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Meet at the Patent Office in Vienna · 31.05.05

On Thursday, 2nd of june manifestations against the eu software patent directive will take place all over the continent. Especially in Vienna protesters will meet in front of the european patent office.

The meeting starts june 2nd 2005 at 18:00 CEST right in front of the european patent office at Rennweg 2. Procession will start at 18:30 passing Schwarzenbergplatz, Industriellenvereinigung and the Ring. End will be around 19:45 CEST at Ballhausplatz.

Furthermore, to express your concern about the current effort to patent algorithms, you need to know whom to. Here is a page with contact information on the members of european parliament.

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Schon Sommer Gewesen · 30.05.05

Das ging ja flott dieses jahr. Kaum ist das erste wochenende mit temperaturen ueber 25Grad Celsius vorbei, fegen schon herbststuerme das laub durch die strassen. Das geht ja ziemlich effizient zu mit den jahreszeiten. Sind das bereits die auswirkungen des "Vierten Gesetzes fuer moderne Dienstleistungen am Wettermarkt"?

Was muss ich da noch lesen beim BMWA? "Der arbeitsmarkt ist der schluessel zur entfesselung der wachstumsmaerkte". Yeah, unleash the dragon ...

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Oui Ou Non · 30.05.05

'iermit erklaere isch die 'eutige tag, zu die 'tag des franzoesische akzent' ... uend eroeffne ihn mit eine sitat von die presidong Chirac: "Die polnische regierueng 'at eine 'ervorragende gelegen'eit verpasst zue schweigen."

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Successful Line · 29.05.05

By the way, I herewith declare

request.setCharacterEncoding("UTF8");

last weeks most efficient line. Consider this line whenever a service that http-requests your classes is updated by it's vendor and your classes provide weird results after that.

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Oopps, It Wasn't Me · 27.05.05

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The Gulag of Our Times · 26.05.05

Amnesty International accuses the current US administration of having built the Gulag of our times. Spokesman Scott McClellan of the Whitehouse considers these allegations ridiculous, since the US government brought peace and freedom to five million out in Iraq and Afghanistan. Oh no, sorry, he did not say 'peace'. He only said freedom.

So, Spokesman McClellan, there is a severe problem you have. It can occur at almost any time and does harm to any word you say. How come? You chose to leave the sound grounds of the Geneva Convention by defining a new status 'unlawful combatant'. You chose to hold people, who you labelled 'unlawful combatant' under most intransparent conditions in Abu Ghraib, in Baghram Air Base and in Guantanamo. You chose to try to redefine the term 'torture'. You chose to send prisoners to countries, where the dirty job of torturing is commonly carried out. There is no independent institution observing, there is no access to a proper lawyer, There is not even a law case.

"In the US, almost a year after the Supreme Court decided that detainee in Guantanamo should have access to judicial review, not one single case from among the 500 or so detained has reached the courts because of stonewalling by the Administration."
[amnesty.org]

There is nothing left to those, who you labelled 'unlawful combatant'. So, what does the world hold in its hands to judge? To judge the allegations put against you by the Red Cross, by Amnesty International, by the FBI. We have nothing but your word. Well, no, there is more then your word. There is evidence. But the evidence, we have seen, speaks against you. The pictures we have seen are the only tangible evidence we have to judge. The rest is rumours, true or not, who knows. Now, Mr. Spokesman, what is difference between Guantanamo and Gulag? The climate and the nutrition. The idea of depriving people from there very fundamental rights is the same. Therefore, the concept is the same. Hence, AI is right when it tells you, that you built the Gulag of our times ...

... and there is nothing ridiculous about that.

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Zwergenaufstand · 25.05.05

'Das Oskarchen mecht gern fir ein linksbuendnis aus PDS und WASG antreten' weiss Reuters heut zu berichten. Richtig, das Oskarchen hat noch so verschiedene rechnungen offen, bei seinem alten verein, weswegen er dorten den groesstmoeglichen schaden anrichten will und danach am liebsten noch selber wieder seine naiv froehliche sechziger jahre oekonomie predigen, im hohen hause, nicht in mediokren talkrunden. Was das Oskarchen aber vergisst: Die PDS hat schon einen 'Zwerg Nase'.

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"African Village" im Zoo Augsburg · 24.05.05

[English Abstract, Contacs and Activities]

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There Goes Your Data · 24.05.05

Where goes your data? First it goes here:

MCI Inc. is evaluating new corporate security technologies following the theft of a notebook computer containing personal information on around 16,500 current and former employees, the company said today.
[Computerworld]

... and afterwards it goes there:

Bank of America Corp. and Wachovia Corp. are among the big banks notifying more than 670,000 customers that account information was stolen in what may the biggest security breach to hit the banking industry.
[CNN Money]

... there is no thing like 'informational self-determination', even though German supreme court postulated it in a 1983 decision.

