I just read the announcement of new high resolution pictures of Holland on Google Earth. Of course, I had to take a look and was astonished by the amount of detail visible, seeing my own and neighbors car on our driveway. 52˚13’06.84” N 5˚58’02.89” is my attic where I sit right now.

We have come a far way with satellite images - more than 20 years ago I helped processing the first SPOT images at the University of Stuttgart. We were proud to detect landmarks such as highways after hours of intensive data processing. Today just a mouse click away much higher resolution data freely available on the internet.

While this is great technology in itself, I really was stunned taking a look at some flight tracking information available on the internet. Take a look at http://www.fboweb.com/, select the "Google Earth Primer" button on the right-hand side and select the demo link halfway down the page. You can see how planes find their way into an airport such as Seattle Tacoma. Even more, any flight number can be looked up and you’ll see where on Earth it is. Take in particular a lower angle to see the height of a plane.

It is primarily during the summer vacation that I do find some time to read. This year I got hold of a copy of Simon Singh's book Fermat's last theorem.

Now that almost twenty years passed since I left the university all memories came back - the challenge of a proof and the devotion for the mathematicians pure abstract and universal world." Do you remember how to proof that the square root of 2 is irrational? This book takes you through the history of the calculus that started with the work of some many great Greek thinkers such as Archimedes, Euclid and Pythagoras.

It was in particular the historical perspective, well documented and fairly easy to read that I liked so much about Singh's book. And if you wish to take it a little further, take a look at Basic Ideas in Greek Mathematics.

In preparation of some Jazz lessons I was looking for a good example for a simple bossa nova piano bass line. For this I was not successful, but I learnt a lot about the bossa nova as such. From Brazilian Piano Styles by Jovino Santos Neto the following section:

In the late 50s, a new musical wave was being developed in Brazil, once again combining elements from quite different origins. On one hand, there was a group of young musicians in Rio who were listening to American jazz singers and players, absorbing harmonic influences and styles, especially from West Coast cool jazz musicians, such as Chet Baker and Barney Kessel. On the other hand, in the interior of Bahia State, a young guitarist, João Gilberto, created a sophisticated way to blend the syncopation of samba with altered chords, paving the way to the movement that eventually came to be known as bossa nova, or “new thing”. Gilberto’s creative partnership with pianist/composer Antonio Carlos (a.k.a. Tom) Jobim (1927-1994) and with lyricist Vinícius de Moraes sparked a way of music making that emphasized sophisticated harmonies with an understated vocal delivery and a delicate groove, often based on samba, but with other rhythms present as well. Many other pianists contributed to the development of the bossa nova language, among them Luis Eça, Eumir Deodato, Sérgio Mendes, Hamilton Godoy, César Camargo Mariano and João Donato.

And while looking for some Bossa Nova baselines I did come across the two papers below. And as I cannot neglect my academic IT background I got - to some extend - fascinated by the scientific approach people took in analyzing the swinging Latin rhythm that let your body move. What a contrast! And what it also made clear to me is that playing the Bossa Nova is a rhythmic challenge - look at the indices provided in the 'Measures of Syncopation'.

• Using Patterns to Generate Rhythmic Accompaniment for Guitar
• Mathematical Measures of Syncopation

This year's Microsoft Professional Developer's Conference was in Los Angeles. November and still being able to sit outside all night, that is for us living in Holland quite an experience. Even more so an open air concert in the famous Hollywood Bowl. So I picked up a local paper and was reading about a concert that Pink Martini was about to give at the bowl. I must admit, I never have heart about that twelve man assemble. But a reference to Latin music in the style of the nightclubs of the thirties, that made me curious. Together with the Los Angels Symphony Orchestra, which basically was providing a nice string background, their French, Japanese, Italian and of course English repertoire it was just a perfect evening in a perfect entourage with 16.000 people.

In today's times of fast money it is amazing that it took seven years for the band to follow up their debut album "Sympatique" with "Hang On Little Tomato" in 2004. Songs of both albums where played, ending with a giant spectacle with twelve Brazilian samba girls entering the stage on the sweeping rhythm of "Brazil".

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that is no question. ”To google” has taken it's place in our lives. And this liveliness therefore reflected in the languages spoken all over the world. Consequently a new verb is now officially enlisted in the Oxford Dictionary – to google. But not only there, 'google' shows up in other languages I speak. The Dutch for example say 'googlen' (Dikke van Dale XIV, august 2005), the German 'googeln' (23. Duden, september 2004). Watch the subtle differences, they reflect the integration of ‘google’ into the language's grammar structure. That said I wondered about the French which are more resistant to pick up English words. Googling I did not find as quickly an answer. But there is a reference, "googler", but not (yet) part of "le Larousse". And look what the French did - they pronounce it "Googleur", which in my ears sound more like a juggler. But than, isn't this how you feel when googling?

If you take a look at the definitions given in the various dictionaries, you will find “Search for information”. I believe that my daughters (7 and 11) have a different association. Half of their time they google pictures – for fun. For example to use it as a new background or to create a virtual postcard. This goes beyond the search for information, it has become part of their lifestyle (and I haven’t even written about the search for music …).

I was lucky to get sent now to Bangalore, India to train our partner. As this was already the second time I did know to some extend what to expect.
Instead of sharing the crowdedness of Bangalore I want to show you this time more of the marvelous country. Look at the peppers being dried by the sun in a little village 2 hours south of Bangalore. It all seemed so quiet and peaceful there.
	And look at this beautiful scenery left. A weekend spot for Indian families.
	Back in Bangalore you'll stick in an almost constantly present traffic jam. Mobility comes with all the money that IT outsourcing brings to Bangalore. Whole families are using a single motorbike. Imagine that everyone would use a car instead! Enough said, let's take a look outside the greater Bangalore area, where this drastically changes. Here you still find that coconuts are transported by bicycle.
	Of course, there are also more modern means of transportation, see the motor on the right.
	In fact, the country is modernizing fast, and drivers like here on the left side photo are a good example of it. I saw them just north of Bangalore bringing the frame of a truck built in the South of India all the way up to Delhi. The completion is done closer to the customer, such that one can easily take care of any special requirements.
But than, on the other hand, there are still a lot of people that cannot afford a truck. The oxen is still visible in the street, even in the busy streets of Bangalore.
And now... a cup of coffee please.	Oh - before I forget. You need to see this one on the right. A parking spot for auto's as the favorite means of transportation (other than a overly crowded bus) they are called in India.

I just visited a new site that honors and remembers the jewish victims of the second world war called Digitaal Monument Joodse Gemeenschap in Nederland. The main page is impressive - and just click anywhere to see how it unfolds presenting the information of one of the more than 100.000 victims. As my mother's mother was Jewish I checked "Kets de Vries" and compared it with my genealogical information that I have collected over the past years. It turns out this is a very valuable source, in particular due to its numerous navigations. I did spot a few omissions, in particular in family relations, but being able to submit updates allows us to further develop this monument for our forefathers.