MünchnerS

Bachelor-Master for E-Technik

2007-01-23T17:27:00.000+01:00

It's confirmed. Dipl-Ing (TUM) Elektrotechnik is going down into history. You can either bask in the times of yore or keep up with the changing times. Ab WS07/08, there will no longer be a Diplom Studiengang for E-Technik, and the ET and IT Bachelor course will be merged.

It's interesting though, how you actually get the title of MSc when the courses will still be conducted in German. And even more so, the title of MSc when you're actually really an MEng. Then again, what's in a title? Holders and would-be holders of the non-elite title of "Dipl-Ing." prepare yourselves.

Fall 1:
Interviewer: Is this a diploma?
You: Yes.
I: We asked for university graduates. Thank you.
Y: ...

Fall 2:
I: Is this a diploma?
Y: No, it is a Masters equivalent from TUM.
I: But TUM only offers MSc (very doubtful look).
Y: They changed the system.
I: Thank you.
Y: ...
(after you leave)
I1: I think he's lying. It doesn't say anything on the english website.
I2: Well even if he isn't, MASTER vs dipl(oma), which one sounds better?
I1: Master.
I2: You have your decision.

A moment of silence and reminiscence please, for the Diplom Studiengang in ET. Last bastion, Maschienenwesen.

http://www.ei.tum.de/FSB/FSB-news/news-EI/news_article.2007-01-18.8316540424

Not shipped with Ctrl-Z

2007-01-18T04:22:00.000+01:00

Thought I'd leave a quick note after I did something tremendously stupid. After weeks of working on LaTeX and PowerPoint, I was actually trying to get some work done on paper today.

I was drawing this line, and while drawing it, it struck me that I had drawn it wrongly. So instead of stopping and erasing it, I continued, drew a long, wrong line, and then started to wonder, "Where's the undo?"

Dolphin Massacre in Japan

2007-01-16T22:40:00.000+01:00

We all know that many japanese can be really crazy, but this is gross

And the Japanese government's justification ...

"The Japanese government claims that the dolphins compete with local fishermen for limited supplies of fish and that the drives are a type of pest control. Act for Dolohins officials say the Japanese government encourages the public to consume more dolphine meat, and it is also used for pet food and fertilizer." Source: www.LiveScience.com

Pitztaler Gletscher Pics!

2006-12-19T02:39:00.000+01:00

Here they are.....

http://www.doublewjay.com/photos/

Quicksort (Warning: geeky reading)

2006-12-18T01:25:00.000+01:00

As the name of the title suggests, this post is all about the sorting algorithm called quicksort. This stuff was covered during my 1st semester IT basics but all thanks to my highly interesting lecturer, who never fails to hypnotise me with his deep and attractive Stimme, I spent most part of my Basic IT course in dreamland. Tja......as I was trying to kill time on a lazy sunday afternoon, I stumbled upon this website runned by a 22yr old MIT geek who attempts to explain the implementation of Quicksort. It was so beautifully and elegantly written I couldn't resist sharing it with you guys. On top of that, the website contains wonderfully written tutorials on Photoshops, CSS, PHP and FLASH.

http://www.kirupa.com/developer/actionscript/quickSort.htm

For those who are wondering what the hell I'm talking about here, I suggest you dig out your IT basics lecture notes to recall what sorting is all about or you can just ignore the rest of this post. Alternatively, just go to the link and read up about it. They really make it sound so easy.

Anyway, I'm not going to do a summary of the article here, but I'll just provide the basic psuedo codes found from that website:

To München and back in 20 hours

2006-12-15T10:16:00.000+01:00

Hello peeps..
so welcome to my first post. a bit late since it is a week old but hey.. better late than never. Was in munich last week for 20 hours. A bit short, but i wanted to be back for my drum class (yes i am learning how to play the indian drum). The trip was fun nonetheless. Got to experience Vapiano (if i am spelling it right) and Bohnen und Malz (which is 10 minutes away from my ex apartment... sigh...). Loved the tiramisu. OOH and i almost forgot.. Glühwein nach Grossmutterart!!

