Tips & Tricks – ligner din cykel en støvet og rusten løgn?

Det er ved at blive mildere i vejret, og solen titter frem, ikke så ofte som vi måske kunne ønske, men den er der! Og der er da ikke noget så dejligt som en cykeltur i det friske vejr, få rørt sig lidt og få pedaltrampet i skoven eller langs stranden og nyde de få stråler, der måtte slippe igennem skydækket. Men, men, men! Det forudsætter jo, at din tohjulede kan trille….

Vinteren er hård ved cyklerne
Måske bruger du din cykel hver dag. Til og fra arbejde, og måske er du rigtig flink ved din cykel og smører og “tweaker” den jævnligt. Eller måske ikke!  Går vi ud fra den sidste præmisse, nemlig at du ikke har været så flink ved din cykel, så er det på højeste tid, at du lige får kigget den efter i sømmene. Vejret er jo skønt, og lidt motion er jo bestemt ikke af vejen, så læs videre og se hvordan du nemt og let kan gøre din cykel forårs- og trilleklar!

Vask og rengøring
Har cyklerne stået i en støvet garage, eller har du slidt  cykelstierne tynde over vinteren, kan man ikke undgå at de ligner noget der er løgn. Salt og snavs fra vejen har det med at sætte sig i krogene og i de smurte dele. Derfor er et godt cykelbad en god måde at starte på:

1. Fyld en spand med varmt vand og hæld lidt rengøringsmiddel i. Brug derefter en børste til at rense fælge og reflekser, husk området på stellet omkring kæden – der er altid beskidt – også selv om det ikke er vinter!

2. Når cyklen er blevet vasket ordentligt af, så kan du tørre den af med et par klude – sørg for at
komme godt rund i krogene, så fanger du også helligdagene.

3. Tjek bremser og dæk: Skift bremseklodserne ud, hvis de er slidte og kig dækkene efter for porøsitet, flænger eller rifter i gummiet. Det kan være at du er nødt til at skifte slange eller sætte et par nye dæk på, hvis de er blevet for gamle og slidte. Og mens du nu har gang i hjulene, så eftertjek lige ventilgummiet, det kan nemlig også blive slidt!

4. Vær god mod din cykelkæde. Et godt tip er at pille kæden af og lægge den i en pose med universalmiddel natten over, alt efter hvor beskidt den er. Måske er du nødt til at gentage “poserengøringen” igen, hvis kæden ikke er blevet ren i første omgang. Tør derefter kæden af og sæt den på cyklen igen. Husk at smøre efter, når du har fået sat den på og justeret hvor stramt den skal sidde – husk, at den ikke må sidde alt for stramt!
Du kan også lade kæden sidde på og bare tørre den af med en klud, hvis den ikke er alt for beskidt.


Tålmodighed er en dyd
Står alle familiens cykler i skuret og ligner noget som er løgn, så kan det altså ordnes uden at du behøver at få olie under neglene. Du kan tage et par latexhandsker på, eller du kan uddelegere rengøringen til en handyhander. På Ahandyhand.dk er der nemlig  masser af handyhandere, med specielt kendskab til rengøring af cyklens herligheder, som hellere end gerne vil hjælpe dig med cykelrengøringen. Opret en opgave og få dig en lur mens dine cykler bliver gjort tip-top!

Fem rituelle måder at dø på

Der findes mange traditioner forbundet med døden. Den mest nærliggende er nok begravelsen. Men en hurtig smuttur ud i verden vidner om mange forskellige måder at konfrontere døden på.


Tibetansk himmelbegravelse

I Tibet var det et udbredt ritual, at blive slæbt op på en tør bjergside og skåret i stumper og stykker, når man døde. Historierne lyder, at når der ikke var mere kød tilbage på liget, efter at rovfuglene havde været der, vendte munkene tilbage, for at knuse knoglerne.

Knoglepulveret blev blandet op med Tsampa, mel lavet på byg, te og yakmælk, og efterladt til de allerede mindre sultne ådselædere.
Dette barbariske ritual blev forbudt af kineserne i 1960 for igen at blive tilladt i 1980. Husk hjemrejseforsikringen!


Sokushinbutsu – selvdøde munke

I Japan har man fundet en række eksempler på selvmumificering. 

Ifølge ritualet skulle den udkårne munk i 2000 dage (næsten seks år) overleve på en diæt bestående af nødder og rødder samt hård fysisk træning.

Siden vil der blive serveret bark og forgiftet te fra Urushi‐træet. Det vil give væsketab og konstant opkast for at undgå at kroppen ikke skulle gå i forrådnelsen.

Overlevede munken, blev han lukket inde i en opretstående stenkiste, i lotusstilling, og skulle trække vejret igennem et rør. Med en klokke kunne munken dagligt lade omverdenen vide, om han fortsat var i live.


Seppuku – den sidste selvopofrelse

Igen befinder vi os i Japan. Seppuku, også kendt som harakiri, var et rituelt selvmord udøvet af samuraierne. Oftest begik man seppuku for at undgå skam og mistet ære.

Efter et kort renselsesritual, fører den dødsdømte
samurai kniven ind i venstre del af maven og river den mod højre. Et frygteligt griseri! Derefter vil den personlige hjælper, Kaishakunin, hugge hovedet af samuraien, men kun lige, så det forsat er i kontakt med kroppen via en tynd tråd af hud.

