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Hehe, a funny cartoon for the Friday…I know, I know, it’s an easy score, and FUNNYYY!! 😉

Have a good weekend y’all!! 😉

Wow, THAT went fast!! After holding off buying Apple’s MacBook Air for a long time (basically since the it was released in 2008, and especially after the latest update this summer, I decided to order it yesterday (Misha asked for it 😉 ) and was anticipating a 3-4 weeks delivery time (they are quite popular apparently 😉 ). To my surprise I received an SMS from the Apple Store this morning, informing me that ‘my’ MacBook Air was IN, w00t!!!

So, I have been a happy geek today, unpacking and playing with my new toy…and yes, this was my first blogpost from the Air!! 😉

(for my fellow geeks, it is the 13″model with 256GB flash storage and an upgrade 1.8Ghz i7 processor…iLoveIt! 😉 )

It was a beautiful sunny day today and we decided to go to the Botanical Garden in Oslo. This was Misha’s first ‘real’ trip out and actually our first time to go to the Botanical Garden (quite amazing considering that we love nature and have lived here for four years now, shame on us!)…

Well, the Botanical Garden is absolutely a *beautiful* green oasis in the city of Oslo as you can see from the pics below…haha, our little angel didn’t really notice as he slept for the entire walk, humpf!

Well, he will get more opportunities as there is still much we didn’t see…we’ll be back! 😉

Hahaha, friggin’ brilliant…LOL!! 😉

Sun was shining today, and even though it wasn’t too warm (you can dress for that!), we took Misha out for a walk…his first time in the stroller!

And no surprise; for the entire walk he was sleeping like a uhhh baby, again! 😉

It was THE news of today and there was no way to miss it: Apple co-founder Steve Jobs passed away yesterday. 🙁

I have always been a huge fan of him and ‘his’ Apple philosophy, and while the latter remains, the world lost a visionary leader whose legacy will be remember for decades.

As you can see in this timeline of ‘His Life, His Companies, His Products’ published by The New York Times, there a many, many things that he will be respected and remembered for.

For me there is one thing specifically that made a BIG impact on me: the commencement speech to the graduates of Stanford University that he delivered in 2005.

It is less then 15 minutes and especially now, I can really recommend *everyone* to watch the clip and listen to what he has to say, you will learn from it! And…everything happens for a reason!

The transcript of this great speech can be found in the Stanford University News Service Archives.

The second thing I would like to share here, is Apple’s ‘Think Different’ campaign, the best commercial he ever produced…”Here’s to the crazy ones“:

‘…because the people who are crazy enough to think they can change the world, are the ones who do…’

Thank you Steve, we love you!

Stay Hungry, Stay Foolish…

It is almost one week after his birth and one thing is very clear: Misha is an angel! (I know that every parent says that of his own child, and they are all right btw! 😉 )

An angel in many ways (something that I will blog about for sure! 😉 ), and SO relaxed: some people warned me that ‘the’ baby would be very sweet and relaxed the first days in the hospital, but the ‘crying’ would start after coming home and starting routines…well, we’re home for 4.5 days now and the total ‘crying-time’ counter is still below one hour! 😉

(knocking wood)

Haha, it must be coz he is a boy and as we all know: No Woman, No Cry (Bob Marley)! 😉

While the really important things in life are taking place at home, continuously (yes, the big little wonder Misha is doing great!!), one of the less important things in life took place in Cupertino today, when Apple officially launched some new goodies for the masses! 😉

Not a ‘Stevenote‘, since Steve Jobs resigned as Apple’s CEO over a month ago, so the presentation lost part of its usual charm, but nevertheless, enough news to keep the tech-world (and mainstream news) busy. Highlights of today’s presentation were the launch of iPhone 4S, iOS 5 and iCloud.

So, not the anticipated iPhone 5, but then again, what’s in a name…it got the ‘iPhone 4’ type of name because it looks exactly the same as the ‘old’ model, but the inside makes a huge difference (much faster, far better camera, and Siri, a voice controlled assistant!)…a iWanna have device, again! 😉

iOS 5, available in a week, will improve the iDevice user experience a lot, with introducing a better Notifications system, the WhatsApp/PingChat type of ‘free’ SMS service called iMessage, system-wise Twitter integration, completely PC/iTunes free, and many improved applications (Reminders, Camera, Safari browser, Mail)…can’t wait! 😉

Finally, iCloud is to me a kind of .mac/MobileMe on steroids with a LOT of potential that will probably be revealed in the coming year(s), for now it offers a set of free cloud services, such as iTunes in the Cloud, Photo Stream and Documents in the Cloud, and it seamlessly integrated with Mail, Contacts, Calendar. When content changes on one device, all your other devices are updated automatically and wirelessly. Ha, and everything is stored…in the (i)Cloud! 😉

Exactly one year ago today we celebrated the love for each other, and EVERYONE around us with an Ode to Love. An amazing weekend filled with the most positive energy there is: LOVE!

One year later this little miracle made the Ode to Love an Ode to Life…

Today was moving day for little Misha, from the hospital hotel to home (sweet home 😉 )!

It was great to come home and being welcomed by a fantastic surprise (thank you SOOOOO much Katka, you are the best, no words…!). Shortly after I went to pick up my (‘grand’)parents and Kissy’s mom (first time granny!! 😉 ) from the airport, it is really great that they can be here so soon!

My parents also brought the typical Dutch birth tradition ‘beschuit met muisjes’ with them (‘biscuit with little mice’)…and Misha, well he was just happy as always and sleeping like a, uhh, baby! 😉

(as always, click on a picture to enlarge)

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.

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!

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(c) Carlos Naude

Find more inspirational graphic design on his site.

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!

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…)