Boing Boing blocked -- Or what's wrong with Nudity ...

A few minutes ago I read a few articles about the blocking of Boing Boing on various blogs. A software called SmartFilter puts Boing Boing into the same category as most porn sites. Now, people in some countries and employees of government agencies and companies can't view the Boing Boing content anymore. Interstingly though, very few posts (less than 0.5% according to Boing Boing) could vaguely be identified as nudity. I don't get this whole thing, what is so wrong about nudity? Does anyone remember Ashcroft getting all bent out of shape because he was supposed to give a speech in front of a half naked greek statue and wanted it covered? What is so wrong about seeing a bare ass or a set of female breasts on TV? Why is parental guidance necessary if there is a naked person to be seen? Don't we all watch naked people in the mirror? Aren't we all born naked (except for Ashcroft maybe)?
Granted I grew up in Europe and nudity is fairly common on public television so seeing the fuss here with all the warnings just seems ridiculous to me. Especially in light of all other problems that there are. Let's look at it this way, I am all for finding those sick bastards who are into or producing child pornography. But the governments can't just go and say, now you can't show naked people anymore. And who does it hurt? Who ever came up with the notion that it is wrong to show two people doing it? Granted, there is probably more tasteless stuff out there than one will ever want to know (I worked on a project for a while where we looked at the performance and effectiveness of a porn detector) and the afternoon kids timeslot is not the best forum for this. Whether some people see it that way or not, porn is some form of expressing certain things, for some it's erotica, others may find it disgusting. But it should be everyone's choice whether they want to watch this or not. And if someone sees something illegal they should report it. But in all fairness, I don't think anyone has ever died of watching a little nudity or even porn, and (in most cases) there is nothing violent about this. Yet, America is outraged if Janet Jackson's nipple is seen for two microseconds. Noone, however, cares about the fact that during any hour fo primetime TV, a kid can see numerous bloody corpses, guns, beatings, etc. For some reason that isn't worse than naked people. Priorities are very skewed, showing how to kill people, reporting live from a war, all that is fine. But seeing Janet Jackson's nipple traumatizes the nation ... I simply don't get it.

Yahoo YUI goes open source

Yahoo announced today that they are releasing the Yahoo! Design Pattern Library and the new Yahoo! User Interface Library. For anyone trying to do dynamic web stuff (Ajax, DHTML) this is worth a look. Makes developing cross browser apps very easy.

Bob Costas Sucks ...

So here we are, the Olymic winter games in Turin are underway and we have to watch Bob Costas again. Who really cares for that short moron? While TV coverage of live events seems to be slightly better this year that in previous year, the overall theme of almost showing more background info that the actual live events is still there and it still sucks. And Bob Costas doesn't add anything of value. If you saw his interview of the kid with the red hair (Shawn White) that won the men's half pipe event, you would agree. Even the kid (they call him tomato because of his red hair) was making fun of Bob Costas for being an idiot. Anyway, back to how the NBC network covers things. I have always loved to watch the Olympics because it is that one time in 4 years during which you get to see sports you usually don't see and you get to see athletes you don't see too often. And the upsets and drama are always very compelling. And every winner deserves to be shown, that includes the medal ceremonies. By the way, it wouldn't hurt some people to listen to some other national anthems. The Olympics is about sports and athletes, and not just figure skating (what is the U.S.'s deal with figure skating?). Show the fucking events and not hours and hours of background about an athlete and the hardships he/she had to overcome. All people go through hard times, athletes are people too, so some of them will naturally encounter difficulties along the way. But during the Olympics I care about the competition not that some athlete had to overcome numerous deaths in his family or that her hamster died. Show the fucking events, all of them. It's ok to focus some more on the events in which the Americans are favored but all events should be shown. And regardless of what NBS choses to show afterall, they need to get rid of Bob Costas. If you don't know who Bob Costas is or why he sucks, just follow this link: Bob Costas Sucks

Bill Maher

Sonja (my wife) and I managed to go out on Saturday and night (Thanks to Anke for babysitting) and saw Bill Maher at the Flint Center in Cupertino. I always enjoyed watching him on TV but he is really good in person. Cynical, very liberal and critical. Yeah some of his stuff is over the top but I like it. People who really like the current president of the United States and his administration should stay clear of a Bill Maher show. Although, on second thought, may be they should go to see the many ways in which they are wrong. Ooops, I think I got political here ... eh, whatever, one ion a while that's ok. But the fact theat I really like Bill Maher is probably sign enough what I think of the current presidency... Let's leave it at that. ;-)

Coffee @ Yahoo!