(via Kantel, BoingBoing)

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Der Meiser · 24.05.05

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MP for Bethnal Green and Bow · 22.05.05

Just in case you missed this. There was a hearing last week, in which a senator Coleman wanted to interview George Galloway, Respect M.P. for Bethnal Green and Bow, U.K.. M.P. Galloway was one of the most active anti war protagonists in the U.K. when Mr. Bush's administration started it's attempt to proliferate freedom to Iraq. Why would Mr. Coleman like to interview Mr. Galloway? Apart from being anti war, hence anti-freedom-proliferation, Mr. Galloway had alledgedly made a fortune by exploiting U.N.'s oil-for-food program. This he did by doing illegal oil deals with Saddam Hussein.

M.P. Galloway already won trials against two newspapers that accused him likewise and with the same evidence, which was false evidence. This was common knowledge last week.

Senator Coleman must be a very arrogant person. At least he appears to be, since he still had the gutts to invite Mr. Galloway to accuse him based on the same evidence, which was proofed false already. Well Mr. Coleman got what he deserved. George Galloway, Respect MP for Bethnal Green and Bow slapped his face properly. Take the time and listen to a audio snippet. There are some fine examples for using english properly:

msnbc_uk_galloway_blisters_us_on_iraq_050517-01.mp3 (mp3, 1.1MB)
msnbc_uk_galloway_blisters_us_on_iraq_050517-01.rm.ram (real video, 3.7MB)
[src crooksandliars.com]

Please, find an edited transcript at times.co.uk.

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Neuwahlen! · 22.05.05

Neuwahlen im Bund, Juchu! Es bleibt spannend, es bleibt spannend! Richtig, so einen tiefschlag darf man nicht unkommentiert einstecken. Was werden die anderen parteien tun? Kuehl, kuehl, kluehl ...

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Letter of Concern · 22.05.05

Dear Member of European Parliament,

this email a few days ago asked me to express my concern about software patentability in my own words. Well, that seems like a school task, but well, it might be a good exercise to sharpen my arguments and might give you hints on the impact of software patents. So, let us try:

The following section will be divided into two parts. The first gives my conceptual reasons of concern and the second gives very practical economic reasons, why software patents are not desirable.

The Algorithm is Free.

This is the first and very basic concept I 'd like to explain. What you do, when implementing software, is describing an algorithm to a machine. Hence, software is a description a machine can read and follow. Let me give a little example: For the moment please asume that you could patent algorithms not only for machines but for human beings as well. This asumption is not weird. There are already organisations demanding that as well. Ok, say, you'd live in a town, which is divided by a little river. Citizens would walk through the river to reach the other side, which is quite unpleasant. Furthermore, suppose the citizens of the town did some fund raising and actually build a bridge. Question is now: How to get rich without doing anything productive in the presence algorithm-, hence software-, patents?

Well it is quite easy. You take a piece of paper and a pen and describe: "A new way to get on the other side of the river without soaking your clothes". In that article you describe, how to use the new bridge. Then you have to hurry to reach the patent office, to be the first to file this algorithm as yours. Done! Since the bridge is new, there is no prior art, therefore patent protection will be granted to you. From now on you can charge licence fees from everybody, who wants to use the new bridge. Please notice, that you do not own the bridge, you did not build the bridge and you haven't been involved with any 'useful' activity concerning the new bridge whatsoever.

Patents Interfere with Innovation.

Patents are often used to block research. Basically, if you have got patent protection for an algorithm, you can block any activity to further enhance or proof this particular concept. So, if you have patent protection for an algorithm, you can block any attempt to further enhance your patent. Let's take our bridge example to show the effect. You have patent protection for "A new way to get on the other side of the river without soaking your clothes". Furthermore, suppose you have described how to cross the bridge by bicycle. Your actual business is selling bicycles. Now there is a young student in your town, who is writing a paper on "How to walk the new bridge". Actually, your patent grants protection against such attempts because it says: "A new way to get on the other side of the river without soaking your clothes", which clearly includes any kind of crossing the bridge. Actually, you can block any further research on your patented algorithm, hence you can limit the freedom of research without being some elected authority. This clearly is bizarre but true already for 'old school patents'.

