Blogs February to March 2007
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A man can stand anything except a succession of ordinary days.
(Goethe)March 2007
Thursday 07-03-23
I am mortal. I am born to love and to suffer. Friedrich HölderlinMeeting and minutes
Most meetings are not fast enough to capture my full attention. So, I need to have something else to do in addition to being present. The best thing I have found is to keep on-line meeting minutes during the meetings. Today, we had a meeting at work for 7 hours, on very interesting topics. I participated actively to the very technical discussion. I also wrote minutes, 9 pages of minutes, during to meeting, in wiki format. Not bad at all, it took some 50% of my attention. I also wrote some parts of project plans, emails, and re-organized parts of our documentation management systems, all during the meeting. Still I was not even close to my capacity. So much fun. The faster the better. The busier the better. The brighter the better.Otherwise
A nice day. First, something interesting to do at work. Then walking back home (this time not reading while walking for some reason), then meeting Aaro in Rytmi for a few beers, back to home. S has borrowed a few books from the library for me to read. I will thus have something to do today evening, I will read a novel or two.No politics
I have not written that much on politics lately. I have no interest in politics at moment. I need to read technical things, wait for my political passion to recharge. I do not mind this new situation at all. Something will happen soon and I will re-activate, for sure.Wednesday 07-03-21
Don't join the book burners. Do not think you are going to conceal thoughts by concealing evidence that they ever existed. Dwight D. EisenhowerGathering energy and knowledge
Last year, I was a bit down. It was such a shock to return from MIT to Finland, to the normal working life. Now I have adjusted, do not mind the normal working life that much anymore, do not get irritated by average people. Most of us are, maybe I am as well, quite average. So, not minding the work that much leaves quite a lot of time for some other things: reading and thinking, soon for writing too, I hope. But I need to find some bright people to work with, if not at work all the time, then outside work, at hobbies. There are some such people around, I am sure.I have, however, a terrible problem. I cannot do things things alone, but I hate group activities. A dilemma. No idea how to solve it, it has bothered me always, ever since I tried to play ice hockey in a team and failed, lost my nerves totally. Any help is welcome.
Walking
Walking to the office and back is quite enough exercise for me during weekdays: up to 30 km and 5 hours per week. Enough, quite enough. On Saturdays and Sundays, some strolling, in the summer cycling. Should keep me fit and a bit leaner.Reading
I completed reading two books today. 39 books this year and counting. I intend to read at least one additional book (on agile SW development) this week and some novels next week. I should be able to keep my monthly average at 15 if I am at all lucky.Tuesday 07-03-20
You need the willingness to fail all the time. You have to generate many ideas and then you have to work very hard only to discover that they do not work. And you keep doing that over and over until you find one that does work. John W. BackusPoems and poets
Today was an international memorial day in honor of Anna Politkovskaya. In more than 50 countries poets, Anna's friends, and friends of democracy came together. In Helsinki, some 100 people gathered in restaurant Belly. Some poets read their poems, some politicians read excerpts from Anna's books. A solemn evening.I came to realize that I may not be a poet in hiding. I find it hard to think that I could really write some poems. Maybe I am just an engineer. Nothing wrong with that either.
New books
Two new books today:- Atlas of war and peace by Dan Smith
- The Toyota product development system by James M. Morgan, Jeffrey K. Liker
Day, today
A very normal day. Walking to work, while reading a book and making notes in its marginals. It takes 40 minutes while reading intensively, 30 while just walking. But just walking is so boring, a waste of life. Life is getting short, but new books keep on coming to me. No time to waste.At work, nothing special: some meetings, a lot of discussions (some even on real issues), some design work, a lot of writing. No coffee. No Pepsi max. No clarity. But quite much fun.
Later, the poetry event. Then taking a tram to home, (daily tram ride is better than Prozac), reading, listening to ska, enjoying life with S.
Monday 07-03-14
Find a subject to think about, stare at an object until a hole is almost bored through it, and find out its essential nature. Taiichi OhnoElections
So, the parliamentary elections are over now. The leftist parties lost some seats to the rightist parties. Not enough to really change anything. It will be very interesting to see, what kind of plan the new government will put together to cut down Finland's excessive CO2-emissions. After all, we committed to some insufficient, but still hard to implement (at least politically) cuts.I am very close to getting involved by writing a book on politics with the topic "Can Finland afford to be wealthy". Let us see how much energy I can muster in the next few weeks.
Week and its end
On Wednesday, S returned from Paris. Nice for the house is too quiet without her; I cannot sleep. It is strange that I sleep well alone in hotels but at home I do not. On Thursday, nothing but work (e.g. visiting the parcel sorting center in the countryside by the airport - a nice large machine and automated warehouses, a worthy trip). On Friday, we had four philosophers dining in our kitchen. It went well, everyone had own cutlery and no deadlocks appeared. Only later in the night, some philosophers took their Plato imitation a bit too far, which yielded some mighty headache to a certain philosopher without a PhD. Thus on Saturday, just idling at home and then a trip to a local pinball hall. 96 million in the Pirates of Caribbean was not a bad score for a tired philosopher. On Sunday, elections, tram trips, reading two books, etc.New books
Two new books by Gerald DeGroot arrived at my desk today:- Dark side of the Moon — the magnificent madness of the American Lunar Quest
- The Bomb — a life
Read books
I have read 37 books this year. That makes it about 180 books a year, if I do not slow down. My goal is just 100, so I can pick up more complicated and thicker books.Shutdown day — next Saturday
Next Saturday, the 24th of March, will be the shutdown day. It will require some almost superhuman strength of the mind not to use computer for one whole day. Maybe I can read a couple of books instead, or maybe I could start writing with pencil and paper again.Tuesday 07-03-13
Dedicate yourself to the good you deserve and desire for yourself. Give yourself peace of mind. You deserve to be happy. You deserve delight. Hannah ArendtSome links
Some interesting place I have been to lately.- The 10 most dangerous species of IT manager — applies to other managers as well.
