CLOUD TURNS ONE EXCLUSIVE ISSUE WITH TEAM PHOTOS
ANNIVERSARY ISSUE
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PRIORITY CLASH: HUMMUS OR TECHNOLOGY? WHILE WE’RE BUSY MAKING RECORD-BREAKING HUMMUS & TABBOULEH PLATES, TEL AVIV’S ADVANCES SCORE HIGH
SAINT HOAX
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CLEARTAG STAYING RELEVANT AND ON THE BALL
CYBER SECURITY
LEBANESE COMPANIES HAVE NO CLUE ABOUT IT
MIDDLE EASTERN “POPLITICAL” ARTIST GENERATES BUZZ WORLDWIDE
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TEAM
EDITORIAL
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EDITOR IN CHIEF Mohammad Hijazi mhijazi@cloud961.com
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STAFF WRITERS Darine Sabbagh darine@cloud961.com
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CONTRIBUTORS Armen Bakkalian Ayman Jalloul Dalia Ramadan Dr. Cloud Fida Chaaban Jad Ismail Joseph Maalouf Lara Al Sous Lynn Tabbara Manal Mohsen Maurice Rustom Mohamad Faez Tarabichi Nadim Frenn Nour Rifai Nuhad Hamdan Raja Riachi Sarah Sabbagh Tarek Bekdache Trending Bytes Yara Abboud Yara Nahle
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All rights reserved Š 2014. Opinions expressed are solely those of the writers or contributors and do not express the view of the magazine as an entity. No part of this magazine may be reproduced or transmitted in any form without the written permission of the publisher. Images used are credited when necessary. Some photos used are licensed under a Creative Commons Commercial License and are attributed. 3 CLOUD961
FROM THE EDITOR
CELEBRATING ONE YEAR OF CLOUD MOHAMMAD HIJAZI Editor in Chief @mhijazi mhijazi@cloud961.com
I
can vividly remember the first time I was briefed about the concept of Cloud961 by our managing director. Back then, I had no time to even think about anything outside of the realm of the first Social Media Awards (SMAs) in Beirut, which were coming up. There was just so much to do. I must say I was skeptical about how the concept of the magazine would be received by the online community and digital agencies in Lebanon, knowing how the local vibe is generally tainted with competition and jealousy.
At that point, Cornerstone PR, the publisher of the magazine, wanted to sponsor the SMAs, but did not want to be a traditional sponsor with brochures and rollup banners related to their work. They wanted to give back to the online community and put their voice through a louder speaker, and attract a relatively traditional audience who still believes in print media. Cloud961 was born on April 30, on the night of the SMAs, as a gift to the online community in Lebanon. We started with two staff writers, few contributors, and 24 pages. In one year, our team has grown to encompass more than 30 writers and contributors, in addition to a full-fledged marketing and management team, constituting one of the biggest magazine teams in the country. Our second year will witness even more expansion, for we will hopefully launch two independent monthly issues in UAE and KSA. Despite that some of the agencies insist the purpose of the magazine is to steal their clients (mostly because they are insecure about their capabilities), Cloud961 has been well received throughout the online community in Lebanon, and it has turned out to be worth the while. In one
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year, We have distributed over 20,000 print issues and received a whopping 280,000 online downloads. Over the past year, we have learned a lot from the community’s feedback. The quality of our articles has improved substantially and our design has become more appealing. It is thanks to your feedback that we are introducing with this issue a new layout, with a smaller page size and an improved magazine feel, for a more practical reading experience. Cloud961 will always be the online community’s magazine. Raising its issues, defending its rights, and promoting its people are our priorities. Due to the generous investment of our publisher and the trust of our advertisers, we are entering our second year while remaining free of charge for both print and online versions because we believe that access to information and knowledge should be available to all. On behalf of the whole team, I would like to thank our readers for their tremendous support, and our team for the great work that they have been doing. Cheers to Cloud, a second year full of success, and to the online community!
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CONTENT
#OP-EDS
#DESIGN
- ALERT! Tel Aviv: On the way to Becoming the next Silicon Valley? P. 13
#FASHION
- Fida Chaaban: I Don’t Have Facebook… and I’m not Missing Out on Anything P.12
- Confessions of a Frustrated Tweep-Wannabe: Why I Will Never be Smart Enough for Twitter P. 15
#ON THE CLOUD
- Make a Change: Lebanese Companies Have Poor Awareness of Online Security P. 18
#BLOGOSPHERE - Blog of the Month: What Rhymes with Ellen P. 26
- #SegregatedByColor: In Solidarity with Families Torn Apart P. 42
- Beau-tographer: The Unsung Heroes Behind Every Star P. 43
#E-COMMERCE - Is Israel Infiltrating our Online Borders? P. 44
#WISDOM
- Social Media Platform: Advocates of Change or Backwardness? P. 46
#SPECIAL FEATURE - Meet the Team Behind Cloud961 P. 36
#ARTS
- Saint Hoax: Middle Eastern “POPlitical” Artist Generates Buzz Worldwide P. 40
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#COVER DESCRIPTION Cloud961 Turns One.
Price: $33
Price: $110
Price: $27
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CONTENT
#GADGETS
#MONEY
- Android Wear: Why it Can Wait and what You Should Know before Buying P. 48
- Sponsored Stories Down the Throats P. 61
- Are Smart-Watches the Next Big Thing? P. 47
#APPS
- Lebanese App Stores: Nothing Short of Ghost Towns P. 51
#SOCIAL GAMES
#BUSINESS
- Starting Up: Relying Solely on Social Media to Market a New Concept in Lebanon P. 62 - Crowdfunding: Abdallah Absi: I Started Zoomaal Due to my Repetitive Failures Caused by Lack of Funding P. 64
- Confessions of a Closeted Candy Crush Addict & the Trick to get Infinite Lives! P. 53
- Agencies: Cleartag: Staying Relevant and on the Ball P. 66
- South Park “The Stick of Truth” Banned in the Middle East P. 53
#EDUCATION
#MARKETING
- Tracy Bou Gebrayel: I Manage the Accounts I Work on as if they Were my Own P. 56 - The Nightmares of a Community Manager: A real-life nightmare you can never wake up from P. 58 - 8 Reasons why Brands Should be on Twitter P.59
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-Investigating Bitcoin P. 60
- Catching up or not? It is only a matter of time P. 68
#SOCIAL MEDIA CHANGING LIVES
- Social Media Hits Hard on the Fouad Boutros Project: The Downsides and Alternatives P. 70 - Social Media Activists Rally to Prevent Relocating LAK P.72
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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 editor@cloud961.com.
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with information technology solutions Web design, digital solutions, social media development, business intelligence & reporting, enterprise information portals, software quality assurance, web content management, SEO...
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OP-EDS
I DON’T HAVE FACEBOOK… AND I’M NOT MISSING OUT ON ANYTHING By Fida Chaaban Editor in Chief of Entrepreneur Middle East @fidachaaban Yes, the title is accurate. I do not have a Facebook account, and my life isn’t adversely affected by it! Before you gasp and mentally review your tiny (if any) list of colleagues and friends who are not on Facebook, just give me a minute to explain. I do use social media, and I use it throughout the day— and sometimes throughout the night; hello, Twitter-induced insomnia—. The media I do use—I’ll get to those in a second—are still fun, interesting, and effective. They do not have the “reach” Facebook has, but who says I want my personal life to have reach? On a personal and a professional level, my favorite platform is Twitter, by far, followed by Google+ (yes, I have a super active account and tons more people I know do as well), followed by LinkedIn, then last but not least, Pinterest. I do not so much surf Pinterest as I do use it to aggregate my online interests and bookmark things I like, in addition to pinning my own articles so that I can keep track of my work. It is easy to use, and it has served its purpose a million times, especially Do it well or don’t do it at all, is kind of how I look at social media. when I do not want to go hunting for a link to an article I wrote three years ago. Presto, Pinterest is the solution! So four platforms is quite enough, in my opinion. For me to be super active—have 12 CLOUD961
an engaging presence and be a proper part of the platform’s community—I cannot even think about venturing into the Instagram and Vine sphere. I already use Insta for work, and I have no desire to use it on a personal I do not know about you, but I find having a digi-chronicle of my life on a medium that can be considered the biggest human data mining project in history is creepy. so why even bother? level. It just does not “speak” to me, despite the fact that I am an extremely visual person. I find Vine videos irrelevant, and I don’t see myself actually becoming great at it, so why even bother? “Do-it-well-or-don’t-do-itat-all” is kind of how I look at social media. I know I won’t do food images well. I forsure won’t do selfies well either. My account would #InstaSuck? Now, on to the monster that started it all. Facebook for me is the hotbed of all superfluous information. I do not care about Jackie’s snappy comment on Mike’s Wall, and I certainly do not want to join the conversation. I also do not care that you have found a hilarious image of a cat with its paw on an apple. I do not need access to your updated 57-image album of last night’s club extravaganza, and I doubt that I will see anything that I have not seen before. Facebook does have the advantage of keeping you connected to people, but it also has the disadvantage
of exposing you to the guy who sat across from you in grade four, and the irksome social acquaintance you run into every so often. Sure, you can “put them on limited profile”, but why bother even connecting at all? Because it is Facebook and it is a form of rejection if you do not. I think it is a spam-ridden medium, and the spam is a nonstop human mess. Your cousin Vicky posts incessant status updates about her boyfriend, and the “hide from newsfeed button” is not enough. Why? Because if you are going to have Facebook, the spam goes both ways. It is a medium that virtually begs you to post lifetime play-by-plays. Cousin Vicky isn’t the only over-sharer on the Internet, and I bet you have at least 50 friends that do exactly what she does. I do not know about you, but I find having a digi-chronicle of my life on a medium that can be considered the biggest human data mining project in history is creepy. And to me, Facebook is a human data mining project. So it is really okay that I missed out on your Thailand vacation pics (on both Instagram and Facebook), and it does not bother me that I do not have access to our “mutual friends” list. It is actually better that way, and it reduces the amount of junk info that I have to process. I would rather just keep my friends close… and I do not need Facebook to do it. See you online, tweeps!
OP-EDS
ALERT! TEL AVIV: ON THE WAY TO BECOMING THE NEXT SILICON VALLEY? While we’re busy making record-breaking hummus and tabbouleh plates, Tel Aviv’s advances score high By Mohamad Faez Tarabichi
mfaezt
To begin, for those of you who do not know what “Silicon Valley” refers to, it is a region located south of San Francisco, and it is home to many of the world’s largest and most prestigious tech companies and startups. The term initially referred to the region’s large number of silicon chip visionaries and manufacturers, but ultimately came to refer to all high tech businesses in the area, and is now used as a metonym for the American high technology division. So here is the story: Israel has been concentrating over the last 20 years upon luring big tech corporations, and it is succeeding. Companies such as Google, Microsoft, Intel, Hewlett-Packard and Oracle have been flooding into Israel, causing a technological tsunami which is boosting their economy and leading the country to have a place in the Top Ten Most Technologically Advanced Countries list. “Silicon Wadi” (also known as the “Israeli Silicon Valley”) is located in the area around Tel Aviv and is witnessing a wide set of startups that are successfully flourishing, making it a catchy destination for prosperous entrepreneurs to come empty their bags of gold coins. The city counts over 700 startups this year and 1,200 tech companies. That’s a lot, for a population of just 400,000. In addition, Tel Aviv was ranked 2nd most startup-friendly city in the world, just after Silicon Val-
ley itself. Their municipality is even planning on connecting the entire city to a WIFI network, for free. Now I am sure you must feel pretty ashamed and pathetic upon reading this—well, unless you’re from Israel— Tel Aviv was ranked 2nd most startup-friendly city in the world, just after Silicon Valley itself. because of the humongous amount of potential—other than being sarcastic, of course—left unexploited in our country. Year after year, some people thrive to create, to achieve, to grow, yet they are held back by the corruption of a country so knee-deep in political matters, to the point that it cannot even deal with the basic needs of its people. A few years back, a Lebanese collective culinary achievement made the headlines. The Lebanese community wanted to break a Guinness World Record by preparing the biggest hummus and tabbouleh and beating Israel’s record, to prove once and for all the true origins of those dishes. Now I am sure the Israelis’ sleep is being disturbed after having been dethroned as the “kings of hummus”. However, it looks like they have managed to kick our butts in being technologically and economically advanced, but what the heck, we don’t care since our
economy is built on unpaid salaries and our Internet is the slowest in the world. The Lebanese community does include a lot of creative minds, genius entrepreneurs, rich tycoons, and endless assets and possibilities, all of which can lead to a whole new beginning; a beginning where fresh grads can directly get a job, a beginning where everyone has a chance to invest in startups, especially in the digital scene, a beginning where Beirut is the Middle East’s online hub. We should not forget to mention the few startup communities that are facing the odds and battling their way into the Lebanese market and the wired world, such as ArabNet and AltCity. Abiding by high values and professional work ethic, they have been giving the necessary push I am talking about, but they still lack one vital condition for bigger success and improvement: rival startups. Israel has been concentrating over the last 20 years upon luring big tech corporations, and it is succeeding. So let us all thrive towards ending the exodus of brains and talent, and try making the Lebanese online façade one of the best in the region. Time and patience are much needed; will and money, too. But meanwhile, let us help ourselves to some more hummus and tabblouleh, shall we? 13 CLOUD961
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OP-EDS
WHY I WILL NEVER BE SMART ENOUGH FOR TWITTER Confessions of a frustrated tweep-wannabe By Raja Riach
@rajariachi
I do not understand it. I have tried. I have worked hard at it—probably harder than I have ever worked at anything in my life. I do not know how to use it. I do not know what to use it for. The worst part is: I really, really want to learn. Everyone else does it, and it just feels wrong that I cannot. Is there something wrong with me? Am I just too stupid to communicate in less than 140 characters? I go back every few months, try it again, try following new people, try tweeting, but nothing works. I wake up every day and there are more than 200 new tweets. Am I supposed to read them all? Should I just allocate 10 minutes every hour for Twitter? Should I unfollow The FinanIs there something wrong with me? Am I just too stupid to communicate in less than 140 characters?
cial Times, who spam my feed with every article they publish, or should I be concerned that Word 2007 does not recognize “unfollow” as a word? I cannot unfollow The Financial Times, It is at their website that I have read that article «What Your Twitter Account Says About You». Without them, how will I seem... what is a fancy word for smart? Why is it so much harder to get followers than it is to get friends on Facebook and what is the point of tweeting if I only have five followers? It is like a cruel 21st century chicken and egg conundrum. What comes first, the tweet or the follower? If there is no one following me, then there is no one to read my tweet, so how would they know that I›m worth following? It is all so very confusing. People tell me they will retweet my tweets,
but no one ever does. I have stopped tweeting. I have deleted them all, erasing proof of my failed attempts. I tell people I do not see the point of tweeting, putting on a brave face. I just use it to get my news, you know, because I 140 characters to say what you want? I cannot conceive of this. Twitter seems to be a pretty aggressive place that brings out the worst in people.
follow The Financial Times. Even that is a lie. I cannot really find the news. It is all buried under weird twisted Ricky Gervais selfies of him in the bath. And now there are novels with 140 characters or less per page. That is a pretty harsh way to waste paper, having an online social media communication thingy inflict that kind of damage on the environment. Who saw that coming? After all of this, I still do not know what to use it for. Do I communicate on it? Do I follow my favorite bands? Do I follow famous people? I already do all these things pretty effectively on Whatsapp, Songkick, Reddit Ama›s. Almost every scandal I have heard about seems to have come from Twitter. From Anthony Weiner showing us his… well… wiener, to The Colbert Report tweeting something about Asians; it seems things tend to be taken out of context on Twitter. 140 characters to say what you want? I cannot conceive of this. Twitter seems to be a pretty aggressive place that brings out the worst in people. Sure, it has given us the occasional opportunity to look at Patrick Stewart in a lobster costume in a bathtub on Halloween. But beyond that, I have not been able to find my place on it. There is no moral to my story. Just genuine heartfelt confusion.
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NEWSFEED
Local
International
1-Facebook’s Privacy Dinosaur If you have posted to Facebook recently, you may have noticed a new graphic: the privacy dinosaur. The company is testing a pop-up reminder that encourages users to pay attention to whom they are sharing their content with on the platform, and has appointed a blue laptop-wielding cartoon dinosaur to deliver the message.
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2-Twitter Lets You Add 4 Photos to Tweets, Tag Anyone in Them You are now able to add four photos to a single tweet and for the first time, you can tag up to 10 friends in a Twitter photo, without taking away from your 140-character count. The photos will look like a collage, but if you click on any photo, it will expand. 3-HTC’s New Smartphone: The One M8 HTC has launched a new smartphone, the One M8. It has the same design as the previous one, but has a major upgrade, the Duo Camera, which can capture depth information and allows the user to perform some software tricks after taking a photo. Its specs include a 2.3GHz quad-core Snapdragon 801 processor, 2GB of RAM, 16GB or 32GB of storage and finally, support for expanding your storage with up to a 128GB microSD card.
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4-LG’s “Smart Bulb” LG has launched the “Smart Bulb” in Korea, a light bulb that connects with Android and iOS devices, providing several features. The bulb will let you control lighting in the house with a smartphone, and it can also flash-alert when you get a phone call. The light connects through both Bluetooth and WiFi, letting it flash when you get a phone call, or (with Android) pulse to the beat of the music. 5-Google Plans on Invading your Living Room With Android TV Google is launching an Android TV. The device will be compatible with gaming, and will come with an optional gaming controller. It will support voice commands and focus on finding content quickly. Owners of the Android TV will use a remote control featuring a four-way directional pad to scroll through cards and view recommendations. Android TV will also include voice input support and notifications. 6-Twitter Web Adds Support For Emoji Twitter has started supporting emoji on web and desktop versions of the service. Previously, when users tweeted emoji images from their phones, those showed up as hollow boxes on the web. Now both Windows 7 and 8 and OS X can display emoji in their default browsers (IE and Safari, respectively) but not yet in other browsers such as Chrome or Firefox. But with this new feature, if your browser does not natively support emoji, you will see Twitter’s custom emoji instead. 7-LinkedIn Says Mystery App is Soon to be Unveiled The professional networking company has
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NEWSFEED «more apps planned» for 2014 with one of them coming very soon, according to Parker Barrile, VP of Product for LinkedIn Talent Solutions. The app could hit the market in the next few weeks. Resting upon a base of 277 million members worldwide, the new app should help LinkedIn reach a larger audience. 8-Amazon Smartphone With 3D Display Coming This Fall Amazon’s hardware efforts will soon extend into the smartphone space with a new handset this fall, according to a report. Following years of rumors, leaks and analyst speculation, The Wall Street Journal claimed that Amazon is planning to announce its own handset in June. Scheduled to begin shipping toward the end of September, the phone will reportedly feature four front-facing cameras or sensors to track the user’s vision, and offer a glasses-free 3D-viewing experience.
