Vikings and their dragons: what REALLY happened

Being interested in all things Viking, especially their ships which carried a dragon-head on the bow of the ship, I want to understand where their dragon-concept comes from.

According to Wikipedia “Dragons are legendary creatures, typically with serpentine or otherwise reptilian traits, that feature in the myths of many cultures. The two most familiar interpretations of dragons are European dragons, derived from various European folk traditions and ultimately related to Greek and Middle Eastern mythologies, and the unrelated Chinese dragon. The English word "dragon" derives from Greek δράκων (drákōn), "dragon, serpent of huge size, water-snake", which probably comes from the verb δρακεῖν (drakeîn) "to see clearly".”

By the way, searching the internet for ‘dragon’ returns about 120.000.000 results (no kidding). Seems that even nowadays people still write about these creatures. Not that there has been a shortage of writings about them: dragons have been mentioned for centuries and have even been referred to in Illias by the Greek poet Homer around 800BC (some refer to 11th century BC) but unfortunately the Greek word used could also mean 'snake'. Earliest old English writings on dragons are dated 13th century AD in the context of medieval bestiaries and legends.

Now comes the interesting part: how come that my Nordic heroes were aware of dragons some 500 years before the earliest Old English writing?

Aha. Now that I have your attention, let me tell you what we are taught in class and how this is so NOT what happened.

History as we were meant to believe:

The Viking age was between 8th and 11th century AD, when they were mostly occupied roaming European shores and beyond. Even though Vikings have travelled as far as the Black sea and Caspian sea, have traded as far as Baghdad and were regular traders with the Byzantine emporium, dragons are not mentioned in those areas until much later. Time wise in Viking history this doesn't explain the dragon-head either as it took them 200 years to get as far as the Black sea (10th century AD) and by then their ships already had the dragon head on the bow.

Vikings also travelled west passing Greenland and an expedition under Leif Eriksson landed around 1000 AD way before Columbus in North America. The crew had a settlement in Newfoundland and Labrador, Canada. No mention of dragons there either ... seems the Inuit had a reptilian dragon-like monster tale even though (living in a frigid environment unsuited for cold-blooded animals) they have never seen an actual reptile [1]

So none of their expeditions brought them closer to dragons. Mind you that their boats already had the dragon head on the bow during their expeditions in the 8th century AD.

What do scientists say?

The common ‘scientific’ hypothesis is that dragon myths might be motivated by primitive discoveries of dinosaur fossils. Another hypothesis is covered in "An instinct for dragons" by David E. Jones. Although severely bashed by Paul Jordan-Smith in 2002 for being bereft of data, clarity and logic [2], I wouldn't just through the concept away.

Jones claims that the common traits of dragons seem to be an amalgam of the principal predators of our ancestral hominids (great apes), which he names as the raptors, elephants, horses, great cats (especially leopards) and pythons. The hypothesis to which Jones conforms is that over millions of years of evolution, members of a species will evolve an instinctive fear of their predators, and he proposes ways in which these fearful images may be merged in artistic or cultural expression to create the dragon image.

Try to demonstrate and prove THAT! Ok, not everything can be empirically demonstrated but I do feel a tendency to chuckle when he mentions millions of years of evolution, and find it hard to believe that our species would still be unconsciously influenced by the nightmares of our ancestors or their earliest predecessors.

Some considerations before we continue:

Going back to my Viking heroes:  no large cats, no large snakes, no elephants and yes, they had horses but those were either food or large pets. Even if Vikings would have some relatively dangerous predators on their path, Vikings had stubbornness issues so they would not run nor surrender to their fear.

Maybe the Vikings did find frozen fossils including more than just the bones and as such they may be part of the reason why the rest of us only finds just the bones: Vikings are known for their hungry nature and large meat parties ... throwing a velociraptor on the BBQ can keep a small village happy for one night, no doubt about that.

Anyhow,

The true story as I was told:

Dragons come from the land of Draconia which is situated north of Norway. In the old days Jewish astronomers associated the constellation Draco with the North Pole. The dragons being geographically close to the Vikings and the Vikings not being afraid of anything, they ended up living together.

“How could that be?” you say …

Well they had a good relationship and lived on equal terms. Dragons assisted the Vikings in transporting goods and soldiers in the air and saw this as an opportunity to expand their horizon and meet new people. In return, the Vikings cleaned the dragons regularly - similar to you cleaning your car’s windshield - wiping off flies, mud and the occasional small bird.

