ubikuo

RSS Feed Homepage

Articles: 1, 2, 3, 4

Living in Luxembourg
2008-02-14 23:11:00
"In order to involve citizens in the discussion and decision making processes concerning the development of the city, the council of aldermen and the mayor cordially invites you to participate in an information session, during which the progress made in the implementation of the coalition agreements between the Democratic Party and the Green Party during 2007 will be presented."For the first time (that I know), English and French translations will be provided. Is this city getting nicer or what?Blogging in Luxembourg . In engrish.
More About: Living

Hacker's war against Scientology has begun
2008-02-14 12:51:00
Guerrilla action has so far included the temporary disabling of its international website and "Google bombing", a manipulation of the search engine which has resulted in the website being the first result returned by Google when users type "dangerous cult". Luxembourg has not recognized Scientology as a religion.More information here: http://www.partyvan.info/index.php/Projec t_ChanologyTranscription:"Hello, Scientology. We are Anonymous.Over the years, we have been watching you. Your campaigns of misinformation; suppression of dissent; your litigious nature, all of these things have caught our eye. With the leakage of your latest propaganda video into mainstream circulation, the extent of your malign influence over those who trust you, who call you leader, has been made clear to us. Anonymous has therefore decided that your organization should be destroyed. For the good of your followers, for the good of mankind--for the laughs--we shall expel you from the Internet and systematicall...

JCDecaux in Luxembourg and the bicycle contract
2008-02-13 23:00:00
The bicycle agreement with JCDecaux has started a political discussion in Luxembourg City. The ten-year contract for the self-service bicycles signed by the City government is being questioned by the biggest opposition party (CSV). In exchange for the 250 self-service bicycles and 25 docking stations, the French company sold the city 80 new advertising panels (or MUPI, Mobilier Urbain Pour l?Information). A previous contract had already granted JC Decaux the instalation of 200 bus shelters. This deal is said to be economically disadvantageous for the City, and the number of MUPI too high and visually polluting, even dangerous for traffic visibility in some places. "Mir wölle bleiwen wat mir sin" or "We want to remain what we are." A suivre.Blogging in Luxembourg. In engrish.
More About: Contract , Bicycle

"Spiritual oasis" in Poland: exorcism center to open in Poczernin
2008-02-12 19:19:00
Andrzej Trojanowski, a polish priest, plans to open an exorcism center close to the German border, in Poczernin, 30km to the east of the Baltic city of Szczeczins. Supported by the local archbishop and by the Vatican, Rev. Trojanowsk is hopping to help a growing number of Polish possessed by evil forces or the devil. There are currently 50 exorcists operating in Poland .I would rather see them dealing with Mr Jaruzelski...Blogging in Luxembourg. In engrish.
More About: Open , Spiritual , Center , Oasis

There's no way like the American way
2008-02-11 13:38:00
"Nobody's safe. That's the warning from the first large-scale study of medical bankruptcy.Health insurance? That didn't protect 1 million American s who were financially ruined by illness or medical bills last year.A comfortable middle-class lifestyle? Good education? Decent job? No safeguards there. Most of the medically bankrupt were middle-class homeowners who had been to college and had responsible jobs -- until illness struck.As part of a research study at Harvard University, our researchers interviewed 1,771 Americans in bankruptcy courts across the country. To our surprise, half said that illness or medical bills drove them to bankruptcy. So each year, 2 million Americans -- those who file and their dependents -- face the double disaster of illness and bankruptcy." (in washingtonpost.com)And now a little joke:"The 15,000 dead that Michael Moore forgot aboutIn 2003 France experienced a heat wave and the result was almost 15,000 deaths. USA Today reported that most the victim...
More About: The American Way

1990: Nelson Mandela freed
2008-02-11 13:12:00
February 11, 1990: Leading anti-apartheid campaigner Nelson Mandela has been freed from prison in South Africa after 27 years.His release follows the relaxation of apartheid laws - including lifting the ban on leading black rights party the African National Congress (ANC) - by South African President FW de Klerk.Johnny Clegg : AsimbonangaBlogging in Luxembourg. In engrish.
More About: Nelson Mandela

