Ha Lesa Mamele Bo Me HoTla Fela Ke Malem

"If You do not listen to Women, We will lose patience with You". This translation of the native Sotho language (blogpost title), can be the introduction to the presentation of the Lesotho Flag. The Sotho language is one of the 250 Bantu languages spoken all over the southern part of Africa.

The current national flag of Lesotho, adopted on October 4, 2006, features a horizontal blue, white, and green tricolour with a black mokorotlo (a Basotho hat) in the center. The design was introduced to honour the 40th anniversary of independence.
 I got my first visitor from Lesoto on January 26th this year and are now up in 160 flags. May be it is my daughters second cousin Stine, presently doing her Master in the South Africa areas, who has been the visitor, or maybe someone else.

The Kingdom of Lesotho, is a landlocked country and enclave, entirely surrounded by the Republic of South Africa. It is just over 30,000 km2 (11,583 sq mi) in size with a population of approximately 2,067,000. Its capital and largest city is Maseru. Lesotho is the only independent state in the world that lies entirely above 1,400 metres (4,593 ft) in elevation. Its lowest point of 1,400 metres (4,593 ft) is thus the highest in the world. Over 80% of the country lies above 1,800 metres (5,906 ft).

Because of its altitude, Lesotho remains cooler throughout the year than other regions at the same latitude. Most of the rain falls as summer thunderstorms. Maseru and surrounding lowlands often reach 30 °C (86 °F) in summer. Winters can be cold with the lowlands getting down to −7 °C (19.4 °F) and the highlands to −18 °C (−0 °F) at times. Snow is common in the highlands between May and September; the higher peaks can experience snowfalls year-round.

With this 160th country visiting my site, there is only 32 more to go to have all the United Nation Flags on my record.

Hedda sitting

There is always some milestones for newborn children. The annual birthdays, the first tooth and the day they start to wobble, the first understandable word (granddad of course), the end of using diaper, the first day at school, the PhD graduation, etc.

Today I can present the first day Hedda was able to sit and play by herself. With still eleven weeks until she reach one year (based upon pregnancy estimation birthdate) but as a premature born child 13 weeks too early at a body-weight of 647 gr, it is really one of the nice milestone day.

Keep on developing, Hedda. You are a strong little girl.

TV2-serie about Organ Transplantation

Norwegian TV2 has started a new Fakta-serie about Organ transplantation.
In the first program we met Rune and Sigrid who had their life on wait until a donor could help Rune with a kidney and Sigrid with new lungs. In the program this week (Wednesday 9:40 pm) we will according to rumors at Rikshospitalet, experience a heart transplantation.
The tx-cor-nurses Ingelin and Eva Kristine in their office today may be part of the program. All of us heart transplantees have a relation to these professional nurses, and for me in particular Ingelin was my most important support during my 12 months on the waiting list. She has also been there if I have needed any help, during the almost 13 years since my combined Heart and Kidney transplantation in 1998.
If possible try to follow the interesting programs, and download the donorcard as an app asap.Read also about Troels who received new Heart, Lungs and Liver, and became a donor himself when donating his own old and well funtion heart to another sick person.

More Organdonation YouTube Videos can be found here.

You, me and over 2 billion more

In Norwegian media today we could learn that we now are more than 2 billion Internet users in the world.
I looked up the figures in the Worldometers real time and found the following statistics around 8pm ect.:

It was also clear that my blogpost would be only one out of half a million today.

From the same website I saw that the World population now has passed 6.900 millions with almost 10 millions newborn children since NewYear.
The population Milestones shown below can give us some thoughts and reflections, and perhaps one understanding of the migration wave we presently experience around the world.

Be the first to join - Qwiki

"We're very excited to have you as part of the Qwiki Alpha! You will be among the first to have The Information Experience."

The message on top and the photo of the Finish well reputable beer Koff (as I tasted the first time during my stay in Helsinki in 1987), can be the introduction to the Information Experience - QWIKI.
Go there and have a look. If you like the site, be among the first to join.
PS:
The KOFF beer may be difficult to get in Norway, but the web is global and to my friends in Finland: KIPPIS!

Hedda´s Birthday

Happy 1 year Birthday, Hedda Emilie

A Beautiful Winterday in Oslo

A beautiful morning in Oslo, and even more beautiful when leaving down town and search for the higher areas at Frognerseteren. Minus 1 C and newly prepared ski-track makes the skiing tour an extraordinary lovely experience.

Tullen is heading for Skjennungen, Ullevålseter and return to Gaustad and Blindern on her skiing back home.

It is exactly five weeks to the FIS Nordic World Championship Nordic 2011 will be opened for 12 days of competitions with winners and "all the other athletes".
The new Holmenkollen ski jump is almost finished and looks great if not huge.

