csant/log

Icelandic annals report for the year 1194 "svalbarðs fundur", or "svalbarði fundinn" - the discovery of "the cold edge", or, more poetically, "the cold coast". In two Icelandic chronicles from the 13^th century we find more details on this "svalbarð":

en frá lánganesi á norðanverðu íslandi er IIII dægra haf til svalbarð a norð í hafsbotn

As of today, it is unclear what this "svalbarð" really is: unlikely to be Jan Mayen, since far too small and insignificant to be mentioned, certainly not the already known Greenland, possibly today's Svalbard (the navigation distance of 4 days from the North coast of Iceland is correct) - if not just the edge of the ice shelf, which would match the name incredibly well… The discovery of Svalbard this early is just a possibility, not a factum.

The presence of the Pomors on Svalbard during the 16^th century is also not proven, and the first certain discovery of the archipelago is Willem Barentsz's third trip to the North, 1596. He named the place "Spitsbergen", the "jagged country" because of the jagged mountains on the West coast, but it was prosaically renamed to "Het nieuwe land", "the new country", on maps published soon thereafter.

I have discovered the jagged cold coast for myself this year.

Baobab and Opera have today joined forces in an innovative project to provide the technology to combat HIV:

Linux and the Opera browser are being used by a non-government organization combatting HIV AIDS in Malawi. The Baobab Health Partnership runs Opera in fullscreen "kiosk" mode on low-powered, Linux-based network terminals

The solution is based on using a stripped-down Linux distribution, Midori Linux, on low-end hardware with a touchscreen. One of the main concerns is of course performance and footprint: but even just the plain desktop version is an ideal solution on low-end hardware.

It is a significant step for us: it is "a first step towards using Opera to power the projects that promote progress in the developing world", as Håkon Wium Lie, CTO of Opera, puts it. There are more steps to do.

The new security measures for hand baggage on EU flights are utter nonsense.

The main rule is that no liquids may be brought through the security check, except for containers smaller than 100ml fitting into a 1ml plastic bag. The amount is determined by the size of the container, not the amount of liquid in it - pray tell: what kind of sense does that make? Note that you can bring an empty bottle on board, so all you'd need for your half-empty bottle is a smaller container to temporarily fill the liquid into during security check: afterwards you can fill it back. "Obviously" you cannot bring sealed bottles on board (say e.g. wine bottles with a numbered governmental seal), since they may have been tampered with (i.e. we don't trust governmental seals anymore), but "obviously" you can buy bottles to bring on board once inside the security check: it all smells a bit too much of boosting the security area shops' business, doesn't it?

Well, to tell you the truth, I am mighty annoyed. Have we ever seriously considered how pathetic these security measures are? Has anybody ever heard of solid explosives? (or have we decided that the liquid ones are the only dangerous ones?) What would the difference between five 100ml containers vs one 500ml container be? What does make the five small containers more "secure"?

I have seen a lady forced to either throw her 250ml water bottle away, or drink it there, before the check! And this in Berlin Schönefeld, where you are given "boarding passes" without your name on it! I did check in, went for a stroll, and half an hour later went to board the plane: anybody, absolutely freakin' anybody could have boarded that plane instead of me, since there was no check whatsoever at the gate: the "boarding pass" got marked as "seen" manually, and I did not even have to show a passport!

P.S.: Yes, they did confiscate a 400ml jar of jam I had with me as a present for a friend. The 100ml jam was "secure" enough to be allowed on board.

Banksy is a "guerrila artist" with a nice sense of humor, who performs his stunts in incognito, and leaves a trail of puzzled viewers behind him. He became famous over night with his action in the West Bank, Palestine, in 2005. Another famous stunt was the Early Man Goes to Market exhibit in the British Museum.

My favourite quote:

Is graffiti art or vandalism?
That word has a lot of negative connotations and it alienates people, so no, I don't like to use the word 'art' at all.

Well, yesterday he performed a new stunt, replacing Paris Hilton's CDs with his own remixes…

…it is going to be a huge problem for business travellers that need their laptops to travel safely, and even more so for musicians and their instruments or photographers who cannot risk their equipment to be damaged - and since insurance companies do not pay, when the equipment is not hand baggage carried on board…

Update:
There is a comment section on the BBC article - let me quote a gem:

I am a security guard at Heathrow. If you don't like it, don't fly. This is happening for a reason and you're quick to forget it. If we were not doing this and a bomb did get on a plane, you would be quick to complain that nothing was being done about it. Get real, there is more to life than music.
Laura, Middlesex, England

Many thanks to the anonymous reader who replies:

To Laura from Middlesex, music is some peoples lives.