French Minister’s blog error reveals sponsorship of controversial 10-day week EU legislation April 1, 2008
Posted by David Petherick in : Blogs, News, Reports , add a commentThe blogosphere is abuzz today after an entry on French Communities Minister Jean-Jacques Atác’s web blog was apparently programmed to be released dated April 8th, but which appeared in error today.
The blog (which has since been pulled offline) reveals details of the Minister’s sponsorship of controversial ten-day week legislation, proposed to increase economic activity within the EU. The blog also revealed that his counterpart in Germany, Hans Tyaselv, will be supporting the bill, due to be introduced to the European Legislature in early May.
New real-time update web site twitter.com is buzzing with the news. There is also background input from the BBC with details of the French Calendar.
This is what could be found of Atác’s statement from newwires and the Associated Press archives this morning…
“The economic power of Europe is at stake in the next five years. We are now a community of over 400m individuals, who, by putting aside their national differences, have become a strong economic force capable of competing with the might of the United States. The ten-day week, or decade, has already been introduced in the past, during our own French Revolution, where the universally acknowledged values of liberty, egality and fraternity became part of French law, and similar ideas are now enshrined in the laws of almost every nation. What the ten day week provides is the opportunity for at least 8% greater productivity in working days per year across the nations of the EU, as well as allowing for the observation of all national holidays, and providing most European citizens with an additional 5 days per year of paid holiday.
“As the eminent mathematician Gilbert Romme has shown in his calculations, the mathematics are compelling, even without any discussion of the digital hour or any longer day proposals. This is chance for the people of Europe to increase their economic efficiency overnight, and for this reason I am sponsoring this bill. My colleagues in Germany have already given me their full support, and the so-called “Decade Act” will be moved forward for presentation in May, with the hope being that these changes will be enacted by September 2008.”
“The ten days of the decade are proposed to be called: primidi, duodi, tridi, quartidi, quintidi, sextidi, septidi, octidi, nonidi and décadi. Every décadi will be a rest-day. At the end of the year, the five remaining days of the solar year (16 - 22 September) will be proclaimed holidays: les Fêtes de la Vertu (Virtue), de la Génie (Talent), du Travail (Work), de l’Opinion (Opinion) and des Récompenses (Rewards). In leap years an additional Fête de la Révolution can be celebrated.”
“The year will no longer begin on 1 January, but at the autumn equinox and anniversary of the proclamation of the Republic of France: 21 September. Each month will be thirty days long, divided into three ‘decades’ of ten days each. it is not yet proposed to have a metric day, with ten hours of a hundred minutes, of a hundred seconds, as some integration issues have still to be resolved.”
“I hope that my colleagues across the EU will support this initiative, and although it will shock some people, it is a simple and effective method of ensuring economic growth at a stroke.”
It is widely expected that an official announcement will be made by Atác later today in Paris, with his German counterpart arranging a simultaneous briefing in Berlin to clarify the situation. Some doubts have been expressed by Turkish EU representatives as to whether in fact the blog was legitimate, and suspicions remain that the web site may have been hacked by anti-European activists.
Breaking news: Google still retained a cache copy of the Minister’s original blog.
BBC Journalist Alan Johnston is freed July 4, 2007
Posted by David Petherick in : News, Reports, alan johnston , add a comment
The BCC journalist Alan Johnston, kidnapped in March in Gaza, has been freed by his captors today.
Full story from BBC here.Those thousands of people round the world who campaigned for Alan’s release always hoped that reason would triumph over violence and coercion. Today, those people have a little victory. Welcome back Alan - it’s good to see you.
I think there will be a few people waiting to say hello when you get back to Scotland!
Breaking News: Video of abducted BBC reporter Alan Johnston released online June 1, 2007
Posted by David Petherick in : News, Reports, alan johnston , add a comment![[Alan Johnston]](http://www.bbc.co.uk/blogs/theeditors/alan_johnston.gif)
A video of Alan Johnston, the journalist abducted in Gaza on 12 March has appeared online.
First news breaking here on the BBC.
