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Kevin believes that Italy needs to invest in a new logo, promise and national campaign, and I'm excited by the appointment of Matteo Marzotto to the president of the Italian Government Tourist Board. He strikes me as the guy for the job... Italian Film Festival in Sydney was magical in 2008

Hungry Media Dragon Antony Loewenstein: Voice of the Dragons
During the recent war between Georgia and Russia, bloggers on both sides of the conflict provided searing accounts of atrocities and manoeuvres unseen by western journalists. In a country such as Russia the space for alternative and critical views are rare. The war showed an authoritarian regime's narrative being challenged by a handful of insiders and outsiders. The government-run media looked staid by comparison.

This was merely the latest example of bloggers beating mainstream journalists at their own game. Online media have exploded in western nations, challenging decades-old business models and forcing reporters to answer questions about their methods and sources. But in repressive states, blogs and websites have become essential sources of information on topics - from women's issues to sexual orientation, dating rituals to human rights - routinely shunned by channels for official propaganda.

• Blogging gives a voice to citizens around the world, but why do their views often go unheard in the west? Beating the western drum; [Best practices in implementing taxonomy for enterprise information management: developing a corporate taxonomy: ; Launched by the Hon Senator John Faulkner in September, the report, as released in October 2007, has now been published in book form.
whistleblowing in the Australian public sector - enhancing the theory and practice of internal witness management in public sector organisations Whistling while they work: ]
• · Imagine walking into a book store and knowing that even the most obscure or out of print books will always be in stock. Angus & Robertson today became the first Australian book chain to install the Espresso Book Machine (EBM), capable of printing, trimming and binding a paperback book on demand within minutes. It was dubbed an "ATM for books" by Time magazine, which last year named it one of the best inventions of the year. Print on demand with 'ATM for books'; pdf version ahead International study on the impact of copyright law on digital preservation
• · Helen Tatham, The concept of networking has been around a long time but senior executives are becoming savvier about schmoozing. A look at the trends in corporate networking Savvy about schmoozing ; Ambitious managers looking to make a mark need to work on their strengths and weaknesses to enhance their careers Manager's mark
• · · Eric Beecher The Sydney Morning Herald a Beecher: Gawenda's right, Fairfax ruined by incompetence and The Age did something quite rare on their op-ed pages today -- they published some rather tough criticism of their own newspapers by one of their former editors. Among the points they extracted from former Age editor Michael Gawenda's A.N. Smith Lecture in Journalism, to be delivered tonight at Melbourne University, were these: Beecher: Gawenda's right, Fairfax ruined by incompetence; No guests at Sky Canberra... Naked journalism at The Age...
• · · · When Slammin' Sam Kekovich speaks people listen. It's why he's the face of Australia's Meat and Livestock marketing campaigns, an ESPN commentator and a favourite for sportsmens' nights and corporate speeches. So here at Crikey we were interested when we received the following email this morning of a speech allegedly made by Kekovich at the AFL's Centre Square Grand Final day event, which had been reported by Peter FitzSimons in the SMH: Being fooled by the internet -- you know it makes sense
• · · · · "The power of accurate observation is often called cynicism by those who don't have it." - George Bernard Shaw CEVERY Tuesday or Wednesday, the boss's foot soldiers would arrive, carrying $6000 in cash in a manila envelope, down the stairs to the airless basements of Sydney shopping centres. Cleaning ; AUSTRALIAN shopping centre giant Westfield will investigate allegations that illegal subcontracting of cleaning is rife in some of its shopping centres. Dirty Business
• · · · Corruption or compliance: weighing the costs - 10th global fraud survey, Ernst & Young, 2008, 28p. The survey, of nearly 1200 finance executives from companies in 33 countries, examines perceptions, occurrences and action against bribery and corruption, including cross border / 'governments outside home countries'. weighing the costs - 10th global fraud survey ; · · I have seen the future and it works,’ the American journalist Lincoln Steffens famously declared on returning from a visit to Russia nearly 90 years ago Cold River ; He has all the virtues I dislike and none of the vices I admire. By Winston Churchill

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Who amongst us has never unleashed some trivia at unsuspecting friends or family members? Could my daughter Gabbie be numero 3 (III) at the General Pants foto shoot competition. As the young teen, Gabbie and her sister Sasha used to beat all kinds of potential Olympic swimmers during the school competitions and now in their mid teens one is shooting at the stars with her peep hole while Alex is melting down music live venues such as the Kellet Street Melt bar

