No, I don’t know what it means either. But treat yourself if you have three minutes, and enjoy this weird site.
Via Fark, of course.
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About Bad Astronomy
Phil Plait, the creator of Bad Astronomy, is an astronomer, lecturer, and author. After ten years working on Hubble Space Telescope and six more working on astronomy education, he struck out on his own as a writer. He's written two books, dozens of magazine articles, and 12 bazillion blog articles. He is a skeptic and fights the abuse of science, but his true love is praising the wonders of real science.
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February 2nd, 2008 at 11:04 am
HEMA is a dutch retail chain, and “online winkel” means online shop.
They’ve recently started selling their products online so there you go.
Pretty cool indeed.
February 2nd, 2008 at 12:00 pm
Umm, I hope they don’t abide by the Pottery Barn Rule!
February 2nd, 2008 at 12:06 pm
[...] The Bad Astronomer wrote an interesting post today on HEMA – online winkelenHere’s a quick excerptNo, I don’t know what it means either. But treat yourself if you have three minutes, and enjoy this weird site. Via Fark, of course. [...]
February 2nd, 2008 at 12:22 pm
HEMA=Hollandse Eenheidsprijzen Maatschappij Amsterdam. Eh..how do you translate that? Dutch Unity-prices Society Amsterdam. In English: DUSA.
February 2nd, 2008 at 1:31 pm
i want it, dont know what it is but i want it
February 2nd, 2008 at 2:12 pm
REALLY FREAKIN’ AWESOME! Made my friend and I laugh during physics homework – takes a lot of work. Yay HEMA! Yay Netherlands!
February 2nd, 2008 at 4:32 pm
A friend of mine emailed me that site the other day. He claimed it was a legitimate shopping site for a Dutch store. However, none of the links work. Not for the products, not the “Home” link, or any of the other ones at the top of the page. The search box is completely non-functional.
If you ask me, the damn thing is the biggest hoax perpetrated upon mankind since the moon landing.
February 2nd, 2008 at 5:27 pm
This site is a relic of the old internet sales site that has changed address as indicated in the carton at the end of animation. The new address is hema.nl whose links work, if you speak dutch.
February 2nd, 2008 at 5:34 pm
When I told my students about that site ( http://producten.hema.nl/ with no need for fark), one of them told me about this one ( http://origin.www.atomfilms.com/film/animator_vs_animation.jsp ) and this one ( http://alanbecker.deviantart.com/art/Animator-vs-Animation-II-50891749 ).
February 2nd, 2008 at 6:30 pm
Lugosi, it’s an ad for the main site, hema.nl, which does work normally. I don’t know if they changed the text on the site after you wrote your post, but to claim the site is a hoax with clearly no understanding of the content seems a little premature, at best.
If you care to check the ownership of that domain you will see that it is owned by the actual company Hema B.V. As for the “?whatthefark” part in the URL.. you might as well change it to “?BadAstronomyRox” and it would still work.
February 2nd, 2008 at 7:36 pm
slang: So if I understand you correctly, you’re saying that while the site is NOT a hoax, the moon landing is? Thanks for clearing that up!
By the way, have you checked with the Lost & Found Dept? Someone may already have turned in your sense of humor.
February 2nd, 2008 at 9:03 pm
Oh, that site’s obviously a hoax. I mean, look at the radio. It’s labeled “ghettoblaster.” If that was a real site, they wouldn’t be using 25-year-old English slang. And do you really expect me to believe that a blender is called “blender” in Dutch? How gullible do you think I am? All you fancy “scientists” and you “scientific” “method” need to quit toeing the establishment’s line and look at the evidence!
February 2nd, 2008 at 9:53 pm
No Egaeus, I think you’re joking but HEMA is the real thing, I’ve been going there to buy relatively cheap but quality stuff with often interesting designs for practically my whole life. And yes, the Dutch call a blender a blender. As for the gettoblaster… design man, design…
Cool to suddenly get confronted with this on your site off all places Phill!
