About me
Hi. I’m Jaanus. Great to have you here.
Work and study
I recently completed the Master’s program at Human-Computer Interaction Institute at Carnegie Mellon University. I graduated in August 2008.
Until May 2007, I worked at Skype, launching Skype for Linux, managing the web team, and most recently community marketing.
Prior to Skype, I worked for the Estonian ID card project at AS Sertifitseerimiskeskus (try saying that!), a company run by two main Estonian banks and two telecoms, together with the government, in issuing the ID card and deploying its electronic applications such as authentication and digital signature. Among other things, we launched the Tallinn e-ticketing system based on the card. In Autumn 2005, the first successful nationwide e-vote was carried out in the local elections, using the card as the tool.
You can read more about my past projects in the works part of this site.
Other
Besides work, I like to read, think and write about news concerning technology, people and the relations between them. I also enjoy reading 20th century history books and watching documentaries.
I like to hack stuff even if it's strictly not work-related. I've built quite a number of web sites with different platforms, both alone and in teams in various roles. So my hacking revolves mainly around stuff you can do in your browser. See works for some examples.
I often think about how people, software and machines currently work together, and how they should. The accelerating complexity of technologies crossed the normal human being's perception ability threshhold long ago. This means that we must come up with new ways of making stuff for people.
I used to be involved in the demoscene and make music, but not much so recently. I'm hoping to pick them up again. Demoscene was and is a fascinating subculture and way of thinking that has influenced how I think and work.
I try to maintain a healthy social and family life. (When was the last time YOU called your mom?) I'm glad my work and other activities have put me in contact with great people across the world.