Minor update

Yesterday’s tomorrow will be tomorrow’s today. So hopefully I will be home on Wednesday.

Berlin epilogue (je n'en connais pas la fin)

Tomorrow, I am leaving Berlin and it’s perfectly fine that way. I’ve spend the last couple of weeks enjoying the company of friends, and a city revitalized by the arrival of summer. Somehow, the knowledge of imminent departure made my life here take a more focused and enjoyable turn. After a couple of months of cohabitation, I finally discovered a shared musical emotion between me and my roomie: a total adoration for the late and great Jeff Buckley.  We also discovered Berlin’s “Airport lake” has a bad pr agent, it’s actually quite beautiful. Etc, etc. One thing if for sure: Berlin never ends, and like a smoker will always stay one, even after quitting for 20 years, I feel right now I will always be returning, unable to see it seperate from the home it has been to me for neigh on 2 years.

I managed to avoid having any involvement with the world cup until last Sunday, and next time I will try to break this record.

So anyway, it’s on to the next adventure now. Yesterday, the Flemish nationalist party won elections by a landslide, and that makes me quite anxious. I have so many identities to juggle around (Belgian,  programmer, reader, Eurotrash in Berliner), that I’m loathe to get involved with another one, either positively or negatively. My business is pleasure, friends and family. With an eye out for vagabonding through Europe and hopefully Turkey/Armenia/Georgia/Iran later on. And maybe, just maybe, figure out what the fruits of my life should  be.

I feel good, because I know my friendships made here will last and shall be expanded on in a future moment, just as I know for sure my friendships in Belgium will, because this is the most important things for me.

Watch this space.

NY, pt 8 (the Flatiron)

The Flatiron was not the first skyscraper in New York, nor was it the tallest when it was finished in 1902.  But everyone cuts it some slack, because it was the first that wasn’t hit with an ugly stick. New Yorkers would hold wagers on how far you could find pieces of it when it would finally fall over. They had problems hiring staff for the offices inside, as most people were dead afraid of dying on a weekday.

I like it a lot, as the triangular shape makes it impossible to see more than one side at the same time. It makes you feel as your watching a post-card, it has a wonderful insubstantial feeling. You could probably also see it as the sails of a huge ship, and you wouldn’t be wrong. For me, it’s neck to neck with the Guggenheim. But true genius defies comparison anyway, so why bother?

Opinions on skyscrapers are divided. I think the argument that it’s economical in places where real-estate values are sky-high, doesn’t hold any water. There are only a couple of cities where there is absolutely no place left to build anymore (Barcelona, Sao Paolo), in most places there is just a concentration of these building in a small centre, surround by at most 8 stories as far as the eye can reach. I like Berlin because of it’s low profile, and everyone here hates Potsdamer Platz with a passion. The only reason I can imagine you would like to build skyscapes, is to win ground space to build parks. And to have an excuse for 300 meter high public rail.

The Artist Studio

When organizing something, either kitchen ingredients, hardware tools, or your favorite computer program, there are basically 2 factors that need to be considered.

One is, of course, the ease of use, and this is the original reason we organize stuff. People tend to say we organize things so we can find them, but in reality it’s more general than that. We do it to get stuff as soon as possible, and finding it is only a part of it. When you are working in the kitchen, with dirty hands, you don’t want to open any pots or cupboard, because it’ll take you time to clean.

The other one is ease of learning. All time spent to become proficient at some system, should be smaller than the time gained from using the system. It’s all about time, really. This can be frustrating, because often one is not faster immediately, and often a lot slower. I had this when I learned a new keyboard layout that is marginally better suited to programming. Consistency is also a very important topic here. In this context, it means that everything is structured in a similar way, so that the bulk of different kind of systems to learn is reduced, and everything becomes more intuitive. There are things a programmer can do to break consistency in the code, that will have zero impact on the quality of a software. However, if I ever see these mistakes made by anyone not fresh out of school (or even then), I will kill him and none of my peers will complain.  You learn one way of doing something, and you expect everything else to work in a similar way. And if it does, you don’t spend any time at all.  It’s complex though, because sometimes the intuitive way to do things this not the best way. If it was, we would all be asking grammatically correct questions to google, instead of typing in some keywords and praying. When in doubt, ask yourself the simple question: will the time invested pay off?

