Lesson learned

Whilst casting my vote I learned an important lesson: Do not use your flash when taking a picture of a white voting ballot and red pencil...

With some Andy Warhol magic it doesn't look all that bad...

Using your mobile phone

I just discovered a whole new use for my mobile phone. It can be placed in locations I have a hard time reaching.



This gave me the opportunity to replicate my fridge experiment.

[ but now with moving images... ]

Discount card

The grocery store where I do most of my shopping (Albert Heijn) has a system (bonus-card) with which you receive discounts and are able to collect airmiles. My bonus-card is completely worn down. After spending years in my wallet, the corners are disintergrating.



[ time for a new card... ]

I was therefor very pleased to find one lying on the street: a brand new card!

Front: old card Back: new card

Someone had requested a new card, and only taken the big (rectangular) and one of the small cards.

[ I will now be using the other small bonus card... ]

Driblet tv

I have to keep up with the times. Pictures are nice, but moving images probably say like a 1,000 words per frame...

[ and if you listen really well, there's some sound too... ]

That's why I am proud to present to you: Driblet TV..!




[ all I have to do now is find something interesting to film... ]

Voting soon...

Wednesday it's time, we may cast our votes. Although I haven't made up my mind yet, I do know whom I'm not going to vote for...

[ thanks to computer problems, we can vote with a pencil... ]

Eventhough I'm on the candidate list, you can not vote on me...

Warm autumn

We are now experiencing the warmest autumn in 300 year. With the upcoming elections, some politicians are warning us for a left-wing spring. I, on the other hand, are hoping for an old fashion righteous winter...

[ with snow, ice, dark days and hot chocolate milk... ]

Sunny and much to warm in the Netherlands...

Musquitoooooooh...

I don't know what kind of sub-tropical climate we will get in the Netherlands, but what I do know is that musquitos are supposed to be hybernating in November.

[ and not buzzing around in my bedroom... ]

This musquito was caught and put outside unharmed...

Chi the Nederlands

For the Dutch human computer community I'm a member of the web editing team. Recently they have change their name: Chi the Netherlands instead of SIGCHI.NL (Special Interest Group Human Computer Interaction).

[ or actually Computer Human Interaction... ]



With the new name came a new logo and a new website. And the website is finally live!
Just have a look on www.chi-nederland.nl...

It's pronounced as "Kigh Nay-Dir-Lant..."

Happy WUD!

Tomorrow everything will magically become very user friendly. How come? Because tomorrow it's world usability day...



I will use that day to operate my computer, washing machine and phone, before the clock strikes 12...

[ because on wednesday everything will return to its normal unusable self... ]

Usability, you only notice it when it isn't there...

Pen found

In my 'one thing at a time' post I wrote about a pen in the mens toilet. I now found out who the pen belongs to.



Since it's not a very common type of pen, I assume that the pen I saw on a desk is the same pen...

Here is the blue pen...

Or has mister 'one thing at a time' left his pen on that desk..?

[ I will keep an eye out for that pen from now on... ]

For sale

Interested in becoming my nextdoor-one-below neighbour..? That is now possible!

At night you can still read the 'For sale' sign...

Tool

Just came home after attending a concert in Rotterdam. Tool gave a good show, with numbers from different albums and with a great light and video backdrop.



[ it was a very well received birthday present... ]

Tool in concert...

Gnomes

On the 24th of october I wrote about them: gnomes. Today that mystery was unraffled and re-raffled...



Of the text I saw on the pamphlet on the coffee machine cleaning cart, I missed a crucial piece of text:

Gnomes do not exist.
Please return items downstairs yourself

[ in Dutch: Kabouters bestaan niet... ]

This is the whole text...

So, mystery solved, you might think; no (new) evidence that points to the existence of gnomes. But then I found a new clue that clearly points towards gnomes with a sweet tooth...



[ someone put this message on the fridge... ]

Who has done it this time..?

There was a package of Chocomel Light in the door of the fridge.
Would whoever took it, mind replacing it please.
Thank you.

Do gnomes like chocolate milk..?

[ or do they need to loose weight after all the candy..?! ]

One thing at a time...

Men can't multi task, that's a widely aknowledge fact. Today I encountered a very poignant example of this.



In the mensroom, the following scenario had unfolded itself:

[ it wasn't me, honestly... ]

Oh no, I'm holding a pen and a need to wee, what should I do?
Ah, place the pen here on this shelf and just pee, I can do that.
Did I lock the door..? I hope I did...
Oh, now I need to grap my pen and flush, the choices...

You probably already guessed, the pen stayed where it was...

[ but the guy did flush... ]

Someone missing a blue pen..?

Sensation!

Alarm bells, smoke and skybox seats!



On an industrial area in the west of Amsterdam large amounts of sulferdioxide where produced as a result of an unknown chemical reaction. The Elsevier office offered a nice view on that area.

Apparentlty the cloud smelled bad, but we couldn't smell a thing inside...