Renaissance Man

I Need More Whiteboards

2011-10-07T23:16:00.000+02:00

Sharing knowledge with others and explaining things to people (more or less familiar with a specific matter) is what I do on a regular basis. Not that I would make any money from it, well, not exactly. It is somehow in my very nature to try and help people that way, and I love it. Most of the time it makes me feel really good. (No, it is not an addiction. Not yet.) Especially when I get the impression that my efforts are appreciated and that I was able to actually help somebody, of course.

Some things are quite esay to explain, even on the phone, for example, where the spoken word is the one and only way to deal with things. But when a certain level of complexity and abstraction is reached, bounds of our language and imagnation are quite easily hit, and we simply fail to grasp it. As a matter of fact, this isn't an idividual problem. (Well, up to some level one might think it is, I agree.) The one and only thing we have to blame is our brain.

Ever since, humans have lived by the principle of trial and error, and have survived by finding and enhancing tools, hence the need to touch things (and other people), to learn about them. In addition to that, our brain is by far one of the most powerful image processing systems known to mankind so far. You doubt it? Try to make a computer recognise a handwritten text, or even a couple of letters that are twisted, or even just roteted. (That is one reason why some online services ask you to deal with CAPTCHAs, to post a comment on a blog or to subscribe to some newsletter, for example. I kid you not.)

Even though it might have unleashed the bounds of our imagination, the ability to talk, to communicate, has never changed our most basic, yet most powerful abilities to learn: the ability to make sense from images we see. We all know the proverb that a picture is worth a thousand words, and when it comes to explaining things and describing coherences, nothing compares to a picture or a sketch. It is all about visualisation, and the fact that is so much more easier for the human brain to memorise and process pictures (and sounds), than stuff that we would call "simple words".

Personally, I am an avid fan of whiteboards. And flip charts. But I prefer whiteboards: the bigger, the better. Like talking to yourself helps your brain to really understand your thoughts (compared to talking to yourself in your mind only), sketching out my ideas onto a whiteboard (or a sheets of paper) helps me to get the bigger picture, literally. When I am trying to figure out what makes things tick, how and why things work, or when I am trying to explain that to someone else, developing models or constructing theories - sketches, for me, are the way to do it.

So far, I have found that colleagues, apprentices and friends either like this approach, or they hate it. (Maybe it is not so much hate, but more about being scared.) Anyway, those who know me have become aware of the "risks" they are taking when asking me to explain something to them. Depending on the subject, it is a child's play for me to use up the whole space a whiteboard offers, once I have started sketching. That is why over the years, my moaning about my need for more whiteboards has become a running joke.

Apart from the fun everyone has when I start filling the whiteboards, flip charts or sheets of paper with all kinds of shapes, arrows and text, I really think that in many situations it is even a more sensible way to support a lecture or speech, compared to the omnipresent PowerPoint presentations. Please, don't get me wrong: a proper slide show can be a great way provide basic or additional informations, depending on subject and audience. It is the ongoing abuse of tools like PowerPoint or Keynote that saddens and irritates me. But that is a completely different story.

While using slide shows tends to turn speeches into quite static shows (and more often than not quite boring ones, too), spontaneously creating the images needed to help the audience to follow the presentation now, and remember what has been said later, is more active, sometimes even interactive. In addition to that, it is always a good way to show how flexible the speakers actually are, and if they really have a proper understanding of what they are talking about. (But maybe that is just me.)

So, if you would like to learn about things from my fields of expertise, feel free to ask, make sure you have enough time, and bring a whiteboard. I always need more whiteboards.

Coming Back To Life

2011-09-22T15:51:00.000+02:00

Being different has become what could be called a standard in modern (western) societies. We are ready to call a lot of looks, behaviours and points of view acceptable. But while the way we dress, the lifestyle we choose and the things we believe in are subjects of races for the weirdest possible, we still struggle to keep an open mind when it comes to what happens to what we more often than not call minorities. It is acceptable to be different as long as it impresses others, as long as it is "hip" or "cool". As soon as it comes to problems or handicaps, many people feel the pressure to keep it to themselves, thus trying to draw the least possible attention to their very person or to what they are suffering from.

This world can be quite a dark and cold place to live in. Within the moment you have to open your eyes and leave your warm bed, you can find yourself deprived of all the precious energy you somehow managed to regain during the night, which has been far too short, because your brain wouldn't have let you enter the realms of Morpheus for too long. The idea of leaving the house makes you feel sick, while driving to work, you can hardly fight the urge to vomit. You don't want to stay with those people, nine or ten hours, maybe more. You don't want to listen to them, you don't want to solve the problems that they caused themselves.
You want to go home, where it is safe, where it is warm. You feel sick of fighting, even though somewhere, deep inside, you know you should, you should try. But you have lost your strength on the way already. Everything is cold, everything is dark, and it feels like it is all closing in on you. There is no easy way to explain it to others, and the unsolicited advice just upsets you, if there would be any power left, you would be wild with rage. But because you just don't want to listen to them any more, you become a hermit, your flat turns into your safe haven.
You feel trapped. You are trapped. And you cannot escape without help. Without it, it is a downward spiral, without support, there is no way out. Because deep inside you know, that tomorrow will be even worse. And while considering options, considering all options, you turn to your bed. After the lights have been turned off, the world is still dark, but at least this is a warm place. What would be the difference if you would not wake up again?

This sounds depressing. There is quite an easy explanation why it does: this is how a depression can make you feel. Actually, this is (in excerpts) how it made me feel. Not for the first time, sadly, and quite likely not for the last time. Depressions and burnout are proper conditions which need proper treatment. The weird thing is, that, just like a drug addiction, depressions cannot be cured, at least not like a cold, a broken bone, or anything like that. Chances are that they return and strike again. The only way to deal with them is to keep them in check, trying to be prepared, by avoiding situations that will quite possibly trigger them, and by raising awareness for early symptoms.

One of the biggest deals about fighting depressions is, that is necessary to swallow one's pride. Again, just like fighting an addiction, one needs to trust some others by telling them about the issue, and by asking them to support the efforts to avoid the real trouble. It isn't easy to accept hints from the people that surround you, but those who share parts of your life with you and know about the issue can be a reliable source for much needed feedback. Apart from that, they can help you to get out of the downward spiral before you are in too deep. - It is hard to get there, to entrst yourself to others. But it is totally worth all the efforts. Seriously.

There is a huge impact on almost every sphere of life: job, relationships, social life - you name it. The point is to realise that there is quite a difference between having a bad day at work, or not feeling like meeting with friends or going to the movies, and feeling permanently overwhelmed by the job, feeling scared by the idea to meet people, not to mention finding yourself surrounded by strangers. As soon as the bare ideas already start to worry someone to death, that is no longer simply odd or weird, but about someone's world that is about to collapse. And this someone may not be able to ask for help any more.

When depressions hit me for the first time in my life, about 15 years ago, I somehow managed to ask for help. I cannot remember how, and at this point of my life, it really doesn't matter any more. What is far more important is, that I did learn a lot about myself, about the ways the human brain works, and about the pressure everyday life creates. Think about it for a moment. (Take your time. I am going nowhere without you.) Isn't it amazing how we manage to deal with it all, day by day, and somehow manage to survive without suffering from serious damage of body or soul? Well, at least most of the time, we do.

I, for one, managed to come back to life. Somehow. And I think because I did, depression isn't such a scary thing to me any more. But it still is a dangerous condition, even more so as it is either under control - or not. Since that first time I suffered from depressions, I am a little bit more prepared, at least I feel like I am, and I learned to listen to my body and my soul. Coming back to life isn't easy, though, and leading a "normal" life can be quite difficult. Depressions will never leave, and as soon as I fail to preserve my equilibrium for some time, I have to deal with the consequences. It had to. Two more times, so far, with the last major episode not so long ago.

I am coming back to life, again. It takes me longer to get there this time, but I have no doubt that I will. The main difference of this approach is, that I am working from the outside to the inside. But how? I found a new job that I really like, I had to move into a new flat that is bigger and brighter, and I smile a lot. It is funny, but especially that smiling bit is working wonders. It is an honest smile. (You can tell by the crow's-feet around my eyes.) The best thing about it is, that it is not only helping me to stay relaxed and calm (well, most of the times, that is), but it makes the people I meet during the day smile too. It makes life easier, mine as well as theirs. Life is good.

Coming back to life also means that I have to relearn a lot of things. Most of my former (social) contacts have become non-existent. Socialising has been some kind of blind spot, all of my life. Crowds of people have always been suspicious to me, and I never felt exactly comfortable when meeting and talking to strangers. But nobody ever said that coming back to life would be an easy thing. Having a life is a challenge, day by day. And maybe, at some point in the future, I will be ready again to share my life with somebody else. I would love to. But let's not rush things. Meeting people and finding new friends will do for starters.

So, if you meet a stranger these days, wearing a panama hat, with a knowing and warm smile on his face, and a twinkle in his eye, well, that could be me.

Coming back to life.

PS: Yes, it is true, this post's caption and the title of a song by Pink Floyd, they actually are identical.

Some Things Just Don't Mix

2011-09-17T23:22:00.000+02:00

Those of you who did have a look at my profile at Google or at my bio at Twitter might already know this: I love music. I love to listen to all kinds of music, and if you would like to learn more about it, have a look at my library at last.fm. This one, of course, isn't a complete list, far from it, but it might give you the idea of what I am talking about, and I would be glad to hear about the tracks you would recommend! Yet loving music, for me, is not only about listening to it: I love to make (and write) music, too.

Over the years (the fourth decade of my life is coming to its end already) I had to learn that some things in life just don't mix. While I don't think of that as a bad thing in general, even though it is a continuously growing list, every now and again it is quite a setback for me, especially when it comes to making or writing music. The fact that I rely on technology as some kind of crutch (please pardon the expression) to record my ideas and create stuff, as I never learned to play any of the instruments I use properly, tends to be a challenge of its own.

