“No more Greeklish…from now on only Greek! “Radio Arvyla” states, supporting the Greek language. The great initiative belongs to the band from Thessaloniki to make speakers realize the importance of the “crime” we commit against the Greek language. Although it seems an insignificant habit, later on it may abolish Greek writing! “We simply turn the keyboard into Greek. On our computer and on our mobile phone. And if we make some spelling mistakes, it doesn’t matter. We are going to correct them” says the most appropriate team for this initiative, as they have a strong influence on young people.
Antonis Kanakis and his friends are starting a campaign against Greeklish, via TV and radio. They won’t send this message only through their shows, but also generally through ANT1’s program, having granted the time needed for their trailers to spread this message. “One of the few things left to us and for which we are proud of in this country is our language! Almost a whole generation types daily in Greeklish. It has almost forgotten how to write in Greek and soon so will the next one and the next one…Unless we realize how big the problem is, what a crime we commit against Greek language!” We can all get rid of this habit – and especially the younger ones. We can reverse once and for all this catastrophic habit for our language. And we can do it very easily, if we do it all together!” the “naughty guys” of Greek TV say, proving that they respect our language.
Greeklish "Kills" Our Language States Radio Arvyla
Cyprus Airways Announces 16 New Flights to Greece
Cyprus Airways announced flights to 16 new destinations in Greece starting next Wednesday, under a code-sharing agreement with Greece’s Olympic Air as Cyprus Mail reports today. On Wednesday, Cyprus Airways will also inaugurate flights to Sofia, Bulgaria and Bucharest, Romania.
The destinations are Corfu, Zakynthos, Heraklion, Ioannina, Alexandroupoli, Kefalonia, Santorini, Mykonos, Mytilini, Samos, Rhodes, Kos, Hania, Kavala, Hios and Limnos.
The airline said the flights are part of the cooperation agreement that was signed with Olympic Air in March. The first stage of the agreement provided for code-sharing flights to Athens, Thessaloniki, Heraklion and Rhodes: “…had very encouraging results so far,” the airline stated. ”The collaboration aims to offer a unified package of quality services to travellers, which now can take advantage of almost the entire flight network of the two companies,” Cyprus Airways said.
Survey Reveals Internet Use Steadily Rising in Greece
Greek men aged 16-24, with higher-level education and living in large cities, are the most dynamic users of the Internet in the country, a report by the Observatory of Information Society revealed on Thursday. The survey, as ANA reports, also showed that fixed-telephony has consolidated at around 85%, while mobile-telephony showed signs of saturation with 95% of Greeks, aged 16-74, owning a mobile telephone. The Internet is steadily gaining access in Greek households, having covered around 50% of the Greek population already.
A 46% of Greek households said they had an Internet connection, while 41% said they had a broadband connection. In 2010, one in two Greeks said they used a computer, while 44% said they had used the Internet and 25% said they had used 3G services through mobile telephony networks.
The number of Greeks using the Internet was up 7.9% in 2010, compared with 2009 and 24% higher compared with 2008, although the distance from European average rates remained steady at 20-25 percentage points. The survey also noted a significant increase in the use of social media (YouTube, Facebook, Twitter, Hi5, MySpace, etc).
The percentage of Greeks using social media was 36% in the fourth quarter of 2010, sharply up from 14% in the first quarter of 2009 and only 2% in the first quarter of 2008.
Finance Minister Asks Deutsche Telekom to Purchase 10% of OTE
The government is speeding up procedures to implement an eagerly awaited privatisation programme. Finance Minister George Papaconstantinou, in a letter sent to Deutsche Telekom’s management, launched procedures to sell an additional stake of Hellenic Telecommunications Organization to the German operator on Thursday.
Under the existing agreement, the Greek government has the right to ask the German group to proceed with the purchase of an additional 10% stake in OTE. Deutsche Telekom currently owns a 30% equity stake in OTE, with the Greek government owning a 16%, while another 4.0% is owned by Greek pension funds.
(source: ana-mpa)
Dutch Newspaper Mocks Greece’s Financial Situation
One more provocative article about Greece and its financial situation was published today, on a Dutch free-press newspaper coversheet. The newspaper shows a picture of Santorini where the cross is replaced by a Turkish flag on top of a Greek Orthodox church.
It is also mentioned that due to Greece’s upcoming bankruptcy, Turkish investors find investments in Greece more attractive. It is a widely circulated free-press newspaper, which has lots of distribution points in train and bus stations around the country.
Romani Antiquity Smugglers Arrested in Sting Operation, Attica
Attica prefecture security police announced late Thursday that with the cooperation of the Culture Ministry, they have now solved the April 15, 2011 case of a major theft. The theft concerned stolen antiquities from the archaeological site of Elefsina.
