New look

Last night, my fiancé and I, we were preparing our New Year's stay up north by packing overalls, warm winter ski outfits, cameras, the whole works really, firmly believing we were going to head north early this morning. Just before heading into the sauna last night though, our eyes fell on the printed reservation for the place we'll be staying at and what do you know! The reservation we'd made was for the 31st December 'til 2nd January, not 30th-2nd! If we hadn't seen that, we would've driven up there, without a place to stay that night! So I realized I gained, or won, a day. One additional, entire day without any plans, completely up for grabs for the best ideas. That truly was a strange feeling! So I started off by going out for some drinks with friends, getting home way too late and thus ensuring that my body opposes any activities today. It's not the most cleaver way to spend a day earned but hey, the human mind does not work rationally all the time.

So I'm parked in the couch with three heat generators, the cup of coffee, the laptop and the peach blanket I got for Christmas way way back, and I'm pondering what to make of this sorry day. Et voilà, I'll do a new template and layout for my blog, something I've been meaning to get around to for quite sometime now. When I'm hangovery, I'm always very creative - I get my best ideas in a weary state of mind - and thus this current project.

I did an eye tracking study about two months back on my blog. I had a couple of colleagues, who hadn't visited the blog before, to look it up and read what and as much as they wanted. Turns out that the heading is of no interest. That could imply two things, that a heading to someone entering the site is of no interest, or that my heading simply does not attract any attention. As my heading does not cover any substantial information that you absolutely have to know, I'm keeping it simple. No photos, no fancy graphics. Just two sentences.

Another finding is that the readers all started off by reading the blog posts, which were earlier to the left. This is interesting as there were several images, that usually attract the gaze, in the blog roll to the right. I'm guessing they have learned to ignore small features to the right as sponsored ads and other commercials are often in that very place, to the right. Therefore, I'll do a switch now, I'll have the blog roll, links and archive to the left as that is substantial information that I'm hoping people will see.

I was also thinking about coloring "Comments","Posted by Paeonia..." with a greenish nuance but judging from the heat maps, people tend to read them anyways, perhaps 'cause they're so obviously separated from the blog post. Therefore, I see no reason to color them, but one. It would be awfully boring not to blend the brown text with another color, my visual eye won't rest until something breaks the brownish advantage.

Only one more thing to do now really, and that is to figure out how to accentuate the links in a blog post. Now, they're not highlighted at all, which makes them disappear. I need to work on that...

Update: an image of the snowy slopes, when we finally got there

New year's resolution

Being a former journalist, I know what makes the press tick and therefore, I rarely complain on news stories. I do not approve of the negative, sensational perspective many news stories are presented with, but hey, I can always choose not to read them. I'm quite good at browsing further down after spotting a heading containing chock, porn and scandal.

But last Wednesday, I simply had to shake my head and complain a little. I was listening to the radio while heading to town and the news were on. The anchor informed me that the firework sale for making the New Year's Eve a bit brighter had started that day. And she continued: "Many are likely to hurt themselves while attempting to light a sky rocket or a Roman candle." The big event, the New Year's Eve, was still four days ahead and already there were speculations on how many was going to get hurt! Not if there would be any accidents, that's taken for granted, but how many. It wasn't a bit from a press conference or a story on accidents, the piece of news were basically three sentences, the first being that the sales started that day, followed by many will get hurt and finally for how long you'll be able to purchase fireworks.

Firstly, I wonder where's the news in this piece of information? Every year, accidents related to fireworks do happen and are very well reported on in the news. Secondly, why kill the excitement and joy? Why not report on the issue of New Year's in a positive, enlightening manner? Why the constant negative perspective? I guess the intention was to enlighten and to make sure that people are aware of the risks involved and to promote security while firing up the rockets. This is a good thing of course, but is this necessary every year? Why not at least add something like tips on how to spend it, what events are happening in major cities, some historical spice like how the Chinese invented it as a means for entertainment or whatever. People are interested in other things than death, injuries, sex and violence. Therefore, I suggest that some media folks ought to make it a New Year's Resolution to try to see things out of a more positive perspective.

Well, enough complaining, Happy New Year everyone! I'll be making an old dream come true, finally, which is waving off this year and embracing the next one in Lapland among deers and snowy mountains.

Is money loosing its value?

After an evening of intense wii playing in the living room (no, nothing broken yet except illusions of being a champ at tennis with a good old retro graphics) I decided to calm my brain with some aimless browsing on the net. I stumbled upon a recent study by the research company United Minds on what’s high-status and what’s not according to Swedes. It turns out that status is not for sale, as non-material values top the chart (these are all my home brewed translation):

1. To be well read
2. To be a good and engaged parent
3. To possess a fortune derived from one’s own work
4. To be capable at work
5. To master several languages
6. To be able to be on vacation the entire summer
7. To spend time and money on helping people in need
8. To have many friends
9. To live in a big villa/apartment
10. To have an entirely own style

To be able to buy posh new clothing brands did not make it high up the list. Qualities you can possess without a chest loaded with money by your bed, like being good at what you do and being a good friend, did however, which does not surprise me. I’ve sensed a change for a long time now. I’ve seen indications perhaps not on an anti-movement to the consumerism, to the materialistic society characterized by an “the one with the most gadgets when s/he dies wins” attitude and a love for “hard values” but certainly on a large scaled, firm declaration that “my choice is different”. That “Although I accept that you do the race, I choose not to participate in it. I don't need a 300 square meter house with exclusive floorboard from Africa in order to be happy and content with my life.”. I thought about blogging these signals that I pick up, lastly when commenting the President’s choice to wear a gown dating a couple of years back at the Castle ball. But it sank into oblivion until tonight when I read this press release on the status list.

Status can’t be bought, says United Minds, and neither can happiness, according to Kari Nars, whose book Pengar och Lycka (Money and happiness) I just finished. KN claims that the more a society stresses material efforts in order to land a happy life, the less it values the search for a deep satisfaction with life and the inner meaning of life. “Materialism marginalizes religiosity” he writes and gives as an example the great number of people resigning the church in Finland.

I’m not convinced this is the case and I don’t equal the fact that many do leave the church with a poor interest in religiosity. Maybe there simply are better ways of practicing it, according to many. I think on the contrary that more and more people are searching more and more for a meaning of life and take and interest in spiritual nourishment, religiosity and non-material values. Perhaps as a consequence of being tired of living in the material world that KN depicts. The great interest in self help books, the great number of days devoted to team building at work places and seminars on how to be a better employer/employee/father/lover/friend are examples of the evidence of a big interest in the meaning of life and spiritual matters, in my eyes at least. I don’t believe people read a book on, say, ”Making the most out of your job” in order to advance to become a boss in 2 months time. I believe there’s a desire for spiritual nourishment, for getting to know who you really are and who you want to be that lies beneath. And in a broader sense, speaking of the material values getting cold, I notice that many dig through their grand parent’s attics now, hoping to find a vintage/retro beautiful handbag to go along the city shopping afternoon, instead of simply buying a brand new bag with a rugged look. More and more people are actively supporting locally produced food and handicraft. Another signal of a declining materialistic view on life is the collective spirit found on the internet. I know of many who don’t pay for support when setting up their own websites. In stead, they consult discussion forums and user forums, where other people are glad to help and trade advice, for free.

In short, I see people striving to be and genuinely valuing what’s on the top 10 list in the beginning of the post. To them, money, gadgets, costs and surface is not as hot as are values, engagement, reliability and to dare have a deep and intense discussion on things. I for one would love to see more of that!

tv quiz

This is a puzzle (a pdf-file, print it if you like!) I created when I got back from London. The hot words that I repeatedly scribbled down on paper during the conference are to be entered into the quiz, with the help of clues. There’s no prize to be won unfortunately, other than the great personal satisfaction of completing it successfully. Enjoy!