Japan har en af de højeste selvmordsrater i det industrialiserede verdenssamfund. I 2009 blev der begået et selvmord ca. hvert 15. minut!


Yanomama askespisning

Dybt inde i junglen mellem Venezuela og Brasilien bor der et junglefolk, kendt som Yanomamo. 

Et folkefærd, som igennem tiderne har beholdt mange af deres tros‐ men også dødsritualer.



Et af dem handler om at den afdøde, efter kremeringen, helt skal forsvinde fra jordens overflade. 

Derfor knuses de tiloversblevne knoglerester og blandes op med den afdødes aske. Familien spiser derefter asken for at sikre, at den afdøde også er helt væk. Velbekomme!


Sati – døden på bålet

Siden 1829 har det i Indien været forbudt at brænde enker sammen med deres afdøde mænd.
En frygtelig og smertefuld død, som enkerne ifølge loven kunne tvinges til, hvis de ikke gik frivilligt.



Ved at hoppe på mandens bål, viste kvinden sin troskab og rensende manden for hans jordiske synder og dermed ville han være sikret et godt liv efter døden!

På Alexander den Stores tid (ca. 316 F.Kr.) mente de græske historikere, at
det var en straf, der skulle statuere et eksempel, hvis kvinder prøvede at forgifte deres aldrende mænd.

FIFA - Mafia Wars

What are FIFAs future plans when the new head of FIFA is elected on May the 29th. - the tie between Sepp and Blatter has kept us entertained for some time only to show the true face of both disaster and tragedy when it comes to leadership and proactiveness in the organisational heart of football also know as FIFA.

FIFA is an unpleasant reminder of what can happen!

Basicly every rule has been broken. Trafficking of influences, wiretapping, money laundering, illegal payoffs, electoral malpractice and racketeering - the list is long, and there has been a kind of quiet public acceptance of the internal mayhem as it has been known to the public for a long time. The media has been raising their eyebrows and voices for years, warning about the administrative collapse in the Fédération Internationale de Football Association better known as FIFA. 

What has made this so frustrating over the years is the fact that the FIFA perpetrators work in broad daylight with the whole world as an audience and apparently there are absolutely no one to stop them - until now.

What went wrong?
As impotent spectators we can only shrug our shoulders and hope for changes and justice. We are still able to watch the games from the Champions League and World tournaments so why worry at all?

Sepp Blatter is a man of many talents!

The way Sepp Blatter has been able to practise a treacherous "laissez faire," circumventing good business practise but also decency for that matter, points to a system with an infrastructure that has been shattered to its very core. A system held hostage by itself with a despot holding the reins truly believing that the destination is more important than the means to get there. Apparently there is no stopping the buck. The votes for May 29th. have yet again been arranged by its ever present "CEO," Sepp Blatter who will be ready to enter his fifth term as the FIFA President when the votes are counted - and that in itself should be worrying enough!

Sad but true!
When the legal infrastructure in an international organisation can be taken advantage off to such an extent that the unthinkable management style becomes a de facto standard for business as usual, one would think that it was imperative to secure the loopholes so to further a clean, fair and transparent handling in the sport of football between nations. 

This is when it stops being a laughing matter and much more a serious question of how to deal with the blatant trafficking of influences exercised by the members of the FIFA organisation. Unfortunately there has been no resolve or interest in finding a solution during the dictatorship of the present and future President of FIFA.

Who has the power? The organisation or the man? 

Taking the vague human spirit for what it is, the question might not so much be whether one leader should be substituted by another but more a question of which leader has the ability to change the legal infrastructure, conditions for voting and exercise a better control of the large amounts of money so to eradicate the hidden agendas 

when "spending" in the name of football and Golden Projects. Transparency is key in order to get success in any organisation, FIFA is not an exception in theory but in practise it is!

FIFAs future seems predetermined by its present chaos
As an organisation FIFA is tainted by its past and present leadership. Its legacy is only as strong as the sport it represents, but as an institution and international sports organisation it has completely failed. There are no guidelines for improvement, nepotism is ripe and bad decisions are rewarded just to mention a few of the surprises, we have seen along the Blatter reign.

Chuck Blazer and Sepp Blatter

The arrests of six FIFA officials in Zurich has only been possible because of the FBI, its team of investigators, the collaboration of the Suisse police and former FIFA executive committee member, Chuck Blazer, who decided to squeal in order to avoid prison. Since then Sepp Blatter has not travelled to the US out of fear of a possible FBI indictment.

Mobsters who reign in the name of football

The very same is now about to get elected as FIFA President for a fifth time, as he was not included in the FBI round-up this time. When the six arrested officials start explaining their actions it could have serious consequences for Sepp Blatter, or maybe not. He has been in the business to long to know that you never get your own hands dirty - that you leave for somebody else.



Any saviours on the slate at all, anybody?


Against all odds! Figo and Van de Praag stands no chance

As the other serious contenders for the job, Luis Figo and de Praag have decided to pull out in protest over the electoral process, the Presidential election is now centered on two contestants.

The second option has presented FIFA with a series of solutions - at least according to Prince Ali Bin Al-Husseins own football manifest - but it does sound promising! 

Judge for yourself! 


