Finland's Ovi

Sparkling wines, champagnes and rosé gaining in popularity
 
According to figures published on Wednesday by the National Product Control Agency for Welfare and Health (STTV), sales of alcohol grew in the months from January to July of this year by just over 4 per cent, or by 3.2% when measured in terms of 100% ethanol.

Aggregate sales in Finland via Alko off-licences, stores, and at licensed restaurants and bars came to more than 26 million litres of 100% alcohol. The actual figure was over 376 million litres by volume.
Sales have increased from one record to the next for some years now.

In fact the latest figures should be seen rather as a measure of the period from January to June, as the cooler weather in July of this year actually prompted sales for the month to fall slightly. Figures for August are not yet available.
Sales of wines, champagnes, and coolers showed the strongest growth, putting on 8%. Correspondingly, sales of fortified wines and vermouths were down by almost 7.5%.

The big favourites in the early part of the year were sparkling wines and champagnes, as well as rosé and blush wines.

The surge in sales of sparkling wines began at the beginning of last year, and is thought to have been fuelled in part by the spate of 60th birthday celebrations of people in the baby-boomer generation.

This explanation probably still holds, as only a few weeks back we witnessed the largest cluster of births that took place 60 years ago.
Sales of beers and distilled items (spirits) each grew by some 3 per cent in the opening seven months of the year.

Sales of ales (rather than lagers) were up by 13 per cent on the previous year, while on the spirits side it was liqueurs that showed the greatest growth, up by 8%.

The general trend leans towards greater sales of milder drinks, but with an overall increase of such dimensions, sales of spirits also rose.
At the same time, it is believed that the year-long decline in imports by passengers (particularly from Estonia) has stopped, and hence overall Finnish consumption of alcohol has continued to increase substantially.

In the wake of the government’s decision to cut alcohol taxes - particularly on spirits - some years ago, imports declined measurably. With plans on the table for increases in alcohol duty in 2008, it remains to be seen whether imports for personal use will once again rise.

Source: Helsingin Sanomat

Finnish public hospitals are making preparations for coping with the planned mass resignations of care personnel affiliated with the Union of Health and Social Care Professionals (Tehy).

On Tuesday, Tehy announced that it was planning to have its members resign en masse as a way of promoting their pay demands.

Under the law, in the event of a strike, a certain number of nurses can be required to stay at work to maintain basic services. Under a mass resignation there would be no such obligation. However, the tactic is not without risks: the management side would be under no obligation to rehire those who had resigned.

Tehy is convinced that a combination of solidarity among union members and the shortage of nurses in Finland are a sufficient guarantee that those taking part in the mass resignation action will not end up unemployed.
The Helsinki and Uusimaa Hospital District (HUS) is planning to recruit substitutes and to hire private nursing services, but officials are admitting that such moves would not be enough.

“They would be marginal measures”, said Kari Nenonen, managing director of HUS on Wednesday.

MedOne, a temp agency for medical personnel, says that it would not force its nurses to work as strike breakers. According to MedOne CEO Pertti Karjalainen, his company “respects the industrial action”.

For instance, at the Kuopio University Central Hospital, Tehy has hinted at the possibility that about 200 nurses would quit their jobs. According to head physician Jorma Penttinen, about one third of the activities of the hospital would have to to shut down in such an event.
If the stoppage begins, non-urgent surgeries will be reduced and postponed, there will be more mobility within the hospitals among staff who still are at work, and doctors and practical nurses will be doing more work.

The most crucial sectors are emergency duty, paediatrics, oncology, and maternity.

“I hope that the action is over when I come to have my baby. There might be a bit of a panic if a midwife were running around in 15 delivery rooms”, says Terhi Mutka, who is in her 35th week of pregnancy, during a checkup at the Kätilöopistio Maternity Hospital in Helsinki.
Tehy has promised to limit the mass resignations to large university hospitals and central hospitals, and will not extend to municipal health centres.

Source : Helsingin Sanomat

Matti Vanhanen (centre), the Finnish prime minister, told MPs on Thursday that the government had no intention of intervening in the nurse pay row.

Speaking at question time, Mr Vanhanen added the dispute concerned the employees and the employers only and repeated that the government would not dispense extra money to help municipalities raise nurses’ pay.

