tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-153307832011-04-21T13:22:56.849-07:00Thoughts on names, coffee, programming and whatever else goes through my head.Jörghttp://www.blogger.com/profile/02806297895426227411noreply@blogger.comBlogger1471100tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-15330783.post-47786433264913521482008-12-04T09:55:00.000-08:002008-12-04T10:06:30.817-08:00

Wow, the big three automakers from Detroit get shot down when begging for 25 billion dollars a few weeks ago. They come back, driving hybrid cars for 520 miles instead of using their corporate jets, and ask for, here we go, now 34 billion dollars. Now that I think about it, what more can you really ask them to do? They gave up their corporate jet to come to Washington and presented a plan that

Jörghttp://www.blogger.com/profile/02806297895426227411noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-15330783.post-50185645838262949752008-10-14T10:27:00.000-07:002008-10-14T10:42:20.650-07:00

No one has ever called me Larry ... until last weekend. Guess where it happened? Yup, you are right, at a Starbucks. My good friend Steve and I made a trip down to Long Beach to run the Long Beach half marathon. On our way back we stopped to get some Diesel (we did not get it at the Starbucks) and some coffee. I go in and order myself an iced coffee and instead of just dumping some ice in the

Jörghttp://www.blogger.com/profile/02806297895426227411noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-15330783.post-8624262220814198482008-10-03T09:36:00.000-07:002008-10-03T10:02:07.926-07:00

I don't even know where to start. I can't vote because I am not a US citizen but I am very much interested in what this country does and how it behaves in the world because it is my home now. It's pretty safe to say that for the past two elections, Americans have truly screwed this up by electing a moron to lead the country. I hope they don't do it again. Why would anyone in their right mind vote

Jörghttp://www.blogger.com/profile/02806297895426227411noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-15330783.post-66738584388461795742008-08-12T13:43:00.001-07:002008-08-12T14:00:36.225-07:00

Remember what I wrote a couple of years ago about the Olympics and Bob Costas? You probably don't but if you do, it was about the way Olympic games are broadcast in the U.S. It also mentioned that it seems more important to have some idiot (Bob Costas and the likes) in the studio talking about this and that rather than showing the actual competition. I can understand the home bias and that most

Jörghttp://www.blogger.com/profile/02806297895426227411noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-15330783.post-24956277131138938332008-07-30T23:05:00.000-07:002008-07-30T23:22:34.451-07:00

I consider myself the occasional user of some of these social and or professional networks. One of the networks is LinkedIn. The other day I received an email from a recruiter and it looked liked this (I have changed names and locations to spare the recruiter the embarrassment): Joe Recruiter has sent you an InMail:Full Time Opportunity with COMPANYDear JoergHow are you ?My name is Joe

Jörghttp://www.blogger.com/profile/02806297895426227411noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-15330783.post-41665766611268476762008-05-21T01:00:00.001-07:002008-05-21T01:42:32.493-07:00

Just read this article on a German news site and I think some of the European countries are onto something here. According to that news article cars are going to be taxed based on their CO2-emissions. SUVs like the Porsche Cayenne or the Audi Q7 will get much more expensive. For example, the Porsche Cayenne S will cost anywhere from an extra €3000 in France to an extra €53000 in Norway. This is

Jörghttp://www.blogger.com/profile/02806297895426227411noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-15330783.post-35141315242749797712008-04-12T08:11:00.001-07:002008-04-12T08:11:12.924-07:00

Jörghttp://www.blogger.com/profile/02806297895426227411noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-15330783.post-65279037732611017302008-04-08T11:52:00.000-07:002008-04-08T11:56:17.728-07:00

I knew the move to Biodiesel would eventually pay off. For the first time last week, Biodiesel was less expensive than regular Diesel, $4.129 versus $4.219. Not hge savings, but it can stay like this if it were up to me. If things get more expensive, and I am sure they will, may be it is time to think about a fully electric or plugin-hybrid, like the Aptera.

Jörghttp://www.blogger.com/profile/02806297895426227411noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-15330783.post-44077554129410149272008-04-08T11:48:00.000-07:002008-04-08T11:51:38.359-07:00

... at IBM!! A friend of mine who still works there sent me this picture today. They still seem to deliver mail to my mailbox even though I had left that company almost 2 and a half years ago. I wonder if it's anything important ...

Jörghttp://www.blogger.com/profile/02806297895426227411noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-15330783.post-28463686026859718112008-04-02T10:06:00.001-07:002008-04-02T10:08:11.418-07:00

Is it on a bike, with a boat, in a car or using public transportation?Watch these 3 Top gear videos and you will find out. Pretty funny.Part 1:Part 2:Part 3:

Jörghttp://www.blogger.com/profile/02806297895426227411noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-15330783.post-12466826480266367262008-03-21T11:06:00.001-07:002008-03-21T11:15:24.056-07:00

I just got up from my desk to get a banana and oh my, this is one of the largest bananas I have ever held in my hand. For your reference, the laptop in the picture is a 15" MacBook Pro.

Jörghttp://www.blogger.com/profile/02806297895426227411noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-15330783.post-51099862899431742402008-03-19T17:19:00.000-07:002008-03-19T17:20:19.989-07:00

Try this:It's a great way to kill some time ...

