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Posts tagged with "people"

Wrapping up 2009. What a year this was NOT...

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The year 2009 is coming to a close - what a year this wasn't! After the famous/infamous day in January where independent judgment and applied skills were used to save 155 lives from drowning in a cold Hudson River we really only were continuously confronted with news that Captain Chesley Sullenberger rightfully described with: "the worst sickening, pit-of-your-stomach, falling-through-the-floor feeling". At least that is the impression most analysts and trend experts on global data have about that year.
2009 exposed itself as the year of lies, fraud, debts, bigotry, ignorance and a paralyzing stagnation. Perhaps you didn't notice much of it yet. I am not talking about small personal successes, a wedding, getting grandparents or winning a lottery and hopefully starting your first business. These private advantages were embedded in a global downward trend, loss of confidence in and lack of leadership, as well as loss of existential certainties. The Earth is rapidly cooling, which by the end of the year seemed only be stoppable for some carbon fraudsters meeting in Copenhagen. The same category of 'experts' that called the Italian earth-scientist who correctly predicted the massive April earthquake in l'Aquila as "an imbecile". I agree with Pier Corbyns in a clip below, who says that those who conspired should have their privileges and degrees withdrawn forever. About one thing however we didn't hear at all: the doings of the by far greatest of all polluters: the US Pentagon. In 2009 we were left to believe that the few dozens of wars and conflicts that are raging on our planet would contribute to more 'security' for all. Bear in mind: I am not against the military. I am against 'madness', military adventures and old imperialist' bigotry. Our civilization is at stake. In that respect 2009 was a shocking year that for its non-merits will go into our history books. Some of these non-merits deserving a Nobel Prize... Even a hero like Captain Sullenberger can't change that view. Maybe we learned something from his actions that we can use in 2010 to our benefit: to think and judge independently, stay realistic, be moderate, enhance our knowledge to -in freedom- use our self-responsibility. We should finally stop believing false prophets and their hunger for (our) money. Possibly we are at the verge of that new era!

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14,445,306 views and still counting!

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url: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=XQcVllWpwGs

In the Record Book of Guinness for the most watched viral video ever. The Evian skating babies got well over 14.4 million viewers. Here you can read how it was produced.

John

How the West went lost... (a short weekend story)

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Url movie: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=pMxJG-Mu9dc

This 'prediction' in Copenhagen by Lord Monckton was made 2 days before the end of the UNFCCC global catastrophes conference. We now know the 'result' and see how dead-on Lord Monckton was. Do we indeed see the repeat of an old history? His comparison with Nazi-Germany and the 'achievements' of this peculiar 'conference' may seem daring for some. It also may be a brave and clear warning at the end of 2009 that little good is to be expected from 2010...

John

Will KDE conquer all our desktops in 2010?

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This may come as a shock for some: imagine to run a "Linux" desktop and software on Windows 2000, XP, 2003 and Vista. Well, you can. Just install KDE for Windows. On the other hand the 'full-blown' (Linux) version of KDE (:kadee-ee), its very latest version 4.4, offers new users a few nifty surprises. Pretending to be a Common Desktop Environment the history from KDE is a long one with several ups and downs. Having started in 1996 its founder Matthias Ettrich, a German computer scientist, and his team have succeeded in producing a stable and innovative desktop metaphor that in some respects is different from all we know today, however that with its short learning-curve is fairly easy to use. What at first glance might look somewhat like Windows-7 or Vista rapidly exposes itself as an incredibly flexible environment for nearly every Linux application. Although we talk about 'desktop', KDE-4 in fact has none. But you could make one. Incredible? If you need a new experience for computing just install KDE to see for yourself...

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Fireworks for your New Years party? Ask Mr. Caballer...

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Fireworks at the New Years Eve parties belong to long-standing traditions. Millions are spent to -one time a year- let the emotions go and play with fire. In many countries this is only allowed for a few hours at the first day of January. An earlier post reminded me of the splendid and exceptional fireworks from Ricardo Caballer of Valencia - Spain. His company 'Ricasa' is world-famous for its firework-productions. Sidney 2000 comes to mind. But there is also the Spring 'Fallas' from Valencia, a monumental fiesta of sorts, that attracts millions of visitors. A truly 'should-see' when you ever can.
Polvora (gunpowder) belongs to Spanish traditions. One isn't afraid of it, although sometimes accidents happen. Even children get for their birthdays a small 'castillo' (fireworks), a box with numerous pirotechnic gizmo's in it, that parents can ignite (outside of course) to add to the joy. Good fireworks are a joy and an emotion. But be careful when you let it go at the end of this year...

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Mysterious UFO light over Northern-Norway... Spectacular lightshow seen by thousands of people!

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Classical UFO case or not? This was December 9 seen over Norway.
Spectacular this is anyway and a good example of a real UFO phenomenon. It happened on December 9, 2009, minutes before 07:00 UTC over Northern Norway and was seen down to Tromsø and Bodø. A bright beam of bluish light showed up above the surface and gradually produced a clear whirling spiral of greenish white light, that expanded rapidly in the skies. Jan Petter Jørgenson made this fantastic picture of it. Was it an alien spacecraft exploding high in the atmosphere? Or was it a rocket launch that went wrong? What caused this spiral of light? (Updated when more details become known)

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Helena - Ubuntu's Alter Ego - the new Mint as a Must-Have

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The name has it: Helena. It reminds me of Helena of Constantinopel, the mother of Emperor Constantine I. It is a noble name indeed. Maybe that caused my high expectations when I got the opportunity to try the latest Linux MINT 8 release of that name. When you read my blog, you may have noticed that I often referred to MINT. The reason is, that MINT sits on top of Ubuntu and improves various aspects of its rather 'crude' core. I was surprised by Helena. She is a beauty with tons of charm. A Linux distro that everybody ought to test and start using. A great, free, gift for friends who still dare not try Linux. Have you downloaded Helena already? Then share some of my experiences and thoughts...

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