Consumerism

I did make it to the V&A Museum in London last week. It was a thrill, I spent most of the time at the exhibition of da Vinci's notebooks. I love it how he used mirror-writing, due to lefthandedness. It was a real challenge reading his notes, especially as he didn't exactly waste any paper, the words were close to one another. I guess it's a lazy but yet very effective way to learn things, to watch the movie or go to an exhibition instead of reading the book. I did it with Mahatma Gandhi and now with da Vinci. I read about half way through a biography on da Vinci, but after realizing it was more beneficial for my sleep than for my curious mind, I threw it out and decided to go to the museum instead. Which worked just fine, I didn't for instance know da Vinci studied the anatomy of the tongue when we produce sounds and that he was a gifted musician. Luckily enough, I had time to visit the exhibition on fashion as well. There was one section devoted entirely to 60's UK fashion, fabulous! I totally love skirts and dresses. Having said that, I regret to say that though I spent one afternoon hunting for skirts and dresses, I bought none. Not a single one. The problem was that they were all too expensive considering a couple of buttons and seams were hanging loosely. A friend questioned my sanity, going to London without bunkering up clothes, like squirrels! But I've never been into consumerism of that sort. I've sewed skirts of old table cloths and curtains because I absolutely adored the fabric. I re-use my mothers dresses from the 70's and buy second hand. I avoid to all cost the Christmas season rush in the stores because I get totally stressed out watching how people run around buying - in my view - unnecessary things. The joy of small funny plastic toys is particularly ambiguous to me. It seems that this sort of recycling in clothes has reached many others. I watched the ball at the President's castle on the telly last night. Apparently, President Tarja Halonen's black dress, which was very beautiful, was the same one as she wore a couple of years back, only a bit moderated this year.

More photos here

Music in games

Yesterday, I did a quest south of Menethil Harbour, in the Wetlands region, in WoW. The waters were new to me and so was the music played there. It was oriental, something I'd listen to while doing my yoga. In fact, it was quite irritating and it disturbed the game play. But apart from this particular area, I love the music in the game as it's extremely subtle, it reinforces the gaming experience depending on whether you're flower hunting or fighting troggs and it sticks to my mind like rabbits to hay. I sometimes find myself humming the tune played in Inns and in Stormwind. So, last night, I thought I should do something out of my passion for classical music and playing the piano. I'm not much into playing pop music but rather classical and instrumental and I figure that computer games must be a market for that. The sort of pieces I play at home are exactly what I want to hear (or not hear but on a subconscious level) in games. Perhaps I should start my own company for it. Then, I'd only have to find myself a symphony orchestra to accompany me :)

Think for yourself

It is often said that most users don't want to think when they're online. Whenever it's possible, they should be aided in appropriate ways, like when Google suggests phrases in your search. Naturally, I'm the exception. Among the first things I did when I got a new phone was to switch off the function where a dictionary suggests words based on the first syllables when I'm composing an sms. Neither am I a fan of my car's rain sensor nor the auto correction feature of Word. But at times, it's quite fun to have the program think for you, like I did today when spell checking an activity report I'm writing. Instead of EuroITV, Word suggests Erotic and Neurotic. Hmm, maybe not.

PhD comics

I can't believe I haven't stumbled upon this comic site on the hardship of being a PhD student before. Well, all the more joy to catch up with now then. (I adore comics, hope Santa Claus reads my blog...) Regarding the strip, I sure hope I never find myself in the same situation!

telephone of the future

I'm in a vintage phase again, as looking at things out of a time perspective sort of puts them in perspective. That goes for a lot of things, not only societal phenomena. I found this old ad in the comic magazine Kapten Stofil (4;2006), I especially like the byline claiming that this is how the telephone of the future will look like.

Three step model in London

I'm off to London in a week, exactly 2 years since I last visited this marvelous city. It'll be a brew of "very old", "old enough to be vintage" and "brand new" which I'm looking forward to. The "very old" and "vintage" part is covered by the Leonardo da Vinci and Sixties Fashion exhibitions at the V&A Museum. I'll be very short of time but I just have to make it to these two events, otherwise I'll be very disappointed. The Digital Hollywood event we'll attend - iDTV Lab is participating in a session called "Research, development and investment in internet, entertainment technologies and media studies innovation." - takes care of the innovations bit. Many of the sessions during this three day long media conference will focus on the future, what's hot right now and what's the industry focusing on right now. I wonder what the verdict on UGC will be, is it a hit or not?, and whether there will be any consumer research results presented. In a week, I'll be wiser.

News flash

A usability report I just finished is being news flashed, apparently :)

World Usability Day today

It's the World Usability Day (hear, hear!) today, make sure to check out the web casted events all around the globe here.

PhD-student's haiku poem

En höstlig doktorandkurs i Danmark
fick en aningen försenad avspark.
Men väl framme på ort
och kråset blivit smort
krossades illusionen om en lekpark.

Ett intensivt program tog fart
med syftet att göra mig smart.
Men lägesrapporten i halvtid
indikerar en övergödd humanoid
vars hjärna till pølse smalt.

In short: one week of intense academic work, sometimes for 13 h/day, in Denmark has been fun, inspiring but somewhat exhausting.

Update: Photos from the PhD week here.

Pervasive games

I wonder if there has been any pervasive games, like Uncle Roy all around you, in Finland and/or Ostrobothnia? It would be so cool to devote Christmas break to such a play. I need to refine that idea, no time right now though. I'm off to the PhD course in Denmark early in the morning and I haven't hunted down my suit case yet, no to mention packed... :)

Gaming

I won’t put all notes from today’s seminar on line as the ppt-files apparently will be uploaded soon.

I will mention the “aha!” though. Manu Pärssinen talked of current trends in the gaming world. Apparently, innovative and creative games do appeal to reviewers but not to the consumers as these games don’t sell. Licensed games and sequels on the other hand sell well, such as NHL 2005 and Cars. Does this mean that parents are a large percentage of the game buyers? Does it mean that it’s easier to buy a game with characters you’ve seen in the movies and on posters around town, than a game with unknown characters but with great reviews? Seems like the Long tail theory doesn’t apply here, although that’s how I pick my games.

About games and playing games, I enjoyed watching an enjoyment element in playing in action last weekend. We were a group of friends playing Alhambra, or Alahärmä as we call it, a great game, get it if you of some weird reason don’t already own it (and no, there‘s not a stock of money on my bank account now). Usually, there’s one clear leader and one evident poor looser when we play the game, leaving a bunch of mediocrities in the middle competing with each other. Therefore, most don’t really fight for winning but to get in second or third. No real challenge. But this time, all of us were doing about equally good. No one lagged desperately behind, no one spurted ahead and therefore, the fighting spirit and challenge increased big time. Everyone stood a chance to win and it made the game so much better and pleasurable. At the end, all agreed it was one heck of a game, much more enjoyable when you competed against everyone, not just a couple of contestants. Although one conclusion at today’s seminar was that the definition of a good game is very individual and hard to boil down to, say “a good story”, “graphics”, “social context”, I wonder if not challenge is applicable to most gamers. If there’s no evident challenge, then is there pleasure and enjoyment? I doubt that.

The tale of a perfect Sunday night

Today's great weather made such an impact on me that I had to head for the nature again. I actually brought a thermos bottle of hot chocolate this time which was great, however I forgot the cookies. Perhaps that's why the moose decided to remain at a distance as they wouldn't be up for any treats.

A tale of a perfect Sunday morning

I enjoyed a cup of coffee while browsing through the morning paper, being content that I wasn’t feeling all that hang overy. I decided to listen to this week’s pod casts I subscribe to, starting with the science news by the Swedish Radio P1. A very daring adventure an early Sunday morning, I know. While listening to the part on the recent discovery of the female gene (a “male gene”, or the sry-gene carried by most men, has already been identified and now, a group of researchers have found one gene determining the female sex) bright light hit my eyes. A pale, late-October sun rose above the roofs. Finally, after this weekend’s blizzard! I decided to grab my camera and have a walk (actually flopping around is more accurate due to the snowdrifts) in the forest to wake myself up and get some air. The serenity in the midst of the woods was incredible; it was just me, snow crystals and rays of sun light. Hard to top a morning like that!


Friday's blizzard left its mark.










It's such a shame I didn't get around to collecting any rowanberries this year. It's a Christmas tradition I have, to do a bit of alchemy in early October and voilà, you have a nice bottle of rowanberry liqueur at Christmas Eve. Sadly, it's too late for it now.






