DF Readers Recommend

New to DF's frontpage is some AJAX wizz-bang to give readers the ability to recommend a story to other DF readers.  I went out of my way to make this as easy and fast as possible, the AJAX in use here is about as high speed as you can get.  

So when you like something, cast your vote. DF elections are officially underway!

-Kosta

DF brings you Events

Scour the internet far and wide we have.  In search of that perfect blend of what and where.  WHAT is it that I'm interested in or WHERE am I and what's going on near me.   And dare I say, I didn't really find anything out there that I liked.  

So, we at DF made it a point to put something out there that we LIKE and would in fact USE.   Our new 'Calendar of Events'  is now online in it's BETA form. 

Add your events once logged in and use the tag cloud to click around and see what's interesting to you.   Tags are the basic driver of our events system.  You'll notice that there's some smarts we've put in to auto-tag your event so it's easier for others to find    So, feel free to help us out, tell us what you like.  And go ahead and go click-crazy in the tag cloud, it's like an onion, with just layers and layers of events in there.

-Kosta

Where did all the love go?

Its been a crazy few days here at DF... fires and all. Not a lot of time to soak it all in so to speak.

Just think of how all of Greece pulled together for the Olympics a few years ago. What happened? How did we go from that "we can do this" attitude to one of self destruction? Will peoples perception of Greece be changed now?  Greece will get through this but it seems like so much of this could have ben avoided.

The reaction of some in the diaspora, (US anyway),  about the fires may surprise some of you. Some say, "Donate? Why should I help? Where was the sympathy from Greeks when we has a time of need (NYC)?

Two sides to every coin... -sp

Logged in / Logged out ??

Users might have noticed that their accounts would log them out after 60 minutes of inactivity or after closing their browser.  We 'veupgraded our systems on the backend do be a bit more powerful a few days ago and so had a bit of a growing pain here.  All should be corrected now though, if any problems just drop a note to support@dailyfrappe.com

Kostas

What's the weather like?

What's the weather like?? Well, in Greece these days it's HOT!! DF has been showing the weather in Athens for quite some time, but if you're like me, you'd like to know what the weather's like in your own favorite part of Greece.

Just log into your account and [SELECT A CITY] or click on the city that's listed in the TIME & WEATHER section and you'll be able to choose from the following: Athens, Corfu, Kozani, Mykonos, Nicosia, Patrai, Rhodes, Santorini, Salonica, Tripolis, Volos .

Don't see your favorite city listed? Send us your commments and we'll see what we can do :)

Kostas

More, More, More...

If you check out the top of each page, you'll notice the 'more' effect that pops out at you. Menus are great, but menus that POP are even better!  

Also on tap for release today is our +/- on front page stories. We felt the page needed to be shortened up a bit to let today's stories be the focus, not yesterday's. But if you missed yesterday's, just hit the PLUS image, and POP!, there drops the story.

Kostas

Do you ever...

...catch yourself completely mesmerized by something (an idea, image, thought whatever have you be it) that everything around you seems to dissapear? Where conversations stop in mid sentence and where even for just a minute, you are completely taken to a whole other realm? This happened today with Kosta actually in Artopolis after we had eaten our lunch and were dreading going back to work. 

As we stepped up to the bar to pay for our Greek coffee that we had just had, ( I was already bouncing off the walls...not used to drinking Greek coffee) we looked up and saw the television showing imagery and amazing scenes from Greece.  And they just kept coming...not sure if it was some promotion...but I just caught myself drawn to the images of the beaches, parties, family scenes, the ancient sites, the islands...and I started being flooded with memories of my past summers that I had spent in Greece. 

The waitress looked at us and was like, "BRE! Ti pathate re paidia,'' as we continued to glare off like we were looking into outer space.  Kosta and I came out of our little dream phase we were in and I thought to msyelf... Ellada me ta orea sou.

Kyriakos

Feeding Google

If you know what RSS feeds are, this may be of  interest to you.  A few days old now, but Google's purchase of Feedburner, which showed to be a no-brainer for the search king, shows even more forethought than I originally thought.  David A. Utter explains in Feedburner Fears After Google's Grab that the monetization of RSS feeds is something Google may successfully be able to sidestep Microsoft with, even though Microsoft is building entire application suites built around publishing RSS, reading RSS. etc.. Essentially, what people (and Google) become most interested in is who is reading my feed?  The fact that they're reading it through Internet Explorer,, well Google would have it a different way of course if they could, but truth is, for now, no harm done.

Kostas

Nano time

Πατε Ελλαδα;; Το nano καλο στο ταξιδι.

Kostas

Blogging from the PSEKA conference in Washington DC

Good morning from Washington DC.   I am blogging from the annual PSEKA (International Coordinating Committee for the Justice of Cyprus) conference which is being held in this city for the next few days. Greek Cypriot and Greek leaders from all over the United States (including the two ambassadors from Cyprus and Greece) have converged to talk, discuss and find solutions to one of our most important national issues: the continued occupation of northern Cyprus.

After a line up of speeches on Wed morning, I left with members of the Hellenic American Leadership Council and proceeded to the Capital building to meet with Greek American congressmen and members of the Hellenic caucus.  Being it was my first time ever in the Capital building, I have to say it was pretty exciting.   We first had the chance to meet with Greek American Congressman John Sarbanes (from the state of Maryland), who spoke to us with passion about getting the youth re-energized and involved in the Greek community.   We then proceeded to meet with Zack Space, a Greek American congressman from the state of Ohio; who announced to us immediately "I'm a Greek American,"  and also re-itereated his support for our cause. And before leaving the Capital, we also made a visit to Danny Davis' office, from the state of Illinois, who is the a member of the Hellenic caucus and has been a strong supporter of the Cypriot cause for many years.  

To see the think tank in Congress about the Cypriot cause, and that not only Greeks know what the word HELLENIC means, is promising and hopeful, in that maybe we can truly reunite Cyprus once again.

Wed evening we had a great dinner and cocktail reception at the Cypriot Ambassadors house.  Ironically, at the home of the Cypriot Ambassador was the mayor of Kyrenia (of northern Cyprus), the only ethnic Greek elected official of the north of the island, and amongst the few that have remained in the north.   The mayor, Mrs. Maria Ioannou, gave a heartfelt and emotional appeal for us not to forget Cyprus and to make sure that we CONTINUE to fight to rid the north of the occupying Turkish force.  She ended her talk with an emotional statement, "Remember its KYRENIA NOT GIRNE, its KYRENIA AND NOT GIRNE."




Very moved, I approached the mayor after her speech, and spoke with her briefly about the situation in the north.  I promised her that when the Cypriot flag rises again over Kyrenia, that I would come and have coffee with her in her city.  She smiled at me and said, "Yes, sto limani."

Hopefully we can have that cup of coffee sooner than later. -K