Jörghttp://www.blogger.com/profile/02806297895426227411noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-15330783.post-76523448307935331102008-03-03T11:18:00.000-08:002008-03-21T13:41:57.235-07:00

Jörghttp://www.blogger.com/profile/02806297895426227411noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-15330783.post-25048551519168371302008-02-04T15:58:00.000-08:002008-02-04T16:18:36.479-08:00

... they are still no world champions. Even though American Football is not my favorite sport, I watched Superbowl XLII yesterday. Very good game and interesting 'til the last minute. So there you go, we have a new NFL champion. Yup, here we go again, I won't call them world champions because they are not, they won the title in the NFL, which stands for National Football League if I recall

Jörghttp://www.blogger.com/profile/02806297895426227411noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-15330783.post-50687050136976581652008-01-30T16:09:00.001-08:002008-01-30T16:13:46.632-08:00

A friend recently mentioned that my blog doesn't come up with any new name stories from coffee shops or other establishments where one is forced to surrender his or her name to get some food or drink. Well, to make a long story short. I gave up. When I go to a coffee shop now I use my son's name. It has only three letters and you pretty much write it as it sounds. What's the name you want to

Jörghttp://www.blogger.com/profile/02806297895426227411noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-15330783.post-74241277463126478892008-01-30T10:12:00.001-08:002008-01-30T15:55:49.457-08:00

... since I last posted but times are busy. Trying to keep the kids healthy during winter time is no easy task and I am enjoying work as well, so sometimes there isn't a lot of time for other things. However, I did find this amazing version of "Lie in our Graves" by the Dave Matthews Band with a special appearance of Trey Anastasio. Take a look and listen:On a different note, with the

Jörghttp://www.blogger.com/profile/02806297895426227411noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-15330783.post-74614026782975512182008-01-12T19:37:00.001-08:002008-01-12T19:37:36.542-08:00

Jörghttp://www.blogger.com/profile/02806297895426227411noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-15330783.post-66709498171599919072007-12-31T17:03:00.000-08:002007-12-31T17:04:22.494-08:00

Jörghttp://www.blogger.com/profile/02806297895426227411noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-15330783.post-39229564265319663502007-12-12T13:45:00.000-08:002007-12-12T13:53:31.905-08:00

My friends Dan, Chris and Jan and I purchased a 10-game plan for the San Jose Sharks. We went again last night and for the fourth time in 4 games, the Sharks won at home. Which means, we have a perfect home record. Unfortunately, it does not look as rosy for the Sharks in general. They have one of the worst home ice records. In light of this, we came up with a grand plan. We talk to the Sharks

Jörghttp://www.blogger.com/profile/02806297895426227411noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-15330783.post-87531850981022163092007-12-04T22:45:00.001-08:002007-12-04T22:45:13.955-08:00

Jörghttp://www.blogger.com/profile/02806297895426227411noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-15330783.post-8982290662459843622007-12-03T10:21:00.000-08:002007-12-03T10:26:15.868-08:00

Not sure? Well then, there is help for you, just check out the I park like an idiot web page" with easy to understand pictures to check. And while you are at it, check if you are also a complete idiot by looking at the "I am an idiot" pictures.

Jörghttp://www.blogger.com/profile/02806297895426227411noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-15330783.post-85279825077985194222007-10-30T16:53:00.000-07:002007-11-13T13:59:27.571-08:00

Jörghttp://www.blogger.com/profile/02806297895426227411noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-15330783.post-3449486765452795202007-10-29T11:20:00.000-07:002007-10-29T11:27:06.470-07:00

Weird title for a post, you think? You are probably right, but I had to write about the amount we owe to PG&E for our first electricity bill after installation of our photovoltaic solar system. Got the first bill and it did what it was supposed to: Eliminate our electricity bill. Unfortunately, PG&E won't cut us a check but the balance carries over and will be reset after the year is over (when

Jörghttp://www.blogger.com/profile/02806297895426227411noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-15330783.post-7505392701348830112007-10-22T10:17:00.000-07:002007-10-22T10:22:37.658-07:00

Specialized Bikes and Google are sponsoring a contest called Innovate or Die. Invent something cool involving pedal power and you could win. I have a few ideas but I can't participate because I am a Google employee. Not creative? Well, at least take a look at the web site. I especially like the crankset driving planet earth. You can also check out videos of the entries. We need more like that.

Jörghttp://www.blogger.com/profile/02806297895426227411noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-15330783.post-38387713402057330812007-10-20T21:23:00.001-07:002007-10-22T08:47:03.986-07:00

Just like the season before, my friend Chris and I got a 10-game plan again for the Sharks 2007/2008 season. Dan and Jan are also in this year and we went to the first regular season game on Saturday (we already went to a pre-season game as part of our plan but pre-season does not really count). They beat the Nashville Predators 3-0 and it was fairly entertaining. One of the really cool things

Jörghttp://www.blogger.com/profile/02806297895426227411noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-15330783.post-64004364451751718102007-10-16T11:17:00.000-07:002007-10-19T16:32:04.593-07:00

You have probably heard the following before:You can't compare apples and oranges ... or You have to compare apples with apples and not oranges ... or any variation thereof. But those people were wrong. Scientific research has found out that you in fact can compare apples and oranges. Read about apples and oranges on the Improbable Research web site.

Jörghttp://www.blogger.com/profile/02806297895426227411noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-15330783.post-77235947464326763092007-10-03T13:37:00.000-07:002007-10-29T11:36:56.987-07:00

A couple of months ago, Sonja and I purchased a photovoltaic solar system. Yesterday, after going through all the rebate approval processes, they system was installed and turned on for the first time. Was a lot of fun watching the old meter go backwards.As part of the process we needed to upgrade the roof before we put the panels on top of it. Since it's been a tradition to make reasonably sized

Jörghttp://www.blogger.com/profile/02806297895426227411noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-15330783.post-65149022528778559322007-10-03T13:21:00.000-07:002007-10-03T13:36:08.142-07:00

The other day, as I was leaving work and heading to my car, I noticed that a police car had pulled over a guy in BMW. They had turned onto the Google parking lot and two cops were busy writing up the guy. There was only one problem, the BMW was blocking my car, so I could not get out. The BMW driver, nice looking guy in his 40s (I owuld guess), starts his engine to pull forward about 10 feet so I

