Pold's In/Sight

Geotagging with Facebook

2012-01-03T11:19:00.006+01:00

A couple of days ago I spotted this in the sidebar while visiting Facebook:

The text reads: "Are the images in this album taken in Bavaria, Bavaria, Germany?"

This is the picture:

In my book, that's funny! :-D

Mission: Impossible! (Eller: Skaf to vektortegninger!)

2012-01-02T15:17:00.002+01:00

Problemet: Vi (Læs: I firmaet) har bestilt trøjer hos en trykker. På trøjen skal der være kundens logo plus vores eget.

Trykkeren siger: Send en billede med logoet.
Vi siger: OK!

*Send*

Fordi vi ikke har fået en bekræftelse, ringer jeg og spørger om en ETA for leverance.
Jeg spørger: Er det så'n at du evt. kan sige hvornår vi ca. kan regne med at have trøjerne?
Trykkeren siger: Først skal jeg bruge en vektor-tegning af logoet, du har bare sendt en billedfil!

Efter jeg var færdig med at se ud som et spørgsmålstegn i ansigtet spurgte jeg hvad det så var for noget, og kunne hurtigt regne ud jeg står overfor en opad bakke oplevelse.

Summa summarum:
Det bliver svært, for ikke at sige next to impossible, at skaffe vores eget logo i vektortegningsformat. Som absolut minimum, super tidskrævende!
At skaffe kundens logo i vektortegningsformat vil med stor sandsynlighed kun være mere indviklet/umuligt.

Now what?
Kan det virkelig passe, at vi skal have de originale vektortegninger? ....og kan man ikke fuske, og ud fra et eksisterende logo reverse engineer tilbage til en vektortegning?

Som det sikkert ses med al (u)ønsket tydelighed, er jeg ikke fagmand, når det kommer til tryk og trøjer og vektortegninger, og derfor er min umiddelbare respons: Hjælp!!

Happy New Year, people!

2011-12-31T09:00:00.001+01:00

24 Hours on an Aircraft Carrier

2011-11-17T13:21:00.000+01:00

24 Hours on an Aircraft Carrier from The Seventh Movement on Vimeo.

On 11-11-11, Veteran's Day, a basketball court assembled on the deck of the USS Carl Vinson for the Carrier Classic basketball game. But the action on the hardwood between Michigan State and North Carolina is no comparison to the teamwork that's seen here on any given day.

An ESPN Feature - 24 Hours on an Aircraft Carrier - Produced by Sharon Kum-Matthews, ESPN. Filmed and Edited by The Seventh Movement http://espn.go.com/video/clip?id=7216645

ESPN Front Row - Behind the Scenes http://frontrow.espn.go.com/2011/11/producer-chronicles-a-typical-24-hours-aboard-the-uss-carl-vinson/

HTC Desire: Root-Help Needed!

2011-10-17T13:36:00.002+02:00

I lang tid, faktisk siden juni 2010, da min kæreste og jeg fik hver vores HTC Desire, har jeg med vilje ikke villet roote min telefon. Dels pga. jeg ikke mener det kan være rigtigt, det er det der skal til, for at man kan få fuld gavn af sin telefon, dels fordi jeg ikke er meget for det der punkt der er i stort set alle guides: "...og hvis du fucker det her up, så er din telefon dead and gone!".
Naturligvis er der nogle drama queen hax0rs der skriver den slags for at få lidt kolorit på deres bebumsede tilværelse, men jeg har altid vurderet der er noget om snakken.

Nu er jeg imidlertid nået til det punkt, hvor jeg alligevel overvejer at roote lortet.
Hvorfor nu det?
(Læs den lange forklaring nedenfor, eller hop direkte til "Hjææælp!"-sektionen af dette indlæg.)

Dels er der min kærestes telefon, den har fået fnat. Den kan på et hvilket somhelst tidspunkt finde på at genstarte. Nogle gange bare en kelt gang, andre gange om og om og om og om og om om og om igen til man piller batteriet ud. Andre gange kan den bare ikke startes igen.
Den har også fået noget med at nogle gange vil den selv bestemme hvad der skal ske. Den starter menuer og apps som den selv synes den vil starte. Den kan også få en idé om at den ikke vil tillade man skriver eller klikker på knapper, i stedet kopierer den bare tekst den selv har valgt ud.

Dels er der min egen telefon. Det er som nævnt en HTC Desire. Folk in-the-know vil vide, at jeg lever med følgerne af det totale brain melt down udviklerne hos HTC fik, da de mente at 500MB intern hukommelse er den absolutte topgrænse for, hvor meget plads man nogensinde kan få behov for. ...plus at ikke alle apps lan flyttes til SD-kortet. ...og ikke mindst, så kører jeg med Android! Af et open source system at være, så må det siges at være noget af det mest lukkede, dominerende, bestemme, diktatoriske system jeg nogensinde har været i nærheden af.
Eks. findes der under Administration af Programmer, en lang liste af programmer på telefonen. Nogle af dem er der ingen genveje til, så dem kan jeg aldrig starte. Nå, men så kan jeg jo slette dem? Nej, jeg må nemlig heller ikke selv bestemme hvad jeg vil slette!

Open source my ass!

Det jeg søger nu er, den sikre, den bedste, den mest brugervenlige metode at root en HTC Desire på. Jeg er godt klar over jeg mister alle mine data, indstillinger og apps, men jeg kan ikke se en holdbar fremtid med kun 500MB intern hukommelse, og min kæreste er i den grad klar til at kyle hendes telefon ud af vinduet (havde min telefon haft de problemer hendes har, så var den død - helt død - for længst!

Hvilken metode er den bedste til at roote en HTC Desire (og findes der en metode der bibeholder alle data)?

Valgkampen beskrevet af Egon Olsen

2011-09-14T08:55:00.003+02:00

Få beskriver valgkampen så godt, som den gode gamle Egon Olsen fra Olsen Banden:

"Må jeg være fri! Ti stille! Det er for galt.
Jeg finder mig ikke i det!
Det er det samme hver gang.
Det er det samme hver eneste gang.
Man har en plan - en genial plan! - og så er man omgivet af hundehoveder og hængerøve, lusede amatører, elendige klamphuggere, latterlige skidesprællere, talentløse skiderikker, impotente grødbønder, småbørnspædagoger og SOCIALDEMOKRATER!!!"

Stjålet fra @JesperSode (via FB).

Carte blance?! Tak som byder!

2011-09-07T14:24:00.000+02:00

Velfærdsstaten! Sikkerhedsnet-samfundet! Uanset hvad du kalder det, er der åbenbart ingen grænser for, hvor langt det strækker sig.

Alle har hørt om de pirater, der huserer ud for Somalias kyst. Man må som minimum gå ud fra, at det er noget man i søfartskredse er ret opmærksom på.
Hvis man planlægger en jordomsejling i en lille privat båd, må man naturligvis gå ud fra, at almindelig sund fornuft, vil afholde selv den mest naive tåbe fra at planlægge en rute, der går direkte gennem det mest piratfyldte farvand vi har. Specielt hvis man sejler i en lille, langsom, forsvarsløs båd!

Men nej nej, selv ikke viden omkring pirate forude og advarsler fra andre, kunne afholde en dansk familie+ fra, at sejle direkte ind i løvens hule.
Naturligvis sker det uundgåelige, båden bliver kapret og familien holdes som gidsler.

Hvor var dømmekraften?

Tænkte de "Pffht! Vi er fra Danmark! Hvis vi bliver kidnappet kommer der nogen og redder os!"?
Sandsynligvis ikke! Det håber jeg i hvert fald ikke!

Nu er de frigivet. Eller mere korrekt, de er købt fri!
Jeg har bare et lille spørgsmål: Hvem har betalt?

Hvis en bekendt eller et familiemedlem har haft fuldmagt til at gå ned i banken og hæve 1.300.000$ (eller hvad det nu endte på), så er det fint nok med mig.

Hvis de har haft en "World Wide Full Monty Pirate Insurrance" fra Europæiske, som dækker beløbet, så er det fint nok med mig.

Hvis det er den danske stat, der har lagt ud, med den klausul familien vil betale tilbage indtil gælden til staten er i nul, er det også fint med mig.

Hvis den danske stat har betalt, og familien bare siger "Tak!", er det på sin vis også fint nok med mig. Det betyder nemlig jeg har carte blanche til at opføre mig som en total idiot, og med rette kan have en forventning om den danske stat kommer og betaler regningen. ...i hele verden! Party on!!

Hvem har betalt?
"Nå, men ville du måske ikke selv gerne reddes, hvis du var gidsel hos somaliske pirater?"
Jo, men det er ikke det, der er spørgsmålet. Spørgsmålet er, hvor dum man har lov at være, uden det får konsekvens.

"Men de kan jo aldrig nå at betale pengene tilbage, de vil jo sidde i gæld resten af deres liv!"
Som sagt, konsekvens!
Hårdt? Måske? Fair? Ja!

"Synes du ikke det er straf nok, at de har været fanget så længe?"Jo, det kan der faktisk være noget om!
Det er jo en fantastisk gave, at give sine børn! Igen, hvor var dømmekraften?

For to år siden på Facebook...

2011-09-06T14:11:00.001+02:00

...skrev jeg åbenbart dette:

Selvom det ikke er en direkte negativ tekst, håber jeg der er mulighed for lidt større begejstring efter kampen i aften.

Hey, Norge! Giv os vores olie tilbage, eller I blivet klasket baglæns tilbage ind på Norgesbådens vogndæk! ...så kan I jo træne "Hvor lang tid kan man egentlig bruge på et indkast?" der!

10 Personer går ud og spiser

2011-09-04T20:10:00.000+02:00

Den fælles regning på restauranten ender hver dag på 1.000 kroner, og de ti deler den op på nogenlunde samme måde, som vi betaler skatter i Danmark.

De første fire - de fattigste - skal derfor ikke betale noget.
Den femte skal betale 10 kroner, den sjette 30 kroner, den syvende 70 kroner, den ottende 120 kroner og den niende 180 kroner.
Den tiende, den rigeste af dem, skal betale 590 kroner.
Sådan spiser de sammen hver dag, og alle er de glade for den måde, de deler regningen på.

Lige ind til restauratøren pludselig giver dem rabat: “Eftersom I er så gode kunder, giver jeg jer 200 kroner i rabat på jeres middage” siger han.
En middag for ti personer koster derefter 800 kroner.

Gruppen vil stadig betale regningen på samme måde, som vi betaler skatter her i landet. Så de første fire bliver ikke påvirket: De skal stadig ikke betale. Men hvad med de seks andre - dem som betaler - hvad skal de gøre? Hvordan skal de fordele rabatten på 200 kroner, så alle får en lige del?

Nu skal man holde ørene stive: De finder ud af, at 200 kroner divideret med seks bliver til 33,33 kroner. Hvis de trækker det beløb fra hver persons andel, skal den femte og sjette person have penge for at spise.

Restauratøren foreslår, at det mest rimelige vil være at reducere hver person regning omtrent jævnt, og han sætter sig til at regne på, hvad hver person skal betale.
Resultatet bliver, at også den femte person kan spise gratis, den sjette skal betale 20 kroner, den syvende 50 kroner, den ottende 90 kroner, den niende 120 kroner. Den tiende skal betale 520 kroner i stedet for de 590. Ergo får alle seks personer en lavere pris end tidligere, og de fire første kan fortsat spise gratis.

Men så er det, at én i selskabet begynder at sammenligne, hvad de hver især har sparet, da de står uden for restauranten og snakker. “Jeg fik kun 10 kroner af de 200 kroner”, begynder den sjette person og peger på den tiende. “Men du tjente 70?. “Præcis”, siger den femte person. “Jeg sparede også bare en 10´er. Det er uretfærdigt, at han fik syv gange mere end mig!”.

