Mind Soup

After two years of using Mobi as my primary internet at home [I have to because I can't install a phone line since I move a lot and cable is not reliable] and spending more than $2,000 on subscription costs (around $100 per month for around 10GB of internet with "unlimited" night quota, I have decided to to explain to everyone how horrible this company is. If you are ever going to invest in an internet device (portable iBurst, router or 3G) from Mobi, save yourself the trouble and the initial investment and go with something else. What you will pay to get this service is definitely NOT worth your hassle. Some background information first: Mobi offers wireless internet in iBurst (slow older technology that goes up to 1Mbps) and 3G that is a bit faster. They also sell the equipment that is needed to run the internet (special cards, routers, modems, dongles, 3G cards, signal boosters etc...). I currently subscribe to a new bundle they have, called the twin card which...

A while back, the generous people from Impact BBDO and Nokia sent me a Nokia N9 phone. It was exciting because it was my first non-Symbian phone and I was looking forward to trying something new. It is perhaps one of the most beautifully designed phones that I've ever seen. Nokia have outdone themselves with product development this time. The finishing is perfect, especially the way the screen is embedded as part of the device making it unified and beautiful. The curving on the edges also make it sleek and stylish. In addition to that, the minimalistic design adds to its beauty and makes it very simple to use. The device has only three buttons (two for volume control and a lock-screen button). It fits very comfortably in a person's palm and doesn't feel as big as it is mainly due to the curves on the sides. I will not be covering the all the phone specifications in detail, but if you are interested in the full specifications, check out this link. Below, I w...

After the success of “Blogging Lebanon” last December, Online Collaborative at the American University of Beirut proudly announces its annual conference for this year “Social Media Changing Lives”. There is no doubt that social media is expanding drastically in the world, and especially in the Middle East, yet this change is not only related to technology and the internet. Social Media is revolutionizing every aspect of our lives. The aim of this conference is to discuss how social media is changing fields such as education, culture, business, media and journalism, music and art, NGOs, politics, religion, human rights, science, the environment and the personal lives of everyone who is using them. This conference will be taking place on December 16, 2011 at 12:00 PM at Issam Fares Hall at the American University of Beirut . The conference is open to the general public, and is free of charge. However, due to the limited capacity, it is required that you register beforehand so yo...

(Photo Source: Time.com Cartoon of the Week ending Feb 25) It is without doubt that when people look back at the political events of the year 2011, the highlight of the year would be the civil revolutions and uprisings of the Arab world, or what is commonly refereed to as the 'Arab Spring'. The Arab Spring has been associated with one of the most booming means of communication till now: Social Media. It is a common misconception, though, that the revolutions were caused by social media, since they would have started with or without the internet. However, what kept the revolutionary flame burning was the ability of citizens to easily and quickly share news, photos and videos of what is actually happening on the ground using social media. All reputable news sources were relying on amateurs to deliver the news. For the first time of the history of the Arab World, the news was made and delivered by citizens. Citizen journalism has never been so popular. And ...

When you hear “Lebanon” and “government” in the same sentence, what comes to mind first? Sectarianism, money wasting, no electricity, no water, no jobs, bad internet, expensive living, taxes, wasta? The list goes on and on… Lebanon does not only have a beautiful landscape, it’s not only a touristic destination, it’s not only a clubbing hub, but it is also rich in resources that can help the Lebanese stand on their own feet. Lebanese are proud of that and are ready to fight for Lebanon, that’s the only thing they all agree on. But are we fighting for the right reasons? Do we participate in protests and political gatherings to improve our current state of living or just because our leaders tell us to? A couple of years back, Israel tried to claim the traditional Lebanese Hommos (Chickpeas) dish with tahini as their own. The whole Lebanese community from different sects and religions stood together and defended the Lebanese-born dish by breaking the Guinness Book of records for th...

Dear Minister Nahhas, I had the unfortunate displeasure of attending your so-called "open discussion" last week at AUB.which was hosted by the Youth Shadow Government  I have to begin that the whole lecture (which cannot even be considered an "open" discussion because there was nothing open about it) was very pointless and was not informative at all about the telecom situation in Lebanon. What it was though is extremely depressing. Your excellency explained that decreasing the costs of telecommunications will not solve any problems. You also said that equalizing chances between countries will not be achieved if telecommunications became better. I am sorry to tell you that this is a pathetic excuse not to improve the communications sector in Lebanon. Your speculations that such improvements are not necessarily advantageous to the Lebanese society are invalid. I don't know if you realize how important the internet and fast communication is for the Lebanese yo...

