Finland Celebrates Summer with Tango

The arrival of summer is marked with great fanfare in Finland.

Where to see the longest movie

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For the Geo Quiz we’re getting out the popcorn and settling in for a screening of the world’s longest movie. The ticket’s cheap: in fact it’s free but the feature lasts 240 hours. So, we want to know, where is this mega-pic being shown? Download MP3

Chinese silk in northern Europe

Art treasures figure in today’s Geo Quiz. An exhibit caught our eye: it’s called “100 percent Silk.” There are shimmering dresses and lavish wall tapestries, some thousands of years old. It’s all on loan from China’s National Silk Museum. Where in northern Europe can you see this exibit at the moment?

Remote Finnish region

For today’s Geo Quiz, here’s a story about 14 of the world’s top chefs. They recently gathered in a remote place. It’s a 14 hour train ride north from Helsinki. Can you name this bountiful region of Finland that extends 80 miles north of the Arctic Circle.

Finland recycles computer heat

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Computer servers at big data centers around the globe generate a lot of heat. A company in Finland has figured out a way to capture that wasted energy and use it to heat homes. The World’s Technology Correspondent Clark Boyd has the story from Helsinki.

Tech Podcast: Cell phones fight fake drugs

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In this week’s tech podcast, we hear about a company that’s using cell phone text messaging and scratch off labels to help tackle the trade in counterfeit drugs in Nigeria. We also have the story of Red Star, North Korea’s open source, but not-so-open, operating system. And, we hear about how the Finnish post office wants to scan snail mail, and email it on to you!

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Baltic Island seals

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Geo Quiz takes us out to sea. If you travel clockwise around the Baltic Sea, you can visit any of the Baltic countries: Sweden, Finland, Estonia, Latvia, Lithuania, Russia, Poland, Germany, and finally Denmark. Download MP3

See photos of the grey seals

Finland loses weight, Nepal gets help

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An anonymous millionaire is sponsoring an unusual weight loss campaign in Finland. For every 2 pounds shed by Finns — 20 dollars will go to fund education for children in Nepal. Anchor Marco Werman finds out more from Finnish reporter Heli Keskinen.

Tech Podcast 275: Nope, no iPad

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No, this is not an exclusive screenshot from the new iPad. In fact, this episode has absolutely nothing in it about Apple’s shiny new gadget. This is, in fact, the first “screengrab” from John Logie Baird’s “televisor.” Find out all about it in this week’s episode. Also, we hear about Internet connectivity in Nigeria and Finland.

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No smoking

For today’s Geo Quiz it’s a question of whether to light up or butt out. We want to know which Nordic country is getting tough on smokers.

Tech Podcast: Viktor Mayer-Schönberger

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The highlight of our technology podcast this week is an interview with author Viktor Mayer-Schönberger about his new book, called Delete: The Virtue of Forgetting in The Digital Age. It’s a fascinating look at how digital technologies, and especially the growing capacity for storage, has made us forget how to forget. Listen in, and then weigh in with your comments. Download MP3

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David Crystal’s life in language, Moominmania and Nowheristan

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In this week’s The World in Words podcast, the granddaddy of British linguists David Crystal reflects on a life in language. Crystal is an inclusionist: he welcomes slang and textspeak, for example, into the English language. He recalls that as a young academic he was contacted by a shoe company who placed an order with him for several nouns and adjectives. Also this week, the Moomins: they’re as popular in their native Finland as Disney is in the United States. But strange things happen to the Moomins when they are translated into Japanese, Cantonese or English. Finally, we hear from a Lebanese man who has proclaimed himself Emperor of Nowheristan. Download MP3