Swedes Massively Protest Wiretap Law
July 7, 2008
Swedes Massively Protest Wiretap Law | TorrentFreak
In June the Swedish parliament passed a controversial surveillance law that gives authorities a mandate to read all email and listen in on all phone calls without warrant or court order. In response to the law, The Pirate Party organized rallies, bloggers and journalists turned into activists, and even Google decided to relocate their servers.
Related: BBC NEWS | Europe | Sweden approves wiretapping law
No more free education for non-Europeans (in Sweden)
July 2, 2008
The Local – No more free education for non-Europeans
Sweden is to start charging tuition to non-European university students, according to comments by higher education minister Lars Leijonborg in the Svenska Dagbladet (SvD) newspaper.
Today, Sweden is one of the few countries in the world which does not charge tuition to students from other countries.
Leijonborg has thus far avoided taking a stand on the controversial question, but now says that the government is in total agreement on charging fees to university students coming from countries other than the EU member states, Iceland, Liechtenstein, and Norway.
“Our primary argument is that it is unwise of a country not to benefit from a payment system which obviously exists. Why should these students pay money to American or British universities, but not to Swedish [ones]?” Leijonborg explained to SvD.
The fees will be based on the costs incurred by the universities themselves. At the same time, a system of stipends will be implemented for students lacking sufficient funds to pay tuition.
I knew that it was free to attend a Swedish university if you’re a resident, but I didn’t realize this applied to foreigners (or other Europeans) as well. Damn. Now, I feel a little ripped off for having to pay tuition. Well, I guess that’s about to change anyways.
Sweden tops world’s most wired countries
July 2, 2008
globeandmail.com: Sweden tops world’s most wired countries
European countries, including other Nordic nations Denmark and Iceland, occupy most of the top 10 spots
Sweden may be better known for cars and couches than computers, but when it comes to access to broadband and cellular networks, it’s tops. The Scandinavian country leads the world in “technological readiness,” according to the World Economic Forum.
To rank high on the list — one of 12 included in the WEF’s annual Global Competitiveness Report — countries need to have tech-friendly government policies as well as high tech usage.
Yay! Now, they should just get rid of that new wiretapping law.
I’ve been looking into their network data plans (thanks Google Translate) and they offer unlimited 3G at 7.2MB/s for $33 a month (cell phone or computer). That’s faster than a lot of people’s home Internet connection! Unheard of in North America.
Top 10 hospitality travel sites
June 27, 2008
Top 10 hospitality travel sites | Travel | guardian.co.uk
More and more travellers are abandoning hotels and hostels to stay with locals they have found through hospitality networks. Here is a round up of the best-known and most interesting organisations within this ever-growing field.
A friend told me about Couchsurfing about a year ago. At the time I had no idea what it was and the idea of sleeping at some random person’s couch seemed very strange. But you know, a lot has changed since then. The site looks decent with a lot of nice people.
T-minus 30 days and 300 posts later [Eurotrip]
June 26, 2008
In 30 days, I’ll be leeeeeeeaving on a jet plane. Soon, my new home will be where this pin is on Google Maps:
A few interesting facts I’ve learned about Sweden:
- Bed sizes are different in Europe than North America (or UK and Australia)
- Business hours are 10am-3pm
- The exchange rate was $1 USD = 11 SEK in 2002, but is now $1 USD = 6 SEK – making everything ~50% more expensive in just 5 years. I hope it doesn’t continue to fall!
- VAT is 25% (!!) – if the exchange rate wasn’t bad enough
- 911 is 112
- Famous Swedes include: Annika Sörenstam (thanks Dad!), Tiger Wood’s wife/former nanny, Robyn (thanks Ken!), ABBA, a bunch of Canucks players – including Naslund and the Sedin twins, Alfred Nobel, Carl Linnaeus
- Famous companies: Ikea, H&M, Ericsson, Volvo, Absolut Vodka
- Other famous Swedish things: Swedish meatballs, Swedish massage
- They throw crayfish parties in August
- They like to eat fermented herring (looks kind of gross)
- A ton of men have Lars as their first name (just from my personal observation)
- 24 hour sunlight during the summer and 24 hour darkness during winter
- There’s an ice hotel (!!) in northern Sweden during the winter months
Lyndon’s awesome travel links [Eurotrip]
June 24, 2008
This is a compilation of various sites I’ve been visiting to book flights/hotels. I’m posting this because I need a central place to find all these links.