I went through the kids' play ground on my way home. They thoroughly appreciated the snow and chill, laughing in their sledges. I guess the birds of passage above us didn't quite agree.

Retro evidence

I'm attending a course in presentation skills, which I've really looked forward to. I'm great with words but talking, well, there's work to be done there, to put it diplomatically :) So, today I held a presentation about entertainment and it all went really well. Every participant filled out a feedback form and what's more, the whole session was being filmed in order to let us study our presentation closely at home to reveal all silly hand gestures and nervous ticks we do. Which was great, accept that we got the video material on VHS! That's way too retro for me! As I don't have access to a VHS player, the video will probably remain unstudied. Hopefully, I can transform it into a dvd at work though.

Occupational injury

For six months now, I've been training scientifically. That is training accordingly with my heart rate. Apart from reaching those training goals I set out to do, I'm fascinated by being in such a direct contact with my body when exercising. If I decrease the intensity of the exercise, of course I feel my heart's response to that. But what gets me going is to actually monitor the heart rate while increasing the pace, say from 7 to 7,3 km/h, and to make comparisons over time. One friend of mine interprets this as "being a control freak". Hm, another friend is more right on track I think "Oh that's just you, you're always so scientific!". Maybe it's an occupational injury.

CfP to EuroITV

The 2nd call for papers to EuroITV 2007 in Amsterdam is announced. More here.

MMORPG addiction

It's early Sunday morning, the snowing has ceased and it's all quiet outside. I'm having the first cup of coffee for today while skimming through headlines of online papers. I also found this blogpost on WoW addiction, written by a (now ex) leader in one of the largest and most respected guilds in the game. His story fascinates me, and what's more, there's a massive 797 comments to it! I'll actually try to read them, partly due to personal interest and partly as I noticed a participant of the same PhD doctoral course I'm attending in Denmark in November will present a paper on WoW.

Seminar on games

Conveniently while I'm preparing a powerpoint presentation on interactivity and games, especially World of Warcraft, an e-mail on the Media Research Seminar on games in Vaasa drops in. The seminar takes place on 31st October at the University of Applied Sciences in Vaasa and is open for everyone interested in media. Bits of the programme: Game world trends and product placement in computer games.

Memorable individuality

I'm enjoying a cup of coffee at the trainstation in Tampere again, while waiting for the train to Åbo. The cashier of the café did what she does every day, purely out of habit, telling me the price and whether I wanted to pay with Visa or credit card. But when she had a look at my credit card that I handed her, she burst out "Hey, I remember this card! You were here a month ago and I loved your image on the card!" That's pretty cool, I never thought the individualized credit card with an image I've taken and chosen myself would function like this, that people would recognize me through it. I always thought of it as a nice feature that'd please me. A nice side effect indeed.

Brain mono track

The Logitech keyboard I use at home simply gave up on me last night, as did the Microsoft one at work today. My primary reaction in both cases, when realizing none of the letters I typed actually appeared on the screen, was violence. I hammered the buttons harder and harder and now afterwards, I wonder why. It's not like the keyboard will start working thanks to my hammering it. If it's broken, it's broken. I wonder if this is a human basic instinct, I've watched people get a remote control without batteries in their hands. When they realize nothing happens, they shake it hard, hammer the buttons and slam it against the couch. With no success obviously.

Another indication of the mysterious ways the human minds works in: I got a mind game gadget last weekend. A ring was hanging in the midst of a tangle of iron and my job was to get it out. Naturally, the easy, obvious way to go about didn't cut it so I had to figure out more options to get it out. Which I did, it's just that when I'd tried them all, my brain shut down. If I took a break and tried to solve it a while later, it simply repeated the non-solutions I'd tried earlier. Nothing new came out, my brain was stuck in reverse, repeating the same old options to get the ring out. Scary. The ability to think of something new didn't exist. Sometimes, I see people doing this in life as well. People repeating the same actions all over again although they're clearly not a good solution. Oh, about the ring, I did get it separated from the iron web, after a good long walk outside.

Handicraft obsession

I'm off to an arts and crafts exhibition and fair now, I'm a bit nervous that my handicraft craze, that has been latent and quite for a while now, will blossom yet again with a vengeance. Knitting, cross-stiching etc is loads of fun, it's enjoyable but also quite consuming, tiring. I hope I don't end up like this lady in a neat, animated Finnish short movie. Anyone with a hobby ought to watch it.

EU kids online

If you're conducting research regarding children's internet use, or if you know of such, you may want to contact EU kids online network. It's a network within the EU Kids Online, a project examining ongoing and new research carried out across different EU member states regarding how children and young people are using the internet and other online technologies.

Philosophical bits

I’m having dinner with a friend tonight and we’ll probably devote it to red wine and philosophical discussions. I’m really looking forward to it; I’ve been in a debating, reasoning and philosophical mood lately, probably cuz I’ve dug deep into works of Giddens, Habermas and Goffman. To fully grasp the notion of “The reflexive project of the self” you really need to active some grey mass!

Also, a researcher colleague and I exchange e-mails over whether there really is an equal sign to be put between one’s self/identity and one’s work (it’s geeky, I know, but I enjoy it a lot). Neither of us is working on finding any antidote to severe deceases, may we still feel proud of what we do? The conception that you are what you do for a living, I claim it’s a very narrow way to look at the notion of work, and I don’t approve of it. I rather try to keep people’s identities apart from what they do in order to have food on the table. But I only need to look at myself for the theory to start decomposing. I work with what I love and that occupies large bits of my spare time as well, namely movies, TV content, interactivity in several areas such as gaming and curiously questioning the world about what they do and why.

This "work-identity issue" sprang out of my colleague’s “turning 30” crisis, and perhaps with this discussion in the back of my mind, an article on how people born in the 1970’s “really are” caught my attention. I rarely fit into neat categories and thus, I felt that the article would only entertain me while reading, that’s all. But I actually recognized myself in the text, which is a bit scary. People my age often think they’re so individual and unique, and thus to see that others are just like you is a bit confusing. According to the article in the Swedish womens' magazine Amelia, and based on studies conducted by Kairos Future, children born in the late 1970’s are mobile, commercial and playing hard to get. If they don’t feel content, they’re off. Ouch, that’s me in a nutshell! Further, according to the survey, the children of the 70’s don’t want to grow up, commit to a family nor a permanent job. Life’s not about getting a gold watch after a long and dutiful 40 years at a single company. It’s rather about collecting experiences, thrills. Freedom is everything. They’re not loyal to anyone but themselves.

I see myself and many friends illustrated here. We’re definitely charmed by the idea that we’re mobile, that any day a great opportunity comes our way, we’ll take it. I’ve done that and never regretted it. I’ve often pondered that the freedom and a sort of healthy ego-individualism seem to characterize many of my generation. Work doesn’t really mean much unless it’s fun and you get a chance to grow and develop as a human being. Lucky for us, the times are what they are, with an enormous freedom to choose profession, place of stay and family mode. However, this great freedom we’re offered is quite stressing as well.

I got curious on Kairos Future, I once attended a lecture a researcher working there held and I liked their studies on youth and their values and attitudes. I googled and found their recent study on what matters to 15-20 year olds in Sweden now. Turns out that entertainment is very high on the list, both girls and boys give second highest priority to partying and entertainment. The same variables didn’t even make the Top 10-list fifteen years ago. What matters is having fun. It’s a shame I didn’t stumble across this study last week, I would have needed recent Nordic research pointing to the fact that people of the modern society are fun-oriented and actively hunt for entertainment.

Hmm, I clearly see a pattern here. I spent the entire day yesterday spurting out words and it seems to continue today. I’d better get to the lab to do a pilot test now before the evening gets here.

The future of the web

I'm having coffee at the train station in Tampere, waiting for my train to Åbo and I just got hold of this survey by the Pew Internet & American Life Project: The Future of Internet II. 742 experts and technology thinkers have been surveyed on what they believe the future of the Internet will be, and there seems to be a great deal of disagreement. For example, 46 % believe the transparency that comes along with the Internet is a good thing for humans, whereas 49 % disagree. According to BBC, more than half of respondents had a positive vision of the net's future but 46% had serious reservations. Oups, the train's about to leave, gotta run. The survey is found here, the BBC article here.

