I can honestly say that I always hated iTunes as long as I have known it. There are so many little inconveniences and inconsistencies. One wonders how that is possible in an 8.2 Version of any software? Some of the issues have repeatedly been addressed by users, basically since the dawn of the software.

One of these is that it is quite possible to delete a playlist in an instance without any “undo” function- no way to get your playlist back if you mistakenly deleted it. Now we can argue if such a mistake should happen to a user, but then again, why would we discuss that? We have gotten used to the fact that things can be made undone in every program, why not in iTunes?

The first time you delete a playlist in iTunes it will remind you that you are about to delete a potentially precious playlist, but it then even offers you to never question you in the future. Next time around your playlist would be gone if you were unwise enough to unselect the reminder. If you check the apple forum you will see that it happened to many people, but even with the reminder it can happen that you regret deleting a playlist once in a while… As is policy of apple they never reply to peoples request about this. Their service does really suck at times as most of us know who ever had a problem with apple hard- or software….

Anyhow, you may think: OK I just backup my playlists, just in case. Good thinking, but then you run into another bug. While the function exists it does not work while in “cover view”. It is “greyed out” with no other option available to get a backup of your playlist. It only works normally when in “list view” of your songs (go to “view” and select “list”).

Why? God Jobs knows….

Took me ages to figure that one out. So I post it here for you in case you run into the same bug… AAARRRGGGHHH, iTunes… Good luck!

—
http://groups.google.com/group/iphone-podcaster/web/importingpodcastsfromitunes8

—
Export itunes (8.2) playlists if it works (list view): select File – Library – Export Playlist

Export playlist working normally

Export playlist function greyed out

The day I arrived at the place I would certainly want to call my beloved home by now, I expected some fundamentally touching emotions. I entered the familiar airport bus, drove by my former flat, drove by yet another former flat of mine and got off at one of the city-squares that had represented the center of my personal universe for some of the happiest years of my entire life.

I expected to be overwhelmed by memories. Some moving memories, causing me maybe laughter of joy or possibly tears. To my surprise there was nothing of that kind, not even remotely- not at all. I admit, somewhat to my disappointment. My friends asked me how it felt to “come home” after these many months, actually even countable in years by now. But I could not report anything unusual. Nothing else than that moving between the parks, channels and bridges was all too familiar. Also, the language surrounding me was tinkling my ears in a familiar way and I immediately was set to auto-pilot when roaming the streets of this breathtakingly beautiful city which I would want to call “mine”.

Stockholm du fria...

I had some nice barbecues, reunions with friends, almost forgotten friends and rediscovered friends and warm welcome-back-celebrations. We picked up the topics that we had left partially unfinished when I left and it felt all like it had been yesterday since I left. Eventually, while wandering around the pictures and memories of the past crept up on me while they were lingering just around every corner of every street, sometimes dealing me joy sometimes calling for remorse but always with tremendous emotional value.

The summer was unusually generous to us. The perfect Swedish sun was as always in full splendor during the days and the remaining warmth of her playful outbursts more humble during the nights. I watched the boats and ships softly rocking on the waters between Mälaren and the baltic sea, glimmering in brilliant white due to the post midsummer-sun. There is NOTHING as enchanting as a summer in a place where people adore the too few warm days of the year due their notoriously rare appearance! Nothing.

I was walking around with great strides, taking back what was once mine and still belongs to me, and to me alone. I felt like I was showing off the city to myself, and showing myself around the plenty wonderful and very familiar sights of the – this time of the year- touristic areas, trying to spot any significant changes. But there was so pleasingly little in terms of change. Some things in life are pleasantly stable. Just as my love for this city and what it means to me and ever will.

Then, finally, when roaming between goose-bumping beautiful water-ways and medieval buildings, I realized what my initial emotion of almost indifference of being back had entailed. It struck me that it is not what this place gives me emotionally as much as what it does NOT give me. I felt an ease due to a lack of stress and distress that I had been lacking in many places of the world, at least to that extend. It is simply a lack of negative emotions.

