Linda Liukas · Blog https://www.lindaliukas.com/blog/ Letters, notes, and photos by Linda Liukas. en Tue, 07 Apr 2026 20:33:41 +0200 No. 122 — 25 454 Links ⫶ He Did It in French ⫶ Kompyuuta vs. Tölva https://www.lindaliukas.com/blog/letters/no-122-25-454-links-he-did-it-in.html https://www.lindaliukas.com/blog/letters/no-122-25-454-links-he-did-it-in.html Not to destroy wonder.
]]> Tue, 07 Apr 2026 20:33:41 +0200 No. 121 — A Reintroduction ⫶ Three Volcanoes ⫶ Germinal https://www.lindaliukas.com/blog/letters/no-121-a-reintroduction-three-volcanoes.html https://www.lindaliukas.com/blog/letters/no-121-a-reintroduction-three-volcanoes.html The opposite of hype is not pessimism, but specificity. My name is Linda. I write a bi-weekly newsletter about computer science, childhood, and culture.

]]> Fri, 27 Mar 2026 08:00:00 +0000 No. 120 — Locked out ⫶ 200 children ⫶ My First Errand https://www.lindaliukas.com/blog/letters/no-120-locked-out-200-children-my.html https://www.lindaliukas.com/blog/letters/no-120-locked-out-200-children-my.html Who rakes the leaves? My name is Linda. I write a bi-weekly newsletter about computer science, childhood, and culture.

]]> Fri, 13 Mar 2026 08:00:00 +0000 No. 119 — Forty days of rain ⫶ The least probable word ⫶ Richardson's ribbons https://www.lindaliukas.com/blog/letters/no-119-forty-days-of-rain-the-least.html https://www.lindaliukas.com/blog/letters/no-119-forty-days-of-rain-the-least.html Words became compute My name is Linda. I write a bi-weekly newsletter about computer science, childhood, and culture.

]]> Tue, 24 Feb 2026 06:17:23 +0000 No. 118 — Math in muscles ⫶ Literary geishas ⫶ Dorodangos https://www.lindaliukas.com/blog/letters/no-118-math-in-muscles-literary-geishas.html https://www.lindaliukas.com/blog/letters/no-118-math-in-muscles-literary-geishas.html A re-enchanted world My name is Linda. I write a bi-weekly newsletter about computer science, childhood, and culture.

Kuvassa voi olla Sacré-Cœur
]]> Tue, 10 Feb 2026 14:55:17 +0000 No. 117 — Software-Shaped Thinking ⫶ Claude Week ⫶ Seasonal Update https://www.lindaliukas.com/blog/letters/no-117-fresh-friction-levers-knobs.html https://www.lindaliukas.com/blog/letters/no-117-fresh-friction-levers-knobs.html I shipped a tiny Hello Ruby feature and went looking for hidden knobs. My name is Linda. I write a bi-weekly newsletter about computer science, childhood, and culture.

]]> Tue, 27 Jan 2026 12:19:03 +0000 No. 116 — 🧭 Year in Review 2025 https://www.lindaliukas.com/blog/letters/no-116-year-in-review-2025.html https://www.lindaliukas.com/blog/letters/no-116-year-in-review-2025.html Just a small part of the world
]]> Tue, 13 Jan 2026 15:04:55 +0000 No. 115 — Under-95-cm applications ⫶ Rules of Resonance ⫶ How LLMS work https://www.lindaliukas.com/blog/letters/no-115-under-95-cm-applications-rules.html https://www.lindaliukas.com/blog/letters/no-115-under-95-cm-applications-rules.html Thinking about that small fragment My name is Linda. I write a bi-weekly newsletter about computer science, childhood, and culture.

]]> Tue, 23 Dec 2025 13:44:12 +0000 No. 114 — It’s Books, Darling ⫶ Gingerbread Playground ⫶ La Manche to London https://www.lindaliukas.com/blog/letters/no-114-its-books-darling-gingerbread.html https://www.lindaliukas.com/blog/letters/no-114-its-books-darling-gingerbread.html babies worship unknown goods My name is Linda. I write a bi-weekly newsletter about computer science, childhood, and culture.

]]> Wed, 10 Dec 2025 20:08:29 +0000 No. 113 — Berthe Weill ⫶ Continent of Play ⫶ Benchmarks for AI https://www.lindaliukas.com/blog/letters/no-113-berthe-weill-continent-of.html https://www.lindaliukas.com/blog/letters/no-113-berthe-weill-continent-of.html Team Room My name is Linda. I write a bi-weekly newsletter about computer science, childhood, and culture.

]]> Tue, 25 Nov 2025 11:02:57 +0000 No. 112 — Utopia Parkway ⫶ Paging London ⫶ AMA https://www.lindaliukas.com/blog/letters/no-112-utopia-parkway-paging-london.html https://www.lindaliukas.com/blog/letters/no-112-utopia-parkway-paging-london.html Language is what childhood is for My name is Linda. I write a bi-weekly newsletter about computer science, childhood, and culture.

]]> Tue, 11 Nov 2025 12:56:14 +0000 No. 111 — Vernacular computation ⫶ We Computers ⫶ Like-minded internet https://www.lindaliukas.com/blog/letters/no-111-vernacular-computation-we.html https://www.lindaliukas.com/blog/letters/no-111-vernacular-computation-we.html Shelf-discussions My name is Linda. I write a bi-weekly newsletter about computer science, childhood, and culture.

]]> Wed, 29 Oct 2025 14:50:40 +0000 No. 110 — Papert’s Principle ⫶ Computers got weird ⫶ Calder Gardens https://www.lindaliukas.com/blog/letters/no-110-paperts-principle-computers.html https://www.lindaliukas.com/blog/letters/no-110-paperts-principle-computers.html large, uncompromising feeling My name is Linda. I write a bi-weekly newsletter about computer science, childhood, and culture.

]]> Tue, 14 Oct 2025 14:00:45 +0000 No. 109 — Paris fall exhibitions ⫶ Pots, pans, and stoves ⫶ What’s in Jane’s bag? https://www.lindaliukas.com/blog/letters/no-109-paris-fall-exhibitions-pots.html https://www.lindaliukas.com/blog/letters/no-109-paris-fall-exhibitions-pots.html Running back to a former self
]]> Tue, 30 Sep 2025 05:06:55 +0000 No. 108 — Reading brain ⫶ Rebuilding something new ⫶ The State of the Braid https://www.lindaliukas.com/blog/letters/no-108-reading-brain-rebuilding-something.html https://www.lindaliukas.com/blog/letters/no-108-reading-brain-rebuilding-something.html now with more bird facts! My name is Linda. I write a bi-weekly newsletter about computer science, childhood, and culture.

]]> Tue, 16 Sep 2025 18:22:45 +0000 No. 107 — La rentrée rush ⫶ 3books ⫶ the McPhee method. https://www.lindaliukas.com/blog/letters/no-107-la-rentree-rush-3books-the.html https://www.lindaliukas.com/blog/letters/no-107-la-rentree-rush-3books-the.html build your volitional muscles My name is Linda. I write a bi-weekly newsletter about computer science, childhood, and culture.

]]> Thu, 04 Sep 2025 11:41:58 +0000 No. 106 — Proust and the Squid ⫶ Memory and monuments ⫶ Counting spaces https://www.lindaliukas.com/blog/letters/no-106-proust-and-the-squid-memory.html https://www.lindaliukas.com/blog/letters/no-106-proust-and-the-squid-memory.html time goes porous My name is Linda. I write a bi-weekly newsletter about computer science, childhood, and culture.

]]> Fri, 22 Aug 2025 10:29:55 +0000 No. 105 — Eight play values ⫶ Détour ⫶ Low in entropy https://www.lindaliukas.com/blog/letters/no-105-eight-play-values-detour-low.html https://www.lindaliukas.com/blog/letters/no-105-eight-play-values-detour-low.html how can you be sure? My name is Linda. I write a bi-weekly newsletter about computer science, childhood, and culture.

Children play next to a giant watermelon at the Tampines housing estate in 1993.
]]> Tue, 29 Jul 2025 09:25:43 +0000 No. 104 — Summer books ⫶ Prony's computers ⫶ Interactions between frequencies https://www.lindaliukas.com/blog/letters/no-104-summer-books-pronys-computers.html https://www.lindaliukas.com/blog/letters/no-104-summer-books-pronys-computers.html thinkers end up, wherever they may start, in botany My name is Linda. I write a bi-weekly newsletter about computer science, childhood, and culture.

No alternative text description for this image
]]> Tue, 15 Jul 2025 11:35:26 +0000 No. 103 — Diagonal Movements ⫶ Pathfinder ⫶ Move our arms and legs at the same time https://www.lindaliukas.com/blog/letters/no-103-diagonal-movements-pathfinder.html https://www.lindaliukas.com/blog/letters/no-103-diagonal-movements-pathfinder.html extremely slow and extremely fast My name is Linda. I write a bi-weekly newsletter about computer science, childhood, and culture.

]]> Tue, 01 Jul 2025 10:27:11 +0000 No. 102 — True to Life ⫶ Polyester ⫶ All the surfaces of things https://www.lindaliukas.com/blog/letters/102-true-to-life-polyester-all-the.html https://www.lindaliukas.com/blog/letters/102-true-to-life-polyester-all-the.html willing to make detours for quite long periods Hi, I’m Linda. I write a bi-weekly newsletter exploring the intersections of computer science, childhood, and culture.

]]> Tue, 17 Jun 2025 07:53:48 +0000 No. 101 — Language for imagination ⫶ Richelieu's rotunda in 2048 ⫶ Vous avez trouvé votre bonheur? https://www.lindaliukas.com/blog/letters/no-101-language-for-imagination-richelieus.html https://www.lindaliukas.com/blog/letters/no-101-language-for-imagination-richelieus.html the most potent compost for the imagination Hi, I’m Linda. I write a bi-weekly newsletter exploring the intersections of computer science, childhood, and culture.

]]> Tue, 03 Jun 2025 20:48:55 +0000 No. 100 - Hundred ⫶ Sata ⫶ Cent https://www.lindaliukas.com/blog/letters/no-100-hundred-sata-cent.html https://www.lindaliukas.com/blog/letters/no-100-hundred-sata-cent.html Dix fois dix My name is Linda. I write a bi-weekly newsletter about computer science, childhood, and culture.

]]> Tue, 20 May 2025 14:36:48 +0000 No. 99 — The Force of Spring ⫶ Paris Bees ⫶ Curiosity Muscle https://www.lindaliukas.com/blog/letters/no-99-the-force-of-spring-paris-bees.html https://www.lindaliukas.com/blog/letters/no-99-the-force-of-spring-paris-bees.html When Borges Meets the Playground
]]> Wed, 07 May 2025 04:28:01 +0000 No. 98 — The playground curriculum ⫶ Ted Nelson’s Junk Mail ⫶ But what are you trying to be free of? https://www.lindaliukas.com/blog/letters/no-98-the-playground-curriculum-ted.html https://www.lindaliukas.com/blog/letters/no-98-the-playground-curriculum-ted.html Where learning begins with the feet

]]> Tue, 22 Apr 2025 16:07:04 +0000 No. 97 — To See The World in A Grain of Sand https://www.lindaliukas.com/blog/letters/no-97-to-see-the-world-in-a-grain.html https://www.lindaliukas.com/blog/letters/no-97-to-see-the-world-in-a-grain.html Books are made of other books My name is Linda. I write a bi-weekly newsletter about computer science, childhood, and culture.

]]> Tue, 08 Apr 2025 09:37:19 +0000 No. 96 — Sorting algorithms ⫶ Currently sitting on a pencil case ⫶ Seasonal family logistics shuffle https://www.lindaliukas.com/blog/letters/no-96-sorting-algorithms-currently.html https://www.lindaliukas.com/blog/letters/no-96-sorting-algorithms-currently.html All sorts My name is Linda. I write a bi-weekly newsletter about computer science, childhood, and culture.

]]> Tue, 25 Mar 2025 14:31:33 +0000 No. 95 — Small Archives ⫶ Without Blurs ⫶ Lost Art of Logarithms https://www.lindaliukas.com/blog/letters/no-95-small-archives-without-blurs.html https://www.lindaliukas.com/blog/letters/no-95-small-archives-without-blurs.html Personal, deliberate and odd My name is Linda. I write a bi-weekly newsletter about computer science, childhood, and culture.

Tove Jansson, Wellspring of Life, 1944
]]> Tue, 11 Mar 2025 16:34:51 +0000 No. 94 — Hopscotch ⫶ Nassi-Shneiderman Diagrams ⫶ Heroes list https://www.lindaliukas.com/blog/letters/no-94-hopscotch-nassi-shneiderman.html https://www.lindaliukas.com/blog/letters/no-94-hopscotch-nassi-shneiderman.html the mastery of the artist My name is Linda. I write a bi-weekly newsletter about computer science, childhood, and culture.

It’s very snowy in Helsinki, and I’ve spent my days with a group of kindergarteners (the lovely By the Sea team!) and wrapping up copy edits for my upcoming book. It’s wild how many little errors still creep in—learning the difference between billions and millions, one edit at a time.

Last week, I went to have lunch with Amélia from Colori Montessori at Ippudo Louvre (which we both love), and I managed to speak French the entire time (!). Also, the BBC story went a little viral—on Facebook alone, it has over 2,000 shares.

Tomorrow, tune in for my talk with Codeweek Europe, Charting New Constellations: How Code, Creativity, and Curiosity Form a Career—on Wednesday 26th, at 6:30 CET, but also available later.

]]> Tue, 25 Feb 2025 14:00:34 +0000 No. 93 — Recently returned ⫶ The Language of Computation ⫶ Cursor Park https://www.lindaliukas.com/blog/letters/no-93-recently-returned-the-language.html https://www.lindaliukas.com/blog/letters/no-93-recently-returned-the-language.html The shelf is, essentially, a living recommendation algorithm My name is Linda. I write a bi-weekly newsletter about computer science, childhood, and culture.

]]> Tue, 11 Feb 2025 19:55:35 +0000 No. 92 — 🧭 Year in Review 2024 https://www.lindaliukas.com/blog/letters/no-92-year-in-review.html https://www.lindaliukas.com/blog/letters/no-92-year-in-review.html resisting, outwitting, skipping, or subverting
]]> Mon, 03 Feb 2025 14:36:37 +0000 No. 91 — Books of 2024 https://www.lindaliukas.com/blog/letters/no-91-books-of-2024.html https://www.lindaliukas.com/blog/letters/no-91-books-of-2024.html The end of year list
]]> Mon, 23 Dec 2024 20:24:38 +0000 No. 90 — thoughts.txt ⫶ Portals ⫶ Reader Survey https://www.lindaliukas.com/blog/letters/no-90-thoughtstxt-portals-reader.html https://www.lindaliukas.com/blog/letters/no-90-thoughtstxt-portals-reader.html probably zelda, but only the sidequests My name is Linda. I write a bi-weekly newsletter about computer science, childhood, and culture.

]]> Tue, 10 Dec 2024 13:50:31 +0000 No. 89 — A Playground Worth a Thousand Programmes ⫶ AMA ⫶ Le Jardin Robo https://www.lindaliukas.com/blog/letters/no-89-a-playground-worth-a-thousand.html https://www.lindaliukas.com/blog/letters/no-89-a-playground-worth-a-thousand.html a reputation for gentle eccentricity My name is Linda. I write a bi-weekly newsletter about computer science, childhood, and culture.

]]> Tue, 26 Nov 2024 20:40:47 +0000 No. 88 — Darkome ⫶ Subjective synthetic biology curriculum ⫶ House Rules in Fortnite https://www.lindaliukas.com/blog/letters/no-88-darkome-subjective-synthetic.html https://www.lindaliukas.com/blog/letters/no-88-darkome-subjective-synthetic.html Then Comes the Body My name is Linda. I write a bi-weekly newsletter about computer science, childhood, and culture. Full disclosure: I’m also an investor in one of Hannu’s companies.

Darkome (Paperback)
]]> Wed, 13 Nov 2024 12:17:16 +0000 No. 87 — Playground process ⫶ The Anchor Song ⫶ Berlin next week https://www.lindaliukas.com/blog/letters/no-87-playground-process-the-anchor.html https://www.lindaliukas.com/blog/letters/no-87-playground-process-the-anchor.html both public and hidden My name is Linda. I write a bi-weekly newsletter about computer science, childhood, and culture.

]]> Tue, 29 Oct 2024 10:15:38 +0000 No. 86 — A playground to outlast the feed https://www.lindaliukas.com/blog/letters/no-86-a-playground-to-outlast-the.html https://www.lindaliukas.com/blog/letters/no-86-a-playground-to-outlast-the.html walk through it, crawl up it, roll down it, swim in it My name is Linda. I write a bi-weekly newsletter about computer science, childhood, and culture. All pictures by Sakari Röyskö and the city of Helsinki.

]]> Wed, 09 Oct 2024 11:54:44 +0000 No. 85 — Playing in the streets ⫶ Pop-up computing ⫶ Shelf space https://www.lindaliukas.com/blog/letters/no-84-playing-in-the-streets-pop.html https://www.lindaliukas.com/blog/letters/no-84-playing-in-the-streets-pop.html Language to be hand-held My name is Linda. I write a bi-weekly newsletter about computer science, childhood, and culture.

I'm in the last mad rush to finish all the educational materials for the Ruoholahti playground opening! If you're in Helsinki, the official opening ceremony is October 1st from 10:30 to 1 PM—no RSVP is needed, but do send me a message so I'll know to find you among the school kids. Meanwhile, here's a report that caught my eye.

]]> Wed, 25 Sep 2024 09:20:22 +0000 No. 84 — La Rentrée ⫶ NGEs ⫶ Aleatory AI art https://www.lindaliukas.com/blog/letters/no-84-la-rentree-nges-aleatory-ai.html https://www.lindaliukas.com/blog/letters/no-84-la-rentree-nges-aleatory-ai.html You're not made for human eyes My name is Linda. I write a bi-weekly newsletter about computer science, childhood, and culture.

]]> Tue, 10 Sep 2024 13:36:40 +0000 No. 83 — Look longer ⫶ Remake old Masters ⫶ Zucchini jam https://www.lindaliukas.com/blog/letters/no-83-look-longer-remake-old-masters.html https://www.lindaliukas.com/blog/letters/no-83-look-longer-remake-old-masters.html old, not dead My name is Linda. I write a bi-weekly newsletter about computer science, childhood, and culture.

]]> Tue, 27 Aug 2024 08:32:10 +0000 No. 82 — How to get to Sesame Street ⫶ The Distractor ⫶ Where are the computers? https://www.lindaliukas.com/blog/letters/no-82-how-to-get-to-sesame-street.html https://www.lindaliukas.com/blog/letters/no-82-how-to-get-to-sesame-street.html the spinach side of things My name is Linda. I write a bi-weekly newsletter about computer science, childhood, and culture.