“Det er sandt”, råber den syvende person. “Hvorfor skal han have 70 kroner, når jeg kun fik 20? De rige skal altid have det bedre!!!”.
“Hør et øjeblik”, forsøger de fire første. “Vi fik jo overhovedet ingenting. Det her system udnytter de fattige”. De ni personer omringer den tiende og giver ham tæsk.

Næste aften kommer han slet ikke til middagen, men de ni andre sætter sig til bordet og spiser uden at vente på den tiende. Da regningen kommer, opdager de noget. Der mangler 520 kroner…”

Lesson Learned: Man kan ikke lave undvigemanøvre i en parkeringsbås!

2011-08-26T16:56:00.002+02:00

I dag så jeg en bilulykke live. I sig selv ikke fedt.

Selvom der var totalt overkill på ambulancer, lægebiler, sygetransport, politi og brandvæsen, var det til gengæld fedt at se hvor hurtigt de var fremme. Indrømmet, der er ikke meget mere end 400m til nærmeste politistaion, men alligevel.

Omkring det totale overkill af fremmødte, især de fem-seks brandbiler, så kan man godt blive fristet til at sige "Hva', klap nu lige hesten!". På den anden side, better safe than sorry! Var der nu gået ild i bilerne, var det måske meget godt, at brandvæsenet allerede var tilstede, men er det ikke også dem, der klipper taget af folks biler?

I løbet af ganske kort tid var den ene vejbane spærret af, manden var ude af bilen og på plads i ambulancen (han var tilsyneladende ikke kommet slemt til skade) og alt var under kontrol. 1-2-3 og alle var væk igen!
Min pointe her er udelukkende, at jeg er imponeret over samspillet mellem de forskellige instanser og korps - Super effektivt!

I øvrigt skyldes ulykken, ud fra det jeg selv så og den info jeg har fået, at ham i den bagerste bil kørte en del for stærk i tæt trafik, overhalede en bus via en mindterrabat og ligepludselig indså der var et fodgængerfeldt med helle-anlæg. Der har muligvis gået nogen i fodgængerfeltet. Han "valgte" i hvert fald at lave undvigemanøvre ind i en parkeringsbås og knaldede op bag i en parkeret bil, der så blev klemt mellem ham og en gadelygte.

Mon dog?!

2011-08-26T10:06:00.003+02:00

Spottet af @minkonto her

...And Justice For all!

2011-06-24T13:22:00.007+02:00

Bassplayers too?

Yesterday was the day "…And Justice for All" GREEN deluxe vinyl went on sale.
I was lucky enough to secure one of only 1.000 copies of this beauty:

Enter: Mailman! Now, please!

If you missed out on the Green Justice, you may be interested in this:

Get a full album's worth of Justice Demos from Invisible Oranges right here!

"The songs exist in various states of completion. “Blackened” is mostly done. Kirk Hammett isn’t. It’s fun to hear him fumble around, searching for the right notes. (He eventually found them. I wouldn’t change a note on this record.) Lyrically, “Eye of the Beholder” has but a chorus. Lars Ulrich is, to put it politely, a very human drummer."

If you ever paid any interest to the bass-debate surrounding "...And Justice For All!", it is well woth your time to pay a visit to Metallica – …And Justice for All: Just the bass. Depending on your stand, viewpoint and/or musical skills, it may be the first time you hear Jasons work for AJFA.

"It’s quite a revelation to hear these bass lines. I’ve been listening to …And Justice for All for over two decades, and I’ve never heard this aspect of the record. Of course, it brings to mind what the album might have sounded like with audible bass – but then again, people have been playing “What If?” ever since Cliff Burton died. These clips will only add fuel to that fire."

Just as a side note, let me add my own "What if?" to that mix:

Den røde taske!

2011-06-23T16:50:00.005+02:00

Nedenstående billede er noget nær genialt!

Klik for at se større billede.
Helle T ser snotforvirret ud. Hjelmen flyver rundt om hovedet på hende og hun ligner en der aldrig har set indersiden af en flyver før! ...eller en hjelm! ...eller en skudsikker vest!
Den totale mangel på situationsfornemmelse bliver sømmet fast vha. den famøse, blank-røde taske. Hvis nogen bliver "taget ud", er der så mere eller mindre troligt, at det er tumpen med skydeskiven under armen?
Man kunne næsten få den tanke, hun har fået tasken foræret!

Ved siden af sidder Lene E i et outfit helt i sort. Hun kunne ligeså godt have haft en taleboble der sagde "Fuck det pis! Jeg har mit eget gear! ..og hvem er hende amatørnissen over i den anden side?". Meget mere "hjemme" i situationen.

Naser ligner klassens tykke dreng. Ham der altid bliver sidst færdig med at klæde om til gymnastik, altid er sidst i bruseren og som altid havde et blik der gav et indtryk af den stod helt stille inde på den anden side. "Hvordan skal den sidde?"-udtrykket er på plads, dog uden der er gået Helle T i den.

Billedet er perfekt, hvis man vil lege med talebobler! Skulle du have lyst, så dle da oplevelsen med os andre!

Billedet er taget fra artiklen "Helle tog sin designer-taske med i krig" på bt.dk.

What if people bought cars like they buy computers?

2011-04-28T16:37:00.003+02:00

General Motors doesn't have a "help line" for people who don't know how to drive, because people don't buy cars like they buy computers - but imagine if they did...

Helpline: "General Motors Helpline, how can I help you?"
Customer: "I got in my car and closed the door, and nothing happened!"
Helpline: "Did you put the key in the ignition and turn it?"
Customer: "What's an ignition?"
Helpline: "It's a starter motor that draws current from your battery and turns over the engine."
Customer: "Ignition? Motor? Battery? Engine? How come I have to know all of these technical terms just to use my car?"

-------------------------------------------

Helpline: "General Motors Helpline, how can I help you?"
Customer: "My car ran fine for a week, and now it won't go anywhere!"
Helpline: "Is the gas tank empty?"
Customer: "Huh? How do I know?"
Helpline: "There's a little gauge on the front panel, with a needle, and markings from 'E' to 'F'. Where is the needle pointing?"
Customer: "I see an 'E' but no 'F'."
Helpline: "You see the 'E' and just to the right is the 'F'."
Customer: "No, just to the right of the first 'E' is a 'V'."
Helpline: "A 'V'?!?"
Customer: "Yeah, there's a 'C', an 'H', the first 'E', then a 'V', followed by 'R', 'O', 'L' ..."
Helpline: "No, no, no sir! That's the front of the car. When you sit behind the steering wheel, that's the panel I'm talking about."
Customer: "That steering wheel thingy -- Is that the round thing that honks the horn?"
Helpline: "Yes, among other things."
Customer: "The needle's pointing to 'E'. What does that mean?"
Helpline: "It means that you have to visit a gasoline vendor and purchase some more gasoline. You can install it yourself, or pay the vendor to install it for you."
Customer: "What? I paid $12,000 for this car! Now you tell me that I have to keep buying more components? I want a car that comes with everything built in!"

---------------------------------------

Helpline: "General Motors Helpline, how can I help you?"
Customer: "Your cars suck!"
Helpline: "What's wrong?"
Customer: "It crashed, that's what went wrong!"
Helpline: "What were you doing?"
Customer: "I wanted to go faster, so I pushed the accelerator pedal all the way to the floor. It worked for a while, and then it crashed -- and now it won't even start up!"
Helpline: "I'm sorry, sir, but it's your responsibility if you misuse the product."
Customer: "Misuse it? I was just following this damned manual of yours. It said to make the car go to put the transmission in 'D' and press the accelerator pedal. That's exactly what I did -- now the damn thing's crashed."
Helpline: "Did you read the entire operator's manual before operating the car sir?"
Customer: "What? Of course I did! I told you I did EVERYTHING the manual said and it didn't work!"
Helpline: "Didn't you attempt to slow down so you wouldn't crash?"
Customer: "How do you do THAT?"
Helpline: "You said you read the entire manual, sir. It's on page 14. The pedal next to the accelerator."
Customer: "Well, I don't have all day to sit around and read this manual you know."
Helpline: "Of course not. What do you expect us to do about it?"
Customer: "I want you to send me one of the latest versions that goes fast and won't crash anymore!"

-----------------------------------------

Helpline: "General Motors Helpline, how can I help you?"
Customer: "Hi! I just bought my first car, and I chose your car because it has automatic transmission, cruise control, power steering, power brakes, and power door locks."
Helpline: "Thanks for buying our car. How can I help you?"
Customer: "How do I work it?"
Helpline: "Do you know how to drive?"
Customer: "Do I know how to what?"
Helpline: "Do you know how to DRIVE?"
Customer: "I'm not a technical person! I just want to go places in my car!"

Slow Food

2011-04-13T18:56:00.003+02:00

Det er efterhånden en del år siden McDonalds kunne klassificeres som fast food. Overprized burgers, bløde/større fries og cola uden brus kan jeg få så mange steder (eks. Burger King). Jeg kommer på McDonald's fordi jeg vil have maden hurtigt, og så gider jeg ikke spilde min tid med at glo på en flok teenagere der arbejder i sneglefart, altid har tid til at stoppe op og fnise og generelt ikke har den fjerneste anelse om hvad god service er.

Det er som om de overhovedet ikke prøver! Kom nu for pokker, møgforkælede, skandinaviske snotunger! Jeg oplever det i Sverige og i Danmark, men ikke i England og Tyskland.
Man kan savne de dage, hvor også de nordiske McD joints satte en ære i at leve op til de interne krav jeg ved de har omkring service level etc. Det var den gang man fik en gratis Sundae eller cheeseburger, som plaster på såret fordi der gik mere end et par minutter inden man fik sin mad.

Stram op, for pokker!

NB! Jeg ved det handler om penge, men grænsen er nået, og overskredet! Værste sparetrick til dato: Burger Kings idé om burgere der er blevet kolde ikke skal kasseres, når de nu kan varmes i microovnen.

Important lesson for pupils!

2011-04-07T09:36:00.002+02:00

Go to bed early so you don't yawn in school!

Don Gs vise!

2011-04-04T16:22:00.002+02:00

Ørkenens Sønner Ol' School:

Admiralens Viser

2011-04-03T12:49:00.002+02:00

I anledning af jeg så Ørkenens Sønner på DR i fredags, var jeg på YouTube for at finde den gamle udgave af Admiralens vise.

Det lykkedes! Til og med i en variant direkte efterfulgt af den udgave Ørkenens Sønner har lavet.

I min bog holder begge versioner hele vejen i banken!

These notes...

2011-03-21T13:36:00.002+01:00

...reminds me a lot about my notes, just slightly more action packed!

Video via @jannikoeie!

HTC Desire vs Internal Memory

2011-03-18T15:44:00.003+01:00

In general, the HTC Desire is a great phone and I like the Android system.

....but a few things could be better! A lot better!

What I like best about Android is the possibility to have it they you want it, pretty much. Widgets or icons, small or large. Install and uninstall programs here and now.

Some things I don't get, and this is some of them!

Why are not all programs listed under programs?
One example: In Program Management, I have an RSS reader, but even if someone held a gun to my head, I wouldn't know how to start it? So I need to download another RSS app. Super!

Why am I not allowed to uninstall/delete default programs?
One example could be the afore mentioned RSS reader that came with the OS. Try uninstalling that if you can!
Let me decide what I want to delete and not delete. If I wanted that kind of limited freedom I would have bought an iPhone!

The worst thing - the worst - about the HTC Desire is....
....the ½ GB internal memory!! ½ GB!!! Really?! Who is the dope-head that figured ½ GB internal memory would be enough? Especially since the OS by far eats up the larger part of that and leaves very little space for apps.
The situation got better with Android 2.2 - The youghurt! 2.2 allows installation on the oh-so-necessary SD card ....IF, and that's a big IF, the app developers has programmed the app to also be able to run from the SD card!
How stupid is this?