At "Gratishaugen" now not free anymore and called VM-Haugen in front of the ski-jump arena, you find:

The Holmenkollen Troll

Kollentrollet is a 6,7-metre statue located close to the ski jump (the ski jump is currently being rebuilt for the 2011 World Ski Championships):
"A troll am I. Big and tall. I sing in one of my songs. For I am big and tall. When you see me sitting at Gratishaugen, I measure almost 7 meters. Big and tall may sound dangerous, but that's not the case. I am a good troll. It is the famous Norwegian sculptor Nils Aas, who brought me here. I am made of concrete and I guess I do look a lot like the trolls you'll find in the Norwegian folk tales collected by Asbjørnsen and Moe."

Addicted

Both on my iPhone 4 and (from yesterday evening) on my MacBook Pro through App Store, the Angry Birds are fighting with my help against the green pigs who stole the birds´ eggs.
I am addicted. Try it yourself. Have fun wherever you are. Home or on the move. Funny.

Donorcard as App and a foggy grey Sunday

An Interesting and maybe a "Must App" is available on iTunes store for iPhone and Android Market for Androids. You can read more by visiting Apphuset

UPDATE Monday moring:

See also this article from VG.NO about Camilla´s organs that saved four lives. Great!

Outside my windows the fog is giving a grey Sunday morning.
Yesterday Bygdø Allé also was grey and dark when we went for an afternoon walk and a glass of wine at fru Burums. In the evening we played cards with friends at home and as The Evening Winner (and 2010 champion) I can confirm that I went to bed with a satisfying smile.

Now you too have the possibility to confirm your commitment to Organ Donation and, if the sun is shining where you are, be happy for the more than 6 hours daylight this Sunday

Broadband = Broadband or not

I have in the beginning of this year tried to learn more about services in Norway regarding IKT-communication speed, (Broadband,  Wireless network (WiFi), Routers, Airport base stations, etc.) .
The marketing data presented by various Internet service providers, through phone-lines, mobile network (3G, 4G) and through the digital cables by TV-suppliers, are sometimes difficult to understand and almost impossible to compare when it goes on performance / prizes for me.
Being an "ordinary" user (although started with EDP (now IT) in the late 60s), but with more than one laptop and several iPhones in the apartment, I must say that it is difficult to find out the perfect choice.

I started to use Internet in Singapore late 1994. When the Apple / Mac world arrived to my home in 2002 I quite soon discovered the Domino effect; Laptops, Digital cameras, Smart-phones, Extended range, Wireless printing, continuous upgrading and new models, etc.
The Apple AirPort Extreme Base Station helped a lot, and this week a new router delivered by my TV cable supplier (GET) improved my communication to Internet through my HD PVR-box.

The Norwegian (governmental decision) definition of Broadband is (my translation):

Wireless Broadband is defined as an access capacity in which the end user, wireless connected to a public mobile network or a public fixed network, gets access to datatransfer services with a perceived bit rate of at least 640 kbit / sec downstream and 128 kbit /sec upstream.

I am not a politician, but this definition must be a joke, and a way to define themselves out of troubles because they have promised everybody in the country "Broadband".

GET CEO Gunnar Evensen tells Broadband TV News that

The Norwegian Government has a stated goal that everyone in Norway should have access to super-broadband. Cable technology is the most important platform for ultra-broadband in Norway, and Get is able to deliver high-speed broadband to one million Norwegians.

In UK Culture Secretary Jeremy Hunt tells BBC News that

the government had abandoned the plans of the former administration that promised 2 megabits per second broadband for all by 2012, he said: "It's silly to hang your hat on a speed like two meg when the game is changing the whole time.

He added: "What we've said is that just giving people two meg is not enough, what people use the internet for is changing the whole time."

I have the last years used a measured speed of 8Mb/s down and 0.6 Mb/s up. Now I have through GET tripled the performance. at almost the same prize. Will you follow?
Ps:
I am not paid for this recommendation. At least not for the time being.

A glimpse of light

In the everlasting snowfall a day of hope for lighter times could be experienced yesterday. The temperatur raised closer to zero and the newly maintained ski-tracks became a challenge for Tullen. When I went to the treadmill at SATS she took the 11km return trip to Ullevålseter.
The skiing season has started.

At Hamar my friend Asbjørn went for a walk visiting the Cathedral ruins from the mid 1150s. The Cathedral was completed about the time of Bishop Paul (1232-52). From his new iPhone 4 Asbjørn sent me this photo of the remains of the Cathedral destroyed by the Swedes in 1567 (today covered by steel and glass).

Although the season eatings mostly is over and the weight control improved, a Baccalao dinner (Klippfisk the Lutefisk way) is not inappropriate.The only change from Christmas is the Austrian Riesling instead of beer and Aquavit.
Have a nice weekend.

High media focus on Body weight and Electricity prizes

It is January. Media from glossy pages in the Colored Press to politicians in TV-debates are concerned about two annual recurring themes; Weight loosing and Higher prizes on Electrical power.

Lots of Norwegians have declared their New Year resolution about getting rid of the Christmas weight addition. This commitment that an individual makes to a personal goal, project, or the reforming of a habit, and achieve a lifestyle change, is generally interpreted as advantageous. I am already improving my body the first week in 2011, but copying the photo above (by Oddleiv Apneseth) seems to be impossible in 2011.

