Have you ever experienced this.
There is a thing you want and you try to get it as much as possible. Then, it seems you're going to get the thing and you're happy. Then, just when everything seems to be quite well, someone takes that thing away from you.
It sucks.
Thursday, December 13, 2007
Monday, November 5, 2007
Back again
IT has been relevantly long time since I've written anything. One reason to this is that Anu (my spouse) came here and I have not got that much spare time anymore. Other reason might be that I'm getting used to things and do not find them that interesting to be shared anymore. However, since I've got my visa extended and everything seems to go quite fluently now, I think I can quite safely start a new series called: things that irritate me here.
1. Scooters
Scooter is a really nice an convenient way of transport here and due to this the amount of them is overwhelming. The streets are packed with scooters, there are huge parking lots for scooters only and even own lanes for scooters (however, it seems there ain't none for the buses). The overwhelming amount of scooters leads to situations where these are parked to anywhere, mostly to the pedestrian passages. This makes it sometimes almost impossible to walk where you would be supposed to walk. And, while walking there a scooter might be driving the same passage... and as always, smaller (i.e. the one with less horsepowers) sidesteps, no matter whose the one that _should_ be there.
IT also seems to me that there is separate rules for scootres. For example it is not wise to trust that one way road is really a one way road. There might be scooters coming frolm both directions.
2. Smog
It's thick, gray and everywhere near the city. Otherwise it does not bother me that much but sometimes it would be really nice to see some blue sky. I've heard that the situation with the smog is much better than it used to be and is going to better direction all the time. That is good, but for a Finn the situation seems really bad. There are some mountains behind the city, I've seen them once., but it would be great to be able to see them more often.
I will continue this list in future.
1. Scooters
Scooter is a really nice an convenient way of transport here and due to this the amount of them is overwhelming. The streets are packed with scooters, there are huge parking lots for scooters only and even own lanes for scooters (however, it seems there ain't none for the buses). The overwhelming amount of scooters leads to situations where these are parked to anywhere, mostly to the pedestrian passages. This makes it sometimes almost impossible to walk where you would be supposed to walk. And, while walking there a scooter might be driving the same passage... and as always, smaller (i.e. the one with less horsepowers) sidesteps, no matter whose the one that _should_ be there.
IT also seems to me that there is separate rules for scootres. For example it is not wise to trust that one way road is really a one way road. There might be scooters coming frolm both directions.
2. Smog
It's thick, gray and everywhere near the city. Otherwise it does not bother me that much but sometimes it would be really nice to see some blue sky. I've heard that the situation with the smog is much better than it used to be and is going to better direction all the time. That is good, but for a Finn the situation seems really bad. There are some mountains behind the city, I've seen them once., but it would be great to be able to see them more often.
I will continue this list in future.
Wednesday, October 10, 2007
Collaborative Research
We're writing a paper about computer supported (or technology enhanced) collaborative research (CSCR) with a local colleague. Due to this I've been going trough some literature about CSCR. I've found some really interesting descriptions of CSCR environments, but unfortunately it seems that no of these really exists yet.
One thing I find interesting in these papers is, however, the lack of definition of collaborative research. At first it might seem quite obvious concept, but if you consider it more carefully, especially going beyond your own area, it becomes more blurred. I do believe that collaborative research, or research in general, is very different on different subjects. Even (such a small thing as =) ) selected methodology affects the nature of research quite a lot.
The other interesting thing is that how CSCR differs from CSC work (CSCW) and CSC learning (CSCL) especially. Research is more or less learning, but how different is it? Here, I think, one important issue to consider is the level, or skill, of the researchers. Master level students, and beginning PhD students need more interventions from their supervisors than more mature PhD students. Then, professors and other experiences researchers won't need any outside support anymore.
