A guy with an attitude / A strange feeling / Terrible user interface / Put your trust…
If we fail to bear witness, in a not too distant future we could see the deeds of Nazi bestiality relegated by their very enormity to the status of legend. It is, therefore, vital to speak out. Primo Levi, 1959.
A 3pm Chinatown-bus never leaves at 3pm. Usually the Chinese operators want to sell still a few more tickets. Today, the Chinese were about to leave when they noticed that a young guy did not have a ticket. He had sneaked in the bus by saying that his girlfriend would have his ticket. She was in the bus and she did not have his ticket. They kept quiet until the Chinese threw the guy out. He was furious, shouting: "It is not my fault, I did not know" and pacing furiously. It took 10 minutes of shouting, pacing, cursing before the guy suddenly found $15 from his pocket and paid his ticket. It was 3.20pm and we were on our way to Boston.
But POC is very bad for everyone else. Using POC causes the phone to beep at least 4 times for each speech act. If someone is having a POC-discussion, nobody can concentrate on anything within a 7-meter radius. Especially since POC requires the users to shout, not to talk, to their phones. Absolutely terrible user interface. Just give POC-phones to CIA agents and any terrorist will confess being the origin of evil in 10 minutes. UN, please ban POC!
Why am I so irritated? Well, the bus driver had a POC-discussion for 3 out the 4.5 hours it took him to drive us from NYC to Boston. Which by the way meant that his left hand had next to nothing to do with driving of the bus. But when he got a normal phone call, he used a hands-free system. Maybe there is a rule that one must not have normal mobile calls without a hands-free system, but the rule does not apply to POC-calls. Who knows?
I knew a blizzard was coming when I left Boston for New York. Still I chose to wear my Dr. Martins-shoes, which are suicidally slippery on ice and hard snow. I also broke the zipper of my winter coat. I forgot my gloves at home and my woollen MIT-cap is way too small. But I managed. Just like a whale escapes rough seas by diving to the depths of the sea, so a hippie escapes blizzards by walking the stairs down to the subway.
In the subway, a bird-like woman was walking in a mini-skirt and high-heels. Maybe she was returning from a party. It certainly would be a long and arduous way back home for her.
By the way, a large Volvo-truck has 625 horsepower and can tow maybe 30 tonnes of cargo. A Volvo-bus has 380 hp and can take up to 50 passengers.
What is the reason for having 300 or more horsepower engines in passenger cars? Vanity or stupidity?
English has many nice words and expressions. One of my favourites is any construction of the type "Xhand". Boats have deckhands, farmers have fieldhands, the jazz bar of the Peace hotel in Shanghai is full of old chinahands.
When a 20-year old smiles, he or she looks older. When a 40-year old smiles, he or she looks younger. And anyone smiling looks cuter, handsomer, and more beautiful, even more intelligent. Unless the smile is fake, a grimace, just baring one's teeth, US-style. So, smile, openly, happily and the world will be a better place.
Alun perin julkaistu kuukausikoosteessa "Blogs January to February 2006".
A guy with an attitude
A 3pm Chinatown-bus never leaves at 3pm. Usually the Chinese operators want to sell still a few more tickets. Today, the Chinese were about to leave when they noticed that a young guy did not have a ticket. He had sneaked in the bus by saying that his girlfriend would have his ticket. She was in the bus and she did not have his ticket. They kept quiet until the Chinese threw the guy out. He was furious, shouting: "It is not my fault, I did not know" and pacing furiously. It took 10 minutes of shouting, pacing, cursing before the guy suddenly found $15 from his pocket and paid his ticket. It was 3.20pm and we were on our way to Boston. A strange feeling
Whenever I return to Boston from New York by bus and see the Boston skyline, I feel a melancholy similar to what I felt when I returned from Shanghai to Hangzhou. It is a mixed feeling of homecoming, of leaving a big city behind, end of an adventure, of losing something important. I cannot really express the feeling in English, as I cannot describe it even in Finnish. It is a strange feeling and I have only felt it in these two situations.Terrible user interface
Motorola's Push-to-Talk over cellular, or POC, a way of imitating walkie-talkie with mobile phones is picking up in USA. Good for Motorola, good for Nokia (POC by Nokia — note how POC is for tough guys with square jaws, no time shave daily, and squinting eyes), and maybe good for the users, who can return from the full-duplex, 20th century technology, back to the roots of telecommunications, to the 19th century, and feel tough and square jawed.But POC is very bad for everyone else. Using POC causes the phone to beep at least 4 times for each speech act. If someone is having a POC-discussion, nobody can concentrate on anything within a 7-meter radius. Especially since POC requires the users to shout, not to talk, to their phones. Absolutely terrible user interface. Just give POC-phones to CIA agents and any terrorist will confess being the origin of evil in 10 minutes. UN, please ban POC!Why am I so irritated? Well, the bus driver had a POC-discussion for 3 out the 4.5 hours it took him to drive us from NYC to Boston. Which by the way meant that his left hand had next to nothing to do with driving of the bus. But when he got a normal phone call, he used a hands-free system. Maybe there is a rule that one must not have normal mobile calls without a hands-free system, but the rule does not apply to POC-calls. Who knows?
