Sunday, January 10, 2021

Does Holland Still Produce Cars?

They did and still do.

The Netherlands used to produced its own car brand, but also foreign car brands.

DAF has been producing automobiles since the 1950s. With an automatic gearbox it was also far ahead of its time.

Later DAF was taken over by Volvo.


DAF now only builds trucks.[1]

The new electric DAF, with a range of 200 kilometers.


However, the old DAF automobile factories continued to produce cars, but foreign car brands. And the factory name was changed to NEDCAR.[2]NEDCAR is an independent car manufacturer that temporarily produces a certain car brand for a number of years.

The following cars were produced in the NEDCAR factory.

The current models from NEDCAR.

What makes NEDCAR special is that it can produce different car brands in one production line. However, due to the current bad economic conditions, BMW recently decided to stop the production of cars at NEDCAR in 2023.


The Netherlands still builds hand-built special cars.

Donkervoort[3]

Donkervoort has been participating in the 24-hour race of Le Mans for decades. Occasionally they have also won once the race.

Spyker[4]

Spyker once even competed in Formula One. It also took over the bankrupt Swedish Saab in 2010. However, Spyker's wealthy owner took too many risks. Partly due to mismanagement, the adventures in Formula One and the takeover of the Swedish Saab were a fiasco.

The Lightyear One[5]

The Lightyear One is a long-range solar electric vehicle.

The car is developed by former students of the Delft University of Technology. The students were part of the Nuna Team and Cars. The Nuna Team participated in the World Solar Challenge. A 3022 km biennial road race across the Australian Outback, from Darwin, Northern Territory, to Adelaide, South Australia.[6]

Since 2001 the World Solar Challenge was won by the Nuna Team seven times out of ten challenges. [7]

The Lightyear One was co-created by the university students in collaboration with former employees from the automotive industry. For example, the current Lightyear's CCO worked as a Senior Director at Tesla.

With BMW leaving, NEDCAR has offered to build the Lightyear One. The Lightyear is currently being assembled in Helmond, a few kilometers from the NEDCAR factories.[8]

Automotive campus

Footnotes

Wednesday, January 6, 2021

THE CANDLE BURNS OUT FOR THE INVINCIBLE PATRIARCH


 

 

 

2nd Deputy Prime Minister | People | State House Uganda



Right Honourable Al hajji Dr Ali Muwabe Kirunda Kivejinja (KK) lost battle with illness

 

By Ali Balunywa II, a son to the late

 

A patriarch a male head of a family, clan or tribe and is regarded as that father or founder of an order, a definition which still does not ably describe the late Right Honourable Al Hajji Dr. Ali Muwabe Kirunda Kivejinja. He was the patriarch of the Kivejinja family, of Buwabe village, Bugweri district and Nawantumbi in Kamuli district and Buwenge in Jinja district. He was a father, grandfather, uncle, brother, cousin, nephew and a friend.

 

He was a patriarch of the royal baise Menha clan of Bugweri in Busoga and was the glue that held together the different families in the clan. In a way he was also a patriarch of the Balunywa family and by extension the Ngiya clan of Kasolo in Iganga having assumed leadership of the family after the death of Mr. A.W.K. Balunywa. He was only 37 years then. 

 

He was the second Muslim graduate after Hon. Abubaker Kakyama Mayanja. He was tutored in reading the Qur’an in his early years and he later attended Bukoyo Primary school, Busoga College Mwiri and Kibuli Secondary School. KK continued his education in India on a government of India scholarship. He travelled to India by boat (Dhow) powered by the wind and spent several months at sea. He explained his lean build as having been caused by sea sickness which affected him on the journey. In India he linked up with Kakonge, Kintu Musoke and Bidandi Ssali to clamour for independence in Africa. He was a student leader both for Ugandan and African students. He was tutored in politics by the then Indian Prime Minister; Jawaharlal Nehru, the father of former prime minister Indira Gandhi.

 

KK returned to Uganda having graduated with a degree in Zoology in 1962. Together with Kintu Musoke and Bidandi Ssali, they joined UPC. They galvanized the party into victory in 1962 and UPC formed the first post-independence government. They were ousted from UPC because of their radicalism in the mid 60s and went into private business founding Sapoba Bookshop Press, the first indigenous quality printing press in Uganda at Katwe. It premiered offset and full colour printing and was also the first to use electronic typesetting with the reprographics typesetting computer. During the Amin years, the trio lay low and concentrated on their  business of printing.

 

After Idi Amin was overthrown in 1979 by the joint Tanzanian and Uganda rebels, the trio joined the first Uganda National Liberation Front government and parliament (The National Consultative Council NCC). In 1980, together with president Museveni, Rugunda, Kategaya and others, they formed the Uganda Patriotic Movement (UPM). UPM lost the elections. In early 1981, KK fled to Nairobi and thereafter Vienna in Austria after being hounded by Obote from Uganda. While in exile they formed the National Resistance Movement (NRM) headed by Yusuf Lule and later by Museveni.