Reuters details and transcript.
You’re a Nobody unless your name Googles well - Wall Street Journal May 9, 2007
Posted by David Petherick in : Authority, Emedia, Networks, News, Online Communities, Reports , add a commentIt’s official - well, it is if you rate the Wall Street Journal’s front page as authoritative - if your name doesn’t Google well, you can have problems with your credibility - and not just with prospective employers.
You’re a Nobody Unless your Name Googles Well published on the 8th of May 2007, cites the example of Abigail Garvey, who, when she adopted the married name of Wilson, began to be questioned on publications she listed on her CV (résumé) because they weren’t finding the publications in online searches.
In the age of Google, being special increasingly requires standing out from the crowd online. Many people aspire for themselves — or their offspring — to command prominent placement in the top few links on search engines or social networking sites’ member lookup functions. But, as more people flood the Web, that’s becoming an especially tall order for those with common names. Type “John Smith” into Google’s search engine and it estimates it has 158 million results. (See search results.)
Ask.com estimates about 7% of all searches are for a person’s name, and more than 80% of executive recruiters said they routinely use search engines to learn more about candidates, according to a recent survey by ExecuNet. ExecuNet published “Growing Number Of Job Searches Disrupted By Digital Dirt” in June of 2006, which found that “35% (of executive recruiters) have eliminated a candidate from consideration based on the information uncovered online - up significantly from 26% just one year ago.
So, aside from naming your children carefully after a Google search, and including your full name in all online postings, how can you reach the top of Google?
The answer is actually very simple: Join Ecademy for Search Success: - Just create an online profile at Ecademy, and within as short a timescale as a few weeks, by following simple techniques to add structured information to your profile, and adding blogs and marketplace content relevant to your expertise within Ecademy, Google will rank your name, link to your web content and web sites. The cost is minimal - £10 ($20) a month lets you raise your visibility, as well as become part of a strong business network that’s been growing quietly and organically since 1998, when social media really was not on anyone’s radar.
Powered by ScribeFire.
US Lawyers suing YouTube infringe YouTube trademark with class action website May 6, 2007
Posted by David Petherick in : Authority, Blogs, News, Online Communities, Reports , add a comment
A little blog can go a long way….
I’ve caught the attention of franticindustries.com with my suggestion that YouTube sue the lawyers trying to sue them.
Youtube, as I reported here yesterday, are being sued by The English Football League and Bourne Music in what their lawyers hope will become a class action lawsuit. However, they have seen fit to set up a web site at http://www.youtubeclassaction.com/ which invites others to join in if they have a complaint against YouTube infringing copyright.
Stan Schroeder at Franticindustries.com has published my suggestion that YouTube should sue these lawyers for infringement of the YouTube trademark - as the domain name appropriates the YouTube name. Stan agrees that a cease and desist letter would be an appropriate response to these people. I wonder if it will happen - I know that Stan’s blog gets around 100,000 monthly unique visitors, so at least it might cause pause for thought in the YouTube legal department.
Are there any trademark experts or lawyers who would like to give an opinion on the matter?
![[speaka's plain english blog]](http://searchsuccess.net/images/cc-speeka-100wh.gif)
David Petherick | Profile Makeover | Makes words make sense
Business Blogs still make sense… August 10, 2006
Posted by David Petherick in : Authority, Blogs, Emedia, Reports , add a commentI originally posted this message in June 2005, but it still holds true…
A survey carried out by Backbonemedia on business blogging has some amazing conclusions…
“…build trust, collect valuable feedback and foster strengthened relationships while and at the same time benefiting in ways that are tangible.”
Just like in other aspects of life, success breeds success. What we see with successful blogs is a chain reaction that starts with a sincere interest on the part of the bloggers to provide their audience with great value in terms of useful and engaging content in the form of information, help, discussion and ideas. If a company can harness their customers’ knowledge and ideas, a company will find better ways to satisfy their customers needs and wants.
Look at the executive summary or read the full report (70 page PDF file). Thanks to Radiant Marketing Group for highlighting this report.
