Dealing with a dark past

The actions of Nazi Germany has left a scar on Germany; of that there is not much doubt. What is interesting, is how Germany has dealt with this past. It has been over 60 years since the end of World War 2, but I think, much of this reconciliation with the past has been more recent.



For example, the holocaust memorial (The Memorial to the Murdered Jews of Europe) is a recent addition, and other memorials of the victims of the Nazi party policies (such as homosexuals) are still in the planning stage.


And it is not only that. Exhibitions such as the Topography of Terror, which documents the Third Reich's rise to power, their brutal methods, all in the grounds of the headquarters of the Nazi security service, is brutal, forceful reminder. But again, it is a fairly recent addition, and started only a few years before the fall of the wall.


It has to be remembered that during WW2, there were also German deaths, and the Neue Wache - the memorial to war and tyranny - is probably the most apt memorial of the victims of war I have ever seen, in any country.

Germany has an important lesson to teach other countries that have come through strife. It is important to note that it has taken a long time for the scarring to heal, and that inclusiveness in remembering the victims is important. This is particularly important for South Africa, where we are building Freedom Park to remember the lives of freedom fighters that fought Apartheid. In the context of Neue Wache, and the Memorial to the Murdered Jews of Europe, I wonder, if it is really appropriate to inscribe the names of the victims (as in memorials such as the Vietnam War Memorial in the US). Yes, remembrance of names is important, but will we ever get everyone? And yes, like it or not, young 19 year old guys, sent out to enforce apartheid laws are in some ways also victims of apartheid.

Maybe memorials such as the ones discussed in this post are too abstract. Maybe they are too impersonal, too intellectual - and the simplicity of the Vietnam Memorial is more desirable. This will be, and already is, an eternal debate - but healing takes time. But most of all, we must not forget; and hopefully we should recognise the traits, and prevent them happening again. The actions of the Nazi party is eerily similar to that of other dictators, notably Robert Mugabe. If we do not learn from our past, what use is any of this?

Huge Indycar Crash

It is amazing how far motorsport safety has come. An accident like this one, this past weekend, would have left probably all the drivers dead. As it was, they all walked off the scene, unscathed. Now if they made road cars like this, would:

1. People be willing to strap themselves in as securely for every trip?
   


2. Would people drive more recklessly, because they know their chances of being injured is less?

YouTube Link: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=NQWOq-Y09jI
IndyCar link: http://www.indycar.com/multimedia/videos/player.php?v=738 (possibly more permanent)

Accomodation in Berlin

To paraphrase, due to poplar demand, pics of the flat I am staying in Berlin. It is a studio flat in southern Berlin, and overall, I would say that it is at most as big as the lounge in the Oaklands house in Rondebosch, where I stayed for the past 6 months.

Google map of the area, centred on the block of flats: http://maps.google.com/?ie=UTF8&t=h&om=1&ll=52.421182,13.459893&spn=0.0046,0.009978&z=17


The block of flats, from the outside. Almost every flat in the block seems from the outside as the same. Every balcony is a flat.


A fountain in front of the building.


Entry into the flat; kitchen and bathroom



The bedroom/main room. No, my room is not always this clean ...

The view from the balcony. The road in front is the boundary between the Brandenburg and Berlin states. The Berlin wall ran along the road, and it is quite interesting to see how much land around the wall has not been redeveloped. Not sure what the land in front of the building is used for ... looks like farmland though.

Happy Hour

Every restaurant and bar seems to run happy hour in Berlin, all evening too! Not a massive reduction of prices though. But I did come across one particular Happy Hour, which I took full advantage of: Happy Hour Sushi. Basically 2 for the price of one deal i.e. you buy Salmon Nigiri (2 pieces) and you get 4 pieces. Spent 11 Euros on Sushi ... which works out to 22 Euros of Sushi! Good sushi too, and a huge range. And they had free W/Lan too boot ... double bonus! Pity it's only on Saturdays ... but I think I must try out more of that menu.

Website of Surf & Sushi.

Zero Knowledge Proofs

How do you convincingly prove a statement, without revealing anything else about that statement? Example, how do I prove that I am at work, without revealing where I work, who I work for etc. Zero knowledge proofs are very interesting, particularly in authentication protocols. Anyway, came across this paper which is a very cool, fairy tale explanation of zero knowledge proofs.