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9-Twitter Rolls out its Facebook-Like Profile Redesign Twitter has introduced a major redesign of user profiles. The new look, which Twitter has been testing in February, adds a lot more user information and several new features, and looks quite similar to Facebook’s user profiles. The new design features a larger profile photo and a customizable header image. Twitter highlights your most engaging tweets by displaying them in slightly larger font than the rest. You can also pin one of your tweets to the top of the page. 10-Facebook Improves Free Voice Calls in Messenger App Facebook has updated its Messenger app with improvements to the app’s voice calling feature. This latest version makes it easier for users to call by changing the location of the Call button so it appears next to a contact’s name within conversations. Facebook had first added voice calling to its Messenger app back in January 2013.The update comes weeks after leaked photos showing voice calling on WhatsApp, a feature rumored to be in the works for some time, went viral. 11-Verify Apps Updated on Android Security and malware have been hot issues in the world of Android lately, but for all the wrong reasons. Google has now updated Verify Apps, its security scanner. Previously, the latter would simply scan every app installed from outside the Play Store. With the latest update, though, apps will continuously be monitored to make sure they do not pull nefarious tricks that were not detected when they were first downloaded. 12-Soon-to-Happen: Twitter Pop-Up Notifications for Web The notification will appear in the lower-right hand corner of the user’stimeline. They are also interactive; you can directly use the notification to follow someone back or reply to a message.
13-Adobe Launches Lightroom for iPad Lightroom users can now edit images and manage their photo collections from their iPads. The app, which is backed by Adobe’s Cloud Service, will automatically sync selected image collections from the desktop version of Lightroom to the iPad app, and vice versa.
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14-Facebook Tweaks Newsfeed to Fight Spam
Facebook says the algorithm change is in response to user feedback, and hopes to minimize the visibility of content the company considers «spamm». Under the “Spam” category are posts including «like-baiting» (a strategy that actively encourages users to like, comment or share content with friends to boost its circulation). Posts with a higher number of likes naturally get more visibility. So, content that actively seeks that kind of engagement from users is gaming the system, Facebook wrote in a blog post. 15-Facebook Gains FTC Approval for WhatsApp and a Strict Privacy Warning Facebook has cleared a major regulatory hurdle in its acquisition of WhatsApp when the Federal Trade Commission (FTC) approved the deal with a warning on privacy obligations. The $19 billion-deal will still need to gain approval from international regulators, but the OK from the FTC is an important step in the process of finalizing the acquisition. The FTC has sent a letter to Facebook and WhatsApp outlining that the former will need to honor the customer privacy terms which the app currently has in place. 16-Audi Launches «Tap2Pay» Service: Pay With Your Bluetooth-Equipped Cell Phone Under the slogan «Turn Your Smartphone Into a Credit Card», Bank Audi has launched a new innovative service for the first time in Lebanon and the region, the Tap2Pay Near Field Communication (NFC) Mobile Payment. The Tap2Pay service was launched during a press conference held at the Bank Audi Plaza at Bab Idriss on April 15, 2014 under the patronage of the Ministry of Telecommunications and in partnership with Bank Audi ‘s objective is to optimize cashless payments and to introduce a series of Tap2Pay contactless payment services in Lebanon and in the region through different devices: cards (launched in 2013), mobiles (for NFC smartphones), stickers (for non-NFC-enabled mobiles), watches and bracelets (for the youth and trendy). 17-Cost of Phone Cards Cut in Half The Telecommunications Ministry has reduced the price of local and international phone calls by up to 50 percent for prepaid cards issued by the state-run telecom provider, Ogero. Telecoms Minister Boutros Harb told reporters at a news conference that he would “reduce the price of phone calls made through the prepaid cards Telecarte and Kalam by 50 percent for landline calls and 30 percent for cellular phone calls.” People using the cards will now pay LBP50 instead of LBP100 for every minute of call time from a landline and LBP100 instead of LBP200 from a mobile phone. As for international calls, users will now pay LBP300 between 7 a.m. and 10 p.m., and LBP200 for the rest of the day.
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ON THE CLOUD
MAKE A CHANGE LEBANESE COMPANIES HAVE POOR AWARENESS OF ONLINE SECURITY By Jad Ismael
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@JadIsamel
ON THE CLOUD I have been involved with computers pretty much since I was 6 years old. Growing up, I was always the kind of people who wanted to learn how to use new software and technology. I later started to develop and code websites, and learned a lot about security along the way. With time, I started researching almost every website I logged into. Consequently, it has come to my attention that the hand on defense and networking in this country and most of the Arab World is the worst; we seem to be way behind compared to the rest of the globe. The Internet has made bank and company softwares accessible to everyone, and since those are not always updated and insulated by powerful programming language and the system itself, they become easy to hack.
Grand Cinemas
I never understood why Grand Cinemas ignored my e-mail. Actually, all 30 companies and two banks that were involved in my research have deficiencies when it comes to development skills and security. It is very disappointing that Grand Cinema’s booking system has been online for almost five years now, with such poor code. The first bug—common on more than 70 percent of Lebanese websites that use online payments—, simply allowed users to buy for free by replacing the payment gateway reply with the digit 0. The Internet has made banks and companies’ software accessible to everyone, and since those are not always updated and insulated by powerful programming language and the system itself, they become easy to hack. Banks
MEA
One of the first websites that I scrutinized was the Middle East Airlines site. There was a way to manipulate the system to get free tickets. So I emailed them about finding a bug on their website. We met for hours on end, the team was very friendly and happy to talk to me—It does not happen every day that somebody finds a bug in your system and informs you. Although I have emailed many other companies such as Grand Cinemas and Lifestyles, MEA were the only company to ever respond. Scoopcity and Vox
I was once able to change my user type to “administrator” on the ScoopCity website, and I have published about that. Scoopcity did not reply at first. Meanwhile I discovered that there was another bug on Scoopcity and that Vox›s user logs are not protected. This finding resulted in the publication of an article about both companies. Maggy Farah
I was trying out Maggy’s mobile application, using a technology that allows me to see what the application is opening out of the user’s sight. I found out that the app opens a page that has links to all the book pages. I wrote a small script and got the book for free.
If you can break into a system where there is someone actively monitoring and waiting for you to attack them, then I must say, that would be taking it to a whole new level. Bank Audi knew about the bug since day one, but they could not do anything about it. The other day, I was checking a website which they have updated following my previous test. It took me about 20 seconds to break into it using a different method. The only way that banks can actually keep the tabs on the bugs upon their platforms is by checking each transaction that passes. Imagine doing that for more than 50 companies, with each averaging 20 transactions per day, at least. Over the last two months, I have been meeting with the companies and banks, trying to help them in improving their code. The first step to hack any website, is to take time to understand how the website works, its functionalities, and how the website responds to my request. Since the payment gateway are using my PC to send the information to the other site, I can easily manipulate that. by simply changing the payment gateway response to 0. And that’s the only way that was caught by the bank on their own.
My appearance on “LelNasher” and Why my Article About Bank Audi Was Stalled
What nobody knew is that even before deciding to do the episode with LelNasher, I had been trying to reach Bank Audi for a month and a half, only to find out later that I may have been contacting the wrong department. Bank Audi is the leading bank when it comes to E-commerce websites. Most of the Lebanese online stores use Bank Audi’s Online Payment method. The payment system is provided by MasterCard. it requires a simple integration with one’s website, a secret key is provided to encrypt the messages between Audi and the merchant. The encrypted messages are sent along with other raw data. Amid my research, I have discovered 3 types of vulnerabilities that allow anybody to easily manipulate the payment process. The problem is that merchants trust developers and development companies that are not capable of implementing this payment gateway. But when I reached the people responsible for this payment gateway, everybody freaked out and tried to stall me. They had no idea about what has been going on. For them, anybody who finds bugs in the system is a hacker—nobody has heard of white hackers. I didn’t know that the IT department had no idea about my e-mails. So I decided to let my article out, my research was important to me, and I simply had to publish it. The article went viral, and within few hours Bank Audi’s IT department surprised me with their friendly and positive review. They thought that the article was well written, although the title blames the bank for the client’s code. I hope that soon we will be able to become a startup nation. We have potential and investment capabilities; all we need at this point is the “will to change”. 19 CLOUD961
ON THE CLOUD
ONLINE AD MISPLACEMENT When the apple turns out to be poisoned By Nour Rifai Vice President, AUB’s Online Collaborative @nourrifai
In an era during which people are shifting from watching TV and reading newspapers to surfing the web, the time spent online is exponentially increasing. This phenomenon is seen as an opportunity for businesses to market their products and services. Online ads sound like a miracle sent from heaven to help businesses reach a wide audience. They cost less than TV commercials or billboards, and can be implemented easily and fast. What is more, they do not require hiring an ad agency to produce a TV spot, and they reach a rather large audience, unbound by geographical factors. The only problem is, those ads are placed on websites rarely relevant to their target audience, and thus 20 CLOUD961
their outcome is not always as effective as it should be. Online ad placement is generally based on keyword frequency and does not usually take into account the context of these words. Most businesses manage to get away with those inefficiencies, and actually benefit from online advertising. One of the many examples is the likelihood of seeing ads for an online diet coaching program on a website that sells treadmills; the keyword in that case might be “fat”, “muscles”, “body”, etc. However, it sometimes does not happen this way and we end up having irrelevant and unrelated ads on certain websites. Even worse, some very unfortunate businesses see their image damaged and distorted due to a random
ad placement—or should I say misplacement? Apple is one of those unlucky businesses that faced an ad mishap, as it were. On Monday March 24, The New York Times’ online readers were surprised to see a large animated Apple iPad Air ad running next to an article about the Malaysian Airline flight. The ad depicted an underwater scuba diver right above the article titled “Malaysia Says Jet Went Down in Ocean.” The ad stayed online for 2 hours and a half after which both parties agreed to take it down. But of course, the buzz lasted way beyond those 2 hours. From newspapers to business websites, to individuals, this unfortunate coincidence was the center of attention.
ON THE CLOUD
NEWS SATIRE WEBSITES: WHAT IS THE PRICE OF BEING FUNNY? By Nour Rifai @nourrifai
They say, «Don’t believe everything you read on the Internet», and I guess we all agree with that. But then you might ask yourself, “How can I know what is info and what is intox?” To that, I can tell you that usually, it is easy. You just need to investigate the source of the information. On Twitter, if the account is verified or if the person has a big number of followers, you may consider them a credible source. Same thing for websites and blogs: if there are no typos, if the tone is serious, the layout corporate, the subjects relevant and recent, we tend to take the information for granted. And no matter how bizarre the story is, we tend to believe it. We think that if the CNN or the Times share an article, it usually contains true information. If this is not the case and a mistake has been made, they correct it as soon as it is noticed. Now imagine a news website that looks very serious and uses a formal tone, but whose content is actually completely fabricated. This phenomenon of “parody news” is developing more and more, and new websites are emerging, giving way to more and more confusion.
What is the price of satire, though? Founded in 1988 as a hardcopy newspaper and then modified into a digital format in 1996, “The Onion” is one of the most renowned parody news websites. The layout is very professional and every detail is studied. Mind you, even the ads are parodied! This product does not exist, but the ad takes you to DSW’s website “Le Gorafi” is often called the “French Onion”. It all started as a Twitter account opining on the 2012 French presidential elections. Soon after, a news parody website was born. Here again the tone is serious and the layout resembles that of any reliable news website. The impact and pseudo-credibility, as it were, of “Le Gorafi” led Christine Boutin, French ex-Minister of Housing and Urban Development, to cite the source on live TV last February.
providing its readers with realistic, yet shocking news. “Personal ‘Selfie Assistant’ becomes must-have fashion accessory across Middle East” is a headline that might ring true, to some naïve outsiders. The region’s “Bling Bling” reputation and extravagant, popular emirs and princesses might reinforce the realism of the idea of a personal selfie assistant. In addition, the website has an e-boutique that sells mugs and t-shirts with funny messages on them. Just as serious-looking as your other average news website The list of satire news websites is long, but all claim that the purpose behind what they do is not to cause harm. However, should those websites state more obviously that the information they are sharing is actually fake? Or is it the reader’s responsibility to be more cautious while surfing the web?
Written formally yet stating: Since 1826, all the information from contradicting sources Regionally, “The Pan-Arabia Enquirer” is the most famous in the category of satire news websites. With topics relevant to the Middle East, this website has been active since 2010,
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ON THE CLOUD
By Joelle Hajji
@joellehajji
#NoLawNoVote Campaign Last month, the #NoLawNoVote campaign reached almost everyone including big brands in support of women who are domestically abused. The parliament has approved the law to protect women from domestic violence. However, the law has been passed without the amendments requested by KAFA. KAFA’s amendment aimed to end the right of the husband to rape his wife and the parliament didn’t pass that. The first step for women’s rights has been made, but let us all hope KAFA’s demands will also be heard.
#VRLTakeMeToTheStars Competition Virgin Radio Lebanon is sending you and your friend to see, up-close and personal: Katy Perry, Justin Timberlake, Miley Cyrus, and One Direction! Live in London! Pure Holidays will take you there, all expenses paid, and Virgin Radio Lebanon will make sure you get up-close and personal with your favorite star! All you have to do is post a photo on your social media account, holding a sign saying “I Love Virgin Radio Lebanon”, and hashtag #VRLTakeMeToTheStars If they call you back or re-post your picture, you are in the final draw, taking place on Virgin Radio on May 2. You will be entitled to choose one of the following: - Miley Cyrus at O2 Arena in London on Tuesday May 6, 2014 - Katy Perry at O2 Arena in London on Tuesday May 27, 2014 - One Direction at Wembley Stadium in London on June 6, 2014 - Justin Timberlake at O2 Arena in London on Tuesday June 10, 2014 Good luck! 22 CLOUD961
Dunkin Donuts Instagram Competition The competition is about taking the best photo of Dunkin Donut’s new Spring items. The two most creative photos each week win great prizes from DD! Just tag #ddlebanon on Instagram.
ON THE CLOUD
#CREPAWAY30YEARS Campaign Upload a picture of your good times at any of the Crepaway branches (or next to your Crepaway delivery order) on either Instagram, Facebook, or Twitter using the hashtag #Crepaway30Years. Make sure to tag Crepaway on Instagram (@Crepawayofficial). Every week, one lucky winner will get a Crepaway Good Card with LBP 100,000 worth of points to consume the most delectable treats.
iHeart Music Festival with Virgin Ticketing Box Office Virgin Ticketing Box Office was giving out tickets to the iHeart Music Fest on April 30. All you had to do was click on a link and invite at least 3 friends in order to participate. The iHeart Music Festival is an extended 7-hour marathon show with world-class pyrotechnics, mind-blowing visuals and the biggest hits of the moment, performed by incredible talents.
Poliakov’s Creamfields Competition Win up to $3,000 in cash prizes or win a trip to England and party at CREAMFIELDS with a friend! All you have to do is like their Facebook page and enter the contest. Here’s the CREAMFIELDS 2014 Line Up: Avicii, Afrojack, Deadmau5, Armin Van Buuren, Aly & Fila, Hardwell, Sasha, and many more.
TUC ME Tongue Twister Challenge Play TUC’s tongue twister game for a chance to win! You click on a link on their Facebook page and all you have to do is say the sentence “Malah m’armash mish maa’oul shu amazing” 5 times for a chance to win Virgin Megastores vouchers. 23 CLOUD961
BRINGING FAMILIES CLOSER TOGETHER:
ON THE CLOUD
THE BANK AUDI ‘SPRING’ ACCOUNT
How good (or bad) is its social media campaign? By Tarek Bekdache
@tarekbekdache
In an attempt to attract more clients who belong to a younger demographic, Bank Audi has recently launched what they call the ‘Spring Account’.
likes. The Facebook page itself is very clear and informative, and caters exactly to the target audience in a tone that relates to those young clients.
This account targets 18-23-year-olds and aims to offer them a safe and practical banking solution that allows them to access their accounts anywhere, anytime. In addition, the Spring Account bundle offers its clients a diverse line of benefits and perks, such as gadgets and discount cards.
To spice things up, the page has a competition whose winner will get a car. Furthermore, the Facebook page of the Spring Account is attempting to revive what the website was initially supposed to pull off: the ambassadors concept. But this time, Audi is calling out to students, offering them part-time jobs.
Being a service targeted towards a younger clientele, Bank Audi’s Spring Account naturally relies greatly on social media. Its launching campaign consisted mostly of an online campaign through the Spring Account’s very own website (www.springaccount. com), which is independent from Bank Audi’s main website. When the website first launched last spring, and in order to market the Spring Account, the people behind it attempted to appoint ‘ambassadors’ who belonged to different sectors of the Lebanese online community: bloggers and online personas of all sorts who are local influencers. This was definitely a wise tactic to employ, particularly when attempting to launch and/or market anything online, and especially in Lebanon where the scene of blogs and bloggers is thriving at an exponential rate. However, and unfortunately for the Spring Account, this feature did not last: it is no longer present on their website. The Spring Account was launched… and to continuously market it, the promoters of this banking service took to social media, in parallel with a TVC. What was their main focus? Facebook. To this date, the Facebook page of the Spring Account has around 27,000 24 CLOUD961
On the other hand, although some of the content is branded and falls within the identity of the page, most posts are not. If you see their posts outside their own page, one might not relate them to the Spring Account—if it were not for the logo they slap on everything. Content belonging to a carefully branded page should be able to be identified without blunt branding. On the other hand, the Spring Account is not on any other social media platform, which is a decision that could benefit from being revised. Has Bank Audi heard of Twitter? Not even the bank itself has a Twitter account. Some would argue that in Lebanon specifically, it is the age of “tweets and tweeps”, as opposed to “likes & comments”. The verdict? Audi’s Spring Account is a niche banking service with a carefully developed social media and online campaign. What is lacking, however, is consistency. When the ambassadors feature on their website did not go as planned, it was discontinued. Furthermore, the bank would surely benefit from an engaging Twitter presence. You can follow Bank Audi’s Spring Account on Facebook: “Spring Account”.
