August 8, 2012

DJ Tiësto still on top, money-wise

Filed under: Music by Orangemaster @ 12:42 pm

According to Forbes.com, Dutch DJ Tiësto (aka Tijs Verwest, if you knew him from his home town of Breda), is the world’s best paid DJ at 22 million USD. The number 9 spot is taken up by another Dutchman, DJ Afrojack, with a mere 9 million USD. He’s the one that apparently ‘taught’ Paris Hilton how to DJ, but then that happens when you date a DJ like him.

And surprise surprise, there are no women on the list.

And to rub that fact in, a reality talent show entitled Beauty and the Beat wants to teach poor women DJs the ropes in just one style of music, house, some time next February. Imagine having real talent and showing the world you can crank out DJs like Afrojack can teach Paris Hilton. The promotional video asks, “Do you have the looks, the skills and the drive?” in that order. It all sounds so condescending, so we’ll keep you updated.

(Link: www.ibtimes.com, Photo of DJ Tiësto by PauliD, some rights reserved)

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August 7, 2012

Dutch mussels get a Belgian Quality label

Filed under: Food & Drink by Orangemaster @ 11:20 am

Since Belgian products are often associated with a certain culinary image, Dutch shellfish company Roem from Yerseke, Zealand has introduced a label called “Belgian Quality” onto the Dutch market. Basically, this means the mussels contain big ‘fish mass’, as that’s what I imagine Belgian restaurants like to serve to their customers and is what I remember eating there.

Roem, the biggest mussel supplier in Europe, of which about 70% of their product is sold in Belgium, is sure that just like Belgian beer and pralines, the Dutch will buy Dutch mussels with a Belgian Quality label. However, there’s nothing Belgian about the mussels at all — it’s a Dutch product that’s been given an image upgrade.

When the Dutch go on about ‘Hollandse producten’ (roughly more traditional Dutch products), it has more of a comfort food factor, like ‘hagelslag’ (sprinkles), ‘drop’ (liquorice sweets) and cheese, rather than a fancy quality to it. When Dutch food companies use the word ‘luxe’ (fancy), it’s maybe fancy for the Dutch, but not at all for foreigners. Pre-cooked bread package with 3 different kinds of seeds on top for about 2 euro a bag is not much of a luxury, but it is the way certain foods are sold to the Dutch.

(Link: www.knack.be, Photo of Mussels by HarlanH, some rights reserved)

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August 2, 2012

Gay Pride canal parade to feature Turkish boat

Filed under: Dutch first by Orangemaster @ 11:33 am

For the first time, Amsterdam’s Gay Pride canal parade will feature a Dutch-Turkish boat that fits 80 people. However, the organisers say that it’s mostly gay Turkish men on the boat and that they have few lesbians. “Many women are still afraid of coming out of the closet although many of them simply don’t have an affinity with the whole Gay Pride thing,” explains one of the female organisers.

They could already be full, but the Dutch film in the link says they could use 10 more lesbians. The whole point of the boat is to show that having a Turkish background and being gay goes together in a positive way. And even though they didn’t get any entrepreneurs to sponsor the boat, they’ve only had positive responses, as “emancipation takes time”.

(Link: www.lokum.nl, Photo of Gay flag by sigmaration, some rights reserved)

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August 1, 2012

Vampire stars suck the life out of bright stars

Filed under: Science by Orangemaster @ 10:58 am

Hugues Sana of the University of Amsterdam explains that the brightest stars in the universe are getting the life sucked out of them by vampire stars, also called O stars. According to researchers, a third of the vampire-victim pairs are eventually expected to merge and become one.

“These stars are absolute behemoths,” said Sana, lead author of this study. “They have 15 or more times the mass of our Sun and can be up to a million times brighter. These stars are so hot that they shine with a brilliant blue-white light and have surface temperatures over 54,000 degrees Fahrenheit.”

(Link: www.theregister.co.uk)

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July 31, 2012

Civ Orbis, Amsterdam in 1572, wins prize

Filed under: Technology by Orangemaster @ 9:00 pm

Civ Orbis, a Dutch mobile phone app, has won ‘Best App from a Satellite Location’ at the iOSDevCamp 2012 (scroll down for Civ Orbis), which was held in Amsterdam from 20 to 22 July 2012.

Civis Orbis allows the user to experience the cities of Europe as they existed in the 16th century. Using maps from the Civitates orbis terrarium, you can explore and learn about Amsterdam, Cologne, and Bruges, with more cities on the way. As you visit each landmark in the cities and learn interesting historical facts, you be able to check in, share the experience with your friends, and see what others have posted. You also be able to select tours tailored to your interests in each city.

And yes, it is available for iPhone (iOS) and Android.

“We wrote this app from scratch in less than 48 hours,” explains Nelson Ferraz of the Civ Orbis Team.

(Link: appsterdam.rs)

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July 27, 2012

Amsterdam’s sewers are full of hard drugs

Filed under: General,Science by Orangemaster @ 8:54 am

Test the sewer waters in a city and scientists will tell you about your city, a bit like reading tea leaves, but a lot more accurate. Apparently, Amsterdam’s sewer water is full of cocaine and XTC, as scientists tested the water of 19 European cities. There is also a lot of cannabis floating around, but come weekend, ‘coke’ and XTC take over as the dominant hard drugs of choice, both also very popular in Antwerp, Belgium. In Scandinavian cities they’re more into speed.