Acceptance

In the last two weeks of May, and the first two weeks of June, I submitted four conference papers. Each paper was effectively a chapter from my thesis. Over the past week or so, I have been notified that three of the four papers were accepted. So I have been accepted to present papers at:

"DRM Use License Negotiation Using ODRL V2" at the 2007 Virtual Goods Conference sponsored by ODRL and IFIP TC-6, in Koblenz, Germany. This is one of my big contributions of my research work, and one of the longest running components of my thesis. This conference is in mid October.

"Persistent Access Control: A Formal Model for DRM" at the 2007 DRM Workshop at ACM CCS in Washington DC, USA. This is the third successive paper I will be presenting at this conference, and my personal favourite conference. The paper is also one of the cornerstones of my thesis, where I present, as far as I know, the first formal definition for DRM as a form of access control. This conference is in the last week of October, first week of November.

"Experiences in Implementing a Kernel-Level DRM Controller" at the 3rd International Conference on Automated Production of Cross Media Content for Multi-Channel Distribution (AXMEDIS) in Barcelona, Spain. This has taken a long time, and is the paper written together with the Marlon Paulse and Duncan Bennett, who implemented this as part of their honours project. The conference as a whole is not really relevant to my work, and am not even sure if I can go for the full conference, since I am supposed to be finishing up my internship around the same time, and there is a limit of time I can take off to go travelling round the world. This conference is on the last three days of November.

As for the paper that was rejected, to be honest it was a very long shot, so I am not too surprised. But, if I did not try, there was a 100% chance of it not being accepted! The paper was submitted to ACM DRM 2007.

Pergamon Museum

I love museums, and the Smithsonian Museums are a major attraction for me in Washington DC (I think I have been to every one of them around Washington DC). The British museum has a huge collection of all the stuff they stole (sorry acquired through gifts) from their colonies, the Cairo Museum has the Tutenkamen, my personal favourite has been the Smithsonian Air and Space Museums (there are two of them) in Washington DC simply because of its massive collection: the Spirit of St Loius, the Lunar Lander back up, moon rocks, a Concorde, a space shuttle and a Black Bird. So given all that, to say that I think that the Pergamon is the most impressive museum I have ever been to, makes it quite special.

The Pergamon museum's collection is largely composed of art from the ancient world: Roman, Greek, Byzantine, Assyrian and Sumerian empires as well as a large collection of Islamic art. In terms of actual items on display, it is probably a lot smaller than other similar collections; but what is impressive is not only the quality but the scale.

To start off, take the Great Altar of Pergamon, after which the museum takes its name. I think pictures say a thousand words ... so I will leave it at that :P












I love the detail in the work. The is is a close up of the hand of Zeus. Part of the arm is missing, but his Torso is still largely intact. The hole allowed him to actually hold something that was meant to resemble a lightning strike he was about to do on some giant he was fighting.



The collection of other art works from the Greek and Roman empires include a recreation of a Greek temple (of Athena IIRC) where the level of detail in ancient buildings is truly astounding. The statues and artifacts are largely very well preserved, which is in itself quite impressive.




This is part of the top of the pillars of these temples. The lion's mouth acts like a gutter taking away rain water from the roof.







One of the other big attractions, Market Gate of Miletus, is under restoration. It is mentioned in the audio guide (every one gets an audio guide ... much easier than writing the descriptions in multiple languages), that this is one of the largest and heaviest archaeological installations in any museum.



But walk through the Ishtar Gate and then there is start of the Babylonian and Assyrian section. This gate and the recreation of Procession Street of Babylon (with only the width of the street being the only change from the original) is more colourful but less dramatic that the Altar of Pergamon. Built by Nebuchardrezzar II, it was apparently once considered part of the Seven Wonders of the World before being replaced by the Lighthouse of Alexandria.







The actual collection of works from the Sumerian, Assyrian and Babylonian empires is a lot smaller than the British Museum I think, but it certainly wins on the impressive scale.





The Islamic Art collection is lot more than a collection of carpets, and again, there is a a grand scale about it. Huge prayer murals, intricate wood carvings, and yes, well, carpets.







There is also a partial restoration of the Mshattas Palace, a now deserted palace from the Jordanian desert. The real origins of the palace are unknown, so it is rather mysterious. Oh yeah, this is on the second floor!