JOHNSON’S® Baby with Launch of Grandparents App
JOHNSON’S® Baby announced the launch of the JOHNSON’S® Baby Grandparents App, which will help make distances smaller and bring families closer by allowing parents to instantly share photos with their children’s grandparents, who struggle with technology, no matter where they are in the world. Nurturing close relationships between grandparents, parents and children is so important for everyone in the family, but thanks to long distances and busy lives this can be challenging for many expat families living in Dubai. Modern technology means we have more ways than ever before to stay in touch, but even with video calls and emails grandparents may miss out on many special moments in their grandchildren’s lives. Just in time for Mother’s Day, the JOHNSON’S® Baby Grandparents Ap works with any WIFI enabled digital frame. All consumers need to do is download the App to their iOS or Android smartphone, set up a WIFI enabled digital frame in their parents’ home and then they can snap away and share their special moments instantly, without grandparents having to use any technology. So grandparents can share in their grandchildren’s first steps, birthday parties and holidays no matter where they are in the world. “For more than 125 years JOHNSON’S® Baby has been caring for babies and families. We understand how important it is to maintain a strong bond between parents, grandparents and children,” said Naureen Mohammed, Marketing Manager at JOHNSONS® Baby, Middle East, North Africa, Pakistan. “We hope that by raising awareness of this app JOHNSONS® Baby can help families of expats living across the Middle East share their indescribable moments.” The JOHNSON’S® Baby Grandparents App is available to download free on iOS and Android devices.
fashion victim
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BLOGOSPHERE Blog of the month
After realizing that issues and events she cared about, ranging from art exhibits to oil and gas in Lebanon, were given less and less attention, Ellen Francis decided to start “What Rhymes With Ellen”, a blog that allows her and her guest bloggers to lend their opinions about topics that are important to them, and to open doors for further discussions. Her invigorating posts have shed light on a burgeoning activist community in Lebanon, and have helped her blog achieve a high level of popularity in the two months since its inception. Raja Riachi has asked Ellen a few questions. Here’s their discussion.
BLOG OF THE MONTH: WHAT RHYMES WITH ELLEN By Raja Riach
@rajariachi
Why did you start the blog? I’ve always had a lot of things to say, specifically about everything we’re exposed to in Lebanon. I’ve rarely felt that the way Lebanon is depicted actually represents the way I see it. Over time, I’ve found that many people have views that are similarly overshadowed by all the instability in the country. This is why, when I started this blog, I saw it as a platform for myself and others to express underrepresented opinions and cover issues that haven’t received as much attention as I believe they deserve. My point is not simply for it to be an info blog, because we’re all constantly bombarded with news of what’s happening around us; my point is to bring topics to the table and look at them from a different perspective. Most of what we read or hear in Lebanon is directly or implicitly attached to a certain agenda, whether it’s political, religious, or otherwise, but there are those of us with more in-between views that aren’t tainted with polar affiliations and we don’t really have many outlets for them. On a personal level, the fact that I have a platform to share what I see gives me the motivation to explore the workings of our society firsthand instead of just accepting the different sides to every story that we get from the media. What’s the story behind the name and header? They are both in line with the identity of the blog. I write about things that “rhyme”, or resonate, with my interests and are relevant to my surroundings. The idea of coffee cups in the header originally stemmed from my friend joking about how I’m addicted to coffee. It wasn’t on purpose but now, in retrospect, I think it gives the blog a nice feel, as if it’s saying “let’s talk about this over coffee.”
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BLOGOSPHERE Blog of the month
What do you mean by the identity of the blog? You know, when you live in Lebanon, sometimes the focus of everything becomes only on the bombs, the political conflict, the aftermath of the civil war, etc. It’s not that we shouldn’t care about these things, but that there’s also so much more to us. The identity of the blog reflects the Lebanon of art, books, music, awareness, social activism…all the things we should be talking about just as much. What are some of the challenges you’ve faced with the blog? On top of university and activities, I’m interning at ACTED, which means there isn’t always free time to keep up with the blog. However, this is something I really enjoy doing, so I make time for it. Sometimes, it’s also difficult to not come off as aggressive or defensive in regards to sensitive topics, especially when I have strong opinions, but I try to always account for the fact that there are other contradicting opinions.
exposed to information I wouldn’t have come across otherwise. Blogging has also me more active on social media and more aware of the different ways to use it. You frequently encourage others to guest blog on what rhymes with Ellen, to what end? I’m always happy about having guest bloggers with interesting things to say, because it allows the blog to be more than just about my personal opinions. This reinforces the concept of the blog as a platform for exchanging ideas and opinions. It’s also a very good way to discuss topics on the blog through people who have more experience with them.
You have covered the AUB strikes extensively. Why have you taken such an interest in this issue? This is something that affects me directly because I’m an AUB student and I support the cause, but more importantly, I wanted the blog to be a reliable source of information and awareness. In these types of movements, keeping people updated is a great asset to avoid confusion and misinformation. The issue of transparency that the students are protesting for is prevalent on a larger scale in the nation, and I saw the activism at AUB as a step in the right direction, so I wanted to personally document it. Do you think the movement has made good use of social media? It has been pretty good so far. Everything has been effectively communicated to the student body through Facebook, whether it is upcoming actions or results of meetings with the administration. Twitter is mainly being used for live feeds during protests, strikes, and other events, which is also a useful way to motivate people to participate. Still, there is always room for improvement. For example, social media could be more efficiently used for interaction between the organizers and the student body. What are some new things your blog has exposed you to? I’ve met a lot of interesting people and been 27 CLOUD961
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BLOGOSPHERE Blogs Newsfeed By Joelle Hajji
@joellehajji
different backgrounds and religions, sending a message to Lebanon and showing today’s harsh reality with all the bombings and the bad situation we are living amid. According to Gino Raidy, “the movie is beautiful. It was perfectly shot. The teens were very eloquent and well-spoken. The rap segments were epic. The locations shown and the videos playing on their tech were very witty. All in all, it was a very captivating and well-done project by kids who are being forced to grow up way before their time.” I cannot but agree with him and in case you still haven’t watched it yet, here is the link https://www.youtube.com/ watch?v=FzhpEafcOgY#t=360 . Be sure to watch it till the last minute.
taken place in order to stop it. A petition was also signed. So please, folks, check out the post by Gino and sign the petition in order to stop this project.
Half Naked Man Spotted At Today’s Protests In Beirut http://blogbaladi.com/half-naked-man-spottedat-todays-protests-in-beirut/
“Am I human? Am I Lebanese? I’m an ass.” (Picture via LBCI) This photo circulated last month when the Syndicate Coordination Committee organized a general strike in protest against the failure to refer the new wage scale to parliament for approval. The guy was arrested and he was sent to the hospital. An interview was conducted with him in which he spoke about his miserable and poor life. I guess that people in Lebanon have become so hopeless that they would do anything to ssend their message out to our deputies and minister.
The Miracle Machine: Make Your Own Wine at Home http://www.nogarlicnoonions.com/themiracle-machine-make-your-own-wineat-home/
On The Fouad Boutros Project, by Dina Mneimneh http://ginosblog.com/2014/02/28/on-thefouard-boutros-project-by-dina-mneimneh/
My Thoughts on the Awesome “Dear Lebanon” Video http://ginosblog.com/2014/03/27/my-thoughtson-the-awesome-dear-lebanon-video/
This is the best short film I have seen recently. The movie is about 8 teenagers from
The Fouad Boutros Project has been an on and off issue for years that will demolish over 30 historical buildings, over 10,000sqm of greenery, and will divide the very essence of the neighborhood. Dina Mneimneh proposed an alternative strategy that should be adopted by responsible public authorities in order to save the neighborhood. The proposal aims at preserving the neighborhood’s architectural heritage, intricate urban fabric and orchards, all the while still offering public amenities in line with the area’s real needs. For her final year project at AUB, she defended that proposal in front of a panel of architects, urban planners, landscape designers, engineers and consultants, and backed up by an intensive documentation of every tree on site, every house, and every pedestrian link. But now the project has been given the green light again, and a few protests have
The Miracle Machine is the world’s first affordable accelerated winemaking device for the home. The neatly designed device is a table top appliance; it features a fermentation chamber with built-in sensors and is controlled via a mobile app that guides you through the winemaking process. Simply choose from six varieties of wine and add water along with yeast and grape concentrate, then sit back and let the device do the rest. During the whole process, which takes three days, you can keep track of your concoction on your mobile phone, you can even add some finishing powder, and this will impart flavors that will make the wine taste like it has aged for some time! You can go to “No Garlic No Onions” blog, and check the video to get familiar with the process. I think the machine looks really good and will be successful. Let us wait and see if catches on.
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BLOGOSPHERE Blogs Newsfeed product is. Kurban Tours is playing on “Easter break”, while the Smeds ad is “Nezlin 3al Eid”, which is a reference to how people say “we’re coming down to Beirut for the holidays”. Lurpak played on words: “Maamoul” technically means “done with” and the ad says “ma3moul 3al oussoul” (“Done perfectly—or with adherence to standars”) It is nice to show the holiday spirit in the ads, but some some of them are becoming useless and unrelated to the product or service.
Emily’s Hair http://www.joesbox.com/2014/03/emilys-hair.html#.U0vOT_mSw1Y
This is one of the best videos I have ever watched. Emily James is a 3-year-old girl who volunteered to get her hair cut so that she could donate it to the Canadian Cancer Society. “I don’t want any kids to be sad that they have no hair, what I wanna do is give them my hair,” she says. “Cause I have more hair, just cut some of it off and give it to someone.” What an incredible lesson to learn from a 3-year-old: when we have lots of something, do not hold onto it; give it away to someone else who needs it way more than you do. Go to “Joe’s Box” and watch the video, and you won’t regret it because it is simply awesome and very touching.
Yazan—Gibran—Orphalese http://beirutntsc.blogspot.com/2014/04/ yazan-gibran-orphalese.html
I like this post by “Beirut/NTSC” which shows the talented graffiti by the talented artist Yazan Halwani of Lebanese author Gibran Khalil Gebran. Yazan placed Gibran on a LBP 100,000 bill. But few know that the Prophet’s city was Orphalese, which stems from “aur” “philis” (aur is aurum or gold, and philis means lover). So Orphalese is the city of gold lovers , or all materialistic persons. Welcome home, Gibran! I love all of Yazan’s work, and he is one artist who should be given more credit, as his work is out of this world! The Perfect Campaign Ad for Lebanon’s “Presidential” Elections http://ginosblog.com/2014/04/14/the-perfect-campaign-ad-for-lebanons-presidential-elections/
This could be the best presidential campaign ad in Lebanon now. The above illustration depicts the two main runner-ups in Lebanon’s “alleged” upcoming presidential elections. The illustration was done by Noura Andréa Nassar. Check it out on “Gino’s Blog” and I shall leave the comments for you!
Dying for Your Sins Ad(d)s Up http://beirutntsc.blogspot.com/2014/04/dying-for-your-sins-adds-up.html
I like this blog post that shows all the ads around this time of year, and how all of them become related to Easter, regardless of how relevant or irrelevant the
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QUOTES I WOULDNT SAY [BLOGGING] IS ALREADY DEAD, BUT IT DEFINITELY MIGHT BE IN THE PROCESS OF DYING. THE INTERNET IS CONSTANTLY EVOLVING AND I SEE THE NEW WAYS WE INTERACT TOGETHER AS AN EVOLUTION OF BLOGGING INTO MORE DIVERSIFIED INTERACTIONS.
FROM ONE YEAR OF CLOUD
Maya Zankoul, Designer and Visual Artist, Issue 2.
DIGITAL ECONOMY IS A UNIQUE CHANCE THAT CAN PROVIDE EMPLOYMENT TO OUR GRADUATES AND CORRECT OUR DYSFUNCTIONAL ECONOMIC MODEL. Nicolas Sehnaoui, Former Minister of Telecommunication, Issue 0.
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I WANT TO BE AS OPEN AS POSSIBLE, ONLINE AND OFFLINE. CLEARLY, THAT BRINGS RISKS. BUT THE BIGGEST RISK IS NOT TO ENGAGE, AND TO BE ABSENT FROM THE REAL DEBATES.
We are definitely advancing, aggressively campaigning the strength of the online community which is positive. [However], Social media gives everyone a voice, and sometimes that voice is very, very ugly. Like any medium, you’ve got the good, the bad, and the ugly.
LESS THAN TWO YEARS AGO I USED TO HAVE CONVERSATIONS WITH MANY RESPECTABLE RESTAURANT OWNERS WHERE I WOULD TRY TO CONVINCE THEM TO EMBRACE SOCIAL MEDIA. TODAY, A RESTAURANT IN LEBANON ALMOST DOES NOT EXIST IF IT IS NOT VISIBLE ON SOCIAL MEDIA. THE RATE OF CHANGE IN ONLINE INNOVATION IS NOT GOING TO SLOW DOWN ANYTIME SOON SO BUSINESS OWNERS BETTER KEEP UP OR BE LEFT OUT TO DRY.
Fida Chaaban, Editor in Chief of Ragmag Magazine (then) and Entrepreneur Middle East (now), Issue 4 Tom Fletcher, British Ambassador to Lebanon, Issue 0.
Ziad Kamel, CEO of Couqley & The Alleyway Group, Issue 5
OUTCOME IS NOT DETERMINED BY GRIEVING PAST FAILURES BUT HOW YOU BUILD ON THEM TOWARDS THE PRESENT AND FUTURE. A STRONG ENTREPRENEUR CAN TAKE THAT EXPERIENCE AND APPLY IT TO THEIR PIVOT OR THEIR NEXT STARTUP.
THE HARDEST CHALLENGE IS OUR MENTALITY. PEOPLE TEND TO BE AFRAID (FROM BOMBS), SELFISH (HOW MANY PEOPLE OPEN Samer Karam, Entrepreneur, Issue 5 SOURCE OR GIVE HELP/ART/MUSIC FOR FREE?) AND LACK EDUCATION. CHANGE IS HARD. I’M AFRAID I DON’T KNOW HOW WE CAN OVERCOME AS A SOCIETY, BUT I KNOW THAT MY JOB IS TO BE THE BEST AT WHAT I DO AND SET A POSITIVE EXAMPLE FOR Piotr Yordanov, OTHERS TO Entrepreneur, Issue 6 EMULATE.
It gets exhausting when there is not much appreciation or at least financial revenue; one slowly slips into losing the oomph to pursue. Then I quickly remind myself that the «exhaustion challenge» is just a bunch of lowvibrational thoughts, and that I am producing for myself to express myself and participate in the flourishing Lebanese Online Presence.
USING SOCIAL MEDIA TOOLS IN EDUCATION IS VERY TIME-CONSUMING AND REQUIRES CONSTANT MONITORING. TEACHERS NEED TO MAKE THE COMMITMENT AND STICK TO IT FOR OPTIMAL RESULTS. BUT IT IS WORTH IT; YOU REMAIN RELEVANT TO THE STUDENTS AND IT IS A CONTINUOUS LEARNING EXPERIENCE FOR ALL OF US.
Rawad Habib, Moshwar Webshow Host & Producer, Issue 5
E-commerce exists in Lebanon and we have two Lebanese payment gateways, but there are no protections for online transactions. In case of any dispute, no rules to regulations to arbitrate based on it. Tarek Matar, VP of Business at Junior Chamber International (JCI), Issue 7
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I am highly against limiting people’s freedom on social media. There are some people who curse and use inappropriate words online. These people only represent themselves and do not represent their community, and I usually ignore them. I do get a lot of polite criticism and I do converse and discuss their opinions online. This is how I make friends online, even if they have opposing opinions that will never change. If you can’t find a job, WE TALK ABOUT it is simple: just create HOW CREATIVE one. However, the WE ARE AS A innovation path is not COMMUNITY, an easy one. Not easy BUT I THINK OUR at all. If you decide to CREATIVITY IS be an “entrepreneur” LIMITED MORE you have to know THAN WE KNOW that it will be a very OR CARE TO long way before you ACCEPT. OF can afford to have COURSE THERE a decent meal and SOME PEOPLE be able to take your WHO BREAK THAT girlfriend/boyfriend on TREND AND DO a decent date. But if it AMAZING STUFF, works, the satisfaction BUT TOO OFTEN is outstanding. THE LACK OF PASSION, POSITIVE CREATIVE COMPETITION, PURSUIT OF EXCELLENCE, CURIOSITY, OR SELF-LEARNING CONSTRAIN OUR CREATIVE PURSUITS.
ONE CAN ARGUE THE DIMINISHING ROLE TELEVISION IS PLAYING; HOWEVER, ONE CANNOT WRITE IT OFF COMPLETELY, FOR AN OLDER GENERATION HOLDS IT DEAR. IT MAY BE A FADING GENERATION, BUT IT IS THE ONE WE STEM FROM. AND YOU HAVE TO ADMIT, FRIENDS GATHERED AROUND A TV MAKES MORE SENSE THAN FRIENDS GATHERED AROUND A SMARTPHONE (AND IT’S MORE FUN ANYWAY).
Bassam Jalgha, Entrepreneur, Issue 7 Youmna Naufal, Head of English News at Future TV, Issue 8 David Munir Nabti, Chief Entrepreneur & Organizer of AltCity, Issue 8
Paula Yaacoubian, Journalist and TV Host, Issue 8
When you’re not in the online «social media guru» business, the love doesnt go around as much and is usually portrayed on Twitter, or in the comments on the blog. I don’t mind, though, as long as it’s starting a conversation, I favorite and RT the insults and attacks, because I have nothing to hide, and as a staunch advocate of freedom of speech and anti-censorship, I should practice what I preach and never censor or delete anything. Gino Raidy, Blogger, Issue 9
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SPECIAL FEATURE I have been privileged to be the Editor in Chief of Cloud961 and the upcoming Cloud971 while working with such a great team of contributors and management. The work that we do aims to promote a better online society and all the team cannot be more excited for this purpose. I cannot believe it has been a year already, cheers to successful years to come!
MOHAMMAD HIJAZI
Noone ever comes on top while driving our way to success. At some point when I took the path of entrepreneurship, I thought I ran away from the world of media and publications until the idea of Cloud961 caught me back and here we are!
HAGOP MANISAJIAN
I am a graduate with a Bachelor’s degree in Advertising from “The State University of New York”. I am the news editor for Cloud961, in addition to being the Social Media Manager of the magazine. I’m so happy and thrilled to celebrate our first year anniversary, especially since I was one of the few who were there when the idea of the magazine came to mind and we started working on it. So, I feel a sense of accomplishment today with our 1 year anniversary!
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Other than Cloud, I run the Online Collaborative, an initiative that aims to promote awareness about technology and social media, and is the organizing entity of the Beirut Social Media Awards set to launch in several GCC countries this year. I also execute marketing consultancy and digital media strategy with some of the Middle East’s top agencies and institutions. A graduate of American University of Beirut (AUB) with degrees in biology and marketing communications, I am a blogger at Mind Soup, and an instructor on computer literacy, social media techniques, and social networking for senior citizens as well as corporate digital marketing courses.
BASSAM KARAM
Active online since late 90s, founder and ex-owner of the biggest Lebanese online discussion forum for 10 years, last year I came up with an idea, I emailed the idea to Bassam Karam and next thing you know, Cloud was born.
JOELLE HAJJI
SPECIAL FEATURE
Paul Gadalla is a freelance writer, editor, and community manager. He specializes in issues dealing with tech startups and Internet regulations.
