tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-85712766901091665792024-03-14T09:03:15.333+02:00I have no imagination!Jussianhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/16127410965655789816noreply@blogger.comBlogger38125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8571276690109166579.post-39560513114622312892009-05-13T16:10:00.003+03:002009-05-13T16:21:15.159+03:00Embedding fonts to pdf files...... can be painful. I've needed to do this twice, and both times it has been equally oppressive. First time, for my submission to ICALT 2009, I used pdflatex. This however, requires that you won't use eps figures and this can be sometimes impossible (especially if you have used massive amount of eps figures), and generally I just don't like pdflatex that much.<br /><br />Today, it seems I found a way to embed fonts to latex based pdf files by using the latex->dvips ->ps2pdf way. So, this is what I did (and believe me, it took plenty of time to figure out):<br /><br />1. I've been using these three command in my preamble. Have no idea why, but there they have been (most likely some of them are from the original template I've been using (phd thesis template of dept of CS)).<br />\usepackage[utf8]{inputenc}<br />\usepackage[T1]{fontenc}<br />\usepackage{amsfonts}<br /><br />2. Now, I found a <a href="http://ubuntuforums.org/archive/index.php/t-557746.html">link</a> which pointed out that unicode might be the problem here... thus,<br /><br />3. I commented fontenc and amsfonts away.... then<br /><br />4. dvitops, and then<br /><br />5. using this mighty spell, I got finally all the fonts embedded to the pdf file:<br />ps2pdf -dCompatibilityLevel=1.4 -dPDFSETTINGS=/printer -dMaxSubsetPct=100 -dSubsetFonts=true -dEmbedAllFonts=true mainofficial.ps<br /><br />(obviously, you need to change the mainofficial.ps to yourfilename if you're willing to give this a try)<br /><br />Again, I don't understand all of this, but it does the trick and I'm happy with it. Now, using pdffonts and acroreads document properties it can be confirmed that all fonts are indeed embedded. Excellent. Now I can read my phd thesis with zoom levels such as 2400% and still have nice and clear fonts... what could be better than that??Jussianhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/16127410965655789816noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8571276690109166579.post-63054877177991292772009-04-21T14:22:00.002+02:002009-04-21T14:31:14.183+02:00http://johnnylee.net/projects/wii/<br />http://blogs.msdn.com/coding4fun/archive/2007/03/14/1879033.aspxJussianhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/16127410965655789816noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8571276690109166579.post-65796680968642377722009-03-30T09:11:00.003+02:002009-03-30T09:25:26.885+02:00What should be automated?<a href="http://portal.acm.org/citation.cfm?id=1178745.1178753&coll=Portal&dl=ACM&CFID=28857850&CFTOKEN=85897095"><span style="font-style: italic;">What should be automated</span></a> asked PhD Tedre in his article published in <a href="http://portal.acm.org/toc.cfm?id=1178745&type=proceeding&coll=Portal&dl=ACM&CFID=28857850&CFTOKEN=85897095"><span class="mediumb-text">Proceedings of the 1st ACM international workshop on Human-centered multimedia.</span></a><br /><br />Now, I'm asking how you should tell the user about the automation? Why? I tell you.<br /><br />As you might know, we use this daylight saving time in Finland and that we changed to this time this year during the night between 28th and 29th of March. Naturally, this means that some of the clocks need to be changed manually to new time, and some, such as computers usually change the time automatically.<br /><br />The problem with this is that you really don't know what devices change their time automatically and which dont. My wife changed her mobile phones time by herself on saturday evening. Everything fine, until this morning (Monday, March 30th). Her alarm, yes the mobile phone, went on at 5.50 instead of 6.50. Why? Because of the automated change. She had added one hour to the time on Saturday (would have caused alarm to go on at 6.50, which would have been ok) and then, at the right time, the automation did it again which, then, caused the infernal 5.50 alarm.<br /><br />Thus. What should be automated is a really relevant question, but even more relavant is to let the user know what is automated. How this could be done, is a question I leave some else to answer.