A few days ago I was searching for the best production usable solution for rounded corners in XHTML/CSS. I know there is no perfect solution, as many people have different needs and each new technique has its disadvantages. But I finally found something very close to it …
28 February 2009
London vs Berlin – The tube
I would like to start a little series: “London vs Berlin”
As I am a nice girl and I really do not think any city would win over the other in the end, I will try to balance these posts.
Let us start with …
| London | Berlin | |
|---|---|---|
| accessibility | bad | good |
| cleanliness | good | bad |
Yes, it is really that simple. There is nothing more to add to that.
Well okay, I will explain a bit …
Accessibility
Let some hard facts speak for themselves:
- Accessible tube stations in Berlin (BVG zone A): 47 out of 96 = 49%.
- Accessible tube stations in London (TFL zones 1+2): 17 out of 132 = 13%!
I do not know the perspective of a wheelchair user, but I once had to move a very heavy suitcase from Willesden Green to Plaistow and had to change twice. There were a lot of stairs, hardly any moving ones and no lifts at all (minus one point for the public transport system). But there was always someone to help me carrying the suitcase up and down the stairs (plus one point for the Londoners).
That could not have happened in Berlin. (Ambiguity intended.)
Cleanliness
Whenever I mention to Londoners that the London tube is so much cleaner than the Berlin tube, they are very surprised. Most Londoners find the tube in London very dirty indeed. But they obviously do not know the Berlin tube, especially not when it runs through Kreuzberg. Where else can you see garbage, vomit, condoms, broken bottles and blood stains all in one compartment?
I wonder why the tube in London is so clean.
Is it the extreme security? After all, every piece of garbage could potentially be a bomb.
Do they have more money to hire more cleaning staff? Possibly.
Or do Londoners just behave themselves? Highly unlikely. 😉
24 January 2009
The Doctor and The Captain and The Understudy
Here comes my (rather late) yet another Hamlet review (as attended on 23 December 2008).
11 January 2009
Recently in a 3 store …
The following conversation took place in a 3 store in East Ham on 5 November 2008, while I was buying a mobile broadband dongle.
- me:
Does this dongle also work with Linux?
- sales girl:
Linux? Is that a special programme?
- me:
No, it’s an operating system.
- sales girl:
…
(blank stare)- me:
… like Windows or Mac OS.
- sales girl:
Oh, like HP or Dell!?
- me:
Ehm, no. Like Windows XP — only different …
- sales girl:
- (turns to a senior sales man)
Does this work with Windows Linux?
- sales man:
- (uncertain, at least he seems to have heard of it)
Linux is a very heavy programme …
(indicating the sheer vastness of it with his hands: about one metre) - sales man:
Could be … If it doesn’t work with Linux, install Windows XP.
- me:
…
(unbelieving blank stare)- sales man:
It only costs about 50 pounds …
10 January 2009
Why this blog?
I hate blogs. I never really understood what they are for. Or why people might want to write them. Or why people might even want to read them. Okay, okay, I am exaggerating. But all in all I completely share the view of Donald Brook’s essay “Why I Fucking Hate Weblogs!”.
So, why on earth should I finally give in (despite endless attempts to avoid it) and join the world of pointless babbling that calls itself the “blogosphere”? Here is why:
- I am bored and need something “useful” to do. (Distraction is my saviour from current unemployment insanity.)
- I am a Web Developer by profession. I need experience with one of the most important blogging engines. Therefore, I can haz WordPress.
- I just moved from Berlin, Germany to London, United Kingdom. There are plenty of things to talk about – and (yet) a lack of people to talk to.
- As my guitar is still in Berlin, I need a different creative outlet. (Which really means: I am a mixture of The Reverse Voyeur and The Tragically Geek.)
- I was urged repeatedly many times pleeeeease to do so. (Really, very often, you will not believe how often I was actually asked that. Every time only by one certain individual, but who counts.)
- I am under the delusional impression that at least some of the things I will write about could actually interest someone. No, really.
- It is still better than torturing bunnies.
What can you expect?
- Hereby I predict the following main subjects: web development, London, philosophy, random geekiness, music and anecdotes (from so-called “real life”).
- I will also use this blog as a bit of a web development playground. Do not expect gorgeous design and do not expect it to be ever finished. But do expect me trying to adhere to as many accessibility standards as possible and more niceties for Firefox than for Internet Explorer 6.
- As I am German, you can also probably expect: casual errors, quirky wording and a too simple language. (And I will most likely never mention the war.)
Let me end with my personal blog manifesto (a slightly abridged version of the “Statement of Audience” in a manner of “Blogoholics Anonymous”):
Hello, my name is Anika, and I realize that nothing I say matters to anyone else on the entire planet.