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The weather in Tunisia [en]

So I’ve spent waiting for wind on the island of Djerba, Tunisia, for almost one week to no avail. (With one exception yesterday, that is, when I finally got the opportunity to go kite-surfing. For about 30 mins.)

All forecasts for today looked equally bleak: around 5 knots in the early morning, afterwards nothing for most part of the day. So I went to the spot early trying to seek out the last remains of wind.

Then, this happens:

The wind was already at 18 knots when I arrived, so I hurried into the water. Pretty soon I was overpowered with my 14 m² kite – unexpectedly the wind went stronger, not weaker.

Around noon, it was a full-blown storm. This also meant nearby lightning, so I had to get off the water after roughly 2 hours. It took quite some time for the thunderstorm to clear, and I was eager to go for another round. However, before we realized the storm was over, all the wind was gone. Never seen it fall from the mid twenties to almost zero so rapidly.

Weird day. Great spot nevertheless. I may be back some time…

Postcard from Sri Lanka [en]

Never was a big fan of paper postcards, let alone Facebook postings. Hence, I’m going to dump random travel impressions here instead. Alongside some generic pics. And shout-outs to all my friends! Here goes…

Firstly, getting around can get exciting in itself in Sri Lanka. The way of right always belongs to the vehicle with the most inertia. Which makes the ubiquitous buses preferable, as compared to puny tuktuks. However, the latter can be more tasty…

Some may skip road traffic altogether and prefer the railway. While being surprisingly sluggish, it does offer very scenic views, especially in the central highlands. Cup of tea then?

These highlands are also home to one of Sri Lanka’s most prominent sights, Sri Pada. This mountain peak is popular amongst both foreign tourists (due to the impressive landscape) and locals (due to mythological connotations).

Of course, nature in other parts of Sri Lanka has it’s own charm. Traveling at the end of a Monsoon season ensures that waterfalls, reservoirs, and otherwise dry bush lands are flooded with water. The water buffaloes seem to like it that way – as do all the bats in the trees.

There’s also some cultural goods to be seen throughout the country. Personally I don’t seem overly receptive to that. So don’t ask me about the difference between a Stupa and a Dagoba!

Last but not least, Sri Lanka holds a plethora of beaches. Some invite to fishing, others to surfing, yet others just to chill…

Esotericism is … [en]

… to belief that A/T/C/G fundamentally differs from 0/1.

Esoterik ist … [de]

… wenn man glaubt, A/T/C/G sei etwas fundamental anderes als 0/1.

.tax me! [de]

Wer hätte gedacht, dass in der Finanzverwaltung jemand mit einem Fünkchen Witz sitzt? Ich habe mich gerade für Elster-Online registriert, und habe mich doch einigermaßen über die Datei-Endungen gefreut, die sie dort durchgehend in Ihren URL-Pfaden verwenden. Hier z.B.:

https://www.elsteronline.de/eportal/eop/auth/Registrierung.tax

Und, dass die Leute dort überhaupt genug Englisch beherrschen? Das ist schon mal einen Oettinger wert! Da zahl doch fast gerne meine Steuern – bzw. hole mir welche zurück.

Aber mal ernsthaft: auf den ersten Blick macht diese Seite, und deren Sicherheitskonzept, einen durchaus ausgereiften Eindruck. Nicht mal externe Tracking-Codes oder sonstige Skripte sind drin. Bin mal gespannt was mich noch so erwartet…

Turbo!!! [en]

Here’s some footage of our recent kite-trip to the Netherlands:

The extra Step (electrical motion!) from David Kullack on Vimeo.

… well, all the action shots feature Tobi or Ranja – I guess I still need to practice a lot;)

Meetings — who doesn’t love them? [en]

… and I do think it’s particularly tough for engineers:

I’m lucky enough to work at a company, where most folks are not complete morons. It’s sometimes slightly worse with our business partners though. Anyhow, I can feel for that guy.

Stumbled upon through a fb-post by DerKalle.

Allvais wis ze Görmaans: Edward Snowden Edition [en]

So the NDR (a branch of Germany’s public broadcasting service ARD) got to interview Edward Snowden — exclusive stuff apparently. And whom do they send to talk to him? Some nitwit called Hubert Seipel, whose English sounds like a combination of the Simpsons’ Rainier Wolfcastle and Bond-villain Maximilian Largo.

I don’t know much about that man’s eligibility otherwise, but just trying to listen to the first 3 minutes of the interview made me grind my teeth. Harsh stuff. Seriously.

Would I do better myself? Hell no! But neither would I dare to take upon me such a task. Doesn’t the ARD have any qualified staff at all? What am I paying my mandatory fees for, anyway?

Ranting about superficial bullshit aside, I hear the actual contents of the interview are rather disappointing themselves. Well, I guess I’ll have to bite the bullet and watch the whole interview, if I want to find out for myself…

Savage [en]

I’m more and more becoming a fan of Dan Savage. He’s one of these guys, who constantly manage to point out the nuisance of religion, without being a total dick about it.

That may be, because instead of just weighing in on abstract, philosophical questions, he actually does something good for society. He’s an LGBT activist and initiator of the It Gets Better Project, an organization that helps prevent suicide among young people with “non-traditional” sexuality. Also, he is the guy who brought us Santorum.

Last night, Dan Savage was on Bill Maher’s show, and the two were talking about the recent legalization of gay marriage in Hawaii:

Maher:
Their catholic bishop there […] says something about how children who are […] adopted by gay parents have a greater chance of committing suicide. That must be bullshit, right?

Savage:
That’s total bullshit. He’s confusing children with gay parents, with children who where raped by catholic priests.

Maher:

Savage:
Sorry, I’m just done being lectured about children and their safety by catholic fucking bishops, priests, cardinals, …

[…]

Savage:
I hate to always go there, but they don’t have moral high-ground when they talk about the welfare and safety of children. They just don’t! They have squandered that on the tips of their dicks.

Strč prst skrz krk [de]

Beim neuen Lesekompetenztest für Erwachsene der Titanic scheinen Tschechen ja eindeutig im Vorteil zu sein. Trotzdem würde man der OECD gerne auch auf Deutsch sagen: “Steck dir den Finger durch den Hals”, und was auch immer “grmpf” bedeutet.