mobileappsgames

MOBILE APPS &
GAMES ISSUE
ISSUE 12 - Summer 2014
GAME
COOKS
Born out of a shared
passion for gaming
WEED:
www.cloud961.com
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@cloud961mag
Cloud961mag
Anghami: Providing
much more than
a radio can do
Samar Seraqui
De Buttafoco:
Through Outfits,
I Tell Life Stories
«Legalize It,» The Online
Community Says
FOO:
We do not Celebrate
Success; We Always
Aim Higher
Net Neutrality:
How a Legal Battle an
Ocean Away Affects our
Ability to Use the Internet
TEAM
EDITORIAL
EDITOR IN CHIEF
Mohammad Hijazi
[email protected]
ASSOCIATE EDITOR
Selim Njeim
[email protected]
NEWS EDITOR
Joelle Hajji
[email protected]
STAFF WRITERS
Darine Sabbagh
[email protected]
Lynn Bizri
[email protected]
Paul Gadallah
[email protected]
CONTRIBUTORS
Aline Chirinian
Armen Bakkalian
Ayman Jalloul
Dalia Ramadan
Dr. Cloud
Elsa Abi Khalil
Fida Chaaban
Joseph Maalouf
Fred Bteich
Lara Al Sous
Layal Jebran
Lynn Tabbara
Manal Mohsen
Maurice Rustom
Mhamad Dankar
Mohamad Faez Tarabichi
Nadim Frenn
Nour Rifai
Nuhad Hamdan
Raja Riachi
Rabih El Khodr
Sarah Sabbagh
Tarek Bekdache
Trending Bytes
Wael Kouz
Yara Abboud
Yara Nahle
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PUBLISHER
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FROM THE EDITOR
ARE APPS
THE FUTURE
OF THE
INTERNET?
MOHAMMAD HIJAZI
Editor in Chief @mhijazi
[email protected]
A
decade ago, the most important step for
going digital to any business, organization or individual was creating a website
to showcase their products, services or
interests to the world. Five years later, social media
came to dominate the digital scene.
Nowadays, social media is struggling to maintain its presence,
especially on personal computers
and laptops. Mobile devices—
smartphones and tablets—have
taken over the market. Users
now prefer to use applications
rather than browsing the Internet
through traditional browsers. This
has become more evident with the
introduction of the App Store on
Windows 8, where Microsoft started pushing apps to its personal
computing experience.
Even in electronic gaming, mobile
devices have dominated in KSA,
UAE, Kuwait and Lebanon, according to the latest study done by
IPSOS. With 63 percent smartphone penetration in Lebanon
across the total population in
2013 (an increase from 36 percent
in 2012), and 85 percent mobile
Internet penetration (3G, 4G or
EDGE) across smartphone owners
(up from 74 percent), it is no
surprise that the market for mobile
applications has grown tremendously throughout the last couple
of years.
Let‘s face it: users are becoming
lazier by the minute. They prefer
to browse their social platforms on
their phones using only one finger
as opposed to sitting at a desk
or enduring the weight of their
laptops. In some countries, the situation is even more extreme. Take
Kuwait as an example. The only
thriving social network for marketers there is Instagram because
there is not a lot you can do on
there. Users do not want to read or
think too much. They just want to
scroll and double-tap while getting
updated about the people or brands
that they care about.
Digital entrepreneurs are starting
to take advantage of users’ laziness
by creating simple solutions for
them in the form of apps. Even
Facebook realized that users like
simple apps rather than all-in-one
apps, hence the decision to unbun-
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dle the main Facebook mobile app
into smaller ones. This sluggishness on the user’s part has caused
a billion-dollar industry to thrive.
Despite all the challenges of
starting up a business in Lebanon,
the digital industry seems to be
flourishing. Companies are now
more interested in building mobile
applications for their products/
services than in mass advertising
(namely print, outdoor and TV).
In this issue, we focus on some of
the leading mobile app development companies. Game Cooks is
our cover feature this month. Since
they were founded in 2012, they
have launched 7 international mobile games on Android and iOS and
have put Lebanon on the e-gaming map with games like Birdy
Nam Nam and Run for Peace. We
have also interviewed FOO, one
of the oldest and most prominent
app development companies
who have been producing, since
2009, high-end apps for many
clients. In another success story,
we feature Anghami, the number
one Arabic music application that
has agreements with more than
4,000 record labels regionally
and worldwide. Our features are
rich with information about the
mobile and gaming experience in
Lebanon and the Arab world. This
issue contains a special interview
with a Dubai-based mobile gaming
company, Girnaas.
As time goes by, mobile apps are
becoming more innovative and
helpful. Some are even becoming
more specialized to cater for professionals such as doctors, lawyers,
and writers. The possibilities are
endless and that is why we will be
continuously featuring developers
from the region in our upcoming
issues.
What are your favorite mobile
applications that you cannot live
without?
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CONTENTS
#OP-EDS
E-Piracy: Are you for or against? P.12
#ON THE CLOUD
Mipsters, the Muslim hipsters: Wearing the hijab does not mean you
cannot be hip P.17
Weed: «Legalize it,» the online community says P.18
The right to be forgotten: The responsibility of arbitrating Internet
content P.19
Botnet: Yet another Internet security crisis and how it has been
averted P.20
Net Neutrality: How a legal battle an ocean away affects our ability
to use the Internet P.22
NSA Spying: How the rest of the world responded P.23
#BLOGOSPHERE
Blog of the Month, Moulahazat: Remarking on Lebanese politics P.26
Samir Ghobril: Still in school, yet professional developer P. 50
Girnaas: Veritably Middle Eastern games for a change P. 52
Cloning through an app: A conversation with Lebanese mobile
app developer Alexi Akl P. 54
Mobile Cloud Computing: The benefits Lebanese developers will
likely miss out on for a while P.56
#ART
Bringing Together The Artistic Community: Haven for Artists
use social media to converge art lovers P. 58
#DESIGN
Toying With Littlebits: A flourishing open-source gadget-building online platform P. 60
Flat Design: Usability, functionality and content P. 61
#FASHION
Yes, there is Such a Thing as too Many Bloggers: GS Stores
Lebanon cause blogger clash P. 62
Une Libanaise A Paris, blogging for five years and still going strong P. 28
#FEATURE
#FOOD
Restaurants’ Promotional Strategies during The Holy Month P. 65
Game Cooks: Born out of a shared passion for gaming P. 36
Lebanon’s mobile development scene: Three things to be prepared
for when developing P. 43
Pricing of Lebanese apps: Monetization and revenue options P. 44
#cover DESCRIPTION
Planet Nam Nam by Game
Cooks, to be released
September 2014
FOO: Riding the wave of modern-day trends P. 46
Anghami: Providing much more than a radio can do P. 48
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CONTENTS
#MOVIES
Remembering Augustus Waters: The Fault in Our Stars breaks
hearts, generates social media buzz P. 64
#JOBS
Rabih El Khodr’s Tips for a Successful Skype Interview P. 88
The Beehives: Buzzing With Drive to Unleash Potential P. 90
Game of Thrones: On the throne of social media P. 65
#POLITICS
Your Middle East: News online platform doing what mainstream
media cannot P.66
Palestine’s Online Presence: A tool of non-violent resistance P.67
#AGENCIES
Agency of the Month: Joe Fish’s Rami Traboulsi: We are not a
typical agency… it has a character, it is fun and original P. 94
#DIGITAL
Sharing Economy: On the Rise, Even in the Arab World P. 96
#TRAVEL
The 7 Must-Have Instagram Posts While On Vacation P.69
Technology ‘R’ Us: IBM predicts how integrated technology will
shape our future P. 98
#APPS
The Next Billion: How Google and Facebook’s acquisition sprees
are geared towards reaching new Internet users in developing
markets P. 101
Kitestring: Your online/offline emergency whistle P. 72
#MARKETING
This Summer’s Must-Have Apps P. 70
Playin’ [It] Safe to the Beat: Minimize distraction with glance-free
playlist control P. 72
#GADGETS
Jennifer Kanaan: My accounts are an extension of myself P. 102
Click-based Advertising: How monetization of every click is
reshaping the way websites package content P. 104
Google Driverless Car, A Road to Possibilities: Google unveils
their own driverless car and jump miles ahead in the race of
autonomous motoring P. 74
Intently: No more online advertisements? P. 105
Is Lebanon Ready for the Dawn of the Smart TV Era? P. 75
#STARTING UP
Colorful Designs: How budget devices are making up for cheap
materials by using bright colors P. 76
Witnessing The World Cup 2014: Every marketer’s wet dream P. 106
Shopbuilder, Setting up Your Online Store: An appealing,
organized and affordable digital platform, for a better shopping
experience P. 110
Edyn Smart Garden: Welcome to the connected backyard P. 77
Windows 8 Hybrid Devices: The rise of a new corner in an already-crowded market P. 78
#SOCIAL GAMES
Videogames Misconceptions: How they are still feared by those
who have never played them P. 82
#EDUCATION
TED-Ed: Capturing and magnifying the voices of educators P. 112
Online Tutorials: Changing the face of education P. 113
#CHANGING LIVES
My Stealthy Freedom: Iranian women revolt P. 114
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FROM OUR READERS
FROM OUR
READERS
We appreciate your feedback regarding our magazine, so feel free to share
your thoughts with us on our social media platforms on Facebook.com/
cloud961mag, Twitter.com/cloud961mag, Instagram.com/cloud961mag or
by email on [email protected].
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OP-EDS
E-PIRACY: ARE YOU
FOR OR AGAINST?
By Raja Riachi
@rajariachi and By Layal Jebran
What follows is a debate of two opinions,
circulating on piracy. Does the free sharing
identity of the Internet inherently give us
the right to share for free, and are there
any ethical considerations to be taken
heed of? Tweet to us your thoughts. We
would love to hear from you!
Layal: What is piracy, anyway? I believe
that information should be free for all.
When you download a song or a movie off
the Internet, you are not actually stealing
something; you are only copying it with
the full consent of the party that uploaded
it. Had you been stealing it, the original
would be gone and someone’s rights would
be compromised. Another point: if one
chooses to download a movie or a book
they already considered too expensive to
buy, the business of that said book owner
is not affected. On the contrary, the owner
gains more fame, and either way, the
downloading party was not going to buy
the book, hence the original sales numbers
won’t not affected.
Raja: Piracy is the free download or copy
of a song, movie, game, book, etc. and use
without the consent of the owner. The
Internet, which is promoted as a platform
for free and open sharing, leans heavily
on the misappropriated word “free”. The
definition of property has also shifted, as
we move toward an increasingly virtual, intangible world. While piracy does
sometimes help spur popularity in favor of
some newcomers, content creators find it
hard to recoup the losses. Gaming studios
have famously had to lay off employees as
sales figures were not reached due to widespread piracy of their products, affecting
employees trying to make ends meet.
Layal: Why would piracy cause lay
off’s of so many working people? Gaming companies have noted a rise in the
sales of their figurines and limited edition
packages, as well as an increase of their
in-app purchases. In music, for example,
streaming, downloading or torrenting
songs enables people to sample the genre.
If they like it, they might be compelled to
purchase the actual albums, buy shirts and
autobiographies, and perhaps even “mosh”
at concerts. Giving away free samples or
trial version of apps and other goodies has
not been associated exclusively with newcomers, though. RadioHead, a high-profile
band, put their album out on the market
12 CLOUD961
@iPr1ncess
on a “pay-what-you-want” basis in order
to support the right to free information on
the Internet. Also, when app developers
themselves make their apps free for a day,
they are encouraging people to use their
product, even though they might not have
paid for it. Our current online world does
not stand or fall only based upon profit,
but also on how much exposure one can
acquire. Most brands nowadays care about
getting famous way more than they do
about the means (through the legal purchase of their app, song, book, or endless
seeding and leeching). If it were otherwise,
the Stop Online Piracy Act (SOPA) would
not have been opposed so vehemently.
Raja: SOPA was not refused because it
threatened piracy. It was refused because
it threatened the open nature of the Internet, in an attempt to combat piracy. Content creators and providers have reacted to
widespread piracy in what I believe to be
the right way: by providing appealing and
cheap alternatives through digital media.
Subscription-based music services reward
artists for every time someone listens to
one of their songs, while keeping costs
down for the consumer (with just a few
dollars a month). Games found on digital
storefronts are highly discounted a few
months following their release. Buying
them would allow the player to benefit
from developer support and multiplayer.
The only time piracy might be justified is
when there is no way to access certain
content but through piracy. For example,
I have no way to watch my favorite TV
shows because I do not have access to
Netflix or other video streaming services
in this country, so I pirate them. However,
when the people who have worked hard
on what they have created provide the
consumer with a very cost-friendly alternative to piracy—and people still decide
to essentially steal that product— then
they would have crossed the line. When
established bands like Radiohead or app
developers decide to offer their content for
free, they do it by choice. It does not give
us the right to force this system on others
who have worked hard and simply want
to be rewarded for the work they do, very
much like I expect to be paid for this article
I am writing.
Get RadioHead‘s album for free at:
http://www.telegraph.co.uk/finance/
markets/2816802/Radiohead-to-give-awaynew-album.html
C
M
Y
CM
MY
CY
CMY
K
NEWSFEED
By Joelle Hajji
Local
International
@joellehajji
NEWSFEED
1-Microsoft Making Fitness Band, Not A
Smartwatch
Microsoft is planning to launch a new smartwatch that will be compatible with iOS, Android and Windows Phone devices. The device
is expected to be sleeker, thinner, and more
closely resemble a fitness band, such as the Nike
Fuelband. The smartwatch and/or fitness band
will allegedly be released this fall and pricing
could be the same as Samsung Gear. “It will work
with everything and not just the device maker’s
smartphone platform,” wrote Paul Thurrott, who
has a satisfying
1
2-Vine Adds A New Metric For “Views”
Vine added a new metric so users can see just
how widespread their Vine creations actually
are. Vine videos now include a “Loop Count,” a
metric comparable to the “Views” one used on
other sites like YouTube. The count updates
automatically any time the video is played, even
on embeds across the web.
6
7
3-Facebook Testing New “Related Videos”
Feature
Facebook is testing a new “Related Videos” feature which suggests videos similar to the ones
you just watched.
Similarly to YouTube, once a video is done playing on your Facebook’s News Feed, you would
have the option to re-watch that video, or select
another related video from a grid provided by
Facebook.
2
3
4
4-Apple Has Unveiled Its iOS 8, Launching
In The Fall
Apple has unveiled its iOS 8. The new version,
which will come to iPhones and iPads in the fall,
includes many new features.
iOS 8 brings interactive notifications, giving
users the ability to respond to a notification
without launching the app it comes from, just by
pulling down on the alert. On the lock screen,
swiping notifications will bring up a pair of
Accept/Decline buttons. The iOS 8 beta software and SDK are available immediately for iOS
Developer Program members at developer.apple.
com. iOS 8 will be available this fall as a free
software update for iPhone 4s, iPhone 5, iPhone
5c, iPhone 5s, iPod touch 5th generation, iPad 2,
iPad with Retina display, iPad Air, iPad mini and
iPad mini with Retina display. iCloud Photo Library and iCloud Drive use your iCloud storage
with the first 5GB free. Features are subject to
change. Some features may not be available in
all regions or all languages.
8
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14-Google Is Adding 13 Additional Languages to Gmail, Bringing Total Count To 71
Gmail, which now covers languages spoken by
94 percent of the world’s Internet population,
can now be formatted to Afrikaans, Armenian, Azerbaijani (Azeri), Chinese (Hong Kong),
French (Canada), Galician, Georgian, Khmer, Lao,
Mongolian, Nepali, Sinhala and Zulu, this bring
its languages count up to 71.
13
Hola
Hello
14
Heij
你好
15
10
11-Twitter Adds “Buy Now” Button
Twitter’s “Buy Now” button has appeared for the
first time in multiple tweets. While the buttons
appear in both the Timeline and expanded tweet
view, nothing happens when you actually hit
the button. It only appears on mobile, and does
not appear on Twitter’s web version.
16
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12-Facebook Has Rolled Out Slingshot
Internationally
Slingshot, which is produced by Creative Labs,
is a Snapchat-style app which lets you fling
pictures or videos to your friends. The main
point of differentiation is that in order to view
a received image or video clip, you have to sling
something to the sender first.
6-Instagram Adds 10 New Features To
Photo Editing Tools
Instagram added 10 new features to the photo
editing tools. The new list of features includes:
adjust (a new tool for cropping and straightening photos), brightness, contrast, saturation,
warmth, sharpen, shadow, and others. Users will
also have more control over the level of filter
that is applied to photos before sharing filters.
The filter’s intensity is adjustable on a slide bar.
13-Volvo And Audi Have Announced Their
New Android Auto Plan
Volvo have announced that their new XC90
will be the first Volvo car to run Android Auto.
The XC90 will be launched in October at the
Paris Motor Show, with first models shipping
11
15-Facebook Gives Its Column Ads Another
Makeover
Facebook has started rolling out a new design
for the column on the right of the “News Feed.”
Facebook said early tests are showing “significantly higher click-through rates” for the
redesigned unit, which features fewer ads with
bigger images. This also means advertisers must
pay a premium for that space.
“With fewer ads available in the right-hand
column, we expect that overall competition for
ad space on Facebook will increase,” the social network warned. The new design may be
simpler for advertisers, as it mirrors the shape of
desktop News Feed ads, so marketers could use
the same image for both units.
16-Facebook Messenger Is Now On iPad
Facebook Messenger has finally arrived to iPads.
The popular chatting app was previously only
available on mobile for the iPhone, but the social
network pushed out an update that includes full
iPad support. In the past, users could use Facebook Messenger on iPad, but only as an enlarged
iPhone app.
10-Twitter Now Allows You To Embed
Tweets Within Tweets On iOS And Android
You can now embed tweets within tweets on
iOS and Android. To do so, just copy and paste
the link to an older tweet into a new one. The
link will automatically settle into an embed and
can be tweeted out accordingly. For now, this
only works on mobile.
7-Google Updates YouTube App For Android With Resolution Options
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8-Samsung Galaxy Note 4 Release Date In
September
The new Samsung Galaxy Note 4 specs list
includes Quad HD with a 2560×1440 AMOLED
display of an unknown size and a 2-megapixel
camera screen.
Other rumored features of the phablet include:
Snapdragon 805 SoC with four Krait 450 cores
clocked at 2.7 GHz and Adreno 420 GPU, 3 GB
of RAM, fingerprint sensor, and an upgraded
S Pen stylus. At the back, the smartphone will
also pack a 16 MP ISOCELL back camera. There
is speculation that the latest Android L will be
preinstalled on the smartphone.
Although Samsung has not officially confirmed
the Galaxy Note 4 release date, it is most likely
that the device will arrive in September as new
Galaxy S4 and Note 3 deals were spotted online.
It is rumored, however, that it is to be released
first in the US, North America, Korea, China and
Japan before arriving to the MENA region.
out in early 2015. Audi vehicles with Android
Auto will begin arriving in early 2015. For Audi,
Android Auto will be built into its existing MMI
system. This will allow Android users to plug in
their phone and get full access to Android Auto
while still allowing other devices and older Android phones to get a good in-car entertainment
system through Audi’s MMI system.
9-Facebook Messenger Adds Tap-AndHold video Sharing Feature
Facebook Messenger has added the Tap-AndHold video sharing feature. Pre-recorded video
sharing and a split-screen selfie camera were
added in April, but now you can tap and hold
the camera button to send a mini-movie. The
quick video messaging has already proved itself
a hit, so Facebook is giving it to Messenger’s
200 million-plus users. The camera defaults to
the front-facing selfie mode, but you can flip it
around to show off what you are looking at.
5-Twitter Changes Its Primary Web Font
Twitter has changed its primary web font for
user profiles. The new font is Gotham Narrow SSm. The font change appears across the
Twitter.com site, on user profiles and sidebars,
in tweets and on individual tweet pages, even
smaller text like the tweet embed code.
5
The YouTube app on mobile has been updated
with video resolution choices. This is very useful
for people who have slow mobile data speeds.
Now, when you click on the menu button in
the video and tap on the gear icon, you will get
a list of resolution options, from the eye-watering 144p, all the way up to 1080p. Maximum
resolution will depend upon the video, of course.
Before the update, there was no way to select—
just HD on or off.
18
17-AppMahal Launches Unique Social Sharing Network For Mobile Apps in Arabic
AppMahal Ltd. announced the launch of
AppMahal, the first social sharing network for
mobile applications. AppMahal, which is available on Google Play, allows users to see which
applications their friends and other users have
on their phones and share applications and recommendations among each other. AppMahal is
being developed for the Arab market by an Arab
entrepreneur team and its goal is to help users
in Arab-speaking markets discover and share
great apps. By linking social connections such as
Facebook to the huge world of mobile apps, AppMahal enables users to see which applications
their friends and other social network members
are using on their phones, using information
which is already available and provided through
the social network. AppMahal allows users to
find new, interesting and popular applications
without searching through millions of apps.
18-ISPs Start Rolling Out Their New DSL
Plans
Ogero have started rolling out the new ADSL
plans with lower prices and higher bytes. Prices
are subject to VAT and to Fair Use Policy. They
are also based on location and the quality of copper phone lines. The offer also includes unlimited night traffic from 11:00 p.m. to 7:00 a.m.
15 CLOUD961
ON THE CLOUD
ON THE CLOUD
MIPSTERS,
THE MUSLIM
HIPSTERS:
Wearing the hijab does not
mean you cannot be hip
By Joseph Maalouf
@zoozel
A group of women who identify
themselves as the “Muslim
hipsters” have initiated a
trend across the Interweb
with their unconventional
style, within the limits of
conservative clothing. They
are bold, creative, fashionable
women, yet also wear the hijab and stay
true to their religion.
Their goal: dismantling stereotypes and
oppressiveness through finding self-empowerment in fashion, proving that the
hijab can be treated as just another item
of fashion. They also go as far as expanding the meaning of the word ‘Mipster’:
“someone at the forefront of the latest
music, fashion, art, critical thought, food,
imagination, creativity, and all forms of
obscure everything.”
The movement started with e-mails
between members of a small group of
friends and grew into a large social phenomenon on several online platforms.
The Mipsterz are well-aware of the power of digital platforms in reaching out to
like-minded individuals and in encouraging those to express their sense of style
freely. The movement spread organically
on blogs that curate relevant trends and
inspiration, the most notable of which is
16 CLOUD961
called ‘Modest Street Fashion’, defining
the initiative as “a must-have inside look
into a twenty-first-century genesis of a
faith driven style.”
As a result of their investment in social
media, their work is allowing people
around the world to see a modern,
non-monolithic take on Islam. This
movement has also led to the launch of
Hipster Shaadi, a matchmaking site for
young, hip Muslims. The site’s co-founders met on one of the Mipster forums
and agreed on the need to have an online
platform that connects people who share
the same religious mindsets.
However, the group’s music video—
showcasing their street style—was met
with mixed reactions. Blogger Fatimah
Waseem described their hijab as “a
plumped, fluffed, and frivolous mash-up
of modern tends laced in showing one’s
figure.” and questioned if this was the
right way to portray Muslim women
as empowered, confident, and alive.
Fashion statements do not exactly align
with the Quran’s call for modesty for the
Muslim woman. This is seen by some as
compromising religion.
That being said, it seems like the Mipsters are here to stay, for new brands
such as the conservative chic collections
of Alya are starting to appear with this
demographic in mind, accommodating
the need for self-expression.
HAIR STYLISTS & MAKE-UP ARTISTS
Beirut - Verdun Plaza 1 - Tel: 01 801 380
Sour - Hosh Square - Tel: 76 551 585
Raafat.and.Ismail
Raafat_And_Ismail
17 CLOUD961
ON THE CLOUD
ON THE CLOUD
The responsibility
of arbitrating
Internet content
By Raja Riachi
@rajariachi
The way the Internet is
structured in its basic
form provides access
through portals like
Google, Yahoo, Bing,
etc. These portals have
facilitated finding almost
anything online, short of
child pornography, from daily headlines to pirated movies, upholding the
fact that as long as your tastes do not reach
such lows as obtaining satisfaction from the
abuse of young children for your own pleasure, you will find what you look for online.
WEED:
«LEGALIZE IT»
On these portals, however, lies a great burden
of maintaining the open nature of the Internet and ensuring that any piece of information is accessible, unless it breaches the
farthest limits of common human decency
and/or legality.
THE ONLINE COMMUNITY SAYS
This, actually, has been threatened by a case
ruling at the European Court of Justice,
Europe’s highest court, saying that people
have “the right to be forgotten” by requesting
that Google remove pages about them if they
are “irrelevant, out of date, inaccurate, or an
invasion of privacy.”
The debate about legalizing weed in Lebanon has got very animated lately as members of parliament suggested legalizing
its cultivation. One MP, however, went
further, considering legalizing its use, too.
Ever since, a large portion of Lebanese
youth has been screaming, «Legalize It.»
No marches or demonstrations have been
held for this cause yet, but a virtual campaign has already invaded social media
platforms. The prison sentence for weed
consumers did not scare nor prevent people from posting their pictures alongside
joints on Facebook pages like «Shari’ouha», «Legalize It», and «Legalize Marijuana
Lebanon.»
This issue came into the light when Spanish
lawyer Mario Costeja González argued that
entering his name into a search engine so in
this case Google, would bring up information
about his past where he faced financial difficulties which led to the repossession of one of
his properties. He argued that his debt issues
had been solved a long time ago, rendering
them out-of-date and no longer relevant.
It is important to note that Google is not capable of removing the page from the Internet,
and was only asked to remove articles and
links relating to this incident from search
results when González’s name is typed
in. This sets a precedent in Europe which
allows anyone to submit requests to Google
to remove embarrassing information they
would rather hide, under the argument that
it is “irrelevant, out of date, inaccurate, or an
invasion of privacy”.
By Yara Nahle
@yarabee2
In one photo, the Cedar in the center of
the Lebanese flag was replaced with a
Marijuana plant. In another, a man is de18 CLOUD961
picted in the middle of a green weed field.
He has his face covered with a «Koufie»,
usually worn by peasants. He is a peasant
who cultivates weed, and is proud of his
vocation.
These campaigns bring forth arguments
in favor of legalizing this plant, especially
those based on studies which prove the
medical value of weed (its capability to
cure cancer, for example, or heal burns).
They claim that the plant’s medical benefit is the reason behind the authorities’
rejection of its legalization; after all, they
won’t be able to make as much money
from the medical sector with the presence of a medicine like that.
Founded less than two years ago, «Legalize Marijuana Lebanon» took advantage
lately of the legalization debate taking
place among politicians. The page’s admin
thinks the online community is doing its
best, but more efforts should be done for
“the good of this country.”
“Things should go farther; we need to hit
the streets and protest for what is good
for us, for what makes a better country,»
the admin writes.
As the page showcases photos of Marijuana plants in large green fields or in
people’s backyards, the page’s manager
fears being confronted by authorities or
accused of engaging in illegal activities.
However, he does not plan to discontinue
his efforts for, in his opinion, he is not
encouraging people to break the law, is
rather only spreading knowledge about
marijuana’s benefits.
«It’s not a crime,» he believes.
porn, and how the lives of those targeted
are affected. Revenge porn is when a former
significant other, usually male, posts sensitive, highly graphic videos and images of the
victim along with their names and addresses.
This ruling now allows people to request from
Google to remove links to these pages from
their search engine, making them almost
impossible to find.
While many who have been negatively affected stand to benefit from this ruling, there
is something more important at stake. The
open nature of the Internet is what allows us
to keep an eye on our politicians. It is what
keeps corporations [relatively] honest. It
ensures a certain modicum of forced honesty,
a luxury that could prove itself to be shortlived.
The main example in the arguments given to
advocate such a decision would be revenge
19 CLOUD961
ON THE CLOUD
BOTNET:
Yet another Internet security crisis and how it
has been averted
By Raja Riachi
@rajariachi
In the last issue of Cloud 961, Heartbleed
was seen as the most important threat
to Internet security. While it still is, and
in large part still inflicts many servers
that have not updated the version of
Openssl they use, a new threat has
emerged.
In the beginning of June, Microsoft, the
FBI, and the United States Department
of Justice announced they had cooperated to take action against something
called the “Gameover Zues” Botnet. A
Botnet is what we call when numerous
similar programs communicate with
each other via the Internet to provide
the same function. Botnets can be used
for productive or malicious purposes,
the most widespread being distributed
denial of service (DDOS) attacks, which
have been responsible for many social
media and website outages in the past.
20 CLOUD961
In this case, the Gameover Zues Botnet
is a Trojan responsible for USD 100m in
losses while spending 2013 attacking
“nearly all major business and public
sector organizations” and between
500,000 and 1 million computers affected, according to a post on the Microsoft
website.
Gameover Zues is spread through “driveby downloads”, a technique cybercriminals use whereby a website visit from
an unprotected computer would lead to
the download of the malware.
It is also spread through phishing,
whereby fake e-mails are sent from
seemingly legitimate businesses, containing an attachment or link which
when clicked, would lead to infecting an
unprotected computer. Once the PC in
question is infected—when users are on
a web browser—the botnet automatical-
ly starts logging all keystrokes, eventually giving the victim’s account information to the cybercriminal behind the
botnet.
Variants of the latter have also been created, giving it the ability to circumvent
firewalls and other security systems
by disguising itself as an encrypted
executable (.exe) file. According to the
US Justice Department, this Botnet
was tackled with the help of “private
industry experts and law enforcement
counterparts in more than 10 countries
around the world,” deeming it a “US-led
Multi-National action.”
While one might easily get lost in the
technical aspect of Internet security, if
there is one thing to take away from the
information herein, it is that one must
always be vigilant while surfing the
WWW.
ON THE CLOUD
ON THE CLOUD
NSA SPYING:
How the rest of the world responded
By Raja Riachi
NET
NEUTRALITY:
How a legal battle an ocean away affects our ability to use the Internet
By Raja Riachi
There has recently been a flurry of news
on the US National Security Agency (NSA)
spying on Internet users on things ranging
from social media to massively multiplayer
online gaming (MMO). While most media
outlets have been focusing on how this affects US citizens, it appears that the privacy
rights of those outside the US have been
forgotten.
or locations because “the cloud does not
have a physical footprint”.
For this reason, Microsoft was not surprised
that it lost its first challenge to the warrant demands and is now appealing that
judge decision. Microsoft argue that the US
Government does not have the authority to
order access to e-mails of non-US citizens
on non-US territory.
