Germany allowed some flights to resume, report says
Major airlines just carried out succesful test flight on Sunday and found no damage related to the volcanic's ash. Germany allowed some flights to resume --hopefully it also included long distant flights like mine. Another good news: airports in northern Spain - including Barcelona - reopened yesterday.
Is it safe to fly yet? Airline officials and some pilots say the passengerless test flights show that it is. Meteorologists warn that the skies over Europe remain unstable from an Icelandic volcano that continues to spew ash capable of knocking out jet engines.
European Union officials said air traffic could return to half its normal level on Monday if the dense cloud begins to dissipate. Germany allowed some flights to resume.
Today is my fourth days stuck here in Frankfurt -- I'm staying in a hotel near the airport. Hopefully I could return back home very soon.
(Still not) Up in the air
Blogging has changed my life
"What does blogging mean for you?" That’s one of questions many people (even journalists) frequently asked me. For me, blogging means a lot. I will tell you why.
I left Tempo Daily on March 1, 2007, and started to be a full-time blogger: write tech posts for some established sites and blogs like CNET, SlashPhone and PhoneMag; and then run a Jakarta-based Asia Blogging Network. Two years and half later, I joined an Internet giant company, Yahoo!. As Country Editor for Yahoo! Indonesia, one of my tasks is working with bloggers and online communities.
Talking about the professional blogging's opportunity, there are two models that you can choose if you really wanted to pick blogging as your main job: As a (1) publisher; or (2) freelancer. The first one requires knowledge and skills to monetize your blogs -- you should be an expert on online advertising, referral programs, SEO and so on. Another one just need your skill as a writer-- just write for some sites or blogs and you'll get paid.
I preferred the second one --since writing is nothing new for me. But I need to know the nature of blogging’s tools and communities. That’s why I should start blogging. It’s a new world and we can’t understand it just by relying on our common-sense. I believe that blogging is a kind of “science” –that’s why we need to learn its methodology, theory, medium, community and so on.
I just started to blog [seriously] since the beginning of 2006 when I started to write for my own gadget site called 3GWeek. Written in English, the blog mostly discusses about telecommunications and mobile technology.
Why did I choose technology as a major topic for my blogging? It's simple. I love everything about technology. I was also conducting a small research and noticed that even the big tech blogs were still fighting to seek good writers and bloggers for their publications. That’s a big opportunity, right? I became more convinced that my preferred topic (technology) and medium (blogs) is a good decision…
And blogging is not only about content, but also about community. I found that writing for blogs is a bit different than writing for printing media --in term of interacting with readers. I already wrote a bunch of newspaper's articles for years but I don't know whether the readers like it or not. On the other hand, with blogging, I could get readers’ response quickly. That’s amazing. I learned a lot from them. I try to talk with them, instead of to teach them.
Just about a few months after I started blogging, CNET, the world’s leading tech news portal, invited me to blog for them about Indonesia's technology scenes. Then a U.S. based online publications also offered me to write for SlashPhone, PhoneMag and iPhoneBuzz.
As a blogger, I was invited to some tech events and conferences in Singapore, Beijing, Hong Kong, Stuttgart, Barcelona and Amsterdam. I was also invited to be a jury member for the Deutsche Welle Blog Awards in Berlin (November 2008) and April 2010 (yes, I am now here in Germany to attend the meeting).
So, if you again ask me, what does blogging mean for me? "It means a lot. Blogging has changed my life!"
Ushahidi.com wins Best Weblog Award 2010!
Of the eleven finalists in the Best Weblog category, Ushahidi was named the winner for this year's Deutsche Welle Blog Awards. Blogombal's Antyo Rentjoko won the Best Weblog Indonesian! Check out the full list of the Jury's winners here.
The Deutsche Welle Blog winners have been selected!
The sixth annual Deutsche Welle Blog Awards has now ended, check out the User Awards winners here.The winners for the Jury Award will be announced tonight at the Friedrichstadtpalast building in Berlin in conjunction with the re:publica conference.
Twitter to launch its URL shortener, Amazon goes pro with Bit.Ly
URL shortener thing is really a big deal, thanks to the needs to the microblogging services, mobile phones and any kind of manual text-entry. It's "a renaissance in the age of Twitter," according to Danny Sullivan. URL shortening is a technique where a provider makes a web page available under a very short URL in addition to the original address.
Twitter has just announced that it will be launching its own URL shortener, while Amazon has launched it’s own shortened URL, amzn.to, powered by bit.ly’s new Pro service.
