tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-51768562008-08-04T15:04:22.703+02:00Roho's DiaryRohohttp://www.blogger.com/profile/03880668956776986361noreply@blogger.comBlogger250125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5176856.post-90148899437685547102008-08-02T12:05:00.001+02:002008-08-04T08:05:56.310+02:00Wanna tip?<h4>.. go ahead</h4>
<p>Recently tipping on the Internet has gained some momentum. It's nearing the <em>tipping point</em>, ahum. On various blogs and site you see things popping up like <a href="http://tipjoy.com">Tipjoy</a>. Sites like these provide the possibility to tip the authors of good, helpful, funny or entertaining content.</p>
<p>I try to be an author of good, helpful, funny or entertaining content. So, I have decided to include a Tipjoy button in my sidebar on the right. It's an experiment.</p>
<h5>Probably will never get rich though</h5>
<p>I do not think that I will soon be maintaining this blog from a yacht in the Carribean with Satelite Internet but you'll never know.</p>
<p>Looking at <a href="http://roho2003.blogspot.com/2008/08/just-some-numbers.html">the numbers I published recently</a> when literally every visitor clicks the button an donates $0.10 then over a period of almost three years I would make $1271,10. That would hardly pay for a inflatable boat with outboard engine and would certainly not get me to the Carribean.</p>
<p>But then again, you'll never know. So, please start clicking.</p><fieldset class="zemanta-related"><legend class="zemanta-related-title">Related articles by Zemanta</legend><ul class="zemanta-article-ul"><li class="zemanta-article-ul-li"><a href="http://mashable.com/2008/08/01/tipjoy-twitter-bookmarklet/">tipjoy Adds Auto-Twitter Integration So You Can Tweet Your Tips</a></li><li class="zemanta-article-ul-li"><a href="http://www.articlesbase.com/article.php?aid=507424&pid=6775764102">4 Tips to Put Your Money Making Website Into Overdrive</a></li></ul></fieldset><div style="margin-top: 10px; height: 15px;" class="zemanta-pixie"><a class="zemanta-pixie-a" href="http://reblog.zemanta.com/zemified/e3be72ec-7006-4d4d-b674-44290143b255/" title="Zemified by Zemanta"><img style="border: medium none ; float: right;" class="zemanta-pixie-img" src="http://img.zemanta.com/reblog_e.png?x-id=e3be72ec-7006-4d4d-b674-44290143b255" alt="Zemanta Pixie"></a></div><div class="blogger-post-footer"><hr />
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<hr /></div><img src="http://feedproxy.google.com/~r/RohosDiary/~4/jZc2cPapOZs" height="1" width="1"/>Rohohttp://www.blogger.com/profile/03880668956776986361noreply@blogger.comhttp://roho2003.blogspot.com/2008/08/wanna-tip.htmltag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5176856.post-61419166358112668612008-08-01T15:06:00.000+02:002008-08-01T15:17:44.623+02:00Just some numbers<h4>.. I kinda like</h4>
<p>While waiting for a <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Virtual_image" title="Virtual image" rel="wikipedia" class="zem_slink">virtual image</a> to finish installing and configuring itself I had a glimpse at my <a href="http://analytics.google.com" title="Google Analytics" rel="homepage" class="zem_slink">Google Analytics</a> figures. I have had that running on this blog since November 2005 and have been pleased with it all the way. Lot's of stats and graphs that show me quite a bit about who reads what on this blog.</p>
<p>I decided to select the entire range from the start in November 2005 until today and saw some <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Happy_number" title="Happy number" rel="wikipedia" class="zem_slink">happy numbers</a>. I know that many sites generate these kind of numbers in a single day and some of the bigger blogs might need a month or less to achieve this. But still, I think it's something. Impressive, to me at least.</p>
<ul>
<li>15442 Visits</li>
<li>12711 Unique visitors</li>
<li>21839 Page views</li>
</ul>
<span class="zemanta-img" style="margin: 1em; float: right; display: block;"><a href="http://www.flickr.com/photos/48023467@N00/2505966059"><img src="http://farm4.static.flickr.com/3269/2505966059_beba732670_m.jpg" alt="Numbers in my life - Computer" style="border: medium none ; display: block;"></a><span class="zemanta-img-attribution" style="margin: 1em 0pt 0pt; display: block;">Image by <a href="http://www.flickr.com/photos/48023467@N00/2505966059">Jeff_Werner</a> via Flickr</span></span>
<h5>uhm</h5>
<p>Well, that's enough to give myself a good feeling going into the weekend.
<strong>Hey!</strong> the virtual machine is ready. Back to work!</p>
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<hr /></div><img src="http://feedproxy.google.com/~r/RohosDiary/~4/EDgzLEG95Vw" height="1" width="1"/>Rohohttp://www.blogger.com/profile/03880668956776986361noreply@blogger.comhttp://roho2003.blogspot.com/2008/08/just-some-numbers.htmltag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5176856.post-57627733778982176352008-07-30T15:51:00.001+02:002008-07-30T15:56:19.994+02:00There are more like me<h4>.. and out there in the wild</h4>
<p>How about a <a href="http://www.ryzwear.com/shoe/detail/1157/banana-shoes">banana shoe</a>?
