Haiti

Most of the time I write about nice stuff, but I am not able to not do anything about the Haiti disaster. As today it became possible to easily donate by iTunes I sent an amount to help the people and organisations. It is just little what I can do and whatever we all send will not be enough to overcome this tragedy. I hope the country over time, and that will be a very long time, will become stable again and people can work on the future.

Laptop/Netbook Positions to Avoid

I know I am in some of those many times ...

Youth of today :-)

World's Most Expensive Fountain in Action

First Apple store in France

worth waiting for ..

USS New York Warship Is Made With Steel from the Twin Towers

NEW YORK—The symbol of American spirit and integrity, the USS New York arrived on Tuesday, sailing along the Hudson River and finally docking at Pier 88 on the west side of Manhattan ahead of its official commissioning on Saturday, Nov. 7.

The patriotic ship was built with 7.5 tons of steel from the World Trade Center welded into her bow.

Crew members from the ship were filled with enthusiasm for the USS New York and its namesake.

“New York can rebound back from any kind adversity. No other city can rebound as fast as New York,” said nine-year Marine and native Bronx resident Jim Purekal, who sailed back to New York on the USS New York.

Marine Jessy Johnson requested his assignment to the USS New York. “It is like phoenix rising out of the ashes,” said Johnson. “It is touching. … When I looked out onto the ship, I felt bigger than myself.”

“The message of this ship and what it symbolizes is the rebirth or the transformation of something very evil to something good,” said another marine.

The USS New York arrived on Tuesday after sailing from Norfolk, Virginia.

It is the sixth ship to hold the New York name with the original ship dating back to 1776. The last ship to hold the New York name was constructed on Sept. 11, 1911, exactly 90 years before the 9/11 attacks.

Because state names are usually reserved for submarines, Gov. Pataki wrote a letter to Secretary of the Navy Gordon England, petitioning for the name to be given to a surface ship for honoring the lives lost on Sept. 11 and those fighting the war on terror. The request was granted.

"The USS New York will ensure that all New Yorkers and the world will never forget the evil attacks of Sept. 11 and the courage and compassion New Yorkers showed in response to terror," said Gov. Pataki.

Today it is ... but what is Halloween?

Halloween (also spelled Hallowe'en) is an annual holiday celebrated on October 31. It has roots in the Celtic festival of Samhain and the Christian holy day of All Saints. It is largely a secular celebration but some have expressed strong feelings about perceived religious overtones.

The colours black and orange have become associated with the celebrations, perhaps because of the darkness of night and the colour of fire or of pumpkins, and maybe because of the vivid contrast this presents for merchandising. Another association is with the jack-o'-lantern. Halloween activities include trick-or-treating, wearing costumes and attending costume parties, ghost tours, bonfires, visiting haunted attractions, pranks, telling scary stories, and watching horror films.

Historian Nicholas Rogers, exploring the origins of Halloween, notes that while "some folklorists have detected its origins in the Roman feast of Pomona, the goddess of fruits and seeds, or in the festival of the dead called Parentalia, [it is] more typically linked to the Celtic festival of Samhain or Samuin (pronounced sow-an or sow-in)". The name is derived from Old Irish and means roughly "summer's end". A similar festival was held by the ancient Britons and is known as Calan Gaeaf (pronounced kalan-geyf).
Snap-Apple Night by Daniel Maclise showing a Halloween party in Blarney, Ireland, in 1832. The young children on the right bob for apples. A couple in the center play a variant, which involves retrieving an apple hanging from a string. The couples at left play divination games.

The festival of Samhain celebrates the end of the "lighter half" of the year and beginning of the "darker half", and is sometimes regarded as the "Celtic New Year".

The celebration has some elements of a festival of the dead. The ancient Celts believed that the border between this world and the Otherworld became thin on Samhain, allowing spirits (both harmless and harmful) to pass through. The family's ancestors were honoured and invited home whilst harmful spirits were warded off. It is believed that the need to ward off harmful spirits led to the wearing of costumes and masks. Their purpose was to disguise oneself as a harmful spirit and thus avoid harm. In Scotland the spirits were impersonated by young men dressed in white with masked, veiled or blackened faces. Samhain was also a time to take stock of food supplies and slaughter livestock for winter stores. Bonfires played a large part in the festivities. All other fires were doused and each home lit their hearth from the bonfire. The bones of slaughtered livestock were cast into its flames. Sometimes two bonfires would be built side-by-side, and people and their livestock would walk between them as a cleansing ritual.

Snap-Apple Night, painted by Irish artist Daniel Maclise in 1833. It was inspired by a Halloween party he attended in Blarney, Ireland, in 1832. The caption in the first exhibit catalogue:

There Peggy was dancing with Dan
While Maureen the lead was melting,
To prove how their fortunes ran
With the Cards ould Nancy dealt in;
There was Kate, and her sweet-heart Will,
In nuts their true-love burning,
And poor Norah, though smiling still
She'd missed the snap-apple turning.
On the Festival of Hallow Eve.

link: File:Maclise.snap.apple.night.jpg - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

Another common practise was divination, which often involved the use of food and drink.