Now for my more practical reasons of concern:

Software-development in Europe

In Europe, software development is largely done by small companies . They employ the majority of IT workforce in Europe (Small and Medium-Sized Enterprises and IT Diffusion Policies in Europe). Having a lot of small businesses that do not act in concert implies that there is a lot of competition in the software development market. This, in turn, implies that prices for software development in Europe are relatively low. Furthermore, innovation is spreading very fast in this business, since a lot of those small scale firms make a living using open source software or software components. The business model is not writing, owning and licensing software, it is rather providing expertise and services for particular software components. Those companies normally do not have law departments or law service providers in the field of patent recherche and they normally do not have the financial power to go through patent trials, even if they'd had patent protection. Most of them wouldn't even have the capacity to file a patent.

So, when you exercise software patentability laws, what would happen? Small highly innovative firms would need to file any innovation they have made. This is costly, prices for software development in Europe would rise. Software developer would need to do a patent recherche every time, they want to write the smallest pieces of software. To do this, they'd need to hire assistance. Again software development prices would go up. Consider the following graphical representation, which is of course very simple. Cost curves are labelled C and C'. Demand is labelled D. The picture shows effects on prices set and quantity sold when costs rise and demand remains constant.

When prices go up, and they probably will raise, the amount of software services sold will surely go down. Customers, mostly industrial, financial and service businesses, could not afford the same amount of software services anymore. So the effect would be a concentration in the software business, with fewer, yet larger firms, with less output and fewer employees. Notice that IT services lead to increasing productivity in the fields they are applied to. So, fewer services sold lead to less productivity on the customers side in the long run. The firms that actually benefit from patent laws are very large IT corporations, who can afford to file patents for almost any trivial algorithm. They can use patents to block competitive activity as described above. These firms will remain, they will be less innovative, therefore productivity effects on customer side will decline and, last but not least, these corporations will sell at higher prices ... By the way, they will charge higher prices in the public sector as well.

This was only a quick introduction on software patentability. There are far more arguments, but almost none of them is in favour for software patents from the viewpoint of small and medium-sized enterprises. I hope this letter gives further assistance in finding a economically desirable and reasonable position in the current patent law debate.

Best regards
Feuerhake

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BaFin Back in Town · 20.05.05

BaFin says signs Deutsche Boerse hedge funds acted in concert over LSE - BaFin turns back to it's actual lawful tasks, after providing means of financial citizen surveillance for German authorities ... Great, welcome back!

(via Forbes)

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Nonconformists on Retreat · 20.05.05

According to the Millennium Ecosystem Assessment biodiversity deminishes at record rates. In flora and fauna as well: bad times for nonconformists.

(via Baseler Zeitung)

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Proper Date · 18.05.05

Right now, we have 'Spring 2005'

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Piccolo Quiz IV · 17.05.05

What function is continous, yet (almost surely) nowhere differentiable?

Intresting property, isn't it? One can draw a graphical representation of it in one stroke, yet one could draw more than one proper tangent in every point ...

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Story Elsewhere - Picture here · 16.05.05

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Indie 500 · 16.05.05

According to the database, holding the entries here, this is the 500th post. Sometimes it is quantity that shall suggest quality. Keep that in mind, not only here.

Since all the posts here are actually held in a database, as metioned before, it is quite easy to rearrange them or to give them a different representation. To give proof and to further fog the dubious content here, I made a lovely high quality PDF for printing purposes. Check it here: FeuerhakesLog500.pdf (1.8 M.B.)

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Prinz Karneval · 15.05.05

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9th German IT-Security Congress · 14.05.05

Here we have some interesting incident, though it is not bleeding recent. Andreas Pfitzmann is computer science professor at Technical University Dresden. He is actually pretty bigheaded here in germany, when it comes to computer and data security. http://dud.inf.tu-dresden.de/

Prof Pfitzmann was invited to speak at the 9th IT Security Congress. This congress is organized by the BSI (Federal Buero for Security in Information Technology) a german federal authority. Pfitzmann was about to speak about german id-cards and passports, that will be delivered with a machine readable biometric properties of the owner very soon.

After Pfitzmann handed in his speach in advance, which deals with certain risks we face using these new passports, he was discharged from the congress. This is a style of dealing with scientists, which we would expect to have in the U.S.A. nowadays when it comes to Darwin. But well, since the BSI subordinated under our minister of the interiour and since he himself held the key note and since our minister of the interiour is one of the few admirers of the current U.S. administration ...

... we are not suprised.