<a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="http://www.ryzwear.com/shoegaze/1157/8/430/1"><img style="float:left; margin:0 10px 10px 0;cursor:pointer; cursor:hand;width: 400px;" src="http://www.ryzwear.com/shoegaze/1157/8/430/1" border="0" alt="" /></a>
</p>
<p>I would vote for it. But do it quickly, voting ends today.</p>
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<hr /></div><img src="http://feedproxy.google.com/~r/RohosDiary/~4/6Cc6YHbwDCQ" height="1" width="1"/>Rohohttp://www.blogger.com/profile/03880668956776986361noreply@blogger.comhttp://roho2003.blogspot.com/2008/07/there-are-more-like-me.htmltag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5176856.post-68218270862640144752008-07-29T12:45:00.000+02:002008-07-29T12:56:38.755+02:00I took it again<h4>.. and again, so should you</h4>
<p>If you are one of these people who are involved in creating web sites then it is the time again to fill in the great A List Apart <strong>survey for people who make websites</strong></p>
<span class="zemanta-img" style="float: left; display: block;"><a href="http://commons.wikipedia.org/wiki/Image:Porsche_typ12.jpg"><img src="http://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/thumb/7/7d/Porsche_typ12.jpg/202px-Porsche_typ12.jpg" alt="Porsche Type 12, Model 1:5 at Nuremberg Museum..." style="border: 1px solid rgb(204, 204, 204); margin: 1px; padding: 2px; display: block;"></a><span class="zemanta-img-attribution" style="margin: 1em 0pt 0pt; display: block;">Image via <a href="http://commons.wikipedia.org/wiki/Image:Porsche_typ12.jpg">Wikipedia</a></span></span>
<p>Just click on the button and do your thing.
<a href="http://alistapart.com/articles/survey2008" target="banana"><img src="http://aneventapart.com/webdesignsurvey/templates/ala/images/i-took-the-2008-survey.gif" title="the survey for people who make websites" alt="the survey for people who make websites"></a></p>
<h5>Looking forward</h5>
<p>I wonder what kind of trends they will identify this year.</p>
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<hr /></div><img src="http://feedproxy.google.com/~r/RohosDiary/~4/V9noI3ktFvw" height="1" width="1"/>Rohohttp://www.blogger.com/profile/03880668956776986361noreply@blogger.comhttp://roho2003.blogspot.com/2008/07/i-took-it-again.htmltag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5176856.post-59437534892470971802008-07-24T14:24:00.005+02:002008-07-28T14:04:48.118+02:00Almost unnoticed<h4>.. but I have posted the 250th blog post</h4>
<p>This being the 251st. Sweet!</p>
<p>Defintely worth a picture.
<img style="margin: 0pt 10px 10px 0pt; float: left; cursor: pointer; width: 400px;" src="http://lh3.ggpht.com/rob.hofker/SIhq429HOVI/AAAAAAAABoc/kHW5VYISzlA/27-05-08_1711.jpg" alt="banana smile" border="0"></p>
<h5>Next target: 500 posts</h5>
<p>I have no idea when it will be that I reacht the 500th post, but I am silently aiming at that. But lately, I haven't had that much time to write. I have been in France and saw <a href="http://maps.google.com/maps?ll=48.0,-3.0&spn=1.0,1.0&q=48.0,-3.0&t=h" title="Bretagne" rel="geolocation" class="zem_slink">Bretagne</a>.
Some of it coming vertically, some of it diagonally but also some of it coming in horizontally. But most of it under a cloudless sky.</p>
<p class="update">I just realised that due to some remarks by a former employer (without being based on any real facts) I have unpublished some posts. And now I am not so certain that I have 250 (or 251) posts on this blog.</p>
<span class="zemanta-img" style="margin: 1em; float: right; display: block;"><a href="http://commons.wikipedia.org/wiki/Image:Flag_of_Brittany.svg"><img src="http://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/thumb/7/7d/Flag_of_Brittany.svg/202px-Flag_of_Brittany.svg.png" alt="Flag of Brittany" style="border: medium none ; display: block;"></a><span class="zemanta-img-attribution" style="margin: 1em 0pt 0pt; display: block;">Image via <a href="http://commons.wikipedia.org/wiki/Image:Flag_of_Brittany.svg">Wikipedia</a></span></span>
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<hr /></div><img src="http://feedproxy.google.com/~r/RohosDiary/~4/zfSlPnoYre8" height="1" width="1"/>Rohohttp://www.blogger.com/profile/03880668956776986361noreply@blogger.comhttp://roho2003.blogspot.com/2008/07/almost-unnoticed.htmltag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5176856.post-60223717885178083542008-06-16T14:49:00.001+02:002008-06-16T15:20:50.304+02:00Women are better<h4>.. or not?</h4>
<p>It is apparently one of these days today. Two remarkable male - female controversies in the IT arena pop up. Totally unrelated.</p>
<h5>First: Molly</h5>
<p>Molly Holzschlag reports about <a href="http://www.molly.com/2008/06/16/hooters-not-a-fair-place-to-speak-geek/">an event that is to be held at Hooter's</a>. A "Geek Meet". Clearly the organizers only expect men to attend. The women that will be around are only there to be gazed and looked at.</p>
<p>Seems a bit retarded to set up such a meeting there. Especially when someone comments that the food isn't particularly good.</p>
<h5>Second: WSJ</h5>
<p>And from the opposite corner on comes the Wall Street Journal with an article citing Emma McGrattan, the senior vice-president of engineering for computer-database company Ingres�??and one of Silicon Valley�??s highest-ranking female programmers. She states that men and women write code differently.</p>
<p>Sounds fair enough: we are different after all in many respects so why not in the area of writing code.</p>
<cite>Wall Street Journal</cite>
<blockquote>Men Write Code from Mars, Women Write More Helpful Code from Venus</blockquote>
<p>But ...</p>
<h5>Women write more helpful code</h5>
<p>Women, supposedly write more helpful code. Code that's clarified by many lines of comment showing someone who has to work with code later a road map of the principles behind the code. Men like to keep it cryptic to show off how good they are.</p>
<cite>Emma McGrattan</cite>
<blockquote>Women are more touchy-feely and considerate of those who will use the code later. Men, on the other hand, have no such pretenses. Often, they try to show how clever they are by writing very cryptic code</blockquote>
<p>Well, having worked on code from others I have learned that putting in comment is very helpful for the next developer. I have taughht myself to insert comments whenever the code becomes a bit fuzzy. And sometimes I put my thoughts, my design into comments first. </p><pre>Intialize this, loop through all items, return result</pre> things like that.
