The wheather changes faster than lightning nowadays. After the heavy snow yesterday with hundreds of people stranded, today it is rain again and most of the snow has been washed away.

The last day of the year of course offers a great opportunity to look back and forward. One of the highlights was the Blognomics activities, which we will take further in 2006.

As predicted all became white. Warnings not to travel are issued as we are not used to this kind of wheather. Roderick of course believes it is great.

The new Leica Dlux2, the successor to the old snapper Dlux is much more advanced. With different (a lot actually) features to play around with, this will be my new companion for point-and-shoot.

With Christmas we share the light and warmth with all our friends and family. The darnkness outside makes it even more special.

A gala evening to celebrate sports in The Netherlands. In an interesting and entertaining evening, the top of the Dutch sportsworld showed their qualities and selected the true champions among them.

Another interesting day today doing the 020-070-035 triangle on new and main stream media. Creating the right perspectives including balanced views and such is a challenge in a world that is so full of fast paced change. On the otherhand traction is being made on all fronts creating a good foundation for the Dutch (digital) creative industries.

In the evening a pleasent diner with the Creative Industry in Ouderkerk aan de Amstel. A group of around 30 influencers and key individuals from the sector came together to think about the Crossmediaweek which will be held in Amsterdam end of September 2006. The week will include a two day conference, a gamezone and many more elements geared at the international creative community.

The state of the Dutch Telecom sector was discussed and contemplated over at Telecomtime. Around 900 people attend the conference and exhibition. Key observations are that the Dutch market is still depending a lot on traditional mobile services (voice and text) being offered at more and more discounted levels to attract churners to either 3G or another network in a crowded market. On the fixed side things are moving along nicer with a very high broadband penetration and all players moving in triple play or more, based on IP. One thing lacking was some more advanced technology in use. Contrairy to for example LesBlogs, in this conference notetaking was done on paper rather then mobile devices.

Moving towards Christmas is wonderful. Even though a wet Christmas is more likely than a white Christmas, the atmosphere is nice and people are warm and cosey.

Being a friend of Eckart Wintzen is nice. Not only is Eckart an amazing creative guy, he also surprises with great gifts and attentions. For Christmas he has created a three way glass, which creates a challenging drinking experience.

The media environment is fascinating. Main stream media are being supplemented by participation media and further complemented by new media. In short for the Dutch Creative Industry there is a lot of excitement coming around. With the right people shifting gear, good traction will be created.

The difference between a view and perspective is subtle. Both were interesting.

Roderick has picked up a pair of funny glasses. Originally he was not interested in them at all, but after watching Harry Potter things have changed. He is keen to put them on and tries to be funny with them. A noble effort.

The same can be said about Nextstage, an organisation trying to help entrepreneurs in growing. At today's gathering some experts came around on informal 'business angel' financing. The message was not to get your hopes up too high if you're an entrepreneur trying to get money from them. Still there is money around throught different sources, so if entrepreneurs try, they probably find the right money for them, if the idea and execution are good enough. In the end we live in the real world....

125 is the addition of the three area codes that I visit most. Today for example was area code 070 again. My most frequented area codes in my life at the moment are 020 035 and 070. They represent the spread of telecommunications, media, new media and the public sector. Those were represented today too.

Following yesterday's cosmoqueen party today I visited the Miljonair Fair in the RAI. Over an extensive number of halls, all kinds of lux goods and services being displayed to an overwhelming audience. The five day event does not appear to be hit by the current economic conditions.

The cosmoqueen session in Leusden was interesting. First the goal of the gathering was to raise money for Jordan by selling scarfs and having an auction for a rich assortment of items, including a VW Phaeton. We left before the car was auctioned, so I am interested whether it sold or not....

The holiday season is in full swing. After Sinterklaas the preparations for Christmas are being ignited.

Meeting at the Olympic Stadium in Amsterdam always stimulates both competition and teamwork, just what we wanted for today. Next to a shareholder meeting we had time to discuss the latest in gaming, such as xbox 360 racing game on a HDTV.

At the National Innovation event Vincent and I presented the suggestions that were generated yesterday to Jan Kees de Jager of the IP. He received them enthousiastically being an entrepreneur himself. Some of the suggestions made it to the final eight ideas the audience could vote for. And the fiscal stimulation idea for starters even made it one.

The creative industry (creatieve industrie) had a pavilion at the event. The pavilion does not have the same size as the share of mind the creative industry is gaining, but with time that will come. Being there with a promising future is a good foundation.

The opportunity to facilitate discussion on innovation with a large group of decision makers and influencers and to be able to share the advise and suggestions with the Dutch Innovation Platform is unique. Yesterday the fifth Diner Pensant took place with exactly that theme and purpose. Following interesting and challenging keynotes by Joop Sistermans, member of the Innovation Platform and TNO and Sony, we had interactive group discussions, that were mindmapped. Dorrit Gruijters and I took the input from both the discussions and the seperate suggestions that came in and turned those in some practical and strategical suggestions, that included among others to ensure stimulation on innovation and entrepreneurship from early school days onwards, the inclusion of international corporates in Dutch innovation and the acceleration of standard setting to ensure quick deployments. Dorrit and I offered the suggestions to Joop Sistermans and they will be presented further today during the National Innovation Event. Again I was lucky (and maybe my readers too :) ) to have Adriaan Verstijnen around to capture what was going on in his high quality pictures.

Shipped from the USA came crated quality from Dan Smith of http://theislandartist.com His interpretation of the picture I have sent him is excellent and also the finish of material is superb. A job well done. Given the current bad light, I'll post some better pictures as soon as they come available.

The Sunday after a day with lots of gifts is wonderful for kids. Playing all day with the new toys...waking up in the middle of the night...waking up early in the morning...what excitement....

When you are 4 or 5 years old, sinterklaas is full of excitement. Especially when you get nice toys and costumes to dress up....Batman has overtaken spiderman...

Converging was the theme of the New Technology Event in the Expo XX in Amsterdam. An interesting line up of speakers discussed the convergence between media and technology.

Live blogging at such events is still in its infancy in The Netherlands, espcially given that some computers require big cables to provide them with energy.