A drop in unemployment claims and a rise in home sales pulled the stock market higher in light trading ahead of Thanksgiving.

Modest gains Wednesday left the Dow Jones industrial average and the Standard & Poor’s 500 index at 13-month highs. (commentary courtesy of AP)

This continued market rise keeps fueling my RSI portfolio. Yes, I know that one day doesn’t really matter in the long run and one must focus attention of the longer term goal, but it sure is nice to se the old portfolio moving right along. Now what about the “Santa Clause Rally”? And are we beginning to see it happen? Who really knows? I don’t. Anyway I’m not sure how relevant this holiday shortened week is in the greater scheme of things. Speaking of Thanksgiving, I plan to have one more blog entry following the market close on Friday.

I received an email from a friend who requested my including stocks in this blog. He rightfully recalled that a year ago I included stocks in this blog. He specifically requested my tracking the stocks of the S&P 500 and the NASDAQ 100. I gave him a number of reasons why RSI is now geared to ETFs and wouldn’t do as well for stocks. He pleaded with me, so I ran several tests that included the 2008 crash. RSI with ETFs came out with flying colors, NASDAQ 100 had a small positive gain with 30% draw downs, and the S&P 500 failed miserably losing big time. Of course the reason is clear. The ETF portfolio has both long and short funds, foreign and domestic funds, commodities, and currencies. All sorts of stuff not really contained in the other two indices my friend requested. When I sent him the results of this exercise, he was very surprised in fact, in his own words, stunned. But then he turns around and states he doesn’t buy funds he only buys individual stocks. Go figure?

Here are the numbers for the test. Period 07/01/2007 to 11/24/2009.  Commission $10.00 slippage 0.2%: 1% of portfolio risked = $1,000:

The numbers tell it all. You can see why my friend was shocked. However, he was happy when I told him that yesterday RSI gave buys on the following. They both performed nicely today.

• Developers Diversified Realty Corp. (DDR) S&P500 test result
• Wynn Resorts Ltd. (WYNN) NASDAQ 100 test result

And finally the broken record … No RSI picks today. Catch you after the market closes Friday and before the market opens on Monday.

Happy Turkey Day Gobble Gobble!!!

** The ETF portfolio consists of approximately 385 of the highest market cap ETFs, excluding leveraged, such as 2x and 3x, funds.

Der Kalte Krieg zwischen den Bündnissen "NATO" und dem "Warschauer Pakt"

Der Kalte Krieg, der indirekte Kampf zwischen den Westmächten (hauptsächlich durch USA) und dem Ostblock (Sowjet-Union), ein Thema das sich in Form einer großen Mauer gezeigt hat. Die Sowjets wollten im Grunde nur einen Grund für Krieg, die USA wollte einen offenen Krieg vermeiden, jedoch wurde auch versucht, abzuschrecken. Welche Methoden auf beiden Seiten geläufig waren und was genau in diesem “Kalten Krieg” passiert ist, dass könnt ihr im gesamten Artikel lesen!

Begonnen hat der Kalte Krieg eigentlich schon sehr früh, im Jahre 1917, als Lenin an die Macht kam. Dadurch wurde ein Bürgerkrieg angezettelt, in Russland, der von den Westmächten gegenrevolutioniert wurde. Eine Unterbrechung dieses Streits fand mit der Anti-HitlerKoalition (1941) statt.

Nach dem zweiten Weltkrieg begann der eigentliche Akt. Die zwei Siegermächte teilten Europa in zwei Hälften. Die eine Regierung wollte ihr Konzept durchbringen, die andere deren Konzept. Um auch militärisch gewappnet zu sein, wurde die NATO gegründet. Der östliche Bund hieß Warschauer Pakt. In Süd-Ost Asien wurde mit der SEATO ein ähnliches Bündniss geschaffen.

Sowohl politisch als auch ideologisch wurden hier deutliche Unterschiede bemerkbar. Man wollte mit den einzelnen Staaten versuchen, verschiedene Wirtschaftssysteme aufzubauen und jeder woltle auch militärisch protzen. Fast wie ein kleiner Streit und Geschwistern, nur noch sehr viel gefährlicher. Im Westen wollte man eine Marktwirtschaft, im Osten Planwirtschaft. Auch stand sich die Demokratie mit der Diktatur im selben Schema gegenüber.