<br /><a href="http://portal.acm.org/toc.cfm?id=1178745&type=proceeding&coll=Portal&dl=ACM&CFID=28857850&CFTOKEN=85897095"><span class="mediumb-text"></span></a>Jussianhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/16127410965655789816noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8571276690109166579.post-6038092684001307182009-01-28T18:35:00.001+02:002009-01-28T18:35:56.492+02:00PyXPlothttp://www.pyxplot.org.uk/<br /><br />Handy.Jussianhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/16127410965655789816noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8571276690109166579.post-8867036734374333562008-11-24T09:13:00.002+02:002008-11-24T09:21:17.728+02:001 0 5 m (dnf)I think I mentioned some time ago that my aim for diving this year, was to reach 100 meters. And yes, without fins. Well, I'm proud to announce that it ain't just an aim anymore. Friday November 21st I dived 105 meters without fins (that is DNF, dynamic no fins).<br /><br /><a href="http://dnf4fun.blogspot.com/">Sami</a> had been telling me that diving without warm up (that is, no dives before the long dive) would be good idea. I, however, had been against the idea because I always felt that diving is easier after couple of dives. Now I decided to give it a try, and yes, it worked!<br /><br />Unfortunately I forgot to stop my stopwatch after the dive, but according to my rather standard speed this dive took bit more than 2 minutes.Jussianhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/16127410965655789816noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8571276690109166579.post-12600615319737103292008-09-23T09:49:00.004+02:002008-09-23T09:59:33.144+02:00DNF 87This is sort of training diary post.<br /><br />19.9.2008, Vesikko<br /><br />warmup:<br />12 times 25 meters in 12 minutes, such that about 30sec dive + rest -> total 1 min each.<br /><br />3 times 50 meters, with bit longer rests (couple mins, did not take time, should have).<br /><br />approx 6 minutes rest.<br /><br />87 meters. Quite easy, bit weird "tickling" in legs at some point and due to this I did not take the dive to absolute max.<br /><a href="http://www.freedivingfinland.net/results/index.php?op=profile&diver_id=105"><br />http://www.freedivingfinland.net/results/index.php?op=profile&diver_id=105</a>Jussianhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/16127410965655789816noreply@blogger.com3tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8571276690109166579.post-11211082944709080452008-09-13T16:29:00.003+02:002008-09-13T16:43:49.592+02:00How deep can you go?Very.<br /><br />We went today for a dive at Leinonen, a small lake nearby Ylämylly. It's nice place to dive since it has very clear water. However, this time we were not that interested about the visibility, but the depth of the lake. So, the idea today was to make deep dives.<br /><br />Sami had this buoy/weight/line system with him that allows safe dives to depths. Every time someone dives he/she is attached to this system with a short piece of string; the other end at the line and other to divers wrist. At the weight, which naturally is in the depths, in order to make it easier to see where the "goal" is. Today it was around 20 meters.<br /><br />I first did couple of dives to somewhere between 10 and 15 meters. It felt a bit strange, since I normally dive in places where at these depths you would already see the bottom. However, I got used to it quite soon and was able to enjoy the dives.<br /><br />After some practice dives I decided that it is time to go for the max. After somewhat easy dive now 20.6 meters is the deepest I've been (without scuba diving gear, this was freediving). However, when I was come back to the surface I noticed another line about 5 meters from our line (to which I was attached to). This made me feel very strange, as I thought that I had somehow escaped the line. Luckily this was not the case, but the other line was (most likely) a old fishing net buoy.Jussianhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/16127410965655789816noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8571276690109166579.post-29950699735298452102008-09-10T10:00:00.005+02:002008-09-10T10:13:16.154+02:00Spearfishing at HankoOn August 30th I attended (again) a Spearfishing competition. This was held in Hanko and was the fifth competition I attended this year. Actually, I attended all the other competitions except Finnish Championships. There is one more competition to come (end of this month), but it seems I won't attend it.<br /><br />Well. This competition in Hanko was not that big success for me. I went there in order to achieve ranking points, and in order to get these points you need to get fish. Good guess; I did not get anything.<br /><br />I spent almost the whole competition time by looking for flatfishes. For me this meant diving constantly to somewhere between 4-8 meters. Bad mistake. All the fish was either very deep (around 20 meters) or very shallow (max 2m) water. E.g. one person who was in top three got several flatfishes only from about 1.5 to 2 meters. Thus, no diving needed. Damn.