Hey everybody,
just watched a very cool video. It's about the future of the web, media, and mankind. Some of it I can't imagine to become true...some is truly mindblowing. Take a look!

Changes...

After my last exam (see recent post), I have now started to learn for the orals...this has to be good stuff, too for me to get the grade I want in the end :P

However, this is not going to be the end. It's not even the beginning of the end. At best, this is the end of the beginning (guess from whom I quote here!?). This is a time of tremendous changes for me, my life, and my blog ;) I'll keep you informed, while I change this blog into a documentary within the next couple of month (just as Mark does, view markseremet.com). I quite like the idea and I want to give it a try as well...

So, enough of the mystery for now. Have good one!

Shutdown sequence...initiated

This is it today...my very last exam at university. That's why I'll keep it nice and simple this time. Might need to go through my lecture notes again... I certainly feel miserable for not having posted for such a long time. I realize it's already June. Sorry about that.
There were a lot of things going on lately, but you'll be able to read more about that in the next couple of weeks (being me, it's maybe rather months).
I'll still be around Wiesbaden until June 26th, as my orals are scheduled for the 25th and 26th. On July 7th, I'll finally hold a diploma with my name written on it in my hands...unless I totally screw up my last exam at 3pm :P Hence, I better get going...

Sorry for being lazy & traffic jams

Having scanned through Celso's blog I do feel guilty for not blogging in the last couple of days (or is it weeks, already). True, things are piling up and there is so much stuff to take care of at the moment, but nevertheless I should get going here... Even Mark managed to blog while his third child was born, so COME ON MARIO!

I was actually hoping for you readers to write some comments because visitor numbers are actually not as bad as I figured they would be. Probably my posts are too boring anyways. Some people say that's because the idiot behind it is as well...now you can't go partying with a blog, right?!

But because some may have a point, I will start posting about things happening in my life as well to make this blog more "alive" in a way. I feel that things are moving, the wheels are turning and I see myself moving in some kind of a direction here. Oddly enough I even receive job offers now...some of which actually do float my boat. We'll see what happens, I'll keep you informed! Even some friends of mine do experience a lot of changes these days. One just split up, another is thinking of buying a vehicle... (You can easily spot the relevance I attach to these things, because I'm posting them here ;)

Yesterday I was driving home (I mean home home) on the Autobahn and I got so frustrated again with German driving habits! (Explanation for my non-German readers: We are supposed to drive on the RIGHT side of the highway, moving to the LEFT when overtaking and then moving BACK to the RIGHT. You are not allowed to overtake someone on the right, no matter what happens.) I had to realize that a single car can completely clock up the whole route when he/she is driving on the left lane when nobody is breaking the rules. And don't think people wouldn't do that... They drive on the left overtaking somebody, see another truck about 1 or 2km (about a 1 mile) away and STAY ON THE LEFT! I actually counted the number of cars staying on the left between to trucks when the right lane was EMPTY the other day and arrived at 23. That means that on the same stretch of road where you could have 46 cars if the highway is full (but moving), you just have 23 cars. Now guess what's causing endlessly long traffic jams...

I also realized that I won't manage to change the people behind the wheel and make them move over to the right.

Please tell people to do so when you meet one in person...help reducing traffic jams...thanks!

CO2 from cars - are we gonna die? Really?

