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August 31, 2005
Weird phone message ...
I've been getting a phone message which says "All circuits are busy right now, please try again later" while trying to phone my aunt and uncle in Picayune, Mississippi. But just now, for a bit of variety, I got a new one : "The area code you have dialled, 000, has been changed to 000. Please try again with the new area code." Hmmm ...
Posted by daen at 05:05 PM
Katrina check-in
The Katrina check-in website gives those of you who have been in Katrina's path the chance to "check in" and say you're OK.
If you're looking for someone, you can browse the names of those who have checked in, or post names if they haven't done so yet.
It's a bulletin board arranged at the top level by state and county, so it's pretty easy to find your away around, except if you're not sure which county your relatives live in ... a clickable map or dropdown listbox of towns in counties or zip codes would be useful ... Anyway, I posted twice, to Hancock County MS and "Elsewhere" MS. I hope that's OK, under the circumstances.
Posted by daen at 04:12 PM
Hurricane Katrina : can anyone help me find out if my family is OK?
If anybody has information about Mavis and Roy Smith of Leetown Road, Picayune, MS, please email me : kathelp@daen.dk. They are my uncle and aunt, and have been out of touch for 48 hours since Katrina went through.
Update 01 Sep 2005: They are OK, if a bit waterlogged and with some structural damage to the house.
Posted by daen at 03:15 PM
August 30, 2005
Science news
CAMBRIDGE, MA--The same MIT physicists that split the smithereen in 2000 now claim to have successfully split the crouton. Dr Jonathan Eng, leader of the MIT team, said yesterday "We were at lunch and I wondered what would happen if you cover a crouton with dressing and wait a bit. Turns out you can then slice it without it crumbling. Of course, nobody wanted to eat the thing after it had been soaked in vinaigrette and hacked about by me, but if the $10mn grant application is approved we can automate the process in a cleanroom environment over the next 5 years and get maybe half a kilo of split croutons per week." The results, recently not published in Physical Review X, have no immediate practical applications, nor are they expected to stimulate research in similar fields, because there aren't any.
Posted by daen at 11:51 AM
August 27, 2005
Back from California
We're back. And boy, are we tired.
I'll post a fuller entry soon. Suffice to say that:
1. Redwood stumps make excellent wedding platforms.
2. Falling into boiling mud can cost you a limb (no, not me - Kendall Vanhook Bumpass).
3a. The River Bar Farm outside Fortuna, CA is an excellent B&B.
3b. As is the Weston House in Shingletown, CA.
4. The Ford dealership in Fortuna, CA are an excellent bunch of folks who will try to help fix your crappy Taurus SE front passenger window when it breaks.
5. But don't ever rent a car from Dollar unless you want to run the risk of spending 3 hours on the phone trying to get them to do something constructive when the front passenger window on your crappy Taurus SE breaks.
Posted by daen at 01:35 PM
August 17, 2005
Oh, and one more thing ...
Don't talk to me about football. Ever.
Thank you.
Posted by daen at 11:37 PM
Watch this space
Off to California, first for a wedding, and then to yomp around Lassen Volcano National Park and Mount Shasta. I probably won't have much of a chance to blog, but expect a flickrdump when we get back. Ciao!
Posted by daen at 11:33 PM
August 16, 2005
Hans Island, take 2
The BBC has this report on the escalating Danish/Canadian row over Hans Island. Much web space has been devoted to this titanic struggle between the two great maritime nations over the last month (in fact, back to last year), including a previous post of mine. Canadian e-commerce entrepreneur, author and patriot Rick Broadhead has a (slightly biased) Hans Island information page. Apparently, Rick took out a Google ad in favour of the Canadian claim ("Hans Island is Canadian", with a big maple leaf) after having seen one supporting the Danish claim ("Does Hans sound Canadian? Danish name, Danish island.", with a link to the Danish foreign ministry). Others are cashing in on the doubtless literally dozens of interested page views this dispute is generating from Skagen to Møns Klimt, from Vancouver to St Johns. For example, do a Google search for "Hans Island" right now and you'll get a cheeky sponsored link for a Canadian ergonomic chair company with the tagline "Negotiate? What for? Everyone knows it belongs to Canada". The linked page adds further insult with a "Special discount given to all Canadians. Danish customers pay full retail." I reminded them that everbody knows that the Danes are unlikely to buy Canadian ergonomic furniture, being one of the few areas where Denmark can definitely blow the Canadians out of the water, so to speak. That and lamps.
Posted by daen at 02:43 AM
The Concrete Jungle
So, Charlie Stross won a Hugo award for "The Concrete Jungle", apparently. Good for him. It is an excellent story. Read it now.
Posted by daen at 02:38 AM
August 15, 2005
Waiter, there's a Stegobium paniceum in my soup ...
