Thursday, December 22, 2011

Do rate movies you watch on IMDb?

I try to rate all the movies I see on imdb because I like the stats and the voting history. Also it some times prevents me from watching some movies twice due bad memory, especially when under influence :)
I'd like to know the movies you watched in 2011 and rated 8 or higher, if you don't use IMDb, then maybe you can remember your favorites of 2011.
These are mine, all of them are 8s, I had no 9s in 2011.

Hobo with a Shotgun
Get Low
Win Win
X-Men: First Class
Rise of the Planet of the Apes
True Grit
The Social Network

My biggest disappointment was Drive, which is rated 8.1 and I rated 4.

Annom:
I rated about 20 movies in 2011.
8s:
The Diving Bell and the Butterfly (2007)
Kick-Ass (2010)
The King's Speech (2010)
Inception (2010)
The Social Network (2010)

Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows: Part 2 (2011)

and the 8 hour mini-series John Adams (2008)

Biggest disappointment:
Battle for Haditha (2007)



Kamielkaze:
I don't rate movies at this moment on imdb, i will start today. The best movies i watched in 2011

8s would be:
Kick-Ass 
The King's Speech
Inception
True Grit
Celda 211
Toy story 3

Biggest disappointment :
The Town

How does he sit down with balls that big?

Also some helmet cam footage of Danny in a different downhill race, the speed is terrifying.

Tuesday, December 20, 2011

Saturday, December 17, 2011

Kerstpakket

De oogst van dit jaar:

Friday, December 16, 2011

Nationale Wetenschapsquiz 2011 (5/5)

De laatste drie vragen staan nu ook in het forum! Zondag 23:59 moet je foutloze inzending binnen zijn.

Vraag 13: Als je een theedoek nat maakt, wordt hij donkerder van kleur. Laat je hem drogen dan wordt hij weer lichter. Wat veroorzaakt deze kleurverandering?

A. Het water fungeert als een soort glasvezel waardoor het licht diep doordringt in het materiaal
B. Doordat de brekingsindex van water dicht bij die van textiel ligt neemt de verstrooiing af
C. Water absorbeert meer rood en groen licht dan textiel

Vraag 14: Je hebt drie doosjes met bonbons. In het ene zitten twee witte bonbons, in het andere zitten twee pure bonbons en in het derde doosje zitten een pure en een witte bonbon. Je kiest willekeurig één van de drie doosjes en pakt daaruit ook weer willekeurig één van de twee bonbons. Die bonbon is wit. Wat is nu de kans dat de andere bonbon in het gekozen doosje ook wit is?

A. 1/3
B. 1/2
C. 2/3

Vraag 15: Een schip dat drinkwater vervoert ligt te wachten in een grote zeesluis. Door een gat in het schip stroomt zeewater het schip in. Om te voorkomen dat het schip gaat zinken, pompt de bemanning het drinkwater de sluis in. Er stroomt net zoveel water het schip in, als de bemanning wegpompt. Het waterniveau in de sluis:

A. Stijgt
B. Daalt
C. Blijft gelijk

Thursday, December 15, 2011

Joe Goes To ADULTCON

Joe is a really funny interviewer who goes to bizarre conventions and places to ask stupid questions. I recommend his channel!


Tuesday, December 13, 2011

Nationale Wetenschapsquiz 2011 (4/5)

We gaan door met vraag 10 t/m 12 in het forum!

Vraag 10: Een grijs beeldscherm is gevuld met willekeurig geplaatste zwarte en witte stippen. Op het scherm verschijnt steeds een nieuw beeldje waarbij de stippen iets naar rechts zijn verplaatst. We zien dan de stippen vloeiend naar rechts bewegen. Wat gebeurt er nu met de beweging als we bij elk even beeldje (nummer twee, vier, zes, etc.) de witte stippen zwart maken en de zwarte stippen wit?

A. We zien dezelfde beweging maar sterk versneld
B. We zien geen beweging omdat je hersenen geen eenduidige verplaatsing zien
C. We zien de bewegingsrichting omdraaien

Vraag 11: Je hebt de keuze om voor het eerst op een ouderwetse hoge bi (vélocipède) of op een moderne ligfiets te rijden. Op welke van deze twee fietsen kun je het makkelijkst je evenwicht bewaren?

A. De hoge bi
B. De ligfiets
C. Maakt niet uit, op beide is het even moeilijk

Vraag 12: Een 35-jarige man transplanteert schaamhaar naar zijn hoofd om de snel oprukkende kaalheid, die in zijn familie veel voorkomt, te bestrijden. Hoe ziet hij er tien jaar later uit?

