I would say sorry that I haven’t updated this place in ages, but I’m not. I’ve been busy. Very busy, partly in thanks to SC5, Ilta Sanomat and Liigapörssi. It comes out on September 11, so check it out at liigaporssi.fi – but don’t call me on that day because I’ll be out getting wasted, but until then, I will be working fairly solidly.
In addition, recently there have been some fun-and-games with my residence permit, thanks to Migri (Finnish Immigration), who, in their quest for information from me about what I do and all about my company, were sending mail to an address that I’ve never lived at, nor has my company ever been registered at – so one day last week, I got the call to come in, and, well, lets just say I could fry some arses there (I can’t say how, but lets just say it was a “hunt the hunter” situation, so I could if I wanted, because I have complete mistrust for any authorities and the fact that they rely on me *not* knowing the law/being an idiot/getting especially angry and making a scene/the fact that they often say exactly the opposite of the information provided by the previous person). Not to mention their covert recordings of interview rooms. Mmm sweet revenge or something. It’s mostly sorted now that I know what information they need, I just have to file the paperwork, and since I’m paying my taxes and all that shit, they have nothing to be concerned about (as in, my income).
Anyway, on to real news, as most of you know, I have been trying to exit IT for… well… ages, now… but being the workaholic that I am, whenever I get offered something, I grab it with both hands. My latest came through yesterday with the offer of a “little” project working on iPhone, Mobile Java (Widsets) and Flash Applications for MySites, a Finland-based site where one can store photos, video and the rest of their online life all in one place. More news when I know something.
I met one of the founder (Ramine) a few months ago at the Helsinki OpenCoffee Meetup (first Thursday of the month, usually at Bistro Nolla in the KY building on Pohjoinen Rautatikatu – near Kamppi). I’m there every month that I’m in Helsinki and have been working with Ville and to a lesser extent Antti from Arctic Startup.
In addition to all this, a new company is being formed out of the group we call “The Fantastic Five”, although I believe there are now 6 people will be opening on 1.1.2009 and Seven Poles Ltd, which operates GoSuomi will be a large part of that, and will own a 20% share of the new company, and will be bringing Japanese tourists to Finland (and more specifically to some of the lesser known areas) for some R&R. Thanks to a new law which has been passed in Japan, we’ll be really targeting the corporate market. In addition, we will also be sending Finnish business people to Sri Lanka and maybe India for adventure and corporate training exercises which will be a lot of fun.
Speaking of which, while I remember, check out Rebtel. It’s like Skype (of which I am a *very* heavy user) but without the client – when I want to call (for example) India, I can call a Helsinki local number from my mobile and it auto-magically jumps to the phone number that I’ve programmed in to the system. I’m on the phone to India now and the call quality is just fine and dandy, and at rates far less than the 1,50€ per minute that Elisa charges 
I can also call many countries for free (including NZ and most of Europe) – so we’ll see how long this lasts, but apparently it is so popular, that O2 in Germany has been blocking the numbers that have been set up by Rebtel.
Last but not least, I’m getting ready to obselete my 3-month-old Nokia E51, and plan to make the jump to the Nokia E71. I’m going to try and convince IS/SC5 to buy me one (though maybe I would *then* ask for the E90, even if it is big and bulky… nah, E71 is fine) instead of an iPhone, although really both could be useful. I can upgrade my E51 to the E71 on my Elisa call plan, so I might end up with both (as the iPhone would have to be on Sonera unless I managed to Jailbreak it).
In any case, I’ll need one to develop iPhone apps anyway, so looks like I’ll also have to buy a Mac, bringing the total number of laptops in my house to 4. Currently there is 1 Mac and 2 HPs (both running Linux, one used as a “Kiosk” for my Hospitality Club guests and also as a media center and Network Storage, but I may change that to something else because it’s becoming an old geezer of a thing now – maybe an eeePC would suit the job if I can set up Samba on it… or a Mac Mini).
Last but not least, it seems that a lot of people are Googling me these days. It also seems that most of them are women. It also seems that they like me with long hair compared to short. What’s up with that? I feel like the bloody wolf-man here. Crazy people.
Anyway, thats about enough drivel for now. I have a meeting in 45 minutes with the Garry and the lovely Alexandra from the British & Commonwealth Chamber of Commerce in Finland, so must dash!
