Henry Hagnäs

 

The craft of Dice-making

There is nothing I respect more than expertise! Seeing or listening to a true professional at work is a thing of beauty and it almost brings tears to my eyes. No matter if it's someone cleaning windows, playing piano or writing code - you can see it in the economy of motion, in the emotions they bring or in the efficiency of their code how extremely talented and trained they are. They love what they do and they have done it a million times yet still love it. 

On the Internet you can find all kinds of videos of experts in action, the TED talks are a great example of this ( http://www.ted.com ), they are joyful, awesome, educational and just so passionate about what they do! Not all of them are great of course but for instance Adam Savage's presentation about making a replica Dodo-bird is so full of passion you want to stand up and applaud in your own room afterwards. Burt Rutan's passion for flight brings tears to my eyes and I know the future exploration of space is in good hands when I listen to Bill Stone. 

But these are people who are already big, Adam Savage - for good reason - brings millions of viewers to Discovery Channel with his show, Mythbusters. Burt Rutan has built the prototype of commercial space flight already and Bill Stone is working with NASA. What about the less known geniuses, experts and purveyors of awesomeness? Well, for them, we have Youtube!

Here is a two-part video of Colonel Louis Zocchi, the owner of Game Science and a veteran maker of dice. Yes, dice, and not just the normal casino-dices either, but the super-nerdy 20-sided dice used in Dungeons and Dragons-type games. He is an expert in such a small niche that only geeks and serious gamers know him but as you watch him present his wares you can see and hear the passion! I never needed a 20-sided dice and probably never will, but I find him describing how its made and what makes it good fascinating and I hope you will too!

Videos found via Henri Muurimaa, http://twitter.com/henrimuurimaa

Isn't the democratization of communication and information just plain awesome?

Filed under  //   thoughts   video  
Posted January 10, 2010
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Quantum of Solace


Just finished playing through the game based on the latest Bond-movie. Usually I don't make much note of the franchised games, they tend to be weird games that feel very odd (Latest Batman and Wolverine-games are said to be different too). QoS tickled my interest because a video-review (IGN I believe) said that it was based on the Call of Duty 4-engine and was surprisingly good if not a bit uneven. I found it for cheap, 12 euros, via huuto.net which is kind of like the local eBay over in Finland.

In short, the game is worth 12 euros and you too can probably find it cheap on sale or second hand. The gameplay is a slightly modified and less polished version of Call of Duty 4: Modern Warfare. There are less guns but better support for stealth attacks and hand to hand combat. You can also dodge behind cover, much like in Gears of War. The story is more Casino Royale than Quantum of Solace but thats only a good thing. The story and levels aren't as polished as COD4 but passable, some of them are uneven though. The COD4 gameplay is a lot of fun and if you are a fan of it and want new challenges the QOS should suit you. Personally I love COD4, both Modern Warfare and Modern Warfare 2 but don't play games online so something with new maps is excellent. Took me 2 pretty long evenings to save the Bolivian's from drought, well worth the price.

Filed under  //   gaming   review   xbox  
Posted January 6, 2010
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Christmas travels and stories

Once again I have been out traveling around Finland. My grandmother is too old to travel so we had to come to her in Rovaniemi. Ended up traveling almost 2000 km's for Christmas:

I spent the Christmas with my own closest family, my grandmother and my brothers wife and her parents. Christmas is more of personal time when we put away our cameras but during the travels I took a bunch of pictures with my Nokia N900. Being online via 3G all (most) of the time meant I uploaded the pictures in real time and using Flickr's geotag-support could show where I was going. Friends on Twitter and Facebook in turn could comment (and make fun) of the travels. Here are the results, click on over to Flickr for the full on geotagged and mapped experience.