Save the date: May 17th - The International Day Against Homophobia (IDAHO) Lebanon might not have a flashy gay parade with rainbow flags waving above our heads just yet. But many of us Lebanese, gay, straight or anywhere in between, are already actively engaged in a collective effort trying to raise awareness and fight homophobia. More often than not, homophobia is just another by-product of ignorance. People remaining stuck with their pre-conceived ideas, their limited knowledge about how homosexuality plays out in real life. That's where your stories, your personal experiences and your opinions can help a great deal. Sharing some of your thoughts with the rest of us will help spread awareness within, as well as outside the community. So here's the deal: As Lebanon's LGBT blogosphere, we are asking everyone, gay or straight, to take a minute to think: How does homophobia affect you or someone you love? Write 150 words or less and email to raynbow.org@gmail.com You will be ...

Twestival  (or Twitter Festival) uses social media for social good by connecting communities offline on a single day to highlight a great cause and have a fun event. Twestival is the largest global grassroots social media fundraising initiative to date. Since 2009, volunteers have raised close to $1.2 million for 137 nonprofits. All local events are organized 100% by volunteers and 100% of all ticket sales and donations go direct to projects. In Beirut, Twestival is being organized by a great group of enthusiastic volunteers: @ naeema @ sanatawileh @ migheille @ lucyhanna and @ sdarine who have already raised USD 14,000 for their cause. Twestival Beirut is supporting Faire Face , to spread breast cancer awareness and psychological help for women with cancer, along with giving free mammography for women. How you can help: Vote for Twestival Beirut's logo so they can win USD 1,000 for the cause. Donate for the cause online Like their facebook page , follow them on...

Today, March 12, is the world day against cyber-censorship. This day was initially launched by Reporters without Borders in 2008 and "is intended to rally everyone in support of a single Internet without restrictions and accessible to all." Below is a quote from the March 12 website: The fight for online freedom of expression is more essential than ever. By creating new spaces for exchanging ideas and information, the Internet is a force for freedom. In countries where the traditional media are controlled by the government, the only independent news and information are to be found on the Internet, which has become a forum for discussion and a refuge for those who want to express their views freely.  However, more and more governments have realised this and are reacting by trying to control the Internet. Never have so many countries been affected by some form of online censorship, whether arrests or harassment of netizens, online surveillance, website blocking or the adop...

MIND SOUP : Everyone knows that blogging has exploded recently in Lebanon. There's even a Blogging Convention in a mere couple of weeks where our very own Moudz will be in attendance! With that said, as blogging in general is becoming more and more popular in Lebanon, so are Lebanese LGBT blogs. The blogs are very new, less than a year old and two new ones popped up just this month. The themes of the blog are as diverse as the Lebanese LGBT community itself. Posts include favorite music, coming out stories, bad dates, and complaining about Lebanon (the hallmark of a Lebanese blog). Most of the blogs are anonymous (due to privacy concerns and the rampant homophobia still present in Lebanon). Beirut Boy : The author is a young, Lebanese businessman in his 20s. He posts about dating, music, fashion, and is an activist for gay rights in Lebanon. He (as well as many other bloggers) has joined the Save Aya campaign. Gay in Beirut : This blog mainly has humorous and light-hearted pos...

I was doing some google search a while ago and I was totally struck by  google.com 's front page. Google.com (not even the Lebanese version  google.com.lb  that I don't use because it returns the search in Arabic even though I try to change it all the time) has the Lebanese flag on its main logo to celebrate Lebanese Independences day which falls today (November 22). I'm glad that at least google is giving this day some attention. Personally, I don't care that much since I don't believe that Lebanon is completely independent anyway. Ironically if you press on the link, you would see this leads to a search result for "Lebanon Independence Day". The third result for this search would be:  PressTV - Iran hails Lebanon Independence Day . Could my point BE any more proven? Snap shot from google.com Happy Lebanese Independence Everyone!