Now, let us move to the interesting part. The human factor.

Let us start with two steraotypes of organization.

Scene one is a mechanic’s shop with about 15 people working at any given time. Tools all have their designated place on the wall. Putting them somewhere else, or leaving them at your personal work space after you leave for home, is punishable by death. There’s a guy higher than you that is pretty strict about this.

Scene two is a lone mechanic, with tools scattered all over the place. Shelves are open, and overflow. Everything is greasy. Lot’s of tools are double, but there’s only one person working in this space.

Now, ask yourself, which one is better organized?

I’m guessing many people will say the first. But this is dead wrong, according to the definitions above. The former is only more efficient, as it’s easier to learn the system when you’re new. There are rules that are easy to learn, and everything is consistent. It’s very easy to be productive fast in this system. The second one seems

The french expression : mise-en-place

Now, in the second scene, this guy doesn’t even need a mise-en-place. Everything is already there. He probably has some tools double, so he doesn’t have to walk across the room to get it. Maybe even there is an imperceptible difference between the 2 tools that you haven’t noticed yet.

I think we have to conclude that both are more organized, as they get more work done according to how these spaces are used. But it won’t spare the lonely mechanic from incessant gripes from people who fail to see the beauty of his perfectly crafted work-space.

Caravanserai

Caravanserai is a word that comes from Persian. It denotes a specially designated place ,or structure ,where caravans (the camel kind) could rest for the night, stock up on supplies, and observe religious rituals. Often, these buildings would be lavishly decorated and quite luxurious, as the ruler of the place would do everything in his power could to ensure these caravans would travel through his cities. In those days, it made a pretty huge difference if your city was on the infamous Silk Road, or not. Probably like having your own stock market nowadays.

I like the image of the caravanserai, because it’s a beautiful example of a synergistic system: the locals benefit economically, because the riches the passing caravans bring in far outweigh the cost of making sure they are safe and comfortable. The travellers benefit because they are better able to survive their (almost suicidal) trip across deserts, and are facilitated in meeting other caravans to trade or travel with. Everyone wins, except the people who don’t play the game.

This is why I chose this word to represent.a project I was involved in last year: to provide a comfortable and engaging space for travellers to stay for a while, and benefit, in order that I could benefit myself from having people come and inspire, share culture, and keep me on my toes.

In Western Europe, probably the closest concept that comes to mind is a coaching inn. a combination of hotel and inn that made long-distance travel simply possible. Coach rides across England could take weeks, considering bad roads, changing horses, and trying to avoid permanent injury to the traveller’s spinal cord. At these places, travelling parties could also rest, buy supplies, etc… but the concept seems to be more strictly transactional: the local side of the bargain is receiving compensation for the services rendered.

But I disgress.

This is actually all a cunning plan to provide you with the tools necessary to understand this great quatrain by Omar Khayyam:

**Think, in this batter’d Caravanserai Whose portals are alternate Night and Day, How Sultan after Sultan with his Pomp Abode his destined Hour, and went his way.**Perhaps, one day, I will be able to read the original. I think it’s pretty decent as far as pipe dreams go. pipe dreams go.

The Neighbour Party

Invite all your hip, multikulti friends to your apartment.  Identify the languages your neighbours speak at home. Have a native speaker invite them at your place. Have lot’s of cakes. Learn at least 2 new ways of making coffee.

On Germans

“I Speak Spanish to God, Italian to Women, French to Men, and German to My Horse”

Charles V, Holy Roman Emperor and King of Spain

“The most beautiful girl or woman in the world would be a matter of indifference to me, but tall soldiers–they are my weakness.”

Frederick William I of Prussia

Dearth

As you might have noticed (or not noticed, where you normally would), I’m getting pretty sloppy at Xing this blog.

Updating? I’ve quit using this as a way to keep my friends and family up to date. My life is not that exiting, and I would much rather hoard all the good stories for the next exchange at the local bar when we meet up.

