In the previous two parts of this series on curiosities of life in Sweden I’ve written about cosmetological enhancements and tobacco consumption in the form of snuff. Now it’s time to peek into the peculiarities of Swedish bar culture.

I have to say right away that I am not much of a bar-goer. As I like to talk, doing so in bars usually means I’ll be literally speechless the following day; it takes no less than shouting to get the message across. But anyway, here are a few interesting observations I’ve come across in Swedish public houses.

Even though the ambient noise might be quite high, one thing I really like about bars and clubs in Sweden is that smoking is not allowed. So at least you don’t end up stinking like a cigarette bud for the next 24 hours. Which is also one of the reason why snuff is so popular around here.

Rules don’t end, but rather begin at this point.

In one of the previous posts I wrote about dancing permits that must be obtained by bars and clubs, if the owners don’t want to be fined for their customers’ hip swaying. I mean, this sounds so ridiculous that I’d like to see how dance police defines dancing. I’m sure they must be as creative as civil aviation authorities are when it comes to defining what is liquid and what is not. There’s more.

If bouncer sitting at the entrance of practically every bar decides you’re intoxicated, they won’t let you in—if you managed to sneak in and they find out about your condition later, you will fly out. What about if you get drunk in their bar? Tricky question. I don’t know, but I assume the result would be the same as I haven’t seen any on-the-table-sleeping gals and lads, which is, by the way, a common site in Finnish bars, pubs and clubs. They are definitely strict about such nibbles, which make me think that Swedish bars are safer than their laundry rooms. Almost a disturbing thought, I know, but more about disorder in Swedish laundry rooms some other time.

Other than that, bars are just bars, nothing special. Oh, wait a minute. Did I mention free food?

Yes, practically every other bar in town has what they call an “after work” program. Which means that one or more days a week between certain evening hours you can walk in and eat for free. It’s not exactly gourmet food, but hey, it’s free. However, the gluttony doesn’t end here. While food is free, all drinks are usually half price, or pay one, get two. So people juggling at least two plates and two glasses at the same time is not such an uncommon sight.

And to make things even more interesting there’s at least 40 such places in Göteborg where type and quality of food varies considerably from one place to another. So there you go, plenty of excuses for you to get wasted: “I just went food sampling to Dubliner’s.”

What’s the deal? How does such a deal work out? I have not really thought about the economics behind this seemingly altruistic transaction, but I did taste the food. It is mostly greasy and very salty and both qualities stimulate drinking. The more you eat, the more you will drink. Eventually you end up buying liters of beer to quench your thirst, just to get thirsty a bit more as you get dehydrated now by food and booze. It’s a vicious circle, and bar owners obviously know this. But it sure is fun.

Mladen

I’ve spotted the advertisement on the left in the Wednesday’s copy of Helsingin Sanomat newspaper. If you can’t tell right away what is advertised, I don’t blame you. But you might want to know that it is an add for a plastic surgery hospital in Helsinki and that the advertised price of 5530€ on the right side is how much they want you to pay for breast implants.

Everything fine, but could please someone tell me what’s that rhinoceros is doing in the add. Are they saying that that’s what their potential customers look like now, or is that what they will look like when they get those breast implants? Spooky, no matter which way you put it.

Mladen

While wandering around Göteborg I’ve stumbled upon this architectural gem The building definitely looks like it came straight from the drawing board of Mr. Buckminster Fuller himself. I have no idea if this architect was involved in designing it or just served as an influence for the look of this house. Neither do I know when was it built, although it looks like some futuristic vision conceived in the 1960s.

I’m filled with curiosity, but couldn’t do much about it as there was no one around this sphere house to answer my questions. I’ll definitely stop by again and maybe gather enough courage to ring the bell and see if anyone would answer … or are inhabitants already tired of unannounced visitors inquiring about their residence.

I’d definitely like to see what it looks like from inside. Is it functional, or are slanted walls and round shape an annoying constraint?

Mladen

Selling things is nothing short of a science. It’s not only being at the right place at the right time with the right thing priced just right. It’s also how many of right things you have on offer and how well you find your way around all that inventory of yours. That’s where algorithms, Web and throng of people step in. And the result is? Well, Chris Anderson calls it the long tail.

Wired’s editor-in-chief Chris Anderson first published an article back in October 2004 where he writes about practically infinite niche markets that drive a very big chunk of today’s on-line retail business. Then last year after gathering a long tail of comments and contributors from all winds on his Web site, Anderson published a book with an expanded title: The Long Tail: How Endless Choice Is Creating Unlimited Demand.

