The UK Pirate Party published its 2010 election manifesto: Pirate Party UK - The Pirate Party UK Launches its 2010 Election Manifesto

The academic world in Sweden is in shock. Several top researches in Sweden has called on the government to delay the plans to introduce fees for students from third countries (third countries being defined as those from outside of the European Union and the European Economic Area). Denmark is often cited with their 90% drop in students when they introduced tuition fees for foreign students in 2006. It is believed that the same will happen in Sweden.

It will.

When looking at the Viking Age farmstead and the layout of the settlement and construction of the individual houses, we come across interesting regional differences. The main house was set in a square plot of land in the center of the plot, organised around a central hearth, used both for cooking, providing warmth and light, around which were raised areas along the sides of the house on which you would sleep, eat, perform crafts or entertain visitors. (Roesdahl: 41-45).

The bachelor program where I'm teaching, Software Engineering & Management, received 6451 international applications this year. Think about that number once more: assuming we have 90 places to fill, and even if we don't count Swedish or EU students, that means just over 71 applicants per place.

One of the problems that I have had with my house outside of ?-stersund is that the humidity in the basement has been way too high, risking fungi on the wooden beams that support parts of the rest of the house. A humidity above 70% is usually very bad. A humidity around 90% is usually very, very, very, bad. Last summer, the humidity was around 99%. This is so much beyond bad that words can not justly express it.

The Icelandic Sagas, as they were written down by Snorre Sturluson and others, have in some cases limited value as historically accurate works. They were heavily influenced by the Christian perspective of the scribes, and can not be seen single handedly as reliable sources that reflect the Viking daily life (Hall 2007: 166). The older Edda was written down in the 13th century, at the same time as Snorres younger Edda was written, which places them firmly in the Christian times.

The horned helmet, hinting at the ferocity of the Vikings, has been featured prominently in almost all works about the Viking. Even some earlier works of archaeologist have featured this image, despite the fact that there are no archaeological evidence of a horned helmet every having been worn by Vikings in battle. This use of, and abuse of, the Viking stereotype is unfortunately rather the norm than the exception. To the point it at all existed, the horned helmet may have been a ritual regalia worn at some of the religious ceremonies of the Viking age (Hall 2007: 219).

Today I sent off my last comments on this years thesis project ideas. I've been teaching the course Industrial Best Practice this semester, which is in some ways a preparatory course that prepares the students for what is to come when they write the bachelor thesis. It gives them some additional time to develop their ideas so that they are well prepared by the time they start with their project.

Most Swedes have an ID document of some kind, either a national ID card, their passport or their drivers license. I myself have all three of them, and I never imagined the problems it could cause to get one. While this is old news in the overall scope of things, it still surprises me. The background to this story is that the Swedish company which used to issue most of the Swedish ID cards, Svensk Kassaservice, first restricted who could get an ID, and then ceased their ID card operations all in all.

As the year draws to an end, I'm starting to return my thoughts more and more to what I want to do at the house in Jämtland this upcoming summer. This year, I managed in the time I had there, to frame the floor and install the subfloor in both the downstairs toilet and hallway, as well as install the floor heating in the hallway.