A lack of displeasure that creates a feeling that can hardly be described. The love for this town is best described in negatives. Described in what it is not, which ultimately sculptures my personal picture of her and which is an incarnation of pure bliss to me. Not being like ANY other means being truly unique.

It sure is good to come HOME.

As regular reader of this blog (I know that type does not exist, so calm down) you are aware of my quest for a perfect set of earbud headphones, and how I tried Shure, Sennheiser, Bose, Apple’s own iPod earbuds, Skullcandy and Klipsch Image X5. Yes, the Klipsch were great, but who wants to buy earbuds at 250$ a piece? Anyhow, maybe the 100$ Shure, Sennheiser, Bose and Apple headphones would have done the job one could think? But I did not think so. I was disappointed by all of them. The popularity of the Shure in the US can only be explained by the American taste for overload I think.

US Americans are used to be overloaded, and seem to like it. Just look at fast food. Loads of fat and protein and sugars. Gaaarrrreeeeaaaattttt! Well, not for a more balanced European taste

So I went for the Sony MDR EX 90 headbuds. Great stuff! Well balanced sound, and as one reviewer said “All-in-all the engineers at Sony hit a homerun with the MDREX90’s in my opinion. I believe sound quality compromises were made in all the right areas for this design.”. Even though I am not crazy about the home-run metaphor I agree with the conclusion!

These buds are insane for the 80$ price-tag. The bass is not just wobbling around as with the Shure and yet it is deep and still defined. And if the snares at the end of a song are hit you wonder how long they last, and how you have never noticed that before. The resolution is a hit with the voice being clearly separated from even the worst mess of rock music insanity. The same goes for all the different frequencies.

Test your buds with Kyuss song Phototropic from the album And the circus leaves town, and Spaceship landing. If you are looking for a defined bass you should get the picture listening to these songs. Also Catamaran gives you a good idea of what a well defined drum sound should be like.

If you are about to test the treble of your headphones you may go for Air’s “Universal Traveller” or “Surin’ on a rocket” which gives you a range of frequencies to test, (beside it being a beautiful song) from the album Talkie Walkie. Then you also get a good feel for what a decent medium range frequency should look like.

Well, well, sure enough that brings me to the real point of this review; if you are into any deviant music style like rap, R’n'B, Jazz, Classics or what the heck else there is out there I do not listen to on a regular basis, you may want to reevaluate. However, I have tried Jazz, Blues, Classical Music, Heavy, Prog Rock, Indie, Metal, Ambient, Synth, Pop and many more types of music on my Sony’s and I am thrilled.

Why is it that a sucky company like Sony makes such great earbuds? I have been wondering myself! I have a working hypothesis; maybe it simply is due to the fact that A) we have here a company that has been doing individual music listening for a while (they did after all invent the Walkman), and B) that Sony has not been doing that well lately in terms of financial success. Hence, who would not assume that a company in dire straits should be keen on selling great product for very competitive prices? Whatever the reasons, I am at the end of my search…

PS They come with a pretty useless carrying case, at least they do not tell you not to wrap your earbuds around your iPod as SkullCandy does, which fucks the cord up in two months as happened to me… So in the end it is a good advice, but where do you keep the earbuds, SkullCandy? Thank you…
—

http://forums.ilounge.com/archive/index.php/t-186708.html
http://www.sonystyle.com/webapp/wcs/stores/servlet/ProductDisplay?catalogId=10551&storeId=10151&langId=-1&productId=11038874

http://www.spiegel.de/spiegel/0,1518,626442-2,00.html

Nach einem Brief an einen Freund, der mich fragte, was ich, als Genetiker, von obigem Artikle halte:

Den obigen Artikel habe ich gelesen und mir Gedanken um die Wirkung auf die Leute gemacht. Leider wird in den Medien sehr viel Unsinn berichtet, indem man komplizierte Zusammenhänge für die Allgemeinheit vereinfacht darstellen will. In erster Linie ist das Ganze unter Fachleuten keine große Verwunderung. Natürlich sind die Zusammenhänge komliziert, und kaum jemand rechnet ernsthaft damit, daß man einzele Gene finden wird, die Krankheiten erklären.

