Shared posts
Hoe bewust lenen studenten? ‘DUO doet te weinig aan voorlichting’
'Ontwikkeling geavanceerde chips loopt gevaar'
Virgin Hyperloop completes first test with actual passengers
Forum Groningen is het beste gebouw van Nederland
Liebregts stopt als hoofdtrainer JEKA, zijn assistent neemt de taken waar
Meet the new Google Pixel Buds
Many of us turn to our phones constantly. On average, people check their smartphones almost 100 times a day, and more than half of those interactions—playing a song, setting a reminder or getting directions—are less than 30 seconds. Google Pixel Buds can help make those quick tasks easier and faster, with instant access to the Google Assistant. Plus, they’re comfortable and secure in your ear, deliver high-quality sound, make clear calls, and have a long battery life.
Comfortable and secure in your ear
Because everyone's ears are shaped differently, we scanned thousands of ears to create a design that’s comfortable for as many people as possible. Pixel Buds have a low-profile look that sits flush in your ear. The stabilizer arc gently tucks in, and together with the interchangeable eartip, make Pixel Buds fit securely and comfortably, so they stay put even when you’re exercising.
Great sound all around
Pixel Buds have a unique hybrid design that keeps you aware of the world around you, while still delivering powerful sound. The eartips gently seal the ear to isolate the loud outside noises, and to give high quality audio. The spatial vent underneath reduces that plugged-ear feeling, and lets through just the right amount of environmental sound so you can stay aware of the things around you. Pixel Buds also have Adaptive Sound, which dynamically adjusts the volume as you move from a quiet environment to a noisy one, so you don’t have to constantly raise or lower the volume.
Clear calls anywhere
When it’s time to talk instead of listen, Pixel Buds make sure the sound of your voice is at the forefront. Two microphones in each earbud focus on the sound of your voice while suppressing other sounds in the background, which extends to the most challenging environments. Pixel Buds have a voice accelerometer that can detect speech through the vibrations of your jawbone, so that you can be heard even in windy conditions, like when you’re running or biking.
Convenience on the go
Long-range Bluetooth connectivity lets you use Pixel Buds even when your phone isn’t by your side. They’ll stay connected three rooms away indoors or a football field-distance away outdoors. Pixel Buds pair easily with Bluetooth 4.0+ laptops, tablets and iOS devices. And with your Pixel phone and other Android 6.0+ devices, they pair with just a single tap.
Pixel Buds automatically detect when they’re in your ear and each earbud gives you handy touch controls: just tap to play or pause, and swipe to adjust volume. With Pixel Buds, you get 5 hours of listening time on a single charge, with up to 24 hours with the wireless charging case. They are sweat and water resistant, so rainy days and intense workouts are no problem.
Helpful wherever you are
Pixel Buds also give you hands-free access to the Google Assistant, so instead of turning to your phone for quick tasks, just say “Hey Google,” and ask the Assistant for whatever you need—playing a podcast, sending a quick text, or translating a foreign language.
Google Pixel Buds will be available next year in the U.S. at $179, and will come in four colors: Clearly White, Oh So Orange, Quite Mint and Almost Black. In the meantime, head over to the Google Store to learn more and sign up for our waitlist to be notified when they’re available.
Made by Google, made to help
Pixel 4, Pixel Buds, Pixelbook Go, Nest Mini and Nest Wifi are part of our vision to create a consistent, helpful Google for you.
De Fer keert terug na brand: opening nieuw frietkot op 20 april
De Lunet-affaire: alles is weer koek en ei, maar wat nu?
Watch: Same arrest, two video perspectives
Rooi Pannen na de zomer deels al naar Seelig-terrein in Breda
Cabaretier Hans Teeuwen steekt de draak met excuusvideo Dotan
Eerste schaatsers IJsvermaak genieten van natuurijs (foto's en video)
Eerste schaatsers IJsvermaak genieten van natuurijs (foto's en video)
BREDA - Koek en zopie staat klaar, de bankjes om de schaatsen onder te binden gereed en het ijs is gitzwart. Om 11.00 uur deze donderdag gingen de eerste schaatsers bij IJsvermaak het ijs op.
