I am still living in beautiful Vancouver and working as a post doc for the UBC. My research focus has changed a bit however in a very exciting direction: I am currently working with processes on scale-free networks related to disease spread. This has given me really wonderful opportunities to learn more about mathematical epidemiology and network theory. Very interesting stuff but lots to learn. Another reason why I have neglected my web space.

Been feeling an urge to write lately, but nothing really finished yet. Joined a non-fiction creative writing group back in October 2010 and much of my writing time went in there. The aim was to edit a few of the texts I wrote during that time and put up here, but not really happy with those texts. Yet. More editing needed. Funny that because some of the book reviews I’ve uploaded have been more or less un-edited, and some quite bad when I’ve gone back and re-read them. Be that as it may, one day I will work my way through these all posts and edit. Perhaps.

In any case, I hope to have some essays I’ve been working on posted during the next few months.

I have of course been reading and I meant to whip up quite a few reviews (bunch of fiction, some non fiction, including Kurzweil’s The singularity  – very disappointed) during the Holiday break… but chance intervened and instead of a clean writer’s desk I ended up with the engineer’s workbench:

Power supply error search.

A couple of years back I bridged a wi-fi network home in Sweden using a pair of Linksys GL routers, directional antennas, and the excellent dd-wrt firmware. Just when I returned to my house for some relaxing time off something decided to stop working. Finding the error was easy: power supply. To fix/build/adapt a new one wasn’t too easy out in nowhere. In the end everything worked out however.

In any case, now all is back to normal, and I am back to work. I hope to have something more interesting posted soon. Hopefully a bunch of short book reviews at least.

’till then!

.L

It was loads of fun  and I learned a lot!

I tried to recycle as much used stuff as I could by scavenging the workshop-bins for used parts, or buying second-hand around Vancouver. I did end up using some new parts as well, either because I could not find a suitable used part in time, or because (for the wheels and break pads) it felt safer: the  wheels are new (the rear one I built from scratch, with new rim and spokes, but with a used hub), as are the tires, and the cranks for instance. Derailleurs, seat, frame, fork, brakes (not the pads of course), handlebars, and a lot of other parts where second-hand though. Trying to rummage around for good but used parts was really fun!

Yes, I would like to build a second bike. There is so much I learned and that I would like to improve. My first build did not turn out the most ergonomic one, though it is really fun to ride, so I want to have another go. Keeping my eyes open for a nice used frame and some funky parts. Doesn’t seem to be any rush this time.

Some picture below with details in the captions.

.L

[Show as slideshow]

I will try to write down my thoughts on my stay in Finland a bit later. This post will just be an attempt to catch-up. Leasure-wise, I have had time to go through a couple of books: Eats, Shoots & Leaves by Lynne Truss, and A Devil’s Chaplain by Richard Dawkins. I enjoyed them both.

Eats Shoots… is simply the best book about English that I have ever read. Well, to be honest it is actually just about punctuation in the English language. While this may sound boring, the book it self is hilarious! I feel so kindred to the almost zealot-like soul of the author. Well, maybe not when it comes down to English grammar (although I nod my head and do my best to follow what little I have learned), but in other areas, that I feel I know well! Two friends borrowed me the book during a weekend in Wicklow, and I think I shall always be grateful. Learned a lot. Did I mention that it is funny? Not only that, it is quite easy to read. Love it. Recommend it!

The other book, A Devil’s Chaplain, is the first book I have read by Professor Dawkins. I picked it up by just by chance, and decided it was time for me to read something by this famous scientist. Why hadn’t I done so before? Well to be honest, a few years back I was holding in one of his other books (I can not remember which), and when I flipped through the pages I was taken aback with the sheer amount of anger and emotion that I thought filled them. I put the book back. I am fairly certain that most of the reaction was in me and not in the text.

Devil’s… does not show that much emotion. Sure, Dawkins can be angry, and he despise religion as much as any disease, but the essays in the book are mostly told with the sound voice of a researcher. I call them essays, but they are more a lose collection of forewords, chapters and reviews. It is not bad, Dawkins writes well, and there are a few treasures in this collection. I found it really interesting, and more, that I probably do agree very much with the basic ideas here.