So.. my next trip to munich (definitely this time) is the SAD, but i might come over sometime before. So all you SAD organisers.. remember to give me a 2 week heads up at least!!! Wonder if the Jade woman remembers me...

s'ok, me signing off in non-snowing zurich

k

The Adventures of the WONGKAM REISEBUERO

2006-12-09T18:20:00.000+01:00

Dies Academicus ... A day of wisdom that we students must celebrate. To pay tribute to this memorable day of acheivement, the Wong-kam Reisebuero, founded by Wongkey-tong and Jonkamkk, held another SNOWBOARDING!!!?? event to the glaciers of Austria. This time, Pitztal.

So anyway, in a classic Wong-kam Reisebuero screw-up, our 2 founders and their only Kunde ... me ... hollanded, and practically drove ROUND & ROUND Munich for over an hour... That little escapade aside, the drive up was great. Here, I'll let the Wenjie's photos tell you what great means.

Arrival on the Piste was followed with a WTF from the 3 of us. Many of the lifts that were advertised on the website as open were in fact ... NOT. The Reisebuero had been DUPED. Refusing to go down without a fight, we took the freaking 1850m long T-lift up twice (before that, several strategies to ease the t-lift ride were conceived, and then abandoned. In the end, we decided on the screw it just go strat).

The drive back was dark, accompanied by a absolutely beautiful full moon plus 3 driving incidents that scared the shit out of me.

1: The car skidded on ice and we drifted at about 45 degrees angle to the straight road for about 2.5 s one way, then the other, then the other again before Wenjie regained control ... during which the car almost went off the road into a stream and we were about to taste some air bags.

2: After a somewhat sharp left turn on a 2 lane road at about 70kph (I saw the meter), where the view front was sorta blocked, we were suddenly faced with another car which was freaking reversing back up our lane. At the same time, on the opposite lane, another van was coming up. Wenjie immediately zam break while the van also steered off to make space and we went between van and that f**k'in reversing car.

3: Austrians love high beam, and don't seem to care if they blind others. On a mountain road with many curves, this is not funny lor. It kept Wenjie and me somewhat tense for a long way of the journey (while Jon slept and SNORED at the back) and I think Wenjie almost went off the road once.

Anyway, this trip marks the end of our glacier days, as the main season will kick in soon with higher prices and also hopefully, the opening of Hausberg will not be far off.

Kitzsteinhorn! (021206)

2006-12-09T14:21:00.000+01:00

After many friendly reminders from Keve and Wenjie....here is the report on Gletscher no 3 (in 3 weeks) of our Austrian Gletscher adventures...this time round Kitzsteinhorn...located at Zell am See in the state of Salzburg (http://www.zellamsee.at/). On this trip we had the privilege of Eddy and two exchange students, Kelvyn and Yu Cheng, joining us. For Kelvyn and Yu Cheng, the day would turn out to be a life-altering experience. At 5 am, as Wenjie, Keve and i were pulling out of Munich, i got a call from Kelvyn saying that Yu Cheng had managed to get his key stuck in a door at his place. How that happened...i think none of us will ever understand, including Yu Cheng. Half an hour later, the key was still stuck in the door, together with Eddy, Kelvyn and Yu Cheng. Nevertheless, the brave trio made a good decision to abandon the key and race out of munich, making it in time for breakfast at Macs with the rest of us along the A8. Furthermore, thanks to Eddy's speeding and mine along the Landstrasse, we made it on time to Kitzsteinhorn to join the long queues of kiasu austrian skiiers heading up the mountain. But not before driving through some thick fog....

okay...i know it does'nt look like a fog...but it got much thicker later!

overtaking a tractor...and holaning at the wrong mountain. After Eddy, Kelvyn and Yu Cheng got their skis, we took what was probably the slowest Gondolbahn in the world up to the Gipfel. At the top we were greeted by this magnificent view....

Now this was where the real fun began. Many thanks to Wenjie and Eddy for passing on their snowboard and ski wisdom to first-timers Kelvyn and Yu Cheng. These guys had the time of their lives on the slopes...

even Eddy did'nt know where they were...