Die Westmächte versuchten den Krieg mit Waffen zu verhindern, allerdings sorgte das Wettrüsten z.B. in Hiroshima mit einem Atombombenanschlag für erste Gewalt. Das Verursachte die erste Androhung eines Atomkrieges, wobei die Selbstvernichtung der Menschheit mit betroffen war. Ein Glück das es damals nur Androhungen zur Abschreckung waren und nicht bitterböse Wahrheit.

(Videodokumentation auf Englisch zu Hiroshima)

Nach diesem grausamen Ereigniss kam es dann dazu, dass die USA mit der UdSSR verhandelte, jedoch wurde das Wettrüsten nicht gestoppt. Beispiel: Im Vietnam-Krieg war die USA beteiligt, die UdSSR lieferte als Rivale dem Gegner Geld, Waffen und mehr. Nicht nur das. Auch Bürgerkriege unterstützte man beiderseits aktiv.

1949 merkte man auch in Deutschland etwas von diesem Kalten Krieg. Zwei Staaten hatten sich gebildet, die Bundesrepublik Deutschland und die DDR. Anerkannt wurde die DDR übrigens von der BRD erst, als Willy Brand Bundeskanzler wurde. Die DDR dagegen wollte bei der Bundersrepublik das “Deutschland” nicht nennen und ernannte Berlin als Hauptstadt der DDR, obwohl Berlin in zwei Sektoren unterteilt war und der eine Sektor nicht zur DDR gehörte.

Hierbei wurden dann schon Mittel wie Spionage oder Sabbotage verwendet um zu “siegen”. Es wurde z.B. festgestellt, dass die DDR terroristische Gruppen in Westeuropa unterstüzte. Die Gladio (Geheimdienstvereinigung von CIA und anderen) war als terroristische Gruppe tätig, um den Gegnern dies in die Schuhe zu schieben. Der Kalte Krieg endete erst 1991 nachdem Gorbatschow an die Macht kam und das langsam dafür sorgte, dass das gegenseitige Wettrüsten aufhörte. Auch wurden die Staaten des Ostblocks wieder unabhängig und die Sowjet Union wurde letzendlich aufgelöst.

Wow, it’s been pretty much forever since I last blogged. I better not make a habit out of this. So ya, anyways… Where to start.

I may as well say it now, I’ve completed only one thing on my list. LAME! I played DDR with my friend after we went to watch 2012 (And totally owned at it 8D) I even had the opportunity to hit someone with a rubber chicken (#60)! Hmm. Well, I’ve got someone’s address to write to them AND I’ve got the opportunity to buy a bobblehead for someone for Xmas. And I might even learn a little guitar…

Bah, 2012 wasn’t as good as people made out it was. Some parts were wayyyyy too Hollywood. What I mean by this is that some bits were a little frickin’ predictable. I mean seriously, what are the odds that driving away from an erupting.. Well.. Ground, that the flying pieces of lava and rock and allsorts don’t hit you? I mean COME ON. For an action-filled disaster movie, I guess it was okay. For the movie of the century, chyeah I doubt it.

Hmm… Social life! I have one now New-ish friend inviting me to play pool every Tuesday (Call him D).. Isn’t that awesome? Uh, no. I suck at pool. Learnt that out the hard way last Tuesday and there’s noooo way I’m going to get better. But, being the gentleman he is, he’s offered that next Tuesday I could have a separate table with him so he can ’show me the ropes’… Suspicious <_< He apparently talks about me every now and then when he’s around his friend’s (We’ll call him T) and T appears to really want me and D together. I met that very friend at pool, he’s nothing like I thought he’d be. Though, he did drop a hint as we were leaving the pool place that went like this:
T : So am I dropping you off at yours, Vix?
Me : Um yah, in *insert my town name here*, is that okay?
T : Yah I guess, I just thought you’d be over D’s house for the night *sly grin*
Silly T. But yah, he’s awesome. Even bought me a drink n_n   Also, in other news, the guy from the Skindred gig (mentionned in post um.. 2) is a little pushy. The age difference is like 4 years so yah.. I don’t know. He keeps wanting me to go over and he likes seeing me in cosplay which is a little weird but I don’t know.. These new friends are real awesome though :3

Universityyyyyy! AGH! My teacher has only JUST finished my damn reference for my UCAS application! Sucks. Suckssuckssucks. I’m not going to get ANY offers from Universities, am I? I mean, my personal statement is pretty much finished and the person in charge of sending them off says it’s good but damn my teacher.

