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A good reason not to use stock images in your website.

Colin — Tue, 04 Mar 2008 21:12:03 +0000

Don’t you hate it when you see someone wearing the same shirt as you? It’s equally frustrating seeing the same image used in a website template. If only I had time to create my own cool silhouette businessmen.

Im back.

Colin — Tue, 04 Dec 2007 03:19:52 +0000

Im back from Argentina. The trip was fantastic. If you didn’t follow along at colin.nederkoorn.co.uk, you can check it out for my iPhone pics. Im uploading the pictures to flickr and collecting my thoughts. There will be an article on the good, bad and ugly of Argentina very soon.

While I was gone, it seems like the big news was all about Facebook’s Beacon. It seems like the bad press is in full swing at zuckerberg and facebook. If curious you can always dig in to Mark Zuckerberg’s private life.

Im not here.

Colin — Wed, 14 Nov 2007 13:00:10 +0000

Im here:

New content will be sparse if any gets up there. In the meantime, check me out at colin.nederkoorn.co.uk. I’ll be trying to post some iPhone pictures from Argentina come hell or high water.

Im leaving my laptop behind for the first time since 2000. Back on December 3rd.

of the i – between being and ego

Colin — Tue, 30 Oct 2007 13:42:55 +0000

My friend Pach is in a band, “of the i“. They are getting some traction in the London music scene. They just had a music video done which has some very cool animation.

Don’t panic.

Colin — Thu, 18 Oct 2007 23:30:22 +0000

Or, do panic. That’s the point of this article.
Are you more afraid of Aids or Staph infections. Why not be afraid of both? You’re more likely to die of a crazy strain of staphylococcus. My roommate was telling me that it is resistant to antibiotics and if you get it, you are likely to die.

Im sitting at home for the rest of the year with my aluminum foil helmet on. How will you deal?

For more morbid thoughts (halloween is coming up), you can check when you are going to die. My date is Monday, March 28, 2072.

In boston? Let’s hang out this weekend at the “Head of the Charles”

Colin — Wed, 17 Oct 2007 03:35:43 +0000

So check this out – the Head of the Charles Regatta is on this weekend. Im inviting pretty much everyone I know in Boston – and anyone I have yet to know to hang out at the best spot to see the regatta:

The weeks footbridge.

This is all according to my friend who organizes the event:

There is an excellent view of the Powerhouse Stretch and it’s right in the middle of the action – free concert (Toots and the Maytals at 3:30pm on Sat), Reunion Village (social destination – beer & wine) and Weld Exhibition (corporate display).

Time and Place
Date: Saturday, October 20, 2007
Time: 1:00pm – 4:30pm
Location: Weeks Footbridge
Street: 953 Memorial Dr
City/Town: Cambridge, MA
Find your way there on Google Maps

Stop by and check it out! We’ll probably find somewhere to sit and have a few beers right around there. 617-818-5576 for details. You can also respond to this facebook invite

How to make money in self-destruction

Colin — Tue, 09 Oct 2007 13:51:34 +0000

I grabbed a book at the airport on my way down to DC. “I hope they serve beer in hell” by Tucker Max. This guy has made a (writing) career for himself out of screwing things up. Incredible! His stories of debauchery are really amusing and a great easy read. Most revolve around drunkenness, sex, defecation. They aren’t for the faint of heart. Read on for a passage from the book.

Here’s one of the few PGish passages from the book where one of the partners at the law firm at which he is interning is trying to have sex with him:

We get to the firm, and Brian and I get out of Sally’s car, and then she turns off the car and gets out herself. She looks up at the building (Fenwick has all of a ten story building in Palo Alto), then looks right at me and says, “It looks like I left the lights on in my office. I should probably go turn them off. What do you think?” I am oblivious to the implied meaning here, and look up and say, “Whatever, who cares–they’re halogen, it’ll cost like 3 cents for the night. Forget it.”

Sally gets a mildly frustrated look on her face, and still staring right at me, says, “I need to go up to my office and turn off my lights. Maybe you should come up there…help me out.” Did I ever mention how retarded I am when I get drunk? Well, I missed that signal too, “No, whatever, they’re fine, don’t worry about it.” She kind of pauses for a second, looks right into my eyes, and says, “DO YOU…want to come…HELP ME…turn off the lights…IN MY OFFICE?”

Read the whole thing at TuckerMax.com

I like Luna Bars. Am I a woman?

Colin — Thu, 28 Jun 2007 22:15:01 +0000

Luna Bars are protein bars targeted at women. On the bar it reads “The Whole Nutrition Bar for Women”. They also have great flavors. Chocolate Pecan Pie, Dulce de Leche, Lemon Zest, Chai Tea, Chocolate Peppermint stick. Those names make me want to eat a luna. I’d never tried them until yesterday.

They’re pretty good! I would eat them again. It made me wonder something. Why do they target their marketing to women? Is it better to risk excluding a gender from your product to capture a larger market share of women or men?

What to do when asked for a bribe at immigration

Colin — Fri, 08 Jun 2007 01:18:36 +0000

When travelling to Bali 2 weeks ago, I was stopped by the immigration official because I had no space left in my passport. The Indonesian visa on arrival takes an entire page in the passport and cannot be placed on an “endorsement”. After the immigration official looked through my passport a couple of times, I was whisked off into a room to see the supervisor.

The supervisor was extremely polite, and explained to me that we had a problem. He first established that technically speaking, he couldn’t allow me to enter because there was nowhere to put the visa. He would get in trouble if he put it over another country’s stamp. He then said that maybe he would be willing to put his butt on the line for me. He then said that maybe I could make a small contribution to be used for food for the immigration department. This contribution, he would tell his supervisor was unsolicited by him and volunteered by me. He was willing to scratch my back if I scratched his.

Well, I didn’t have much money with me and that was my concern. I had about US $10 and another $5 equivalent in indonesian currency. I asked if this was enough and he told me that the amount was at my discretion. He gave me my visa and I was on my way.

So, what are the lessons from the story?

It’s not that expensive if you have to make a donation to get into Indonesia
In a non-corrupt country, I would have had a real problem trying to get in.
Always make sure your passport has empty pages.

UK pay as you go rate analysis

Colin — Wed, 06 Jun 2007 10:07:26 +0000

I recently did an analysis on Bali broadband prices. Im now looking at UK pay as you go rates. Im here for 2 weeks, and want a provider that does the following things

Sim only (I have my blackberry from the US)
Cheap rates to the US
Cheap calls to UK mobiles
Inexpensive data is a plus, but not essential

UK mobile phone providers make it really difficult to understand their tariffs and price out how much it will cost you per month for your usage. Some providers give you incentives if you top up with at least 10 pounds a month. I’ve ignored the incentives from all providers. I want to find out who gives me the best rates for my usage, minus the confusing bulls**t.

The Rates

Summary

As you can see, for my usage, I’ve assessed Mobile World as the best deal. Fresh Mobile is basically the same thing, minus the international calling. These are both in-house brands from The Carphone Warehouse. Im off to get my sim card!

Update: I got my sim card, and everything was as expected. The GPRS service doesn’t work out of the box but Im not too worried, I don’t really need it.