tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-209045162011-07-08T04:48:50.184+03:00Academic life and lack thereof: Blogging about/as procrastination.THhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/07514325523625143947noreply@blogger.comBlogger2721100tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-20904516.post-71317594228970673452010-01-09T22:25:00.004+02:002010-01-09T22:41:06.189+02:00

I knew audacity first as the name of the best freeware audio editing software. Then came Obama and his book The Audacity of Hope. The term has now got faces, as I see friends and colleagues make bold choices and change their lives for the better. They are following their dreams, making them come true.If I had to point out one characteristic that I respect, it would be trustworthiness. But

THhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/07514325523625143947noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-20904516.post-11599022273014186482009-05-25T22:03:00.005+03:002009-05-25T22:35:18.327+03:00

Well, yesterday I said I had a short technical piece in mind and that I'd write it up before going to bed. Didn't happen. So, perhaps writing the blog counts as writing? :) As you see, I'm almost as good in coming up with new rules as they are at Guinness. But, I'm confessing all my sins and short-comings here publicly and hope that at some point the shame will overcome my natural laziness and

THhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/07514325523625143947noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-20904516.post-29927833724978829832009-05-24T18:41:00.002+03:002009-05-24T19:23:43.655+03:00

Remember, I read this piece by Haruki Murakami in the New Yorker. He is one of my favourite writers, and also a jazz-aficionado and a long distance runner. He runs every day. He probably writes every day. Don't know how much he jazzes every day, but that's beside the point.I said I wanted to run and write every day, because that'd help me write my thesis and also get me fit. Then life happened

THhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/07514325523625143947noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-20904516.post-44368601012135119862009-05-12T12:12:00.003+03:002009-05-12T13:32:15.002+03:00

Just recently I've started using Twitter. It's the "microblog" service where people send 140 character messages to whoever is following your feed, and receive these messages from whoever they are following. Think Facebook status updates with two crucial differences: 1) there's nothing else but these messages (no throwing sheep, no quizzes, no groups to join and no events to maybe attend); 2)

THhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/07514325523625143947noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-20904516.post-49420917738859912902009-03-03T10:44:00.003+02:002009-03-03T11:46:04.149+02:00

After throwing sheep, poking each other and sending champagne or Tiffany jewelery to each other, Facebook users are now by travelling back in time to the age of slam books. Everyone is writing notes, such as "25 things about me", tagging their friends in those notes and spreading these memes around the site faster than influenza.This is an interesting phenomenon from a couple of perspectives.

THhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/07514325523625143947noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-20904516.post-77852914802955185702009-02-21T22:31:00.002+02:002009-02-21T23:14:23.440+02:00

You know plans, right? Those things we like to make when we are trying to avoid doing real work. The stuff that when done well, makes the whole project half-way ready, or things that are made so they can be changed later.Or occasionally, those things that you can just scrap and forget about. There are two ways to look at this. One is that a "project" starts with an idea, then a plan is made (at

THhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/07514325523625143947noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-20904516.post-84843039758274940132009-02-09T10:33:00.002+02:002009-02-09T10:44:51.451+02:00

The elevator at our building broke down today. I was going up and called the elevator. Oddly, it overshot by about six inches, and refused to move again. The doors won't lock, the buttons light up as you press them but nothing happens. The lift's gone on strike.As it was me who in a way broke the elevator, I thought I should be the one to call maintenance about it. I called the 24h on-call number

THhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/07514325523625143947noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-20904516.post-61582860004373528382009-01-12T14:38:00.003+02:002009-01-12T15:05:53.830+02:00

I hate today's weather. It's warm (+3), grey and wet. It's sloshy as snow is melting down and although we already had a good cover of snow and perfect winter weather since Christmas, there are already spots of brown appearing from under the quickly vanishing snow.I used to say that during the winter, my mood can be reliably predicted from the weather report - I'm happy when it's snowing, and

THhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/07514325523625143947noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-20904516.post-497834787041754462009-01-06T13:57:00.002+02:002009-01-06T13:59:29.076+02:00

Happy new year!New year always brings with it new resolutions and new things. I madea resolution, as well. I've decided to "write and run" every day, atleast a little bit. This probably means more blogging activity,although most of the writing effort will be channelled to academicwriting and basically finishing the damn book.The other new thing is related to this writing resolution. I'm

THhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/07514325523625143947noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-20904516.post-29849703786512069052008-12-05T16:16:00.001+02:002008-12-05T16:16:00.523+02:00

My favourite bit comes at around the 3 minute mark... :)

THhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/07514325523625143947noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-20904516.post-37795411384698397162008-10-30T18:07:00.001+02:002008-10-30T18:07:04.234+02:00

So, they have their stump speeches and favourite verses that they keep recycling... Very funny. I have to say, I'm a bit mixed up with these elections, I'm watching the 7th season of West Wing at the same time as these real election news, and not sure whether it's Obama vs. Vinick or Santos vs. McCain or what? :)

THhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/07514325523625143947noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-20904516.post-49736993074875208352008-10-18T20:28:00.004+03:002008-10-18T21:17:55.229+03:00

I'm not sure if this was a good idea. However, sometimes the act first, ask questions later -strategy is the best one. So I signed up for the Paris marathon. It's in April, so there's plenty of time to get in shape - weather permitting. I think that (in addition to time limitations due to work etc.) the biggest obstacle is that the winter can be a difficult time for running practice. If the

THhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/07514325523625143947noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-20904516.post-54572118089674154962008-10-13T12:01:00.002+03:002008-10-13T16:17:16.252+03:00