Image
]]> Sat, 17 Aug 2024 15:00:17 +0000 No. 81 - A Playground of One's Own : Calculating Empires : Susuwatari https://www.lindaliukas.com/blog/letters/no-81-a-playground-of-ones-own-calculating.html https://www.lindaliukas.com/blog/letters/no-81-a-playground-of-ones-own-calculating.html playground-as-a-residence My name is Linda. I write a bi-weekly newsletter about computer science, childhood, and culture.

]]> Thu, 01 Aug 2024 16:11:24 +0000 No. 80 - Booleans : Primeval numbers : Incomplete City https://www.lindaliukas.com/blog/letters/no-80-booleans-primeval-numbers-incomplete.html https://www.lindaliukas.com/blog/letters/no-80-booleans-primeval-numbers-incomplete.html completely in the hands of the children My name is Linda. I write a bi-weekly newsletter about computer science, childhood, and culture.

]]> Tue, 16 Jul 2024 14:02:05 +0000 No. 79 - Summer books : Antique book patterns : Centripetal / Centrifugal https://www.lindaliukas.com/blog/letters/no-79-summer-books-antique-book-patterns.html https://www.lindaliukas.com/blog/letters/no-79-summer-books-antique-book-patterns.html All websites should have a bookshelf My name is Linda. I write a bi-weekly newsletter about computer science, childhood, and culture.

]]> Tue, 02 Jul 2024 20:12:23 +0000 No. 78 - Umarell : Star Stuff : A tinkering bibliography https://www.lindaliukas.com/blog/letters/no-78-umarell-star-stuff-a-tinkering.html https://www.lindaliukas.com/blog/letters/no-78-umarell-star-stuff-a-tinkering.html Walking with a toddler by a construction site My name is Linda. I write a bi-weekly newsletter about computer science, childhood, and culture.

]]> Tue, 18 Jun 2024 15:10:48 +0000 No. 77 — Taste ⫶ Books as an act of resistance ⫶ Embarrassingly parallel https://www.lindaliukas.com/blog/letters/no-77-taste-books-as-an-act-of-resistance.html https://www.lindaliukas.com/blog/letters/no-77-taste-books-as-an-act-of-resistance.html A chef once told me that a dish without two different flavors is unlikely to be good My name is Linda. I write a bi-weekly newsletter about computer science, childhood, and culture.

]]> Mon, 03 Jun 2024 09:40:16 +0000 No 76 — Playground construction ⫶ Worldbuilding ⫶ Jean Bartik https://www.lindaliukas.com/blog/letters/no-76-playground-construction-worldbuilding.html https://www.lindaliukas.com/blog/letters/no-76-playground-construction-worldbuilding.html perform a victory dance My name is Linda. I write a bi-weekly newsletter about computer science, childhood, and culture.

]]> Tue, 14 May 2024 11:38:12 +0000 No. 75 — LEGO Dots ⫶ Parallel lives ⫶ Reproduction https://www.lindaliukas.com/blog/letters/no-75-lego-dots-parallel-lives-reproduction.html https://www.lindaliukas.com/blog/letters/no-75-lego-dots-parallel-lives-reproduction.html Indistinguishable From Magic My name is Linda. I write a bi-weekly newsletter about computer science, childhood, and culture.

]]> Tue, 30 Apr 2024 12:37:49 +0000 No. 74 — They All Saw A Computer ⫶ Lavender Velvet ⫶ Inventing Kindergarten https://www.lindaliukas.com/blog/letters/no-74-they-all-saw-a-computer-lavender.html https://www.lindaliukas.com/blog/letters/no-74-they-all-saw-a-computer-lavender.html To draw what they could not see My name is Linda. I write a bi-weekly newsletter about computer science, childhood, and culture.

]]> Tue, 16 Apr 2024 20:05:43 +0000 No. 73 — CAPTCHAs ⫶ Intelligence of a Single Cell ⫶ Tricks, cheats and shortcuts https://www.lindaliukas.com/blog/letters/no-73-captchas-intelligence-of-a.html https://www.lindaliukas.com/blog/letters/no-73-captchas-intelligence-of-a.html demonstrating you're not a robot in 2024 My name is Linda. I write a bi-weekly newsletter about computer science, childhood, and culture.

]]> Tue, 02 Apr 2024 13:43:06 +0000 No. 72 — A matrix of AIs ⫶ Retired playground animals ⫶ Hello Ruby - Cuộc Phiêu Lưu Vào Thế Giới Lập Trình https://www.lindaliukas.com/blog/letters/no-72-a-matrix-of-ais-retired-playground.html https://www.lindaliukas.com/blog/letters/no-72-a-matrix-of-ais-retired-playground.html Collective nouns for technologies My name is Linda. I write a bi-weekly newsletter about computer science, childhood, and culture.

Image
]]> Tue, 19 Mar 2024 13:53:40 +0000 No. 71 — Why so capable ⫶ Fitzcarraldo blue ⫶ Loop, patch, library https://www.lindaliukas.com/blog/letters/no-71-why-so-capable-fitzcarraldo.html https://www.lindaliukas.com/blog/letters/no-71-why-so-capable-fitzcarraldo.html Watching struggle is a form of comfort My name is Linda. I write a bi-weekly newsletter about computer science, childhood, and culture.

]]> Tue, 05 Mar 2024 13:07:44 +0000 No. 70 — Edit/mode ⫶ Paper hole puncher ⫶ The Day I Met Björk https://www.lindaliukas.com/blog/letters/no-70-editmode-paper-hole-puncher.html https://www.lindaliukas.com/blog/letters/no-70-editmode-paper-hole-puncher.html And how do you make a person? My name is Linda. I write a bi-weekly newsletter about computer science, childhood, and culture.

]]> Tue, 20 Feb 2024 18:53:06 +0000 No. 69 — Ternary citrus ⫶ Warm-blooded plants ⫶ Ruby’s Exceptional Creatures https://www.lindaliukas.com/blog/letters/no-69-ternary-citrus-warm-blooded.html https://www.lindaliukas.com/blog/letters/no-69-ternary-citrus-warm-blooded.html Citrus does not come true from seed. My name is Linda. I write a bi-weekly newsletter about computer science, childhood, and culture.

]]> Tue, 06 Feb 2024 15:03:05 +0000 No. 68 — They All Saw a Cat ⫶ How Big is YouTube? ⫶ Moonbound https://www.lindaliukas.com/blog/letters/no-68-they-all-saw-a-cat-how-big.html https://www.lindaliukas.com/blog/letters/no-68-they-all-saw-a-cat-how-big.html and the computer saw A CAT My name is Linda. I write a bi-weekly newsletter about computer science, childhood, and culture.

]]> Tue, 23 Jan 2024 15:45:27 +0000 No. 67 — 🧭 Year in Review 2023 https://www.lindaliukas.com/blog/letters/no-67-year-in-review-2023.html https://www.lindaliukas.com/blog/letters/no-67-year-in-review-2023.html all the worlds, each more beautiful than the last
]]> Mon, 08 Jan 2024 09:16:00 +0000 No. 66 - AMA ⫶ Plays & Toys ⫶ Paul Klee sweater https://www.lindaliukas.com/blog/letters/no-66-ama-plays-and-toys-paul-klee.html https://www.lindaliukas.com/blog/letters/no-66-ama-plays-and-toys-paul-klee.html One needs a way to keep track, a memory My name is Linda. I write a bi-weekly newsletter about computer science, childhood, and culture - and 9 685 of you are listening. If you enjoy this issue, please share it with anyone who may find it helpful.

]]> Thu, 14 Dec 2023 14:00:36 +0000 No. 65 - Playground abacus ⫶ Stochastic Parrot ⫶ Parallel Computing in the Ancient World https://www.lindaliukas.com/blog/letters/no-65-playground-abacus-stochastic.html https://www.lindaliukas.com/blog/letters/no-65-playground-abacus-stochastic.html Numbers grasped between the thumb and the finger My name is Linda. I write a bi-weekly newsletter about computer science, childhood, and culture - and 9 674 of you are listening. If you enjoy this issue, please share it with anyone who may find it helpful.

]]> Tue, 28 Nov 2023 15:37:37 +0000 No. 64 - AMA ⫶ 付喪神 ⫶ Finnish Forest Schools https://www.lindaliukas.com/blog/letters/no-64-ama-finnish-forest-schools.html https://www.lindaliukas.com/blog/letters/no-64-ama-finnish-forest-schools.html Seasonal timing My name is Linda. I write a bi-weekly newsletter about computer science, childhood, and culture - and there are 9 668 of you listening. If you enjoy this issue, please share it with anyone who may find it helpful.

]]> Tue, 14 Nov 2023 15:01:20 +0000 No. 63 - Surprised by Joy ⫶ Atomic-sized person ⫶ Trip to Georgia https://www.lindaliukas.com/blog/letters/no-63-surprised-by-joy-atomic-sized.html https://www.lindaliukas.com/blog/letters/no-63-surprised-by-joy-atomic-sized.html All I want to say is that the wonder is still there My name is Linda. I write a bi-weekly newsletter about computer science, childhood, and culture - and there are 9 692 of you listening. If you enjoy this issue, please share it with anyone who may find it helpful.

]]> Fri, 03 Nov 2023 09:34:03 +0000 No. 62 - Polish system ⫶ Territory Writing ⫶ Stories over time https://www.lindaliukas.com/blog/letters/no-62-polish-timetables-territory.html https://www.lindaliukas.com/blog/letters/no-62-polish-timetables-territory.html Touch 262 years with your bare hands My name is Linda. I write a bi-weekly newsletter about computer science, childhood, and culture - and there are 9 693 of you listening. If you enjoy this issue, please share it with anyone who may find it helpful.

]]> Wed, 18 Oct 2023 13:40:18 +0000 No. 61 - JWST ⫶ All art starts with a material ⫶ Rabbit Years https://www.lindaliukas.com/blog/letters/no-61-jwst-all-art-starts-with-a.html https://www.lindaliukas.com/blog/letters/no-61-jwst-all-art-starts-with-a.html Grow, rather than scale My name is Linda. I write a bi-weekly newsletter about computer science, childhood, and culture - and there are 9710 of you listening. If you enjoy this issue, please share it with anyone who may find it helpful.

]]> Wed, 04 Oct 2023 13:25:54 +0000 No. 60 - Le Ballon Rouge ⫶ The Electric State ⫶ A Little Tooth https://www.lindaliukas.com/blog/letters/no-60-le-ballon-rouge-the-electric.html https://www.lindaliukas.com/blog/letters/no-60-le-ballon-rouge-the-electric.html You did, you loved, your feet are sore My name is Linda. I write a bi-weekly newsletter about computer science, childhood, and culture - and there are 9716 of you listening. If you enjoy this issue, please share it with anyone who may find it helpful.

]]> Tue, 19 Sep 2023 08:14:02 +0000 No. 59 - La Rentrée ⫶ Grammar of Computers ⫶ Textual knobs and levers https://www.lindaliukas.com/blog/letters/no-59-la-rentree-grammar-of-computers.html https://www.lindaliukas.com/blog/letters/no-59-la-rentree-grammar-of-computers.html Yearning to return My name is Linda. I write a bi-weekly newsletter about computer science, childhood, and culture - and there are 9722 of you listening. If you enjoy this issue, please share it with anyone who may find it helpful.

]]> Tue, 05 Sep 2023 14:32:01 +0000 No. 58 - Science syllabuses with fiction ⫶ The Other Oppenheimer ⫶ Maps of Matter https://www.lindaliukas.com/blog/letters/no-58-science-syllabuses-with-fiction.html https://www.lindaliukas.com/blog/letters/no-58-science-syllabuses-with-fiction.html Something Incredibly Wonderful Happens My name is Linda. I write a bi-weekly newsletter about computer science, childhood, and culture - and there are 9742 of you listening. If you enjoy this issue, please share it with anyone who may find it helpful.

]]> Tue, 22 Aug 2023 11:55:38 +0000 No. 57 - The First Artificial Intelligence Coloring Book ⫶ Bayesian Forest ⫶ East Coast 24' https://www.lindaliukas.com/blog/letters/no-57-the-first-artificial-intelligence.html https://www.lindaliukas.com/blog/letters/no-57-the-first-artificial-intelligence.html The model is a reminder. My name is Linda. I write a bi-weekly newsletter about computer science, childhood, and culture - and there are 9655 of you listening. If you enjoy this issue, please share it with anyone who may find it helpful.

]]> Tue, 25 Jul 2023 14:00:25 +0000 No. 56 - Printed Circuits ⫶ Papier Machine ⫶ Expressive electronics https://www.lindaliukas.com/blog/letters/printed-circuits-papier-machine-expressive.html https://www.lindaliukas.com/blog/letters/printed-circuits-papier-machine-expressive.html A circuit board is a meeting point between humans and electricity My name is Linda. I write a bi-weekly newsletter about computer science, childhood and culture - and there are 9655 of you listening. If you enjoy this issue, please share it with anyone you think may find it useful.

]]> Tue, 11 Jul 2023 12:20:35 +0000 No. 55 - Summer books ⫶ Endpapers ⫶ Bookalikes https://www.lindaliukas.com/blog/letters/no-55-summer-books-endpapers-bookalikes.html https://www.lindaliukas.com/blog/letters/no-55-summer-books-endpapers-bookalikes.html Books create breadcrumbs My name is Linda. I write a bi-weekly newsletter about computer science, childhood and culture - and there are 9688 of you listening. If you enjoy this issue, please share it with anyone you think may find it useful.

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]]> Tue, 27 Jun 2023 07:48:53 +0000 No. 54 - Summer School ⫶ Tiny Awards ⫶ Sofia Coppola https://www.lindaliukas.com/blog/letters/no-54-summer-school-tiny-awards-sofia.html https://www.lindaliukas.com/blog/letters/no-54-summer-school-tiny-awards-sofia.html The Computer is a Camp My name is Linda. I write a bi-weekly newsletter about computer science, childhood and culture - and there are 9697 of you listening. If you enjoy this issue, please share it with anyone you think may find it useful.

]]> Tue, 06 Jun 2023 19:07:04 +0000 No. 53 - Computer museums ⫶ Synthwave boy ⫶ Software Stories https://www.lindaliukas.com/blog/letters/no-53-computer-museums-synthwave.html https://www.lindaliukas.com/blog/letters/no-53-computer-museums-synthwave.html Curate a small computer museum of 2023 My name is Linda. I write a bi-weekly newsletter about computer science, childhood and culture - and there are 9 709 of you listening. If you enjoy this issue, please share it with anyone you think may find it useful.

]]> Tue, 23 May 2023 13:35:02 +0000 No. 52 - On Translation ⫶ The annoying PPP ⫶ Faraday & Babbage https://www.lindaliukas.com/blog/letters/no-52-on-translation-the-annoying.html https://www.lindaliukas.com/blog/letters/no-52-on-translation-the-annoying.html It's my language, but it is also someone else My name is Linda. I write a bi-weekly newsletter about computer science, childhood and culture - and there are 9 723 of you listening. If you enjoy this issue, please share it with anyone you think may find it useful.

]]> Tue, 09 May 2023 12:43:29 +0000 No. 51 - On Scale ⫶ Our Glacial Perspectives ⫶ Reading synchronously https://www.lindaliukas.com/blog/letters/no-51-on-scale-our-glacial-perspectives.html https://www.lindaliukas.com/blog/letters/no-51-on-scale-our-glacial-perspectives.html Beauty on all scales My name is Linda. I write a bi-weekly newsletter about computer science, childhood and culture - and there are 9 717 of you listening. If you enjoy this issue, please share it with anyone you think may find it useful.

]]> Tue, 25 Apr 2023 14:48:24 +0000 No. 50 - Missing Internet ⫶ Hiding in Plain Sight ⫶ Case studies in Computing Ethics https://www.lindaliukas.com/blog/letters/no-50-missing-internet-hiding-in.html https://www.lindaliukas.com/blog/letters/no-50-missing-internet-hiding-in.html Safe, sturdy and stable technology My name is Linda. I write a bi-weekly newsletter about computer science, childhood and culture - and there are 9 721 of you listening. If you enjoy this issue, please share it with anyone you think may find it useful.

]]> Tue, 11 Apr 2023 14:08:46 +0000 No. 48 — Multiplayer mode ⫶ HTTP Verbs ⫶ Oslo Future Library https://www.lindaliukas.com/blog/letters/no-48-multiplayer-mode-http-verbs.html https://www.lindaliukas.com/blog/letters/no-48-multiplayer-mode-http-verbs.html Why is it so moving to see people move or dance at the same time? My name is Linda. I write a bi-weekly newsletter about computer science, childhood and culture - and there are 9 744 of you listening. If you enjoy this issue, please share it with anyone you think may find it useful. And with a little time-space continuum hick-up, here is no. 48, conveniently just after 49.

]]> Wed, 29 Mar 2023 12:03:18 +0000 No. 49 — ChatGPT 🗣️ Like a calculator for math education 🧮 Maria Montessori hated play https://www.lindaliukas.com/blog/letters/no-49-chatgpt-like-a-calculator-for.html https://www.lindaliukas.com/blog/letters/no-49-chatgpt-like-a-calculator-for.html Write like a SQL console / motivational speaker / makeup artist My name is Linda. I write a bi-weekly (well, honestly more like monthly) newsletter about computer science, childhood and culture - and there are 9 671 of you listening. If you enjoy this issue, please share it with anyone you think may find it useful.

]]> Tue, 31 Jan 2023 14:26:59 +0000 No. 47 — 🧭 Year in Review 2022 https://www.lindaliukas.com/blog/letters/no-47-year-in-review-2022.html https://www.lindaliukas.com/blog/letters/no-47-year-in-review-2022.html My name is Linda. I write a bi-weekly newsletter about computer science, childhood, and culture - and 9 665 of you are listening. If you enjoy this issue, please share it with anyone who may find it helpful.

]]> Mon, 09 Jan 2023 08:47:10 +0000 No. 46 — Vocations 🚸 Visiting Paris with kids 🌀 Escher Circuits https://www.lindaliukas.com/blog/letters/no-46-vocations-visiting-paris-with.html https://www.lindaliukas.com/blog/letters/no-46-vocations-visiting-paris-with.html A territorial hope affair My name is Linda. I write a bi-weekly (well, honestly, more like monthly) newsletter about computer science, childhood, and culture - and 9 673 of you are listening. If you enjoy this issue, please share it with anyone who may find it helpful.

]]> Tue, 20 Dec 2022 19:11:39 +0000 No. 45 - 15 *old* ideas for CS ED Week 🕹️ AMA 🙋 Blueprints of Intelligence https://www.lindaliukas.com/blog/letters/no-45-15-old-ideas-for-cs-ed-week.html https://www.lindaliukas.com/blog/letters/no-45-15-old-ideas-for-cs-ed-week.html Did photography or prompt engineering kill art? My name is Linda. I write a bi-weekly (well, honestly more like monthly) newsletter about computer science, childhood and culture - and there are 9 687 of you listening. If you enjoy this issue, please share it with anyone you think may find it useful.

