Archive for July, 2013

The German language

Wednesday, July 31st, 2013

ROTFLMAO!!

The YouTube clip below shows the ‘harshness’ of the German language as a joke, yet in a very funny way. Indeed, pretty harsh especially done this way; one of the ‘worst’ of the languages I know (I consider Dutch a close nr. 2 btw. 😉 ). There are two follow-ups videos which are just as funny as the original (part 2 and part 3)! 😉

 

Part 2:

 

Part 3:

QOTD July 31 2013

Wednesday, July 31st, 2013

W. H. Auden: “Among those whom I like or admire, I can find no common denominator, but among those whom I love, I can: all of them make me laugh.”

Unreal realistic drawing skills

Tuesday, July 30th, 2013

Wow…this guy can draw!! His name is Xiaonan Sun (interview) and mannnn, is this guy talented!

Check out the full-color pastel portrait drawing of Chloe Grace Moretz below…unreal yet sooo realistic! Or the one below that; a two (!!) handed simultaneous drawing of Morgan Freeman and Tim Robbins (honouring the movie Shawshank Redemption).

If you can’t get enough of it, check out his website at ThePortraitArt.com or his YouTube channel.

 

 

QOTD July 30 2013

Tuesday, July 30th, 2013

Dale Carnegie: “Take a chance! All life is a chance. The man who goes furthest is generally the one who is willing to do and dare.”

New header graphic

Monday, July 29th, 2013

I took loads of magnificent pictures during last weeks roadtrip to the South of Norway so the blue skies and green trees header graphic from end of May will have to go…the replacement is worth it though! 😉

The picture below shows the Lidnesnes Lighthouse on the southernmost tip of mainland Norway, stunning views as you can see!

 

Btw. I used the panorama feature on my iPhone and edited the image a little to obtain the image scale I need (830×315)…

QOTD July 29 2013

Monday, July 29th, 2013

Carl Jung: “The meeting of two personalities is like the contact of two chemical substances: if there is any reaction, both are transformed.”

A Leap into the future

Sunday, July 28th, 2013

Yayyyy! The future of interacting with my Mac is here; the Leap Motion Controller gives me a ‘Minority Report‘-like experience, w00t!!

I pre-ordered the Leap Motion Controller months ago, and it arrived yesterday after its international release on July 22. the device is *really* small, has a nice ‘Apple’ inspired packaging and design, as you can see in the geeky unpacking photos below.

My first impression; grrrrrrooovy! It will take some time to get used to the amazing sensitivity and accuracy and yes, I did accidentally close a browser window while trying to click on a link which showed me that I have to be careful; accidentally deleting files or unfriending a Facebook friend could happen these first days… 😉 So, not completely ready for productive computing yet, but that should come when I am more used to it and the OS and programs are ‘Leap-aware’!

 

 

 

 

(click to enlarge)

QOTD July 28 2013

Sunday, July 28th, 2013

Steve Jobs: “Here’s to the crazy ones, the misfits, the rebels, the troublemakers, the round pegs in the square holes… the ones who see things differently — they’re not fond of rules… You can quote them, disagree with them, glorify or vilify them, but the only thing you can’t do is ignore them because they change things… they push the human race forward, and while some may see them as the crazy ones, we see genius, because the ones who are crazy enough to think that they can change the world, are the ones who do.”

QOTD July 27 2013

Saturday, July 27th, 2013

Alfred Lord Tennyson: “The happiness of a man in this life does not consist in the absence but in the mastery of his passions.”

The trip South – Day 4, Canal Street Festival

Friday, July 26th, 2013

What better way to end a roadtrip than with a festival! And coincidences don’t exist so here I am, at the Canal Street Festival in Arendal!
Main acts for tonight; Bugge Wesseltoft ‘n friends feat. Mike Mainieri, Datarock and BigBang!
Especially Datarock will be great; I first saw this band in 2007 at an obscure festival in Slovakia called Pohoda 😉 and again in 2010 in Oslo!

Their performances spread loads of energy, always great to be part of that!

QOTD July 26 2013

Friday, July 26th, 2013

George Bernard Shaw: “Imagination is the beginning of creation. You imagine what you desire, you will what you imagine and at last you create what you will.”