Measuring sewage samples is said to be produce more reliable data about drug use than surveys, where people often provide sociably acceptable answers.

“What about countries like Amsterdam?” An American sheriff who obviously failed geography claims he was “crossing over bodies lying in the street” when he visited Amsterdam. I bet he was saying that to entertain the posse behind him. Tip: the War on Drugs is a complete wash. Both sides kinda come off silly in this video, although the sheriff takes the space cake.

(Links: www.at5.nl, nos.nl, Photo: DEA)

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July 26, 2012

Dyslexic boys sail off just to get a normal education

Filed under: Weird by Orangemaster @ 12:20 pm

Two brothers, Enrique (15) and Hugo (13), both said to be highly intelligent and very dyslexic, have been denied education for more than a year (two years for Enrique) because local schools are unable to provide them with a suitable, adapted education. However, they are required to go to school until the age of 18, and home schooling is forbidden in the Netherlands, so staying home is illegal, but no school will have them. According to television show EenVandaag, some 16,000 children (!) are not attending school because there’s no adapted education for them, something the government keeps cutting down on.

Their mom explains that they had to work hard to read as good as the rest of the class in secondary school, but they couldn’t take proper notes, even legible ones. However, they understand better than the rest everything they are being taught and are being held back because they are dyslexic.

Remember Laura Dekker, the sailor girl who was allowed to circumnavigate the globe for a year? Well, she was allowed adapted education from the World School, so the brothers are going to do the same thing to force the government to give them an education. They are going to pull a ‘Laura Dekker’: they’re going to sail for a year and do their homework. Oh, and they are totally going to hit up children rights’ groups abroad to plead their cause and point fingers at the Ministry of Education. Their dad is a sailor and will follow them around by boat as well as help with their homework.

(Link: www.eenvandaag.nl, Photo of a sailboat by the US Navy)

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July 25, 2012

Bicycle with telephone, low-tech 1980s style

Filed under: Bicycles,Gadgets,Weird by Orangemaster @ 8:44 pm

The man on the bike, Chriet Titulaer, who people made fun of because he looked like a Mormon — I just think he looks way out there, him being an astronomer and all, explains to us that some people needed phones on their bikes back in the 1980s.

“People who want to cycle for sports or health reasons to their work, but are managers (men, right?) would need to be available.” Dude, what about people in their cars, in the train or on the bus at the time? You couldn’t reach any of them, either, managers or burger flippers.

It could be comedy. Is this comedy? I think it is.

Titulaer can’t even bike and answer the phone without toppling over. I can’t even imagine someone hanging up properly while cycling. It makes me almost want to try it.

“The phone can be charged with the alternator when the battery is running low.” How much dial time does that get me is all my 2012 brain can think about. You’d almost have to cycle to charge up your phone, hoping nobody calls you in the mean time. Hilarious.

He continues, as if he were talking sense:

“It’s not sure this will be come onto the market, but if it does, we’ll need 200 volunteers for six months who can use it for free”. And he asks people to send a letter if they’re interested – not call.

Lucky us, we get to see the prototype on this show De Wonder Wereld (The Wonder World).

(Link: trendbeheer.com)

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July 24, 2012

War on Fun to choke Amsterdam’s famous fry stand

Filed under: Food & Drink by Orangemaster @ 11:31 am
fries1

Another blow to downtown Amsterdam, part of the War on Fun or ‘cleaning up the city because we want to do that Unesco thing like Bruges in Belgium did’, the city is pressuring a famous local fry stand to close down for reasons unknown.

Homemade fries Vleminckx anno 1887 on the Voetboogstraat will no longer be given its permit to sell on the street because Amsterdam wants to get rid of places that sell to people queueing on the street. To be able to get another type of permit, the counter would have to be moved 80 cm indoors in a space that is a tight 10,5 m to start off with, install a door and other things that make little sense.

Yes, it closes at 6 pm on weekdays and 5:30 pm on weekends, yes you often have to queue, but shutting this place down in such a manner is a total shame. This place is tasty and famous. I say go and get yourself some fries at least one more time while you still can.

(Link: www.parool.nl, The fries depicted here are from Brussels with andalouse sauce)

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July 20, 2012

Dutch bike-sharing systems poorly suited to tourists

Filed under: Bicycles by Orangemaster @ 11:02 am
velib1

A survey of European rental bike systems by ADAC, Germany’s biggest automobile club, has placed Amsterdam, Utrecht and The Hague’s bicycle and rental systems at the very bottom of their ranking of European bicycle-sharing systems (in Dutch, ‘OV-fiets’). Information is only available in Dutch, you can’t rent a bicycle without registering first through a website, and bicycles have no suspension or gears. (Pssst: there’s no mobile app for the rental, either).

The ADAC looked at the sharing systems from the point of view of tourists. Funny enough, last year, a study by the Dutch cyclists union Fietsersbond showed that 96% of Dutch users are very satisfied and would recommend the bikes to others. Others must mean friends and family, not tourists.

Are these bike even intended for tourists or just locals? Everything else aimed at tourists in Amsterdam is in several languages, what’s up with this? Weak points of Amsterdam’s system included not being able to talk to a real person, places having different opening hours, only being able to register and pay online, and other things that give me a headache just reading. No wonder tourists rent bikes elsewhere!

Europe’s top system is in Lyon (Paris’ vélib shown here, also highly rated).

(Link: www.nieuwsuitamsterdam.nl)

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