Fate; 4 letters combined to form one of the most powerful means of an irresistible interference in our lives, determining events we go through in the most amazing way.

Coincidence; this delightful surprise that brings people together in the most unexpected way, in the most unexpected place, at the most unexpected time.

Technology; this amazing human-created tool that enables you to find people you never thought of finding in the first place just with a click.

These three elements are, in my humble opinion, highly connected and extremely separate at the same time. Fate brings coincidence, coincidence was the birth of science, science led to technology. Technology creates coincidence by making the world a smaller place, and coincidence is part of fate.

Every day people go through a series of planned and unplanned events, all the cause of fate, coincidence and technology. And here lies the irony of life…
We make new friends, and we lose old ones. We fall in love with people we never knew existed, and hate those who never stopped loving us. We remember those who are not worth remembering, and forget all about those who deserve to be engraved in our hearts and memories forever. We get closer to those we don’t like, and get away from those we love. We run after those who ignore us, and let go of those who will always be there for us. We help those who are perfectly capable of handling themselves, and ignore the need of those who strive our help. We gather around those who hurt us, and walk away from those who heal our wounds.

(Read on …)

I’m proud to announce the launch of StartUpArabia; a project that my husband has been working on lately, dedicating a lot of his time and paying a lot of effort to create with one goal in mind: promoting an Arab startup culture.

StartUpArabia is basically a weblog dedicated to new Arab technology startups and services, profiling and reviewing them, providing interesting market news and information, and sharing tips and advice for the entrepreneurs behind them. It also discusses existing services and companies that are making interesting new changes and big steps in the Arab world.

We have many smart, creative and talented people in the Arab world who come up with really impressive project ideas, but the lack of guidance and coverage causes their projects to sadly fail.
StartUpArabia will fill this need and will provide useful info and guiding tips for all Arab entrepreneurs; it will also shed more light on their projects and introduce them to as much people as possible, thus preventing these projects from shutting down.

I hope that all of you reading this will spread the word and encourage any Arab entrepreneur they know to check out this weblog. And if you happen to know about any startups, don’t think twice of sharing with my husband.

And to my dear husband; I wish you the best of luck with your project, and I’m sure your efforts will pay off and that StartUpArabia will hopefully get the success it deserves.

After a week of cold weather that brought us wind and occasional rain showers, a couple of really hot sunny days followed, and today, we woke up to watch the streets, cars, and buildings covered with one fat layer of sand. It’s a bit cooler than the last couple of days, but the problem is, the air smells like dust. I hate that!
The atmosphere feels so dirty!

Can’t wait for it to hopefully rain again and have some refreshing weather that fills your lungs with “relatively” clean air…

Die hässliche, illegale Mauer, die Israel gebaut hat um sich von der Westbank zu trennen, trennt auch palästinensische Familien, zerstört ihre Wirtschaft, und macht ihr Leben unmöglich.
Eine Gruppe von Palästinensern versuchen von dieser Mauer zu profitieren und sie ins eine alternative, künstlerische Form des Widerstands zu verwandeln.

Wie funktioniert es? Man geht einfach auf die Website “send.a.message” und tippt dort ein, was man gesprayt haben will. Es ist eigentlich egal was der Inhalt des gewünschten Textes ist. Ausser Beleidigungen und rassistischem Material wird alles gesprayt. Übersetzungen sollen gegeben wurden, wenn der Text nicht auf Englisch ist.

Jede Nachricht kostet 30 Euro. Man bezahlt die online, danach bekommt man drei Fotos: Ein Close-up, ein Bild vom Sprayer bei der Arbeit und eines aus einer weiteren Perspektive, damit man auch einen Eindruck von der Mauer bekommt. Mit dem Geld wurden kleine palästinensischen Sozialprojekte finanziert.

Unterstützen Sie ihren Versuch, die schwierigen Umständen zu überleben, schicken Sie Ihre eigene Nachricht jetzt.

Ein Graffiti an der Mauer, die Israel von der Westbank trennt.
© 2008 Financial Times Deutschland, © AP

English:

* Tagging Israel’s Barrier Wall.

* Send A Message On Israel’s Illegal Wall.

Marketing and advertising executives from across the Middle East gathered for the first Dubai International Advertising Festival this week.
Featuring high-profile seminars, workshops, exhibitions and screenings aimed at giving creative inspiration, learning and networking opportunities to the advertising and allied industries in the region; the festival attracted hundreds of visitors each day.

The Dubai Lynx Awards, which are part of the festival, honor creative excellence in television, cinema, print, outdoor, radio, direct marketing, media and interactive advertising.

You can browse all the winners here, I was pleased to know that the TV/Cinema Grand Prix went to Melody Music Channel, Leo Burnett Cairo Agency, Egypt. I laugh every time I watch one of these music ads on Melody, the English spoken in this particular Arabic accent is so funny and the ideas are so good! You can watch the videos here.

