GeekFest

There are occasional outbreaks of "let's have a bloggers get-together" on the community blog, although they don't appear to result in actual get-togethers. So here's your chance, people.

The nice people at Uber-funky Dubai hangout The Shelter are hosting GeekFest on Wednesday the 29th July. It should be interesting - billed as an offline social for online socialisers, the get together is resolutely un-organised, has absolutely no objectives whatsoever and features no sponsors, PowerPoint presentations, speeches or other form of corporatised torture.

The gathering will start at 5pm, although if anyone's early it will start earlier. If everyone's late, it'll start later. If nobody turns up, it won't start at all. But then it won't end, either.

The Shelter has a nice More cafe for refreshments and funky music.

The idea was born out of a meeting that took place some time ago between The Shelter's Saadia Zahid, Simone 'DiscoBallBreaker' Sebastian and yours truly. We've taken ages to get around to not organising it.

If you don't know how to get to The Shelter, this Google Map Link should help.

You can follow @geekfestdubai on Twitter if you like. If this one is fun, we'll do more of them and maybe even include some more 'organised' elements. Or maybe not.

Anyway, do feel free to toddle along to The Shelter on Wednesday afternoon!

UAE bloggers protected by Journalists' Association

A new article says that UAE bloggers will be protected from prosecution by a union of sorts, provided (of course), they follow a code of ethics:

"Bloggers and "virtual" journalists have the right to be protected by the Journalists' Association, provided they abide by the ethics code, including stating of facts and sources of information, avoiding defaming without tangible proof, or provoking hostility arising from religious, sectarian or race discriminations," Yousuf said.

Mohammad Yousuf, President of the UAE Journalists' Association, also said that full-time, dedicated bloggers will be allowed membership of the association.

So the question is really, who is a "full-time, dedicated" blogger? Again, in previous debates regarding this, does it include personal blogs that ocassionally do political commentary and controversial topics, or only those that are "journalistic"? And what is considered "provoking hostility arising from religious, sectarian or race discriminations"? Expats whining about locals, or vice-versa, or both? Does all of this also include comments?

It seems like a step in the right directon for sure, but certain things still seem a bit vague to me.

UAE bloggers on Sharjah

The National Magazine makes reference to this blog and also to secretdubai's blog a few months ago...

"If you search for Sharjah-related posts on the various blogs at www.uaecommunity.blogspot.com, the general tone is one of disdain. The emirate is routinely described as pre-modern, primarily because of the authors’ presumption that the “decency laws” make the place as puritanical as Saudi Arabia. On www.secretdubaidiary.blogspot.com, a banned but still popular site, Sharjah is almost always referred to as “the stone-age emirate”.

Rest of article can be found: here

Ford - Middle East Bloggers - Did they Contact You To Assist With Their Campaign?

According to a story in Emirates Business 24/7 the Middle East bloggers failed to respond at all to their oh so clever social media marketing campaign...

"Ford is to count on the efforts of 100 bloggers to launch its new Fiesta model. However, Middle East Ford officials said they won't be able to replicate the innovative campaign here as they feel blogger marketing in the region still lags behind other cyber marketing tools."

"According to Ford, the campaign was the first of its kind in the automotive segment. Bloggers invited to offer their inputs from around the region, however, generated no response."

I suggest the failure was not Middle East bloggers failing to respond, or be ready for such an initiative, I suggest the failure was in their communication and engagement of the Middle East blogger community.

As a little experiment - I'd like to ask did anyone here know of this campaign, see their Facebook page, follow them on Twitter or most pertinently be directly asked by Ford to participate.

Further reading and commentary at the ever reliable Fake Plastic Souks

Responses please...

Journalists' body stands by bloggers

Interesting read:Journalists' body stands by bloggers

Calling Al Ain Bloggers

I have just set up a Blog List site for Al Ain bloggers. It (of course) includes a link to the UAE Community blog. As well as a link to recent stuff on Al Ain Expats Yahoo group.

You can access the list here

alainblogs.blogspot.com

If you're a blogger in Al Ain and would like to have your blog listed, please post a comment there.

