Come Talk to “Me”!
Allow me to introduce… “Georgi Karamanev,” a chatbot trained on every piece on this site and on my guest appearances. Let’s find out together what it can do—write to it! It will pop up on its own, and if it doesn’t, you’ll find it in the bottom right corner of every page.
02Five Years of Digital Stories! Can You Crack the Prize Quiz?
Exactly five years ago, the first piece appeared on the Digital Stories site! My modest gift is a fun and unexpected quiz with prizes. Take on 30 questions and you'll enter the draw for 10 books connected, one way or another, with the story of this venture. The quiz takes no more than 10 minutes, so give it a go! And afterward, its remarkably curious backstory awaits you…
03Apollo ex machina: Enter Our Contest for AI-Generated Poetry!
Enter Apollo ex machina, the first Bulgarian contest for generated poetry, organized by Digital Stories and Scribens Publishing! There are no limits on theme or length. The only requirement is that you submit verse you have created with the help of AI. You may send up to 3 works, and the deadline is December 1, 2025. The winner will receive a prize of 300 leva (about $175), selected books await the well-deserved second and third places, and the best poems will be published by Scribens in a poetry collection! They will be chosen by a distinguished jury: the poets Petar Chuhov, Boyko Lambovski and Violeta Kuneva, Scribens managing director Georgi Gavrilov, and the creator of Digital Stories, Georgi Karamanev.
04Digital Stories Wins a Prestigious Award… for Storytelling
For the fifth time, Digital Stories is among the big winners of Bulgaria’s most hotly contested and well-established journalism competition, the Web Report awards, organized for the seventh year running by the news portal Dir.bg. The honor means a great deal because of the respected jury and the stiff competition: 230 pieces of journalism were entered. Digital Stories has been among the winners every single year since the project began, and this year the award comes in the True Stories category for “Jesus: The Programmer Who Came Out of the Ghetto,” while a second piece, “How to Generate Yourself an Influencer,” was one of the three nominees in the Technology and Innovation category.
05What Should the Next Digital Story Be?
Can you think of a story that deserves to be told? Let me know, and if your idea becomes a piece here, you'll get a personal gift. Digital Stories turns three today! It's time to take stock of what has been achieved so far, time for you to have your say, and finally, time… for some unexpected news.
0632 Digital Stories Between Two Covers: What Lies Ahead?
The book Digital Stories brings together 8 big questions of our time and 32 stories in search of the answers. You may have read some of them on this site, and here you will find them updated and enriched; others were written especially for the book. Perhaps you have already drawn back the curtain of the cover? Then I would be absolutely delighted to read your thoughts here. If not, here is what awaits you behind it!
07Digital Stories Wins Another Web Report Award
Digital Stories has earned impressive recognition at the sixth edition of the Web Report journalism awards, which in recent years has established itself as the leading and most prestigious journalism competition in Bulgaria. This year, Georgi Karamanev and Digital Stories won in the Art and Culture category, among 185 journalists competing across six categories, for the experiment “‘Sometimes I’ll Come…’: How AI Painted 10 Classic Poems.” The award means all the more because it makes Digital Stories a winner for the third year running!
08Digital Stories Turns Two! Which Articles Did You Read the Most?
Digital Stories turns two today! Which of the 219 pieces published over that time were read the most? Topics well worth not missing, that much is certain… My heartfelt thanks to every one of: – More than 6,800 followers of Digital Stories on Facebook; – More than 3,600 followers on LinkedIn; – More than 500 people who subscribed to the mailing list; – More than 190,000 readers who visited the site. Over these two years the project: – Twice won the Technology and Innovation category of the most hotly contested journalism competition, the Web Report awards, and once the competition organized by the Bulgarian Association of Information Technologies. – Ran regular rubrics in Manager magazine and on bTV's business news. It was featured on bTV, BNT 1, BNT 2, Bulgarian National Radio, Darik Radio, BTA, Dir.bg, the magazines InGlobo and Osem, and many other media; – Most important of all! It drew attention to a range of topics that grow more important and pressing with every passing day. Thank you! Every read and every share matters!
09BAIT Award Goes to Digital Stories!
Digital Stories has won the journalism category of the annual awards organized by BAIT, the Bulgarian Association of Information Technologies! The prizes, presented for the 12th time under the patronage of President Rumen Radev, are a leading accolade in the IT world. For two years running, the site and its creator Georgi Karamanev won the technology prize of the Web Report awards, judged by leading journalists; now comes the prize from the association with the deepest traditions in the information technology sector. Where technology meets the humanities, the human, the emotional—where journalism meets programming—that is where Digital Stories lives, and that is why the prize means so much.
10So You Want to Be a Programmer?
Is programming for you, and is it worth trying, how late is too late, which language should you pick, and how do you land that first job? I decided to become a programmer at 33, after years in another profession, and here I have gathered everything I wish someone had told me back then.
11A Prestigious Award and a Record for Digital Stories
Digital Stories won the Technology and Innovation category at the Web Report 2022 awards. This is perhaps the most respected journalism prize in the country, because it is awarded through a transparent process by an impressive jury. The awards were presented for the fifth time. This year we also set a record of sorts, winning this distinguished honor for the third time!
12Happy Birthday, Digital Stories. Time for Presents!
Exactly a year ago, on March 1, 2021, the Digital Stories site was born: a small island of essays and reportage about the latest technologies and the challenges they put in front of us. Together we set out on a journey where two worlds meet, the humanities and technology, in search of our shared future as a species. Now it is time for a short look back at the year, and then for presents. They are definitely worth it!
13A Major Honor for Digital Stories
The Digital Stories project has won the grand prize in the Technology and Innovation category of the Web Report awards for good journalism. Organized by Dir.bg, the competition has become one of the leading journalism challenges in Bulgaria in recent years.
14News or Blame? The Robot in the Newsroom
Every day we already read articles written by a robot. Today the most valuable resource isn’t oil, or money. It isn’t gold, it isn’t even power. At the epicenter of the computer revolution, everything is information. Zdravko wants to be a journalist; Zhelyazko is an artificial intelligence. Who does the future belong to?
15A Robot Wearing a Martenitsa?!
The Digital Stories project comes into the world on the very day of the martenitsa. Because nothing is lovelier than the coming of spring. And because…
