A brief update for subscribers to my new-photos and media-files feed:
One of my seasonal images freshly accepted into stock image portfolio: Shiny-Red Fly Agaric (Amarita Muscaria) glittering in the sun on a sunny day in fall, https://www.pond5.com/stock-images/photos/item/156297532-fly-agaric-lat-amanita-muscaria?ref=markmagedotcom
West Sweden has been one of the original homes to the Vikings. With its rugged coastline and rocky islands, the region is the backdrop to early Viking life. Forests and lakes further inland also provided a habitat for these early settlers, with numerous relics of the era still visible today. From the Kattegat coastline to Lake Vaner, Europe’s largest body of freshwater outside Russia, to Southeastern Norway, historic sites and places of early settlements can be found almost everywhere. Further afield and scattered across Norway’s more sparsely populated areas, there are equally interesting locations to be found. [Excerpt only — To view the full article, please e-mail.]
©2015, Mark Mage. Publication or any re-use only with prior written consent.
It had been a perfect flight across the North Atlantic. We even were afforded views of Greenland’s southern tip and icebergs before slowly descending into a colourful Indian Summer afternoon. A glimpse of red bushes below, then flying patches of fog outside the cabin window, and a few minutes later we touched down safely and taxied towards that not very large terminal building.
Still a bit dizzy from hours spent in our passenger seats, we finally walked down the arrivals building and up to the immigration counter, staffed with a reddish-blonde checking passports and accompanying faces.
“Nextpleaseprochaine”, she exclaimed like a virtuoso, and we put our luggage on the bench in front of her.
Welcome to Atlantic Canada.
The entire procedure was a breeze, nothing compared to that humiliating drill you’re subjected to when arriving “three blocks to the south” at New York’s JFK (where it seems being “a Berliner” doesn’t buy you much either). Our Canadian border guard handed us back our passports, and we were good to go.
Finding a rental car was next on our list of walk-in travelling, but we were lucky and got the second-last in the building that evening. So off we drove from Stanfield’s airport into Halifax, Nova Scotia. [Excerpt only — To view the full article, please e-mail.]
©2015, Mark Mage. Publication or any re-use only with prior written consent.
Solar Panel theft has spiked in the U. K. over recent weeks. From Somerset in the south of England to Derbyshire in the north, police are reporting break-ins to numerous large-scale solar farms throughout the country. [Excerpt only — To view the full article, please e-mail.]
©2015, Mark Mage. All rights reserved. Publication or any re-use only with prior written consent.
Europas grüne Insel lockt Reisende aus aller Welt. Ob frühlingshafte Naturerlebnisse, stimmungsvolle Pubs oder die rauhe Schönheit der meist schroffen Atlantikküste, in Irland ist für jeden etwas dabei.
Kenner unter den Irlandfahrern wissen es längst: das eigene Auto ist bei einer Irlandreise hilfreich, im Mietwagen machen Touren durchs Land nur halbsoviel Spaß. Angesichts einiger guter und sogar auch preisgünstiger Fährverbindungen besteht kaum ein Grund, dem Trend zur vermeintlich billigen Flugreise zu folgen oder sich durch Buchungspakete oder Pauschalreisen den eigenen Entdeckungsgeist abnehmen zu lassen. Die Auswahl für Individualreisende ist groß.
Fuer Irland-Video ueber Ring of Kerry, Ring of Skellig, und suedwestl Teil County Tipperary hier klicken.
Bequem und interessant für Reisende aus den meisten Gegenden Deutschlands ist die Reiseroute über Frankreich. Ganzjährig verkehrt auf der Strecke Cherbourg-Rosslare die Oscar Wilde von Irish Ferries. In den Sommermonaten gibt es neben denen ab Cherbourg zusätzlich auch Abfahrten ab Roscoff. Die Überfahrt ab Cherbourg auf der Oscar Wilde ist komfortabel und erstaunlich preiswert (EUR 179,00 in einer Außenkabine inkl. PKW und max. 5 Personen in der Nebensaison; da für Irland die Monate April und Mai die beste Reisezeit darstellen, können ggf. höhere Hochsaisontarife leicht vermieden werden). Die Überfahrt dauert 23 Stunden und führt durch den Englischen Kanal, rund um die Scilly Isles und über den Saint George’s Channel (Irische See). Die Oscar Wilde ist ein außerordentlich großes Fährschiff und selbst bei frischen bis rauhen Winden kaum “aus der Ruhe zu bringen” — dementsprechend ruhig ist die Überfahrt auch bei weniger gutem Wetter. Das geräumige Fährschiff bietet reichlich Auslauf sowie Unterhaltungsmöglichkeiten, darunter zahlreiche Internetplätze. Auch Internetzugang auf mitgebrachten Geräten wie Notebooks, Tablet PCs etc. steht zur Verfügung, da an mehreren Stellen des Schiffes kostenloser Internetzugang über offene WiFi Hotspots vorhanden ist.
