• Do you know how html forms work? Most people would probably say "no".
• But do you know how Google works? I'm gonna go out on a limb here and assume that most people would say "yes".

Why am I talking about this? Because I just found a cool feature in Firefox that I didn't know about before. To give a little background first.. have you ever wanted bookmark a search result? But they're not usually "bookmarkable", are they? Well you can, if you know how. It has something with how searches (or in general: form submissions) are handled on the server side. If the form is a post, then bookmarking the url in the navigation bar won't work. If the form is a get (eg. Google), then you can bookmark the search.

So picking up user patterns like that is what makes good software and Firefox has done something to make searching nicer for us. The idea is very simple, but it's the kind of thing that is done easily in software which is inconvenient to do manually by the user.

Seeing is believing so try this one for size. Open http://www.imdb.com/ in Firefox [duh], right click on the input box where you type in your search words and select Add a Keyword for this Search.... I'm not sure which version of Firefox you need for this, but I'm on 1.5.0.2. You will see a dialog box that looks like this:

I have filled it in already, you can copy mine if you like. Now, in your location bar, type m paul walker and hit Enter.

See what happens now? You search imdb for the term paul walker just by typing m searchword in the location bar. What you've set up here is essentially a bookmark, with a keyword. The keyword is m, what you type in to run a search. It could just as well have been imdb or moviedatabasesearch, then again m is shorter, no?

Needless[?] to say, this isn't limited to imdb.com, you can use this function to create a bookmark for every search box anywhere and set up short keywords to run searches more conveniently. I didn't demo this with google because Firefox already has the google search integrated, but I think this is actually a nicer way to google than using the google input box.

Do you ever have those moments when you're doing one thing and suddenly you remember something completely unrelated and you're wondering "why did this just pop into my head?"? I was at Lidl doing the standard bi-daily grocery shopping and I see they have lots of bananas out, I check the price and it's neither very cheap nor expensive (€1.29/kg), so I'm thinking I'll get some, cause I have no other fruit in the house right now. Then I hear this voice in my head "GEORGE LIKES THE BANANAS!!!"

I usually have a lot of blog ideas when I travel. A lot of time is spent waiting, practically wasted, the mind wanders. I rarely make anything of it, it's not practical, but it does come to me more intensely than at any other time. Today, though, I didn't have to look far.

I arrive at Schiphol ridiculously early, two and a half hours before my flight. I guess I don't like to be late, but this was way far ahead of time compared to the margin I usually allow myself. I check in and line up for the now customary security screening. I don't care for this, I always have to take off my belt cause it sets off the buzzer. I put my bag down, it goes through the little car wash and I walk through the detector. Nothing. I see the guy in front of me being body searched. I've never been body searched before, but hey if this is what they have to do, what do I care. The guy seemed to enjoy it, took his sweet time, very thorough. I don't really care, but I imagine some people might have a bit of a problem with someone giving them a good head-to-toe rub down. Then I see the people behind me are not being searched, wtf? As long as it's the same for everyone, I don't very much care, but why did they single me out? At least 10 people passed through behind me with no searching. Well whatever, I wait for my luggage to come through, they're taking ages with it. Finally the lady holds up my bag, "whose is this?" It's mine. "Nederlands or English?" English. Then she mumbles something I don't understand. I stand there waiting, she's busy screening other bags. Wtf? After a while, a guy grabs my bag, walks up to me. "Could you open the bag please?" "You have a laptop in there?" "Yes, I do." "Can you take it out?" "Yes, I can." How courteous. I take out my laptop case. "Do you have scissors in there?" "No." I imagine at this point that as my bag came through, the lady who's screening them got a blinking red dialog box on her screen "scissors, 4 minutes to armageddon". I shouldn't have said it, but "actually I may have scissors elsewhere". I take out my pencil case, there are the scissors. The guy tells me I have to either check them in (bit too late for that, wise guy) or leave them. So they stole my scissors. Interestingly, the guy right in front of me also had scissors as part of a first aid kit and they let *him* take them on the plane. So I have to take out my laptop, they have to scan it again by itself. Apparently their scanner is so shitty they make people do this all the time now, yet another way to annoy us. So I get all my stuff scanned again, took about 20 minutes in all (not that I was in a rush, mind), finally it's all done.

