Valkee Earlights – When Aggressive Marketing and Start-Up Mentality Overrode Science
The Finnish company Valkee that makes led-powered light earplugs they claim treats Seasonal Affective Disorder is in financial trouble, and I can’t say that I’m sad. I’ve been meaning to blog about them for a while, but yesterday something happened that nudged me over to make the keyboard clack on my summer holiday. So, what do I have against Finnish innovation and a potential relief for a serious ailment?
Åland on the Rocks 2014 and Stream Ten Demoparty
This May I had the first proper holiday trip since 2011, and the first proper holiday since the summer of 2012. We headed off to do some bouldering in the island of Åland, and back to the mainland for a demo scene party in Tampere, Finland. There was nature, sports, cabin stuff, science, history, art, making art, geekery, partying, geocaching, coding, achievements, learning new stuff, sauna, relaxation… The only thing that could’ve made this 100% perfect would’ve been one day of diving, but let’s leave something for the next one.
2013 – The Year of Accomplishment, Love and Adventure
If I had to pick one word to describe this year, it would be “intensive”, followed closely by such words as “interesting”, “awesome” and “exhausting”. Whereas the year 2012 was about change and the home run for a lot of projects, 2013 was about packing those projects in and kicking off a new phase of life. After this one the suckiness of 2011 and the years around it are forgiven.