Justine Toms’ blog

a very nice way to keep people longer and to entertain them, even if you are a washing machine

http://www.bannerblog.com.au/2008/05/puntomatic_tablet.php

Facebook goes more public, and threatens Google

read more here

if interested some of my presentations and lectures are already on SlideShare.net/JustineToms

“Libel readers (and report-writers) should keep in mind the limitation of the libel reading function. A reviewer should not try to substitute political judgment for the authors, either about whether the report is worthwhile or trivial or whether the policy positions taken in the report are desirable. A libel reviewer may at times point out typos or offer editorial suggestions, but her responsibility is not to proofread reports. A sloppily written report may be more amenable to libel challenge because it creates the appearance of carelessness; or it may so reduce the credibility of the report that readers are not likely to take its charges seriously. Nor should a libel reviewer ensure that sensible conclusions are being drawn, or sound legal analysis employed, except insofar as such judgments may bear on the amenability of the report to libel litigation. Nor, even, does a libel review assess the accuracy of the report, per se, except insofar as accuracy relates to libel exposure. The reviewer’s sole objective is to enable report authors to achieve their expressive or political objectives while protecting themselves, and any organization for which they may be writing, from exposure to libel liability or litigation.”

read the article here

Nikolay Kolev “Accept the fact that all people make mistakes, learn from your own ones, and try hard not to repeat them.”

If you are Bulgarian and have a blog – you must be interesting person! But my friend Rayna Tzvetkova is one of the very interesting people I know. She is beautiful, creative, smiling, likes to travel, to read and to share. From time to time we have coffee together and she always offers me lovely ideas. Actually her English language blog, with short impressions and links inspired me to start my English language blog (this one, beside of the one I have in Bulgarian)

You can find her at – Rayn@’s Spot at – http://tzvetkova.wordpress.com

Here we go with an interview with Rayna about blogging and Internet:

When you were a child, what were your dreams to become as an adult?
I have been studying English since second grade at school and my English teacher was my favourite. I wanted to become like her when I grow up. When she went away on maternity leave, I missed her so much that I would often ask my mother to call and enquire when she was coming back. She was an incredible person. Unfortunately she is no longer among us, but is among the people I value a great deal and will always treasure her memory. To Mrs. Ljubov Petrova-Madrova, teacher and translator – with love!

How did you become a blogger?
It started ‘impromptu’ and even now I do not take myself seriously as a blogger. Keeping a blog for me is rather a hobby. One nice July evening last year Velian Staykov (blogger since many years) and I were having dinner in the garden of a restaurant in the very heart of Sofia (Your Place). We both had our laptops with us and talking and joking, in ten minutes with his help I already had a blog registered at Wordpress. I have been fascinated by the idea of having a blog and have been thinking of staring one. So I gladly accepted the help Velian offered.

You have been keeping a blog for quite some months now. What inspires you?
I get inspired by people the way they are, by their successes and achievements, by the things that make them happy. When I travel I keep thinking what and how to include in my blog. After watching a movie or a play that I enjoy, I can’t wait to share my impressions. I try to keep my postings short, as some friends say: ‘your postings are like a teaser’ – they make one curious to know more, they are not boring and are playfully written. One of the comments on my blog made me smile with content, as it was making an interesting analogy between books as windows to the world and blogs, comparing surfing through my blog to travelling in a train: ‘I like to look through Rayn@’s window. It is like travelling in a train, before you feel the sense of a place or an idea, the train leads you to the next…’ (Elena Ganeva)

Which are the main topics that you write about in your blog?
I write mainly of people that inspire me, of books that impress me or of places I travel to. I write of things I observe directly. Every event that attracts my attention can find a bit of space in my blog (can find its spot in my Spot). For example, if I am searching for something in Google and if Google’s logo looks different (sometimes it does when commemorating a date or an event) this may trigger my imagination and I spontaneously drop a short line. Anything that interests me or intrigues me can motivate me to write and share about it.

Why are you writing in English?
I am writing in English, as some of my friends, acquaintances or colleagues are foreigners who do not know Bulgarian. My Bulgarian friends and colleagues are pretty good in English. When I am travelling outside Bulgaria, sometimes I write from local Internet Clubs or Cafes, where computers do not have Cyrillic.

What in your view is the biggest challenge of blogging?
The blogging challenges, in my view, depend on the objectives set by the blogger – to be popular, to have many people reading you, to sell and/or promote a product or an idea, or just to have fun. For me the biggest challenge is to write short, not to bore people who deliberately or accidentally came across my blog, to make it fun for readers and – if while searching for something else (provided I have a short text on the same issue) they accidentally came to my blog – to take them to the source for more information (for example if am travelling to Rila Monastery, the text in my blog is short but I search for exhaustive sources and link to them).

Can everyone (every woman) become a blogger?
This question reminds me of the funny response attributed to Arthur Rubinstein when approached in the street near Carnegie Hall, and asked, “Pardon me sir, but how do I get to Carnegie Hall?” He replied, “Practice, practice, practice.” In my view desire and objectives are the two major ingredients in keeping a personal blog.

How much time daily or weekly do you spend on your blog?
Writing itself takes much less of my time (some 10 or 15 minutes a day) than the time I spend choosing from everything that impresses me what I’d like to write about, how to word it and visualize it.

Most bloggers are men. How would you explain that?
I think the same is true about poets and philosophers. I am not interested in the reasons why. I read those bloggers who are of interest to me and who voice their own thoughts.
Is it heroism to be a woman in today’s world?
I have no idea how it was to be a woman in other times and weather our grandmothers weren’t more of heroines than we are, as they did not have even a tiny little fraction of everything we have today. I like the Eastern philosophy which emphasises that the present is the only time we have. Somewhere it was nicely worded that the past is a history, while the future is a mystery, so the more time we spend enjoying the present moment – the better, at least this is the case with me.

What are you dreaming for?
For more harmony – within me and around me. For warmer weather. For the summer and the sea…and sometimes for … a Breakfast at Tiffany’s…

What message would you pass over to Bulgarian women?
To be braver in our dreams, to be more persistent in the pursuit of dreams and to have more positive thoughts.

Favourite colour? Song? Taste? Place?
My favourite colours are the pastel ones. At home most things are in peach colour…and papaya …and…
My favourite song is from the ‘Ghost” movie…and I enjoy the music of Paco de Lucía…. and …Sade … and…
My favourite taste is of a freshly baked bread…and chocolate…and coffee…
And my favourite place: I love different places; however I feel happiest in the summer by the sea… and … (online) – in the blogosphere

to all my students or to those who deal with web – an old (Sept 2005), but vary important article of Tim O’Raily on Web 2.0 – main differences in between Web 1.0 and Web 2.0, definitions, key lessons

link the the article here

“In mid-2008, eMarketer calculated that UK social network ad spending would reach £175 million ($322 million) in 2009. Changes in the market have led to revisions of the 2009 estimate downward by about 20%, although that would still be a healthy increase over the £115 million ($212 million) total estimated for 2008.”

more here

“The Internet is now the most popular source of news after TV”

“In 2008, 40% of the respondents said they got most of their national and international news from the Internet, versus 35% for newspapers”

the whole story – here

this post is an invitation for my students – if you would like to be part of the Google Online Marketing Challenge with my team, please be kind to reply to this post with entering your name

just the first 12 will participate

the start will be sometime end of January, duration – a few months, tasks will come online
more info to come soon