My Diary – Leonardo Cardillo

How fine-art prints, coffee, and a village shop come together

Key Takeaways

Simple points at a glance

• Giclée prints are high-quality art prints made with special inkjet printers and long-lasting inks.
• RoesD Giclée Shop in Tolbert, in the north of the Netherlands, shows and sells more than seven hundred framed giclée prints.
• The shop also offers gifts, cards, books, glass objects, puzzles, and a calm brasserie corner for coffee.
• A brochure about the shop explains how giclée prints are made, how they are framed, and even offers a group visit called the “Giclée Experience”.
• A short video from a respected public art collection helps beginners understand the wider world of printmaking.

Story & Details

A leaflet on a yellow table

The story starts with a folded leaflet lying on a yellow checked tablecloth. On the front there is a photo of a white coffee cup on a saucer, next to a stack of colourful art cards. Around it are small images of paintings on the walls of a bright shop. The leaflet belongs to RoesD Giclée Shop, an art shop in the village of Tolbert in the Dutch north. The cover already tells a lot: art on every wall, gifts on the shelves, and a warm drink within reach.

When the leaflet is opened, three inside columns appear. One headline says “Giclées”, another “Lijstenmakerij”, another “Cadeau”. At the bottom there is a row of small photos under the words “Giclée facts” and “Giclée – the making of”. On the back panels more photos show a busy shop floor, visitors at a long table, and a group listening to a talk about printing. The whole design feels homely rather than formal, with soft brown colours and simple text.

What giclée prints are

Giclée prints are fine-art inkjet prints. They are made from a digital file of an artwork and printed with very small drops of pigment ink onto special paper or canvas. The word comes from a French term that refers to a spray or jet of liquid, and the process was named in the early 1990s by printmaker Jack Duganne, who wanted a label for high-end art prints made on modified industrial inkjet machines [1][2].

Good giclée prints aim to look as close as possible to the original painting or drawing. They use archival, fade-resistant inks and acid-free surfaces so that the colours stay bright for many years [3][4]. Because the materials and printers are expensive, a giclée print usually costs more than a normal poster but much less than the original artwork.

The leaflet’s “Giclée facts” panel, together with the shop’s own information, makes this easy to understand. It calls the prints affordable yet high in quality, notes that they often come in limited editions, and stresses that they are signed and numbered. RoesD states that each framed giclée sold in the shop includes a certificate of authenticity signed by the artist, with prices starting around ninety euros, and that the artists are leading Dutch realist painters [4].

Inside RoesD Giclée Shop

Public guides and the shop’s own website describe RoesD as a cosy art shop that combines a showroom, gift shop, framing studio, and brasserie [1][5][6]. The building stands on De Holm in Tolbert, in a quiet rural area near the point where the provinces Groningen, Friesland, and Drenthe come close together, not far from the A7 road between Drachten and Groningen [6]. Visitors are encouraged to “order a delicious cup of fresh coffee in the brasserie or just look around quietly and enjoy all the beauty” [5][7].

In the showroom there are more than seven hundred framed giclée prints hanging on the walls or standing in racks [4][8]. Many show Dutch farms, harbours, and village streets, while others are still lifes, birds, or playful scenes by painters such as Marius van Dokkum, known for gently humorous images of daily life [4]. Between the framed works are shelves with art cards, children’s books, art books, calendars, puzzles, and decorative glass objects [1][7]. The result is a space where visitors can choose a serious artwork, a small postcard, or simply a cheerful puzzle to take home.

Framing, gifts, and a group visit

The “Lijstenmakerij” column in the leaflet points to the framing studio inside the shop. Here customers can bring their own art or choose a print from the showroom and then select a frame and mount with the help of staff. The website confirms that the shop runs its own framing service so that a giclée print can leave the building ready to hang [1][4].

Another column with the word “Cadeau” highlights the shop as a place to find presents. It suggests giclée prints, cards, and small objects as gifts for birthdays, anniversaries, or a simple thank-you. In this way the leaflet speaks not only to collectors but also to people who want a personal, art-related gift without needing expert knowledge.

One more section of the leaflet introduces the “Giclée Experience”. Photos show a long table, a printer, and a small audience. The text explains that groups can book a visit to learn how giclée prints are made, watch the process on professional equipment, and enjoy drinks together. The leaflet mentions a price of 9.95 euros per person for groups from twelve people upward. For local clubs, families, or company outings, this turns the printmaking process into a social event.

Short Dutch mini-lesson

The leaflet quietly offers a small Dutch lesson to any visitor who takes the time to read it. Three words stand out.

The first is “giclée”, used all through the text and on the walls of the shop. In Dutch, as in English, it refers to the special fine-art inkjet prints described above.

The second is “cadeau”, which simply means “gift”. Seeing this word on a Dutch shop front or brochure is a sign that small presents, not just large artworks, are on offer.

The third is “lijstenmakerij”, which joins “lijst” (frame) with a suffix that points to a workshop. When this word appears in a Dutch village or city, it usually marks a place where pictures and paintings are framed.

For visitors to the northern Netherlands in late 2025, these three words are enough to understand most of what the RoesD leaflet is saying, even without speaking Dutch fluently.

Giclée prints in the wider art world

Beyond Tolbert, giclée printing has become a standard way for artists and galleries to offer reproductions of paintings, photographs, and drawings. Guides to fine-art printing explain that giclée prints allow very accurate colour control and can be produced one by one, so artists do not need to order a large stock in advance [3][9][10]. For buyers, this means access to art at more modest prices, often in numbered editions that feel special without being unique.

More general introductions to printmaking show where giclée fits into the long story of prints. Relief, intaglio, lithography, and screen printing have been used for centuries, while digital methods, including giclée, belong to the more recent chapter. A short film from the Arts Council Collection in the United Kingdom, called “The Printed Line: An Introduction to Printmaking Techniques”, gives an easy overview of the main traditional methods and helps beginners see how different tools and surfaces create different looks [11]. For someone who has just picked up the RoesD leaflet, watching this video can make the rows of framed prints feel like part of a wider, living tradition.

Conclusions

Art, calm, and clear language

Giclée printing turns digital tools into a bridge between original art and daily life. At RoesD Giclée Shop, that bridge is made very concrete: rows of framed prints, shelves of cards and books, the quiet sound of a coffee machine, and a table where groups can watch a print appear from a large printer. The leaflet on the yellow checked tablecloth tells this story in small blocks of Dutch and simple images.

As of November 2025, the shop continues to present giclée prints as both serious art objects and friendly gifts. For visitors to the Dutch north, it offers an easy introduction to fine-art printing. For anyone reading from afar, the mix of clear definitions, gentle visuals, and a short film on printmaking provides a simple starting point for understanding why these “spray-made” images on paper and canvas have become such an important part of today’s art world.

Selected References

Key sources and further viewing

[1] RoesD – Giclée Shop, general information and assortment. Available at: https://www.roesd.nl/
[2] “Giclée”, encyclopaedia entry explaining history and term origin. Available at: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Gicl%C3%A9e
[3] Artelo, “What is Giclée Printing?”, overview of process and archival materials. Available at: https://www.artelo.io/fine-art-printing
[4] RoesD – Giclée Shop, detailed description of framed giclée prints, artists, certificates, and pricing. Available at: https://www.roesd.nl/giclee
[5] Visit Groningen, tourism entry for RoesD – Giclée Shop. Available at: https://www.visitgroningen.nl/en/locations/1963570649/roesd-giclee-shop
[6] RoesD – Giclée Shop, contact and access information. Available at: https://www.roesd.nl/contact
[7] Toegankelijk Groningen, accessibility and visitor description for RoesD – Giclée Shop. Available at: https://www.toegankelijkgroningen.nl/locaties-overzicht/1874062558/roesd-giclee-shop
[8] Foldersbestellen, brochure description of RoesD – Giclée Shop with showroom size. Available at: https://www.foldersbestellen.nl/product/roesd-giclee-shop-tolbert/
[9] PermaJet, “Giclée Paper Guide”, explanation of giclée materials and costs. Available at: https://www.permajet.com/blog/giclee-paper-guide/
[10] Colourgenics, “Inkjet, Giclée, and Fine Art Printing: Which One Is Right For You?”, comparison of printing methods. Available at: https://www.colourgenics.com/life-after-digital/2023/7/6/inkjet-giclee-and-fine-art-printing-which-one-is-right-for-you
[11] Arts Council Collection, “The Printed Line: An Introduction to Printmaking Techniques”, YouTube video introducing main printmaking methods. Available at: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=eYJUEmEvfZw

Appendix

Brasserie

A small, informal eating and drinking area, often inside or next to a shop or cultural space, where visitors can order simple food and drinks such as coffee, tea, and cake.

Cadeau

A Dutch word that means “gift” and is used on shop signs and brochures to signal that items suitable as presents, such as small artworks or decorative objects, are for sale.

Giclée

A fine-art inkjet print made from a digital file of an artwork, using archival, fade-resistant inks and high-quality paper or canvas so that the image looks close to the original and lasts a long time.

Lijstenmakerij

A Dutch term for a framing workshop, the place where staff help choose frames, mounts, and glass so that paintings, prints, and photos can be safely displayed on a wall.

Printmaking

The group of artistic processes that create images by transferring ink from a surface such as metal, wood, stone, or a digital printer onto paper or another material, including both traditional methods and newer digital techniques.

RoesD Giclée Shop

An art shop in Tolbert in the north of the Netherlands that combines a showroom full of giclée prints, a gift shop with cards, books, puzzles, and glass objects, a framing studio, and a small brasserie.

Tolbert

A village in the northern Netherlands, in a rural area where three northern provinces meet, known in this context as the home of RoesD Giclée Shop.

Key Takeaways

• The TP-Link RE190 is a small plug-in Wi-Fi range extender that uses the network name “TP-Link_Extender” when it is fresh from the box.
• The Wi-Fi password is usually not printed on the case; the extender either copies the router’s password or asks the user to create a new one during setup.
• The management page is reached by connecting to the extender’s network and opening “tplinkrepeater.net” or its IP address in a browser.
• A forgotten password can be solved by logging in again or, if necessary, by resetting the extender and repeating the simple setup steps.

Story & Details

A small white device on the wall

A quiet hallway, a wall socket, and a glossy white block with soft curves. On the back of this block, in pale grey letters, the words “AC750 Wi-Fi Range Extender” and “Model: RE190” appear. It is a TP-Link device, made to push a wireless signal deeper into a home so that phones, laptops, and smart TVs can stay online in every room.

The label continues with more information: “100–240 V ~ 50/60 Hz 0.3 A,” a reminder that it can work in many countries; official logos showing that it meets electrical standards; and the address of TP-Link Corporation Limited in Hong Kong. A line shows the default network name: “TP-Link_Extender.” Another line offers a web address: “http://tplinkrepeater.net.”

What the label does not show is a Wi-Fi password.