All in all, I didn't really mind it, I had plenty of time and I was in a good mood. But then in Oslo they made take out my laptop *again* to scan separately (for some reason they can't reroute the luggage to domestic flights, you have to collect it and then check it in again *sigh*) and it got old fast. Still, I've never been given the detail treatment before and I don't know what set it off this time. I am certifiably Dutch and I'm white, I thought they only stopped Arab men with long beards? :confused:

Alluding to a previous entry, it struck me today while shopping that it would be interesting to survey and find out how exactly I define myself. In terms of nationality, it would have to be a mixed bag, but I wonder just how many I should include to get an accurate result. Then there's the question of allocating points to each one.

Let's start with those of lesser importance.

Dutch: 0.5%
Give it time, I'm new here. In 2 months I've come to realize that I love the country, I will seriously consider staying here after I finish school. But it's a bit soon to feel Dutch at the moment, I can't even say anything in Dutch more advanced than "Ik wil naar Ikea gaan". The culture appeals to me, though, I can't say I've come across anything yet (aside from dealing with institutions, the bureaucracy is very real) that rubs me the wrong way, the people here just seem very normal by my standards.

Italian: 1%
Honestly, to say that I feel Italian would be plain wrong. But I have to make some note of a culture that I've taken to in the last few years. It all started with calcio and Juventus, some 10 years ago. For some reason, it has stayed with me, an interest I never thought would last this long. Over the years I've tried to get involved at a more basic level than reading English translations, I've listened to rai uno, read Italian papers, listened to Italian music etc. I never made a proper effort to learn the language, I'm too lazy for that, I just enjoyed understanding something here and there, gradually getting more of it. Travelling to Italy (5 times in all) made a contribution to that as well, it's a great country to go on vacation, but I don't think I would like to live there.

French: 2%
As much as Italy is an acquired taste, France is practically an in-born one. For some reason or another, I've always had this sympathy for France from when I was a kid. On some level I always wanted to be exposed to the country and the culture. Twice in my childhood I found myself at the Riviera on vacation, that was a fantastic experience for an 8-year-old kid and I'm sure that planted some seeds. In high school I took up French, albeit not very seriously as the standard of teaching a second language in Norwegian schools is pathetic. In three years I didn't quite learn enough to carry on a conversation, despite getting good grades. Most of what I learnt I've forgotten and at this time I can read a fair bit, but that's as far as it goes. It's the closest I've come to a 4th language and over the years I've always thought sometime I would actually learn it. If it turned out that way, I wouldn't be opposed to spending a couple of years of my life in France.

American: 6.5%
Hm, a roar of silence. I was really fascinated by the US of A through many years of my life, for more than a decade. I've never put in more effort toward learning a language than I have to learn English. And although that very fact would not always coincide with Americanism, the whole American influence can be seen in a wider context than just that of being American, for are we not invaded by the culture whether we like it or not? Do I hear you say cultural imperialism? :D Well, in later years I got a little turned off the whole American thing, I became more keen on going to college in Europe (thus I ended up here). But all the same, a sizeable influence on my identity has come from beyond the pond, ranging from tv to stand-up comedy, to music, to movies and so on. Even though I think that source of influence is diminishing these days. And English, a third language to begin with, has become my first.

Polish: 40%
My roots. The only reason I would put Norwegian just a pinch above is that I spent 18 years of my life there and when you're not living in a country, you're bound to get a bit disconnected from what it is, regardless of how much you may try to stay plugged in. Well, I never paid much attention to staying in the loop, trying to keep track of what happens in Poland. I've always just known that regardless of anything else, I am Polish and I always will be, no matter how long I may not go there, I will always know that that's my country. One thing that has been a bit of a turn off is not knowing the "youthful" language. Polish friends were far and few between, so I never learnt to talk like a kid, I don't know the slang, I don't know the "hip" lingo. And in fact, when I do hear it, it sounds really silly and lame to me. Like say, try translating hip-hop lingo into Polish and it sounds incredibly dumb. So as a teenager, I was a bit on the outs. Conversely, Polish as a "serious" language I really like, reading a proper paper or magazine (tabloids obviously don't cut it) is a pleasure, the language is very expressive and powerful.