Jörghttp://www.blogger.com/profile/02806297895426227411noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-15330783.post-29031911227073502032007-08-08T11:00:00.000-07:002007-08-08T11:03:05.771-07:00

Found this through a blog from a co-worker. It's on Youtube. Watch it and everything will be clearer (have no fear, it is very funny):

Jörghttp://www.blogger.com/profile/02806297895426227411noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-15330783.post-22176332106710153772007-07-30T11:47:00.000-07:002007-07-30T11:56:47.018-07:00

A while ago I mentioned I was going to run another marathon. While that's not going to happen for another few months (in November in San Jose), I have been following a training plan for about a month now and yesterday I was scheduled for a 13 mile long run. My friend Steve wanted to run the San Francisco half marathon, so we both signed up. After getting up really early (4am) we drove into San

Jörghttp://www.blogger.com/profile/02806297895426227411noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-15330783.post-2201971702983920592007-07-30T10:45:00.000-07:002007-07-30T10:49:37.288-07:00

I love this: http://www.faceball.orgWhat is it? According to their web site: "... at a deeper level it's a vehicle for the release of personal animosity, and the Shaming of the Weak." Funny!

Jörghttp://www.blogger.com/profile/02806297895426227411noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-15330783.post-52048696590939605352007-07-26T09:55:00.000-07:002007-07-26T10:03:47.300-07:00

The other day I went to a gas station (Valley Oil in Mountain View, CA) that sells pure Biodiesel, well B99, so virtually pure Biodiesel. Anyway, a little more expensive than the B20 from Rotten Robbie but it's environmentally even better. Now, when you switch to Biodiesel fuel filter clogging after a few tanks of Biodiesel is pretty common. So I went ahead and changed. Thanks to the Cincinnati

Jörghttp://www.blogger.com/profile/02806297895426227411noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-15330783.post-59100259388937016152007-07-21T15:15:00.001-07:002007-07-26T09:55:55.209-07:00

... well almost, only missing the drawer handles. My first piece of furniture that I built out of a pile of wood. Side table Originally uploaded by jmeyer

Jörghttp://www.blogger.com/profile/02806297895426227411noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-15330783.post-9013422625391390692007-07-08T10:40:00.001-07:002007-07-09T09:24:56.356-07:00

I am on my second tank of B20 biodiesel now and things are working fine so far. Gas mileage increased a bit to an average of 43mpg but not sure whether that's because of the biodiesel or I was simply driving a bit more conservatively. Either way, I thought I'd buy a few stickers and boast a bit about the fact that I am doing something good for the environment. Image019.jpg Originally

Jörghttp://www.blogger.com/profile/02806297895426227411noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-15330783.post-12100092495890125312007-07-06T19:49:00.001-07:002007-07-09T09:09:34.637-07:00

Over the past few months I have been taking a "furniture design and construction" class through Santa Clara Adult Education and this is the result: Image018.jpg Originally uploaded by jmeyer It wasn't really much of a class but rather a weekly get together of people who wanted to build something and like power tools. By signing up for a class you get to use a machine shop with lots of tools

Jörghttp://www.blogger.com/profile/02806297895426227411noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-15330783.post-35841652021826522362007-06-28T07:22:00.000-07:002007-06-28T07:33:22.247-07:00

Thank goodness!!! NOt sure if you have heard, but there was this judge in Washington D.C. who apparently lost a pair of pants in a dry cleaning shop. After some back and forth with the shop owners (first they could not find the pants, then they did) the judge decided to sue the shop owners for damages in the millions, over 60 million to be precise which was later reduced to 54 million. WTF. The

Jörghttp://www.blogger.com/profile/02806297895426227411noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-15330783.post-79101297890640728252007-06-20T14:23:00.001-07:002007-06-20T14:49:18.026-07:00

Today, I did a good thing for the environment. For the first time I refilled the fuel tank of my little 2003 Volkswagen Golf TDI with biodiesel. It was B20, meaning it's a blend of 20% biodiesel made from soybeans and 80% petrodiesel. That's the recommended blend to start with before moving on to B99 or even B100. Felt good, and didn't cost more than regular diesel. Rotten Robbie is one of the

Jörghttp://www.blogger.com/profile/02806297895426227411noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-15330783.post-17697779188455044742007-06-20T13:18:00.000-07:002007-06-20T13:20:04.312-07:00

Today, Yahoo! turned on Contextual Shortcuts in Yahoo News. It's pretty cool and good to see that my former project remains alive and that the work I did lives on. Check out the Yahoo Search blog post about it.

Jörghttp://www.blogger.com/profile/02806297895426227411noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-15330783.post-43558205815542020712007-06-07T11:54:00.001-07:002007-06-07T12:02:15.924-07:00

Almost forgot to write about this. A few weeks ago my wife and I decided to go out and buy a new mattress. Our old one had served its purpose and started to become uncomfortable. We kind fo knew what we wanted and headed over to one these mattress chain stores. We settled on a Tempurpedic which is really nice and cost us about $1500.00. Not cheap, but hey, sleeping well is important. But if you

Jörghttp://www.blogger.com/profile/02806297895426227411noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-15330783.post-27709733975617260822007-06-02T15:28:00.001-07:002007-06-05T13:32:16.234-07:00

Image008.jpg Originally uploaded by jmeyer Ben, Chris and I were making a run to the Guadalupe Mines in San Jose, dumping some old concrete. There was this big loader and we enticed Ben to sit on it so we can take a picture ... Don't we all love heavy machinery?

