Chiperoni ku Basel

Author: nchenga

  • Today’s run #wod

    My running plans experienced a setback earlier this week. I had to pause for a couple of days due to a sore throat and feeling feverish. But I’m feeling much better and I went for a slow run today. It went well.

    Yesterday I bought some jogging socks for my brand-new running shoes. BTW, if you’re selling running shoes, it really helps if your staff is enthusiastic. The sales staff offered good advice on how to train and knew running groups in the area.

    Earlier I read this Spiegel article on Christian Hottas, who has run over 2000 marathons.

    (…) es geht um den Spaß an der Bewegung, nicht darum, einen Marathon zu laufen. Ich ermutige jeden, so viel zu laufen, wie er kann und mag. Laufanfänger, die in meine Praxis kommen, unterstütze ich aber gerne. Leistung ist immer subjektiv.

  • For the #recipe backlog at Chiperoni

    Here’s a cross-reference to yet another banana bread recipe.

  • Tulip snapshots for the boring flower set

    Very boring.

    Wikipedia on tulips.

    Between 1634 and 1637, the enthusiasm for the new flowers triggered a speculative frenzy now known as the tulip mania. Tulip bulbs became so expensive that they were treated as a form of currency, or rather, as futures.

  • #1 rule in arguments

    If you’re losing, start correcting their grammar.

    1

  • Ka-wuuuum, ka-crash!

    And suddenly it’s March. Despite all my lofty plans to use Chiperoni as my tweet machine, I was feeding the corporate silo with links galore.

    Until I saw this. There’s an IndieWeb plugin to install.

    Tweet, tweet.

    Life is busy. My day job keeps me busy.

    The weather has been beautiful this past week. Sunny and warm.

    Basel is celebrating Fasnacht. The amount of confetti on Wettstein-Bridge on Monday evening was incredible. The clean-up operation at 8 pm was quite fascinating. They bring out major equipment and with all the yellow light flashing, it creates quite an atmosphere. But I didn’t stop for any photos.

    Yesterday I stumbled across a very moving series of photos from Fukushima by Metroblossom.

    Sad. Especially the long term effects of the nuclear power plant. I watched a video on the ARD German TV Mediathek site called “Meine Tante aus Fukushima”. Equally sad. Let’s not forget how vulnerable life is. It doesn’t take much to destroy your livelihood.

    In the film, the one thing that the family picked up from their former house were the family photo albums.

    The ability to capture one moment in time. To preserve memories.

    That’s one of the things that draws us to photography.

    I’ve been posting some photos on FLickr. I quite like this close up:

  • Sunny snapshots

    Sunday’s afternoon sun was special. Soft and golden. So beautiful. Here are some snapshots I captured with my Panasonic Lumix:

  • New hard disk added

    Many thanks to ifixit and Blog IT Solutions for useful hints.

  • Responsive web design and low and expensive bandwidth

    Some time ago, the Malawi daily newspaper, The Nation, released a new web design. More recently Nyasa Times updated their web design. In both cases, it’s an improvement. And from my current home base here in Switzerland, both sites load promptly.

    From family in Malawi I hear that the loading times for both sites have increased. It would be interesting to hear from others if they noticed the same.

    Many people in Malawi access the internet via mobile devices. Only few have access to flat rates and most Malawi internet users probably use prepaid data bundles, i.e. every MB of data costs $$$.

    In addition, some parts of Malawi and even parts of Blantyre don’t have a good connectivity.

    I think it’s important to find out how your target audience will access your site. And then optimize your site for low bandwidth. I’ve written about this topic before. (Click here and here).

    I’m not a web developer. But I do think we need to step in and ask questions about page speed. Page speed is an important part of the overall user experience.

    Responsive web designs are great. One content base serves web pages on different end devices from smartphone to large monitor screens.

    But what about optimising responsive sites for lower bandwidth?

    What kind of things should you adapt and change? Best practises for responsive sites?

    I switched off a WordPress mobile plugin called Mobilepress ‘cos it was creating a lot of broken links which showed up in Google Webmaster Tools.

    Should I reinstall a mobile plugin like Mobilepress on my WordPress site?

    This got me thinking about responsive web design and bandwidth. I’ve started doing some preliminary reading and googling on this. Here are some links I’ve found:

    Design your site for mobile devices first. The buzzword is mobile-first.

    (…) more than 12 percent of the world’s Web traffic comes from mobile devices. This fraction is significantly higher in nations with higher smartphone penetration and is expected to increase notably in the next few years as adoption picks up in Asia, Latin America and Africa.