And one more thing. How do we initiate collaborative research? Why do certain peolpe start to collaborate with research in mind? In my case it was the order of the professors and requirement of my grant. In other case it was the expertise of other person and again, order of a professor. It seems that usually collaborating researchers have something in common even before they start collaboration. Thus, the idea for collaboration seldom needs to be invented, because it more or less exists before the collaboration is initiated. Does this affect the process of CSCR and does this make it different from CSCL and CSCW?
I would love to hear your opinion. Especially on what do you think is collaborative research!
One thing I find interesting in these papers is, however, the lack of definition of collaborative research. At first it might seem quite obvious concept, but if you consider it more carefully, especially going beyond your own area, it becomes more blurred. I do believe that collaborative research, or research in general, is very different on different subjects. Even (such a small thing as =) ) selected methodology affects the nature of research quite a lot.
The other interesting thing is that how CSCR differs from CSC work (CSCW) and CSC learning (CSCL) especially. Research is more or less learning, but how different is it? Here, I think, one important issue to consider is the level, or skill, of the researchers. Master level students, and beginning PhD students need more interventions from their supervisors than more mature PhD students. Then, professors and other experiences researchers won't need any outside support anymore.
And one more thing. How do we initiate collaborative research? Why do certain peolpe start to collaborate with research in mind? In my case it was the order of the professors and requirement of my grant. In other case it was the expertise of other person and again, order of a professor. It seems that usually collaborating researchers have something in common even before they start collaboration. Thus, the idea for collaboration seldom needs to be invented, because it more or less exists before the collaboration is initiated. Does this affect the process of CSCR and does this make it different from CSCL and CSCW?
I would love to hear your opinion. Especially on what do you think is collaborative research!
Wednesday, October 3, 2007
Somethings I find Strange, part III
1. Things dropping to my head (cont.)
I'll add a red caterpillar (approx. 5cm) to this list. It nearly dropped to my head in the toilet today.
2. Chairs.
So what is strange with chairs. Well, nothing, except that they tend to be extremely low. Considering the fact that Taiwanese are really not that small, I find this extremely strange. All the chairs are so low, that angle of my knees is less than 90 degrees, and this can be really painful sometimes. Especially my operated knee tends to go numb.
The worst case scenario of this are the chairs at the classroom where I have my Chinese lessons. These are desks (thus the chair and table are connected) with low seat and quite low table. It is almost impossible to find a good position in them... although this might be the purpose of them as well!
I'll add a red caterpillar (approx. 5cm) to this list. It nearly dropped to my head in the toilet today.
2. Chairs.
So what is strange with chairs. Well, nothing, except that they tend to be extremely low. Considering the fact that Taiwanese are really not that small, I find this extremely strange. All the chairs are so low, that angle of my knees is less than 90 degrees, and this can be really painful sometimes. Especially my operated knee tends to go numb.
The worst case scenario of this are the chairs at the classroom where I have my Chinese lessons. These are desks (thus the chair and table are connected) with low seat and quite low table. It is almost impossible to find a good position in them... although this might be the purpose of them as well!
Taipei
Hmm. It has been quite long time since I last wrote something. Lots of things have happened since then.
I went to Taipei this weekend and explored the city. Even though it does not seem that tricky city on the map, it proved to be it in real life. So, this is what happened. On Friday evening, after 4,5 hours train trip from Kaohsiung to Taipei, I first went to my hostel (called Taiwanmex, with extremely good location just couple of mins walk from Taipei Main Railway Station). Then, I decided to go and explore the city.
I went to the underground mall that is located nearby the railway station. It actually covers quite an huge area and navigating it is bit tricky. Well, I eventually found a nice place to get up from there, and decided to go around for a while. After walking around 20 minutes, I found a nice place with small streets full of shops and restaurants. Kept walking for a while and then I decided to locate my self from the map. Well. Easier said thatn done. The small streets and the long time spent underground totally confused me and I really had no idea where I was. Well, easiest solution was just to keep walking and to find a place big enough to be visible on the map. After about 30 miutes I found a subway station where there was a map with which I could then see where I was. After that navigation was much easier.
