Monday, November 21, 2005

Found: a form of studying that works (for me)

Finally, a weekend spent merely at home. It feels like I've been running around like a blind herd of sheep again, both due to private and leisure matters and to working more or less, like the weekend course in Biological Psychology I attended (as I run tests with psycho fysiological measuring at work, I consider it to be work related, al though I've always been fascinated by the human brain).

The creative result of the weekend is portrayed in the picture, one pillow and 6 christmas cards for relatives (hope they're not reading this blog, otherwise, the surprise will be spoilt for them!). And while sitting with my feet on the desk, cross-stiching and sewing, I decided to listen to some of the podcasts I subsribe to. I decided not to go with the more entertaining ones but rather scientific ones, like Vetenskapsradion (science radio) and Forskning och framsteg (research and progress). Et voilà, I discovered a great way to learn new things. The combination of listening to a story on what current computer and programming trends a Head of Research at Microsoft sinks and systematic cross-stiching was brilliant for me. There's no point in simply listening to pod casts as I get way too restless to be able to follow the discussions. I've tried to work at the same time, but that's too distracting. Working steals my attention away from what's being said. But this, creative handicraft work combined with analysis and reviews of research conducted around the world, is a winning combination for me.

Saturday, November 19, 2005

Do we overestimate our genes?

“As if our destiny is written in our genes. It’s a remarkable idea, but its continuous strong existence in our society and in debates on different issues is interesting."


Veikko Launis, Finland’s first and only Professor of Medical Ethics, on the general opinion that increased knowledge about our genes will not only liberate us from diseases but also reveal who we are and where we came from as human beings. He’s interviewed in the news paper Åbo Underrättelser today.

Tuesday, November 15, 2005

Squirrel mobile phone

Here's a cool project. MIT Media Laboratory graduate student Stefan Marti has built a Cellular Squirrel, a cellphone embodied in a small portable animatronic, Bluetoothenabled device.

Wednesday, November 02, 2005

Use your illusion

"Use your illusion" Guns' N' Roses urged us, twice even, in 1991. You can start using it here.