MattersEarthly

Tomorrow, contrary to initial plans, only brought more delays. I had planned to do more but wasn’t able to for one reason or another. I ended up spending more time on one task than I should have.

Now, many tasks are behind schedule and the approaching deadline is a bit too soon. If only there was a system to track and remind us of our own plans which we sometimes fail to meet! Sound familiar? A trivial example, perhaps but a pointer to the most basic of problems that technology can help us to address if only it is …

Two years ago, I registered for a pitching event in the week before mid-summer of 2016 in Turku. I arrived in Turku early in the morning, so I had time to review my presentation in peace. The hour spent at the park by the Aurajoki River practicing before the event venue opened helped calm my nerves. It was a calm, bright and warm summer morning with few people outside. The mind could drift away while watching the river flow and listening to birds,

My pitch went well and there were also interesting presentations from other participants. As I travelled over …

During my doctoral studies, I attended a few PhD defences. Sometimes I made notes of the important points/questions raised whenever I attended any defence. Some opponents concentrate on the methodological approach and the rationale for the overall study, whereas others focus on the definition of terms and the practical implications of the research or a bit of both. As our group’s research focuses on persuasive systems design and behaviour change, the opponent during one of my colleague’s defence, asked for an actual situation where an application could change behaviour. This was not about one particular system, rather …