Still need a dangly phone charm. I’m bored of Bidoof now and the Pokémon sticker from it came off. Now I get people asking me why the hell I’ve got a beaver in a neckerchief attatched to my phone. It makes no sense. I think I’ma buy a Hello Kitty charm from the mall next time I’m out.

AAAAAAAHHH! LADY GAGA! She’s so awesome, ne? I watched her video for Bad Romance the day it aired which was rad. I heard her video for VideoPhone got leaked onto the internet for like a half hour or something? Eh, I wish I’d seen it. I totally have tickets to go see her in Nottingham in March. How awesome is that? VERY. Final Fantasy XIII is out in March too, isn’t it? Wow, March will be a good month ^_^

Speaking of games.. My dad just got me Fallout 3 Game of the Year Edition,  Grand Theft Auto VI, Prototype and Assassin’s Creed 2. And d’you know what sucks the most…? I never have any damn time to play on my Xbox! D’: Maybe during the holidays… I’m still trying to complete RockBand and GuitarHero too though so.. Meh.

I’ve decided to end these from now on with a DTWLED thing. Me and my friends text this to each other when we’re bored to get a conversation started. Each letter stands for: Doing, Thinking, Wearing, Listening, Eating, Drinking. So um.. Yah.

Doing : Attempting my Psychology assignment and Biology reading task. Waiting for my driving instructor to arrive in a half hour.
Thinking : Oh gosh, it’s freakin’ cold… My fingers are freezing while typing this.
Wearing : Light blue jeans, a Powerpuff Girl Bubbles necklace, a white jacket and a random white tee with orange, purple and green clouds and stars and rainbows and castles and puzzle pieces and lightning bolts… I’m pretty sure this is what the inside of my head is like ^w^
Listening : Mindless Self Indulgence – Due
Eating : Smoked salmon and pepper sushi
Drinking : Coffee, of course :3

Until next time… See ya!

Die Oberschule Trebbin am Schulstandort Goethestraße wünscht sich zum 100. Geburtstag einen Namen. Die Schulkonferenz entschied sich nach ausgiebiger Namenssuche für die Bezeichnung „Goetheoberschule Trebbin“. Der Hauptausschuss der Stadt Trebbin stimmte bei seiner öffentlichen Sitzung am Montagabend diesem Namensvorschlag einmütig zu.

„Die Schule hatte in den letzten 20 Jahren eine wechselvolle Geschichte, sie war Realschule, Gymnasium, Gesamtschule und ist jetzt Oberschule“, so der Trebbiner Bürgermeister Thomas Berger (CDU). Für die Trebbiner blieb es stets die Goetheschule in der Goethestraße. So wurde in Trebbin lange Zeit für den Erhalt des damaligen Goethe-Gymnasiums gekämpft. Der neue, alte Name enthalte Bewährtes und lasse zugleich die Schulform Oberschule erkennen, so Berger.

„Der Name Goethes soll den historischen Charakter unterstreichen“, so Schulleiter Bernd Schill. „Eltern und Lehrkräfte haben sich zu 80 Prozent für die Rückkehr zu Goethe entschieden“, sagte Schill. Bei den Schülern waren es 46 Prozent, sie favorisierten mehrere Namen. Paul Schuchardt (UFW) hofft, dass nun tatsächlich Ruhe in die Schullandschaft einkehrt, damit der Name eine Weile passt.

Peter Mann (SPD) freut sich, dass die Schule in Trebbin „wieder den Namen Goethes tragen wird“. [MAZ Online - Uta Franke]

Jetzt endlich sind sie wohl auch mal angekommen, nun noch zwei Wochen, dann haben wir sie zu Hause.

Die Rede ist von unseren neuen Möbeln. In einer schnelllebigen Welt, in der man heute bestellt und morgen beliefert wird, da schafft es die Möbelindustrie doch immer wieder einen Hauch von DDR-Lieferzeiten zu erzeugen. 10 Jahre für einen Trabbi, das schafft die Möbel zwar nicht, aber wir haben diesmal den neuen Rekord von 18 Monaten Lieferzeit geschafft, obwohl 13-15 Wochen angekündigt waren. Plus weitere zwei Wochen bis zu uns nach Hause, weil trotz Krise so viel zu tun ist.