The exasperated prime minister also hoped Parliament would stop fomenting expectations about a government intervention.

The Union of Health and Social Care Professionals (Tehy) is planning mass resignations in an effort to back its pay demands.

Source: STT

By Sharon Cotal

Three teachers who taught fifth grade at Highlands Elementary School last year have been selected by Microsoft to serve as ambassadors to a teaching forum in Helsinki, Finland.

Highland teachers Bonita DeAmicis and Cindy Hallman, and Amy Panama - now a fourth-grade teacher at Mountain View Elementary - were selected from a national pool of candidates to participate in the 2007 Microsoft Worldwide Innovative Teachers Forum taking place Oct. 29-31.

“We are very excited about it. We’re just a little concerned about having warm clothing,” said DeAmicis, who plans to borrow some cold weather gear from her sister in Colorado.

The forum is designed to recognize and reward outstanding educators and allow them to collaborate and share their expertise. When they worked together last year, DeAmicis, Hallman and Panama incorporated the use of handheld computers, interactive whiteboards, the Internet and desktop software in a series of science stations where students worked in teams to learn about the human body.

The teachers’ use of technology in the learning process and the way they worked together to develop the stations got Microsoft’s attention.

“They liked it. They were very excited that we were able to create seamless ways to integrate technology into our teaching. But the technology was not the focus of the learning - it was used as a tool to learn about the human body,” DeAmicis said.

The trio of teachers were also one of 20 learning teams selected to attend the United States Forum, held Sept. 26-28 in Seattle. The trip took Hallman back into familiar territory.

“I grew up in Seattle, so it was fun to see my family and I enjoyed seeing Seattle again,” Hallman said.

In Seattle, the teachers experienced the teacher version of speed dating, with teams spending five minutes with one another discussing their projects.

“They called it networking, but essentially we steal ideas from each other,” Hallman said. “It was great to get ideas from teachers across the U.S. that we probably otherwise would never meet.”

Panama, at 25 the youngest of the group, said she is honored to be selected for such a prestigious event at the beginning of her career and looks forward to meeting with the teams from other countries in Helsinki.

“It’s a lot of work to prepare to go, and I’m going to miss my students, but I’m very excited to go,” Panama said. “I can only imagine the different teams we will meet there.”

At the Helsinki forum, the three local teachers will be competing with teams from 70 countries and international judges will select one winner from all the projects presented.

“It’s like a science fair for teachers,” DeAmicis said. The teachers have been working on their display, getting it ready for the international competition.

“I’m very competitive, so game’s on,” Hallman said. For Hallman, the trip to Helsinki will be kind of like a trip home.

“My grandfather was 100 percent Finnish. I never dreamed I would go to Finland, but that’s where my ancestors are from,” Hallman said.

DeAmicis plans to do some sightseeing while in Helsinki and hopes to see the Northern Lights.

“Hopefully we’ll be able to walk around the city and see some sights,” DeAmicis said.

Panama is looking forward to spending time with the two teachers she used to work with at Highlands.

“Obviously, we won an award for collaboration, so we really worked well together,” Panama said. “Mountain View has really welcomed me, but it was hard to leave.”

Source:The Signal

The first buses running on biodiesel were introduced in the capital area public transportation this morning, Friday.

Initially only six vehicles - utilising the second-generation biodiesel originally developed by Finland’s state-owned oil refining company Neste Oil - are taking part in the experiment. In the coming weeks, however, this figure will increase to around 60.

In all, there are around 1,400 buses operating within the Greater Helsinki area’s public transportation system.
The original plan was to commence the biofuel experiment in August with no fewer than 700 busses, but Neste Oil’s application for exemption from the diesel tax is yet to come through.

“We have applied for full exemption from diesel taxation, but we still don’t know if and when we will get it”, explains marketing and sales manager Sami Oja of Neste Oil.

Two capital area bus contractors, Pohjolan Liikenne and Veolia Transport, are taking part in the first phase of the experiment. From the beginning of 2008 they will be joined by Helsingin Bussiliikenne, the capital area’s principal bus operator owned by the City of Helsinki.

The aim is to have every second bus operating in the Greater Helsinki Area running on biofuel by the year 2010.
The idea behind the experiment is to reduce the capital area’s emission levels from public transportation. The nitrogen oxide and particle emissions of biodiesel are lower than those of regular diesel.