Democrats say speech proves Trump doesn't care about Puerto Rico crisis
Breda wint: Grote Kerk kleurt goud
Breda wint: Grote Kerk kleurt goud
BREDA - De Grote Kerk kleurt goud. Breda mag zich twee jaar lang de Beste Binnenstad van Nederland noemen. “Het is een kroon op ons werk. Een beloning voor de jarenlange inzet van alle partners en betrokkenen in de stad”, aldus wethouder Boaz Adank.
Breda verwijdert half gezonken boten uit singels; nieuwe ligplaatsen
Breda verwijdert half gezonken boten uit singels; nieuwe ligplaatsen
BREDA - Eigenaren van half gezonken of losliggende bootjes in de Bredase singels krijgen nog veertien dagen voordat hun boot door de gemeente wordt afgevoerd. Dat heeft de gemeente Breda aangekondigd.
Linkin-Park-Sänger Chester Bennington tot
Die Pop- und Show-Welt trauert um den Sänger der Rockband Linkin Park: Angeblich soll Chester Bennington Suizid begangen haben. Womöglich spielt bei der Todestag für die Aufklärung eine wichtige Rolle.
The 51st state? Why Puerto Rico is voting on statehood
The Singing Ringing Tree, A Landmark Musical Sculpture in England
“The Singing Ringing Tree” is a musical sculpture near Burnley in the North West of England built by architects Tonkin Liu. It was designed in 2004 and completed at the end of 2006. It is one of four landmark art projects called “Panopticons” built in the early 2000′s in Lancashire. The film above was directed by Zsolt Sándor with sound by A Man Called Adam.
photo by Mid Pennine Arts
The tree is constructed of stacked pipes of varying lengths, orientated to lean into the directions of the prevailing wind. As the wind passes through the different lengths of pipe, it plays different chords. Each time you sit under the tree, looking out through the wind, you will hear a different song.
photo by Mid Pennine Arts
photo by Mid Pennine Arts
The tree won a 2007 award for architectural excellence from the Royal Institute of British Architects. As part of the project’s launch local kids and young adults wrote fanciful stories inspired by the sculpture.
photo by Mid Pennine Arts
The Halo in Haslingden, Rossendale was the fourth and final Panopticon to be constructed opening in September 2007:
photo by Peter Hudson
The 11 Phases of a Web Developer’s Career (As Illustrated by Memes)
The career of a web developer is an interesting one with many slopes. Considering a learning curve this steep, you can fully expect to live through periods of frustration, enlightenment, self-righteousness, and every mindset in between. In this article, we’ll have some fun, by reviewing each of these phases through the lens of a meme!
Phase 1 – Noob
We all have warm feelings for the early days of our careers; the period when you have absolutely no clue what you’re doing. Like a fish out of water, each new line of code is a mystery. Doctype? Huh? What the heck does a <div> do? The first phase is an intimidating, scary, but exciting one. How many dang languages are there?
Perhaps your greatest advantage, though, is that you have no idea how deep the rabbit hole goes. Learning HTML is the baby step.
Phase 2 -The First Steps
Though it takes a while, you’ll eventually learn enough to begin taking your first steps into the coding world. While Phase 1 is the overwhelming “how/where do I start” period, Phase 2 is the one in which you slowly begin building your skill-set. Sure, the syntax for defining styles with CSS still feels foreign, but at least you’re able to make a change in your freshly bought code editor and see it reflected in a web browser. That’s a wonderful feeling!
Phase 3 – Complete Frustration
Imagine being lost in a cave, shining your flashlight down each tunnel, as you search for a way out. With each step, you hope to see a glimmer of light. Unfortunately, the learning curve in our industry is a steep one. That speckle of light won’t come for a long time, I’m sorry to say. Expect to spend hundreds of hours in this phase, reading technical books over, and over, and over, as you desperately try to make sense of the madness!
If the frustration becomes too overwhelming, find peace in the fact that every one of us felt that exact way at one point or another in our careers. You’re not alone. Stick with it, and, before long, you’ll reach the aha phase!
