Amat victoria curam!

Wanna swim?

An example of little-noticed provisions in a mammoth health care bill taken up Saturday by the House of Representatives are lower taxes for gay couples who receive health benefits from employers. Such benefits are now treated as taxable income for the employee, and the employer may owe payroll taxes on their fair-market value. Under the bill, such benefits would be tax-free, just like health benefits provided to the family of an employee married to a person of the opposite sex. Thanks to Nancy and Barack...

Li Wei from Bejing states that his photos are not computer montages and that he works with the help of props such as mirrors, metal wires, scaffolding and acrobatics. He then removes the wires and scaffolding with Photoshop to create seemingly impossible photos like this one.

I dag jag är starter studera svenska. Jag förstår svenska lite, för svenska och holländska liknar varandra mycket. Jag utnyttjar en bok “Basiscursus Zweeds” av Adrie Meijer. Också är en webbsida www.wrts.nl stor för et öva för grammatik. Jag hoppar att tala bra svenska snart!

Triumph and TAG Heuer made a special edition of the Bonneville: The McQueen - in the colors and style of the Gulf livery of the No. 20 Porsche 917 McQueen drove in the film Le Mans. I'd think I rather go for Steve McQueen's original Triumph he used for the jump in The Great Escape...

At my favorite clothing store: "Zeeman" you can now order a free boxer (yellow or blue). Is this the end of the Bjorn Borg Empire? ;-)

I just ordered Carmine Gallos' book about the awesome presentation skills of Steve Jobs. Just a quick sneak preview of the best tips:

Plan in Analog

Steve Jobs presentation has all the elements of a great movie—heroes and villains, stunning visuals, and a supporting cast. And, like a movie director, Steve Jobs "storyboards" the plot. Before you go digital and open PowerPoint, spend time brainstorming, sketching, or whiteboarding. Remember, you’re delivering a story. Slides complement the story.

Focus on Benefits

Your listeners are asking themselves one question: why should I care? Steve Jobs sells the benefit behind every new product or feature—and he’s very clear about it. Why buy an iPhone 3G? Because "it’s twice as fast at half the price." What’s so great about Time Capsule? "All your irreplaceable photos, videos, and documents are automatically protected and easy to retrieve if they’re ever lost." The Apple Web site also keeps the focus on the benefit, with features like "10 Reasons Why You'll Love a Mac." Nobody cares about your product or service. They only care about how your product or service will improve their lives.

Sell Dreams, Not Products

Steve Jobs doesn’t sell computers. He sells the promise of a better world. True evangelists are driven by a messianic zeal to create new experiences. When Jobs introduced the iPod in 2001, he said, "In our own small way, we’re going to make the world a better place." Where most people see the iPod as a music player, Jobs presents it as tool to enrich people’s lives. Of course, it’s important to have great products. But passion, enthusiasm, and a sense of purpose beyond the actual product will set you and your company apart.

Create Twitter-Friendly Headlines

Can you describe your product or service in 140 characters? Steve Jobs offers a headline, or description, for every product and each headline can easily fit in a Twitter post. For example, when Jobs introduced the MacBook Air in January 2008, he described it simply: "The world’s thinnest notebook." That one sentence speaks volumes. Jobs will fill in the details during his presentation and on the Apple Web site, but he finds one sentence to position every product.

Introduce the Antagonist

In classic stories, the hero fights the villain. The same holds true for a Steve Jobs presentation. In 1984, the villain was IBM (), known as"Big Blue". Before Jobs introduced the famous 1984 television ad to a group of Apple salespeople, he created a dramatic story around it. "IBM wants it all," he said. Apple would be the only company to stand in its way. It was very dramatic and the crowd went crazy. Branding expert Martin Lindstrom, says that great brands and religions have something in common: the idea of vanquishing a shared enemy. Creating a villain allows the audience to rally around the hero—your product.

Draw a Road Map

Jobs outlines the story—the narrative—at the beginning of every presentation. At the Sept. 9, 2009, music event, Jobs told the audience he would be talking about three products: iPhones, iTunes, and iPods. Along the way he provides verbal guideposts such as "iPhones. The first thing I wanted to talk about today. Now, let’s move on to the second, iTunes." Help your listeners follow the storyline.

