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Hey Bangkok

Apr 18th, 2013
by gert.
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Oh well, what a great start for my blog. It took me three months to remember its existence finally find the time and inner balance for an update. No more writing bloc. At least for now.

Partial reason for my inactivity has been the fact that I moved to Bangkok in February. There’s certainly a couple of posts to come about the benefits of the living in this city – beyond mere food, drinks and fun spheres.

For now, all that counts is that I have arrived and am considering to stay here a little longer.

Online photo editing: Pixlr

Mar 11th, 2013
by gert.
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To get back into the habit of blogging, here’s the odd piece of tech advice: online photo editing.

Have you recently wondered how to edit some photos or graphics? Depending on how much you’re into this topic, choices often include the ever so ubiquitous variants of Adobe Photoshop and the open source (ie free) GIMP.

Due to clever marketing (and different forms of sharing), some form or another of Photoshop has been made its way on many computers these days. I’m not to judge on the differences between these and/or GIMP, although the latter appears to have come a long way in the last few years (yet still suffers from its chronic lack of development due to its free nature and dedicated but tiny developer base).

The question is – what will you do if you have neither software or one of its competitors installed and want to make a few simple to moderate changes to your favourite holiday photo or to get rid of this spot on your application photo to win the next casting show?

It’s the internet, stupid. Or, rather, it’s (free) web-based photo editing services which provide an easy-to-use alternative. You might have even used some of them before – for instance, think of instagram’s editing features on your smartphone.

I have been searching for a service which is less overwhelming than GIMP but more extensive than the basic editing features of my favourite image viewer, IrfanView. What I’ve found is pixlr.

Pixlr provides different modi, including a simple express mode (which is also available on Android and iOS devices) and an editor mode which even lets you create and manage different layers (isn’t this what has made the above-mentioned full-software packages that useful?) amongst many other features.

I will refrain from reviewing the different options and just suggest to check it out. If you need an easy-to-use tool to edit photos, pixlr might be for you. It is for me.

Be aware that pixlr uses Flash but your photos will not be uploaded – they remain where they belong: on your computer and nowhere else (or: sign up for free and save them in the their cloud if you wish).

Why not have a look yourself?

Pixlr

And if you’re really just looking for a quick touch up spot fix, have a look at this pixlr blog post.

Goldman Sachs UK and its public face

Jan 14th, 2013
by gert.
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Sometimes I really have to wonder. Like, yesterday, when I was reading on Huffington Post that Goldman Sachs (GS) is likely to delay bonus payments until the top income tax rate in the UK will drop from 50% to 45% in April 2013 (see here).

What came to mind for most readers of this article probably has been some version of are they kidding? I fear, they have not. Doesn’t it make rational sense? The management largely kept its bankers from the only thing they really desire: money. Bonuses from 2009 to 2011 have mostly been deferred and are waiting to be shared in early 2013 – not the least for having avoided public debates about them in recent years.

You might have different perspectives on whether such bonuses should be paid at all, but that’s not the issue here. The issue is public relations. According to the article, Goldman Sachs had a similar strategy in the US. Hence, it clearly shows that they have given it some thought and decided that the money GS employees are going to safe is worth the public outcry, shitstorm, headlines, brief note in the press. I guess they’re right.

However, isn’t there more to the matter than meets the eye? What kind of self-concept does such a company have? Ok, that’s not really surprising anymore. But isn’t it surprising that they repeatedly show having lost any sense on hiding their true face? Maybe they just don’t care anymore – or prefer paying higher bonuses to paying top notch PR consultants.

Update
Apparently, GS UK has backed down from delaying its bonuses. After Bank of England’s King declared this as an “depressing” plan for the rest of the society and warned that banks might be risking to lose public’s goodwill (Excuse me? Are we talking about Downing Street’s goodwill here?), GS management in the UK decided to scrap the plan.

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