I’m a vegetarian myself, but people tell me you should definitally get some of their HEMA-worst!
February 3rd, 2008 at 12:11 am
I don’t speak Dutch, but the links still work for me
February 3rd, 2008 at 12:32 am
Someday…someday…AT&T will extend fiber optic cable the last three Km to my place and I too can enjoy all these sites that you rave about! AS it is, after “three minutes” it was all of 4% downloaded.
February 3rd, 2008 at 1:09 am
Adrianus wrote: “HEMA=Hollandse Eenheidsprijzen Maatschappij Amsterdam. Eh..how do you translate that? Dutch Unity-prices Society Amsterdam.” Co-operative society maybe? Thinking of the Co-op chain of stores here in the UK.
February 3rd, 2008 at 2:53 am
‘Eenheid’ should in this case be translated as ‘standard’, so HEMA = Hollandse Eenheidsprijzen Maatschappij Amsterdam = Dutch Standard Prices Company Amsterdam. The real HEMA online shopping page is:
http://hema.nl/nl-NL/winkel.aspx?navmethod=menu .
There is an item on en.wikipedia : http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/HEMA_%28store%29
February 3rd, 2008 at 3:09 am
I have shopped with HEMA regularly throughout my life, and my parents still visit them often, so it is quite surreal to read this post on a Sunday morning in the UK. The shop is quite unique, with their low prices, quality products and top design (well, for the most part). I don’t think there is really any comparison in either the US or the UK.
February 3rd, 2008 at 3:19 am
Hema is indeed an extisting shop which orginated in the Netherlands but which has also branches in other countries such as in Flanders.
It is known for inexpensive but quality material and many people here in Flanders happily buy goods in it.
February 3rd, 2008 at 5:46 am
Dang, Lugosi, you got me. There’s nothing wrong with my sense of humour, but when dealing with possible deniers it’s so hard to distinguish between sarcasm and real stupidity… sometimes you read something and think, he can not possibly be serious, he’s GOT to be kidding.. only to find out that it was not a joke :/ Not that your post was that bad tho’
February 3rd, 2008 at 6:13 am
slang: Pretty much all the comments I leave here–or make in real life–have at least a hint of sarcasm or irony…. Which may explain why I can hardly ever get a date without giving her cash up front.
The last thing I am is a science denier. I believe the ID people are a bunch of morons. Nor do I believe in most conspiracy theories. Simply put, any conspiracy involving more than one person is going to start leaking at some point. Moreover, the likelihood of such a leak increases exponentially with every additional person involved in a conspiracy. That goes for the moon landing, alleged UFO cover-ups, and JFK: Yes, it happened; no little green (or grey) men; and one a-hole with a gun.
That said, however, I do sincerely believe that the Bush Administration is out to systematically destroy Britney Spears’ credibility because she has threatened to reveal the truth about 9-11.
February 3rd, 2008 at 7:01 am
In the UK Woolworths is probably the closest to the Hema. Though they don’t have the nice sausages HEMA has… The things you miss when you move abroad..
February 3rd, 2008 at 8:00 am
Yikes, there is an X-rated ad on today’s main page. It uses the F-bomb and all. I hope there is a way to prevent this and that it never happens again.
February 3rd, 2008 at 8:04 am
That’s right! Britney Spears was supposed to have an autograph session there that day but her manager got a phone call, and all he said was, “Bless you, Karl! I’ll grab her right now,” and then he pulled her into the limo and off they drove at over 100 mph (with an escort, of course, or you could never do that there). They could see the dust in their rear view mirror. Hey, so I’m not the only one who has that problem with women wanting cash upfront? Good to know.
February 3rd, 2008 at 10:30 am
Haha, “ghettoblaster” for 23.95. This is the greatest European online shop ever!
February 3rd, 2008 at 10:33 am
Spaceguy:
“Yikes, there is an X-rated ad on today’s main page. It uses the F-bomb and all. I hope there is a way to prevent this and that it never happens again.”
