Finland: the garden of technology

(I am still surprised someone still reads this blog as my last update was almost a year ago... but it seems that some crazy guy still visits this... Thanks!)

Anyway back on the topic I had in mind, random thoughts about stuff and technology. If you don't know I am working as CTO of Jolla, a finnish based mobile phone company, and I had a lot of different discussions lately with startups here in Finland.

Just yesterday I realized what luck we have to be living and working here.

In a land were most of the people are shy and prefer to talk to you via IRC (I am one of those BTW even though I am not shy) and darkness and ice are there for several months a year you might think that living here is just boring and totally not fun (well sometimes is not fun when it's -20C outside...). But if you happen to be in the technology field, jeez, this is Colorado in the age of gold mining.

The talent is tremendous and when you hear a pitch it might sound and look flat, but that's just due to the Finnish accent of the guys that are presenting. If you look at the contents you understand the amount of top notch talents that are available in Finland.

Why now?

So where the heck was all this talent all these years?

I believe most of them were working in Nokia and now with the fallout happened after year 2011 all these ideas were liberated, all these top notch talents had to actually find a job and Nokia helped them not to find a job but to create new ones (kudos to Nokia for that!).

So 2013 is the year when Finland has become the Silicon Valley of Europe, the Ice Valley of technology.

Why does it work?

The scholastic system of Finland. It's not about the PISA rankings guys, it's about the fact that everybody is the same and receives the same education. There are geniuses but all the rest is good as well. So if there is a lack of geniuses well the system still works.

Collaboration. Finland gets it right, is not by going solo that you will become the best, you have to collaborate and share the ideas, only in a place where ideas can grow and flourish the collective intelligence will lead to common success. If you have a beautiful flower and this flower lives in the desert with no possibility to get water... the flower will die.

Ideas in Finland are watered every second, people talk, share ideas, collaborate (by the way Linux was born in Finland in a cottage) and the whole nation grows.

What does not work?

Money. We have been running around and talked to so many people to get some money to start Jolla (eventually we managed) and in Finland unfortunately there is not yet enough access to money for startups. Entrepreneurship is getting better but everyone's willingness to take risks is still quite low and definitely lower than Silicon Valley. It's getting better but still it can improve.

Any big guy there listening? Finland is the place for innovation in 2013 (and gaming industry is supercool here with SuperCell and Rovio among others) put some more water (money) into the system and this place will become the best garden for technology in the world. Please ;)

Italy vs. Finland (a statistical approach)

I've come across an economic measure called Gini index, the index is commonly used as a measure of inequality of income or wealth. A low Gini coefficient indicates a more equal distribution, with 0 corresponding to complete equality, while higher Gini coefficients indicate more unequal distribution, with 1 corresponding to complete inequality.

So I got interested in what the Gini coefficient might be in Finland and, as expected, it's not that high. But the most interesting thing is when it is compared to the italian one and its evolution during last years (unfortunately data is there until 2005 only).

It's incredible to see that after the introduction of the Euro in Italy the inequality has increased of 4 percent points while in Finland only of 2 points (with an absolute difference of 7%).

This basically means that after 2001 the rich are richer and the poor are poorer (and this is not big news). But more in Italy than in Finland.

Another quite interesting figure is the one that photographs the gross domestic product (GDP) per capita in purchasing power. GDP is a measure for the economic activity. It is defined as the value of all goods and services produced less the value of any goods or services used in their creation. The volume index of GDP per capita in Purchasing Power Standards (PPS) is expressed in relation to the European Union (EU-27) average set to equal 100. If the index of a country is higher than 100, this country's level of GDP per head is higher than the EU average and vice versa. Basic figures are expressed in PPS, i.e. a common currency that eliminates the differences in price levels between countries allowing meaningful volume comparisons of GDP between countries.

If we check this graph it's pretty evident (and also stunning) how after the introduction of the common european currency the average 'money to spend' of italians has been dropping like hell while in Finland remained mostly unchanged. With an end result of 15% difference between the two countries.

The whole post was an attempt to proof (mostly to myself) my personal perception that while in Italy people have less money to spend and there are still a lot of people that go around in a Ferrari, in Finland, while there are obviously poor and rich, the average guy can still live decently and the distance between poor and rich is not as unfair as in Italy.

(*) Data source:
Gini index
GDP per capita in PPS

Maija Poppanen!!!

I'm just amazed by the translation of Mary Poppins in Finnish... small things that cheer up your day :D

Finns go and buy Parmigiano directly from Italy (it's cheaper)!