- Talking philosophy — a philosophical blog, worth following every now and then. Not that technical.
- Supermarkets and Service Stations Now Competing for Grain — it will be interesting to see whether movement of cars will be more valuable than lives of citizens. When will we have the first famine, in the West, due to feeding our food to cars? Maybe in the next 10 years, unless we change our transportation systems: on rails, running on windmill generated electricity.
- IT for Financial Services — course notes by Paul Tallon, pointers to interesting articles and slides as well.
- Recommended Books on IT Business Value — I wish I had the time to read at least every fifth of them
- Detailed Roadmap of the 21st Century — a collection of predictions. Very interesting colllection.
- Pekka Sauri yölinjalla — is this so called humour?
- How to communicate efficiently — a simple guideline.
- A Free Lunch - Blogging about ideas, creativity and business life in general — by a work mate of mine. Some ideas worth wondering.
- Energy Policy for Europe (EPE) 2007 — sustainabity is hip, pop, and necessary.
- Dialogue platform "Energy Future 2030" — a way to participate in the discussion.
- ECO-design for energy efficiency - Framework Directive under Negotiation — more sustainability.
- The Henry Rollins show — sometimes I wish I had a TV. Some episode are free in the new! Rollins rules!
A new book store
Bookdeposity.co.uk is a new book store in the web. They try to keep larger selection in print than Amazon. In addition, their prices are lower, they deliver faster, and sometimes delivery is free. Highly recommended! They have delivered some books to me during the last week and I am very much satisfied with their service and speed.Whole life on a hard drive
Two researchers at Microsoft are dreaming about storing whole human life on hard drives. They even have done some experiments: storing all kinds of things of their own life for a while now: emails, figures, sounds, etc.I think these guys are what the most vulgar analytical philosophers used to be. Clever guys with no glue of life in general. Yes, it is possible to record one's surroundings, one's speech acts, etc. But I find it hard to believe that they can record all their thoughts, their feelings, their intuitions: things that make life worth living. Life is not just a stream of external sounds and figures, it is something more.
I think someone write these researchers some feedback. I may have to do it myself, maybe with some help from S, since this topic is very close to her dissertation work.
Whatever happened
Quite a lot happened last week. On Wednesday, we visited S's sister for a birthday of Lauri: come excellent cake in good company. The children were quite nice to me, for their mother has told them not to play too much with me. Usually, they do.On Thursday, our bi-monthly sauna party with ex-colleagues from Nokia. First to the Kotiharjun Sauna, then to Zetor for some rather good Finnish food. I think it is a pity that it is not that customary to visit the communal saunas anymore. Having sauna at one's home makes life too private, for primates.
And then the weekend. See below.
S left for Paris on Friday, will come back tomorrow. I have spent tonight and yesterday night and evenings as well at home, reading. What else can I do, being such an cultural and non-practical person.
Windmills
I travelled all the way to Lapua just to hear the latest news on windmills. The news are good: prices are coming down, production is ramping up, and even the Finnish politician are about to wake up. New laws are about to be ratified and they will make it easier for small scale electricity producers to connect to the grid.It appears, that producing all electricity in Finland by wind would be possible. And it does appear that there is a huge business potential in windmills and related infrastructure.
It also appears, that there are quite a few freaks, who are building their own windmills in Finland. I met some of them, listened to their discussions on relative merits of different types of overload management and generators. Then I got enough, even I am not enough of an engineer for such discussions.
Lapua itself is a small town, or maybe just a large village in the middle of large plains. Nothing to see there, no old buildings. There are many emptry shops, though. It seems that economic activity is not that vibrant over there.
So, I first took a train to Tampere, spend a night at my mother's place (my childhood home), had a few drinks with Make, then took another train to Lapua, spent Saturday there and decided to take the first train to Helsinki on Sunday. Enough with the freaks. The first train left Lapua at 8.17 and arrived in Helsinki at 11.27. Fast enough.
Tuesday 07-03-06
The human race has only one really effective weapon and that is laughter. Mark TwainTuesday and meeting
Months go by so fast. Today was again the first Monday of the month, the time to have the official, famous, and only Tuesday meeting in Juttutupa, where Lenin and others have had their meetings before us. Today we were Petri, Mila, Antti, Tappi, Timo, Pekka, Teemu, and me. Some great discussions and a lot of laughter. We need to laugh, for the state of the planet is too dire.Otherwise, at work, nothing but intensive meetings. Very important, very much fun, but also very tiring. Work that gives quite much satisfaction, feeling of getting things done. Unlike last year in the other company.
A new book
Globalistan — how the globalized world is dissolving into liquid war by Pepe Escobar arrived today. See Escobar's website for more information. In short, another book on another great game.Monday 07-03-05
Be careful what you pretend to be because you are what you pretend to be. Kurt VonnegutSome new links
- Some great new chemical boost intelligence, remove sleep and have no side-effects. Or so they say. I would order some, if I just new how.