A. Kaal: het schaamhaar valt net als het hoofdhaar uit
B. Behaard: het schaamhaar zit er nog maar de kans op krullen is heel groot
C. Behaard: het schaamhaar zit er nog en heeft vorm en kleur van het hoofdhaar overgenomen

Sunday, December 11, 2011

Nationale Wetenschapsquiz 2011 (3/5)

Vraag 7 t/m 9 staan inmiddels ook in het forum.

Vraag 7: Het is alsof bomen weten waar andere bomen staan. Hoe komt het dat volwassen bomen elkaar niet verdrukken of met hun takken tegen elkaar aan staan?

A. Ze detecteren signaalstoffen die de buurbomen via hun wortels afgeven aan het grondwater
B. Ze detecteren het lichtspectrum dat van hun buurbomen afkomt
C. Ze detecteren de zuurstof die door hun buurbomen via fotosynthese wordt geproduceerd
Vraag 8: Er bestaat een vrij recent ontdekt ontladingsverschijnsel boven de wolken, dat vernoemd is naar een wezen uit een toneelstuk van:

A. Sophokles
B. Shakespeare
C. Goethe
Vraag 9: Op Groenland ligt ongeveer 2,9 miljoen km3 ijs. Stel dat al dat ijs smelt en zich onmiddellijk verdeelt over het hele oceaanoppervlak. Hoeveel meter zeespiegelstijging zou dit aan de Nederlandse kust veroorzaken?

A. Er verandert niets
B. Tussen de 2 en 3 meter
C. Tussen de 7 en 8 meter

Friday, December 09, 2011

Nationale Wetenschapsquiz 2011 (2/5)

Vraag 4 t/m 6 staan inmiddels ook in het forum.

Vraag 4: Je druppelt voorzichtig een waterdruppel van 1 millimeter groot op een metalen plaat waarvan de temperatuur ver onder het vriespunt ligt. Wat is de vorm van de ijsdruppel die zal ontstaan?

A. De druppel krijgt een perfecte bolle bovenkant
B. De druppel vloeit plat uit en bevriest dan als een soort pannenkoek
C. De druppel krijgt een spitse bovenkant

Vraag 5: Een gps-satelliet wordt vlak voor zijn lancering altijd zo ingesteld dat de interne klok net een fractie langzamer loopt dan klokken op aarde. Waarom doet men dat?

A. Om te compenseren voor de hoge snelheid van de satelliet
B. Om te compenseren voor de veranderde zwaartekracht op de satelliet
C. Om te compenseren voor de lage temperatuur van de satelliet

Vraag 6: Je hebt je shirt binnenstebuiten aan en je handen zijn aan elkaar vastgebonden met handboeien. Is het mogelijk om je shirt goed te krijgen zonder je handen los te maken?

A. Ja, dat kan, na wat moeite zit je shirt weer goed
B. Nee, dat kan niet want je shirt eindigt ondersteboven
C. Nee, dat kan niet want je shirt eindigt achterstevoren

Sunday, December 04, 2011

Nationale Wetenschapsquiz 2011 (1/5)

Jawel, hij is er weer! Dit keer is er geen reis naar Egypte te winnen maar gaan de winnaars een week naar La Palma inclusief een bezoek aan de William Herschel-telescoop. Tweede prijs-winnaars mogen een lang weekend naar Geneve inclusief een bezoek aan CERN, de derde prijs bestaat uit een lang weekend Amsterdam met een unieke rondleiding door het Rijksmuseum.

Netzoals vorig jaar zijn er 15 vragen en dit keer moet je inzending uiterlijk op zondag 18 december om 23:59 binnen zijn. Dat betekent dat je vanaf vandaag nog 14 dagen hebt om je inzending foutloos te krijgen!

Omdat we vorig jaar akelig dicht bij de eindoverwinning waren (slechts 1 fout!) en we natuurlijk niet onze eigen winkansen willen marginaliseren moeten we het dit jaar misschien iets geheimzinniger aanpakken.

