Working right up until the last second, the admin elves at the University of Not-Bielefeld published a set of 11 recommendations shortly before the Christmas break to advise its teaching staff in how to deal with generative AI in the classroom. And then took a well deserved seven-week break before facing the even more arduousContinue reading “Degenerative admin”
Category Archives: Uncategorized
Silent theocracy
Most Germans will deny it, if only because they cannot pronounce the voiceless dental fricative (/θ/, one of the two “th” sounds), but they actually live in a theocracy, making it currently only the third western country together with the Vatican and the US to do so. There are more than a few obvious signs pointing toContinue reading “Silent theocracy”
Corporate resign
Some time ago, I wrote how admin here at the University of Not-Bielefeld (if not admin types the world over) like to send chain e-mails, where some e-mail from central admin is successively forwarded down the chain of responsibility (central admin to faculty to department to …) with no one bothering to clean up allContinue reading “Corporate resign”
Motivational writing
Apart from the universal, default strategy of continually growing its customer base, another key element of WordPress’ business model must be to keep their band of bloggers happy, motivated, and writing. Having already gotten me to sign up (= growth strategy), WordPress immediately shifted to inundating me with announcements about how I could make moneyContinue reading “Motivational writing”
BCD 11.12.2023
Recently, I wrote about how the University of Not-Bielefeld had set up a centralized system for registering when you were on sick leave (i.e., sick for more than three days in a row). The general idea was that instead of simply informing your boss about being sick, you filled in a form, sent it toContinue reading “BCD 11.12.2023”
BCD 04.12.2023
The economic hardships following the collapse of the corona pandemic continue to hit Big Tech really hard. Latest news is that Spotify is laying off 17% of its staff to cut costs. Let’s crunch some numbers … From June to September of this year, Spotify: Let me get this straight. Despite a 260 million EURContinue reading “BCD 04.12.2023”
Talkin’ shit …
I have a confession to make … For years now, I’ve been throwing organic waste in with the normal trash, a crime minimally punishable here in Germany by a stern and very long-winded lecture from the neighbours. Befitting the times, my excuse is simple: I blame Big Government. The waste, of course, is dog poop,Continue reading “Talkin’ shit …”
Discounting bulk and the conundrum of Croatian commerce
For reasons of matrimony, I’ve spent a good deal of time over the past three years in Croatia. (In other words, dividing my time between Not-Bielefeld and Not-Yugoslavia.) Can’t say that I’m much wiser about the Croatian language over that stretch though: But, if you can believe it, I’m even more confused over the CroatianContinue reading “Discounting bulk and the conundrum of Croatian commerce”
Official obfuscation
Beamtendeutsch (officialese or bureaucratese) is undoubtedly a recurring nightmare in most languages that is designed to obscure the meaning of even the simplest of things. (As perhaps befits the general concept, there is no agreed upon definition of officialese beyond this such that the distinction from the highly similar legalese is unclear. My impression, however,Continue reading “Official obfuscation”
Private wealth care
Like many other countries in the world, Germany has a two-tiered health-care system: statutory (public) insurance as the default for everyone and private insurance for those who can otherwise afford it. And like the same, respective systems the world over, the premiums are income-based: your actual income for the statutory insurance and your health statusContinue reading “Private wealth care”
The Blog About Fog 