The Life

Checking out new Android Blogger App

2011-02-04T03:02:00.001-08:00

Finally an official app from Blogger has arrived for Android, and the new web market that went live yesterday made it easier than ever to install it on both my devices one click away from the Gizmodo article where I found out.

Now I'm curious how this post will look! *send*

App link

Emergency Broadcast ..

2009-09-08T18:38:00.000-07:00

.. on behalf of catdom!

Some dude on the internet actually in all seriousness proposed a "Day without Cats" on the web for Sept. 9th.

This shalt not be!

(ICANHASCHEEZBURGER?)

Milktini Merch

2009-07-02T07:59:00.000-07:00

Postcards, T-Shirts, Magnets and much more ... are now available on CafePress!

P.S.: Oh, and I have decided to drop the compulsion to get the word "Life" into each and every title here :P

Milky Life

2009-02-15T13:27:00.000-08:00

Life ... Sign?

2009-02-01T07:40:00.000-08:00

Over one year after having said this: "However I might post more 2nd Life related stuff here in the future.", I don't think that's actually going to happen any time soon ...
Especially since I have another blog now dedicated to Second Life: Mechatiki Research!
See you there ...

Real Life - what's that?

2008-01-23T09:33:00.000-08:00

In Second Life, when you click someone's profile, there's a tab titled "1st Life". Some people actually write something about their real life in there (I give a link to the SHIFZ webpage where you can find more than you want to know).
But in surprisingly many profiles I keep finding statements like "2nd life has become my 1st life" or "I don't have a 1st life anymore" ... and I have to admit I spend enough time inworld to feel caught red-handed reading those entries.
Not that there had been too many outdor activities to cut down on. And actually I read this article about some research suggesting spending time in virtual worlds has positive effects on peeps with chronic pains - so there's no bad conscience involved when I spend hours re-arranging prims on my virtual land.

But it has somewhat noticeably reduced my blogging activities, here as well as on SHIFZ-blog.
However I might post more 2nd Life related stuff here in the future.
Have a good day.

Life is a LOLhamster

2007-10-06T14:19:00.000-07:00

Today local paper DerStandard reported about the ig Nobel prizes being awarded - among others to a research project showing jet-lagged hamsters could be helped with viagra.
And of course they had to run this silly pic I couldn't help LOLifying!

Life in a Parallel Universe

2007-10-06T14:16:00.000-07:00

Parallel Universes do exist.
And in one of them Stephen Colbert is a pipe smoker!

Happy Happy Life

2007-07-11T01:29:00.000-07:00

Whoah! I've got Ben&Jerry's!!

My freezer is stacked with delicious ice-creams which arrived perfectly freezy this morning - still plenty of the dry ice in the parcel was left after less than 48 hours since it's departure from Duisburg, Germany.

Nevermind that a pint costs me almost $10,- ... the fact I can have Ben&Jerrys at all makes a world of a difference.
No one interesed in investing in a Vienna franchise?? Schoenbrunn castle would be a cool location (and I could walk there from my place).

Link: Food from Home - The International Store, Duisburg.

Life More Bearable

2007-07-02T10:32:00.000-07:00

OMG! Ben&Jerry's for lowly Austrians (B&Js not available in stores here - and this sad list of countries with shops is depressing to read: Aruba - Belgium ...)!

I just ordered ten cans of deleeeshous creams o' ice ... Chocolate Therapy, Half Baked And Chocolate Chip Cookie Dough ... alas still no Americone Dream or Dublin Mudslide (but I have some Bailey's in my kitchen, he!) from a german shop and hope they pack enough dry ice to last the trip!!1!

Thanks to the Internets and especially the guys from google, life in Austria might be getting a little more bearable.

Insecure Life

2007-06-23T12:25:00.000-07:00

For sure they make you take your shoes off twice on your flight from San Francisco to Vienna, transferring at London's awful, awful Heathrow airport ... but if you forget a lighter and a nail-file in your carry-on luggage none of their scans will reveal that.
I had been loking for the file for roughly over a week - except in the front-most compartment with the vertical zip, which I still find it strange I put it in!
Actually I had thought to myself once when I was looking for it in the rucksack "Ha, maybe they'll find it at the airport, that would be one good thing about the security frenzy at airports."

On another note the suitcase with Cockbot One in it, which went missing on the journey back to Vienna turned up and will be delivered to my house this evening.
Phew!

Americano Life

2007-06-13T15:09:00.001-07:00

One more week in SF, which has become significantly sunnier and warmer compared with the week before last.
Time to treat myself to another round of Burger 'n' Shake at St. Francis Fountain - now I'm sitting across in the sugarlump coffee lounge, which provides free WiFi and a fine Americano coffee (double Espresso with extra water/steam, same as Vienniese "Verlaengerter").

After this one and the previous ones I had for breakfast, which I picked up from the Parkbench Cafe I should be coffeinated enough for some transport action to be done - build-up for RoboGames has startet!

Doppelganger Life

2007-06-12T00:30:00.000-07:00

My SF host David likes to dress like a LOLcat some of the time, the rest of the time he and Simone are getting busier and busier towards the upcoming RoboGames (see also SHIFZ-blog).

Bruhaha Life

2007-05-27T03:43:00.000-07:00

OMG - still LMAO ...

After the meet-up at Lucky 13, J. was so kind to sneak Ch. and me into a private party on Mission, for which neither Ch. nor I qualified dress-code-wise, having us pose as a gay couple at the entrance (which didn't save us from paying the cover-charge of 25$$) ...
So far so good ... we enjoyed a nice time on the smoking patio (those f**king American perverts don't smoke indoors anymore!) before we exposed ourselves to our host - a Scott Something - as a fake gay couple and got ourselves complimented out.
Bummer.
Just after having watched a lesbian couple get it on!
Still wondering if I should be glad or sorry that Chris and I never got anything sexual going?!

Anyway, while I had a feeling of understanding for the guy, who just didn't want us non-gay, non-kinky-clothed people around, when leaving the "sex-party" I just
couldn't stop pitying him for his narrow views on ... his pick of guests, I guess.

Those Americans sure get serious when it's about fun!!1!
However Chris and I got the chance to get closer to each other in a non-gay or gay or whatever undefined way on this trip - and I sure regret I have to let him go back to Austria this Monday!

Did I mention there were no drinks served, and we had to bum white wine from kind ladies??

Dildonic Life

2007-05-25T11:53:00.000-07:00

monochrom's Johannes was caught checking out the 7-motor artificial vagina, disguised as a bowling pin, which Kyle Machulis had presented along with other tele-dildonic gadgets at Wednesday's DorkbotSF meeting at Porn Palace.
Kyle demonstrated the synchronisation of the device's motors to the movements in a porn movie - after marking a spot on an actress's body, the actress's movements were mapped and converted into cyber-pussy action.
Johannes is reported to have found it "Wunderbar."