Ik heb op ons forum de eerste drie vragen neergezet en ik wil voorstellen om daar onze eindoverwinning uit te werken.
Vraag 1: Na het inschenken van de drank stijgen champagnebelletjes sneller op dan bierbelletjes van dezelfde grootte. Hoe komt dat?
A. Door de hogere viscositeit van het bier
B. Doordat bierbelletjes bij het opstijgen 'beplakt' raken met eiwitten waardoor ze een hogere weerstand ondervinden
C. Door de hogere gasdruk in champagnebelletjes waardoor de opwaartse kracht groter is
Vraag 2: De meeste olympische zwembaden zijn 3 meter diep. Wat gebeurt er met de zwemtijden van de verschillende deelnemers tijdens een olympische sprintwedstrijd als er gezwommen wordt in een bad van maar 1,5 meter diep?
A. De zwemtijden gaan allemaal evenveel omhoog
B. De zwemtijden komen verder uit elkaar te liggen
C. De zwemtijden komen dichter bij elkaar te liggen
Vraag 3: Je kunt bij Facebook heel goed zien hoeveel vrienden jouw vrienden hebben. Hebben mensen op Facebook gemiddeld net zoveel vrienden als hún vrienden?
A. Ja
B. Nee, gemiddeld hebben hun vrienden meer vrienden dan zij
C. Nee, gemiddeld hebben hun vrienden minder vrienden dan zij

Wednesday, November 30, 2011

Google Maps indoor


More info and video on Google Blog.

It only works in a few places in America right now, but I see a lot of potential in this. I wonder how accurate your position can be placed inside a building without GPS, new phones do have barometers now, so it should be able to tell which floor you are on. But even without seeing where you are on the map it's still pretty handy to have a floor plan of the building.

I wonder when we will get indoor roomview. This does already work in Google Art Project which lets you walk through museums and I blogged about a while ago.

Sunday, November 27, 2011

What could possibly go wrong?

The Mars Science Laboratory has been launched towards Mars. Only the first few steps in a long series of single point of failures that can all waste 2 billion dollars.

Pretty Timelapses

The talk is a bit too new-agey for me, but the timelapses are very nice. I also posted this because I think it's bizarre that TEDxTalks can be in full HD whereas TED global talks are still in stupid 480p.

Thursday, November 24, 2011

Real prospects for life extension

Good TED video.


She is 56 years, I wonder if she is secretly testing her findings on herself, or if it's just her genes or diet that makes her look younger.

Monday, November 21, 2011

Kitty City

Cyriak has made another video, this time with kitties. Also I included a little older one, because weird shit must come in pairs.

Monday, November 14, 2011

Sunday, November 13, 2011

Sunday, November 06, 2011

Google Earth item collector

This guy got some collection mania, but it are some nice collages:



Wednesday, November 02, 2011

Hello Terminator


Article. This robot was made by Boston Dynamics who also made BigDog and AlphaDog which we blogged previously. It seems like robots are finally catching up to human mobility.
It seems as if the goal of the RoboCup challenge might be completed earlier than expected:
By mid-21st century, a team of fully autonomous humanoid robot soccer players shall win the soccer game, complying with the official rule of the FIFA, against the winner of the most recent World Cup.
The movement of the robots used in RoboCup 2011 look pathetic compared to this.

I can imagine them using similar software similar to Google's autonomous car (RBB link) to navigate and patrol the streets. Watson-like technology (RBB link) to interpret and answer questions. I wouldn't be surprised if US army black projects already have more advanced robots than these.

So will they become our servants or destroy us all? It looks scary enough.

Fairly projecting the world

I always knew that Africa was much bigger than it looked on many maps, but I didn't know so many other countries would fit in it as you see in the image below.
The reason why people usually don't realize how big Africa truly is, is because of the map projections commonly used to show the Earth. Projecting a sphere in 2D is a difficult task and will always have some some compromises. Often the Mercator projection was used. 
The Mercator projection distorts the size and shape of large objects, as the scale increases from the Equator to the poles, where it becomes infinite.
Greenland takes as much area on the map as Africa, when in fact Africa's area is approximately 14 times greater than Greenland.
The Gall-Peterson projection is the other extreme. In this projection the landmasses have their actual size compared to each other, but there is a lot of distortion. Here the huge size of Africa is immediately clear.
The Robinson projection is a map projection of a world map, which shows the entire world at once. It was specifically created in an attempt to find a good compromise to the problem of readily showing the whole globe as a flat image.

More about map projections.

Friday, October 28, 2011

The Beginning of The End

What's happening here? Dubstep? Oh noes!
Must be The Beginning of The End...

Click on the titel for better bass!

Tuesday, October 25, 2011

Epic VR setup

Amazing omnidirectional treadmill which allows you to walk and it uses paintball guns FFS! :)

UPDATE: The full video has been posted:

The hosts are kind of annoying but the setup is very impressive, though I see room for improvement. I'd try to make that gun more realistic by removing the onscreen gun because you're already carrying a gun, and also removing the small screen on the gun. Use the Kinect to see when you're looking through the scope and then change the view on the projected screen accordingly. Also I'd put the paintball gun stands outside the tent with small holes to shoot through. Maybe placing fans and heaters/coolers to simulate wind and temperature. Then you'd really feel the heat when you step outside into the sun.