One of the faces of Flemish regionalism (or just a tourist trap)?
2008-02-10 19:27:00
"Marcel Kalmann is 64 years old. Born January 1st, 1944 in Auschwitz-Birkenau, he is the youngest person to have survived Auschwitz. After the war he lived in shelters, where he was also abused. As a young man he emigrated to America and is now a professor.About two weeks ago Kalmann visited the city of Bruges. On the last day of his stay he entered a famous restaurant: Le Panier d'Or and asked for a cup of coffee. He was the only client at the time, and besides him there were a barman and two waiters. When one of the waiters noticed his yarmulke he turned to him and barked out: "We don't serve Jews here, out!" The professor was completely confused and left the cafe as quickly as possible, the waiter yet screaming after him: 'out, OUT!'Shocked by the attack, Kalmann walked into a nearby restaurant. "That man came in here with tears in his eyes." says waiter Dean Stalpaert to Joods Actueel. "We apologized to him for the attack, though we had nothing to do with the affair. We felt...
More About: Faces , Trap , Tourist

New Ecowhat?! Fiat Bravo 1.6 Diesel Multijet
2008-02-06 23:29:00
As you might recall from one of my previous posts, I have serious doubts about the so-called environment-friendly diesel cars. For example, Fiat is launching a new 1.6 diesel engine for the Bravo range, in 103 or 118bhp variants, both Euro 5 compliant, thanks to a new particle filter. AND a third ?Eco? model, with the same motor, 103bhp and CO2 emissions of just 119g/km, which is not Euro 5 compliant because removing the particle filter was the only trick Fiat could find to keep CO2 emissions bellow the 120 g/km threshold. The dirty trick will not work in Luxembourg, because the 750 euros reduction from the governmental scheme for cleaner cars can only be granted for a diesel car equipped with a particle filter: ?Pour les voitures équipées d?un moteur à carburant diesel, l?aide financière [750 euros] n?est accordée que si les émissions de particules fines sont inférieures ou égales à 5 mg/km, un filtre à particules est dès lors indispensable" (in car-e.lu) .Blogging in Luxembourg. ...
More About: Diesel

Shopping in Luxembourg
2008-02-06 22:04:00
Today I've found: this blog about shopping in Luxembourg : Good Idea;this very nice customer-friendly swedish shop: Good Ikea;this beautiful piece of merchandise from The League of Gentlemen: and this nice video to enlighten those of you who are not familiar with this BBC series (or the movie) and don't know what the heck am I talking about:This is a local shop for local people(click on the image to see the video in YouTube)Blogging in Luxembourg. In engrish.
More About: Shopping

Honeymoon at Gandrange
2008-02-04 23:51:00
French President Nicolas Sarkozy suggested Monday the government could come to the rescue of steel workers at an ArcelorMittal plant facing layoffs."We're going to fight, you're not alone," the president said to 600 workers gathered for his speech at the company's plant in Gandrange in northeast France."After the speeches, about 50,000 people set off for the Pentagon. It took them about an hour and a half to walk two miles across the Memorial Bridge and down a service road to the north parking lot where a second rally was scheduled.At the other end a group of hippies was trying to exorcize the Pentagon. The brainchild of Abbie Hoffman [the guy in the photo], the plan was for people to sing and chant until it levitated and turned orange, driving out the evil spirits and ending the war in Viet Nam. The Pentagon didn?t move."Blogging in Luxembourg. In engrish.
More About: Honeymoon

Cabbage smell in Luxembourg
2008-01-31 23:33:00
Have you notice the rotten cabbage smell in Luxembourg last sunday? It's the Burgos paper mill near Arlon."Most odors associated with kraft paper mills result from the use of sulfur in digesting wood and sawdust. In the digestion process some of the sulfur is converted to reduced sulfide compounds (TRS). TRS gases, which have very distinctive odors, are primarily hydrogen sulfide (H 2 S, rotten egg smell), methyl mercaptan (CH 3 SH, rotten cabbage smell), dimethyl sulfide (CH 3 SCH 3 , rotten vegetable smell), and dimethyl disulfide (CH 3 S 2 CH 3, rotten vegetable smell)." Blogging in Luxembourg. In engrish.
More About: Smell , Cabbage

Perle Mesta
2008-01-30 18:24:00
Perle Mesta was an American society figure, political hostess, and U.S. ambassador to Luxembourg (1949-1953). She supported Harry S. Truman's run for the White House, and was rewarded with the ambassadorship to Luxembourg.Mesta was the inspiration for Irving Berlin's musical, Call Me Madam, "a satire on politics and foreign affairs that spoofs America's penchant for lending billions of dollars to needy countries, it centers on Sally Adams, a well-meaning but ill-informed socialite widow who is appointed US Ambassador to the fictional European country of Lichtenburg. While there, she charms the local gentry, especially Cosmo Constantine, while her press attache Kenneth Gibson falls in love with Princess Maria" (Wikipedia).Blogging in Luxembourg. In engrish.