...or why the heck is almost everybody so concerned about cars having "some" BHP? Currently, there is some kind of rage going on about SUVs, big limousines, politicians driving big cars, and even our regular vehicle that gets us to work every morning produce so much CO2 that the climate will change and Belgium will drown. Furthermore, terrible thunderstorms will reach areas that have never experienced anything like this before, deserts will become forests and the other way around. To make one thing absolutely certain right from the start: I think it is absolutely correct that mankind should not pollute the atmosphere in general. And I do see the point that the climate will change because too much CO2 is emitted (although there are voices saying that climate changes comes before a rising degree of CO2 concentration in the atmosphere. As I am no scientist in this field, I'll just take the warning and believe it's crucial to do something against vast CO2 emission.
As I said, this is perfectly clear and obvious to me. But why do people get furious about CARS?!?! They make up for about 8.5% of the total CO2 emission in Germany each year. Another 8.5% are produced by buses, trucks and the like. This makes 17%. As those figures come from the ADAC (German Drivers Club), they might be biased, although 17% of CO2 emissions caused by vehicles of any kind is the highest nummber I have heard so far in that discussion. The "FOCUS", a quiet popular magazine that claims to be "objective" of some kind delivers data showing that Germany is producing 865 billion tons of CO2, while the US are emitting 5987 billion tons. Unfortunately, I don't see any time frame for that. I just assume its on a yearly basis. You can find the data in the 11th Issue of 2007 (2007.03.12). Seeing those numbers, I just cannot believe that politicians want to implement general speed limits on German Autobahns by referring to the CO2 emissions. Moreover, I don't see why the car is displayed as being "evil" for producing CO2. Every cow does. Agriculture makes up for 20% of the emissions every year. Now do you want to put a catalytic converter up every cow's bottom? Guess environmentalists would hire a professional assassin if you plug that on TV... (I know, bad example. But you get my point.)
The industry is - by the way - producing about 60% of CO2 emissions. Why aren't politicians eager to increase production process efficiency in terms of those emissions? No lobby there, ey? Interestingly, the lobby of the car manufacturers did not obviously rebel against measures and arguments. Maybe because their leader changed in the middle of those discussions...weird...hm?!

Nevertheless, there is a message I want to get across here - this is quite personal and obviously not to be generalized for Mrs. Merkel: If you really want to reduce CO2 emissions worldwide, focus on targets that are most promising. I know this is a utilitarian approach not much fancied in Europe, but hey, for the sake of nature, give it a try. Even if Germany reduces it's emissions by 10%, what would that make up for on a global basis (and the atmosphere knows no borders, countries, or whatever). Look at the US or China, for example.
Remind yourself of the figures I presented above. Remember the heavy duty trucks they use for everyday shopping. We can deliver our share here (more efficient engines, hybrids, less powerful vehicles, Diesel engines, ...), but let them take theirs, too. They have a much larger stake in it than we do. And stop asking everyone to "think globally". Start with yourself. Eat that, politician/lobbyist/environmentalist/in-box thinker.

Smoking in Public - Germany

Folks, this is something that drives me up the wall. I mean, seriously, Germany is the only developed country I know that makes such a fuss about prohibiting smoking in public, including restaurants, bars, clubs and the like. Yesterday, the heads of the states have agreed upon the relevance of the topic...wow. Moreover, for reasons of federalism every state will be in charge of finding their own rules and regulations for the prohibition of smoking. By now, this has lead to literally "some" suggestions. Some states want to forbid smoking in restaurants, bars, clubs - full stop. Others instead opt for exceptions for clubs and want to establish seperate rooms in restaurants where smoking will still be allowed (yet there will possibly be no service in these rooms for health reasons of employees). A third group thinks that smoking shall only be allowed in owner-operated pubs (because then no employee is exposed to passive smoking).
Eventually, this means that every federal state will have their own regulation...wonderful! So if I desperately want to smoke indoors, I will probably have to go to another state. Or even better: If I totally dislike smoke around me, I will have to do that as well. Now how great is that?!?! Can you imagine the complexity of those regulations and the cost for implementation? We have 16 states in Germany. Even if some do cooperate as they explain now, several rules will have to be thought of, written down, audited, applied and their compliance will have to be controlled. Think of the costs for each state developing and implementing their rules!!! It's ridiculous...?!?!

Why can't we just make ONE single rule that applies for whole Germany? No exception. No smoking allowed in any public place where people gather and drinks or food are served or sold. That's it. Simple. Easy to develop, straightforward to implement and mind-blowingly frugal to control. No big deal. Could be done by the beginning of April.

