Alienating all the law-abiding, hard-working immigrants. For political gain.
The more you talk about the need to integrate, the more you emphasize that another person isn’t integrated. And instead of improving integration, it may cause more divide as people are made aware of differences.
Even if you just move from one neighboring country to another, there are loads of unwritten rules and ways to behave and differing politeness levels, that all the natives adhere to and you don’t know anything about.
The readiness to adapt is higher at the beginning.
But how will I learn if there is no contact? No way to interact? If fear increases on both sides? If i experience rejection?
It helps if
i know what i believe in and where i come from.
i am open to get to know others from different backgrounds and cultures.
I personally feel that we are moving back into a media world where news is controlled by a handful. Simply ‘cos many of us (me included) have no time for citizen journalism.
Creating is more fun than echoing other folk’s content.
Beautiful weather. Saturday morning. The most natural thing to do is to keep the window open, listen to the birds singing, and quietly sip some coffee while catching up with Twitter and Flickr and co.
You would think. But not in suburbia.
What is it with suburbia, that whenever there is beautiful weather, my neighbors bring out their noisy lawn mowers?
I live in a quiet, residential area, but this infatuation with noisy lawn mowers is striking. Yesterday. Today at 8:30. Probably lawnmower fanboys trying out their new toys… new lawnmower apps to try out.
Update 23 Sept:
Yesterday I was at home working on my MBA papers. Beautiful day. Sunny. Suburbia responded by bringing out the lawn mower.
Update 8 October 2010:
It’s sunny and warm. And the lawn mowers are mowing. Again.
I stumbled across this Swisscom poster showcasing Leo’s mobile app to sell a smart phone:
I started using Leo’s English – German dictionary regularly long time ago – in the late 90s. I think it must have been about 1997 or 1998 at my first full-time job after uni. The vocabulary wasn’t as extensive as it is today. And at the time many people questioned and challenged its reputation as a reference. But, working in an IT company, we had unlimited access to the Internet. And Leo’s website was accessible from every workplace, whereas hard copy dictionaries were few and bulky.
I remember lively discussions with a secondary school teacher for German and English. Her main point was that there was too little information on usage and folks studying English as a second language would be confused and misled by the simple list views. I felt that this also applied to most hard copy dictionaries. Regarding usage I – in turn- recommended Oxford’s monolingual Advanced Learner’s Dictionary.
From early on, Leo offered access to a forum where dictionary users could ask questions, make suggestions, improve dictionary entries, clarify usage, etc. And they added links to other language resources. Which indirectly helped me to find a job during the dotcom downturn.
Well, here I am walking to the office in Züri on a fine, sunny morning… just 13 years later… and Leo is helping to sell smartphones:
Everybody uses Powerpoint. Yet it is tricky to use. I am currently testing and reviewing a PPT 2003 template file. In this blog entry I am collecting useful resources for reference purposes.
I am back from my 5th MBA residency. This time I traveled to Utrecht, De Ruwenberg, Tilburg, and Bruxelles.
Tour de Benelux without Lux.
It was great to meet with the class. And I really liked the lecturers this time.
The first week in Utrecht and De Ruwenberg and Tilburg was very busy with lots of late nights to finish assignments. And I didn’t really have any time to explore.
Bruxelles
It was fun walking around Bruxelles again. 17 years after I had studied there for a year. Although speaking French took getting used to. I don’t switch easily between languages.
Tried this patisserie on Grand Sablon. The sweets were great but the service was very don’t carish.
There has been an explosion of chocolate shops in the downtown area. So many. One lecturer recommended Marcolini, while another suggested Frederic Bloondeel near the Sainte Catherine church.
Apparently Belgian chocolate contains less sugar than Swiss chocolate and it is softer (i.e more conching is applied).
All the Belgians we asked were in favor of separating Flanders and Wallonia into 2 separate states.
I went for a walk thru Schaerbeek where I stayed when I was a poor student.
