When my fellow blogger living in Budapest, Jez Wegierski, posted about attending Global Voices summit somehow I didn't think about checking the organisation behind that event (even though I AM interested in events). I have just came across this very informative and extremely active portal now, and I must say I am well impressed. GlobalVoices is a large portal containing several sub-projects. Apart from the translation sites, I found the Global Voices Advocacy the most interesting one. It not only contains quite adequate data and insights on free speech on-line, but actually suggests tool to fight for it in those countries where some sites are banned.




Have a look at their 403 checker - it's a free to download tool helping to track back what sites were banned on one's pc. Also, some of those are included in the Access Denied Map. This is the type of info you do not find easily, here publicly available. I like when people bravely talk about issues and face the word with facts! Well done!
So, considering some involvement myself, I have contacted them asking about the aim of the site, and got a response from person called Portnoy: 'The main goal of Lingua and GV is to balance the world's information flow biased by MSM and with the help of more than 200 volunteers we have build a citizen media community based on bloggers around the world.
We tackle the 3 obstacles(censorship, digital divide, and language) toward a true global village with Global Voices Advocacy, Rising Voices, and Lingua. You can read more info here'
That is exactly what social media should do, don't you think?

Car free day?

Of course I went to work by car today- currently I have no alternatives! Personally I prefer to go to work by bus or train, simply because I can read in the meantime. I am not looking forward to the times when I have to drive myself:P and when I move to Oxford I really want to take the train and shuttle bus (20 min altogether) instead of suffering in the traffic. I can enjoy driving and freedom of it over the weekends, if I want to.

I am happy that there is a day when people are made to think about alternative ways of getting to work or moving around town in general. And I am happy it's a European initivative:)
Sometimes we are so trapped in day-to-day reality... What do you think, if you had a choice, would you go to work by bike or a bus?

12seconds.tv

Here you go...I was told off for 1. lack of videos on my blogs 2. not showing myself 3. not using 12seconds...

welcome on 12seconds.tv

It seems to be a cool site, so hope to be back with more soon.

best photo recently...

..and a good portrait as well - my son today, during the town fair - his first time during such an event...

why I like Johny Depp?

..because he reads Beat Generation, like Jack Kerouac...


Let me remind you what his view on writing was (more here):
'1. Scribbled secret notebooks, and wild typewritten pages, for yr own joy

2. Submissive to everything, open, listening

3. Try never get drunk outside yr own house

4. Be in love with yr life

5. Something that you feel will find its own form

6. Be crazy dumbsaint of the mind

7. Blow as deep as you want to blow

8. Write what you want bottomless from bottom of the mind

9. The unspeakable visions of the individual

10. No time for poetry but exactly what is

11. Visionary tics shivering in the chest

12. In tranced fixation dreaming upon object before you

13. Remove literary, grammatical and syntactical inhibition

14. Like Proust be an old teahead of time

15. Telling the true story of the world in interior monolog

16. The jewel center of interest is the eye within the eye

17. Write in recollection and amazement for yourself

18. Work from pithy middle eye out, swimming in language sea

19. Accept loss forever

20. Believe in the holy contour of life

21. Struggle to sketch the flow that already exists intact in mind

22. Don't think of words when you stop but to see picture better

23. Keep track of every day the date emblazoned in yr morning

24. No fear or shame in the dignity of yr experience, language & knowledge

25. Write for the world to read and see yr exact pictures of it

26. Bookmovie is the movie in words, the visual American form

27. In praise of Character in the Bleak inhuman Loneliness

28. Composing wild, undisciplined, pure, coming in from under, crazier the better

29. You're a Genius all the time

30. Writer-Director of Earthly movies Sponsored & Angeled in Heaven '

The Boy in the Striped Pijamas, John Boyne

...is a must read! I was waiting for it since a week (last Saturday, before watching the Duchess I saw the trailer of the film based on the novel by John Boyne). It's a next generation of 'Little Prince'!
It has been ages since I read a book in one go completely loosing the sense of reality - and I was about to go to bed early tonight, right...Bruno's story is.. o, damn it, I really do not know where to start, I even took a long hot bath to put this post together, and it's already falling apart - I will not tell you the story - media is shouting about it anyway, but it doesn't matter if you know or not - if you don't you will enjoy it just as much as a person who does, simply because it's WELL WRITTEN! Every single stop, every ending of a chapter, the rythm of the book, peoples gestures, silences and hidden tears (does anyone actually cry?), all the warnings and sence of obligation - to the country, family, but mainly to yourself! All the grown up questions and childish naivity! All the 200 pages of brilliant piece of literature!:)

