Archive for the ‘Blog Entries’ Category

Car for sale

Saturday, May 24th, 2008

We put the old Honda up for sale on finn.no (the same website that we used to find our rental-house on btw.). This little red devil is available for car parts only since it is not registered in Norway…I must admit, that kind of hurts; the car still drives great! But as mentioned before; importing is a no-no.

Already five people have contacted me on the first day, hmm, is the price too low?!? The first one to actually come over to check it out, was not interested in the end…the next one comes tomorrow, thumbs up!!

The London – New York Telectroscope

Friday, May 23rd, 2008

CNN: “Giant ‘telescope’ links London, New York… …When the sun illuminated the lens of the Telectroscope next to the Thames, it was, of course, still nighttime in New York. So the screen inside the scope broadcast back only an empty sidewalk silently framed by the Brooklyn Bridge and the Manhattan skyline.”

Prostate Cancer Prevention Quota

Thursday, May 22nd, 2008

As heard in Adam Curry‘s Daily Source Code: the Prostate Cancer Prevention Quota!

Research (from 2003 no less) shows that men who ejaculate more than five times per week are one-third less likely to develop aggressive prostate cancer (the BBC covered it too).

So, common guys, uhhh…let’s prevent prostate cancer?? πŸ˜‰

Microsoft+Yahoo Search+Facebook = closed Web?

Tuesday, May 20th, 2008

Robert Scoble (aka. the Scobleizer) did it again; creating an interesting theory by combining two separate rumors, a theory that will put the Web as we know it upside down.

This time the fight of future power on the Web changes from Facebook vs. Google to Microsoft vs. the Web, where the potential Microsoft/Yahoo Search/Facebook threesome competes against the open public Web.

It’s interesting to follow Roberts thought process, a nice read, and just in case it becomes true…I should be well prepared to fight back as FriendFeed‘er. πŸ˜‰

We are Wii

Monday, May 19th, 2008

Kissy managed to get a hold on the last Nintendo Wii in Amsterdam Airport yesterday! I guess you know what we have been upto tonight; hehe, indeed…GAMING!!

The two games included contain a variety of minigames; ‘Wii Sports’ has tennis, baseball, bowling, golf and boxing (extremely fun to play against eachother). ‘Rayman Raving Rabbids’, a bit a childish game but with ROTFLMAO humor, even consists of 74 (!!) different minigames…all in all shitload of entertainment, and even physically challenging, grrroovy!

Common myths for the Macintosh

Sunday, May 18th, 2008

“Well, as with many things in life it turns out the facts that I knew about the Mac were either hopelessly outdated or simply myths.”

David Alison, an internet entrepreneur, put up a list of common Mac Myths:

β€’ Mac’s only use a single mouse button
β€’ There are not that many applications for Macs
β€’ Macs are closed machines that cannot be expanded
β€’ Macs don’t work well with Windows machines on a network
β€’ Macs are more expensive
β€’ Macs can’t run my Windows software
β€’ Macs are mouse centered machines. You constantly have to grab the mouse.

It’s a nice read, give it a go!

Norwegian Constitution Day

Saturday, May 17th, 2008

Gratulerer med dagen! Or, congratulations on the day…Constitution Day that is (‘syttende mai‘)!

I’m off to the city for champagne breakfast (apparently a tradition, and, since it is Norway, you’re supposed to bring your own champagne…wtf?).

The weather is supposed to be the worst and coldest of the past 50 years, I’m so lucky, pfff…I hope I don’t catch a cold while watching the parade.

Preparing for ‘syttende mai’

Friday, May 16th, 2008

Tomorrow, May 17, is a special day in Norway called ‘syttende mai’, which basically means May 17. This is the day that the Norwegian Constitution is celebrated. This constitution, signed on May 17 1814, declared Norway an independent nation, it was the first step to full independence from Denmark (which happened in 1905) with which it was forming a Union since 1537.

I am invited to a pre-party tonight in order to prepare for tomorrows festivities in Oslo city…of course I accepted the invite as it is obviously important for my cultural integration process…;)

The WHO SHOC room

Thursday, May 15th, 2008

At the end of my meetings at WHO today, I got a tour around the Strategic Health Operations Centre (also called the SHOC room). This is the place from where WHO is coordinating its response to acute public health crises around the globe (crises such as infectious disease outbreaks, natural disasters and chemical emergencies). What looked like a pretty standard corporate meeting room at first, turned out to be an impressive integration of a variety of top notch multimedia tools (geek time!) providing a looking glass of the disaster area for the team working with the crisis…no surprise that the SHOC room is currently filled with activities related to the two recent natural disasters in Myanmar and China.