Create Visual Slides

Apple products are easy to use because they eliminate clutter. It's a design philosophy that applies to every Steve Jobs presentation. There are no bullet points in his presentations. Instead Jobs relies on photographs and images. Where the average PowerPoint slide has 40 words, it's difficult to find seven words on 10 of Jobs' slides. The technique is based on the idea that information is more effectively recalled when text and images are combined. For example, when Steve Jobs unveiled the Macbook Air, Apple's ultra-thin notebook computer, he showed a slide of the computer fitting inside a manila envelope. That image was worth a thousand words. "Simplicity is the ultimate sophistication," Jobs once said. Be sophisticated. Keep it simple.

Obey the 10-Minute Rule

Neuroscientists have found that the brain gets tired after 10 minutes of any presentation. In other words, no matter how engaging the speaker, audiences will tend to tune out after approximately 10 minutes. A Steve Jobs presentation lasts about 1.5 hours but every 10 to 15 minutes, he breaks up the content with video, demonstrations or guest speakers. He doesn't give his audience time to get bored.

Make Numbers Meaningful

In every Apple presentation, big numbers are put into context. On Sept. 9, 2009, Apple Vice-President Phil Schiller said that 220 million iPods had been sold to date. He placed that number into context by saying it represented 73% of the market. He broke it down even further—and took a jab at the competition—by saying Microsoft (MSFT) was "pulling up the rear" with its 1% market share. Schiller learned his technique from Jobs who always puts large numbers into a context that's relevant to his audience.

Use Zippy Words

Steve Jobs described the speed of the new iPhone 3G as "amazingly zippy." Where most business presenters use words that are too technical, vague, or confusing, Jobs' language is remarkably simple. He rarely, if ever, will use jargon that cloud most presentations like "best of breed" or "synergy." His language is simple, clear, and direct. Legendary GE ( GE ) CEO Jack Welch once said, "insecure managers create complexity." Exude confidence: speak simply.

Share the Stage

Steve Jobs is closely aligned with Apple but his presentations are rarely one-man plays. Jobs shares the stage with business partners, musicians, and employees. In October 2008, Jobs invited Apple's chief design guru, Jonathan Ive, to give the audience a tutorial on how Apple created a computer frame from a single piece of aluminum. Jobs could deliver the information himself, but he offers the stage to others who have a unique role or perspective.

Use Props

In addition to stunning visual backdrops (his slides), Steve Jobs brings props for show and tell. After introducing new products or features, Jobs will often sit down at a computer or pick up an iPhone and demonstrate how it works. These demos are simple, but often very dramatic. When Jobs introduced Macintosh in 1984, he walked to the center of a darkened stage and slowly pulled the computer from inside a black bag. He pulled a floppy disk out of his pocket, slowly inserted it into the computer, and walked away as the computer came to life.

Plan a Water Cooler Moment

There's always one moment in a Steve Jobs presentation that is the water cooler moment, the one part of the presentation that everyone will be talking about. These showstoppers are completely scripted ahead of time. For example, when Jobs unveiled the MacBook Air, he removed the computer from an inter-office envelope to show just how thin it was. It's the one moment from Macworld 2008 that everyone remembers. Plan a showstopper.

Practice. A Lot.

Steve Jobs spends hours rehearsing every facet of his presentation. Every slide is written carefully, every presentation staged like a theatrical experience. Steve Jobs makes a presentation look effortless, but that polish comes after hours and hours of grueling practice. I don't believe Steve Jobs is a natural presenter. If you watch video clips of his presentations going back 20 years, you will see that he improves significantly every decade. The Steve Jobs of 1984 had a lot of charisma but the Steve Jobs of 1997 was a far more polished speaker. The Steve Jobs who introduced the iPhone in 2007 was even better.

Dress Appropriately

Steve Jobs can wear a black mock turtleneck, blue jeans, and running shoes because, quite simply, he has earned the right to dress anyway he wants. For most communicators, it's best to dress a little better than everyone in your audience. Don't throw away the suit just yet!

One More Thing…Have Fun!

Steve Jobs makes every keynote seem like fun. During the January 2007 Macworld keynote presentation, Jobs' clicker failed to advance the slides. Instead of getting rattled, Jobs paused and told a funny story about the time he and "Woz" (Apple co-founder Steve Wozniak) built a TV jamming device and had fun messing up TV signals in Wozniak's dorm at UC Berkeley. Once the slides were fixed, Jobs moved on as if it had been planned. He smiles, laughs, and seems to genuinely enjoy himself on stage.