Good Fences Make Good Neighbours

The famous poem, Mending Wall, by Robert Frost, the only one I vaguely remember from high school, in a convoluted way, could be an apt description of the Berlin wall. Before the wall, a quick history of divided Germany: after WW2, the Allied powers carve up Germany between themselves into four parts (the Americans, the British, the French and the Soviets), according to population. The soviets, who are effectively on one side get a large chunk of Germany, which include the whole of Berlin. The other allied powers are reluctant to give Berlin away, so they divide Berlin into 4 parts also, again in terms of population.

The Iron Curtain is a well known term, but lesser known as a wall. So, people wanting to flee East Germany, rather chose to get into West Berlin (as refugees, who were accepted with open arms) which was easier to get into. Facing mass migration, the Soviets built the wall around West Berlin, almost over night. Initially it was a simple wall, not too high (there is a picture in the Gedenkstätte Berliner Mauer where residents from opposite sides of the wall are shaking hands), but it later grew to two walls, with an effective dead zone inside with land mines, barbed wire and patrols.

The wall scarred Berlin - it is clear even now, with many parts of where the wall used to be still laying barren. Neighbourhoods were torn up, and off course there is the case of the famous escapes. What I find most interesting is how the remaining wall has been treated.

A large part of it, at the East Side Gallery, is exactly that - an open air art gallery. Much of the exhibition is distinctly anti-war, anti-wall reminding people that even after the fall of the Berlin wall, new ones are being built elsewhere: whether it is in the Middle East (the now, not too mentioned wall in the West Bank) to the fence along Southern US/Mexico border to prevent illegal immigration. These walls are probably more in the line of what Robert Brown was talking about, but neither of these are et along the lines of the Berlin wall - where one nation were effectively prisoners.

East Side Gallery: Sadly there is just so much graffiti, some works are beyond recognition.







Gedenkstätte Berliner Mauer: Includes a recreation of the dead yone, complete with patrol path, and some sort of machinery.







Church of Reconciliation was originally in the dead zone, and eventually demolished by the East Germans. This is the reconstructed church.





Checkpoint Charlie: Well known for the many incidences that took place here ...



Remembering Since the fall of the wall, Berlin is trying to keep it in memory. A brick line runs along parts of the areas where the wall used to be.

Nannying the Internet

This post is primarily motivated by this article. Basically, in an attempt to fight botnets, a US ISP is diverting traffic intended for suspected botnet addresses to "safe" addresses. So far, a noble goal? Except off course, if the suspected botnet address is actually a legitimate address - i.e. a false positive. This is when things get complicated, because customers get angry and companies loose business.

There is a ton of products out there that can be used by ISPs to control network traffic and block access to certain sites. Most of them work at the DNS level (which largely makes sense) by blocking out DNS entries; although others go the extra mile and block out reverse lookups also. Primarily the products cite controlling/blocking porn and phising as the primary motivation, but at an ISP level?

Should any network provider have any control over what the customer wants? Even if it is illegal? Even if it is against the customer's best interest? It is a tough legal question; but it all really revolves around who controls these lists? And can these lists be reviewed by the public?

In the battle for safety, giving the control over safe areas of the network to an ISP, while easier for the general public, is one step closer to Big Brother in many ways. What is the difference between this and the big China firewall? In both cases, if you can't see it - it doesn't exist! "Those Who Sacrifice Liberty For Security Deserve Neither" ... it is equally applicable to virtual world as it is to the real world.

FIA - WTF?

There has been a spy scandal of epic proportions brewing in the Formula 1 paddock. The story so far, in point form:

1. Ferrari announce that they are investigating Nigel Stepney (part of the dream quartet) for sabotage. Eyebrows are raised, internal politics is the general consensus.
2. A copy shop in the UK alerts Ferrari that their IP is being copied in their shop.
3. The person doing the copying was the wife of Mike Coughlan, chief designer of rivals, and current points leader, McLaren.
4. Coughlan home is searched by the police, and a 780 page dossier of Ferrari data, plans etc. of the current Ferrari F1 car, tests, practices etc. is found
5. Stepney and Coughlan are both good friends, going back years.
6. Stepney and Coughlan both approached Nick Fry of Honda for a potential job as they were both tired of their current environment.
   
