I know that Nokia isn’t perceived as the leader in mobile phones any more and that their phones are a little behind when it comes to technology. But frankly: I don’t care. Their OS is stable, their build quality is excellent and it does what I want my phone to do: crisp and clear calls, messaging, occasional web browsing and tweeting, take a picture now and then, use it as an alarm and watch and navigate from A to B. And all that without a fuss. Simple. I like what they offer and although I felt a need for change every now and then (I switched to a Sony Ericsson a couple of years back and the HTC Hero last year) I always came back.

This got me thinking about other brands I’m loyal too. And it seems there are a couple. I only buy for need these days, but still there’s Geox when it comes to my shoes because of my…erhm…warm feet. Canon when it comes to my digital camera. Samsung when it comes to PC monitors. HP when it comes to printers/scanners. Bol when it comes to books. Pathe when it comes to seeing movies.

The reason for this is simple: these brands make products/create services that fill my needs. That doesn’t mean that I won’t buy any other brand when the need arises or when a better alternative comes along. But as long as that isn’t the case, these are preferred.

I try to do as much as I need to do in the morning hours (when the heat is still manageable) and relax in the afternoons during these weekends. So it’s domestic chores (vacuuming, buying groceries etc) as early as possible (without waking up the neighbors) and just do some relaxing stuff like reading a book in the park in the afternoon. That’s in the shade of course. I also tend to eat less (maybe one meal a day) during the day, but drink a lot more.

I’m one of those people who enjoys good weather, but not extreme heat (I think there’s some Scandinavian bloodline somewhere although my parents keep denying that) so for me it’s just getting through the days and try to enjoy it as best as I can.

Hope you have a great summer.

Of course the main outline was to go completely vegetarian during the week and having the opportunity to eat meat (which I have stated before I love to eat) during the weekends. I added a provision though: if I would find myself in a social setting where eating was involved (say eating out with friends or anything work-related) I would choose at the time. During the month I found myself to be in one of those situations about once each week. And I have to say that I chose the meat option on every one of those occasions (did I mention that I love meat). So all in all I was completely vegetarian for about 4 out of 5 weekdays (with 2 out of 3 meals on the other days being vegetarian as well).

So what did I eat? Well, same as in my first experiment with being a vegetarian I would eat soy based replacements. I also started to eat fruit in stead of bread in the morning. As for dinner I just experimented with vegetarian dishes (some came out better than others). I think this has helped to improve my eating habits towards an even healthier diet and I even lost a fair bit of weight (although, to be honest, that could also have to do with my increased exercise regime).

I have to admit that changing from just a Meatless Monday to weekday vegetarianism was an easy step. As stated before, I will never give up meat entirely (with this lifestyle though, it seems I enjoy eating meat even more) but with the apparent advantages it has I will keep on living the weekday vegetarian lifestyle for the foreseeable future.

Just think about all the orange merchandising that’s being sold or given away with purchases. And Dutch fans love to see the games with friends in bars and cafes where a victory will be celebrated with the consumption of a large number of drinks (not to mention the ones consumed before and during). And that on a day that usually isn’t a big day for that industry. That of course will all dry out as soon as, God forbid, the team is beaten.

It’s great to see the Dutch team doing well. I, like many others, enjoy the games and watch them in the company of others. And with the worst of the recession behind us, it’s a good thing our economy gets that little extra boost. If the Dutch team will become World Champion, there will be more than one winner.

Here’s the idea: the most popular/professional blogs all have categories. Some of those categories appeal more to certain readers than others. But when it comes to feeds most of the time the only thing you can get is the full feed. My idea is that when you hit the “get updates through RSS”-button you’re directed to a web-page where you can select the updates on the categories you want to receive (of course the full feed is still an option) by just checking them off. After hitting a “Done”-button you’ll get a customized RSS-feed.

I came to this while visiting CHUD.com (a movie website I enjoy tremendously). They have what they call a Master RSS list where you can select the categories you want to receive updates from. But if say you want to follow the news, DVD and film reviews you have to c/p three feeds into you RSS reader. Wouldn’t it be more convenient to check of the categories you want in a sort of web form and have the feed created for you?

I think this sort of customization can come in real handy for readers, plus it makes it easier for content creators to serve readers with targeted ads per category. Here’s hoping that this can be turned into a standard. And if this really is a revolutionary, never before thought-up idea, any company interested (I’m looking at you Feedburner) will be happy to learn that my idea-fees are very reasonable! Because remember: you read it here first…or..I think/hope you did.

Our 2e kamer (house of representatives comes closest to explain its function) has 150 seats so in order to create a ruling coalition you have to get 76 seats. When we look at the results after wednesday I see 3 possible coalitions:

1. VVD (31) + PVV (24) + CDA (21): total of 76 (most likely)
2. VVD (31) + PVDA (30) + D66 (10) + GroenLinks (10): total of 81 (probably not)
3. VVD (31) + PVDA (30) + CDA (21) : total of 82 (not going to happen)

I think the dark horse in all of this is the CDA who, before the elections, were the biggest party but lost 20 seats. This meant that (now former) prime minister Jan Peter Balkenende took his political responsibility and stepped down as leader of the party and member of the 2e kamer. This defeat (lowest total of seats ever) is a gigantic blow for the party and it remains to be seen if they’re still willing to govern or if they’ll take to the opposition and try to rebuild from there. If they do the latter things will be even more interesting.