Es gibt natürlich auch Ausnahmen: Einige schaffen es, die Möbel in 12 Wochen zu liefern, aber auch das ist doch weit weg von den Lieferzeiten, die ich heute gewohnt bin. Da wird sogar ein Auto mit 6-8 Wochen schneller zusammen gebaut, als ein paar Holzplatten und dabei hat das Auto noch weit über zehntausend Konfigurationsmöglichkeiten.

Da soll sich doch mal keiner beschweren, dass wir nichts von der DDR übernommen haben. Mindestens die Möbelhersteller haben sich die Lieferzeiten abgeguckt.

Der Jahrestag des Falls der Mauer, der sich in diesen Tagen zum zwanzigsten Mal jährte, gehört zu den nervigsten Gedenktagen überhaupt. Inzwischen war ja, glaubt man den auf allen TV-Kanälen wieder und wieder interviewten Ex-DDRlern, jeder zweite ein Widerständler, der den realen Sozialismus mehr oder weniger im Alleingang zu Fall gebracht hat.

Erfreulich unspektakulär dagegen schildert Simon Schwartz in diesem Album die Ausreise seiner Eltern Anfang der achtziger Jahre. Er selber war damals ein Kleinkind im Vorschulalter, seine Eltern keine typischen Dissidenten, sondern Menschen, die trotz aller Kritik auch weiter in der DDR geblieben wären, wenn der Apparat sie nicht mehr oder weniger rausgemobbt hätte.

Der Vater, treues SED-Mitglied, wächst in einem antifaschistisch und sozialistisch orientiertem Elternhaus auf – nicht zuletzt deshalb, weil einige Familienmitglieder in den 1940er Jahren dem Terror der Nazis zum Opfer gefallen sind. Simons Mutter dagegen ist nicht in der Partei, aber in der Kirsche, und durch die Westkontakte ihrer Familie kulturell ein bisschen hippiemäßig orientiert. Der Vater hat einen Lehrauftrag an der Kunsthochschule Erfurt, die Mutter möchte als Jugendliche unbedingt Mick Jagger heiraten, zweifelt aber nicht am Sinn des Systems.

Die Probleme fangen an, als öffentliche Diskussionen über die Ausbürgerung Wolf Biermanns dazu führen, dass Kollegen ihren Job und Freunde ihren Studienplatz verlieren. Dann marschiert die UdSSR in Afghanistan ein, und Simons Vater soll an der Hochschule einen Vortrag über gerechte und ungerechte Kriege halten. Das an sich ist ihm schon suspekt, aber als ihm ein Parteifunktionär einen Tag vorher einen von sonstwem geschriebenen Text der von ihm zu haltenden Rede überreicht, reicht es auch Simons Vater: Die Familie stellt einen Ausreiseantrag.

Schwartz legt mit diesem Album, das die Kleingeistigkeit der SED-Funktionäre und ihre Hilflosigkeit im Umgang mit Kritik erfreulich nüchtern und ohne erhobenen Zeigefinger schildert, seine Diplomarbeit als Illustrator vor. Er ist Teil der Illustratorengruppe “Die Krickelkrakels” und arbeitet für Zeitschriften und Magazine.

Simon Schwartz: drüben!
110 Seiten, schwarzweiß, A5, 14,95 Euro, avant, ISBN 978-3-939080-37-4
> Leseprobe

Die Stadt Belzig (Potsdam-Mittelmark) wird im Dezember offiziell zum Thermalsoleheilbad ernannt. Bürgermeisterin Hannelore Klabunde (parteilos) sagte am Montag, damit erhalte die Kommune die höchste Qualifizierung für Kurorte in Deutschland. Am 5. Dezember werde die Stadt die Ernennungsurkunde erhalten und damit zu Brandenburgs sechstem Heilbad werden.

Zugleich kündigte Klabunde die Umbenennung der Stadt an und bestätigte damit einen Bericht der rbb-Welle Antenne Brandenburg. “Am 7. Dezember wollen wir beim Innenministerium den Antrag auf Änderung unseres Namens in Bad Belzig einreichen“, so die Bürgermeisterin.

Die Kommune mit 11.500 Einwohnern verfügt nach eigenen Angaben unter anderem über eine eigene Sole, die im Thermalbad verwendet werde, eine Reha-Klinik, einen Kurpark und ein Gesundheitsnetzwerk. Die SteinThermeBelzig wird nach sieben Monaten Sanierung ebenfalls am 5. Dezember wiedereröffnet.