Bahrani Blogger Ali Abdelemam GLOBAL VOICES ADVOCACY : Ali Abdulemam, a leading Bahraini blogger and Global Voices Advocacy author, was arrested earlier today by the Bahraini authorities for allegedly spreading “false news” on BahrainOnline.org portal, one of the most popular pro-democracy outlets in Bahrain, amidst the worst sectarian crackdown by the government in years, and accusations of a supposed “terror network” involving several political and human rights activists. The BahrainOnline portal is censored in Bahrain. He sent an email earlier today mentioning that he got a call from the Bahraini national security just before his arrest, then arrested him and alleged that he was trying to flee. Reportedly the Bahraini government has a long track record of using torture against dissidents http://bit.ly/9kZyJQ and their TV has been broadcasting hateful sectarian messages to justify its crackdown Ali was arrested before also for content published on his portal, and he contri...

POPSCI : You may have heard the rumor that swirled briefly last month about an Internet “kill switch” that could power down the Web in the case of a critical cyber attack. Those rumors turned out to be largely overblown, but it turns out there are now seven individuals out there holding keys to the Internet . In the aftermath of a cataclysmic cyber attack, these members of a “chain of trust” will be responsible for rebooting the Web. The Keys to the Internet  Each smart card contains a portions of the DNSSEC root key, which would be necessary to reboot the Internet as we know it if connections were severed to stem a cyber attack. The seven members of this holy order of cyber security hail from around the world and recently received their keys while locked deep in a U.S. bunker. But the team isn’t military in nature. The Internet safety program is overseen by the Internet Corporation for Assigned Names and Numbers (ICANN), a non-profit watchdog group that has access to a s...

Zara - Now on Sale So the world cup is over, what happens to the car? "Use of the elevator is prohibited for going up/down one floor" "Get Married for LL39000" = $26 Lebanese Flag during one of the World Cup 2010 games in South Africa

It gives me great pleasure to announce that Lebanese bloggers were able today to postpone the Lebanese E-Transactions Law. According to SMEX,org , the vote on the E-Transactions Law was postponed for one month, sent back to committee for revision. After many long awaited years and after many opportunities and money wasted the Lebanese are finally getting their e-transaction law. But instead of cheers and hallelujah, the online community is greeting this law with a big big gloom and anger. This law, if passed, will take us backward in time and will drive all foreign investments away. [...] This is simply like looking up to a light at the end of a very dark long tunnel only to find out that the source of this light is a burning fire that you can’t even avoid. ( link )                                                            ...

I have recieved an interesting email recently from Anne Lee, who has informed me that Mind Soup is a googlewhack. A Googlewhack is a kind of a contest for finding a Google search query consisting of exactly two words without citation marks, that return exactly one hit, no less no more. A Googlewhack must consist of two actual words found in a dictionary. A Googlewhack is considered legitimate if both of the searched-for words appear as live links in Answers.com in the blue bar above the Google results. Published googlewhacks are shortlived, since when published to a web site, the new number of hits will become at least two, one to the original hit found, and one to the publishing site. For that reason, I will not publish what exactly the two words, to preserve this googlewhack as long as possible. Can you find them on your own? If you do, please click here to inform me. Here are the official rules of googlewhack. Thank you Anne Lee for informing me.

Cupertino, CA, United States (AHN) - With an alliterative nod to its popular iPod music and video playing devices, Apple on Wednesday unveiled the iPad, a touch-screen tablet computer. Chief Executive Steve Jobs introduced the device, shaped like an oversized iPhone, at company headquarters that had been anticipated for weeks by Mac fans and the media. The Wi-Fi-capable device contains a 1-gigaHertz chip, with more than 16 to 64 gigabytes of Flash ram. Like Apple's popular iPhone, the iPad runs Apple Store applications. Jobs said the tablet was designed with the environment in mind. It's highly recyclable as components are free of arsenic, BFT, PVC and mercury. The device can display full-size Web pages and its keyboard is nearly the same size as that of a desktop computer. Users can read books on its display, watch videos or play music. Potential sales for the iPad could be in the millions. In the first year the iPhone and iPod were released, each sold about...