<p>I have not much experience with female developers (there aren't that many around) and the one I have worked with was pretty solid. I do agree on that point. But to state that in general men try to write a scryptic as possible where women write <em>touchy-feely</em> code ... It's just a bit over the top.</p>
<h5>The battle has just begun</h5>
<p>What both these articles have in common is that there is still a lot of misunderstanding in battle of the sexes in teh IT arena. Some men hardly realizes that there are women in this line of field. Some women apparently need to make clear that they are oncemore the superior race, which is a pretty strange thing to claim when you are battling for emancipation.</p>
<p></p>
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<hr /></div><img src="http://feedproxy.google.com/~r/RohosDiary/~4/3XIt-VpYpzI" height="1" width="1"/>Rohohttp://www.blogger.com/profile/03880668956776986361noreply@blogger.comhttp://roho2003.blogspot.com/2008/06/women-are-better.htmltag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5176856.post-23208130491901866572008-06-10T19:36:00.003+02:002008-06-10T20:56:40.383+02:00Work & hobbies<h4>.. and what to do with them?</h4>
<p>A lot of people do jobs they absolutely not like to do. There's also a lot of people who really like what they do. And the majority, I guess, somewhere in between.</p>
<p>So, it's safe to say that most people at work would rather be doing something else. Most of these people have interesting hobbies. Hobbies, you might not expect. Bus drivers who sing in an opera choir. Brick layers who help out at a local institute for blind people. Or who are collecting stamps. Or gardening. Or being a football coach.</p>
<span class="zemanta-img" style="margin:0 1em 0 0; float: left; display: block;"><a href="http://commons.wikipedia.org/wiki/Image:Gardening.jpg"><img src="http://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/thumb/c/c3/Gardening.jpg/202px-Gardening.jpg" alt="Gardener Gardening" style="border: medium none ; display: block;"></a><span class="zemanta-img-attribution" style="margin: 1em 0pt 0pt; display: block;">Image via <a href="http://commons.wikipedia.org/wiki/Image:Gardening.jpg" target="_blank">Wikipedia</a></span></span>
<h5>Turning your hobby into your work</h5>
<p>Wouldn't these people be absolutely delighted when they could make their hobby their work? Earn a living singing opera, helping the blind, designing gardens and being a coach and beating Italy 3-0. That's seems great.</p>
<p>Maybe everybody has a dream somewhere deep inside where they do only that one thing they would really love to do. No more dull work, just the thing you love.</p>
<p><em>Wouldn't that be just great?</em></p>
<h5>How about apple pie every day?</h5>
<span class="zemanta-img" style="margin:0 0 0 1em ; float: right; display: block;"><a href="http://commons.wikipedia.org/wiki/Image:Apple_pie.jpg"><img src="http://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/thumb/4/4b/Apple_pie.jpg/202px-Apple_pie.jpg" alt="Apple pie with lattice upper crust" style="border: medium none ; display: block;"></a><span class="zemanta-img-attribution" style="margin: 1em 0pt 0pt; display: block;">Image via <a href="http://commons.wikipedia.org/wiki/Image:Apple_pie.jpg" target="_blank">Wikipedia</a></span></span>
<p><em>How about apple pie every single meal?</em></p>
<p>That will probably be too much after only a couple of days. It means there's only singing opera or gardening and nothing else. You will have a great job, but you also have lost the hobby. And with the cherry on the cake. The cherry that you used to save for the last bite. Because you <strong>so</strong> enjoyed it.</p>
<p>How about that? Hmm, better not jump into turning your hobby into your work.</p>
<h5>And the other way around?</h5>
<p>I have also seen people submerging themselves in their work. Working many, many hours every day. Being so devoted that thrive on their work. Finding their satisfaction in working, working, working. They have turned their job into something very much like a hobby.</p>
<p>To me a disturbing thought. These people forget their family and fiends and also forget colleagues with families and friends. These people have gone too far the other way.</p>
<h5>So, where's the Holy Grale?</h5>
<p>I don't know if there is a Holy Grale, but there must be balance between work and play. Have something special on the menu as a dessert and something else to feed the stumach. That way you can leave the restaurant a happy man.</p>
<p>And return time and time again.</p>
<p>My adcice: stay hungry!</p>
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<hr /></div><img src="http://feedproxy.google.com/~r/RohosDiary/~4/O1P6M1uKiVg" height="1" width="1"/>Rohohttp://www.blogger.com/profile/03880668956776986361noreply@blogger.comhttp://roho2003.blogspot.com/2008/06/work-hobbies.htmltag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5176856.post-76467890729694408232008-05-19T09:30:00.002+02:002008-05-19T10:40:41.670+02:00A banana a day<h4>.. keeps your visitors at bay</h4>
<p>Readers of this blog may have noticed my passion for bananas as they are all over the site and pages. I just think the banana is a nice thing, easily recognized object, it's tasty, nutritiuos, kids and adults love them. Well, I better stop before I the water from my mouth starts to run on to the keyboard.</p>
<span class="zemanta-img" style="margin: 1em; display: block; float: right;"><a href="http://commons.wikipedia.org/wiki/Image:Bananas_on_countertop.JPG" target="_blank"><img src="http://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/thumb/4/40/Bananas_on_countertop.JPG/202px-Bananas_on_countertop.JPG" alt="This is a picture of bananas on a countertop." style="border: medium none ; display: block;"></a><span style="margin: 1em 0pt 0pt; display: block;">Image via <a href="http://commons.wikipedia.org/wiki/Image:Bananas_on_countertop.JPG" target="_blank">Wikipedia</a></span></span>
<p>But there's more to bananas than just fruit. There is? yes, there is. The banana is a symbol that brings a smile to a face, because you know someone might slip on the peel. The banana is also oasis of distraction in a busy world. Hmm that might just stretch it a bit.</p>
<h5>The banana as part of the website optimization</h5>