During the weekend I also had the chance to see local ice hockey games and to referee them as well. The games were good, and they have got some really talented players. I was told that most of the players have their background in in-line hockey.
From Taipei I travelled back with HSR, the High Speed Rail. The train goes pretty damn fast,and it only took 1.5 hours to get back to Kaohsiung. Normal train took 4.5 hours. However, it was bit funny that after 1.5. hours in train, it took me 1 hour to get back to the uni with bus.
I went to Taipei this weekend and explored the city. Even though it does not seem that tricky city on the map, it proved to be it in real life. So, this is what happened. On Friday evening, after 4,5 hours train trip from Kaohsiung to Taipei, I first went to my hostel (called Taiwanmex, with extremely good location just couple of mins walk from Taipei Main Railway Station). Then, I decided to go and explore the city.
I went to the underground mall that is located nearby the railway station. It actually covers quite an huge area and navigating it is bit tricky. Well, I eventually found a nice place to get up from there, and decided to go around for a while. After walking around 20 minutes, I found a nice place with small streets full of shops and restaurants. Kept walking for a while and then I decided to locate my self from the map. Well. Easier said thatn done. The small streets and the long time spent underground totally confused me and I really had no idea where I was. Well, easiest solution was just to keep walking and to find a place big enough to be visible on the map. After about 30 miutes I found a subway station where there was a map with which I could then see where I was. After that navigation was much easier.
During the weekend I also had the chance to see local ice hockey games and to referee them as well. The games were good, and they have got some really talented players. I was told that most of the players have their background in in-line hockey.
From Taipei I travelled back with HSR, the High Speed Rail. The train goes pretty damn fast,and it only took 1.5 hours to get back to Kaohsiung. Normal train took 4.5 hours. However, it was bit funny that after 1.5. hours in train, it took me 1 hour to get back to the uni with bus.
Thursday, September 27, 2007
Somethings I find strange, part II
1. Seven Eleven and Family Mart:
It is unbelieveable how these stores can be everywhere. In almost every corner there is at least one of these. Also campus area has its own seven eleven. And it still remains a mystery to me what you really can buy from these stores, except drinks.
2. Things dropping from the trees to my head (or almost to my head).
Water, leaves, nuts, seeds and lizard. The latter is the one that missed. I'm grateful for that.
It is unbelieveable how these stores can be everywhere. In almost every corner there is at least one of these. Also campus area has its own seven eleven. And it still remains a mystery to me what you really can buy from these stores, except drinks.
2. Things dropping from the trees to my head (or almost to my head).
Water, leaves, nuts, seeds and lizard. The latter is the one that missed. I'm grateful for that.
Tuesday, September 25, 2007
Somethings I find strange
1. Garbage and how to get rid of it:
Back home we take our trashes to a container somewhere in our yard and then, eventually, a garbage truck will come and pick it up. Here it is bit different. Garbage car comes every night. You can hear it coming, because it plays a catchy tune, like ice cream truck back home. Then, you pick up your trashes, go to the street and throw your trashes to the car.
2. Bed and its height:
Several people who have seen my bed have been thinking that it might need to be lowered. It seems that my bed, which is normal height at least when compared to beds I've seen in Finland, is very high when compared to bed used here.
... to be continued.
Back home we take our trashes to a container somewhere in our yard and then, eventually, a garbage truck will come and pick it up. Here it is bit different. Garbage car comes every night. You can hear it coming, because it plays a catchy tune, like ice cream truck back home. Then, you pick up your trashes, go to the street and throw your trashes to the car.
2. Bed and its height:
Several people who have seen my bed have been thinking that it might need to be lowered. It seems that my bed, which is normal height at least when compared to beds I've seen in Finland, is very high when compared to bed used here.
... to be continued.
Friday, September 21, 2007
Tea, tea and tea
Tea, oh yes. If you don't like it, you won't survive here. I've been here now for a week and sofar I have been drinking mostly tea. While in Finland you can see lots of different soft drinks (and beer) for sale in shops and restaurants here the drink of choice is tea. And believe me, there is massive amount of different tea brands to choose from.
