Coffee: nearly everyone sometimes drinks a cup (or two But how good is the caffeine provided for you It is the most widely used psychoactive stimulant there is And how the hell can a morning coffee be considered a drug caffeine is a drug because it is psychoactive and stimulates the central nervous system albeit in a milder way than most other substances and many of us even rely on it to function properly That poses an interesting question: is caffeine good for us or not and either a lot of sugar or artificial sweeteners This would not have the same positive effect as coffee So choose your source carefully and stick to the OG: coffee that depends on who you are and how you use it something achieved by blocking the receptors in your brain that receive the signals that make you sleepy That means that if you have a cup of coffee at 16:00 you still have half a cup of coffee’s worth of caffeine in your system It also means that the more caffeine you have throughout the day the longer you have to wait before it leaves your system  As anyone who’s gone a few days without a good night’s rest knows sleep is one of the most critical factors for health and daily function drinking 3+ cups of coffee worth of caffeine will likely negatively affect your sleep and potentially your health meaning caffeine will only increase it further potentially leading to anxiety and jitteriness An hour or two after waking up is the perfect time in this regard and sticking to the classics—not too early Twitter: @Escapation Overtime: Van De Coevering will be sharing his wisdom about innovation in event technology during a seminar at InfoComm 2018 on Tuesday Why You Need to Know Him: If you haven’t seen Van De Coevering’s work yet and brand experience solutions for clients throughout Las Vegas and beyond he’s also worked on such projects as American Idol and what would constitute a music lover’s must-see list of festivals and events in the U.S A daily selection of the top stories for AV integrators There’s no arguing he’s talented but he’d argue that no one can be so talented on his own “I could not have done this without connections to people who are also excited to do new things,” he said citing Vello Virkhaus of V Squared Labs as his first and have shared their knowledge and collaborated with him in ways that allow for seemingly limitless innovation “Nothing’s possible without other people," said Van De Coevering Honest Mistakes: One of his greatest pleasures is connecting all the people he counts on putting people to work together who may not normally do so then watches and guides as creative solutions develop It’s an approach that’s part of his overarching philosophy something that may have to do with his self-described “sober thinking” Dutch upbringing— that it’s better to try something and fail studying systems administration in college but ultimately realized he wanted to pursue more creative opportunities “It is always a scary thing for a lot of companies,” Van De Coevering said “But the only way of knowing if something is possible is by actually doing it and then you can tweak it and try it again Never Stop Learning: When Van De Coevering’s putting disparate parts together in that way The same holds true for his life outside of work where he’s constantly trying to learn new things whether it’s by reading a book about quantum physics (“Which I don’t understand at all,” he noted) seeing a movie with an intriguing production or networking with people he wouldn’t normally have met otherwise “I am very interested in different things,” he said “I like to like get as much knowledge as I can.” It is with his extracurriculars influencing his work “Basically any conversation I have with someone how can we create something great together?” he said “Even if it’s someone that does irrigation repair or something ‘How does that work?’ I want to know Meet the rest of The Nine. columnist Lukas van de Coevering has been dragging himself to his early lectures these past few weeks it is due to the myth of the noble early bird You’re ripped from your dreams into a state of half-consciousness by the wretched sound of one of your phone’s many default alarms Despite your every instinct pulling you back into a blissful slumber you will slowly force yourself out of bed and grudgingly get ready to fulfill your obligation: the 9 am class you will join your groggy peers on the crammed commute to university your chosen source of caffeine will be the only thing between you and falling asleep in your chair in the partially empty lecture hall science corroborates that many students do not deal well with early classes A study in 2023 of Singaporean university students showed that attendance went from 50 percent for 9 am classes to 60 percent for 10 am classes sleep duration and grade point averages were significantly higher for students who had later classes So why do we make ourselves suffer like this it’s because of a myth perpetuated throughout our society since before living memory One who gets up at 5 for productivity’s sake sacrificing comfort to get ahead of those too weak to do so It is a badge of honor and discipline when someone can get on with their day sooner rather than later The reality is that sleep is one of the most essential factors for a human’s mental and physical health Just watch Fight Club again if you need to be reminded of what happens when you don’t sleep well The obvious solution to this is for students to sleep on time so they aren’t tired of early classes The fact is that you can’t get most people to do this our circadian rhythms are delayed as teenagers and young adults meaning we biologically want to fall asleep later than older people We don’t want to maintain a spartan regimen of being in bed by 10 pm every night If we extrapolate the results of the