Microsoft was the first major company
to address this issue by offering international customers the choice to house their
information on servers outside the United
State—in Dublin, Ireland, where they would
theoretically lie outside the US Government’s jurisdiction, and thus remain out of
their reach. The US Government, however,
presented Microsoft with a warrant to
access e-mail information on customers
outside the US, with the argument being
that warrants for virtual information do not
follow the same rules as physical material
Microsoft has received backing and support
from many other tech giants, including the
Electronic Frontier Foundations, Apple, Cisco, and mobile carrier companies Verizon
and AT&T. There are others taking measures against the bout of NSA spying, with
countries such as Brazil and Russia passing
laws that demand US Internet companies to
house servers with their citizen’s information within their borders. In Brazil, these
measures are being taken even further,
with the country’s postal service developing
an encrypted e-mail service.
In addition, plans to physically, and quite
literally, sidestep the US when it comes to
its country’s Internet traffic were revealed
when Brazilian President Dilma Rousseff
announced that they would extend a deep
sea fiber optic cable through the Atlantic
between Brazil and Europe, bypassing the
US.
The aim behind these actions is to keep
information on Brazilian soil and divert web
traffic away from American servers, thus
having firmer control over who accesses
its citizens’ online information. It is feared,
however, that due to the NSA’s obvious
determination, that simply making their
maneuvers more difficult does not render it
impossible to access private information, and
does little to deter that in the long run.
@rajariachi
The Internet has always been a place of
forced equality. It was the first human
construct that truly offered an equal
voice and opportunity to anyone with
enough money to buy a laptop and a cup
of coffee.
With more than one-third of the global population online as of 2012 (almost
2.5 billion people), that really is quite an
achievement. Unfortunately, the free,
equal nature of the Internet is now under
threat. Currently, the infrastructure that
connects us to the Internet behaves as
one wide highway which lets through all
information indiscriminately, so to say.
Continuing with the highway analogy,
picture one road which lets through cars,
trucks, buses, bikes, and any other vehicle
on wheels. That would be less efficient
than giving large vehicles, such as freight
trucks, dedicated lanes and preventing
them from affecting normal commuter
traffic. That is how the Internet currently
functions.
The things that take up a high amount of
bandwidth when accessed—like stream22 CLOUD961
@rajariachi
ing services (Youtube, Netflix, Hulu)—use
the same highway as pages that barely use up any bandwidth at all. What
this could lead to is congestion on this
highway which would affect the speeds
for people using the Internet for casual
surfing.
There are two proposed solutions for this
problem and the point of disagreement
is obviously who would be footing the
bill. The first solution—highly supported
by video streaming services—is to widen
the highway. They argue that Internet
is not a commodity; it is a basic part of
necessary infrastructure just like electricity or water, so it is the responsibility of
those providing it to pay to keep it up to
standards.
The second solution proposed—this time
by Internet Service Providers or ISPs (the
ones who would be handling covering the
costs if the first solution is reached)—is
to create a two-tier highway, one for
standard speed where content providers
who rely mostly on text and pictures
would send their information on, and a
super-speed highway, which would force
content providers of high bandwidth
content like video streaming services to
use after paying a fee.
While this might seem like a logical argument when using the highway analogy, it
threatens the free and equal nature of the
Internet which allows anyone to post and
distribute content. This all seems very
technical and an example might clarify
things. If I decided to create a website
which would allow Lebanese and Arab
musicians to post videos, I would have to
pay ISPs a premium to allow me to have
what is posted on my website available at
decent usable speeds.
While this is currently only happening
in the United States, it sets a dangerous
precedent which will soon be followed.
Another more realistic example is
Twitch—the video streaming service
dedicated to gaming—recently bought by
YouTube for more than USD 1b, would
probably not have been possible on the
two-tier system, which makes it harder
for new portals to establish themselves.
23 CLOUD961
Blogosphere Blogs Newsfeed
Blogosphere Blogs Newsfeed
By Joelle Hajji
@joellehajji
Racing Park Mtein (RPM Lebanon): A
New Karting Circuit In Lebanon
http://blogbaladi.com/racing-park-mtein-rpm-leba-
ceptable and at the same time so funny.
How can someone bite too hard during a
game and then fall down as if they were
the ones who got hurt? What some do
not know is that this incident was not
Suarez’s first time. He already bit another
player before and he has also been accused of racism. As always, Lebanese took
advantage of the situation and started a
small campaign the next day with these
two ads by Lord of the Wings and Master
Chips.
What do you think of their campaigns,
and do you think the happening was
worth the investment in the ad?
non-a-new-karting-circuit-in-lebanon/
Racing Park Mtein is presumably the biggest
kart track in the Middle East. “Even though
Mtein is a bit far, but we needed a new karting
track in Lebanon and the circuit looks amazing,” as per Najib from BlogBaladi. Here are a
couple of photos of the track and a map of it.
Let us wait and see if it is worth it.
What Is Happening At Zara Lebanon?
http://stateofmind13.com/2014/06/22/
zara-lebanon-ripping-off-customers/
A friend of the blog sent two pictures my
way of people they know shopping at one
of Zara’s shops in Beirut and discovering
that they were possibly victims of fraud
by a chain that many believed would not
resort to such ways to realize profit. The
photos were shared by A separate State of
Mind in order to expose the rip-off.
AZADEA were kind enough to explain the process of their pricing. “Sales
and promotions are monitored by the
Lebanese Ministry of Economy. If such
a mistake were to be found at their
premises, the customer is to get the lower
price guaranteed. You can also always
consult their customer service in case you
encounter such an aberration.”
Nobody knows if this was fraud or a
mistake as they claimed, but these kinds
of things have happened before in many
shops, so it is not something surprising for
anyone.
Contractors Damage Old Woman’s
House, Forcing Her To Evacuate In Mar
Mikhael
http://ginosblog.com/2014/06/13/asshole-contractors-damage-old-womans-house-to-force-her-to-
Muslim Council Of Britain Denounces FGM
http://michcafe.blogspot.com/2014/06/muslim-council-of-britain-denounces-fgm.html
The UK’s most prominent Muslim
organization denounced female genital
mutilation (FGM) on June 20, adding
that the traditional practice severely violates the human rights of women and
girls. The first Girl Summit, hosted by
the UK and UNICEF on July 22, aimed
to mobilize domestic and international
efforts to end FGM and child early and
forced marriage (CEFM) within a generation. You really need to check this blog
post by Michcafe, because it shows the
importance and danger of this issue, and
how many women and girls are subjected to FGM. At the end of the day, a little
girl should live out her childhood and
become a bride in due time rather than
be subjected to all kinds of bad things
that she does not even understand.
evacuate-in-mar-mikhael/
How could someone even do that? Gino Raidy
writes, “Imagine leaving your home, the one
you’ve been living in for decades, and coming
back to realize that one of its entire sides is
gone, demolished. This is what happened to an
elderly lady in Mar Mikhael. A construction
project had taken over two adjacent buildings
from the 1920s (facing Locale), and wanted to
include the house she lives in (from the 1900s!)
The company did not want to evict the tenant
by paying her due compensation, and want to
force her out by damaging her home beyond
repair.”
This is beyond unreasonable. A lot of things
are happening in this country, but how can
someone damage someone else’s home and
leave them homeless?
Go to Save Beirut Hertiage’s page to keep tabs
on new developments in this matter and see
how you can help.
LL20 million and given nine months in
prison, Lebanese women’s rights organization Kafa announced Tuesday, the latest in
a number of brutal cases involving spouse
abuse. Hussein Ftouni, 30, tortured his
22-year-old wife Tamara Harisi for hours
on June 7, leaving her with severe bruises
all over her face and body.
The case is the first example of the courts
using a new law passed in April aimed
at protecting women from domestic
violence, but Maya Ammar, a legal adviser
for Kafa (Enough), told The Daily Star
that the sentence was not enough for the
crime committed.”
I agree with Najib of Blog Baladi, who says
he should be jailed for 9 years not just 9
months. His current sentence is better
than nothing, though. However, who will
protect Tamara when he is out of jail?
Oh Gosh, It is The Wedding Season
http://inkontheside.com/2014/06/30/oh-godits-wedding-season/
Two Lebanese Ads Inspired By Luis
Suárez’s Bite
Lebanese Man Sentenced To 9 Months In
Prison For Beating And Torturing Wife
http://blogbaladi.com/lebanese-man-sentenced-to-
http://blogbaladi.com/two-lebanese-ads-inspired-
9-months-in-prison-for-beating-and-torturing-his-
from-louis-suarezs-bite/
wife/
Louis Suarez’s bite was pretty much the most
interesting occurrence making it to the news
during the World Cup. What he did was unac-
The Daily Star wrote, “A husband that beat
his wife to within an inch of her life was fined
24 CLOUD961
It is that time of the season, again, with
weddings to attend almost every weekend and you end up with up to seven
weddings during summer. Forget the hot
weather; a wedding is every invitee’s
nightmare and it is demonstrated in a
perfect way in this caricature by Sareen
Akharjalian. Not to mention that today,
photos are shared everywhere so it is rather impossible and embarrassing to wear
the same dress twice. I love it!
Brazil vs Germany Memes You Should
Not Miss
http://chitiktikchiti3a.blogspot.com/2014/07/
brazil-vs-germany-memes-you-should.html
With Brazil’s worst World Cup defeat
of all time against Germany, as always,
people turn each event into a joke through
panoply of means, including memes. Here
are some memes shared on the Chitiktikchiti3a blog.
25 CLOUD961
Blogosphere Blog of the month
Blogosphere Blog of the month
BLOG OF
THE MONTH:
MOULAHAZAT
Remarking on Lebanese politics
By Paul Gadalla
@paulinbeirut
Politics in Lebanon is not exactly the easiest subject to talk about, let alone blog about.
Nearly every media outlet carries a certain bias or is a mouthpiece for a political party.
Political debates sometimes end in chairs being thrown on live television. Yet, despite all
this, one of Lebanon’s newest blogs dares to take on the challenge of blogging on politics.
Meet Ramez Dagher, a medical student with a huge interest in Lebanese politics, who
has been writing his blog “Moulahazat” for the last several months and even tackling
pressing matters such as the fiasco that has become the Lebanese presidential elections.
Here is our conversation with him.
Ramez, why blog
about such a controversial topic?
When I started the
blog, most of the
analysis I had been
reading I felt was
opinionated and often
only analyzed one
side of the story. Every
Lebanese party has their own media
outlets and most of the Lebanese media
work on brainwashing their audience.
It was not the media that was missing,
nor was it independent/neutral media.
What was missing was something that
exclusively focused on both Lebanese
politics and its media—a «zoom out» to
get a bird’s eye view. You often find
out about upcoming political moves via
some of the new political positions of
partisan newspapers. That is something
only social media can take note of, as
newspapers would rarely analyze each
other’s new positions.
Where does the title come
from?
I chose the Arabic word «Moulahazat» as a title for my blog
because it sums up everything
about it. Depending on the
context, the word Moulahazat
can have different meanings.
In a discussion, it can mean
one’s remarks or comments.
The word can also be
understood as criticism. It
can also be translated into
observations. And that is
mainly what the blog is all
about: observing Lebanese
politics, commenting on them,
and exposing the available facts
independently, for whatever it
is worth.
How did you hone your political
analysis skills?
I have always had an interest in Lebanese history. Lebanese schools do not
focus much on it, so as I was growing
up, we barely had any history classes
on Lebanese history, and school books
stopped anyway at the events of 1943.
They do not cover the civil war, the
thirty years between the independence
and the civil war, and the post-Taef
years. The fact that Lebanese could not
agree on their common history encouraged me to read more on it. With time,
I became more and more fascinated by
Lebanese history and politics. Every
story has more than one version, so I
became a firm believer that in Lebanese politics no one can be right about
everything. The comparisons I found
between the 1958-1975 era and these
last few years encouraged me to start
a blog where I could write on Lebanese
politics.
How do you deal with people
attacking your or claiming you are
26 CLOUD961
biased?
I am proud to say that Moulahazat is
one of the very few unbiased Lebanese
blogs. Most of the people who have
been following me for some time should
know that I have no preference for
any Lebanese politician. I always make
sure to write on everything across the
political spectrum. The blog entries usually discuss political dynamism, which
means that I comment on the first side’s
maneuver and then afterwards discuss
the counter-maneuver. If I sometimes
focus on a side more than the other,
that is mainly because this side would
probably have the upper hand at that
moment and would be more «politically
active» than the other, which means
there is more
to comment
on.
That is
why this type
of
criticism is very rare, and usually
happens when the reader is new and
happened to exclusively read one blog
post while disregarding the earlier ones.
That is why I believe the only way to
deal with this is through posting unbiased commentary.
Which politicians do you think are
doing it right on Twitter?
I think it is nice that politicians in Lebanon are making use of social media.
It is an interesting way to reach out to
people and they all have had their ups
and downs on social media. However,
it is worth noting that the Minister of
Information does not have a Twitter
account, and that is something unac-
ceptable these days.
How well do you think the online
world has been doing covering the
presidential elections?
I think the online world has so far covered the presidential elections in a very
professional manner. So far, they have
interviewed all the main candidates,
shed light on the unknown technocrat
ones, and even some of them created
polls to see what the people want. But
they still have a lot to cover till elections
are over, so we will have to wait and see
how they would handle the election of
the new president.
Any predictions on who will be the
next president?
No side can secure an absolute majority
so I will go ahead and say that there
are two consensual scenarios: The
first one is that the two coalitions agree on an independent president and an independent prime minister.
The second one is that
a coalition names the
PM while the other
names the president.
Both deals would
also include an
agreement on the
parliamentary
elections, the electoral law, and the
shape of the cabinet overseeing
the parliamentary
elections. That is
why although we
are entering the
second month of
vacuum, I am saddened to say that it
is still too soon to say
who will be the next
president. But since the
president would stay
for 6 years while the PM
is likely to leave office after
the parliamentary elections,
I would say that in the long run,
the safest (and hence most likely)
scenario for everyone would be the first
one.
What advice do you have for people wanting to study politics?
I am a medical student, not a political
science student, so I cannot really give
them any advice other that researching
history. The only thing I can say here
is that even if a person is majoring in
something else than politics, it does not
mean they should not read and know
their country’s politics and history.
27 CLOUD961
Blogosphere
Blogosphere
What is your blog
about? How long
have you been blogging for?
My blog speaks about
fashion through a
certain way of living. I am
interested in clothes, but
also in a life situation. It does not
interest me to promote brands; I do not like
the “outfit of the day”, where bloggers act as
mannequins. I like to imagine an outfit as
part of a precious moment in someone’s life:
a wedding, a trip, an appointment; I love telling stories! The blog has been created almost
5 years ago.
Samar
Seraqui
de Buttafoco:
Through outfits, I tell life stories
Une Libanaise A Paris, blogging for five years and still
going strong
By Elsa Abi Khalil
@ak_elsa
Samar Seraqui De Buttafoco, or otherwise known as “Une Libanaise a Paris”,
shares the same name with her blog, a mix of Oriental fashion vibes against
the backdrop of one of the world’s most glamorous cities. It has never been
uncommon for Lebanese people to pack up their bags—and whatever it is they
know how to do most—and go to another country to set up projects that are a
hodgepodge of two cultures, always aiming for more material and immaterial
wealth, and ingenuity. Read our interview with Samar, a young, married Lebanese woman living in Paris.
What is behind the name of your blog,
“Une Libanaise a Paris”?
Behind the name of “Une Libanaise à Paris”,
there is a lot of curiosity and sharing. I try to
be honest in everything I blog about. I do not
want to cheat and I refuse a lot of collaborations in order to not fall into the commercial
trap of blogging. There is also the love of
pretty things. Behind every creation there
is a team of people just working—I like to
meet them, nurture myself of their energy
and also to show that fashion, without it
necessarily being a major art form, is not
something trivial. Finally, there is me behind
the blog, a 31-year-old young woman, who
still marvels while keeping her feet on the
ground.
How did you decide to launch your
own blog despite your stance vis-a-vis
blogging? Who were your first supporters?
I created the blog while I was working at
the Arabic desk of an international news
channel, France 24. It was intellectually
very constructive, but also exhausting. Journalists work long hours. I could not go home
and not think about all the images of war
that I had covered during the day. I needed
lightness and simplicity as a getaway from
this harshness. I created the blog without
telling anyone; it was really an escape to
write something other than war and politics,
and step by step, it first started gaining momentum in Paris, to my amazement. At first,
it was anonymous; and that is what allowed
me to gain some credibility, I think. I was
definitely not the spotlight of the blog. There
were no pictures of me. It allowed me to focus on writing, telling stories of life, making
people smile with and through fashion. And,
gradually, I found my niche: to do fashion
shoots without falling into the trap of the
“outfit of the day”. I like an item of clothes
when you feel that you can wear it and be
comfortable and it makes you look beautiful,
regardless of the brand, the price or what is
trendy. I am not fashionable by any means;
I just like style. And I think my first readers
appreciate my consistency over the years. I
am not talking about something because it
is new and fashionable. Fashion for me is an
attitude; we dress according to our mood and
circumstances, not according to trends.
You have done studies in journalism;
do you feel that blogging is like a side
job for you or more of a hobby?
The blog today showcases my work and
gives me some freedom in my career choices
as a journalist. I work with various media,
28 CLOUD961
but they come to me for my identity and my
writing style. This is certainly not a hobby;
this is another form of writing and freedom.
“Ce blog est mon bébé.”
You hid your identity until recently,
when, last September, you started
dazzling us with your appealing and
charming persona. Why did it take you
so long and what made you change
your mind?
I would say maybe a lack of confidence
and also because I am not obsessed with
myself. My vision for my blog is primarily to
share a universe, to be curious about what
surrounds us. I will not only share updates
about myself. I admit I had a very bad image
of bloggers. I follow just a few, but I must
say, I am a very big fan of “Man Repeller.”
She puts herself in the scene but she has a
very strong identity; her motto is to say that
eventually us, girls, love clothes that men
hate! She has a lot of humor, too. Yes, I took
some time to expose myself on the blogging
scene, but I do not regret it, because I did it
the way I wanted it to happen. I tell life stories through outfits I wear. For the last shoot
for example, I took advantage of my visit to
Beirut, and I went on the beautiful terrace
of “Momo at the Souks” and I meant for it
to have a very Mediterranean feel. In those
photos, I wore a black dress from Dolce and
Gabbana, and I was cleaning the glasses with
a macramé Zara stole, all that amid jasmine
flowers. The article is called “La Sicillitude”,
the contraction of Sicily and attitude; it was
to focus on women and the Mediterranean
atmosphere.
Do you feel that social media had a
crucial role in raising awareness of your
blog? Are you more present on Twitter
or on Instagram? Do you use other social media to share your blog content?
If so, what are they?
Of course! Social networks are changing
everything! Now it is more work because
you have to feed them! I started my account
on Instagram late, but I love it! It is my intern
who told me, “but how come you are not
on Instagram?” At the time, I had only a
Facebook and a Twitter. I was feeding the
Facebook page enough, but I must confess
I was not active at all on Twitter. I follow a
few people on Twitter; I find this is a pretty
awesome and incisive media tool because
what you want to say cannot exceed 140
characters. Also, you must have a lot of humor! The blog takes a lot of time and I do not
feel like tweeting just for the sake of it, but
I think I will engage myself more because,
yes, social networks are super important!
in L’Orient Le Jour named after my blog,
“Une Libanaise à Paris,” in which I wrote
what I wanted without any limitations. For
instance, I wrote about my tour in the apartment of Coco Chanel and another time about
an interview with Amin Maalouf. With Annahar, I was had to take on more responsibilities. I loved the challenge and things were
made very simple. With Muriel, we put the
sections together. I told her right away that I
will not put forward something that I do not
like, even if it is a brand advertiser. She reassured me by saying that in fact, they liked
my work and it is because of my journalistic
deontology that they picked me. I was much
honored; Annahar is a great pan-Arab daily
newspaper. Even if I succeed in France, I
need to keep one foot in my country...
How different will this job be from
online fashion blogging?
Whether for daily writing or for the blog,
I try to tell stories and go beyond a press
release sent by the brand. For me, it does
not really change because everything is a
story of encounters. My interview with Karl
Lagerfeld was published on the blog and
An-Nahar. However, on my blog, you will
never see fashion police. I got into that with
An-Nahar because it interests the readers
and my role is to serve this reader and catch
their attention. So I try to find styles, and as
I do not like to criticize the way a person is
dressed, I leave it to the reader of An-Nahar
to do it at home, in front of their own screen!
What advice can you give to upcoming
fashion and lifestyle bloggers?
Be curious, serious and patient, and finally
respectful.
You were appointed fashion editor-in-chief of An-Nahar in Lebanon.
Tell us more about this position
When Muriel Jalk, head of the culture and
fashion section of newspaper An-Nahar,
contacted me a few months ago to offer me
somehow to be guest editor of the fashion
column, I was really honored. I mostly did
my career in TV and radio in France, but the
press has always caught my attention. However, writing in a newspaper has a downside
and as you have noticed, I like my freedom. I
do not want to write an article about a brand
because it has paid to be featured. I was already in the press, I wrote a weekly column
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Campaigns
Campaigns
By Joelle Hajji
@joellehajji
Volkswagen’s Don’t Selfie and Drive
Campaign
With all the accidents and tragic deaths that
are occuring recently as a result of texting
and using phones while driving, Volkswagen
launched “Das Auto” Campaign with pictures
of people who had accidents while taking a
selfie. The tagline was “Don’t Selfie and Drive”.
This campaign is starightforward and part of
others aiming to make people stop using their
phones while driving in order not to get hurt
and possibly even lose their lives, to a picture.
The Mighty Latin Taste Competition by Hardees Arabia
Hardee’s competition consisted of a few easy steps that gave you the chance to
win valuable prizes:
Step 1: Place a moustache on that face of yours;
Step 2: Select your sombrero hat;
Step 3: Collect Likes on the photo;
Step 4: The one with a lot of likes wins.
A few rules were set to enter the competition:
• Like Hardee’s Arabia page on Facebook;
• Register your details;
• Upload your photo or simply use your Facebook profile picture;
• Choose your preferred type of moustache, a sombrero hat, and a frame;
• Invite your Facebook friends to like your photo and get at least 20 likes to be
in for a chance to win yourself a GoPro camera.
World Cup At Napoletana
Napoletana launched a campaign on Instagram
during the World Cup and cool prizes were given
out to the winners. All you had to do was:
1. Set your Instagram account to public;
2. Upload an image to Instagram;
3. Include the hashtag #instapoletana.
The prizes included: BT500 from Radioshack and
a USD 100 voucher from Sports 4ever.
Fill & Win Competition with
BioskinSpa
The competition by BioskinSpa had a
few easy steps to follow: you had only
to fill a form out with your information
and submit it to their app through the
Facebook page for a chance to win
prizes at their spa.
Kritika World Cup App
The Kritika app was a competition where you had to download the app
onto your phone and then predict the scores, and keep on getting more
points. Amazing prizes were given out, like cameras, plasma TV, and
finally a car.
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Kababji’s Trip To Bodrum
The competition with Kababji had a
few simple steps in order to win. All
that people had to do was to follow
Kababji on Instagram (@kababji) and
if they are on Twitter, follow them (@
KababjiLeb) and tweet: “I want to win
a #KababjiTrip with @KababjiLeb.”
That would guarantee an entry into
the draw for a chance to win a trip to
Bodrum, Turkey.
Roadster Diner Hashtag Burger Menu
This summer, Roadster Diner launched a menu of six new burgers. Each burger sported a flag with a hashtag. Othe hashtags were seen on the tray mats
and the menu book as well, encouraging #RdLovers to express their love for
each specific burger.
Deek Duke Open Their New City
Mall Branch With Engaging Online
Activations
To allow their fans to celebrate the opening
of their newest location, Deek Duke moved
away from apps and complicated winning
mechanisms. Instead, during the month of
June, their social media networks featured
challenges such as simple puzzles and other
games and sometimes just plain simple
engagements, with instant rewards. From
being the first to take a selfie at the new
branch, to guessing the waiter’s name or
stopping in the middle of traffic to Instagram the billboard (make sure you turn
your flashers on), we could see that fans
absolutely loved the activities and flocked
to the branch for a dose of Deek Duke’s
poultry.
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Campaigns
PROJECT
ONLY THE
LONELY:
THE WORLD CUP
ON SOCIAL MEDIA
AND THE BUDWEISER
STRATEGY
By Mohammad Faez Tarabichi
Campaigns
@MFaezT
The World Cup in Brazil this summer was
more than a delight for football lovers and
others who just enjoy the festive season.
Twitter and Facebook decided to bring the
World Cup to you by setting up hubs to track
the sporting competition.
Who does not want to be part of the conversation? Everyone has their say about the
events happening in Brazil. Just by using the
hashtag #WorldCup, you immerse yourself
in an array of tweets, comments and articles
about the subject, this provided your timeline
has not already been flooded with the sort.
On top of that, Twitter brought back what
it calls “hashflags”: when you hashtag a
three-letter country code, such as #FRA or
#GER, the country’s flag appears as an image
in the tweet.
On the other hand, Budweiser, the World
Cup’s official beer provider, wanted to
change the fact that only commentators,
corporate sponsors and football pundits
could choose the Man of the Match, which
is an award given to a player in recognition
of his unparalleled achievements during a
match. So the beer brand chose Twitter as
a platform for someone to cast his vote for
#ManOfTheMatch, using this hashtag.
Budweiser is hoping to increase its interaction with fans. But in case the reward is
actually the mere result of votes, it may be
unfair for some players, as this is a problematic matter since we are not even sure if the
users who are tweet-voting for the Man of
the Match are worthy of a vote or just some
fake football “aficionadas” fangirling over
Neymar’s pineapple hair.
However, it is a good marketing strategy to
boost interactivity with the brand, but, do
not forget, you should be above 21 years old
to be able to vote!
How Volvo cars want you to do the right thing
By Joseph Maalouf @zoozel
Usually, Volvo cars are automatically associThe stands being the social experiment
ated with safety. To build on the brand’s idea,
itself, Volvo wanted to see how many people
Interesting Times, a local advertising agency,
would use them and share the results on
launched a self-proclaimed social experitheir microsite. Once someone presses the
ment that puts Lebanese social behaviors to
button on the stand, the campaign’s anthem starts playing and the camera starts
the test. The experiment is aimed at Volvo’s
recording the experience. The videos are
target audience: people in Beirut who value
then shared on the project’s website, where
safety and would like to feel safe driving
down the street. However, the age group they people can review the proof of their ‘lonely’
aimed at was the unconventional safety-holic experience upon selecting the location and
the time-frame.
young adults, which are, usually, the minority.
The microsite is a well-documented archive
This led to the creation of their lead characof videos from the streets of Beirut. There is
ter, Mr. Lonely, whose existence is dramatized also a featured selection that includes handby a mellow cover of Akon’s hit of the same
picked experiences that stood out the most
name. Being a minority, Mr. Lonely needed
from the bunch.
people to take a stand with him and Volvo
Cars put the Lebanese to the test.
A lot of people did not understand what the
stands were for, and that was in itself part of
A series of videos featuring Mr. Lonely were
the experiment. The campaign video event
released on their dedicated microsite and
stated it: “Use the lonely cab stand, or just
spread across their social networks, showing
leave it hanging there like a painting you
Mr. Lonely in diverse driving situations on
never understood.”
the streets of Beirut where he finds himself
alone in following rules and proper driving
A petition was later on started in collaboration with Live Love Beirut, where people can
etiquette.
take part in the test drive on social media
via the hashtag #ONLYTHELONELY. Their
There was two ‘hero’ scenarios: fetching a cab
promise is to take the petition to the governand safely crossing the street. These scenarios went from digital to the real world as
ment, in an effort to make the streets more
installations on various streets in Beirut were
functional, one turn at a time.
set up in form of taxi and pedestrian stands
equipped with lights and cameras to docuSources:
ment the experiment.
http://onlythelonely.me/
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Campaigns
Campaigns
WORD CUP
ROUNDUP:
How did Lebanese brands measure up to the challenge
By Joseph Maalouf
@zoozel
It was Word Cup season a couple of weeks
ago, and as expected, many Lebanese brands
took the opportunity to cater to the local thirst
for the games.
Most brands took the straightforward route:
Guess the score, enter a draw to win a prize.
Some, such as Slim Oil, went for a Facebook
app approach, whereas others, such as Touch
Lebanon, chose to make use of Facebook’s
comment system. The one that particularly
stood out from this bunch was Krikita, which
took the effort of launching a World Cup-dedicated app for both iOS and Android. Krikita
Cup, the score prediction app, is complete with
push notifications and even a touch of gamification with points and leaderboards. With
that, it is safe to say that Krikita knocked the
competition out of the park.
questioned the infamous player on why he
would bite a shoulder when he can have a
wing. Shawarmanji also rode the wave by
stating they are not Italian, but are very well
worth every bite.
As you may know, Télé Liban broadcasted the
football games for all the Lebanese to watch.
One fan decided to ask them on their Facebook page whether they will be airing the
2006 game or the 2014, the context being that
the station is known for its outdated shows.
The station replied with a sassy: “The last time
I heard that joke I fell off my dinosaur.” Sadly,
the comment was removed shortly after.
By the way, Télé Liban got served a lawsuit
from BeIN Sports over the Wold Cup broadcast. This led to the creation of the hashtag
, which translates to:
We stand by you, Télé Liban. The hashtag
was used by many brands including Almaza,
Adrenalin and Maliks.
Sources:
https://play.google.com/store/apps/details?id=air.KrikitasCupApp
As for non-conventional campaigns, Crepaway and Fujifilm launched a joint Instagram
competition to urge football fans to share their
game moments with the brands using certain
hashtags. Frank Würst took the more daring
route, launching the #priorities campaign by
stating that the game no longer matters when
you are eating their hotdogs.
Another notable campaign was that of Almaza, who released limited-edition bottles,
each branded with various country flags on
one side, whilst staying true to its Lebanese
origin on the other. The World Cup bottles
were then used across their social media posts
to represent the competing teams in strategic
times, along with their iconic play on words.
