Up-to-Date Internet World Stats here

środa, grudnia 21, 2005

Positively Poland

Positively Poland

Some Local Holiday Photos


Last minute Christmas shopping at Promenada (Warsaw)

Haggling over Christmas trees (We got one for 20 zloty!)



A man and his dog (notice the lack of Christmas
decorations or lights in apartment windows, just
one week from Christmas, why?)


Now where in Warsaw could this be?



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FAIR USE NOTICE This article contains copyrighted material, the use of which has not always been specifically authorized by the copyright owner. We are making such material available in the efforts to advance understanding of Poland's economic, environmental, human rights, political, scientific, and social justice issues, among others. We believe this constitutes a 'fair use' of any such copyrighted material as provided for in section 107 of the US Copyright Law. In accordance with Title 17 U.S.C. Section 107, the material in this article is distributed without profit for research and educational purposes.

czwartek, grudnia 15, 2005

PolBlog.pl Launches new anti-Corruption Project in Poland

PolBlog.pl Launches new anti-Corruption Project in Poland

We all hear about the "c" word in Poland and have probably heard about the latest Transparency International Report on corruption in Polska. PolBlog interviewed an official from the local TI office last month, and both Warsaw Station and the Beatroot had something to say about it.

In response, PolBlog introduces "Whistleblower 24/7." Whistleblower is an e-Democracy project to shift the balance of power from rulers to those ruled. By allowing citizens (in Poland) to anonymously post instances of corruption (in Gov't or Business) on an open forum for all to see, those who engage in shady behavior will be exposed more conveniently and to more people.

Any citizen in Poland, at any time of the day/night can register an instance of corruption in this "Whistleblower" forum. This makes the whole process incredibly easy as it avoids phone calls, lines in administrative offices, and bureaucracy that make filing corruption complaints unpleasant, time-consuming, and rare.

Whistleblower is not the end of the process, but rather the beginning...once a complaint is posted (with an optional survey), we will notify the appropriate officials, directing them to the site to read the post.

To go to the forum, click HERE

A similiar initiative was launched in Estonia (or, E-stonia as it is called in cyber circles), and it is quite popular.


LINKS:

1) Warsaw to set-up anti-corruption office
2) Anti-Corruption Gateway for Europe & Eurasia
3) EU Ombudsman - Complain about EU institutions HERE
4) Protecting your civil rights in Poland
5) Transparency International Office in Warsaw

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FAIR USE NOTICE This article contains copyrighted material, the use of which has not always been specifically authorized by the copyright owner. We are making such material available in the efforts to advance understanding of Poland's economic, environmental, human rights, political, scientific, and social justice issues, among others. We believe this constitutes a 'fair use' of any such copyrighted material as provided for in section 107 of the US Copyright Law. In accordance with Title 17 U.S.C. Section 107, the material in this article is distributed without profit for research and educational purposes.

poniedziałek, grudnia 12, 2005

Electronic English Petitions - PolBlog's ee-Petition Project

Electronic English Petitions - PolBlog's ee-Petition Project

PolBlog's ee-Petition Project

Upon returning from an invigorating conference in London on e-Democracy and Blogging, we thought an experiment was in order. While not the first project of its kind (starting in Scotland and Germany), e-petitioning is just what English-speakers in Poland need! We did some research, and did in fact find a Polish-language E-petition project already up and running. Amazing! We will be cooperating with the Polish site by cross-posting any successful e-petitions on PolBlog to their site -- so PolBlog's ee-Petition Project will be the first cut, the proverbial editor's chopblock.

To vote on a proposed Electronic English Petition, or to comment about one in the forum, or just to simply (but importantly) vote on a petition, you need to go to the ee-Petition forum. To vote on a petition, you must register (so we can verify that you live in Poland). But other than that the forum is open and anyone can propose a petition (although we reserve the right to remove any bullshit).

The petition must be addressed to local or regional politicans and have something to do with the economic, ecologic, educational, religious, civil, health, atheletics etc state of Poland.

Our first ee-Petition requests that the Warsaw government re-paint the city's ailing recycling bins while running a public education campaign about recycling. Make your voice heard!


Eco-eyesores!


Help! We need some Paint!

