From the category archives:

Finland

WaveRoller, a childhood dream realized

October 2, 2009 Finland

I used to read Popular Mechanics magazine back in elementary school and would read about all the cool inventions (Robotic Surgeons! DIY Jet-powered Go Kart!) and it got me in trouble more than a few times because what I learned there was not part of the 3rd grade curriculum.

I still remember a test where we [...]

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Winter Ahead, Watch out for Elk

September 22, 2009 Finland

Picked up the Helsinki Times, the weekly English language newspaper here in Finland. Front page headline screams, Shorter Autumn Days Increase Risk of Elk Collisions followed by 600 words on the dangers of driving when the elk are out and about as the days grow shorter.
Riveting sections such as “Tips on avoiding collisions” and a [...]

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Finnish Ingenuity

September 13, 2009 Finland

We had some house guests over last night who shared some observations about the Finnish people and their incredible spirit and creativity, especially when their backs are up against the wall.
World War II was a time of extreme struggle for the Finns who found them up against the full wrath of Stalin’s Army. Out-numbered and [...]

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Texting for Tickets

September 3, 2009 Finland

Richard MacManus is posting a three part series on SmartCards from around the world on ReadWriteWeb.
London’s Oyster Card (10 million in circulation)
Tokyo’s Suica Card (28 million in circulation)
Hong Kong’s Octopus Card (19 million in circulation)
While each of these metropolitan pass cards have made life easier for those that use them, as you can see from [...]

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Silicon Valley visits Helsinki

August 26, 2009 Events

If you’re interested in the Social Web and are in Southern Finland at the end of September here are two events that are very much worth catching.
Chris Messina and Jyri Engeström will be in Helsinki first for an all day crash course on the social web which will run from the basics in the morning [...]

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Finnish Wife Carrying

July 14, 2009 Finland

So in the middle of all the excitement of getting settled we missed the World Wife Carrying Championship which took place (as it has for the past 14 years) in Sonkajärvi, Finland – about 500km north of Helsinki.
Eager to see what it would take to participate next year, I came across the official site which [...]

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Finland, they do it different here

July 11, 2009 Finland

I have a feeling this is going to be a regular feature. There are many things that are different here in Finland. Here are just a few that I’ve learned about in the past few weeks.
Speeding tickets are progressive, you pay more if you earn more. I was warned about someone who had a $1,000 [...]

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Rental Cars as Advertising

July 10, 2009 Advertising

When we moved to Finland, we decided to leave our two car, suburban lifestyle behind and live life in the center of Helsinki. We walk everywhere and take trolleys, buses, and trains when it’s too far to walk.
It’s really not a big deal. Helsinki has an excellent public transportation system and the infrastructure is set [...]

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Swimming in Finland

June 28, 2009 Finland

The weather in Helsinki has been fantastic the past week. T-shirts and Keen sandles type warm. We’re even sleeping with our windows open in the evenings. Today we swam in the ocean!

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