The name 'Halloween' and many of its present-day traditions derive from the Old English era.

The term Halloween, originally spelled Hallowe’en, is shortened from All Hallows' Even – e'en is a shortening of even, which is a shortening of evening. This is ultimately derived from the Old English Eallra Hālgena ǣfen. It is now known as "Eve of" All Saints' Day, which is November 1st.

A time of pagan festivities, Popes Gregory III (731–741) and Gregory IV (827–844) tried to supplant it with the Christian holiday (All Saints' Day) by moving it from May 13 to November 1.

In the 800s, the Church measured the day as starting at sunset, in accordance with the Florentine calendar. Although All Saints' Day is now considered to occur one day after Halloween, the two holidays were once celebrated on the same day.

Nice Germany weekend

I am back from my weekend to Mannheim. It was fine weekend, although rather busy at the roads. It took my an hour longer to get there, driving back even more but that was partly because I did touristic route.

Saturday we visited the center of Mannheim to do some shopping. I bought several headsets for the office to use with Skype.

The afternoon we went to the Odenwald for some hiking. Perfect weather and great Autumn colors, although I think we were a week too early.

When arriving at the parking lot an ambulance was arriving to help an old lady who fell on here face. Her husband did not know what to do, so we drove their car to the Hospital.

The Sunday as said taking the touristic route. I went to Winningen first, taking a scenic Mosel

route to Koblenz and from there partly along the Rhine to Bonn. At Cologne a traffic jam as in the Netherlands. But all together not that bad. Great weekend, good food, good wine, great weather and nice company.

Long weekend Germany

Will be driving to Mannheim again to visit my sister. Hope it will not be so busy on the roads, Holiday here and in Germany, so you might not know. I already see several traffic jams.

Not sure yet what we will be doing, but going into the mountains is a favorite pastime as is eating and drinking. But Mannheim itself is a very nice city to shop.

About Mannheim

Es ist eine schicksalsreiche und wechselvolle Geschichte, in der die „heimliche Hauptstadt der Kurpfalz“ ihr heutigen Stärken als urbane, offene und tolerante Handels- und Dienstleistungsstadt entwickelte: Seit Kurfürst Friedrich IV. von der Pfalz im Jahre 1606 den Grundstein zum Bau der Festung Friedrichsburg legte, musste die Stadt insgesamt vier Mal nach Zerstörungen wieder neu aufgebaut werden. Stets erhalten geblieben ist jedoch das einzigartige gitterförmige Straßennetz der Innenstadt. Deshalb kann sich in Mannheims City auch niemand verlaufen. Denn wo in anderen Städten Straßen die Namen berühmter Menschen tragen, gibt es in Mannheim stattdessen Buchstaben und Zahlen. Das Rathhaus findet man in „E5“, das Stadthaus in „N1“. Mannheim wird deshalb auch von vielen einfach „die Quadratestadt“ genannt. Und oft hört man den Mannheimer sagen: „Ich geh mal ums Quadrat“.

"Balloon Boy" Falcon Henne Admits: "We Did This For The Show"

This was a big story yesterday, I saw most of it live, but seems to be a hoax ....

Employee statutory and public holiday entitlements – global comparisons

Some interesting conclusions from Mercer in their global comparisons report.

• Employees in Finland, Brazil and France are entitled to the greatest amount of statutory annual leave and those in India, Canada and China, the least
• Employees in Japan and India have the highest number of public holidays while those in the UK, Netherlands and Australia, the least
• Lithuanian and Brazilian employees potentially have access to the most generous overall holiday entitlements
• Employees in Canada are amongst those with the lowest entitlement with only 10 days and while there is no statutory minimum in the US, employees typically receive 15 days a year.
  
• Finland and France make provision for a statutory minimum of 30 days’ holiday a year for employees, closely followed by Lithuania and Russia (28), the UK (28), Poland (26) and Greece (25). The vast majority of countries have a statutory minimum of 20 days including Germany, Belgium, Cyprus, Ireland, Italy and the Netherlands. Cyprus and Slovakia (15 days) have the most bank holidays in Europe followed by Malta and Spain (14 days) and then Lithuania, Austria, Portugal and Slovenia (13 days). France, Poland, Finland, Germany and Belgium have 10, while Denmark, Romania and Ireland have 9. With 8 bank holidays a year, the UK and Netherlands have the least in Europe. However, in some European states such as Norway and Switzerland, public holidays can be nullified if they fall on a weekend.

