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In 'n' out Burger · 29.06.05

"Boy those are some good burgers." "Shut the f--- up Donny."

The Big Lebowski In'n'out-Burger close to Venice really exists! Let's check for the bowling lanes.

Wirtschaftswoche Ganz Gross · 26.06.05

[...] vermischt sich in dieser Debatte Globalisierungskritik mit wirtschaftsfeindlicher Ideologie. "Patente sind Diebstahl" tÃƒÂ¶nt etwa Hartmut Pilch [...]

Da ist der herr Pilch jetzt aber mit recht ein wenig sauer. Mich deucht, in der redaktion der Wirtschaftswoche purzelt so einiges durcheinander. Hier wird eine kritische einstellung zu computer implementierten erfindungen mit wirtschaftsfeindlichkeit und globalisierungskritik gleichgesetzt. Au au, patente sind eben immer auch handelshemmnisse, da sie qua gesetz monopolschutz garantieren. Damit sind sie einzuordnen in die riege der anderen <ironie>globalisierungs- und wirtschaftsfreundlichen werkzeuge</ironie>, wie einfuhrzoelle auf chinesische baumwollprodukte, arbeitnehmerentsendegesetze und so weiter und so fort, die ja den freien globalen waren-, informations- und dienstleistungstausch so trefflich befoerdern.

On Patent Law Again · 25.06.05

I read this post by Axel H. Horn. I cannot comment on the issue itself, since I do not know what it is about precisely. Obviously it deals with the style of debate introduced by whoever. Anyway, Axel has got a comment section. This comment section is worth having a look.

Mr. Lammertink gives a short and easy to understand set of reasons to be concerned about software patentability. Well, Axel in turn takes the attorneys point of view and again does the same mistakes attorneys seem to be particularly vulnerable to.

O.K. let's start from scratch again. Axel states that patent law is in the first place to protect ideas. Why is this law there? The process of being innovative generates costs. If an invention is published once it might be copied by competitors who did not take the same costs. This would kill the inventor's incentive to actually bear these costs of innovation. Take Axel's example "vehicles tyres". What would we need to be innovative in the field of tyres, if we'd start from scratch? We would need to build the facility to build tyres, we would need to buy large amounts of input factors like rubber and energy and we would need to hire people to keep the facility up and we'd need an inventor. These costs would surely ad up to at least 20 million euro and 5 years of time to build the facilities and start experimenting. Now, what economic effect could we expect in the field of 'vehicle tyres'? 10% effiency gain? That would be a lot in industrial contexts, wouldn't it? So, if you'd take these costs it might be necessary to have patent protection to give time to the inventor to cash in and cover the costs he took, thus keep the incentive to be innovative up.

Now have a short look at the software development sector. What do you need to be innovative in this field? Well, basically a computer, a programmer and minor amounts of electric energy. Innovation cycles are very short in the software development field. Costs? Salaries, computer, energy for two years? 200 000 euro? Don't be too modest. Let's say 500.000 euro. The gains in efficiency can easiely be higher than 30%. The economic potential of computer implemented inventions is sky high compared to classic fields of industrial invention. The costs on the other hand are very very low. The claims that software patents are needed to attract venture capital are misleading. There is no need to attract large amounts of venture capital. See the big failures in the dotcom sector, they burned millions. See the big success stories. Two geeks and a garage.

This is why patent law will probably fail miserably if applied to the software sector. The costs to file a patent, to research patents in advance and to enforce patents will very likely be higher than those to actually invent. Well, there'd be one good thing about it. Patent attorneys could make a living from it.

The rest is undergraduate economics. Patents grant a monopoly. To gain rents a monopoly will provide less goods then a competetive market would provide. Furthermore it will slow down the pace of innovation. It might even stop desirable efforts. The society will most likely be worse off. Again in the industrial field patents are useful to keep up an incentive to innovate since innovation costs tend be very high. In the field of software development it will very likely do a lot of harm.

Coders Too · 24.06.05

Mathematicians and physicists are just as guided by principles of elegance and beauty as novelists and musicians are.

Just as well as coders. Well , good coders at least.

(MathKlein)

Tolle Sachen · 24.06.05

Es gibt zwei tolle sachen im Wedding. Die 'Hanne-Sobeck-Sportanlage' und die Tangastrasse.