- A more efficient airliner or a concept of one. I wonder whether it would be stable enough. Earlier designs for flying wings have not been.
- Donkeys as pets even in Finland. How disturbed can we become?
- J Kunstler on his favourite topics — maybe it is time for the market to crash.
- DXing the Finnish Way
Some new books
A man without a country by Kurt Vonnegut arrived today. He promised not to write another book some 10 years ago. Then Mr. Bush stole the elections, destroyed Iraq and his own country. All of this made Mr. Vonnegut angry enough to write still one book. Not a thick one, though.Eichmann in Jerusalem — a report on the banality of evil by Hannah Arendt is a book everyone should have read. I have not, but soon will be, I hope. The books is a report on the trial of Mr. Eichmann.
Weekend recap
On Friday, Olli and Maritta came over for dinner. Always nice to have them over. On Saturday, we drove to S's uncle's place in the country, some 140 km from Helsinki. I rented a Ford Mondeo for the trip. It is surprisingly cheap to rent a car for three people. Taking a train and a bus would cost nearly twice as much, but would be more energy efficient. Thus, we can say that the cost of energy is way too low at the moment and trains too expensive. On Sunday, we took party in an election rally of the farmers' party. They could not convince me, I will not vote the farmers' party. Later, S's mother invited us for dinner: superb burbot soup. It is the burbot season.Thrusday 07-03-01
There's a need for accepting responsibility - for a person's life and making choices that are not just ones for immediate short-term comfort. You need to make an investment, and the investment is in health and education. Buzz AldrinOut of touch
I am losing my touch, I am so out of date, so not hip. I went to an art exhibition in Forum Box today. I thought that it is a new place, but it opened already in 1999. What have I been doing for the last 7 or more years? At least I have not been following the Finnish art world.The exhibition was a good one. Some very interesting works of art, some really good. I almost bought one painting by Heli Änkö, but then I remembered that buying art under influence of the opening ceremonies of an exhibition and alcohol is not a good idea. So, if I buy the painting, it will not happen this week.
See my list of cultural events.
Later, I had nice dinner with Tuula and S. See my list of restaurants.
February 2007
Wednesday 07-02-28
Resting on your laurels is as dangerous as resting when you are walking in the snow. You doze off and die in your sleep. Ludwig WittgensteinCubic mile of oil
The world consumes about one cubic mile of oil every year. It is quite much and replacing the cubic mile with e.g. ethanol is simply impossible. We really need to address the demand side, not only the supply. No other source of energy will be enough for running a fleet of automobiles such as the current one.On the other hand, burning all that oil and much else yields warmer climate. Union of Concerned Scientist have published a good summary of IPCC findings. Worth reading.
Working
Again, a day full of work. How wonderful it is to work like this! I suffered so much last year when I had to be present in the office, but was given nothing to work on (for the first 3 months) or something way too trivial for me. Now, I am involved in a project, which is very important for the corporation, and which is hard enough for me. And I learn new things every day, oftentimes very many new things. When I come back to home, I am happy and tired. Great.So, nothing much else happened today. In the morning I was lucky enough to see how coffee packages travelled on a conveyor belt. It is so cute, it makes my commute happy and enjoyable.
A link for today: the infinite cat project. Almost as nice as those coffee packages.
Reading
I have now read 30 books this year. It is quite easy to read 100 books a year. I may not have to lose that much weight in order to keep my new year resolution. Maybe I should set a new target of, say, 200 books a year.Tuesday 07-02-27
Time waste differs from material waste in that there can be no salvage. Henry FordToday
A quiet but productive day. I spend all day writing some plans for my project. I also studied data warehousing, something which I need to excel in very near future. It is fun, it is always fun to learn new things.I even managed to write something in the early afternoon. I was very surprised. But I did surf the net quite much, as I always do when the thing I write is not that creative, but contains some administrative stuff. I just cannot help it.
In Guardian Weekly, Marcus Buckingham once again emphasizes the importance on working on one's strengths and trying to avoid one's weakness. He proposes a way to find out one's strengths: keeping a diary on things one like to do and those one does not. Those one likes are likely to be those one should spend more time doing. Doing this exercise at work would be beneficial for the company and the employee. I will try it in the next two weeks.
New books
I just received The Shock of the Old by David Edgerton. It seems to be a very interesting book as it studies the history of technology not via inventions but via actual use by societies. I will write a review/summary soon.We have also bought some 3 books a week in the least few months. I will list them here later. I think I should buy a camera and library SW so that I could list all my books online. It would help e.g. not to buy same books several times.
Last Friday, I received The Toyota Production System: Beyond Large-Scale Production by Taiichi Ohno. It is a much better than I anticipated. I knew that I would love the ideas, but I did not know that Mr. Ohno is such a funny writer.
Monday 07-02-26
Most people would rather die than think; in fact, they do so. Bertrand RussellWeekend
Been busy, lazy and ill, not in the mood for writing. Now feeling better.On Friday, a very short day at work, absolutely no energy to the nominal 8 hours. But since nobody but me is counting, who cares. Later, picking up Taiichi Onho's Toyou production system from the post office. Such a nice and important book - worth the time and money, being even very well written. Funny also. Reading it in the nearest cafe for hours.
