Category: Culture

Handball victory to my hometown!

My hometown team Riihimäen Cocks finally won the national championship in handball tonight. Unfortunately I couldn’t get to see the game since my wife is sick and I’m taking care of the kids. Too damn bad.

Ok, I don’t know this team and I’m reading it’s based on Estonian purchases. The team I knew had local guys like AP Tuomi in the lead. I think it’s over 5 years I’ve seen their match for the last time.

Anyway, this is a remarkable night! The city of Rihimäki used to have two national-level sport teams: one in handball and one in Finnish version of baseball. Some fifteen years ago the baseball francise was “sold out” and pretty soon it was all bankrupt. But handball had a different philosophy and the game lived on. It had roots. I can still remember Cocks trainees doing these recruiting visits to our school every year back in the days… and the deep-voiced principal of our high-school was well-known for being a leading silver-winning player back in the 70s…

The kids are asleep. My only option is to be awake and check the summary on national TV2 after mignight.

A sensible proposition for IP reform

In the UK, the much-hyped Gowers review of Intellectual Property has been published. In a quick review, I spotted two highlights:

  • In pages 48-57 the report puts forth the most profound critique of copyright term extensions so far
  • In pages 66-68 the report recommends “transformative use” as a new exception to EU copyright directive

The report also includes expected recommendations for private copying, orphan works etc. The report sees patent regime in more positive light compared to copyright, although there is a critique of software patents in place. Overall, the report is a required reading for anyone interested in the problems of contemporary intellectual property law.

The art of communicating in writing

I browsed through my blog and decided to found a new category for postings: culture. I also substantiated the post on Soros. And that took me to consider all those authors that have inspired my own perception on writing. So here goes a statement.

No matter what you want to write, be it fact or fiction:

  • use simple structures
  • avoid special jargon
  • be original enough to catch
  • be smart enough to entertain.

    • On that basis top authors in my list of “serious” literature include George Soros, Peter Drucker and Kevin Kelly. In fiction, Dr. Thompson’s take on Vegas is the ultimate one. In my own writing, I regularly return to these guys and their books just to see how your ideas should be communicated.