4
Very stupid without us
Buying a language
Do-it-yourself
f
Heineken brass band celebrates its si Iver
jubilee in France
This year the Heineken Brass
Band paid a visit to Strasbourg
and Mutzig to mark the
occasion of its 25th anniversary. On
Friday, 5 October, a concert was given
in Strasbourg's biggest theatre. The
band was assisted by 'Harmonie
Bischheim'a group of musicians made
up entirely of amateurs, just like the
members of the Heineken Brass Band.
exchanging of gifts, it was time to say
'adieu'. In the afternoon there was
another concert performance. This
time it was for the local people of
Mutzig in the courtyard at our brewery
there.
To get their wind back, the band then
had a day's rest in the Black Forest
which is only a few dozen kilometres
away from Strasbourg, but then across
The Bischheim band is ranked in the
topmost category attainable by brass
bands in France. About 1,500 people
attended the concert, which was a
resounding success.
On the next day there was a march
through the streets of Strasbourg to the
square in front of the city hall. There
they gave a brief concert, after which
the deputy mayor held a reception for
all members of our band and their
wives and girlfriends in one of the
resplendent rooms of the city hall.
Following a few short speeches and the
Strasbourg's deputy mayor receiving a
gift from the chairman of the Heineken
Brass BandW. Römkens.
the border in Germany.
It was a fine start to the festivities that
have been organised to mark the silver
jubilee. In 's-Hertogenbosch
(Holland) a final concert will be given
towards the end of the year to conclude
these 25th anniversary celebrations.
Matinee concert in front of Strasbourg city hall.
The Heineken Brass Band during their
concert in the splendid Strasbourg theatre.
Marching through Strasbourg; in the
background the cathedral.
ADUNCE
WITHOUT
US
More and more employees will
have to start using computers in
their work. We all know what
they are and we're all sure that
computers can do everything. Then we
get down to working with themWithin
a couple of days we're convinced that
computers can't do anything, they're
useless! But, if we're really honest with
ourselves, we're bound to admit that
we just can't get to grips with how to
operate them.
Computers usually have a keyboard
just like the one on a typewriter. That's
where all the trouble starts, as we
unconsciously tend to think of them as
if they were typewriters. We put the
plug in the wall socket and press a few
keys, like we learnt on the training
course, to get the thing working. And
then what do we dothen we type in
2 2 4. And that's what pops up
before our eyes on the screen. "That's
neat", we think to ourselves, "the
computer worked that out for me just
like that." And that's the point where
most of us go completely wrong when it
comes to operating a computer. For
we're the ones who typed in the '4'The
computer didn't calculate anything at
all. It can't!
It could work out the sum for us, but in
that case we have to do something to
make it. We know thatmeans 'add'.
We were taught that at schoolBut the
computer never went to school. And it
doesn't know our language either. We
must first learn ITS language. If we
want to make it add up, we have to
learn what the word for 'add' is in its
language.
So off we go to the shop to buy a
computer language. It's all recorded on
a cassette tape or a plastic disk. We put
that language into the computer by
inserting the cassette or the disk in the
required slot. Once we've done that,
the computer learns a language
instantly. And we also get a free
manual with the language we've
bought. It contains all the words in
'computerese'And the code word for
'add' is, why didn't we think of it,
ADD. Ifwe now type 2ADD 2 on the
keyboard, the computer will fill in the
answer '4' itself. But it's a pity that
computers don't all speak the same
language. There are lots of computer
languages.
The more words we learn, the more
things we can make the machine do for
us. For instancewe can also get it to fill
in our income tax returnAs long as we
have first instructed it in ITS own
language how the tax calculation
should be worked out. This is called
'programming' and it involves a great
deal of work. But, because there are so
many people who have to pay tax, such
an income tax program can be bought
ready-to-use in the shop.
More often than not you can't buy an
off-the-shelf program that will make
the computer do your work for youSo
you have to make that program
youself. It's difficult, but it's
worthwhile taking the trouble to learn
how to write programs. Why? Because
the computer will then take care of all
those boring chores in your work.
Leaving you with time to do more
interesting work. Are you afraid of
learning how to write programs? It's
quite an understandable feeling. We
used to dread swimming lessons when
we were kids. Having to dive into that
chilly water the first thing in the
morning, and then the constant fear
that you were going to drown. But now
we're pleased that we learnt how to
swim. For some of us, being able to
swim may even have saved our lives.
Not only can programming save our
job, it can also make it much easier and
much more interesting. How quickly
didn't we forget those cold, wet
mornings once we'd got the hang of
swimming and learnt how to keep
ourselves afloat?
4fS
HOLLAND
Marcel Eyck,
P.O. BOX 28, 1000 A A Amsterdam
tel. 020/702268
FRANCE
Beatrice Leplat-Labergerie,
Schiltigheim, tel. 88 629080
Marc Bindel, Mutzig
tel. 88/384899
Michèle Weishcit, Mutzig
tel. 88/384899
IRELAND
Edward Costello, Cork
tel. 021/503371
ITALY
Nella Molinari, Milan
tel. 02/3775
Piera Serra, Macomer
tel. 0785/20066
Angela Balice, Massafra
tel. 099/681325
Anna Maria Vinci, Pedavena
tel. 0439 83021
Piero Reghin, Popoli
tel. 0085/98474
Published by the Concern Staff
Department Public Relations of
Heineken N.V.Amsterdam (Holland).