Apocalypse 2010

In 2007 I blogged about the Large Hadron Collider after seeing a great documentary about it by the BBC. For those who do not know what the Large hadron Collider is: it’s an experiment in which scientist try to recreate the circumstances surrounding the Big Bang to see if they can isolate the so-called “God particle” that gives this universe it’s shape. I have also blogged about the somewhat myhtical year 2012 when some people predict the world as we know it, will end. So what about the 2010 then? Well, a lot of doomsday predictions involve the LHC. Some people […]

Dutch government battles A/H1N1 with leaflet

As of yesterday the Dutch government, together with the RIVM (the Dutch equivalent of the US Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, CDC) have decided they will no longer test all people with flue symptoms for the A/H1N1 virus, or give them anti-viral medication, such as Tamiflu. According to a spokesman for the RIVM they have decided to adopt this new policy because the number of infections in Holland has become so large, the labs that test for the virus can’t handle the work. Excepted from the new policy are pregnant women, people who have a lowered immune system and […]

Going green

In case you’re wondering about the blog title: don’t worry, I have not turned into some eco-friendly, sandal wearing tree-hugger. No, I’m referring to something I ordered online this weekend: a Viridian 5XL tactical green laser/light sight. It is going to be a nice add-on for my H&K P30L that I bought about a month ago. For all purpose and intent it’s not practical in any way. In Holland you can’t own a gun for self-defense (unlike the US), so you can only use it at the range. And – maybe apart from action-shooting – there are no real competitions […]

A/H1N1 underestimated?

Scientist are now publicly debating the fact that they have underestimated the swine flu (A/H1N1). One wonders what this means. After all: the WHO has already declared A/H1N1 a pandemic. What else would they need to understand the severity of the situation? Are we being kept in the dark by authorities on purpose? The news is getting more unsettling recently: so far the virus has been fatal for people that had a previous illness where in a weak condition already. But in England two three previously healthy persons have now died of A/H1N1. One girl, aged 6,died within 48hrs after […]

Google Chrome OS hype

Big news in IT land today. Google announced officially it’s working on Chrome OS. As usual the press immediately translated this news into something like “Google declares war on Microsoft Windows”, which is complete and utter nonsense. I used to be a journalist myself and I find it increasingly annoying how the press nowadays is just giving a twist to news that is besides the truth. Just another hype then? Don’t get me wrong: I love competition and the choice for consumers that comes with it. But Chrome OS is not intended to compete with Windows per se, simply because […]

Goodbye MJ

Ok. I changed my mind. I had decided not to blog about Michael Jackson’s untimely death. To much hype, to much blabla. But  just out of curiosity I watched the Jackson memorial on CNN. I figured I could turn it off if I felt like it anyway. But I didn’t. I watched the whole thing. And yes, I am man enough to admit I did shed a tear. It was when Brooke Shields did her eulogy. The most sincere I heard all evening. Regardless of what you thought of the man: he was a living legend. And if your 40-something like […]

12 Monkeys part 2

The World Health Organization has declared the swine flu officially a pandemic (or alert phase 6) on June 11th. The first flu pandemic in 41 years and infections continue to climb in the United States, Europe, Australia, South America and elsewhere. The spread of the swine flu contagion has not yet reached scary “Resident Evil” like proportions, but I really think things will get pretty hairy out there! Even the famous Wimbledon tennis tournament is effected now, with a total of 28 staff that have been asked to stay at home with suspected swine flu! Surprisingly enough it is getting quieter […]

About Dilbert and Engineers

If your in the IT or technology business, you gotta love the Dilbert cartoons. Dilbert is a cartoon evolving round perfect office humor about a white-collar, micromanaged office featuring engineer Dilbert. There are many, many very recognizable situations in the cartoon and I am 100% sure that anyone that ever had a job will recognize several character trades in their colleagues and – especially – their management. What I didn’t know, is that there were also Dilbert cartoons on TV and on the Dilbert Website. I didn’t know this until I came across a posting on another blog that featured […]

Death to newspapers!

I love Holland, but we sure do have some insane people politicians with the dumbest ideas you can think of. Today was a prime example. Some time ago a commission of wise men decided to examine the future of Dutch newspapers. As we all know there is an economic crisis going on and this hits every part of our society. Newspapers suffer because they lose money on advertising. Most companies spend their marketing budget on other media or a different media mix; they go where their target audience is. And guess what: their target audience no longer reads newspapers. Besides […]