Size of the blogosphere?

I'm preparing the class I'll give in Åbo next week and therefore I'm browsing for information on how many blogs the blogosphere actually contains these days. I see that Technorati keeps track on 54.9 million blogs and that 75.000 new blogs see the light of day every day. I suppose however loads of splogs and the like are included in these figures, I wonder where I'd get facts on the number of blogs that are maintained by individuals, groups, schools or corporations and updated on a somewhat regular basis...

wired and tired blogs

I bought the September issue of Wired to entertain me on my train ride home from Åbo. There was a table on what’s wired, tired and expired and regarding blogs, politician blogs are out in the cold as the editor’s put them in the Expired category. Programmer blogs aren’t very cool either as they’re in the Tired category. One of my colleagues, who likes them and follows them quite often, probably would oppose here. Personally, reading blogs on a programmer’s life doesn’t really fascinate me. Perhaps because I live with a programmer and have first hand experience on the matter. I do read some who blog the software they’re developing to keep me updated at work but I don’t have a personal interest in them. Ah yes, and what’s wired, you ask? Scientist blogs!

Tripoli six

I got an e-mail from a Bulgarian dear friend, Mihayl, I acquainted when I lived in Aix-en-Provence. He wanted me to draw some attention to the case of five Bulgarian medical workers and one Palestinian doctor being arrested in Tripoli, Libya, possibly facing execution. They're accused of having deliberately spread HIV among children at a hospital. President Gaddafi states it's a plot directed by the CIA, while assessers of the case say the tragedy stems from poor hygiene of the hospitals.

This week's editorial of Nature deals with this issue and calls for scientists to speak up.

Researchers' night

I'm participating in the Researchers' night on Friday evening, a let the brain cells loose event initiated by the European Commission celebrated all over Europe. I'll be at Vaasan Yliopisto, here's the program. Do stop by if you're around, I'll talk about entertainment and interactivity.

New article on WoW

Torill Mortensen has an article on WoW in the October issue of Games and Culture by Sage, where she stresses the prework MUDs have done in order for WoW and the like to be such huge successes as they are. Haven't had time to read it yet but her argument that "for some, playing WoW is a fully social experience. They adhere to the patterns established by Richard Bartle (1996) with his four much cited and discussed player types and are pure socializers." caught my eye. I'll look into that. [Via Mortensen's blog Thinking with my fingers]

Teaching 1.0

For the first time, I’m teaching students for more than 30 minutes! I’m giving a Sociology class, a 5 points class on media in the information age where I teach about blogs, social networking, iTV etc. I just got back from Åbo where I held my first two classes of the course, that many students participate in. And, I didn’t die! I proclaim this rather surprisingly as I dread speaking in front of groups larger than 2. Including me. Well, I’m a bit harsh on myself now, that’s not the whole truth. I loathed the thought of standing in front of an audience the days before the event. While I’m up there, talking, teaching, explaining or whatever, I absolutely enjoy it. Fortunately, it’s not as much of a problem today as it used to be though. I’ve turned down perfectly fine opportunities to teach, talk and convey my thoughts on issues just because of this anxiety. One day though, I got so angry with myself for being such a coward; I took the bull by the horns and decided to get rid of the stage fright. Sure, I still feel nervous but in a good and motivating way, no to the extent that I turn down opportunities to communicate with groups. One thing that helped me was learning that people who I admire, such as Mahatma Gandhi and Lasse Winnerbäck (Swedish musician), also suffered from stage fright. I thought to myself: If they could, then I can.

Well, the students just decided on what case studies they’ll do and report on later on. (Naturally, they have to present their cases in front of the class. I'm trying to prevent them from developing the same anxiety I did...) Many chose blogs, others interactivity and many chose looking on TV through the glasses of Bourdieu. I’m so excited, I’m so eager to see what they’ll find! It’s been only 2 years since I was a graduate student and I’d love to start working on the assignments myself. I find it kinda weird to be a teacher, to try to convey knowledge to students, to try to be as clear, consistent and interesting as every student wants a teacher to be. It’s quite a challenge, I’ll tell ya! Luckily, my student perspective hasn’t weathered away completely so I remember quite well what I and my student friends wanted in a good and inspiring teacher. Hope I’m succeeding in being the teacher I know I always wanted to have as a student.

Royal visitors

Occasionally, my workday feels a bit more glamorous than usual. Like yesterday, when King Carl XVI Gustaf and Queen Silvia of Sweden decided to stop by our TV-studio.

Stay clear of blogging

Haha, the "how to of the day" on Google's first page is How to dissuade yourself from becoming a blogger. :)

Cfp for international conference on Sociology

The Athens Institute for Education and Research (ATINER), whose conference I attended last May and presented a paper at, will hold an International Conference on Sociology in Athens in May next year. The call for papers is now out, for more info, check out the conference website.

Business with heart and integrity

I hate to say this but I've become a careless person. For instance, I lost the form for enrolling as a PhD-student this semester. Luckily for me, it could be done via the phone as well. And I've lost my favorite rings, although the exquisite (in my view only, haha, it's made of iron thread) one I bought in a designer shop in Paris was found at the summer cottage of a friend. Thus, I decided to buy some more in Stockholm. We went to the Street Market by the sea, and what a marvellous place! I loved the small shops where most of the things were hand made and had great heart and soul in them. I found two lovely ones to adorn my piano fingers and a jar of spices for the autumn's elk meat stews.
Well, as I'm flickring through a magazine on the flight back home, I see an article on the founder of the Street Market, John Higson. He says that his motto in life is "making my dreams come true without loosing heart and integrity.". No there's a life device I can live with and by.

Social networking has taken off

Over 40 % of adults with internet access have used social networking websites, such as MySpace. The number for the 16-24 year olds is higher, 70%, with over half in this age group using them at least weekly. This according to Ofcom:s research. Seeing that close to every other adult use sites like these reminds me of something which annoyed me a while ago. I saw MySpace being referred to as a networking site for teenagers, can't remember where though. I'm registered there and so are many many more, not so young teenagers. I don't really think only teenagers appreciate the service. Also, the study suggests, the reason for using social networking websites are discussing hobbies and interests (one third of the respondents) and work-related topics (26 %). Only 15 % say the reason is meeting new people, which I find a bit surprising. Could the question perhaps been posed as "The main reason"?[via Media @ LSE Group Weblog]

Migraine weblogs for 12 weeks

Interesting. It's the first European Migraine Day of Action today and in honour of that, Migraine Action Association (MAA) is hosting 11 weblogs written by migraine sufferers. During 12 weeks, the reader can follow their journey to getting rid of the headaches by new approaches to managing the migraine, such as stress elimination and shiatsu. You can read them here.

Interactive advertising

Interactive advertising on TV has been a hit for Carlsberg, according to research conducted by Sky. The research also suggests that 69 % of Sky digital households, or 5.3 million, interacted with their telly during one mounth. Via informitv.com.

Out of office-note

I've outsourced my work for a couple of days to Stockholm.

interactive entertainment

I found an insightful article on the theme I'm doing my PhD on, entertainment and interactivity, written among others by a prominent writer on the issue, Peter Vorderer. He ponders together with Hartmann and Klimmt why computer and video games, and the interactive feature of them, keep fascinating so many people around the world for so long and so often. And to that cost, I'd like to add.

Well, the research trio concludes that competition is the keyword, with two subareas: social competition (competing against an opponent controlled by the computer or another player) and competitive situations of the game such as quests, tasks. The explanation for why we choose to play computer and video games for hours on end is the human desire to maintain or enhance the own self-esteem and a positive mood and to challenge and surpass other opponents. These factors are in my view also highly applicable to interactive quiz shows where the viewer may answer the same questions as the teams/person in the studio. The opponents in this case is him/herself, the person(s) competing in the studio and everyone else in the nation sending in their answers.

