I finally got around to installing TomTom on to my Smartphone, and making sure the Netherlands map was activated and looking OK. Next I need to double check the research I’ve carried out, make sure I have not missed any places worth visiting, and export them to KML files. Those files can be imported straight into GPSTuner on my PDA, though my PDA’s and SmartPhone’s TomTom application will require the data to converted into OV2 etc. files.
I now have two separate sources for satellite navigation, in case either the phone or the PDA’s battery runs out, and with two different applications, should one turn out not to be working as well as planned. I’ll post results once I know how well things went.
Sep 02 2007
Uphill Water Travel?
I have just sent a message to Alex and ChrisD, asking if they fancy visiting the Escher museum whilst in Amsterdam. Although I do intend to get thoroughly relaxed whilst in the smokers’ haven, I would like to check out a couple of places of cultural interest. I’m not sure if we will make it to all of these, but I would also like to check out the Anne Frank hidey hole, if we can arrive when the majority of other tourists are not causing a log jam, as well as going on a boat trip around the canals. Rather than using one of the tours organized by the big three companies, I found a charity that runs a trip on a different type of boat, where drinking, smoking and eating is welcomed, and there is no fixed charge. If the trip turns out to be a waste of time, all we will have lost is a little time and gained a fresh perspective on the city. Hopefully it will go well. I intend to write posts on points of interest following our trip, though it may need to wait until mid-October, when I get back to Kazakhstan. Anyway the catalyst to me writing this post was a garden designed by the inventor of the famous Dyson hoover (James Dyson), who came up with the concept of a water feature that had water travelling uphill.
I have to admit the photos got my attention… Although obviously water can not naturally travel against gravity by going up hill, my first couple of assumptions did not hold up to any sort of analysis… Vacuums and mere optical illusions that involved having the hills not actually inclined in the way they appeared not would be too easily noticed by the public. Anyway, check below for a diagram of how it actually works…
Ps If you have not figured out what Escher has to do with this, either look at your average student’s poster covered wall, or Google it 😉
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Aug 31 2007
21 Days To Go
In just three weeks time I will be in Amsterdam. Given the time difference, I should have hopefully just hopped off a train at Centraal Station, dumped my bags in a locker (to be picked up when Alex and ChrisD have arrived a few hours later), and found a nice coffee shop to… have a coffee in (?).
Four days of rest and relaxation there, and then onto Cheltenham and Evesham, to meet up with Dad & Jan and some friends from my old home town. From there, the plan is to get to Clydach, to stay at Mum & John’s, and finally meet up with Gwen, their little puppy.
Finally, the reason for my trip being timed for this period, will be to go down to Falmouth and see my brother, Nick, for his 22nd birthday. All in all, it looks to be a packed three weeks, and I am really looking forward to going back to Britain, and of course Amsterdam.
Aug 27 2007
Inside Track On Airport Security
With my trip to Britain and Amsterdam now less than a month away, I am starting to try and think about the practical things, such as which suitcase to use, having to pack two bathroom bags, one for freshening up and therefore in my hand luggage, another with those deadly plane downing tools such as nail clippers, bottle with more than 200ml in them, and probably dental floss 😉
Anyway, I found an interesting interview with an American person involved in airport security state-side. Although the majority of the conversation is obviously based upon current flight restrictions placed on planes to and from the USA, the responses and general attitude of the guy were useful to know. Check out the article here.
Oh, and it is now approximately 615 hours until I’m on my way to Centraal Station in Amsterdam, and another four or so on top before I meet up with ChrisD and AlexC 🙂
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Aug 22 2007
Amsterdam Tour – On A Segway!
OK, I will try and make this the last of the Amsterdam videos tonight, but this one really did catch me eye…
Yes, for some unfathomable reason, a group of people took their segways§ and went on a tour of Amsterdam, including inside shops! This may be accepted and possible in areas of NYC, but it looks as though shop keepers and security staff in Amsterdam do not feel the same way! Please note there are shots of women in Bikinis, whilst the segwayers are touring the Red Light District, but nothing worse than you will see at the beach.
§ – If you have not come across them before, they are the form of transport that George W Bush managed to fall off. This despite the fact that they are designed to always self right! So what form of acrobatics or G-Force was he pulling to be able to defeat the segway in question? He did not turn it on first. LMAO.
