I recently contacted the manufacturer of my Braun 5614 Flex XP razor with a request for specification of the original obviously industrial and special and now weakening built-in batteries (Sanyo 1hr AAC GJH).

In a response I’ve been told that I am not allowed to open the razor at all (not even after warranty is expired!). Braun is moreover not willing to disclose any specifications. I have further been referred to their service partners in common.

In a subsequent talk to a local service partner I learnt that even they are not allowed to exchange the removable batteries as well and they usually have to exchange the whole motherboard!

Why should Braun develop such an intelligent battery removal system (a major innovation compared to the soldered predecessor such as used in the 5533) as it has been implemented in the 5614 if nobody is allowed to exchange batteries at all?

Happily, I’ve been able to easily replace the batteries with some Sanyo eneloop I manually clamped in. I only had to bolster the distal electrical contacts a little bit such that the batteries clamp well.

By the way, the new batteries are recognized correctly by the internal controllers and are recharged internally without any problems by the originally supplied Braun charger 5496.

In the above sense and in particular in days in which one has identified the threat of electronic waste the German company Braun as a leading razor producer is rather brown (as an allusion to the colour of dirt) than green.

It just works. Independence from coal and nuclear power is indeed possible by a combination of the four renewable energy types since this intelligent combination is super-sufficient concerning the coverage of the overall energy requirement.

I do not understand the traffic policy of the german government. Whilst I understand the aim of efficiency increase of the privatisation of the german railway Deutsche Bahn – and believe that this is a good idea given that the trains are still too slow and too inflexible – I do not understand why the Deutsche Bahn AG has to possess the tracks. This combination contains a big danger: The first goal of an incorporation is the enhancement of the shareholders’ value and not the realisation of the governmental mandate of traffic infrastructure. In such a scenario it is very likely that only main tracks will survive. For example, faster trains should lead to disproportional increasements of ridership finally possibly implying even lower prices.

Some german highways such as the north-south A5 are a sole chain of trucks. Where is DB Cargo? Wouldn’t a train be much faster? Where’s the flexible DB Cargo solution for this? How’s the reasoning? DB Cargo is too inflexible because the tracks are not spread all over Germany? Ergo, more trucks on the road and the side tracks become unprofitable. Thus, keep only the main tracks. Hence, DB Cargo is inflexible! This circulus vitiosus can only be broken up when ensuring the widespread of tracks over the land. And here comes in the state’s responsibility.

Air flights have been identified as climate threat? Then, non-taxation of kerosene is of course a still reasonable and maintainable decision whilst the greenest way of travelling – via the railway – is fully taxed. We need a pragmatic rethink.

This summer drosophilae attacked my organic banana whilst they were not interested at all in the conventionally planted banana from my housemate. A random event?

This site is green in the sense of neutralisation via carbon credits. I’d prefer hosting powered by alternative energies which is currently only available with a too small feature set.