So, two of the things that just don't mix, at least not for me, are making music and moving. Over the last 12 years I moved about six times, and I really don't like moving. Every new flat brought the inevitable quest for the right space that could be both, the set-up area for my equipment as well as the place where I could do some creative work. While it isn't much of an issue to find some room around the flat where the stuff can be just stored, it is rather difficult to have the instruments in a place where they can be kept in some state of readiness. When I have an idea that feels right, I have to record it immediately, so fiddling around with my keyboards and computer just to get ready to record something isn't the way for me to go, never has been.

Recording the idea is only one aspect. Building something from that idea, finding out whether this would turn out to be a piece of coal or could be turned into a shiny diamond (or something like that), is a completely different story. Building something like a demo can easily take me a couple of hours, more likely even a couple of days. With that in mind, it is quite easy to understand that the place where it all happens should both, feel right itself and make me feel good, too. It usually takes me weeks, sometimes months to find the ideal part of the flat that meets all my needs. Sadly, I find myself more often than not preparing the next move by then, having to start all over again.

Two more things that just don't mix are making music and depressions or burnout. Even though this might sound like a no-brainer, almost everyone has come across stories where artists claim that they have had some of their greatest moments with regard to creative work when they felt down, things were going wrong, or they felt like the odds were completely against them. While I don't intend to question their statements or experiences, I can say that it didn't work for me. Maybe that is one of the differences between a real artist and an amateur, maybe the lack of any (serious) addiction to drugs on my side was keeping me from sharing their experiences.

As a matter of fact, the impact depressions and burnout had (and sometimes still have) on me can be best described as living a life with applied handbreak: it takes forever to get into gear, and it doesn't take much to make it all grind to a halt again. I am pretty sure that a lot of ideas never saw the light of day during the last years just because I didn't feel able to get up, power up the equipment and spend a couple of minutes to record the stuff, mainly because just thinking about it did already exhaust me completely. I am grateful that those days seem to be over, and that (temporary) recovery is only a question of time.

After all, I still love music. As long as this doesn't change, there still is hope, and there might be some fresh demos at some point in the (near) future.

And some things just don't mix.

Sitting Under The Tree, Part 5

2011-09-14T21:15:00.000+02:00

Oh, hello! Welcome! How are you? Isn't it a beautiful tree, with its leaves starting to change their colour. Come on, sit down, don't be shy. Didn't you offer do bring tea and cake? No? Oh, well, sit down anyway. Wait, what's that? Ah, you are checking for news on Twitter. And Google+. Are you going to send an update to Facebook, too? Don't forget to take a picture (not of me, the tree, silly) and send it to Instagram. You are now mayor of what on FourSquare? Anyway.

Over the last years, a multitude of social network services has become available. They offer easy ways to share short messages and pictures with the rest of the word, letting everyone know where we are, what we are up to, what consumes or mind at the moment. They have introduced new ways of getting (and staying) connected on professional levels, as well as on private ones. And while some people can't make head or tail of this social networking bric-a-brac at all, others can't wait to sign up with yet another service of that kind as soon as it is becomes available.

Personally, I really do find some of those services sort of usefull, or at least entertaining, and for some of them I am actually aware of what could be called serious use cases. Maybe it is exatly what confuses so many people: apart from guidelines on how to exchange data and use the interface of the service itself, the providers leave it to the users to figure out how the service could be used, and what it could be used for. It is left to the personal creativity of those who take part in it to shape it the way they think it works best for them.

Now, let's step back, let's try to get a bit more of the bigger picture. It really is an impressive number of services, isn't it? And that brings me to a serious question: can it really be possible to handle all this, is there really a way to actively take part in serveral of these online social networks? If it is possible, what would be a reasonable number of services to use? Is there a number that, when reached or crossed, would render real life activities (work, of course, but meeting people, too) impossible to take part in?

You may interject that there are no universal answers those questions, and I agree. We may work in different jobs, we have (if any) different affinities for online services, and we have developped different ways and preferences on how we like to socialise. Those and many more aspects may influence how we tend to deal with offers like social network services in general, as well as how much time we are willing to invest in this kind of virtual interaction.

Maybe you can remember when everyone was making fun of those "poor creatures" who felt the constant urge to check their e-mail inbox. Fiddling around with something like a BlackBerry in public? What a poser! Actually, we had a lot of fun with those weirdos.

Poser. Weirdo. Really?

No, I am not going to ask you to have a look into the mirror and tell me what you see there. (Hopefully, you would at least see your reflection. If not, well, you may be in trouble for completely different reasons.) But seriously, have a look around you: in the city, on the platform - just think of some public spaces and places. What did you see there a couple of years ago? What can you see there now? People, holding their phones, quite likely, but not only holding those devices up to their head to make (or take) an actual phone call.

Sometimes I get the feeling that, for many people, having access to the Internet, almost everytime and everywhere, is no longer an optional feature, something that is nice to have. Always online, always connected, always ready to interact. Text? E-Mail? Basics for the digital nomads, not even worth mentioning any more. Surfig the Web, updating blogs, watching some videos online? Now we are coming to a point.

Always online, always connected. Constantly looking for more friends, more followers, more updates, more likes. More influence, maybe? Could be. Afraid to miss something? Absolutely! It is all about being important. The news? No, of course not! The people are! Or at least they think they are, entangled in their narcissistic dreams, or maybe just caught in their efforts to receive some respect, respect they think they deserve.

But with all this engagement in networking, sending and receiving all kinds of updates, it takes me wonder how it is possible for, at least some, people to get any work done at all, to have what is called a life? They seem to be on-line 24 hours a day, seven days a week. And then you learn that they have just joined another social network. Why did they do it? Because it is all hip and new and possibly trendy, too?

They have become slaves to social networking. Their minds revolve around the next update. They laugh about all the other ones, who are "parts of the corporate machine". But who are they kidding? Apart from all the shameless self-promotion they are doing, aren't they just parts of yet another machine, the social network machine? And they are so very happy to give away even the last, most private bit of information, just for the sake of... Hm, for the sake of what?

What do you think? Please, feel free to share your thoughts on that with me!

But for now, come on, let us enjoy sitting under this beautiful tree, watching the leaves and listening to the wind. - And you are sure you didn't say you wanted to bring tea and cake?

All These Scars Are Mine

2011-09-11T21:30:00.000+02:00

Personally, I don't believe that there are days of the week or months that are predestinated to be good or bad ones, holding good or bad luck. But I do believe that that life is an ongoing, daily challenge, and while some days are easy ones to make it through, others are quite a fight, from the moment the alarm goes off in the morning, until I finally manage to fall asleep at night somehow.

Don't get me wrong: I don't intend to complain. Far from it! As a matter of fact I know people who would have every reason to to complain, to whine, but most of them don't. No, they just don't do it. I have great respect for them, as every day of their lives is a struggle. I do what I can to help them, of course, but most of the time my humble efforts to support them only make both of us feel worse, but at least they make their lives a bit easier to deal with.

What I find interesting about it is, that while those people seem to have mostly memories of good times and enjoyable moments of their lives, for me it sadly seems more easy to recall situations, days and events that left me with bad feelings. I am aware of the fact that it is mostly a question of the personal mindset. I had the chance to discuss this with psychologists, and they convinced me that this is a sensible way to think of it.

Fighting personal demons means to confront them. It doesn't matter what it is that scares us, it doesn't matter what we are running away from. If we want to bring on a change, if we want to take back control of our life, we have to stop running away. We have toturn around and face what is frightening us. The demons may not go away, but as soon as we know them, as soon as we name them, they become less powerful, less important, and we may get back what could be called inner peace and a normal life.

For me, September has brought to me some of the most significant changes to my personal life ever. Even while I am writing these lines I am not sure whether I really should share this with the rest of the world. Well, if you can read this, my decision was obviously to finish the draft and publish this text, and I am about to share some personal bits of my life with you, which left quite some scars running across both, my heart as well as my soul.

Three years ago my to-be ex-wife had just moved out of the place we had shared for years. That semidetached house became quite a weird place to live in, even more so as I only spent the weekends there. Finding yourself abandoned, facing the remains of what was meant to be a part of the future, isn't the easiest life situation to deal with. To me, it was even harder as I had to clean up the place and prepare my own move, finding myself questioning many of my decisions, again and again. Learning that the significant other had decided to leave me was by far the worst experience I had made so far at that point in my life. Literally watching things falling apart took it to the next level, and I felt sick of life back then. Obviously, I chose not to use a quick exit.

Last year I had just hit the ground, going down in a spiral of what the doctors (later) referred to as burnout. At that point, I didn't expect that it would take me only half a year to get up on my feet again. Only few things kept me going, again I considered the ultimate exit strategy. Luckily, I managed to ask for professional help and support. That I had to give up my job, well, it was an absolute necessity. That I had to move again was an inevitable decision, which I did even welcome. It was one thing to discover that I had reached a dead end in my life; to even start making the needed U-turn was a completely different story. I didn't expect it to work out for me. Today, I am happy it did.

Those incidents were like a slap in the face that made me think a lot. Both were wake-up calls, but somehow I didn't really get up the first time. Thinking and writing about those chapters of my life still hurts. I never seriously considered a relationship ever since, but this may change. I found a new job which I like very much. Taking a step back and looking at my current situation, my life from a distance, I tend to say that things look a lot better now, and I am grateful that I (somehow) managed to get my life back, even though there are some scars left to remind me.

But all these scars, they are mine.

PS: Some of you may have realised it that this post's title is a line taken from the lyrics of a song by INXS, 'The Gift', which is one of my all-time favorite songs.

Generation "Guidebook"

2011-09-04T21:10:00.001+02:00

I have to make a confession: I still buy books at bookstores. Well, at least some of them. But apart from getting some new reading material there, I like walking around and having a look at all the stuff in the different sections. It is quite interesting to see how they change over the years, watching some of them grow, some of them disappear.

I may be late on this one, but because of some conversations I had recently I realized the considerable increase of a specific genre of books. Even though I am not sure whether it actually is called a genre or not, I will stick to that term. So, when you get the chance to go to a bookstore, look around and you will find them quite easily.

