Incompetence = Air France?

Last week I was in France from wednesday afternoon until friday as a guest of IBM at their Product & Solutions Support Center in Montpellier. A day and a half to get me up to speed on Aix, Power and storage. Load of interesting information with the juicy bits under a NDA so don't ask me to blog about that.

I only mention this event because it explains what I was doing there and why I was flying back. I don't consider IBM responsible in any way. In fact I was impressed by the hospitality and knowledge of everyone involved. The only fault I could find there was that they expected the group to eat a mountain of delicious pastries with our morning coffee.

No, the interesting bit of this trip started when I entrusted Air France with my save return to Schiphol airport.

Friday morning: We'd all checked in via the Air France website and had our boarding cards printed out.

Friday 12.00: Bus left for the airport. Arrival at 12.15. Our return flight to Amsterdam, AF 7683, was shown as "delayed". The scheduled departure time of 13.30 came and went with no change in status. Now the airport has a PA system which warned us every 10 minutes not to leave our luggage unattended but apparantly was not suiteable for flight information.
At 13.15 I went to the Air France information counter where they assured me that the plane would arrive any minute and that, despite a slight delay, there would be no problem in getting onto the connection flight which would leave at 15.45.
14.00 The lady behind the Air France counter could tell me that the plane would land at around 1500 and would be serviced as soon as possible. I just might not make my flight but they could handle all that at Paris since the local facilities to change flights were a bit strained.
During this time the area behind the security check kept filling up and no flights left.

Friday 15.04: The plane had landed!! Soon it was at the gate (a different gate which we just happened to notice but hey, there was a plane and I wasn't complaining).
15.30 boarding started. Now Air France flies these routes with an Airbus A319 in an all economy configuration which is really a cattle car. Loads of hand luggage, a seat pitch so small that I was litteraly jammed between seats. Boarding one of these takes time so the 3/4 full flight left at 1600.

Friday 17.15: Flight landed at Charles de Gaulle terminal 2D. By now we'd realized we needed to be transfered to another flights. The terminal was a bit busy and we noticed some flights had been cancelled. But hey, there's a transfer desk with only about 15 people queing, they should be able to help us since they were working the counter with 4 people.
What exactly those 4 were doing I don't know but it envolved staring at their screen intently, ocassionaly typing something and very rarely printing something out and tearing up the printout immediately.

Friday 19.50: Hey, it's our turn. By now we'd grown into a loose group of 9 dutchmen stranded by the same problem. So we more or less mobbed the guy behind the counter who quickly admitted that we could forget getting home tonight but that Air France would get us into hotels. Only he couldn't get us all into the same hotel. For 7 of us there was a place in a hotel near Disneyland (33km away!). Air France would arrange for bus transportation and would get us vouchers for the hotel and meals. 2 of us couldn't be fitted there anymore and would get a hotel elsewhere. By then we'd been standing for almost 3 hours, were thirsty and hungry so we quickly accepted.

Friday 20.30: Found the bus at another part of Terminal 2.

Friday 20.53: the bus was full with stranded passangers and would go to the Dream Castle hotel and the Magic Circle, 2 hotels near Disneyland.

All this time I'd seen snow on the ground but nothing coming down, in fact it had been clear from at least 17.00.

Friday 21.20 the bus driver gets on the PA system to announce that he's a bit lost.

Friday 21.40 The bus driver almost manages to get himself stuck on a very snowed under part of the Disneyland parking lot. I suggest to the belgian sitting next to me that he's the right guy to introduce the concept of asking for directions to the bus driver since he speaks french and I don't.

Friday 21.58: Checked in at the hotel. The very nice lady at the front desk informs me that the restaurant closes in 2 minutes. We run down to the restaurant and wolf down some leftovers.

No firm information on coaches to the airport back the next morning in order to make our 0715 flight so with 4 guys together we order a taxi for 0515 next morning and we quickly head to our beds. We did notice yet another coach loaded of stranded Air France victims being unloaded and feel sorry for them.

Saturday 0515: In the lobby there's a hand written sign announcing that there will be several coaches to the airport this morning. Our taxi driver is waiting for us, so are 90 passengers hoping to get onto a half full coach.

Saturday 0540: Turns out we are not in a metered taxi but some shuttle service that charges 20 euros/person. Feels like easy money with 6 people in his fan but he's gotten us to the airport in plenty of time trough the snow and I don't want to miss my flight.

Saturday 0610: We clear security and go hunting for some coffee since breakfast at the hotel didn't start until 0700 we were hungry. There's a shop selling fresh pastry and for a mere 6 euros I get two remarkably good pieces of pastry and some really strong coffee.

Saturday 0646: Boarding starts at the announced time and continues at a glacial pace until 0720. We should have left by now. The plane taxis and taxis.

