Today, at 12, crypto group again gathered for the morning breakfast meeting. Recounting what they had done for the past week, most people had serious problems - it seemed noone remmembered what they had been doing even a few days ago.
I wonder if the two crates of beer and 8 liters of wine that got drunk yesterday had anything to do with that. Probably not though.
But yes, there was the "Crypto group spring party" at Ivan's place. It was quite fun. We had mexican food (tortillas) and live music to go with it: initially in the form of me borrowing Ivan's guitar to play La Bamba, later in the form of Ivan playing all sorts of famous songs, both Danish and international (Beatles, Abba). As no-one really knew the lyrics, all the smartphones people had were actually put into good use googling them up so we could all sing together. Claudio singing Macarena was one of the most memorable parts, probably.
Im going to miss this place when I leave here. And the people too. Chances are I will meet most of them on conferences in the future, but still.
Showing posts with label Danish culture. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Danish culture. Show all posts
Monday, May 31, 2010
Sunday, May 23, 2010
A walk in the park
I went for a long walk today. As I have mentioned before, there is quite a nice forest nearby that goes quite a way along the seashore. I tried to see just how far.. but it seemed to be more than 5-6 km, at least.
I finally also found the Deer park, where (unlike in Estonia) they have real deer walking around. It was truly idyllic.. so I sat down and started reading a book... and then suddenly an umpf-umpf-umpf kicked in. I knew there was supposed to be a concenrt at the shore today, but I kind of assumed it would be pop-rock, not dance music. And seriously, that thing could be heared for most of my walk so literally for miles.
Other than the somewhat annoying music, the walk was truly amazing. The nature here is quite nice, especially considering just how close to the city the forest was. The shore is about 50 m lower than the surrounding landscape (with a very steep slope to the beach, but no cliffs), which is also quite a sight to see.
I also had some new insight into the cultural phenomenon of low power distance recently. At friday bar, Rikke told me that most people try to live by a set of informal rules called Janteloven that basically emphasises that everyone is created equal. I would not have thought that anyone actually codified this thing, but that seems to have been the case. Still, this is not an actual law, but interesting nonetheless.
Also, I had a bass string break on me today. Looking at the strings, you would not think them capable of that but it seems it can happen. I recently also got a new strap for my bass and it actually improved my playing because it holds the (very light practice bass that I have) in place so that it does not swivel around as much as before. I have still tried to get about an hour of practice in every day. Playing is improving, but at a fairly slow pace. Same goes for my ears, who, after 4 months of bass playing have slowly started to pick up on basslines in even most genres of metal. It is not too reliable yet, but progress is definitely taking place.
I finally also found the Deer park, where (unlike in Estonia) they have real deer walking around. It was truly idyllic.. so I sat down and started reading a book... and then suddenly an umpf-umpf-umpf kicked in. I knew there was supposed to be a concenrt at the shore today, but I kind of assumed it would be pop-rock, not dance music. And seriously, that thing could be heared for most of my walk so literally for miles.
Other than the somewhat annoying music, the walk was truly amazing. The nature here is quite nice, especially considering just how close to the city the forest was. The shore is about 50 m lower than the surrounding landscape (with a very steep slope to the beach, but no cliffs), which is also quite a sight to see.
I also had some new insight into the cultural phenomenon of low power distance recently. At friday bar, Rikke told me that most people try to live by a set of informal rules called Janteloven that basically emphasises that everyone is created equal. I would not have thought that anyone actually codified this thing, but that seems to have been the case. Still, this is not an actual law, but interesting nonetheless.
Also, I had a bass string break on me today. Looking at the strings, you would not think them capable of that but it seems it can happen. I recently also got a new strap for my bass and it actually improved my playing because it holds the (very light practice bass that I have) in place so that it does not swivel around as much as before. I have still tried to get about an hour of practice in every day. Playing is improving, but at a fairly slow pace. Same goes for my ears, who, after 4 months of bass playing have slowly started to pick up on basslines in even most genres of metal. It is not too reliable yet, but progress is definitely taking place.
Tuesday, May 18, 2010
Cultural remarks
At the lunch table, talk shifted to gay marriages and finding gay handymen. To which Ivan replied that it would definitely be easier to get a gay organist than a gay handyman - as half of the organ players in Aarhus are openly gay. It also turns out that the church here is completely ok with that and even allows its ministers to perform gay marriages in churches.
After lunch some people went to the roof. I joined them later and they seemed to be discussing theoretical biology. I joined in - turns out following the theoretical biology list has its benefits - and Ivan remarked "why am I not surprised". It seems they have realized that I am weird already, and they do not mind. Always good to know :)
The student faculties are very nice here. For instance, the cellar here houses a ping-pong and a fuseball table and in the building where the lectures are held, there are about 10 whiteboards for student use.. along with comfy chairs. Faculties for the staff are also fairly nice, of course (except possibly for the outdated Redhat enterprise linux being used, although you are free to install your own operating system).