As is custom in Dutch politics someone will be appointed (a so called “formateur”) by the queen to start negotiations with the political parties in order to form a government. As said before this will be quite the challenge and I would like to wish him or her good luck. He/she will need it.

I first heard about the Pirate Party movement just before last years European elections where they won a seat with almost 10% of the votes in Sweden. When I heard there’s also a Dutch wing of this party running in our election I had to find out what they were all about.

As it turns out they’re focusing on privacy and copyright law in a technologically driven society as their main (and pretty much only) agenda. In my opinion their views are the type of legislation we need in todays digital life (reason why this blog is copyrighted under a Creative Commons license). However they also state that when they get elected and they have to vote on an issue that’s not part of their main agenda they’ll either consult with their member or don’t vote on it at all.

That’s the main reason why I would never vote for a single-issue party. Main stream political parties have specialists on all types of issues and make their intentions clear on all of them. With single issue parties you may find the party you’ve voted for votes different or not at all on issues you feel strongly about. And I like to have full disclosure as much as possible before I vote for someone. However, with Dutch coalition politics as it is, many main stream parties don’t exactly vote or act as stated in their positions before the elections as well after they’re voted into power, but that’s another story.

The Dutch Pirate Party has a few things going for it. I’ve voted on the left of the political spectrum ever since I’ve had a right to vote and am not persuaded to do anything else this year. But I wouldn’t be surprised if they get a few votes (mainly by the geek crowd, although I don’t think they’ll get a seat) and get some momentum going on their issues. Since their views on copyright and privacy are viable, I certainly hope that their views will get a look at by the established parties.

The mild judge was the coach of the contestant we’ve seen and the harsh one was the coach of an act that had been on the brink on elimination in previous weeks. Of course the former would be mild to take the edge of and of course the latter wanted his act to be the winner. I figured that when it comes to reality tv nothing is real, but when I started to think about a little more I realized that this type of partial judgement goes on all the time.

A few years ago Microsoft started a campaign to prove that running their software was cheaper than running Linux. In order to prove their point they presented a report by an independent researcher. Not long after that Redhat (main competitor of Microsoft in the Linux server market) came up with a similar report from an independent researcher that said their software was the cheapest. Something didn’t seem right here. How could two independent researchers come up with such different results? The answer was easy. In order to satisfy their customers (and get a chance on repeat business) they both structured their research in way that would shed their customers in the best light.

Then more recently there’s the tail of Ab Osterhaus who advised the Dutch government to buy large amounts of a certain serum to fight the Mexican flu. Later it was reported by the media that Osterhaus was an investor in the company that made that particular serum. Although both the manufacturer and Osterhaus deny any wrong-doing, his reputation as an independant advisor took a serious beating.

Let’s be honest, no judgement is impartial. Whether or not the judge/research firm is being paid or some other motive it’s always comes down to his/her own taste or feelings at the time. But here’s one general rule of thumb you can follow: find out where the money comes from when it comes to research results or if a judge has some anterior motive. Only then you’ll know if it’s a case of impartial or partial judgement. ber a

In this TED video he explains how got the idea and what he thinks are the advantages.

I really think he’s on to something here. There is the obvious advantage of reducing my carbon footprint while still enjoying meat. I’m seriously considering trying it for a month or so to see if it sticks.

Original post on Treehugger

If you believe the latest polls (Dutch site) everything is still up for grabs and the biggest parties are still close when it comes to the number of seats that they’re projected to win and any number of coalitions are still possible. Not only that, I felt that for the first time in many years people have some real alternatives to vote for. So you would assume that the parties would go all out with their campaigns to show the public what they stand for and why they are the best choice. Nothing of that seems to be going on.

Until now the only somewhat exciting things you’ve heard are that Cohen of the PVDA has ruled out a coalition between his party and the PVV and that former CDA spin-master and under secretary De Vries had an affair with one of his staff members. That’s about it (and I wonder if the latter has any real importance at all). Well, there is a bit of humor with the campaign of Trots of Nederland which seems to be more of a parody on a political party and I know we Dutch tend to be low key when it comes to political campaigning (especially compared to say the US). But as said, this all feels very tame. Maybe the upcoming debates will be interesting.

And that’s a real shame and in my view a lost opportunity. Dutch citizens have lost touch with politics and should once again be reminded of the importance of their vote. Not only the fact that they should go out and vote on June 9th, but also that they should vote for what they think is the best choice. And the only way they can do that is by knowing what each party stands for and wants for out little country. I hope the parties will give them a chance to discover just that.