Blogs from May to June 2005

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I bought a window Fan. It is suprisinly efficient. I dropped the temperature by 2C in one hour. Now, we have only 27.9C at home and the temperature is still dropping. The best thing is that the fan uses much less energy than an AC. And it was very cheap too, only $22 in the COOP.

Bush on it again

The other day, president Bush delivered a speech. Once again, he told his subjects, that Iraq was behind 9/11, and that was the reason for invading Iraq. As we know, Iraq had nothing to do with 9/11 (Egypt and Saudi-Arabia did, though). So, it seems that Bush is using the old propaganda trick: the more often one repeats a big lie, the more likely one will not be impeached, even when there clearly are numerous reasons for impeachment.

Daily crono

Yesterday, on Wednesday, was a day of significant progress in completing assignments. First, in less than 2 hours, we (Kumar, Marat, and I) talked through the current Operations management assignment. It was rather easy one to crack, at least for Kumar, who really fast to got the point. And also to Marat, who cooked up a simulation model for doing a quantitative check for our reasoning. I think I made a small contribution too. After the entertaining Finance-class, we (now Kumar, Ashok, and I) took a ride to Watertown and Cambridge, and had Indian dinner in the Indian store. It is always a short trip to India, a really exotic treat. After that, we completed the System Dynamics assignment. Total time spent on it is now 7.5 hours, which is still reasonable (the time allocation for it was 16 hours, as it is meant to be completed in two weeks). Then, we had some beer in the Characters pub discussing the future, what we want to do after SDM, etc.

Make some science!

Click

the picture and make some contribution to the science!

Wednesday, 2005-06-29

A nice party

As reported by Sam, we went to a "Clambake"-party yesterday. The reason for the party was to meet students from the Naval Postgraduate School (NPS), who were visiting Boston. I was surprise to find them even older than we are. So, I can still continue studying without looking that much more an idiot. I had the same food as Sam did. Sam did not like, I did: it was a flounder filled with crab and shrimp stuffing. Mine was good, not rare at all. I sat in next to professor Plasko, who was even faster than he is in the class. And funnier, a bit nasty even. Later, as Sam reports, we did not get in the bowling bar, since we did not have our IDs with us. I am getting used to this moronic policy of not being able to use one's brain, it is the way to behave in a society, in which there is no trust, and in which freedom is being replaced by "patriot act" and other totalitarian legislation. All this idiocy will certainly backfire very soon. I will not be here when it does. I will go to Europe, where people, even bouncers, are free to use their own brains, not those codified in obscure collections of laws and Supreme court case decisions or whatever. I think this counts as "something harsh", which Sam was anticipating.

The ultimate SUV accessory

So, you have a 4-wheel drive SUV. You do not have the guts to take it to the countryside. Or, maybe you live in a city, and countryside is too far for you. And your golf-club does not allow you to drive on the greens. It is a bit embarrassing to have such a car and not be able to use it where it belongs. Take it easy, there is a solution. Just buy a can of spray-on mud, spray it on your SUV, and your neighbors will die in their envy! Place your orders now as supplies last!

Tuesday, 2005-06-28

Scary?

This is what happens, if one sets off fireworks on the 4th of July

A violation of this law shall be punished by a fine of not less than one hundred dollars nor more than one thousand dollars or by imprisonment for not more than one year or both. This practice may result in serious injuries to people and property.

It is from an email from the Graduate Student Council. I knew that some private prison have been cutting down their health care expenses, but I did not know that the situation has got this bad.

Stupid policies in MIT

I am rather interested in completing my PhD in MIT. So, I went to ask how the admission process works. I was surprised: I am clearly qualifies, and most likely will get admitted. But it takes time. MIT (or at least ESD) has only one admission deadline per year. It is in January. The results come in March, and one can start next September. So, if I graduate in next January, I have to get out of MIT for 7 months, and then come back. Not such a tempting alternative. I need another alternative. I have one: if I get accepted in the TPP (Technology and Policy program), I can stay in MIT and even get money from MIT (by working as an assistant), and get another Master's degree before September 2006. Strange, but true!

A new book

I got Jared Diamonds Collapse: How Societies Choose to Fail or Succeed from Amazon yesterday. It is a great one. I got so immersed in it that I did not have time or motivation to fill in the systems engineering reading quiz. No regrets. It was much better to spend time in reading how China and Australia have developed as societies in the past, what is their situation today, and what will their future be. I will write more later, but check what Amazon says about it.

Repetio mater studiorum

Today's systems engineering did not really add anything. I think all courses should be based on fresh, ongoing research. Now the same ideas and anecdotes (e.g on TRIZ and IDEO) come up in all courses. Boring.

Daily cronos

Just to prevent me from forgetting my past. On Saturday we continued our midsummer celebrations. It was hot, 34C, and sunny, so I decided to test my endurance by cycling for 1 hour around northern Cambridge. Somehow, I do not do as well as I did last year in China. I got thirsty rather fast and then lost most of my strength. It has never before happened in one hour. I am getting old. But I do not care. I can still enjoy nice picnic with S. This time we bought some wine, cheese, bread (etc) from Deluga's in the Charles Street (nice shop, but way too expensive), then took the T to Revere beach. Of course, we did not go to the beach itself, instead we stayed in the shade of some trees. The Revere beach used to be a nice place, with dance pavilions, roller coasters, etc. Now, nothing is left, just huge crowds of Latinos. And more police cars I have ever seen USA - it is a good hunting ground for them, they can fill in their weekly quota of arrests easily. Maybe it makes the place safer. On Sunday, another trip to a beach, this time to Halibut Point with Mirja and Milton. More later.

Monday, 2005-06-27

Too hot to think

It is too hot for getting a good night's sleep here in Boston. I definitely do not feel refreshed after tossing, turning, and sweating for 8 hours. I have to figure out some solution. I know that an AC would solve this problem, but buying an AC would create new, financial problems. And then I should solve them. I have no way to solve the financial problems, since I cannot work outside MIT (visa) and cannot get salary inside MIT (for being a research assistant) due to SDM being an profit center. If one wants to be an RA, one has to get into another program. Totally insane: one gets paid for taking more courses.
I think I will go cycling for an hour or so. Maybe some physical exercise will elevate both my physical condition and my mood. Or then not, but it is worth trying anyway.

What is wrong with the courses?

So far, I have disagreed with Yoav and others on the quality of the courses. Actually, I still disagree with them on the quality, but I start to feel, that the courses we are now taking are far too simple. There is not enough theoretical detail involved, the homeworks are easy but tedious, when it should be the other way: hard and quick to do. I cannot really get motivated with these things, so I have to start doing something else. I cannot really procrastinate any further, I have to start working on my thesis. So, let me start today, in the evening, by sending a few emails to some gurus. Or something.

The real fire-hazard

If I were given some gun (or a rocket launcher or anything which destroys fast moving objects), I would become the number one fire-hazard in Back Bay. I would shoot all the idiots, who need to ride their Harley-Davidson-motorcycles after midnight. I know, they do it for the same reason they also buy Hummers: they need to compensate for their minuscule penises. But I would show no mercy: I would shoot and destroy all of them. So much for my pacifism!

Saturday, 2005-06-25

Mid-summer celebration

Yesterday was the eve of mid-summer in Nordic countries. There it will be drinking, setting up bonfires, roaming around naked by the sauna and the lake, and other nice things. We could not set up a bonfire he (it would a fire-hazard, the most terrible things there is execpt gay marriage). Neither could we roam around nakes, for the same reason. But we could try to get drunk. Not that it was easy: we (me and S) went to the Muddy Charles determined to get drunk, but we had forgotten to take money with us! So, we only got 2 pints of Bud. Fortunately, Chirstian and Spiros were working on assignment in the SDM-office. Christian kind lent us $20, and we got a pitcher. After making use of it, we started to crave for lobsters. But there was a 80 minutes queue to the Barking crab. Back to Back Bay, and to some Greek restaurant. Good food, but we did not have any money and my credit card did not work. Fortunately, the restaurant was only 10 minutes from home, and we could escape without doing the dishes. What a celebration.

Strange things in USA, again

Announcements in the Green line tram in Boston. In all but one station, the announcement (in the tram, when approaching a station) is something like : "Next stop Arlington, doors will open on the right". Approaching Boylston, however: "Next stop Boylston, no smoking please".
Devoting huge areas for parking and erecting high fences around them. Poor pedestrians have to walk around them. I do not the purpose of the fences. Just erecting poles would be enough and would not prevent free movement of citizens.

Friday, 2005-06-24

A coincidence

I was having lunch with Kumar and Ashok in the Old American Buffet in the Watertown buffer. A man walks over to our table and asks: "Where are you guys having lunch tomorrow?" It turns out that the man had lunch at the same time with us in the Bengali restaurant yesterday. So, he was hoping (not) to meet us for lunch tomorrow. Smallish world.

Resumes

We had a resume preparation workshop in the morning. I found out that my current resume violates all possible rules. I had to write a new one, which was as painful as I expected. I hope it does the trick if I ever need to apply for a job. I think jobs should apply for me, but I may be a bit too confident. Check the new resume.
I heard that many employers use automatic scanning of resume. For this reason, it is important to include the right keyword in the resume. Using small font and white color one can put hundreds of fashionable keywords in the document header and footer, as one clever guy pointed out. So much for the usefulness of the automatic scanning...

Thursday, 2005-06-23

Systems engineering

Nice session about the "House of Quality", which is also known as "Quality function Deployment". I have heard these terms so many times, and never really taken the time to get the point. Now, I was "forced" to use 2 hours on it. It seems a suitable way of organizing and coordinating customers and designers. Or something. Anyway, QFD was most hyped a while ago and seems to have survived the decrease of hype. So, there is something to it.
About the lecture, and lectures in general: some issues and examples keep on arriving all the time. Maybe they are important. At least it shows, that I have been awake during some lectures and still remember something. Good! I am getting something for my money.

System dynamics

System dynamics has turned out to be serious stuff. Not hard, actually, but really time consuming. The current assignment has three parts. It took us (me, Kumar, and Ashok) 6 hours do complete the first two. But we learned a lot, and it was kind of fun to see how the simulation results depended on subtle changes in the parameters. I assume that the third part will take at most 3 more hours, which would mean that spending the nominal hours, all of them. It would be the first time after the RFID class that happens. Good, the more challenges, the more we get to know who really like the class and who just want to get an elective done. By the way, all non-SDM-specific courses are harder than any SDM-specific course. So, take your time with electives...

