Vreemde Architectuur

Je zou het niet altijd zeggen als je saaie gebouwen ziet, maar er zijn in de wereld veel gebouwen (of bouwsels) te vinden die ... eh ... 'anders' zijn.

Boven: 'Dancing Building' (Praag )

Soms is een een bijzonder fraaie architctuur, soms is het gewoon heel grappig, en soms gewoon vreemd.

Boven: 'The Hole House', Texas USA

Op het Internet zijn een aantal overzichten te vinden van de vreemdste gebouwen ter wereld:

• http://villageofjoy.com/50-strange-buildings-of-the-world/ (Part I)
• http://villageofjoy.com/50-strange-buildings-of-the-world/ (Part II)
  
• http://villageofjoy.com/50-strange-buildings-of-the-world-part-iii/ (Part III)

Boven: het 'ondersteboven huis' (Szymbark, Polen)

"Learn to Play" workaround for PowerPC Macs

The new "Learn to Play" downloadable lessons in GarageBand are only supported by Apple on Intel-based Macs. When PowerPC users go to the lessons or the lesson store, they are presented with a message that states an intel-mac is required. Despite this, non-intel users can get lessons to run.

The lessons are located in this directory:

/Macintosh HD/Library/Application Support/GarageBand/Learn To Play/

Users on PowerPC Macs should be able to open the lesson files directly by double-clicking them, and they should play normally. It appears that the lessons run fine when users do this, though some with older PowerPC computers have noted the need to free up as much RAM and other resources as possible to ensure smooth play.

In order to get new lessons, Apple's built-in store accesses the web at the following URL:

http://store.apple.com/us/lessons/home

By navigating to the aforementioned URL, users can access the available free downloads. To do this, open the URL in Safari and click the "Basic Lessons" button. Then select the desired free lesson and GarageBand should open. A message will prompt for download confirmation, and the download should start. Users will not see a progress bar or other indication of the download, but it should happen as long as GarageBand is open. Check Activity Monitor's network section to see that the download is actually going.

Unfortunately, lessons for purchase will require the GarageBand interface, so for now the purchasing is restricted to Intel users; however, if PowerPC users have access to an Intel mac, they should be able to download the files to it and transfer them to the PowerPC machine.

Because Apple does not officially support lessons on PowerPC Macs, users may run into unexpected troubles.

Run iMovie '09 on a PowerPC G4...slowly

From Mac OS X Hints:
To patch iMovie '09 so that it will run on a PowerPC G4, Control-click on iMovie and pick Show Package Contents from the pop-up menu. In the new window that appears, navigate into Contents » MacOS. Now you'll need a hex editor such as the free HexEdit; once you have that, edit the file iMovie in the MacOS folder.
Use the File » Go To Address function in HexEdit to go to the following addresses, and replace each existing entry at those addresses (7C 08 02 A6) with 4E 80 00 20. The addresses are 15fb9c, 15fc7c, and 15fe00.
What you're doing here is replacing the PowerPC instruction for mflr r0, which basically initializes the stack for the called function, with blr, which essentially causes the called function to always return, voiding the purpose of the function. So when the function is the PowerPC check, you've essentially patched your way around it.
When done, save the file and quit HexEdit, and iMovie '09 should launch on your G4.

Soap Opera

Het onderstaande verhaal werd oorspronkelijk toegeschreven aan Douglas Adams, maar dat blijkt niet waar te zijn. Het blijft echter een fraai verhaal.

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Dear Maid,

Please do not leave any more of those little bars of soap in my bathroom since I have brought my own bath-sized Dial. Please remove the six unopened little bars from the shelf under the medicine chest and an- other three in the shower soap dish. They are in my way. Thank you,

S. Berman

Dear Room 635,

I am not your regular maid. She will be back tomorrow, Thursday, from her day off. I took the 3 hotel soaps out of the shower soap dish as you requested. The 6 bars on your shelf I took out of your way and put on top of your Kleenex dispenser in case you should change your mind. This leaves only the 3 bars I left today which my instructions from the manage- ment is to leave 3 soaps daily. I hope this is satisfactory.

Kathy, Relief Maid

Dear Maid -- I hope you are my regular maid,

Apparently Kathy did not tell you about my note to her concerning the little bars of soap. When I got back to my room this evening I found you had added 3 little Camays to the shelf under my medicine cabinet. I am going to be here in the hotel for two weeks and have brought my own bath-size Dial so I won't need those 6 little Camays which are on the shelf. They are in my way when shaving, brushing teeth, etc. Please remove them.
S. Berman

Dear Mr. Berman,

My day off was last Wed. so the relief maid left 3 hotel soaps which we are instructed by the management. I took the 6 soaps which were in your way on the shelf and put them in the soap dish where your Dial was. I put the Dial in the medicine cabinet for your convenience. I didn't remove the 3 complimentary soaps which are always placed inside the medicine cabinet for all new check-ins and which you did not object to when you checked in last Monday. Please let me know if I can of further assistance.

