November 8, 2019

Skater sends payment request for prize money

Filed under: General,Sports by Orangemaster @ 5:06 pm

Tikkie is a Dutch app to send payment requests to friends and family, and surely foes as well. The Dutch Skaters’ Union (KNSB) – and by skaters we mean ice skating for marathons in this case – has recently decided to use Tikkie to send payment request for fines to their members who don’t obey their rules such as wearing the right clothing or not signing up for an event on time.

However, marathon skater Lisanne Buurman thought fair is fair and decided to send the KNSB a Tikkie for an undisclosed amount of prize money she had been owed for over ten months. Apparently, the prize money should have been paid within two months. The KNSB has since recognised that they messed up and plan to pay up, and it’s the Tikkie that made them take notice.

The KNSB sends out first-time fines of 10 euro, with the second fine being 25 euro. Tikkie is very convenient: ordinary folks go our for dinner, everybody orders, one person pays, and then instead of spending 30 minutes figuring out the bill (I’ve done that enough times), one person sends out a bunch of Tikkies to the rest and you’re all sorted.

There is a limit of 750 euro for Tikkies, and for something like prize money, a few Tikkies might have to be sent. Going Dutch has never been easier.

(Link: waarmaarraar.nl, Photo by Remko van Dokkum, some rights reserved)

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June 5, 2019

Police app helps people help the police

Filed under: Dutch first,Technology by Orangemaster @ 7:18 pm

Dutch police and Public Prosecution Service have launch an app, allowing civilians victims of theft to help the police with their investigation. It is currently being tested for two months in four police regions: Rotterdam, East Netherlands, Northern Netherlands and East Brabant.

Although there are apps that people can use like Find My Phone after a theft or using WhatsApp for neighbourhood watch, this is the first time Dutch police are letting civilians help them solve crimes. Another good reason to open this door is that many civilians take action themselves if they fall victim to a crime, which can hinder investigations. Then again, many people feel that the police is not doing anything when they don’t get the results they want, so using this app can keep them busy in a productive way.

It is important to note that this app is in no way meant for people doing the police’s work. A spokesperson for the police, Oscar Dros, said “We genuinely see it as a form of cooperation.”

(Link: iamexpat.nl, Photo by Facemepls, some rights reserved)

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February 11, 2019

Train app to find a seat in real time rolls out

Filed under: Dutch first,Technology by Orangemaster @ 10:19 am

For years, there’s been a Dutch Rail app called ‘NS reisplanner’ (‘NS travel planner’) that helps you sort out train travel. Soon enough, the app will also let you find an actual place to sit in the train, in real time.

After a successful trial that started last year in April, the ‘find a seat’ feature will be integrated into NS reisplanner, with specific trains gradually added, such as Utrecht-Nijmegen. The app uses a sensor per train carriage to see if there’s anywhere to sit and displays the information in the app using the colours green, orange and red. As of next year, the whole country should be covered, according to a spokesperson from Dutch Rail.

The app is available for both iPhone and Android in Dutch and in English.

(Links: rtvutrecht.nl, androidplanet.nl, Photo by Flickr user UggBoy hearts UggGirl, some rights reserved)

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November 13, 2018

Dutch designer launches app against knock-offs

Filed under: Design,Technology by Orangemaster @ 2:21 pm

Dutch furniture and interior design company Moooi has launched their own app, so that customers can verify the authenticity of the products they buy from the company. Moooi’s products all have a unique digital identity in the shape of a flower that customers can scan, which contains a wireless chip. Moooi has described it as “a tiny digital superhero that provides Moooi products with an authentic digital identity.”

Moooi launched the initiative as a way of helping their customers in the face of a growing number of counterfeits. At present, many companies stick holograms on their products, rely on customs control border forces to check or even using DNA spray. “But all these solutions are only really doable by people working at the border, so you’re not protecting average customers,” explained Jan Haarhuis, a specialist in customer experience at Moooi. The app is available for Android and iPhone.

(Link and photo: dezeen.com)

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May 24, 2018

Dutch app helps you sort your recycling

Filed under: Sustainability,Technology by Orangemaster @ 6:34 pm

On 23 May, Dutch company Sitio IT launched the free phone app EcoScan for Android and iOS that helps you figure out in what recycling bin you need to sort things you’re throwing out.

In the Netherlands, there are bins for paper, plastic, glass and a few more that makes life complicated, and every municipality seems to have different bins as well. And you don’t want to be that person who puts an old lamp bulb in with the glass and forces someone somewhere to ‘disinfect’ your mistake. Sitio IT claim that there are 10 to 15 different bins for things, and this prompted developer Rick Buiten to comp up with an app for doing the right thing easier.

By using a photo scan, EcoScan can even tell you that you’d better bring certain things to the thrift shop, as they are not meant for any bins. Although I very much like the idea, I’m going to assume it’s still being beta tested or I’m really bad at scanning, as I’ve just tried it plastic, paper and glass, and it didn’t recognised any of them. And it’s only available in Dutch, but it’s point and click.

(Link: bright.nl)

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December 18, 2017

Rotterdam launches app to report harassment

Filed under: Technology by Orangemaster @ 12:26 pm

Thanks to a new Dutch app called ‘Stop-App’, people will be able to report cat-calling, whistling, hissing (it’s a thing here) and threats of many kinds on the streets of Rotterdam. As of 1 January 2018, this kind of behaviour will be punishable by law with fines starting at 190 euro and running up to 4100 euro or three months in jail.

