What Europe can teach China, from The Economist
From Charlemange column in The Economist, June 26th 2010 issue. "Help them to help themselves".
Weather not ideal
Weather not exactly awesome over here in Lapland but we're managing. Taking lots of pictures that look good on the camera-screen at least. The GF1 really is a kick-ass travel camera!
Ars Technica: Copland 2010 revisited: Apple's language and API future
And so continues one of the biggest constants in software development: the unerring sense among developers that the level of abstraction they're current working at is exactly the right one for the task at hand. Anything lower-level is seen as barbaric, and anything higher-level is a bloated, slow waste of resources. This remains true even as the overall level of abstraction across the industry marches ever higher.
First the C guys can't imagine writing in assembly anymore, but C++'s vtable dispatch is still just too slow to consider. Then the C++ guys look back with chagrin at the bad-old-days of rolling their own half-assed object systems in C, but Java is dismissed as a ridiculous pig. Still later, the Java guys sneer at pointers and manual memory management, but JavaScript is ridiculed as a toy "scripting" language for validating web forms. And on and on.
....
Once again, let me anticipate your likely reaction. "Don't try to frighten us with your technological worries. Microsoft's sad devotion to its modern, multi-language runtime has not helped it conjure up some decent mobile market share, or given it clairvoyance enough to dominate any product category outside its core Windows/Office strengths." All of this is true. Successfully addressing a technical issue like this is not a guarantee of success, nor is being a bit behind in this area a death sentence.
via arstechnica.com
John Siracusa at his best! I love the original stuff on Ars Technica, thought-provoking, interesting, funny and well-written. Unfortunately there are only so many John Siracusa's and Jon Stokes around and Ars needs to get pageviews after "selling out". Which means they are more or less copying Engadget, TechCrunch et al with similar, superficial, stories and "news".
Panasonic GF1, First impressions!
After many months, even years, of agonizing over camera specs, own priorities, needs and wants I finally caved in and ordered a new camera. The problem was mainly that I wanted DSLR-quality pictures and infinite tweakability but I'm really lazy when it comes to carrying a camera around. This has finally been solved with the new class of very small DSLR-like cameras, I say "like" because technically they aren't a Digital Single-Lens Reflex camera but reach almost the same picture-quality. In fact, my new purchase, the Panasonic GF1 is an EVIL-camera, Electronic Viewfinder Interchangeable Lens. Enough about the geeky semantics though, here is how it looks:
It weighs just under 500 g (475 g to be exact) when setup like on the picture, battery inserted, memory-card, 20 mm lens and strap. It's clearly larger than most point and shoots but super-zooms can be bulkier. The main difference is that with the super-zoom's you are stuck with the built-in lens while EVIL cameras, like this based on the Micro 4/3:s format, have interchangeable lenses like the acronyms suggests.
I picked it up from the post office just today so clearly I'm in no position to criticize or praise the camera too much but I'll give a few initial thoughts here since I was asked to and I want to share!
Basically it does what I wanted it to do, first of all it takes great pictures while still keeping the size down. It focuses fast, it takes 720p video and in general feels great to handle and carry. It feels well built but not too heavy.
The downsides are that it still is almost 500 g and it doesn't have big comfy grip like super-zooms and DSLR:s have, it makes a loud clicking sounds which will feel great for the DSLR-fans, and I agree that it sounds satisfying, but at the same time it would be nice if it kept quiet.
Anyway, I won't make any more judgments about it now, instead I'll post a few sample pictures (click to reach Flickr for full-resolution version if you are of the pixel-peeping kind). I haven't edited the pictures at all, just loaded them off the camera (in RAW-format) and uploaded using iPhoto. Will be looking into digital darkroom software soon. Oh and there's a video too.
More books: Eastward to Tartary and Balkan Ghosts by Robert D Kaplan
Since its raining outside I'll continue with a few more book-recommendations from my parents book-collection.
