Google Streetview

Google has recently developed a nifty new feature for their GoogleEarth service: Google Streetview. Employees drive around cities (in the United States) and catch everything on camera, after which they upload the whole shebang to their servers. So U.S. residents looking where exactly they need to go to can now check for landmarks in the area, the building itself, and so on.









Sometimes, the photographs pan out to be quite funny. I have no idea who the hell spends his time looking for these, but quite a few websites have made lists of queer, funny or downright silly pictures. Here for example.

This following picture in particular is pure gold...

In addition to this, there's also a more elevated means of having fun with Google Maps: Our Earth as Art. There are some amazing sights of the world's wonders that one can find there. Also check here for more information.


(Aleutian CloudsImage taken 6/16/2000. These cloud formations were seen over the western Aleutian Islands. Their color variations are probably due to differences in temperature and in the size of water droplets that make up the clouds. The Aleutian Clouds can be found on Landsat 7 WRS Path 91 Row 23, center: 53.10, 170.97.)

A brilliant technological breakthrough

Researchers never cease to amaze us with their fine new discoveries and / or inventions. Judging from the latest innovation in cable technology, I am putting my hopes in the people at Denon.

Denon's 1.5 meter (59 in.) ultra premium Denon Link cable was designed for the audio enthusiast. Made from high purity copper wire and high performance connection parts, the AK-DL1 will bring out all the nuances in digital audio reproduction from any of our Denon DVD players with the Denon Link feature. Attention to detail when building this cable was used by employing high quality insulation, tin-bearing alloy shielding and woven jacketing to reduce vibration and to add durability. Additionally, signal directional markings are provided for optimum signal transfer. Rounded plug levers help prevent breakage.

In order to assure you their clever bit of technology is no lie they clarify with a picture:

So you see, the little arrows prevent the signal from turning around in confusion! I really hope they patented this!

Check it out here: http://www.usa.denon.com/ProductDetails/3429.asp

Belgian Brewer Aggressors Seek to Topple Anheuser-Busch

InBev is a monster.

It has been devouring countless breweries for the past decade or so. Anheuser-Busch's puny defenses are pointless.

Especially that miserly Carlos Brito is the devil incarnate. His uberprofit-driven management style has even lead to the saving on black/white copies and so on: employees were required to ask permission (!) to make those copies for example.

And let's not forget a number restructuring decisions that turned out to be total failures. For instance Hoegaerden, a Belgian beer, had its production facility transplanted to another city. The mistake was that the beer could only be brewed at Hoegaerden due to particular environmental conditions in order to obtain the specific taste.

Now they've revoked the decision and the brewery is back where it had been for so long :)

Check it out here:

InBev tone turns more hostile in bid for A-B

Belgian brewer InBev turned up the pressure Sunday on Anheuser-Busch Cos. to acquiesce to a takeover.In a letter made public Sunday, InBev warned Anheuser-Busch that a rumored deal by the American brewer to acquire Mexican beer maker Grupo Modelo could threaten the $65-per-share price that InBev offered for Anheuser-Busch on Wednesday.

InBev's letter also made an indirect appeal to Anheuser-Busch shareholders, arguing that the St. Louis company has no alternative as attractive as a takeover by InBev.

Speculation grew last week that Anheuser-Busch might try to acquire the half of Grupo Modelo that it doesn't already own as a way to fend off InBev's takeover bid.

By buying the rest of Grupo Modelo — the maker of Corona and Mexico's biggest brewer — Anheuser-Busch could make itself too expensive for InBev to buy. Analysts have speculated that such a deal could cost Anheuser-Busch as much as $15 billion.

...

(source: STLToday.com)

Nicotine, Valium, Vicodin, Marijuana, C-c-c-c-c-cocaine...

Onderzoek heeft aangetoond dat onze waarde landgenoten jaarlijks 1,75 ton cocaïne door de Belgische neuzen jagen. Coke is de laatste jaren duidelijk aan een mooie opmars bezig! Ons aller idool Boonen mag zich op de borst slaan want hij is alvast niet alleen; zijn Antwerpse provinciegenoten lusten er ook wat van! Zo meldt de Gazet van Antwerpen althans.

Hoogste concentratie cocaïne opgemeten in Antwerpen

In Antwerpen-Zuid werd de hoogste concentratie aan cocaïne opgemeten, op de tweede plaats staat Deurne. Dat blijkt uit een grootschalig onderzoek naar cocaïneresten in het afvalwater.
Het onderzoek van de universiteiten van Antwerpen en Luik kwam er in opdracht van de cel Wetenschapsbeleid van de federale overheid. In totaal kostte het 175.000 euro, maar de resultaten ervan mogen er zijn. In ons land wordt jaarlijks 1,75 ton cocaïne gebruikt. Dat is goed voor 17 miljoen dosissen voor een totale waarde van 70 miljoen euro.

Haven

"Het cocaïnegebruik in ons land ligt erg hoog", zegt toxicoloog van de KU Leuven Jan Tytgat. "Een belangrijke verklaring hiervoor is dat steeds meer jongeren van veertien tot vijftien jaar zich aan deze drug wagen, omdat hij nu goedkoper is dan vroeger."
De onderzoekers kwamen tot deze spectaculaire resultaten door cocaineresten op te sporen in het afvalwater van honderd Belgische waterzuiveringsstations.
Mogelijke verklaringen voor de hoge concentraties in Antwerpen zijn de kwaliteit van de Antwerpse waterzuiveringssations. Hoe beter die werken, hoe hoger de concentratie. Daarnaast zou ook de nabijheid van de haven een rol spelen.

(Bron: gva)

Piper at the Gates of Dawn

One of the great advantages of present day entertainment is of course the unprecedented speed at which the internet and its corrolary applications provide us with extensive pastime. Although I am often a tad bit nostalgic when I think of or read up on older and simpler times, technology makes the lives of most people living in our affluent western society a lot easier. Just the other day proved an excellent example of this marvel of modern times.

So, I was idly browsing a variety of websites in search for a laugh, you-tubing here and there when I stumbled upon Pink Floyd’s quintessential debut album Piper at the Gates of Dawn. Despite having a fair number of their albums, for some odd reason I had never listened to this one before. Needless to say, I was dumbfound almost immediately. I now understand the widespread opinion of those music-bigots claiming that Syd Barret’s Pink Floyd eclipsed all later line-ups of the band.

The striking thing here is that I don’t even remember how I ended up at Pink Floyd. The internet seems to me like an enormous monster with interlocking tentacles. Once you’re grabbed by one of them you might end up anywhere. The routes one takes from a given starting point today will probably vary tomorrow, because of the countless mental connections associated with all things in life. It reminds me of a excruciatingly boring linguistics class I foolishly took the previous semester. The jist of most lectures was that various frames of thought could be blended into one entity. One can hop from frame to frame by sort of ‘blending’ different frames (that which we associate with certain words or concepts). Not only is it relevant to linguistics, but also to the way our minds think. Creative minds in particular are adept at making these connections and visualising them for their audience.

That’s why I like people like Erwin Panofsky whose theorem of disguised symbolism in western-European art makes use of that type of thinking. By thinking about what the paintings of the Flemish Primitives represent, the meaning of the iconography and the situation of it all in a cultural historic context he ends up with new perspectives. He’s most famous for applying it to the Arnolfini portrait (1434) by Jan van Eyck. A brief summary of his view can be found at Wikipedia.

I realize this is all a bit far-fetched, but that type of chain of thought also brought me to Pink Floyd. Somehow I think it's quite amazing, and at the same time it reminds me that luckily many things in life remain unpredictable. For me that’s reassuring, because I adhere the principle that we’re rational beings. The random factor enables me to keep supporting that idea whilst denying that we’re merely programmed organic creatures following our emotions and primal needs. Anyway... elaborating more on this gobbledygook would take me too far, and very likely my head would explode while writing it down.

In conclusion: Have I listened too much to Piper at the Gates of Dawn, is it the thrill of having finished my exams or the effects of this here ganja that makes me ramble on about these crazy thoughts? I don’t have a clue; probably all three combined topped off with an additional dash of sheer madness compelled me to write this all down. Anyway, for those poor souls who have never heard of the album (or worse, the band!), youtube offers salvation. Here’s a 10 minute part of the album. Don’t bother looking at the video that lame uploader decided to compile, it’s crap.