His actions also speaks for themselves, leaving us a picture of a man who gives more importance to the game than its organisation. According to his manifesto, he has seen and felt the sickness and is willing to do what it takes to change the system. His winning chances are minute as fairness is not a de facto standard in the halls of football politics. 
He is backed by the two previous contenders and one should think that he with such a strong backing would stand a chance but having secured votes with "donations," Sepp Blatter will be a difficult adversary on the electoral slate.

Prince Ali Bin Al-Hussein shows resolve for a clean-up!

If common sense prevails on May, 29th. FIFA might be taking a turn for the better thus making this election its biggest chance to employ the parachute and break off the free fall down the pit of favours and nepotism. One must be aware that in order to restore faith in FIFA, a serious clean up must be performed and this is probably going to annoy some pretty important people in the organisation itself. 


So one thing is getting a new helmsman, quite another is to steer the huge ship around the pitfalls represented by years of playing Monopoly with something you don´t own. 

If, on the other hand, common sense should not prevail, the future of FIFA seems bleak. As the deterioration of its own image will continue, resulting in a huge gamble with sponsors and fans alike but also its ability to influence global fairness through football.


What is wrong with sports?

All great organisations have issues!

The IOC is also a victim of what seems to be the decay of too much money and too many participants with a hidden agenda. The IOC has the same problem as FIFA, just on a much larger scale but they seem to handle the corruption much better than FIFA being more secretive when conducting their illegal business when the spoils are up for grabs. 

FIFA is also under much more surveillance from the media being involved in far more events than the IOC which automatically puts it on the frontlines of public scrutiny - with regards to IOC we are basically only reminded every four years!
But why does these great organisations, that supposedly try to make the best of the sport that people love, fail so miserably in their intents?

Doctors orders: Change of attitude
A culprit must be found. The finger points towards the man rather than the organisation for obvious reasons, but if the man as a political animal was constrained to act within a closed circuit of rules, seasoned with transparency, it would be less tempting to manipulate the system to satisfy his false sense of ownership. If a consensus is manipulated and paid for it is not a consensus! 

A change in the internal structure together with the handling of funds altogether is the only means of survival for FIFA and right now the only one who seems willing and capable to do something about it is Prince Ali Bin Al-Hussein if he gets elected on May 29th.

SKAT: Sådan undgår du sort arbejde

Er du i tvivl om hvad du skal og ikke skal gøre for at sikre dig, at du ikke har noget på tværs med Skat, vil vi i det følgende gennemgå nogle af de ting, som du kan gøre for at undgå problemer


Er du opgavestiller!
Som opgavestiller er det nemt. Der er nemlig kun én ting, som gør sig gældende, når det kommer til skat, og det er om den service eller  opgave, som du får løst af en handyhander, er fradragsberettiget (håndværkerfradrag, servicefradrag eller boligfradrag). Her gælder det nemlig, at du som opgavestiller skal have en faktura eller en såkaldt serviceerklæring i hånden fra arbejdsgiver.

Erklæringen skal indeholde en række data: CPR-nummer, kontonummer i banken, dato for arbejdet, adressen, hvor arbejdet er udført. Der skal også være en beskrivelse af arbejdet samt en specifikation af arbejdslønnen.

Du kan som opgavestiller også forlange en faktura til dit private regnskab – det er jo altid rart at kunne se hvad pengene er gået til! Men husk, at honoraret for opgaven eller ydelsen skal overføres direkte til modtagerens bankkonto. Betaler du med rede penge får du ikke noget fradrag og har reelt intet bevis for hvad du har brugt pengene til!

Du kan finde hjælp til alle de opgaver du har brug for, både dem som er fradragsberettiget og dem som ikke er på ahandyhand.dk – du opretter bare en opgave og laver en opgavebeskrivelse – så er der hjælp at hente.


Er du handyhander!
Det er straks en smule mere kompliceret, hvis du er handyhander. Fordi her gælder det først og fremmest din alder. Indtil dit fyldte 16. år, kan du f.eks. arbejde i private hjem uden at betale skat af dit honorar eller løn, men KUN hvis du arbejder for privatpersoner som f.eks. familie, venner eller naboer – men det er jo netop også hvad du gør som handyhander.
Undtagelsen, som ikke vedrører vores handyhandere under 16,  er så, at hvis du arbejder for en virksomhed, selvom du ikke er fyldt 16, så betragtes det som A-indkomst, og er dermed skatteberettiget!
Det var så for dem under 16, hvad sker der så efter at du er fyldt 16 år, og er blevet skattevoksen til B-Skat? Så skal du til at betale skat af din indtjening som handyhander – uanset hvad!

Først og fremmest vil vi gerne gøre dig opmærksom på, at du har et glimrende redskab i din kontorpalette på ahandyhand.dk. Du kan nemlig registrere dine timer i web-app´en Registrer timer, som du finder i din drop-down menu, når du er logget ind.

Med det redskab, kan du nemt holde øje med hvor meget du tjener og dermed skal opgive som B-indkomst – hvilket er den mest normale form for skattebetaling som handyhandere har!
Du kan også, efter endt opgave, give opgavestilleren en faktura, og på den måde har du selv belæg for hvor meget du har tjent, og skulle der opstå tvivl, vil du derfor altid have beviser for hvad du har lavet og hvad du har modtaget!