<br /><br />This time I, however, was wise enough to spend my last minutes of the competition wisely; by taking photos. Here are three selected shots from the competition:<br /><br /><br /><div style="text-align: center;"><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/_o_uehECOQHU/SMd_7wIgasI/AAAAAAAAABs/uoVSI_nBiSw/s1600-h/p8300020_1.jpg"><img style="cursor: pointer;" src="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/_o_uehECOQHU/SMd_7wIgasI/AAAAAAAAABs/uoVSI_nBiSw/s320/p8300020_1.jpg" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5244300955605822146" border="0" /></a><br /><span style="font-style: italic;">Colorful algae.<br /><br /></span><br /><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/_o_uehECOQHU/SMeAR0bWiKI/AAAAAAAAAB0/WZJC96Hvvos/s1600-h/p8300017_1.jpg"><img style="margin: 0px auto 10px; display: block; text-align: center; cursor: pointer;" src="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/_o_uehECOQHU/SMeAR0bWiKI/AAAAAAAAAB0/WZJC96Hvvos/s320/p8300017_1.jpg" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5244301334715730082" border="0" /></a><span style="font-style: italic;"><span style="text-decoration: underline;">J</span>ellyfish<br /><br /></span><br /><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/_o_uehECOQHU/SMeAZszJeQI/AAAAAAAAAB8/iR5qxLxC_B8/s1600-h/p8300005_1.jpg"><img style="margin: 0px auto 10px; display: block; text-align: center; cursor: pointer;" src="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/_o_uehECOQHU/SMeAZszJeQI/AAAAAAAAAB8/iR5qxLxC_B8/s320/p8300005_1.jpg" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5244301470107007234" border="0" /></a><span style="font-style: italic;">Spot two spearfishers.<br /><br /></span><div style="text-align: left;"><span style="font-style: italic;"><span style="font-style: italic;"><br /></span></span>Btw. this competition also ended the spearfishing season 2008. The next competition in end of September is already next season's competition. In <a href="http://www.touhula.net/cuppisteet2008.htm">Finnish ranking</a> I ended up being 29th with 54.71 points. I got points from three competitions. If I would have got my normal points (about 20) from either of the two competitions where I got no fish I would have had chance to be somewhere around positions 24.-26.<br /><span style="font-style: italic;"></span></div><br /><br /><br /><br /></div>Jussianhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/16127410965655789816noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8571276690109166579.post-83396063515759407812008-07-02T12:49:00.002+03:002008-07-02T12:58:56.853+03:00Spearfishing, conference and blistersI'm now at Vienna, Austria. I'm attending the EdMedia 2008 conference. The conference is huge and thus it is quite difficult to decide which sessions to attend and what to see. I have to admit that I do prefer smaller scale conferences where you have the chance to see most (or at least significant part of) the presentations. Also, in smaller scale conferences you usually also learn to know more people.<br /><br />Anyway, I been walking quite a lot. I made a bad mistake when selecting my shoes for the trip. As a result, I have a huge blister (about size of half of my thumb) on both feet (just below toes). These are really painful when walking.. but "no pain, no gain".<br /><br />Last saturday I attended a spearfishing competition called Dödörens Cup at Hanko. This time I got plenty of fish, namely 8 flounders. Unfortunately 3 of these were too small, but still got 45 points. With these points, I ended up being 9th. That's my best results so far. Second best is 19th so this was quite an improvement. Unfortunately, the winner of the competition got 183 points, and thus my ranking points ended up being only 24.59 (I'm currently 21st at overall ranking).<br /><br />I'm attending next competition this weeks Saturday (if I'm just able to wake up early enough) and I hope it goes as well as the previous competition.Jussianhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/16127410965655789816noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8571276690109166579.post-41547970041519590782008-06-16T10:36:00.002+03:002008-06-16T10:40:16.578+03:00Competitive Fishing with no FishesThe title of this post more or less describes how weekends competition went. Thus, no fish. Luckily, I was not the only person who had the same problem. Out of bit less than 40 competitors, only 9 got fish. I did not even take any photos, since I desperately tried to get that fish.