The cinema was right across from the hotel. The same cinema where I watched Schindler’s List 16 to 17 years ago. Watched a couple of movies including an Argentinian film called El secreto de sus ojos. It was in Spanish with French and Dutch sub-titles. Excellent film. Category: must see.
I’ve always wondered why so many tourists travel to Bruxelles. I guess it offers good food, interesting architecture, lots of museums and it’s probably less expensive than Paris. By the end of my stay I was nearly persuaded to go back for a long weekend…
Some wild snapshots in the true Chiperoni tradition:
The flight attendant on Saturday’s 18:35 Swiss flight from Brussels to Zurich was very friendly. Thank you. It helps.
mchenga 1.sand; maziko ena onse npamchenga = all other foundations are on sand (see: hymn 362, Nyimbo za Mulungu); expression: walemba pamchenga (lit.: you have written in the sand) = you’ve wasted your time; expression: kugwetserana mu mchenga (lit.: throwing one another on the sand) = reconciliation;
While 2010 is the year where many will find ways to monetize their online blogs, photos and apps (which is ok), don’t forget your personal voice.
Even if you have only 5 readers per day, you have influence.
There are enough echo chambers.
I spend a lot of time reading online. And there is a lot of repetition.
Don’t sell out to the latest SEO and social media marketing gimmicks. It’s a fact: google-bombing your way into Google’s top ten is getting more difficult by the day. Esp. for common terms. Even if you follow all the social media marketing advice out there. There is no silver bullet. Consider plain, old-fashioned offline marketing as well.
Remember why you started blogging and tweeting and have fun.
Stay independent.
I know why I am here. I enjoy writing. I like documenting my web world. The tools that I used. The feedback that I get.
I attended a talk – organized by the ifj.ch, venturelab and FHNW – by Karsten Füllhaas on “Social Media: Wenn Kunden mein Marketing übernehmen” (translation: when customers take over my marketing). A well-balanced talk.
I like the Brian Solis quotes:
Use of tools such as Facebook and Twitter does not guarantee people will listen.
Engage your customers in meaningful conversations, empowering them as true participants in your marketing and service efforts.
And you need good content. Just blasting out your marketing message will not lead to dialog and engagement.
Slides (in German) for future reference
Social Media: Wenn Kunden mein Marketing übernehmen
I am always taking photos… Not sure how to take this hobby to the next level. I am very involved and I hope I can convey the fun and enjoyment that I experience while I am on my discovery journey.
Have a good week 🙂 Alles wird gut. Andra’ tutto bene.
Kraftwerk Birsfelden / Power Station (1955) by Hans Hoffmann in Birsfelden near Basel
St. Alban-Tal Housing (1984 to 88) by Diener & Diener at St. Alban-Rheinweg 94 in Basel
Schaulager (2003) by Herzog and de Meuron in Münchenstein near Basel
Breite Zentrum (2004), Zürcherstr. 149, 4052 Basel The Breite Hotel was designed by Larghi and Stula. More details on the design can be found on the hotel’s website. The hotel manager was very friendly and would have shown me a room. Unfortunately all rooms were taken due to the watch and jewellery trade fair.
Residential Housing in a former factory (2005) by Buol and Zünd at Oetlingerstrasse 69 in Basel This building proved difficult to find as the former factory is located behind an apartment building in Klein-Basel withia an inner courtyard. But it is an instant fave. I would love to live in a building like this. Well worth the search time…
Apartment House in Riehen (2009) by Pedrocchi Meier Architekten at Hinterwenkenweg 3 in Riehen near Basel I am not such a fan of all the corners but it does look very spacious and the location is great:
School cafeteria by HHF
Gymnasium Kirschgarten Hermann Kinkelin-Strasse 10 4051 Basel
Using the term digital native to describe all netizens born after 1980 is way too general. I found this interesting article discussing various findings:
Only a minority of students actively created their own content or used emerging technologies such as blogs, social networking and podcasts. And a significant proportion of them had lower levels of technical competency than would be expected of ”˜digital natives’