Jörghttp://www.blogger.com/profile/02806297895426227411noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-15330783.post-26926486385688236192007-05-31T21:52:00.000-07:002007-05-31T22:06:31.958-07:00

Before Sonja and I had children I ran a few marathons. I had done the Silicon Valley marathon in San Jose, the Rock'n Roll in San Diego, Big Sur and the San Francisco marathon. Then our two boys came, work somehow got more busy and the time to train for a marathon wasn't quite there anymore. And to be honest, I sort of lacked the drive to go out 4-6 times a week and run a lot of miles. I have

Jörghttp://www.blogger.com/profile/02806297895426227411noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-15330783.post-66177479823193546292007-05-31T21:43:00.000-07:002007-05-31T21:52:09.140-07:00

Tomorrow I will have completed my first six weeks at Google and I have to say I love it. I work on a very interesting project that has nothing to do with JavaScript. The food is as good or better than I expected and I haven't grown tired of it yet. So far I have managed to avoid the Google 15, the (apparently) average number of pounds new employees gain because of the abundance of food. And I

Jörghttp://www.blogger.com/profile/02806297895426227411noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-15330783.post-87733615948669138262007-04-17T19:35:00.001-07:002007-04-17T19:35:03.365-07:00

and a ladder Originally uploaded by jmeyer. This one is for the ladder leading up to the platform. The original plan called for something very steep (vertical) which wasn't suitable for our 2-year old. So I changed it and build a ladder/stairs. Works well and it gave me a good reason to finally get a table saw. What can I say, I love power tools.

Jörghttp://www.blogger.com/profile/02806297895426227411noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-15330783.post-26309248618017722112007-04-17T19:32:00.001-07:002007-04-17T19:32:24.746-07:00

it's solid Originally uploaded by jmeyer. OK, here we go, nearing completion. Installed the 12' long 4x6 swing beam which will hold one swing on either side. The swings are ordered and will be installed as soon as I get them.

Jörghttp://www.blogger.com/profile/02806297895426227411noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-15330783.post-7678375343145601182007-04-17T19:21:00.001-07:002007-04-17T19:21:01.442-07:00

getting closer ... Originally uploaded by jmeyer. ... it is a good idea to look at the plan again. But so far so good, got hte basic structure up and the slide installed. The boys already did a test run and it works great.

Jörghttp://www.blogger.com/profile/02806297895426227411noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-15330783.post-4179114909233893492007-04-17T16:50:00.001-07:002007-04-17T16:50:07.435-07:00

you can't do it without help Originally uploaded by jmeyer. After I built the two sides it was time to assemble the basic structure. After that, a bunch of 2x4s needed to be cut. To make hauling wood back and forth easier on my old back I recruited my two boys again. They were very eager to help. And it was much easier to keep them busy this way and away from the tools ...

Jörghttp://www.blogger.com/profile/02806297895426227411noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-15330783.post-32167433216308427792007-04-17T16:39:00.001-07:002007-04-17T16:40:03.961-07:00

Look, almost done Originally uploaded by jmeyer. ... well, not quite but in the picture you can see the first of two sides. The plan calls for 6 4x4 redwood posts set in concrete. I slightly modified that. INstead of putting them in conrete (which makes the whole thing unmoveable), the whole structure rests on pressure-treated 4x4s. I know, I know, you shouldn't expose kids to pressure

Jörghttp://www.blogger.com/profile/02806297895426227411noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-15330783.post-77404540142225620272007-04-17T16:35:00.001-07:002007-04-17T16:35:10.283-07:00

Jonas hard at work Originally uploaded by jmeyer. After we got the pile of wood we now need to figure out where to put it. Oh yeah, and hire help. We recruit from our own family. Even though Jonas doesn't quite know the difference between centimeters and inches, he more than makes up for it by being big and strong (for a 2-year old).Now that we leveled the site, we can start building the

Jörghttp://www.blogger.com/profile/02806297895426227411noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-15330783.post-66999810757310413672007-04-17T14:29:00.001-07:002007-04-17T16:42:49.784-07:00

A pile of wood Originally uploaded by jmeyer. You may (or may not) remember that I did a little post-IBM project between my jobs at IBM and Yahoo!. This time I am not redoing a bathroom. before starting to work at Google I decided to do something nice for my two boys. I bought a pile of wood and turned it into a playstructure.

Jörghttp://www.blogger.com/profile/02806297895426227411noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-15330783.post-44800797186180874372007-04-09T11:18:00.000-07:002007-04-09T11:26:00.240-07:00

... will be at the best company to work for in 2006, according to Forbes Magazine. Yes, you guessed right, it is Google. I am leaving Yahoo after 16 months and will be heading over to Google in a couple of weeks. I have my last day at Yahoo! on Wednesday, will then take some time off to build a play structure in the backyard for my two boys and then show up at Google towards the end of the month.

Jörghttp://www.blogger.com/profile/02806297895426227411noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-15330783.post-71485316989933648152007-04-07T13:01:00.001-07:002007-04-09T11:17:55.837-07:00

The guy in the picture is my buddy Chris at the Shark Tank, home of the San Jose Sharks. We have been enjoying a 10-game plan and it was the last regular season game. Although it was fan appreciation day and they were handing out prizes left and right, we didn't win anything. The game was pretty exciting, although the Sharks lost in overtime. But the good thing is, they qualified for the Stanley

Jörghttp://www.blogger.com/profile/02806297895426227411noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-15330783.post-35658125625069447212007-02-25T08:49:00.000-08:002007-02-25T14:35:36.870-08:00

If you haven't already, go watch it. It's Al Gore's documentary about Global Warming and I think it's very well made. Watching it leaves you with this feeling of sadness and depression. I hope as many people as possible get to watch this and maybe start worrying about it so that eventually a politician with an interest in the environment and its protection gets to be the president of the United

