Diary

This is the fourth article in a series about the Elektorlive-event.


Of course I went to see Jan Buiting, who did a talk on "retrotronics": That is vintage electronics. He had brought lots and lots of electronic equipment from the past sixty years and invited the audience to select which device interested them. He had wonderful anecdotes about the origin of each device people selected. Many stories were about Philips company, where a lot of this equipment has been produced.
For example he showed us one of the very first pagers. In our time of text messaging and wireless Internet it may be hard to imagine, but at the time the pager was invented it was a state of the art device! The size of it was about 12 x 12 x 4 inches and it weighed well over 10 lbs. Fortunately it had a strong belt that could be used to carry it on your shoulder. So it was a real portable device.
So what did it do? It was for wirelessly receiving "messages". These messages consisted of a single digit number: 1, 2, 3, 4, 5 or 6. That was all it could do. To use it you would have to make arrangements (with your boss for instance) what each of these six codes would mean...
When the system was first released to the press, the receivers did not really work yet, so the people from Philips had secretly mounted a foot switch below the table where the device was demonstrated. This way they could activate the lights by hand foot during the demonstration...
Jan's talk went on and on with one device after another. Some equipment was also passed around amongst the audience so that people could get a close look, feel and smell of them. Yes, a smell: Vintage electronics has a characteristic fragrance, you will find nowhere else these days.

The audience couldn't get enough of Jan's talk! A real success.

After the talk I took the opportunity to have a close look at some of the equipment on the tables. One table was full of old Elektor-projects. And there I found a well-conserved specimen of the SC/MP, MY first computer, which I built in 1978.
This system (published by Elektor in May 1977) had no less than 256 bytes of memory (no, not kilobytes, not Megabytes, just bytes)! It had to be programmed bit by bit with the switches you can see at the bottom of the picture.

Another beauty in the collection was this test system for vacuum tubes by Heathkit:


If youlike pictures like these, you will also like the Vintage Electronics groep on Flickr. I also found a link to this video clip there. As I said: Once upon a time all this equipment was new and modern!

Labels: Electronics, Elektorlive

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This is the third article in a series about the Elektorlive-event.

The second lecture was about fiber optics. More and more people know about this, as more and more homes are connected to the Internet (AND to cable TV AND to the phone) through optical fiber. This technique is called FTTH (Fiber To The Home). Fiber optics is not very new really. It has been in use for the "highways" of the Internet for a long time. A great advantage is the enormous speed of information transfer compared to copper wires. Another advantage is this type of cable is not sensitive to electromagnetic interference.
This is one of the reasons fiber optics is often used for information transfer along railroad tracks. The electromagnetic interference produced by a passing electric engine is very heavy indeed.
And speaking of railroads we run into another application of fiber optics: They can be used as a sensor! Optical fiber cables are very sensitive to bending and that can be used in many smart ways to make them work as a sensor.
An optical fiber can be used to check whether a track is occupied by a train, but it goes even further than that: It can be used to do detailed measurements of the condition of each individual wheel of a train as it passes by! This means the trains don't have to go to the workshop until they really need maintenance. A great reduction in cost!
This picture shows the measurement result when three wheels have passed the sensor. The first two wheels are good; the third one needs maintenance.

Optical fibers can also be used for measurements in aeroplanes and dikes. The possibilities are really amazing.

Labels: Elektorlive, trains

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This is the second article in a series about the Elektorlive-event.

The first lecture I visited was about the Elektor Internet Radio (EIR) and the speaker was Antoine Authier. Most of the speaking was done by Harald Kipp, who developed the hardware and software. The hardware is the Ethernut 3 card, which is equipped with an ARM7-processor, 256 kbyte RAM memory, Ethernet-interface and hardware for codering and decoding MP3-data. It also has a slot for MMC-/SD cards, which make it possible to extend the memory-range — a lot!

Unfortunately there was no Internet connection available at the stand, so they had to use a Southcast server they had brought along themselves for the demonstration. All that did not work very well, but still we could see this Internet radio is a very interesting piece of equipment with lots of cool possibilities.

Of course one can simply use a PC to recieve Internet radio, but that has some disadvantages. A PC consumes a lot of power, much more than is really necessary for this application. And in some situations a PC is simply not suitable. For instance it is not very practical to connect a PC to the stereo set in the living room.

