Archive for November, 2006

34, still a job, and not for long…(drinks everyday)

Thursday, November 30th, 2006

Jason Calacanis: "36, no job, and nothing to do…. (drinks this Friday)".

I'm in the same situation, so Jason, let's drink together!

News of the day!

Wednesday, November 29th, 2006

I did it! Have informed my manager that I will use my talents somewhere else (the 'somewhere' is not yet defined :))…I've made my decision, quite a big step after working 9.5 years for the same company!!
I feel good, yeah!

breakin’ news

Tuesday, November 28th, 2006

Stay tuned for some breakin' news tomorrow…

Feature request for ‘a’ podcast MP3 player

Tuesday, November 28th, 2006

Adam Curry mentioned it on a DSC from last week: someone should make a super cheap podcast MP3 player.

Jason Calacanis picked up on it and wondered what it would take to make one.

Well guys, if you decide to push for this, I've got the first feature request for ya!

Since I mainly listen to podcasts in the car during my daily commute (so I'm not behind the computer!), it would be great to have a button or method to save specific pieces of information mentioned in that podcast (such as mentioned url's, names of people or other stuff), so one can look that info up at a later, more convenient time (when you're behind the computer!).

I really feel I miss out on a lot of interesting stuff cause I don't have internet at hands while listening…

James Bond’s Mission Impossible

Monday, November 27th, 2006

I saw the latest James Bond: Casino Royale on Saturday. Came back with mixed feelings. On one hand I really liked the movie, the speed was good, stunts nice, sometimes amazing and Daniel Craig surprised me with his performance as the 'new' James Bond. On the other hand I thought the storyline was thin, a bit predictable and James wasn't the true Mr. Bond, untouchable and saving the world from outer space and having babes EVERYWHERE.

On Sunday I saw Mission Impossible III; the storyline was somewhat comparable to Saturdays Bond movie, but the stunts and action/plans the movie hero (Ethan Hunt played by Tom Cruise) pulled off were James Bond worthy…hmm, did I just say that all in all Mission Impossible III was the Bond movie I wished to have seen?!? 🙂

QOTD November 24 2006

Friday, November 24th, 2006

Peter McWilliams: "Acceptance is not a state of passivity or
inaction. I am not saying you can't change the world, right wrongs, or
replace evil with good. Acceptance is, in fact, the first step to
successful action. If you don't fully accept a situation precisely the
way it is, you will have difficulty changing it. Moreover, if you don't
fully accept the situation, you will never really know if the situation
should be changed."

Boom Chicago

Thursday, November 23rd, 2006

My baby took me on a surprise date to Boom Chicago in Amsterdam last night, yey…I love that!! We enjoyed a nice dinner and saw a fantastic show called 'me, MySpace and iPod'. If you have the chance, go and see it!!

QOTD November 22 2006

Wednesday, November 22nd, 2006

Martha Graham: "There is a vitality, a life force, an

energy, a quickening, that is translated through you into action, and

because there is only one of you in all time, this expression is

unique. And if you block it, it will never exist through any other

medium and will be lost."

You might have noticed…

Tuesday, November 21st, 2006

I changed the default behaviour for following links present in my blogposts from 'open in new window' to 'open in same window'…lemme know if you like it (if you care!)

When you’re feeling down…

Sunday, November 19th, 2006

This is *the* perfect remedy when you’re feeling down!

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=G9iiU6NDxIo

My dead Airport Express (1)

Friday, November 17th, 2006

Over 2 months ago I came home and found my Airport Express wireless accesspoint down…even while power was applied, the unit remained completely dead, resetting unfortunately didn't help. At first I considered it to be a matter of 'just' bad luck, my unit failed after a relative short period of time, roughly 20 months, while the standard Apple warranty is only 1 year. Hmm, just bad luck, eh? Well, actually not…

I checked the Apple Airport Express discussion boards to find any clue to resolve the issue and bring the accesspoint back to life. Instead, I found multiple interesting discussion threats in which many other people posted their experiences, suffering from the same defect!! The French website Macbidouille (english translation can be found on Hardmac) is frequently reporting on the phenomenon, the last update from today shows the resurrection of a dead Airport Express! The site also offers a possibility to submit information of your dead Airport Express which they use to deeper investigate the issue.

After reading all this, I came to the conclusion that the defect wasn't 'just' bad luck, but more related to a design flaw. This and the fact that regulations in The Netherlands follow EU directive 1999/44/EG, in which it is stated that (re)sellers should provide a 2 year warranty on sales of consumer goods, made me call the reseller (LJS).