"Oh? ½ GB internal menory is not enough?"

"OK, to sort of fix the ½ GB micro-internal memory situation, we have decided to add the option for a SD card! ..which you can't use for apps and thus does not solve shit!"

"OK! OK! So we hear you, all right?! It's now possible to install apps on the SD card! ...well, not all apps, and certainly not the default apps, you know, those apps you are not allowed to delete even if you never use them! ...yes, that's right! We're just fucking with you!"

Try and search the net for the ½ GB micro-memory issue, and you'll get more hits than you can throw you phone at.

However, most hits are stranding at the same solutions:

¤ Root the phone! I'm not doing this! Period! Why? It shouldn't be necessary!

¤ Do the same four steps everyone has tried already:
1) Clear the cache of your apps (Slow, and to little help)
2) Remove the apps you use rarely (Well "Duh?"!)
3) Install apps to the SD card by default (Because nobody thought of that already)
3) Factory reset! (You'll have your system up and running shortly, except everything is missing!)

The Android Market is full of apps claiming to be the solution for the ½ GB issue. Mostly all you get is a different interface for something your phone can do already. I download, try and delete! No more!

I found this article: How to force apps to move to the SD card on Froyo
Before I even consider trying this, does anyone happen to know if thsi works, or if there is a great risk of making your system FUBAR?

What is the solution? Is there a solution? How do you best clean your system for unused files?

Chatroulette story - Fake or real?

2011-03-16T15:25:00.008+01:00

If this is real, its a funny little story.
If it's fake, it sadly confirms my earlier review of Chatroulette, which pretty much can be summed up as "Mostly flashers too lazy to go to the park and curious, little girls giggling while watching afore mentioned flashers".

History Seen Through Windows

2011-03-07T20:31:00.005+01:00

If you have ever used Microsoft Windows or have the slightest interest in software evolution, this is a must see video:

Link via JesperSode

Terkel i knibe - Casting

2011-03-04T12:17:00.001+01:00

FourSquare - A review!

2011-02-27T15:44:00.003+01:00

The idea is actually great! FourSquare is a nice and easy way to ad a little fun to everyday life as well as working in comercial angle.

The fun part is you compete with others to be mayor at this place and/or the other. On top of that you compete with yourself to get badges, which also - I guess - gives you a little competition with your friends.

The comercial angle is added when shops, companies, museums and what not offer you something either for simply checking in or being the mayoer at a specific date.

Is it working?
Not by a long shot!!

Why not, what's the problem?
Well, there are several problems, if you ask me!

What are the rules, where is it OK to check in?
"Check in everywhere you feel like on the way from point A to point B".
"You can check in at point A and point B, not every minor stop in between. If you make a stop at a gas station or a shop, then that's OK!"
"You check in at B when you arrive, that's it!"

Who can check in? An example is employees at a shop offering a special to mayors. The employees are there every day and the race for mayorships will soon be an internal race between employees, meaning no customers will ever get the prize.

Should mayorships ships be reset every now and then? This is a valid question when a new special stats. An example is the Central Railway station is Copenhagen, Denmark. This FourSquare user "Daniel B" was (is?) the mayor for months. Nothing could remove him. Obviously he grabbed the title and he hung on to it. My guess is he works in the neighbourhood and he is there every day.
In December DSB had a special. A great special, if you ask me. The one who was mayor at Christmas Eve (or New Years Eve, don't remember) would get a free trip for two by train to Hamburg, Germany.

It didn't take long to figure out that "Daniel B" would be the winner of that Hamburg getaway. With less than a month to become mayor I was "32 days away from becoming the mayor!", and I had been checking in on almost all week days at that time.
DSB scores points for trying, but FourSquare fails by delivering a system that is nowhere near perfect.
It would have made sense to reset the mayor status at the launch of that special, even if the winner is likely to have been found in a very small group of people with "Daniel B" being the favorite to win it.

Another thing that bugs me is the "Whoa! You have checked in a heck of a lot, give others a chance"-like message. If there is not set of rules, no written ethics or a code to play by, why the heck does FourSquare decide when it's too much?

Suggestions to FourSquare:
- Limit check-in by limiting how much a site can be split up. Ex. I suggest you are either at a railway station or not. Forget all that Track 5, Track 10, Ticket Office multiple same-site-check-in. Same goes for Airports, even if it would take some of the fun out of it for travellers.
- Limit check-in by removing the points system. As long as there are ponts, people will check in to anything and create all these sites that are not really sites or sites that are nothing but dublicates but with a different name.
- Be much quicker at responding to reports of dublicate sites. I see ...well, saw so many dublicate sites.
- Make it possible for site owners to reset mayorships at any time they wish to (possibly with a set of guidelines).
- Explain to site owners that employees should not check in if there are specials.
- Figure out how far away you can check in and stick to it. Some places allow check-ins almost 1km away, others not even 300m.

Would it help if these changes were implemented? No! I would not come back. It's still a great idea, but in my view it's impossible to make a system that will make it useable in real life. At least as long as there is an element of competition to it.

I stopped using FourSquare Friday the 28th of January. It's one of my best moves in a long time! No more stress about having to check in! No more stress about having to keep of regain mayorships or stupid points. No more "Aaaw! I forgot to check in!" just when I'm too far away to check in at a place.

"So, you switched to Facebook Places, right?"
Hell no! I've had it with this crap! Plus I would never do something like that on Facebook. Facebook has that "Trailer Trash" label written all over it!

Marrige test

2011-02-12T14:12:00.000+01:00

I was happy. My girlfriend and I had been together for over a year, and now we had decided to get married.
My parents helped us in any way, my friends have supported me and my girlfriend? She was a dream!

There was only one thing that was bugging me - quite a lot actually. It was my future mother-in-law. She was a career woman, but most of all, beautiful and very sexy.
Sometimes she was flirting with me, quite openly even, and it made me uncomfortable.

One day she called and asked me to come over to check out the invitations. So drove over there.
She was alone when I came. She whispered to me that soon I was a married man, but she had feelings for me and a lust after me as she was not be able to suppress.
So before I married and swore allegiance to her daughter, she would like to go to bed with me, just one time.

I was stunned and totally shocked!
She said: "Now I am up in the bedroom, so if you like, come and take me! "
I looked at her wonderful body when she went up stairs.

I stood there for a moment, then I turned around and walked to the front door.
I opened it and went out of the house.
Outside stood my future father-in-law and with tears in his eyes, he gave me a hug and said: "We are very happy to you our small test consisted. We find no better man for our daughter. Welcome to the family."

And what can we learn from this?
Always keep your condoms in the car!

Der er vitterligt så meget kvinder ikke forstår!

2011-02-11T17:24:00.004+01:00

Forleden sendte min kæreste mig en sms med noget tekst hun har kopieret fra en artikel om det at være på kontoret. Artiklen viser sig at være en blanding af fakta og fiktion, og helt tydeligt er den skrevet af en kvinde.

Min kæreste har i artiklen valgt at fokusere på det fiktive: "Det er fup! Det tager ikke 10 minutter at få en ordentlig tømning. Det bør kun tage ganske få minutter.". Enhver ved jo den sætning ikke har hold i virkeligheden. Ting tager den tid ting tager, og sådan er det bare!

Sjovt nok viser det sig, at en af mine venner har haft samme oplevelse: Hans kæreste havde også fundet artiklen, og havde også fokuseret på den del af artiklen, der må betegnes som det rene vrøvl.

I artiklen er der en liste med punkter, der kan gøre et kontorbesøg bedre. Listen er ikke helt dum, men dog mangelfuld. Jeg har i al beskedenhed gjort listen færdig, og du kan se den her:

Hvis du selv vil læse artiklen og bedømme hvad der er fakta og fiktion, kan du læse den her: Sådan sidder du rigtig på toilettet.

Ruining it for Everyone

2011-02-09T16:09:00.002+01:00

An incident at work made me think of this old classic from Saturday Night Live: Ruining it for Everyone!

A great SNL line up, but also sad reminder that the talented Phil Hartman is no longer among us.

Learn Phonetic Pronunciation With Victor Borge

2011-02-08T16:08:00.001+01:00

Vote for Amanda!

2011-01-30T13:32:00.001+01:00

One of my plastic kids are gunning for prizes in a winter themed photo competition. Help make her a winner and vote for her photos!

Snatch Wars

2011-01-19T13:14:00.001+01:00

Metal x 4!

2011-01-18T15:22:00.002+01:00

What I wouldn't give to go back in time and be right then and there:

Er Helle Thorning for stram?

2011-01-10T09:00:00.000+01:00

My Blackberry Is Not Working!

2011-01-09T09:00:00.000+01:00

Guy walks into a bar....

2011-01-08T09:00:00.000+01:00

Guy walks into a bar, notices a very large jar on the counter, and sees it's filled to the brim with $10 bills. He guesses there must be thousands of dollars in it. He approaches the bartender and asks. "What's up with the jar?"

"Well, you pay $10 and if you pass three tests, you get all the money."

The man certainly isn't going to pass this up. "What are the three tests?"

"Pay first, those are the rules." says the bartender.

So the man gives him the $10 and the bartender drops it into the jar. "OK," the bartender says. Here's what you need to do:

First, you have to drink that entire gallon of pepper tequila, the whole thing, all at once...and you can't make a face while doing it.

Second, there's a pit bull chained up out back with a sore tooth. You have to remove the tooth with your bare hands.

Third, There's a 90 year old woman upstairs who has never reached orgasm during intercourse. You've gotta make things right for her."

The man is stunned. "I know I paid my $10, but I'm not an idiot, I won't do it! You have to be nuts to drink a gallon of pepper tequila, and then do those other things..."

"Your call," says the bartender, "but your money stays where it is."

As time goes on and the man has a few drinks, then a few more, and finally he asks, "Wherez zat tequila?"

He grabs the gallon with both hands and downs it with a big slurp. Tears streaming down both cheeks, but he doesn't make a face.

Next, he staggers out back where the pit bull is chained up and soon the people inside the bar hear a huge, noisy, scuffle going on outside.

They hear the pit bull barking, the guy screaming, the pit bull yelping and then silence.

Just when they think the man surely must be dead, he staggers back into the bar, with his shirt ripped and large bloody scratches all over his body.

"Now," he says. "Wherez the old woman with the sore tooth?"

A New Laptop - What to do?

2011-01-07T12:24:00.004+01:00

Min nuværende HP laptop er "ældre". Den har en skærmopløsning der kun lige slår en lommeregner, en lille og langsom HD og den er sløv som en teenager.

All of the above kan afskrives som luxusproblemer. Det er straks værre med helbredet. På et tidspunkt er det forsøgt at mose et defekt USB-stik i en USB-port. Ved den lejlighed blev isoleringen i porten revet af. Efterfølgende, når man stikker et USB-stik i selvsamme port, kortslutter computeren. Sidst det skete, var det kun med nød og næppe der kom liv i dyret igen. Dog døde batteri og WiFi ved den lejlighed.

Det er ikke akut med en ny laptop, men med tanke på alder og helbred på den jeg har, ved jeg også at en eller anden dag, så starter dyret ikke igen.

På Pricerunner (.se og .dk) har jeg forsøgt at spore mig ind på hvad et nyt alternativ kunne være. Der er pt 2.581 forskellige laptops til salg på det svenske markede (ifølge Pricerunner), og det er lidt mere kompliceret end af vælge burger hos McDonalds eller hotdogs i pølsevognen.
"Rød eller ristet?", det er til at tage og føle på.

Acer, ASUS, Dell, Samsung, Sony, HP, Lenovo, Toshiba, Fujitsu, IBM, eMachines?
Intel, AMD? Chipset ditten, chipset datten?
80GB, 120GB, 160GB, 220GB, 250GB, 300GB, 350GB?
14", 14,5", 15", 15,5", 16", 17"?
1.20, 1.50, 1.80, 2.00, 2.20, 2.80, 3.00?
500MB, 1GB, 2GB, 3GB, 4GB, 8GB?
Combo-DVD-ROM/CD-RW, DVD-RW/CD-RW, DVDRW/-RAM/CD-RW, BD/DVD-RW/CD-RW?
64Bit, 32Bit?

AAAAAAAAARRRGHH!!

Lad os koge det lidt ned.
Jeg gider ikke Acer. Skrammel og deres support er to the best of my knowledge elendig. Sony er hellet ikke "min ting", ved ikke hvorfor, for de virker fede nok.
HP, njaaaoorw. Dell, samme. Lenovo er ikke særlig sexet at se på, men det virker solidt. Min arbejds lap er Lenovo.
Well, mærket er ikke en decider, men jeg kan ikke se mig selv med en Acer eller derunder.

CPU/GHz/Chipset: Intel, eller "helst Intel", ...men Intel!
Jeg er clueless når vi kommer ned i detaljerne. Men jeg er en utålmodig herre. Når jeg trykker på en knap skal der være instant action.
RAM: Minimum 2GB, helst i én blok med plads til at sætte mere i.
Hard disc: Ikke for lille, gerne over 200GB. Ikke en 5400rpm, det skal være 7200rpm (fordi SSD stadig er for dyrt, men SSD ville være über nice!).
Monitor: Ca. 15" (ikke for stor ikke for lille), og jeg kan godt lide en høj opløsning.
Grafik/Lyd: Det skal ikke være en gamer laptop, så intergreret grafik er fint, også med tanke på batteritid. Det største krav til grafik vil være man kan se film på dyret. Lyden skal være OK, men behøver ikke være fancy.
Optisk enhed: Jeg er ikke nået dertil hvor jeg kan leve uden mulighed for at smide en skive i. Jeg skal også kunne brænde både CD og DVD.

Øvrigt:
USB-porte up the wazoo!
HDMI-port
Kortlæser, gerne en der kan æde det meste, men ikke en deal breaker.
WiFi

Good-to-have, men ikke et krav:
Webcam
Bluetooth (OK, good to have ++)
OK design

Sandsynligvis vil jeg som det allerførste formatere computeren, smide en ren Windows 7 og Office 2010 på den. Derfor skal der helst ikke være for meget hardware, der er afhængig af software, man kun får med den OEM-installationspakke der ligge på fra start (og spammer computeren med det ene lorte software efter det andet), og som det ikke går at få fat på ellers.
Alternativt skal jeg bare rense bæstet for skrammel, inden man tager den i brug for real.

Hvad har du? Hvad ville du have, hvis du frit kunne vælge? Hvad har du erfaring med? Hvilke parametre kan være ligegyldige?

Hvis der, mod forventning, skulle være tvivl: Mac er ikke en option!

Nårh ja, prisen! Well, ikke for billigt, ikke for dyrt! Value for money! Det afhænger meget af pakken!

The Kessel Run

2011-01-04T09:00:00.000+01:00

The Kessel Run - Try Bing/Google it. There are more interesting hits than you would probably think. ...at least until you are reminded this is nerd/moviebuf territory.

If you read the headline, or even got this far in this text, without thinking "Star Wars", I'm sure there are still people somewhere, that would make the effort and try to convince you about how normal that is and that there is nothing wrong with you. ...oh heck, here goes: It's OK! I'm sure you have other qualities!

The rest of us (Read: People who have seen a movie or turned on the TV after 24th of May 1977) are quite familiar with "The Kessel Run". I mean, it's been 33½ years, right! It's not OK to be clueless!

"You've never heard of the Millennium Falcon? …It's the ship that made the Kessel Run in less than twelve parsecs." - Han Solo

"The Kessel Run was an 18-parsec route used by smugglers to move glitterstim spice from Kessel to an area south of the Si'Klaata Cluster without getting caught by the Imperial ships that were guarding the movement of spice from Kessel's mines."
starwars.wikia.com: Kessel Run.

"According to Star Wars creator George Lucas, the Falcon's design is inspired by a hamburger, with the cockpit being an olive on the side."
Wikipedia: Millennium Falcon.

"Making the Kessel run in less than twelve parsecs" - The Kessel Run on FB.

"Every couple of weeks I get an email saying how the line about the Kessel run in Star Wars can actually be correct. They usually say that the Kessel Run is a timed run (or possibly occurs in heavily curved space, like near a black hole), so that the goal is to make it in as short a distance as possible, or that Han Solo was simply bragging without knowing what he was talking about."
Bad Astronomy: The Kessel Run.

"Men enhver idiot ved jo – okay nu skal jeg måske passe på – at en parsec er en afstand på ca. 3.3 lysår. Når parsec er en afstand, så giver det jo ingen mening at bruge udtrykket om hastighed! Jo, nu skal du bare høre! ..."
Morten Brunbjergs Blog: Kessel Run in 12 parsecs? (obviously in Danish)

...and no, I'm not a WoW-buf!
The Kessen Run in World of Warcraft:
Quest:The Kessel Run (See: Trivia)
The Kessel Run

From back in the day!

2011-01-03T09:00:00.000+01:00

Best Five Seconds of Your Life!

2011-01-02T09:00:00.000+01:00

Dexter is gonna bop Deedee

2011-01-01T09:00:00.000+01:00

Dexter is a Cookie

2010-12-31T09:00:00.000+01:00

Omelette du fromage

2010-12-30T09:00:00.000+01:00

Vinterbader under isen ved Helgoland

2010-12-29T10:21:00.003+01:00

Pold's InSight har billederne!

I første forsøg kommer vores vinterbader ikke under isen:

I andet forsøg kommer han under isen:

Filerne ned og pengene op!

2010-12-28T14:13:00.004+01:00

På vej til arbejde i morges læste jeg at "Zentropa skræmmer tyske pirater".

"Betal 9.000 kroner, eller vi sagsøger dig for det femdobbelte. Det er den kontante besked fra filmselskabet Zentropa til tyskere, der ulovligt har downloadet Lars von Triers meget omtalte film '"Antichrist" via internettet."

Sidder man og "låner" fra det store www/FTP-bibliotek, kan den slags sikkert få de fleste "lånere" til at spærre øjnene op.

Senere på dagen erfarede jeg, at en af mine tweeps (hvis du ikke kan regne ud hvad det betyder, så er det på tide at få det lært) var involveret i en debat omkring det korrekte i Zentropas fremgangsmåde. Jeg hverken gad eller havde tid til at læse hele dialogen, så jeg læste kun de svar og spørgsmål min twuddy (?) havde fremlagt.

Uanset hvilket argument der bliver fremlagt, så er det ikke OK at downloade en film ulovligt. Det er kun rigtigt, at der bliver udstedt bøder.
9.000kr er en relativ stor sum penge, men jeg går ud fra der kan laves en ordning, hvis det kniber. Set i det lys er 9.000kr billigt sluppet, med tanke på det femdobbelte belob, oveni hvilket der også skal lægges advokatomkostninger, for begge parter hvis/når du taber!

Den, der vælger ikke at betale men i stedet at gå i retten, må enten have penge nok, meget lidt fornuft eller satser på at vinde på modparten laver en retsteknisk fejl. Det sidste er næppe sandsynligt.
Der er forståeligt hvorfor de fleste vælger at bide i det sure 9.000-kroners æble, i stedet for at gabe endnu mere over et über sauren Apfel.

Uanset hvordan man, uden at betale for noget det var meningen man skulle betale for, får fat i en film, et spil, et program, en e-bog eller hvad det måtte være, så er det tyveri!

Et stort problem er, at det i for lang tid har været svært at gøre noget seriøst ved pirateriet, fordi det har været meret omfattende end "bare lige" at spore pirater.
Havde det fra start, hvilket ville have været noget nær umuligt, været muligt at tracke pirater, uden disse kunne dække sig under "privatlivets fred" eller "Jammen vi deler jo bare" eller whatnot, og knalde dem med det samme, ville hele fildelingskulturen aldrig været blevet til det, den blev til.
Som en added bonus var vi sikkert også sluppet for glade tosser som det svenske Piratpartiet og The Pirate Bay havde aldrig set dagens lys.

Der skal ikke være tvivl om, at en del bands har vundet et udvidet publikum pga. piratkopiering. Selv har jeg opdaget flere bands af den vej, og har siden købt deres skiver i fysisk format.
Det er dog alligevel naivt at tro, at det er en lovlig undskyldning for at downloade fra din nabos FTP server. Jeg tror der er flere, der ikke køber en kopi af de de har downloadet, end der er folk der rent faktisk køber.

Når det gælder 'piratkopiering vs lovlig/betalt download' (iTunes, Napster, Amazon), kan jeg godt se incitamentet til at betale er begrænset. Man får jo ligesom ikke noget ekstra.
En ren samvittighed? Næppe! "De unge" i dag er vokset op med det er OK at stjæle, de har ikke dårlig samvittighed. De får kun ondt af sig selv hvis hammeren falder. Det samme gælder "de lidt ældre". Vi lever i et "Det ska' jeg da ha'!"-samfund, og alle har ikke råd til det hele, så derfor stjæler man. Det er OK!

Selv er jeg af den gamle skole. Hvis jeg køber noget, vil jeg også eje det - i fysisk form. Jeg har aldrig købt et album eller bare en en enkelt sang via download. Kommer næppe heller til det. Jeg vil have den fysiske CD/LP. Jeg vil have et cover, en booklet og en shiny skive.
Eneste undtagelse er de to Metallica koncerter jeg var til i Forum sommeren 2009. Dem købte og downloadede jeg fra LiveMetallica. I øvrigt det eneste sted at få fat på dem lovligt. De er, af naturlige årsager, ikke udgivet på fysisk medie.

De store penge for en artist ligger i dag ikke på at udgive musik. Det er på merchandise og touring, der skal skovles hjem. Det er en ond cirkel der forværres af, at en del pladeselskaber ikke backer et album på samme måde som tidligere, da de ikke har samme sandsynlighed for at hive pengene hjem igen. Sandsynligvis vil det betyde at færre personer lytter til en udgivelse, og hvem køber en røvdyr koncertbillet til en artist man ikke har lyttet til?

How Much Do Music Artists Earn Online?

Problemet for Zentropa og andre filmselskaber er jo så, at biografen er deres "tour", hvor de ikke tjener penge fordi folk har set piratkopien hjemme, og de sælger næppe merchandise der er værd at tale om.

Hvad det siger om Antichrist, at Zentropa har tjent flere penge på at jage tyske pirater end på folk, der har set filmen i biffen eller på DVD, kan diskuteres.

Relaterede emner:
Er det for dyrt at gå i biffen?
Er det for dyrt at købe en CD?
Downloader folk ulovligt pga. økonomi eller dovenskab?

OT: I øvrigt synes jeg det er småt trættende, som folk på Twitter tror de er pisse hippe ved at starte alle ord med "tw".

Happy Holidays!

2010-12-27T13:26:00.003+01:00

Not the Full Monty!

2010-12-21T13:58:00.003+01:00

Working in the call center business for quite a few years has provided me with a lot of stories about customer behavior.
I used to keep a Word-file with some of the worst, craziest, funniest and most insane examples. Unfortunately I don't seem to have that file anymore. That also means I don't have to worry about it being clever or not to publish it.

As suggested by the title, this blog entry is not my full list of views, experiences and theories about the call center business. That's a thick book for another day. In fact, this is just me letting some steam out without going into details.

While no longer operating on the phone, I sit next to people who do. It's clear that some issues will always stay the same, no matter what.

A few things I'll never learn to understand:

- Customers insisting on getting support from some one who is repeatedly informing them that they have called the wrong number and that there is no help to get here.
Why is it these customers, no matter how desperate, keeps asking for a solution?
Sometimes it doesn't even matter that you can direct them to the right place, they still hang on.

