I Follow the Best

There is a new website and I just had to say something about it. The http://www.idont.com/ website is about everyone copying eachother, that's why the iPod is a big succes and that there is an alternative...which they are trying to sell. Well I don't agree with this website in many way's. First they say you should be a free thinker and not follow the rest and then try to push another device they think best for you to follow. Anyway Mac users were always considerd a oddity among many Windows users and were always laughed upon. I was a Windows user for many years and didn't even know there was anything else but when I met my man I fell into a world of Mac's and I have to say I adore them as much as my man and would never go back unless Windows suddenly gets better (When is Vista coming out...). Now suddenly the Mac side has a succes, the Ipod, and everyone wants one. Now these people behind this website suddenly are against following the group (I wonder on what kind of platform they are). I guess they are just jealous of that one little succes.

I don't mind the teasing, I can even laugh about it but I hate it when people tell lies. They say they have an alternative. An alternative should at least be the same or better or you can't call it an alternative. (That like saying there are very good AIDS blockers that will keep you alive for 50 years but there is an alternative which will only keep you alive for 5 years. You pick!)

Here are some figures of both devices

The SanDisk sansa e270 ($279.99) only has a capacity of 6GB. in comperison to the 30 ($299) and 60 ($399) the iPod has. How much video and photos can you get on it. To compare that 15000 song with album art on an iPod and around a 1500 song and the SanDisk. Maybe you can fit like 8 episodes of Lost on the SanDisk. The SanDisk does have a memory slot for extra GB but you can expand it with nor more than a 1G MicroSD card (35$)

Screensizes: iPod is 2,5 inch the SanDisk 1.8 inch

Compatibility:
iPod Audio: MPEG4, MP3, AAC, WAV, AIFF, MP3 VBR, Audible, Apple Lossless
SanDisk Audio: WMA, MP3
iPod Video: .m4v, .mp4 and .mov file formats (for detailed information go to www.apple.com)
SanDisk: Not to be found (not even on their own website)

They both have faults and battery life is around the same for the 60Gb iPod and the e270 though the 30Gb iPod a little less but I couldn't find anything about the batterylife of the SanDisk during video playback but I guess it will be around the same.

So pick what you think best even if it mean following others! (maybe the others did pick the best to follow for a change)

Memoirs of a Geisha

I have just seen this movie and I just have to say, WOW. It's a beautiful movie that I wished I had seen sooner but was always afraid to go to the theater and hating it so I have just seen it yesterday. They have taken the emotions so well and how people go around eachother and only try to get personal gain by hurting others. Ofcourse it's said in the past but not even that much in the past. They really took the time time to work this movie out into the finest detial. I can advice anyone who hasn't seen it yest to go ahead and rent or buy it as you will not be dissapointed.

We will soon go to the da Vinci code and I will post something about that as well

Day Trip to fairyland

Today we went to the Efteling, a theme park in the south of the Netherlands, because we needed a break from ordinary day life. It's a special place to me because I went there almost every year when I was a kid with my parents and sister. I still remember how I loved the fairy tales there and that i totally believed them. Now ofcourse we go for the fast rides and some of the beautiful slow rides as well. The park is totally different from Disney parks so if you like that and expect that from an amusementpark you shouldn't go there. It's situated in perfect woodland environment with a large fairytalewood for every age and only a few fast rides. This year they are building a new fastride: The Flying Dutchman (de vliegende hollander), based on an old legend. This ride is totally designed and developed by the Efteling and what I have seen so far it looks very cool.

Some Facts:

The tower is 22.5 metres tall and has a lift of 45°! The total surface area of the attraction is 17,000 m2 and the length of the coaster is 420 metres, a distance you race over with a speed of over 70 kilometres per hour. The G-forces during the ride vary enormously: from a maximum of 3G (3x your own body weight) to a minimum of 0.2G (almost weightless).

Roosje The School Spider

This is Roosje eating a cricket. She lives at my college and I had just redone her tank and I thought why not give her a nice spot here too!

Mothersday

Yesterday was mothersday and we went to my mother in law. We had a great BBQ party because the weather was still fine. There had been bad forecasts all week for the weekend but as it turned out it was still sunny and dry altough it did get a bit colder. I am still waiting on the rain they predicted so I don't have to water my plants but I guess I will have to do it anyway now. Today it is grey but I hope it will stay dry as I still have to travel!

Hunting for a Job

I have started to look for a job as a biology teacher now. This is the best time to do it because most schools now know how many students they will have next year and how many teachers they need. I have already replied to some ad's in the paper and I hope I will soon find the perfect job. I still have one year to go till I am graduated but as teachers are in demand and I will have enough time on my hands I decided a job would be perfect. Ofcourse I will post as soon as I know more

Jumping out of your skin

It took a while but my sweet Shelob has finally done it, she crawled out of her own skin and grew a little bit. I saw it coming for weeks since her backside had started to turn black and she had made a nice bed of silk to lay in. Last night she flipped herself over on her back on her bed and she took a while to rest and just lay there. Around 2 am she pushed herself out, sadly I was already sleeping by that time so I don't have any pics of it. I did check on her once when she was halfway but I didn't dare to use my camera as it would flash and scare her, I was even to scared to turn on the lights. Spiders are very skittish and vulnerable when they are taking their old coat off so I just let her be. This morning she was already sitting back up and drying out her new skin.

You can see some of the pics here

In The Summer Time

Finaly summer has arrived here in Holland. Only last week I was still wearing my wintercoat and now I am only wearing a t-shirt and skirt. It was quite sudden but very nice for a change. It has been a very cold spring and now the tempature starts rising the trees and plants can start growing again. I love summer even though winter has some perks but I am just a sun lover. We have already BBQed 2 times this week! I hope everyone will have great weather to wash away those last winter depressions wherever you are.

College Hotel

We have been away for the weekend to a hotel in Amsterdam just for fun. Even tough we both are a lot in Amsterdam for work and school, it was great to just relax and go see things you never have time for when we are there. First we went to the museum but when we got there there was a very long line so we first brought our bag to the hotel. When we went back there was still a line ofcourse but atleast we were now without a heavy bag. The museum was great and we saw so many beautiful paintings and we had a great time.

After we left the museum we went to the most expensive street in Amsterdam where all the rich and famous of the Netherlands go shopping. It was great fun to windowshop and we had a good laugh at the pricetags. Then we went back to the hotel to freshen up and have a drink in the bar till the restaurant would open.

Dinner was amazing, we had a fantasic 3 course meal but the food was weird. We had haringfish icecream and lobster "rookworst" and even more weird combinations. The hotel was so beautiful and is run by students of the ROC in Amsterdam so tehere were some small mistakes but nothing serious. After dinner it was already late so we went to ourroom and have a shower and watch some TV. We had ordered breakfast for in the morning and we got two large trays with coffee and bread.

It was a great weekend but next time we will go abroad

My Week in Hell

These past few weeks have been quite stressful. I broke my upperjaw (Ofcourse it hurts like hell) and my father had an heartattack. We were all shocked when it happened but now after it's all over we know we should have seen it coming. My father is feeling so much better then he did all last year, he can even stand up straight now. We always thought it was because he is rheumethic that he had so much trouble but now we know it had been his heart the whole year. Luckely he was operated so fast, there is a good chance he won't have that much damage even tough it was a large blockage.
Get wel soon Daddy!