Alko Taxi: Estonia booze to your door!
Great idea!! Finally someone challenging the state-run monopoly, Alko, with an improved service!!
Finnish health authorities are launching an investigation into a business that delivers Estonian alcoholic beverages in Finland door-to-door. For the past few weeks an Alko taxi, a van painted in a garish yellow, has been delivering Estonian alcoholic beverages to thirsty dwellers in the capital city region.
Customers place and pay for their orders online. To date some 50 orders—mostly in Helsinki—have been placed with this unconventional drink-dispensing service. Vasili Visnapuu, who’s in charge of the cab’s deliveries, says the business is legit as the alcoholic beverages are delivered for free and because the transaction occurs on the internet.
Oops, nevermind, no one better compete against our state monopolies!! Plus, it’s run by evil foreigners, even worse…Estonians!! SHUT’EM DOWN!! (looks like their website has been shutdown already)
Finnish health officials are, however, far from thrilled by the new service.
Kari Paaso of the Ministry of Social Affairs and Health says the Alko taxi is driving down a grey road.
“The law is quite unclear on this issue, which is why the parliamentary ombudsman has requested an inquiry on the matter,” says Paaso.
Photo snagged from Darren’s Flickr account
How can they shut the site down if the law is “quite unclear?”
Comment by Dave the Revelator — Wed, Jun 24th, 2009 @ 2:43 pm
next time you want to use one of my pictures, contact me first or at least give attribution (as per its licence & flickr rules).
http://www.flickr.com/photos/dw/3626346178/
Comment by darren — Wed, Jun 24th, 2009 @ 2:58 pm
Looks like the web site is up and running again
Comment by Anonymous — Wed, Jun 24th, 2009 @ 3:11 pm
You would have thought Phil knew better than stealing photos (or knew better how to re-use photos) after recently settling out-of-court and being forced to self-censor and delete comments about this sort of thing!
Comment by Bobby — Wed, Jun 24th, 2009 @ 3:16 pm
@darren – So sorry! When I found the photo, I was unable to find the Flickr user. All I saw was: http://farm3.static.flickr.com/2434/3626346178_ebd053ac90.jpg?v=0 – how do you find the username from that? My sincere apologies.
Comment by Phil — Wed, Jun 24th, 2009 @ 3:56 pm
You would have thought Phil knew better than stealing photos (or knew better how to re-use photos) after recently settling out-of-court and being forced to self-censor and delete comments about this sort of thing!
Heh, well, I honestly tried to find the owner but couldn’t.
The Finnish state’s official tourist site snagged my photo without informing me. I guess I should do the Iranian thing and sue, eh?
http://finland.fi/public/default.aspx?nodeid=37597&contentlan=2&culture=en-US
Comment by Phil — Wed, Jun 24th, 2009 @ 3:59 pm
from url: flickr pic number: 3626346178
http://www.flickr.com/photo_zoom.gne?id=3626346178
thanks for adding credit. now i can go back to ignoring this site for another few years
Comment by darren — Wed, Jun 24th, 2009 @ 4:16 pm
How exactly do you find a URL that doesn’t link to the username? When you use the search function in flickr or google it automatically returns results linked with Darren, so you must be using some sort of interesting search methodology that is somehow superior to Flickr and Google. Please share with us what it is.
Comment by Anonymous — Wed, Jun 24th, 2009 @ 4:37 pm
Oh puhleeze.
1. The selection is miserable: pure reindeer shit.
2. The prices on anything half-decent aren’t that tempting.
3. The reason for the site being down is the 486 it’s running on not being able to cope with the load brought by the advertising in the Finnish media.
Still, I welcome any activity that screws with our “porvarihallitus”.
On that note, Valio recently let us know that the reduced prices paid to milk producers won’t find their way to the consumer. Now, who could have guessed that?
Comment by Freeridin' Franklin — Wed, Jun 24th, 2009 @ 6:07 pm
Darren, that picture may in fact be yours, but if I were in your shoes, I would never have admitted it.
Did you use a .0000003 megapixel camera or a .00000005 ?
