diploma thesis almost completed

Yesterday I handed my diploma thesis over to my Prof. From my point of view this little piece of work (180 pages) is finished and I pray my Prof. thinks so too. So I hope that never in my life again I will have to do anything with interactive television. I worked about 1,5 years on that topic - a topic which is basically questionable - and I think that's more than enough. Thanks for all those who helped me carrying out my research and writing this text. Keep your fingers crossed on the 30 January from 10-11 am. At that time I will do my diploma exam.

some impressions from edinburgh

It took Wolfgang just 2 months to download the pictures from his mobile phone and I needed another week to put them online (I did not even edit them).

research

I posted some information about my studies and my work at the University of Salzburg under Research. I've been really busy during the last weeks and the situation won't improve until I finish my master thesis (deadline 16 December) and my masters exam (30 January). So keep your fingers crossed for me that everything works as planned.

more Finnland photos...

...on Christoph's website on http://chrisgrun.jodoschka.com/ It was a fantastic journey, and even I could show Laura, who was born and used to live in Helsinki, something new: The squirrels climb up your trousers when you have some nuts for them, sweeeeeeeeeet ;-)

now up to brussels again

For the third time this year I've got to go to Brussels to attend an information day by the EU. It's just for one day and it will be terribly exhausting (and probably I will not be able to see the Manneken Piss this time) . However the good thing is that I can get fantastic chocolate and beer up there ;-)

edinburgh

Wolfgang and I have been to Edinburgh recently to present a poster at the BCS HCI conference. As soon as I get the photos from him, I will present them on this page. So come back to this wonderful webpage in the next week and look for new photos ;-)

moi moi

Back from Finnland I would like to share some photographical memories with you. Check out the photos section! Olle hyvä, kyllä, ei, irti, olut, karhu, ahven, kippes, yksi, kaksi, kolme, hämähäkki,.. yours Pertti ;-)

my first painting

I didn't paint it, I wish I could but it was a present from some of my best friends, esp. Regina, who brought me in contact with the paintress Sissi Schupp. I love her pictures and if I had more money then...
Meanwhile I try to paint pictures by myself inspired by her work.

my personal frequency experience...

...was bad, too many people, bad weather and no personal headliner for me. This years FM4 Frequency Festival was a small disappointment for me, especially Oasis was really bad. Positive experiences were the Foo Fighers, the Asian Dub Foundation and as always the Sportfreunde Stiller. This is maybe one of the loveliest live-bands ever - 40,000 people singing their song "ein kompliment" - amazing!

moblogging?

thanks to FM4, I am now an owner of a cameraphone. To get more into the blogging phenomen I am just checking the requirements for a mobile blog. eventually you will see some pics in the blog in the near future

no public wlan

I am still waiting in Zürich and wonder why the sign says public wlan and then you have to pay. I did not pay and that's why these texts appear a day later. I wish they would offer it for free on public spaces. They can track my paths on the web and create profiles and therefore it should be free (eventually I should be paid for the information I provide to them together with my flight dates and so on, with which infrastructure providers can make money) I am just tired and want to surf through the Internet without paying :|

Besides that, my storage battery runs out of energy and they seem to have different power outlets here :(

K&D or Thievery Corporation?

Waiting in Zürich I am listening to the last album of the Thievery Corporation titled "The Cosmic Game". It's an amazing masterpiece of electronic music in the area of dub, drum & bass with some I think Indish influences. So far (also due to the fact that I am Austrian) Kruder & Dorfmeister have been the kings of electronic music for me. Their K&D Sessions album from 1998 is still the electronic music album. So far Tosca, the current project of Dorfmeister, could not continue where K&D ended. They also have great tracks and so far I have not listened to their album JAC, but I think they are not reaching the quality of K&D. (Neither does Kruder with his Peace Orchestra project). However, the Thievery Corporation is the first band which I would consider as the real successors and new kings of dub. Maybe they are a little bit softer but their Indian and Spanish beats top what I've heard before. Such music might not be that "cool" anymore but I love it.

cheap flights?

I am back from Brussels currently waiting in Zürich for my flight back to Munich. It's amazing that flying from Munich to Brussels costs only half the price when you fly via Zürich. It's even more interesting because it's the same airline that offers flights from Munich directly to Brussels. What kind of world is this in which we are living in?

(semi-)professional volleyball?

Volleyball is one of the most important things in my current life. Back in Styria I played with the TUS Feldbach Volleys (some people might notice similarities to this homepage ;-) I still admire this team and wish them all the best.
Here in Salzburg I started to play in the second team of PSV Salzburg (I don't like the webdesign too much, but never mind ;-) We won the title in the regional league of Salzburg, but there are only 4 teams and now we are looking for a new challenge. Eventually we will play in the second National League next season, which would be really cool. So keep your fingers crossed for us that we find a trainer and get enough funding to play and if we play, keep your fingers crossed for us to win.

Professional volleyball might be exaggerated at the moment, but who knows?

don't panic!

I've always been a fan of Douglas Adams' book "Hitchhiker's Guide To The Galaxy" and I can absolutely recommend it to anyone who likes funny and sarcastic science fiction. Should you like Terry Pratchet you will find it funny or if you like futurama you definitely have to read it and find out how similar Bender is to to Marvin, the robot in the book.

Yesterday I watched the movie and even though it cannot replace the book, it's fantastic! The aliens, spaceships and environments are made with a lot of love - no comparison with star wars. So go out and watch it, or even better, read the book ;-)

first entry in my (pseudo) blog

My name is Bernd Ploderer and I'm a big fan of the Seattle Supersonics. I like the song by Jamiroquai and my initals are BP. So much to the name of the page.

I'm not a designer, I'm also no programming guru, so the page is just a quick & dirty draft of a personal home page. (I have to admit, though, that I'm a usability researcher, but this page does not (consciously) follow any web guidelines nor did I carry out any kind of evaluation :-O)

I'm thinking about starting a real weblog, but I'm afraid I won't have time. So this page is primarily for my Photos. I've been to a conference in Portland, Oregon and also visited some other cities in the USA. Enjoy the pictures. I would be glad if you use the Guestbook and leave me a note, thx.