Geoff Coupe's Blog

Reflections on life at “De Witte Wand”…

Year: 2023

  • The Rise of the Far Right

    An excellent piece by Lewis Goodall.

    I feel very uneasy about developments at the moment. It’s as though Dutch society is like the frog sitting in water that is slowly being brought to boiling point.

  • Merry Christmas

    It feels a bit strange to be saying this with all that’s going on in this sorry world, but:

  • The Zone of Interest

    I want to see this, even though I know it will be stressful. As Jonathan Glazer says: ” I think something in me is aware – and fearful – that these things are on the rise again with the growth of rightwing populism everywhere. The road that so many people took is a few steps away. It is always just a few steps away.”

  • The End of Tolerance?

    When I first came to the Netherlands in 1983, the country had a reputation for tolerance, an openness and a “live and let live” attitude to life. Over the years, attitudes have hardened and polarisation increased to the point where I scarcely recognise the country I first encountered.

    We’ve just had a general election, and to my utter dismay, the far-right populist party of Geert Wilders has gained the most seats in the Dutch parliament. This is the man who has called Moroccans “scum” and whose manifesto proposes a ban on Islamic schools, mosques and the Qur’an, a ban on the wearing of headscarves in government buildings, and tight immigration and border controls. These include restoring Dutch border controls, detaining and deporting illegal immigrants, and reintroducing work permits for intra-EU workers. He is no supporter of the EU. The icing on the cake is that he appears to also be a climate change denier who ignores climate problems.

    It remains to be seen whether he can persuade other parties to join him and form a coalition government with sufficient majority to govern. If he does, then it will be a right-wing coalition. The future does not look bright for tolerance and social solidarity in the Netherlands.

    I despair.

  • Rubbing Salt Into The Wound

    I recently blogged about the fact that Google was pulling the plug on the Premium Lite membership tier in YouTube.

    Today I had the following email from YouTube:

    Which translates as:

    Your Premium Lite membership has been canceled. Too bad you’re leaving. From November 24, 2023, you can no longer use the benefits of your Premium Lite membership.

    “Too bad you’re leaving“? WTF is this? You lot pulled the plug. I’m not leaving of my own accord, you’ve whipped the rug out from under me…

    Bastards.

  • The Rise of AI

    I blogged about Microsoft’s Copilot recently, and I had the comment that this AI technology was “exciting”.

    I’m more of the opinion that it (AI in general) is “concerning”. A) because of its limitations leading to false impressions and conclusions, b) because of the fact that it can be so readily abused, and c) because it could pose an existential threat and destroy the concept of trust as we know it.

  • Here we go Again

    The last time I used this quote from Iain M. Banks was for the events in Paris in 2015.

    And now Hamas have adopted the tactics of IS to horrifying effect.

    Unfortunately the state of Israel appears to be prepared to inflict the same terror on the inhabitants of Gaza, 50% of whom are children.

    As I wrote in 2015, the late Iain M. Banks summed it up well in his novel Against A Dark Background:

    Sorrow be damned and all your plans. Fuck the faithful, fuck the committed, the dedicated, the true believers; fuck all the sure and certain people prepared to maim and kill whoever got in their way; fuck every cause that ended in murder and a child screaming.

    Amen.

  • Pop Goes the Weasel…

    A little local matter that’s vexing our village…

    Our village Heelweg is split into two halves – East Heelweg and West Heelweg – separated by 1.5 kilometers.

    There are two connecting routes: the Molenweg, which loops between the two centres and is 2.2 kilometers in length and the Bosboombroekerweg, which is the most direct route being 1.6 kilometers in length. The problem being that the Bosboombroekerweg is a track for parts of the route, and unsuitable for vehicular traffic other than farm machinery for large parts of the year. This also goes for cyclists who must then use the Molenweg. The issue there is that the road is narrow, and can be dangerous for cyclists as a result.

    The village School is in West Heelweg, so schoolchildren living in East Heelweg are subjected to dangerous situations on schooldays.

    In 2017, our village community council (Heelwegs Belang) wrote to our local authority (Oude IJsselstreek) proposing that a cycle path be laid along the Bosboombroekerweg tracks so that schoolchildren – and other cyclists – could travel safely and more directly between the two parts of the village.

    The local authority did initiate a project to make a plan for the construction of a cycle path. However, it took several years and discussions with landowners before a final design was ready:

    As part of the work, an ecological study was carried out, and a camera placed along the proposed route captured a photo of a weasel going about its business.

    Stock image of a weasel; CC0 public domain license

    Unfortunately, the weasel has thrown a spanner into the works.

    As a result of the proof of the presence of a weasel, the local authority was obliged to seek a permit from the provincial authority for the work to be carried out. We were told that a decision on the granting of the permit would take a maximum of 26 weeks.