]]> Tue, 06 Dec 2022 17:52:51 +0000 No. 44 — Prompt Engineering 🪄 Art Pedagogy 🎨 Evolution of Pokemon https://www.lindaliukas.com/blog/letters/no-44-prompt-engineering-art-pedagogy.html https://www.lindaliukas.com/blog/letters/no-44-prompt-engineering-art-pedagogy.html Make a spell My name is Linda. I write a bi-weekly (well, honestly more like monthly) newsletter about computer science, childhood and culture - and there are 9 716 of you listening. If you enjoy this issue, please share it with anyone you think may find it useful.

]]> Wed, 23 Nov 2022 12:35:07 +0000 No. 43 — Planetary fiction 🗺️ Robin Wall Kimmerer + Björk 🍄 Unix Pipe Cards https://www.lindaliukas.com/blog/letters/no-43-planetary-fiction-robin-wall.html https://www.lindaliukas.com/blog/letters/no-43-planetary-fiction-robin-wall.html They were worldsick My name is Linda. I write a bi-weekly newsletter about computer science, childhood and culture - and there are 9 720 of you listening. If you enjoy this issue, please share it with anyone you think may find it useful.

]]> Wed, 02 Nov 2022 10:17:04 +0000 No. 42 — A year in Paris 🇫🇷 https://www.lindaliukas.com/blog/letters/no-42-a-year-in-paris.html https://www.lindaliukas.com/blog/letters/no-42-a-year-in-paris.html Petit fours for friends My name is Linda. I write a bi-weekly newsletter about computer science, childhood and culture - and there are 9 726 of you listening. If you enjoy this issue, please share it with anyone you think may find it useful.

]]> Fri, 21 Oct 2022 12:04:46 +0000 No. 41 — Umwelt 👀 Robot readable world 🍄 Sonic Symbolism https://www.lindaliukas.com/blog/letters/no-41-umwelt-robot-readable-world.html https://www.lindaliukas.com/blog/letters/no-41-umwelt-robot-readable-world.html What is it like being an algorithm? My name is Linda. I write a bi-weekly newsletter about computer science, childhood and culture - and there are 9 643 of you listening. If you enjoy this issue, please share it with anyone you think may find it useful.

]]> Thu, 01 Sep 2022 12:32:53 +0000 No. 40 — Making AI visible 👀 Struggles with the strange 🏘️ Fictional livability index https://www.lindaliukas.com/blog/letters/no-40-making-ai-visible-struggles.html https://www.lindaliukas.com/blog/letters/no-40-making-ai-visible-struggles.html Blueprints of imagination My name is Linda. I write a bi-weekly newsletter about computer science, childhood and culture - and there are 9 603 of you listening. If you enjoy this issue, please share it with anyone you think may find it useful.

]]> Tue, 26 Jul 2022 15:23:01 +0000 No. 39 — Summer books 🔖 Read your way through 🏫 Library.json https://www.lindaliukas.com/blog/letters/no-39-summer-books-read-your-way.html https://www.lindaliukas.com/blog/letters/no-39-summer-books-read-your-way.html PageRank for books My name is Linda. I write a bi-weekly newsletter about computer science, childhood and culture - and there are 9 599 of you listening. If you enjoy this issue, please share it with anyone you think may find it useful.

]]> Wed, 13 Jul 2022 12:45:13 +0000 No. 38 — All the Light 🕸️ Trees are Family 🌳 Educators, hi https://www.lindaliukas.com/blog/letters/no-38-all-the-light-trees-are-family.html https://www.lindaliukas.com/blog/letters/no-38-all-the-light-trees-are-family.html Poking holes My name is Linda. I write a bi-weekly newsletter about computer science, childhood and culture - and there are 9 598 of you listening. If you enjoy this issue, please share it with anyone you think may find it useful.

]]> Thu, 16 Jun 2022 11:25:10 +0000 No. 37 — Writing for ears👂 Listening before reading 🦷 Bluetooth and vikings https://www.lindaliukas.com/blog/letters/no-37-writing-for-ears-listening.html https://www.lindaliukas.com/blog/letters/no-37-writing-for-ears-listening.html Specific, supportive voice My name is Linda. I write a bi-weekly newsletter about computer science, childhood and culture - and there are 9 615 of you listening. If you enjoy this issue, please share it with anyone you think may find it useful.

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]]> Mon, 30 May 2022 16:13:42 +0000 No. 36 — Play/Pause ⏯️ My phone stuck its tongue out 😝 Wingspan https://www.lindaliukas.com/blog/letters/no-36-playpause-my-phone-stuck-its.html https://www.lindaliukas.com/blog/letters/no-36-playpause-my-phone-stuck-its.html A little break My name is Linda. I write a (mostly!) bi-weekly newsletter about computer science, childhood and culture - and there are 9 617 of you listening. If you enjoy this issue, please share it with anyone you think may find it useful.

]]> Wed, 13 Apr 2022 17:02:51 +0000 No. 35 — Archaeological algorithms 🏺 Book club 🍄 Mushroom atlas https://www.lindaliukas.com/blog/letters/no-35-archaeological-algorithms-book.html https://www.lindaliukas.com/blog/letters/no-35-archaeological-algorithms-book.html One is a story, the other a series of statements. My name is Linda. I write a bi-weekly newsletter about computer science, childhood and culture - and there are 9536 of you listening. If you enjoy this issue, please share it with anyone you think may find it useful.

]]> Mon, 31 Jan 2022 18:11:18 +0000 No. 34 — Next up: Klári 🔎 The Case of the Slow Websites 🥐 Activités en français https://www.lindaliukas.com/blog/letters/no-34-next-up-klari-the-case-of-the.html https://www.lindaliukas.com/blog/letters/no-34-next-up-klari-the-case-of-the.html Like a musical instrument My name is Linda. I write a bi-weekly newsletter about computer science, childhood and culture - and there are 9559 of you listening. If you enjoy this issue, please share it with anyone you think may find it useful.

]]> Tue, 18 Jan 2022 09:12:24 +0000 No. 33 — 🧭 Year in Review 2021 https://www.lindaliukas.com/blog/letters/no-33-year-in-review-2021.html https://www.lindaliukas.com/blog/letters/no-33-year-in-review-2021.html My name is Linda. I write a bi-weekly newsletter about computer science, childhood and culture - and there are 9558 of you listening. If you enjoy this issue, please share it with anyone you think may find it useful.

]]> Tue, 04 Jan 2022 20:58:37 +0000 No 32. — 🤔 Twelve questions 📟 Nokiawave 🎄 [little tree] https://www.lindaliukas.com/blog/letters/no-32-twelve-questions-nokiawave.html https://www.lindaliukas.com/blog/letters/no-32-twelve-questions-nokiawave.html What, at this moment, am I meant to know My name is Linda. I write a bi-weekly newsletter about computer science, childhood and culture - and there are 9585 of you listening. If you enjoy this issue, please share it with anyone you think may find it useful.

]]> Tue, 21 Dec 2021 09:46:16 +0000 No 31. — 15 ideas for CS ED week 💡 My favorite book 🔊 Noisy computers https://www.lindaliukas.com/blog/letters/no-31-15-ideas-for-cs-ed-week-my.html https://www.lindaliukas.com/blog/letters/no-31-15-ideas-for-cs-ed-week-my.html Rainbow pen of the mind. My name is Linda. I write a bi-weekly newsletter about computer science, childhood and culture - and there are 9586 of you listening. If you enjoy this issue, please share it with anyone you think may find it useful.

]]> Tue, 07 Dec 2021 08:52:13 +0000 No. 30 — AMA 🙋 Mesofacts ⛰️ Hyperobjects https://www.lindaliukas.com/blog/letters/no-30-ama-mesofacts-hyperobjects.html https://www.lindaliukas.com/blog/letters/no-30-ama-mesofacts-hyperobjects.html Language too loose/too tight My name is Linda. I write a bi-weekly newsletter about computer science, childhood and culture - and there are 9600 of you listening. If you enjoy this issue, please share it with anyone you think may find it useful.

]]> Tue, 23 Nov 2021 11:06:12 +0000 No. 29 — David Hockney 👀 But to see like this 🐈 They All Saw a Cat https://www.lindaliukas.com/blog/letters/no-29-david-hockney-but-to-see-like.html https://www.lindaliukas.com/blog/letters/no-29-david-hockney-but-to-see-like.html Living in a rectangular world My name is Linda. I write a bi-weekly newsletter about computer science, childhood and culture - and there are 9628 of you listening. If you enjoy this issue, please share it with anyone you think may find it useful.

]]> Fri, 12 Nov 2021 17:45:47 +0000 No. 28 — Isoprenes ⚗️Think Like a Bot🦿Grand jeté https://www.lindaliukas.com/blog/letters/no-28-isoprenes-think-like-a-botgrand.html https://www.lindaliukas.com/blog/letters/no-28-isoprenes-think-like-a-botgrand.html The air is vibrating My name is Linda. I write a bi-weekly newsletter about computer science, childhood and culture - and there are 9629 of you listening. If you enjoy this issue, please share it with anyone you think may find it useful.

]]> Mon, 25 Oct 2021 15:19:08 +0000 No. 27 — Footnotes🦶Fall teaching ⬛ Rut Bryk https://www.lindaliukas.com/blog/letters/no-27-footnotesfall-teaching-rut.html https://www.lindaliukas.com/blog/letters/no-27-footnotesfall-teaching-rut.html Seeing only the punctuation My name is Linda. I write a bi-weekly newsletter about computer science, childhood and culture - and there are 9633 of you listening. If you enjoy this issue, please share it with anyone you think may find it useful.

]]> Tue, 12 Oct 2021 06:17:42 +0000 No. 26 — Anni Albers 🧵 Weaving 🧶 LOL memory https://www.lindaliukas.com/blog/letters/no-26-anni-albers-weaving-lol-memory.html https://www.lindaliukas.com/blog/letters/no-26-anni-albers-weaving-lol-memory.html Woven circuits My name is Linda. I write a bi-weekly newsletter about computer science, childhood and culture - and there are 9661 of you listening. If you enjoy this issue, please share it with anyone you think may find it useful.

]]> Tue, 28 Sep 2021 15:49:00 +0000 No. 25 — Copernicus and Bologna 🔭 Octopus intelligence 🐙 100 tabs of madness https://www.lindaliukas.com/blog/letters/no-25-copernicus-and-bologna-octopus.html https://www.lindaliukas.com/blog/letters/no-25-copernicus-and-bologna-octopus.html There Are Places in the World Where Rules Are Less Important Than Kindness My name is Linda. I write a bi-weekly newsletter about computer science, childhood and culture - and there are 9685 of you listening. If you enjoy this issue, please share it with anyone you think may find it useful.

]]> Wed, 15 Sep 2021 11:12:47 +0000 No. 24 — Tiny portals 🔗 Revolving bookshelves 💙 Why are hyperlinks blue? https://www.lindaliukas.com/blog/letters/no-24-tiny-portals-revolving-bookshelves.html https://www.lindaliukas.com/blog/letters/no-24-tiny-portals-revolving-bookshelves.html Links as kindness My name is Linda. I write a bi-weekly newsletter about computer science, childhood and culture - and there are 9691 of you listening. If you enjoy this issue, please share it with anyone you think may find it useful.

]]> Mon, 30 Aug 2021 09:46:19 +0000 No. 23 — Compositional Patterns 🖋️ Comments on punchcards 🏛️ Winamp Skin Museum https://www.lindaliukas.com/blog/letters/no-23-compositional-patterns-comments.html https://www.lindaliukas.com/blog/letters/no-23-compositional-patterns-comments.html Tell it like a mushroom My name is Linda. I write a bi-weekly newsletter about computer science, childhood and culture - and there are 9706 of you listening. If you enjoy this issue, please share it with anyone you think may find it useful.

]]> Tue, 17 Aug 2021 14:08:11 +0000 The Lost Coder https://www.lindaliukas.com/blog/the-lost-coder.html https://www.lindaliukas.com/blog/the-lost-coder.html You were all here before me. You mattered.
Linda Liukas]]> Sat, 14 Aug 2021 08:00:00 +0000 No. 22 — Paris 🇫🇷🗼 Pattern Language 🏙️ Kid City https://www.lindaliukas.com/blog/letters/no-22-paris-pattern-language-kid.html https://www.lindaliukas.com/blog/letters/no-22-paris-pattern-language-kid.html Pushing pixels, building places My name is Linda. I write a bi-weekly newsletter about computer science, childhood and culture - and there are 9690 of you listening. If you enjoy this issue, please share it with anyone you think may find it useful.

]]> Mon, 02 Aug 2021 11:31:43 +0000 No 21 - Playgrounds 🤖 Public Spaces 📐 Architects for the very young https://www.lindaliukas.com/blog/letters/no-21-playgrounds-public-spaces-architects.html https://www.lindaliukas.com/blog/letters/no-21-playgrounds-public-spaces-architects.html Playground as platform My name is Linda. I write a bi-weekly newsletter about computer science, childhood and culture - and there are 9412 of you listening. If you enjoy this issue, please share it with anyone you think may find it useful.

]]> Thu, 01 Jul 2021 14:35:06 +0000 No. 20 — Acorns 🌰 Packet switching 🤝 Dancing drones https://www.lindaliukas.com/blog/letters/no-20-acorns-packet-switching-dancing.html https://www.lindaliukas.com/blog/letters/no-20-acorns-packet-switching-dancing.html The three handshakes of TCP/IP My name is Linda. I write a bi-weekly newsletter about computer science, childhood and culture - and there are 9426 of you listening. If you enjoy this issue, please share it with anyone you think may find it useful.

]]> Tue, 15 Jun 2021 11:22:27 +0000 No. 19 - Hajimete no Otsukai 💠 Shape of stories ⛏️ Software archeology https://www.lindaliukas.com/blog/letters/no-19-hajimete-no-otsukai-shape-of.html https://www.lindaliukas.com/blog/letters/no-19-hajimete-no-otsukai-shape-of.html When we close down the wilderness, we close down imagination. My name is Linda. I write a bi-weekly newsletter about computer science, childhood and culture - and there are 9452 of you listening. If you enjoy this issue, please share it with anyone you think may find it useful. This essay first appeared in Blue Wings back in 2018.

]]> Mon, 31 May 2021 18:33:05 +0000 No. 18 - Pancake sorting 🥞 Dates and history 🔩Shortage of chips https://www.lindaliukas.com/blog/letters/no-18-pancake-sorting-dates-and-history.html https://www.lindaliukas.com/blog/letters/no-18-pancake-sorting-dates-and-history.html Working with a spatula My name is Linda. I write a bi-weekly newsletter about computer science, childhood and culture - and there are 9447 of you listening. If you enjoy this issue, please share it with anyone you think may find it useful.

]]> Mon, 17 May 2021 05:28:24 +0000 No. 17 — Marginalia 📝 Fred Rogers ❤️ Palimpsest https://www.lindaliukas.com/blog/letters/no-17-marginalia-fred-rogers-palimpsest.html https://www.lindaliukas.com/blog/letters/no-17-marginalia-fred-rogers-palimpsest.html A reader with a pen My name is Linda. I write a bi-weekly newsletter about computer science, childhood and culture - and there are 9447 of you listening. If you enjoy this issue, please share it with anyone you think may find it useful.

]]> Mon, 26 Apr 2021 10:08:48 +0000 No. 16 — Homescreen Helsinki 📦 Lo-fi girl 🇫🇮 Winter Book https://www.lindaliukas.com/blog/letters/no-16-homescreen-helsinki-lo-fi-girl.html https://www.lindaliukas.com/blog/letters/no-16-homescreen-helsinki-lo-fi-girl.html Unboxing a city My name is Linda. I write a bi-weekly newsletter about computer science, childhood and culture - and there are 9465 of you listening. If you enjoy this issue, please share it with anyone you think may find it useful. This edition is done in paid partnership with MyHelsinki, my hometown, which I’m very excited to get to (virtually) share with you.

]]> Fri, 09 Apr 2021 11:28:48 +0000 No. 15 — Sherry Turkle 🧸 Transitional objects 🏛️ Wes Anderson x Kunsthistorisches Museum https://www.lindaliukas.com/blog/letters/no-15-sherry-turkle-transitional.html https://www.lindaliukas.com/blog/letters/no-15-sherry-turkle-transitional.html On juggling balls and running gears, on jacquard bags and baby-blue cars My name is Linda. I write a bi-weekly newsletter about computer science, childhood and culture - and there are 9497 of you listening. If you enjoy this issue, please share it with anyone you think may find it useful.

]]> Tue, 23 Mar 2021 14:27:05 +0000 No. 14 — Svalbard 🌲 Tech Tree 🐁 Computer Mouse Conference https://www.lindaliukas.com/blog/letters/no-14-svalbard-tech-tree-computer.html https://www.lindaliukas.com/blog/letters/no-14-svalbard-tech-tree-computer.html Hope in the permafrost My name is Linda. I write a bi-weekly newsletter about computer science, childhood and culture - and there are 9507 of you listening. If you enjoy this issue, please share it with anyone you think may find it useful.

]]> Wed, 10 Mar 2021 20:04:38 +0000 No. 13 — Teaching the history of computers🏺Lineage 👪 History as Wall Art https://www.lindaliukas.com/blog/letters/no-13-teaching-the-history-of-computerslineage.html https://www.lindaliukas.com/blog/letters/no-13-teaching-the-history-of-computerslineage.html “The past is reinvented and becomes the future. But the lineage is everything” My name is Linda. I write a bi-weekly newsletter about computer science, childhood and culture - and there are 9540 of you listening. If you enjoy this issue, please share it with anyone you think may find it useful.

]]> Tue, 23 Feb 2021 08:18:09 +0000 No. 12 — Scriptwriting for online learning 📜 Teaching into the Void 🧑‍🏫 https://www.lindaliukas.com/blog/letters/no-12-scriptwriting-for-online-learning.html https://www.lindaliukas.com/blog/letters/no-12-scriptwriting-for-online-learning.html Hi friend, awesome to be My name is Linda. I write a bi-weekly newsletter about computer science, childhood and culture - and there are 9553 of you listening. If you enjoy this issue, please share it with anyone you think may find it useful.

]]> Thu, 11 Feb 2021 20:42:17 +0000 No. 11 — Handwork 🖐️ Choreographer of Robots 🩰 Touchmap https://www.lindaliukas.com/blog/letters/no-11-handwork-choreographer-of-robots.html https://www.lindaliukas.com/blog/letters/no-11-handwork-choreographer-of-robots.html Swiping, tapping and touching through the world My name is Linda. I write a bi-weekly newsletter about computer science, childhood and culture - and there are 9574 of you listening. If you enjoy this issue, please share it with anyone you think may find it useful.

]]> Thu, 14 Jan 2021 08:46:37 +0000 No. 10 — 🧭 Year in Review 2020 https://www.lindaliukas.com/blog/letters/no-10-year-in-review-2020.html https://www.lindaliukas.com/blog/letters/no-10-year-in-review-2020.html My name is Linda. I write a bi-weekly newsletter about computer science, childhood and culture - and there are 9612 of you listening. If you enjoy this issue, please share it with anyone you think may find it useful.