The moment of confusion

Many home routers arrive with a ready-made Wi-Fi key printed on the underside. Owners learn to look for that text and type it into their phones. So when someone holds the RE190 in the hand and looks closely at the stickers, the first instinct is to search for a similar line of random letters and numbers.

Instead, there is only a serial number and a MAC address, long codes that help identify the hardware but do not unlock anything. This creates a simple but common question: how can the password be found?

The answer begins with the way modern range extenders are designed.

How the RE190 treats passwords

When the RE190 is new or has just been reset, it broadcasts the wireless network “TP-Link_Extender.” Devices nearby can connect to this open or lightly protected network. Once connected, a phone or computer can open a browser and type “tplinkrepeater.net” or, on many units, the address “192.168.0.254.” A setup page appears and asks the user to create a password for the management page.

This management password is different from the Wi-Fi password that phones and laptops will later use. In the next step, the extender scans the air for the main home router, shows its network name, and asks for the router’s Wi-Fi password. The extender then uses that same password when it creates the extended network. In many cases it even copies the name of the router’s network and simply adds “_EXT” at the end.

Because of this design, there are three important points:

• The Wi-Fi password that devices use on the extended network is normally the same as the router’s password.
• The label on the back of the RE190 does not need to show a separate Wi-Fi key.
• The only password created directly for the extender is the management password chosen during setup.

When the password is forgotten

Life is busy, and small passwords are easy to lose. Someone might set up the extender months ago, enjoy better signal in a bedroom or attic, and then forget which code was used where. When that happens, the RE190 offers several simple escape routes.

If the extended network still works and devices can connect, the router’s own Wi-Fi password is still valid, so the extender is doing its job. Only the management password may be missing. To reach the settings again, the owner can stay in range of the extender, connect to its network, and type “tplinkrepeater.net” into a browser. On many units that have never been personalised, “admin” is the first login choice for both username and password. On devices with newer software, the page will ask for the password that was created the first time, or offer a link to sign in with a TP-Link cloud account.

If everything fails, the small reset button on the case gets a new role. Pressing it gently with a pin for about one second while the extender is powered on makes the lights blink and then stabilise. This short press returns the RE190 to its factory state. The network “TP-Link_Extender” comes back, and the whole installation can be repeated: connect, open the browser page, choose a new management password, tell the extender the router’s Wi-Fi password, and wait for the blue light that shows a good link.

A short Dutch mini-lesson

In many Dutch electronics shops, a device like the RE190 is called a “wifi-versterker.” The word means “wifi amplifier” and is handy when looking for help in the Netherlands. Asking a shop worker for a “wifi-versterker” almost always leads to the shelf with range extenders, including models like the TP-Link RE190.

Why the missing line on the label is a good thing

At first, the absence of a printed Wi-Fi key feels like a problem. In reality it can be safer. A stranger who sees the back of the extender cannot learn the password just by reading. The important codes live in the software and can be changed or reset whenever needed. The label focuses instead on fixed facts: the model name, the power limits, the default network name, and the web address for the setup page.

For households in small apartments and larger homes, this small plug-in block becomes part of the normal background. Yet inside, it quietly repeats the signal of the main router and passes on the familiar Wi-Fi password, making it easier to stay online in corners that used to be dead zones.

Conclusions

The search for a Wi-Fi password on the TP-Link RE190 begins with a close look at the plastic shell but ends with a better understanding of how range extenders work. The device does not hide a secret code on its label. Instead, it relies on the router’s existing password and a simple setup page reached through “tplinkrepeater.net.”

Remembering this pattern makes the next steps clear. When the connection is healthy, the router’s password is the key. When the login to the settings is lost, a quick reset and a short browser session restore control. The little block in the wall socket turns from a puzzle back into what it is meant to be: a quiet helper that carries the home network a bit further.

Selected References

[1] TP-Link. “Set Up the Extender – RE190 V4 User Guide.” Available at: https://www.tp-link.com/us/user-guides/re190_v4/chapter-2-set-up-internet-connection

[2] TP-Link. “FAQ – RE190 V4 User Guide.” Available at: https://www.tp-link.com/us/user-guides/re190_v4/faq

[3] Manuals+. “tp-link RE190 Range Extender Installation Guide.” Available at: https://manuals.plus/tp-link/re190-range-extender-manual

[4] TP-Link Global Support. “How to Set Up a TP-Link Range Extender” (video). Available at: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=W9QxHvIyULQ

[5] TP-Link Nederland. “Download for RE190.” Available at: https://www.tp-link.com/nl/support/download/re190/

Appendix

Default network name
The default network name, or default SSID, is the wireless name that a device such as the RE190 uses before it is customised, for example “TP-Link_Extender.”

MAC address
A MAC address is a long code made of numbers and letters that uniquely identifies a network device on a local network; it is printed on the label but is not a password.

Range extender
A range extender is a small network device that receives a Wi-Fi signal from a router and sends it on again so that the signal reaches more rooms in a home or office.

Router password
A router password is the code that devices such as phones and laptops must enter to join a protected Wi-Fi network; the RE190 usually uses this same password for its extended network.

TP-Link RE190
TP-Link RE190 is an AC750 dual-band Wi-Fi range extender that plugs directly into a wall socket, repeats the wireless signal of a router, and offers a simple browser or app-based setup.

Wi-Fi-versterker
Wi-Fi-versterker is a Dutch word often used for a Wi-Fi range extender, helpful to know when asking for devices that boost wireless coverage in Dutch stores.

Key Takeaways

A flame detector in an industrial plant needed only four conductors for its alarm and fault signals, even though the cable carried eight cores in four colour pairs.

The colours printed on the engineering drawing did not match the real cable colours, because drawing colours were only visual aids and not a strict wiring code.

The relay terminals marked NO and COM on the detector are simple switch contacts: they close only during an alarm or a fault.

The field cable was an unshielded twisted-pair type, while the metal cable gland with a circular spring was an EMC gland designed for shielded cable, so in this case the spring had no electrical role.

Clear local colour rules on site—red for alarm, yellow for fault, green for power, blue for data—made the final installation easier to understand for anyone opening the enclosure in the future.

Story & Details

The scene is a production plant in the Netherlands in late November 2025. High above the floor, a technician stands on a steel walkway, holding a red control cable in one gloved hand and a phone with a wiring diagram in the other. The task is simple on paper: connect a new flame detector so that the control system can see its alarm and fault signals.

The cable in the hand tells a different story from the lines on the screen. Under the outer red sheath sit eight slim conductors. They form four twisted pairs: green with white, yellow with white, red with white, blue with white. The drawing, however, shows only thin orange, blue and other bright lines snaking across the page. The line colours in the diagram do not match the insulation colours in the real cable, and that mismatch raises a natural question: is there a hidden standard that ties the two sets of colours together?

In many control and telecom cables, manufacturers still follow the old German DIN 47100 colour chart, which lists core colours and combinations such as white, brown, green and yellow, even though the standard was officially withdrawn years ago [1][2]. These charts describe the colours inside the cable, not the colours used by drafting software. On most engineering drawings, line colours are simply there to keep different circuits apart. They can hint at functions, but they are not a legal wiring code.

The flame detector in this story is like many industrial models. Inside its housing sit relay outputs for alarm and fault, with terminals marked in a small printed row: Vin plus and minus for the power supply, three fault terminals (NO, COM, NC), three alarm terminals (NO, COM, NC), optional analogue outputs such as 4–20 milliamp, and sometimes a communication pair called RS-485 [3][7][8]. Only some of these are used in the plant. The diagram for this installation shows wires on terminals 4 and 5 for the fault relay, and 7 and 8 for the alarm relay. The RS-485 pair on terminals 13 and 14 is not used at all.

Another small part ties the inside of the detector to the outside world: a grey and green plug with four factory-fitted leads. Two of the leads are yellow, two are red. The plug snaps onto a resistor module inside the detector. From left to right, the four internal wires carry fault normally open, fault common, alarm common and alarm normally open. The yellow pair belongs to the fault relay. The red pair belongs to the alarm relay. The plug does not know anything about the colour pairs in the field cable; it only exposes four switch contacts.

In the control room, the meaning of the relay markings is standard. A contact marked NO, for “normally open”, sits open when the detector is healthy. It closes only when the detector wants to signal an event. For the alarm relay, that event is a fire. For the fault relay, that event is an internal problem, such as a blocked lens or an electronics error [3][7][8]. The terminal marked COM, for “common”, is simply the other side of the switch. When the control system feeds a voltage through COM and uses NO as a return, the contact acts like any light switch: open in normal times, closed in a fire or fault.

The technician decides that four conductors from the red field cable are all that is needed. One twisted pair will carry the alarm relay. Another pair will carry the fault relay. The power supply and the unused RS-485 pair travel on other cables, so the green and blue pairs inside this cable can stay parked as spares. To keep things clear, the team on site agrees on a local rule: red cores stand for alarm, yellow cores stand for fault, green is reserved for power, and blue is reserved for data lines. The white partners in each pair become the “common” side of each relay.

The final mapping is simple. The red core in one pair connects to alarm normally open, and its white partner connects to alarm common. The yellow core in another pair connects to fault normally open, and its white partner connects to fault common. The four unused conductors are neatly cut short, insulated and folded back so they cannot touch anything. A quick test with a multimeter confirms that each relay contact appears on the correct pair at the far end of the cable.

While the wiring is taking shape, another small mystery appears on the workbench. The cable entry kit supplied with the detector includes a bright metal cable gland and, oddly, a delicate ring made from fine spring wire. The gland body is nickel-plated brass with a rubber sealing insert. The spring ring is shaped like a tiny crown. When assembled, the ring sits inside the gland and presses inward.

Manufacturers of electromagnetic compatibility, or EMC, cable glands explain that this spring is meant to press firmly all around the metal shield of a cable [5][6][10][18][26][30]. In shielded cable, a braided or foil layer encloses the inner conductors. When the installer strips the outer jacket and folds the shield back over the gland entry, the spring ring bites gently into the metal braid. The shield then bonds to the metal housing of the detector with a full 360-degree connection, helping stray interference currents flow safely to earth instead of into sensitive electronics.

In this installation, the red control cable has no shield at all. Under the jacket there is only plastic insulation and copper cores, with no braid, foil or bare drain wire. Without a shield, the spring has nothing conductive to grip. It simply presses against plastic. The gland still seals the cable and provides strain relief, but its EMC function sleeps unused. For RS-485 communication links over long distances, shielded twisted pair is often recommended to reduce noise [3][4][5][9][13][17][21][25][29]. Here, though, RS-485 is not connected, and the short run of unshielded cable for simple relay contacts is more than adequate.

The name printed near the detector symbol on the drawing hints at its origin. The word is a compound Dutch label for flame detector, formed by joining the Dutch words for “flames” and “detector” into one. That small detail is a quiet reminder that engineering language on paper can shift from country to country, even when the hardware and the core electrical ideas remain the same.