    One important task is to optimise images. I found this Smashing Magazine article provided some helpful guidance on responsive image solutions. But minimizing the bandwidth impact of images isn’t easy.

    Test your site to see what is affecting page speed. There’s Google’s Site Speed within Google Analytics, Web Page Test and Yslow to help you identify issues.

    In my opinion, this list of web design guidelines for low bandwidth still holds true.

    Good background article:
    How and Why Responsive Design Can Go Wrong

    Conclusion: Building websites isn’t getting easier. Ask your developers to search for ways to improve your site’s performance.

    Tips? Ideas and suggestions? I appreciate your comments and suggestions to improve.

  • Whistling postman

    Yesterday, on my first bicycle commute to work in 2014, I heard a postman whistling Wind of Change very loudly, while distributing the mail from house to house.

    Made my day. So funny.

  • Disruptive

    Found via Ben Werdmuller’s retweet:

    I can’t imagine a more disruptive act than choosing to publish on your own website.

    Source: Adactio: Journal””In dependence.

  • Yet another banana bread recipe

    This recipe inspired me to carry out another banana bread experiment. I found the recipe on this list of banana bread recipes.

    My variation:
    I used some leftover hazelnut flour and some leftover coconut flour. Added some hazelnuts. And I used sesame oil instead of coconut oil.

    And because I didn’t have any cocoa at home, I skipped the part about adding cocoa and chocolate chips to one part of the cake dough.

    So it’s really a new recipe. A new creation.

  • Spider web

    From the archives:

  • This made me smile

    Twitter / Kansiime256:

    c.f. Wikipedia

  • Best snapshot of 2013

    The question is:
    How do I find the best Chiperoni snapshot of 2013?

    My most productive month on Flickr in 2013 was May. Least productive – at least in terms of uploads – was August.

    Here’s a quick review of my year on Flickr:

    January 2013

    February 2013

    März 2013

    April 2013

    May 2013

    June 2013

    July 2013

    August 2013

    September 2013

    October 2013

    November 2013

    December 2013

    BTW, you’re seeing a new kind of image embed that Flickr is rolling out now.

  • The blog is dead. Again.

    Recommended read: Article by Jason Kottke.

    The blog as we once knew it is dead, but many of its elements will live on.

    If you want something to cry about, cry about the decline of the open web, the death of which would be a huge blow for us all. But perhaps that’s a topic better left for 2015.

  • ET phone home

    I like this blog post on the Crossroads website: Home for Christmas.

    ET phone home.

    ich bin ein star

    Growing up in Malawi, I probably don’t share the same level of contemplative Christmas (“besinnliche Weihnachten”) memories that my fellow German compatriots may have experienced. It’s difficult to emulate some Christmas traditions when it’s over 30 degrees warm.

    merry christmas

    My mom remembers how I had to learn a lot of english carols in my first year of primary school, many of which she had never heard of. Like Good King Wenceslas. Or God rest ye merry gentlemen. Or Away in a manger. I faintly remember walking to St. Paul’s Anglican Church in Blantyre for carol service rehearsals.

    merry christmas

    Christmas was a very special celebration for my grandfather. My mom told me about a lot about the Christmas parties he organized for his family despite being very poor.

    And many years later, I remember my first Christmas at German uni where everybody in class said they’re travelling home to be with their family. Even the tough-looking punk with dyed red hair and rings in his nose was travelling home to celebrate Christmas with his mom. I was truly fascinated.

    last minute

    I am thankful for this Christian holiday. And I like some of the traditions associated with Christmas. I just dislike and still rebel against the commercialization.

    shop window

    I’m planning to attend the Christmas Eve service at Crossroads Basel. If you want to join me, here are the details.

    Christmas card...

  • A fave for http://www.wenger-2-rad.ch/

    This is a blog post to say thank you to http://www.wenger-2-rad.ch/.

    On Monday morning, I noticed that I had forgotten my bicycle lock at home. Since I don’t have a lockable place to store my bike near work, I hurried to the closest bicycle shop planning to buy a substitute. When I noticed I’d forgotten my purse in the same place where I’d left my bicycle lock.

    Great way to start the week.

    I usually attach my bicycle lock to my bike rack.

    The owner of Wenger 2 Rad was kind enough to lend me a bicycle lock for a day. Without charge. Which is great, ‘cos I already own at least 3 bicycle locks and don’t really need a fourth one to forget.

    Thank you Wenger 2 Rad. I appreciate the help.