In Geneva

Tuesday, May 13th, 2008

I arrived in Geneva, and am trying out a new hotel here (Citadines). So far it proved to be a nice, yet old style hotel. A room with a kitchen, suitable for a longer stay, but a couch bed…wtf?!? It’s on the french side, so I had to cross the border…it’s interesting to visit two countries where I only have to be in one (Switzerland). Up for a good night sleep to be fit for tomorrows meeting with WHO!

At home, BBQ’ing!

Monday, May 12th, 2008

Anyone who followed yesterdays Tweets knows that we arrives safe at home (the Norwegian home that is ;)). Todays day was mainly spent outside; mowing the grass, washing the car, falling asleep in the sun and…bbq’ing!! Yeah, the bbq season has been officially opened today!

I’m looking forward to many many more this year…let the sun shine and the coles burn!

On the road: NL to Norway!

Sunday, May 11th, 2008

We’re ready for the trip back North…it’ll basically be the same roadtrip as last week, but then in the opposite direction (and less rain I presume! ;)).

It’s 6:15 am (ooff!!)…time to leave!

So many little things and a haircut

Saturday, May 10th, 2008

Today was already the last day in NL, typically filled with 1,000’s of these little things…I managed to get everything done, including having my hair cut (= styled).

Hehe, it might sound pretty posh, but I have been coming back to my ‘own’ hairdresser in NL ever since I moved to Norway…! Hmm, what can I say? She’s pretty darn good and I’m pretty darn picky on who I allow to touch my hair! Hehe, Denise is the best…or, was the best! She unfortunately stops cutting/styling…I got to find someone else, maybe someone in Norway this time? πŸ˜‰

One day left, car is packed

Friday, May 9th, 2008

It’s not that often that we’re driving back to Norway, so we use the opportunity to take with us the boxes that we left behind last September…I just packed the car and trust me; it is PACKED!! (besides the boxes, there’s also ‘some’ beer and wine ;)).

I have to admit, I’m actually pretty happy with the size of the ‘family-car’…(ooch, that hurt, it ain’t an A6! ;))

Tomorrow a last, relaxing, day in the sun, the trip back will be on Sunday (which happens to be Pentecost/Whitsunday, so I don’t expect too much traffic).

New Nine Inch Nails album is out…for FREE!

Wednesday, May 7th, 2008

One of my favorite bands, Nine Inch Nails (aka ‘nin’) released their latest album ‘The Slip‘ for free on their website! In a post on their website, frontman Trent Reznor says: “Thank you for your continued and loyal support over the years β€” this one’s on me.”

Well, THANK YOU Trent & nin! I still remember their super show at Rockin’ Park three years ago!

Pohoda 2008 coming up

Tuesday, May 6th, 2008

It has become quite a tradition, and this year is no exception; Robbert and I will go to Pohoda, THE summer festival of choice in Slovakia!

The line-up this year features Fatboy Slim, the Streets, Editors, Lou Rhodes, The Wombats, and many many more (check out the complete program).

I’m really looking forward to it, so, you know where to find me this July 18-19 (just 73 days to go, yay)!! πŸ˜‰

Dads Birthday in the sun

Monday, May 5th, 2008

Working in NL this week gave me a bonus; an extra day off because of Liberation Day! Very welcome since this day also happens to be my dads Birthday…and with weather still being Sunny with a capital ‘S’, this day was Perfect with a capital ‘P’! πŸ˜‰

PS. for number freaks; he turned 63, I just turned 36…funny…

Sunny NL

Sunday, May 4th, 2008

The weather in NL is absolutely stunning! I guess it’s about the same in Norway, so the folks back home have nothing to be jealous for…

Me and Robbert went out last night to our favorite place, ‘De Paap‘ in The Hague…came home around 7am, oof! I must admit, sitting outside doing nothing else than enjoying the sun is the perfect thing for me this Sunday afternoon! πŸ˜‰

On the road: Norway to NL!

Friday, May 2nd, 2008

I’m really looking forward to this roadtrip…it’ll be the first time to drive it southwards and also the first time to do this trip in one day (or at least, we’ll try to do it in one day), it shouldn’t take more than 14 hours, so hey; easy peasy!

The directions are really simple; any road south will do! πŸ˜‰

And we’re leaving… …NOW!

Labour Day?

Thursday, May 1st, 2008

I’m not used to have a day off at Labour Day, it is a standard working day in The Netherlands. Here in Norway however, the first of May *is* celebrated; sjeez, people even have the national flag out at their homes!

Me? I decided to do what the name of this day says; work! It’s nice to have a quiet day in the office, getting some shit done. πŸ˜‰

Actually, I swapped todays day off for a day off tomorrow, so I can drive back to Netherlands a day early (the family-car needs it yearly check, which can only be done in NL).

…back to work now! πŸ˜‰