Author Archives: David Weman

About David Weman

The founder of A Fistful of Euros. He is Swedish, and was born in 1980. Works as a translator and subtitler.

Public Service Announcement

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Micael Froomkin left a comment:

How nice to see my favorite under-appreciated blogger turn up at one of my favorite appreciated sites.

Now if you could only get them to spill the beans on how they implemented that anti-spam measure in the comments box?”

Like hell we are. Yes, we get mentions in Foreign Affairs and award nominations, yadayada, but we have like 800 (sitemeter defined) visits a day. And we’re one of the best damn blogs there is! That’s underappreciated.

…that’s not what I was gonna write about at all. Um. Well.

The anti-spam hack we use was written by Stefan Geens. It’s pretty easy to implement and seems to be quite effective. Instructions here. (Don’t miss the updates to the post if you want MT Blacklist or MT 3.x compatibility.)

On another note, several of you have said you miss Edward Hugh. Edward has much better things to do than blogging right now, but he thinks he’ll come back around easter.

Most viewed entries

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This is interesting. It brings back a lot of memories.

2004’s 20 most viewed entries:

1. Sturm, Drang and Laetitia Casta?s breasts – or – Why France bashing is a feminist issue by Scott Martens
2. Ukranian update by Nick
3. Al Quaida, a Learning Organisation? by Tobias Schwarz
4. Daniel Pipes on Tariq Ramadan: Why French literacy still matters by Scott Martens
5. Hannah Arendt: The Banality of Evil by Norman Geras
6. At least no one can accuse me of being knee-jerk pro-French by Scott Martens
7. Nudity. by Tobias Schwarz
8. The headscarf: Radical Islam?s greatest secret weapon by Scott Martens
9. Sprach und Sommertheater – German spelling reform and linguistic ignorance by Scott Martens
10. Ukraine roundup by Nick
11. Sex and the Singapore Issues by Edward
12. Interpreting Spain?s Election Results by Edward
13. German Is Getting Sexy Again. Again. by Tobias Schwarz
14. Announcing The First European Weblog Awards by David
15. France and the Headscarf: Now the real fighting starts by Scott Martens
16. Cyprus Referendum: A Win-Win Strategy? by Edward
17. Ukraine on your doorstep by Nick
18. A New European by Doug Merrill
19. Swiss Muslim scholar unwelcome in US by Scott Martens
20. Cyprus says ?Yes? and ?No? by Nick

2003’s 12 most viewed entries:

1. The World in 1856 by Matt
2. German Is Getting Sexy Again. Again. by Tobias Schwarz
3. Sturm, Drang and Laetitia Casta?s breasts – or – Why France bashing is a feminist issue by Scott Martens
4. Europe as an economic irrelevancy by Matt
5. Anna Lindh stabbed by David
6. Mark Steyn is on crack by Nick
7. France to be the fourth nation in space by Scott Martens
8. Anna Lindh 1957-2003 by David
9. Papists Under The Bed by Iain J Coleman
10. Privatisation and Market Imperfection by Edward
11. Immigration: Europe?s Difficult and Perplexing Road to Reform by Edward
12. Anti-semitism take three by David

Results of the Satin Pajama Awards

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You can still see all the finalists and their share of votes on the award page. They’re all worth a visit. I declare the awards a great success!

Here are the winners of the 1st Annual European Weblog Awards, also known as the Satin Pajamas:

Best Coverage of the EU: Publius by various
Best Weblog From France: Journal d’un avocat by Eolas
Best Weblog From Germany: Lyssas Lounge by Lyssa
Best Political Weblog: Slugger O?Toole by Mick Fealty et al
Best Non-European Weblog: One Good Thing by Leigh Anne Wilson
Best New Weblog: Pestiside by Erik D’Amato et al
Best Humorous Weblog: Sadly, No! by Seb
Best Weblog Focused On A Single Country Or Region: The Glory of Carniola by Michael Manske
Best Tech Weblog: thinking with my fingers by Torill Mortensen
Best Weblog From the United Kingdom: perfect.co.uk by various
Best Southeastern European Weblog: Histologion by Talos
Best Personal Weblog: de bric et de blog by Veuve Tarquine
Best CIS Weblog: Siberian Light by Andy
Best Weblog By An Expatriate: Au Texas, tout le monde est fou sauf moi by Pasfolle
Best Culture Weblog: Emmanuelle.net by Emmanuelle Richard
Weblog Most Deserving of Wider Recognition: Non Tibi Spiro by Guy
Best Writing: How to learn Swedish in 1000 difficult lessons by Francis Strand

and finally (drumroll) …

Best Weblog: The Glory of Carniola by Michael Manske

Congratulations, everyone!

Predictions!

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I should wish our readers a belated happy new year.

I noticed that last year Nick and a few of our commenters were bold enough to offer up predictions:

I?m predicting that the Irish presidency (which begins today) will make progress on the Constitutional talks, though maybe not on the Constitution itself (at least on the Giscard D?Estaing version) and also that in June?s elections, the EPP will remain the largest grouping in the Parliament, but the biggest growth will be in the smaller groupings and independent/non-aligned members.

The EPP have remained the largest group.

I think I’ll refrain from any predictions myself, but you can to make your own in the comments section if you dare.

Exit polls: Yushchenko wins

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KIEV, Ukraine (Reuters) – Exit polls in the re-run of Ukraine’s presidential election Sunday said liberal challenger Viktor Yushchenko had beaten Prime Minister Viktor Yanukovich by a wide margin.

Yushchenko, who called crowds of supporters into the streets to denounce cheating in the last poll, scored 56.5 percent to 41.3 percent for Yanukovich, according to a poll by the Kiev International Institute for Sociology and the Razumkov Center.

A second poll, by the Center for Social Monitoring, gave him an even wider lead — putting his share of the vote at 58.1 percent and Yanukovich’s at 38.4 percent.