December 2006 Archives

The year has to come to a very quiet end here at chez Suomela. I finished my third of four terms on December 18, drove home to Minneapolis on the 19th, and spent the last twelve days relaxing, reading, watching TV, and exchanging gifts with the family.

To be thankful for:

• A life without drama. You know the kind of drama where everything becomes a production and life is continually lived on the edge.
• My academic success. Although the financial cost is high I think the choice to attend SI at Michigan was ultimately the right one. I might feel different in four months when I'm graduating and still trying to find a job.
• Living in the first world. The material blessings we all live with in America continue to astound me. The infrastructure that let's me publish this weblog, send email to my mom, and enjoy all the goofy entertainments that Hollywood can provide.

What went right in 2006?

• I got an internship at Tablus that actually paid money and proved to be a good learning experience about my future career.
• I finished another 2 semesters at SI.

Some of the best weblog entries from the past year:

• The 'more education' blinder
• Coase's penguin and crowdsourcing
• Vestigial design and the everyday sound environment
• Gross comedy and the origin of slapstick
• Cosmos and Carl Sagan's legacy
• Visualizing income distributions
• A pocketful of -archies
• Jon Udell on apprenticeship and barter in the new economy
• Technological determinism and the power of CEOs
• Is there a difference between information and media ethics

Happy new year!

The list is its own genre, discuss?

• Dr. Free-Ride on Brain-Friendly Giftables, part 2: Games is a list of games that will improve your thinking and strategy skills.
• The Bad Astronomer mentions some science podcasts.
• Fimoculous suggests 30 blogs you aren't reading. More content, more content.
• A schedule of podcasts for next year on Design Matters
• and a recipe for chai from Rhosgobel
• Patrick Nielsen Hayden points to some interesting remixes of the Beatles