Distractions, reflections

David Ing, at large … Sometimes, my mind wanders

2007/09/07-14 Teaching and visiting in Finland

Routing a flight through the UK is generally fortuitous, because it’s on the way to Finland. Since I’ve been coming to the Helsinki area relatively steadily during since 2003, I’ve developed a routine of doing similar things when I’m in town. On this trip, Minna and I co-taught a class at Stadia. One difference on this occasion was the grand meeting room, which is an improvement over the basement lecture hall.

20070907_Stadia_class.jpg

When I stay at Taina’s house, my schedule follows her commute pattern. Picking up Rulle from tennis lessons in Munkkiniemi puts us near warehouse shopping, so we stock up the pantry.

20070907_Munkkiniemi_warehouse_store.jpg

On weekends, there’s an opportunity to prepare a leisurely dinner. This time, at Taina’s house in Soukka, we decided to cook Chinese food — an improvement over the choices available in local restaurants.

20070907_Salmenpolku_Chinese_dinner.jpg

With weekday schedules full, visiting people sometimes rolls into family time. I suggested to Saku that we could talk while taking the kids to the park. One was on a training bike, and the other was in the carriage, when we had tea at the cafe by the seashore at Matinlahti near his house.

20070908_Matinlahti_SM.jpg

I’ve been around Helsinki often enough to know the sights. Rick was visiting Stadia from his university in Illinois, so we scheduled a leisurely afternoon together. We went to the computer superstore in Ruoholahti looking for a cable for his laptop, but didn’t find what he needed. On the way back, we walked by the west harbour where there are shipyards.

20070908_Helsinki_West_Harbour_RG.jpg

Social networks can be funny. When I was a conference in Berkeley, California, in spring, I happened to meet Johan who is from Helsinki. It turns out that he’s good friends with Karlos, whom I know from HUT, and I see regularly. We took the opportunity to schedule a dinner at Tapiontori together to discuss research interests.

20070911_Tapiontori_KA_DI_JW.jpg

One office where I’ve often met is at Nokia House in Espoo. I happened to bring my camera this time. Here’s the front entry, with a glass bridge over to the parking garage.

20070913_Nokia_House.jpg

I’ve often found the front lobby to be warm. It could be because it’s a greenhouse effect, or it could just be that Finns like their buildings warm.

20070913_Nokia_House_lobby.jpg

Minna usually takes advantage of my frequent visit, so that I get to have face-to-face conversations with some of her colleagues. This time, I met Minnamaria.

20070913_Nokia_MM_MT.jpg

The coffee bar is by a display of Nokia devices — I think that they use the layouts to plan some of their showrooms.

20070913_Nokia_House_showroom.jpg

As much as I tend to live on the Internet, my travels to distant places gives me the opportunity to be in the physical world.

  • Recent Posts

  • Archives

  • RSS on Coevolving

  • RSS on Media Queue

    • What to Do When It’s Too Late | David L. Hawk | 2024
      David L. Hawk (American management theorist, architect, and systems scientist) has been hosting a weekly television show broadcast on Bold Brave Tv from the New York area on Wednesdays 6pm ET, remotely from his home in Iowa. Live, callers can join…Read more ›
    • 2021/06/17 Keekok Lee | Philosophy of Chinese Medicine 2
      Following the first day lecture on Philosophy of Chinese Medicine 1 for the Global University for Sustainability, Keekok Lee continued on a second day on some topics: * Anatomy as structure; physiology as function (and process); * Process ontology, and thing ontology; * Qi ju as qi-in-concentrating mode, and qi san as qi-in-dissipsating mode; and […]
    • 2021/06/16 Keekok Lee | Philosophy of Chinese Medicine 1
      The philosophy of science underlying Classical Chinese Medicine, in this lecture by Keekok Lee, provides insights into ways in which systems change may be approached, in a process ontology in contrast to the thing ontology underlying Western BioMedicine. Read more ›
    • 2021/02/02 To Understand This Era, You Need to Think in Systems | Zeynep Tufekci with Ezra Klein | New York Times
      In conversation, @zeynep with @ezraklein reveal authentic #SystemsThinking in (i) appreciating that “science” is constructed by human collectives, (ii) the west orients towards individual outcomes rather than population levels; and (iii) there’s an over-emphasis on problems of the moment, and…Read more ›
    • 2019/04/09 Art as a discipline of inquiry | Tim Ingold (web video)
      In the question-answer period after the lecture, #TimIngold proposes art as a discipline of inquiry, rather than ethnography. This refers to his thinking On Human Correspondence. — begin paste — [75m26s question] I am curious to know what art, or…Read more ›
    • 2019/10/16 | “Bubbles, Golden Ages, and Tech Revolutions” | Carlota Perez
      How might our society show value for the long term, over the short term? Could we think about taxation over time, asks @carlotaprzperez in an interview: 92% for 1 day; 80% within 1 month; 50%-60% tax for 1 year; zero tax for 10 years.Read more ›
  • RSS on Ing Brief

    • Introduction, “Systems Thinking: Selected Readings, volume 2”, edited by F. E. Emery (1981)
      The selection of readings in the “Introduction” to Systems Thinking: Selected Readings, volume 2, Penguin (1981), edited by Fred E. Emery, reflects a turn from 1969 when a general systems theory was more fully entertained, towards an urgency towards changes in the world that were present in 1981. Systems thinking was again emphasized in contrast […]
    • Introduction, “Systems Thinking: Selected Readings”, edited by F. E. Emery (1969)
      In reviewing the original introduction for Systems Thinking: Selected Readings in the 1969 Penguin paperback, there’s a few threads that I only recognize, many years later. The tables of contents (disambiguating various editions) were previously listed as 1969, 1981 Emery, System Thinking: Selected Readings. — begin paste — Introduction In the selection of papers for this […]
    • Concerns with the way systems thinking is used in evaluation | Michael C. Jackson, OBE | 2023-02-27
      In a recording of the debate between Michael Quinn Patton and Michael C. Jackson on “Systems Concepts in Evaluation”, Patton referenced four concepts published in the “Principles for effective use of systems thinking in evaluation” (2018) by the Systems in Evaluation Topical Interest Group (SETIG) of the American Evaluation Society. The four concepts are: (i) […]
    • Quality Criteria for Action Research | Herr, Anderson (2015)
      How might the quality of an action research initiative be evaluated? — begin paste — We have linked our five validity criteria (outcome, process, democratic, catalytic, and dialogic) to the goals of action research. Most traditions of action research agree on the following goals: (a) the generation of new knowledge, (b) the achievement of action-oriented […]
    • Western Union and the canton of Ticino, Switzerland
      After 90 minutes on phone and online chat with WesternUnion, the existence of the canton of Ticino in Switzerland is denied, so I can’t send money from Canada. TicinoTurismo should be unhappy. The IT developers at Western Union should be dissatisfied that customer support agents aren’t sending them legitimate bug reports I initially tried the […]
    • Aesthetics | Encyclopaedia Britannica | 15 edition
      Stephen C. Pepper was a contributor to the Encyclopaedia Britannica, 15th edition, on the entry for Aesthetics.
  • Meta

  • Translate

  • Creative Commons License
    This work is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-ShareAlike 4.0 International License
    Theme modified from DevDmBootstrap4 by Danny Machal