raymondpoort.com

A picture says more than a thousand words… 😉

…and his name is Misha!

This morning, on September 29 2011 at 5:21h the biggest miracle of all came in our life, our son is born!

His full name is Misha Thomas Poort Dekkers, he is 50cm long (/short 😉 ) and weighs 3.282kg…he is doing great, is really sweet and uhhh, sleeps a lot, we are SO happy!!

ZDNet: “Think logging out of Facebook means the social network can’t track what you’re doing online? Think again. Facebook has had privacy issues for a long time, and while the company has been working to improve its image, today’s episode will likely set it back once again. Thanks to a modified cookie, Facebook allegedly knows what you’re doing online even when you’re not logged in.”

Apparently, the Facebook cookie behavior is fixed now…uhh well, with Facebook you never really know for sure.

Karen Sunde: “To love is to receive a glimpse of heaven.”

As mentioned earlier, it will still take some months before our Nissan LEAF will be delivered. Luckily we were able to make a good deal with the dealer for an ‘in-between’ rental solution; having a second car is making life ‘with a baby’ A LOT easier (also as we are living a bit ‘outside’ 😉 )!

So, we picked up a fantastic ‘full-option’ Nissan Qashqai today (a black one, for all you girls reading this 😉 ) which I will use for my commute the coming months…nice!

TH15 M355463 53RV35 T0 PR0V3 H0VV 0UR M1ND5 C4N D0 4M4Z1N6 TH1N65! 1MPR3551V3 TH1N65! 1N TH3 B361NN1N6 1T VV45 H4RD BUT N0VV, 0N TH15 L1N3 Y0UR M1ND 1S R34D1N6 1T 4UT0M4T1C4LLY VV1TH0UT 3V3N TH1NK1N6 4B0UT 1T. B3 PR0UD! 0NLY C3RT41N P30PL3 C4N R34D TH15. R3P05T 1F U UND3R5T4ND TH15 M355463, 8UT D0N’T T377 4NY0N3 VVH4T 1T M34N5.

(M0R3 0N TH15)

(c) Carlos Naude

Find more inspirational graphic design on his site.

One…of the most fantastic songs ever.
One…but we’re not the same.

One…special moment that I *know* you think of when you hear this song.

One…by U2 as today’s Song of the Day, enjoy!

I had to ask IT support for almost year, and finally managed today to swap my ‘old’ laptop, the crappy Dell E6400, for uhhh well…again a crappy Dell, about the same age (2 year), but…slightly smaller and most importantly, LIGHTER: the Dell E4300. My shoulder already likes the ‘new’ toy, as does my laptop bag (the third one, as I ruined two already in two years…). There is not much to say about the machine, it’s purely functional and not sexy at all (is that why they call it business-line?), and I start to hate it as small things don’t work; the trackpad is not responsive and the webcam operates at an ultra-low resolution, making me look like a cartoon figure… 🙁

(anyway, thx IT support for making the swap possible!)

Duh, this laptop doesn’t come even CLOSE to the new MacBook Air…which I am actually considering to buy, hmmm nice idea!

Thomas a Kempis: “Love flies, runs, and rejoices; it is free and nothing can hold it back.”

T – 10 days actually means that ‘the’ Birth can be anytime between NOW and 20 days…WoW!

We are still very excited and since we have no real clue what to expect, we focus on the Now and enjoy all moments until ‘the day’, and obviously all moments after too!! 😉

Geek alert! 😉

Still here? GOOD!

I got a new gadget today; the Jawbone JAMBOX! A nifty and small portable speaker (still able to pump out 85 decibels though!), that allows me to go completely (bluetooth) wireless while listening to music from my phone or having conference calls…a great toy to bring with me while traveling!

I really like the design which is quite stylish, and it is ready for the future: syncing it with the MyTALK online software platform makes it possible to download apps, upgrade the software, and pack it with the latest features…NICE!