“The experiment will not yet have an impact on the air quality, but in 2010 it certainly will”, confirms Reijo Mäkinen, head of public transportation services at the Helsinki Metropolitan Area Council (YTV).

Switching to biodiesel does not require any alterations to buses. The outlay of the experiment is around EUR 100,000 per year, and it will be split evenly between Helsinki City Transport (HKL) and YTV. Neste Oil’s investment in the experiment is slightly higher.

For the bus and coach contractors, there are no expenses from taking part in the pilot project.

Known for its high featured mobile phones, Nokia, is coming with its ovi web portal – The new Ovi, making foray into web services market. The Finland based company has designed Ovi to run music download services, games, maps and other online applications.

Nokia says that Ovi, which means ‘door’ in Finnish or is known as a nickname for Oliver, will open new market possibilities for the Finnish mobile handset manufacturer. The company is keen to start generating revenues from services like sale of games, music over mobile Internet with its innovating Ovi.

The company has also launched variety of new phones in the market, including the Nokia 81, a flagship music phone to give competition to Apple’s iPhone. These phones would be available on its new website.

As a part of its Ovi brand of Internet Services, Nokia is reviving N-gage platform in a new way. The new portal allows you to browse a wide selection of game titles, download free trails and purchase the games directly from Nokia. You can either purchase the game over the air or directly download on your PC first. You can buy game titles, including EA Sports’ FIFA 08, The Sims 2 Pets, Tetris, Tiger Woods PGA Tour, and Crash Bandicoot, directly from Nokia.

The new Nokia Music store is ‘dual download’, allowing download over the air or through ’sideloading’ of music from a PC. Tracks are delivered in WMA format with Windows DRM protection, and cost €1 with entire albums starting at €10. The company announced that some 3m tracks will be available, including music “from major labels”. However, whether or not Nokia had deals with all four major labels was not disclosed.

The N-Gage platform will ultimately run on all Series 60 (smartphone) devices but is limited to a handful of handsets at launch. N-Gage games are C++ based, which allows for better performance than J2ME, the current programming language used for the majority of mobile games.

Nokia will also run and manage an online store which allows users to download free trial versions of games, and like the music store is ‘dual download’. The store allows payment by credit card and also integrates with the billing systems of over 80 mobile operators. The N-Gage Arena, a multiplayer and community platform, will allow developers to create multiplayer games.

Mail, messaging and search applications are provided through partnerships with both Yahoo! and Microsoft, as well as Nokia’s own messaging application, Gizmo. The Nokia Maps application allows free downloads of maps and sale of additional content such as city guides. The photo sharing application is based on the technology of Twango, which Nokia acquired in July 2007.

Also…
Historically, Nokia’s attempts to move into mobile content have not met with success and the launch of these new services immediately attracted criticism from Nokia’s biggest customers, the network operators. Orange threatened to cancel its order for handsets integrated with the Music Store until it had assessed the impact this service could have on its own mobile music sales. 3 UK, which accounts for 75 per cent of the UK’s mobile music sales, reportedly followed suit.

In contrast, the relaunched N-Gage has received a warm welcome from the mobile games industry. Network operators seem unconcerned about the impact on games revenues, even though Screen Digest predicts that the market for mobile games in 2007 will be more than four times larger than that for mobile music.

Around 10 mobile games publishers have agreed to support the platform, including the top three companies (Electronic Arts, Gameloft and Glu). Nokia’s previous iteration of the N-Gage was released as a hardware platform in October 2003 but design problems and consumer disinterest in such a niche device led to very low market penetration and subsequently publishers hastily withdrew support.

In contrast, 16m Series 60 devices were sold last year, device volumes which should lead to significantly greater penetration and more extended publisher support.

Source: Vaisala 

Helsinki Testbed, a joint effort of Vaisala and the Finnish Meteorological Institute, has won the community category of this year’s Productive idea contest.

Helsinki Testbed is a research and experimentation platform for new weather observation equipment, systems, services and forecasting models. It covers the Greater Helsinki area. Helsinki Testbed enhances the cooperation between researchers, companies and end-users, and facilitates the utilization of research results in practice, such as in precision weather services.