Robert D Kaplan has written two of my favorite books that explain, using history and own experiences, how thing came to be. He expertly describes, without going into too much details, the history of a certain region and how it came to shape the area politically but also its people. However, not content at being simple history books, the current situation and possible future of the region is also discussed. Reading these two books was a big revelation and immensely interesting.
"Eastward to Tartary" starts from the area of Turkey, Syria, Lebanon and parts of Israel, before moving eastward towards the almost forgotten mid-asian countries left on their own after the soviet union collapsed. Its part travel-guide, part history-book and informative all the way.
"Balkan Ghosts" does the same kind of insightful analysis of the balkan countries around former Yugoslavia and its neighbouring countries. It gives a face to each country and describes why they all have a different future ahead and are not just the grey mass off ex-communist east-european countries. Kaplan is hopeful of some, more skeptical about others. Very healthy book to read with lots of good information!
Warmly recommending both of the books to anyone who feel like expanding their knowledge about these oft-forgotten areas of the world. In fact, I should probably re-read them soon!
Book recommendation: Dark Star Safari by Paul Theroux
Been years since I read this book so I'm not reviewing it per se, just recommending it. Spending the midsummer at my parents so seeing lots of books in their bookcases that I've liked and loved through the years.
Paul Theroux is a prolific travel-writer but his books are of varying quality. I wouldn't really recommend any other than this one even though I've read a few. Dark Star Safari describes how he in his older days decide to travel from Egypt to Southern Africa, overland. The author has spent time in Africa before and can therefore compare his experiences with how it was years before. The verdict isn't pretty, Africa has stayed much the same or even regressed in a way that is deeply saddening. The author actually puts much of the blame on aid-agencies that well-meaningly but misguidedly teaches African nations to be dependent on outside support. Its not all bad though, the book beautifully describes the feeling of traveling on this still wild continent and the trip was clearly very rewarding to the author. That said, this book shouldn't be the only book you read about Africa because that would surely give you the wrong impression of a diverse and interesting continent. Watch some TED Africa presentations about the positive changes in Africa and I can also warmly recommend the three-part BBC documentary, "Welcome To Lagos". Its an interesting inside look at the positive spirit that drives the poorest people in Nigerias biggest city in search of something better. In general, we all should learn more about Africa because maybe, hopefully, they will finally soon follow us into the modern era of prosperity!Have a nice Midsummer!
Doing a little summer-picture roundup in anticipation of the midsummer, I'll be mostly offline and in Kokkola during the weekend, take care everyone!
As my twitter or flickr-followers might've noticed, I've been a much more prolific photographer this summer. Somehow been very visually inspired. Granted, much of my photography has been done on my walk to work but that's not necessarily a bad thing, is it? We need more pictures of the mundane and everyday, and that happens to be a very beautiful and inspiring everyday when it comes to summer in Turku! Here are some of my recent favorites:
The pile of rubble in the background is the old seed-repository being torn down, its been abandoned for as long as I've lived in Turku and last summer a kid died there while doing some urban exploring with his friends. Finally they found the money to tear it down. I have more pictures of it in this set:
What's summer without some rain? 
And pretty clouds:
Be nice and stay safe during the midsummer-festivities! It's unfortunately almost a certain that its not a question "if" someone drowns during midsummer-eve in Finland but "how many", so remember to wear floating-vests if you are boating and don't try to pee overboard :).
Are our phones becoming too much like computers?
Last week while I was merrily tapping away at my keyboard at work I noticed that my phone (a Nokia N900) felt warm in my pocket. This happens every now and then, I leave an app on and it ends up doing something heavy or a webpage with flash is open. No biggie, I'll just turn stuff off and continue working. The problem was that I had no apps running. Since the N900 runs a full Linux installation, daemons and background apps can sometimes run amok. Being a command-line Linux-guy I looked deeper into my computer-slash-phone and found out that a computer with a Mexican IP-address was running a dictionary attack on SSH (over 3G), trying to break into my phone.
