Traffic Circle

North of London

A380

It's flying!

At 1029 local time today the Airbus 380 lifted off for its maiden flight.

Bumble Bee

Today I saw the first Bumble Bee of the year. They are always so large – the first ones.

There is a Norwegian saying that you may make a wish on the first sight every year. I made one…

I had a short night stop in London last night, and when I landed at Oslo this morning I jumped straight onto a plane home to Bodo. I picked up K and a friend at school, and we went down to the pier where they played - and I took an ever so little nap in the sun.

Bicycle

It has been a beautiful day outside today.

I finally got around and got my bicycle out of its winter storage. We went for a one hour trip around the city. On our way we stopped at the “Hurtigruten” where we got ice cream and coffee before it sailed on.
There is still a lot of snow in the areas and mountains around the city, but down by the sea it is pretty nice. We also saw several butterflies.

K, constantly growing, got a new bike for her birthday a month ago. Her she is at her grandparents home:

Hurtigruten

This is a picture of the ship, Richard With, were we had our lunch today.



Hurtigruten started in the 1890s as steam ships sailing between Bergen on the south-western coast and Kirkenes up North by the Russian boarder. For almost a century it was the main way of transportation of mail, goods and people along the cost of Norway. Today they have new boats - cruise ships - that patrol the coast. We occasionally use them when we go to the Lofoten Islands.

Shopping

Opera 8.0

Yesterday Norwegian Opera released their version 8.0.

It is arguably the best browser on the market today. You may even control it by voice.

Last night I bought (!) and downloaded their newest version. Now I shall have to use some time to learn how to use it.

There is also a free version, but then you get a small line with banners that take up some of your screen area.

Screensavers

Jonben points out in a comment on this page that there are some other screensavers that utilizes your computers idle time for research as well.

Two more of them are:

The Einstein @ home project which searches for ripples or waves in time caused by pulsars - this to prove some of Einstein's theories about time and space.

The other is Folding @ home which tries to understand how proteins folds. This may help in finding a cure for diseases, such as Alzheimer's, Mad Cow (BSE), Huntington's, and Parkinson's disease.

YaGooHoo!gle

It started out as a April Fools joke by Norwegian Asbjørn Nilsen, but since then it has become amazingly popular. You may try it on the right hand side.

Almost

I have for a long time wanted to by myself a new scanner to scan negatives. Two weeks ago I finally got around and ordered Epson’s brand new 4990 with a resolution of 4800 dpi.

Today it finally arrived. I eagerly opened the package, started to install the software, and then - when I was about to fit the lid onto the scanner - I heard a rumbling sound. All the parts inside were loose. What a disappointment!
I called the guys at the net shop I bought it from. They were helpful – but unfortunately they did not have a new scanner at hand. Now I have to wait indefinitely before they can send me a new one.

I was planning on using the 4990 to scan old family photos. Many of the paper prints have gone missing over the years, but I have thousands of negatives stored away in a safe-deposit box. It shall be fun, when the new scanner arrives, to have a look at the negatives from my grandparents as well as photos from my own youth.

I guess I shall be posting some of them on this blog.

ET

SETI, The Search for ExtraTerrestial Intelligence is trying to find evidence of intelligent life outside of our solar system.

What we find may not look like the friendly Spielberg ET above, but getting evidence of life outside of earth will truly change the way we look upon ourselves.

One way of participating in the search is by installing the screensaver from the UC Berkely SETI team.

It downloads chunks of data from SETI's antennas - analyzes it and sends the result back to SETI. All while you are not using your computer.

If you are the more "down to earth" person you might want to install a screensaver from climateprediction.net. They are in need of processor time to forecast the weather.

Spare time

What to do if you have some spare time and an elevator in your building..

I made it!

Finally!

Little panda-guy killed the green blob!

I guess my pc-game skills are at the hight of a 10-year old.

Arrghh.. green blob!!

K was playing this game on internet yesterday, and I just wanted to try it for a second. Now I can't get by level 12 and it is killing me. I sat up late and played - and now, this morning, I have started again. Arghh!! Just let me get by level twelve so that I can start living again.

Maybe there are some rules in Korean (?) that I don't understand? I have figured out that it starts when I hit the short pink word, and then I just start shooting - trying to avoid the little bomb that makes the GREEN BLOB multiply.

I should have been cleaning the house today - but I just seem to put it up for as long as I can. It is so boring. I should hire a maid! Not that I am untidy of me. I like to have things looking in order - but this little dust layer that pops up as soon as I turn my back. Where is it coming from? I guess I shall just have to live with it - and I am!

My Shop

Looking at my blog entries the last month I realize it looks like I have changed career and started a video shop at the corner; “Rogers Shop”

However, my life does not entirely revolve around my DVD player. I was working over the last weekend - got lucky and got Saturday off so that I could commute home and sleep in my own bed. So much better than hotel beds!

Today I have been outside in the garden. Down here in the city the snow is all gone and I have been cleaning away old branches and other garbage from the lawn. It is quite nice outside. Nothing green yet, but it is just around the corner…

Jean de Florette

.. Referring to The Godfather below - I can also STRONGLY recommend Jean de Florette.

It is an epic French drama taking place in Provence in the 1930's.
The movie and its sequel Manon des sources (Manon of the spring) came out in 1986 and are two of the most successful movies in French cinema.

I watched these DVD's three days ago, and last night I had to start watching them again. Superb filming, brilliant acting, lovely music and a marvelous plot. I can say no more than that you have to see these two.

Manon des sources trivia:
The lovely Manon played by Emmanuelle Bèart did in real life marry her co star Daniel Auteuil playing Ugolin. They have one child together, but are now divorced

The Godfather

I was watching the Godfather trilogy on DVD last week. It must have been more than 15 years since I viewed it last time. I could not stop watching. Such a masterpiece!
I think I shall never forget Al Pacino’s silent cry towards the end of part III.

I’ve learned that many of the scenes and stories are based upon true events.
Here is a link to the New York City’s five families.