Watchful Eye and Ear

More and more friends from days of old are popping back into my life thanks to the wonders of the internet in general and the benefit of social media in particular.

It's amazing, what touching base with my past is doing for me in terms of digging up long-lost pieces of memory. That is - I am very glad to say - mostly a very good thing.

I also find the general implications of this increased interconnectedness very interesting. Is the world evolving into one big - almost organic - brain of information? Information that is easily connected and reconnected to from every part of its web?

I certainly find it easier and easier (and faster and faster) to find pertinent pieces of information. Accessing the social network assures that the quality or usefulness of this information increases constantly. And reconnecting with old friends is helping to find information within me that I didn't even know was there (anymore).

What a great world we live in! What great prospects...

Scotch Terrier Parking

It's quiet on the home front, but only because there is much to do.

And it is getting pretty cold here in southern Germany. I don't particularly like like as it causes the heating bill at the castle to go up drastically.

Waiting for Indian Summer in Franconia... but I suppose it's a little late for that.

It's A Sneaker Thing

Travels - Wave - Wikinomics

I've been away. Pictures here. It was all about Culture & Castles.

What else is new? Finally got my Google Wave invite today. Very exciting, early adopting and all. So I'm busy waving at the few friends I have, that also have a wave account.

Oh, and I'm reading "Wikinomics" by Tapscott/Willaims. Unfortunately I could only get it in German at the bookstore in Düsseldorf's train station.

What are y'all doing?

Frankenwein - Wine in Franconia

I gave a short presentation on the wine industry in Franconia last evening. In order for quicker upload I have stripped the presentation of all photos but if you're interested in the topic, the following slideshow might still interest you:

Frankenwein - Wine In Franconia

View more documents from Alex von Halem.

Many thanks to my "Gästeführer mentors" Georg Bätz, Dr. Hermann Kolesch and the "Bayerische Landesanstalt für Weinbau und Gartenbau" in Veitshöchheim for the data (don't pin me down on exact numbers; I'm trying to paint a general picture here).