Posts Tagged ‘dutch’
World’s First Coins With QR Codes Will Start Circulating in the Netherlands Next Week
The coins will be available starting June 22, in both silver (5€ ) and gold (10€). Right now the code resolves as , which takes you to a Dutch Ministry of Finance page (in Dutch).
There’s no explanation of what the surprise might be — maybe a contest, maybe a historical link, perhaps a video tour of the place where Dutch money gets made.
The U.S. produces some pretty , but the bills are designed to thwart counterfeiters, not necessarily to edify collectors or engage smartphone users. As far as we know this is the first currency to be embedded with a link to the Internet.
They likely won’t be replacing Dutch euros anytime soon, however — only a limited number of coins were produced, to celebrate the 100th anniversary of the national mint in Utrecht.
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Video: Dutch Marine’s Helmetcam Delivers Thrilling First-Person-Shooter View of Raid on Pirate-Seized Ship
Does this herald a future where commanders get real-time intel from their warfighters' helmets?
Video gamers and warfighters alike will appreciate this stunning first-person-shooter view of a Dutch marine boarding team taking back a German merchant ship from Somali pirates. It's not hard to imagine many more soldiers of the future equipped with cameras so that commanders can have multiple on-the-ground views of rapid response operations carried out in real-time.
The marines were tasked with liberating 15 crewmen aboard the German merchant ship Taipan, which had been hijacked by 10 Somali pirates. The crew locked themselves securely within a safe room and called for assistance, according to a reader translation provided by the blog .
Action kicks off fast and furious as the marines fast-rope down from their helicopter under covering fire and begin securing the ravaged ship.
This goes beyond the surface parallels between the real-life footage and a first-person shooter such as Modern Warfare 2, or even the and video games meant to . That's because this ain't no game for the Dutch marines or the -- rather, the military-style lifecasting footage gives commanders new situational awareness in either real-time or for post-mission briefings.
In any case, we're certainly tickled to see how first-person-shooter camera angles have much more use than simply giving young moviegoers a thrill in a certain Kick-Ass scene.
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