]]> Thu, 31 Dec 2020 12:00:37 +0000 No. 09 — 🎄 24 ideas for holiday season 🎒 Schools of trees, logic and poetic computation https://www.lindaliukas.com/blog/letters/no-09-24-ideas-for-holiday-season.html https://www.lindaliukas.com/blog/letters/no-09-24-ideas-for-holiday-season.html Christmas CAPTCHA and binary trees My name is Linda. I write a bi-weekly newsletter about computer science, childhood and culture - and there are 9627 of you listening. If you enjoy this issue, please share it with anyone you think may find it useful.

]]> Mon, 30 Nov 2020 12:16:25 +0000 No. 08 — On Drawing 🖍️ What's Inside a Computer 📒 Sketching with a neural network https://www.lindaliukas.com/blog/letters/no-08-on-drawing-whats-inside-a-computer.html https://www.lindaliukas.com/blog/letters/no-08-on-drawing-whats-inside-a-computer.html Drawing the invisible My name is Linda. I write a bi-weekly newsletter about computer science, childhood and culture - and there are 9676 of you listening. If you enjoy this issue, please share it with anyone you think may find it useful.

]]> Tue, 17 Nov 2020 16:09:09 +0000 No. 07 — Math, meet Computers 🗄️ Languages of Logic 🧮 Exploding Dots https://www.lindaliukas.com/blog/letters/no-07-math-meet-computers-languages.html https://www.lindaliukas.com/blog/letters/no-07-math-meet-computers-languages.html From Minds to Hands My name is Linda. I write a bi-weekly newsletter about computer science, childhood and culture - and there are 9692 of you listening. If you enjoy this issue, please share it with anyone you think may find it useful.

]]> Thu, 05 Nov 2020 12:38:20 +0000 No. 06 — Attention 🛎️ Zoom Theater 🎭 Storytime https://www.lindaliukas.com/blog/letters/no-05-attention-zoom-theather-storytime.html https://www.lindaliukas.com/blog/letters/no-05-attention-zoom-theather-storytime.html Moments of hearing My name is Linda. I write a bi-weekly newsletter about computer science, childhood and culture - and there are 9704 of you listening. If you enjoy this issue, please share it with anyone you think may find it useful.

]]> Tue, 20 Oct 2020 12:32:33 +0000 No. 05 — Childhood animism 🐜 Silurian Hypothesis 🏭 Björk https://www.lindaliukas.com/blog/letters/no-05-childhood-animism-silurian.html https://www.lindaliukas.com/blog/letters/no-05-childhood-animism-silurian.html My name is Linda. I write a bi-weekly newsletter about computer science, childhood and culture - and there are 9771 of you listening. If you enjoy this issue, please share it with anyone you think may find it useful.

]]> Wed, 07 Oct 2020 09:49:48 +0000 No. 04 — Scavenger Hunts 🗺️ Packet Sniffing 📦 A walk of a different kind https://www.lindaliukas.com/blog/letters/no-04-scavenger-hunts-packet-sniffing.html https://www.lindaliukas.com/blog/letters/no-04-scavenger-hunts-packet-sniffing.html Look up, look down. My name is Linda. I write a bi-weekly newsletter about computer science, childhood and culture - and there are 9818 of you listening. If you enjoy this issue, please share it with anyone you think may find it useful.

]]> Tue, 22 Sep 2020 07:18:41 +0000 No. 03 — Computer Science in 60 Seconds 🕰️ Producing a video series: a how-to 🎬 Speaking to Children https://www.lindaliukas.com/blog/letters/no-03-computer-science-in-60-seconds.html https://www.lindaliukas.com/blog/letters/no-03-computer-science-in-60-seconds.html An Online Series for Lockdown Learning My name is Linda. I write a bi-weekly newsletter about computer science, childhood and culture - and there are 9808 of you listening. If you enjoy this issue, please share it with anyone you think may find it useful.

]]> Tue, 08 Sep 2020 20:01:29 +0000 No. 02 — Pocket treasures 🌱 Digital Collectibles 🔑 State of Play https://www.lindaliukas.com/blog/letters/no-02-pocket-treasures-digital-collectibles.html https://www.lindaliukas.com/blog/letters/no-02-pocket-treasures-digital-collectibles.html On pocket treasures in the world of pixels. My name is Linda. I write a bi-weekly newsletter about computer science, childhood and culture - and there are 9912 of you listening. If you enjoy this issue, please share it with anyone you think may find it useful.

]]> Mon, 24 Aug 2020 14:18:27 +0000 No.01 — Beginnings 💯 Hundred Languages❓Six Questions on Technology https://www.lindaliukas.com/blog/letters/no01-beginnings-hundred-languagessix.html https://www.lindaliukas.com/blog/letters/no01-beginnings-hundred-languagessix.html “The computer is like a foreigner, and if you want to talk to it, you have to speak its language.” Hey,

My name is Linda. Once upon a time I introduced myself as a children’s book author and illustrator. Some of you have joined me during the Kickstarter campaign for Hello Ruby - some have seen my TED talk - some are more recent followers of the Love Letters for Computers series. If letters from me don’t sound like you’re thing anymore, you can unsubscribe any time from the bottom of this e-mail.

My work exists at the intersection of three things: early childhood education, technology and play. The first draws inspiration from Montessori, John Dewey and Reggio Emilia, the second from computing culture of the 1960s, the third is the small, ghibliesque, soft, communal, subjective side of learning that is often forgotten.

This newsletter is an experiment in finding a new voice to talk about what I do. During the Kickstarter campaign I wrote these monthly updates, that allowed me to flesh out ideas and process. When the book was finally out, I felt so relieved that I all but stopped writing.

Anyways, here I am again. I think this might be a fortnightly issue, always with a theme (The Drawing Issue; The Utopia Issue; The Play Issue; The Homeschool Issue; The Grown-up Book Issue; The Print-and-cut Issue..) and something practical to take away.

Next: a few thoughts on pedagogy, a sneak peek to a new project and a downloadable worksheet for brainstorming.

Linda

]]> Tue, 11 Aug 2020 18:40:10 +0000 Experiments with online events https://www.lindaliukas.com/blog/experiments-with-online-events.html https://www.lindaliukas.com/blog/experiments-with-online-events.html For the past ten years I've had anything between 50 to 70 speaking engagements and 150 travel days each year. This essay was originally published on Medium on Jul 28, 2020.

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For the past ten years I’ve had anything between 50 to 70 speaking engagements and a 150 travel days each year. From workshops for teachers to high-production keynotes for business conferences events have been my bread and butter.

2020 changed this. I won’t be traveling for at least the rest of the year and most likely international conference travel won’t resume for 2021 either. Luckily, producing and delivering the charm, warmth and energy of live events in a virtual setting is a very interesting professional challenge.

Last week I keynoted CSTA 2020, an online event for computer science teachers. We pre-recorded and shot an “editorial”, high-production value keynote and paired it with a live workshop. During the keynote, I was in the chat, answering people’s questions and afterwards hopped into my own little workshop. I was surprised on how intimate it felt and how connected it felt with the people who were attending.

Four observations:

1. Show & tell is back. Events are about escaping every day routine and I think we are all bored with badly lit office backdrops and slideshows. Time for show & tell! My keynote allowed me to establish a world, in this case a physical room, of my imagination and invite the participants in. On the stage I can’t show how I draw, what an algorithm looks like in practice or create intricate props. In some ways virtual actually means engaging more senses: Paul Curzon did a fun workshop on a chocolate Turing machine and I ate my computer at the end. I read about a Barcelona sangria-making AirBnB experience. My own workshop on machine learning had a dance break with Spot the robot (dance like no-ones watching, right?).

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2. Go beyond one screen. During my workshop I used Adobe Sketch to live draw with an iPad. Zoom allows you to select different cameras and microphones, and it’s possible to “live-cut” between them. Using a wide variety of mediums from Fortnite to Google Spreadsheets is something I want to try out next. Most of the audience engagement I’ve seen so far is around polls which feels silly as the entire medium of computers is about interactivity. Given the number one complaint presenters usually have is the lack of audience reaction I’m sure novel ways of participation (beyond emojis :) will emerge.

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3. It’s a theater, build the drama. One of the things I’ve learned to do in live keynotes from standup comedians is shifting intensity. To avoid exhaustion the audience needs instances of rest, variation of tempo and a clear beginning, middle and end. In the workshop this meant a few more relaxed, chatty segments (I wish I had done more of this!) where I would draw and answer questions. Another drama idea from theater is Chekhov’s gun (Чеховское ружьё) — a dramatic principle that states that every element in a story must be necessary, and irrelevant elements should be removed. Both in the keynote and workshop I had props that were visible in the background I would end up using through the talk, like the drawings on the wall, the mushrooms in the basket and a few books on the bookshelf.

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4. Production levels need to go beyond slides. Having a pre-recorded keynote saved a ton of headache on technical aspects, but it also allowed to build production value to the talk and make for a more immersive experience. A surprising source of inspiration has been live recordings of narrative-style podcasts, like Radiolab Live, where a live conversation weaves together elements music, sound design, quotes and video. There’s obviously a lot of know-how in how to use breakout rooms, having moderation & support for people who drop out/ can’t hear technical issues as well as lightning, sounds and other technical aspects I need to learn about.

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I think the best online events don’t try to recreate the past, but start with a different experience. This means I need to learn more from the history of theater, set design, live show production, online communities and a bunch of other disciplines!

]]> Tue, 28 Jul 2020 12:00:00 +0000 Fortnite on paikka, ei peli https://www.lindaliukas.com/blog/fortnite-on-paikka-ei-peli.html https://www.lindaliukas.com/blog/fortnite-on-paikka-ei-peli.html Tänä kummallisena keväänä joudumme kaikki miettimään, mitä tarkoittaa olla ruudun välityksellä yhdessä. Tämä kolumni julkaistiin alun perin YLE:ssa 22.4.2020.

* * *

Saaren nimi on Fortnite. Me kuvittelemme, että se on peli, mutta oikeasti se on paikka.

Tapahtumateollisuus ja Hollywood vuoroin pelkäävät, vuoroin palvovat Fortnitea. Siinä missä Netflixillä on reilu 120 miljoonaa käyttäjää, Fortnitella arvioidaan olevan jo yli 250 miljoonaa käyttäjää. Pelin 1,8 miljardin dollarin liikevaihdosta iso osa tulee tanssiliikkeitä ja hienon näköisiä vaatteita myymällä. Jopa pelin pelaamista katsotaan Youtubessa ja Twitchissä melkein puoli miljardia tuntia kuukaudessa.

Massiivisen suosittu Fortnite: Battle Royale -peli aiheuttaa ahdistusta erityisesti teini-ikäisten vanhemmissa.

Se on liian koukuttava, sanotaan. Se on tappamispeli, ja muu elämä jää. Olisi parempi, että lapset tekisivät jotain sosiaalista, todetaan.

Ehkä kukaan näin sanova ei ole kokeillut Fortnitea. Se on nimittäin ensisijaisesti sosiaalinen paikka. Ladattuani pelin ostin heti mikrofonikuulokkeet. Tässä pelissä puhe ei lopu.

Lauma banaaneja, corgeja, pullistelevia kissoja ja muita sarjakuvahahmoja laukkaa läpi saaren.

– Mene mene, huutaa 30-vuotias toimitusjohtajaystäväni korvaani yhdessä pelissä.

– Allez allez, kiljuu tuntemattomaksi jäävä ranskalaispoika toisessa.

– Du kan inte bli en bra ledare om du inte kan samarbeta med andra människor, filosofoidaan kolmannessa teinille.

Yhdessä pelaaminen on pelleilyä, kerskumista, strategiaa ja jatkuvaa puhetta oman tiimin kanssa. Väkivaltakin on laimeampaa kuin lapsuuteni Tom & Jerryissä. Auringonlaskussa vaellan kanervapuistikon läpi, uin ystäväni perässä kimaltelevassa meressä ja piileskelen portaiden alla.

Minusta tuntuu, että olen käynyt tulevaisuudessa, vierailulla jonkin toisen sukupolven maailmassa.

Kun äiti soittaa iltaisin ja kysyy, miten pärjään yksinäni, hän ei tiedä, että olen kaverien ympäröimä.

Tänä kummallisena keväänä joudumme kaikki miettimään, mitä tarkoittaa olla ruudun välityksellä yhdessä.

Kun kaupungilla tai kotona ei voi nähdä, pelit ovat paikka, jossa tapaan sujuvasti satoja ihmisiä, vaihdan kuulumisia ja ystävystyn uusien tuttavuuksien kanssa.

Useat ystävät kertovat, miten Fortnite on lähentänyt vuosikymmenen nuorempien sisarusten ja sukulaislasten kanssa, puhumismaratonit jatkuvat tunteja ja peliaikoja sovitaan etukäteen. Kun äiti soittaa iltaisin ja kysyy, miten pärjään yksinäni, hän ei tiedä, että olen kaverien ympäröimä. Ystävättäreni synnytys käynnistyi juuri kun seikkailimme Dirty Docks -pelialueella. En unohda sitä peliä ikinä.

Yhteisölliset pelit edustavat teknologian tulevaisuutta, ja siksi videopuheluihin turhautuneen aikuisen kannattaisi poikkeustilan aikana kokeilla niitä.

Fortnite on virtuaalinen tila, jolla on myös tarkoitus. Tällä hetkellä tarkoitus on juosta, rikkoa, ampua ja keksiä hassuja tansseja, mutta huomenna se voi olla jo jotain muuta.

Eikä pelin tavoitteena ole tappaa muita. Sen tavoitteena on pysyä elossa.

Suurin ilo Fortnitessa on kuitenkin katsoa nuoria pelaajia. Seikkailun ja ampumisen lisäksi iso osa pelin strategiasta on taito rakentaa tyhjään. Sekunnin sadasosissa neljällä näppäimellä voi estää vastustajaa osumasta, rakentaa hyppytornin hyökkäykseen tai mökin suojaamaan toipuvaa tiimiläistä.

Aikuiset kuulemma tunnistaa pelistä siitä, että me emme luota tyhjyyteen. Me rakennamme järkevästi, suunnitelmallisesti - ja siksi häviämme. Rakennamme sillan tai muurin, mutta lasten rakentamien, taivaaseen kohoavien spiraalien varmuutta ja nopeutta voimme vain ihailla.

Fortnite liikuttaa minua metaforana seuraavan sukupolven suhteesta maailmaan. Se on tanssia tyhjyydessä, yhdessä. Eikä pelin tavoitteena ole tappaa muita. Sen tavoitteena on pysyä elossa.

Kirjoittaja on lastenkirjailija, kuvittaja ja keskinkertainen koodari, joka uskoo, että maailmasta tulee parempi paikka, kun tietojenkäsittelyn ammattilaisten lisäksi tarinankertojat, tutkijat ja taivaanrannanmaalarit innostuvat teknologiasta.

Aiheesta voi keskustella 23.4. klo 23.00.

Pelaajat rynnistivät takaisin Habbo Hoteliin koronaeristäytymisen takia – Tatu Helle, 22: "En edes tajunnut, että palvelu on yhä olemassa"

Pelaaminen ei ole enää pelkkä viihdemuoto: videopelit esittävät nyt kiperiä kysymyksiä ihmismielestä, tekoälystä ja ympäristökatastrofeista

]]> Wed, 22 Apr 2020 06:45:00 +0300 Year in Review 2019 https://www.lindaliukas.com/blog/letters/year-in-review-2019.html https://www.lindaliukas.com/blog/letters/year-in-review-2019.html Instructions for living a life.
]]> Mon, 30 Dec 2019 12:00:00 +0000 Mitä tapahtuu lukutaidolle, kun tietokone ymmärtää tekstiä paremmin kuin puoli miljoonaa suomalaista? https://www.lindaliukas.com/blog/lukutaidolle-tietokone-ymmartaa-tekstia.html https://www.lindaliukas.com/blog/lukutaidolle-tietokone-ymmartaa-tekstia.html Sanan liittäminen sanaan voi olla tietokoneen tehtävä. Mutta sanan liittäminen ideaan säilyy edelleen ihmisellä. Tämä kolumni julkaistiin alun perin YLE:ssa 13.11.2019.

* * *

Kesän lopulla Facebookin tutkijat julkaisivat tekoälymalli RoBERTan, joka harppasi luetun ymmärtämisessä pitkälle ohi kilpailevien teknologioiden. Yhtäkkiä kone selvisi sarjasta tämänkaltaisia kysymyksiä:

“. . . Monet ihmiset uskoivat optimistisesti, että alan sisäiset palkinnot paremmille työkaluille loisivat edellytyksiä hiljaisempien laitteiden kehittämiselle. Ehdotettiin jopa, että rakennustyömaiden melua voisi helpottaa..”

Kysymys: Mikä on kirjoittajan asenne alan sisäisiä palkintoja kohtaan?

Ihmiselle tehtävä olisi ollut helppo, mutta tietokoneelle arkijärki, asiayhteyksien ymmärtäminen ja luonnollisen kielen kanssa toimiminen on tähän asti ollut hankalaa. RoBERTan lisäksi myös muiden isojen teknologiayhtiöiden tekstiä lukevat, tuottavat ja ymmärtävät tekoälymallit ovat kehittyneet harppauksin.

Viime vuodet tekoälyn kehitys on ollut kuvantunnistuksen juhlaa. Me kuluttajat olemme kokeilleet vuoroin nuorentaa ja vanhentaa kuviamme, kauhistelleet aidon näköisiä tekojulkkiksia ja totutelleet ajatukseen videosta, jota voi muokata yhtä helposti kuin kuvaa. Nyt tapahtuu kuitenkin tekstin puolella.

On kuin touhukas leikki-ikäinen tekoäly olisi siirtynyt yläasteelle ja aloittanut vakavammat äidinkielen opinnot. Teoriatunneilla harjoitellaan tunnistamaan tekstin sävyä, analysoimaan Amazonin sademetsiä, ja tulkitaan väittämiä hapen ominaisuuksista.

Kielenkäyttäjänä tekoäly taas tuntuu luokan priimukselta. Opittuaan perustaidot, se osaa nykyisin korjata kielioppia ja karaoken sävelkorkeutta, tunnistaa yhden äänen yleisössä, matkia Bill Gatesia, lukea huulilta ja tunnistaa flirttailun tekstistä. Eikä teknologiaa käytetä pelkkään viattomaan puuhasteluun. Aikaisemmin tänä vuonna yhdysvaltalainen OpenAI järjestö rakensi tekstin tuottamiseen niin tehokkaan tekoälymallin, että se päätettiin julkaista vain rajattuna versiona. Järjestö pelkäsi väärinkäytöksiä: valeuutisten massasuoltamista, roskapostien ja ystäviä imitoivien bottien määrän räjähdysmäistä kasvua.