Laut Klabunde zählte Belzig zuletzt 130.000 Übernachtungen im Jahr, der Großteil durch Kurgäste. Der Zusatz “Bad” im Namen wäre als Ausdruck der besonderen Qualität des Kurortes Belzig wichtig, meinte die Bürgermeisterin.

Belzig war schon zu DDR-Zeiten Luftkurort. Nach der Wende erhielt die Stadt 1995 die staatliche Anerkennung als Luftkurort. Heilbäder gibt es nach Auskunft Klabundes in Brandenburg bereits in Bad Saarow, Templin, Bad Freienwalde, Bad Liebenwerda und Bad Wilsnack.

(Quelle: rbb online)

Photographer: Harald Hauswald

Location: East Berlin, GDR

”A photo in colors is mostly finished. A black and white photograph always leaves some room for interpretation. I use photography as medium to keep the story going in the viewer’s mind”.

Harald Hauswald was born in 1954 in Radebeul, a small town near Dresden. He is the founding member of the well-know photo agency ‘Ostkreuz’ and one of the best photographers to depict the reality of the former DDR.

Before 1989 his work had a lot of political meaning. It showed life on the East side of the wall as grey and deserted and its people as lonely and exhausted.

 His father was a professional photographer and Hauswald learned a lot from him, but after a year and a half in the  photo lab he still did not possess his own camera and gave up. Then he used to work on construction sites and as a technician for a rock band in Leipzig. Subsequently, he went to the army and when he came back the rock band was forbidden. “I loved rock music.” says Hauswald “Try to imagine what means as a young person to know you will never see a single rock concert in your life”.

When he was young in school Harald Hauswald was shown a picture of soldiers with Kalashinkov standing at the Brandenburger Tor. He asked the teacher why they have turned their backs to the West and point to the East when they were actually supposed to protect them from the ‘class enemy’. He was 15 when he realized that there was something wrong with the GDR.

Later on he wanted to flee through Hungary, but he was barely out of the town (Szombathely, Hungary) when he was caught. “In Budapest you could think you were already in Paris” says he.

In 1978 he moved to East Berlin overnight because of a woman and took a job as a telegram messenger in Prenzlauer Berg. This was the point when he came back to photography and started crossing Berlin with his camera.

“It was at night in East Berlin where you could really feel the discrepancy between the government’s claims and social reality. For the official press everything was lovely and progressing, while on the streets of Berlin you could feel tension, see misery, punks and hooligans. These issues never made it to the official media. I felt attracted by the pictures you could NOT find in the press. That was my goal actually. Such photos helped me to clear my mind from the feeling of confinement.”

“And these here are my official secret service files. About 35-40 agents were secretly reporting on me…”

“Berlin was really fun at the time. In 1978 I met Lutz Rathenow. With his help I managed to publish in West Berlin as well. That turned me into a criminal and public enemy. My first house search was in 1983. In the morning they called me for interrogation and at noon I saw them carrying my belongings through the interrogation room.”

In Lutz’s words:

“We hated the government, but we loved the people.”

“I tried to follow this creed in my photos.” continues Hauswald “Lutz did the same with his lyrics and prose.”

“Our book on East Berlin was launched in 1988 in the Gethsemane Church in Berlin. There were no press releases or advertisements at all. Despite of it as many as 800 guests turned up at the opening and it was all done by the word of mouth.

In the morning before the opening a party official came along and ordered us to take the pictures off the wall. Lutz Rathenow turned up just in time to thank him for his great ‘advertisement’. He told the official that a camera team from the West German TV ARD was just on their way to the opening and that they would love to film how the pictures are being taken down. And so, they left us alone.”

“When the GDR disappeared I wasn’t forced to change. Dog-eat-dog society brought many problems for many people with GDR mentality. I have had to take care of myself all my life. Most people were very happy with the government’s approach of directing people through life. These are exactly the people who complain today simply because they don’t know how to lead their lives on their own. People take the streets and I’m in the thick of it.”

Tony Pa is a gamemaker’s gamemaker. This is one of my faves. It’s called Keyway and is like Dance Dance Revolution for non-teens and keyboard jockeys. Which is most of us. Nice soundtrack too.