A few hours later, the work is done. The four live conductors are tight in their terminals. The unused ones are safely parked. The gland grips the cable and holds the enclosure closed against dust and moisture. Back in the control system, the alarm and fault inputs change cleanly as the detector is tested. The colours on the screen are still not the same as the colours on the cable, and that no longer matters. Function, not ink, is what counts.

Conclusions

The story of this flame detector shows how easily colour can mislead in industrial wiring. Diagram lines exist mainly to help the eye, while the real logic lives in labels such as NO and COM and in the relay functions behind them. A simple agreement on local colour use—red for alarm, yellow for fault, green for power, blue for data—turned a confusing cable into a clear and reusable pattern.

The unused features of the hardware, such as RS-485 terminals and an EMC cable gland designed for shielded cable, highlight a common reality in plants: equipment is built for many scenarios, yet each site uses only what it needs. When a cable has no shield, the elegant little spring inside an EMC gland has nothing to do, but the gland still offers good sealing and strain relief.

Careful reading of terminal names, a modest multimeter check and tidy treatment of spare conductors are enough to turn a worry about mismatched colours into a clean, maintainable installation. The flame detector is ready to watch for real problems, not wiring puzzles.

Selected References

[1] Wikipedia. “DIN 47100.”
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/DIN_47100

[2] Eland Cables. “What is the DIN 47100 Core Colour Chart?”
https://www.elandcables.com/the-cable-lab/faqs/din47100-colour-chart

[3] Texas Instruments. “RS-485 Design Guide (Application Report SLLA272).”
https://www.ti.com/lit/pdf/slla272

[4] ABB. “RS-485 Design and install best practices – Guidelines for system planning and field installation.”
https://library.e.abb.com/public/19382ad529ef49f0803e1ec89fbbf6b3/LVD-EOTKN121U-EN_RS-485designandinstallbestpractices_REVA.pdf

[5] PFLITSCH. “EMC cable glands.”
https://www.pflitsch.de/en/cable-gland/emc-cable-gland/

[6] Amphenol LTW via CODICO. “EMC-Shielded Cable Glands by AMPHENOL LTW.”
https://www.codico.com/en/current/news/emc-shielded-cable-glands-by-amphenol-ltw

[7] Det-Tronics. “IR Multispectrum IR Flame Detector Model X3302 – Product Guide.”
https://www.det-tronics.com/wp-content/uploads/sites/8/2025/04/90-1232-1.1-Enhanced-X3302.pdf

[8] Spectrex. “40/40 Series UV/IR Flame Detector Models – Application Guide.”
https://www.spectrex.net/documents/guide-40-40-series-uv-ir-flame-detector-models-40-40l-lb-40-40l4-l4b-spectrex-en-us-1459808.pdf

[9] Renesas. “RS-485 Design Guide Application Note.”
https://www.renesas.com/en/document/apn/rs-485-design-guide-application-note

[10] HX Cable Gland. “The Block Type EMC IP68 Brass Plated Nickel Metric Cable Glands.”
https://www.hxcablegland.com/the-block-type-emc-ip68-brass-plated-nickel-metric-cable-glands/

[11] YouTube – RST. “Euro-Top EMC (4th generation).”
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=025XtU7qWKQ

Appendix

Cable gland
A cable gland is a mechanical fitting that lets a cable enter an enclosure while gripping the jacket and sealing against dust and moisture. Some cable glands, especially metal types, also help connect cable shields to the enclosure.

Common (COM)
Common is the shared terminal of a relay contact set. It forms a simple switch with a matching normally open or normally closed terminal and carries the current that the relay is meant to control.

Electromagnetic compatibility (EMC)
Electromagnetic compatibility is the ability of electrical equipment to work correctly in the presence of electromagnetic noise and to avoid emitting excessive interference. EMC cable glands help by bonding cable shields to metal housings so unwanted currents can flow safely to earth.

Flame detector
A flame detector is a safety device that senses the presence of fire, often through ultraviolet or infrared light, and reports its status through relay contacts and sometimes analogue or digital outputs to a control system.

Multicore cable
A multicore cable is a cable that contains several separate insulated conductors under a single outer jacket. In control work these conductors are often arranged as twisted pairs to reduce electrical noise.

Normally open contact (NO)
A normally open contact is a relay switch contact that stays open when the device is in its normal state. It closes only when the relay coil is energised, such as during an alarm or a fault.

Relay output
A relay output is an electrically isolated switch inside a device. It uses a small internal signal to move mechanical contacts that can switch a separate circuit carrying higher voltage or current.

RS-485
RS-485 is an electrical standard for balanced digital data lines. It uses differential signalling over twisted pairs and supports long cable runs and many devices on the same bus when installed with suitable cabling and termination.

Twisted pair cable
Twisted pair cable is a type of wiring where two insulated conductors are twisted around each other at regular intervals. The twist helps cancel out electromagnetic noise and is widely used for data and control signals.

Key Takeaways

Clear subject

The story follows two specific Spanish-language children’s books bought on Amazon Mexico: one titled The Iliad Told for Boys and Girls and another titled The First Cat in Space Ate Pizza 2: The Cursed Broth.

Why they matter

Both books were ordered in late September and early October 2025, and each one sits at the centre of a simple but strong system for safer online shopping.

How the shopper stays safe

The buyer writes down order numbers, prices, card endings, delivery windows, and return options, and is ready to contact the seller or Amazon if a parcel is late or never arrives.

Support from public advice

Official guidance on online shopping from consumer and cybersecurity agencies matches this calm, organised way of buying books on big platforms.

Story & Details

Two books, named without doubt

The first book is a children’s version of Homer’s classic poem about the war around Troy. Its full title in English is The Iliad Told for Boys and Girls. It is written in Spanish for young readers, but the heart of the story is the same: heroes, gods, battles, and a long siege, all told in a softer voice for children.

The second book is also in Spanish and has a longer, playful title: The First Cat in Space Ate Pizza 2: The Cursed Broth. It is a comic-style adventure. A space-travelling cat, a love of pizza, and a strange soup that seems cursed give the story a loud, silly energy. It is clearly marked as the second volume in its series.

There is no other pair of books in this story. Every detail that follows refers only to these two titles: The Iliad Told for Boys and Girls and The First Cat in Space Ate Pizza 2: The Cursed Broth.

What happened with the first order

The order for The Iliad Told for Boys and Girls was placed on 8 October 2025 through Amazon Mexico. The marketplace seller was a bookshop called California-Libros. The price was 425.67 Mexican pesos, shipping was free, and the payment went through a Mastercard ending in 3798.

Amazon promised that the book would arrive between 29 October and 7 November 2025. The parcel was later marked as delivered on 31 October 2025. A final date near the end of November 2025 was set as the last day to return the book if it arrived damaged, wrong, or simply unwanted.

The buyer kept the full order number, 701-2060546-4887456, together with the delivery window and the return deadline. Only the exact home address and personal name were kept private.

A calm backup plan for that book

A simple plan was linked to this order in case something went wrong. If the parcel did not appear, the first step would be to press the “contact seller” button on the order page and send a short, polite message that quoted the order number and asked for a proper tracking link from the courier GOFORGPS.

If no answer came and the book still did not arrive by the end of the stated window, the next step would be to open a claim under the Amazon A-to-Z Guarantee. The buyer would explain that The Iliad Told for Boys and Girls, linked to order 701-2060546-4887456, had not been delivered within the promised dates and that no usable tracking information had been shared.

Because December 2025 is now under way, that delivery window is fully in the past. If the book had not arrived, the buyer would already be in a strong position to ask for a refund.

What happened with the second order

The second book, The First Cat in Space Ate Pizza 2: The Cursed Broth, has its own, different order. The Amazon number is 701-8837287-8873824. It was placed in late September 2025 on the same Amazon Mexico account and again used the Mastercard ending in 3798.

At the time the personal record was written, the status for this order was “processing”, with one item in the basket. The estimated delivery date was 30 September 2025. The price was 424.64 Mexican pesos. The buyer also noted that a CFDI electronic tax invoice would be available for thirty-one days after the book was shipped.

Here too, personal names and street details were kept out of any public description. The important public facts are the exact book title, the order number, the price, the payment method, and the delivery promise.

How public guidance supports this approach

The habits shown in these two book orders closely match the advice given by consumer authorities. The Federal Trade Commission in the United States recommends checking sellers, keeping copies of order confirmations, and knowing the delivery and return rules before buying.[1][2][3] It also encourages shoppers to pay by credit card, because card protections often help when items never arrive or turn out to be very different from what was promised.[1]

Cybersecurity bodies such as the Cybersecurity and Infrastructure Security Agency and nonprofit groups like the National Cybersecurity Alliance advise people to use strong passwords, enable multifactor authentication, avoid public Wi-Fi for payments, and stick to trusted shopping sites with secure connections.[4][5] These tips fit well with the careful way the buyer handles these two children’s books.

A tiny language tool for future shopping

There is also a small language element that helps with future plans. The buyer is interested in possible work and life in the Netherlands and wants to feel safer when shopping on Dutch-language sites. One simple but powerful word is “bestelling”, the basic Dutch word for “order” in a shopping sense. Knowing a word like “bestelling” makes it easier to move through menus, find order history, and track parcels on Dutch pages, even with only beginner-level Dutch.

Conclusions

Two titles, one quiet method

The story is clear and narrow. It is about two exact Spanish-language children’s books on Amazon Mexico: The Iliad Told for Boys and Girls and The First Cat in Space Ate Pizza 2: The Cursed Broth. Around these titles, a careful buyer builds a small safety net.

By writing down order numbers, prices, card endings, delivery windows, and return limits, this person turns each book from a risky click into a well-documented promise. If a parcel goes missing, there is already a plan: contact the seller, check the courier, and if needed ask Amazon to step in.

A wider lesson from small purchases

As the end of 2025 approaches and many people buy gifts online, this simple method is useful. It does not require special tools. It only needs attention to details, respect for personal privacy, and a little help from public advice on safe online shopping. Two children’s books become a quiet reminder that clear titles and clear records are some of the best protections a shopper can have.

Selected References

[1] Federal Trade Commission. “Online Shopping.” Consumer Advice. https://consumer.ftc.gov/articles/online-shopping

[2] Federal Trade Commission. “How to Avoid an Online Shopping Scam This Holiday Season.” Consumer Alerts. https://consumer.ftc.gov/consumer-alerts/2025/11/how-avoid-online-shopping-scam-holiday-season

[3] Federal Trade Commission. “Online Shopping – Security Tips.” FTCvideos, YouTube channel. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=3w4t1dYCayM

[4] Cybersecurity and Infrastructure Security Agency. “#SecureTheSeason: Holiday Online Shopping Safety.” https://www.cisa.gov/securetheseason-holiday-online-shopping-safety

[5] National Cybersecurity Alliance. “Safe Online Holiday Shopping.” https://www.staysafeonline.org/articles/safe-online-holiday-shopping

Appendix

Amazon A-to-Z Guarantee
A buyer protection program run by Amazon that lets customers ask for a refund when items bought from marketplace sellers do not arrive, arrive very late, or are very different from what the seller described, after attempts to solve the problem directly with the seller.