The system is a great platform for creating new projects. If you build your own radio, based on open source software, it is easy to extend and adapt it for your own applications. The Ethernut board can be used to build a stand alone radio. All you need in extra hardware is a few pushbuttons and a display. And you need some software to control it all...
In the picture the card has been extended with a graphical color display.

Later that day I met Harald Kipp outside, where the smokers were flocking together in the open air. Once again it turned out that the smoking area is a great place for networking... Harald is a very inspiring person and it was nice to discuss my own ideas for applications of the Ethernut board with him. How about using the card as a Southcast server? (This would make it possible to broadcast Internet radio instead of recieve it.) Harald said it would indeed be possible for a limited number of simultaneous connections...

Labels: Electronics, Elektorlive

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Today I visited the Elektorlive event in the Evoluon in Eindhoven.
Some 1500 people had pre-registered, but the whether conditions were not optimal. It was the first snow day in this winter. But more than 1000 people did show up!

Of course most of the people there were men. There were only an handful of women and even those had only come along with their friend or husband. I think I saw only one other woman by herself. So pretty soon someone spoke to me and told me what he was thinking: "Hey, a woman here? I am surprised!"
Well, at least he had recognized me as a woman from a distance.
But as we were talking, he soon figured out there was something more going on and said: "Oooww, aha, now I understand..."
"Yes, I used to be a man", I admitted.
"So you are a transvestite?"
"No, I am a transsexual, that is quite something different!"
"It is??"
So there I was again, educating him about the differences...

Of course one could ask what on Earth I was doing at such a male-dominated event, but hey, i do work for Elektor, and I saw this as a great opportunity to finally meet this client I have been working for for eight years in real life! And I am simply interested in electronics. It is my profession!

I had carefully planned the lectures I wanted to see and that was quite a tight schedule; I had had to make some difficult choices, because it was simply impossible to see everything that interested me. Over the next few days I will cover some of the things I have seen at Elektorlive in seperate blog entries.

Labels: Electronics, Elektorlive, transition

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One of the regular visitors at T&T-Eindhoven is my dear friend Elly. She is with us almost every month, even though she has to come all the way from... Groningen! Apparently that does not bother her at all. But why? Is there no T&T in Groningen? Ow yes there is! And it has been in existance for 25 years! She just likes to come to her friends in Eindhoven I guess.

In fact, Elly was enthousiastically waving a newspaper when she came in: page 15 in the NE-section of the "Leeuwarder Courant" October 11th. 2008 had a big article about this 25th. anniversary. (Under the title: "Snakken naar een rok", which means: "Craving for a Skirt") It was a very friendly article, with nice pictures of Elly and her friends.

Fortunately Yvon was with us again too this month. She was keeping a low profile, sitting in a chair in one of the mote quiet rooms, but at least she was there! She is having chemical treatments every few weeks now and soon she will be operated. All the members of T&T are supporting her!

Previous T&T evenings: October 2008, September 2008, August 2008, July 2008, May 2008, March 2008, February 2008, December 2007, October 2007, October 2006, September 2006, August 2006, July 2006, June 2006, May, April, March, February, January, December, November, October, September, July 2005, June 2005, May 2005, April 2005, March 2005, February 2005, January 2005, December 2004, November 2004, October 2004, September 2004, August 2004, July 2004, June 2004, May 2004 and April 2004.

Labels: TandT

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Tonight the language was... Papiamento! We were invited by our friend Roki from the Netherland's Antilles to have dinner with him. It turned out we were not the only guests: The house was full of people. In fact that did not really surprise me yet: It is quite normal for people from the Antilles to stick together with a lot of family. But what about this guy who was walking around the house with a big, professional-looking camera on his shoulder?? "O, he is just practicing a little with his new camera..."

Roki works as a professional cook so there was a lot of very good food. First several nice starters were passed out and then there was a buffet with lots of different hot foods to chose from. Delicious!

After dinner the table was quickly cleared and soon people started to put up a lot of equipment there. Slowly it became evident that there was something more going on than "a little practicing with the camera"...

It turned out we had been invited for the recording of a TV program, that was to be broadcast on Curaçau. Jacinto Zimmerman (chairman of Nos Mundu, a union that aims to stimulate common activities between Antillian/Aruban people and Dutch people in the Eindhoven region) did an interview with Roki and his wife and several other members of the family about life in Holland and the differences with life on the Antilles. It was quite difficult to understand what it was all about, because the language was Papiamento.