Links:

1)Polish Sejm Site


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FAIR USE NOTICE This article contains copyrighted material, the use of which has not always been specifically authorized by the copyright owner. We are making such material available in the efforts to advance understanding of Poland's economic, environmental, human rights, political, scientific, and social justice issues, among others. We believe this constitutes a 'fair use' of any such copyrighted material as provided for in section 107 of the US Copyright Law. In accordance with Title 17 U.S.C. Section 107, the material in this article is distributed without profit for research and educational purposes.

wtorek, grudnia 06, 2005

PolBloglet: Poland in Top 20 Countries with Internet Users

PolBloglet: Poland in Top 20 Countries with Internet Users

News Poland

Another PolBloglet



Poland has witnessed a 278% increase in Internet user growth between 2000 and 2005, with the total number of Internauts as of March 2005 at 10.6 million (or almost 28% of Poland's population). As for its penetration rate, Poland is well below the Top 30 countries (Malta with the highest at 78%, USA at #7 with 68% and #30 is Estonia at almost 50%). Though it's above the world average of 15%, with 28%.

Poland ranks #19 in Internet Users

Surprisingly (to me), Poland is listed as 19th of the top 20 countries (in the world) with the most Internet users. This is quite impressive when you consider the economic climate in Poland. According to Internet World Stats:

[C]ertain market structure and cultural barriers to consumer development of the Internet still exist. In Warsaw, one does not see the Internet cafes or price competition for telephone access that can be seen in European cities such as London, where telecommunications has been liberalized. Many people in Poland lack confidence that credit card information can be protected on the Internet. As yet there is no high-speed Internet access, such as digital subscriber lines (DSL) for consumers. And at a cost of $500 to $1,000, computers are still expensive for many individual households.

With such explosive growth recorded in just 5 years, Poland is poised to become a potential Internet intermediary in the region between emerging democracies and democracies on the precipice. There are no stats on either Ukraine or Belarus. As the number of Internet users continues to increase in Poland, there could be a domino effect -- information and dialogue will find its way into countries throughout the region, with Poland playing a key role.

Links:
1) Internet Stats for EU 25
2) Exhuastive and recent overview of Internet usage and trends in Poland
3) Very informative Blog by the Internet World Stats Site
4) Polish Internet Usage Profile/Market Analysis (exhuastive) by New Media Review

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PolBlog - News Poland, Local Voices East of the Elbe
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FAIR USE NOTICE This article contains copyrighted material, the use of which has not always been specifically authorized by the copyright owner. We are making such material available in the efforts to advance understanding of Poland's economic, environmental, human rights, political, scientific, and social justice issues, among others. We believe this constitutes a 'fair use' of any such copyrighted material as provided for in section 107 of the US Copyright Law. In accordance with Title 17 U.S.C. Section 107, the material in this article is distributed without profit for research and educational purposes.

poniedziałek, grudnia 05, 2005

Only in Poland

Only in Poland


Another Only in Poland Blogbyte

A Lodz husband has been arrested after trying to extort PLN 5,000 in cash from his wife’s lover aftershe confessed the details of their affair. After the husband threatened him with violence, the lover informed the police, who arrested the husband. He faces up to 10 years’ imprisonment for intimidation, potentially leaving the illicit couple to carry on as before.

Source: New Warsaw Express



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Read the news - share your views on our new Blog Forums

FAIR USE NOTICE This article contains copyrighted material, the use of which has not always been specifically authorized by the copyright owner. We are making such material available in the efforts to advance understanding of Poland's economic, environmental, human rights, political, scientific, and social justice issues, among others. We believe this constitutes a 'fair use' of any such copyrighted material as provided for in section 107 of the US Copyright Law. In accordance with Title 17 U.S.C. Section 107, the material in this article is distributed without profit for research and educational purposes.

sobota, grudnia 03, 2005

PolBlog's Daily Dilbert

PolBlog's Daily Dilbert



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PolBlog - News Poland 24/7
Poland's first (almost) daily English-language news blog.
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FAIR USE NOTICE This article contains copyrighted material, the use of which has not always been specifically authorized by the copyright owner. We are making such material available in the efforts to advance understanding of Poland's economic, environmental, human rights, political, scientific, and social justice issues, among others. We believe this constitutes a 'fair use' of any such copyrighted material as provided for in section 107 of the US Copyright Law. In accordance with Title 17 U.S.C. Section 107, the material in this article is distributed without profit for research and educational purposes.

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