Tragedy on Queen's Day

This morning I woke up to the tragic news that a nutcase drove his car into the crowds celebrating Queen's Day in the city of Apeldoorn, Netherlands. News reports say four people have died and at least a dozen are injured. The incident happened just as the Dutch royal family passed by the location.


Queen's Day is a national holiday in the Netherlands on April 30. The country's entire population goes out and celebrates the Queen. The royal family each year picks a different city to visit on the day and is treated to traditional and new shows by citizens of the region. This is a nationally televised event. Everywhere else in the country people go out on the streets, have mass flea markets and celebrate with concerts, fairs and more.


My uncle Peike this morning sent me images from the Queen's Day celebration in my home town Haarlem. Happy pictures. He followed a bit later with sad images from Apeldoorn, including one showing a shocked Crown Prince Willem Alexander and Princess Maxima.

TV studio

I spent this morning in an TV studio in DC with cybersecurity expert Paul Kurtz. Paul did back-to-back TV interviews across the nation to support the launch of McAfee's Cybercrime Response Unit. These satellite media tours are fascinating to see behind the scenes. A company books the TV slots with local stations from coast-to-coast in markets small and large and then runs the morning by linking the speaker with the shows via satellite. It can get quite behind the scenes. I just love the thought of being on TV in Kalamazoo one minute and on air in Seattle the next. Paul was great.

Photo: Landing at National Airport, View of DC Mall

Greek Celebration and Protest in Boston

I stumbled upon what looked like a Greek celebration while strolling through Boston this Sunday morning. However, many of the groups in this procession also seemed to be protesting. Signs held included calls for:

- Independence of Macedonia
- Separation of Macdenonia
- Recognition of a Greek minority
- Recognition of killings in 1922 as genocide (see photo)

I had no idea the Greeks had so many issues. Maybe I forgot many of my history lessons from grade and high school. While growing up I went to Greece several times and remember nothing but peace loving people.

Photo: Tulips near Boston Common

Boston

Strolling in downtown Boston. This is famous Faneuil Hall. Known as the cradle of liberty, Faneuil Hall was a central location for organized protests against British tyranny prior to the American Revolution. -- It is always nice to see some history in the US, it is one of the things I really miss on the West Coast. (Consider that my hometown Haarlem, Netherlands is nearly 800 years old and painting of 16th century Haarlem could have been painted today.)

RSA Conference 2009

After getting in the last ski runs of the season, I spent all week in San Francisco at the RSA Conference 2009. I saw most keynotes, where the biggest discernible theme was that vendors, customers and public sector should work together to win against the bad guys. Other than that I didn't see a big overall theme, but then again I was heads down working on McAfee's keynote speech. A shot of the show floor above.

Final Day on The Slopes

The snow was rapidly melting in Lake Tahoe's ski areas last weekend. One of my favorite slopes at Northstar is aptly named after me :)