The letters of Vincent to his brother Theo are as famous as his paintings. And next to the books with the letters and the excellent website where you can find and read all 902 letters online you can also download a new (307 Mb!) app with an interactive approach to the letters.

As seen at Leaseplan Raamsdonksveer...

You know when you're getting a tiny bit older when one of your friends hit the 50 mark.

Lex is still going strong and we had a great party at his masonry Lodge in Amsterdam (which happens to be one of the oldest in the world). Having Dan Browns' Lost Symbol in mind I was glad that Lex finally could en light me about the rituals and symbols of the Masons.

Dirk Scheringa, the guy who lost his Bank DSB last week, was famous for wearing goat woolen sox. No wonder that this week in almost every shop these sox are on sale ;-)

The new VFR1200 looks like a great bike. A sports tourer with a V4 engine and a single-sided swingarm with a shaft-drive system. I also like the design. Let's wait and see what it really looks like and how it rides!

Next time I will help him and make the picture for him ;-)

I thought it would be good to update my french movie collection a little - so I bought at amazon these titles:

La Gloire De Mon Pere [1990] - with Phillippe Caubere
Le Dîner De Cons - with Thierry Lhermitte
Apres Vous [2005] - with Daniel Auteuil
Mon meilleur ami [2007] -with Daniel Auteuil
Les Témoins [2007] - with Emmanuelle Beart
Hors de prix [2007] - with Audrey Tautou

I have only seen Les Témoinsin the cinema - so let's hope the rest is at good as that one!

Orders taken before the launch for Windows 7 by Amazon were the biggest in the online retailer’s history, grossing more than even the latest Harry Potter book. So it seems that everybody wants to have a part of the fun.
But what about those 800m PCs still running Windows XP? - Like my HP mini note book? Remarkably, Microsoft has not provided a simple upgrade path for them. We are forced to do what is euphemistically called a “custom install”. That means copying all the data on the XP computer to an external hard disk, installing Windows 7, copying the data back again, reinstalling all the applications anew—which means finding all the old software CDs and their serial numbers—and reconfiguring their settings and find new drivers...
I think I will wait till Microsoft pulls the final plug on XP in 2014 (and buy a new Apple iTablet by then)

In his fascinating study, The Secret History of Georgian London, Dan Cruikshank, an authority on Georgian architecture, removes the bland facade to expose one of London's biggest and most lively industries - its trade in sex. Throughout the 18th century, London had more prostitutes openly plying their trade than anywhere else in Europe - several thousand of them. The forces of law pursued them all with fierce penalties: convicted bawds were pilloried and sodomy and rape were capital crimes. But without any effective police force, the sex trade burgeoned untill the sex trade was chased underground by the Victorians and the British all became prudish like hell. :-)

Years after I ripped my entire popular and jazz music CD collection, I am finally ready to start working on my biggest challenge and project ever: putting my classical music collection to MP3.

This may sound easier then I actually is - tagging the tracks, finding the right recording information, the original art work and merging several CD's back to one piece takes some serious effort.

I set up a separate iTunes library on a separate Hard Disk and started today with Mahler.

I hope that I can finish this somewhere in 2010...

One of my most beloved Kees van Dongen's "Jeune Arabe" is at auction at Sothebys, New York November 4th. The estimate is $7 - $10 million - to bad I don't have that amount of cash available right now...

At the London Automobiles auction of RM I found this nice Dodge Challenger for a mere 70.000 pounds. The Dodge Challenger and its Plymouth Barracuda stablemate were the last entrants to the “pony car” club already occupied by the Chevrolet Camaro, AMC Javelin and Ford Mustang, but it has that unabashed muscle car character, especially in this Sublime Green color.

Almost two years after Marijn and I started the company we thought that the name Zomoto isn't really representing what we actually are doing - so starting from today we are calling the firm "Motomedia".

Motomedia is a online automotive network and consists of sites like (zomoto.nl, autoblog.nl, auto.nl, carwoman.nl, and hopefully many more in the near future). To celebrate this event we had dinner at Restaurant The Goudfazant - which was very tasty and nice :-)

While I am still waiting for my Kindle to arrive - I must say that maybe, just maybe the Nook would have been a better option. Wifi, Epub, color display, Micro SD slot, swanky design: it seems the Nook as got it all. You can even lend ebooks to en from friends...