Comment by Dave the Revelator — Wed, Jun 24th, 2009 @ 6:26 pm
Heh, well at least the tourist site was using your photo to link to your blog.
Not being able to find the owner isn’t really an excuse to just blindly use it anyway.
One way to find very easily find the photo’s owner is to go to any Flickr webpage, put alkotaxi in the search box and click the blue search button. Just one single result, Darren’s photo. Two clicks and there’s the licensing info. So easy!
Or the same search in Google, the top result is the same page with licensing info.
Comment by Bobby — Wed, Jun 24th, 2009 @ 8:28 pm
thanks for adding credit. now i can go back to ignoring this site for another few years
Concentrate on your Photography career
Comment by Phil — Wed, Jun 24th, 2009 @ 11:16 pm
Not being able to find the owner isn’t really an excuse to just blindly use it anyway.
Are your torrents done downloading yet?
Comment by Phil — Wed, Jun 24th, 2009 @ 11:17 pm
Heh, sounds like a vision loss that can be ordered from the internet.
Comment by Antti rn — Thu, Jun 25th, 2009 @ 11:39 am
Darren shot this photo with a Nokia. That explains. (Phil and Darren buddies again now?
BTW You should read all the comments in this oldie once again! There are some classics in there
http://www.finlandforthought.net/2007/01/10/apples-new-iphone/
runner up: I was expecting something big, something revolutionary. Like I said, we’ve seen all of this before.
top spot:iPhone’s touchscreen was concepted by Nokia like 5 years ago. And we didn’t go in that direction. Hmmm….I wonder why?
Comment by majava — Thu, Jun 25th, 2009 @ 2:36 pm
Some of you guys are really wound up too tight… it is a fucking photo… apparently you dont have anything more important to whine about than copyrights to stupid photo
Comment by Anonymous — Thu, Jun 25th, 2009 @ 3:21 pm
booze is good. never been that stupid to get it from whatever countries there is.
Comment by hemmetti — Fri, Jun 26th, 2009 @ 11:30 pm
Alcohol is good, the pic is crap…
the concept of Hooch brought right to your door,….priceless.
Comment by Larjmarj — Sat, Jun 27th, 2009 @ 1:08 am
I wish I had thought of that first.
Comment by Steve Dallas — Sat, Jun 27th, 2009 @ 4:17 pm
Good idea.
They were lucky to get some free advertising from the Finnish media.
Comment by Mark — Sun, Jun 28th, 2009 @ 1:57 pm
About the topic posted: my first thought was if this booze delivery service checks ID’s. Do they leave packages at the door if nobody is home? Part of the investigation may pertain to how easy it is for underaged kids to get it? I remember the same issue came up in the US a couple of years ago with online ordering of alcohol. I tried to order some wine over the net and they couldn’t deliver to some states because they didn’t allow it.
Comment by Deb — Sun, Jun 28th, 2009 @ 10:39 pm
Majava – Have to admit I LOVE my Iphone! Lol!
Comment by Deb — Sun, Jun 28th, 2009 @ 10:46 pm
The yellow booze taxi,patrolling the streets of HELLsinki,is a stroke of ***GENIUS***!
A further improvement of advertising on the side of the alko-van,
would further increase sales of this cruising,KRAPOLA inducing,
vehicle!
JUMALAA TUSKIN ON OLIMASSA! is the slogan that will give more incitement to alko-holic frenzy drinking that is
SUOMI national cultural imperative!
http://www.yle.fi/uutiset/news/2009/06/atheist_bus_campaign_draws_official_complaintnbsp_832596.html
Comment by infinndel the jenkki dogg — Mon, Jun 29th, 2009 @ 2:53 pm
infinndel needs koski for krapula!
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=uJwslVNJESM
Comment by infinndel the jenkki dogg — Mon, Jun 29th, 2009 @ 4:06 pm
infinndel ***KRAPULA*** #2
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Ogo_s_unSEQ
Comment by infinndel the jenkki dogg — Mon, Jun 29th, 2009 @ 4:46 pm
Krapula is now my favorite Finnish word, awesome.
I love my iPhone too, it’s my little obsession.