Finland and broadband

Finland's Ministry of Transport and Communications has made 1-megabit broadband Web access a legal right, YLE, the country's national broadcasting company, reported on Wednesday.

According to the report, every person in Finland (a little over 5 million people, according to a 2009 estimate) will have the right of access to a 1Mb broadband connection starting in July. And they may ultimately gain the right to a 100Mb broadband connection.

Cool Car ... or boat?

That was not expected, was it?

Barack Obama Wins Nobel Peace Prize

The U.S. president Barack Obama won the Nobel Peace Prize "for his extraordinary efforts to strengthen international diplomacy and cooperation between peoples," the Nobel Foundation said in Sweden on Friday.

Best country to live in ....

According to the UNDP (United Nations Development Program) the top six is: 

• Norway


• Australia


• Iceland


• Canada


• Ireland


• Netherlands

Interestingly .... Iceland is as a country rather broke ... so the rest should be very nice. Life expectancy is extremely high with 80+ years for instance.

Although I think Norway is an extremely nice country scenery wise, for the rest it is not my number one. I miss countries like Sweden and New Zealand. But there are so many countries where live is different and people might be much happier than in the ones on the list ... Without having been in Australia I put Canada at number one, but that might change in the future :-).

Beste cities to live in?

A new list. Some I have not been, most I have though. I think I miss some interesting cities, like Boston (USA), Stavanger (Norway) and Wellington (New Zealand).

From a investigation made by students for surprisetickets:

1. No 1   Vancouver


2. No 2   Zurich


3. No 3   Kopenhagen


4. No 4   Geneve


5. No 5   Bern


6. No 6   Ottawa


7. No 7   Sydney


8. No 8   Munchen


9. No 9   Reykjavik


10. No 10 Calgary


11. No 11 Portland


12. No 12 Honolulu


13. No 13 Wenen


14. No 14 Curitiba


15. No 15 Helsinki


16. No 16 Auckland


17. No 17 Malmo


18. No 18 Singapore


19. No 19 Minneapolis


20. No 20 Stockholm


21. No 21 Oslo


22. No 22 Londen


23. No 23 Dusseldorf


24. No 24 San Francisco


25. No 25 Bahia de Caraquez

Weekend in Yorkshire

This weekend as writen I will be in Yorkshire, UK, in a small town called Otley near Leeds.

Yorkshire is a historic county of northern England and the largest in the British Isles. Because of its great size, functions were increasingly undertaken over time by its subdivisions, which have been subject to periodic reform. Throughout these changes, Yorkshire has continued to be recognised as a geographical territory and cultural region. The name is familiar and well understood across the United Kingdom and is in common use in the media, the military and also features in the titles of current areas of civil administration such as Yorkshire and the Humber and West Yorkshire.

Within the borders of the historic county of Yorkshire are areas which are widely considered to be among the greenest in England, due to both the vast stretches of unspoiled countryside in the Yorkshire Dales and North York Moors and the open aspect of some of the major cities. Yorkshire has sometimes been nicknamed God's Own County. The emblem of Yorkshire is the white rose of the English royal House of York, and the most commonly used flag representative of Yorkshire is the White Rose on a dark blue background, which after years of use, was recognised by the Flag Institute on 29 July 2008. Yorkshire Day, held on 1 August, is a celebration of the general culture of Yorkshire, ranging from its history to its own language.

About Otley

The town dates from before Roman times, and belonged to the Archbishopric of York. Otley is close to Leeds and thus may have formed part of the kingdom of Elmet. The southern flank of the Wharfe valley which lies above Otley is known as The Chevin a term that has close parallels to the welsh term "Cefn", meaning ridge and may be a survival of the ancient cumbric language. Reference is made to Ottanlege and Scefinc in c.972. The suffix -ley comes from the Anglo-Saxon -leah which means clearing and was first documented in relation to Otley in 1086. In the same year, reference is made to the woodland to the south of the settlement. Remains of the old Archbishop's Manor House were found during the construction of St Joseph's RC Primary School near the River Wharfe. The town formed an important crossing point of the River Wharfe and was an administrative centre in the wapentake of Skyrack in the early medieval period, and this importance continued with its being the seat of the Mid-Wharfedale Urban District council up until the local council reorganisation of 1974.

The first church was built there in the early 7th century. In All Saints Parish Church there are the remains of two Early Anglo-Saxon crosses, one of which has been reproduced for the town's war memorial. Buried there is an ancestor of the 19th century American poet Henry Wadsworth Longfellow, and the grandparents of Thomas Fairfax who commanded Parliament's forces at the Battle of Marston Moor in 1644. In the graveyard of the parish church stands a replica of an entrance to the Bramhope Tunnel, a monument to those killed during its construction.