Gene arbeiten stets in Gruppen oder besser gesagt, als Netzwerk miteinander. Wie in jedem guten Etzwerk führt der Ausfall eines Gens (oder Defekt) nicht gleich zum Zusammenbruch. Vielmehr übernehmen andere Gene die Aufgaben eines defekten- zumindest teilweise. Das ist der Grund, warum man beim vorhandensein eines bestimmten Gen nur eine leichte Erhöhung in der Erkrankungsrate findet. Die anderen Spieler im Netzwerk puffern ab. Erst wenn eine bestimmte Anzahl von Spielern ausgeschaltet ist, ergibt sich eine dramatische Erhöhung der Erkrankungsrate.

Nun ist selbst das eine Vereinfachung, denn in Wirklichkeit ist ein Gen (fast) nie per se Gut oder Böse. Vielmehr ist es so, daß Gene sich im Kontext mit ihrer Umwelt entwickelt haben. Das heißt, daß das Gen X, was im Urmenschen dafür gesorgt hat, daß er mit wenig Essen auf langen Märschen gut war, weil es unverbrauchte Energie in Fettpolstern im Körper gespeichert hat, sehr gut war. In dieser Situation und in diesem Kontext. Heute hingegen sehen wir jenes Gen X als Feind an und entwickeln Medikamente, um es zu unterdrücken, da wir nie mehr lange Märsche ertragen müssen und zudem immer mehr als nötig zu essen haben. Im modernen Kontext ist Gen X böse.

Also: Netzwerk und Kontext erklären die Ergebnisse der Studien, die bei genauerem hinsehen so “nichtssagen” wirken.

Das Problem ist ein mangelnder Datensatz. Denn wir haben erst Bruchteile der beim Menschen vorhandenen Gene überhaupt identifiziert, und wissen nur von einem geringen Teil derer, was sie so tun. Aber selbst wenn wir wissen, was Gen X in dieser Situation im Zusammenspiel mit Gen A, Gen B und Gen C tut. Was tut Gen X im Zusammenspiel mit Gen M, Gen C, Gen Y, und Geh H? Und was in jeweils anderen Umweltsituationen?

Die Lösung ist nicht nur die Erfassung aller Gene. Denn eigentlich interessant sind nicht die Gene selber, sondern die Proteine oder andere Produkte, die der Körper auf der Grundlage der Information, die in den Genen steckt, herstellt. Diese Herstellungsprodukte der Gene sind die eigentlichen Spieler im Körper, Sie flitzen herum und verrichten Aufgaben. Gene sind lediglich eine art Bauanweisung. Protein vor allem, sind die kleinen Bauarbeiter des Körpers, die alle Aufgaben verrichten, die Leben bedeutet und Leben ermöglicht.

Der eigentliche Focus verlagert sich daher immer mehr in Richtung Proteine. Allerdings wissen wir auf der Ebene noch weniger. Denn ein Gen X kann Protein A, Protein B, Protein C und vielleicht Protein D herstellen lassen. Wie kann das sein? Der genetische Code ist so komplex aufgebaut, daß er, selbst zerschnitten und neu zusammen gefügt “Sinn” ergeben kann. D.h. das eine Genabschrift, die normalerweise zum Bau von einem Protein dient, im Körper (von Proteinen) zerschnitten wird und neu zusammen gebaut wird. Diese neue Bauanweisung führt zu einem neuen Gen. Manchmal mit dramatisch anderen Aufgaben. Eine kleine Änderung in einem Gen (ein Defekt?) kann also Auswikungen auf kein (manche Änderungen sind “neutral”), ein oder mehrer Proteine haben. Man müßte sich also mehrer Proteine für jedes Gen anschauen. Verständlicherweise beschränken sich daher viele Forscher auf Gene. Denn wer will sich schon diesem Komplizierten Gewusel an Möglichkeiten und Permutationen aussetzen?

Das bringt uns zur eigentlichen Lösung des Problems. Erst mit den richtigen Computermodellen (und einer viel größeren Anzahl an bekannten Genen und deren Proteine) kann man anfangen wirkliche Aussagen zu treffen. Daran arbeitet man natürlich.