<br /><br />Water was somewhat between 9 to 13 degrees of celsius. I did 71 dives (which is not that much, considering 4 hours competition time) and maximum depth was 6.7 meters. Dive times were pathetic, somewhere around 50-60 secs....Jussianhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/16127410965655789816noreply@blogger.com3tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8571276690109166579.post-59908755142481819682008-06-13T12:21:00.002+03:002008-06-13T12:24:12.786+03:00Summers first competitionI'm going to attend the first spearfishing competition of the season tomorrow at Kotka. I have not been able to practice that much but I hope to catch at least some fish. Anyway, it is always nice to go spearfishing in nice waters where there is (at least) a chance to catch big fish. Of course I won't get any big fishes, but it is always nice to know that it might be possible.Jussianhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/16127410965655789816noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8571276690109166579.post-70598954292135276852008-06-02T17:16:00.005+03:002008-12-11T08:00:10.973+02:00Underwater photosLast Saturday we went to dive to a small lake (lampi in Finnish) called Leinonen. Water there is quite clear and due to this it is quite a nice place to dive and take photorgraphs. We spent in water (which was around 12-14 degrees of celcius on surface) around one hour. Here are some of the photos I took.<br /><br /><div style="text-align: center;"><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/_o_uehECOQHU/SEQBx9TffEI/AAAAAAAAABg/FGvGmoeIAio/s1600-h/rapu.jpg"><img style="margin: 0px auto 10px; display: block; text-align: center; cursor: pointer;" src="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/_o_uehECOQHU/SEQBx9TffEI/AAAAAAAAABg/FGvGmoeIAio/s320/rapu.jpg" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5207289026928671810" border="0" /></a>A crawfish in it's cave.<br /></div><br /><div style="text-align: center;"><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/_o_uehECOQHU/SEQBiEfe5yI/AAAAAAAAAA4/vmnab9odlxw/s1600-h/ahven.jpg"><img style="margin: 0px auto 10px; display: block; text-align: center; cursor: pointer;" src="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/_o_uehECOQHU/SEQBiEfe5yI/AAAAAAAAAA4/vmnab9odlxw/s320/ahven.jpg" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5207288753980106530" border="0" /></a>Perch.<br /><br /></div><div style="text-align: center;"><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/_o_uehECOQHU/SEQBibYDNCI/AAAAAAAAABA/iaGVpblovWU/s1600-h/ahven_mati.jpg"><img style="margin: 0px auto 10px; display: block; text-align: center; cursor: pointer;" src="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/_o_uehECOQHU/SEQBibYDNCI/AAAAAAAAABA/iaGVpblovWU/s320/ahven_mati.jpg" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5207288760122946594" border="0" /></a>Roe of perch. Perch is quite an interesting fish since it is the only (according to my knowledge) fish that produces these weird ribbons of roe.<br /></div><br /><div style="text-align: center;"><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/_o_uehECOQHU/SEQBi_oQ4AI/AAAAAAAAABI/ZgTGBngXfn0/s1600-h/puu1.jpg"><img style="margin: 0px auto 10px; display: block; text-align: center; cursor: pointer;" src="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/_o_uehECOQHU/SEQBi_oQ4AI/AAAAAAAAABI/ZgTGBngXfn0/s320/puu1.jpg" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5207288769854627842" border="0" /></a>Some underwater trees.<br /></div><br /><div style="text-align: center;"><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/_o_uehECOQHU/SEQBjRxbldI/AAAAAAAAABQ/JCK0RT7HVuc/s1600-h/puu2.jpg"><img style="margin: 0px auto 10px; display: block; text-align: center; cursor: pointer;" src="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/_o_uehECOQHU/SEQBjRxbldI/AAAAAAAAABQ/JCK0RT7HVuc/s320/puu2.jpg" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5207288774724916690" border="0" /></a>Again, a tree.<br /></div><br /><div style="text-align: center;"><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/_o_uehECOQHU/SEQBjnnFB4I/AAAAAAAAABY/WC0Hl7ucAOY/s1600-h/puu3.jpg"><img style="margin: 0px auto 10px; display: block; text-align: center; cursor: pointer;" src="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/_o_uehECOQHU/SEQBjnnFB4I/AAAAAAAAABY/WC0Hl7ucAOY/s320/puu3.jpg" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5207288780587075458" border="0" /></a>And, finally, a tree!<br /><br />And, yes. One video as well. A school of fishes (särki).<br /><br /></div><div style="text-align: center;"><iframe allowfullscreen='allowfullscreen' webkitallowfullscreen='webkitallowfullscreen' mozallowfullscreen='mozallowfullscreen' width='320' height='266' src='https://www.blogger.com/video.g?token=AD6v5dwwohuaoNGaPQWJYOYFP0HMr7ODb9921nh12xWctSwqZRNgOtfKBEkRTmjEodbr75VO70cQEICR_0hq8WbOHA' class='b-hbp-video b-uploaded' frameborder='0'></iframe></div>Jussianhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/16127410965655789816noreply@blogger.com5tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8571276690109166579.post-47909732787046205242008-04-05T11:05:00.003+02:002008-04-05T11:07:01.346+02:00DNF 80mYesterday I managed to break my previous record on dynamic no fins diving. Current record, after quite an difficult dive, is exactly 80 meters. Not bad.