I’ve always disliked the Guitar Hero/Rock band phenomenon. Honestly, if you are going to spend hours getting sick at Guitar Hero, why wouldn’t you just spend the time actually learning how to play guitar? You could be a pretty decent guitar player by the end of it and maybe, just maybe, one day you can write music that is good enough to be posted on Yuppie Dance Party…

Does anyone realize that Guitar Hero’s software platform is basically a carbon copy of Dance Dance Revolution which was fun, admittedly silly and at least got you to exercise with the pad.

Back in the day TKSama used to play DDR but used a controller instead of dancing (yes you can actually do that) and it was undeniably lame. Guitar Hero for all intensive purposes is an XBox controller shaped like a guitar…awesome! At the end of the day the only thing lamer than playing DDR with an Xbox controller is playing with with an XBox controller shaped like a guitar and acting like there is actual skill involved. I haven’t tried but I’m betting you can play DDR with the Guitar Hero guitar because they are THE SAME. And yes you are just playing DDR with Guns N Roses instead of Captain Jack

Check him out with that awesome red hat!

So when DJ Hero came out, my skepticism remained but now as I know more, I’m starting to wonder if DJ Hero could actually teach someone the skills to be a decent elementary DJ. After all with DJ’ing its not like you just can practice Stairway to Heaven until you are ready to to move on to another song. So yes, I’ll admit that I might be coming around a little for DJ Hero. I’ve never played but it sounds like it teaches how to mashup a song, crossfade and learn some techniques from DJ greats like Daft Punk. Guitar Hero still sucks though and I’m not reversing on that.

This mashup is from DJ Hero and is a mix that Daft Punk did for the game using “Da Funk” and some other song by a band named Queen

In Conclusion:

DDR, Daft Punk, Captain Jack and Queen= Awesome

Playing DDR with a controller=lame. Guitar Hero=lamer

And for DJ Hero the jury is still out

More Captain Jack after the Jump…

Are you ready for Captain Jack?

Part I: East Germany

(The Iron Curtain held the world hostage on both sides of the infamous border for decades. For the Germans, the hostage situation was a little different because entire families were divided — as are Korean families, I understand. Many Westwerners also experienced the East Bloc and were horrified or fascinated or both. My own experiences were mostly in East Germany and Hungary in the late 80s. The following is a series of memories and comments on the situation back through my own eyes both as a journalist and as a plain citizen visiting my then wife’s family. It is important to be detailed and clear, because this is my tiny contribution to the subject I once studied: History. My only tiny feeling of personal pride was having seen early on that the curtain would break open soon (after my first trip in ‘86) and that the break would come in Hungary. No editor at the time was interested, the comment was “too speculative.” One East German colleague I met in Budapest thought I was nuts. I was happy to publish one little piece in the Boston Globe, finally, on November 9, 2009.

I will publish this in several installments and at some time in the future will add some photographs from my own collection (it is in storage far away), so please feel free to check back or subscribe.

Final crossings

On November 13, 1989, I entered East Germany illegally and in full knowledge of what I was doing. It happened on the Glienicker Bridge that connected East and West Berlin. This pretty little cantilever bridge was a neural spot between the then moribund East Bloc and the preening Western Democracies, an almost legendary construction that had been used for spy exchanges between East and West. It was a crisp, cold day, almost blinding. My visa for the German Democratic Republic, GDR, had just been stamped out by a curt border guard who had informed me that in order to return, I needed a new visa. “But I left my belongings in the hotel in Potsdam,” I stated politely. “Well, you’ll have to get a new visa,” he said with finality, punctuating a visible disinterest in an American citizen by turning to the next fellow in a fairly long line of people wanting to cross the bridge.

Glienickerbrücke-Source unknown

I set off as in a daze, my mind crunching the possibilities available to me to get my belongings back and, above all, to complete my job, which was perfectly unpolitical: I was writing an article on the particular baroque style of Frederic the Great of Prussia, whose palaces at that point in time stood on either side of the Wall: Sanssouci in Potsdam, Charlottenburg in West Berlin, with a number of other architectural testaments spread liberally around the area. My mother, Karen Radkai, was doing the photography. It was one of the few times we worked together — alas, for she was a terrific person to work with — and we were freelancing. House & Garden, where she published often, had registered interest in purchasing the article.

