Category Archives: Personal

BFFs

NPR: Having A Best Friend In Your Teenage Years Could Benefit You For Life.

“”[They were asked] how much trust there is, how good communication is and how alienated they feel in the relationship,” says Rachel Narr, the lead author on the study and a doctoral student in psychology at the University of Virginia. Each year, the original participants were also given questionnaires to assess levels of anxiety, depression and self-worth.
[…]
Those strong relationships are paying dividends in adulthood, the study found. When the researchers evaluated the participants at the conclusion of the study, the ones who had close, emotional links showed improvement in their levels of anxiety, depression and self-worth. In other words, they reported less depression and anxiety and more self-worth at 25 than they had at 15 and 16.”

I’m still friends with my best friend from kindergarten, 37 years later, and also a group of friends from highschool, most of which I’ve known for 30 years now. We live all over the country now, but try to get together at least once a year, and it’s always great to see them and catch up.

Gone Fishing

André and I went on a trip to Scotland earlier this month, here are a few impressions.

Ruined house at Loch Assynt:

Stoer Lighthouse:

Sunset at Stoer Lighthouse:

Cliff near Quiraing on the Isle of Sky:

View from atop Quiraing on the Isle of Sky:

Landscape on the Isle of Lewis (and Harris):

View from the summit of Braeriach, the third highest mountain of Britain (after Ben Nevis and Ben Macdui):

It seems that our webserver also took some time off during our trip, but my trusty admin has since fixed the problem, and now I’m back and Serendipita is up and running again.

(Nicht wirklich) Neues von der Datenkrake

Spiegel online: WhatsApp-Nutzern könnten Abmahnungen drohen. “Wer WhatsApp nutzt, stimmt der Weitergabe seines Adressbuches an das Unternehmen zu. Diese Praxis sei illegal, urteilt das Amtsgericht Bad Hersfeld im Fall eines Elfjährigen. Für Nutzer könnte das Folgen haben.”

“Wer über WhatsApp die Telefonnummern seiner Kontakte automatisch an das Unternehmen weiterleitet, ohne die Betroffenen vorher um Erlaubnis zu fragen, begeht eine Rechtsverletzung. Das entschied das Amtsgericht Bad Hersfeld in einem Sorgerechtsstreit (Az. F 120/17 EASO), in dem es auch um die Smartphone-Nutzung eines elf Jahre alten Jungen ging.”

(Siehe auch 31. August 2016, 9. September 2016, 27. September 2016.)

“Facebook sells you out, because that’s exactly how they make money.”

Salim Virani: Get your loved ones off Facebook.

“Facebook is demanding to track what you buy, and your financial information like bank account and credit card numbers. You’ve already agreed to it in the new Terms Of Service. It’s already started sharing data with Mastercard. They’ll use the fact that you stayed on Facebook as “permission“ to make deals with all kinds of banks and financial institutions to get your data from them. They’ll call it anonymous, but like they trick your friends to reveal your data to the third-parties with apps, they’ll create loopholes here too.

Facebook is also insisting to track your location via your phone’s GPS, everywhere and all the time. It’ll know exactly who you spend your time with. They’ll know your habits, they’ll know when you call in sick at work, but are really out bowling. “Sal likes 2pm Bowling at Secret Lanes.“ They’ll know if you join an addict support group, or go to a psychiatrist, or a psychic, or a mistress. They’ll know how many times you’ve been to the doctor or hospital, and be able to share that with prospective insurers or employers. They’ll know when you’re secretly job hunting, and will sell your endorsement for job sites to your friends and colleagues – you’ll be revealed.

They’ll know everything that can be revealed by your location, and they’ll use it however they want to make a buck.

And – it’ll all be done retrospectively. If you stay on Facebook past January 30th, there’s nothing stopping all of your past location and financial data to get used.”

Link via Garret, who asks: “So, where shall we go, peeps?” – I think most people I’m connected with on FB know about my weblog, or we write emails, or we use Telegram or even Threema to keep in touch. I ripped off the band-aid with WhatsApp last year and haven’t missed it at all. Maybe it’s time for the next step?