Opinions & politics
It is fundamental to a functioning democracy that its citizens are well-informed and share their opinions on matters that are of importance to them. Little good, however, comes from sharing uninformed opinions on what may or may not be of importance to others. I have therefore become somewhat disenchanted with the current state of the public political debate. My views, such as they are, therefore largely remain private.
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Linked Open Data in practice – An example from Abu Dhabi
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[Article version of presentation delivered at the INSPIRE Geospatial World Forum in Lisbon on the 27th of May, 2015] In this article I am going to introduce you to a business case for Linked Open Data from a project we are doing for Abu Dhabi Municipality and the Department of Municipal Affairs in the Emirate of Abu Dhabi.…
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– Have you had my bombs checked yet, sir?
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It is the third of December, it is a dark and cold winter’s morning in the small village of Sandane, in the western part of Norway, population 6000. At the local airport, a grumpy check-in attendant is registering passengers for the morning flight to Bergen and Oslo, before urging the customers on to the even…
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Top 10 forecasts for 2008 and beyond
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The media is overflowing with criticism of past events and explanations of how it was inevitable that this and that would fail at any given point in time. Yet, nobody seems to be able to predict these things, only “postdict” them, which in all fairness isn’t such a useful gift. The Futurist has since 1985…
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God, the democrat
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The Bishops Meeting, part of the management of the Church of Norway, has decided to alter future translations of the Holy Bible into Norwegian by excluding the word “tukt” (Norwegian for punishment/torment). The decision was made unanimously. It doesn’t say if God was consulted on the matter, but we must assume that He, like most…
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Google search: 24 300 hates, 11 200 loves Facebook (August 2007)
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Back in May I posted my Google search results for people’s feelings towards Facebook following a heated discussion with an old friend. Just to test out the use of Google as a poll tool I decided to repeat the search today – here are the results: 1 – 10 of about 11 200 for “i…
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A norwegian favela!
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Those who have had the pleasure of visiting Rio de Janeiro have inevitably also seen the favelas, shanty towns, a few blocks off of the citys besung (and in my view vastly overrated) beaches. Norwegians think of favelas as something that we do not have in “our” country. However, upon travelling past Gol in Hallingdal…
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Two out of two in two weeks
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It shouldn’t be humanly possible, and yet I have managed to do it! Within a span of three measly weeks I have managed to have one camera stolen and another one lost! Maybe it is a sign that I ought to stop taking photos? If by any chance you’ve found a Canon IXUS 400 in…
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Open letter to the bastard who stole my camera
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Dear Bastard, You may be surprised to read this letter as we haven’t formally been introduced to oneanother. However, as you know we did meet briefly at Dublin Airport Sunday, 13th of May 2007. I, a law abiding citizen and amateur photographer, was there with my camera. You, a bastard, were there making an exhibit…