Norwegian: 45%
Unlike being Polish, being Norwegian was a choice for me. I decided to adopt it, it didn't happen immediately. I haven't always seen eye to eye with Norway and being Norwegian, but beyond my teenage "rebellion", I feel pretty damn comfortable and content about being Norwegian. When people ask me where I'm from, I usually say Norway, simply because most people assume place of residence = nationality. Also because a dual nationality takes some people about 5 minutes to understand and not everyone is interested in that. Other than that, living in Trondheim my relationship with the town has always been a little tense. It is home to me on many levels, but I never really desired to live there and I was always certain that I would move sooner or later. In fact, Oslo is the place I always wanted to live, as long as I stayed in Norway. Through 5 years in Oslo as a kid, I had a great time and I guess I would always consider Oslo as a place to live.

I need a metaphor here, I was hoping to use a movie reference, but I can't think of one that would fit. So I'll describe a movie to you. I could just make it a story but then there are too many bases to cover, so instead I'll play off your intimacy with Hollywood's finest and how they guide the plot into various cliches you can see coming a mile away. Enough rambling, let's get to it.

Jason is a kid with a learning disability. I'm not too happy with the handicap reference, I really have nothing against handicapped people, but if I pick some other angle, I worry I may not be able to swing it. Right, so Jason grew up with other kids who were not disabled, he would always see them learn things much quicker than he could, while he himself would struggle with the most basic things. Fundamental arithmetic, spelling, memorization, that kind of thing. Jason had a couple of loving parents who supported him through everything he did, they were proud of Jason and encouraged him to keep giving his best despite that his results were far below par. Everytime a test appeared on the horizon, Jason would try his darndest, and his parents would hope that maybe this is the time Jason can do well on the test. Everytime Jason failed to even pass the test. His parents consoled him and encouraged him not to give up. "You can do anything if you put your mind to it, Jason." It was tough for Jason to keep failing, it was tough for him to mobilize himself for the next challenge knowing that he had failed so many times before. He managed to forget the past just long enough to take every test, every exam, with an open mind, hoping this would be the time. But as the years went by the disappointments piled up and it took a strong Jason to cope with them. What kept him going was a belief deep inside him that someday he *would* pass that test.

Ok now you know why I don't tell stories, I'm not good at it. Erik writes good fiction, I stay away from it for good reason. When it comes to dating, my life is Jason's. Whenever there is a situation with some potential, I feel like I'm on the verge of taking the decisive penalty at the World Cup. Like this is my chance of a lifetime, this could be my moment. Ridiculous amounts of energy go into thinking about the situation, trying to pick the best possible strategy, I really obsess about it. I illicit sympathy from a lot of friends, all of whom support me and wish me well, for which I'm incredibly grateful. I ask their advice, they help me, advise me, encourage me. Then I step into action, I do my best aaaaaaand fall on my ass. Every. single. time. I have a remarkable, unmatched talent for pushing people away, the very person I'm trying to get close to. It seems that in moments when my brain overheats from intense activity, I am launched into some state of chronic idiocy, which causes me to make an astonishing amount of bad decisions. I have learnt from experience that my mind is not to be trusted in these cases, but I have to keep reminding myself of this, because in the moment I actually think it makes a lot of sense. Then I make a truly daft decision and say something I shouldn't say, which brings me one step closer to fouling out of the game. Eventually, I do, of course, one way or another totally wipe out the possibility that the person in question may still think I am of sound mind. One such day was yesterday.

As I generally pay very little attention to being or appearing to be quote unquote normal, this is the rare exception. I wish I could be normal.