LJS plays hide and seek, using Apple's 1 year standard warranty period as an argument, mentioning that they can't help me out and I should contact Apple directly. They also mentioned that I 'could' follow legal procedures, but already told me that my chances to win this one are low. They apparently have experience in this field…then again, as if I want to take this route for a €129,- device! My time is more valuable, eh?

So I contacted Apple NL, who unfortunately doesn't recognize the problem (yet?) and also couldn't help me out (they should check the Macbidouille / Hardmac website!!). Since I didn't purchase extended 3 year warranty via the Apple Care program when I purchased my Mac mini, they are unable unwilling to replace my Airport Express. I actually didn't know that my Airport Express would be covered within Apple Care!?!

Numerous calls and verbal complaints later (both to Apple as well as LJS), the Apple tech support people advised me to write an official complaint letter to Apple, which could give me a fair chance of getting my accesspoint replaced. You bet I'm gonna do that!

Am still a happy Mac user and Apple evangelist, but this thing shows me that Apple's costumer support is not keeping pace with the increased popularity of Apple products nowadays…a missed opportunity.

…to be continued…

Last night’s game, Quintus – Velo: 3-1

Thursday, November 16th, 2006

Yey…we won again! Despite the fact that we were not playing that consistent, we were playing as a team, worked hard for the points and I guess were less influenced by the lousy referee. Check the Nevobo site regularly to follow the scores y'all!

Brussels visit

Wednesday, November 15th, 2006

Have been visiting my customer BT in Brussels today, went to the old satellite earth station we have been operating for the EC!

Was great to work with all the good'old gear again. Sticking my head in a 19"-rack, having tieraps flying around and working with routers, yihaa! 🙂

Certainly worth the 2x 200km drive…oh, had a good meeting too btw. 🙂

English sayings spam?!?

Tuesday, November 14th, 2006

I received an email today which I certainly tag as spam (looking at the senders address), the contents of the mail however were English sayings. Wonder what the sender wants to accomplish with it?!?

They were nice enough to share so, here they are:

It takes two to make a quarrel.

What goes up must come down.

Kill two birds with one stone.

If you want a thing done well, do it yourself.

You can lead (take) a horse to water but you can't make it drink.

If wishes were horses, then beggers would ride, but you better not think about going outside.

If you don't have anything nice to say, dont say anything at all!

All roads lead to Rome.

A watched kettle never boils.

It's a poor job that can't stand at least one supervisor.

The third time someone tries to put a saddle on you, you should admit you're a horse.

Honesty is the best policy.

Hard cases make bad law.

Never shove your Granny when she's shaving.

It ain't over till the fat lady sings.

Happy wife, happy life.

Better the devil you know than the devil you don't.

QOTD November 13 2006

Monday, November 13th, 2006

Sol Hurok: "Get pleasure out of life…as much as you can. Nobody ever died from pleasure."

Last night’s game, Visade – Quintus: 3-0

Friday, November 10th, 2006

We were all so looking forward in continuing our winning mood. Unfortunately the whole team took a day off and Visade was keeping the pressure high. No chance and a 3-0 loss. We'll do better next week!

…keep the fear alive…

Friday, November 10th, 2006

BBC News: "The "serious, growing threat" of terrorism will be "with us for a generation", MI5's head has warned."

Nice job of keeping everyone on the top of their toes and the fear alive in society…bluhhh!

Podshow+ 2.0 unleash & BT Podshow launch

Thursday, November 9th, 2006

Busy week for the folks at Podshow; the unleash of Podshow+ 2.0 (or is it 1.9?) and launch of BT Podshow UK…I love it, keep 'm coming guys!

For sure I'll check out the 4 networks that make Podshow+:

  • PodShow+ Video Network
  • PodShow+ Music Network
  • Thousands of Cutting-Edge Shows
  • The Coolest & Most Interesting People

QOTD November 9 2006

Thursday, November 9th, 2006

Mihaly Csikszentmihalyi: "A joyful life is an individual creation that cannot be copied from a recipe."

On this day in…(2)

Wednesday, November 8th, 2006

OK, OK, I screwed up…adding the new item 'On this day' didn't work. The parsing module for this snippet failed to show the earlier posts and even caused the mainpage to be emptied out…not a good idea, eh? Will see what I can do to fix it.