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Aug 22 2007
The Grey Area
Not the forum that I’ve already linked to in the past. This is referring to the coffeeshop over in Amsterdam. It is run by a couple of Americans, and although quite small, is a favourite amongst the American tourists especially. I hope to grab a picture of it in just over a months time, but for now, check out the YouTube video by Blueberry…
I have been watching all her videos as I wait for the big opps to drop for PPP’s 1K Tuesday promotion again, hoping to pick up a little more information regarding which coffeeshops are worth finding, and which to avoid.
Finally, we have a video of the apartment they stayed in for Queens Day this year. I think it is about a dozen buildings away from where ChrisD, AlexC and I will be staying. Obviously there is no guarantee that our place will be as nice, but the view out the window should be quite similar, so I’m happy 🙂
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Aug 20 2007
Not Just Me – Skype
Over the weekend I had terrible problems signing into Skype, though Live Messenger had no issues. Due to the previous problems I have encountered with our local ISP, I just assumed they were doing some work on their servers, and were perhaps having to block ranges of ports whilst they were carrying out work. It now looks as though the ISP is not to blame, as Skype have released an official statement explaining they had encountered unexpected technical difficulties, that had led to some users not being able to sign in. As I don’t often use Skype for IM, it did not really effect me a great deal, but had I been in Amsterdam already, this could have caused problems, as I intend to use my PDA’s Skype application (with whichever free WiFi spots I can find) to avoid having to pay for calls back here to Kazakhstan. Other users who had to redirect Skype audio calls to a mobile have been asking if they will receive a refund. (In case you haven’t come across the system yourself, audio/video/typing conversations between two computers are free, if you need to dial a ‘real world’ telephone, be it mobile or a landline, you need to purchase some Skype credit.)
Aug 18 2007
Any Interest In GPS POI For Amsterdam?
PLEASE SEE THE NEW AMSTERDAM PAGE FOR THE GPS FILES.
As you may have gathered, I recently spent quite a long time collating information on Amsterdam, from which bars serve the best beer (for ChrisD), to which CoffeeShops (CSs) sell the best, ermmm, coffee (?). Anyway, part of this process involved me using the forums I previously posted about, a fair few Google searches, Google Earth and anything else I could lay my hands on to discover the exact locations of the good CSs, in terms of Latitude and Longitude. Once entered into Google Earth, I exported them as KML files, and imported them into the GPS Tuner PDA application I mentioned a while back. Now I have nearly completed this stage, would there be any interest from this blog’s readers in those files? I still need to tidy up the names, if they are to be used by other people, but I can’t be bothered, TBH, if there is no interest. So, I’ll give it a fortnight, if you would rather not publicly state your fondness of smoking, feel free to e-mail me (addresses are posted on the Contacts page, link at the top here), and I’ll not mention any names if you prefer.
At some point, I will be publishing a summary of the research, including non-smoking-related information, so don’t think this is exclusively for lovers of the green stuff.
Aug 18 2007
Amsterdam Forums
Just a quick post this time, I wanted to let you know about two forums I’ve joined, that have a wealth of useful information on Amsterdam.
The first is pretty much focused on those who enjoy a smoke (only in the Netherlands of course!), and want to chat with others about their previous experiences, or help out people who want to research their trip properly. Although you will also find related information, hotels, food etc., the second forum seems to have quite a large volume of info on those topics. The forum is an off shoot of the Amsterdam Coffeeshop Directory, and can be found here. If the address should ever change in the future, you can find your way there from the main site.
The second forum is part of channels.nl, and covers a wider spectrum of subjects, so if you have a genuine interest in all things Dutch, do make sure you check it out as well. You will find a little more forum politics at this site, with the guest area (you don’t need to register to post here) seeing a lot of action 
.
Just to let you know, this is a personal, non-sponsored post – I have saved many hours using these two forums to get as much info as possible on my trip to Amsterdam, I’ve simply provided these links in the hope that others find them useful.
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Aug 17 2007
Lost Luggage
A week ago I posted on an Irish blogger who had his luggage lost, and with my upcoming trip to Amsterdam and Britain, the subject has occasionally popped into my head. This BBC article hasn’t done a lot to calm me down. With changing planes in both Kaliningrad and Amsterdam, to get to Birmingham International, with two or three airline companies involved, I do wonder if I will arrive at each destination at the same time as my suitcase… Apparently insurance claims for lost luggage have almost doubled in the last 6 months, though I do wonder if the article is little more than a press release for the insurance company quoted?
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