How much would you pay if these systems became available in an arcade? I think I would pay around €10 per half hour, I doubt you can play much longer because you'd get tired.

Monday, October 24, 2011

OSX vs Ubuntu

The best reason to use Ubuntu instead of OS X is found in the OS version names!

Mac OS X:
Kodiak, Cheetah, Puma, Jaguar, Panther, Tiger, Leopard, Snow Leopard, Lion.

Ubuntu:
Warty Warthog, Hoary Hedgehog, Breezy Badger, Dapper Drake, Edgy Eft, Feisty Fawn, Gutsy Gibbon, Hardy Heron, Intrepid Ibex, Jaunty Jackalope, Karmic Koala, Lucid Lynx, Maverick Meerkat, Natty Narwhal, Oneiric Ocelot.

European map of Flickr and Twitter locations

According to source; 'Red dots are locations of Flickr pictures. Blue dots are locations of Twitter tweets. White dots are locations that have been posted to both.'
Apparently we Dutchies have a lot to say and don't really care much about our own privacy as we tend to preach. Or am I missing something here?

Amazing image manipulation, but still no enhance

This could be really useful for experimenting with the decoration of a room. I can already imagine IKEA allowing you to experiment with their furniture.

Saturday, October 08, 2011

But still no ENHANCE!


Edit: Repost, derp is on me!

Tuesday, October 04, 2011

The Dog is getting bigger

Annom previously posted about the extraordinary and biomimetic BigDog robot. They haven't been idle and Alpha Dog is the newest and much bigger version.

Especially watching it run was impressive, and of course its recovery from shoves.

The AlphaDog, as they’re calling it, was created to be basically the practical version of BigDog, which, while compelling and scary, was too loud and couldn’t carry enough stuff. AlphaDog, on the other hand, will carry 400 pounds of gear for 20 miles in a day, without needing to be refueled. -Article

Monday, October 03, 2011

Friday, September 30, 2011

Homer Simpson body

A body that look likes the face of Homer Simpson, not that sexy but still horney.

Thursday, September 29, 2011

Worlds Largest Ship

The Maersk Triple E class is a planned family of large, fuel-efficient container ships, designed as a successor to the Mærsk E-class. In February 2011, Maersk awarded Daewoo Shipbuilding a US$1.9 billion contract to build twenty of the ships.

The 'normal' E-Class is currently the largest containership class, some illustrative pictures:
side view, engine, camshaft and pistons. Stern, superstructure and super structure on fire!

Tuesday, September 20, 2011

Waar gaat mijn belasting naar toe?

Een leuk tooltje waarmee je kan zien hoeveel inkomstenbelasting je per dag in Nederland betaalt en waar dit aan op gaat. Je kan ook nog op de icoontjes klikken voor een uitsplitsing van de kosten.

Monday, September 12, 2011

America can't be considered a civilized country - Part IV

See parts I - III of this series here. A bit from QI on American prisons.

Jimmy Carr keeps it quite funny, but these stats are very depressing, and they don't even mention the capital punishment, which out of all the OECD countries besides Japan (vary rarely) only the USA still uses.

See also the following wikilinks Prison-Industrial-Complex, Incarceration in the United States, Global Distribution of Capital Punishment.

I would write more on the disgusting ways in which the prison industrial complex works, but I don't have the time to dig in and read all the articles for references.

Sunday, September 11, 2011

Ninite

Really useful site I always use when I install Windows (not often ;) ). It bundles common applications you select in one installer pack.
It's not new, but some of you may not yet be aware of its existence... Makes life easier.

Kerbal Space Program

Kerbal Space Program is a multi-genre game where the player can create his own space program. In KSP, you must build a space-worthy craft, capable of flying it's crew out into space, without killing them. At your disposal is a collection of parts, which must be assembled to create a functional ship. Each part has it's own function and will affect the way a ship flies (or doesn't). So strap yourself in, and get ready to try some Rocket Science!

