Juli

Post 993987616

Signaleringstest Internet » Mijn resultaat: "Je zit ruimschoots in de gevarenzone." Uitleg: "Het onderzoek concludeerde dat 3.5% van de internetgebruikers op een problematische manier internet. Zij internetten privé 8 uur of meer per week." Daar lach ik om. ;-)

Post 993988973

This Page Intentionally Left Blank » "[...] It is the primary reason to offer internet wanderers a place of quietness and simplicity on the overcrowded World Wide Web -- a blank page for relaxing the restless mind."

Post 993989161

Guardian | Mistaken identity » Researchers cast doubt on the assumption that the 300-year rampage of the Black Death through Europe was bubonic plague, caused by the bacterium Yersinia pestis. The pattern of its emergence, spread, symptoms and disappearance is more consistent with an Ebola-like virus, they say. Ironically, exposure to this virus may have given some Europeans resistance to HIV infection.

Post 993989334

Porn Zapper - Downloads - CNET.com » "Porn Zapper finds and deletes porn from any computer. By looking for 'skin-colored' pixels in image files, Porn Zapper is able to quickly locate pictures with suspected pornography. Once found, you can delete the files or move the files to a holding area."

Post 994062128

We rented O Brother, Where Art Thou? (2000) last night. I had wanted to see this for ages. And now I have. It's a very original movie, typical for the Coen brothers. Definately one I'd recommend. "Loosely based on Homer's 'Odyssey' the movie deals with the grotesque adventures of Everett Ulysses McGill and his companions Delmar and Pete in 1930s Mississipi. Sprung from a chain gang and trying to reach Everetts home to recover the buried loot of a bank heist they are confronted by a series of strange characters. Among them sirens, a cyclops, bankrobber George 'Babyface' Nelson (very annoyed by that nickname), a campaigning Governor, his opponent, a KKK lynch mob, and a blind prophet, who warns the trio that 'the treasure you seek shall not be the treasure you find'." Check out the website or this site, which is dedicated to the music of the movie.

Post 994062630

Here are some interesting human detection facts, from Uselessknowledge:

» You can see a candle flame from 50 Kilometers on a clear, dark night.

» You can hear the tick of a watch from 6 meters in very quiet conditions.

» You can taste one gram of salt in 500 liters of water (.0001M).

» You can detect one drop of perfume diffused throughout a three-room apartment.

» You can detect the wing of a bee falling on your cheek from a height of one centimeter.

Post 994069039

Very cool! Word HTML Output 2 Formatting Object » "WH2FO is a Java application that processes an HTML output, created with Word 2000, and transforms it into an XML content file and an XSL stylesheet file. From these files, a standard XSLT processor may be used to obtain a file containing only XSL-FO markup. You can also apply a stylesheet that converts the XML back into HTML discarding all the extra markup added by Word. Using an XSL-FO renderer, such as FOP, you can also render your document into PDF."

Post 994074124

Hurah! The Slackware Linux Project » "Today brings us the first major release of Slackware Linux for 2001 - Slackware Linux 8.0! This is a major upgrade, affecting almost all the packages in the distribution. Updates include XFree86 4.1.0, Linux kernels 2.2.19 and 2.4.5, KDE 2.1.2, GNOME 1.4, glibc 2.2.3, and all the usual utilities. Additions include ProFTPD, OpenSSH and OpenSSL, mod_ssl and mod_php, full support for the 2.4 kernel series, and many more."

Post 994075706

For once I agree with John. Fixing the Internet » "People think I'm joking when I propose we shut down the Internet for five years, scrap TCP/IP, and develop a secure transport protocol that can be used safely for all online transactions. But trust me, I'm not kidding. Here are solutions to my top pet peeves - along with my plea for Microsoft to cut back on browser features, please!" Read the article, please.

Post 994083797

Cool indeed. Snowball Earth: Science grapples with a puzzling new theory: the extreme ice age. » "Even the scientists who first thought up the idea didn't think it was possible: That the entire Earth could have frozen over and been encased in a solid cover of snow and ice, perhaps for millions of years. ... Snowball Earth 'is an extreme example of an instability of the climate system', Hoffman said. 'As a geologist, the remarkable thing about the last 10,000 years is how remarkably stable the climate has been'.''

Post 994096906

"Een visgraat in de keel wordt zacht door het drinken van citroensap. Na een paar slokjes spoelt hij vanzelf mee."

Post 994146689

Neat utility » sHTMLc (show HTML code) is meant for those who write HTML tutorials published on the Internet and therefore have to present HTML code to the reader. This means that some code must be changed in order to show correctly. sHTMLc converts the code you copy to the clipboard.

Post 994158113

You might have noticed yesterday's last post about how you can remove fishbones from your throat. Shortly after I posted that I went to the store to get some lemonjuice (which you should drink, as the post says in Dutch). Because last night I had cod ('kabeljouw filet') for dinner, which according to the package, was without bones. Yeah right! No way. Right after dinner I felt something sticking in my throat. Tried coughing. That didn't work. Drink some water. Drink more water. Had a biscuit. Had a banana. All of it didn't work. Trying to pull it out with my fingers didn't work. Although that did invoke a nice vomiting reaction once or twice. And with the banana and all, that's not pretty picture. I'll spare you the details.

Post 994158813

So I gave myself an ultimatum, if it hadn't gone before 10:00 this morning, I'd make an appointment with the doctor (my local GP in Hazerswoude) for the afternoon. That way, I could still go to work in the morning. Ofcourse, reality checked in when my doctor's assistant told me over the phone, that the practise is closed on tuesday afternoons. But I could be added to the list at 10:30. Ofcourse I could never make it with the bus, but my colleague Grozdana was kind enough to drive me. Unfortunately the doctor couldn't see anything and arranged for me to go to the Throat, Nose and Ear clinique ('polikliniek keel-, neus- en oorheelkunde') in the Elizabeth Hospital in Leiderdorp. So we had to go all the way back to Leiderdorp, practiacally where we started from. Great. Fortunatelly the doctor there could see the bone and removed it with a pair of tweezers. It had been stuk in my right toncil. It was a thin piece of bone, about 2 centimeters long. Sigh of relief. That felt much better, and now I am home again. I'll go back to work tomorrow. And I'm pretty sure I won't be having fish for dinner tonight.

Post 994158967

Today is the 30th anniversary of the death of Jim Morrison (in full James Douglas Morrison; b. Dec. 8, 1943, Melbourne, Fla., U.S. - d. July 3, 1971, Paris, France), ofcourse well known as singer of The Doors. Read more info on the band on the Britannica.com website.

Post 994159000

"This is the end, beautiful friend

This is the end, my only friend, the end

Of our elaborate plans, the end

Of everything that stands, the end

No safety or surprise, the end

I'll never look into your eyes... again"

» The Doors - The End «

Post 994233724

I love these things! Bookmarklets for Power Users » "Bookmarklets are one of the best kept secrets of scripting and the browser. These tiny utility scripts reside in your browsers toolbar or bookmark list and are great for power surfing and development. Learn to create your own or use existing ones."

Post 994234173

Damn, this is hard! FilmWise Invisibles » "an Invisible is a screen shot from a movie in which some or all of the actors have been completely removed from their clothing. It's your job to figure out what the movie is."

