Editor Bob

Registration is not guaranteed. There's a combination of automation and human oversight which guards against spam and other misuse.   Registrations from Cameroon and Vietnam, for example, are more likely to be blocked than registrations from within the EU. Throwaway email addresses are also less trustworthy.   GMX and Web.de have chosen not to deliver emails from toytowngermany.com. They have us on a silent filter. The emails don't even go to spam. So registrations from those addresses can never be confirmed. GMX and web.de are two of the only large email providers in the world to not offer 2FA, so you shouldn't be using them anyway.   @Tim Hortons Man pull the other one. Your duplicate accounts were blocked because duplicate accounts are not allowed, especially if they look commercial in nature. In case anyone else is reading and can't register or post, mail me at: eb@toytowngermany.com  

Sadly Jeff's partially skeletonized body was found at the foot of the Achselköpfe (part of the Benediktenwand) on Saturday 25th August. Achselköpfe is along the route from Brauneck to Tutzinger Hütte, which Jeff was hiking on Thursday 2nd August. It's likely he fell that morning.   See the Facebook post by Bergwacht Lenggries.

It's a problem with our hosting provider.   Details here: melbournestatus.co.uk/events/29-aug-2018-packetloss    

Canadian hiker Jeff Freiheit is hiking alone from Munich to Venice and has not been heard from since August 2nd, 2018 in Lenggries, Germany.     He is 32 years old, 185 cm, 80 kg, slim athletic build with brown hair and brown eyes.   He left Munich on Tuesday 31st July 2018. He spent the night to Thursday 2nd August in Bad Tölz.   On Thursday 2nd August he hiked up to Brauneck. See his instragram videos of beginning the ascent and reaching the top.   Since then the trail has gone cold.   He was on his way to Gasthof Post in Vorderriß where he had a reservation, but never arrived.   Police and mountain rescue have been searching the area for days, but without result so far.   His wife and mother arrived in Bad Tölz on Sunday 12th August to help with the search.   Latest update, Friday 17th August 2018 -  Today police and mountain rescue are repeating a search in the area between Brauneck and Benediktenwand.   See his wife's plea for help on Facebook.   Further details in German: merkur.de / jeff freiheit newsblog   GoFundMe page to help family with travel expenses.

Summary Post here if you're refusing to pay the German TV license fee (Rundfunkbeitrag). Let us know what letters you've received and how you've responded (if at all). Give and receive support from other fellow "Rundfunk-refuseniks". Click the "Follow this" button top right to receive updates via email.   ======================================== Background info On January 1, 2013, Germany introduced a new TV license fee system called the "Rundfunkbeitrag". This system requires that all households paid €17.98 per month to fund the public broadcasting services (i.e. TV channels ARD and ZDF, public radio stations, and associated websites). On April 1, 2015 the fee was reduced to €17.50 per month. The fee is not dependent on actual TV or radio usage. Rather, every household must pay one flat fee, even if they don't own a TV or radio. The rationale for this system is as follows: Public broadcasting services are considered of benefit to society as a whole. Even if someone doesn't watch TV, or own a TV, that someone still lives in a society that is better informed, better connected, and better "culturally protected" because of public services. Everyone benefits, even if only indirectly, and therefore everyone should help fund it.   The fee is collected separately from income tax because this is considered a way to give public broadcasting companies their independence. This is designed to prevent broadcasters from becoming government propaganda machines.   The fee is flat, €17.50 for all households regardless of how many people live there, because this makes it easier to manage and collect. It reduces overhead costs and keeps the system simple and streamlined. The fee is also considered low enough that it shouldn't be a burden to anyone. If someone can afford a roof over their head, then they can afford a "little" extra for public broadcasting. The above arguments are controversial, but those are the arguments given. There are numerous counter arguments. One of them is as follows: Publicly-funded broadcasting services made sense, to a certain extent, back in the 20th century. In recent decades however, the internet has superseded TV and radio. Nowadays people no longer need public TV and radio services in order to stay informed, connected, and "culturally protected" (whatever that means). Indeed, with the advent of social networking and independent news sites the general populace is now much better informed and connected than ever before. The younger generation in particular spend far more time social networking and sharing news via their smart phone than they do sat on the couch watching TV. And over the coming years the trend will continue to grow. Therefore public broadcasting is an anachronism that deserves to be phased out. There's no easy way to get the system abolished though, because the media companies, government, and legal system are all in cahoots to maintain the status quo. This leaves refusal to pay as the only realistic option for the average person. If sufficient numbers of people refuse then eventually the system will collapse. Currently only a very small percentage are making a stand, but if those small numbers support each other, then gradually their ranks will grow. Eventually a tipping point will be reached and the system will cave in on itself. This is sure to happen eventually, but it could take anything from five to fifty years. In the meantime, threatening letters and debt collection notices are nothing to be scared of, they're just something to be dealt with. There are a small but growing number of German-language websites and communities that offer support. These include the following: gez-boykott.de - discussion forum, also: Facebook, Google+ zahlungsstreik.net - petition and information network, also: Twitter Avaaz petition - 405,000+ signatures Open petition - 135,000+ signatures gez-abschaffen.de - one man's independent objection campaign blog rundfunkbeitrag.blogspot.de - another objector's blog petra-timmermann.de/GEZ - and another Facebook groups: GEZ-Gier 2013 (25k+ members) and GEZ-Zwangsabgabe -nein Danke (5k+ members) This here thread you're reading now aims to be a center of English-language support. Click the "Follow this" button top right to receive updates via email.   ======================================== Purpose of this thread This thread below is for people who have made a decision not to pay the TV license fee. We won't discuss here whether the Rundfunkbeitrag is justified or not, that is for the other thread: New TV license fee (formerly GEZ) Instead, this thread will be used exclusively to share info about threatening letters received and how we're dealing with them. If you are actively resisting against this system, post up your current status and what action (or non-action) you're taking. Keep us updated with the latest letters received and any other action that may have been taken against you. Click the "Follow this" button top right to receive updates via email.

