Zaurus is now wireless / Iran and the bomb / MIT / Cycling in the countriside

Mika sent me some good hints for the Brazil-trip. He can also reserve hotels in Sao Paolo and Rio. It helps a lot. Having good friend is a blessing. Now I have to visit the police station and apply for another passport. Oops, now they said that getting another passport is not so easy. Hmm, maybe I can manage with one.

Zaurus is now wireless

I got the WLAN-card for my Zaurus. It works very well - I tested it in Rytmi - I could surf the net as I was drinking beer there. Some problems with the terminal-program together with the SSH-client. The screen behaves oddly, which prevents blogging. Too bad. I have to fix it soon enough.

Iran and the bomb

The Bush administration (together with some of their Israeli friends) may be contemplating a "pre-emptive" strike against Iran's nuclear facilities. The article is quite alarming one to read. Do they ever learn? Why it always has to go so far that someone must consider a strike? Don't they ever think why so many new countries are willing to spend huge amount of money for developing nuclear arms? I think just looking at the reasons why US itself (and Israel, too) developed their bombs in the first place would be sufficient. The end of the article is rather funny:

[...] quickly challenged the provision's legality. Some members of President George W. Bush's own party are throwing up their hands at such clumsy doings. "This administration's nonproliferation strategy consists of flailing around with a two-by-four," says one disgusted Republican elder statesman. And even the administration must realize that its Iran options are limited now by the chaos already overtaking Iraq.

I just love this "flailing around with a two-by-four". In Finnish "huitoo ympäriinsä kakkosnelosella". Check also the history of G.W.B and the National Guard.

MIT

The poor and the sick do not need to bother to apply to MIT (or any university in Massachusetts)! I need to send lab reports stating that I have had measles, rubella, and mumps or have vaccinations agains them. Then I need to send another report stating that I do not have TB. And prescription for my glasses. I also have to tell them whether I use seat belt or not (strangely enough, they do not ask whether I use bikehelmet...) and whether I have harmed myself or tried to do that (does binge drinking and drunken cycling qualify?). Etc, etc, but no HIV-test! On financial side, I have to prove that I have certain, not so small, amount of money in my bank account. Fortunately, I do have that amount. Now I start to understand how foreign students must feel when trying to get into Finland...

I got some coursebooks:

• "The machine tha changed the world - the story of lean production" by Womack, Jones, and Roos
• "Lean thinking - banish waste and create a culture of wealth in your corporation" by Womack and Jones
• "Product design and development" by Ulrich and Eppinger

It does seem that lean is the way to go.

Cycling in the countriside

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I cycled in the countyside (a.k.a Espoo) for 1.5 hours. It is surprisingly nice if one loathes cities, but far too un-human for me. Fortunately, there is reason why I should move to the countriside. The weather was really nice, and vies by the sea are really worth the countryside visit: 15C, sun, no strong wind.

Alun perin julkaistu kuukausikoosteessa "Blogs from September to October 2004".