Samaan aikaan Suomessa on jo nyt puoli miljoonaa aikuista, joiden lukutaito ja luetun ymmärtäminen eivät riitä nyky-yhteiskunnassa toimimiseen. Silti toivon, että lukutaitoa ja teknologiaa ei laitettaisi vastakkain. Sanan liittäminen sanaan voi olla tietokoneen tehtävä, mutta sanan liittäminen ideaan säilyy edelleen ihmisellä. Yksinkertaisetkin sanat piilottavat joukon tunteita, kuvia, muistoja ja kokemuksia joista tietokoneella ei ole aavistustakaan.

Me ihmiset tiedämme kurkkupurkeista, paikallispolitiikasta, pienistä iloista, sellerinjuurista ja siitä, miltä maailma näyttää toisen ihmisen silmin. Sanavarasto syntyy sanoilla leikkimisestä, niiden hieromisesta sormenpäissä ja kielellä, ei tilastollisista työkaluista.

Luku- ja kirjoitustaito on tulevaisuudessa ihmisen ja tekoälyn tiimityötä.

Muutama vuosi sitten päätin itse kokeilla tekoälyä tekstintuottamisen työkaverina. Keräsin tuhansia esimerkkejä Marimekon vaatteiden nimistä, ja syötin ne neuroverkolle eli tekoälymallille. Neuroverkolle syötettiin esimerkkejä, kuten Jokapoika, Tasaraita ja Unikko. Sen tehtävä oli etsiä säännönmukaisuuksia joita ihminen ei pysty näkemään ja luoda uusia Marimekko-nimiä.

Ensimmäiset tulokset olivat karmeita. Valos, Inislö, Lahilitanti, ikEkunit, runoili tietokone. Mutta pian ymmärsin, että minulta vei peruskoulun verran hallita suomen kieli, tietokone oli saanut työskennellä vain muutaman tunnin. Annoin koneen raksuttaa lisää.

Yön jälkeen herättyäni olo oli kuin jouluaattoaamuna. Ja tulokset - ne olivat itäsuomalaisen iloisia ja tomeria. Pyininpakka, Tanohalti, Ruitintullo, Pukukka kulki koneen keksimien nimien poljento. Esimerkkejä syntyi tuhansia ja sain näkökulmia, joita en muuten olisi tullut ajatelleeksi.

Luku- ja kirjoitustaito on tulevaisuudessa ihmisen ja tekoälyn tiimityötä. Yhdessä olemme enemmän.

Kirjoittaja on lastenkirjailija, kuvittaja ja keskinkertainen koodari, joka uskoo, että maailmasta tulee parempi paikka kun tietojenkäsittelyn ammattilaisten lisäksi tarinankertojat, tutkijat ja taivaanrannanmaalarit innostuvat teknologiasta.

Aiheesta voi keskustella 13.11. klo 16.00 asti.

]]> Wed, 13 Nov 2019 12:00:00 +0200 My Love Letter for Computers https://www.lindaliukas.com/blog/love-letter-for-computers.html https://www.lindaliukas.com/blog/love-letter-for-computers.html Love Letters for Computers is a ten part YouTube series for primary school educators, covering the basics of computer science. This essay was originally published on Medium on Sep 2, 2019.

* * *

Love Letters for Computers is a ten part YouTube series intended for primary school educators, covering the basics of computer science. But what makes it a love letter?

For the last five years I’ve been traveling around the world and working with primary school teachers from Melbourne to Tokyo, from New York to Tbilisi, helping them see the world of computer science the way I see it: as something beautiful, lovable and playful. I wanted to remind teachers how much technology can be about passion, people and their big ideas. And I wanted everything to look and feel like you just fell into a Wes Anderson or Sophia Coppola film.

A new perspective to the world

Teaching computer science in primary school is not only about coding. It’s about developing a love of learning and offering widely-applicable, long-term ideas. A way of thinking that provides a new perspective to the world. And that’s what computer science does.

We shouldn’t teach computer science only because it’s useful, but because it’s interesting and intensely creative. Computer science blends intellectual pleasure of reason and logic with the practicality of engineering. It blends the beauty of arts with the change-the-world ethos of social sciences.

The big luminaries of computing like Claude Shannon and Ada Lovelace, blended together philosophy and math and crafts to create modern computers. For the future of computing, we need students to combine their interest in human brains, oboe playing or nature with computer science to take the field as well as the world forward.

And teachers, they play a huge role in changing the ideas of children around computer science.

After this series, I hope more teachers start to think about computer science as another tool they can use to express their ideas, just like crayons, posters or play-doh.

1,5 years ago I got grant funding from Dubai World Expo Live to realise this series. The videos cover things like hardware, I/O systems, networks, machine learning as well as diversity & equity. The website includes 28 classroom worksheets, a teacher journal with prompts to reflect your learning and other resources to support professional development.

Little bit of love

And here we are, ready to launch.

I hope the series finds its audience, the curious, creative primary school teachers.

I hope teachers will use it for professional development, parents for educating themselves about computer science and policymakers to get a sense of what computer science is beyond coding.

And finally. I hope for a generation of children that see computer science as playful, fun, thoughtful — a field that’s created with a little bit of, well, love. 💌

» Check out the series» Subscribe to the YouTube channel» Follow the making-of journey on Instagram Stories

Time for thank you’s

AK and Fatima, for making the world’s most beautiful series of love letters, and for insisting on changing the curtains even though no one else cares.

Aya, for the exquisite eye and joy you brought to the student and teacher materials.

Dubai Expo Live for setting the vision and helping me realise it.

Emma and Lilli, for making stuff happen when I froze and creating momentum by your pure presence.

Herttoniemi Elementary School, Helsinki English School and Helsinki International School for playtesting and supporting us in casting. Martta, Eva, Ebba and Ahti for art production and a fun Saturday of play.

The kids: Luna, Lamin, Pratyush, Pierce, Sarah and Eila. I’ll never forget my 33rd birthday with you, the Nyancat cake and the magical silence that fell for the last shot of the day.

Lagstad school museum for the beautiful, old premises to showcase modern technology. Marimekko and Huawei for providing props!

Lullatone, for creating a world of sound that suits us perfectly. I hope we get to work more in the future.

Otto, for getting me over a gigantic writers block.

Production team: Lauri, Tatu, Jyri and Riia for making sure the lights, sound, kids and me worked flawless. Anniina and Kai & Anssi for help with photos and electronics on set.

Saku, for early input and pushing me to the right direction (Dubai!)

Kiira, Pauli, Thomas, Severi, Mikko and Janne, for making sense of my miscellaneous drawings and doodles and turning them into call-sheets, sets, cuts and animations. You made miracles.

All the thousands of teachers I’ve met around the world in the last year or so in Finland, Sweden, Estonia, Denmark, Singapore, US, Norway, Georgia, Thailand, Mexico and Japan.

Mom & Dad, for reporting, calculating, researching and supporting your stubborn daughter through ups and downs.

]]> Mon, 02 Sep 2019 12:00:00 +0000 Digitaalinen aikakausi pakottaa meidät pohtimaan, mitä haluamme muistaa ja mitä unohtaa https://www.lindaliukas.com/blog/digitaalinen-aikakausi-muistaa-unohtaa.html https://www.lindaliukas.com/blog/digitaalinen-aikakausi-muistaa-unohtaa.html Uskon, että yksi digitaalisen ajan tärkeimmistä ratkaistavista kysymyksistä on muistin, muistojen ja teknologian välinen suhde. Tämä kolumni julkaistiin alun perin YLE:ssa 17.7.2019.

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Viime syksynä löysin sähköpostistani aikakoneen. Path, sosiaalinen verkosto jossa en ole käynyt puoleen vuosikymmeneen muistutti, että voin halutessani ladata palvelun tapahtumat talteen.

Yhtäkkiä ruudulla ovat kaikki minun tyttökesäni. Olen 25-vuotias, vastarakastunut.

Hymyilen kameralle alaviistosta, niinkuin vuonna 2010 tehtiin. Filtterit ovat rakeisia.

Jaan lainauksia ja kirjoitan kahviloista, joita ei enää ole sekä kirjoista, jotka olen jo unohtanut.

En käytä vielä hymiöitä, niiden aika on myöhemmin.

Omiin muistoihini verrattuna päivitykset ovat liian tarkkoja, liian teräväreunaisia.

Luen hämmentyneenä läpi viestejä. Vanhojen päiväkirjojen tai kirjeiden lukeminen tuntuu erilaiselta, sillä nämä päivitykset on tehty yleisölle. Tälläinenkö minä olin? Omiin muistoihini verrattuna päivitykset ovat liian tarkkoja, liian teräväreunaisia.

Uskon, että yksi digitaalisen ajan tärkeimmistä ratkaistavista kysymyksistä on muistin, muistojen ja teknologian välinen suhde. GDPR-lakimiesten ja koodarien lisäksi keskusteluun tarvitaan myös humanisteja ja yhteiskuntatieteilijöitä, sillä muisti ei ole niin yksinkertainen asia kuin usein ajattelemme.

Ihmismuistin tehtävä on myös rakentaa identiteettiä. Siksi meidän pitää miettiä mitä digitaalisella aikakaudella oikeastaan haluamme muistaa ja mitä unohtaa.

Teknologia-alan ihmiset puhuvat mielellään muistista teknologisena asiana. Ihailemme tietokoneen muistia, kuinka massiiviset megat ja gigat valokuviamme ja käyttäytymistämme tallentuvat joka sekunti servereille ympäri maailmaa. Tietokoneen muisti liikkuu valon vauhdilla, se on täsmällistä ja lähes loppumatonta.

Mutta muisti ei ole vain tiedon säilyttämistä varten. Ihmismuistin tehtävä on myös rakentaa identiteettiä. Siksi meidän pitää miettiä mitä digitaalisella aikakaudella oikeastaan haluamme muistaa ja mitä unohtaa.

1990-luvun lapsena olen osa ensimmäistä sukupolvea, jonka nuoruus on tallella kovalevyllä. Tekstin, äänen, tuoksun ja tilan oheen on liittynyt uusi muistamisen muoto. Ajassa ei voi mennä taaksepäin, mutta ehkä tiettyihin digitaalisiin paikkoihin voi aina palata.

Osin nuoruus on peruuttamattomasti pyyhkiytynyt pois – Irc-gallerian lokeja ei onneksi enää ole, ensimmäinen sähköpostiosoitteeni on kadonnut ja digikamerat tulivat vasta lukiojuhliin. Jäljellä on kuitenkin tarpeeksi, jotta teknologia voi viedä minut paikkoihin, joita kaipaan.

Voin kulkea vanhoissa peleissä, vaeltaa läpi tuttujen reittien kuin olisin takaisin lapsuuden luokkahuoneessa. Tyhjänä kumiseva MySpace tai LiveJournal ei ole sama kuin ennen, mutta YouTubesta löydän Champions Leaguen maalikoosteen vuodelta 2001. VHS-nauhalle on tallentunut ajat sitten unohtuneita mainoksia. Olen takaisin nuoruuden kesäaamuissa, McGyverin ja sulavan jäätelön parissa.

Toinen puoli digitaalista muistamista on tietenkin unohtaminen.

Miten vanhenemme netissä? Miten paljon tämänhetken ihmisen pitää olla vastuussa entisestä itsestään? Näitä kysymyksiä mietimme joka kerta, kun poliitikon vuosien takainen twiitti tai julkkiksen epäonninen valokuva nousevat esille.

Tämän päivän vauvoista on enemmän videota ja valokuvia ensimmäisen vuoden ajalta kuin minusta koko lapsuudessani. On varmasti outoa kasvaa katsoen koko ajan omaa lapsuuttaan ja nuoruuttaan ruudulta. Ei ole ihme, että sekä EU:n säädökset oikeudesta tulla unohdetuksi nettihauissa ja Snapchatin 24-tunnissa katoavat kuvat resonoivat meidän ajassamme.

Ehkä binäärisen teknologimaailman muistin – päällä tai pois – sijaan tarvitsemme jotain ihmisenkaltaista.

Ehkä myös Internetissä olevien kuvien pitäisi vuosien mittaan haalistua, ehkä kaikkeen pitäisi lisätä aikaleima, ehkä jokaiseen Facebookin tarjoamaan muistoon pitäisi liittää sen aikainen profiilikuva.

Ehkä meidän on tarkoitus muistaa, ja samaan aikaan unohtaa.

Kirjoittaja on lastenkirjailija, kuvittaja ja keskinkertainen koodari, joka uskoo, että maailmasta tulee parempi paikka kun tietojenkäsittelyn ammattilaisten lisäksi tarinankertojat, tutkijat ja taivaanrannanmaalarit innostuvat teknologiasta.

Aiheesta voi keskustella 17.07. klo 16.00 asti.

]]> Wed, 17 Jul 2019 12:00:00 +0300 Scifiä on turha ylenkatsoa, sillä se kirittää teknologiaa ja auttaa meitä näkemään, mikä maailmassa on vialla https://www.lindaliukas.com/blog/scifia-turha-ylenkatsoa.html https://www.lindaliukas.com/blog/scifia-turha-ylenkatsoa.html Ilman tieteiskirjallisuutta maailma olisi aika paljon tylsempi ja takaperoiempi. Tämä kolumni julkaistiin alun perin YLE:ssa 13.3.2019.

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Yksi alkuvuoden kiinnostavimmista elokuvista kertoo astronauteista, jotka etsivät uutta kotia ihmiskunnalle. Se on toistaiseksi vuoden 2019 eniten tuottanut elokuva 655 miljoonalla dollarilla. Wandering Earth ei ole kuitenkaan Hollywood-tuotanto. Se on kiinalaista scifiä, ja perustuu Cixin Liun samannimiseen novelliin.

Tunnen monia kirjallisuusalan ihmisiä, jotka kategorisesti kieltäytyvät lukemasta scifiä.

Scifi tuo helposti mieleen avaruusoliot, taistelualukset, tekoälyn ja pienten poikien kevyen pulp-kirjallisuuden. Tunnen monia kirjallisuusalan ihmisiä, jotka kategorisesti kieltäytyvät lukemasta scifiä. Scifiä ei kuitenkaan kannata ylenkatsoa, koska sen tarinat vievät teknologiaa ja samalla maailmaa eteenpäin.

Ilman tieteiskirjallisuutta maailma olisi aika paljon tylsempi ja takaperoisempi.

Sotateollisuuden ja scifin suhde on pitkä ja monimutkainen, mutta myös tieteentekijät ja teknologistit tarvitsevat tarinankertojia maalaaman tulevaisuutta.

Jules Vernen mielikuvitus antoi meille helikopterin ja sukellusveneen, Arthur C. Clarke visioi satelliitin. William Gibson keksi termin kyberavaruus Neuromancer-teoksessaan. Neal Stephensonin The Diamond Age inspiroi Jeff Bezosia luomaan Kindlen. Sergey Brin on listannut saman kirjailijan Snow Crashin yhdeksi Googlen inspiraatioista.

Tieteiskirjallisuus ei myöskään ole irrallaan yhteiskunnasta.

Orwellin 1984 on ajankohtainen edelleen vuonna 2019. Margaret Atwoodin kolmekymmentä vuotta vanhasta The Handmaid's Talesta tuli symboli Trumpin vastaiselle naisasialiikkeelle.

Black Mirror tv-sarjan jatkuva suosio kertoo siitä, että haluamme ymmärtää, millaisia negatiivisia vaikutuksia teknologialla on yhteiskuntaamme.

Mitä tämän hetken scifi sitten kertoo meistä? Ainakin sen, että meitä pelottaa.

Epäluottamus algoritmeja, tekoälyä ja isoja teknologiayhtiöitä kohtaan maalaa pessimististä kuvaa tulevaisuudesta. Black Mirror tv-sarjan jatkuva suosio kertoo siitä, että haluamme ymmärtää, millaisia negatiivisia vaikutuksia teknologialla on yhteiskuntaamme.

Scifi kritisoi teknologisen kehityksen pimeää puolta vimmaisesti, mutta uskon, että myös tulevaisuuteen optimistisesti suhtautuvalle scifille olisi tilaa. Ja onneksi erilaisten äänten määrä tieteiskirjallisuudessa on lisääntynyt.

Tähän asti yleisesti luettu tieteiskirjallisuus on ollut kapeaa, valkoista ja länsimaalaista, mutta uudet tekijät tuovat mukanaan uusia näkökulmia. Viime vuoden hittielokuva Black Panther esitteli afrofuturismia.

Amerikkalaisissa tieteiselokuvissa cowboyt lähtevät kohti tuntematonta avaruutta, mutta kiinalaiset taikonautit ovat sidottu maahan ja perinteeseen.

Scifi tarjoaa mahdollisuuden miettiä, mitä ajattelemme, miten ajattelemme ja miksi ajattelemme. Siksi se on tärkeää.

Cixin Liun Wandering Earth ei kerro pelkästään avaruustaistelusta, vaan myös tämän päivän Kiinasta. Amerikkalaisissa tieteiselokuvissa cowboyt lähtevät kohti tuntematonta avaruutta, mutta kiinalaiset taikonautit ovat sidottu maahan ja perinteeseen. Siksi he ottavat maapallon mukaansa. Huomaan ajattelevani Hella Wuolijokea ja miettiväni, miltä Niskavuoren naiset, jotka laittoivat tilan kaiken edelle, olisi näyttänyt sijoitettuna tulevaisuuteen.

Hyvän tieteiskirjallisuuden lukeminen haastaa mielikuvituksen, koska olemassa olevia malleja ajatella ei ole. Scifi ei ole ainoastaan kaukoputki, se on myös peili.

Kirjoittaja on lastenkirjailija, kuvittaja ja keskinkertainen koodari, joka uskoo, että maailmasta tulee parempi paikka kun tietojenkäsittelyn ammattilaisten lisäksi tarinankertojat, tutkijat ja taivaanrannanmaalarit innostuvat teknologiasta.

]]> Wed, 13 Mar 2019 12:00:00 +0200 Year in Review 2018 https://www.lindaliukas.com/blog/letters/year-in-review-2018.html https://www.lindaliukas.com/blog/letters/year-in-review-2018.html The fifth year of looking back.
]]> Sun, 30 Dec 2018 12:00:00 +0000 Suomalaisen koodikoulutuksen tulee perustua muullekin kuin ohjelmoinnille https://www.lindaliukas.com/blog/koodikoulutus-muullekin-kuin-ohjelmoinnille.html https://www.lindaliukas.com/blog/koodikoulutus-muullekin-kuin-ohjelmoinnille.html Miten koodausta pitäisi kouluissa opettaa ja miksi? Tämä kolumni julkaistiin alun perin YLE:ssa 24.10.2018.

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"Suomen työmarkkinoilla on välitön tarve on 7 000–9 000 koodaajalle. Nyt Suomi tarvitsee lisää koodauksen koulutusta sekä uuden käsityksen siitä, kenelle koodaus on oikea ammatinvalinta."