According to the contest jury, the Testbed research project is an unconventional and bold demonstration of how meteorology and technology can be harnessed to communicate local weather conditions in real-time. The jury stated that the Testbed project utilizes Finnish technology and know-how in an exemplary way. The long-term goal is to promote the formation of a leading edge meteorological center in the Helsinki area. The idea has significant societal impacts, and it has already gained great international attention.

The contest, established to promote creative business activity, was organized for the 28th time. It seeks new, maximum 3-year-old innovative ideas that have already been taken to productive use. The contest has two categories: business category and community category.

The Productive idea contest is organized by the Junior Chamber International Finland. The contest is carried out in cooperation with the Kauppalehti and Kauppalehti Optio magazines, OP bank group, Ministry of Trade and Industry, the Finnish Industry Investment Ltd, Tamro Oyj, Federation of Finnish Enterprises, Central Chamber of Commerce of Finland, and the Association for Finnish Work.

Read more about the Helsinki Testbed project at:
http://www.fmi.fi/weather/stations_88.html

Visit the Testbed pages at
http://testbed.fmi.fi/

Nokia has introduced Ovi, its new Internet service, expanding from a focus on mobile devices to offering a range of Internet services.

Ovi, means ‘door’ in Finnish and looks to enable consumers to access their existing social network, communities and content, as well as act as a gateway to Nokia services.
 
As part of Ovi, Nokia announced the Nokia Music Store and N-Gage, two services that make it easy for people to discover, try and buy music and games from a range of artists and publishers, including exclusive content only available through Nokia.

Also under the Ovi umbrella is Nokia Maps, a navigation service that offers maps, city guides and more directly to compatible mobile devices.
 
Ovi is the gateway to Nokia’s Internet services, including the Nokia Music Store, Nokia Maps, and N-Gage games. It will also be an open door to web communities, enabling people to access their content, communities and contacts from a single place, either directly from a compatible Nokia device or from a PC. The first version of Ovi.com is scheduled to go live in English during the fourth quarter of 2007 and additional features and languages expected to go live during the first half of 2008.
 
The Nokia Music Store offers millions of tracks from major artists, independent labels as well as a broad range of local artists from around the world. The store is accessible via a desktop computer or directly from a compatible Nokia device, such as the Nokia N81 or Nokia N95 8GB multimedia computer. Users can browse for new music, buy what they like or add a song to their wishlist to download later. Users can also transfer purchased songs to your mobile device and with the built-in music player, create playlists on the go.
 
The Nokia Music Store offers full track streaming on PCs as well as individual track and album purchase. The store opens across key European markets this fall with additional stores in Europe and Asia opening over the coming months. In Europe, individual tracks cost EUR 1.00 and albums from EUR 10.00, with a monthly subscription for PC streaming for EUR 10.00.
 
N-Gage allows users to find, try and buy games directly from compatible Nokia devices. By selecting the N-Gage application on compatible Nokia devices, users can preview available games, connect with friends, read reviews or download a free demo. They can buy games either with a credit card or by charging it to their monthly phone bill. The application is expected to be available for download from here in November 2007.

Also:

Along with announcing a brand-new lineup of handsets, Nokia is also venturing into the brave new world of Internet services. It’s called Ovi, which is “door” in Finnish, and it signifies Ovi’s open access to existing social networks like MySpace, Flickr, and Facebook right from a compatible Nokia phone.

But the big news here is that Ovi will also be a gateway to Nokia’s newly launched Internet services, which include the Nokia Music Store, Nokia Maps, and N-Gage games. Though Ovi can work on any personal computer, it is really designed for the mobile experience. It will go live in English in late 2007, while additional features and languages are expected next year.

The Nokia Music Store will have millions of tracks from a variety of music sources that include everything from major artists to independent labels. You can browse for music, buy the song directly over the air to your phone, or add a song to a wish list for later download.

If you like, you may also download the song to your PC and later load it onto the phone. The Nokia Music Store also supports full track streaming on the PC. Another neat thing about the Music Store is there will be a music recommendation engine based on songs you have purchased.

Songs are available in 192kbps WMA files, and can be managed either via Windows Media Player or Nokia’s own Music PC client. As for pricing, a song will cost one euro each, while a whole album will go for 10 euros. But the interesting part here is that Nokia will also allow you to have a subscription for PC streaming for 10 euros a month.