Now we can see it on the screens.(with a great deal of Hungarian actors, btw)...
The story itself is (film trailer here) about boundaries, respect and friendship, but it also is a well written piece on Auschwitz and hitlerism (the every-day hitlerism)...about blindness and open hearts, about people trapped in the wrong times and places.
I think the ending is a perfect solution for a book writen for US/UK/Irish readers - I think it might be percieved diferently in Eastern Europe - but I think we all actually do need those endings.
I was 9 years old when I visited Auschwitz camp museum. My father lied that I was 11 (the minimum admission age for children) knowing me very well, and wisely. There is no age that can prepare you for the reality of that place. There is no book, or film that can actually show you what it meant to be a Jew living in there...I remember that th emost shocking issue for me was the fact mentioned in the induction film - that twins, children were speared from going straight to the gas chamber simply for the sake of medical experiments - 1. was it really any better? 2. if yes, if they survived, how does it feel to be alive simply because you were born as a twin? so randomly saved...that was the point where the 'big lie' lost on its 'logic' to me. At the age of 9.
(Bruno is 9, his friend too. Maybe that is why I felt so close to the actions and emotions of those characters.)
I also remember every block, every wall, I could draw the plan of the place. I went back two times, to see if I can learn more, but I think I have learned enough as a 9 year old girl: this is not meant to happen and cannot be allowed, but yes, we do tent to behave like animals...(one thing Hitler WAS right about).

At the age of 30 I experienced myself the low of the lowest behaviours in my own house and I know how easy it is to miss the point, to forget the ethics, to let others brake the rules of humanity - and how easy it is to resist, to protect yourself and to recover.

I see it all in this well written story!

I definitely will pass this book on to every single soul I know! And I will encourage everyone to go and see the film (John Boyne is writing about its London première on his blog).

(On a way from the film - The Dutchess - last weekend I heard a couple talking about something similiar. The guy was telling his friend a real story of a child - victim of Auschwitz, who was saved by a Polish servant girl who fed the boy every day with an apple. When the boy grew up and went back to - I think - US - he had a blind date arranged with...the very same woman! Proposed to her the same evening! - I really would like to believe it's truth)

Twitter ratio - restrictions?

One of my new twitter contacts mentioned that there is a 'secret twitter ratio' causing certain restrictions - but I do not really know what it means? Is Twitter restricting the amount of friends or followers? I looked for the info on different blogs writing about Twitter ratio (ratio of our Twitter followers to our friends) but I cannot see this being mentioned:/
Actually the ratio and its connection to human behaviour idea does reflect mine. I agree that some of use Twitter to chat, some to network, some to do it all and to gather knowledge.
Here's my official Twitter ratio:
To quote Scoble, I belong to those who 'want to learn more' which perfectly matches my intentions:)

I would like to know thought if there are any rules connected to the Twitter ratio which might affect my account...

social media vs. traditional communication and more - thoughts on the bus

On a way from work, listening to Damien Rice, I heard this ‘Read me your favourite line..’(from a book) and it hit me! Lolly posted about her favourite Twitter lines today as well….It’s been so long since I had E.A. Poe in my hands and I can still quote the Raven in Polish! My 'the line' is the ending
'And my soul from out that shadow that lies floating on the floor
Shall be lifted--nevermore!'
I think about my favourite painting form Beksinski - one of a kind, since it had NEVERMORE written of a balloon drifting away. I think about the painting of the Raven painted based ont he poem specially for me for my 18th Birthday – left behind in Budapest, and as it turns out now – simply given away I did like the thought of it, actually – I learned to let things go, things, not people. I treasure the people who honour me with their time…

Letting people go...
...we had a discussion about writing traditional letters in the office the other day and I must admit that seeing the average attitude (bills, official packages) I stayed quiet – I do write personal letters and some of my closest friend know me (and vice versa) from those. I left some of those behind, and I have a small collection now, but I still enjoy receiving one time to time. I actually need to put time aside to write a few more to new friends nowadays, and I am sure I will make them happy.

There is magic in paper travelling between the space and time – unlike e-mails, letters feel, smell, look personal. You wait for them, or they surprise you…you see the person you love (this way or another) caught in a moment – you follow the emotions together with the lines of their handwriting. The handwriting is their soul in front of you, in your hands!

