My name is Kai Jäger. I am an application developer at M,P,NEWMEDIA,. I also currently attend the Stuttgart Media University studying Computer Science and Media. I’ve been involved in web development for about ten years and throughout that time, my main field of interest has always been web applications and how to make them more responsive. Of course you can't say responsive web applications without saying Ajax, so that's also a really big topic for me right now. I'm also the author of the book "Ajax in der Praxis" that was released in january of 2008.What this blog is about
I think the tag line of this website pretty much sums it up: web development news, experiments and ideas. At the moment, web technology is evolving so rapidly, it's sometimes difficult to keep up. I obviously suffer from that problem just like everybody else does, but when I actually come across something that is noteworthy, I will try to write a few lines about it and share my thoughts and ideas with you (and probably start a discussion, too). This being a tech-blog, I will also post a few lines of code here and there and share some of the (sometimes strange) experiments with you, that I make while trying to find the best solution for a particular problem.
Why this is in English
Writing in English on a regular basis is great practice for me and it also allows me to reach a potential audience that wouldn't be able to understand a German version of this blog.
One hundred meaningless facts about me
- I was a picky eater as a child, but now I eat just about everything
- I enjoy cooking and baking and I'm good at it
- I have seasonal allergies (but it's not as bad as it used to be)
- I hate having to rely on public transportation
- My favorite movie of all times is Leathal Weapon
- I like uncomplicated people and I'm very uncomplicated myself (at least I think I am)
- I like thai- and chinese- cuisine (or at least the parts of it that I know) as well as Sushi
- My favorite actor is Kevin Spacey
- If it was a real option, I probably wouldn't have a telphone at home
- I'm practically always on time and I have a lot of friends who aren't
- I'm not an impatient person, but I hate waiting. When I'm at the subway station and the train won't arrive for another ten minutes, I often rather walk than wait
- I'm an atheist, always have been and always will be
- I listen to all kinds of music ranging from classical to metal
- I have never used (not even tried) any illegal drugs
- I have never smoked in my life, but I once ate a cigarette when I was a child (true story)
- I like classical music. My favorite composer is Sergey Rachmaninov (yes, I'm a romantic)
- I had my first driving experience after getting my license going down Highway No. 1 in California, USA
- I love thunder-storms (when I'm inside a building)
- I know the words to most Rammstein songs
- I don't like milk
- I once walked over the set of the TV show "Gilmore Girls" when I visited Warner Studios in Los Angeles
- My favorite video game is Half Life 2
- I once killed a guy (actually that's not true)
- I like my coffee black with no sugar - the same way I drink my tea
- I have jumped off a diving board that was 10 meters high (32.8 feet)
- I would like to go sky diving but I would never ever try bungee jumping
- My favorite stand-up comedian is Jimmy Carr (closely followed by Louis CK and Ricky Gervais)
- I have not thrown up for at least 15 years
- The only horror film that ever managed to scare me was The Exorcist
- I cry every time I watch The Green Mile (I've watched it three times which has to be enough)
- The only time I ever punched somebody was in 6th grade and I felt so bad about it, I apologized afterwards
- I don't like board games
- I don't understand why people go to bars where the music is so loud, you have to shout at each other to communicate
- I think french food is overrated
- The year I was born was the "International Year of the Monkey"
- I consumed an estimate of 400 euros worth of pretzels (the big soft kind) during the last five years
- I actually like Windows Vista
- I hate being stuck with someone I don't know and having to do smalltalk for extended periods of time
- I wrote a book when I was 24
- I was born on a wednesday (and I had to look that up because I neither knew nor cared)
- Apparently I don't move at all while I sleep
- As a child, I had a pet rabbit named Willy who was completely black
- I don't have any tattoos or piercings
- I'm terrible at remembering birthdays (sorry everyone)
- My favorite TV shows are Dexter, CSI, House and Dead Like Me (in no particular order)
- I have a lot of superficial knowledge
- I could never be a vegetarian. I love steak too much
- I'm hardly ever bored and I don't mind being alone
- I use the time it takes me to get from my home to work/college to think about the day ahead of me and I don't like it when people talk to me during that time
- I'm a Taurus and I'm quite positive that zodiac signs are complete bullshit
- I have an older sister and an older brother
- I successfully gave up candy and switched to cake
- I only make fun of people I like and only if I'm sure they won't take it the wrong way
- I like swearing but I know when not to
- I'm a reasonably fast typer and I type a lot, but I don't know the 10 finger system
- To some degree I like and need stress
- I think the best part of travelling is the coming home (and that is not to say I don't like travelling)
- I don't like dancing and the only way to get me to dance is to make me piss drunk
- I currently own two pairs of shoes, one pair of sneakers and one pair of fancy shoes
- I go to the cinema pretty much every week
- I had blonde curly hair as a child
- I usually take the stairs even if there's an elevator or an escalator
- I don't like rap music
- I can and often do laugh about myself
- I don't own any white socks
- I don't like to shave, but since I look like a bum when I don't, I do it anyways
- My favorite car is the new Audi TT and I'm bent on getting one as soon as I can afford it
- The heroes of my childhood were MacGyver and Indiana Jones
- I can read newspapers when they're upside down. I'm told not everybody can do that
- I hate fundamentalism in any form or shape
- When I was a child, I told my dentist that when I grow up, I would destroy her house. I still plan on doing that
- My favorite font is Univers
- My favorite artist, apart from my mum, is Mark Rothko
- I have been to France, Belgium, England, Spain, Italy, Switzerland, Austria, Sweden, Denmark, The Netherlands, Morocco, Greece and the United States
- I have very high self-esteem
- If I hadn't gotten into IT, I might have become a movie director or a physician
- I never get angry and I'm hardly ever in a bad mood
- Barbeques are the best thing about the summer
- I don't have a problem admitting that I'm wrong, I'm just never wrong
- I still have my tonsils, my appendix and all my wisdom teeth
- I'm not sick very often, in fact I'm usually sick exactly once a year in winter when I get a cold. But not for the last two years.
- I was on American MTV once. They were shooting a travel show (non-reality-TV) and I was in it, flipping a coin. I don't remember the name of the show and I never saw that episode.
- I don't like station wagons
- I don't play an instrument and I can't sing (although my mum says otherwise)
- I have watched all three extended editions of the Lord of the Rings on a single day
- I like cats, but I'm really more of a dog person (although I don't have a dog)
- I love smoothies and I love making them myself. It's also the only way I can get myself to "eat" fruit
- I can play the right-hand part of Beethoven's "Für Elise" on the piano
- My firstname rhymes with "eye", my lastname is pronounced Yeh-g-air
- I'm a very bad liar... actually that was a lie
- I have spoken (in person) to Norwegian singer Rebekka Bakken
- I once found a 100 Mark bill (about 50 Euros) on the street. I took it to the police and they relucantly took it. A year later I got it back because nobody had picked it up (minus a 5 Mark handling fee).
- I rode a rollercoaster for the first time ever when I was in Las Vegas
- I once stood in front of a theater audience of 350 people and they all applauded me. I didn't have to act for it.
- I consider "Lost in Translation" to be one of the best movies ever made
- I wasn't a very good student up to my senior years in highschool
- When there's an opportunity to make a pun, I can't resist. Ever. People generally complain but laugh anyway.
- I hate music from the 80's. I love movies from the 80's.
- My favorite beverage is...wait for it...water
- I don't like eating alone and I would never go to a restaurant alone. When I have to eat alone, I generally watch TV while doing it.