By the time we got down after a couple of runs (minus Kelvyn and Yu Cheng)....our Tageskarte had become an 11 Uhr Karte...feeling hungry...Eddy and I decided to have some Frankfurter for lunch...and we were joined shortly after by Keve and Wenjie...and not long after by a bruised and battered Kelvyn...who bought one Frankfurter too many and decided to take the extra Semmel with him onto the slopes...maybe for eating...maybe for extra padding...who knows...but i have a feeling it's for the latter...during lunch...we were all wondering what had become of Yu Cheng...and when we saw a rescue helicopter circling above us...we feared the worst...Eddy immediately suggested a search be conducted to find our 'lost' compatriate...and in the flash of an eye...we were heading up the mountain again in the world's slowest Gondolbahn...before the search commenced...Trigger-Happy Wenjie had the brilliant idea of checking out the Gipfelterasse...and we're were'nt disappointed...

Grossglockner visible here...standing at 3797 m.

Info-Tafel

Keve!

Wenjie!

Coming down the slopes...we managed to spot the rescue helicopter landed somewhere...good thing Yu Cheng was no where nearby...at the same time...Wenjie, Eddy and myself discovered the best Piste of the day....Piste no 2...Keve...u missed out big time man....

Piste no 2!

After Piste 2 and after coming down a rather humpy Abfahrt and meeting EVERYONE at the Mittelstation...it was time to call it a day...feeling exhausted but shiok...we headed down the mountain and back to Munich...in time for a sumptous dinner at Hong Kong!

Prüfungsanmeldung für E-Techniker

2006-12-07T00:51:00.000+01:00

In a purely coincidental bitching post from CZ, the HIS-QIS-POS (whatever thez call it) got a HIC-QAP (hiccup). All the more reason for him to continue bitching. :P

Basically, all the Prüfungsanmeldungen between 5.11 and 6.11 got lost. Considering the number of people who try to register for exams at the last minute, it should be quite a number. So if you're using this half-baked HIS-QIS to anmelden for your Prüfungen, go log in and double-check that your Fächer are still there.

http://www.ei.tum.de/FSB/FSB-news/news-EI/news_article.2006-12-06.0197616856

Hrm... forcing everyone to use a half-baked electronic solution and then afterwards claiming great internet pervasiveness... sounds a tad too familiar...

As for me, I logged on and tada, I got this:
Für Ihren Studiengang ist eine Prüfungsan- bzw. Prüfungsabmeldung noch nicht möglich.

I am E-Techniker lah cao cb. You ask me to use this HIS-QIS-POS-f--k and when I try to use it you tell me cannot use. Then I go try to download the paper form and you disable the link. F-ed up piece of shit. Lucky I got a copy of the Anmeldeformular from last sem you beaureucratic bastards.

Oops let's try that again: I was unable to use the online registration despite me being told specifically to. And blimey, the download for the paper registration form was disabled too. This is an extremely gross oversight and should be corrected speedily! Thank the good Lord that I had a copy of the registration form from the previous semester stowed away.

Germany, the perfect place for university education(Warning: Heavy reading!)

2006-12-06T23:05:00.001+01:00

Ever failed an exam? Perhaps it was due to the lack of preparation but perhaps it could be due to the incompetence of the professors. Statistics have shown that the passing rate of a subject tested at different times in University XXX displayed astounding differences between 7 – 59%. In fact, for most of us here in germany, this situation is all too familiar. Studies into the causes of such discrepancies have shown that for most universities, the setting of exams belongs to the most unpopular task. Hence, more often than not, this ‘shit’ task is given to the youngest and the most inexperienced colleague in the department. Equipped with sets of old exam papers, the young and untrained setter then attempts to set the paper to the best of his understanding and abilities. Unfortunately, most of the time, the lack of proper training and experience means that the finished product lacks validity, reliability and objectivity. Such a person is totally unsuitable for the task.

It is the job of the university to ensure that regardless of when the student sits for the exam, they should be granted the same conditions as the cohorts before them. Although this is extremely hard to implement in practice, the departments should always strive as much as possible to achieve this goal. But as we all can attest, even in the so called ‘Elite’ university XXX, fairness is more a luxury than a right.

