I caught a thief!
Something that I never thought would happen to me, happened to me: My bike was stolen. Well ok, I’m living in Berlin and I know that bike theft is a common thing here. But my bike was super-old (I already bought it used on a flee market) and I had it for over 3 years without any problems… But then, one day, it was gone. But let’s start from the beginning:
The shocking moment
I was on my way home from work. So I arrived at S-Bahnhof Nikolassee and wanted to take my bike from the bike stand in front of the station building. But it was gone. I couldn’t believe it. Especially because I had just colored the bike frame with a bright yellow and red colors a few weeks ago and even put some new tires on it. I was so angry and sad at the same time. The following days I was looking for my bike everywhere, but my hopes were pretty low. But then…
The lucky catch
Friday evening, three days after the incident, I forced myself to take a last look online to see if I
could find my bike.
My hope was that the thief would try to sell it on eBay or something like that.
And yes indeed, I was lucky.
On eBay Kleinanzeigen (now renamed into kleinanzeigen.de) I found my bike.
I couldn’t believe it.
Instantely I wrote the seller a message and asked him if I could come by and take a look at the bike.
However, the thief kept me waiting.
Then, Saturday morning a message came in.
“Yes, the bicycle is still available. When would you like to come by?”
What now? - The plan
I was so excited. This was my chance to get my bike back. But how exactly? Should I just confront the thief? Should I take my bicycle back by force? Should I take friends with me?
But responsible as I am, I decided to call the police. Yes, the police. And they agreed to help me. Morever, they told me that I should not go to the meeting point alone. Instead they would send a whole undercover team to come along with me to catch the thief. And that’s how it happened.
The police and me
It was just like in the movies:
I was standing at the meeting point, prepared to meet the thief and to get my bike back.
Yet, I was not alone.
Eight undercover agents were there for my support.
Some of them were hiding behind a corner, while others were watching the scene from a distance (sitting in a café on the other street side, no joke!).
Then, the thief came with my bike, I was pretending to be interested in buying it.
At some point I wanted to know from the “seller” some details about the bike when suddenly the undercover agents came out of their hiding places and swarmed the thief.
“Keine Bewegung! Polizei Berlin!”
He was caught, pushed to the ground, handcuffed and taken away. I was astonished. I had not anticipated that the police would act so quickly and decisively. But I was happy: I got my bike back.
I'm a celebrity
Apparently, the story was so exciting that the BILD newspaper wrote an article about it. I was interviewed by a journalist and a photographer took some pictures of me and my bike. My article even ended up being displayed in the print version of the newspaper. But most excitingly I ended up in the “Berliner Fenster” (the displays all over the U-Bahn wagons in Berlin).
You still don’t believe me?
Check the article in the BILD newspaper!
MIRTAH
During my Bachelor-thesis I developed the novel tool MIRTAH (MIrna Target Assay Helper), which is a web-application, that aims to specifically support the set-up process of microRNA-target validation experiments. The application provides binding site matching, restriction site analyses, and supports selection and modification of target sequences. Moreover, MIRTAH automatically generates uniform downloadable summary reports, which contain the selected parameters and modified sequences. Providing these features, the web-application MIRTAH is closely fitted to the requirements of the preparation process of luciferase reporter assays and facilitates its individual arrangement steps. Additionally, the storage of user inputs and generation of summary reports enables users to save and exchange dynamically their sequence selections, while a consistent documentation format is ensured.
In summary: The newly developed application MIRTAH speeds up the target selection process, lessens the bottleneck-effect and increases the reproducibility and reliability of the reporter assay experiments. In December 2020 the supervising academic chair published the tool as part of a target prediction tool in the paper “Validation of human microRNA target pathways enables evaluation of target prediction tools”.
MIRTAH online
https://www.ccb.uni-saarland.de/mirtah
Publication: Validation of human microRNA target pathways enables evaluation of target prediction tools
https://doi.org/10.1093/nar/gkaa1161
Rutooro-Hymns App
During my year abroad in Uganda, I traveled a lot and met many different communities. One of the peculiarities of Uganda is that although the official languages are Swahili and English, tribal and area-dependent languages such as Luganda, Runyankole, or Rutooro are often spoken in an Ugandan’s daily live.
I spent the last two months of my volunteer service in the southwest of Uganda (see this blog entry) in an area where Rutooro was primarily spoken. In this area, I was able to meet many interesting and inspiring individuals and build important friendships. Sabitii David, one of my local co-workers and friends, eventually animated me to develop a smartphone app for church songs translated into the local Rutooro language. With this app, people with smartphones have the ability to join in worship in churches quickly and inexpensively, even without a songbook.
And that’s how the app “SDA - RutooroHymns” was finally developed. Currently the app has been installed over 1000 times (May, 2021). If you want test this app for yourself, check it out here:
SDA - Rutooro Hymns on GooglePlay Store
Rutooro-Hymns App in Google PlayStore.
My volunteer year
“Oli otya?” - That was one of the first language phrases I learned when I arrived in Kampala, the capital of Uganda. In the regional language of Luganda, there is no synonym for “hello”. Instead, people usually greet each other with an “Oli otya?” (“How are you?”) and thus quickly get into conversation with people. This habit of outgoingness and kindness fascinated and inspired me much from the very beginning.
From Oktober 2018 until August 2019 I conducted in cooperation with the humanitarian organisation “ADRA” a volunteer year in Uganda. And it was one of the best decision of my life! I was never forced so strongly to overcome the borders of my comfort zone, while also being in daily contact with inspiring, compassionate, and throughout authentic people. With the hope to infect further people with my fascination for foreign cultures I set up an online blog. Thus, don’t hesitate to check it out and discover my many and varied experiences: