tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-84838523287745134722024-02-19T20:25:16.086+01:00My Mobile BlogJoop Carelshttp://www.blogger.com/profile/07287495438771933765noreply@blogger.comBlogger59125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8483852328774513472.post-33637226210573438622016-12-16T10:17:00.000+01:002016-12-16T10:17:40.532+01:00Vaccinating against Autism<div dir="ltr" style="text-align: left;" trbidi="on">
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<span data-offset-key="fomqa-0-0">Right. So we "vaccinate" kids against in-utero development of autism, by giving the mother vitamin D supplements.</span><br />
To be fair, the actual study is basically unreadable for those not expert in statistical analysis. But the short conclusion is "Just as prenatal folate supplementation has reduced the incidence of spina bifida, we speculate that prenatal vitamin D supplementation may reduce the incidence of ASD."<br />
So they <b>speculate</b> based upon their findings. But if this were to be followed up by a 10-15 year study where we start increasing vitamin D intake during pregnancy (which in itself is harmless) and a notable response is seen in Autism-spectrum related problems, it would further strengthen the evidence for this theory.<br />
<span data-offset-key="4dqb3-0-0">In the Netherlands, past generations would be given "levertraan" (cod liver oil). This stuff tasted horrible, so many kids who grew up decided not to force this upon their kids. Guess what "levertraan" is a prime source of... </span><span class="_5u8n" data-offset-key="4dqb3-1-0" spellcheck="false" style="background-color: rgba(88, 144, 255, 0.14902); border-bottom: 1px solid rgba(88, 144, 255, 0.298039);"><span data-offset-key="4dqb3-1-0"><span data-text="true">#GrandmaKnewBest</span></span></span><br />
Where I found this: https://science.slashdot.org/story/16/12/15/2317248/vitamin-d-deficiency-during-pregnancy-linked-to-autism<br />
Where they linked from: http://newatlas.com/vitamin-d-autism-pregnancy/46956/<br />
What the actual research says: http://www.nature.com/mp/journal/vaop/ncurrent/full/mp2016213a.html</div>
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Joop Carelshttp://www.blogger.com/profile/07287495438771933765noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8483852328774513472.post-16133861423761903822013-07-25T01:12:00.000+02:002013-07-25T01:12:11.242+02:00Spooky compression of a message<div dir="ltr" style="text-align: left;" trbidi="on">
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A couple of months ago in Zurich, I was conversing with my colleague. We had just had a nice dinner and were basically enjoying ourselves by debating on science-fiction. Particularly, the topic of faster-than-light communication. While we contemplated fully fictional examples like the subspace communications in Star Trek (massless particle-based communication method in a warp field at Warp 9.98), and how far off those still were, we stumbled across the concept of "Quantum Entanglement communication through Spooky Action at a Distance".<br />
<br />
That's a lot of complex physics that boil down to a simplified experiment in which Alice and Bob both have one side (...) of a flipped coin. Until Alice actually looks at her coin, she doesn't know whether it landed heads-up or tails-up for her. But once she looks, once she knows, then it is a certainty that Bob's coin will be the opposite. So by exclusion, you have determined the options remaining for Bob's side of the coin. In essence, you have a "bit" that can be "flipped" at arbitrary distance without delay. But you can flip it only once, and we can't entangle at a distance yet.<br />
<br />
In our thought experiment, we considered Man colonizing Mars. Not too far away yet. About a year's travel by rocket, and depending on the position relative to one another, classical radio communications happen with a 3 - 21 minute delay.<br />
<br />
This makes it a rather unpractical place to "resupply", and possibly worthwhile to have at least <b>some</b> communications able to happen instantly. A supply of entangled particles would be sent to the Colony, but since they'd be difficult to produce, and limited in availability, each bit would have to be made to count. Simply transferring an old html webpage over Entanglement Communications would be <b>excessively</b> expensive.<br />
<br />
A possible solution for this would be to predefine the messages. Particular "particles" present predefined propositions. But, of course, this predefined context limits the message itself. It will allow you to convey the sense of urgency ("Red Alert!"), but not the cause or reason of it, whose cardinality would be too numerous to predefine.<br />
<br />
The trick would be to provide an intelligent set of messages attached to each of these "bits". E.g. you attach defined context to a particular bit. In a set of identical bits, the particular bit that "flips" can imply a wildly different meaning.<br />
<br />
In a strange way, this could be considered the ultimate data compression.<br />
<br />
The message is "1".<br />
The meaning could be a copy of the Encyclopedia Galactica.<br />
<br />
It's not even lossy compression. You just can't compress any other message except the ones you defined beforehand. So it would be useless to report, say, the day's weather, as you need to be able to have undefined variables in the message.<br />
<br />
So for a Mars colony, the application might be limited; since there is no one who could come and intervene at a timeframe that would be relevant for a communication you want to bridge the gap of space instantaneously ("Help! We have a massive loss of Oxygen" and the resupply ship arrives a year later).<br />
<br />
However, applying this concept to, for example, a satellite at a Lagrange point looking for Solar Storms, could give Earth and Mars a significant increase in early warning...<br />
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Joop Carelshttp://www.blogger.com/profile/07287495438771933765noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8483852328774513472.post-88677037098726488392012-11-28T12:15:00.000+01:002012-11-28T12:15:56.610+01:00You are in a Dark Room...<div dir="ltr" style="text-align: left;" trbidi="on">
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgtTkvuz-VN61P1FYOP8NzVRm5Ofg0YzOIqp1mR4ZYu4BBUpmx3ksTUIlSzx3RBNsF61P782CsJRmnykPPhZgXSXTJzRR9_9wlIQ-W56Pky96D0fHk089uimnoNTC3k6qKrdMH__Q37f5ke/s1600/darkroom.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="170" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgtTkvuz-VN61P1FYOP8NzVRm5Ofg0YzOIqp1mR4ZYu4BBUpmx3ksTUIlSzx3RBNsF61P782CsJRmnykPPhZgXSXTJzRR9_9wlIQ-W56Pky96D0fHk089uimnoNTC3k6qKrdMH__Q37f5ke/s200/darkroom.jpg" width="200" /></a>"You are in a Dark Room. You sense there is only one exit."<br />
<br />
Thus we wrote on the front of the card announcing the birth of our baby daughter, Megan Aisha Elisabeth Carels.<br />
<br />
The way this text is written, as much as the text itself, is a reference to some old-skool computer games; Text Adventures like Zork, maze games like NetHack and Paganitzu. Often these fledgling adventures would "set the scene" in their introduction with a phrase like this.<br />
<br />
Like the player in one such adventure, Megan has no notion of what lies ahead, no idea of what will be required of her, and whether there will be a cool prize when she reaches the finish (or if there will be a finish at all...). She will be embarking on her grand adventure, learning as she goes along, finding new depths and new intricate, interwoven, storylines at every turn. Hopefully ever-curious to explore and discover each of them.<br />
<br />
But right now, she has just emerged from the dark room, and, proverbially, still blinking in the bright sunlight, is busy just getting to grips with reality around her.<br />
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Megan's parents grew up and "matured" (more or less) alongside the technology that enabled those old adventure games. Simple, text-based, things at first, but evolving into ever more complex and intricate epics.<br />
<br />
For them too this is a reference to a new adventure that is to begin. Or at the least the latest and grandest twist in their ongoing adventure so far. One quite unlike any they've encountered before. One, that will make all the adventures before it seem like mere scratchings on the surface. Or so we are assured by legion of other players, who seem to be collectively unable to be any more specific on this claim.<br />
<br />
So both Megan <b>and</b> her parents at this point have no idea of the story ahead of them, or even the new "interface" it came with. Though I feel this is not something we should be scared of. Indeed, to stick with the computer game analogies, a long, long, time ago, when my father got some new game on the old C64, it was my "job" to figure out how it worked and in turn explain it to him. To figure out the unknown, to find what "makes the world tick".<br />
<br />
Like I hope Megan will face the world with an eagerness and outgoing curiousity, so I hope we will be eager and curious about getting to know her.<br />
<br />
In many ways, how I feel about this moment, is perhaps best captured by a quote from Dr. Seuss's "Oh the places you'll go"[1].<br />
<br />
They're the last lines, from his last book. And you can kind of imagine them fitting as you, the adventure player, exit the proverbial Dark Room.<br />
<br />
They say...<br />
<br />
<br />
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"You're off to Great Places!</div>
<div style="text-align: right;">
Today is your day!</div>
<div style="text-align: right;">
Your mountain is waiting.</div>
<div style="text-align: right;">
So... get on your way!"</div>
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<br />
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[1] http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Oh,_the_Places_You%27ll_Go!<br />
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Joop Carelshttp://www.blogger.com/profile/07287495438771933765noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8483852328774513472.post-28063945540612502762012-10-15T21:44:00.001+02:002012-10-16T10:41:38.641+02:00Chaos, or Anarchy?<div dir="ltr" style="text-align: left;" trbidi="on">
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As some may have noticed, I've been visiting Egypt a few times recently. And one thing about Egypt that most Westerners will immediately notice is the traffic. Especially around Cairo. It's quite simple, you do <b>not</b> mingle in Egypt traffic, as a foreigner, unless you have a death wish.<br />
<br />
Roads around Cairo (or more specifically the use of them), at first glance, seems a total chaos. Lanes are largely disregarded, everybody merges wherever they like, there seem to be no rules on right-of-way and traffic lights, if present, are just a colourful way of lighting the tarmac.<br />
<br />
Accidents are rife, and often terrifyingly tragic. And the ones that aren't still have consequences that are difficult to oversee as there cannot be any insurance on these roads. Conflict as result of damaging one's property needs to be resolved with the parties involved and right on the spot.<br />
<br />
Yet, it's not true chaos. Of course not, there are humans behind the wheel. Humans can be irrational, emotional and illogical, but they also tend to be predictable. So, if not Chaos, then within the confines of my blog's context, it follows that I'm implying that Anarchy rules the Cairo Highways.<br />
<br />
Anarchy, in one popular meaning, is a state of lawlessness and disorder. With the latter more or less by consequence of the absence of the former. For many a orderly society, the prospect of falling into anarchy is a near worst-case scenario.<br />
<br />
But in another meaning of Anarchy, it implies a functional method of governance in a society... Namely one without the <b>need</b> of a hierarchically enforced, coercive, and authoritive set of rules. The anarchist's idealism proposes that people "voluntarily" living together in a society will tend towards a form of respectful working equilibrium.<br />
<br />
<br />
In all fairness the roads around Cairo are "not entirely" without authoritive oversight. But the police is rather understated, understaffed and ineffective in the role as enforcer. About the best they can manage is to clean up the worst of accidents, some minor traffic-management during the worst rush hours and stage the odd checkpoint now and then, causing the general motorist to quickly put on their seatbelts to prevent a dressing down and providing extra income to the State.<br />
<br />
And the "voluntarily" part of the anarchist's definition is pretty much substituted with "necessarily". The majority[2] of people here have a car, and a cellphone, but no hope or means of truly getting out of here.<br />
<br />
<br />
Back on the roads around Cairo, as the driver brings me from A to B, I still cannot determine a set of rules, but I can sense they are there. There is a certain rule, a certain pattern, a certain signal in the noise, that these people on the roads are tuned in to, but that my antenna is failing to pick up.<br />
<br />
Perhaps there's something a little more than "mere" anarchy. The ancient Egyptians had a philosophy of Ma'at [1]. Ma'at was the embodiment, the spirit, of truth, balance, order, law, morality and justice. It was a philosophy of living rightly and properly, embodied in 42 confessions (hieroglyphs on papyrus had a slightly higher data density compared to stone tablets, hence the Egyptians had space for more than 10, I guess). Old habits, old morals, die hard.<br />
<br />
Whether the Cairo highway is a huge field-experiment in benevolent anarchy with 15 million participants, or a side-effect of a deeper ancient social-cultural disposition, I can't really tell. And it's pretty easy to see where the system has deep, and often fatal, flaws. But, there is one. And one that springs forth from the mere tiniest sliver of rule-of-law and nothing further than the common goals and necessities of man living together in close proximity.<br />
<br />
A weave and evasive maneuver of the car breaks my reverie,<br />
and I see we're close to our destination.<br />
<br />
Time to go to work.<br />
<br />
[1] Wikipedia page on Ma'at<br />
<a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ma%27at">http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ma%27at</a><br />
[2] Edit: This I need to correct after reading an article on fuel subsidies. The huge traffic load of cars on the roads is caused by a very small minority of the people. Less than 5% of Egyptians own a car.</div>
Joop Carelshttp://www.blogger.com/profile/07287495438771933765noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8483852328774513472.post-17142467525845626462012-09-12T19:08:00.000+02:002012-09-16T00:27:16.155+02:00This bickering is(n't) pointless.<div dir="ltr" style="text-align: left;" trbidi="on">
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<br />
<div style="text-align: left;">
<span style="font-family: inherit;"><span style="line-height: 23px;">A long, long, time ago, in a fishing village at the southern coast of The Netherlands, I sat, mesmerized, watching the events on the screen unfold. There, in a conference room, a collection of serious looking gentlemen were having a discussion that was quickly heating up. Just when the debate seemed to </span><b style="line-height: 23px;">really</b><span style="line-height: 23px;"> start to throw sparks, an elderly-looking gentleman came in and confidently declared...</span></span></div>
<span style="font-family: inherit;"><br /></span>
<br />
<blockquote class="tr_bq">
<span style="background-color: white; font-family: inherit;"><span style="line-height: 23px;">"</span><i style="border: 0px; line-height: 23px; margin: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;">The Imperial Senate will no longer be of any concern to us. I've just received word that the Emperor has dissolved the council permanently. The last remnants of the Old Republic have been swept away.</i><span style="line-height: 23px;">"</span></span></blockquote>
<span style="font-family: inherit;">Gasp! OMG! The Senate has been dissolved! The Old Republic is dead...</span><br />
<span style="font-family: inherit;"><br /></span>
<span style="font-family: inherit;">It is funny, really, how the movie could convey so overwhelmingly a sense that this, what had just happened, was "A Bad Thing"(tm). How the imagery of the room so conveyed the message that these were "The Bad Guys".</span><br />
<span style="font-family: inherit;"><br /></span>
<span style="font-family: inherit;">But it is the thing that was said next that I have never before been able to judge on its real value...</span><br />
<blockquote class="tr_bq">
<span style="font-family: inherit;"><span style="background-color: white;"><span style="line-height: 23px;"></span></span><span style="background-color: white;"><span style="line-height: 23px;">"</span><i style="border: 0px; line-height: 23px; margin: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;">That's impossible! How will the Emperor maintain control without the bureaucracy?"</i></span></span></blockquote>
<span style="font-family: inherit;">Think about this for a moment... How often do we not wish we would have less bureaucracy? How liberating wouldn't it be to totally do without it... Was it a sign of their being ultimate evil that they actually wished for it to exist? To wonder how the Emperor could hold his Power <u>without</u> bureaucracy seemed to somehow suggest that there was a link between bureaucracy and the ability of evil dictators to gain, and hold, their position. Down with the bureaucracy I say! Out with the breeding ground for evil dictators!</span><br />
<span style="font-family: inherit;"><br /></span>
<span style="font-family: inherit;">Like we didn't have enough reasons to want to get rid of bureaucracy yet, there is more, as Jerry Pournelle has described it in his (admittedly apocryphal) Iron Law of Bureaucracy [1];</span><br />
<blockquote class="tr_bq">
<span style="font-family: inherit;">"<span style="background-color: white; line-height: 19.200000762939453px;">In any bureaucracy, the people devoted to the benefit of the bureaucracy itself always get in control and those dedicated to the goals the bureaucracy is supposed to accomplish have less and less influence, and sometimes are eliminated entirely.</span>"</span></blockquote>
<span style="font-family: inherit;">This touches on the tendency of (large) organizations to become self-perpetuating; to promote their continued existence as a purpose of its own, rather than for the benefit of the initial stated goal.</span><br />
<span style="font-family: inherit;"><br /></span>
<span style="font-family: inherit;">But here we seem to have hit a paradox. If the Imperial Senate were evil and corrupted to the benefit of the Emperor's position, would it not have been working solely for its own continued existence? Would it not have resisted being disbanded? And, if it were beneficial to the Emperor's position, why disband it in the first place? The only possible conclusion here is that there must have been something about this Senate, this Bureaucracy, that was impeding the further gain of power by the Emperor (and his cronies).</span><br />
<span style="font-family: inherit;"><br /></span>
<span style="font-family: inherit;">To gain insight into this, we may find some enlightenment in the very definition of a Bureaucracy [2].</span><br />
<blockquote class="tr_bq">
<span style="font-family: inherit;">"<span style="background-color: white; line-height: 19.200000762939453px;">A </span><b style="background-color: white; line-height: 19.200000762939453px;">bureaucracy</b><span style="background-color: white; line-height: 19.200000762939453px;"> is a group of non-elected officials of a government or organization that implements the rules, laws, ideas, and functions of their institution.</span>"</span></blockquote>
<span style="font-family: inherit;">And furthermore in the description of a <span style="line-height: 23px;">"Representative Democracy"[3]:</span></span><br />
<blockquote class="tr_bq">
<span style="font-family: inherit;"><span style="background-color: white; line-height: 19.200000762939453px;">"The power of representatives is usually curtailed by a </span><span style="background-color: white; line-height: 19.200000762939453px;">constitution</span><span style="background-color: white; line-height: 19.200000762939453px;"> (as in a </span><span style="background-color: white; line-height: 19.200000762939453px;">constitutional democracy</span><span style="background-color: white; line-height: 19.200000762939453px;"> or a </span><span style="background-color: white; line-height: 19.200000762939453px;">constitutional monarchy</span><span style="background-color: white; line-height: 19.200000762939453px;">) or other measures to balance representative power"</span></span></blockquote>
<span style="font-family: inherit;">The Senate, defining new Law and, being a part of the "other measures", scrutinizing it against existing Law, thus apparently acted as a voice of reason (or at least delay) and a roadblock for the Emperor implementing his every whim. Its disbanding leaves the Emperor as both Dictator and the Ultimate MicroManager, which is indeed confirmed by those present in the room.</span><br />
<span style="font-family: inherit;"><br /></span>
<span style="font-family: inherit;">While this movie I enjoyed so much as a kid is a piece of fiction, also in our real world we should not underestimate the importance of the "established" Institutions of State, which essentially make up the Bureaucracy.</span><br />
<span style="font-family: inherit;"><br /></span>
<br />
<span style="font-family: inherit;">In the not-so-fictional case of, say, Egypt, the country has recently chosen a new President. But the previous rulers had, mere weeks before the elections, disbanded the (newly elected) Parliament. And to add insult to injury, the only thing resembling a Constitution in effect was the permanent State of Emergency that the previous President had imposed for over 20 years.While there still is plenty of bureaucracy, it's mostly the kind you <b>do</b> want to cut out; corruption and the kind that is the result of "Pournelle's Law".</span><br />
<span style="font-family: inherit;"><br /></span>
<span style="font-family: inherit;">But at least in part, and an important one, it is the <b>lack</b> of a decent established framework of bureaucracy that is keeping Egypt from moving forward at speed.</span><br />
<br />
<br />
<div>
<span style="font-family: inherit;">Well, today, on September 12th, we're electing a new parliament, and, in theory, by relative fractional representation, also a new government. And, technically, we should be fine. With a decent Constitution, the proper measures in place to avoid democratic mob-rule, and (maybe just a bit too much) Bureaucracy to implement the laws, we should be set for the next four years. And yet... </span><br />
<div style="text-align: right;">
<span style="font-family: inherit;">"I find my lack of faith... disturbing..."</span></div>
<span style="font-family: inherit;"><br /></span>
<span style="font-family: inherit;">[1] "Jerry Pournelle"</span><br />
<a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Pournelle#Iron_Law_of_Bureaucracy"><span style="color: blue; font-family: inherit;">http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Pournelle#Iron_Law_of_Bureaucracy</span></a><br />
<span style="font-family: inherit;"><br /></span>
<span style="font-family: inherit;">[2] "Bureaucracy"</span><br />
<span style="font-family: inherit;"><a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Bureaucracy"><span style="color: blue;">http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Bureaucracy</span></a>
</span><br />
<span style="font-family: inherit;"><br /></span>
<span style="font-family: inherit; line-height: 23px;">[3] "Representative Democracy"</span><br />
<a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Representative_democracy"><span style="color: blue; font-family: inherit;">http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Representative_democracy</span></a><br />
<br /></div>
</div>
Joop Carelshttp://www.blogger.com/profile/07287495438771933765noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8483852328774513472.post-74982366381711687942012-04-14T18:37:00.000+02:002012-04-14T18:37:26.533+02:00On the Division Of Labour<div dir="ltr" style="text-align: left;" trbidi="on">
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On recent travels, I've started to pick up a series of books, as in-flight entertainment, that entitled "<i>50 ..... ideas you really need to know</i>", where the "..." is basically any topic you can think of 50 odd concepts to talk about and explain them in a short "scratching the surface" kind of way.<br />
<br />
Superficial, maybe, but entertaining, certainly. In this manner, I am now the proud owner of such a book on Philosophy[1], Mathematics[2], and, most recently, Economics[3].<br />
<br />
One of the concepts the Economics book touches upon, is the "Division of Labour". In the book a couple of examples are used, like a pencil-factory (which apparently was one of the concepts that played at the time of the idea's conception), or the famous Model-T Ford production-line. However, nothing works quite as well to bring home a concept than really seeing it in action, first-hand... <br />
<br />
Two of the cities I've visited in the last couple of months were Zurich, Switzerland, and Cairo, Egypt. The exact hotels where I stayed don't really matter, but a function of these hotels does; the housekeeping service.<br />
<br />
In both cities I was staying over a weekend, so it happened that I was "in the room" when housekeeping came calling. Now, usually I don't like being around when they do. There's something very disturbing about other people cleaning up my mess around me. Generally, <b>if</b> this happens I go down to the lounge, or lobby, with a book or my laptop (like I am doing now) and have a cappuccino.<br />
<br />
But, I digress. In both places, at at least one time each, I was there when housekeeping came by to do their job. It is the manner in which they did it, and the comparative differences, that were interesting, and something of an example of the division of labour.<br />
<br />
In Zurich, when housekeeping arrived, I was, I would almost say, entertained, by one lady, asking me the usual hospitality questions (How are you doing? Did you sleep well? How is the stay so far? And can she be of any further service?), while a squadron of her colleagues swarmed in to perform the various functions required of their service. Their operation was executed with a near military discipline, and with the speed of a navy seals incursion. They were in and out in under maybe 5 minutes. I wouldn't be surprised if the entire hallway takes them under an hour if there are but a few pesky guests lurking inside when they come by. In Zurich, when you're staying at this hotel for business, it is rather unlikely you will ever meet the housekeeping staff.<br />
<br />
In Cairo, I've frequently seen the housekeeping staff. They're a polite bunch, saying customary goodmornings and howareyous (though it's a bit evil to have fun at their expense if you respond in ways they don't anticipate, as their grasp of the english language limits their flexibility in that respect), but importantly, I see them lurking along the corridors for the better part of a day (if/when I happen to be around at various times of the day). <br />
<br />
When they (well, he...) arrived, there was a polite apology for disturbing me, and he set about his labours. For the better part of 20 minutes a number of activities were performed, followed by a thankyouhaveaniceday.<br />
<br />
While the quality of the work-that-was-done is not under scrutiny, the inconsistency of it perhaps is. In Zurich, they were legion, each with specific tasks, and each with very little chance of them forgetting their task, as they had but one, or a few. In Cairo, the housekeeping generalist had to track all of the tasks on his own. And neither did he seem to keep a checklist. Resulting in me some days ending up without shampoo, or without papers for laundry service, or other small things like that.<br />
<br />
So what could bring an efficiency of the division to the concept of hotel housekeeping? Perhaps, in Zurich, somehow the staff is not paid by the hour, but paid for "the job". Complete the job faster, your relative hourly rate goes up and you have either more spare time, or you can service multiple hotels (oohh, contractor-based housekeeping!). In Cairo, it seems, time isn't money, or at least not as much. So the hotel can afford to have staff hanging around for the better part of the day. And, since the relative cost is still so low, there's frightfully little incentive[4] to improve on this...<br />
<br />
<br />
Did I pull the concept of Division of Labour out of it's context? Probably.<br />
<br />
Or did I?<br />
<br />
Switzerland is one of the most developed countries in the "developed world". Egypt is struggling to escape a number of issues weighing down its economic and societal development. On the one end is a developed and 'over-educated' society dealing with a menial labour service that is by necessity local and cannot be outsourced. On the other end is a huge workforce[5], but one that desperately needs to improve on education, and ambition. The example might not be a true one of division of labour, but it surely is one of the effects of globalisation, and, somehow, the innovation the Western world needs to display to deal with their own level of cost...<br />
<br />
<br />
[1] <a href="http://www.amazon.co.uk/Philosophy-Ideas-Really-Need-Know/dp/1847240062">50 Philosophy Ideas You Really Need To Know - Ben Dupré; ISBN: 9781847240064</a><br />
[2] <a href="http://www.amazon.co.uk/Mathematical-Ideas-Really-Need-Series/dp/1847240089">50 Mathematical Ideas You Really Need To Know - Tony Crilly; ISBN: 9781847240088</a><br />
[3] <a href="http://www.amazon.co.uk/Economics-Ideas-Really-Need-Know/dp/1848660103">50 Economics Ideas You Really Need To Know - Edmund Conway; ISBN: 9781848660106</a><br />
[4] Rather, a counter-incentive is the apparent work-culture of long-hours-sedate-pace. It's something of an African thing I suspect...<br />
[5] <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Demographics_of_Egypt#Population">Demographics of Egypt</a><br />
<br />
</div>Joop Carelshttp://www.blogger.com/profile/07287495438771933765noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8483852328774513472.post-22779244331183878692012-04-03T00:09:00.000+02:002012-04-03T00:22:30.771+02:00Of an engineer, and his shoelaces...<div dir="ltr" style="text-align: left;" trbidi="on">
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg3_WSOtovWy0yMlYmwrCxt7lxZhozZlN_0PtbETv3lXgidpDM5-TW9yMq_hAJFOCB_JcjXLAgV3uacMpXVYJEp5TBUA04-N4DCXdijd2rRHwaliPKfa_XKYVVpXMADhQ3HOT0f3nuzHy4I/s1600/DSCN1100.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="160" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg3_WSOtovWy0yMlYmwrCxt7lxZhozZlN_0PtbETv3lXgidpDM5-TW9yMq_hAJFOCB_JcjXLAgV3uacMpXVYJEp5TBUA04-N4DCXdijd2rRHwaliPKfa_XKYVVpXMADhQ3HOT0f3nuzHy4I/s200/DSCN1100.jpg" width="200" /></a></div>
One morning, slightly in a hurry to go catch my train to catch my plane to catch my plane (yes, plane, twice; I had a transfer), I realize that the shoelace of one of my hiking boots was, basically, not where it was supposed to be.<br />
<br />
It was, actually, blatantly lying beside the actual shoe, removed from the rings and clips that are the counterpart implement by which the lace performs its function (e.g. preventing the shoe from removing itself from my foot without manual intervention).<br />
<br />
Now, I can almost hear you, dear reader, thinking; "Lace-get and you're on our way"...<br />
<br />
Yet, "Slightly sheepish", may have been an accurate description of the look on my face when I grabbed the lace and, upon its inspection, realized that one end had lost its plastic cap. A result of which having been the horribly fraying of said lace's end. The actual sheepishness ensued upon the realization that catching my train and painfully re-threading a frayed lace were mutually exclusive propositions.<br />
<br />
Quickly then, a short diagnostic was performed, to inventorise the options at my disposal. One that came to mind, was using the other end (which still had a plastic cap) to do a 'full backtrace threading'. Conceived, considered, and contended, as being a highly untested, and probably very timeconsuming, idea.<br />
<br />
Somehow fixing the fraying end seemed a better option, but how to go about this concept...<br />
<br />
As a true engineer I am taught to think both <b>in</b> solutions, and <b>out</b>side the box. So implementing these two principles, the Solution arrived upon was a chemical one, and out of the box I grab the Cyano-Acrylate. Known as nasty crap by some, and Super Glue by others, it offered the appeal of a fast and efficient measure and should put a solid edge on the frayed end which I intend to do the threading with.<br />
<br />
Having applied the glue, then provisionally donned the shoe, got in the car and while being driven to the station (no, I'm not doing these things while driving myself) I realise that the, now hardened, end is far too thick to thread through the first set of rings.<br />
<br />
By now a certain gloom is coming over me, the kind one gets when feeling scrutinized by Murphy just a tad too closely. Yet, not admitting defeat, it is decided that the next step would be to re-shape the solid end and form it into a narrower cone, which, is the intention, would fit through the metal rings...<br />
<br />
Since no Dremel is part of my current standard travel equipment, and with little else at my disposal, I decide to use the tools nature has given me, and "bite down" on the hardened end to break the glue and flatten the shape. Surprisingly, this works.<br />
<br />
Kind of.<br />
<br />
A slightly-flattened, yet still-solid-enough-to-thread-with, shape, now exists, on the end of my shoelace that, to be fair, still doesn't fit through the first set of rings on my shoes. Additionally, the glue, which may form a bond that is super hard, apparently did not do so quite as super fast, and has left some interestingly tasting residue on some of my teeth. Staring Murphy in the eye, I refuse to succumb to the despair and resignation that are his hallmark. The teeth can be cleaned, and I still have a problem to engineer.<br />
<br />
By now well into the trainride, and fiddling with the solid end on the shoelace I observe that a part of the lace will extrude from the ring, but it's not enough to get a grip on by manual means (e.g. my fingers) for effective pull. And the physical nature of a shoelace does not quite lend itself for a push-approach.<br />
<br />
Confounded? I think not! From the depths of my System Integrator's Essentials I pull my trusted anti-static wristband. On said wristband resides a coiled wire. The coiled wire ends with a crocodile clip. A clip to securely make contact with an earthed object. ...Or the perfect tool to get a better hold on a slightly-exctruding piece of shoelace, for some serious pull and traction.<br />
<br />
While I respect and heed Murphy, for to do otherwise would be folly, I, respectfully and humbly, declare victory over his schemes. The crocodile sways the balance in my favour and Murphy succumbs. The shoelace is through! And after this first significant victory, the home-stretch is almost too easy.<br />
<br />
The lace was threaded, the shoe was worn, the train arrived, and my plane...<br />
<br />
was late...<br />
<br /></div>Joop Carelshttp://www.blogger.com/profile/07287495438771933765noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8483852328774513472.post-76657012926837986552011-10-13T00:28:00.001+02:002011-10-15T18:45:51.847+02:00An apocryphal history of the "Smart Phone" (3/2)<div dir="ltr" style="text-align: left;" trbidi="on">
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The Industrial Revolution, came in 2007.<br />
<br />
<div class="p1">
In
2007, Steve Jobs descended from his ivory tower and gave us… The
iPhone. Which was actually not a phone at all… Steve introduced the iPhone
as… "the best <b>iPod</b> ever"… </div>
<br />
The original iPhone was a bit of an enigma. Technically, it lacked a number of modern features (the original iPhone couldn't do Picture Messaging, didn't use the
fastest connection available at that time, and had a relatively poor
quality camera).<br />
<br />
But also added a few that were nothing short of revolutionary. No other phone, no other mobile device, at that time used a glass screen (glass is really difficult to manufacture compared to plastics). Or a directional sensor so it could detect it's orientation. Or used "multitouch" in a touch-screen concept. Or touch-based zoom. Or a touch-screen without a stylus, for that matter...<br />
<br />
Looking at this list, you could say that Apple, in its "iPhone Culture", abandoned technologies that existed-but-were-not-used and added technologies it felt would vastly improve the user experience. <br />
<br />
<br />
By doing this, Apple succeeded where all others had failed. The iPhone was responsive and intuitive. It was the "phone you <b>wanted</b> to use". And even with a slow connection, the thing <b>felt</b> fast. Which turned out to be more important than the actual megabits/second you could transfer.<br />
<br />
Though, like the first steam engines don't compare to the modern internal
combustion engine, the first iPhone, while revolutionary, was nothing
like what we have today. In a few short years and at fairly regular intervals, the iPhone got upgraded.</div>
<div class="p2">
<br />
It learned faster connections, how to copy/paste, a better camera, send picture messages, listen to voice commands, video chat, and, especially important, it learned to add apps.</div>
<div class="p2">
<br /></div>
<div class="p2">
The smartphone civilizations had rediscovered the concept of "apps" from our Ancient Times. And
now these apps could be bought directly from the smartphone (rather than
requiring a computer first). Many of the apps had to be paid for, but the price was kept low (an important lesson learned from the iMode and iTunes successes) which made
it very easy for people to buy them in the millions. </div>
<div class="p2">
<br /></div>
<div class="p2">
<br /></div>
<div class="p2">
<br />
Apple had set a new standard. And the bar
was set extraordinarily high. Nokia had never given its
competitors that big a run for their money.<br />
<br />
Actually, the iPhone Culture was so far ahead and different, that the old mobile phone civilizations were left behind stunned and embarrassed. <b>Nothing</b> they had even came close.
Some are still stunned today (Nokia), or are all but extinct (Siemens, Palm). And smaller ones suddenly found new vigor and opportunity to grow. HTC and Samsung first among them. This opportunity was found in the Android Culture.<br />
<br />
The Android-culture made it's real entry into the world, and acted as a kind of counter-movement to
the iPhone Culture's (which demands you to be part of the Apple Civilization), but being the closest alternative to it.
Many tribes and civilizations jumped at it to quickly bridge the gap with iPhone Culture.
Although to date, Android Hippies are still seen as the iPhone Yuppie's "less stylish"
and "more clumsy" cousins.<br />
<br />
Love
it, or hate it, the iPhone, and Steve's vision behind it, was what was
needed to finally spark the Mobile Internet Revolution. Mobile Internet
usage rose with over 5000% in AT&T's network in the few years
after the iPhone was released. </div>
<div class="p2">
<br />
<br /></div>
<br />
<div class="p1">
So, in
the end, what we now, quite commonly, refer to as a 'smart phone' has
had quite a history, for its short lifetime, but a key thing
that seems to be a defining characteristic of it would be the capability
to combine several sources of information and provide new and
interesting things with this to the user.<br />
<br />
<br />
Initially
mostly very serious and businesslike, with calendaring and e-mail, but
increasingly frivolous, apocryphal and more fun, with things like
Facebook, Foursquare, Twitter now available, in some workable sense,
from the palm of your hand. </div>
<br />
<div class="p1">
Smart
Phones, or rather, what the people using them, can come up with is
actually quite exciting. More than what
Sony-Ericsson, Samsung, HTC, or Nokia, <b>allow</b> us to do with the phones, the
people are thinking of new things <b>they</b> want to do. And 'apps' have
allowed these things to become available on the phones in an amazingly
fast way (no longer requiring a new phone to be released to incorporate
the new feature).<br />
<br />
And with this, a rather lengthy and roundabout way, I hope to have given an idea of what makes a modern "Smart Phone". And how it came to be.<br />
<br />
(*) Image (c) Apple Inc.</div>
</div>Joop Carelshttp://www.blogger.com/profile/07287495438771933765noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8483852328774513472.post-11194120171669270672011-10-12T23:27:00.001+02:002011-10-12T23:27:39.202+02:00An apocryphal history of the "Smart Phone" (2/2)<div dir="ltr" style="text-align: left;" trbidi="on">
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjWL8MYMhhFe1F3XMyCM4rxo3ForlYALCnvXm9VRFdaYant56wfCdT7_NLQFQGdCMaLEO04jo0PigLXqu6jpbqY1Fx4F_9ia8ig5OvOGRR6q5ceYL7Z8apY0lIyzE-AiYpa6PYoAb9Uv00y/s1600/imode.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="200" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjWL8MYMhhFe1F3XMyCM4rxo3ForlYALCnvXm9VRFdaYant56wfCdT7_NLQFQGdCMaLEO04jo0PigLXqu6jpbqY1Fx4F_9ia8ig5OvOGRR6q5ceYL7Z8apY0lIyzE-AiYpa6PYoAb9Uv00y/s200/imode.jpg" width="124" /></a>Barbarians conquered Rome... <br />
<div class="p1">
<br />
And after the relative enlightenment of the Pax Romana came the Dark Ages.<br />
<br />
But somehow, a tiny corner of civilization had survived and thrived. Where things were horribly failing in Europe, in Japan, the "iMode" service had taken off already several years prior. And it was a hit. But iMode "was not" something that WAP "was". It wasn't about technology. What it was, was about things <b>people</b> wanted to do. And, in Japan's case, about things <b>young people</b> wanted to do. <br />
<br />
These were two rather interesting differences with the assumptions made by the "big phone operators" in Europe and the US. They aimed the 'smartphone' at relatively righ business users, charged a mint, and didn't consider teenagers and students as a cash-able market. They didn't just miss out on the opportunity of mass-marketing, they also missed out on listening to what people actually wanted to buy. <br />
<br />
In Europe, phones were boring. Even the smart ones.<br />
<br />
In Japan, the phones had colour screens, could play 'polyphonic ringtones' (the ability to 'beep' in different shades of 'beep'), were 'always online' using (again) faster internet and many of them got a built-in camera. And the phones got a very special feature... Many of them grew a tiny metal loop somewhere at the bottom. <br />
<br />
No business person could imagine what it was for. Neither could their 'smart' phones.<br />
<br />
Teenagers, students, and (statistically significantly more) girls and women, however, could. They all attached "Hello Kitty" phone decoration accesories to it. <br />
<br />
All of these new things a (smart)phone could do sparked a new revolution, a Renaissance, if you will...<br />
<br />
Slowly the new ideas drifted across the globe, new thinking about use of phones and networks. And "listening" to what the consumer wanted. The time of the first iPod and MP3 players had dawned. The idea of 'multimedia' phones started to trickle through. As a result, the networks learned how to send picture messages, and the phones learned how to play music.<br />
<br />
The age of the camera-phone had arrived. Funny thing though, hardly anybody seemed to be using it… Too cumbersome, too expensive and too difficult, compared to texting… But apparently we liked being able to put a picture in our addressbooks, as nearly every phone in the market spawned a lens… <br />
<br />
Especially potent seemed to be the combination of Phone with MP3 player. Sony relaunched its "Walkman" brand as MP3-player phones. And it was convenient, you didn't need two gadgets anymore to make phone calls and to listen to music. <br />
<br />
But despite what all the 'seers and sages' of the large telecom companies were predicting, normal internet was still not something phones did. And "mobile data" was still not a big thing for the operators.<br />
<br />
Mobile internet was still too expensive. Still too slow. Not just the connections, but the phones themselves were slow. Really, really, slow. And their screens too small for proper browsing.<br />
<br />
There seemed to be something blocking real progress there, something in the way mobile phone people were thinking that did not match with what consumer people wanted. In that sense, the lessons of the WAP cataclysm were never fully understood.<br />
<br />
It was time for the Industrial Revolution...<br />
<br />
[*] Image (c) NEC</div>
</div>Joop Carelshttp://www.blogger.com/profile/07287495438771933765noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8483852328774513472.post-44955781526090064172011-09-29T12:02:00.000+02:002011-09-30T14:35:34.630+02:00An apocryphal history of the "Smart Phone" (1/2)<div dir="ltr" style="text-align: left;" trbidi="on">
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<edit> I had some issues with the length and quality of this post, so I broke it up in parts. </edit><br />
<br />
Some time ago a friend asked me "What actually <i>is</i> a smartphone?"<br />
<br />
While we joked about it, we never actually answered the question. And, thinking about it, I found that the modern "smartphone" is pretty much an evolved concept. Here's my little take on the 'history' of the smartphone and how it came to be what it is today. <br />
<div class="p2">
<br /></div>
<div class="p1">
During what, in terms of Mobile Telecommunications, would have been Ancient Times, when mobile phones were something of the Elite and the Internet at any speed worth mentioning was something restricted to a few well-connected (…) Universities and major Corporations, there was… the PDA…</div>
<div class="p2">
<br /></div>
<div class="p1">
The PDA, or Personal Data Assistant, was a geek's dream and hope. The PDA allowed data to become mobile, without the need of a cumbersome laptop. It was hand-held and allowed you to run a host of applications, albeit very small ones. A company called Palm was the absolute and only market leader and its Palm Vx had conquered the known world.<br />
<br />
They offered applications for download and these applications were Legion and a proper PDA allowed you to fine-tune your 'apps', as they were called back then, to your specific need. </div>
<div class="p2">
<br /></div>
<div class="p1">
The little gem I owned had an alternate and customizable desktop-application, a StarTrek turn-based strategy game, a decent calendaring app, a gas/mileage app, and a host of very geeky but cool things (like an app that emulated the sounds of a star trek tricorder if you waved the thing around).</div>
<div class="p2">
<br /></div>
<div class="p1">
Many PDA's had one more trick up their sleeve… They had an infrared-port, through which these amazing devices had a window out into the world that was not strictly wire-based, and allowed short range communications with, say, a laptop or a (then rapidly gaining in acceptance) mobile phone… </div>
<div class="p2">
<br /></div>
<div class="p1">
At the height of the PDA's reign, the truly committed geek could actually connect to the internet with it, through his Mobile Phone. This at the amazing speed of 9600 baud, or roughly 1/10.000th of the speed of a decent DSL line these days. Browsing to a website was cumbersome, slow, black&white and expensive.<br />
<br />
We might compare this time to a kind of Pax Romana, where a surprisingly high level of civilization was achieved with fairly limited means.</div>
<div class="p2">
<br /></div>
<div class="p1">
Then, an upstart Finnish company, called Nokia, decided that it could be a fun idea to cut out this bothersome infrared bit and simply weld the mobile phone modem onto the PDA into a single device. They called it the Nokia 9000 "Communicator". When you flipped it open, it was a PDA. When you kept it closed, it was a (rather large and cumbersome, even for those days) mobile phone. </div>
<div class="p2">
<br /></div>
<div class="p1">
But what made the Communicator into the first true "smart" phone, was the fact that the apps running on the Communicator were aware of the capability of communication; in stead of a few dedicated tools (on the PDA) that were meant for nothing but communication over the serial/infrared port, the Communicator's apps often had ways to integrally make use of the advanced communications means at their disposal. Thus the Mobile Internet was born…<br />
<br />
As the Communicator was aimed mostly at very rich business men who
couldn't be bothered to do cool stuff like emulate star trek tricorders
with their phones, the ability to add and customize 'apps' largely went away.<br />
<br />
Phone's got equipped with slightly faster "modems" (about 1/3333th of the speed of a modern connection) and got web browser software that did "WAP". But. rather than offering things to do with it, Mobile Phone Providers started pushing the technology.<br />
<br />
WAP came with a lot of pomp and fanfare and ended whimpering in the corner. The Internet Bubble burst. The Telecom Bubble burst (but not before operators had paid a mint for the vaunted 3G licenses auctioned by the governments).<br />
<br />
The Mobile Internet Revolution stumbled.<br />
<br />
Barbarians conquered Rome.<br />
<br />
And Civilization was plunged into a Dark Age of Mobile Telecommunications.</div>
<div class="p2">
<br /></div>
</div>
Joop Carelshttp://www.blogger.com/profile/07287495438771933765noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8483852328774513472.post-48660636848712330302011-09-11T14:12:00.001+02:002011-09-11T17:08:17.194+02:009/11<div dir="ltr" style="text-align: left;" trbidi="on">
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Like such an awful many today in this world, I stop and remember. Remember "9/11" ten years ago.<br />
<br />
Remember the day, the thoughts, the things I did, the words I spoke, the phonecall with my girlfiriend, the road I traveled home, the disbelief, the shock, the absolute horror as the buildings collapsed, the angriness at CNN for not bringing any NEWs, but endlessly repeating what I already knew, yet, at the same time, the anxiousness, and fear, to find out, "what next"...<br />
<br />
I've visited New York, a couple of times. Once before, once after. I've seen the skyline from the Empire State Building both when the Towers were still there and when they were but an outline on a bronze plaque.<br />
<br />
The city is a vibrant place, truly with a magic all its own. It's a city where I saw the owner of a hot-dog stand get robbed, and the robber get chased down by a bystander on inline skates, to be handed over to the police a few minutes later.<br />
<br />
It's also a city where the first thing that greets you in Central Park can be the police officer investigating the chalk outline of a body nearby, while the next thing you run into is a group of attractive twenty-somethings jogging on their morning workout as if nothing was out of the ordinary.<br />
<br />
In a place, where everything goes faster, is closer, and has more impact, the event with such far-reaching and deep-rooted effect on our global society was, without a doubt, a pivotal moment in history.<br />
<br />
I mourn for a world that died that day. And with a certain sadness I look at the world we got in its place. One where we have learned to distrust before we trust. Where the excuse of security and false sense of safety precedes the principles of liberty, privacy, respect and democracy. Where a country that prides itself on it's core value of freedom can have an Abu Ghraib and Guantanamo and not even feel that they are measuring with a double standard.<br />
<br />
But at the same time, it is the energy and spirit in New York, and its people, that show me that not all is lost and there is some hope yet in human nature. It's in their iconic firefighter-hero from that day that we see individual man at his/her best; performing a duty, at great personal risk, to help a perfect stranger, regardless of colour, or calling, to live another day.<br />
<br />
New York also shows that things must, and will, move on. Regardless of politics, recession, presidents, governors, and mayors, The City "abhors a vacuum". And I look with admiration to the work being done at the Ground Zero site. Where a country and a people that I sometimes mock for their crassness and their 'industrial lack of subtlety', are constructing with respect, beauty, serenity, and yet with a typical American scale and New York sense of practicality, the new World Trade Center.<br />
<br />
I look forward to the day of a next visit, when I can walk across the new World Trade Center and 'feel' the impact the place had on us and our world. To when I can ascend the Empire State building once more, and admire the new skyline. I'm sure the bronze plaque will also still be there.</div>
Joop Carelshttp://www.blogger.com/profile/07287495438771933765noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8483852328774513472.post-171214150137579982011-07-08T23:13:00.000+02:002011-07-08T23:13:26.716+02:00End of an era; Space Shuttle<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjomWsNHvqzSMr3KLHZv64LCF3iGC_8-8SVuDDsv_J7yocWxfBl9CVy_NRjHlU5Z7VwC9HzwYF6ZCaWDhF3XgCIwFnwkUgtuHOOfjOX2ymx2hAPaG8J7F2CF9S-MEpHx1Ehyphenhyphenkjo9ywOLD2Y/s1600/391px-STS120LaunchHiRes.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="200" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjomWsNHvqzSMr3KLHZv64LCF3iGC_8-8SVuDDsv_J7yocWxfBl9CVy_NRjHlU5Z7VwC9HzwYF6ZCaWDhF3XgCIwFnwkUgtuHOOfjOX2ymx2hAPaG8J7F2CF9S-MEpHx1Ehyphenhyphenkjo9ywOLD2Y/s200/391px-STS120LaunchHiRes.jpg" width="130" /></a></div>This evening, NASA launched the STS-135, the last Space Shuttle mission in its 30-year Space Shuttle program. The first launch was in 1981 and throughout my entire conscious life, the Space Shuttle was, simply, there.<br />
<br />
It was the best-available way for humanity to reach space, but even more than that, the shuttle <b>represented</b> manned space-flight. It spoke to the imagination and ambition. <br />
<br />
<br />
I've always been a big science-fiction fan. From an early age on (cheering for the Colonies with my dad every time they escaped the Cylon menace in the original Battlestar series, enjoying Blake's 7, Doctor Who, Buck Rogers, Star Trek and imagining myself to be a new Jedi Knight) space and our ascent in it was a given, not a question. To me, it simply was where the future lay.<br />
<br />
As a symbol, Shuttle was a science-fiction geek's tentative link to these future worlds we could only read, watch movies, or fantasize about. The Shuttle was our "window" through which we could see and imagine, it was the tiniest of glimpse of what it would be to launch a "USS Enterprise", a "Discovery One" or a "Heart of Gold", someday, sometime in the future. Shuttle made StartTrek "real".<br />
<br />
Not bad for what was, essentially, a rocket-powered, overpriced, under-capacity, but manned, freighter.<br />
<br />
I was 9 years old when the Challenger disaster happened. And I remember how the "regular programming" on tv was interrupted by a single, solemn, message, maybe two lines of text, telling us about the event that had just transpired half a globe away. This was something that should not, could not, have happened. It was the first time (though obviously not the last time) in my life, that I can remember, that news really and truly left me shaken. Somehow this event had... damaged... my certainty in the future.<br />
<br />
But the two catastrophic accidents are far eclipsed by Shuttle's achievements. Each facilitating new leaps in science and growth of humanity's "awareness"; Spacelab, Magellan, Galileo, Hubble, supplying Mir, building ISS, the list goes on and on...<br />
<br />
With Shuttle's... departure... as with Concorde, I do feel as if we say goodbye to an achievement, without a "next, better, thing" to replace it. Spaceflight costs a lot of money and has a lot of risks, but mankind never got anywhere by only doing the sensible thing. I can confidently say that I was inspired by the vision of Shuttle, long before I could grasp its science and engineering. I can only hope that our younger generations may find something as equally inspiring.<br />
<br />
<br />
The final mission is on its way now and I hope the crew has as safe and spectacularly successful a mission and return as they had a launch.<br />
<br />
Thank you Atlantis, Challenger, Columbia, Discovery, Endeavor, Enterprise.Joop Carelshttp://www.blogger.com/profile/07287495438771933765noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8483852328774513472.post-47870546405416802812011-05-13T22:28:00.001+02:002012-03-18T14:54:39.870+01:00The Iron Ring of +1 Engineering<div dir="ltr" style="text-align: left;" trbidi="on">
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Some time ago I was chatting with some friends from Canada, when I noticed they both wore a similar "iron ring" on their pinky. When I asked about it, they told me a story about a bridge in Quebec, that collapsed (repeatedly, it turns out, when I checked on Wikipedia) as a result of poor judgement on the part of the overseeing engineers.<br />
<br />
While it is a myth that the rings that are given to Canadian engineers today, in a ritual called "The Ritual of the Calling of an Engineer" are made of the steel of this bridge, the ritual (and the Obligation taken therein) is a reminder of the responsibility that comes with an Engineers' power and responsibility to "build structurally sound".<br />
<br />
Their story made me pause, and think. Not only think about all those folks in the world who we have met on our travels who are "allowed" to call themselves Engineer with nary the ability to differentiate a nut from its bolt, but also about the (relative) triviality with which I think about my own engineering degree.<br />
<br />
Upon my graduation, while it neither being devoid of effort nor of a sense of accomplishment, I have always felt disappointed in the content, the "weight", of the (Computer Sciences) study I attended. I often felt, and still feel, that the school's primary interest was in "delivering me to market" in as short a time as possible, rather than to mold me into a professional and responsible Engineer.<br />
<br />
Thankfully, I believe that the time I spent in College was well-spent in learning to be independent and that many of the actual technical, practical, skills I still use in my work today I picked up during that time, but outside the classrooms, being disciple to UNIX Guru's.<br />
<br />
And while I am grateful to the College for giving me a way of thinking, an engineer's approach to a problem, the story of the Iron Ring made me feel that, perhaps, we have somehow lost, or forgotten, to convey a similar sense of <b>responsibility</b> to our engineers as they do in Canada.<br />
<br />
A lack of this sense that may have given rise to some interesting side-effects.<br />
<br />
For one thing we seem to have lost our sense of duty to deliver Sound Engineering.<br />
<br />
Under pressure by management, who are driven by a completely different set of beliefs and sometimes seemingly have done away with morals altogether, we all too often succumb, like my College, to their never ceasing demands for lower cost, shorter time to market, etc., etc.<br />
<br />
With a predictable, and often catastrophic, result in the delivered product. <br />
<br />
Well, catastrophic? Am I exaggerating on purpose? Or are we trivializing what is essentially the perversion of our professional ethic?<br />
<br />
Does it really matter that much if my iPod skips a number?<br />
If my cell-phone doesn't connect one in every ten thousand calls?<br />
If my car's engine management system doesn't give me optimal mileage?<br />
If my GPS system has a few meters higher deviation if I leave it on for more than a day?<br />
<br />
What if this engine management system and the GPS deviation cause a missile defense system not to fire?<br />
Or the number my iPod skipped is a heartbeat deviation the monitor system missed?<br />
And if I am, essentially, the product of such a shorter time to market, what does that say about me as an Engineer?<br />
<br />
If doctors are expected to swear an oath "to do no harm", and even lawyers are bound by a system of professional ethics (the "bar"), why are we not, as Engineers, both bound and empowered by our principle of Sound Engineering?<br />
<br />
And why is there not an ethics model for managers limiting them in the extent to which they can ask us to forego said principle?<br />
<br />
Now if you'll excuse me, I have a small existential crisis to deal with.<img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/tracker/8483852328774513472-5044512315531891938?l=jcmoblog.blogspot.com" /></div>Joop Carelshttp://www.blogger.com/profile/07287495438771933765noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8483852328774513472.post-54753450186968082142011-03-26T22:54:00.000+01:002011-03-26T22:54:48.679+01:00Ambigous Data<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"></div><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgH0_bqILcKXSQeul04UJGxSmgv4z-vUpI7ixaNfTrMsO754gBL6tF3hl5uTWfp9XbzShk7L5X6yXLQYuaSxLWHZFAOA_wcfs28ISOSoFiN9JDKCGQ9qja2zj4bRL2w7Cy4D6ONNvsQAFzm/s1600/CIMG2648.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="200" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgH0_bqILcKXSQeul04UJGxSmgv4z-vUpI7ixaNfTrMsO754gBL6tF3hl5uTWfp9XbzShk7L5X6yXLQYuaSxLWHZFAOA_wcfs28ISOSoFiN9JDKCGQ9qja2zj4bRL2w7Cy4D6ONNvsQAFzm/s200/CIMG2648.jpg" width="150" /></a>Usually, when I use the word "ambiguous", it means that someone was not very clear in their explanation or documentation.<br />
<br />
Having an installation procedure that can be interpreted "ambiguously" generally means I stay up long hours to "unambiguously" explain why the server is broken.<br />
<br />
Even worse, if the two words in the title, taken together, are applied to the results of a verification test, it means some people wasted a lot of time.<br />
<br />
But... with one of my bosses sending entertaining tweets and posting pictures from the seminar he's attending in Dubai, and I myself looking forward to a few days in London, I find myself contemplating the chosen title in a different context...<br />
<br />
Well, in all fairness, it needs a third word. Universal. Ambiguous, Universal, Data. Meaning that data access should be available everywhere, and be so "without us having to be explicit about wanting to access it" (in the getting-access-to sense, rather than a lets-do-away-with-privacy-sense).<br />
<br />
Currently, roaming data fees for someone using Twitter, Foursquare, Latitude, Facebook, Layar and watch a Youtube or two, could rival the gross national product of some (non-oil-producing) 3rd-world countries. And, while mobile and location-based services are cool, I find myself reprehensive of freely using them in an environment which I know my mobile device would consider "not it's home network".<br />
<br />
This reprehension is both direct, as I wouldn't like to pick up the tab if I used my private device, and indirect, by the sense of responsibility the previously-mentioned boss would "incur upon me" after having to pay the tab if I used my corporate device to do in London as he did in Dubai.<br />
<br />
And yes, this is a completely unfair (and presumptive) comparison. One I take creative license on to be able to make the previous paragraph work the way it does.<br />
<br />
But... I digress...<br />
<br />
Thinking about this makes me wonder how much "less" the telco's would make if their revenue on data would come from pure volume rather than right-to-access. Lowering the threshold would presumably increase the volume. An economics-101 calculation might prove or disprove my gut-feeling that, currently, the restricted-access/roaming model is actually cutting them out of a huge volume of (micro-transaction) revenue.<br />
<br />
Conversely, the lowered threshold would work it's magic on the availability of, and access to, any location-based, or (mobile) social-media, applications. Where "Layar" was the first one (to my knowledge) to coin the term "enhanced reality", once "data" would become accessible to us like, say, air, would it finally become as transparent a part of our lives like text-messaging now has? Should it be?<br />
<br />
Are the telco's really best-served by their "monopoly" on access to data? The attitude that you need to "deal with them" (and pay through the nose) before you are allowed through the gates...<br />
<br />
Or would they be best served becoming a silent partner? Quietly receiving the millions-upon-millions of fractional parts of everybody universally adding their proverbial two-cents ambiguously from anywhere in the world?<br />
<br />
I know I'll be posting a few opinions from London...Joop Carelshttp://www.blogger.com/profile/07287495438771933765noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8483852328774513472.post-78920970973996889052011-02-16T10:50:00.000+01:002011-02-16T10:50:28.341+01:00Which way does happiness lie?<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiD5AW249uWcEUci2OIQxGd3aQjbXUHm9-FLsBLQDREBQl3Z9MyoAOHlRm2AqpwnMm6kVvDJBDPCmcE8zyvyOEKQV2BRdS5gK0fO7JLifALcXaffpjaWS7IezxoV1LkxPueDPFINbqkVg95/s1600/DSC_0013.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="150" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiD5AW249uWcEUci2OIQxGd3aQjbXUHm9-FLsBLQDREBQl3Z9MyoAOHlRm2AqpwnMm6kVvDJBDPCmcE8zyvyOEKQV2BRdS5gK0fO7JLifALcXaffpjaWS7IezxoV1LkxPueDPFINbqkVg95/s200/DSC_0013.jpg" width="200" /></a></div><br />
<br />
<br />
<br />
Thomas Jefferson wrote, in the United States' Declaration of Independence, that<br />
<br />
"We hold these Truths to be self-evident, that all Men are created equal, that they are endowed by their Creator with certain unalienable Rights, that among these are <span style="font-weight: bold;">Life, Liberty and the pursuit of Happiness.</span>"<br />
<br />
So the pursuit of happiness is an inalienable right. Everybody is "allowed" to pursue being happy.<br />
<br />
This is great news!<br />
<br />
Now, which way does happiness lie?<br />
<br />
No... really... Could someone point me in its direction?<br />
<br />
Ummm... And... if I'm not sure where happiness lies, or what it looks like, then how do I pursue it?Joop Carelshttp://www.blogger.com/profile/07287495438771933765noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8483852328774513472.post-47091512370562717502010-11-05T15:51:00.000+01:002010-11-05T15:51:27.327+01:00Modern Relics<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhQO-2BMy3IoR3Me_ZfM9J5Jm5gdBKz3tlwmMdwKaYLDOYoACvRx4Ah6B-LFsSGACIMKrmNn_NkdNOBpVcbgjtEL3Y_RCT6S7Y1wIBaCd_QSL9zsCjUOv9a8XaBCo2VinWHWil_dh4ldtgj/s1600/DSC_0029.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="150" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhQO-2BMy3IoR3Me_ZfM9J5Jm5gdBKz3tlwmMdwKaYLDOYoACvRx4Ah6B-LFsSGACIMKrmNn_NkdNOBpVcbgjtEL3Y_RCT6S7Y1wIBaCd_QSL9zsCjUOv9a8XaBCo2VinWHWil_dh4ldtgj/s200/DSC_0029.jpg" width="200" /></a></div>A couple of days ago, I walked by my Project Manager's office, to check in if there were any new, hot, burning, blocking, or otherwise exceptionally-prioritised issues coming down the pipeline.<br />
<br />
He proceeded to enlighten me on the current state of the project, which took a few minutes. While he was doing so, this esteemed-but-new-to-the-team colleague was idly playing around with a smallish purple object in his hands.<br />
<br />
When I realised what it was, my eyes widened and the room grew cold... The surprised horror, the indignation that swept through me, the impulse to call for tar, feathers, pitchforks and torches... <br />
<br />
<br />
<br />
This mere mortal, this ignorant peasant, was sitting there, idly palpitating the one relic of the monumental task, the epic journey that dozens of engineers had had embarked on earlier this year.<br />
<br />
<br />
Seven months of blood, sweat and tears, practically no weekends and months of structural overtime. Having had overcome blizzards (well, snow in southern Germany in February), toxic gas (Carbon Dioxide and Halon in the fire extinguisher system), fire and brimstone (Ummm, well, the vulcanic eruption in Iceland kept some of us from leaving), Babylonian mix-ups of Biblical proportions (errr, Bavarian dialect, anyway), and the Damoclean risk of suffering massive coronary while there (fastfood and the local cuisine combined...), we had prevailed, come through and managed to return with a singular relic...<br />
<br />
Our key to the local coffee machine...<br />
<br />
<br />
<br />
<br />
P.S.<br />
I guess this is why so many relics are kept in a reliquary, and not on any random desk in the office...Joop Carelshttp://www.blogger.com/profile/07287495438771933765noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8483852328774513472.post-57502675760777406772010-10-13T11:11:00.001+02:002010-10-13T11:22:13.743+02:00And sometimes you have no clue about what's coming at all...<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjZNjtsEeqkTxMfM2sfjaJsLz77tJoyMt-rTKsmYv4NrJMH9GXAhyphenhyphenrP6dw2aVp_tFH0i7yCNeR6-zqR4LaMUTc7VTvUMLR7eq5fisSmEKS_NKS-eNNGhFTMZ1kjOdsX8IQ2WK87tAG-Ut4W/s1600/1156134557.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="150" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjZNjtsEeqkTxMfM2sfjaJsLz77tJoyMt-rTKsmYv4NrJMH9GXAhyphenhyphenrP6dw2aVp_tFH0i7yCNeR6-zqR4LaMUTc7VTvUMLR7eq5fisSmEKS_NKS-eNNGhFTMZ1kjOdsX8IQ2WK87tAG-Ut4W/s200/1156134557.jpg" width="200" /></a></div><span class="text">The sky above the port was the color of television, tuned to a dead channel.</span>..<br />
<br />
It's just a couple of hours after (almost) everybody went home. Time to call it a day.<br />
<br />
Some fellow stragglers suggest to meet up downtown, near where one of them is staying, for some drinks and a bite to eat.<br />
<br />
And this, right here, is about where things got... strange...<br />
<br />
We decide to go by car. Once in the car, the nav-system decides to go on a vacation, leaving us with rather rudimentary means of orientation (my limited knowledge of the city, a tourist's map, my colleague's sense of direction and the stars which we can't see due to the citylights).<br />
<br />
Not to be deterred by minor setbacks like not knowing where you're going, we head out with a general direction in mind.<br />
<br />
While the road brings us, apparently, in the right direction, it also takes us by a LOT of traffic lights. And they all decide to turn red as we're approaching. Still, we're obviously heading towards downtown in a more or less straight line, which we decide to dub 'the route with least likelihood of complications'. And, besides that, our destination is near the Central Station.<br />
<br />
Now, 'downtown' and 'central station' both are very basic, almost primal, landmarks in European cities. If there's anything marked on the road signs, it will be either downtown, central station, or both. And they are. Always. And in this case, at the latest possible time before any turn-off we need to take.<br />
<br />
Not to be deterred by minor setbacks like being stuck in the rightmost lane at a left turn in a busy traffic area in a city riddled with one-way streets, I compensate in the most direct, astute and succinct manner I can think of.<br />
<br />
So, [legal disclaimer]<b>possibly</b>[/legal disclaimer] having broken several (minor?) traffic regulations and causing a couple of frustrated fellow drivers later, we're on the right track again, rather than the right lane (and no, not the rail tracks, although the tramlines are running parallel to us).<br />
<br />
The right track being the edge of the Japanese quarter. Which borders with the gay bars area. And the red-light zone. And is, in general, judging by the number of camera's in the street, considered somewhat shady. Right... No, damn straight! Oh bugger, I should just find a parking spot already.<br />
<br />
... which aren't exactly up for grabs even at this hour. After a short ride around the block, I opt for simplicity over economy and decide to park in one of the larger and well-lit parking garages... that has a big sign, just <b>after</b> the barrier, suggesting that it will close in about an hour. Sure enough, we hardly chose a spot and the entrance we came in through was closed, only 50 minutes early. Not a problem, if that entrance wasn't also the most obvious exit...<br />
<br />
Not to be deterred by minor setbacks like the prospect of being locked out of my car and stuck all night in a shady part of town, we decide not to worry about it now and try to find the pedestrian exit.<br />
<br />
Having looked around for the stairway, the first option we try drops us near the, now closed, entrance door. Doubling back to look for alternatives, we spot another sign saying "Please use hotel exit". A quick glance around reveals another door with a billboard announcing "Hotel Nikko" above it. That would qualify as the hotel exit, we hazard. However, once through the door, we are faced with a smallish hallway, leading straight to a garishly purple door with silver stars and lettering announcing it as club "modern times" or something similarly subtly indicative of questionable repute.<br />
<br />
Not to be deterred by minor setbacks like... No wait... Luckily, my colleague spotted the elevators off to the side, which brought us up to ground level, and the, unexpectedly classy, lobby of the hotel pictured at the top.<br />
<br />
As for the dinner, for those of you familiar with William Gibson's Neuromancer, having dinner in the Japanese quarter of a German city amongst both dive bars and an upper class hotel, is kind of, in a very mild way, how I would have imagined life in Chiba City would be. With a bit of imagination...<br />
<br />
"<span class="text">The sky above the port was the color of television, tuned to a dead channel.</span>.."Joop Carelshttp://www.blogger.com/profile/07287495438771933765noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8483852328774513472.post-6150968835400374012010-09-25T13:35:00.005+02:002010-09-25T14:16:51.263+02:00Longing for Lisbon<a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj3RS-sUscfWkfkGROpOy4AQMfWcCnwce5OB6Hm_0ZIJ-AweiyEDQTfE0oSLdhXr2c7f0XBWkjJPfzHZLFGhOjFHtABW4r1pv2T3Za_FCOjEzsD3yEwhrC1a1h9TEavs2hpkp-hVJjI4ZYP/s1600/CIMG1067.JPG"><img style="float: left; margin: 0pt 10px 10px 0pt; cursor: pointer; width: 150px; height: 200px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj3RS-sUscfWkfkGROpOy4AQMfWcCnwce5OB6Hm_0ZIJ-AweiyEDQTfE0oSLdhXr2c7f0XBWkjJPfzHZLFGhOjFHtABW4r1pv2T3Za_FCOjEzsD3yEwhrC1a1h9TEavs2hpkp-hVJjI4ZYP/s200/CIMG1067.JPG" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5520822237663842866" border="0" /></a><br />As it would happen, I was asked to come down to Portugal to help out in a project. I protested that I was a bit busy and my current workload didn't quite allow me to take on other work, but, to cut a long story and several phone-calls short, in the end we settled on me doing a short two-day visit during which I would try to help out with current issues, do a sort of audit on the systems and basically consult with the local engineers where I could.<br /><br />Now, last time I was here, during the summer of 2009 (See my older post "<a href="http://jcmoblog.blogspot.com/2009/06/weekend-late-lunches.html">Weekend Late-Lunches</a>"), the work was difficult, and hard, and hours long. But since I was here for about three months, I still managed to have a look around the city. To feel it's vibe and appreciate the sociable peoples here, who will chat with you over coffee even though you try to explain you don't understand Portuguese.<br /><br />Coming back and visiting some of the places of that summer again, I couldn't help but think of the phrase<br /><br />"it was the best of times, it was the worst of times..."<br /><br />While that summer was full of difficulty and extremely hard work, it also brought colleagues closer to being friends and the strong bonding experience of a common goal under stress. I can think of worse places to have an experience like that than Lisbon...<br /><br />Now, packing up the few things I brought on the short trip, I feel a little bit sad for having to leave so soon. But also hopeful for the prospect of perhaps coming back here in the future. Would that constitute a mild case of what the Portuguese call "saudade"?<br /><br /><br /><br />P.S.<br />I still didn't find the entrance to the castle.Joop Carelshttp://www.blogger.com/profile/07287495438771933765noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8483852328774513472.post-51420711874418716802010-08-06T10:52:00.006+02:002010-08-10T18:29:51.744+02:00Sometimes you just know what's going to happen next...<a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhgAIRBY0DlR2Qy9KfhNZ-jVYdaGNMXAJmPkUj0XJIKyssSEgc8UgVz7eRvvL3h9_8dYsHVByHn_zYhNqjT54InYhMqZb4lReYQgiSUbhV0G34Y7RbRxc1XxmPa34IUlrLMaxch1hmn7eJh/s1600/keychain.jpg"><img style="float: left; margin: 0pt 10px 10px 0pt; cursor: pointer; width: 200px; height: 150px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhgAIRBY0DlR2Qy9KfhNZ-jVYdaGNMXAJmPkUj0XJIKyssSEgc8UgVz7eRvvL3h9_8dYsHVByHn_zYhNqjT54InYhMqZb4lReYQgiSUbhV0G34Y7RbRxc1XxmPa34IUlrLMaxch1hmn7eJh/s200/keychain.jpg" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5503811463444457698" border="0" /></a><br />It's monday-morning, and I find myself preparing to go to work. I'm working on a project in a neighbouring country, so my commute is, shall we say, significant. Usually I leave on sunday night, when there's light traffic and less stress. But this sunday, I had other, better, things to do, so I'm driving on monday.<br /><br />I had packed my bags, my laptop, any related project paperwork, clothes, shoes, corporate badge, jacket, wallets, keys, everything's there and I hobble, packed like a mule, with two backpacks and assorted items, towards the car. Where, as I am fishing for the keys to the car, I can feel the key-chain of my house keys slipping off of my fingers. The keys drop. I look down. Just in time to notice them hit the storm drain.<br /><br />In a brilliant flash of insight, I could see my day expand, deterministically, in my mind.<br /><br />The keys slip through the grate and with a fittingly undramatic splash hit the water at the bottom and disappear into the murky depths of the storm drain's catch-bucket.<br /><br />The key-chain is important. Apart from the physical importance (in it's capacity of opening the doors to my domicile), keys are somewhat symbolic in the "key to the city", "key to my heart" and "key to my life" kind of way. So, regardless of the consideration that you don't want to have any key to your front door ending up in potentially irresponsible hands, there's the psychology of the matter. And the certain knowledge that I cannot, will not, have my mind at ease as long as I don't hold those keys in my hands again.<br /><br />Storm drains in the Netherlands are made out of cast-iron. Or some other suitable heavy material that isn't too overly expensive and not as toxic as lead. There's no way to lift one by myself. I could move it with a long enough and strong enough lever, but that would possibly put me in trouble with the local municipal works-department. Worse, if I lever it out of there and it tips over and down the chute on it's side I might be charged with vandalism, destruction of public property, or such.<br /><br />Alright. Alternative approach. Ummm... A fishing rod? With a magnet? Bit of a cliche perhaps... Then again, I don't know how deep the catch-bucket goes and the water is too murky to see my keys in. A stick? Again, no idea how long it should be and I might just push it down the real drain, not just the catch-bucket beneath the grate.<br /><br />So, back to the municipal works-department... Calling them will take some time, especially on monday. And, knowing bureaucracy, it will probably take even longer than that before the crew arrives with tools. So I'll end up waiting for them for some time, but lacking keys, I can't do so inside my house.<br /><br />Not retrieving the keys and simply going to work isn't exactly an option either. While I will be staying in a hotel, I can't really wait with this for a week. The keys will be gone for sure. And after that, if the house hasn't been emptied yet, I'd have to replace all the locks. Which, as the locks are an integral system, would be both expensive and time-consuming.<br /><br />While these possibilities and implications are still fractalling in my mind, some process intervenes and indicates that the "undesired expenditure of the day" flag has long since been raised.<br /><br />My foot moves. I put my bags in the car.<br /><br />And I kneel down to retrieve my keys. Which were narrowly trapped against one of the drain's sidebars by my foot.<br /><br /><span style="font-weight: bold;">That</span> was a close call.<br /><br />Now I can rest comfortably in the knowledge that I will not know what the rest of the day might bring.<br /><br /><br /><span style="font-size:85%;">Keychain image is (c) 2008, toxel.com</span>Joop Carelshttp://www.blogger.com/profile/07287495438771933765noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8483852328774513472.post-82029650926029177792010-06-17T18:51:00.006+02:002010-06-17T20:25:27.112+02:00USD 20B is a lot of money to make "real change".<a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh2oQeRCghY0n6grF5emg6Un6Tl1pDhFz8O2nzt6oPh6THjsZwQTNr9KDQQ2wfigBJI8rdv3dBWgnmdd1Gm9qyb2tP-DC3woTAhMaLOnTeKrifAfXzLhSbL74bp87XPUomPTpN_5JzBZkip/s1600/mr_bp_ultimate_pump_nozzle_570xvar.jpg"><img style="float: left; margin: 0pt 10px 10px 0pt; cursor: pointer; width: 200px; height: 186px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh2oQeRCghY0n6grF5emg6Un6Tl1pDhFz8O2nzt6oPh6THjsZwQTNr9KDQQ2wfigBJI8rdv3dBWgnmdd1Gm9qyb2tP-DC3woTAhMaLOnTeKrifAfXzLhSbL74bp87XPUomPTpN_5JzBZkip/s200/mr_bp_ultimate_pump_nozzle_570xvar.jpg" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5483805194263864690" border="0" /></a><br />BP today agreed to put aside an enormous amount of money to <span style="font-weight: bold;">begin</span> to meet with claims for damages resulting from the Deepwater Horizon disaster.<br /><br />Claims and Damages.<br /><br />Well, the damage has been done, and no doubt that a lot of good people are struggling to get by as a result of the disaster. Whether it be because the government is now forbidding them from drilling more wells, or from oil-damage to fisheries and wildlife, or from tourists staying away from tar-stained beaches, your pain and struggle is real and it is justified to look towards your government for help and to point the finger at the company that seems to be the immediate cause of the pain.<br /><br />But... What if your government would come to your beaches and inspect your fisheries and it would say that, yes, the damage is done and it is irreversible and effects will be lasting for decades to come.<br /><br />What if they would say that, given this conclusion and such impact, which is scientifically verifiable, and economically calculable, it is no longer feasible for you to expect to continue to work in fishing, tourism, or the oil industry here?<br /><br />What if, rather than calculate your expected wage for the next several decades (which is unlikely in itself to last that long, given job security in these times), put a multiplier to that as a form of civil liability compensation, and deposit the resulting amount in your bank account, the government would pay said wage for a year, maybe two, and in addition invest in the creation of new industries and fund education required for these?<br /><br />Would you accept such a conclusion? And would you support such a policy of redevelopment, rather than direct compensation?<br /><br /><br />Who knows, maybe the Gulf Coast can become, rather than the US's region with the youngest general retirement age, the region with the highest environmental awareness, and it's "silicon valley" of alternative energy research? As far as I can tell it has plenty of sunshine, plenty of coastline, and they seem to have an excess in wind. Though that last may be seasonal and/or partly caused by a recent upsurge in political rhetoric.<br /><br />How about creating a new National Park? Preferably in a previously thriving nature area, which is now hit the worst with oil. Name it the Natural Crude Recovery National Park. Or perhaps the Thad Allen National Park, as his work is undoubtedly tireless, frustrating and ungrateful, and a monument to nature's long-lasting recovery in his name would definitely not be an insult.<br /><br />Do not clean up the oil in this set-aside region, but allow it to recover naturally. Let scientists and National Park Service manage the area like they do the Mt. St. Helens National Vulcanic Monument, as a testament and case study into how long it takes for nature to recover from a cataclysm, though this one be of man's own hand.<br /><br />Both the park and the redeveloped regional industry would be a lasting monument to our folly. And to America's ability to deal with adversity in a constructive manner.<br /><br /><br />How about funding a real, hands-on, estimate of what it will take to clean up the mess? Then fund a study in what it will cost to re-develop the region's industrial sector. I fear that such studies, realistic studies, will show that a "clean-up", i.e. a return to how things were before, cannot be bought with any amount of money, simply due to the irreversible nature of some of the damage done. An egg, once boiled, will never again hatch a chick.<br /><br />I fear that a balance sheet like that will show that, financially, it will be more feasible to re-invent the region's major industry.<br /><br />But I also fear that the focus on individual gains of the American People at large and a culture of liability and lawsuits will prevent this money to be turned into "real change".<br /><br />BP, who would probably never have chosen voluntarily to invest this kind of money in sustainability on such a short notice (their website claims they had invested USD 4B in sustainable energy since 2005 and aim to have invested USD 8B by 2015 [1]), will now find itself chucking this enormous wad of cash down the proverbial well of civil liability in an attempt at a societal Top-Kill of the gusher of damage-claims. They had some encouraging results with that approach to the real leak as well...<br /><br /><br /><br />But unlike the purely, deterministically, physics-driven upward pressure of the oil-well, this gusher has a choice in whether it will blow-out or not...<br /><br /><br /><br />[1] BP's page on "Our low-carbon business"<br />http://www.bp.com/sectiongenericarticle.do?categoryId=9032669&contentId=7059924<br />[2] "BP Ultimate" image retrieved from BP's website's press kit<br />http://www.bp.com/browsebytheme.do?contentId=7002593&categoryId=9001237&currentPage=2Joop Carelshttp://www.blogger.com/profile/07287495438771933765noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8483852328774513472.post-54518330660709259862010-06-15T16:50:00.013+02:002010-06-16T20:42:18.916+02:00How much would you pay to avoid a traffic jam?<a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhw3yxzZCpNH-djC70nZKRYqTU3o55qdQvOnJXrL7NT0zPILaLZiXZ9rw5v7Ff_NtXyCd3r3VSqIlJwAY0jgH8g5Yu2AsjlpQm3RGCKPb1Dbsw8_1MS3meIFh4P5BbEZUqv_A2hqqXVw4VU/s1600/DSC00579.JPG"><img style="float: left; margin: 0pt 10px 10px 0pt; cursor: pointer; width: 200px; height: 150px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhw3yxzZCpNH-djC70nZKRYqTU3o55qdQvOnJXrL7NT0zPILaLZiXZ9rw5v7Ff_NtXyCd3r3VSqIlJwAY0jgH8g5Yu2AsjlpQm3RGCKPb1Dbsw8_1MS3meIFh4P5BbEZUqv_A2hqqXVw4VU/s200/DSC00579.JPG" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5483407473720656882" border="0" /></a><br />WARNING...<br /><br />If you would never, EVER, consider spending a ton of money on a spur-of-the-moment purchase just because you didn't want to get stuck in traffic jams during rush hour, then click "next blog" now.<br /><br /><br /><br /><br /><br /><br />Last friday there was the sudden and awe-inspiring sensation of "not having any more work to do today", before, technically, it had become "tomorrow" already. It was, actually, irritatingly early to go home, in the sense that I dislike city driving and I hate getting stuck in traffic jams. So, getting stuck in a traffic jam in the city lacked a certain celebratory appeal.<br /><br />In stead, I decided to go in the opposite direction of the traffic jam (and, incidentally, home), and ended up at a large local electronics retailer, finding myself inexorable gravitating towards the corner that was decorated conspicuously in black and white (and some brushed-metal grey), with lots of purple'ish screens.<br /><br />Having long passed the event horizon without noticing, it had, at this point, become unavoidable (if not impossible) to leave without adding to my slowly growing collection of Apple user appliances. There was a short, but futile, escape plan, where I would try to blast free of the pull by expelling a relatively minor amount of cash on a blueray player instead. However, it was quickly decided that this plan was probably just delusional and a waste of valuable resources I would need to go, proverbially, "in, through and out the other end" of this situation.<br /><br />So, about an hour later, I found myself in the car, driving home, well after rush hour, with an iPad on the passenger seat.Joop Carelshttp://www.blogger.com/profile/07287495438771933765noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8483852328774513472.post-41939317275484032532010-05-28T23:27:00.010+02:002010-05-29T00:14:49.174+02:00Rewards, and some that aren't.<a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh1DKdo3We5tTt4vbYVirEyRlpkJ7J_Q16tWlBnBgnvDydscBayg0ejyVS7pmmmoqhGnYtOwxUO7j_vhDjC5rH0mu17ebelaLzOUcnA0vbXV6-NHJalv-BccnHCHhyM8c1CQ8ZAHAPHFR4f/s1600/CIMG1622.JPG"><img style="float:left; margin:0 10px 10px 0;cursor:pointer; cursor:hand;width: 150px; height: 200px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh1DKdo3We5tTt4vbYVirEyRlpkJ7J_Q16tWlBnBgnvDydscBayg0ejyVS7pmmmoqhGnYtOwxUO7j_vhDjC5rH0mu17ebelaLzOUcnA0vbXV6-NHJalv-BccnHCHhyM8c1CQ8ZAHAPHFR4f/s200/CIMG1622.JPG" border="0" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5476443569550811874" /></a><br />As some of you may have been reading, the project I am currently working in has had periods of demanding rather... shall we say... extended commitment and working hours.<br /><br />This is one of them.<br /><br />Again.<br /><div><br /></div><div>Last week, as an example, we were asked to work throughout the weekend. Again. Many things had to happen for this to be made so, but this story is not about the intricacies of convincing a generally Catholic population to work on a Sunday.</div><div><br /></div><div>For my work, I tend to travel a bit. And on these assignments requiring travel, I tend to stay in hotels, work somewhat longer days (as I don't exactly have anything to "go home" to, at such times) and have dinner with colleagues in local restaurants.</div><div><br /></div><div>This is all well and good, but restaurants tend to serve slightly richer-than-average dishes. And from working on systems engineering assignments for several months the brain might get plenty of exercise, the body doesn't fare quite so well. So, after a couple of months of this, you tend to put on a little weight and grow tired of (or at least VERY well-acquainted with) the menu's of said local restaurants. And, as stresses increase and time-to-deadline shrinks, even dinner becomes something of a physical necessity and not an exceptional occasion, what dining out for many people would be.</div><div><br /></div><div>Let's zip back to last weekend. </div><div><br /></div><div>These non-stop all-weekend activities place some above-and-beyond type of demands on our people. You don't get rest, the concept is stressful, and it's not exactly "what you signed up for" in your contract. So, sometimes, when you have an enlightened big-shot pulling all these strings, they realise something might be in order to boost, or at least maintain, morale a bit. </div><div><br /></div><div>Our big-shot obviously had attended the mandatory people-skills courses, as he decided that our intrepid weekend crew might be entitled to such a morale booster.</div><div><br /></div><div>After two weeks of non-stop work we were delighted and surprised by the extraordinary graciousness of being invited to...</div><div><br /></div><div>go out for dinner, at his expense, at a local restaurant...</div><div><br /></div><div>He even recommended one.</div><div><br /></div><div><br /></div>Joop Carelshttp://www.blogger.com/profile/07287495438771933765noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8483852328774513472.post-22745903159621368932010-04-24T22:16:00.009+02:002010-04-24T22:30:07.823+02:00Sometimes... it's like Magic...<a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhvZ0pIFQfI1p992G7Jfou8_uYrz668ZJQIYeTCdTlPr3OL0_jpUiM3wVPQc4elKS0yUssV4QLzqhUAljrcO3PlnYBkyiA06TQNeSiH_pkiGYmOnJ6fWEacSmh_pjWxG3Jxgyv-FPPMEd7K/s1600/CIMG1598.JPG"><img style="float:left; margin:0 10px 10px 0;cursor:pointer; cursor:hand;width: 200px; height: 150px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhvZ0pIFQfI1p992G7Jfou8_uYrz668ZJQIYeTCdTlPr3OL0_jpUiM3wVPQc4elKS0yUssV4QLzqhUAljrcO3PlnYBkyiA06TQNeSiH_pkiGYmOnJ6fWEacSmh_pjWxG3Jxgyv-FPPMEd7K/s200/CIMG1598.JPG" border="0" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5463802830834272050" /></a><br />Sometimes... <div><br /></div><div>Sometimes things just come together. </div><div><br /></div><div>A chance happening. </div><div><br /></div><div>A lucky strike. </div><div><br /></div><div>Magic happens...<div><div><br /></div><div>And sometimes... these happenings aren't that big at all. But you should pay attention and notice and cherish them.<div><br /></div><div>One of those times happened to me last week. </div><div>It happened in Stuttgart, Germany. It happened on a sunday. It happened at the "Kost|Bar". It happened on a sunny late-afternoon. It happened, while sitting outside, lounging, relaxing, in the sun, after a long drive there.</div><div><br /></div><div>It was... the perfect Macchiato.</div></div></div></div>Joop Carelshttp://www.blogger.com/profile/07287495438771933765noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8483852328774513472.post-73988343181154075962010-02-27T14:32:00.007+01:002010-02-27T15:23:23.213+01:00The easy life...<a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi4ekw-Vh245Fj-hcYwUE30SILGx0u-iU0UoNzmtVbDIAIpEei7BIxoUUYK_k428CfHUlGIwScmOujRoDUXBIkKOyVriAkuNG_BjAohUcTyWA_TxCYRF_ctOoKiQ6x9GhiUbv7sZ_wUIyf9/s1600-h/CIMG1470.JPG"><img style="float:left; margin:0 10px 10px 0;cursor:pointer; cursor:hand;width: 200px; height: 150px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi4ekw-Vh245Fj-hcYwUE30SILGx0u-iU0UoNzmtVbDIAIpEei7BIxoUUYK_k428CfHUlGIwScmOujRoDUXBIkKOyVriAkuNG_BjAohUcTyWA_TxCYRF_ctOoKiQ6x9GhiUbv7sZ_wUIyf9/s200/CIMG1470.JPG" border="0" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5442921237437613778" /></a><br />Right now, I'm living the easy life.<div><br /></div><div>Yes, I'm working 60 - 80 hours a week and I'm stuck in a town in Germany, a full days drive from basically everything I hold dear. So how is this the easy life?</div><div><br /></div><div>Easy... Right now everything is disciplined, focused, singular and straightforward. Life is about sleeping, eating, working, working and then working some more. My entire world consists of my appartment, the work site, a few restaurants, a grocery store and the paths between them. With some time pressure and work focus like this, most normal life worries simply fade away. It actually wouldn't be "hard" to live like this. </div><div><br /></div><div>Scary idea? Well, it would be a very colourless and limited existence. And it's definitely not compatible with relationships, or even friendships; my social circle having shrunk to the few fellow victims of this situation. All evidence of anything bigger has been reduced to a few phonecalls and e-mail messages.</div><div><br /></div><div>I know that my "life" here is very limited compared to my normal life and I wouldn't want to swap permanently for all the money in the world. But the worrisome part is that it is, aside from missing my girlfriend and friends, mostly my rational side that "knows" I shouldn't be satisfied with this life. It would be very easy to simply "exist" like this and not bother with abstract larger world concerns. How does this work, psychologically?</div><div><br /></div><div>I can see that "this life" would be a lot easier. In some ways I guess it's... comforting? ... to have so few concerns. Is there an odd appeal to such simplicity of subsistence? Or is it the fading of other concerns, the singularity of purpose here, that seems appealing? </div><div><br /></div><div><br /></div>Joop Carelshttp://www.blogger.com/profile/07287495438771933765noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8483852328774513472.post-80257474297061325132009-10-01T15:48:00.009+02:002009-10-01T18:18:27.702+02:00On world-view, philosophy, self-reflection...<a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj6Q9OJwidZhL4FhEi-U25gNl7lZqHmUk_L8u9F5MAykKhXldMWu0h34MLoL8Ys9LIIEwAFe7lZ1Tfb1Gd4fjhfcx00_AzcrzK84HIuK6ctrHhMw8pM7n1PGJ-FeDcxuPFic60CI6maKuM-/s1600-h/DSC_89250001.JPG"><img style="margin: 0pt 10px 10px 0pt; float: left; cursor: pointer; width: 200px; height: 134px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj6Q9OJwidZhL4FhEi-U25gNl7lZqHmUk_L8u9F5MAykKhXldMWu0h34MLoL8Ys9LIIEwAFe7lZ1Tfb1Gd4fjhfcx00_AzcrzK84HIuK6ctrHhMw8pM7n1PGJ-FeDcxuPFic60CI6maKuM-/s200/DSC_89250001.JPG" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5387630438929191650" border="0" /></a>Throughout our lives we reflect and reconsider our view of the world. For some of us this is a more... well, conscious, process than for others. And some of us can take to extremes of rationality or emotion in their consideration of the world they live in. Often such reflective moments are "triggered" by dramatic, or profound, or both, events in our lives.<br /><br />For me, I have noticed an increase in reflective process recently. As for the profound events... Well, there have been plenty, directly with me personally, or indirectly with friends and family. But that's not exactly what this is supposed to be about. Not directly, anyway.<br /><br />What I do want this to be about, is to express my appreciation of a piece of poetry I came across during some of my ruminations. It's called Desiderata, and to its writer, it expresses the "things", the qualities, in life that are to be desired.<br /><br />While I may not agree with all things stated, I think he has a powerful point about balance in life, about pride in your achievements ("however humble"), and about moderation in most things.<br /><br /><br /><span style="font-weight: bold;">Desiderata</span> - (c) Max Ehrmann, 1927<br /><br />Go placidly amid the noise and the haste,<br />and remember what peace there may be in silence.<br /><br />As far as possible, without surrender,<br />be on good terms with all persons.<br />Speak your truth quietly and clearly;<br />and listen to others,<br />even to the dull and the ignorant;<br />they too have their story.<br /><br />Avoid loud and aggressive persons;<br />they are vexatious to the spirit.<br /><br />If you compare yourself with others,<br />you may become vain or bitter,<br />for always there will be greater and lesser persons than yourself.<br />Enjoy your achievements as well as your plans.<br />Keep interested in your own career, however humble;<br />it is a real possession in the changing fortunes of time.<br /><br />Exercise caution in your business affairs,<br />for the world is full of trickery.<br />But let this not blind you to what virtue there is;<br />many persons strive for high ideals,<br />and everywhere life is full of heroism.<br />Be yourself. Especially do not feign affection.<br />Neither be cynical about love,<br />for in the face of all aridity and disenchantment,<br />it is as perennial as the grass.<br /><br />Take kindly the counsel of the years,<br />gracefully surrendering the things of youth.<br />Nurture strength of spirit to shield you in sudden misfortune.<br />But do not distress yourself with dark imaginings.<br />Many fears are born of fatigue and loneliness.<br /><br />Beyond a wholesome discipline,<br />be gentle with yourself.<br />You are a child of the universe<br />no less than the trees and the stars;<br />you have a right to be here.<br />And whether or not it is clear to you,<br />no doubt the universe is unfolding as it should.<br /><br />Therefore be at peace with God,<br />whatever you conceive Him to be.<br />And whatever your labors and aspirations,<br />in the noisy confusion of life,<br />keep peace in your soul.<br /><br />With all its sham, drudgery, and broken dreams,<br />it is still a beautiful world.<br />Be cheerful. Strive to be happy.Joop Carelshttp://www.blogger.com/profile/07287495438771933765noreply@blogger.com