Duncan Mac-Vicar

Nice surprise today:

* ITO time spent on YaST. No success yet with [Wt][4]. It does not provide something like Qt’s QSocketNotifier, or glib’s g_io_add_watch which integrate themselves with the event loop. Did a hack with a standard select and a timeout, did not work. Even worse, Wt crashes on processEvents().

* Will hosted a hack session on Saturday. While I did not get any code done, I got motivated by the Kopete 4.x state to continue working on it at home. Yesterday I commited my chat window participants view code for Kopete. It simplifies the code and the signal battle a lot. I still have to fix some issues.

* The [Android stuff][1] is so cool. Read this post about [Dalvik: how Google routed around Sun's IP-based licensing restrictions on Java ME][5]. The [Activity, Services and Intents][2] model seems natural for other scenarios, not only mobiles.

[1]: http://code.google.com/android/index.html
[2]: http://code.google.com/android/intro/lifecycle.html
[3]: http://code.google.com/android/reference/android/app/Activity.html
[4]: http://www.webtoolkit.eu/wt/
[5]: http://www.betaversion.org/~stefano/linotype/news/110/

I am at the basysKom GmbH offices in Darmstadt, attending a Decibel meeting.

The goal of the meeting is to discuss various requirements and design decisions around [Decibel][2], an architecture to make chat and phone communication universally available to desktop applications. [Akonadi][5], the extensible cross-desktop storage service for PIM data and meta data. And [Khalkhi][3], a plugin-based contact framework.

Attending the meeting are: Will Stephenson (Kopete), Friedrich (Khalkhi author), Volker Krause (Akonadi developer), Tobias Hunger (Decibel), Stanislav Karchebny ([Skype][4]), Dominik Haumann (Kate), and myself , trying to get back on KDE track, or at least follow the track.

Will post updates later.

( * Space Shuttle liftoff as heard from launch tower )

[1]: http://mail.kde.org/pipermail/decibel/2007-February/000051.html
[2]: http://decibel.kde.org
[3]: http://kde-apps.org/content/show.php/Khalkhi+framework?content=54450
[4]: http://www.skype.com/
[5]: http://pim.kde.org/akonadi/

German Parsing Contest. Contract says:

>Eine ördentliche Kündigung ist spätestens am dritten Wektag eines Kanedermonats zum Ablauf der übernäachten Monats zulässig. Die kündigungfrist für den Vermieter verlängert sich nach fünf und acht Jahren seit Überlassung Wohnraums um jeweils drei Monate.

You ask lot of german people, and some non-native speakers.
“If I tell the owner of my flat this or next week I am leaving, which months do I still need to pay”.
( inclusive ) (If I don’t find a “nachmieter” )

* German non-native speaker: May
* German 1: May
* German language teacher (non-german): April
* German 2: May
* German 3: June
* German Lawyer: June

La situación de la Empresa de Ferrocarriles del Estado parece crítica.

[GMO][9] lo dice en [un post en Atina Chile][8]:

>Los aportes fiscales de los últimos 7 años se han triplicado. En el mismo período, las pérdidas operacionales de la empresa se han multiplicado por 7 y las pérdidas totales han aumentado 2,5 veces, llegando a $ 72 Mil Millones.

El Instituto Libertad y Desarrollo tiene dos estudios, [uno mostrando las pérdidas][1], y otro [proponiendo soluciones][2].

¿Es la razón de este fracaso, el hecho de que la empresa sea pública?

[Deustche Bahn][3] tuvo ganancias por 1.35 billones de euros el 2006. Es una empresa cuyas acciones perteneces en forma total al estado alemán, aunque se dice que viene una privatización.

Veamos ahora, correos.

[En el análisis hecho por LyD en el 2003][10]:

>Este aumento de la competencia ha significado que en los últimos años ha disminuido el tráfico de correspondencia de las personas, en Correos de Chile, registrándose una disminución de 7% entre 1998 y el 2000 y un 5% adicional en el 2001.
No obstante lo anterior, Correos de Chile mantiene un 80% de participación en el mercado de correspondencia y un 8% en el mercado nacional de paquetería y de los expresos.

Este análisis deja fuera un importante factor: [El e-commerce ha beneficiado a las empresas de correos más de lo que las perjudicó el e-mail.][14], tema que toqué en mi blog el año pasado.