Book order record
A short private summary of an online purchase that lists the exact product title, order number, price, payment method, delivery window, and return deadline so the buyer can see all important facts without reopening the shopping site.

CFDI invoice
The standard electronic tax invoice used in Mexico for recording sales and taxes, often available for a limited number of days after an online purchase has been shipped.

Dutch word “bestelling”
A basic Dutch noun used on shopping sites to mean “order”, helpful for recognising where to click to see purchase history, current orders, or tracking information when browsing in Dutch.

Online marketplace
A large website or app where many different sellers list products and where the platform processes payments and offers some customer support, while each individual seller is responsible for shipping and product quality.

Tracking number
A unique code assigned to a shipped parcel that lets the buyer and the courier follow the package through an online tracking page from dispatch to delivery.

Key Takeaways

Big ideas in simple words

This article tells the story of one Latin American general, Jose de San Martin, and one Spanish king, Ferdinand VII. It explains how news moved very slowly between their worlds in the nineteenth century and how that slow news shaped war and power. It also connects that past to how people in the Netherlands vote today, in a modern democracy with fast information and no compulsory voting.

Story & Details

A river bend full of warships

In November 1845, a battle called the Battle of Vuelta de Obligado took place on the Paraná River in what is now Argentina. The word “bend” here means a natural curve in the river, a place where the water turns. At that bend the river becomes narrower, which made it easier to block ships.

Local forces of the Argentine Confederation, loyal to the strongman Juan Manuel de Rosas, tried to stop a powerful Anglo-French fleet from sailing inland without permission. General Lucio Mansilla commanded the defense on the spot. Heavy iron chains were stretched across the water from boat to boat. Cannons waited on the high riverbank.

The foreign ships had better guns, some steam power, and more armor. The local side lost men, guns and boats that day. The fleet broke the chains and forced a way through. Yet the battle became a symbol of something larger: the right of a country to control its own rivers and to refuse foreign powers that act as if local laws do not count. Later treaties with Britain and France accepted that the Paraná was an internal river under Argentine rules, so a military defeat turned into a diplomatic gain. [1][4]

A hill above a small southern town

In March 1827, another important fight, the Battle of Carmen de Patagones, took place around a small southern town on the Atlantic coast. Local militias and townspeople from the United Provinces of the Río de la Plata defended the town and its little port against a landing force from the Brazilian Empire during the Cisplatine War.

The defenders used the strong ground near a hill known as Cerro de la Caballada, the “hill of the cavalry.” They moved quickly, used the wind and the rocks, and attacked the Brazilian landing party from above. The fight on land and the actions at the river mouth ended with a clear result: the Brazilian force was beaten, one of its main ships was sunk, three ships and 28 cannons were captured, and 579 prisoners were taken. The captured ships even joined the local squadron with new names. [2][17]

Key local commanders included Martin Lacarra, Santiago Jorge Bynnon and Sebastian Olivera. On the Brazilian side the expedition was led by James Shepherd; after his death in the action, William Eyre took command. [2] The victory protected the southern river port, strengthened morale, and showed that even a remote town at the end of the world could play a part in big wars.

A quiet planner who crossed mountains

Behind these scenes stands one central figure: Jose de San Martin. He was born on 25 February 1778 in a small settlement in what is now Argentina. As a child he moved with his family to Spain and grew up there as an officer in the Spanish army. He fought in European campaigns before turning toward the idea of freedom in the land of his birth. [3]

In 1812 he arrived by ship in the port city of Buenos Aires. There he helped build a new elite cavalry unit and won his first local victory in a short, hard clash by the Paraná River. Later he became governor of the western region of Cuyo, centered on the city of Mendoza. He used that post less for show and more for preparation. He trained men, gathered food and animals, collected weapons and uniforms, and studied the mountain passes.

In early 1817 he led the Army of the Andes across the mountains into Chile. The crossing was long, cold and dangerous. Some soldiers and many animals died from cold, hunger or falls, but the main force reached the other side ready to fight. Victories in two key battles gave the independence side control over Chile’s main cities and ports. In 1821 San Martin entered Lima, the capital of Peru, and helped declare its independence from Spanish rule. He was named Protector of Peru and tried to build a stable government in a very divided society. [1][3]

San Martin was not only a planner behind a desk. As a younger officer in Europe he had fought with sword and horse in close combat and received wounds. In South America he still rode with his troops when it mattered. His special strength was the way he saw the war as a whole: which routes to take, how to supply an army, how to train officers, and when it was wiser to avoid a battle instead of wasting lives.

A meeting and a decision to step back

By 1822 his position in Peru had grown weak. Support and money from Buenos Aires were fading. Local elites were split. In the north, another great independence leader, Simon Bolivar, led strong armies and had wide prestige. In July 1822 the two men met in the port city of Guayaquil. There is no full written record of every word they spoke, but later letters and reports give a broad picture.

Both wanted to end Spanish rule. They did not fully agree on who should command, how power should be shared, or whether the new states should be monarchies or republics. Bolivar had more soldiers and more political backing at that moment. San Martin understood that staying in the field as a rival could create confusion and perhaps civil war among the independence forces themselves.

Soon after the meeting, San Martin resigned his authority in Peru. He travelled quietly to the south and then, in 1824, crossed the Atlantic to Europe with his young daughter, Mercedes Tomasa. She was often called simply Mercedes. They lived in Brussels and Paris and finally in the coastal town of Boulogne-sur-Mer in France. San Martin died there on 17 August 1850. He was 72 years old. In his last years he suffered from serious health problems and almost complete loss of sight. [3]

He was not a rich retired hero. Part of his income came from his late wife’s family, part from delayed military pensions from the new states he had helped free, and part from the help of friends and his son-in-law, the Argentine diplomat Mariano Balcarce. Even in exile he wrote letters and short notes for Mercedes and for younger political friends, repeating a few simple ideas: tell the truth, help those in need, avoid useless luxury, and love the freedom of your country.

A king who ate well while an empire fell apart

Across the Atlantic, a very different life unfolded in Spain. King Ferdinand VII was born on 14 October 1784. He became king in a time of deep crisis. The Napoleonic Wars had shaken Europe. French troops had occupied parts of Spain. In both Spain and its American territories, elites and common people were asking who should rule and on what basis. [4]

Under Ferdinand VII, Spain lost almost all its continental American lands. One colony after another moved from royal control to independence. By the time he died on 29 September 1833, only a few Caribbean islands remained under the Spanish flag in the Americas. Many historians describe him as stubborn and short-sighted, a ruler who did not understand the political and social changes of his age. [4][5]

Daily life for the king was far from the cold mountain passes or dusty camps of the independence wars. He did not wake up in a tent before dawn with marching orders to give. He slept in comfort, woke late in fine rooms, and followed a set routine of morning prayer, reports read by ministers, small councils, and long formal meals. He liked rich food and a slow indoor life. Over time he suffered from health problems linked to this way of living.

While officers and soldiers in America rode long distances and risked death in battles like Vuelta de Obligado or Carmen de Patagones, the king watched the empire shrink from a distance, through letters and reports. He signed decrees and made choices that often served mainly his personal power. When reformers in Spain tried to limit royal power with a liberal constitution, he rejected it and restored strict absolute rule. That choice deepened conflict at home, divided society, and weakened the state at the very moment it needed unity and flexibility to face revolts overseas. [5]

News that moved at the speed of wind and muscle

In the time of San Martin and Ferdinand VII there were no telephones. The electric telegraph was only in its early steps and did not yet link continents. The patent for the telephone came later, on 7 March 1876, when Alexander Graham Bell registered his device for carrying the human voice over wires. That was more than 50 years after the main independence campaigns in South America. [5][6][10]

News about war had to move by paper, hoof and sail. After a battle in Chile or Peru, officers wrote official reports by hand. Messengers on horseback carried these to the nearest port. There they waited, sometimes for weeks, for a ship sailing to Europe. The trip across the Atlantic by sailing ship often took six to eight weeks. Bad weather, stops in other ports, or damage to the ship could make it even longer.

When ships at last reached Spain, letters went from the port to government offices and then to the royal palace. Officials read and discussed them and then told the king. Only after this process did news filter into printed newspapers, church sermons, and talk in taverns and town squares. Many people could not read, so they heard stories through others. Rumours and old reports mixed together. For people in the Americas, war felt close and urgent. For many people in Spain, it felt far away and slow, almost like a distant storm that might or might not reach home.

Why people choose to fight

Wars are not made only by famous names. They are fought by thousands of ordinary people. In the early nineteenth century, many soldiers joined because they were poor and had few choices. Some were forced or pushed into service. Others joined for pay, a uniform and regular food. A smaller number were moved mainly by belief in independence or by loyalty to a king.

Training was basic and often harsh. Officers in some countries studied in special schools that taught maths, fortifications and tactics. Most common soldiers learned simple drills: how to load and fire a gun, how to march in line, how to fix a bayonet, how to follow commands. Punishments for disobedience could be severe, including flogging or long terms in prison.

Many soldiers then, and professional soldiers today, live with the hard knowledge that they may have to kill or be killed. In many modern countries, enlisted soldiers earn pay that is close to or a little below the national average wage, while higher-ranking officers may earn more. They receive training, steady work and some social status, but they also accept physical and mental risks that most civilians never face.

A short Dutch lesson about voting

The long story of kings and generals has a soft echo in a simple modern question: is voting required in the Netherlands? The answer is no. Voting in Dutch national elections used to be compulsory, but this rule was abolished in 1970. Voting today is a right, not a duty with a legal penalty. Turnout is still quite high compared with many other countries, but people are free to stay at home if they wish. [3][7][22]

In Dutch, the word for “to vote” is “stemmen” and the word for “election” is “verkiezing.” These words appear often in Dutch news, because politics there is active and includes many parties in parliament.

On 22 November 2023, Dutch voters chose a new national parliament. In that election a far-right party called the Party for Freedom, led by Geert Wilders, won the largest number of seats, with just under a quarter of the vote. Coalition talks after the vote were long and difficult, because other parties were divided over whether and how to work with that party. [4][9][11]

In October 2025, Dutch voters went back to the polls again for another general election. By the end of that month, news reports and official counts showed that a centrist, strongly pro-European party, Democrats 66 (D66), had become the largest party in the new parliament. Its young leader, Rob Jetten, was widely reported as the likely next prime minister, although coalition talks were still needed to form a majority government. [11][16]

These elections in a small but important European country show a political world very different from the time of San Martin and Ferdinand VII. Leaders now face voters every few years. Their power rests, at least in part, on the trust of citizens, not only on birth or on control of armies. News of results appears on phone screens within minutes. Votes are counted by the evening and shared across the world almost at once.

