Earlier 
I was awarded another invite by Google Mail, which I delivered to the blogger known as GenX40. In an exchange he wondered what was amazing about this Google Mail. The 1000 MB, I answered. Plus some other things.
For example, I’m amazed about the Adsense technology. In another e-mail exchange with the brother, he quickly pointed out (after I loudly wondered how many invites a user gets and if this number was related to the number of e-mails received or sent) that:
Upon on arriving home I found out the Dutch team was beaten by the host, which is a bit of disappointment. I haven’t watched the game yet, but managed to follow some of the action over at the BBC.
I wonder if Advocaat will stay.
Picture goodness over at Alfons. From cathedrals to citadels to Garcia Lorca’s last resting place to palaces to Ensemble Modern.
Looks like he had great weather.
It’s quiz time readers!
Click the thumbnail above/or on the right and look at it, closely. What’s wrong here (and I’m not talking about the part that has been clipped away)?
As a programmer and being around computers half of my life: there is nothing secret about virusses, spyware, keyloggers and that junk. You just need to know where to look for. If you just bought an expensive piece of software that claims ‘stealth technology’ so you can spy on your relatives, read my lips, you have wasted your money.
Back to the quiz, people who guess right, will be on my list of Google invites (that is whenever those invites get in my inbox, naturally). You’re welcome.
Dutch broadcaster and ‘edutainer’, the RVU, has put a couple of (foreign, meaning not Dutch) documentaries online that discuss the position of women in modern society.
Rather interesting selection of films too, most of them having a running time of slightly less than an hour. Definitely, not safe for work either, but knowing the RVU, that’s besides the point. ‘Still doing it (Canada 2003)‘ (RealMedia) describes ageless sex and women openly talking about sexual feelings. ‘Flatly stacked (Canada 2003)’ (RealMedia) explores the subject of ‘breast enhancements’, but in a comical fashion.
Most of the documentaries are in English with Dutch subtitling. Some of them come in High-speed streams.
Weird. I just sent in a feature request, for a rather small annoyance in Google Mail: It’s pretty hard to add multiple recipients to an e-mail. Maybe it’s the way how I start off writing an e-mail: I always start by pressing the compose mail button, right away.
I guess I could go to the contacts list first, check the recipients and then do a ‘send these guys a mail’ action. However, this does not (yet?) work in Google mail. The only option to add multiple address to the To/CC/BCC field is by typing them in, literally.
Secondly, I received Google Mail’s confirmation that I indeed sent in a feature request, or inquiry. However, the confirmation mail does not include my original request. Sure it has a reference number (#11636545), but where do I look it up?
The Dutch national soccer/football team made it to the semi-finals, playing against host Portugal next Wednesday. I didn’t have time to really sit down and watch the game, since I was in charge of cooking, but thought it was a pretty good game. Not boring, except for that it was just a long game. Robben was (once again) creating good chances. If the Dutch make it to the finals, it wouldn’t surprise me if he gets an honourable mention.
Tomorrow the Czech Republic plays Denmark for the last empty slot in the semi-finals: I expect the Czechs to make it. Note that many Dutch people think that the Czechs will become the European champions.
Google 
allowed me to pick out somebody to join the Craze.
Who’s next?
For months I’ve been struggling to get Windows Search for XP to work as it used to work: no matter what I tried, searching for text in particular sourcefiles never worked. And guess what, looking for simple Find File utilities that also dive into textfiles are harder to find than you would think.
Actually, my problem had a simple solution: Apparently those files, the ones that are so dramatically skipped by the search engine, need to have a persistent handler defined. I ran right into this today (by coincidence). And then the floodgates opened (last link downloads a tool to quickly set those handlers).
Yesterday, I watched the game between The Netherlands and Latvia, after learning the results of the Czech Rep. vs. Germany game. A couple of things that sprang in mind:
Today, England lost in the penalty shoot-out. I wonder if the game was lost when Rooney went out. Not sure what to think of it (what others think).
As for the Swedes playing against the Dutch, lets see if Nistelrooy manages to get another in. It would make him the most likely topscorer of the tournament, even if the Dutch get booted.
Thanks to Asa, I’m now an official Google Mail user. Or make that a betatester. If I ever get ‘invite friends’ links, beware. I know where you are. In the mean time here’s a couple of hints what to expect:
So all and all, not bad: it’s slick, thoroughly and consistently designed. And that 1 GB, that’s handy too, of course.
update: Am I the first Nova Scotian resident that has a GMail account, I wonder
I was able to watch the Holland vs. Czech Republic soccer/football game thanks to Alfons who, after I found out that TSN didn’t cover the game live, streamed the Dutch broadcast right back to me.
The Dutch team unfortunately lost and I’m still scratching my head on two fatal events that game:
Generally I wasn’t impressed with the Czech’s position or tactical play, but in this game, the winners are always right.
There’s an old man struggling to walk on the sidewalk. Mentally challenged, I gather. Everyday he’s out walking, at the same time and at the same pace. Struggling with himself. It’s not the most pleasant sight, and I keep wondering why he’s not being taken care of. But at least he’s getting there where ever he goes.
The hummingbird came back a couple of times today while I was mindlessly watching the garden. At one time, it zoomed in, turned a couple rounds, hovered and then graciously bowed over towards me, like if it just finished playing the second act of an important Broadway musical.
Naturally, I applauded.