PAUL GADALLA
Hala El Jack is our lovely sales manager. Thanks to Hala we’ve got sponsors to sustain Cloud961’s continuous growth and expansion both locally and regionally..
VICKY GHANEM
Digital Marketing Consultant and Trainer, I specialize in helping brands and startups build up their online presence and internalize social media marketing and online marketing processes. And that from where my curiosity for discecting how we LIVE online is rooted in. I can’t believe it’s been a year since we first saw Cloud launch at the SMAs, and I am glad we’ve made into a living breathing member of the Lebanese digital sphere.
Paul Gadalla is a senior correspondent for Cloud 961, joining the team in June 2013. He has written on a wide range of issues and covers most social media events in Beirut and Lebanon.
HALA EL JACK
I am Vicky Ghanem, the Outreach Manager at Cloud961 Magazine for a year now. I am an LAU graduate and a social media newcomer however; everyone started to spot some social media addiction but that’s what you get when you work for a social media magazine after all. My “Blue Baby” is a priority for now and my only mission is to spread it all over Lebanon. So whenever you find a magazine floating somewhere or you sit for a social media conference by Cloud961, be sure I am the one it all and of course, if you need a free copy just give me a call!
DARINE SABBAGH
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SPECIAL FEATURE
LYNN BIZRI
I came to Cloud961 magazine in early 2013 to join the Marketing Department. I have a bachelor’s in Marketing and Advertising from Saint Joseph University. After 1 year, I look forward to generating enough advertising revenue to be able to expand our operation and contribute to the island’s social media through many creative marketing ideas! As a Marketing Manager, I want to express my appreciation to our friends in public relations, who have, without any question, included Cloud961 magazine in their efforts and have put in a good word for us with their clients and media-buying colleagues. That kind of support is priceless!
SELIM NJEIM
Creative Director from Behold The Agency, the proud cloud partner since day one.
As one of Cloud961’s first staff writers, it’s been a pleasure to watch the magazine grow and blossom into what it is today and have the opportunity to work with such a great and dedicated team. When I’m not writing for Cloud, you find me on Twitter interacting with fellow geeks or in the studio, slaving over an Architecture project.
MICHELLE NABHANE
I am a freelance journalist, editor, and aspiring writer based in Beirut. My interests are varied, but mainly include exploring new media theories and user behavior, corporate communications, Middle East politics and culture, peace journalism, among others. I also happen to be a relentless supporter of the Oxford comma. I have officially jumped upon the Cloud961 bandwagon three months ago as the assistant editor of the publication. The more I get to know the team, the more appreciative I grow of the converging efforts which make this magazine the up and running success it is today.
RAMI EL KHOURY 1986 - 2086
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SPECIAL FEATURE
Hi, it’s Mia Saab, the Event Manager at Cloud961. It’s been a year now that I plan and handle all of Cloud961 events. My events are one of the rare occasions we get to interact and thank our beloved community from bloggers to social media gurus to readers in general.
MIA SAAB
Don’t get me wrong I love planing events for the Lebanese digital community but since it’s our one year anniversary and I have make a wish while blowing the candles, I am wishing I will be able to start planning events for the other communities next year with the expansion of Cloud961. Don’t worry I am always faithful to my Lebanese community and you’ll be all getting invitations soon!
TEAM CLOUD
We started with barely half the people in the picture above, spending days and nights to come up with a publication that can build a respectful reputation among its complicated audience. Today, the people above are barely a fraction of the community that contributes every day to Cloud961, whether in its publication or online through its social media channels. In brief, it’s the loveliest team to be part of!
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ARTS
SAINT HOAX:
MIDDLE EASTERN “POPLITICAL” ARTIST GENERATES BUZZ WORLDWIDE By Tarek Bekdache
@tarekbekdache
H
oax, a visual artist, made his debut on various social media channels and breaks through. “Saint Hoax” is a pseudonymous a Middle Eastern artist has chosen for himself. Infatuated with the element of POP, Hoax works with both tangible and digital mediums to recreate a world based on visual lies. Combining pop art with tyrants and world leaders became Hoax’s signature. Coming from a conservative culture, Hoax is forced to stay out of the spotlight due to the controversy his “POPlitical” art generates. Hoax started off as a painter: he used acrylics to paint an image of the late Osama Bin Laden as a drag queen, wrapped in the American flag. When he published this work on Instagram, it caused a tidal wave of controversy, earning its creator a heap of insults and death threats originating from different corners of the world. This certainly did not hinder or inhibit the daring artist in any way. Ever so determined, Hoax took the criticism in his stride and considered this a challenge which he bravely decided to take on. Saint Hoax’s work quickly spread around the globe and earned the attention of several international media giants such as The Telegraph, The Huffington Post, Jezebel, 40 CLOUD961
Buzzfeed, Trendhunter, and others. His next pieces belong to a series he calls “War Drags You Out” (pun intended), which includes different world leaders and dictators— some alive, some deceased—such as Barack Obama, Vladimir Putin, Saddam Hussein, among others. Later on, Hoax created his second series, “TeleVicious”, which feature Disney princesses in a controversial scene with the one-and-only Madonna. All the exposure that Saint Hoax has received and all the controversy that his work is still causing around the world is a strong testament to the power of social media. By posting a single painting on Instagram, this artist went global! Here is a transcription of Tarek Bekdache’s conversation with Hoax: Could you tell us about how your whole infatuation with political art, or ‘POPlitical’ art as you call it, began? History is defined as the study of past events. I heard about the victorious defeats, the malicious affairs and the all-night-long wars. I read about the dictators, fantasized about the monarchs and lived below the tyrants. I opened my assigned history book and I realized that page 1 is a carbon copy of page 10. While page 10 is a mere reflection of page 20.
An “arti-vicious” cycle of no trial, just error. And the only way to remain entertained is by rewriting history through visual lies, one hoax after the other. How/why did you decide to transform world leaders into drag queens? After attending a drag show for the first time, I was struck by the richness of this glamour-oriented culture. I took a minute to actually look at the faux queens and deconstruct their main components. After that, I came up with a simple “recipe”, if I can call it that, for an iconic queen: 1- Flamboyant name; 2Fierce persona; 3- Defining outfits; 4- Personalized hairdo; 5- A trademark feature; 6- One hell of a PR team. I then realized that it takes that same exact effort to make a leader. A rush of images containing Hitler’s mustache, Bin Laden’s headgear, Obama’s campaigns, and Saddam’s narcissism crossed through my mind. It got me thinking that behind every “great” man, there’s a queen. Like drag queens, political/ religious leaders are expected to entertain, perform and occasionally lip-sync a public speech. But unlike drag queens, the fame-hungry leaders don’t know when to take their costumes off.
ARTS Did you ever imagine that your concept would become so big, so global, so internationally controversial? And what role did social media play in spreading your art? I really didn’t imagine that it would reach this many people. Because of social media I was able to reach people that are on the other side of the world hours after my artwork went viral. Why do you choose to remain anonymous and to keep your true identity a secret? Even in video interviews you appear wearing masks and makeup. I am currently residing in the Middle East, and after posting my Queen Abby artwork (part of the “War Drags You Out” series) I decided to remain anonymous due to the amount of death threats I received. It got me thinking that behind every “great” man, there’s a queen. Like drag queens, political/religious leaders are expected to entertain, perform and occasionally lip-sync a public speech. But unlike drag queens, the fame-hungry leaders don’t know when to take their costumes off. Do you think you will ever reveal your identity? What would cause you to change your mind and do that? If I ever relocate I might consider revealing my identity, but at the time being I am enjoying the anonymity, because I’m free to design whatever is on my mind without any social constrains. I also strongly believe that it doesn’t matter who is behind the art that is being generated. What I’m creating is artwork that people can interact with and make it their own. How do you feel when you read all those threats you constantly receive on your different social media pages? And on the other hand, how do you feel when you see people around the globe wearing clothes with your designs on them?
At first, the threats got to me. I was a bit unsure whether I want to go through with my “POPlitical” journey or not. I then realized that I was tackling an ultra sensitive topic, and if I didn’t receive any negative comments that means I have failed to tackle it properly. On the other hand, every time I receive a positive message or see someone using my artwork I get injected with a rush of inspiration and it makes me want to produce more art. You have also created a mini graphic novel, “Happy Never After”. Can you tell us about that and how it relates to a personal life experience of yours? After my visa application to the United Kingdom got rejected, I decided to create a graphic commentary entitled “Happy Never After” illustrating the current situation in the Middle East and its consequences on everyone residing in this area. Can you tell us a bit about your third series, “Polivillains”? “PoliVillains” is part of the “Happy Never After” series, which merges famous and infamous Disney characters in modern-day political situations. I decided to illustrate politicians as Disney villains because I wanted to draw a bridge between a dark childhood fantasy and a darker reality. “PoliVillains” portrays politicians as antagonists that are trying to alter our “happily ever after”. I then realized that I was tackling an ultra sensitive topic, and if I didn’t receive any negative comments that means I have failed to tackle it properly. What is the next step for Saint Hoax? Where will he be and what will he be doing in the long run? I am currently working on a series entitled “Cereal Killers” and it is more of a public intervention/commentary on politics, mass production and consumerism. You can follow him on @SaintHoax
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DESIGN
#SEGREGATEDBYCOLOR: IN SOLIDARITY WITH FAMILIES TORN APART By Ayman Jalloul President, AUB’s Online Collaborative
@amnjay
“Visualizing Palestine” is a group of researchers, designers and communication savvies producing visual tools and products based on data and behavioral sciences. Through their work, “Visualizing Palestine” have produced various visuals in different contexts, like the Palestinian Labor Force in Lebanon or Schooling, among others. The visuals have been used in publications, university campuses, subways, and exhibitions. Other than their offline presence, “Visualizing Palestine”’s visual production has been circulating on the Internet via social media. Through the Creative Commons license, these visuals are free to be distributed globally through various modes of social media to effectively spread various messages and stories.
direct family member who holds a differently colored ID. The campaign has been launched with a video that starts by highlighting cases of “how far people have gone for love” to show the sacrifices people from different parts of the world have made to stay with the ones they love, and then compares that to how much a Palestinian couple has to sacrifice in the name of love, due to the residency law of 2003 (the color-based ID system). Such a law threatens families with the possibility of forced—sometimes permanent— separation and of course has been condemned by the UN as an act of discrimination. The law is set for renewal in May 2014, and through their online campaign, “Visualizing Palestine” aims to raise awareness about the law and ideally, annul it.
More recently, “Visualizing Palestine” released a video entitled “Speaking Love to Power: Love Stories for Social Justice”. As part of an overall campaign entitled “Segregated by Color”. It is a campaign that focuses on the forced separation of families in Palestine through the color-based ID system. This system of coded ID cards has been the cause of the separation of Palestinians from their loved ones.
Besides the launch video, the campaign has an interactive website where one can create their own customized poster using their Facebook profile data to answer “How far have you gone for love?” and share it using the #SegregatedByColor hashtag. Through this campaign, the user is no longer simply looking at inforgraphics, but is rather taking part in the propagation of a message worth spreading.
According to the Human Rights Watch, over 640,000 Palestinians face the risk of separation from a
You can visit www.visualizingpalestine. org and check out this campaign, along with their other visuals
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FASHION
ELIE SAAB SHINES A GUIDING LIGHT Elie Saab launches e-magazine during Paris Fashion Week
BEAU-TOGRAPHER:
By Dalia Ramadan PR Manager, AUB’s Online Collaborative @dalia813
The unsung heroes behind every star fashion blogger By Sarah Sabbagh @sxs05 In the fashion blogosphere there is one golden rule: “You are nothing without your photographer”. The fashion blogging scene has become so overpopulated over a few short years that breaking out of the clutter and standing out has become almost impossible. In an industry where content is everything, capturing the perfect picture while casually pretending you are not posing is really harder to accomplish than it seems. Because in fashion blogging a picture is worth more than a thousand words, it is also worth a thousand dollars—for the lucky bloggers, at least—. Images of fashion bloggers as they look so effortlessly beautiful crossing the street or gazing off into the horizon have become so integrated into the business of fashion that it is almost impossible to think of a time when they did not exist. However, still very little is often known about the person behind the lens ever so perfectly capturing all those Vogue-worthy moments. Hence, the term “beau-tographer” comes to life. The boyfriend photographers that are obscure to the rest of the world, but turn up almost everywhere. From fashion weeks to launch events, the presence of blogger boyfriend photographers is the key element to the success of any fashion blog. “If you look at some of the most famous fashion stars it is almost impossible to find a boyfriend attached to the business. The Blonde Salad’s Chiara Ferragni employs her now-ex-lover/ current manager, Riccardo Pozzoli,
and her current boyfriend/photographer, Andrew Arthur. Song of Style’s Aimee Song collaborates with her photographer/graphic artist beau, Wes Mason. Sincerely Jules’s Julie Sarinana is managed by her boyfriend, Temoc Gonzalez,” according to Fashionista. com’s David Yi. With fashion blogging turning into mini fashion empires, being a beau-tographer can turn into a pretty lucrative relationship. As “The Cut” defines it, this is a relationship in which “a man is fully employed by his girlfriend to be her full-time photographer. Some duties include: travel, editorial shots of outfits, daily location scouts, and consultations with the blog and business, among other tasks.” With fashion bloggers earning annual six-figure incomes, excluding their travel expenses, a portion of the contract must include travel arrangements for their beau-dog as well. Some of them even split the profits in half with their significant other and the lines between boyfriend and hired photographer begin to blur. “You will see these poor men during Fashion Week,” says Bryan Yambao of the blog Bryanboy. “It’s sad to see them tailing the girls. It’s always the girls towering in sky-high heels and the little guy with the two camera bags taking her picture in the street. They’re like little puppies following the girls’ every whim.” At a recent party in Florence, Yambao chastised his fellow bloggers for continuing to pose for their dates when he thought they should have been on the dance floor. “I was like, ‘Look, guys, it’s 2 a.m.,’” he says. “‘Just get drunk and have fun.’ I feel like these girls have turned into robots with no souls, and the only thing they care about is creating content at the expense of their personal relationships.”
Luxury retail brand Elie Saab marked Paris Fashion Week with the launch of a digital magazine, The Light of Now, which debuted with a live stream of the label’s runway show on Monday March 3. The introduction of the e-magazine expands the brand’s social outreach both internationally and locally. Beyond mere marketing intentions, the magazine also serves as a beacon for Lebanese who refuse to believe they can find worldwide success from Lebanon. The Light of Now is a hallmark in Saab’s interactive digital strategy, giving him an edge against world-renowned competitors who have gone no further than the standard social media and e-newsletter tactics. The online magazine uniquely builds relationships with fans by communicating insights of daily life within the fashion house. The monthly magazine is run by a Paris-based editorial staff and headed by the designer’s son, Elie Saab Jr. The well-rounded team was specifically selected to encompass extensive professional experience in the realms of journalism, design, and communications in order to maximize the professionalism of the magazine in all possible degrees. They are set to publish nine articles per issue with content that fuses contemporary culture and the Elie Saab brand under the disciplines of fashion, art, and perfumes. Pages will reveal stories, videos, photos, and audio on craftsmanship, brand influences, industry profiles, and backstage secrets. As evident in its title, content focuses on ‘light’ as a major source of inspiration. While the magazine’s name references to the brand’s place under the spotlight and the designer’s famous sparkling embellishments, it is also a metaphor for inspiration. Light of Now symbols that despite turmoil, Lebanese can and should aspire to succeed in Lebanon, as Saab continuously does himself again and again. 43 CLOUD961
E-COMMERCE
IS ISRAEL INFILTRATING OUR ONLINE BORDERS? How strictly should this issue be handled by the Lebanese government? By Tarek Bekdache
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@tarekbekdache
E-COMMERCE
Different kinds of revolutions have been happening around us. But lately, what is of interest is the fact that social media and e-commerce are a booming trend in Lebanon and the entire Middle East region. When we usually say “Middle East”, we of course never include our southern neighbor Israel. However, and as of lately, another kind of Lebanese territory is being infiltrated, and with different tools: it is all happening online, and peacefully. In the past few years, networking websites and applications have made it easier for people from both sides to interact—for whatever purpose or intention—be it Facebook, Instagram, Twitter, or any other social media platform that facilitates any type of interaction between Lebanese and Israelis. Furthermore, as e-commerce seems to have recently made its debut in Lebanon and the region, this medium opens yet another window for curious clickers to see what lies beyond the barbed wire. For the time being, nothing can be said about any Lebanese party initiating or attempting to establish business contact with any Israeli party. Nevertheless, the opposite has occurred. Within the past year, an Israel-based online startup with global ambition began attempting to include the Lebanese market in its venture. The challenge began to try and find Lebanese merchants who are willing to sell their products/designs on an Israeli-founded international website. Lebanese online shoppers were also a marketing target for these startups. A minor example of an international, yet Israeli-based online startup is ArtSetters.com. ArtSetters is a US-registered e-commerce platform that features artists and designers from dozens of cities and aims to penetrate
different markets all around the globe. The American and Swiss founders of ArtSetters live in Tel Aviv and they hoped to include Beirut as one of their curated cities. Months ago, they approached several local artists and designers and appointed PR ambassadors in Beirut. Their efforts were fruitful: some local talent was indeed featured on their website, and those people began to sell their designs. How responsive has the local market been, though? Are we ready for that yet? Are we buying Israeli products, and is anyone in Tel Aviv wearing a Beiruti designer? Everyone is well aware that it remains illegal to engage in any type of business activity with any Israeli entity. 77 percent said that they would in fact purchase an Israeli design 69 percent said that they would not mind selling their products in Israel or to an Israeli 47 percent admitted to have interacted online with someone in Israel Shortly after ArtSetters’ initiative, all the Lebanese first-movers who were open-minded enough to deal with this unique international website were approached by the government urging them to refrain due to the fact that this is an ‘Israeli’ company, which led to most of them backing off. As a result, Beirut’s page on ArtSetters.com was removed only to be recently republished, including new local ambassadors and artists. All this leads to the question: “How strictly should this issue be handled by the government?” After all, we are talking about a few t-shirts and pillowcases. Some had a completely different take on the subject. An article published on green-
prophet.com portrayed the founders of the website as “naïve” people who aim to trick clients and designers in Lebanon into doing illegal business. This shows that some remain resistant to the idea of any relations with Israel. However, when 100 people were interviewed at random in the streets of Beirut, the following statistics were obtained: • 77 percent said that they would in fact purchase an Israeli design • 69 percent said that they would not mind selling their products in Israel or to an Israeli • 47 percent admitted to have interacted online with someone in Israel The way some see it—or should see it—ArtSetters is a concept beyond just buying and selling. It is beyond just art and design; it is a platform for creative dialogue that connects people all around the world. Alexandra Schinasi, one of the founders of ArtSetters stated, “One of our core ambitions was to create this creative dialogue across the globe and it feels so good when people get it.” For the sake of the record, no shipping is currently allowed between Lebanon and Israel. Any business that takes places happens through a third party in a third neutral location, and it all certainly happens unofficially. It is a fact that many complicated issues remain unresolved between the two neighboring countries, but it seems that the fresh generation is beginning to look at this relationship rather differently. Online interaction may in fact be the first step on an extremely long and bumpy road towards any semblance of an interaction between people who might be under the impression that they are oceans apart, but are in fact just one fence—or a click—away.