I am talking about guides. Guidebooks on this, manuals on that, how-to books on, well, almost everything. We all know the user guides that come with consumer electronic or kitchen devices. Some of you, just like me, have to work through user manuals and how-to guides on a daily basis. But it is not them I have in mind. It is not about guides for any kind of device. It is about guidebooks to different areas of our lives.

They are everywhere, and their number increases every hour, maybe every minute. Guides on building a successful business, manuals on how to lead a happy life. People offering their help to improve our sex life, while others are trying to make us better parents. And while some are showing what they think are ways to simply make us better human beings, others are trying to (literally) sell us a shortcut to attain real enlightenment. Fortunately, there are less serious publications too.

Facing this massive (and continously growing) amount of how-to manuals, guides and companions I am wondering how mankind managed to survive and come this far without them. As far as I am concerned, the mere existence of this vast amount of guidebooks to "everyday life" is what irritates me most.

Of course, we all need some help before we make decisions, and we all need some reassurance now and then whether the path we have taken is the "right one". We consult our family, our beloved and/or trusted ones to obtain some advice, some insight, a different point of view. But have those books taken over their part and role in our lives? Have they become more important, more trustable for us than the feedback of people we actually meet and know?

When looking for advice in those how-to and companion books, aren't we (wrongly) assuming that we are all playing by the same ruels? Think about it. What are the chances that what worked for someone with roots in a different culture, in a different socienty could work for us, too? Have our lives become so exchangeable, are they really that compatible? And more important: have we really become completely incapable of making decisions on our own? Or are we looking to shift responsibilities on someone else by using those books?

Maybe we are simply trying to avoid learning things the hard way. Maybe we are desperately looking for ways to learn things life would have tought us, without going through life's lessons. Maybe we are afraid of making mistakes. Maybe we are afraid of being hurt, afraid to be laughed at. The fear to fail has become quite a driving force. We are trying to make everything perfect, right from the start.

Those guidebooks may convey the impression that there are universal answers to almost everything. But why are there multiple books on the same subject then? Just lean back and think about it for a moment.

Don't get me wrong: I am not trying to tell you that those books are superflous. Far from it. They are a great resource when it comes to getting a different point of view on a subject. They are a good way to share ideas and concepts that seem to work for some. But they don't offer the one and only, the universal solution. And I am afraid too many people think that this is exactly what those books are about.

Have we become a generation that puts more faith in books, theories and second hand experiences than in real life and its unique, personal lessons? Have we become a generation that has lost the faith in common sense and our ability to solve problems ourselves? Do we really need how-to manuals and companion books to live our lifes?

Personally, I don't think so. How about you?

Living The Dream

2011-08-29T22:05:00.000+02:00

It sounds very weird: although people (living in Germany) already have an average spare time of approximately four hours a day, for the majority it still isn't enough. At least that is one of many results from recent surveys (conducted in Germany).

I may need to clarify: those four hours mentioned above are the average time we (are said to or claim to) have at our free disposal. No duties, no schedules, nothing. Four hours. - Of course we need more, seriously!

The part I like best about the findings is that about 50 % would love to spend this time on doing - nothing. Yes, they would love to do nothing. I can completely understand that!

Sure, there is no way of actually doing nothing. There is always something going on, in our mind as well as around us. Meditation may be a way to do (almost) nothing. But I don't think that this is the point.

Doing nothing is more about lying on the sofa and watching the ceiling without trying to focus on anything specific. Doing nothing is sitting next to a fountain and just watching the water. Doing nothing is sitting on a bench, enjoying the sun and watching the clouds or the birds in the sky.

I am living the dream. At least now and then. I am a lucky man.

Left Behind

2011-08-28T17:56:00.000+02:00

Eight weeks ago, a dear friend texted me early in the morning. "Hey. Sorry to make your morning start with this but I wanted to let you know that my mom died last night. I'm on my way to the hospital. Take care! Love - T." Quite a way to start a Friday morning, indeed. We met on the following Sunday and had a long talk.

Since then I learned a lot about the ways or society deals with death and, more important, how the ones who lost someone are treated. And what I learned was quite irritating, it made me very sad.

Over the last decades death has become a taboo subject. Within the modern lives we lead and the related lifestyle we have adopted, there is no room left for death any more. Those who lost someone better get over it quickly as they are expected to function properly, just take back their place within the corporate machine and do their job. Those who are left behind better do their mourning in their spare time, at home, without bothering anyone else.

In addition to the loss, people find themselves in a world of broken promises, abandoned by many, too many so-called friends. Those who are supposed to take care of their inferiors fail completely on doing their job by completely ignoring the individual's need to grieve. All they care about are their own aims they may fail to reach if someone simply isn't able to perform at 100% for a couple of weeks.

This complete lack of respect towards those you lost a beloved one, the lack of understanding of and for their situation, and the lack of care and support for those people makes me very sad and angry. Why do we, as a society fail so miserably in taking care of the mourners? Why has it become so beyond the pale not to be on top of everything each and every day?

It is a well-recognised fact that those who lost someone go through several stages of grief. Whether you think that it takes three stages, as defined by Dr. Roberta Temes, or that five stages are needed, like Dr. Elizabeth Kübler-Ross has put it in her book, or even more, it doesn't matter. What matters is the fact that it takes time to return to a kind of normal life. And as we are individuals the amount of time each one of us needs to make it through those stages of grief will differ. On top of that, sympathy and support is needed.

We are never really prepared to lose someone. Maybe things were different back then when death was omnipresent and people were simply used to face it every day. But when we take a closer look a lot more has changed. The smallest known social communities, our families have changed a lot, too. A family can support us, offer us the possibility to retreat, give us some sort of shelter. Further more, a family can offer the environment to let us be the way we are, the feel the way we feel, offering some sort of safety and security, no matter what.

With families breaking up and falling apart, we find ourselves left to our own devices most of the time. With our work becoming a more important part of our lives, it is becoming a challenge to stay safe and sound, physically as well as mentally. At work, only few are accepted they way they are. For the majority the opposite is true, forcing them to create and maintain a masquerade, which consumes a lot of time and a lot of energy.

During a time when most of our energy is already consumed be the grieving we do, too many people want us to focus on their needs, help them to achieve their goals, support them and be there for them. It sounds terribly wrong - welcome to the real world. A world that is becoming a place for the self-involved and greedy, more and more, day by day.

I just had a break and am back from the phone. I called my friend T. and we have been talking for about an hour. We didn't solve any problems but we talked. And while we were talking I could hear in her voice that she started feeling a bit better, a bit lighter. She simply needed some honest, well-deserved attention and reassurance. I am glad I could help her, just a little bit. She lost her mother eight weeks ago and it is obvious that she will need some more time to deal with it. I will be there for her, no matter how long it takes her to come to terms with her loss, and she knows that.

Maybe you know someone who might need your help, your support. It may be because of the death of a beloved relative, it may be because they came out of a relationship. Anyway, it is a loss. They may need you. Be there for them, be different. Show some respect and accept them the way they are.

They are the ones who find themselves left behind.

What Makes Things Tick

2011-08-15T15:20:00.000+02:00

Last night, I finished an interesting book. Well, it didn‘t sound that interesting at all, to be honest, when @hansdorsch mentioned it three weeks ago on Twitter. But as I still had to try the Kindle app on my iPhone back then, I decided to give both of them, the book as well as the app a try.

Program Or Be Programmed by Douglas Rushkoff isn‘t all about computer programming, at least not in the literal sense. As its title already suggests, it is more about the choices we made since we started using computers, especially but not necessarily networked ones, and the consequences our behaviours related to those modern media bring on to our life these days.

No one would have expected that I would agree with all of the ideas an thesises Mr Rushkoff postulates throughout of his book. But he makes some good and valid points that made me think and kept me awake quite some time. It wasn‘t exactly like looking into a mirror while reading the lines, but I realized that there really is a growing lack of interest in how things work and why they work the way they do. Furthermore, people jumping to conclusions without even starting to reflect about what they are doing has become so popular that it really scares me.

We are living in a world of tools and support. Because there is always someone who can help us we take their help for granted. And while we find ways to use the advanced tools of the world we are living in, we have so little interest in what makes them tick and what the consequences of using them are. On top of that, while taking so many things and people for granted, and somehow ignoring the changes of the ways we interact with the world around us, we fail to see the impact our lack of understanding really has on us ourselves and the world around us.

I consider myself lucky that I grew up during the decades where many of the foundations of our modern, interconnected world were layed. Seriously, I am grateful that I was raised with a good amount of curiosity and support of my interests, especially those in electronics and computers. And while I think that it is great that everyone focuses on different part of our lives and the world that surrounds us, I sense that it is quite special to have more than just an idea of what helps us to connect these days - and how it works.

On the other hand, I can understand why people prefer their tools to just work. Who needs to know how exactly this hammer and these nails where made when all you want to do is hang up some pictures on the wall. (Wow. There is something like a good way to hold the hammer handle and the nail that would make work easier and reduce the risk of injuring yourself? Weird!) Who needs to know how a cars are built, how the engine, the streering and the brakes work, as long as they do. (Crazy. It isn‘t enough to put petrol in the car‘s tank? And why would you call a car a weapon? This driving license isn‘t a license to kill, is it?)

No, seriously, we simply cannot know how everything that surrounds us and every tool we use works. And that is just fine. But someone should. And it better be someone you can trust. Lies and wrong answers can cause a lot of serious trouble. In the end, you want to solve a problem when you ask for support. You don‘t want to create another problem instantly, do you? - That is why everone is good at something. Yes, I really do believe that. In a way.

What really irritates me is when someone claims to be interested in something, wants to learn about something, but then shows no interest at all when it comes to what really makes the things tick, what goes beyond the very basics of the group of themes. It really irritates me when people are content with easy and short answers when they say that want more than just scratch the surface of a matter. And I am really worried when this someone is an apprentice or a student.