Cliché Life

2007-05-23T11:21:00.000-07:00

St. Francis on 24th St., Mission District, San Francisco, is so cliché it's already cool again.
Taken for lunch by David Calkins, Chris and I enjoyed the atmosphere of a 50s American Diner at it's best.
Previously the "Burger & Shake" classic American meal never made much sense to me - but after having one of St. Francis' burgers along with one of their deliciously old-fashioned ice-cream milkshakes, I perfectly understand the concept!
This one is definitely worth going back.

Pacific Life

2007-05-15T13:25:00.000-07:00

Having arrived in San Francisco yesterday for Maker Faire and RoboGames, I was a bit surprised how much the Pacific Ocean cools down things here - had to buy a warm jacket today before anything else!
Otherwise SF is as awesome as I remember it, not that we would have seen that much of it yet, but you get a good feel of the flair here in Mission District, where Chris and I are lodged at Mr. Robotics and Missy SuicideBots' house.
(Photo of downtown skyline taken behind the house)

Life Letting Go

2007-04-18T15:04:00.000-07:00

My 3-6 is gone. After more than a year of root-canal treatments it was considered hopeless and possibly fractured and being pulled.
And it didn't go without putting up a fight too. The use of a scalpel was unavoidable.
So - haha, Mr. 3-6 troublemaker, mothafu*ka, who's laughing now!

Space Life Invading

2007-04-01T14:46:00.000-07:00

... video that recreates an exciting game of Space Invaders in stop motion, using people sitting in theater-seats as pixels.
(via)

Overclocked Life

2007-03-30T09:20:00.000-07:00

Overclocked by Sheepfilms - Found on Neatorama.

Life on Drugs

2007-03-04T08:49:00.000-08:00

Nancy and Ronald Reagan have a surprising message for us - coming straight from the year 1988 ...
Just say Yes! ... After about 5 minutes of talking about Nancy's pot-use and the merits of crack cocaine Ronald has another revelation: "And there's one more thing - Nancy and I are hooked on heroin."

(via)

Chillin' Life

2007-02-12T11:56:00.000-08:00

A low-tech and aesthetically pleasing solution for the slow-drinking Martini-lover's chilling problem comes in form of SwankMartini's Chillin' glasses.

I just signed up with their affiliate-program so click through and buy a dozen to earn me some credit so I can get myself some - I suffer from the slow-sippin-syndrome badly.

Durable Life

2007-02-08T09:36:00.000-08:00

The front side of this vintage bamboo tablet used to show an exotic (Chinese) landscape with houses and there was a block of Chinese characters which in my infant imagination more than 30 years ago used to form the shape of an English doubledecker-bus.
Unlike the print on the back side it has suffered from repeated washing though - so I have a hard time re-imagining that landscape ... but the mere fact the tablet itself withstood over 30 years of use amazes me.

Tiki Farm Life

2007-02-06T05:26:00.000-08:00

Cross-breeding Tiki and Science (Fiction) culture - does that ring any bell?
These "Robotikis" - Tron the Beachcobmer and Radar Vic are beautiful reminders of a modern global cocktail culture.

From the product page at Tiki Farm: "Our Marquesan Space Invader comes at you in Intergalactic Green and is ready for Blast-Off! Radar Vic & Tron the Beachcomber are designed by one of the Tiki movements most talented artists, my pal Scott Sheidly"

(via)

Student Life

2007-02-01T07:48:00.000-08:00

Among the stuff my grandmother handed down to me when I was a teenager, that belonged to my grandfather was this set of a Schnaps-bottle and shot-glasses. It was apparently part of his student fraternity paraphernalia as the little skulls rest on books on which's spine the slogan "Gaudeamus Igitur" is inscribed, the title of a song in ancient Latin that used to be (is?) popular among the members of student fraternities.
(I remember the first line from my Latin-lessons in school: Gaudeamus igitur, iuvenestum sumus - Let's enjoy ourselves as long as we are young!)

When I moved out of my parent's home 1990 I left it there (unlike this tobacco-jar), which I'm rather glad about - I'm sure every piece would have been broken twice by now.

Life in other Dimensions

2007-01-31T12:53:00.000-08:00

This animation, published as an illustration of the first chapter of the book on superstring theory Imagining the Tenth Dimension shows how to imagine the tenth dimension, walking you all the way from dimension 0, the point:

Nice!

(via)

Life Viewed From Orbit

2007-01-25T06:52:00.000-08:00

Don't those Tikritians have other worries than erecting space art?
This face of a duckie was found on an island in Tigris river in Tikrit, Iraq.

If you have Google Earth installed just right-click and open THIS.
If you want to check out what it looks like on the ground go to lat=34.6078411731, lon=43.690757344.

(thx poetina)

Celeb Life

2007-01-24T15:22:00.000-08:00

Two professional bloggers I had the pleasure to meet through my roboexotic activities are listed in Forbes's The Web Celeb 25: CoryDoctorow and Violet Blue.
Now ... is that a good thing?
Oh yes! Forbes is obvy a quality publication, having run an article on ROBOEXOTICA 2006 on their webpage. Congrats Violet, Cory!

Oh, and they say ZeFrank's real name is Hosea Frank.

(via Laughing Squid)

Life is Tough

2007-01-22T16:16:00.000-08:00

And only the toughest duckies survive.
It was more than clear that zefrank wouldn't let this brave duckie pass unmentioned - sure enough it headlines monday's show with a dedicated "duckie in the freezer"-intro:

(duckie in the freezer story originally spotted on boingboing)

Sticky Life

2007-01-16T13:39:00.000-08:00

I had stickers printed of my successful art print Ceci N'est pas Une Pipe - anybody want any?
I'll send one to you inside Europe for €2 including shipping, 50ct for every additional sticker. (US: double the amount for $$)
Just drop me a mail at magnus[AT]shifz.org ...

Update: Yay - the above photo is linked to from an update to Boingboing's post on a current Los Angeles County Museum of Art Magritte-inspired exhibit ...

Metric Life

2007-01-16T06:43:00.000-08:00

Hehehehehehehe!
Quoting robots.net: "The only areas left not using the metric system are Burma, Liberia, and the US."
And that's not "the only areas on earth" but includes the moon, as "NASA and 13 other space agencies from around the world have come to an agreement that the Moon will use the standard metric system of measurement."

Hopefully this will prevent future moon citizens from having to worry "about trying to fit a 15 millimeter nut onto a 5/8 inch bolt."