The most interesting social media posts were
those that were inspired by the games’ events,
such Luis Suárez’s Bite. Lord of the Wings
34 CLOUD961
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COVER FEATURE
COVER FEATURE
GAME COOKS:
BORN OUT OF A SHARED PASSION FOR GAMING
Interview by Mohammad Hijazi
Editor in Chief @mhijazi
Founded in 2012, Game Cooks is a collective of artists, designers and developers with a shared passion for gaming. Based in
Lebanon and catering to the world, the team creates fun and feel-good type games, with a twist, which people from the region can relate to and players from all over the world can enjoy. Game Cooks focuses on producing international games for
iOS and Android. So far, Game Cooks has launched 7 mobile games, available for iOS and Android, the latest being Cubama,
a 3D reflex game, which requires concentration and speed. Here is an interview with Lara Noujaim,
Marketing Manager of Game Cooks.
How did the idea for Game Cooks begin
and how was it funded?
Game Cooks was born out of a shared passion
for gaming and how games are created! It all
started with an idea for a game—and that idea
turned into Birdy Nam Nam. Birdy Nam Nam
proved to be a great success; having amassed
over a quarter million downloads from its
first week alone! This was enough motivation
for the team to realize that gaming is what
they should be doing. Game Cooks was officially founded in January 2012.
What are Game Cook’s most popular
games?
One of our most popular games to date is Run
For Peace—it was our first game following
Game Cooks’ official launch. The idea for
this game came around the time of the Arab
Spring, at a time where cries for peace and
change were being heard throughout the
region (and are still being heard today). Run
For Peace was a way for us to be part of that
movement and make our voices heard in
the most peaceful of ways—through playing
games! The game’s popularity level was based
on the sentiment and reactions it evoked early on, making it a favorite among the many
who play it, particularly in the region and
this translated into high downloads.
Who is Game Cook’s target audience?
Our target audience is casual gamers in
general. We have yet to build a game that is
truly targeted towards a niche market. When
we first started, we developed games that
36 CLOUD961
were geared to Middle Eastern gamers. But
as our games gained global popularity, we
shifted our focus to developing games for the
international market, making sure to include
an Arabic twist that people from the region
can relate to and the international market
can appreciate. This can come in the form of
Middle Eastern elements within the game all
the way to creating games inspired by Middle
Eastern scenarios.
Which is more popular in terms of
downloads and user activity, iOS or
Android games?
The answer here depends on what type of
data you are looking at:
Platform with the most number of apps: both
iTunes and Google Play have a similarly high
number of apps.
Platform with the highest quality of apps:
studies suggest that the iOS App Store has
higher-quality apps than the Android store. This
makes sense when you consider that the app
review process is much stricter for iOS than on
the Google Play store.
Platform with the most downloads: the
platform with the most downloads is Android
and coming close in second place is Apple’s App
Store.
Platform making the most money from its
users: even though iOS users are downloading fewer apps overall, they are still spending
more money on their apps than Android
users.
Why have you not produced any games
for Windows Phone yet or Windows 8
touch devices that are starting to gain
market share?
There is no doubt that Windows Phones are
starting to gain traction and we do have plans
in the very near future to migrate our games
to the Windows App Store. So stay tuned for
that update!
What would you say is the proudest
moment for the company?
Our proud moments come after launching
a new game and reading/hearing people’s
reactions to it. Each one of our games takes us
between 3 to 6 months to complete, depending on the game, and so when we see that
people’s opinions and sentiments toward our
games mirror our own, it is a great feeling!
What are the challenges that Game
Cooks is facing and how can/did you
overcome them?
One of the main challenges, as any game
development company can attest, is game
visibility. There are many factors that come
into play to get visibility for your mobile
game. The first and most important factor
is game quality. Other factors include game
engagement and addictiveness i.e. will people
come back to play the game often or will they
just try it out once or twice and then not play
it again? Also, marketing and PR efforts are
critical in helping spread the word. All these
37 CLOUD961
COVER FEATURE
COVER FEATURE
factors, combined with a sprinkle of good
luck, can help a game gain the visibility it
needs to achieve success.
We know that in Lebanon—and other
parts of the Middle East—most people
have not started using credit cards yet,
and this problem has caused start-ups
to find other ways to monetize. Do you
focus on customers for your games or
do you have other means of monetizing?
Our main mean of monetization is through
purchasing customers—people who either
download a game for money or pay to get
additional benefits inside the game in the
form of in-app purchases—. While our core
audience is in the Middle East, it is not our
only source of downloads, as our games are
available internationally. In the Middle East,
while credit card usage is still relatively lower
than in other places, the region is showing
signs of growth.
As a start-up, have you started making
profit yet (or did you break even)? If so,
how much time did it take you? If not,
38 CLOUD961
when do you expect to start doing so?
Each game we have created has known a
different level of success than the previous
ones. So, when it comes to breaking even,
it is on a per-game basis where we look at
how much a game took to produce and how
much revenue it generated. While some
of the games we have launched were very
successful, other smaller games that appealed
to a specific type of gamers did not provide us
with as many downloads as our other more
successful games.
Who does your team consist of? Who
would you say is the most important
‘link’ in the team?
The members of our team are:
• Arz Nader, Creative Director; Himzu Bavic,
Art Director; Marwan Zgheib, Game Designer; Ali Hammoud, 3D Artist; Joe Hannouch,
Senior Technical Artist; Joseph Kadi, Senior
Game Developer; Toni Jreij, Game Developer; Elie Yammine, Game Design Editor;
Alex Thomas, 3D Designer; Lara Noujaim, in
charge of marketing.
Each member of our team has an equally
important role to play in the game creation
process, be it from design to development,
testing and marketing.
Please take us through the process of
creating a game: from the idea-inception till publishing the app to the store
and creating updates.
It is a lengthy process, but to sum it up it
includes the following:
• Team-wide brainstorming to decide on a
new game;
• Concept definition: creating visuals to define
and develop the game concept;
• Proof of Concept: early-stage prototype of
the game with basic game elements;
• Game graphic creation: elements/UI/Character/Obstacle/Levels;
• Game programming;
• Level creation: defining the levels/stages
inside the Game Cooks;
• Game audio: music and sound effects;
• Game testing: intensive game testing;
• Game submission: submit a new mobile
game to the app store and wait for approval;
• Beta launch: launching the game only in
Lebanon for testing and feedback collection
purposes;
• International launch;
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COVER FEATURE
COVER FEATURE
Depending on the game and traction it receives, upon international launch we would
be already working on new ideas for a game
update!
How “social” are Game Cooks’ games?
Do you find it important to create a
game with a social aspect?
When creating a game, we make sure to
include social aspects to them, particularly
our most recent ones. This includes the ability
to invite your friends, share your score on
Facebook or even compare your progress
to that of your friends’ as you are playing
the game! Social games provide the perfect
place for competitive play between friends
who brag about their performance on their
timeline, which brings in more friends to the
game and helps with the viral effect. These
social features also result in players spending
more time playing a game.
Other than Game Cooks’ games, what
would you say are your favorite mobile
games on the app stores?
Currently, we enjoy playing Boom Beach,
TwoDots, Plants vs. Zombies and Leo’s Fortune among others.
Is the gaming industry competitive?
The mobile gaming industry is a very
competitive one with more and more mobile
gaming companies entering the market; it is
becoming harder to compete for the top spots
in the app store that are mostly occupied by
titles from well-recognized mobile gaming
companies.
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How has the Lebanese political and
security situation affected your work?
Would you think of moving your company to Dubai, where the digital industry is thriving more? Basically, what is
keeping you here when there is much
more potential abroad?
We have no intention of leaving Lebanon to
move somewhere else. We are very attached
to our country and we wish to support the
development of a mobile gaming community
right here!
What’s next for the company?—Shortterm and long-term goals
To keep doing what we love to do and to keep
getting better and better at it!
What would you say is the secret to
Game Cooks’ success?
The secret to Game Cooks’ success is without
a doubt our team, made up of very talented
people who are also very passionate about
what they do.!
Tell us about your latest game, Planet
Nam Nam, whose main character is
featured on our cover
The world›s most significant landmarks have
been stolen by invading Nam Nam birds and
brought back to their base, Planet Nam Nam!
The fate of humanity›s landmarks are solely
in the hands P1W! His mission is far from
easy—he has to travel to Planet Nam Nam to
fight those vicious birds and bring back what
is rightfully ours. The goal consists of tapping
the birds that appear in waves on the screen
in order to destroy them and their toxic eggs
before they hit the ground or the player.
The player has at their disposal a number of
awesome weapons and cool power-ups to be
used in the quest for victory. Help P1W on his
quest through Planet Nam Nam›s worlds to
retrieve our monuments, regain humanity›s
pride, and teach those crazy birds a lesson!
Planet Nam Nam is set to be launched in
September 2014.
5
DO’s and 5 DON’Ts for
up-and-coming entrepreneurs in the digital
field
DO’s:
• Trust your instincts;
• Know your target audience;
• Be prepared to adapt;
• Work with people you trust;
• Enjoy the ride.
DON’Ts:
• Even if you have a great product, do not
expect it to self-succeed;
• Do not take things for granted;
• Do not forget to network;
• Do not be afraid to make mistakes;
• Do not follow popular fads.
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FEATURE
LEBANON’S MOBILE
DEVELOPMENT SCENE
Three things to be prepared for
when developing
By Layal Jebran
@iPr1ncess
Mobile app development
has become a new gold
mine in the 21st century.
With all these smartphones
being sold, the market is
requesting more apps to fulfill
the needs and simplify users’ lives. If you
are looking to become our newest developer
in the Land of the Cedars, here are some
obstacles that you might face:
•​ ​First and foremost, let us talk funding:
while our country seems to me to be in a
never-ending recession with unemployment
being at its highest levels, Lebanese developers find it easier to reach for the Gulf area or
international sponsors. Although an appealing idea, it is not that easy to get the funding
you need for an idea you might think would
work. First, you would have to convince
investors to take part in your project. If you
are out of funds, you are pretty much out of
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options and your project, whether it really
is the next Instagram or not, will never be
seen by anyone beyond your backyard.
•​ ​Secondly, what about creating an app that
appeals to everyone in this country? If you
are developing based on your country’s
needs, then you are in for a challenge in
Lebanon. Our country is home to a number
of different political parties, religions, and
free-thinkers. Designing an app to appeal to
all of these combined might feel like pulling
teeth with your own hands. After a while,
you just might want to throw in the towel
and go for a desk job.
•​ ​Thirdly, another thing to think about is
choosing which platform to actually develop
for. Choosing the right app for the right
audience takes a lot of research. A developer
could create an awesome app which could
prove a disaster on the wrong platform!
Speaking of platforms, developing for more
than one? That is where the real challenges
surfaces. You would need to create a whole
team, corporate style, thus we go back to
the main problems which are funding and
investors, and finding work space and the
right people to take on such an endeavor.
At the end, it is not all that morbid; many
Lebanese developers have created apps
and are now successful. It is important to
research diligently and thoroughly which
platform is the right one for you before committing to developing. Besides, do not forget
to study the needs of the market and always
have an open mind. Taking risks is also part
of the whole experience. Do so wisely and
keep a positive attitude. Trial and error, after
all, are a must. Wishing all neo-developers
out there the best of luck.
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FEATURE
FEATURE
F
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By Lynn
El Bizri
@lnlne
By the year 2015,
smartphone penetration in the Middle
East is expected to
increase by 39 percent, with 72 percent
of the owners being
less than 34 years old.
With this increase, mobile
apps and games are becoming more and more
popular and people are rushing to develop
mobile apps for both iOS and Android. Although
this is positive news, compared to the rest of the
world, smartphone penetration in the region is
still very low, making developing games for the
region challenging.
In Lebanon in particular, there is a very small
market downloading apps and games, and
despite the rollout of 3G (and 4G) and some increase in Internet speeds, Lebanon still lags far
behind when it comes to technology. Even the
most successful Lebanese-made apps only make
around USD 20-30 a day from the domestic
market, forcing app developers in Lebanon to
focus on regional and international markets to
supply their products to, as global apps have the
best chances of success.
As for monetization options, the freemium
model (the app can be obtained for free, but
features must be paid for) has been the most
popular choice, as it encourages downloads, and
developers can control in-app purchases. Another popular hybrid model for gaming apps is
that in which players can download a game for
free but then must pay to unlock levels or items,
which is a smart way to hook players on an app,
and then monetize. Some Lebanese entrepreneurs even choose to release paid apps and have
defended their choice, insisting that money can
still be made from downloads.
Revenue generation is highly linked to what
kind of app game developers are offering to the
market amidst the competition. One way of
creating more sustainable apps is to tailor the
content to suit Middle East audiences, going
beyond language localization and understanding the user demographic and culture, while
focusing on both the user interface and overall
interactive experience.
However, one significant obstacle in terms of
revenue generation for Lebanese apps is that
locals are still not used to paying for mobile and
online content in the region.
Nevertheless, with improvements in the
retail environment, bandwidth speeds, online
payment and investor interest in game development, the market in the Middle East continues
to grow, creating more and more opportunities
for passionate app developers.
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FEATURE
FEATURE
FOO: RIDING
THE WAVE OF
MODERN-DAY TRENDS
Elie Nasr: We do not celebrate success; we always aim higher
Interview by Maurice Rustom
@MauriceRustom
For this special Lebanese
App developers issue, we
wanted a clear view of
the matter directly from
the work field, so we
conducted an interview
with one of the oldest and
most achieving developer
companies in the country, FOO. Based in
Beirut and founded by Elie Nasr and Ghady
Rayess, FOO has been providing since 2009
the most renowned companies in Lebanon
with high-end mobile applications. We discussed everything from work methodology,
customer care and personal experience, to
the road to success and the future plans of
the company. Here is our conversation:
How did FOO see the light four years
ago, and did it encounter any difficulties while taking off in the Lebanese
market as a mobile app developer
company? If yes, how did you overcome those difficulties?
My partner, Ghady Rayess, and I have
known each other since school. After
graduating college together, we each went
our separate ways. I worked a few years in
Europe while Ghady continued his higher
education in the US. After that, we noticed
that the mobile applications domain had a
promising future in the world. We expected
it to grow and expand further in the market
as more and more people will start relying
on technology to make their lives easier. It is
then that we decided to explore this market
further. In 2009, we started our own company, FOO, as a provider of mobile apps in
Lebanon and the Middle East region. Since
we did not receive any funding back then,
we had to pull our own bootstraps without
any help whatsoever. One difficulty we en-
countered was the lack of infrastructure in
Lebanon as it highly affected our business.
In addition, there existed political instability
in this region, and this, too, had a damaging
effect on the company as well as our clients.
For instance, clients no longer reserved
budgets for apps when the economy was
not doing so well. It was not easy at all to
overcome outside obstacles, but thankfully,
we were able to work together to establish
our brand in the market and this has only
motivated us to work hard, to achieve more.
What concerns did you have as managing partner and co-founder of FOO,
and how were those shaped as the
company grew fast?
I was always confident that our company
will grow and that my partnership with
Ghady would send FOO from a start-up to
a groundbreaking company. My concerns
were related to the risks involving Lebanon.
Our employees are top developers in the
country and could easily be hired by international companies, so I was concerned
about the likelihood of keeping them at
FOO and bringing the similarly motivated
expats back to Lebanon.
What are the detailed steps of the
procedure followed by FOO in order to
create a satisfying app for the client
and/or user? Also, how does the company interact with its clients to better
incorporate their ideas into apps?
To create a mobile app, we first start by
meeting with the client to hear their specific
demands and expectations. Before we pitch
our ideas, we get together with the team
in charge and attend focus groups with
brainstorming sessions to come up with
creative concepts. The team usually consists
of developers and designers. When we
were in the process of coming up with the
mobile app “Mcvities, Catch the Creams,”
our goal was to create awareness around a
new product released in Saudi Arabia. After
much deliberation, we figured the best
way to do so is by developing an addictive
mobile game. After agreeing on a concept,
we then start working on bringing the idea
to life. Once the apps are released on the
Stores, our interests shift to making sure
users make the best out of our apps. We do
another focus group to test the usability of
the app and how well users can relate to it.
We conduct different samples and surveys
to get feedback from both the users and the
clients. Is it user-friendly? Is it accurate?
For what purposes is the app being used?
Would the user recommend the app? Is
there something they feel is lacking? In
addition, the usage on the app is constantly
monitored and findings are reported back
to the team. Based on that, the app is finetuned and an update for the app is set in
motion.
Here at FOO, we tend to be transparent
with our clients. This is a very rewarding
quality to have when working with a client
and responding to their demands, as it
paves the way for a better work relationship.
Implementing a customer’s idea for
an app into a functional code can
be a tough job; what was one of the
biggest challenges that has ever been
faced by FOO on this front?
It is very crucial for us to handle this
process step by step. We first start by
brainstorming with the client regarding
what they expect from the app. We then
sketch the app and review it with the client
to make sure we see eye-to-eye on the
subject. We later on create wireframes and
based on those, we implement the design.
Once the application is visible in a complete
storyboard and the user experience is well
46 CLOUD961
defined, the client signs off and the app is
transformed into a functional code. However, it is only normal to experience some sort
of challenges before, during and after the
app is published. Different decision makers
within a company can hinder the expected
outcome of the project as a whole, though.
Sometimes, the client does not see the value
in the app or the project gets postponed
because the technology or the market is
not ready for it. Another challenge can be
one concerning the budget. If an app is not
within a client’s budget, the client will no
longer carry on with the project and if we
implement it on a smaller scope, they might
not be satisfied with the outcome.
How many employees does FOO have
now and into what departments are
they divided? Also what criteria and
various college degrees does the
company seek in new recruits. What
are the possible positions that can be
occupied at FOO?
We started out with only two members
on our team. We now consist of 36 young
employees. We are divided into many
specialized departments. First, we have our
developers—who excel in game development, cross platform development: iOS, Android, Blackberry OS, Nokia and Windows
platforms—. We also consist of UI/UX (user
interface/user experience) graphic designers, marketers, recruiters, social media
analysts, business development managers,
copywriters, and interns. These are the
available positions so far at FOO, but we are
always looking to expand.
Concerning new recruits, we seek dynamic
fresh graduates or experienced employees
with strong time-management skills, who
are detail-oriented, able to identify problems and to find solutions, who are critical
thinkers, proactive, creative and able to take
initiatives.
What do you consider one of FOO’s
most successful achievements in these
four years?
The fact that FOO was able to become the
leading mobile development company in
the region is by itself a successful achievement. However, we still believe we can
grow bigger, brighter, and more innovative.
We have big plans for FOO as a company
and as an endorser of innovation and creativity. At FOO, we do not celebrate success,
we always aim higher.
The team members at FOO have been
carefully selected in order to bring some
‘spice’ to the company. It means that we
employed people of various personalities,
interests, and qualities in order to mix it
up with carefully studied steps. This has
helped us achieve a “fluid” company capable
of positioning itself quickly amid highly
rapid technological change. So what seems
to be at times an out-of-the-box twist is
in fact the result of a tactical work path, a
calculated risk.
What advice do you have for new
start-up developer companies, or freelance developers working in Lebanon?
Starting up your own company or working
alone can be a bit challenging at times. To
be successful in this field, one has to have
dedication and patience. If you love what
you do, commit yourself to it and build
expertise in your field, then there is no
reason you would not succeed. In addition,
working ethically has always proven to be a
successful model to abide by.
What is next for FOO? Will it still keep
focusing upon mobile apps only, or
expand onto new technologies such as
car apps or wearables? In addition, are
there any plans for expansion throughout the Arab world?
For the future, FOO is in the process of
opening up an office in the United Arab
Emirates. It is highly beneficial to increase
FOO’s footprints in the region. Since some
of our clients come from outside Lebanon,
it would only be appropriate to step out and
expand our horizons to be able to successfully meet their demands. We are also incubating more apps internally and expanding
our work to include big data, open data,
Internet of things and wearable technology.
Last but not least, FOO is currently partnering with The American University of Beirut
to deliver a second Digital Entrepreneurship course for MBA students. As you can
see, the future is continuously changing,
and FOO is riding the wave of its trends.
Starting up and running such an upand-running company must be full of
entrepreneurial challenges; do you
think that turning FOO into one of
the fastest-growing companies in the
region was based purely on carefully
studied steps and a clear tactical work
path, or did it go along some lucky
strikes and out-of-the-box twists?
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FEATURE
FEATURE
PROVIDING MUCH MORE THAN A RADIO CAN DO
Interview by Mohammad Hijazi,
Editor in Chief @mhijazi
With an extensive background in computer
science and information technology as well
as the entertainment, music and mobile
industries, Elie Habib and Eddy Maroun
crossed paths and founded Anghami, a platform providing access to over five million
international and Arabic songs through a
convenient, user-friendly application allowing users to stream all the music they want
on their mobile.
was unbelievably attractive to me. We were
working in two different companies back
then. I was intrigued by mobile apps, as I had
no experience in this new field. Eddy really
wanted to be able to listen to anything he
wanted while skiing. We eventually made
that happen.
Anghami has agreements with over 4,000
record labels, thus granting users access to
the widest variety of content in the region.
The mobile application is available for download on different smartphones, including
iPhone, Android, Windows Phone, Blackberry, and Nokia devices.
We believed in the idea and in the opportunity present at the time: no proper music
service was available in the Middle East and
North Africa region. We saw a huge uptake
of smartphones and realized that this would
be the focus of the new services. We were
part of the previous phase of mobile music—
ringtones, which was considered a useless
trend by many. However, we knew how
big it turned out to be. We were adamant
in incorporating this trend into the region.
In hindsight, we did not know how hard it
would be and underestimated a lot while
planning the project. However, we were
definitely taken aback when we reached our
first 2 million users in just 6 months!
The company offers a free, ad-supported
version of the app, which allows usage only
with an Internet connection. Anghami+, the
premium ad-free application, allows users to
stream an unlimited number of songs and to
access playlists when offline.
Anghami has partnered up with MBC and
added songs from popular shows like Arab
Idol, The Voice, Your Face Sounds Familiar and Coke Studio to its musical library.
Anghami continues to expand its network
of paid subscribers through partnerships
with telecom operators, which provide the
Anghami application as a service to mobile
phone subscribers in certain countries.
Elie and Eddy were selected as Endeavor
Entrepreneurs in October 2013 in Palo Alto.
By August 2014, Anghami had more than
6 million users. We have interviewed the
co-founders for an insider’s look at social
media in relation to the local/regional musical industry.
How did the idea of Anghami come
about?
In 2011, while traveling, Eddy Maroun and
I, Elie Habib, noticed services allowing users
to listen to any song they want. Unlike
iTunes, such services—called streaming
services—opened up a big catalog, enabling
searching for almost any song your heart
[and ears] desired. Back home, we did not
even have iTunes available. Call it a major
opportunity. Eddy is originally a musician-turned-lawyer-turned-businessman,
while I am a software engineer that had
co-created several companies earlier on. The
idea of creating something this challenging
48 CLOUD961
What made you invest in the music
field in the Arab world?
Who are Anghami’s direct and indirect
competitors?
Let us just say that piracy is our biggest competitor. Full stop. If you insist, I can add to
that YouTube—which is the most prominent
form of “legal pirating” in the music industry.
Pirating music is not necessarily “illegal” in Lebanon and the Arab world.
Why would people choose Anghami
over piracy when they can manage
their music library better outside the
app?
Music piracy is illegal—in Lebanon and the
Arab World. However, penalizing piracy is
very lenient, indeed. Nevertheless, piracy involves exposure risk to viruses and
other malware, constant searching for the
latest music, validating quality, metadata
and others, as well as proper compression
techniques to take the music with you on
your mobile. How many of the 130 million
estimated smartphone users in the MENA
region do that regularly? And how would
that compare to Anghami which provides
an up-to-date, 6-million track database in
a user-friendly interface with thousands
of curated playlists, all in excellent Dolby
sound? We would like to believe that the
comparison is flawed, and our growth is a
pretty good validation.
Anghami is monetized through ads.
From what I have seen, it is by far the
application with most ad space—images and voice—which pushes users
to upgrade. It also has the most basic
features as premium paid features—
such as using the application while not
being connected to the Internet—. It is
because of this, I think, that many users are being deterred from using it. Do
you not think it is a little bit too much?
Well, this is true for the free version—you
might get one 15-second audio ad on Anghami every 4 to 5 songs, in comparison to 8
to 10 30-second ads every 15 minutes on the
radio. It would be naive to assume that one
can get all the music they want and get it for
free, but that is what we are providing, in exchange for sponsorships and advertising. We
are still tweaking ads and running a variety
of experiments per market. We have not settled on the exact details. We are, however,
getting a huge traction in this segment.
From our point of view, we provide much
more than a radio can do; interruptions
are less than those on the radio, and music
is handpicked. It is true that some people
might consider advertising a deterrent;
this is not our intention, but after all, the
premium reason for start-up failure is lack
of revenue. If you would like to download all
you want and never hear an ad, this would
cost you less than 1 latte grande and would
last 1 month.
How was Anghami initially funded? Has
it become profitable yet?
The first funders of the project were Eddy
and me. At the time, it was quite crazy, as we
did not know how we would fund the rest
of the project. However, since we had a good
background and had a record of implementing projects successfully, investors trusted
our plan. Middle East Venture Capital
invested the first USD 1m, eventually adding
another USD 250k. A year later, an Arab
telecom group invested USD 1.5m. While
the growth of Anghami has been above our
expectations; we expect to become profitable
by early 2015.
Tell us about your team. How did it
start and how did it expand? And who
do you think is the most valuable part
of it?
The first Anghami MVP (Minimal Viable
Product) was coded by me and another
engineer around October 2011. Anghami as
a company was founded in February 2012.
We were 3 at the time. By the end of the
year, Anghami launched in December 2012
with 6 employees. A year later, we were
18. We are now 28. The team is absolutely
fantastic, passionate and obsessive. We
would like to say that we try to recruit only
very passionate people. We have backend
engineers, mobile engineers, UX engineers,
DevOps engineers, designers, marketers,
business development and a very capable
content team. Shameless plug: I am always
recruiting. Since our business is really complicated, one part of the team could have
never succeeded without the rest. Hence,
as an example even though our engineering team is very talented, they would not
have had any data to showcase without the
content team. That is why we truly believe
that we are all part of an atomic element
referred to as start-up, with one target:
growth to remain the music leaders in the
MENA region.
What is the most active demographic
that is using your app? Why do you
think it is the most active (Country,
age group, gender, etc)?
Youth in general (13-20 years old) is very active on Anghami, and youth in Gulf markets
is even more engaged. We have seen cases
of 24-hour listening in this demography. It
is our belief that luck is born when preparation meets opportunity—and we really
worked our way through this by targeting
Anghami to this demography. We did not
hit all the right notes from the start, nor are
we totally satisfied with what we are now,
but we are moving forward by keeping the
most active fans in touch with their favorite
artists.
remote offices in cities that are pro-digital,
low cost and millennial-centric. This seems
to be very far from Lebanon, and is now the
hardest hurdle we face.
in the region, cheaper streaming services
had potential to explore. It took us close to 9
months to get the international majors and
most of the local services to sign up.
Would you consider moving your
company to Dubai, especially that the
situation is unstable in Lebanon? Why
or why not?
We recently opened an office in Dubai (see
footnote in http://www.anghami.com/
legal/), and while we believe Dubai is a
great hub for advertising/marketing, and
we have large partners there such as MBC,
DMS Choueiri, Universal Music Group, Sony
Music and others, the “kitchen” is still in
Lebanon, as our team is currently entirely
made up of people from Lebanon. Human
resources are a goldmine to us, and while it
has not been an easy trip to gather people
with wide knowledge and experience to
make Anghami, we are pretty sure that this
would have been way harder and more
expensive in Dubai. Most start-ups in Dubai
end up recruiting from the Asian subcontinent, while we have pretty good universities and human capital in Beirut.
What would you say is your proudest
moment in the life of Anghami thus
far?
The first time I saw an Anghami ad on
TV was definitely a moment I still vividly
remember. I listened to the ad but could not
take my eyes off my laptop. Numbers were
climbing up through the roof and whatever
estimations we had were blown by a huge
factor. We were validating demand for our
service and I could not be happier every day
when I now know that our app has attracted over 6 million people, and counting.
What advice would you give digital entrepreneurs who are just starting their
journeys in Lebanon?
Remember that the first reason of a start-up
failure is lack of revenue. Your project will
work only if it’s based on proper business
engineering.
How did you secure deals with the
biggest names in Western music?
Anghami started around a time when no
significant legal music service was available.
However, in the rest of the world, several
music streaming services were available.
Major music labels were aware of the potential of streaming and the disruptive effect
it could cause. The signals that download
services were slowing down was already
clear. And because of the massive piracy
As a digital start-up in Lebanon, what
hurdles did you face at the beginning
and what are the ones you face now?
When we started, the biggest hurdle was
getting someone to take us seriously! We
had an idea that needed millions of investment and no-revenue validation. Venture
Capital Investment had just started, and
we had no interest in joining an accelerator
at the time. It did take close to 9 months to
get funding, and trust. Now: USD 1,100 for
generator and USD 1,500 in Internet monthly bills: Would that sum it up? On a more
serious note, we worked hard in the spirit of
having a start-up with one hub: Lebanon—
working together with all the team in order
to move forward. We regularly meet in our
[now very small] lobby to discuss features,
roadmap, revenue and future plans. However, we now find it harder than ever before
to find fresh graduates that want to remain
in Lebanon despite what is happening here,
and while we totally understand this as
founders and parents, we will have to open
49 CLOUD961
FEATURE
FEATURE
SAMIR GHOBRIL:
STILL IN SCHOOL,
YET PROFESSIONAL
DEVELOPER
A self-taught Lebanese mobile programmer
By Mohammad Faez Tarabichi
@MFaezT
At only 18 years old, Samir Ghobril
developed an application that achieved
promising success in Lebanon and some
other countries. Mingle is an application
that helps you manage your contacts,
“[b]uilt from the ground up to make connecting with your contacts faster, easier
and more enjoyable in every way”. Perhaps one major drawback for the app is
that it was released only on iOS.
During that time, I was trying out and
discovering a few things, and had few
other ideas I wanted to develop. To be
honest, I do not exactly recall how I got
the idea of Mingle. It rather sprung out
of necessity, so the idea was already
there. I did a quick prototype to see how
it looks and if it would be worth it, and I
fell in love with it and gladly continued
developing the idea.
We asked Sam a few questions to know
more about him and how he got into
programming. If you would like to ask
him something we have not covered
herein, you may get in touch with him
directly on Twitter (@samghobril)
How much time did it take you to develop Mingle?
