Thursday, October 8

Kalasatama metro station, 17:15
Another day of compulsory glove-wearing for all cyclists, and I had mine on all the way to Puotila.
Last night I got an email about Transpose, which used to be known as KustomNote. In its previous incarnation it made custom templates for Evernote but, for me at least, they never worked and they never proved useful. In its new incarnation it is a standalone web app, with a fairly minimal iOS app. It took me sometime to realise what it is, and when I did I felt doubtful about its chances of success. It is (in effect) a customisable cloud-based database, that allows you to structure your information using templates. You can make your own, or you can copy other people’s, or you can use the suggestions that come as defaults.
You can save your notes to Evernote if you want, but I remain unconvinced. I will try the free version to see if, for example, I can structure my notes from a meeting before I save them into Evernote. Or I might. Why do I need my notes as anything more than a numbered list? I do that already using SnapWriter on my iPad, because it is easier to write in than the native Evernote interface.
My suspicion is that Transpose is an attempt to solve a problem that not many people actually have.
I spent the rest of the morning writing and editing javascript functions for this afternoon’s class. At 11:45 I had a whim. I had noticed that chilli con carne was on the lunch menu today and decided to walk downstairs and have some. Always trust your whims.
I was joined at lunch by Riita, who told me about Tony Dunderfelt, and a project she had been thinking about, which might also involve me. We were joined by some of her colleagues and talked for forty minutes. I explained about my plans for the Dividuality Lab, which need firming up, and promised to write a two page synopsis within the next ten days.
Riita also told me about a meeting next week with the Swedish Cultural Fund. When I returned to the office I asked and found out that Fred will be attending the meeting. I asked him to ask about whether inter-disciplinary projects are more or less likely to get funding. “More” is the answer I am hoping for, because that might help launch a project that will surprise a lot of people.
The chilli con carne was nice too.
I spent the afternoon explaining them. Once everyone admitted that they understood what I was talking about, the group returned to look at their Trello boards, in preparation for their unsupervised group work next week.
Now I am at Kalasatama on my way home. The sky is blue, the sun is out, the temperature has failed to notice this. I am wearing my gloves.
The most interesting thing we saw at Crazy Days yesterday was an offer for cheap logs with free delivery. Our pile of logs is running out, and our informal supplies seem to have dried up. When I get home, we will fold sheets and then I will iron them while Irma goes to order several cubes of logs.
Later we will eat Crazy Days torttu, which are kind of like mutant Runeberg torttu, and very nice in their own, moist way.