I have been in charge of training apprentices two times so far. (Insert famous Yoda quote here.) One of the reasons I really enjoyed it every time is that I like to share my humble knowledge and experience as well as the challenges that arise from the interaction with young and curious people. Sadly many young people have lost their curiosity already, and the ability to be avid for something is an abortive one. The good thing here is that many doesn‘t mean all.

Nina was the first apprentice. This young woman was quite clever and she was never shy to ask questions. She loved to learn more and she didn‘t like short answers. When it came to walking that extra mile, she was up for it. It didn‘t take her long to work independently along with my colleagues and me, and soon she became a reliable member of or team. Her interest in the matter grew far beyond the official training schedule and it was a challenge as well as a pleasure to teach her. By the end of her training period she was more than qualified to do her job and even more important: she was eager to learn even more, she wanted to know how those things she was asked to work with and take care of worked and learn about the bigger picture.

Philipp was the second apprentice. He was quite clever too, but unlike Nina he was easily satisfied with facile and general answers, by just making things work somehow. As soon as it took him a second or a third go to solve a problem or to find an answer, he tended to give up and blame someone or something for the missing progress. While Nina was aware of the fact the she knew little but wanted to change that, Philipp thought he already knew more than enough and that it would be sufficient to pass the exams. He did pass them and he knew how to use the tools at work. Everything else? Just exhausting or boring.

I have the feeling that many, too many people are like Philipp: they just decide to stop and not make that one step ahead that could open a new world to them. They think they know the world that surrounds them well enough, they are simply not interested in anything more than this. They prefer being told what they have to do, they prefer to have decisions made for them by others, they prefer consuming what they are served. Create stuff and share it with others? Why? What for? Isn‘t there someone (more) qualified to do it on my behalf?

Program or be programmed. Create or consume. Use your brain or just do what you are told. Blue pill or red pill. The decisions are up to each and every one of us. I, for one, prefer to learn about what makes things tick, what things mean and what they will or may lead us to.

How about you?

Welcome To The Shark Pool, Part 3

2011-07-11T11:56:00.000+02:00

Welcome and thanks for joining me! Oh yes, I know, it has been quite a while since I uploaded my last posting here. Sadly, the reasons for becoming and staying somewhat quiet, at least as for showing and joining online activities, is indeed connected to the subject from this article's headline.

Right now I really feel like a survivor, even though the only thing that changed for me is the pool (just to stick to that metaphor). But in the end isn't it the most important thing to feel good when you go out there to earn your living? Of course, the salary is nothing that can be left aside completely as we are still living in a world were most goods and services are traded for money. We need shelter, we need food and drink, we need clothes, and I have been told that some of the people out there have something that is called a life - whatever that is supposed to be. And all of those things come at their price - which we have to pay if we want them or if we need them. On the other hand there are some things money just can't buy.

I came across a quote by Voltair which made me think: "In the first half of our life we sacrifice our health in order to win money – and in the second half of our life we sacrifice money in order to recover health. And during all this time we lose our health." - Now wait a second and read it again. Take your time, I will be right here...

To be honest I found that quote multiple times on the web, each one slighly different from others, and no source could reassure me that it was really Voltair who said it. But let's assume he did. (And yes, I know what 'assuming' can make of you and me.) Anyway, I really do think that there are way too many people out there who are a living proof to that statement. But why do we act like that? Feel free to try and find your personal answer to this question. I, for one, found that it was about time to bring on a change as I was literally sick of it all.

The basic idea of bringing on an change was a simple one: I left the big pool with those huge, aggressive and bloodthirsty sharks. Truth be told, it happened that I decided to leave shortly before I was sort of asked to leave. But again, that is a completely different story.

Looking back, the whole ecosystem there had become more and more imbalanced. Remembering some basic stuff we all have been told in biology classes about predator-prey relationship, it just isn't a good thing when the number of predators keeps rising. When finally the beasts of prey start to turn against each other because there is nothing else left to go after, they are doomed.

Feeling trapped in a situation like that, with body and mind suffering from it already, I just had to leave. The new pool is a smaller one with the water at a pleasant temperaturer, the sharks aren't that huge and they are of an totally unexpected kindness. It sure sounds strange but I kid you not.

It all came at a price, of course. Ahead of the final decision I spent many nights on mulling over the options and calculating expenses over and over again. I had to give up some habits, I had to cancel some services and subscriptions and I even had to change my default grocery shopping list. Last but not least I was able to save money by moving closer to my new workplace. Yes, there was quite some stuff I had to take care of, and I was far from being sure that it would work.

So far it did and I am more than happy about it. Right here I come back to the quote above, which I have to say had some impressive impact on my life so far. Even though I am earning less money now and I have to go through the whole socialising thing again (and again), the sum of changes brought back to me a state of health I never thought I would be in ever again. I am very impressed, to say the least. Time will tell which level of health I will re-gain but as long as things don't get as bad as they had become for me about a year ago I will be more than happy.

That said, I am off for another swim in that lovely little shark pool, and I am sure I will enjoy it? If you want to join, feel free to do so. And if you prefer to stay outside that is fine with me, too. Maybe you have to find a way to earn some more money...

Project 'Roasted Bean'

2010-07-19T19:56:00.000+02:00

'1500?'

The potentially conspiratorial message via IM is actually more of a project meeting request. A quick check with the current work and the open topics on the to-do list, a recount of the small change, a glance at the clock at the lower right corner of the screen - an almost imperceptible smile and a deep breath.

'1500.'

We call it 'Projekt Braune Bohne', which would turn into utter nonsense if I would try to translate it literally. That is why I took the liberty to pick the more loose translation for the project name, so from now on I will refer to it as project 'Roasted Bean'.

Let me present to you project 'Roasted Bean' in more detail. First of all: it isn't exactly a project. Yes, I have to admit that we made it up - for the fun of it and to make it at least sound somewhat important. Truth be told, project 'Roasted Bean' has become more of an (almost) confirmed habit or maybe a ritual than a project. But it is a funny, geeky name and that is why we stick with it.

Another detail: there is no agenda. This may sound quite confusing, which is absolutely understandable. At least it is because I haven‘t told you about the very nature of our project meetings. While there are lists and agendas all day long there is no room for anything like that when attending those meetings I am talking about.

In simple terms: project 'Roasted Bean' is a break. But it isn‘t just another break. It is more about making sure that the participants make it safe and sound through the last hours of the working day. And there are some interesting reasons why this break is well-deserved. Sadly there is no way to leave the place to have the meeting in a cafe just like creative people. We have a cup of coffee anyway. And we talk. As a matter of fact that is one of the most important reason why we are keeping project 'Roasted Bean': it is a kind of strategic work break for us.

Those who take part in the project meetings are more often than not members of different groups (of the same department). So one goal is to discuss problems and exchange ideas at a far less official level. Maybe it is because of this inofficial nature of the meeting that it is very likely to get some serious results. Yet the better part of this break is dedicated to subjects that are all but work-related.

Thinking of the brain as some kind of muscle, project 'Roasted Bean' is mainly dedicated to easing its tension. Aware of the fact that we are walking the thin line between procrastination and being creative we talk about things we find more relaxing or more thrilling than those that we just left for a couple of minutes on our desks in the offices - just to get rid of the knots in our brains. And most of the time we succeed in doing so.

Of course there are some colleagues who simply don‘t get the idea of project 'Roasted Bean'. Some of them seem to be able to work for up to four hours, have their one hour lunch break, and return to work for up to four hours again before leaving the office. They find it quite suspicious that some co-workers dare to devide the morning and the afternoon at their desk in half. And spending time with fellow workers others than those from the lunch posse or from the same group of the departement - that appears to be some sort of blasphemy to them.

Please, don‘t get me wrong: just because I myself find it hard to spend more than about three hours sort of focused on one particular subject without at least leaving my desk and walk around for a minute, there is nothing wrong with people who are able to do otherwise. Far from it. They have their own special way of working and dealing with their needs to get their work done. In the end it is about becoming and staying creative and productive.

Which is exactly the point: everyone has an individual way of working, and everyone has found or has to find an individual way of relaxation and recreation while at work. The only limiting aspects are the rules which are given by the employer. In case they leave the liberty to the employees to do what they found works best for them, it is up to them to act wisely - because the few that abuse this freedom and bend the rules might be the ones who make the rest suffer one day.

It doesn‘t have to turn out the bad way. And because there is nothing wrong with it where I work we will keep project 'Roasted Bean' alive as long as possible. It is such a great project, and I am happy to be a part of it, just like my colleagues.

What does your project 'Roasted Bean' look like? Tell me about it!

And - have a break.

Find Config.sys And Set Buffers To 99

2010-07-15T21:35:00.001+02:00

Sometimes meeting friends who bring their friends can be quite challenging. Starting with some kind of smalltalk it doesn‘t take too long until the Q&A games reach the what-do-you-do-for-a-living point. And while there are some jobs and occupations that simply receive the ah-interesting reply before the crowd just moves on to the next topic (or victim), there are some professions that almost instantly make all fun vanish and ruin the rest of the evening. At least for the poor blighter who‘s métier(s) have been unveiled.

Suddenly people want to know more. But sadly the conversations are not about the person that is surrounded almost instantly. All those present start to ask questions they expect this professional to answer. Without even trying to keep a low profile or at least asking for allowance to do so they go ahead. What they want are high-quality answers. For free.

It doesn‘t matter what they do for a living or how they have been raised. After the first question has been shot, more and more overcome their inhibitions and leave aside their good manners. Who cares why this specialist came here! Entertainment or just having a good time with friends? Never! A source of knowledge and experience that comes at no charge, that is what he or she just has become in their eyes and minds.

Witnessing such an act of human misbehaviour and rudeness is quite embarrassing. It makes me feel sick as well as sad for the one who falls victim to the audacity of the spongers. When trapped, there is only so much one can do without appearing to affront for no reason. And it is even harder when I find myself constrained to deal with it if it is me who is in the limelight.