Like me, you’re probably wondering if this will work or have any effect – who knows. The city claims that it can effectively combat this bad behaviour if people report it. As well, Rotterdam will have special agents on the streets talking to offenders, with action only if warranted. It’s the Netherlands, everybody talks things out first.

The app will also need people who make reports to let it use their phone location, but if the situation is dangerous, calling emergency number 112 is still the right thing to do. According to research in Rotterdam, some 84% of women between 18 and 45 have been sexually intimidated, half of which is afraid to go to certain places at night. Only 5% of women report the harassment, and the goal of the app is to make it easier and increase this percentage.

(Link: rijnmond.nl, Photo by William Hook, some rights reserved)

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August 18, 2016

ResQ food waste app launches in Amsterdam

Filed under: Dutch first,Food & Drink,Technology by Orangemaster @ 7:56 am

Started up in Finland last year and already available in Sweden and Estonia, ResQ, a successful app that offers restaurants trying to sell cheap, leftover meals to hungry patrons is launching in Amsterdam this week. Other major Dutch cities such as The Hague and Utrecht are soon to follow this fall.

Research from Wageningen University claims the Netherlands throws out 51 million tonnes of food a year and that’s waste many groups would like to put a halt to. Available for iPhone and Android, ResQ will first aim at people who come from their work and want to eat something without too much fuss, like lasagna, sandwiches, salades, soups and baked goods, which are easy to sell fast rather than throw away.

In February a Dutch supermarket chain hired a chef to cook food that otherwise according to the law still had to be thrown out, but ResQ is sure to stop some of the waste.

(Link: ad.nl, Photo of an endive potato mash with meatless sausage by Jasja Dekker, some rights reserved)

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December 15, 2015

‘Cheat software’ is the Dutch word of the year 2015

Filed under: Automobiles,General,Technology by Orangemaster @ 10:40 am

Inspired by the Volkswagen emissions scandal, ‘sjoemelsoftware’ (‘cheat software’) was crowned Dutch word of the year 2015 today, with 48% of the votes. The definition is ‘software to positively influence the test results of a device, like software used in cars to make carbon dioxide emissions appear more favourable’. Since compound words work well in Dutch, the word ‘sjoemel’ can be coupled with a whole bunch of other words to imply something has been tampered with to defeat a device, a bit like a copper penny in the electricity meter.

Dutch kids have been creative this year, coming up with ‘Tinderellasyndroom’ (‘Tinderella syndrome’), with 34% of the votes for youth word of the year. The word means ‘young people who cannot flirt in real life and depend on mobile apps like Tinder’. What’s odd is that ‘Tinderella’ in English already was a woman found on Tinder presumably by a man, while the Cinderella complex defines an unconscious desire for women to be taken care of by others, usually men. ‘Tinderellasyndroom’ would appear to imply that boys can’t flirt, if we assume that boys usually initiate flirting online in the heterosexual sphere. I would read this new word as mainly boys looking for passive, willing women on Tinder-like apps instead of in real life.

(Link: www.nu.nl)

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November 11, 2015

Boffins launch app for Dutch regional accents

Filed under: General by Orangemaster @ 11:36 am
fries1

On 2 December the Nederlandse Organisatie voor Wetenschappelijk Onderzoek (NWO) together with science-oriented Dutch public-service broadcaster NTR will be launching the ‘Sprekend Nederland’ app that analyses groups of speakers and what they think of each other. Are some variants taking over or in fact disappearing? A lot of data has to be collected to be able to draw conclusions and Dutch speakers can contribute, including ‘ethnic varieties’ because even ethnic groups speak different types of Dutch depending on where they live.

The app needs to be installed on a smartphone so you can record a few sentences and contribute. Researchers point out that it would be nice if the kids made sure their grandparents joined in as well, a group that’s a bit less tech-savvy than most. And what about getting Dutch-speaking foreigners like myself? I wonder if I can join or if it’s for card-carrying Dutch people only. I’ve asked.

UPDATE: Anybody who speaks Dutch can contribute, ‘even with a different background’.

‘Patat’ or ‘friet’? They both mean ‘fries’, but people use one or the other depending on where they live. The research here is not about dialects, but about ‘regionally different versions of Dutch’. The scientists and app builders from Amsterdam, Utrecht and Nijmegen had never sought to analyse the diversity of Dutch on such a large scale before. They wanted to build an app that was scientific, but also appealed to the mainstream. The boffins also want to create a Flemish version, but that’s not in the cards yet.

(Links: www.nwo.nl, www.kennislink.nl)

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September 21, 2015

Cancer patient dies building app for fellow patients

Filed under: Health,Science by Orangemaster @ 1:07 pm
consult

Dutchman Frederik van den Broek who died last month of cancer was key in helping neurologists build MindApp, being dubbed as the world’s most advanced mobile-based app for cancer patients.

Available for Android and iPhone, MindApp will help users track and update appointments, manage their doctors and the quantities of pills they need to take, and much more.

Van den Broek said that he had received a printout from the hospital of all the appointments, medicine and information, but then lost the printout within an hour. “These things happen when you’ve lost a large part of your brain and your short-term memory has gone to pieces,” he explained.

According to neurologist Jaap Reijneveld of the Free University Medical Centre (VUMC) in Amsterdam involved in building the app, patients have a massively complicated treatment schedule, and this app will help them remember things and give constant feedback to doctors on the patient’s condition.

Find out more about what Van den Broek started MindApp in this video.

(Link: phys.org)

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