Police located and arrested two Romani people who had the stolen antiquities in their possession.
The perpetrators, on the night of April 15th, snuck into the archaeological site and museum of Elefsina, unnoticed by the guard and stole over 50 antiquities of great value.
Following an undercover investigation, police located the two suspects in a Roma camp in Zefyri, western Attica, and posed as buyers. They made contact with the two suspects. A meeting was arranged, where the two suspects were arrested and all the antiquities were retrieved.
The two detainees are currently being questioned by a local prosecutor.
(source: ana-mpa)
“Lyndey & Blair’s Taste of Greece” Premieres on SBS
The first of seven episodes of the show “Lyndey & Blair’s Taste of Greece” was presented yesterday on SBS. The first series of the show, which promotes Greek tourism, was shot in Athens and mainly in the Peloponnese.
The two hosts tour the central meat market of Athens, dine in central restaurants of the city and taste Greek wines and drinks, commenting on the simplicity and the particularity of Greek cuisine and hospitality. They also visit the Acropolis Museum and gaze at the view from Philopappou Hill. After Athens, they travel to the Peloponnese, and stop at the Isthmus of Corinth. The hosts dine and go on a cruise, commenting on the history and the archaeological findings of its walls. The episodes of the show are available at: www.sbs.com.au/shows/tasteofGreece.
Greek-Canadian Phil Xenidis Named Lead Guitarist on Bon Jovi’s Tour
He plays the guitar perfectly and when he performs live, steals the show. He is of Greek descent and he will be at the OAKA Stadium in Athens, on the 20th of July. He will be performing next to rock star Jon Bon Jovi, replacing Richie Sambora.
Phil Xenidis, known as Phil X, was born in May 1966. The Greek-Canadian guitarist is the co-founder of the band Powder. In the last decade, the band was characterized as one of the surprises of the contemporary music scene of Los Angeles. Through Powder he became well-known not only in the USA, but also in Europe. For a long time he replaced Rik Emmett in Triumph. Until today, he has cooperated with many people from the rock scene such as Rob Zombie, The Drills, Aldo Nova, Frozen Ghost and more.
The temporary exit of Richie Sambora from the Bon Jovi band was official announced on the 29th of April. The top guitarist became a victim of his drug addiciton and he is now at a detoxification centre. Phil Xenidis accepted the invitation and now he is with the legendary Jon Bon Jovi on this year’s tour as his lead guitarist.
His first appearance was at the New Orleans Jazz Fest’s Acura Stage. This year’s tour was very much publicized and ends on July 31st in Lisbon.
5 Greek Companies Rank in 100 “Best Workplaces in Europe” List
Five companies in Greece are on this year’s list of the 100 “Best Workplaces in Europe”, which is drafted annually by the Great Place to Work® Institute. The list was announced on Thursday evening.
The five awarded companies in Greece are Amgen Pharmaceuticals, 3M, Tasty Foods, Accenture and Medtronic.
The awards were presented during an official ceremony in Paris on Thursday night, ahead of Friday’s international conference themed “Future Workplaces”.
The top 100 list includes 25 multinational companies, 25 large enterprises (more than 500 employees) and 50 small and medium-size companies (50-500 employees).
This year’s Best Workplaces survey was conducted among 1,380 companies throughout Europe for the evaluation of the working environment.
(source: ana-mpa)
Greek Consulate & Tourism Organization Attacked in Berlin
In the early hours of Friday morning, there was an attack against the office of EOT (Greek Tourism Organization) and the Greek Consulate in Berlin. The attack took place at 3:00 in the morning by a group of 10-15 masked people, who caused serious damage. The assailants completely smashed the glass door of EOT’s entrance, which is located on the ground floor of the building, at Wittenbergplatz Square and caused even further damage to the rest of the office’s windows. They also threw black paint on the walls and bottles, which reached the balcony of the third floor, where the Greek Consulate is housed.
According to a witness who called the police, the mob spoke German fluently. They left an unsigned proclamation with anti-capitalist content, where their action is characterized as “a sign of solidarity” to those who recently were confronted with “state terrorism”. Police are conducting an investigation into the incident, to find the people involved.
German Foreign Minister Guido Westerwelle, in a discussion he had with his Greek counterpart Dimitris Droutsas, expressed regret for acts of vandalism targeting the Greek Consulate in Berlin, as announced on Friday.
The German Foreign Minister said that such actions were condemnable and do not reflect Germany’s feelings toward Greece, adding that all efforts will be made to arrest the culprits and bring them to justice.
German Deputy Foreign Minister Wolf-Ruthart Born has contacted the Greek Ambassador to Berlin on the issue as well.