If you're at all into music a service you should check out is Spotify. It's a music streaming service that you can use for free, you just have to endure some ads every now and then.
The downside is that Spotify is pretty popular so it can be hard to get an invite. I got mine a while back through spotify.rejected.se. They invites to distribute every day. It might help to try your luck after midnight or in the morning as I'm sure the invites run out every day.
Another option is to go straight for the Premium account which costs you 10 euros a month. I'm currently on the Premium plan as I wanted to get rid of the interruptions during my work days and wanted to try out the mobile version that just recently came out for S60 as well. Note that the mobile version won't work with the free account.
Looks like Apple will get into streaming music as well so don't know what will happen to their business in the future but they have a well working product I'm willing to pay for at least. 120 euros a year might sound much for people used to totally free music but I thought that cutting out the interruptions when I need to concentrate is well worth the money. The funny downside is that since I don't see or hear the ads any longer it's harder to keep up with new Finnish music and to monitor the trends in advertising in the service.
So if you for instance listen to music to block out the background noise while you work and would like to have some variation to your own music collection or radio stations I can warmly recommend Spotify. The mobile version is interesting as well but I listen to podcasts or my iPod on the go mostly so not critical for me.
P.S. As a Premium member I get 2 invites a month for the free version so if you know me and want one, let me know. There's a small queue of people already lined up so don't expect to get the invite right away. :)
As things are changing it's time to get active on my personal blog again. I've been somewhat active in my work blog but that has been sitting inside the Nokia firewall so not that many people know about it. :)
I'm leaving Nokia - Like all big companies in this economic downturn Nokia is trying to save money. First it was travel, purchases and project budgets but when those weren't enough it was time for personnel reductions. My work with social media and ways of working wasn't really one of the core functions of the Human Resources (HR) department and probably didn't seem that important in a time of crisis so I was one of the "lucky ones" when the cuts came. Nokia is still doing well and wants to keep its personnel happy so they are offering a pretty good voluntary resignation package which I also took.
I worked for Nokia for altogether 8 years and it has been my only employer after graduation so it feels strange to leave the company. I've worked for a long time in the Nokia Research Center and then moved a couple of years back to HR. I was involved in a lot of very different initiatives and projects during my time at Nokia and my work role changed on the way from a research engineer designing and implementing things to being an expert in social software and media and looking after that area (unofficially). I guess I should write another blog entry about my career as there are just way too many things to list here. ;)
It was a shock to hear the news and to start thinking about what to do next - in retrospect I think it would have been good to do the thinking already earlier. :) Luckily my expertise is on a growing area and I was able to find a new job even before my Nokia contract ended. I'll be working as a consultant for a small Helsinki-based social media consulting company called Dicole (www.dicole.com) helping Finnish companies to use social media internally and externally. Dicole is the kind of firm I wished I had established myself and I'm really looking forward to working there. I've been doing consulting within Nokia for a couple of years already but I'm sure being a real consultant is different so it's a great learning opportunity for me as well. I'll start in my new job at the end of this month and will write about it more once I have some experience.
I'll try to blog more actively here from now on and also get involved in the social media and Web2.0 scene here in Finland. Even with the depression there seems to be exciting things happening in that space. I think we're living in interesting times both in the good and the bad. ;)
My life changed couple of weeks ago as our Christmas present arrived. My son was born in end of November (about a week before the due time). He really was a big boy, weighing 4630g and being 54cm tall at birth. Both the baby and the mother are doing really well.
Buying an apartment together and getting married seem like small things now in comparison to this (I guess since it's been a while they don't seem so bad any more either). This really is for life as once you have a child that is a lifelong commitment. It's hard trying to get my head around this change in our family, now a family of 3.
We've been trying to get the routines sorted out. It's amazing how much time taking care of someone so little takes. You really can't take care of more than two things in a day. :) He sleeps really well (normally 6 hours in row during the night) but the sleep deprivation keeps piling up on us parents. Still considering I've been sleeping really well as Sanna takes care of the baby during nights (I can't really feed it, can I? ;).
If you want to see more pictures of our little one (no he doesn't get a name until mid of January) have a look this picture gallery of boy Lakkala.
Sorry for the long silence (the previous post was in March). I've been too busy with work and not very inspired to actually write about anything. Been quiet for a while also revealed that I have at least a couple of readers so perhaps I'm not just shouting to the void.
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But on to the topic of the post. Facebook is experience a boom here in Finland. Everyone seems to be joining this social networking site and it's being talked about in the television and newspapers. I actually joined it already a while ago but I haven't really used it much so I'm still a newbie.
One thing I discovered just now are the Causes. You can join a cause you want to support and invite others to join one as well. I've already joined and recruited a couple of people to Electronic Frontier Foundation (EFF), Creative Commons (CC), and Change A Million Light Bulbs. EFF fights for our rights in the digital world, CC offers a new way to handle your digital copyrights and the last one tries to save the world by getting people to use energy saving lamps.
Just recently we changed most of the lamps in our home to the energy saving ones. They come on pretty slowly so I've mixed them them with light bulbs in some lamps (one traditional + several energy saving lamps). That way you know the light was switched on and you get some light instantly. Changing the lamps also saves you money because they last a lot longer and consume less electricity. For a good explanation of the benefits see this New Light Bulbs Plain English video by the Common Craft people.
A friend and collegue of mine Arto Lehtiniemi has a band that he's putting a lot of effort into in his free time. Pland has now released their first album "Things she said" which you can listen to on their website and order for yourself for 4 euros + 2,25 for shipping.
I haven't had yet time to listen to their full album but I've liked the songs I've heard already previously. At least "I talk to myself" rocks nicely, has nice melody and catching tunes. So I can recommend checking this out, you can listen to the songs for free online and even if you end up buying the album bit over 6 euros really isn't too bad.
Arto has recorded the album at his home studio and I have to say it sounds really professional. If you need to use a studio in Tampere area you can book some studio time too.
Pland has also appeared in some podcast via the Podsafe music network (e.g. I talk to myself). I might have had something to do with this. :) Basically the idea is that artist can give podcasters permission to play their songs in podcasts and get new listeners that way. The network also makes it possible to sell your songs online if you wish.