Image via Wikipedia

Today, first time in 4 years that I dare to buy a piece of Parmigiano Reggiano from Stockmann (supplies finished... :( ).
Price: 43.5 euros/Kg
Well not bad it traveled so many kilometers...
Then I made some raw calculation. I checked the price of a Finnair direct flight from Helsinki to Rome for next weekend: 384 euros going Saturday and coming back on Sunday. In Italy the price for Parmigiano is about 14-15 euros/Kg (maybe in the airport itself it might be a bit more expensive I don't know). I can bring 20 Kgs of luggage and 6 Kg with me in the cabin. To fill it up of Parmigiano I need to spend around 400 euros. 80 euros for a night in an average hotel and 50 euros of taxi to get there and come back. Total expense: around 915 euros. Price per kg: 35.2 euros.

Well of course now you have the problem of eating 26 Kgs of Parmigiano :D

When the summer depends on the calendar

Image by victor_nuno via Flickr

The other day I've seen an ad saying 'summer is coming'. That's very funny since here in Helsinki it's still -3 and there is a good amount of snow on the streets, the sea still looks frozen (even though probably I wouldn't dare walking on that) and cars have still the winter tires. But in Finland is like this. Seasons don't depend on the weather (there wouldn't be summer as such otherwise probably) but rather on the calendar. And the even more funny thing is that seasons don't start at solstices or equinoxes (as in the rest of the world) but on the first of the month. So this 1st of march spring started. And 1st of June will be summer. We have time to prepare anyhow...

News from Finland (you don't expect)

Image via Wikipedia

For the series 'Uskomatonta mutta totta' (Incredible but true!) finnish newspaper Helsingin sanomat reports us a study from Gallup that reveals how 25% percent of finns is irritated by loud phone conversations.

Well you can imagine how loud can be a (non drunk) finn so being italian you can guess how much I am actually pleased to hear somebody talking in the bus or in any other public places. I mean I like Finland and finns but you can say anything but they are loud :D

Hibernation

This has nothing to do with any IT thing. It's just me going in hibernation every day more. The sun raises every day a bit later and sets every day a bit earlier and I'm starting to fear that some day it just won't raise at all... :(

This is the darkest period in Finland (today we have around 6 hrs of sun theoretically, the clouds are doing the rest) and the only thing I would do is to sleep the whole day... unfortunately that's not possible...

1137 days of Finland (and still counting)

that means over 3 yrs... this is the moment when you realize that you either love it or hate it. It might take less but honestly Finland is a difficult country to decipher, first of all for the language that is really hard to speak, second because of the average way of being of Finns (it takes a lot to go deep in their feelings).

Well so far I'm still counting... that means something at least :D

I want to know them!

3 Finns won the Gold Medal in the culinary olimpics 2008 held in Germany this year. Yle report the news without saying anything about Berlusconi, but knowing Finns they did this just to prove that what Berlusconi said some time ago was not true. :D this heck of Finns!

The menu was:

Starter: salmon, lobster and a spinach puréé as a starter.
Main meal: Veal fillet, veal shoulder and sweetbread sausages.
Dessert: strawberry-chocolate mousse and orange-yogurt cake.

(okay but what about pasta? :D :D)

Now the question is where these 3 guys/girls have been hiding all this time... maybe I wasn't rich enough to enjoy their delicacies ... :(

I will try to know them, I have to!

Funny news from Finland

I continue the tradition started by simoniito collecting the funny news that finnish media spit out from time to time...

Yle makes public a study that (finally) reveals the unimaginable:
Pedestrians at Risk when Crossing the Street

According to the study, pedestrians and cyclists in densely populated areas are at risk of being struck by a car particularly when crossing the street.

Now that we know we will cross the streets paying more attention... :/

PizzaMatic

Pizza technology reaches the next step in Finland. Not happy to have Koti Pizza and to have invented the Pizza Berlusconi now they put automatic pizza machines in the shopping malls.

Finland and pizza Berlusconi

Finland is still shocked by the words Berlusconi pronounced some year ago and knowing finnish they won't forget easily. Berlusconi didn't make compliments to Finnish cousine while the european food authority was at stake:

"I have been to Finland and I have had to endure Finnish food, so I am certainly competent to make comparison. Today Barroso can taste our culatello (local ham) instead of Finnish smoked herring."

As a surprise the other day walking down the street I was stunned by this ad:

It translates more or less as: "Kotipizza's Berlusconi elected best pizza in the world." [Kotipizza is the shop]
Now I don't know how this pizza tastes (and honestly I will never try it) but I'm not really sure this would really be the best pizza in the world... maybe is a classic finnish joke to make fun of their (and also mine) beloved Silvio :)

Public taxes declaration: in Italy!!!

I have to blog this before simoniito :D

He's always complaining because in Finland the tax declaration of everyone is publicly available and sent I don't know how many mails to the ombudsman about it.

