An American Geek in Sweden
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nomaddervish's LiveJournal:
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| Thursday, July 2nd, 2009 | | 11:50 am |
CVG09
Since it's getting to be that time: Happy CONvergence to all of you who will be attending! (I'll try not to spend too much of my weekend jealously wishing I could be there...) Current Mood:  distant | | Thursday, May 28th, 2009 | | 5:16 pm |
Sending folks elsewhere again...
So, yeah, I've been quiet here lately, as seems to be usual. Largely because, about a month ago, I set up three new blogs at: http://sherohman.org/ (general blogging) http://code.sherohman.org/ (software development and related topics) http://diabetes.sherohman.org/ (diabetes education - I got tired of re-typing my rants all the time) I haven't mentioned them here before because I always feel bad about posting just to say, "Take a look at this other site I'm working on!", but it really is past time that I fill you folks in. Plus I just posted " Hook, line, and twitter", which includes some information about what I've been up to (aside from creating blogs) for the last month or so. Or at least hints at it, since there's an NDA involved. For the sake of those who don't want to have to check Yet Another Site for updates, I'm considering making weekly posts here of titles and links for my posts over there. Does anyone have opinions on this and whether it would be helpful or annoying? (Or you could just subscribe to the RSS feeds on my site(s) if you're interested in staying on top of what I'm up to in Sweden...) Current Mood:  absent | | Friday, April 24th, 2009 | | 1:39 pm |
| | Saturday, March 7th, 2009 | | 4:55 pm |
MarsCon!
So it appears to be that time of year again... To all who are attending, have a great time, and then have a little extra fun for me, since I can't be there to have it myself! Although it's not the biggest con in the Twin Cities, MarsCon has always been my favorite. If I recall correctly, MarsCon 4 was my first, but it might've been 3. I was sitting at home one Thursday night, feeling bored, and checked some random website to see if anything interesting was going on in town. I discovered that, coincidentally, there was a sci-fi con the next day. I'd gone to (pre-meltdown) MiniCon a couple times and thought it was OK, but, somehow, I'd never really gotten into it. I decided to check this one out anyhow, just for the sake of getting out of the house and around some people. I drove down from Elk River and did my Friday evening checkin at the door. There were several good panels, with enjoyable movies to fill the gaps, as well as a great bunch of people. Saturday evening, programming had a huge gap in it due to masquerade, which didn't interest me, so I dropped by the volunteer desk and offered to help out with masquerade security, mostly just for something to do during that time. I ended up also doing room party security afterward, although I can't say I really knew what to do that night, beyond being available in case I was needed. All of that was, for me, an instant tradition. Two years ago, I missed MarsCon for the first time since I started going (I hear it was a small con that year due to a Thursday snowstorm, but my excuse for not being there is that they wouldn't let me leave the hospital). During the years I was there, I seem to have been the sole non-Gravedigger on the regular security squad and the programming (both panels and movies) has remained top-notch. So, yeah, good times. I hope to make it back there again sometime. Current Mood:  distant | | Friday, February 13th, 2009 | | 4:10 pm |
They're not throwing me back!
Today is the day that my original Swedish residence permit expires. Also today, the mail contained the official notice from Migrationsverket that they've granted a renewal, good through Dec. 31, 2010. Not that we were expecting any issues, but it's good to have that official. (Take that, Friday the 13th!) I was a little surprised that they renewed it for less than a full two years, but, then, the new expiration date is also the date that I will be eligible to receive a permanent residence permit, so I guess it makes sense to only renew the temporary permit until then. Now I just need to go back to the MV office in Malmö sometime within the next month to get my passport updated with the new expiration date. Hopefully it will go quicker than my last visit to them... Current Mood:  bouncy | | 3:09 pm |
| | Sunday, February 8th, 2009 | | 7:48 pm |
No lines, plenty of waiting
I have been remiss in posting here to keep you all updated on life in Sweden. Can I blame it on having just started another blog? The other one is for my company, so it's focused on business and software development rather than more personal topics, but you can check it out at http://nomadnetinc.com/blog/ if you think such things might interest you. Here, though, I think it's time to write about queuing in Sweden... ( Read more... ) | | Friday, January 23rd, 2009 | | 4:45 pm |
The Obama Inauguration...
...at nearly 1500 megapixels (or 59,783 X 24,658 resolution, for those of us who are more traditionally-minded). Very cool. Kinda like all those movies where they start out with a photo of Manhattan and zoom in, then "enhance" it until you can spot the wart on the bad guy's nose, except it's real. How I Made a 1,474-Megapixel Photo During President Obama’s Inaugural AddressEdit for clarity: "How I Made..." is the title of the linked page. I had no role in the creation of this piece of coolness. Although I do wish I was the one responsible. | | Friday, January 16th, 2009 | | 2:36 pm |
Numero ergo sum
I've been telling people that I expected to get my personnummer sometime this week and, just as I was starting to thing I'd probably been wrong, it arrived in today's mail. So I now exist in the eyes of the Swedish government! I also managed to get my credit card working again yesterday, which allowed me to set up an inbound Swedish phone number and upgrade my outbound calling from US/Canada to worldwide[1], which was another step towards integrating into Swedish society. Now I just need to open a bank account, get an ID card, send in contracts to my soon-to-be umbrella company so that I'll be able to (legally) do freelance work here, sign up for SFI classes, set up my own phone[2], get in to see a doctor... ( Here there be footnotes ) Current Mood:  existent | | Wednesday, January 14th, 2009 | | 12:34 am |
Mistaken identities
While I was in the Twin Cities, I was semi-active in a couple of the meetup groups from meetup.com. When I moved, they were among the sites that I updated my location with (primarily so that they would stop sending me notices about new groups forming in Minneapolis). So, inevitably, I was notified of a "Lund Expat Meetup Group" which was having their first gathering at a coffee shop (named, oh-so-creatively, "Espresso House") in downtown Lund at 2:00 last Saturday afternoon. After a brief chat about it, A and I decided to go and meet some new people, since I, being an expat and new in town, had an excuse to do so. ( An afternoon in Lund ) Current Mood: amused | | Wednesday, January 7th, 2009 | | 2:12 am |
Snö daze
I got a lot of questions before moving about what Swedish winters are like. Not having seen them first-hand yet, I repeated what I'd been told: Wet and windy, but with milder temperatures. Here in southern Sweden, there's supposedly about a 50/50 chance of a white Christmas, and this year came down on the "not white" side. ( Read more... ) | | Saturday, January 3rd, 2009 | | 5:46 pm |
I am not a number! I am a free man!