Life on Mars
2008-01-24 16:41:00
Photographs taken in 2004 by the NASA space probe - Mars explorer Spirit - appears to show a human shaped object, a the creature with a huge head making its way down a mountainside. I think it's Chewbacca.Blogging in Luxembourg. In engrish.
More About: Life , Life On Mars

Old news
2008-01-24 16:23:00
"The technology behind Google's great resultsAs a Google user, you're familiar with the speed and accuracy of a Google search. How exactly does Google manage to find the right results for every query as quickly as it does? The heart of Google's search technology is PigeonRank?, a system for ranking web pages developed by Google founders Larry Page and Sergey Brin at Stanford University.Building upon the breakthrough work of B. F. Skinner, Page and Brin reasoned that low cost pigeon clusters (PCs) could be used to compute the relative value of web pages faster than human editors or machine-based algorithms. And while Google has dozens of engineers working to improve every aspect of our service on a daily basis, PigeonRank continues to provide the basis for all of our web search tools.""Why Google's patented PigeonRank? works so wellPigeonRank's success relies primarily on the superior trainability of the domestic pigeon (Columba livia) and its unique capacity to recognize object...
More About: News , Old News

Cine Marivaux
2008-01-22 17:02:00
Cine Marivaux, at the corner of Rue St. Zithe and Rue Dicks, is going down.Built in 1928, designed by the architect Jean Warken, the main entry doors and the ticket booths were renewed by Jean Prouvé in 1939. From 1987 to 1998 the cinema was enlisted in the luxembourgish Inventaire supplémentaire des sites et monuments. Then it was declassified. Now it will be destroyed. The corner of the building is supposed to be preserved. The city will have more 2,900 m2 of office space and 12 apartments.(see http://www.woxx.lu/id_article/2359) Jean Prouvé was a French designer and architect established in Nancy(see Wikipedia).«In 1949, the French government under Charles De Gaulle hired Jean Prouvé, a French designer and a favorite of contemporary collectors, to build prefabricated housing for the country?s African colonies. In what may be the earliest example of modern prefab, Prouvé created Maison Tropicale, an aluminum paneled building that could be packed into a cargo plane. One of the su...
More About: Cine

Dirty skies
2008-01-18 15:35:00
Air in Luxembourg City is dirty, and getting dirtier. The average level of nitrogen oxides is around 50 mcg in Hamilius and Bonnevoie, above the european limit of 40 micrograms per cubic meter. Nitrogen oxides means diesel cars.Because of the way a diesel engine works, with an excess of air inside the engine (rather than "just enough" as in a petrol engine, which is what causes CO emissions), nitrous oxides are more likely to be formed. The nitrous oxides combine with low level ozone to form smog. Diesel engines emit high levels of nitrogen oxides (NOx) and particulate matter (PM), and in addition, a complex mixture of gases many of which are known or suspected cancer causing agents. Diesel exhaust exacerbates asthma and causes inflammation of the airways. Diesel exhaust is an important contributor to airborne concentrations of fine particle pollution, especially in urban areas.This means that most european governments are supporting (fiscally or directly) low CO2 emitting diesel ca...
More About: Dirty

"How easy is it to crack Luxembourg?" or First we take Manhattan, then we t
2008-01-13 23:10:00
Amazing. Two podcasters hit iTunes Top20 by spending one day in Luxembourg (the whole story here and here).Blogging in Luxembourg. In engrish.
More About: Crack , Manhattan , Easy , Then

