Oodi for all

Hello from Matinkylä! This is the ninth edition of NordLetter, a weekly newsletter on living and walking in Finland. Previous editions can be found here.

a visit to Oodi

We visited Oodi (Helsinki Central Library) this Saturday. It is a striking building built with steel and glass and wooden facades.

We got down at the Central Railway Station, Oodi is a short five or so minute walk from there. The weather was pleasant. As we got out from the station, I could see a mass of people in lemon green tops coming from the direction of the library. Clearly there was a run of some sort which had finished a little while ago. There was a gentleman playing violin on the side of the road. As we walked a bit, there was some sort of promotion going on where they were giving away lemon flavoured pilsners. We took two.

Finally, we reached Oodi.

You can read more about Oodi's design and architecture here. It has three levels/functions/atmospheres.

/level one

We entered through one of the man entrances to the ground floor. Next to the glass wall, were arranged a few chess tables. On the opposite wall was the book return station. Further up ahead was the information counter.

On the other side was a cafe and an old projector used in the '60s.

/level two

The second floor is dedicated to work and play. There are rooms to hold meetings in. There are rooms to play games in. There are 3D printers. There are work stations.

/level three

The third floor is where the books are.

There are also plenty of spaces to sit and read the books. Sofas with artsy rugs. Chairs in all shapes and form. There is also the Oodi cafe, where you can pick something to eat and drink. This meal can be enjoyed in the balcony which overlooks the Toolo area: the Parliament building and Helsinki Music centre.

We had brought sandwiches, so that's what we had.

The third floor also has the children's section. This has, in-addition to the books, a place for the kids to play. There is a section where you park the strollers. A place where you take off your shoes. And then, off we go!

day continues around Toolo lake

I used to walk here. Daily. Back when I used to live in Merihaka.

It is beautiful. Especially now, with flowers on almost every other tree.

We sat under a tree and I thought you're alive.

We came around and stood for a bit on the wooden bridge. Looking out into the lake.

The breeze was cool and comforting. But then it got too cool. And so we moved. Back to Central. Back home.

/techStuff

Microsoft announces Copilot + PCs

A day before MS Build, Microsoft announced a new line of ARM powered PCs. These were rumoured for a while, so no surprises anywhere. Still, competition is good. Apple had a lead in performance per watt since announcing the M1 Macs. So this is good.

There were a lot of system level AI integrations announced, chief among them a service called recall. Recall would take screenshots periodically, which will be searchable. So you could at a future point in time search for something you did on your computer. This could both be a privacy nightmare or a useful feature. But that is dependent on how you, dear reader, think about these things.

/reading

I have started reading BKS Iyengar's Core of the Yoga Sutras. I was trying to find a book on yoga for a while now. Found this at the library. Reserved it. And now it's here.

Until next week.