[Correos y Telégrafos de España][7]. Sociedad Anónima española de capital cien por cien público, [tuvo el 2005 204,4 millones de euros como Resultado de explotación][11].

Correos de Chile tiene un [resultado de explotación cercano a los 4 mil millones de pesos][12]. Sin embargo esto no fue de la noche a la mañana. [Éste paper muesta en detalle el proceso de transformación][13]. Podemos citar del mismo paper:

>El balance al 31 de diciembre de 2000 mostró una pérdida por $890 millones

Lo que muestra que los resultados de correos son frutos de una transformación mas que nada.

[Deutsche Post][4], la empresa de correos alemana, también [tiene un saldo neto positivo de 537 millones de euros en el tercer periodo del 2006][5]. Ahora, Deutsche Post fue privatizada completamente.

¿És el hecho que sea pública o privada un factor tan importante? ¿O lo es la forma en que se administre la empresa?

A mi no me convence el primer punto. Aunque si lo veo como un facilitador. Por el otro lado, a la burocracia socialista le gusta mezclar el tema de beneficio público con la contabilidad de una empresa, e inventan mitos como que una empresa pública no puede ser rentable. El beneficio público lo debe pagar el Estado como un subsidio, y no debe mezclarse con la eficiencia de una empresa sólo para justificar su mediocridad, y una vez que el costo social se transforma en un subsidio, el hecho que una empresa sea pública o privada pasa a ser otro tema.

Debo reconocer que aún espero que a un amigo le llegue un libro que envié a Chile en Diciembre del 2006 a través de Correos de Chile. Y también aprovecho de reclamar que la página del Insituto Libertad y Desarrollo se ve horrible en Firefox.

[1]: http://164.77.202.58/LYD/Controls/Neochannels/Neo_CH3819/deploy/TP-797-Ferroc…
[2]: http://164.77.202.58/LYD/Controls/Neochannels/Neo_CH3819/deploy/TP-800-Ferroc…
[3]: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Deutsche_Bahn
[4]: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Deutsche_Post
[5]: http://stocks.us.reuters.com/stocks/overview.asp?symbol=DPWGn.DE
[6]: http://www.iht.com/articles/2006/08/14/bloomberg/bxmove.php
[7]: http://es.wikipedia.org/wiki/Sociedad_Estatal_Correos_y_Tel%C3%A9grafos_(Espa…
[8]: http://www.atinachile.cl/node/22378
[9]: http://www.atinachile.cl/user/40492
[10]: http://www.lyd.org/noticias/privatizacion.html
[11]: http://www.correos.es/comun/informacionCorporativa/1004_g-Resultados.asp
[12]: http://www.correos.cl/empresa/estados.php
[13]: http://cmd.princeton.edu/papers/wp0608b.pdf
[14]: http://duncan.mac-vicar.com/blog/archives/83

So this weekend my chilean friend Egon visited me with his brother Wolfgang.

I am able know to give you a really nice overview of Nürnberg in a half day and a long night .

After the mandatory visits to the castle, Hauptmarkt and walking around the innerstadt, we stopped for a real german dinner at Geiß Spital.

Then we continued in direction to Wörde Wiese where we had a top in DeroteBar and [Weinerei][4], where we met a bunch of friends.

While in the Weinerei, a [guitar player][1] came in and started to play blues.

He asked us for some money and I ended buying [his album][2] for 5 euros. Not that I like blues that much but…. lets support art. He persuaded me to play after him. Well, he just announced I was going to play. So I ended playing live in the Weinerei.

http://www.goear.com/files/localplayer.swf

After that we did a quick stop at Downtown. They left today, but my feeling is they liked Nürnberg a lot. [Complete photoset][5].

[1]: http://www.richardsmerin.com
[2]: http://www.richardsmerin.com/cd_08.html
[3]: http://www.richardsmerin.com/bilder/cover08.jpg
[4]: http://www.weinerei.de/
[5]: http://www.flickr.com/photos/duncanmac-vicar/sets/72157594542469747/

Cortometraje dirigido por Ivan Sainz Pardo (2001) . Vale la pena verlo.

[El sueño del caracol (youtube)][1].