 

In 1986 After the 5 year bush war, the NRM captured power in Uganda. KK since then has been a minister in government. He has been minister of rehabilitation and social welfare, Information, Presidency, Works and Transport, Foreign affairs, Internal Affairs, East African Affairs and minister without portfolio as well as deputy prime minister. He used to say the only job he knew was to be a minister! He even at one time joked about building a house around Sseguku so he could live near State House Entebbe where cabinet sits.

 

KK are initials his staff at Sapoba used to call him, like BS for Bidandi Ssali and KM for Kintu Musoke. One time someone else was called KK in his presence and he jokingly told the fellow minister that he had patented KK in capitals, and that that other person can instead use lower case kk!

 

What is quite interesting for me as a writer is that KK was the epitome of English language grammar. As a NOUN, KK was also called an encyclopedia, an almanac, a library, an author, MP, minister, Prime Minister, treasurer, director, chief, mzee, father, uncle, nephew, brother, grandpa, founder, compatriot, partner, confidant, mobiliser, planner, repository, politician, husband, veteran, provider, promoter, colleague, advisor and so forth.

 

As a VERB, denoting doing, organizing, facilitating, thinking, leading, directing, advising, authoring, mobilizing, promoting, planning, coordinating and the like. He was also a CONJUNCTION; joining, interacting, arbitrating and solving conflicts.  He also embodied the PRONOUN given his love, affection, passion, down to earthiness happiness, selflessness, asceticism, care, devotion, emotion, friendship, endearment, kindness, concern, tenderness, and sentiments he showed others. But also as an ADVERB, he truly added value to the meaning of the VERB. He exemplified the ADJECTIVE as a multiplier and modifier of the qualities of the NOUN.

 

KK has been our world! Now that he is gone, my mind has refused to envisage a world without him. Buwabe, Kasolo, Bunyantole, Buwenge, Nawantumbi, Bugolobi – the Patriarch is gone! You are on your own! He has touched many of us in a way only we can understand. Geographically speaking KK has been our Equator, Tropic of Cancer, Tropic of Capricorn, North and South Pole. His Omni presence North, South, East and West made him our morning, afternoon, evening, sunrise, sunset, night and day. In time he was our seconds, minutes, hours, days, weeks, months and years. Monday to Sunday, January to December, Subhi to Isha. Our Alphabet from A – Z.

 

We can only celebrate the life of this great man! A man who has worked very hard for his heaven  (Jannah), by his good deeds here on earth. A man who has supported, educated, nurtured and mentored over 300 young men and women who are not his biological children to degree level. These include, but not limited to professors, doctors, engineers, researchers, activists, politicians, social scientists, journalists and leaders living in different parts of the world. Why would you think, Allah would not like to be with him too? 

We just pray to Allah to grant him Jannah Firdaus, pardon him where he erred and light up his tomb.

 

We are all in tears, KK rest in peace!

Sunday, September 13, 2020

10 important Dutch inventions


It may be a small country, but the Netherlands definitely played a significant part in the history of great inventions!

Maybe you have used some of these creations multiple times without realising that a Dutch person is to thank for their existence. Have a look at some of the most notable creations from Dutch inventors:

The submarine

Although the concept of a submarine was first thought up by English William Bourne, a working, navigable underwater vessel was first constructed by Dutch inventor Cornelis Drebbel in the 1620s.

Drebbel worked for the English Royal Navy, and the submarine was first tested in the Thames. Its outer hull consisted of greased leather stretched over a wooden frame, with oars and leather flaps used for propulsion.

The telescope

The telescope was invented in 1608 in the Netherlands, a year before Galileo Galilei used the device to observe the stars. Details are imprecise, but it was likely in Middelburg that the stellar spyglass was developed. To this day, the names of spectacle-craftsmen Zacharias Janssen and Hans Lipperhey are in competition for the title of inventor.

The first telescopes were simple tubes with one biconvex lens and one biconcave lens. It was hard to get an accurate sighting through them.

The microscope

The microscope was invented in the Netherlands in the 16th or 17th century, but who exactly gets the credit is a matter of dispute. Most often mentioned is Antoni van Leeuwenhoek, although a simpler version probably already existed since 1595, created by Sacharias or Hans Jansen.

Van Leeuwenhoek’s microscope consisted of a magnifying glass with only one lens. His device magnified up to 237 times real-size, while previous ones only managed 30. It was created around the 1670s.

The eye-test

Interestingly, the Dutch have produced a lot of inventions relating to sight! Even the eye-test in which you have to read aloud from lines of letters ranging from large to small was invented by Dutchman Herman Snellen in 1862. It is called the Snellen chart.

The fire hose

The modern roll-up fire hose was invented by Jan van der Heyden in 1673. Thanks to him, large fires could effectively be put out using water. He also developed an advanced pumping system. 

The Olympic flame

In 1928, architect Jan Wils was working on the Olympic Stadium in Amsterdam. He designed a tall tower with smoke emanating from it.