Wisdom from the leaders

Vladimir Putin : "You should not praise a woman, otherwise you will spoil her". I disagree, of course, as always with authorities. George W. Bush: (approximately): "Since we invaded Iraq, Iraq has turned into an international breeding ground of terrorist. So, it was good we invaded it". I cannot even disagree, since one cannot disagree with something like this.

Wednesday, 2005-06-22

Daily crono

Lean studying rules. I had no hurry today. I slept until 9 am, went shopping with S, had lunch in the Chinatown Eatery, then visited the SDM-office, participated (quietly, until the TA asked me for some explanations of something I had never heard off) in the Finance class, met with Yoko Urano to discuss TPP, submitted my Systems Engineering homeworks etc, went to Miracle of Science with S for dinner and beer and came home. Yes, I could have been more productive, but what the heck. Having just 4 courses is so easy, no need to work daily. I really should start working on my thesis, now I am kind of wasting my time (not today, but in general) even though the grades my groups have got so far have been more than satisfactory, at least given the time we have used on the assignments.
Time is the only thing we should worry about: we have only rather limited amount of time before we are not anymore. Money, instead, is something one can always get enough and when needed: no need to worry.
Speaking of money. If I had a house with a mortgage to pay and I would have to work to pay the mortgage while studying in MIT, I would just sell my house (the prices have been rising lately, so I would make a profit), quit my job, complete my studies in one year, get a better job, and a nicer house. I would not try to work and study at the same time and use two years to complete my studies. But since I do not have a house nor any other significant property, I do not have to worry. I consider myself very lucky in this respect.
Oh, tomorrow we will again have the excellent Systems Engineering class. I can hardly wait.
Again some rules, with no possibility of interpretation: if one wants to get in the TPP-program, one has to take the GRE-test. No matter, that one just took the GMAT, and that one did 93-units (worth 1.5 master degrees) with decent GPA in less than 5 months. That does not prove, than one is capable of graduate studies in MIT. No way! I have never been in a country, where the rules are so holy, and everyone is so timid, and no bureaucrat has no authority to interpret the rules. I think doing otherwise would constitute a fire hazard.

Tuesday, 2005-06-21

Thrown out of the gym

Now, I encountered another non-negotiable, strict rule. I was, in my blissful ignorance, doing some exercises in the gym, when some rulebook walked by and threw me out. Reason: I was not wearing sneakers, instead, I just had socks on. Up to know, in several gyms, in several countries, I have always done my gym-exercises without any shoes. I just cannot figure what kind of danger I cause by not having shoes on. It cannot be fire-hazard, I assume. I assume that not even the ever eager US congress has not passed a law requiring having shoes in the gym. In addition, before joining the gym I had to sign a waiver of my rights, so the reason cannot be that I could sue them. So, what is the rational reason? Is there one? Note, that the possible fungi I may or may not cultivate in my feet cannot be the reason as I can take shower without having shoes on after my exercise.
Be that as it may, I need to buy sneakers. As I will only wear them in the gym, and even there only for disguise, I do not want to invest more than $5 in them. Any ideas where to buy sneakers?

Some notes on the new Foreign affairs

Written for my classmates to encourage them to read the magazine. It is very important to read it.

The cover story is about the (most likely soon coming) flu pandemic. It tells how this pandemic most likely would spread (cf Syst Dyn) and how, in addition to killing up to 16 million people in USA, it would also disrupt the global trade, with some effects on the supply chains and the things we could buy. Also, with the totally lacking preparation of all countries, including USA, there would not be enough medicins, ventilators, or even spare parts for the seware pumps for the likely duration of 12 to 36 months of the pandemic. Sobering reading: the "threat" of terrorism pales in comparison of the risk of the pandemic. Hopefully, the world is able to divert say, $100 billion, in preventing the flu (it would still leave $900 for preparation for intentional killing of humans, i.e. military budgets)
Next, the magazine has an article on the history, spread, and current state of the currenly HIV/AIDS-pandemic. This article is an superb example how system dynamics is applicaple in real-life.
I also think that modelling the AIDS-pandemic (and applying this model to the coming flu pandemic) would make an interesting and important SDM-thesis. Well, SDM is about big systems: what is bigger than the whole humanity and the Earth.
Still, the magazine has a couple of articles on the trade relation between USA and China. These article complement the things we are learning in the Operations management class.

Daily crono

Two classes today: the ever better systems engineering class on INCOSE-systems engineering model (and against it). It was fun, and I could easily relate it to what I was doing in Nokia. So, I could see practical application right away. Some others could not and are whining out aloud. Poor them! Some other guys, not the SE-whiners, decided to quit the System dynamics class just when it started to get interesting, and when the homework got easier. Poor them too! Then, some pinball, the unfortunate visit to the gym, and now back home to finalize the SE homework. Should take no more than 3-4 hours. (I have so far used 3 hours on it).

Monday, 2005-06-20

How to handle 4 courses in less than 4 days?

I am taking four courses this semester. In addition, I would like to work on my thesis. Therefore, I have tried to be able to complete all assignments in at most 4 days. This would leave, in theory and with sufficient motivation, 3 days for working on the thesis. How can we accomplish this. The basic idea is work long days from Monday to Thursday and to use evenings to work on single courses. For example, we have finance class on Mondays and Wednesday until 4.30 pm. It is easily possible to complete the assignment (given a group with members of equal speed and experience) after the class in less than 5 hours. Similarly, it is quite possible to complete the System Dynamics homeworks in 2-3 2-hours sessions during the week, and to have 1st of the sessions right after the class, when the heat is on. Systems engineering is also easy: each week, either Monday or Wednesday evenings are free; the reading quizes take almost no time. This leaves operation management: its deadlines are at least two weeks apart, so just convening twice for at most 3 hours does the trick. This is how lean studying and good time management makes life easy (provided that the teams are excellent, as they are now thanks to Kumar, Marat, Dave, and Ashok.)

Daily crono

Yesterday, after laying blame at mr Bush's door, I took my bike for a ride. I cycled for 1.5 hours, and really regretted that I have not cycled more here. It is rather fun, and takes me to strange place (Boston is easy: it is impossible to get lost). Later, some shopping with Kumar, then reading textbooks at home until S returned from New York. It was a cause for a celebration in Sonsie-restaurant. Today, classes, and then working in the library. Now, I am busy with the newest Foreign Affairs, which run a coverstory about the coming flu pandemic.

Sunday, 2005-06-19

Personal responsibility

Each of us have the responsibility to do what we can to slow down the global warming. As Henry Porter writes in the Guardian today

If I criticise the backwardness of Bush and his oil lobby, it follows that I must take action on a personal level - retire my ancient Volvo, use energy-saving light bulbs, switch off the computer at night, do away with the dishwasher, make fewer journeys by air, install solar panels, get a bicycle.

This is one of the reasons I live in a small place close to MIT. (and I should cut down traveling by air, too)
And if you want to know how out-of-date, stubborn, and stupid Bush and his cronies are, read this article. I really think that mr. Bush should be thrown in some dark prison for his crimes against humanity and the planet. Unfortunately, we cannot do that. I just hope that the democrats get their act together, and will be able to prevent another criminal from getting to the Oval office.

Saturday, 2005-06-18

How slow is slow

If a piece of music should be performed "as slow as possible", exactly how slow would it be? The current answer is, for a piece which would take 20 minutes to play with "normal" speed, 639 year. This is how long the performance of John Cage's "Organ squared / as slow as possible" will take. It has now been playing for almost four years. The first 20 year:

 K = Klang Anfang, P = Pause / Klang Ende 

 Impuls 1: P:              5. 09. 2001
 Impuls 2: K: gis', h', gi''  5. 02. 2003
 Impuls 3: K: e, e'          5. 07. 2004
 Impuls 4: P: gis', h  5. 07. 2005
 Impuls 5: K: a', c'', fi''  5. 01. 2006
 Impuls 6: P: e, e'          5. 05. 2006
 Impuls 7: K: c', as'  5. 07. 2008
 Impuls 8: P: c'          5. 11. 2008
 Impuls 9: K: d', e''         5. 02. 2009
 Impuls10: P: e''          5. 07. 2010
 Impuls11: P: d', gis''  5. 02. 2011
 Impuls12: K/P:   c'(16'), des'(16'), as'   5. 08. 2011
 Impuls13: P: a', c'', fis''  5. 07. 2012
 Impuls14: K: dis', ais', e'' 5. 10. 2013
 Impuls15: K: gis, e'  5. 09. 2020
 Impuls16: P: gis          5. 02. 2022

This is really an exiting project. I hope I will have an opportunity to visit the church sometime, hopefully when the note changes. Check the homepage of the project. The ethos of the project appeals to me:

The 89th birthday of John Cage markes the beginning of the performance. The first organ that is build for the consequent performance of a composition and that will blow all so far known temporally dimensions and therewith also sound dimensions. It is connected with the intention of optimism, someone's spirits and idealism which is equal to the creator of the big cathedrales.

Daily crono

Sleeping until 12.30 pm, some pasta for lunch, reading, blogging, sleeping and dreaming of complexity theory, meeting Kumar and driving up north to the Revere-beach (nice place, many seagulls (one with a just one leg)), then having dinner in the Chinatown eatery (the best and most original place to have Chinese food in Boston, in my opinion). Later, reading, drinking Jack Daniels at home.

Friday, 2005-06-17

Shopping

I decided, that I need some orange clothes. Wearing orange will make my mood much better, I can even become hilarious. So, I went to H&M and bought two pairs of orange shorts (or bermudas) and two orange T-shirts. I used to wear orange in the mid-1990s in Finland and I tend to remember that I was rather hilarious back then.

Finance and accounting & studies in general

We had an extra class on finance and accounting today. We discusses the ways to do accounting for extended warranties. The topic may not sound that interesting, but given professor Plasko's talents in teaching the topic and my increasing interest in the topic, it was pure fun. I consider finance and accounting as a complex system of rules together with some recommendations on their use. Having such a system of rules, it takes me a few lectures before I get my head around it (= learn the basics and develop some intuition). Now, that has happened. I think the accounting class is going the be really much fun! And helpful too, at least in the future.
This week was much better than the previous. We got almost all assignments done by Thursday night. It is good, since now I can relax, read some extra material for the courses, and also start doing research for me thesis. I borrowed a few books on measurement theory and Kolmogorov complexity. I try to make a thesis, which takes what we learn in SDM just as a starting point - there are many thesis which do not add anything to the already known. Such a thing is not for me.