Conclusions

What changes and what stays the same

The stories of a river bend full of chains, a hill above a southern town, a quiet planner in exile, a heavy king in his palace, and present-day voters in the Netherlands share a common thread. They show how power and information move together.

In the age of San Martin and Ferdinand VII, a small number of people made decisions for millions, and news of those decisions moved slowly, across mountains and seas, written in ink on paper. The delay was not just annoying; it had real costs: badly informed choices, missed chances and long wars.

Today, politics in democratic countries moves faster and feels louder. Many voices speak at the same time. Citizens can watch documentaries about long-dead generals, read about past kings, search for the dates of old battles, and then vote for or against modern parties with a simple mark on a ballot. Technology has changed, but the main questions remain. Who leads, who follows, and how quickly do people learn the truth about what is being done in their name?

Selected References

[1] “Battle of Vuelta de Obligado,” Wikipedia.
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Battle_of_Vuelta_de_Obligado

[2] “Battle of Carmen de Patagones,” Wikipedia.
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Battle_of_Carmen_de_Patagones

[3] “Jose de San Martin | Biography & Facts,” Encyclopaedia Britannica.
https://www.britannica.com/biography/Jose-de-San-Martin

[4] “Ferdinand VII | King of Spain,” Encyclopaedia Britannica.
https://www.britannica.com/biography/Ferdinand-VII

[5] “Reign of Ferdinand VII of Spain,” Wikipedia.
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Reign_of_Ferdinand_VII_of_Spain

[6] “Why is there no longer compulsory voting in the Netherlands?” Leiden University.
https://www.universiteitleiden.nl/en/in-the-media/2023/11/why-is-there-no-longer-compulsory-voting-in-the-netherlands

[7] “Compulsory Voting,” International IDEA Voter Turnout Database.
https://www.idea.int/data-tools/data/voter-turnout-database/compulsory-voting

[8] “Compulsory voting,” Wikipedia.
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Compulsory_voting

[9] “2023 Dutch general election,” Wikipedia.
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/2023_Dutch_general_election

[10] “Alexander Graham Bell patents the telephone,” History.com.
https://www.history.com/this-day-in-history/march-7/alexander-graham-bell-patents-the-telephone

[11] “Your primer on the Dutch general elections,” Atlantic Council.
https://www.atlanticcouncil.org/content-series/eye-on-europes-elections/your-primer-on-the-dutch-general-elections/

[12] “Voting,” House of Representatives of the Netherlands.
https://www.houseofrepresentatives.nl/how-parliament-works/elections/voting

[13] “Dutch centrist D66 party confirmed as election winner, ANP says,” Reuters.
https://www.reuters.com/world/dutch-centrist-d66-party-confirmed-election-winner-anp-says-2025-10-31/

[14] “Biography: Don Jose de San Martin (1778–1850),” Canal Encuentro (YouTube).
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=I7QOU8Tq06w

Appendix

Battle of Carmen de Patagones
A naval and land battle on 7 March 1827 during the Cisplatine War, in which local forces from the United Provinces of the Río de la Plata defended the southern town of Carmen de Patagones against a Brazilian imperial expedition, captured several ships and guns, and took hundreds of prisoners.

Battle of Vuelta de Obligado
A river battle on 20 November 1845 on a bend of the Paraná River in Argentina, where forces of the Argentine Confederation tried to block an Anglo-French fleet with chains and riverbank batteries; the fleet broke through, but the high cost later helped Argentina win diplomatic recognition of its control over inland river navigation.

Dutch general election
A national vote in the Netherlands to choose all members of the lower house of parliament. It is usually held every four years or sooner if a government falls. Because no single party normally wins a majority, parties must form coalitions to govern.

Ferdinand VII
King of Spain born on 14 October 1784, whose reign saw the loss of most of Spain’s territories in the Americas and deep conflict at home. He restored absolute royal power after brief liberal experiments and died in Madrid on 29 September 1833.

Jose de San Martin
An army officer born on 25 February 1778 in the Americas who spent his youth as a Spanish officer in Europe and later led key independence campaigns in what are now Argentina, Chile and Peru. He left public life, moved to Europe in 1824, and died in France on 17 August 1850.

Telephone
A device that carries the human voice over distance using electrical signals. The first practical telephone patent was granted to Alexander Graham Bell on 7 March 1876, long after the independence wars described in this article, and it greatly changed how fast people could share news.

Key Takeaways

A quick snapshot

• Dark mode is a phone setting that turns bright screens into mostly black or very dark backgrounds with light text.
• By December 2025, dark mode is built into almost every major phone system, and many apps follow it automatically.
• Android phones let users switch dark theme on or off in Settings or with a quick tile at the top of the screen.
• iPhones and iPads let users change dark mode in the Display & Brightness menu or through a button in Control Center.
• Research suggests dark mode can feel gentler and may save battery on some screens, but light mode often stays easier to read for many people.

Story & Details

A small button, a big change

Many people unlock a new phone, or install a big update, and feel confused: the screen looks strange and dark, menus are black, and text glows white. Dark mode did that. In just a few years, it moved from a special setting for night owls to the default look on many devices.

The idea is simple. Dark mode flips the normal color scheme. Instead of dark text on a bright background, it shows light text on a dark one. Phone makers present it as a calm, modern style that is kinder to the eyes, especially at night, and as a way to use a little less battery on some types of screens.

How Android phones push dark mode

On Android phones, dark mode is now a core feature, not a small extra. Official guidance explains that users can turn it on or off by opening the Settings app, tapping Display, and using the Dark theme switch. It can also be controlled from the quick settings panel: the user swipes down from the top of the screen and taps the Dark theme tile.

Newer versions of Android go even further. Recent updates in 2025 add stronger system-wide dark mode options that can turn many light apps dark, even when those apps did not plan for it. This means one simple setting can change the look of more of the phone, which feels powerful for some users and frustrating for others who never wanted a dark screen in the first place.

How Apple devices handle the same idea

On iPhones and iPads, dark mode is also built in. Apple’s support pages describe two main paths. One sits in Settings: the user goes to Display & Brightness and chooses Light or Dark. The other is in Control Center, where pressing and holding the brightness bar reveals a button that toggles Dark Mode on or off.

Apple makes dark mode part of a larger story about comfort. The same screens explain how to schedule it to come on only at night, and how it works together with other tools such as Night Shift, which makes colors warmer in the evening. The pitch is clear: the screen should fit the light in the room and the person using it, not the other way around.

What research says about eyes and comfort

Dark mode is often sold as “better for your eyes,” but the picture from research is more mixed. Studies and expert reviews point out that darker interfaces can reduce glare and feel more comfortable in low light, especially for people who are sensitive to brightness or who look at screens late at night. Some tests also show that dark mode can save battery on phones with OLED screens, because black pixels use less power.

At the same time, several usability and vision studies find that, for many people with normal sight, black text on a light background is still easier to read. Light mode can help with sharpness and speed when reading long blocks of text. Dark mode, especially with low contrast between text and background, can make reading slower or more tiring in bright rooms.

The result is not a simple “dark mode is good” or “dark mode is bad.” It is more personal. Some users feel instant relief when they switch to dark backgrounds. Others feel strain and go back to a light screen after a few days.

The role of apps and icons

System settings are only part of the story. Many apps have their own theme controls and can follow or ignore the main phone setting. A person can set the whole phone to light mode but still find one app that insists on staying dark until another menu is changed. New Android versions try to reduce this problem by applying forced dark mode and themed icons to more apps by default. Newer iOS versions give more control over icon style and color, so the home screen can match the chosen look.

This slow move toward stronger system themes shows how important the topic has become. Dark mode is no longer just a color option. It is a symbol of control, comfort, and personal taste in daily digital life.

A tiny Dutch lesson about light and dark

The idea of dark mode is also a nice chance to notice how different languages talk about light and dark. In Dutch, the word for “dark” is “donker,” and the word for “light” is “licht.” When a Dutch user says “donker” or “licht” about a screen, the meaning is clear even in a simple chat: darker screens feel softer, brighter screens feel sharper.

People, phones, and the feeling of control

Behind all the technical detail sits a simple human feeling. Many people get angry when a phone suddenly changes its look after an update. Dark mode is a frequent reason: one day the familiar white screen is gone, replaced by black menus and glowing letters.

Guides from companies and universities try to calm that feeling by explaining where to find the right settings, when dark mode might help, and when it might not. But the deeper need is emotional. A phone is a very personal object. Its screen is often the first thing seen in the morning and the last thing at night. People want it to feel like their own choice, not like a decision made for them by a distant software team.

Conclusions

A calm end to a bright–dark story

Dark mode now lives in almost every pocket. In December 2025, phones, tablets, and apps offer more ways than ever to switch between dark and light, to schedule changes by time of day, and to match icons and colors to each style.

The lesson is simple. Dark mode is not magic, and it is not a problem by itself. It is one more tool. For some people it brings comfort, for others it brings headaches, and many move between the two depending on time of day and what they are reading.

Good design and clear settings give users the power to choose. A small button in Settings or Control Center can turn a harsh glow into a soft dark screen, or bring back the bright look that feels familiar. When that choice is easy to find and easy to change, phones feel more friendly, and the argument over dark mode becomes less about right and wrong and more about what feels good on a given day.

Selected References

[1] Google Support – “Change to dark theme or adjust the color scheme on your Android phone”
https://support.google.com/android/answer/9730472

[2] Apple Support – “Use Dark Mode on your iPhone and iPad”
https://support.apple.com/en-gb/108350

[3] Apple Support (YouTube) – “How to customize your Home Screen on iPhone and iPad”
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ACfSzTWUa1c

[4] Nielsen Norman Group – “Dark Mode vs. Light Mode: Which Is Better?”
https://www.nngroup.com/articles/dark-mode/

[5] Wayne State University Accessibility – “Pros and cons of using dark mode”
https://accessibility.wayne.edu/news/pros-and-cons-of-using-dark-mode-62969

[6] St. Pölten University of Applied Sciences – “The Impact of Dark Mode on Mobile Usability and User Experience”
https://mobile.fhstp.ac.at/allgemein/the-impact-of-dark-mode-on-mobile-usability-and-user-experience/

[7] Android Developers – “Implement dark theme”
https://developer.android.com/develop/ui/views/theming/darktheme

Appendix

Android
Android is the mobile operating system developed by Google and used by many phone brands; it offers system-wide dark theme controls in the Display settings and through quick tiles at the top of the screen.

Dark mode
Dark mode is a display setting that shows light text and interface elements on a dark or black background, often used to reduce glare, change the mood of the screen, or save battery on some types of displays.

Dutch words donker and licht
In Dutch, “donker” means dark and “licht” means light, two simple words that help describe whether a phone screen looks mostly black or mostly bright.

Home screen
The home screen is the main view on a phone or tablet that appears after unlocking the device, usually showing app icons, widgets, and basic status information.

iOS
iOS is Apple’s mobile operating system for iPhones, closely related to iPadOS for iPads, and it includes built-in settings for dark mode and other display choices.