There are many issues that need to be fixed in the area of exams. Some of the most common problems include confusing phrasing of the questions, asking the same questions twice, the lack of relevance to the lectures and the tutorials, too little time, biases etc. I’m sure the list goes on. Very often, the setter tends to set too many questions from areas which he specializes in. The difficulty levels of the questions are also falsely estimated and points are often allocated wrongly. These affect all the universities including the so called 'Elite' Universities XXX. When do such situations happen? When the basics are not observed.

The 3 basic points are validity, reliability and objectivity. Validity is achieved when points are allocated fairly and tested are only the areas which are taught. Reliability refers to the level of difficulty staying constant and fair over time. For instance regardless of during Wiederholungen or different testers. Objectivity means that no students should be disadvantaged as a result of factors like sympathy, antipathy, race, religion, sex etc. Only then can the results of an exam be a true reflection of the abilities of a student. Well, this is something which German universities have failed to achieve.

Why are the universities not doing anything about it????

First of all, the students are at the bottom of the university value chain and what is of low value will be treated as one too.

Secondly, there are no rules and regulations in Germany forcing the professors to attend courses to improve their teaching methods. The universities are left to their own devices when it comes to quality control. No checks, no improvements. Same goes for the quality of exams.

Thirdly, only when the income of the professors is directly related to the success of the students, will there be an impetus for improvement. This too is lacking. We all know that universities in Germany are funded by the state and there is a lack of ownership from the students.

Fourthly, the further the professors are in their carrer, the lesser the time they have to attend courses to improve their teaching skills. Of course time is not the only factor here. The professors do not feel the urgent need for improvement nor do they see anything wrong with their methods of teaching. This is what I call a deficit in awareness that all professors suffer from. They do not see anything wrong with themselves and are satisfied with the status quo.

In comparison to many universities in Anglo-Saxon and Scandinavian countries, the universities in Germany sorely lack professionalism in teaching and exam settings. There is definitely a huge room for improvement. When there are universities where only 20% of students successfully complete their chosen field of studies, the problem no longer lies in the abilities of the students but in the way university education is being structured here in Germany.

So all in all, I conclude that Germany is the perfect place for university education. How else can we improve ourselves and raise our awareness if we only live in the rosy world of efficiency painted by our beloved P*P through our newspaper SP*. haha. so crappy.

Kitzsteinhorn Pics

2006-12-06T17:06:00.000+01:00

Here's your full-time glacier-trips photographer again. Pictures of the snowboarding trip to Kitzsteinhorn are finally ready. The nice sunshine made it somewhat difficult to stitch photos, and ehrlich gesagt, the view was pretty boring compared to the other two glaciers anyway. We were just about always seeing the same mountains. When looking through the pictures, I was thinking "This again??!" most of the time.

Jon volunteered to do the write-up this time, so I shall not spoil the fun for him :P

http://www.doublewjay.com/photos

Stubaier Gletscher Sunset!

2006-12-01T16:15:00.000+01:00

I just had to post this pic...it is too beautiful not to be shared!

ET Münchner Modell

2006-12-01T13:43:00.000+01:00

If you haven't heard of the Münchner Modell, either you're not in Munich, or you've been spending your time getting 1s. So if you don't have your 1s and haven't heard of the Münchner Modell, you're screwed.

Basically, the Münchner Modell offers a Bachelor-Diplom Abschluss which is a pretty einzigartige hybrid created to launch a relatively unheard of TUM (wie Brot) to the ranks of (self-declared) "Elite Universities". Not unlike the monstrous Lion-Fish hybrid that looks like a failed science experiment whose sole purpose is to launch you-know-what to an elite tourist destination.

Now that this zebra-crocodile monstrosity is once again hindering progress, TUM has decided enough is enough. It will fully embrace the foreign-imported system, and it is no longer clear if E-Technik can still keep it's Diplomstudiengang. Let's hope that TUM will realise the value in its own system soon too, just as you-know-what realised after years of ostracising its very own children.

No worries really. So wie es aussieht, we'll probably only be having people coming to Munich to study "Nanobiology", "Chemoelectronics", "Nanochemobiological engineering" (sounds like a WMD) or what have you.

