Category Archives: Life

Ok … back again

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It is really time that I write something here. It is nearly one year since I last posted something here. But I was doing some things in the mean time. ^^

First of all I finished my Diploma at the University of applied sciences in Rosenheim. Now I am working at the computer science chair of Prof. Radig. The name of the chair is “Image Understanding and Knowledge-Based Systems” it somehow sounds cool. ^^

But basicly I get payed for programming Common Lisp. My work now involves getting the high level systems running on the real Robot. Till now all the high level planning stuff was only running in simulation.

In my short free time I started the ELCO Project which should become a framework for developing Lisp based software for Embedded systems. But I have to write a more elaborate article on that topic.

And the last thing for today. I just released my first shot on the schematics of a really Open source Brushless Drive Controller. You can find the eagle schematic (yes I know eagle is not open but the open source alternatives just suck!) in a git repository on GitHub.

I also can only encourage you to subscribe me on identi.ca. I am posting bit more frequently there. ^^

Cheers everyone!

Apple and their Support

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After a long time finally a new entry here.

Some time ago I owned a Powerbook 15″. This one had a problem with its second ram slot. It was not detected by the system. I called Apple Care but they were not willing to fix that. I really was upset about that because it was a known problem. Still the serial number of my Powerbook was not in the range Apple considered affected by that problem. >_< Now I have a MacBook Pro 17″ and some days ago my battery grew to its double size. Yes just like the one in this article here. I realized that only because my touch pad button was not clicking anymore and when I put my hand near the touch pad it triggered the button. Searching the web showed the article at Gizmodo above. I looked at the back of my laptop and was shocked.

Yesterday I called Equinux and asked what can be done. They checked my Serial number and said that I should bring my laptop over. So directly after work I went there and without much asking they took my battery and said that they will replace it. (That is something that I was not expecting after my experiances with my Powerbook.)

As I was already there I pointed out a little cosmetic problem I had. The band underneath the keyboard weared off and lost its matt look just some weeks after I got my Macbook. (I will post a picture of it later.) They also said with no hesitation that they will replace the whole top if I want to. The problem I have is that I need my laptop all the time for my work so I can not leave it even for a day for fixing. So they said that they will make a appointment with me so I can come over and the technician will replace it in one hour. That is what I call service.

Now they showed me that Apple can also have a very good support as long as you have a guarantee coverage on your hardware. I can only say that I am very happy that I bought Apple Care along with the MacBook. That will save me lots of money and annoyance in the future.

Back from Scotland

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You probably know it already but I am back from Schotland. I spent 10 days on the Ile of Arran with some friends. We Made a 100km tour around it. I shot about 460 images and hope that there will be something useful among them. But you will have to judge for yourself.

We arrived back in germany last friday and I was fighting with my emails and rss feeds. Now I am catching up with other things. I hope that I will have enough time to work through the Scotland images in the next days and put them online in my gallery.

My photoblog seems to be working pretty well. It was running on auto pilot the last two weeks and I think that it is a pretty nice thing. I will now put more images online and they will get visible over time. That makes the blog regular and I do not need to spend so much time on it. But I will now start answering your comments in the photoblog. If you provide your email address then you will also get an email. (the email address will not get posted so do not fear).

Why Nerds are Unpopular

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Today I found a very nice article about $TOPIC. You can find it here.

Like most articles by Paul Graham it brings a lot of interesting light to the topic. If you ever considered yourself a nerd, or still are, you should for sure read it. It is based around the social dynamics in american schools but I think you can transfer many of the ideas to other countries and cultures.

Have fun reading.

V for Vendetta

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Hello everyone. It has been a very long time since I posted last time. My life was very hasty in the last time. But now I have something that I must share with all the people that want to take the time to read it.

I just saw the new filmy by the makers of Matrix. It was called “V for Vendetta”. I do not want to write a critique of the film. I only want to say that it is a must see and take the message of the film as a starting point for some reflections.

The main message for me was that if we do not take care we could end up in a state where “People are afraid of their governments.” We see many changes taking place that most of us do not see. Data retention, tracking, RFID… and so on.

The problem is that taking a side in the discussion if it is OK or not is also a problem already. If I say in my blog that I am on either side the internet will never forget that. And I may get in trouble in the future. So I will not take any side. At least not here. The reader should take a side by him/her self.

The biggest problem I see is that most of the People around us do not know about this changes. Most of them are not interested if the changes are made or not. Most of them say that it does not affect them. I think (and here I take a side) that it is a problem. I know that most people are not interested in politics. I can not say that I am a person that is politically active or really interested. I am in no party and I read news only as much as it is necessary to know if there are very heavy things happening. But one thing I know is that the changes our government is making are affecting us all and we all should open our eyes and think on which side we are. Not taking a side is the same as agreeing with the side that won. I took a side and will look for ways to express them in a way that will not get me in trouble in the future. I will be happy to hear any tips to how do that.

Exams once more

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It is nearly half a year ago as I had my last exams. But it seems that I had them only some days ago. I did not really recover yet from the exams back then and now I have to write some more new ones. When will this end? My predictions are in one and half year. But who knows what happens in that time? Perhaps it will take even longer what I would really hate!!!

I hate that stuff as you can imagine.

My photography is suffering from all that. At least I try to finally work over the images taken in Warsaw this winter. But it needs it’s time. I can imagine though that when the exams are over I will not have one spare minute to do anything. Now … we will see.

New Year’s eve

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I wish you all happy new year.

It may be that you come here to see the images from the New Year’s eve. They are here.

There are more photos to come from XMas and the days after that I spent in Warsaw (Poland) visiting my family. But it takes some time to sort them and process so that I can bare to upload them to the gallery.

I think that the requirements I have to the images I share with others has risen somehow, or I get paranoid. Because it takes more and more time for me to prepare the images so that I feel that I can share them with others…

Anyways, I wish you all happy new year and fulfilled wishes.

Having a Cold for doing Art

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Damn …

Why can’t I be a computer. I would have an antivirus … and could download a quick fix for that flew. That really sucks I tell you. My head explodes and feels like filled with batting.

I pump myself with teas for a cold and Aronia tea, aspirin and Rutinoscorbin.

I hope that I am fine soon. :/

I used my time where my head was not able to think to take photographs is my room. I made up a scene with shells, dice, ipod and glasses. I took about 20 images, with different times and aperture openings. I am really eager to see how this images got. (of course I took the pictures with Praktica that is why I can not show you the Images yet)

On friday I tested out the flash for Praktica on a friend’s birthday party. I am also eager to see them.

I will try to make the images if I manage it to get out of bed tomorrow.

Praktica super TL

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Yesterday I was at home in Ingolstadt visiting my parents. My mother was so nice to borrow me her SLR camera. It is a pretty old Praktica super TL. It is a Eastgerman production and even has a fan community. You can find the documentation of that camera here. More info can also be found here.

The camera has a Carl Zeiss Jena, Tessar 2,8/50 lens. It is a very good lens. The design is 100 years old but it was remade many times. Zeiss is producing the lens till today. Even if the lens is pretty dark 2,8f. The positive side of the lens is that it draws very sharp and is very light. It as also called Eagle Eye of your camera. You can read more about it here.

As you can imagine it is not a digital camera so it takes some time till there will be sample images. I took today 18 images and in the next days I should finish the film. Taking that images the camera got stuck three times and messed up three images. That happens when you use old mechanics that are not used often. But nevertheless it is a lot of fun taking images with it. It is loud like hell and heavy. Just like firing some kind of weapon.

I am really asking myself if there is a photoblog somewhere where someone is shooting photos with such an “ancient” technology.