Main Features:
  • The Vehicle Assembly Building. Allows players to build spacecraft out of any imaginable combination of parts.
  • Fully-fledged, Physics-based Flight Simulation ensures everything will fly (and crash) as it should.
  • Procedural Terrain delivers detailed terrain at a vast scale. The Kerbal Planet is 600km in radius!
  • Mod-enabled, allows players to create new content and modify the game.
  • Ship systems. Keep an eye out for engine temperatures and fuel levels, and try not to explode.
  • Build ships with multiple stages, and jettison parts away as they burn out.
  • Full control over the staging sequence allows for complex ships and advanced functionality.
The game is still in development, but it's already a lot of fun, and it can be downloaded for free. Below there are some videos of people doing it wrong. There are also videos of people doing well, but it's more fun to find out yourself how to build a good rocket.

I've so far failed at going orbital. It is definitely possible to orbit, use transfer orbits, and deorbit, as this video shows. There are also tips on the forum. I did manage to reach a virtual escape velocity, going vertically at 2800m/s, it did slowly tick down so I guess it would land again after weeks if not more of waiting :)

I really like building the rockets and also experimenting with silly designs. I love how the different stages detach and how rockets can spin out of control. PRO-TIP: In the assembly building there is a circle button on the top left which you can click to the desired symmetry and then the parts you attach will instantly be spaced that way.

The future of this game also looks bright with all the planned features, such as much more rocket parts, and all kinds of missions such as satellite deployment, or landing on the moon and other planets.

Thursday, September 08, 2011

Wednesday, September 07, 2011

Firefox vs Chrome vs IE

I mentioned this a while ago, found it:

Tuesday, September 06, 2011

More Waves

I thought this was pretty relevant after that picture dekus some time ago.

Mortal Kombat returns to form

You all probably remember the awesome ultra-violence of Mortal Kombat. I hadn't yet seen some of the fatality footage of the newest Mortal Kombat. And wow, this shit is pretty gruesome.

Maybe too gruesome? :)

If you're feeling like more gore, you can see them all here.

Wednesday, August 31, 2011

Monday, August 29, 2011

Thursday, August 25, 2011

Renewed Respect

Since our last vacation I have renewed respect for waves like these:

Wednesday, August 24, 2011

It's about fucking time

This should have been done many Windows generations ago.

Monday, August 22, 2011

Weird Audio Illusion

Play the video and look at the text paragraphs below for a while and you should hear Fry say it, even though the audio doesn't change. He is actually saying "Fix it"

BITCHHEAD. BITCHHEAD. BITCHHEAD. BITCHHEAD. BITCHHEAD. BITCHHEAD. BITCHHEAD. BITCHHEAD. BITCHHEAD. BITCHHEAD. BITCHHEAD. BITCHHEAD. BITCHHEAD. BITCHHEAD. BITCHHEAD. BITCHHEAD. BITCHHEAD. BITCHHEAD. BITCHHEAD. BITCHHEAD. BITCHHEAD. BITCHHEAD. BITCHHEAD. BITCHHEAD. BITCHHEAD. BITCHHEAD. BITCHHEAD. BITCHHEAD. BITCHHEAD. BITCHHEAD.

DICK SHIT. DICK SHIT. DICK SHIT. DICK SHIT. DICK SHIT. DICK SHIT. DICK SHIT. DICK SHIT. DICK SHIT. DICK SHIT. DICK SHIT. DICK SHIT. DICK SHIT. DICK SHIT. DICK SHIT. DICK SHIT. DICK SHIT. DICK SHIT. DICK SHIT. DICK SHIT. DICK SHIT. DICK SHIT. DICK SHIT. DICK SHIT. DICK SHIT. DICK SHIT. DICK

BIG ZIT BIG ZIT BIG ZIT BIG ZIT BIG ZIT BIG ZIT BIG ZIT BIG ZIT BIG ZIT BIG ZIT BIG ZIT BIG ZIT BIG ZIT BIG ZIT BIG ZIT BIG ZIT BIG ZIT BIG ZIT BIG ZIT BIG ZIT BIG ZIT BIG ZIT BIG ZIT BIG ZIT BIG ZIT BIG ZIT BIG ZIT BIG ZIT BIG ZIT BIG ZIT BIG ZIT BIG ZIT BIG ZIT BIG ZIT BIG ZIT BIG ZIT BIG ZIT BIG ZIT BIG ZIT BIG ZIT BIG ZIT BIG ZIT BIG ZIT BIG ZIT BIG ZIT BIG ZIT BIG ZIT BIG ZIT BIG ZIT BIG ZIT BIG ZIT BIG ZIT BIG ZIT BIG ZIT BIG ZIT

bits of pizza bits of pizza bits of pizza bits of pizza bits of pizza bits of pizza bits of pizza bits of pizza bits of pizza bits of pizza bits of pizza bits of pizza bits of pizza bits of pizza bits of pizza bits of pizza bits of pizza bits of pizza bits of pizza bits of pizza bits of pizza bits of pizza bits of pizza bits of pizza bits of pizza bits of pizza bits of pizza bits of pizza bits of pizza bits of pizza bits of pizza bits of pizza bits of pizza bits of pizza bits of pizza

snip it snip it snip it snip it snip it snip it snip it snip it snip it snip it snip it snip it snip it snip it snip it snip it snip it snip it snip it snip it snip it snip it snip it snip it snip it snip it snip it snip it snip it snip it snip it snip it snip it snip it snip it snip it snip it snip it snip it snip it snip it snip it snip it snip it snip it snip it snip it snip it