The geeks at Engadget liked it too as you can read in this review. I guess however that they, unlike me, got paid by Jawbone to write it. 😉

BBC.co.uk: “A five tonne, 20-year-old satellite has fallen out of orbit and is expected to crash somewhere on Earth on or around 24 September, according to Nasa…(latest update predicts September 23, plus or minus a day)…Nasa says the risk to life from the UARS – Upper Atmosphere Research Satellite – is just 1 in 3,200. It could land anywhere between 57 degrees north and 57 degrees south of the equator – most of the populated world. However, most of the satellite will break or burn up before reaching Earth. Scientists have identified 26 separate pieces that could survive the fall through the earth’s atmosphere, and debris could rain across an area 400-500km (250-310 miles) wide. Nasa said scientists would only be able to make more accurate predictions about where the satellite might land two hours before it enters the Earth’s atmosphere.”

Quite a relevant story for me, as I am working in the satellite industry…ha, let me know if you are the unlucky one catching this bird, ok? 😉 (uhh, if you still can…)

Haha, only the title of this blogpost might make it impossible for some to read this post (thanks to censorship in some parts of this world 🙁 ), but I couldn’t resist: this song brings back memories from way back! I am actually still amazed that it ever got approved for broadcast with its lyrics and supporting videoclip, ha!

Well, what the heck, it is Saturday night, so get on the dancefloor and bring-it-onnnn: 2 Live Crew with Me so Horny! 😉

What a beautiful day this was (actually still is 😉 ): I had the day off (which is a LONG time ago), weather was fantastic sunny, and we spent a shitload of money by buying a new car!!
After getting the X5 in March we now are the proud owners of an electric car, the Nissan Leaf!!

As mentioned some weeks ago, electrifying my car is not so much a ‘green’ choice, but more a financial one; the advantages of not paying toll and avoiding high gas costs allow us to more or less have two cars for the cost of one, a no-brainer!

We are one of the first 90 people in Norway who ordered the Leaf and the delivery is guaranteed in 2011, exciting! (and until then I can play with the demo LEAF iPhone App, funky!)

LEAF: Leading, Environmentally friendly, Affordable, Family car

While this might not be completely my style of music, this clip is pretty amazing, give it a go and watch it till the end; ALL sounds you hear in this song are recorded purely from voice, mouth, and body…wow!

Sara Zarr: “I think about how there are certain people who come into your life and leave a mark. The ones who are as much a part of you as your own soul. Their place in your heart is tender; a bruise of longing, a pulse of unfinished business. Just hearing their names pushes and pulls at you in a hundred ways, and when you try to define those hundred ways, describe them even to yourself, words are useless. If you had a lifetime to talk, there would still be things left unsaid.”

Conspiracy Theory of the week: the earth is expanding and that amongst other things explains ‘drift’ of continents! Can this really be true?? At first I thought ‘No Way’! But after seeing this video and reading more about it…well, who knows. Interesting stuff!

Just remember, a conspiracy theory is also a theory, and what is currently being seen as the  ‘scientific truth’ is actually the same, just a theory.

Hey hey, one (only one!?! 😉 ) took up last Saturday’s challenge and will join me coming November 4 for the Smashing Pumpkins concert in Oslo!!!

And yes, there can be only one crazy enough to actually come ‘all the way’ from NL to rock with me, haha, no surprises there 😉 …I am *really* looking forward to it, hell yeah!!! (with the obvious condition that it’s not to early for a party, as the baby is due 5 weeks before and the most important things in life always come first!)

A question many have asked themselves today, 10 years after some airplanes took an unexpected direction and flew into New York’s World Trade Center, starting off a ‘war against terror’ (for completely different reasons as what governments and main media would like you to believe btw…).

So, where were you, today 10 years go on ‘9/11’?

I remember waking up in Cairns Australia, getting ready to fly home via Sydney after a 5 weeks vacation where we visited my brother Willem-Jan and Patricia who were on a 1 year trip Downunder….the first thing I remember were the disturbing text messages on my phone informing us of what happened….then a crazy taxi ride to the airport where the taxi driver told us what he heard so far (wtf!)….the uncertainty if the flight to Sydney would go at all….arriving in Sydney and wandering around, seeing some of the city’s highlights, but mainly being shocked by the news and videos broadcasted on big screens throughout the city….awful!!!

Yeah, that day 10 years ago is definitely one of those days on which *everyone* remembers exactly where he/she was when hearing ‘the’ news…