In Sweden, you can't really do much without a personnummer (yes, it does just translate as "person number"). It's kind of like a social security number in the US, but more so. Not only do you need a personnummer to pay taxes or get government services, you can't even rent a movie without one. So applying for one was the top priority yesterday, once the holiday was over and offices were open again. ( Read more... )( Hey na, hey na, my bag is back! ) | | Thursday, January 1st, 2009 | | 8:50 pm |
| | 7:19 pm |
| | Tuesday, December 30th, 2008 | | 11:51 am |
And awaaay I go...
I've made it out of Minneapolis without major incident and am now spending the day in Boston's Logan airport, with a bit over seven and a half hours until my flight to Keflavik. ( Read more... ) Current Mood:  groggy | | Friday, December 26th, 2008 | | 10:37 pm |
Space... Where did that come from?
The first half of moving is done and I'm now laying on the living room floor with a fire in the fireplace, drinking tea and generally relaxing for the first time in several days, marvelling at how empty the room looks with the furniture gone, confident that I have time to spare as I finish packing. My dad came down with his van and we cleared out all the boxes of stuff for storage, plus the dining room table and chairs. About five minutes before he showed up, a friend came by to buy my couch and loveseat off me, so I was able to clear those out, too. On the way home from dropping off the stuff being stored, I found myself thinking, "I need to make dinner, but I'm feeling pretty beat from moving. I think I'll flop on the couch and rest for a bit first... Oh, right. What couch?" So I just made dinner and a fire instead... and then realized that I was laying on the floor right on top of the imprint in the carpet which had been left by the couch when it was here. Funny how that happens. For storage, I just need to pack up the kitchen and a drawer full of old tax documents, etc., which shouldn't take long. I have one more load of things to take down to be sold on ebay, but I doubt I'll bother taking my books to Half Price and just toss them in the trash instead, since I've talked to a couple people who have sold to Half Price and it sounds unlikely that I'd get more than $20 for the lot (if that) which isn't enough to be worth the trouble of making the trip or the time waiting for them to formulate an offer on them. Then there's just the packing of stuff to go with me (and probably a little more packing for storage because I expect to have more that I want to take with than what will fit into my luggage). So... Finish packing for storage tomorrow, then get together with some friends for dinner. Take it easy Sunday aside from packing the things I'm taking with me. Finish moving out on Monday, then to my sister's to spend the night there. Planes, trains, and airports all day Tuesday and into Wednesday. And then I'm there and unpacking... Current Mood: content | | Tuesday, December 23rd, 2008 | | 8:47 am |
Skymall
One week left. Stage one moving (i.e., clearing out everything I can live for the last few days without) has been delayed again and is now scheduled for tomorrow. Packing and throwing out things should be pretty well done today, at least to the extent that I'm able to see what needs to be done, so the delays have probably been a good thing overall, even though it will mean less time to finish up the stuff that isn't obvious yet. Last Friday, I listened to some JoCo for the first time in a while (with Christmas coming up, I had to break out Chiron Beta Prime, the only Christmas song I actually like). Since then, I've had Skymall stuck in my head. I think it's a warning to be sure I have a couple books and a fully-charged ipod in my carryon. So I am shopping at Skymall
My five-mile-high mall
That always has just what I need
When I get to the gate
And remember too late
I should've brought something to read Current Music: Anything but Skymall | | Monday, December 22nd, 2008 | | 8:28 am |
It's about time
One ISP says RIAA must pay for piracy protection. It's just a small operation, but hopefully other ISPs will follow their lead in telling RIAA that, if they want the ISPs to spend time and money chasing down suspected infringers and/or disconnect their customers' accounts, then RIAA has to cover the costs involved. Just like email spam, RIAA can currently blast out accusations in bulk at the drop of hat for free. Unlike spam, there's a viable way to pass the resulting costs back to RIAA without causing problems for everyone else on the net, so that seems like it would be a good way to end their abuses of the system. This wouldn't be any substitute for sane copyright laws, but perhaps it could at least mitigate the worst effects of the lunacy we have today. And, in other news, I'm up way too early this morning. Current Mood: groggy | | Wednesday, December 17th, 2008 | | 12:00 pm |
| | Tuesday, December 16th, 2008 | | 8:48 am |
If you're still using Internet Explorer... Time to switch. Really.
http://technology.timesonline.co.uk/tol/news/tech_and_web/article5351749.eceMicrosoft admitted today that a serious flaw in security has left all users of Internet Explorer, the default web browser for most people, vulnerable to attack from hackers. You know it has to be bad if Microsoft is coming out and admitting there's a problem. Granted, MS does include a four-step process for protecting yourself even if you do still run MSIE, which includes changing the Internet Zone's security level to high and running MSIE in protected mode. I expect these changes would substantially reduce your browser's functionality. Installing Firefox would probably both be simpler and leave you with a more-functional browser afterwards. Probably more secure, too. (Definitely more secure if you install the NoScript Firefox plugin...) |
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