<br /><br />Aim for this spring was 75 meters until end of may.Jussianhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/16127410965655789816noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8571276690109166579.post-81484738356821926782008-02-19T16:56:00.001+02:002008-02-19T16:57:51.841+02:00Glasses still missing, DNF 67.So, my glasses are spending some quality time in the water purification system of Vesikko. Last friday I took a long long piece of iron wire with me to Vesikko in order to try to "fish" the glasses from the pipes, but with no luck. Luckily, even I did not get my glasses, I did do a new record on dnf, currently it is 67 meters.Jussianhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/16127410965655789816noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8571276690109166579.post-69779693897873658222008-02-08T09:48:00.000+02:002008-02-08T11:29:44.738+02:00How to lose your glasses efficientlyThis is a true story.<br /><br />Yesterday I was at participating the water running session organized by Louhelan Woima. I do this every week. Water running is quite fun and efficient sport, and it is interesting that you get all sweaty in water. Thus, after the session ends, you are usually feeling very hot, and thus I usually tend to dive a bit afterwards.<br /><br />I dived after the session, as usual, and before diving I placed my eyeglasses to the gutter at the edge of the pool. This is (or has been) safe place for glasses since no-one can step on them nor they will float to the bottom of the pool.<br /><br />After the dive I tried to get my glasses, but missed them with the first attempt. This moved the glasses a bit to the left, and I tried to grab them again, but they were lost! <span lang="en">Unbelievable! In the gutter there is the suction pipe of the pool, with which the water is passed to the cleaning system. The suction was so strong that my glasses were sucked in to the pipe and they are now somewhere in between the pipe and the water filter of the whole Vesikko swimming pool.<br /><br />My glasses will eventually float to the filter, but I'm quite skeptic about the condition in which they will reach the filter. Also, no-one knows how long time it will take. Luckily I have a set of spare glasses, but naturally these are not as good as the ones I just lost. Insurance company will naturally pay a part of the cost when I buy new ones, but I will lose around 100 euros due to this incident!<br /><br />Since my eyesight is very poor, it was really interesting to get back home with bike.<br /><br />Lesson learnt: the gutter of the swimming pool is safe place for your glasses, but make sure that you place them far enough from the suction pipes!<br /><br />PS. Current record in DNF is 62 meters.<br /></span>Jussianhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/16127410965655789816noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8571276690109166579.post-24540101620399855292008-02-04T10:44:00.000+02:002008-02-04T10:46:58.859+02:00DNF 58Yes, it's getting better. However, now it might take a while before I'll try next time. I'm approaching my current limits, and it would be boring to not beat the record when trying.<br /><br />Thus. More practice needed.<br /><br />Aim: 75m in May.Jussianhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/16127410965655789816noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8571276690109166579.post-61825295195421191082008-01-30T09:31:00.000+02:002008-01-30T09:44:30.466+02:00DNF 50mSome might say that I have really weird hobbies. And to be honest that is actually true. Due to my spearfishing hobby, I some time ago joined local diving club in order to be able to participate competitions. Due to joining the club I met couple of local freedivers (Sami and Saana) and they have got me <span lang="en">enthusiastic about pure freediving as well.<br /><br />Yesterday at Rantakylä pool Sami let me try his neck weight. Neck weight is just what it sounds; like a collar with lots of lead in it (this case 3.3 kg) and it is supposed to make your horizontal diving easier. I was bit skeptic about it first, but after the first kick from the pool end I was totally amazed! Such a small thing can make your diving so much easier!<br /><br />After about 45 minutes of swimming Sami asked if I would be willing to try dive a bit longer length than normal 25m (one pool length). I hesitated first, but then decided to give it a try. With very small preparation I quite easily dived 50 meters (that is, two pool lengths). Amazing, I was so sure I could do just about 35 meters or so. Anyway, let's see when this record will be broken. (50 meters is lot for me, but if you check the <a href="http://www.blogger.com/img/gl.link.gif">Finnish ranking</a> [dynamic,2008,M,all], you'll notice that it really ain't that much ).