As for the competitive situations of a game, they are the most important determinant of the enjoyment arising from playing computer games, according to the trio. Simply exploring the options to act in a game may be entertaining as well but doesn't quite cut it. Defeating, say a high level humanoid trogg in WoW, leads to a positive affect on the player. This high arousal state leads to an euphoric experience of enjoyment by which the motivation to continue playing rises. And on the contrary, if you don't manage to defeat the beast, negative emotions are likely to arise, as is an even stronger motivation to continue playing and solve the quest. Although in this case, "the entertainment experience is diminished" Vorderer et al state.

I agree that the competitive situations are the generator of my playing a game, but I'd like to add 2 more factors. When I look back at the games I've abadonded, simply quit playing, I realise that the reason is a lack of understanding. If I don't understand the mission of my character and it's actions and the entire idea of the game, I'm not likely to play it or enjoy it. Therefore, an understanding of the scenario is on my own list as well. Further, goal achieving is an important ingredience in my personal experience of entertainment in games. For instance, in WoW, I'm currently running around the two continents buying things from vendors and upgrading my skills. This implies no combats, no suspense and thrill, just running around, picking a flower or to, adding to my collection of items, but still, I really like it as I'm preparing for bigger, more dangerous and hopefully more suspenseful combats further on. Thus, getting ready for bigger bangs, in a way working towards achieving a goal, thrills me too.

Evidently, interactivity attract others as well. In their study, Vorderer et al verbally described a given game situation to 349 German gamers. The options were numerous weapons and tools versus little weapons and tools to act with and high/low necessity to act. Turns out that the players expected the first game situation to be more enjoyable, i.e. where there were more possibilities to act. Also, the audience rated the version with few and no possibilities to act as boring.

As for the social competition, not all players strive to compete with other players. Some are very cooperative in their playing. This article written by Phil Agre explains quite well the social interactivity and community practice in WoW. Oh, and if you’re not into reading academic papers, at least check out figure 2 “Top ten happenings that tell you you’ve played wow too much”. I’m guilty of the third one… :)

migraine placebo

Tihi! I got an office chair as an early birthday present tonight, a much needed piece of furniture in my home. The one I've had has worn well for many years but not so anymore. I'm telling myself it'll relieve the migraine although diet, lack of stress and sleep are much better ways than ergonomics to reduce the attacks. But I'm counting on the placebo effect.

Small goals need celebrating too

Hurray! I submitted two paper abstracts today, and as I'm a firm believer of treats even when small goals are achieved, I just made myself a fine strong cup of coffee latte style. I'm saving the Veuve Cliquot to the moment when I've actually finished them both...

Intelligent bunny

Yesterday, I was occupied with the thought of getting another pet, a dog preferably. But after seeing this, I reckon why not get another bunny, naturally not so much for myself but as company for my two rabbits. [via thinking with my fingers]

Blog ad clicks

Hans Kullin, the writer behind the blog Media Culpa, recently conducted a survey on 700 Swedish bloggers and blog readers, for the second year in a row now. The questionnaire was online and he encouraged bloggers to fill it out by blogging about it himself and asking other bloggers to link to it as well. He concludes that the typical blogger in his study is a 26-30 year old female holding an academic degree, who loves to write and blogs every day. The typical blogger is anonymous and reads about 6-10 blogs a day, spending in average 6-10 hours a week reading other blogs. What thrills the average blogger in Kullin’s study is reading ordinary folks’ opinions and life stories.

What interests me in his findings is that the average blogger has never clicked on an ad on a blog. The majority of the ones claiming they have decided to take a closer look on the ads is men. In total though, a third of the participants in the survey claim to have done so. I thought the figure would be much smaller; I’m a bit surprised at this! Men are also more prone than women to host ads on their blog.

Another juicy nut is that women blog anonymously (68,2 %) whereas men don’t (29,6 %). All in all, 55 % of American bloggers blog without revealing their real name and identity, according to the Pew Institute report released in July this year. There’s no data on gender and anonymity there though.

WoW addiction

Dr. Maressa Orzack is interviewed on computer game addiction on twitchguru.com. She estimates that about 40 % of all WoW-players are addicted to the game and she hopes that we would name the addiction for what it really is, a mental disorder. When I find some time, I'll google her research, I'm interested in her definition of heavy use of MMORPG's. I wonder what category I'd fit into, probably a heavy user (of WoW, the photo is my 22 lvl mage fishing). Meanwhile, I really enjoyed reading the posts and comments on the article where many WoW-players ponder when a hobby is merely a hobby and when is it an addiction? Can you compare lying on the couch watching TV a whole evening to playing a computer game all night? And who's responsability is it that some players devote most of their awake hours to gaming, perhaps making the studies or/and work suffer? [via WoW Insider]

Here's btw a link to the Smith & Jones Center in Amsterdam that offers treatment for alcoholists as well as heavy gamers. I read a story about the guy who started this centre in Le Figaro I think it was last July.

User experience

I'm currently planning a usability research project and I found a great graph on user experience, which really fascinates me. I really like that the creator included the "word of mouth" variable, which does have power to influence things. [via användbart.se]

First call for papers to euroitv 07

I'm back at the office after 5 splendid weeks of sunny days off. I've been sorting e-mail all day and scribbling down loads of deadlines to struggle with this autumn. In this initial stage, I absolutely love it! It's exciting to fill up my outlook with deadlines for papers, meetings and projects. Ask me again in October and you might get another answer...

Anyhows, the first call for papers for EuroITV 07 is out (deadline for full papers is December 15th). The special theme for the conference is ITV, a shared experience. More info here.

14th century plants

Interesting. Enthusiastic people have been digging in front of the cathedral in my former home town of Åbo/Turku for two summers now, in order to track the early phases of the town. Since this intrigues me, I wish I'd be there to follow the excavations but since I'm not, I'm happy that there are regular posts on the findings (the weekly presentation of the findings is not in English unfortunately) and the proceedings.

There’s been some debate on how old the town really is, and the mission is to shed some light on the age of the town. It has been considered that the earliest settlement of the town had developed during medieval time. During the excavations last summer however, no evidence of proper building lots which could have been dated from the end of the 13th century was discovered in the area. The earliest evidence of settlement dates from the beginning of the 14th century, as the traces of ploughing marks discovered indicate. Thus, at least part of the area was under cultivation before the 14th century.

Now, the researchers have found interesting parts of plants and seeds. One litre of humus from the area contains about 4000 rudiments of plants. They now know of 350 different species of plants that was cultivated in around the time of 14th century Turku, among which hazel, plantain and seeds of fig, which is considered to be the oldest finding in the Nordic countries. Furthermore, rudiments of caraway, dill, walnut and parsley have been found which gives the researchers an idea of the scope of the contemporary trade.

By the way, check out the fashion report in the picture hereby (downloaded from here). It’s a piece of a spur of metal, an important part of the rider’s equipment, but also a sign of fashion awareness and status. Judging from where it was found, the researchers believe it stems back to the 15th century.

Lazy yet creative Paris

Je passe mes vacances en France, à Paris. Il fait très chaud, même la nuit, mais pourtant, c'est merveilleux!
So I'm in Paris again, staying in my much beloved Montmartre. The ambiance got me a bit artistic, hence the photos.

Happiness in schools

Also belonging to the present summer’s pile of books to plough through is a book called Börja tala, Start talking. It’s on the art of rhetoric, on the stage fright many suffer from and on why Nordic speakers are know for being dull and non-engaging speakers. Such an essential book! Last weekend, me and some friends pondered why happiness isn’t part on the school schedule. I mean, Aristotle stated some 2300 years ago that what most individuals seek in their lives is happiness. Most actions strive to increase a feeling of being happy. Today, this is no less the case, on the contrary. So as all seem to agree that being happy is good, and worthy some effort, then why don’t we teach our kids how to try to find out what happiness means to them and how to obtain it? And why isn’t happiness part of any state program? I’d say the same about rhetoric, teach kids the art of storytelling, of capturing an audience in any purpose, may it then concern selling a product, to entertain or convey academic results. I wish I had had loads more training in this area when I went to school!

Summer reading

The first stack of books that I intended to read this summer is read and contemplated (see image to the right under the section Books getting my attention right now). These are the insights I gained:

• Lovage and ruta graveolens keep the flies out. Could be a priceless trick, I have to try it out!
  