I appreciate social media, I love the speed and globalisation of all communication tools, I like to make new, rather shallow relationships based on common respect and knowledge or information share. Those are capable of gestures too – one of my closest friends created a blog specially for me to update me on her thoughts after she stopped writing letters – lack of time, I guess. I am honoured and read it, comment on it, use it as our private venue, our common table and cups of coffee, in a way. Still, we do write letters, we store them, read them again and we do appreciate each of them. I will never move away from magic of a simple letter.

Just as I will never move away from reading books and memorising the best lines…

What is your favourite line form a book, by the way? What is it that makes us stop – go back-read it again- remember?

Amnesty newsletter

Dear Sylwia,

When I took a job in 1976 with a small human rights group called Amnesty International, I had modest expectations. Up to then, I had been a '60s radical dedicated to ending the war in Vietnam and fighting injustice here at home.

But I reached a point where I needed to make some money while I looked for the next big thing. Amnesty International was looking for a press officer, and I signed up.

Early in my career at Amnesty, I had coffee with Pavel Litvinov, a Soviet dissident who had been arrested for demonstrating in Red Square and thrown into the Soviets' brutal gulag prison system for five years. He told me the only thing that kept him going during those lonely years in prison was knowing that Amnesty International was out there working to secure his freedom.




Join me. Become a member of Amnesty International today.
Join amnesty now!

Donate by September 30th, and your gift will be matched dollar-for-dollar!

For a young activist like me, it was a startling realization -- that our actions could have real power, that Amnesty could literally open a prison door and save a life halfway around the world.

Amnesty International continues to mobilize thousands of people who have never been tortured or imprisoned for their beliefs to act on behalf of those who have. But we can't do it without you -- become a member today.

The world has changed dramatically since the Cold War, but from Darfur to Burma, people are still being jailed, beaten, even killed for attempting to defend their human rights.

Will you commit to improving human rights worldwide by becoming a member of Amnesty International today? If you contribute by September 30th, your gift will be matched dollar for dollar by a generous Amnesty donor -- up to $130,000.

You'll be joining a movement of 2.2 million people worldwide that produces extraordinary results. Prisoners of conscience are freed. Death sentences are commuted. Torturers are brought to justice. Governments are persuaded to stop their human rights abuses.

We are not waiting for a new administration in Washington, D.C. to reverse U.S. human rights practices. We are the agents of change that will make it happen. And this month, your donation will go twice as far.

If there's one thing I've learned in my 30-year career, it's that no other organization is more recognized for its tireless and effective work to defend human rights worldwide.

Thank you for your continuing commitment to our work.

Sincerely,

Larry Cox
Executive Director
Amnesty International USA

Amnesty US newsletter

Dear Supporter

Welcome to the Autumn 2008 issue of Action. The Beijing Olympics have been a spectacular sporting event but they've taken place against a backdrop of human rights violations. The Chinese authorities have prevented activists from expressing their views, holding many in detention when they have committed no crime and arresting journalists who have tried to report on human rights violations. Read more about the situation in China here

Regards,
Dugald McNaughtan
Activism, Amnesty International UK

Control arms

World is watching Help secure an Arms Trade Treaty. Two years ago 153 governments voted at the UN to develop an Arms Trade Treaty. Act now to ensure they honour this promise and deliver the treaty. Take action

Cluster bomb ban Good news Cluster bomb ban. On Friday 30 May, the UK signed a treaty banning cluster munitions, and in doing so, agreed to drop it's calls for exemptions and ban its two remaining cluster bomb systems. Read more

Loopholes closed in arms export controls Good news Loopholes closed in arms export controls. The UK government has announced several new measures to improve its own arms export controls. It will close loopholes on small arms brokering and trafficking as well as introduce controls on arms that could be used for torture. Read more

Amnesty on the web

ProtectTheHuman.com Amnesty's new socially based activism website ProtectTheHuman.com now features 'groups' functionality. Users can create groups based on Human Rights issues, hold discussions and post related content. Visit the site and provide us with feedback

Business and human rights

A young boy holds a banner which has 'clean up Bhopal now' written on it Good news Bhopal - Survivor organisations claim victory The Government of India announced that it will set up an Empowered Commission on Bhopal, and take legal action on the civil and criminal liabilities of Union Carbide and Dow Chemical. Read more

Stop violence against women

Parvin Ardalan, one of five women's rights activists arrested in connection with a peaceful demonstration on 12 June 2006 demanding equal rights for women in Iran. Image courtesy of www.kosoof.com Women's rights campaigners in Iran. Women in Iran face far-reaching discrimination under the law. They are denied equal rights in marriage, divorce, child custody and inheritance. Activists working to defend women's rights continue to face harassment by the Iranian authorities. Take action

