I googled “Spring” because I was looked for something on the Java framework. The result inspired me to google the other four seasons as well and take a look at the four image results.
Category: Uncategorized
Too busy!
You know how people always tell you they don’t have time, or they’re too busy to do something with/for you? This is what they’re really doing. Oh, and perfection matters, don’t try telling me otherwise 😉
Fight flames with Unix and Firefox
Thanks to my colleague, who went tripping around Andalusia in the south of Spain and spotted several of these fire extinguishers. Finding the Firefox alone would have been awesome, but the Unix one takes the cake. Between these and the ubiquitous “Bimbo”-brand bread (which is originally Mexican), the Spanish seem to have a knack for branding that raises some eyebrows and lifts some corners of mouths in Anglophone countries.
Pix in space!
The first photograph of earth, taken from space dates back to October 24th 1946. The actual image reminded me of frequent recent news stories featuring hobbyists sending camera’s into space (if you take the definition of space as starting at 100km above sea level not too strictly). In the past few years, a British IT Director, a family from New York, a group of Spanish teen students, a pair of MIT students and probably quite a few more all created low budget craft that went high enough to shoot images showing the black of space and the curvature of the Earth – though only Robert Harrison can actually claim getting to ‘space’.
Panoramic USA, putting Seadragon to use
I’m no fan of Microsoft operating systems. That said, Microsoft does turn out some really great stuff from time to time. Seadragon is part of that and if you’ve watched the Obama inauguration on CNN, you’ve probably noticed their related product PhotoSynth as well. (blah blah, take me to the good stuff) Continue reading Panoramic USA, putting Seadragon to use
Wrapping it up, mission success
I’ve completed my trip across in the USA in three ways today. #1: I’ve met up with the final friend in the USA I wanted to visit; #2: I stood in the water of the Atlantic at Viriginia Beach, after starting out with my feet in the Pacific off the coast of San Diego; #3: I’ve reached Washington DC with the car I brought with me from Los Angeles. I’m going to give Washington a quick look and then I’ll be on my plane back to the Netherlands. Continue reading Wrapping it up, mission success
Good news bad news
The good news is that I keep running into interesting people to talk to. The bad news is that it leaves me precious little time to keep my blog up to date. For the curious: I’ve only three more days left in the US. Today I will be traveling to Chapel Hill, North Carolina to meet up with an online buddy. From there, tomorrow I will travel by way of Virginia Beach to Washington DC, my final stop. I’ll spend all Friday in DC, getting ready to get on my flight and at 21:40 Eastern Time I will be on my way back to London, Amsterdam and ultimately The Hague. Continue reading Good news bad news
Hurricanes hurt the interwebs
It’s not exactly the first thing you expect to go out when a hurricane strikes, but it turns out that wireless internet becomes pretty hard to come by. I drove south from Arkansas, into Texas where I stayed in Dallas and then Houston. In Houston I ended up in a shabby motel that had everything -except- internet. From there I went across to Louisiana and I visited New Orleans. Continue reading Hurricanes hurt the interwebs
Pickle shots and Mexican driving skills
Unlike the northeastern and eastern bit of Arkansas, the central and western parts of it are actually a pleasure to drive through. The country is verdant, hilly and varied and if it weren’t for the lack of notable cities I could see people really wanting to move here. And from what I heard from aging locals, that used to be far more so. Right now, all the really beautfil lakes and woods are slowly turning into log cabin parks, but many of these used to be diamonds in the rough as little as 20 years ago. Continue reading Pickle shots and Mexican driving skills
Gustav is going to pieces
Heading farther south and passing through Illinois, Arkansas and even some Mississippi and Tennessee, I ran into a lot of bikers. Not literally, and that’s a good thing too, since motorcyclists in the US – at least this part – seem to view wearing a helmet as anything but a neccessity. I guess natural selection doing it’s work on this group because I haven’t seen as many bikers as I had expected and the lack of headwear explains it. Ofcourse, wearing a helmet and pretty much nothing -but- a helmet (ok, he was wearing shorts and slippers) isn’t going to do you a lot of good either, when you hit that pavement at 70 mph. Continue reading Gustav is going to pieces