Today has been very practical. The day began with some website building (unfinished so I will not reveal it yet), then it was a visit to Ikea Рyes the clich̩ is fulfilled, swedes going to Ikea on Saturdays. Then it was back home to fix the washing machine, to my parents house to fix their wireless, then finally back home to begin building the infamous flat-packets. While Ikea makes ok furniture but it is very annoying to build your own furniture Рespecially with the silly little Ikea tool.
Organised people plan ahead. They have pension schemes and stock portfolios. Itâ??s all very grown up. Its one of those things you know you should do â?? but somehow you donâ??t. When the topic comes up in conversation there is always someone who has prepared and planned while the rest fall ominously silent.
I wish I planned ahead, I wish I could find the interest to consider life in twenty, forty and maybe sixty (but that might be pushing itâ?¦) years. The only share I have is framed and hanging on my wall.
This Svensk-Dansk-Ryska Telefon Aktiebolaget was founded on November 14, 1901 in order to establish Ericsson in the Russian market and to provide telephony services. The original certificate was a copper engraving bearing the Swedish, Russian and Danish coats of arms and an Ericsson telephone. In 1917 all assets were sold to The Russian Telephone Company but following the revolution the telephone company was nationalized and the money was never paid.
Among the founders of the company were Henrik Cedergren, Wilhelm Montelius (Chairman of Telefon AB L M Ericsson 1905-1916), Knut A Wallenberg, Marcus Wallenberg Sr., Den Danske Landmandsbank and Stockholms Allmänna Telefon Aktiebolag. Other well-known founders were Arvid Lindman (Swedenâ??s Prime Minister 1906-1911 and 1928-1930), and Princess Marie of Denmark (related to the Tsar family).
Did the owners of these shares talk loudly of how they had planned their future? Did the people who were forced to listen become embarrassed and silent?
Occasionally when writing my PhD I could attempt to image what the period between handing in and defence felt like. Just as I still try to image what the day after the defence feels like.
Naturally nothing is what it seems. My days are not spent in still contemplation and preparation but rather an endless list of tasks ranging from the trivial to the truly important.
I move from discussing with a reporter whether the investigators guidelines for modernizing the use of content delivery were biased in favour of the music industry or not (they are). To the more trivial buying stuff at Ikea (how very Swedish). From preparing a very important personâ??s 10:th birthday to buying socks. Itâ??s high and low at the same time.
Today I am off to Slovenia (Maribor) for a conference in Social Informatics where I am looking forward to taking my mind of the waiting by engaging in real discussion. I shall be presenting a paper on Internet censorship and the different approaches to circumvent such practices.
Today is election day in Sweden. Yesterday all the political parties were fighting for the last undecided voters. It was also a very nice sunny day. Close to the place were the Social Democrats were going to speak in Göteborg I came across this protest:
The image is blurry but it is a person sitting on a chair with a table in front of him/her. On the table are plates filled with earth. The person is covered from head to foot with what may be a burkah. On his/her head a small childs shoe is balanced.
There was no information just the protest – at least I saw it as a protest. The whole protest was situated on a traffic island separating two roads.
The result was disturbing. There are many interpretations for what this could be symbolic of but no real knowledge…
Richard Butterworth has humorous talk (with pictures) entitled â??I did a PhD and did NOT go madâ?? my problem is that the actual writing is now finished and I am slowly going mad waiting for published book to arrive (tomorrow), to then be able to formally apply to defend my thesis, to finally defending my thesis on 2nd October.
Itâ??s kind of like being a kid again. You know the time before Christmas or birthdays. When all you wanted to do was for time to pass. You didnâ??t really want to talk or think about what was on its way but you could do nothing else.
Wish I was a Buddhist â?? you know: serene, relaxed & happyâ?¦ Focus on today and not live for the future. Do you think that he would have been a good PhD student?
This is from xkcd comics:
Obviously, spending the summer teaching myself Unix was worth it – I got the joke.
(via Boing Boing)
Not every lifetime has the privilege of experiencing the discovery of new planets â?? in particular in our own solar system. But we are now living in an exiting time. Today a major decision will be made that will effect our solar system. We are going to remove some planets from the solar system.
So how many planets will there be in the solar system tomorrow? If you are a betting person then the safe money is on the number eight. This means that Pluto is out. Even though it has been accepted as a planet since its discovery in 1840 1930.
The reason (New Scientist) for the loss of Pluto is the acceptance of a new planetary definition that a planet must be the dominant body in its orbital zone, clearing out any little neighbours. Pluto does not qualify because its orbit crosses that of the vastly larger Neptune.
Pluto may become either a “dwarf-planet” or planetoid. But even though the safe money is on the adoption of the new definition there is always the chance that the long shot will win and the pro-Pluto-as-planet lobby will succeed! Ok so I have no idea whether there is a pro-Pluto-as-planet lobby but can you picture the whole decision making body: the politics, the lobbying, the intrigueâ?¦ Being an astronomer must be exiting stuff right now.
Or maybe the whole thing is a ruse to be able to reprint all the astronomy booksâ?¦
Take a look at the cool BBC astronomy website.
According to Mr Hawkins’ interpretation of Biblical prophesy, nuclear war will erupt on September 12, 2006, and one third of the humans on the planet will perish. Watch him here.
Damn – my thesis defence is on October 2nd!
Who should I contact to ask for an extension on this end of the world thingy?
(via Boing Boing)
Today it’s nostalgia. We are going to see the new Asterix and the Vikings film/cartoon. Already from the trailer I can see that they have not slavishly followed the book but that doesn’t matter. The series by Uderzo and Goscinny of the adventures of the Gauls surrounded by Romans has been a central part of growing up. The Gauls have also appeared occaisionally in my lectures.
A day spent in unpacking and fixing the minor annoyances of the new place. My new view is a brick wall. If I lean out of the window I can see another brick wall. I cannot say that I am impressed by the view…