On Saturday, my annual name day, cleaning the house, before my brother and mother arrived from Tampere. Some drinks, then shopping in the Asian foodstores, having an excellent late lunch in Dong Bei Hu, cafe and a superb white chocolate sea buckthorn pastry in Cafe Engel. Even later, the monthly game night at Lemmy's. See Lavonardo's account. S took part as well and turned out to be surprisingly good in pinball.
On Sunday, just idling at home. A visit by Ruby, Dhaia and Riitta, then mode idling.
Today, working 10 hours. Nothing much else.
Thursday 07-02-22
The only way to deal with an unfree world is to become so absolutely free that your very existence is an act of rebellion. Albert CamusFlying
Yes, I have flown a lot. I have been to many places, visited all continents except Antarctica. If travelling were not so addictive, it would be easy to stop flying, and if there would be some other regular transportation to Americas. But I will cut down flying, for I think it is not necessary for me anymore and for I do not like it anymore: all glamour, adveture, pleasure is gone now, replaced with security theater, smaller leg room, etc.If I had extra money, I would invest it in Zeppelin manufacturers. I am quite sure that in some 20 years, Zeppelins will be back.
In general, we are about to witness and go through another energy revolution. There will be huge business opportunities, fortunes will be made and lost. The overall wealth will go down, but what remains, will be distributed anew. Maybe this time I am clever enough to get more than my fair share.
Reading
Yesterday I read three books. They were not very thick ones. Two of them were decent, one was not. Today, I will read at least one book, it deals with reading and writing. On weekend, I try to read some books as well. I think I will be able to read the promised 100 or so books before mid-Summer.I have not read any books on systems architecting or other professional topics for two months now. It is about time to resume professional reading, for otherwise what I know will be lost.
Wednesday 07-02-21
Sometimes your joy is the source of your smile, but sometimes your smile can be the source of your joy. Thich Nhat HanhMy 20% cut in CO2 emissions
So, the EU has agreed. I will do my part by- Not flying that much anymore - I can easily cut flying down by 80%.
- Eating less fish, eating more local food (vegetables of season). In general, eating less.
- Walking to the office, and in general using only electric public transit.
- Buying less stuff — I have almost anything I need, anyway
- Taking shorter and cooler showers, maybe even less frequently.
- Later: moving to a better insulated apartment, or getting my own built.
- At work: inventing ways of running the business with less energy, or energy from renewable sources.
- Recycling more, since not all waste can be avoided.
Any other ideas?
Local cooling
Nature thanks us for our good intentions. Yesterday, the EU decided to cut CO2 emissions by 20% by 2020. Today, it is -20C and sunny. Local cooling in return of trying to avert global warming.Monday 07-02-19
Lack of activity destroys the good condition of every human being, while movement and methodical physical exercise save it and preserve it. PlatoWikipedia
XKCD.com has found out why Wikipedia is problematic. The same applies to the whole Internet as well.Antiwar.com needs some help
Antiwar.com is still lacking some money. Consider donating. Antiwar.com is a worthy source of news and comments.Exercise
Ok, it is time to leave the internet on its own. I assume it will not disappear, if I have some physical exercise for two hours daily. I will still have enough time to please the gods of the internet, to worship them with my browser and by my endless looking for hidden meaning. The meaning of life, or anything, is not in the network of computers, it is in a network of comrades.Since I like to keep statistics of anything, I have a new exercise page.
Sunday 07-02-18
I never remember feeling tired by work, though idleness exhausts me completely. Arthur Conan Doyle, Sr.Sunday links
- Science vs Faith.
- Subways of the world on the same scale via Pia's blog
- The second most expensive war by Eric Margolis.
- Microsoft trying to recruit Eric S. Raymond.
- What happens if one makes fun of a certain man via Antti K.
- Why supporting crap is stupid — such crap as the newest gadgets.
- Conflicts forum.
Sunday
I need to cut down the time I spend online. I get depressed and angry and become fat. Not good. Today, after hours of anxiety, I managed to get out for a walk. Walking was fun even though I could not read Foreign Affairs while walking. So, I had to think myself, my own thoughts. Quite scary.Saturday 07-02-17
As a teenager I was more of an anarchist, but now I want people to thrive and be harmonious. Nicolas CageTwo interesting articles
- Why the U.S. Can't Win Iraq's Civil War by James D. Fearon
- What Iraq Tells Us About Ourselves by Col. W. Patrick Lang, Jr.
Busy
Kind of busy, or avoiding excessive time for self-reflection. Sometimes it pays not to think too much about personal issues, just live for the moment, and not to worry. Or something.On Thursday, working as usual, later listening to a lecture on 9/11 conspiracy theories. Just crazy to think that the US government would be competent enough to come up with and implement such a conspiracy! Just look how good they are both in secrecy and getting things done elsewhere. I think they did know that the 9/11 attack were about to take place, but were just too complacent and incompetent and afraid to do anything. Just like Stalin was before the Germans attacked in WWII.
On Friday, work (and good work indeed - I invented a way to save a few million euros for my employer!), then meeting with Petri and Edda in Cafe Ekberg, one of Helsinki's treasures. Edda is my goddaughter, although I am certainly one of the worst, or least present, of godfathers. But maybe just existing, visiting sometimes, is worth something. Even later, hacking at home, reading, then having a beer with S in Hilpeä hauki. Their beer selection is quite phenomenal.