Julia was interviewed too and she sang a song from the CD "Wijs met Groningen".
What a surprise! The Gniffels are now getting airplay in the overseas parts of our country as well!

One of the crew members from the TV-station had brought her little son and for him the evening was getting too long: It was well past midnight when we were still working on the recordings. Julia took this little guy on her lap and soon he was peacefully sleeping in her arms...

Labels: Gniffels

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No, this entry is not about breast implants...

There was a lot of talk about hormone implants this month at our T&T-meeting. It sounds very convenient: No more patches to apply. Just visit your GP once every three (or six) months for a little injection. This injection will put a little object into your body that slowly dispatches the right amount of hormones to keep your estrogen level stable. Isn't that great??

Well, I am not so sure. Of course the patches are a lot of fuss, but at least I have the feeling I am in control now. My current hormone levels make me feel good, but what if the doctors decide to "start carefully" with a low dosage? Then I would get below my current level! I have no desire at all to experiment with different levels.


The cash register was not my responsibility this month. The cashier had simply put it in the usual spot, so people had to cross half the building when they entered to pay the admittance fee. Well, every woman to her taste, It was not my problem now.

Previous T&T evenings: September 2008, August 2008, July 2008, May 2008, March 2008, February 2008, December 2007, October 2007, October 2006, September 2006, August 2006, July 2006, June 2006, May, April, March, February, January, December, November, October, September, July 2005, June 2005, May 2005, April 2005, March 2005, February 2005, January 2005, December 2004, November 2004, October 2004, September 2004, August 2004, July 2004, June 2004, May 2004 and April 2004.

Labels: medical, TandT

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Today Julia and Geert-Jan did a stage performance at literair café Kraaij en Balder, in Eindhoven, Netherlands. There was also a life broadcast on Ustream...
Here is the recording (unfortunately the sound level is a bit low):

Labels: Gniffels

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Today was the official celebration of my parent's golden aniversary. They had rented a hall in "De Landvast" in Alblasserdam and all their friends and family gathered together there. There were 70 people at least and quite a few of them had never met me as Evelien before. I had not seen them in ten years and yes... ten years ago I was quite a different person
So my parents and I were somewhat apprehensive about this, but everything turned out well. We had a nice meal together and I got several positive reactions about my new self!
The worst thing that happened was the collapse of one of the tables: The tables in the restaurant are foldable and the kicking feet of one of my nephews were too heavy for one of them: A table-leg spontaneously folded away and the table top fell on the armrests of the chairs... Fortunately there were no hot drinks on the table, so nobody got injured!

Labels: transition

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9/11 is a great day to fly. Have a look!

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It was exactly one year ago I had had my operation today. Many trans-people celebrate that as a kind of birthday, but I did not feel like making a big thing out of it. It did feel kind-of special, but life just goes on as usual.

It was my turn again to volunteer at the cash register on the monthly T&T-evening. Because the community center was under reconstruction, we could not make use of the normal entrance. The guests had to come in trough a door at the side of the building. So where should I put the cash register now? I think it should be at the entrance! Otherwise there is know way to know who is coming in. But it was not very practical to set it up in the corridor.

So I decided to use a room next to the door where people would enter. I constructed a nice, big arrow from some stationary. It worked out fine: I could see people coming in and they all knew where to find the cash register. Apart from the normal work I got a stack of photographs to take care of: "You can give those out for free to the people who are depicted on them." Tricky job... I am not very good at linking names to faces anyway. I hate it to have to ask the same people for their names every month again.

But I did like this location in this room: outside of the noise, away from the crowd. And there were enough people who came to me for a chat or even for long, profound conversations... A great evening!

Previous T&T evenings: August 2008, July 2008, May 2008, March 2008, February 2008, December 2007, October 2007, October 2006, September 2006, August 2006, July 2006, June 2006, May, April, March, February, January, December, November, October, September, July 2005, June 2005, May 2005, April 2005, March 2005, February 2005, January 2005, December 2004, November 2004, October 2004, September 2004, August 2004, July 2004, June 2004, May 2004 and April 2004.