It took me about 7 to 8 months, because
I was not completely free and my time
was not ultimately devoted to Mingle,
since I am still in school and it is my last
year. So I have to be caught up on studying and exams. I used to get back from
school and work on it!
When and how did you start developing and programming?
It all started in grade 7 when I was
about 13-14. My dream was to build
videogames, and I was so keen on doing
it so I looked it up online. The tutorials
on the Internet were so helpful; I started
from basic programming. After that
came web development, and finally mobile development. So I am very thankful
for the Internet because it has taught
me everything technically.
How much time did it take you to
learn?
Mobile programming did not take a long
time at all, because when you learn
the basics of programming thoroughly,
everything becomes easier after that.
However, the basics took me a while
to master, but I was so looking forward
to learn. And the good thing in that
domain is that you keep learning while
you work and while you program; it is a
non-stop learning process.
How did you come up with the idea of
Mingle?
50 CLOUD961
Did your friends help in building Mingle?
No, I usually program and work on the
app by myself. However, I do consult
them sometimes, if they have a few ideas, or to review something I did. They
were helpful and encouraging.
Do you plan on releasing Mingle on
Android, since it is only on iOS for the
time being?
In order to release it on Android, I
would have to build it again from
scratch, so it would be a whole lot of
work. That being said, I do not think I
will be doing it in the near future, since
I am already working on an update for
the app to make it stable on the iOS
version at the moment—but eventually I
will for sure.
What would you say of Mingle’s success?
I would not say it is a massive success
yet, but there are people using it. I
am thankful, though, for the positive
reviews from tech websites and blogs
such as TechCrunch and Lifehacker.
I even sometimes receive personal
e-mails from people saying stuff like,
“We love your app”—That makes me
thankful and really happy!
Do you plan on building other applications in the future?
At the moment, I am really busy working on the Mingle updates, but certainly,
I have several other ideas I am interested in building and developing. I am not
going to stop now, and I am interested
in working on Mac applications, as in
desktop apps. Yes, that would definitely
be my next aim.
Do you plan on staying in Lebanon?
‘Hmmm’, frankly I do not think so,
especially on the long run. I am not sure
what exactly will happen later, but I am
willing to finish my studies and then I
will figure it out.
What are your hobbies (other than
being at the computer)?
I love music and I play it; it is a big part
of my life.
Which musical instrument do you play?
I play the guitar, the piano and the ukulele. I even have a few covers on Soundcloud, check them out (samghobril).
Where do you see yourself in 10 years?
Hopefully, I would like to invest in a
start-up, a software company most
probably. It is my passion.
What is your favorite social media
platform?
*Giggles* Twitter, undoubtedly.
FEATURE
FEATURE
The idea started in 2012 when we participated in QITCOM Innovation Theatre Competition. We won 3rd place and the chance
to get incubated at the Digital Incubation
Centre (DIC) at the Ministry of Information
and Communication Technologies. The three
founder members are all technology-savvy
or in other words, geeks! Their passion for
gaming and everything digital was what
brought them together. The main reason
for creating a gaming studio was that the
gaming industry has actually started to lack
good, new and creative stories. And since
the Arabic culture is rich in stories and is a
storytelling culture, we thought that it was
a good idea to transform these stories into
high-quality, interactive mobile games.
What does «Girnaas» mean?
Girnaas is the highest peak of something;
it represents where we want to be in the
mobile gaming industry, at the top.
GIRNAAS:
VERITABLY MIDDLE EASTERN
GAMES FOR A CHANGE
Transposing Arab storytelling culture onto
interactive games
By Selim Njeim, Associate Editor
@seleemnjeim
Munera Al-Dosari, Faraj Abdulla and
Fatima Al-Kuwari are a group of young
Qatari nationals and the three founder
members of the company, Girnaas. They
hold the titles of Managing Director and
co-Founder, Creative/Product Development
Director and co-Founder, and Marketing
Director/co-Founder, respectively. Girnaas is
a technology start-up specializing in mobile
gaming. Girnass saw its nascence in 2013
under ictQatar’s Digital Incubation Center.
Remarkable is Girnaas’ keenness on using
various elements from the Arab culture and
52 CLOUD961
incorporating those into the games they
develop. In times where Western culture
is spreading its tentacles partout, Girnaas
brings to life an entertaining tribute to Arab
culture and the Middle East, in the form of
deftly designed, interactive creations. Below
is our interview with Fatima Al-Kuwari. You
can learn more about Girnaas via their social
media presence (links mentioned at the end
of the interview)
Whose idea was this initiative and how
did you get it off the starting block?
Could you please explain in detail what
you guys do? If I understand correctly,
anyone interested in creating a game
with focus on education, culture,
health or lifestyle—among others—can
approach you and you would design a
game from A to Z?
• Games—We create unique games from the
design, to prototype, and publishing;
• Publishing—We help indie developers
publish their games;
• B2B services—Governments and enterprises now understand the value of games as a
powerful tool to deliver positive messages:
educational, entertainment and lifestyle-related.
We launched our first game, Giddam, in December 2013 and it has been a success since
then, with 350,000 downloads in more than
100 countries across the world so far! Since
it has launched, we have done two major
updates and several minor ones. The major
updates were the release of the KSA level
and Dubai level and several new characters.
We have also helped a group of talented
young Qatari’s launch and publish their
game, Hamad & Sahar, in February 2014.
Our second game, Giddam Connect, was
launched in May 2014.
What are some of the vital elements to
your start-up?
Talent! Having the right talent is key. Having enough finance is also important to help
us expedite our expansion.
Speaking of money: Who has sponsored your initiative at its earliest
stages? Was it only ictQatar’s Digital
Incubation Center?
The company was established in 2013 under DIC where we received seed funding in
addition to office space. We were also provided with training, advice and guidance.
Are you at the point of generating income? Has Girnaas become a “profitable” start-up yet?
Games are either paid or free. Paid games
make money when players buy them. For
free games, money is generated through
in-app purchases and/or through ads. With
Giddam, we had two local supporters of the
game before it was even launched, where
they actually supported us by placing ads
in the game. These are Sea Shore Qatar and
Qatar Women’s Sport Committee—we thank
them for their support and for believing in
us even before our first game was launched.
We also have a couple of B2B contracts and
we are in the process of developing games
for some organizations.
How important has social media been
in raising awareness of Girmaas, realizing profit, and getting you more
customers?
Social media has been critical in offering us
a free medium to communicate with our
target audiences and advertise for free. In
addition, the viral effect of SM has undoubtedly helped in increasing the number of our
game downloads.
I have noticed a mismatch of East and
West on your website/in your games.
There are Western cultural references,
but the game characters look Arab.
Was that a deliberate choice? In what
ways does mixing East and West get
you more exposure and contribute to
your success?
We aim to use the Arabic rich storytelling
culture and bring it into high-quality mobile
games. Our game Giddam was very much
GCC-oriented with the characters and the
levels. However, with the updates, we added
more regional characters as well, to make the
game inclusive to all the MENA region. In
addition, we have new levels which we will
introduce soon which will be very exciting
to our players.
Have you faced any difficulties before
starting up; Do you now?
The main challenge was of course to decide
on the idea of the business. We had to
focus and not be drifted and tempted to do
everything at once. Another challenge was
to choose the right team/partners, as they
are key to the success of the company. For
a start-up legal and financial expertise are
always a challenge. However, we got the
help of Enterprise Qatar (EQ) for professional
legal and financial services. They support
start-ups by reimbursing a great part of the
cost of such services, and we thank them for
that. In addition, the kind of workshops and
trainings, as well as networking and expertise that the DIC provides us are invaluable
and key to our success.
Where is gaming going in the Arab
world? What are your predictions in
regard to this matter?
The MENA region has the highest youth
population, and gaming potential is huge.
Girnaas will use the rich Arabic storytelling
culture and history and transform it into
high-quality, entertaining mobile games—
which is the future of handheld gaming.
Any advice for people looking to start
their own companies?
First of all, make a decision, plan well,
choose the people that will help you out—
your network basically—and start. Focus
and keep trying, never give up. It is not easy,
but once you succeed, it is very rewarding.
What are your future expansion plans?
We have a solid roadmap of games we are
working towards. Our next game, Hamour,
which we have started advertising for, will
bring in a new concept which we are really
excited about!
To learn more about Girnaas and their project,
visit:
http://girnaas.com/
https://www.facebook.com/Girnaas
https://twitter.com/Girnaas
http://www.youtube.com/user/Girnaas
http://instagram.com/Girnaas
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FEATURE
FEATURE
CLONING
THROUGH
AN APP:
A conversation with Lebanese mobile
app developer Alexi Akl
By Mhamad Dankari
@mhddankar
What applications have you created thus far?
During my work at Dermandar, I was
responsible for research as well as
development of the “DMD Clone” and
“360 Ball” apps, both image processing
apps.
How do you measure the success
of an app?
The success of an app is measured
through the number of downloads
and ratings; those will give you a quick
glance at the success of an app. A high
number of downloads reflects a big
need, while ratings reflect how satisfied the users are.
What platforms do you have experience designing for?
Those would be Android and iOS.
What platforms you think are the
most used, and why?
A graduate of Politechnika, Lodzka—Poland (2009), Alexi Akl, software engineer,
has developed numerous mobile (Android
and iOS), desktop and web applications
related to image processing, workforce
management, vector graphics and
computer-aided design (CAD) systems,
OpenGL, point of sale, facial composite,
and content management system (CMS).
Android is the most used platform due
to multiple reasons:
I Diversity of devices;
II Price;
III Functionality.
While iOS is stable and fast, it is still
very limited.
object by pressing the shoot button or
even whistling. Images are processed
instantly and you see the merged final
result in a single image. For example,
imagine a basketball player heading
towards the basket, you can shoot
multiple photos of his movements and
in the end see them all combined in a
single image. For more info, visit www.
dmdclone.com.
What type of apps would you personally buy?
I have bought Photoshop for mobile
(image editing app) and Smash Hit (a
game). There is no limitation for the
type of apps that I might buy; they just
need to be useful or entertaining. Apps
are cheap—you could get a useful tool
for the price of a chocolate bar.
key people on board like Imo, Gmail,
EyeEm, and Touch Surgery, among
many others.
What are some tips you would
give new developers?
I encourage Lebanese developers to
pursue their dreams. The Lebanese
Government and the private sector
are now aware of the potential and
influence apps have. That is why
they are creating funding schemes
for start-ups, similar to the ones in
the West, rather than just disbursing loans; they invest through
equity participation.
In your opinion, are Lebanese developers successful?
Yes, they are. The success stories
are countless; some of them are 100
percent made in Lebanon like POO,
Dermandar Panorama and Anghami.
Others have been made with Lebanese
Tell us more about DMD Clone
DMD Clone is an automated camera-cloning app. What it exactly does
is: you take several photos of a moving
“I mostly enjoy combining Programming,
Problem Solving, Algorithms and Mathematics skills to implement optimized,
reliable and stable solutions for the
different issues of nowadays IT world,”
says Alexi on his personal website, www.
ixela.net. We hope you enjoy reading our
interview with him:
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FEATURE
FEATURE
MOBILE
CLOUD
COMPUTING:
The benefits Lebanese developers will
likely miss out on for a while
By Raja Riachi
@rajariachi
The cloud is a relatively new idea of
a magical place where you can store
your information to be immediately accessible from any device. Its
existence—or the idea of its existence—,however, extends to more
than just storing the pictures you
take with your smartphone camera.
The cloud holds many benefits for
mobile developers. It allows developers to put more into their apps by
taking the tasks that are common
and used across the board by all
users of the same app and processing
them in a large supercomputer once,
as opposed to hundreds of thousands
of times on each different device.
A clear example of this method lies
in gaming. Suppose a game map with
a thousand players on it. This game
uses cloud computing to perform the
tasks that would be common on all
the players’ devices, namely changes
to the game map. If a building on this
map is to be destroyed, each separate
device the player is using would
have to compute the destruction of
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the same building, thus using up the
devices’ hardware capabilities. The
solution the cloud offers is taking
this task to the cloud on one large
supercomputer to be calculated only
once, and sending it back to each
separate player’s device.
This process both frees up performance on the devices being used,
allowing developers to create larger
games with more effects, and is
generally more efficient because the
same process is done once instead of
a thousand times on smaller devices. This translates into mobile app
development.
In Lebanon, developers are unable to leverage the benefits of the
cloud due to poor infrastructure.
Even with the latest upgrades to
the Internet in Lebanon, we still
lack what is needed to benefit. App
developers are largely shackled by
the limitations of the devices they
are developing for. Mobile Cloud
Computing, however, mitigates these
limitations by taking a load of the
tasks off smartphones and throwing
them onto the cloud.
The second major benefit to the
cloud, one of interest to mainly
developers for the Android platform,
is making coding for many different
devices easier. There are hundreds
of Android devices out there, and
each developer must make sure each
application runs smoothly on every
single device. Instead of having to
develop for each and every device,
developers can make their mobile
apps run on servers in a mobile
cloud, where the app data is stored
and data processing happens outside
the smartphone, thus reducing
the performance requirements as
explained earlier, and reducing
the need to cater to every separate
device.
This reduces the development
overhead needed to complete an app,
reducing the cost and time spent
(all important factors for Lebanese
developers), while increasing the
accessibility, performance, and functionality of each app.
The lack of proper Internet infrastructure limits the reach developers have with their applications.
The problem is not in raw speed,
which still lags behind anyway, but
in ensuring that you have enough
bandwidth to avoid running into
any bottlenecks. What this essentially means is that the bandwidth
available to a user, regardless of the
speed, is there to ensure no latency
levels. The problems with high latency levels are usually between the
Internet service providers (ISPs) of
the user and the server, where there
is not enough bandwidth between
the two geographically separate
networks.
Problems with bandwidth will
create complications regardless of
Internet speeds. To ensure Lebanese
developers do not face these problems, a strong connection must be
established between Lebanese ISPs
and the geographical location of the
servers being accessed.
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CULTURE Fashion
CULTURE Art
Bringing
Together
The Artistic
Community
Haven for Artists use social
media to converge artists
By Dalia Ramadan,
PR Manager, AUB’s Online Collaborative
@dalia813
Haven For Artists (HFA) is a network connecting artists from different backgrounds,
interests and disciplines. It is am arena
upon which talent is showcased and shared
with others, in an ongoing flow of creativity. We have interviewed Cynthia el Hay,
the visual designer and person handling
all communications and press matters for
HFA to tell us more about the role social
media has been playing in promoting this
initiative and its goals.
Can you tell us a little about Haven
for Artists, its mission, and how it
started?
Haven for Artists was established in 2011.
Our initial goal was to create a platform encompassing a multitude of artists. It began
with poets and musicians, but grew to also
host the visual and performance arts. Our
mission is to create a community based on
the collaboration and exposure of artists.
What is your role at Haven for Artists?
My name is Cynthia el Hay and I am the
visual designer, handling all sorts of communication aspects, such as social media
and press.
When Haven for Artists was founded
3 years ago, what was your initial
plan for getting the word out to the
community? Has it changed since
then?
We solely relied on word-of-mouth; there
was not a plan, simply because we did not
have an aim bigger than bringing together
our close friends for a night of music and
poetry. Two years later, we expanded from
a Facebook page that serves as an inspirational platform and exposure tool for local
artists, to a Youtube channel that posts
some of the live performances we film as
well as show reels, to a Twitter account
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that is linked to our Facebook page. Last
but not least, our favorite platform: Sound
Cloud, which allows us to share live recordings from our gatherings.
Does your NGO’s social media strategy also target and interact with those
who are not necessarily artists? If so,
in what ways?
Of course, a lot of our fans/followers are
not artists; just art enthusiasts and even
people who never thought they would be
into art. Our Facebook page brings together
people from all over the country with
different backgrounds and affinities. We
post paintings, street art, music, literature,
culture, and graphic design. We also try to
introduce as many artists to as many forms
of art that we can: we like to call it ‘free education’. We know how much time people
can waste and procrastinate on Facebook—
during work hours especially—so why not
learn something new instead? The people
who follow us on Sound Cloud are not
necessarily artists either; they just want to
enjoy the music and poetry.
It is clear that Haven for Artists
carefully selected where they would
like to be present online. Why has the
NGO chosen to open up Sound Cloud
and Youtube accounts versus, let’s
say, the popular Instagram?
We strongly believe that Instagram is a tool
for taking photos with your phone, adding
a filter, and sharing them; not to upload
pictures from other places. We do plan on
launching an Instagram account, but not
yet. The #havenforartists hashtag is present, though, for people to mention during
our gatherings. Another famous hashtag
used is #havenspotted, where you post a
photo of a haven sticker that you spot on
the streets of Beirut, Barcelona, Cape Town,
Berlin, Chicago, and Stockholm.
How does Artists for Haven use social
media to help artists to build their
network?
We share them on our page, and pages
that might be interested in what a particular artist does. Later, if they decide to
have a page of their own, we would have
somehow paved the way for them with
an online database of videos, photos, and
audioclips.
What social medium has proven most
effective for the NGO, and why?
Facebook is definitely our strongest tool
with over 3000 organic fans. It helps us
keep our followers up-to-date with gatherings, art/artists, as well as exhibitions.
Over the past three years, what kind
of evolution did Haven for Artists see
in their use of online media? Has it
become stronger in terms of reaching out to both artists and collaborators?
Our fan base or followers are people who
found us, we do not advertise and we do
not invite. We simply do what we love to
do: inform, inspire, and as artists ourselves,
we also create. Haven intends to reach artists and art enthusiasts via the art itself, so
that through people who appreciate the art
we reach the ones that wish to learn.
Does Haven for Artists have plans in
the future to expand online to other
social media or perhaps a website?
If so, how will those new media be
used?
As far as social media goes, we think we
somehow have it covered. We keep revising and refreshing our strategies, and we do
plan on launching a website in the future.
CULTURE Design
CULTURE Design
TOYING WITH
LITTLEBITs
A flourishing open-source gadget-building online platform
FLAT DESIGN:
USABILITY,
FUNCTIONALITY
AND CONTENT
By Ayman Jalloul, President,
AUB’s Online Collaborative @amnjay
When one talks about opensource manufacturing, LittleBits cannot be overlooked.
LittleBits is a Lego-like set of
electronic modules that can
be assembled by practically
anyone, regardless of their
tech-savviness or their age, to
produce some seriously innovative gadgets.
LittleBitts are sold as a set of kits with various modules. Being completely open source,
new modules are being added that can all
clip to the basic board of LittleBits, opening
the possibility for creation. Color-coded
magnetic modules range from USB power
sources, to solar panels, to sound sensors.
These various modules allow users to make
anything from Halloween costumes that
light up, to an animatronic hand. This is all
thanks to the simplicity and efficiency of
60 CLOUD961
the LittleBits system which removes the
barriers of circuitry and coding to open up
and simplify the process of electronics and
bring it to ease due to the magnetic module.
Probably the best part of LittleBits is that
the community is online and has people
from all over the world creating and sharing
their projects on the online gallery. For
example, the featured project on LittleBits
this month is a hand you can play “paper,
rock, scissors” with. The hand is controlled
by LittleBits and an Arduino module (a
single-board micro-controller) that is set to
randomly move into rock, paper or scissor
position when prompted. This wireless
interaction begins when the user presses
a button on their glove and as the game
progresses, the glove compares the user’s position with that of the robotic arm and will
thus be able to tell who won and accordingly play either a tune of victory or defeat.
And because this is all open-source, anyone
with LittleBits can make these gadgets and
build on them.
LittleBits was founded as a startup by Ayah
Bdeir who graduated from the American
University of Beirut with a bachelor’s degree in computer engineering and sociology.
She then went on in 2004 to receive a master’s degree in MIT’s Media Lab Entrepreneurship program and founded LittleBits
zoo. Since then, LittleBits has received a
total of USD 4m dollars in funding and
continues to grow both as a company and as
a community and further experiments with
these modules that are pushing the limits of
where one can go by just “toying around”.
You can check out the community of LittleBits
and the projects online by going to www.
littlebits.cc/projects
By Lynn El Bizri
@lnlne
Flat design has been one of the biggest crazes
to hit web and user interface design in the
past few years. Replacing skeuomorphic
design, in which design cues are taken from
the physical world and items designed to
resemble their real-world counterparts, flat
design focuses on simple two-dimensional
appearance, with the removal of drop shadows, gradients and textures. It emphasizes on
minimalism, cleanliness and organization of
content above all, and has several advantages
over its predecessor.
Flat design first started gaining popularity
with the release of the Windows 7 Mobile,
which unleashed flat design to consumers
and designers alike. Since then, several different mobile and web user interfaces have
been redesigned to integrate flat design with
the biggest transition being that of Apple’s
iOS 7. With its ability to be easily translated
to different screen sizes and its optimization
for multiple platforms, flat design’s clean,
modern look appeals to many. It not only allows users to focus on what is important such
as usability, functionality and content, but
with the lack of gradients, drop shadows and
other skeuomorphic design elements, load
times are even quicker, which is ideal for web
browsing. However, flat design is not only
flourishing onscreen. It is also transferring
to the real world, where pamphlets, business
cards, book covers, and more, are all being
designed with elements of flat design.
bright colors, simple images, straightforward
ideas, a focus on typography, and the use of
buttons or icons. These elements contribute to engaging users as well as providing
commercial gains for online businesses. Due
to the fact that unnecessary design elements
are avoided, designs are uncluttered and only
the most important or relevant content and
functionality is conveyed to the user.
While many may argue that flat design is just
another passing trend, it is a trend that will
likely be around for quite a while. Whether
online or offline, the simplistic approach is a
great way to emphasize ideas and content in
a way that will likely never go out of style.
Elements of flat design include minimalism,
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CULTURE Fashion
CULTURE Food
YES, THERE IS SUCH A THING
AS TOO MANY BLOGGERS
GS Stores Lebanon cause blogger clash
By Dalia Ramadan, PR Manager, AUB’s Online Collaborative
Collaborating with fashion bloggers has
become the bread and butter of many
fashion trademarks aiming to hit brand
and search engine optimization objectives. Although traditional advertising
is still used, blog outreach most effectively trumps modern purchasing behavior by stimulating visual influence
and widespread conversation about a
brand’s collection. Fashion labels can
invest lots in offline marketing and
even social media, but nothing compares in promoting a brand than having
a genuine buzz about products, something bloggers are able to generate.
In Lebanon, GS retail stores capitalize
on the skills of many successful local
fashion bloggers to support their digital
marketing strategy. However, in their
attempt to create an authentic word-ofmouth, GS goes one too far, simultaneously collaborating with Notre Closet,
Playing with Fashion, Lara Speaks
@dalia813
Style, Sunset de Amor, Chocolate and
Vanilla Soles, Pretty Capricieuse, and
until recently, Le Journal De Leen.
With such a large number of bloggers
in such small proximity, collaborations
become obvious, unappealing, and far
from being genuine.
Misemployment of strategy has dual
effects as Leen Tabara of Le Journal de
Leen explains: “Not only [is] GS risking
this whole strategy, the bloggers also
risk losing their audience.” Recently,
Pretty Capricieuse and Playing with
Fashion Instagrammed outfits with the
same GS top within a week. Similarly,
Chocolate and Vanilla Soles and Le
Jounral De Leen have sported the same
GS jacket in blog posts, though at different times. With individuality being the
vital feature that a blogger’s popularity
is built on, such clashes are come across
to followers as lack of uniqueness, thus
harming the blogger’s reputation.
Instead of approaching a handful of
popular bloggers, GS should reach out
to those that have worn and written
about the store’s products on their blogs
in the past. Additionally, when selecting bloggers, GS should ensure that
aspects such as photo and writing style
align with the GS brand image. This is
vital as bloggers indirectly represent
the face of the store to the largest
consumer network in today’s digital
society: their followers.
Though blogger outreach provides
relationships with consumers that
retail stores rely on to increase brand
awareness and profit, misuse of strategy might achieve the same, to a negative effect. As the learning curve on
blogging evens out, GS should know not
to simply use bloggers for the sake of
using them; there must be an appetite
for more creative partnerships.
ARE RESTAURANTS
AS GENEROUS AS
RAMADAN?
Their promotional strategies during the Holy Month
By Mohamad Faez Tarabichi
During the Holy
Month of Ramadan,
restaurants rush to
present their clients
and food lovers with
deals to promote
themselves and their
image. Nonetheless,
it
is of cardinal importance
nowadays, to be present online, on a social
media level.
On a first note, we did not notice any ads
regarding this matter, so we decided to do a
little more research about it.
In general, restaurants in Lebanon do not
really believe in the power of social media,
and those who do, merely stick to Facebook. So, regarding the research, very few
were even aware of the fact that Ramadan
had started; the other puny number who
did is significantly scarce.
62 CLOUD961
@mfaezt
The most prominent restaurant promoting
itself during the holy month was to our surprise, Socrate. The famous Lebanese cuisine
eatery had a daily trivia competition where
the winner gets a free iftar meal. From what
can be seen, the page is getting somehow
good attention, but they should consider
shedding a bit more light on the competition
if they want to flood their page with likes
and comments.
Classic Burger Joint took it to Facebook to
invite burger fans to come and have their
iftar over at the joints by offering complementary soup and dates for clients who are
fasting.
Another restaurant getting all Ramadan-ish
is Villagio Piccolo. While being highly involved in World Cup competitions, the Italian place did not forget to keep the generous
spirit alive by posting about it and changing
their cover photo.
The Four Seasons Hotel celebrated Ramadan
as well. While not being exactly active about
promoting it, the prestigious hotel surely did
post about it wishing its fans a Happy Holy
Month and inviting them over to have iftar.
Finally, it is necessary to point out the fact
that restaurants in Lebanon should do a
better job on social media and not only on
Facebook! In addition, having so few competitions for Ramadan makes us wonder if
they really do want to get attention online. It
was a perfect—if not the perfect—opportunity to turn to promotions and competitions to
get more traffic, because people are particularly “vulnerable” during that exact month.
With their bellies empty, restaurants should
have been filling them up and taking being
more present on social media. They could
not have asked for a better opportunity!
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CULTURE Movies
CULTURE Politics
GAME OF
THRONES:
On the throne of
social media
By Yara Nahle
REMEMBERING
AUGUSTUS
WATERS:
The Fault in Our Stars breaks hearts,
generates social media buzz
By Mhamad Dankar
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I think that users in the social media realm have never
been as obsessed with a series as they are now with “Game
of Thrones». Each time a new episode is online, the whole
GoT online community is shaken with excitement. Fans
rush to be the first to download the newly-released treasure. Their biggest fear: spoilers!
It is not by pure coincidence that this TV show has earned
its place on the throne of social media. The show’s creativity was accompanied by a creative social media campaign,
engaging the audience like never before. The campaign
launched Twitter hashtags and encouraged fans to use
them, and paid special attention to audience-generated
content, increasing fans’ interaction with the show.
One smart tactic used for intensifying audience participation was engaging them in contests related to the show and
in Q&A’s with the cast.
@MhdDankar
In my opinion, every romantic movie must
But, Will the crying over The Fault in Our
meet two important criteria in order to sucStars ever stop? Apparently, no.
ceed: good actors and an overwhelming story.
On Wednesday June 2, fans of the John
XThe Fault in Our Stars (TFIOS) has them
Green cancer drama were openly grieving
both. And as a plus, the movie is based on the on Twitter and other social media. But then
best-selling novel by John Green, told by a
again, why?
sixteen-year-old cancer patient named Hazel,
who is obliged by her parents to join a supThat is because July 2 is the day Augustus
port group, where she subsequently encoun- Waters, Hazel’s boyfriend played by Ansel
ters and falls in love with seventeen-year-old Elgort, died of cancer.
Augustus Waters.
People mourned him using an RIP hashtag.
TFIOS is a story about hope, pain, endurance,
sacrifice and precious moments. Since it has
@LiamKelsall wrote:“Hazel said that July 14th
been released on June 6, it has created a wave is twelve days after Augustus died. Today is
of emotional outburst all over Twitter.
July 2nd. Today is THE DAY HE DIED I’M
@yarabee2
NOT OKAY #RIPAugustusWaters.”
@claire_bohn wrote: “All these #RIPAugustusWaters tweets are making me miss him.
And like I know he’s not “real” & I didn’t really
“know” him. But I did. I did.”
Others tweeted quotes from the book/movie:
@somnxum: “I’m thankful for our little
infinity.”
TFIOS has out of the theaters for quite a
while, but it will never be out of its fans’
minds, surely not any time soon.
According to Social Bakers, the show has 17247 new fans
each day and 786 153 each year, on social media. Moreover, in the last six months, the number of fans increased
by 4.5m members. In the last week only, the number
increased by 100k fans, although the fourth season has
already ended. Statistics also reveal that the US has the
largest fan base, encompassing 33 percent of the show’s
fans. Also, if some fans do not follow “Game of Thrones” on
social media, GoT follows them, which makes fans believe
they are important to the show.
In the Arab world, the Game of Thrones fever is not less
serious. Jawanna Sawalha, a devoted GoT fan from Jordan,
keeps herself tuned to any GoT conversation taking place
on SM, helping her to better understand the show.
«The show has a lot of hidden meanings which you cannot understand from the first time, that is why I rely on
everything posted on Facebook,» Sawalha says.
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CULTURE Politics
PALESTINE’S
CULTURE Politics
ONLINE
PRESENCE:
A tool of non-violent resistance
Your
Middle East:
Shifting
Perspectives
News online platform doing what mainstream media cannot
By Selim Njeim, Associate Editor
@seleemnjeim
Amid rapid—and mainly disastrous—changes
in the Middle East and North Africa (MENA)
region, journalists and visual artists from
all over the world are flocking to the region,
covering its news, producing reams of articles daily, sharing those across social media
accounts, and garnering attention to issues
they deem “newsworthy”. The outcome of
this type of journalistic practice is shaping
the way people see us—we, the citizens of the
Middle East.
For years, it was just commonplace for audiences outside the MENA region to immediately associate graphic images of violence,
upheavals and/or religious extremism with
the Middle East. At some point, destruction
and the Arab world meshed so seamlessly
together that they became synonymous.
Your Middle East (YME) is an alternative,
fully independent media platform that has
embarked on a project to change conventional reporting from the MENA region. It
is network-based, fast-moving, lean, and
grassroots.
Closely connected to events on the ground
and to local experts and amateur citizen
journalists alike, YME represents both the
ugly and the beautiful almost equally, giving
a voice to those who have lived in this part
of the world their entire lives—as opposed
to foreign media staff flying into countries
with no background whatsoever or informed
understanding of the cultural, political and
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religious intricacies of the region.