Haven't been around here in a while so I thought, I'd write a little again. I also haven't been to Starbucks or Peet's in a while so no more name stories. Sorry ... I guess. The reason for that is pretty simple, I am enjoying the free coffee at work. We have a staffed espresso bar and organic beans and it's actually pretty good, much better than Starbucks. And if you like coffee like me it's pretty cool. Maybe I am drinking too much coffee now, but hey, I am fired up no matter what ... Only took about 2 weeks until the barista Jose knew exactly what I wanted and now I don't even need to order anymore. Sometimes, my drink is ready by the time I reach the counter. That's how it should be.
When I am not busy drinking a shitload of coffee I learn about dynamic html, javascript and all that good stuff. There is a really good web site from a guy named Doug Crockford about javascript. I am sort of getting into it, it is somewhat addictive. On the other hand, I have to say, that looking at other people's javascript is not the most beautiful sight. If you are a newbie to this whole area, looking at code is sometimes not the easiest. for one thing, you will be hardpressed to find comments. But who needs comments anyway ...
Anyway, I so far I am enjoying myself...

Couldn't agree more ...

Just read this (from Joel on Software) on the benefits/dangers of teaching Java instead of C and Scheme. Oh so true, if you have ever interviewed people that only knew Java. Every programmer should know what pointers are and how recursive functions work.

Working at Yahoo!

So, I am in my second week now, my laptop and my linux box are alomst configured how I really like it (thanks Dan for some config files) and I am getting ready to do stuff. First though I need to learn a little about PHP, javascript, firefox plugins and the stuff my group has done so far. Over the past 5 years I have mainly worked on the backend of indexing and query processing and not so much on front end issues. Here at Yahoo! I will have to, which is pretty exciting to me and a welcome change. Maybe, in the future you will get to see something on the Yahoo site that I did ... Am working on it.
Other than that I am trying to get an idea on who does what and how things generally work at Yahoo!. Since I am bad remebering names it's doubly hard for me. Don't worry, I will manage. ;-)

My first day ...

Had my first day at Yahoo! Orientation day. Not overly thrilling ... but then ... how thrilling can it be to present the benefits options related to health care ...
Ran into a few people I knew from my old job ... felt a little like coming home. Anyway, doing another short intro class today and then I will join my new group in the Mission College campus. Already got my Mac laptop (sweet 15" powerbook) all set up and am not paying too much attention. anyway, I am good to go ... Stay tuned ...

Need to finish a project report ...

Now that I am done with the bathroom remodel, I need to crank it up a notch for my class project report. It's due on Monday at 1pm. Monday is also my first day at work at Yahoo!. Since I haven't really done an awful lot, I basically have today and tomorrow at nights and when the kids are not sleeping. Somehow I will get it done, but I am not very excited about it. I really should be super-psyched to finish it because it means that I won't have to take another class, yet I somehow don't care ...
Oh well, back to report writing, it will be over soon...

My first post-IBM project ... DONE

437 trips to home depot (there is always something you forget) and two minor setbacks later (a cracked toilet bowl and non-fitting pipes), the bathroom remodel is complete.

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Originally uploaded by jmeyer.

Was fun doing something that did not involve a computer ... well, it kind of did anyway since I was posting about it ...
I am just thankful, that a home depot is less than 1 mile away from my house ... maybe, that's why I never go with a list and always forget something ... Anyway, all that's left to do is now to give the kids a bath, who had to wait for a bath for a week ... (just kidding ...)

My first post-IBM project ... (4)

Half way done with tiling the bathroom...

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Originally uploaded by jmeyer.

Man, because the darn room is so narrow, we chose a diagonal pattern. As it turns out, out of roughly 45 tiles, only 6 of them did not need to be cut... Makes for extremely fast tiling. ( ... Got the whole thing tiled by 7pm ... ). Tomorrow I will do the grout, maybe paint the walls and then install a new toilet and voila, the (almost) new bathroom will be ready.

My first post-IBM project ... (3)

So, now I am ready to tile ...

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Originally uploaded by jmeyer.

Because, the original 2x6 tongue and groove oak subfloor was too uneven, had to go with plywood and then backerboard. Caused a little delay ... 'cause I had to go back to Home Depot and get plywood.

My first post-IBM project ... (2)

Barely 3 hours later, a not-so-bad looking bath room is turned into an awful mess ...

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Originally uploaded by jmeyer.

Already, my back hurts but need to make progress until the kids go down for their nap and I have to stop making noise. Stay tuned for more ...

My first post-IBM project ...

You are probably wondering what on earth a picture of a bathroom/toilet is doing on my blog ... The picture below shows one of the bathrooms in the house my wife Sonja and I bought two years ago. It is now time for a remodeling.

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Originally uploaded by jmeyer.

Doesn't look so bad in the picture you think? Well, if you had the luxury (or not) of taking a closer look you would see that the flooring is dingy, the toilet constantly runs and that everything could use an overhaul. Saty tuned for progess I will hoepfully make ...

My last day at work ...

Today was the day! I left IBM but not before taking a silly picture of myself. ;-)

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Originally uploaded by jmeyer.

As it turns out, I seem to have touched or impressed more people than I thought. It's very cool to know that what I did mattered to more people than just me. It was sort of an emotional day, not so much for leaving IBM and my work there behind me but rather having to part with my friends there. I wish all of them all the success and luck. With that, I am now going to remodel my bathroom during the week between jobs and then see if I can do some cool stuff at Yahoo! Stay tuned for more on that ...

