Subzero Blue

Back From Casablanca

I got back from Casablanca (Morocco) last night, after a very busy couple of days.

I was there to participate in the “Maghreb Citizen Journalism Workshop” organized by IREX and MEPI.

The event went really well, with some really great presentations, input and discussions from the panelists and participants. I personally talked about “Emerging Technologies for Citizen Journalists”, touching on stuff like micro-blogging, RSS, mashups, and social networking.

It was awesome to meet so many interesting people in one place, some I had already met before, others I only knew online, and of course some I was introduced to for the first time.

Due to the tight schedule, I didn’t really get to go anywhere in Casablanca, other than the old souqs of Bab Marrakech. I really wanted to visit the Hassan II Mosque at least, but wasn’t able to. Hopefully I’ll get to do that in another visit to Morocco.

Casablanca, to me, felt like a cross between Tunis and Damascus. Tunis because of the architecture and the people, and Damascus because of the full streets and the mad driving.

My flights in and out of Casablanca were aboard Royal Air Maroc, the Moroccan national carrier, and based on some feedback I heard, I was really expecting the worst, but it turned out a lot better than I expected. In all aspects, it’s a lot better than the Air France flights between Tunis and Paris.

Maghreb Citizen Journalism Workshop In Casablanca

These past couple of days, a number of my friends, who happen to be bloggers or who follow the Tunisian blogosphere more closely than I have been able to do recently, have been telling me about the the “BIG” discussion, and in some cases fight going on in the blogosphere about the “Maghreb Citizen Journalism Workshop”, being held in Casablanca this coming weekend.

Last night and this morning, I thought I’d check things out myself and see what the whole fuss was about.

Well, it turns out that a number of Tunisian bloggers are totally against this workshop, and are calling out for everyone to boycott it, and putting labels on bloggers who are participating in it. Why? Well, because the workshop is organized by IREX and MEPI, who are financed by the US department of state; hence a connection with George W. Bush and the conspiracy theory that this workshop plays right into his evil plans for the region, or something like that.

Well, I’ll tell you what; I’m participating in this workshop, and not only that, I’m a panelist at the event, talking about “Emerging Technologies for Citizen Journalists”.
And most of all, I don’t care what anyone thinks of me or labels me for it.

My views have been made clear time and again on this blog on various issues, especially when it comes to Bush and the US government’s policies in the Middle East, and how wrong they have been and continue to be.

But, whether this be the simple blogger workshop that it is, limited only to blogging and citizen journalism issues; or even it were bigger in scope, taking in some geo-political aspects as well; I’d still take the same decision and go.

Any such event is an opportunity to pass your thoughts and opinions, and it’d be a shame to miss that; boycotting such an event would just be a passive act, which I can only view as negative.
The keywords for me are: “Engage”, “Dialogue” and “Being Heard”.

On the other hand, I respect the decision of people who hold views other than mine, and I don’t feel the need to label them or accuse them of anything, everyone has their way of doing things and their way of seeing things, the key is for us all to respect our different opinions.

Tunis International Book Fair 2008

Something you can know for sure about me is that I never miss a book fair; as a book worm, that’s the stuff I live off of.

Tunis’ annual international book fair opened yesterday, mainly today for the public, and so the plan was clear, we’d go book shopping today.

As has been the case over the past years, there’s a big percentage of religious books, the same ones, just published and packaged differently, all over the fair; some uninteresting politics books here; some children books there; some whatever elsewhere; …etc.
And the big challenge is to dig through all of that to find some real gems and interesting books. As I never miss these book fairs, I know where to go now to find the stuff I’m looking for, although I keep an eye open for other surprises.

The booths I always visit are:
– Dar Al Saqi, Lebanon (For Arabic books)
– Maktabat Al Madbouli, Egypt (Arabic books)
– Univers du Livre, Tunisia (English books)
– Maktabat Jareer, Saudi Arabia (Arabic books)

I’m quite happy with what I’ve accomplished today and the books I got to buy, both the ones in Arabic and the ones in English.
I’ll be going back again, maybe tomorrow, to revisit some booths, and to maybe get some French books too.

If you have some other must-visit booths, please do leave a comment telling us about it.

Twenty Nine

Today is March 11th again; Twenty nine years ago, on this very day, in a time close to this one, in a little clinic in downtown Tunis: I was born into this world.

Only one year away from Thirty now; an age a lot of people see as a milestone in their lives.

Anyway what does Twenty Nine mean to me?
Well, not much, but if it does mean anything to me, it’s in a context in which I look at the years of my life and what I’ve been able to accomplish in them.

