Category: 2003-2014 Archive

  • A nuclear Jordan? From outdated logic to inspiring possibilities

    I will freely admit that I am an opponent of nuclear energy. For me this is a moral stance. But I know full well that the issue of nuclear energy can also be discussed on other levels, not just from a moral point of view. I am also not an energy expert. But there are…

  • Seriously GAM.. What on earth is going in King Faisal Street?

    Why does a promising urban rehabilitation project like the one GAM is doing come with so much agony, dirt, carelessness. This fiasco has been going on for too long. Every reasonable person knows that a major rehabilitation of a street will result in disruptions. But the way the construction work in Faisal Street has been…

  • “Jihadist” violence. Fascist violence. No difference.

    The Jordanian state, media and large part of public opinion are loudly condemning the violence that happened in Zarqa last Friday. Of course, many people are extra nervous because the people who demonstrated in Zarqa belong to an ultra-fundamentalist group. Some call them Salafists. Some call them Takfirists or Jihadists. Whatever. These are scary guys…

  • Who will be Jordan’s entrepreneur of the year?

    I get contacted by PR agencies quite often to plug product launches and stuff like that for 360east, and I usually decline, unless its something that really interests me. So here is one of those We’ve all been engulfed in the news of political change that is sweeping the region this year. But you know…

  • 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…

  • Jordan’s choice: democracy & unity, vs. fascist thuggery

    Two photos from the last 2 days in Jordan. You choose what Jordan you want to live in.. The youth of the March 24 movement. (via 7iber) The so-called “loyalists” with knifes. Am I over-simplifying here? Aren’t there a million shades of grey between these two pictures? At a very basic level, the choice is…

  • 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…

  • iOS vs Android: does “open” really always win?

    Google’s Android seems unstoppable. The Consumer Electronics Show, held in Las Vegas over the past few days, has seen the launch and announcement of an huge number of gadgets running Android, including so-called iPad killers like the Motorola XOOM, which be running Android’s next big version, Honeycomb. Google is switching on 300,000 new Android devices…

  • Can 1 million Jordanians stand up for dignity, solidarity and societal peace?

    I am no politician and neither do I have an ambition to become one. But I am becoming, despite my optimistic nature, a politically worried Jordanian citizen. Almost everyday there is news in Jordan about this tribe bashing that tribe, about fights between students in universities, about security forces having to intervene in this city…

  • Why think of a graduation project when you can buy one?

    This is a real ad and a real page from Facebook, blatantly advertising “graduation project” ideas in the fields of electronics and communications engineering. It’s apparently a business in Irbid, which makes sense given its close the the Jordan University of Science and Technology. “We spare you the effort of your graduation project,” says the…

  • 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…

  • Hey Jordan’s geeks: why not challenge Google at G-Jordan?

    OK. So Google is coming town (Amman, that is). And no, this is NOT about them opening an office in Jordan. What’s happening is G-Jordan. A three-day Google event for computer scientists, software developers and tech entrepreneurs. From the 12 to the 14th of December, Google will be “flying in” 20 Googlers to rub shoulders…