October 31, 2016

Phone insurance company insults local hero

Filed under: General,Technology by Orangemaster @ 1:21 pm

The Netherlands has a lot of water near roads, and cars regularly fall into the water, something that is a fact of life.

In Barendrecht three weeks ago Raymond Heijboer jumped into the water to save a woman from drowning in a sinking car, which he did, and all was well.

However, being the hero that he was, he jumped in the water with his ‘insured’ iPhone, which got ruined and the insurance company didn’t want to give him a new phone because he “willingly” jumped into the water.

With what I’m sure was a ‘screw this’ feeling he got from the insurer, his luck turned and a radio show called him up early one morning at home and decided to give him a brand new water-resistant iPhone 7 live on the air. Of course it was a stunt, but it was a good move.

Having heard about the radio folks giving Heijboer a free phone, the insurer called Heijboer up and tried to offer him something as well. The insurer offered to pay Heijboer “for the value of his iPhone on the day of the incident”, which didn’t exactly make the hero very happy, especially after receiving a new and better phone from total strangers. In a letter, the insurer tried to make it sound like they cared, but offering a new deal after the radio stunt makes them look a bit pathetic.

In fact, it would have almost been better for the insurer not to change their stance instead of doing pseudo damage control after being nailed on Dutch radio. And giving the guy a free phone in the first place would have done wonders for their reputation, but apparently they were too busy counting their money and having no heart to care.

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

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October 28, 2016

Cute mushrooms from the woods near Amersfoort

Filed under: Nature,Photography by Orangemaster @ 9:18 am

Shiitake

Spotted during an autumn fall hike at the Treekerpunt nature area south of Amersfoort, Astrid Hinderks photographed these small mushrooms hiding inside an old tree, and they’re really cute!

Sometimes mushrooms are just mushrooms, not drugs in the Netherlands. We make ‘cheese’ out of them and there’s weird mushrooms that pop up in the woods.

(Link: www.treehugger.com, Photo of shiitake mushrooms by pjah73, some rights reserved)

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October 27, 2016

Dutch company designs world’s fastest submersible

Filed under: Design by Orangemaster @ 11:31 pm

Submarine

Dutch company Ortega has designed the MK.1C, a three-seater electric submarine for divers, and claim it is the fastest of its kind in the world. It was also designed without a cover, as the submersible’s target market is marine biologists, underwater archaeologists and special forces who need to bail quickly, albeit underwater.

Powered by two high-power, electric motors and built for both over and under water activity, fully equipped with a trimming tank, on-board breathing apparatus and HUD navigation system, each vessel can also have magnetometers, sonar, FLIR, extra air supply or an extended cargo hold of up to 250 litres; all on-board equipment supports dive depths of up to 95 metres

Four giant batteries power the vessel, a brand called ‘Hancell’ made by Ortega exclusively for their submersible, which are carefully monitored and charged when needed. And yes, it’s all very Thunderball.

(Link: www.dezeen.com, Photo: screenshot Ortega)

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October 26, 2016

Dutch firm unveils new clear air filter

Filed under: Dutch first,Sustainability by Orangemaster @ 6:30 am

At the two-day Offshore Energy 2016 Exhibition & Conference in Amsterdam this week, the Dutch Envinity Group from Den Helder, North Holland unveiled what they called “the world’s first giant outside air vacuum cleaner”, a large purifying system intended to filter out toxic fine particles from the atmosphere around the machine.

The system is said to be able to suck in air from a 300-metre radius and from up to seven kilometres upwards. It can treat about 800,000 cubic metres of air an hour, filtering out 100 percent of fine particles and 95 percent percent of ultra-fine particles, the company said, referring to tests carried out by the Energy Research Centre of the Netherlands (ECN) on its prototype.

Fine particles are caused by burning wood and other fuels as well as industrial combustion, adversely affecting our health, according to the European Environment Agency. As well, about 90 percent of EU residents are exposed to levels of such particles, which can cause cancer.

On a much smaller scale, there’s also the smaller air-purifying system called the ‘Smog Free Tower’ that was installed in Beijing last month by Dutch artist Daan Roosegaarde.

(Link: phys.org, Photo of a particulate polluted Shanghai sky by Wikimedia Commons user Saperaud, some rights reserved)

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October 24, 2016

Dutch TV show clones dog to make a point

Filed under: Animals,Science by Orangemaster @ 9:47 pm

Dutch television station BNN, known for its edgier shows aimed at a younger segment of the population, is currently prepping a show that features cloned animals.

A bulldog in the Netherlands has been cloned, 12-year-old bulldog Joep from Rotterdam, by South Korean company Sooam Biotech. The cloning cost the broadcaster 50,000 euro, and a quick Internet scan tells us that an article on American site Refinery 29 mentioned 100,000 USD, which is about 91,000 euro, but the owner in question ended up with two clones of their dog. If you also include travel expenses in their case, it’s easily a lot more.