Post 994238610

By the way, yesterday evening both Tjerk nor I were in a mood for cooking, so we went to Alphen to get a 'broodje Griekenland'. Which is a piece of pita bread, filled with Giros meat and load of Garlic sauce and unions. Wow. Very excellent.

Post 994246478

Rented 4th Floor, The (1999) last night. Was allright. I'm not extremely enthusiastic, but the time could have been spend worse ways. "A young woman (Juliette Lewis) moves into a new apartment that she inherited from her grandmother, who had died there in a bizarre accident. She is immediately confronted by totally bizarre neighbors and someone is obviously out to get her as rats and flies engulf her apartment. But with the array of weirdos around her, who might it be? Everyone warns her to stay away from her upstairs neighbor (Austin Pendleton), but he is the only one who shows any kindness. Supposedly the neighbor below her is an 80 year old woman, but she hammers the floor so hard when the young woman moves furniture that she breaks tiles. Another neighbor (Shelley Duvall) seems kind enough to begin with, but later seems more interfering and threatening. Also her weatherman boy friend (William Hurt) can't be ruled out. Contrary to his desire for her to move in with him, she moved into the apartment. Picture builds suspensefully throughout the beginning, but slips into the expected threatened woman film at its culmination."

Post 994251106

Yesterday, Tjerk bought the Wrox XSLT Programmer's Reference (2nd Edition) book. It promises to be very cool, and I'll read it soon. » "XSL (eXtensible Stylesheet Language), a vital companion to XML, is used for two main purposes: to format or style XML data so that it can be displayed in a browser and to transform XML data (XSLT). When you transform an XML document, you manipulate the data into a new structure, for example, re-ordering the data. This enables the same data store to be used in an unlimited number of ways. XSLT is a flexible, customizable, and cross-platform language.

XSLT is a notoriously difficult language to understand, but this book, while being a complete reference to the recommendation, will also give code examples showing how it all ties together and can be effectively employed in a real-world development scenario."

Post 994325213

Check out CF_MobileCommPager » I wonder if this will work from my site, so selected users can contact me on my phone. That would be cool.

Post 994326816

"Reblogger is an alternative to the very popular BlogVoices. It allows readers of Web Logs managed by Blogger to post comments on a post. Reblogger features a post counter, which indicates how many comments have been made on a certain post. This is a feature that used to be offered by BlogVoices but has been discontinued." I've already tried it a few weeks ago, but wasn't pleased with the way it looked. But I do like the concept of a comment system. And even though I doubt it'll be used, I placed the code in my template once more. Click on the number at the end of each post to comment on it. And try to keep it decent ;-)

Post 994327147

With my compliments to the makers. ezEdit Scratch Pad v1.0 » "ezEdit is a free browser-based WYSIWYG editor. With ezEdit non-technical users may compose/edit complex HTML documents without any knowledge of HTML."

Post 994333426

I'm currently reading up on Fusebox » "Using the Fusebox architecture will increase teamwork efficiency, productivity, and reduce the time it takes to build a web application. The Fusebox architecture has been created from the research of over 200 professional web developers to create a simple yet elegant architecture that can be used with almost any web application servers.

Currently the Fusebox architecture only works with ColdFusion although there will be future versions of the architecture designed for PHP, ASP and JSP. If there is enough of a demand for these, the implementations will be sped up.

The Fusebox architecture is designed to be simple and easy to understand. It is based on on modular programming in a web scripting environment. Fusebox is designed to be understood by the beginner to give the beginner a good base to start with, while giving the expert programmer the ability to take their application to the next level." For more information you might also like to check out Hal Helms' Fusebox Tutorial.

Post 994333905

Also very interesting is the cfObjects website » "Wouldn't it be awesome if ColdFusion -- a powerful tag-based, easy-to-use, highly scaleable product -- supported the use of objects? Inheritance, polymorphism, encapsulation -- the whole shebang." However, the latest release of CF, version 5, finally comes with this ability itself. I wonder what the differences are, and which one is better.

Post 994336316

"It has become appallingly obvious that our technology has exceeded our humanity. " - Albert Einstein (1879-1955)

Post 994337551

Excellent tips! Business for Boneheads » "When in doubt, confuse 'em. Nobody can resist a person who boldly asks the question, "So, do you think the Lakers will win the Pulizer this year?" Regale them with theories positing The Hobbit as a coded tale of homosexual love in English academia. They may not understand you, but they won't forget you, either."

Post 994340031

Equality! Invasie van vrouwen op het net zet door » "In Australië is 48 procent van de internetters vrouw, in Nieuw-Zeeland 46 procent, in Zuid-Korea 45 procent, in Hongkong 44 procent, in Singapore 42 procent en in Taiwan 41 procent. In Europa is Finland de koploper met 46 procent. Nederland staat hier op een 6e plaats met 41 procent vrouwelijke surfers."

Post 994340249

Ik heb gelukkig al bericht gehad over de leverdatum. Hoera! Postbank overspoeld met aanvragen voor gratis mobieltje » "De Postbank heeft ruim 600.000 reacties gekregen na een actie voor een gratis mobiele telefoon. De Postbank moet echter tienduizenden spaarders teleurstellen omdat er 'slechts' 500.000 toestellen beschikbaar zijn."

Post 994340334

"I have an existential map; it has 'you are here' written all over it." - Steven Wright

Post 994404138

Watched The American President (1995) last night. I didn't have any expectations, other than thinking it would be another American patriotic story. But nothing else was on, so I deceided to give it a go. I was actually pleasently surprised. "A U.S. President (Michael Douglas) is in the White House, but he was elected after being widowed. Now, 3 years into his presidency, he starts to date again, becoming involved with a environmental lobbyist (Annette Bening) despite the political fireworks that may cause."

Post 994405364

Wow, long live the 80s, again. Indiana Jones 'set for comeback' » "According to this article, Harrison Ford and Sean Connery and contemplating teaming up for a fourth Indiana Jones movie possibly set in (surprise, surprise) Atlantis. It is rumoured that George Lucas and Steven Spielberg will produce and direct the movie, respectively. Listen? Can you here the music? Can ya?" (Via Slashdot.)

Post 994406915

"Puzzled by one of life's little mysteries? Don't be afraid to seek enlightenment." Check out Ask Yahoo!

Post 994412556

We all just keep on talking about those Smart Tags » "Moral rights are a bundle of rights that remain with the author of a creative work even after she sells the copyright to it. The concept originated in France, where it is believed that a creative work necessarily incorporates the character of the author. Unlike copyrights, which are a property right that can be transferred, moral rights are intrinsinc to the author and her work. They cannot be transferred.

Smart tags, says Fraase, may well violate the moral right of integrity. This right prohibits the distortion of a work in a way that would damage the reputation of the author. Since smart tags could link to anything from advertising to extremist points of view, they are quite likely to damage the reputation of an author insomuch as the user associates those links with the original author of the page they appear on."

Post 994416102

After lunch I'll switch to Opera. DaveNet: Survey: Microsoft-Free Fridays? » "What if every Friday were a Microsoft-free day for the Web? You can use MSIE any day but Friday. To give something back to the Web, if you want to read my site you would have to use Mozilla, Opera, OmniWeb, Lynx -- anything but Microsoft's browser. One day a week."