Wils aimed for the effect of smoke rather than a flame, because it would be more visible during the day. Since then, fire became a traditional part of the Olympics, however it wasn’t until 1936 that the flame was carried at the Berlin games by an athlete.

The speed camera

The first automatic speedometer was invented by Dutch rally driver Maus Gatsonides.

The device was activated by two rubber tubes which would activate a chronometer as soon as the wheels of a car hit them. In 1958 he started to produce the devices for public use.

The CD (and many other media-playing devices)

The Compact Disc was developed by Sony (with help from Philips) in Eindhoven. Its founding fathers are Joop Sinjou and Kees Schouhamer Immink.

The size of the hole in a CD was based on a Dutch 10-cent coin, and the first song to come out on CD was ABBA’s The Visitors in 1982.

Other media-playing items invented by Philips in collaboration with other companies are the cassette tape, the DVD, the laser disc and Blu-Ray.

Bluetooth

Bluetooth was invented in the 1990s by Dr. Jaap Haartsen who worked for the Swedish company Ericsson. Today, billions of products have built-in Bluetooth to connect with other wireless devices.

The beginning of WiFi

WiFi was made possible in 1997, thanks to a Dutch project led by Victor Hayes. Dutch Cees Links, also known as the father of WiFi, played a vital role. WiFi was named after a mix of HiFi (High Fidelity) and Wireless. WiFi technology as we know it today was developed by Australian company CSIRO.

Real or rumours?

There are often several theories about the true origin of certain creations. The following have been rumoured to be invented by the Dutch, only to be denied the honour by others:
 Printed text
 Windmills
 The chocolate bar
 Doughnuts


Source: www.quora.com

What are some mind-blowing facts about Netherlands?

The most interesting facts are different to different people, but I give you some remarkable facts.

  1. Dutch people are the tallest in the world. I don’t know why this is, but it must have something to do with how we eat, and what we eat.Ranked: The countries with the tallest people in the world
  2. We have a province entirely made out of the sea, hundred years ago the sea was called Zuiderzee, now what is left of it is called the Marker Meer, and IJsselmeer. And I happen to live in that province, in the new city (200.000) Almere. Almere will host the World Floriade Expo in 2022.Expo 2022 Floriade Almere

3. Colombia has the cocaine, Afghanistan the opium, but Holland is the largest producer of synthetic drugs, not something to be proud of. The criminals behind it have become so rich and powerful that they have started to undermine our peaceful society.Dutch ecstasy, amphetamine production among world's largest | DW | 25.08.2018

4. Theo Van Gogh, descendant of Vincent Van Gogh was one of the first to be killed in a terrorist attack in the streets because of what he believed. He had no problem insulting Islam. He was right, because radical Islam is an insult to this world.Theo van Gogh (film director) - Wikipedia

5. Dutch have invented the microscope, and water-hose but are also the inventors of the speed camera.10 important Dutch inventions

6. The great grandmother of the Dutch King was the richest woman on earth. Don’t ask how they gathered their wealth, because nobody could be proud of that (colonialism-opium).http://revoltnow.wikifoundry.com/page/Queen+Wilhelmina+-+Queen+of+the+Netherlands%3B+The+World%27s+Richest+Woman

7. Our current Premier, Mark Rutte, if he finishes his term, he will be the longest sitting democratic leader of our country, almost 12 years. Lijst van premiers van Nederland - Wikipedia

8. It has only been in 2019 that the wolf returned, after being extinct for centuries. At this moment at least 8 wolves have found a home in our country. It’s a couple with 5 cubs, and a lone female.Wolves back in Netherlands after 140 years

9 Holland is a low country, that’s right, but the village of Vijlen lays on an altitude of 200 m (600ft).

10. Raccoon and raccoon-dog (different species) have settled in The Netherlands. Some specialist say there are here to stay (don’t belong here) and very hard to get rid of like the beaver rat, and the musk rat. Dutch raccoons breed in the wild for first time - DutchNews.nl

raccoon dog (wasbeerhond).

11. A Dutch photographer is partly responsible for the media image of two of the biggest bands in the world, his name, Anton Corbijn.

12. Next year The Netherlands, Rotterdam will host the Eurovision Songcontest. Besides that, we also celebrate 75 years of freedom (since 2nd WW).

13. Holland gave the world dance music (new style), and hosts the biggest dance event in the world.7 Dutch DJs make it into the world's top 10

Amsterdam dance event.

14 Gay Pride Dutch style, on the Amsterdam Canals, since 1996.

15 In Russia they choose Stalin to be the “greatest Russian” of all times. In The Netherlands “we”choose Pim Fortuyn. He was a politician, marginalized by his colleagues, but popular among the people. When some lunatic killed him in day time, when he left a radio studio, it made him even more popular.Pim Fortuyn grootste Nederlander aller tijden

Pim Fortuyn.

16 We have a politician who has to be guarded 24/7, and lives at a secret address. That has been his situation for 15 years, because he criticized the Islam. His name is Geert Wilders.

The painted blonde in the middle is Wilders.


Source: www.Quora.com

Steaks