Some Updates

Hi guys!

It's again a long time since writing.
At the moment I do not have any internet during the week,
so this situation does not make it any easier.

But here's now the update:
The idea of moving to Zwettl
(in the beginning only during the workdays)
was never my favourite one.
So I tried to find another job next to
my current one. So finally I would have found
one in Linz (near my hometown).
But in the end, today I decided, after a long
discussion and a lot of thinking, that I will
stay in my current company and will not take the new job.

Why?
The main reason for this choice was my job
and the topic I'm working on. I always wanted to
work on Security-Management and Business Continuity Management
and at the Security Competence Center I am the one
who is responsible for this.
The risk to have to do a job I do not like,
in the other company was to high, and I was not willing
to take this risk.

So I have to find a way to put
the private issues in correct order, the
job things are already.
I know it will not be easy to find a new
personal environment, but now I am motivated to
try it. If it will work, the future will tell us.

So long!

Work - Life Balance

Hei folks,

sorry that I didn't write for so long, but I'm kind of busy right now and when I have free time, I'm not always motivated to write ;).
However, today I have some posts for you.

Some days ago I updated my CV and therefor I needed a better photo. Before that I used a private photo from the Koli trip in Finland.
Ok, so I put on my business suit and made a photo. As result from the photo shooting, there was also a funny photo, which I call "Work - Life Balance". You wanna know why, take a look on your own...



In my opinion, it is art *ggg*

Discovery Career Fair

After two years I visited yesterday again the career fair discover at the Johannes Kepler University in Linz.
I went there with Hannes, who joined me. He was a bit uncertain if it will make sense. In the end he was convinced.

We visited nearly every stall at this fair and asked "it security jobs available??". *gg* Some said things like "it-security is in our firm not a topic"..... no comment from me ;)

But mostly the reaction was very friendly and nice, even with no actual open vacancy they gave us addresses and contacts to ask for it.

Some other seemed very interested, because they have jobs in that area. Names like Accenture, Deloitte, KPMG, Ernst and Young, PricewaterHouseCoopers and other big players in the consulting and auditing area do have positions in some kind of the it-security area. But also "normal" industrial firms do have positions or think about positions, so keep your eyes open.

In the end I can say that it was worth it, we left with good contacts and some nice presents ;)

News from my flatmate

As I mentioned earlier in a blog entry, I have a new flatmate *g*
However, living with me must be very satisfying, because my new flatmate seems to enjoy it a lot.

Here is how "she" looks like after the last couple of days:



Nice isn't it? It's not even finished yet. Damn, living with me must be a pleasure *ggg*

Some News

Hei my friends!

It's been a long time since I wrote my last blog entry. Sorry for that. But there is not that much to tell at the moment. I guess you don't wanna hear about my master-thesis anymore, so I start with some other news.

News Nr. 1. - my new flatmate

Yes, I have a new flatmate. *gg* No not that kind of flatmate. It's a new plant *gg*. I got it from the easter bunny. So have a look, it is the one on the left side, at the moment it gets its blossom. Looking forward to that, should be really nice.



Actually, the one in the middle is the part I could save from one of my Finland-Plants. They died on the way back to Austria in the car, because of the cold. But fortunately one had a little sapling I could use to plant it. I'm proud of it *gg*

News Nr. 2. - job interviews

At the moment there is not much to tell about jobs. I have some job application out, of course not only one. I guess every company knows that a candidate does not only have one application a time. However, some get positive answers, some got negative answers, some got so far no answers.

My study colleagues aren't in that hurry to get a job. Some have one or more applications running, other's don't have any so far. The reason why I have already some applications out is simple. Because there are some jobs, I would really like to work in, therefore I sent my applications now, because I don't know, if this kind of jobs are on the market in six month.

Whatever, some are perfect for me, and I hope I get a chance to show that I'm the best to have for the job ;)

News Nr. 3 - car needed money

Blablub.... I had to repair my car, because I wouldn't have got the "test badge". In the garage it would have cost 1600€ (!). So I had to do it on my own. Of course not me, but a friend of mine did it for me. In the end it cost 480€, I guess that is cheaper ^^

Ok, I would say that's it for the moment. Tonight we have Alumni-Meeting, looking forward to it.