The other high-profiled topic is the cold winter and unexpected increase in use of electrical power to heat our apartments. The average households are expecting a disturbing high bill within a few days. According to the preliminary calculations based upon the consumption in our apartment, (same volume as last year) the invoice will not create any shocking trauma for us, but this bill must be paid together with all the others in the aftermath of Christmas spendings. It´s hard to be a Nissemann, if you want to follow Shirley Bassey in her video Big Spender.

The dawn of a year.

My first blogpost in 2011 has to be dedicated to the uprising sun shown on my header photo.
Every morning (like this in Wales during Christmas last year) is a gift for many of us almost dead some years ago due to terminal sickness, but saved to life by organ donation. This spring it will be 13 years since I was given the gift for life from someone who´s life could not be saved. A second-hand heart and a second-hand kidney, but full of energy and life potential, to one who would have been a shading memory if not receiving this gift.

At the dawn of the new year the dawn of the day on Boxing Day last year will be the reminder of this great gift. It is my responsibility to care about the gift as I have done and will do in the years ahead. Thanks.
Life is Great.

Goodbye two thousand ten, Welcome twenty eleven

To all blogfriends: Happy New Year.

Back in Norway for New Year celebration

A lovely Christmas in Glamorgan is over, and in spite of the heavy traffic problems both in air (Heathrow) and on roads in South West England and Wales, seeing and playing with grandchildren is something to save in our hearts for the months to come.

Hedda Emilie is growing and experiences more or less the same health challenges as the two older siblings and other premature born children. She is however "stronger" at this age than the two others compared to their development.

Henrik is a nice and funny boy. Full of energy and always ready for a quarrel and fight with his older sister when they play together. He loves "male"-toys, and that is something new for us having only girls to compare a child´s development to.

Helene is almost seven and a half and reads books all the time. "Bestefar" gave her the Jostein Gaarder book Sophie´s World for Christmas.  The book is both a novel and a basic guide to philosophy. Hopefully her father will get many questions within his profession as a political philosopher, and I wait for the mails about the interpretation of different questions created based on the book. Helene´s great great grandmother´s name was also Sofie.

To the Cymru family, here busy with christmas gifts, thanks for this few days. Look forward to see you soon again. Hopefully in Norway.

Boxing Day morning

Over the British Channel the sun is rising.

British Christmas Day

The Local is open from 12 to 14. Then it is Christmas Dinner.

Christmas Tree and Presents

Santa has already been on a visit. Will she (or he) return with more surprises in the days to come.

Winter solstice 2011 and Merry Christmas

Tonight at 22.38 CET Winter Solstice will take place. I take this opportunity to wish you all

GOD JUL and Merry Christmas

Are your passwords secure enough

In these WikiLeaks times, an interesting blogpost to be read for the Sunday morning web-surfing is John P.´s article about weak passwords. I have extracted some sentences from his article, but take your time and read his statements yourself:
How id hack your weak passwords.

First: Do you as a password use:

1. Your partner, child, or pet’s name, possibly followed by a 0 or 1 (because they’re  always making you use a number, aren’t they?)
2. The last 4 digits of your social security number.
3. 123 or 1234 or 123456.
4. “password”
5. Your city, or college, football team name.
6. Date of birth – yours, your partner’s or your child’s.
7. “god”
8. “letmein”
9. “money”
10. “love”

Then you are in trouble.

Finally: Some proposal from John P for an improved password security:

Here are some password tips:

1. Randomly substitute numbers for letters that look similar. The letter ‘o’ becomes the number ’0′, or even better an ‘@’ or ‘*’. (i.e. – m0d3ltf0rd… like modelTford)
2. Randomly throw in capital letters (i.e. – Mod3lTF0rd)
3. Think of something you were attached to when you were younger, but DON’T CHOOSE A PERSON’S NAME! Every name plus every word in the dictionary will fail under a simple brute force attack.
4. Maybe a place you loved, or a specific car, an attraction from a vacation, or a favorite restaurant?
5. You really need to have different username / password combinations for everything. Remember, the technique is to break into anything you access just to figure out your standard password, then compromise everything else. This doesn’t work if you don’t use the same password everywhere.
6. Since it can be difficult to remember a ton of passwords, I recommend using Roboform for Windows users. It will store all of your passwords in an encrypted format and allow you to use just one master password to access all of them. It will also automatically fill in forms on Web pages, and you can even get versions that allow you to take your password list with you on your PDA, phone or a USB key. If you’d like to download it without having to navigate their web site here is the direct download link.
7. Mac users can use 1Password. It is essentially the same thing as Roboform, except for Mac, and they even have an iPhone application so you can take them with you too.
8. Once you’ve thought of a password, try Microsoft’s password strength tester to find out how secure it is.

Well, after reading the article, take security of your Passwords up for condideration, and follow WikiLeaks on Twitter Have a nice Sunday.