Donnerstag, Februar 24, 2005

THE HARD, COLD TRUTH
Something has come to my attention I must make known to the public - we've all heard the story about how German almost became the official language of the U.S. - and lost out to English by only one vote, right? I've told it myself to many people many times. Well, today I was shocked to find out that the story is an urban legend, a myth...NOT true at all! There never was such a vote, in fact, the U.S. never voted in any "official language" at all. Also, the percentage of Germans in the U.S. was never more than around 10%, so even if there HAD been a vote, it never would have been close for any language other than English!!
Read the shocking, disturbing disillusionment here, if you are strong enough to take it.

Montag, Februar 21, 2005

OK, real quick cool link to an article about Janet Jackson and her effect on violence in computer games...right here. Cool thoughts - the gist of it is that parents, not the government need to be the ones deciding what their kids are allowed to play and what not.
Here's a great quote from it:

It's the parent's job to decide what's appropriate for their children – not the government's. If your kid buys and plays something that seems inappropriate, pop the eject button on the console, put it back in the box, and march your son or daughter back to the store and demand a refund. Should the store absolutely refuse, destroy the game and teach your child an expensive lesson: You don't buy games of this nature without my approval.

Sure, this will result in all sorts of shouting and pouting, but it's not like kids won't act much the same way about many other decisions they feel are unfair.

There's no arguing that any of these bills has its heart in the right place. Young players should not play certain video games. But the ultimate responsibility for ensuring kids aren't exposed to something they shouldn't be starts and ends at home.
So true!!!! I wish this column would make its way to some German papers - I feel that more often than not, the "ultimate responsibility" for deciding what German kids are allowed to play and watch starts with the German government and ends at home, sometimes...

Donnerstag, Februar 10, 2005

Hi!
Stephi was at the doctor's today for a high-resolution ultrasound. Her doctor had said that the baby's body was too small in proportion to its head, and had wanted a close-up check.
Well, it turns out everything is basically fine - after taking another look at her notes and papers and stuff, Stephi thinks her doctor probably got the baby's week (29th) wrong by a week or two. Anyways, one good thing came out of it all: We got a cool picture of him (yes, it most DEFINITELY is a "he", after the high-resolution ultrasound, we know for certain... :). Here it is, check it out: CLICK Oh, for those who don't know what to look for (like me, it took a bit): It's a picture of his profile, his face is facing up, and is at the right of the picture. His shoulders/tummy go off towards the left. Pretty cool, eh?
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Hi Leute!
Stephi war heute zur Feindiagnostik beim Arzt. Ihre Ärztin hatte gesagt, dass der Körper des Babys ein wenig zu klein aussah im Vergleich zum Kopf, und wollte eine Feindiagnostik machen lassen.
So wie's jetzt aussieht, ist alles OK - nachdem Stephi sich die Unterlagen und zeugs ein wenig genauer angesehen hat, denkt sie, dass die Ärztin wohl sich in der Woche (29.) um ein paar vertan hat. Jedenfalls ist da was gutes bei rausgekommen: Wir haben eine cooles Bild von ihm gekriegt (ja, es ist 100%ig ein "er", nach der Feindiagnostik besteht definitiv kein Zweifel daran. :) Hier ist das Bild: CLICK Für die, die nicht wissen, was da zu sehen ist (wie ich, hat ne Weile gedauert): Ist ein Bild seines Profils, sein Gesicht schaut nach oben und ist rechts im Bild zu sehen. Seine Schultern/Bauch gehen dann nach links rüber. Cool, oder?

Donnerstag, Februar 03, 2005

OK, that does it - everyone go buy themselves a headset for like 5 Euros, then go download Skype - a free Internet telephone program. It's just so awesome how well it works, and it's free!
I just got off Skyping a three-way conference with my Mom in Dortmund and my Dad in Amsterdam - for free!
The quality is absolutely incredible, so long as you're not downloading something on the side or as long as you're not sharing your connection with a bunch of people.
And did I mention it's free?
Once you have it, add johnstephi (one word) to your contacts, and skype us!

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Auf gut Deutsch: wer sich Skype (kostenloses Internet-Telefonieren in unglaublich genialer Qualität) nicht holt ist dämlich. :)

Mittwoch, Februar 02, 2005

This is awesome: Some terrorist group posted a picture of a soldier they said they had taken hostage, but actually it turns out it was a fake, and - get this - that they used an American toy solider miniature to take the picture. Terrorists may be evil and all, but whoever came up with this idea was creative...and stupid. :)
Here's the link. Click.