Expanding? That would imply I am trying to make a finished product. I think the posts here are eclectic and disconnected enough not to warrant a finished product. It would make sense if I could use the pieces here to make a composition later, but actually everything here is already a composition. I steal shamelessly from my private life, the lives of others, material in the public domain and my random imagination. I doubt this is a catalogue for later, as a catalogue implies some sort of order.

Maintaining? About a year and a half ago I figured out that as I posted only once in a blue moon about my private life, I might as well hijack this place for whenever I felt I had something that I wanted to write about. Both for the pleasure of it, and practice. 10000 hours before you master something, that story. But of course I keep in mind that this thing is read.

Yes, read it again. It sounds really obvious, but it’s something I’ve learned through failing a lot.. If I might be pedantic  for a minute and give you some advice: always read something you’ve written. Not just paragraph by paragraph, read the whole thing when you’re finished. Maybe even aloud. You’ll be surprised,  I promise.

Anyway, there is still the matter of “saying” whatever it was I wanted to say when I started out. I’ve been busy coding my side project, and some sloppy assessments made me have a hard and a bit demotivating time. Whenever I’m not productive I have the reflex of spending more time on it, as a way to catch up on my expected output. I’m considering this is probably exactly the wrong thing to do (in the fantasy land of no deadlines or external interactions). At any point in your life, you will be good at something, and bad at some other thing. Try to do the thing you’re actually good at at that time. In programming, the slowest part of the work is most often your brain. An hour spend working concentrated and motivated is worth a week of juggling coding and obsessively checking the latest news on-line.  And it seems a waste of time to actually do this, just as it seems a waste of time to be watching a re-run Woody Allen when I feel sharp. Even if it’s Saturday night.

Enough about me. How are you?

Sweden, again

Desipite my earlier resolution to never return to Sweden, here I am. This time I’m visiting friends in Malmo and Lund. Lund is more or less like Leuven, 100000 people, 30000 students and a very liberal bike policy. Malmo is the more gritty and industrial of the two, and I like it more. Check out the report from CBNNews if you want a completly wrong impression of the place.  American news, in an attempt to prove that becoming for European means a step closer to hell, claims that police here are afraid to go into the immigrant neighbourhoods, for fear of violence. You’d think they were covering the banlieu.  Seeing as the main mosque of Malmo has been burned down twice in 10 years, I claim it’s actually the Swedes that are the problem in this town. If you believe the news reports, you would think this place is the new Palermo. Understandable, as the top immigrant groups from outside of Europe are Iranians and Iraqis. And we all now what that means. In reality, it’s the only place in Sweden I don’t feel I could get arrested at any moment.

I should remember to go South, but one can’t force their friends to move.

Inertia

Yes. It took me a couple of seconds to find my own country, and no matter how long I look, England still looks downright wrong

While it might be very tempting to think human vision acts like a camera, there are so many things happening unconsciously, that it would be very disrespectful to approach it that way, and also dead wrong. Face recognition, edge detection, our vision works much better than would be expected if we approach it purely as a sensor for light (like a camera). There is so much information that comes to our consciousness through our vision system, but it’s heavily amplified from a relatively small amount of data by stereotyping, guessing and memory. And, in some cases involving mirrors, wishful thinking.

I like this image, because it shows that these subconscious “clarifiers” can be culturally defined. This map is one most of us see a lot of when we are still very young. When I look at the image above, I don’t know my way very well, and need to rationalize the relationship between the various features in Europe. Instead of instinctively feeling my way, I need to reason. And I feel it shouldn’t be that hard to just flip East and West. I’m not a mean person, otherwise I would have flipped North and South too. For most of the people reading this, the shapes are extremely well known, and I think this is exactly

And this process happens all the time. These are the fundamental building blocks our knowledge and reason is build upon, and it’s quite useless to challenge them all the time. Darwin thought us about adaptation as a means for survival, but most humans in their day to day life are scared of change and will avoid it at all costs. Professionally, I’ve heard many people complain that it is very hard to change processes on the work-flow, because people resist it emotionally. Even though they are getting paid for it! Managers everywhere are begging, coaxing, bribing and threatening just to get their workers to change small behavior patterns.

I wonder if we can change this…