Paintball and other kind of painful things

Hey my friends!

Last Saturday some friends and I where playing some Paintball at this field.
It's a really nice field in an old four-edge-farmhouse. They will expand it soon with the inner side of the farmhouse and one part to simulate house-fights.
We were 11 people, some I didn't know, but in war there are no friends anyway ;)

The field has everything you need, from a tunneling-system to a tower, everything there. Our opponents were some kind of campers, so they always hide behind the wall and wait for the others to come. I didn't care, so maybe that was the reason that we lost most of the time. It was really funny and it didn't hurt that much (except next day, but this was the "sport" not the bullets).

Ok, what other painful things.... hmmmm
Actually I over reacted, maybe my master-thesis could be a painful thing *gg*. Or let's say Latex is a painful thing, it will not do what I want it to do. I work now for days to get the document in the shape I want it, but it won't work. Hopefully it will work soon, because I'm already one step behind.

Last Friday there was also open doors day at my university. It was also a nice day, because I like to show people around and the things we do. Most of the time I spent in the biometrics lab, where I showed people how to use iris scan, fingerprint scan and face scan devices. The funny part at the face scan was, we used some pictures of celebrities to compare with our users. The result was sometimes really funny, for example a couple, both compared with Paris Hilton, ... the guy was more Paris Hilton than his girlfriend *ggg*
My result, I do not really look like George Clooney, neither Bill Gates..... ;( *g*

Yeah, I had also a job interview on Friday. But more on that in another entry.

Exhibitions and job interviews

This week is fully planned. Not only because of my master thesis, but also because of the additional program.

First of all there are a lot of exhibitions this week, which are quite interesting. The first one I visited yesterday, was the "B.e.s.t" exhibition. It's about continuing education, work and studying. Maybe you ask yourself why I have been there when I'm nearly finished with studying.

Actually I wanted to inform myself about possibilities to join a phd-program. Therefore I visited a lot of universities, Austrian but also universities from abroad. I wanted to know something about making a phd next to a job or how it works if you do it full-time. As expected, the Austrian universitites are still a bit snobbish when it comes to students from universities of applied sciences (Fachhochschulen). Except the Johannes Kepler university in Linz. The people from the technical university of Vienna, who I spoke to, were friendly at the beginning, but when I asked how difficult it will be for Applied Sciences students, there was this acknowledgeable change in the face and she said, maaah you have to do a lot lot lot of additional courses to get even a chance to be affiliate at the phd program.
I can only say, wake up girl!! I studied 5 years (not 4 as some still believe). I have no problem to make the one or other additional course, but lot lot lot to get a chance, hahaha.
The girl at the JKU stall was quite more relaxed. She said that probably will be some additional courses, but that it is possible to do it next to the phd program. I know that there is still a problem to get a free place, because universities prefer there own students, but they should think if a healthy mix of university and applied science students wouldn't be better. However, thanks to JKU to be not that small-minded as other Austrian universities.

Actually, at the moment I haven't really decided if I start working or continue studying. But at the moment working is the favorite choice, because there are some nice job offers available.

Which brings me to the next point, the job interview. Of course I send my resume to more than one job, but I guess every human resource person will know that. However, yesterday I had my first job interview. In my opinion it wasn't that bad, but the problem is you never know what the other side thinks. People who know me know that I'm a truthful person, so maybe some other people can't handle that fact. For example, I mentioned clearly that a job as programmer is not what I will do in the future.

The company makes a very nice impression and the job sounded also very interesting. Of course it is in my field IT-Security and as far as I can see right now, it will be cover the whole field. I hope I made a good impression and get an invitation to the next round of interviews.

For the other jobs I didn't get an answer yet, but I will inform you when I get one.

Let's get back to the exhibitions. We also planned to drive to the Cebit exhibition. But the schedule was changed to 23o'clock yesterday and that would have been to much stress for us, because we already were tired. So we cancelled that one, but instead we will go to the energy saving exhibition in Wels tomorrow. We have been there also last year and it was really interesting. This year I want to find out what my "dream"-house would cost, *lol*, I'm looking forward to this shock.