And instead of Finland going towards "more privacy" "like in Italy", Italy goes open and, BAM! public tax records for italians! (At least one of the major italian newspapers claims so... even if it doesn't show up in the Tax office webpage)

Spring in Finland ... and chemtrails are back

And the skies of Helsinki started again to be rip by this nice white stripes... it is just the beginning, don't worry also this year we'll see them ... a lot I guess.

Printing digital photo in Finland

(digikuvat tulostaminen suomessa, in finnish?)

I had to print some photo and I was curios to know what was the cheapest service to use here in Finland.

I ended up comparing some of the services I found on internet. (The list is not supposed to have all the existing ones of course and is updated at today)

When a service allowed to go and pick up the photos somewhere I supposed to chose that option (0 euros as delivery cost), otherwise mail delivery is taken in consideration.

There is no consideration on the quality of the paper, type of printing and so on. This is only a price/quantity comparison.

The format I examined has been 10x13/15 cm with no special options.

And the winner is...

In the category from 0 to 50 photos: gigantti.fi with pick up from the shop
In the category from 60 to 80 photos: ifolor.fi with delivery at your address
In the category from 90 on: extrafilm.com with delivery at your address

Here the link to the spreadsheet

Finland really needs workers... :D

I haven't seen this ad on tv and I have no idea if and in what countries they are airing it, but, if so, it means Finland really needs workers from abroad... :D

Unboxing Kela pack

[Italian below]
I don't know if Finland is the only country in Europe doing this but, when you're expecting a baby here, they send you an 8Kg pack full of stuff for the kid. I was surprised of the amount of things that the box contains: from diapers to snow suites, from towels to linen for the bed, from the thermometer to the nail scissors. I mean the basics of everything. Really a wonderful idea. Standing ovation for Kela (social security agency in Finland). Here's us unboxing it.



Non so se la Finlandia sia il solo paese in Europa a farlo ma qui, quando aspetti un bambino, ti mandano un pacco da 8Kg pieno di roba per il bimbo. Sono rimasto di stucco quando ho visto quanta roba ci stava dentro: dai pannolini ai vestiti da neve, dagli asciugamani alle lenzuola, dal termometro alle forbici per le unghie. Praticamente tutto il necessario. Davvero una splendida idea. Standing ovation per ala Kela (l'ente delle politiche sociali in Finlandia).

Bad morning Finland...

Sad awakening for the calm and peaceful Finland this morning: yesterday an 18-years old guy shot 8 persons in a school 80Km from the capital, Helsinki. So nuts exist also in Finland. And nuts also in Finland can have a gun.

Reading what the guy was writing there's no doubt he was out of his mind since long time already.

You might ask yourselves, why did I do this and what do I want. Well, most of you are too arrogant and closed-minded to understand… You will proprably say me that I am”insane”, “crazy”, “psychopath”, “criminal” or crap like that. No, the truth is that I am just an animl, a human, an individual, a dissident.

I have had enough. I don’t want to be part of this fucked up society. Like some other wise people have said in the past, human race is not worth fighting for or saving… only worth killing. But… When my enemies will run and hide in fear when mentioning my name… When the gangsters of the corrupted governments have been shot in the streets… When the rule of idioracy and the democratic system has been replaced with justice… When intelligent people are finally free and rule the society instead of the idiocratic rule of majority… In that great day of deliverance, you will know what I want.

[...]

And remember that this is my war, my ideas and my plans. Don’t blame anyone else for my actions than myself. Don’t blame my parents or my friends. I told nobody about my plans and I always kept them inside my mind only. Don’t blame the movies I see, the music I hear, the games I play or the books I read. No, they had nothing to do with this. This is my war: one man war against humanity, governments and weak-minded masses of the world! No mercy for the scum of the earth! HUMANITY IS OVERRATED! It’s time to put NATURAL SELECTION & SURVIVAL OF THE FITTEST back on tracks!

No wonder he devastated the life of an entire community.
A thought to the poor guys and girls that had the bad luck to be close to him yesterday, it's a really bad way to die.

Very good covering of the thing in this blog

Only few men wash the WC (at least in Finland)

The news of the century, finally on Ilta Sanomat (the second? newspaper in Finland) it was confirmed what everybody in the world suspected: men don't use the toilet brush so much. In fact an astonishing 14% doesn't wash the toilet ever and one fourth does it weekly (at least in Finland). One of the best and most payed research ever made and moreover the most useful to the world... :D

La notizia del secolo, finalmente sull'Ilta Sanomat (il secondo giornale finlandese) è stato confermato quello che tutti nel mondo sospettavano: gli uomini non usano la spazzola del cesso così tanto. Infatti uno stupefacente 14% non lava mai la tazza e un quarto lo fa solo settimanalmente (almeno in Finlandia). Una delle migliori e più pagate ricerche mai fatte e soprattutto la più utile per il mondo :D

Link

V-day dalla Finlandia

V-day anche da una sperduta isola della finlandia :D