What else? German parliament did cut the rights of german authorities to listen to people's telephone conversation. Germany is one of the countries with the highest chance of being acustically observed when doing telephone calls. You might think, german parliament changed the laws, because it finally acknowledged the importance of certain civil rights. Well, wrong, they had to pass this law, because the german supreme court said so. Again ...

... we are not suprised.

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15th Century Encryption · 13.05.05

What we have here, if we had javascript enabled, is an implementation of a very famous symmetric encryption algorithm. It is an old algorithm based on swapping characters according to a 'passphrase' and alledgedly invented by Leone Battista Alberti. It is one of the polyalphabetic algorithms. It serves very well for short messages. It even is unbreakable, given one uses passphrases, that are at least as long as the message. For long messages it failes miserably, for one can attack it using statistical methods.

How to use it: Choose a passphrase. Type it to the 'passphrase' field. Type your message to the 'message' field. Click the 'encrypt' button. The encrypted message appears. To decrypt a message type it to the message field and press decrypt. Since we use javascript to deploy the algorithm, no information is transmitted through the net, by the way.

Of course the whole thing is more or less proof of concept. It is only tested with Mozilla 1.7. See the code here if you are interested: encrypt.js

 

Passphrase:

Message:

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ToomToomToom · 12.05.05

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Abseits · 11.05.05

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Historic Awareness · 8.05.05

Heute mal ganz auf die subtile 'historic awareness' demonstrieren. Einfach die Glen Miller doppel cd aus 'm Rossmann durchorgeln lassen. Sonst ist ja der techno buerzel von gegenueber dafuer zustaendig, die sonntaegliche Gruenberger zu beschallen. Tuxedo Junction.

(pic from warfoto.com)

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Proposal for the Juicy Logo Problem · 8.05.05

Since there are people outthere who would write me, that I need to be more constructive in critisism and stop 'miesepeter'-ing around, here is my constructive contribution to the brazilian logo problem. What do you think? That one is perfectly ok, isn't it?

(BoingBoing)

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Doch Nich · 8.05.05

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The Very Top Of Unintended Indecency · 6.05.05

Normally, I'm not posting this kind of pubescent stuff, but this one is particularly funny, hence has a pubescency/funnyness ratio well within an epsilon vicinity of zero. So let's go:

What you see here, is the logo of the 'Instituto de Estudos Orientais' (Institute for Oriental Studies) of 'Universidade Federal de Santa Catarina' and in my eyes, you see the top of the 'all time hall of fame' of unintended indecency. Hm, may be it is not 'unintended'. Maybe they specialise in ... er ... no ... it is very likely 'unintended'.

(via BoingBoing)

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One Day In Europe · 6.05.05

The episode movie One Day In Europe is worth seeing. You have four episodes. Three of them work the following way. It is the day of the Champoinsleague finals. It plays Galatasaray Instambul vs. Deprotivo La Coruña. The match takes place in Moskow. So here you have the sets of three of the four episodes: Moskow, Istambul, Santiago de Compostela (not far from La Coruña). All four episodes vary the theme 'Being Robbed in a Foreign Country' and how to interact with locals in that situation. This is caried out quite nice for the first three episodes.

The fourth episode takes place in Berlin and provides no further significant content to the movie. The authority funding the movie must have it's head quarters in Berlin, somehow. Anyway,

The movie gives a good first insight into everyday problems Europe faces while converging and it gives you a laugh as well, though it is not really a big shot. You might want to see it.

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My Brain Hurts · 6.05.05

There is one interesting trend, which was first observed by James Flynn, american philosophy professor. Average IQ test scores in every industrialized country on the planet had been increasing steadily for decades. Does that mean, we all become more intelligent for decades now? The telly programm speaks a different language. Why is it, that we can measure increasing abilities of pattern recognition among us?

Here is an article by Steven Johnson, published at wired.com, dealing with the topic: Dome Improvement

One reason, Stephen suggests, is that crappy graphical user interfaces and half baked electronic devices train us in this sort of 'IQ test pattern recognition'. Well, that is one statement I like.

Can Microsoft, kde.org, Nokia and Motorola make sure, that we will become more 'intelligent' soon? The next landmark concerning this will be the release of MS Longhorn. Here is an early statement.

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Proper Surveillance · 5.05.05

I am not sure. Maybe this is some kind of fine art project, but if not, the BVG really takes customer observation seriously. As you can see, they attached at least six surveillance cameras to each of at least six pillars holding the roof of U2 Station Alexanderplatz. There are further cams attached to other installations there as well. They seem to aim for real twentyfour-seven-three-sixty observation. So folks, say cheese.