study I mentioned earlier such a change would mean 4,400 more UvA students would attend lectures every day Public transport would be less burdened and we would all be healthier Being that noble early riser sounds cool until you feel like crap most days of the week trying to make it to a 9 am lecture I challenge anyone to convince me otherwise Family owned and operated for over 85 years passed peacefully into the arms of Jesus on Monday She was preceded in death by her prior husbands Claude Vander Ploeg and Bill Van Coevering; twin brothers John Edward and Edward John Vander Veen; and step-daughter and Joyce Van Coevering along with 17 grandchildren 15 great grandchildren and 2 great-great grandchildren A few years after graduating from Ottawa Hills High School in 1939 and shortly before Claude shipped out to land in Normandy during WWII Bette and then Circuit Judge Vander Ploeg had their four children Julie and Susan.  A few years later Bette married Bill Van Coevering and became very involved in the lives of her step children Bette was a woman of many interests.  She followed her family closely and was active on Facebook right up to the date of her death She was an accomplished seamstress creating beautiful garments and quilts well into her 90's.  She traveled sang in church and community choirs and enjoyed gardening.  Bette was a devoted Christian who worshipped with many congregations during her long life Eastminster Presbyterian and most recently Brookside Christian Reformed.  A private memorial service will be held Saturday November 7 at Matthysse Kuiper DeGraaf Funeral Home   In lieu of flowers please consider memorial contributions to the Family Hope Foundation Designer’s Choice Grand Vase Arrangement 616.724.1800 | Contact Us | Careers | Customer Reviews | Delivery/Refund Policy | © 2025 MKD Funeral Homes Upon completing your online flower order, our florist will immediately receive the details of your purchase. Our florist will then prepare your arrangement(s) with care and make the delivery to the location you provided during the ordering process. If you experience any problems with the product you ordered, please contact our business office by email at admin@mkdfuneralhome.com What role should artificial intelligence play at the university Our brand new student columnist Lukas van de Coevering writes in his first column about the pioneering role the UvA should take “Do we want to leave students without experience of something that is rapidly becoming ubiquitous in the modern world?” Does Artificial Intelligence have a place at an innovative university Though it markets itself as being forward-thinking the general policy thus far has been that any AI-written work is plagiarized material This luddite approach doesn’t solve anything and it will only get better and better at what it does it might already be better than us at the university level. A recent study at the University of Reading showed as much Researchers created fictional student identities and submitted take-home work for grading that was completely written by Chat-GPT The submissions written by AI were graded higher on average than students' work with only 1 out of 33 flagged for being AI-generated The complete disruption of our way of learning is now a quantified reality rather than a distant possibility.  On the one hand it makes sense to ban using AI in assignments and just as stealing another individual's work is cheating Chat-GPT responses are just a novel aggregation of already created content none of this matters because AI can and thus will be used by students.  One option is to have all assignments written on pen and paper or even done in person during tutorials Never in history has trying to stem the adoption of a technology successfully worked Do we want to leave students without experience using something that is quickly becoming ubiquitous in the modern world If university is to prepare us as students to go forth into the world we need to learn according to how that world works This means completely rethinking university-level education If the UvA started taking the lead on this it could actually be at the forefront of innovative education rather than fighting a doomed battle against AI along with most other universities so far. The University of Reading where the aforementioned study on AI's ability to do coursework was published They aim to move away from homework and create assignments that involve students in real-world environments They will even begin integrating AI into assignments preparing students for a world in which technological literacy is essential.  The UvA has to change its policy before it becomes an outmoded university the nature of how AI will be used can be determined in a calculated manner instead of in an inevitable rush to catch up with the rest of the world at a time when this very article could have itself been written by Chat-GPT should we continue to consider it a gimmick or should we start treating it as the revolutionary technology that it is The city says the home improvement store Menards is dodging taxes The city of Escanaba is taking on big box stores in the Michigan Supreme Court and it’s been used more often in recent years by the Michigan Tax Tribunal when assessing property taxes It determines property taxes for fully-functioning retailers like Target and Wal-Mart based on nearby empty stores Jack Van Coevering is the attorney for the city of Escanaba – which is going up against the home improvement chain Menards He said the city wants the big box stores to be taxed like other stores “Fundamentally there’s a fairness issue that local retailers are being taxed at a much much higher per-square-foot value than these big box stores,” he said.    communities that have a tax base that is largely somewhat small