They currently hope to have a conclusion by summer and are trying hard to implement it by the end of this year. Do I really have to explain further why I really dislike German bureaucracy?

UN-Sonderberichterstatter über dt. Schulsystem

Im Zuge der neuerlich losgetretenen Debatte des UN-Sonderberichterstatters Muñoz um die "Qualität" des deutschen Schulsystems möchte ich hier meine kurze Einschätzung der Situation geben. Basierend auf der Tatsache, dass die Schulzeit in meinem Falle noch nicht so EWIG lang her ist und man mittlerweile "von außen" auf das Schulsystem blicken kann sowie gesellschaftliche Verflechtungen im Studium ökonomisch erklärt bekam, denke ich eine valide Plattform für meine Meinung zu haben

Herr Muñoz kritisiert vor Allem die frühe Aufteilung der Schüler nach der Grundschule (1), den zu hohen Anteil an "Abbrechern" (2) und die zu geringe Zahl an Abiturienten (3). Außerdem empfiehlt er "homeschooling" als eine sinnvolle Alternative (4). All dies wird vor den Hintergrund gestellt, dass Schüler aus einer sozial schwachen Umgebung schlechtere Chancen hätten als solche aus einem sozial stärkeren Umfeld.

Zu (1): Diese frühe Aufteilung macht insofern Sinn, als leistungswillige sich von leistungsunwilligen Trennen. Je früher dies passiert, umso besser ist es für die Gesellschaft. Der Grund liegt in der Förderung von begabten, wissbegierigen, interessierten und vor allem motivierten SchülerInnen. Das deutsche System ist - nach meiner Erfahrung und daher Meinung - zu sehr darauf bedacht eine "Gleichverteilung" von Leistung zu erreichen. Zumindest wurden bei uns immer "gute" Schüler mit "schlechten" Schülern in Klassen und Arbeitsgruppen gemischt, um eine "bessere Verteilung" zu erreichen. Das ist GRUNDFALSCH! Es führt zur Demotivation von "guten" Schülern und nur in den seltensten Fällen (ich habe das NIE erlebt) zur motivation "schlechter" Schüler. Es stellt sich die Frage nach dem WARUM? Die Antwort ist: Weil Deutschland ein Sozialstaat ist, in dem Leistung nur selten anerkannt und gefördert wird. Die Aussage "Was sind schon Eliten, was soll denn das? Wir sitzen doch alle im selben Boot!" habe ich für meinen Teil schon viel zu oft gehört. Eliten sind im Zweifel die, die manche Dinge besser können als andere. Und dann sollen sie das doch bitteschön tun! Das führt zum Wohle aller Beteiligten! Ich würde mir auch nie Anmaßen mich in eine Physikvorlesung zu setzen und zu erwarten, dass ich es genausogut verstehe wie mein physikbegabter Nachbar! Er kann das besser...und ich kann andere Sachen besser. Beispielsweise ein Auto reparieren. Na dann mach ich das doch. So kriegt er sein Auto repariert und verdient genug mit der Physikwissenschaft um die Reparatur damit zu bezahlen - feine Sache, oder? Überspitzt, sicher. Aber da ist ein Fünkchen Wahrheit drin, oder?

Zu (2): Die werden ihre ganz persönlichen Gründe haben, oder nicht? Man schaue sich Hauptschulprüfungen an. Die KANN man bestehen. Aber ohne Motivation dies zu tun, wird das nie funktionieren! Liegt nicht hier das weitaus größere Problem. Woher kommt die "Who cares?" Mentalität? Warum sagen so Viele "Is mir dch egal"? Diese Fragen zu klären wäre wichtiger als zu fragen warum man diese Leute nicht "durchschleift", damit sie irgendeinen Abschluss haben. Denn wer nimmt bitte jemanden mit einem erzwungenen Abschluss???