- Customers who will never let the tech finnish a sentence. I hear this all the time! Employees asking the customers repeatedly to let them finnish a sentence so the customer can get the info and help faster.
My personal trick was always to just shut up and wait for the customer to shut up. Then I would give it another shut. If I'm interrupted again - Repeat till it works!

- Customers who has the brilliant idea that yelling at the tech will help getting anything solved (faster). Really smart theory, there! Yell at someone you wish to do the best they can to help you!

- Customers who call to get help, but still behaves like they know better and thus feel they don't need to take instructions and instead just goes ahead and does all the wrong things, wasting time babling, then rewinding to where the tech need them to be and then - maybe - letting the tech do his/her thing!

I just don't get it?! I see the mechanism behind it, but I still just. Don't. Get it!

Oldish but still funny/true!

2010-12-17T13:44:00.002+01:00

How To Shower Like a Woman:

Take off clothing and place it in sectioned laundry hamper according to lights and darks.

Walk to bathroom wearing long dressing gown. If you see husband along the way, cover up any exposed areas.

Look at your womanly physique in the mirror - make mental note to do more sit-ups/leg-lifts, etc.

Get in the shower. Use face cloth, arm cloth, leg cloth, long loofah, wide loofah and pumice stone.

Wash your hair once with cucumber and sage shampoo with 43 added vitamins.

Wash your hair again to make sure it's clean.

Condition your hair with grapefruit mint conditioner enhanced with real passion fruit.

Wash your face with crushed apricot facial scrub for 10 minutes until red.

Wash entire rest of body with ginger nut and jaffa cake body wash.

Rinse conditioner off hair.

Shave armpits and legs.

Turn off shower.

Squeegee off all wet surfaces in shower.

Spray mold spots with Tilex.

Get out of shower and stand on bath mat.

Dry with towel the size of a small country.

Wrap hair in super absorbent towel.

Return to bedroom wearing long dressing gown and towel on head.

If you see husband along the way, cover up any exposed areas.

How To Shower Like a Man:

Take off clothes while sitting on the edge of the bed and leave them in a pile.

Walk naked to the bathroom.

If you see wife along the way, shake wiener at her making the woo-woo' sound.

Look at your manly physique in the mirror.

Admire the size of your wiener and scratch your ass.

Get in the shower. Wash your face. Wash your armpits.

Blow your nose in your hands and let the water rinse them off.

Fart and laugh at how loud it sounds in the shower.

Spend majority of time washing privates and surrounding area.

Wash your butt, leaving those coarse butt hairs stuck on the soap.

Wash your hair. Make a Shampoo Mohawk. Pee.

Rinse off and get out of shower. Avoid bath mat.

Dry off forearms and butt only.

Fail to notice water on floor because curtain was hanging out of tub the whole time.

Admire wiener size in mirror again. Shake it to watch water fly off.

Leave shower curtain open, wet mat on floor, light and fan on.

Return to bedroom with towel around waist.

If you pass wife, pull off towel, shake wiener at her and make the woo-woo' sound again.

Throw wet towel on bed.

If there is anyone among you who did not laugh at the truth behind this, there is something so very wrong with you.

Have a great day! And, 'woo woo'!!!

Express Your Anger

2010-12-16T12:14:00.004+01:00

Maybe not now, but maybe when he is a bit older, he will be able to laugh.

...unless he is pissed off with having to spend all that money on anger management therapy!

Avoiding cash to avoid robbery is so yesterday!

2010-12-14T14:40:00.004+01:00

The question is probably soon going to be: Are you really ever safe?

Since inserting cards into readers is too much of a task for people, we (and by "we" I mean "people, somewhere") invented cards you just have to hold next to a reader and data will be magically be transferred in the air.

Is it safe? Nnjaaarhmaybenotsomuch?!

Check this little video:

"Experts at the Identity Theft Resource Center tell WREG On Your Side Investigators they've never seen a case of RFID skimming used to steal information.

But Augustinowicz believes that's because the crime could easily go untraced; unsuspecting people, falling victim to just another face in the crowd with a hidden scanner in hand.

"You might as well paint your credit card number across your t-shirt and walk around with it because it's the same difference," warned Augustinowicz."

Read the full story/transcript here.

At the moment, I don't this is a major issue, if it's an issue after all, but if someone work this into their criminal routine, you need a new ...whatever you store your cards in?!

Fending off customers

2010-12-13T15:15:00.004+01:00

Is it just me, or is it bad business to rob your customers of the possibility to e-mail you?

Have you ever tried to send a mail to a parking company? It's almost impossible! No company is better at making it impossible to contact them in any way than parking companies. Why? Because they don't want to listening to your complaining ass!
Thus, whenever a company - on purpose or by "chance" - try to make it harder to cantact them, I put them in the weasel box with the parkign companies.

Why would I prefer e-mail over a phone call?
For various reasons, not limited to these:
- It's not possible for me to call during opening hours.
- I might prefer to "have it writing".
- When writing an e-mail, bad conections, background noise or lack of focus is less likely to cause misunderstandings.
- I don't have to deal with morons at the other end in real time.
- I may just prefer e-mail over phone.

From time to time, it has been necessary for for me to contact Boxer (.se). Go to their website and try to send them a mail. You can't! You could, back in the day. These days they have a text starting with "In order to give a good and immediate service..." and then the excuse for not providing either an e-mail addresse or mail form continues. Yes, they are doing me a favor by robbing me of the option to mail them!

All I read in that message is "STFU!!!" and then I see a picture of 1) a stressed out call center employee and/or 2) a bunch of managers with a big smile since they are now saving money on call center employees and all of a sudden they have oh so many more happy customers. Mmmm, yes, just because Grumpy Pete doesn't call you doesn't mean he is not grumpy.

I have tried to contact SAS (.se) via e-mail, I have a question regarding my EuroBonus membership card.
For way too long, this is what I'm presented with when I choose their mail form:

I'll bet you anything they know about this error. I'll bet you just as much that they could fix it really quick, if they really wanted to!

Furthermore the SAS website has another "feature" I'm not to fond of: Opening new pages all the time! Whenever you click at link at their website, a new tab opens!
After going in circles trying to find an e-mail address, you are stuck with an almost infinite number of tabs in your browser. If you are logged in, this is even more annoying, because you may not be logged in at the new tab! *sigh!*

In general, I'm actually quite a happy camper with both of these companies, I just find their lack of customer friendliness disturbing. I mean, these days you don't win anything by being a loyal customer anywhere, so why would I hang out with a company that does not want to listen to me?

Needless to say, neither company has any problems whatsoever with sending tons of mails to me!

Sådan er vi så forskellige

2010-12-10T13:27:00.004+01:00

Det er lidt sjovt at observere de små forskelle. Jeg tænker ikke mænd og kvinder, men danskere og svenskere. Mere specifikt i trafiken.

I bilen
Har du prøvet at køre bil i både København og Malmö, må du nødvendigvis have opdaget en forskel. I København er det "every driver for himself" et langt stykke af vejen, Og dog, det er ikke helt rigtigt. Det vil være mere korrekt at sige, der, især i myldertiden, stilles store krav til effektiviteten. Ve den, der ikke er effektiv når det gælder vogbaneskift, blinklys og lyskryds. Det er ikke tilladt at være årsag til flaskehals.

Fordi det ovenfor beskrevne system passer mig ypperligt, er det så meget mere en plage for mig at køre bil i Malmö. Generelt må man sige at svenskere åbenbart ikke har brug for at være effektive. Her taler jeg ikke om at køre for stærkt, specielt ikke på den svenske side, hvor polisen er "lidt" mere strikse, men mere om ting som at køre frem/svinge når der er plads, og ikke vente på en bil der er 400m væk.
I Sverige er de i øvrigt ekstremt dårlige til at bruge blinklys. Det er sindsygt så dårlige de er!

At køre bil i Malmö kan bedste beskrives som konstant at være strandet bag en pensionist med blød hat, uden mulighed for at overhale.

Til gengæld er svenskerne noget bedre, faktisk meget bedre, til at holde til højre. Der er danskerne afsindigt dårlige! Jeg kan ikke snuppe den holdning med, at "midterbanen er det normale spor", også selvom inderbanen er tom. Hold nu til højre, spasser!!!
De svenske trafikregler er lidt anderledes på det punkt, hvilket man især vil opleve når man kommer længere nordpå. Folk kigger rent faktisk i bakspejlet! Vildt!

I øvrigt, hvis du nogensinde overvejer at tage til Lund (Skåne), så lad være! Hvis du absolut skal, så tag toget. Lund er en gammel by, dvs. smalle gader. Deres løsning er: Ensrettede gader stort set overalt, godt krydret med blinde gader og så lige prikken over i'et: Selve centrum delen er kun tilladt for busser.
Hvis du står med en trang til at flå håret af dig selv, så tag en biltur til Lund!

I toget!
Igen kan det konstateres, svenskerne ikke har travlt. Der er grotesk så lang tid de kan bruge på at komme ud af og ind i et tog. Når det bliver kombineret med en anden svensk nationalsport: Stoppe op midt i det hele og stå i vejen, så er min tålmodighed presset helt i bund.

Svenskerne er til gengæld gode til at vente. Som sagt, de har åbenbart ikke travlt. Alle (sådan ca. næsten da) står pænt og venter til toget er tomt, før man begynder at fylde på med nye passagerer. Denne dyd findes umiddelbart ikke i Danmark. Man skal nærmest være glad for man overhovedet kan få lov at stige af toget i Danmark. Når den sidste tredjedel stadig mangler at komme af toget, er de ventendes tålmodighed opbrugt og de begynder at stige på. Rent ud sagt pisse irriterende!

Svenskerne er også lige lidt bedre til at vente på hver siden af døren og vente, og ikke stå lige midt for og spærre. Underligt omvendt med tanke på svenskernes "stå i vejen"-gen.

For både danskere og svenskere gælder det dog, at almindelig høflighed og hensyntagen ikke rigtig er til stede i tog-pendlertrafiken i et omfang man kunne ønske. Dels er der kampen om sæderne (et område hvor der må siges at være ligestilling mellem kønnene), dels er der dem, der forpester hele salongen med en duft af mad eller deres hjernedøde (mobil)samtaler på højeste volumen.

Kurven for den tid et tog er forsinket er omvendt proportional med kurven for udvist hensyn. Specielt når der også er aflyste toge, og de toge der kommer ydermere kun består af et enkelt togsæt.
Senest oplevede jeg, at en flok passagere på Pågatåget (bumletog i Skåne), som sagtens kunne rykke mere sammen, havde bestemt sig for at der ikke kunne være flere på toget. Alle der steg på fik et møgfald og de fleste stod derfor af igen. Jeg valgte dog at tage kampen.

I et tog der i forvejen var fyldt langt over hvad der kan være sikkert og tilladt, fik jeg plads yderst ved døren, der, trods alle i toget påstod det modsatte, kunne lukke uden besvær. Fordi det ikke passede den mest højlydte havgasse af dem alle, kom hun med "Man må ikke stå mellem de røde bøjler!" (fungerer som gelænder når døren er åben). Derfra kunne det næsten kun gå galt, men endnu en verbal sviner og /ignore fik madammen til at pakke sammen. Problem solved!

Beat Box, anyone?

2010-12-03T14:26:00.002+01:00

Not a great beat box fan myself, but this is somewhat entertaining.

1. Go to Google Translate
2. Enter: "pv zk pv pv zk pv zk kz zk pv pv pv zk pv zk zk pzk pzk pvzkpkzvpvzk kkkkkk bsch"
3. Translate from "German" to "German" and listen.