• The 50’s must have been a dream for every interior designer, I love Eero Saarinen’s furniture and Verner Panton’s heart shaped chair.
• I still haven’t read the autobiography of the man stating: “I would love to play the part of Jesus! I fit it perfectly because I am a comedian" (Charlie Chaplin). It’s tough to try to get to know someone, perhaps that’s why people go year in, year out to shrinks: they just don’t seem to really get to know the person staring back to them in the mirror? I guess I’m a bit afraid of the amount of attention needed to reading an autobiography. It feels as if the words gotta weigh double the usual weight as the image conveyed in the autobiography is exactly the one the writer wants the reader to have, it's no second-hand information and rumours and therefore it’s harder to just skim through the book, to dismiss thoughts or paragraphs with a shrug.
• I now have a much deeper understanding of the background to the current situation in Sudan, thanks to Scroggins’ biography on Emma McCune. It’s been a while since a book surprised me in this fashion. Judging from the cover, I expected to read about Ms Emma McCune’s life, her voluntary work and marriage with a guerilla leader. But the book was much more, among other things a history lesson and a story of the author’s, who’s also a journalist reporting from the country, own, professional relationship with Sudan. But what got me going the most was something not specifically written but something I noticed along the way; how one’s significant others influence you through life. How the way of life your parents lead affect you, how relative’s actions influence yours years and years after they occurred and sometimes also subconsciously.
  
• The comic paper I bought, combined with the manga series Ragnarök, awoke my latent desire to take up drawing. I’ve been practicing calligraphy for many years and I love photography but the drawing interest failed due to lack of realism. Man, portraits are tough! Thus, I’m hoping that learning the basics in drawing Valkyries and comic series dogs will be easier.
  

Kvarken added to world heritage list

Together with 8 other sites, among which a Mexican landscape of blue agave that gives the world the tequila spirit, Kvarken was added to UNESCO's world heritage list yesterday. The archipelago is added as an extension to an already existing site, namely the High Coast of Sweden. The following is a statement of the World Heritage Committee:

It [Kvarken Archipelago] features unusual ridged washboard moraines, “De Greer moraines”, formed by the melting of the continental ice sheet, 10,000 to 24,000 years ago. The Archipelago is continuously rising from the sea in a process of rapid glacio-isostatic uplift, whereby the land, previously weighed down under the weight of a glacier, lifts at rates that are among the highest in the world. As a consequence of the advancing shoreline, islands appear and unite, peninsulas expand, lakes evolve from bays and develop into marshes and peat fens. This property is essentially a “type area” for research on isostacy; the phenomenon having been first recognized and studied here.

Garden documentation

Yep, today's been one great day to conduct the annual photo documentation of the garden, and (surprise, surprise) especially of the peonies.

Cross-stiches for the ipod

Yes! To and handicraft/techy freak like me, this is pure beautiful. I made a similar one to my pda and it was of great use. Although, a few weeks ago I forced the pda to retire, which means the cover is now to be found way back in the closet.

Mission impossible: paper cutting

I'm struggling with what I'd like to call an impossible task. I need to cut a paper I wrote and presented from 7619 words to a neat sum of 5000, cuz it's getting published. I really loathe the process as, although I'm great at mass producing floods of text sometimes containing drivel, it's mostly content that I feel is necessary and that plays a role in the context. My method is to shorten paragraphs and say what I want to say in shorter, more substantial sentences. But I can't help but feeling that the rythm is lost this way. The hand guiding the reader through the paper, which I feel is crucial in a read worthy text, is somehow getting lost when the not-so-facty phrases are removed. Perhaps I should write the different parts on a dice, throw it and simply erase the fateful part on the side turning up ;)

Bonus of the day: 3 days til my first full-length, fully paid 4 week vacation!

florae blues

I'm conducting usability tests for clients at work now and the thought of doing a test on this blog has been spinning in my mind for a good while. About a week ago, I realized that doing an eye tracking study, which I regularly do at work, on this Paeonia blog would be interesting as, apparently, I'm not expressing the corner pillars or the identity if you will of the blog clearly enough. This insight hit me when I was sent a review of my blog, made by a student. It turnes out that the reason of the name Paeonia is not clear enough, the link between the name and my passion for flowers and then in particular peonies is not evident enough.

And consequently, like some people start devoting lots of attention to their beloved when the date of Valentine's Day or the Wedding anniversary is approaching as a way of making up the downturns since last anniversary of Valentine's, I think to myself that I'll relieve my conscience by posting an all-flowery post. And this guzzling in florae photos is not just a making up-gesture but also an hommage to the stunningly beautiful nature outside my window. It's mid June and the nuances of green is about as saturated as you can possibly want them to be. Enough babbling, I activated my Flickr account again and here's a selection of photos to ilghten up the academic twist on this site. (Hmm, I also noticed I haven't blogged my handicraft craze either in a while, therefore the photo at the top. It's illustrating 5 pillows I sewed earlier this week for potential hangovery guests this weekend).

White light fights piracy

A group of researchers at the Georgia Institute of Technology has developed a prototype device that can block digital-camera function in a given area, a method that could fight the movie piracy. More here.

More on happiness

As I'm studying positive experiences in my own PhD, and since I'm fascinated by the notion of happiness, I bought Mihaly Csikszentmihalyi's book Flow: The Psychology of Optimal Experience. Here are two thought-evoking quotes (my translation):

How can it be that, although we've created miraculous successtories that no-one could even dream of, we are more helpless than our less privileged ancestors were when life is concerned? The answer is clear-cut, while humanity has collectively increased its material wealth by the thousand, it hasn't advanced at all concerning improving the content of the experiences. (Page 34)

As an opposite to what many believe, the best times in life are not passive, receiving and relaxed moments. The best moments occur in general when a human is stretching her body to the maximum in a conscious exertion in order to achieve something difficult and effort worthy. (Page 20)

The last quote makes me think of the two running competitions I've participated in this last month. The 10 K run went beautifully well, no difficulties whatsoever. The 5 K run on the other hand was hard and the agreeable, nice feeling was lacking. We even had to start swearing to get through the race with a good mood. And now when I think of the races afterwards, I enjoy the harder run more than the longer, easier one. Strange but true.

Finnish ICT use

Statistics Finland has new figures on ICT use. Interestingly, more women than men in the age group 30-49 use the internet. However, of pension-age people men are more often on the internet than women. I also was surprised to learn that internet banking isn't as common elsewhere as here. It's been a completely natural part of my every day life now for quite some time. 3 out of 4 Finnish internet users manage their finances on the net, apparently.

About three out of four, or 73 per cent, of 15 to 74-year-olds used the Internet in spring 2005 in Finland and according to Pew Internet & American Life Project, the same goes for Americans (these figures stem from 2006 though. The percentage for Americans using the internet the same period in 2005 was 66 %).

NordForsk doctoral course

I'm in a conference mode still, I recently found an interesting PhD-seminar that's held in Denmark in early November. It's called Publics, audiences and users: Theoretical and methodological challenges in a multidisciplinary field of research.

new media conferences

The Centre for Usability Research at Katholieke Universiteit Leuven has a much needed site where all the deadlines for conferences and journals in HCI, iTV, user research etc are listed.

Are cameras literate?

A couple of weeks ago I blogged about my latest purchase, a new shining ixus camera for travelling. But by mistake I accidently deleted the blog post, where I praised this little handy gadget, almost instantly. I never bothered to rewrite it though as the content of the post wasn't exactly earth shaking and revolutionary news. Well, as I got out of the airport in Athens last week I spotted an amazing long line of yellow cabs, as far as you could see. And when I grabbed my ixus, it was stone dead, refusing to co-operate in any way. Not one ray of hope. For a photo geek like myself, it's tough being on the move without a camera! I figure it might be a revenge for removing the blog post. So I took it back to the store tonight and off it is now for service. Meanwhile, I'm glad there's a site such as flickr. David Geerts at the Centre for Usability Research in Leuven uploaded his photos of Athens, I'll enjoy them instead.

