in english

Life is beautiful

You just need to be brave enough to live it.

Or as they say in Spanish: "Dios aprieta pero no ahorca", which more or less means "God might tighten the situation, but not choke you".  I'm not usually a person that quotes the Bible, but "Help yourself then I will help you" (or whatever the official English translation is) is one of my favourite quotes.

It has been a very challenging 9 months or so, and there is still 3 months for my final project, but it already feels really different.  I've learned heaps, met some very good friends and got into touch with parts of myself that I had neglected.

The excellent local beer is a plus, of course.

in english

Fring

For the past few days I have been using Fring, a mobile VoIP application for mobile devices.  I truly like that it has support not only for its own network, but also for calls and chat using Skype, MSN, Google Talk and SIP.

The application, however, is still in advanced beta stage, so some parts of usability and especially stability are still issues.  If you have a S60 device with WLAN (such as a N93) or unlimited 3G, I'd say it's almost a no-brainer, especially since Skype hasn't released its version for S60 yet to the general public (other than owners of the X-series).

Now I wonder, who will have the idea of joining this with a Fonera?  That would be something.

in english

You know you’re travelling too much when…

Ricardo had a post at his blog discussing some symptoms that signal whether you've been travelling too much.

"

  • You know your passport number by memory.
  • You know the date your visa to a certain country was issued.
  • You know the crew of your international airline of choice by name, or at least recognize their faces.
  • You have seen most of the Academy Award nominees in the comfort of your plane seat.
  • You feel more comfortable having dinner at Dallas Fort Worth international than at your local downtown area.
  • Most of your books have been purchased at an Airport book store.
  • But the worst is when you start to recognize Customs and Border protection agents! This happened to me on my last trip."

To which I added:

"At
least the last one couldn't happen to me as most of my business trips
(when I was working) were within Schengen. No borders means no border
agents.

The one about visas is definitely true, though.

  • The best time to call relatives or friends is while waiting at the airport lounge.
  • Your local airport starts to feel eerily cozy.
  • You don't know anymore which language you should speak on arrival."

But I guess my dad is the ultimate authority, as his passport shows what happens when you've travelled too much:

This is what happens when you travel too much
This is what happens when you travel too much

in english

Happy Birthday!

Happy birthday!
Happy birthday!

It may sound stupid because I'm not even European, but it sure has made my life easier. Easier travelling, comparable prices, GSM roaming
charges going down, meeting Erasmus students, the lack of barriers for my fiancée to join me in Brussels and lower inter-bank fees are some of the little and not so little nice details in which the EU has influenced my life.

I hope it doesn't upset the Finns when I say that one of the reasons that I chose Finland instead of, say, Sweden when I was thinking about studying abroad was that it had already been decided then that it would use the €uro.

Pity very few in Europe actually care.