All in all, I’m pretty happy with where I am in life right now, and what I’ve been able to do in these twenty nine years, but I still feel I could have done more, that there were more things I could have squeezed in to them, more chances I could have taken, and that it’s about time I go ahead and start taking some chances and jumping on new opportunities so that I don’t have to think the same thing in my next birthdays.

Like everyone in this world, I’m not very good at resolutions and hanging on to them, but what I would like to see myself doing in this next year is: organize my time better, do more of the things I’m passionate about, finally bring some of my ideas and projects to life, and prepare myself for some eventual major changes in my life.

What are my plans for today? The usual, spending it with my wife, son, parents and sister at our place. That’s pretty much more than enough for me.

Oh, and here’s a link to my wishlist, just in case; *hint hint*

Hamed Is Gone

A few days ago Hamed passed away…

Hamed was born in the city of Sbiba, in the governorate of Kasserine, in the west of Tunisia, almost 90 years ago.
He never got married, nor did he have kids; even though he dreamed of having a son to take care of and love until the last days of his life.
In the war, a bomb exploded in front of him, and the shock made him deaf and mute.
Some time after that he moved to Manouba where my grandfather offered him a room and a job on his farm.
He was there as my mother and her siblings grew up, and later as I, my sister and cousins grew up.

Over the years, he was nothing less than a member of the family.

About a month ago, he became very ill…
My uncle took him to Sbiba, to his brother’s house, to spend some days there with his family…

A few days ago, he passed away…
Personally it felt like another grandfather of mine had passed away…

Hamed, God bless you and may you rest in peace…
You were a great man, you will always be remembered and your memory always cherished…

Bills & Us

Between yesterday and today, I basically received every possible bill in our letter box. From the water bill to the telephone bill to the electricity bill and what not. Each one greeting you with a number even bigger than the other amidst the rising global prices for everything.

It’s the same case with everyone, and it is really a big hit to anyone’s budget to have all these bills fall upon them at once, draining their budget enormously.

What I can’t understand is why all these services don’t try to be more considerate of the citizens and try to have their bills sent out in different months so as to not put any additional strain on their budgets.

I remember I heard talk about this some years ago and I thought it was a good idea, but over the years I’ve continued to receive all my bills together, so maybe it was another project or idea that never saw the light of day, maybe it wasn’t well implemented or even well thought out. All I know is that every time the flood of bills starts I know my budget and bank account are going to take a big hit. It’s really frustrating and throws any saving plans out the window.

Anyway, hoping that things will get better in this area, I’ll just have to balance my budget once again to cover these bills as usual.

Free Advertising Banner Space On Subzero Blue

In an effort to encourage Arab startups, give them a push and spread out some love: I’m offering free banner space on my blog to promote their services.

The banners will be of 125×125 size and will be shown in the ads section on the right side column of the blog; yep two spots above the fold.

Everyone interested, send me an email at: subzeroblue[AT]gmail.com

Please include the banner you want displayed, as well as the url you want it to link to in the email.

Generally speaking, this offer is open for all Arab startups; still I do reserve the right to review the banner and service behind it before accepting or refusing to display the banner.

Requests will be handled on a FIFO (first in, first out) basis, but just because you’re late doesn’t mean you’ll lose out on the offer, you’ll just be scheduled for a later date.

This is a limited time offer, so get your requests in asap if you’re interested.

Eid Mubarak

First of all, Eid Mubarak to everyone…

Yesterday was the first day of Eid ul-Fitr here in Tunisia, as well as in most Arab and Muslim countries, marking the end of Ramadan for this year.

This Ramadan was a bit harder than previous ones, mainly because the weather is still hot, and the day is long; still it’s only a preview of what’s coming in the next years as Ramadan advances well into the burning hot endless summer days.

As usual, we hopped into our little car and zipped around Tunis, greeting family members and wishing them all a happy and blessed Eid.

Now we’ll be back to our usual lifestyle and daily routine, back to a normal diet, back to everything as it was a month ago; I hope, at least, that some people will take away something more from it than just a few extra kilos from all the eating and sweets, something a bit more spiritual.

Again, may it be a blessed and happy Eid for everyone.

Canon 350D: My Digital Rebel

Finally, and after so much waiting and delaying, I got myself a DSLR camera; I am now the proud owner of a Canon 350D…

I simply love it… This is a great and fun camera… And it covers all my needs for the time being…

The kit comes with a Canon 18-55mm lens, and I also got it a Tamron 70-300mm lens, a tripod and a really nice Mekko bag.

Expect more photos here and on my flickr from now on as I discover the different settings of the camera and go wild snapping shots of everything around me.