Bloredom

“Facebook verklagt StudiVZ” (golem.de am 19.07.2008)
“Das US-Unternehmen hat Klage gegen StudiVZ eingereicht und wirft der Site vor, Facebook kopiert zu haben, meldet die Financial Times.”

Antwort von StudiVZ einen Tag später:

“StudiVZ-Gründer weist Fälschungsvorwurf zurück” (golem.de am 19.07.2008)
“Ehssan Dari: “Die Farben unterscheiden sich: StudiVZ ist rot, Facebook ist blau”"

Na dann…

… with an amazing new soundtrack. And I thought his first video was amazing…

So I meant to submit my online application to that economics graduate school programme in Zürich today… but it seems my last-minute mentality isn’t getting me anywhere with the Swiss. Sure, the deadline is today:

But unfortunately it’s not actually possible to submit that thing today:

Switching off their servers on the date of admission? What’s wrong with those people? Damn friggtards (that’s “retards”+”fuck”+some modesty).

Or, in German: Wenn ihr mich nicht haben wollt, dann könnt ihr mich gerne haben. Friggtards (yes, I think it works in German, too).

(to conclude: I guess I won’t be in Zürich next year then)

“They were all dead. The final gunshot was an exclamation mark to everything that had led to this point. I released my finger from the trigger. And then it was all over.”

Funny how a simple press release and a small picture can bring back all the sweet memories connected to the first and second part of Max Payne. The first time was spectacular, slow-motion bullet mode, phantastic music, the whole setting of Max chasing his past, him filling it with probably the most beautiful lyrics of death, pain, revenge and love. The second part then made it perfect, with a film noir love story like no other, an even more intimate theme some, an amazing ending and Mona as the incarnation of tragic love. That they now make a movie out of it sounds promising. However, the fear of Max Payne ending like Chris Robert’s “Wing Commander” in 1999 will remain.

Mark Wahlberg might not be the perfect cast for the role of Max (also see the first shot of the movie). But the first picture looks still promising in a way. Especially the cast for Mona Sax (a fairly unknown actress called “Mila Kunis“) seems to be just a perfect catch for Payne’s femme fatale-counterpart. Let’s hope the director doesn’t screw it up.

Although one doubt remains: How do you want to bring Max to life on the big screen in a movie that is intended to be rated R 12?

Wenn selbst der “Spiegel” in seiner Online-Ausgabe der neuen Frontfrau der Tagesschau, Judith Rakers, einen eigenen Artikel widmet (laut Printausgabe übrigens die Nachrichtensendung, in der der Tag in Deutschland “gewissermaßen notariell beglaubigt wird”) sollte dies eigentlich Anreiz genug sein, mal wieder einen Blick zu riskieren. ;)

Dazu übrigens auch ein amüsanter Auszug aus dem Spiegel 13/2008 zum Thema “Tagesschau”:

“Wenn Gniffke (ARD-aktuell-Chefredakteur, Anm.) Gästen aus den USA oder England die Tagesschau zeige, dann seien die zunächst immer sehr belustigt, dass es so etwas überhaupt noch gebe [...]. So ganz ohne Anchor, so deutsch-behördenhaft. Doch wenn er denen dann von den Marktanteilen seiner Info-Ikone erzählt, verstumme die Kritik schlagartig.”

Übrigens (passt zwar nur entfernt hier rein, aber egal): Ein iPod in Verbindung mit dem “heute Journal” Podcast, übrigens eine der besten Nachrichten-Sendungen des deutschen Fernsehns, quasi die “notarielle Beglaubigung mit mehr Herz”, ist eine der weltbesten Erfindungen seit langem. Effiziente Leerlauf-Zeit Nutzung par excellence. Der Berater in mir wäre stolz auf mich… ;)

March 10 was Chuck Norris’ birthday. Happy birthday Chuck!

Bearded and muscled, Norris shot to fame fighting kung fu legend Bruce Lee in the 1972 film The Way of the Dragon, and later films show him devastating groups of men with one kick.

“Norris visited Iraq when violence was its worst and other celebrities were skittish. He’s one of the guys,” public affairs officer Specialist Mark Braden said in Baghdad.

“The Marines love him. He’s like a mythical legend,” Staff Sergeant Amy Forsythe in Falluja said. (here)

Chuck Norris also recently teamed up with another mythical legend, governor Mike Huckabee. Together they made what must rank among the most hilarious campaign videos in human history. Clearly Huckabee is a Christian fundamentalist, and quite scary as such, yet he is also oddly charming and authentic. Check it out:

And Chuck is not just an example to Americans. After all, it is Iraqis more than anyone who are in need of some heroic inspiration these days.

[An Iraqi] police trainer said Chuck Norris was a role model for the police in Falluja, which until 2007 was an stronghold and the scene of fierce battles with security forces.

“I’ve seen his videos, he’s a hero. He saves the city, he protects women and children and he fights crime wherever it is. We should all be like Chuck Norris,” Khaled Hussein said. (again, here)

Who wouldn’t like to be a little more like Chuck?

Also definitely check out http://www.chucknorrisfacts.com/ :-)

It’s that time of the year again…

World Book Day was designated by UNESCO as a worldwide celebration of books and reading, and is marked in over 100 countries around the globe. (here)

I decided to treat myself to Mark Leonard’s new book, “What Does China Think?” (also, don’t miss his article in Prospect, “China’s New Intelligentsia”) — and naturally, I couldn’t resist Waterstone’s “3 for 2″ deal, so I also bought “Imperial Life in the Emerald City” (about Baghdad’s “Green Zone”), and “A Concise English-Chinese Dictionary for Lovers” (which, by the way, isn’t a dictionary). Add to this “Lust Caution”, the short story which Ang Lee turned into his newest film, and “Heinrich Heine — Gedichte”, a very lovely Reclam edition that will finally replace my miniature Diogenes paperback edition of Heine’s poetry. I will post some reviews soon, I hope.
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Enter the Bloredom World Book Challenge 2008 ™! I will give my Diogenes paperback Heine to the first person who can demonstrate that they bought at least one book within a week of World Book Day 2008 (before or after; textbooks don’t count). You can add a comment to this blog post and tell me when you bought your last book, or when you will buy your next book. I will then send my Diogenes book to the person with the most impressive claim. Delivery may take a while… but this may be your one chance to get hold of this special book, as it is not available on Amazon or any other online book store.

Meine Auswahl ist vermutlich selbsterklärend. Weitere Zusendungen erwünscht. ;)

§ 328 II Nr. 3 StGB - Unerlaubter Umgang mit radioaktiven Stoffen und anderen gefährlichen Stoffen und Gütern

“(1) Mit Freiheitsstrafe bis zu fünf Jahren oder mit Geldstrafe wird bestraft, wer
…
3. eine nukleare Explosion verursacht …”

§ 961 BGB - Eigentumsverlust bei Bienenschwärmen

Zieht ein Bienenschwarm aus, so wird er herrenlos, wenn nicht der Eigentümer ihn unverzüglich verfolgt oder wenn der Eigentümer die Verfolgung aufgibt.Der Eigentümer des Bienenschwarms darf bei der Verfolgung fremde Grundstücke betreten. Ist der Schwarm in eine fremde nicht besetzte Bienenwohnung eingezogen, so darf der Eigentümer des Schwarmes zum Zwecke des Einfangens die Wohnung öffnen und die Waben herausnehmen oder herausbrechen. Er hat den entstehenden Schaden zu ersetzen.

Art. 21 – Verfassung des Landes Hessen

(1) Ist jemand einer strafbaren Handlung für schuldig befunden worden, so können ihm auf Grund der Strafgesetze durch richterliches Urteil die Freiheit und die bürgerlichen Ehrenrechte entzogen und beschränkt werden. Bei besonders schweren Verbrechen kann er zum Tode verurteilt werden.

It’s sunday and I’m just sorting all my newspapers which I’ve been picking up during my trip so far. Among those was also the following ad (for a golf championship at Tanah Merah Country Club). Such a pity that I’m not in Singapore on the 28th of February… ;)

@ Vik: Since we had to ban all these great pictures of the IAF, don’t you think we should try to re-open our category again? ;)

;)

Does anyone know the “Foo Fighters” song “My Hero”? Anyway, it was just last week that my personal hero resigned, but not without a final huge portion of self-mockery (or is it called “self-irony”). Anyway…

http://www.istartedsomething.com/…

Starring:
Bill Gates as himself, Brian Williams, Steve Ballmer, Matthew McConaugheyr, Robbie Bach, Jay-Z, Bono, Steven Spielberg, George Clooney, Jon Stewart, Kevin Turner, Hillary Clinton, Barack Obama, Al Gore, Ray Ozzie and Craig Mundie.