Stegobium paniceum is the species name for the biscuit beetle (US: drugstore beetle, DK: brødbille). It's in the same family (Anobiidae) as the woodworm or furniture beetle. This small (3-5mm long) brown beetle thrives indoors at room temperatures. A tenacious muncher, it will easily chew through cardboard, paper, tinfoil, and apparently even lead, to get to flour, dried cereals, pasta, packet soup or camomile tea (about which more in a moment). The adults don't eat, they just make holes in things. Once the female has chomped her way into a nice bag of organic flour or camomile teabag (I think you can see where this is going), she lays a single egg, which hatches after a few days into a small white larva. But there can be a lot of female beetles making a lot of holes ...
We have/had a number of these beetles which set up home in our pantry. They got in the flour and they got in the camomile teabags. And there is nothing quite like making a fresh, hot pot of tea, pouring a nice cup and taking a good long swig, and then idly wondering what those little boiled white blobs are doing floating sadly at the bottom of the cup to spoil the whole tea-drinking business for you, not to mention that it rather ruins it for the little baby beetles, too.
Posted by daen at 10:29 PM
Tenuous Denmark/test cricket connection
Ricky Ponting, scourge of the England XI, was born in Launceston, Tasmania. And Crown Princess Mary of Denmark was born in Hobart, Tasmania. Tenuous? You got it.
Posted by daen at 10:15 PM
Yup.
Aus 371-9 108 ovs MATCH DRAWN
Posted by daen at 07:50 PM
Or maybe not ...
Aus 358-9 105 ovs Target 423 (4 ovs left)
Posted by daen at 07:37 PM
Looks like a draw ...
Aus 354-8 103 ovs Target 423 (5 ovs left)
Posted by daen at 07:28 PM
A rare occasion ...
I don't normally blog about sport, but at the moment England are three wickets from a Test victory at Old Trafford on the fifth day of the Third test.
Aus 265-7 77 ovs Target to win: 423
Posted by daen at 05:27 PM
We apologise for the interruption ...
There seems to be a problem with blog connectivity - entries may be intermittent for the next few days while my ISP sorts the problem out.
Posted by daen at 11:41 AM
August 12, 2005
Job hunting for the over 50's in Marin County
Marin County's Pacific Sun newspaper (Marin's Best Every Week) considers job hunting when you're over 50. I didn't realize that the Bay Area lost 400,000 jobs between 2001 and 2004. I nearly, nearly moved to San Francisco in 2001. Probably a good job I didn't. Anyway, you're probably wondering what the Pacific Sun could have to do with everyday life in Denmark ... Good question. Here's a photo of a young man presumably about to call time on an interview with some old timer.
Posted by daen at 02:28 AM
August 11, 2005
Islands Brygge, Copenhagen, July 2005
Well, no rocket packs or space holidays, but Copenhagen does have the Gemini Residence, two side-by-side former seed silos now converted into 84 space-agey apartments on Islands Brygge.
Islands Brygge, looking towards Langebro.
Posted by daen at 02:43 AM
August 10, 2005
KBH magazine
KBH is a magazine about Copenhagen. Not much about shopping, tourism or what's on, but a lot about the architecture and changes that are happening to the city, and what it's like to live here.
It's an unusual publication : issue 1 had two "recognise the ...?" quizzes - one with photos of notable loos, the other one of potholes. Worringly, we knew two of the loos and one of the potholes. Issue two was a bit more genteel : spot the gargoyle. Zero there, unfortunately.
The design is drop-dead gorgeous and the articles are in-depth and interesting. In addition to the gargoyles, issue two has a ten-page spread on the new region on Northern Amager known as Ørestad; an interview with journalist and author Rushy Rashid; and a two-page overview of the facelift which Nørreport station will be getting soon, as well as a whole bunch of other worthwhile stuff. This is beyond a doubt the best free magazine that Copenhagen has to offer, and I hope they can keep the presses rolling : producing something as high-quality as this can't be cheap.
You can pick up August's edition at any one of several hundred bars, cafés and clubs around Copenhagen, if you're lucky. Keep an eye peeled for September's. Each issue has a print run of 30,000 but they shift pretty quickly.
Posted by daen at 11:12 PM
Good band names ...
The Ought To Be Band
Posted by daen at 06:37 PM
Saturnus Technology Systems
Saturnus Technology Systems is an Australian company who have developed "an investment accounting system specifically targetted at the Australian financial services market." Why do I mention it here? An ex-colleague of mine, Simon Andrew, is one of the brains behind the company, so it'll probably be a decent portfolio management system.
Posted by daen at 06:34 PM
Coffee porn
There's a discussion over at boingboing on how to make the perfect espresso. Some of the conversation makes me crave a cup of espresso right now, even as I'm going to bed.
"I literally just bought a Rancilio Silvia yesterday and made about 20 shots so far. The first few sucked... in fact the first one didn't actually produce any liquid at all :) But by the 10th I'm having some pretty wicked crema happening :) Even got the wonderful guinness effect on my last one (the wonderful cascade as the crema and coffee separate)."