Die Überfahrt erscheint dank der Annehmlichkeiten an Bord relativ kurz. Am frühen Nachmittag des nächsten Tages kommt die irische Küste am Horizont in Sicht, und die Fähre legt einige Zeit später in Rosslare im südöstlichen County Wexford an.
Viel besser, als sich in ein Flugzeug zu quetschen und mit Gepäck behängt durch die Flughafenkontrollen in Dublin zu quälen. Mit Schiff und dem eigenen Auto an Bord ist es ein völlig anderes Reisegefühl: nun kann ausgeruht und voller Entdeckungslust eine unvergeßliche Tour durchs Land beginnen.
©2015, Mark Mage. Publication only with prior written consent.
Europe continues to be a hotspot for Bitcoin opportunity. Despite all those “warnings” and misrepresentations by a totally clueless EBA, European countries themselves continue to be mostly Bitcoin-friendly. Many have established rules the Bitcoin industry can reasonably rely on. Most notably, Germany, France, Switzerland, Austria, Denmark, the Netherlands as well as the three Baltic states have developed into “very Bitcoin-friendly” places.
On top, if a European country happens to be less than what you expected in Bitcoin-friendliness, then in comes that general rule of freedom to do business in all of the EEA (European Economic Area, which includes not only the EEC or EU member countries but also the additional EFTA countries plus Switzerland), and an affected Bitcoin business would be able to re-locate to another member country offering “greener pastures”.
Still, this business and innovation-friendly situation should not be taken for granted either: it is something to be cherished and to be defended against possible future deterioration. Particularly during the early Bitcoin years its significance is not to be under-estimated, for it allows Bitcoin “room to breathe” and to develop largely unhampered by needless bureaucrat intervention.
©2015, Mark Mage. Publication or any re-use only with prior written consent.
Canada, while being hailed as one of the best countries worldwide for Bitcoin businesses, is on record for having a hands-off and very open approach to the overall Bitcoin and digital currency phenomenon.
Still, the country recently appears to be moving toward more regulation. This would be in line with the country’s track record to steam ahead and then revert in order to please its southern neighbour, the overregulated and increasingly stagnant United States.
Whether or not it is good news then, the Canadian Senate is hearing witnesses and experts on Crypto currencies in order to decide future legislative action. Although the committee chairman appears to be enthusiastic and very open about economic and technical chances brought about by Bitcoin, the fact that at least some regulation will result from the hearings is bad news for Bitcoin already. For no regulation is always easier than some regulation, however well-meaning it may be. Had the internet been regulated or censored in the early 90s, it is doubtful that it would have evolved to the ubiquitous tool it is today.
Expert testimony delivered by Andreas Antonopoulos is included below (a full-length recording of the hearings). During his testimony, Antonopoulos made it very clear that the very structure of Bitcoin as a push payment system does not need any regulation and that imposing regulation derived from the conventional pull payment systems that are common today (banks, credit cards etc) would mean a fundamental misunderstanding of both Bitcoin and also the individual’s ability to act in their own best interest, generally without any government interference whatsoever.
©2015, Mark Mage. Publication or any re-use only with prior written consent.
A TV series from the early 1980s, co-produced by Canadian CBC and West-German ZDF networks, starring Hans Caninenberg (Karl Ritter), Susan Hogan (Kate Ashcroft) and others.
Plot Outline
The Ritter family run an air taxi business using an iconic DHC-2 “Beaver” floats-fitted airplane along the scenic coast of British Columbia, Canada, and run into numerous adventures and situations in the process.