Storm over Europe

I guess a lot of people recognized the storm we had a few days ago.
Also Austria had some places which were hit hard.
But I guess one of the most famous scenes is the one you can see on the following video. It is about a airplane who tried to land at an airport and was hit by a blast, but just look for yourself. It happened in Germany.



I guess they were quite lucky ;)
Good luck also to all people who experienced damages or worse losses, keep your head up.

Finland : Austria -> 1:0

No this is not about the world cup in ski-flying. Actually Austria won gold and silver in the single competition and gold in the team competition.

It is about the people
Last Friday I went out with some friends. On this evening I drank not even one gram of alcohol. Why? because I don't want to. The evening was very funny. But why 1:0 for Finland?

Later this evening we have been to the newly renovated Segafredo in Steyr. This was one of my most famous pub some years ago. It was newly renovated, so I wanted to see how it looks like. Nothing really special, but ok.

As the evening went on, I had time to "monitor" the behaviour of the people there. It is always different to have a not drunken view *g*. A lot of young people have been there, good looking, but fancy.

Remember Finland, have you ever ever see or here a Fin gripe about the look of others, or the clothe of others and so on ? Think about it, .. I haven't. Because nobody cares how people look like, and if they do care, than they don't show or say it. Because there is some respect and privacy.

In Austria and especially I recognized it again on this evening, people here care,.. more than they should. This kind of arrogance is so pathetic. The Segafredo always was a place to attract those kind of people, who think they are better than others. Is it really necessary for Austrians (especially the youth) to run down other people, just to feel better? This competition between people, not only at work but also in the private life. It is normal for central Europe. Especially in Northern countries, but also southern countries, it is different.

I think the problem already starts in school (learned from the parents), where 7 year olds complain about the cloth of other 7 year olds. Because some don't wear any popular brand, or maybe they do not have a playstation or own tv or own computer at home. In my opinion school uniforms would make a lot of things easier for some children. Or when 19 years old complain about 45 years old people coming to a disco. (What the hell are those "old" people doing here ?!)

Ok, one more examples. When a car is driving on the road and a faster one is coming from behind and on the other lane is a car driving in the opposite direction. Finland: both, the one on my lane and the one on the opposite lane would drive as right as possible to make space for the faster car. Austria: both, the one on my lane and the one on the opposite lane would drive as far in the middle as possible, and think "you are not overtaking me, no your not, ...."

In Ireland the 18year old goes to the same pub and has fun as his 60+ year old grandfather. In Finland, how often did we see naked guys running around *g*, did someone complain or run them down? So what's so special about central European people, ... I don't know and I hope I can fight those behaviours and not become (again) one of those kind of people. Give some more respect!

What do you think about this?

Clinton vs Obama

I guess a lot of non-Americans out there watch sometimes the news about the "fight" Clinton vs Obama. Maybe because it's just funny how stupid sometimes US-Americans can be. I mean, come on, in which country can a men become president with having not the most votes ?! That's the American kind of democracy. (Ok, Austrians can be also stupid sometimes, especially when it comes to elections *gg*)

However, I think it is very important who becomes the next president, because the one they have at the moment is just embarrassing.

So, today is the "Super Tuesday" and US citizens can vote who of those two should be the presidential candidate. I think it is not easy anyway, but anything will be better than it is now. On one side is Hillary. A strong woman, who has the knowledge and the experience. On the other side there is Obama, "young" and dynamic, maybe the knowledge, but experience?? Difficult.

So we will see soon, how USA will decide. In the meanwhile you can spend your time with one product of the election campaign, the video "Yes we can", which is based on a speech of Obama, which includes a lot of supporting Hollywood stars. (I hope for them, the never will regret their choice, but it is the same for all supporting stars, also those supporting other candidates. (As far as I remember, some supported the actual president ^^)



Hmmm, by the way.... Yes we can is a good slogan, you can use it everywhere. For example conquering Irak....Yes we can!!! Yes we can!!! I hope they will not use it that way ;)

Some facts and your turn to vote:
Eco-Research US-Election monitor
Let the show begin!