A lot has been forgotten over the past 20 years, a lot has been buried under the more egregious or absurd aspects of the East Bloc in general and East Germany in particular, the Orwellian control mechanisms in place, the prisons, the shoddy manufacturing (not all of it), the inefficient economy, the drab housing. In addition to all the spying, including preposterous attempts to gather people’s odors, the system had generated a few very pedestrian inconveniences. For one, if you wanted a visa as a westerner, for instance, you had to apply at least a month ahead of time and you had to know exactly where you were going to go and when, since the authorities, obsessed as they were with control, did not really take to spontaneous travel. Secondly, to phone the GDR from the West, you needed a healthy dialing finger, plus about a day’s worth of time. A special operator would register your call early in the morning and then connect you at some time during the day, it could be three, eight, or ten hours later. You just waited and waved away any other incoming calls (this was before all the sexy communication systems we have today).

That is the information that shot through my mind as I sauntered towards West Berlin on the Glienicker Bridge. That, and my somewhat innocent mother and her assistant wandering around Potsdam enjoying the somewhat dreary sights. Even though I had warned her this might happen, as a native German from the unified country, she simply could not conceive that there was this long, spooky, insurmountable wall cutting German and the world in two. So I did something inconceivable: I stopped in the middle of the bridge, turned around and started walking back, trying to look as casual as a 6’3” man with a mop of unruly blond hair and wearing a trench coat might be able to. A pebble on the beach and all that. There was not that much traffic, and what there was, was against me. In my peripheral vision, I caught the border guard dealing with someone’s papers, and I willed him to keep looking away from me at whatever he was doing. “I’m just a little grey mouse, as grey as the tar,” I mantraed to myself, heart beating like a loose wheel on a roller coaster. … I passed under a small East German banner. And suddenly, like a baby out of the womb, I was in the GDR. But without a visa.

As I mentioned above, I knew what I was doing. I had found out the day before. But in those heady days after the now famous announcement by Günther Schabowski I could not believe it, even though the opening of the border was only one way at the time, from east to west – and West Berliners were still not permitted to cross the border. And I did want to beat that bizarre system just once. I guess, everyone did at some point, some with more risk than others. I risked, probably a few hours at the custom’s house or police station. Some people I knew risked more. And I hope to unveil some of their stories in the following narrative. They are not the prominence, people whose quotes are famous and repeated like gospel. They are just everyday people with their struggles and tribulations.East Germany Part II continues…

That title’s a mouthful but you’re already familiar with the technology and application of foot pads as sensors in games like Dance Dance Revolution. The usbddr project sought to make a USB connected DDR controller from scratch. The microcontroller used is an Atmel ATmega8 running the V-USB firmware for connectivity and uses the analog to digital converts to read in data from the capacitive sensors.

The physical implementation is cleaver. The base plate has a capacitor plate attached to the top of it and the tile has the other capacitor plate attached to the bottom of it. The two are separated by some weather-stripping which is spongy enough to allow compression, bringing the two capacitor plates together.

We’re not convinced of the long-term durability of the system. We certainly don’t think it will hold up to very much hard-core DDR playing. But we would love to see a Super Mario RPG style puzzle to unlock the door to the ‘castle’ at a child’s birthday party.

[Thanks Hans]

Nun Liebe Kinder,

ya falta poco para la Navidad.  Ya sabéis que es la fiesta más importante en Alemania y, aunque a mí nunca me ha gustado especialmente, si es cierto que celebrarla junto a vosotros ha sido siempre un lujo y un privilegio. En estos momentos me acuerdo mucho más de esas fiestas, por eso quiero daros las gracias por las Navidades que hemos pasado juntos y os quiero regalar este Adventskalender para que os acordéis de esos momentos en los que bailamos el “KongaKinder”

Adventskalender.net – Countdown bis Weihnachten 2009.

Wo: Dresden, Deutschland
Wann: Juni 2009
Kamera: Fuji FinePix S7000

„Kinder, liebe Kinder,

es hat mir Spaß gemacht!

Nun schnell ins Bett und schlaft recht schön,

dann will auch ich zur Ruhe geh’n.

Ich wünsch euch gute Nacht.“

“crianças, queridas crianças,

eu me diverti!

Agora vão rápido pra cama e durmam bem,

depois eu também quero descansar.

Eu desejo a vocês uma boa noite.”

