Category: Publishing and media
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Tawjihi high school blues
Kattu’a bookshop evokes a very specific memory in me: Tawjihi. That end-of-high-school-examination monster of the Jordanian education system that refuses to die.
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Once upon a time HM King Abdullah II commented on a blog
It was just four years ago that HM King Abdullah II commented on The Black Iris, the well known Jordanian blog. You can see His Majesty’s comment here. In that comment the King said: “We are a country of freedom, tolerance, diversity and openness, and everyone has the right to express their thoughts – no…
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More from IFA and the future of TV: dual viewer screens, the war of 3D glasses and magic remotes
My previous post from my trip to the IFA consumer electronics show was all about OLED and 4K and what LG, who invited me to the show, were promising consumers for the years ahead in the field of TV. But I also wanted to share some of the other stuff I saw and give you…
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55″ OLED TVs and 84″ 4K screens: the next evolutions of TV are here
Trips to the local electronic superstores in Amman will be a frustrating experience for me in the coming few years. Why? Because I seen the future of TV screens at the Berlin’s IFA consumer electronic expo. That future is big, it’s high resolution, it’s 3D and it’s smart. LG invited me to the IFA consumer…
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Internet freedom in Jordan: the beginning of the end?
Whenever journalists, investors or ordinary people ask me: why has Jordan been able to shine in the region in the field of technology, web business and web content, one of my standard answers has always been: our relative freedom and our open internet policies. Over the past decade, Jordan has been steadily building a reputation…
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Talent of community: sketch-a-talk videos animate Arab Spring themes on Ikbis
What happens when you interview a diverse bunch of Arab activists and new media geeks one Skype, edit all of it dow to a few minutes, get an amazingly talented cartoonist, mix in a video camera and some video and sound editing dudes? Ikbis has been experimenting with “community produced videos”. By pulling in different…
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19 things we have gained/learned already in the struggle for reform in Jordan
1. Jordanians have been forced to be interested in politics and public affairs. It’s Politics 101 for many young Jordanians. (Question from a young colleague at the office: “Ahmad.. What is a ‘Leftist’ party?”) 2. Students, workers and other groups suddenly have a voice after years and years of not being heard. Political organizations reflecting…
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Egypt’s Revolution. My Revolution.
I’ve been glued to Twitter for the past 16 days. Too many thought racing through my head to think clearly. A total emotional roller-coaster. My generation’s first revolution! All that I can think of right now is that everything in this region, in our lives, need to be rethought. I am part of the 1989…
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Amman memories: a teenager and a bookstore
I’ve been noticing that as I grow older, I’ve been generally thinking more about the people, places and events that made me who I am today. Maybe its the nostalgia that comes with age, although I do not consider myself nostalgic at all. I am also aware that looking at these things in retrospect might…
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Amman the FFilm: a font, a city, and a piece of my life..
From a message I sent Yanone, the designer of the FF Amman typeface after watching a preview of this film he created. “Ok.. I just watched the entire film. On my iPad.. The film had a strange effect on me. Somehow it encapsulated my career and life for the last 10 years. It’s not just…
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Arabic children books (again): force feeding your kids trash
Back to one of my favorite things to rant about. Arabic children books. I’ve been helping out a little with teaching my 2nd grade kid with Arabic reading. Now don’t get me started about the official curriculum for Jordanian second graders. But I will say this much: the design is horrible. And I’ve been comparing…
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The fall and rise of 360east
I was checking the statistics of 360east.com this morning and saw this interesting graph that I thought is worth sharing. Those who follow this blog might have noticed that it was down from 11-15 September. I had a problem with the domain name, which required a few days to be solved. That’s where you see…