The Bald and the Beautiful

I am so lucky that my work takes me to places most people would spend a lifetime to go and still don’t go.

Recently I was in Israel, visiting Jerusalem and the Dead Sea. Though heavily irrigated, we are in actuality talking desert-land …

So, from desert-land to green flowering valleys with snow-covered alps as the backdrop, and only the faintest smell of cow dung, you can only start to imagine why I love what I do.

There is now only one thing that is missing to complete my Austrian “love affair”, and that is to do what every Norwegian loves the most, except drinking beer, which is to ski.

Hopefully, in not so distant future, I will visit again, but then with skis.

Until we meet again … prost!

A few years back I started to do backup of all the DVDs we bought for the kids. As most know DVDs tend to get busted in a matter of months, sometimes in just a few days if you’re really unlucky. The problem was not as much the backup itself, but the use of those files. Of course the backup was a bit of a hassle as you had to rip them and make sure you got everything in order to rebuild the DVD, but the reward was great as you did not have to buy the same DVD every second month.

A year back we bought ourself a backup solution (Synology diskstation) that is used for taking backup of documents, pictures and of course the movies. With that backup solution you can also play them out on all devices connected to your home network, or potentially stream them out on the Internet if you like. My ISP does not allow that of course, but anyway … it is poosible.

With this backup solution we can of course connect our TV and stream them from the disk station. Cool! Alas, not as cool as I first thought becuase you need software, either as middle ware or on the actual TV, that is able to read the DVD files. As we live in Norway, and my kids mostly speak Norwegian, I would of course like to select Norwegian as the preferred language for most of the movies we watch. Not possible! Truth be told, the TV does read the VOB files and audio is fine; however, it does not (from the remote) allow me to control the audio selection. Also, it does not make the separate VOB files in the folder into a logical compilation that is played out as one DVD.

So to the point. I figured out that I could stream MKV files from my disk station, and after a quick search I found I could use MakeMKV to rebuild the DVDs with Norwegian languange. Converting files to use the Matroska container, which word is actually is a play on the Russian word Matryoshka (doll within a doll) that refers to media within a form of media, is of course not a full solution as in some cases you would like to be able to switch to the original language (most often English). After all … as a grown up you most often want to watch Narnia or some other cool animation movie in the original language. Yes, I do watch them …

So, now my oldest is able to start all movies from the remote control … on TV or from a laptop or any other device connected to our disk station! How cool isn’t that!?

For more information:

• http://matroska.org/
• http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Matroska
• http://www.makemkv.com/
• http://www.synology.com/
• http://www.samsung.com/

We all long for it! Those long days at the beach, sipping at a refreshing drink while the kids are playing in the sand. The sun is of course shining, and life is generally good; however, as with any short-lived dream it must come to an end … for the grown-ups!

Kids have a fantastic way of disqualifying anything that does not “concern” or, dare I say, “suite” them. It’s at times almost unheard of how “they” live their life to the fullest making us (as parents) work as their personal butlers. Being spoiled often comes to mind, but believe me … it’s more than that!

Parenting is hard, and diplomacy a child’s game! Being a parent takes the skills to know when to negotiate and when to stand firm, and believe me you don’t have time to hold hour long meetings. We’re talking split-second decisions made by an ambushed soldier. As a parent you’re the perfect mix of Mahatma Gandhi and John Rambo, and Mother Teresa and G.I. Jane.

Parenting is an ongoing and evolving process that takes years. Jesus supposedly “left home” around his thirties. Thirty-something is a lifetime worth of diplomatic relations and covert operations, but don’t be fooled. It doesn’t stop there. You have to make sure they fly right too once they leave the nest. Not forgetting when you are on your death-bed and your children are looking for reasons to lay their hands on whatever is left …

Life as a parent is living your life as a beach chair where your kids constantly fight for a place in the sun (on your lap). I am a father of three, and we’re only two (my wife and myself). If you’re at the beach, and there’s only two chairs at your disposal you know you’re in trouble. Someone will always be grumpy and fight for a spot in the sun! Who ever said parenting was easy!? Help!