Zu (3): Dies deckt sich teilweise mit der Erklärung zu (1). Es gibt immer weniger Kinder (Stichwort Geburtenknick), folglich nimmt die Zahl der Schüler und damit die Zahl der Abiturienten ab (bei angenommener gleichbleibender Verteilung zw. Gymnasiasten und Regel-/Hauptschülern). Die Frage, die sich unmittelbar anschließt wurde unter (3) bereits aufgeworfen. Verschiebt sich eben genannte Verteilung, dann liegt das entweder an einer "Verdummung", d.h. die Schüler KÖNNEN nicht mehr aufs Gymnasium, selbst wenn sie wollten weil sie zu "schlecht" sind, ODER sie sind nicht motiviert genug und schaffen deshalb den Sprung ins Gymnasium nicht. Da ersteres nicht wissenschaftlich begründet werden kann und die Evolution (nach Darwin) im Zweifel das Gegenteil bedeuten würde (in einer Zeit, die immer globaler, komplexer, etc. wird) scheidet diese Tendenz meiner Ansicht nach aus. Die Menschen sind heute nicht "dümmer" als noch vor ein paar Jahren. Bleibt der zweite Aspekt und die (offene) Frage, warum die Motivation nicht mehr gegeben ist.

Zu (4): Schließlich fragt sich, inwieweit "homeschooling" die Tendenz der "sozialen Ungerechtigkeit bei der Verteilung von Bildung" aufheben soll. Dazu ein (nicht repräsentatives, von mir konstruiertes Beispiel) Gehen wir davon aus, dass "sozial schwache Umfelder" bedeuten, dass von Familienmitgliedern keine akademischen oder anderweitig "kopfarbeitenden" Tätigkeiten vollführt werden, da diese im Zweifel "gut bezahlt" würden. Sicherlich ist in so einem Umfeld ein "basic schooling" möglich, denn Menschen in handwerklichen Berufen, o.ä. (eben nicht "kopfarbeitend") sind nicht "dümmer" als andere!!!
Dennoch kommt es an einem gewissen Zeitpunkt zum geistigen "überholen" der Eltern durch ihre Kinder, wenn diese zur Schule gehen. Fragt man seine Eltern bspw. wie eine mathematische Operation (z.B. Integration) funktioniert, können einem die wenigsten eine gute Antwort geben. Ähnliches gilt für Fremdsprachen, Biologie, Physik, Chemie, etc. (die BASIS eben). Dieses Wissen brauchen Eltern einfach nicht mehr im Berufsleben und damit können sie es auch nicht wissen. Dies ist in keiner Weise als "schlimm" anzusehen! Im Zweifel jedoch, werden "kopfarbeitende" Eltern eher eine englische Vokalbel parat haben, eine Integration erklären können (das sollte wohl jeder Ingenieur können...), u.s.w. Das bringt wahrscheinlich einfach der Beruf mit sich. Damit stellt sich die Frage, ob die Empfehlung "homeschooling" jene angeprangerten sozialen Differenzen besser überkommen kann als unser Schulsystem.

Ganz am Ende möchte ich nun noch auf einen Artikel verweisen, den ich auf faz.net gefunden habe und den ich für recht gelungen halte:
http://www.faz.net/s/RubFC06D389EE76479E9E76425072B196C3/Doc~E0A69B3A3B96040249079B7DECBF78294~ATpl~Ecommon~Scontent.html

What this might be about

Having realized that until now I've always dodged from blogging by referring to "time constraints", I now have to blog something as classes in the last semester haven't started for me yet.
I decided to blog about things that are on my mind and that I desperately like to comment on. I'll do it either in English or in German, depending on my mood and current state of vocabulary knowledge... You'll realize when I'm turning mad, because then I'll write in French, obviously.

My first blog

Hey folks,

seems like this is it. I started of trying to find a host for my girlfriend's blog and now I am here having my own one...

If you want to find out more about me, look me up on xing.com, linkedin.com, studivz.de, or, if you can, myebs.de.

Have a good one,

Mario