Ein Zusatzproblem ist die Dummhet mancher Genetiker und deren idiotische Art, mit ihrer Dummheit vor den Medien umzugehen. Leider erzählte da jemand sehr wichtiges vor ein paar Jahren, daß man beim Menschen viel weniger Gene gefunden hat, als man mal irgendwann gedacht hat. Der Mensch sei also erstens weniger kompliziert als man dachte, und wäre zweitens nicht von seinen Genen kontrolliert, sondern von seiner Umwelt (Soziologisierung war gemeint). Das war natürlich absoluter Quatsch! Denn woher will der Herr (Greig Venter) wissen, wie viele Gene man braucht, um was kompliziertes zu erschaffen? Die Tatsache, daß der Mensch mit “so wenigen” Genen so komplex ist, daß man immer noch Schwierigkeiten hat ihn zu entschlüsseln zeigt doch, daß die Anzahl an Genen, die wir haben, genau ausreichend ist. Zudem, die ursprünglichen Schätzungen waren auf heißer Luft gegründet. Einfach ausgedacht. Vermutungen. Wer will also sagen, was notwendig ist, um einen komplexen Menschen zu erschaffen?

Zweitens hat sich dieses “kompakte” Genom im Kontext zu seiner Umwelt entwickelt, und es ist sehr deutlich, daß sich nur im Wechselspiel des Genoms mit der Umwelt, die wahre Komplexität und Anpassungsfähigkeit des Genoms zeigt. Das Genom ist nicht etwa weniger Komplex, weil man weniger Gene gefunden hat, sonder komplexer! Man findet immer mehr Proteine (Bauanweisungen) per Gen und das Verständnis des Zusammenspiels dieser Genprodukte und die Kontrolle der Gene, wird immer umfangreicher und komplexer. Die Tatsache, daß man so waklige Aussagen trifft, wie im Artikel beschrieben, wenn man die Wahrscheinlichkeit des Ausbruchs einer Krankheit voraussagen will deutet nicht darauf hin, daß Gene kaum eine Rolle spielen, es deutet darauf hin, daß wir noch zu wenig der Komplexität der Gene verstanden haben.

Zwillingsforschung zeigt immer wieder, daß diese Aussage so stimmt, denn eineiige Zwillinge leiden oft an den gleichen Krankheiten, selbst wenn sie getrennt, und unter anderen Bedingungen aufgwachsen sind. Ein Vergleich mit zweeiigen Zwillingen legt nahe, daß wir zu einem sehr großen Grad (einem erschreckend hohen) von den Genen gesteuert sind. Genaue Prozentangaben, wie hoch dieser “Grad” ist, sind allerdings eigentlich Unsinn. Nochmal: jedes Set an Genen reagiert anders unter anderen Bedingungen. Eine Angabe wie, sagen wir mal, Gen X erhöht Darmkrebs zu 20%, muß man lesen als: “Gen X erhöht Darmkrebs zu 20% in Menschen mit den Genvarianten A, H, K und L mit einer westlichen Lebensweise, vorausgesetzt man bewegt sich wenig, raucht nicht, hat nie eine Schwangerschaft durchlaufen, trinkt Wasser mit wenig Mineralien, schläft regelmäßig und ausreichend und hat ein streßfreies Leben”. Ändert sich eine Variante, ändert sich auch die Wahrscheinlichkeit, an Krebs zu erkranken.

So in etwa (und mit wesentlich mehr “aber”) sähe das vermutlich oft aus. Nicht immer, muß ich einschränkend nochmal sagen. Es gibt auch Gene, die direkt für Krankheiten verantwortlich zeichnen. Aber sehr wenige.

Der nächste Schritt ist also in der Tat, wie im Artikel vorgeschlagen: “Nun schlägt Goldstein eine radikal andere Strategie vor: Statt kranke und gesunde Menschen nur grob genetisch miteinander zu vergleichen, sollten die Forscher das Erbgut kranker Menschen gründlich durchforsten, Gen für Gen. “Wir sollten damit anfangen, die kompletten Genome von Patienten zu sequenzieren”, fordert Goldstein.”

