
I’ve been living in the Marolles for 5 years, and it definitely looks like my neighbourhood is getting hip.
A photo book “Marollen/Marolles” has been created by Hans Roels and Kurt Deruyter, picturing groups of people from the Marolles: police officers, surgeons, construction workers and of course the Backgammon crowd in La Barrière. The book also tells the history of the Marolles. (The book, published by BooksInspired, is for sale in the FNAC.)
Take a look at their pictures here: Marollen/Marolles, the pictures.
This Saturday, they even organised a splendid diner for 800 people on the Place Jeu de Balle/Vossenplein. Great food, great weather, great people. Most of the people on the pictures were present, a lot of fellow-marolliens and of course the mayor Thielemans and Prince Laurent.
Article in Het Volk (NL) – De Standaard (NL) – VRT Nieuws (NL)
[Listening to: "Bonnie & Clyde (Herbert's Fred & Ginger Mix)" - Zero 7 - AnotherLateNight - Zero7]
marollenmarolles
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Published on
August 27, 2004 in
Web2.0.
Wikipedia.org is awesome. Who would have thought that building a knowledge system based on voluntary contributions from just about anyone who wants to, would work?
So what would happen if one would combine the Wiki concept with the other superstar of social software, blogging? Wouldn’t it be nice that you could have the chronological posts, but also clickable keywords, and the possibility to easily edit them – and let them be edited by others? And then find a catchy name for the combined concept, like a ‘bliki‘?
Unfortunately I am not the first person to think of the concept, nor the name: perl.com mentioned bliki’s in Dec 2003, Martin Fowler talked about it in May 2003, and David M Johnson already in Sept 2002.
One of the pioneers was apparently the incredibly extensive www.jahsonic.com: basically a huge Wiki-like site. Its author, Jan Geerinck, also has a blog page (however without RSS or Atom feed). The blog was started back in 2001.
Some products that implement Blog/Wiki hybrids are: YACS, Fromage, Bloki, SnipSnap and Roller.
SnipSnap was developed by someone from the Fraunhofer Institute (DE) and looks very promising. Roller is used by Sun Microsystems for the employee blogs.
Published on
August 26, 2004 in
movie.




John Fiorella has written, produced, directed and acted in his own low-budget trailer for a movie that has not been – and might never be – made.
In a nutshell, the idea for GRAYSON has been swimming around in my head for too long – so, with the help of a handful of talented artists, and four credit cards, I set out to shape the idea into a reality.
The objective was simple – tell a new and exciting story about the former boy wonder that leaves audiences wanting more. Did I hit the mark? You be the judge.
Together with his partner in crime Gabe Sabloff (who worked for the movie as D.O.P, actor, animation artist and probably catering and key grip too), he has made an impressive short movie/trailer.
Apparently, the two worked weekends for 18 months, creating storyboards, acting, directing, shooting, and editing a gorgeous short film designed to pique interest in a movie about what happens after Batman dies and Wonder Woman and Superman go to work for the enemy. It’s a professional-looking and well-edited piece of work (that anamorphic lens pays incredible dividends for them) that somehow manages to come in at a budget of just under $18,000.
(via: metafilter.com)
See the movie here: theforce.net
Be sure to take a look at the ‘Behind The Scenes’ (BTS) video, it is incredible to see how inventive these guys were with their limited budget. Some more info about that on howstuffworks.com.
[Listening to: "Very Good Friends" -
smoothouse.org -
Smoothpod]
Published on
August 25, 2004 in
movie.
A friend told me about an off-the-record list of celebrities with unpleasant body odor, where Brad Pitt supposedly featured as #3. Some Googling later, I found out Brad has moved up to #1! Here is the list as compiled in May 2004 by Mikael Jagerbrand:

#1. Brad Pitt
#2. Russell Crowe
#3. Hayden Christensen
#4. David Bowie
#5. Courtney Cox
#6. Robin Williams
#7. Christina Aguillera
#8. Cameron Diaz
#9. Metallica
#10. Bob Dylan
from: ncbuy.com
I remember a Friends episode “The one with the rumour” where Brad Pitt did a guest appearance. Brad and Courtney on the same set, what an olfactory delight.
