Category: Misc

Cookie laws and Google adsense

Since I rebooted my site I had a Google adsense banner on my site, just to see if I could get some revenue out of it. Today I removed it since Google sent me a mail stating they are actively complying with the EU cookie law. Which means I have to ask permission for the use of cookies and especially the adsense cookies. Unfortunately the laws are different from country to country. In the Netherlands, which is were I live and host this site I have to ask permission before the cookies are placed. Other country’s do not require this.

So for now, I have removed the ad and I am going to find a solution to this first before I put the ad back on my site.

Learning Linux

Well , since I have a very very old laptop which used to run windows 7 and got extremely slow, I now installed Ubuntu on it.

Which is easy, simply next next next and yout there.

A bit of a travel companion, doing some browsing , editing pics and creating docs and that was it. Now I have decided to use it as a programming tool as well. Using phyton, which is free and very good, apparently.

The thing is I never had to use all the different Linux commands until now. Learning again , which thanks to the good old internet is fun :).

Amsterdam

Yesterday we went to see an exhibition at Huis Marseille , it’s in a very nice old house along one of the canals. The building alone is worth the visit. The exhibitions were excellent as well. First one on the work of Cor Jaring, he used to work at the docks and started making photo’s. Later on he made a living out of it. Beautiful pictures from his trip to Japan and very nice pictures by Sander Troelstra which portray Cor in his final years. Really liked it.

Another one was by Eddo Hartmann, pictures from Pyongyang. Very desolate pictures with lot’s of empty spaces outside and inside buildings, subway stations etc. Haunting sometimes. Like there’s absolutly no one there. Very well taken pictures. Enjoyed it a lot. The museum also has a backyard and with the nice weather it was an excellent place to relax.

Next up was lunch at “cafe de Pels” , beer and a sandwich. Next stop was the museum van Loon. Which is a big mansion from an old merchant family. Not really my cup of tea. Although it’s nice to see all the old furniture and craftsmanship that went in to make it. It’s not something I can spent hours watching. But once again a beautiful garden, were we spent some time reading.

Last museum of the day was Foam , with an exhibition from Noémie Goudal, she made structures (from paper I think) and puts them in a landscape. Very cool indeed. There was also a series by painter Carel Willink. Skies over the city a study on clouds for a painting. I didn’t enjoy it that much, but maybe I just reach my art and museum limit for the day.

Time for food and drinks at the foodhallen/ , always nice. Then a nice dinner at a tiny cafe near the Nieuwmarkt , forgot the name. Well it was something with bear in the name. All round a very good sunny and relaxing day in Amsterdam.

Ghent

This weekend we have been visiting Ghent, a very nice city. Not to big but lots of nice neighbourhoods. We were staying at the Big sleep B&B. Very nice old house with large rooms and a swimming pool in the garden. I didn’t pack any swimming gear unfortunately. It’s situated near the city’s historical centre, which you can easily walk.

We mostly wander around a city and decide what were we go as we go along. Walked around the old docks, checked the St Bavo’s Cathedral. We ended up walking towards a nice record shop and in the same street there was an old Begijnhof. Nowadays a lot of artist live there and they were showing their work in their homes.

Some nice art, but as always too expensive for me. Near our B&B there was an Sicilian restaurant, one of the best in Ghent apparently. On a Saturday night it was advised to make a reservation. We decided to try anyway, luckily a table was available. The food and wines were excellent. So if you go to Ghent , be sure to eat at Il mezzogiorno. , afterwards a few drinks at a local bar. Maybe a bit to late but what an excellent day!

The next day we were greeted with an very good breakfast and very nice weather. Sunshine and 21 degrees. Nice ! We decided to take it easy and just stroll around the city and stop as often as possible to sit and enjoy the sun and a good book. Very enjoyable day all round. There is a lot more to be seen and done in Ghent. Much more than we did. But it’s also a good place where you can avoid the big crowds and just have a relaxing weekend.

Fresh start

A fresh start after a couple of years of doing nothing with my space on the web. Which is a bit of waste really, I don’t know if it’s going to be interesting or not.

We’ll see. Mostly, I’ll be writing about the music I listen too , the books I read, and the sports I practice. Occasionally some finance and economics.