Daily crono

S went to New York. I went shopping. Then studies. Then a lot of beer with Kumar and Marat. Then some food. Back at home I immersed myself in all kinds of reading: New York Times, Economist, books, internet. I was 6am before I felt the need to sleep. Strange.

Thursday, 2005-06-16

The magic is still here

Very good lecture on systems engineering today. I really enjoyed it. I could even follow the discussion even though I had only superficially skimmed the readings. I need to read them thoroughly later, since they are useful for my thesis, too. After the class, I went with Kumar to the the Athena-cluster to do the probability simulation with Matlab. I have to confess, that I have never used Matlad before (it was not that common in early 1990s, when I studied math). But it does not matter: after some hacking, we got the thing up and running. In total, it took us less than 1 hour to get the results, which by the way are: 55% and 64%.

Wednesday, 2005-06-15

The magic has returned

Now, the magic has return and studying is again totally effortless and pure fun. It started yesterday: we worked on the System Dynamics for 3 hours and got it 60% ready. After that, at 11 pm, I started to read the articles for Systems Engineering and finished the reading quiz in almost no time. Today was also just excellent: in the morning, we (me, Kumar, and Marat) spent 1.5 hours and actually completed the Operations management assignment. After the Finance class, I teamed up with Dave and we spent 4 hours on this weeks assignment. We got it 87.5% ready, which is a remarkable achievement for us, who definitely are not that good in finance or accounting. In addition to solving the problems, we also learned a great deal about accounting. Oh, I just hope the magic does not disappear for any longer period.
Speaking of assignments, I have now learned to appreciate MIT's style of setting up assignment: assignment are always about something more advanced that the class was about. The next class then covers the topics. It is a good way to learn.

What is sexy?

It may safe to say that fishnet stockings are generally, in the Western culture, considered sexier that ordinary pattern-less pantyhose. What is the reason for this? Both are as transparent, and reveal almost the same amount of whatever is inside them. I assume, that the reason is, that for some reason fishnet stockings were first worn by women in some entertainment industries, and that this history lent sexiness to them. But if this is the case, then almost anything could become sexy? Yes, I know that some perverts consider rubber boots sexy, but I assume they could become sexier in the eyes of the general public with some clever brainwash. Or something. If someone has read a nice article or book on this issue, please let me know.

The real reason for the war on drugs

As everyone with any sense knows, the war on drugs was lost even before it was started. Still it is waged with great vigor and without any concern of the human and financial costs. Why is this? Why do we want to cause great, but unnecessary suffering in our societies? Why do we want to invest so much money in a useless cause? The reason is, that the war on drugs is extremely profitable for the pharmaceutical industry: without the war on drugs, or the prohibition, there would not be any demand for the expensive painkillers. This is also the reason, why the US Supreme Court judged that California cannot allow its citizen use marihuana for painkilling and appetite arousing (?): the court even stated, that letting that happen in California would distort the inter-state commerce. But there is no legal commerce in marihuana between California and, say, Utah. Therefore, they must have meant the commerce of advance painkillers. Stupid!

Tuesday, 2005-06-14

Physical exercises

I am making an experiment: how does regular, but not hard, physical exercise affect my studying efficiency. I think that exercise is good, makes me more alert and also will make me last longer in intellectual effort. The question is whether it takes more time that it provides efficiency. I do not know, but I will find out. (There is an argument claiming that jogging is waste of time: if one tries to live longer by jogging regularly, one ends up using more time on jogging that one gains in extra days. Which would be rather sad thing). Let's see.

What is romantic?

I think romantic is studying together in a library with the loved one, then walking back home over the bridge, having some light dinner, and then doing some work together. This beats at least having overpriced dinners in pretentious restaurant, lying on beach, or taking some pre-arranged trip to somewhere. And definitely beats watching TV. But what would not?

Daily cronos

On Monday we had the regular lectures on "Operation management" and "Financial and managerial accounting". Both of them were good and interesting. I am struggling quite a bit with finance; it is not something that is very natural form me to do. It is too detail oriented and makes me lose my attention quite fast. I will get better later. In the evening, I did the reading quiz for "Systems engineering" and also half of the homework. The homework is very easy, or at least I think so. Let's see what the professor/TA thinks about my answers. I do not care that much, I just want to learn and try to apply the new concepts and information on some things I was doing in Nokia. I also intend to start looking at energy systems: I am quite sure that I will end up working on them in not so distant future. By the way, I figured out how to use MATLAB for solving the problem concerning axiomatic design. I think the whole "Systems Engineering" homework is not taking more than 5 hours, which is rather good.
Today, lecture on "Systems engineering". It was fun as always, mostly because of the various comments made by the students. The topic seems to be hard for many to grasp, but that is how Finance is for me. I am sure finance is trivial for most students.
Later, 40 minutes in the gym and then some decent fish and chips inn Gyros. Now, back to work: reading for the "System Dynamics"-class.
The class was good and useful. I just am getting tired with long classes: hard to sit down so long, especially on the MIT-chairs. They are too bad: MIT should use its co-operation with the Rhode Island School of design and get some decent chair designed and installed in the classroom. Or then I should eat some magic mushrooms and shrink.

Sunday, 2005-06-12

Bicycling

I got my new bike. Of course, I had to test it a little: an 1.5-hours ride around Boston proved the bike very solid and surprisingly agile. It was really hot: 32, sunny, heat index 37C (still 10C lower than in China 2003, so no problems).
Later, I cycled to SDM@MIT to do finance assignment with Dave. Fortunately, the real subject experts John and Matt were there too, and we got some free and valuable advice from them. Also Ilana and Gred were present, and everyone was faster than I was. What an experience.
I found a way to do all four courses in three or three and half days. It requires concentrated work for 12 hours or so daily. The rewards of success would be huge: I would have time for cycling and doing my thesis. I think my skills in lean studying are coming back to me. Great.

Hell on earth

When it comes to temperature, my cave is a hell on earth. In January, it froze over, but now it has melted again. The temperature is constantly over 30C (86F). Having fans helps a little, but doing any intellectual work is not too easy. To make things worse, the relative humidity is over 70%. Well, at least I do not have to apply any skin lotions; skin moisture is high all the time. Fortunately, diet Pepsi is just $0.25 per litre nowadays.

Saturday, 2005-06-11

Bicycle - tommorrow

I will finally get a new bicycle tomorrow. It has taken only 5.5 months to get a replacement for the bike Air France destroyed. Partly it has been my own fault, since I have not replied to Air France promptly. But their reaction time is also more than a month, and they do not even themselves know how they should react. Anyway, I will get a new, better bicycle, and can start exploring greater Boston. I should be fun, especially when temperature is more than 90F. The hotter, the funnier it is to cycle. (the picture on the right: gay protesters at the Gay Pride, Boston, by S.)

Studies going well

We are getting back to our normal speed. Today, in less than 10 hours, we (me, Kumar, and Marat (for operation management)) were able to do/finish both system dynamics (total time 5 hours) and operation management (total time 13 hours). The latter one took longer than necessary, but next one should be easier, or at least we have decided to use less time on it. Both courses are really good and the assignment really challenged us; I assume we learned something, too. So, after starting aftet 1 pm, I came back home at midnnight. The normal MIT-life has started. (Fortunately, I was able to spend some time with S in the morning).

How much does it cost to kill an Iraqi?

So far, USA has been able to kill some 100000 Iraqis. According to Cost of war it has at the time of writing (00.03 am 12th of May, 2005) cost about 175 billion dollars. You do the math, but I would call this an expensive way of killing people. One could do something positive to much bigger group of people with the same amout of money. Fortunately, the US army has difficulties in recruiting. Believe me, they will reintroduce draft before Bush gets out. (Thanks to Lavonardo for the link.)

Six songs

A current meme (again, thanks to Lavonardo) the six most played songs lately

Garbage: Why do you love me

The sound track of our lives : Believe I've found

Thurston Moore: Psychic hearths

Patti Smith: Land

THe Vines: Outthataway

The Decemberists: The sporting life

Friday, 2005-06-10

Fun and Feynman

Somehow I got an acute attack of extreme stress today. Fortunately, S reminded me of Feynman. I read his story called "The dignified professor", which she pointed out. A quote:

Ant then I thought to myself: "You know, what they think of you is so fantastic, it's impossible to live up to it. You have no responsbility to live up to it.
It was brilliant idea: You have no responsibility to live up to what other people think you ought to accomplish. I have no responsibility to be like they expect me to be. It's their mistake, not my failing. [...] I am what I am, and if they expected me to be good and they're offering me some money for it, it's their hard luck.

After reading this, I decided just have fun and not to stress about SDM or MIT or money or anything. No reason - I can even get straight Bs this semester and I will still be rather well off. And if I do not make it to the PhD-program here, I can always make it some to somewhere else. Whatever.

Practicalities

I renewed my lease today. A few weeks back, I notices a poster in the corridor saying something like "Leases are up. Apartments are on the market", which I thought was total BS. So, I did not react. After a while, my landlord and his secretaries started calling my friends and my voicemail. They wanted me to come and sign a new lease. But I was in New York. Back in Boston, I went to see them, but their Windows machine was insane. So, I left and forgot the whole thing. Yesterday, there were some angry messages in my voicemail and I gave up. Now it is done, and I can stay in this (nowadays) hot cave. A cave is good - one is never far from the elements.
Security
council

Next practicality: checking the checking account balance. Not that good. I need to transfer some more money from Finland. I think I will have enough money to support myself and all the bums until the end of January. No acute need for monetary panic.
Then working with Kumar and Marat on the operations management homework. It is harder than I thought, but I assume we will find a reasonable solution, and can get some points. We need to continue though.
A few days ago, I somehow felt the same I felt when I was doing my civil service (conscious objector) in Helsinki. I did not have any money to speak of, no great prospect opening, but I was so happy. Most of the time I now feel the same. During my years in Nokia, I never felt like that, and most of the time it was miserable. I think not having too much, just one's talents and skill and optimism is hugely better than having much. I really do envy Paul Erdös, who had just two plastic bags full of notes, and lived by his friends and had fun all the time by doing mathematics (number theory). He must have had a great life.
In the beginning of the system dynamics class the professor asked us to write down the amount of money we think to be enough (constanly, corrected with inflation) for the rest of our life (per year). It was a good question. My answer was $50000 (after tax). I think it should be rather enough. Therefore, after MIT, I should be able to live on a very part-time jobs (maybe 2 days a week or 4 months a year). It would be optimal - if I do not get a professorship somewhere. What amount do you consider large enough?
I cancelled my INCOSE-membership. I just cannot afford it anymore. And I have not found it very useful. Their magazine contains occasionally some interesting articles, but in general it not my cup of tea. And I do not, after all, want to be member of anything.