A good place to get your tea aer the tea booths and stores on the streets. Again, a vast selection of these. Luckily, there is also other drinks available if you get bored with tea. For example water is good option! =) However, also juices are available and also some soft drinks as well.
So far I've familiar with following types of tea (mostly iced): black tea, oolong tea, green tea, lemon tea, black tea with lemon, love tea, and pearl tea. All these can tehn be varied with the amount fo sugar added. Taiwanese tend to like their drinks quite sweet. And tea goes with anything. Breakfast, dinner, lunch, snack, sweet, sour or salty; your selction of drink would be (iced) tea.
I'm quite sure that I've drank more tea during the past 7 days than during my whole life before that.
A good place to get your tea aer the tea booths and stores on the streets. Again, a vast selection of these. Luckily, there is also other drinks available if you get bored with tea. For example water is good option! =) However, also juices are available and also some soft drinks as well.
So far I've familiar with following types of tea (mostly iced): black tea, oolong tea, green tea, lemon tea, black tea with lemon, love tea, and pearl tea. All these can tehn be varied with the amount fo sugar added. Taiwanese tend to like their drinks quite sweet. And tea goes with anything. Breakfast, dinner, lunch, snack, sweet, sour or salty; your selction of drink would be (iced) tea.
I'm quite sure that I've drank more tea during the past 7 days than during my whole life before that.
Tuesday, September 18, 2007
Rain and Scooters
It rains today. During the night the wind was quite strong, and I quickly found out the worst part of living at the 7th floor; the wind makes unbelievable loud noise! I was bit surprised that I actually was able to sleep in that noise...
The rain is of course not nice, but I could be lots worse. Today the rain drops were most of the time very small, thus getting everything wet quite efficiently. However, also "normal" rain has been present, although I tried to avoid it and left to work bit later.
As I mentioned earlier (did I), the scooters are number one option of transportation here. There is huge loads of them and it seems that rain is not a problem either. People just wear a certain type of long plastic raincoats and off they go. It looks a bit funny, because I saw today several people wearing exactly the same kind of raincoat. Unfortunately, I did not have time to dig out my camera from my bag.
Oh, by the way. If you're disabled and need a wheelchair to move around, don't worry. There is a solution for you as well. I've seen couple of times this certain type of scooter with sort of "training wheels", although training wheel is not perhaps the correct term for them. This seems to be very convenient way to transport, as you're able to carry your wheelchair with you!
The rain is of course not nice, but I could be lots worse. Today the rain drops were most of the time very small, thus getting everything wet quite efficiently. However, also "normal" rain has been present, although I tried to avoid it and left to work bit later.
As I mentioned earlier (did I), the scooters are number one option of transportation here. There is huge loads of them and it seems that rain is not a problem either. People just wear a certain type of long plastic raincoats and off they go. It looks a bit funny, because I saw today several people wearing exactly the same kind of raincoat. Unfortunately, I did not have time to dig out my camera from my bag.
Oh, by the way. If you're disabled and need a wheelchair to move around, don't worry. There is a solution for you as well. I've seen couple of times this certain type of scooter with sort of "training wheels", although training wheel is not perhaps the correct term for them. This seems to be very convenient way to transport, as you're able to carry your wheelchair with you!
Monday, September 17, 2007
Kaohsiung, Part II
Ok. It seems that after a small culture shock (if it can be stated as such) I've settled in quite well. I start to learn some of characters and how to act in the restaurants and other such things that are quite essential in order to survive here. Sweating is what I hate the most. Air conditioning is what I like the most... =) Not, quite true, but almost.
It seems to be quite common that at least in smaller restaurants you get a small paper where
are the dishes are listed. Then you just mark what you want to have, take it to the counter and then, eventually your meal will arrive. This is extremely convenient for a person with extremely poor ability to read and understand the language. There's plenty of time to study the menu (and you can take one menu home, and ask your friends what the characters mean... this is how I do it).
