November 17, 2017

Afsluitdijk lights up thanks to multiple art projects

Filed under: Architecture,Design by Orangemaster @ 3:45 pm

afsluitdijk

For many of us who have driven the 32-kilometre-long Afsluitdijk from North Holland and Friesland (or the other way around), it’s a short cut with a great view of the water and sheep. However, historically, the Afsluitdijk is a key part of the country’s world-famous sea defences, as well as a major Dutch accomplishment.

Yesterday, Dutch artists unveiled a design and light show to highlight this feat of engineering, called ‘Icoon Afsluitdijk’ (‘Icon Afsluitdijk’), which shines at night “to enhance and safeguard the dyke’s rich heritage and anchor its position in the world as a Dutch water engineering and design icon,” according to its creators.

The project consists of a number of art installations, of which the last one is called ‘Gates of Light’, created by Daan Roosegaarde and his team. They applied a reflective layer to the Afsluitdijk’s 60 floodgates, which allows the concrete gates to brightly light up at night in the retro style of the 1930s, when the dyke was first built by hand.

The Dutch have lit other important landmarks up, such as the Kinderdijk, UNESCO World Heritage Site, with colours matching the Dutch flag.

(Links and images: phys.org, lc.nl)

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October 11, 2017

4DX technology hits theatres in December

Filed under: Film,Technology by Orangemaster @ 1:13 pm

As of December, cinema theatres Pathé De Munt in Amsterdam and Pathé De Kuip in Rotterdam will open their first ever 4D cinema theatres, which include moving chairs, weather simulations like wind, and odours.

The 4DX technology that will be used adds 20 elements to films. Besides motion, weathers and smells, chairs can also move up and down, backwards and forwards, even left and right to get a feel for flying or diving, not unlike a rollercoaster ride, but more like a heavy duty video game.

Of course, you’ll have to pay extra for the fun, and although it hasn’t been determined yet, French cinemas that already offer the service charge an additional 6 euro, to give you an idea. The 4DX cinemas will only have about 150 seats available, with four seats next to each other, and will also have special seats for people with limited mobility.

(Link: bright.nl, tallfoot, some rights reserved)

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September 16, 2017

Polaroid cameras now made in Enschede

Filed under: Photography by Orangemaster @ 3:46 pm

Polaroid-flickr

In 2011 we told you about the the Impossible Project producing Polaroid film after buying up the old Polaroid factory in Enschede, Overijssel, and now they’re making cameras, called the OneStep 2.

The original OneStep came out in 1977 (my family had one), and although the new one looks a lot like it, it does feature a few improvements. The viewer is better and lights can tell you how many pictures you’ve taken. Every pack of film, which costs 16 euro, can produce eight photographs, whether they are black-and-white or colour. The OneStep 2 also uses a new type of film that has been optimised and cannot be used with the original OneStep.

You can buy a OneStep 2 in white or black for 119 euro, although you’ll have to wait for the release date of 16 October according to the website.

(Link: www.bright.nl)

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July 24, 2017

Dutch drone used in Game of Thrones

Filed under: Film,Technology by Orangemaster @ 3:56 pm

Back in 2014, we expanded on the Dutch actors in the television series Games of Thrones, and now in a friendly game of ‘Zoek de Nederlander’ (‘Find the Dutch person’), a Dutch drone is now also part of the series.

In season seven of Game of Thrones, a NEO drone from Dutch manufacturer Acecore Technologies from Oss, Noord-Brabant was used to film aerial shots in Iceland.

The NEO drone can lift up to nine kilos in the air, which was needed to carry the RED Epic Dragon 6K camera with Cooke s4 25mm lens, hanging from a Gremsy H16 gimbal. Even though there was a lot of wind during the shoot as well as temperatures of -20 degrees Celsius, the kit held up very nicely. The drone was used instead of a helicopter to save on time and money.

(Link: bright.nl, Photo by Anthony Kelly, some rights reserved)

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July 5, 2017

Making 3D dishes and food for the elderly

Filed under: Food & Drink by Orangemaster @ 2:44 pm
pannenkoek1.jpg

Chef Jan Smink of top Dutch restaurant De Librije in Zwolle, Overijssel talks about the possibilities of making 3D printed dishes in the video below, where he shows us a creation made from celeriac and hazelnut paste with mushrooms, fermented garlic and more celeriac.

Smink segues into explaining that in Dutch retirement homes where 8% of the elderly have problems swallowing food, 3D printing could be useful for making their lives easier. It means they wouldn’t have to have their food blended to be eaten through a straw, which takes away from the social aspect of eating. Imagine making things like white asparagus puree, printing it out and eating with everyone else. That can be done since a 3D printer can make one-off orders, something a factory cannot easily do.

Of course, with a restaurant like Michelin-starred De Librije, not everything should be printed out, but it’s nice to hear from a chef that even people who don’t frequent his establishment could benefit from 3D printing.

Last year we told you about a 3D printer for pancakes at a restaurant in Ruurlo, Gelderland.

(Link: bright.nl)

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June 3, 2017

Sensor aimed at men to hide their porn viewing

Filed under: Gadgets,Technology by Orangemaster @ 9:15 pm

Facepalm

Forget private browsing on your computer, shopping for gifts without others knowing, and using that bullshit excuse to watch porn as a man. Dutch inventor Moos Neimeijer is asking for money on Indigogo for a gadget called ‘Minimeyes’, which will close windows and mute sound if an ‘intruder’ walks into the room while you’re doing something you shouldn’t.