YME has been growing rapidly. Their network now consists of 500+ bloggers, citizens
and established journalists, academics,
experts, and activists across the Middle East
and other parts of the world.
YME was co-founded by Swedish Adam
Hedengren and David Hedengren, YME
managing editor, and editor-in-chief, who
were both dissatisfied with media coverage
of the MENA region.
To support YME’s mission, all writers currently contribute on a voluntary and occasional basis. Based on a personal experience,
contributors are not pressured to submit
stories regularly and are given the freedom
to express their views and personal analyses
of happenings around them. Most importantly, YME welcomes content that would
otherwise not make it to one of the “top”
news websites.
With about 100,000 monthly visitors, YME’s
social media presence buzzes with energy
and a committed mission to shift perspectives and highlight Arab ambition, talent,
and achievements.
This is not to say that YME does not deal
with serious, hardcore political coverage.
However, through their approach to news,
highly interactive website and lively social
media accounts—mainly Facebook and Twit-
ter—a more nuanced, 360-degree view of all
aspects of life—including business, culture,
innovation, human rights, and others—is
offered to readers. The latter share, react and
remark on the content, giving stories more
depth and opening up related discussions.
YME has been organizing a series of events,
#YMEstartup, focusing mainly on women
entrepreneurship and empowerment. The
first event was in Istanbul, followed by another in Dubai last June.
“Hopefully these kinds of events will be a
breath of fresh air, an eve of inspiration and
joy, connecting like-minded people for an
exchange of ideas and perspectives, values
that are important to us,” said Christine Petré,
editor at YME.
Wars, uprisings, massacres, and kids pelting
soldiers with stones are only the “big stories”.
It is what that little kid and his embittered
parents have to say about the violence
around them that humanizes the news, and
opens a door up for clearer understanding
inititated by critical thinking, and hopefully,
one day, change.
Whether you are a humanitarian relief
officer, a political news editor, a policy maker,
or just a curious member of your society,
Your Middle East and other similar independent voices should be the source you
turn to for information.
By Yara Nahle
@yarabee2
Palestine’s political and geographic
existence as a country might not be
acknowledged by all, but its online
presence grants it a universal existence.
This online presence represents an
alternative to the misleading Western
propaganda usually aligned with Israel,
justifying its apartheid, embellishing its
acts or hiding them, showing the Palestinians as the perpetuators of evil, Israel
as the victim.
Online Palestine
Pro-Palestinian cause online presence
manifests itself through several websites and platforms, usually in English,
targeted at the Western audience. The
major ones are the Electronic Intifada
(meaning uprising) and the International
Solidarity Movement’s sites.
Electronic Intifida is a website which
broadcasts news in the form of articles,
YouTube videos and SoundCloud audios.
It further publishes news analysis and
blog posts regarding not only politics
and war, but also arts and culture. The
website’s coverage surpasses the borders
of occupied Palestine to encompass all
Palestinian matters across the globe, including immigrants and refugees living
in the West.
International Solidarity Movement is a
non-profit organization and a Palestinian-led movement with a website and an
online presence on Facebook, Twitter,
MySpace, Flickr, and YouTube. It aims at
providing the Palestinian people with «a
voice with which to nonviolently resist
an overwhelming military occupation
force.» By propagating images of Israel’s
violent oppression, it intends to seek
international support, solidarity and
protection for Palestinians. ISM considers itself to be a form of resistance.
Online Israel
On the other hand, Israel, namely the
Israeli Defense Forces, has a propaganda
targeted at Arabs only. Avichay Adraee
is the IDF Arabic spokesperson, whose
main concern is to wish Muslims happy
holidays, good lives and peace. He is the
pretty face glued to the façade of the Israeli Army to make it look like the more
peaceful side the two parties in conflict.
Through his Twitter account, IDF’s
diplomatic face hypocritically wishes
Muslims a happy fasting. Two weeks
later, the IDF bombs Gaza massively.
However, the world is more persuaded
by Adraee’s propaganda, just another
evidence of the power of social media, especially that Israel’s aggression
towards Gaza is not fairly portrayed in
Western media.
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CULTURE Travel
#SMLaughs:
THE 7 MUST-HAVE
INSTAGRAM
POSTS WHILE
ON VACATION!
By Darine Sabbagh
1
@sdarine
Social Media and tech gizmos have seeped
into every aspect of our lives. In this
column Darine curates the curious and
funny anecdotes on how these new
media have transformed day to day interactions. Share your own stories with
her on twitter on @sdarine #SMLaughs
or email [email protected].
The professional Instagrammer has a few
staple shots in their arsenal that they just cannot resist
taking, especially when “travelgramming” on vacation.
I have had the pleasure of just returning from vacation
and experiencing them all first-hand and observing
follow flocking tourists around me. Let me tell you it is
really tough not to follow through with these clichés. So
here we go!
2
3
4
1. I am leaving!
Must always come with a passport and tickets shot for
that extra rub in the face of your friends and family. As
demonstrated by blogger Maya Shokr about to head out
to Goa!
http://instagram.com/p/qG1dOMLlzv/?modal=true
2. Let me take a selfie with ___ khalfi!
No matter what the remarkable sight, celebrity person,
or animal at the zoo, Instagramming it alone is simply not
enough. It must have your weirdly cropped portrait, too!
3. Local Market exotic finds
5
6
This type of post is only reserved for true grit travelers. I
have not really observed that many Lebanese Instagrammers following through with the tradition. But Christine
Sfeir, CEO of Dunkin Donuts, sure did a great job at that!
http://instagram.com/p/qIVas_DTOg/?modal=true
4. From where I stand with your feet near the
swimming poor OR The iconic laying-on-thechaise-longue snap
http://instagram.com/p/pL39hpMIhn/?modal=true
5. Sunsets and Skylines
7
http://instagram.com/p/qFoleUMIuc/?modal=true
6. Macro of some weird animal, insect or flower
http://instagram.com/p/pjj66FMIn8/?modal=true
7. Airplane mode
In case you would like to see more of my own vacation
shots, make sure to stalk me on @sdarine!
http://instagram.com/p/po3WxiMIvM/?modal=true
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GEEKY Apps
GEEKY Apps
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where you do not know the language? Just
snap a pic of a street sign and the app can
translate English, Italian, Spanish, French,
Portugese, and Russian.
5
8. Forecast.io—A slick-looking weather
app that gives up-to-date weather forecasts in real time and you can also go back
in time to check past weather patterns.
9. WaterIn—Whether you are backpack-
By Paul Gadalla
ing this summer or lounging at the beach,
it i always good to keep track of your water
intake to stay healthy. WaterIn regularly
reminds you to rehydrate until you have
had your daily 8 cups of water.
@paulinbeirut
Summer is in full swing. Many of you
will either be traveling or trekking
around the country this summer. So
whether you will be staying or leaving,
here are the top 10 apps you need to
enjoy this summer:
2
6
1. Postogram—If you have big travel
plans this summer and want to make
your friends jealous, use this app by
selecting one of your own photos
from your phone and send it as a real
postcard with a specialized message to
anyone for .99 cents.
9
2. Tripit—Store your travel plans, flight
and hotel info all in one place. The app
can even build you an itinerary, a definite help if you are doing a big trip.
3
10. Easy Batter Saver—This app helps
you monitor your phone’s battery power
and adjusts its lighting and apps to help
save battery so when you are on the go
you make the most out of what is left of
your battery.
7
3. World Festival Guide—Over 200
art, film, music, and food festivals
packed into one app. You can share
photos, leave tips, and get festival information.
4. Weber’s on the Grill—Your essential
app for any summer BBQ. The app has
280 recipes for BBQs and 40 different
recipes for marinades.
4
5. Foodspotting—A must-have app
if you are a foodie. Upload pics of your
favorite dishes so you can recommend
them. You can also do searches such as
“where’s the best pasta dish in town”.
6. Roadtrippers—Staying in Lebanon?
Do not just stay indoors, but hop in the
car and go for a ride. With plenty of
mountains and beaches, the sky’s the
limit. This app tracks your roadtrips,
lets you leave tips, and shows you interesting sites along the way.
8
10
7. World Lens—Traveling in a country
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GEEKY Apps
GEEKY Apps
PLAYIN’ [IT]
SAFE TO THE
BEAT
By Mhamad Dankar
KITESTRING:
Your online/offline
emergency whistle
By Layal Jebran
@iPr1ncess
@MhdDankar
Minimize distraction with glance-free
playlist control
Listening to music forms an integral part of a lot of people’s lives,
even in their daily routine, and is often an escape to change their
mood. With the possibility of listening to music on the phone, no
matter what you are doing, even when on the go, you just plug your
earphones in and listen to your favorite playlists. This, however, becomes a challenge when you have to keep on looking at your phone
to change volume, playlists, etc.
Playin’ Safe is an innovative application designed by Fusion Second
to provide glance-free control for music playback while you are jogging, running, cycling or even driving.
The app contains four main tabs: Artists, Albums, Songs and Playlists. It utilizes touch control in order to interact, swipe or pause your
music. A safe mode is also available to disable touch and the app also
features multiple touch tricks to control and edit functions while
making sure your eyes are not distracted for a single second.
The app is set to be released on iOSin September. An Android version
is in progress as well, in addition to another version that will have
more utility for joggers, called Joggin’ safe.
The first release of Playin’ safe will be free, and Joggin’ safe will be
for USD 0.99.
In the age of 11-year-old developers creating games
and writing complex code, an age where privacy is
important while personal safety is nearly inexistent,
someone out there who cares for you, created a website called Kitestring.
The Kitestring website is a safety net for women in
general and people all together to keep an eye on
themselves while walking home late in an empty
dark street, or going somewhere one might think
they are in danger. Kitestring helps your people
know if you are not “okay” without even touching
your phone. How does it work? Well, it is pretty
much easy; you set up an account on their website—no need to download anything or even have a
smartphone. You set the time needed before the app
checks up on you, then press on ‘Embark’ when you
leave your current location. Once your time limit
is over, Kitestring will then send a message to you
requiring a reply, thus confirming you are okay. If
you do not reply to the message within 5 minutes,
the website will then send an SMS to a contact you
would have previously assigned, informing them
that you might be in danger. When you arrive to
your destination safely, you can check-in by sending
a message containing the word “OK” to cancel your
timer.
Living in a wealth-oriented world, where everyone
is on a never-ending quest to make ends meet, it is
a breath of fresh air to see developers working on
something that only required a couple of lines of
simple code, in order to ensure some kind of safety.
Kitestring is free to use and if you appreciate the
service given, you can donate USD 3 per month to
the developers as a subscription fee to thank them
for their great efforts in minimizing danger and
most likely saving someone’s life. Sign up at www.
kitestring.io and stay safe!
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SHAHID APPLICATION:
Premium video on demand for viewers across MENA region
Samsung Electronics Co., Ltd. announced a partnership with MBC Group,
first private free-to-air satellite broadcasting company in the Arab world, to
announce the launch of SHAHID (Arabic
for “Watch”) Application, the region’s
leading video on demand (VOD) service.
In a regional first, Samsung Smart TVs
across the Middle East and North Africa
will feature the SHAHID application.
The SHAHID experience will be enhanced further by Samsung’s Curved
UHD TVs, whose curved screen gives
video content a wider field of view,
creating a panoramic effect that
brings images to life and gives them
true-to-life clarity and detail. Image
contrast is automatically adjusted for
a greater sense of depth similar to a
3D effect without the glasses.
SHAHID Application & SHAHID.NET
are currently available for viewers to
catch up on their favorite TV shows and
series. The service has recorded 284 million media views in 2013 only. The new
application allows viewers to enjoy what
they have missed on TV, from series, to
shows, to global formats.
SHAHID makes best Arabic content
available on VOD. Recent upgrades to
the service have also made it easier to
search and faster to watch. SHAHID
viewers will be also able to choose
between SD or HD picture viewing to
match their broadband network and
speed.
TRUECALLER BRINGS LIVE CALLER ID
AND SPAM BLOCKING FEATURES TO
ANDROID WEARABLES
Truecaller has announced Truecaller for
Android Wear, a new app that brings
Truecaller’s functionality to Android
wearables. Truecaller is one of the first
developers selected to bring an app to the
Android Wear platform, where users can
quickly get calls or contact information
wherever and whenever they need it
most without ever having to break from
their normal activity. Now any user
who has Truecaller installed onto their
Android phone would be able to have that
same information seamlessly displayed on
their Android wearable and be able to ID
an incoming call or detect whether a call
is from a known scammer.
Android Wear, Google’s platform for
small, powerful wearable devices like
watches, lets users get useful information
at a glance, track their fitness goals and
get straight answers to spoken questions.
Within the Truecaller app, Android
wearable users will not only be able to get
valuable call information just by looking
down at their watch, but they’ll also be
able to swipe their watch to answer calls
or dismiss calls, send texts, make calls or
simply save caller contact info with just a
quick tap.
Truecaller’s community of over 65m users
crowdsources contact information to
protect each other from mobile fraud and
scams, while helping users take the calls
they actually want to take. Today, Truecaller helps users ID and block more than
5m calls per day and more than 250,000
spam numbers are being added daily by
community members.
Truecaller with Android Wear integration
will be available for free on Google Play.
Users won’t need to take any extra steps
to get the app working on their Android
wearable. The app will be automatically
installed on a paired Android wearable device if they have the Truecaller app open
on their Android phone.
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GEEKY Gadgets
GEEKY Gadgets
GOOGLE
DRIVERLESS
CAR:
A ROAD TO
POSSIBILITIES
IS LEBANON READY
FOR THE DAWN OF
THE SMART TV ERA?
Google unveils their own driverless car and jump miles
ahead in the race of autonomous motoring
By Wael Kouz
@WaelKouz
If you thought cars are only improving
through design, then think again. Google
revealed their plans for a driverless
car back in October 2010, and now
that project still lives to hit the roads
for more testing. Google unveiled their
own prototype for a self-driving car:
a cute tiny vehicle without a steering
wheel or any pedals. With the push of
a button, the car will take you to your
desired destination on its own due to its
driverless technology.
According to Chris Urmson, director of
Google’s self-driving car project, they
aim to run extended texts in California.
Urmson believes that this project is «an
important step toward improving road
safety and transforming mobility for
millions of people.»
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By Paul Gadalla
Google’s self-driving vehicle team “think
this could improve road safety and help
lots of people who can’t drive.” The
company has been testing the equipment
and technology required for several
years, while also developing a prototype
behind the scenes.
The prototype vehicle has two seats, a
navigation screen, an emergency stop
button, and can accelerate to a top speed
of 40km/h. This toy-like car is driverless
due to an array of sensors which allow
the vehicle to interact with hundreds of
meters in all directions which helps it
determine its location and path.
The car is connected to a smartphone
application, which a person would use
to summon the car. It would pick up a
passenger and automatically drive to a
destination determined by the passenger
on the smartphone app without any
human control.
Google’s next step is to persuade
regulators that the driverless cars can
operate safely without the need of any
human interaction. In other words, they
are asking us to entirely trust Google
sensors and software to drive us around.
Multiple studies so far show the benefits
of using a driverless car, such as savings
on taxi fees. Google’s ultimate goal is to
transform modern transportation, but
admits that it still has “lots of work to do.”
One day, we might be using the phrases
“Let’s Google to a restaurant” or “I am
Googling to the beach.”
@paulinbeirut
Across the world, people are
increasingly chucking their DVD
players out the window and now opting
to screen or download movies online.
But now, instead of just downloading or
streaming on your computer, you can
do so by purchasing a Smart TV, which
gives you access to the Internet and
the ability to stream movies and series.
So what should you know about these
marvelous inventions?
What are smart TVs? They are
television sets equipped with Internet
capabilities and an operating system.
You can install different apps onto the
TV and even share photos and files with
other Smart TVs. You can just get an
account with any streaming service and
instantly start watching your favorite
series. Smart TVs usually also give
you information on shows and let you
record your favorite shows for later.
You can even sync your social media
sites with your Smart TV, watch TV in
HD, and convert movies into 3D movies.
Unfortunately, at the present moment,
it seems that smart TVs market in
Lebanon is still small. Lebanon is
currently limited in its options for
Smart TVs, with the only ones on the
market from Samsung or LG (sorry,
Apple fanboys) and can be purchased
at major stores like Khoury Home. So
far, only LBC and MTV broadcast in
HD, meaning other Lebanese channels
won’t be the same quality. There is also
the issue of poor Internet connectivity,
although Samsung Lebanon tweeted
that a speed of 2mbps is all you need to
enjoy the features of one of their Smart
TVs.
Asked if people in Lebanon are enjoying
the TV, fellow tweep @Arabear said: “I
like it. Though if I had a better Internet
connection where I live I would be
able to use more of its functions.”
Tweep @yasminebal agreed: “The HD
is awesome, but there aren’t many
channels here that are suitable to Smart
TV. [With Lebanese Internet it] worked
but not so well.” With the market
for Smart TVs still tiny and the poor
connectivity, it might not be the right
time to buy a Smart TV quite yet in
Lebanon.
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GEEKY Gadgets
GEEKY Gadgets
COLORFUL DESIGNS:
How budget devices
are making up for
cheap materials
by using bright
colors
By Raja Riachi
@rajariachi
EDYN
SMART
GARDEN:
Welcome to the connected backyard
By Mhamad Dankar
There is a new design trend in the tech
world. It started with Nokia’s budget
phones. From the low-end Lumia Windows Phones to the Asha phones aimed
at developing markets, and most recently
their Nokia X line, someone somewhere
must have realized that buying things
cheap is less depressing when they are
flashy.
Colorful gadgets have been present long
before Nokia’s phones. Apple loyalists
will be quick to point out iPods have long
been colorful. This trend, however, as you
might have guessed, is mitigating the pain
of buying a budget device by making it
colorful.
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Colors are great to mask that a phone is
made of cheap materials. While a standard black color on a plastic phone will no
doubt look ugly, after a fresh paint job,
the same phone would easier and more
enjoyable to the sight. This also works
conversely.
For the first time, the last generation
of iPhones was released in two models.
The premium iPhone 5s and the budget
iPhone 5c. The latter carried similar specs
to the iPhone 5s but was made of cheaper materials. It was, however, available
in a range of flashy colors, which while
promoted as a positive, may have been
a move by Apple, a premium brand, to
make the two easily distinguishable, thus
pushing people to the more expensive,
high-end product, the iPhone 5s. This
would also work in targeting two different
groups, with the iPhone 5c’s bright colors
pushing away customers in business environments towards the iPhone 5s.
This trend has also been extended to
swappable back shells for the phone,
which Motorolla employed for their
budget Moto G and Nokia use for their
entire Lumia line, and advertise mostly
for their lower-end products. This allows
users to swap backs of different colors for
the phone they are using.
@MhdDankar
How many times did you lose
a plant just because you did
not know how much water was
enough? What about this garden
which you could turn into a beautiful landscape if you just had tips of
how to take care of it? Edyn Smart
Garden is here to help you.
What is Edyn Smart?
This app actually keeps you posted with
everything happening in your garden.
Whether you are a beginner or pro
gardener, Edyn helps you monitor and
analyze. Implanted in the soil, the Edyn
Garden Sensor collects and analyzes
data about varying weather and soil
conditions. The app displays this data
as a concurrent snapshot of your plot,
and pushes alerts and suggestions to
maximize plant health.
To check the soil, Edyn generates a
harmless electrical signal passing through
it and measuring how it is improved or
weakened by water and soil additives,
such as lime, biological fertilizers or dung.
Next, information will be cross matched
with Edyn’s database system to give the
appropriate diagnosis and information
about the soil’s acidity, humidity and
fertility percentages.
Edyn has also a separate component,
the Water Regulator, which uses the
data collected by the sensor to smartly
control your current watering system, in
other words, watering your plants only
when needed. With innovative tracking
technology and natural design, the system
keeps you allied to your garden or farm so
you can grow better and healthier plants.
What to Grow?
Since every garden is different and has its
own characteristics, Edyn Garden Sensor
tracks weather and soil conditions (light,
humidity, temperature, soil nutrition,
and moisture) and recommends the type
of plants that will grow best as well as
the groups pf plants that would grow
together. It provides you also with the best
timings for planting.
How to Grow?
You cannot always worry about frost
or waiting for the peak moment to
harvest your Heirloom tomatoes. This
app continually monitors conditions and
alerts you when immediate action is
needed because of certain changes. Edyn’s
notifications include moisture levels, type
of organic fertilizer to use, and helps you
find as well the optimal sunlight for every
plant in your garden.
Automatic Watering
Save water, lower your utility bills, and
never worry about thirsty plants again.
Unlike pre-set sprinklers, the Edyn Water
Valve automatically controls your existing
water system based on data collected by
the Garden Sensor, and adapts to every
change in the weather forecast.
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GEEKY Gadgets
GEEKY Gadgets
LG G3 OFFICIALLY
LAUNCHED IN
LEBANON
“Simple is the New Smart” Concept Actualized
in Smartphone from LG
WINDOWS 8 HYBRID DEVICES:
The rise of a new corner in an already-crowded market
By Raja Riachi
@rajariachi
Windows 8 has been on the market for almost
two years, and with its new touch-based
interface, a floodgate has spilled open for
unconventional designs for laptops which had
stagnated prior to Windows 8 with the standard
clamshell.
Manufacturers have tried to complement
Windows 8’s branding, selling it as the perfect
marriage of work and play, productivity media
consumption, and with the latest batch of processors from Intel and optimization efforts from
Microsoft, performance and battery life.
When Windows 8 came out, Ultrabooks could
still not manage more than a handful of hours
on battery. Intel’s latest low voltage processors,
dubbed Haswell, which consume less power
than their Ivy Bridge predecessors, and the
new Bay Trail Atom processors allow Microsoft
and their manufacturing partners to finally
legitimately compete in the high-end and low78 CLOUD961
end, offering 2 in 1 convertibles for as low as
USD 350 with a battery life that rivals the iPad
and functionality that far outstrips the iOS or
Android operating systems.
The added familiarity and understanding
Microsoft’s hardware partners have with the
operating system have allowed them to come up
with a new array of designs from the 360-degree hinge design popularized by Lenovo’s Yoga
line,to an array of detachables and convertibles.
These convertibles are no longer exclusive to
the high end ultra-books or the small form
factor laptops, with laptops as large as 17 inches.
They can also provide the productivity that we
have grown accustomed to from the Windows
platform along with the same immediate access
to entertainment offered by Android and iOS
tablets, with more power and a diverse catalogue accessible.
All one would need to do is twist, detach, flip, or
whatever motion necessary to turn the PC from
laptop to tablet mode. One of the most impressive and inspired designs, revealed at Computex
2014, is the Asus Transformer V, which hybridizes both hardware and software to unprecedented levels. This laptop, taking design cues
from the Asus Padfone, features an android
phone that can dock into a slot in the back of a
tablet. The difference in this case is this tablet
runs Windows 8.1, docks into a keyboard itself,
and most ingeniously, gives the user the ability
to control the android phone while docked by
providing a virtual window in the tablet of the
phone itself. This allows the user to use Android
within the Windows Operating System.
Windows 8 has faced its fair share of criticism
over the past two years, with an app store
that still lags far behind Android and iOS, but
the dual nature of the operating system has
introduced an unprecedented amount of fresh
designs for the laptop market
Following its strong debut in South
Korea, LG Electronics (LG) continued
the global rollout of its highly praised
G3 smartphone on June 27. As of July
4, the LG G3 is available to Lebanese
customers. The company will also launch
the G3 in the rest of Asia, Europe and the
Middle East in July, making the flagship
device available to more demographics
worldwide.
The LG G3 has received early praise
from industry experts for innovations
in its display, camera, design and user
experience (UX) features. Developed with
the motto “Simple is the New Smart” in
mind, the G3 was empowered with the
best of what current technology has to
offer, providing consumers with a simpler
and easier user experience.
Highlights include:
First global implementation of 5.5-inch
Quad HD display (538ppi) with four times
the resolution of HD and almost two
times higher resolution than a Full HD
display for sharper, crisper, clearer images
and more realistic color reproduction.
13MP OIS+ (Optical Image Stabilizer
Plus) camera with faster Laser Auto Focus
in a smartphone to capture quality images
and videos with minimal blur, even in
near complete darkness.
Premium-feel rear cover featuring a
brushed, hairline metallic skin that is
lightweight and fingerprint-proof.
Floating Arc form factor that
incorporates LG’s innovative Rear Key
and feels incredibly comfortable in the
palm of one hand.
Simple and intuitive UX features
including Smart Keyboard which reduces
input errors by up to 75 percent by
tracking and analyzing users’ typing
habits; Smart Notice, a personal assistant
application that provides real-time
information and notifications even
before being asked; Smart Security, a
suite of security features including LG’s
proprietary Knock CodeTM , Content
Lock and Kill Switch.
Premium accessories, such as the
QuickCircle™ Case (sold separately) that
provide users easy access to six frequently
used functions without having to open
the cover, as well as a collection of Slim
Guard Cases and premium Slim Hard
Cases to protect the G3 in the style its
original designers had intended.
The G3 will be localized in some markets
with unique features for additional user
convenience.
“Early indications give us reason to be
optimistic that G3 will be as successful
globally as it has been in Korea,” said
Mr. Sean Lee, GM of LG Electronics
in Lebanon. “It’s quite an honor to be
considered the new industry benchmark
for premium smartphones but in the end,
what really matters is how consumers feel
about our latest flagship device because it
was their feedback that helped us create
G3.”
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GEEKY Gadgets
BUSINESS Agencies
with information technology solutions
Web design, digital solutions, social media development,
business intelligence & reporting, enterprise information portals,
software quality assurance, web content management, SEO...
SAMSUNG SMART HOME BECOMES
REALITY, SET TO TRANSFORM
EVERYDAY LIFE
Connect mobile devices, appliances, TVs and
wearables from one integrated app
Samsung Electronics Co., Ltd. announced
the official global launch of its Samsung
Smart Home service in July 2014.The
service will first be rolled out in Korea and
the United States, with more countries
around the world added throughout the
year. The service makes home automation
effortless and easy, with a single app that
makes it possible to connect and control
home appliances, TVs, and mobile devices.
“We are excited that the launch of Samsung Smart Home makes the connected
home a reality today and allows our
customers to live a smarter life,” said Dr.
Won Pyo Hong, President and head of
the Media Solution Center at Samsung
Electronics.
With the Samsung Smart Home app,
people can control multiple devices
simultaneously. For example, a user can
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simply say “Good Night” to the TV remote
control, and connected devices within
the home such as the Smart Bulb and air
conditioners could be set-up to automatically turn off.
Whether at home, at work, or out and
about, people can use the app on their
smartphone or wearable device to check
the status of home appliances; for example, they can fully control the washer and
select the correct wash settings for the
laundry to be ready just when they arrive
at home.
All data that is transmitted by the app is
encrypted for increased security. This ensures that the people can enjoy the service
safe in the knowledge their data remains
private.
Users register for the Samsung Smart
Home app with their Samsung Account.
For smart phones, the app can be downloaded from Samsung Apps and Google
Play. A separate app will soon be available
for Samsung Gear 2 powered by Tizen
and the app for Samsung’s 2014 Smart TV
models will be available in April.
Through the app, users can add and manage all compatible devices and appliances
that are connected to the wireless home
network. Once a device has been added to
the Smart Home app, it can be set up with
just a few steps using the app’s intuitive,
easy-to-navigate user interface.
Badaro Street
Facing Chevrolet Offshore
P.O.Box: 14-5679 Beirut, Lebanon
Mobile: + 961 71-146 463
[email protected] | www.mindfield.co
Samsung Electronics plans to expand its
service line-up to other smart products,
including the Smart Bulb as well as robot
vacuum cleaners and the Samsung Gear
Fit.
mindfieldsolutions
@Mind_Field
MindField Solutions s.a.r.l
GEEKY Social games
GEEKY Social games
VIDEOGAMES
MISCONCEPTIONS:
How videogames are still feared by those who
have never played them
By Raja Riachi
@rajariachi
WWDC
2014:
APPLE’S METAL TO AMP UP
IOS GAMING
High-level 3D graphics underway
By Ayman Jalloul, President,
AUB’s Online Collaborative @amnjay
People have always feared the unknown. It is
much easier to criticize something from far
away than it is to expose yourself to it.
Videogames have always been a prominent
pop culture phenomenon to use as a punching
bag. The arguments against videogames are
many: they “glorify and promote violence, they
add nothing substantial to one’s life and have
no social value, and they are addictive” are but
a few.
What is suspected to cause people not familiar
with videogames is its interactive nature, as
noted by Trey Parker and Matt Stone when
comparing the main differences of finding
where the limits are when making South Park,
the video game as compared to the show.
Hollywood has more than its fair share of gratuitous violence in both TV shows and movies.
The interactive nature of videogames, however,
and the idea that the player is controlling the
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character committing so many gruesome atrocities, draws people back. Nevertheless, it can be
argued that that the current nature of videogames presents consequences of violence that
have merit, as opposed to today’s blockbusters
where city blocks are levelled because of one
alien invasion or another, with absolutely no
bloodshed on screen happening.
It is important to note that there is no proof or
evidence that violence in videogames leads to
any erratic behavior or actual violence, with
crime and domestic violence statistics pointing to a fall in numbers since the rise of video
games.
The aversion to violence and its interactive
nature, however, is not restricted only to violence. The latest criticism comes at a videogame
that includes hacking: Watch Dogs. This game
which was received critically well features a
character capable of hacking into city surveillance, personal cellphones, bank accounts, web-
cams, and other information at will. The criticism came unfailingly, from a point of complete
ignorance. American political commentator
and media personality Glenn Beck, attacked the
game—after comparing video games in general
to crack cocain—for teaching us how to hack.
According to him, “The idea here is they are
teaching you to hack and then become the ultimate voyeur in other people’s lives—including
their bedrooms—by hacking into their phones
and everything. This game is teaching people to
hack into whatever is docked in your bedroom.
What the heck is wrong with us? What are we
thinking? We are inviting this into our home
and our lives. We are teaching our kids [hacking] for entertainment purposes.” Even though
this game teaches someone to hack as much
as Battlefield teaches someone how to drive a
tank, there was no minimum due diligence in
research done before criticizing this game, once
again finding it easier to verbally tear something apart than to familiarize oneself with it
and arrive to more well-informed judgment.
During its annual World Wide Developers conference, Apple gave game
developers a lot to be happy about.
