Switzerland

[caption id=“attachment_2216” align=“aligncenter” width=“660”] The landscape visible from the Plan Praz Via Ferrata.[/caption] Finally winter is over, the snow is melting away, flowers are coming up and the via ferrata season is starting once again. I will be in the mountains every second weekend from now on to explore via ferratas and hike. The next via ferrata I will explore is the Via Ferrata Lavanchy. From what I read this is an easy and short Via Ferrata (VF). We will see if it would be a good place for beginners to try this enjoyable sport.

The selection of Netflix Switzerland just became a little more interesting. They have added eight seasons of House for us to enjoy. If they could add a few more series this would be most welcome.

Vincent Cochetel gave a very good speech at TEDxPlaceDesNations in December. He received a standing ovation for it’s content. I was lucky enough to be in the audience on that day. In light of today’s events I believe that this is the right video to share.

The views as I drove up to this ingress mission were beautiful. I could clearly see the Jet D’eau in Geneva and the streets of Lausanne on the other side. I could see how light was playing with clouds to provide enjoyable views. Gimel is a village/town in the Jura surrounded by forest and fields. The mission is a six kilometre run or walk. At this time of year wear snow shoes as other shoes will get wet. You start from the village centre and head north to the first check point. You follow field paths until the next checkpoint 1.2 kilometres away across mud paths. Once you get to the second check point the path is road without pavement so be careful of oncoming traffic. The first and last checkpoints of this mission require that you upgrade the portals so make sure that you are able to. It would be a shame to go on a 6.2 kilometre walk only to find that the mission cannot be completed due to the portals being fully upgraded.

Dear deceptive content distributors, When I have wanted to watch a number of documentaries the subtitles have been in German on english commentary documentaries. As a paying customer I expect English language versions to have English titles, English subtitles and English location information. If you do nothing to resolve this problem I will stop paying monthly for your content as you are not delivering what I am paying for. Do not cut corners. Be professional.

A taste

On Google Plus, one of my muses, I saw that instead of Street photography someone suggested Village photography. I like the idea because villages are such an integral part of my life. Life in villages is a privileged one. Every time we go for a walk we cross people we do not know and say hello. We walk from field to field and along paths. We see which crops have been planted and which ones are being harvested. We see frequent horses and dog walkers. We also see families. We hear the sound of rifle practices at the local gun range. The practice is for military service most of the time. We also have fountains and old buildings. We hear the church bell every half hour and hour. We see the fountains with wooden chalet to protect from the cold in winter. Villages are seasonal. In summer the sounds of children playing, of fireworks and of barbecues can be heard. In Autumn the sound of wind blowers can be heard. In Winter we see lights on as the neighbours prepare their evening meal. In the mornings we see parents bring their children to school before the bell rings and they head in to their classes to sit and wait impatiently for the school day to be over so that they may go out on adventures. That’s why village photography captivates my imagination. I know villages well. I appreciate them. I look forward to looking at images from the past, and preserving today for future generations.

On the 27th of September CERN invited twelve Social media users to a tweetup. I was among those twelve. We had the rare opportunity to go down and see the tunnels where the LHC carries out it’s experiements. We met with World Wide Web pioneers and we got to listen to interesting experimental and theoretical scientists. This weekend anyone in the area can go to CERN and speak with the scientists in person and see the tools being used for the experiments we have heard so much about over the years. [gallery ids=“1872,1873,1874,1875,1876,1877,1878,1879,1880,1881,1882,1883,1884,1885,1886,1887,1888,1889,1890,1892,1893,1894,1895,1896,1897,1898,1899,1900,1901,1902,1891”]

[flickr-gallery mode=“photoset” photoset=“72157635047444443”] Images as I drove home from the gym. Events page