A new book from a favorite publisher / Voice-mail vs email: cultural differences /…

A new book from a favorite publisher

I just received The facts behind the Helsinki Roccamations by Yann Martel. It is published by Canongate, one of my favorite publisher. What's more, I got the book free for I registered to their new webservice. Check Canongate, they indeed publish very interesting new literature. And while you are at it, check also Granta, another great publisher. And please let me know about other great small publishers, preferably in USA.

Voice-mail vs email: cultural differences

In Finland we usually use email or SMS to communicate. For example, if I send an email to someone, I always get an email back. Also, many time people make first contact by email. Here in USA, things are different. It seems that many are still reluctant to use email (not to speak of SMS - it is not in use at all here). Since my phone works rather poorly inside buildings here, and I tend to keep it silent anyway (in libraries etc), I usually miss most calls. So, I get many voice-mail messages. It is quite OK, but I would definitely like the callers to speak clearly and slowly their phone-numbers. Several times I have not been able to call back as I have not been able to decipher the exceeding fast spoken phone-number.

Coffee stirrer mystery

In USA, it is not common to stir coffee with a spoon. Instead, the most common tool for stirring coffee is a straw, which is usually used for drinking soda. I find this habit strange. I would appreciate any anecdotes how this bizarre habit started.

Do dead soldiers matter?

I do not think so. The purpose of war is to defeat the enemy. The enemy naturally opposes and fights back. So, on both sides soldiers get killed, maimed, and permanently injured. That's part of the business of waging war. So, having got 2000 US-soldiers killed in USA is nothing to worry about. Actually, it is too few - they are not pushing hard enough to win the war. I would be more concerned and worried about those tens of thousands of civilians who get killed in the process of waging this (illegal) war. I consider anyone who did not oppose the war in 2003 and now worries about 2000 or more dead Americans as a hypocrite. If one supports war, one must put up with dead soldiers. (or, if one wants to worry about dead soldiers, one must worry over those at the defending side - this is usually the case. Remember that it still kind of inappropriate to grief over dead German and Japanese soldiers in the WWII.)

Working style

My style of working on papers is rather strange. I start to work early, reading material, developing conceptual systems and lines of reasoning. But I am not able to write anything before the time is running out. Fortunately, I usually (actually always) have the arguments and the whole text (as I write it it over and over again in my mind, when walking, cycling). This way works well for me, but I do not have text to show in several iterations - which is something many others do have.

Thomas Friedman and China

A quick note. Thomas Friedman's concerns about China's environmental have been fully developed in Jared Diamond's book "Collapse".

Miers, Bush, and Rove

Harriet E. Miers withdrew her nomination for the Supreme Court. Now, why did she do it? Most likely because her lack of experience and other qualifications (level of ultra-concervativism/naive Christianity) were not necessary. This provided the far right an excuse for opposing her. Thus, she withdraw. What happens next? Bush will nominate some very ultra-concervative "religious" anti-abortionist. Nobody in the republican party will be able to oppose such a nomination, nor can the democrats stop it. They can filibuster but it is of no use. In short, Miers was not even meant to get nominated, she was supposed to step down, and make room for the real nominee. This is how clever Mr. Rove is. Or should I just check my medication. (And I did not read NY Times columnists Thomas Friedman, Paul Krugman or Bob Herbert - they will write about this later).

New website starting

I am working on a new website about systems architecting. I will use it as my excuse of doing something, my personal hacking area, a place to put my draft papers and collect links etc. I try to make in WEB 2.0-compatible, really interactive, to get some help from other systems architect enthusiasts. The site should be useful in less than two months, about the same time as my thesis will be ready.

Alun perin julkaistu kuukausikoosteessa "Blogs October 2005".