We here at ZATZ are continually reminded of just how global our industry has become. Whether we're sending a message to Maine or Malta, it's just a click of the mouse away.

As it happens, the small island nation of Malta is home to Shireburn Software (at http://www.shireburn.com), which is currently celebrating its 20th anniversary. The company has been developing Notes solutions for ten years, including Integra for Notes, a tool designed to transport data between Lotus Notes and Microsoft Word and Excel. While its homeland may be small, Shireburn is a powerhouse in its field, providing truly global solutions.

About Malta
Shireburn's John de Giorgio recently shared with us some fascinating facts about the country he calls home.

Malta is a tiny island 120 square miles in size located right in the middle of the Mediterranean Sea just south of Sicily and about 180 miles from North Africa. Libya is its nearest African neighbor. With a population of about 380,000, Malta is the most densely populated country in the world. The capital city of Valletta is pictured in Figure A.

FIGURE A

Valleta is the capital of Malta. Click picture for a larger image.

As we're currently experiencing a bitterly cold winter here in the North Eastern United States, we were rather jealous to hear de Giorgio's description of the weather. "We are graced with beautiful weather this time of the year," he said. "The temperature is around 60 degrees Fahrenheit, and it doesn't really ever get below about 50 degrees. We have warm but bearable summers often in the 90 degree and above range, and we are surrounded by the most beautiful sea."

If that alone weren't enough reason to plan a trip immediately, Malta also has a lot to do and see as well. Located as it is, Malta has been colonized by many cultures, including the Romans, Greeks, Carthaginians, Arabs, French, and English.

"We are most famous for having being home to the Knights of Saint John (better known as the Knights of Malta) between 1530 and 1797," de Giorgio explained.

"We have lots of beautiful buildings and fortifications from that period." Malta is also home to the world's oldest standing buildings, 6,000 year-old temples from the Neolithic period. "That's a couple of thousand years older than the pyramids," de Giorgio added. The Mnajdra temple complex is pictured in Figure B.