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WISDOM
SOCIAL MEDIA PLATFORMS: ADVOCATES OF CHANGE OR BACKWARDNESS? By Yara Nahle
@yarabee2
“Because I’m a human and not an animal, I welcome the Syrian Refugees” and “no for racism, Lebanon is small but it has a big heart” are some of the slogans published on the page. The campaigners also share videos through the page, which within 48 hours, has managed to get more than 5000 likes, the administrator reports. “The great amount of people’s interaction with this page demonstrates that the public opinion in Lebanon refuses racism,” says the admin of the page. “Racism doesn’t come with the person’s DNA, after all the “Nazi” racist page only got 150 likes.” As for the aim behind creating a Facebook page for the campaign, the admin admits that a campaign on social media cannot by itself change reality, but it could shed light on the cause. The page can also assist the campaign by promoting its events. Intolerance on social media is not manifested only through racism. Sectarianism is another case in point. When some Lebanese are not attacking foreign residents, they are targeting each other. They align themselves according to their sects and ideologies and cluster into Facebook pages full of hate speech. Fanatic pages such as “Haters of Christians” are the outcome. The Lebanese Nazi Movement Against the Syrian Presence in Lebanon.
Another example is a Facebook group called “Together for the Destruction of Shia’s Pages”, a Facebook group with the sole intention of hacking pages that belong to Shiite users or groups. Its display picture depicts prominent religious Shia leaders as pirates and calls them “the manifestation of devil”. It further advises to “beware of Shias, they are the demons”. A few years ago, social media platforms such as Facebook and Twitter contributed to uprisings across the Arab World, a trend that, arguably, has not reached Lebanon yet. However, another one did. It is not a trend that advocates change and progress, but instead propagates notions of hate, racism and intolerance. Recently, a racist campaign against the Syrian refugees in Lebanon has raised a lot of controversy and denunciation. The Facebook campaign was called “The Lebanese Nazi Movement Against the Syrian Presence in Lebanon.” The description of the page was straightforward, admitting to be racist, labeling its “likers” as “racist Lebanese Nazis” and 46 CLOUD961
demanding every “vile” Syrian refugee to leave Lebanon. The page’s intolerance has surpassed the limits of online racism to embrace violence, even promising the Syrians a new “genocide.” The good news is, after being repeatedly reported by users, the page was taken down by Facebook. An anti-discrimination campaign has come to counter the “Lebanese Nazi Movement”. “The Campaign in Support of Syrians against Racism” welcomes the refugees in Lebanon and dismisses insulting behavior towards them. The page posts pictures of people holding up signs with anti-racist slogans. “#No_for_racism” is its official hash tag.
Sectarian blood also runs through the veins of blogs, so to say. Three months ago, much attention was brought to a blog titled “Only Christians Can Save Lebanon”. The blogger explicitly demeans Lebanese Muslims by writing “the majority of Lebanese people are sectarian … cannot coexist with each other …. wish that the other party would suffer and die,” only to conclude that that “the majority of Lebanese people are Muslim”. She calls for a civil “secular” state that can only be achieved by “Christians”. With a campaign and an anti-campaign, social media users find a niche in one or the other, creating a binary society, and making the social gaps noticeable online as they are in the Lebanese offline community.
GEEKY Gadgets
ARE SMARTWATCHES THE NEXT BIG THING? Smartwatches are still newborns in the market of emerging wearable devices By Dalia Ramadan PR Manager, AUB’s Online Collaborative @dalia813 At the dawn of 2013, much attention fell on the popularized Google Glass, but focus quickly shifted to emerging smartwatches. These wearable computing devices have similar functionalities and capabilities to a smartphone’s. In actuality, the majority is designed to be paired with smartphones. The two devices connect to each other via Bluetooth, allowing you to view alerts and notifications right on your wrist. Others, on the other hand, are designed to be used on their own. Smartwatch features include connecting to the Internet, making calls, messaging, fitness monitoring, GPS, games, music, and more. While a number of them were launched last year, none have hit a point of fame. So, are smartwatches going to be the next big thing or not? Here are the reasons why you should not purchase a smartwatch: They are expensive: The cheapest reasonably good smartwatch (the Pebble) starts at a cost of $150 for just black and white display, Snake, and some different watch faces. More “affordable”, full-color models start at $200—to $350—such as Sony’s Smartwatch 2 and Qualcomm’s Toq watch, respectively. They are bulky: At best, smartwatches might not get in your way or weigh down your arm, but nevertheless, they are noticeable, to say the least. It is very difficult to find a sleek, light-looking watch. Chances are, if you have seen someone wearing
a smartwatch, you would remember it, and I do not mean that in a good way. They need to be charged: On average, we get a single day of battery life from our smartphones, but do you really want to charge your watches every night, too? The Pebble is the current leader with about a week of battery life per charge, but watches with a wider variety of features skew toward only two or three days. They are a slave to your phone: Most smartwatches require a Bluetooth connection to an iPhone or Android device to connect to the Internet, or even properly keep track of time. This drains out battery life. Worse, smartwatches are also picky about what phones they work well with. Many watches only work with Android or iPhone. If you use a Windows Phone or Blackberry, for instance, your Android version will be most probably too outdated to be used with a smartwatch. They do not do anything your phone cannot do better: It sounds convenient to get notifications straight to your arm, but several brands, including Samsung and Sony, have yet to master this practical features. In fact, the Galaxy Gear does not display all notifications and it is not possible to view anything on Sony’s watch unless you press its power button. If you have to press a button to turn on your watch’s screen, you might as well reach into your pocket and whip out your phone. Despite a lack of persistent interest in the device, it is important to keep in
mind that smartwatches are still in the introduction stage of the product cycle, during which sales and profit are low and the main buyers are innovators and a handful of early adapters. The ongoing alterations in smartwatches in terms of hardware and software will allow the product market to mature in due time. The smart watch industry generated $60 billion in sales in 2013, and is estimated to grow by 500 percent. “The first generation of smartwatches can be easily dismissed as they did not offer anything more than frequent charges, touch lag, and basic features,” Sayed Serhan, editor of the tech blog “The Last Digit”, explains. “The next generation will take the idea of a watch to a whole new level by constructing them to become an integral part of our daily lives.” Though industry analysts forecast optimistic numbers for smartwatches, success really depends on how brands can differentiate the device’s most basic features. Consumers will only bite into this market if they are convinced that such a device has an added value of some sort. If companies can achieve this, smartwatches will be the next step in technological evolution, giving birth to a whole new niche in the digital world. As larger players like Apple and Google get involved in the industry, wearable devices will begin to shift from a cash cow to a star product, but, until then, a dent is unlikely to be made in the industry.
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GEEKY Gadgets
ANDROID WEAR: WHY IT CAN WAIT AND WHAT YOU SHOULD KNOW BEFORE BUYING By Raja Riachi
@ rajariachi
After the emergence of two Sony Smartwatch models, two generations of Galaxy Gear, the Pebble, and countless fitness bands that sync up to your phone, Google has finally arrived—slightly late—to the wearables party with Android Wear. The technology is basically Android, retooled for wearable devices, with the current focus being on smartwatches. While it seems like a conceptually great idea, I am here to help you decide if this is something for you, consumers who spend most of their time in Lebanon, to get excited about. Spoiler Alert: I’m leaning towards a solid No. Android Wear is firmly based on Google Now, an upgraded Google Search app that integrates voice search and tracks your movements and search history to provide information on your commute and suggestions for possible articles you might want to read. It can be found on iOS, Android, and most recently, the Chrome Webstore. It is also a service Google has been pushing for a while, recently adding the Google Now launcher to the Google Play Store. The concept of these smart watches is basically receiving the same content you see in Google Now, with the same card-based interface, on a smaller screen around your wrist one, card at a time. It also delivers notifications from your phone, such as texts and phone calls. Most notably, however, it also in48 CLOUD961
cludes the same voice search/commands functionality found on the Google Now app, which brings me to my first reason of why buying an Android Wear device would be a bad idea. While Google Voice Search deals with non-American accents better than others (Siri, Kinect on Xbox One), I still have difficulty with longer words when using it. So far, the only thing I actually use voice commands for is setting the alarm, requiring a simple “OK Google, Set alarm for 8 a.m.” Anything more complicated and you will need to pull out the onscreen keyboard and revert to typing instead. This will make replying to texts or hangout messages using text-to-speech thoroughly difficult, and will obviously limit our ability to use our special blend of Arabic and English, which we all love to do. Google Now, which will be at the heart of any Android Wear product you buy, revolves around the functionality of Google’s services, many of which we do not receive in Lebanon, and some of which we do receive but are unreliable. The idea behind having Google Now as the effective center for Android Wear is twofold. First, it is an attempt at avoiding the fragmentation the Android experience has suffered on phones because of manufacturers adding skins and interfaces like Samsung’s TouchWiz and HTC’s Sense. This will allow Android Wear to have a unified identity from the get-go,
aiding brand recognizability. Much like Windows on many different devices, the aim is to be able to recognize the operating system before the manufacturer, a mentality reinforced by forcing manufacturers to add “Powered by Android” on the phone’s splash screen as it starts up. Second and more important to its functionality, it will allow Google services to be the go-to choice on these smart watches due to their compatibility upon release. While third-party applications will be available for Android Wear products, they will probably act as peripherals and won’t interfere with how Android Wear products run, considering the operating system was built and designed around Google Now. For example, one of the first third-party applications to be made available on Android Wear is Pocket, allowing users to see article headlines suggested by Google Now based on search history, and saving them to Pocket to read them on a larger screen later. Out of the many specialized Google Now cards available, the ones we can really make use of are the basic ones, like calendar event reminders and alarms. The idea behind Android Wear, however, is to provide contextually dependent information on-the-go, saving users the hassle of taking their phones out at every turn. Theoretically, if you are on the subway on your way to work, going
GEEKY Gadgets back home or heading to a destination you have set on Google Maps, you will receive a notification at every stop telling you how many stops you have left. The only problem is: we don’t have a subway and our public transportation is an unbridled mess. Any other map-based benefits one might gain from Google Maps are moot considering location reliability is spotty at best and you tend to need a level of savvy to navigate Beirut’s roads that Google hasn’t really reached yet. Other things we would miss out on are notifications for upcoming movies, TV shows, new books and music albums. While again, that sounds great in theory,
receiving these notifications depends on having access to Google Play services like Google Music and Google Play Books, which we do not due to licensing issues. Despite the obvious gaps that Android Wear is going to suffer from—which go beyond what has been listed in this article—it is a concept that definitely has its positives. Google has already partnered up with more than ten companies, from traditional manufacturers such as Samsung and LG, to newer arrivals like Fossil who will have a lot to say about the fashion side of things. This will spur innovation in design, already producing two new designs in the LG G watch and
NOKIA X FAMILY GOES ON SALE IN LEBANON A better-designed way to enjoy a world of apps
Nokia announced on April 4, 2014 that the Nokia X, part of the new Nokia X family of affordable smartphones that run Android™ apps, has begun selling in Lebanon. The new devices are the perfect introduction to the world of Android apps, coupled with signature Nokia experiences, and the most popular Microsoft services.
screen which lets people switch between their favorite apps more smoothly. People can access curated, quality-tested apps from Nokia Store, more than a dozen third-party app stores and by side loading. All devices are also pre-loaded with a variety of very popular third-party apps and games.
The Nokia X is a beautifully crafted Dual SIM smartphone with Nokia’s signature design approach and bold, bright colors. At only 10.4mm thin, the slim, durable monobody design features a 4” scratch-proof display and exchangeable back covers that come in a variety of statement colors. Inside, the device runs on the Nokia X Software Platform and is powered by a 1Ghz dual core Qualcomm Snapdragon processor.
“We believe this unique combination will resonate with consumers around the world and set a great precedent for the level of quality that can be achieved in the fast-growing, affordable smartphone segment,” said Alaa Remayyed, General Manager for Nokia Levant.
The Nokia X family features Nokia’s renowned quality and design, with a fresh, tile-based user interface inspired by our Lumia family. It comes with Fastlane, a
Out of the box, they can enjoy signature Nokia experiences including free* HERE Maps, with true offline maps and integrated turn-by-turn navigation. The Nokia X is also an affordable introduction to popular Microsoft services, including free cloud storage using OneDrive.
the Moto 360, the latter being the first circular smartwatch announced, yielding by far the most elegant design. In addition, early adopters will have the chance to experience what many have dreamed about for years: talking into your wrist and having it talk back to you. Android Wear will also doubtlessly carry on what Android has held at its core, mainly giving users a chance to customize, making the product their own. The question you should ask yourselves before buying is: how much do I really use Google Now? In actuality, what Android Wear essentially is, is Google Now on your wrist.
Additional specifications: 4’’ capacitive touchscreen 1 GHz Qualcomm Snapdragon Dual Core Processor 512MB RAM 3MP camera Dual SIM Up to 32GB expandable memory 1500 mAH battery Satellite GPS Accelerometer Available colours: Bright Green, Bright Red, Cyan, Yellow, Black and White
The Nokia X family features two screens: home, which features a fresh, tile-based design and Fastlane. Fastlane is a dynamic record of how people use their phone, day by day, moment by moment. It captures everything people love: they need only to swipe once from the homescreen to access Fastlane, see a record of recent activity, and switch between their favorite apps, smoothly. Fastlane has been completely re-imagined for the Nokia X family. People can return a missed call by calling or texting, accepting or declining calendar invitations or controlling the music player, all from within the Fastlane view. Fastlane is also more customizable and social-friendly than ever. People can select what appears on their Fastlane feed, read notifications from their social networks and update their status from within Fastlane, making the experience even more productive.
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GEEKY Gadgets
3D PRINTING IS NOT ALL GOOD The Advantages and Disadvantages of 3D Printing By Armen Bakkalian President, HU’s Online Collaborative @ArmenBakkalian
3D printing is one of the latest trends in technology. Basically, it is the same concept as printing on paper, only with a small change. You design your object on the computer with a CAD (Computer Aided Design) package or using a 3D scanner, and then the 3D printer will give you the prototype of your design. The prototype is formed layer by layer (additive manufacturing) and is different than drilling or grinding on an object, which is subtractive manufacturing. As any technology, 3D printers have their advantages and disadvantages: Advantages: Rapid Prototyping Instead of waiting for weeks to have a prototype of your design, 3D printing allows you to print it yourself. It is more convenient and convincing when you have a real prototype in your hands rather than a design on a laptop, especially when you are seeking out investors for a new business. No Need for Warehousing Businesses need warehouses to keep their products that will be sold in the future, or goods that they know might be used later on. Using 3D printing entails manufacturing the products that are sold or needed only—No excess. 50 CLOUD961
More Job Opportunities It is evident that designing a 3D product needs hard and precise work. This will create new job opportunities for engineers, designers and technicians. Medical Uses Imagine you broke a leg, and a specific bone needs an implant. Usually titanium implants are used, since titanium is a light metal and it is biocompatible. How about printing it and using it? It may also have other medical uses, such as teeth-printing, or any organ-printing in the future. Organ donors will not be needed, and illegal organ trafficking will diminish. Large-Scale Projects Although still not applicable, people may be able to print houses and buildings using this technology. This will need large 3D printers, though. Disadvantages: Economic Problems We know that China is a great manufacturer of almost any type of goods with cheap prices, due to cheap labor. 3D printing might affect a lot of powerful markets, since consumers will need fewer of those products. A decrease in demand might be followed by an increase of unemployment in these countries. Thus, the economy
must get ready to welcome its economic recession and depression phases, unless solutions are found. Dangerous Materials How dangerous will it be when people “print out” their guns at home? Guns, bullets, sharp knives, or any kind of dangerous objects will become a threat to society. Useless Stuff Another problem with 3D printing is that it might create lots of useless stuff. People will print some objects and then not have need for them. This will increase waste. Copyright/Patent Infringement With the ease of printing, the numbers of counterfeit items will rise. Owners of the patent might never get rewarded for their original work. Meanwhile, exact copies of the same products might be going around for a relatively cheaper price. High Costs Even though 3D printing is getting more popular day after day, the costs of production are still high. 3D printers, materials, and design costs are still very expensive. Just like any technological advance, when it has good intentions, it will bring about good results. If abused, it will only cause further destruction.
GEEKY Apps
LEBANESE APP STORES
FIRE CHAT
Nothing Short of Ghost Towns By Joseph Maalouf
A free connection, should you find yourself in a big black hole By Manal Mohsen
@Manally
We all know we live in a country where the main challenges are providing electricity for everyone and all the time, offering highspeed Internet, and last but not least, decent mobile coverage. To some, probably most, these issues are similar to a deadly virus-filled firewall, being torn down and ultimately putting an end to our important daily communications. Well, luckily, we do not have to depend on the Internet and lack of coverage to communicate with those around us anymore. Open Garden, a California-based startup that aims to bring an Internet connection to everyone everywhere, has just launched Fire Chat, an IOS app where you can chat off- the-grid with people near you when there is no Internet connection or mobile coverage. Perfect for when you are at a concert, in the subway, at the beach, or some other place where there is little-to-no connection, Fire Chat makes use of IOS 7’s feature, Multipeer Connectivity Framework. This hidden, yet awesome feature is what enables users to chat and share photos with one another without an Internet connection. You can choose to connect to a global chat or connect with those near you,
with the addition of having the choice to be anonymous. This app has the potential to go big and would be ideal to use during any catastrophic event. Let us go into simpler, yet more exciting details. Say you are in a remote area with no Internet connection or phone network whatsoever. Seems like a nightmare, right? Well, Fire Chat makes use of IOS 7’s mesh network (also known as the Multipeer Connectivity Framework), which can bind you to peer-to-peer connections. It is sort of like Airdrop in a way, only better. In other words, if your friend is in a range of a Wi-Fi connection, every member in the mesh network can share that connection, too. Mesh networking is going to be big, so keep your eyes open for when other major smartphones begin to make use of it. We may try to deny it, but Internet has become such a vital tool in our daily lives. We cannot live without it. We fear it might be time-consuming, yet we are addicted to its wireless magic and are thankful to always be connected through our smartphones. Fire Chat is a wonderful, decentralized form of networking; we can now all be connected to one another globally or regionally, chat, transfer, send pictures, check in on friends if things were to go wrong, and even socialize at events.