Saturday 0750: The captain announces that we are number 2 in line for decing.

Saturday 0850: After an uneventful flight we manage to reach Schiphol airport.

Now I know I've said some unkind things about KLM in the past but I take those all back. Air France is were the real evil is. I am seriously considering filing for the 250 euros damages that EU law grants passangers. Yes the weather couldn't be helped but the incredible lack of information could have as could the piss poor treatment at CDG.

christmas deer

christmas deer
Originally uploaded by j_wijnands.

Last sunday. It was snowing quite heavily which had disrupted most normal deer patterns. I found this flock late and incomplete and 50 meters west of where they'd normally be.

This one turned out nice, quite a bit of work on the curves to get anything approaching what I'd seen.

Sharpness isn't great, this was trough 20 meters of snow filled air in very marginal lighting conditions. And the framing could have been way better. Still... I like it, as a pic it's not bad and it reminds me of a magical sunday morning.

seagull in lowlevel flight

seagull in lowlevel flight
Originally uploaded by j_wijnands.

This is a shot I would have liked to have made much earlier. With my Sigma 70-300 I tried and tried but it was just too slow to focus. With the Nikon 70-300 VR it's just a matter of getting the framing right.

I like this, especially with the wings down you can see how close they fly to the ground.

here's something you don't see every day

here's something you don't see every day
Originally uploaded by j_wijnands.

I noticed this fallow deer buck and a magpie sitting next to it staring intently at the deer's penis. I tried to move into a better position, figuring I'd get a funny shot out of it when I noticed the magpie jumping on the deers back. It moved a few steps forward. Right after this shot I spooked the deer.

Strange behaviour, I've never seen this before. Reminds me of those birds that feed of the insects of african buffalo.

Nokia 3720 classic

Or should I title this post “from one ruggedized phone to the next”? Ruggedized means more or less that it’s designed for use in harsh environments.

I don’t consider myself hard on my phones. My first few cell phones were all Nokia. I started on a 8110 and have used the 5110, 6110, 6150 and all of these spend a lot of time in my pocket or on my belt. They all suffered the occasional drop and handled it well. In the early years of this decade I switched to Siemens for an S55, lovely little phone but after a year or so it distinctly showed signs of wear and tear. The Motorola V3 I bought after that died a little under two years.

So, when I was due for a new phone in early 2008 I decided to buy something that was durable and loud enough to use in the noisy server rooms where I spent some of my time. At that time there wasn’t much to choose from on the European market. Nokia had withdrawn the 5210 years ago and had not released anything else. Siemens had tried a few models such as the M65 but Siemens sold the GSM division and that died soon after.

The only serious player at that time was Sonim. A company almost unknown in Europe if you didn’t work in the building industry. In early 2008 they had just introduced their first cell phone, the XP1 and the Xp1BT (With bluetooth). My review of the XP1BT is still the most popular page on my website.

After a little over a year I got tired of the constant echo of the phone and the fact that it couldn’t be without battery power for a second without losing it’s internal clock settings so I mailed sonim support and after some weeks they send me a replacement. That developed some sort of phone altzheimer’s in september. It would miss calls without letting me know. By then I was thoroughly sick of the 1990s user interface, the short battery life and the call quality which could range from abysmal to ok in 5 minutes. So I started looking for a replacement.  Of course the new sonim xp3 came up but I found it a bit expensive and I didn’t have much faith left in the Sonim designers. Unlike the american market where several companies offer ruggedized and mil-spec phones there is not that much on the European market. Samsung has the B2100 and B2700. And then came nokia with it’s 3720 classic. Now my wife had bought a 2330 a few weeks early and I was impressed with the Series 40 user interface and the call quality. So I ordered a 3720.

It’s a basic candy bar with a charger port at the bottom. Nice, big 2.2” TFT with 320x240 resolution which makes for a nice crispy image. Comes complete with charger, 1gb memory card, earbuds and a 25 euros coupon for the german nokia music store. All that for 136 euros including shipping.

First impressions: nice screen, fits the hand well, easy buttons. It does not come across as a very sturdy phone unlike the Sonim which felt like you could use it to drive nails with. Well, that’s not all you could do with it, there’s a load of clips on youtube of people trying to kill a sonim, This one is my favorite:

Now breaking stuff is fun to the people doing gadget

tests for a living and so the guys from phonearena tried to break a 3720:

and it can also swim.

So, despite it’s elegance I should be ok. For the moment I’m enjoying that wonderful screen, nice call quality and the fact that I can have it talk to my pc quick and easy with the standard Nokia tools.

I’ll let you know first time it needs charging.

