wonder what I should use this blog for...
----
edit 30/10/2010: Perhaps I should stop thinking and just start blogging. But first I'd like to import some posts from Google Buzz. Can't seem to find an easy way to do it aside from cut and paste...
Thursday 30 September 2010
Saturday 25 September 2010
Happy Mid-Autumn Festival!
Had a moony celebration today surrounded by kids (Taiwanese/Finnish mix)
wondering if I should have coffee with the coffee mooncake...
 |
| Unboxing mooncakes! |
 |
| Jaakko never misses a chance with the camera while Bella is mesmerized by something on TV. |
 |
| Coconut and coffee mooncakes - some interesting flavours. Also had some traditional red-bean and egg-yoke ones (not pictured). |
Wednesday 15 September 2010
Of Symbian, new CEO, HW and SW...
Symbian and the Case of Growing Noticeable -- a great write up by Antoine Wright
http://arjw.wordpress.com/2010/09/15/symbian-and-the-case-of-growing-noticeable/
Much better thought out details of some similar ideas that I've had, in response to a friend asking for comments on this article:
Nokia’s New CEO: Challenges | Monday Note
which I replied on FB and just copying it here:
"there are definitely a lot of challenges for the new CEO. however i personally don't think that adding (or replacing) another OS to our portfolio is the answer. many people have speculated/suggested Android, some even WinMo and RIM. sure we've had a couple of rough years with Symbian and also the transition from Maemo to Meego. but I think we made a good move acquiring Trolltech (Qt) and Symbian -- and then made them open. (although that added growing pains to the past two years as well.) in this way Nokia has control over the main directions the OSes take, yet avail these open platforms for developers. there are great strides made for Symbian^3 and towards Symbian^4 as well as Meego, and I think we'll be seeing some nice results soon but we have to keep the momentum. NOT reducing effort or giving up altogether and jump onto another platform controlled by another company. that would be a stupid move, imo.
(btw, it's not that i dislike Android or other OSes, i've played with Android and i quite like it. i just don't think it's the right choice for Nokia in the foreseeable future.)
the challenges, then, are in other areas. Marketing, for one. not MORE marketing, but better. also improving support for developers, making the development for Symbian/Meego platforms desirable and easy (as in smooth process for publish apps, not necessarily easy in terms of programming, although Qt is rather fun to use once you get the basics down). because at the end of the day, 99% of phone users won't know/care about the details of the OS in their phones, but rather how their phones can enrich their lives with useful/entertaining apps and services. and speaking of services, another challenge will be to better integrate Ovi with the phones, as well as Ovi itself as a service platform."
Rounding up with some media... an excellent demo from Nokia World of Nokia C7 running Symbian^3
Nokia C7 hands-on Overview at Nokia World 2010
a pic which i took, edited and tweeted; and in turn prompted Antoine to write a poem!
http://arjw.wordpress.com/2010/09/14/poem-dear-job/
----
Update 17/9/2010:
One more article my friend linked to: http://daringfireball.net/2010/09/nokia_next
talking about HW vs SW in Nokia, and he mentioned that SW must come first.
My response:
yeah we're still rather HW focused, and i agree we need to make it more about the software and Ux. i just don't agree with "one software platform" or "moving to Android/WinMo7" as being the solution.
i've read a very different “competitive analysis” of the iPhone as the one mentioned in the article. that's another problem in big companies - many duplicate efforts.
(then another commenter comparing Nokia to Windows (Microsoft), HP and Dell etc.)
Me again:
well, there are hardware companies (HTC, Dell, Samsung if you ignore Bada) and there are software companies (Google, Microsoft). so it's not surprising that HW companies focus on HW, SW companies focus on SW. Nokia and Apple are both. however Apple basically makes 1 OS for 1 phone, whereas Nokia has multiple OSes for many many many phones. one model is not necessarily better than the other, but given what we have,we've got to make it work. and having both HW and SW means there needs to be a workable and profitable balance, and Nokia is still learning to be a SW company finally with all the SW assets under one roof (as mentioned previously, Symbian, Qt, and Meego (with Intel) which are all fairly recent mergers).