Besides changes in the organization of
its App Store layout that would allow
an easier discovery of new games,
Apple introduced Swift, a new programming language that makes writing
and previewing code much easier for
all developers. However, Apple’s most
significant contribution was the introduction of Metal, which will allow game
developers to tap into the full potential
of hardware, namely its A7 chip.
Unlike traditional graphics APIs that
suffer from performance bottlenecks,
Metal’s technology allows for extremely
high performance and sophisticated
graphics rendering and computational
tasks by exploiting modern architectural considerations, such as multipro-
cessing and shared memory that will
allow code to easily parallelize the GPU
commands.
So far, Metal has garnered support from
major game developers in the industry
such as Crytek, Unity, Electronic Arts
and Epic Games. During the conference,
Tim Sweeny of Epic Games demoed
“Zen Garden” with a beautiful Japanese
garden (pictured below). The scene had
various objects such as koi, butterflies, and cherry blossoms—all moving
around like individual objects within
the scenery. In that specific demo, Sweeney had 5,000 cherry blossoms floating
everywhere and a total of 1.3 million
triangles in a single scene. This serves
to show the new low-level rendering of
the programming interface. Metal will
offer a 10-fold increase in rendering
capability. Thus, Metal will get rid of
the somewhat bloated OpenGL ES API,
which has failed to keep up with the
graphical demands and consequently
has become inefficient at running 3D
software, especially on battery-operated
mobile hardware.
Metal comes as an addition to
SceneKit—which is a high-level 3D
graphics framework that help create
3D animated scenes and effects with its
physics engine—and a particle generator
and SpriteKit, which is a framework
that makes it easier to create high-performance, battery-efficient 2D games.
With Metal, Swift and the already
existing frameworks, Apple is opening
up toward a new tier of gamers as it
blurs the lines between console and
mobile gaming as a result of a new level
of performance.
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GEEKY Social games
CHARBAKA:
Decreasing the lack of
digital Arabic content
By Lynn El Bizri
@lnlne
Charbaka (which means ‘Puzzle’ in English) is a multiplayer
mobile word game and more or less the Arabic version of the
popular word game Ruzzle. Samer Hamandi, the Lebanese developer behind the game, came up with the idea of Charbaka after
attending a seminar at ArabNet in 2012 about the lack of digital
Arabic content. Hamandi wanted to come up with an app that
would help build up and diversify online content in Arabic after
noticing that there were so many English word games but very
few in Arabic.
Charbaka first made it’s debut last year at a game development
competition organized by AltCity and sponsored by the Dutch
Embassy in Lebanon, in which Hamandi won the People’s
Choice Award which qualified him to participate in the 2013
Casual Connect Conference in Amsterdam. Upon returning to
Lebanon, Hamandi continued working on the game, and after a
few months of tinkering, launched Charbaka on Google Play in
November.
Very similar to Ruzzle, upon starting the game, players can
choose to compete with a Facebook friend, or a random player.
The aim of the game is to find as many words as you can in a
grid of 16 Arabic letters before the time ends. Each game is made
up of 3 rounds of 2 minutes each. Players play each of the 3
rounds in turn with the winner being the one with the highest
total score. Unlike Ruzzle, while playing the rounds, players can
also use power ups like stopping the clock, getting word hints
or scrambling the grid. Moreover, users can only play a limited
number of rounds per day; a model of making people wait to play
that has proved successful for many games, one popular example
being Candy Crush.
Charbaka is a free app, and although it is currently only available
for Android devices, Hamandi is working on an updated iOS
version that will include several improvements.
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GEEKY Social games
MEGAplay –
Middle East
Gaming
Alliance
By Lynn El Bizri
@lnlne
The gaming sector in the Middle East and the Gulf in
particular is estimated to be at USD 1b and USD 2.6b in
terms of revenues including software and hardware.
Moreover, the number of people downloading video
games and computer games online has almost doubled
since 2010 in the Middle East. To make sure MENA
startups are on the leading edge of this growing sector
and the emerging trends, the Middle East Gaming Alliance, an organization dedicated to cultivating regional
gaming startups, was launched on the first day of the
ArabNet Digital Summit 2014 this past June in Dubai
by Lebanese Start-up Space, AltCity.
MEGAplay’s seed funding comes from the Netherlands
Embassy to Lebanon and builds on AltCity’s involvement in gaming events in Beirut. One such event was
AltCity’s Beirut Hackathon, which took place this
past May and brought together dozens of developers,
designers and entrepreneurs to build mobile apps and
games in only twelve hours proving that startups can
launch mobile apps or games in beta version within
days or weeks rather than months or years.
Middle East Gaming Alliance, or MEGAplay, is an
initiative whose goal is to aid Middle Eastern start-ups
in taking advantage of their passion for games and
gaming in the Middle East by providing them with
various means of support and guidance. MEGAplay
plans to offer workshops for these regional gaming
startups, both online and offline, with expertise that
not only will help put them on the map but also put
them at a competitive advantage in a global market
that is worth around USD 70b. The main idea behind
MEGAplay according to CEO David Nabti, is “to help
people start games and develop new concepts that are
at the leading edge of trends, rather than behind the
curve.” MEGAplay also plans to hold competitions and
help connect start-ups to potential investors. Although
gaming start-ups are fundamentally risky, the gaming industry in the Arab world has been developing
for several years and is already a huge market that is
becoming more and more connected to people’s lives.
THE NEXT-GEN
GAME ENGINE
By Maurice Rustom
@MauriceRustom
Every year, the E3 expo is held in the US and showcases
all the new breakthroughs in the gaming field from hardware—gaming consoles and accessories—to software—nextgen games and whatnot—. I can go on and on about E3 2014,
for the many interesting progresses that were achieved
and the awesome games that were launched, but I want to
spot the light on something exquisite and, in my opinion,
pure genius, called Snowdrop: an emerging next-gen game
engine.
In an industry where manufacturing a remarkable product
needs a team of one hundred professionals, start-up companies have a very hard time producing games. Snowdrop was
conceived to better handle this issue.
Massive Entertainment, a small Ubisoft studio, is the first
developer team to create and use this new technology in
producing their new game “Tom Clancy’s The Division” to
be launched in 2015. They wanted to build a next-gen game
engine with extreme flexibility and maximum efficiency, to
accomplish big things in smarter and faster ways. Snowdrop will allow the whole team of artists, animators and
designers to access the game and modify it directly within
the engine, followed by the testing at once, to make sure
that the improvements work and serve better to embody
their vision of the game. This means that with no “baking
time” the game production turns out to be way faster than
expected thanks to the engine design that allows the game to
be playable during the development, conducting multiple play
tests at every stage of production to keep a closer eye on the
progress of the game. This way, not only the developers would
achieve their work in a quicker way, but also they would have
more power and control over the workflow structure and
results, which would ensure a better quality of the game and
maximum coherence within it.
The Snowdrop engine is built in a very unique way that is
dynamic and unified, meaning that any change made will
automatically get generalized over all the game code. Also, the
engine provides environmental samples for the artists to pick
from while building the game scenes, that way the game is not
really started from scratch but there is a whole database of patterns, shapes and already-created objects to be directly added
to the game without the pain of designing them. This provides
more time for innovation in the gameplay and storyline, promising a state of the art gaming experience.
The creation of such an innovative game engine triggers the
start of the next-gen game development, which will provide
fascinating and immersive games while being remarkably
easier to handle and manipulate. Who knows, maybe ten years
from now everyone will be able to build their own game and
design it as if they were designing a house in Sims!
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Geeky Smart Software
Geeky Smart Software
iOS 8:
YOUR USB FILES
TURNING INTO
SHORTCUTS?
JUST WAIT AND SEE WHAT APP
DEVELOPERS DO NEXT
How to remove the Njw0rm.exe virus and salvage your
files
By Armen Bakkalian
@ArmenBakkalian
If you happen to be a frequent USB
user, then your files must have got
infected with the njw0rm virus
lately.
Njw0rm is a virus which will
turn all the files on your USB to
“hidden”, and create shortcuts with
the
names of the folders in your USB. Even
though you can access your files when you click
the shortcuts, those open in a new window,
making your life difficult, especially if you wish
to copy and paste items.
By Maurice Rustom
@MauriceRustom
WWDC, World Wide Developer Conference,
is one of the most anticipated events by
programmers and Apple enthusiasts around
the globe. Every year, Apple launches a new
operating system for its devices, which keeps
on breaking new grounds on the user satisfaction front by making the experience much
more pleasant.
iOS 8, the latest software to be released
this fall, revealed some new intentions of
the company. In addition to modifying the
system to better suit its users, Apple invested
a lot of effort to please developers, too, giving
them the ability to extend the reach of their
app content and functionality like never before. They have realized that what really gets
the device going are the developers working
hard on creating the next best app, making
the App Store one of the strongest assets of
the company. The contemporary customer
has started considering the app stores while
evaluating a device. This means that, if the
device is advanced and affordable but its app
market is very poor in terms of
diversity, they will refrain from buying the
device.
Applications are what makes the smartphone
what it is, and Apple wanted to spot the light
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Here is how your USB fell victim to the virus: If
you plug in any USB that has this virus in it, it
will infect your computer and run in the background. After that, whenever you plug in any
other USB to this computer, it will get infected
as well. Neither the antivirus software nor formatting the USB would solve the problem.
on that. iOS 8: “Huge for developers, massive
for everyone else” is the biggest release that
concerns developers since the launch of the
App Store, and I will go on enumerating the
proofs for that.
Firstly and most importantly, let us start
with extensibility, the third-party functionalities. Apple has allowed developers
to embed their apps’ functions through the
entire device, allowing users to access them
and use them outside the app. For example,
developers can immerse their filters and tools
directly in the Camera Roll so users can apply
them to the photos without having to import
them to the app.
Secondly, the Notification Center update. Apple users could only view and access limited
things in their newly introduced Notification
Center’s sliding ‘Today’ view tab in iOS 7, but
not anymore. iOS 8 will allow developers to
create widgets for their apps so that the user
can include them in the notification bar for
direct updates through a live feed. In addition to that, we can mention that keyboards
can now be created by developers to be installed and used system-wide, which makes
new space for innovation and creativity.
Finally, we are going to tackle the breakthrough in the game industry provided by
three frameworks: SpriteKit, SceneKit and
Metal. The first one was optimized allowing developers in iOS 8 to create better 2D
games by making the characters move more
naturally, also making it easier to create
force fields, sense collisions, and generate
new lighting effects in their games. As for
SceneKit, it is responsible for taking the game
to the 3D level with an incorporated physics
engine, a particle generator and easy ways
to script three-dimensional objects. Metal, on
the other hand, is way more advanced and
is built for developers who create highly immersive console games. It is designed to allow
CPU and GPU to work in a fully optimized
way giving outstanding graphics on mobile
platforms using the maximum potential of
the A7 chip.
Summing it all up, iOS 8 has been revealed
to be a ground-smashing hit in the mobile
industry. By offering a new bold technology
and amazing capabilities, it has set a higher
limit for its competitors and a farther horizon for developers, ensuring its users can do
things they have never been able to do on a
smartphone or tablet before!
It is spreading widely among shared computers,
like those used at schools and universities.
Now let us go step by step through how to remove this virus and salvage your files.
Starting Step 8, we will be removing the virus:
8- Click on ALT + CTRL + DEL on your
keyboard.
9- Choose ‘Start Task manager’;
10- Click on ‘Processes’ from the upper
tabs;
11- Search for “njW0rm.exe” in the list,
Click on it, and then Click ‘End Process’;
12- Go to ‘Search’ from your Start Menu,
and type ‘msconfig’;
13- Go to ‘Startup’ from the upper tabs, and
uncheck ‘njw0rm.exe’;
14- Click on ‘Apply’ then ‘OK’ (the virus is
frozen now);
15- Go to ‘C:\Users\[your username]\AppData\Local\Temp\’;
16- Delete the file ‘njw0rm.exe’;
18- Click ‘Start’ and wait until it is done’;
19- Restart your computer.
If you are on Windows 8, the steps are similar. Just replace steps 1-5 with the following:
1- Click on ‘View’ in the upper tab in your
USB folder;
2- Choose ‘Options’;
3- Click ‘View’ from the upper tabs;
4- Click on ‘Show hidden files, folders, and
drives’;
5- Click ‘Apply’, and then ‘OK’.
Congratulations! The virus is gone and your
files are safe now. If you get stuck on any of
the steps above, you know how to reach me
on Twitter!
The virus is deleted from your
computer now:
The last part of the operation is to format
your USB:
17- Right-click on your USB icon in “Computer” and choose ‘Format’;
If you are on Windows 7:
1- Click on ‘Organize’ on the upper left in your
USB folder;
2- Choose ‘Folder’ and search options;
3- Click ‘View’ from the upper tab;
4- Click on ‘Show hidden files, folders, and
drives’;
5- Click ‘Apply’, and then ‘OK’.
Sometimes all of your hidden files will appear
after the steps above, but it is not always the
case. If they appeared, copy and paste them
to your computer. If they did not, you have to
continue steps 6 and 7.
6- Go to ‘Search’ from your Start menu, and type
‘CMD’.
7- Paste the following in CMD:
attrib -h -r -s /s /d g:\*.*
RD /S /Q «G:\pictures»
Please note that you have to replace the letter
G:\ with whatever letter your USB is identified,
as well as the folder name you want your files
from.
By doing this, your files will appear for a only a
few seconds, so you would have to copy them
quickly and paste to your computer.
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BUSINESS Jobs
BUSINESS Jobs
your profile picture and handle to more
professional ones (baby93 won’t leave a
good first impression);
Sit at a comfortable distance from the
webcam with a distraction-free background (no need for that lava lamp); and
maintain a straight confident posture
while sitting;
Check lighting so that it is properly
brightening your face and surrounding
location; avoid rooms that are too dim
(this is not a romantic date) or too lit
(nor is it a photo shoot);
TIPS FOR A
SUCCESSFUL
SKYPE
INTERVIEW
By Rabih El Khodr
@rabihelkhodr
Sitting through an interview can be a
strenuous affair for applicants. I have
personally had my share of interviews
throughout my professional career (I
remember 15 of them) and I can safely
say that each one of them was a great
learning experience. They made me the
professional that I am today; they also
made me realize I’m better cut out to be
an entrepreneur.
Today, companies are increasingly
opting for a cheap and convenient
alternative, Skype interviewing, as part
of their recruitment process. Applicants can benefit from sitting in the
comfort of their home—and sometimes
their pajamas—when going through an
interview. Some applicants even keep
notes on their screen in anticipation for
difficult questions to come!
So here are a few tips to remember
before embarking on your next Skype
job interview:
1. Prepare the Skype part of
the interview in advance:
Do a technical run before the actual
interview; make sure that your microphone and speakers are working fine;
and maybe have a mock interview with
a friend or relative;
Swap Skype handles with the interviewer beforehand; and do change
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Sit in a quiet area with no possibility
for interruptions; you do not want your
mom walking in on you, asking you if
you would like rice with your chicken
for dinner (been there, done that);
2- Go through the interview
as if it were a face-to-face
one:
Wear professional clothes that are not
too flashy; and be properly groomed
in terms of hair (not too much grease,
gents) and makeup (not too much paint,
ladies);
Speak slowly and clearly into the microphone; and set the sound of it so that
it is not too loud (causing irreparable ear
damage to your future employer);
3. Follow through after the
interview in memorable
fashion
Here’s a thought: why not replace the
customary thank you e-mail with a
thank you video? Winning applicants
are the ones who stand out in the
minds of their interviewers, and you
will most probably be the only one
who has thought of video recording
a courtesy post-interview thank you
message! Well, let us hope for your sake
that nobody else applying for the same
job has read this article.
Best of luck with your job hunt!
Rabih El Khodr is an independent
communication trainer and consultant with close to a decade of
professional experience spanning
across the Levant, the GCC, and
North America. He is the founder of
public speaking consultancy Standup
Communication, with a presence in
Lebanon and the UAE. He is the official training partner of the ArabNet
conferences in Riyadh and Beirut,
training entrepreneurs to pitch
their ideas and businesses as part of
regional competitions.
Have a cup of water nearby in case
you get thirsty during the interview;
just avoid gulping it down out of nowhere like the infamous #watergate by
Paul Rubio;
Maintain direct eye contact throughout the interview and communicate
wholeheartedly to compensate your
physical absence from the interviewer’s
surroundings;
Remember to keep breathing, smile often, and let your true personality shine
through (it’s their problem if they do
not like your impersonation of Celine
Dion).
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BUSINESS Jobs
BUSINESS Jobs
Many are the students who, at some
point throughout their academic journey,
feel stuck in a rut, too weighed down by
their coursework and nothing but that.
Wondering what they should do to make
ends meet and gain more experience,
they go online and try to look up freelance, project-based assignments for some
extra cash. Perhaps a few months ago,
they would have found it rather difficult
with only very few platforms catering
to those ‘special’ requests. However, a
platform has been added to the short list
of such websites. The Beehives, co-founded by Fouad Aoun—second-year MBA
student at the Harvard Business School
(HBS)—and Tala Nsouli—HBS May’14
alumna—connects students with employers looking for skilled individuals to carry
out a short-term task and have it delivered in a timely manner. The Beehives
aims to enable individuals and improve
accessibility to talent in the Middle East.
Here is our interview with the buzzing
bee, Fouad Aoun.
Tell us more about The Beehives. How
did the idea come about?
THE BEEHIVES: BUZZING
WITH DRIVE TO UNLEASH
POTENTIAL
Student? Need a job? New start-up can put you to work
By Selim Njeim, Associate Editor
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@seleemnjeim
We came up with The Beehives at Harvard Business School while thinking of
ways to improve accessibility to talent
in the Middle East. While at school, we
noticed the large gap between American
students and Middle Eastern students in
terms of how well-prepared they are to
join the work force and how well-rounded their resume is. We see The Beehives
as a unique opportunity that benefits
students, businesses and individuals.
The platform is a quick, easy solution for
businesses and individuals looking to outsource simple tasks. Businesses post tasks
with an estimated budget, and students
bid on them. With the help of our team,
the businesses then select the best match.
Tasks include for example: conducting a
survey, designing a brochure, managing
social media presence for a local shop, etc.
We think this is a win-win for both sides,
and we are working hard to make it a
seamless experience.
Other online platforms connecting
skilled individuals to employers exist.
How does The Beehives differ from
those?
The Beehives is focused on students of all
types (undergraduate and graduate). That
makes our service tailored to that market
segment. We only accept projects that are
appropriate for students in terms of effort
and level of skills required. Also, because
students are not professional freelancers
yet, they accept lower hourly rates than
professional freelancers. The bidding process enforced on The Beehives encourages students to place competitive bids
on projects, further lowering the price.
The idea behind this is that students may
sometimes choose to accept a smaller fee
in exchange for enhancing their resumes
with a particular project or business.
This makes our service more affordable
for SMEs looking for good quality jobs
on simple tasks. Moreover, students will
inevitably enter the job market after
graduation, so we believe this provides
SMEs with a unique opportunity to try
working with students before potentially
hiring them full-time.
The Beehives sets itself apart by also
offering a range of value-add services to
both students and SMEs. For one, we hold
and secure the payment until both parties
agree that the work is done. If no agreement is reached, we step in as a mediator
to resolve the issue. We proactively reach
out to students we think are suitable for
a project, inviting them to bid. We reduce
the hassle involved in screening candidates by recommending the top three
students to the business in addition to
giving them access to a complete list of
bidders. Finally we build the students’
portfolio by dynamically listing all the
projects completed by the student on
our platform as well as the businesses’
reviews of the student’s overall work.
The Beehives allow students to earn extra
money, gain experience and differentiate
their resume. It also provides them with
flexibility and control over their time
and the type of work they do. Finally,
The Beehives gives students exposure to
businesses and an opportunity to secure
a job prior to graduation. The Beehives
helps businesses save on freelancer costs
and grow their businesses with access to
affordable talent.
How can one use The Beehives, practically speaking (steps and process)?
To register on our platform, students only
need to submit a simple application with
basic information, mainly their e-mail address and field of study. Later on, they are
encouraged to complete their profile with
more detailed information such as their
work experience, skills, education and
grades. Registered students can browse
through our list of open projects and bid
on those they are willing to work on.
After a bid closes, students are informed
whether they have been selected or not
for the job. We put in touch the selected
students with the businesses and they
can start working on the project.
What does The Beehives’ online identity
give it opposed to it being an employment agency operating behind a desk?
First, we would like to point out that we
are not a mere employment agency, as we
do not deal with full-time and part-time
recruitment. We are building an online
community of students. Second, being
an online platform sets us apart from
traditional recruiting companies in many
ways. The online nature of The Beehives
permits us to have scale. Everyone can
have access to our platform, students and
businesses. We currently have students
enrolled on our platform that are not the
typical targets of traditional employment
agencies. The Beehives also eliminates
the role of mediators such as employment
agencies, providing more transparency
in the recruiting process for both students and businesses. Finally, our online
identity allows for a faster and simpler
recruiting experience.
How have you used/or plan on using
social media to promote The Beehives
to the online community?
Students spend a significant amount of
their time every day online, specifically on social networks. So, we had to be
there, reaching out to students where
they usually hang out. Today, we are
present on Facebook, Instagram, Twitter,
Linkedin and YouTube. A major part of
our marketing plan focuses on growing
and improving our social media footprint.
For example, in the future, we would like
to start discussions, on our social media
platforms, about important topics such as
youth unemployment and the academic
education systems in the Middle East and
North Africa.
Has social media helped give your initiative more exposure?
It has definitely helped. Social media
platforms are one of our main channels
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BUSINESS Jobs
The Beehives team at work
to recruit students. Facebook, for example, generates most of the traffic on
our website. Also, since students form a
tight community, it is much easier to get
the word-of-mouth going through social
networks. We can already see some of
our students sharing our page on their
wall and commenting on our posts. All
this gives us more exposure within the
Lebanese student circles.
What are future expansion plans?
We plan to expand our company along
three dimensions:
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1 Geographical expansion: we plan to
expand in the GCC, North Africa, Levant
and other Middle Eastern countries. Ten
cities have been shortlisted for expansion
in the next two years.
2 Vertical expansion: we plan to diversify the type of projects and scope of
tasks offered to students. For example, we
would like to introduce multi-functional
projects, technical tasks, private household tasks, and projects requiring specialized skills.
3 Horizontal expansion: we plan to
expand into new revenue streams by
offering a large array of services to
students. For example, we would like to
introduce career coaching services, interview preparation services, and internship
recruitment services.
The Beehives is still in beta version; you can
check it out at http://www.thebeehives.
net/
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BUSINESS Agencies
BUSINESS Agencies
JOE FISH’S
RAMI TRABOULSI:
JOE FISH IS NOT A TYPICAL AGENCY…
IT HAS A CHARACTER, IT IS FUN AND ORIGINAL
Let the fish trapped inside the whale out
By Darine Sabbagh
@sdarine
Have you been feeling stuck in a rut?
Demotivated, dissatisfied and unhappy at
your job? If you answered ‘Yes’ to those
questions, you might want to read on and
meet
Rami Traboulsi,
Creative Director
and
Founder of Joe Fish. We sat down with Joe
to ask him about the ins and outs of the
marketing field, his agency, the challenges
of the business, and its rewards.
Tell us about how you started Joe Fish;
why did you decide to start your own
agency and where is the agency at
now?
I was a fish trapped inside a whale. Work
was becoming more and more frustrating
due to several factors. I was not enjoying
what I was doing anymore. I felt that it was
about time that I escaped and tried to make
it on my own.
It all started as a personal Joe Fish Facebook
account, as part of my marketing strategy.
At first, no one even knew we were an
agency, but the fact that Joe was fun,
creative and interactive led more people
to connect hence to know about us.
We do not actually advertise our actual
work. Till this day a lot of people do
not know exactly what we do, yet
still find us creative, fun and
intriguing.
Could you give us a
brief description of the
agency and its work
in Lebanon and the
region?
It all started back in
February 2010. Joe
Fish was founded as a boutique
agency in order
to share beautiful
ideas. With time,
like-minded,
talented individuals began to join
having in common
their vision, their love
for the craft and hearts
bigger than their egos. Our services include
advertising, branding, graphic design, media
buying, digital marketing and social media.
As for our work, it is primarily in Lebanon,
but we have had projects done on a larger scale in countries such as Qatar, KSA,
UAE, Russia, France, Germany, and Greece,
among others.
Do you feel Lebanon is too small a
market for astounding integrated campaigns?
Unfortunately, Lebanon is a very small
market and this will never change—I hope
I’m wrong. We are missing the proper budgets, the mature audience and the visionary
clients. The only “astounding” integrated
campaigns are done solely for award purposes by big agencies. No one turns down a
paid trip to attend the Cannes Lions, Dubai
Lynx or Mena Cristal (if you win, of course,
or are shortlisted).
What are the biggest challenges of
working in Lebanon?
There is a serious lack of good talent in the
country, mainly due to the fact that young
adults are leaving for better opportunities
abroad. There are also the shrinking budgets
and our never-ending political saga.
How do you overcome the competitiveness of creative agencies and how were
you able to grow the agency as a new
comer to the scene?
Joe Fish is not a typical agency where you
come, work and leave. It has a character, it
is fun and original. So when you combine
those features with top-notch projects delivered on time, you get a competitive agency
that is here to stay.
What makes your team special?
We pick the best when it comes to personality, skills and creative know-how. But the
most important factor making our team
particularly special is that each and every
one of us comes from a different back-
ground, either being fresh grads or having
worked in local firms or multinationals. We
complement each other perfectly.
What are the most interesting campaigns done in the past year by the
agency in Lebanon/ Middle East
Every campaign is unique and interesting by
itself. But i would say the rebirth / rebranding of Deek Duke was particularly interesting and the final result looked amazing.
What is the element of difference that
Joe Fish offers to the market?
The individuality is by far Joe Fish’s element
of difference. The company has an eccentric,
yet catchy character portrayed by the green
fish and each and every member of the team
is unique. Everyone loves the Fish!
Tell us more about your clients
We do not have your typical client-agency
relations; we are a team with a young and
dynamic spirit so we tend to become friends
with our clients and we mutually grow this
friendship together. Our clients are at the
top of their game. They range from luxury
brands, FMCG, spirits, restaurants, and
more. We have local, regional and global
clients.
Tell us about the scope of your services;
how did they grow and expand?
We had started basically in advertising and
branding. With time, we integrated the
social media and digital marketing service because of Joe’s strong presence and
interaction on social media platforms and
most importantly, because we believe in a
solid communications agency that integrates
online and offline activations as part of
every project.
Anything new you are planning to
launch?
Always! You have to wait and find out soon.
BUSINESS Digital
BUSINESS Digital
SHARING
ECONOMY:
ON THE RISE, EVEN IN THE ARAB WORLD
By Yara Abboud
@slidingskater
Arab world, and your next question probably
is: at which sharing stage are we? According to
Ahmad Sufian Bayram, a young Arab blogger
and representative of the Ouishare community
promoting collaborative consumption in the
MENA Region, the sharing movement is rising
in the Arab world; we are beginning to share
skills on Taskty, boats on Fishfishme, swap
goods on Swaphood, and to sell used goods
on Dubizzl and Krakeebegypt. Bayram also
identifies several crowdsourcing platforms like
Aflamnah of the UAE, Eureeca, and Yomken
of Egypt, even Couchsurfing platforms like
Arabroom.com, Gweet, and Shokako Online.
Additionally, he goes on to talk about hacker
spaces and co-working spaces in the Arab
world. These are innovation-friendly spaces
that offer entrepreneurs, freelancers and startups the right atmosphere to turn their ideas
into practical projects. These include: 302labs,
Al Maqarr and The district (Cairo), AltCity,
Cloud 5, Coworking +961, Digihive in Beirut
Digital district (all in Beirut), The Hub (Dubai),
New Work Lab (Casablanca), The Pavilion
Downtown (Dubai), Zee Launch Pad (Amman),
and many more. For other ideas, check Wamda.
com, a platform that seeks to inspire, empower
and connect entrepreneurs in the Middle East
region.
So far so good, but we still lag behind the rest
of the world. As Arab countries, we have dealt
with the first degree of sharing (ex: Carpooling),
the second degree (like sharing rental houses),
and scratched the surface of the third degree
(open spaces and hacker spaces). However, the
fourth degree still requires further cooperation,
elaborate planning, necessary infrastructure,
and community-wide mobilization.
There is still a pervasive reasons lack of
awareness of sharing economy, as well as the
challenging obstacles start-ups face due to lack
of governmental funds allocated toward such
projects. Imagine what our region would be
like if only we had a higher degree of sharing!
We would definitely reduce pollution, poverty,
hunger, and unemployment.
So, do you want to be part of this movement?
If so, check out Ouishare.net and join the local
Arab community created by Ahmad Sufian.
You can even donate, create a community in
your city, or join an event like the International
Collaboration Day event which took place on
July 17. The event mostly focused on promoting collaboration awareness, co-working, and
the “sharing economy” through coordinated
international talks, global and local events, as
well as co-working space open-days for companies. The meet-up communities for the event
seem to be everywhere; if not, you can create a
meet-up in your city directly on meetup.com.
Connection! It is everywhere! Why bother call if I can text, message or send an
e-mail? Why involve my emotions? Is it not best to remain at a distance, not too
close, not too far, just oscillating perfectly between the two? I can even block you if
I want, and believe that by living in my bubble, I would still be just fine. Virtual reality is a world apart; it can help me hide my insecurities, my fears. I can build walls
all around me, walls whose existence you would never even know of.
In the silence created
by virtual connection, I can trick myself
into believing my own
fabricated illusion. I can
content myself by looking
down at my device without looking up at your
face. It is true, I have confused connection with
communication, but have others not done the
same, too? Do our devices and latest gadgets
not absorb us all?
Maybe we sure are, but some of us have
managed to burst these little bubbles, to create
real bridges between them and others. How did
they do that? Well, ironically, by the power of
the same devices which fostered our isolation,
we have managed to finally communicate faceto-face, to collaborate, share our problems, and
even innovate.
Fueled by the worldwide economic recession,
people no longer content themselves with simply polishing their image on a virtual platform.
They have gone a step further. The wreckage
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of the credit crunch has given rise to a new
social model called “collaborative consumption”, or “the sharing economy”. The term was
first coined by Rachel Botsman to describe an
economic model based on “sharing, swapping,
bartering, or borrowing goods and services
outside commercial enterprises”.