Technorati Tags: nokia 3720 classic,nokia,3720,classic,review,sonim xp1,sonim xp1bt,sonim,xp1,ruggedized phone

I think I'm in love!

Tokina 50-135mm f/2.8 AT-X 535 PRO DX
Originally uploaded by j_wijnands.

And no, not with this lady but with the lens I used for this shot. The Tokina 50-135mm f/2.8 AT-X 535 PRO DX. Very, very nice piece of glass. Handles fine, built quality is on par with what you'd expect from a Tokina AT-X pro lens. Focussing is very fast and very quiet. The colors are very neutral with a tiny amount of cool.

My compliments to the model as well, don't know her name but there she was on the tokina stand continuously striking nice poses!

Beware of photography competitions!

I was just reading on dpreview about the lumix awards (http://www.lumixaward.com/). Nice website, nice theme, I'd expected to have some chance with this picture.






But then I read the terms and conditions.

16. Entrants agree that, in relation to any photographs selected as winning photographs, they grant Panasonic Marketing Europe GmbH and Panasonic Corporation companies and other members of the Panasonic Group an exclusive licence to use images for 5 years at no charge for their marketing and promotional activities. Winners will be given an authorship credit in respect of any published reproductions of their photographs made by Panasonic or its agents.

Come on! 5 years exclusive license? Get real!

buzzard in flight

buzzard in flight
Originally uploaded by j_wijnands.

Quite proud of this one actually. A slight crop from the original. With the 70-300VR this is relatively easy to do. Of course you still have to be close enough to the flight path. Nonentheless, I am quite pleased with this shot.

Nikon AF-S VR Zoom-Nikkor ED 70-300mm f/4.5-5.6G IF

I bought this gem friday. It's replacing the weakest lens in my bag, a Sigma 70-300 APO. Haven't had the chance to test it properly yet but the first impressions are good. It looks bigger but is almost the same size as the sigma. It feels heavier and sturdier. AF is very quiet, quick and spot on. VR seems to do what it should do and quite discretely.

First test results:

And a crop:

Best airline safety briefing ever

Found this via an article in "El Reg" about IBM failing quite miserably as an outsourcing partner. It gets the message across in the right tempo with attention to details. The fact that the whole "crew" only wears body paint is to me secondary.

There I was, approaching a small herd of fallow deer which included, by the sound of it, 2 males disagreeing. Almost found a good spot and noone had noticed me. Then, suddenly, a big truck loaded with empty containers thunders by. The herd was spooked and all I got was this shot.

Esther in the woods

Esther in the woods
Originally uploaded by j_wijnands.

Just a portrait. Shot in the dark under the trees so I used a sb-600 on camera for a bit of extra light.

how did a deer cross the stream?

how did a deer cross the stream?
Originally uploaded by j_wijnands.

Or why do I always carry my camera setup for a snapshot?

It's mating season now, all the fallow deer act weird. Normally this guy would have discretely disappeard. Now he heard another male burling and decided to go and take a look.

I was at Technet Live last thursday. Microsoft introduced Windows 7, Server 2008 R2 and, a day later, Exchange 2010.

Steve Balmer's keynote was impressive, shame there were a bunch of journalists asking really stupid questions.

After a good lunch I spend the afternoon with:

Brandon Hoff telling us about all the new features in Exchange 2010. I found the 90% reduction in IOPS very impressive. I failed to be baffled about the option to move user mailboxes during the day, something I already had in Lotus Notes 4 in the mid-1990s.

Next up was Don Schmid and Martin Vliem about security, identity and things like that. Very technical, I was dozing off due to the big lunch and lack of coffee.
I did remember an excellent quote from Don, "cloud is the new outsourcing"

Last up, Martin Sih on system center. A rather weak speaker compared ot the rest and extra handicapped by a lack of the internet connection he needed to do his demo. Apparantly System Center allows the Schiphol group to manage a varied server collection.

All in all a nice day, shame about the distinct lack of goodies, all we got was a t-shirt (xl the largest, how many sysadmins do you know that wear an XL?!) and a Windows 7 ultimate DVD.

After events like this the hangover always sets in. You realize that the change that you actually get your hands on a 2008 server running exchange 2010 is very slim. It's a reason I don't attend events all that much anymore, you see all sorts of nice goodies that you'll never work with. Same goes for booth babes, nice to look at but that's all.

Something to look forward to on TV

Recently I’ve caught some of the reruns of Victorian Farm on BBC2. Interesting show that follows a historian and two archeologists spending a year on a farm trying to imitate the late Victorian way of farming.

After the last episode it was announced that they have commisioned a special christmas episode. Since a lot of current British christmas traditions originate in this period it will be something to look forward to.

Now I’ve found out, via wikipedia, that there’s another series scheduled as well, Edwardian Farm.