Hvordan betaler en handyhander på 16 år og derover skat?
Når det er på tide at indberette skat, er der flere måder du kan gøre det på, hvis du er handyhander, og har ekstra B-indkomst fra mulige handyhand-jobs at indberette til Skat! Du kan enten vælge at betale det med dit Dankort, eller indtaste det eller rette det i din forskudsopgørelse. Sidstnævnte gør du ved at indtaste eller rette beløbet i rubrik 12 (under honorarindtægter).
Vil du have tips og vejledning til skat eller servicefradraget, så kan du læse mere ved at følge nedenstående links.:
Håndværkerfradrag på lektiehjælp og børnepasning
Skat – skat ikke!
Hvordan faktureres et servicefradrag?
Hvad er B-skat – tips til indberetning!
Håndværkerfradragets Hvem, Hvor og Hvordan..
Har du spørgsmål angående, hvad der skal indberettes af dine indtægter og hvad der skal betales skat af, kan du altid få hjælp hos Skat på telefon 72 22 18 18 eller via TastSelv-systemet.

Fem klassiske efterårsdufte til mænd

Fem klassiske efterårsdufte til mænd
Vi forener en duft med os selv for at sprede den igen. Derfor skal du også være ansvarlig for dens aromatiske signaler, når du udvælger din personlig parfume
At skulle vælge en parfume, eau du toilette, cologne, creme eller aftershave er en meget personlig ting. Vi associerer dufte med humør, erindringer, øjeblikke og meget andet. Derfor skal man kaste sig ud i det, uden fordomme og finde sit eget efterår blandt de mange karakteristiske efterårsdufte, der findes på market.

" En kvinde, der ikke bærer parfume, har ingen fremtid." -Coco Chanel

Men det gælder så sandelig også mænd. Vi har derfor fundet en række klassiske dufte frem fra hylderne, der alle haft stor succes igennem lang tid. De er alle mærket af efteråret men også meget individuelle i deres jordbundne og karakterfulde sammensætninger.

De følgende dufte har været afprøvet, haft stor succes og kan købes på nettet.
De er alle mærket af efteråret men også meget individuelle i deres jordbundne og karakterfulde sammensætninger. 

Én fra hylderne
Feeling Man af Jil Sanders har været på banen siden 1989 og hører absolut i top ti over spændende, udfordrende og erotiske eau de toilettes.
 
Med sin frugtagtige jasmin og geranium bund, deler den også et blidt pust af ceder- og sandeltræ blandet med frisk lavendel og delikat afsluttet med en blid tobaksduft. 

Her skal du være parat til at gøre dig afhængig
– pris: 500,- plus fragt 50 ml.






En kendt efterårsklassiker
Givenchy Gentleman stammer fra 1975 og har forsat sit faste publikum, og det er der en god grund til!

Dens træagtige duft er baseret på orientalske krydderier blandet med roser og læder. Den vil virke bekendt men alligevel speciel, da det er dig, som har den på!
Her er opskriften på en kompromisløs duft med masser af selvtillid.
– Pris: 375,- plus fragt 100 ml.


En spændende duft af vinter
Bvlgari Blv Notte Cologne pour Homme er skabt af italienske Bvlgari. Den kan karakteriseres som dybere end den klassiske og mainstream Bvlgari-duft.

Den er ladet med et mere maskulint præg med en snert af mørk chokolade, tømmer og tobaksblade. 
Prøv den og bliv overrasket!

– Pris: ca. 500,- inkl. fragt 100 ml.







En klar Cologne
Boucheron Cologne pour Homme slap sin duft løs i 1999 og fik hurtigt stor succes. Den er med her, da den med sin duft repræsenterer alle efterårets farver.

Enebær, appelsiner, basilikum, bergamot, geranium, sandeltræ – blandet med en næsten synlig vanilje.

En helt igennem sød duft men med karakter. Kan du lide den, bliver I uadskillelige!

– Pris 287,- plus fragt 100 ml.

Den eksotiske duft

Chrome Azzaro er skabt af franske Loris Azzaros og byder på et væld af sanseindtryk fra de afrikanske frugtplantager. 

Den er mere egnet til det lettere efterår sydpå. Med sit stænk af jasmin og sin våde nærhed indhyller den sødmen fra dugfyldte marker på en langvarig og maskulin måde.

- Pris 299,- plus fragt 100 ml.








Dufte fra England
Hvad er nyt og hot, og hvad dufter bedst? En række af de kendte duftmærker har i løbet af 2011 lanceret en række nye dufte fyldt med trends og krydrede sammensætninger.
Én af dem er det engelske tøjmærke Topman. Med Parfum No. 16 og No. 27. ønsker de at skabe deres eget unikke duftstil.

Det er Azzi Glasser, der har lagt næse til begge parfumer. No. 16 er til dagen og No. 27 til aften og nok den af de to, som trænger bedst igennem – men på en lidt rå, ustilet og sexet måde.

Den kan kun anbefales, hvis man har den rigtige attitude.

Med sin specielle sammensætning bliver sanserne konfronteret med salvie, anis, muskatnød og cedertræ. Mellem revnerne findes der også stænk af røgelse og moskus. En spændende duft til et spændende miljø. Du skal være heldig for at finde den og vi kan desværre ikke angive en pris. 

En anden spændende oplevelse kommer fra engelske Penhaglion. Navnet er Juniper Sling. Det er Olivier Cresp, der har skabt denne London Dry Gin duft.