A great stage for the Surveillance Camera Players, by the way. I at least, feel much saver now. If some explosives should go off there, they can show me video footage of the guys, who brought it there, on the telly.

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Eccentric Behaviour · 4.05.05

Kenya's first lady, Lucy Kibaki, entered the offices of the country's biggest-circulation newspaper yesterday, where she allegedly slapped a television cameraman and seized reporters' notebooks and tape recorders to protest at stories about her eccentric behaviour. (The Guardian)

I love this one. I hope, one day I'll be in the position to do that.

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Arbeitnehmerentsendegesetz · 4.05.05

Et Muente will jetzt zur heuschreckenabwehr das "Gesetz ueber zwingende Arbeitsbedingungen bei grenzueberschreitenden Dienstleistungen" auf alle branchen ausweiten. Das gesetz garantiert allen arbeitern gewisser branchen auf deutschem boden gewisse standards. Dienstleistungen in deutschland wuerden also in bestimmten branchen unter gewissen mindestvorgaben erbracht. Schoen Muente, was ist mit 'guetern'? Sie wissen doch, 'Gueter und Dienstleistungen' heisst es immer. Wenn sie richtig schneid haetten, muessen sie, was sie fuer dienstleistungen fordern auch fuer gueter fordern. Will heissen, produkte, die nicht unter bestimmten mindeststandards hergestellt wurden, duerfen auch nicht mehr importiert werden. ... (ich werd hier mal aufhoeren, sonst komm ich wieder vom hundertsten ins tausendste)

Achtzehn tage muss der Muente noch durchhalten, mit der heuschreckennummer. Dann ist endlich landtagswahl gewesen.

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Finals · 4.05.05

Liverpool will attend this years Championsleaguefinals. The petro-rubel-club Chelsea remains on the island. Life isn't all bad.

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Dis Wording gehoert gestreamlined · 4.05.05

Guido Westerwelle spricht in'n radio von seiner partei als der 'zweitstaerksten oppositionspartei im bund'. Dis is zwar physikalisch korrekt, klingt aber gleich doppelt nach verlierer. Praefix 'zweit-' und 'opposition' in einer bezeichnung. Das geht nicht. Der mann muss sein wording streamlinen lassen.

Die F.D.P. wird einen bundesparteitag abhalten, auf dem sie sich als buergerrechtspartei profilieren will. Ich warne davor. Es koennte wieder kommen, wie seinerzeit bei der abstimmung zum grossen lauschangriff. Weiterlesen hier: /article/405/ehrentitel-buergerrechtspartei

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Ohne Alkohol ist's uns auch wohl · 3.05.05

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Dirkon · 2.05.05

Hey digicam nerds outthere. Did you spend a fortune on your far east optical device, whose batteries are always empty? Check this Czech paper camera:

Just print out, cut out, glue according to the instructions, put a roll into it and ready to go. Man, that was socialism. We would make a camera from a piece of paper and couldn't buy a roll of film afterwards.

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Glaenzender Beitrag · 1.05.05

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East Mediterranian B.B.Q. · 1.05.05

While german unions went to fight the locust swarms of capitalism, I took my bike out. First I went to a gas station to adjust air pressure and other technical matters. Afterwards I went cruisin' to check whether my efforts have been useful. Since we had the first really warm day, it was a great cruise. Purest impression gathering.

Best was the east mediterranian B.B.Q. spot right opposite Horst Koehlers residence. One day I go there B.B.Qing! Today, it was really busy and still very nice. Call me an ideologically mislead hemp hippie, if these families form a dangerous parallel society. These people belong to the very center of german society. Well, um, o.k. they do not consume as much alcohol as we do and the vast majority of them runs honest businesses, but still they are nice in a very german way. On top of that they have that family thing, which dyed out in german society somehow.

Large families have a certain something. I bet one stays a whole lot calmer, when it comes to everyday problems, if your brothers in law are called Murat, Özkhan and Hassan.

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Mobile Technology Riot · 1.05.05

This year, the Berlin Walpurgis riots, or parts of it, took place right in front of our place. It was not very big and I am happy about that. Particularly interesting were the blueish lights one could see every where among the crowds and the police units. It looked like a starry sky on the street. It have been the displays of all kinds of mobile technology. Both sides've been documenting every move of the opposite side with camphones, digicams and videocams. There will be the day when the sides stand opposite each other, holding their cams at each other and shout: "Give us a reason (to take a pic)! We sue you! We sue you!"

Anyway, at least a great ska/punk concert was organized before roiting. Good bands actually: Have you heard of "Holla, Die Waldfee" Well, the rest was more or less business as usual.

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