Ermine Moths, Sprookjesboom

Yes, it's been a while since I've posted.


I've been living wild adventures, in my own mind. So much to tell, but another time, perhaps.


Meanwhile, I noticed this unusual sight on the way home from work tonight.





Beautiful yet creepy or creepy yet beautiful? The Dutch call them "spinselmotten" or "stippelmotten" (that is, 'spinning moths' or 'spotted moths'). They form large colonies and apparently strip the trees bare, but are not dangerous for people.



A little white butterfly with black spots is the cause and result of all this. If I see them hatching I'll take a picture and update this post.



This was behind Artis zoo, but the critters are turning up all over North Holland because of the unusually warm spring weather.











I also saw a car crash on the way home, on the same bike ride, but that's not so interesting, is it?

Somebody shouted at me as I took the photo below, "who do you think you are, a reporter?"


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Dutch Blog "War" - GeenStijl vs GeenCommentaar vs NOS

(GeenStijl)

The NOS reported today that a "war" has broken out between GeenStijl and GeenCommentaar.

That's the Netherlands' BBC equivalent, reporting on the blogs NoStyle and NoComment.

GeenStijl is the most popular Dutch blog, and it got that way by being smart and well, tasteless. Love 'em or hate 'em (I love 'em), they can't be ignored.

GeenCommentaar is a lesser known site designed as a response to GeenStijl (which is populist and perceived as right-leaning).

Recently GeenCommentaar put up a fake petition, guessing (correctly) that GeenStijl would invite its readers to deface it. But GeenCommentaar simply gathered the IP addresses of users coming in on the GeenStijl link to create a database of the site's readers.

Then they began offering the database as a "GeenStijl Checker" so that other leftist websites could use it as a filter to prevent GeenStijl readers from commenting again in the future.

So in retaliation, GeenStijl launched a denial-of-service attack on the site where the database was housed. Which is technically illegal under Dutch law.

(NOS)

(by chance I happened to see this interview taking place near Artis this morning _ I wondered what it was all about; if I had known I would have stopped to take my own photo and ask a few questions).



The NOS played an interesting role in all this. They've been wrong-footed by GeenStijl frequently in the past, but this time it seems to me they did a nice job of ruffling the feathers of the infant terrible, without getting their own hands dirty.

GeenStijl put out a lengthy response to the NOS piece, photoshopping a frame grab from the program and crying "boo hoo" (one of their favorite phrases for mocking complainers) about the database, claiming it violates privacy laws. Doubtful, dudes.



I forget who it was who first said this, but in U.S. politics and in life, once you have to start explaining yourself, you've already lost.
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I want to merge my Facebook and my Blog

(photo:will foster)

I want to combine my Facebook page with my blog. Is that so much to ask?

I'd also like to make it have no advertisements, and load a little quicker. For that, I'd be willing to pay a a monthly fee.

And secondarily, I'd like to be able to differentiate between posts for my "inner circle" of friends and family, and people I know and trust, and the rest of the world. I think 95 percent of posts would be for just anybody, because I believe in living as open a life as possible.

But still, sometimes there's news or things on your mind you don't want to share with the wider public.

If anyone out there knows how to achieve without many hours of dicking around with software and coding, please tell me how.

What comes next, may disturb you:

(engrish.com)





Happy Solstice, Christmas, Chanukah or whatever it is you bow down to.

Best,

Toby


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Why Do Bad Things Happen To Good Computers?

(photo: 3pom)

This is a question that has plagued ethicists since the beginning of time, or at least since 1982.

Even computers that run Dog's chosen operating system, Linux, may crash from time to time.

I put my Windows desktop to sleep properly on Saturday _ it was a totally normal night _ and in the morning I couldn't wake it up.

(eleventh earl of mar)

I usually buy the cheapest computer I can find, but this one was two or three steps up from the bottom of the line, when it was new. And now *poof*, up in smoke, just a few weeks after its warranty expired.

Why did this have to happen to it? This Fujitsu-Siemens with a Pentium D never made an incorrect calculation in its entire life! At least not that I know of.

And I never even got a chance to, you know, tell it I felt indifferent towards it. Or to back up my files and say goodbye.

I relied on it for stuff. I had some good times using it, and it _ it was there too, cooling fan humming gently in the background.

When there is no rational explanation for why a computer dies, it makes you wonder: why does an omniscientific Dog allow things that defy science to happen? Does Dog even exist?

Credo Quia Absurdum.

(mel b)

Anyhow, I guess I have to go outside and play now. MORE

Vanity prompts Journalists to Blog

(photo:zen)
An interesting article in The Observer, saying that basically the reason journalists are keeping or launching blogs is to promote themselves as a brand apart from their organizations.

True of me? I have several reasons for doing this:
First, to be able to talk a little bit about things other than stuff I can write about professionally. But I don't think it would work if a lot of people were looking here (it averages about 20 hits a day, about half Dutch and half U.S. or British visitors). So a little bit of a creative outlet.
Second, to communicate with people other than my friends and family about what I'm doing, and maybe reap some criticism or suggestions. In other words, looking for some feedback, but I'm not getting much of that either. (I'm thankful, though, for what I do get!).
Third, as a partial "record" _ links _ to some of what I'm doing professionally, so that it's collected in one place and doesn't totally disappear into the ether.
Fourth, self-education, especially about the technology. Tinkering with the HTML, editing clips, learning to take photos, etc.

All of those reasons are vain at some level. But then, Omnis Vanitas.

But as far as "personal branding" _ not so much. I intentionally avoid mentioning my employer here, in order to make it clear this is something separate. I'm pretty sure I'd be nowhere as a journalist without a big organization behind me, and my value to my employer is as an 'anonymous' hard worker; and I can't imagine an inherently self-limiting (see: Dylan posts) blog would make a difference in that regard.

Anyway, I think I'll always be employable *somewhere* after 9 years working for "the wires."

(photo: meredith_farmer)

In more vanity news,
I'm the new secretary of the BPV, de Buitenlandse Persvereiniging, also known as the Netherlands' Foreign Press Association.

***

Alleen voor de nederlanders:

hier te lezen op: "Villa Media" De Journalist. Tien woorden, en ze hebben een typefoutje gemaakt in mijn naam.

De Buitenlandse Persvereniging (BPV) in Nederland heeft een nieuw bestuur. Tijdens de algemene ledenvergadering werd verkozen tot voorzitter de Duitse correspondente Kerstin Schweighöfer (werkzaam voor FOCUS, DEUTSCHLANDFUNK en ARD-radio’s). Vice-voorzitter is de Zwitserse Elsbeth Gugger (Zwitserse Publieke Omroep Radio DRS, Tages-Anzeiger). De Amerikaan Toby Sperling (AP) is de nieuwe BPV-secretaris. Zijn landgenoot Douglas Heingartner (New York Times, The Economist) blijft penningmeester. En de Roemeense Claudia Marcu (Roemeense Publieke Radio) zorgt ook in 2008 voor de ledenadministratie. Verder zitten in het bestuur de Russische journalist Andrei Poskakukhin (RIA Novosti) en zijn Spaanse collega Isabel Ferrer (El País).

Hahahahaha ten minste niet "Toby Sperming."

Trouwens, ik ben ook nu een keer in de maand te hooren op "Desmet Live," 747AM of www.desmetlive.nl. Een segment over buitenlandse correspondenten in Nederland. Omgeveer 6uur, eerstevolgende zijn 13 november en 4 december.


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