Veerle's blog

The hordes of Summer visitors have departed, most of the hotels are shut, many souvenir shops and cocktail bars have locked and barred their doors.... When it is Winter at Ibiza, it is the most gorgeous, peaceful and relaxing time of year for the locals.

Ibiza in Winter has unfortunately remained a well-kept secret, known only to a few discerning holiday makers, sports enthusiasts, hikers. Ibiza has a mild climate (temperature rarely drops under 0� C during Winter) and remarkable vegetation. Snow is a sensation, and the children save snowballs for weeks by putting them in the fridge! From November to April the average daytime temperature is about 15� C - however when the sun comes out this can rapidly climb to 25� C.

Belgian police have caught two rabbit poachers whose armor-plated getaway car was equipped with so many gadgets it would not have been out of place in a James Bond film. The poachers were caught overnight with 14 wild rabbits in the back of a car that they had reinforced with metal plates to stop bullets.

The car was also equipped with an automated box ready to spring tire traps to slow pursuers. The poachers had fitted a halogen lamp on the outside to blind their prey and shielded the car’s number plates with lead sheeting to avoid identification. There was also a device to eject two old bicycles fixed on the back of the car on to the road as an obstacle to any vehicle in hot pursuit.

Time to get in Sci-Fi mode now, the US space agency’s Mars rover Spirit has sent back a complete 360-degree panoramic colour image of its location on the surface of the Red Planet. The composite picture provides a startling glimpse of an alien world, one which Spirit is due to begin investigating early on Thursday.

A high resolution version of the image will help scientists decide which parts of the landing site to explore. The presence of carbonates may indicate that some of the rocks formed in water. The rover should spend 90 days travelling several hundred metres to analyse rocks and soil for past evidence of water, one of the key requirements for life.

Some people have no shame at all. What am I on about? Well “Go Daddy Software Inc.” has made a software haxie for Windows that is a total rip off of Apple’s Exposé. Everything is the same even the name “WinEXPOSE”.

If this where my software I would at least have thought about a new feature. It’s like stealing a webdesign from another person and don’t even bother to rename everything.  Somebody will receive a letter I think from Apple’s legal department soon. What’s your take on this?

Update on 02/10/2004They’ve changed names! [url=http://www.winplosion.com/]http://www.winplosion.com/[/url].
I wonder why ;-)

Today at MacWorld Steve Jobs revealed a little mini iPod. iPod mini lets you bring along enough music for a three-day weekend getaway in a package so small you’ll forget you’re carrying it. It is the world’s smallest 1000 song player. The iPod mini is available in five colors.

Personally I have a bid of mixed reaction on this tiny player, most of that has to do with the price. Still a few months away from being available in Europe I wonder how much difference their will be in price when being compared to the US. If it would cost 240 Euro I would give it some thought. How about you?