7. McLaren gets hauled off in front of the FIA World Motor Sport Council charged with the breach of article 151c of the International Sporting Code, which basically states that they were in possession of rival team's data without consent (i.e. espionage).
8. The FIA finds McLaren guilty of possession but they hand out no punishment, because there is insufficient proof that McLaren used the data they had access to! The FIA does provide for future punishments though. Full FIA statement.
   

And this is where it all becomes farcical! What's the point of finding them guilty of one charge (a very serious charge at that, whose maximum sentence is the ultimate: expulsion) but not hand out any punishment? One thinking behind why no punishment was given is that there is a close championship battle, so docking points or exclusion would harm the show. Fine, what about monetary fines? The FIA fined the Turkish GP organisers 5 million US Dollars for hosting a controversial podium celebration!

This is off course not the end of the story. The full spy saga has a long way to go, and there are a lot of questions that need to be answered, including Coughlan got the data in the first place. As for the Honda link, no idea if they are involved. But the FIA's current decision is neither here nor there ... and just plain stupid.

Kunsthaus Tacheles

From the outside, it does not look like much. In fact, it looks like a dilapidated building, which should have been demolished long ago. In reality, it is one of the best art and culture centers I have ever been to. It is a haven for art of all types, and the building itself has a very colourful history (according to Wikipedia anyway).


Huge, brilliant detail, ad?



Even bigger, but more true to the artform

Berlin has a lot of graffiti - but this is one of the best places to see the real grand work - murals and art works that are 6 storeys high - with both the the really beautiful and precise and the freeform. I have been here a number of times since I have been in Berlin, and I think I will keep up coming back.


By the main entrance


Up the stairs to the top

Tacheles features a number of bars, two movie theatres with really plush sofas (should try it out sometime) and off course, a number of artist studios and exhibitions.

Potter Mania

I was introduced to the series by my younger brother, and I have become a fan. Normally, I buy the books online, but I decided to experience the whole, midnight release experience at one of the largest bookstores in Berlin, Dussmann das KulturKauufhaus.

The whole queuing thing is quite interesting - esp when you consider the massive queues for recent gadget launches like the iPhone last month and the Nintendo Wii and Sony Playstation 3 last year. The staff were all dressed up as witches and wizards (and a few more specific characters (none of the main characters though!) and the media was there to off course. It was actually quite an interesting experience. There was probably not much difference between those launches and Harry Potter; except the queues were comparatively lot shorter, and the gratification a lot faster - after all you can start reading the book almost immediately. I had already finished 50 pages on my way home!

Spolier Alert


Real Spolier Alert

As for the book, I must confess that I did not like the ending. Overall, the book is quite dark, and a lot more grown up. The twist involving two of the most important characters was good, but the ending was too simple, and at some level too expected. It is too much of a Hollywood ending; but then again, it is a children's story; and good does triumph over evil and all that.

Great Ad

Have seen this a few times on German TV ... brilliant ad for Mercedes Benz featuring Lewis Hamilton, Fernando Alonso and Mika Hakkinen. Click on title, for the direct YouTube link. And, turn up the volume, the sound track is also brilliant!

Cheap Bandwidth?

We are quite used to complaining about the cost of bandwidth in SA. But are we always justified? After a week in Germany, I am no longer convinced.

Yes, when it comes to ADSL, our costs are much higher. But some claims by forums such as Hellkom are myths. For example, line rental. Germany has them too - yes, about 50% of what Telkom charges (using the lowest line rental price), and at a much higher bandwidth - but still it exists. And the cost of a connection is also much lower together with higher caps. But that is to be expected - compared to South Africa, more people in Germany can afford computers, and thus connection to the Internet; and Germany, like most of Europe, has a pretty high population density (on average) when compared to South Africa. All this makes the provision of broadband cheaper.

But where South Africa definitely trumps Germany is in mobile Internet connectivity. The fact is, for travelers and people intending to stay in a city or town for a short period of time (like me), ADSL and other fixed broadband services are impractical. In Germany, it can take 2 weeks or more to get ADSL installed - which makes it impractical for me in Berlin for example. And the cost of mobile broadband is astronomical (when compared to South Africa). Since the phone I am using was locked to Vodafone, I had to get a Vodafone service (or buy a new phone); so I can only confirm Vodafone prices. However, prices between the different operators should not differ widely!