OLED screen
An OLED screen is a type of display where each pixel gives off its own light, so dark areas can use less power, which is why dark mode can sometimes help save battery on these devices.

Smartphone
A smartphone is a mobile phone that can connect to the internet, run apps, and handle many tasks such as messaging, navigation, and media, with dark mode now a standard feature on most models.

Theme
A theme is a group of visual choices, such as colors, icon styles, and backgrounds, that together give a phone or app a certain look, often offered in light and dark versions.

Key Takeaways

Quick view

• Timeleft is a friendship app that sets up small group dinners and other meet-ups with strangers in many cities around the world.[1][2][4]
• A recent promotion offers a 70% discount on a Timeleft subscription for a 24-hour window, using a special code shared with existing or interested users.
• The message uses strong, urgent language to say this is the biggest offer so far and that it will not return.
• Simple checks of the brand, the sender, and the links help keep the choice safe and relaxed.
• By December 2025, the specific 24-hour discount has already passed, but the way this kind of offer works is still highly relevant.

Story & Details

A big discount in a small window

The subject is clear: a 70% discount on a Timeleft subscription, wrapped in a friendly promotion. The message greets the reader by name, points to a large price cut, and repeats that this is a special chance. The reader is told there are only 24 hours to act. The language says this is the biggest offer the company has ever made and that it will not return. The tone is warm and informal, but the sense of urgency is strong.

In simple terms, the offer is this: pay for a Timeleft subscription at a sharply reduced price by using a specific code within a short time limit. The message explains that the reader should open the Timeleft app, go into their profile, move to the settings, then into the subscription section, and enter the code to claim the discount. Clear calls to action appear more than once to keep that 70% figure in mind.

Around the core deal, the message paints a picture of life with the app. It points toward upcoming Timeleft events and signs off in a friendly way, as if a group of hosts is waiting at a table. Small links invite the reader to download the app, view the message in a browser, or change how often similar offers appear. There is also a way to stop receiving these messages completely, which fits modern expectations for any brand that sends marketing.

What Timeleft actually does

To understand the offer, it helps to know what Timeleft is selling. Timeleft describes itself as a way to turn strangers into friends through weekly meet-ups.[1] The app matches people with similar energy and interests and sends them to a dinner table, a bar, or a shared run in their own city. It focuses on real-life meetings, not dating or endless swiping.

Official app store pages explain that Timeleft sets up dinners with about five strangers in more than 250 cities across over 55 countries.[2][4] The process starts with a short personality quiz and a few simple choices, such as neighbourhood, language, dietary needs, and budget. Timeleft’s own pages then show how the app uses this information to match people and book a table, so participants only need to show up, meet the group, and pay for their own food and drinks.[1][4][20]

A subscription sits at the centre of this model. It supports access to the app and to the matching system behind these repeated dinners and events.[1][2] Some reports say that Timeleft charges a fixed fee for organising the dinner and booking the restaurant, while each person then orders and pays for their own meal, which keeps things simple and predictable.[13] Media stories describe how users sign up, pay a set amount, and then sit down for dinner with strangers who might become new friends.[28]

This is what makes a 70% discount on a subscription feel so tempting: it promises cheaper access to a social habit, not just a one-off product.

Urgent words and quiet doubts

The shape of the promotion will feel familiar to anyone who spends time online. A big number. A short countdown. A bold claim that this is the best deal yet and that it will not come back. These are classic tools to push people from “I might do this later” to “I should do this now.”

At the same time, many guides on online safety warn that very urgent language and huge discounts can also appear in fake messages.[8][12][19][27] Phishing attacks often pretend to be trusted brands and ask people to click quickly, pay, or hand over personal data.[5][22][26] Some signs of trouble include strange sender addresses, brand names with tiny spelling changes, and links that do not match the text on the screen.[15][19][23][33]

This makes a strong promotion from a real app sit in an interesting place. On one side there is a genuine product. Timeleft’s website, app stores, media coverage, and user stories show that it is an active service for friendship dinners and meet-ups.[1][2][3][4][6][28] On the other side, the tools it uses—scarcity, urgency, and bold claims—are also used by scammers in fake messages all over the internet.

The answer is not panic. The answer is a short pause and a few calm checks.

A small Dutch corner: the word “korting”

For readers in the Netherlands, a 70% discount line feels very familiar. Many shop windows across Dutch streets use the word “korting” to show that prices are lower than normal. Bright red and yellow signs with this word appear in supermarkets, clothing stores, and electronics chains. The Timeleft offer, with its big number and short time limit, is a digital cousin of those signs. It taps into the same quick reaction: look twice, feel the rush of a deal, and wonder whether to take it.

How to keep control without fear

The most helpful step is to keep control of the path from message to action. Guides on email safety suggest checking the sender address instead of trusting the display name alone.[15][19][31][33] Real companies use stable domains, while fake messages may hide behind long or strange addresses. Hovering or tapping to see the full address, and comparing it with the brand’s official website, is a simple way to spot problems.

Another suggestion is to avoid clicking on links in any message that feels unusual. Instead, it is safer to open the Timeleft app directly from the phone screen or to type the official web address into a browser.[7][12][23][27] Once inside the app, the user can go to the profile, then the settings, then the subscription area. If the offer is genuine, there should be a place there to enter the discount code.

Consumer and business advice sites also point out that marketing messages should always give a clear and easy way to reduce or stop promotional contact if it feels like too much.[27][33] That is true for any brand, including social and friendship apps. Using preference settings is a normal part of digital life, not a rejection of the service itself.

In December 2025, the specific 24-hour window for this 70% Timeleft offer is already closed. Yet the lessons it raises remain fresh. Big discounts and warm language can be welcome invitations. They can also be noisy. A short pause, a few checks, and a clear sense of personal choice turn that noise into something much easier to handle.

Conclusions

A soft landing after a loud offer

The Timeleft promotion shows how modern apps mix connection and commerce. On one hand there is a simple promise: regular dinners and meet-ups that make a big city feel smaller. On the other hand there is a loud sales push: a huge discount, a ticking clock, and the claim that this chance will not return.

The balance sits with the reader. A person can like the idea of meeting new people and still want to be sure the message is genuine. A person can smile at the friendly tone and still choose to reach the app by a safe path, check the sender, and read the small print.

When that happens, the 70% figure becomes just one detail in a larger picture. The real centre of the story is the user’s own comfort. The offer is loud, but the decision can stay quiet, simple, and fully theirs.

Selected References

Sources on Timeleft and social dinners

[1] Timeleft – Official site: overview of activities and how weekly gatherings work.
https://timeleft.com/

[2] Timeleft – App Store listing: description of weekly dinners with strangers in 250+ cities across 55 countries.
https://apps.apple.com/nl/app/timeleft-make-new-friends-irl/id6466442949?l=en-GB

[3] Timeleft – Google Play listing: details of “dinner with 5 strangers” and how the matching system operates.
https://play.google.com/store/apps/details?id=com.timeleft.app

[4] Timeleft – Locations page: list of cities that host dinners, drinks, and runs.
https://timeleft.com/locations/

[5] Vox – “These apps promise to help you make new friends. Could it be that easy?”: includes Timeleft as one of several friendship apps.
https://www.vox.com/even-better/383772/friend-apps

[6] Delish – “I had dinner with three strangers from an app — here’s what happened”: personal story of using Timeleft for a group dinner.
https://www.delish.com/food-news/a64674011/i-tried-blind-dinner-party-app-timeleft/

[7] Khan Academy – “Phishing attacks | Internet safety” (video): short explanation of phishing and how fake messages copy trusted brands.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=83VKm3aLq3I

Sources on email checks and online safety

[8] IT Governance – “How to spot a phishing email in 2025”: common warning signs and practical tips.
https://www.itgovernance.co.uk/blog/5-ways-to-detect-a-phishing-email

[9] Microsoft / Business.gov.nl – “Protect yourself from phishing” and Dutch guidance on phishing and suspicious email.
https://support.microsoft.com/en-au/windows/protect-yourself-from-phishing-0c7ea947-ba98-3bd9-7184-430e1f860a44
https://business.gov.nl/running-your-business/security-and-fraud/phishing/

[10] DMARC Report – “How to detect fake email addresses: Tips to identify scams”: ways to check domains and sender details.
https://dmarcreport.com/blog/how-to-detect-fake-email-addresses-tips-to-identify-scams/

[11] Timeleft – “Dinner with strangers” campaign page: simple description of how weekly dinners with matched strangers are organised.
https://timeleft.com/sea/

[12] Khan Academy – “Phishing attacks” article: clear, short overview of how phishing works and why urgent language is a red flag.
https://www.khanacademy.org/math/pisa/x75c1fd611aa3c5ae%3Ainformation-data-literacy/x75c1fd611aa3c5ae%3Ainternet-safety/a/phishing-attacks

Appendix

A–Z key terms

Discount code
A short set of letters or numbers that gives a lower price when typed into an app or website during sign-up or payment.

Friendship app
A mobile app designed to help people meet new friends, often through shared events or group activities rather than dating.

Korting
A common Dutch word that means “discount” and appears on signs to show that a price has been reduced.

Online scam
A dishonest trick that happens on the internet, often through fake messages or websites, to make people give money or personal information.

Subscription
A payment that repeats over time, such as monthly or yearly, in exchange for continuing access to a service.

Timeleft
A friendship app, run by Timeleft SAS, that organises small group dinners and other in-person events to help strangers meet and become friends.

Urgent language
Words and phrases that push someone to act very quickly, often by saying that an offer will end soon or that something bad will happen if they wait.

Key Takeaways

At a glance

• This article tells the story of Françoise Gilot, a French painter born on 26 November 1921, who chose to leave Pablo Picasso after ten years with him.
• A short online story made her famous again by saying she was “the only woman who left Picasso” and showing him as a man who destroyed the women around him.
• Many facts in that story are true: Gilot met Picasso in 1943, lived with him until 1953, had two children with him, and later wrote the book Life with Picasso.
• The darker part is also real: several of Picasso’s partners suffered deeply, and two of them, Marie-Thérèse Walter and Jacqueline Roque, died by suicide after his death.
• The story turns into legend when it uses big claims and sharp quotes that are hard to prove word for word, but the main picture remains clear: Gilot built a long, strong life and career beyond him.

Story & Details

A viral story of love and escape

The starting point is a short, dramatic text that has been shared widely online. It tells of a young woman of twenty-one facing a famous painter of sixty-one. When she says she is leaving, he laughs and says that nobody leaves him. In the story, she walks out anyway and becomes the only woman who ever did.

The painter is Pablo Picasso, the Spanish artist born on 25 October 1881 and often called one of the most important artists of the twentieth century. The young woman is Françoise Gilot, a French painter who would later become an author and teacher as well. The online text paints Picasso as a genius who “destroys women” and Gilot as the exception who refuses to be destroyed.

