Week 19
My, how time flies!
A "stylised" photo from Google.
We had half a day at the boat. Got the navigation lights working, filled the water tank - but hit a snag with the drink water pump - finally resolved to replace it! Have ordered the new one...
― Kenneth Grahame, The Wind in the Willows
My unflagging helper...
Ben's last Uni project...
Made me think of Orwell's 1984.
My Digital "Me" - our Digital Footprint
Some scary stuff about how "they" are getting to know all about "us"...
It's in Dutch so I won't post it here. He did send me a tongue in cheek summary...
"Facebook knows who you visited yesterday
The Taxation Dept knows how you got there
Apple knows how long you stayed there
Samsung heard what you said
And Google already knew that you were planning the trip"
It's in Dutch so I won't post it here. He did send me a tongue in cheek summary...
"Facebook knows who you visited yesterday
The Taxation Dept knows how you got there
Apple knows how long you stayed there
Samsung heard what you said
And Google already knew that you were planning the trip"
Arguing that you don't care about the right of privacy because you have nothing to hide is no different than saying you don't care about free speech because you have nothing to say.
We visited Ben in Amsterdam and went to a movie "The Circle" which might have been in line with Ben's final project. ie about privacy, social media and big data. Didn't think much of the film; we already know all about the privacy issues, don't we? But I was reminded of one of Ben's comments that "most people are aware of the privacy issues, but are too lazy to do anything about it".
Just as an aside, Janny did a Facebook posting about the death of our cat - and within minutes she was getting ads for cat food. duh! Another disconnect occurs with me - even though my phone is set up to speak English, any ads that get through my adblockers are in Dutch - and don't even register on my consciousness.
Ben's new room
Whilst in Amsterdam, we visited Ben's new room in the Albert Cuypstraat (a famous market street; every day they set up market stalls and every evening they break them down again - except Sundays).
(not my photo - but it did look exactly the same!).
Ben's House
Complete with hoist for lifting furniture in through the windows!
The stairway is very narrow and there is only ONE. I get nervous with the fire regulations here. There is such a shortage of accommodation that I think "anything goes". Where we bought the bed the woman at the cash register said that her daughter had been on the "housing list" for 7 years!! (not sure exactly what that entails, but it sounds impressive).
The house has been totally renovated - with new everything - but he has only a 5 square metre bedroom! We bought a bed that fits with 15 mm to spare for the swing of the door!
Needless to say, we enjoyed quite a few meals at different venues. Ben certainly knows his way around!
Perhaps the most interesting place was Bazar - in Albert CuypStraat - formerly a reformed church (without a spire), built in 1892, and now serving "Middle Eastern" food.
My phone tells me that we walked almost 25 kms from Friday to Sunday!
This map for Saturday, including the Underground Railway...
Friday Lunch...
An old bookshop - always worth a visit!
Around the farm...
We've been thinking of making some of these for a while now...
sheep made from old currugated iron. Old corrugated iron is not that easy to come by here - but I have had a few sheets for nearly 25 years so it's about time! It was more about giving one of our clients something constructive to do - this wasn't bad for our first attempt!
Janny has been part of an organising committee for an "event" in our village, to raise money for the local Food Bank.
We'll be having a stall trying to sell all of our stuff that the clients have made over the years - including the sheep if we can make a few more.
oops! Haven't done the courtyard for a couple of years....
and our brother in law is back selling caravans - it's almost that time of the year!
The privacy issue really is a concern. I've noticed that when I mention a subject in a chat on messenger that I soon get advertising on that subject on my Facebook page. Could it be coincidence or just my imagination?
ReplyDeletePrivacy Issues, reminds me of when I lived in Port Melbourne as a child, Port Melbourne was a very poor working class area and a little like Amsterdam,in so much as your front door opened right on to the footpath, sometimes with a meter of space if you were lucky. Everyone new what everyone else was doing, when, with whom and why. Perhaps the only real difference is that, now instead of the whole street knowing it is the whole world. Of course one major difference is that back then people seemed to care about their neighbors.
ReplyDeleteIf Mrs. Smith did mot appear on the front step one day, then some one would be knocking on the door to make sure that all was OK. A bit different to Face Book ????