Right now, compatible Nokia phones include the following: Nokia 5310 XpressMusic, Nokia 5610 XpressMusic, Nokia 5700 XpressMusic, Nokia 6267, Nokia 6500 Classic, Nokia 6500 slide, Nokia 6555, Nokia 7500 Prism, Nokia 7900 Prism, Nokia N75, Nokia N76, Nokia N81, Nokia N81 8GB, Nokia N91 8GB, Nokia N95, and Nokia N95 8GB.

Music Store will open in certain European markets later this year, with additional stores opening next year.

(HS) The condition of lorries arriving in Finland across the country’s eastern has improved significantly. According to Finnish police, the quality of vehicles used by foreign haulage companies is getting to be close to that of Finnish trucks.

Finland’s Traffic Police have been closely scrutinising the condition of heavy goods vehicles in the southeast of Finland this week. According to police superintendent Jouni Ryhänen, the director of the campaign, the foreign vehicles are no longer in any worse shape than those owned and driven by Finns.

“Competition works. In some cases, the vehicles are even better than what the Finns have”, Ryhänen says.

Most of the foreign trucks are Russian.
During the crackdown, the police plan to inspect thoroughly more than 100 domestic and foreign lorry-trailer combinations. On the first day, 64 vehicles were inspected, and 36 drivers were given fines or warnings.

Jari Strengell of the traffic police in the Kymeenlaakso region says that in spite of the high proportion of vehicles with shortcomings, there is no reason for other motorists to worry too much. He said that a great many of the problems involved minor issues such as faulty lights, which do not necessarily have immediate serious implications for traffic safety.

During the week only one vehicle was not allowed to continue on its way: the brakes of the trailer on a Finnish lorry did not work at all, and the vehicle was left on the side of the road.
On Thursday, inspections focused on the Port of Hamina, where the violations that were found were mostly minor.

There were exceptions, however: One Russian driver en route from the harbour to the Russian border had failed to secure his load of 900 kg. paper rolls in the trailer. If the lorry had been stopped on the road, the police would have confiscated the driver’s licence without further ado.

“If something like that were on the road, it would be considered serious negligence”, Jouni Ryhänen says.

There have been news reports recently of drink driving by Russian drivers. Six drivers have been stopped for driving under the influence within a few weeks.

Strengell says that Russian traffic discipline is not particularly lax: considering the vast growth in truck of traffic, these kinds of cases are quite rare.

“Most of them are all right - no different from the Finns. But there are always these bad apples that cause everyone problems”, he says.

The U.S. Military Sealift Command has issued the following news release concerning the Seafarers-crewed USNS Henson. Here the news:

U.S. Navy oceanographic survey ship arrives in Finland
Military Sealift Command’s oceanographic survey ship USNS Henson pulled into Turku, Finland, yesterday, May 28. Henson’s port call in Finland, the first for a U.S. Navy ship in nearly two years, gives the United States an opportunity to enhance its partnership with Finland and to build cooperation between U.S. and Finnish naval forces.

While in Turku, Henson will host tours for high school science students and conduct an underway survey demonstration with Finnish sailors and scientists.

Oceanographic survey ships like Henson examine the world’s oceans using a variety of sonar systems and other oceanographic equipment to collect environmental data in either coastal or deep sea waters. The information gathered is used to develop accurate maritime charts and models of the ocean. Survey ships are also used in special situations to locate downed aircraft or chart wrecks that pose hazards to safe ship navigation.

“Henson’s visit to Turku is a wonderful opportunity for our navies to collaborate and to build on the already strong friendship between our two countries,” said Capt. Nick Holman, Commander, Task Force 63/Sealift Logistics Command Europe. Capt. Holman oversees of all of the U.S. Navy noncombatant and logistics ships and aircraft operating in Europe and Africa.

“Henson is a truly unique ship with a big mission – to help us learn more about the world’s vast oceans,” continued Holman. “It is a privilege to be here sharing that mission with our neighbors in Finland.”

Henson is also unique because as a noncombatant ship, it is operated by the U.S. Navy’s Military Sealift Command, or MSC, for the Naval Meteorology and Oceanography command. The ship is crewed by 24 U.S. civil service mariners and up to 27 civilian surveyors from the Naval Oceanographic Office that carry out ship’s survey mission.