Thanks!


PS - Can it be added to the blogrolls here, please?

Change of Address...

Hi all,

Just wanted you all to know that I've changed my blog address from http://drnsain.blogspot.com to http://drnsains.blogspot.com.

You can check it out by clicking here or above.

PS: Wonder if this could also be updated in the blogroll?

Another blogger arrested.

EmBiz24/7 has a story today that will be of interest to all of us who blog:

"Saudi authorities have detained a popular blogger for violating the kingdom's laws, a senior Interior Ministry official said Tuesday. It was the first known arrest of a Saudi online critic.

The blogger, Fouad al-Farhan, was being questioned by security authorities, Interior Ministry spokesman Maj. Gen. Monsour al-Turki said. He added the blogger "might be released" on Wednesday but did not elaborate.

The Saudi English daily, Arab News, said al-Farhan had "violated non-security regulations." The paper said the 32-year-old Jeddah resident was arrested at his office December 10 and taken to his home where police conducted a search. There were no other details on the arrest.
Meanwhile, his family has contacted the governmental Human Rights Commission, asking for help in the case, the paper said.

Al-Farhan's blog headline reads: "Searching for freedom, dignity, justice, equality, shoura and all the rest of lost Islamic values." Shoura means public consultation, in Arabic."

The story is here.

There's a New Blog in Town!

A GLOBALISED GUIDE TO THE BEST IN FOOD: COOKING IT, EATING IT AND ENJOYING IT!

The Fat Expat is a new Blog dedicated to broadcasting the lunatic babbling of not one but two blogging types to the world. Yes, Alexander and HalfManHalfBeer are collaborating on a new Blog designed to indulge our shared unhealthy and obsessive interest in all things food-related.. We’ll be blogging about food, restaurants, recipes, ingredients. Anything that you can pop into the old bouche, in fact. We’ll be arguing with each other (including a planned series of ‘head to head’ recipe wars) and possibly with some of the restaurants and hotels we’ve been reviewing, too! And we’ll be bringing you a passion for food that we hope you enjoy reading and interacting with. With a little luck this project will grow with time and become smarter and more sophisticated.

The Fat Expat will contain regularly posted recipes, articles about food, restaurant reviews and more. More? Yes! More!

We’re aiming to have a great deal of fun with the format, including special promotions, cook-offs, recipe competitions and, I hope, an increasingly off-the-wall selection of content. There are already over 100 recipes posted up there in the archive, more than yer average cook-book, and we’re hoping to add loads more, together with bringing more contributors to the Blog.

So if you like Arabic food, pies, barbecues, eating out around the world, reading cranky restaurant reviews or prefer to dabble in a delicious assortment of Asian splendours then drop on by to the The Fat Expat!

Thank You Gulf News

Thank you Gulf News for including my blog in your 28 August blogosphere round up. So far as I know, this is the first time that Bss & Brn in Al Ain have made the cut. The only problem is the post quoted didn't appear there, but here at clayfuture's place.

Kuwaiti bloggers tortured by Kuwaiti secret police

Two Kuwaiti bloggers, Jassim Al Qames and Bashar Al-Sayegh, were arrested by Kuwait's secret police after someone posted a negative comment about Kuwait's Emir on their website.

Even though they deleted it immediately, they were still arrested:

Bashar was detained because of a comment written about the Amir of Kuwait, Shaikh Sabah Al-Ahmad Al-Sabah, on his website's forum by an annonymous person, it was deleted by Bashar because of its inappropriateness but he was 15 minutes late deleting it, the police held him accountable even after it was deleted. As for Jassim he was released but beaten severely and blind folded and forced to use his fingerprint as signature to a document he couldn't read because of the blindfolds.

This is disgusting behaviour by the Kuwait authorities and brings disgrace on all of Kuwait.

White Sun of the Desert among top 50 business blogs

That's UAE community member Tim Newman. According to The Times. Congratulations, Tim.