PICTURE PICTURE PICTURE PICTURE PICTURE PICTURE PICTURE PICTUREPICTURE PICTURE PICTURE PICTURE PICTURE PICTURE PICTURE PICTURE PICTURE PICTURE PICTURE PICTURE PICTURE PICTURE PICTURE PICTUREPICTURE PICTURE PICTURE PICTURE PICTURE PICTURE PICTURE

ZIP IT ZIP IT ZIP IT ZIP IT ZIP IT ZIP IT ZIP IT ZIP IT ZIP IT ZIP IT ZIP IT ZIP IT ZIP IT ZIP IT ZIP IT ZIP IT ZIP IT ZIP IT ZIP IT ZIP IT ZIP IT ZIP IT ZIP IT ZIP IT ZIP IT ZIP IT ZIP IT ZIP IT ZIP IT ZIP IT ZIP IT ZIP IT ZIP IT ZIP IT ZIP IT ZIP IT ZIP IT ZIP IT ZIP IT ZIP IT ZIP IT ZIP IT ZIP IT ZIP IT ZIP IT ZIP IT ZIP IT ZIP IT ZIP IT ZIP IT ZIP IT ZIP IT ZIP IT ZIP IT ZIP IT ZIP IT ZIP IT ZIP IT ZIP IT ZIP IT ZIP IT ZIP IT ZIP IT ZIP IT

friction friction friction friction friction friction friction friction friction friction friction friction friction friction friction friction friction friction friction friction friction friction friction friction friction friction friction friction friction

There's more in the YT comments.

This is also how that Stairway to Heaven backwards sounds so convincing.

Sunday, August 21, 2011

A-Camp

"A-Camp in Rainbow Gatherings

Consumption of alcohol is generally frowned upon and not permitted at the gatherings (although use of other intoxicants is frequent and widespread). A distinguishing characteristic of the U.S. national gatherings is "A-Camp," (meaning "alcohol camp") typically located near the front gate, where those who want to drink alcohol can stay. Gatherings in Europe do not have "A-Camps." Some gatherings in Canada have "A-Camps" and some do not. Wine is tolerated in moderation at some European gatherings, particularly in France, where it is customary to drink wine with the evening meal."

Wednesday, July 27, 2011

Train Travel Times Map (NL)

The NS has an open API to its travel advice and departure times per station. I played a bit with the API to see how it works and what you can do with it. I plotted a map of the Netherlands with the travel times from a selected station to other stations as distances on the map, in the geographical direction of the station. You can do a lot with it as pimp showed me on this site.

It was just some fun scripting (Python) and crude plotting (Matlab) for me. A total of 200 lines of code. I am aware the plots are not the best way to visualise this, but I am probably not going to spend more time on it, unless there would be a practical use for these graphs, so here they are.

Distances between train stations and the "central station" are train travel times. Click for large size plz.

From Utrecht Centraal to x

From Delft to x

From Groningen to x

From Stavoren to x

Sunday, July 24, 2011

Cool anti aids comercial

AIDES - Sexy Fingers from Sven Karelsen

On the title link you can play youre own instruments (boobs,balls, asses, dildo's, etc) it was my wtf moment for me on this sunday :)

Thursday, July 21, 2011

RC Helicopters and Cameras

It's amazing that amateurs can now make these kinds of videos. They should give the demonstrators in the Middle East a few of these and some training. Also, why aren't journalists using this yet?

Wednesday, July 20, 2011

Meisjes met ijsjes - Discodip


Is dit de nieuwe zomerhit? Hij staat iig op de shortlist van mn mixtape.

Andere plaatjes die worden getipt als zomerhit:





En hier nog een overzicht met alle genomineerden

Monday, July 18, 2011

Apple vs HTC (Android)

Update (18 July 2011): 
"Apple on Friday dealt a serious legal blow to HTC and the Android platform in general. A U.S. International Trade Commission judge has ruled that HTC infringed on two patents Apple submitted in a March 2010 complaint.
(...)
The two patents relate to how data is processed. The first patent is described as a “system and method for performing an action on a structure in computer-generated data,” which Apple says applies, for example, to tapping a phone number and being prompted options to call or look it up on the web. The second is described as a “real-time signal processing system for serially transmitted data,” which Apple says relates to data processed in real-time applications." ~ read more...

