2017-03-20

得票率高过习近平

马丁·舒尔茨    照片来源:德国明镜网站

在 3 月 19 日举行的德国社会民主党 (SPD) 党中央代表大会上,61 岁的马丁·舒尔茨(Martin Schulz) 当选党魁,得票率为德国前无古人的 100%,高过习近平当选中共中央总书记时的得票率。

德国社民党是个中左翼政党,传统上代言劳工阶级,目前约有党员 43 万 9 千人,是仅次于德国基督教民主联盟的第二大政党。舒尔茨此前曾经担任欧洲社会民主进步同盟主席,还担任过欧洲议会议长,大力弘扬欧洲大团结理念,是欧盟的坚定支持者。

2017-03-18

[Improve the Daily Life] A Smart Wardrobe and Future Apparels

[Improve the Daily Life] Index Page
 

As a student,  Alice did not really care about shopping apparels, but her dear mother kept sending her packages of apparels: from everyday T-Shirts to really formal evening gowns. Alice rented a room in a small dormitory with a small wardrobe. She had to fold most of her apparels and stock them tightly, and then forgot about them. As a result, she did not really know what she had in her wardrobe, when she was in need of particular outfit. In rare cases, it could took her hours to take everything out of the wardrobe, try on the pieces one by one, pick the pieces she just liked, and finally tidy up the whole mess in her bedroom.


2017-03-07

从 Esprit 的广告管窥德国企业当今面临的挑战



今天下午我收到一份来自 Esprit 的广告,说是她家的门店现在开放免费免登录的 Wifi 服务,欢迎大家光临惠顾。

习惯了城市卖场里免费免登录 Wifi 的中国同学可能会觉得奇怪:这也值得一提?在德国是这样的,以前有法律说,假如有人利用商家的 Wifi 服务进行不法活动,对犯罪行为负责的是 Wifi 服务的提供方,也就是商家。这就导致德国的大部分卖场、餐厅、和旅馆为了明哲保身,不提供 Wifi 服务。这条不可理喻的法律不久前废止了,德国的公共 Wifi 正在普及中。 背景介绍完毕,现在言归正传。


2017-03-05

德国施瓦本地区狂欢节 2017

本篇中全部照片可以点击放大






狂欢节在德国莱茵地区叫做 Karnival,开始于每年冬季的 11 月 11 日午前 11 点 11 分; 在西南施瓦本一带则叫做 Fasching,开始于每年冬季的 1 月 6 日三圣节之后。 这两大流派虽然进入狂欢季的时间不太一样,但都在每年 2 月底 3 月初的冬末进入高潮。每年冬末的玫瑰星期一,科隆地区有闻名世界的盛大狂欢节游行,别的城镇也有大大小小的各种化妆游行活动。

这个节日,本来是每年罗马天主教进入大斋期 (lent)之前的放松活动,也有驱赶冬日的妖魔鬼怪,迎接春天到来的意思,可以说是罗马天主教的“春节”。严格来说,只有罗马天主教的教民才庆祝这个节日,可能是因为爱凑热闹是人的天性,其实现在参与或者围观狂欢节游行的人群根本就不论教派。

内卡河边的小镇罗腾堡 (Rottenburg am Necker) 从十七世纪开始就庆祝狂欢节, 是德国狂欢节历史最为悠久的地区之一。 上个周日,网主有幸在罗腾堡围观了有 80 个队伍参加的狂欢节游行,这里就跟大家分享一些拍到的照片。

化妆游行正式开始之前,罗腾堡主教堂前的广场上人头攒动:

 

2017-03-03

[Improve the Daily Life] Tools for Maximizing One's Time

This time let's look at a fictional character called Alice.

Alice has passion for three things: 1. Building software for solving all kinds of problems in her daily life; 2. Reading and writing. She is interested in technology, literature, education, culture, philosophy, social affairs, etc, etc. 3. Photography. She basically does documentary and street photography. Her idols in photography includes Henri Cartier-Bresson, Robert Capa, Sebastião Salgado, etc., etc.

She builds "enterprise" software for a living. The technological landscape in that field changes rapidly. Things are constantly advancing for good reasons. She must and she enjoys non-stop studying in that field too.

She has a family with a small child. She does not enjoy, but has to, handle household and personal chores such as doing laundry or filing her tax. She enjoys spending time with her child, teaching him programming, and teaching him some foreign languages.

She has a problem: There seems never enough time for her to do all the things she has to do and enjoys to do. 
 
She has seen enough apps for "project management", which claim to enable "seamless team work" etc. etc. But her problem has nothing to do with team work, she needs tools for better managing her solo activities. Put it in another way, she needs a tool for maximizing time for her business and personal goals.