After lunch some people went to the roof. I joined them later and they seemed to be discussing theoretical biology. I joined in - turns out following the theoretical biology list has its benefits - and Ivan remarked "why am I not surprised". It seems they have realized that I am weird already, and they do not mind. Always good to know :)
The student faculties are very nice here. For instance, the cellar here houses a ping-pong and a fuseball table and in the building where the lectures are held, there are about 10 whiteboards for student use.. along with comfy chairs. Faculties for the staff are also fairly nice, of course (except possibly for the outdated Redhat enterprise linux being used, although you are free to install your own operating system).
Tuesday, May 11, 2010
Martin's defence
I have a presentation tomorrow.. so I started this morning by looking through my old slidesets to see whether anything would be reusable. Turns out that I have actually given the exact same talk I planned to give tomorrow (in terms of material and length). I have no recollection of it whatsover, but the slides are just perfect. Always nice when that happens.
Martin Geisler defended his PhD, which was on an MPC framework (VIFF). The defence was somewhat different from what it would be in estonia. For example, the supervisor plays no formal role what so ever. Also, the defence talk is 45 minutes.. and the questions went on for about the same time.
After the defence there was a reception. What surprised me was that the two eminent computer scientists on the board (N. P. Smart and B. Pinkas) were essentially left alone between the two of them while everyone else just gathered in their normal circles and started discussing everyday stuff. Low power distance yet again, I suppose, as in more status-concious cultures people would have been gathered all around these two. They seemed to be managing fine, however - talking about the faulty systems in place in university administration and in societies in general. All in all, a rather interesting discussion :)
Oh yes, and in the morning, N. P. Smart showed the people sitting around him a picture from 1967 where BBC had commisioned an group of experts to come up with a vision of the future.
This was the picture, labelled "The Worldbox":
Turns out some people do get the future right every now and then :)
Martin Geisler defended his PhD, which was on an MPC framework (VIFF). The defence was somewhat different from what it would be in estonia. For example, the supervisor plays no formal role what so ever. Also, the defence talk is 45 minutes.. and the questions went on for about the same time.
After the defence there was a reception. What surprised me was that the two eminent computer scientists on the board (N. P. Smart and B. Pinkas) were essentially left alone between the two of them while everyone else just gathered in their normal circles and started discussing everyday stuff. Low power distance yet again, I suppose, as in more status-concious cultures people would have been gathered all around these two. They seemed to be managing fine, however - talking about the faulty systems in place in university administration and in societies in general. All in all, a rather interesting discussion :)
Oh yes, and in the morning, N. P. Smart showed the people sitting around him a picture from 1967 where BBC had commisioned an group of experts to come up with a vision of the future.
This was the picture, labelled "The Worldbox":
Turns out some people do get the future right every now and then :)
Monday, May 10, 2010
Meaning of life
This morning, as I was getting coffee for the weekly breakfast meeting, I accidentally saw a paper lying in the printer room.. that seemed to be exactly about the same thing I have been working on for 2 weeks, only they seemed to be doing it better.
The prospect of throwing away my two weeks work did not sit well with me, so I asked whose it was and whether I could borrow it. I could, on the pretense I would write a review for it while I was at it. Which was quite OK by me as I got to write my very first paper review.
Thankfully, they were working in a different model and achieved their results with a lot of precomputation. It was still an interesting and somewhat inspiring read though.
I finished coding for now, having finalised the division protocol just this Sunday. I will take a few days off during the end of this week - Thursday is a holiday and I was told most people take the Friday off too while they are at it.
The indian guy seems quite nice. Has a good sense of humor though. Like publicly telling everyone he is currently trying to install a keylogger to his friends computer because his friend wants to spy on his girlfriend.
Oh yes, and I think I actually feel good again.. there are quite a few hard things ahead but at least I think I have a direction again...
Or something resembling one, anyway :)
The prospect of throwing away my two weeks work did not sit well with me, so I asked whose it was and whether I could borrow it. I could, on the pretense I would write a review for it while I was at it. Which was quite OK by me as I got to write my very first paper review.
Thankfully, they were working in a different model and achieved their results with a lot of precomputation. It was still an interesting and somewhat inspiring read though.
I finished coding for now, having finalised the division protocol just this Sunday. I will take a few days off during the end of this week - Thursday is a holiday and I was told most people take the Friday off too while they are at it.
The indian guy seems quite nice. Has a good sense of humor though. Like publicly telling everyone he is currently trying to install a keylogger to his friends computer because his friend wants to spy on his girlfriend.
Oh yes, and I think I actually feel good again.. there are quite a few hard things ahead but at least I think I have a direction again...
Or something resembling one, anyway :)
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