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The laws of nature

Posted on Wednesday 10 August 2011 at 6:34 pm in category: Abby
In the past week 9 people read this, in the past month 21 people read this.

A conversation I had with my 6 year old daughter today (over the phone):

Abby: Dad, you need to fix my bike
Me: Oh, what's wrong with it?
Abby: I think it has a flat tire
Me: Oh no, a flat tire again?
Abby: Yes, I think so. But it's only flat in one spot.
Me: Only flat in one spot? Is that the spot at the bottom?
Abby: It's the spot where the wheel is touching the street, so I need you to fix it so that spot stays at the top.

Blog hosting moved

Posted on Wednesday 10 August 2011 at 6:22 pm in category: Nerds, Whatever
In the past week 6 people read this, in the past month 26 people read this.

Related link: A Small Orange Hosting

Remember I wrote this 3 days ago?

Well, today I succesfully moved my website from it's old stomping grounds at MijnDomein.nl to one of the servers of A Small Orange. Although these moves can take up to 72 hours, they say, it was done with 3 hours.

I don't know if you've noticed the speed of the website now, but I have. Loading pages is 3 to 6 times faster all of a sudden! In the "back-end" of the website, where I write these blogposts, the difference at least feels like it is 10 times faster!

Starbucks is throwing laptop-lingerers out

Posted on Tuesday 09 August 2011 at 08:49 am in category: Whatever, USA, Nerds
In the past week 74 people read this, in the past month 419 people read this.

Related link: NYC Starbucks Taking Steps to Block WiFi 'Loiterers'

Apparently the people that use the free WiFi in Starbucks coffeeshops are starting to become a problem. I have to admit I have done this too: you go into a coffeshop, order a cup of coffee (maybe a pastry), and sit down with your laptop at one of the tables. Nobody bothers you, and you can sit there virtually forever.

Some Starbucks restaurants in New York City want to put a stop to this.

Who made this stupid logo?

Posted on Monday 08 August 2011 at 11:24 pm in category: Whatever, USA
In the past week 21 people read this, in the past month 81 people read this.

Related link: via Michelle Malkin » Government logo fail of the day

We all know the goverment can be stupid sometimes. This actually goes for any government, not just the US government, but here is an example of the stupidity of the government of the USA, the land of innovation and hi-tech stuff:

You are looking at the logo of the new Department of Innovation Blog of the Smithsonian Institute, an institute that runs with government money. Everybody knows the Smithsonian. In their own words:

Founded in 1846, the Smithsonian is the world's largest museum and research complex, consisting of 19 museums and galleries, the National Zoological Park and nine research facilities.

From an institue like that, you might expect some technical expertise, right? Well, I am sorry to break it to you, but they are stupid too. Look at that logo again.

Not only can 3 interlocking gears like that never move anywhere, the pitch (distance between the teeth on the gears) is not the same for all three either. This means that even if the two smaller ones were not interlocked, the whole construction would come to a screeching halt after half a turn.

Now, I admit that somebody that makes logos for a living might not know that, but you would think that a whole committee of well-payed people over there at the prestigious Smithsonian Institute have looked at it and approved it. Good luck competing with China!

Where to host a website?

Posted on Monday 08 August 2011 at 11:35 am in category: Whatever, Nerds, Linkdump
In the past week 26 people read this, in the past month 99 people read this.

Related link: Short answer: A Small Orange

A lot of times, I get the question: Where should I host my website? To be honest with you, I really don't know. It all depends. And there are too many hosting companies out there to compare them all. You canl;t really go by these lists of "Ten best hosting companies", because I'm pretty sure the hosting company that pays the most is on the top of those lists.

In the past, I have pointed people to MijnDomein for .nl domains, they seem to do a decent job, for not much money.

For non-Dutch people, I've recommended FatCow hosting, but mainly because they are cheap. The quality of their support is not all that great, I think, but if your demands are low, go ahead and do it.

If you want my honest opinion, A Small Orange hosting is the absolute best I've ever tried. They have a very knowledgable crew of people, that speak English. Their servers are fast, and their 'Tiny' plan is enough for most small websites or blogs. You can also register .nl domains with them, and this blog is going to be moved to their servers soon (it's on MijnDomein now, but it's just too much hassle to pay their Dutch invoices with my American bankaccount).

Disclaimer: Yes, these are affiliate links.