Another funny thing when it comes to restaurants are the drinks. Namely, these tend to be free (that is, free ice tee). This is quite funny from Finnish point of view, since drinks tend to be the item with which the restaurants do their profits... Here they do it with the food, which, by the way, is cheap. I'll post better analysis on the food prices asap I've got more empirical data about this.
Traffic is one of things I was bit worried before I arrived. Many websites and books mentioned that the traffic is a total chaos. However, this does not seem to be true, at least from my point of view. There are, yeah, lots of scooters... believe me, you have not seen anything like it before, but the traffic is very fluent. Some references pointed out that traffic lights are just for decoration, but this is nonsense, people stop to traffic lights as they are supposed to.
Buses seem to have extremely good coverage in the city, but it seems that no-one uses them. They also have extremely good route and timetable information on the web khbus.gov.tw including e.g. a screen that shows where the buses are on each route at this very moment!
I'll rest my case here for now. Will return some other day and perhaps add some images as well. I'm not very good in taking photos, so have to see what I have got.
It seems to be quite common that at least in smaller restaurants you get a small paper where
are the dishes are listed. Then you just mark what you want to have, take it to the counter and then, eventually your meal will arrive. This is extremely convenient for a person with extremely poor ability to read and understand the language. There's plenty of time to study the menu (and you can take one menu home, and ask your friends what the characters mean... this is how I do it).
Another funny thing when it comes to restaurants are the drinks. Namely, these tend to be free (that is, free ice tee). This is quite funny from Finnish point of view, since drinks tend to be the item with which the restaurants do their profits... Here they do it with the food, which, by the way, is cheap. I'll post better analysis on the food prices asap I've got more empirical data about this.
Traffic is one of things I was bit worried before I arrived. Many websites and books mentioned that the traffic is a total chaos. However, this does not seem to be true, at least from my point of view. There are, yeah, lots of scooters... believe me, you have not seen anything like it before, but the traffic is very fluent. Some references pointed out that traffic lights are just for decoration, but this is nonsense, people stop to traffic lights as they are supposed to.
Buses seem to have extremely good coverage in the city, but it seems that no-one uses them. They also have extremely good route and timetable information on the web khbus.gov.tw including e.g. a screen that shows where the buses are on each route at this very moment!
I'll rest my case here for now. Will return some other day and perhaps add some images as well. I'm not very good in taking photos, so have to see what I have got.
Saturday, September 15, 2007
Kaohsiung, Taiwan, Part I
I arrived yesterday afternoon (local time). I'm well but a bit tired. I will post something else plus perhaps some images sooner or later. Be patient.
For some reason blogger thinks that I can read Chinese. It has just changed its ui's language to Chinese. I tried to look for the correct place where to set it back to English or to Finnish, but it is rather hard since I'm not able to read anything.. =(
For some reason blogger thinks that I can read Chinese. It has just changed its ui's language to Chinese. I tried to look for the correct place where to set it back to English or to Finnish, but it is rather hard since I'm not able to read anything.. =(
Friday, September 14, 2007
HongKong!
I'm now waiting in HongKong international airport for my flight to Kaohsiung. So far everything has went rather well. I even got three seat for me in from Helsinki to HK. It seems that sometimes even I can be lucky.
I have really nice set of hand luggage. A backpack with an ice hockey helmet hanging from it and a smaller pack with laptop with its accessories and an extra keyboard. It's rather funny that no-one had mentioned anything about these.
It would be rather nice to see more of Hong Kong (which we'll do in December), but layer of gray, smoggish, fog is quite effectively blocking the view. However, there seems to be some mountains around the airport.
I have really nice set of hand luggage. A backpack with an ice hockey helmet hanging from it and a smaller pack with laptop with its accessories and an extra keyboard. It's rather funny that no-one had mentioned anything about these.
It would be rather nice to see more of Hong Kong (which we'll do in December), but layer of gray, smoggish, fog is quite effectively blocking the view. However, there seems to be some mountains around the airport.