According to the press release:

Following the huge success of the Victorian Farm series, BBC Two is presenting the same intrepid team with a brand new set of challenges as they are forced to get to grips with the trials and tribulations of life on an Edwardian Farm.

Archaeologists Alex Langlands and Peter Ginn and domestic historian Ruth Goodman will return to front Edwardian Farm, spending a full year delving into Britain's rural heritage.

They will make their home in a stunning new location, exploring the challenges posed by the British countryside at a time of great change and tumult; a time when farming was becoming increasingly mechanised at home, and abroad the world was moving gradually towards war.

As in the first series, the action will be based primarily on the farm, but the new setting will also allow the team to explore wider aspects of the working countryside, including rivers and coasts, boat-building, mining, fishing and market gardening.

Now, for us foreigners, the previous series was set around 1870, the new one will be around 1900-1910.

I’m now wishing I could lay my hands on “Tales from the green valley” which is made by some of the same people and deals with farming in the 1620s in Wales.

Technorati Tags: TV,BBC,experimental archeology,edwardian farm,victorian farm,history,farming

traffic accident
Originally uploaded by j_wijnands.

On the crossing near the office. The guard tipped me of. It was also listed on the emergency services paging system. (http://monitor.livep2000.nl/) as

29-09-09 16:23:41
LIFELINER 1 / MMT INZET VOOR MKA :KENNEMERLAND, HOOFDDORP, VAN HEUVEN GOEDHARTLAAN # KRUISWEG, COORD I-14-D


0120988 Life Line 1
29-09-09 16:23:26
12804 [A1] VAN HEUVEN GOEDHARTLAAN/KRUISWEG - N201 HOOFDDORP VKO MET LETSEL RITNR 39797


0126804 brandweer / OvD-G 804 - GHOR VZA Hoofddorp / Kennemerland
29-09-09 16:18:16
12183 [A1] KRUISWEG/VAN HEUVEN GOEDHARTLAAN HOOFDDORP VKO MET LETSEL RITNR 39795


0126999 ambulance / Monitorcode / Kennemerland
29-09-09 16:18:16
12183 [A1] KRUISWEG/VAN HEUVEN GOEDHARTLAAN HOOFDDORP VKO MET LETSEL RITNR 39795


0126183 regio 12 Kennemerland AMBULANCE 83
29-09-09 16:17:18
12186 [A1] VAN HEUVEN GOEDHARTLAAN/KRUISWEG - N201 HOOFDDORP VKO MET LETSEL RITNR 39794


0126999 ambulance / Monitorcode / Kennemerland
29-09-09 16:17:18
12186 [A1] VAN HEUVEN GOEDHARTLAAN/KRUISWEG - N201 HOOFDDORP VKO MET LETSEL RITNR 39794


0126186 regio 12 Kennemerland AMBULANCE 86
29-09-09 16:17:16
PRIO 1 UGS A PELIKAANWEG LUCHTHAVEN SCHIPHOL LUCHTVAART INCIDENT SCHIPHOL (VOS: 1) [ 597 ]

The guy driving the bike didn't make it.

Facepaint: Finished lion

Facepaint: Finished lion
Originally uploaded by j_wijnands.

Our local shopping center had organised a theater theme sunday. Facepainting was part of it. I really like this one, expressions, lines, colors it works for me.

fighting horses in the mist

fighting horses in the mist
Originally uploaded by j_wijnands.

Was up early this morning. Mist was still on the fields and when I drove up I noticed the horses being restless. I missed 20 horses breaking into a gallop. I did manage to capture these two having a discussion.

Tricky shot, way at the edge of my Sigma's 70-300 range, low light so high iso and fog is tricky to meter, the line between losing the mood and getting horrible noise is rather fine.

Despite all that and despite the obvious shortcommings I really like this shot.

Here's me trying to be clever

DSC_7724
Originally uploaded by j_wijnands.

I noticed this nice scene on my way to work this morning. I love moody cloudy skies especially at sunrise.

Anyway, as we all know metering this requires care, the contrast between the ground and the lighter parts of the clouds is big so you'll either underexpose or blow highlights.

I figured I'd be clever and HDR it. What I forgot for a moment is that even with shutter speeds above 1/200 and my camera set to continuous high the tractor would still travel some distance. I discovered this when I plunked my 3 bracketed frames into photomatix. Load of ghosting on the wheels. So I tried another apporach, took a frame I liked, hit it with 20% d-lighting and a neutral grad.

Not a massive crowd pleaser

Mouflon
Originally uploaded by j_wijnands.

Shot this this morning. Very grey and blue light. First time in ages I encountered mouflon.

One of these shots that won't draw massive crowds, mainly because the small version isn't that interesting.