My iLiad definiately is complety worthy for museum purposes only. They only thing that keeps me happy still with my Kindle is that outside of the USA you cannot order a Nook. So in the end, the Kindle is the best (read: only) option!

Thanks to the nice people of blurb I received the first copy of my first book - an account of my blog which I started way back in 2003. The first couple of years I didn't post everyday yet but only when I was traveling. So the first volume of my collected Blog posts book is covering 2003 - 2005. I am very very happy with the way it turned out and the easy with which burb "slurped" my blog post and compiled it into a book. Although every single post is still online and print is completely something form the past - I do like to have so many sweet memories in a book :-)

I am currently editing my blog 2006, part I - so when this is finished I"ll show you the end result.

Julie & Julia, the movie about Julia Child and Julie Powell has actually one hero: Julie's husband Eric, played by Chris Messina. It is absolutely awesome what this guy accepted of and did for Julie Powell. This woman is really a big mess, dropping things, being hyper and depressed at the same time. But everytime there he is, comforting her and suporting Julie: My buddy Eric...

Roland and I joined our buddies of the motor cycle club for a weekend in Zeeland. Although the weather wasn't that great (rain and wind), it was fun to meet everybody and to make a tour around the islands in search of windmills - of which they have more then plenty!.
At some we stopped and had a little chat with the local miller. Usually strange, eccentric blokes, like these two.

Gay Icons, a new exhibition at the National Portrait Gallery opens in the week of the 40th anniversary of the Stonewall riots. A couple of famous (British) gays were asked who their icons were. Not a lot of surprises - but a couple of nice pictures. My favorite Sir Ian McKellen included heroes like Edward Carpenter and Walt Whitman.

In our local post office today I noticed that you can celebrate every birthday you want, but when you turn 6 - you probably will not receive any congratulations...

This engraving by Durer plays an important role in Dan Brown's new novel - the lost symbols. The symbols here are a magic square in the right top corner of the drawing. If you click on the picture, you can see that the numbers 1 to 16 are organized in such a way that every row or column sums up to 34, even if you divide the square in 4 smaller squares - the sum of that square is 34 again - sweet! Unfortunately Dan's book isn't that great. Professor Landon is over and out I am afraid!

Bjarne Koek and Neddo Siebum are two students who set up a Gay-Straight Alliance at their schools. Their aim is to make homosexuality something that can be discussed at school among fellow pupils and to make clear that they live their life just as everyone else is doing. They really set an example - and look cute :-)

Anna Wintour is not the hero of RJ Cutler's documentary "The September Issue,"about the September Issue of Vogue but Grace Coddigton, Vogue's Creative Director. After being a model herself she now works more then 40 years for Vogue and she is both likable (unlike Anna) and highly creative.

President Obama told LGBT Americans that his commitment to ending discrimination in the military, in the workplace and for loving couples and their families is ‘unwavering. Do not doubt the direction we are going and the destinations we are going to reach. An other stunning speech- but no mention of gay marriage though...

Anne Frank has her own Youtube channel - have a look!

I am very happy that Barack won the Nobel peace prize- I am sure that this will encourage him and so many others to continue on the road he has been going. My line up for this year was:

Morgan Tsvangirai - If one man symbolizes change through peaceful actions he is it. He really needs more recognition from the world to end the brutality in Zimbabwe.
Václav Havel - as a salut for all the work he has done for peace in the Czech Republic, Central and Eastern Europe and the world.
Barack Obama - I still don't know how but somehow this guy can listen, make people listen and act.

A nice collection of "nude male" photographs on sale October 22th at Swann, New York.
Photo's from Avedon, Von Gloeden, Bianchi, Hine, Forbes, Seidner and McDermott

Amazon made a very interesting offer with their new kindle 2 - international version. For $279 (plus shipping and tax) you can download books ($11.99) almost everywhere in the world within 60 seconds.
Although I already own a iRex Iliad, I thought this was an offer I couldn't refuse and so pre-ordered my kindle. It will be delivered in two weeks :-))

A hilarious new HBO comedy with Zach Galifianakis (Hangover) and Jason Schwartzman.

The conservative party will win the next elections - no doubt about that. But the way they are organising themselves is pretty good. Have a look at their campaign website: myconservatives and see how they are using web 2.0 to mobilize volunteers and voters.

The Ugly Truth is that this movie totally SUCKS. It is a mindless, foul, formula movie without any nice moment (or pretty people).

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