Year of the Horse

Shops closed on public holidays, and more food than usually needs to be hoarded.

I spent somewhat hours to solve an internet connection problem yesterday. Wi-Fi was running slow, or not at all. The solution (hopefully) was to change the "channel" used by Wi-Fi modem. Service provider advised me to use an Android app to scan what channels are used by neighbors, to avoid using the same channels and interruption caused by them. And there are indeed a lot of it! I find something like 20 stations overcrowding the available 13 channels. So, there are plenty of radio waves going through our bodies, not to mention all other frequencies used by TV, mobile phones etc... EDIT: Folks, I have also another problem. Please help me testing this =) 'Browsing Ipernity becomes slow' www.ipernity.com/group/unofficialgroup/discuss/171094 EDIT: Clearing (image) cache seem to fix the sluggishness on Chrome browser. Thanks to .t.a..o.n. for an advice =)

"Somewhere among these minimalist zeros and ones you can here layer upon layer-process upon process-deliberately letting you hear the sounds the machines make, and somehow, because you can hear the very digital fabric this music is woven from, it adds to its humanity and adds to its emotional listening experience." -Kudos Records That is said about Mighty Math's album 'Up Life Gone Star', and from it I share with you this odd song 'Quark Sparkling': youtu.be/ya4HaE4zuK8 Then I challenge you into an "information seeking task". Do try to find who is behind Mighty Math and what he has done. Mighty interesting artist he is =) And what comes to my illustration, I like to play with layers of images taken on the same subject, and then sampled together especially with the 'Difference' layer mode. It really makes the difference =D But does anyone guess what is in the picture? ;-)

During New Year's Eve peeps may spend time "playing fortune telling games". The idea is of course not to take it seriously but just have some fun and keep traditions alive. One of these games is called as "predicting the future from small items hidden under coffee cups". Several symbolic items are hidden under the cups turned upside down and then one of the players leave room while others shuffle the cups. Then the person is called back in to the room and asked to lift three cups and find out her/his future for the next year. The following nine items are what my mother has used: Black (string or yarn) = Sorrow and loss but not as extreme as in case of conifer branch. Baby (doll) = Children, fertility or beginning of something completely new. Can mean also beginning of a successful project. Conifer branch = Death, which means definite end of something like a project, friendship or even life. Copper (coin) = Wealth in form of money and richness. Silver (cuff-link in this picture) = Troubles in projects or any kind of obstacles in life like accidents or loss of material. Key = Ownership of something like a house, real estate, pet, or anything that requires major investment. Bread = Secure income, carefree living. This does not mean one is getting money but more like security in life and butter on the bread. Red (string or yarn) = Happiness and joy in life. Ring = Engagement, marriage or friendship. Start of some sort of good relationship in general. One can of course make own "house rules" and choose a set of own items and explanations. Here's one Web page where the game is explained for 17 different items: www.dlc.fi/~marian1/gourmet/season6a.htm However, I prefer nine because otherwise one runs out of the cups in a small household when trying to find 17 of them.

This year people had visited the local cemetery exceptionally actively based on the number of candles lit for those who were buried somewhere else. I think there were almost a thousand candles there.

I noticed this cool reflection on black television screen B-) Contribution for The Sunday Challenge #464: An old upload with less than 3 comments that hasn't been in the group already.

I discovered this interesting band, I've been listening via SomaFM for years, is from FInland: youtu.be/x9OfkAuoYRI?list=PLJmWidciC-Oa8kQtzZjma6H6P5jK9zK2_ =D Picture taken in Tampere, although the title suggest otherwise. Sari and I had a date with my brother and her wife at Torni Hotel. The restaurant at 25th floor has very jazzy lounge look, and music by Nuspirit Helsinki would fit there very nicely.

My wife Sari inherited two of these nice Christmas tree decorations. They are installed over the electric candle, and then they look like illuminating little mushroom houses.

en.wiktionary.org/wiki/sohjo EDIT: And now also nice soundtrack by Tim Ingham found: youtu.be/ppNNdX4ayBc EDIT: In case the link to the soundtrack above doesn't work, then here's another one found by Mick: www.youtube.com/watch?v=6TXDPnKZMtk

Soundtrack by Tycho: youtu.be/zWoykfFyRHM

Inspired by Paul and Wendi =D