Generally speaking I neither have a problem with sharing my humble knowledge and experience with people who ask me, nor helping them when they are in trouble and simply need some assistance. You may call it a question of honour, you may call it professional behaviour, you may even call it geeky: when someone asks me politely there must be very good reasons for not accepting the challenge. Long story short, under normal conditions people can count on me.

Yet those sudden Q&A sessions can really be a chore, especially when out with some friends to do and talk everything but work. It was some weeks ago when I met one of them and we had a nice afternoon chat, that we - for what reason ever - brought up this subject. With head shaking in disbelief he told me about his latest encounter of that special kind. And he revealed to me how he managed to escape the situation even though he had found himself trapped in some sort of tight spot.

He had been forced into a conversation about tweaking PCs to optimize them for gaming performance. While his interlocutors seemed to spend a lot of time on research on that matter my friend told them that he isn‘t exactly interested in PC gaming at all and pointed out that he might just not be a great help there. But that left the other guys unimpressed and they kept pushing him deeper into this conversation, forcing him to help them figure out some answers.

As they appeared to be very proud of their immense background knowledge they already had and which they were eager to show as if they were trying to compete with my friend, he couldn‘t help and made up a new strategy that he hoped would help him to get out of this conversation. ‘Well, I can see you‘ve already checked more options than I would‘ve ever been able to come up with. But I can think of another thing you could try. Find Config.sys and set buffers to 99.‘

The conversation died almost instantly. Obviously he found something to make his audience ponder about. They had to admit that they had never ever heard about that tweak and because of that it would sure be worth a try. Without even thanking him or apologizing for having him kept away from all the others for almost an hour they turned away. At least my friend was able to spend the rest of the evening the way it was supposed to be spent.

Ever since this evening, when he finds himself forced into some work-related talk he didn‘t ask for he simply waits for the moment to feel right and brings up this phrase. Find Config.sys and set buffers to 99. He is aware of the fact that it isn‘t exactly nice to offer people an advice of this kind but he keeps thinking of it as a means of self-defence. And after spending some moments reflecting on this I tend to agree. In a way.

I may have to mention that his advice will not have gotten his inquisitors very far. But following the suggestions will not have done them any harm either. They may have found themselves just waisting some time, trying to find the file in question and trying to modify it in the suggested way. One may call it their nemesis, at least it was some kind of poetic justice. Well, that is what we made of it. And talking about it made us smile.

How about you?

Welcome To The Shark Pool, Part 2

2010-07-05T20:52:00.005+02:00

For those who spent the last couple of years in a place far, far away from here (or maybe just underneath a stone): Welcome to The Information Age!

Oh yes, it is true: information is everywhere. It cannot be avoided, it reaches us almost everywhere, almost every time. Some people started moaning because of the sheer mass of information already over a decade ago. Yet the amount of it we have to deal (or put up) with keeps increasing on a daily, no, on an hourly basis. And along with the increasing amount, it becomes harder and harder to select the few precious bits, the rare lines of real value from this immense pile of information.

While this is or may be true for many of us and for big portions of our lives, there is a growing field where information is kept as secret as possible. No, I am not pointing to governments or their related institutions, even though this claim can be easily verified. (Which is saddening but a different story.) I am not talking about companies or people developing new ideas or products either. But we are getting closer.

I am talking about the endless, unexplored fields of daily work of any kind, where people like you and me rely on information, the flow of information amongst and within departments, teams and individuals. And it is pretty obvious that information is not only precious because of its pure value - information has become a kind of weapon in our daily work life.

While some companies and all or at least most of their employees are proud of having developed a corporate culture of dealing with information the right way, of sharing it and making it available to everyone (well, everyone working there and possibly needing information to make an even better job), there are companies that don't seem to care about it at all. The latter have very poor (if any) standards on sharing news and information and it doesn't take anybody by surprise that those places' work climate isn't exactly good or even acceptable - if there is anything like it at all.

People working for those companies have to spend an incredible amount of time to look for and bring together all those tiny bits of information they need to get their work done. But this isn't because there is no information at all or because it would be extremely difficult to share. No, in most cases information isn't at all or only partially shared because of self-serving deliberations.

It can be found quite often that employees keep information and knowledge to themselves to appear more valuable - and less replaceable. Even though this kind of (mis-)behavior makes it very hard for co-workers and subordinates to accomplish anything at all - what makes it even worse is that this way of acting is tolerated or even backed by supervisors and managers. And in some cases those disciplinarians achieve their own goals in a similar way.

When hearing about it, lots of people start shaking their heads in disbelief as there is a simple question leaving them confused: why? What are the reasons that make people act like this? Why do people accept to come up with second-best results if cooperation and sharing of information could help creating top quality products? How can it be that companies allow personal small-mindedness to get into their way of offering best services possible?

Maybe we can still find the use of mis- or non-information within companies because people are afraid. Fear has been and still is a powerful motivation. Even when told otherwise, there is a deep-rooted fear: the fear of being respected less, the fear of being considered less valuable or even redundant. And as it isn't exactly far-fetched that people can lose their jobs quite easily these days all of the behaviour discussed above may be a means of self-preservation.

While this may be true for some employees, others tend to use information as a weapon to make sure their image of superiority stays preserved. They simply need their co-workers to help them reach their own goals - and they don't care about the goals of the others at all. But as soon as this behavior becomes obvious, what is the reaction one could expect? Of course, it all ends like a game of ping-pong, keeping everyone busy (well, yes, most of the time employed too) - but delivering only average results. If any.

It would be naive to think this could be overcome easily. When finding yourself in a situation similar to the one described above there are three options how you can deal with it. First, you can try to accept it. Well, you can try. Good luck. But I doubt it would turn you into a happy camper. Second, you can try to bring on a change. While the first option only challenges you to stay mentally sane (and to stay who you are), this one requires additional efforts, strength and stamina. Last but not least, you can simply leave the situation. Even though it may turn out not to be that simple at all because of all the dependencies you have to take into account, well, it is an option.

So if you find yourself spending more than the better part of your working day hunting for informations that you think (or already found) should not be that hard to find in your company's pool of knowledge, experience and expertise you may find yourself swimming in a shark pool. And while you become aware of the dorsal fins around you, this may be the perfect time to give leaving that pool a second thought.

Just don't wait too long, something is already closing in on you...

The "21" Barrier

2010-06-30T07:33:00.005+02:00

Some myths are quite interesting and they become even more so the more one hears or learns about it. Others just stand there, right in front of you, like a youngster with a cheeky grin, hands on the hips, challenging you with words like 'C'mon, find out for yourself!'. Like that thing about The "21" Barrier.

The idea of what I call The "21" Barrier was first brought to my attention several months ago by a colleague while we were making fun of diets and discussing ways how to change eating habits. He could not remember where he had found the original article on this subject but he claimed that he had tried it and that it really worked. At least for him it did, he added.

Actually there is a lot of frightening or at least questionable stuff available on the web referring to something similar to this 21, some ideas appear reasonable (at least at the first glance) like The Martha's Vineyard Diet Detox. Making use of your favorite search engine you may find some interesting, some hilarious site connected to 21, or just start at WikiPedia.

But my intention here is neither to dig for mystics, nor start (yet another) discussion about conspiracy theories, far from it. I will rather tell you about two self-experiments that left me pondering that there could really be something about this 21 thing. There may be scientific research on the matter I am not aware of but seriously: who cares? Were are talking about goals and how to achieve them.

For me, this rule about keeping up for at least 21 iterations worked three times already, and each time it was a different goal. It has nothing to do with the personal ability to retain the new habit. Clearing that first hurdle will only work as long as one is really willing to bring on a change.

The first time I tried to deal with that barrier was at the very beginning of 2009. I had decided to start running again. I got me a training plan, I got my running clothes out of my wardrobe and, well, started. During the first two weeks it wasn't that hard to go for a run every other day. That changed in week number three and number four. It became a question of will and stamina. And I kid you not when I tell you that I really got used to it. After three months it felt like I was missing something when I had to skip a day's run. So, this one worked - for me.

The latest self-experiment with reference to The "21" Barrier has a different background. After being sick for quite a while I had gotten used to get up late. Having a nine-to-five job I knew I needed to change that. So I started getting up ten to 15 minutes earlier every day over a week. Finally I set my alarm clock to go off at a time in the morning I could deal with and make it to the office on time without stressing me. After sticking to that for two months now I have to say that it really makes getting up easier. Just a bit. So, this one worked too.

As I said there is nothing like a scientific proof of the existence of that "21" Barrier in particular but I validated it to work for me on multiple occasions. It appears to be related to drills and routines of almost any kind. Obviously when things start to happen almost automatically, that is when the hurdle is cleared. And as far as I am concerned it is quite fascinating to find another opportunity to test this and find it working time and time again.

Maybe next time when you have to bring on a change just give it a try - and find out about The "21" Barrier for yourself. Good luck! I mean it!

OK, I Will Go And Have A - What?

2010-06-25T19:10:00.002+02:00

Life is easy, isn't it? Getting some sleep, having some food from time to time, earn some money, go out and meet some friends - ad infinitum. At least that is what life is meant to look like according to most advertisements and at least some people I know (like my neighbor, but that is a completely different story).

I am almost embarrassed to say so but, well, I beg to differ. And this time it is not because I tend to have a point of view that is not exactly congruent with the public opinion. Maybe it is because I am worried easily, maybe it is because I ponder too much but somehow it never was that easy. I wonder why.

No, not really. I think I have at least an idea what is keeping me and maybe some of you too from living a life that easy. This is not to say that I hate my life, far from it. Obviously life really is what you make of it. Or more like what you achieve to build from the humble remains that are left at the end of the day. And the weekends of course.

So it turns out to be a fine art to live an easy life - or to have a life at all. Like with the arts there are limits, borders, rules one has to deal with, and even though the grass is always greener on the other side there is no trespassing. So, the point should be just to know (not necessarily accept) the limits and make the most of the room that is left. Quite easy, isn't it?

Many people have similar border lines in their lives. They have a nine-to-five job, which tends to be a eight-to-six job, commute not included, not to mention all the self-employed persons - or retirement pensioners. Some have families or a companion, maybe children who need (and sure should get) their attention. - Are these things really life's limitations? Or are they what really makes up a life?