Today, on Saturday, visiting the Mannerheim museum — a hero of almost every Finn, (see e.g this short biography) then having late lunch in Kok Thai, and getting entertained by the new Bond-movie, which was much better than the last 5 or so.
Fonecta replied!
I got email from Fonecta. Their advice is to put a sign "No phonebooks" on the door. So, I will not get phone books next year. Great. Now I just have to take this year's books back to Fonecta. Certainly I will not have them on my overly full book shelves.Wednesday 07-02-14
A friend is a person with whom I may be sincere. Before him I may think aloud. Ralph Waldo EmersonFonecta: please take your books away!
As Lazu points out, delivering phone books to each home is irresponsible. It wastes natural resources and annoys everyone. If you thinks as I do and do not want the books, consider following Lazu's advice and send email to Fonecta. Maybe they will come and get their books.Some companies are advertising on the phone book cover. Maybe they would like to know, that since they are spamming my home, I will never buy anything from them any more.
Hansen on climate change
James Hansen, NASA's leading expert on climate change, gave a speech on climate change a few months back. We may still have time to save a livable planet for the coming generations, but we must act now, decisively and fast. Each of us individually, as countries, as nations, as members of humanity. And we need to get this topic on the agenda of each and every political debate. But how?New music
Pävi Ala-Harja and her band Kaarna gave a concert tonight in the concert hall of the Helsinki Polytechnic Stadia, previously known as the pop/jazz conservatory or something like that. The concert was good: Ala-Harja's songs were fresh, bright, lively, her voice clear, bright, and the band was professional. The songs could be adapted a bit more sparingly. This time the ease of getting many musicians from the school to the band had tempted them to put too much in some songs. The songs could be better with smaller amount of music, but one cannot know without trying. And to try is to be bold, which is always good and respectable. I have always like Ala-Harja's songs and her way of singing them, and certainly like them even more now after the concert. Let's hope she is able get them published soon.The second singer was Veera Voima. She was excellent, her voice rather magical. This time she was not the main singer. I hope I will be able to hear more her singing later.
Good pirates?
Foreign Policy reports on a good pirates, if such can exist. I this case, maybe pirating is appropriate, for the international community (UN) is not able to protect the environment. Maybe we will see more of this kind of pirating, sabotage, etc soon enough, when things heat up a little more.On self-censorship
In some comments, Mr. Richard C claims that I should be more careful in what I write. If I do not censor myself, I will not get a visa to the USA anymore, writes Mr. C.In Finland, we used to practice such self-censorship due to the Soviet Union for decades. In had some practical benefits, as we got to build some factories and towns in the Soviet Union. But it was not good for our collective psyche: dishonesty never is. And in the end, all dictatorships and other systems which do not tolerate freedom of speech will collapse. The current US government is not an exception. And even if the freedom hating administration in the USA would survive me, I would not censor myself ever. Self-censorship is for cowards, weaklings, and those who let fear guide their actions, i.e. those who are not bold and courageous.
And if the US government is both weak enough to be shaken my words and bold enough to deny my visa, it will certainly not survive me.
A new record by the Decemberists
S has bought us The Crane Wife by the Decemberists. After first listening, I think the record is maybe even better than Picaresque, which I have had since seeing the band live in Boston. A great band, do visit their pages and listen to some music.It is a pity that I did not have more time and energy for live music in Boston in 2005. What I saw, made me realize that there is a lot of fantastic music in the USA, most of it unknown to me, and quite much in Finland, I assume.
Disappearing or then not
Most media ran stories about Muqtada al-Sadr's disappearance, as announced by the US government. It is said that al-Sadr has feld Iraq for Iran. Like he was a sissy, afraid of US bombing, or surge. However, Juan Cole wrote a lenghty argument on this. Mr. Cole claims that it is not in al-Sadr character to run and hide, or not to Iran anyway.It is a sorry state of affairs when most of the world cannot believe anything the US government says.
Tuesday 07-02-13
In war there is no substitute for victory. Douglas MacArthurSome links
- Transportation: from trucks to trains
- Conflicts forum — another blog and news site on Islam, Iraq, etc
- The best of Pepe Escobar — collected stories and articles by a brave journalist
- Rape in the US prisons — how raping is rampant in the US prison system. It seems that the system just prevents the prisoners from escaping, not from hurting each other very badly. Maybe it is deliberate, a way of outsourcing torture on the victims themselves. Vicious, anyhow.
Please, consider also donating some money to the Antiwar.com. They may have rather libertarian views on some issues, but their work is of huge importance.
Weekend
A long weekend, or at least long time no sitting at my desk at the office. Some supplier meetings have kept me busy lately, even in the evenings when I have had dinner with suppliers, at their expense. Well, nothing more to tell about it in public.On Friday, after work, we had the monthly (or so) SIG with Aaro, Kipa, Lemmy, Lavonardo, Teppo and as guest stars Pekka, Risto and S. We spent the evening in the restaurant or bar Pullman at the Helsinki railway station. The bar has rather exceptional selection of beer and cigars, both of which I sampled to my pleasure. The pleasure of Saturday morning was of different kind, of lazy waiting and reading and idling. And it lasted the whole Saturday, I did not step outside our apartment for a second.
On Sunday, a perfect day for a lazy walk on the ice: -5C, thin clouds, no wind. We walked from Hietaniemi to Seurasaari and had coffee at cafe Tomtebo, a romantic place by the sea. Later, relatives of S came over for dinner.