  • Papaya is a super food

    Via “50 foods you should be eating”, papaya is highly recommended:

    34. Papaya
    If you’re feeling the onset of a cold, reach for this tropical fruit instead of an orange next time. One papaya has more than three times the daily recommended intake of vitamin C and is also stocked with flavonoids, vitamin B, potassium, magnesium and fiber. All in all, it’s good for the cardiovascular system and reduces the risk of colon cancer.

    See also the anamed website

  • Football crazy http://flic.kr/p/iaLNxA

    A snapshot I took today:

    Football crazy

    Football crazy.

  • My wish list

    Inspired by various gift lists that are showing up in my timeline, I thought I need to write my own wish list.

    On my wish list:

    New takkies.
    new takkies
    I’ve started running again on a regular basis. And I noticed I need to replace my Asics with a fresh pair. Bought my current pair in 2010.

    “Es gibt kein schlechtes Wetter, nur schlechte Kleidung”
    I need to buy some clothes for winter.

    I’m very happy with my current line-up of gadgets. Favourite gadgets in use in 2013 are a good old 13″ MacBook, an iPad and a Lumix camera.

    Android smartphone.
    I don’t need a smartphone. But looking at current reviews, I’d probably get a Nexus 4 or an LG G2. I’d like to learn more about Android. My multi-operating system strategy is a good excuse, don’t you think?

    Apple TV.
    I remember a meeting with an online marketer who strongly recommended getting an Apple TV, when it first came out. Maybe he’s right. Or maybe Google Chromecast is a cheaper alternative?

    But these are all material wishes. Not essential.

    Happiness, health, peace, love, joy, wisdom, kindness, goodness, knowledge are worth much more. And much more difficult to gain.

    kraft

    One wish of mine is to improve my writing skills. There is more fun in creating.

    riding a bicycle

  • Banana Bread – December 2013 version

    Four, very overripe bananas in my kitchen… means it’s time for banana bread.

    I found this recipe while searching for the keyphrase “coconut banana bread” and decided to give it a try:

    Ingredients

    4 bananas, (2 1/2 cups mashed or 575 grams)(they can be yellow bananas)

    4 eggs

    1/2 cup almond butter (140 grams)(or coconut, sunflower seed, macadamia nut, etc butter)

    4 tablespoons grass-fed butter, melted (can substitute coconut oil)

    1/2 cup coconut flour (75 grams)(or almond flour, macadamia nut meal, etc)

    1 tablespoon cinnamon

    1 teaspoon baking soda

    1 teaspoon baking powder (gluten free or homemade)

    1 teaspoon vanilla

    pinch of sea salt

    via Paleo Banana Bread at Civilized Caveman Cooking Creations.

    Throw everything together, mix and bake at 180 C.

    I used tahina instead of almond butter.

    Banana Bread ”“ December 2013 version

  • Looking down

    Leaves, leaves, leaves.
    leafy covering

    leafy covering

    Earlier.
    Some weeks ago.
    Looking up.
    Leaves, leaves. leaves.
    looking up - leafy roof

  • http://bit.ly/1iqpeTY How to motivate yourself

    This article continues some thoughts discussed in a previous entry:
    How To Motivate Yourself Into an Exercise Routine You'll Actually Stick To.

    I like the idea of thinking in systems.

  • Underperforming students at Chanco

    This is sad news: http://www.nyasatimes.com/2013/11/29/university-of-malawi-withdraws-116-unperforming-students-at-chanco/
    It’s so tough to get to Chanco in the first place and then this. Their relatives will be devastated. I’m sure lots of aunts and uncles paid towards their secondary school and exam fees.

    I know very few students that make it to uni level in Malawi. Most lack the points required to go on to tertiary education.

    If you pass MSCE but don’t have enough points in Maths and English, your only hope is to try again. All career options require a good MSCE in Maths and English. And there are only a limited number of training positions. Competition is high. Most school leavers end up repeating the exam 2 or 3 times.

    IMHO, the educational system requires more vocational training options. Like in Germany or Switzerland. Like Tevet but on a larger scale.

    But this is not easy to implement. I don’t know enough about the Malawi education system. I’m an outsider. I’m sure Malawi blogger Steve Sharra can provide more insight.

    There are few options for middle-of-the-road school leavers with a MSCE pass.

    Sidenote:
    Reminds me of a quote by John C. Maxwell to treat all your students well. Cos your C-level students will one day return and fund the expansion of your school.

    Also confirmed by this Business Insider article.

  • Rapid fire trading

    Wow.

    Compare and contrast with Kevin Slavin’s Lift 11 talk.