<br /><br />Oh. Forgot to say that there was no fins involved in this attempt. Abbreviation DNF in the title of this post comes from Dynamic No Fins.<br /></span>Jussianhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/16127410965655789816noreply@blogger.com4tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8571276690109166579.post-32929916950741940312007-12-13T04:27:00.001+02:002007-12-13T04:30:28.199+02:00Almost, but not quiteHave you ever experienced this.<br /><br />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.<br /><br />It sucks.Jussianhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/16127410965655789816noreply@blogger.com3tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8571276690109166579.post-190582931129048912007-11-05T09:29:00.000+02:002007-11-05T09:40:15.779+02:00Back againIT 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.<br /><br />1. Scooters<br />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.<br /><br />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.<br /><br />2. Smog<br />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.<br /><br />I will continue this list in future.Jussianhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/16127410965655789816noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8571276690109166579.post-74078210506533457032007-10-10T07:09:00.000+02:002007-10-10T07:25:21.168+02:00Collaborative ResearchWe'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.<br /><br />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.<br /><br />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.<br /><br />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?<br /><br />I would love to hear your opinion. Especially on what do you think is collaborative research!Jussianhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/16127410965655789816noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8571276690109166579.post-62709021757587259152007-10-03T11:50:00.000+02:002007-10-03T11:56:14.989+02:00Somethings I find Strange, part III1. Things dropping to my head (cont.)<br />I'll add a red caterpillar (approx. 5cm) to this list. It nearly dropped to my head in the toilet today.<br /><br />2. Chairs.<br />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.<br /><br />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!Jussianhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/16127410965655789816noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8571276690109166579.post-39886488398393748122007-10-03T11:30:00.001+02:002007-10-03T11:48:59.099+02:00TaipeiHmm. It has been quite long time since I last wrote something. Lots of things have happened since then.<br /><br />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.<br /><br />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.<br /><br />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.<br /><br />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.Jussianhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/16127410965655789816noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8571276690109166579.post-30788226288592733082007-09-27T05:40:00.000+02:002007-09-27T05:46:30.381+02:00Somethings I find strange, part II1. Seven Eleven and Family Mart:<br />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.<br /><br />2. Things dropping from the trees to my head (or almost to my head).<br />Water, leaves, nuts, seeds and lizard. The latter is the one that missed. I'm grateful for that.Jussianhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/16127410965655789816noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8571276690109166579.post-2054370074108632812007-09-25T09:07:00.000+02:002007-09-25T09:13:33.168+02:00Somethings I find strange1. Garbage and how to get rid of it:<br />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.<br /><br />2. Bed and its height:<br />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.<br /><br />... to be continued.Jussianhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/16127410965655789816noreply@blogger.com3tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8571276690109166579.post-38130654526557360822007-09-21T06:24:00.000+02:002007-09-21T06:32:50.631+02:00Tea, tea and teaTea, 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.<br /><br />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.<br /><br />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.<br /><br />I'm quite sure that I've drank more tea during the past 7 days than during my whole life before that.Jussianhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/16127410965655789816noreply@blogger.com0