Steigende Skalenertraege · 23.06.05

fuer doof verkauft

Warum ist das bild da oben aergerlich? Sieht erstmal ganz beeindruckend aus, oder? Drunter steht: 'Abb. 4: Skalenertraege in der Internet-Oekonomie (Quelle: Andersen Consulting 1998, in Meffert 2000 S. 129)' Auf den bildern sind waagerecht investitionssumme und senkrecht der ominoese return of investment abgetragen. Im linken bild und somit im klassischen fall faellt der ROI ab einer bestimmten investitionssumme. Das koennte so stimmen, ist sogar wahrscheinlich, denn im klassischen fall haben wir es regelmaessig mit sinkenden grenzertraegen zu tun, will heissen jede einheit zusaetzlicher input fuehrt zu immer ein wenig weniger ertrag.

Nun aber zum rechten bild. Laut quellenangabe 1998 auf dem hoehepunkt der internethysterie, ihr erinnert euch, damals haben irgendwelche schnoesel millionen verbrannt, weil die investoren dachten man wuerde in zukunft klopapier nur noch im netz kaufen. Auf diesem hoehepunkt also, konnten die berater nicht abseits stehen und haben mal keck das ende der sinkenden grenzertraege postuliert. Das bedeutet, jede weitere einheit an investition fuehrt zu immer weiter steigenden ertraegen. So weit, so gewagt. Jetzt schauen wir nochmal kurz auf das rechte bild. Da gibt es zwei gestrichelte linien und an der rechten steht 'Maximale Effizienz'. Da wir aber gerade eben noch postulierten, dass jede weitere einheit investition nur steigende ertraege zeitigt, kann das optimum nicht da sein. Um genau zu sein, es kann nicht existieren. Optimalerweise muessen wir unendlich viel investieren, wenn wir denn unter steigenden skalenertraegen optimieren.

... oder aber, die steigenden skalenertraege brechen irgendwann ab und fallen wieder. Dann haetten wir aber wieder den klassischen fall vom bild rechts links vor uns und nichts waere besonders. InternetOekonomie waere wie kartoffeln verticken auf dem grossmarkt, nur mit betragsmaessig hoeheren ableitungen. Heute wissen wir, dass es auch wirklich so ist. Auch wenn wir im IT business oft unter extrem geringen grenzkosten operieren (was starken konzentrationsdruck auf anbieterseite hervorrufen kann) gelten doch die guten alten regeln.

Warum ist die sache denn nun aber aergerlich? Weil es 1998 falsch war und doch gezeichnet wurde? Nein, das kann vorkommen, gerade unter hyterischen bedingungen. Weil Meffert es 2000 noch abgemalt hat? Nein, obwohl es da anfaengt grenzwertig zu werden. Es ist so aergerlich, weil es 2005 in einem eGovernment- und Verwaltungsmodernisierungspamphlet auftaucht, deswegen ...

Mi Chiquita Quiere Bailar · 23.06.05

For those of you who go running. There is this cuban salsa album I have, 'Salsa Cubano DejaVu Retro'. Don't laugh, thats how its called. Anyway, this is some severe stuff that goes right to your feet. You can easily double the distance you run while only using up 1.5 the time you'd usually need. ... and there is more. After some time you start doing the characteristic salsa side-step-stop combinations.

Acabo de llegar al baile,
Acabo de llegar a la fiesta

What Means "Ich Hab die Faxen Dicke" · 22.06.05

Let's start a little sequel "What Means" explaining german idioms. We start right now with an easy one: "Ich hab die Faxen dicke!"

What does that mean? Intermediate learners will know that 'Ich hab' is something like 'I have'. Obviously 'I have the Faxen'. What is 'Faxen'? It does not refer to remote copying via telefone wires at all. 'Faxen' is to behave silly or foolish in a wanted way. A clown would do 'Faxen'. Ok, how far are we? 'I have the fooling around dicke'. Dicke is a derivat of the adjective dick, which means corpulent. Now the interesting part starts since 'I have the fooling around corpulent' does not make a heck of sense. Well, corpulent can be used in german not only to refer to the state of being corpulent. It can also be used to refer to the predecessing state of being corpulent which would be 'having had more than enough' or 'being full' for a long time. Hence, 'being fed up'. So, the term "Ich hab die Faxen dicke!" means I'm fed up with this fooling around.