If you’re looking for some serious coverage of the event right from the heart of UAE check out: Copywriter Journalist.

Here are some of the ads I liked the most!

[An ad for Tide Coldwater: “If everyone in New York City washed their laundry in cold water for just one day, the energy savings could be 5.7 million KWH. Enough to power every light in the Empire State Building for a month.”]

[An award-winning advertisement for Hush Puppies shoes.]

So Queen Rania of Jordan decided to become a Vlogger addressing the problem of stereotypes, in an attempt to reach out to the west and break down these stereotypes.

I believe it’s not unusual for the Queen to come up with such smart and creative initiatives of a huge impact. I personally think that stereotyping is one of the biggest problems and there’s no better way to solve the problem than getting the feedback directly from the ones who either create them or who fall for them. And technology never fails in such missions. It helps reach as much people as possible in a glimpse.

Now what I find interesting is that the replies to the video, are coming from people of different cultural, religious and educational backgrounds. So the opinions will vary and the interaction will hopefully be fruitful. What I find upsetting on the other hand is the fact that some of the replies are being offensive, attacking the idea and urging the Queen to address Jordanians rather than the west! to the ones who think this way I say: you seem to have no idea about the activities of the Queen and have no clue about what she’s already accomplished and what she’s still doing in this regard. And addressing the west is, in my humble opinion,  courageous, smart and promising. Civilization works inside out, it’s never a one-way thing. It’s never enough to address problems within a country, since the ones coming from outside do affect it and its people as well.

Another annoying thing I’ve noticed in the replies submitted, is that many of the repliers are trying to steer the whole debate towards Islam and the fact that it doesn’t respect or welcome an opinion that contradicts its teachings, leaving no room for debate; which is so untrue, and there’s a difference between a free debate that respects all opinions as long as they are within the circle of respect and understanding, and an offensive debate that has no goal but to attack and show disrespect and intolerance towards the debaters. Islam always encourages debates as long as they aim at understanding, respecting and tolerating each other.

I just wish that the video will open the door for a positive interaction. No matter how much one talks, if the other person is not willing to listen, there will be no point of arguing in the first place. Therefore I really hope that only interested individuals who are willing to argue politely and who are willing to give a chance to be replied to and discussed with, will participate in the debate. If you’re just looking for trouble and fights, please save the Queen your cyber violence.

I’ve always had a problem with coffee. I truly consider myself addicted to coffee. A while ago I decided to get rid of this addiction, which I somehow managed to do, but huge amounts of tea had to replace the missing coffee doses… so if you think of it, caffeine always had a way to win!

The past couple of weeks were really rough. I had to do anything to keep myself awake and alert. Nothing could do the job better than a hot cup of coffee! so, yes, you guessed it, my coffee addiction’s back, but I welcomed it with open arms, and i believe, I might never be able to kiss it goodbye again!

The only problem is, when you have to stay awake, and when you consume a lot of coffee, you get bored quickly and you feel that you need a change. Since nothing really compares - to my taste buds that is- to the awakening smell of a hot cup of coffee, I wouldn’t change the taste to tea or any other drink, change has to be in the taste of coffee itself. So I’ve been experimenting with coffee, trying to create flavors I’ve never tasted before, or ones that I’ve once tasted but are no longer available for one reason or the other.

I’ve tried them all: vanilla, chocolate, cinnamon… you name it! but then I remembered that a few years ago I tasted one hell of a flavor in London, for which I went crazy: ginger-bread flavored coffee! hmmm, yummy, yummy! just mentioning its name makes my mouth water! I can still smell the ginger-kissed steam that came out of it! GOD IT WAS GOOD! anyway, long story short, since I have absolutely no idea on how to make such a thing, I just bought some ginger powder, mixed it with my coffee and sugar, poured on some hot milk, and voila! I had my own ginger-flavored coffee. Ok, I have to admit it’s not as good as the real thing but it was really good.

Actually I’m drinking a cup of my ginger flavored coffee as I speak, it’s too good that I can’t resist the smell of it … oops, here we go, spilled some coffee on my jeans while having a sniff, how nice, my own son is laughing at me!

Anyway, I know ginger is not favored by many, but when it comes to me, I believe ginger, combined with good coffee and hot milk creates the best flavor ever!

Carlos Latuff is a Brazilian Cartoonist, who brilliantly uses his talent in creating artworks that serve important political, cultural and religious issues such as the occupation of Palestine, the war on Iraq, Islamophobia and many other issues.

I personally found his work to be really impressive, and thought I’d share some of his cartoons that are dedicated to call on the world to condemn the Israeli holocaust of Gaza.

More on Latuff’s work:

* Wakeup From Your Slumber.

* The People’s Voice.

I’ve been having some technical problems with my blog that prevented me from blogging or even replying to the comments left on my blog for a while. Now the problems are solved and hopefully I’ll be able to post in peace

Remember that: “Nobody deserves your tears, but whoever deserves them will not make you cry.”
-Gabriel Garcia Marquez -