Even though dragons could catch their own meals, the finer cuisine required smaller animals which were more difficult for dragons to catch. This is where Vikings came in: hunting rabbits, boar and birds. Food preparation was a joint effort where dragons did most of the roasting and the eating.  To this day we still remember the Vikings as wild party animals that ate tremendous amounts of food … the party atmosphere can be attributed to the Vikings but the eating would be the dragon’s doing.

Why did these dragons breath fire?

That is basically a bad habit.  It is important to understand that Vikings used foul language and cursed a lot. The dragon’s upbringing was much more focused on etiquette and proper social behavior but too much contact with the Vikings made the dragons use foul language too.

One day the dragon leader noticed the change in behavior and ruled that foul language would not be accepted anymore for dragons. Instead they were allowed to breath fire which they did. Especially when under attack the dragons would use foul language whenever an arrow or spear would hurt them. Since their leader’s ruling, they started roasting their enemies which turned out more efficient as well.

So the English did see the dragons?

We should suppose they did, although the dragons tried to keep away from the battle.  In the very early days of Viking conquests, they actually used the dragons to cross over to England, flying very low over the waves in the mist.  At times the dragons could paddle using their feet while soaring over the sea which some decades later inspired the Vikings to build their renown ships.

Some people might have seen them soaring over the sea and those with a keen eye might not have mistaken them for fast ships. Dragons have been confronted in battle whenever there was no landing spot on a faraway beach or field and have never failed to roast the odd Celt. It is a hardly known fact that in the mid 700’s some of the dragons became ill after eating some of the Celtic food. I don’t know if the food was of bad taste or maybe just gone bad but the dragons were so startled by this that they killed all English that witnessed the event and they made sure that any others would not disclose the information at risk of being toast during the next raid.

Of course the Viking noticed this as well and for them the dragons had lost some of their magic and appeal because of their slightly sensitive stomach. So Vikings started assessing the impact on their image and decided that dragons were out and wood was in.

Wood was in?

Well, there was plenty of wood to be found in Norway and Denmark. Don’t forget that the Vikings started trading on commercial terms instead of raiding the areas and they required more transport.   Inspired by the dragon form, they build their viking ships with a similar dragon head, paddles that represented the wings and a large body with a tail.   From afar one would not notice the difference as the ships were very efficient and almost as fast as a real dragon.

In the beginning they used fossil dragon skulls on the bow but the ratio ships/fossils being at their disadvantage they moved to carving wood instead.   Vikings did manage to keep their image of hardened soldiers and commercial traders, partly due to the carved dragon heads on the ship’s bow.

Over time (13th century?) the whispered tales of dragons got louder and someone decided to write the tale down as by then the dragons had become part of the land of legends and myths.

What happened to the dragons?

Most of the dragons returned to their northern lair and their nation turned to themselves. There have been some occasions where dragons reached out again but the Vikings were too high on their victories to accept and chased the dragons away.

Some dragons migrated to other regions hoping to start a new life, learning new skills. The most famous dragon left his Scottish lake some 20 years ago after he noticed that however good he learned to swim, the New Celts would still be chasing him with their boats. He was the last to return to the land of Draconia.

As you all know, depression and acquired stubbornness often rule each other out but in the case of dragons I wouldn’t bet on it. I believe that they are still very much alive and frustrated in their land and as it it situated near the north pole, I wouldn’t be surprised if the Chandler Wobble - the ‘natural’ deviation of the earth’s axis [3] - is partly due to the dragons.

 



 

[1] David E. Jones, An Instinct for Dragons (Routledge, 2002) — ISBN 0-415-93729-9

[2] http://findarticles.com/p/articles/mi_qa3732/is_200204/ai_n9025632/

[3] http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Chandler_wobble

6 Creative ideas to decorate your wall

A wall is just a wall, isn't it? A vertical obstacle in space that hopefully divides your living space in more comfortable sizes. Next to that you can hang stuff on it.

However, some designers think differently about those walls and come up with very interesting ways of decorating them.