Den vækker minder om 20 ́erne og dufter af kunstnerisk frihed med sin blanding af brun farin, kardemomme, læder, peber og træ.
Rammen er enebær, hvilket giver den en fjern men alligevel dragende duft af levende musik og cocktailparties. 

– Pris: ca. 670,- plus fragt 50 ml.



Fem gode råd når du prøver parfume i byen:

- Hold afstand mellem spray og håndled, når du afprøver en duft. Det må ikke sejle i parfume. Ellers fordel resten på halsen ved halspulsåren.

- Lad parfumen hvile en times tid ved din puls. Prøv at mærke efter, hvordan parfumen forener sig med dine naturlige kropsdufte, når du dufter efter igen. Er den spændende? Fortæller den noget, du vil være en del af?

- Bland aldrig flere dufte sammen, det bliver forvirrende og svært at danne sig et indtryk.

- Husk at spørge ekspedienten om der er et par duftprøver, du kan få med hjem.

- Du kan spørge lige så meget du vil, men du skal være modig, lad ikke andre vælge din duft!

Håndværkerfradragets Hvem, Hvor og Hvordan..

Håndværkerfradrag, boligfradrag eller servicefradrag – kært barn har mange navne. Men kort fortalt drejer det sig om det statslige fradrag som private boligejere kan få for løn til håndværkere og hushjælp.

Hvem kan få fradrag?
I realiteten kan alle få håndværkerfradrag, hvis de inden udgangen af indkomståret er fyldt 18 år, har et CPR-nummer og er almindeligt skattepligtige i Danmark. Er du privatperson skal du have et CPR-nummer. Er du derimod en virksomhed skal du have et CVR-nummer.

Hvordan får du fradraget?
Det er muligt at få et håndværkerfradrag på op til 15.000 kr. om året inkl. moms for arbejdsløn til service og vedligehold af din bopæl. Du kan derved sparer op til ca. 5.000 kr. i skat. Det arbejde du har fået foretaget skal være omfattet af de ydelser, som du kan læse nærmere om nedenfor.

Hvor kan fradraget anvendes?
Fradraget for service og leverandørydelser er delt op i en række grupper. Det er vigtigt at det stykke arbejde som du har fået lavet er på listen nedenfor:

A. Service i hjemmet (udført af en virksomhed eller privatperson).
Almindelig rengøring

• Vask og aftørring af flader i boligen
• Rengøring af toilet og bad
• Støvsugning, gulvvask og boning
• Opvask, tøjvask og strygning
• Rensning eller vask af tæpper, gardiner, persienner m.m.

Vinduespudsning

• Indvendig
• Udvendig.

Børnepasning

• Børnepasning i hjemmet
• Aflevering og afhentning af børn til og fra daginstitution, skole, fritidsklub og fritidsaktiviteter.

Almindeligt havearbejde m.m.

• Græsslåning, klipning af hæk, lugning
• Beskæring af buske og træer
• Snerydning.

B. Vedligeholdelse og reparation af eksisterende helårsboliger (udført af en virksomhed)
Boligens ydre rammer

• Reparation, renovering, isolering og udskiftning af tag, herunder tagrender og afløb
• Reparation eller udskiftning af ruder og vinduer og terrassedøre med glas
• Reparation eller udskiftning af yderdøre, terrassedøre m.-m.
• Reparation, maling og isolering af ydervægge
• Forbedringer af boligens tilgængelighed for handicappede
• Fornyelse eller etablering af dræn
• Radonsikring
• Installation af solfangere
• Installation af solceller – dog ikke, hvis reglerne for erhvervsmæssig virksomhed anvendes
• Installation af husstandsmøller, hvis det er udført og betalt i 2012 – dog ikke, hvis reglerne for erhvervsmæssig virksomhed anvendes.

Boligens indre rammer

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• Installation eller forbedring af ventilation, afløbsinstallationer, vandinstallationer
• Reparation eller fornyelse af elinstallationer
• Reparation, installation eller udskiftning af biokedelanlæg
• Installation eller udskiftning af varmestyringsanlæg
• Udskiftning eller reparation af fjernvarmeenheder
• Installation af varmepumper, der ikke kan køle (herunder jordvarmepumper)- og tapetsererarbejde.
• Reparation eller udskiftning af olie- eller gasfyrskedler og varmeanlæg (oliefyr dog kun for 2011)

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Designs that just got worse over time!

Have you ever wondered why some designs just doesn't improve over time even though the functionality pulls in one direction and user friendliness and evolution pulls, wait, in the exact same direction?

Here are some examples from real life..

Lets start with Apple, known for their innovative design quality and sensible approach to functionality. From a user perspective, one of its biggest blunders must be its power cable and its magnetic connector to the laptop.

This smart AC magnetic connective device was introduced in 2007 and was totally revolutionary because it just made so much sense. First thought was, why didn't I think of that, it's absolutely brilliant and straightforward. If you tripped over the cable or somehow, unintentionally, pulled it from the laptop, it would just break off without leaving any damage due to its magnetic connection with the power inlet on the laptop.

Try to do the same with an old timer AC-cable that goes half way into your laptop. A strong pull would rip the whole power connection in you laptop apart and cost you at least 50 euro to fix not counting the probable damage of a close encounter with a hard and not so welcoming floor.