Here are a few of my predictions for the future:     More people will fly into space in 2014 alone than the total number of all previous people to have done so to date (~530 at last count). TV license fees will be completely abolished in Germany before 2025 (possibly before 2020). 1 BTC to exceed 200 EUR at some point before end of 2013. Google+ user count to top 1 billion by the end of 2013. Machines to achieve self-awareness, approaching human level, by 2029.  It'll be interesting to come back in a year, or in two decades, and see how things turned out.   Whether TT will still exist two decades from now I've no idea. Probably not in its present form, although hopefully the archives will survive for eternity.   What are your predictions for the medium to long-term future? Anything between 9 months and 40 years from now.  

The price of bitcoin is surging and recently crossed €20. Anyone here own any?  

A supercomputer broke 10 petaflops for the first time ever last week.   That's 10 quadrillion (10,000,000,000,000,000) floating point operations per second.   It was achieved by the K supercomputer in Japan.   The human brain is estimated to operate at about 1 exaflop (that's 1,000 petaflops).   So we're about a hundredth of the way to being able to simulate an entire human brain.   If the trend in supercomputer advancement continues as it has the past 40 years, then we'll reach human-brain scale late this decade.  

I did a small amount of paragliding before moving to Germany. After witnessing an accident in Turkey, however, I decided that the fun-to-risk ratio wasn't high enough for me. Sold my glider on eBay and nowadays stick to watching things on YouTube instead.   Regarding BASE jumping, overall fatalities in 2002 were estimated at about one per sixty participants. Technology is making things safer, but people continue to push the limits further. One study has reported the fatality risk as 1 in 2,317 jumps over the period 1995-2005 in Norway only. People worldwide are jumping to their deaths on a monthly basis.   See the BASE jump fatality list.   In this video that went out last week a paraglider collides with an eagle and crash lands. Luckily both the pilot and eagle were OK though.    

  Casino Royale Monaco is Munich's first private casino. It opened mid-November 2006 and is located at Dachauer Straße 17, very close to the Hauptbahnhof. The opening takes advantage of a new EU directive that allows privately-owned as well as state-owned casinos.  Entry to Casino Royale is free. Minimum age is 21 years. Make sure to bring a passport or ID card. All male guests must wear a shirt and jacket, no trainers or hats. Swap your money for chips at the reception. Then proceed to the first floor where there are 45 gambling machines, or to the games room on the second floor. A maximum of 20 Euro may be played per game. There is no obligation to play, spectators are also welcome.   According to the article in today's Abendzeitung, the casino's name was chosen a number of years ago already and was uninfluenced by the latest James Bond movie. Note that the "Monaco" part of "Casino Royale Monaco" comes from the Italian name for Munich (Monaco di Baviera).   Website: Casino Royale Monaco Dachauer Straße 17 - near the Hauptbahnhof Open daily from 6pm to 5am, Sundays till 11pm

