Category: general

Graduation

Monday November 10th, 2008 by Roderik Emmerink

5 November I graduated for my MSc Computational Intelligence and Robotics course together with Chaekith and Jonathan. On the photo you see me in my graduaton dress with Chaekith next to me. The ceremony was a nice experience.

Although my father is not in very good health he still decided to join us for some days to England so that we could be present there altogether. We did not stay in Leicester itself but at a farmer's B&B. A good choice, nice rooms, and an excellent typical English breakfast of choice (see the photos that come soon).

Vakantie

Friday August 8th, 2008 by Roderik Emmerink

Sorry, this entry is only available in Nederlands.

Groene innovatie

Saturday August 2nd, 2008 by Roderik Emmerink

Weet je wat pas echt handig is? Juist ja, een wasmachine op je WC. Dat is precies wat Sevin Coskun in Turkije heeft bedacht, wel ja eens een keer niet de japanners voor de verandering. Niet alleen bespaard het je ruimte in de badkamer, het is bovendien milieuvriendelijk doordat het waswater wordt herbruikte voor het doorspoelen van het toilet. Bovendien is het makkelijker inladen daar je niet hoeft te bukken om bij de klep te komen, wel moet je je was natuurlijk niet in de toiletpot laten vallen, alhoewel, daar zit natuurlijk ook waswater in.

Waar is de zeep?

Tuesday July 29th, 2008 by Roderik Emmerink

Sorry, this entry is only available in Nederlands.

Brighton Pier

Tuesday July 8th, 2008 by Roderik Emmerink

A bit more then a month ago, just before the intelligent mobile robots exam, Chaekith and I, went on a trip to Brighton. Brighton is small city in the south of England with a nice beach and the well know Brighton Pier. On the Pier there were different types of entertainment. So there was a carnival in the end, though quite expensive, some gambling halls, vending stores and terrace to sit and watch over the sea.

(Nederlands) Een land in verwarring

Sunday July 6th, 2008 by Roderik Emmerink

Sorry, this entry is only available in Nederlands.

Is it a dog? Is it a monster? It's a genpet.

Sunday June 29th, 2008 by Roderik Emmerink

What are Genpets? I don't know. You tell me.

Genpets seems to create a reaction wherever they go. While in the store window of Iodine Toronto, the shop owner began sleeping in the store at night for security reasons.
Many nights, people would bang at the windows furiously. Some in protest of the small Bio-genetically engineered creatures trapped in plastic, some wanting to wake them up or buy them. Hordes of teens wanting a bioengineered pet met confused, baffled, or even shocked looks from parents.
Some Parents even caught on to see where things were leading. That while something like this bothered them, it did not bother their children. For an upcoming generation, through our own marketing techniques, life has become a disposable commodity.
It’s easier to dismiss Genpets as a hoax or exaggeration when you’re not faced with a wall of them. The experience of a grainy photo is different than standing face to face with a breathing, sleeping creature.
The question surrounding bioengineering is not in it's positive or negative ramifications, or where it can take us; it is whether or not we are ready to go there.

(Nederlands) Donoren

Wednesday June 18th, 2008 by Roderik Emmerink

Het was weer eens in het nieuws, ons donorsysteem. Nog niet eerder zo in opspraak geweest als na de donorshow van BNN. Een systeem dat wat mij betreft op de schop moet. Mijn idee was dat iedereen (die meerderjarig is) verplicht moet registreren wat zijn/haar zienswijze is omtrent haar organen. En dat zou m.i. goed kunnen gebeuren door dit iedere keer bij het afhalen of verlengen van het identiteitsbewijs te moeten aangeven. Volgens mij is het nl. een gemiste kans dat er nog zoveel mensen zijn die het niet registreren en waarbij voor de zekerheid dus maar van orgaan- of weefseldonatie wordt afgezien. Echter de minister, Ab Klink, bracht naar voren dat uit onderzoek bleek dat het aantal donoren niet zou toenemen bij verplichte registratie en wil daarom het systeem niet aanpassen. Ik ben daar erg sceptisch over en zo ook Dagblad de Pers...

RobotChallenge Vienna 2008

Sunday May 25th, 2008 by Roderik Emmerink

Already more than a month ago, finally I've got the photo's of the RobotChallenge on my web site. The robotchallenge in Vienna is an international event where teams compete in different challenges. Chaekith Chandranna and I participated in the Parallel Slalom and Enhanced Parallalel Slalom challenges. The robotchallenge was a very nice experience. No prizes …

Happy Birthday, Mr Feynman

Sunday May 11th, 2008 by Roderik Emmerink

Today, May 11th, it is Richard Feynman's birthday. A great scientist that won the Nobel Prize in Physics. Besides being a great scientist he was able to express the ideas to the general public. The documentary "The pleasure of finding things out" by Horizon is worth the watching and it inspires to do science ;-). …

The Double

Tuesday May 6th, 2008 by Roderik Emmerink

After reading Blindness (De stad der Blinden) of José Saramago I definitely wanted to read more from this Nobel Prize winning author. I started in his book Het Schijnbestaan (Eng: The Cave, Orig: A Caverna) but haven't finished it yet. Blindness is one of my favourite books, however The Double seemed to be quite different.

Manchester

Saturday May 3rd, 2008 by Roderik Emmerink

Some months ago we have been to Manchester. Visiting the stadium and the city centre. On the photo you see our guide in the stadium. Many Dutch players seem to play for the club (e.g. Van der Sar). The city centre was definitely not as good as Oxford or Stratford upon Avond. We met Chinsky …