So what happened to this great idea of using a magnetic connection? Well for starters its design was really well thought out because the cable that would join the magnetic connector, that plugs into the laptop, was placed in the middle, meaning that in what ever direction you would pull the cable, it would disconnect flawlessly leaving you with an 4D 180 degree angle for cable blunders.

The cable at the end of the connector limits an easy break off!

When too much thought goes into renovating a design for the purpose of the design, well, that's when
things usually go wrong.
Apple is no exception because their next generation power cable connector, although magnetic as its predecessor, had the cable placed at the end of the magnetic connector instead of the middle! Great one might think, but if you pull the cable in the same direction as it is fitted onto the connector, you will once again have your Mac laptop unintentionally lying on the floor!

Most power cables break in exactly the same place!

Well, Apple must have thought that this new design (see picture above) was an easy and a great solution to the amount of complaints they received with their first magnetic power connector!
But what could be wrong with this 1st. magnetic design that would save so many laptops from gravity? 

Well the connection between the magnetic connector and electrical cable was simply too weak in its composition and construction. 

The rotating strain would over time become too great (plastic, rubber has a tendency to get weak with changes in temperatures and if moved a lot!) and within an unreasonable short time (usually less than a year), the cable would rupture just beneath the magnetic connector head, as you can see on the picture above. We have a whole generation of Mac-AC power cables looking just like that or much worse, keeping in mind that a new Mac power cable is just above 70 euros, depending on you local Mac-pusher! Being Apple this could very well be intended but we will leave it at that.

So what went wrong? Instead of improving the 2nd. design, stabilizing the breakage point with a stronger rubber or plastic protection, the point between the cable and the magnetic connector in the new design was equally weak and prone to rupture - so much for a second go! But if you accidentally trip over the newly designed power cable, pulling it in the same direction as the cable, it will still toss your computer to the floor, as the magnetic connector is blocked by the angle of the pull. 

So the only successful improvements on the Apple power cable, until now, is avoiding breaking the power inlet on the laptop when starting a free fall but at the same time increasing the chance that you in fact will pull your Mac to the floor again due to the angle of blunder pull - two steps forward and one step back to the drawing board Apple!


Mobile design blunders
Mobile phones are such an integral part of our lives and subsequently requires a lot of thought to its design when conditioning it to easy and logical use. But a few phone designers completely forgot to make an evaluation of which buttons on the phone are used the least and the most in order to place them in a user friendly position when finalizing the mobile design.

I think that we all pretty quickly can agree on that one of the mostly used

Power button isolated to avoid confusion!

physical button on a cell phone is the on/off or power switch. So you really want to keep this button isolated to avoid it interfering with any other buttons when making out the design - who wants to turn off their cell phone when the intention was an adjustment of the volume? Tactile interference will make it hard to take a quick photo of your jumping dog when your fingers find the wrong botton!

The BQ power button is marked in red

So why does certain mobile phone producers insist on placing the on/off button so close to any other buttons on the cell phone? Somebody must have been sleeping in the design class because the obvious result of placing two or more buttons, with different functionality, so close to each other will only result in tactile confusion and in worst case turning off your mobile unintentionally when the real intention was to zoom and take a picture of your jumping dog.



Dear BQ, Huawei and other cell phone manufactures, try to think more about physical user friendliness when you design cell phones!


Toilets - the power of the flush
Things that include repetition and gravity should usually do well in the design world. But these two very simple conditions, when designing a toilet, are in fact not that simple or straight forward at all. Lets take a look, but not too close!

And why exactly does the toilet designers have such disgusting issues, I mean it is not like reinventing the spoon again, or is it?

If you think of it, toilets have been used for centuries and one should think that we had finally reached a point where the design couldn't be developed any further as the toilet does serve its purpose to perfection - but in most cases only if accompanied by a toilet brush, I might add.

..a trusted companion..

But if the toilet design was well made, then why should we need a toilet brush at all. Wouldn't gravity and the force of the directional water flush render the brush useless?
Well, no, because practically every manufacturer wants their own design and brand to stand out as being different from their competitors and here comes the funny part.
To achieve this different look, the designers somehow always opt for also changing and redesigning the shape of the interior disposal conduct because what exactly could go wrong.
Well lots of "stuff" could go wrong, if they cared to try it out.

Water power and surface is a symbiosis when flushing.

Changing the interior surface design around the toilets outlet channel will also affect the direction and force of the water flush and if the outlet hole, surface variation and force of water is not up to scratch, you will find yourself and everybody else grabbing for the toilet brush in order to make a very annoying clean up after something that shouldn't have been there in the first place. 


One of the big mistakes when designing toilets is the amount of water used for flushing. Water is often being spared for this repetitious action as it inevitably

This toilet is clean, but only if you use a toilet brush after use!

will be part of you water bill. This is why there are usually two options when "pulling the chain". One for more water and one for less.

But if the "interior design" of the toilet surface is off, it doesn't matter how much water you use for flushing. You will still need the toilet brush when having to clean out the last unfortunate decomposed bits of your dinner. 




On the picture above you can see just such an example, where the flush hole is isolated leaving to many lateral sides where the water direction and force doesn't achieve any cleaning effect. 

I would kindly remind toilet manufactures that design is everything, also when you flush a toilet and especially if you hate using the toilet brush. Therefore the best advice for toilet designers would be to take a hearty dump to test the facilities and "the power of the flush".

