Ok, I miss my Austrian Café's. By now everybody should know that.
People try to help me and point me to there favorite Cafés in town and so, every time I give it another try to find a Café which fulfills my few basic needs.
It's Palo Alto, for gods sack, a small town yes, but one of the richest one in the world. There must be some place serving descent coffee. Yes, I like Starbucks coffee, but the coffee is not served. So what are my basic needs?

• a cup of coffee (expresso, preferable with hot milk in a cup)
• newspaper (not just tabloids)
• service (yes, indeed)

The first point cuts 80% of the coffee shops I tried. Is it to much to ask for a nice cup to serve a hot drink? Next, newspapers are missing, this kick's out the rest, and service is something which I just dream of, until I get back to my Cafe Prückel.
So why is that? Is it because of missing demand, do Americans prefer the freedom to get there coffee them self, waiting in line? Perhaps to chat up other people in line???
This bothers me, so I keep on talking with American's about that. Asking why? I try to explain, why Austrian Cafés have better service, but nobody seems to get my point.
One explanation, starts with the waiter in mind. The idea of serving coffee, or serving in general, is labeled as a poor job. Which nobody likes to do. Unlike in Austria where we call the waiter Herr Ober, which is considered the highest position in the shop. So being the Ober is something people can be proud about. You can tell, just by watching the Ober. His movement has to follow a certain style and arrogance. He knows, it's something not everybody could do. He has a tradition to keep up. Vienna is known for there Café's and it is his responsibility to keep the high standard up, for another century.
So as long as I'm here I have to live with this barbarian baristas, who drink there coffee in paper cups, while walking the street.
→ On 23 Jul 2002, 09:24 am commented wenyu to this story: Very funny. IÁÏm not sure this would make you feel better or worse. But I didn't find any satisfying coffee house in P.A. during the year I stayed at Stanford. Neither did my classmate from China. (we made joint effort in the search sometimes.) And my standards on coffee house are apparently not as high as yours. Good luck.
→ On 28 Jul 2002, 03:36 pm commented veronique to this story: hi patrick, perhaps we could meet at "in einem sonntag im august" again? berlin misses you!!!! konrad and i are going to visit you in vienna as soon as possible to get to know the wunderful atmosphere of vienna«s coffeehouses.... 20 hugs, veronique

Labels: eat+drink, Patrick, Stanford

The Java class, which I now take since four weeks is great. I learn so much cool stuff which will be useful when I start with Wirtschaftsinformatik in October.
My first assignment [pdf] was a program designed to read a file [txt] containing a calendar of events and generate a weekly schedule in HTML format.

My next assignment [pdf] is called JavaDraw. Which is a simple draw program. In its final form, it has just one window that contains a drawing canvas and a tool bar that supports the creation of rectangles, ovals, lines, and scribbles in various colors. A selection tool allows the user to select, move and resize shapes. There are menu commands to cut, copy, and paste shapes, rearrange layering, and save and load shapes from files.
Everyone how wants to start with Java, will find a great tutorial on the SUN webpage.

→ On 18 Jul 2002, 12:04 am commented an anonymous to this story: Of course it's the coffee language Java you study!

I just read in an article on news.com.au that: "drinking at least three cups of coffee a day can reduce the risk of developing alzheimers disease by as much as 60 per cent."
"Scientists believe it is the caffeine in coffee that protects against alzheimers, an incurable disorder that causes disorientation and memory loss."
I knew I'm on the right track. Can somebody pass me another Red Bull?
*Caffeine is known for its stimulating effect, clearly noted above all in the circulatory system and in the brain.

→ On 16 Jul 2002, 07:57 am commented K to this story: Using your method of deduction: As Caffein is an Alkaloid, all Alkaloids must reduce the risk of alzheimer's! So why not use Ephedrin (from the Ephedra plant) to stay awake? It's stimulating ability is by far higher than the one of coffein.
→ On 16 Jul 2002, 08:11 am commented Patrick to this story: There is a article at msnbc.com, saying that alcohol may reduce Alzheimers as well. So in other words... Vodka Red Bull is stimulating and prevents Alzheimer! "Drinking moderate amounts of alcohol, which has already been shown to help prevent heart disease and strokes, may also cut the risk of Alzheimerâs disease by nearly half, a Dutch study found."

Labels: eat+drink

After years of thinking about all kinds of possible Majors, I finally found back to the roots of my interests.

Since I attended the HTL Schellinggasse I was equally interested in Computer Science as well as Economics and Business. Now it seems so obvious to study Wirtschaftsinformatik, which is basically a combined major of both.

Looking up a dictionary I found two translations for Wirtschaftsinformatik.

• computer science in economics
• business informatics

Get a full description of this Program from the pdf file Studienplan neu 2001 or the webpage stuko-wirtschaftsinformatik.

Interesting fact about the Wirtschaftsinformatik is that it's thought at the Vienna University of Technology and the Vienna University.

Wirtschaftsinformatik is separated in a Bachelor of Economic Science (6 Semester) and a Master of Business Administration (3 Semester).

Labels: TU