<p>Yes, again this seems far fetched, but I do believe in it. I have seen an experiment happen and I saw the effect it had, but can not go into much detail. But, today I found <a href="http://www.traffic-builders.com/tblog/seo-copywriting/seo-teksten-schrijven-de-3-bs.html">an article on a Dutch site</a> that describes almost exactly the same strategy of using a banana on a webpage.</p>
<h5>Here's the story</h5>
<p>For those readers that can not read Dutch I give this short translation.</p>
<p>The article is about the three B's of SEO.</p>
<ul>
<li>Bananas</li>
<li>Bullets</li>
<li>Bold</li>
</ul>
<p>Starting bottom up. Using <strong>bold</strong> throughout the text makes it <strong>significantly</strong> easier to scan. Users can <strong>quickly</strong> identify the important <strong>words and phrases</strong> on a page. As a bonus search engines recognize these <strong>important keywords</strong> as well.</p>
<p>the use of <strong>bullets</strong> is already shown above. A small list is very easily recognized and is also easily scanned. If you get 4 seconds to scan a page you will straight away go for the <strong>headers and sub headers</strong>, <strong>bold</strong> words and the <strong>bulleted lists</strong>. Mind you, web readers tend to scan pages even fatser than that!</p>
<p>Finally, <strong>the banana</strong>. It seems a bit out of place, but the <a href="http://www.traffic-builders.com/tblog/seo-copywriting/seo-teksten-schrijven-de-3-bs.html"> article</a> tells about <a href="http://sethgodin.typepad.com/seths_blog/2007/05/learning_from_b.html">Seth Godin</a> who states that "website visitors are like little monkeys looking for bananas". A picture of a banana on a webpage acts like a <strong>strong magnet</strong> that pulls the mouse and vistor towards it. The urge to click is irresistable. Create a big button with just a banana on it and users will just start to click on it and they know they will get where they want to go.</p>
<h5>I know it works</h5>
<p>I have seen the banana on a site and I have seen the data and <strong>I know it works</strong>. I will now find me a big banana picture and create me nice big banana button.</p>
<p>It's so easy to mistake a madman for a genius and vice versa.</p>
<h5 class="update">Update</h5>
<p class="update">Yes, I could resist it. And then again: who can <strong>resist the call of the <em>banana</em>?</strong></p>
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<hr /></div><img src="http://feedproxy.google.com/~r/RohosDiary/~4/rGWVIFiM8bo" height="1" width="1"/>Rohohttp://www.blogger.com/profile/03880668956776986361noreply@blogger.comhttp://roho2003.blogspot.com/2008/05/banana-day.htmltag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5176856.post-30529725326510846762008-05-02T13:55:00.000+02:002008-05-02T14:21:53.089+02:00Go to South Africa and get certified<h4>.. and have a great time</h4>
<p>I know, I know, it's been a while. But I have been busy struggling with spaghetti code for a client that provided the spaghetti without a cookbook (<em>but that's another story</em>).</p>
<p>And that's not all that I have been working on.</p>
<h5>New site</h5>
<p>After being in the works for quite some time today a new site was launched: <a href="http://www.training-ict.com" target="banana">Training ICT</a>. This site offers a great way to get Microsoft certified in a truly inspiring part of the world.</p>
<h5>Good for employers</h5>
<p>Many employers find it an absolute must that employees are fully Microsoft certified and send them to a couple of training courses. The employees are than not productive, but hey it serves a greater purpose! Fully certified personel brings in greater revenue! (<em>At least that's what they believe.</em>)</p>
<p>Sending them out on courses costs time and money, but does not guarantee that they get certified: they need to pass their exams! Wouldn't it be nice if you could get some form of guarantee? Time and money well spent.</p>
<h5>Good for employees</h5>
<p>So, what's in it for the employees? Going to a course is always fun in some way. It's better than real work, duh. You learn something new and the lunch is great. But what if there would be something more? Some real fun mixed into it?</p>
<h5>The concept</h5>
<p>The idea is simpel and great:</p>
<ul><li>take a plane to South Africa,</li>
<li>stay there for three weeks,</li>
<li>do a couple of courses,</li>
<li>pass the exam and become fully certified</li>
<li><strong>AND</strong> go on some wonderful day trips in glorious South-Africa!</li>
</ul>
<p>When you come from Europe you will have no jetlag as well!</p>
<p>The price is very acceptable when comparing the prices of the individual courses to the overall price a lifetime trip like this.</p>
<h5>Go and have look on the <a href="http://www.training-ict.com" target="banana">Fast Track</a>!</h5>
<p>On the site on certification is pelled out completely, but the possiblities are unlimited. Get on the <a href="http://www.training-ict.com" target="banana">Fast Track</a> to certification!</p><div class="blogger-post-footer"><hr />
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<hr /></div><img src="http://feedproxy.google.com/~r/RohosDiary/~4/aqRTmKhWDu4" height="1" width="1"/>Rohohttp://www.blogger.com/profile/03880668956776986361noreply@blogger.comhttp://roho2003.blogspot.com/2008/05/go-to-south-africa-and-get-certified.htmltag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5176856.post-52195887400439645932008-02-28T14:07:00.003+01:002008-02-28T15:50:10.108+01:00A discussion about creation<h4>.. too early in the morning</h4>
<p>Every now and then I am invited to a job interview to sit at the employers side of the table.'That is kind of fun as well. I do enjoy sitting on the other side, because I have the feeling that I am the one who is to make the decision whether to take the position or not. Once they have invited me for the interview I am pretty close to getting hired. At least that is the mood I try to get myself into on most of these occasions.</p>
<p>As I am a developer I mostly attend the interviews for developers. I am usually the ally of the prospect in that sense. The manager that sits there as well is most of the time a non-developer. Someone who knows we need someone with .NET and C# skills, but has no real idea what that means. I am there to see if he or she has any real developer's skills.</p>
