This exhibition of ice sculptures in Brugge looks impressive. Time for a daytrip?
Some local scientists, using new computer dating methods (no, not that kind!), claim to have tracked links back more than 300 years between HIV, and a similar virus found in chimpanzees.
French telecommunications comparison site Comparatel has just launched the Belgian version of their service. You can use it to compare telephony operator costs or internet service providers. Let's hope the opening of the local loop to competition in 2001 pushes prices, other than for international calls, right down.
Dog poo on Brussels’ pavements gets a British journalist all irked up. I find the litter problem much worse myself.
The Sultan’s Elephant will be in Antwerp from the 6th to the 9th of July.
The latest edition of the bootleg bar podcast features Dirk Da Davo of The Neon Judgement.
The latest edition of the bootleg bar podcast features Dirk Da Davo of The Neon Judgement.
The Belgian government opts for the open document format. A very wise decision, but the cynic in me doubts it’ll work if it involves upsetting the habits of civil servants. I await the first amendments to this decision.
The Belgian government opts for the open document format. A very wise decision, but the cynic in me doubts it'll work if it involves upsetting the habits of civil servants. I await the first amendments to this decision.
The recent happenings in Belgium have brought exactly the same thoughts to my mind.
The recent happenings in Belgium have brought exactly the same thoughts to my mind.
Pictures of the recently finished storm drain under the Flagey square in Brussels.
A list of smoke-free restaurants and cafes in Belgium.
Vintage Belgian theme park videos: Walibi in 1993 and one of [Bellewaerde][2] from 1980
[2]: http://video.google.com/videoplay?docid=7839654928882619183 (Bellewaerde Park (1980) - Google Video [site language: English])
Belgian newspaper De Morgen publishes a flickr user’s burning man photos without his consent.
If these guys had been muslims there would be special editions running all over the world’s media right now.
My thoughts exactly on the Belgian press vs Google: Belgian Court Hankers For Stone Age.
Al Gore will be present in Brussels on October 8th to introduce his film: An inconvenient truth.
A film about the last days of the government’s utopian “administrative city” in Brussels will be [showing soon][1] at the Arenberg cinema.
[1]: http://www.arenberg.be/dev/newfilm.php?film=23 (Histoire(s) d'une utopie a vendre [site language: French])
Interesting view on how lobbyists in Brussels shape European decisions.
Bonom has gone one step further with his street art. Check out this animation by emich of his work next to Etterbeek railway station.
The rebirth of Sabena?
Europe got a taste of rolling blackouts yesterday. They were due to increased demand on the grid when temperatures suddenly dropped. update : it actually started with a line being turned off in order to let a cruise ship past.
Strangely mesmerising videos of tram journeys through Brussels filmed with a front-mounted camera. (thanks Gunter)
Belgium is as corrupt as the USA and Chile and ranks lower than most of its European neighbours.
A guerilla Martha Stewart hitting the bus stops in Brussels?
A guerilla Martha Stewart hitting the bus stops in Brussels?
Another one for the generation that grew up on Belgian dancefloors in the eighties and early nineties: [mixtapes from the Boccaccio nightclub in Destelbergen][1] where many a night was lost.
[1]: http://www.discogs.com/forums/topic?topic_id=88129 ((B) BELGIUM - The Heart Of Europe / B O C C A C C I O - The Tapes [site language: English])
Another one for the generation that grew up on Belgian dancefloors in the eighties and early nineties: [mixtapes from the Boccaccio nightclub in Destelbergen][1] where many a night was lost.
[1]: http://www.discogs.com/forums/topic?topic_id=88129 ((B) BELGIUM - The Heart Of Europe / B O C C A C C I O - The Tapes [site language: English])
Loads of old Belgian television archives viewable online, from Expo 58 reports to interviews with celebrities.
An African village spotted in Sint-Pieters-Leeuw via Google Earth? Just an advert being filmed.
Belgian minister for Energy Marc Verwilghen has just [got himself a giant gas-guzzling Audi Q7][1] (pdf) that emits between 282 to 326 grammes of CO2 per km. Meanwhile, Europe is trying to get emissions down to 120g/km, nice example from above. Oh yeah, and Al Gore has [the electricity bill][2] of a small village.
