On June 30, 2010, the Mashable has announced a Social Media Day — a global celebration of the revolution of media becoming social. We are joining Mashable in celebrating the day and organizing a meetup also in Yerevan!

The place is TBD by tomorrow, but first we need to know how many of us there will be. Roughly 12 ppl confirmed their participation, but hey, i thought we have a bigger community of social media enthusiasts (willing to de-virtualize for a while :D)! So go now and RSVP!

Social media has changed our lives. It has not only changed the way we communicate, but the way we connect with one another, consume our news, conduct our work, organize our lives, and much more. So why not celebrate?

There is a lot of flexibility in what exactly a meetup can consist of. Some groups are organizing social networking hours at their local venues, while others are hosting speakers or panels. We want to give you the flexibility to tailor your meetup to what you think best suits your social community.

• Follow @mashSMday: Follow @mashSMday on Twitter for updates and developments on the celebration.


• Tweet: Use the #smday hashtag on Twitter. With so many participating, we should be a trending topic on Twitter on June 30. Also, we’ll soon be announcing a prize for those that tweet or post FB.

I have a new virtual pet that's living on my homepage blog.



It's the cutie Hamster Ashotik! He will keep you company while you're reading my blog :)



You've probably seen and even played with the fish that I had here till this. I've let them free to swim in Sevan.



So my hamster can run in his wheel, drink water, eat the food you feed him by clicking your mouse. He will wash his face and then get back to the wheel (alternatively, you can click the center of the wheel to make him get back on it). He's independent minded and sometimes just does what he wants, so you need to accept his character :)



Besides, I've added the formspring widget so you can ask me anonymous questions. I'll answer if I like them :P



and I've added franseren.com on my reading list :) The author is new to blogging will appreciate any feedback ;)

http://maps.yerevan.am

here! our office building and the lunch place of some of our photographers :P

I'm a tech geek, however it doesn't fully apply to gadgets. Maybe it's because i'm a terrible saver and I can't usually afford that many gadgets and I've accepted the fact that I won't always keep up with the new technological developments. And that's one of the reasons why I'm not an iPhone user or Apple fan.

I've been always satisfied with the gadgets I owned and was able to use them to the extent of their capabilities.



Few months ago I started to implement my plan to save some money. Apart from being a terrible saver, I'm also a shopaholic. The plan was to store some amount from each month's salary in a special envelope, in a safe at my workplace. I wouldn't have access to it, unlike a bank account where I tried to put some savings which didn't work out.



The goal was to have enough money for a vacation in summer, somewhere in Italy (of course).



Due to some circumstances and I changed my mind about the purpose of the saving. The geek in me decided to invest the money in some gadgets that were crucially needed :)

Specifically, an Android smartphone and a Kindle. My post about the Kindle will follow next.

And here the story starts. 90% of people I communicate with were asking the same "Why not iPhone, iPad, iEsiminch?"

I'm not an Apple hater, but, obviously, not a fan either.

I spent my previous weekend in Karin resort in Aghveran. An AIESEC seminar was taking place there and I was enjoying my alumni status (which allowed me to do nothing but have the much needed rest).

view from our window

Karin resort, also known as the "Gas rest house" or Armrusgazprom's resort has been recently renovated, however was still quite affordable (AIESECers managed to negotiate the price 6000AMD per person for 2 days/1 night, including the meals for both days).



Aghveran is a popular resort for Armenians in summer. Many people drive to the river bank and organize a picnic the Armenian way. With barbecue and all related "tashakhust" (sorry, an untranslatable word!).

View from our window. The swimming pool of our resort can be seen (it was empty). Also "Arthurs" popular and expensive resort can be seen in far right

The camping site at the river is indeed crowded and noisy. Many people can't do without turning on loud music which has to be Armenian dance/rabiz music that you normally hear on weddings here. And it's from the morning to late evening, from all the cars and pavilions. Altogether it makes an unbearable buzz (worse than vuvuzelas, i assure! :D).

Same unfortunately applies to many resorts of this kind. I was shocked seeing some people dancing to rabiz music from early afternoon to the late evening in the resort's cafeteria. I bet there wasn't any celebration. I have to accept that some people are just having fun this way.

music, reading on the fresh air. my great weekend

On the second day the music-mix heard from outside became too irritating and i had to close all the windows and doors to reduce the noise.

Now to the shocking discovery.



When going upstairs to the 5th floor where our room was, we noticed something around the corner, next to the elevator. Something we weren't expecting to see inside the resort's building. It was a... CHAPEL !

At least the writing at the entrance said so. I crossed the narrow corridor to find myself in a small room, with the walls covered with saints' images and icons. But this isn't the full story yet.