van As.com http://www.van-as.com/index.php ... en admin@van-as.com Copyright 2008 Pivot Pivot - 1.40.0 beta 2: 'Dreadwind' Mon, 11 Aug 2008 13:12:31 +0200 60 Judge shuts up students http://www.van-as.com/pivot/entry.php?id=267 http://www.van-as.com/pivot/entry.php?id=267#comm Apparently, Holland isn't the only country with poop-for-brain judges and politicians. No surprise, obviously.

A judge has ruled that three students can't unveil there findings on the gaping holes in the crappy public transit RFID cards. Fortunately, Defcon already distributed their paper and the lecture's PDF to the 7000 visitors.

Read an weep.

Typical. Instead of fixing the problems, you just gag the people trying to tell about it. If nobody knows, there is no problem. Right?

]]> 267@http://www.van-as.com Tech Mon, 11 Aug 2008 13:07:00 +0200 Isaac Hayes has seized to be... http://www.van-as.com/pivot/entry.php?id=266 http://www.van-as.com/pivot/entry.php?id=266#comm

]]> 266@http://www.van-as.com Music Mon, 11 Aug 2008 01:21:00 +0200 Happy Sysadmin day! http://www.van-as.com/pivot/entry.php?id=265 http://www.van-as.com/pivot/entry.php?id=265#comm Yep, it's that time of year again. Happy Sysadmin day to all you sysadmins out there.

]]> 265@http://www.van-as.com Tech Fri, 25 Jul 2008 17:34:00 +0200 No more telly http://www.van-as.com/pivot/entry.php?id=264 http://www.van-as.com/pivot/entry.php?id=264#comm About one and a half years ago I've bought an el cheapo LCD flat-screen TV to watch DVDs on, or other stuff that I download. Before, this house has been TV'less for years. Geek as I am, I tried my cable connection to check if there still was a signal on it, which there was. I didn't watch TV that much, but it was present. It's really tempting to start zapping away on that moment to spare. Until you find yourself watching stuff that doesn't even boggle the mind of a retarded squirl. One can get used to everything. (No, really)

Yesterday, flicking channels, I thought "What the hell am I watching, and what a fucking waste of time this is!".

Anyway, today I ripped the signal cable out of the TV and out of the wall-socket, rolled it up and chucked it 'where the cables go'. This TV will only show stuff that we want it to show from now on.

/me whippes out a book... No, wait. I have some Photoshop'ing to do. :-D

]]> 264@http://www.van-as.com Misc Thu, 24 Jul 2008 23:05:00 +0200 Japanese guests http://www.van-as.com/pivot/entry.php?id=263 http://www.van-as.com/pivot/entry.php?id=263#comm A week ago I've finally got some real shooting done. Sunset Drive, a band from Japan (with an Australian singer) dropped by at Opus Four. Website of Sunset Drive.

This is the stuff I'm after:

No nonsense, no flash, pure images. :)

]]> 263@http://www.van-as.com Photography Wed, 23 Jul 2008 00:06:00 +0200 How is that for honesty? http://www.van-as.com/pivot/entry.php?id=262 http://www.van-as.com/pivot/entry.php?id=262#comm From the MobileMe team after the .Mac transition:

"We have recently completed the transition from .Mac to MobileMe. Unfortunately, it was a lot rockier than we had hoped.

Although core services such as Mail, iDisk, Sync, Back to My Mac, and Gallery went relatively smoothly, the new MobileMe web applications had lots of problems initially. Fortunately we have worked through those problems and the web apps are now up and running.
Another snag we have run into is our use of the word "push" in describing everything under the MobileMe umbrella. While all email, contact or calendar changes on the iPhone and the web apps are immediately synced to and from the MobileMe "cloud," changes made on a PC or Mac take up to 15 minutes to sync with the cloud and your other devices. So even though things are indeed instantly pushed to and from your iPhone and the web apps today, we are going to stop using the word "push" until it is near-instant on PCs and Macs, too.
We want to apologize to our loyal customers and express our appreciation for their patience by giving all current subscribers an automatic 30-day extension to their MobileMe subscription free of charge. Your extension will be reflected in your account settings within the next few weeks.
We hope you enjoy your new suite of web applications at me.com, in addition to keeping your iPhone and iPod touch wirelessly in sync with these new web applications and your Mac or PC.
Thank you,
The MobileMe Team

"