A couple of days ago I came across a list of what are supposed to be must-grab careers of the future. So here is my list which will win you praise, love, inspiration and the lifestyle of your dreams. Let’s start simple. The ability to tell stories has been admired since humans first gathered round a campfire. Now, with cultures merging and technology connecting everybody with anybody, storytelling will become even more highly sought after. Not everyone can do it well, but we all have a spark of the storyteller in us and it’s a skill to nurture. Where storyteller merges into mythmaker, that’s where the future lies. Creative Commons of Foto Magic

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All books are either dreams or swords, you can cut, or you can drug with words. Words are the most powerful drugs used by mankind. Getting it first and getting it write what a tension …

Blogs offer a window into mainly middle-class segments of societies rarely examined in the West. Speaking for themselves - the culture of blogging; BLOGGING is an inelegant term for an often inelegant activity. It is easy to be turned off by bloggers for whom civil discourse equates to personal insult — anonymously delivered — but this undersells the vast range of blogging swirling through cyberspace. Bloggers lead revolution - Lindsay Tanner blogs exclusively for Business Day

Hungry Media Dragon The Emotional Digital Tribe
As it evolves, who can miss the fact that the Internet is becoming more and more emotional? To claim it was an emotional place even five years ago raised eyebrows

Many people, and not only young ones, have learnt to share how they feel online in ways that would have been inconceivable when we began our tentative attempts at those mysterious functions: email, browsing, search, purchasing and blogging. If you still have doubts about this reshaping of cyberspace, visit We Feel Fine. This wonderful site is the brain child (or is it lovechild?) of Jonathan Harris and Sep Kamvar. The site is inspired by a simple idea about a simple phrase. The phrase is “I feel” (or “I am feeling”) and the idea is to gather together all the instances where it appears on the Web. Harris and Kamvar then present them in what they call 'six movements'. This has nothing to do with orchestral music, and is all about six different and interesting ways they have identified to theme their examples. And, as usual, examples explain the idea best:
I feel pretty.
I feel I don’t really have a clue what love is.
I feel the ghosts were cool but unnecessary.
I feel so lonely.
I feel like every time I find a product I really rave about, they change it.
I feel that I’m somehow being blackmailed into using Facebook.
Etc. Etc.

• Strangely compelling; [The Blogging Revolution author Antony Loewenstein introduces us to members of the Digital tribe ; Finally the power of paradox is gaining ground. F. Scott Fitzgerald probably captured the idea best when he suggested that "The ability to hold two opposing ideas in mind at the same time and still retain the ability to function is the sign of a first-rate intelligence Either/Or are driven crazy ]
• · It’s said we may be heading for the big R - recession. If that’s the case, how will the arts be affected? The state of the arts in tough economic times; Funner. Impactful. Blowiest. What do all these words have in common? Someone, somewhere, is using them with a disclaimer like I know it's not a real word ... Chillax: if it works like a word, just use it
• · Spring of Quotes; Google: Wall Street Correspondent Lehman Brothers effectively put itself up for sale yesterday alongside a last-ditch restructuring to stem Blogging Quotes ; Live-Blogging the Lehman Conference Call- Wall Street - Deal Journal is blogging the conference call, which is hosted by CEO Dick Fuld and Bart McDade Blogging Media Dragons
• · · Internet campaigners for civil liberties and women's rights pay a high price for their "online crimes" Battle of the blogs; Steve Jobs has taken the stage at Yerba Buena Center for the Arts in San Francisco and he looks about as thin as he did at the Worldwide Developers Conference. But he acknowledged the controversy swirling around his health by pointing to a sentence on the screen that read, "Reports of my death are greatly exaggerated. Blogging live from the Apple event
• · · · As the rabbi of Congregation Tifereth Beth David Jerusalem in Cote St. Luc, Quebec, 46-year-old Rabbi Chaim Steinmetz not only gives sermons from the bimah, he has also found a way to offer words of wisdom through a virtual pulpit, by blogging. Blogging rabbis reach out to the world ; Elected government officials and members of the news media often are engaged in a strange, sometimes awkward dance in which each partner tries to lead without stepping too hard on the other's toes Rolly: Blogging legislators blast the Deseret News and reporters over news story
• · · · · Last month in Washington we got a rare look inside the global private banking industry, whose high purpose it is to gather up the assets of the world's wealthiest people and many of its worst villains, and shelter them from tax collectors, prosecutors, creditors, disgruntled business associates, family members and each other HMRC gives British investors in tax havens a chance to come clean in exchange for reduced penalties ; A Wordpress lead developer has described the Philippine blogging community as “impressive and very organized RP blogging community
• · · · · · With blogging, it is possible the only real protection is to stay anonymous. It worked for London prostitute Belle de Jour, and while it can be frustrating not to get the acknowledgement you feel you deserve for your insightful polemic and creativity, it's altogether safer. When personal and professional worlds collide: Social networking and blogging ; The whole subject smacks of narcissism. Why Blog???