@zoozel
Last March, both Lebanese mobile operators, Alfa and Touch, launched their respective mobile app stores featuring local mobile applications. Their goal being allowing app developers to showcase their work and users to pay with their phone credits rather than their credit cards. Most Lebanese users opt for cash payment rather than going through their banks as they still do not trust the Internet with their information, so billing through mobile carriers should be the next best thing for them. In theory, this sounds like a dream come true. In reality, however, at the time of the writing of this article, there is a total of 28 applications and 2 games on Touch’s Android Store. At first, one might think they are being selective, accepting only the best of apps, but then you run into apps such as ‘MyHouse’ which lacks the most basic requirement: a proper usable interface. Moving on to the main advantage of the app stores: carrier billing. Touch carries a total of zero paid apps, whereas Alfa offers one: “Keefak”, an app that helps you learn the Lebanese dialect of Arabic priced at a whopping $4.99 price tag. Mobile operators might not be the ones to blame for this shortage, yet local developers are still hesitant to work with government-owned institutions for their lack of transparency and organization. Local app curators seem to have brought to light the fact that, in a time where tech startups are everywhere, there are not that many local apps to offer. With carrier billing now an option, should we expect of Lebanese developers to step up their game and start offering paid apps? Perhaps with reasonable pricing?
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GEEKY Apps
TELEGRAM APP REVIEW By Lynn Bizri
@lnlne
Built by Russian Durov brothers and founders of Russia’s largest social network, VKontakte (VK), Telegram highly resembles Whatsapp in terms of both visuals and functions. The main difference, however, is its speed and security features.
Want your messages to disappear after a certain period of time? You can set a self-destruct timer on your messages that ranges from two seconds to one week. Want to check the security of your Secret Chats? The app offers the ability to do that by using an image as an encryption key. Just compare your encryption key to that of your friend’s, and you can verify that the conversation is secure. If you do need your regular chats stored for future access, they are securely encrypted in the cloud and can be accessed at any time from any Android or iOS gear.
According to the company, Telegram is the fastest and most secure mass market messaging system in the world. The app’s most popular feature and the one that distinguishes it from other alternatives is the “Secret Chat”, which offers end-to-end encryption and leaves no trace on the company’s servers.
Another special feature is multiple file sharing which allows you to attach documents or text/Doc files to messages and send media files up to 1 GB in size. Telegram also offers the ability to create groups with up to 200 people in them. Simply put, Telegram is fast, free and secure.
When Whatsapp was down for four hours this past February, nearly 5 million people, including myself, signed up for the free messaging app, “Telegram”. The app not only reached the top of the App Store charts, it was also the top free app in over 46 countries and number one in the social networking category in the US, as well as several other countries. So why was Telegram the chosen alternative after Whatsapp’s inquisition by Facebook and its subsequent downtime?
The Pros: - High level of security for messages - Fast message delivery - Larger groups - Sharing of large media files - Free of charge The Cons: - Smaller user base (so far) - No voice messages - Shared media stays on cloud (and thus cannot be accessed without Internet access).
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GEEKY Social Games
#SMLAUGHS SOUTH PARK “THE STICK OF TRUTH” BANNED IN THE MIDDLE EAST Confessions of a closeted candy crush addict & the trick to get infinite lives! By Darine Sabbagh
@sdarine
No explanation given By Raja Riachi
@rajariachi
“South Park: The Stick of Truth” is not available in stores in Lebanon, or on digital storefronts accessed from the Middle East. South Park is a TV show that hilariously, and unapologetically, has made fun of everything and everyone, from Gingers to Jews. As for the game, no explanation has been given with regards to it being banned, with most gaming websites incorrectly reporting that highly explicit scenes have simply been censored in the Middle East, Africa and Europe. The game was available for prepurchase on online marketplaces like Steam and Uplay, but was completely removed from Steam for users in Lebanon and the Middle East around the same time it was announced it would be censored in Europe, in late February. The fact that it has been heavily censored in other countries raises even more questions about the necessity of the ban. In Europe, up to seven possibly offensive scenes were removed, replaced with written descriptions of what goes on. These scenes depict events like anal probing and abortions, both being recurring themes in the show. The game was even released in Germany and Austria albeit after a delay, after considerations had to be made for their ban of swastikas and other Nazi symbols, due to the plot including Nazi Zombies. The willingness to censor the game on the part of the publisher, Ubisoft, means a state could have been reached to maybe release the game in the Middle East. Other possibly sensitive/offensive scenes include
having your character shrunk down to explore Mr. Slave, a particularly promiscuous gay man’s anus, having to tear down coagulated semen with your weapon, and having to navigate your character’s parents having sex—also having been shrunk down—and eventually being hit by the father’s testicles. This content could have contributed to the game ban decision, but then again, sexually explicit material is not a huge problem in Lebanon, with nudity appearing in R-rated movies. The strangest part is that “South Park: The Stick of Truth” is one of the only games I have played where the character you control does not kill anyone. That said, it is safe to say that in this game, parodied sexual content is pervading, but ludicrous amounts of indiscriminate murder— abundant in Grand Theft Auto 5, for instance—are almost absent. One other element to look at is the fact that one of the character families you can select is “Jew”, the other three being Mage, Fighter, or Thief. While it is by no means illegal to be a Jew or have Jewish characters in pop culture imported to the Arab World—whilst popular shows like the Big Bang Theory have Jewish characters—this is worth mentioning simply due to the lack of delineated reasons behind the ban. There is no adequate explanation of why this game is not available in Lebanon, and why this country and the rest of the Middle East cannot get access to digital copies of this game, considering Grand Theft Auto 5 was banned in the UAE and Saudi Arabia, but still managed to make it here.
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 our day-to-day interactions. Share your stories with her on Twitter (@sdarine) and/or #SMLaughs or send her an e-mail: sdarine@cloud961.com In case you have not read my earlier columns, I have been complaining about being harassed with my in-laws’ incessant Candy Crush notifications on Facebook. But what you do not know yet is that I have had a serious lapse in judgment and have been dragged into the addiction pool. Yes, a few months ago, I asked to try out the popular game on my friend’s phone. As it is with alcohol, the first sip did not yield any addiction. The game seemed silly, the graphics too basic, the music borderline psychedelic. But then on the occasional visit to the in-laws and the absence of 3G in the Tripoli combo, I had to do something! Everything was going well… until my husband’s 7-year-old nephew offered to help him finish a round of Candy Crush. The stages of my addiction went as follows. At first, it was an occasional dose over the weekend with the husband’s nephew. This stretched over several weeks. Later came the endless hours of tablet appropriation by yours truly, with the excuse of finishing up a round. I might have also yelled at the little 7-year-old if he implored to play for a short while or disturbed me by pointing out a mega candy opportunity. This was accompanied by waiting religiously to get an extra life and spamming all of his Facebook friends, as well as borrowing the in-laws’ phones to get us lives. At that point, I swore not to install it onto my phone, ever. Next we discovered a cheat! If you play with your clock settings, you can get lives without waiting for or harassing your friends! Just do not forget to set the correct date back once you got all of your 5 lives back. You can also skip to the next level by taking challenges. And the good life began! But one cannot get enough, right? I installed it onto my phone, promising myself only to play on the weekends. Well, that did not last long. For the past few weeks, I have been secretly playing it, cheating my way through stages and holding on to “my precious”. May I also add that when I am not playing, I am consuming wild amount of Jelly Belly candy? So, has anyone heard of Candy Crush rehab techniques? 53 CLOUD961
GEEKY Social Games
GAMERS CORNER: FLOW Reviewing flOw, the Zen PlayStation game
By Layal Jebran
@iPr1ncess
Nope, this is not a screensaver! What we have here is flOw, a PlayStation game that has moved up the ladder from the PSP back when it was first launched in 2007, to reach the PS Vita, PS3, and now the PS4. At first, while launching the game, one cannot help but notice the simplicity and fluid design of the menu. Once you press Start, the game begins with a small translucent organism, and then you can move up 6 sections after ingesting the amoebas
surrounding you, which cause you to replenish. You will not die while playing, but merely go back a level once you have expired. The game allows you to complete all levels in approximately 2 hours. Your advancement depends on how skillfully you play. A multiplayer feature also exists. Any friend can jump in at any time and the screen would split for co-op gaming (Up to 4 players at a time).
TRIALS FRONTIER: A Review of the much-anticipated game for iOS By Layal Jebran
@iPr1ncess
Ubisoft has released Trials Frontier to the iOS platforms this week. The game has been much awaited by gaming enthusiasts. Being a perfect duplicate of the original, when beginning, you are immediately playing the tutorial. Right thumb controls acceleration, left thumb to control orientation. There is a story to the game: you are pulled into it after an explosion in a cave where you are riding your bike. Trials Frontier beats most games that just feature accumulating points to upgrade only. Also, the Wild West theme gives it a rustic steampunk identity. When your bike is destroyed in the cave, you are forced to borrow an old bike from the townies. To return their kindness, you are to take on challenges for them. For those of you who have low tolerance for story 54 CLOUD961
games and are trying it out just for fun, there is a free-to-play feature allowing you to gain gems and funds and use them to upgrade your bike. The only downside are the cool down timers taking too long. At times you just lose interest in waiting and exit. Trials Frontier was brilliantly transported from PC and Xbox into iOS. Controls work in an-easy-to-use manner, thus keeping the feel of the original trials series. The free-to-play feature is a great way to earn cash for the in-app purchases instead of buying the upgrades with real money. The game is free to download on the iTunes app store. So go ahead, give it a go! My rating is 7.5/10, deducting points for the “Fermium” feature.
As its tagline reads: “...Life could be simple…”, flOw is the definition of simplicity. It is enjoyable by any age or gender, hardcore gamer or not. Anyone playing would still acquire great experience and probably have so much fun. Hands down, for me, it is a solid 8/10 flOw is available at the PlayStation Store for $5.99 and has cross-buy, which means once you buy it you can play it on all PS consoles.
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MARKETING Community managers are the superheroes in the dark who shadow pages of brands and Twitter accounts, embodying those brands and speaking to us in their voices. They are the ones who create amazing content that makes us like and share and ultimately welcome the brand to 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 introduce you to the real people behind the brands. This month, Darine has met up with Tracy Bou Gebrayel (also known as: a full-time black belt social media specialist amidst the team of digital ninjas at COM FU). In this interview, you will discover the joys of learning about your client’s businesses’ ins and outs as well as her efforts to educate clients on what is considered the best practice in social media. And it is apparent that Tracy does it all with a true intent to socialize and in complete Zen! Read on and you will feel it, share a couple of deep nods and maybe a few “AHA” moments, too.
5 Minutes with the Community Manager
TRACY BOU GEBRAYEL: I MANAGE THE ACCOUNTS I WORK ON AS IF THEY WERE MY OWN By Darine Sabbagh
@sdarine
Tell me a bit about yourself and YOUR online persona. Are they different? I think that I convey my real self fairly accurately in real life and online. I speak my mind, as I believe in freedom of speech. I love to share ideas with others and be part of discussion groups. I’m curious enough to search for the information I want to reach. In addition to that, I’m interested in meeting new people, especially on Twitter. Last but not least, I love to be part of a community, where we all think alike while discussing our different opinions and ideas openly. Tell us a bit about the accounts you manage and the approach you have toward each of them. How do you make sure you are most creative on each of them and maintain each brands page’s voice? Maintaining a unique tone of voice for each brand is crucial, that’s why it’s important to keep an eye on the brand’s social media insights and to always remember to “listen first” as the digital audience is no longer a passive factor, but a dynamic community that keeps reinventing itself every day. Anyone can be creative once they have the right mindset and the right tools. I consider the accounts I manage as if they were my own personal accounts. I always do my best to create strategies that cater to the online audience of the brand. Finally, in order to stay up-to-date with the new social trends, I do my research on a daily basis. How did you get into social media and community management? After working for almost a year at Mindshare Kuwait as a media buyer, I realized that I didn’t fit in that field. So, I started seeking other opportunities. Luckily at that time, COM
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MARKETING FU had a social media vacancy, so I was like, “Why not give it a try?”Especially that I’m interested in the digital world. Eventually, I did a Skype interview with Ralph Aoun, founder of COM FU, and in a blink, I moved back to Lebanon to get my full-time black belt as social media specialist at COM FU. What is your favorite part about being the voice of the brands? My favorite part has got to be getting to experience a whole different world with every new brand. To speak for a brand, you have to learn and live every single detail of it. That includes both the marketing and digital aspects, but also the business knowhow. No other field will allow me to learn simultaneously how to be a coffee barista, a mobile expert, a fashionista, a vodka connoisseur, among a long list of other talents! What is your least favorite part about the job? My least favorite part has got to be having to compete with some unethical practices which may give potential clients a quick, yet fake and fragile success. At the end of the day, we’ve all been faced with brands wanting to gain a million fans overnight, but it is important to understand that this request is never based on bad will but on lack of awareness. It is thus our duty, as professional Lebanese agencies, to raise awareness of the high standards of this sector and the damage of neglecting long-term solutions for quick and cheap fixes. Do you have favorite fans? It is really amazing how you find yourself, with time, getting attached to fans and feeling some kind of transparent bond with them. It starts with remembering the names then it grows to knowing the taste, the habits and the energy level of each community member. Tell us about the most annoying fans you have encountered and how have you managed the situation? At COM FU, we believe that there is no “annoying fan” but mostly fans with different energy and emotional levels. People are good by nature, but just have different thoughts and different ways of conveying them. A true social media master is the one who can train his skills to adapt, just like water in a vase, to any of these levels and smoothly transforming any negative thoughts or ideas into a common opportunity to learn and improve. Tell us about one of your most recent learnings in the digital space. I’m recently learning more about Search Engine Optimization and its techniques, since I’m planning to apply them on our brands. Are you using social media more or less, now that you are a community manager? Tell us more about the way your experience has changed.
To be honest, I’m using social media less for personal use and instead, I’m concentrating more on my brands’ accounts, as I feel the urge to go through them every minute of the day. As community managers, we are sometimes accused of mistakenly replying to personal friends’ comments with a brand’s fans tonality. That’s what I believe is called “professional deformation”.
happened in Lebanon. While it was an innocent mistake, it taught me that a community manager needs to stay in touch with every aspect that affects society minute-by-minute. Acting proactively by issuing a clarification and an apology was the best way to turn the negative feedback into an honest experience that further strengthens the bonds with our audience.
If you could manage any brand what would those brands be? I have been very lucky that COM FU trusted me with amazing brands from all the different sectors and if I were to add one to my portfolio, it would definitely be Red Bull! I’m personally interested in their products as well as in the inspiring “relationship” they have built with their audience.
What do you tell your clients to make them see the value of what you do? For client, the real value is not only when we speak, it’s actually when we listen. In fact, clients are more and more looking for agencies that look closely at their needs, understand their business from the client’s experienced point of view, and most importantly listen to the brand’s audience. It’s only after you listen well that you may tell your clients what is the value that you can add to their business stories and how you can turn those into success stories.
How do you find ideas for what you post and how do you overcome creative block? For ideas to flourish, the two keys are definitely a healthy company culture and an inspiring team. Luckily at COM FU we have both! In fact, the fun young spirit upon which our whole identity is built as well as the ideas exchange environment which the team has maintained forms the perfect ecosystem for creativity. On a more practical note, finding new ideas is definitely supported by extensive research. I am always on the lookout for relevant and at the same time creative content that would create engagement on social platforms. Is there a recent post or campaign you are particularly proud of? That’s a tough question as I’m proud of everything we do, because each campaign has its own sparkle! One of the recent campaigns I’m proud of is our work with World Vision and the Red Cross as we provided social media training to women in rural areas and to the Red Cross Youth. Another campaign I am particularly proud of is our Barista Espresso #iRemember Alzheimer’s Campaign, which we recently presented as a case study at the Arab Net’s event and which asked people to create content in support of Alzheimer’s awareness in Lebanon. Finally, I have to mention a campaign that created an amazing buzz online: Samsung’s #Lifeis campaign, launching the Samsung Galaxy S4. This campaign holds a special place in my heart due to it being my very first at COM FU!
What is your #1 tip to deal with clients? (as coordination with them can be hectic) In a few words? Be your client’s superhero. Despite advanced expertise and resources that a client may be equipped with, experienced agencies should stay on the lookout for any call for help and act not only as any other member of the client’s team but also as their reliable superhero. Is there a post you worked so hard on producing and then it didn’t perform as well as expected? Of course at the beginning of my career at COM FU, not all the posts I used to come up with were as successful as expected. Day by day, I started to learn the secrets behind a successful post through experimenting each time with a new technique. In fact, every action you take online is similar to a stone thrown in a pond. The beauty is not in the stone sinking in the water but in the ripples that it gives birth to. It’s those ripples that you have to watch and learn from before you throw your next stone! You can find Tracy online on @tracybg91 on Twitter and @tracybg on Instagram.
Is there any interesting crisis that happened on your SM accounts which you would like to share? We would love to hear how you resolved it. Like any other marketing job, community managers are faced occasionally with crisis situations which, due to the dynamic nature of social media, can leave some damage if treated recklessly. The crisis that impacted me the most was posting regular content while being unaware of an unfortunate security-threatening event that had just 57 CLOUD961
MARKETING
THE NIGHTMARES OF A COMMUNITY MANAGER A Real-Life Nightmare You Can Never Wake Up From
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By Nuhad Hamdan
@NuhadHamdan
“Community manager” is a term that started trending a few years ago when brands embraced the presence of the online world and realized the need for hiring a fully dedicated social media team to build, grow and manage the online communities. “Ah cool, you spend most of your time on Facebook and Twitter,” some say. But as fun as this may seem, being a community manager is not the easiest, most fun activity some might be tricked into thinking it is. Here are some of our daily pinpricks:
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1-Posting as the Community Manager and not the Page The switch button is tricky and can go unnoticed, causing lots of trouble.
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2-Forgetting to Share a Post on Time/Sharing a Post with a Spelling or Grammatical Mistake Yes, this might happen! Believe it or not, we are human, too.
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3-Handling an Online Crisis While Respecting the Service-Level Agreement (SLA) Come up with tens of different answers to send the same message in only 15 minutes? Sure! Get set, ready, GO! 4-Explaining the 20 Percent Rule to a Designer or a Client CM: Please try to fit this entire paragraph in 5 tiny
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squares so that I can promote the post Designer/Client: But how? That is not possible CM: The client wants it promoted without missing a single letter… Good luck! 5-Moving Between Sophistication and Playfulness Trying to embody different companies’ online personae and adapting to their tone can be both arduous and confusing for a dedicated community manager. 6-Losing Internet Connection Especially when you have an urgent e-mail to share with the client or a really critical issue to solve online. 7-Dealing with Negative Feedback Coming From an Online Influencer Solve it now, solve it right, or
else your page is officially the talk of the town, and not in a good way! Waking up in the Dead of the Night Thinking you Have Successfully Committed one of these digital deadly sins… only to realize it was only a nightmare! But the worst nightmare of all is not noticing the efforts a community manager puts into building, moderating, and expanding online communities. And if you are not aware of it, Community Managers’ Appreciation Day does exist; it takes place every 4th Monday of January to recognize the work of community managers around the world, who so dexterously use online media to improve customer experience.