Post 994420115

I've changed the

definition in my stylesheet. Not a lot, but a bit. I wonder if you can spot the difference. Also I've once again removed the Reblogger code. I know, I'm awful. But all those [0] at the end of my posts are really depressing. So if you want to share, just use plain ol' e-mail.

Post 994422807

"Now, now my good man, this is no time for making enemies." - Voltaire (1694-1778) on his deathbed in response to a priest asking that he renounce Satan.

Post 994425709

Looking for the next Napster » "As Napster collapses slowly into a musical black hole, millions of people who once searched painlessly for free music on the Web are hunting for the next online file-swapping utopia."

Post 994426178

This sounds cool. "MusicTicker is a general-purpose plugin for Nullsoft WinAmp which enables you to output the name of the currently playing song and recently played songs to an HTML file ready for publication on the World Wide Web."

Post 994427218

Interesting » "On a monthly, weekly, and sometimes daily basis, this Google Zeitgeist page will be updated to reflect lists, graphs, and other tidbits of information related to Google user search behavior."

Post 994436872

Addicted To Coffee List » "You Know You're Drinking Too Much Coffee When..." Funny, even though I never drink coffee. Don't know why. I just prefer tea, I guess.

Post 994447643

"Sometimes, I feel the fear of uncertainty stinging clear.

And I can't help but ask myself how much I'll let the fear take the wheel and steer.

It's driven me before, and it seems to have a vague, haunting mass appeal.

But lately I am beginning to find that I should be the one behind the wheel.

Whatever tomorrow brings, I'll be there with open arms and open eyes.

Whatever tomorrow brings, I'll be there. I'll be there."

» Incubus - Drive «

Post 994449185

Take a loot at the Blog of the Week list over at the Blogger.com website. I hope I get a mention. That would be cool. Oh, I almost forgot. I signed up for a free domain over at eMEisp (for more details, take a look at this post). Deceided to go with mirthe.org, because mirthe.com was already taken. Damn! Anyhow, I don't quite know what to expect from the service, but what harm can it do, really? And it' s free!

Post 994526591

I just went into town this afternoon, with Tjerk. I needed to get a buspas for the coming month when my student public transport card isn't valid. I have make sure I can get the money back from my employer, because it cost me a little more than 100 guilders! I didn't expect it to be that expensive. We also wanted to get tickets for the Opeth concert, but it turned out that the sales hadn't started for that yet. I have to keep an eye out for that one. By the way, it was enormously busy in the city center, because this week is the week of the yearly Lakenfeest in Leiden, where the city celebrates the origin of its wealth from the production of cloth (=laken). More information about that can be found on this page or this page. Anyway, we didn't feel much like cooking tonight and enjoyed our meal over at the McDonalds. And ofcourse, as we were walking home from the busstop, it started to rain quite heavily. That's always nice ;-) At the moment I'm working on the makeover of my other site The Lyrics Archive. So I'd better get back to that. Have a good evening.

Post 994597585

I would like to apologize for my fellow Dutchmen, who unleashed this unto the world. And to think that Big Brother 3 will start here, this season. Sigh. Evolving Reality TV Tests the Audience's Endurance » "We're definitely lying flat on our backs this week, with the disinterment of 'Big Brother', now called - with characteristic wit - 'Big Brother 2'. It's such a shame. The show's failure last year in the United States, compared with huge success in Europe, was a happy moment in American culture. For an instant, we weren't the lowest common denominator. Even the French proved to have terrible taste, tuning in by the millions this spring to watch 'Loft Story', their version of 'Big Brother'."

Post 994598349

"If you were plowing a field, which would you rather use? Two strong oxen or 1024 chickens?" - Seymour Cray (1925-1996), father of supercomputing

"#3 pencils and quadrille pads." - Seymoure Cray (1925-1996) when asked what CAD tools he used to design the Cray I supercomputer; he also recommended using the back side of the pages so that the lines were not so dominant.

"I just bought a Mac to help me design the next Cray." - Seymoure Cray (1925-1996) when was informed that Apple Inc. had recently bought a Cray supercomputer to help them design the next Mac.

Post 994678458

Note to self » search for 'log analysis' at ZDNet Downloads. Then download the most interesting looking files and test them with the logfiles for The Lyrics Archive. I now have loads of files of 15 to 60 (!) MB and need to figure out what to do with these.

Post 994689252

"Knowledge speaks, but wisdom listens." - Jimi Hendrix

Post 994690235

Pretty cool! Linux on the iBook2 » "This page is a living document of my experiences and research in getting Linux installed and running on the new Apple iBook2 (also referred to as iBook Dual USB or iBook 500). Some if this information also applies to the tiBook, and probably even a little bit to other Apple laptops."

Post 994702865

My parents just called. Everything's fine. There on a campsite near Toledo » "Toledo is one of the most important centers of european medieval history. The first one to report about it was Roman author Titus Livius, who describes it as a "small fortificated town", and fortification has always been an important parameter in its history, still evident to today's tourist for the monumental walls around, and the "Swords of Toledo" gave to its steel-production world-wide fame. It was capital of Spain from the Gothic epoch until 1560, fact that explains its really impressive medieval architecture. Walking through its streets one feels like having stepped back into the Middle-Ages, but in the best sense of it, and perhaps you will search your pockets for a few gold-ducats to buy some of Toledo's fine artisany or just to enjoy of its highly recommandable cuisine."

Post 994763492

Why can this be done in France and not in The Netherlands? Sigh. The Register » France to spend FF30bn on broadband for all push. Sod the market, goverment intervention needed to make this thing work. See also (in Dutch) » this post on Tweakers.net "Binnen vijf jaar breedband in heel Frankrijk".

Post 994765316

"Reality is merely an illusion, albeit a very persistent one." - Albert Einstein (1879-1955)

Post 994849238

I was going to post the following last night, but for some reason Blogger was unavailable :-( Anyhow, here we go.

I was reading this very interesting post on Slashdot, called Global Warming: Do You Believe?. I'm fascinated by that subject. Seen all Discovery documentaries on it. If only I could get my timemachine to work, so I could take a look in the future. Anyhow, a quick search on Google resulted in loads of pages. For instance, take a look at the following sites » 1st International Conference on Global Warming and The Next Ice Age, Global Warming and Climate Change on About.com, Ice Age that Follows Global Warming, A Study to Assess Attitudes of Meteorologists Toward Climate Issues and Weather Technology and Climate rides on ocean conveyor belt.

Post 994860423

Herman Brood overleden » "De bekendste rocker van Nederland heeft zelfmoord gepleegd: Herman Brood. Herman sprong van het dak van het Hilton hotel in Amsterdam. Op zijn lichaam was een briefje geplakt met de woorden: Maak er een mooi feest van en misschien zie ik jullie nog eens. Verder bleek er uit de brief dat hij er geen zin meer in had. Herman was 54."

Post 994862635

"In science one tries to tell people, in such a way as to be understood by everyone, something that no one ever knew before. But in poetry, it's the exact opposite." - Paul Dirac (1902-1984)

Post 994923986

Esperanto » I've been curious about this language for quite some time now. But I never took the time to dive into it. Knowing myself, I probably won't now. But atleast the link is here.