Life Is Making

2007-01-13T09:52:00.000-08:00

Make:blog thinks these pieces of Marbelized Latex with Embedded Magnets look cool ...
Thanks a lot! :)

Started using oblong and round forms to pour latex and embedding neodymium (rare earth) magnets a few days ago (after working on a series of latex bugs based on spoon forms), which gives pretty cool fridge magnets.
Still experimenting with different magnets and multi-magnet set-ups; using latex of different colors keeps the process interesting!

Life Does End - Still!

2007-01-11T12:46:00.000-08:00

Robert Anton Wilson is dead after suffering declining health for an elongatd period of time.
As an author RAW introduced me to amazing philosophies and woke my interest in a lot of things, among them longevity/immortality.
Unlike his pal Timothy Leary, Wilson is not reported to have his head frozen for cryogenic storage.

Thanks for the inspiration, Bob. Hail Discordia Forever.

(via boingboing)

Life on the Dark Side

2007-01-07T13:41:00.000-08:00

The Truth about Darth Vader is an Ask a Ninja "special delivery" by Doogtoons.
Around since last July, I just discovered this video on Revver browsing the featured creators.

Life's Waste

2007-01-06T08:22:00.000-08:00

Making up for many years not dumpster-diving, I rescued a stack of 78rpm records recently.
Someone in the house I live in had put them in the trash and I saved those on top which obviously hadn't come in contact with any yucky spoils yet ... haven't counted them yet, but I think it's a couple dozen of them!
I am only beginning to browse through them - the first two I brought up to the light from the basement were one with Zarah Leander - a singer popular in the 1930s and 40s, and the other one featuring the well known "Wienerlied" (lit. Vienniese Song, a local genre) Ich brauch' ka schöne Leich ("I don't need no fancy funeral").

Currently I'm trying to auction the Zarah Leander one at eBay: Link

Martini Life

2007-01-04T09:17:00.000-08:00

I have made the first footsteps in my quest for the perfect Martini, executing my new year's resolution:
The last few evenings have seen me fixing Martinis both with the gin and the vodka I have at home, mixed in a ratio between around 6:1 and 8:1 with extra dry vermouth. Stirred.

Apropos, there is a clever three-~~step~~drink tutorial "... to understand the Martini, and to understand the concept of a balanced cocktail ..." at Drinkboy.

Happy New Life Year!

2007-01-01T10:49:00.000-08:00

This turn of the year marks the start of my personal pursuit of the perfect Martini.
I did already find out my taste is on the dry side (less vermouth) and I like more than one olive going with it (before running out of olives which should not discourage further, even purer experiments).
With a new purpose in this ~~life~~ year, I want to keep the game fair and the recipe open to both gin and vodka ... starting with left-over Bombay Sapphire from ROBOEXOTICA and the russian vodka Sergey brought from his region.

Holiday Life

2006-12-23T12:33:00.000-08:00

Enjoy these holiday-cards I designed - click for hi-res versions!

Life Selling Something

2006-12-15T07:20:00.000-08:00

With the ROBOEXOTICA going on and all, I didn't think much of it at all, but actually I received a modest artistic acknowledgment for my personal work of fine art: The 30x40cm print Ceci N'est Pas Une Pipe has been auctioned off at the presentation of Heidulf Gerngross's magazine Star's latest issue at MAK last Thursday!
Actually 2/3 of the price achieved goes to Star - but my own costs are covered and I got plenty positive feedback.

Sleepy Life

2006-12-15T04:27:00.000-08:00

Our guest Kal Spelletich, one of the few who had actually built a cocktailrobot before ROBOEXOTICA even existed (Martini-maker mid-1990s), was quite struck with jetlag all through his stay ...
The symposium Dreams of Regulation obvy seemed an appropriate place to try to catch some sleep.

I am not suggesting the symposium was somniferous or anything - with participants like V. Vale, Eddie Codel and among others Kal Spelletich himself, it was far from that!

Bug Life

2006-11-30T15:18:00.000-08:00

This is the first in a series of magnetic "bugs" based on a spoon-full of latex.

Eery Life

2006-11-24T12:44:00.000-08:00

This footage donated by Pjotr Riedelsperger was shot at Vienna Zentralfriedhof's children's section.
Those toys and teddybears seem so out of place that the weirdness of the view doesn't pass all through the clip.
Wien's Central Cemetary is one of the largest in Europe, so it didn't surprise me that they have their own children's section - although I must say these pictures did surprise me ... on one hand a lot of the graves don't seem to have proper gravestones which contrasts oddly with the colorful toys placed upon the dirt, on the other hand the contrast of this kid-stuff and the grave-candles and crosses etc. in itself is strange enough.
There's this one grave so overloaded with toys! And other graves that look like kids are taking care of them (I figure a lot of kids DO visit siblings' or friends' graves and bring stuff).

Office Life

2006-11-14T10:06:00.000-08:00

This sign is on David Calkins' office-door at SFU!
Robots ... Don't be fooled by their friendly attempts to make you a cocktail!

(via)

Robots, Celebrating Life

2006-11-13T12:40:00.000-08:00

Russian robots get ready to party ...
... maybe because we have two guests from Russia at ROBOEXOTICA this year?

Besides Sergey Teterin from Perm, who has already arrived in town, Michael a Crest from Petersburg is anticipated to show an installation which includes his Bragofon - the Okku.pator.

( picture via)

Cardboard coming to Life

2006-11-13T09:11:00.000-08:00

When a board-game is turning into a game of cardboard robots!
Vienna resident eSeL will stage a life-sized version of the game Ricochet Robot at the opening eve of this year's ROBOEXOTICA, Dec. 5th.

This here is the first prototype he built, together with his pal KaCe - in the end the robot-players will be brightly colored ... and instead of paper-icons they will be moving around hot drinks on the field in Museumsquartier's courtyard.

Life-sized Photography

2006-11-12T05:22:00.000-08:00

In Museumsquartier's Freiraum, the current exhibit consists of a giant walk-in camera, which takes life-sized pictures of people!
The monstrous apparatus had been collecting dust stored away for some thirty years and this is the first exhibit since it's been recovered.
The IMAGO 1:1 produces black and white images, 200cm high and 60cm (25in) wide and can be ued to make a self-portrait by any visitor willing (and able) to pay €190,- thru November 19th. (Freiraum - MQ, Museumsplatz 1, 1070 Vienna)

Life as an Odontological Guinea Pig

2006-11-06T11:00:00.000-08:00

My dead-but-hurting 3-6 tooth is getting a last chance.
For cost-reasons laser-treatment hadn't been suggested so far, but today I was the human guinea pig in a workshop at the University clinic and had the root-channels of my problem-tooth lasered by a student. Another session is scheduled for next week and this just might save my tooth from having to be pulled.

Life Under Construction

2006-11-02T13:06:00.000-08:00

Grinding action at WerkzeugH, where since my last visit quite a few things have been accomplished.
The kitchen looks quite done, the bar as well.
Today I showed Sergey the location of our SMS-bot presentation next Thursday (Nov 9th). And met with Oskar Fischer who will play live at our presentation, to figure out what sound-equipment has to be taken.

