Syntax Highlighting in Blogger

I want to write about code and I like to see my code nicely formatted. I have seen it done on other blogs so I started to look around how it was done. The nicest formatted code all used syntaxhighlighter. So I wanted to use this tool as well.

In my search I came across some older posts which seemed outdated. In the end I found the right place for reference. Just go straight to Alex Gorbatchev's site about the tool he made.

If your curious about how to use syntaxhighlighter in blogger read techqi's blog. I would be repeating him if I would explain how to use syntaxhighlighter in blogger. Don't forget to read the comments for the original posting misses an imported blogger related configuration.

Last but not least, something that the above blog does not mention. Do not forget to donate. The tool that Alex made is really great and he deserves credit for it. Why not make it some real credit he can spend.

Reasons to Twitter

In this blog I list my reason for starting to twitter.

I have started twittering. Not that anybody noticed, but that is besides the point. Twitter started in 2006 so it took me a long time before I joined the bandwagon. So why join now?

There are various reasons to twitter. Twitter gives protesters in Iran a voice to vent their frustration about the recent elections. They also provide an information stream for journalists which are refused to enter the country. Twitter therefore empowers people who otherwise would not be heard.

I think that the web is still gaining an influential role in the social lives of a lot of people. One of the means to communicate in this on-line network is twitter. Although the value of this communication can be questioned, it is never the less a means to express your self in this network. As such, it can act as a social glue which brings people closer together.

Furthermore reading my tweets is voluntarily. I force nobody to follow my twitter account. (Nor for that matter my blog.) So by reading my tweets your are fulfilling a need. I think this need is the main reason for me to start twittering. People want to read about the trivialities of other peoples life's.

Emancipation of Dutch Naming Laws

In this blog I wonder about the peculiarities of Dutch naming laws.

I am getting married and my girlfriend and I decided that I will take her last name. The main reason for doing this is my conviction that the emancipation of women is not fully adopted in the Netherlands.

Since 1998 men in the Netherlands are able to legally take the name of their partners. Not a lot of couples are using this right. Trouw (in Dutch) published an article with the following numbers. In approximately two percent of the married couples the men adopted the name of their spouse.
What is worse is that 83% of women prefer to take the name of their husband.

Although these numbers concern me, I found the following troublesome. Yesterday my girlfriend and I signed a notice of marriage. The official present told us that our children will have my name unless we sign a form. This form can only be signed during pregnancy before our children are born.

Why this archaic law in a country which calls itself emancipated?