Worldreader

Inspiration and learning through e‐reading

Lau Dybbro ‐ October 14th, 2020

Something is spreading through the dark and dusty paths between the small rural villages scattered throughout West Africa. It has already gained its foothold in Ghana and is now creeping past the political and natural frontiers with no respect for international borders and slowly spreading itself throughout the rest of the West African continent.
This something is not a virus but a highly contagious learning project that kick started in 2009 and now comprises five African countries and close to half a million students.


The spreading of knowledge and prosperity through an Amazon Kindle

Ten years ago, in 2009, David Risher and Colin McElwee started a small project with a big vision. The project organisation was named Worldreader, which doesn’t leave much to the imagination concerning its purpose and goals. Never the less, the idea was simple enough!

Spread knowledge and culture in Africa through the power of reading by the means of digital books on e‐readers. The immense distances that cover the African continent have always been the down side in relation to the educational distribution progress. The general lack of funds added to the expenses of transport has made it practically impossible to get books delivered to the most remote regions on the continent. Therefore there is a huge demand for new and relevant books for both students and non‐students in these areas.

Ghana became the pilot country to recieve eLearning

This was the mission that triggered the Worldreader organisation into being. In collaboration with USAID they established in 2010 a pilot project in Ghana, which involved the distribution of e‐readers, filled with literary content, to pupils in the remote and rural areas of Ghana.

The initial project in Ghana involved the distribution of 500 content filled Amazon Kindle e‐readers to schoolchildren and their teachers.

The Worldreader project quickly became a huge success and its future potential for expansion was established.

The students are allowed to keep their Kindles for the duration of the project in order to encourage them to continue reading in their leisure time and to spread the joy of reading with their families.

Ghana now has 150 rural schools involved in the Worldreader program and thousands of Kindle devices are used all over the country ‐ but also in the neighbouring countries the use of the Kindle is spreading.


10 years later - Worldreader continues to penetrate in West Africa

What started as an idea ten years ago has today become an important cornerstone in the educational programs of children and adults in most rural parts of the West African continent.

After the success in Ghana in 2010, the project began to spread into the neighbouring countries: Benin (2012), Tonga (2015) and Burkina Faso (2018).

The Worldreader programme continues its active role in these countries embracing in total more than a thousand schools and education centres in West Africa. The e‐reader has been distributed to approximately 450.000 students that all are using the device as their main source for completing the educational syllabus.

The governments and institutions of these West African countries have all pledged to help the project along, embracing the idea of spreading education and digital books throughout the African countries.

Last month the Ministry of Education in Niger made a formal request to the Worldreader organisation wishing to implement the e‐reader program, initially, in the eastern part of the country. Niger is the sixth largest country on the African continent (1.267.000 km2) and the sheer size and diversity of the country will certainly pose new challenges to the Worldreader program, which this month has been active for a little more than a decade.


West Africa is helping itself

The initial experiences learned in Ghana, in relation to the distribution logistics of the project, has improved the speed of implementation in the neighbouring countries. It has also given rise to new challenges such as selection of recipients and choosing which areas are best suited and equipped to achieve success through the Worldreader project.

Worldreader has spred to several West African countries

Since covering Ghana the Worldreader project has moved on to provide educational help through digital content on e‐readers to rural areas in Tongo, Benin, Burkina Faso and Niger.

Attempts were made to introduce the program in the Ivory Coast but unfortunately it had to be put on hold due to the outbreak of a civil war back in 2015.


The rapid acceptance of the Worldreader programme in West Africa is valid proof that the idea is much more than just a simple educational accelerant. It has brought the stories and tales from the western hemisphere into the most remote corners of the African continent where the possibility of buying a book is close to impossible.

The need for new and up‐to‐date digital content is constantly on the increase. To that effect Worldreader has intensified its dialogue with authors and publishing houses in order to obtain free books for the e‐readers destined for Africa.

The e‐reader and its digitalised content also serves as an inspirational platform for African authors. Through the e‐readers, pupils are able to get a much closer relationship with their own culture, offering them the possibility of reading the thoughts and doings of their own countrymen and woman. This will ultimately serve as an inspiration, offering the readers a better understanding of their own heritage through the digitalised words and writings.



Education always prevails

The success of the Worldreader project, bringing digital books and education to remote rural areas, has proven to be a much larger project than first anticipated. From the pilot project and implementation in Ghana to Benin, Tongo, Burkina Faso and now Niger clearly indicates that the buck won’t stop in Niger ‐ an entire continent is ready to accept and learn through digital reading.

FIFA: Mafia Wars

What are FIFAs future plans when the new head of FIFA is elected on May the 29th. - the tie between Sepp and Blatter has kept us entertained for some time only to show the true face of both disaster and tragedy when it comes to leadership and proactiveness in the organisational heart of football also know as FIFA.

FIFA is an unpleasant reminder of what can happen!

Basicly every rule has been broken. Trafficking of influences, wiretapping, money laundering, illegal payoffs, electoral malpractice and racketeering - the list is long but funny enough not unknown to the public. The media has been raising their eyebrows and voices for years, warning about the collapse in the Fédération Internationale de Football Association better known as FIFA. 