"Grind your coffee to fill the basket, tap the portafilter on the counter 4-6 times to settle the grounds. Grind 'til full again, strike off the excess, and tamp lightly. Tap the tamper against the side of the portafilter to settle any grounds stuck to the side of the basket, and tamp again firmly. Lock the portafilter into the machine and brew. For a single, you should get 1 oz in 25-30 seconds. For a double, you should use twice the coffee, grind a little bit coarser, and you should get 2 oz. in 25-30 seconds."
(Thanks boingboing, again)
Posted by daen at 02:18 AM
August 09, 2005
Opera in Tisvilde
Rain and good music. More later.
Posted by daen at 04:06 PM
Cornelis Vreesvijk
Cornelis Vreeswijk (August 8, 1937 – November 12, 1987) was a very special person. Born in the town of IJmuiden, The Netherlands, he moved to Sweden while still in his teens to become one of the most influential artists of the twentieth century. He recorded over 30 albums before his untimely death. Folk, blues, rock, samba: Vreewijks' Swedish music tackles many styles. His unique voice, his strong lyrics and his turbulent way of life made him a phenonomen in Scandinavia.Tonight, at Bådcaféen on Christianshavns Kanal, we listened to the excellent Trio Cornelis (Steen Svanholm singer/guitarist, Christian Frank on electric guitar, Mads Riishede on double bass) perform some of Vreewijk's songs on what would have been his 68th birthday. I must confess to never having heard of the man, and I'm amazed at the sheer amount of material I found on Google.
Posted by daen at 03:12 AM
August 08, 2005
Genizon bought Global Genomics AB
A bit late (May 11, 2005) but still ...
GENIZON BIOSCIENCES ACQUIRES ASSETS FROM GLOBAL GENOMICS
TO ACCELERATE THE DISCOVERY OF DISEASE-CAUSING MUTATIONS AND TARGETS
Posted by daen at 06:47 PM
S.W.A.M.P. (Studies of Work Atmospheres and Mass Production)
is an organization whose primary goal is to find creative expression within elements of culture that are inherently counter-creative.
Their projects subvert these elements and make them into something new and much more interesting. For example:
Spore 1.1 is a self-sustaining ecosystem for a rubber tree plant purchased from Home Depot. In this project, Home Depot is responsible for the plant in two ways: first, an unconditional guarantee to replace any plant they sell, for up to one year; secondly through an implied cybernetic contract. This second responsibility is the creative content for the work, where Home Depot's economic health is transitioned through a series of physical computing techniques to a mechanism for controlling the watering of the plant. An onboard computer uses a Wi-Fi connection to access Home Depot stock quotes once per week, keeping a database of these week ending stock values. From the fluctuations in Home Depot stock, various programs and circuitry are controlled accordingly. As the company does well, so does the plant - if the company suffers losses, Spore 1.1 does not get watered. If the plant should parish, due to poor stock performance, it is returned to the Home Depot and replaced with another-at no additional cost.
(Thanks to boingboing for pointing me at this)
Posted by daen at 06:21 PM
Den Danske Sang
Den danske sang er en ung, blond pige,
hun går og nynner i Danmarks hus,
hun er et barn af det havblå rige,
hvor bøge lytter til bølgers brus.
Den danske sang, når den dybest klinger,
har klang af klokke, af sværd og skjold;
imod os bruser på brede vinger
en sagatone fra hedenold.
Al Sjællands ynde og Jyllands vælde,
de tvende klange af blidt og hårdt,
skal sangen rumme for ret at melde
om, hvad der inderst er os og vort.
Og tider skifter, og sæder mildnes,
men kunst og kamp kræver stadig stål:
det alterbål, hvor vor sjæl skal ildnes,
det flammer hedest i Bjarkemål.
Så syng da, Danmark, lad hjærtet tale!
thi hjærtesproget er vers og sang,
og lære kan vi at nattergale,
af lærken over den grønne vang.
Og blæsten suser sin vilde vise,
og stranden drøner sit højtidskvad;
fra hedens lyng som fra stadens flise
skal sangen løfte sig ung og glad.
-- Kai Hoffmann 1874-1949 (text 1924), Carl Nielsen 1865-1931 (music 1926)
Posted by daen at 02:13 PM
August 03, 2005
ClientDataSet and nested data sets, and general Delphi bling
TClientDataSet is a wrapper for a minimal portable database implementation known as MIDAS. Client data sets allow you to populate them with fields and data from other databases, or you can create your own schema at design or runtime. Data can be streamed into a proprietary binary file format (.CDS) or XML (although the XML schema is proprietary). What's really cool is that fields in a client data set can themselves be data sets, allowing master-detail relationships to be created relatively easily. I stress the relatively, because it isn't entirely clear from the Delphi documentation how to do it. Which is why people like Cary Jensen, Marco Cantu, Ray Konopka, Bob Swart, Charlie Calvert, Steve Teixeira (recently defected to MS, boo hiss!), Xavier Pacheco and all those TeamB people and other Delphi experts who post their knowledge where all and sundry can find it deserve medals. Cary Jensen is singled out in this post for his excellent and comprehensive article on nested data sets using TClientDataSet.
Posted by daen at 03:29 AM