Archive for April, 2008

What is the Airspeed Velocity of an Unladen Swallow?

Wednesday, April 23rd, 2008

Since I’m sure you always wanted to know, the average airspeed velocity of an unladen European swallow is:
Roughly 11 meters per second, or 24 miles an hour
While I was waiting on a particularly slow build this afternoon, I happened upon an exhaustive calculation of the above figure, thereby answering the age-old question.

Unfortunately, insufficient data is [...]

Driving Until I’m 100

Tuesday, April 22nd, 2008

This morning I took my Norwegian practical driving test.  And I passed!!!
The process for exchanging an American driver’s license for a Norwegian one apparently changes all the time, but at the moment, the rules stipulate that you have to do it within one year of moving to Norway.  Otherwise, you have to start over from [...]

It’s Grilling Season!

Monday, April 21st, 2008

Friday was the start of the first sunny weekend in Oslo in ages, and to celebrate, we scrapped our last-minute dinner plans and decided to go instead to the grocery and buy an engangsgrill (disposable grill) and some meat.  This is by far our favorite way to share a meal with friends in good weather, [...]

If Programming Languages were Boats

Thursday, April 10th, 2008

A hilarious analogy:
If a programming language was a boat 
Check out the reader suggestions in the first few comments.  Some of them are just as funny!

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What a Great Trailer

Wednesday, April 9th, 2008

This evening Lucas showed me a fantastic new movie trailer:

Haha! I love it!
A few years ago I downloaded a bunch of Java games for my phone, and the only one I still play with any regularity is a ripoff of Minesweeper. I must admit, I’ve gotten pretty good at it. On my particular little phone [...]

I’m Just Glad You Don’t Die Twice!

Monday, April 7th, 2008

In this world nothing is certain but death and taxes.
-Benjamin Franklin
We finally finished our 2007 US Tax return.  It’s signed.  It’s in the envelope.  It’s ready to be mailed tomorrow.  Yes, I know it seems kind of last-minute, but technically, since we live outside the US, we get an automatic 2-month extension, so we’re actually [...]

If Business Meetings Were Internet Forums

Thursday, April 3rd, 2008

Since Shane is a bit busy with the baby these days, I thought I’d start posting some of the amusing things Lucas has Stumbled upon lately…
Starting with a great video about what would happen if business meetings were like internet message forums.  Like most forum responses, it kind of degenerates towards the end, but the [...]

Don’t Convert My Food!

Thursday, April 3rd, 2008

You know, I’ve never written about the prices in Norway.  Everyone knows that Norway is expensive.  It is.  Someday I’ll write about it, but today is not that day.
When I interned in Paris, I learned early on not to convert the prices of food from Francs to Dollars.  Even with the great exchange rate (7 [...]