Cleaner Skies
2008-01-11 12:48:00
Europe is finally doing something about the fastest growing source of the pollution that causes global warming: air travel.The «Clean Sky» Joint Technology Initiative created by the European Commission for the 7th Framework Programme for Research is a research programme plan for greener european air transport. The goals are to obtain, by 2020, a 50% reduction of CO2 emissions, a 80% reduction of NOx emissions and a 50% reduction of noise.Flying by jet plane is the least environmentally sustainable way to travel and transport goods. Aeroplanes are responsible for at least 3,5 % of global warming. This figure is expected to reach 15 % by 2050.Some more numbers, from http://www.dontfly.org/: One-way flying distance in kilometers: 2000Liters of crude oil consumed by one person, two-way flight: 274Number of persons traveling in your group: 2Liters of crude oil consumed by the group/family, two-way flight: 549Liters of carbon dioxide released to atmosphere by the group/family, two-way fli...
More About: Cleaner

Village people
2008-01-09 14:11:00
Several robbers impersonating policemen have been active in Luxembourg in the last days. They wear dark clothes, baseball caps, and speak French. On the pretext of checking something inside the house (a water meter, for example), they gain access to the victim's houses and steal whatever they can.The police has warned the population about this scam, and reminded that luxembourgish police officers speak luxembourgish. In case of doubt, call the nearest police station, and don't let anyone into your house. If you don't speak luxembourgish (more then 40 % of the residents are foreigners, according to STATEC) always call the nearest police station.This language issue can put a touch of manichaeism into the whole situation: speaking luxembourgish is good; any other foreign language is bad. (PS: Luxembourgish biker cops are easier to identify: think Village People !)Blogging in Luxembourg. In engrish.
More About: Village People

TANSTAAFL
2008-01-04 14:30:00
TANSTAAFL is an acronym for the adage "There Ain't No Such Thing As A Free Lunch," popularized by science fiction writer Robert A. Heinlein in his 1966 novel The Moon Is a Harsh Mistress, which discusses the problems caused by not considering the eventual outcome of an unbalanced economy. This phrase and book are popular with libertarians and economics textbooks. (Wikipedia) "Citing disagreements with the organization, Intel Corp. said Thursday it has abandoned the One Laptop Per Child program, dealing a big blow to the ambitious project seeking to bring millions of low-cost laptops to children in developing countries.""Intel decided to quit the nonprofit project and the OLPC board because the two reached a "philosophical impasse," Intel spokesman Chuck Mulloy said. Meanwhile, Intel will continue with its own inexpensive laptop design called the Classmate, which it is marketing in some of the same emerging markets OLPC has targeted." (http://news.yahoo.com/s/ap/20080104/ap_o n_hi_t...

New Year's Eve
2007-12-31 15:49:00
Luxembourg is definitely not a city that never sleeps. Au contraire. Therefore, it's always nice to find out that someone is still alive. And kicking (another cliché, or another French expression, and I?ll close this thing down). Mr. Paul Hammelmann, president of Luxembourguish Sécurité routiére, gave an interview to L?Essentiel defending the need for free public transportation in Luxembourg during New Year's Eve (click to read): It all looks like a small domestic war between the government, the city administration, and probably CFL. In vdl.lu we learn that: "Comme tous les ans à l'occasion des fêtes de fin d'année, le service des autobus municipaux interrompra ses courses comme suit:Le mardi 1er janvier 2008 (Nouvel An) le service des lignes régulières ne commencera que vers 08h00."But:"Le service nocturne des autobus «City Night Bus» de la Ville de Luxembourg circule suivant son horaire habituel les vendredi et samedis soirs. Le City Night Bus circule sur les trois lignes suiv...

Cars and girls * II
2007-12-26 00:40:00
(I know I'm a lazy bastard, taking advantage of every comment to publish a new post, but I can't help it. It's not a bad thing and it gives the right visibility to those of my few readers who care to comment my posts.)Just to make things clear: my last post was less about CO2 emissions and more about attitude. Therefore, handsome 40 year old cars are exempt of any environmental concern (I know, I have a lot of soft spots).Is it a Vitesse, GG?Blogging in Luxembourg. In engrish.
More About: Cars , Girls

Cars and girls
2007-12-21 13:27:00
"New German-made cars sold in Europe in 2006 had higher carbon dioxide emissions on average than they did in 2005, according to a new study." (http://news.bbc.co.uk/)BMW reduced new cars emissions, but Mercedes and Volkswagen (+ Audis, specially the black ones, Seats and Skoda, that use the same motors) didn't. I think everyone of us as one or two special words to designate Mercedes drivers (and no, I don't mean "handsome", Mr. CLS500); we can keep on using them, freely."It is ironic that the country that did so much to get a European consensus on new climate targets earlier this year is also home to the carmakers that are holding back progress on one of the most important ways of achieving them, said Jos Dings, director of T&E.The failure to cut the weight of cars is one of the principal reasons why CO2 emissions and fuel consumption are not going down, he added." This brings me back to my previous post about Mazda 2: it's nicer, cleaner and lighter then the previous model. ...
More About: Cars , Girls