Good question. What are the things that make up a life? The waves of promises and suggested wishes or secrecy desires the advertisements bring to us? Or the joyrides of all day long sun and fun? Is it about things or happenings at all or is it about the feeling we get (and keep) in the end, driven by the lot of our experiences and (sweet as well as sad) memories?

Well, I don't know. I am convinced that only few people really do because they found some answers. They foud *their* answers. And they live their life in their own special way. That said I think that this really is the key to it: their life, their way. So it is supposed to be your life you live your way - and my life I should live my way. (And for some reason a particular song by Mr. Sinatra comes to my mind... Anyway.)

In the end - or in the beginning - life is easy. It becomes just as complicated as you like or allow it to be. Sure, there are influences that are beyond our control. But at least there is no reason why one should let others dictate the way how to live a life and what to do with a life. As long as it makes you feel good and as long as hurting or annoying others is limited to a acceptable minimum everything is fine. Some like the life of a sweating squirrel with a mouth filled with nuts and trying to whistle a tune. (Special thanks to @lionape for this hilarious metaphor!) Other like to spend as much of their life as possible chilling and relaxing. Very well, just do it!

Life is easy. Go and have one - I will go and have mine. One day. Maybe.

Sitting Under The Tree, Part 4

2009-11-01T23:00:00.001+01:00

Well, hello: Welcome back under the tree! It's been a long, long time, hasn't it? Take a seat, have a cookie, some milk (if you like) - and enjoy! (Or just do whatever you do while reading blog postings. - Wait a minute. Sounds like "copy'n'paste". Nah, never mind.)

While I've been quite lazy, at least as for writing blog postings, folks at Twitter came up with some interesting new features. Giving that a second thought I should call them just "interesting" as they were not exactly new to the community. But let's take small steps, one after the other.

The features I'm talking about are "retweeting" and "lists". And looking back they are not exactly new to Twitter users, yet they are new in the way they are implemented. We all know that people find their way to work around limitations they are confronted with. What is interesting about it is that they manage to find some common ground and make this workaround work for many or even most of us.

One of those workarounds on Twitter is about what is called "retweeting". The original challenge was to publish a received update again (for what reason ever) in a way that it could be recognized in the timeline as re-published, as re-tweeted. To learn more about retweeting please visit the Twitter Fan Wiki or Mashable - to mention two possible resources.

You may find out that retweeting isn't just a workaround any longer but it has become a special part of the Twitter culture. As with being cited, being retweeted shows that the update must have been of some value for someone - and that someone has read the update! Don't laugh, think about it: imagine the amount of updates per second published on Twitter. And suddenly there is an update that is published once more. Maybe again and again. See? It is about influence too...

But my intention is not to explain the psychological aspects or those of group dynamics. Far from it. My point is that the community using Twitter has been using a way to deal with the challenge of republishing updates for months, for years. And it is still working.

Some weeks ago the folks at Twitter introduced their approach to that challenge. As they have the means and the tools at their hand, their interpretation of how to retweet is slightly different from the workarounds that have been in use for a long time. Using the web interface provided by Twitter, there is a button to be found next to each and every update offering the retweet option.

To learn more about it, please have a look at "Project Retweet: Phase One" by @biz on the Twitter Blog or a posting on that subject found on Mashable - or use the search engine of your choice to find out more about it.

As far as I am concerned, I don't see the point in the "official" retweet option provided by Twitter. Sure, it is nice, handy and, well, it is different. Yet to me, as I'm using Twitter for nine months now, the "traditional" way to retweet is somewhat more honest and maybe even more worth reading it.

Honest? Worth reading? Why? Because - assuming that the original update didn't make use of all the 140 characters - it leaves you some space to add your own comment. You can tell others what made you republish that tweet. You can add a comment on the original statement. You can add - value. In a way. The solution provided by Twitter lacks this options. Sad fact. But sure, they offer an option.

In the end it's up to you and me which way we prefer to retweet. All I can say is that there sure will be stuff worth retweeting. Well, at least I think so when taking a look at the list of people I am following... What brings me to the other new, errr, interesting feature: lists.

Lists. Lists? Indeed. Yet another way to manage the ones you are following? Yes. Again, let's take small steps, one after the other. Good places to start from may be the Twitter Fan Wiki (to get the idea of some traditional, workaround approach), "Soon to Launch: Lists" by @nk on the Twitter blog, or Mashable.

Since I joined Twitter I came across lots of sites offering some kind of help in building groups made up of people using Twitter. There were and there are different reasons why trying to do so. One sure is to help people to get in touch with others that are sharing similar interests - whatever that might be. Even though I only use sites and services like that in a passive way (registering, signing in and leaving again), I can see: it might be useful. Another reason, especially for creating groups offline (within the Twitter client of your choice), is laziness and pretending.

Confused? Why would it be lazy to use groups? Why would I call someone using groups a pretender? Well, it is about numbers. Again. This time it is about the number of people one can follow on Twitter - and still read what they are writing. Think about it: do you read all of the tweets published by the people you are following? (Sure, if you are not using Twitter, never mind.)

Building groups or lists may help those who are following lots of people to keep in touch with and read the updates of those people they are really interested in. And the rest? Well, the rest, they may feel better as the one they are following did follow back. Or something like that. I leave that to your imagination. The point is that in case one is following hundreds or thousands of people one needs to organize and prioritize. In that case groups have been the tool of choice ever since.

Now Twitter offers its own group-building tool. They call it lists. And it is a clever approach: you can have public and private ones! Private lists instantly make sense as they are very much like the group tools other Twitter clients offer. As they offer similar functionality they are ideal for those who like to follow more people but want to read less tweets at the same time. But it is only one possible use.

Others are very similar to those offered by online services: building groups of people (one is following) because of a subject, an interest, of interesting content - and show this collections to others. That way everyone interested can easily find new feeds with possibly interesting updates. From that point of view lists can be some kind of extension to the use of hashtags. In the end it is up to everyone on Twitter interested in the lists feature to find out for themselves what lists can be used for.

As far as I am concerned, especially private lists have the aftertaste of some kind of betrayal. I would feel like a pretender if I would use a private list to read only updates of some of the people I am following. Sure, I played around and have set up some lists. But in the end, to me only reading the classic feed summary feels right. That is why I will stay with my principles: only follow people with (kind of) interesting updates and only as many as can seriously be read.

So, what are the lists about you are going to build? Well, go out there and have fun finding out! (You may find some hints and some help reading another article on Mashable.)

Me? I will lean back and sit here, whisteling my own tunes from time to time - and listen to the birds tweeting. Sitting under the tree.

CU - GU!

The Runner, Part 3

2009-05-30T18:02:00.003+02:00

Even though I didn't write about it for a couple of weeks (well, yes, two months already), there has been progress. A small kickback too, because of a bad cold I had cought, but things like that happen, don't they?

Anyway. As predicted I gave third week's plan that extra loop. Same happend with fourth week's program - which looked like that:

running: 4x 6:00 minutes, intermediate walking: 1:30 minutes
rest
running: 3x 8:00 minutes, intermediate walking: 1:30 minutes
rest
running: 4x 6:00 minutes, intermediate walking: 1:30 minutes
rest

This week (number five, just to stay with that) was made up of the following steps:

running: 4x 8:00 minutes, intermediate walking: 1:30 minutes
rest
running: 3x 10:00 minutes, intermediate walking: 1:30 minutes
rest
running: 4x 8:00 minutes, intermediate walking: 1:30 minutes
rest

I changed the original plan at day three. The makers suggested 2x 10:00 minutes of running which appeared to me to be too much of a difference compared to day one and day five. I will have to wait and see if this was a clever decision.

Because of the blood donation on Monday (yes, onother one - I do this on a regular basis) I don't feel up to the mark at the moment. For that reason I will re-do days three through six at least one more time. No need to hurry.

CU - GU!

Why I've become a Mac - but stayed a PC too

2009-05-19T23:40:00.001+02:00

First of all I think it's best that I make my point: In my humble opinion there is no such thing as an overall superior computer system! Each and every computer system brings its pros and cons. And as with every tool different computer systems are of different use in different cases. I'm very short on that, but I don't see any point on further discussion here. (Feel free to leave a comment anyway.)

Well, that's almost the answer to the headline question why I've become a Mac but stayed a PC too.

When I look back, I think I considered getting a Mac first time two decades ago. Back then, this was the time of those great machines powered by the 68k processor families by Motorola. These days I had just made the leap from a Commodore VC20 (anybody remember this one?) to the IBM PC compatible Commodore PC10-III. At that point it was just great because it was what I needed to follow computer science classes and go beyond that. A friend of mine and me had some good times developping our own, well, let's call it a GUI. But it was just far, far away from that DR GEM desktop!

Right from the start I really loved the idea of GUI! And I tried so very hard to get one of those Commodore AMIGA or an Atari ST. But even back then I was very short on money. Only thing left for me was a lot of reading. I think that was when I fell in love with the Mac. It was different, it had that very special way to use it - it had options delivered by default others didn't deliver even as add-on. And besides graphics it was all about music. Later on the AMIGA and the ST became popular in those areas too. But they just wern't Macs. And I had to stick to good old PC.

After the failure of DR GEM, MS took its chances with Windows which became, well, let's call it pretty much mainstream. I joined using Windows 3.1/3.11 which came along with my first notebook. Must have been back then when networked computers became popular even for small companies. Never mind. I cared and I got myself involved by means of Novell NetWare and Micosoft Windows NT (moving from 3.x to 4.0).

On the other hand I loved to make music ever since. (And I still do.) Visiting a dear friend at his studio now and then I met again those Atari ST and of course those Macs. And amazing stuff we produced using tools on a Mac. It was easy, a snap - and a good idea became a good song or score. It became obvious that I had to get one of those machines! My notebook was ready to record basic demos but this stuff was just great - on top of the ease of use the Macs provided ever since.