On Monday, meetings and then a nice dinner at restaurant Mecca. The food was good, but I did not regret that I ate another dinner at home before leaving for the restaurant. Wines were excellent, for all I understand of wine.
New spirit of capitalism
I went to listen to a public lecture by Jan Otto Andersson. The lecture was about neo-liberalism, its history etc. Mr. Andersson told about a book by Boltanski et Chiapellocalled The New Spirit of Capitalism. He summarized the new spirit as projects, networks, adaptability, innovativeness, etc. The new spirit is opposed to the older one from 1960s and earlier, which held professions as worthy things.I would like to read the book. It is a bit expensive, so I may have to be happy with a review by the New left review.
Yes, I have adopted the new spirit well. Maybe way too well. I have called it the mercenary attitude so far. Now I know it is about the news spirit of capitalism.
Thursday 07-02-08
A man is a success if he gets up in the morning and gets to bed at night, and in between he does what he wants to do. Bob DylanFree nutrition
It is well known, that free booze tastes better than booze one has to pay for and that for this reason free booze makes one so drunk in no time. Today I found out that free food also has similar effects: making one eat too much and thus causing not so much additional well being.Walking
I had to take a bus to work today. I was just too late, could not have made it by foor in heavy snow fall. So, I have not woken up properly and my back is tired. It really makes sense to walk 30 minutes to work. Not doing so spoils the day.Those who commute by car must feel terrible all the time. Poor souls, poor because of the car and sick because lack of exercise.
Way too early
Quite inhuman to wake up early enough to make it to the office at 9am. I just do not get used to it. Luckily, I normally can start working at 10am. It is the earliest time I am at all useful, able to work. Some strange people can start working at 7am. I cannot understand how.Wednesday 07-02-07
Life is not easy for any of us. But what of that? We must have perseverance and above all confidence in ourselves. We must believe that we are gifted for something and that this thing must be attained. Marie CurieM.A Numminen
M.A Numminen and his band (for the occasion) performed songs he has written for Heinrich Heine poems. Quite peculiar. Mr. Numminen also refused to speak Finnish, for the most part of the concert. He spoke funny German. The band has a DJ, a string quartet, vibraphonist, and pianist, and even a female singer, who voice was present. She was not. The songs were compose in Schubertian manner, although they reminded me most of the Residents.One of the weirdest concerts I have been to ever.
War with Iran
The clock is ticking. Some more speculation has surfaced in the web.It seems that the analysts somewhat agree on this issue. Let's see whether they are writing in vain. Let's hope so. If I had a car, I would keep its tank full of gas, just in case. Since I do not, I will just buy a new pair of walking shoes so that I can walk wherever I need to go (to the office, to the bar, to the bookstore, the railway station).
Car and CO2 in the EU
No agreement, but limits anyhow: Car industry to be forced to cut emissions by the Guardian. Or reported by the Guardian.And nowhere close enough. Just setting one limit is stupid. There should be a decreasing limit, yearly. First 130 g/km, then 125 g/km, then 120 g/km, for new cars, until the amount would similar to trains (with a car with 2 passengers). Anyway, there will not be enough oil left for passenger (private) cars soon enough.
Energy future of the EU
New initiatives appear almost daily. Today, energy future dialogue. Worth spending a minute or two.See also Inforse, which claims to be
INFORSE-Europe is a network of 70 NGOs that are working for sustainable energy solutions to protect the environment and reduce poverty.
Really, even if climate was not getting any warmer, we in the EU are between the rock and the hard place. We have next to no energy sources of our own. Outside sources have peaked. If we do not increase efficiency (in appliances, in city planning, in agriculture, etc) and invest a lot in wind/sun/wave energy, the lights will go out, and our mobility will stall.
Yep, I am getting back to my old, ranting, energetic self. Great. My internal energy is renewable!
Results
Yep, I am able to walk for 30 minutes in -22C without gloves. I assume I could well be able to make the walk even in -25C, but I am not willing to try. It is not that important to find the exact limits of my cold tolerance. It is not that pleasant, either. Weather, policy, rant
Oh, I am so fascinated by this winter. So peculiar: warm January, heavy rain last Friday, now -20C. Not boring, just invigorating.Finland has never used as much electricity as today. Nothing to celebrate, everything to be ashamed of. I wonder why we cannot decide a (declining) maximum electricity generation capacity and then live by it. When it is cold and those living in poorly designed suburban and rural houses need electricity for keeping warm, we would shut down street lighting, sports facilities, outside advertisements, etc. I just cannot understand why electricity much be the only good, for which unlimited supply (at cheap cost) is mandatory.
Trade minister of Finland, Mr. Pekkarinen, says that the EU cannot cut its CO2 emissions, for doing so would endanger EU's ability to compete with others. I cannot see it like that. We all know that climate change is a problem and at some point we, creatures of the Earth, will agree on draconian emission caps. We all know, in Europe, that we are dependent on imported energy, and that oil production has peaked. We know, if we think for a minute, that in such a situation, trying to make do with less energy, is both necessary and wise. If EU would decide to cut down its energy consumption by 3% annually, and mandate it, EU would become more able to compete with others, for after all, both USA and China have the same problems. And with Russia we cannot compete, we must be subservient, as those importing critical stuff always are. You do not bite the warming and feeding hand, at least not too often, even if it belongs to Mr. Putin, or Mr. Stalin's next incarnation.