(tradução livre de trecho da canção do Sandmann na RDA)

Há 50 anos quando soa essa música nos televisores alemães, é chegada a hora de ir domir. Na verdade, o personagem Sandmann já existe desde 1816 quando figurou em um livro do autor alemão E.T.A. Hoffmann. Mas o homenzinho da animação stop motion passou a existir na televisão há exatas 5 décadas. E tudo começou na RDA.

Sandmann no seu aniversário de 25 anos. Fonte: Arquivo Federal Alemão

A tradição diz que as crianças só vão para a cama depois de verem o Sandmann na TV dando boa noite a todos. No final de cada episódio, o bonequinho barbudo traz consigo uma areia fina e a espalha para as crianças. A areinha tem o poder de entregar os pequenos ao mundo dos sonhos.

Daí o nome Sand=areia; Mann=homem.

Em 59 o Sandmann estreou na RDA e apenas 3 anos depois, foi lançada a versão ocidental do bonequinho: o Sandmännchen. Durante 30 anos esses dois “homenzinhos da areia” deram boa noite às crianças da RDA e da RFA, respectivamente.

Com a reunificação das Alemanhas, houve muitos pedidos de que o Sandmann da Alemanha Oriental permanecesse como o oficial. E foi o que aconteceu. Ainda que os episódios sejam atuais, as crianças alemãs continuam a receber o boa noite do mesmo modelo do boneco acompanhado da mesma musiquinha da época da RDA.

Independente de ser do Oeste ou Leste, qualquer alemão que foi criança a partir do início da década de 60 vai sempre lembrar das historinhas e do bonequinho como parte das suas fantasias de infância.

Nesse dia 22 de novembro de 2009, a TV daqui vai ter uma programação especial sobre esse personagem  que pertence a Alemanha, mas não deixa de ser parte da herança da RDA.  Eu que nunca assisti um episódio do Sandmann antes, hoje vou querer receber a areinha mágica para dormir.

E para vocês, dois vídeos: o primeiro traz o trecho de um episódio da época da RDA e o segundo mostra o personagem como era no oeste alemão. Boa noite!

Lichtgeschwindigkeit 57 Liquid Democracy und Egon Krenz beim Mauerfall

Piraten-Presseschau am Montag, 9. November 2009,

von Dr. Dietmar Moews im Alphons-Silbermann-Zentrum Berlin;

Aufnahmezeit um 19.30 Uhr;

Piratenthema hier: Liquid Democracy, Günter Schabowski

liest den Zettel vor. Egon Krenz und das Ende der DDR

vor zwanzig Jahren und die zweite Bundesrepublik Deutschland.

Alle sollten wissen, wenn das friedliche Ende der DDR

betrachtet wird, dass die Erlasse 9/89 und 11/89 von Egon Krenz

entscheidend dafür waren, dass am13. Oktober 1989 an Honecker

vorbei formuliert worden war: Verbot des Gebrauchs von Schusswaffen

bei Demonstrationen. Ferner mit Radio France, Deutschlandfunk,

Bild.de, Heise.de und die Frankfurter Allgemeine Sonntags-Zeitung

sowie BILD, ferner das wichtige Leitmedium Deutschlandfunk.

Produktion, Performance, Autor, Direktion: Dr. Dietmar Moews;

Aufnahmetechnik und Admin: Piratencrew Berlin

Lichtgeschwindigkeit 57 Liquid Democracy und Egon Krenz beim Mauerfall

Piraten-Presseschau am Montag, 9. November 2009,

von Dr. Dietmar Moews im Alphons-Silbermann-Zentrum Berlin;

Aufnahmezeit um 19.30 Uhr;

Piratenthema hier: Liquid Democracy, Egon Krenz und das Ende der

DDR vor zwanzig Jahren und die zweite Bundesrepublik Deutschland.

Alle sollten wissen, wenn das friedliche Ende der DDR betrachtet wird,

dass die Erlasse 9/89 und 11/89 von Egon Krenz

entscheidend dafür waren, dass am13. Oktober 1989 an Honecker vorbei

formuliert worden war: Verbot des Gebrauchs von Schusswaffen bei

Demonstrationen. Ferner mit Radio France, Deutschlandfunk, Bild.de,

Heise.de und die Frankfurter Allgemeine Sonntags-Zeitung sowie BILD,

ferner das wichtige Leitmedium Deutschlandfunk.

Produktion, Performance, Autor, Direktion: Dr. Dietmar Moews;

Aufnahmetechnik und Admin: Piratencrew Berlin