1. Using paint strips:

This designer wanted a colorful yet affordable way to decorate the bedroom wall. He visited Home Depot every day for a few weeks, taking in total around 1000 paint swatches with him. Next step: arranging the collection in the desired pattern and glue it to the wall. For you readers interested in this approach but not in the commute to your local DIY store: call up the paint distributor and they will probably send you the samples at a small fee. [link]

 

2. Wall graphics:

One of many fancy, funny, interesting... graphics.  this one would also look nice at the IT department [link]

 

3. Warping wallpaper:

This German company makes custom wallpaper that looks like it is being distorted by the elements in and on the wall. [link]



 

4. Light emitting wallpaper:

I love this concept from Jonas Samson.  He designed this new approach to embedded technology, using oled (organic light-emitting diodes) into the textile.  Your wall wears the light.  This might be the new night-light for your kids. [link]

 

5. Pixelnotes:

Duncan Wilson received 2nd price for his concept of a 4-layered wall paper that is basically a set of usable post-it alike notes.  Every 'deeper' layer is slightly darker making the functional wall also become a graphical representation of our daily use of the room. [link]

 

 

6. Wooden panels - the unusual way:

Paul Coudamy has used wooden panels found 'where ever' to decorate the walls and ceiling of an internet cafe in Paris, generating a warm cave-like sensation and I guess the acoustics will be great too.  This is a great recycling idea!  [link]

 

 

Max

I had a Labrador when I was young, a breed that is/was used to retrieve shot down birds during the hunt and I never understood exactly why on earth people would use labradors for that job. Mine chewed on anything 'interesting' that she could get her paws on so what would be the point of using her during hunting season. "Look honey, I shot 8 pounds of minced meat". Aside from this, my Bow was the most perfect dog around.

Being an animal lover I really wanted to have a similar canine companion in Holland. Luckily for me, my wife was determined to have a dog too.



Max isn't a labrador despite his appearance. He will probably have an ancestor that was tied to the breed but Max' behavior is typical for a German Shorthaired Pointer. He is eager to learn and even more eager to play fetch ... he fetches whatever you throw away and brings it back to you ... everything except for what he believes is eatable. This is the part where his Labrador state kicks in :-)

He's all business when it comes to work. He is so focused that he anticipates on possible commands which make it seem as if he's not behaving. What really happens is that I have to make him less eager all the time.

When we go for a walk around the block he knows the routine and whenever I change the path he remembers the route from an earlier walk so he wants to show me that he remembers. Most of the time he is subtle about this: he will walk next to me but slightly ahead and whenever I stop or slow down he will turn around and assume his initial position where his shoulders are next to me and likely also sit down. No commands involved.

He is determined to execute all jobs I give him to the extent that he will also repeat the jobs I once had him do. So returning empty Coke bottles (1,5 L) myself is a thing of the past. Max picks them up and stares at me until I accompany him to the storage. He needs me to open the door, take the bottle from him and put it away in our Coke-crate.

He is guarding and protecting our two cats in a way that is annoying for the female cat as she prefers to be by herself. The male cat and Max go out for walks in the garden or in the forest and whenever I accidentally lock the cat out, Max will behave anxiously and stay at the back door until I open it again.

When he is not working he is looking for attention, wants to be cuddled and at times still believes he is a puppy. He tries to climb on my lap, plays with cat toys the same way he sees the cats do and picks up the tiniest objects with his small front teeth. He is truly a member of the family.

Max also learned me a lesson in priorities: I started teaching him to bring me my slippers and it went well until I realized that I had to teach him to count and bring both of them. The counting part is still not moving along as I would like, my slippers however are moving all day long.

Taking the lama out for a walk

I love to take my dog Max out for a walk. Some days ago during a walk in the area I stumbled across a weird sign. You should know that Dutch communities really take the pet's interest at heart and that all residential areas have dog walking zones and assigned dog playing fields.

These zones are clearly indicated by signposts but for some reason I didn't link the image to the dog ... is it me or would this be the assigned lama-zone?

Mushrooms, our new enemy?

Some of you may know that I am an avid cook and mushrooms have been one of my favorite ingredients over the last two decades - not sure what started it - for their flavor and for their ability to 'meat-up' a dish.

I am aware that they are essentially fungi but their appearance is less icky than their cousins' which sneak into your sealed tupperware to camp for weeks just to surprise you with their colors, patterns and odor whenever you open the box later on.