Labels: TandT, transition

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My mother had been using the same kitchen stove for exactly fifty years. Made by ETNA. Indestructible quality indeed. But over the past few years it had developed a few minor problems... So my sister and I (plus our partners of course) decided something had to be done. A new stove was called for! And there was a good excuse for giving a present because, you could have guessed this: Today was also their 50st. anniversary. On their wish-list was just a micro wave oven, but we added the stove...


My parents are not into modern equipment at all (this microwave is really a big step forward ) and also cooking on gas is not their thing. Fortunately we have managed to find a good replacement for them: A modern cooking-range that is just as simple to use as the old one.


The stove had been delivered without a power cord. The guy in the shop said it would be easy to use the old power cord for the new stove. I think this idea is penny-wise, but pound-foolish really: Why make a problem of a cheap power cord when you are buying equipment worth several hundred Euros?!?

So we decided to try using the old power cord. First we took it off the old stove. It was a lot newer than the rest of the stove: it had been replaced just 39 years ago.
Of course the insulation had become very brittle and it broke off as soon as you touched it. So we had to go to the DIY-shop for a new power cable. In Alblasserdam the DIY-shop is Hornbach. To be honest I had never heard of that company, but it turned out to be a very big, well-assorted shop. They had everything we needed: A five-wire cable and a five-way plug, specifically intended for use on electric kitchen stoves.

So my brother-in-law Gert and I had a little construction job to do that afternoon. And when this was done, we proceeded to demonstrate the stove and the microwave by preparing a meal for the family. My parents were now equipped for cooking another half-century...
And the old stove was ready to take to a vintage electronics museum!

Labels: Electronics

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Yay, I've got it fixed! Today I could finally go to the city hall to collect my new passport and drivers license.

It is now about ten years ago I took the decision I had to stop hiding my feminine feelings. I knew I had to do something and I set out for the long and tedious process of a sex change.

So now we know how long this process takes: Ten years!

Labels: transition

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This weekend Julia and I were very busy with the first CD by the Gniffels. They had worked on it for almost a year and finally we were able to hear the result. And.... OK, maybe I am prejudiced, but I love it!

And now I could do my part: I put some MP3-files on the website as samples of what can be found on the CD and I made a webform to order the CD at a reduced price until the official introduction on September 27th.

Building websites is always a lot of work and even though the Gniffels-site has been built with Joomla! (which, according to Joomla!-fans would make everything a lot faster and easier), I don't see a lot of advantage from that yet. Probably DDS is not the best hosting provider to choose when you want to use Joomla! : All PHP-scripts at DDS run in so-called "safe mode", which breaks a lot of the functionality.
DDS does that in an attempt to prevent hackers from gaining access to the databases and they do have a point: Abusing PHP and SQL will make a web site leak like a basket and that may endanger ALL DDS customers, not just that singlewebmaster who has learned a few words of PHP yesterday and hacked together a site today...
My question is whether "safe mode" is the right way to prevent those problems, but I won't digress on this further. We will have to learn to lie with it, or find another provider.

Anyway, Julia and I also had to be on duty at the cash register at the T&T-evening this month, when the work on the website was not done yet, so Julia went ahead to the community center, while I kept working on the registratiion form for the website.

So I arrived one hour late. Julia was already busy collecting the entry fees and selling coins. Our friend Hans said I was clearly the "cheif casher" today, "because you were the last to arrive". Indeed, that is a way to look at it.

Our DJ, Silvia, had a new car, a Twingo, just like Julia and I have. Unfortunately it is too small to bring the large disco-bar she always used. Of course she played the first track of Julia's new CD tonight and people loved it; three people ordered a CD at once.

There was some bad news tonight: Our host Yvon, who has been the driving force behind T&T-Eindhoven for more than 20 years, is severely ill. She will soon be hospitalised for a heavy operation and she will get chemo therapy. Yes, that makes you think: Transgendered people somtimes think they have problems, but such an illness is something of a quite different magnitude.

We all wish Yvon strength and hope for her recovery!

Previous T&T evenings: July 2008, May 2008, March 2008, February 2008, December 2007, October 2007, October 2006, September 2006, August 2006, July 2006, June 2006, May, April, March, February, January, December, November, October, September, July 2005, June 2005, May 2005, April 2005, March 2005, February 2005, January 2005, December 2004, November 2004, October 2004, September 2004, August 2004, July 2004, June 2004, May 2004 and April 2004.

Labels: Gniffels, TandT

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