By the way, how useful of the URL shortener for you? Which shortening service did you use frequently?
re:publica 2010: the blogger and social media conference
This year's Deutsche Welle Blog Awards was attached to the re:publica 2010, 14-16 April, at Friedrichstadtpalast, Berlin. The announcement of the DW's blog winners also will be held at the event on Thursday's evening. Yeah, since today's the BOBS jury meeting has done, I decided to attend some conferences this afternoon. There are some cool sessions on blogging and social media.
The conference, focussed on blogs, social media und digital culture, is hosted by newthinking communications and Spreeblick Verlag. The event will take place simultaneously in the neighbouring locations Friedrichstadtpalast, Kalkscheune and Quatsch Comedy Club in Berlin-Mitte.
More than 150 hours of programme will be offered on 3 days on 8 different stages . The many facets of digital culture will be discussed in over 120 lectures, workshops, discussion rounds and events. For the first time within the framework of the re:publica the winner of the “Deutsche Welle BOBS” will be announced.
During the first re:publica in 2007, 700 participants came to the event in Berlin, by the year 2009 the number grew to more than 1600 attendees. This year over 2,500 participants are expected to attend re:publica 2010.
Finally, Pulitzer for new media!
When The New York Times and The Washington Post topped the list of Pulitzer winners --and finalists, that's not a shocking news. But when new media publications like the nonprofit ProPublica and the self-syndicated Mark Fiore on Monday announced to be part of the winners, that's really a big news. At least for new media experts and enthusiasts.
Established by Hungarian-American publisher Joseph Pulitzer and is administered by Columbia University in New York City, the Pulitzer Prize is a U.S. award for achievements in newspaper journalism, literature and musical composition.
2010 Pulitzer Prize winners
Journalism
Public Service - Bristol (Va.) Herald Courier
Breaking News Reporting - The Seattle Times Staff
Investigative Reporting - Barbara Laker and Wendy Ruderman of the Philadelphia Daily News and Sheri Fink of ProPublica, in collaboration with The New York Times Magazine
Explanatory Reporting - Michael Moss and members of The New York Times Staff
Local Reporting - Raquel Rutledge of the Milwaukee Journal Sentinel
National Reporting - Matt Richtel and members of The New York Times Staff
International Reporting - Anthony Shadid of The Washington Post
Feature Writing - Gene Weingarten of The Washington Post
Commentary - Kathleen Parker of The Washington Post
Criticism - Sarah Kaufman of The Washington Post
Editorial Writing - Tod Robberson, Colleen McCain Nelson and William McKenzie of The Dallas Morning News
Editorial Cartooning - Mark Fiore, self syndicated, appearing on SFGate.com
Breaking News Photography - Mary Chind of The Des Moines Register
Feature Photography - Craig F. Walker of The Denver Post
Letters, Drama and Music
Fiction - Tinkers by Paul Harding (Bellevue Literary Press)
Drama - Next to Normal, music by Tom Kitt, book and lyrics by Brian Yorkey
History - Lords of Finance: The Bankers Who Broke the World by Liaquat Ahamed (The Penguin Press)
Biography - The First Tycoon: The Epic Life of Cornelius Vanderbilt by T.J. Stiles (Alfred A. Knopf)
Poetry - Versed by Rae Armantrout (Wesleyan University Press)
General Nonfiction - The Dead Hand: The Untold Story of the Cold War Arms Race and Its Dangerous Legacy by David E. Hoffman (Doubleday)
Music - Violin Concerto by Jennifer Higdon (Lawdon Press)
Special Citations
[via Yahoo! News, Pulitzer.org]
Deutsche Welle Blog Award 2010: the Jury Conference
Arrived at the Berlin-Tegel airport yesterday's morning, I really like the city's weather this time: a bit bright and warm. This is my second times visiting Berlin as part of the judging process for the Deutsche Welle Blog Award. Yeah, since Indonesian language blogs invited to participate on this international competition in 2008, it's a honor for me to be one of the jury members.
Basically, my task is (1) selecting the short-list of Indonesian best blogs (based on blogs registered by readers and the blog's owners) and then to be voted by online users; and (2) picking up the best blog for the Jury Award and presenting it on the Jury Conference.
The jury meeting will be held this morning at Deutsche Welle Berlin office, and Gabriel Gonzales, Project Manager of the competition, again, will chair the session. The jury meeting will be continued in the next day, at the re:publica conference Friedrichstadtpalast.
The Winner of The BOBs 2010 will be announced on Thursday evening.
Until then, take care! Will be having my breakfast :-D