Näin totesivat Supercellin Ilkka Paananen, Nokian Risto Siilasmaa sekä joukko muita yritysjohtajia viimeviikkoisessa mielipidekirjoituksessaan.

Vielä kaksituhattaluvun alussa ohjelmointityöt piti ulkoistaa kokonaan Kiinaan ja Intiaan, mutta nyt Suomessa peräänkuulutetaan kiireesti uudenlaista ohjelmointikoulutusta. Mitä oikein tapahtui?

Moni vanhempi näkee lapsensa surffailevan sujuvasti YouTubessa ja kuvittelee, että diginatiivi hallitsee teknologiaympäristönsä.

Teknologia-alan koulutuksesta puhuttaessa niputamme usein yhteen kaiken soveltavasta sähkötekniikasta tekstinkäsittelyohjelman käyttöön. Moni vanhempi näkee lapsensa surffailevan sujuvasti YouTubessa ja kuvittelee, että diginatiivi hallitsee teknologiaympäristönsä. Yrityksissä ajatellaan, että koodarithan vain toteuttavat mekaanisesti organisaation päätöksiä, oli kyseessä sitten uusi tuote tai palveluprosessi.

Mutta eivät lentokoneilla lentävät lapset ymmärrä taianomaisesti virtausdynamiikkaa, eikä teknologian käyttäminen varmista syvällistä ymmärrystä siitä. Yritysten näkökulmasta taas kymmenentuhatta riviä koodia, jota kukaan ei ymmärrä tai osaa ylläpitää, ei varmasti auta kilpailussa maailman parhaita teknologiataloja vastaan.

Jos pelkkä kyky tuottaa koodia tai käyttää tietokonetta ei riitä, minkälaisia tietoja ja taitoja uudenlaisen koodauskoulutuksen pitäisi antaa?

Nyt huudossa olevat taidot liittyvät ohjelmoinnin ja ongelmanratkaisun leikkauspisteeseen, oli kyse sitten taiteesta, terveydenhuollosta, teollisuudesta tai julkisesta sektorista. Työpaikoilla tarvitaan luovia, yhteistyökykyisiä, vahvasti ja monialaisesti ajattelevia työntekijöitä.

Yliopistoa tai peruskoulua ei kuitenkaan pidä rakentaa pelkästään vastaamaan yritysten akuuttiin työntekijäpulaan. Tulevaisuuden osaaja kirjoittaa koodia, mutta ymmärtää myös teknologian ja yhteiskunnan suhdetta. Koululainen analysoi miten algoritmit vaikuttavat vaalituloksiin, hahmottaa miten koneoppimisjärjestelmät saattavat olla rasistisia, keskustelee teknologian historiasta ja tunnistaa minkälaisissa tehtävissä ihminen on konetta taitavampi.

Linux-käyttöjärjestelmä pyörittää niin Android-puhelimia, hallituksia, isoja yrityksiä kuin avaruusraketteja.

Uuden ajan teknologiakasvatuksen opetussuunnitelman tekeminen Suomelle ei varmasti ole helppoa. Mutta onneksi meillä on tarjolla hieno esikuva ja se on Linus Torvalds. On oikeastaan hassua, että Linuxin ja Gitin isällä ei vielä ole omaa liputuspäivää, niin tärkeä hän on maailmalle. 27 vuotta sitten aloitettu Linux-käyttöjärjestelmä pyörittää niin Android-puhelimia, hallituksia, isoja yrityksiä kuin avaruusraketteja.

Eikä tässä kaikki: tarinan mukaan Linus kyllästyi kommunikoimaan Linux-käyttöjärjestelmän kehittämiseen liittyviä asioita sähköpostitse ja rakensi Gitin. Git on koodin versiohistoria: siinä näkyvät muutokset ja lisäykset koodiin. Tämä mahdollistaa sen, että saman koodipätkän kimpussa voi työskennellä monta ihmistä, kukin omalla koneellaan. Edellä mainitut työkalut ovat teknologiamaailmalle yhtä tärkeitä keksintöjä kuin penisilliini lääketeollisuudelle, Curiosity avaruustutkimukselle tai pikkumusta muodille.

Linus on vähän kuin teknologiamaailman Jay Leno tai Kanye West. Ei pelkää, ei kumartele ja sanoo suomalaisen suoraan, mitä ajattelee. Koko Internet sekoaa, kun Linus lasauttelee mielipiteitään. Työkaverini New Yorkissa kehystivät seinälle kuvan tästä oudosta teräväkielisestä introvertista. Mutta Linuskin voi kehittyä: muutama kuukausi sitten raportoitiin laajasti siitä, että Linus haluaa luoda vähemmän töykeän ohjelmistokehityskulttuurin.

Linusiin törmätessäni ajattelen aina Suomea.

Meidän hellä, hiljainen ja huolehtivainen yhteiskuntamallimme oli oikeanlainen pohja rakentaa ratkaisuja kaikille. Meidän suoruuttamme ja pelkäämättömyytemme taas johtaa siihen, että asiat etenevät. Eivätkä nämä projektit ole mitään yksinäisten insinöörien taidonnäytteitä. Linux ei ole hiljainen katedraali, vaan meluisa kylätori. Jotta avoimen lähdekoodin projekti toimii, pitää olla hurjasti johtajuutta.

Suomalainen koodikoulutus voisi perustua uuden teknologian luomiselle, ei vanhan kuluttamiselle.

Tätä toivoisin teknologiakoulutukselta ohjelmoinnin lisäksi. Suomalainen koodikoulutus voisi perustua uuden teknologian luomiselle, ei vanhan kuluttamiselle. Omien työkalujen ymmärtämiselle, ei vain niiden käyttämiselle. Yhdessä tekemiselle, ei vain oman optimoinnille.

]]> Wed, 24 Oct 2018 12:00:00 +0300 Kun kasvojentunnistus ei toimi, onko syy ihmisen vai tekoälyn? https://www.lindaliukas.com/blog/kasvojentunnistus-ihmisen-vai-tekoalyn.html https://www.lindaliukas.com/blog/kasvojentunnistus-ihmisen-vai-tekoalyn.html Ihminen voi siirtää koneelle omia ennakkoluulojaan. Tekoäly voi olla rasistinen, seksistinen tai muuten vaan pielessä. Tämä kolumni julkaistiin alun perin YLE:ssa 17.9.2018.

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Espoolaiskoulun jumppasalissa sata seitsemän- ja kahdeksanvuotiasta oppilasta hihkuu riemusta, kun tiedustelen, onko värikynissä, tietokonepelissä tai opettajassa tekoälyä.

Reaktio on aivan eri, kuin Lontoossa viime kesänä tapaamani pienen pojan huoli siitä, mitä hän tekee isona, jos tietokoneet vievät kaikki työpaikat.

Tapa, jolla puhumme teknologiasta jättää monet helposti ulkopuolelle.

Tekoäly on monelle meistä musta laatikko. Useampi meistä huolestuu lontoolaispojan tapaan kuin hihkuu, kuten espoolaislapset. Lisäksi tapa, jolla puhumme teknologiasta jättää monet helposti ulkopuolelle. Sanat kuten algoritmi, koneoppiminen tai opetusaineisto kuulostavat vierailta ja pelottavilta.

– Kieleni rajat merkitsevät maailmani rajoja, totesi filosofi Ludvig Wittgenstein.

Tekoälykeskusteluun osallistumisen edellytyksenä ei pitäisi olla tietojenkäsittelytieteen tutkinto tai ura IT-alalla. Erityisesti lapsilla on oikeus oppia optimistinen ja pragmaattinen suhde teknologiaan.

Espoolaisen jumppasalin lattialla istuu viimeinen sukupolvi, joka tunnistaa tietokoneen ruudun tai näppäimistön perusteella. Nämä lapset kasvavat maailmassa, jossa tietokoneet kuuntelevat, vastaavat, suosittelevat, ennustavat ja oppivat uusia asioita. Kun kamera tarkentaa automaattisesti kasvoihin, roskapostit lajitellaan piiloon ja mistä päin maailmaa tahansa löytyy reittiohje takaisin kotiin, on kyseessä tekoäly.

Reilusti yli puolet espoolaisen koulun lapsista on keskustellut puhelimen kanssa. YouTuben suosittelualgoritmit ovat näille lapsille tutumpia kuin Yleisradion ohjelmakartta. Virtuaaliassistentti, korjaava tekstinsyöttö ja monet muut tekoälyn sovellukset auttavat meitä erilaisissa arkipäivän asioissa, vaikka niiden olemassaoloa ei aina edes huomaa. Arkipäiväistyessään AI saa tavanomaisemman nimen. Se, mitä kutsumme tekoälyksi muuttuu kokoajan.

Tavallisen tietokoneenkäyttäjän ei tarvitse ymmärtää kaikkia tekoälyn teknisiä hienouksia. Mutta jokaisella olisi hyvä olla jonkinlainen ymmärrys siitä, mihin tehtäviin tekoälyä voidaan käyttää, miten tietokoneet oppivat ja millaisia eettisiä kysymyksiä tekoälyyn liittyy. Se, mikä näyttää taianomaiselta, ei kuitenkaan perustu taikaan. Tietokoneet eivät ohjelmoi itse itseään. Ihmiset opettavat edelleen koneita.

Ihminen voi siirtää koneelle omia ennakkoluulojaan joko tahallaan tai vahingossa.

Koneoppiminen on tällä hetkellä yksi tekoälyn nopeimmin kehittyvistä osa-alueista. Koneoppimisessa tietokone koulutetaan suorittamaan tehtäviä esimerkkien avulla. Katsomalla esimerkiksi kymmeniätuhansia tunteja videoita kissoista kone rakentaa mallin, jonka perusteella se tunnistaa kissan.

Ihminen voi siirtää koneelle omia ennakkoluulojaan joko tahallaan tai vahingossa. Monet tekoälyn tekemistä oudoista päätöksistä johtuvat siitä, että ihmisen koneelle antama opetusaineisto on vinksallaan.

Tekoäly voi olla rasistinen, seksistinen tai muuten vaan pielessä. Esimerkiksi Amazonin kasvojentunnistusalgoritmi luokitteli kongressiedustajat rikollisiksi, ihotauteja tunnistavat algoritmit toimivat parhaiten vaalealla iholla ja konenäkö arvioi intialaisen morsiamen taiteilijaksi värikkäiden vaatteiden perusteella. Vinoumia voi harjoitella löytämään jo pienenä.

Espoolaiskoulun jumppasalissa lapset tarkastelevat kuvasarjoja, jotka koostuvat pelkästään harmaista kissoista, teekupeista, joissa kahva on aina vasemmalla puolella ja sairaanhoitajista, joista kaikki ovat naisia. Lasten tehtävänä on miettiä, minkälaisia ennakkoluuloja kone voisi opetusaineiston perusteella omaksua kissojen värityksestä, teekuppien muotoilusta tai sairaanhoitajien sukupuolesta. Tämän jälkeen lapset suunnittelevat oman opetusaineiston valitsemastaan asiasta ja leikkaavat aikakauslehdistä mahdollisimman monipuolisia kuvia aakkosista, hatuista, koirista tai luonnosta. Me ihmiset olemme vastuussa tekoälystä.

Työpajan päätteeksi kertaamme.Riemukas lapsikuoro vastaa väittämiin.

Koneoppiminen on taikaa! No ei ole!

Koneoppiminen tarkoittaa, että meidän ei tarvitse enää ajatella ongelmia, koska tietokoneet ajattelevat puolestamme. Ei tietenkään!

Vain robotit tarvitsevat koneoppimista. Höpsis!

Vain insinöörit tarvitsevat koneoppimista. Ei kun kaikki!

Onko tulevaisuuden tekoäly koira, kummitus, kaveri, apulainen, työmyyrä vai jotain ihan muuta? En tiedä, mutta toivon, että pienet ballerinat, biologit ja muut tulevaisuuden rakentajat suuntaavat luottavaisina kohti tekoälymaailmaa. Tärkeintä on utelias, käytännöllinen ja peloton asenne.

]]> Mon, 17 Sep 2018 12:00:00 +0300 Badger, Bulbasaur, or Blockchain? https://www.lindaliukas.com/blog/badger-bulbasaur-or-blockchain.html https://www.lindaliukas.com/blog/badger-bulbasaur-or-blockchain.html Can children name more Pokémon species than natural organisms? And what does this tell us about our relationship with technology? This column first appeared in Finnair Blue Wings in June 2018.

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In a recent Cambridge study, a group of British children was shown picture cards, each depicting a common species of plant or wildlife. The researchers also showed the kids a second set of cards, each featuring a species of Pokémon character.

Overwhelmingly, the children aged eight and over were better at identifying Pokémon species like Beedrill, Weedle, or Bulbasaur than natural organisms such as oak trees, weasels, or badgers.

In his essay, Badger or Bulbasaur — have children lost touch with nature?British writer Robert Mcfarlane expresses concern over what is happening to British children’s knowledge of nature. Their accuracy score for Pokémon was around 80 per cent, yet less than 50 per cent for real species. Mcfarlane is right in being anxious about a world where we lose our ability to express what is happening around us. We need language and vocabulary to understand who we are.

But I think the problem goes beyond Weedles and weasels. The same lack of understanding and ownership is also pervasive in the realm of technology. Nature and technology are not the opposites here. It’s our own curiosity and wonder that is at stake.

Contemporary life is filled with technology. We turn on our phones hundreds of times a day, and technology is sneaking into every split-second of our lives. But how many of us can actually describe what happens in a DDOS attack, what a bubble-sort algorithm does, or how the blockchain works? The vocabulary of technology is full of “suitcase words” — they hold a lot inside but let very little out. They are easy to pass around but rarely opened.

Computers are chameleons: They can be passive and foreign or alternatively allow for endless building and creativity. Our society’s competitive advantage depends not on how well our children consume technology, but how fearless, creative, and imaginative they learn to be in creating with it.

All of this requires curiosity, vocabulary, and understanding. “I believe that names matter and that the ways we address the natural world can actively form our imaginative and ethical relations with it,” says Mcfarlane. I believe the same is true for technology. It’s the difference between understanding a hashtag and understanding hardware.

So the next time you hear someone in a meeting using technology jargon, raise your hand and bravely ask: could you please explain

]]> Tue, 19 Jun 2018 12:00:00 +0000 Beginner's guide to cyber security https://www.lindaliukas.com/blog/beginners-guide-to-cyber-security.html https://www.lindaliukas.com/blog/beginners-guide-to-cyber-security.html What happens when someone who thinks she has nothing to hide gets hacked? This essay was originally published on Medium on Jun 11, 2018.

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I’ve never once worried about my online security. Sure, I could have a clever password strategy, set up VPN, encrypt my hard drive or tweak my browser settings, but as a result I’d create a joyless and pessimistic world-view. And who would want to hack a children’s book author anyways?

So what happens when someone who thinks she has nothing to hide gets hacked?

My work is about explaining the world of computer science to children in fun ways. For that cyber security offers a colorful playground with concepts such as honeypots, trojan horses, firewalls and script kiddies? Throughout the six episodes of the documentary I spoke with experts to learn about what lies behind the jargon. I got to visit a security center in Poland, see in practice how machine learning can help detect threats and learn how the landscape of security is changing.

But to experience the other side of the equation, I gave permission to the F-Secure team to try to hack me. The rules were simple: use a vulnerability, break in and do something.

One of the things that became obvious pretty soon was that this attack was not going to happen with any clever algorithm or brute force, but through social engineering. The team would take advantage of the tiny everyday chores, habits and clues I’ve sprinkled everywhere online and use them to break in.

For the first few days I was suspicious of everything. From e-mail alerts notifying me of Squarespace domains getting old to doxxing attack warnings, from phone service confirmations to blinking mobile screens everything screamed scam. But there were just too many things to pay attention to, and auto-pilot kicks in easily. What happened? Check out the full documentary here.

After the documentary I did resolve to make changes in the way I protect my privacy and security online. But even more importantly I think I learned the same lesson as Alice in Wonderland, who after Lewis Carroll plunged her on the adventure thought “after such a fall as this, I shall think nothing of tumbling down stairs!”

There is no way you can protect yourself entirely online, especially as an organisation.

What happens after the attack is what matters. An organization where employees don’t deny, panic or hide attacks is much more likely to pull through. A strategy for cyber security is as much about implementing the right hardware and software as it is about the right practices, culture and communication.

One more word on the cyber security people, who in my experience are among the most creative, curious and persistent people I’ve met. I think it’s worth redefining the way we talk about security for only their sake.

Not rigid, resistant.

Not pessimistic, persistent.

Not paranoid, paying attention.

]]> Mon, 11 Jun 2018 12:00:00 +0000 The Hundred Languages https://www.lindaliukas.com/blog/the-hundred-languages.html https://www.lindaliukas.com/blog/the-hundred-languages.html When I first started writing books about technology for kids, I knew almost nothing about pedagogy. This essay was originally published on Medium on Jan 27, 2018.

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When I first started writing books about technology for kids, I knew almost nothing about pedagogy. For me, computing was magical, charming and imaginative — but the materials teaching it often dull and uninspiring. I enjoyed programming, but mixed Piaget to Papert, didn’t recognise computational thinking from constructivism.

Luckily on my journey to early childhood education I stumbled upon Montessori and Reggio Emilia. I owe a huge thank you to these Italian pedagogical movements. They offered me the frameworks of thinking I needed to create Ruby’s world.

From Reggio I learned to love the idea of a hundred languages. The core idea of Reggio is that a child has hundreds of ways of expressing themselves: with clay and gestures, paint and rubber stamps. However in schools we often limit the children to only writing and reading. Reggio educators treat a computer as just one more material to learn alongside paper, ruler, pens and movement. One of the hundred.

“The computer is like a foreigner, and if you want to talk to it, you have to speak its language.” “Yes, but the computer has to understand how we talk, too, and it has to do what we want it to do.” — Children from Diana Preschool, Hundred Languages of the Child

One of the aspects I enjoyed in Reggio Emilia was the open-ended nature of projects that can take all sorts of twists and turns. Many of my own favourite exercise start with kids posing questions that interest them like “What kind of a computer would a dolphin doctor need?”, “What is the worlds most dangerous animal?” or “ What if my paper computer could print candy?”. Throughout the process of exploring and experimenting they learn about abstraction, collaboration, media literacy, and develop a plethora of powerful ideas I would never have anticipate. That’s why most of the exercises include discussion points and very few of them have right or wrong answers. I think it’s important to give kids permission to trust themselves and allow for many right answers to a question.

Montessori on the other hand has influenced my writing process. I’ve learned to observe children at work and respond to their unique needs. I’ve learned to simplify, creating exercises and materials that have only a single concept to teach.

Much like in Montessori, the book suggests that we shouldn’t use words as shortcuts to knowledge. Computer science is riddled with abstract words like functions, booleans and decomposition. But how does a loop feel like? And can we find conditionals from Ruby’s clothes closet? Computational thinking concepts are more fascinating when we understand their presence all around us. Inspired by Montessori, I’ve practiced making computer science concrete, specific and understandable to the child. A computer can take a thousand forms.