because huge tracks of land are federally owned or state owned and can’t be taxed,” he said “For a lot of local units this is the difference between a library being open on Saturday.” Michigan Senator Tom Casperson has said he plans to reintroduce legislation to prevent big box stores from appealing their tax assessments to the Michigan Tax Tribunal It’s the tribunal that has been allowing retailers to lower their assessments with this strategy in recent years WDET is a community service of Wayne State University CONTACT Membership Sponsorship Studio Rentals Technical Support Pitch Us a Story Help/FAQ Other Inquiries Shows Podcasts Schedule Listen Live Contests & Giveaways SUPPORT WDET Membership Leadership Circle Car Donations Business Sponsorship Broadcast Partners Program More » INSIDE WDET About Staff Jobs & Internships Public File FCC Applications After a public hearing during Monday's regular meeting Zeeland City Council unanimously voted to revoke a tax break for Consumers Energy The vote must be approved by the Michigan Tax Commission before taking effect City Attorney Jim Donkersloot estimated the state approval could take "a few months," as it does when city council approves a tax break No city official could recall ever revoking a tax abatement Zeeland City Council members made the move in light of an ongoing dispute with the utility over the value of its power-generating plant Consumers Energy appealed to the Michigan Tax Tribunal to lower the assessment on that plant The company bought the gas-powered plant in 2007 for $517 million VanderVries said the current value is at least $521 million His assessment put the current state-equalized value at $260 million; the utility wants that cut to $112 million The plant is capable of providing power to an area with up to 800,000 people nearly one-tenth of the state's population The tax abatement at issue is set to expire in 2018 Another abatement with the city expires Dec Consumers' tax bill last year was $7.3 million the attorney hired to represent the city at state tax tribunal hearings said city officials are well within their rights to revoke the abatement that Consumers would not challenge its assessments while the abatement remained in effect told city council the effects of the recession caused the plant's assessment to spike by 60 percent the city received more than $3 million above the amount estimated when the contract was signed and the county received more than $8 million above the estimate electric demand is down from more efficient processes and reduced use The generating plant is the city's largest single taxpayer Baustian and City Manager Tim Klunder noted having a good working relationship Baustian and Consumers spokesman Roger Morgenstern said the company will continue to support community events and work with city officials The tax tribunal case could take up to two years to resolve Van Coevering suggested utility officials were being disingenuous in challenging the assessment "has never been more valuable than it is now" because the company is being required to take seven coal-powered plants offline He also said two parties can "be $100,000 apart and only inches from a settlement." — Follow this reporter on Facebook and Twitter When I visited the dark web for the first time some years ago — for a story I was working on not to treat myself to some crack cocaine — I remember users constantly reassuring each other how truly anonymous it was “The FBI does not have a prayer of a chance of finding out who is who,” was how someone put it in one of Bitcoin’s forums in June 2013 While it’s true that the owners of Bitcoin addresses are supposed to be anonymous the transactions are public for everyone to see So once you know the person behind the address illicit transactions can easily be traced back to the buyer or seller Think of it as writing under a pseudonym; your privacy is protected until someone doxes you In some cases, this is as easy as doing a bit of Googling — more or less. Earlier this year, Qatari researchers crawled 1,500 hidden services They collected 88 unique Bitcoin addresses these online identities could be easily linked to real email addresses social media accounts and sometimes even home addresses When I ask police officer and dark web specialist Nan van de Coevering about this method to track criminals on the dark web there’s a lot more to it than putting some nicknames in Google.” European tech superstars: Hear from Datasnipper investors and innovation champions at TNW Conference on June 19 & 20 Van de Coevering became head of the Dutch police’s dark web division in early 2017 about six months before her team would pull off one the biggest tech operations in the organization’s history: the takeover of dark web marketplace Hansa Market Hansa Market was one of the bigger marketplaces selling mostly illegal products The police’s High Tech Crime Team had received a tip in 2016 that led them to the website’s server location which was in Lithuania at the time of the take-over This was the game plan for “Operation Bayonet”: Programmers had built an exact copy of Hansa Market They would take down the real version and immediately push their own copy live so buyers and sellers wouldn’t notice anything was wrong But because the website would be fully controlled by the police they could monitor everything that went on from that moment onwards “We only had a few minutes of downtime,” remembers Van de Coevering The takeover operation took place in their headquarters in Driebergen “We were all crammed in this tiny room: Nine programmers working frantically to get the website up as soon as possible It was one of the best nights of my career every transaction on Hansa Market was visible to Van de Coevering and her team The website received about 1000 orders every day “The international data was passed on to Europol,” says Van de Coevering The data derived from Dutch trades on the platform The reason the Hansa Market operation focused mostly on the drug trade “Drugs produced in the Netherlands have the dubious honor of being internationally recognized for their high quality and many suppliers are located here.”  “Catching the big guys  — the vendors and admins  — was our main priority,” says Van de Coevering About a dozen of the site’s top drug dealers were arrested soon after the takeover The police confiscated millions of dollars of bitcoin as well the police engaged in a “knock and talk” operation where they confronted 37 Dutch people with their drugs purchases on Hansa Market One of them turned out to have ordered 150 ecstasy pills and was taken into custody “We want people to know they’re not anonymous on the dark web So how did the Dutch police know on which doors to knock Several methods are used to link personal identities to crypto transactions her team crawls Open Source Intelligence (OSINT) sources to find matches These sources can be social media profiles public registers and even online newspaper articles identifying a dark web criminal isn’t that different from traditional police work Regulated cryptocurrency exchanges — generally those in the US or Europe— can also be of service here Because they are legally bound by “know your customer” policies and anti-money laundering rules users can only register upon handing over identification How long it takes to find dark web criminals largely depends on how well they’ve covered their tracks. Often an escrow service is used, meaning transactions are not done directly but through an intermediary. Other times, buyers use a crypto tumbler (also known as a mixer) This service obscures crypto payments by mixing them up with other payments Or traders use software to convert “dirty” coins that are relatively easy to trace Think of it as the crypto version of money laundering The Dark Web team frequently uses software by Chainalysis a company that specializes in forensic analysis of virtual currencies This program leverages machine learning to detect clusters of entities in the blockchain some of which may be involved in criminal activities When there are several addresses behind the same transaction this could indicate one person is securing smaller funds into one bigger pot Another suspicious pattern occurs when change from a bitcoin transaction is sent to a different account than where the payment originated from “We have seen new kinds of crime popping up,” says Chainalysis CEO Michael Gronager which have been more frequent over the past few years Gronager and his team are currently looking into adding new virtual currencies, probably starting with the bigger ones: Ethereum and LiteCoin. The more anonymous coins that are popular among criminals might be added at some point but are not on the roadmap right now Which brings us to the more frustrating part of modern-day police work: There will always be new virtual coins to be used Van de Coevering realizes she faces an uphill battle Just like crypto crime will only become bigger.” Operation Bayonet delivered a big blow to underground markets, specifically because it was coordinated with the takeover of an even bigger marketplace: AlphaBay. And the effect wasn’t just visible in those two marketplaces, researchers from Dutch research institute TNO discovered where many AlphaBay and Hansa Market“refugees” migrated to after the takedowns Data revealed that almost half of these vendors had failed to take evasive action like changing usernames or PGP setups the takeover of Hansa Market seems to be a gift that keeps on giving Criminal communities are still thriving on the dark web that means the organization needs to keep evolving and innovating “We no longer just need good detectives,” says Van de Coevering “We need people from various backgrounds: programmers she’s a telling example of this new type of officer “I still can’t write one line of code but I do fully understand how the blockchain works — a concept I had never heard about a few years ago All it takes is some time and a curious mind.” Now that much crime has gone digital, the Dutch police need tech talent more than ever. Check out the various tech jobs they have to offer Get the most important tech news in your inbox each week This post is brought to you by the Dutch police International students should leave Amsterdam more to visit other parts of the Netherlands it’s such a small country that is easily traveled I’ve noticed that my peers coming in from abroad don't get out of the city much at all The Netherlands is the most densely populated country in the EU There is probably not a place in Europe where you can travel so little and see so much to prove it and encourage more internationals to explore the Netherlands no further than an hour away from Amsterdam that will give you the perfect day-trip adventure Rotterdam is the second most populous city in the Netherlands and looks like the polar opposite of Amsterdam Having been destroyed during the German invasion in the Second World War you enter an urban jungle of skyscrapers and concrete right as you leave Central Station It’s not the prettiest place to live but it’s certainly interesting to visit My ideal day through the city would start with a stroll down Coolsingel one of the few preserved older buildings in the center you can walk through the city center and towards Museumpark a garden adorned with modern architecture is surrounded by all kinds of creative institutions that form a Mecca of modernism My favorites are the Chabot Museum and House Zonneveld where collections of art and furniture from the 20th century fill two white 1930s modernist villas you can head west