    We’ve been waiting to hear the result of the decision for almost a year now.

    The upshot is that work on the last section of the cycle path has been halted by the local authority until the provincial authority pulls its finger out and deigns to give them a decision on the permit.

    It is five years and counting since we first proposed the cycle path… We’re still waiting…

    As the old English Nursery Rhyme has it:

    Half a pound of tuppenny rice,
    Half a pound of treacle.
    That’s the way the money goes,
    Pop! Goes the weasel

    Addendum 21 February 2024: the provincial authority has finally announced its decision and allowed the construction of the last section of the cycle path to begin. That won’t be until mid 2024 now, but at least the final hurdle has been overcome.

    Addendum 2 September 2024: well, it wasn’t “mid 2024”, but work will finally begin on the 9th of September. The end is finally in sight…

  • What Was She Smoking?

    This year’s Tory Party Conference had more than enough moments of speakers sounding unhinged, not to mention the presence of Nigel Farage looking like the cat that got the cream.

    If it wasn’t Suella Braverman channelling Enoch Powell and his appalling “Rivers of Blood” speech, then it was Mark Harper embracing the conspiracy theories swirling around the excellent goal of 15 minute cities.

    However, for empty rhetoric Penny Mordant takes the prize…

    What was she smoking?

  • Pulling The Plug on Premium Lite

    Back in June, I blogged about the intrusive adverts that are infesting YouTube videos these days. While YouTube Premium offers ad-free viewing, it also includes the ability to watch content offline and stream music ad-free. However, it also comes at a hefty (in my view) price: €11.99 per month. I’m not prepared to pay that price.

    Back in June, YouTube introduced a Premium Lite membership tier that made viewing YouTube content Ad-free. At €6.99 per month this was a proposition that was somewhat more attractive.

    I decided that I would sign up for the trial, and after a month of blissfully watching content Ad-free, the experience was so pleasant that I decided that I would carry on paying for Premium Lite.

    Alas, it was too good to last.

    Last week I got the following email from Google:

    Your Premium Lite membership will be discontinued
    Hi Geoff, ‌ Thank you for being one of our first Premium Lite members. ‌

    We’re writing to let you know that after 25 October 2023, we will no longer be offering your version of Premium Lite. While we understand that this may be disappointing news, we continue to work on different versions of Premium Lite as we incorporate feedback from our users, creators and partners. ‌

    We will cancel your membership on 25 October 2023. Your Premium Lite benefits will expire at the end of your billing cycle and you will not be billed further. ‌

    To show our appreciation, we’re offering a one-month trial of YouTube Premium (even if you’ve had a trial before). With YouTube Premium, you can watch videos ad-free, offline and in the background. Plus, stream music ad-free in the YouTube Music app. ‌ If you’d like to redeem this offer, you’ll need to cancel your Premium Lite membership or wait for it to be cancelled for you. ‌
    You can find more information in the YouTube Help Centre. ‌

    Kind regards,
    The YouTube Premium team

    Sorry, Google, but €11.99 per month is not an amount I’m prepared to pay for simply wanting to watch content without your damn adverts.

    I’ll go back to cursing you and your adverts as from the 25th of October.

  • Microsoft Copilot – Missing in Action…

    On the 21st September, Microsoft announced the inclusion of Microsoft Copilot (“your everyday AI companion”) into Windows 11. In the announcement Microsoft stated that “Copilot will begin to roll out in its early form as part of our free update to Windows 11, starting Sept. 26”.

    Since I am running the Release Preview versions of Windows 11, I assumed that I would be getting it pretty quickly, ahead of the general release.

    Well a week has passed, and no sign of it heading towards my PCs so I went back to the release notes for the version of the Release Preview that came on the 26th September – the one that includes Copilot.

    It was there that I discovered the footnote:

    ** Copilot in Windows will start to release in preview to select global markets as part of our latest update to Windows 11. The initial markets for the Copilot in Windows preview include North America and parts of Asia and South America. It is our intention to add additional markets over time.

    Ah, I see, so screw you Europe – you’re not getting it now, and we’re not going to tell you when, or indeed whether, you’re ever going to get it…

    Thanks a bunch, Microsoft.

  • Eldorado

    Netflix has a documentary: Eldorado: Everything the Nazis Hate.

    It is worth watching.

    I’m not a fan of staged recreations of actual events, but this works because of the inclusion of actual documentary footage.

    Some good talking heads and always the feeling that, really, what have we learned from that time? History is always in danger of repeating itself.

    The clear message being that those who do not learn from history are doomed to repeat it.

  • RIP, Erwin

    Erwin Olaf has died at the early age of 64. He was a brilliant photographer and video maker.

    I was lucky enough to be able to go to the exhibition of his work held in the Hague in 2019 and have books of his work in my library.