The trip South – Day 2 & 3, South & North

Thursday, July 25th, 2013

There is much more to see down South than ‘just’ Kristiansand, Helleviga and a stunning moon; Mandal with its Sjøsanden beach, Lindesnes (most southern point of Norway) and once again; a fantastic wild camping spot, great sunsets and a stunning moon over the ocean!

Once again; pictures are worth thousands of words! 😉

The road down South is called ‘North (of the) sea road’. 😉

 

Beachtime!

 

My camp site for the night.

 

 

Mandal by night

 

Once again, a stunning moon over the ocean (full moon + 2 days)!

 

Wakey, wakey, rise and shine! 😉
Amphi theater as seen from the tent, and the ocean on the backside…

 

 

Almost at the most Southern point of Norway, a meteorological stone…a warm stone means sun, a wet stone means rain, a white stone means snow and no stone means fog! 😉 😉

 

There it is, the Lidnesnes Lighthouse on the southernmost tip of mainland Norway!

 

 

The plan was to go to the North of Northern Norway, instead I reached South of Southern Norway…this sign closed the circle of my trip, I love it! 😉

 

(click to enlarge)

QOTD July 25 2013

Thursday, July 25th, 2013

James Lane Allen: “You are today where your thoughts have brought you; you will be tomorrow where your thoughts take you.”

QOTD July 24 2013

Wednesday, July 24th, 2013

Scott Westerfeld: “It’s amazing how quickly nature consumes human places after we turn our backs on them. Life is a hungry thing.”

The trip South – Day 1

Wednesday, July 24th, 2013

I left for the South of Norway yesterday, and what a great experience it has been so far! First stop was Kristiansand, and the tourist office pointed me at a fantastic spot for wild camping, Helleviga/Hellevika. “Just park your car, find a spot to set up camp and enjoy a magnificent view over the ocean” is what she said, groovy! When I came there it turned out that wild camping is not allowed?!? (one of the few spots in Norway, as one is allowed to camp nearly everywhere in this country!)

WTF?!?

 

Well, luckily I met Høvard and Sverre who are staying with their families in a house owned by the community and they allowed me to ‘wild camp’ on the grass field nearby! A nice spot which came with a zillion of mosquitos and small flies, yet was perfect for the night!

 

 

 

The bonus I got was a brilliant view of the ‘full moon + 1 day’ over the ocean…words cannot describe the beauty of it, perhaps some pictures can…wow!!

 

 

 

 

(click to enlarge)

QOTD July 23 2013

Tuesday, July 23rd, 2013

William H. Sheldon: “Happiness is essentially a state of going somewhere, wholeheartedly, one-directionally, without regret or reservation.”

Let me Google that for you

Monday, July 22nd, 2013

The advantage of being handy with computers/internet is that: many ask for help, and I can help them with the funkiest kind of geeky challenges.

The disadvantage of being handy with computers/internet is that: many ask for help 😉 quite often with ‘challenges’ that are solved by typing the question into the Google box and clicking on any of the top five hits. I found a hilarious way to answer those requests so from now on I will respond with a link to ‘let me Google that for you‘ (with its tagline “Was that so hard?” 😉 )

An example: “are macs better than pcs” (well, Google is actually not needed to know the answer to that question (=fact) 😉 )

So yes, I will still continue answer and help…with a smile! 😉

QOTD July 22 2013

Monday, July 22nd, 2013

W. S. Gilbert: “If you wish in this world to advance, your merits you’re bound to enhance; You must stir it and stump it, and blow your own trumpet, or trust me, you haven’t a chance.”

QOTD July 21 2013

Sunday, July 21st, 2013

Gloria Swanson: “Never say never, for if you live long enough, chances are you will not be able to abide by its restrictions. Never is a long, undependable time, and life is too full of rich possibilities to have restrictions placed upon it.”

QOTD July 20 2013

Saturday, July 20th, 2013

Diane Frolov and Andrew Schneider: “We hold in our hands, the most precious gift of all: Freedom. The freedom to express our art. Our love. The freedom to be who we want to be. We are not going to give that freedom away and no one shall take it from us!”