Published on
August 24, 2004 in
webdev.
Geeky as hell, but I need it quite often, and what better place to put it but here: the list of 250+ HTML character entities.
Handy if you would want to write σ = ¾ • ∑ ƒ(χ²) – or your name like "πετερ"
UPDATE: now an even more complete overview can be found on Online Character map. Convert your own text to HTML-encoded with HTML encode.
- A
á : [á] – Á : [Á] – â : [â] – Â : [Â] – ´ : [´] – æ : [æ] – Æ : [Æ] – à : [à] – À : [À] – ℵ : [ℵ] – α : [α] – Α : [Α] – & : [&] – ∧ : [∧] – ∠ : [∠] – å : [å] – Å : [Å] – ≈ : [≈] – ã : [ã] – Ã : [Ã] – ä : [ä] – Ä : [Ä]
- B
„ : [„] – β : [β] – Β : [Β] – ¦ : [¦] – • : [•]
- C
∩ : [∩] – ç : [ç] – Ç : [Ç] – ¸ : [¸] – ¢ : [¢] – χ : [χ] – Χ : [Χ] – ˆ : [ˆ] – ♣ : [♣] – ≅ : [≅] – © : [©] – ↵ : [↵] – ∪ : [∪] – ¤ : [¤]
- D
† : [†] – ‡ : [‡] – ↓ : [↓] – ⇓ : [⇓] – ° : [°] – δ : [δ] – Δ : [Δ] – ♦ : [♦] – ÷ : [÷]
- E
é : [é] – É : [É] – ê : [ê] – Ê : [Ê] – è : [è] – È : [È] – ∅ : [∅] –   : [ ] –   : [ ] – ε : [ε] – Ε : [Ε] – ≡ : [≡] – η : [η] – Η : [Η] – ð : [ð] – Ð : [Ð] – ë : [ë] – Ë : [Ë] – € : [€] – ∃ : [∃]
- F
ƒ : [ƒ] – ∀ : [∀] – ½ : [½] – ¼ : [¼] – ¾ : [¾] – ⁄ : [⁄]
- G
γ : [γ] – Γ : [Γ] – ≥ : [≥] – > : [>]
- H
↔ : [↔] – ⇔ : [⇔] – ♥ : [♥] – … : […]
- I
í : [í] – Í : [Í] – î : [î] – Î : [Î] – ¡ : [¡] – ì : [ì] – Ì : [Ì] – ℑ : [ℑ] – ∞ : [∞] – ∫ : [∫] – ι : [ι] – Ι : [Ι] – ¿ : [¿] – ∈ : [∈] – ï : [ï] – Ï : [Ï]
- K
κ : [κ] – Κ : [Κ]
- L
λ : [λ] – Λ : [Λ] – ⟨ : [〈] – « : [«] – ← : [←] – ⇐ : [⇐] – ⌈ : [⌈] – “ : [“] – ≤ : [≤] – ⌊ : [⌊] – ∗ : [∗] – ◊ : [◊] – ‎ : [] – ‹ : [‹] – ‘ : [‘] – < : [<]
- M
¯ : [¯] – — : [—] – µ : [µ] – · : [·] – − : [−] – μ : [μ] – Μ : [Μ]
- N
∇ : [∇] – : [ ] – – : [–] – ≠ : [≠] – ∋ : [∋] – ¬ : [¬] – ∉ : [∉] – ⊄ : [⊄] – ñ : [ñ] – Ñ : [Ñ] – ν : [ν] – Ν : [Ν]
- O
ó : [ó] – Ó : [Ó] – ô : [ô] – Ô : [Ô] – œ : [œ] – Œ : [Œ] – ò : [ò] – Ò : [Ò] – ‾ : [‾] – ω : [ω] – Ω : [Ω] – ο : [ο] – Ο : [Ο] – ⊕ : [⊕] – ∨ : [∨] – ª : [ª] – º : [º] – ø : [ø] – Ø : [Ø] – õ : [õ] – Õ : [Õ] – ⊗ : [⊗] – ö : [ö] – Ö : [Ö]
- P
¶ : [¶] – ∂ : [∂] – ‰ : [‰] – ⊥ : [⊥] – φ : [φ] – Φ : [Φ] – π : [π] – Π : [Π] – ϖ : [ϖ] – ± : [±] – £ : [£] – ′ : [′] – ″ : [″] – ∏ : [∏] – ∝ : [∝] – ψ : [ψ] – Ψ : [Ψ]
- Q
" : ["]
- R