<h5>Questions to ask</h5><p>A colleague of mine has very goo question to ask the candidate. He tells the candidate that we would like the manager start programming or at least understand some more what we are doing. One of the things the manager still can not understand is, what is Object Orientation? Can the candidate explain that so the manager can understand the concept. I have heard some hilarious answers to that question. One of the apparent advantages of Object Orientation is that you can spread the objects across multiple servers. The same candidate explained some of the aspects of OO with a dog as an example, one the methods could be Bark() or Sit(). When asked how one would distribute such behavior across multiple servers he fell silent.</p><p>Another good and slightly more tricky question to ask is about difference between the terms class, type and object. I must admit that I had to think about that one to come up with a good example. I propose the following example of a Person class, with as properties: first name, last name and birth date. Let's pass those along in the constructor and you get to the following code:</p>
<code>Person person = new Person(firstname, lastname, birth date);</code>
<p>The first word "Person" is the type of the object "person" being created. The class is Person in which a.o. the used constructed is found.</p>
<p>All right, purists, kill me in the comments, but it gently.</p>
<h5>A question to ask</h5>
<p>I then started to let my mind go wandering where it will go.</p>
<p>I thought about namespaces. I happened to have been in some discussion with namespaces and doing it better than it was in common practice at this job I was at.</p>
<p>The class Person would be in something called</p>
<ul><li><span style="font-family: Courier New;">Human</span></li></ul>
<p>Then I started expanding:</p>
<ul>
<li><span style="font-family: Courier New;">Nature.Human</span></li>
<li><span style="font-family: Courier New;">Earth.Nature.Human</span></li>
<li><span style="font-family: Courier New;">Creation.Nature.Human</span></li>
<li><span style="font-family: Courier New;">God.Creation.Nature.Human</span></li>
</ul>
<p>Hmm, sounds like intelligent design. <em>Note that I haven't named God, that would turn off some other Persons from the namespace </em><span style="font-family: Courier New;"><strong>Hardcore.Christian.God.Creation.Nature.Human</strong></span>.</p>
<p>Or for those rather having the Evolution Theory, it could be something like:</p>
<ul><li><span style="font-family: Courier New;">Darwin.Evolution.Mammal.Primate.Human</span></li></ul>
<p>But working along these ideas, ultimately, all namespaces would be positioned below God or Darwin. That would be strange idea. And what about the Flying Spaghetti Monster?</p>
<h5>The God Class</h5>
<p>Then I found myself wondering about the God class. "You should never create a God class." It must be one of the ten Developer's Commandments. Which namespace would that God class be in? I became stuck at this point. I at least understand now why I should never create a God class, because there is no namespace to put it in.</p>
<p>On top of that does the God class derive from object? Or from a divine object? Or the other way around: does object derive from God?</p>
<h5>Philosphical</h5>
<p>So, there I was completely philosophical before 9 in the morning. Suffice to say, I didn't get much work done all day. Especially no Divine Work.</p>
<p>Please someone <strong>help</strong>! Define divine!</p><div class="blogger-post-footer"><hr />
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<hr /></div><img src="http://feedproxy.google.com/~r/RohosDiary/~4/tT66aDr21xM" height="1" width="1"/>Rohohttp://www.blogger.com/profile/03880668956776986361noreply@blogger.comhttp://roho2003.blogspot.com/2008/02/discussion-about-creation.htmltag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5176856.post-22344550929157425252008-02-26T12:49:00.000+01:002008-02-26T12:51:02.193+01:00Calling all bananas<h4>.. at least some of them</h4>
<p>Just <a href="http://cellfoam.com/" target="banana">a simple link</a> this time.</p>
<p>I think it's enough.</p><div class="blogger-post-footer"><hr />
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<hr /></div><img src="http://feedproxy.google.com/~r/RohosDiary/~4/_Sad3yVhL5s" height="1" width="1"/>Rohohttp://www.blogger.com/profile/03880668956776986361noreply@blogger.comhttp://roho2003.blogspot.com/2008/02/calling-all-bananas.htmltag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5176856.post-19157831964605488522008-02-15T11:04:00.000+01:002008-02-15T11:44:01.111+01:00Trying out another Firefox extension<h4>.. as if I needed yet another one</h4>
<p>Today I installed the ScribeFire extension in Firefox. Former known as Performancing for Firefox.</p>
<p>The extension supposedly makes blogging a lot easier. And not just blogging on Blogger, but more than that. You can connect to multiple blog applications. You can keep notes. But it doesn't make you a cappucino.</p>
<h5>Needs some getting used to</h5>
<p>It sits snuggly in the bottom right corner of the status bar and it pops up at the bottom in a nice big size. It does seem to have quite a few options and I will need time to tweak these to my liking. As I am a source writer (I insert my own html tags) I may need more time to find out how I can make it produce the right type of html. I don't want <br/> for instance, I want the pure pleasure of the <p> tag.</p>
<p>I might get back on this extension.</p>
<p><em>This post was written the good old Blogger Editor, the previous post I initially fired off using ScribeFire, but then edited it in the Blogger Editor as I did not like the html.</em></p><div class="blogger-post-footer"><hr />
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<hr /></div><img src="http://feedproxy.google.com/~r/RohosDiary/~4/MeBKnHAz3n0" height="1" width="1"/>Rohohttp://www.blogger.com/profile/03880668956776986361noreply@blogger.comhttp://roho2003.blogspot.com/2008/02/trying-out-another-firefox-extension.htmltag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5176856.post-82718592771378968302008-02-15T11:02:00.002+01:002008-02-15T11:04:08.673+01:00What's all this then?<h4> ... have you gone completely gone bananas?</h4>
<p>Well, to be honest, yes I think I am getting a bit too banana focussed. It's gotten out of hand and on the floor and that's dangerous as the peels are slippery. So better watch where place your feet.</p>
<img src='http://www.strangevehicles.com/images/content/4954.jpg'/>
<p>Or better still, get a tricycle.</p><div class="blogger-post-footer"><hr />
