Great thing you're taking your time to stop by. Before we get started, note that there's no software and development stuff on this page (use the 'development' link in the header to get there). This page is all about me, my surroundings, my life, my thoughts and beliefs and so on. In other words, all the things that already lived here before, just with another design and in two languages now.
And here's the answer to the first question: I rewrote all of my webpage because the previous one got lost due to a hardware failure of my webserver, a hard disk crash, I think. Thanks to the hosting company, I couldn't restore the old version of the homepage, I couldn't afford the 100 Euro they charge for data recovery. I ended up starting from scratch.
But it's not really that bad, I'm using self-written software this time, implementing a minimal set of features that exactly fulfill my needs, including methods for receiving feedback.
There's another possible reason as for why it isn't so bad that the old page broke down: the new page arrived at approximately the same time my time at university started, and I'm getting along just fine in this new period of my life by now. And it's had a enormous effect on me already, so why not re-design my wannabe web diary as well.
Which brings me to the contents of said diary: it's going to be very much like the old page, but since I've changed many of my views will have changed as well. Some articles may appear again, rewritten or not. Of course, this will decrease the historical value of the page but to be honest, I couldn't care less. What I gain is a more up-to-date and thus more interesting page.
There are also a number of reasons as to why I started using two languages---I want to keep myself fluid in both languages. Obviously my German doesn't need any training (I'm surrounded by Germans every day, that does have an effect), but my English probably does. So, if you find a glitch in my English, please let me know so I can get rid of it. Thanks.
Should you suddenly fall ill or become insane after reading parts or all of my homepage, sorry, not my fault and I can't help you about it. Nothing in here violates any laws I know of, and you read everything at your own risk. I can assure you that nothing I'm offering on this webpage conflicts with human rights or common moral conceptions.
On the other hand, I cannot make sure that all external pages I have placed links to fulfill the very same criteria. I have checked the main areas of all linked pages against these requirements prior to adding the link but it's not possible for me to verify that the requirements are fulfilled at every time. If you're afraid some of my links might hurt you in whatever way, you'd better leave my website using this link which is generally considered harmless.
That's it for now. Have a lot of fun during your virtual stay, I hope you'll find what you're looking for.
In case you have a suggestion or any other kind of feedback or wish to talk to me about anything, don't hesitate and send me an e-mail now (see the footer for my mail address).
Have a nice day.
Jan