The first duty of an education is to stir up life, but leave it free to develop. — Maria Montessori

So why is it that, a hundred years later, the Montessori method still works? And why does Reggio keep inspiring me after 70 years of existence? I think the answer lies in wonder. Both of these pedagogical movements have helped me rediscover my own wonder around technology. And it’s wonder that allows me to invent new teaching practices that offer unusual and beautiful pathways to computing.

This essay first appeared in the Italian edition of Hello Ruby.

]]> Sat, 27 Jan 2018 12:00:00 +0000 Pyininpakka, Putti, Nutto, Pokku, Tirkka, Ruitintullo — neural networks imagine Marimekko patterns https://www.lindaliukas.com/blog/neural-networks-imagine-marimekko-patterns.html https://www.lindaliukas.com/blog/neural-networks-imagine-marimekko-patterns.html What if Marimekko's founder Armi Ratia had been interested in computers? How would neural networks see Marimekko today? This essay was originally published on Medium on Jan 8, 2018.

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I’ve often thought what would have happened if in the 1960s the founder of Marimekko, Armi Ratia had been interested in programming instead of fashion as way to create a “cultural phenomenon guiding the quality of living”.

But an equally interesting question might be how would computers see Marimekko today? Last weekend I got to judge a hackathon at Marimekko and since I’ve been itching to try out neural networks in practice, I decided to do a quick Sunday evening project to see if I could give an answer.

The name Marimekko famously came from Armi scribbling names on a piece of paper (Armi was taken already — Mari is an anagram!). Her husband listed garments — skirt, shirt, dress — and thus Marimekko, which literally translates as Mary’s Dress was born.

Armi was also very poetic about the language Marimekko uses, writing in an early business plan for a bank loan that “Marimekko is the forest path between the practical Venla and the ethereal Anna (characters from Aleksis Kivi’s immortal story ‘Seven Brothers’) projected into the highways and byways, homes and whole living environment of this changing world”

So what if we ask a computer to dream up new names of Marimekko patterns?

Turns out, they do pretty well. I had a dataset of 1400 Marimekko pattern names and found a librabry by Andrej Karpathy’s called char-rnn. It’s a Multi-layer Recurrent Neural Network for character-level language models (a mouthful!). Within a few hours I had a list of pretty whimsical names. Some of my favourite RNN created Mari patterns:

Pyininpakka, Putti, Nutto, Pokku, Tirkka and Ruitintullo.

Most of the original pattern names are real Finnish words, but with a playful swing (“Helmipitsi, Helmisvyö, Hemppa, Hennika”). The computer keeps this non-sensical whimsicality really well (”Pokkapeita, “Pukukka”) and I think there is an interesting Karelian beat to the names as well. The first round resembled Estonian: Kulveania, Valos, Inso, Päränlö, but the computer pretty quickly started to get a grasp of Finnish (short) words (Sukka”, “Sumu”). Some Japanese influence too (”Hisakiro, Fumokare”)!

I’ll keep trying a few more things with the data — it would be awesome to combine the patterns into this and see if computers could come up with Marimekko inspired names and patterns themselves.

Thanks Marimekko & Junction for the inspiration of getting this done. I woke up this morning at 4 AM to check my RNN progress and it felt like Christmas meets Tamagotchi.

1. Collection of data

The data was collected from Marimekko website and consists of 1400 individual pattern names. You can download it here. It’s pretty clean, but obviously there could be more examples — this is a very small dataset for a neural network to work with.

2. Training

RNN (Recurrent Neural Networks) is a class of artificial neural networks. Andrej’s library takes a text file as input learns to predict the next character in the sequence. The char-rnn library makes life very easy (I think the most painful part of the entire process was updating Xcode!). I used the standard setting with a higher dropout value (0.7) since the dataset was so small.

3. Next steps

]]> Mon, 08 Jan 2018 12:00:00 +0000 Year in Review 2017 https://www.lindaliukas.com/blog/letters/year-in-review-2017.html https://www.lindaliukas.com/blog/letters/year-in-review-2017.html Fourth year in review.
]]> Sun, 31 Dec 2017 10:02:01 +0000 Year in Review 2016 https://www.lindaliukas.com/blog/letters/year-in-review-2016.html https://www.lindaliukas.com/blog/letters/year-in-review-2016.html Third time is a tradition. image


Third time is a tradition, right? 2016 was good - I experimented a lot, let go of things, but also made big decisions with lifelong implications. 

I was pretty good with exercise, found new ways of destressing and kept my 50 books in a year challenge easily. Tokyo continued to influence me and I trusted myself professionally. I also made friends with people I was probably more of an acquaintance before. 

This tweet probably summarises my year. Or, from my favorite Bunny Buddhism: “If a tiny hop is all I can manage, a tiny hop is enough.”

Here are 2015 and 2014. And here is 2016: 

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January

  • Visited Stockholm with Maija and saw Olafur Eliasson in Moderna Museet. Watched Cinderella with goofball cousins and loved hanging out with them. 
  • Bought new cross-country skis and went skiing many times. Enjoyed the cold, arctic Helsinki. Overall had a good life rhythm - yoga, flowers & pizza on many Fridays in a row. 
  • Moved to a new office, with glitter unicorns and beautiful big windows. Office had also many people in it - Lucas, Ilari & Olli started hanging out over. For the first time did a budget and set goals for the company. Discovered Wildflower Montessori that would influence and gushed over Lullatone with no idea I would eventually meet the family in May. 
  • TED decided to feature my talk on TED.com and TEDx Billion. One of my bucket list things. 

Read: 

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February

  • Opened the Pedagogy Fellowship and recruited our wonderful three teachers (Olli, Ilpo and Elina) with Jemina. And the second Jemina also serendipitously walked in our lives. Lots of fundraising for the Summer School, running around meeting people. 
  • Went to Beirut with Moaffak, Wili, Jaakko & Karoliina and really enjoyed meeting the young people and companies and seeing the city (and not to mention the food). Afterwards reminisced with this Instagram account
  • Was very influenced by Astrid Lindgren and her will to change the world, listened to Spotify playlists where she reads her stories before falling asleep. “Ge barnen kärlek, mera kärlek och ännu mera kärlek, så kommer folkvettet av sig själv. -Astrid Lindgren”. Saw many friends, had tea, did Ikebana. 
  • Worked on second book every spare moment. Decided to become the principal of kindergarten of robots and AIs when I grow up. 

Read: 

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March

  • Visited Amsterdam for the Dutch launch of Hello Ruby and felt like a real author. Went to Lapland for Easter - first time downhill skiing in 5+ years! Heard Liisa talk about her research on stem cells for the first time, and was very proud to know such inspiring women - realized I had missed having close female friends.
  • Enjoyed International Womens Day activities from Stockholm and Ms Zamniski’s class. Saw Pekka Kuusisto (& Paperi T and many others) in Kansallisteatteri, one of the best concerts of the year. 
  • What started with thinking about GPUs evolved into a bigger interest in deep learning, ML and AI. I started to have an idea of what the next two books would be (Internet & AI). Felt crazy (but also rewarding) that I have a pretty clear idea of what I want to work on until 2019 - of course I’ll never know what will end up happening. 

Read: 

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April

  • Started the month in Japan, finally during Hanami. Adored the city and found my face in surprising places. Sang karaoke with the Estonian mafia (well, startup people) and enjoyed the vision they offer for the world: small countries punching above their weight. Visited also Latvia (and fell in love with the library where we had an opening party for Sveika Rubij) Tallinn and Stockholm. Loved the Moomin exhibition in Junibacken. 
  • Turned thirty - celebrated with family and felt both old and young. Did a fair bit of reflection on life and what I’d like the next 5 years to look like. 
  • Bought noise cancelling headphones which turned out to be one of the best purchases ever. Cried over this podcast. Enjoyed the return of Game of Thrones. 
  • Anttu had a dinner and enjoyed talking with other people working with kids products. Spent a weekend in Vierumäki with a group of old and new friends. Was overworked with too many projects most of the month, but had a lot of energy and optimism.  

Read

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May

  • Travelled a lot for work: Tokyo, Barcelona, New York, DC. Only glimpses of the cities, most of the time spent in meetings and e-mail. Did a fun videoshoot for Elisa involving flying in a helicopter - came out in June on the frontpage of Helsingin Sanomat. 
  • Very happy about Hello Ruby release in Japan, the book ended topping the charts in Japan for a week. Experienced my first tiny earthquake. 
  • Observing progress and plans and provenance of ideas evolve felt great. On the other hand said bye to some disappointing and toxic work partnerships. Started a running club with close girlfriends, that evolved into a discussion/mentoring thing that gave me a lot of energy in the rest of the year. 
  • Worked every spare minute on the second book. I had initially been afraid that I would have one book in me, but was happily surprised when ideas and stories just kept coming. In some ways fell in love again with Computer Science and the depth and width of the field.  Art of the Problem kept inspiring me throughout the year. 
  • For a moment dreamed of building a house when the perfect piece of land was on sale. Realized soon it was too expensive and wrong timing, but was a great feeling. 

Read: 

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June

  • Got to visit the old Bell Labs facilities in NYC and was very impressed with School for Poetic Computation. Taeyoon’s work has inspired me for a long time. New thoughts. Got my first real transistor in DC. Saw Cassie. 
  • Saw Ruby’s Summer school grow to be a real, live summer camp. Exhausting, fun, exhilarating two weeks that offered a lot of empathy for teachers, but also created many lifetime memories. 
  • Finished the second Ruby book. Sat the whole surreal Midsummer weekend in office drawing and listened to BBC Brexit reports over and over again. Somehow the book was again finished 5 hours before print deadline. Big thank you to team Otava (also got to hear some superb stories from Maikki Harjanne of her path as a children’s book author). 
  • Was very lost and frustrated towards the end of the month (mostly with myself) and decided to postpone decisions until end of vacation. Did a quick day trip to Amsterdam and finished Ferrante. Swam. Started to properly prepare the wedding. 

Read:

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July

  • My traditional vacation mode month. It’s impossible for me to take a full vacation, but I compensate by slacking on e-mail during July. Went biking in Turku Archipelago with Ville. 250 kilometers and one of our bucket list things. Next year bigger bike adventures ahead. 
  • Was completely convinced that I had micromanaged my own bacherolette party by going to see Beyoncé in Stockholm with friends. Little did I know. But she was amazing. 
  • Went to New York and Boston. Loved the hot & heated days. Made plans for next year, hung out and hiked with friends. Played Pokemon!
  • Did book touring in Tokyo and Fukuoka. The kids, always the kids. Was also fun to show Jemina the city that has influenced me so much. Met a hedgehog and went into Miyazaki’s catbus. 

Read

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August

  • Married my best friend. Wedding was magical, talks were beautiful and I tear still with the photos. Was also so happy to have many of our friends from all over the world in Helsinki. All the feels.  "Give me a mystery - just a plain and simple one. .A mystery which is diffidence and silence, a slim little bare-foot mystery: give me a mystery - just one!“ -Yevgeny Yevtushenko
  • Had a complete surprise bachelorette party - I thought I was going to give a speech for teachers and I was taken on a three day countryhouse / Flow festival extravaganza with glitter & pink hair. 
  • Read the new Harry Potter on the plane ride back from Japan. The Potter series returned in my life at many occasions in 2016 (1,2,3). Safe to say, I loved the new movie too. 
  • Did a lot of press around the second Hello Ruby in Finnish. Started observing this yearly routine: springs are for making things, falls for talking about them. The summers are for energy required for an introvert to talk constantly. Made it to a list of Nordic top business thinkers which made me laugh, considering my dismal business know-how. 

Read

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September

  • Celebrated Wili & Linda at their wedding in Split. Friends & sun. 
  • Was thinking of the third book, talking about the first and second one (which isn’t out in English until next October) and felt that publishing in the era of Internet is SO OUT OF SYNC. 
  • Tried to start studying Japanese, but failed miserably by not making even one of the classes. Fell in love with Bobby Kennedy and read exhaustively everything I could. Saw Captain Fantastic in the movies and decided to raise philosopher kings. Read one of my favorite essays of the year on Childhood & exploration by Michel Chabon. Ran. 
  • Too much travel: Estonia, Split, Barcelona, Stockholm, Budapest and DC all within three weeks. But had also time to go climbing with Anna & kids, say hi to little Havu, brunch with Paula and Johanna. 
  • Overall had a really meh month - decided to change things, cried a lot, had very high ups and very low lows. On the other hand took part in a tour around the Helsinki I rarely see: custodial care services, preventive youth work, homeless shelters and felt frustrated about lack of abilities to help. 

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October

  • Was invited to White House for SXSL! I went back and forth whether I should go: 48 hours in DC, many things already in calendar and I had zero money, but then again it would be the last chance to see the Obama White House. In hindsight SO GLAD I DID IT. I pinched myself several times sitting on the South Lawn, eating popcorn & listening to President Obama & Leonardo DiCaprio discuss climate change. Already now feels like a forgone era. 
  • Moved apartments. The new place is great and immediately felt like home. Although never schedule a moving day after a friends doctorate party. 
  • Speaking of Ilkka’s doctorate party - so fun to see everyone all dressed up. Spent a lot of time with the friends from startup scene - we did a trip also to Copenhagen. Also visited Stockholm and Budapest for work. 
  • Anssi and Erika got married and I celebrated in ways that no 30 year old should. (Felt very sick the next day). Yayoi Kusama exhibition opened in Helsinki and was excited to see the premier. Maija had her exhibition premier too. Bought a dryer which makes laundry soo easy. Had a spa evening with Henrietta and ended up watching AI talks on TED. Witnessed heated discussions over simulation theory and decided that at the age of 30 I’m finally surrounding myself with people who really understand me. 
  • Taught public speaking with almost zero credentials, but it was fun and I made the students lipsync to Obama, Beyonce and Sarah Kay. 
  • Making food is my meditation. Important articulation for 2017. 

Read

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November

  • Was proactive with work: had first testing sessions for Ruby 3, trusted the process, talked with teachers and mentors. Very quick visits to Bucharest and Stockholm. Had a thought leader talk in Aalto. Most of the month I didn’t feel like one. 
  • Met my childhood friends baby, saw Tatu and Patu with goddaughter. A close family member passed away and wrote a talk to the funeral, which was very hard. Had family over for dinner prior to the US elections. Woke up to a new world. Dyed my hair blue, but it only lasted for a few days. 
  • Visited Rimini and met my Italian publisher. Also got one item off the bucket list: had a wonderful day in Reggio Emilia, a pedagogical approach I’ve been admiring forever. Surpassed my expectations and had some very profound implications to my work. Made a big bet for the next year. 
  • Enjoyed returning to Stars Hollow with Gilmore Girls (and ate accordingly with Lotta, Suvi & Maria). Rory Gilmore affected my taste in books, schools and boys a lot. 
  • Loved Slush. Interviewed Chris Sacca on stage, which was a first. Loved how our discussion ended up being about empathy and raising little girls, instead of VC. Ela & Seth being in Helsinki was amazing. Randomly started crying in the after party - it has been a long year. 

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December

  • Spent a week with Lotta in Seuol. Loved the AI and humanity exhibition at Nabi. Met Korean kids, teachers and university students. Olafur again at Leeum. 
  • With Maija in Tokyo, did Year Compass and finished year 2016 in Shimokitazawa. We decided to take the train directly to 2017 and it took us to unexpected adventures. Also visited Riga for a day. Enjoying the peace and quiet and working on book three throughout the holidays.
  • Ruby was exhibited in the new London Design Museum - hope I’ll see it for myself. “Other museums will exhibit this stuff in the future.”
  • Spent Christmas in Lapland. Worked all year on a secret project for husband and his family so for once I had a good present. I’m also excited about New Years Eve, which traditionally has been a pretty lackluster holiday for me. 

Read

]]> Fri, 30 Dec 2016 12:00:00 +0000 Year in Review 2015 https://www.lindaliukas.com/blog/letters/year-in-review-2015.html https://www.lindaliukas.com/blog/letters/year-in-review-2015.html A year of making and moving. Last year I wrote about 2014, now it’s time for 2015. 

For me, recapping a year gone past is a great way to appreciate change and progress so hidden in our everyday lives. Wait By Why had a wonderful series of post about how a human life can be fit in one paper - so a year fits easily in a blogpost. 

This year my role changed quite a bit. The end of last year was a sad and anxious state of mess, but this year it has been easier. Hello Ruby is a toddler now: the book was finally published, the rights were sold to several countries, I’m busy working on the next book and this whole thing is steadily growing into a little company. 

This year I wrote a lot less, but read more. I made my 50 books challenge on Goodreads and felt good about prioritising reading. I traveled a lot, maybe even too much. On the other hand I exercised more regularly and in general worked more on stuff that I cared about. 

‘Well!’ thought Alice to herself, ’ after such a fall as this, I shall think nothing of tumbling down stairs! - Lewis Carroll

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January

  • Experimented with a 10 day detox and hated every second of it. The only thing I enjoyed was being able to say no to morning coffee for the first time in 10 years. Willpower! 
  • Finished the majority of drawings for Hello Ruby. Had mixed feelings, since I knew the following 9 months would still be spent waiting. Wrote a shipping update I feared sending. Still haven’t quite done a post mortem on the whole project. 
  • Loved the long, lingering days between holidays. Listened to a lot of Planet Money and This American Life. My favorite episode (still) is Radiolabs Hauntingly amazing Space. Ville left to New York. Played a lot with Earth Primer. 

Books read: Station Eleven. Burial Rites. Stranger in a Strange land. The New Tycoons. Station Eleven was one of my favorite sf-reads last year. 

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February

  • Was in Australia for the first time for RubyConf Australia. Met Clover (and her parents) - a real baby backer. Enjoyed biking around Melbourne and saw tiny penguins in pullovers. Met Michael very randomly. Encouraging words from Erik. 
  • Was in Tokyo for 1,5 weeks and left my heart there. Did playtesting, visited Miraikan, wore a Kimono, hung out at the Embassy and had drinks in the American bar. Beautiful first experience to the city that I would return many times during the year. 

Books read: Embassytown. The Casual Vacancy. The Almost Nearly Perfect People. Truth about the Harry Quebert Affair. And the Hearts Says Whatever. Easy reads for travel. Nothing that hugely stood out. 

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March

  • Met the Swedish King and Queen during their visit in Finland! Royals made a big impression, but my Swedish didn’t. 
  • Heard about Reggio Emilio from a former teacher of mine. The 100 languages of kids is still haunting me. Wrote about the process of making a book.  Loved seeing Amy pursue her calling. 
  • Spent more time with friends: had people over for tacos, flower arrangements, did Heureka night on sex & space, had black dress dinner. Saw Wild with Jemina and had brunch with Troy, Jenny, Oona and Maija that later led to me staying in Åland. Spa day with relatives and easter egg hunt at Vaahteramäki also happened. 
  • Visited Stockholm (didn’t know I would do this several times during the year!) and sneaked time in Junibacken to see the Moomin exhibition. Also visited Bath and London (Kano! Bath Ruby! <3). Was covered in Nikkei!