Today I believe I detected the first signs of hostility from the mushrooms I cooked. Sure, most of the time I use the fresh product and they seem (still) to be pretty harmless, but the dried variety is of a much darker breed.
Maybe they detest the way they are treated which I can relate to as having the water evaporated from my body would not make me the most happy person alive either.
Maybe it is the small packs they are sold in, avoiding them to make much new friends. They are after all a very social fungus, I never saw a mushroom all by itself in a forest ... unless it is a trick to attract innocent animals. Mushrooms hunt in packs you know.

Obviously the above treatment would annoy any mushroom but for preparation I put them into a small bowl and poured boiling water over them. Now THAT would piss me off too.

I believe they waited patiently for their revenge as later on, they ever so slightly nudged my left ring finger under the blade of my knife when I was chopping them. I got away with only minor injury but the next batches of mushrooms I will prepare will be subject to my anger and vengeance.

I will not tolerate any mutiny in my kitchen!

Crowd behavior: are we really unaware?

The recent disaster at the Duisburg Love Parade is one of the many occurrences where authorities and event planners claim that they could not have foreseen the tragic events. 21 People were crushed to death during a mass panic in an access tunnel, more were injured and the event was called off.
Although I can understand the organization's position from a legal point of view and maybe understand the position where they wouldn't have a clue how to anticipate on such events, what the hell were the event planners thinking? This is not the first or only event that resulted in casualties due to unplanned mass/group behavior and likely not the last one either.
The research for human predictability has already resulted in many groundbreaking insights and mathematical algorithms to enable crows simulators to pretty accurately predict outcome of predefined scenarios. Unfortunately - as usual - such insights are either known to the happy few who are researching these topics or lie dormant in an academic paper.
The occasional team arises to build a software solution for such types of simulations but currently the most known solution would be the traffic simulation. Why? Because it is commercially viable and can be used to market a company's 'green value'. Understanding traffic flows can enable the company to commercialize services that help the drivers to avoid the bottlenecks, causing less queues, pollution,... Basically, it helps the company get better in terms of image and turnover and the driver benefits from it.
How about the pedestrians?
How about the micro-environment of an event, a campus, a city block in development,...?
Wouldn't it be good to provide the designers as much info as possible about how people will likely behave in those environments under normal and less-normal circumstances?
And the BIG question is: who will pay for it? The car drivers pay for the live service on their satellite navigation system because they can actually directly benefit from it themselves. How about the new house owners that bought their home in a new development?  How would you rate the value of knowing that your area will be able to handle the mobility stress?  How much would you pay to be sure that your kids will be safe on the sidewalk when walking to the shop on a busy day?  Will the pedestrian zone be able to handle the amount of pedestrians in all situations?
How about the city planners that are designing a new urban development? How do they decide on pedestrian areas, pavement width, bottlenecks...? Where do they get their data from and how accurate is it still in 2010 as updates of such data will likely involve a cost not directly covered by any commercial benefit resulting from the design itself. After all, when you buy a residence in a new development you assume correctly that the designers have covered all that.
I believe such simulation service should be available to all designers AND the public. Designers will have the obvious benefit of being able to reduce the risk of disaster, insurance claims... and enhance the visitor's experience. The public will be able to check out scenarios for new traffic lights, pedestrian crossings, parking lots, wider curbs, pedestrian zones... and have well prepared proposals for the city planning commission.
Over the next months I will be covering this in my professional blog as I am investigating the possibilities of providing mobility simulation services to the wider audience.

stay tuned :-)

Cat and frog games

For the last couple of weeks the temperature has gone up summer-style and the beasties are aware of it.  Our pond has its annual tenant ... Mr Frog, and our cat is sincerely interested in him.  Maybe they have some kind of chemistry going on as both creatures keep each other on edge.
Whenever the frog starts calling, the cat comes over.  Whenever the cat is sitting at the pond, the frog stops calling.  One way of interpretation is that the frog calls the cat which in turn shows up very confused as the frog is neatly tucked away in the plants ...

However I believe this is not the true dynamic of the relationship.  So now and again, we see the cat running with the frog in his mouth ... cat brings frog to us as if to show off his predator skills.
The frog's role in this is to keep stunningly still and cold.  The latter is not much of a problem anyhow.

So we chase away the cat, carefully pick up the frog and put him on the waterplants after which he quickly paddles away to recover.

Can't help but feel as if they're playing us ... today I had the impression the frog was chuckling.