Pornography? On the Internet?! Outrageous!!! Seriously though, it was probably just an anomaly. I’m sure Phil can email google and ask them to clear things up.
February 3rd, 2008 at 11:15 am
Egaeus: Trust me, it’s for real.
[1] American slang can be slow to reach Europe and can hang on longer there than it does here. The same holds true in the opposite direction.
[2] The English language is made up largely of adopted words from other languages, and now that it’s become “the world language,” it’s returning the favor(?). Most everyone over there is OK with that (except the French – the Académie wastes a gazillion francs a year trying to keep foreign words out of their language). “Blender” is nothing. The one that cracks me up is “camping,” which you see all over Germany and is pronounced “kemping.” Then there’s the strange things they do with English words in Japan…………..
Spaceguy: I get BA’s daily updates via e-mail, and I noticed the skanky porn ad too. Blecccccccchhhhhhhhhhh. I LOLd though, because the ad for “IM BIG B@$+@®D” appeard on the line immediately following BA’s link to “this weird site.” Welcome to Accidental Nonsequitur Theater!
February 3rd, 2008 at 11:21 am
Mark UK: Damn, I miss “Woollyworm’s”! Over on this side of the pond, they disappeared in the ’90s.
February 3rd, 2008 at 11:23 am
I am curious: what is so funny about the ghettoblaster? I don’t get the joke. No offence, English just isn’t my native language, that’s all.
February 3rd, 2008 at 12:17 pm
It’s those portable stereos (the bigger, the better) young guys (mostly) used to carry around before the days of iPods. Also known as boom boxes. They got the name “ghetto blaster” because you used to see a lot of young black guys (from what’s now known as “the hood” instead of the ghetto) carrying them around. They used to set them up and turn them up as loud as they could for break dancing. A derisive expression which some people consider offensive.
Nowadays it seems everyone who likes it loud just puts a huge stereo system in their car. I can’t stand being in the car next to one at a red light. It rattles my eyeballs and aggravates my depression.
February 3rd, 2008 at 12:20 pm
“Boom box” has been around longer and has pretty much passed into standard English (or at least American). You see it in print ads and even on the packaging.
February 3rd, 2008 at 2:47 pm
In a James Bond movie Q demonstrated a portable stereo with a built in bazooka, as he explained to Bond: “We call it a ghetto blaster”.
I guess the term “Boom Box” could have been used to a similar effect.
February 3rd, 2008 at 10:18 pm
Re English words making it into other languages: what about FUTBOL?
February 4th, 2008 at 12:02 am
WRT the passing of (american) English words into other languages, I find that the Germans have been the opposite of the French in this regard. When I worked there 15 years ago I encountered such things as “McDrive” (the McDonald’s drive-through), airbag, fitness, aerobics, news (as in the Nightly News, instead of the German Nachrichten), and so many more. I’m fairly fluent in German but in the telecom biz my vocabulary was pretty dismal. I found, though, that I would be understood if I simply “germanicized” the English word (that is, applied the appropriate articles, verb endings, etc). The best that I heard, though, was one of my German colleagues speaking about having “upgebacked” (backed up) the day’s documentation.
For further interesting reading, check this page out: http://tinyurl.com/2gkbvr
February 4th, 2008 at 1:57 am
Phil,
Don’t you have any filter against ads for BJs? Your server does you a disservice.
February 4th, 2008 at 10:39 am
On the back of French DVD releases one of the extras often is: “Le making of”.
No kidding.
February 4th, 2008 at 1:07 pm
Just to correct “Sereniteit” and there comment.
I know there is a problem with federalism in Belgium but “as yet” Flanders hasn’t been declared an independent nation and is still part of the kingdom of Belgium.
(sorry for being so pedantic)
June 23rd, 2008 at 7:06 am
[...] não entendo lhufas de holandês, fiquei em dúvida se era de fato um site de comércio online – neste link tem a resposta, com comentários muito bons também. Dedique três minutinhos de sua vida ao [...]