http://arjw.wordpress.com/2010/09/15/symbian-and-the-case-of-growing-noticeable/
Much better thought out details of some similar ideas that I've had, in response to a friend asking for comments on this article:
Nokia’s New CEO: Challenges | Monday Note
which I replied on FB and just copying it here:
"there are definitely a lot of challenges for the new CEO. however i personally don't think that adding (or replacing) another OS to our portfolio is the answer. many people have speculated/suggested Android, some even WinMo and RIM. sure we've had a couple of rough years with Symbian and also the transition from Maemo to Meego. but I think we made a good move acquiring Trolltech (Qt) and Symbian -- and then made them open. (although that added growing pains to the past two years as well.) in this way Nokia has control over the main directions the OSes take, yet avail these open platforms for developers. there are great strides made for Symbian^3 and towards Symbian^4 as well as Meego, and I think we'll be seeing some nice results soon but we have to keep the momentum. NOT reducing effort or giving up altogether and jump onto another platform controlled by another company. that would be a stupid move, imo.
(btw, it's not that i dislike Android or other OSes, i've played with Android and i quite like it. i just don't think it's the right choice for Nokia in the foreseeable future.)
the challenges, then, are in other areas. Marketing, for one. not MORE marketing, but better. also improving support for developers, making the development for Symbian/Meego platforms desirable and easy (as in smooth process for publish apps, not necessarily easy in terms of programming, although Qt is rather fun to use once you get the basics down). because at the end of the day, 99% of phone users won't know/care about the details of the OS in their phones, but rather how their phones can enrich their lives with useful/entertaining apps and services. and speaking of services, another challenge will be to better integrate Ovi with the phones, as well as Ovi itself as a service platform."
Rounding up with some media... an excellent demo from Nokia World of Nokia C7 running Symbian^3
Nokia C7 hands-on Overview at Nokia World 2010
a pic which i took, edited and tweeted; and in turn prompted Antoine to write a poem!
 |
| My dear job, have i told you lately that i love you? (photographer: N97 mini, editor: N8) |
http://arjw.wordpress.com/2010/09/14/poem-dear-job/
----
Update 17/9/2010:
One more article my friend linked to: http://daringfireball.net/2010/09/nokia_next
talking about HW vs SW in Nokia, and he mentioned that SW must come first.
My response:
yeah we're still rather HW focused, and i agree we need to make it more about the software and Ux. i just don't agree with "one software platform" or "moving to Android/WinMo7" as being the solution.
i've read a very different “competitive analysis” of the iPhone as the one mentioned in the article. that's another problem in big companies - many duplicate efforts.
(then another commenter comparing Nokia to Windows (Microsoft), HP and Dell etc.)
Me again:
well, there are hardware companies (HTC, Dell, Samsung if you ignore Bada) and there are software companies (Google, Microsoft). so it's not surprising that HW companies focus on HW, SW companies focus on SW. Nokia and Apple are both. however Apple basically makes 1 OS for 1 phone, whereas Nokia has multiple OSes for many many many phones. one model is not necessarily better than the other, but given what we have,we've got to make it work. and having both HW and SW means there needs to be a workable and profitable balance, and Nokia is still learning to be a SW company finally with all the SW assets under one roof (as mentioned previously, Symbian, Qt, and Meego (with Intel) which are all fairly recent mergers).
Monday 6 September 2010
Of Swedes and Russians
It was a very Swedish weekend for me. I went to IKEA twice. Yes, twice, on both Saturday and Sunday. Had meatballs twice. Punctuated by a visit to an Irish pub on Saturday evening. So not completely Swedish after all. Oh and Vietnamese dinner on Sunday. But still, many hours spent in IKEA. It was huge and very hard to get out of.
And the Russian. The tempting valkovenäläinen in a can. Resist him, or he'll leave a bad taste in your mouth. Just say no and thank me later.
 |
| Swedish meatballs @ IKEA! |
 |
| Back to Ikea the very next day for more meatballs... and some loot this time! (27€ for 10 items) |
And the Russian. The tempting valkovenäläinen in a can. Resist him, or he'll leave a bad taste in your mouth. Just say no and thank me later.
 |
| Canned white russian. Bad experience last weekend. Deceptively smooth at first, but leaves bad aftertaste. |
Thursday 2 September 2010
End of birthday month roundup
There's a little something I wish for my fellow Leos Betty Ortiz, Andrew Tank and Nicholas Tank at the end of this post...