Now, I should point out that first of all I was running an up to date OpenSSH-version (which isn't installed or actived by default for those worrying) and I had a strong password, so I wasn't running a risk of being compromised. But my battery-life wasn't improving either. I shut down OpenSSH* and the next time I need it I'll bind it to WLAN-only, but the question remains: Are our phones becoming too much like computers?I, for one, like carrying a full Linux-system in my pocket, but it might require a little too much expertise for most people. The complexity is hidden away in most smartphone OSes, but that doesn't mean it isn't lurking there, in the background. Waiting to be exploited by hackers, virus-writers and other assorted nefarious characters. Be safe and think about what you install on your phone!
*) Turning off SSH in Maemo is a bit tricky - Maemo uses "upstart" for daemons but still keeps the old rc.d-system also, which can be a little bewildering (it was to me). What you need to do is go into "/etc/event.d/sshd" with a text-editor and comment the first line (with #). Then you write "initctl stop sshd" and sshd will be stopped and not restarted automatically.
Apple collecting, sharing iPhone users' precise locations | Technology | Los Angeles Times
Apple Inc. is now collecting the "precise," "real-time geographic location" of its users' iPhones, iPads and computers.
In an updated version of its privacy policy, the company added a paragraph noting that once users agree, Apple and unspecified "partners and licensees" may collect and store user location data.
When users attempt to download apps or media from the iTunes store, they are prompted to agree to the new terms and conditions. Until they agree, they cannot download anything through the store.
The company says the data is anonymous and does not personally identify users. Analysts have shown, however, that large, specific data sets can be used to identify people based on behavior patterns.
I don't mean to sound paranoid but privacy-issues should be discussed and not hidden in a opaque privacy policy. The problem with this kind of functionality is that even if its used properly by Apple, there can be legal pressure applied on them to release the data - or it could be stolen. I'd rather not have this functionality and data so readily available.
It should be noted, and is in the end of the article, that Google does more or less the same with their Android-phones as well.
Update: Other blog and news sources make the point that Apple keeps the data anonymized and that this type of policy and wording is needed for apps like Google Maps and Foursquare to work. Anonymizing efficiently is surprisingly hard given enough data - if you track my daily life any wannabe-detective could figure out who I am. Other experiments such as AOL releasing search data and Netflix releasing movie-watching data shows that you can analyze the data to break anonymity.
Then again, if you trust the Steve, he has a reasonable take on location-privacy:
We worry a lot about location in phones," Jobs said. "We have rejected a lot of apps that want to take your personal data and suck it up into the cloud. A lot of people in the Valley think we are really old-fashioned about that, and maybe we are. Privacy means people know what they are signing up for in plain English...Some people want to share more data. Ask them. Ask them every time. Let them know precisely what you are going to do with their data."
From this years D: All Things Digital Conference, via news.cnet.com
This Mac devotee is moving to Linux - Dan Gillmor - Salon.com
Apple is pushing computer users as fast as it can toward a centrally controlled computing ecosystem where it makes all the decisions about what native applications may be used on the devices it sells -- and takes a cut of every dollar that is spent inside that ecosystem. This is a direct repudiation of its own history, and more broadly that of the larger personal-computing ecosystem, where no one can stop anyone else from writing and distributing software that other people might want to use.
Steve Jobs says Apple is a curator, nothing more. This grossly understates the control. Jobs says Apple has "made mistakes" in being the police, judge, jury and executioner in its Disney-style world, and is working hard to perfect the system.
But this is a disconnect with reality. Central control, no matter how well-intentioned, is itself the problem, not the solution. The "enlightened dictator" is fiction. And dangerous.
I realize that I won't persuade the many people who prefer to live in gated communities, believing they can leave any time they wish. But switching costs will only get higher over time for those who choose to live in the Apple ecosystem.
via salon.com
Dan Gillmor is saying what I have been thinking for a while, and why I bought the HP Mini 210 netbook. It's so that I can reacquaint myself with Linux on the Desktop and see if it could be an alternative (again).
Henry Hagnäs
Long time chemical engineering student back to get his degree. General IT specialist and people person.