And another one ...

True to the name of this blog, I have another Starbucks name story to tell. Same scenario: Bunch of work people and I have a bagel (actually two bagels today as it was a two-bagel-day) for lunch and then head over to the Starbucks to get a cup of coffee. Well, there is the few of us that order girly drinks like eggnog latte or peppermint mocha. The rest (including me of course) order manly drinks like pure coffee or Americanos. (Yes, I am that shallow ... ;-) and it's really irrelevant but always wanted to say this)
Anyway, my turn, I order my Americano and she asks for my name. I say it and she starts writing, and writing, and writing, strikes everyting through and keeps writing, then she gets stuck (like a deer in the headlights). She started out with -j- -u- -j- and did not get anywhere. So I spell my name for her ... twice. Guess what was written on my cup? -J- -U- -G- -R- -E- Truly amazing ...
Later in the afternoon, I go to Peet's and get another coffee (yeah, I know I spend way too much money on coffee). There I spell my name and she gets it right...

One more week ...

In a previous post I mentioned that I will be leaving IBM soon. Well, time went fast and I am in my last week. Feels a little weird knowing I will be doing a different commute soon, seeing other people and doing different work. There are a lot of things I enjoyed here at the IBM Almaden Research Center. I worked (or still work) with incredibly smart people, worked on some interesting projects and learned a lot of stuff. After this week, I will take a week off and then start my job at Yahoo!. Right now my official title at IBM is "Senior Software Engineer". At Yahoo! I will be called a "Technical Yahoo". Don't quite know yet what that means, but sounds pretty funny and less serious. May be part of my job will be to shout "Yahoo" all the time ... who knows. As I said before, leaving IBM leaves me with a bag of mixed feelings. I am excited to do something new but at the same time I am a little sad having to let go of a place I spent more time than at home (at times at least). But in the end, things at work developed differently than I had hoped. Now that I am getting ready to leave (cleaning out my fabulous window office), all I am hoping is that I made a difference in what I did and that Dan and Jeff don't find too many embarrassing bugs in my code. The treatment I got from my management after telling them about my resignation leaves absolutely nothing to be desired. They have been treating me very well and told me to come back should things not work out at Yahoo!. I guess that is a good sign that they liked what I did?
Anyway, just wanted to make clear that I am not leaving because I am bitter about IBM or people there. I strongly believe that my time has come to try something else and to seek a new challenge. I sort of made it at IBM (in ways that matter to me). Don;t get the wrong idea, unfortunately that did not make me rich ... ;-) Now, I want to see whether I can make it elsewhere. There is lots of other little issues that weighed into my decision to leave IBM but I don't want to bore you with all the nitty-gritty details. Let's just say that I believe that Yahoo! and the things it is offering and doing aligns better with my interests than IBM does. With that I am off to finding the remaining two bugs I don't want to hand over ...

Another name story ...

This afternoon, before heading to the grad class of boredom, my buddy Jan and I stopped at one of the local Peet's coffee stores. I order my Latte and the girl behind the counter asks for my name. I tell her my name which left her totally disoriented on her little touch screen. So I go ahead and spell my name for her: J - o - e - r - g
She types it in (correctly that is) and feels compelled to say something because the name strikes her as not being typically American. So she asks me where I am from and I tell that I am German. Oh boy, what a mistake. She starts telling me that she is German too. She doesn't speak the language and was born in the U.S. (which she tells me w/o me even asking for any of that), and that she is partially German and Norwegian. She asks me whether I get this a lot. Not sure what she meant I say: "Do you mean that every American is partially German?" I think she got my hint ... But how come that once people either figure out that I am German (or after I told them) feel compelled to either tell me that they are German as well or, run down the list of all the German words they know. They all seem to know the same words, which are either lame curse words, names of towns or names of food. What do they expect? That I hug them because I am so happy I met another (partial) German? All I wanted is a cup of coffee ... but at least she wrote down my name correctly.

Trying posting to my blog using email ...

... because I am sitting in class (Computer Networks at UCSC) and I am incredibly bored. Thank god for wireless access. This is one of the worst classes I have ever taken. It appears as if the professor is only teaching this class because he has to fulfill some teaching requirement.  This class truly sucks even though the subject is rather interesting ... for geeks that is ...
Anyway, hopefully this will be my last class before moving on to my dissertation ... Wish me luck that I don't die of boredom in this class before then.

A car I really like ...

I have always been a fan of the Porsche 911. Ever since I got a driver's license, I wanted one, maybe even before then. What I like about the 911 is that over the years it has maintained its Porsche form. You can still find style elements of the original 911 in today's model. There were a couple of model years which could have been better but the new one looks really cool.
And now they have come out with something that's almost as cool. The Porsche Cayman. Some say it's a a mixture of Boxster and 911 ... I don't really care. I think it looks compact, great and fun to drive. Wish me luck that I make enough money down the road that my dream of a Porsche comes true. Until then I will keep driving my VW Diesel ...