Comment by Larjmarj — Mon, Jun 29th, 2009 @ 6:46 pm
the same issue came up in the US a couple of years ago
Fortunately, Finland isn’t the USA where kids must hide their drinking and then drive around intoxicated.
Comment by Veritas — Tue, Jun 30th, 2009 @ 12:24 am
hide my drinking??? well 30 drunken Sailors are headed you way
Comment by Winter (Go Protons, Cancer in remission, will soon be removed from "Dead Man Walking" video.) — Tue, Jun 30th, 2009 @ 12:34 am
the day after….***KRAPULA***…satana perkela….vittu!
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=jTS0LK0SAB0
Comment by infinndel the jenkki dogg — Tue, Jun 30th, 2009 @ 3:40 am
toasted in turku
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Ogo_s_unSEQ&feature=related
Comment by infinndel the jenkki dogg — Tue, Jun 30th, 2009 @ 3:41 am
young and lost in krapula
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=yre4rFHxA78&feature=fvw
Comment by infinndel the jenkki dogg — Tue, Jun 30th, 2009 @ 3:43 am
“Fortunately, Finland isn’t the USA where kids must hide their drinking and then drive around intoxicated.”
True, in Finland kids do not have to hide their drinking. It’s commonly approved.
Comment by Mussuka — Tue, Jun 30th, 2009 @ 10:17 am
@32 … and commonly tolerated and used as a permissible excuse for their antisocial behaviour.
Just the other day I complained about the graffiti tagging on the bus stop to my neighbor who just said …”well it was just a bunch of drunk teenagers”, as if that made it ok and nothing to worry about.
Comment by Steve Dallas — Wed, Jul 1st, 2009 @ 9:24 am
Estonia has (or at least, used to have) whore-vans, that would come by your place, and you could go out and check the offerings and (if you liked) make a selection. Then they’d come ’round a bit later after the, ehh, execution of the transaction.
When do they bring THAT innovation to Finland ?
Comment by v.i.lenin — Wed, Jul 1st, 2009 @ 10:07 am
Kids all over Europe drink at young age and it’s not a problem. It’s only a problem in Finland where drunk behaviour is accepted. The silly Finn nationalism is largely to blame: you just have to say Suomi! Suomi! Suomi! and everything is ok.
Comment by Jorma — Wed, Jul 1st, 2009 @ 7:21 pm
”well it was just a bunch of drunk teenagers”, as if that made it ok and nothing to worry about.”
Well it is just a bus stop. I’ll bet that the gentleman you were talking to would be a bit more angry if it were an old “stone” building instead or someones house.
Besides haven’t you heard of the Stop töhryille campaign. There are people sitting in jails for making graffities and tags plus on the top of that they have enourmous penalty fines they have to pay.
Comment by Anonymous — Wed, Jul 1st, 2009 @ 9:41 pm
Estonia has (or at least, used to have) whore-vans, that would come by your place, and you could go out and check the offerings and (if you liked) make a selection. Then they’d come ’round a bit later after the, ehh, execution of the transaction.
When do they bring THAT innovation to Finland ?
Call girl services/bordels exist in most of Europe. Finns are too prudish though, and the service would be rediculously expensive so what would be the point? It’s too bad, because maybe then there’d be fewer rapes in Finland.
Comment by P. North — Wed, Jul 1st, 2009 @ 11:55 pm
And who needs to pay a large fee to a prostitute if you can go to almost any baari in Helsinke centre on Friday night and get the full service at the price of 1 lager or even nothing? The only problem is the quality of those Finnish ladies suppliers.
Comment by Mussuka — Fri, Jul 3rd, 2009 @ 11:23 am
Tussumussu my love, the problem is that you just don’t have time to serve everyone. So many bars, so many punters.
Comment by Freeridin' Franklin — Fri, Jul 3rd, 2009 @ 11:04 pm
“Concentrate on your Photography career”
From the one leeching someone else’s content. Stay classy! Oh, the irony. Take your own fucking pictures then, instead of leeching from others, and then insulting them. Real mature, real classy.
Officially done with this POS blog. That other asshole should have shut this place down and done the internet a favor.