Das, Computermodelle und eine genauere Erfassung welche Umwelteinflüsse welche Gene wie beeinflussen, und wir kommen der Sache ein wenig näher…. Es gibt genug zu tun…

PS. Ich würde dir ein Buch empfehlen wollen, welches sich generell mit dem Thema befasst, wie wir uns immer noch davor scheuen, dem Menschen eine “biologische Natur” zuzugestehen. Es erklärt, wie schwierig es ist für viele, zu akzeptieren, daß wir biologisch gesteuert sein könnten. Artikel wie der obige versuchen meiner Meinung nach manchmal, den Menschen als ein Wesen zu retten, welches sein Schicksal selbst in der Hand hat. Hingegen sind die Hinweise erdrückend, daß Veranlagungen wie Kriminalität, Intelligenz, soziales Verhalten generell, Vorlieben, Eigenschaften etc, genetisch gesteuert sind. Wir haben aber Angst vor dieser Möglichkeit und viele würden sich freuen, wenn die Genetik als Erklärung für Krankheiten versagt, da dann auch ihr Anspruch auf das Wesen des Menschen und seine Mängel zusammenbrechen würde. Das würde den Menschen als ein “unbeschriebenes Blatt” retten, welches durch seine sozale Umwelt geprägt werden könnte. Man könnte dann jeden Menschen so formen, daß eine “bessere” (nach wessen Definition?) Gesellschaft/Welt entstehen würde. Paperlapapp…der Mensch ist natürlich ein Tier, und man formt sehr wenig… Daher, sehr interessant mal “the Blank Slate” zu lesen, was genau diesen Standpunkt sehr vehement und herrlich argumentiert vertritt. Sobald das auf Deutsch erscheint, solltest du das mal lesen. Hervorragend!

Repeatedly I have been reporting on the topic of peak oil, and naturally the topic “peak”-whatever. Often when discussing the topic with folks who are not familiar with the numbers, data and facts you hear the argument that there are huge reserves in the arctic an antarctic which will solve the problem of dwindling resources.

So far the actual reserves have been guess work. A new report suggests that at least the natural gas resources would not last the planet longer than a meager seven years! [1] In fact it does not look much better for oil reserves either. It is not just about time to start tackling the problem, it is almost too lat. As someone pointed out correctly the other day: “What happens if we run so low on oil that we have not enough energy to accomplish the switch from fossil fuels to an alternative?”. Valid point that seems to escape the managers of our industry, our politicians, our media (how much must journalists suck to miss that topic?) and the people in general who hope that the managers, the politicians and the media got things under control. Bizarre…

The report also states that there are 13% of the remaining oil reserves and 30% of the remaining oil. That means if the gas there lasts seven years we all can imagine that the total amount of natural gas the world has at its disposal is no more than 20-some years. By the way, not much better for the oil since calculations show that we may have no more than 20 years with the expected increases in demand from asia.

The future is bright. But it sure is not lit with fossil fuels!

—

1) http://www.spiegel.de/wissenschaft/natur/0,1518,627643,00.html (German)

What remains to be said? The moment when this entry is going to go online via scheduled publishing I am expected to touch down in Germany. It is most certainly going to be the most awkward feeling. When coming back from Australia after six months I remember feeling physically sick. I guess it is going to be different this time. I am for sure looking forward to meet friends and family again and slide back into normality, as it is called.

I cannot claim that all questions have been answered that I directed towards this trip. Hardly any for now. But the web that our experiences are, of which we do not always see how they are connected is going to be woven partially in a postlude. It is interesting how things often come together after the fact.

Most people who returned recently struggled with the fact, but that is part of the trip I suppose. But if you really want to know what it feels like to come back from a universe of experiences and seemingly endless possibilities; if you want to know what it feels like to have embraced the world to then dive back into a physical stand-still while mentally traveling on for a while; if you need to know what it is like to make sense of nine months of unprecedented experiences- go on the trip!

For now, on a different plain, my trip continues all the way to the last stop…

Often people have asked me what I liked best on my trip. The thing is that depending on my mood different things come to mind. I assume that there is no one best thing, just a picture book full of memories. Some more pleasant than others, but sometimes you even hold the nasty, difficult and scary memories of situations very dear. Funny how the “best” does not always equal the most memorable. Sometimes it is the most novel, and that can come in any flavor of emotions.