Plot Summary
Karl Ritter’s (Hans Caninenberg) runs into many an adventurous situation operating his Canadian air taxi business along the British Columbia coastline featured in this TV series, co-produced by Canadian CBC and West-German ZDF television networks (German title “Die Küstenpiloten”) in the early 1980s. Featuring a legendary DHC-2 “Beaver” fitted with floats as a seaplane — and sometimes the competition’s Bell 212 helicopter, piloted by Kate Ashcroft (Susan Hogan).
Synopsis
The stories and adventures while running Karl Ritter’s (Hans Caninenberg) Canadian air taxi business along the British Columbia coastline are at the centre of all episodes of this TV series, co-produced by Canadian CBC and West-German ZDF television networks in the early 1980s. German official title was “Die Küstenpiloten”. One of the legendary DHC-2 “Beaver” fitted with floats as a seaplane is featured throughout all the episodes of the series. There are some interplays of a Bell 212 helicopter, operated by a competing neighbor and piloted by Kate Ashcroft (Susan Hogan). Individual episodes in this series feature a dramatic first flight by one of the Ritter family’s children, a bush-fire and rescue operations, third-parties engaging in criminal activities, and surprise bad weather situations, all leading to different kinds of adventures or critical situations for the Ritter family and others involved. Central to resolving these is usually their trusted-and-proven yellow “Beaver” aircraft which is hailed as a reliable tool off which they make a living in their beautiful, but sometimes difficult, surroundings in Canada’s Pacific province of British Columbia. The entire TV series consists of 20+ episodes, all of which have been aired in the early 1980s in Canada and (translated) in West Germany. Despite being in the memories of millions of viewers in both countries, there has not (yet) been any re-release of it despite a real possibility of gaining some traction not only among TV viewers but also airplane enthusiasts interested in the cult DHC-2 pattern built by DeHavilland during that time.
Tagline
Air courier service running a DHC-2 “Beaver” in B. C., Canada (“Die Kuestenpiloten”, co-produced with W. German ZDF TV).
Published: IMDb.com, see http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0251529/?ref_=ttrel_rel_tt (28 October 2017).
Die norwegische Regierung hat heute einen Gesetzesvorschlag zur Erleichterung der Errichtung kleiner Gesellschaften vorgelegt. Demgemaess sollen die in etwa einer deutschen GmbH oder einer britischen Limited entsprechenden kleine Aktiengeselschaften (oder norwegische AS) mit nur Kr 30.000 zu errichten sein. (Bisher waren dafuer Kr 100.000 erforderlich. Das neuerdings verminderte Stammkapital von Kr 30.000 entspricht ca €4.300, idR muessen 100% voll eingezhlt sein; Sacheinlagen sind jedoch unter bestimmten Voraussetzungen zulaessig.)
In einer gesonderten Vorlage wurde ueberdies bereits beschlossen, dass Aktiengesellschaften mit weniger als jaehrlich Kr 5 mio Umsatz von der Revisionspflicht (durch externe und vereidigte Buchpruefer) befreit werden. Allein der Wegfall dieser Regelung bedeutet fuer ein kleines Unternehmen eine Kostenerleichterung von durchschnittlich Kr 10.000 bis Kr 30.000 pro Jahr.
Mit dem Vorschlag soll Norwegen zu einem fuer die Gruendung von Aktiengesellschaften attraktiven Land werden. Die einfachere und billigere Errichtung einer norwegischen AS kann zur vermehrten Errichtung neuer Aktiengesellschaften und auch dazu fuehren, dass fortan auslaendische Gruender sich fuer die Errichtung einer Aktiengesellschaft (AS) in Norwegen entscheiden.
©2015, Mark Mage. Publication or any re-use only with prior written consent.
Im Mai ging die Talfahrt des Euros weiter. Aktueller Anlaß sind die anhaltenden Probleme mit den angeschlagenen Weichwirtschaften im Euroraum, Griechenland sowie daneben vor allem Portugal, Spanien und Italien. Dies hat weltweit an den Märkten für Aufregung gesorgt und den Ansturm auf Gold als Safe haven weitergehen lassen. (Der Beginn des Bull markets in diesem Edelmetall fiel 1997 bezeichnenderweise mit dem Bekanntwerden der Euroeinführung zusammen.) …