However, this was the first time ever a Dutch house pet was cloned. Cloning is prohibited in the Netherlands, but importing a cloned animal is perfectly legal. And the idea is to spark some debate. And what about abandoned dogs that need a good home and all that.

A lot of people were interested in cloning their dog for the show; I’m sure a lot of cat owners as well.

The owner of Joep the bulldog who has died, are apparently happy with their cloned dog that they got for free I imagine. “It’s not just the physical characteristics that are basically identical”, the couple said to De Telegraaf newspaper. “Daily we are amazed by the behaviour and character that are so similar to our old dog. That is unbelievable.”

(Link: nltimes)

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October 20, 2016

Netherlands’ first ever vegan supermarket opens

Filed under: Dutch first,Food & Drink by Orangemaster @ 2:02 pm

chickpeas

All the big European cities have them, but for some reason the Netherlands has been very late to get with the program on this one, as the country’ first vegan supermarket opens today.

The honour goes to Groningen, that ‘way up North’ city full of bike paths and students, who are most probably the target market of the store located on Nieuwe Ebbingestraat in what used to be a former post office.

In fact, it’s mostly female students who are setting the trend in vegan food shopping according to employee Benny Lobo of the Vegan Super.

(Link: www.rtvnoord.nl, Photo of Chick peas by abrunvoll, some rights reserved)

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October 19, 2016

Man caught for trying to sell fake Van Gogh

Filed under: Art by Orangemaster @ 9:04 pm

van-gogh-harvest-detail

A man from Wanneperveen, Overijssel has been sentenced to nine months in jail with three months suspended sentence for trying to sell a painting by Vincent van Gogh using a collection of fake documents. He was trying to sell a preparatory sketch of the painting ‘The Harvest’ (close up shown here) for 15 million euro.

Someone who found out about the sale had the idea something was off and called the police. The man apparently had many dubious small companies in his name and already a bit of a bad reputation.

(Link: www.crimesite.nl, Image: extreme close-up of The Harvest via Van Gogh Museum)

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October 14, 2016

Diffuser alerts Internet uses to data leaks

Filed under: Design,Gadgets by Orangemaster @ 7:00 am
866268072_644bac8d7c

Graphic artists Leanne Wijnsma and filmmaker Froukje Tan have created a product called ‘The Smell of Data’, a ‘grenade-shaped scent diffuser’ designed to alert Internet users of data leaks from their smartphones, tablets and computers. After all my recent reading on data security by Edward Snowden and Jacob Appelbaum (did you know he’s studying in Eindhoven?), you’d think a diffuser like that would be on almost constantly. Since most people don’t experience the consequences of a data leak, they don’t really care until something goes terribly wrong and by then it’s too late, a bit like carbon monoxide.

Wijnsma and Tan researched the human response to gas leaks, inspired by a 1937 explosion in Texas caused by an unnoticed gas leak. The incident prompted the government to artificially add an odorant to odourless gases (tert-Butylthiol, which smells like rotten eggs), making them more easily detectable. Carbon monoxide, also know as the ‘silent killer’, is a byproduct of combustion by stoves or heating not working properly in a home and is odourless, which makes you feel grateful for the smell of rotten eggs keeping you safe.

Launched in September 2016 at the Science Museum in London, The Smell of Data is meant to give people the same reaction as smelling a gas leak, hoping that people will finally take it seriously. Watch the video:

(Link: www.dezeen.com, Photo of grenade by macspite, some rights reserved)

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October 13, 2016

Belgian beer has world premiere on tap in Utrecht

Filed under: Dutch first,Food & Drink by Orangemaster @ 12:49 pm

According to Johan Schmit, owner of Olivier’s cafe in Utrecht, his venue has the world premiere of selling Belgium’s strong Duvel beer on tap. Duvel needs extremely high pressure carbon dioxide on a tap to be served properly, something a normal tap cannot handle. And to be able to do so, the Duvel Moortgat brewery developed a new tap that Olivier has had the honour of trying out.

It could work or it could also not work, which is why no marketing has been done so far. And maybe fans will still want to drink it out of the bottle, who knows.

The beer in the picture is probably ordinary Dutch beer.

(Link: nieuws)

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October 12, 2016

Trump and Clinton duet parody goes viral

Filed under: Film,General by Orangemaster @ 7:16 am

Screen shot 2016-10-12 at 7.05.12 AM

LuckyTV.nl, which produces funny segments for Dutch television show ‘De Wereld Draait Door’, has had their mash up of the latest American presidential candidate debate go viral. Sander van de Pavert is the brains behind the operation and until now, mostly known within the Netherlands.

I avoided watching the actual debate and read the fallout, but having a laugh at the idea of Trump and Clinton singing a duet is a nice change from the violence of the entire entreprise. Van de Pavert doesn’t just put an entire new sound on top of a video, he lets any sounds that match what he’s going for permeate, which makes his work recognisable. He wasn’t thrilled with this one, but at least his point is well made, which is more than we can say for either candidate.

(Link: dutchnews, Screenshot: LuckyTV.nl)

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