MARKETING
8 REASONS WHY BRANDS SHOULD BE ON TWITTER @mfaezt
©nishad2m8.deviantart.com
By Mohamad Faez Tarabichi
Now that Twitter is eight years old and has more than 200 million users that tweet up to a billion tweets every three days, the micro-blogging platform is bigger than ever. If this is not enough for all of you marketers and advertisers out there, then you should buckle up and check the reasons why brands should be on Twitter
on Twitter. Every small, medium or big business should consider digital marketing, especially Twitter. But the main advice is that if the brand is not well-known, you should consider having a personal account for your business. People want to engage with people with feelings; logos are just for the memory.
The return on investment is guaranteed, though.
• Connect with consumers It is the main reason your business should be on Twitter. You would be able to connect with your clients, hence the consumers since they are on Twitter as well, because social media has become a daily routine to the point that most people check it first thing in the morning while still in bed. If you want to spot an unsatisfied customer, Twitter is the place to be.
• Consumer Feedback Once connected with your clients and consumers, interacting with them should be your main concern. This is modern client service: listening to what your consumers have to say can be very helpful for the business most of the time.
• Twitter is Viral If you manage to gain popularity on Twitter, it can do wonders and act to your advantage because once a tweet is “successful”, it is retweeted again and again, and it goes viral. Promotional tweets can help with that, of course.
• Image Branding You do not have to be a big brand or corporation like Samsung, Pepsi or Chanel in order to market your image
• Marketing One of the focal motives why you should be on Twitter is that you will be able to widen your market, whether in products or services, and reach a whole new audience. The best part is that all of this is for free, unless you hire a community manager.
• Promotions and Giveaways To give your company a little boost, a small gift to a random person or your most loyal customer never hurts anyone. On the contrary, everybody loves giveaways and winning free stuff.
• Spy on Your Rivals Well, if Twitter is not the best way to spy and stalk your rivals for free, what is? You can read all that is said about the competitors. Whether it is a good, bad or neutral comment, you would always have the upper hand. And if by any chance your rival does not interact, you
would be there lurking to woo all of the customers out there. • Increase Sales Twitter actually helps you in increasing your sales and essentially making a profit. Isn’t that what we all want? It is a positive domino effect. Good image on Twitter leads to curious customers who will interact, and through interaction they will become satisfied. Bear in mind, loyal and happy customers do go the extra mile to recommend a brand. To those who say Twitter at the moment is too mainstream, and businesses should not jump on the bandwagon like all other companies, I respond: you are right, hipsters. Companies should nowadays think outside the box and try to lead not to follow, but no one can afford not being on social media, because that alone is an archaic strategy. So, follow the trend and keep innovating.
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MONEY
INVESTIGATING BITCOIN What’s (not so) great about the currency? By Lynn Bizri @lnlne Bitcoin is a distributed digital payment system and currency often called a ‘cryptocurrency’. Bitcoin transactions are processed in peer-to-peer fashion through a shared public ledger using a currency unit also known as a Bitcoin. To use the Bitcoin network, users first need to acquire bitcoins through an exchange or websites that let users trade Bitcoins for conventional currencies. Bitcoin exchanges serve as marketplaces where users can come together to buy and sell Bitcoins. These users set the market prices, and while some are simply looking to acquire or sell Bitcoins for U.S dollars or another currency, others are active traders and high-frequency traders. Through the active, 24/7 process of buying and selling in worldwide exchanges, the price of Bitcoin is established. Bitcoin first captured the attention of investors and innovators last year, fueling a rally that drove the value of the digital money up from a low of $12 to almost $1,200, causing the general public to take notice of and start using the cryptocurrency. Today, there are different views regarding the adoption of the Bitcoin in the retail industry. While some retailers believe they are just merchants and are ready to support any mode of transaction for selling goods, others are skeptical and want federal agencies to regulate the digital currency before considering its adoption. 60 CLOUD961
What’s so great about Bitcoin? Bitcoin is the world’s first global, decentralized, digital currency and is not controlled by any one party. It allows money to be sent between any two parties worldwide without a third party middle-man, thus enabling extremely low-cost international transactions to be made by anyone with an Internet connection or mobile phone. Unlike regular currencies, the money supply also cannot be inflated or deflated, as opposed to currencies controlled by humans. Moreover, Bitcoin’s software source code is publicly available for review, testing and auditing at all times and its transaction ledger is public, which protects against double-spending and ensures the system’s financial integrity. What’s not so great? Recently, scrutiny from governments, bans in China and India, and the collapse of the largest online Bitcoin exchange, Mt. Gox, have cast doubt on the viability of Bitcoin as a credible replacement for monetary currencies. Last month, the price of Bitcoin plunged after China’s central bank ordered banks and payment companies to close the trading accounts of more than 10 Bitcoin exchanges. With the Bitcoin business banned in the country, and the only way to purchase the digital currency being through cash, trad-
ing posts have had to move their servers abroad and use foreign payment firms to keep going, or shut down. In Russia, authorities have issued warnings against using Bitcoin, saying the virtual currency could be used for money laundering or financing terrorism and that treating it as a parallel currency is illegal. The central bank also claimed that Bitcoin trade was highly speculative and that the unit carries a big risk of losing value. As for the United States, although the Bitcoin community is far more developed than the one in Russia, it is also coming under scrutiny as authorities crack down on illegal activity being carried out using the digital currency. Several arrests of people involved in the Bitcoin trade have been made, mainly due to violations of state anti-money laundering laws, further tarnishing Bitcoin’s reputation. However, despite Bitcoin’s volatility, there is a drive towards more widespread adoption. With its current momentum, the digital currency has an opportunity to become a mainstream currency, where the general public can actually buy, sell and hold an amount of Bitcoins without constantly exchanging it back into their local currency.
MONEY
SPONSORED STORIES: DOWN THE THROATS The Latest Trend in Advertising By Joseph Maalouf
@zoozel
Nowadays, people are flooded with “visual pollution”, products being pushed down their throats wherever they go. Even on social media, brands are relentlessly bombarding them with ads. You cannot look through your Facebook or Twitter timelines without coming across a sponsored story from brands you do not even remotely relate to. Brands have been taking notice of this, however, and they are well aware that people are more likely to listen to real people online. A strategy often used by marketers is to shower influential people with gifts, hoping they would post about their products.
There is actually a list of bloggers going around and is used whenever hype is required. The problem with this method, though, is that bloggers often neglect to disclose that they have received gifts from the brand and end up damaging their credibility as well as the brand’s. What marketers are also learning is that ‘likes’ are not worth much if consumers are not interacting with the brand’s products and online content. With Facebook’s new algorithm, it is harder for brands to reach consumers organically. Facebook now prioritizes posts from your friends rather than those from
pages, in an effort to show you information that is important to you. So, in a new leap of transparency, brands now want you to obtain their products by talking about it upon your social networks rather than paying for it with cash. Your friends are naturally aware that you are taking part of a promotion, but if you are willing to “sell” your online real estate for that product, then it must be good, no? Marc Jacobs and Kellogg’s both opened pop-up stores where no cash exchange is to happen. The only currency accepted was
social media. In Mark Jacobs’ case, you are rewarded based on the image you take, along with a “Best Photo of the Day” competition to win a purse. Kellogg’s takes a more direct approach where you are instructed to post a picture of their new product on Instagram and simply walk away with it. There is a lot of potential for local brands should they decide to adopt this trend, but it would be more interesting to see another interactive layer added to it. Incorporating selfies in the process, perhaps?
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BUSINESS Starting Up
PIZZA CUPS: RELYING SOLELY ON SOCIAL MEDIA TO MARKET A NEW CONCEPT IN LEBANON Interview by Mohammad Hijazi Editor in Chief @mhijazi
Many businesses have finally started to realize the importance of social media for their success, but few have relied so heavily on it in Lebanon to promote their concept. A perfect example of those who are using social media wisely would be Pizza Cups, an all-homemade catering business with a fresh, delicious idea that was launched solely on social media platforms. To know more about Pizza Cups and its social media strategy, Mohammad Hijazi interviewed Wassim El Haddad, co-founder, about this innovation. El Haddad has been working in social media for the past year in Cleartag, while co-founding Pizza Cups with Khajag Apelian and currently handles the communication matters of the brand as they get ready to open their new outlet and expand. What is Pizza Cups and how did you come up with the concept? Pizza Cups are cup-shaped pizzas prepared with fresh quality ingredients and baked with care and dedication. They’re available in different savory and sweet flavors, with different crust choices. The starting point of the concept was the cookbook that one my partners, Salpy Apelian, was preparing. We were looking at different options to start a new concept in town, and I stumbled upon cupcakes with cheese and tomato topping. I thought the item had potential, and we spent around 6 months developing it until we reached our current product. How are you funded and did the business start sustaining itself (breaking even or making profit)? We funded the business ourselves as it was a home operation with little cost. As for sustainability, we always 62 CLOUD961
BUSINESS Starting Up the online community here was more than what we expected. It feels good to be part of a community where the members help each other, whether they’re casually posting about it or writing a full review. If you don’t mind, we would like to send a special thank you to “NoGarlicNoOnions”. This blog was a great support for our brand and is one of the top influences in the community. What is your social media content strategy like? I wouldn’t say that we have a social media content strategy, because what we did so far was just post about our products and greet people on holidays. Lucky for us, it was enough so far. However, we are currently trying to change this and adopt a real content strategy. Do you advise other businesses to get rid of traditional marketing and adapt a social media marketing strategy instead? Choosing to market solely online is very dependent on your brand and its attributes, your business objectives and your target market. I personally don’t think social media marketing is enough for brands unless they innovative new concepts an add something new to the table. In that case they might experience what we experienced. We’re in 2014, you can’t not adopt social media marketing; your strategy should include a healthy combination of offline and online promotion.
make a bit of a profit as we don’t stock anything. Instead, we buy everything fresh and on the spot when a customer orders. In addition to that, we have no employees and we do the work ourselves. We’re proud to have a good number of loyal customers who found us either through our social media platforms or through word of mouth. How are you marketing it? What is the role that social media has played in increasing your brand awareness? For the moment, we are purely using social media to market our product. It has been a great success for us, as we launched the concept online and communicated all of our brand awareness there, for free. We haven’t paid any budget to acquire fans, and whoever we have on our platforms is there because they are interested, which is what we hoped for when we launched Pizza Cups online.
Would you rely solely on social media for your marketing? Why or why not? Indeed, we do rely solely on social media for our marketing because we believe our target audience is easily accessible on these platforms. Moreover, the online community is always on the look for new things to discover and post/tweet about, which helped us a lot to spread the word about our product. Why don’t you have an online store (with online ordering options) yet? We don’t have an online store yet because our budget was limited and we didn’t want to rush in launching a store that might affect our brand negatively. However, we are currently developing a full-fledged website that will include an online ordering system.
What is your social media marketing budget so far? As I mentioned above, we don’t really have employment costs, such as community management as I do that myself. We have spent a very small budget on giving free samples of Pizza Cups to most of the online community, but really, nothing to mention! In addition to this, we haven’t advertised yet on Facebook and when it comes to the posts, my partner Khajag Apelian designs them. How are you planning to expand your business? We are currently working on standardizing our operation and developing our brand with new partners, in order to open our first—hopefully one of many— commercial outlets for fast delivery and takeaway.
What was the feedback you have received from the online community in Lebanon? The feedback that we received from 63 CLOUD961
BUSINESS Crowdfunding
ABDALLAH ABSI: “I STARTED ZOOMAAL DUE TO MY REPETITIVE FAILURES CAUSED BY LACK OF FUNDING” Inspiring People from the Lebanese Online Community Interview by Mohammad Hijazi Editor in Chief @mhijazi
In an attempt to promote inspiring stories about people from the Lebanese Online Community, we, at Cloud961, have decided to dedicate a monthly column to interview an inspiring figure that has left a mark in the Lebanese online sphere. For your suggestions for this column, feel free to email me on mhijazi@cloud961.com.
A young serial and social entrepreneur, Abdallah Absi founded more than six companies, is currently advising several startups, and aims at raising new generations of Arab entrepreneurs. He is currently the CEO of Zoomaal, an initiative funded by four major institutional investors and recently featured on CNN, Forbes, Wamda, and IHT. Zoomaal is the leading crowd-funding platform that aims at funding Arab creative projects. Abdallah has won more than 10 awards in entrepreneurship and computer science, and was recently selected as one of Lebanon’s Top 20 entrepreneurs for 2013. When did you first get acquainted with the Lebanese entrepreneurship scene? Late 2009 was my first involvement. This is when I first heard the word “Entrepreneurship” from the YallaStartup group founded by Habib Haddad, Elie Khoury and Sami Shalabi. What is eClub and what are some of its latest projects? eClub stands for “The Entrepreneurship Club”. Our mission is to support and promote youth entrepreneurship in Lebanon. The club was founded in 2011 at AUB, and it now operates around Lebanon under an NGO. Our latest project is The LEAGUE, an exclusive support network for young established entrepreneurs to lobby with the private and public sectors, and create a platform for the exchange of know-how among established entrepreneurs. What are the projects (start-ups/ideas) that you implemented before Zoomaal? I have started several projects prior to Zoomaal. In 2009, I co-founded LebAutos with my high school friends Ahmad Rabih and Ahmad Kammaz, a platform to browse and buy used cars in Lebanon. After LebAutos, I founded YallaSMEme (2009), an SMS service for greetings; CrowdVolt (2010), a platform for inter-company “protests”; Rifflex (2010); Askolar (2011); and finally Zoomaal (2012). Zoomaal is a leading crowd-funding platform in the Middle East. Tell us why you chose to invest in this idea? I’ve been always passionate about supporting young entrepreneurs, maybe because I had this problem myself. The major contributor to my repetitive failures was the lack of access to funding for someone who is a student, unexperienced, over-ambitious, and full of ideas. I want to change that. Perhaps one of the weaknesses of Zoomaal is that it does not support partial funding of campaigns, unlike other platforms. Many Arab campaigns are being hosted on other platforms for this reason. Why did you choose not to allow such an option on Zoomaal?
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BUSINESS Crowdfunding
ZOOMAAL ROUNDUP By Paul Gadalla
It is actually a strength not a weakness. Although the partial funding model seems more straight-forward and offers more flexibility to the project owner, the consequences of it are diminishing to the contributors. Imagine that you supported a $50,000-project with $2,000 and the project ends up failing. In partial funding, the project owner will get the $2,000 although they probably can’t do anything with it, because their project needs $50,000. $2,000 is far from being close to the funding goal. With the All-or-Nothing model, we guarantee to the contributor that their funds are not released unless the project is successful. The All-or-Nothing model pushes project owners to share their project more, motivates contributors to fund projects so that the project owner can collect all the funds raised till now. Are there any crowd-funding laws in Lebanon? Zoomaal is not registered in Lebanon, but in the US, right? Why is that? Unlike equity crowd-funding (which needs a law to regulate it), reward-based crowd-funding is legal by nature. However, we have faced a lot of problems from banks in Lebanon who refused processing credit cards for Zoomaal because of concerns on money-laundering and anti-terrorism associated with crowd-funding. We found that incorporating the company in the US will make it much easier for us to overcome the educational gap of Lebanese banks with regards to crowd-funding. In your opinion, what are the biggest challenges of entrepreneurs in Lebanon and the Middle East? Access to funding, exit strategies, political stability— they’re all related What is your relationship like with the Lebanese online community? I’m always up-to-date to the latest hypes happening on social media. However, due to my commitment to Zoomaal and getting things done, my personal engagement on Twitter and Facebook is semi-active. What is the proudest moment of your career so far? Every time a project gets funded on Zoomaal, I feel like it’s my project. It makes me feel happy that Zoomaal is realizing dreams and saving them from fading away. What advice would you give to fresh graduates who are considering to build their own career rather than apply for jobs? Stop giving yourself excuses. No, you don’t need 5 years of experience to start a business, you can do it now. And now with platforms like Zoomaal, funding is the least concern you should have. I advise every entrepreneur and wanna-be entrepreneur to read the book “Lean Startup” by Eric Ries.
@paulinbeirut
So what is Lebanon’s premier crowdfunding platform got for us this month? First, they are starting a competition for female entrepreneurs. Winning projects win $20,000. Also, “THIS” toothbrush, an all-natural toothbrush made out of a special type of wood by Lebanese entrepreneurs recently crowdfunded their goal of $18,000 to start the production of their prototype. Here are some cool projects you should be looking out for this month: The Beirut Juggles Festival: Cirquenciel-arcenciel is looking to crowdfund a festival which aims to promote conflict resolution and team work through circus culture. They are looking to raise $8,000 in order to rent equipment and hire staff in helping to organize the festival. Almas: Meaning “diamonds” in Arabic, this Egyptian startup by an engineer is a program that would teach students coding in a simple manner. Almas uses Arabic as its primary language and is meant to help children who do not have the necessary means to take computer-coding classes or help underfunded schools. They are looking to raise $27,000 for workspace, staff, and equipment. Digital Marrekech: From Marrekech, Morocco the Digital Marrekech Initiative is looking to fund their digital arts festival. It was founded by Abdelaziz Taleb and Abdellatif Benfaidoul, who are both film directors. They are wanting to raise $10,000 to host the festival. TFL: An acronym for “Teach For Lebanon”, this program aims to fill the gap in education equality in Lebanon. They are looking for $16,000 to fund a fellowship program that would send recent graduates to help teach children in impoverished areas in Lebanon during the summer. Zee3 Enta: A joint Lebanese-Egyptian effort aiming to give ordinary citizens a chance to have their voices heard. Founder Sheriff Hossny was inspired by the conversations he had in Cairo taxis. They have created a special confessional booth where people can air out all their feelings and say whatever they want about themselves. They are looking to raise $72,000 to professionally produce the show and market it to television stations in Lebanon.
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BUSINESS Agencies
CLEARTAG: STAYING RELEVANT AND ON THE BALL Agency of the Month By Darine Sabbagh
@sdarine
From a two-people agency that started over 14 years ago with a $400-budget as a response to the market’s back-then emerging need for some animation and very basic website development needs, to a regional agency with two offices in the Middle East, over 65 employees and projects across the MENA region. Today, Cleartag has a reputation of being the leading digital house for everything from web development to social media marketing and technologies, such as augmented reality, and many others. In order to learn more about how the agency stays on the cutting edge of technological trends and the recruitment of the best talent out there, we have interviewed Cleartag’s Deputy General Manager, Omar Abou Ezzedine. What are Cleartag’s main product offerings, specifically in the sphere of the digital?