Comment by cyberg00se — Sun, Jul 5th, 2009 @ 2:19 pm
@40 Well go fuck yourself … Adios mother fucker…at least I wont miss you
Comment by @40 — Sun, Jul 5th, 2009 @ 9:21 pm
FF – speaking from own experience??? Looser like you not only needs a prostitute but fiurthermore probably cannot affor one. So Helsinki whores are your safety belt.
Comment by Mussuka — Tue, Jul 7th, 2009 @ 8:13 am
And futhermore FF – I suppose even those poor estonian or whatever nationality callgirls have some limits as to with whom they would go. You are most probably on their black list. Poor whanking soul:(
Comment by Mussuka — Tue, Jul 7th, 2009 @ 8:17 am
Mussutussu has real style.
Comment by presso — Tue, Jul 7th, 2009 @ 1:20 pm
Just trying to speak your level language. You don’t usually address the primitive bunch like yourselves in Queen’s British, do you?
Comment by Mussuka — Tue, Jul 7th, 2009 @ 1:27 pm
Sorry, but I could never reach your level of language.
Comment by presso — Tue, Jul 7th, 2009 @ 2:12 pm
Tussumussu:
“FF – speaking from own experience??? Looser like you not only needs a prostitute but fiurthermore probably cannot affor one.”
Probably not – times are tough. Has business slowed down since you seem to have so much time on your hands now? I recall you mentioning earlier that you will no longer cast your precious pearls of wisdom before me. What gives?
“And futhermore FF – I suppose even those poor estonian or whatever nationality callgirls have some limits as to with whom they would go. You are most probably on their black list.”
I must admit I do not share the extent of your knowledge on hookers and their blacklists; I am rather naïve on the subject. If you say so, then it must be.
“Just trying to speak your level language. You don’t usually address the primitive bunch like yourselves in Queen’s British, do you?”
No Tussumussu, I do not address anyone in a nonexistent language as you invariably do. As for Queen’s English, why yes, that is what they try to teach to hardheaded brats in these parts.
Comment by Freeridin' Franklin — Tue, Jul 7th, 2009 @ 9:50 pm
“As for Queen’s English, why yes, that is what they try to teach to hardheaded brats in these parts.”
Also to thickhead stoneage Finns, it seems. What for, I don’t know.
My knowledge, poor FF, of prostitutes is purely theoretical, however it would take a blind person not to see the obvious difference between the imported ones and the domestic cow-alikes. You need to be a REAL desperado to go for a Finnish whore. From what my common sense tells me, they should be at the very least good looking. Try to find such in Suomi.
Comment by Mussuka — Wed, Jul 8th, 2009 @ 2:45 pm
“Looser like y….”
Only losers write loser as a looser.
Comment by Cunt Cuntington — Wed, Jul 8th, 2009 @ 5:51 pm
As for the utility of Finnish whores, there’s actually a lovely song about the subject.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=WJRdt7AK_VA&feature=related
Racism against Finns and blacks in the same package. You’ll love it, Tussumussu – or would if you understood a word of the lyrics.
Comment by Freeridin' Franklin — Wed, Jul 8th, 2009 @ 8:13 pm
And only cunts concentrate on counting the mistakes.
FF seems to be very much interested in the subject of whores, especially the Finnish ones. I wonder why? Some memories perhaps…?
Comment by Mussuka — Thu, Jul 9th, 2009 @ 1:11 pm
Tussumussu:
“FF seems to be very much interested in the subject of whores, especially the Finnish ones. I wonder why? Some memories perhaps…?”
Very recent ones. Why, only two days ago a certain 20€ whore suspected I wouldn’t be able to afford her services.
Comment by Freeridin' Franklin — Thu, Jul 9th, 2009 @ 6:00 pm
And was she right? Or has it crossed your mind she was using an excuse? And same time escape.
Comment by Mussuka — Fri, Jul 10th, 2009 @ 8:33 am
Oh Tussu, you are pathetic.
Comment by presso — Fri, Jul 10th, 2009 @ 12:01 pm
And you are depressingly stupid 3 in 1.
Comment by Mussuka — Mon, Jul 13th, 2009 @ 9:37 am