Terrorism, security and human rights

Binyam Mohammed, Uk Resident detained at Guantánamo Bay © Private Health concerns for UK resident detained at Guantánamo Bay. Send an appeal to David Miliband to get UK resident Guantánamo detainee Binyam Mohamed moved out to a less harsh environment. Take action

LGBT rights

Turkish LGBT rights Turkish LGBT rights action. A local court in Istanbul ordered the closure of the Turkish lesbian, gay, bisexual and transgender solidarity organization, Lambda Istanbul. Such a closure violates the right to freedom of association. Take action

Events

The secret policeman's ball 2008 The secret policeman's ball 2008. Tickets for this year's Secret Policeman's Ball are now on sale. You can buy them here or read more about the event here.

Ways of supporting Amnesty

Join us Join us Amnesty relies on the support of individuals for 94% of our income. Become a member with a one-off payment of £24 or spread the cost through direct debit; concessions available for students and the unwaged. Find out more

Polish moods

Tonight I am resting...thinking of the free ticket I was offered for Sunday concert of Polish music on Wembley...and the fact I was running, celebrating Birthday and was needed somehere else...th more I think of it, waiting for Magda's post with pictures from event on Bar Mleczny (our initiative to open a milk bar in Oxford to promote Polish arts:)), the more I miss bits a pieces like those below...ech...I do miss Poland and Polish language sometimes:)
Raz dwa trzy - Trudno nie wierzyć w nic

Cesaria Evora & Dorota Miśkiewicz - Um Pincelada

Dorota Miśkiewicz - POZA CZASEM

Maria Peszek - Nie mam czasu na seks

justyna steczkowska- grawitacja

Tam, gdzie nie siega wzrok - Anna Maria Jopek


I hope I managed to finish with a less abstract song;) And I hope you enjoyed this short intro to the Polish music.

WATER! you can help too

Check this site and think about it every single time you drink water - sometimes we take it all for granted...

Brand Sustainability - Conference

I was asked by Don Carli, one of the organisers of the Green Media Show planned for the 1-2nd of October in Boston to check the site and share my opinion about the event, but I am in trouble - apart from the fact I understand the importance of green media, I am not really aware of its current situation!
The website sounds promising for any company:

'Attend The Green Media Show and Conference and avoid:

1.	Loss of a major bid with green requirements.
2.	Finding your brand damaged by people or the press calling your bluff on your stated sustainable practices.
3.	The damage to your image when asked for your Sustainability Statement and you don’t have one.
4.	The repercussions when a shareholder asks your CEO hard questions about the sustainability of your media choices and knowing he hasn’t a clue because you haven’t given him answers yet. Or her.
5.	Printing your Sustainability Report in a totally non-sustainable way and posting the pdf on a website powered by coal-burning generators. Way to go.'

And the materials available are impressive. I was hoping to see a link to a blog or a feed where I can follow the event itself since I am rather grounded at the moment - but then I realized there is still time! No rush!
If I could, I would love to attend! I have found a bit info about green media here, but I would be careful saying 'green considerations have become a major factor in our decision-making' - I am not really sure it is happening. Not yet. For some companies it might sound relevant, for some completely out of scope...see this discussion on BrandRepublic...

I would like to have more time to learn where businesses are with green media in the US and in the UK, so I guess a conference is a good call - raising any type of awareness if positive. Good luck with it!:)

Update: I was just informed that the conference will have a Twitter feed and potentially live blogging. Great!:)

InterNations - Women Expats Lives - meet-up

On Saturday, before the run, I was invited to a small meet-up of members of InterNations Women Expat Lives group in one of London's private clubs where I met 7 extremely intelligent and interesting women. I really regret that I had to leave earlier to be able to wake up the next day and complete the run, nevertheless I really enjoyed sharing expat experiences, posting on-line from the club and simply having a chat with newly met women.

I did not however enjoy the situation on the bus on a way there, when I had to stop a robber from taking a wallet out of a girl's bag just in front of me, on a rather empty bus! I was soooo annoyed that this guy even dared to try to do it assuming I will not say a word (scared, trying to blend in, one of a crowd?), that I though I MYSELF will turn into a criminal and hit him! I managed to control myself not to cause myself trouble, still - it did make me very, very angry. I simply have seen enough of this in large cities like Warsaw, Budapest, Barcelona and I do not want to cope with it inhere...it is unacceptable...