Kudos to Apple for not being the arrogant Mogul. Somehow I wouldn't expect this kind of e-mail from Microsoft, apologizing for their Fuck-Ups. ;-)

]]> 262@http://www.van-as.com Tech Thu, 17 Jul 2008 13:56:00 +0200 Ipod 2.0 firmware http://www.van-as.com/pivot/entry.php?id=261 http://www.van-as.com/pivot/entry.php?id=261#comm I had to work late after midnight last night because of the iPhone launch, which sucked. But I did install the 2.0 firmware on my iPod, which is good :-)

First impressions so far:

  • iTunes remote is terrific, You can even control which speakers to use for output and the volume you send to them
  • Although I'm not a real gamer anymore, the games with accelerometer control are real fun. Should kill a few spare moments nicely
  • Looks like battery life has improved
  • Data push for e-mail, calendar and contacts does actually work
  • Calendar finally has full integration with iCal on my Macs, including color-coded categories
  • It crashed on me once already
/me is off for another crack at Monkey Ball :-D ]]> 261@http://www.van-as.com Tech Sun, 13 Jul 2008 14:04:00 +0200 800.000 non-smokers... http://www.van-as.com/pivot/entry.php?id=260 http://www.van-as.com/pivot/entry.php?id=260#comm ...would populate the bars, pubs and cafés. 800.000 non-smokers are, as expected, not coming.

Normally, pubs would be packed. Packed with smokers and non-smokers. Happily living together having their beers, club-sodas, juices, waters, rum-cokes, gin-tonics, beers, whiskeys and fags, cigarettes, cigars, pipes and what not.

Not anymore.

Thank you government for killing social life. Thank you for being the royal pain in the ass. Thank you for lying about, well, everything. Thank you for killing the businesses of another group of hard working people. Thank you for deciding for us and everyone else who do not need deciding for.

For the sake of all these people working in the bars, cafés and pubs; I sincerely hope these 800.000 promised non-smokers will save these private entrepreneurs from bankruptcy. And if they don't, with their big mouths, here's already the big FUCK YOU to all of them. Support your local pubs, why don't you...

Ireland, 1400 pubs gone bankrupt. Manhattan, 800 pubs and cafés gone bankrupt. A few examples. I'm not glorifying smoking. I'm merely saying that smoking has existed for 3000 years or more and that 4.3 million people still support this bad habit where 80% of pub-goers do smoke. Non-smokers have had centuries to build their so badly wanted smoke free circuit, but it is not there. It just isn't there! Why is that? One of my close friends owns a café, and she can get fined for having a cigaret after closing hours! (first offense €300,-, then €,600-, €1200,- and so on until you lose your permit) Imagine having the police busting in to your own house for smoking a goddamned cigaret! Gawd, I'm pissed off. What the fuck is going on in this country!?

I can have my fag outside. Sure! But why bother, there is nobody to talk to inside anyway..

Freedom of choice! That, my friends, is what this is all about...

And in case you were wondering where this bullshit is coming from, take a load of this hero in the EU:

Our government has silently ratified this week. Thank you very much...

]]> 260@http://www.van-as.com Misc Sun, 13 Jul 2008 04:00:00 +0200 Back to school, once again http://www.van-as.com/pivot/entry.php?id=259 http://www.van-as.com/pivot/entry.php?id=259#comm Nope, nothing to do with photography this time. After Dutch, English and German, it's time to learn French :)

I've enlisted in one of the evening classes that are given at the 'Da Vinci College'. For 24 weeks, one night each week on Tuesday starting from the 30th of September, I'm on 'French 1' detail. That'll be getting classes, making homework and watching TV5 a lot. :-)

Eugenie really knows how to speak French, but it annoys the shit out of me that I can't even follow a conversation about what the weather was like. Did you enjoy the duck? That was quite a nice walk, was'nt it? Where are you from?

Well, I'm looking forward to it. Somehow it's a nice feeling to start learning something again. :-)

]]> 259@http://www.van-as.com Misc Wed, 09 Jul 2008 23:02:00 +0200 Hippiefestival, 2008 http://www.van-as.com/pivot/entry.php?id=258 http://www.van-as.com/pivot/entry.php?id=258#comm Check out my registration of the second edition of the Hippiefestival this weekend in Gorinchem.

Click here.

 

]]> 258@http://www.van-as.com Photography Sun, 06 Jul 2008 21:10:00 +0200