Strange things in USA

XHuge uproar about the noise from aircraft, and no uproar about the idiots racing their H&Ds in the streets. Y Willingness of the citizens to pay the bills of the milatary. Just imagine what social benefit the government could afford, if it would cut the defence budget by 75%! Huge, and the army would still be strong enough for anything necessary.

Thursday, 2005-06-09

Sound of silence

I have been lazy blogger lately. Somehow, having S here, having new semester with surprisingly tedious courses, and suffering a little from the heat (hard to sleep), has prevented me from writing. And when I do not write, but study, I cannot sleep. Which then prevents me from having time to write, since studying is too slow. Therefore, if only for getting a better sleep, I have decided to write something. I hope my blogging is a sleeping aid only for me.

New courses

Some short notes of the new courses, which have started this week. I have 4 courses this semester. In addition, I intend to start my thesis, but I am not yet sure how much time the courses really will take.
Systems engineering course has started in a bit confusing manner. I have not yet understood what the course is about. First lecture was just general background, and the second was about epistemology, philosophy of science, Brooks, and some make-shift analogy between systems engineering methodologies and testing new drugs. The course seems to lack focus: it tries to cover too large set of issues and frameworks, in addition to presenting some formal methods for whatever common tasks in systems engineering. I hope the professor Frey will focus the course more. This course reminds me of PDD in the spring semester: in both cases the course is a mandatory core course. The professor teaches something he is not that enthusiastic about, and which is not directly his research. This is not the way of getting high quality. But let's see, maybe the course get better soon. ( But it always hurts when diletants try to speak of philosophy of science. It is really a hard topic, and most diletants just do not get it. I did make some comments during the lecture today, and even started a lively argument about the ways of evaluating new methodologies. The older professor, which whom I argued, enjoyed the argument (discussion), and we spent some 15 minutes after the class discussing and drawing on the whiteboard. It was fun, and I do appreciate his experience very much)
Finance and accouting is quite different. It is very much focused, and the professor Plesko is really enthusiastic. I am a bit worried about my ability to learn this kind of detailed issues, but I will try my best. Today, I spent some 7 hours in reading the book and doing the first assigment. I was not too trivial for me. I think I need to read some more. Anyway, I should do well, if I just use enough time and effort in doing the homeworks.
Operation management and supply chain is a very good course, as all courses by professor Simci-Levi seem to be. He is just so good lecturer, engaging and fun. And appreciates discussion a lot. But he did assign a large homework for next Monday. Furthermore, finance homework is due on Monday, and system dynamic on Tuesday. No time to drink beer, at least not too many.
System dynamics by professor Lineus (?) is fun. We have just one lecture per week, 4 hours, and lots of homework. But the topic is interesting, and one of the classical MIT-courses, something that everyone here should study just to be able to participate in some discussions. And to be able to see beyond the fist discipline by Senge and other.

Surgery

I have hardly ever been more scared than I was yesterday at the dental surgeon's office. I panicked big time. Fortunately, the surgeon was able to calm me down. When I wondered whether he will break me down, he encouraged me by saying that "you look virtually indestructible". In the end, he was right. The surgery was not painful at all. He just gave me local anesthesia, and after letting it numb me for 10 minutes, too a huge pliers, and just pulled the wisdom tooth away. It did not come easily, and the sound inside my head was rather terrifying. After 1 minute of applying brute force, the tooth gave up and came out in one piece. Rather big one it was: indeed, the surgeons hope of getting someone with huge jaws to operate on came true. Afterwards, I came home (S took care of me) and read the whole evening. Not that bad after all.
The war on drugs has its ugly tentacles also in MIT Medical. I asked the surgeon for Tramal (painkiller) and told that in Finland I got it after surgery. He was really surprised and said "You must have different laws in Finland". But in China, I could buy Tramal in any pharmacy. Great painkiller. It is a pity, that the idiotic war on drugs (lost some 30 years ago) prevents efficient pain medication. By the way, the Supreme Court just decided that the use of marihuana for pain treatment in California is illegal. So, soon we will have someone with terminal cancer doing time behind bars (for smoking pot, which he has grown himself).
If I had more time, I would write an essay on the war on drugs. It seems that the situation is very similar to 1920s, when the moronic prohibition was in force. Back then, there were huge criminal gangs smuggling alcohol from Canada to USA. These gangs were involved in murders, corruption, prostitution, etc. Now, it seems that the situation is similar in Mexico. Lately, there has been several articles (in New York Times, Guardian Weekly, and Foreign Affairs at least) documenting the murders, corruption, violence, and abuse of women in Mexico. In all stories the culprits have been drug lords. So, not only does the "war on drugs" cause USA have the highest incarceration rates in the world (or almost) with all the not-so-positive effects on the society, the war is destroying the neighboring countries. Not waging the war would reduce the amount of suffering drastically. But I assume the fundamentalists cannot see the light, even if the light shine them on the face.

A good question

Mr Rumsfelt gave a talk on China's defense budget, which has been increasing fast and is now the 3rd biggest after USA and Japan. Rummy said: "No country threatens China. What is the reason for them to spend so much on arms?". I would say "s/China/USA".

Daily cronos

Today, systems engineering lecture from 8.30 to 10.30 am. What a time. Starting at 9 would make a huge difference for me at least. Then, surprise lunch with S in the Kilmore court, some idling in MIT, and then working on finance. Yesterday, lecture on operation management, and then being operated on in the MIT dental. Then at home. On Tuesday, lectures from 8.30 am to 5 pm, some rest at home, then some work on the system dynamics homework with at Kumar's. Well, it seems that the routine is raising its nice head.
There will be pictures tomorrow. I have some new nice flowers captured, and you will see them soon. Now, too lazy to do the work.

Monday, 2005-06-06

Recollections from New York

On Tuesday we slept late, so late that having breakfast was not appropriate. Fortunately, NYC is full of restaurants serving food from places, which I have not visited, and we could treat ourselves with Ukrainian lunch: potato pancakes and assorted pierogis (pies). It was good, but not really enough for a lunch. So, we decided to check out the Lotus lounge in the corner of Clinton and Stanton Streets in Lower East Side. What a fabulous places it was: cheap and good coffee, vegan cookies, free WiFi, etc, and even interesting clientele. S was so fascinated by the lounge, that she visited it several times during the week. You should check it out too. But even vegan cookies were not enough for us, or me at least, so we continued to the real Italian pizzeria under the Brooklyn bridge. Sharing an 18-inch anchovy-capers pizza was enough for us both. Thus, it was time to try to feed the brain, too, and visit Barned and Nobles, where Chuck Palahniuk was reading excerpts from his new Novel. The bookstore was too full, and we could not even see him. So we left.

On Wednesday we visited the Brooklyn Museum to see the retrospective exhibition of Basquiat, an artist who was very famous in the late 1980s just before dying of heroin-overdose in 1988 or so. His paintings are not realistic, or figurative. Instead, they contain rather naive figures and lots of text. I did not like them too much. I was either in wrong mood, or just did not really got the point. I am glad we saw the exhibition, though, since the more one knows about art, the happier one is. I am rather happy, but want to be even happier, and soon. Of course, we also visited some restaurants. For lunch, we went to the Union Square Coffeeshop, which turned out to be a nice place. Their fish and chips were really good, and according to S they also serve intoxicating caipirinhas. Later, after 10 pm, I got an impulse to go for a late dinner in Harlem. Somehow, I managed to convince S to join me. Maybe because she did not realize where I was taking her to. But the restaurant was closed, and walking up and down in Harlem looking for food was too much for her, and then also for me. We retreated to the safety of East Village, where we found a Japanese restaurant serving pints for $1.5 and great food for a little more. For dessert, one can make cotton candy by oneself. Could there be any better place in the world?

But the world could be a better place if only our greedy and selfish governments would work more together in the UN. A world, in which the only real international forum gets only 33% of the money that the NYC fire department gets, is rather seriously imperfect. This was one of the fact I learned during our visit to the UN. Everyone should pay the UN a visit. It is an interesting place, and to be able to visit the conference hall of the security council will make the news more lively. One will also see the conference halls of the general assembly, and the economic council, and also some interesting works of art. Maybe I write more later about the UN. Or then not. Writing is getting hard for some reason. Anyway, we also visited the lobby of the Chrysler building, which is a remarkable work of architecture. Well worth paying a short visit at the same time as one visit the Grand Central Station, a visit without which no visit to NYC is complete, or worth anything.
For some reason, I need to visit several restaurants every day. On Thursday, we had lunch at the Grand Sichuan, a Chinese restaurant in the Eastern end of the Canal Street. It serves surprisingly authentic Sichuan food. Lunch costs less than $4, so it is one of cheapest places in NYC, too. In the evening, we visited the Times Square, and developed a desperate need of ice cream or milkshake. But we could not find good enough place, not even after walking tens of block somewhere. And then we found one next to our hotel (which, by the way, cost only $76 per night per double room).
On Friday we got so much happier. We went to listen to a lecture on Max Ernst by Rosamond Bernier. Max Ernst was one of the leading German surrealists in the 1920s. He did not get any recognition though until 1960s. He later moved, illegally, to France, and further to USA, also more or less illegally. In USA, he married Peggy Guggenheim. Peggy got the paintings, Max got the citizenship. A fair deal, but they also lived together for a while, before Max again started over with another woman, in another place (Arizona), and build up his life again. Later still, Max moved back to France, and again build up a new house. I like this story: starting over with just one's skill and talents many times in one's life. Much better than many other ways of spending one's life. Oh, the lecturer Rosamond was a very charming old lady (well, when Max was 80 Rosamond was 40, and Max was 80 in 1970s), who somehow by accident met Max in NYC in late 1950s and made friends with him. Really fascinating. There is also a very good retrospective exhibition of Max Ernst in the Metropolitan museum art. And there is also really excellent Coco Chanel exhibition, too. Not seeing them, when in NYC, would be a shame. Or something.
We had dinner in the Cheyenne diner near the Penn station. A funny, small, traditional diner. Well worth visiting. But do not take a plain bison burger - it is not that tasty. Vegetarian (or any other) omelette is a much better option.
On Saturday we decided to visit a very sad place, a place reminding us of the evil, which lives inside us all. Namely a military museum: the aircraft carrier Intrepid. It is nowadays a museum of itself and military aviation. But it is interesting (if one does not think the amount of resources we waste on killing each other). They do have an A-12 (an early version of SR-71) and a Concorde. Being able to visit the Concorde and touch the A-12 is well worth the time and money. The Concerde is surprisingly small - fortunately they have posted a midget inside for keeping the order. When I saw the midget, I could not help saying "Everything is so small in here". She was not that happy about it.
On Sunday, back in Boston, we were invited to two BBQ-parties. I never decline an invitation to a BBQ-party with friends (and maybe not even with foes). First, Bill's graduation party, and later a very nice dinner party with Mirja and Milton. Milton is one of the best cooks I have ever met - what an honor it is to visit them each time. Bill's party was very nice, too. He has 7 siblings, some of whom were present, and all of whom were nice . And not only because sun and drinks, or the lively conversations going on at the same time. I like to way people socialize here in USA. In Finland, we just drink and sometimes eat. No unnessary talking is tolerated. Much better here. (more later, now I have to adjust to the moronic summer class schedule - from Monday to Thursday a class from 8.30 am to 10 am. )
On Monday, today, first class of the semester. Not bad at all.

