On 2007-10-14, Roy Lanek <[EMAIL PROTECTED]> wrote: > Example: better to go from, say, Helsinki to Zurich via the > railway--don't take an airplane!
Except Finland is essentially an island in Europe (if it can even be considered to be part of Europe; in many senses it's dislocated on the wrong continent). To get by train alone to central Europe, you'd have to go through somewhere in Russia, and that's quite cumbersome, probably requiring visas etc. (And the tracks suck, but incidentally they're now going to improve the Helsinki-St. Petersburg tracks and byu new faster trains for it, while at the same time the railroads within Finland keep rotting, and the same expensive Pendolinos travel at snail's speed on them. Most of the tracks also have only a single rail-pair with occasional waiting tracks, so their capacity is at saturation and can't handle more cargo. And yet roads are constantly improved on the excuse of safer trucking. Typical Finnish extremely Helsinki-centric petrol fascist politics.) The best way to get from Finland to central Europe that doesn't require using an airplane, is probably an overnight ferry from Helsinki or Turku to Stockholm, and train from there through Denmark to Germany, etc. Ferry to Tallinn would be faster, but the Baltics don't have decent railroads. Alternatively you take ferry from Helsinki to Rostock or so, which takes about one and a half days or so. > I can't tell for Finland. (Incidentally, Finns seem to be, > willingly or not, I ignore, those *fools* who are *testing* the > snake-oil/baloney thing with the *bio*- [sigh] fuel: *thank you* > from the countries such Indonesia, who will then take the bait, > pay your bill eventually [see below also], and keep stuck in more > shit for the next decades.) Yep, the official religion of this country is transition from petrol fascism to agro-petrol fascism. > I am *lucky* (like most people too, well): I am right-handed! > > Would I have been left-handed instead, I would not--I mean, not > with this notebook I am using right now and like VERY MUCH--be > able to keep the mouse 10-15 cm on the right of the keyboard. I am right-handed, but I use the rat with my left hand. Why? Just look at the typical clusterfuck keyboard design. The distance to the mouse on the left is much shorter from the typing position. It's still a chore to reach for the mouse, however. And despite how crappy the mouse it, nipples, touchpads and other more easily reached alternatives are far worse than it otherwise. The touchpad in particular must be forbidden technology under some human rights conventions. > I use a vi-like editor EVERYWHERE I can. And don't hesitate to > grasp the mouse EVERY TIME it makes sense--which it happens > often enough. The mouse sustains/complements well vi, I have not > noticed *problems*. The mouse can complement the keyboard, that is _rarely_ the case when you are typing or otherwise almost constantly using the keyboard with both hands. The mouse best complements the keyboards when you can keep one hand on the keyboard and other on the mouse. This works out quite nicely in e.g. Blender's interface, and first-person-shooter games. > I am too extreme? Not sure. Dijkstra^1 tells: --"Besides > mathematical inclination, an exceptionally good mastery of > one's native tongue is the most vital asset of a competent > programmer."-- And he is quite likely right. This claim is probably related to the Sapir-Whorf hypothesis, and it probably is not important that the language one is proficient in is even one's native language, just some language. Most people, however, are most proficient in their native language. -- Tuomo
