How Long Can We Get Away With It?
In the first half of 2011, Facebook’s revenue hit US$1.6 billion.
How much of that revenue comes from tiny Malta? I would guess that it’s probably not more than 0.05 per cent, making us barely a blip on the radar.
As we know, being the small guy hidden away in the corner can have its advantages. While Facebook is busy elsewhere, Maltese companies have been busy taking the opportunity to experiment and develop campaigns and promotions, many of which pay little or no regard to the promotions guidelines.
This ability for the small fry (and some not so small) to just go ahead and, for example, use the “Like” function as a voting mechanism in a competition is not just a problem in Malta.
It’s obvious that there are simply too many promotions going on for Facebook to keep track.
Just 140 Characters Away
[Ed: I'm on vacation. Here's the first of a week's worth of guest posts. Happy 4th of July!]
David… or Goliath?
Despite its small size, Malta has always been a strategically important island. Sitting in the middle of the Mediterranean Sea it has always been an important crossroads between Europe, North Africa and the Middle East.
Its magnificent Grand Harbour has also contributed to making Malta a key maritime center over the centuries.
The sea routes that criss-cross the Mediterranean are as important today as ever, not only for commerce and travel but also humanitarian assistance (which, this year, has obviously focussed on Libya). Such a busy sea also brings with it risks of pollution from accidents.
The diversity of countries that border the Mediterranean also makes having a coordinated system to respond to accidents difficult to achieve.
This is where the SafeMed Project comes in. Funded by the European Union and implemented by the Malta-based Regional Marine Pollution Emergency Response Centre for the Mediterranean Sea (REMPEC), the SafeMed Project aims to mitigate the existing imbalance in the application of maritime legislation between EU Member States and Mediterranean partner countries.
2 Gr8 2 B 4Got10: Will Texting Kill Language As We Know It?
My wife, Clare, is a linguist. One of the superstars in the field of linguistics is a man by the name of David Crystal.
Image: Maggie Hannan via Flickr, CC 2.0
Mrs. Wigg is a big fan of the good Professor, and was always keen to hear him speak whenever he was in London.
A few weeks ago, Professor Crystal turned up in Malta.
The subject of one of his talks was “Internet Linguistics.”