Tuesday 07-02-06
If you're depressed, change your focus. Quit wishing and start doing. The best way to feel hopeful about the future is to get off your ass and demonstrate to yourself that you are a capable, competent individual resolutely able to face new circumstances. James KunstlerExperiment in cold weather
I made an experiment. I walked from office to the restaurant Juttutupa (for the monthly Tuesday meeting) and decided to try whether I can make it without gloves. It was easy, no problems at all, no freezing, all fingers completely functional. It was -19C. The walk took 46 minutes.Tomorrow, it should be colder still, maybe -25C in the morning. I will try whether I can make it without gloves to the office (30 minutes).
I may be a bit nuts.
Hard to keep quiet
It is hard for me not to make many questions in work related information meetings. It is not that the presentations would be unclear or presented sloppily. It is just me: when I am working and in a good mood, I always find so many things to ask, to discuss, to develop on. I try hard to leave some time for the others — in Finland it is usually somewhat easy, for not many people speak their minds, or risk making stupid questions.Cold
It is 9.20 am and the temperature outside is -18C (at most), inside +19C. I intend to walk to the office, where it is 24C, way too warm. Almost exactly 20 years ago, in January 1987, we had a very cold week in Tampere. One day, between classes in high school, we decided to break a record. Namely, the lowest record we have drunk beer outside, without gloves and hats. It was -35C. We almost failed, for the neck of the bottle almost froze and closed. We were a bit nuts back then.
Update: it was cold indeed while I walked to the office. To my surprise, the wind was quite fierce, from north almost. It was also very slippery, for my shoes have been designed for warmer weather. Anyway, I woke up quite well.
Swicki
Still another search engine. See the top of the page. This page. Tell what you think. Should I go for CSS for the whole blog? Changing the layout means recoding my rss etc scripts, which I am not that eager to do.Monday 07-02-05
Above all, do not lose your desire to walk. Every day I walk myself into a state of well-being and walk away from every illness. I have walked myself into my best thoughts, and I know of no thought so burdensome that one cannot walk away from it. Soren KierkegaardSomething insane
Trying to mount an engine from a WWII Sherman tank on an old Ford Mustang is quite something. Rather interesting, it would be nice to see how such a car will move. Fast, I assume.Anti-Bush music from Kuwait
Juan Cole posted a link to a anti-Bush song by a Kuwaiti singer Shams. Helena Cobban picked up the story and wrote a longer commentary on the song. Much better to sing than bomb, I assume. And more effective, for dictators (even aspiring ones) do not like to be laughed at.Direct link to the video.
Mysteries
Daily Kos is perplexed by the changing views on Iraq:Are you losing track of the good and the bad in Iraq? We're told the Sunni insurgents are bad, but they're backed by Bush's noble Saudi pals. The Shiites are our default allies in Iraq, but the Iranians who are helping them are bad. The Kurds are good, because they're relatively peaceful and independent, except their peaceful independence is creating profound anxiety among our Turkish friends, which is bad. Al Qaeda is bad, we all agree, except when they oppose Shiite Cleric Muqtada Al-Sadr, which is ... what ... good?Read the rest of the story.
Another peak oil site and on climate change
Still another peak oil site: Life after oil crash. I am more worried, at the moment, about the coming shortage of oil than of climate change. We, everyone in the industrial countries, are so dependent on oil that it is almost beyond comprehension. Just try: imagine how your life will be affected when oil is both expensive (e.g. $300 a barrel) and of unreliable supply. Yes, we can produce fuel for engines from wood, but how are we going to keep on producing food without abundant supply of oil. I have no idea. All I know for sure that there is no way the Earth can feed 6 billion people or more without oil. And globalization as we know will soon be a thing of the past, global supply chains will break up, and we need to re-localize most of our supplies.Etc, blah, blah. But read Kunstler's new blog entry. Worth a few minutes.
But see what Mr Hansen of NASA has to say about the IPCC report. Mr. Hansen claims that sea level may rise in a nonlinear fashion. Not so that it would rise some centimeters annually, but that it could rise some meter or so in a very short time. That would be more problematic, for many cities are by the sea. Even Helsinki is.
MIT press on recommended books on climate change. My credit card will have some use soon enough.
Iran, USA, war, lessons
I have to say that Bill and Richard were right to lay blame at my door. I did stray away from my deeper beliefs when I wished that the USA would be taught a lesson. I think most Americans have learned their lesson. It also seems that the Congress is waking up, for both Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid (D-NV) and Sen. Richard Lugar (R-IN), the ranking member on the Foreign Relations Committee, say that Mr Bush does not have the authority to attack Iran without getting permission from the Congress. Let's hope that this opinion holds and that the Congress has the balls not to grant the permission, no matter how much spin Mr. Bush comes up.The net is full of speculation about the situation. One of the most interesting theories is that Iran is a trap for America. The idea is that Russia, China and other are setting America up, in the hope of luring the USA into attacking Iran, and by doing so messing itself up. The theories the trap-theorists build are somewhat plausible, for the USA is by now made itself extremely vulnerable to any disruptions in its supply of oil. I think that the war in Iraq has proved that the only realistic way of getting oil is commerce combined with diplomacy. Just trying to invade and steal does not work.
War in Context has an interesting list of proposal for talking with Iran.
