quite shallow. I noticed it earlier though never wrote it down so clearly. Maybe I’ll let it move back to it’s original purpose.
I mentioned the car-ride to Rapperswil before I got sidetracked with the 1984 part. It was nice to see Alex again and he showed us his new hometown. It looks like a place where many people would like to go to holidays. He’s living next to the Lake Zurich, they got swimming areas, a zoo, some nice old-town… He’s happy down there and I guess that’s the most important part. Though it made me somehow sad that he’s so happy while beeing so far away from his old friends. His work and carreer seems to be really important for him at the moment and he seems to be successful at what he’s doing, though according to what he said, he hasn’t found new friends down there. And his old friends are all hundrets of Kilometers away and it doesn’t seem to be much of a burden to him.
Maybe the shocking part isn’t so much his life, but that it mirrored a part of my own and exposed it to myself. I’m also living hundrets of Kilometers away from most of my friends and not caring much about that fact.
You might ask something like: “So what’s your point?”
I don’t know… If it’s good or bad or if it matters at all. I think I just needed to mention it in order to get it out of my head.
I actually wanted to write more, though I think I’ll better continue reading now. Wrote this all on my mom’s MacBook and will carry it with me on USB until I can publish it tomorrow night when I’m at home again. Though I’ll most probably write some follow up on why I’m able to be shoked about 1984 where everyone is monitored/traced and still exposing my life in the internet via blog, twitter, lastFM and co. Sounds kinda shizo.
But nite for now.