It all started with Airbnb, an online rental
marketplace that connects people who want
to rent out their homes with people seeking
accommodation. It appeals to people traveling
on business and budget-conscious tourists alike,
offering single rooms, yachts, boats. Although
risks are reportedly associated with using this
kind of service, more and more travelers enjoy
it as if offers a unique, memorable experience.
The main advantage of the sharing economy is
that you can minimize your expenses, enhance
your experiences, get paramount assistance,
and enjoy the benefits of your newly-acquired
knowledge. For instance, if you want to make
some money while driving, sell your empty car
seats on BlaBlacar: minimize your parking fees
by renting a parking garage at ParkatmyHouse.
com, or even register as a cab driver with Uber,
Lyft, and SideCar. If you are lost and need navigation directions, let expert drivers lead you
correctly through Waze.
What the world does not realize is that this
sharing movement is changing whole industries and sectors; it is a revolution in of itself.
In a few years’ time, you won’t be sending
your children to expensive universities which
charge higher tuitions every year with no
guarantee of real-world applicability to the
knowledge they teach. You might be homeschooling, perhaps, and signing up to Skillshare,
paying only USD 9.95/month to get top-notch,
practical hands-on experience. Online lending
will be on the rise with Zopa and Prosper, so
banks would not take advantage of you as
much. The only question you might be asking
yourself is: how do we trust such companies?
Interestingly enough, star-ups like Connect.me
and TrustCloud both assess the reputation of
such companies.
Well, all of this is enticing, but we live in the
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BUSINESS Digital
BUSINESS Digital
TECHNOLOGY
‘R’ US:
IBM predicts how integrated technology will
shape our future
By Wael Kouz
@WaelKouz
Today, as we pass by an electronics
store, we are bound to see this particular device and put its technology
to the test. We have this urge to own
it and navigate through all its features,
or what we understand from those
at least. Technology is improving and
changing so fast, that even this most
apt generation is having a hard time
catching up with it.
IBM researchers are exploring the
notion of how technology will start
to, alongside humans, learn. IBM
researchers state that such an idea is
possible due to cloud computing, big
data analytics and learning technologies all coming together.
The Smart Classroom
These classrooms are expected to
teach each student tailored coursework according to their individual
capacities and needs. This would help
education shift from “the one-sizefits-all” model to a truly personalized
experience.
In a classroom with 30 or more
students, teachers’ efforts would be
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able to reach all students
with the help of integrated systems that would
keep evolving with each
student. That would unlock
the capabilities of many
students, especially those who
suck at math.
Smarter Shopping
Tapping into our future gear, wearable
computing, augmented reality, and location-based technology, future shops will
give their shoppers a one-of-a-kind in-store
experience. The more shoppers share
personal information, the more the shop
around them will transform into a personalized destination for them to buy exactly
what they need.
Retailers would also benefit from these
integrated systems by being able to understand every individual shopper’s needs and
preferences, thus be able to suggest and
offer the best option for them. As retailers
move closer to becoming experts, shopping
would only get easier.
Treatment Through DNA
Cognitive systems will decrease the time
needed for doctors to build a treatment
plan based on DNA readings. What used
to take weeks and even months will only
take days or even minutes, thanks to cloud
systems.
DNA sequencing will become accessible to
more doctors and patients to help tackle
illnesses, such as cancer, and be able to
determine its type and location. DNA sequencing, in addition to cognitive systems,
will cancel out assumptions when it comes
to any disease with a DNA-link. These include heart diseases and strokes. Go, DNA!
Digital Guardian
According to IBM researchers, the Digital
Guardian “will analyze and learn from
your online behavior patterns, going back
months and years to know what to protect.
And when it detects a possible breach, you
will be the first to know.”
For example, your guardian would know
that you are a mother with five children
and that you are looking for a mini-van,
from your online searches. So, when
someone tries to buy a racing car with your
credit card, your guardian will inform you
and immediately stop this imposter. This
bodyguard would follow you everywhere,
even to the bathroom!
Social Cities
“In five years, cities will become smarter as
machine learning helps them understand
what people need. What they like. What
they do and how they move from place to
place,” says Sergio Borger, IBM strategy and
human system researcher.
The cities will listen, interact and respond
to citizen needs from crowdsourcing,
mobile applications, sensors, and analytics
on the cloud.
Researchers claim that “this will give rise
to new cities that can respond in real-time,
predict problems before they occur, and
deliver tailored services to make city life
better for everyone.” There is no point in
keeping your voice down from now on; the
government will always be listening.
Conflict
While all this technology seems inevitable
and somehow helpful in predicting and
anticipating our needs, what is the price
that we have to pay in return? Is it money?
Privacy?
They are basically saying: “we are going to
be everywhere and you are going to like
it.” I do not know who the “we” is, but I can
only hope they are on our side.
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BUSINESS Digital
THE
NEXT
BILLION:
How Google and Facebook’s acquisition sprees are geared
towards reaching new Internet users in developing markets
By Raja Riachi
@RajaRiachi
“The Next Billion.” This is a term thrown
around by the big Internet companies, referring
to reaching the next billion Internet users,
largely located in developing countries. This is
mostly reflected in the acquisition sprees and
actions of these companies, namely Google and
Facebook.
While Microsoft are busy acquiring the only
phone manufacturer willing to develop for their
mobile platform for USD 7.2b, Facebook were
buying Whatsapp, a messaging platform with
almost no monetization method for about triple
that amount, at USD 19b. In its current model
which Facebook has vowed to preserve, the
money Facebook spent will never be recouped.
Whatsapp’s only monetization comes from a
non-mandatory USD 1 fee a year. So what is
Facebook buying for 19 billion?
More than 500 million current users and
countless future users.
Because “The Next Billion” is likely to largely come from developing countries where
Whatsapp is popular as a free messaging app
due to expensive phone plans. What Facebook
are likely also buying is your information.
While assurances have been given that the
integrity of users’ information on Whatsapp’s
servers will not be threatened, it is not beyond
the realm of possibility that Facebook invested such a large amount of money in the very
valuable user information, which they use for
targeted advertising, among other things.
According to them, however, they want to facilitate connecting people in developing countries
to the Internet. This is also very plausible point
and follows a clear line of reasoning. Facebook
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is an Internet-only company. For them to be
able to profit from an individual, that person
needs to have access to the Internet. The more
people connected, the more people Facebook
can reach. While Whatsapp by no means
provides access to the Internet, it facilitates
its use, and with it in Facebook’s ownership,
it can ensure the app reaches as many people
as possible, bringing them into the collective
connected fold.
This line of reasoning follows other actions by
Facebook and Google to facilitate connecting
people in developing countries to the Internet.
In 2012, Google identified three major barriers
to developing countries’ online presence. The
first and most important would be cost. People
in developing countries pay magnitudes more
than users in the United States for a much
slower service. The second barrier is the very
little material that is relevant to Internet users
in the developing world, as most of them are
not English speaking countries, with the third
being that there are very few trained developers to provide new content.
Google’s response is creating a cycle to tackle
these problems by making sure that people
have proper access to the Internet. In 2012, they
created free zones in the Philippines and South
Africa, where people could access anything
they found through Google’s search engine,
for free. This is hardly an altruistic action, as
it ensures people use their portal, to get to any
Internet content. It gives them market penetration in new areas that they opened up themselves. Both Facebook and Google have their
separate endeavors called Connectivity Lab and
Project Loon, respectively, to make Internet
access cheap globally. Facebook’s Connectivity
Lab was launched with the announced acquisition of Ascenta, a five-person UK based startup
whose members boast experience at places
like Boeing. What Ascenta specializes in are
things like long-flying solar powered drones,
which help spread Internet access to developing
areas. Project Loon, on the other hand, uses
Helium Balloons which float at a high altitude
to remotely provide Internet to the developing
world. In April, they acquired Titan Aerospace,
which specialize in drones that fly near the
edge of the earth’s atmosphere, to help with
their expertise to develop Project Loom. In
addition, Google bought Skybox Imaging for
USD 500m in July, a private company which
provides high resolution satellite imagery. That
will no doubt help Google improve its Maps-related offerings.
Where the value lies, however, is in their
specialization in sending high-resolution satellites into space for a low cost. This undoubtedly interests Google, which aims to use their
technology to launch their drones and helium
balloons in support of Project Loon. These two
services will likely use a model similar to the
one used by Google in their Free Zones, which
would allow users to access the Internet for
free, but only through the portal of whatever
company provides the service.
These two Internet giants have through their
actions and acquisitions recognized the importance of the developing world in potential
earnings and in shaping the future of the
Internet. While more than one-third of the
global population is currently connected, there
are billions more to be given access.
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BUSINESS Marketing
BUSINESS Marketing
5 Minutes with the Community Manager
JENNIFER KANAAN:
MY ACCOUNTS ARE
AN EXTENSION OF
MYSELF!
By Darine Sabbagh
@sdarine
Community Managers are the super
heroes in the shade who shadow brand
pages and Twitter accounts, embodying
those brands and speaking to us with
their voices. They are the ones who
create amazing content that makes us
like and share and ultimately welcome
the brand into our daily offline lives.
If you have been curious to know who
those superheroes are, you are in luck!
Every month, we will be interviewing
a Community Manager, to not only
showcase their talents and wits, but also
let you know the real people behind the
brands.
Like most of us who were swept by the
social media marketing wave, Jennifer
Kanaan, who now works as the Social
Media Manager at Eastline Marketing, has sought out by her calling and
swerved out of the earlier chosen path
of being a nutritionist. let us find out
more about her daily challenges and
victories in this month’s column.
Tell us a bit about yourself and your
online persona
I have studied nutrition in the American University of Beirut (AUB) and I
had no idea I would end up working
in social media. I keep in touch with
my field of study through a blog,
New Trends in Nutrition—linked to a
presence on Facebook (https://www.
facebook.com/NewTrendsInNutrition),
Twitter and Instagram. I post mostly
about holistic health and psychology of
nutrition: two aspects I feel are missing
in our approach to health and nutrition.
Tell us a bit about the accounts you
manage and the approach you have
for each of them. How do you make
sure you are most creative on each
of them and maintain each brand
page’s voice?
At Eastline, we make sure to give the
right brands to the people who are most
passionate about the brand at hand. So,
my accounts are an extension of myself,
really. Each of them relating to what I
am interested in. This makes it much
easier to handle the brand and translate
it into the proper tone of voice and content, since I myself am part of the target
audience.
How did you get into social media
and community management?
I think it is fair to say that I did by
accident. I had started a Facebook page
to raise more awareness about a more
holistic approach to Nutrition called
“New Trends in Nutrition”. This page
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slowly grew into a blog and this is when
I realized how effective social media
was. I knew right then that I needed to
explore it further, and a friend of mine
referred me to an opening at Eastline
Marketing.
form as well as expected?
Yes, it has happened, but I guess with
the new Facebook algorithms it gets
harder to get organic reach; there are
too many factors now that come into
play.
What is your favorite part about
being the voice of brands?
At Eastline Marketing, we consider
work as a pleasurable challenge waiting
to be tackled! We all suffer from OCD
(Obsessive Compulsive Disorder). I love
it when I am socializing with people
and they are praising a certain brand’s
online communication without knowing that I am the voice behind it. It feels
exciting and rewarding to know that
your work is appreciated and getting
through to the fans.
What is your least favorite part
about it?
My least favorite part is when a brand
does not consult with us on an offline
campaign or activity that does not
translate well online.
Do you have favorite fans?
I do appreciate every time we see loyal
fans who constantly engage on the pages. I am even happier when a ‘neutral
page liker’ turns into a brand advocate/
supporter.
Tell us about one of your most recent learning experiences.
It is not really a new learning, but it is
put to the challenge everyday: it is not
to take things personally. We represent
the brand and what is best for it. This
means we always need to stay in control
and not let our own personal feelings
get in the way of communicating what
is best for the client. If you do not love
and live your brand, do not work on it
because it will reflect on the quality of
your work.
If you could manage other brands,
what would those brands be?
Those would be international watch
brands such as TAG Heuer and Omega.
What is your number-one tip while
dealing with clients, as coordination
with those can be hectic?
Always try to anticipate what they
want or what their feedback will be,
and work accordingly. This way they
can know that you are a brand owner as
much as they are.
Is there a post you worked so hard
on making and then it did not per103 CLOUD961
BUSINESS Marketing
BUSINESS Marketing
INTENTLY: NO
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By Raja
@rajaria
Money is made on the Internet; it
is really no secret. Every time you
visit a page with an advertisement on it, someone somewhere
makes a few fractions of a dollar.
And when you click on the ad,
that person makes even more.
This is called click-based revenue.
The functionality of Internet
advertising is pretty simple. A
certain space of a website is
dedicated to advertising and
your browsing history goes into
an algorithm that decides which
advertisements end up on your
screen. This is targeted advertising at its best.
However, because this is a game
of counting clicks, there are a few
questionable methods to boost
these numbers.
To start with the biggest culprit:
Buzzfeed. The methodology of list
articles like the ones on Buzzfeed (which are reshaping how
many other websites operate) use
headlines such as “13 Photos That
Prove Cats Run The Illuminati”
or “6 Sex Hacks For Better Sex”
(both real Buzzfeed pages). The
way these headlines are phrased
add intrigue and mystery to what
might lie behind the clicked link.
Other websites have seen the
effectiveness of these methods,
with the rapid rise of Buzzfeed’s
popularity as evidence. There are
other more subversive ways that
attempt to bring in more clicks
and more money. Many websites
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alter or rephrase headlines to the
same articles to dupe visitors to
view the same page twice. Other
websites like Forbes force you
to go through an advertisement
page en route to their website.
The worst websites, however, are
those that intentionally invite
ads that behave like malware or
adware, such as random pop-ups
to make you click on them unintentionally, or ads imbedded in
text where words are highlighted
randomly and when you scroll
over them, an ad would come out
of the woodwork.
This obtrusive, unwanted
practice brings us to the world
of adware. Adware is the short
name for “advertising software”,
software written and designed
for the sole purpose of impregnating your browser with pop-up
ads, in-text ads, fake links, and
other malicious ways to make
money out of your wasted time.
Obviously, this also adversely
affects the performance of your
PC. In addition, they funnel your
PC’s information to unknown locations, as opposed to the known
functionality and limitations of
the well-established Google’s
AdSense, and others like it.
@dahliahage
Intently is a newly introduced Google
Chrome application, founded by Alec Mikailian, Johnny Chan, and Micha Mikailian, which replaces advertisements with
your choice of inspiration. “Your choice
of inspiration” means having the power to
claim advertising space and replace it with
themed images that relate to your personal
goals, intentions and aspirations. This allows
the user to be reminded of their intentions
constantly throughout the day. Co-Founder
Micha Mikailian created the application
based on a desire that was not fulfilled.
Intently helps him “connect with [his] goals,
visions, and intentions several hundred
times per day which helps keep [his] actions
aligned with [his] goals.”
The variety of angles from which Internet-based advertisements target consumers,
paired with a collective dependence on the
Internet, confirms consumers’ consistent
exposure to online ads. However, since most
people currently use ad blockers, Intently
offers the chance to use this advertising
space as an advantage. To be reminded of
your intentions throughout the day means
to avoid distractions that would deviate
your attention from your original goals.
Intently suggests that “[b]y replacing advertisements with images of the user’s choice, it
will transform the Internet into a space that
consistently reinforces your own personal
visions and passions.” This can be seen as
a great solution for many. However, what
would happen if one’s Internet space consistently reinforced their personal visions and
passions?
consumers replacing ads with personal
content also complicates the advertising
agency’s job.
Micha Mikailian suggests that because 30
percent of Internet users are currently
using ad blockers, the advertising industry
is already searching for solutions to balance
technology and publishers. Advertising affects consumers by targeting a specific market and exposing it to products, services and
events that are relevant to their lifestyles.
Advertising agencies have the constant
duty of finding the best way to reach their
target markets; the use of applications like
Intently to unclutter and regain focus is
another obstacle for agencies to consider.
As a natural result of excess Internet advertising, ad blockers and applications such
as Intently have been created to serve the
average person. It seems like natural order
for people to choose to regain focus on their
goals. In turn, the marketing and advertising industry will work around the new behavioral pattern just as they regularly adjust
to other cultural and societal changes.
Note: Intently is switching from open to
closed Beta shortly, after which they will be
re- launching their application to the general
public.
This can be answered from multiple perspectives. There are positive and negative
outcomes for eliminating this constant
targeting, and instead focusing on personal
aspirations. Positive outcomes include inevitably higher productivity as well as focus
on short-term and long-term goals. When
surrounded by inspirational material, people
become more deeply absorbed in their work.
Negative outcomes of being freed from advertisements are linked to some detachment
from current events and changes. However,
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BUSINESS Marketing
BUSINESS Marketing
WITNESSING THE
WORLD CUP 2014
Every marketer’s wet dream
By Darine Sabbagh
@sdarine
boxes with one winner from each of the
World Cup participating countries. Then
right before the Cup started, an amazing
viral video was promoted on Twitter and
Youtube, all about the passion for football,
with only one last slide pointing to gol.
mcd.com. On the website, you find out
that the boxes are also a key for you to
play a game and win World Cup-related
prizes!
I never thought that a trip to Brazil during
the World Cup would equally feed the
marketer and the vacation-sick traveler
in me. Not being a big football head, I was
more wary of that coincidence than I was
ecstatic. With the #FuckFIFA hashtag
raging and people promising tourists are
guaranteed to be mugged, kidnapped and
having their kidneys stolen, we packed
up our bags blissfully and hopeful and
braced ourselves for a long flight across
the ocean.
When your product takes the backseat
You get to see BIG campaigns—360
campaigns live in motion!
We are all used to the cheesy local campaigns related to the ‘Mondial’ that are
meant to shove a brand’s products in any
You arrive to any of Brazil’s airports to
some beautiful, tasteful and masterfully
executed ads and campaigns. Let us start
with the fact that while you are waiting
for your luggage to arrive, you are offered
a free can of Coca Cola and a booklet
full of coupons and discounts by Coca
Cola merchants. You are personally greeted by someone from the
Coke team with a smile and asked
where you are from and kindly
wished great World Cup Experience! (Here is a nudge to event
sponsors who do not pay for
anything beyond having their
logos on a poster)
The global aspect of it all coming
together
We always read about all of these
amazing integrated campaigns, but
never get to actually touch and witness
any of them—only Ahh over the award
videos without ever being able to watch
them unravel. Well, while you are at
the home of the World Cup, everything
around you is literally a global campaign.
From the Budweiser and Coke promoters
at the airport greeting their global competition winners, to Sony and UN Billboards.
A campaign I enjoyed was the launch of
the McDonalds GOL! game app, which
started as a global campaign for fans to
design the limited edition World Cup
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World Cup-related—or unrelated—way
possible. Well, with all the ads around in
the Brazilian cities, it was quite the opposite. Sure, there were discreet product
placements, but most ads focused on a
feeling of unity, the love of football, and
the true World Cup spirit, and that was
beautiful rather than cheesy.
Everything the World Cup touches is
Brand
From the players to the stadium, you
are immersed in an atmosphere that is
a brand cocktail, cautiously infused and
well balanced. All around the mall you
can find local brands being solicited by
one football player or the other, or inaugurated by a veteran player. We do not
have enough heroes here in Lebanon for
proper brand ambassadorship in lieu of
botox pop stars.
Discreet branding: the Hashtag is everything
From #RiskEverything to #Allin, both
Adidas and Nike led discreet online
campaigns where the hashtag was the
centerpoint of communication. I have
seen billboards at whose sight Lebanese
marketers would shudder. The brand
logo on them was so tiny, whereas
the hashtag was gigantic. I even
saw a bridge in the center of Sao
Paolo painted fully in Coca Cola
red and white with the #Tudomondo hashtag, but no mention
of Coke anywhere. You get to
appreciate the brand not being
shoved in your face and the fact
that all that which marketing is
asking you is to engage with it in
a conversation, not a sales pitch.
Something to keep in mind for
Lebanese marketers: the hashtag is
a huge trend that is not going away,
but make sure to use it creatively to
spark conversations and not just have it
as your brand’s name. For instance, each
Trident pack had a different hashtag
prompting a different discussion on Twitter and Instagram, with the possibility of
winning prized.
Here are some social media and social
habits of Brazilians:
- What do people do in the metro or on
the bus? They Candy Crush. I am now
even more convinced the game is a
universal addiction.
-And now let us see how the habits of Brazilians during the games differ from ours:
• Game Selfie: This and the game manicure/make-up is a religiously adhered-to
ritual for every fashionista and football
head, so basically pretty much every single
Brazilian!
• No tech while game is on: As my
Brazilian friend laid it to me: “football
is sacred!” Phones patiently sit on the
table and are not touched throughout
the game. No one even thinks of posting
an extra selfie or scrolling through their
timelines, not even during half-time.
• No tech after the game, either—only
celebrations: What do Lebanese do after
a game ends? They take it to Facebook
to rub “their” win in everyone’s faces or
write an opus on why “their” team won.
Well, Brazilians just call each other up
and celebrate, or commiserate. With no
tech, only good food and beer!
• Also, celebrations are usually over in 1
hour! What? No fireworks till 3 a.m. and
crazy car honks even when Brazil wins?
No drunk raves? Yes, this is true! It is a
whole new level of true social sportsmanship which we are not yet able to
witness in our country, sadly!
Social media habits of Brazilians
The social media pro in me of course kept
peering at screens and carefully monitoring, both in the metro and during the
games, what everyone was doing online.
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Business Money
BYBLOS BANK
LAUNCHES ITS
MOBILE BANKING
APPLICATION
Byblos Bank announced the introduction of its
new Mobile Banking application. Clients can
download it onto their smartphones through
App Store or Google Play. Primarily intended to
enhance the Bank’s customer experience and
make it in line with the latest digital trends, this
application allows Byblos Bank’s clients more
convenience and simplicity in completing their
transactions.
The new Byblos Bank mobile banking application is among the unique electronic platforms
in Lebanon since it is one of the firsts to allow
customers to self-enroll by registering with
their debit card credentials without the hassle
of visiting the branch.
“We want our customers to enjoy what
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modern banking experience looks like and get
their banking operations done, anytime they
want and anywhere they might be,” said Elie
Sabbagh, Head of E-Channels Development
Unit at Byblos Bank Group. He added, “Byblos
Bank Mobile Banking application is designed
with advanced security layers that protect
clients and ensure a safe environment for their
transactions. The application is also part of our
a multi-channel delivery system that includes
one of Lebanon’s largest network of branches
and ATMs, in addition to a specialized Customer Service and an Internet Banking platform.”
The Byblos Bank mobile banking application
allows clients to have easy access to their
private and/or joint accounts, including details
of the last 2 months of transactions. Customers
can also use this application to settle their loan
bill and card payments, and transfer funds
between accounts, be it private or joint, in
Lebanese pound or in US dollars.
Browsing Byblos Bank products is yet another
option within the menu. Whether accounts,
cards, loans, or Bancassurance products, customers will choose their desired product, and
with just one click and few personal details,
submit an instant application and wait for the
call of Customer Service at the time of their
choosing, or contact directly. Moreover, they
can check their Points/Miles accumulated
through the Bank’s Akram Program, locate
branches or ATMs, and request checkbooks .
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BUSINESS Start up
BUSINESS Start up
SHOPBUILDER: SETTING
UP YOUR ONLINE STORE
An appealing, organized and affordable digital platform, for a better
shopping experience
By Selim Njeim, Associate Editor
@seleemnjeim
With the importance of a strong digital presence for both burgeoning
and well-established companies alike being on the rise, the approach
to the concept of shopping has been evolving over the past few years.
It is undeniable that online shopping—perhaps more pervasive among
Western shoppers than local trendsetters, for the time being—is steadily
growing in prominence. What is more, an e-sample of what a store has to
offer has been proved to contribute to raising product awareness, creating
needs and consequently vitalizing demand. Julien Fayad and Emile
Boustani started up Shopbuilder with this fact in mind. Shopbuilder allows
merchants in the Middle East to create their own e-commerce website
in minutes at no upfront cost. Boustani is a former online merchant who
got his MBA from The Kogod School of Business in Washington, D.C.
With experience in business management, Emile, as the Chief Experience
Architect, compares Shopbuilder’s features versus competitors and proposes innovations. Fayad is a young French engineer and owner of a web
agency. He handles the production of Shopbuilder’s platform and makes
sure all necessary features are developed and well implemented. As the
Chief Movement Officer, Julien also makes sure Shopbuilder’s coworkers
are all collaborating in an exciting and stimulating environment. Here is a
transcript of our interview with the co-founders.
Could you tell us more about the concept and the services offered by Shopbuilder?
Shopbuilder allows merchants in the Middle
East to create their own e-commerce website in
minutes at no upfront cost. Our platform generates secured websites, including all the required
technical integrations with e-payment solutions
and shipment providers, making them ready to
receive payments and deliver orders. Merchants
can choose their stores’ domain names and
would benefit from the hosting, maintenance,
support and technical updates for their site.
When choosing Shopbuilder, a merchant has
to select a design, upload products, services or
digital goods, and manage orders. All of the
above cost only USD 75/month, with no strings
attached, which gives merchants the ability to
experiment with their business online.
How did the idea come about?
We, Emile Boustani and Julien Fayad, noticed
the growing opportunity of e-commerce in the
Middle East. Accordingly, we conducted a deep
research to better understand the market and
detected the weaknesses of this industry in
our region. We pinpointed cost and time as the
main difficulties online retailers face, and built
an affordable solution responding to most of
the e-commerce needs, thus Shopbuilder. We
believe that this concept will allow merchants to
jump on the e-commerce bandwagon while it is
booming.
What does the merchant get exactly
with the USD 75/month?
In addition to the supporting services mentioned
before, the merchant gets an e-commerce website that is configurable in multiple currencies
and languages including Arabic, along with a responsive design to open properly on mobile and
tablet devices. Furthermore, the online store
comes integrated with payment and shipment
solutions, namely Aramex and Bank Audi for
Lebanese merchants, and Paypal for countries
where it is present. Finally, for an additional
small fee, a merchant can choose to benefit from
a Facebook store within his fan page.
vantage is the integration with local and
regional e-payment and shipment solutions.
While competitors worldwide are integrated
with international providers that might not
be available in Middle Eastern countries, our
platform is tailored for the region. Moreover,
an Arabic version of the e-commerce website
can be enabled with the click of a button. All
these services and features are provided at an
unbeatable price. Finally, if we were to compare
ourselves to traditional web agencies, then our
advantage would definitely be “time”. While
Shopbuilder needs only minutes to produce a
functional website, agencies take months to
deliver custom-made ones.
Why does the local Lebanese market
now need your product?
Merchants in Lebanon are facing an economic
crisis today. Bricks and mortars are passing
through a rough time trying to achieve their
business goals with the lack of stability in the
country and absence of tourism. Therefore,
e-commerce is now a safer approach for businesses as it is bound to a bigger exposure and
a worldwide reach. In fact, the online sales are
expected to reach USD 15b by next year in the
MENA region. Therefore, now is the right time
for merchants to switch to e-commerce. To seize
this opportunity, Middle Eastern businesses of
all sizes can turn to Shopbuilder for an affordable solution.
What are some challenges you have
faced while setting up this project/or
still face?
While building the platform and working
with other actors in the industry, we did not
really face challenges. Everyone is confident
about the future of this industry. However, the
major challenge emerged while proposing the
e-commerce idea to merchants. The market is
still not mature, so traditional merchants are
still skeptical about online customer behavior
and e-payments. To gain their trust, we are
working on more success stories that will act as
examples.
Why is, to you, digital and social media
important nowadays when it comes to
promoting a product and getting a business up and running?
Digital and social media are today’s happening.
Currently, half of the population in the Middle
East accesses the Internet and almost every
user is active on at least one social network. Our
consumer behavior is highly influenced by what
circulates online. This opens a door for merchants to promote their products and services
to a wider market, increasing the odds of sales
conversions.
Are there any expansion plans for
Shopbuilder?
In fact, we initially started operating in Lebanon. Today, we are in the final stages of adapting
our offering to the needs of the Middle East in
general. We will be focusing on this market for
a while, for it has a promising future. Experts
expect digital payments in the region to jump
from 20 percent to 40 percent by next year
thanks to more secure online payment methods.
They also predict a significant increase in online
sales from USD 9b in 2012 to USD 15b. So first,
we want to mark our territory in the Middle
East, which is already a big challenge.
What do you think gives your product/services
a competitive edge compared to other similar
services offered by other companies?
We believe that our main competitive ad-
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Education
Education
TED-ED: CAPTURING
AND MAGNIFYING THE
VOICES OF EDUCATORS
By Lynn El Bizri
@lnlne
ONLINE
TUTORIALS:
Changing the
face of education
By Yara Nahle @yarabee2
Two years ago, TED, the highly popular conference series dedicated to ‘Ideas
Worth Spreading’, launched TED-Ed, a
video channel on YouTube and a website,
with the goal of giving a far-reaching
voice to extraordinary educators around
the globe by pairing them up with talented animators and visualization artists
to produce a library of curiosity-igniting
educational videos. Up until today, the
YouTube Channel has gathered more than
73,532,256 views and 805,649 subscribers.
With the use of an open platform like
YouTube, combined with the inspirational approach to content and the use of
easy-to-understand animations, many of
the TED-Ed lessons have gone viral.
Shorter than the regular 18-minute TED
talks, the average 3-10-minute long TEDEd videos feature a combination of talks
paired with animations tackling topics
such as neuroscience, evolution and much
more for children of all ages. Topics cov112 CLOUD961
ered include arts, business and economics,
health, literature and language, mathematics, philosophy and Religion, psychology, science & technical subjects, social
studies, and thinking and learning. The
videos are categorized by series, subject
and best flips, are free to all, and each of
the videos contains briefs about the lesson
and even a quiz.
There are two ways to use the website.
The first is by watching the existing
videos, answering questions and participating in discussions, a great way to gain
interesting knowledge about the different
topics. The second way is to use the site as
an educator to turn TED’s educational videos—or any video on YouTube—into an interactive lesson. This is called ‘flipping the
video’. Flipping the video allows educators
to take an educational video from YouTube and transform it into a lesson with
their own additions and enhancements
such as titles, questions (multiple- choice
or open answer), extra materials (links and
photos) or discussion topics. Teachers can
then publish and share their TED-Ed lessons, whether publicly or privately, using
a unique link and measure their impact on
an audience (such as their students), give
feedback and even nominate their video
for the ‘Best Flips’ category.
