September 28, 2017

Hot wall pizzas in Eindhoven in 2018

Filed under: Food & Drink by Orangemaster @ 5:22 pm
pizza

A European first for Domino’s pizza, in Eindhoven you will be able to pull pizzas out of the wall from Europe’s first Domino’s pizza branch… in 2018. However, grabbing a hot pizza out of the wall is definitely not a European or even a Dutch first this time around, as there has been pizza from vending machines in Groningen since November 2015.

Domino’s claims to have been inspired by Amsterdam’s fast food chain FEBO, synonymous with pulling food out of the wall, while the guy in Groningen was inspired by France and actual pizzas coming out of the wall. It’s interesting to see a student think internationally, while an entrepreneur only looks within their borders in this case.

The bosses at Domino’s said they chose Eindhoven to showcase the wall pizzas because of the city’s reputation for all things technical, while the pizza vending machines in Groningen were designed by a student, which also reflects the reputation of Groningen as a student city.

True, Domino’s will surely offer more types of pizzas than in Groningen, but for now patrons will have to wait until 2018 for a proper working version of the vending machine showcased this week that if successful, will be introduced to the rest of the country.

Real pizza trumps virtual pizza for now. And Groningen is quite a train ride from Eindhoven.

(Link: ed.nl, Photo of Pizza pie by Adam Kuban, some rights reserved)

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November 29, 2016

Smoked sausage meets kroket in new snack combo

Filed under: Food & Drink by Orangemaster @ 10:40 am
kroket1.jpg

The year 2016 is turning into the year of the junk food combos: discodel, pancake with fries, fries with soft vanilla ice cream, and now it’s time for the next level in junk food: the ‘rookworstkroket’ (‘smoked sausage kroket’).

Unox (Unilever) makes the famous smoked sausage that HEMA passes off as their own, but now the next level is upon us with Unox getting into bed with FEBO to spawn the deep-fried sausage snack. FEBO tried to get into bed with HEMA instead, combining the combo with the 75th anniversary of FEBO and the 90th anniversary of HEMA, but HEMA said no. Unox pounced on the opportunity and soon we’ll get to taste what the fuss is all about.

(Link: nu.nl)

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September 4, 2016

Febo and other companies violate patrons’ privacy

Filed under: Technology by Orangemaster @ 9:24 pm
kroket1.jpg

Since January 2014 the Dutch Data Protection Authority has observed that snack chain Febo, through its use of the Bluetrace data tracking system, was violating its patrons’ privacy by collecting information without their permission, according to the Personal Data Protection Act. And after several warnings, nothing has changed, but the agency is pissed off enough to fine Bluetrace if they don’t clean up their act within the next six months.

According to Bluetrace’s website, they claim to “respect the privacy of persons”, since “after 24 hours, all anonimized data is being erased from our systems”. However, that “anonimizing” they carry out is apparently very easy to undo, so basically nothing at all has been done to protect people’s privacy for quite some time.

Febo also has to make sure that they don’t collect personal data of people who live nearby, make sure they tell people explicitly that their data is being collected, and tell them how long their data will be stored, etc., which they don’t. Dutch law states that “the processing of any personal data requires the data subject’s unambiguous consent,” like a sign at Febo that warns people. Bluetrace has said that they place signs, but that’s not the case in the 30 or so Dutch municipalities where their system is operational.

Turning off your phone was a retarded Dutch government answer, because even when your phone is off, it could still be giving out information through radio signals and possibly with malware, if Edward Snowden has taught the world anything.

Febo is just an example, as many other companies and towns who use Bluetrace are also violating the law, and I’d dare say, even flaunting it, since 2014. Why the authorities are only getting serious now remains a mystery.

(Link: motherboard.vice.com)

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May 19, 2013

Parody of Holland Marketing’s latest video advert

Filed under: Food & Drink,Sustainability by Branko Collin @ 12:43 pm

Last week Holland.com published a video advert in which a cocky narrator explains why ‘Holland’ is the original cool. He contrasts posh English phrases with the down-to-earth words the Dutch supposedly use, such as ‘food’ instead of ‘artisanal cooking’.

The video above is a parody that appeared shortly after — I wouldn’t be surprised if it had been made by the same ad agency — in which the original visuals are replaced. ‘Artisanal cooking’ is suddenly contrasted with pulling a croquette from a street-side vending machine and ’boutique shopping’ becomes the Saturday morning Albert Heijn (Dutch supermarket) run. Added in for good measure is the world famous Dutch ‘service’, a concept so alien that the language doesn’t even has its own word for it and defaults to the French word (although we generally pronounce it the English way).

The original advert caused a minor uproar in the Netherlands, with pundits reacting strongly to the fact that most of the footage is shot in either Amsterdam or greater Amsterdam. Elsevier lists the complaints.

Personally, I think it is a great advert. It highlights the open manner in which the Dutch speak to the point of being abrasive and presents this as charming and desirable. The heavy Dutch accent spoken by everybody in the video underlines the exaggerated, almost cartoonish tone of the video. Our English really isn’t that good, but the message the viewer takes away is that it’s good enough to get by when visiting the country. This entire presentation helps smuggle in a lot of fact-free content, stressing great food for example even though our culinary tradition is mostly one of Calvinistic soberness (as long as you stay north of the great rivers), and pointing out our traditional use of wind energy even though nowadays our record for renewable energy is one of the worst in Europe.

(Video: YouTube / DoLeaveItOutMate. Photo: crop from the video)

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