Posted inCan We Talk About This Please? Politics & Opinion

Sigmar Gabriel and the Middle Finger

Last Friday, Sigmar Gabriel gave a group of far-right hecklers the middle finger. They had been disrupting his campaign rally with shouts and placards. My first reaction was: “That’s not the right way to respond. A politician of his standing shouldn’t stoop to that level.” But then I asked myself—is that really true? Is a gesture like that ever justified? After thinking about it, I came to a different conclusion: yes, it can be justified—even for the chairman of the SPD. Emotion Versus Argument Of course, flipping the middle finger is no way to engage in political debate. Critics deserve to be answered with…
Posted inGeneral Online & Digital

Step-by-Step Revolution Instead of Slow Evolution

In my expert commentary for Funkschau—both online and in the print edition—I explain why organizations should approach the transition from long-established, legacy communication systems to modern, cloud-based online tools as a stepwise revolution rather than a slow, drawn-out evolution. The point I make is simple: traditional communication infrastructures, often grown organically over decades, are deeply embedded in many companies. They can’t be ripped out overnight—but neither should they be left untouched until they collapse under their own complexity. A gradual, planned migration allows companies to modernize piece by piece, reducing risk while still reaping the advantages of flexibility, scalability, and collaboration that cloud services offer. This isn’t…
Nerdy Wedding, Part 1: The Wedding Website
Posted inOnline & Digital

Nerdy Wedding, Part 1: The Wedding Website

Every geek or nerd who gets married wonders how to weave their passions, hobbies, or quirks into the wedding in a useful way. One idea that has become quite common by now is to create a wedding website. In our case, this was especially helpful since we weren’t getting married in Germany and needed to provide travel instructions, hotel recommendations, and other useful information for our guests. This article shares my thoughts and experiences, so you can hopefully save yourself some trial and error. CMS and Design For the CMS, I used WordPress, as I do for all my sites. It’s easy…
Posted inScience Matters The Homeopathy Myth

Beer Meets Esotericism

I came across this clever and funny observation from German physicist and cabaret artist Vince Ebert, who often explains science with humor and simple everyday examples. “If I suspect, for example, ‘There might be beer in the fridge,’ and I go check, then I’m basically already practicing an early form of science.Big difference compared to theology: there, assumptions usually aren’t tested.So if I just claim, ‘There’s beer in the fridge,’ I’m a theologian.If I actually look, I’m a scientist.And if I look, find nothing, and still insist there’s beer inside—then I’m an esoteric!” — Vince Ebert
Posted inCan We Talk About This Please? In the News The Homeopathy Myth

Dear parents, you’re being lied to

As a geek without kids (so far), I sometimes stumble across the phenomenon in my circle of friends that some parents refuse to vaccinate their children. Honestly, I’ve never understood why—and to be fair, I never really looked deeply into it. To my surprise, it seems to be far more common than I thought. I grew up in a family and environment where getting vaccinated was simply normal. Not long ago, diseases like mumps, measles, or rubella would flare up into epidemics and claim hundreds, if not thousands, of lives. Only through vaccination were we able to bring them under…
Posted inCan We Talk About This Please? In the News Online & Digital Politics & Opinion

The BND Espionage Affair: When “Friends” Spy on Each Other

As if Edward Snowden’s revelations about large-scale NSA surveillance in Europe and Germany, and the tapping of Angela Merkel’s mobile phone, had not already been enough, the U.S. spying scandal has entered its next chapter—despite all denials from the NSA and CIA. To summarize what happened: last week a BND employee was arrested. He is accused of having sold 218 confidential BND documents over the past two years to the CIA for a total of about €25,000. The man worked in the department “Areas of Operation/Foreign Relations” and was apparently responsible for archiving documents. In that role, of course, he had access…
Posted inCan We Talk About This Please? In the News Science Matters

Misleading Graphics and the Fukushima Panic

Isn’t this graphic alarming? It’s been circulating dozens of times across social media, often used in YouTube videos as “proof” for bold claims and conspiracy theories. At first glance, it does look terrifying—the blue trail stretches across the Pacific toward Japan, supposedly originating from Fukushima. What makes the graphic appear credible is the NOAA logo (National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration), suggesting that it comes from an authoritative U.S. government source. But let’s pause for a moment. The first red flag is the scale on the right-hand side, which is labeled in centimeters (cm). What do centimeters have to do with radiation? The…
Posted inIn the News Online & Digital Politics & Opinion

Why the Pirate Party Still Matters

I usually don’t like to write anything that sounds like electioneering—but in this case, I will. For the Pirate Party. In my view, the Pirate Party is important for Germany and for its political landscape. Of course, in its current state it isn’t ready to govern a country. But especially the Berlin state faction has shown that the party can make an important contribution in parliament—and, in my opinion, also in the Bundestag. What sets them apart is their different mindset, their unconventional approach, and yes, sometimes even their lack of experience. The Pirates look at issues from a perspective that…
Posted inOnline & Digital

Digitize Photo Books

This post also marks the very first entry in a new category I’m calling “Pick of the Week.” The idea is simple: every now and then, I want to highlight something I’ve discovered that I really enjoy and can wholeheartedly recommend to others. So let’s dive right into the first pick. For about two years now, I’ve been working on a personal project: digitizing my old photo albums. Some of them were easy enough to scan on a standard household flatbed scanner. Small keepsakes like ticket stubs or postcards worked without any issues. It’s not complicated—just a matter of patience and persistence. Of course,…
Posted inOnline & Digital

Pick of the Week: DropIt – Automating Photo & Video Organization

Two weeks ago, I stumbled upon an interesting open-source Windows application called DropIt. Before diving into why I like it so much, let me first describe the problem I was trying to solve. I organize all my photos and videos manually into folders. Yes, I know there are plenty of archiving tools from Google, Yahoo, or even Apple’s iPhoto and Aperture on macOS. But I don’t want to upload my pictures to the cloud, nor do I want to depend on a single piece of proprietary software to keep track of something as important as my memories. Instead, all my files are…