Here's what The Times has to say:

#25. White Sun of the Desert
By Tim Newman, “a British expat living on Sakhalin Island, married to a Russian, and doing what I’m told”. Sample post: “Yesterday I sat from 8am until 4pm in a decrepit old Soviet classroom attending what was described as a training course in industrial safety. In actual fact, this training course was no more than a Russian bloke reading out Russian Federation Law No 116 line by line, in Russian, and then pausing whilst it was badly translated into English. The training course cost $375 per person.” Read the blog

Support for Mahmood.tv

Bahraini journalists plan to gather at Bahrain's High Criminal Court on Tuesday 17th April to protest the libel case brought against Mahmood Al-Yousif by government minister Mansour bin Rajab.

Mahmood criticised bin Rajab and his department's response to heavy December rains that caused flooding. The minister claims his "feelings are hurt".

This is a stark reminder that the privileges of freedom of speech that many of us enjoy back home in the West are not available in this region. In properly democratic systems of government, criticism of the government and government figures is expected and necessary for the democratic process. According to the UAE Publications Law, such criticism is illegal. In Bahrain, and in the wider Gulf, one can face heavy fines and lengthy jail sentences:

Article 70

No criticism shall be made against the Head of State or Rulers of the Emirates


Article 84

It is prohibited to malign a public official, or anybody occupying a post in the public prosecution, or assigned to perform a public job. The writer shall not be held responsible if he proves he did so in good faith.

Mahmood, who has pioneered blogging in the Gulf and been nominated for many awards, has suffered various threats during his years in the blogosphere. His blog was blocked for some time last year.

Anyone wanting to support him and the cause of greater freedom of speech is encouraged to write about his case, or should you be in Manama this week, to show up at his trial.

A Heroine amongst us

Gulf News is running a worthy campaign to recognise Everyday Heroes - people in the UAE who work behind the scenes contributing their time, experience and value to help others and be of positive influence in the community.

Among those recognised is Jayne Winstanley - our very own Jayne with a Why - blogger and raconteur of wit, humour and bloody good jokes, interspersed with tales of Grandma and life in the varied, numerous countries in which she has lived.

For those of you who have had the pleasure of meeting her, Jayne is one blogger whose blog truly reflects her personality - straight-up, humorous, intelligent, and damn good value!

She has often written in her blog of her times spent as a volunteer at a centre caring for mentally and physically handicapped people in Abu Dhabi, and it's for this remarkable work that she is being honoured.

Anyone who has worked with the physically and mentally impaired will understand what fortitude this takes, and how you have to be so mentally strong to cope with the joy, frustration, sadness, happiness and the multitude of other emotions that caring for these people can invoke in their ablebodied caregivers. Jayne has just the right balance of compassion and humour to do it.

CONGRATULATIONS Jayne, kudos to Mike for nominating you, and well done to Gulf News for recognising outstanding UAE citizens working in the background to make a difference.

GN Article on Jayne
GN Article on Everyday Heroes
Nominate people for Everyday Heroes

How to blog it

Is blogging here like the West? No of course not, but that's the point; understand what's possible, and what will cause you strife, and your blogging future should remain bright.

So concludes ArabianBusiness.com journalist Matthew Wade's article on blogging in the region.

Read it here.

Blogging for Bucks?

Out of curiosity - is anyone on the UAE scene doing this?

Do bloggers get the same protections as print journalists? :: AHN

"Santa Clara, CA (AHN)-In a landmark ruling in favor of bloggers and cyber journalists, a Santa Clara County Court defended the First Amendment rights of online journalists to protect their confidential sources, effectively giving web journalists the same protections afforded to traditional print journalists."

Key quote:

Apple claimed the journalists were not entitled to First Amendment protections similar to those afforded to their print counterparts.

However, a California court disagreed, ruling against Apple and in favor of the defendants, who were represented by legal counsel from The Electronic Frontier Foundation (EFF). Apple was ordered to pay all legal costs associated with the defense, including a 2.2 times multiplier of the actual fees, bringing the total to about $700,000.

Read the whole thing.

Questions to consider:

1. Are all bloggers considered cyber journalists?

2. What are the protections for cyber journalists and bloggers in other parts of the world?