√ : [√] – ⟩ : [〉] – » : [»] – → : [→] – ⇒ : [⇒] – ⌉ : [⌉] – ” : [”] – ℜ : [ℜ] – ® : [®] – ⌋ : [⌋] – ρ : [ρ] – Ρ : [Ρ] – ‏ : [] – › : [›] – ’ : [’]
- S
‚ : [‚] – š : [š] – Š : [Š] – ⋅ : [⋅] – § : [§] – ­ : [] – σ : [σ] – Σ : [Σ] – ς : [ς] – ∼ : [∼] – ♠ : [♠] – ⊂ : [⊂] – ⊆ : [⊆] – ∑ : [∑] – ⊃ : [⊃] – ¹ : [¹] – ² : [²] – ³ : [³] – ⊇ : [⊇] – ß : [ß]
- T
τ : [τ] – Τ : [Τ] – ∴ : [∴] – θ : [θ] – Θ : [Θ] – ϑ : [ϑ] –   : [ ] – þ : [þ] – Þ : [Þ] – &tidle; : [&tidle;] – × : [×] – ™ : [™]
- U
ú : [ú] – Ú : [Ú] – ↑ : [↑] – ⇑ : [⇑] – û : [û] – Û : [Û] – ù : [ù] – Ù : [Ù] – ¨ : [¨] – ϒ : [ϒ] – υ : [υ] – Υ : [Υ] – ü : [ü] – Ü : [Ü]
- W
℘ : [℘]
- X
ξ : [ξ] – Ξ : [Ξ]
- Y
ý : [ý] – Ý : [Ý] – ¥ : [¥] – ÿ : [ÿ] – Ÿ : [Ÿ]
- Z
ζ : [ζ] – Ζ : [Ζ] – ‍ : [] – ‌ : []
Published on
August 19, 2004 in
internet.
Dizitainment, some guys from Seoel (South-Korea), make impressive Flash video clips for other people’s music. They even quote ’serious art’ in them. Recognize Edvard Munch in the picture?
Some of the video’s are: Basement Jaxx – Red Alert, Carl Douglas – Kung-Fu Fighting, Groove Armada – At The River, Air – Remember, Eels – Novocaine for the Soul, Pizzicato Five – Trailer Music, and a delightful Korean(?) tune by EON (nr 14).
Dizitainment FlashVideo
via Flabber.nl
Published on
August 11, 2004 in
music.

Just bought a surprisingly good debut album: “Soulschool” by Moiano. It’s a Belgian band started by Peter Lesage, who has played the keyboards for Gabriel Rios, Flip Kowlier, Krewcial. He’s now got a band of talented musicians around him.
About the album: there’s elements of Prince (“I think of u” for instance, and not only for the title typo, and “Little less” even has Peter Lesage convincingly screaming like the little man from Minneapolis), James Brown (the groove on “The music and you” snuggles up to Sexmachine), and even Steely Dan (for some reason this is what pops into my mind when I hear the chorus on “She knows” – which is a fabulous track). The production quality is outstanding, every detail in perfect place, especially the horn and voice arrangements.
From what I hear, they’re also a great live act, so I’ll have to check that out. Anyway: these guys are going places!
The album is not yet available on Amazon, but you can buy it on Proxis.
UPDATE: now also on MySpace!
Published on
August 8, 2004 in
science.
