August 24, 2013

Diederik Stapel for hire as a chauffeur

Filed under: General by Branko Collin @ 5:01 pm

The Netherlands’ favourite scientific fraudster, Diederik Stapel, is at it again.

The former psychology professor, whose name ironically also means ‘crazy’, has started offering zinritten, ‘mind rides’. He explains on his website:

Always on the move, from A to B, hurried, no time for reflection, for distance, for perspective. […] Diederik offers himself as your driver and conversation partner who won’t just get you from A to B, but who would also like to add meaning and disruption to your travel time. He will […] listen to what you have to say or talk to you about what fascinates, surprises or angers you. [Slightly paraphrased for brevity—Branko]

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August 23, 2013

Wolves return to the Netherlands

Filed under: Animals by Branko Collin @ 12:45 pm

When a dead wolf was found in Flevoland last July, it was originally thought that pranksters had planted it there. Wolves hadn’t been spotted in the Netherlands since 1897.

Now there are indications that it may have gotten into the country on its own power. Earth Island Journal writes:

The female wolf was about one and a half years old and appeared to be in good health, the coalition said in a statement (the statement is in Dutch). It said the body showed no signs of having been transported to the Netherlands post mortem. The body didn’t show any signs of having been frozen and there were no traces of wear on the fur, soles and nails that would indicate captivity, the researchers said.

Dutchnews adds:

In addition, possible wolf pellets have been found in a wood on the Noordoost polder, close to where the body was found, they said. […] The pellets contained traces of deer and fox. Scientists had said earlier the wolf’s last meal appeared to be a beaver. ‘These are all animals found within 50 kilometres of where the wolf and the pellets were found,’ the researchers said.

Thanks Fred Yoder for the tip!

(Photo of European wolves by Gunnar Ries, some rights reserved)

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August 22, 2013

Creative camping in fancy design objects

Filed under: Design,Nature by Orangemaster @ 10:47 am

From 16 August to 30 September visitors can stay in one of the ‘creative shelters’ created by contemporary industrial designers. Each of the 15 mobile units on the campground are equipped with a comfortable bed and some of them have a bit more space that doubles as a small living space. The accommodation shown here is ‘Polaris’ designed by Boris Duijnevel of MUD projects.

Prices range from 20 to 80 euro a night, depending on the accommodation, and in the Story Caravan designed by Nancy Wiltink, she’ll throw in a bedtime story for an extra 55 euro between 10-11 pm that is either romantic or filled with horror so you will ‘sleep poor’, most probably no pun intended, just bad English (it should be ‘poorly’, Dutch adjectives and adverbs are often written the same way).

In addition, urban campsite offers guests a zone for campfires, hammocks to relax, a wood-fired sauna, and a picnic spot in front of each installation. the site also provides the visitors with general amenities — a restaurant, a well-stocked shop, laundry and a shower. the creative expression stop stop at the art objects: temporary photo exhibitions will be shown on the grounds, one of the fields will be arranged as a sculpture garden, and the terrain’s decoration will be changed regularly.

(Link: www.designboom.com, Photo of Polaris by MUD projects)

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August 21, 2013

Experts deem Second Coen Tunnel dangerous and even deadly

Filed under: Architecture,Automobiles by Orangemaster @ 1:07 pm

The Coen (pronounced ‘coon’) Tunnel which runs under the North Sea Canal in Amsterdam built in 1966 is currently being fully renovated, a project that should run until 2014. The Second Coen Tunnel (that’s its name) was built from 2009-2013 and has me worried as a passenger when I go through it. I thought it was just me that felt claustrophobic in that tunnel as compared to the first one (shown here), but apparently traffic psychologists aren’t fans of the very narrow tunnel either, calling it names like “crash tunnel” and “death tunnel”.

Since its opening in mid May, there have been 55 accidents in the Second Coen Tunnel (65 according to other sources), which is either way much more than the average of four accidents a week in the first Coen Tunnel. The experts say they are too many red lights (red lights are used to indicate the right-hand side of the road, while white is for the left-hand side), which look like brake lights, no possible place to stop like in the first tunnel and it is very narrow.

First Coen Tunnel (gets full screen near 0:25), with some hip hop music:

Second Coen Tunnel, straight up, no music:

(Link: www.kennislink.nl, Photo of Coen Tunnel by Erik Tjallinks, some rights reserved)

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August 20, 2013

Sotheby’s knowingly sells stolen Dutch work

Filed under: Art by Orangemaster @ 3:40 pm

A work by Dutch artist Jan Schoonhoven stolen from the Museum van Bommel van Dam in Venlo last March was auctioned off by London auction house Sotheby’s in what the Dutch media has called the ‘gaffe of the century’.

Sotheby’s auctioned a white relief made from papier-maché and latex paint for close to 214, 000 euro despite a warning from the Art Loss Register, a London databank of stolen artwork.

And if that isn’t sloppy enough, the Sotheby’s catalogue had the work printed under a false name and the picture of the work was rotated 90 degrees. Two art traders, one British and one Dutch, recognised the stolen work, pointed it out, and only then did Sotheby’s decide to inform the police.

(Link: www.nieuws.nl)

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August 19, 2013

Dutch banks rush mobile payments system into production

Filed under: General by Branko Collin @ 1:06 pm

The three major Dutch banks—ING, ABN Amro and Rabobank—are set to introduce ‘mobile payments’ to unsuspecting consumers in two weeks, Volkskrant reports.