Flying Car Scenarios

The initial concept of a flying car is attributed to Glenn Curtiss in 1907.  His Autoplane had three wings and was able to hop, not fly.  Walter Waterman was the first to actually have his Whatsit do some flying.
Since the mid '50s, more people have been trying to escape the mere ground-level commute likely because advances in technology and thinking triggered the imagination.  It was the new vision for transportation in the 21st century and a common feature of science fiction stories.

Yesterday, my friend Lisa K. shared this link [click here] of a new development and I cannot but wonder about the impact such vehicle would have on us.
Being professionally involved in transportation and mobility, I am always critical about the changes such new means of transportation will require.  As men has demonstrated for centuries, we don't lack creativity or technological prowess, we do however limit our thinking to the product itself and forget to consider the world it will be used in.  Basically I love being the devil's advocate.

Changes imposed by any type of new transportation relate to:

• Size of the vehicle
• Use of the vehicle
• Maneuverability
• Modes change requirements
• Driver/Pilot behavior
• Infrastructure requirements

Now comes the fun part: what scenarios can we imagine that will irritate the user to the point that they consider selling the car again :-) 
The advertisements will announce new glory, success and respect topped with limitless freedom as the car can take off literally anywhere.  You will be one of the 'chosen ones' to own and use it for your commute.  The ads however will not hint that the club of 'chosen ones' will in the end be the whole nation, just as the '60s car ads showed plenty of room on the highway.

Scenario 1: Mr McFly [1] hops in the car to work.
He greets his neighbor who works in the same building and who is driving a motorcycle.  Being able to fly should save McFly considerable time.  As McFly isn't the only gadget-aware professional, he is stuck in a queue towards the take-off strip as the cars get into the bottleneck at the entrance.  After about 45 min he can finally take off 60 secs after the car in from of him is in the air.
Finally he takes to the sky only to hear that his arrival at his destination is delayed because of the air queue of waiting-to-land cars ... they indeed need to land on a limited number of strips.
Circling the airport, he vaguely remembers the ads ...
Finally on the ground and after the folding of the wings process is complete, he speeds to the office only to notice that he's 30 min late and stressed already.
Scenario 2: Ms McFly takes the kids to football.
Euhm, wel actually she takes one kid at the time as the both of them don't fit in the car if they need to take their gear with them.
Scenario 3: Government will not allow people to take off and land anywhere so dedicated zones are imposed
Although the car can take off anywhere, restrictions are posed by government to ensure the utmost safety.  No problem at first as 'flying is cool' but in the end it doesn't make much sense to travel the 15 miles to a family reunion is you drive 6 miles to the nearest take-off, fly 19 miles to the destination landing spot and drive for another 5 miles to the reunion.  Take into account the typical 2 kids and scenario 2 will make the trip a nightmare.
Scenario 4: Miss McFly wants to go to the mall with some friends.  Even if she can outsmart scenario 2 by having everyone use their own transportation, would she be able to park the larger than usual vehicle?  It does not have the amount of transparency (read: windows) that she was used to.  Set aside this issue, let's hope her purchases will fit in the car as it is hard pressed to fix something on the aerodynamic roof (or god forbid to consider towing gear at the back).
Scenario 5: Grandma McFly got a flying car for her 60st birthday ... very happy she tries to take off and (chose whatever option you prefer)
- she gets airsick
- seems to have a less steady hand than assumed while flying
- has no sense of positional awareness which is even worse in the air
- doesn't understand the satnav
- needs to pee while circling the airport ... will she dive to the nearest toilet?
Scenario 6: McFly's grandchildren visit McFly on his 80th birthday.  They are used to air transportation and have no problem commuting using the same sensory skills as a fighter pilot, dodging the emergency services, speeders... but they do wonder who took the vote to have all the farmland and forests flattened to fit the expanding grid of airports.  And why didn't they think about the constant hum overhead, the floating traffic pods used to control air traffic and reroute the swarms of shadow-casting bees ...

However much I like the idea and excitement of air transportation, this invention will keep us busy for decades and maybe one day - when we all can demonstrate to be able to drive the roads without any accidents - we could consider taking to the skies.
Technologically, the Transition® Roadable Aircraft by Terrafugia shows we can do it.

[1] I just couldn't resist

Drunken drivers - technological solution?