Kayak.com – flights and hotels
Travelzoo.com – flights and hotels
Opodo.com - flights and hotels
Map Channels Hotels Directory – hotels/hostels
Eurail and RailEurope – train
FlySAS.com – Scandinavian Airline
Sterling.dk – budget airline
Ryanair.com – budget airline
Germanwings.com – budget airline
Easyjet.com – budget airline (no routes to/from Stockholm)
Within Sweden:
Upplands Lokaltraffik - bus
SJ.se - train (X 2000)
Veolia Transport – train
Viking Line – ferry to Finland
Resa | Aftonbladet – last minute deals
Where the Hell is Matt? (2008)
June 22, 2008
I’m posting this because I’ve caught a bit of the travel bug lately. I definitely need to travel to as many places as I can during my exchange in Europe. You may even see some videos posted (probably not dancing though.. I’m an awful dancer!).
Oh, the part where he dances in the Demilitarized Zone was awesome. The soldier looked so confused.
Sweden approves wiretapping law
June 19, 2008
BBC NEWS | Europe | Sweden approves wiretapping law
Sweden’s parliament has approved controversial new laws allowing authorities to spy on cross-border e-mail and telephone traffic.
The country’s intelligence bureau will be able to scan international calls, faxes and e-mails.
The measure was passed by a narrow majority after a heated debate in the Stockholm parliament.
Critics say it threatens civil liberties and represents Europe’s most far-reaching eavesdropping plan.
“By introducing these new measures, the Swedish government is following the examples set by governments ranging from China and Saudi Arabia to the US government’s highly criticised eavesdropping programme,” said Peter Fleischer, of Google.
Nooo! Well, I could always just encrypt everything.
Swedish Left Party Wants to Legalize Piracy
June 10, 2008
Swedish Left Party Wants to Legalize Piracy | TorrentFreak
This Sunday, the Swedish Left Party voted in favor of a motion calling for the legalization of sharing copyrighted files for personal use. The party, which currently holds 22 seats in the Swedish parliament, sees piracy as something positive, much like public libraries.
At the party’s congress this weekend, party members had to vote on a motion that would legalize the uploading and downloading of copyrighted material for personal use, as long as it is not for commercial purposes.
“To many of us in the Left Party, file sharing is something positive in the same obvious way that public libraries are,” the motion read, going on to describe the general opinion on file sharing in Sweden.
In addition, the motion stated that the various measures taken for trying to stop file sharing, such as big brother-like surveillance, or arbitrary sentences against individuals, are unacceptable.
The Swedish are so progressive.
Europe on the cheap
June 8, 2008
globeandmail.com: Europe on the cheap
50 ways to stay, sip, cycle, shop, spa, munch, dance (and more) for under $50
I’m bookmarking this for when I’m over there in less than two months!
Researchers Puzzled by Swedish Chlamydia Mystery
June 2, 2008
Researchers Puzzled by Swedish Chlamydia Mystery | Wired Science from Wired.com
Two years ago, the diagnosed rate of chlamydia in Sweden plummeted 25 percent.
That, in and of itself, was puzzling as there had been public health interventions or sudden changes in the sexual mores of the Swedish populace.
Researchers soon identified a new strain of the bacteria, which was missing the key snippet of DNA that diagnostic tests from Roche and Abbott used to detectChlamydia trachomatis. Effectively invisible to screening methods, the new strain, dubbed nv, was selected for in what researchers called diagnostics driven selective pressure. By the time the researchers figured it out and started using new tests in late 2006, the new strain was responsible for up to 40 percent of Swedish chlamydia infections.
And so the problem was thought to be solved.
Is IKEA the World’s Largest Charity?
May 8, 2008
mental_floss Blog » Is IKEA the World’s Largest Charity?
If it’s possible to assemble a piece of IKEA furniture without cursing at the top of your lungs, I’ve never seen it happen. There’s always a missing piece of hardware, an unclear spot on the instructions, or an excruciating amount of hex wrenching to be done. The next time you ball your fists mid-assembly and curse all things Swedish, though, try to calm down. After all, IKEA’s just another charity trying to get by.
Wait, what? You read that correctly; IKEA’s technically a charity. But before you write down the umlaut-riddled name of your most recent dresser purchase as a charitable donation on your next tax return, it’s worth exploring this ownership structure, which was brought to light by a 2006 article in The Economist.
Ingvar Kamprad founded IKEA in Almhult, Sweden in 1943 when he was just 17 years old. Kamprad originally sold low-priced consumer goods from his home and by mail, but added a furniture line in 1948. As the company began opening its trademark sprawling stores, Kamprad grew fabulously wealthy, although he retained frugal tastes like driving an aging Volvo and always flying economy class. By some debated estimates, Kamprad is the world’s richest man, and even Forbes’ more conservative accounting pegs him as the seventh-richest person in the world with a net worth in the neighborhood of $31 billion.
Here’s the original article. Looks like a very clever way to avoid paying taxes.