Wednesday, September 12, 2007
Preparing for Taiwan, II
Well...
After one hour more work, we managed to squeeze my suitcase to ridiculous 23,6 kg. Out of this I'm still able to dump so much that I do need to pay anything if the say something to me. However, I still do believe that the chance they would ask something is very small.
Carolina suggested as a comment for my previous post that there is special account for "sporting goods". There indeed is. You need to tell it when you book your flights. However, sport goods + all other stuff can not exceed 20 kilos total!
But. I've had my last pizza in Joensuu for very long time. I really tasted good. Somehow I still do believe that I'm able to find even better food from Kaohsiung.
After one hour more work, we managed to squeeze my suitcase to ridiculous 23,6 kg. Out of this I'm still able to dump so much that I do need to pay anything if the say something to me. However, I still do believe that the chance they would ask something is very small.
Carolina suggested as a comment for my previous post that there is special account for "sporting goods". There indeed is. You need to tell it when you book your flights. However, sport goods + all other stuff can not exceed 20 kilos total!
But. I've had my last pizza in Joensuu for very long time. I really tasted good. Somehow I still do believe that I'm able to find even better food from Kaohsiung.
Tuesday, September 11, 2007
Preparing for Taiwan
This evening we finished packing my suitcase for my trip to Taiwan. It seemed bit problematic and eventually we were not able to fit everything in. However, we wanted to check how much the suitcase has weight in it. We thought at it should not be a problem, but how wrong can a man be...
After weighting the suitcase couple of times, we ended up with 30 something kilos! That's quite awfully lot if you think that the limit is 20 kilos... Well, we ended up spending the whole damn evening while getting rid of stuff from the case. We ended up discarding stuff worth around 8 kilos.
Btw. equipment for ice hockey refereeing is about 6 kilos... it would have done life so much easier if I just would have discarded it, but somehow I just could not do it.
After weighting the suitcase couple of times, we ended up with 30 something kilos! That's quite awfully lot if you think that the limit is 20 kilos... Well, we ended up spending the whole damn evening while getting rid of stuff from the case. We ended up discarding stuff worth around 8 kilos.
Btw. equipment for ice hockey refereeing is about 6 kilos... it would have done life so much easier if I just would have discarded it, but somehow I just could not do it.
Monday, August 27, 2007
Wanted: Fix for Kopete
Last week my favourite IM software called Kopete decided that it does not want to work with MSN (messenger) protocol anymore. I thought that it was only temporary, but it really ain't working anymore. Anyone who tells me how to fix it will be rewarded with public praise and honor.
Please help me! Webmessenger is quite ok, but not ok enough.
Please help me! Webmessenger is quite ok, but not ok enough.
Tuesday, August 21, 2007
Spearfishing Finnish Championships, when everything goes wrong!
Last weekend I attended the spearfishing Finnish Championships at Kustavi. I did not have that big competitive goals, but my aim was to catch one fish each day. Before going to the water this still felt reasonable, but very soon I realised that even catching one fish during the weekend would be quite good accomplishment.
The first day of the competition was held nearby the Lanskeri . Visibility was rather poor, but a bit deeper you could see enough for fishing. As I like to catch the perches I first tried this, but soon found that there ain't any (or at least I could not find any). After trying to find the perches I realised that the only chance to catch a fish was to go to the reeds. So, I started to go trough these, but had no luck. I did not even see a fish that would have been legal catch.
After bit less than four hours and bit more than 2 kilometers of swimming I finally went back to the start. I soon realised that I really was not the only one without fish. 20 other competitors had the same take. Poor...
Now this is when everything started to go wrong. Even though I tried to drink as much as I could and had, apparently I did not drank enough. At the evening before going to bed my stomach started to ache. Then when I went to bed the stomach started to cramp and after midnight it was totally terrible. At 2.30 A.M. I realized that I have to do something, and went to empty my stomach. It did help a bit and eased drinking. After this the cramps went a way and I was able to sleep... What a horrible night that was!
