I know what I'll be doing this weekend
Polaroid SX-70 Ad
This 11-minute video from the 70's about the Polaroid SX-70 is somehow just plain magic, you gotta watch it!
Hiking
Here is a bunch of photographs from last weekends hiking around Herajärvi in northern Savo (in Finland). For my part the hiking was just along one of the shores because my shoes and I disagreed and I got epic blisters that are still healing. The view was awesome though!
Top of the World
Click straight into Youtube (lower right corner of the video) for higher-res version of the video. Taken from the top of Ukko-Koli.
Vagabonding
"Vagabonding - An Uncommon Guide to the Art of Long-Term World Travel" by Rolf Potts is indeed an uncommon book. The author himself took upon himself, according to the introduction, to write a different book that reflected "himself" and I hope he was successful. The result, however, is a bit of a mess. The book is heavy with quotes, literally hundreds of them, both spread out like separate sidebars and woven (loosely) into the text. These quotes make the text loose its flow and makes it quite hard and annoying to read. The advice itself is decent if not pretty self-evident to anyone who has travelled more, long-term or otherwise (or just have common sense). Every now and then Potts goes into some very interesting anecdotes and stories about what he has seen on his travels but they always end up shorter than you'd wish. Basically the book would have been a lot better and more interesting if the author had explained his advice through examples and anecdotes instead of quotes.
The best parts of the book are actually found on the website[1], all the resources he mentions are listed and updated there. Lots of websites and books suggested that seem like good places to start should you feel like going out in the world. I'm guessing the resources will also be more in-depth than his book so you can concentrate on studying what is most important to you. I really wanted the like this book, it comes highly praised by Tim Ferriss and other "lifestyle-gurus" but it really is not a very good book and the tips and suggestions are so very basic you'd think they are written for someone who hasn't left their home country. For those this book could indeed be of assistance and inspiration but it just wasn't for me. [1] http://www.vagabonding.net/
Apple - Magic Trackpad - The Multi-Touch trackpad for your desktop.
via apple.com
Apple released the Magic Trackpad I was hoping for! Excellent!
Funny how they decided to "re-invent" the rechargeable battery business at the same time too with a Apple branded battery and charger-setup :). I feel like a sucker because I'm probably going to order it - I don't actually do rechargeable batteries yet (don't use much batteries to begin with). Need to research the alternatives a bit I guess.
What I Talk About When I Talk About Running
"What I Talk About When I Talk About Running" is a short and very personal memoir by the japanese novelist Haruki Murakami, where he describes choice parts of his life via his passion for running.
The book is extremely well-written and personal, its not a biographical work in the traditional sense because it concentrates on only a, admittedly big, part of Mr. Murakami's life - running - and compares it to his writing. He passionately describes how and why he runs, how it has shaped him as a person and in extension his writing. It's only about 170 pages and a fast and easy read. Even if you aren't a runner it gives an interesting perspective to the world and mindset of the runner. That said, I found it fascinating and inspiring because I've been dabbling with running the last few years - not sure how much of the book is of interest to someone who doesn't like either running or peering into an intimate part of another persons psyche. I would nonetheless recommend it, if for no other reason because it is actually a good and different kind of book.Nudge
"Nudge: Improving Decision About Health, Wealth and Happiness" by Richard H. Thaler and Cass R. Sunstein is a fun and easy to read book about surprisingly serious topics. It comes highly recommended by a multitude of different people and sources, not the least my dear The Economist gave it their "A Best Book of the Year"-award/badge/thing.
The subtitle might suggest that the book is a self-help book but that is (mostly) not the case. The book talks about the choices we make but often from a grander perspective of creating useful default choices and making it easy to do the right thing, wether when choosing food or pension plans. Much of the advice goes to the "choice architects", the people who decide in what order things are presented etc. However, it does also empowers the reader to recognize where those choices have been made badly for you, either in ignorance or for deception, and helps us make a more conscious choice where we deem it important. The writers are both professors at the University of Chicago (School of Business and Law, respectively). There are copious amounts of references and notes in the end, which always is a good sign. The book itself is also very facts-based, it references much research and doesn't claim to come up with much own ideas just collecting the wisdom of others (again, something that I find both refreshing and honest). Lots of books like these are written to bang on the authors own drum and support their pet-theory. It follows the tradition of books like Freakonomics and writers like Malcolm Gladwell in making real world economics and psychology easy and fun to read. For people who enjoy learning and understanding about how the world works this is really something you need to read. Even more than most other books in this field, "Nudge" feels practical and more real than many other books in the same vein. Especially people in the position of making choices for other people, either explicitly or implicitly in designing a form or plan, need to know how important the way in which the alternatives are presented is! People are lazy or get paralyzed when the complexity or amount of choices is too much for them and you need to help them make a good choice. If there is any criticism to be pointed out it is that the book is very US-centric and some of the discussions about 401(k)'s and other strictly American idiosyncrasies can feel uninteresting for an outsider but that is both understandable (since the authors are from the US) and isn't overwhelming. All in all, I highly recommend "Nudge" for being an interesting, educational and fun read!
Henry Hagnäs
Long time chemical engineering student back to get his degree. General IT specialist and people person.
