Obama Change

I am not talking about Obama being Martin Luther King. No, I mean a real king! Maybe even an emperor… With all its pro’s and all it’s cons… ;-)

I am really happy that Obama is becoming the next president of the United States of America. It is about time that the leadership of the USA is changed, after these years.

Is everything Obama says to be happy about? I am not sure. I have doubts about his ideas on the Middle East. Not because I think he is a muslim. He is as much a muslim as I am a christian, I think.

But I believe that he, more than a republican, can see things differently. We need a new way of looking at the world and a new way of thinking. We need a man with his own passport and stamps in it!

Can we change the world?

YES, We Can!

I could wait in line and be lucky to catch one, but the war is over here in The Neterlands for more than 60 years now and I really don’t like soup kitchen lines. Not for food and for sure not for something else than food.

Next to that I refuse to sign a 2-year contract with a gsm operator. In The Netherlands this is T-Mobile, here known for its poor in-house reception, due to the used frequency. The iPhones you get are also simlocked, something I also don’t like for something that is mine.

I made my hands dirty and drove to our friendly southern neighbours in Belgium. Brussels to be more precise. Two hours to go and two hours back.

In Belgium a simlock is illegal and so gsm operator Mobistar has to sell the phone to anyone, with or without a 2-year contract. It wasn’t easy to get one and I will not get into details (unless you really ask me), but I got my iPhone 3G. It has a big and when I say big, I mean BIG WOW factor.

Am I a fanboy? Yes and No.

I was getting sick and tired to walk around with and a Nokia E61i (connections) and Palm Centro (calender (Datebk6!) and contacts infomation). I have everything in a bigger, but ONE device. Finally…

But do I like Apple and the operators to grap me by the b*lls/n*ts? I don’t think so!

Goal of this stay in Israel is a wonderful vacation and next to that to come back with a few great series of photographs.

For that reason I bought myself the greatest tripod and tripod head I could find for a decent amount of money. I have been buying tripod the last years, but all were not that expensive. In fact, not at all… That’s also why I bought more tripods. Never very satisfied about it. Not stable enough for portrait pictures, parts falling off or is just just wobbly.

Not this time. Advised by a fellow photographer (that’s you, Johan ;) ) I bought the Manfrotto 055XPROB tripod with the 804RC2 head…

Oh my G_d… This is finally a piece of equipment…

(sturdy, but extremely flexible – you can’t imagine, seeying it here standing just there)

Vanaf dit moment zullen de posts alleen maar in het Nederlands of heel soms toch gemengd in het Nederlands, Duits en Engels zijn. (From now on the post will be Dutch only or may be mixed Dutch, English and German.)

But drop by so once-and-a-while, to be sure I am still alive…

A new theme design for a fresh new start? I am not sure. I really like this one. Especially when putting pictures on it…

I have never been a father, but this was a close call, I must say. I had the baby in my arms within two hours after birth. I would never have thought how great it would feel to have this new life so close to me. When I think of it, it is difficult to keep my eyes dry. Honest!

Marc Pierre, You’re Ma Main Man! ;-)

Wishing You, Daddy, Mama and your little big sister Cécile Marie a Healthy and Happy Life! Mazzal Tov!

Congratulations GO HERE!

Since a few years already I am into geocaching (for Dutchies: go HERE), a game that sounds like old skool, as in treasure hunting. But it isn’t. It is a game for adults and kids to play all over the globe (I did it in: France, Israel, The Netherlands, Belgium, Germany, Greece and Spain). But there is one thing you need and that is a decent handheld (!) GPS. There have always been two camps: Garmin users and Magellan users. I am a Magellan user, because of its superieur quality. But that aside.

As handheld GPS devices are very very very expensive in Europe, I have been looking around the globe. And I did find a seller of a new Magellan eXplorist 600 in the USA. The price was very nice, which means a difference of about 200 euro (read: about US dollar 272, including shipping)!!! Yes, that is right!

I wanted the seller to ship to a friend in the US, who’s mother is going to take it to The Netherlands end of this months, just to save shipping costs and import duty, ofcourse . I did buy it and payed within a few minutes.
After 9 days of hearing nothing I did ask the seller about the status of the shipping. My friends didn’t see anything coming. Then I got a swift reply that my US address was not confirmed and that he was not going to send it. A few minutes later I had my money back on PayPal. But only AFTER my claim where the shipping was.
The discussion that followed after that was short but clear. I couldn’t trust the guy anymore… I might have made a mistake by not reading all the rules, but only after asking what was wrong I got a very short answer and my money back. Without any other way to get a solution what I asked.

I did not expect to get into an eBay dispute anyhow. But the old proverb is true: evil doers are evil dreaders. You would rather not buy at LJ Electronics on eBay.

I now did buy it at DragonFlyDirect. Thank you for you confidence!

While you are here: check out my new GPS Blog: GPS Passion

There is so much talk about Second Life (SL), a virtual world where you can really live your second life. It sounds crazy and it is. But now I know that hearing about it is quite different from being there and talk to other people around there.

Just like in the new world commerce is taking over everywhere, so does it in SL. Shops are popping out of the ground everywhere. But there are virtual nightclubs, shops with weapons, a virtual synagogue and a virtual dojo (for Japanse martial arts) and even a virtual Western Wall (HaKotel) for instance.
But why has the OBA (Public Libary Amsterdam) to be there, and the City Of The Hague?!

It is fun to look around and to be there for one (maybe two) time(s), but I don’t think this is my world. I’ll keep to my own old First Life, I mean people of flesh and blood…