Jörghttp://www.blogger.com/profile/02806297895426227411noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-15330783.post-69084718447027522332007-02-14T08:58:00.001-08:002007-02-14T08:58:35.876-08:00

What I do at Yahoo! Originally uploaded by jmeyer. Here is a screenshot of what I have worked on at Yahoo over the past 12 months. It's called Contextual Shortcuts and it's running as part of Yahoo! Mail. As of today, you will have to use the old style interface, we are hoping to add it to the new Yahoo! Mail Beta sometime this year.You can read about what it is in the Yahoo! Mail help

Jörghttp://www.blogger.com/profile/02806297895426227411noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-15330783.post-87591558472647638322007-02-13T22:18:00.000-08:002007-02-13T22:31:31.799-08:00

I started this blog a while ago because I thought I'd share my experiences using my first name here in the U.S., especially in coffee shops. Now, that doesn't happen that often anymore, simply because I now get my caffeine fix at work. One of the more enjoyable benefits at Yahoo! is the free coffee. We have fully staffed espresso bars where you can get everything from a simple espresso to

Jörghttp://www.blogger.com/profile/02806297895426227411noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-15330783.post-33193684033952060432007-02-05T16:25:00.000-08:002007-02-05T16:35:27.644-08:00

Everyone always talks about the Superbowl ads and how great they are. So I programmed my TiVo (it's really a Comcast DVR but everyone knows what TiVo is) to tape (oh excuse me, record) the Superbowl, all 4 hours and 5 minutes of the broadcast. And as I was watching the Superbowl yesterday it dawned on me that A Superbowl TiVo recording is probably one of the only shows, if not hte only, that

Jörghttp://www.blogger.com/profile/02806297895426227411noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-15330783.post-11383780238680763852007-02-02T15:49:00.000-08:002007-02-02T15:51:37.478-08:00

I have been enjoying the blog from Improbable Research for a while and found a post today that investigated the feasibility of nailing jelly to a wall. It is scientifically funny.

Jörghttp://www.blogger.com/profile/02806297895426227411noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-15330783.post-82984236732035298012007-02-02T11:41:00.000-08:002007-02-02T11:42:13.514-08:00

... or the 101 dumbest moments in business. Check it out.

Jörghttp://www.blogger.com/profile/02806297895426227411noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-15330783.post-82732543188602407692007-02-02T10:21:00.000-08:002007-02-02T10:44:19.215-08:00

We have probably all witnessed one of these, either at school, at work or at some event in our spare time. A painful presentation. What makes a painful presentation you may ask? Here is my list of things that indicate a painful presentation:The presenter apologizes for the readability of his/her slides. Never a good thing, if you know it's unreadable, don't use it or break it into more than one

Jörghttp://www.blogger.com/profile/02806297895426227411noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-15330783.post-31256161344678651292007-01-29T10:25:00.000-08:002007-01-29T10:29:30.606-08:00

The hyperbike probably won't fit in the bike lane and I am not sure I want to take this on the road and take on a Chevy Suburban.The 8 foot wheels are super cool though. I just have my doubts about stopping when going superfast.

Jörghttp://www.blogger.com/profile/02806297895426227411noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-15330783.post-14692200665205393412007-01-29T08:56:00.000-08:002007-01-29T09:10:32.560-08:00

Do you remember Marco Materazzi? He was the cheesy, Italian defender that got head-butted by Zinedine Zidane in the 2006 Soccer World Cup Final. And oh well, it happened again. In a Serie A game in Italy, he got head-butted again by a guy named Delvecchio after allegedly provoking him. Makes you wonder what on earth he always tells the other players. I started playing soccer when I was 5 years

Jörghttp://www.blogger.com/profile/02806297895426227411noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-15330783.post-1168475415786343722007-01-10T16:26:00.000-08:002007-01-10T16:30:28.063-08:00

If you have enough cash or are in good standing with a bank you can buy the "Principality of Sealand"!! Wikipedia has a nice article about it. For anywhere between £65,000,000 and £504,000,000 it can be yours ... and it's butt-ugly too.

Jörghttp://www.blogger.com/profile/02806297895426227411noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-15330783.post-1163633573930885382006-11-15T15:31:00.000-08:002006-11-15T15:32:53.950-08:00

Do you? Then you will need an Acabion. Apparently, what matters is weight and profile, the opposite of SUVs.

Jörghttp://www.blogger.com/profile/02806297895426227411noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-15330783.post-1163396970392894162006-11-12T20:22:00.000-08:002006-11-12T21:49:30.443-08:00

Every programmer knows all too well that there will be times when (non-trivial) code does odd things. Yes, I am talking about bugs. Often times they are simple because they easily reproducible and the faulty behavior can be seen in a simplified environment. But what if the bug is not easily reproducible. That's where good debugging skills come to play. Sometimes debugging feels like detective

Jörghttp://www.blogger.com/profile/02806297895426227411noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-15330783.post-1163391758444704012006-11-12T20:16:00.000-08:002006-11-12T20:22:38.446-08:00

As I was reading the newspaper today I saw an ad to lease a Bentley Continental. The down payment seemed normal and for only $2299/month for 42 month you could drive around in a Bentley. My mortgage payment is less than that ... I guess one would need a lot of disposable income.

Jörghttp://www.blogger.com/profile/02806297895426227411noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-15330783.post-1163391281297724282006-11-12T19:56:00.000-08:002006-11-12T20:14:41.360-08:00

I am a big sports fan and I like to watch sports, especially team sports that involve a ball. I have never been a big fan of American Football but I do like to watch the highlights. However, there is a few things that simply rub me the wrong way about American Football. First of all, things can't get more artificial than in the NFL. Reviewable, non-reviewable play, eligible and ineligible

Jörghttp://www.blogger.com/profile/02806297895426227411noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-15330783.post-1162329379048400572006-10-31T13:09:00.000-08:002006-10-31T13:16:20.786-08:00

pirates Originally uploaded by jmeyer.