As time went by, just some more years, I became more and more involved with company IT. It became obvious that I had to do something to show some of my skills not just to fellow IT pros but to HR staff to. So I became certified and it isn't hard to imagine which programs were on top of my list. There were lots of challenges and most of the time it was fun figuring out ways for IT environments to become a real company value. And I took lots of work home with me to plan and test solutions I had on my mind.

About three years ago I started to question a lot of things. I mean it. Amongst those habits was that modern man's model railroad too: Why still play around with workrelated stuff at home, rendering private equipment unusable from time to time? Why not just have some machine that just works? I had become tired of fixing my personal equipment, pushing it to some limits, bringing on changes - just like a model railroad.

Searching the Apple homepage for a reseller close to me, I fond one quite close to me. I drove by and asked for a test drive. - Playing around with that MacBook it struck me like lightning! It didn't even take an hour to be sure that this was the remedy! So when I brought back this little white thing I placed the order. A week later I received my first Mac...

Today I'm writing these lines using my third Mac (a MacBook Pro, to be more precise). And I'm still in love with the technique and still find it amazing that it, well, just works. I'm still with IT business and I'm still bringing on solutions to keep the company's IT up and running and stepping forward. But it's a reliefe to return home and find a machine that just works. That's it and I love it! It's the simple things in life that make you feel good. Me too.

And that is why I've become a Mac but stayed a PC too.

So, what's your story? Feel free to let me know - I'm curious!

CU - GU!

Welcome To The Shark Pool, Part 1

2009-04-21T23:20:00.002+02:00

Welcome and thank you for joining me!

First of all I have to make a confession: Yes, I'm a geek and I've been working within IT business as a pro for more than a decade now. (Sounds like introducing myself to the Net-addicts Anonymous: 'Hi, my name is Gunter and I'm a net-addicted geek.') Anyway, that's the way it is. Over all I've been involved with IT related stuff for about 25 years now. Let's say I've seen some things out here. And overall I have to say that I like it.

Still. But who knows. As Bob Dylan already stated: 'The Times They Are A-Changin''.

Looking back on the years as an IT pro I sure subscribe to that line. And I have to say that I don't like what I see today. No, not everything's been better these days, of course not. But am I the only one who's struck by shiverings while looking at the working enviroment of the current times? (Though I hope that I'm not - who knows?)

I think that there have been only few changes to job postings all over the years. If there's a vacancy to fill in IT, employers ever since have been looking for a kind of swiss army knife, some kind of jack of all trades - someone bringing quite a number of skills (including the ability to walk on water, even in summer time) drawing just a single salary. One of the skills that have always been on those wish lists is the capacity for teamwork. Am I mistaken?

No, of course I'm not! You sure agree with me that the ability to work in a team ever since has been not only a "plus" but a "must have" - for some good reasons. Looking back I'm pretty convinced that the start-up I joined in my early years in IT only did succeed because (almost) everybody was able to work in teams. It's never been just a job to do. It's been hard work, but it was fun solving the problems we were facing. We had our focus on solutions within the IT department itself as well as in in co-operation with all the other departments. That's been our passion, that was what we were real pros in. We didn't really care who might take the credit for something! We were so passionate about making things work for our colleagues and for the company, it has been pure pleasure. We just did it. That was then.

Strange things happened later on. Like dark clouds gathering in the sky, the culture of teamwork changed to its worse. It appears to me that it's no longer about solutions and what's best for the customers. You may call me thin-skinned and maybe you're right (kind of, at least) - but it feels quite cold outside in day-by-day IT business. I may have been in, well, let's call them "suboptimal" places for the last years. That may be. But talking to my former colleagues I can't fight the feeling that this isn't about individual luck but more about decreasing manners, demoralizing thousands of highly qualified and skilled people. (That's not to say that I have that manny former colleagues. Those can almost be counted on the fingers of both hands.)

Today it is more and more about individaul credit. Sure, still teams are formed because forces need to be merged and concentrated to get and deliver best results (whatever that means in the long run). But more and more the habits within teams and in between team members have changed. We started to stalk each other, waiting for moments of weakness to step to the center of the stage. We try to elbow or way through to be the one who's stepping into the light by the end of a project, to be the one who raises the cheer. Even though that is not the reality behind the scenes, success is considered to be the result of a single man's efforts. On the other hand, if it's a failure it's the team who failed. Quite simple - but fair?

Who cares about "fair"? Who cares about "working atmosphere"? Who cares about "quality" or "sustainability" of the implementation? It's about "hit and run"!

Welcome to the shark pool!

Depressed now? Believe me, I'm really sorry to hear that! But what am I supposed to do about it? Even though I tend to say that the glass is half full I can't play down the facts or at least what I'm facing nowadays. - And if I manage to make a series of postings out of it be assured: It will not be dedicated to complaining or whinig! If I can work it out you will find some neat small stories. Some of them may make you knowingly grin or nod, some of them may make you shake your head in incomprehension. After all even nowadays work can be entertaining, no? Well then, let's see what the future holds! Until then...

Welcome to the shark pool!

CU - GU!

Sitting Under The Tree, Part 3

2009-04-20T21:40:00.001+02:00

Welcome back again, sitting under the tree. Pleased to meet you (again), great to have you around! Especially nowadays when it appears to be hunting season on Twitter!

What? Wait a minute: hunting season? Good question - no, I didn't lose my mind! (Not yet, even though some may have noticed that I'm working on it.) Yes, hunting season!

Just a few days ago we could follow (did we?) the race between Ashton Kutcher (@aplusk) and CNN (@cnnbrk). Race? For what? A race for follower no. 1.000.000. I won't get into details here. I'd like to focus on that figure: 1.000.000. Maybe you can already imagine my face when @m140z suggested (were they serious?) a similar kind of celeb race for followers in Germany. Reading my own lines, this still makes me shake my head. Anyway.

Just a week or something before that happened, @AppleInvestor (aka @Twitlinker aka @JavaChief) brought my attention to a similar playground. There are a lot of people out there trying to sell nothing less than the ultimate way to gain thousands of followers. 10.000, 15.000, 25.000 - chosse a number, it's up to you! Just hand'em the cash and they will take care. Well, they may - or may not. To be honest, that doesn't take us anywhere here. Again it's in those numbers.

Wow. I can remember the day I started tweeting I was completely blown away as I saw that the counter for followers had changed from 0 to 1, went up to 2 some hours later. Imagine: There's someone out there who's kind of interested in what you've got to say! And it's even more flattering that the number of followers did rise even higher. It's amazing to me!

But why would I feel the need push it? That's the question that's going round in my mind! To me it is one thing if you stay in one place long enough and just find an audience (or real friends, that's left to your proper definition). That may be by chance, that may be because of recommendation (as you may find in tradition of #followfriday or something similar). At least that's my kind of naive approach. Well, I like it - and a couple of people out there appear to like it that way too.

@AppleInvestor brought the idea to me (not personally but by his tweets) that you can use techniques to improve the number of followers. I'm not quite sure if he's serious about it. But assuming he's taking his own medicine it sure works out for him and it's an impressing number of followers he gained, that's for sure. But while reading his re-appearing tweets on that topics a single question came to my mind: Why would I do that?

Sure, his ideas are still kind of a classic approach on it. And he's completely right when he asks again and again: Why would I believe in someone who's trying to sell me followers for money? Why would I believe it's a one-way road that ups my follower counter by a single kick-start? And why would I believe those people won't get back on me, asking for more, offering more?

There is one point in all that, that's for sure, and I think that's why those "salesmen" get a grip on quite a number of people: Many people are around on social networks to make a show of how popular they are, how well-known they are - and they just do believe in that! They don't care about a single follower. They don't care about what they're tweeting and how they interact with their so-called network. They need the biggest house with the biggest pool and the latest Ferrari (continue if you like). That's all.

My conclusion is that - as with most things, especially on the social networks - you're much better off when you just don't judge the book by ist cover. Talking about me, I just started to develop my network on Twitter. But I already found some very, very interesting people out there. Some tweets are just entertaining, some tweets deliver interesting news or great advices. And one starts to get involved: One sends a reply here, gets a direct message there and vice versa. One gets into contact, one gets part of it.

Talking about me, that's my understanding of a social media network. And that is what I learned to like within and about Twitter. There are just great people out there like @JustTooBusy, @markshaw, @ScottGiorgini, @NinaRoosen, @nencetti - just to mention a few of those I am pround of to be in touch with. (All of you, my dear followers, that I didn't mention: I beg your pardon! Space and time are quite limited, you know...) To me it's the old story about "give and take" - I will not get into details on that here. It's just my point I want to make here: It's the respect and the exchange between people that counts - not the numbers (neither of followers nor of tweets)!

In my humble opinion there's no need to be jealous of someone's follower network growing faster than the own one. It's just not about the numbers, it's about the people and the network! There sure is a reason, but who cares. Just share that co-tweeter's happiness about his touch, that he just found his domain and that so many people seem to like it.

On the other hand - and I'm serious about that - I think one can be pround and even more feel honored if there is just one single person out there who follows one's tweets: There must be just something about it! So that is great - and suddenly there are two people who care! (Maybe just the beginning.)

That said, I want to invite everybody who managed to read through this that far to leave a comment, just to let me (and others) know what your opinion is on that! And feel free to contact me via Twitter: It is all about communication and connection!

Now I will lean back again, calm down, and start listening again to the birds singing their songs right here, right now - with me sitting under the tree.

CU - GU!

("Hello friend, welcome home!")

For Absent Friends

2009-04-19T02:25:00.001+02:00

Don't know how it happend. But somehow I did it. No, I didn't: I didn't post a single word for more than a month now! Shame one me! - Hm. And even now I just got carried away, distracted now and again. Oh, well, why not: Even fun is no fun any more when taken too serious. Seriously!

To be honest I had some slight health issues that made me drift around more than take step after step right ahead. It's annoying, but your lacking any spiritedness and any drive so you just let it go. I apologize but that's exactly what I did - still it's nothing I am pround of.