Should you wish to do your own beat box a la Google, you may want to sneak a peak at this list of "instruments":

zk = suspended cymbal
bschk = snare
pv = brush
bk = bass
tk = flam1
vk = roll tap
kt = flam2
kttp = flam tap
krp = hi hat tap
pv = short roll
th = better hi hat
thp, ds = instant rimshot.

Now, beat away!

Social Media Hipster

2010-12-01T12:17:00.004+01:00

Networking is important! More for some than for others. I know people who would say it's not important at all. Well, maybe it isn't for them. Ant that's fine!

Networking can be a lot of things. It can be based more in your private life. It can be based in your professional life. Most likely is a mix of the two.

Networking can help you keep the finger on the pulse, it can help you get a new job, find a new employee, get tickets for that sold out show or whatnot.

However, sometimes I get a feeling a lot of "networking" is a pile of pretentious hipser shiiat! A little like sitting at the currently deemed coolest café in town "writing a manuscript" on your Mac ...while secretly reading comics or stalking someone on Facebook!

I think the networking-thing took a wrong turn when it bacame too structured. Or maybe just too hipstered?
One example is when I see a lot of people being very busy on insert name of social media tool here informing all the other hipsters that they are part of insert name of this weeks hottest hipster/social media event here!

Am I part of the "problem" or part of the "solution"?
Well, both!

Let's take Facebook as an example! I used it a lot for a while. After I finally kicked the last stupid game I was playing, I realised I didn't really use or need Facebook that much.
I sort of loathe Facebook. While I do realise it's not just for white people, I still feel that "it's a white trash version of the internet" fits pretty well. If I sit in public and access Facebook via my phone, I actually make sure to turn the phone so no one can see it, because I like to pretend I'm better than that! ...for fucks sake, man!

Some of the bad things about Facebook is also the good things. Take birthdays. I haven't seen you for 15 years. I pretty much forgot you existed. Why T Fuck do I need to send congrats on your birthday?
On the other hand, it's nice to know when someone you care just a little more about has a birthday. I choose to send an sms though. ...most of the time! If I have the bastards number!

I'll bet you 100 bucks, that a lot of people on Facebook sends congrats because "everybody else does it" and not because the had it on the agenda for the day.

I think the main reason I have an aversion towards Facebook is that it's sort of silently agreed that this is where we all connect.
I have had several thoughts about committing Facebook suicide. ...it's just a litle hard to really get there! The old "I might miss out!"-thought keeps nagging!

How the hell did this post become all about facebook?

Back to the hipster social media networking thing!
The problem, even if it's not an actual problem per se, is that the hipsters (who is that anyway?) can only be hipsters for so long, because sooner or later they are too big a piece of the cake to be "different", much like all the oh so "different" Apple users.

Funny thought, are most hippsters Mac users (iHip?)? If so, is that then an oxymoron? I mean, since Apple is the new Evil Inc.?

If you network for the right reasons, then fine! If you participate in something more because you want to be with the in-crowd and less because of the actual event, I doubt it will benefit you, but I could be wrong?!

Forbidden Images

2010-11-30T09:00:00.000+01:00

Leslie Nielsen

2010-11-29T12:37:00.003+01:00

Leslie Nielsen

RIP

I have actually seen the full movie.
It's briliiant - mostly for all the wrong reasons!

Oh, the horror! After he became funny man, Leslie Nielsen
more or less ruined his serious catalouge.
However, there is no saving this piece from poor ratings!

With regards to when this is made, it's not that bad.
However, you need to actively try and not think "It's Frank Drebin!"

This is Leslie Nielsen in his prime!

Angry Birds and the Pigs

2010-11-26T15:59:00.001+01:00

Who Controls your NIC?

2010-11-25T16:42:00.004+01:00

This opens for a whole new game in the IT security business, and - most likely - not to your advantage!

"The main interest is developing a rootkit which will be residing inside the network card. A network card rootkit offers some very interesting features:

* A very stealthy communication end-point over the Ethernet link. It can intercept and forge network frames without the operating system knowing about it.
* A physical system memory access using DMA over the PCI link, leading to OS corruption.
* No trace of the rootkit on the operating system, as it is being hidden inside the NIC."

Read the full story here!

Completely Lost in Translation

2010-11-24T09:00:00.000+01:00

This post is a follow up to yesterday's post on translation in via Bing and Google.

Danish sentence: "Denne sætning er oversat frem og tilbage i begge værktøjer." Bing-translated to English: "This statement is translated back and forth in both tools." Google-translated to Danish: "Denne erklæring er oversat frem og tilbage i begge værktøjer." Bing-translated to English "This declaration is translated back and forth in both tools." Google-translated to Danish "Denne erklæring er oversat frem og tilbage i begge værktøjer." Google-translated to English "This statement is translated back and forth in both tools." Bing-translated to Danish: "Denne erklæring er oversat og tilbage i begge værktøjer."

We started with: "Denne sætning er oversat frem og tilbage i begge værktøjer."
We ended up with: "Denne erklæring er oversat og tilbage i begge værktøjer."
"Sætning" (sentence) is now "erklæring" (declaration) and frem (forth) is no longer in the sentence at all.

The same test once more, but with Bing-translations instead of Google translations and vice versa.

Danish sentence: "Denne sætning er oversat frem og tilbage i begge værktøjer." Google-translated to English: "This phrase is translated back and forth in both tools." Bing-translated to Danish: "Denne sætning er oversat og tilbage i begge værktøjer." Google-translated to English "This phrase is translated back and forth in both tools.
" Bing-translated to Danish "Denne sætning er oversat og tilbage i begge værktøjer" Bing-translated to English "This statement is translated and back in both tools" Google-translated to Danish: "Denne erklæring er oversat og tilbage i begge værktøjer"

We started with: "Denne sætning er oversat frem og tilbage i begge værktøjer."
We ended up with: "Denne erklæring er oversat og tilbage i begge værktøjer"

Same result, but if you look closely, the path from A to B in the two tests was not the same. In the second test, the first time Bing translates back to Danish, it looses the word "frem" (forth), but Google is actually able to pick up on this and stil make "back and forth" out of it.
Google also get the word "phrase" in the first translation to English, which is acceptable. Bing correctly tranlates that to "sætning" (sentence). (Phrase in Danish is "frase").
In the end it's the Bing use of "statement" that Google ends up translating to "erklæring" (declaraion) and "frem" (forth) is still lost by Bing for some reason?

Now, let's get these tools working for real! Below is all the text above translated to Danish via Google and back to English via Bing:

Danish statement: "This statement is Translated Forward and back in both tools". Bing-translated into English: "this statement is translated back and forth in both of these tools." Google-translated to Danish: "This statement is Translated Forward and back in both tools". Bing-translated into English as "this statement is translated back and forth in both of these tools." Google-translated to Danish "This statement is Translated Forward and back in both tools". Google-translated into English as "this statement is translated back and forth in both of these tools." Bing-translated to Danish: "This statement is Translated and back in both tools".

We started with: "This statement is Translated Forward and back in both tools".
We ended up with: "This statement is Translated and back in both tools".

"Phrase" (dot) is now "Declaration" (Declaration) and the forward (backward) is no longer in the statement at all.

The same test again, but with Bing-translations instead of Google translations and vice versa.

Danish statement: "This statement is Translated Forward and back in both tools". Google-translated into English: "this statement is translated back and forth in both of these tools." Bing-translated to Danish: "This statement is Translated and back in both tools". Google-translated into English as "this statement is translated back and forth in both tools.
"Bing-translated to Danish" This statement is Translated and back in both tools "Bing-translated into English as" this statement is translated and back in both tools "Google-translated to Danish:" This statement is Translated and back in both tools "

We started with: "This statement is Translated Forward and back in both tools".
We ended up with: "This statement is Translated and back in both tools"

The same result, but if you look closely, the road from a to b in the two tests were not the same. In the second test, back for the first time the Bing can be translated to Danish, it will lose the word "forward" (back), but Google is actually in a position to pick up on this and style make "forward and back" out of it.
Google will also have the word "sentence" in the first translation into English, which is acceptable. Bing correctly tranlates to to "sentence" (sentence). (On the Danish Phrase is "phrase").
In the end it is the Bing use of "Declaration", that Google translate to the ends of the "Declaration" (declaraion) and "forward" (back) is still lost by Bing a reason or another?

Translate vs Translator

2010-11-23T12:47:00.005+01:00

...vs the real deal!

I am fully aware I face the risk of being accused of having a biased opinion in regards to the subject below. If so, I urge you to conduct your own tests.

For a while, you have been able to make so-so translations via Google Translate. For a while, but not as long a while, you have also been able to make so-so translations via Bing Translator.

On a few occasions I have put the same Danish text through the two translators, and my call is the Bing Translator is slightly better. ..but sometimes Google Translate is better!

Bing Translator seems to be a little better at getting the meaning, it seems to be translating more sentence-by-sentence where as Google Translator seems to be more a word-by-word translation.
However, the Bing Translator seems to have use a dictionary with fewer words. When it can't find the correct word, it leaves the Danish word in the sentence. This happens too often.

Test 1
Text in Danish:
"Sydkorea overvejer i disse timer, præcist hvordan landet skal svare på det uprovokerede granatangreb fra Nordkorea, der foreløbig har kostet to soldater livet og sat en ø i flammer."

The Google Translate result:
"South Korea is considering during those hours, exactly how the country should respond to the unprovoked shelling from North Korea which has so far killed two soldiers and put an island in flames."

The Bing Translator result:
"South Korea to consider in these hours, exactly how the country is to respond to the unprovoked granatangreb from North Korea, which has so far cost the lives of two soldiers and put an island in flames."

Test 2
Text in Danish:
"Antiatomer har været frembragt i CERNs laboratorium i årevis, men de forsvinder som regel så hurtigt, at forskerne ikke kan nå at undersøge dem. Antiatomerne forsvinder, når de kommer i kontakt med normalt stof."

The Google Translate result:
"Anti-atoms have been produced in CERN's laboratory for years, but they usually disappear so quickly that scientists can not come to examine them. Anti atoms disappear when they come into contact with normal matter."

The Bing Translator result:
"Antiatomer has been generated in the CERNs laboratory for years, but they usually disappear so quickly that the researchers cannot achieve to investigate them. Antiatomerne disappear when they come into contact with the substance normally."

Test 3
Text in Danish:
"Tim Sutherland pointerer, at pistoler var yderst skrøbelige dengang. Det er højst sandsynligt grunden til, at det kun er brudstykker af pistolerne, man har fundet.
Ifølge Tim Sutherland er det ikke usandsynligt, at de sprang hænderne på de soldater, der brugte dem under kampen.
- Våbnene gjorde mere skade end gavn, og de skræmte i højere grad hestene end fjenderne, siger han."

The Google Translate result:
"Tim Sutherland points out that the guns were extremely fragile then. It is most likely the reason that only fragments of the pistols that have been found.
According to Tim Sutherland is not unlikely that they jumped the hands of the soldiers who used them during the match.
- The weapons did more harm than good, and they scared more horses than the enemy, he says."

The Bing Translator result:
"Tim Sutherland points out that the pistols were extremely fragile at the time. It is highly likely the reason that it is only in case of guns, have been found.
According to Tim Sutherland, it is not unlikely that they jumped at the hands of the soldiers, who used them during the fight.
-Weapons did more harm than good, and they are scared to a greater extent the horses than enemies, he said."

The test results: We still have a bot ...sorry, a bit to go!
I sort of suspect that while the one may be better at one time, the other may be better at another time. I'm sure there are ongoing improvements in both translators.

If you feel like exploring live translation and if you are a Live Messenger user, you can try the Tbot. It's actually quite funny. Still, not perfect, but interesting.

Kinky moments in wrestling

2010-11-22T09:57:00.002+01:00

Wrestling is a contact sport, no doubt about it. Also, you would expect a few "wardrobe accidents" to happen every now and then.