Jörghttp://www.blogger.com/profile/02806297895426227411noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-15330783.post-1161303535373517372006-10-19T17:13:00.000-07:002006-10-19T17:18:55.436-07:00

A coworker and I were chatting about our current project at Yahoo! which we are about to release to the public. As we talked about who was really helpful, not so helpful, entirely useless or simply a pain in the butt, he brought up the term seagull management. Wonder what that is? It's managers, that fly in from time to time, aren't really well-informed, flap their wings and make a lot of noise

Jörghttp://www.blogger.com/profile/02806297895426227411noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-15330783.post-1161194786462212182006-10-18T10:43:00.000-07:002006-10-18T11:06:26.576-07:00

On my way to work this morning I listened to NPR (National Public Radio) and they were talking about Jail for Judges. It's a measure that wants to do away with judicial immunity. What it seems to come down to is that, if the measure passes, judges can be sued if a grand jury decides that the sentence given out by the judge was a bit harsh. On top of that, the supporters of this measure want to

Jörghttp://www.blogger.com/profile/02806297895426227411noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-15330783.post-1161133685416167912006-10-17T18:01:00.000-07:002006-10-18T10:39:28.836-07:00

Sonja and I have been debating for a while now to buy a bigger car. We owned a Volkswagen Jetta Wagon which did a fine job but was getting too small for us, the two boys and our dog. If we put the stroller in the trunk, our dog had to squeeze in behind a seat. Anyway, we have looked around and after a while it turned out that a minivan is the only logical choice. Why, you may ask? Well, we had a

Jörghttp://www.blogger.com/profile/02806297895426227411noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-15330783.post-1160107392265258592006-10-05T20:56:00.000-07:002006-10-10T13:18:58.050-07:00

Especially my own. People are nice to me on at least one day a year and I get to see a lot of my friends all at once. This year we met at Trader Vic's, a cocktail bar/restaurant. We slurped quite a few of their concoctions and I have to admit I had a pretty bad hangover the next day. It was fun nonetheless. And the band in that place even sang a song for me. They called me "Jorge" but if you have

Jörghttp://www.blogger.com/profile/02806297895426227411noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-15330783.post-1159295772738179392006-09-26T11:22:00.000-07:002006-09-26T11:36:13.286-07:00

Came across the Tesla Motors site. They make a fully electric sports car that actually looks cool. No info on price though and I doubt it is affordable. But I think it's pretty cool that companies try to buck the trend of making ever bigger vehicles that suck up more and more gas. One would hope that politicians would actually support the development of fuel-efficient cars more than they have in

Jörghttp://www.blogger.com/profile/02806297895426227411noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-15330783.post-1158448632428346692006-09-16T16:11:00.000-07:002006-09-18T09:02:12.826-07:00

Our son Jonas (18 months old) and I were playing in the sandbox and we had great fun launching all kinds of vehicles in the sand. I thought this looked kind of cool.

Jörghttp://www.blogger.com/profile/02806297895426227411noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-15330783.post-1158447998538427032006-09-16T16:00:00.000-07:002006-09-18T08:52:42.416-07:00

This is my dog and his name is "Peanut". Yes, I know it is a silly name but he had already been given that name when we "freed" him from the pound. Well, we didn't exactly free him and it wasn't an adventure at all but it sounds much better than "when we bought him". Anyway, we got Peanut through the South Bay Purebred Rescue Service. Oddly enough, Peanut is a mutt, most likely the mix

Jörghttp://www.blogger.com/profile/02806297895426227411noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-15330783.post-1157561272780044752006-09-06T09:39:00.000-07:002006-09-06T10:28:41.560-07:00

Back in those days when I worked at IBM I did a lot of interviewing candidates for jobs we had available there. What I noticed back then is that pretty much all candidates sound reasonable on paper but very few were actually as good as the paper made me believe. It even appeared as if only mediocre people would apply for the jobs we posted. What's the problem there? Well, Joel's blog provides

Jörghttp://www.blogger.com/profile/02806297895426227411noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-15330783.post-1156387197996687102006-08-23T19:34:00.000-07:002006-08-24T10:35:17.403-07:00

Last night I invited a few of my friends to see the San Jose Giants against the Stockton Ports (courtesy of Yahoo). To be honest, the quality of baseball was not spectacular but hey, it is single-A baseball after all. We had a good time though. Beer and food were affordable (5 bucks for a Bud or Bud light is still too much but it beats the 7.50 at a major league ballpark or at a Sharks game) and

Jörghttp://www.blogger.com/profile/02806297895426227411noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-15330783.post-1156183863272788382006-08-21T11:05:00.000-07:002006-08-21T11:11:03.296-07:00

Image023.jpg Originally uploaded by jmeyer. Sooooo, what started out as a simple job of replacing the linoleum floors in our master bedroom bathroom, turned into a complete remodel. I ripped out everything. There were a few setbacks, a trip to the energency room after I hurt my arm and a few tricky problems to solve. Not to mention the inhalation of (what can only be described as) toxic

Jörghttp://www.blogger.com/profile/02806297895426227411noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-15330783.post-1155147226517694382006-08-09T10:37:00.000-07:002006-08-09T11:13:46.730-07:00

Over the years at IBM, Yahoo and in other jobs I had my share of managers. With them came different management styles. Some of them were good managers, some of them were medicore and some of them plain sucked. I had very old guys as my manager and I had managers that were my peers and my age and then "moved on" to have their manager bit flipped. When I read Joels series of posts on management

Jörghttp://www.blogger.com/profile/02806297895426227411noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-15330783.post-1153869816386347222006-07-25T16:05:00.000-07:002006-07-25T16:23:36.426-07:00

Man, last weekend was rough. Like many others, too many if you ask me, we lost power on Saturday evening and didn't get it back until Monday morning when PG&E temporarily fixed it. They permanently fixed it last night when we were again without power for another 4 hours. Now, of course, compared to some people in Almaden Valley, San Jose or some folks in St. Louis this is a short amount of time.