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<a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="http://images.buycostumes.com/mgen/merchandiser/19204.jpg"><img style="float:left; margin:0 10px 10px 0;cursor:pointer; cursor:hand;width: 400px;" src="http://images.buycostumes.com/mgen/merchandiser/19204.jpg" border="0" alt="" /></a>
<p>Well, I don't know about this type of banana, but I do not think this is something I would show in public.</p><div class="blogger-post-footer"><hr />
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<hr /></div><img src="http://feedproxy.google.com/~r/RohosDiary/~4/6O3JsXjMIc8" height="1" width="1"/>Rohohttp://www.blogger.com/profile/03880668956776986361noreply@blogger.comhttp://roho2003.blogspot.com/2008/02/banana-day.htmltag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5176856.post-48251052682041972712008-02-12T12:55:00.000+01:002008-02-12T16:14:14.701+01:00Blog traffic by Pippi Longstocking<h4>.. weird numbers</h4>
<p>I haven't been too active on this blog in the last few months and am only picking things up a bit again. But I always kept some traffic. And I had a liitle more detailed look at that traffic and I just had to laugh.</p>
<p>I noticed that a lot of people were coming to the blog from Images searches on Google. In particular I found that a photo that I linked to last year before I went on holiday to Sweden for the first time in my life. I had <a href="http://roho2003.blogspot.com/2006/08/it-will-be-silent-for-bit.html">posted</a> a picture of <strong>Pippi Longstocking</strong> and apparently that attracts people to my blog.</p>
<h5>Pippi Longstocking, once again!</h5>
<a href="http://picasaweb.google.com/rob.hofker/Sweden2006/photo#4969898308044718098"><img src="http://lh4.google.com/rob.hofker/RPigLfTSABI/AAAAAAAAAA4/IMX65bHMCic/s400/IM007522.JPG" title="Pippi Longstocking" alt="Pippi Longstocking" /></a>
<p>So here she is once again: <strong>Pippi Longstocking</strong>! This time a picture I made myself in the Astrid Lindgren park near Vimmerby. See if traffic picks up on this as well.</p><div class="blogger-post-footer"><hr />
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<hr /></div><img src="http://feedproxy.google.com/~r/RohosDiary/~4/12-44EyQRh4" height="1" width="1"/>Rohohttp://www.blogger.com/profile/03880668956776986361noreply@blogger.comhttp://roho2003.blogspot.com/2008/02/blog-traffic-by-pippi-longstocking.htmltag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5176856.post-41615705391481965822008-02-12T11:20:00.000+01:002008-02-12T11:22:44.461+01:00Bananas in pyjamas<h4>.. cool?</h4>
<img style="float:right; margin:0 0 10px 10px;cursor:pointer; cursor:hand;width: 400px;" src="http://demoweb.pluslicens.se/images/P1BananasInPyjamas.jpg" border="0" alt="" />
<p>I was hinted at these bananas.</p>
<p>Not really sure what to think of them, still bananas are bananas!</p><div class="blogger-post-footer"><hr />
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<hr /></div><img src="http://feedproxy.google.com/~r/RohosDiary/~4/Nf6EldMz0lM" height="1" width="1"/>Rohohttp://www.blogger.com/profile/03880668956776986361noreply@blogger.comhttp://roho2003.blogspot.com/2008/02/bananas-in-pyjamas.htmltag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5176856.post-86870861424507714572008-02-11T13:19:00.000+01:002008-02-11T13:21:48.709+01:00Bananas<h4>.. just because</h4>
<a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="http://akuse.com/Blog/blog_pics/thisthat/banana_budha.jpg"><img style="margin:0 0 10px 10px;cursor:pointer; cursor:hand;width: 400px;" src="http://akuse.com/Blog/blog_pics/thisthat/banana_budha.jpg" border="0" alt="banana ooooom!" /></a>
<p>Every now and then a banana does one good. Here's one for the people who need them the most!</p><div class="blogger-post-footer"><hr />
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<hr /></div><img src="http://feedproxy.google.com/~r/RohosDiary/~4/0_qOB44U2lk" height="1" width="1"/>Rohohttp://www.blogger.com/profile/03880668956776986361noreply@blogger.comhttp://roho2003.blogspot.com/2008/02/bananas.htmltag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5176856.post-43057675747802577552008-02-07T11:41:00.000+01:002008-02-07T12:00:25.395+01:00Google Docs has an interesting new feature<h4>.. and it came at the right moment</h4>
<a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="http://bp1.blogger.com/_nbkHMpLd45c/R6ob4iefFeI/AAAAAAAAAA4/ebp7-qwdPqE/s320/blog-bluebird-share.gif"><img style="float:right; margin:0 0 10px 10px;cursor:pointer; cursor:hand;" src="http://bp1.blogger.com/_nbkHMpLd45c/R6ob4iefFeI/AAAAAAAAAA4/ebp7-qwdPqE/s320/blog-bluebird-share.gif" border="0" alt="" /></a>
<p>Today I discoverd on the <a href="http://googledocs.blogspot.com/2008/02/stop-sharing-spreadsheets-start.html">Offical Google Docs blog</a> that they have introduced a new feature. You can now share a spreadsheet through a customizable form. Or perhaps it is easier explained the other way round: you can now create a form (like a survey or something similar) that you can send out by email and have the entered data land in a Google Docs spreadsheet. You can then process that information further.</p>
<h5>Well, what a coincidence</h5>
<p>I am busy doing an internal project which I have hinted about in the past and have come to the point where I would like to get some feedback from my colleagues. Since they are spread out doing various projects at various companies, it is a bit time wasting to wait until the next monthly meeting. So, the online survey thingy from Google Docs comes in very handy!</p>
<p>So, I carefully pulled together the questions I have and created the online form. That is really simple. Type the question (with an optional explanatory paragraph), pick the type of question, for (multi-)select questions (radio buttons or checkboxes) enter the possible questions and continue to the next question. When all the questions are done, you just fill in the email addresses of the people who you want to ask the questions and send it away.</p>
<p>You can keep the spreadsheet open to see the entries coming in, or add a gadgets to your iGoogle page. And by George, it works!</p><div class="blogger-post-footer"><hr />