Life Taken by Robot Arm

2006-11-01T12:14:00.000-08:00

Unrelated to this fine picture, which comes via slava robotam and can be ordered on shirts on cafepress,
TheDetroit News reports of a robot arm pulling a man to his death at an industrial plant:
"He (McGirr) was cleaning a robotic arm and it clicked on for some reason, grabbed him by the back and shoved him into a press," a police Sgt. is quoted.

Eva Hatt from Michigan Occupational Safety and Health Administration (MIOSHA) said fatal accidents with robots are rare, but not unheard of in Michigan, which was the first in the nation to report a robot-related death in 1984 when a 34-year-old victim, working with automated die-cast machinery, was pinned between a robot and a steel pole and suffered a heart attack.

(via Suicide Bots)

Life with a Smart Bag

2006-10-28T10:30:00.000-07:00

The LadyBag was developed by six students from Simon Fraser University in Canada, in a project that mixed students from the university's interactive arts degree and the information technology degree.
It is a purse with a built-in RFID reader - the bag displays an according icon with LEDs on the outside if any of a set of objects equipped with RFID-tags misses from it, like your cellphone or keys.

On top of that, the bag has force- and motion-sensors which help detect the owner's mood,
"For example, if the person fiddles frantically with the bag, the face with a worried look will light up. If the owner hugs the bag, a happy face emoticon will light up."

(via artfuture, thx Expertina!)

Life at War, Battling Plants

2006-10-28T07:40:00.000-07:00

This one comes from Afghanistan via a Reuters article on CNN's offbeat-news ...
"... One soldier told him later: "Sir, three years ago before I joined the army, I never thought I'd say 'That damn marijuana'.""

Obviously Canadian troops have their troubles combatting "almost impenetrable forests of marijuana plants 10 feet tall":
"We tried burning them with white phosphorous -- it didn't work. We tried burning them with diesel -- it didn't work. The plants are so full of water right now ... that we simply couldn't burn them," complains General Rick Hillier.
The problem seems to be the weed-forests are hard to penetrate with thermal detectors, so that it's easy for Taliban fighters to appear and disappear in and out again.

A truly evil herb, evil, evil, evil.
But we would have thought the Canadians were much better prepared for confronting the plant's terrorist powers than that -
When on one rare occasion one of the cannabis-forests caught on fire "a section of soldiers that was downwind from that had some ill effects and decided that was probably not the right course of action," Hiller said dryly."

Our eyes certainly don't stay dry imagining the troopers experiencing those "ill effects" ...

P.S. An afterthought - maybe the fire-resistance of the plant could be used to prevent Southern California from those wild-fires.
Imagine belts of hemp forests placed strategically in the affected areas saving lives and property. Possible ill effects could be countered with medical marijuana.

Life, Coffee and Laptops

2006-10-26T03:27:00.000-07:00

Yesterday, when I was decorating a window inside MQ's Electric Avenue with ROBOEXOTICA propaganda, I gave a demonstration why one should never, ever allow a cup of coffee to stand by itself next to a laptop ... in a chain-reaction that involved my hand, the cup and Stefan's mac-book.

The relief today when the dried laptop resumed function is almost indescribable.
Right after the incident we turned the mac-book upside down and used paper-towels to get liquid out of between the keys. We also removed the battery, there was coffee in the battery-compartment too, which had to be dried with towels.
Then we let it rest upside down and dry over night - voila.

Although in deep concern, I was being reassured yesterday night, when I googled "kaffee im laptop" and found reports of similar settings (coffee with sugar and milk) where drying was all that was required to restore functionality. One guy wrote he had his laptop in the oven for 8hrs - a procedure which was not chosen to repeat on Stefans mac-book.

Dream Life

2006-10-23T16:49:00.000-07:00

A sheep for robots to dream of ...

This electric sheep has motion sensors in it's eyes and can turn it's head towards where the action is.

"Basically, it looks like any other stuffed animal, except that if you sit in the same place for a while, you will notice that it seems to be looking at you."
Here's the builders log.

(via)

Life, borrowing a cup ...

2006-10-22T13:07:00.000-07:00

... of robots.

~~Brought to you via~~ Borrowed from the irresistible Suicide Bots blog.

Life in West Vienna

2006-10-17T16:16:00.000-07:00

When I walked home from Oskar's place on Hütteldorferstrasse yesterday evening, I had this nice view onto Schönbrunn's Gloriette, a building a bit uphill from the palace which is nicely lit during night.

Enjoy the view ...

Life in Pink

2006-10-14T08:08:00.000-07:00

Pink is the new pink!
Or so ...

Yesterday I got new and high-res photos of the pink Popelismus shot by Expertina with her elegant Sony - previously I only had shot photos of it with the lower resolution video-cam.

I started painting Popelismi 1997 and spent about five years with the first one, measuring 120cmX120cm.
When the painting was finished I sealed the surface with a standard colorless coating.
The smaller Popelismi which followed I also furnished with a layer of paint.
The pink one was first, black, blue and white followed, also one multi-colored white/pink/red.

Tormented Life

2006-10-12T17:27:00.000-07:00

One of my teeth, the 3-6 in dento-lingo, or Wunderzahn as my current dentist at the University Clinic dubbed it has been a pain in the mouth since February ... when it received the first root canal treatment.
After the first two weeks in agony - despite around 8 visits to my now-ex-dentist/clinic, which it took before I received a medication that took away the immediate acute pain - weeks and months followed during which the tooth was in turn allowed to calm and would then be opened again just to hurt again when the root canals were probed. Which shouldn't have been so, legions of denitsts have attested since then.
Today after about 4 month at the new clinic it was finally examined under microscope, but no 4th canal has been detected, the source of the recurring pain (which has set in dramatically again yesterday, after the tooth had been opened again) is still a mistery ... which might make extraction the unavoidable final answer to this b*tch of a grinding tool.
Only about two years back extraction was the fate of it's symmetrical counterpart in my right lower cheek - which crumbled after month of opening and closing the root canals again as it still hurt during and after the canal treatment when it should have been dead - just like this one.

... Since February ... !!

N.K. Life under Surveillance

2006-10-10T12:56:00.000-07:00

Dear U.S. Dept. of State,
in my habitual spy missions along the North Korean embassy in my neighbourhood, I checked their showcase for updates on the supposed nuclear test yesterday - and you guessed it: no sign whatsoever of any atomic activities there!

However some of the trees on the property have been choppedy-chopped, someone seems to have had an urge to impose control onto the creatures of nature.

Alas, my crappy mobile-phone wasn't good at capturing the cars parked inside, but maybe you can send me a proper spy-cam?

