one.point.zero - Colin O'Brien's weblog

Yesterday afternoon, the sun having finally decided to show its face , I hopped on my bike and took a nice long ride. This was my first major ride since I fractured my foot and I hadn’t had the chance to fully test the GPS tracking functionality on my new phone yet (a Nokia N95), so this was a good opportunity to do just that.

I have to admit, I’m impressed. The little I’d played with it before hadn’t left me with a great impression: long lock-on times, no-so-accurate tracking, etc. But since the last update, improvements have been really spectacular. It locks on pretty much immediately (A-GPS doing its thing I imagine) and also keeps a much better hold on your current location (it still goes off track here and there, but nothing dramatic).

I covered just under 100km in total but only tracked the first leg of my journey, from the supermarket where I stocked up on liquids to the small village of Arquennes where I stopped for a family visit. The reason for this being the major weak point of this device: battery life. If I’d run it through the whole trip, I would have most probably lost the phone a long time before getting home and it’s always good to have a lifeline.

I used Nokia sportstracker to log the itinerary and export a KML file which you can see embedded below onto google maps. All in all, I have to say the geek in me is quite happy with this gizmo and I’m going to continue my exploration into the world of location-aware services.

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The happy planet index rates European countries on their happiness-to-carbon output ratio.

Conclusions seem to show that even though our standard of living is marginally higher than in the sixties, consumption (and our per-capita carbon footprint) has increased dramatically while general happiness has dropped.

Belgium ranks 17th out of 30 countries while the Scandinavians hold the top positions.

An update on some new rides that will be appearing this year in nearby parks:

The flying dutchman is the new water coaster at De Efteling (Netherlands). It looks like it has some really good themeing too. Photos of the press opening, a blurry on ride video and an outdoors video of the testing.

Phantasialand (Germany) are building Talocan which, from the looks of it, is a topspin with an aztec theme and a fire and water show.

Heide Park (Germany) are busy putting the finishing touches to Desert Race, a rocket (launched) coaster. Heide Park is on my must-visit list as I haven’t ridden the incredible Colossos yet.

And, finally, Walibi Belgium should be opening their cablecar/coaster hybrid Vertigo if they can get communication between cars to work.

The mild winter pushed down heating costs in Belgium this year resulting in a record number of people going on holiday during the Easter break thanks to the money saved.

So, basically, warm weather brought on by climate change pushes people to fly and drive long distances, thereby emitting more greenhouse gases than ever which in turn further affect climate change.

I doubt that’s one of the positive feedbacks in the climate system that scientists were fearing, but the outcome is alike.

A party at Brussels’ Fuse nightclub called “Bombz over Brussels” features a background image that seems strangely familiar yet again.

Stop ripping my design and get your own skyline, you gang of amateur crooks. Just because it’s on the internet doesn’t make it free!

These ones look like a bunch of kids so I’m not going to set the rabid lawyers on them or anything but I could do without their site crediting someone else.

Is the Belgian government on drugs or something? They’ve just voted a law allowing motorbikes onto cycle paths. As if it wasn’t difficult enough to get people cycling in town.

Imagine the chaos on shared paths like the one in Brussels’ Rue de la Loi/Wetstraat which are bad enough as it is.

While many cities and countries attempt to make life for cyclists easier, Belgium faces the other way. And the FEBIAC, which is supposed to represent motorists and cyclists, only ever acts in the name of the former. It’s depressing…

Tonight, the RTBF, Belgium’s French-speaking national TV channel reported that Flanders, the Dutch-speaking part of the country, had declared independence; the king had flown out of the country in protest and Belgium was, basically, no more.

Of course, this was just a well-prepared hoax intended to give at least one half of the country a monumental kick up the backside and attempt to wake them as they fall asleep at the wheel.

It certainly worked. Phone exchanges are down, newspaper forums are exploding and the political aristocracy are crying their indignation like teenage drama queens instead of looking in the mirror.

Where’s that oh-so-famous Belgian sense of self-derision now? The selective blindness on all sides is thoroughly astonishing.

They’ve obviously never heard about the first rule of holes (when you’re in one, stop digging).

update: it’s all online at the VRT, amusingly.

Looks like I’ve been ripped off by proxy this time.

First Microsoft’s ad agency appropriates my design without permission, now this guy lifts it from Microsoft.

Maybe I should sell it to a stock illustration agency.

update: he has now removed it.

A report on global warming by the British treasury says it will be cheaper for developed nations to tackle the problem with significant cuts in greenhouse gas emissions, than to deal with the consequences later. Duh.

With most politicians looking no further than their own noses the next elections, I doubt that will kickstart anything except a few empty promises.

Meanwhile, Belgium is part of the 7 European countries that will exceed their individual emission limits. No big surprise there either, they’re too busy trying to cause a depression down south before climate change does it for them.

A supposedly new bank has been doing some heavy promo throughout Brussels for a while. First with bill posters in the usual places and some advertising in the free press, now with an “office” on the Place de la Monnaie/Muntplein.

This outfit is basically selling itself as a non-ethical investment bank. Placing your money in such great causes as weapons trade, post-war/disaster reconstruction (Halliburton), Wal-Mart, etc. Appealing to those people who like to be different by giving society the finger, or those who just don’t care. I don’t know…

Hell, most banks do that anyway. They just don’t use it as a key selling point.

For what it’s worth, the design just looks too hip to be a bank to begin with. The only phone number is a Belgian mobile one, pretty strange for a Europe-wide organisation. And they’ve made sure their origins are difficult to trace.

It smells of viral marketing from a mile away. I don’t know who’s behind it or what they’re promoting, but there’s a lot of money being thrown at this one.

update 17/10: It’s a stunt by Netwerk Vlaanderen to expose unethical investing by Belgian banks.

I thought it was about time I posted something about this as I receive emails every day on the subject, including strange offers of revenge. Yes, I am aware one of my designs has been ripped off. For those who haven’t seen it yet, take a look at the previous version of this site, then take a look at this site for a Microsoft event featuring his royal Gatesness himself. (hat tip to Eric for spotting it first)

When I saw this, I emailed someone at Microsoft Belgium who forwarded my mail down the line until it reached the agency that did the work for them. Someone from the agency called me up, obviously feeling quite uncomfortable with the situation. The story goes that they were part of a pitch for this job and made several propositions including one rough featuring my illustration. When that one was chosen, they didn’t get permission for it (or most probably redraw it), they just went ahead and used it (badly traced at that).

Was it really an oversight or was it deliberate? I don’t know and I don’t really care to be honest. I got compensation for its use, probably less than I could have gotten if I really wanted to be nasty, but that’s not my style. The deal’s done and, hopefully, they’ll think twice next time about using something without permission.

Remember kids: you always get found out on the internet.

A recent document from Eurostat (PDF) shows that Belgium is the second highest energy consumer per capita in Europe, just behind Finland. And, let’s face it, they need it much more than we do here.

On top of that Belgium is 80% dependant on external sources for its energy needs. How about that as a future recipe for disaster?

The two bottom photos on a post about the atomium from the cool hunter website look strangely familiar...

Yes, it’s unbelievably hot and we’re in the middle of a big ass ozone peak which can do permanent damage to your lungs. And what do the authorities do? They ask you to stay inside and avoid exercise because attacking the root causes requires courage (on our part too).