Medien In Deutschland
Sunday, May 8, 2011
The Global Village
Germany definitely is a major player in the Global Village. You might have heard somewhat recently about At&t buying out Duetsche Telecom for $39 billion. As of 2006, DT had over 10 million customers, and now At&t has gained a good share of their telecommunication spectrum and changed the information landscape of the nation. That was a HUGE and will likely affect Germany while they settle their communication systems heading into the future.
When speaking about the global village It's my opinion that the Internet was no doubt the defining factor in connecting Germany with the world. However, I also think that it this happened indirectly, as most Germans use the Internet as an extension to the media they already consume.
The top viewed websites in Germany are almost exactly the Americas. Google, YouTube and eBay are all present. But numbers eight and ten are Spiegel and Bild respectively.
Spiegel and Bild are both German newspapers and have accompanying websites that you now see are among the most popular in the country. It's interesting to note that Germans don't get behind a website that has a "gimmick" some cool new technology. You know, YouTube has billions of videos you can watch and eBay lets you bid on things you can own -- All germans seem to want is better access to news. And thats where I believe German citizens separate themselves from other countries. I know people in Germany, and I know that the people there, especially young adults, are extremely news savvy. They might not be on the cutting edge of each and every technology that emerges, but they are politically and economically skilled and in and Democracy things like this are imperative -- in order for a democracy to work citizens need to be intelligent and educated in order to make decisions. Thats where Germans excel, there is a reason there is an extremely high standard of living there.
Unfortunately, we cannot all living within a golden mean like Germany. To live in equilibrium is something that I personally thoroughly respect and wish that the rest of the world could take note and be more forthcoming and adopting. the sad truth is, we're becoming lazier. Even recently, if there was a topic I knew very little about I would simply "wikipedia" that topic ( Look see it even has its own label). That, in essence, has got to be one of the worst consequence of the Internet. As information becomes easier and faster to obtain, I can imagine this trend taking its toll on the citizens of the world. Of course access of information is a great thing, but at what cost?
Sunday, May 1, 2011
Neo Nazis are among immigrant protesters
NPD, a neo-nazi sect, were among other Germans protesting the new law that would allow Europeans to work in Germany without a permit this past weekend in cities all over Germany.
Taking to the streets, the NPD promulgated their slogan: "Stop the foreign worker invasion," marching in demonstrations that pailed in comparison when you look at all the counter-demonstrations by the peace-loving people of Germany.
A reported 4,000 people marched against the neo-nazis in Breman. It's also interesting to note that a police present was needed to ensure the freedoms the NPD are apparently entitled.
Over 100,000 people a year are projected to come to Germany in years to come. Saturating the German job market are immigrants from (as i said before); Poland, Estonia, Latvia, Slovakia, Slovenia, Hungary, Lithuania and the Czech Republic.
As of May 1, these people are allowed to work in Germany -- previously anyone coming to Germany to work needed a worker's permit.
A few officers were hurt in one of the many scuffles that happened throughout the weekend. At one point the NPD's march was temporarily put on hold when they were blocked, they simply sat down until they were moved by police.
The main group of anti neo-nazi protestors called "No Metre", has tried to stop the NPD from marching altogether for years. In 2006, 10,000 members demonstrated and they were able to prevent them from rallying.
Monday, April 25, 2011
Mixed results follow as Germany grants working rights to European neighbors
People from Poland, the Czech Republic, Estonia, Lithuania, Latvia, Slovakia, Hungary and Slovenia will have the same rights as others in the European Union to work in Germany. Up until now, they've needed work permits.
As of May 1, Permits will not longer be needed but officials have warned that the move will affect the German labour market as immigrants will be willing to work for less wages.
Proponents of the law, say that the law could bolster Polish-German integration.
"The German government economy needed well-educated and well-trained workers and these could be found in Poland. The German-Polish border regions in particular would benefit from liberalized labour laws," Gunter Pleuger, president of the Viadrina Europe University said.
Joachim Moller, director of the Institute for Labour Market and Careers Research said he also saw the development positively.
"The fear that opening up the labour markets for citizens of the new EU member state could lead to low wages in a broad fashion is something I do not share," he said.
It was widely agreed upon by experts that the new move will help German economic development.
Sunday, April 17, 2011
Another example of media changing German history
Thinking back, I remember quite a lot about Anne Frank, the Nazis and WW2 in general from my days back in grade school. As an added bonus, I recently visited her home in Amsterdam so I like to think I know a little more about history from that era than the average student. But something that that everyone can love about history is that as new information is unearthed, history itself is constantly being revised. Among some of my favorite historical myths that are quite interesting was learning the unfortunate truth that Christopher Columbus didn't in fact discover america. This information, although not as revealing, illustrates that whether you have reminiscent moments such as mine or not, we can all admire news coming out of Germany this week in the form of a new book that makes new claims about Anne Frank and the SS officer that arrested her more than six decades ago.
Karl Josef Silberbauer, A member of the Gestapo in the Netherlands in1944, got a tip that jews were hiding in an attic at an Amsterdam home. The man was responsible for extracting of the jews and sending them to the nearest concentration camp. That much we know, but what has been revealed in Peter-Ferdinand Koch's new book "Enttarnt", is that after the war, Frank's pursuant became a spy for Germany's version of the CIA; Bundesnachrichtendienst (BND).