Original post (16 March 2010):
Apple has sued Nokia and others before. It now sues HTC for its Android smartphones. Most are software related so a direct attack on Google's Android. Are they too scared to sue Google? Here is how engadget describes some of the 20 patent claims:

"According to the claims, it's a method of moving a GUI object along a path with a non-constant velocity for a period of time"
"scroll behavior: starting a scroll in a single direction locks you in that direction, but starting it at an angle lets you pan around freely"
"unlocking a touchscreen device by moving an unlock image."
"it's technical to the point where we don't feel comfortable saying exactly what it means, but it covers building graphics objects with a processor and outputting them through various means."
"a system specifically described in the abstract as presenting a context-sensitive menu on the screen."
"'983 is from 2001 and describes an OS in which apps can access native system services and those services can make use of data associated with an object."
"it covers parsing data for known structures like phone numbers, address, and dates, and then taking action with that data."
"it hits on the idea that a foreground app can direct a background process to go do some task while the foreground app remains responsive." 


Fuck, they may as well sue Microsoft for Windows. Oh wait, they already did in 1994.

Saturday, July 16, 2011

Wikipedia trivia

Wikipedia trivia: if you take any article, click on the first link in the article text not in parentheses or italics, and then repeat, you will eventually end up at "Philosophy".
I tried it a few times and it worked. From the alt-text of this XKCD comic.

The city Amsterdam photoshop their self greener

What if the photo's you wana use as a promotion of green/sustainable roofing are not green enough. You hire in youre nephew and he photoshop some solar panels in the photo's. Atleast thats what the maker of this city of Amsterdam promotion folder thought.
the real photo
Photoshop

Thursday, July 14, 2011

'Lost' rainbow toad rediscovered

The Sambas Stream toad is also known as the Bornean rainbow toad, with the scientific name Ansonia latidisca. The long-legged, multicolored toad was described by European explorers in the 1920s, and was last seen in 1924. Das' team identified three individuals — an adult female, an adult male and a juvenile, ranging in size from roughly an inch to 2 inches (30 to 51 millimeters).

Wednesday, July 06, 2011

Saturday, July 02, 2011

Google Bid π Billion Dollars for Patents

In the rest of the auction Google also bet the distance between the earth and the sun and a few other odd values.
So was Google serious or just bored or providing a hint to anyone paying attention.
Google lost the auction, by they way, and a group of six companies - Apple, Microsoft, RIM, EMC, Ericsson and Sony - finally paid $4.5 billion.

Wednesday, June 29, 2011

TED: Google's driverless car

It seems to already work nearly perfectly. The sooner this gets used, the better.

Update:

Nevada OK's Google self-driving robotic cars
The future may be approaching sooner than expected with Nevada passing a bill that would allow the state's DOP, Department of Transportation, to setup rules and safety standards for automated self-driving cars. The government decision could be a proactive step towards increasing state income, reducing traffic, and trailblazing the introduction of self-driving vehicles in the U.S.

Monday, June 27, 2011

I Find a Computer Indispensable

From View to A Kill with Roger Moore and Christopher Walken

Saturday, June 25, 2011

What's stronger the brand name or logo

For more see the site: brandreversioning
For me the logo wins almost everytime

Friday, June 24, 2011

Wednesday, June 22, 2011

Nyan cat just became more epic

The people over at YouTube edited the progress bar of the Nyan cat video :)

Someone even made a script which makes all YouTube videos have this progress bar.

Tuesday, June 21, 2011

Drawing vs LSD

These drawings were done as part of a CIA experiment aimed at determining the effects of LSD on the human body. The drawings are incredibly fascinating, particularly due to the progression of style that occurs throughout the experiment. They administered 100ul of LSD to the artist and gave the artist free access to an activity box full of crayons. His subject was the medical assistant who administered the LSD.

Monday, June 20, 2011

Friday, June 17, 2011

Hurcules the Liger, the largest cat in the world

Video of Hercules, also featuring some other hybrids.

As an interesting comparison; the polar bear is the largest carnivore on earth. Adult males weigh 350–680 kg and measure 2.4–3m in length. Hercules the liger weighs 450kg and is around 3.7m in length.

