history lessons

It is widely accepted that smoking in enclosed public spaces is a disgrace, but rejecting a potential employee before reaching the doorstep, under the Law (company policy) of "we accept no applicants who are smokers" somewhat reminds me of something: Following, is the actual job ad over at Cyprus Recruiter website. Oh, and did I mention the company name is DeltaQuest? Find out more about them here .

For the Cyprus European Presidency, the advertising company Partners Y&R designed a logo that strikes a close resemblance to the one in the photo above. As you can see, the photo was taken from shutterstock , a royalty-free stock photo etc service. Partners Y&R responded under the postmodern ideology that nothing is original, and, any idea can pop simultaneously. In actuality, the 'inspiration' for the logo design, also appearing on the five mils coin was taken by an ancient Cyprus artifact that resembles a bird as a ship. Now all this may be true, yet, I have worked at Partners Y&R myself, and I dare admit that the majority (all) of it's advertising designs, highly depend upon aforementioned royalty-free websites. In my case, particularly, any original material produced and presented to the owners of the company, the high in-command, were rejected in favour of some pre-existing design on the web. That is, perhaps, the reason why nothing -on the web- exists as a...

"The preservation of the unsent letter is its arresting feature. Neither the writing nor the sending is remarkable (we often make drafts of letters and discard them), but the gesture of keeping the message when we have no intention of sending it. By saving the letter, we are in some sense 'sending' it after all. We are not relinquishing our idea or dismissing it as foolish or unworthy (as we do when we tear up a letter); on the contrary, we are giving it an extra vote of confidence. We are, in effect, saying that our idea is too precious to be entrusted to the gaze of the actual addressee, who may not grasp its worth, so we 'send' it to his equivalent in fantasy, on whom we can absolutely count for an understanding and appreciative reading". (full text mere)

Best compliment I could get: GameOverLandHD has made a comment on tetarti mera : psuxoplakotika video re file

Limited Edition Print (1/1) printed on Fine Art Inkjet Canvas Paper. Dimensions: 16.75 x 162 Price: $399 or £269 Framed upon request . Extra costs apply.

Having graduated from a full time course almost two years ago, I joined a part-time masters course at the same university. The Council, having the graduates best interests at heart immediately sent a Council Tax arrears notice for the amount of £845 - including a 25% discount for living with a full-time student. It should be noted that the full-time student is also my girlfriend, or was until a couple of days ago. I decided it was a good idea to inform the council that I was unemployed, received some support from family members to make ends meet and thus was unable to cough up the amount required. Polite as they were, they informed me that there was no possible way for me to avoid paying the amount in full or in one installment. Overcoming my initial excitement of choices, I repeated that I do not have the extra cash and was unable to pay. Joyfully, they informed me that I had to fill out an application for housing benefit . A housing benefit is given to people of no or low income to ...

Upon crossing the road, the man coming the other way stopped and faced the opposite way of the traffic. His outfit was that of a homeless person yet his accent was most posh. He said in a loud voice: "There is an influx of unemployed aristocrats".

The old man knocks on the door asking to register for voting. In receiving the reply that we don't vote, he asks where we're from. He asks whether Cyprus is in the E.U. Regardless of my positive answer, he turns the registration page to consult the official statement on the matter. It seems that Cyprus is not in the E.U, even though he was under the impression that it was. Obviously, the authority has not amended their papers yet, as this was the case again last year and the year before that. But wait, something else appears, Cyprus is part of the Commonwealth . Better than nothing. I should fill out the form with all residents living in the house who are eligible to vote. Sign here with last name, and here with christian name. This is the yearly visit we get for voting. On the other hand, today I receive the fifth letter in the last one and a half weeks to pay for council tax. Seems like the old case of keep-out-of- our -affairs-give-us- your -money-we-will-still-mess-with- y...

My brother showed me the following from a newspaper. I found it both hilarious and truthful. The Brits should learn that over here, we don't take kindly to hypocritical letters of complain, neither to threats. You've done enough to this island already. Better keep to the enjoyment of "retirement" (last few years of being alive) by treasuring the good things in life: eg. sunshine - which you dearly missed out on while living for 50 years under a grey cloud. p.s. Proud to see that we also lack the censorship that best describes Britain.

Present yourself at seven in the morning. Give name and id number for book keeping. Meet the workers. Observe the difference of social interaction: It begins fluently and open. You are asked about your family, relatives, residence. You answer, they reply in remembrance. You feel at ease. They don't know your person. They know your past, fluently. Unlike elsewhere there are almost no pauses in discussion but an instant firing of questions. Here pretentious etiquette does not apply - you have already thought about it, no reason not to ask. They shake your hand and smile and you feel their smile is true. As the hands untangle from one another you make the calculations, you compare: hundreds of handshakes, smiles, nods. The aforementioned thought is valid. The workers are split into teams and you help your group (consisting of two more people) to mount the truck with the necessary tools. Visit the assigned post and collect the objects told. En route, proceed with social interaction. Wh...

"Regarding the discordant elements in my work, I think this is something that has slowly crept into my work, semi-consciously. When an abstract idea such as art is placed under the microscope of language it becomes something else. Much like the western empirical approach of the laboratory, which paradoxically is and is not the experience. That is, to observe an element of nature outside its nature, offers only part of the experience. Surely, when a piece of art is scrutinized to criticism and analyses, it shifts into a different realm. In the case of my work, I had people sharing their opinion on art, its meaning and purpose. Some of the answers were contradictory, in battle with someone elses opinion. In other cases, there was a common ground. My interest is how, through a common idea, art in this case, so many different opinions arise. Although perceptions differ, all are speaking on a single theme. Imagine we are looking at a diamond. But we are standing opposite one another. Y...

"Pull it down, drag it down Till the hopes and dreams of all the ages Past are shattered on the ground" NMA

It has come to my attention that after the "ahoy space" post yesterday, I had an interesting visit on my blog a while ago. Busy, busy little bees, or erm, spiders? Today's lesson: ITT works! So does StatCounter . Invest in either for pure voyeuristic pleasure. Good times.

"With piracy on the rise, commercial space satellites equipped with ITT imaging systems are becoming an important tool for locating exactly where the attacks occur and where the hijacked ships are being held". ( link ) But then there's this: "The pirates showed "quite clearly - and subversively - that ships did not have to be run in the brutal and oppressive ways of the merchant service and the Royal navy."" ( link ) And when the number of deaths from swine flu reaches 3000 then we'll start calling it a pandemic . A daily dosage of Bill Hicks and South Park is bound to free you from fearmongers (I repeat myself when I'm distressed).

Elvis is not dead . He is video projected.

Unavoidable. I am now part of the facebook community. I would like to know if there is a psychological explanation for agoraphobia in the digital world? Being antisocial in a social network community? The paradox of joining something you are completely against? If you can't beat 'em, join 'em?

"A new system has been created to keep the public informed about the level of threat to the UK from terrorism. The system also helps the police and other law enforcement agencies determine how they should respond to, and prepare for a terrorist incident. The threat levels are: critical - an attack is expected imminently severe - an attack is highly likely substantial - an attack is a strong possibility moderate - an attack is possible but not likely low - an attack is unlikely The current terrorism threat level is Severe. The threat level is Severe. Our message is for people to be alert but not alarmed ." Of the total 1228 arrested: 132 charged with terrorism legislation offences only 109 charged with terrorism legislation offences and other criminal offences 195 charged under other legislation including...

Right you are...and I come from the Turkish island of Cyprus.