MSC operates approximately 110 noncombatant, civilian-crewed ships that replenish U.S. Navy ships, chart ocean bottoms, conduct undersea surveillance, strategically preposition combat cargo at sea around the world and move military equipment and supplies used by deployed U.S. forces.

VTT evaluates impact of climate change on Finnish capital  

In the heaviest of storms, the sea water in the Gulf of Finland might rise as high as three metres from the present level. This means that placing sandbags at Helsinki’s Market Square might not be enough of a measure to protect the valuable old buildings in the centre of Helsinki.

In January 2005 many of those buildings were threatened by rising water, even though it had risen no more than a metre and a half above normal. At the end of the century, the rise could be twice as great.

This is one of the worst-case scenarios set forth in a study by the Technical Research Centre of Finland (VTT), which examined the implications of climate change for Helsinki in 2070-2100.

“These are extreme situations, but preparations have to be made for them”, says researcher Irmeli Wahlgren.

The prospect of elevated sea levels has already been taken into account for some time in the planning of new areas in Helsinki.
The city’s old drainage system would be challenged if the amount of rain increases significantly from now. Annual rainfall is expected to increase by about one sixth from the present level.

In addition, heavier storms are also expected.

Reijo Hyvönen of the Finish Meteorological Institute says that maximum wind speeds at the Harmaja Lighthouse in a 50-year cycle have been just under 26 metres a second. VTT is predicting that in extreme cases, maximum wind speeds could reach 30 metres a second, more than 100 km/hour.
However, there will be less shivering during the winter, with temperatures dropping to about -17° Celsius, while the overall minimum temperature is currently about -31°C.

Once in 50 years the temperature is considered likely to drop to a minimum of -27°C. Currently the minimum in a 50-year cycle is set at -43°C.

Winter activities will have to revolve around pastimes that do not require ice and snow. The period of snow cover could decrease by as much as 70 days. The period of ice cover on the sea is likely to be reduced by 120 days, lasting as little as perhaps three weeks.
“The fauna might take a turn toward the more unpleasant”, says Hannu Airola of the Uusimaa Environment Centre.

He warns that so far the cold winters have kept the number of insects that feed on agricultural plants under control. For instance, Colorado potato beetles could find it easier to wreak havoc on the potato harvest.
The average annual temperature is set to rise by an estimated four degrees Celsius in Helsinki. Year-round average temperatures in Kaisaniemi have varied between 3.3 and 7.1°C.

Hot and dry phases are expected to focus on the May-August growing season, which means that even the little rain that does come would be likely to evaporate quickly.

This means that fir trees, with their root systems near the surface, will lose ground to pine and birch, with their deeper roots.

Finnish restaurant life changed once and for all at midnight, when the last cigarettes had to be stubbed out in most bars and restaurants, as the amendment to the law on smoking in public areas came into effect. Moreover, part of the restaurants voluntarily embarked on their smoke-free era already on Thursday afternoon.
However, not every establishment gave up smoking as willingly. Around 90 restaurants in Helsinki have applied for a two-year transition period from the City of Helsinki Environment Centre.

Eight restaurants filed their applications at the last moment on Thursday. Part of the permits cannot be granted until next week, while around 20 restaurants were granted their permits already on Thursday, reports Antti Pönkä, the Chief of the Environmental Health Unit of the City of Helsinki Environment Centre.

Those restaurants whose permit applications had not been handled yet had to forbid smoking as well. However, no officials turned up to inspect whether or not the cigarettes were extinguished at 00:00 sharp as the law requires.
A precondition for permission for a grace period is that the bar or restaurant concerned is able to guarantee that no smoke will spread from its smoking area to other parts of the establishment.

According to the Environment Centre, on Thursday a transition period was granted to a number of restaurants, including Grand Casino, Suomalainen Klubi, Sir Eino, Michelle, and König.
Restaurant Toveri was one of those who did not want to give up smoking that easily. On Thursday, they distributed leaflets headed “The fight goes on”, saying that the restaurant will turn smoke-free only temporarily.

The officials had not made any decision on the restaurant’s potential grace period as yet.

At five minutes to midnight, the personnel distributed cigarettes to all those who were willing to enjoy their last gasper, while non-smokers were advised to leave for a while and come back at midnight into a new and cleaner era.