Post 994924891

I've got a list at home (come to think of it, it is also featured on this site) with all the names of the songs I still like to download or find or whatever, and one of the songs on that list is a song I heard a couple of times sometime in, I think, 1997. It was a rather strange song and the lyrics where basically none existent. It was a guy singing something like "beep beep" over and over again. Also I believed the guys to be French. So on the list I stated it as "Beep beep song" by "The French guys". After a while it became a running joke in our house. Finding that song would be like finding the holy grail.

Anyhow, yesterday I was watching "Angel" and in the commercial break I was making my way through the channels, when I stumbled upon a Belgian film where they played that song! My brother and I looked at each other in recognition and a quick glance at teletext revealed the movie to be Hombres complicados (1997). Unfortunately the IMDb doesn't contain a soundtrack listing for this one. So I deceided to tape the ending and hope the artist and songname would be shown on the endcredits.

I was in luck. I had a lightbulb moment when I saw the info rolling across my screen. The song was called Pop. The band was Sloy. Hurah! The grail! Now if only I can find the MP3. If you have it, or know anybody who does please let me know. Cheers.

Post 994931725

The radio is on here. They're playing all kinds of commercial stuff all day long. It drives me mad. Now it's Metallica, with Nothing else matters. Not that that isn't a great song, but it saddens me, to see where they've been and to see where they are now. Sigh.

Post 994931781

"The show is through the metal is gone

It is time to hit the road

Antother town another gig

Again we will explode

Hotel rooms and motorways

Life out here is raw

But we will never stop

We will never quit

'Cause we are Metallica"

» Metallica - Whiplash «

Post 994937479

Extremely cool » Scientists Find 'Lost City' of Ancient Rock. "More than 2,000 years ago, the Greek philosopher Plato wrote about a splendid city named Atlantis with fertile soil and glorious temples that 'in a single day and night of misfortune ... disappeared into the depths of the sea.'

Now researchers probing the ocean bottom have found 18-story-high towers of stone -the tallest ever- near a section of volcanic fault ridges that extend for 6,200 miles along the Atlantic Ocean floor." Via Slashdot, also on CNN.

Post 994959964

"'Oprah Winfrey moet president internet worden' » Uit een Amerikaans onderzoek blijkt dat de meerderheid van de Amerikanen denkt dat het internet 'niet te besturen is'. Als er dan toch iemand aangewezen moet worden om het internet te besturen dan moet Oprah Winfrey de president van het internet worden. Ook worden Bill Gates en de Paus genoemd. Het blijkt maar weer dat de Amerikanen niet zo'n scherpe visie op de realiteit hebben." Tja. Wat moet ik hier nu op zeggen. Zucht. Kies dan op z'n minst iemand als Tim Berners-Lee of Richard Stallman.

Post 994961565

"As you may well know, Mr. President, 'railroad' carriages are pulled at the enormous speed of 15 miles per hour by 'engines' which , in addition to endangering life and limb of passengers, roar and snort their way through the countryside, setting fire to crops, scaring the livestock and frightening women and children. The Almighty certainly never intended that people should travel at such breakneck speed." - Martin Van Buren, then governor of New York, in a letter to President Andrew Jackson, 1829.

Post 994961718

"In 15 years, more electricity will be sold for electric vehicles than for light." - Thomas Edison, 1910.

Both taken from Bad Predictions at UselessKnowledge.com.

Post 994966911

I was just browsing the Slashdot archive and came across this interesting post » Ask Slashdot: Significant Documents of the Internet. It's all about "this thought provoking question: If you were creating an anthology of documents which have profoundly affected computing and the Internet, what would you choose? Some examples: Eric Raymond's essay The Cathedral and the Bazaar or John Perry Barlow's A Declaration of the Independence of Cyberspace. Items could be technologically, socially, and economically significant -- either in negative (eg., a lot of US laws) or positive ways." I must remember to check this out at a later date. Right now, I'm almost falling asleep behind the keyboard. Getting up early is a bitch. I'm glad I've taken tomorrow off. A nice day to relax. Although, knowing me, I'll probably crawl behind my PC anyway. Sigh. Think I'll go and zombify in front of my television right now. That requires far less of me than the Internet does. I wish you a good night.

Kennewickman

I was watching a documentary on Discovery on Kennewickman a few weeks ago. Thought I'd see what the current status is, and what I could find online. Here we go. A Battle Over Bones "An 8,400-year-old skeleton found in Washington State has become the subject of a legal battle between scientists, who want it studied, and the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers, which was planning to turn it over to five American Indian tribes, several of which want it reburied immediately. The skeleton is one of the oldest ever found in the New World, more than 90 percent of it has been recovered, and enough organic material remains to permit radiocarbon dating and DNA analysis." You might also like to check out the book "Ancient Encounters: Kennewick Man and the First Americans" by James C. Chatters at Amazon.

Post 995019021

Heb net gekeken op "ADSL MetaCrawler, uw informatiepunt voor ADSL. Op deze site vindt u een algemene postcodecheck die bij alle ADSL providers controleert of u al over ADSL kunt beschikken. Daarnaast vindt u een compleet overzicht van alle beschikbare ADSL abonnementen en hun specificaties zodat u binnen enkele minuten het meest geschikte abonnement kunt uitzoeken en afsluiten." Maar helaas, nog geen ADSL voor mij. Zucht.

Post 995019122

As you may or may not have noticed, today is Friday the 13th. But why is Friday the 13th considered unlucky? » "The modern basis for the aura that surrounds Friday the 13th stems from Friday October the 13th, 1307. On this date, the Pope of the church in Rome in Conjunction with the King of France, carried out a secret death warrant Against "the Knights Templar". The Templars were terminated as heretics, never again to hold the power that they had held for so long. There Grand Master, Jacques DeMolay, was arrested and before he was killed, was tortured and crucified.

Superstitions swirling around Friday as being lucky or unlucky have existed since ancient times, beginning with the northern nations. Ancient Romans dedicated the sixth day of the week to their beautiful, but vain, goddess Venus, so, when the Norsemen adopted the Roman method of naming days, they naturally adopted Venus as their name for the sixth day of the week. Their closest translation for Venus, Frigg, or Freya, eventually evolved into Friday, a day they considered to be the luckiest day of the week.

From a religious standpoint, Muslims tout Friday as the day Allah created Adam, legend has it that Adam and Eve ate the forbidden fruit, the apple, on a Friday, and later died on a Friday, and Christians consider Friday as the day on which Christ was crucified by the Romans.

The Scandinavian belief that the number 13 signified bad luck sprang from their mythological 12 demigods, who were joined by a 13th demigod, Loki, an evil cruel one, who brought upon humans great misfortune. The number 13, in the Christian faith, is the number of parties at the Last Supper, with the 13th guest at the table being the traitor, Judas. When Christians combine this day and number, the combination can only hold special significance."

See also Why Friday the 13th Is Unlucky at About.com.

Post 995105711

"I read somewhere that 77 per cent of all the mentally ill live in poverty. Actually, I'm more intrigued by the 23 per cent who are apparently doing quite well for themselves." - Jerry Garcia (Grateful Dead)

Post 995105814

Internet2: The Once and Future Net » "Launched in 1996, Internet2 offers super-fast connections to two fiber-optic backbones and networking protocols that ensure data arrives at its destination without loss or delay."