    Here is the funeral service (it begins at 32:00 minutes in):

    https://vimeo.com/event/3730332/embed

    He will be missed.

  • Surface Duo – It’s Dead, Jim…

    I predicted back in July that the end was nigh for the Surface Duo line of devices made by Microsoft. I think we can now categorically state that the plug has been pulled and it is well and truly dead.

    The reason being that Panos Panay has announced that he is leaving Microsoft after 19 years at the company. Panay was the power behind the Surface line of products, and the Surface Duo was his baby.

    The timing of the announcement is also interesting – coming as it does just three days before Microsoft’s annual Surface event where new products are announced. It seems almost inevitable that a Surface Duo 3 will not be in that lineup.

    Panay himself will also not be at the event. Perhaps he didn’t want the embarrassment. I remember the strained performance of Steven Sinofsky, the champion of Windows 8, at its introduction event. He left the company very soon afterwards which led to the question of did he fall or was he pushed…

  • The Resignation of Nadine Dorries

    This won’t mean much to those of you who take no interest in UK Politics, but Nadine Dorries has finally resigned and metaphorically stuck the knife into Prime Minister Rishi Sunak’s back in her resignation letter.

    She was an MP who manifestly failed to represent her constituents in any meaningful manner and I am not sorry to see the back of her. Michael Spicer nails it:

  • Hitler Stalin Mum and Dad…

    … is the title of Daniel Finkelstein’s memoir about his family, and his parents’ survival of the Holocaust. It is very powerful and impressive; a real “Lest we forget” must-read.

    Still, as Rohan Silva says in his Observer review:

    Perhaps the more people that read this brilliant book, the less likely it will be that our liberal society ever disintegrates. But that faith in rationality was what Finkelstein’s grandfather, Alfred, believed in too, and it didn’t change a damned thing.

  • Bredevoort Boekenmarkt

    Went to the Book Market in Bredevoort today. Rather a shadow of its former self, consisting of a huddle of less than 20 stalls in the churchyard of a former church that is now an arts centre.

    When I first visited Bredevoort, almost 20 years ago, it was known as a Book Village, it had many bookshops, and held regular book markets centred around the market square and spilling out into the surrounding streets. Alas, time (and the internet) has taken its toll – only a few bookshops survive and the book market has dwindled and decamped to the churchyard.

    Still, I managed to pick up two Folio Society editions: Christopher Isherwood’s Mr. Norris changes Trains and Muriel Sparks’ The Prime of Miss Jean Brodie. Both editions were illustrated by Beryl Cook in her inimitable style, so my trip was successful as far as I’m concerned…

  • Lucy in the Sky with Debussy

    It brings tears to my eyes every time. She makes the piano sing.

  • Happy Birthday, Watson!

    Watson has his 14th birthday today – a good age for a Labrador.

    He spends most of the day gently snoozing (and dreaming of chasing rabbits I think), but he does go out daily on short walks or pottering around our (large) garden. And he’s still up for the game of being chased around the table in the living room every evening – I am the one who usually calls a halt to the proceedings before him.

  • The End is Nigh…

    Once again, Microsoft appears to be stopping development on a product line. This time it’s the Surface Duo line of products.

    Truth to tell, from day one Microsoft has made a series of missteps with the Surface Duo. First, they shipped the original Surface Duo in September 2020 with the software in an unfinished state – full of bugs. Unsurprisingly, the initial reviews in the Tech press were pretty damning, which put a damper on the product right from the start. Secondly, Microsoft never really advertised the device to the general consumer – it was positioned purely as a device for Business users.

    The Surface Duo 2, which followed a year later, was a much improved device, with a better camera, battery life and performance.

    Both models have two touchscreens and open like a book to expose them. Unlike a book, the devices can be fully folded back to put the touchscreens on the outside and assume a smartphone form factor.

    I bought a Surface Duo 2 for myself, replacing my Nokia Smartphone. Because the Duo supports the Microsoft digital pens, it became my digital Moleskine notebook as well as the camera that I have with me at all times. I love the device for its flexibility and solid support for multitasking – I can be browsing the web on one screen while taking notes on the other.

    When people see me using it, they are always curious about what it is – no-one has ever said “oh, you have a Surface Duo” – which speaks volumes about the results of Microsoft’s “marketing” of the device. The usual reaction on being told it is a Microsoft device is “I had no idea that Microsoft made something like that”.

    And now it appears that the Surface Duo line is headed for the same scrapheap that has seen so many products from Microsoft before: Windows Phone, the Kin phone, Zune, Windows Home Server, Kinect, Microsoft Band, Microsoft Mice, Keyboards and Webcams…

    Oh well, I’ll continue to use my Duo 2 for as long as it lasts – it’s a unique device with a unique experience that matches my needs. There’s nothing else quite like it.