- had a lovely birthDAY which started off with a blood test and the nurse jabbing me a couple of times while drawing blood. however the evening was definitely more pleasant, meeting up with Jessica, her boyfriend Antti, and her mom who cooked me a delicious chinese meal with my favorite jiaozi and the requisite "long life noodles"
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Jiaozi
http://baike.baidu.com/view/254411.htm
oh and we went glow bowling after dinner at Kaatopaikka :)
- the next day Minna and Mika brought me to Helsinki for a wonderful weekend celebration: picnic in Suomenlinna, U2 concert, "Ten Thousand Waves" multimedia exhibition; ending with a Dim Sum lunch meetku with Mike, Jens, and Valerio.
- TASO rehearsals have resumed after summer break! it's so nice to be making music again. In fact we've already had our first performance of the season today, at the Tampere University's 50th anniversary festivities. My first time performing in front of an audience with this orchestra! (last time we were up on a balcony in city hall, i.e. heard not seen.)
- helped with the purchase decision for some new percussion instruments: a snare drum and cymbals. Bass drum will also be coming soon. New toys of a different kind!
- my first Crayfish party in Finland, fun and crazy night in Helsinki (again) with Hanna, Andrea and Jaime. Many thanks to Hanna for hosting and inviting us! Drunk discussion about mobile operating systems with taxi driver before stumbling into bed in hostel. :P
- August ended in laughter, watching Toy Story 3 with Andrea, Minna, Mika and Jukka. A sequel that's as good as, if not better than, the original!
- almost forgot, another new toy (or rather new part for old toy) http://cybette.blogspot.com/2010/08/gift-of-life-for-my-laptop.html
- and the gifts are still coming! thank you all! no need to stop, it's never too late for birthday gifts :D
Update: i'm hoping for more birthday gifts, not for me, but for my little friend who has his birthday just 2 days before mine. here's what's happening to him: http://twitter.com/chibbigirl/status/22830556505
and here's how you can help: http://muad-dib.us/blog/2010/09/02/please-help-a-pair-of-dear-friends/
Thank you thank you thank you!
( First half here: http://cybette.blogspot.com/2010/08/recap-of-first-half-of-my-birthday.html )
- had a lovely birthDAY which started off with a blood test and the nurse jabbing me a couple of times while drawing blood. however the evening was definitely more pleasant, meeting up with Jessica, her boyfriend Antti, and her mom who cooked me a delicious chinese meal with my favorite jiaozi and the requisite "long life noodles"
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Jiaozi
http://baike.baidu.com/view/254411.htm
oh and we went glow bowling after dinner at Kaatopaikka :)
- the next day Minna and Mika brought me to Helsinki for a wonderful weekend celebration: picnic in Suomenlinna, U2 concert, "Ten Thousand Waves" multimedia exhibition; ending with a Dim Sum lunch meetku with Mike, Jens, and Valerio.
 |
| U2 with Minna (photo by Mika) |
 |
| U2 360°! |
- TASO rehearsals have resumed after summer break! it's so nice to be making music again. In fact we've already had our first performance of the season today, at the Tampere University's 50th anniversary festivities. My first time performing in front of an audience with this orchestra! (last time we were up on a balcony in city hall, i.e. heard not seen.)
- helped with the purchase decision for some new percussion instruments: a snare drum and cymbals. Bass drum will also be coming soon. New toys of a different kind!
- my first Crayfish party in Finland, fun and crazy night in Helsinki (again) with Hanna, Andrea and Jaime. Many thanks to Hanna for hosting and inviting us! Drunk discussion about mobile operating systems with taxi driver before stumbling into bed in hostel. :P
 |
| My first crayfish party! |
 |
| Here's looking at you, kiddo |
- August ended in laughter, watching Toy Story 3 with Andrea, Minna, Mika and Jukka. A sequel that's as good as, if not better than, the original!
- almost forgot, another new toy (or rather new part for old toy) http://cybette.blogspot.com/2010/08/gift-of-life-for-my-laptop.html
- and the gifts are still coming! thank you all! no need to stop, it's never too late for birthday gifts :D
Update: i'm hoping for more birthday gifts, not for me, but for my little friend who has his birthday just 2 days before mine. here's what's happening to him: http://twitter.com/chibbigirl/status/22830556505
and here's how you can help: http://muad-dib.us/blog/2010/09/02/please-help-a-pair-of-dear-friends/
Thank you thank you thank you!
( First half here: http://cybette.blogspot.com/2010/08/recap-of-first-half-of-my-birthday.html )
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