coffeefactory - Making of - Comments

Call for articles Ñam nyam - Giovanni

Giovanni — Mon, 17 Dec 2007 16:16:00 +00:00

calls are going public?

When ECOSOC communicates for and on Europe - Vané

Vané — Fri, 23 Nov 2007 10:53:00 +00:00

Hi Alexandros! I updated the links (again- thanks for letting me know). I hope it works this time.

Mmhhh... your perspective is very wise. I'm more of a "goer". I'd like to see as many MEPs as possible on Second Life or the babel community (see for ex: http://second-life-fresh-news.blogs... (thanks Monika for this interesting link!)).

For me, Europe is already on the 2.0 waggon. But I deeply agree with you that we should not undermine people-2-people events. 2.0 is simply is an added-value. I see it with our network of volunteers. It's very important that they meet each other in person, otherwise the incentive to participate in a mere virtual community becomes obsolete.

See you soon for coffee!

When ECOSOC communicates for and on Europe - Vané

Vané — Fri, 23 Nov 2007 10:32:52 +00:00

Hi JM,

By European active citizenry, I mean the ability for European citizens to participate and influence the European public agenda via voting, campaigns, platforms of debates online or in cafés on issues that concern all Europeans.

We must therefore first provide information so that Europeans can take an active role ("en connaissance de cause", as we would say in French)- that's what communicating Europe is about.

Once we've established platforms for European citizens, such as the cafebabel.com community, we'll be able to see to what extent they influence the European decision-making process. And with the Treaty of Lisbon, civil society will have a better chance to get involved. It's now a question of learning how to use these tools effectively.

Does that answer your questions?

Vanessa

When ECOSOC communicates for and on Europe - Alexandros

Alexandros — Tue, 20 Nov 2007 09:12:54 +00:00

Hello Vanessa,
It was very nice to meet you indeed.

The skepticism expressed by some high-profile participants potentially shows the distance that still exsits between new technologies and the Brussels Eurocrats.

A distance, however, that does not apply to the society as a whole. I would argue that the civil society is able and ready to respond to online initiatives, as evidenced by the example of the massive discussion that took place in the blog of Commissioner Stavros Dimas during the recent Blog Action Day. Even more importantly, the majority of the comments came by Greek people (the Commissioner being Greek himself), when Greece is perhaps the last country in the EU in terms of ADSL penetration and e-democracy.

In my view, when and if the knowledge and political barriers fall, the European institutions will be able to take advantage of a large variety of Web 2.0 tools that will enable Europe to come closer to its citizens, notably at the individual and the local level.

However, it would be nonsensical to jump into the bandwagon of Web 2.0 without careful planning and selection of channels. Second Life and social networking may sound cool but does Europe really need to have a presence there? I guess it would be much more relevant to work on a human face of Brussels, either through officials' blogs and podcasts or through fora such as the Agora that you mentioned.

PS. Some of the links in the post are broken!

When ECOSOC communicates for and on Europe - JM

JM — Mon, 19 Nov 2007 15:06:28 +00:00

Well
First questions:
What do you expect from an active european citizen ?
Without speaking about civic rights, what is an active european citizenship ?
how the EC could develop such citizenship ?

Involvment in civil society for citizens, how do you define that ?

How can you measure the effectivness of a active european citizenship.

Communicating Europe ? What do we want to communicate ? That there is EU institutions, Europeans right, or making people aware about an eventual common european culture, based on values, .....

Thank you for your answers

Live from Paris office - Hanita

Hanita — Thu, 18 Oct 2007 22:28:20 +01:00

Ferdy it's crazy! that guy with the umbrella hats! I have a picture with him too! and i bought an umbrella hat with the french flag. totally a random comment.

Live from Paris office - natalia

natalia — Thu, 18 Oct 2007 12:19:48 +01:00

makes me feel even more lonely here in warsaw!

Live from Paris office - Giovanni

Giovanni — Thu, 18 Oct 2007 11:51:08 +01:00

Incredible...we had some sun in tallinn too!!

'Middle East or Near East'? The world according to cafebabel.com... - Piotr

Piotr — Thu, 19 Apr 2007 15:38:56 +01:00

Congrats, blindlemmon, correct answer!