By Jenny Mayo

The air guitar — however ridiculous it may seem — is a mighty miraculous tool. Stop laughing for a second and consider this: It’s not only free, weightless and perpetually available, but capable of transforming its user from music fan to rock god with just one mimicked chord.

This amazing, invisible instrument is experiencing a major renaissance right now as people are beginning to discover its payoffs: fun, increased physical fitness, and — thanks to the hard-working organization U.S. Air Guitar — maybe even some good, old-fashioned rock-star-esque fame and fortune.

The current revival of air guitar in America dates back to 2001. That’s when a Wall Street Journal article about the Air Guitar World Championships in Oulu, Finland, and its 2,500 spectators caught the eye of a New Yorker named Kriston Rucker.

Startled to learn that no American had ever taken the title since its inception in 1996, Mr. Rucker decided he had but one choice: to embark on a reconnaissance mission to Scandinavia with a partner, Cedric Devitt.

When the duo returned to the states (Mr. Devitt freshly recognized as the world’s fourth best pseudo-strummer), they vowed to find and support the next great American air guitarist in a quest to restore glory to this great nation: the land of “Cherry Pie” and home of “Paradise City.”

Thus was U.S. Air Guitar born.

Its first national contest in 2003 yielded a flurry of press coverage (from CNN to Howard Stern) and a new world champion in “C-Diddy” (David Jung). He was a bold actor from Brooklyn who wore a red satin robe and a Hello Kitty breastplate all the way to Finland — where he maxed out in all the judging categories: technique (essentially tempo), charisma, stage presence, and the elusive “airness” (how much you “get” air guitar).

News of his American victory sent ripples of pride and hope out into the burgeoning U.S. air guitar scene, which has quietly thrived since then.

Last year, the movement got a massive boost courtesy of Alexandra Lipsitz’s “Air Guitar Nation” (out on DVD Aug. 28), a small but snappy documentary about U.S. Air Guitar’s history that began winning over critics and audiences on the festival circuit.

The laugh-out-loud flick has served as a publicity machine since then, turning its stars into semi-celebrities — particularly the literal poster child and runner-up “Bjorn Turoque” (Dan Crane) — and their cause into a significant cultural event.

This year’s championship, slated for New York in August, will be the biggest yet, culling its elite contenders from semifinal contests in clubs in 14 cities — including Washington’s 9:30 Club on Wednesday — before crowning 2007’s “Air-ic” Clapton.

Washingtonians may be particularly intrigued to know that one of their own is not only a veteran competitor, but is proving to be an early favorite. That man is Severna Park, Md.’s own Lance “the Shred” Kasten, who appears briefly in “Air Guitar Nation.”

He’s a 45-year-old father of three who runs a contracting business out of his well-tended suburban home — which doesn’t sound all that intimidating until you hear his history and watch him practice.

Be afraid, fellow contestants; be very afraid.

In the 1980s, the Shred swept Ocean City-area contests, winning loot like a Gibson Les Paul (that’s a real fancy guitar, folks) and enough cash to furnish his beach apartment. Over the years, he’s maintained a steady training regimen, which typically involves 30 minutes a day of thrashing around to Rush or Metallica in what he calls his “Dude Room.” There, he has ample space to perform “windmills” with his “pick-holding” hand, leap across the carpet and jump nimbly off his pool table.

“It gets the adrenaline going; it’s like having a pot of coffee a day,” he says.

Through his “caffeinated” daily routine, he’s developed the endurance to bring his talents to all but one of the U.S. Air Guitar Championship semifinals, and has often ranked.

“I don’t want to be cocky,” he says, “but there’s a pretty good chance that I could take it [this year].”

Bjorn, who’ll be emceeing this year’s rock-off tour, believes that the Shred may indeed steal the D.C. title, at the very least. “He’s one of my favorites,” he says of our hometown hopeful. “He’s in great shape.”

Air guitar “sounds like a joke,” Mr. Rucker explains in the film. “But when you start to tell it 10,000 times, you start to forget that it’s a joke.”

Bjorn is hesitant to use the word “joke” with regard to his art, as it’s truly changed his life; this seemingly silly activity helped him find the strength to leave his desk job and embrace creative pursuits like writing and playing in a real-life band.

He agrees that invisible instrumentation is “fun and really funny,” but says he’s found a much more profound side to the whole ordeal.

