Tervetuola!

...is what my second hand computer says upon booting, running Windos XP Finnish Edition, as it does.

Yes indeedy, I splashed out again, this time on a second hand 1.4GHz Athlon powered machine, with a 19" flat CRT for €550. Well, it was this or continually lust after my €3,500 dream system until a moment of weakness left me very deep in the proverbial hole. It's a bit of an odd puppy, for example it has slots for seven (*seven*) hard-drives... Anyway, the plan is to replace this rather confusing Finnish OS with the autumnal release of Fedora when available, and run a server. Then who knows, in 6 or 12 months I can partner it with a real fire-breathing beast of a (gaming) machine. This way I don't lose my job before Christmas :)

In other news, I became an official member of the unofficial Helsinki University of Technology Gastronomy and Etiquette Society, participating in their inaugural meeting at Chez Dominique yesterday lunch-time (the chairperson is a certain Joonas Paalasmaa...)

Unlike, say, initiation into many secret societies or US college fraternities, where acceptance is generally a painful affair: the gaining of acceptance being balanced by the loosing of dignity, or sphincter control (temporarily); the rites of this organization required the hopeful petitioner to do nothing more than enjoy cuisine that was terrifying good (and expensive).

That's all for now, get back to whatever it is you should be doing :)

Generic Diary Entry #3551

I'm just back from Kabuki, the rather excellent Japanese/sushi restaurant close to work. I'm feeling an affinity with the Linux penguin: smiling, bloated, and full of raw fish.

You'll be pleased to know that the ambient light chez David no longer depends solely upon the sun!

A home-goods orgy at IKEA on Saturday means that the apartment is kitted out with lights, cooking utensils, cutlery, and delph. Oh, and the very essentials, a coffee pot and these:

Then on Sunday, a quick call-around by Adrian incrememented my furniture count by a further bookshelf, and a TV that won't work without an unfortunately absent remote control. Anyone with any information on Salora TV remotes? Didn't think so...

In other news the new office is great, though there's no room for a couch, or even beanbags (unless...hmmmm...) This is possibly a good thing, as a very senior person is going to move in next door soon, to compliment the already very senior person a little further down the hall. Oh, and we were warned that if necessary they'll give our office away to outranking new acquisitions (so that's anyone, in my case), so best not to go nuts just yet.

I've no other news. Well, I managed to go over the handlebars in the car-park yesterday, to my extreme ebarrassment, but I'm not going to demean myself further by making it public information. Nor will I tell you that five minutes later my saddle came loose forcing me to walk home in the rain, that's too much like wallowing in self pity. If I stray to far down that road, I'll turn into a romantic poet ("I fall upon the fluff of life, I sneeze!")

Incidently, Keats was the first poet to be featured in a computer game. That game was the rather excellent Hitchhikers Guide to the Galaxy, which you can now play via AOL messenger, thanks to some genious AOL bot coding: message Infocombot, Infocombot2, or Infocombot3 to play. Or, if you don't have a permanent net connection, or a mobile phone capable of messenging (What's that? I've ruined your shirt? It's covered with gloat. I see, very good...) you can download a z-machine emulator, get the z-file, and play offline - just like back in the day, when there was no on-line. You'll earn my respect when you get the Babel-fish :)

All about Sauna

Extra! Extra! Two posts in one day madness!

I've just had my first Sauna since coming here this year, and it was *amazing*... It's time this blog had something approaching content, so I'm going to tell you all about Sauna.

Sauna, pronounced "Sow-naa" (or exactly like "Samhna" in Mí na Samhna, if you're Irish) was invented in Finland (ignore contradictions from Swedes - it's impossible to tell who really invented it, and my partisan point of view lies with the Finns, and it's my blog!).

Sauna is an integral part of Finnish culture, it is estimated there is one Sauna to every 3 people here. It is unthinkable for a house to not have a Sauna. Many new apartments even have them, or else there will be one in the basement for the whole block to share, on a rotation basis (as is the case with my place).

First it is important to note that Sauna is done naked. No swimming trunks, no underwear, no, it must be done in the nip. In the more touristy places (such as hotels) it is common to see little signs, exactly like "no-smoking" icons, except with an iconic pair of y-fronts behind the big red slash. The first time I saw one of these it completely cracked me up! Anyway, when you think about it, sweating a lot into your garments is probably unhygenic, and heating your underwear, well that's just bacterial incubation. And that's bad.

Sauna is a ritual. First you must immerse yourself in cold water - the colder the better. Ideally your Sauna house will be located next to some natural water source, like a lake or river (and when these freeze in winter, holes are cut so that you can still make the plunge!). In winter it is also acceptable to roll in snow I believe. Failing this, a really cold shower will have to do!