Post 995105834

"My mother never saw the irony in calling me a son-of-a-bitch." - Jack Nicholson

Post 995190710

It saddens me deeply to read about the things that are going on in Afghanistan. » Take a look at the RAWA website (Revolutionary Association of the Women of Afghanistan). "If you are freedom-loving and anti-fundamentalist, you are with RAWA. RAWA is a political/social organization of Afghan women struggling for peace, freedom, democracy and women's rights in fundamentalism-blighted Afghanistan." Via Slashdot.

Post 995191295

Summer doesn't appear to be starting anytime soon. It's the middle of the season and I'm still wearing longsleeves. It's started to rain again. Well, I'm not that disappointed, since I have to work through the summer this year, and that's not very nice when it's really sunny outside. I'd better go and get some breakfast in a minute. But I wanted to check my mail first. Don't you just love weekends?

Post 995191813

Tjerk and I rented some video's last night. We went for the somewhat older stuff, since that's cheaper. Ended up with Private Parts and EDtv. I rather enjoyed both, actually. So certainly not a wasted evening. We started with Private Parts (1997) » "Having always wanted to be a disc-jockey, Howard Stern works his way painfully from radio at his 1970's college to a Detroit station. It is with a move to Washington that he hits on an outrageous off-the-wall style that catches audience attention. Despite his on-air blue talk, at home he is a loving husband. He needs all the support he can get when he joins NBC in New York and comes up against a very different vision of radio." As I said, an enjoyable movie, even as you, like I have now knowledge of Howard Stern whatsoever. And the Ozzy cameo is great too.

Post 995192135

After that we watched Edtv (1999) » "Cynthia, TV producer, has an idea about how to save the station: A normal person's life should be broadcasted 24 hours a day. 'Ed TV' is born the second her eye falls on Ed Pekurny, a sympathetic Joe Sixpack. After the first week on air Eds fame grows and grows, but conflicts break open: His brother Ray publishes a very negative book about Ed, who now dates Ray's ex; Ed's parent's partnership problematics are broadcasted nationwide and a very attractive and seducing model uses innocent Ed to raise her own fame. Also, Ed's contract proves to be unquittable, so that Ed Pekurny suddenly can see the golden bars around his cage. But in a country that switches the TV set on for breakfast and off for bedtime, nearly everything can happen - and people can be counted on. Remake of a French film, Louis XIX: Roi Des Ondes."

Post 995193525

"You are a child of the universe no less than the trees and the stars you have a right to be here. And whether or not it is clear to you, no doubt the universe is unfolding as it should." - Desiderata

Post 995197661

Took the Personality Disorder Test, here's the results (more info)

Disorder: Rating » Paranoid: Low » Schizoid: Moderate » Schizotypal: Low » Antisocial: Low » Borderline: Low » Histrionic: Low » Narcissistic: Moderate » Avoidant: Moderate » Dependent: Low » Obsessive-Compulsive: Moderate. So, there you have it.

Post 995200476

I've just joined Weblogs.Com » "Express yourself to the world, whenever the feeling strikes you!"

Post 995277963

"I am become death, shatterer of worlds." - Robert J. Oppenheimer (1904-1967)

Citing from the Bhagavadgita, after witnessing the world's first nuclear explosion.

On July 16, 1945, the first successful test of the atomic bomb was conducted near Los Alamos, N.M.

See also » this Article and Britannica.

Post 995361517

I've just posted a new thread at A List Apart, for people who make websites. Maybe you're also interested. Here it is »

"Open invitation to creative people! Whether you've just started experimenting with stylesheets or whether you're a pro, some CSS practice is always nice. That's why I invite everyone to come to my site, the Lyrics Archive, at http://lyrarch.com and help me design 5 alternate stylesheets. The code is freshly made over, but I'm not all that happy with the current style. It needs something. You can read more on http://lyrarch.com/style.cfm. I'm looking forward to the reactions, also, don't hesitate to mail me at webmaster@lyrarch.com."

Post 995361714

New front opens in Web standards war » "Web standards advocates are declaring victory in their battle over browsers, but as they turn up the heat on their next adversary it's clear that their longstanding crusade on behalf of elegant design principles is far from over." Sigh.

Post 995373303

Not that I am, but what if you were bored? Well, you could go here, here or here. Or you could simply gaze out of the window a bit longer. It's up to you.

Post 995377373

I apparently have some kind of conflict on my PC at home. I'm running Windows 2000 and have a Soundblaster Live from Creative Labs and a Logitech cordless mouse with wheel. As you may have noticed these are links to driver pages, where I have to go soon and check out the info. Hopefully there are newer drivers than the ones I have right now. It's a real bummer right now, because everytime I play any kind of soundfile, whether it's an MP3 or a game or a DVD, my mouse hangs and shortly after my entire computer freezes. As you might be able to imagine, that really sucks.

Post 995378595

LOL: Nobel Prize Committee Adds 'Most Ripped Abs' Category » "The Alfred B. Nobel Foundation's annual awards ceremony was enhanced Friday with the addition of the first-ever Nobel Prize For Ripped Abs. The new category was established by the Nobel Committee to honor outstanding achievement in the areas of upper abs, lower abs and obliques. ... Seaver plans to use his $950,000 prize money to travel throughout the Third World teaching the poor how to add definition to their abs."

Post 995440362

My maternal grandmother and my mother
July 18 1951 is my mother's birthday. This means she's 50 today. Happy birthday, mummy!

I could sing "Happy Birthday", but that wouldn't look very nice in my blog. So here is some information about the song » "The melody to the song "Happy Birthday to You" (also known as "The Birthday Song") was written in the 1890’s by an American woman by the name of Mildred Hill. Her sister Patti, who was a teacher, put the lyric "Good morning dear teacher, good morning to you" to fit the melody. The song grew in popularity over the years and was eventually sung in schools across the US. Forty years later, Patti came up with the familiar words "Happy Birthday to You, Happy Birthday to You, Happy Birthday Dear , Happy Birthday to You", and fit those words to her sister’s melody. The entire song was then published in 1935. The song was popularized later in the 1930's when it was sung in the Broadway production of "As Thousands Cheer", and has since become the mega-classic hit of all time. One final interesting tidbit: the "Happy Birthday to You" song (lyrics and melody together) are still under copyright protection, so every time you hear them sung on TV or radio, for example, royalties are being paid to the publisher (Warner Chapel, in the US)."

Post 995447264

A good resource on Dutch History is HollandHistory.com. It is rather a shame though that most of the content is external, and all links open in new pop-up windows. But still, if you'd like to learn more about the backgrounds of my tiny country, it's a site to take a look at.

Post 995451083

Plastic | As MTV Reaches 20-Year Anniversary, Non-Preteens In Every Nation Yawn » twenty years. Can you believe it? I don't know how long I've been able to see it. Can't be more than ten. But I'm sick of the way it has absolutely no identity. I used to watch Headbanger's Ball religiously. It had a personality. Vanessa Warwick, Paul King, Ray Cokes. But I have no idea who are on now. All anonymous, interchangeable people. Even the music (which is the whole point of the thing) is boring and predictable. Nowadays it's all R&B and the occassional Limp Bizkit. Who needs that?