Your regular maid, Dotty

Dear Mr. Berman,

The assistant manager, Mr. Kensedder, informed me this A.M. that you called him last evening and said you were unhappy with your maid service. I have assigned a new girl to your room. I hope you will accept my apologies for any past inconvenience. If you have any future complaints please contact me so I can give it my personal attention. Call extension 1108 between 8AM and 5PM. Thank you.

Elaine Carmen, Housekeeper

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Dear Miss Carmen,
It is impossible to contact you by phone since I leave the hotel for business at 745 AM and don't get back before 530 or 6PM. That's the reason I called Mr. Kensedder last night. You were already off duty. I only asked Mr. Kensedder if he could do anything about those little bars of soap. The new maid you assigned me must have thought I was a new check-in today, since she left another 3 bars of hotel soap in my medicine cabinet along with her regular delivery of 3 bars on the bath- room shelf. In just 5 days here I have accumulated 24 little bars of soap. Why are you doing this to me?
S. Berman

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Dear Mr. Berman,

Your maid, Kathy, has been instructed to stop delivering soap to your room and remove the extra soaps. If I can be of further assistance, please call extension 1108 between 8AM and 5PM. Thank you,

Elaine Carmen, Housekeeper

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Dear Mr. Kensedder,
My bath-size Dial is missing. Every bar of soap was taken from my room including my own bath-size Dial. I came in late last night and had to call the bellhop to bring me 4 little Cashmere Bouquets.

S. Berman

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Dear Mr. Berman,

I have informed our housekeeper, Elaine Carmen, of your soap problem. I cannot understand why there was no soap in your room since our maids are instructed to leave 3 bars of soap each time they service a room. The situation will be rectified immediately. Please accept my apologies for the inconvenience.

Martin L. Kensedder, Assistant Manager

Dear Mrs. Carmen,

Who the hell left 54 little bars of Camay in my room? I came in last night and found 54 little bars of soap. I don't want 54 little bars of Camay. I want my one damn bar of bath-size Dial. Do you realize I have 54 bars of soap in here. All I want is my bath size Dial. Please give me back my bath-size Dial.
S. Berman

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Dear Mr. Berman,

You complained of too much soap in your room so I had them removed. Then you complained to Mr. Kensedder that all your soap was missing so I personally returned them. The 24 Camays which had been taken and the 3 Camays you are supposed to receive daily [sic]. I don't know anything about the 4 Cashmere Bouquets. Obviously your maid, Kathy, did not know I had returned your soaps so she also brought 24 Camays plus the 3 daily Camays. I don't know where you got the idea this hotel issues bath-size Dial. I was able to locate some bath-size Ivory which I left in your room.

Elaine Carmen, Housekeeper

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Dear Mrs. Carmen,
Just a short note to bring you up-to-date on my latest soap inventory. As of today I possess: On shelf under medicine cabinet - 18 Camay in 4 stacks of 4 and 1 stack of 2. On Kleenex dispenser - 11 Camay in 2 stacks of 4 and 1 stack of 3. On bedroom dresser - 1 stack of 3 Cashmere Bouquet, 1 stack of 4 hotel-size bath-size Ivory, and 8 Camay in 2 stacks of 4. Inside medicine cabinet - 14 Camay in 3 stacks of 4 and 1 stack of 2. In shower soap dish - 6 Camay, very moist. On northeast corner of tub - 1 Cashmere Bouquet, slightly used. On northwest corner of tub - 6 Camays in 2 stacks of 3.

Please ask Kathy when she services my room to make sure the stacks are neatly piled and dusted. Also, please advise her that stacks of more than 4 have a tendency to tip. May I suggest that my bedroom window sill is not in use and will make an excellent spot for future soap deliveries. One more item, I have purchased another bar of bath-sized Dial which I am keeping in the hotel vault in order to avoid further misunderstandings.

S. Berman

De Inversions van Scott Kim

In 1981 las ik in het fameuze tijdschrift Byte een artikel over Scott Kim - iemand die dingen met letters deed wat ik nog nooit had gezien. Naar aanleiding daarvan kocht ik het boek 'Inversions', en was verrast door de creatieve vormgeving van Scott Kim.

Scott Kim noemt zijn afbeeldingen 'ambigrammen' - je kunt ze van verschillende richtingen bekijken - soms laten ze dan hetzelfde woord zien, maar soms ook iets anders.

Meer is te vinden op de Inversions tak van de Scott Kim's website.

Fraaie foto's met lange belichtingstijden

Om inspiratie op te doen voor het maken van foto's met lange belichtingstijden geeft deze site 15 fraaie voorbeelden.

Statistiek op het Internet

Statistisch onderzoek heeft aangetoond dat exact 54.37688432 procent van alle statistieken op het Internet uit de duim gezogen zijn, dus op niets zijn gebaseerd. Natuurlijk geldt dat ook hiervoor ...