Interesting Business Model: first build up neighbour-network, then “sell” the company to an investor in Dubai, change the terms of business and make all users pay 9 Euros per month, then make it very difficult to retrieve passwords and hide the “Delete Account”-Button somewhere in the FAQ-section.

The fomer owner of this social network, Tobias Heine, propably knows that it is not possible to suddenly change a free membership into a paid membership without explicit consent of the users. The little button of consent which pops up after log-in does not even mention the membership fee. I am not sure what happens if the users suddenly find a bill in their mailbox. Some users might be too scared to deny paying the fee or risking a case in court. A short search via Google should help.

Via Augsblog1, Augsblog2, Augsblog3, Deutsche Startups, Fudder, Computerbetrug1 und Computerbetrug 2 (Forum), Protectus, Förderland, Onlinekosten, Suchmaschinenmarketing-Blog, Abzocknews, Region-München, n-tv, Rechtzwei-Null, DSL-Team.

My friend Norizan has opened his blog. It is a great example how the blogosphere reconnects people across the globe. I learned that he went back to university, pursuing a post-graduate degree. Norizan, I wish you good luck for your education and your career!

Norizan is a real expert in knowledge-management and leadership. I met him first at the ASEM Youth Conference in Copenhagen. He was part of the Malaysian Delegation together with Kamal and Sobri. He worked at the Secretary General of the Malaysian Youth Council and later also for the Asian Youth Council.

In 2003, I spent a few weeks in Malaysia working at the Malaysian Youth Council. Now everytime I meet somebody from Malaysia, I tell them about the great time I had there. Chicken Saté, Teh Tarik, Roti Canai are still my most favorite foods.

Experiencing the Malaysian Way of doing Youth Politics and meeting with the Prime Minister of Selangor. I also remember Norizan giving a lecture to about 500 young, giggling students about communication skills and they fanatic applause after the talk!

I put a lot of my experiences in Malaysia in a recent article for the Asia-Europe Journal about Youth Politics across the world. It’s not yet published but I hope the next issue is arriving soon.

On Friday afternoon, I had the opportunity to get to know the British Health Service a little better. I was always told that the British Health Service is really bad, but I was very surprised. The ambulance was fast, the doctors in the hospitals nice and the surgery did not take long. Maybe it’s because the stitches are on the back of my head so I can not judge the quality of the surgery, but the scar does not even hurt anymore.

This sounds all worse than it was. Here’s the story: On Friday night I was riding on my bike towards the Ice-Skating-Range in Cambridge to go skating with friends from Trinity Hall. I wasn’t going particular fast, there was no alcohol or any other car involved and there were no people to be swerved around. I simply hit a bumb in St. Andrews Street, went over the steering bar of my bike and made a touch-down on the pavement.

I got up and was a little bit dizzy, but I thought nothing really happened. My bike was alright and I had no pain whatsoever. Some bystanders took me to the side. They made me kneel down and bend my head forward. When I touched the back of my head, I knew why: blood! The bystanders were really helpful, called the police and tried to calm me down, but I did not feel very excited anyway. I thought, damn, now I am gonna miss the fun on the ice.

So I chatted with my rescuers and found out that they were students from Sri Lanka studying in Cambridge. The students also helped me to chain up my bike. Thanks, unknown people, for your help! (more…)