Corne van Dooren - (Multimedia) Designer

March 30, 2008

Hello again. Some unpleasant news this time. This website is probably offline for major parts of the day on the 31st of March.

The company which hosts the website is going to change to a new system with new servers. This is all going to happen tomorrow.

Hope it is back online in April as I have something major to say. I have made a decision which will change my life and I want to share it with you next month... :)

Take care and speak soon.

March 24, 2008

Sorry for being a bit late in wishing you all a happy easter on second easter-day. I've been quite busy over the past days.

It started on Thursday evening with a BBQ at a colleague. It was a nice BBQ, a bit weird because of the weather - rain and windy - but it was not bad at all.

On Friday I finished some work I was meant to finish sometime soon. Friday I got it out of the way. Saturday me and Nadine went to a garden center to buy some new green stuff for our place.

Yesterday we visited Nadine's family and today we will visit mine. Hope the way back is easier today. Yesterday it was snowing and it was pretty bad to have to drive. Ah well, we managed to get home safe, so let it snow tonight too...

Oh yeah, for those who don't know what Easter is all about: Wikipedia. You will also get my header Pascha when you read it...

Take care and all the best.

March 18, 2008

The past few days I've been wondering... Its because of a single shoe on the road I follow to get to work.

Its a silly thing, but its got my mind going. The road I drive to work every day is a pretty long road with no spots for parking or many crossroads. So, imagine that road and then a single shoe on that road...

How does someone lose a shoe during driving? Was it a couple doing some business beside the road (which is hardly possible on this particular road), has someone been hit over the weekend and lost a shoe? But then, why does someone walk on a busy road? How does a single shoe end up on a road?

Luckily I am not the only one asking these questions... If you type it into Google, you'll get loads of people wondering about the same thing.

Take care.

March 16, 2008

Sorry for the lack of posts on the blog once again... I have been very busy and have not really had many moments to really write something down.

So here's a little bit of news of something that might be happening sometime this year.

I come from a creative family. Many of the people in my family draw, paint, sculpture or write. Its something that is kinda passed on through the generations. Now, the family has decided to honor my grandpa for his creativity and him giving that to all of his children and grandchildren by staging a showcase of the work of my grandpa and all of his offspring.

Because its to honor my grandpa I have decided to also show some of my stuff. I am not sure how at this point, but thats of later concern anyway. This is probably my only showcase ever, because I don't really care about showing my work in public places. Hey, everyone knows that its online for everyone to see.

Anyway, its now time to find the works that could be most intriguing to be shown to the public. Which works do you think I should show?

Again, I will promise to try and write more often - but you kinda get it by now, don't ya? Its probably not going to happen... :)

Take care and all the best.

March 8, 2008

I noticed the following a week ago, but never really gave it much thought: My own company has turned 3 years old on the first of March!

I enlisted in the Chamber of Commerce in February 2005, stating that I started my company on March 1st (which I did, by the way). So one week ago I could have celebrated the fact that my own company is three years old.

Many people will wonder whether I still do stuff on my own, because I mention my employer(s) quite often in the blog. Well, I do. Its not the huge projects I did at the start of my own company, but more the smaller clients.

One day I might pick it up bigtime again, but for now I have no need to do so. I am quite happy where I am today.

It have been entertaining years with cool projects. The highlights of three years Project 79 would be the movie I worked on (Staya Erusa, Warner Brothers) and everything about it (the red-carpet-first-showing of the movie, the dvd's in the shops, etc), the Philips projects (as they involved 3D), working at Talpa (r.i.p.) and writing course-material for the LOI.

There is something interesting coming up soon, but I don't want to give anything away just yet (as it isn't for-sure at this point). Anyway, I'm keeping Project 79 alive. Who knows what may come of it in the future...

Three years, wow. That means it was also three years ago when I was sacked at my very first fulltime employer. I have often looked back at them with anger and disappointment. But slowly that part of me has died. It took me some time, but now I am really understanding that it was actually pretty damn good for me.

Over the past three years I have grown as a professional and as a person. I was just a kid when I started at that first employer (Hunterskil Howard). I didn't know anything about company politics or that type of shit. I think I would call myself mature now and far more of a professional than three years ago.

I can look back at my time at that company and get a smile on my face. You know, there are no bad feelings anymore. The company has grown its way and I have grown my way. I am happy with my time at the company but even happier with the experiences after it.

Anyway, I'll try to keep this message short. Wishing everyone a great weekend!
Take care.

March 3, 2008

Today Google had an interesting logo once more. On special days they change the logo to match the day. Today they marked the birthday of Alexander Graham Bell (3 March 1847).

Very often I find the logo interesting and check out the story behind it. In this case I read about Alexander Graham Bell, the man we mostly know for the telephone. Yet, digging through his Wikipedia pages - should he be known for the telephone?!

Bell received the patent for the telephone in 1874. But what I didn't really know, and I am guessing with me there are more people who didn't know, is that he kinda stole the patent!

Back in those days it cost $ 250,- to register a patent. Now let me introduce the name of Antonio Meucci. Antonia was an Italian designer and inventor who was born in 1808. In 1855 (when Alexander Graham Bell was 8 years old) he invented something called: the telephone!

In 1850 Antonia moved to the States where he tried to register the patent. Because Antonia didn't really speak the language and he was poor he couldn't pay the 250 Dollar, which was a huge amount back then.

In 1872 he contacted the Western Union company by sending them a telephone and how it worked. Two years later when he asked the phone back the Western Union claimed it had lost it. When he then contacted the patent offices and asked for his information back - they had also lost it!

Two years later Alexander Graham Bell patented the telephone as a 'speaking telegraph'. It was found that the company of Bell had promised profits to the Western Union and someone at the patent office probably delived Bell the patent, probably for money.

The American government found out later that Bell had stolen an invention. Meucci took Bell to court. He died before anyhting was made of the trial. However, on june 11th 2002 the American government acknowledged Meucci's work and honoured him for the telephone.

Anyway, I found the whole story quite amazing. I really always thought Bell had developed the telephone, but he definately did not. He can be credited for introducing it amongst people and all over the world - but that's just because Meucci didn't have the money for it.

Can't wait for the next Google logo!
Take care.

Corne van Dooren, Multimedia Designer