Post 995457570

Watched the movie Jersey Girl (1992) last night. I had already seen it, though that was ages ago, and I didn't really remember much of it. It's a very lovable film though, as long as you're in the right mood. "Jersey Girl is a great romantic comedy. The tagline calls it a Cinderella Story With Big Hair and that it is, but Jamie Gertz's Tobey gets the man of her dreams without the help of a fairy godmother. Tobey lives in New Jersey and dreams of a better life that doesn't include her dead end job and evenings at the Bendix diner with her girlfriends. She thinks she'll find that better life by picking up a guy at the local Mercedes dealer...see the movie to find out what happens. As the opening credit song states 'Jersey Groove, She's got a Jersey Groove'."

Post 995458188

I ♥ this: BSOD Properties and Other Customizations » "Are you tired of the same old blue screen of death? Well say good-bye blue screen and hello to green screen, or purple screen, or black screen of death! Just download this simple little utility called BSOD Properties and select your favorite color." Don't forget to check the root of this site.

Post 995461933

The discussion on webstandards continues. "Opera was chosen by Symeon to be the embedded browser in the next generation web capable cel phones. Symeon is the organization founded by Nokia, Ericson, Phillips, and four or five other major cel phone manufacturers to develop some form of standardized OS for next generation cel phones. This just made Opera a "big player" as you have to realize that the number of non-standard user agents is going to grow explosively in the next decade. It is getting a growing PC user base (more so in Europe from what I hear from developers I know over there) and it has a Mac version being released. It is standards compliant and is becoming more so." See also » cross-browser.com.

Post 995465541

Sigh. "Microsoft XP will apparently drop Java support, not only for Java apps, but in the browser as well. XP users can still download and install Java seperately, but of course, how many will choose to do so?" ‡ See Slashdot and Tweakers.net.

Post 995466403

Cool! Buzzword Bingo » especially "Dot-bam (n): A Bricks And Mortar (i.e. existing offline) company trying to come to terms with eBusiness" and "Cross-platform (adj): Internet Explorer on Windows 98 and Windows2000".

Post 995528112

Logboek Spoor » "De Volkskrant biedt lezers de mogelijkheid ervaringen - negatieve en positieve! - te delen over de zomerdienstregeling van de NS. In de krant verschijnt regelmatig een weerslag daarvan, aangevuld met reportages, nieuws en achtergronden."

Post 995535663

Tjerk rented the game Icewind Dale from the library yesterday. Looked rather cool. I know what I'll be doing this weekend. "The latest AD&D game from Black Isle Studios can be summed up easily: Baldur's Gate, with a tighter focus and more goodies and monsters. In fact, I'll have to admit that I ended up liking Icewind Dale more than Baldur's Gate because of the tighter focus. So, if you liked Baldur's Gate you'll like Icewind Dale, and if you didn't enjoy Baldur's Gate well, you get the idea..."

Post 995536844

Rented Unbreakable (2000) last night. I had rather high expectations and though I did like it, it wasn't as good as The Sixth Sense. So, if you're looking for something to rent, this is definately an option. Though I have to mention that whoever made the soundtrack has to be sacked. That was completely wrong in my humble opinion. Anyhow, Unbreakable is the story of "Security Guard David Dunn miraculously who survives a catastrophic train crash outside Philadelphia. Not only is he the sole survivor out of 132 passengers, he also is completely unharmed.

A little later, comic book specialist Elijah Price contacts him to confront David with an incredible theory: Elijah, who has been nicknamed "Mr. Glass" due to his more than fragile bones, thinks that David has got all which he himself lacks. The two of them "seem to be linked by a curve, but sitting on opposite ends". First, David does not believe the strange man, but every single thing he had said proves to be true: David has never ever been hurt or sick in his life, his physical strength is larger than normal and he has a skill which others don't. Slowly, David begins to discover the shocking truth behind Mr. Price's assumptions. But after all, David's fate is not only to find his real place in the world. It also is about proving Elijah's theory of his own existence."

Post 995541601

I was reading the "Tweak Windows for Productivity and Personalize it for You" guide over at Got Apex? Take a look, there are some cool ideas.

Post 995635428

Sinds ik weer van werkplek ben verhuids begin ik toch weer steeds meer last te krijgen van RSI. Erg vervelend. En het was nog wel zo fijn weg. Ik voel mijn rechterschouder nu weer de hele dag prikken. Zal wel komen doordat dit bureau veel lager is. Nou ja.

Nog anderhalve maand (schrik! zo weinig maar??) en dan ben ik klaar met mijn afstudeerproject. Ik zag trouwens dat de diploma uitreiking dit jaar op 14 maart plaats vindt. Dat is tevens mijn verjaardag. Dus als ik nou mijn laatste 2 tentamens in de eerste tentamenperiode haal, kan ik met mijn verjaardag mijn diploma ontvangen en ben ik dus precies op de eerste dag van mijn 23ste levensjaar afgestudeerd. Wat een vreemd idee zeg.

Bijna weekend! Totaal geen plannen, en die zullen wel niet komen ook. Gewoon lekker rondhangen. Heerlijk. Vooral uitslapen lijkt me nu zalig. Ik ben best wel moe. Ik weet niet waarom, ik lag toch al om half 12 in mijn bed. Maar goed. De ene keer slaap je gewoon beter dan de andere.

Mijn mobiele telefoon is er nog steeds niet! Zucht. Erg flauw hoor. Die van mijn moeder (ja, door die Postbank actie moeten we er nu allemaal aan geloven) zou vandaag geleverd worden. Gelukkig is de tijd erg precies gedefinieerd, namelijk tussen 12 en 17 uur. Nou, dan weet je het wel, 5 voor vijf gaat dan de deurbel. Dat is altijd zo. Eén van die vreemde wetten der natuur. Net als die sokken die je nooit meer bij elkaar vindt als je de was gedaan hebt.

Post 995639584

I'm intrigued by the theory of the Butterfly Effect. Or is it just because it's friday afternoon and I want the clock to flash forward to 16:53 so I can get up and head for the busstop? Anyhow, it's the "idea that small initial changes can result, in complex/chaotic systems, can result in massive differences in ending points in the not too distant future. It takes its name from the idea that the air pressure caused by a single butterfly flapping its wings over China can result in a huge storm over Canada."

SQL

I'm working on a particular tricky SQL query today, so I was looking for some help online. On my travels I bumped into this excellent SQL Tutorial » "This page is a introductory tutorial of the Structured Query Language (also known as SQL) and is a pioneering effort on the World Wide Web, as this is the first comprehensive SQL tutorial available on the Internet. SQL allows users to access data in relational database management systems, such as Oracle, Sybase, Informix, Microsoft SQL Server, Access, and others, by allowing users to describe the data the user wishes to see. SQL also allows users to define the data in a database, and manipulate that data. This page will describe how to use SQL, and give examples." You might also be interested in the SQL part of W3schools and About.com.

Post 995714708

"To be awake is to be alive." - Henry David Thoreau, in "Walden"

Post 995714718

Which is exactly how I feel this morning. Not very alive, but awake. And that shall have to be enough for now. I've finally finished Faye Kellerman's 'Stalker'. And am now thinking about what I shall read next. I have A Long Finish by Michael Dibdin lying beside me on my desk. But I'm not sure if I'm in the mood for that. Yesterday, o no wait, it was thursday, I was finding a seat in the bus on my way to work, when I noticed that the guy next to me was reading Clan of the Cavebear by Jean Auel. This is one of my alltime favourite books and I felt like reading it again, the moment I saw it. But I've already read it like 7 times. Maybe I'll give Michael Dibdin a chance to prove himself, and if it doesn't interest me, I'll get Auel from the shelve again.

