Editorial - 28 September 2001

Well, we had ourselves a major power outtage. Around 10:15 (GMT+1) everything went down is a second. Sure, the UPS's kicked in and kept this thingie up and running during the hour and a half that the whole building went powerless, but there may have been a downtime nonetheless due to the firewall which did went down after a while. Well, now you know it ... don't blame us, blame the lack of power.

Editorial - 27 September 2001

Gee ... I hate those sudden weather changes and the effect on the human body. It seems I just can't get through a single spring or fall without getting sick. It sucks.
Song of the week : "It's been a while" Staind
Oldie of the week : "Next Year" Foo Fighters
Last seen movie : Guest House Paradiso : watched the tape last weekend and by God ... this isn't as funny as it should've been. Eddie ! Ritchie ! Major disappointment.
Doing this week : Well, since the week's almost over, that won't be a lot anymore, would it ?

Editorial - 18 September 2001

Let's get on with the regular programming ...
Song of the week : "Smooth criminal" Alien Ant Farm : my god, this actually rocks.
Oldie of the week : "Pump Up The Volume" Marrs
Last seen movie : Original Sin : Always a pleasure to see Angelina Jolie (although I didn't go see Tomb Raider just because she was in it) and especially when she shows some acting talent rather then ... well, you know, those other two things. Antonio Banderas can act - too bad he always looks the same suave spanish/mexican ladiesman ... Anyway, too cut it short : it's a good semi-dramatic movie - with a Hollywood twist off course ... definitely something for the people over 30 (which I am not - just to set the record straight).
Doing this week : Remembering the semi-afwul sailing-experience from last sunday (stormy weather) and the very tasty driving experience behind the wheel of the new Volvo S60 and S80 cars ... the BMW's ate our dust ...

Editorial - 11 September 2001

Breaking news : two planes crashed into the World Trade Centre in New York around 9 AM local NY time. The building caught fire and there's a huge hole in the top-floors. The second crash took place 18 minutes after the first one. Supposedly the second crash was a hijacked Boeing 767 passengerplane from Boston. Within half an hour a third crash happened. This time the Pentagon was hit. The Washington Post has a working webcam pointed at the Pentagon fire. I've downloaded a picture here. Around 10 AM NY time one of the two WTC towers collapsed ... half an hour later the second one did too ...

President Bush hastily returned from Florida to Washington and condemned the apparent terrorist attacks on American citizens on American soil (or something like that). Considering newsstations were all bringing the news about the first crash, when the second one happened, lots of Americans must've seen it happen live ... as you can see the plane approaching below ...

The second plane	WTC up close before collapsing

The New York Stock Exchange and Nasdaq Stock Market said trading would not open until at least 11:30 NY time (that's EDT).
AP and Reuters are reporting evacuations in the D.C. area : obviously the White House and the Pentagon, next to the Capitol Building, the State Department and the Old Executive Office Building. The Sears Tower in Chicago is also being evacuated. Within the hour, the federal government took the additional step of shutting down national landmarks across the country, including the Washington Monument, the Statue of Liberty and the St. Louis Gateway Arch, among other locations, according to the National Park Service.
The Federal Aviation Administration has shut down all aircraft takeoffs nationwide and has directed all planes in the air to continue to their final destinations or land at the nearest airport.
Although this all sounds incredibly grave ... that does not appear to be all ... this day can also easily be remembered as the day the internet really crashed since all major newssites seem to have stopped working. Sites like CNN, MSNBC, BBC, De Standaard, VRT, Yahoo News, Tijdnet ... I've just seen them all go down. I'm going home ... watch some television.

Update : Read some newslinks over here.

Editorial - 10 September 2001

Two days ago there seems to have been yet another computer-age-milestone : UNIX machines counted their billionth second. Woohoo !! Rejoice !! Fun fun fun !! All this just because someone once decide to start counting from the first of january 1970 ... If you wanna read more, here you go.
Song of the week : nothing special at the moment.
Oldie of the week : let's drop this one for a week too.
Last seen movie : Swordfish : a preview-screening. And God I loved it ... John Travolta is still one of the coolest mofo's around ... Hugh Jackman's not that bad either, but the most fun was watching all the Dell machines in this movie. it all started with one of their new laptops (in a very lap-oriented scene by the way), then there's was something spiffy with seven screens linked together just to impress anybody watching and finally there was a nice stack of rackservers in the bankscenes ... One thing though ... who had the idea of shooting a scene with a Dell screen and an Apple keyboard ?
Doing this week : Considering the amount of whiskey I got last week, I'd better start drinking some of it. What an awful task ... (sheepish grin)

Editorial - 7 September 2001

Catching up on the IT-news yesterday I came across this article about HP taking over Compaq. There was something unusually funny about the advert to the right ...

Editorial - 6 September 2001

It's my birthday, it's my birthday ... hey, hey, hey, hey, it's my birthday ! All e-cards to the known e-mail-address (mentioned below). Favorite topics : Star Wars, Sandra Bullock, Skateboarding and movies from the fifties and sixties.

Editorial - 5 September 2001

No more holiday-season for me. Ironic sidenote : temperatures dropped from 30° celsius to 18° celsius last weekend. As if the weather gods knew I had to get back to work ... quite enjoyable.
Song of the week : "Anything" Bastian
Oldie of the week : "Smells Like Teen Spirit" Nirvana - the album Nevermind came out ten years ago this week.
Last seen movie : Final Fantasy - Final whatever ... okay, the computers using Maya 3D software did a nice job (and Aki Ross can drop by my house any day if she were real) but what about a good story ? As usual the premisse was nice, but in the end they had to stop with something so the usual Manga-weirdness is thrown in ... pretty boring. At least it's fun to try to recognise as many actors by their voices as quick as you can.
Doing this week : Celebrating my birthday.

darkman says sleep tight

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