Stormgrass

Barcamp Vienna 09

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2 weeks, 4 days ago

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Last weekend saw the 2009 edition of another Barcamp here in Vienna. As always since the inception of two-day barcamps, I only managed to attend one of the two days.

The location was amazing, not only because private Modul University is allowing you a fantastic view all over Vienna but because it somehow manages to motivate some of their student so far as to spend their spare time working at a Barcamp. And even though I’m always a bit spooked out by that sort of efficiency, I must admit that the organisation was absolutely flawless. Hell, they even had a name tag printed out for me!

The sessions were quite mixed but I managed to find a couple that turned out to be rather entertaining. Especially the last session on Saturday about the venerable Austrian “Internetrat” was both enlightening and madly amusing.

And I also managed to be a bit social, expanding the list of Twitter followers I’ve met in real life by, among others, @liechentecker, @sueholzer and @leyrer, not to mention all the new people now showing up in my Twitter stream.

Thanks again to the organizers and all those people who prepared sessions, you did a very fine job.

Here’s a couple more pictures, for the more graphically inclined.

In Aerobie I trust

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Richard

3 weeks, 4 days ago

in Sports

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It’s not even been a week and my new Aerobie Flying Ring is here! While to some a week may sound ridiculously short, for me it felt like a year. AT LEAST!

Anyway, since this is the Intarwebs where unboxing is not a term used for ex-boxers trying to make amends for all the broken noses and shattered brains they caused but rather for the act of removing a gadget or any other fantastic item from its paper or plastic confines and documenting the process, I will do the same here now with said Arobie (if you’ve ever wondered whether I’ll grow tired of huge sentences, here’s your answer).

Well, let’s get started:

The wrapping. I’m not familiar with any other Frisbees sent by mail so I can’t say a whole lot about the quality of that packaging. But it’s sleek and fulfills its purpose. If Linux wasn’t just an operating system but also a computer manufacturer, I guess this is what their packaging would look like.

Ha, removed the adhesive tape that held together package body and flap. Yes, that is a piece of the Aerobie peaking out! Aren’t you excited? I know I am!

Yes, here it is. Please note the ingenious paper inlay, creating the illusion of an ACTUAL HAND holding the ring. Those package designers are genius!

The backside holds not only a very handy guide on how to use the Aerobie, it also shows what other genius devices Aerobie has produced. Like the Orbiter, a superfantastic Boomerang! (disclaimer: Orbiter not shown on above picture. Just imagine what it would look like if Aerobie produced a Boomerang and – tadaaa – there’s your Orbiter)

But now on the actual Flying Ring!

The material surrounding the super carbon ring is soft and will probably not cut off my fingers when trying to catch it. That’s a definite plus in my eyes!

Please note the elegant yet fierce curve of that ring. If you’ve ever seen a throwing device as perfect, drop me a note in the comments. Even though I won’t believe a single word.

And finally:

The Aerobie Flying Ring in all its glory. I’m sorry, but I need to stop writing now and go weep with joy. Oh, and Thursday will see me throwing that piece of art at Augarten park. In case you wanna join.

Atheist Bus Campaign in Vienna – or not

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Richard

3 weeks, 4 days ago

in Boredom

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After starting in London and then spreading to various other European Cities, the Atheist Bus Campaign is a private-sponsor funded project created to make people aware of the rather high probability that there is indeed no god:

Photo by benteka/Flickr

The campaign created quite a stir and currently the organizers are raising more money to fund similar projects. Which leads me to the point of this very entry. In Vienna it was planned to have an adapted German message cruising the city on buses of the “Wiener Linien“, the municipal transportation service.

Only turns out it won’t be so, according to the website of the Austrian bus-campaign [DE]. Seems like Wiener Linien, usually not so shy about ads on their vehicles, refused the banners. There’s no official statement yet as to why they did, but according to organizer Niko Alm a written statement is expected later today.

I’m not terribly surprised, really, but I’m looking forward to the ensuing hilarity.

At least there’s a story to tell…

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Richard

2 months, 1 week ago

in Boredom

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Being the culture vultures that my girlfriend and I undoubtedly are, we decided to check out the release performance of Tosca’s new studioalbum “No Hassle”. Within the framework of the Vienna City Fest, the concert was scheduled to be played in a church. And it was free. But as it is the case so often with things that cost no money, they take a toll on other things. Namely people’s precious time and patience.

I won’t go into details, but there are a few things to note:

People who invite all their friends to queue with them, instead of going to the back of the line, are assholes. Sorry, but there’s just no other way to say it.

People in queues tend to talk so much crap, I was somewhat sorry I don’t usually bring earplugs to concerts.

Churches look big from the outside, but I guess all that shit like altars, candles and whatnot take up a lot of space, so in fact, only a very limited number of people actually go into a church.

So no, even though we queued for more than 45 minutes, we weren’t even near getting in. And we were probably in the first half of the line.

Things did get a bit unruly once the nice lady with the tickets walked past the people in line yelling that the church was full. I snapped a few pictures of the mob demanding entry, and somehow felt a bit thrown back in time. You know, when there was still an active interest in churches. I shot a little movie, but with my movie-shooting skills, it turned out like shit, so here’s just two pictures:

Beware of the mob formed by electronica-afficionados denied their god-given right (ha!) to listen to a free ambient performance!

Even though we didn’t get to hear the new album, I still think it was a moderately fun thing to do on a Friday night. From a sociological perspective, it was a hoot.

Debauchery, of course

Published

Richard

2 months, 4 weeks ago

in Food and Impressions

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While it’s not at all unusual for me to spend a day thinking about food, it’s rather rare that I spend all day actually preparing food. Until Saturday. Two friends and I had decided to cook a meal so succulent, we’d talk about it for years to come. And that’s exactly what we did!

For starters, we made Broccoli Risotto, of course with freshly made chicken stock and some real jus!

Main course was rump steak with spinach beet and cherry-mustard-sauce. Again, on real jus!

See that little bit of jus on top? Yes, that’s the one. We reduced that fucker until there was barely anything left to reduce. Took us the whole afternoon, but was totally worth it!

Dessert were strawberry tartelettes with vanilla-lime-sorbet. Hard to make, but we pulled it off. Because we’re quite probably some of the best cooks I know!