Well. For the second day the base was not that good, due to the energy loss and bad night sleep. I, however, managed to get good energy from eating and drinking and decided to parttake the other day as well. This day was at the Tiuskrunni. Visibility was much better as well. However the fact that someone had said that there ain't no fish was bit annoying.
I first tried to find the fish nearby the starting point, but soon realized that there ain't any. Then, after reading the map I decided to swim to a islet nearby. I started to swim towards it and finally found it. This place looked very good and I started to dive. After some time the waves started to affect me and I had to go to the islet to rest a while and to get rid of nausea. After the rest I felt good again and started to dive again.
After couple of dives I managed to see one whitefish. Unfortunately it was only about 10 centimeters or bit more, so not a good catch. I continued diving and then suddenly, my stomach decided that it was too much of the waves for me... and that was pretty much the competition for me. I swam back to the starting point and got out of the water. I soon realized that I really was not the only one. There was lots of people all ready due to the fact there was not fish at all. This day only two legal whitefishes were catched.
So, what did I gain from the competition. 1350 kilometers to my car and lots of experience. This was, after all, the first time I've been spearfishing in the sea. Now I also know that the waves are different in the sea and are, how to put it, more effective. That is, medication for seasickness is needed. Also, a compass might be a good idea, since I actually managed to swim to incorrect islet on the second day. Next year I will be much wiser!
Spearfishing is, after all, the best hobby there is! =)
The first day of the competition was held nearby the Lanskeri . Visibility was rather poor, but a bit deeper you could see enough for fishing. As I like to catch the perches I first tried this, but soon found that there ain't any (or at least I could not find any). After trying to find the perches I realised that the only chance to catch a fish was to go to the reeds. So, I started to go trough these, but had no luck. I did not even see a fish that would have been legal catch.
After bit less than four hours and bit more than 2 kilometers of swimming I finally went back to the start. I soon realised that I really was not the only one without fish. 20 other competitors had the same take. Poor...
Now this is when everything started to go wrong. Even though I tried to drink as much as I could and had, apparently I did not drank enough. At the evening before going to bed my stomach started to ache. Then when I went to bed the stomach started to cramp and after midnight it was totally terrible. At 2.30 A.M. I realized that I have to do something, and went to empty my stomach. It did help a bit and eased drinking. After this the cramps went a way and I was able to sleep... What a horrible night that was!
Well. For the second day the base was not that good, due to the energy loss and bad night sleep. I, however, managed to get good energy from eating and drinking and decided to parttake the other day as well. This day was at the Tiuskrunni. Visibility was much better as well. However the fact that someone had said that there ain't no fish was bit annoying.
I first tried to find the fish nearby the starting point, but soon realized that there ain't any. Then, after reading the map I decided to swim to a islet nearby. I started to swim towards it and finally found it. This place looked very good and I started to dive. After some time the waves started to affect me and I had to go to the islet to rest a while and to get rid of nausea. After the rest I felt good again and started to dive again.
After couple of dives I managed to see one whitefish. Unfortunately it was only about 10 centimeters or bit more, so not a good catch. I continued diving and then suddenly, my stomach decided that it was too much of the waves for me... and that was pretty much the competition for me. I swam back to the starting point and got out of the water. I soon realized that I really was not the only one. There was lots of people all ready due to the fact there was not fish at all. This day only two legal whitefishes were catched.
So, what did I gain from the competition. 1350 kilometers to my car and lots of experience. This was, after all, the first time I've been spearfishing in the sea. Now I also know that the waves are different in the sea and are, how to put it, more effective. That is, medication for seasickness is needed. Also, a compass might be a good idea, since I actually managed to swim to incorrect islet on the second day. Next year I will be much wiser!