Post 995739077

The new Aardschok (by the way, my hands are itching to give that site a makeover) arrived this morning. I still haven't found the time to read it completely, but on one of the first page I've read that the new Tori Amos album will contain a cover of Slayers' "Raining Blood". I can't wait to hear it. I just did a search on Google, but I still need to look through the results. Just wanted to mention it in my notes, before I forget.

Post 995740470

My mind is burning, I'm burning

I can't feel you anymore

Have I reached my point?

Will I drown in delusion?

The winds fell silent

And in my cerulian twilight

I left myself once again.... it's overwhelming

Suffer yourself and let me die here awhile

» Anathema - Cerulean Twilight «

Post 995799594

Watched Walking and Talking (1996) last night, but as I was falling half asleep, I taped the end and finished watching it this morning. What an exciting life I lead. Anyway, it's the story of " Two longtime best friends are closing in on thirty; that's bad enough, but when Amelia (by Catherine Keener) learns of Laura's (by Anne Heche) impending marriage, she feels happy, jealous, panicked, and desolate. Amusing look at the joy and strain of friendship (not to mention dating and therapy), with fine performances all around." To quote one of the reviews at the IMDb » "These characters really act as if they are best friends. One great accomplishment of this film is that it is about everyday events which are transformed into having importance because we see the characters giving them importance, without it being heavy-handed. Another is the dialogue: these people are comfortable being cynical with each other, without being mean spirited. This is a small film with a big heart."

Post 995872192

Take a look at these screenshots of FreeCiv for the handheld with Windows CE. Now if only I had me one of those...

Post 995882741

I've just uploaded the latest version of this site. I now have a new feature, which allows you to change the style of The Hermit's Tower. Isn't that cool? I'll probably design some more styles in the future. If you have any cool ideas for new styles, you can always let me know.

Post 995883368

Slashdot | Study: Playing Computer Games Makes Kids Smarter » "The Sunday Times is running this article on the results of a study by the Economic and Social research Council (ESRC). The study found that, 'people who play games regularly seem to develop a mental state that we have seen before only in serious athletes or professionals such as astronauts, whose life depends on concentration and co-ordination ... Their minds and bodies work together much better than those of most other people ... They had more friends, were better adjusted and tended to read more.' Hey it's just a study, but it's amusing."

Post 995973340

Wow, I've been rather busy this week. I haven't even had any time today to post something meaningful. The reason for all this is that I finally took the time to continue writing on my report. I'm adding some theory to my practical experience at the moment. I'm already on 60 pages, even though I have very little 'real' content. Most are all kinds of models and overviews and screenshots. But I've finally gotten my hierarchy in order and have a good idea what I need to add or change. So that's good. I'm just getting very irritaed by that damn Word. It has already crashed a few times on me today. Why is it that the biggest word processor on the market today, Word, can't handle big documents? I just don't get it. I've actually been thinking about doing the whole thing in XHTML. That way I can atleast control everything. The only thing that worries me is that I have to hand in four printed versions in the end of my asignment. So if anybody has any experience with things like page-breaks and header and footers, please let me know. Better get back to work. See you.

Post 995977195

Cool » The FAQchest has been created to help you on your development projects by providing you with searchable archives of discussion forums.

Post 995980393

"Blessed is the man who expects nothing, for he shall never be disappointed." - Anonymous

Post 996053153

It's actually rather correct. Wow. Emode.com - The All New Ultimate Personality Test » I'm an Observer »

"You like television. At parties, you lounge around on couches and watch other people flirt and act stupid. But at the same time, you're happy enough to go along with the group. You don't like drawing attention to yourself - red platform shoes or flamboyant, sequined outfits are out of the question. A perfect evening for you means a cozy chat with a good friend and a pint of Haagen-Dazs.

Like all mellow folks, you're not too into serious soul mining. You'd rather just relax than freak out about yourself. But at the same time, you recognize that understanding your inner nature can help you further develop your sense of intuition, discover parts of yourself that remain below the surface, and learn how to better communicate with others. And that's cool, right?

At work, you're a team player, but chances are you aren't clamoring for that big promotion. Where to go for lunch is enough of a decision for you. You work best under a routine, and you avoid challenges that require too much improvisation."

Post 996062183

Ik ben bezig met mijn verslag. Heb her en der wat sites gevonden met meer informatie en tips en dergelijke. Want om nou te zeggen dat in de stagegids van mijn school staat, nee. Zo is daar bijvoorbeeld Stage- en Afstudeerverslag, Standaardindeling afstudeerrapporten en Eisen aan en richtlijnen voor de verslagen. Ga zo nog wel verder zoeken. Maar ik denk dat ik het meeste wel weet onderhand. Mijn indeling is ook wel goed. Ik moet alleen meer naar stelling en conclusie verhalen met een rode draad enzo. Momenteel is het nog teveel een procesbeschrijving. Maar dat vlecht ik er achteraf wel tussendoor. Daarnaast moet ik ook nog een aantal functionaliteiten van het systeem uitwerken. Het eind is wel in zicht, maar ik ben er nog niet. Langzamerhand word ik trouwens wel steeds nerveuzer over mijn afstudeerpresentatie. Ik haat presenteren! Neen, daar kijk ik niet bepaald naar uit.

Post 996070429

Slashdot | Another Nasty Outlook Virus Strikes » "ZDNet and Wired are both reporting on a new virus that spreads via Outlook. Nothing particularly original there, except this virus is pretty unique both in how it operates, and what it does, such as emailing random documents from your harddrive to people in your address book, and hiding itself in the recycle bin which is rarely checked by virus scanners." I've just received it myself. Fortunately I use Yahoo's Browser mailclient, and simply deleted it.

Post 996134185

Rented Keeping the Faith (2000) » "Best friends, a priest (Norton) and a rabbi (Stiller) both fall in love with the same girl (Elfman). However, neither of the men can pursue the relationship due to their religious beliefs: the priest cannot break his vow of celibacy and the rabbi cannot marry her since she is not Jewish." Read the epinions.

Post 996134311

And Coyote Ugly (2000) » "Sexy, romantic comedy about a girl in her early 20s named Violet Sanford going to NYC to pursue a dream of becoming a songwriter. Violet gets a "day" job as a bar maid at a nightclub called Coyote Ugly. Coyote Ugly is the city's newest hot spot were the employees are a team of sexy, resourceful women that provoke the clientele and press with their mischief." And here's a link to the epinions.

I gave 'em both a 7 at the IMDb, though I'd rate "Keeping the Faith" higher if I could add percentages.

Post 996134632

I've abandoned A Long Finish by Michael Dibdin. It wasn't terribly interesting, and I wasn't in the right mood for it. But I deceided not to reread Jean Auel. I've read it way to often and it's to heavy to carry around every day (I can't wait for e-books!). So a trip to the library last night resulted in The Skystone (Camulod Chronicles, Bk. 1.) by Jack Whyte. Yes, you guessed it, another Arthurian legend. What is it with me, that I can't read enough about it? Anyhow about this one » "In a time preceding King Arthur and Camelot, two Roman men, Publius Varrus and Caius Britannicus, Arthur's great-grandfathers, try to preserve the best of Roman life and build a new culture out of the wreckage of the old and, in doing so, create a legend." Here are some epinions.