May

Monday, 2005-05-30

Punk rock metal karaoke

Visiting the "Punk rock metal karoke" in the Continental club in New York is always really entertaining. Combining a band playing covers of classical punk and metal songs with an enthusiastic crowd of well-listened singers-to-bees is rather novel, but recommendable idea. Many singers are able not just sing, but also otherwise imitate the original singer. And then there are some singers, who just do not know how to sing or anything else; the band is good enough to make their failures not that embarrassing.

The best beach in the world

Forget Copacabana, Ipanema, and Waikiki beach. They are just boring, unpleasant, and inpractical when compared with spending time on the lawns of the Union Square in New York. In Union Square, one has some great book stores, a record store, some coffee shops, our hotel, public toilets, a food store, newspaper stands, and - frankly- more beautiful people than on the world famous beaches. And, when one gets bored with tanning (or reading NY times), great restaurants and museums are just 15 minutes away.

Daily cronos

Today, having breakfast in the "Wholefoods cafeteria", reading NY Times in Union Square, walking in Central Park (a local Houdini was getting in and out of chains, Afro-Americans were doing tricks on roller blades, and even on Memorial day there were many joggers - even close to the memorial of John Lennon), napping in our hotel, some Chinese for dinner, and then the karaoke.

Strange things in USA

N A cafeteria selling organic "whole" foods on plastics single-use plates. (NYC, Union Square). In Europe, the organic movement tries to protect the environment comprehensively, not just to provide us with healthier foods. N Chain restaurants advertising their novel foods. "Our new X has mayonnaise" etc. A normal restaurant can have new foods every hour and by order. What a shame all those chain restaurants are. And what a shame that so many of us frequent them.

Wednesday, 2005-05-25

The Decemberists

At 6.30pm I got a call from Sandra, a friend of Milton as she said. She had two extra tickets for tonight's Decemberist concert - and she insisted in giving the tickets free for us. It is hard to turn down free concerts. And we really were lucky not to do so. The concert was really good. The band played some mixture of folk, Irish-music, and pop. They did everything so well. Do yourself a favor and check them out.

Strange thing

Having a policy, and a guard enforcing it, which prohibits sitting on the stairs. Squatting, kneeling, and standing is OK, though. (Avalon, Boston).

Monday, 2005-05-23

Crono

Raining today, raining tomorrow. I think I have to start to do my thesis. Or then I will go binge drinking.
Today we got some practicalities done. Otherwise, we just idled. I am off now. It seems that since there is nothing else going on, there is nothing going on here in my blog either. Maybe later. No need to check this blog for some days now.

Sunday, 2005-05-22

Culture

Finally, I have both time and enthusiastic company for going to movies, theaters, and exhibitions. First, we went to see the "Fever pitch", which is based on a novel by Nick Hornby. The novel tells a story about football, or soccer, fans in Britain. The movie tells a story about baseball fans in Boston. It is a funny movie, and well worth the time. The story is good enough to make even Drew Barrymore's acting tolerable.
In the evening, we went to Improv Boston in Cambridge. We were a bit late and arrived in the middle of the first act. It was not so good, I did not really get the point. The second act was much better. Some visiting group played some sketches. They were really good, well written and comptently presented. The funniest act, however, was the jamboree. Now it was time for the audience to take the stage, and improvise short acts. We did not dare to do that, since we felt quite a bit uneasy about improvising in English. After a few weeks, I will go there, and take part in the jamboree. It must be good for mental health and language skills.

Strange things in USA, part 14

79. "As required by the U.S law, you must wear sox (sic!) to try on shoes" - a text on a single use socks package in a shoe shop. How small things must the government really regulate?

Saturday, 2005-05-21

S is here

Es gibt keines Stilleben noch mehr: S ist hier! And life got better, not least because I do not have to talk to myself so much anymore. Not that I would stop it.
At the airport, I was both reading the book about hypomania and observing people. I find airports, especially arrivals waiting hall, very anti-depressing. How could one be depressed when seeing the nervous waiting, all spontaneous, but also surprised, smiles, the hugging couples, women on their toes, tired children running to the long awaited parent. I should go there more often, not to meet anyone, just to read a book, and to gather some joy.
I do not understand why people complain about connections to the airport. I took the T from Park Street. It took only 20 minutes to the terminal E. We took taxi back to Back bay, $28, no queue to mention. So, the trick is to leave own car somewhere away from the airport.

Air traffic seminar - final presentation

On Friday, our seminar group gave its presentation to the JPDO-officials (?). I think it went quite well, at least everyone was pleased and polite. Of course, I think we could have done better, but I would think so even if the presentation would have been perfect. I always think so, no achievement satisfies me for more than 5 minutes. Anyway, the JDPO-guys were interested and gave some good comments: it seems that there are several plans of solving the current and coming problems with the air traffic system, but there is no way to implement the plans. This is surprising. I have to think about it.

Daily cronos

Friday, NGATS-seminar, back to home, sleeping, then to airport. Evening, dinner in Pho Pasteur, shopping in Trader Joe's, walking in Back Bay, just taking it easy. Today, late breakfast, shopping in Newbury Street, Downtown, Cambridge, lunch in the Bengali, listening to new records at home, again shopping in Newbury comics (a record by Jim White), few beers in Boston Beer works at Fenway, and then red wine at home, listening to music, discussing. Homely.

A poll - please fill in

Does the following description apply to me? Please, leave a comment. You may use a random alias, of course.

He is filled with an unusually hig degree of energy. He is restless and impatient. He is unusually active at work and other pursuits. He is quick-thinking. Thoughts race through his head and he jumps from idea to idea. He can be dictated. He talks fast. He talks a lot. And he aggressively dominated conversations. He sets goals that seems grandiose, yet appears supremely confident of success. He feels like a man of destiny - maybe even destined to change the world in some way. He is so excited about what he believer he will achieve that he elated or little high. Because his mood in infectious, his confidence and make him charismatic, persuasive and attractive. He can be charming, witty, gregarious and good at making people laugh. He dresses in a way to create an impression and get attention. On the other hand, minor obstacles or delays and easily irritate him, and his temper can be unpredictably explosive, He can be suspicious and hostile towards people he feels are thwarting his plans. He is impulsive. As soon an idea occurs to him, he urgently wants to act on it, without first thinking through the realistic consequences. He is a risk taker in general. He is a financial risk taker, often overspending in his business and personal life. He not infrequently works on little sleep, for example, rising early in the morning full of pep and working late at night.

Thursday, 2005-05-19

Abenteuer

Stilleben im Boston: I bin mit dem Rotem T-zug nach Braintree gefahren. Dort gibt es nichts. So, I bin nach Davis gefahren um ein Buchhandeln zu besuchen, und auch etwas zu essen. Das Buchhandeln "McIntyre and Moore" is sehr gut, aber I habe keine Bücher gekaufen. Es war ein sehr gutes Abenteuer.

Cape Cod

On Monday, we took Kumar's car and drowe all the way to the tip of Cape Cod. Before leaving Boston, we took a quick look at the map and estimated the distance to be about 60 miles. It was 123 miles, and it takes 2 hours each way. The long drive is worth doing: the scenery is really nice, the trees remind me of the wind-beaten shores of Baltic. Along the way, one can take a break in some of the shopping malls. There is no way of telling one from the other; standardization and profit maximization has removed all variation. It makes me sad, and really homesick.
Cape Cod is famous for some pilgrims who arrived there in 1620, and established a colony there. I just wonder which holy land the pilgrims were looking for; all they found were Indians and their holy lands, which the pilgrims took over in no time (I assume, I need to read more about the history).

New friends

I have got a new group of friends: the local rastafars. When I walk around downtown, they come to me and tell me that I have a very nice beard and hair. Thus, I have the following groups of friends: bum, dogs, squirrels, and rastafars. Very nice, indeed.

Hypomania

The Hypomanic Edge by John D. Gartner claims that one of the main reasons for the economic and scientific success of USA is the number of of hypomanics (and not protestant work ethic as Weber claimed). According to Gartner, "Hypomania is a temperament characterized by an elevated mood state that feels highly intoxicating, powerful, productive and desirable". Hypomania does not alternate with depression, as does the mania of bipolar disorder. So, Gartner claims that hypomania is most common in countries, to which a large number of people have immigrated (USA, Canada, New Zealand - not Australia, since they were criminals) This is because hypomanics are more likely than normal people to immigrate, since hypomanics do not fear taking risk, are optimistics, and want to try out new things. Further, Gartner claims that hypomania really is a major driving force in USA. Let's see - I have just read the introduction. I will write more after reading the whole book. The book seems well worth buying and reading. Just do it! (I may well be hypomanic, which would explain, why I enjoy it so much here).

Daily cronos

Tuesday: a meeting to practice for the NGATS-presentation on Friday, after which walking to Harvard book store, then listening to jazz in the street, reading, and feeling so happy. Later, reading by the river. Wednesday: dinner with Kari, Seppo, Hannu, and Timo in some nice seafood restaurant, and then enough beer to wash it down. I like good food, and I like nice restaurants, but I find myself more and more doubting whether one should pay so much for food: a dinner costs the same as 4 books.

Strange things in USA, part 13

75. The idioms "down the XXX" and "up the XXX". It is hard for me to know which way to go, since "down" has nothing to with the actual fact of XXX going down in elevation. 76. Giving directions verbally, not with a map. It makes it very hard for a map-literate Finn to find his way around. 77. A young woman giving me a T-token in Braintree, after I had run headlong against the turnstile (one needs to pay an extra token to get out of the station there). 78. "What's up"-newspaper sold by the homeless. It is a surprisingly interesting newspaper, well worth buying.