In any case, if you're in ET and aren't going to collect this cute hamster-rabbit keychain memento along the way to graduation, it's your last chance. Ab dem 15. Januar 2007 ist dieses altes Zeug nicht mehr zu haben.

http://www.ei.tum.de/FSB/FSB-news/news-EI/news_article.2006-11-28.9662502610

Update 23.01.07: Bachelor-Master for E-Technik

Introduction

2006-11-29T23:38:00.000+01:00

Hello people. I proudly present to you all my new friends. Coming in at 13cm, weighing a total of 337g, here is Spacey, the astronaut:
and at 15cm and weighing 338g, Fierce, the racer:
and at 13cm and weighing 333g, Siao Siao, the capitan:
and at 13 cm and weighing 330g, Greeny, the fireman:
and at 15cm and weighing 337g, Yummy, the cook:
and finally a picture of the whole family: The next time you guys pop by my place, remember to say hi to the new folks in town. haha
So who's interested in baoing wantan???

Stubaier Gletscher

2006-11-29T15:47:00.000+01:00

Arriving unceremoniously in a small Toyota Yaris amongst a huge crowd of cars, Jon, Keve and myself got prepped and headed straigt for the slopes. It was cloudy, but it cleared within the hour and we were not disppointed.

Highlight of the day must have been Keve who brought his secret weapon up to the slopes - the greaves of steel balls (aka knee-guards). It gave him +10 knee armour and +2 balls. After a slow start, probably having taken some time to get used to the power conferred by the greaves, he surprised everyone present by zipping down the slopes like a pro. And that was no one-off thing. It sustained throughout the day, until the last run when he headed off for a well-deserved tea-break. Intelligence says he's going to bring the Messerschmidt Reaver as well which will give him an extra +32 strength (aka snickers/mars bar)!!! Jon and the other pros, watch out, you gonna get owned.

Jon wonders who just overtook him

In other news of the day, I met with an accident on the slope. A skier came up behind me at high speeds, and both of us happened to turn in the same direction at the same time. He couldn't evade, so he rammed me. The last thing I heard was "AAAhhhh..." and I got hit and fell. "Urh!" The next thing I knew, I saw that poor guy with 1 ski left 3m down the slope. Life went on with the customary apologies. I sure hope I didn't lose a kidney from that kind of impact. Eye witnesses (Keve) claimed seeing a flying skier at time of incident. There were disputes however, as to whether that was a bird, a plane, or really a flying skier. Jon was too busy flying over humps to notice.

Look! A bird!

Keve explains (subtly) why according to Drallsatz and his Drei-Finger Methode, that "bird" has to be a flying skier

All in all, tallying up the bruises and receipts, it was a worthwhile and fun trip. Jon sacrificed himself by driving us there and back (thanks dude), Keve made a resolution to get a driver's license, and I finally figured the way to reenter Munich from the south. :)

Jon wants to visit all Austrian glaciers in this season. Anyone game?

More pictures here. Ask for originals.

2006-11-29T11:24:00.000+01:00

hello!
i have about 5min before i go to garching soo i have decided to write something...
once again... i must say this is a really cool idea! something to document our adventures... eg snowboarding so we can look back during summer and reminisce about those cold winter days HAHA.

okay must run
take care all!

Jermaine's video

2006-11-29T02:22:00.000+01:00

Jermaine's video of the snowboarding trip at Hintertuxer Gletscher.

Road to the Munich airport ...

2006-11-26T22:18:00.000+01:00

Sunday 7 pm, a few of us are at the airport to see Jermaine fly home at the conclusion of his 6 yr stay here. How significant that moment for him was, we can only fathom.

Sitting at the Burger King table across Terminal 2, it felt just like another one of those suppers at KFC with him. There, we saw the fruit of his labours ... the Dip-Ing certificate ... and damn, does that Zeugnis look good.

Many cars passed us by on the way back. And for a moment, it seems as if we're all like these cars, having come together to drive down the same A9 Autobahn ... for now. Today, Jermaine has taken his Ausfahrt and left our autobahn, and so, we are one car ... or one LKW??!! (kidding =D) ... less. But hey, with some lousy driving and navigation, who knows, our roads might just meet again. So congratultaions to Jermaine. We'll see you in Singapore.