Se puede bajar de [aquí][2].

* Preseleccionado a los Oscars 2001.
* Nominado al Deutsche Kurzfilmpreis (Equivalente a los Oscars alemanes) 2001.
* Mejor cortometraje y mejor director en el Friedrich Wilhelm Murnau-Stiftung 2002.
* Besonderes Wertvoll (Excelente) Máxima calificación del Ministerio de Cultura Alemán.
* 26 Premios internacionales al mejor Cortometraje (Friedrich Wilhelm Murnau-Stiftung 2002, Medina del Campo (Valladolid), Elche, Madrid, Alfas del Pi, Barcelona…)
* 4 Premios Internacionales al mejor director (Iván Sáinz-Pardo)
* 2 Premios Internacionales al mejor guión (Iván Sáinz-Pardo)
* 2 Premios Internacionales a la mejor actriz (Julia Brendler)
* 1 Premio Internacional a la mejor fotografía (Sorin Dragoi)
* 1 Mención Especial (PNR Film Festival Madrid 2002)

[1]: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=0iM1alyOR8w
[2]: http://www.cinecin.com/mostrar_corto.asp?id=45

On Monday night we came back from Barcelona. We did not arrive until Tuesday morning though. The airplane had problems before taking off and we lost our connection to Nürnberg in Frankfurt. Lufthansa sent us to an hotel. On Tuesday, directly from the airport to work.

New year in Barcelona was nice. [The place we chose][1] to go after dinner was great. I can’t post photos yet because I forgot my camera in Barcelona.

My brother went back to Paris today. I fly today to Chile. My first time since I moved to Germany. Excited!!!

[1]: http://www.mojitobcn.com/

[Coolo][1] just enlightened me with valuable information. Being in the EU actually doesn’t mean no-passport-check. From [wikipedia][2]:

>The 1985 Schengen Agreement is an agreement among European states which allows for common policy on the temporary entry of persons (including the Schengen visa) and a border system. A total of 26 countries – including all European Union states except the Republic of Ireland and the United Kingdom, but including non-EU members Iceland, Norway, and Switzerland – have signed the agreement and 15 have implemented it so far. Border posts and checks have been removed between Schengen countries and a common ‘Schengen visa’ allows access to the area. However, the agreement does not cover residency or work permits for non-EU nationals.

thanks coolo!

[1]: http://www.kdedevelopers.org/blog/124
[2]: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Schengen_Agreement

[Coolo][1] just enlightened me with valuable information. Being in the EU actually doesn’t mean no-passport-check. From [wikipedia][2]:

>The 1985 Schengen Agreement is an agreement among European states which allows for common policy on the temporary entry of persons (including the Schengen visa) and a border system. A total of 26 countries – including all European Union states except the Republic of Ireland and the United Kingdom, but including non-EU members Iceland, Norway, and Switzerland – have signed the agreement and 15 have implemented it so far. Border posts and checks have been removed between Schengen countries and a common ‘Schengen visa’ allows access to the area. However, the agreement does not cover residency or work permits for non-EU nationals.

thanks coolo!

[1]: http://www.kdedevelopers.org/blog/124
[2]: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Schengen_Agreement

[Nice trip to Stuttgart on weekend][1]. Found that both [Mercedes][3] and [Porsche][2] factories are there, visited both. The Mercedes was full of people; waiting time 1 hour so we did not enter.

I usually leave my computer on 24×7 except when traveling. If I will not be at home for some days I usually disconnect all the plugs. However most of my computer problems always happen when turning them on after being off for a while. Yesterday was no exception.

SUSE boots, and aborts init with wrong root filesystem. I booted into safe mode and found “device added “device removed” lot of times messages from my SATA drive. No panic. I got this same problem some months ago and it went away alone. I gave up trying to make it boot. I booted with a Gnome Parted CD I have around to resize my partitions, and I was able to mount my root partition. My data is there. So what is the problem? bug in Factory kernel? Any tip is appreciated.

[1]: http://www.flickr.com/photos/duncanmac-vicar/sets/72157594236345075/
[2]: http://www.flickr.com/photos/duncanmac-vicar/214862219/
[3]: http://www.flickr.com/photos/duncanmac-vicar/214879606/in/set-72157594236345075/