to get some great food in the Stadsdriehoek neighborhood exploring the lively Witte de Withstraat and walking along the waterfront to see the Erasmusbrug will give you a real sense of the atmosphere and scale of the city you can check out all the classic sights like the famous market hall the modernist catholic church ‘Het Steiger’ and the cube houses with their funky architecture instead of eating at the overpriced market hall I would get delicious authentic ramen at ‘Hinoki’ with some Asahi-brand Japanese beer If you want to try some really nice cocktails at a classy venue the cocktail bar ‘Jigger’ is the way to go ending the night at Locus Publicus is a great option too Just remember when your last train leaves before you let loose ‘Dutch nature’ is only an abstract concept that has yet to be observed and it’s literally just north of the ring road of Amsterdam though perhaps with fewer trees than you may have imagined To bike to the municipality’s main town called Broek in Waterland (literally meaning pants in water-land) it’ll take you just under 50 minutes from REC so head north and explore those on the way the trip is about the journey; the destination is less important You can stop by ‘Geitenhouderij Ons Verlangen,’ a little farm vending machine with fresh milk and produce (it’s like FEBO for dairy and meat) you can go to the cafe ‘Het Schoolhuis’ in Holysloot for a great apple pie with a view of the surrounding fields making it to Broek in Waterland gives you the best options and a beautiful old church to wander through Everything is lovely in Waterland; pick a route and start riding The business in shopping centre De Coevering in Geldrop will be taken over by a fellow french-fry shop owner The problems of no successor and the lack of sufficient staff started to bother the 59-year-old from Geldrop “I was about fifteen years old when I came to work here but at some point the old owner asked if I wanted to come back And together with an associate I took over the business a year later” because neither of them had had much schooling “At first the snack bar was only 75 square metres but later we remodeled twice and included the barber shop that was next door My business partner had long since dropped out by then Restaria De Coevering is a household name in the neighbourhood and in the whole of Geldrop – and even Heeze – they come here to eat or get fries” The problem of getting employees is perhaps the main reason Jack decided to get rid of his restaria – despite its success “I would prefer to be open seven days a week but we are now forced to close on Tuesdays I am getting older by the day and I was seriously ill two years ago That’s when you start thinking about the future” Jack says he still managed to get through the corona years reasonably well but now that he is once again facing understaffing and also sees purchasing and energy prices rising “I’m saying goodbye at my peak” “I still have a top business and now there are people who want to take over from me” the so-called Restaria formula is history and ‘De Coevering’ will be changed to a “Bakhuus” franchise business by the new operator “All current employees will be taken over and the quality we always guaranteed will be maintained” The customers who are there at the moment are confident “It’s always cozy here and you get friendly service I assume that this is also the case with the new owners Because for the tasty fries and platters we would love to come back!” Is there still such a thing as ‘the blacksmith’s secret’ when it comes to the fries Jack: “This has everything to do with the quality of the potatoes Our fries are made at the factory and delivered here frozen twice a week The quality is beyond question as far as I’m concerned although we do use the slogan here: ‘There’s no arguing about taste’ “ Source: Studio040 and website in this browser for the next time I comment Δdocument.getElementById( "ak_js_1" ).setAttribute( "value" The end of an era is approaching for Corrie and Leo Hendriks they ran the Primera together in the Coevering shopping centre in Geldrop “I normally work about 70 hours a week Going out spontaneously isn’t easy for him Corrie will continue to work for the new owner “I want to give myself at least a six-month break Now I want to invest my time in my hobbies” She likes to play the clarinet and has been with the local orchestra for years There will be no farewell party because of the anti-coronavirus measures Forty years of running a shop together isn’t their only milestone Leo and Corrie have also been married for 40 years “Working together made us really happy” The couple last day at work will be on Saturday 29 August Source: Studio040 Nearly six thousand households in Geldrop were without power for about two hours Thursday night due to a power failure This power shortage also caused problems at the local Jumbo “We are sitting comfortably with a candle and a blanket,” says Liesbeth Smans from Geldrop The lights suddenly went out at a little before five in her place as well “They say it will last until a quarter to seven so we just wait and see.” Until then she just listens to some radio on the phone The power in the Jumbo on the Coevering was also out all the shutters in the supermarket were down and customers were stuck for half an hour they were ushered out of the building via the emergency exit “Suddenly the lights started flashing,” says Shyamen Bollen “Then it got completely dark and the shutters went down.” Employees rushed to the shelves to cover the food Most customers did not find it very exciting: most of them wanted to be first in line for the checkout The power outage mainly occurred in the districts of Braakhuizen and Coevering leaving almost half of Geldrop without power “Sorry for the inconvenience,” says grid operator Enexis