Put your trust in me
I was reading on the next war in the Lotus Lounge, when the tall, slender black woman next to me asked: "I need to visit my home, it is only 2 minutes away, can you keep an eye on my laptop, please?". Of course I could, having no hurry, no need to leave the lounge. I hope she returns before I need to go the restroom....How not to prepare for a blizzard
I knew a blizzard was coming when I left Boston for New York. Still I chose to wear my Dr. Martins-shoes, which are suicidally slippery on ice and hard snow. I also broke the zipper of my winter coat. I forgot my gloves at home and my woollen MIT-cap is way too small. But I managed. Just like a whale escapes rough seas by diving to the depths of the sea, so a hippie escapes blizzards by walking the stairs down to the subway. In the subway, a bird-like woman was walking in a mini-skirt and high-heels. Maybe she was returning from a party. It certainly would be a long and arduous way back home for her.
Daily energy blogging (7): Star Ferry, Hong Kong, & busses, trucks
Some of the Star Ferries in Hong Kong have 450 horsepower. They can take maybe 750 passengers on board. The waters between Kowloon and the Hong Kong Island are not exactly calm.By the way, a large Volvo-truck has 625 horsepower and can tow maybe 30 tonnes of cargo. A Volvo-bus has 380 hp and can take up to 50 passengers.
What is the reason for having 300 or more horsepower engines in passenger cars? Vanity or stupidity?
My top-5 most often eaten foods
- Mapo tofu (Sezhuan style bean curd)
- Broccoli and garlic (Chinese)
- Spicy noodles and spicy tofu (Thai)
- Seafood fried rice (Vietnamese)
- Fish and chips (US/British)
Top-5 foods of the world
- Linguine con nero di seppia, Veneto, Italy
- Risotto nero, Veneto, Italy or Catalonia, Spain
- Fried herrings and mashed potatoes, Finland
- Vegetarian biryani, South India
- Fritto Misto di Pesce, Italy
Top-5 breads of the world
- Indian naan
- French baguette
- Finnish setsuuri (sweet and sour bread)
- Icelandic flat bread
- German vollkorn brot
Nice words
English has many nice words and expressions. One of my favourites is any construction of the type "Xhand". Boats have deckhands, farmers have fieldhands, the jazz bar of the Peace hotel in Shanghai is full of old chinahands. I love people
I love people. I love watching them in cafes and restaurants, in subways and in busses, and in the streets. I like to listen to their stories, trying to understand what kind of life they are leading, what passions they have, which sorrows are hurting them. In large cities, I can spend hours and hours just doing this, maybe while reading, or pretending to read, a book. If only I could describe them in writing, to let you all enjoy the same joy I do.Life preserves
The instructions for donning a life-jacket on the Staten Island ferry call life-jackets "life preservers". I like the term. It reminds me of not trying to preserve my life. I do not want my life to be preserved, never changing, aseptic. Too many of us affluent Western citizens try to preserve our lives. But a life preserved is a life wasted, no matter how long it is and how much money one dies with.Smile!
When a 20-year old smiles, he or she looks older. When a 40-year old smiles, he or she looks younger. And anyone smiling looks cuter, handsomer, and more beautiful, even more intelligent. Unless the smile is fake, a grimace, just baring one's teeth, US-style. So, smile, openly, happily and the world will be a better place. Daily energy blogging (6): Horsepower
The Staten Island ferry can take 6012 passengers and crew abroad. Its engine has 7000 horsepower. This makes 1.16 horsepower per passenger. Quite remarkable when compared to a standard SUV, which can seat 6 and has a 200 horsepower engine, or 33.3 hp per passenger, or 28 times more than the ferry.New books
I could not find Ulrich Beck's new book. Anyway, one cannot visit NYC without buying some books. The newest additions to my library are:- The black hole of Auschwitz by Primo Levi - a collection of Primo's articles and essays. Very interesting and important reading, for we must not forget. I will also buy Auschwitz: A New History by Laurence Rees. I read it for an hour in the Union Square B&N on Saturday. Well written, full of new information, and interviews of survivors.
- Democracy matters by Cornel West - a pamphlet telling us that democracy really matters and that the unconditional admiration of free-market capitalism is eroding our democracies. I have not yet read much of this book, but it certainly seems to raise important questions.
Alun perin julkaistu kuukausikoosteessa "Blogs January to February 2006".
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