Jörghttp://www.blogger.com/profile/02806297895426227411noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-15330783.post-1153866474831365202006-07-25T15:23:00.000-07:002006-07-25T15:50:08.630-07:00

FW: Originally uploaded by jmeyer. This is a picture of a very good friend of mine. She is also the godmother of my two boys and pregnant herself. When we IM with each other we always call each other things like "hottie" and some other things. We sort of always flirt in joking way. We are both married but not to each other. Anyway, now that she is pregnant, obviously her body is

Jörghttp://www.blogger.com/profile/02806297895426227411noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-15330783.post-1153522302054515582006-07-21T15:47:00.000-07:002006-07-21T16:15:06.506-07:00

Image012.jpg Originally uploaded by jmeyer. ... to work this morning. What's that in the picture you ask? That's what's left of the rubber on my rear road bike tire. I was minding my own business in the bike lane when that tiny asian lady in her boring Toyota Camry decided to turn into the entrance of a parking lot and completely cut me off ... After she had sat in the turning lane for an

Jörghttp://www.blogger.com/profile/02806297895426227411noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-15330783.post-1153259934644258702006-07-18T14:50:00.000-07:002006-07-18T14:58:54.670-07:00

Porsche announced a new version of the 911, the Targa. The glass roof top slides in front of the rear window. Check it out on Porsche's web site. Skydriving, a thing of beauty.

Jörghttp://www.blogger.com/profile/02806297895426227411noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-15330783.post-1153200733881799872006-07-17T22:29:00.000-07:002006-07-17T22:32:13.890-07:00

Check out math for dummies (from Amr's blog). I wonder what math teachers/professors think when they read/grade stuff like that.

Jörghttp://www.blogger.com/profile/02806297895426227411noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-15330783.post-1152807653176325592006-07-13T08:56:00.000-07:002006-07-13T09:20:53.286-07:00

The past few nights I spent more time on my computer after work, trying to finish a paper about some cool indexing stuff with some of my former friends/coworkers from IBM. We made the deadline of July 12, 11:55pm PST. For a while we were debating what this means for our situation since we current have daylight savings (PDT) but we figured it out and submitted on time. It was kind of nice to work

Jörghttp://www.blogger.com/profile/02806297895426227411noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-15330783.post-1152638227080514582006-07-11T09:46:00.000-07:002006-07-11T10:17:07.100-07:00

Ok, let's move on to the not so pleasant things about the past World Cup. And let's not confuse this with anything else, these are my bottom 10, feel free to disagree. ;-)Italy winning it all. Well, what can I say. I am German and was hoping for Germany to capture their fourth titel.Diving. Too much diving, play the game and only fall down if someone makes you. The worst teams: Italy, Portugal,

Jörghttp://www.blogger.com/profile/02806297895426227411noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-15330783.post-1152636364786869772006-07-11T09:15:00.000-07:002006-07-11T09:46:04.880-07:00

Damn, the soccer world cup is over, what am I going to do during lunch breaks now for the next 4 years? Good thing that the Euro 2008 is only 2 years away. Time to reflect, here are my personal top 10:The fans and the atmosphere. Being from Germany and seeing the enthusiasm and excitement in Germany. Made me wish I could be there. It was also great to see how Germans finally waved their flag

Jörghttp://www.blogger.com/profile/02806297895426227411noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-15330783.post-1152114663605778252006-07-05T08:28:00.000-07:002006-07-05T08:51:03.623-07:00

... dumb, stupid, loud, annoying ... Do I need to continue? I never much liked fireworks and while I could live with the fireworks that are shot into the sky and light it up, I absolutely hate the firecrackers that just explode and make too much noise. My friend Dan put it nicely by saying that being at a party on 4th of July "resembled the Battle of Somme" more than a celebration of Independence

Jörghttp://www.blogger.com/profile/02806297895426227411noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-15330783.post-1152064845236517072006-07-04T18:51:00.000-07:002006-07-04T19:00:45.246-07:00

Watching the Soccer world cup throughout the last three and a half weeks was really cool. And it was fun and exciting to watch my home country go all the way to the semifinals. They have been better than expected and they put an entire nation into a World Cup frenzy. Even over here, more than 6500 miles away we were thrilled to watch the German national team win and, what's even better, play

Jörghttp://www.blogger.com/profile/02806297895426227411noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-15330783.post-1151292950043624032006-06-25T20:32:00.000-07:002006-06-28T15:43:47.220-07:00

Sonja and I had an anniversary of some sort last week and we went to a restaurant that was recommended to us, the Mt. Hamilton Grandview Restaurant. The picture was taken with my little cell phone while we were dining. The sunset was very nice, and it was very cool to see darkness overtake the valley and bring out all the lights. That's where the romance ended. Don't get me wrong, Sonja and I

Jörghttp://www.blogger.com/profile/02806297895426227411noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-15330783.post-1150435572900763422006-06-15T22:11:00.000-07:002006-06-15T22:26:12.913-07:00

Whoever reads this probably knows that the greatest sports tournament in the world is currently under way. Yeah baby, I am talking about Soccer World Cup, or Fußballweltmeisterschaft as we say in German. I overheard somehwere that an estimated 1.2 billion people watched the opening game of this World Cup between Germany and Costa Rica. For the final game an estimated 1.5 billion people will watch