Machu Picchu, Peru

Before the trip the fantasy of what would happen was intense, vague and blurry. I reminds me of the time back in the days when as a kid you had one of these books to collect stickers of the players of all teams of some football world cup. There was a spot for each player, but you never knew which ones you would be able to get and what exactly they would look like. That was the excitement of collecting them of course, and led to you bugging your parents to buy you more.

Equally the picture-book of this trip, and in a way for many parts of our lives, when we await certain occasions, was laid out in front of me before it all started. Now some of the place-holders are filled, others are still waiting to be filled. Some spots may have to remain empty I suppose, but part of the fun, as back in childhood times is the collecting.

One question you get a lot from people is if a trip changes you. Have you found yourself? Reminds me of Forrest Gump being asked: Forrest have you found Jesus yet? And he responds: No, but I didn’t know I had to search for him…

Arbol de piedra, Atacama dessert, Bolivia

But what is up with this whole “finding yourself” issue? I guess I don’t know what that really means and I have yet to see a decent definition of it. Again in terms of experiencing yourself there is some room to wiggle on your character and to perform your own and personal internal character study. However, the concept of changing ones character is somewhat doubtful. I am not a big fan of believing that you have terribly much option and alternatives to behave any other than as the person you are born as. I am reading Steven Pinker’s book “the blank slate” [1] and I could not agree more with him: men is in essence a product of her biology.

So in conclusion, if you cannot figure out who you are while at home, in relation to friends and family, raising kids, working and dealing with colleagues, you will never know, not after 70482 kilometers either…

–
http://www.amazon.com/Blank-Slate-Modern-Denial-Nature/dp/0670031518

It is hard to say if I will ever go on a similar trip again. I have at some time decided that I should do a long trip every six or so years. 1996 Australia, 2002 South East Asia, 2008 RTW…and 2014?

Taj Mahal, Agra, India

To see that life is arbitrary and exhibits itself different in every corner of the world is an empowering insight. Not to take things for granted or getting stuck in them. This can easily be said by anyone, also you sitting at home, but experienced and felt most intensely likely only in a chaotic back-street of India or on top of a temple in Guatemala.

However, is it necessary to experience that again and again? I think for me it might be. And even though right now I am as saturated as one can be when it comes to any experience, I think it will grab me again, to go, to see, to feel and taste a life, so intense and real at times as never felt in my familiar environment, at times so overwhelming and pressuring as to hurt, tickle or squeeze your soul until you cry, laugh or scream.

Ever again? As long as I can walk, talk and carry a backpack…I sure think so!

25 countries, 91 beds, more than sixty-two thousand kilometers (at this point) and countless faces, stories, adventures and emotions later I am sitting in the US and reflect over what has just happened. Funny and a bit creepy how nine months can in retrospect appear like a fleeting dream. And then again, my head starts to spin if I try to remember all the people I met, all the stories I heard and

Tikal, Guatemala

Has it been worth it? When I tried to answer that question for myself I realized how many people regret not doing certain things in their life. I am one of them. Either way, going on a nine months long around the world trip is not going to be one of my regrets. That does not answer the question, and I think the answer to such a question can only be answered later. How do you measure “worth”?

I assume most of us value experience and adventures to a large extend. In the end we all strive for just that with most we do. Even if we work hard to safe up money then we do that for the reason that we want to spend that money on something that is going to allow us an experience which we have not had or want to have again. May it be a car, a house, a laptop or any other possession. We want to feel how it is to drive and show of that car, what it feels like to walk in that house and receive guests or how the functions of the new laptop will make us feel satisfaction and content.

Not many people safe up money just to have money. We want an emotion and experience that is currently unknown to us. Even if the plan is to use it up during ones pension years it is an experience you want to buy with it. Often enough a round the world trip as a pensioner- if you are healthy at that point. Health, they say, is a gift that cannot be bought.

Which experiences are worth something is obviously individual. The roller coaster of emotions and experiences while traveling is worth every penny for me personally.