Wenesday, 2005-05-18

Recovering

I am not tired anymore. I have slept more than 28 hours in the last two days. I feel much better, but I am still not yet able to begin working on my thesis. Some holiday. Now I am off to the local Chinese restaurant. Then I will walk up and down by the riverside. Maybe a short visit to the gym. In the evening, I will go for a beer. Anyone willing to join me?
I have 4 new books. Life is good.
One of the books actually a small booklet by Howard Scott Fighting money: why striving for wealth is empty". He give 42 suggestion for a happy life. For example: "If you have to go corporate, do it for short stints", "stinginess is not the answer either", "do not let house maintenance become an obsession", and "always question your assumptions, especially your assumptions of living". I tend to agree, and have found most of his suggestions myself. He has an interesting paragraph about suits, which I could not have written better myself:

The suit is the ubiquitous outfit of the successful person. But really, the suit is a straightjacket which binds our actions, represses emotions, and diminishes any individuality we possess. Being suited makes us look like penguins. It forces us to be careful about our appearance. The wearer is is inclined towards bureaucratic prissiness. [...]Finally, the tie, the all-necessary component, is a metaphor of being collared. Thoreau said it will: "Beware of enterprises requiring new clothes".

Sunday, 2005-05-15

Six important things.

I cleaned my cave. It was so dusty, that I started to cough last night.
I got a new futon.
The spring semester is now over. 81 units!
I have now 93 units, which is worth of 1.5 master's degrees.
I have 5 courses and thesis left. It is a pity I cannot do all courses in summer.
I have a bottle of Jack Daniels.

I am so tired. But I am also incredibly happy.

Wisdom

In Lisbon they say: "Do not run after any women or tram. There will always be another.". I agree on trams and most women, except one. I and Kumar have another saying: "Do not run after money. Do your best and money will run after you".

Saturday, 2005-05-15

Daily crono

I woke up at 11am, had lunch with Kumar, came back, and spent the rest of the day writing the air traffic seminar paper. Now it is ready. It is not as good as it could be, but should be "good enough" for the purpose. The topic itself is fascinating and would make for a good master's thesis. Namely, how is the air traffic system going to adapt, if the price of oil increases significantly, maybe well over $100 per barrel. And how should we, the society, prepare us for the expensive oil. One could take even a bit larger scope, and look at the whole transportation system. It is going to change, and soon. The sooner we accept the change, and start to prepare for it, the better. This is a topic we should study in SDM@MIT, not any software system or how-to-get-rich-soon.
I have now used all my writing energy for today. While I gather new energy, read my essay (726 kB, pdf) if you are interested in air traffic and energy. I appreciate any commments on the essay, since I may continue to work on these issues later.

Friday, 2005-05-14

On meaning of life

"The meaning of life is what you make of your time" says Myron W. Evans and is right. I have realized during the last 5 months, that the most important decision is where to use my time - I think that studying, and later trying to use the new skills and knowledge for something, which helps the whole human race (like energy systems, or water systems, or political systems distributing wealth more evenly, etc) is the most valuable thing to do. Just going to work for a some company just to get a lot of money, buying a house in suburbs, two cars, whatever, oh, what a waste, what a meaningless way of living one's life. That is, for me. For someone else, it certainly is meaningful. Also, as pointed out by Kumar today, money does not bring happiness - just imagine suddenly getting 10 million dollars. It would be a catastrophe! It would, at least for short term, devoid life of any meaning. I think I have to make sure I do not get millions suddenly. (thanks to Tapio for the quote).

On writing

Writing is hard. And it is not getting any easier. I should now write the paper for the air traffic seminar, but I just cannot begin. I have used all my traditional witchcraft (read papers, took a nap waiting for the writing to reveal itself, got the drugs, had a walk), but all is in vain. Not even blogging helps. This is bad. But I will prevail, I have always been able to write these kinds of short papers, and I will this time, too. And I know, that once I get started, everything should be rather easy.
I followed advice by Robbie (see today's comments) and I have now written more about 1000 words. So, I have done 40% of the work, and used some 4 hours. Therefore, I am rather confident, that I will get the whole paper done rather early tomorrow. The work is really interesting and will benefit me directly: only by writing one learns. Reading is necessary but not sufficient.

Copy-paste colleges vs MIT

It seems, that somewhere out there exist many copy-paste colleges, where copying things from the internet and pasting it without references in one's own work is not acceptable, but recommendable. Of course, in any decent university, not to speak of world-class places like MIT, this kind behavior is not only prohibited, but deeply despised. Should one do that, and get caught, one gets such a reputation, with which it must be impossible to even get out of bed in the morning afterwards. And even still I have seen the copy-paste college and its lousy students creeping in MIT. In one course, I realized that my classmates had just copied definitions from dictionary.com and presented them as their own inventions. How can anyone do that? Do they not have any self respect? I have to confess, that anything they do now is hard for me to take seriously. For me, intellectual honesty, not copying anything, doing my own work to my best ability, and then succeeding or failing, is a matter of honor. Anything less than total honesty is totally impossible. It is infinitely better to fail when trying one's best than trying to avoid the failure by copying the work of someone else. After all, it is impossible to learn anything without doing mistakes, without failing every now and then. Even Gödel made once a mistake in his Latin assingments. A single one, but still.

Daily crono

I took a long, 2-hour, nap.
And even in other respects, a normal Friday. One class, nice lunch in the Bengali-restaurant, coffee sitting on the stairs of the Stata-building, back home, nap, sushi, lots of Dr Pepper, writing, drinking some wine with Kumar, and writing blog. Life is almost perfect, only S is missing, but she will arrive in Boston in less than week. Then, life is as close to being perfect as I can imagine it to be. I am such a modest person.
I was thinking about homes/houses. Now I am living in a small studio, in Helsinki I had a 1-bedroom flat with S, In China we had a 5-bedroom flat with 2 floors and a roof-top terrace and whatnot. I cannot see my happiness and quality of life depending on these external conditions. The only thing which is important is to have enough room for a decent home library. Otherwise, I do not care about the place I live in. But it has to be close to work, within walking distance, if possible. Commuting by car/bus/train is wasting one's life, and should be avoided. For these reasons, I cannot really see why one should invest enormous amount of money (and thus time) in buying a nice home. Or a home at all, for that matter. Property is a nuisance.

Strange things in USA, part 12

73. Having to pay for receiving SMSs. The most stupid way of pricing mobile services imaginable. Practiced by US carriers. I will be interesting to see, what happens when the SMS spamming begins - I will send bills to anyone sending me spam by SMS (if I just can figure out where to send the bill) 74. Astronauts.

Thursday, 2005-05-12

Daily crono

I wrote the technology strategy final exam in the morning. I have never had less motivation to write anything, and it was hard. I managed to put down some 1500 words in 2.5 hours, and then I submitted it without even proofreading it. There has to be some limit in repeating the same thing. This is not gymnastics, this is academic work. Or at least I think so.
We had the final disruptive technologies class today. First, one group gave a presentation about RFID. It was a good presentation, but they clearly did not really know quite enough about the topic. But that is OK in this course, as it is not about technical details but larger picture of emerging industries. I have to say that Kevin is a good presenter - it would do good for him to sometimes say that he does not know instead of talking himself in the corner. In general, it seems that for many of us it us just too hard to acknowledge any ignorance. And still it is so much easier to acknowledge than just BS around it.
Later still: party at professor Mindell's place in Cambridge. He has a nice apartment, had nice food, and everyone turned up. Astronauts, professors, old people from Apollo-program etc. We had really good time. More later.

Strange things in USA, part 11

Hmm, I have just now run out of strange things. I promise some more tomorrow. or then not - I have to write a ten-page paper on air traffic systems and the price oil. It will require some serious improvising and hard work too. Let's see. Maybe the amount of work, or at least hours, people are willing to put in is today's strange thing after all. And the fact that the average working day in USA has got longer during the last 50 years. So, people are better off, but they have to use more of their valuable time for keeping up. I think that does not really make sense - it would more sense just to take it easier, but a smaller house, maybe just one car, and enjoy the only life each of us has.

Wednesday, 2005-05-11

Daily crono

Absentmindedness is on the rise. Yesterday, I forgot a meeting with Francis, and today he forgot a meeting with me. No harm done, we got the things sorted out without a meeting, and have now completed the team part of air traffic policy seminar. I just need to write the official 10-page paper to be all set. I will do that on Saturday.
I tried to write my technology strategy final exam during afternoon. I just could not. It really seems, that I cannot write during afternoon. I think I would do well by admitting this, and not even trying to write before 6pm. At least usually. Tomorrow, on Thursday, I have to write the exam, since today I spent my writing time in a bar. I only had 4 pints, but it took the motivation to write something that repetitive away.
In a bar, I was asked what I think about SDM@MIT after one semester. My honest answer (are there any other kinds of answers) was and still is: "Well, it is a good way to get in MIT". A bit expensive though, but money is meant to be spent. Spending them in MIT is not that bad an alternative. Actually, I cannot think of any better alternative.
There should be a naked guy in every presentation given in SDM. In the slides, at least.

Strange things in USA, part 9

69. (in MIT): students using beach sandals. Even on not so warm days. 70. Buying a pick-up, not using the empty space, but putting an add-on crate for tools there. Would not buying a regular car be more practical? Or a van? 71. In restaurants: waiters insisting a single check per table. Only reason being, that customers are likely to give larger tip from one large check than several small. 72. The amount of drug-test advertisements in the subway.

Tuesday, 2005-05-10

Disruptive technologies

Our team (Per Morten, Trond, Eivind, and me) presented our research results in the Disruptive technologies-class today. Per Morten was nice and brave enough to give the whole presentation, and he did so well: it is easy to believe that he is a senior manager (and chairman of the board of a large telecom) back in Norway. Really professional, calm, fluent presentation - actually, I have seen no other student presenter being as good. I think the material was good enough, but professor Utterback did tell us that we should have been even bolder. It is not that often I have been told, that I am too conservative - one nice thing in MIT, too. I am just happier every day just being able to be here. Why did I not come here earlier? Stupid me!
The other presentation in class was about fuel cells. It was presented by 3 Chinese engineers from Arvin Meritor. It is strange, how peculiar the Chinese way of speaking English is: they tend not to pronounce the latter half of longer words. I remember, that it was hard for me to comprehend what my Chinese colleagues were speaking when I moved to China in 2003 (it feels like a century - I was so depressed back then. Working in large companies makes me depressed - never again). The presentation itself was quite OK, but they could have used more the conceptual frameworks we have been discussing in the class. It seems to be hard for some engineers to step out of their comfort zones, and faces the outside world. (as it is hard to me study fluid dynamics etc).