What has made this so frustrating over the years is the fact that the FIFA perpetrators work in broad daylight with the whole world as an audience and apparently there are absolutely no one to stop them - until now.

Who went wrong?
As impotent spectators we can only shrug our shoulders and hope for changes and justice. We are still able to watch the games from the Champions League and World tournaments so why worry at all?

Sepp Blatter is a man of many talents!

The way Sepp Blatter has been able to practise a treacherous "laissez faire," circumventing good business practise but also decency for that matter, points to a system with an infrastructure that has been shattered to its very core. A system held hostage by itself with a despot holding the reins truly believing that the destination is more important than the means to get there. Apparently there is no stopping the buck. The votes for May 29th. have yet again been arranged by its ever present "CEO," Sepp Blatter who will be ready to enter his fifth term as the FIFA President when the votes are counted - and that in itself should be worrying enough!

Sad but true!
When the legal infrastructure in an international organisation can be taken advantage off to such an extent that the unthinkable management style becomes a de facto standard for business as usual, one would think that it was imperative to secure the loopholes so to further a clean, fair and transparent handling in the sport of football between nations. 

This is when it stops being a laughing matter and much more a serious question of how to deal with the blatant trafficking of influences exercised by the members of the FIFA organisation. Unfortunately there has been no resolve or interest in finding a solution during the dictatorship of the present and future President of FIFA.

Who has the power? The organisation or the man? 

Taking the vague human spirit for what it is, the question might not so much be whether one leader should be substituted by another but more a question of which leader has the ability to change the legal infrastructure, conditions for voting and exercise a better control of the large amounts of money so to eradicate the hidden agendas when "spending" in the name of football and Golden Projects. Transparency is key in order to get success in any organisation, FIFA is not an exception in theory but in practise it is!

FIFAs future seems predetermined by its present chaos
As an organisation FIFA is tainted by its past and present leadership. Its legacy is only as strong as the sport it represents, but as an institution and international sports organisation it has completely failed. There are no guidelines for improvement, nepotism is ripe and bad decisions are rewarded just to mention a few of the surprises, we have seen along the Blatter reign.

Chuck Blazer and Sepp Blatter

The arrests of six FIFA officials in Zurich has only been possible because of the FBI, its team of investigators, the collaboration of the Suisse police and former FIFA executive committee member, Chuck Blazer, who decided to squeal in order to avoid prison. Since then Sepp Blatter has not travelled to the US out of fear of a possible FBI indictment.

Mobsters who reign in the name of football

The very same is now about to get elected as FIFA President for a fifth time as he was not included in the FBI round-up this time. When the six arrested officials start explaining their actions it could have serious consequences for Sepp Blatter or perhaps not. He has been in the business to long to know that you never get your own hands dirty - that you leave for somebody else.


Any saviours on the slate at all, anybody?


Against all odds! Figo and Van de Praag stands no chance



As the other serious contenders for the job, Luis Figo and de Praag have decided to pull out in protest over the electoral process, the Presidential election is now centered on two contestants.
The second option has presented FIFA with a series of solutions - at least according to Prince Ali Bin Al-Husseins own football manifest - but it does sound promising! 

Judge for yourself! 


His actions also speaks for themselves leaving us a picture of a man who gives more importance to the game than its organisation. According to his manifesto he has seen and felt the sickness and is willing to do what it takes to change the system. His winning chances are minute as fairness is not a de facto standard in the halls of football politics. 
He is backed by the two previous contenders and one should think that he with such a strong backing would stand a chance but having secured votes with "donations," Sepp Blatter will be a difficult adversary on the electoral slate.

Prince Ali Bin Al-Hussein shows resolve for a clean-up!

If common sense prevails on May, 29th. FIFA might be taking a turn for the better thus making this election its biggest chance to employ the parachute and break off the free fall down the pit of favours and nepotism. One must be aware that in order to restore faith in FIFA a serious clean up must be performed and this is probably going to piss off some pretty important people in the organisation itself. So one thing is getting a new helmsman, quite another is to steer the huge ship around the pitfalls represented by years of playing Monopoly with something you don´t own. 

If, on the other hand, common sense should not prevail, the future of FIFA will be bleak. As the deterioration of its own image will continue, resulting in a huge gamble with sponsors, fans and its ability to influence global fairness through football.


What is wrong with sports?

All great organisations have issues!

The IOC is also a victim of what seems to be the decay of too much money and too many participants with a hidden agenda. IOC has the same problem as FIFA, just on a much larger scale but they seem to handle the corruption much better than FIFA being more secretive when conducting their illegal business when the spoils are up for grabs. 

FIFA is also under much more surveillance from the media being involved in far more events than the IOC which automatically puts it on the frontlines of public scrutiny - with regards to IOC we are basically only reminded every four years!
But why does these great organisations that supposedly try to make the best of the sport that people love fail so miserably in their intents?

Doctors orders: Change of attitude
A culprit must be found. The finger points towards the man rather than the organisation for obvious reasons, but if the man as a political animal was constrained to act within a closed circuit of rules, seasoned with transparency, it would be less tempting to manipulate the system to satisfy his false sense of ownership. If a consensus is manipulated and paid for it is not a consensus! 

A change in the internal structure together with the handling of funds altogether is the only means of survival for FIFA and right now the only one who seems willing and capable to do something about it is Prince Ali Bin Al-Hussein if he gets elected on May 29th.