However, take a look at this slide show and tell me it doesn't look like some of the participants are enjoying it for the wrong reasons (Text is in Danish but the pictures speak for themselves): Dubious accidents in wrestling.

Wrestling is not the only sport with people in tight clothes robbing against each other. ...with wardrobe malfunctions. Check this bobsleigh team:

Looking through Windows for 25 years

2010-11-20T16:47:00.005+01:00

Congratulations Windows!
25 years and still going strong!

Windows 1.0

I didn't get any of the cake though, but here are a few articles looking bacl at the first 25 years with Windows.

Click the picture for another 24 facts
If you want to decorate your Windows 7 desktop, here are 25 wallpapers for you.

Microsoft Windows after 25 years: A visual history. It's not long ago a class mate said something like "That Windows system from Microsoft is going to be great". Here are som pictures from those days ...not long ago, but some years ago.

25 years of the best and worst (not selected by me, just FYI!) in pictures/video. There are some quite funny clips of old commercials in the mix.

Windows at 25: 25 things you didn't know about the Microsoft OS - including an awful Windows 95 promotional film with Jennifer Aniston and Matthew Perry and links to those Gates/Seinfeld commercials.

Finally, two articles by Preston Gralla:
The worst: Bottom five moments in Windows' 25 years
The best: Top five moments in Windows' 25 years

MindDroid

2010-11-20T09:00:00.000+01:00

If you are a LEGO fan, this may be for you. ...oh, if you are a LEGO fan and has an Android phone!

I don't have Mindstorms, but I sort of wish I did! An Adroid app will let you use your smart phone as remote control for your Mindstorm toy. Kind off cool, if you ask me!

While this is only for playing around, it also shows us we haven't seen anything yet! Soon we'll be able to remote control various household appliances and what not.
As an example, it's already possible to turn up the heat in your summerhouse via sms so it's nice and warm when you get there. There is no reason this can't be done via an app - most likely easier too!

I realize this is not news to real LEGO geeks, but I just saw it recently.

Lego MINDSTORMS Releases MINDdroid for Android 2.1 and Above

Island Living

2010-11-19T10:11:00.003+01:00

If you live on an island long enough, you get bored! When you've been bored long enough, you try to un-bore yourself. ...by inventing stuff!

This is how bored and inventive they are in Iceland:

*MooobMoob Mooooooooooooobn*

Comon, it's Friday!

2010-11-19T09:00:00.000+01:00

No stories today, kids, just a few Family Guy clips.

Live Music Tonight!

2010-11-18T09:00:00.001+01:00

For various reasons it happens way too seldom, but tonight it's ON! Live music!

Avenged Sevenfold
in Copenhagen

I first saw AX7 when they warmed up for Iron Maiden in 2008. Great show! Great band!

I got their "white album", it's good! I wanted to get the new album so I went to my local dealer, Amazon.co.uk and bought it. It later turned out that there is a censored and a non-censored version. One is 5.99£ the other is 27.99£. The latter is now either removed or, as there were only two left, sold out. Fearing I may have purchased censored/damaged goods, I cancelled the order. It wasn't quite clear which version I have bought and no one at Amazon could give me an answer! Didn't take long to come up with a verdict: No sale!
In all fairness, the Amazon people are very nice and serviceminded, but that one question the order balanced on was never answered.

Why is there a censored and a non-censored version? How rock n' roll is that? Furthermore, why is there a difference in price?
At the end of the day, censorship cost amazon a sale in this case. I fear, for me and for them, it will not be the last time.

Nothing good has ever come out of censorship. Hiding people from reality is backwards!

I'm not a fan of music!

2010-11-17T10:43:00.005+01:00

...or how was that again?

Obviously, Larsen's statement is related to iTunes releasing the Beatles catalogue yesterday. ...or that's what I assume based on tweets from those I follow on Titter*.
Also based on tweets, I can figure out there was a huge build-up to the surprise that was "Beatles is now on iTunes".

Now to the Larsen statement!
If you look at his tweet, you could get the idea that Larsen is sucked into the Apple cult and thus is a firm believer in the "fact" that all purchase of music starts and ends with iTunes.
If you, Larsen and others, are a cult member, let me at least try to save you with these words: You can buy music on real albums too!! You can get real discs!
To keep postulates in the Larsen format, here is one for you: You don't appreciate music if you buy music digital!!
Was that daft enough?

There is a chance a lot of people already have a lot of Beatles' studio or live albums or some of the 54 official compilations on the market. Since it's possible to rip both vinyls and CD's to mp3, why would you pay for the same music once more (yes, I know, people are lazy! That's the real success driver behind iTunes!)

Then there is the Larsen postulate, that it's mandatory to appreciate The Beatles in order to appreciate music in general! Yes, of course it is!
My dad kinda likes the Beatles. My mom is into Elvis. I grew up litening to Elvis. I recognize the Beatles were and are a huge influence, but keep in mind, back in the day, competition in the music business was not what it is today.

Quite a few years ago, on the way home from a family holiday in Italy, we stopped at a gas station. I had a few Lire left (yes, these were the good times, before the Euro turned Italy from cheap to expensive) and the gas station was my last chance to get rid of them. I saw a stand with CDs. Nothing I really wanted, but there was a new release of Dr. Pepper's Lonley Heart Club Band, with a cardboard wrapping and a little book. I felt that needed to be a part of any music collection.

Back home I put the disc in my CD player. [Play] Song 1 [Step >>] Song 2 [Step >>] Son... [Step >>] S.. [Step >>] [Stop] Fuck that was boring!!
I like the Twist and Shout Beatles, not the hippie folk music tambourine band! ...not that there is anything wrong with that!
Well, a lot of music sound so-so to begin with only to turn into the best you ever heard. Thus I always give an album a few extra chances. (The only album I stepped through faster than this was the third album by Skid Row. [Play][Step >>][Step >>][Step >>][Step >>][Step >>][Step >>][Step >>][Stop] "I'll do this later! ...much later! ...as in never!")
After a few more tries, it was obvious to me that I would never be one of the horde of people claiming that without The Bottles we would have had nothing!

Larsen, I love music! If you knew me, you would know this! Also, I agree with your point, which I assume is something a la the masses will suck up anything as long as it's promoted on TV, it's wrapping over content.
....but, I'm not a great fan of The Beatles and I for one dare to stand up and deny the mantra that is "Thou must love the Beatles!".
I prefer the Rolling Stones by far! They haven't made a great album in over twenty years, but their influence on music is far greater than that of The Beatles, if you ask me!

I'll leave you with this:
You don't appreciate music if you don't appreciate vinyls!

* No, that joke never gets old!

If that Larsen dude don't get sarcasm, expect a flame war on Twitter or here.

It costs to be a winner!

2010-11-16T15:40:00.005+01:00

If you follow me on Twitter, you may have seen this post recently:

Yes, I am aware it's in Danish! Go here!

Of course I'm excited to get the fan can, and the actual price for the fan can may be a bit steep, but it's not 100$, it's 65$ for the BluRay version, but it's over thirty-frickin-five dollars in shipping!!!! W. T. F?!

This is Fan Can VI btw:

If you wonder why I stated I "won", it's because they only make 7.500 of these. They are only available to fan club members plus you need to enter and win the fan club lottery to be able to buy one. There!

I wanted to kind of celebrate this day with a Metallica version of Ecstasy of Gold (not so much becasue I won the loss of 100$, more because it's stuck in my head), but on YouTube, that's not available in my region.
Well, fuck that, here is the original, and if that doesn't give you goosebumps, go see a doctor:

Check more facts on Ecstasy of Gold here

We end this blog entry with a Pop Quiz: Who's kid is it Kirk kicks from the stage:

Picked that story on Metal Hammer.

Kæden er rusten!

2010-11-14T09:00:00.000+01:00

Hvad sker der for det danske forsvar?

Her tænker jeg ikke på skandaler af den type Danmark var udsat for i tiden op til Anden Verdenskrig, men på den krise der ser ud til at kunne påvirke landsholdet negativt.

Christian Poulsen havde en dårlig periode i Juventus, men kæmper sig tilbage på holdet.
Alligevel kører det ikke rigtig. I flere landskampe har han lavet fejl, til og med af en type, der har kostet mål.
I Liverpool kører det slet ikke! Han har fået en dårlig start, og derfra er det nærmest bare gået ned af bakke.
At nogle Liverpool-fans opererer på Brøndby-fans niveau er trist og hjælper ikke på det hele: Poulsen hånet i falsk quiz-program.

Gerrard redder Christian Poulsen-fejl
Hodgson tager knust Poulsen i forsvar

Simon Kjær har heller ikke haft den bedste start i Wolfsburg. Det går skidt for holdet og Kjær har også haft et par optrædender, der ikke helt retfærdiggør prislappen på ham.

Advarsel til Wolfsburg-spillere
Wolfsburg og Schalke skuffede igen

Kjær har dog trods alt haft lidt fremgang: Kjær nettede i Wolfsburg-sejr

En tredje vigtig brik i det danske forsvar er Daniel Agger. Agger er - igen igen - ude i lang tid med en skade. Spørgsmålet er, om han nogensinde bliver rigtig klar igen?

Alt i alt mangler vi tre sikre brikker i det danske forsvar. Den ene er skadet og de to andre er ikke så sikre, som de har været.
Heldigvis er der er stykke tid til vi skal spille en betydningsfuld landskamp igen, og meget kan ændre sig.
Mulighederne for optur ser umiddelbart bedst ud for Simon Kjær, Han spiller i det mindste. Christian Poulsen kan kun ændre på den negative trend, hvis han får spilletid. Får han mon det? Agger, tjaa? Det vil tiden vise!

At vi bag den bagerste kæde har en førstemålmand, der også er skadet og muligvis også har passeret toppen, hjælper ikke på det. Heldigvis ser det dog ud til, vi har nogle ret gode emner, der kan tage over, når Thomas Sørensens tid er ovre. Spørgsmålet er bare hvornår det sker, eller rettere, hvornår det bør ske?

Er der nogen, der har noget kædeolie?

Windows Mobile 7

2010-11-13T15:45:00.003+01:00

Call me biased or not, but I honestly think the Windows 7 Mobile deserves better than the start it has experienced.

If you don't know better, you may think of any of the former Windows Mobile operating systems and then think "No way!". If you do that, you owe it to yourself and go and check out the actual phone.

I have seen it and it looks great! It's nothing like any of the former Win Mobile OS you have seen before. It's very different from both the iPhone and Android phones.
Over time, I think it will catch up, but there is also the risk that the poor kick off may have ruined that forever. What do you think?

More bad news for Microsoft's Windows Phone 7 launch --- potential buyers are not pleased
"The success or failure of Windows Phone 7 ultimately won't be laid to Microsoft's reputed $500 million ad campaign or what reviewers have to say about the phones. Instead, it will be decided by consumers walking into stores, testing out the devices, and then deciding whether to buy them. Reports are coming in that in this key area, Windows Phone 7 has lost its first battle."

Windows Phone 7 launch --- what went wrong?
"Let's start with the basics. Even before launch, it was clear that there was going to be shortages of Windows Phone 7s, no matter the demand. When the phone was launched in Europe, there were problems because of component shortages, possibly having to do with screens or cameras. Microsoft's primary partner in the UK, Orange, was forced to give out t £20 vouchers to customers who ordered the phone but could not get them because of shortages."

Android phones sweep Consumer Reports ratings, beat down the iPhone
"What are the best phones on the market? Consumer Reports has an answer, and it's an unequivocal one --- those that use Android. The magazine rated phones by carrier, and in every instance Android phones came out on top. Overall, nine of the top 10 phones were Android. The magazine wouldn't even recommend the iPhone 4 because of antenna problems."

Windows Phone 7 launch, dwarfed by Android and iPhone, looks to be a dud
"So Microsoft faces the worst of possible worlds right now --- slack demand, and potential shortages for any models, like the high-end 4.3-inch screen HTC HD7, that become popular."