I picked up Anderson’s book a few weeks ago. The verdict? Read at least something about this phenomenon as it will help you understand what you might have not known even existed. If you have a reason for being too busy to read the book, then read the article. But if you’re getting into on-line business, then you should devour the Web site.

Here’s a few tidbits from the book.

Did you know that entertainment industry blatantly and unashamedly uses information about the content exchanged on peer-to-peer networks to develop marketing and release strategies for their products? Yes, those very same companies that sue their customers, at the same time benefit and even profit from the actions they sue those very same customers for. Strange, but not too surprising.

The name of the game is BigChampagne, a company that for monetary exchange tracks and analyzes information about media consumption of all kinds, with emphasis on following what’s hot and what’s not on P2P. The content producers thus know what people want and how bad they want it.

Did you know that you might order a book (book as in book the object) from Amazon that will materialize only after you have placed your order? Amazon doesn’t store just eBooks in digital form, but also many other titles that they plan to sell as atoms.

Their print-on-demand industrial printer machinery was first placed into their warehouses to top off small print runs inventory. In 2005 Amazon went a step further and acquired a leading print-on-demand company BookSurge to make their inventory more efficient and flexible. Although I’m still waiting for the day when I can get any book I have ever wanted, on eInk, instantly. Print-on-demand is cool, but dead trees and waiting for postman are so late-19th century.

Try to wrap your mind around this one:

TV produces more content than any other media and entertainment industry. There are an estimated 31 million hours of original television content produced each year. … In addition, 115 million digital videotapes are sold each year for personal camcorders.

31 million hours! That’s more than three and a half millennia, in a single year. Most of it is garbage, but it’s still 3.500 years. What about 115 million tapes (each probably an hour long on average) that amounts to more than 13.000 years? Who wants to watch all those home videos? Someone better discover how to consume video in a compressed format.

And if you think you or your obscure interests are unique, think again. The existance of parallel mass cultures might surprise you, but you and your freakiness are no longer alone:

The same Long Tail forces and technologies that are leading to an explosion of variety and abundant choice in the content we consume are also tending to lead us into tribal eddies. When mass culture breaks apart, it doesn’t re-form into a different mass. Instead, it turns into millions of microcultures, which coexist and interact in a baffling array of ways.

Or, as sociologist Raymond Williams wrote in Culture and Society: “There are in fact no masses; there are only ways of seeing people as masses.” And he said decades ago.

Mladen

When Nike and Apple released Nike+, their joint creation for runners and walkers, last year, it immediately caught my eye. Owners of iPods could turn their trendy players into running buddies that can actually do more than just keep the pace up.

If you haven’t heard about Nike+ yet, here’s the elevator pitch: place a tiny sensor into the sole of your specially designed shoe, while the small receiver attached to the iPod picks up data from the sensor and shows the metrics.

A perfect thing, I thought. There was only one problem … two actually. You need Apple’s iPod and special Nike shoes. Did that come as a surprise? Well, not really. Shoes and iPods are what keeps these two companies afloat, so I guess one of the main things on their minds is how to sell more of both, plus some extra other stuff (which probably makes more profits than shoes and iPods do). Hence the name: Nike+.

I know it’s a bit of a nerdy thing, but I always want to know how long my runs are. And this product seemed like a good solution.

True, the whole thing is almost childishly simple as all it shows is the distance covered (and enough other data that can be calculated once you know how fast something is moving), but I figured that 99% of the time I know where I am running. Also totting around a bulky GPS watch, or just a GPS receiver and fiddling with the reception or something similarly distracting is still out of the question.

But how does Nike+ work? Since it is relatively cheap (about 32€ in Sweden), I figured it cannot be a GPS receiver. So really the only other option is accelerometer. And that’s exactly what it is.

Why would I have to get a special pair of shoes? Sensing brand and model of shoes is not what accelerometers are sensitive to; they can’t be smart enough to figure I’m wearing Mizunos. Or can they? And from here on the solution was straightforward: I sew velcro on my shoe, glued the other part on the accelerometer and voíla, I modded my first pair of shoes. That was easy and clean. And accuracy? I would say it’s pretty accurate. On my test ride a 1490 m long loop was read as 1420 m. That’ll do.

If you’re a nerd runner and have an iPod, this is a pretty cute mod. It’s as simple as it gets, just make sure that the sensor is in as horizontal pos as possible and oriented length-wise, in relation to the shoe, that is. If you hate either Nike or Apple, or both, and have a degree in electrical engineering, well drop me a note and we’ll make our own thing.

Happy modding … and running.

Mladen