Your's sincerely, I

Life Assimilated

2006-10-10T04:23:00.000-07:00

Another occurrence of a robot eating a human kid has been brought to our attention by Make:blog - this time with a shockingly detailed coverage of the assimilation process.
Fig. 1 shows the assailant before the attack, Fig.2 depicts the endresult - the robot-shell inhabited by the eaten-alive child.

This is especially sad as the attacks had decreased a bit lately (despite alarming signs of a higher level of organization among the robot-insurgents) - we're curious to hear from Human Resistance Headquarters (formerly known as Boingboing) on this! (x)

Previous robots vs. humans-coverage:
[8],[7], [6], [5], [4], [3], [2], [1]

(x)Update: Xeni sez: "Ohnoez! Robots return to to recruit more earth-children for dastardly Halloween fun and destruction."

Documented Life

2006-10-08T09:30:00.000-07:00

I was visited by eSeL last week, who shot some photos of my still-in-progress latex-man(-alien?) and some of the Popelismus-paintings.
Lorenz managed to capture when I posed with the (magnetic) latex-sculpture picking up a magnet from my hand - I also love the one where I can see myself in the reflection on the TV in the background, especially in the original sized picture.

Talking of the original sized pictures, I am wow'd by how on the Popelismi you can see every pore of the canvas magnifyed ... booger bigger than life!

Old Age Life

2006-10-07T13:43:00.000-07:00

This week Boinboing made me aware of author Robert Anton Wilson's condition, which is: he has no money, has a few months left to live, and was facing eviction from his apartment.
Gladly a few days were enough to collect about 68.000,- from well-meaning people on this planet, which gives this sad story a happy turn.
It's a shame the author of works like Cosmic Trigger or Illuminatus should die in poverty! Is this the 16th century, people?

I have to admit I'm not in a situation where I could notably contribute financially to Bob's final days, but you all should be buying a few of his books quickly, so the royalties get to him in time!!

P.S.: When you browse Bob Wilson's webpage, DO check the "jokes"-page! You'll find gems like this one:
"Three Texas surgeons were playing golf together and discussing surgeries they had performed. One of them said, "I'm the best surgeon in Texas. A concert pianist lost 7 fingers in an accident. I reattached them, and 8 months later he perfomed a private concert for the Queen of England." One of the others said, "That's nothing. A young man lost both arms and legs in an accident. I reattached them, and 2 years later he won a gold medal in field events at the olympics."
The third surgeon said, "You guys are amateurs. Several years ago, a cowboy, who was high on cocaine and alcohol, rode a horse head-on into a train traveling 80 miles an hour. All I had left to work with was the horse's ass and a cowboy hat. Now, he's president of the United States.""

Life, Breaded

2006-10-07T08:57:00.000-07:00

When at Tacheles extern last weekend, I had the opportunity to admire (and photograph) Pjotr Riedelsperger's Breaded art - various objects breaded in the tradional "Wiener Schnitzel" crumb, a series called History Breaded (german page -> translation).

Among the objects: cross, crescent, mousetrap, books and a VHS-video-tape.

Poisonous Life

2006-10-07T08:43:00.000-07:00

Makes you wonder!
In Austria a rather unusual contamination of 1-kilo-packs of millet already in retail has been noticed in routine tests - with thornapple-(Datura-)seeds, on average 17 pcs. per kilo.

The highly hallucinogenic seeds don't look like millet at all, so they should be easy to spot, but experts are left wondering how the contamination could occur, thorn apple usually not being part of farming.

(Source: DerStandard)

Robotic Life is Sexy

2006-10-04T07:37:00.000-07:00

I just realized that a snip from the article on a japanese beer-pouring bot in New Scientist I was interviewed for in January, made it onto Suicide Girls' geek-news ...

How cool is that!

Blorg Life

2006-10-03T09:46:00.000-07:00

From the web-comic Brewster Rockit:
WHEN YOU ARE ASSIMILATED BY THE BLORG, YOU WILL WRITE THOUGHT-PROVOKING BLOGS OF TIMELY IMPORTANCE.
YOU WON'T FEAR TO TACKLE EVEN THE MOST CONTROVERSIAL SUBJECT. BEHOLD!
"WHY I THINK ABBA ROCKS."
IT HAD TO BE TOLD.

The Blorg-episodes:
1, 2, 3, 4, 5.

Life Extern

2006-09-30T11:20:00.000-07:00

After what turned into a long 2nd night in Berlin, the ROBOEXOTICA delegation has settled at Tacheles extern, where Cockbot One is mixing a drink for our currently sole visitor as I write this.
Defunct Gesundheit is decorating the window and Robomoji is showing signs of deterioration.
Alan happily films and projects and Bic-o-mat, the smoking robot is hazardously placed on a full barrel of oil.
What shall I say, Life is good and Cockbot One's daiquiris are delicious.

Drowsy Life

2006-09-28T11:58:00.000-07:00

After a short, early, early morning flight, Chris, Stefan and I arrived in Berlin, where we first checked in at Kunsthaus Tacheles, where our basecamp is.
After that we met with Robert who drove all the robots up here - Adrian will follow tonight, Tom Heike who is coming from Munich will be with us tomorrow.

In the afternoon we brought the stuff to Technikmuseum where the show will be tomorrow ...
I still don't know too much about the whole event we'll be part of - but we heard something of cooking with nytrogen on the same floor, something I've wanted to witness (and taste) firsthand for a while anyway.

Fotos: Link

Life getting ready for a Journey

2006-09-25T14:26:00.000-07:00

If you were the International Electrotechnical Commission and were celebrating your 100th birthday ...
You'd have a couple cocktailrobots getting ready to join your birthday party!

The Technology Night at Berlin's Technikmuseum on friday 29th, celebrating 100 years IEC, which was founded 1906 by British Lord Kelvin, is a private party, so don't try to sneak in ...
... rather come visit the cocktailrobots and the people travelling with them at 30th or Oct. 1st at Tacheles extern, where they will be "researching" with their friends of nurschrec!.

Today I was instructed how to power up Gesundheit by Fra Ablinger, who will be in a plane to Japan when Gesundheit mixes at Technikmuseum, and together we wrapped it for a safe journey in Robert Martin's hanger, who is bringing his Robomoji.

Update: I don't even want to start describing what a bizarre series of steps I had to undertake to get these two 320KB and 215KB mobile 3gp-video-files into ONE clip WITH sound ... of about 2MB.
It demonstrates the fine arts aspect of cocktailrobotics, showing Fra "adjusting" something on Gesundheit's wooden mechanism with a chisel, adding sculpting to engineering: Link.