Books read: The Art of Asking. The Art of Fielding. The Windup Bird Chronicle. 

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April

  • Went to New York for Easter and to say hi to Ville. SoulCycle and being obsessed about Björk. My first somewhat viral tweet. 
  • Went to Billund for the Lego Idea Conference. Childhood dream of mine to visit Legoland and see the factories + of course meet a ton of inspiring people. One of the best events I participated in all year. 
  • Did one of the few company projects of the year with Marimekko. I admire the history of the company ad what they are now trying to do, so it was an easy match. Spent my last twenty-something birthday with my family, watching the Armi Ratia movie. 
  • Back to Tokyo with Slush Asia. Always love. 
  • Started playing Neko Atsume. 

Read: The Information: A History. The particular sadness of a lemon cake. Old man’s war. The Innovators. Children of Dune. Both The Innovators and The Information ended up influencing the rest of my work year. 

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May

  • We got engaged. It was a very ordinary Monday, turned extraordinary. “What we find in a soulmate is not something wild to tame but something wild to run with.– Robert Brault”. The fabulous roman yellow candles. 
  • The first Hello Ruby Fellowship starts, with Aino and Janika. First time I needed to articulate my thinking to outside people, which felt scary, but turned out great. 
  • We did a workshop at the Guggenheim exhibition and I ended up in Åland for a small-weird-bitcoin-art-architecture-extravaganza, that I absolutely enjoyed. 
  • I read a lot about Aino Sibelius. Spent a nice day in Falkulla with old friends and their kids. Also started the gardening project. 

Books read: Aino Sibelius - Ihmeellinen nainen. The Girl on the Train. All The Light we Cannot See. 

June

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  • Started June in Singapore where I had last been for the first Rails Girls workshop. Was fun to be back and see old friends. Jetlagged, found a slide from 2011 that basically describes what I’m doing now. Most often things take time. 
  • One off the bucket list! Sarah Kay visited Helsinki and me, sister and mom went to see her. I want to be Mrs. Ribeiro when I grow up 
  • Two week crunch with Kirsikka to translate Hello Ruby into Finnish. Couldn’t have made it without my mom. 
  • Had my goddaughter over for a Helsinki day and enjoyed her witty company. She is growing to be one fine young lady. 
  • Left to France for Maija’s birthday party. Talked on the plane with Anniina too much. Loved Paris. 
  • Read: Theories of Childhood. Elon Musk. Flash Boys. The Difference Engine
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July

  • My first adult vacation! I had a vacation responder with Knuth quote and all. Mostly I remember walking in Helsinki, Kahvila Siili, moving offices, dentist and spending time at our cpuntryhome. 
  • I started HIIT training and tried the Kayla Itsines regime for a while. It was fun to feel stronger. 
  • We visited Amsterdam with Ville and saw all his old places. Also did a day trip to Villa Mairea (with a company Tesla, which ended up being quite the adventure). Added Maire Gullichsen to my idol list. 
  • Read: Harry Hole #4, #10 and #5. The Girl with All the Gifts. Rainbows End. Big Little Lies. Eleanor & Park (Yes, summer vacation! Zombies and detective stories and murders. )
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August

  • August started with tons of planning. Finally I felt like I was a bit in control. Jemina started working with Hello Ruby and it changed everything for the better. Did a ton of press in Finland. Got very bored and bothered with my face everywhere. 
  • Started seeing the book in the hands of REAL people. The #helloruby feed on Instagram makes me giddy.  
  • Went to Amsterdam for Scratch conference. Met some of the people who’ve influenced my work most (Mitch Resnik, Cynthia Solomon). But also got so introverted that on the second conference day walked 20km around Amsterdam. Saw the Matisse cut outs and went to Stedelijk to dream about Sol LeWitt. 
  • Participated in Meidän Festivaali and totally fell in love with Pekka Kuusisto’s enthusiasm. Started #minimaa, a dinner group for people in Finland who want to work on quality kids products, but so far managed to organise only one event. 
  • I participated in this two day retreat and met superb people and got a new mentor in my life. All in all I thought I took better care of myself this fall. Which would turn out to be a false belief. 
  • Saw Vesa’s baby, went to Heini and Miska’s wedding, had dinner with Mikito for the first time in several years. Turning 30 is starting to show in our group of friends and it’s super nice. Inside out was my favourite movie of the year. 

Read: Fallout

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September

  • Lots of recruiting around mobile, next Fellowship, research partners and so on. Me and Jemina managed to sneak in an overnight strategy workshop in a hotel, which was fun and felt like a teen movie. (”This is how you run a company, you make a content framework in cute colors”). And I took a workshop on animation writing, which was fun and refreshing and felt good to be a student again. Hello Ruby also came out in Swedish. 
  • Traveled a ton while sick. Never do that, kids! Paris, Copenhagen, Malmö, Malta and Göteborg. Finally I was so worked up emotionally and physically that every time I moved my neck my head exploded. Speak about recovery time. 
  • Loved spending time with Ville and his mom in Malta (although the traffic drove me insane) and the hike we did with Henrietta was super nice too. Saw Emily in Paris and had fun time with Pumpkin Spice Latte season starting and meeting little Ms. Gaudet.  

Read: The Knockoff. Lohikäärmeenvärit. The Girl in the Spiders Web. 

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October

  • Easily the worst month of the year. I felt tired, over worked and like my focus was on wrong things. But I was very proud of our Fellows and the work they did.  The most profound statement I’ve heard this year came from a little girl Tatiana surveyed. When asked what technology is, she answered: “Technology is electricity that loves.”
  • Spoke at TEDxCERN. Doing a TED format talk had been on my list forever and so has CERN. Fun, frightening experience and a pleasure meeting old friends. 
  • Almost the entire family was together for my aunts doctorate dissertation. We continued to my childhood friend Suvi’s wedding. And Juhani & I celebrated by eating way too much. 
  • Hello Ruby was FINALLY out! Me and Jemina went to New York for meetings and celebrated impromptu. Felt magical to find the book in Union Square’s Barns & Noble. 
  • I continued to San Francisco, where I haven’t been in two years. It was great to be back and I loved seeing old and new friends. The quality of the people in San Francisco is unparalleled to any other city. Straight after SF I hopped the plane to Stockholm for Campus, rushed to the bookfair in Helsinki and had a big meltdown which Emma saved me from. 
  • G is for Growing turned out to be one of the most educational books I read all year. Sesame Street work influenced me on other fronts too. 

Read: The Help. Carry On. Zero to One. G is for Growing. 

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November

  • By now almost all the Kickstarter deliveries were done, and what a huge relief it was. Saku made an organisation chart and I started to have more visibility into the future. 
  • Visited Stockholm again and then went to Berlin for a day. Promised myself to go back for a longer time. Escaped to Japan for a few weeks: Matsue, Fukuoka, Tokyo. Magical weeks and fun experiences. I was in London for a few days, and caught the Ray & Charles Eames exhibition in Barbican. They might be my favourite couple.  
  • Saw Ai Wei Wei in HAM and the Century of the Child exhibition in Design Museum. First time I saw the “original” exhibition (this one is specifically done for Scandinavia) was in NYC MoMa in 2012 and now Hello Ruby was one of the exhibited pieces. 
  • My sister came back from India. I missed Slush for the first time in years. And we properly celebrated Thanksgiving (friendsgiving?) with a big turkey, that took way too long to cook. 

Books read:
Z: A Novel of Zelda. Player of Games. Kaivos. Purity. Välähdyksiä Pimeässä ja Pimeitä välähdyksiä.

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December

  • Traveled less which did wonders for my productivity. Started properly working on the next book and the next year OKRs for everyone (eek!!!). Found a new office the whole team can fit into. 
  • Changed the gym and took some personal trainer classes. Enjoyed every day the gems from the MagicRealismBot.
  • Celebrated 10 000 Ruby books sold in Finland with cake. Did US 7 radio interviews straight and also finished the speaking of the year. All in all I think I did 60+ events this year. Next year definitely less. 
  • Celebrated Finnish independence day at the presidential reception and felt like Alice in Wonderland. 
  • Spent the holidays with my family and loved the time off. Saw Spectre and Star Wars and enjoyed both. So many holiday parties!

Read: Between the World and Me. Marimekko: Suuria Kuvioita. Alice B. Toklas Autobiography. Kätilö. The Interestings. 

]]> Thu, 31 Dec 2015 12:00:00 +0000 Year in Review 2014 https://www.lindaliukas.com/blog/letters/year-in-review-2014.html https://www.lindaliukas.com/blog/letters/year-in-review-2014.html The start of the review tradition. Last year, December 29th, I wrote a piece about drawing every day. It ended like this: “So 2013 was about learning to draw. 2014 might finally be the year of learning to write and illustrate a children’s book.”

This year was one of the weirdest I’ve ever experienced. The thing that hurt most? For the first time in my life I didn’t have the time to respond to everyone, be helpful in every situation. I lacked balance, time and focus. And I miss the pure, unbridled energy and optimism I used to have. 

On the other hand I learned so much about my own comfort zone and how there are no shortcuts. I started the year laughingly introducing myself as a children’s book author and illustrator. I end it steadily on that path, but this time I take myself seriously.

I feel like an artists, who’s medium right now are children’s books. I have now idea what happens in 2015, but I’m so glad I made the jump. 

I began to realize how important it was to be an enthusiast in life. He taught me that if you are interested in something, no matter what it is, go at it full speed ahead. Embrace it with both arms, hug it, love it and above all become passionate about it. Lukewarm is no good. Hot is no good either. White hot and passionate is the only thing to be.

– Roald Dahl

(Thank you for the inspiration Björn, Nicole, Diana & Emily.)

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January

  • Celebrated Ville’s birthday in Kulttuurisauna. Wrote about it (and the eggs still make me happy. )
  • Spent two weeks in New York seeing old friends and hanging out with Maija and Jason. Felt weird to be back in my former hometown. Started reading Enders Game and had a memorable evening of eating Korean food in silence, going to the ER, and watching short movies in IFC.
  • Visited MIT Medialab for the first time and got to meet the people at Lifelong Kindergarten who’ve inspired me so much. 
  • Launched Hello Ruby Kickstarter campaign. Which changed everything for the rest of the year. I remember one evening Ville coming home and me crying and laughing at the same time. The generosity and goodwill of everyone was so overwhelming. But, also the start of my year of bad sleeping. 

Books read: Andre Agassi: Open, Enders Game 
Wrote: Castles in the Air

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February 

  • Met with so many people. Tried to wrap my head (really fast) around a whole new industry of agents, editors, licensing, lawyers and starting a company. Was asking myself the question of what should Hello Ruby be for the first (but not the last) time. 
  • Was in London for Skills2014 with Juhani, researching the future of K12 education. Found my favourite quote of the year from Joi Ito: Internet is not a technology system, it’s a belief system. And finally met the Kano founders! Missed our flights back to Helsinki and ended up sleeping in Arlanda. 
  • Had a fun photoshoot for Aino magazine and made wedding plans for one of my best friends. 
  • Flew back to New York to meet with agents - felt surreal and exhausted, watched House of Cards with Ville and visited Kickstarter HQ and got told it’s projects like this that they’ve built the product for. Made me really happy.

Books read: Enders Game 2 & 3
Wrote: How to run a Kickstarter campaign

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March

  • Went to Jaakko’s housewarming party and learned about posture and animation from Joonas. Had friends over for a Mexican evening and ended up drinking all the red wine in the house. Saw American Hustle. 
  • Worked with Juhani on Koodi2016 and rallying up the right stakeholders. Was reminded how little of a project is actually doing the project and how much is about getting the right people excited and aware. 
  • Was busy finishing the first draft of the book for the Bologna book fair. (I wish I’ll be able to show it someday and how much things changed from this!)
  • Talked with my editor for the first time. Saw puppies in West Village. Drove with Ela, Seth & Jason around Manhattan on Citibikes. 
  • Was on Korean TV! 

Books read: - 
Wrote: Discipline

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April

  • Went for a weekend in Taiwan for RubyConf. As always, loved the people and the energy in the community (and took about a gazillion pictures). Did a joint talk with Terence on how Ruby the language influenced Rails Girls.
  • Had my birthday and celebrated with my family in Atelje Finne. Went for an easter break to Porvoo and hiked around the woods. Became a bike owner, one of the best decision all year!
  • Signed Kokoro & Moi to help with the graphic look of Hello Ruby. 
  • Loved working with Juhani on the writing process of Koodi2016. In also ended up helping a lot with structuring my thinking around the curriculum for Ruby. 

Books read: Dune, Goldfinch
Wrote: Curriculum

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May

  • Started taking swimming lessons twice a week. Under the water it’s hard to feel stressed.
  • Had dinner with friends and made rating cards for tacos. Had mothers day dinner in Gaijin. 
  • Went to Palermo for a day and again missed all sorts of flights. Graduation party of my old neighbour: so proud of you Maria! Also discovered one of my favorite books of 2015: The Opposite of Loneliness. 
  • Visited my goddaughter and spoke in Tampere about the Kickstarter campaign for the first time. Started a new tradition with Maija of aqua jogging at the Helsinki Swimming Stadium. Blissful, bright summer mornings. 

Books read: The Opposite of Loneliness. Stranger in a strange land.
Wrote: 

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June

  • Moved my desk to the SlushHQ. The energy is contagious and was nice to be around old friends once more. Went to Brussels. Enjoyed the football crazy Belgians and looked forward to the EU elections. 
  • Launched Koodi2016 with Juhani. Enjoyed working together with someone and the finiteness of a print product: you can’t tweak it. Also: realised I don’t want to work with schools or school systems with Ruby. 
  • Ran my first half marathon. Celebrated a very special anniversary. 
  • Has Jason over for a few weeks. Did a lot of walking around Helsinki and tried to show him all the magic. Helsinki was at it’s worst: the whole time it rained. But we got a nice midsummer and a bonfire. 
  • Spent a lot of time thinking about structure and direction. Had lots of help from my brother in running stuff. Bought a Cintiq, Kyle Webster brushes and a Mac Pro. Started finally to feel good about my illustrations. 

Read:  My Life in Middlemarch. The Hard Thing about Hard Things. 

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July

  • Traveled to Berlin with Henkku and Jason. Loved seeing the juggernaut that Rails Girls Berlin has grown into. Rooted for Germany in the football finals, which Linda 10 years ago would have disapproved. 
  • Spent a lot of time in different parts of Finland: Pori, Rauma, Joroinen, Varkaus, Jyväskylä. Partly work, partly cheering boyfriend triathlon adventures. Went also SUPping and drove Rantaraitti twice. 
  • Went to Meidän Festivaali to see Maija’s video installation as well as took part in Skidit Festarit and tested some of my exercises. Loved the urban culture. 
  • Had many a-ha moments that cumulated towards end of the year. Started to form my own philosophy for code education. 

Read: Brick by brick: How LEGO Rewrote the Rules. Creativity Inc
Wrote: Play

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August

  • Was feeling very stressed out. For the first time all year didn’t feel like going to work on Mondays. Partly because at this point I already knew the project was going to be delayed. 
  • Had my first bachelorette party and made some custom illustrations. Gave a speech at boyfriends moms birthday party and revisited my roots as poetry reader. Started reading Dune series. 
  • Loved the grocery bag from Anton & Anton, totally saved my meal planning! 
  • Made a publishing deal in Finland. Kept on coming back to this one blogpost about time as raw material of creation. But really sucked at carving out that time. 

Read: Dune.  Extremely Loud and Incredibly Close. 
Wrote: Everything needs time. 

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September

  • Asked for help: e-mailed a few people for advice and support and everyone responded. Was so surprised and decided to ask again. Never did! Found lots of support from re-reading Tove Janssons diaries and letters. 
  • Went to Paula’s wedding, gave a talk which I was pretty proud of. It had Zadie Smith quotes in it. Loved the Hilma af Klint exhibition and A Pattern Language which Konstantin recommended. 
  • Had SO MANY SPEAKING engagements. Here’s one (in Finnish) from Campus seminar and one from Stockholm from Grid. Also spoke at Nordic Business Forum, and was applauded almost every time I opened my mouth (which was weird!!)
  • Met also a lot of Ruby friends in Frozen Rails (although couldn’t take part in almost any of the conference :( ). had Rails Girls organisers weekend and felt really proud of everyone. 

Read: Dune Messiah. A Pattern Language. 
Wrote: Playtesting (and you’re invited)


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October

  • Moved apartments. I loved our old place, and the new one is totally different. But starting to feel like home nonetheless. My favourite thing is that you get morning porridge from the neighbouring restaurant for one euro. 
  • Travelled to Wired conference and saw London with my mom. We went all hipster: enjoyed museums, restaurants and walking around. I especially recommend House of Illustration. Met with BBC people. 
  • Went to Krakow to say hi to Jose’s baby <3 
  • Had the worst sleeping patterns: woke up two hours after going to sleep screaming, every single day. Luckily it’s a bit better now. 

Read: The Martian. Not that Kind of Girl.
Wrote: Dealing with delays

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November

  • Talked in Slush about my Principles of Play. The audience was probably the most warm I’ve ever had. Won the Think Ink competition and got the State Award for Children’s culture. Had my face plastered all over the place on the cover of Image. 
  • Launched a new version of helloruby.com with help from Kisko. Loved the conviviality and sense of us on Github and was reminded how much I miss a tram. 
  • Had too many things going on. Was really tired most of the month and felt like a fraud. Most of what I wrote needed to be positive and upbeat, so ended up having a lot of outbursts of crying.
  • Had father’s day dinner in the new home and received compliments about my ceviche. 
  • Realised I really need to get someone to work with me, not only my family. Started talking with a bunch of people. Had so much help from Ville. 
  • Celebrated Thanksgiving in Brooklyn with a bunch of lovely Finns. 

Read: The Fault in Our Stars. Kissani Jugoslavia. Colourless Tsukuru Tazaki and His Years of Pilgrimage. Hard-Boiled Wonderland (Murakami is my plane buddy),
Wrote: Pulling back curtains

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December:

  • Was really frustrated with legal stuff, timelines and negotiations. Visited MIT again and loved the sunshine in Boston. Saw my old Codecademy colleagues for drinks. Loved Soulcycle and the energy it gives. Saw Imitation Game and cried. 
  • Went to the famous Otava Christmas drinks, but felt too shy to talk to anyone. 
  • Dedicated the last two weeks of the year for crunch mode drawing. Felt great to be introverted and not constantly interrupted. Started to listen more and more self-help type of stuff (as well as tons of This American Life. And Serial. Of course.)
  • Was very endeared by Sesamy Street. Had all my cousins and family together for Christmas, which was great. Made home feel more home by reinstalling lamps. 

Read: Street Gang: The Complete History of Sesame Street. He eivät tiedä mitä tekevät. Embassytown. The people’s platform. Annihilation (Southern Reach Trilogy #1)
Wrote: Happy holidays!

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