Next time we will deal with 'Den roten Hahn aufs Dach setzen'.

VISA Customers · 22.06.05

Dear VISA and MasterCard co-customers. In case you haven't heared about it, an amount of around forty million (in digits: 40.000.000) customer and credit card account information was stolen. Among them data of customers from all over the world. The information stolen even consisted of data one needs to write the magnetic strip on such cards. Thus it is possible for evil doers to copy customers VISA /MasterCard cards. Please check your credit card bill with particular attention.

There is no thing like informational self-determination anymore.

Cat Content III · 18.06.05

cat content III

Look what I found while looking for old T'+@## invoices. Kittenwars, here I come.

Call Center Ghandi · 18.06.05

Ich hab da so einen verdacht. Bei dem call center der T'+@## kann es sich nicht um ein werkzeug zur kundenbetreuung handeln. Ich glaube vielmehr, es handelt sich um ein riesengrosses verhaltensforschungsprojekt der FernUni Hagen. Die schneiden da gespraeche mit und werten aus wie leidensfaehig die probanden sind und welche untauglichen strategien sie waehlen, um ihr anliegen doch noch loszuwerden ... Wirklich. Das muss so sein. anders macht es keinen sinn, das call center der T'+@##.

Irgendwann krieg ich ein schreiben von der fernuni: "Herr Feuerhake, Sie sind der call center Ghandi. Gratulation."

Heut Wieder Nicht · 14.06.05

Gerade, wenn man eh gallig drauf ist, sollte man keine 'blog' eintraege machen. Nicht ueber die Telekom, nicht ueber die SPD, nicht ueber alte herren, deren doppelherz links schlaegt, nicht ueber call center, nicht ueber call center agents und die anreiz kompatible gestaltung ihrer entlohnung, nicht ueber den allzu seichten Schroeder imitator, nicht ueber...

Ich Muss Weg · 13.06.05

... keine zeit, keine zeit ... ich muss weg

Poster Design · 10.06.05

public transport advertisement

What does the picture above show? Is it a soviet propaganda poster from the stalinist '40ies? The lady is waving a red flag. Is it a german 'der feind hoert mit' advertisement from the late 30ties? Well the slogan is in english. So, both of the proposals can hardly be true. It could be a theatre advert for a play that deals with totalitarism. 'Orwells 1984 Now on Stage at the Municipal Theatre' or something like that.

Well, all wrong. According to articulatory loop it is a current advertisement at the Washington DC public transport. So, obviously it is not stalinist. It is about protecting freedom and democracy.

African Arts and Crafts · 9.06.05

Today the African Village starts at Augsburg Zoo. I still strongly believe, that the zoo is a bad place for a african arts and crafts exhibition. I don't know how it is carried out. However, from the organiser's statements I got the impression, that they have a slight lack of respect for african views and fill that gap with some kind of 'we only want to help' altruism.

Press/Media

BBC news: Row over German zoo's Africa show
German Foreign Policy: Deutsche Tierwelt
taz: Die etwas andere VÃƒÂ¶lkerschau
Frankfurter Rundschau: Proteste gegen das "African Village"
Die Welt: Afrika, Augsburg und der Zoo
Der Spiegel: Umstrittene Ausstellung
Tagesspiegel: Row over German zoo's Africa show

Coolness Ratio · 9.06.05

There was not a great deal of activity here, lately. Therefore today a little dialogue that actually happened and tops anything that has been attempted so far to be cool ... in a bar in New York. Imagine a guy entering a bar ... in New York:

Bartender: It's been a while.
Guest: I've been around.
Bartender: A beer?
Guest: Yeah.

Lee Harvey Oswald Suddenly Passed Away · 4.06.05

Note that the famous "Lee Harvey Oswald Lounge" closed for ever. This leaves a hole in my live, my world, my heart. Please do remain silent for a moment.

lee harvey oswald lounge

The following business in the location will be a creperie, a french-/swiss pancake shop. Again gentrification shows it's ugly face in my neighbourhood. No beer stained punk and karaoke places, mimicking my state of mind, anymore. Only crepes and nougat, I cannot change that quickly.