Spearfishing is, after all, the best hobby there is! =)
Friday, July 27, 2007
Competitive spearfishing
Last weeks saturday (21st of July) I participated my first spearfishing competition. I was bit suspicious about my performance (as were my girlfriend and my friends), but I ended up doing quite well. I managed to catch 2 pikes and three perches (out of which, unfortunately, one was too small). Altogether I got 41 points (the rules of spearfishing, including the point system can be found here) and ended up to be 19th in a competition of 35 participants. Have to admit that I'm bit proud of myself! =) (Final results from here)
PS. My ice hockey season started yesterday! It is so weird to go to the ice hall when it is 'bout 23 grades of celcius outside... Way too big difference. However, it was nice to be on ice again.
PS. My ice hockey season started yesterday! It is so weird to go to the ice hall when it is 'bout 23 grades of celcius outside... Way too big difference. However, it was nice to be on ice again.
Monday, June 4, 2007
Happy birthday ACL
Yesterday it was the first birthday of my left knees ACL (anterior cross ligament). It is almost 29 years younger than me!
Also, I finished my army service exactly 10 years and 1 day ago.
Also, I finished my army service exactly 10 years and 1 day ago.
Monday, May 28, 2007
Light Energy Drink
I felt a bit tired today so I decided to buy something with lots of caffeine. Since I do not like that coffee at all and even tea is bit boring, I decided to buy this energy drink. Since I'm bit worried about my weight I decided to buy a bottle of light energy drink.
What on earth is light energy drink! Isn't energy drink supposed to give you energy? Weird.
Btw. Our houses yard was re-covered with gravel on friday. The job was bit late, since the gravel pit where the gravel was supposed to be fetched was closed for the day! I really would hate to work at that gravel pit... open the pit every morning, close it again afternoon... That's lots of digging and filling. (I'm not really sure whether this story works as well in English as in Finnish but it is supposed to be funny).
What on earth is light energy drink! Isn't energy drink supposed to give you energy? Weird.
Btw. Our houses yard was re-covered with gravel on friday. The job was bit late, since the gravel pit where the gravel was supposed to be fetched was closed for the day! I really would hate to work at that gravel pit... open the pit every morning, close it again afternoon... That's lots of digging and filling. (I'm not really sure whether this story works as well in English as in Finnish but it is supposed to be funny).
Tuesday, May 15, 2007
FreeNX rules!
FreeNX, what a wonderful piece of software. This evil piece of code enables me to have a nice full connection to my office computer from home as would be using it form the office... It's pretty much like VNC, but this is faster (at least people claim it is, I've never tried VNC myself).
This FreeNX also relatively easy to install; both server (on Kubuntu 7.04) and client (on Windows). You can find nice instructions on how to install the server to Ubuntu from here. If I'm able to install it, anyone is. There was just one problem. I had to use older client (windows) than what you can find from nomachine.com. Older client can be found here.
Easy. Now I'm able to work at home like I would be at office in front of my computer (something I've tried to avoid as much as possible).
Oh, I added a nice screenshot of KDE desktop running on Windows.
PS. I had problems to get my keyboard to work with finnish layout. Then, finally, I found a way to fix this. In the file node.conf (on my Kubuntu this is in /etc/nxserver) you have to add this line:
AGENT_EXTRA_OPTIONS_X="-xkbdir /usr/share/X11/xkb"
(find first the AGENT_EXTRA_OPTIONS line, it is commented by default, and then change)
Why a blog?
This is my first ever blog entry. I'm not really sure why I decided to start this blog, but I do believe it has something to do with the fact that many of my colleagues in our research group have blogs.
I recently noticed in some paper/journal an article called "Why Do We Blog?". I thought that I should read it, since I really do not understand why we do blog? Unfortunately, I don't remember any more in which journal it was...
However, my now also part of the blogging community. It is interesting what you're able to do when you would have more important things to do as well.
I recently noticed in some paper/journal an article called "Why Do We Blog?". I thought that I should read it, since I really do not understand why we do blog? Unfortunately, I don't remember any more in which journal it was...
However, my now also part of the blogging community. It is interesting what you're able to do when you would have more important things to do as well.
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