Behind the sharp lines, there is a real life. In 1943, during the Second World War, Gilot met Picasso in Paris. She was a young painter, already serious about her work. He was already world-famous. Their age gap was forty years. Biographies and obituaries agree on these basic facts: they soon became lovers, and by the late 1940s they were living together.

A pattern of harm around a great artist

The online story does not focus on Picasso’s new ideas in art. Instead, it looks at his private life and how it affected women close to him. It lists several names and sad endings.

Marie-Thérèse Walter was his partner before Gilot and the mother of his daughter Maya. She died by suicide in 1977, four years after Picasso’s death on 8 April 1973. Jacqueline Roque, who became his second wife after Gilot left, died by suicide in 1986. These facts are recorded in serious biographies and in large press articles. Many writers link their suffering to their time with Picasso, though of course no single cause can fully explain a person’s death.

Another central figure is Dora Maar, a photographer and painter. Many people connect her face to Picasso’s paintings of a “weeping woman”. Historical accounts say she had a breakdown around the time their relationship ended. She spent time in hospital, received shock treatments, and then went into long-term psychoanalytic care. The viral story simplifies this by saying she spent “years in institutions”, which makes the situation sound more black-and-white than it was, but the core truth is that she suffered greatly.

Critics today often describe Picasso’s attitude to women as openly sexist. In many serious sources he is quoted as saying that there are only two kinds of women, “goddesses and doormats”. He is also reported to have described women as made to suffer. These lines appear again and again in books and articles that look at his life through a feminist lens. They fit with the idea of a man who wanted to control the people closest to him, not just love them.

Ten years inside Picasso’s orbit

For Françoise Gilot, the story started with love and art. She moved into Picasso’s world and worked on her own paintings while he painted her again and again. She later said that she learned a lot from watching him work. At the same time, she tried to protect her own style and ideas. They had two children together: their son Claude was born in 1947, and their daughter Paloma in 1949.

From the outside, this period could look like a golden age. They lived between the city and the south of France. They met writers, other artists, and collectors. Her face appeared in many of his works. Inside the relationship, things were harder. Later interviews and books tell of control, jealousy, and emotional pressure. He did not want a partner he saw as equal. He wanted total attention and loyalty.

The online story describes daily life turning into a battle of power. It says that Picasso put women around him in rivalry, talked down Gilot’s art, and became angry when she showed independence. These details match the broad picture that emerges from more formal sources, even if some of the dramatic dialogue in the viral piece is impossible to check word for word.

The moment of leaving

At some point, Gilot had to choose between staying inside this powerful orbit or stepping away. The viral text shows a precise scene: a villa filled with Picasso’s paintings like watchful eyes, a young woman feeling old at thirty-two, a clear, calm decision to go. It gives him a single line: “Nobody leaves Picasso.” It gives her a simple answer: she leaves anyway.

The exact words cannot be confirmed. What is clear is the act itself. Records agree that Gilot left Picasso in 1953, taking the two children with her. This alone was extraordinary. Other partners had been pushed out or left in chaos. She left with a plan and stayed firm. In later years she said that her choice came from a need to save herself and her work.

Picasso did not accept this quietly. Several accounts say that he tried to block her career by telling dealers and gallery owners not to work with her. For a time in France, this had real effects. Some galleries pulled away. Yet she continued to paint and to show her work where she could.

Life after Picasso: work, words, and a second great love

The online text insists that Gilot did not disappear, and this is easy to confirm. Her painting career lasted about eight decades. She produced around 1,600 paintings and 3,600 works on paper. Her work entered major public collections, including the Metropolitan Museum of Art in New York, the Museum of Modern Art in New York, and the Centre Pompidou in Paris. Exhibitions in Europe, North America, and beyond presented her not just as a former muse but as a major artist.

In 1964 she published Life with Picasso, written with journalist Carlton Lake. The book became a bestseller. It mixed stories of Picasso’s studio life with frank accounts of his moods, infidelities, and harsh treatment of others. The book angered him so much that he took legal action to try to stop it in some countries. He failed. For many readers it was the first time a woman close to a famous male artist explained, in plain language, both his brilliance and his cruelty.

The second part of her life brought another kind of partner. In 1970 she married Jonas Salk, the medical researcher who led the team that created the first widely used polio vaccine. They met through friends and married in a simple ceremony. Their marriage lasted until his death in 1995. Accounts from the Salk Institute and from family friends describe a relationship based on respect and shared curiosity rather than control.

Gilot continued to paint, write, and teach. She worked in France and in the United States. She designed costumes and stage sets, served on art school boards, and mentored younger artists. On 6 June 2023 she died in a hospital in New York at the age of one hundred and one. By then, the idea of her as “the woman who said no to Picasso” had spread widely, but more and more writers also spoke of her as someone whose own work finally stood in the light.

Fact, feeling, and legend

The small online story that set this discussion in motion is easy to share because it is short, sharp, and emotional. It frames Picasso as a man who destroys women “not metaphorically but literally”. It lists broken lives and hard quotes. It says that no woman escaped him except one, and it ends by calling freedom the only love worth keeping.

Reality is more complex. Some details are fully supported by solid sources: the years of the relationship, the children’s birth years, the suicides of Marie-Thérèse Walter and Jacqueline Roque, Dora Maar’s breakdown, Picasso’s famous remark about “goddesses and doormats”, Gilot’s book, her later marriage to Jonas Salk, her long career, and her death in 2023. Other details are best read as legend: the exact witty answers, the claim that he “literally” destroyed all women in his life, or the idea that no other woman ever tried to leave.

Yet legend grows on true ground. Many critics now say openly that Picasso was abusive in his personal life. They point to patterns of control, humiliation, and emotional violence. They link this to the suffering of his partners and even their children. At the same time, more books and shows are giving space to those women as artists, writers, and thinkers in their own right. In that new light, Françoise Gilot appears not only as a survivor but also as someone who drew a line and then spent seventy years proving she was more than a muse.

Conclusions

A long life beyond the frame

Françoise Gilot’s life shows that even very strong stories can have more than one layer. One layer is the drama many people remember: a young painter walks out on a famous man who believes he cannot be left. Another layer is quieter but just as important: a working artist paints day after day, over many decades, grows, changes, and insists that her own work matters as much as the work of the man who once shared her studio.

The small online text that made her name travel again has done something useful. It pushed readers to look again at the women around Picasso and to ask what happened to them. It also pushed readers to ask who Gilot was, apart from him. Behind the sharp quotes and the strong language, there is a simple, human story: a person sees that love and power have become tangled in a dangerous way, decides to leave, and then builds a different kind of life.

In the middle of heated debates about how to judge great artists with painful private lives, that story has a calm strength. It does not erase Picasso’s work or excuse his behavior. It simply keeps another person in focus. The young woman of twenty-one who once heard his laughter lived to one hundred and one. Across those eighty years, she turned her choice to leave into a long, clear line of paint stretching across canvases in museums all over the world.

Selected References

Further reading and watching

• [1] Françoise Gilot biography and overview of her career, including her relationship with Picasso, her memoir, and her later work in major museum collections:
  https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Fran%C3%A7oise_Gilot
• [2] Obituary of Françoise Gilot in The Guardian, describing her early life, her meeting with Picasso in Paris in 1943, their ten-year relationship, and her later achievements:
  https://www.theguardian.com/artanddesign/2023/jun/07/francoise-gilot-obituary
• [3] Obituary and career summary from The Art Newspaper, focusing on how her prolific work moved beyond her early bond with Picasso:
  https://www.theartnewspaper.com/2023/06/06/francoise-gilot-painter-obituary-picasso
• [4] News release from the Salk Institute about Françoise Gilot, covering her marriage to Jonas Salk and her long connection to the institute:
  https://www.salk.edu/news-release/salk-institute-mourns-the-loss-of-francoise-gilot/
• [5] Essay from The Indian Express on reassessing Picasso’s treatment of women, including his line about “goddesses and doormats” and the impact on his partners:
  https://indianexpress.com/article/explained/explained-culture/pablo-picasso-reassessing-the-artists-toxic-masculinity-8538182/
• [6] Article from The Paris Review on the women in Picasso’s life and how they were “bled” for his art, drawing on family testimony and later criticism:
  https://www.theparisreview.org/blog/2017/11/09/how-picasso-bled-the-women-in-his-life-for-art/
• [7] Overview of Pablo Picasso’s life and work, including his birth on 25 October 1881, his death on 8 April 1973, and a list of partners and children:
  https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Pablo_Picasso
• [8] Essay from Nautilus on Jonas Salk’s later years and his marriage to Françoise Gilot, with details about their wedding on 29 June 1970 and their family life:
  https://nautil.us/the-last-love-of-jonas-salk-236974/
• [9] Tribute article from the New York Review Books site, marking Françoise Gilot’s death in June 2023 and revisiting her memoir and other writings:
  https://www.nyrb.com/blogs/nyrb-news/francoise-gilot-1921-2023
• [10] Video: “Tribute to artist Françoise Gilot” from the Salk Institute’s official YouTube channel, offering a short, informative look at her art and her role in the institute’s story:
  https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ya9wNAbcwLE

Appendix

Key terms

Artist
An artist is a person who creates works such as paintings, drawings, sculptures, or other visual pieces, usually with a clear personal style and a wish to share ideas or feelings.

Cubism
Cubism is a style of modern art that breaks objects and people into simple shapes like cubes and triangles, showing them from several angles at once instead of in a single, realistic view.

Feminist lens
A feminist lens is a way of looking at history, art, or society that pays special attention to how power between men and women is shared or not shared, and to how women’s experiences are often ignored or treated as less important.

Memoir
A memoir is a book in which someone tells the story of part of their own life, using real events and personal memories rather than fiction, often to explain what those events felt like from the inside.

Muse
A muse is a person who gives strong inspiration to an artist; in many older stories this word is used for women whose faces or lives appear again and again in the work of a male artist.

Polio vaccine
The polio vaccine is a medical treatment given to healthy people to protect them from polio, a serious disease that can cause paralysis; Jonas Salk became famous for leading one of the first major vaccine projects of this kind.

Toxic masculinity
Toxic masculinity is a term for harmful ideas about how men should behave, such as the belief that men must always be dominant, never show weakness, and control people around them, even when this causes pain.

Key Takeaways

Soft numbers for a soft night

• A person plans to sleep for 8 hours and 17 minutes and to wake up at 3:00 in the morning (3:00 in the Netherlands).
• This plan means going to bed at 18:43 in the evening (18:43 in the Netherlands).
• Waking up instead at 1:30 in the morning (1:30 in the Netherlands) gives a real sleep time of 6 hours and 47 minutes.
• Simple clock math can turn a vague worry about sleep into a clear, calm picture of the night.

Story & Details

A quiet question in the dark
It is deep in the night. The room is dark, the phone screen is bright, and the clock says 1:30 in the morning (1:30 in the Netherlands). Eyes are open now, but the mind is still heavy with sleep. A gentle question starts to form: “How long was I actually asleep?”