Anyway, here we go again! I'm already working on updates on "The Runner" (not much here, as I told you aleady) and "Sitting Under The Tree" (well, here we've got some things that just hit me). In addition I'm currently collecting stuff for something that may work out as a series too. What do you think of a headline like "Welcome To The Shark Pool!"? (Doesn't that sound like the most lovely place you could think of to be in?)

Well, that said I have to pick up some loose ends, haven't I?

CU - GU!

For those who didn't notice: the headline is borrowed from Genesis' "Nursery Cryme", track #2.
Did I mention that I like those old records?

The Runner, Part 2

2009-03-14T19:30:00.003+01:00

Oh, yes, I'm still on it. Today I started the third week's program:

running: 6x 4:00 minutes, intermediate walking: 1:30 minutes
rest
running: 4x 6:00 minutes, intermediate walking: 1:30 minutes
rest
running: 6x 4:00 minutes, intermediate walking: 1:30 minutes
rest

Maybe I have to insert an extra loop. That depends on how much I loose shape after the blood donation on Monday. Anyway, I will keep with it 'cos it still feels that good - and I'm closing in on the 7km limit!

CU - GU!

Sitting Under The Tree, Part 2

2009-03-08T21:58:00.011+01:00

Well, hello: Welcome under the tree again! Take a seat, take a cookie, some milk (if you like) - and enjoy! (Or just do whatever you do while reading blog postings.)

I've been around here for a couple of days now. Thereby "here" means as much as with Twitter. And it's quite a place, sure it is. Sometimes it's just amusing, sometimes it makes me think.

One point I came across is the follower-following-ratio that can be found amongst the accounts. It's amazing, just figure it out: people following hundreds of feeds! - What brings me to the question that suddenly stroke me: is it possible to really, seriously follow that many tweets a day?

I made up my mind a little bit on that. Aware of the saying what assuming can make of you and me I'll do it anyway: Let's assume that the good old 80/20 rule works for this one too. Which one? Oh, yes. Thinking about 100 feeds to be followed, 20 of them might create 80 percent of the tweets. If those people are less active that may lead to about 20 tweets per hour. That's all right. But what happens in case these people have quite a mind and things to say? That can lead to about 40 to 60 tweets an hour - one tweet every minute!

Now, let's step back and take a look. One tweet every minute, at least every two minutes. What about all the people out there complaining 'bout more-than-full e-mail inboxes? Am I the only one to find that a little bit strange?

Let's change point of view a little bit: Who's to read it? Again back to e-mail for comparison. There are junk filters, spam filters, inbox rules and a lot more stuff to do filtering on what's coming in. (Well, that's why it's called inbox. Never mind.) But that's done because you sometimes just don't have a choice on what you get and who might send a message to you. And after all, honestly, a lot of messages remain in the inbox (or a subfolder) kind of unread. (No, don't lie to me...)

Back to the lovely tweets. In most cases you have a choice. You choose which feeds you'd like to follow. That may be because it's entertaining, useful or anything else. But again I'll do an assumption: you only follow tweets because you read them (most of the time). - Remember the figures from above? One tweet every minute? Can that be done? Honestly?

I don't want to give answers here. It is a very personal thing. Some people just can't get enough whereas others are overstrained quite easily. Everyone has to judge this for himself. (Please pardon my political incorrectness.) It just came to my mind...

I know of a small experiment performed by @jadito. He just asked for a reply using the words "read" in the message. He wanted to find out how many of the following/followers really read and tend to the messages they receive. I may be mistaken by the proper goals of the experiment but as far as I learned the result was quite disillusioning - even though it was expectable.

Another good point is that some people just have a life. (Yes, they have!) @nencetti asked: "If I am too busy to use Social Media sites, does hat make me Anti-Social Media?" Quite a question, isn't it? Many people "like social media", but "never have the time. Day job, marriage, life, etc." Good points I think.

So, how many feeds with tweets you can follow seriously? Yes, it depends, that's right. Everyone of us is different. That's how it's meant to be. That's why everybody can feel free to ask the question and answer it for himself. (Don't get me 'bout the political incorrectness!) As far as I am concerned, I am about to follow 50 feeds - and I am about to draw the line there. Just have to see how much noise, er, tweets there will be during the next couple of days.

Until then I will sit here, whisteling my own tunes from time to time - and listen to the birds tweeting. Sitting under the tree.

CU - GU!

The Runner, Part 1

2009-03-07T22:03:00.004+01:00

To be honest, I am not an ace at all - never been. But I like sports, I really do. Basketball is my favorite team game. I just love it. (Note to myself: Look for a local old men's team.)

But it's no fun at all as long as you're in a bad shape. That's the reason why I am running for training. As a part-time runner I have to start over every year after winter's break. Today the second week has just begun.

Here's how I started over last week:

running: 6x 2:00 minutes, intermediate walking: 1:30 minutes
rest
running: 4x 3:00 minutes, intermediate walking: 1:30 minutes
rest
running: 6x 2:00 minutes, intermediate walking: 1:30 minutes
rest

And here's second week's program:

running: 6x 3:00 minutes, intermediate walking: 1:30 minutes
rest
running: 4x 5:00 minutes, intermediate walking: 2:00 minutes
rest
running: 6x 3:00 minutes, intermediate walking: 1:30 minutes
rest

As I said, second week has just begun. It's not exhausting; key point is discipline and constancy - well, I think that's why it's called training. And it feels good after all.

CU - GU!

The Art Of Noise

2009-03-05T22:00:00.002+01:00

Even though it's months now that I moved to my new flat I haven't neither been able nor motivated to unpack and set up all I brought here. All in all happening step by step - very small steps. Anyway, looks that it's time to start doing it.

While waiting for my just ordered 17"MBP it's time to prepare for one of it's major uses: Home recording and producing demos.

Haven't done any of this stuff for quite a time. The last recordings I did seriously date back about 10 years. Jeez! I just made up my mind about the equipment I used:

Escom Paradigma 486 notebook
MS Win 3.11 (instead of DR GEM)
Steinberg Cubasis
Steinberg PCmidi (parallel)
Yamaha QY20
Yamaha MDF-1
Yamaha PSS-480
BOSS BX-4 mixer
AIWA tape deck

The results were quite impressive - for demo recordings. And I've had some real fun doing that stuff. And, you know, words can only say so much - it's hard to express...

Time went by. A lot of things happened that brought even more changes to my life. A lot of them sure worth telling another time.

For a couple of years I'm a proud owner/user of a MacBook. Again and again it's quite impressing what is possible using this thing. Even the bundled stuff can help you produce quite a few things. Arranged some sweet backing tracks for remixing with the free loops already for example.

Now I'm about to set up my small home recording corner again:

17" MacBook Pro (can't wait for delivery)
GarageBand (may switch to Logic express later)
M-Audio MIDISPORT 2x2 (Anniversery Edition)
Yamaha QY20 (still have this "notebook")
Yamaha PSS-480 (yes, still there)
BOSS BX-4 mixer (for other audio sources)

And maybe, yes, maybe I'll even get a guitar (electric one, nice sound, more options).

I think that will be a lot of fun. And maybe I will post the one or the other demo track here (or link it, more likely). That way all can enjoy (like it - or not) the art of noise.

CU - GU!

Sitting Under The Tree, Part 1

2009-03-02T21:06:00.001+01:00

All right, here we go. But what is in a name - or a headline? Well, let me try to explain.

I'm not quite new to that world of networked computers, not really. Curiosity and exaltation for the new things to discover using well-known tools have driven me to use Twitter and start this blog. Kind of late compared to others, but anyway.

Now, here I am, sitting under the tree. Which tree you might ask. Sorry, let me explain. Those of you who know be sure know which company I'm addicted to. That company's logo not always has been a fruit only. Anyone remember the first one? (Search Wikipedia or Google, sure will find, what I'm writing about.) So, I may write on my experience on these products from time to time.

But now for the other tree, let me call it Twitter tree. Yes, after all I joined this community with a smile on my face. The stories about the beginning of Twitter in mind I wasn't sure at all if I would stay for long. No need to repeat the questions that were running through my mind - many others have left their notes on it on The Net.

Let me tell you, I'm no longer looking for a sense in Twitter. I still have a smile on my face when it comes to Twitter. It might lack sense frome time to time, but it can be just fun. Nothing more, nothing less. So I'm sitting under the tree with all it's birds and listen to them, tweeting.

From time to time it can be quite noisy. Following some of the people, you might find you in front of a wave of messages exchanged between them. That's what I call noisy - just like startled birds. Nayway, that's part of Twitter, like it or not.
But there are times of silence, too. Noone you follow has a thing to write about, you yourself have neither. Looking at the Public Timeline, things are going slow there, too. As annoying as the noise might be, the silence is strange to me frrom time to time.

Sitting under the tree you have to live with the droppings. Spam is everywhere, and the wave of spam sure still has to strike Twitter. Until then you just have to learn to recognize this stuff. And followers aren't all that counts.
On the other hand some birds in the tree are almost unhearable, but their tweets are that sweet you don't want to miss a single one. I call myself lucky to come across some of those tweets now and then. It's kind of an inspiration from time to time. Others just are, well, nice.
Last but not least some birds are around that take the word too serious: "Eat like a bird, poop like an elephant." I'm pretty sure that these words by Guy Kawasaki are terribly mistake from time to time. (Note to myself: Think about it!)

Well, but after all I like to sit here, whisteling my own tunes from time to time - and listen to the birds tweeting. Sitting under the tree.

CU - GU!

Solving the problems...

2009-02-28T15:30:00.000+01:00

... I didn't have before starting this page. No fun.

I liked the easy start but the rusult is, well, mainstream. Not that I wouldn't like parts of mainstream. And the page looks all right for a point to start from. But it needs work.

Well, yes.

Maybe I should focus now on work I have to do in real life. Here we go...

Different?

2009-02-28T14:48:00.000+01:00

Well, yes: Hello!

Welcome to this place that might turn into a blog.

I'm still a little bit uncertain how to start...

Anyway, let's go and find it out.

CU - GU!