fogBlogger

BCD 10.09.2025

As happens every couple of weeks or so, I got barked at again today for letting my dog walk off-leash at the University. The person complaining was new, but much of the conversation wasn’t. What was new, however, is that he volunteered the reason why all dogs on campus should be on a leash withoutContinue reading “BCD 10.09.2025”

Un-vital signs 05.09.2025

A hallmark of the University of Not-Bielefeld is how invested it is in teaching. Not in real teaching, of course, because that costs real money and if you want to build 1.4 million Euros worth of bike racks, something’s got to give, right? Instead, the University’s emphasis here lies much more on promoting its commitmentContinue reading “Un-vital signs 05.09.2025”

BCD 31.08.2025

I’ve been living in the internet Stone Age for some time now, having never gotten around to upgrading my 16 MBits/s DSL hookup. (If you want to know how slow that is, put it this way: I can type these blogs faster than I can upload them to the web.) A lot of people todayContinue reading “BCD 31.08.2025”

Oh Canada, the sequel

Created using ChatGPT using the prompt " Could you make my a high-resolution image of the Canadian flag please? However, the maple leaf in the center should be replaced by the face-palm emoji. The emoji should be in red and also look as much like the original maple leaf as possible both in shape and in colour.". In the public domain.

I’ve recently returned from a trip to Canada to visit family and wanted to take a few seconds to share a few of the new absurdities that my home and native land has come up with while I’ve been away. As most people know, Canada is officially bilingual, with English and something vaguely resembling FrenchContinue reading “Oh Canada, the sequel”

Implausible inactivity

Generated by the Jetpack AI using the prompt "A picture of a middle-aged person in a business suit asleep with their head on the steering wheel on a bright sunny day on a university campus."

An e-mail came around from the Vice President for Studying and Teaching here at the University of Not-Bielefeld the other week informing us about the increasing number of student reports reaching her office about examinations, and final exams in particular, being scheduled during the 14-week lecture periods instead of immediately after them like they shouldContinue reading “Implausible inactivity”

Two-factor abomination

Generated by the Jetpack AI based on the content of the entire blog entry. In the public domain.

We all know that the internet is a dangerous place, with lots of bad actors trying to scam us, spam us, doxx us, phish us, and troll us. And then there’s Facebook. In many ways, however, the real cyberthreat comes instead from all the IT people ostensibly trying to keep us safe. It all startedContinue reading “Two-factor abomination”

Debugging biodiversity

Generated using the Jetpack AI using the prompt "A gloomy picture of the four horsemen of the apocalypse, with the horsemen being represented by insects and not humans." In the public domain.

Listen. Can we just make up our minds here? I heard on the radio yesterday afternoon that experts are predicting that this summer will see an insect plague in Germany, especially when it comes to ticks and tiger mosquitoes. Now, I can’t find any real support for this statement on the internet apart from allContinue reading “Debugging biodiversity”

Un-vital signs 22.05.2025

Sometimes, you just gotta ask yourself, what the hell? During a recent trip to more southerly German climes (Bonn), I noticed a lot of the following signs while taking a stroll one evening: Despite their different wordings, shapes, styles, and colours, the basic message in all the signs was identical: don’t block the driveway. MyContinue reading “Un-vital signs 22.05.2025”

The highway to oh-well

I’ve written previously about how the city of Not-Bielefeld is continuously trying to live up to its reputation as a bicycle-friendly city. Noteworthy efforts here, if only because they miss the mark completely, include the city testing out a gangrene wave for bikes and the University of Not-Bielefeld proudly installing the most expensive bike racksContinue reading “The highway to oh-well”