Otley is a market town and has held a regular market for more than a thousand years. Market days are Tuesday, Friday and Saturday, and there is also a Farmers' Market on the last Sunday of every month. Documented history for the market begins in 1222 when King Henry III granted the first Royal Charter. Cattle markets are still held at the Wharfedale Farmers' Auction Mart on East Chevin Road although the Bridge End Auction Mart closed a number of years ago and has now been demolished.

Thomas Chippendale, the famous furniture maker, was born at Farnley near Otley, and his statue stands in the town next to the old Prince Henry's Grammar School in Manor Square that he once attended. The current site of Prince Henry's Grammar School is in Farnley Lane.

J.M.W. Turner, the famed painter, visited Otley in 1797, aged 22, when commissioned to paint watercolours of the area. He was so attracted to Otley and the surrounding area that he returned time and time again. His friendship with Walter Ramsden Fawkes made him a regular visitor to Farnley Hall, two miles from Otley. The stormy backdrop of Hannibal Crossing The Alps is reputed to have been inspired by a storm over Otley's Chevin while Turner was staying at Farnley Hall.

The Wharfedale Printing Machine was developed in Otley by William Dawson and William Payne. An early example can be seen in Otley Museum.

Famous Methodist preacher John Wesley was a frequent visitor to the town in the 18th century. Allegedly his horse died in the town and is buried in the grounds of the parish church. Its grave is marked by an unusual toblerone-shaped stone, also known locally as the "Donkey Stone". In his Journal for 1761 we read, "6 July Monday; In the evening I preached at Otley and afterwards talked with many of the Society. There is reason to believe that ten or twelve of these are filled with the love of God." One of the main streets in Otley (Wesley Street) is still named after him.

Jet Lag

Still a bit jetlagged from my visit to Canada/Alaska and did not know what to write about in the last two days, slowly starting again :-).

Friday evening already on another short trip to one of my best friends in the UK, to party his Birthday. No other travel plans for now although I might opt for a few days in Portugal to visit my Portuguese friends again, or have a short break around Christmas and New Year. On my list are Rome (which will be the first time) and New York (third time).

BTW what is Jet Lag anyway and how long can it take to recover?

Jet lag, also jetlag or jet-lag, medically referred to as "desynchronosis" is a physiological condition which is a consequence of alterations to circadian rhythms; it is classified as one of the circadian rhythm sleep disorders. Jet lag results from rapid long-distance transmeridian (east-west or west-east) travel, as on a jet plane.

The condition of jet lag may last many days, and recovery rates of 1 day per eastward time zone or 1 day per 1.5 westward time zones are mentioned as fair guidelines.

When traveling across a number of time zones, the body clock will be out of synchronisation with the destination time, as it experiences daylight and darkness contrary to the rhythms to which it has grown accustomed: the body's natural pattern is upset, as the rhythms that dictate times for eating, sleeping, hormone regulation and body temperature variations no longer correspond to the environment nor to each other in some cases. To the degree that the body cannot immediately realign these rhythms, it is jet lagged.

The speed at which the body adjusts to the new schedule depends on the individual; some people may require several days to adjust to a new time zone, while others experience little disruption. Crossing one or two time zones does not typically cause jet lag.

The condition is not linked to the length of flight, but to the transmeridian (east-west) distance traveled. A ten-hour flight from Europe to southern Africa does not cause jet lag, as travel is primarily north-south. A five hour flight from the west to the east coast of the United States may well result in jet lag.

Crossing the International Date Line does not contribute to jet lag, as the guide for calculating jet lag is the number of time zones crossed, and the maximum possible disruption is plus or minus 12 hours. If the time difference between two locations is greater than 12 hours, subtract that number from 24. Note, for example, that the time zone GMT+14 will be at the same time of day as GMT-10, though the former is one day ahead of the latter.

Nice ...

That is it will cost me not going on Holiday but overall it is not too bad. Flight will cost a little, car no costs, B&B no costs, cruise a lot though ..

Today I also arranged me a short Holiday to my friends in Otley, England. Just for a weekend, but being away for a few days is also good :-).

And you guys are talking about us Dutch ..... hm .....

WASHINGTON - Nearly all the dollar bills in the United States carry traces of cocaine. This suggests a study that was presented Sunday at a conference of the American Chemical Society.

Researchers at the University of Massachusetts found 90 percent of the survey notes miniscule traces of cocaine. That is 20 percent more than in a survey two years ago.
The U.S. capital stretched the crown with 95 percent of the tickets. Paper money is used for cocaine to sniff and most dealers pay in cash. The researchers pointed out that the spread of cocaine particles mainly by Elma machines shall be removed. However, this, alarming rate''out how widespread cocaine use in the USA is.
The analysis of banknotes were also four other countries, Brazil, Canada, China and Japan. In Canada exceeded onde looking at 85 percent of the tickets traces of coacaïne, in Brazil 80, China 20 and Japan 12 per cent.