Phase 4 – The Aha Moments
An “aha” moment is one of the greatest feelings in the world: that brief instance when, suddenly, you “get it.” “Ohhhhh, now I see!” Personally, I’ve found that these coding break-throughs occur late at night, when the rest of the world is sleeping. After the eighth read, what was once blurry is now, at least somewhat, clear!
This is the phase when all of the technologies and languages you’ve been learning begin to click.
Phase 5 – Fragile Code
Like it predecessors, the Fragile phase is a lengthy one. At this point, you are successfully building applications and achieving your desired end result, but the underlying code is one client feature-request away from popping. In this phase, your methods are dozens of lines long, and the concept of testing hasn’t yet entered your brain.
But at least you’re building things! For now, though, keep your GitHub pull requests limited to documentation and typos fixes. Don’t underestimate how helpful that can be!
Phase 6 – Copycat
The copycat phase is an important one. There’s no better way to learn proper coding techniques than to spy on the code that your heroes write – even to the point of reproducing their code line by line. Don’t feel badly; every artistic career has its copycat phase! Luckily, GitHub has made this form of silent envy easier than ever before. Of course, copying will only get you so far, but it’s an excellent start! Mimic the people who inspire you, and, eventually, you’ll begin to develop your own style.
Phase 7 – Cocky
At this point, you’re finally beginning to get into a groove. There’s certainly vast room for improvement, but your confidence is quickly rising – perhaps too quickly! They say that, in the first few years, you still don’t know enough to realize just how little you know!
Resist the urge to become too cocky at this stage. It benefits no one, and will only make your future, far more talented, self look back and shake his head. When you feel the need to leave a sarcastic “learn how to code, dude” comment in a GitHub, Reddit, or StackOverflow thread, don’t. It wasn’t too long ago that you, yourself, were a complete noob. Pay it forward; don’t knock people down. We’re all in this together – just at different phases.
Phase 8 – Learning Vim
If you’ve ever looked over a fellow developer’s shoulder, and found yourself amazed by the speed at which they maneuver in their code editor, then, chances are, they were using Vim. Though it comes with a massive learning curve, once you’ve reached the top, your workflow, too, will look like magic to onlookers!
This is the phase when you begin harnessing, not only your coding techniques, but your workflow as well. Proper tooling is equally as important as technique.
Phase 9 – When Code Becomes Art
Though it takes thousands of hours, one day, you will look at your code and the ease with which you breeze through the command line, and realize that it’s nothing short of art. Your code is under version-control, well-abstracted, perfectly testable, scalable, and easy to read. At one point in your career, you might have prided yourself on your ability to write cryptic, confusing, but functional code. Leveraging every possible language quirk or hidden feature is not a sign of a mature developer. Neither is reducing complex logic down to a single line, all for the purpose of patting yourself on the pack for being so clever. It instead signals a cocky developer who doesn’t think about the future maintainer of his code.
Code becomes art when its readability is easily as important to you as the action it performs. In this phase, you code for human beings; not machines.
Phase 10 – Seasoned
When code becomes instinct, you’ve reached the next phase of your career. No longer do you think in terms of language or framework. Instead, you simply see problems, and choose the correct tool from your coding tool chest to provide the solution. A seasoned developer understands why the cowboy path is rarely the correct route. Each new feature is discussed with all members of the project, whiteboards are prepared, stories are written, and tests are generated…all before writing a single line of production code.
You’ve become a mature, thoughtful developer who others want to work with. Congratulations.
Phase 11 – Rock Star
Few make it this level. The rockstar phase is the tip of the mountain. In addition to your day job, you regularly speak at conferences, serve as the lead behind countless popular open source projects, yet still find time to participate and contribute to the future of the web through mailing lists, while simultaneously assisting newcomers on IRC. You’re the type of person who writes compilers and parsers for fun.
You’re what others refer to as rock star or ninja, despite the fact that you hate such labels. You know better than anyone how much more there is to learn!
The Most Surreal Places on Earth
Are you a desperate vagabond ready to conquer the highest peaks and submerge into the deepest depths to steal the concealed secrets of the universe? Buck up! Today is a great time to plan the possible route of your next risky adventure! You might not believe your eyes, but the places we will show you really exist. Some of them will bring you on the verge of tears, some will make your heart beat faster, another will make your hair stand on end - anyway, they won't leave you indifferent.