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Do not wait for leaders; do it alone, person to person.
-- Mother Theresa, spoken like the true Virgo she was

Some birthdays are milestones in a young person’s life. Obviously reaching 10 or 13 or 16 are important achievements. But what about reaching 18? In many ways reaching 18 means reaching adulthood. It signifies a true beginning to being a grown-up. Sydney won’t find any better or more funky, authentic Bohemian blues, in their own inimitable manner, than what’s on at Melt Gallery, level 1, 12 Kellet St, Kings Cross Sydney on 19 September 2008 Here's to celebrating you and your music!

Memories are made of birthdays Happy Birthday, Sasha aka Roxy Ray!
Earthy Virgo is symbolized by the ear of wheat and the bunch of grapes -- or alternately, an ear of wheat and a sickle. According to the ancient poets, the virgin Virgo is also sometimes known as Astraea or Alexandra ;-)

I hope that your day is filled with many blessings as you begin your 18th year. I can't begin to say what a blessing your existence … On 10th day of September 1990 I learned what the miracle of child birth is … The dictionary says a miracle is any amazing or wonderful occurrence. As a child in Czechoslovakia I learned a lot about miracles that happened hundreds, perhaps thousands, of years ago. Usually they were caused by the actions of saints. So I grew up thinking of a miracle as (1) something that was performed (2) by a religiously inspired person. The greatest of all miracle is the miracle of childbirth. It's a common thing, one that has been going on for ... well ... a pretty long time. This miracle is way beyond our understanding, and is almost beyond our belief. It's an everyday event. It is the greatest event of all!
Who would have thought that you would be a singer and writer and musician when you entered the world at the Benevolent Royal Hospital -Birth Center- at Paddington? Your band improvises a stellar piece of smooth, harmony-laden soul with a chunky beat and a funky bassline that sounds unique almost in spite of its dozen debts to Billie Holiday; Ella Fitzgerald; Erykah Badu; Miles Davis; Sarah Vaughan;
Etta James, Betty Davis, Jeff Buckley, Jimi Hendrix, David Bowie and Edith Piaf.
As they say, there are only two ways to live your life. One is as though nothing is a miracle. The other is as though everything is a miracle

• We now enter in earnest the harvest season; [Famous Virgos: Cameron Diaz, Sean Connery, Rachel Welch, Sophia Loren, Stephen King Shania Twain; Hitch your wagon to a star All our dreams can come true - if we have the courage to pursue them]
• · There are differing evils, but they are common works of man. They reflect the imperfection of human justice, the inadequacy of human compassion, our lack of sensibility toward the sufferings of our fellows. Give me a place to standand I will move the world; A taste of the underground.

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Can it really be a year ago I said 'I do'? Time flies when you're having fun at Berry at Broughtom Mill Farm and catching with wonderful films and books ... and sensational coffee

That man is richest whose pleasures are cheapest. As Mal says, there is a wonderful mythical law of nature that the three things we crave most in life -- happiness, freedom, and peace of mind -- are always attained by giving them to someone else. There is only one happiness in life, to love and be loved

The truest greatness lies in being kind, the truest wisdom in a happy mind What Makes Happy People Happy?

Happiness can mean different things to different people. For one person, it may mean being in a relationship, whereas for someone else it may mean feeling you have the ability to handle whatever life throws at you.
We might think that happy people have lots of money, are physically attractive, have great jobs, or own the latest gadgets. Or, we might just think happy people are plain lucky, and are born that way.
However, there are a number of variables that make a far greater contribution to happiness than external and more superficial factors.That doesn't mean that if you have a lot of money you won't be happy, or that having a lot of money is bad, it just means that other factors are more important in determining happiness. In fact, a strong positive relationship between job status/income/wealth and happiness only exists for those who live below the poverty line and/or who are unemployed.
What distinguishes happy people, is that they have a different attitude - a different way of thinking about things and doing things. They interpret the world in a different way, and go about their lives in a different way.

• You will never be happy if you continue to search for what happiness consists of. You will never live if you are looking for the meaning of life. Meaning of life; [The truth is that our finest moments are most likely to occur when we are feeling deeply uncomfortable, unhappy, or unfulfilled. For it is only in such moments, propelled by our discomfort, that we are likely to step out of our ruts and start searching for different ways or truer answers. Moments ; How to Stop Struggling and Start Living ]
• · The science of happiness; Happiness is a spring day, coming after a winter that has been cruel — a gentle day of sunshine and promise and daffodils. Highs of happiness found after lows of sorrow