Ballmer sells $1.3 billion of Microsoft stock. Does he know something we don't?
"when you're head of a company whose stock price has been stagnant for a decade, and there have been rumblings from those who want you to leave, it's inevitable that people will wonder about the timing of the sale."

Commando: The Musical

2010-11-13T09:00:00.000+01:00

Danmark - Nu med mere BS!

2010-11-12T14:52:00.003+01:00

For noget tid siden skrev jeg Din nabo er din værste fjende! og noget tid efter det Kender du egentlig din nabo?.

Desværre viser det sig, at den danske version af Stasi, Borger-Stasi (BS) har så stor gennemslagskraft, at udlandet nu også er ved at få øje på det BS vi har gang i.

Tysk tv: Danmark er en stikkerstat (JP)
Er Danmark en stikkerstat? (JP)

Velkommen til Danmark - Vi har så meget BS du tror det er løgn!

Det lyder krafteddeme ulækkert! For for helvede altså!

This kid rocks!

2010-11-12T09:00:00.000+01:00

I assume (<-- oh no!) most of you have seen this kid before. With the latest stunt Keenan Cahill definitely made it big on YouTube.

The Fiddi Cents video in full:

Der er håb om liv!

2010-11-11T09:00:00.000+01:00

Et par gange har jeg gjort den fejl, at købe et First Person Shooter spil til konsol. Både til den gamle XBOX og til PS3.

Til PS3 vidste jeg godt hvad jeg gik ind til, men spillet lokkede så meget så jeg var "nød til" at give det en chance. Nu ligger der så 700SEK (eller hvad det nu kostede) nede i skuffen og keder sig.

Lad os slå det fast med det samme: FPS på konsol = Kæmpe misforståelse!
For en gammel CS'er, som den kendte og elskede [STIVAN]Teak, er der tale om man kan blive direkte køresyg, når der spilles FPS på en konsol. At selvtilliden også får et hak i den forkerte retning, når man indser man, modsat tidligere, totalt sutter røv, hjælper ikke på det.

FPS skal spilles med mus og keyboard. End of discussion!
Problemet er, at det ikke bare sådan lige går, at koble dit desktop set til en konsol, i hvert fald ikke hvis du har tænkt at spille med skidtet. Jeg går ud fra det er fordi man har blokkeret det fra producentens side, fordi man vil få en fordel over de, der bruger konsol-handcontrol.

Muligvis er der håb om liv, for de dyre, støvede spil nede i skuffen. For nyelig fik jeg nys om, der findes noget der hedder XFPS Rate Up Adapter. Med hjælp fra denne converter, skulle der være mulighed for at spille FPS på konsollen, som om du sad ved computeren.
Convertren koster 700DKK, så det kunne da være sjovt at høre, om der er nogen der ved om 1) produktet holder hvad det lover og 2) om der findes bedre og/eller billigere alternativer?

En ting er helt sikker, før eller siden skal jeg spille FPS på konsol, med keyboard og mus. The way it's intended!

Today's Big Topic in Pictures!

2010-11-10T14:52:00.003+01:00

The weekend in sports

2010-11-08T10:47:00.004+01:00

A quick recap of the weekend in the world of sports.

Lule #1
With a break coming up, it's great to see Lule is still in the lead, a fantastic lead with seven points to #2. On Saturday they played a home game against #3 Färjestad, and it was another win for Lule. 3-2 and another three points in the bag.
See highlights here.
All in all, it seams this break comes at a good time. The fast hockey Lule plays this year is very demanding (and rewarding), and a little breather seems to be what the team needs now.

Malmö FF goes golden
While I don't follow Swedish football as such, it's still cool that the local team took the gold yesterday. This in the year of their 100 years anniversary! Great timing!
Congrats to Malmö FF!

AC Horsens
Even if they eliminated FC København from the cup at an away game in Copenhagen not many days ago, it was kind-of expected Horsens would have a hard time getting away with points in Sunday's match, again an away game in Copenhagen. Well, they didn't! Let's just leave it at that!
This being the first season back in the top league after one year away, the main goal is to not drop down again.

Liverpool!
Finally it seems the best team in the English Premiere League is in the right gear. A 2-0 win over league leaders Chelsea was sweet. If the latest string of wins signals better times, I'm very happy!
It's hardly going to be a title this year, even if stranger things has happened, but a top three or four will do fine!

Formula 1
I feel Mark Webber deserves the title. But with a table like this, it's going to be a tough nut to crack:
1. Fernando Alonso - Ferrari - 246 points
2. Mark Webber - Red Bull Racing - 238 points
3. Sebastian Vettel - Red Bull Racing - 231 points
4. Lewis Hamilton - McLaren - 222 points

Not only is Webber pretty much in need of the win, Alonso can't be second. We have a situation where Alonso may be able to cruise the title home in second. However, Vettel is hot these days. Had he not made all those stupid mistakes earlier in the season, my guess is he could have secured the title by now. Vettel may be the one that helps Webber by ruining it for Alonso, but he may also be the one who ruins it for Webber as Vettel still has a shot at the title. If Webber ends up in second or third, he needs Alonso way down in the field, and probably Vettel too.
I hope for Webber, but I wouldn't be surprised if Alonso grabs it!

You hit it, dude!

2010-11-06T09:00:00.000+01:00

TGIF!!!

2010-11-05T10:15:00.002+01:00

Finally Friday!

It's been a long week! Meetings! Travel! Meetings! Not enough sleep!

Well, let's end the week on a lighter note with a different take on painting ships:

Also, here is a different take on face painting:

...and taking it one step further:

Strike!!

2010-11-05T09:00:00.001+01:00

FourSquare for squares

2010-11-03T09:00:00.000+01:00

I use FourSquare! Why? Not really sure? I think it's because I discovered there was an app for Android and then I wanted to see what all the fuzz was about. Well, "fuzz" is a relative size I guess?!
Based on how easy it is to be mayor around here, I would say the FourSquare penetration in Sweden and Denmark is not only low but very low. Thus I would claim the fuzz-ness is somewhat deflated.

The thing that would make FourSquare bigger is "reason"! So far there is very little reason to do it, since so few stores, museums and whatnot are in on the deal.

What can you do with FourSquare:
- Score points
- Score badges
- Become the mayor of ...anything!

The badge thing is OK! It's fun and you're not directly compeeting with anyone.

The mayor thing is fun! Not so much becoming the mayor, but keeping others from being the mayor and possible ousting a mayor is the real fun.
This is also where the purpose comes in. If you got free coffee for being the mayor at the local Seven11 or free access if you are the mayor of the local club or museum.

Then there is the points thing! In my opinion this is not as fun, it doesn't really have a purpose and more significantly it is the way to ruin for FourSquare.
Let's face it, if there are points to be scored, a lot of people will do anything to score them. In the FourSquare world, this means checking in to anything at any time no matter how stupid it is.
Setting a time limit for check-ins to avoid too frequent check-ins and blocking people who checks-in too frequent is only stupid. The solution is more simple: Drop the points system! ....now!

Also, even if this is impossible, having no control over the spots people create is also a way to down fall, or at least it could be.
People spell like the wind blows. This will create in-correct locations. Other people may correct the spelling, or they create the same spot once more with another spelling.
Have you ever been at say a railway station and using FourSquare? If so, you will see there is a check-in point for each track. Was that really the intention?

Will things like FourSquare ever work? Not perfectly and then no! Why? The idea is funny, but in reality the setup does not work.

Either change it or drop it! In the mean time, I'll check in until I get too bored! ...and a way to avoid that is to ad a purpose!

If you so wish, check out FourSquare.

Lule FTW

2010-11-02T23:26:00.004+01:00

It's great being a Luleå Hockey fan these days!

Today I had the oportunity to - for once - do something I rarely have the option to do anymore: Go to a Lule home game!

Today's oponent was Linköping. Not an easy team to play, but Lule are hot as ever this season, so there is reason for optimism.

It turned out to be a great game! Two goals in the first period and another two in the second sealed the deal and secured another three points and the lead for Lule.

The atmosphere in the arena was great tonight. But with things going the way they are at the moment, why shouldn't it be?

Check the highlights here and check the stills below.

You can't handle the truth!!

2010-10-26T11:39:00.005+02:00

I wont use the word "everybody", even if the media kind-of gives that impression, but at least a lot of people seems to be very positive about the fact that some people can't keep their mouth shut!
By now, you may have figured out I'm refering to Wikileaks. Every disloyal employee's favorite gateway to 15 minutes of anonymous fame!

If something is corrupt, crooked, wrong or illegal, it should be exposed and corrected. Guilty parts should receive punishments due and all that jazz.
However, that task is not necessarily one for every average Joe to carry out! Hopefully there are official organisations and official processess (within any given organisation) that takes care of this.
I'm not saying it's never OK to bring down a system from within, but I'm pretty sure Wikileaks is not the correct way!

If something is secret or classified, it's most likely for a reason. Also, especially in military operations, the general population does not need to be informed of every little detail. Why? Because they can't handle it! There are casualties of war and it's not necessarily pretty. It may also not be possible to avoid or, in the name of the greater good, it may be a price worth paying, even if it seems unfair to some.

Furthermore, it seems nothing is holy for these rats that spill the full monty to Wikileaks. How about the security of those in harms way?

Did the squealers ever think what they are doing could be or is equivalent to fifth column activities?

Is it OK for everybody and their cousin to squeal like a pig everytime it fits their private agenda? If so, we may have anarchy on our hands!

Aye, Capt'n!

2010-10-25T13:52:00.000+02:00

Hits: Wrapup!

2010-10-25T10:05:00.003+02:00

The porn/comic combo gave nothing! Dang!

The end!

2010-10-24T19:30:00.000+02:00

That was the end of this days test. If you want more of the funnies, here is where I found some of them.

It that's what it takes...

2010-10-24T19:15:00.000+02:00

You can't trust anyone these days...

2010-10-24T19:00:00.000+02:00

That's the alternative I guess?

2010-10-24T18:45:00.001+02:00

A day at the beach...

2010-10-24T18:30:00.000+02:00

A day at the office...

2010-10-24T18:15:00.001+02:00

Is that a young Clark Kent?

2010-10-24T18:00:00.000+02:00

Nothing going on here!

2010-10-24T17:45:00.000+02:00

No, it's not a hair dryer this time...

2010-10-24T17:30:00.000+02:00

Oh no! They ruin the photos...

2010-10-24T17:15:00.001+02:00

Hits: The last test!

2010-10-24T16:37:00.002+02:00

Yesterday was another day of comics here at the blog. However, it gave nothing more than the normal amount of hits.
Since that is the case, I will, as promised, giveit at last hit generating run by trying the combo that paid off a week ago: Comics and porn!

Let's see if this will blow you dry!

The master!

2010-10-23T19:30:00.000+02:00

...or vice versa!

2010-10-23T19:15:00.000+02:00

Does this mean I'm and old TV?

2010-10-23T19:00:00.001+02:00

They'll just like to know, that's all!

2010-10-23T18:45:00.001+02:00

Don't eat the yellow snow!

2010-10-23T18:30:00.000+02:00

He was amputated for our sins...

2010-10-23T18:15:00.001+02:00

Hits: Pr0n fail!

2010-10-23T17:43:00.004+02:00

Nopes! It didn't work! I even posted a picture of a blow job, but yesterday's post didn't bring more visitors than usual. I guess the huge number of (Icelandic) visitors on Monday was not a result of using "porn" as a lable then. I gues it has to be the "comic" lable, or, slightly more nerdy, a combo of the two.

Today I'll try to see if it was the comics. If that doesn't give any hits, expect porn and comics tomorrow!

In a salute to the people from EVE Online and other nerds, here's a nerdy theemed comic: