petit-point or usque ab arras

It escapes me sometimes when tools are not used for their intended purposes, especially electronic ones that resist being repackaged for lesser purposes. Around the office, it seems that spreadsheet software is only useful for generating sign-in sheets or telephone rosters--or that slide presentation software, though it makes for some torturous briefings here as well, for makes great signage. The interface for that suite of software is forgiving and reminds me of how paper-tissues (still formally called "facial tissues") were originally marketed as cosmetic removers but husbands took them away from their wives and used them for more practical (perhaps intuitive) and immediate things. There is a warning on packages of Q-Tips about not putting them in one's ears. H has been working quite hard on a brilliant presentation, aesthetic and in accordance with the rules of briefing and kind to his audience, but there are certainly no shortage of professional presenters and slide-shows, like this contest via Neatorama, that show disregard for brevity, succinctness and good taste. What other unintentionally awful presentations have you endured? The presentation is about the subject and the presenter, and it is another example of using something against convention if the slide-show can do without the speaker.

thugs and skullduggery

Like every restaurant, national monument, club, loose association, florist, and fire hydrant, my organization at work has a companionable presence on the internet. This forum, intended mainly to promote goings-on, and solicit community mood, however, is open to a wider public, not under the same dictates as an employer/employee- or consumer-relationship. It is sociologically fascinating and gloomy to see how it has not invited civility in. Though most items betray laziness, idleness or the inability to use the telephone book or the Google, a growing portion of complaints, vignettes and insights border on tormenting and terrorism--or at least the instigation thereof. A few weeks ago, I was involved in hosting a guest speaker on the subject of bullying. The talk was very accessible and lucid and though the target audience was school teachers and children, adults are bullies too--just with more ammunition. The discussion really highlighted the fundamental lessons that are sometimes overlooked: that bullying is not conflict and arbitration techniques do not apply but only exacerbate the targets, there is a distinct difference between tattling and alerting and children can comprehend the difference with guidance and positive examples. Snitching and gossip do not need to be broadcast if the message only serves to get another into trouble but not prevent it. A vigilant and a vigilante mentality has become a cultural norm, thanks to more universal tormentors and maybe many are not conditioned to err on the side of restraint or introspection. I don't think many take into account the distinction among incrimination, defamation, intervention--all of them together or answer unclear, before committing an observation to the permanent-record.

Wie jedes Restaurant, Denkmal, Klub, Blumenhändler, und Hydrant, hat meine Organisation bei der Arbeit eine freundliche Anwesenheit im Internet. Dieses Forum ist für die Anzeige von Ereignissen und Feed-Back zu sammeln beabsichtigt. Das ist öffentlich und durch die bestimmte Etikette nicht zurückgehalten. Die meisten Einträge verraten Indolenz oder Untätigkeit, aber immer mehr sind entzündlich. Vor ein paar Wochen war unser Arbeitsplatz ein Gastgebert für eine Sprecherin zum Thema des Tyrannisierens, Mobbing. Das Gespräch war sehr zugänglich und klar. Das Zielpublikum war Schullehrer und Kinder, aber Erwachsene können Rabauken auch - nur mit mehr Munition sein. Manchmal werden grundsätzliche Lehren vergessen: Mobbing ist nicht Konflict und Schiedsgerichtsbarkeit gilt nicht, und sogar Kinder verstehen den Unterschied zwischen klatschen und erzählen. Tratsch sollte nicht ausgebreitet werden, wenn die Nachricht nur einen anderen in Schwierigkeiten und nicht es verhindern bekommt. Eine wachsame Mentalität ist eine kulturelle Norm wegen universaler Peiniger geworden, und vielleicht werden viele nicht bedingt, um sich auf der Seite der Selbstbeherrschung oder Selbstbeobachtung zu irren. Vor eine Stellungnahme abgeben, beachten nicht viele Menschen die Unterscheidung zwischen Inkriminieren, Diffamierung, oder Eingreifen.

himmelfahrt

A few weeks ago, our balcony was a flutter with activity when the swallows came back to investigate their former nest under the eaves. I was a little surprised to see them swoop around at amazing speeds (and there was only one casualty when one slammed into the glass door but then fortunately flew away unstunned) since they had not been around the previous two years and there had been only their totem, a ledge fixed to the exterior wall placed squarely underneath to shield the railing and floor from their leavings, piled high and petrified, which we carefully removed. After this sortie, they were gone again but returned the other day, perhaps in earnest. I suspect maybe, although there's been a spot of rain, the birds are confused as well but this hottest, driest Spring on record for Germany.

Reports describe how the trees are in shock, exploding into bloom prematurely, and pollen still hangs oppressively heavy in the air, crops are drying up, and there's unprecedented news of steams stagnating and fish dying from lack of oxygen. There has been a patch of rain but there needs to be a steady succession of days to really soak up the ground. Christi Himmelfahrt, Ascension, has expanded to include the celebration of Fathers' Day, in part, because traditionally the hardest work of cultivating the fields was finished by this day, but the menfolk still needed to inspect their land, to ensure a good harvest, and embarked on this mission with a wagon or tractor loaded with libations. Let's hope the festivities help bring things back in sync.

Vor ein paar Wochen wurde unser Balkon durch Schwalben bombardiert, die zurückkommen, um ihr voriges Nest unter dem Dachüberhang zu untersuchen. Ich war etwas überrascht, um die Draufgänger zu sehen (es gab nur einen Unfall, als eine in die Glastür einschlug aber dann glücklich unbetäubt wegflog), weil sie während der vorherigen Jahre nicht zurückkehrten. Nur ein Totem ihrer Exkremente blieb als Beweise, aber wir entfernten diesen Schutz. Ich glaube, dass die Vögel auch durch das heiße und trockene Wetter verwirrt sind. Es gibt Berichte von Bäumen unter Stress, gedörrter Ernte, und beispiellosen Nachrichten über den Fisch, der wegen heißen und stehenden Gewasser stirbt. Es hat etwas Regen gegeben aber es muss mehr geben. Christi Himmelfahrt hat sich ausgebreitet, um das Feiern des Väterstag einzuschließen, weil traditionell die härteste Arbeit, die Felder zu kultivieren, schon am Ende. Die Männer mussten jedoch noch ihr Land untersuchen, um eine gute Ernte zu sichern. Sie unternahmen diese Mission in einem mit Erfrischungen vollen Ackerschlepper. Hoffentlich das Fest hilft alles wieder ins Lot zu bringen.

white hat or in kind

The US presidency and Department of Defense has been offering previews of its vaunted Cyber Command, due to have its big debut soon. One counter-measure--and some words do not have meaning until released to the public, especially in the very private universe of information technology--does not preclude a real-world military response to a cyber-attack. Hacking, ranging from social-activism to corporate espionage to terror-inducing and image-engineering, can cross a blurry line and there are no treaties nor expanded definition of sovereignty that adequately address policy or this sort of measured-response. What if a third-party initiates a snooping mission on behalf of an enemy with the servers of an ally? Allowing the IT department to have the wrath of the military at their disposal does not seem to be a wise thing, just as neither would allowing one nation to weaponize the people's internet.

Es hat Vorschauen auf den gerühmten US-Cyber-Kommando gegeben. Eine Art des Vergehens wird die echte militärische Antwort auf einen Cyberangriff sein. Einige private Wörter sind sinnlos, bis sie öffentlich gesagt werden. Hacking kann viele Ursachen unterstützen: sozial, spionierend, probieren, zum Terrorismus und PR. Das ist ein vages Thema, auf das Policen nicht entsprechend antworten. Wie ist Souveränität und Treue, wenn ein Hacker allein handelt? Das Internet ist eine öffentliche Einrichtung und sollte nicht als Waffe benutzt, derselbe als das Ermöglichen der Rache ES Abteilung.

prospectus

Avarice and opportunity have always been formidable market forces, and though those factors have managed to highlight the need for reform and reflection, they have not been very trustworthy gauges of performance or relevance. Exotic financial instruments, investment tools, like derivatives, still dominate a large portion of what passes for wealth, and like greed and chance stay around because of their ability to clone themselves, reduplicated a thousand times like two mirrors facing each other that reflect infinity just around the corner. Other institutions are still ballooning too big to fail, as if the physics of scale and influence alone are enough to engender the artistry and skill of doing business. The world follows markets that are accomplished at fronting this image and see this as something to emulate, jeopardizing the future of any meaningful progress and prosperity.

Habgier und Gelegenheit sind immer starke Marktkräfte gewesen. Obwohl solche Faktoren das Bedürfnis nach der Reform und Nachdenken hervorheben, sind sie nicht sehr vertrauenswürdige Eichmaße der Leistung oder Relevanz gewesen. Exotische Finanzinstrumente, Investitionswerkzeuge, wie Derivate, beherrschen noch einen großen Teil des unecht Reichtums. Sie bleiben sie wegen ihrer Fähigkeit, sich zu kopieren, kopierte eintausendmal wie zwei Spiegel, die einander gegenüberstehen, der Fluchtpunkt der Unendlichkeit widerspiegelt. Andere Einrichtungen blähen sich noch zu groß, um zu versagen, als ob die Gravitationskraft allein sind genug für geschäftlicher Scharfsinn. Die Welt folgt Märkten, die dieses Image präsentieren. Die Emulierung damit wird auf die Gefahr zum Fortschritt und Wohlstand getan.

civil service or let’s go dancing at the VFW

Memorial Day is a difficult concept to translate to German. There is no precise equivalent but traditions span the divide each with cultural nuances that make the comparison moot, also notwithstanding the existence of Americans’ repackaging of Armistice Day. With reunification, East Germany was bequeathed many West German religious holidays that seem equally inscrutable yet servicable.  It is also approximately my father’s birthday (Happy Birthday, Dad!), who, before the States migrated most holidays to the nearest Monday, grew up with somber birthdays spent at the cemetery.

I can articulate the significance but it is often a challenge to explain the mitigating trappings that most observances have taken on: the beginning, officially, of summer—another day off or the christening of one’s grill and all outdoor equipage. No one remembers it was begun by liberated slaves for openness and reconciliation in the aftermath of the US civil war. Before dismissing us for the long weekend (and early specifically not to interrupt chance for vacation), work hosted a simple yet poignant ceremony, which was not bombasted with the usual patriotism, politics and nationalism. Because the service was attended by the Burgermeister and representatives of the Bundeswehr, the occasion demanded one show not just restraint and respect but also to be simply reverent and circumspect. Instead of being cynical, I thought not only about the people I work with but about both of my grandfathers, who had long, circuitous military careers that brought my family together.  These sorts of realizations and connections make the day off more enjoyed.