The pictures can be found plotted on a map here, courtesy of flickr's excellent support for geotags: http://www.flickr.com/photos/hagge/sets/72157622963535031/map/

My favorite present was not so much a present as an heirloom or inheritance:

Its my grandfather's "puukko" or actually "lapinleuku". It has been polished and sharpened at the Marttini factory so its ready for another lifetime of use. The lapinleuku is, as you can see, a large finnish knife but also an important tool in the North. As a child I sat in the car as my grandfather put a reindeer, injured in a car-crash (not ours, we stopped to help), down with this knife or a knife like it. It, and other knives like it (which my brother and sister got), have been his trusted companions in the wild when fishing and hunting in his beloved Lapland.

Filed under  //   finland   pictures   travel  
Posted December 30, 2009
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Pictures from my trip to Oslo

Finally getting around to post this, I spent a long first weekend of december in Oslo, Norway, visiting one of my very best friends. The weather wasn't the best but the trip was awesome nonetheless because it was more social in nature and I've seen Oslo before in a better light.

Here are some pictures taken during the trip, click to go to my flickr-page where I have described the pictures more in detail and commented on the stuff:

Pictures from a previous and much more sunny visit are also on flickr, here:

Filed under  //   norway   pictures   travel  
Posted December 30, 2009
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Film review in 3x140 characters, Avatar

Just posted this on twitter but might as well save it for posterity here:


FX review: Beautiful shots, awesome CGI and believable world. 3D not necessary, would trade for deeper color.
Story review: Lovely story, builds up social ties well in the first part. Villain not very fun. End part predictable.
Verdict: If you like simple stories and beautiful, expensively made scenery - Go see it, def entertaining!

Not very happy about the 3D experience though, glasses are annoying to wear for 3 hours - even using contact lenses instead of glasses as I normally wear. The experience tends to break too often and remind you that you are in a theater, especially when you try to focus on something other than the director wants you to. In 2D that doesn't bother you but in 3D it does because it breaks with how 3D is created. What really bugs me with a beautiful and colorful movie like Avatar is that 3D also has less color depth, I'd rather watch it in 2D with greater fidelity.

Filed under  //   movie   review  
Posted December 18, 2009
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The Known Universe by AMNH

Beautiful animation of how small and insignificant the Earth is in the grand scheme of things. Our little pale blue dot, that spec of dust, a grain of sand. Home.

Filed under  //   video  
Posted December 18, 2009
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Why do rappers hold their guns sideways? - By Brian Palmer - Slate Magazine

While the side grip does not increase the risk of stovepiping, it is terrible for aim. It's extremely difficult to properly use the top-mounted sight on a handgun that is turned sideways. Not that this matters much to the average street criminal. According to an FBI study, 60 percent of them don't even use the sight.
via slate.com

Important information for all of you would-be rappers, try aiming.

Filed under  //   link  
Posted December 18, 2009
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Picture: Long shadows and short days

Pictures taken at 12:30 today.

Filed under  //   finland   pictures   winter  
Posted December 16, 2009
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Link: Science-Based Medicine » An Influenza Recap: The End of the Second Wave

We are nearing the end of the second wave of the 2009 H1N1 pandemic, and are now a few months out from the release of the vaccine directed against it.  Two topics have dominated the conversation: the safety of the 2009 H1N1 influenza vaccine, and the actual severity of the 2009 H1N1 infection.  Considering the amount of attention SBM has paid the pandemic and its surrounding issues, and in light of a couple of studies just released, it seems time for an update.
via sciencebasedmedicine.org

Excellent, if not a bit too technical and dry, recap of what is known and what has happened with H1N1 and the vaccine (US-centric). Bottom line is that the vaccine has worked very will with little side-effects and especially if you are in the high-risk group you should get vaccinated before a possible third wave (usual in flu-epidemics).

Filed under  //   link   science  
Posted December 16, 2009
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A peregrination on the nature of money « Locklin on science

I’ve never studied economics. What I have read of economics appears to be ideology combined with bad math. Since so much of what passes for modern thought is annoying ideology combined with bad math, I try to avoid such unpleasantry. History, on the other hand, I always have time for. I would like to think using history to think about mysterious concepts like money is useful, but maybe not. It amuses me to do so in any case.
via scottlocklin.wordpress.com

Excellent article on the history of money, fast and easy read.

Filed under  //   article   link  
Posted December 9, 2009
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