Btw, since Lordi's number one spot in Eurovision, the interest in Finnish metal and heavy seems bigger than ever. I promised to compile a list on bands I like. Some glam rock and the like is included as well but still. This is not exactly bubblegum pop:

Children of Bodom
Mokoma
Hanoi Rocks
Stam1na
Viikate
Sonata Arctica
Apulanta
Nightwish
1G3B
Uniklubi

69 eyes is a must see live, especially the drummer!

Mona Lisa was 83 % happy

Further on the happiness subject, Dutch researchers scanned a reproduction of Leonardo da Vinci's masterpiece and subjected it to an "emotion recognition" software. Their finding is that she was 83 percent happy, 9 percent disgusted, 6 percent fearful and 2 percent angry. She was less than 1 percent neutral and not at all surprised. At first, I thought this technology ought to be tried out after first dates, as it would perhaps save many from the famous "will he call me or will he not?" but then again, the excitement of not really knowing is great too. And apparently, subtle emotions are not trackable with this device. Full article here.

Post running

I'm back home from an unmercifully hot Athens, after a week of conferen- cing, networking and eating enormous quantities of food, more than I'm likely to experience ever again. A greek colleague tells me that not finishing everything on the plate is a major insult to the chef, the restaurant staff and to greek hospitality in general. Since I'm quite a petite mangeuse, I must have offended many souls this past week, sorry for that!

Interestingly, I sometimes got a couple of raised eye brows as an answer when mentioning my nationality to other conference goers and locals in Athens. And when the guys and girls at restaurants try to lure me into their particular restaurant by addressing me in - what they think - my mother tongue, they never get it right. I counted seven different options as to where my home base is (one being China), and no one got it right. But my action scheme immediately after closing my apartment door with all the luggage and tax free bags in my arms uncovers my nationality quite well though. I did the following in a chronological order. 1) I fired up the sauna 2) I fired up my computer and internet connection 3) I put some heavy metal on 4) I enjoyed some dark bread with shrimp mixture on top.

I'm quite eager to start studying the proceedings of the 2 conferences closer as there were many really interesting past and on going studies presented but that's out of the question today as I definitely need the rest. I ran 10 K at a running event this afternoon and after adding that to walking one week around Athens in quite new shoes, my legs are punishing me with aching, soar knees. So nope, this day is devoted to lying comfortably in the couch watching television and playing games.

Papers available

Cheers all entertainment lovers, there are now goodies available on our website. The papers I wrote for the conferences I'll attend in Athens next week just got up-loaded so check them out to see what conclusions were drawn in the audience research on enjoyment and interactivity we conducted last year. Also, there's a article on audience research on movies and... on my job really... that was recently published in Nordicom.

Btw, if any of you readers happen to have a much craved spare ticket to the Eurovision finals in Athens, then do contact me! I feel this could be an occasion to use some of my savings :)

Happiness formula

Do you have no friends but still aspire for happiness? Then you'd better have £50,000 on your account. According to the economist, Professor Oswald at Warwick University, this amount of money is what it takes to make up for not having friends and still be happy. Although, luckily enough for all of us with small purses, according to research on happiness, deep and meaningful relationships with friends and family has a much bigger effect on average on happiness than a typical person's income. BBC News writes more on why the sense of happiness doesn't increase along with the standard of living, and on what does boost happiness, here.
[via 3quarksdaily]

News flashes

My work's in the news again. The format Probe, developed by MediaCity and Sveng.com Interactive, has been nominated in the category "Best Enhanced TV Program" of the international iTV Award (the winner is announced at the 2006 AFDESI Awards, held in Cannes on the 4th of April). The audience research we conducted on the interactive quiz is referred to here. Furthermore, an article on MediaCity's iDTV Lab was recently published here (in Finnish).

2 years anniversary

Today, two years have passed since my first, personal blog post. And a lot of confusion has been dispersed with those two years, I'd say. When I talked about blogs back then, and describing my academic interest in blogs, few knew what I was talking about. Many didn't see the point in up loading one's personal issues and inner thoughts for public scrutiny, as if a blog would only play the role of a diary. A general reception my "latest passion" (I'm known for rushing into things with great passion and enthusiasm, but not always nurturing them to survive) got was scepticism, al though mixed with a drop of curiosity. Now, the scenery is completely different. A couple of weeks ago, a guy came up to me in a bar saying "Hey, you're the one keeping the Paeonia blog. I occasionally read it." He recognized me from the photo in the sidebar to the right. Some ask for advice on how to post, some want to engage me in a intellectual debate on the publicity and responsibility involved in blogging that, unfortunately, some tend to forget and some feel blogging is a clear sign of the blogger's lack of more important, more meaningful things to do. The fact that blogging is a topic for discussion now and more and more are seeing the advantages of this way of distributing information and thoughts delights me.

Looking back at what I first felt like stating to the world, I realize it wasn't all that original at all. It was some words of wisdom of one of my favorite writers, Voltaire. I still have this quote (Il faut cultiver notre jardin) as a greeting in my pda. To honour this, I'll give you a few more devices à la Voltaire to chew on:

"If God did not exist, it would be necessary to invent him." (Epistle on the "Three Imposters").

"Think for yourselves and let others enjoy the privilege to do so too." (Essay on Tolerance)

Rocking International Women's Day

Today, as you probably all know, we celebrate International Women's Day. What you may not know though is that you might be celebrating Alanis Morisette's Day today, as the city of Ottawa declares this day in her honor. However, Morissette refuses to accept this honor because the date is already "occupied" by the International Women's Day.

If you feel like indulging yourself in feminine matters today, I recommend a plunge into Ada Lovelace, regarded as the world's first programmer (but whose contributions remain disputed by some). Here's what she had to say on the Analytic Engine:

Again, it [the Analytical Engine] might act upon other things besides number, were objects found whose mutual fundamental relations could be expressed by those of the abstract science of operations, and which should be also susceptible of adaptations to the action of the operating notation and mechanism of the engine . . . Supposing, for instance, that the fundamental relations of pitched sounds in the science of harmony and of musical composition were susceptible of such expression and adaptations, the engine might compose elaborate and scientific pieces of music of any degree of complexity or extent.

It sounds pretty much like a modern computer doesn't it?

Old news

A reader asked for the article on my work that was published in some Swedish newspapers, and that I forgot to blog (it was published one and a half months ago). There are some flaws in the text, for instance MediaCity is not a company but a detached unit of Åbo Akademi University. Well, here it is.

Vasaloppet race timing

Pretty cool, I'm tracking down how my friend is doing in the Vasaloppet ski race via the transponder attached to his leg. He's now covered a distance of 10,5 kilometres out of a total of 90 in almost two hours. Way to go! Here's more information on how they do it.

Oscar fans

Many film buffs are impatiently waiting for tonights big event, the Oscars, but I think few os us can match these two ladies (see Finlay's post of 4th March 0500 GMT), who've been following the event alongside the red carpet for 37 years straight. Wow!

fate uncovered

A friend stated yesterday that blogs, due to the grand explosion of the number of Finnish bloggers and the hype around them, have become an epidemic. I’m sure many feel that way in Finland now. My own interest in blogs though, both as a phenomenon and news/entertainment source, has been worn and torn for a while now. I rarely browse around hunting for new bloggers with fresh, piquant views on matters. I stick to the ones I’m used to and occasionally check out their blogrolls.

My ability for enthusiasm isn’t completely crushed though. I’ve joined the hype of mastering one’s fate. Many friends have recently undergone a test where the probable date for their death is calculated and with a fascinated air asked if I’ve done the same? As I’m currently dwelling on the couch with a sore throat on a perfectly beautiful as today, I figured I’d give in to my hesitation and uncover my fate. It turns out that, given that I don’t change my living and consumption habits, I’ll live until the year of 2065. By then, I’ll be a hardy lady of 86 years old. I’m not sure whether I’m happy and relieved about the fact that I due to healthy life style have a big bundle of years ahead of me, free to fill with things of my choice, or worried as this probably implies that I’m not taking risks in my life, and probably not being all that adventurous and spontaneous as I thought I am. Hmm…

The test is here, it’s in Finnish, provided by Helsingin Sanomat, the leading national daily in Finland.

hooray again!

I just got the word that another paper of ours has been accepted for a media conference! This conference is also in Athens, in May. I guess that city will see a lot of me this spring. The bad news is though that all the tickets for the finals in the Eurovision are sold out, apparently they went in 15 red, hot minutes. And we got none...

