Author: BaseN

::: nBlog ::: Although common sense is helpful in many situations and guides us in understanding the world around us, it can sometimes seriously undermine our ability to really comprehend it. It is likely that in order to conserve scarce processing power, our brains evolved to have a kind of fast cache, to provide quick answers to […]

::: nBlog ::: The methodologies of EU banking stress tests left me somewhat puzzled, as it seems that the worst case scenarios were carefully engineered so that most banks would actually pass. JP Morgan and MarketWatch offer a sobering view. My understanding of stress tests stems from the military, where we used to perform them often in […]

::: nBlog ::: During the last nine years, I’ve received hundreds of ideas on how to update the BaseN Platform user interface. Several design agencies have offered their services, ranging from 5k€ to 100k€ per project. This has also been a common topic in our management team meetings. However, the UI cannot be just bought in […]

::: nBlog ::: It was some 20 years ago when I was first presented the ‘connected future’ vision, in which the home refrigerator would keep track of all items inside, and place orders to nearby grocery store accordingly. Then 10 years later I saw the first pilot implementation. Still today there is not a single […]

::: nBlog ::: My ice hockey career abruptly terminated to a crushed heel when I was 12, after which my interest towards the sport has been on the Planck scale, even somewhat rejecting. However, I have to admit I felt proud of Leijonat winning the world championship last week. Unlike my wife, I had decided not to […]

::: nBlog ::: On Friday Nokia announced that they’ll introduce a third operating system – Windows Phone 7 – to some of their high end devices. Compared to serious competition which has either Google Android or Apple iOS, I find this move puzzling. How does one keep up with the evolution of new features when supporting three […]

::: nBlog ::: I recently attended a NASA lecture about planets outside our solar system. During the last few years, hundreds of them have been detected, some resembling Jupiter or Venus, some being surprisingly similar to our earth. As these extremely distant objects reflect little or no light, their detection is mostly indirect. Currently, there are four […]

::: nBlog ::: This week I’ve been commuting with a Think electric car. It promises a range of 160 kilometers, but given studded winter tyres and cold weather it seems that 100 kilometers is a safer bet. The Li-Ion battery is surprisingly reactive to outside temperature, and regenerative brakes seem to loose their charging power almost […]

::: nBlog ::: The Stuxnet worm has gained a lot of attention in critical infrastructure circles, especially after it emerged that it is able to silently reprogram Programmable Logic Controllers (PLCs) that are ubiquitous in industrial applications. Industrial networks are usually separate islands not connected to the global Internet or even using proprietary protocols other than […]

::: nBlog ::: After reading the latest editions of Scientific American and Suomen Sotilas I was again enraged to see how some prominent writers are attacking the technological development of Smart Grids and general communications with all kinds of security arguments. At the same time there is no criticism towards the insecurity and obscurity of the existing […]