We won't go too verbose as no words can render the celestial charm of those sites. "A picture costs a thousand words" - they say. So, come on, pack your bags and join our thrilling expedition to the most surreal places on Earth!
Fly Geyser, Nevada
Can you imagine that even not all Nevada residents know about this wonder? Fly Geyser is located on the territory of a private Fly Ranch which makes it extremely difficult to access. High fence and locked gate with spikes on top guard the geyser from tourists. To be absolutely honest, we should mention that the Geyser is not a completely natural phenomenon. It was created by chance during well drilling. The well went out of order after several decades of operation as warm geothermal water has found a weak spot and began to leak onto the surface. Dissolved minerals started their sculptor job, which is still going on. Geyser coloration is explained by the variety of minerals it is made of.
The Wave, Arizona
The Wave is a sandstone rock formation in the United States of America near the Arizona and Utah border on the Coyote Buttes slopes. Travelers and photographers from all over the world are attracted by its colorful, wavelike forms. The Wave's intersecting U-shaped troughs are the result of erosion of the Navajo Sandstone during the Jurassic period.
Lake Retba, Senegal
Lake Retba or Lac Rose is located in the north of the Cap Vert peninsula of Senegal. It got its name due to the Dunaliella salina algae making its water look like strawberry milk shake. Pink color is clearly visible during the dry season. The lake is also famous for its high salt content, allowing people stay on the surface similar to the Dead Sea experience.
Derweze, Turkmenistan
Have you ever stood at the Hell's Door? Go to Derweze village, which name means "The Gate" in Turkmen language if you search for extreme! This terrifying attraction is located in the middle of the Karakum Desert, about 260 km north from Ashgabat. The Derweze area is rich in natural gas. Soviet geologists got into a cavern filled with natural gas while drilling. Due to the ground collapse, a large hole has created. It was decided to burn off the gas, but the roasting breath of the inferno is still trying to break into the world of living!
Socotra, Yemen
Socotra is considered to be a unique archipelago in the Indian Ocean for the diversity of its exotic flora and fauna. Its weird alien plants are the result of island's long geological isolation together with unbearable heat and drought. One of the most unusual Socotra's plants is the dragon's blood tree, resembling a strange umbrella. Aboriginals believed its red sap to be the blood of a dragon.
Salar de Uyuni, Bolivia
Have you ever walked through the clouds guessing are you in the top or the bottom? Salar de Uyuni gives you such unique possibility! Salar de Uyuni or Salar de Tunupa is the world's largest salt flat occupying the area of about 10,582 square kilometers. Today's Salar is a result of transformations between several prehistoric lakes. Its surface is covered by a few meters of salt crust possessing the utmost flatness, which varies within one meter over the entire area. Actually, the crust serves as a source of salt and makes a pool of brine, rich in lithium as well. The sky over the Salar is always clear, which in combination with large area and exceptional flatness makes it a perfect object for calibrating the altimeters of Earth observation satellites.
Jiuzhaigou Valley, China
Five-Color Pond is one of the smallest but the most amazing water basins in Jiuzhaigou lakes. Despite the shallowness, it has a breathtaking colored underwater landscape and some of the brightest and clearest waters in the area. As the legend goes, the Goddess Semo used to wash her hair here and the God Dage brought her water every day.
Sossusvlei, Namibia
Deadvlei is one more surreal attraction of Sossusvlei, Namibia. It is a clay pan located about 2 km from Sossusvlei. It used to be an oasis with several acacia trees before, but the river that watered the oasis has changed its course. Now the dead acacia trees make an odd contrast to the shiny white salty floor of the pan and the intense orange of the dunes.
Badab-e Surt, Iran
Badab-e Surt's terraces are made of travertine, which is a sedimentary rock deposited by flowing water from two distinct mineral springs. Thousands of years the water from these two springs had been streaming down from the mountain, it mixed up and gradually created a number of orange, red and yellow colored pools which now have the form of a staircase.
Crescent Lake (Dunhuang), China
Yueyaquan is a crescent-shaped lake in the oasis, lying 6 km south of the city of Dunhuang. Its name comes from the Qing Dynasty. The lake itself and the surrounding deserts attract the tourists appreciating camel and 4x4 rides.