Life, Having a Lobby

2006-09-19T13:37:00.000-07:00

The Wiener Mietervereinigung saved my day! After several months of exhausting correspondence with the property management company that manages the house I live in, the weight of having to deal with those people has been taken off my shoulders by a cigar-smoking gentleman of the Vienniese Mietervereinung ("tenant association") ... a lobby for people troubled by their landlord.
And I am. It starts with the fact that in the little over three years I live in this apartment, the company I have/had to deal with is the THIRD property management to run business for the same owner here.
And the trouble begins, where the second of them, the one that took over from the management I originally rented from, seemed to have virtually no information on anything, but soon thought they had found out I had to pay more money.

Along with my modest apartment on first (american 2nd) floor I am renting a tiny basement which was in quite a bad shape when I moved in and still has some structural deficiencies and was offered to me for 30,- all inclusive on top of the rent of the apartment.
So I disagreed with the manager who thought he read in my contract I would actually have to pay way more, referring to how I remembered the arrangement should be about what I have and have not to pay, but visiting me at home and kind of telling me the other tenants had to pay for me, he got me to agreeing to paying a fraction of the originally demanded amount.

Now the current management think they found out something new, ignoring the fact that I already pay a certain sum in accordance to an agreement to their predecessor and want to add €€€ on top again ...
And these people have been annoying by not sending me papers I requested to be able to speak with Mietervereinigung in the first place, by replying to my 4 letters and a fax with messages that indicate, they're either morons or not reading my letters or - and by now I have to suspect it's this - they know I don't really have to pay more and want to prevent me from finding out.

So I had a whole lot of paper with me when I showed up at Mietervereinigung and somehow I think it helped that my new guardian was smoking a cigar as he pondered my case (Columbo-effect) ... concluding that after clearing out those mysterious shifts in squaremeters taking place in the house in the end the will of the parties was manifest in the contract as follows: Magnus shall not have to pay an obscene amount of money like was never the deal!

~~Columbo~~ my new guardian will now be fighting this out with the bad guys for me ...
Ah, those suits are going to regret this!

Life on a Weekend

2006-09-18T11:27:00.000-07:00

Thanks to bere, who referred her Euro-travelling friend Matthew from San Diego to me to direct him to WerkzeugH and other places I make look interesting on 23, I saw more of paraflows than I would have otherwise ...
Friday night I took him to the recording of monochrom's Taugshow, which seems to have been well received (and of which I got you a sneak preview here).
On Saturday I met Matthew at metalab, where he witnessed "the birth of civilization" in form of a community voting on the near future of netculture funding in our fine city.
Failed to meet him at the party at night though (from which I left quite early in order to get some sleep before collecting late birthday-gifts from my family on Sunday), where again Sylvia Fassl-Vogler did a great job of interpreting and being a better host than I will ever be.
Yesterday night was spent at WerkzeugH, where the Swedish elections were followed, although it never got too clear how many % exactly the Pirate Party had gotten.
bere must also have done some advertising cocktailrobots to Matthew, as only a little brainwashing^TM was necessary to make sure he'll be there cheering us on, when we manage to get some of the local bots to Robogames!

Statistic Life

2006-09-14T10:28:00.000-07:00

According to Google Analytics, in the last month:

As many visitor's to this page came from the ISPs British Telecommunications and the local TV- and broadband provider Chello.
The Life has had one more visitor from Brazil than from neighboring Germany.
Most visits come from the United States, followed by Austria.
Google is by far the top referring source.
Interesting network-locations of visitors: Department of Veterans Affairs, National Arts Centre (country unknown), Jesuit Publications, Google, Finnish State Computer Centre, Novartis (Singapore) Pte Ltd. (Not that any of those would top the US Dept. of State)

Pirate Life

2006-09-13T16:30:00.000-07:00

The Austrian Pirate Party have not qualified for the upcoming parliamentary elections ...

... but they have made 2 of the king's men convert to piratedom tonight at metalab, where the two were trapped after trying to get away with a chest full of data.

Sewing Life

2006-09-12T04:44:00.000-07:00

CsMFMAATSGOIS is an installation in progress at WerkzeugH as a part of the ongoing paraflows festival.
Visitors are invited to bring their own fabric or materials, so I contributed some of my Netart, which was sewn into the evolving structure by Stefan Nussbaumer.

In case you didn't guess: CsMFMAATSGOIS is short for Coordinated Sewing Machine for Mapping, Analyzing and Transforming social Groupings of interactive Systems.

And here's some video of Stefan sewing.

Life Remembering

2006-09-11T07:41:00.000-07:00

This quote from a BoingBoing-post from Sept. 11th 2001, quoting a John Perry Barlow's mailing list, somehow feels appropriate, as it's message is still relevant and worth repeating:
"This morning's events are roughly equivalent to the Reichstag fire that provided the social opportunity for the Nazi take-over of Germany. I am *not* suggesting that, like the Nazis, the authoritarian forces in America actually had a direct role in perpetrating this mind-blistering tragedy. (Though their indirect role deserves a much longer discussion.) ...
Remember that the goal of terrorism is to create increasingly paralytic totalitarianism in the government it attacks. Don't give them the satisfaction. Fear nothing. Live free. And, please, let us try to forgive those who have committed these appalling crimes. If we hate them, we will become them."

Caffeinated Life

2006-09-10T14:21:00.000-07:00

When I was at the VEKKS yestereve I had to admire their "new" Espresso machine, which is wall-mounted to blend in with the trademark VEKKS-aesthetics.
Click the pictures for enlargement and to browse different angles on Flickr.

Life before the Big Robot Uprising

2006-09-06T03:55:00.000-07:00

We are well aware that individual robot insurgents have already started singling out and devouring the more helpless members of human society: [7], [6], [5], [4], [3], [2], [1].

And from now on robots will even know what wine to choose to wash down their victims - robot-sommelier is able to identify dozens of provisions using infrared spectroscopic technology.
Giving away his role in the robot conspiracy, he identified a reporter's hand as prosciutto and recommended a Chianti Classico to go with it.

While in the near future the application will be limited to combat industrial wine fraud, NEC is thinking about actual end-user applications once they have the cost of the device down a little.

Life, 2 Towers, 2 Airplanes

2006-09-04T11:39:00.000-07:00

Watching the BBC docu-drama 9/11 the last minutes in WTC (as I write this) is heartbreaking.
Once for the original footage which is just as shocking as it was when I saw those images live on the very same screen plus added detail of assorted footage which turned up later.
Twice for the reinactments, where you see people being told to stay in the office, return to their office, those individual stories of survival and death. Rescuers dying. Guilty feeling survivors.

Words fail me. Over and out.

Related: 3D-images of 9/11

P.S. Just apropos ... Watching CNN's recent special In The Footsteps of Bin Laden explained to me for the first time (in a non-satirical manner), why President Bush seemed so unimpressed or -surprised when he was told about the attacks while reading to kids: the warnings were there and they were drastic. Not publicly shared though, probably because the threats were still unspecific. But someone briefed president-style would definitely not have been surprised except for the novel method used.