There was a clear plan before lying down. The idea was to sleep for 8 hours and 17 minutes and to wake up at 3:00 in the morning (3:00 in the Netherlands). The plan felt precise and safe, like a small promise of a full night of rest.

Rebuilding the evening step by step
To answer the question, it helps to walk back through time. The target wake-up time is 3:00 in the morning (3:00 in the Netherlands). From there, it is possible to move backwards.

First, take away 8 full hours. Three o’clock in the morning minus 8 hours is 19:00 in the evening (19:00 in the Netherlands). The plan still has 17 more minutes to remove. Subtracting 17 minutes from 19:00 gives 18:43 (18:43 in the Netherlands). That moment, 18:43, is the bedtime.

So, the story of the night does not start at midnight. It starts much earlier, at 18:43, when the person lay down, closed their eyes, and let the day go.

Crossing midnight without fear
Now the focus moves to the time between going to bed and looking at the clock in the middle of the night. The bed is reached at 18:43 (18:43 in the Netherlands), and the phone checks the time at 1:30 in the morning (1:30 in the Netherlands).

It is easier to see this stretch in two parts. The first part is from 18:43 to midnight. From 18:43 to 19:00, there are 17 minutes. From 19:00 to 24:00, there are 5 hours. Together, this first part gives 5 hours and 17 minutes of sleep before midnight.

The second part is from midnight to 1:30 in the morning (from 0:00 to 1:30 in the Netherlands). That is another 1 hour and 30 minutes. When the two parts are added, 5 hours and 17 minutes plus 1 hour and 30 minutes become 6 hours and 47 minutes.

So, by the time the phone shows 1:30 in the morning, the body has already rested for 6 hours and 47 minutes, even if it does not feel like it at first.

A small language note in the middle of the night
This kind of calculation can feel a little like a language lesson. In Dutch, the verb for sleep is “slapen”. It is a simple word for a simple human need. Just as words can be broken into letters and sounds, nights can be broken into hours and minutes to understand what is really happening.

Sleep, numbers, and real life in 2025
In 2025, many adults live with busy days and short nights. Health organisations still say most adults do well with about 7 to 9 hours of sleep, but real lives often fall below that range. A planned stretch of 8 hours and 17 minutes is close to these recommendations and shows a real wish to care for health.

The actual 6 hours and 47 minutes in this story sit just under the lower end of that ideal range. The person in bed may not feel perfect, but the numbers show more rest than the first worried thought might suggest.

Conclusions

A gentle ending to a restless moment
A restless moment at 1:30 in the morning (1:30 in the Netherlands) can feel heavy. The mind may jump to the idea that the whole night is lost. Yet a calm look at the clock, and a few simple steps of subtraction, tell a kinder story.

The plan for the night was clear: sleep from 18:43 to 3:00 and get 8 hours and 17 minutes of rest. Reality changed that plan, but not completely. By the time the phone lit up at 1:30, there were already 6 hours and 47 minutes of sleep in the body.

Time does not just live in alarms and schedules. It can also offer comfort. When the numbers are clear, the choice becomes simpler: try to sleep a little more, or accept the night as it is and move gently into the new day.

Selected References

[1] National Heart, Lung, and Blood Institute. “How Sleep Works: How Much Sleep Is Enough?”
https://www.nhlbi.nih.gov/health/sleep/how-much-sleep

[2] Sleep Foundation. “How Much Sleep Do You Need?”
https://www.sleepfoundation.org/how-sleep-works/how-much-sleep-do-we-really-need

[3] Harvard Health Publishing. “How Much Sleep Do You Really Need?”
https://www.health.harvard.edu/blog/how-much-sleep-do-you-actually-need-202310302986

[4] TED. “6 Tips for Better Sleep | Sleeping with Science, a TED series” (YouTube video).
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=t0kACis_dJE

Appendix

Bedtime
The time in the evening or at night when a person lies down and plans to sleep. In this article, bedtime is 18:43, the starting point for counting the hours of rest.

Netherlands time
The local clock time used throughout the Netherlands. In this article, all times such as 18:43, 1:30 in the morning, and 3:00 in the morning are understood in this same time zone.

Sleep duration
The total amount of time a person spends asleep between going to bed and waking up. In the example, the sleep duration is 6 hours and 47 minutes by the time the clock shows 1:30 in the morning.

Time arithmetic
A simple way of adding and subtracting hours and minutes on a clock to answer questions like “When did I go to bed?” or “How long have I slept?”, without needing special tools.

Wake-up time
The moment when a person plans to get out of bed or actually does so. In the story, the planned wake-up time is 3:00 in the morning, even though the person wakes up and checks the time earlier, at 1:30.

Key Takeaways

• McDonald’s meals are often high in calories, salt, fat, and sugar.
• Health problems come from eating fast food often, not from one single meal.
• There are simple ways to make a McDonald’s order lighter and more balanced.
• A mostly healthy diet with only occasional fast food is usually the safest path.

Story & Details

A simple question about a big brand

Many people enjoy a burger and fries. The question is simple and direct: is McDonald’s food really as unhealthy as people say?

McDonald’s is one of the best-known fast food brands in the world. The classic meal looks very similar in many countries: a burger, fries, and a soft drink. It feels quick, tasty, and familiar. It is also easy to forget how much energy and how many extras are hiding in that tray.

What is inside a typical McDonald’s meal?

Nutrition sheets for fast food show a clear pattern. A single burger can give hundreds of calories. A medium portion of fries can add hundreds more. A large sugary drink adds extra calories and sugar, without making a person feel full for long.

Health agencies such as the World Health Organization explain that a healthy diet should be rich in vegetables, fruit, whole grains, beans, and nuts, and low in salt, added sugar, and unhealthy fats. Their advice is simple: eat more real food, and less food that is highly processed and salty or sweet [1][2].

A typical full-size McDonald’s meal often pushes in the opposite direction. It can be:

• high in calories,
• high in salt,
• high in saturated fat,
• high in added sugars,
• low in fibre.

This mix makes it easy to eat more energy than the body needs, day after day.

What happens when fast food becomes a habit?

One meal is not the whole story. The real problem starts when fast food turns from a treat into a habit.

Recent data from the United States show that from August 2021 to August 2023 about one in three adults ate fast food on any given day, and on average fast food made up more than one tenth of their daily calories [3]. Other research links frequent fast food meals with higher body weight, a greater chance of type 2 diabetes, and more heart problems over time [4][6].

Studies on ultra-processed foods in general, not only burgers, tell a similar story. When most of the diet comes from industrial products such as ready meals, sweet drinks, and salty snacks, the risk of many long-term diseases rises. Recent reviews connect heavy use of these products with problems in almost every major organ system [7].

This does not mean McDonald’s food is poison. It does mean that a life built around these meals, several times a week, can slowly push health in the wrong direction.

Small changes that make a big difference

The picture is not all or nothing. It is possible to enjoy McDonald’s from time to time and still protect health with a few simple steps.

A lighter order often has these features:

• a smaller burger instead of the biggest one,
• grilled chicken instead of breaded and fried chicken, when that option is available,
• a small fries or a side salad instead of a large fries,
• water or a sugar-free drink instead of a sugary soft drink,
• sauces used in small amounts, not extra on everything,
• extra salad or vegetables inside the burger when possible.

For breakfast, a simple egg sandwich can be lighter than sweet pastries loaded with syrup. For dessert, sharing a small ice cream or picking it less often helps to keep sugar intake under control.

A short language note gives a friendly picture of local habits. In the Netherlands many people call fries “patat” or “friet”. The words are different, but the health story is the same: a small portion now and then fits better in a balanced day than a big portion every day.

How often is “often”?

Experts do not give one magic number that fits every person. Health depends on the full picture: how active someone is, what they eat at home, and whether they have other conditions such as diabetes or high blood pressure.

Still, a simple idea is helpful. When fast food is an occasional treat, such as around once a week or less for many generally healthy adults, and the rest of the time meals are built from vegetables, fruit, whole grains, beans, nuts, and modest amounts of animal products, overall risk tends to stay lower. When fast food becomes a near daily habit, the risk grows.

In December 2025 the public discussion on fast food and ultra-processed products is more intense than ever. New studies and legal cases keep pointing to the same message: health is shaped by patterns, not by single days. McDonald’s fits into this wider pattern, and so do the choices made in supermarkets and home kitchens.

Conclusions

McDonald’s food is not unique. It is part of a global fast food culture that offers meals which are quick, tasty, and convenient, but often high in calories, salt, fat, and sugar.

The big health risks come from frequency and from what fast food replaces. When burgers, fries, and sugary drinks take the place of home-cooked food rich in vegetables, fruit, and whole grains, health slowly pays the price.

At the same time, simple choices can soften the impact: smaller portions, more vegetables, water instead of sugary drinks, and fast food kept as a treat rather than a routine. For most people, the safest path is not fear, but awareness: understanding what is on the tray, and letting fast food be a small, occasional part of life, not the main script.

Selected References

[1] World Health Organization. “Healthy diet – health topics.”
https://www.who.int/health-topics/healthy-diet

[2] World Health Organization Regional Office for Europe. “Nutrition for a healthy life – WHO recommendations.” Fact sheet, 18 July 2025.
https://www.who.int/europe/news-room/fact-sheets/item/nutrition—maintaining-a-healthy-lifestyle

[3] Shah NN, Fryar CD, Ahluwalia N, Akinbami LJ. “Fast-food Intake Among Adults in the United States, August 2021–August 2023.” NCHS Data Brief, no. 533, June 2025.
https://www.cdc.gov/nchs/products/databriefs/db533.htm

[4] Bahadoran Z, et al. “Fast Food Pattern and Cardiometabolic Disorders: A Review of Current Studies.”
https://pmc.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/articles/PMC4772793/

[5] Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations. “Food security and healthy diets for all.” YouTube video.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=rEKulEzV8Ic

[6] Medical News Today. “Fast food effects: Short-term, long-term, physical, mental.”
https://www.medicalnewstoday.com/articles/324847

[7] The Guardian. “Ultra-processed food linked to harm in every major human organ, study finds.” 18 November 2025.
https://www.theguardian.com/society/2025/nov/18/ultra-processed-food-linked-to-harm-in-every-major-human-organ-study-finds

Appendix

Calories
A way to measure the energy in food and drinks. The body uses this energy to move, think, and keep organs working.

Fast food
Food that is prepared and served quickly, usually in chain restaurants, often high in calories, salt, fat, and sugar.

Healthy diet
A way of eating that includes plenty of vegetables, fruit, whole grains, beans, nuts, and modest amounts of animal products, with limited salt, sugar, and unhealthy fats.

McDonald’s
A large international fast food restaurant chain known for burgers, fries, drinks, and other quick meals.

Ultra-processed food
Industrial products such as sweet drinks, salty snacks, instant noodles, and some ready meals, made from many ingredients and additives, and linked to higher risks of long-term disease when eaten often.