See the stars * II
2007-12-19 15:44:00
From a comment to my previous post:"Even if it's surley nice to have it built into Google Earth, there are 2 good programs for star-watching:Celestia: http://www.shatters.net/celestia/and Stellarium: http://www.stellarium.org/ ". Thanks, Fireball!Blogging in Luxembourg. In engrish.
More About: Stars

If we can't buy it, let's copy it!
2007-12-19 15:41:00
We all know Wikipedia. We all know Google. And we all know the probability of getting a Wikipedia page on top of a simple search in Google is very high. Well, that means money, a lot of money from advertisement, so Google (which is not a non-profit, free, community web service, like Wikipedia, altought there is same discussion about keeping this "clean" status: http://gondwanaland.com/mlog/2007/01/02/w ikipedia-advertising/) decided to try to collect some of those potential dollars that are wasted every time someone clicks an ad-free Wikipedia link. Knol is born (beta and invitation-only, by now).From Wikipedia, about Knol: "Some describe knol as a rival to encyclopedia sites such as Wikipedia, Scholarpedia, About.com and Helium.com. Others state that its differences complement Wikipedia; Wikipedia articles are written collectively and should adhere to the "neutral point of view" policy, while Knols highlight personal expertise by emphasizing authorship and can contain the personal o...
More About: Copy

As least now they can plan it freely, while eating a BigMac at a local McDo
2007-12-17 12:49:00
The tradition of bride kidnapping, ala kachuu in Kyrgyz, was made illegal in Kyrgyzstan when the Soviet Union made efforts to transform marriage practices that limited women's freedom of choice, including child betrothals and arranged and kidnapped marriages.Moscow frowned on the practice and did its best to stamp it out, but it has re-emerged since Kyrgyzstan became independent in 1991. The tradition is entirely illegal and is a somewhat distorted version of the old custom since it frequently involves coercion and rape.The frequency of kidnappings appears to have risen after independence and continues to be on the rise as an element of the reclamation of Kyrgyz identity after Soviet rule. There is little evidence that violations of the law against kidnapping are punished.Blogging in Luxembourg. In engrish.
More About: Local , Plan , Eating , Loca

See the stars
2007-12-06 12:45:00
In addition to browsing the Earth, Google Earth now allows you to view heavenly objects, including stars, constellations, galaxies, planets and the Earth's moon. (http://earth.google.com/sky/skyedu.html) Blogging in Luxembourg. In engrish.
More About: Stars

Tap water smelling and tasting sort of funny? Call the police!
2007-12-05 13:02:00
«Police drivers searching the reservoir at Esch-sur-Sure discovered a body yesterday, but later discounted that it was that of missing student Tanja Greff.The remains of a man were found in a Ford Escort car in the mud near the Misèresbréck bridge shortly after midday.The man was identified and was reported missing in 1984. He was 46 at the time.» (in http://www.station.lu/)Blogging in Luxembourg. In engrish.
More About: Funny , The Police , Water , Call

It's official: Santa Claus («Kleeschen») is moving to Luxembourg!
2007-12-04 16:55:00
«At a meeting of EU finance ministers in the small but prosperous duchy, Luxembourg refused to agree to a lifting of the tax advantages that have prompted iTunes, Skype, eBay, Santa Claus and other big Internet companies to set up shop there. That effectively blocked the package, because adoption of tax measures requires unanimous agreement by all 27 EU members.Telecommunications companies, satellite broadcasters and other companies providing online services apply a value added, or sales, tax based on where the company is established, not where the customer is. That makes Luxembourg, where VAT on Internet-related sales is 15 percent, an attractive place to operate. In neighboring Germany, for example, the rate was raised to 19 percent this year.»Blogging in Luxembourg. In engrish.
More About: Moving , Official

Our neighbors
2007-11-28 17:09:00
I don't know how is this gonna end, but by now we can still laugh.Blogging in Luxembourg. In engrish.
More About: Neighbors