Wild Life

2006-09-04T06:13:00.000-07:00

What sad news to wake up to! The seemingly invulnerable Australian Crocodilehunter
Steve Irwin has been stung in the chest by a stingray near Queensland's Great Barrier Reef while filming a documentary.

It comes as a surprise, as the world has watched Irwin tackling life-threatening situations on a frequent basis, always unmoved by danger and enthusiastically chattering in his likable Aussie-accent.

The attack is supposed to have happened as Irwin was swimming above the stingray - the fish reportedly piercing Irwin's chest and possibly his heart with his poisonously barbed tail.

Rest In Peace, Crocodilehunter! And thank you for making nature documentaries watchable again for younger generations.

Communist Life

2006-09-02T08:02:00.000-07:00

That's the India I used to know!
From this Boingboing-post on Indian state Kerala banning Microsoft from state-run schools by Xeni Jardin, I learned that the government of India's southern-most state has turned communist again - like it was when I traveled there 1990.
Sweet nostalgia! No single computer to be found in the whole state, back then, and Coca Cola, which has obviously been banned in Kerala again too, wasn't available in all of India (except miraculously in New Delhi - imported from Arab states and sold at stands on the street). I am curious whether the local Indian Cola brand Thumbs Up has survived the introduction of Coke and Pepsi in India ...

P.S. Also back then rickshaw drivers didn't get involved in death-races!

Disease Life

2006-09-01T11:17:00.000-07:00

From the Loving Your Enemies Department:
"Mommy, can I get Ebola, pleeaase!" - "Well, let's see - wouldn't you rather get Sleeping Sickness or Black Death instead?"
It's easy to imagine conversations like this taking place at the gift shop at Boston’s Museum of Science, where these stuffed bacteria are offered.

(via mental floss)

Bun Life

2006-08-29T11:38:00.000-07:00

In the raging easter-bun-wars between Swiss chocolate-maker Lindt and a small Austrian business, the Austrian "Prachthase" has won the latest battle before court.

The evil Swiss (chocolate-)empire had the Prachthase, which Hauswirth has been manufacturing since 1951, taken off the shelves last year, claiming it violated their Goldhase trademark, which they only registered in 2000.
Vienna's commercial court has now decided it didn't, asserting Lindt's registration was intended to hinder competitors.
Lindt is expected to appeal.

Night-Life's Day-Life

2006-08-26T11:40:00.000-07:00

Walked by Chelsea earlier this evening, where locals Jellybeat where checking their sound for tonight's gig at Gürtel Nightwalk.
Tonight will be seeing quite a few shows in the open air in front of the bars and clubs along the "Gürtel" street, which bends across half Vienna.
The annual event held since 1998 includes a dozen locations like Rhiz, B72 or Cafe Carina.
The mobile video I shot turned out pretty noisy, which didn't prevent me from uploading.

Following up on Life Resurfacing

2006-08-25T10:20:00.000-07:00

The expression of the day is Dungeon Girl ... and Natascha Kampusch's story isn't in any way done with yet. After an absence from CNN-text for about a half day, I have just seen it there again, page 102, which, if you are following CNN-text frequently, you know is the equivalent of the headlining story.

It has also been in the ever-repeating news cycle on CNNintl. TV ... so - any new news from inside Austria?
Police still can't deny or confirm that kidnapper Prikopil had an accomplice. Neither is there a definite yes on the sexual abuse, although it has been indirectly implied by the police-woman who was her first contact, kind of.
For the weekend the young woman is being granted a break from questioning, staying in a hotel, supervised by a team of psychologists.
The actual circumstance of her escape: Natascha vacuumed the car in the garden, which prompted Prikopil to move away from her vicinity to lead a telephone conversation.

My excuse for getting back to this boulevard news item?
I can link to one of my teletext-photos on 23, which haven't been viewed a lot, since I only recently switched them to public (from private).
Ok?

Things in Life I Wish I Knew Nothing About

2006-08-24T05:14:00.000-07:00

Noooooooooo!!!!

(Spectacular case of elephantiasis - via)

Covert Animal Life

2006-08-24T05:07:00.000-07:00

Introducing the Pooderman ...

This Poodle Disguise for Doberman Dogs might be a giant leap in the Public-Relations-For-Deadly-Dogs Department!

(via)

Life, Resurfacing

2006-08-23T11:02:00.000-07:00

Wow. I mean - wow. Austrian news have been abuzz all afternoon with the possible reappearing of a girl gone missing 1998, ten years old.
Just ten minutes ago it has been confirmed, relatives (parents) have identified her (DNA test still awaited).
The story seems grotesque: A "confused" young woman is found stumbling through someone's garden in a town outside Vienna. She had jumped out of a red BMW a short distance before a spot traffic check. When police arrive, she tells them she's Natascha Kampusch, who had created grand search efforts and media coverage, when she disappeared more than eight years ago. She reports she has been held in a basement and was educated by her captor.
By the time of evening news the young woman's statement about her captor tinkering with explosives has reached media. The red BMW has been found abandoned, the manhunt is underway. A foto of the suspect has been published.

Wow again. I mean, I'm usually not so much into being touched by tabloid-oid news-items, but I have to admit - I am moved.

Update: First english media report

Update2: The culprit has commited suicide, throwing himself in front of a train during the evening. The talk of explosives merely served to intimidate the girl, none were found in the house. The girl seems to not have jumped out of the car, but got a chance to flee from the house, the guy seems to have taken off with the car then ... or so ... more details will emerge during the coming days, this is still just unfolding. Did I say wow yet?

Update3: The delight of having a CNN narrator pronounce Prikropil (the dead kidnapper)! The story is indeed bizarre enough to have Matthew Chance report from Vienna.

Life Welcomes New Reader!

2006-08-19T05:54:00.000-07:00

In the first 24h-period that I'm tracking this page with Google Analytics, The Life has had a visitor from the U.S. Department of State, dutyfully surfing the blog-o-sphere for posts on North Korea.

I hope I could help - I promise to keep you updated about the embassy's showcase!

Any sponsors interested in advertising here with the keywords "North Korea"?

P.S.: A google search for "north korea robots" turns up a blog-entry titled "Wonderful North Korean Propaganda Films at YouTube" as #2 entry. Hmm.
For frequent news about South Korean bartending robots turn to SHIFZ-Blog.

Covert Life

2006-08-19T04:06:00.000-07:00

Robot ..... Camera ..... Robot ..... Camera . Robot .. Camera . Robot . Camera . Robot . Camera ... Robot ... Camera ...

I could go on forever!