Lake Natron, Tanzania
The queer lake's hue is normal for water basins with extremely high evaporation rates. During the dry season, as the water evaporates, salinity level increases to the maximum point and specific salt-loving microorganisms begin to thrive. Some of them produce red pigment colorizing the water and turning it into the Martian landscape.
Ice Cave in Skaftafell, Iceland
This cave in the glacier appeared as a result of glacial mill. The rain and melt water on the glacier's surface are forming streams that flow into the crevices. The streams melt holes in the glacier forming long ice caves with intricate walls and ceilings. Cold wind finishes the job and we can observe a momentary marvel ready to collapse at any time. Due to the constant glacier movement one can hear a scaring cracking sound inside the cave. The incipient crevices let the indirect daylight into the tunnel and we can observe its mysterious play on ice bubbles.
Pamukkale, Turkey
Pamukkale can be translated as "the cotton castle" from Turkish. It is a natural attraction in Denizli Province in southwestern Turkey. Snow white Pamukkale's terraces are made of travertine, a sedimentary rock, deposited by water flowing from the hot springs.
Lencois Maranhenses National Park, Brazil
The Lencois Maranhenses National Park is a low, flat, occasionally flooded land, covered with large, white discrete sand dunes. Though it looks like a desert, in fact it is not. Due to the regular rain season in the beginning of the year, fresh water accumulates in the valleys between the sand dunes, reviving the desert with blue and green lagoons. It's rather surprising, but those water basins are inherited by fish, even despite the dry season.
Angkor, Cambodia
Angkor is a huge complex of the 12th century temples in Cambodia. No doubt that it's a place of historical and cultural interest. The buildings are ancient and magnificent. But what do you think is really strange about this place? Just look at those trees! They look like ancient nation of Ents, the walking trees from "The Lord of the Rings" movie! Do you think they can really exist?
Chand Baori, Rajasthan
Have you ever seen anything like that? Chand Baori is a famous stepwell in the village of Abhaneri near Jaipur in the Indian state of Rajasthan. It is located opposite Harshat Mata Temple and was constructed in 800 CE. Can you imagine that those 3500 narrow steps in 13 stories extend 100 feet into the ground, making it one of the deepest and largest stepwells in India.
Frozen waves in Antarctica
These waves look like decorations from popular "Ice Age" cartoon. It seems as if they were frozen immediately at the will of a snow Queen. In fact, the waves are the result of melting, not freezing. Melting has created those downward pointing spikes, which are simple icicles.
Hidden Beach in the Marieta Islands near Puerto Vallarta, Mexico
Hidden from stranger's eyes, the beach of Marieta Islands, Puerto Vallarta can be called a lost secret world. Marieta Islands are archipelagos formed as a result of volcanic activity. This natural wonder possesses its unique marine ecosystem. The beach is a real paradise for people fond of snorkeling and scuba diving. Diverse, virgin flora and fauna in combination with transparent crystal water make the experience unforgettable. Humpback whale, sea turtles and dolphins are just a few animals that can be seen there.
The Glow Worms in Waitomo Caves
The Waitomo Glowworm Caves are definitely worth seeing not only because of their historical and geological significance. The glow worm, Arachnocampa luminosa, is a unique creature living in New Zealand. Thousands of these small worms radiate their otherworldly luminescent light hanging from the cave rocks during your unforgettable boat ride. The glowworms create a really magical view, every tourist should see at least once in a lifetime.
The Tunnel of Love in Ukraine, Kleven
In this photo you see the abandoned railway track, located nearly 350km from Kiev, which has transformed into a special romantic place, frequently visited by couples. The Tunnel of Love is especially beautiful in spring, when the green trees growing from both sides of the track form an improvised arch around it. This arch stretches for up to three kilometers and looks like a green picturesque tunnel of trees. The railway is occasionally used by the fiberboard factory, which preserves the tunnel in its initial look.