Daily crono

Hackng and using durgs until 2 am causes some difficulties in getting up, and working before noon. But I was able to take T (I was delighted to meet the old saxophonist in the Copley station - I always give him money and was worried what has happened to him) to MIT before 11am. The Norwegians cancelled our meeting, so I had enough time to read the manuscript of "Project Apollo: the though decisions" by Bob Seamans. It is a good book, and everyone interested in managing real-life large projects would do well to read. It will be published by NASA in few months. Then, the disruptive-class, after which working on the Apollo-paper: first with Bill and Spencer, then alone at home. I have now some 18 pages, so I consider my part ready. ( I have to confess that I could not write without getting my 2-liter Dr Pepper first - I just cannot write without this mild drug).

Linus on being a leader

Read what Linus Torvalds has to say how to be a leader. . He has a simple manner of leading, and I definitely wish I had known all this 5 years ago. It would have helped me in Nokia. Now, it will help me in MIT. Maybe it could help you too!

Strange things in USA, part 10

65. Measuring people by how much they are worth. I do not know how they do the measurement, since I personally consider myself priceless. I cannot be bought or sold, and when I die, there is no way to replace me. So, I am worth infinitely more than e.g. Bill Gates. Poor guy. 66. (at least in elevators in MIT): having the alarm-button between the button "1" and the the "close doors"-button. I quite often press the alarm-button when trying to get the doors to close faster. Then I have to find the "cancel alarm"-button, which is far up (1.5 feet from the alarm). Poor design. 67. Having a programmed "change limit" in cashier machines. Today, the machine told the sales person, that my $100-bill was not valid tender. Strange, and always to funny. Soon, I will do as Bill proposed: sprinkle some white powder on the bills. Would make the experiments funnier still. 68. The casual way of patting each other here. It is strange for a Finn, but I do like it a lot. I still cannot bring myself to pat others as fluently as they pat me, but I am getting better.

Monday, 2005-05-09

Apollo-class

We (Bill, Spencer, and me) presented our research results in the Apollo-class today. I think we did rather well: we did not (for the most part at least) present anything we have discussed in the class so far; we also had a nice set of slide, which had mostly pictures, no text at all - I think such sets are best, but they require knowing the topic very well, which we do. Other groups about "guidance and control" and "propulsion" had a bit more traditional approach by having text too, and also somewhat repeating things we all knew already. But it is not easy to find new things after having some many great guest lecturers, and also good lectures by professors Young and Mindell. After our presentation many of the audience said "Good jobm, guys". Maybe they were just polite, but I took the compliments by face value. And I am proud and happy.
I have to admit, that I was really nervous before the presentation. Having practiced it 3 times just before going live helped only a little. The audience had many people who were working with Apollo back in 1960s, and also two astronauts. I have developed huge respect for astronauts - they are really exceptional people. It was an audience, to which one just cannot tell any BS - they will catch one at once. I like it, but I was exceptionally nervous.

Daily crono - Monday

Well, this was mostly an Apollo-day. I had a walk, then wrote my part of the presentation, took taxi (!) to MIT, and practices. After the presentation, I had celebratory coffee and cake with Bill. Then, I decided to buy a few CDs.

Frank Black by Frank Black - I assume this is one of his first records after Pixies. Really good, strange music.
No Substance by Bad Religion - not one of their best records, but I think it will be necessary later, when writing some boring paper (are there such, or is it just wrong attitude?)
Unmixed 3 by Verve -some old jazz-classics remixed by some contemporary DJs. I will wait for S to give her judgement - I am not that competent in this genre.

Later, I went with Robbie to the final ceremony of the 50k competition. It was interesting for many reasons. First of all, I had never been in the Kresge-auditorium. (another link) It was designed by Eero Saarinen, and I felt at home at once. Second, I got to see the new president of MIT. Third, I got the hear the pitches of the 7 finalist team, and see who won. The winner was a team working with artificial balancing systems for people with deficient balancing systems. Niece piece of engineering. I was, however, a bit surprised by the amount of PhDs in the team, and number of professor behind the teams. I thought this would be a student competition. Other strange thing was one team, which claimed to have 90% gross margin of their medical equipments. How greedy can one get? And they claimed that their product would make the health care cheaper...
Even later, dinner with Robbie and Kumar in the Island hopper. Good as always. And now, at home, drinking wine, writing. Soon reading the technology strategy case-study - it is just suitable reading after drinkin half a bottle of wine. Wine makes one better in strategy! I think people in general do not use enough drugs. Drugs help! I wish there would be more legal drugs - I am sure it would be possible to create creativity enhancing drugs, if they would be legal. I see no reason for them not to be - I do not see any reason for banning such drugs and allowing laptop computers. It is not consistent.

Daily crono - Sunday

Working on Apollo in the morning, having lunch in Pho Pasteur, then working with Bill until 7 pm, coming back home, hacking something, but then going to sleep early due to migraine. So, not that great a day, but good anyway.

Daily crono - Saturday

The day of final presentation of the PDD-class. I totally agree with Robbie on the low quality and ridiculousness of most presentations. One of them, the nail and hammer thing, had such a terrible video, that I had to leave the auditorium. I just could not force myself to waste my time on watching such a crap, which did not have anything to do with the product. I decided to do out of the room, read a book, and come back once the presentation was over. And they claimed that they were presenting this to the senior management. Terrible. There were also other presentation with videos, which did not have anything to do with the product. Many teams also had videos and the prototype available. But they did not explain the prototype live to the audience. They were just showing the videos. Would it be too much just to point out the parts of the prototype, while giving the speech? Our team was deadly serious: no videos, just a short speech, a live demonstration, no jokes. I think that is the way to present to VCs or senior management.
Later, after buying lots of drugs, I stayed at home. It was raining, and the time traveller convention website claimed that the convention was full already, so I was just enjoying myself at home.

Daily crono - Friday

Whatever, classes etc. I cannot remember that far back.

Strange things in USA, part 9

57. The use of death penalty and its support among American (70% of them support it). And these people claim to follow the Christian faith. They should read their Bibles. 58. The influence of TV on the culture, and on the way people talk and behave. I wrote back in February ( I assume) about the fact, that many young women seem to have adopted the B-movie facial expressions. I still wonder that. It is strange, really. 59. The seriously limited active vocabulary of common speech. 60. The rather limited passive vocabulary of many even academic people. It seems that I sometimes use words, which are too rare for some locals. Strange, I would say. 61. Being able to drive car at 16, vote at 18, but drink only at 21. 62. Use of electronic voting machines. They are totally unnecessary. It is simple and fast to count votes by hand. 63. Jack Daniels - a drink which has nothing to do with whiskey, but which is still good intellectual detergent. 64. Boycotting Cuba and denying US citizens of Cuban cigars.

Sunday, 2005-05-08

Been busy and lazy. Now, migraine. Many things have happened. I will write more on Monday evening.

Friday, 2005-05-06

A free piece of advice: do not drink 2 liters of diet Pepsi after 8 pm. It will spoil your night and even the next day. I drank, and have been rather tired today. Therefore, no more blog today.

Thursday, 2005-05-05

Apollo-class

We, Bill, Spencer, and I, managed to draft an rather good outline for our presentation. Out presentation and our paper are going to be good, and obeying the spirit of the class. We know the engineering details, but we will show them. Instead, we use them to back up our historical analysis of Moon programs and thesis about how to use and not use legacy systems. It will be fun. On the other development, I have helped Bill to write a 10-page report on the LOR-decision for NASA. It is funny to try to influence NASA by telling NASA about the history of NASA. After reading our paper they should know what they did in 1960s. Now they are a bit confused.

Double masters?

I got some detailed guidance from Dinesh about how to complete 2 Master's degrees in 1.5 years. I may do it. After that I would have 4 of those. The current administrator has 5 and a PhD, so I would just miss one of each. Should be an easy thing to do.
Otherwise the day was rather ordinary. I took a walk in the morning, had Chinese food for lunch, sat 1.5 hours in class, played some pinball, etc. Now it is late.

Politics

Tony Blair seems to have won himself a third term. His Labour party won the elections, but lost 100 seats, which should make them more careful. Maybe they will consider twice before joining the next illegal war, wherever it happens to be. At the war, in addition to countless people getting lost, they have now lost 100 million dollars. I am not sure whether this is a great news, or even a problem. The war has cost more that $100 billion, so losing $100 million is just losing 1/1000th of the money. I am sure, that the money has found its way to those, who need it most. Money always does. Blaa, blaa, this is not interesting. Read instead Riverbend's account of last few days in Baghdad. She writes better than I. Sigh.

Strange things in USA, part 8

49. Not including tax in the prices. 50. Using 1-cent coins. They are worthless, and a nuisance. 51. Restaurant owners not being bold enough to shoulder the risks of their businesses. Instead, putting the risk on the shoulders of their employees. What a sissy way to run a business. 52. Having so many traffic signs with text. What about illiterate people? 53. Using so much styrofoam, when paper would do. 54. In cafes, putting the milk and sugar before coffee (in the natural direction of movement). This creates unnecessary congestion. 55. The respect millionaires seems to command (but this may peculiar to Sloan) 56.Telephone marketing: phone rings, I pick it up, a silence of 10 seconds, then tape starts playing. Do they really think, that I would buy something based on tape they play me on the phone? How stupid can marketing be? Or desperate. 57. Making customers do the work. Cleaning the tables, tranporting crogeries, etc. See "When customers do the work. I agree with the author, there should be more service. Doing it all myself is just plain stupid and waste of my time. And time is all I have.
Any suggestions?

Wednesday, 2005-05-04

Hugh Blair-Smith and Don Eyles in Apollo-class

Again, but unfortunately for the last time, interesting guests in the Apollo-class. First, Hugh Blair-Smith told about the languages (assembly, of course) he designed for "unknown number of unknown computers" in MIT instrumentation lab in 1960s. One of these computers was of course the Apollo guidance computer. The first languages had only 4 instructions, later they got even 11 commands. Quite fancy it must have been to program those machines. Then Don Eyles told how they used the languages, and the related programming tools, for really programming the guidance computer, and how they modified the programs literally on-the-fly during Apollo 14. They told the astronauts to change the mode-register (telling which program the computer was to run) to "abort". This made it possible to launch from the Moon. Daring things. Read more about them at Apollo 11 and Other Screw-Up.
Hugh also told, that he used to have a 27-28 hours day cycle, which meant that he had only 6 sleep periods a week, and longer days in between. Since his days did not match with the days of others, he used to call his meals by numbers: "meal 1, meal 2, meal 3". It is unfortunate, that my fixed course schedule prevents me from experimenting with these ideas. Later. (Hugh, Don, and mr Jim Nevins on the left, from left to right)

Daily crono

Days are easy now, almost totally at leisure. I woke up at 9am, had a walk to the bank, not laughing, and to my landlord to pay my rent. Then, working at home until noon, walking to MIT, having lunch from the Chinese truck at Mass 77, the Apollo-lecture, coffee with Bill discussing space issues, walking in the Newbury Street, buying European chocolate at Deluga's, working at home, and later having a drink with Kumar. I got to know, that I got 46 out of 50 in the second ERBA-quiz, which was a good enough reason for having a toast. Later, of course, writing blog.