I know what your thinking. This isn't breaking news who cares! Well, the information revealed might not be Earth shattering, but it demonstrates two different reasons why this information is relevant. First, this is yet another textbook example of how media changes the status quo. Authors are taking it upon themselves to go "digging" and often stumble upon interesting information that history might have forgotten, they then proceed to publish the information in a book or what have you, and everyone benefits. A second reason why this information is important is because it demonstrates a situation where a member of a terrorist organization -- yes, I view the Nazis as a terrorist organization -- becomes a member of Germany's post-nazi era foreign intelligence agency. Shouldn't these people be punished for their role in the Holocaust? Or at least, we could make it harder for them to find more work after all is said and done.
Either way, This is revealing information that is important. I love how media can add different perspectives to things such as history. No matter how big or small the information is, as long as it's shared, we should all be not only grateful but thankful information like this can be revealed.
Sunday, April 10, 2011
Negative German sentiment towards Google causes the company to back down
This week, Google has been busy with its usual business of mapping the country from top to bottom via its street view. Although nearly 20 cities within Germany have been thoroughly mapped by the company, Google will cease collective further data in Germany. There appears to be no information released (press releases, statements, etc.) about why they have stopped, but the article makes it clear that there has been at least 250,000 requests made by German cities to blur their streets and homes which could be the reason why.
Google has been playing nice lately since they've been caught stealing information from local Wi-Fi signals. They do give people the option of being excluded from Google's street view. They also have a policy now, like I said before, where they will blur your home upon request.
If you thought this was the first time Google has been in trouble with a country, you couldn't be more wrong. Last March, they were fined $ 142,000 in France for violating privacy laws there. That is a fairly reasonable punishment for the corporation who has been completely from countries such as China.
But I'm sure China is just acting in the interests of their citizens. I mean, after all, Google has always boasted positive reasons for their systematic mapping of basically every inch on the planet (give or take a few inches).
"Our business priority is to use our Google cars to collect data such as street names and road signs to improve our basic maps for our basic maps for our users in a similar way that other mapping companies do," a spokesperson said.
I hope they're not referring to companies such as OnStar and TomTom, because I'm pretty sure none of those business are driving cars all over the world mapping the world. I'm not insinuating that Google is up to no good and has evil intent, but they certainly have the means for diabolic operations.
This is just a postulation, but there are people out there who really do think that Google is poised to take over the world. Just because it's actually quite interesting to hear their argument, I've posted one of the many videos you can find via Google ironically enough, that ponder this strange scenario:
Sunday, March 20, 2011
AT&T agrees to buy T-Mobile USA from German-based Deutsche Telekom for $39 billion
The move, approved by the boards of both companies today, will make AT&T a major player in the wireless telecom sector pending regulatory review.
The move will affect over 130 million people if it is approved. The two companies have stated that it will take them in excess of 12 months to get through all the bureaucracy if the deal is indeed agreed upon.
Of course there couldn't be news this big without controversy. As reported by Endgaget.com, the move will install a de facto GSM monopoly in the United States as there will only be major carriers. Horrible.
But don't worry! At&t paints the situation as a "rosy garden of straight-forward synergies". Yea, right.
The company touts many advantages of its customers thanks to its newly annexed spectrum. T mobile's sprectrum will not compliment At&t's 700MHz licenses as it moves to 4G.
If none of this happens however, and the agreement doesn't pass with regulatory approval, At&t will owe T Mobile $3 billion in breakup fees. Interesting.
Heres a quick video with all the details and the deals affect on Germany and the stock markets:
Sunday, March 13, 2011
Germans REstart photo booth craze in Europe
Booths are popping up in various places all around Europe. Bars and clubs and even interior galleries of museums in Paris are often inundated with socialites and jet-setters who often use the booths.
There are 11 booths in Germnay and they are maintained by the same two guys that accidentally kick-started the trend in 2005: Asger Doenst and Ole Kretschmann.
Getting the idea after they restored one for fun in 2003, it took two years and a lot of trial and error before they could start their business venture and bring them to the streets of Germany.
For two euros, anyone can step inside the booth, envision it's 1970 again, take some zany photographs, and receive their retro black and white photos within seconds.
Now, these men and their volunteers maintain these booths -- and they are in need of daily repair -- for free; that is, they don't make money from them. That's love, especially when you consider that Doenst personally thinks that Berlin is "disgusting"; which is the reason they require so much cleaning.
Whereas photo booths in the rest of Europe are becoming poplar in clubs and bars, these booths in Germany are in the public along sidewalks and shopping centers. Perhaps they could find a way to profit from their idea is by better researching their local logistics and potentially exporting it to America
For example, I've been to Germany, and just like these booths they also have public toilets that are literally just giant rooms you walk into -- once you pay of course -- where you can freshen up. They could contact the city and perhaps integrate photo booth technology in those bathrooms as opposed to having actual photo booths from the '70s that require constant work.
Here are some things I found doing a simple search for technology available regarding photo booths:
As well as the article referenced:
http://www.thelocal.de/lifestyle/20110310-33591.html
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