Evening turned out to be perfectly pleasant though and I hope to see the ladies again quite soon;)

5K

Despite the rainy morning I managed to get out of bed, have an early breakfast and walk over to Hyde Park (10min from the place where I stayed:)). I must say the atmosphere of the run was brilliant and made me feel very confident! I really enjoyed being a part of a huge event (1900 attendees in London, 2000 in Bristol and 2000 in Liverpool), event promoting charity in general! It's been ages that I have been to a huge event, and I have never ever been an active member of a run or any other sport event (apart from school event, of course) and I realized there is something magical and completely objective in the common interest and common activity...an ancient purity, even though this one was heavily branded!

It was very emotional and very uplifting, so I managed to completed 3km in 30 min, then finished in 40 min even though I did need to walk a bit! Amazing! I honestly did not think I can make it after poor training and 3 years of complete passivity, pregnancy and quite a stretched time of constant nervousness and loss of weight!
Well, it's done, and I am very happy I managed to collect half of my aimed amount - simply because I never thought I will be able to raise money AT ALL! So once again thank you for supporting me and keeping me going! It really means a lot to me and all other women who need support in hard times! It's such a simple thought but truly matters! Thanks!

Buzz marketing

Word Of Mouth Marketing Techniques WOMM
by Kameran

View SlideShare presentation or Upload your own. (tags: consulting napa)

Anna from IKEA

Have you seen this? I had sooooo much fun!!! Just go to IKEA US site, and find Anna - the customer assistant. And just ask! I have learned about her from David Meerman Scott's post, but as far as I can see, Anna has already a few fans on-line. You can find her best quotes here and here.
She is also inspiration for musicians?:

For me, well, fun. made me laugh. I guess it must be frustrating if you are looking for something. Personally I always get lost on IKEA sites , but hey, unlike Anna, I am blond;)

Chrome, enough

OK, we have those topics that everyone is talking about (even about the inspiration behind its logo!), but it really tires me out now to hear about new browsers. I like to have good tools for work, so I do test them all, as I did with Chrome, but I am getting to the stage where only Firefox 3 is suitable for my needs (sorry, Flock - you have a good team, but still need to work on it a bit).
I need to get rig of all others from my laptop, I mean look at this list!

Five different web browsers it way too much!

Firefox 3 stays, decided!
There are few interesting things about the Chrome launch itself though...I liked the idea of the cartoon. I see there are browser themes available already, and Google privacy terms and conditions issue got me interested though.. hm... I wonder if Google will make it to the top three:) Thoughts?

What do you think of death penalty? Please, let me know!

Dear Sylwia,

Troy Davis is scheduled to be executed by the state of Georgia on September 23, even though his serious claims of innocence have never been heard in court.

Take action right now to stop this execution!

Troy Davis was convicted of murder solely on the basis of witness testimony, and seven of the nine non-police witnesses have since recanted or changed their testimony, several citing police coercion. Others have signed affidavits implicating one of the remaining two witnesses as the actual killer. But due to an increasingly restrictive appeals process, none of this new evidence has ever been heard in court.

Take action and then forward this action to ten friends!

On July 16, 2007, the Georgia Board of Pardons and Paroles stayed Troy Davis’ execution, stating that it would “not allow an execution to proceed in this State unless and until its members are convinced that there is no doubt as to the guilt of the accused” (emphasis added). The failure of courts to hear the compelling evidence of innocence in this case means that massive doubts about Troy Davis’ guilt will remain unresolved.

Urge the Georgia Board of Pardons and Paroles to be true to its words and prevent this execution from proceeding!

In solidarity,

Sue Gunawardena-Vaughn
Director, Death Penalty Abolition Campaign
Amnesty International USA

What an idiot! Forgot my blog's Birthday!

I just realised my blog kicked off a year ago, on the 1st of September!
How could I forget???
Oh yes, maybe by kicking off another blog, hehe... (this time together with Magda, my fellow blogger from Oxford, who loves Polish food and remaining of socialist subculture, in this case milk bars - we want one in Oxford and we want to dig out all the childhood memories - the good ones;))...
....oh well, women do not count the years, right?
Happy 1st Birthday to my UK blog:D


Present? A rainbow.......or two rainbows.....on the way from work.

Update: Well, I had to sleep on it - truth being I have written this on a different engine before, so how does it work now - I have not celebrated blog birthdays yet:/ I am not sure if I should celebrate this one...maybe I should leave it for January? Any advice, anyone?..I'll still think about it:P

Exactly, this whole blog birthday thing reflects how confused I am nowadays...uff..