Published on
March 22, 2006 in
Belgium and TV.
I cannot say I felt nothing when I saw the latest Humo cover. It started with “Mmmmm … Roos Van Acker” (I’m a guy, what can I say, I’m not alone in this).
But then my rational side took over. I started worrying about the damage this must do to her personality. Admit: she has been on the coverpage of Humo a couple of dozen times in various states of undress (the most famous one where she only holds 2 coconuts as an improvised bra) and she has just be chosen for X-th time in Humo’s Pop Poll in the category ‘Who do you want to see naked?” (”Wie wilt u uit de kleren zien gaan“). Thousands of men screaming to see your breasts, that can’t be beneficial for a girl’s self-esteem. We should really stop, guys, before it’s too late. Chances are that in 5 to 10 years, there will be no crowds cheering for her to drop her top and we don’t want her to fall into a depression and stuff herself with chocolate.
Continue reading ‘Roos Van Acker’s brain’
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Some of you might have noticed my recent domain dance: blog.forret.com to peter.smoothouse.com to peter.forret.com and back. You might ask yourself the questions: why was that necessary, couldn’t he have done it in a smoother way and why did it take so long? Those would be three relevant questions. I am used to managing DNS and blogs for other people, so my pride got hurt in the process too.
PROLOGUE: WHY BOTHER?
I have been blogging since 2004 and have built blog.forret.com up to Google Pagerank 6 and Technorati rank 8000. For the non-bloggers amongst you: it’s an ego thing. I don’t want to start again from a PageRank 0, Technorati rank ∞. So that’s why I didn’t stop until I got it back.
Continue reading ‘Migration to Wordpress: me vs Murphy’
Last year we organised a fairly successfull blogger’s dinner in Brussels, and now we’re gonna try something different:
next May we will have a Barcamp Brussels event.
WHAT IS A BARCAMP?
(photo by miss_rogue)
Barcamp was first organised in LA by Chris Messina and some buddies.
BarCamp is an ad-hoc un-conference born from the desire for people to share and learn in an open environment. It is an intense event with discussions, demos, and interaction from attendees.
It is not your regular conference:
- No spectators, only participants: Attendees must give a demo, a session, or help with one. All presentions are scheduled the day they happen. Prepare in advance, but come early to get a slot on the wall.
- No fixed agenda: talks, demos and topics are proposed by the attendees when they arrive on a central whiteboard.
Continue reading ‘Barcamp Brussels: May 2006′
Published on
March 17, 2006 in
Belgium and TV.
Small rant ahead:
One of Flanders’ fine actors, Peter Van Asbroeck, has let his hair grow. Way too long. And to make sure he doesn’t get any between his teeth, he has resorted to wearing a head band. Not a macho type of hair band – as far as that is possible – but the most sissy of hairbands: the stretching ‘diadem’ (we call them ‘diadeem’). For a guy that puts ‘Miami Vice’-like pictures on his website, takes pride in showing of his muscles – and as of more recently, his beer bulge – that is a surprising decision.
Continue reading ‘Guys and head bands’
Published on
March 17, 2006 in
TV and spam.
I wrote about the economics of spam earlier:
P$ = [N * (I% * S% * W% * B% * M$)] – (N * E$) – (L% * C% * R$)
where
P$ = profit, bottom-line
N = number of emails sent (can be millions!)
I% = % of addresses that are valid/correct
S% = % of addresses that are not intercepted by anti-spam software
W% = % of emails to cause the receiver to go visit the website
B% = % of site visitors that actually buy the product
M$ = margin per product sold
E$ = cost of sending 1 email
L% = risk of having legal action taken against you
C% = risk of getting convicted when you’re in court
R$ = average fine you would have to pay
What I often ask wonder about is the B%: people that actually buy the product. People actually order blue pills upon receiving emails like the one above? People believe they have been chosen to transfer millions of dollars out of some banana-republic?
Continue reading ‘Who knows a spam pigeon?’
Het kan aan mij liggen, maar ik denk dat er in aflevering 4 veel uit de kast gaan komen:
Mr Y: Guido, da is toch nen homo, he?
…
An: Hebde gulle da nooit meegemaakt dat iets nie kan of nie mag en dat ge het toch niet kunt laten?
…
Piet: Ik kan dat perfect uitleggen. Kom sebiet naar mijn kamer en ik zal u alles vertellen, ok?
Lucas: Binnen 5 minuten, ja?
Piet: En hou het tussen ons, he.
Nu wordt alles dus duidelijk: een driehoeksverhouding tussen Piet, Guido en Lucas. Maar An had ook iets met Guido, of misschien ook met Sofie? Zondag op uw beeldscherm!
(Wie is wie in “De Parelvissers”: check mijn geheugensteuntje)
Published on
March 16, 2006 in
music.
Russell Lichter writes the Monthly Mix Challenge blog: interesting monthly lists of songs on particular themes: e.g. titles with the word ‘hate’ in them or female drummers (that I mentioned earlier).
At the end of last year he listed songs with a title that contains a year (number). And it appears my birth year was most inspiring:
2. “Born in ‘69” Rocket From the Crypt (1995)
…
7. “Death Valley ‘69” Sonic Youth (1985)
…
13. “69 Année Erotique” Serge Gainsbourg (1969)
…
19. “1969” The Stooges (1969)
from russlichter.com
That is, without even counting Brian Adams’ “Summer of ‘69″, The Vines’ “1969″ or The Sisters Of Mercy’s “1969″.
However, I’m not sure whether Fat Boy Slim’s “Star 69″ was actually about the year.
“They know what is what,
But they don’t know what is what,
They just strut.
What the …”
Anyone who often works at home is probably familiar with this: sometimes you would like to work somewhere else to finish something undisturbed, to see some people while you work instead of just the PC and the refrigerator, to have a meeting in a pleasant location, to be in another environment. I often do some work at the Recyclart or the AB Café, and almost always I’m the only nomadic worker there. Both places are cosy and have free Wifi, but they’re not real offices: there is no printer, no meeting room, no water cooler. And since I don’t pay for the accommodation, I feel obliged to order stuff. When I’m hungry, that’s OK, when I’m not, drinking 3 coffees in a row transforms my ADD into ADHD .
I would be glad to pay something between €50 to 100 per month to have a place in Brussels where I can drop by anytime, get some work done (wifi, printer, fax, meeting room, beamer) and maybe have some stimulating conversation with other people present. So when I read about “BEING SPACES”, it really struck home:
(…) urban dwellers are trading their lonely, cramped living rooms for the real-life buzz of BEING SPACES: commercial living-room-like settings, where catering and entertainment aren’t just the main attraction, but are there to facilitate small office/living room activities like watching a movie, reading a book, meeting friends and colleagues, or doing your admin.
from trendwatching
Continue reading ‘REQ: more “BEING SPACES” in Brussels’
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