'Middle East or Near East'? The world according to cafebabel.com... - Simon

Simon — Thu, 12 Apr 2007 17:34:25 +02:00

khfdlkqjhdfqsljkdfh

'Middle East or Near East'? The world according to cafebabel.com... - nico.

nico. — Tue, 10 Apr 2007 10:29:27 +02:00

Hello there,

If I were you, I'd go with the extensive list of tags and I wouldn't make them exclusive.

Take Iran for instance. With a 'Middle-East' tag, you'd have all your stories ending up next those about Irak and Afghanistan.

But if I'm talking about the Natanz nuclear plant, it'd make more sense to link to the Pakistani and Israeli stories. Again, if the story is about fishing rights in the Caspian Sea, I'd like to be able to click on similar stories in Russia, Azerbaijan etc.

The problem isn't an easy one, but worth investigating.

Nico.

'Middle East or Near East'? The world according to cafebabel.com... - Alberti

Alberti — Tue, 03 Apr 2007 11:35:33 +02:00

MMmhmhmhm, I think we would have problems in Spanish, cause for use we distinguish 3 zones: Near East (Israel, Lebanon, Jordania, Palestine); Middle East (Syria, Irak, Iran, Afghanistan and Arab peninsula); and far East (Pakistan, India, China, Indonesia, Vietnam, Myanmar, Laos etc.)

Agree with Polish: we say balkanas and never south-east Europe.

Hope we'll find a solution: not a simplistic solution.

Fernando.

'Middle East or Near East'? The world according to cafebabel.com... - blindlemmon

blindlemmon — Mon, 02 Apr 2007 12:51:31 +02:00

Just because this republic is in the east of the river Uruguay...

'Middle East or Near East'? The world according to cafebabel.com... - Piotr

Piotr — Sat, 31 Mar 2007 11:41:05 +02:00

Yes, we are Eurocentristic in our thinking, but there is nothing wrong about it! Near East / Proche Orient / Bliski Wschód is a correct way to express it, after all, they are "near us", being Europe. Middle East sounds a bit confusing, don't you think? After all, how can "East" have a middle? East is always eastern of something that is more westwards... So for the Chinese Middle East should be some islands in the Pacific or the Hawaii? Lol.

In Polish we say Bałkany for the Balkans and hardly ever use the "South East Europe" name. Ugh. Sometimes it is "Western Balkans", because Eastern Balkans are Romania and Bulgaria for the most part.

To end, the funniest official name of a country? "Eastern Republic of Uruguay". Guess why.

'Middle East or Near East'? The world according to cafebabel.com... - Simon

Simon — Fri, 30 Mar 2007 13:40:28 +02:00

As regards the tags, there will be one "key" tag (the original version)- for instance middle east - which will be translated into the other languages. So there will be seven versions of the "key" tag word.
No troubles then.

'Middle East or Near East'? The world according to cafebabel.com... - Nushka

Nushka — Fri, 30 Mar 2007 13:07:50 +02:00

Very interesting reflection that gets to the heart of our different views of the world, even amongst europeans!
One question: will the tags be decided for every language? e.g. Middle East in English is Proche Orient in French, will we have to agree on whether to call it Middle east or Near east? can't each language choose what is used in their language? This would mean 7 lists of course...

Names - Episode III : Babel returns - Simon

Simon — Thu, 29 Mar 2007 12:49:49 +02:00

Probably. A trnanslation of "babelians"

Of images on cafebabel.com - Simon

Simon — Thu, 29 Mar 2007 12:48:39 +02:00

Sorry Marco.
I do have your address.

Why cafebabel.com (and the Web) is changing - Simon

Simon — Thu, 29 Mar 2007 12:36:59 +02:00

I don't believe we enter the paradise as well, or that web 2.0 is changing the world.
But the way the information & communication were thought before, up to bottom, very vertical, is changing considerably, because of the web (call 2.0 if you want, but that's not the most important...). Now information & communication processes are much more horizontal, and bottom-up.
cafebabel.com is an early result of this (as it was already six years ago), using the web as a powerful tool.
The new website is intended to take even much more advantage of the opportunities afforded by the web, according to our own standards as well : quality particpatory journalism & debate.

Of images on cafebabel.com - Simon

Simon — Fri, 23 Mar 2007 10:15:54 +01:00

I'd be glad to, but I don't have your email address
That why I asked you to write first at blog(at)cafebabel.com