I cranked out a new Pivot template design this weekend. If you like it you can get it here or first take a closer look at a demo.

Enjoy a pretty looking pivot!

This week, the Superboek PHP5 has been released. This is a very special milestone because yours truly happens to be one of the authors. I guess this posting is only relevant for those who speak Dutch because the book is written in Dutch. Nevertheless this is something I just had to share on this weblog! Of course also congrats to Wouter Tengeler who is the other author of this book. Now let's hope the world likes it!

Superboek PHP5 at van Duuren Media

Yesterday I read something quite disturbing in this article (in Dutch). It seems that here in the beautiful country of Holland, one can buy a gun (or any other item needed to perform a criminal act), commit the crime and when caught, get the money spent on the weapon back from... us tax payers.

Isn't Holland a wonderful country... *sigh*

Gil Price has made a really fine variation on my Craftsmanship Pivot Template. I really like it which is why I'd like to announce it's release on pivotstyles.net.

Check it out here and get it here.

Now there's a lot of criticism coming from the Western world on Islam. In Europe, in the Netherlands, where I live, but especially from the USA. Fundamentalism sucks in my opinion. However in the USA they seem to have a kind of accepted fundamentalism in the form of organizations such as the American Family Organization. This Christian fundamentalist group has now targeted Spongebob Squarepants. (continue reading...)

In Holland it's becoming common practice to hold a 'silent march' whenever someone has been killed for wel... nothing. I'm talking about the guy who was beaten to death last week because he stood up for someone in an argument, or about the Rotterdam boy who was shot a while ago longer after throwing a snow ball. Look at it as a form of 'protest'. Whether it helps, I don't know but at least it's a nice statement in which people show they care. Three days ago, a 43 year old woman killed a Moroccan boy who stole her purse a minute before he was killed. Apparently she went into pursuit with her car and squashed the boy between her car and a tree. A tragic accident. Stealing someone's purse is one thing, having to die for that is quite too much. However: as I explained, silent marches are being held for what we call here 'victims of useless violence'. It's about people who did absolutely NOTHING but were killed nevertheless. Today there will be a silent march for a thief who accidentally got killed 'on the job'. A guy who was actually on trial that very same day for armed robbery. Now I can perfectly understand that his relatives and friends are grieving. I would too if I knew him. But this seems way, WAY too much.

I guess as from today, the term 'silent march' has lost all of it's significance.

Google, the ever innovative search engine on the internet has joined the fight against us bloggers number 1 frustration: people spamming our comment forms and / or referrer lists. The solution is simple but highy effective at the same time. As we all know, the main reason for spammers to pollute blogs, guestbooks, wiki's and other public spaces on the net is to improve their PageRank on Google. (continue reading...)

Nine expensive balls, a youth concert, a parade, a fireworks display an much more. This is the small party Bush will be throwing at his inauguration day. I can't help but think: 'What a bloody travesty'. I guess Bush will need to do this in order to thank all corporate lobbyists and other great people that made Bush's ridiculously expensive election campaign a reality and... a success. The main theme is, in real Bush family tradition 'war on terror' and the festivities will have a highly military character. I guess mr. Kim from North Korea would wet his pants. In recent news I've heard mr. Bush will now also try to focus on domestic issues in the USA. It's about time after more than 4 years. I have to admit, his plans to pull off some tax reduction in the next years to come are brilliant. Becoming president, royally screwing the entire world up the ass in all possible ways and finally leaving the stage as a 'great president' because of positive sentiments among (the rich mostly though) people is a class act. Let's hope 2008 will be here soon...

Now there's a great way to voice your disgust! In this Ananova article I just read about Germans protesting against Bush by sticking miniature USA flags into piles of dog poo. I guess this could be the new protest hype of the 21st century. Brilliant, sans-violence and a very 'communicative' message.

Before you wonder what the hell the picture of this guy has to do with this: I just love Google's 'relevant' hits on image searching. This is the only image google comes up with when searching for dog shit flag so what more can I do than just add the picture to this post?

Sometimes I wonder about Americans... It seems companies have to use the most ridiculous disclaimers in order not to get sued by money hungy idiots. At least something to be glad about when it comes to living in Holland: we don't have this rubbish 'justice' ;)

(from the Apple site about the new iPod shuffle)

Shameless, I know, but still: It's not too late yet to nominate this site for a Dutch Bloggie in the category 'best design'! So if you like the way I turned Pivot into some sort of drag queen appearance here:

Go nominate this site!

For the non-Dutch speaking viewers: The category for design is called 'Best vormgegeven weblog'.
You are not obliged to fill out all fields. Just your name, email and the categories in which you want to nominate.

Only one day left so make it quick!

Apple did it again..

wow! Apple keeps on innovating!

Today's news:

• A 30 year old woman killed because some moron dropped a stone from high above the highway
• A dead child found earlier turns to have been starved to death by her parents
• A group of people caught for (among a lot of other horrific things) forcing several foreign women to have sex with animals
• 18 years old girl found dead after having been reported missing

And that's just Holland. Sometimes I hate humankind...

It's funny really how quickly our attention can shift from one humanitarian disaster to another one. In this MTV-era we can't seem to focus on more than just one thing, at least a lot of us can't. Maybe I'm a terribly naive guy but I was rather shocked a couple of days ago after seeing a TV report about charity donations by Western countries and what actually happens after making promises about huge amounts of money.

(continue reading...)

Just a small but critical warning: Never... and I mean NEVER _EVER_ let your girlfriend get ahold of this game.

ARGH!
Update: After some wine I gave her a crack through astalavista. What have I done? AAAAAAAARGH!!!!!!

Saw the movie 'Der Untergang' (also known as 'Downfall') yesterday. A movie everyone on this planet should see if you ask me, just to realize how easy a whole nation can slip if we're not careful. As far as I'm concerned Bruno Ganz deserves a 'Best Actor in a lead role' oscar for his amazing performance as Adolf Hitler. It truly gave me the shivers...

Der Untergang IMDB entry