[1]: http://www.4x4info.be/pdf/20070228_CP_4x4info_Verwilghen_FR.pdf (Le Ministre de l'Energie s'offre un 4x4 energivore (PDF) [site language: French]) [2]: http://news.independent.co.uk/world/americas/article2311302.ece (Gore faces up to inconvenient truth over his electricity bill [site language: English])
Police vs Firemen – Fight!
Belgian defense minister [flies in an army helicopter][1] to see Al Gore’s film. Can it get more surreal? (thanks Xavier)
[1]: http://www.lalibre.be/article.phtml?id=10&subid=90&art_id=336410 (Air Flahaut : Bierset-Evere-Hasselt (A/R) - Lalibre.be [site language: French])
Don’t overdo it today, we’re in the middle of a pollution peak. Coincidentally, coach drivers will be protesting a new European law by driving en masse through Brussels. Great timing…
Maybe Belgian ministers could get off the seats of their [carbon-spewing monsters][1] and actually do something for the environment instead of worrying about [photo ops with Al Gore][2]?
[1]: http://ruedelaloi.blogspot.com/2007/02/voitures-propres-enfin-presque.html (rue de la loi: Voitures propres (enfin presque..) [site language: French]) [2]: http://lvb.net/item/4354 (Belgian ministers quarrel over Al Gore [site language: English])
More dust being swept under the carpet: a large part of the waste that we all separate for recycling is shipped off to the far east where little is known about how or if it is recycled.
A Belgian social housing block is being turned into lofts.
Belgian bus builder Van Hool has introduced a hydrogen-powered bus. It’s subsidised like crazy though, so it remains to see when we’ll spot a fleet of them somewhere.
The Association for the Study of Peak Oil has a Belgian branch (a French-speaking one anyway).
Many Belgian RFID passports are wide open to reading as they aren’t even cryptographically protected. On top of that, Belgian passports also include the bearer’s signature in digitised form.
There’s an official weblog (French seems to have more updates than other languages) covering the construction of Arne Quinze’s immense wooden cityscape sculpture in Brussels. (thanks Gunter)
I don’t usually talk about the sites I build for a living here, but this one was produced for a friend who deserves the exposure (no pun intended). So I present to you the new online presence of photographer Lionel Samain.
Dates for your agenda starting October 3rd: a series of midday conferences concerning automobile pressure on the city of Brussels.
Air quality is [downright horrible][1] today so moderate your cycling speed and don’t get into that car if you’re a driver.
[1]: http://deus.irceline.be/~celinair/pm/pm10.php?lan=en (Particulate matter (PM10 and PM2.5) concentrations in ambient air [site language: English])
Belgium ranks near the bottom of the 28 European nations as far as environmental performance goes. Even the US, everyone loves to accuse of being the worst, ranks higher.
Belgium ranks near the bottom of the 28 European nations as far as environmental performance goes. Even the US, everyone loves to accuse of being the worst, ranks higher.
Lucien De Roeck was responsible for a lot of well-known early Belgian graphic design including, among others, the Expo 58 poster.
The web time forgot. How Paul Otlet, a Belgian, envisioned a steampunk ancestor of today's hypertext.
The web time forgot. How Paul Otlet, a Belgian, envisioned a steampunk ancestor of today’s hypertext.
Want to know what kind of dirty investments your Belgian bank has got its fingers in? Check right here (well, if your bank is in there, mine isn’t)
The mobib smart card used for public transport in Brussels is not as secure as they make it out to be.
The mobib smart card used for public transport in Brussels is not as secure as they make it out to be.
The city of Ghent goes vegetarian.
Google to Announce Venture With Belgian Museum
It’s still not really talked about.
Redu is a village in the south of Belgium that's famous for its many bookshops. As physical book sales die, the village is dying alongside them. Some locals are trying new things though.
Antoinism is a religion that was created in 1910 by a metal worker called Louis-Joseph Antoine from the Liège region of Belgium. Membership is declining sharply, and only 10 temples are left. Most of their temples have been converted to housing. I've walked past one of them a few times and always wondered what the inside was like. This article follows one of their "healers" and gives a fascinating insight into a dying cult.