GPRS costs 20 Euro cents per 10Kb! In South Africa, before the recent price cuts, we could get 1Mb for the same price! That's right - that is a full 100 times cheaper! And with recent price cuts, it would make mobile Internet connectivity in South Africa about 400 times cheaper!

The implications are quite interesting. Firstly, mobile broadband is not affordable except for emergency. it also means that mobile network applications such as Mixit or Yeigo have no place, as they are going to be uneconomic.

I am currently investigating other options (UMTS/3G based) but the prices I was quoted by Vodafone were very high (though much lower than just GPRS prices). Will have to investigate more on this. So, for fixed line connectivity, South Africa is behind. But when it comes to mobility, South Africa is far ahead!

A brief note about keyboards

German keyboards have to incorporate four more letters: ö, ü, ä and ß. For this reason, the keyboard layout is slightly different to the normal US keyboard layout. And that is annoying - because it is not just the incorporation of different keys.

To start of, the z and y kes are swapped around. So, I often end up with tzping mistakes.

There are also other keys out of position ... ' and " are on different keys (both, have to be used with shift). And I am dreading latex usage on this type of a keyboard; {, [, ], } are all third keys, which are accessed with a combination of alt and a another key.

Forget langauge issues .... getting to grips with the keyboard seems more difficult!

Ich bin ein Berliner

Ok, maybe JFK getting it wrong is an urban legend, and this is not a post about jelly filled donuts. Regardless it is one of the most famous statements made about Berlin, so a good way as any to start of the first post about Berlin. Unlike my previous trips in the last four years, this is the first time, I will stay in a foreign country for an extended period of time, and really "living" in the country instead of just visiting.

So far my knowledge (or the lack thereof) of German has not been too much of a problem, but I should probably make an attempt to learns some basics, as everything is in German. Except for CNN and BBC, everything on TV is dubbed, from the B and C grade American movies to the blockbuster movies, series and sitcoms. This extends to shops, where almost nothing is in English.

And talking of shops, things are more expensive that South Africa - but that was to be expected. For example, my first expense in Berlin was to acquire a monthly travel pass, which gives me unlimited use of the Berlin public transport (trams, buses, S Bahn (a intra city train network) and the U-Bahn (the underground train network) within the AB zone (the Berlin city zone), for 70 Euros. A day pass would cost 5.50 Euros, so it is a big saving, but expensive none the less. Except for Trams, I have traveled in all the other forms of public transport. So far, everything works like clockwork, and everything seems synchronised (for example, U-Bahn trains wait for trains on other lines that stop at the same station). The U-Bahn is very similar to other underground train systems, and does not have the complexity of the New York subway. One interesting point though: it seems that some lines are narrow gauge while others are wide gauge. Can't really confirm this - just commenting from the seating arrangements in the trains. It could just be a matter of perspective. Oh one more U-Bahn weird fact: the ticket inspectors (there is no enforced access control wear no uniforms (do carry id) and so blend into the crowd. Very cool!

Berlin is a very cycle friendly city, with cycle lanes and bike racks everywhere! The fact that the city is mostly flat helps off course. I have yet to see more than a handful of cyclists wearing helmets though! Maybe they don't get knocked down too often. That does not mean that there are no cars on the road; but there is definitely less cars than other European capitals I have been to, especially Paris and London. As for cars, it is not much of a surprise to see Mercedes, BMW, VW, Audi and Opel being the dominant brands. However, that does not mean that there are no other makes on the road.

I am staying in a studio apartment, similar (from the outside) to apartment blocks I have seen in East Berlin (I am not sure whether I am in West or East Berlin). It is a big apartment block, with a very confusing door numbering system (they do not use the floor number followed by flat number convention); so working out where my apartment was took some time. While certainly not the lap of luxury, it certainly has everything I need, and I have sort of worked out most of the logistics - most because I have no idea where the laundromat is. Not required now - but will be in 2 weeks time! The complex also has a well kept garden, tennis courts, a braai area and my flat has an awesome view!

I went on a 4 hour free walking tour of the city (by Brewers Berlin Tour), a company that I actually stumbled upon, rather than intending to find them. It was a good overview of the main sites of the city, and I intend to go back to many of the areas for a more detailed visit. So, I will phlog according to subject matter rather than daily activities.