Tuesday, June 14, 2011

Data porn

TED: Aaron Koblin: Artfully visualizing our humanity

Aaron Koblin's website

Johnny Cash project

The Mechanical Turk (we should think of a fun project to do with this)

Sunday, June 12, 2011

The Biggest Mirror in the World

The Salar de Uyuni is the world's largest salt flat at 10,582 square kilometers, when rain covers it with water it becomes the biggest mirror on Earth.

Thursday, June 09, 2011

Wednesday, June 08, 2011

Racetrack

1,200 custom-designed cars race around the large scale sculpture metropolis II by artist chris burden. the piece will soon be exhibited at the los angeles county museum of art on a long-term loan. the huge kinetic sculpture contains a massive roadway in which the small toy cars race around. the road system contains 18 lanes with 13 toy trains and a variety of buildings made from lego and lincoln logs. the whole system is designed to mimic a real freeway.

Which Places Have the Most reddit Addicts? And Global reddit Meetup Day!

From the reddit blog:
Most addicted/engaged countries by avg. pageviews per visit (reddit's Google Analytics, Jan-May 2011):

Canada: 15.72
United States: 15.46
Denmark: 13.99
Norway: 13.81
Sweden: 13.34
Netherlands: 12.89
United Kingdom: 12.86
Ireland: 12.57
Belgium: 11.98
Finland: 11.27
On June 25 there is a global reddit meetup, with one of the meeting places being Amsterdam. I'm seriously thinking of going, anyone with me?

Tuesday, June 07, 2011

Reggie Watts

Plan of the City

PLAN OF THE CITY from Joshua Frankel on Vimeo.

Beautiful combination of video and audio.

Thursday, June 02, 2011

Cool blog i found

I found a good blog specialy for chicks and gayboys! all check it out :) tasteful living

Tuesday, May 31, 2011

Monday, May 30, 2011

A perfect day

Sunday, May 29, 2011

Bear Grylls turns a dead seal into a wet suit

Bear is awesome. I wonder how viable this technique is, couldn't find much about it on the Googles.

Friday, May 27, 2011

Never burn a toast anymore

At my work we got a new toaster, this week i vulcanized all my bread. So i came up with a idea.
To bad it already existed :(

Thursday, May 26, 2011

Very Long Truck

I never knew such long road trains operated. This one is much larger than anything allowed in Australia. It seems to be in Brazil, but wiki doesn't give any mention on road trains in Brazil.

Tuesday, May 10, 2011

40 stacks of books from Earth to Neptune

"Three years ago, the world's 27 million business servers processed 9.57 zettabytes, or 9,570,000,000,000,000,000,000 bytes of information.

Researchers at the School of International Relations and Pacific Studies and the San Diego Supercomputer Center at the University of California, San Diego, estimate that the total is equivalent to a 5.6-billion-mile-high stack of books stretching from Earth to Neptune and back to Earth, repeated about 20 times.

By 2024, business servers worldwide will annually process the digital equivalent of a stack of books extending more than 4.37 light-years to Alpha Centauri, according to a report compiled by the scientists.
(...)
As large as the numbers may seem, the three scientists who worked on the report stated that their server workload figures may be low because server industry sales figures don't fully account for the millions of servers built in-house by Google, Microsoft, Yahoo and other companies using individual component parts ." - read more...

The first real zombie proof house

The architect said about this project:
“The most essential item for our clients was acquiring the feeling of maximum security.”
Er, mission achieved by the looks of it. This concrete cuboid folds in upon itself to become completely sealed, with concrete slabs covering windows when they’re not in use. There’s also movable walls, a concrete perimeter fence, and just one entrance – via a drawbridge on the second floor.
Quite good looks as well

Tuesday, May 03, 2011

Euthanasia Coaster

" “Euthanasia Coaster” is a hypothetic euthanasia machine in the form of a roller coaster, engineered to humanely – with elegance and euphoria – take the life of a human being. Riding the coaster’s track, the rider is subjected to a series of intensive motion elements that induce various unique experiences: from euphoria to thrill, and from tunnel vision to loss of consciousness, and, eventually, death. Thanks to the marriage of the advanced cross-disciplinary research in space medicine, mechanical engineering, material technologies and, of course, gravity, the fatal journey is made pleasing, elegant and meaningful. " read more...
Where can this thing operate legally? Texas was a big surprise to me.
Map of the legality of euthanasia.

Photo of the year?

President Barack Obama and Vice President Joe Biden, along with members of the national security team, receive an update on the mission against Osama bin Laden in the Situation Room of the White House, May 1, 2011.

Monday, May 02, 2011