Strange things in USA, part 7

42. The fact that honesty was not among top-10 values in 2003 survey. This explains, why the current administration can tell any number of lies, and still remain in power. In most other Western countries, they would have to resign. In Finland, the prime minister had to resign after she lies in a parliamentary discussion. 43. The fact that the $100-bill is almost unlegal tender. One of the funniest thing to do is to take say 10 $100-bills, roll them up, and go to some supermarket to buy groceries. Boy, they do get scared. 44. The fact, that showing passport is not enough in the bank. They have to get a signature sample from the branch office, in whick I opened my account. 45. CDs are much cheaper than in Europe. I wonder whether this has something to do with the popularity of iTunes. 46. Not having many cars with diesel engines. 47. Being able to buy melatonin over the counter in drug stores. It is a good sleeping aid, when lean studying gets forgotten, and acute stress attack takes over. 48. Measuring distances between places in hours, not in miles or kilometers. 49. The magazines telling how to end of the world is imminent, now NASA has UFOs, but does not acknowledge that etc. One of the funniest stories I have read so far is this. An alien (from another planet, not from Europe) came to Earth and somehow managed to get a child with a woman in Montana or somewhere in the West. But this was not newsworthy, since apparently this happens all the time over there. The news was that the alien came back, and wanted to see his child, but the woman did not want to show the child to the alien. The alien started to stalk the woman and the child. The woman called the police, who arrested the alien. I have to say that this requires extra-terrestial skills in creative writing.

Tuesday, 2005-05-03

Free newspaper and poetry @ Copley

"Free Boston Globe, Free Boston Globe. Here we go, my brother from another mother. What about you, my sister from another mister?"

Disruptive technologies and PDD - good lectures

Clay Christenssen gave a lecture in the class today. He is a good lecturer, calm, with deep insights. Read his books, he has written at least two, and all his arguments are somehow, if not that well, covered in the books. I took some notes, which I thought would enable me to write more about the lecture, but now the notes looks silly and messy. Professor Utterback and Christensen have a very friendly competition ongoing, they always like to tease each other. They are both literally big shots in management science, both taller than me. I did feel young, small, and insignificant. (right: Christenssen, left: both professors)
We also had, for a change, a good lecture in our PDD-class. Professor Roemer talked about his research in DSM (Design Structure Matrix). DSM is a way of representing information flows in complex system design. It seems to be a decent tool: being a matrix it lends to easy mathematical manipulation. I need to take a look at it - at least just to get to know the mechanism, and what they can provide. If only all PDD-lectures had been like this one - the whole class would have made some sense.

New books

It was time to buy new books. One has to buy at least 1 book and 1 CD each week. It is much cheaper than owning a car, and much more civilized, and a better investment, too. One also should read at least one book per week, not just buy them.

A world without time: the forgotten legacy of Gödel and Einstein by Palle Yourgrau. This books tells about the two great scientist, and Gödel's proof that time does not exits. Should be interesting reading.
The garden lover's guide to the Northest by Paul Bennett. This books features 140 garden from Acadia to Mount Vernon. After this semester, I have lots of time to visit gardens, which are my favorite places. A garden with a library, a book store, and a decent restaurant would be a dream came true. If somebody knows such a paradise, please leave a comment.

Kiss goodbye to your lifestyle

As the production of oil peaks in the very near future. This is what the experts are now saying. When we reach the peak, i.e. we have used half of all oil, the demand will continue grow all the time faster than supply, and prices will skyrocket. This will have profound effect on almost everthing. The newest Guardian Weekly has a long article with the title "Coming oil crisis feared". The article ends with this dire prediction

"The first half of the oil age now closes," says Campbell. "It lasted 150 years and saw the rapid expansion of industry, transport, trade, agriculture and financial capital, allowing the population to expand six-fold. The second half now dawns, and will be marked by the decline of oil and all that depends on it, including financial capital."

So, it would be wise the sell the large house in suburbs, move close to other people in a smaller house, and try to develop a lifestyle, which does not require a car. Or else one ends up having worthless assets.

By the way, during last month I used 83 kWh electricity. Since I also usually walk to MIT and back, my current life style is not too energy intensive.

Strange things in USA, part 6

34. Being able the recognize taxis by the sound they make. There is something peculiar in their drive trains. 35. The popularity of herding lines in cafeterias, shops etc. I think people would be able to form a queue without them too. 36. People putting up with long queues (which then lead to the "need" for herding lines). 37. Invention of Teddy Bears (which is also a good thing) 38. Greyhound and other bus companies having new busses, whose design was obsolete in Europe 15 years ago. 39. Having no railway infrastructure to speak of. Both coasts would be ideal for TGV-type of trains - which are safer, more secure, less prone to congestion than airplanes. 40. People running their car engines when parking temporarily. 41. Wal-Mart, which pays so low salaries, that its employees are entitled to foodstamps. See discussion in NY Times. I am surprised how seldom this aspect comes up in Sloan. In Sloan classes, Wal-Mart is treated like the best thing in the world, the most efficient way of doing retailing.

Monday, 2005-05-02

Timetraveller meeting @ MIT on 7th of May, 2005, at 10pm

This is a must meeting to attend. Since, technically, you would only need one time traveler convention, and MIT is the place in the universe for anything ground breaking in the field of technology, MIT hosts first and only Time Traveler Convention. I will be there, since everyone from all times, past/present/future, are welcome to attend. And there is no dress code, and one can bring own refreshments. Who knows if we will get to use some fancy drugs from some very distant future! Be there, since you are not likely to get another opportunity in your life. Thanks to Lavonardo for pointing this out in time.

Make friends, live long

According to US heart experts "Being sociable is good for your heart, researchers have suggested. The US study found men who do not have many close links with friends and family have higher levels of a blood molecule which indicates inflammation. " So, it is not good to be too long at home, even when having fun with soviet Moon program.
A gravestone manufacturer 10 miles north of Boston has a sign reading: Drive slow, live!. Bad marketing, a good piece of advice.

Writing / technology strategy

The Wines, when speed is required, and clarity. Thurston Moore, when one must write about tricky things. Garbage, when no special requirements, just needing company, and staying awake. And, when things get really desperate: Black Flag and "Rise above".
About technology strategy. I got 94 points out of 100 for my latest technology strategy write-up. And I used less than 3 hours for reading the case and writing the write-up. So, I seem to be learning after all. I conclude, that lean studying makes my life both easier and more efficient. I think my forthcoming book on lean studying will become a best seller in no time. And then I will embark a stellar career of consulting, and get filthy rich.

Good advice

Sy Liebergot, who was the EECOM during Apollo 13 accident, gave a guest lecture in the Apollo-class today. It was interesting to hear what kind of young bunch of guys the flight control really were, and also how much influence they wielded over the design and running of the program as a whole. Or so they say - I assume a modest mission controller is an oxymoron. Anyway, Sy had a good advice, which all systems engineers and architects would do well to obey: "When the system talks to you, you'd better to listen.". I think we do this all too seldom, and only pay attention when the system starts to shout. And this advice also applies well to politics too.

Strange things in USA, part 5

27. The popularity of bodybuilding. Of course, it is easier to show one's increased biceps, than the knowledge gained by reading. 28. Men having the crew cut - even if they would have hair left 29. The smaller and not durable plastic bags in which one gets groceries 30. Using machines to blow sand to neighbors part of the sidewalk, and then seeing him (never her, an indication of female superiority) blow it back. 31. Not having real competition among mobile phone operators - binding customers to year-long deals. 32. People calling their laziness to walk 1 km "convienience" 33. People going to the gym for a walk on a machine, by car of course. This happens in Europe too.

Sunday, 2005-05-01

Idling

This was an idle day, as I got so convinced of my abilities. I have no hurry, all the remaining work is just pure fun, and when work is going to be fun, I do not want to do it at once. Why should I use up all fun in a hurry? I have so much to say about space history, and I consider it such a fun. So, tomorrow I will have fun. I certainly could have taken at least 1 more course without any real difficulties.
I took a long walk by the river (up and down, pacing like a gaged bear), while talking to S. Mobile telephony is a blessing. I saw a hawk, presumably a red tailed hawk, at least according to Mirja, and another bird with a long hair. According to Milton, after seeing birds with long hair, one should check one's medication. I will. Then, the (twice)weekly torment: washing hair. I just cannot understand, how the temperature of the water can vary at least 20C within a minute. It is such a waste of water and energy. But since I am not paying for it, and definitely could not pay for reconstructing the water system of this old house, I just continue to use it. Rest of the day: Lunch with Robbie and his wife in Island Hopper, sleeping, dinner in the Indian foodmarket with Kumar. Well, this is of no general interest. So I stop this now. This is just boring my precious readers, whom I seem to have between 60 to 100 daily.
In addition to attracting bums, I seem to attract dogs and squirrels. I do not really understand why all these creatures always come to me. I do not mind, but I cannot help being amused. If someone has an explanation, please use the fancy commenting feature to share it with me.

Strange things in USA, part 5

20. Popularity of jogging. 21. Females using spandex pants when running. It is rather unforgiving. 22. Non-smoking restaurants. (it is also good, but it is strange that the legislation has been possible) 23. "The war on drugs" vs the popularity of marihuana (based on personal observations in parks) 24. The fact that Massachusetts avenue between MIT and Central Square looks exactly like outskirts of New Delhi, India. 25. Firefighter's trucks having so many chromed gauges, valves, and meters. 26. People who are willing pay $4 per gallon of drinking water without complaining, but who are complaining when paying $2 per gallon of gasoline.

All opinions are mine and do not reflect opinions etc of my current or future employers as far as I am aware. Similarly, all opinions on SDM at MIT are mine only. The official at SDM-homepage gives the other view.