I caught an episode of Top Gear the other day. The rather excellent Jeremy Clarkson was talking about ‘driving very economically’ with an big Audi and mentioned all kinds of mpg (miles per gallon) measurements. For me, having lived in the metric system for all my life, conversion from ‘mpg‘ to ‘l/100km’ (liter/100 km) proved to be non-trivial. Some research revealed the following stunning data:
- Length:
- 1 mile = 8 furlong, 1 furlong = 40 rod, 1 rod = 5.5 yard, 1 yard = 3 feet, 1 foot = 12 inch
- Which gives us: 1 mile = 1760 yard or 1.609344 km
- Weight
- 1 stone = 14 pounds, 1 clove = 7 pounds, 1 pound = 16 ounces, 1 ounce = 16 drams
- Which gives us: 1 stone = 224 ounce
- Volume
- 1 gallon = 4 quart, 1 quart = 2 pint, 1 US pint = 16 US fluid ounces but(!) 1 Imperial pint = 20 Imperial fluid ounces
- Which gives us: 1 Imperial gallon = 160 Imperial fluid ounces or 4.54609188 liter
Two observations:
the English will never be Europeans. They drive on the wrong side of the road, they refuse to use the euro (before 1971, each UK pound was divided into 240 pence, but they reluctantly gave in to decimalisation) and they stubbornly cling on to a measurement system that can only have been invented by a bunch of anarchists with an atypical number of fingers and a taste for strong herbs.
for some reason they have forgotten to complicate their time measurement. They still use the ordinary hours and seconds, like every other deadly boring chap on the Continent.
In order to bring ‘Imperial’ time measuring on par with their other units, I propose the following:
since a ‘day’ corresponds to a full turn on the Earth, and the English are condemned to sharing it with the lot of us, there is no point in changing that.
a day is divided in 7 nunes, of which typically 2 to 3 are spent sleeping, and the rest working, drinking tea and reproduction. You wake up in the mor-nune (± 7h-10h25) and go to work, you have lunch during the noon-nune (commonly called just ‘nune’), you continue work during the after-nune, and go home to spend the eve-nune before the TV. You then have late-nune, night-nune and dawn-nune for sleeping, going out or procreation, in whatever sequence.
a nune (roughly 3.5 hours) is divided into 15 moments or mo’s (something like 15 minutes). “I’ll just be a moment” will then be a more realistic prediction, and tax consultancy companies like KPMG and PWC will now be able to invoice in a unit that sounds indivisible and not open for discussion by clients, and is slightly smaller than the current 15 minutes (but still the same price, obviously).
a moment is divided into 97 instants (why 97? because it’s a prime number, of course). An instant is something like 8 seconds, so for someone with basic dexterity, ‘instant soup’ becomes a reality. And AOL does not have to worry about the snappiness of their Instant Messenger, any response time under 8 seconds will do.
an instant is divided into 36 winks. It has been scientifically proven that it is possible to wink one’s eye in .23 seconds, which is the metric equivalent. After some intake of alcohol, a wink may be slower than a wink, but time perception under influence has always been somewhat flexible. For all practical purposes, this also is the smallest time unit, but just in case the rest of the world would want to contaminate the system with their ‘micro’ and ‘nano’-nonsense, the prefix ‘d’ will signify ‘dozen’ and can be added in any number to allow for tiny measurements. i.e.: a ‘dddwink’ is a 12*12*12 or 1728th of a wink.
This brings us to the following summary of the new Imperial Time System:
- Time:
- 1 day = 7 nunes, 1 nune = 15 moments, 1 moment = 97 instants, 1 instant = 36 winks, 1 wink = 12 dwinks
- Which now gives the English the possibility to express speed as ‘instants per inch’ (ipi) or ‘inch per instant’ (ipi), whichever is the most impressive number.
Since Greenwich is still England, Greenwich Mean Time (GMT) cannot be abandoned just like that, so it will be renamed to Greenwich Mazy Time, and midnight will still be midnight (or actually, it will be mid-nune and happen every day with at least one metric hour difference with any non-English country). The suggestion to have a ‘Daylight Saving Time’ system is still under investigation, it might make things unnecessarily complicated.
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