As current campaigns don't convey the message clearly enough to the idiots themselves and because some of their friends should be considered brain dead for allowing them to drive, I have been pondering about possible preventive measures for the last decade or so.
 Maybe it's me but some solutions I came up with wouldn't look all that weird in a masochistic dungeon and this would be the exact reason why car manufacturers would pass for the occasion.

I believe that no solution should depend on the human(s) that are in whatever way involved in the drinking party so this excludes obviously the party goers but also the bar tenders, bouncers...  Humans are never to be trusted as their behavior is unpredictable, their thinking is subjective and their mind is - even in drunken status - way too creative:
- any type of breath test linked to the car's ignition system: there will always be an even bigger idiot that will do the test for the drunken moron.
- any type of behavior-aware car control that will stop the car if the driver is swaying: this system will have an on/off switch as car manufacturers (or car dealers) cannot be trusted to take a stance here.
- any type of 'social control' by either friends or a team to talk sense into the drunken idiots ... don't have to explain this one.
- police check points.  Since when do THEY know where the good parties are at?  The police force is massively outnumbered by the amount of idiots not included in their ranks.

So basically most solutions will fail in some way unless the validation process is strictly scientific and not invade the driving of sober drivers using the same vehicle (again, it should NOT have an on/off switch).

Being a designer rather that a scientist, the only solution I found that works - until I find a way to cheat it - depends on nanotechnology and has been tried some 2000 years ago in a small village called Cana in Gallilee near Nazareth.  Actually the test in Cana was run inverse.
Consider the complex chemical structure of wine as a mixture of 'stuff' with alcohol (or whatever scientists call the stuff that intoxicates us).  Consider us humans as the type of mammals that will not hold any liquor without our body showing 'some' chemical reaction to it (via glands...).
If nanotechnology could be used to non-intrusively add some nano-drones to any beverage without harming us, one such drone could be designed to stay afloat so it will reach the lips/tongue/mouth quickly, the following process could be triggered:
- person sips from the drink
- nano drone touches lips and analyzes the saliva to check if the person is drunk
- if sober: no problem, drone gets consumed and starts his route through the body.
- if alcohol-reaction is detected: drone could trigger different types of effects (change taste sensation, provide small electro shock...) but the one reaction I envision is isolate the alcohol element chemically from the rest by changing the beverage's molecular structure to e.g. water.

I know this sounds far fetched but it is less science fiction that you think.  Anyhow, if Jesus could turn water into wine 'just like that' (yes, I know he had a friend in high places and perhaps some super powers) maybe this day and age we should be thinking about inverting the process.

GTD and cooking

My girlfriend ... wonderful creature ... organisational wonder ... is into GTD¹and I like it.  After reorganizing most rooms and making them clutter free (inspired by Oprah and Peter Walsh), we're pushing the GTD paradigm further into the crannies and niches of our daily lives.
As I'm an avid cook, I collected tons of recipes over the years and we finally got around to sifting through them.  Recipe cards got tossed away, recipe books got torn to only keep the worthwhile stuff.  It felt like hell as this meant 'decision time' but now - a few weeks after the battle - I can honestly say that I haven't had so much fun cooking: all the recipes end up being great meals which is not a surprise as it took us 2 weeks to toss away anything that didn't 'feel good'.

I will be sharing some of the recipes here so come back soon ...

¹ [Getting Things Done the David Allen way].

Goodbye PC

After what seemed an eternity on Windows machines, I moved to Mac mid 2009.
For me this was a big deal: when I started my first 3D company in 1993 I was torn between Apple (Quadra) and Commodore Amiga (3000T). The latter being about 10% of the Apple investment, it didn’t take me too long to get the Amiga 3000T, 3D software (Imagine3D 1.1) and video stuff.
Since that day, I have been keeping an eye on the Mac but going forward, the market got dominated by PCs. The same was true for my clients so I went from Amiga to PC in 1996.

And now … I'm looking happily at my first MacBookPro and I can still remember the first moments of introduction ... 20 years of Windows leave a mark and some stains but the migration was painless.

My old PC is puffing and growning, biting its last bytes as I'm moving the left over files to either recycle bin or my Mac via ftp ... only minutes to go before the last bit bytes the dust.

Introductions

Well here it is … my vent of ideas, concerns, thoughts and misconceptions on everything that seems even remotely interesting to me.

My professional blog can be found here

I hope you will enjoy my ramblings.