I am still here, in case anyone was worrying. Work is going well, and as ever there's plenty to do - updates for the by now mercilessly neglected Tom in Egypt have thus fallen off the wagon.
A few things to check out:
The Arab-West Report website is slowly but surely making progress - check out the couple of YouTube videos we have posted along with TopNews items, courtesy of new intern Bill Gallo.
For Meedan, I've used translated content from our site to write up a couple of media round ups for the Economist: An "idiotic jihad" (on the attempted Times Square bomb) and Reactions to the raid (on the flotilla killings)
Hopefully these will be a regular feature over at the Economist; they're great fun to write and the translators at Meedan have put in a sterling effort to help me produce them.
Currently missing UK coverage of the World Cup, and UK media savagery of horrendous goalkeeping errors. Bring back David Seaman!
Exciting news today - Meedan has taken off its beta wheels and launched an awesome new site. It really is beautiful, you simply have to check it out:
For anyone with an interest in Arabic, the Middle East, or even just current affairs, I'd thoroughly encourage you to sign up. Meedan is, and is going to become, a really great place to discuss fascinating subjects and share news stories with people who maybe don't speak our language.
For those amongst for whom Arabic is something of a passion, Meedan is an excellent place to practice and improve translation skills both ways, and at the same time be contributing to something really meaningful. Too many times in my degree I was translating tired old material just for the sake of practice. At Meedan, you can practice (aided by the Meedan pro-team) while genuinely helping bridge a language gap that has for too long separated the English and Arabic speaking worlds.
Rather than rant any more - and I could - I'll leave you with this awesome video produced by Maya Zankoul and Mohammad Saleh Kayali which explains the basic idea behind Meedan (I've selected the Arabic version here. Check out MeedanTube for an array of videos and tutorials about the site) Enjoy!
Thanks to all at Meedan for the awesome efforts put into making this happen, I'm very proud to be a part of the team.
For those of you who haven't already checked out my blog roll, have a look at these new additions:
Qifa Nabki
Emad Maher's Photoblog
Hummus Nation - A humourous take on Lebanese affairs
Al-Masri Al-Yum - From the creators of Boursa Exchange, a Cairo food blog with a genius title
I'm particularly impressed by Emad Maher's photos of Alexandria - they really capture the city in a way I've never seen another photo manage. Full credit to Emad, I hope on one trip to the Capital of Memory I can meet the man himself and perhaps purchase some prints
Here are sites and blogs I read regularly and would recommend to anyone, particularly those interested in Egypt or the Middle East.
Bikya Masr - breaking through the clutter of Egyptian news
SON OF A DUCK - an orientalist's observations in Egypt
The Arabist - a website on Arab politics and culture
Syria News Wire - fresh, independent news from the streets of Damascus and beyond
Informed Comment - thoughts on the Middle East, history and religion
Dormir Debout - thoughts of a student of old Iranian languages at SOAS
THE BOURSA EXCHANGE - a comment on daily life in downtown Cairo
Saudi Jeans - news, commentary, and personal views on political and social issues in Saudi Arabia
Abu Aardvark - comment on Middle Eastern affairs
At War (NYT) - notes from the front line (formerly Baghdad Bureau)
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