Its football time

Normally, in the summer, there is really not much sports to watch.
You got baseball (yawn) and once in a while Olympics games. But every
four years, the football nations come together to play the World Cup and
this year it is played in South Africa. I can still remember collecting and
trading cards of the players as a kid. I remember some of the great games
and some of the more disappointing moments for the German team.
I was too young to realize in 1974 that we won the cup, so 1978 was the first
World Cup I remember following. Not a good start though. The German team
lost in a legendary match against Austria and the tournament was over. The
following cup was in 1982. Although Germany made it into the finals, where
it would loose against Italy. I remember mostly the ghastly game against
Austria (again) and the penalty shootout against France in the semifinals.
Four years later, the games where played in Mexico and again, we lost in the
finals. But then, in 1990, we reached the finals and beat Argentina for the Cup.
I watched the game in a Turkish bar and the place went nuts, when Brehme
shot the penalty. The next two world cups, from a German perspective, where
forgettable. The team was plagued, playing bad football and really not deserving
to play any role in the outcome. It got better in 2002, when we reached the finals
again, but Brasil was the better team that year. I still remember trying to watch the
finals with Jim and Angela on a Sunday morning, only to find out that the local
ABC station decided to air a garden show instead of the biggest TV event in the
world. Only in America.
In 2006, the games came to Germany and the team played great. They finally
adopted a more offensive football style and it served them well until they met
Italy in the semi-finals. We lost the game in overtime, but managed a third place,
which was good considering nobody gave the team any credit.
Well, its football time again and tomorrow is the first German game against
Australia. I hope for a good tournament and of course I believe that Germany
will win the Cup one more time.
And, I will truly enjoy 4 weeks of packed football watching.

Go Germany!!!

iPad

After all the hype for the iPad it finally went on sale last week. Since
there is a Apple store in the mall next door, I decided to take a look.
Went I went into the store, it was crowded. but they had enough iPads
around for me to find one. The first impression, its a big iPod touch.
The hardware looks sleek and the screen looks sharp as well. I tested a
coupe applications and they execute blasting fast. I tried the Safari
browser and web pages are loading quickly. If you like the iPod touch,
you will like the hardware of this device as well.
So, did I buy one? ............. Nope, and here is why.
It's not a laptop replacement. You still need a laptop to sync and load
all your stuff. No camera, no flash, no USB port. I can see using one, when
you are traveling, but I am not, so it has no practical use for me.
But, I heard that Apple already announced an OS upgrade and I am sure
the next generation iPads will be even better. Maybe I can create a need
for the second generation. ;)

HAPPY EASTER!!

Happy Easter!!

Aprils Fool

Well, I actually fell for an Aprils fool joke today. I was reading the German
news site tagesschau.de and they had an article that the internet would
have to be shut down for a day, because all IP addresses had been used
up. While I was reading, it sounded plausible and I actually went on
Google news to check other article of the matter, which of course I
couldn't find. WELL DONE. Check it out (German only)

http://www.tagesschau.de/ausland/internetabschaltung100.html

Speaking of the internet. One of my favorite British TV shows
"The IT crowd" has an episode where the inept IT manager is
presented with the internet by the two IT geeks.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=QAUyaELfwBo

Watch it, it is funny. My favorite line: "If it's alright with the Hawk"
Classic.

The world is still turning.....

I woke up yesterday, looked out the window, and what do you know,
the world was still there. Even though, congress passed the health care
reform, the world did not came to an end as some Republicans would
make you believe. Of course, the bill was a compromise. You can tell
by the way it was attacked by the left, the right and the "Tea" party.
But I believe, it is a start and somebody one said "The USA is like a
huge elephant. You can't just turn it around in one swing, you have
to nudge little by little"

I saw in the news today that Google partially backed out of China and
turned off the censoring of the Chinese websites. Certainly a risky
move considering that the Chinese government has a history of reacting
harshly to these kind of action. I am wondering if Google did that out of
principle. It would be cool though if a company, or country, would risk
losing a market of billions to stand by its principles.

Movie Update:
I saw the Hurt Locker the other day. It was an ok movie (3.5/5) which
certainly had its moments, but nevertheless it felt like your typical
war movie. It won a bunch of Oscars, but I wasn't much impressed.

I am sick of winter......

I am sooooo sick of winter. Every morning I look at the temperature and
it is below 20 degrees. Not much snow though, but still, grey days, a little
snowfall here and there. Since I am not into skiing, I can't really enjoy
the outdoors either. So, I can only hope that it will start to get warmer
here soon.


In the meantime, I can dream at playing
nice golf courses at warmer pastures......

Mmmmmmmmmmmm.





Olympia Update:
Watching the Olympics at NBC is difficult as always. With all the human
interest stories and chatter, the coverage of the actual sports events is
somewhat limited. But the Internet provides up to date info.
And..... Germany beat the USA in CURLING. YEAH Baby.
I would have never guessed that pushing a rock across ice would make
a sport. Maybe next time they introduce ice-fishing or shoveling the
driveway as a sport.

Groundhog Day

"Okay, campers, rise and shine, and don't forget your booties 'cause
it's cooooold out there today....... Thats right, woodchuck-chuckers -
it's GROUNDHOG DAY! "
Well, unfortunately, Phil did see his shadow, so that means 6 more
weeks of winter wonderland. And just to prove the pont, it started
snowing here this afternoon. Just a dusting, but enough to get the
streets slick again. I can't wait for a white Easter!

The end justifies the means ................... NOT!
I am just reading in the German newspaper that the German government is
thinking of buying a CD with data about people who evaded taxes.
The rumor is that the CD is 2.5 million Euros and the data on it could
possible yield up to 100 million Euros in back taxes. Nothing wrong with
it, wright? Problem is that the data was illegally obtained, so basically they
are buying stolen goods. They claim this is the right choice because they
would catch a bunch of tax evaders. Mmmmm. So the end justifies the means?
Sorry, but I can't follow that logic at all.