Minimeyes is a small box people can see next to your computer, but it’s an app on a phone. If you have one of those boxes in plain sight, aren’t you already telling everyone around you that you’re planning to do seedy shit and pretend you’re ‘doing nothing’ when you get caught? How stupid do you think people are? I doubt even kids will be convinced. And the money not pouring in speaks volumes: Niemeijer still has 17 days to go to collect 96,000 USD (about €85,163) and so far has collected the grand total of 807 USD (€715.90).

The YouTube video encourages straight white men to donate, is sexist towards both genders and stereotypically heteronormative. Good luck with that.

(Link: bright.nl, Photo of Paris Louvre facepalm by Phelan Riessen, some rights reserved)

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May 26, 2017

Bike rental company in Amsterdam told to vacate parking stands

Filed under: Bicycles by Branko Collin @ 6:32 pm

donkey-republic-bikes-amsterdam-branko-collin

The Amsterdam West district is cracking down on a new player in the bicycle rental market, De Westkrant reports.

Instead of using its own parking facilities, Denmark’s Donkey Republic parks its bright orange rental bikes in the street, often using public bicycle racks. The intended customers for these rental bikes are tourists, as locals already own bikes. Fenna Ulichki of Amsterdam West has now told Donkey Republic that if it doesn’t remove its bikes from public parking spaces, the district will remove the bikes themselves. It is not clear what the legal basis would be for this, considering other company bikes are also parked in public spaces.

Amsterdam is undergoing a double tourism and cycling boom. For example, the city registered four million overnight stays in hotels in 2000, and expects 8 million stays in 2017 (source: Dashboard Toerisme on amsterdam.nl, May 2017). Meanwhile the share of bicycle trips went from about 23% in 2000 to 27% in 2015 (source: Amsterdamse Thermometer van de Bereikbaarheid, amsterdam.nl, 2017). The bicycle is a hit especially among locals—currently 36% of all trips by citizens is undertaken by bike, handily beating out the car (24%).

It is not surprising then that car owners are increasingly satisfied about the amount of parking space they have. If you ask me, instead of framing this as an unsolvable and self-induced bike parking shortage, the city should simply start converting parking spaces for cars into bike racks.

(Photo: three Donkey Republic rental bikes take up most of the space in a bike rack on the Willem de Zwijgerlaan in Amsterdam West. Meanwhile, three cars easily take up three times as much space in the background.)

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January 16, 2017

Fashion made from waste found in the sea

Filed under: Animals,Fashion by Orangemaster @ 1:53 pm

Delta works

The Deltapark Neeltje Jans, a Dutch theme park near the Delta Works, is currently hosting the Healthy Seas Fashion Exhibition, featuring fashion created by Greek students from waste found in the sea.

The exhibition tells the “journey from waste to wear, the problem of ghost nets, recycling, circular economy and see what fashion design students created from the recycled fishing nets”.

The Netherlands is home to the Healthy Seas organisation, and the combination of the Neeltje Jans and Delta Works gives the exhibition an additional dimension, according to them, as they also claim that 10 percent of the waste found in water is fish nets, which explains the fish net fashion.

Find out more about how it all came about (in Greek with English subtitles):

(Links: bright and healthyseas.org, Photo of Delta Works by Coanri/Rita, some rights reserved)

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January 8, 2017

‘No more bike wheels stuck in tram rails’

Filed under: Bicycles,Sustainability by Orangemaster @ 8:30 pm

A Dutch friend once told me about when he was a student in Amsterdam and went on a date, which involved the girl hitching a ride on the back of his bicycle (on the rack) and instead of having a typically fun and possibly romantic moment of her having to hold on to him, the front wheel of his bike got stuck in a tram rail and they both fell.

SafeRails solves the well-known problem of getting your bike wheels stuck in tram rails. Invented by two engineering students, Ward Kuiters and Roderick Buijs, SafeRails is a profile made from recycled plastic that can be inserted into existing tram rails. The idea is that bike wheels cannot get stuck in the rails and the tram can ride right over the profile as if they weren’t even there.

SafeRails is sustainable, durable and makes cycling safer. The guys’ goal is to start with The Hague, the political centre of the country, but first they need to win The Hague Innovators Challenge 2017 and are currently in second place. You can vote, too.

In Dutch with English subtitles:

(Link: www.bright.nl, Photo of the Kinkerstraat by Wikimedia user Ilonamay, some rights reserved)

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September 26, 2016

Twente gets European drone testing area

Filed under: Aviation by Orangemaster @ 10:21 pm

Enschede Airport Twente, close to the German border and little flight activity, now has a test location called Space53 for drones and UAVs. It’s apparently the first airport in Europe that allows drones to be tested in ‘complex environments and situations’. Nokia already plans to test Unmanned Aerial Vehicle Traffic Management systems (UTM) there.

Space53 is a collaboration between businesses and the public sector in the region of Twente. Besides an airport and various spaces for research, development and testing UAVs, schools and universities have joined in. They’ve already had some swarming tests where a bunch of drones fly together and collaborate in the event of a calamity.

Fun fact: When the notary public wrote up the transfer deed for the airbase after WWII, he apparently had had one too many and it accidentally wrote ‘Twenthe’ instead of Twente, which is still written this way today by the local flying club.

(Link: bright.nl, Photo of Drone by Karen Axelrad, some rights reserved)

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