Now you're nice and cold, in to the Sauna with you! Saunas are heated with burners. The heat doesn't primarily come from the burner, it's only there to evaporate water - it's the steam that raises the room temperature. Again there are ideal scenarios: it's best if you have a traditional wood-burning stove. This imbellishes the ritual, as now you have to manually prepare and stoke the fire, and wait for it to heat (anticipation makes things better, talk to Guinness drinkers about this). Wood stoves also produce a delicious, smoky aroma that combines with the steam into a blanket of atmosphere that wraps itself around you. Of course, these things are a lot of hassle, so it's far more common to find an electric burner.

Now you have a hot burner, you're ready to ladle water on it, and I'm not just being lyrically colourful - in to the sauna you will bring a small bucket of water, and a ladle. Spread the water as widely as possible (ensuring more rapid evaporation and minimising local cooling of the storve). Finns do this with a deft flick of the wrist. Keep on going until a) you pass out, or b) room temperature reaches a balmy 80 degrees or so :) I recommend you stop when you have to close your eyes and cover your burning ears!

Sit. Relax. Sweat like a pig. You won't be able to do anything else. Marvel at how hot your hair is. Discover you're having slight difficulty breathing. Now you're ready to...

Repeat the immersing in freezing water part. The first time you do this you may get really dizzy. After a while this stops becoming torture and becomes really enjoyable, trust me!

Keep doing this as long as you feel like. Feel free to drink some cold beverages during the process. It can also be really good to splash cold water on yourself when in the sauna. During spring and summer it is common to have a leafy branch of birch, which you dip in water and lightly flagellate yourself with (it increases blood circulation to the skin).

As with all things, there are caveats. DO NOT under any circumstances wear anything metallic in to the sauna - bracelets, watches, rings, anything. Metal is a pretty good conductor baby, and 80 degrees when conducted well burns.

Be careful if the sauna is hot when you go in for the first time: sit down with reckless abandon and both your cheeks will be red! There are special mats you can get to sit on. If there are none of these around, throw some water on the bench and hope for the best.

Try not to have your first sauna with a Finn - they are the "some" in "some like it hot". You'll forever associate saunas with lucifer.

Reading is all well and good, but believe me, it just has to be tried to be believed. Any of you that make it over here can have a try :)

Bannaí Rac-Cheol Eirinnigh Abú!

My limited selection of music here has meant I've been looking to internet radio for my sonic fix lately. Media player's "My Stations" feature is buggy as hell, so I've been listening to ShoutCast stations. My two out-and-out favourites are

Radio io Eclectic and Radio Paradise

which you can listen to with WinAmp, or if you prefer, open source players like Foobar2000 and Zinf - both of which have proxy facilities, so you should be able to listen even if your firewall is as tight as a sysadmin's sphincter ("My, that's tight!") The places I could go with this... ( ... and we're good) As an aside if you're looking for looking for simplicity go with Zinf.

Anyway the point was: the music is great, and despite them being American stations (I hazard...) they've both lately played the likes of SnowPatrol and Autamata! (Ok, SnowPatrol aren't exactly Irish, but I equate them with the whole Dublin indie scene, so they're Irish by association -like Josh Ritter!). Radio Paradise played "Glanfaidh Mé" by KiLa today, which had me bouncing all over the place! Great to hear them all, especially on a (virtual) world stage (though it does make me a tad wistful for Whelans, Vicar St, the TBMC et al).

Of course if Dublin indie's what you're wanting, there's really only one place: Phantom FM

Dá mbeadh ceol tradisiúnta ag teastail uait: LiveIreland

Rock on!

pi/4 out of phase

Whew! Just back from a great night out! Rendez-vouzed with Gilles and Agathe at the "tragically hip" Corona Bar with the intention of playing some pool. Wandered on to Sauna bar when it became apparant that the tables were fully booked for the night, and there witnessesed Finns playing monopoly as a bar-sport (!), discussed some big ideas (which I'd like to riff on, but it's way beyond my current capacity), and finally acquired a table to call our own! Alex met us there some time later, and his reputation as a big "dance-head" got him nominated as our post-closing time guide.

After a bit of wandering around Helsinki, he steered us to DTM or "Don't Tell Momma", a gay bar apparantly reputed for its good music. This was good enough for the French pair, who were just interested in dancing; I didn't hold out much hope for this part of the night, not being much of a clubber, so once they were happy I acquised. I've been getting progressively into electronica lately, and in my limited experience, the reputation is justified. The others were great fun, and over all I have to say I had a great night.


So this combined with my staying up till 6am yesterday tracking down poems and short stories on the fringes of my memory that I'd rather not lose to the void (I may add some of these to my website if anyone's interested), and my not arising till 3pm today makes me feel about 6 hours out of phase with the rest of the world. But then, you got that from the title, right? :)

Oh yeah: Annie, I just got the email about the pics, I'll get to work on it straight away. John, I'm afraid this talk was a little more mundane: it focused on his TBL's opinions on [the evils of] a .mobi domain space, and how the web on phones will work.

Niamh, táim brónach 's tú im' dhíth.

It rhymes with... nah, only kidding :)

Right, before I start, if you want an explanation for the
spot-the-difference posts, go read the comments, where you'll find the
infamous Skier has slashed a big S of shame in my forehead with the
well honed rapier of his wit. Calm down, it's a metaphor. No it's
not something that describes a phor.

Just snuck in to a video conference given by Tim Berners-Lee which was
really interesting. It'd be fun to be that intelligent. It was quite
strange to sit there and put a face and a personality to a name I
almost felt I knew after our symantic web project. He's not how I
imagined he'd be, he's more normal, or less geeky, whichever you
prefer. It's a nice perk that sometimes important, or influential,
or just plain visionary people come to speak (or get broadcasted) and
you can wander on down. Or sneak in the back, whatever :) I also
snuck away with a doughnut, so it was good sneaking all round!

I've got a pool session at corona bar lined up for tonight. I'm
fretting about leaving my stealth-black expensive looking bike locked
up outside a bar in town... Until then I'm also going to fret over
some damn weird bugs I've been having. Then I guess I'll go home and
fret some chords on my guitar. What's that? "Fret Off"? Charming!

It rhymes with "clucking bell"

Yesterday I got a nearly new sofa from Adrian's friend Patrick. They delivered it, assembled it, and then Patrick went the extra mile by grabbing a drill from his car, adding a dash of serious drill bit, and creating a pair of new holes in my wall. Legend. Unfortunately his flex didn't stretch to the rest, but it was a start.

A start I was determined to finish! I acquired a drill from Joonas, and rose bright and early this morning (before 11am) and set to work. Amazingly I made progress! Really on a charge now I set about screwing in the anchor-hooks for the cables. All was going great until the third one, which was a little stiff. My inner genius said "Oi! Numbscull, there's a wrench over there" and he was right! A few painless turns later and the hook broke off, leaving me with a hook, and a perfectly filled hole. Bollocks. I tried to use my murderous rage as a force for good by finishing the hole in the ceiling, which resulted in the mangling of an innocent drill bit. Reinforcement. Bugger! Perkele! Putain du bordelle de merde!!

On the upside the cycle in to work was fantastic, I went to Taekwondo for the first time which was great and... er... I can curse in three languages. That's enough to be happy about for now.

It rhymes with "clucking bell"

On Sunday I took delivery of my nearly new sofa-cum-bed thingumie from Adrian, and his friend Patrick who was doing the selling. They assembled the whole thing for me, then Patrick went the extra mile by running down to his car, grabbing a gimlet and a serious drill bit, and drilling the pair of holes his flex could reach. Legend.

Inspired by the thought of lights withing 24 hours, I got a drill from Joonas that night, and was up bright and early (read: before 11am) making holes in my walls this morning.

Against all the odds I seemed to be getting somewhere. After about an hour all the holes in the wall were, well, holes rather than depressions. In jubilation I started screwing in the anchors for the cables. All went well until the third one became a little stiff. "Use the wrench over there" said the genius part of me. So I did. And after a couple of swift and painless turns, the hook came right off, leaving me with a hook head, and a painfully drilled hole filled with screw. Bollocks! I supressed some murderous rage. "Okay... calm... okay," I thought, "I'll just finish the fucking... no, calm, the hole in the ceiling, and sort that out later."

On to the ceiling. I vented my murderous rage, which just resulted in the mangling of an innocent drill bit... "Reinforcement! Bugger! Perkele! Putain du bordelle de merde!" So now I need a new drill bit, have to drill two more holes, find an anchor, file down the bastard broken screw, buy polyfilla, clean up the mess, and install the freakin light system. Wonderful.

On the upside the cycle in to work was marvellous, I've just gone to my first Taekwondo training which was great, and erm... I can curse fluently in three languages. Well, that's enough to be happy about for now.

Tired. Good tired.

Thanks to some cables, a black box with blinking lights, and my laptop, I'm blogging from home!

For once the day was as beautiful as initial appearances suggested (rather than the cold, bitter whore beneath the caked make-up we've suffered for the last few days... but enough about my neighbours *boom boom*).