I have also finished the second episode of Sam and Max Series 2, and enjoyed it (of course), but have had no time to play more games this spring. Too much other things going on. Most of it I will write about in separate posts, given the time.

-L

Mina kropp är skönt trött efter en dags vandring. Inte trött som när man har sprungit eller simmat för att sluta tänka, när mjölksyran gör ont, men sinnet fortfarande är oroligt. Mina tankar har ro. Inte som när man har jobbat och jobbat för att glömma vad som alltid finns i bakhuvudet, när intellektet har tvingats bearbeta matematik, lösa problem. Skriva kod.

Jag är avslappnad. Min tanke är just här. Inte för att jag är för trött, inte för att jag har löst alla problem. För att jag är i balans. För att jag har haft en bra dag med människor jag mer än gärna kallar mina vänner.

Man behöver dagar som denna när något jobbigt har hänt. Resor som inte är planerade med målet att man skall komma över sina problem. Där det inte är sagt att “då vänder det”. Man vet inte sådant. Det går inte att planera. Man kan lura sig själv, men man är fortfarande vilse.

Jag vet att tankarna som får mig att vara orolig kommer tillbaka, att detta inte är den dagen då allt lättar. Balansen kommer att falna. Men det är en vilodag. En dag då jag andats lite lättare. Det är landmärket som inger hopp då man är vilse. Tecknet som säger att man kanske kommer nå fram. Man är inte där, vet inte hur långt, men riktningen är rätt.

Niall kör långsamt så att de hinner läsa skyltarna, backar och tar höger. Vi åker nedåt och runt en krök. Tusentals lampor, strålkastare och lanternor skiner mot oss. Dublin breder ut sig åt alla håll där nere. Så långt man ser. De gula och vita ljusen dallrar i natten, som om staden vore en hägring. Vi stannar och går ut tittar en stund. Sedan fortsätter vi; januari är fortfarande kall, och vi kommer behöva hitta en väg som leder hem.

I have had time to do some non work related things of course. I have met a bunch of interesting people working and studying here of course. So, not all evenings were in the lab, a couple of them I found myself having a beer after work in one of the small pubs here. I haven’t had the time to read as much as I wish, but did, in any case, finish The Science of Discworld III by Terry Pratchet, Ian Stewart and Jack Cohen. I never got around to write a full review of it, but the bottom line is that I like it. Maybe not as much as the first book in the series, but it is on par with the second and well worth a read.

In TV-like news, the fifth series of BBC’s excellent QI has also started. I think all or most shows can be found on the  youtube, so if you have not seen it go there and have a look. You will not find a more interesting quiz/trivia/humour/something program.  If you want to watch something more serious, I can recommend this recording of Lessig’s alpha lecture on corruption. This is an interesting talk, and although it focus on the American system I believe it is just as important for any European to ponder over these issues. If you do not know who Prof. Lawrence Lessig is, I can only say that in my view he is one of the pioneers of Internet freedom and were adressing a lot of the questions on digital copying and law while someone like myself was still getting aware of them back in the mid 1990′s.

There has also been a lot of news and things I have been thinking of commenting on, but work has been taking up much of my time, so all of that is probably too old now anyway.

In any case, going to upload this and make another permanent dent in the web.

-L

-L

Which is standard I guess. There is a hurdle, at least for me. Setting up a web-space … actually write something, posting it and then repeat. Seems unlikely. In addition, the blog phenomena was really hot back then and was getting into the main stream media, and well that is not what I wanted to do. Web logs have been around since the Net was born. I just could not get myself to do it at that time. Either be there 5 years before…. or wait 5 years until it has cooled down.

Now, that I am moving again, to yet another country, I will try to put up some stuff here for friends and family. As well as for whoever else happens to come here, of course. Though I will try to stay out from the search engines, and away from the so called “blog sphere”. I hope this will be more of a personal homepage than a blog. Longer texts that are edited, less frequent updates, not spewing out the first thing that comes into my head. Let us see what happens, and for how long I actually do write.

-L