Are you available for work as a babysitter? If so, post your details and availability here.   Your advert will be most effective if you include a short paragraph of text about you and what kind of work you are looking for. Remember to include contact details or instruct families to send you a personal message. Note that all posts here are automatically removed after three months. Please do not post a public reply to adverts - instead contact the advertiser directly and in private via the contact details they give.   See also: Babysitter wanted adverts

If you are a family that is seeking a babysitter, post your requirement here. Remember to include contact details (telephone number, email, etc.) or instruct candidate babysitters to send you a personal message via this forum. Note that all posts here are automatically removed after three months.   If you are a babysitter seeking work, please do not post a public reply to adverts. Instead contact the advertiser directly and in private via the contact details they give. Take care to note the date of the postings. The most recent adverts are at the bottom of this page. Plus, remember you should also advertise your services by posting a message to the babysitters available listings.

If you are new in Berlin, or live in Berlin and are new to this forum, feel free to post a message here to introduce yourself to the rest of the TT community.   Note: Posting to say "send me a message" is not the way to meet people here. It's not how it works. This isn't a contacts board. Instead you need to be proactive. Browse the list of meetups and events, if you see one interesting then post that you'll attend and then go along. All the groups here are welcoming to newcomers. If you don't see an event of interest, start your own. Be bold. Post a date, time, venue, and short description of what kind of meetup it is (cinema, drinks, dinner, bowling, etc.), and that's it. People will join you.

Post here for general chat about the current weather in Munich.   Only in cases of extreme weather should a new topic be started.   Current weather: Yahoo! weather forecast for Munich   See also the Munich weather discussion archive.

Despite having its own dedicated visas and permits section, the TT chat forum is not the best place for getting accurate and up-to-date info about such things. Instead you are better off going to either an official government website, a private website dedicated to such information, or asking in person at your local immigration office, embassy, or consulate.   Government websites: US Consulates Germany - Visa information - info for US citizens and other nationalities coming to Germany US Mission to Germany - residence / work permit for Germany - similar to above German Embassy London - lots of info regards visas for Germany, all nationalities Private websites: Germany visas and immigration - from "workpermit.com" Immigration offices in Germany: München KVR, Ruppertstraße 19, 80466 Munich, Tel. 089 23396010 Berlin Ausländerbehörde, Friedrich-Krause-Ufer 24, 13353 Berlin, Tel.: +49 (0) 30 902690 Frankfurt Ausländerbehörde, Mainzer Landstraße 323, 60326 Frankfurt am Main, Tel.: 069 21244422 Other city info can be found with Google. Embassies and consulates in Germany: American:    US Embassy Berlin, Neustädtische Kirchstr. 4-5, 10117 Berlin, Tel. +49 (0)30 2385174 US Consulate Düsseldorf, Willi - Becker - Allee 10, 40227 Düsseldorf, Tel.: (0211) 7888927 US Consulate Frankfurt, Gießener Str. 30, 60435 Frankfurt am Main, Tel.: (069) 75350 US Consulate Hamburg US Consulate Leipzig US Consulate Munich   [*]British: Munich Consulate-General, Königinstraße 5, Lehel, 80539 Munich, Tel. +49 (0) 89 28880 British Embassy Berlin, Wilhelmstr. 70-71, 10117 Berlin, Tel. +49 (0) 30 204570 British Consulate Düsseldorf, Yorckstrasse 19, 40476 Düsseldorf, Tel. +49 (0)211 94480 Frankfurt, Hamburg, Stuttgart - British consulates closed in 2005   search function first. If there is an existing topic that is directly related to your query, post a reply. If no related topic exists, then start a new topic. Despite the wealth of comprehensive information available via the above sources, if you absolutely must post an immigration related question to the TT forum then make sure you use the   When making a post to TT, be sure to make your post as concise as possible. Keep the question short and to the point. Do not write a rambling essay about your complete life history - few people will be bothered to read such missives, let alone answer them.   So, in summary, what you should do next is as follows: (1) Contact the relevant embassy or immigration office (2) Search the websites dedicated to immigration topics (3) Search TT for existing information (4) If, and only if, your question is still unanswered, make a concise post to TT. We will probably delete it anyway because, chances are, 1,2, or 3 above would already answer your question.