The hunting season is upon us yet again. With the convenience of modern farming distilling its necessity as a source of food, just why does this divisive practise continue to attract participants?

HUNTING is one of the most basic rules of survival, though nowadays to many of us the idea of catching your own food is a very distant thought. Having long played a significant role in Finnish society and culture, hunting remains a very common practise in our northern country to this day.

Getting smart amongst the current avalanche of apps.

AS THE iPhone 4 makes itself comfortable on store shelves around the world, and with the Apple Store celebrating the sale of its three millionth iPad back in June, smartphones and tablet computers are currently enjoying an unprecedented surge in popularity worldwide.

This activity sees consumers and developers alike submerged in a frenzy of applications designed to bring a multitude of different conveniences and distractions to the palm of your hand. Since opening a little more than two years ago, Apple’s online App Store has swiftly become the focal point of this activity, with over 250,000 applications currently on offer – boasting an astonishing 6.5 billion downloads.

Seed bombs and secret vegetable patches - guerilla gardening aims to make the urban world a better place.

THE RAPID urbanisation of the world’s population has resulted in a lack of space, yet an increasing demand for gardens has sparked an enthusiasm for reclaiming neglected land. Urbanisation is lending itself to help create resourceful cities that respect ecological systems as well as encouraging socially and aesthetically pleasing environments. On the frontline of this phenomenon is “guerilla gardening,” the “guerrilla” term reflecting its adventurous, albeit illicit facet – the garden-less’ horticultural incursions and surreptitious cultivations on private land.

Internet forums work as a space for discussion on basically any given topic. Lately, however, immigration has been a particularly hot subject matter on many sites. What is currently causing heated debate is the shield of anonymity on these virtual discussion boards.

AS MANY as one in five Finns log in to the ubiquitous Suomi24 internet forum once a week, and have now amassed a staggering 50 million messages. And they are not alone; Helsingin Sanomat’s message boards receive 200,000 visitors per week, compiling several tens of thousands of messages. A similar number use the message boards of Ilta Sanomat, while dozens of other small forums exist, covering everything from knitting and horoscopes to politics and immigration.

The most anticipated game for 2010, Alan Wake, is geared up for release mid-May. With gaming enthusiasts counting down the days and the industry set to see the outcome of it, the developers at Remedy are confident the game is a true masterpiece.

REMEDY, one of Finland’s oldest software developers, is famous for two reasons: firstly for originally developing the popular 3D benchmark programme Futuremark (now 3DMark); secondly for releasing the bona-fide classics Max Payne 1 and 2, arguably the biggest games ever to emerge from Finland, in the early 2000s. Remedy’s latest project, the highly anticipated thriller Alan Wake, is out mid-May for the Xbox 360.