Sidenote: Melanie needs a cheer pill. What betta way than to GO SNOWBOARDING!!!

tvlinks

2006-11-26T21:30:00.000+01:00

Here is the new link (esp for those who have found out the old one does'nt work anymore) :

www.tv-links.co.uk

and an interesting link i got from Eddy :

http://www.playboy.de/KOOPS/redaktion/Gierer/Game/game.html

viel Spass!

Some more photos

2006-11-23T15:31:00.000+01:00

Okay. My usual no-humans photos are finally here. Since blogger doesn't seem to like panoramic shots, I put them here instead.

Usual regeln gelten: photos are not full-size (ie 2MB+), and pre-stitch photos are not posted. Send me a mail or something if you want those.

Hintertuxer Gletscher Pics!

2006-11-22T21:39:00.000+01:00

Boarding in the Clouds

2006-11-21T18:03:00.000+01:00

Board -- AWAY!!! --- by toFuBÖi

A winter-sport haven, Austria boasts some of the best snowboarding slopes in Europe. On sunday, 6 brave souls (Jermaine, Melanie, Jialin, Jon, Wenjie, me) traversed the 177.5 km to hintertux, accompanied by INTERESTING music and small talk in our cosy red van to challenge gravity.
Many minutes on the cable car later, we were not disappointed. Standing tall at 3250m above sea level, the panoramic view was breathtaking (Dangerous at that kind of altitude, with all the thin air). Miles of rugged terrain stretching as far as the eye can see with small towns dotting the bottom. NYDC. (now you die contented)

As usual, Jermaine, Melanie, Jon, Wenjie were amazing, Jialin did great for her 2nd time boarding, and I am still stuck in my progress to a profi. I have developed a new snowboarding technique which I call "crash and burn".

Highlight of the trip, and inspiration for the title of this post, goes to Jialin, whose beloved pink board slid down a slope when she unattached it (a most comical moment. Imagine our faces). And of all the slopes, it had to go down that one which would later be affectionately referred to as the "Devil's slope" by Jon.
In the spur of a very rare, sacrificial moment, 4 heroes, Jermaine, Melanie, Wongkey Tong, Jon (I KNOW. I am no hero. I was sitting on another slope wondering if the abominable snowman got them all and planning the BIG RESCUE) raced down the "Devil's slope" as one to retrieve the board. They fell as one too, or so I heard. For more details, pls call the Fantastic Four.

Side note: Our dear Jialin also got lost and went off the piste. But that is a story for her to tell ...

It was, however, not just the boarding that made this trip memorable, but that everyone tried to contribute in whatever way they can to make the trip a success, keeping spirits high even at our most tired moments.
And so a 2nd trip looks promising. Who else can I trust to save my butt on the slopes other than the Fantastic 4 eh?

A sumptuous dinner at Hong Kong with the friendly boss brought a fitting end to the trip, and possibly the last snowboard trip with Jermaine. Our best wishes for him.

Shoutouts to:
Mr Sun & Ms Cloud

Jermaine and Melanie for getting everyone breakfast
CZ for letting us use his parkplatz
Herr Wong for car rentals and driving everyone there and back
Herr Wong for the pictures on this blog

Jon for lending out all the err ... extra equipment and going with Herr Wong to get the car
Jialin for simply being there and giving all a lively mood
Those who patiently waited for the slower ones

We came, we saw, we conquered

Epilogue:
Thursday sees good weather with fresh snow in Garmisch ...

If those mentioned in the post feel offended by the post, pls feel free to delete as you see fit.

First post

2006-11-16T21:52:00.000+01:00

Ok. All i can say is, my arrow very zun. One shot kill. that ass wenjie really went and did it. but my arrow not anyhow shoot one ok. this blog CLD be useful ok. Can share all the funny links. Serious ones too, like i dunno. links to TU, or links to praktikum or new eating places or bars or cafes or funeral parlours. wateva.

Got my new SNOWBOARD today!!!! Morrow Lithium. blew 199 on it. so YAY! we r goin boarding coming thurs. we = jermaine melanie wenjie and me. I need to perfect my boarding b4 12 Dec so I can impress some gals. will be posting my poser photo shoot after that little trip. so keep ur fingers crossed for MR HANDSOME.