Mystery of dialects

Fredrik Lindström has been sorting out the mysteries of different dialects of Swedish this winter in his TV programme at SVT, the Swedish Public Service Broadcast Company. The last episode of it aired last night and the theme for the night was my own lingua, Swedish dialects in Ostrobothnia. The crew discussed semantics and phonetics with teenagers, whose mother tongue also is Swedish, in my previous home town of Åbo and in municipalities close to where I live and am from, such as Närpes and Korsnäs, where the ancient dialects of Swedish have been rather well preserved over the years.

Lindström concluded the programme by stating that the fact that many are keen on talking a strict, polished Swedish may indicate the fear of not fitting in, of not being adequate or suitable enough that he sees in the modern society. Conversely, if you speak a dialect you take the risk of standing out. Standing out, but in a positive and sometimes exotic manner, is sometimes what I do when I speak my dialect instead of the strict, clean Swedish that is intelligible for all, but I wouldn’t change it for the world. I couldn’t change the way I talk without it reflecting my identity.

The entire programme on Swedish dialects in Finland is here.

Paper accepted!

Hooray! I got the word a couple of days ago that our paper on the viewing experiences of the interactive TV quiz show Enigma (Probe) was accepted for the EuroITV 2006 conference in Athens in May. Here's a teaser in advance, i.e. the abstract. I hear the weather in Athens at that time is pleasantly warm so I'm hoping for many participants (hint, the early registration for the conference closes March 15th). The ticket sale for Eurovision Song Contest the weekend before the conference starts in ten minutes, I'll head over here to make sure I get a ticket, pronto!

Entertaining past

I was hunting online java games for kids last night as I'm planning on using them in teaching languages. I found some good ones for this purpose, but I also stumbled upon my absolute favorite one as a child: Boulderdash! I ended up sitting all night hunting down those same diamonds I did 20 years ago out of pure pleasure and enjoyment (thus missing out on last night's goodies of the Olympics). The tactic I used back then to get around the evil butterflies was still crystal clear in my mind, which really fascinates me. Imagine that the ways of getting around in a computer game I employed 20 years ago are still there and that I can still use them to successfully play the game! Although the game is a light version of the one I used to play as a kid I was absolutely thrilled to find it, and although a bit old fashioned, it countered well my other passion at the moment, playing alchemist as a gnome in World of Warcraft.

Runeberg's Day

Today, Finland celebrates the birthday of our national poet J.L. Runeberg, who was born in Jakobstad and studied at the Vaasa Gramar School, and at the University of Åbo (Turku). His poetry, written in Swedish, has attracted great attention around the world.

This day is one of my favorites as I get to wallow in Runeberg's cup cakes, just like he did. There's a recipe in English here, definitely worth the effort! For those of you interested in his poetry, and literate in Swedish, I recommend the Project Runeberg site, where free electronic texts of Nordic books are published. Do check out Runeberg's epic poem Fänrik Ståls Sägner.

Photo associations

Thanks to an observant reader of my blog, pointing to broken links in my blog roll, I’ve spent the evening weeding out links and updating the blog. I rarely use these links myself as I subscribe to the blogs’ rss-feeds so I hereby send a thank you-nod to my helpful reader.

When sorting through the links, I eventually reached the photography site of Esa Wendelin. It’s been a while since I had a look at his wonderful photos so I decided to offer my eyes some visual sweets. And what do I find? He’s chosen one of the dearest places in my heart as the front cover of his 2006 calendar! To all of a sudden be confronted with the beautiful, illuminated dock of the small river of Åbo genuinely made me happy, as it holds an infinite number of memories. I’ve done many interviews there, on the river side, while working as a journalist; the river has defined my city identity as to by which side of it I live and I’ve strolled there at all times of the day in various sets of moods. One of the saddest phone calls I’ve ever received was by the bridge you can see in the picture. The artillery of meanings, associations and significance a single picture can hold never ceases to surprise me.

Organizational blogs are more conversational than web sites

Blogs are a good place to speak candidly with a conversational style (e.g., "invite people to a conversation"), and this conversational style may be an important part of the process of building and maintaining computer-mediated relationships for organizations, conclude Tom Kelleher and Barbara M Miller in their paper “Organizational Blogs and the Human Voice: Relational Strategies and Relational Outcomes", published in the latest issue of Journal of Computer-Mediated Communication.

Some of the most important findings of their study, where the hypotheses of the potential advantages of organizational blogs over traditional Web sites were tested, are

• blogs were perceived as more conversational than organizational Web sites
• this conversational human voice correlated positively with other previously-identified relationship outcomes. The perceived personal nature of organizational blogs, in this case, is related to relationship indicators.

However, the authors note, "blogs allow people representing organizations to speak candidly, blogs may not be the best venue for "PR" messages intended to talk up an organization's commitment to its public relationships."

U2 on audience and performance

I got my hands on a two months old Rolling Stone magazine featuring an in-depth interview with Bono, written by Jann S. Wenner. Interestingly, Bono states that very little has been written about performers' psychology. Performers usually try to fill a hole, that's obvious, Bono says and continues: "What's less obvious is that through this insecurity we develop a kind of a third eye or a sort of reptilian sense of what's going on in the room.".

I experienced one of those moments when you realize that what you just read, you've always wanted to know, it's just that you haven't been aware of it until then. The question on what goes on inside a singer's head when performing in front of a crowd of thousands of fans really caught my interest, for some subconscious reason. Perhaps because I sense a paradox when it comes to performing music. On one hand, music has a way of completely absorbing you once you start playing or singing. You can really lose yourself in producing sound and the surroundings basically disapperar. But on the other hand, there are great performers who read their audience brilliantly, artists with great stage presence who are completely aware of what's going on in the back rows of the arena. Robbie Williams is one of them. After a quick search for academic writing on this delicate balance between complete absorbation and complete connectedness with every individual in the arena, I'm no smarter. If anyone can point me to resources, readings or blog postings about this, I'd be grateful!

Further down the article, Bono answers Wenner's question "What are you trying to do with the audience?" like this:

"To lose my own sense of self, self-consciousness - and theirs."

There's an excerpt from the article here (RS 986, November 3, 2005), though not containing the citations above.

New survey on set-top boxes

IT viikko reports on the major reason to Finns not getting a set-top box: many feel it is still unnecessary. This is particularly the case in cable households, according to a telephone survey ordered by the Finnish Communications Regulatory Authority. The survey also concludes that respondents owning a set-top box are in general satisfied with the purchase and taking it in use didn't cause any problems for the majority. The usability of the STB:s was lauded by many users.

Eyes on iTV site up and running

Me and my colleagues at MediaCity are currently organizing a conference about iTV. The event will take place in September 27-28th 2006 here in Vasa. The outline is to shed light on the development and production of interactive television programs and the broadcasting of them. Naturally, the focus of the conference also turns to audience testing of iTV (that's what I'm currently working with at the iDTV Lab). For more information, sign up for the news letter at the conference web site.

I'm in good company

About a year now, I've been actively involving my left hand (I'm originally right handed) in everyday tasks, such as writing and using the mouse. The reason to why I started this endevour was an ever increasing pain in my right hand wrist when writing, cooking and so forth. ALong the way, I realized that it is surprisingly easy to transmit the tasks of the right hand to the left one. And it's quite efficiant too being ambidextrous; when I'm scrolling up and down a web page with my left hand, my right one takes notes. The same scenario a couple of years ago would have had my left hand resting all along while my right one did all the working.

Anyhows, since I may be someday a full-fledged ambidextrous I decided to look up the phenomenon and I realized I'm in good company! Kurt Cobain, Leonardo da Vinci and Harry Truman among others were all ambidextrous. According to the wiki site, playing the piano has an impact on this interesting ability. Now there's a benefit of playing my piano I've never come across before!

Tip of the day: loads of short films available on the net to watch at the Sundance Film Festival's site.

EuroITV registration

The early registration is now available for the EuroITV 2006 conference.

Moblogging

There's a moblog about the conference Mediespråk 2006 I'm currently attending.