Category Archives: Amsterdam

One thing Google Maps still can’t do

I bike.  Therefore, I am… not a user of google maps to navigate my native city of Amsterdam.    Sure, it will plot directions just fine.  But will it plot that route via the the street with the best bikepaths or know to take a shortcut through the park? No. Google Maps is for cars.   …

April 7, 2009 – 6:28 am | By Brian Fitzgerald | Posted in Amsterdam, Bicycles, Maps and Mapping | Tagged , , | Comments (2)

The miracle of modern communications

We have house guests here at Casa Fitzgerald, one of whom emailed his grandmother back in the States.  She was overjoyed to get an email from Amsterdam: “I didn’t know the internet worked across oceans!”

February 16, 2009 – 7:12 am | By Brian Fitzgerald | Posted in Amsterdam, Travel | Tagged , | Comments (3)

Instant bike lane!

Once again, Boing Boing earns its monniker as a “Directory of Wonderful Things.” Behold, the bike-light that paints a laser-lit bike-lane on the road around you, a concept by Alex Tee and Evan Gant. Of course, this would be redundant in most of Amsterdam, where more than 400 Kilometers (249 miles) of the city’s roads …

January 16, 2009 – 7:57 am | By Brian Fitzgerald | Posted in Amsterdam, Green Design | Tagged , , | Comments (0)

Skating on the Ijsselmeer

Skating on the Ijsselmeer Originally uploaded by Brianfit One downside of living in Holland is the near-absence of Nature. But being out on a frozen lake that stretches for miles on a crisp, sunny day can make you forget details like the fact that the lake itself was hand-crafted as a works project in the 30s. …

January 12, 2009 – 5:55 am | By Brian Fitzgerald | Posted in Amsterdam, Environmental Issues, Photography | Tagged | Comments (0)

Holloween Grafitti Mural

October 23, 2007 – 7:36 pm | By Brian Fitzgerald | Posted in Amsterdam, Arts, Photography | Comments (1)

Tolerance, Tribalism, and my inability to speak Dutch

Thought-provoking, disturbing article in the New Yorker argues the Dutch “pillar” system of cultural tolerance is a failure, as evidenced by the presence of radical islamicism within its borders. The modern implementation of the “pillar” system  is the product of Ruud Lubbers and the liberal left in this country, by which cultural sub-groups have been …

April 10, 2006 – 3:59 am | By Brian Fitzgerald | Posted in Amsterdam, Uncategorized | Comments (0)