Weekend
I should know better than making public plans for weekends. I was about to read books, walk a lot, but it did not happen. Instead, my brother drove over from Tampere. We visited the annual motorcycle fair in the Helsinki Fair Center. Quite a fair, full of red faced, pot bellied motor cyclist, some of them quite drank, for there were almost as many bars as there were fair stands. The crowd was really distinct from the grey faced, thin, absent minded people who flock to the book fairs. In all, it was very interesting: to see the crowds, to see new motorcycles (many of them very interesting as fine pieces of engineering), and also to see some indoor motocross trick (20 meter jumps from one ramp to another). Well worth the 12-euro entrance fee.After the fair, and some gin, we visited Dong bei hu once again. The food was as excellent as it has always been, if not better. The restaurant really improves my quality of life and living, makes even gray, rainy days of Helsinki bearable, just being there, a short tram ride away from home. It is a pity that I cannot have lunch there. Maybe I should try to find a job near the restaurant?
Later, we drove back to Tampere, visited our mother's place, and then spend some time drinking beer and watching Lucky Number Slevin in my brother's garage/club house. The movie was rather good, intense, full of surprises, not too violent (but violent in the sense of Tarantino), and somewhat scripted as Chandler's crime novels. It took quite many beers.
On Sunday, nothing much, just idling in Tampere, then taking train back to Helsinki. I do not know why, but leaving Tampere makes me rather sad each time. I always here the lyrics of Green and Grey. It is a strange feeling, and still makes me feel more alive than usually.
Saturday 07-02-03
I am not only a pacifist but a militant pacifist. I am willing to fight for peace. Nothing will end war unless the people themselves refuse to go to war. Albert EinsteinClimate change
The report came out yesterday. Let's see what kinds of excuses our politician come up with this time. We have elections coming, with almost no serious discussion on energy conservation etc. More later, now I try not to become depressed or possessed by this problem.Some links
- Kick the oil habit — another view on the oil conundrum
- Orders of magnitude — list of things of different size, weight, power, etc. Very surprising, for an ignorasmus like me.
- Megaproject — a list of project of great size, difficulty, or importance. Those who worked as systems architects in these projects are my hereos and idols. I would like to meet many of them.
- Secret Worlds: The Universe Within — series of pictures from the Milky way to electrons. Worth several viewings.
- Trapeze for turning pdf-files to something else.
Staying up late
I cannot help it. I regularly find myself staying up until 5 am on Saturdays, hacking, reading, writing, yawning. Then I sleep some 5 hours and do not feel any tiredness. It is strange, but it is the way I would like to live every day. But I cannot, for the others at work wake up so early and I need to meet them sometime before noon. On the other hand, I like to leave the office by 6pm, which creates other problems.War on Iran
John Pilger has written on coming war, this time the USA vs Iran. The USA is once again trying to find casus belli where there is none. They will start another illegal war, maybe even nuclear war, for no other reason but being unable to admit that they were wrong. And the good citizens of the USA are not able to stand up, make the government stop its idiotic plans. So sad.Let's hope that Iran can teach the USA a lesson, maybe with Moskit missiles. Of course, the markets will teach the USA a lesson, but then again, the US government does not believe in market economy any more that the Chinese does.
Friday 07-02-02
I think a man ought to get drunk at least twice a year just on principle, so he won't let himself get snotty about it. Raymond ChandlerSleep deprivation
No cure for my sleep deprivation. I try to sleep longer last night, even went to bed early, but a book kept me awake for a few hours. Contrary what Richard C. thinks, I even remember what I read, and what I read before that. Maybe memory needs exercise as well as the body, or other faculties of mind.The plan is to read several books before Sunday is up. And walk some 15 miles at the same time.
Thursday 07-02-01
Some people die at 25 and aren't buried until 75. Benjamin FranklinA new diet
The reading diet: try to read as many books in a year as you weight by the end of the year. Somehow, you will lose your appetite already in January. Very efficient, very pleasant way to lose some fat and gain some wisdom.Reading too much
I have been reading too much, or at least too late in the night. It seems that I can function with 6-hours sleep for a week, but then I collapse. I have to cut down reading nonsense from the net. Or at least producing it.Institutional theory of books
Regarding my new year resolution, I consider any novel, collection of short stories, or longer essay published by a legitimate publisher a book. In addition, I of course consider profession related books on technology, politics, etc as books. The number of pages the books have do not matter.Adapted from Danto's theory of art: anything the art world considers as a work of art is a work of art.
Nokia movie
As we know, Nokia is too poor and does not make enough money to pay any bonuses this year. It comes as a surprise to some Indian workers of Nokia (subtitles in Finnish only). Little they knew, that nothing is enough in the great game of capitalism. They should be happy to be coding and getting paid for it. For soon the open source will take over and Nokia will ikealize its operations. Or some poorer people somewhere will learn how to code and hack. The race to the bottom is accelerating.Outsourcing
Outsourcing has proved to improve efficiency by letting every actor concentrate in its/his/her core competencies. As is works wonders (e.g. freeing scores of exploited workers from the pains of labor in the developed countries and increasing the quantity of life everywhere), I have tried outsourcing as well. I have outsources visits to the library to S, for she is better library visitor than I am. I am faster reader, so I read the books she borrows from the library. Everyone is happy, the utilization of the library increases, Finnish novelists get their books read, if not bought, and I keep my new year resolution! What a wonderful method outsourcing is!What's more, this arrangement is fun as well. I get to know new novelists and I never know whom next. Great.
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