Serbia, Albania & Macedonia Join Forces For Shakespearean Trilogy

26 September, 2011 Culture No comments

Serbia, Albania and Macedonia will come together at Shakespeare’s Globe Theatre for a unique run of performances of all three parts of Henry VI as part of an ambitious cultural festival. Actors from the three national theatres will fly to London to take part in what is billed as a Balkan Trilogy of Shakespeare – and each theatre troupe will perform Shakespeare in their own language and costumes.

Globe to Globe, which falls within the World Shakespeare Festival as a celebration of Shakespeare as the world’s playwright, will see 37 international theatre companies presenting all 37 of Shakespeare’s plays in37 different languages. Serbian, Albanian and Macedonian will join the long list of languages to be performed, including languages less frequently heard on the British stage.

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Wi-Fi Can Set You Free : Belgrade Knows This Well

Belgrade surpasses London in at least one enviable respect: it provides free wi-fi readily available in so many places across the city. As a foreigner who often uses Google Maps to get out of a jam or to satisfy my craving, my dependence on email and Twitter, this can be invaluable.

In Belgrade, I have found that almost every café, restaurant and hotel bar provides wi-fi, often accessible free by use of a generously available password. It is not just Belgrade: even regional towns like Novi Sad and Banja Luka have more free wi-fi than most larger EU cities. This is not how it is in London, where free wireless in public places is still quite limited and, usually, must be bought via mobile phone subscription or a one-off fee.  So while I am quick to make the most of the full online options of my iPhone, I prefer not to pay extra to link up my my phone to my laptop.

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Learn to Climb the Tree of Knowledge

23 September, 2011 Opinion 1 comment

Tree of Life Wild Rooster Marcus AgarEveryone seems to be an expert nowadays. At least, that is the impression that the Wikipedia generation would like to project. They equate the transient power of having information at their fingertips with the far more rarefied state of acquiring and retaining actual knowledge. It is much easier to live in a state of blissful ignorance, knowing that all the information is out there if needed, rather than to put in the graft and actually learn something.

Undoubtedly, the capacity to access almost any fact at any time is one of the benefits of the internet. It is the gift that keeps on giving. As long as the minefield of errors can be navigated and truth can be sieved from rumour, then the internet is an excellent resource. In part, it is also responsible for the reduced inclination for learning among young people.

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Recognise The Power Of Your Personal Brand

22 September, 2011 Opinion No comments

The power of a personal brand has long been recognised by the recruitment industry, which makes mileage out of ensuring they achieve the perfect fit as often as possible. It is now commonplace for employers and recruiters to delve into our online worlds and sniff back along the virtual snail trail that leads a path to who we are and what we stand for.

Every time we traipse around Facebook, Twitter, FourSquare and the like, leaving comments on photographs, posting status updates or sharing our opinions online, we leave behind indelible footprints that cannot be washed away by the tides of time. With the ever-broadening scope of social media, it is increasingly important for individuals, not just businesses, to bear in mind that their reputation and how others perceive them is impacted by their social interactions.

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