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<hr /></div><img src="http://feedproxy.google.com/~r/RohosDiary/~4/gb6wYlb72ZU" height="1" width="1"/>Rohohttp://www.blogger.com/profile/03880668956776986361noreply@blogger.comhttp://roho2003.blogspot.com/2008/02/google-docs-has-interesting-new-feature.htmltag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5176856.post-47183222339602418852008-02-06T10:00:00.000+01:002008-02-06T10:07:54.981+01:00<h3>Just a test post</h3> <h4>.. well that's what it is</h4> <p>Not really that much here in the sense of real content. I am just testing if I can publish a blog post from <a title="The place where you can create documents online" target="_blank" href="http://docs.google.com" id="p41t">Google Docs</a>. Just for testing, hence the bogus content that goes on and on and on.</p> <h5>And now you read it ...</h5> <p>.. and you know it works. It might be a bit weird to look at, but then I will probably jump in the Blogger editor and clean things up. If not I will just leave it at this. I will post an update anyhow.</p> <h5>That is all</h5> <p>Yep, that is all.</p>
<h5 class="update">Update</h5>
<p class="update">Well, it sort of works. There seem to be some difference in presentation or it is me. Now I am updating the post from within the Blogger editor and I will see if that makes thing normal again.</p>
<h5 class="update">Conclusion</h5>
<p class="update">Using Google Docs as the editor has some advantages over the Blogger editor. But nothing really shocking AFAICT.</p><div class="blogger-post-footer"><hr />
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<p>Hang in there girl! He will go away soon.</p>
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<p>I know, it can never be soon enough.</p><div class="blogger-post-footer"><hr />
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<p>Yesterday a small storm was started by two articles:</p>
<ul>
<li><a href="http://blogs.msdn.com/ie/archive/2008/01/21/compatibility-and-ie8.aspx">IEBlog: Compatibility and IE8</a></li>
<li><a href="http://alistapart.com/articles/beyonddoctype">A List Apart: Beyond DOCTYPE: Web Standards, Forward Compatibility, and IE8</a></li>
</ul>
<p>Hundreds of comments have erupted and I am guilty as charged.</p>
<cite><a href="http://tagneto.blogspot.com/2008/01/x-web-epoch-instead-of-x-ua-compatible.html">Tagneto</a></cite>
<blockquote>X-UA-Compatible provides a switch for IE to know what the developer wants: does the developer want the old wild west behavior, or a more standards-based behavior?</blockquote>
<h5>Now, what is it about?</h5>
<p>Slowly and surely I begin to understand what this all about. It takes some time. You have to let the dust settle a bit. Then you can see more clearly again. And think clearly.</p>
<p>The fuss is about a special meta-tag proposed by Microsoft that you can put in a web page to make IE8+ understand which IE version rendering the page requires. It's, for now at least, only applicable to IE8+. Other browsers can ignore it.</p>
<p>When the tag is not present IE8+ will render default in IE7 fashion.</p>
<h5>So, what is it really about?</h5>
<p>When you are a web developer, like I am, and are really into using web standards, like I am, is this threatening? Not really, I think.</p>
<p>Consider this: you have created a web site using web standards and displays good in all browsers you think it should: Firefox, IE6 and 7, Safari, Opera and the like. Now when Microsoft brings out IE8 your site will display in IE7 fashion and you already have it tested against that. It should not give you any extra work.</p>
<p>Maybe, you have used some really clever stuff, like generated content, that doesn't work in IE7. Without the appropriate tag this will not work in IE8. But if you would like this to work in IE8, you could set the value for the <strong>X-UA-Compatible</strong> meta tag to "edge" any version of IE8+ will try its utmost and use its newest (and hopefully best) rendering engine. So, you have a good chance that your generated content will show up. However, some other stuff may break, because you may have coded against an IE7 rendering quirk.</p>
<p>Using the "edge" setting, has some advantages, but also some uncertainties and you may not want to be confronted with these by a client on a Friday afternoon when your buddies wait at the door to go to the pub.</p>
<h5>So, again, what is it really about?</h5>
<p>The fuss seems like a huge storm and people should me think it over for some time. Wait until after the weekend.</p>
<p>To me it says that when IE8 is upon us and I create another website and I want to use the newer, better IE8 rendering engine I need to put in that <strong>X-UA-Compatible</strong> meta tag. Meaning I will have to test my site against IE8, IE7 and possible IE6 and all the other browsers I mentioned before. In all other situations I can just leave out the tag and test thoroughly against IE7 and only superficially in IE8, just to see if Microsoft lives up to its promise.</p>
<h5>So, where do I stand?</h5>
<p>At this moment I think that there will be very limited occasions where I would want to use the <strong>X-UA-Compatible</strong> meta tag. It also feels a bit too non-standard, too alien. In some very special situations one would want to use, but these will be extremely rare. As far as I can see now.</p>
<p>Let's get back to the work that's in my to do list.</p>
<hr />
<p class="update">And now Håkon Wium Lie (CTO of Opera Software) has tossed <a href="http://www.news.com/Acid2%2C-Acid3%2C-and-the-power-of-default/2010-1013_3-6227171.html?part=rss&tag=2547-1_3-0-5&subj=news">his dime into the discussion</a>.</p>
<hr />
<p class="update">Be sure to read the comments on this post. I hope that it shows clearly that I am not happy with the default behaviour of IE when the <strong>X-UA-Compatible</strong> meta tag is omitted. But it also explains that I expect never to use the blistering tag anyhow!</p><div class="blogger-post-footer"><hr />
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<p>Today <a href="http://www.alistapart.com">A List Apart</a> published <a href="http://www.alistapart.com/issues/251">issue 251</a>
which contains <a href="http://www.alistapart.com/articles/fromswitchestotargets">two</a> <a href="http://www.alistapart.com/articles/beyonddoctype">articles</a> that already shock the readers. According to the comments.</p>
<p><a href="http://www.alistapart.com/authors/g/aarongustafson">Aaron Gustafson</a> and <a href="http://www.alistapart.com/authors/m/ericmeyer">Eric Meyer</a> bring on a new look at browsers and how they should handle sites now and in the future. It's a whole new approach and one that has me still in state of "<strong>What?!</strong>" and I know I will have to read these articles again and yet again to maybe understand their impact.</p>
