The most recent 20 comments posted to Making Light by Martin Wisse:

Why all this is not so black and white as we might wish it was and why Farhad Manjoo is an idiot:


Can you guarantee that the content of such IMs would never contain confidential patient data that could be seen by someone else on the same IM program on that network that has no need, and therefore no authorization to see that data? Can you guarantee that the IM program you want to use would allow for multiple levels of security and access restriction? Do they support SSL and/or Kerberos? Can they tie into LDAP? Do you even know what some of the data leakage issues are for IM in a medical situation, and the time, work, and money required to properly handle them so they don’t get reamed by a HIPAA audit? Does any of that even exist in your world, or is this yet something else you know nothing about, and therefore think there’s no difference between what you do at home, and what is required of the network that doctors and nurses use at a hospital?

What Timo said. Locus was a window on the world of US science fiction and fandom to tthis Dutch fan as well. He will be missed.

Caroline, 89: Everyone talks to me as though I know everything they know, which implies that I ought to know everything they know, which implies that if they find out I don't know, they'll think I'm unforgivably ignorant. (Note: I am aware that this is probably not true, but mostly I am scared to find out.)

I would see that as a compliment that they actually rate you high enough not to need handholding...

110, Nix:

and resource limits imposed on the testing suite after kicking myself for not doing it earlier.

But had you done so earlier, would you have found the bug?

Gloria does have religious, specifically Christian, undertones. In de Gloria Excelsis Deo and all that. But apart from the birthday song plus the occasional psalm you won't really see it used in Dutch.

Often this song will be song in the third person btw: "Lang zal ze leven", or "Lang zal hij leven"; the standard joke lyrics go "Veel zal ze geven" ("She'll give us much") in the second line and it's traditional not so much to end the song as to let it awkwardly peter out amidst some unnecessary tempo changes, or at least it is in our family...

Just read those articles Martin S. refered too and those are indeed quite good if you want a general overview of Dutch politics and what makes it tick.

So it turns out that Russell Shorto is not entirely charmed by our country, as an article in one of the local free rags (De Pers) shows this morning. He hates the food, thinks the weather is awful, feels the welfare state is "a burden" and is also disenchanted by how crowded the country is and the bad service he's getting.

The food, weather and service are all true, but if you don't like crowds the Netherlands and especially Amsterdam are just as unsuited a place for you as Manhattan would be, while complaining about the welfare state when it does so much for you is just ungracious.

What I didn't know until now is that he's the director of the John Adams Institute which promotes the cultural exchange between the US and Holland --wonder if it would subsidise my comics habit?

Nice article, but very much from the point of view of somebody rich enough not to have to deal with a lot of the minor and major annoyances of living in the Netherlands/Amsterdam for even western immigrants[1]. The writer seems to live in what you might call the expat bubble. The Netherlands can be a lot colder if you're not a highly paid professional [2] with some company helping you adjust to Dutch life.

There's a lot of not very helpful bureaucracy and a lot of people with not very much sympathy for those who don't speak dutch working in them, as my partner has experienced more than once. Despite our reputation as a cosmopolitan nation and welcoming to foreigners, much of that is only skindeep; there's a strong tendency to be clannish and turned inward, especially outside the larger cities. This has only increased in the past few years what with Fortuyn and Wilders and all.



[1] let alone non-western immigrants or asylum seekers.
[2] I certainly don't have to pay 52 percent income tax and I certainly can't really complain about my salary

Congratulations. Don't tell Nick Cohen.

61: Tony Zbaraschuk asked:


anyone want to recommend the top five must-have books for Dutch history?


I'd recommend Jonathan Israel's The Dutch Republic, it's Rise, Greatness and Fall 1477- 1805 as a good and thorough overview.

Steve Goodman?

What are the odds. I've just come back from the pub where the Making Light meet was held and we got talking about Steven Goodman when a French song to the tune of his "The City of New Orleans" came on the stereo.

Quick report: it was fun, with several lurkers supporting us in e-ma^walcohol. Apart from PNH, TNH and Abi, present were my good self, my partner Palau, Thomas, Aron (sp?) from Boston who was in Frankfurt anyway and used his railpas to get to Amsterdam, Auke (a Dutch lurker) and Bo (sp?) (another one, who promised to get posting here), as well as Steve Glover and his partner Jenny. Drinks were had, Dutch pub food was tried and merry was made.

#26: Jenever (note spelling) is something that's thought of as an old man's drink over here until a few years ago, with the stereotypical consumer being the retired worker or fisherman or somebody like that ordering a "kopstootje" (beer + jenever (in separate glasses of course)) at his local.

Then the yuppie distilleries like Ketel 1 revamped it and its slowly becoming popular again.

One word of advice for the ferries. There at the back of Central Station (which is usually where the trains from schiphol come in as well) and you need to take the ferry that goes more or less straight over the IJ, NOT the ones to NDSM Werf or IJplein, as that will leave you miles from where you want to be.

22: unlike in perfidious Albion, railway ticket prices (barring special offers) are fixed, so buying them now or on the day doesn't matter.

"capable of committing poetry" culture check

Whoops.

Ooh great. Welgefeliciteerd en nog vele jaren samen.

Places to meet up in central Amsterdam. Just across the IJ is Ot en Sien, which Charlie has been to as well. Good beers, a decent selection of food and plenty of room, as well as a smoking room for those so inclined.

De Jaren can be quite busy at times, but fortunately there are plenty of biggish pubs around there.

One I like is De Bekeerde Suster, near Nieuwmarkt, a five minute walk from De Jaren. There are also plenty of good and not too expensive restaurants nearby. Just don't be surprised by the ladies behind glass in some of the smaller streets.

What I wonder is how many people follow the same reasoning as Patrick and feel it's their duty to view ads?

In my experience most people get an adblocking app quite quickly or are too lazy/not knowledgable enough to know it's an option.

Dammit, I was going to post that flyer up today.

Ironically we actually can't, as the local Gamma burned down last year.

And there we have Obama doing what Bush couldn't do eight years ago, walk into the White House.

Remember, eight years ago when Patrick and others posted in rec.arts.sf.fandom about the first inauguration of Bush and how angry and desperate we felt, how awful that day was?

How Bush slunk into town like a thief, with thousands of protestors making sure he knew he wasn't wanted?

How different from today, with a president America can be proud of, with millions of Americans and others braving the cold to cheer him on. I thought the day would never come, but it has and it feels good.

Of course, the versatility of the verb uitmkane is no longer a minor miracle once you realise that the whole of Dutch language can be reduced to just four words: leuk, echt, lekker and mooi, or so my English partner concludes having been here for five years.

Anything else is just a variation on a theme...

Treatment: flu and cold

DO NOT GO TO WORK WITH A SEVER FLU OR COLD JUST BECAUSE YOU HAVE TO BE MACHO ABOUT AND INFECT ME AND THE REST OF THE DEPARTMENT WITH YOUR CRAP.

Especially not with the coughing in the face.

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