In the TED-Ed community section, teachers and students can share their ideas
and ask questions relating to TED-Ed and
education in general. Viewers can find
the educators and animators behind the
original TED-Ed lessons, brainstorms, collaborative lesson pitches, curated lists of
suggested videos to flip, and much more.
Finally, TED-Ed also allows viewers to
nominate an educator they find exceptional in a certain subject, or recommend an
animator they think would be interested
in creating beautiful, educational videos.
Technology has changed our lives on so many
levels, but what about the change on the educational level? And could technology go as far
as to replace schools and universities?
New ways of learning are continuously
arising, and online tutorials are topping the
list. As there is a wide variety of free tutorials,
students from different majors are resorting
to them, especially those coming from artistic
and technical backgrounds.
Some students use tutorials as a secondary
source of knowledge. Sarah Younes, an interior design student, cannot do without online
tutorials, because they provide a faster, more
detailed and step-by-step learning experience.
The advantage they have over university
courses is being more modern and teaching
learners tricks the university won’t reveal to
them.
«In my major, they don’t tell us how to do
things,» Younes says. «But with tutorials, I can
repeat everything over and over again, until
the skills are mastered,» she adds.
However, Younes does not believe that tutorials could replace university education. She
believes that «students need specific guidance
from the university.»
On the other hand, filmmaking student Ali
Fakih doubts whether he even needs basic
university courses. All Fakih has learned was
thanks to online tutorials.
«The university has taught me nothing,» Fakih
admits.
Fakih, who goes to a private and one of the
most expensive universities in Lebanon, wishes to drop out and instead of paying for his
tuition fees, he prefers buying equipment and
keep on learning from tutorials. What keeps
Fakih from brining this plan to action is his
parents’ objection to the fact that he won’t be
receiving a degree.
Like Fakih’s parents, our society is still not prepared to accept the idea of replacing university
education with the Internet. But a few years
from now, who knows, this might become
commonplace
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CHANGING LIVES
My Stealthy
Freedom:
Iranian Women
Revolt
By Yara Nahle
@yarabee2
Since the 1979 Islamic Revolution in Iran, all
Iranian women have been forced to wear the
veil. After 35 years, these women decide to
break the silence, though stealthily.
«Stealthy freedom» is the only freedom covered Iranian women can have for the moment.
It is a campaign in which women take pictures
without their veils and upload them to the
Facebook page, «My Stealthy Freedom».
Women of different age groups and social
statuses took part in this campaign by letting
their hair down and capturing the moment.
The page, which has now almost 550,000
likes, was started by a London-based Iranian
journalist, Masih Alinejad. Alinejad posted her
picture behind the wheel without her headscarf. Soon after, hundreds of women did the
same, accompanying their picture with a small
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text, often denouncing the oppression they are
subjected to.
One caption reads: «I say no, not only to hijab,
but to all the limits that have been tied to my
body and soul as a woman hoping for the
day that the people of Iran will be freed of
these people-less people,» in a sharp statement
against the system.
Despite the great support and approval it
was met by, the campaign also faced fierce
criticism. Conservatives doomed the page as
immoral, and they initiated a counter-campaign calling to identify the women taking
their scarves off and report them to the police.
The campaigners sought punishment for these
women, through prison or lashes. «Identify
Advocates of Debauchery in Cyber Space» was
the Facebook page established for this very
reason. However, this page soon disappeared.
Iranian women are closely observed in the
public sphere and are imprisoned in case of
disobeying the Islamic dress code. Women are
therefore taking a big risk by removing their
hijab in public places. And lately, Iranian women who created a tribute to Pharell Williams’
«Happy» were arrested for appearing unveiled
in the video.
One woman posted a photograph of her in the
car of the Morality Police while being driven
to jail for wearing red.
«From now on even my breathing has to be
stealth,» she wrote.
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Past EVENTS
Past EVENTS
Cloud961
Celebrates its
First Anniversary
Cloud961 Magazine celebrated its first anniversary at Veer Boutique Hotel & Resort, Kaslik
on the 26th of June 2014, with the presence of
online community members, bloggers, Cloud
contributors, clients, supporters and Cloud961’s
loyal fans.
Publisher of the magazine and Chairman of
Cornerstone Group, Bassam Karam, presented a round-up on the first-year evolution of
the magazine, how it started, the phases and
116 CLOUD961
developments it went through and announced
a highly ambitious development plan for the 6
months to come, notably featuring the creation
of an incubator for bloggers, the launching of
Cloud961’s online forum and mobile application, the start of Cloud961’s school of social
media and more.
and management teams for their great work
which made Cloud961 a success.
A panel about the «Challenges and Prospects
of Digital Media in Lebanon” followed the presentation, with the participation of Mr. Lucas
Lamah, founder of Beiuting.com and Mr. Karim
Saikali, founder of e-ComLebanon.com
The magazine’s editor in chief, Mohammad
Hijazi, spoke about the achievements of the
magazine so far and thanked both the editorial
Finally, the audience and the Cloud961 team
cut the anniversary cake and celebrated together for the years and years of success to come.
117 CLOUD961
Past EVENTS
SOCIAL MEDIA
AWARDS SOUHOUR
DINNER AT AHWAK
Ahwak Café in Beirut City Centre hosted The Social Media Awards Beirut volunteers and friends for a Souhour dinner on Thursday July 24, 2014 to
catch up and get acquainted with the latest #SMABeirut updates.
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Past EVENTS
CLOUD 961 IFTAR
DINNER AT SEMSOM
Cloud961 had the pleasure to host its editorial and management team for an iftar dinner at Semsom, Sodeco. The team enjoyed a lovely Lebanese meal
with a twist while getting to know each other more in a casual setting.
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Past EVENTS
Past EVENTS
SAMSUNG
ELECTRONICS LEVANT
AND CHERFANE TAWIL
& CO. HOST A MEDIA
SUHOOR
Samsung Electronics Levant and
Cherfane Tawil & Co. (CTC) celebrated
the holy month of Ramadan by inviting
media partners to a sumptuous suhoor
at Liza Beirut. Held on July 10, the event
was attended by the Samsung team,
media and bloggers alike.
The attendees enjoyed an evening of
mystical oriental ambiance accompanied
by fine Arabian vibes and a beautiful live
Oud performance. Samsung thanked the
invited guests for the warm evening and
delightful gathering and wished them a
happy and a blissful Ramadan.
Commenting on the occasion, Mr. Bumsuk Hong, President of Samsung Electronics Levant, said, “Ramadan brings
people together and is an opportunity
to strengthen existing relationships. For
that reason, we were honored to invite
our media partners as a small token of
our appreciation for all the support that
they have shown Samsung Electronics
Levant. Hand in hand, we have realized
our vision of creating a better world and
enhancing the lives of our consumers.”
ALFA HONORS PRESS
AND MEDIA CORPS IN
ANNUAL MEDIA IFTAR
EVENT
Under the auspices of H.E. Minister of Telecommunications Boutros Harb, represented by Mr. Gilbert
Najjar, head of the Owner Supervisory Board of
Mobile Companies at the Ministry of Telecommunications, Alfa, managed by Orascom Telecom, held the
annual Media Iftar event honoring the press and the
media corps at Abdel Wahab Restaurant in Achrafieh.
ENTREPRENEURS AND
PRIVATE SECTOR LEADERS
CELEBRATE LEBANESE
ENTREPRENEURIAL SUCCESS
AT THE 2014 ENDEAVOR GALA
Alfa CEO and Chairman Mr. Marwan Hayek, representatives of the heads of the Press Syndicate and
the Press Editors Syndicate, and several print media,
television, and radio figures, attended the Iftar. Also
present at the event were senior directors and advisers
from the Ministry of Telecommunications, members
of Alfa’s board, as well as Alfa staff.
After a message of congratulations for the holy month
of Ramadan, Mr. Hayek expressed praise and gratitude
for the press and the media for their constant coverage
of and engagement with Alfa and the telecom sector
in general.
Mr. Hayek then overviewed the most prominent
projects Alfa implemented last year, including most
notably the introduction of 4G LTE technology in
Lebanon.
Mr. Hayek also addressed reductions in telecom tariffs
and higher Internet speeds, which have increased
by up to four times their previous levels since June
1, pursuant to a decision by the Lebanese Council of
Ministers based on the recommendation of H.E. the
Minister of Telecommunications Boutros Harb.
Turning to the causes of dropped calls, Mr. Hayek
said that cellular phone networks are designed on the
basis of no more than a 1- or 2-percent dropped-call
rate, which differs from country to country according
to things like topography, population density, the frequencies used, and the technologies in service.
In the same vein, Mr. Hayek overviewed the latest
service quality reports published by Ericsson and
Nokia, showing the reliability of Alfa’s network and
the quality of its performance that positions it well
compared to other international operators in more
than 122 countries around the world, in terms of both
quality and level of development.
On Wednesday June 4, over 450 business
leaders and entrepreneurs joined Endeavor
Lebanon in its first annual gala to celebrate
High-Impact entrepreneurship in Lebanon and
its three years of impact in the country. The
event, which was held at Music Hall Waterfront in Beirut, gathered entrepreneurs, senior
business executives, VIPs, government officials
and Endeavor network members, including
Fadi Ghandour, Founder of Aramex and Board
Member of Endeavor Global as key-note speaker. The Endeavor gala showcased the impact
of Endeavor Entrepreneurs on the Lebanese
economy and job creation.
Endeavor Lebanon Mr. Sami Khouri underlined
that high-impact entrepreneurship holds the
key for Lebanon’s economic gridlock and can
help the country to overcome the social and
cultural challenges impeding its development.
High-Impact Entrepreneur Mrs. Delphine Edde,
co-founder of Diwanee, inspired the attendants
with her speech about how they overcame the
challenges of building the leading digital publishing business from the Middle East.
Since its establishment in Lebanon in 2011,
Endeavor Lebanon has selected and helped
grow 17 Lebanese entrepreneurs leading 13
companies from a range of sectors from over
330 companies it has screened. Endeavor
Entrepreneurs have grown their revenues on
average by 30 percent in 2013 through tough
economic times, and created more than 275 jobs
for young Lebanese over the past three years.
The dinner continued with exciting performances from the Music Hall shows. The 2014
Endeavor gala was sponsored by Beirut Digital
District, Chedid Re, Mimar Invest, Amana
Capital and BankMed. Endeavor was also
supported by PrintWorks and its media partner
Executive Magazine.
In his keynote, Chairman of the board of
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Past EVENTS
BERYTECH, USJ AND BLC BANK
ANNOUNCE THE WINNERS OF 3RD
EDITION OF GLOBAL SOCIAL VENTURE
COMPETITION (GSVC)
In collaboration with BLC Bank and in partnership with ESSEC, Université Saint-Joseph (USJ)
and Berytech awarded the winners of the 3rd
edition of the Global Social Venture Competition (GSVC), an initiative that was launched
three years ago in the aim of supporting and
encouraging social entrepreneurship in Lebanon and the region. The award ceremony was
held on July 8, 2014 at the Campus of Humanitarian Sciences at USJ in the presence of
Professor Salim Daccahe, USJ Chancellor, Mr.
Maroun N. Chammas, CEO of Berytech, Mr.
Maurice Sehnaoui, CGM of BLC Bank and Mrs.
Maryse Jomaa, Director of the Lebanese School
of Social Training at USJ.
In his opening speech, Mr. Maroun N. Chammas expressed Berytech’s honor to work
hand-in-hand with prestigious, mobilized and
engaged partners, keen on extending their full
support to this initiative.
From his side, Mr. Maurice Sehnaoui said: «For
the second consecutive year, BLC Bank has
been a key strategic partner and an active participant in the GSVC. Our commitment to this
initiative comes in line with the bank’s Corporate Social Responsibility strategy and aims
at promoting social entrepreneurship while
contributing to the development and success of
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social enterprises that have an impact on our
environment and economic viability […]».
​
On the role of the Lebanese School of Social
Training in social entrepreneurship, Mrs.
Maryse Jomaa expanded on the school’s strategy and plans to establish a university diploma
in social entrepreneurship, unique in the Middle East, with an advanced curriculum, aiming
at empowering project managers to design and
implement relevant ideas through a business
plan that ensures sustainability, development
and social impact. Jomaa also mentioned a
decision to join the Global Social Venture Competition and experience this adventure with the
participants.
Professor Salim Daccache presented the trophies to the winners who will benefit from a
plethora of opportunities, and great exposure
to support and guidance programs, due to the
initiative’s collaboration with a network of
professional partners, including international
exposure, coaching and mentoring by experts
and professionals, meeting with financial
players and potential investors, incubation and
a financial reward (offered by BLC Bank).
The winners are:
• Jules Hatem, Founder of TripleE, winner of
GSVC 2013, first presented his project that aims
at providing technological solutions for water
recycling.
• 1st prize—awarded to Mireille Chrabieh,
founder of «S-Miles», an academic center that
offers an academic program, extracurricular
activities and individual therapies to children
with (or without) learning difficulties through
multi-sensory experiences.
• 2nd prize—awarded to Mohammad Rabih Hamou, founder of «Kotobkom», an online library
for books swapping across the Middle East and
all Arab countries.
• 3rd prize—awarded to Georges Ghafary,
founder of «Chreek», a project aiming to provide
solutions to environmental and social problems
in Lebanon starting with upcycling process,
turning upcycled products into creative and
premium quality furniture and other creative
products.
• The innovation prize was awarded to Rabih
Maalouf, creator of Poddles, a project that
brings ecological and low-cost housing solutions for the homeless.
After they received their awards, the winners
presented their social innovations and the ceremony was followed by a reception.
THE MICROSOFT
NGO DAY:
An attempt to enhance NGO capacities
By Yara Abboud
@slidingskater
Since the NGO sector is one of the fastest
growing sectors in the Lebanese economy, it
is no wonder that the minister of social affairs
took notice of NGOs’ needs to adopt newer
technology to enhance their productivity and
capacity. With that purpose in mind, the Higher
Council for Children along with Online Safety
Lebanon organized a Microsoft NGO day on
June 16. It consisted of three workshops whose
aim was to enable NGOs to build their online
capacities, help NGOs benefit from using information technology, and introduce them to ways
of deploying Internet safety to children.
The first workshop or lecture was conducted by
Nada Hamzeh, senior media specialist at IREX
and social media Instructor at Sagesse, who
gave brief key points regarding what to post or
not to post on social media. She highlighted that
one’s target market determines which online or
offline channels to use as well as what content
to post. Her practical tips on using keywords,
hashtags, pictures, tags, and bitlys were interesting and to-the-point.
The second workshop conducted by Microsoft’s
representative Nadine Haddad offered NGOs
free access to Office 365, Microsoft’s cloud
productivity service. Its benefits lie in its agility
and accessibility anywhere , anytime, its huge
e-mail storage (up to 50 GB per e-mail), as well
as the possibility to upload up to 1 Terabyte in
Sharepoint. Additionally, it can run on any type
of PC, or mobile. Besides, there is no need to
worry about maintenance or disaster recovery.
Every user is entitled to a free package of 1TB,
and 5 licenses for office 365. The offer seemed
enticing enough, yet some remained skeptical commenting that: “it’s free now but later
charged.”
Unlike the first two workshops, the third workshop turned out to be a major flop. Michael Joseph, seasoned strategist, divided the audience
into groups with tasks to write an NGO’s vision,
mission and objective. Somehow, when the task
was over, no one had a clear idea about vision,
mission and objective. Additionally, since the
hosts of the event were mainly Microsoft and
online safety, the audience was expecting
“how to measure online social media efforts”,
not a back-to-college course on “Strategy 101”.
However, the flop was inevitable because the
attending NGOs differed with respect to their
social media savviness. Nonetheless, the event
was a good first attempt; more people attended
than registered, and the hosts seemed keen on
getting Cloud 961’s feedback.
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Past EVENTS
MASHABLE’S SOCIAL
MEDIA DAY IN
BROOKLYN, NEW YORK
Celebrating a fast-growing trend
By Ayman Jalloul, President,
AUB’s Online Collaborative @amnjay
We pretty much already know it; we are with
our phones almost every hour we are awake
and we are increasingly being inseparable from
our social media networks, and if Bermuda
shorts have an official day (May 24 in case
you were wondering), why not have a day to
celebrate Social Media?
Back in 2010, Mashable started out the
initiative of Social Media Day, a day taken to
recognize the influence social media has had
on our lives. Since then, June 30 has been recognized as official in many states and countries
worldwide.
That being said, this year marks the fifth
year of the global celebration of Social Media
Day. Around the world, events and meet-ups
were organized to celebrate and reflect on the
widespread of social media and highlight the
ways that the digital world has defined this
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generation. Many of the events were organized
though the Mashable Meet-up Community,
with hundreds of events around the world
bringing hundreds and sometimes thousands of
people together.
In New York, around 250 people gathered
as Mashable’s landmark event took place
on Sunday, June 29 which was organized in
cooperation with Bitly, the event’s sponsor. The
social media community members in New York
were invited to the Royal Palms Shuffleboard
Club in Brooklyn where the line to the event
was already starting to form some 40 minutes
before the event actually started.
The event was basically a large tweet-up where
social media-themed drinks were being served,
along with two shuffleboard courts and a lot
of offline socialization. In the background, a
presentation compiling various statistics on the
growth and the usage of social media was being
replayed.
Bitly provided a GIF booth and props, a very
popular addition which had us lining up
throughout the event to have four photos taken
and then combined into an animated GIF.
Despite every day being a “Social Media Day”,
it was nice to take the time to be fully aware
of the ways that social media has changed our
lives, and simply celebrate it. It was a great
of Mashable to start that initiative and then
sustain it with annual events, like the one they
held this year in Brooklyn.
Ultimately, all one can say is that social media
has managed to find its way into our daily lives,
so cheers to that and Happy Social Media Day,
everyone!
Past EVENTS
WE ARE THE
CHAMPIONS, MY
FRIEND
Arabnet Developers Tournament’s top three, all Lebanese
By Dalia Ramadan,
PR Manager, AUB’s Online Collaborative
@dalia813
LAUNCHING SOON
It goes without saying that the Arab world is
seeing rapid growth and development in its
digital sector. This industry boom, naturally,
has caused a surge in demand for only the best
web and mobile developers in the Middle East.
The Arabnet Developer Tournament satisfies
this escalation by pinpointing those demanded
to companies and professionals.
This year’s tournament gathered eager
participants from Lebanon, Jordan, and the
United Arab Emirates. Country rounds are
initially held to narrow down four finalists in
each country. These winners then went on to
represent their countries at the regional championship, which took place at the Dubai Digital
Summit in June 2014.
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At the championships, 12 finalists battled it out
in a coding extravaganza that was based on
three skill sets. In the first round, proficiency
was tested by each person’s ability to create an
e-commerce app. The second round focused on
creativity as contestants were presented with a
handful of services using application programming interfaces to combine into a unique app.
Finally, speed was tested in the third round
where points were gained parallel to the rate of
solving each problem.
After hours of coding, the results of the Tournament showed that the Lebanese team took it
by far with a whopping 214 points, followed by
the UAE team at 127 points and the Jordanian
team at 109 points. Aside from country scores,
the top three individual winners were also
all Lebanese with Andre Abi Haidar, Ahmad
Moussawi, and George Zakhour in first, second,
and third place, respectively. This wide and
obvious gap between the Lebanese team and
their other competitors is an indicator of the
potential Lebanon brings, thanks to the investment and advanced education in this field.
Aside from the obvious opportunities of showcasing their talents to the array of technology
professionals and companies at the Dubai
Digital Summit, the winners also walked away
with $10,000 in prizes.
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DR. CLOUD
HOROSCOPES
If you spot anything online that is
worthy of Dr. Cloud’s comments,
feel free to share it with him on:
@DrCloud961
DrCloud961 Facebook
[email protected]
FIRE
Since it is illegal to conventionally advertise for medical services,
doctors and pharmaceuticals have
all turned to social media. It seems
that some of them do not have one
handsome plastic surgeon to slap
on their Facebook ads that they
have to use the US cast of “The
Doctors” instead.
Let me introduce you to the “leading
creative agency in the UAE” whose
Instagram account has “Beirut» in it
for some reason. They are so excited to
finally get a client; excited to the point
that they post about it on Instagram
and ask their followers to guess who
the lucky person is—but the only individual commenting on the post is the
company’s founder, who also happens
to be the manager of the company’s
Instagram account. How sad is that? I
mean, who are you kidding?
WATER
Aries (March 21 – April 19)
You have reached a point where you want to
undertake something new. If it’s a dream project you’ve always wanted to bring to life, a
crowd-funding platform like Zoomaal may be exactly what you need right now to get going. Not
only will it help you raise money for your project,
but you’ll also be building a community around
your work.
Taurus (April 20 – May 20)
Anything that seems like a good idea works for
you this month. Lately you’re totally cooperative
when it comes to new offers, so go ahead and
don’t hesitate to say yes. If you’re single, and
someone close wants to introduce you to someone new, accept that offer as well. Just make
sure you do a background check through Facebook, Twitter and LinkedIn first though.
I do not know whether Vodafone Egypt
was trying to get Katy Perry as their
spokesperson or trying to increase tourism in their country, but I am pretty
sure the Muslim Brotherhood are not
so happy about this tweet.
Gemini (May 21 – June 21)
You have important news you need to share,
but if it’s personal and you’re not comfortable
enough with it yet, don’t be so quick to reveal it.
You usually have no problem keeping quiet about
others’ secrets, but being quiet about your own
is challenging for you. That doesn’t mean you
should never share, just hold back from posting it
as your next Facebook status.
Cancer (June 22-July 22)
FlyDubai forbids its passengers from
using their mobile phones (even on
Flight Mode) or electronics on the
plane, for that matter. However, their
Facebook page is promoting a user
who took [at least] four photos. If that
is not suspicious, what is?
You know that newspapers are dying
when the leading newspaper in
Lebanon is using naked women to get
people to go on their website.
If your photo on Linkedin is a selfie,
you probably should not be on that
social network.
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A sign that you need a new HR manager: when your existing one is too
lazy to write the full word “Assistant”
when recruiting through Linkedin.
Even if you do not have enough
content to tweet about, do not share
blog posts from two years ago as “new”
content. It will only make your readers
unfollow you… yeah!
It is always funny when a community
manager screws up. It is funnier when
they use the wrong account to respond
to complaints directed at another
brand. Classic!
An upbeat, positive frame of mind regarding your
finances this month gives you an advantage, as it
allows you to see solutions that are beyond the
grasp of others. An inventive and creative approach to your money matters, like making use
of an expense-tracking app like Dollarbird, could
result in you having more money to so spend on
shopping and life pleasures.
EARTH
AIR
Libra (September 23- October 22)
Group activities or social events in your area
could put you in touch with new and exciting
people who could eventually become friends,
Libra. Check out Lebtivity for a variety of events
and use it to plan your schedule or synchronize
it with your own personal calendar. Shared goals
and interests with people you meet could give
rise to plans for ambitious projects.
Scorpio (October 23 – November 21)
Your recent Klout score is really something to be
proud of, so why are you being so modest about
it? Your social media influence has been soaring
lately and can only go higher. As for those who
recognized you for your influence, make sure to
go give them some +Ks in return. Don’t forget to
grab some perks on the way!
Sagittarius (November 22 – December 21)
You may be feeling a little overwhelmed lately
by your obligations that you’re just about ready
to march away in frustration. However, this kind
of impulsive behavior isn’t helpful and won’t get
you anywhere. If to-do lists are not your kind of
thing, try downloading an app like Any.do that
will not only help you keep track of your tasks
but will also enable you to establish your priorities and maximize your potential.
Capricorn (December 22 – January 19)
Romance requires some serious effort once in
a while, and your romantic life needs quite a
bit of work right now. If you’re in a relationship,
take a break from the texting and call up your
significant other or have a face-to-face discussion instead of using FaceTime. If you’re not in a
relationship, take that online flirting offline and
make the connection with that person you’ve
been talking to a lot lately.
Leo (July 23 – August 22)
You have plenty going on lately without any
added work, so you may be finding it difficult to
focus on the array of business before you. Try not
to launch any new projects that you might not be
able to handle if it can be helped. If you’re having
trouble attending to your priorities, apps like Priority Matrix will be of great assistance.
Aquarius (January 20 – February 18)
You might have some juicy news to disclose, but
watch out where you share it and whom you
share it with. Think twice before revealing that
personal news on Facebook or Twitter, as you
never know who may read it and use it against
you. You would be surprised how very little
control you have over who sees and uses that
information once it is on the Internet.
Virgo (August 23-September 22)
Your creative ideas have moneymaking potential, but you may find that you’re at your most
brilliant when you’re meditating, relaxing and
reflecting on life. Take time out this week to
harness your imagination for fun, pleasure and
profit. If guided meditation is what you need,
Headspace is a great app that shows you how to
train your mind for a healthier, happier life.
Pisces (February 19 – March 20)
Usually you’re an extremely tolerant person, but
today your highly sensitive – and your temper is
short. To keep from blowing your top, avoid all
people who get on your nerves. Since your Twitter timeline and Facebook newsfeed are full of
them, now would be the ideal time to make use
of the ‘mute’ and ‘unfollow’ features.
ATTRACTS BRANDS
1. SNAPCHAT
WITH CUSTOM FILTERS
.com
Online journal bringing you the latest digital,
web, user insights & social media news!
As more users turn to Snapchat, an increasing
number of brands is following them there. Since
the application isn’t making any money, it is
important for its commercial survival that more
companies leverage Snapchat for advertising.
To attract more business, the ephemeral messenger
will soon implement a new feature – still in beta
testing – that will allow brands to use custom filters
showing their logo on images and videos sent to
their followers. Better advertising for brands could
finally lead the application to generate revenue,
but how will the users react to that? We’ll have to
wait and see.
ROLLS OUT 10 NEW
2. INSTAGRAM
EDITING FEATURES
GETS GREEDY WITH
3. YOUTUBE
ARTISTS
LOVE LEBANON A TOURIST
4. LIVE,
BAIT THAT MIGHT ACTUALLY WORK
Instafreaks, we know you spend a lot of time editing
pictures on other apps before publishing them on
Instagram. But the photo sharing app wants to make
your life easier so they listened to the desperate cries
of help of their customers: their latest update allows
you to manually control the intensity of the filters
and adjust brightness, contrast, warmth, saturation,
highlights, shadows, vignette and sharpen that work
with all of the app’s resident filters.
Are you an artist? Do you enjoy uploading your
music for free on YouTube?
For those of you who haven’t noticed, tourism in
Lebanon is close to dead.
Well, that’s over. The platform is launching its new
ad-free service, for which you have to pay. That
actually sounds fine, until you hear the downside:
any artist or label not signing up for this plan are
bound to see their content blocked. Robert Kyncl,
YouTube’s head of content and business operations,
says this will “ensure that all content on the platform
is governed by its new contractual terms.”
However, the Minister of Tourism has had enough
and is finally taking action: they launched a new
website aimed at making Lebanon attractive again
by proposing activity packages. The landing page
greets you with fresh, colorful pictures, the themes
are clear and well chosen, and finding what you
want is very easy. Needless to say, there are many
activities missing, but the website claims there is
a lot more coming soon… Stay tuned!
IWATCH IS GETTING CLOSER
5. THE
TO RELEASE
CAN TAKE YOUR
6. HACKERS
IPHONE AS HOSTAGE NOW
7. THE FIRST VINE FROM SPACE!
You’ve heard of it, you want it, you can’t wait
for it, but you’re going to have to. As all brands
are hopping on the wearable technologies
bandwagon, Apple is still in its preparation phase.
Just like every new Apple product about to be
released, we don’t have a lot of official info but
there are rumors… And not just specs this time!
Whether you are drunk, absent minded, tired or
just clumsy, Find My iPhone is a great feature.
Except for Australians. In a country where
everything wants to kill you, it’s a relief to find that
some things just want to extort money from you.
After selfies, Youtube videos, tweets and instagrams
from space, it’s time for some Vines! That’s when
the astronaut Reid Wiseman came into play. He
vined a single Earth orbit from the International
Space Station ISS, condensing 92 minutes into
6 seconds.
You would think these tools might get in the way
of the app’s simplicity but they are actually only
accessible if you choose to display the editing menu.
If not, just apply a filter and post away!
A report from Reuters announced that Quanta,
a Taiwanese hardware producer already making
some of Apple’s screens, will start the production
in July and distribution in October. Follow the
Source link for more details on the design.
Reports have been pouring in: more and more
people are having their iPhones broken into by
hackers taking over the Find My iPhone feature.
The phone’s owner would find his phone blocked
but displaying a message demanding ransom by
Paypal. Cyber phone-napping is now a thing.
Those of you who will see it might notice that in
the video, the sun doesn’t set, it just goes up and
down. That’s because when he shot the vine, the
ISS was flying parallel to the line that separates
the day and night surfaces on the earth – aka the
Terminator line.
UPDATES ITS NEWS
8.FACEBOOK
FEED TO ACCOMMODATE VIDEO ADS
BIRD IS BACK WITH APPLE’S
9.FLAPPY
NEW PROGRAMING LANGUAGE
DOMAINS: A NEW WAY
10. GOOGLE
TO GET YOUR WEBSITE STARTED
Just when you thought Facebook had hit advertising
rock bottom, they find a way to dive even deeper
into it. Yes, the largest social network in the world is
unrolling yet another feature for advertisers.
How many hours have you spent crashing your
flappy wings into Mario-esque green pipes?
Once again, Google has a project and as per use,
it’s for the greater good. A study shows that 55%
of small businesses don’t have their own website,
so the tech giant developed a service where
anyone can buy and/or sell domain names.
Starting this month, users who watch a lot of videos
from Facebook will see more of them on their
timeline, those who don’t will see less. It seems
harmless at first, but this tweak combined with the
announcement of video ads, you can see where
Facebook is going with this…
www.trendingbytes.com
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Well you can keep counting because after it was
pulled out of the App Store and Google Play,
Flappy Bird is coming back! Only NINE HOURS
after Apple launched Swift, their new programming
language, Nate Murray, the co-founder of Fullstack.
io, an online school for programming languages,
released a clone of the super- addictive game. Go
ahead folks, flap away!
facebook.com/trendingbytes
The platform will provide hosting through
partnerships with Squarespace, Wix, Weebly and
Shopify. Google will allow you to register your
domain privately and to create up to 100 emails
as well as 100 customized sub-domains.
twitter.com/TrendingBytes
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