Internet in the UK – now ahead of Germany!

November 21, 2008 By 2 Comments

There were times when I felt that the internet technology in Germany was far more superior to that in the UK.

Whilst many households in Germany have ISDN lines, the technology is widely unknown in the UK – even for many small businesses.

Broadband arrived earlier in Germany than the UK.  Whilst I was going online with almost 1MBit, most UK internet surfers were still using 56k modems.  By the time 1MBit was on offer in the UK, German providers were offering 6MBit.

For a long time now I have been able to listen and watch selected TV and radio programmes from German public service broadcasters, and more recently some private ones, yet the BBC iPlayer has only been out since the end of last year.

Now, it seems, the UK has not caught up, but has overtaken Germany!

A report in the Telegraph states that the average person in the UK spends just over 4 hours per week longer online that the average German.  Working so much on websites I would probably buck that trend, but does the average Brit really spend 14 hours per week online?  Do they really spend 3 times as many SMSes per month?

But then, what counts as online?  Surfing the web is probably obvious, but does sending an E-mail count?  Am I really online at that point?  Surely that depends on the type of E-mail that I use.  Webmail is online, but how about IMAP accounts that synchronise with their servers?  Or company Exchange servers that are online even when their users are not?

What about Skype?  I know that my computer is online when I use Skype to make a telephone call, whether it be to another Skype user or to a landline, but surely that’s different type of ‘online’?

The gap may be about to widen even more, with the announcement that BBC 1 and BBC2 are to be streamed online.  Unfortunately this will only be available to viewers in the UK (why can’t they allow us ex-pats to subscribe to them as well?!)  But although there are similar services for some channels in Germany, they are not directly from the broadcaster themselves.

This is, of course, wonderful news for students with broadband access.  Now they no longer need to fit a television set and computer into their rooms (do they still have those 2 amp sockets?) but can watch online.  Online?  Are they really ‘online’ when they are only watching their favourite soaps?  That should push up the online statistics a bit more.

Which just leaves the question of whether those same students will still need to buy a television license to watch the channels on their laptops.  In Germany they would…

Filed Under: Computers, Cymeradwyo, Television Tagged With: , ,

How I use Google Maps

November 21, 2008 By 2 Comments

It was this article in the Telegraph that got me thinking about the way in which I use Google Maps.
The article itself is actually about Google Earth – a programme that can be installed on a computer to view Google’s aerial photos of the World.  I first came into contact with it a few years ago on a customer’s computer, but I have, as yet, never installed it on a computer of my own.  Instead, I use Google Maps.
Now, I am aware that Google Earth offers more features, such as being able to tilt the map and get a sort of 3D representation of the area that I am viewing, but for my daily purposes the Maps version is sufficient.
So how do I use it?  Well, the most obvious way is to look up addresses on the maps.  Whenever I have a new address to go to (usually to visit a new customer) then I look it up on Google Maps.  Knowing the area so well, that is usually sufficient for me to know where a particular street is.  Otherwise, I can print off the map of the area around the street that I have to go to, and that will normally be enough.
But if I don’t know the area that I am going to at all, such as some areas of Frankfurt, then will often take a look at the aerial view to see what the roads there are like.  For example, are there parking spaces near where I going to?  It can also be helpful to zoom in the road markings to see if there are any “no left turn” type of junctions on my route.
However, there are many more features to Google Maps that I occasionally use.  There is the ability to view photos that have been taken by other people at specific locations on the maps, so it is interesting to see pictures of places that I have visited, sometimes many years ago.  Of course, I can also look at places that I hear or read about, but will probably never get the chance to visit, such as Tristan da Cuhna in the South Atlantic.
Recently Google have been adding their “Street View” feature to a number of places that I have been to, most recently I was able to look at areas of Madrid that I visited in April.
Finally, there is a more serious side to how I use Google Maps.  Not only can I embed maps in blog posts to show where a particular place is that I have written about, but I can also place advertising on the map for the customers who’s websites I either create or optimise.
All in all, I may not be addicted to Google Maps as the Telegraph article suggested, but I certainly make good use of it.

Filed Under: Cymeradwyo, Internet Tagged With: , , ,

Neuartige Luftröhrentransplantation rettete das Leben einer jungen Frau

November 20, 2008 By Leave a Comment

Focus-Online berichtet von einer Medizin-Sensation. Eine junge Frau in Spanien hatte starke Probleme mit der Atmung und war deshalb schon bei einigen Ärzten. Erst in der Uni-Klinik in Barcelona fand man die Ursache. Ihr linker Lungenflügel war infolge einer schweren Tuberkuloseinfektion kollabiert.

Die spanischen Ärzte bekamen Unterstützung einiger italienischer und britischer Kollegen, die von einem Mann, der an einem Schlaganfall starb, ein Stück Luftröhre entnahmen und in einem aufwendigen Prozess die Zellen vom Grundgerüst der Luftröhre entfernten. Britische Ärzte aus Bristol züchteten aus ihren Knochenmarksstammzellen  Knorpelzellen und Mailänder Kollegen besiedelten die Luftröhre mit diesen Knorpelzellen. Es wurden aus einem  gesunden Teil ihrer Luftröhre Epithelzellen entnommen die dann die Innenwände der ‘neuen’ Luftröhre auskleideten. In der Uni-Klinik Barcelona wurde dann dieser quasi neugestaltete Luftröhrenteil transplantiert.

Schon nach 10 Tagen konnte die junge Mutter nach Haue zu ihrer Familie. Und nach 30 Tagen hatte der neue Teil ihrer Luftröhre eine eigene Blutversorgung gebildet. Auch muss sie keine Medikamente einnehmen die die Immunabwehr unterdrücken. Sie hat wieder erheblich mehr Lebensqualität und kann sich nun um ihre Familie kümmern.

Ich finde dass, in dieser Richtung weiter geforscht werden muss, denn das kann noch vielen anderen Menschen das Leben retten. Auch in anderen Bereichen bzw. Organen.

Filed Under: Cymeradwyo, Gesundheit Tagged With:

Please click on ACCEPT to give us permission to set cookies [more information]

This website uses cookies to give you the best browsing experience possible. Cookies are small text files that are stored by the web browser on your computer. Most of the cookies that we use are so-called “Session cookies”. These are automatically deleted after your visit. The cookies do not damage your computer system or contain viruses. Please read our privacy information page for more details or to revoke permission.

Close