I took advantage (like Micheal Jackson... no, I'm not going to finish that) of the sunshine and strolled down to my local bike shop. Well, hiked really, it's about 3 miles. It always seems further when you have no idea where you are...

To cut a long story short (uncharacteristic, yes, but I'm shattered) I bought a bike! Then rode it around for two and a half hours with a massive smile on my face (it's so light and fast!) until a serious case of the munchies reminded me I hadn't eaten since yesterday (and it was now 3pm). I picniced in the sun on my balcony, and was just finishing up, when I got a call from Joonas to go climbing. After about three hours I didn't have the strenght to take off my shoes :)

I've been a little sedentary lately, so this orgy of activity, great as it was, has me wrecked altogether! The crew dropped me off at my place, I invited them in for non-alcoholic pear cider, and an episode of Family Guy, laughed by myself a lot, let them out (my door is tricky) and hammered the keys for you great and fine people. No, really, you are, every one of you. Especially you. And now I am going to go to sleep. Great day :)

Saints and Moaners

Moikka!

I've been trying to shake off a cold for about a week. The situation is ingravescent; I am considering going to a doctor today. Then again, I'm considering dosing myself right up with Panadol and going to Taekwondo. I'm bipolar that way.

The weather here has been fantastic lately, no fun if you're metaphorically under it. I turned down two invitations to go rock climbing at a seriously interesting 25m high spot, 40 km north of Helsinki - the only climbing I did this weekend was on my bed, and up my windowsills. Adrian and his wife Anna-Marie, and their daughter Aishling, who's either very shy, or scared of me (sensible girl) came over on Saturday to drop off some tools, so I could install my lights.


As if driving across the metropolitan area (I have to stop myself adding "Network" right there) to loan me tools wasn't enough, the proceeded to offer to drive me to IKEA (so I could buy a car-load at once) and then brainstormed people they knew who had furniture they wanted rid of. Oh, and offered me two book-cases for free. Saints!

Anyway, the drill and tools meant I could now go about installing the lights on the walls and ceilings. First rule: measure twice, drill once. Problem a) becomes apparant: I have no chair to stand on, and the places to measure are high up... Hence the climbing on the bed and windowsills. The windowsill was particularly tricky, being just high enough that I couldn't step up easily, and just wide enough that I couldn't wedge myself in, so getting up with a ruler and pencil in hand, then balancing there with my arms above my head made for a pretty interesting bouldering problem - god knows how it looked to anyone who happend to be looking up at the apartment block at that time.

Anyway, lines drawn (eventually), drill in hand, Problem b): in terms of "hardness" my walls and ceiling, being prefab concrete, are at the Vinny Jones end of the scale. The drill, well, it's great for putting kitchens together. So is Laurence Llewelyn Bowen. So Vinny vs Laurence. Exactly. The drill got about a quarter of an inch in, and then spun round and round merrily. "Dammit! I thought, I've hit a big piece of aggregate. I'll try again elsewhere" And so I did. Four times. Same story. To borrow a trademark from Ian: *sigh*


I gave up and went back to watching family guy, unsettlingly aware that a "crick in the neck" was creeping up on me. I made a list of people to call, got about half way through, and collapsed asleep on my bed and got a few hours sleep. This turned out to be remarkably serendipitous, because by 11pm the crick had, er, well... cricked? In any case I got little sleep after that, got up at 7, and landed at my desk a little after 8, but not feeling too bad for it :)

Had a meeting with my project manager, which was really interesting, in that I now know what I have to do to qualify for bonuses :)

Anyway, if the general tone of this entry is "whingy little bitch", that's not how I feel. I got an email from Rob, a friend of mine in the Peace Corp, stationed in Morocco, which was really grounding, as always. You have to respect someone who's willing to devote years of their life to helping strangers. More saints. I'm the kind of person that mentally frets over, and moans about, the sort of situations that these people wade knee deep into. Admirable. Incidentally, any of you willing to post old English textbooks (from primary or secondary school) to Morocco leave a comment.

You may or may not know how much I love a good conspiracy theory (The moon landings were faked, etc) Well I read a really good article about the 9/11 attack on the Pentagon (how it couldn't possibly have been hit by a 767) a little after the event, and with the anniversary looming, went looking for the original the other day. What I found was even better (or worse, depending). While I'm not saying I believe all of this site, or any even, I think the scepticism is healthy, I find it very interesting, and I'm linking to it: conpiracy theory

Alex's concerted effort to get me (more) interested in electronica is paying off (if only because he keeps feeding me the cream of the genre). So:
Current music: Involver - DJ Sasha.

And finally, the Orient beats the Occulent to
safe nuclear generators