Been busy

I participated a workshop called Green Imperative in UIAH about sustainable developement by means of converging technologies.
The week was busy, but enjoyable. It was really interesting to see how groups worked on the subject. And also to see, in vhich topics we all ended up thinking the same way. -In bad and in good.
We set the aim as far as possible, because it seems that everytime we fail to go far enough.

Our point of view was from the side of wireless technologies (including breakthroughs on nano, bio and information sciences). We ended up to a basic idea that available information for decision making on every level of the society might create holistic understanding about the causes of our decisions. This increased knowledge and understanding together with economical (and ekological) pressures would start to change consumption, production and also the way we are living.

Thanks for the group and all other new friends, hope to see you soon again :)
And some irrelevant pics from UIAH to fill the space ;)

PhotoShop

Check this video to see how photo shop ought to be used!!


-And there just happens to be video of Scarlett Johansson from same artist ;)

Updating N73

There were some bugs in my N73, so I decided to update it's firmware.
Firstly I was surprised that I could do it myself. But the major surprise came a little later.

I used the backup option on the phone to store 'something' into my memorycard. Then I updated the firmware and restored the data from the card..
..Everything was back. And I mean EVERYTHING including all the 3rd party applications. Only things that didn't survive were the theme, the order of the icons and a text message which I opened just before the phone went black.
-Amazing!

This has been a problem in Windows for -god knows- how many years. And then suddenly Nokia pulls it of! -And I know it can be a lot trickier on PC, but anyway. Thanks guys! ;)

Rasism

I enjoyed of videoclip where some US. people were asked about some questions on international topics.
Not that this is any kind of truth, but it still reminded me some US politics can be elected.
-Usually rasism is something what you practice against a minority, but are you rasistic if you don't like majority?

There was interesting article in NYT about rasism and how we can actually might cause harm with our over tolerance for Everything.
Also spending some time with japanese people I started to think, should I behave like a normal Finn, or try to adapt to their customs.. After all, the saying goes "When in Rome, do as the the romans do."

Power point file sizes

Power point files tend to become quite massive. The fill your hard-disks and your mail. Some of them are junk, some usefull. But the general problem is the large pictures imported into the show.

Some time ago Microsoft added a handy function for this problem:
When picture is selected and Picture toolbar is visible, click Compress picture, and continue selecting All pictures, 150dpi and Crop. The result is probably up to ten times smaller file size.

On the road

Lapin Kansa just wrote that "Peltipoliisi jäätyi pakkasessa". They are adding heating into these automatic surveillance boxes.. :D

*21/02/07*
Yesterday I drowe to Oulu and back. On the way there was time to think.
Generally I think that road users have been forgotten in what we call user centered design.

Think about the traffic signs. What makes it so sure that you can see every single one of those?
You might be passing somebody or looking at the traffic.
In the city it might be impossible to see the signs placed in the crossings, where you would need to look up and right - a place where there isn't any of the pedestrians or other crucial elements of making the turn. The reason for this idea comes from the contradiction of usingautomated traffic controlling (see earlier post), while the road user still has to monitor the speed limits manually.
A great thing about these speedtraps in north is though that they are most of the time unusable because of the snow ;)

Another idea which came to my mind came up when I drowe through 'game-fence' that tries to keep moose and other animals away from the road. -Both ends of this fence are dangerous because game try to go over the road, and they will do it at the end of the fence. At dark, roads are lit, but it wouldn't be a big effort to place some extra lightning at the ends of the fence.

Other sights along the way

Suunto X6HRM is a really nice wrist computer, but has a really crappy plastic strap to attach it with. There's no hint of that metallic, almighty feeling the titanium watch is othervice giving.

The chrome version of the same watch is also really nice, and it actually has strap made of real leather! -Really neat, but I wonder if I would like to use it in shower and while swimming like I use mine nowadays.

Another thing which I really don't get is why both Polar and Suunto are using those both-sided buckles as in the picture. It is somehow managable in men's watches, but in women's watches the buckles are so small that you really have to struggle to get it done and undone.


Really nice and funny shoes from El Naturalista. Notice the imaginative soles :D








The last picture is just for those for whom I have praised the rear window of Opel Astra.

Cold

*edit*
Remember, driving without your hands with a bicycle is an obligatory thing to survive (and keep your fingers warm) in Rovaniemi..
-Darn it was cold!

Foreigners often ask me while staying abroad that why is it that I'm feeling so cold.. -My respons usually is that it is a matter of evolution. Such scandinavians that thought they could resist cold weather without a proper clothing or shelter -they just vanished..

Dizewars

Pertti introduced me a great game - unfortunately..
Dizewars it is.

Product complaints

Poor customer service stays in your mind for a long time, especially in case of defected product.

Couple of years ago Rovaniemi Telemark-skiers bought some 35 goretex suits as tailor made from Terinit, a finnish sportswear manufacturer. Promptly after receiving the jacket I commented to Terinit that they have a major flaw in their product.
-The velcros had been sewed on wrong sides. Sticky side on the fold and the soft side facing outwards. This resulting most of the undergarments getting spoiled by the sticky side. And also the hood is constantly stuck in some wrong place. This because the velcros on the hood are sawn as they should be.
They didn't comment in any way, which was one way to handle the situation. In case of commenting they probably would have been forced to repair them. -This time they only lost an customer.

Putin and G8

Putin starts to gain some respect from me. On this days G8 meeting he talked about what's the sense in creating a monopolar world. Without anybody to resist US.
And a fine comment was 'there's no need for democracy lessons from somebody who doesn't really know so much about it..'

Shower faucets

*edit*
I got my study-room back in order and started to rehabilitate my sketching by wacom.










02/07/06














Why are shower faucets made in a way that when you close the tap, water gets trapped into the hose?
A research acclaimed that the biggest problem for the shower users was avoiding cold water, that comes before it is in optimum temperature. -And it happens every time you take a shower..

I would like to make a such tap the water from the hose runs out after I close the tap. Or you could empty the hose by pushing the lever a little more down while closing it.