Here you will find corresponding posts about some of my projects. If you can not find one about a specific project, the chances are very high that you will either find a well-written README file about it on GitHub (see my GitHub page) or a written article (see my research) somewhere.
Everyone knows it from the sports club, the school activity group, or the casual team: before anyone can even start playing, you first have to laboriously figure out who plays with whom. Classic methods always share the same weaknesses:
[Read More]On March 15, 2020, nearly ten million eligible voters in Bavaria went to the polls for local municipal elections — just days after the WHO had officially declared COVID-19 a pandemic. While other German states and many countries postponed elections or switched entirely to mail-in voting, most Bavarians cast their vote in person, as usual. A few weeks later, Bavaria had the highest COVID-19 case and death counts of any German state.
[Read More]As a child and teenager, I hated it when teams had to be picked at the beginning of P.E. class. Not only did it take forever (first, captains were appointed, then they had to figure out among themselves - via Tip-Top - who goes first, and only then did the picking start). Even in my low-birth-rate year, the process took ages, with the result that the group of last-picked kids was already mentally humiliated before the starting whistle. Only those who were already good at the game were in good spirits afterwards, and thanks to a fair amount of various forms of early-childhood nepotism1 and the teachers’ dedicated lack of interest, the resulting matchups were absolutely unbalanced. Awesome (not).2
[Read More]A couple of months ago — near the end of my PhD — the last five brain cells not taken up by my thesis came up with a tricky question: What will you do after your PhD? Immediately, I came up with the only good answer: I don’t know. My brain cells responded: Hmm - OK. But where do you want to live?. Dammit, good question! - I replied. As the good man I am - I of course sought my girlfriend’s help for this question and after some thought we decided to move temporarily to Vancouver, BC. Question solved!, I thought at first. Oh no - question postponed…, my five brain cells replied. Since my girlfriend and I settled on an agreement (mainly forced by our parents), that we will return to Germany some time in the future, the question was not answered yet.
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