“I get massive e-mails from people saying that I inspired them or that they loved the movie and it made them laugh,” he says, “and I don’t think there’s anything wrong with taking that seriously. Air guitar is a way to take yourself not-seriously for a matter of minutes or hours. And in a way, there’s something about taking yourself not-seriously that’s really serious.”

A Ministry of Transport and Communications working group would give employers permission to monitor the identifier information of employees’ e-mail communication at work. In special circumstances the employer would be allowed to access information concerning the recipients and senders of an employee’s e-mail traffic.

The possibility to access the identifier information would only be granted to internationally important companies. The companies would also be required to inform the authorities in advance of any such monitoring activities.
The preparation of the amendment has been accompanied by intense public debate. Last autumn, the proposed amendment to the Act on the Protection of Privacy in Electronic Communications received strong criticism from the Chancellor of Justice Paavo Nikula.

On Wednesday the chairperson of the ministerial working group, Liisa Ero, Director General of the Department of Communications at the Ministry of Transport and Communications, declined to comment on the content of the defined version of the amendment, referring to the fact that the working group was still working on the proposal.

The working group is set to convene for the final time on Friday.

An amendment to the Act on the Protection of Privacy in Electronic Communications has been called for particularly by companies that feel that more comprehensive measures are needed in order to fight industrial espionage, for instance.

Mixed feelings among users, but most anticipate it will not affect their restaurant visits
 
Cigarettes will be stubbed out once and for all in nearly all Finnish restaurants and bars at midnight when the amendment to the law on smoking in public areas comes into effect.

Only a few Helsinki restaurants have applied for a two-year transition period over smoking or for a permit to construct a designated smoking booth. In the entire country, only around 100 restaurants have applied for a transition period.

In restaurant Toscanini in downtown Helsinki, the ban does not seem to have any effect whatsoever on customers - nor on the management.

Clients Anna-Kaisa Tuomi and Marjut Ruokonen are satisfied with the amendment to the law, as all their friends are non-smokers and they always choose the smoke-free zone anyway.

“Considering the health of the restaurant workers, it is fair and just that the law was amended”, Tuomi and Ruokonen conclude.
Marc Skvorc, the General Manager of Klaus K Hotel and its three restaurants, is actually in favour of the amendment to the law on smoking. He sees here another opportunity to improve business.

“In New York, a similar amendment increased business, as for example ladies were happy about not smelling of smoke any more when leaving a restaurant”, noted Skvorc whose previous experience includes successful hotels with restaurants in his native country, the USA.
Even though Klaus K’s restaurants are almost entirely smokeless, the establishment has applied for a two-year transition period over smoking.

“If the permit is not granted, it will be no major problem. We will simply forbid smoking, and our customers will move to the terrace”, Skvorc adds.
Lensu bar in the municipality of Lemi in Southern Karelia will turn completely smoke-free. On Friday, waitress Tuula Hyöppinen will be pleased to collect the ashtrays, take them away, and see to it that nobody lights up any more.
The majority of the bar’s loyal customers smoke on a regular basis, and they are less enthusiastic about the non-smoking policy. One of the regulars, Jari Parkkola, predicts that his visits to the bar could be less frequent after the smoking ban has come into force.

The proprietor of the bar Ossi Lensu believes that the non-smoking policy will not have a great effect on customers in the summer, as smoking will be allowed on the terrace. However, in the winter when it is freezing cold, the situation could be different.
Smoking in restaurants and bars is banned in Ireland, Norway, Sweden, New Zealand, New York City, and California, among others. On the whole, the restaurants there have been satisfied with the amendments to the law on smoking.

According to a recent questionnaire conducted by TNA Gallup and commissioned by the Ministry of Social Affairs and Health, a total of 77 per cent of all Finns are in favour of the smoking ban.

While regular smokers have the most negative attitude towards the ban, as many as 39 per cent of them are also in favour of a smoking ban in restaurants. Moreover, as many as 69 per cent of those who smoke only occasionally are supporters of the amendment to the law on smoking.

The majority of respondents believed that the ban would have no effect on the number of their restaurant visits, while 15 per cent regarded it as possible that the number of their visits would increase in the future. Only seven per cent of respondents thought that they would visit restaurants less frequently than before.

(HS)