Jörghttp://www.blogger.com/profile/02806297895426227411noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-15330783.post-1150434123598890262006-06-15T21:40:00.000-07:002006-06-15T22:02:03.623-07:00

Everyone who is a programmer knows that good coding isn't just writing code that has very few problems, is efficient, does what it's supposed to, requires little maintenance and is easily extensible. This means that it is not just about using correct syntax and the latest and greatest algorithms and implementing them correctly. It is about telling oneself and others why something was implemented

Jörghttp://www.blogger.com/profile/02806297895426227411noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-15330783.post-1150153972847543172006-06-12T15:51:00.000-07:002006-06-12T16:12:52.860-07:00

I have already written about the things you may or may not encounter on the road when commuting. Reading all the things that there are to find on a car are a whole other story. There is stickers of course, customized license plate numbers and the oh so useful license plate frames. Personally, I hate the personalized license plate numbers. Some people go to a lot of extremes making something out

Jörghttp://www.blogger.com/profile/02806297895426227411noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-15330783.post-1150152669018559952006-06-12T15:29:00.000-07:002006-06-12T15:51:09.033-07:00

I am commuting to work by car. That's really no surprise when you live in the Bay area which (aside from when you live to close to Bart or within San Francisco) does not have a good public transportation system. That's beside the point in this post as this time I am writing about the interesting, not so interesting, scary and sometimes even disgusting things you see when you spend a fair amount

Jörghttp://www.blogger.com/profile/02806297895426227411noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-15330783.post-1148401573448066702006-05-23T09:10:00.000-07:002006-05-23T09:29:49.663-07:00

So here I am, done with all classes with one thing left to do. Write my PhD thesis. But first things first. I sort of have to know what I want to write about. And that's where the struggle starts. There is a lot interesting thiings to work on in the area of Search and Indexing, and there is a lot of things that are of interest to me. The only problem is that when working full-time, it is very

Jörghttp://www.blogger.com/profile/02806297895426227411noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-15330783.post-1147714071644778202006-05-15T10:17:00.000-07:002006-05-15T10:27:51.656-07:00

... the greatest sports tournament in the World will kick off with the opening match between Germany and Costa Rica. Of course, I am talking about Soccer World Cup 2006, held in Germany from June 9th until July 9th. If you have never watched a soccer world cup, do it this year. And don't get discouraged by a few low scoring games in the preliminary rounds where there are groups of four teams

Jörghttp://www.blogger.com/profile/02806297895426227411noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-15330783.post-1147057964277591872006-05-07T20:10:00.000-07:002006-05-07T20:24:40.866-07:00

Image001.jpg Originally uploaded by jmeyer. It's hockey playoff time. Today, my buddy Chris and I went to see the first game of the Western Conference Semifinals between the San Jose Sharks and the Edmonton Oilers. The Sharks won 2:1 on a goal by Patrick Marleau and the game winner (a rocket of a shot) by Christian Ehrhoff. Playoff games are so much fun, let's hope the Sharks make it to

Jörghttp://www.blogger.com/profile/02806297895426227411noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-15330783.post-1146277930778404842006-04-28T19:32:00.000-07:002006-05-01T14:15:06.000-07:00

Image006.jpg Originally uploaded by jmeyer. My buddy Dan and I went to the ballpark in San Francisco last night. Giants 10, Arizona 2. Was a good game, a local guy from Los Gatos, Kevin Frandsen, had three hits in his first Major league game ever. Pretty cool. Only downer of the night were the beer prices. $8 for one beer is simply ridiculous. But we had "the best kosher hot dog",

Jörghttp://www.blogger.com/profile/02806297895426227411noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-15330783.post-1146244734461296142006-04-28T09:56:00.000-07:002006-04-28T10:18:54.480-07:00

... that Linux is evil. If you read this you may be tempted to believe this. Of course it isn't and part of me wants to believe that the person who wrote that was just trying to make fun of the whole thing but more likely, the author meant every word. What's even more tragic is that he/she also believed that crap and that there is a even more people out there that will do the same. This is utter

Jörghttp://www.blogger.com/profile/02806297895426227411noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-15330783.post-1146171892830015412006-04-27T12:10:00.000-07:002006-04-27T14:04:52.880-07:00

While I was at IBM, part of the job of any research employee was to create intellectual property. Over the course of the 7+ years I was there I submitted roughly 10 or so patent applications. When I returned from my last vacation, my buddy Jan gave me a frame from IBM commemorating my first issued patent, 3 and a half years after it was filed with the US patent office. This is pretty cool. The

Jörghttp://www.blogger.com/profile/02806297895426227411noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-15330783.post-1145823809346624492006-04-23T13:23:00.000-07:002006-04-23T13:30:44.316-07:00

flood waters Originally uploaded by jmeyer. flood waters Originally uploaded by jmeyer. The two pictures show the water levels of the river "Elbe" in my parent's hometown. It was at 8 meters and 30 centimeters, already down 40cm from the highest level this season. Normal water levels are around 5 meters. For the Americans among you, this is a difference of almost 10 feet. So far

Jörghttp://www.blogger.com/profile/02806297895426227411noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-15330783.post-1145790199940113702006-04-23T04:03:00.000-07:002006-04-27T14:40:30.796-07:00

nice rainbow Originally uploaded by jmeyer. We took this picture while in Germany, watching the river Elbe flow by. Teh water levels were pretty high. It was raining and the sun was shining and we caught this nice rainbow. In case you are wondering where this is in Germany. The city in the background is Lauenburg which is roughly 30 miles upstream from Hamburg. The side of the river we

Jörghttp://www.blogger.com/profile/02806297895426227411noreply@blogger.com0