[Smalltalk]

Football Fun

Being at home, sick with some damn infection, I created my first YouTube movie.
So I present to you a collection of the finest moments the Austrian national football team had during the European Championships 2008.

My apologies to the unknown guy who first came up with this kind of parody (starring the Swiss football team) and to our national football team who, despite clearly being the by far superior team on the field (as every Austrian football expert noted), lost their first match against Croatia 0:1. Life ist not fair. Get over it.

The Subprime Primer

A funny explanation of the subprime crisis (via twitter.com/codinghorror)

Mac OS X 10.5.2

The latest update to Mac OS X is out. This time the update has been eagerly awaited by me. I am currently installing it, but from the change log it looks promising:

Updates Stacks with a List view option, a Folder view option, and an updated background for Grid view. [Thank You!]
Addresses legibility issues with the menu bar with an option to turn off transparency in Desktop & Screen Saver preferences. [Not so much an issue for me, but lots of users complained.]
Adjusts menus to be slightly-less translucent overall.
Fixes an issue with deleting messages located in the Drafts folder. [Interestingly, I experienced this bug lately.]
Fixes an issue in which the body of email messages with certain MIME structures may not be displayed. [Thank you. No I can read my GULP mailings again (without reverting to viewing the raw message source)]

If this holds what it promises, my current issues with 10.5 are pretty much solved. Thank you, Apple.

Cup and Plate

Maria found some interesting looking old dish in her mother's attic. Unfortunately, the plate does not match the cup. So, if by chance anyone has a cup that matches the plate, or plate that matches the cup that's no longer needed, please contact us or leave a comment. Thanks!

The Steve Jobs Keynote in 60 Seconds

All you need to take away from the Mac World Keynote, in just 60 seconds. Hilarious.

From Mahalo, via Presentation Zen.

Badonkadonk

Quads are pretty lame - after all, everyone and their brother-in-law already have one. So, if you really want to be cool, you'll have to drive a Badonkadonk Land Cruiser/Tank (with a 500 Watt sound system). Sold at Amazon for $19,999.95. A bargain for something that looks like it comes straight out of a Star Wars movie.

Happy 1/2 Birthday, Annika

Annika turned 6 months today, so it's time to record her first characters typed on a computer keyboard:

xgsasasssssssssssssssssssssssssssssyxdxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxnfg gfvvvvv

I'll leave an interpretation of above text to the reader.

How To Be a Disruptor

An interesting article by Marten Mickos, the MySQL CEO, on sandhill.com on how to build a successful Open Source business.

Addicted to Apple?

62%How Addicted to Apple Are You?

Could have been worse...

Introducing embeddedlinux.at

Today I have launched a new weblog, embeddedlinux.at, dedicated to news and information for German-speaking Embedded Linux developers. Some news have already been posted.

Now Navigating With GPS

Tuesday I finally bought a GPS navigation system for my car. The main reason was that I needed to visit a company in Munich yesterday, and I did not want to drive right through Munich with just a MapPoint printout. After some market research, I chose to get a Garmin Nüvi 250W. During the drive to Munich, the device got it's first real test when I got stuck in a traffic jam and hit the "reroute" button, which then nicely guided me out of the mess. So far I'm quite happy with the device. It does what it's supposed to and does not get in the way. I also really like the widescreen display.

BTW, does anyone know what OS Garmin uses in these devices? They are using a few open source packages, including the eXpat XML parser and the Freetype font engine.

Lignano Vacation

I spent a great last week with my family in Lignano, Italy. Although having been there before many times, this time I made a few surprise discoveries. First is ristorante Da Salvatore, a new restaurant in Via Centrale (west to the shopping street), serving great Pasta, Pizza and sea food. The other one is the Tahiri Restaurant and Beach Club, at the end of the Lungomare, next to Marina Punta Faro. Looks quite exclusive from the outside, but the prices (at least for drinks) are okay. Plus the atmosphere is great. The best place to drink an Espresso or Latte Macchiato at the beach, with a nice view of the Marina and the boats going in an out.

New Apple Stuff

New iMac - Nice. Cool new keyboard. New iLive, new iWork (love that new animation feature in Keynote). Time for a software update. The coming trip to Chicago comes in handy. Gotta save a few bucks thanks to the current dollar exchange rate ;-)

And .Mac is taking Ajax to a new level. Crazy stuff. Flickr can play catch-up now.

A Thunderstorm

Filmed with my Cyber-shot, then exported a static image.

Back at Work

After two lighter weeks (less work, more fun; although I usually have lots of fun at work, too), I am back at full working speed. I finally have to get POCO 1.3.1 out the door, then work on a customer project for the rest of the month. I'll also throw in a few days at the beach in Italy with my family end of this month.

You know, working in a place where other people come to for their holidays has some drawbacks. Mostly having to with getting oneself motivated for work on a beautiful sommer day.