Martin Gumucio

This is the same model cellphone as the first one I owned. I didn't have the flashy headset however.

It’s been a while since i bought a new cell phone. As a matter of fact the only phone I ever bought with my own money was my first phone. An Ericsson, back in 1997 or something like that when it was still quite exotic to have one.

You would think that that technology has progressed since then, but what we see today is a market totally overcrowded with bad products. I’m not joking when I tell you that the SonyEricsson p990, a phone I had the misfortune to meet at my current job, actually choke on the task of dialling a number. Out of memory after two digits! Receiving a call was the same gamble, the phone could run out of memory as it tried to recieve the call.. system restart.

So it was with pretty low expectations that I went shopping last week. What I wanted was so simple.

• A phone that is small, and that I can drop without it going a million pieces. A “vacation” phone if you will.
• Not an iPhone clone.
• As less keys as possible and as minimal design as possible.
• Wi-fi  and ability to stream music from my home network.

Ok so that last point was a bit of a joke, because I never expected to find a phone like that. The iPhone does that kind of, via the tversity web-interface. But it’s pretty slow and only works when it feels like it.

But what do you know, looks like Nokia r&d have been reading my mind.  I went and bought a Nokia 5630. The rest of this post is going to be about how great it is, and how UPnP changed everything.

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Lets remember him like this

Updated

Here is the Bounce tribute.  The girls at 1.01 that look around and realize they are the only ones that not dancing are my favorites.

Nora!  City of summer.  For us city-dwellers every year we come here it’s like balsam for your soul. We always sleep a lot more when we are here, eat extremely well, and Aron loves the house with all the toy cars in.

This years midsummers celebration was to be held at the Pershyttan. Old remnants of the iron-industry that these parts were famous for in the 17th century. It all started in the most swedish way possible. Pouring rain! Thankfully the sun decided to join us later.

Later in the day we took a guided tour of Lockgruvan, a mine in the same area that went into disuse in 1909. Lina tells me that the area around the mine-shaft used to be completely unprotected, which  is totally amazing to me. The shaft is 160 meters deep, at 100 meters down the water starts. Or as it were, the ice!  Even in midsummer the ice is thick, and the temperature way below zero.

Learning the fate of the people that worked in the mine makes us visitors grateful to not have been among their numbers. There were no unions and no organization among the workers, its only in the economic books of the company that you can learn how life might have been like, the following is an authentic quote from the ledgers of the iron company.

Today worker Sune Magnusson died of a “skut” (piece of rock falling from the cieling). He leaves behind widow and seven children in misery. The cost was 33 crowns. (funeral)

The guide could also tell us that there is a continued recorded history of the same family. Luckily for the family, they had a 15 year old son that could take his fathers place at the company. Had this not been the case the family would not only have lost their only source of income, but also the house. It also belonged to the company. The son died in a train accident a few years later, breaking the rules by leaving the mine by walking on the railway he was hit by a railway cart loaded with minerals from behind. By that time he had probably already lost all hearing and so was unable to hear the cart coming.

These sobering accounts on how the situation for the working man used to be, makes you all the more thankful for lazy summer days. Were “working hard” simply means  having to be indoors.

Happy midsummers to you, and I hope you get lots of great vacation!

Another weekend has past and quickly it went too. Friday evening i was so tired that when put Aron to sleep at 8pm I fell asleep with him, using one of his plush bears as a pillow. Lina had the courtesy of waking me up some half-hour later, but it was too late. I fell asleep on the sofa instead and slept there until it was time for bed.

On saturday we took a little drive in the new car to check a local happening: the releasing of the cows into the summer pastures. This was new to us, we saw the poster at the grocery store and thought we would use the nice weather. We had no idea that around 2000 other people were coming as well! It was a great happening that offered lots of kids, lots of friends we knew that were there with their kids, ecological and I’m guessing very locally produced hamburgers (extremely popular), farming machinery and happy cows! A total hit with Aron as you can imagine. Gabriel took some greats pics of cows playing let’s see if he puts them up.

Sunday was rehearsal and social event with bar-b-q. My not-quite-dead-yet barbershop quartet. Good rehearsal,the first one in ages, and nice picnic afterwards during which Aron behaved himself very well with his fellow bar-b-q baby Tage.

Pollen is bad, really bad, but I have a lead on a new medicine that might help. Doctors appointment is  on wednesday.. please work .. please!

You are out driving in your car. You stop at a store and while you are there you steal some candy. I’ts illegal and not very nice, but you can’t help yourself, the candy looks so delicious. When you are about to leave the store owner appears and he is very mad.  ”For taking my candy without paying, you will lose your car.”  There is nothing you can do, you walk home.

This is more or less the essence of the telecom package, currently under deliberation in the European Parliament. The proposed price for you to pay for piracy is .. your internet connection can get taken away. Without the involvement of any court. (in the original proposal). They want to ban you from the internet for daring to take their precious movies and music. Nevermind that in 2009, the internet is a more given infrastructural item than even the telephone. You won’t be able to pay your bills or use it to declare your taxes. It is clear that the laws are based on outdated ideas. It is also clear that the people of Sweden have representation in Brussels that are pushing hard for an agenda that is utterly removed from the interests of the common people.

Our rights as citizens are getting compromised for the benefit of companies like HBO and Time Warner. It’s the end of the world.

http://www.dn.se/fordjupning/europa2009/telekompaketet-strid-om-rattssakerhet-in-i-det-sista-1.858591