To use the system consumers must have an NFC-capable mobile phone. The banks hope that by introducing this new payment method they get to be the gatekeepers that determine the price tag.

It is not clear from the article which stores will accept mobile payments. The paper mentions a trial period in Leiden. Spokesperson Margo van Wijgerden of Mobiel Betalen in Leiden tries to maximize the confusion by saying: “It is not a trial. There will be an evaluation, but mobile payments will continue after the initial phase.”
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August 18, 2013

Unclaimed public transport deposits a ‘goldmine’ for operators

Filed under: General by Branko Collin @ 4:23 pm

Telegraaf reports that public transport operators are making megabucks off of passengers that forget to swipe their public transport card (OV Chipkaart) when checking out.

The paper calls the thirty million euro that the companies pocket ‘a goldmine’. The OV Chipkaart system (basically a single-purpose electronic wallet) deducts a deposit when you check in and returns that money when you check out. That deposit is 4 euro for bus, subway and tram and ten euro for rail—twenty if you travel using an ‘anonymous’ card. According to Telegraaf, forgetting to check out happens approximately once every 100 trips.

The news follows hot on the revelation that the transport card seems to have led to considerable price hikes. RTL Nieuws reported two weeks ago that since the introduction of the card, fares have risen by as much as 48% (The Hague). Cities like Amsterdam and Groningen follow with rises of 38% and 20% respectively. For comparison, inflation in the Netherlands was around 4% during that period.

In July Dutchnews reported that rail users’ association Rover and travellers’ association ANWB had started a probe to find out exactly how much money passengers lose because of forfeiting their deposit. The results are expected in the autumn. Telegraaf does not say where it got its information, but instead cites ‘reliable sources’.

See also:

(Photo of public transport companies getting an ‘award’ for being the worst privacy offenders of 2010 by Sebastiaan ter Burg, some rights reserved)

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August 17, 2013

Solar car from Eindhoven rated street legal

Filed under: Automobiles,Sustainability by Branko Collin @ 10:05 pm

A team of students from the Eindhoven University of Technology has created a solar powered family car that is street legal, Telegraaf reported last Tuesday.

The car called Stella was created by Solar Team Eindhoven in a bid to win the Cruiser Class of the World Solar Challenge in Australia this October. Stella is 4.5 metres long, 1.65 metres wide and seats four. It can go 430 kilometres on a single charge. The solar panel has only got an efficiency rating of 22%. Spokesperson Wouter van Loon told Bright last month that this was a conscious decision: “We could have opted for a space-grade panel, but this way we keep the car affordable.”

The car’s top speed is only 120 km/h because the special low-friction tires cannot handle more. In the past teams of the universities of Twente and Delft also participated in the World Solar Challenge. Delft’s car Nuna, shown here, won the race 4 times out of the 7 it entered, and in 2011 it finished second after Japan’s Tokai Challenger.

(Photo of Nuna5 by Nuon Solar Team, some rights reserved)

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August 16, 2013

Fax machine dies and pony crusher rides again

Filed under: Animals,Weird by Orangemaster @ 11:18 am

We found the slowest summer news item of 2013: ‘The town of Uitgeest [North Holland] is ‘limiting’ its communication with citizens’, the Dutch title reads. What gives? The town hall of Uitgeest has cancelled its fax number after an employee discovered that the fax machine had broken down last month. Since many people don’t use faxes anymore and the town can’t be bothered to buy a new fax machine if even possible, faxing time is over in Uitgeest.

Amusingly enough I talked to a reporter from RTV Noord Holland about this and asked him why they thought this was newsworthy. He laughed and told me that the guy who wrote the story lives in Uitgeest. Then I talked to him about some news they broke this summer about a woman (a firefighter no less) making disturbing videos sitting on ponies to crush them. Apparently, she’s back horseback riding after having spent some time in jail. She claimed to have made the films for money during a bad patch.

The Dutch word ‘ponypletter’ (‘pony crusher’) and ‘ponyplet’ (to pony crush’) was coined by my source and could possibly be on the list for a Dutch word award despite its connotation.

(Link: www.rtvnh.nl, Photo of Dead fax machine by shalf, some rights reserved)

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August 14, 2013

The Netherlands is Europe’s top porn peddler

Filed under: Film,IT,Online by Orangemaster @ 4:18 pm

While big European countries like France (0.78%, population 63 million), Germany (1%, population 81 million) and the UK (7%, population 63 million over four countries) host very few porno sites, the Netherlands comes in second place of the world’s Top 10 porn hosting countries, with a whopping 26% of all pages in the world. The Netherlands is only second to the United States where 60% of all pornography is hosted, a country that produces some 66% of all porn in the world, made mostly in California.

Top 10:
1. The US (60%)
2. The Netherlands (26%)
3. The UK (7%)
4. Germany (1%)
5. France (0.78%)
6. and 7. Australia and Canada (0.3%)
8. Japan (0.27%)
9. and 10. British Virgins Islands and Czech Republic (0.21%)

The Netherlands is also way in front of other European countries when counting the number of adult-only domain names registrations, with nearly two million domains for porn. The AMSIX, the Amsterdam Internet Exchange, is the world’s largest data transport hub in the world, accounting for some 10% of the world’s Internet traffic. That, and the proven cliché of the Dutch being all liberal with sex, probably makes for an acceptable explanation of its porn-pushing status.

(Links: www.emerce.nl/, www.ibtimes.co.uk, Photo by Mephisto, some rights reserved, based on a photo by Daniel Mayara)

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