Latest posts by Sylwia Presley
Poland: ‘Arbeit Macht Frei’ Sign Stolen from Auschwitz
Last Friday morning, the sign ‘Arbeit Macht Frei‘ ('Work Sets You Free') was stolen from the gate of former Nazi death camp in Auschwitz, near Krakow. The theft caused many speculations but also serious reactions from the Polish government, museum authorities, Jewish organisations and the public online.
Poland: Catholics Propose Adding Cross to National Emblem
Sylwia Presley reviews the reactions of Polish bloggers to a recent proposal by a Polish Catholic group to include the symbol of the cross in the national coat of arms.
Poland: Online Campaigning for the Rights of Employees
Sylwia Presley writes about the plight of and online campaigning by a group Polish citizens who work for IKEA via another, smaller, company called Solid Security: they claim to be earning amounts below the national minimal wage, being assigned to work up to 16 hours daily and lacking the basic benefits.
United Kingdom: Barcamp Transparency in Oxford
Around 50 people gathered for Barcamp Transparency at the Oxford University Club last Sunday to discuss issues of transparency in open government, social media and cyberactivism.
Poland: #KDT Battle in Warsaw
Polish blogosphere had an interesting day today due to the conflict between shopkeepers of Kupiecki Dom Towarowy - a shopping complex in the center of Warsaw - and the police. Sylwia Presley reports on the bloggers' coverage of the confrontation.
Poland: Hitler and Abortion
Sylwia Presley reviews online reactions to neo-Nazi anti-abortion posters that appeared in several public places in Zielona Gora at the end of April.
United Kingdom: Barcamp Transparency to discuss Internet monitoring by government
A new U.K. government plan to monitor all email, phone calls, and internet use as part of a counter-terrorism initiative has already sparked lots of negative commentary in forums and blogs. It makes even more timely an upcoming Barcamp Transparency meeting in Oxford on 26 July, 2009.
Read Your Way Around the World: Book Challenge Roundup
In order to show our loyalty to traditional forms of writing, at the end of March the Global Voices team proposed a challenge around UNESCO Word Book Day. We have...
Poland: Racist Flyers Given to Children in a Catholic Church
One of the Catholic churches in Poznań, Poland's fifth largest city, generated a lot of online buzz yesterday, when the media published articles about a religious flyer printed by a Catholic weekly Mały Gość Niedzielny and distributed to children. On the flyer's cover, there is a quote from the Bible - “A lamp without oil is dark, a human without a prayer, too.” Right above it is a drawing of a black child, who is saying: “What a pity that the prayer does not brighten the skin.” Sylwia Presley reviews the buzz.
Poland: Reactions to Obama's Victory
Sylwia Presley reports on the reactions to the results of the U.S. election, which dominate the Polish blogosphere today: blogging politicians, journalists, microbloggers and bloggers interested in the U.S. elections are sharing their joy when referring to Obama, as well as their skeptical opinions towards the current Polish president and the government in general.
Poland: New Social Network For e-Members of Parliament
A new social networking project is becoming very popular in Poland: Nasz-parlament.pl ("Our Parliament") invites its users to become e-members of parliament and take part in e-voting to show the government the real opinions of the real citizens!
Poland: How to Fight Illegal Sales of Games, Films & Music?
There are still traditional markets selling food and antiques in Poland, but the most popular ones are those that offer pirated games, films and music. Sylwia Presley reviews reactions of some Polish netizens to a story about software piracy recently published on a Polish news site.