(via)

Mysterious Life

2006-08-17T05:49:00.000-07:00

Hm, today police inquired about my next-door neighbour.
When I came up from my basement, I saw a policeman standing in my neighbour's apartment, with his back turned to me, so I didn't say hello and ask what they were doing right away ... ten minutes later the cop rang my doorbell and started to ask questions like: do you know the guy, does he have to do with tools?
At that point a thought balloon appeared above my head, reading "Are you looking for the guy inciting his faithful to build WMDs (Weapons of Mass Drunkenness aka Cocktailrobots)? I know him - IT'S ME!", but I managed to truthfully answer I knew of nothing like that.
When the officer put the statement "He claims he doesn't have a cellar compartment" in question form, I replied I didn't either ...
My attempts to find out why they were asking that stuff - "Did he build something evil?" - were basically ignored.
Although my first thought, being indoctrinated by western media, was of course my friendly neighbour might be manufacturing hair-gel bombs or interesting stuff like that, I suspect, they might as well suspect him of something profane such as burglary (which would actually be a shock).

In the light of this event, the "pest exterminator" who rang my door about a week ago to ask if I could open the door to the cellar floor for him, seems even less likely to be real, than I had suspected from the beginning. Why would a pest exterminator show up during the building manager's holiday, obvy not on appointment?
Must admit I'd rather thought he was a burglar than a cop.

Caleidoscopic Life

2006-08-16T15:57:00.000-07:00

This cartoon becomes REALLY funny, when you read the caption going with it!

(via)

Life Visiting Town

2006-08-13T08:49:00.000-07:00

Things I didn't mention at the moment ...

... at Votivkirche: Boah, I don't know any interesting stories about Vienna churches. Whereas in my hometown Mödling though, at the main church, there's a metal door to the basement, in which you can still see the dents inflicted by Turkish weaponry, when they tried to get to the people who had found a retreat down there. So the story goes.

... when the Kahns told me that at their friend's 50th birthday-party (which they came to Europe for) along with a whole lot of other gigs, some girl - like the winner of the german American Idol rip-off - had been performing: Probably it was the Austrian Christina Stürmer, who left the Austrian rip-off version as 2nd or 3rd, but has become a "real" pop-star, and the Germans love her.

... when I talked with Gina about her skull-decorated bag: That the ubercool button with the pixelated skull I carry on my bag, was designed by Vienna's motmot-Design, 50% of who are from the U.S., I even think, Steve is from LA! (there's more: That day I wore the official ROBÖXOTICA-tee, which was printed by motmot right at the festival last year!)

What I forgot to do:
- Make more forbidden photos inside Schönbrunn palace.
- Have an accomplice stand outside art history museum, so I could through out valuable stuff through the open windows all over the place.

(4yr. old Maddy, Gina and Kenny are friends of my halfbrother's family from LA, who showed me around Vienna this week.)

Update: What else I forgot to mention!
When we talked about Arnie, I should have told of the renaming of the Schwarzenegger-soccer-stadium in Graz, where they removed the giant letters after Arny commented "Yeah go ahead, I'll sue you if you DON'T" when the city was considering it around the time of the first execution under Gov. T-850.

Life on the Move

2006-08-08T09:24:00.000-07:00

Runch Comics, one of Vienna's long-established Comicbook-stores, are moving their quarters a few blocks from Burggasse to Kaiserstrasse - and is offering discounts of up to 90% in the closing sale.

New address, opening Aug. 26th: Kaiserstr. 5, 1070 Wien / Old address sporting sale: Burgg. 62, 1070 Wien.

Playground Life

2006-08-06T09:39:00.000-07:00

Titled Robot hide and seek, this painting by Toronto artist Graham Roumieu comes via a BoingBoing-exclusive.

Nice variation on a popular game indeed! I can see not-so-distant future kids playing this with their upgraded Robo-Ones ...

Life as a Sith Lord Grocery Store Manager

2006-08-02T12:54:00.000-07:00

Chad Vader, Day Shift Manager is a two-part mini-series depicting the trouble one has to undergo if one happens to be a Sith Lord managing the day-shift at a grocery store ...
From having to call your boss "Randy" instead of "Emperor" to being plotted against by the begrudging night-shift manager - it is a hard job!

Part One and Part Two YouTubed.

(via)

Physically harmed Life

2006-07-30T05:51:00.000-07:00

I hate Vienna! I hate Europe and it's culture of dwarfs!
I almost can see and hear the tiny dwarf foreman with his measuring tape, going "Aw, it's high enough for the likes of us to pass - quitting time!" to his jockey-sized workers.

The vicious thing is, most street-signs are in fact high enough for me to pass beneath them. But over the years I have hurt my head on more than just one - without a construction site adding height to the sidewalk.

I have cried out from pain on open streets and asked myself, do people of 194,5cm (AGYTCI - ask google yourself to convert it) have no right of walking the streets of Vienna without being physically harmed by streetsigns overhead?!

But the beastliness of adding 2-4 inches under a sign, so 6ft4"ers who were used to passing unharmed would scratch their skull!

I curse you, generations of european mites, line of tiny ancestors!

Life is War: Robots vs. Children - Round 7

2006-07-26T12:09:00.000-07:00

A Boingboing-reader sent an update on the child-eating robot-invasion - from the 1970s!
Obviously our governments have done a real great job covering up these incidents all those years ...

First previous post - Last previous post

(via)

P.S. an interesting sideline, also on Boingboing today: NASA officials removed the phrase "to understand and protect our home planet" from their mission statement

Life on Porkbutts and Taters

2006-07-21T05:56:00.000-07:00

Charles Taylor, former Liberian dictator, is unhappy with the meals served at the rather eurocentric facility in the Hague.
Well, we're crossing our fingers, that once convicted, he will be able to choose from a more multicultural menu.

Graffiti Life

2006-07-20T10:53:00.000-07:00

Graffiti on Währinger Strasse: This is not a gallery / Ceci n'est pas une galerie.

Snack Life

2006-07-16T09:58:00.000-07:00

In the space at Vienna's Westbahnhof where Subway used to run an obviously unsuccessful franchise, an asian snack-bar has moved in.
I tried the Peking Duck in a pancake and I'm encouraged to move on to trying something else next time, as it wasn't bad at all.

Had to go to Westbahnhof for Sunday's shopping, and the weather being sunny but pleasantly cool I strolled through Auer Welsbach park on my way back, where I had a little picknick.

Celebrating Life

2006-07-12T04:32:00.000-07:00

Valie Göschl had her birthday party yestereve at the transacoustic research's headquarters ...
where this interesting installation captured everyone's attention, not only with it's by-product, a dangerous herbal spirit, but also with it's musical side - the bottles in which bubbling was going on were wiretapped.
I actually listened to it before knowing where the pickups were placed and was wondering really hard, what could produce such a spirited percussion session.

For the record, I have documented my present.