Post 996135130

"There are only two tragedies in life: one is not getting what one wants, and the other is getting it." - Oscar Wilde (1854-1900)

Post 996146252

Ridiculous! » "MEGADETH have been banned from performing in MALAYSIA and their new album 'THE WORLD NEEDS A HERO' removed from record store shelves after the country's government branded their imagery unsuitable."

Post 996229672

I almost forgot to mention this! Tjerk is currently in the air, flying to Chile! He doesn't have to start work untill August 13th, and when he got invited by his girlfriend, who is staying with relatives for 7 weeks, he decided to go. I am actually quite jealous. As you probably can understand. He will be the first of the two of us to leave the continent. Sigh. Anyhow, he got his passport yesterday, booked the tickets with Air France via the Internet and left for Schiphol at 06:00(!) this morning. He'll land at 19:00 (that's local time, it'll be 01:00 here) tonight. Wow. Long day, eh?

Post 996232174

Here is some info on Chile. It's "officially Republic of Chile, Spanish República de Chile, country situated along the western seaboard of South America and extending approximately 2,700 miles (4,300 kilometres) from its boundary with Peru, at latitude 17°30¢ S, to the tip of South America at Cape Horn, latitude 56° S, a point only about 400 miles north of Antarctica. A long, narrow country, it has an average width of only about 110 miles, with a maximum of 217 miles at the latitude of Antofagasta and a minimum of 9.6 miles near Puerto Natales. It is bounded in the north by Peru and Bolivia, on its long eastern border by Argentina, and to the west by the Pacific Ocean. Continental Chile and its offshore islands comprise 292,135 square miles (756,626 square kilometres). The capital is Santiago." More info on Yahoo!.

Post 996233830

ToothArt » One question: Why? "Flash your crush a toothy grin while wearing the heart tattoo, make your mom jump with the frog tattoo, or stick on a star, flower, happy face, butterfly or peace sign."

Post 996244123

Halfproject (designers communicate) is real pretty, rather heavy on a dial-up though, but still pretty. Take a look.

Post 996244644

"The boy had been sent home from school early on the last day of class for throwing water balloons. He went back to the school with a .25-caliber handgun taken from his grandfather's cookie tin and shot Grunow when the 35-year-old teacher refused to allow him to speak with friends in Grunow's class." But now the Florida Teen Is 'Very Sorry' for Killing Teacher. It's alright then. Sigh. What is the world coming to. How does one come to such an action. I just don't get it.

Post 996245024

I've been having some Blogger problems. Or maybe they're actually Geocities problems. Anyhow, I've been able to 'post' stuff, but 'publish' gets me "Connection lost. Broken pipe. Connection closed by remote host." Which isn't much help. What to do. Try to be patient. I can do this...

Post 996255593

My phone has just arrived! Hurah. I have to go and play with it now. More details will follow.

Post 996320391

Just testing, to see if I can publish again...

Post 996337891

Like the idea of Ageless, an overview of websites, sorted by the owners birthday. Ofcourse I mailed. Hope to be included someday.

I've got an e-mail from Tjerk a few hours ago. Everything is okay. No crashed in the Amazon or anything. ;-) It's cold over there, he's got a view of the snow on the Andes. And I'm wearing a t-shirt. I'm very jealous. Sigh.

Also, my parents came back from holiday yesterday. They had a good time, entered their usual end-of-holiday-cleaning-frenzy. I decided to leave 'em to it and withdraw into the garden with my book. But everything appears to be getting back to normal now and we're going to celebrate all the safe returns with a meal at the Greek Restaurant tonight. Yummie!

As I mentioned yesterday, my phone has arrived. I just love playing with gadgets like that. Although a phone is not really a gadget these days, but what the heck. I've been scrolling through the menu like crazy, setting alarms, ringtones, voicemail, SMS, and loads of other stuff. I've been working on activating the banking features aswell, but the network was a bit busy today, so I couldn't get that activated yet. But I will.

Post 996400164

Technical FAQ for Linux users » "If you're new (or even not so new) to Linux, there are hundreds of questions, problems, and concerns that arise during the learning process, especially when you're coming from the world of Microsoft Windows. This article addresses a number of miscellaneous questions, both the frequently- and rarely-asked questions, and groups them by topic. The focus is on helping Windows users make the transition to Linux, but those converting from other operating systems should find useful information here as well."

Rental

Went to the CD rental place. Fl. 2,50 per CD for a week. That's not very expensive, so I went crazy. Well not really, but I got some great albums. One of the ones was Badly Drawn Boy - Hour of Bewilderbeast, which I wanted to hear for quite some time now. "In 2000, the techno-folk troubadour Damon Gough, a.k.a. Badly Drawn Boy, won the U.K.-based Mercury Music Prize, Brit-pop's blue ribbon award. His first full-length, The Hour of Bewilderbeast, is a song cycle relaying the life span of a romantic relationship with dry lyrical humor, soft-touch acoustic strumming, mellow horns, and gossamer strings. Repeated listenings are required, but like a down pillow, as your head sinks into this album, its warm comforts and rewards reveal themselves deep within a melodic cushion."

Others I rented are "Dimmu Borgir - Puritanical Euphoric Misanthropia", "Hellacopters - High Visibility", "Halford - Resurrection", "Goo Goo Dolls - Dizzy Up the Girl" and "Megadeth - Risk". So quite a variation of things, really. That'll teach my CD burner!

Post 996480161

Okay, a bit of trivia (from the Trivia newsletter) and then I'd better get on with it.

» Tooth enamel is the hardest substance manufactured by the human body.

» In the second it takes to turn the page of a book, you will lose about 3 million red blood cells. During that same second, your bone marrow will have produced the same number of new ones.

» The epidermis, the outermost layer of the skin, sheds itself at a rate of about a million cells every 40 minutes.

» The average square inch of skin holds 650 sweat glands, 20 blood vessels, 60,000 melanocytes (pigment cells), and more than a thousand nerve endings.

» The rush of air produced by a cough moves at a speed approaching 600 miles per hour.

» The brain reaches its maximum weight at age 20 - about 3 pounds. Over the next 60 years, as billions of nerve cells die within the brain, it loses about 3 ounces. The brain begins to lose cells at a rate of 50,000 per day by the age of 30.

» Between ages 30 and 70, a nose may lengthen and widen by as much as half an inch and the ears may be a quarter-inch longer - due to the fact that cartilage is one of the few tissues that continue to grow as we age.

» The pituitary gland - responsible for producing the hormone that regulates growth - is only the size of a pea and weighs little more than a small paper clip.

Post 996564963

Officials sound Code Red alarm » "A group of government and private security experts took the unusual step Monday of publicly urging businesses worldwide to guard themselves against the Code Red worm, set to reactivate Tuesday with possibly dire consequences for the Internet."

Post 996565806

"Blogdex is a system built to harness the power of personal news, amalgamating and organizing personal news content into one navigable source, moving democratic media to the masses. at current, blogdex is focused on the referential information provided by personal content, namely using the timeliness of weblogs to find important and interesting content on the web." This promises to be very cool.