Glen Brittle, Scotland
Glen Brittle is a large glen in the south of the Isle of Skye, in Scotland. The magic Fairy Pools you see in the picture run down from the mountains into the glen. The area is extremely popular among hikers and mountain bikers. The marvelous lilac slopes above the Fairy Pools are covered with thick forests full of rare plants and animals and who knows, maybe even elves and fairies have found their refuge in this mystical place.
Cano Cristales, in the Serrania de la Macarena, province of Meta
Cano Cristales is a unique biological wonder often referred to as "the river of five colors" or "the river that ran away from paradise" and "the world's most beautiful river". Greater part of the year, Cano Cristales looks like any other river, but during a brief period of time yearly, it bursts into blossom and turns into the vibrant explosion of colors. Between wet and dry seasons, when the water level is just as required, a unique Macarenia clavigera plant turns the river into a sparkling ruby red stream, contrasting to the patches of yellow and green sand, blue water, and the enumerable shades in between.
Mount Roraima, South America
This rock soaring in the clouds is called Mount Roraima, the highest mountain of the Pakaraima chain of tepui plateau in South America. The mountain includes the triple border point of Venezuela, Brazil and Guyana. The tabletop mountains of the park are considered some of the oldest geological formations on Earth, dating back to nearly two billion years ago. The mountain's highest point within Venezuela is Maverick Rock, which is 2810 m high.
Richat Structure, Mauritania
Look into the Eye of Sahara, isn't it impressive? The Richat Structure is a prominent circular feature in the Sahara desert lying in the west-central Mauritania near Ouadane. This structure is a deeply eroded, slightly elliptical dome, 40-km in diameter. Differential erosion of the resistant layers of quartzite has created these high-relief circular cuestas. Its center consists of a siliceous breccia covering an area of approximately 3 km in diameter. Initially, there was a theory that the structure appeared as a result of an extraterrestrial asteroid impact. Looking at the circularity of the Eye, you might be inclined to believe it, but the point is now argued to the favor of highly symmetrical and deeply eroded geologic dome.
Grand Prismatic Spring - Yellowstone National Park, Wyoming
If you want to see something really magnificent, put Grand Prismatic Spring in Yellowstone National Park, Wyoming into your list. This hot spring is the largest in the United States and the third largest in the world. The devilish colors of the spring strike the imagination! The water is saturated blue, with red lava-like color surrounding it. Would you like to know the secret? This amazing tint is produced by the pigmented bacteria. They form microbial mats around the edge of the water. Seasonal temperatures as well as levels of chlorophyll and carotenoids greatly influence the hue of the bacteria. The mats do not form in the center of the spring because the water is too hot for bacterium's live cycle. The water is heated by the underground vents, which are a part of the volcanic system, the Yellowstone stands on.
About the author
Helga Moreno is a copywriter for TemplateMonster Blog and one of those bloggers, absolutely cranky on writing and always hungry for new experience. When not writing about WordPress or responsive design, she loves sightseeing and travelling and always strives to capture everything beautiful on her way.
Tags: inspiration photography surreal places earth guest guest postUn tiers des Belges croit à l'éclatement du royaume
Google Keep—Save what’s on your mind
Every day we all see, hear or think of things we need to remember. Usually we grab a pad of sticky-notes, scribble a reminder and put it on the desk, the fridge or the relevant page of a magazine. Unfortunately, if you’re like me you probably often discover that the desk, fridge or magazine wasn’t such a clever place to leave the note after all...it’s rarely where you need it when you need it.
To solve this problem we’ve created Google Keep. With Keep you can quickly jot ideas down when you think of them and even include checklists and photos to keep track of what’s important to you. Your notes are safely stored in Google Drive and synced to all your devices so you can always have them at hand.
If it’s more convenient to speak than to type that’s fine—Keep transcribes voice memos for you automatically. There’s super-fast search to find what you’re looking for and when you’re finished with a note you can archive or delete it.
Pro tip: for adding thoughts quickly without unlocking your device there's a lock screen widget (on devices running Android 4.2+).
Google Keep is available on Google Play for devices running Android 4.0, Ice Cream Sandwich and above. You can access, edit and create new notes on the web at http://drive.google.com/keep and in the coming weeks you'll be able to do the same directly from Google Drive.
Posted by Katherine Kuan, Software Engineer