<h5>Head on over <a href="http://www.alistapart.com/issues/251">there</a>!</h5>
<p>Read the articles again and again. This could be important. No, this <em>is</em> important. One way or the other.</p>
<p>It could be very important day today and then again maybe not.</p>
<h5 class="update">There</h5>
<p class="update">I couldn't resist and have submitted <a href="http://www.alistapart.com/comments/beyonddoctype?page=5">a comment on A List Apart</a>. Someone said: "it seems a sad day for web development". Well, I don't know abou that, but "it is a <strong>confusing</strong> day for web development"</p>
<cite>Roho</cite>
<blockquote>it is a <strong>confusing</strong> day for web development</blockquote><div class="blogger-post-footer"><hr />
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<p>Having been involved in information security in the past and in the present I have looked at things hackers (or rather crackers) can do to systems, <a href="http://ap.google.com/article/ALeqM5jSw3W7MyNAF7rq8RTxcvoz76WIiwD8U8GUP02">this</a> cames as no real surprise. </p>
<cite>CIA</cite>
<blockquote><a href="http://ap.google.com/article/ALeqM5jSw3W7MyNAF7rq8RTxcvoz76WIiwD8U8GUP02">Hackers to Blame for Power Outages</a></blockquote>
<p>This is nothing new in that it is only just possible to do these kind of things. It was something that was bound to happen some time. All public services or institutions should be aware that they can be a target for these types of criminals. If your services can be disrupted and that would harm you or your customers (and they will seek compensation from you!), then it is interesting for a cracker to blackmail you. When that time comes you better be prepared for that.</p>
<p>Banks and most financial institutions are already aware of this risk and have all kinds of security measures in place. Not just digital (firewalls and the like), but also physical (good locks and entrance badges) and more importantly they propagate awareness amongst their staff: the weakest link of the security chain. Social engineering almost always does the trick.</p>
<p>But not only the financial sector should have a defense in place: all utility firms should be ready. Apparently that is not the case.</p>
<h5>But is the situation really that bad</h5>
<p>However, I have my doubts about the press release. There is no real information. No specific events are mentioned. It creates fear amongst people, without real evidence.</p>
<p>Does the CIA want more money? That is the feeling I get from this <em>news</em>.</p>
<p>But then again, I do feel that there is a real risk for utility companies and that they really should prepare. They should put security measures in place. Or learn the hard way. If you don't build it, they will come!</p><div class="blogger-post-footer"><hr />
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<p>Three weeks in the States was fun and relaxing. And now, already, I wish I was back there. Again at work, doing stuff that is not always that interesting and satisfying. It is hard. Life sucks.</p>
<p>Well, that is a bit too hard. Still, I am already making plans for returning to Indiana. Some <a href="http://picasaweb.google.com/rob.hofker/AmerikaKerst2007EnNieuwjaar2008">pictures of the trip</a>.</p>
<h5>So what's up?</h5>
<p>Well, you can now find <a href="http://www.spock.com/Rob-Hofker-dqqH1e5">some aggregated personal info</a> on <a href="http://www.spock.com">Spock</a>. Yes and I do <a href="http://twitter.com/Roho2007">Twitter</a>! And have a look at <a href="http://www.google.com/reader/shared/13429028619305815195">my shared news feeds / items</a> in <a href="http://www.google.com/reader">Google Reader</a>.</p>
<p>Well, that's it for now.</p>
<h5>And then this</h5>
<p>If anyone cares to give me a spare <strong>Apple MacBook Air</strong>, I would not mind at all!</p><div class="blogger-post-footer"><hr />
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<p>Although, there are many many things to blog about I do not have the time to do just that. It's been a very busy time. So here is a very quick and short update.</p>
<h5>So what happened?</h5>
<ul>
<li>Had a very interesting time at <a href="http://www.vicrea.nl">Vicrea</a> doing a <em>conformity test</em> for the Dutch ministry of Housing (VROM) and they, we, I passed! Three cheers for them, us, me!</li>
<li>Also while being outsourced there I made the functional design that they are now building without me. Every now and then I sense the grunts coming from that building. Sorry, it wasn't me who designed the interface of the VROM side of things. I bare with you, all the way to the McDonald's.</li>
<li>In between all this there is much time being spent on the wonderful <a href="http://mhcsteenwijkma1.hyves.nl/">Girls A-team of the hockeyclub MHC Steenwijk</a>. We aimed for the highest leaugue and reached that and we even were in the top spot for a couple of weeks and presently we are in the second spot and we have plans not to go any lower than that. And that is an understatement!</li>
<li>Then there is a great project going on at <a href="http://www.senet.nl">my present employer</a>. We are preparing an online service, SaaS, and plan to go live in the next couple of months. there is still a lot of stuff that needs to be done in the project, but it is absolutely exciting. I will remain hush hush for a while, but I will let you know on this blog when things become closer to the launch!</li>
<li>After my time at Vicrea I now have moved onwards to yet another insurance company, <a href="http://www.achmea.nl">Achmea</a> to lend a hand in some projects. An interesting environment I should say.</li>
<li>Also some websites are in the progress of being built, so that takes some more time away from me.</li>
<li><em>I know that I am forgetting stuff here ..</em></li>
<li>And finally, my family and me are about to embark on <strong>Our Big Trip</strong> to visit my brother and sister in law in Bloomington, Indiana. That will keep us away for some three weeks and hopefully I will find time to update either this blog or <a href="http://roho2005.hyves.nl/">my Dutch Hyves pages</a>. The latter is probably not visible to everyone and it is in Dutch.
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<p>So, thats the update for now.</p>
<p>Rests me nothing more than to wish everyone a good and healthyy holiday season!</p><div class="blogger-post-footer"><hr />
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