Few days ago I had a revelation. The Finnish word for "month" in "kuukausi". "Kuukausi" is composed of two separate words put together: "kuu" and "kausi". "Kuu" means "Moon", and "kausi" means "cycle" (as in time-period or something, not bicycle). So "kuukausi" means literally in English "A cycle of the Moon".
Related to this, I realised that the Finnish word for "Earth" is "Maailma". "Maailma" is composed of two separate words: "maa" and "ilma". "Maa" means "ground" or "land, while "ilma" means "air". So "Maailma" is "ground-air" (or "land-air") in English.
Who came up with this stuff? It's brilliant!
Off-topic, but... I have been sick the last few days. And although I'm back at work today, I'm still not 100% OK. But I'm getting better. I know that I should be sending some email, and I will do that ASAP.
Let's enjoy a Wii!
As I said in my previous blog-spot, I bought a Nintendo Wii. Idea was to expand the possible activities me and Mrs. could do together (we have also took up swimming recently). And of course, I really liked the idea behind the machine. Mrs. hated the idea, and has told me for the last two months how "gaming sucks" and how she does not want a console in the home. But, I went and bought it anyway, confident that she would change her mind. Yes, I like living on the edge.
Few things about the machine first: It's beautiful white and refreshingly small. It has that feel of high quality around it. I like to just hold the controllers in my hands because they feel just right. The machine is also very silent.
So, has the machine vindicated itself? I kept telling the Mrs. that "They designed this machine to appeal to people who don't normally play games". Well, that's the theory. That's the thing I kept on telling myself. And the funny thing is... it actually works. Soon after I had set the device up, the Mrs. was having great time playing tennis on the console. She was really enjoying herself.
The real test took place on sunday as my in-laws were visiting. I showed the console to my father in-law and gave him the controllers. After two minutes, he was having a blast playing boxing. He's not a gamer. He simply does not play games, on computer or console. But it took about two minutes to get him hooked on the Wii.
So, both the Mrs. and the father in-law having great time playing games on a console. Hell is freezing right about now.
Few things about the machine first: It's beautiful white and refreshingly small. It has that feel of high quality around it. I like to just hold the controllers in my hands because they feel just right. The machine is also very silent.
So, has the machine vindicated itself? I kept telling the Mrs. that "They designed this machine to appeal to people who don't normally play games". Well, that's the theory. That's the thing I kept on telling myself. And the funny thing is... it actually works. Soon after I had set the device up, the Mrs. was having great time playing tennis on the console. She was really enjoying herself.
The real test took place on sunday as my in-laws were visiting. I showed the console to my father in-law and gave him the controllers. After two minutes, he was having a blast playing boxing. He's not a gamer. He simply does not play games, on computer or console. But it took about two minutes to get him hooked on the Wii.
So, both the Mrs. and the father in-law having great time playing games on a console. Hell is freezing right about now.
Cash-flow
I have been out of control lately. I have been spending money of all kinds of things. I guess it started around October (IIRC) when I bought the new camera. It cost me quite a bit, but it was one-off thing. Soon after that I got the new car. Well, I took a loan for that, but still. You could say that that's a one-off purchase, and a bigger purchase that was required due to the circumstances. Then came the Christmas, and I spent money on presents. But that too is a natural thing to do, right? Last weekend I bought a Nintendo Wii (comments about Wii will follow this blog-entry). No, there's no excuse for that one, apart from "I really wanted it". Just another gadget for the home. Rationally, what I should have said to myself is "You have already bought all kinds of things lately, give it a rest already". But I didn't.
So, I'm making a promise here and now: I'm going to start saving money. Yes, even through this spending-spree I have managed to save money (There's a fixed amount of money set aside every month), but my cash-flow has been negative. Yes my "savings" have gone up, but the amount of cash I have has gone down. It's time to become cash-flow positive again. And still, there are things that I would like to get. In short-term there's a scanner/printer/copier that I would like to get. Printer is a good thing to have, and it would be convenient for printing photographs. We shall see. Fact is that I have managed without printer for several years, so I could manage in the future as well. Maybe the Buddhists are right, the root-cause of suffering is desire?
So, I'm making a promise here and now: I'm going to start saving money. Yes, even through this spending-spree I have managed to save money (There's a fixed amount of money set aside every month), but my cash-flow has been negative. Yes my "savings" have gone up, but the amount of cash I have has gone down. It's time to become cash-flow positive again. And still, there are things that I would like to get. In short-term there's a scanner/printer/copier that I would like to get. Printer is a good thing to have, and it would be convenient for printing photographs. We shall see. Fact is that I have managed without printer for several years, so I could manage in the future as well. Maybe the Buddhists are right, the root-cause of suffering is desire?
It's beautiful
The Apple iPhone being demonstrated as we speak is the most amazing piece of engineering and design I have ever seen. I'm literally at a loss of words here.
Give the gift on knowledge
As the Good Doctor reminded me to do, I just made a donation to the Wikimedia Foundation, the organisation which runs Wikipedia. I urge everyone else to do so as well. Wikipedia is one of the greatest projects in the web, and it deserves our support.
My 15 kilobytes of fame
Our recruiting-coordinator asked me if I wanted to appear in our firm-website in the "Meet our people"-segment. No, not the intranet-site, the internet-site. So anyone visiting our website and looking at that particular segment will see my picture (well, there would be others besides be, but still), along with short interview (or something). It's basically meant for people who might be interested in joining the firm. And they think that I would make a good poster-boy for our recruiting-efforts. Uh, OK...
Of course I could have said no. But I didn't.
Of course I could have said no. But I didn't.
Wikipedia: The best website... EVER!
I absolutely adore Wikipedia. I go there every day just to look around. Often I check their featured article, and while I'm reading it, I click on the links to their other articles as they come across. Soon I have maybe 20 tabs in my broswer, all pointing to different Wikipedia-articles. I go through them one by one, opening even more articles as I come across links pointing to them. And before I notice it, I have spent maybe two hours going through Wikipedia.
Yes, Wikipedia has it's share of problems. But I still love it. I currently have articles about "Life", "Death", "Artificial Life" and "East Germany" opened. No, I have no idea how East Germany got there next to articles about various aspects of Life (or lack of thereof)....
Yes, Wikipedia has it's share of problems. But I still love it. I currently have articles about "Life", "Death", "Artificial Life" and "East Germany" opened. No, I have no idea how East Germany got there next to articles about various aspects of Life (or lack of thereof)....
New Theme
So I decided to experiment with a new theme. I'm not yet sure that will I keep it, but still. I have always liked black. I will propably start preferring something else than black the moment they invent a color that is even more black than black. After looking at the new theme for 10 seconds my first thoughts were "my, that sure is black".
The end is nigh
So, it's january. We are SUPPOSED to be in the middle of the winter right now. Temperatures should be around -5 to -20 degrees celcius, maybe even lower, and there should be snow everywhere. Well, let's just say that things are "slightly" different this time. First of all, there is no snow. None. Nada. Haven't been in months. We had some snow in november, but it's long gone. Temperatures are around +5 degrees.
This is not january. This is not winter. This is more like september.
This is not january. This is not winter. This is more like september.