... actually, it is time to get in gear and do something about it.

Preiszeitungen II · 3.06.05

Toll, nach dem prallen erfolg letztes jahr, gibt es heuer wieder das eigenartige preisbloggen! Mal sehn wann roell.net wieder mit preiszeitungen kontert ... denn verdient haben sie es sich, die buerzel vom intelektuellenflagschiff. Ich habe die aktion durch die nominierung meines eigenen auftritts in drei von vier kategorien sabotiert. Ich glaub, man konnte 'Kaese', 'Rechtschreibung', 'Irrelevant' und 'Pulitzer' waehlen.

More on the Constitution · 3.06.05

... but now I have to correct something. There are a lot of people calling the EU a banana republic. Actually this is kinda true. It holds for the current decision making process, which is written down in the Treaty of Nice. This treaty cements the lack of democratic procedures in european legislation. The document, which is referred to as 'the constitution' would have changed this status quo. Hence, would have brought more power to the elected parliament. But well, 'the constitution' is dead. Europe will have to live on being a banana republic. Was that absolutely necessary?

Constitutional Thoughts · 3.06.05

European citizens do not seem to be very keen to adopt a new constitution. Why is this? Well, follow this link to download a english version of the european constitution (pdf 751KB). By the way, this is the only format the constitution is avaliable in.

Now, why do people say 'no' seeing this? I tell you why: There is nothing new, nothing exciting about it. You have a rough description on the fundation of the EU without becoming too precise. It has to cover a lot of national constitutions, you see. Furthermore, the authors put a description on 'who meets whom, how to call the summit and when to decide what' into 300 pages of awful lawyers tongue and hope we, who are not law graduates, will like it. Well, we don't, but this doesn't mean we do not like the idea of europe. Just have a look at the legislation concerning voting of the member states and the appropriate weight of a member states vote (pages 232ff.). All this is weirdo. The whole thing is devided in at least three chapters, which in turn are divided in articles, who again consist of several paragraphs. All filled with odd formulations. There even is a section titled 'The European Investmentbank'. What is a section about a investment bank in a constitution good for?

You see I'm not a lawyer, maybe all those articles, parts, sections and paragraphs are very very important to make sure, everything turns out right. For me the whole thing looks like the result of a bunch of administrative secretaries running wild. This is just what almost all citizens of whatever state in the world know and fear: administrative secretaries running wild.

Let me show you how a constitution could be carried out. This one is smart and lean: http://www.house.gov/Constitution/Constitution.html

But no, not in europe. First administrative elites, doubtlessly with the best intentions, write an awfully formulated document, which is best suitable in cases of law and then the same elites hire a public relations agency to bring up a website to explain the whole mess to me (Public Relations Attempt), thereby implying that I am or we are too stupid to understand the primary source. I tell you what. This is somehow not my idea of a constitution to live under and I'd say 'No. This is a degenerated elite project' ... Well, nobody asked me, Germany ratified. The constitution was too important to leave it to the voters.This leaves me even more disappointed.

What now? Now back to start and try again. I'm sure people like the idea but not the realization.

WiWi Party · 2.06.05

Heute gibt es die party der wirtschaftswissenschaftler der Humboldt-Universitaet zu Berlin. Die kurzbezeichnung ist wiwi-party. Stattfinden wird diese feierlichkeit in der Spandauerstrasse 1, D-10178 Berlin ca. 22:00 CEST. Auf den vorgaengerfesten ging es immer ausreichend hedonistisch her. Sein sie auf die zahlung eines kleinen obolus vorbereitet. Bis dann.

und nochmal: Nee · 2.06.05

Bij deze roep ik deze dag uit tot 'dag van het nederlandse accent'.

Tag der Mathematik · 1.06.05

... und wieder eine veranstaltungsankuendigung.

Liebe schueler, nachdem ihr gestern, zum world-non-smokers-day, unter dem motto 'Laufen statt Rauchen' in massen ueber 10kilometer dauerlauf parcours getrietzt wurdet, bietet das kommende wochenende eine hervorragende gelegenheit zur entspannung.

Am Samstag, dem 4. Juni 2005 findet in Adlershof der 10. Berliner Tag der Mathematik statt. Da koennt ihr lernen wie man apfelsinen stapelt.

(via MatheKlein)