First of all, congratulations to president Ahtisaari for the well-deserved Nobel peace prize. The list of his successes is long and impressive, ranging from Namibia to Kosovo and Aceh. The one aspect of his work that epitomises his qualities as a statesman is the work he has done in building the international infrastructure for crisis management and resolution. In this work he has provided many

THhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/07514325523625143947noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-20904516.post-72358181196763937402008-10-05T22:36:00.002+03:002008-10-05T22:52:23.612+03:00

Here's how to make a valve or a vacuum tube. Very hypnotic. These valves can be used as electronic amplifiers and do the same thing as transistors nowadays. But way, way cooler.Fabrication d'une lampe triodeUploaded by F2FO

THhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/07514325523625143947noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-20904516.post-41166857381904143642008-09-15T13:18:00.003+03:002008-09-15T14:59:03.115+03:00

Long distance running is a solitary pursuit. It suits people who are solemn and serious and like to spend a lot of time alone. I suppose that's the usual view of it, or at any rate the view I used to have about it. It didn't stop me from taking up long distance running, as I pretty much see those as positive things, but I've discovered it's only a part of the picture. The most obvious

THhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/07514325523625143947noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-20904516.post-36842463841667213272008-09-13T18:48:00.003+03:002008-09-13T18:51:36.272+03:00

Just a quick note, finished the half marathon in just over 2 hours (haven't checked the exact time but was probably 2:03 - 2:04 or thereabouts. I'm very happy about the time. My initial aim was to go under 2 hours, but considering the last three weeks, this was very good. The event was very well organised and there was a great atmosphere among the runners and also lots of people cheering along

THhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/07514325523625143947noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-20904516.post-55850411699557583412008-09-13T09:48:00.002+03:002008-09-13T10:01:59.359+03:00

Whenever possible (and unfortunately in the teaching job I do, that's not often the case), I like to follow the modified version of the scouts' motto: Be overprepared. The half marathon is today, in the afternoon, and I'm feeling very underprepared. My training programme was shattered to pieces about three weeks ago, and so I will start today without any other targets but to complete the distance

THhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/07514325523625143947noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-20904516.post-45517038889326548142008-08-28T15:18:00.003+03:002008-08-28T17:26:03.743+03:00

OK, I think it's about time to end the blogging break... The summer didn't really leave a mark in any way, and now it seems to be gone. A new academic year is just around the corner and an unimpressive summer weather seems to have turned to autumn, at least judging by the amounts of rain. But enough of the weather, greetings from Sapporo, where I'm on a one week conference trip. It's been great,

THhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/07514325523625143947noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-20904516.post-3279947911294098872008-08-13T23:52:00.003+03:002008-08-14T00:09:05.579+03:00

I just realised that the half marathon is now exactly one month away. Or, in a month's time, I'll be recovering and healing sore feet, hopefully after completing the first running race I take part since the third grade. Training is going OK. There have been weeks when I haven't been able to do the 4-5 runs I've planned, but as I don't really have any other goals than to finish, that's not too bad

THhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/07514325523625143947noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-20904516.post-35113186128572193282008-07-25T12:52:00.002+03:002008-07-25T12:54:45.723+03:00

Summer in the office - time to finally do things. And as we know, procrastination expands to fill in most of the empty space.See more funny videos and funny pictures at CollegeHumor.

THhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/07514325523625143947noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-20904516.post-89583427711945404402008-07-07T00:08:00.003+03:002008-07-07T01:19:08.450+03:00

Last year has been horrible in terms of physical activity. Back in Cambridge I at least had the 2*20 minutes cycling to work and back to keep me going, even though I had already stopped training actively with the boat club. Here, I live practically next door to work, and so I get virtually no exercise as a part of the day-to-day routines.There are many excuses and real reasons why I've been a

THhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/07514325523625143947noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-20904516.post-17103126830593295882008-06-29T17:27:00.002+03:002008-06-29T18:03:27.165+03:00

So, I made my first ever call to emergency services yesterday.I was watching TV in the evening (quite late), when I heard someone yell "Help, police" from the park outside. The park is a venue for teenager get-togethers and there's quite a lot of noise there especially in weekend evenings. Yesterday as well, it was a warm night and there was a group of people drumming etc. (damn hippies, Cartman

THhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/07514325523625143947noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-20904516.post-66734507923763536422008-06-18T09:55:00.005+03:002008-06-18T13:18:32.296+03:00

I flew to Edinburgh and back via Amsterdam, and on both occasions the departures from Schiphol were slightly delayed. This didn't really matter, as the delays weren't that long, but the reasons for the delays and what was told to the passengers were funny.The Amsterdam-Edinburgh flight was flown with a small "City Hopper" jet, and so we all took a bus from the gate to the field where the

THhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/07514325523625143947noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-20904516.post-6265698874784139502008-06-12T23:25:00.002+03:002008-06-12T23:35:54.117+03:00

I'm in a student bar in Edinburgh, watching a football match and having a beer. It's all good.I'm very excited to be back here. There are two (maybe three) cities that I somehow always feel at home in. Paris, Edinburgh and Helsinki. I really loved living in Cambridge, I really like it in Jyväskylä, growing up in Kuopio wasn't bad, and London is somehow at the same time terrifying, awful, and

THhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/07514325523625143947noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-20904516.post-48481896468053119002008-05-22T14:39:00.002+03:002008-05-22T14:54:13.842+03:00

Transparency International has repeatedly ranked Finland as one of the least corrupt country in the world. The CPI ranking, or Corruption Perception Index, is based on interviews, and as it says in the name, perceptions, and so it is a somewhat subjective measure. At least the perception so far has been that Finns, and the Finnish political system in general, would be honest and fair. This

THhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/07514325523625143947noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-20904516.post-53524091461450329452008-05-19T11:04:00.002+03:002008-05-19T14:24:25.919+03:00

What is real?It's a deep philosophical question, and while for Plato or Descartes the question was whether they could trust their senses or not, for us the issue is further complicated by all things virtual.If I'm having a conversation with someone about politics in an online forum, is s/he real? Are her opinions real, is the conversation real? How about the conclusions? Have we really agreed?

THhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/07514325523625143947noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-20904516.post-76713489795108896022008-05-02T21:53:00.002+03:002008-05-02T22:10:51.778+03:00

Unfortunately I left my camera cable at home, so I can't show you the Ossie-charm of my hotel room in Leipzig. The high point is the lonely cupboard with one (1) coffee cup and one (1) schnapps-glass. The view outside is also puzzling. Completely renovated jugend buildings alternate with derelict and abandoned ones. And then there are sprinklings of GDR-concrete here and there. And amidst the

THhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/07514325523625143947noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-20904516.post-17286697561490959052008-04-09T17:32:00.002+03:002008-04-09T18:59:36.049+03:00

If there is one theme which illustrates the need for formal research over "simple" common sense it is the theory of probability. It is ubiquitous, but difficult at best and counterintuitive at worst.We like to see ourselves as basically rational beings, and the homo economicus that form the basis of most economical theories is supposed to be capable of making rational choices. Yet humans are

THhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/07514325523625143947noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-20904516.post-46875636268926869902008-03-17T00:03:00.002+02:002008-03-17T00:54:43.092+02:00

According to the EUobserver, the EU leaders in their Spring Summit have suggested that a "fifth freedom" should be added to the four existing ones that form the basis of the Union. So far, persons, capital, services and goods have been given free movement (or rather, providing it is the work in progress) and now "knowledge" should follow suit.This is to boost the competitiveness of Europe, an

THhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/07514325523625143947noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-20904516.post-62881072834573282242008-03-07T13:11:00.003+02:002008-03-07T15:12:35.238+02:00

Among all the household chores my least favourite is vacuuming. This is somewhat surprising, as I really like the somewhat related tasks of mopping floors, mowing lawns or clearing snow off the footpaths. They all require going through every square inch of the area to be cleaned, so there is an aspect of having to do it in a systematic way. Also, there's a real sense of achievement that comes

THhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/07514325523625143947noreply@blogger.com3tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-20904516.post-21503268420305805862008-02-23T19:38:00.003+02:002008-02-24T14:49:46.176+02:00

The restlessness in Belgrade is of course big news. And so it is the number 1 news story in the Finnish Channel 4 news, as well... and their angle is the Eurovision song contest. They've uncovered that the organisers (at EBU) are keeping their eye on the events but are at the moment convinced that the preparations for the contest are on time. They also interviewed some of the Finnish competitors,

THhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/07514325523625143947noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-20904516.post-53680096544554810682008-02-23T02:54:00.005+02:002008-02-24T14:50:09.376+02:00

One of the blogs that I read, Yankodesign, often posts about designer concepts rather than actual products. Sometimes it makes you wonder what the concepts are for. Too often you see the un-innovative and plain lazy "fusion" concepts, where you take two seemingly unrelated things (like an MP3 player and a hairdryer) and combine them. Design/steal a shape for your "new concept", use a 3D-software

THhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/07514325523625143947noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-20904516.post-5331920712563901402008-02-22T00:22:00.001+02:002008-02-22T00:22:52.811+02:00

This is a wonderful story. I don't know which is cuter, that the NY Times would write an elated story about a punctuation mark, or that they had to append a correction after missing a comma in "Eats, Shoots & Leaves". But they are absolutely right. Semicolon is an indicator of certain "depth" in thinking about writing. One of the first comments I got for my writing from my PhD supervisor was that

THhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/07514325523625143947noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-20904516.post-50828618028855875292008-02-20T20:59:00.004+02:002008-02-20T22:14:05.559+02:00

Swarm intelligence, emergence, social networks and all that jazz. After Google started ranking search results based on essentially what people think is important, crowd opinion and popularity has been an important factor in trawling the sea of online information for the tuna of knowledge.So-called social bookmarking is one way of facilitating this. And now, after they've been around for a few

THhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/07514325523625143947noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-20904516.post-83152542217394319622008-02-15T22:52:00.004+02:002008-02-17T14:53:38.572+02:00

It's so easy to laugh at the ignorant Americans, like that girl who thought Europe was a country and was surprised to hear Budapest was in Hung(a)ry, a country she had never heard of. Unfortunately this isn't, by any means, a phenomenon limited to the US.It might be true that (for instance, us Finns) we don't have quite as many stupid TV game shows exposing people's ignorance in front of cameras

THhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/07514325523625143947noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-20904516.post-12338512292156864032008-02-07T16:34:00.000+02:002008-02-07T16:54:18.333+02:00

I got a delivery today. A spanking new 20 inch Mac Cinema Display. And oh boy, does it look great! (not just externally, but the picture is brilliant, too)The funny thing is, when I was plugging it in to my laptop, I had a problem. If I close the lid of my laptop, it goes to sleep. But, I know it is possible to use an external keyboard, mouse and display and keep the laptop closed. So, how to do

THhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/07514325523625143947noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-20904516.post-86772893521038048442008-02-05T21:26:00.000+02:002008-02-05T23:16:16.202+02:00

There was concert tonight, as Dr. Karaikudi S. Subramanian and two accompanying musicians came to Jyväskylä on their tour of Finland. Dr. Subramanian is a famous vina-player (vina or veena in the picture) and a highly regarded teacher.They play South-Indian classical (Carnatic) music, which is as intricate and complex as any classical music can be. Western classical musicians practice for a

THhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/07514325523625143947noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-20904516.post-42366394200979428112008-01-23T10:44:00.000+02:002008-01-23T16:51:06.874+02:00

There's a newspaper clipping pinned on the notice board of the research lab in Cambridge where I used to work. The columnist writes about leadership in academia and management in the universities. He concludes that while the most common metaphor for what the VC or rector does is that of steering a ship, the university in fact is not one big vessel but a massive flotilla of ships, boats and

THhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/07514325523625143947noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-20904516.post-61565235173884850302008-01-16T00:36:00.000+02:002008-01-16T02:00:41.050+02:00

I'm a Mac fanboy.This doesn't really come as a surprise to those who know me, but it's more about admitting this to myself. This means that I can't be cool and aloof about these products, there are no rational arguments that would stop me from wanting them. So all that remains is to try to rationalise why I like them.First and foremost, I'm thoroughly impressed by the attention to detail and the

THhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/07514325523625143947noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-20904516.post-43235840058973466992008-01-14T00:01:00.000+02:002008-01-14T00:44:34.937+02:00

Backlogs are a pain. You'll need one to stay out of boredom, and the lack of one means that the track for the toy-train that's your life is too short.But when it grows too big it stops the train altogether. Overwhelms you, ceases to be a backlog and becomes a mountain of guilt.I'm making this up, I'm not sure if I believe any of this.But there's this feeling you get... well, have you ever changed

THhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/07514325523625143947noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-20904516.post-27831954203629490872008-01-11T12:41:00.000+02:002008-12-09T12:11:35.891+02:00

This is supposed to be my first only-research -day. It's not the ideal start... For a number of reasons I arrived at the office rather late today, and of course writing a blog entry isn't what I'm supposed to be doing right now. I'm actually doing this to clear my mind, because there are so many teaching-related issues, emails, plans, lecture hall reservations etc. on my plate that shifting to

THhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/07514325523625143947noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-20904516.post-15671433611418980902008-01-06T23:20:00.000+02:002008-01-07T11:26:14.082+02:00

As I'm writing this, new snow is falling on the frozen ground. The last few days have been cold, crisp, wintry, just like they should be, except for the lack of snow. And that is being fixed now, too!Just before Christmas I read the first paragraph of a newspaper column, some idiot was writing about how lack of snow and thus climate change is good, as it makes driving more pleasurable. I didn't

THhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/07514325523625143947noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-20904516.post-44777450150742909642007-12-02T20:06:00.000+02:002007-12-02T20:38:33.859+02:00

Procrastination doesn't get any better than this. You play a game (check), the game is about words (check), you learn while doing it (check) and it's all for charity (check).Freerice.com is a great idea. You play a game and earn rice that will then be donated to people in need, via the UN World Food Programme. The site is funded by advertisers.And the words. I like words. I have a list of words I

THhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/07514325523625143947noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-20904516.post-37589435540750883642007-11-15T15:02:00.000+02:002007-11-15T15:16:25.213+02:00

This guy is great. His mission statement says:"I want to reform education in America from top to bottom. I want to be the individual responsible for making an entire generation of college graduates consider teaching before business or law school. I want to make it easier for smart, successful, and qualified people in their 30s and older to become teachers as well. I want to get America ready for

THhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/07514325523625143947noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-20904516.post-44451580887940140752007-11-14T09:44:00.000+02:002007-11-14T11:07:44.678+02:00

Apologies for updating the blog very rarely lately. There are a couple of blog texts that I've started but not finished yet, because somehow I lost the plot half way through them. And this week has been quite busy and so I haven't had a chance to get back to the texts. Usually that's what it takes; I have to put the problematic text aside for a while, and then take a look at it with "new eyes",

THhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/07514325523625143947noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-20904516.post-4327502641650837732007-11-07T00:13:00.000+02:002007-11-07T00:28:00.374+02:00

Web 2.0 provides many interesting ways to study taste in music and patterns and habits of listening to music. Dividing music into genres is an activity that music makers, vendors and researchers are interested in doing, although their motivations might be very different. Early musicologists were obsessed about musical style and finding objective ways to categorise works and composers. The

THhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/07514325523625143947noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-20904516.post-44600415230977117282007-10-23T19:59:00.000+03:002007-10-23T20:44:02.016+03:00

Actually, I missed at least two elections last weekend, because there was the first round of presidential election in Slovenia, as the father of the nation Drnovsek is now stepping down after 15 years of service. They'll need another round in November as nobode got more than half of the vote, but Lojze Peterle from centre-right is holding the lead at the moment.Turkey was also voting with regards

THhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/07514325523625143947noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-20904516.post-73529741098850359182007-10-21T17:26:00.001+03:002007-10-21T19:01:08.460+03:00

Today's an interesting day for someone who likes politics. Elections are the concrete acts of democracy, the moment where most literally the power is at people's hands.Today Åland elects their regional parliament. Usually nothing that happens in this autonomic region is talked about in the Finnish news, unless it happens to have something to do with shipping news or potato chips. Or lately

THhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/07514325523625143947noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-20904516.post-48675500985005440852007-10-17T00:45:00.001+03:002007-10-17T00:45:19.831+03:00

One more... And to this topic I will return shortly.

THhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/07514325523625143947noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-20904516.post-86011874471460152007-10-17T00:01:00.001+03:002007-10-17T00:36:02.264+03:00

...then check this out. There's some pretty cool stuff coming from Kansas, or the KSU more specifically. I saw one of the earlier versions of the other clip some months back and was very impressed. I might have even posted it here, but here it is again.I think it summarises what Web 2.0 is about, if it can be about anything. I've sometimes summarised it as being about those plasticky-looking

THhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/07514325523625143947noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-20904516.post-17549410667150789122007-10-17T00:00:00.001+03:002007-10-17T00:00:09.117+03:00

Watch this first...

THhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/07514325523625143947noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-20904516.post-43578786117367550922007-10-10T14:27:00.000+03:002008-12-09T12:11:36.317+02:00

The Nobel Prize for Chemistry goes to Gerhard Ertl. I know precious little about Chemistry, and not much more about Medicine or Physics, but it has been interesting to see how Europeans are scooping the awards this year. Ertl is German and works at the MPG in Berlin, the Physics prize was shared between Albert Fert and Peter Grünberg, who work in France and Germany, respectively. Americans have

THhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/07514325523625143947noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-20904516.post-85308516861262093982007-10-08T13:56:00.000+03:002007-10-08T14:56:18.806+03:00

Everyone agrees that climate change is happening and that we need to do something about it. It has taken a while to get to this level of awareness, but of course the real issue now is to decide what to do. Of course, to carry out these plans seems to be another thing again.In a recent report, Finland ranked 36th in CCPI, or Climate Change Performance Index. This index measures trends in CO2

THhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/07514325523625143947noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-20904516.post-46672235134691683702007-10-07T15:56:00.000+03:002007-10-07T16:27:10.775+03:00

I wrote about user comments on newspaper websites, blogs, and YouTube a while ago. The clip is a very funny take on the issue by CollegeHumour.com.

THhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/07514325523625143947noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-20904516.post-17787565933385411082007-10-04T23:23:00.000+03:002007-10-05T00:40:08.824+03:00

I made an interesting discovery today. My handwriting is different depending on which language I'm using. It's much neater and more organised in English, while when I'm writing in Finnish I tend to be all over the place and much more variable in general.I noticed this today as I was first writing stuff for a webpage in a cafe, and right after that taking notes on a lecture that was in English.

THhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/07514325523625143947noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-20904516.post-43687372759064564442007-10-01T11:27:00.000+03:002008-12-09T12:11:36.627+02:00

Take a bunch of wet fish, scream and slap me on the face with it. That's Monday morning with an 8 o'clock lecture, with you having to wake up early to make it to the office first to copy-paste some pictures and slides to your presentation from another computer.This morning was pretty hard core, I had massively slept in on Sunday, probably to offset some earlier lack of sleep. So, unsurprisingly,

THhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/07514325523625143947noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-20904516.post-81898586584578496522007-09-27T20:34:00.000+03:002007-09-27T21:21:27.256+03:00

One of the most common stereotypes about Finns is that we are very silent. If we speak, we speak in short sentences with a quiet but serious tone of voice.Anyone observing my classes would quickly agree that this seems to be true, even among young university students. If I ask a question, it is met with silence. It has nothing to do with knowing the answer, I've tested with questions every knows

THhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/07514325523625143947noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-20904516.post-86628510169622901422007-09-26T22:10:00.000+03:002008-12-09T12:11:36.856+02:00

Sometimes taking a break when you don't really have the time is actually a good idea. I went to Ireland last weekend, to a friends' wedding, and up to the moment of arrival I was feeling like I shouldn't have gone... I had felt (and still do to some extent) that I'm falling behind in my work just because there's so much of it, and so blowing a few days is not really that bright an idea. But as

THhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/07514325523625143947noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-20904516.post-16637054417935351782007-09-18T16:39:00.000+03:002007-09-18T17:05:05.109+03:00

Finally... Here it is, my new computer. Well, to my (very slight) disappointment it isn't a brand new MacBook Pro, but rather a PowerBook G4, which is the previous top-end model. It has a nice 17'' widescreen display and it is so smooth and nice to use.And it looks amazing. I like the feel of OS X and I like the smooth feel of keyboard, the sleek metallic finish (although the previous user has

THhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/07514325523625143947noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-20904516.post-29878749873527824632007-09-15T15:02:00.000+03:002007-09-15T16:40:01.082+03:00

Challenging but fun. I think that sums it up. There were three sessions this week, all very different.The first event was a "mass lecture" starting at 8 am on Monday morning. I had done a lot of preparation for this, as I wanted to get a good start. Also I wanted to try to get the students (most of whom are first year students, and this was the first ever uni lecture for them as well) participate

THhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/07514325523625143947noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-20904516.post-86640458599876707342007-09-10T00:00:00.000+03:002007-09-10T00:22:43.311+03:00

Tomorrow 8 am, the first lecture.I must admit, I'm a bit nervous, but not in a bad way. It's the kind of feeling of expectation where you can't wait for the actual show to start... It is going to be a whole new experience, and I'm trying to mentally prepare for it. The actual preparation has been challenging, as I have never needed to come up with things to say for two hours (or one and a half,

THhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/07514325523625143947noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-20904516.post-18760657404456317072007-09-08T14:01:00.001+03:002007-09-08T14:01:19.654+03:00

Perhaps the greatest TV theme ever (the show's not bad either...). Hearing this made me miss England.

THhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/07514325523625143947noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-20904516.post-43794511897297116002007-09-06T22:16:00.000+03:002007-09-06T23:28:35.312+03:00

How can it be so difficult?As I moved out of UK, I wanted to cancel my mobile contract. I had a pay monthly contract from Orange, and the easiest way to terminate the contract is to convert it to a pay as you go -contract. So you stop paying monthly for a bundle of calls and texts, and instead get an account that you need to top up in advance. This way, I thought, I could maintain a UK number and

THhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/07514325523625143947noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-20904516.post-31643115947524321902007-09-05T10:26:00.000+03:002007-09-05T18:03:35.302+03:00

Just two hours. It is just amazing. In an inaugural run, the Eurostar travelled from Paris to it's new London home St Pancras in just over 2 hours. Once the regular service starts in November, the trip between the two Alpha cities will take 2 hours 15 minutes. Add to this the half an hour you will need for boarding and security checks and you still get from heart to heart in less than three hours

THhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/07514325523625143947noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-20904516.post-40988139295721679052007-09-03T17:59:00.000+03:002007-09-03T18:43:30.724+03:00

What a great way to wake up. Have someone ringing your doorbell at half seven in the morning, and then yell at the flatmate who opened the door: "Get your stinking stuff the hell out of the drying room!" and then leave.No greeting, no introduction, no checking that he's in the right place, that the things in the drying room belong to us, nothing. And of course the volume was as loud as it gets,

THhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/07514325523625143947noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-20904516.post-57556296993228890382007-09-02T15:33:00.000+03:002007-09-02T16:29:36.494+03:00

Although it was not that much, finding the first salary in the bank account on Friday was a great feeling. After all, this year has been financially very difficult, with having to get by with loaned money, small odd jobs and generosity of the family. And even though I'm not usually bothered about money, getting my own money that is a bit more than I immediately need to keep afloat was very

THhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/07514325523625143947noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-20904516.post-16098010117549483022007-08-25T20:02:00.000+03:002007-08-25T20:45:16.894+03:00

When I left Finland for Cambridge, I only took a couple of suitcases with me, and brought most of my belongings to my parents' place, to be stored until... well, now, I suppose.I've been going through the papers, books, CD's, clothes this weekend. It's funny how easy it is to move on and forget the past projects, ideas, even "identity" in some ways. I found papers of projects I had done only five

THhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/07514325523625143947noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-20904516.post-18159638901301212262007-08-21T12:49:00.000+03:002007-08-21T12:58:08.827+03:00

Thanks again MusicThing for making my day...AdblockForget Heelys, ignore Crocs. Here are the wah wah boots!

THhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/07514325523625143947noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-20904516.post-57861229872021849062007-08-20T18:34:00.000+03:002008-12-09T12:11:37.198+02:00

I got this badge from Mitluana, who herself rocks more than a dozen peace-parties and needs no soundcheck!In the real world, today was the first "proper" day at work, as all the hassle with moving rooms seems to have reached the point where people can actually work in their rooms, or at least unpack things and sort their email backlogs.And not a moment too soon... People actually showing up at

THhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/07514325523625143947noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-20904516.post-14763913106556417202007-08-19T00:20:00.000+03:002007-08-19T00:47:38.354+03:00

The park outside my flat is a haven of peace, the antithesis of belligerence and the centerpoint of friendship.The day before yesterday there was the metal concert marking the declaration of peace in schools.Yesterday there was a christian rock concert, which I suppose had a fairly peaceful message, as well.Today there was a six (6) hour long concert called Pearls of Peace, organised by the local

THhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/07514325523625143947noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-20904516.post-41174628311211498512007-08-18T12:49:00.001+03:002007-08-18T16:49:20.385+03:00

Everyone knows the procrastinative potential of Windows Solitaire and Minesweeper, some have advanced to Freecell or Spider solitaire. I like backgammon.There's an online backgammon in Windows, and I've been able to play it now after a long while, as in the uni network these ports were rudely blocked. To me the charm of backgammon is the mixture of luck and skill, and it is of course at best

THhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/07514325523625143947noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-20904516.post-51586319558643383652007-08-16T14:05:00.000+03:002008-12-09T12:11:37.387+02:00

School started this week, and to mark the event, a national declaration for peace in schools was made today. The "ceremony" took place outside my window in the park.The declaration is a good idea, as it tries to tackle bullying and other anti-social behaviour in schools, and for what I've heard all upper-primary students (13-16 years old) of Jyväskylä attended, and the event was broadcast by a

THhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/07514325523625143947noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-20904516.post-22847149134894849012007-08-15T23:46:00.000+03:002007-08-16T02:39:59.047+03:00

The curse of empty paper. Or screen, in this case. It can be very crippling sometimes, and can drive me up the wall. The good thing about this blog is that whenever I'm finding it difficult to start writing about something I've decided to write about, I can always switch to procrastination mode and write about the difficulty of writing about whatever it is I want to write about. Almost magic (if

THhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/07514325523625143947noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-20904516.post-65369973783244763272007-08-13T17:41:00.000+03:002008-12-09T12:11:37.508+02:00

Degrees, graduations and jobs come and go, but procrastination is forever.I've now started in my new job in Jyväskylä, where I'm supposed to brainwash educate students and do research. My student times are therefore over, although there is still the minor detail of finishing and submitting the t*****, before I can properly move on.The blog will live on, as it would be wrong to think that just

THhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/07514325523625143947noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-20904516.post-14717202758374886342007-08-10T19:39:00.000+03:002007-08-10T20:17:17.252+03:00

Whoa. sometimes conferences can be so good. It takes a nice location, which preferably is in the middle of nowhere so people can't escape, but is large enough so that people don't have to be at each other's face all the time. And as the picture suggests, we had a perfect venue.The most important thing are the people, obviously. I keep telling conference organisers who are always stressed out of

THhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/07514325523625143947noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-20904516.post-3712273922895433642007-08-06T11:15:00.000+03:002007-08-06T11:33:12.666+03:00

In the ideal world of an IT admin, all systems are hermetically sealed and nobody has access to nothing. This we found out when the resident geek of the college had decided to shut down the boat club website by removing ALL privileges (including browsing the site) from EVERYONE. When our new captain asked if he knew why the website was no longer running, he just said he had disabled all access to

THhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/07514325523625143947noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-20904516.post-3373352126615151192007-07-30T02:54:00.000+03:002008-12-09T12:11:37.782+02:00

To know when you are about to go for good, just check your pockets. If you have an empty keyring and a one-way ticket, you are moving on.I'm moving on, but also moving back. And I'm also staying, and not going anywhere, and I will be back soon. It's all very confusing. My keyring is still heavy; as I haven't finished here, I can't get that weight out of my pocket yet. I'm sure this unfinished t*

THhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/07514325523625143947noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-20904516.post-16576291443667793032007-07-29T02:47:00.000+03:002008-12-09T12:11:37.894+02:00

I started reading Harry Potter books in my first year in Cambridge. The fourth book had been out for a while, and I borrowed the first two books from my neighbour and then signed up at the Cambridge City Library to get out the third one. I've bought the rest of the books pretty much immediately after they've been out, the 6th book on the opening night. And now, the seventh and the last book.I'm

THhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/07514325523625143947noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-20904516.post-84915770917337301952007-07-22T18:24:00.000+03:002008-12-09T12:11:38.063+02:00

Seeing the prologue live in London rekindled my interest in cycling. It had somewhat subsided after the great riders I knew and admired (Pantani, Indurain, Ullrich, Virenque) had either quit, got caught using doping and/or died.But, if you want to enjoy this great sports event, just snap on the NOS video feed, and in case you aren't fluent in Dutch get the commentary in English (other languages

THhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/07514325523625143947noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-20904516.post-72270879868071255002007-07-19T15:13:00.000+03:002008-12-09T12:11:38.476+02:00

Cambridge is full of loud, Spanish teenagers who are here ostensibly to learn English but actually to behave like a bunch of loud Spanish teenagers. They go around in large, loud groups, block roads and fast food shops and tills at corner stores. They are annoying.To balance things out, England sends loud, drunken groups of lads and ladettes out to southern Spain, not to learn Spanish but just to

THhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/07514325523625143947noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-20904516.post-62888470186223476562007-07-11T15:17:00.000+03:002008-12-09T12:11:38.688+02:00

"Orbo is a technology that produces free, clean and constant energy", says Sean McCarthy, the CEO of Steorn. In short, this Irish product is a perpetuum mobile, a machine that creates energy out of nothing. It is a relative of the philosopher's stone, snakeoil, so-called "Nigerian scams " and online lottery wins.Orbo was initially launched with a full-page ad in the Economist, and has since

THhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/07514325523625143947noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-20904516.post-13864425590570918242007-07-10T18:58:00.001+03:002008-12-09T12:11:38.854+02:00

As both regular readers of this blog know, I do care about the environment. I think that people should fly less, drive less and consume less. But I also think that it would be impossible to expect people to immediately stop flying, driving and consuming altogether, and therefore I'm happy to see new products (be they planes, cars or light bulbs) that are more energy-efficient or environmentally

THhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/07514325523625143947noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-20904516.post-67541706095145335072007-07-09T21:44:00.000+03:002007-07-09T22:14:02.531+03:00

The daily showers finally subsided for a while, as if to honour the first visit of the Tour de France in London. And this great race was given the best London has to offer: a route among all the best-known sights that provided a magnificent backdrop for the riders; a route through the parks of central London so that as many people could come and watch.It was a magnificent event. According to

THhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/07514325523625143947noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-20904516.post-63977291787952511372007-07-06T15:29:00.000+03:002007-07-09T21:44:01.683+03:00

In the investigation of the attempted car bombings in London and the almost successful car bombing in Glasgow, the focus has now been turned to Cambridge. Out of 4 people arrested so far, 4 have connections here. Of the two people arrested in Glasgow, one was a research student in Anglia Ruskin University in Cambridge, and the other one his "best mate".The focus of the investigation is the Abu

THhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/07514325523625143947noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-20904516.post-59721828110823978462007-07-05T14:05:00.001+03:002008-12-09T12:11:39.091+02:00

Where do ideas come from? I think for most people the generation of ideas isn't that much of a problem, but to determine which ones are good and worth pursuing might often be a case of hit and miss.Research is a process, as everyone knows, and while there is the practical aspect of having theories to generate hypotheses to be tested in experiments, so that the theory can be modified/discarded/

THhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/07514325523625143947noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-20904516.post-112831586101936142007-07-03T19:30:00.000+03:002008-12-09T12:11:39.225+02:00

I wrote a while ago about the rail speed record that the French did with their souped-up TGV. Today the Japanese have increased the speed of their Shinkansen bullet trains by introducing a new N700 model. The new version of the bullet train is saving 5 minutes on the trip from Tokyo to Kyoto. This doesn't sound like much, but the saving comes from a new automatic train control that allows the

THhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/07514325523625143947noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-20904516.post-77680623027719694202007-07-02T16:18:00.000+03:002008-12-09T12:11:39.399+02:00

A quick history quiz: Name the 7 Wonders of the Ancient World. Bonus points for remembering who drafted the list.I'm sure you can check your own answers with the assistance of Google, or my new favourite search engine Ask.com. No, I'm not getting paid to say this, I just like the way they let you expand or narrow down your search. This is especially good if you don't really know what you are

THhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/07514325523625143947noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-20904516.post-38315319964354550242007-06-30T17:23:00.000+03:002008-12-09T12:11:39.565+02:00

The first days in power haven't been all that rosy for Gordon Brown. Half the island is submerged after the rainiest June in history, more British soldiers have died in Iraq, and now terrorists were extremely close to blowing up parts of central London. And almost as to mark the event of having a Scottish prime minister, someone has just tried to drive into the Glasgow airport with a burning Jeep

THhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/07514325523625143947noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-20904516.post-14880064392351582252007-06-29T18:07:00.000+03:002008-12-09T12:11:39.664+02:00

Last night I dreamed that I passed my viva.I so wish I can take it as a sign... but seriously, it was very weird. I was "somewhere" when I met my old professor of English, and she said that her colleague is here now as well, and so we could do my viva, if I wanted (you need two examiners). I tried to tell her that I actually haven't even written the thesis yet, and so it might not be possible.

THhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/07514325523625143947noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-20904516.post-5712103186734755772007-06-27T14:14:00.000+03:002008-12-09T12:11:39.791+02:00

Exit Blair, enter Brown. As I'm writing this, Tony is playing the leading role in a show called Prime Minister's Questions in the House of Commons for the last time. The boyish, public school -like debating pickering will have no political effect (it never does, it's about scoring virtual points rather than about policy), but as undoubtedly this time it will be talked about, analysed and watched

THhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/07514325523625143947noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-20904516.post-26616410267962756082007-06-26T17:35:00.000+03:002008-12-09T12:11:40.083+02:00

This is an issue that initially looks like it mostly concerns the US, but in the interlinked world the concept of "local issue" is fast becoming meaningless, especially if it is about the internet itself.Saying "music and the internet" usually conjures images of the pre-legit Napster or other P2P networks and sharing and copying songs without paying for it. This was supposed to bankrupt the

THhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/07514325523625143947noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-20904516.post-13104316099510994552007-06-22T15:50:00.000+03:002008-12-09T12:11:40.304+02:00

Yay, the longest day of the year. And a festival of light in Finland.I was reading some of my recent posts again and noticed that they don't really flow that well. I suppose when thoughts are foggy the writing gets fuzzy. I must say that in that sense the blog at the moment reflects the t***** pretty well - it's an uphill struggle (or as my colleague put it, it's like pushing a blob of jelly up

THhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/07514325523625143947noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-20904516.post-27120776285853982642007-06-20T18:59:00.001+03:002008-12-09T12:11:40.468+02:00

Sign up for a social networking site and start looking for your old friends, get in touch with them and find out how they are doing.I gave up my futile resistance and signed up for Facebook. I had avoided it, mainly because it has been such a craze and some people have got totally lost in it. And knowing myself, I'd just spend way too much time there. Now I had to sign up, as things have

THhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/07514325523625143947noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-20904516.post-10094037705023877502007-06-20T18:47:00.000+03:002008-12-09T12:11:40.695+02:00

If you would want to lose all hope in mankind (don't know why you'd want to do that, but let's just say you would) the quickest and easiest way would probably be to spend 15 minutes reading user comments in news sites, popular blogs, online discussion forums and especially places like YouTube.Take newspapers, for instance. Helsingin Sanomat recently started promoting their online discussion

THhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/07514325523625143947noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-20904516.post-6006124529462358642007-06-18T22:01:00.000+03:002008-12-09T12:11:40.837+02:00

I'm actually pretty excited about LaTeX. The output is simply beautiful and the first properly self-made documents were easy enough to do. My decision was sealed when I realised how simple it is to write equations that look perfect, and how well the system takes care of indexing. Both are sources of major pain when writing anything extensive with Word.Sometimes you think that the tools don't

THhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/07514325523625143947noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-20904516.post-69458820287432473922007-06-14T21:03:00.000+03:002008-12-09T12:11:41.021+02:00

I should have done this much earlier, but I feel it is still not too late. And it provides potentially hours of procrastination so I couldn't resist.I decided to stop using Microsoft Word in writing my t*****. This isn't actually just a statement, it's a practical move, but it goes well with today's theme. I had contemplated moving to LaTeX earlier, but it was mainly this week when I was working

THhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/07514325523625143947noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-20904516.post-30918500550807206802007-06-14T13:23:00.000+03:002007-06-14T13:36:30.818+03:00

I've written about the idiotic Windows Genuine Advantage here before, at least twice. This is the spyware that Microsoft wants to install on your computer so that they could snoop on your system and police that you don't use unlicensed copies of their software.Fair enough, but they don't of course say that, instead they claim they are helping you to ascertain that you have a genuine Microsoft

THhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/07514325523625143947noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-20904516.post-13232896040716645282007-06-09T18:44:00.000+03:002008-12-09T12:11:41.127+02:00

Darcey Bussell gave her last performance as the principal dancer of the Royal Ballet yesterday. The last number was Das Lied von der Erde, The Song of the Earth, which is a suite of lieds by Mahler, and it was broadcast on BBC2. DLVDE is actually a symphony for Tenor, Contralto, and orchestra, and would have been Mahler's ninth, but superstitious Mahler left it unnumbered in fear for the curse of

THhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/07514325523625143947noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-20904516.post-41182074639958292512007-06-04T19:58:00.000+03:002008-12-09T12:11:41.217+02:00

There's an old saying, often used by mind-readers, clairvoyants and other such humbuggers that we only use about 10% of our mental capacity. This is of course rubbish, but it's true that we all can learn, develop new skills and flex our minds up to an old age. While muscles atrophy with age, brains maintain their plasticity and can rewire themselves for instance after a stroke to a surprising

THhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/07514325523625143947noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-20904516.post-55790361377332155652007-06-03T15:28:00.000+03:002007-06-03T15:33:54.853+03:00

I got some feedback for the demo lecture on Thursday. It confirmed my gut feeling about what had gone wrong, and what was good about it. On their three-step scale I got the middle grade. This is obviously a disappontment, but I do agree with their opinion.So, my weaknesses were having a bit too much stuff in the talk, and having to rush through the bit where I showed data. Also, they had hoped

THhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/07514325523625143947noreply@blogger.com0