Our technology palette is pretty colorful: web, mobile, social media, cloud, analytics, automation, natural language processing, natural user interfaces, and tangible media. We have very recently launched some proprietary platforms including analytics dashboards, digital signage management solutions, financial software suites, and more. Keep an eye out for a lot of great solutions coming your way! How did you move from web and software development to digital marketing & social media and other very interesting services?
Cleartag runs and evolves as a work-in-progress. It is a platform for experimentation,
BUSINESS Agencies
innovation, and discovery. With this mindset, we always believe and hope to continuously re-invent ourselves in this ever evolving space we are in. We are blessed with clients that allow us to push the boundaries of experimentation and innovation. We use technology to help our clients get their messages and services across in ways that are vastly faster, easier, and deeper. I believe web, mobile, digital marketing, social media, and tangible media (e.g. Novo by Bank Audi), are all facets of an ironclad digital landscape, and we are here to push the boundaries and that is what we do. What do you consider the greatest challenge in your field?
Remaining relevant! If you do not strive to innovate and create opportunities in your field, you can quickly become irrelevant in our industry. Stay relevant! What are the projects that make your agency most proud?
Our clients range from the banking, telecommunications, automotive, and F&B sectors. We are proud of all our projects, but some of the latest and greatest work includes Novo by Bank Audi, the “Cards to Go” Prepaid Card Vending Machine seen first at Arabnet Beirut 2014, the Smartphone Festival Table for du, among others including our Webby-honored work with Samsung CTC, and our social media work with touch Lebanon, Toyota UAE, and du in the UAE. What do you consider to be Cleartag’s biggest achievement?
Our commitment to innovation and to our client partners. We believe in long-term partnerships with our client partners and without the persistence to innovate and disrupt, that would not be possible so I would say both our commitment to innovation and our longstanding partnerships. Tell us a bit about the people in your team.
We are always on the lookout for tinkerers, people who are not satisfied with the status quo, people who are always hungry for more. The secret is, love what you do because it’s
not always easy. What we do is tough, very tough at times, and you got to love it to be a part of it. Digital is about passion, dedication, and persistence and that answers the retention question in itself. Cleartag is not for the light-hearted, that’s for sure. What are Cleartag’s expansion plans?
We currently have two offices, our Beirut office and our Dubai office. We were one of the first tenants to move into the Beirut Digital District just last year and we just recently moved to a new larger space in Dubai, a wonderful Villa in Media City which caters for our UAE and GCC clients. Did you feel the effects of stagnation in the Lebanese market? How have you been able to bypass it?
Stagnation is very broad as a statement considering we operate in the space we operate in. Digital is a natural channel for efficiency in communication and marketing and these activities never stop regardless of any stagnation. Therefore, we have not seen any stagnation; rather steady growth. However, we do believe that if conditions in Lebanon become more relaxed, there will only be more growth. Yet there has been no stagnation as we have an optimal conduit for communication and marketing for brands. How do you make sure your service offering and team are always up to date?
This is not an option; it is a reality. As stated above, digital agencies need to remain relevant and we truly believe that anything can be done with the proper planning and execution. It is all about creatively and strategically finding the gaps in our industry and creating opportunities for ourselves and for our partners by using technology as our catalyst. What are the most interesting things you are working on at the moment?
That’s for us to work on and you to find you very soon. We cannot delve into the work that is in progress but I can say we have some really awesome work coming your way. Find out more about Cleartag and its latest achievements at www.cleartag.com
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EDUCATION
CATCHING UP OR NOT? IT IS ONLY A MATTER OF TIME By Yara Abboud
@slidingskator
Whether we like it or not, technology is changing the face of education. As Eric Shmidt says, “For most people on earth, the digital revolution hasn’t started yet.” People who view the rise of social media, online classrooms and Massive Open Online Courses like Coursera and Futurelearn as a fad are mistaken. The Internet and what it brings is here to stay. Catching up is only a matter of time. That is why countries like Britain, the United States, South Korea, and Singapore have already incorporated information communication technology (ICT) into their educational system. Britain is even going to become the first country to mandate coding into its primary and secondary education. While Lebanese and Arab schools seem far from that, let us focus on the current Lebanese state of technological integration. According to a 2011 report conducted by the Education Development Center with the help of the Ministry of Education, Lebanon continues to be classified in 68 CLOUD961
the “emerging” category of ICT integration. Despite its initial efforts—SchoolNet Liban in 2000, development of e-strategy in 2003, as well as its partnership with Microsoft, Intel, Cisco, Ghafari Inc, and Occidental Petroleum for better reconstruction—its projects remain small-scale. Moreover, ICT exists as an optional or extra-curricular subject in its curriculum; hence assessment of ICT skills is done separately. There is no official computer-embedded assessment. Mostly constrained by cost and lack of computers Lebanon’s, ICT initiatives focused on two main areas: securing access (hardware, software, connectivity) for teachers and students, and connecting computer technology to teaching and learning by providing learning opportunities for teachers and students. The small scale projects, lack of coordination, and lack of consistent follow-up did not help in properly evaluating ICT integration efforts. This lack of feedback presents a missed opportunity. Lebanon could have learned a lot about how these tools interlock with its educational environment and national goals. Currently, though, it is quite apparent
that for technology integration to be taken seriously, it has to be aligned with content, curriculum, instruction and assessment. Given that most of the curriculum for the “terminale” (grade 12) exam is content-driven, teachers primarily focus on covering as much content as possible with little incentive for ICT integration. It would not hurt Lebanon to learn from the success of nations like Singapore and South Korea, as well as the back slides of others like Jordan and India. The former two were successful due to their constant efforts in revising and aligning their curricula to match collaborative cognitive ways of learning. They either do not have “terminale” or their exams are driven to measure higher-level skills. In Jordan and India, and despite the fact that they attempted to incorporate technology and reform, exams still focused on declarative knowledge versus procedural and conceptual knowledge. This made it difficult to implement new teaching practices or take risks. Moreover, the main issue in Lebanon is not providing computers, for the majority
EDUCATION
of private schools are equipped. There is a relatively smaller number of public schools as compared to other countries. The challenge lies in determining where technology is situated. Presently, computers are placed in separate computer labs—like in Jordan—, despite the fact that research has shown it to be more effective when placed in classrooms. Furthermore, teachers only receive an average of five days of professional development per year. Exposure to new ideas and innovation primarily occurs outside the school at teacher training centers. However, result-yielding support such as ongoing classroom-focused practice rarely happens. Furthermore, Lebanon’s expensive Internet and sometimes unreliable connectivity are two conditions making it more difficult for schools to incorporate technology into teaching. Nonetheless, improvement is not out of reach.
Ministry of Education has already issued Lebanon’s educational technological plan in July 2012. The plan proposes that by year 2017, 100 percent of students and teachers in Lebanon will have access to appropriate classroom technologies that support the fulfillment of curricular and instructional objectives in all subject areas. The plan recognizes that “ICT must be a central component of overall reform of all components of the educational system to improve the quality of education for students in order to assure their continuous improved academic achievement”. Therefore, its aim is to produce digitally qualified teachers who are able to integrate technology into their instruction, content, as well as assessments. It focuses on promoting students’ skills and competencies, skills necessary for the 21st century workplace.
The future looks promising, but whether the new government will be able to stick to its plan is still uncertain. Meanwhile, if you are a teacher and eager to apply some of those invaluable skills to your in-class techniques, we offer the below suggestions: • Edmodo looks like Facebook. You can create a profile, add your whole class and assign tasks on there, too. It also has a mobile app version to make getting in touch with students easy. You can also communicate with other teachers around the world. Parents can subscribe as well and get in touch with teachers • Allow students to create their videos using Animoto app, or Windows Movie Maker • Encourage individual student blogging using Kidblog
These skills are outlined below:
We could learn a lot from countries who did it right like Singapore and South Korea, the two highest global performers in ICT, or countries who managed well like Britain, and the US. From their experiences with ICT integration, we deduce that effective reform has to include restructuring the following:
• Allow your students to create digital stories using Voicethread
Inputs: improving the quality of recruited teachers
• Go for interactive websites like BrainPOP
Financing education systems: so that no
Interestingly enough, the ministry’s plan for 2017 lists some of the above open education resources in appendix C. You can refer to that for more information.
• Encourage multi-media presentations using Prezi, Libre Office, and Google Docs • Poll students by using Poll Everywhere or Socrative
student is excluded from the educational resources offered Processes: developing a shared language
about teaching technology, i.e. by building a rubric about desired levels of technology use, educators can help define their vision Educational framework: aligning tech-
nology uses with content, curriculum, instruction and assessment Training and Formation: training teach-
ers to become literate in teaching with technology using new ways of instruction, communication and assessment Outcomes: Defining success by developing the appropriate indicators using practical measures. The good news is that Lebanon has already thought about this reform, for the
• information media & technology competencies consist of: information literacy, media literacy, ICT literacy, and other digital skills
Lebanon’s Ministry of Education lacks neither ideas nor plans. It is only a matter of time before complete implementation takes place. For now, however, we must content ourselves with what we have and work toward revolutionizing the educational field.
• Learning & innovation competencies consist of: creativity and innovation, critical thinking and problem solving, communication and collaboration • Life & career competencies consist of: flexibility, adaptability, initiative, social and cross-cultural skills, productivity and accountability, as well as leadership & responsibility.
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SOCIAL MEDIA HITS HARD ON THE FOUAD BOUTROS PROJECT The downsides and alternatives By Lynn Bizri
@lnlne
The Fouad Boutros Project, which was originally proposed more than 40 years ago, is a 1.3-km four-lane highway project aimed at improving traffic and vehicular flow in the densely populated areas of Achrafieh, although the affected districts also include Rmeil, Medawar and Mar Mikhael. According to studies carried out by NGOs as well as the Civil Coalition against the Fouad Boutros Project, the execution of the project will have several negative impacts, including the demolition of around 30 buildings, the uprooting of around 100 trees, the destruction of 10,000sqm of green spaces, the fragmentation of a pedestrian-friendly neighborhood, further pollution and noise as well as an increase of traffic in some areas and reduced num70 CLOUD961
bers of parking spots, by the hundreds. Obviously, the highway will also decrease the quality of life of those living in close proximity and force hundreds to leave their homes and relocate elsewhere. Activists and residents of the affected neighborhoods are calling for the funding planned for the Highway (which is estimated to reach $150m) to be spent on improving urban planning and public transport instead. In March, they took to the streets along with hundreds of others for two sit-in protests (#stopthehighway) in Mar Mikhael and Rmeil. Activists from Save Beirut Heritage and the Civil Coalition have even proposed several alternatives to authorities, such as a ‘Fouad Boutros Park’ that could replace
the highway, limit the damages and enrich the neighborhood as well as the lives of residents and those visiting. Another suggestion was the construction of a tunnel under the Charles Malek Avenue, linking the Fouad Chehab Avenue and Emile Lahoud Avenue, which is wide and usually underused during peak times. Like most major causes, online petitions have been launched, garnering thousands of signatures. The main petition by the Civil Coalition can be found at Change. org under ‘Stop the Highway, Build the Fouad Boutros Park’. With With more than 3000 supporters at the time this article was written, the petition still needs 1,891 signatures before the proposal can be petitioned to the Municipality of Beirut and the CDR.
SOCIAL MEDIA CHANGING LIVES
INHERITING THE STRUGGLE FOR TRUTH Heartfelt videos go global, for a cause By Yara Nahle
@yarabee2
“What are they waiting for, to tell us this truth? I don’t know They are scared of those in pain, the people, whose quest for truth only grows in strength Thinking that we will forget the symphony of the past, when on the table, the plates of the missing still sit, ready and waiting Waiting to receive the truth: whether he is alive or died violently or in peace, I prefer to know and live knowing, than to have my heart die waiting.” (part of the poem recited by social and political activist Elsa Saade, as part of “Inheriting the Struggle for Truth” campaign).
Interview with Elsa Saade, Lebanon’s representative of “Inheriting the Struggle for Truth” Campaign What is the campaign about and who is the initiator?
“Inheriting the Struggle for Truth” is a campaign launched by the International Centre for Transitional Justice (ICTJ) on the International Day for the right to truth. It’s an international campaign, with six young representative from six different countries (Tunisia, Nepal, Cote d’Ivoire, Canada, Columbia and Lebanon), explaining “why the truth about the past matters to them”. Each representative discusses, in a video posted on the website of the organization, a specific topic that pertains to issues of truth in his/her country. The videos are then propagated through social media networks like Facebook and Twitter. As the representative of Lebanon, my subject is the case of the Lebanese people who went missing during the civil war and whose fate is still unknown. I think this is a very important and sensitive topic, having met with these people’s families who are still awaiting their beloved ones for decades. Some of the other topics are residential schools in Canada, electoral violence in Cote d’Ivoire, victims of war in Nepal, etc. Why did you rely on videos in this campaign?
Videos grab the viewer’s attention a lot more than written words do. We also want people to sympathize with the cause
so we need them to engage with our facial expressions through which our emotions are expressed. If they were just reading my statement, they perhaps wouldn’t get the emotions behind it. I also insisted on saying it in a poetic way; I wanted as much people as possible to listen to what I have to say, so I made a one-minute poem. Likewise, the speeches are in our native languages, so every word would feel real and every sentiment would be passed on to the viewer. This also helps feeling a sense of belonging to the cause. I feel that it’s my own cause and it’s my duty to transmit it to my people in our language. But since it’s international and the target audience is not only the Lebanese people, there are English subtitles. Do you think social media has the potential of uniting people and causes from all over the globe?
My answer would be yes and no at the same time. It depends on how each person views social media. Some people know how to use it in the benefit of a cause but there are others who are extremely indifferent to the movements taking place on social media and so they will not use this tool to spread their cause. And because social media is extremely accessible, people tend to demean it. But what is certain is that such a campaign would not have been possible without social media. It would have been so hard to bring those causes from around the world together in one campaign under the umbrella of traditional media.
Do you think the concept of social media itself promotes truth?
Again, it depends. As in the case of this campaign, the medium which is social media relates to the content which is the truth. But, if you look in the wrong places you might not find the truth. Some pages are not credible and reliable and Facebook and Twitter could be misused to spread lies and distort the truth. Is it the first campaign that you partake in on social media?
Actually, I’m an active member of the civil society. I have often worked with NGOs and thus I was active in campaigns relating to women’s rights, war reconciliation, observing elections, youth leadership, and peace building. But this is the first time I participate in something as international as this. What’s the advantage of such campaigns? Do they help improve the status-quo we live in?
You can’t make a big step without making little ones. This campaign and others likewise are the baby steps. The prisoners issue will not be solved overnight. But what makes such a campaign more impactful is the fact that there are movements on the ground supporting the cause, and the advantage it has is its international aspect and the credibility of its source (i.e., ICTJ).
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UNICEF TAP PROJECT
Stay away from your phone and help give clean water By Armen Bakkalian | President, HU’s Online Collaborative @ArmenBakkalian
SOCIAL MEDIA ACTIVISTS RALLY TO PREVENT RELOCATING LAK A HISTORICAL SCHOOL IN THE HEART OF BEIRUT Tarek Bekdache
@tarekbekdache
Recently, news leaked on different social media channels that Hind Al-Hariri plans to sell the lot on which the historical high school, Lycée Abdel Kader, has been established since 1909 for $160million and relocating it to one of the suburbs of Beirut. The school, which is run by both the “Mission Laïque Française” and the Hariri Foundation, is home to a centuries-old castle, which now houses the library of the school. As soon as the news leaked, Facebook groups were formed, a hashtag was put in use on different social media platforms (#LAKforever), and social media campaign kicked-off at full throttle. Alumni were posting their graduation photos dating decades back, parents expressing their concern, and students stating their utter refusal. In just a few hours, the newly created Facebook group “LAK Forever” had several thousand members, and operated in parallel to other groups such as “M-LAK” (mothers of LAK), “LAK Alumni”, and others. Twitter was also on fire. Tweets were being sent to former PM Saad Hariri, asking him for clarifications and urging him to stop this plan from happening. Following all these reactions, the director 72 CLOUD961
of the Hariri Foundation invited the concerned parties to a meeting at the school. Police were present, as well as media. However, the school did not allow the media to enter or document the meeting. Minutes after the meeting started, videos were being leaked on social media channels showing the elusive responses given by the director of the Hariri Foundation, Ms. Baasiri. Days later, several protests were organized by students, parents, and alumni who coordinated all their efforts through social media only. A human chain was even formed around the school’s large campus. In the aftermath, announcements were made that former PM Hariri will purchase the school’s lot from his sister and maintain it in its current location in Beirut. Despite the preliminary assurances, social media activation is still at its peak: the announcement has not been taken seriously and the campaigns keep escalating, both online and offline. On the other hand, nothing but utter silence comes from other concerned parties, such as the school’s administration, the Hariri Foundation, or the Hariri family. You can follow the active groups and keep track of their activities and news about the school through the following Facebook groups: “LAK Forever”; “Say NO to demolishing LAK”; “Lycée Abdel Kader Alumni”.
In this age of information, our necessities have changed. Ask a child in a developed country about their necessities, and most probably you will get several responses detailing wants and luxuries. Meanwhile, in a developing or an undeveloped country, children will want to have basic physiological needs: from nutrition, water, and shelter. Yes, not in a parallel universe, but in a country that is a few kilometers away from one where all is plentiful. The UNICEF tap project is a campaign that aims to provide millions of people in underdeveloped and developed countries around the world with clean water and adequate sanitation. The fun and daring part of this campaign is that one is given the opportunity to donate money for this campaign without having to pay a dime from their pockets. How? All you have to do is to visit www.uniceftapproject.org on your mobile phone and not touch it. For every ten minutes of being away from your phone, the sponsor will be donating the monetary equivalent of one day of water for a child in need. Time donations ran from March 1 to the 31st, 2014 and more than 200 million minutes were donated. Although time donations are inactive now, you can still try it and see how it works. There are several ways you can be a part of this campaign: either by volunteering, or directly donating money. The relatively small amount of $5 will provide a child in need with 200 days of clean water. It is funny and sad at the same time that some of us take things we have for granted, even the very basic physiological needs, which for others are a wish that rarely comes true. In Maslow’s Hierarchy of needs, physiological needs come first, and are essential for survival. Imagine one day in your life without clean water. Let us not become citizens who only like and share pictures of disadvantaged people in unfortunate situations on Facebook. Likes do not save lives; people who donate do.
EVENTS
‘MOST COMPETITIVE’ UAE BUSINESS ENVIRONMENT BOOSTS DIGITAL OPPORTUNITIES
180 new digital businesses open in the UAE as ICT investments boom With a number of key indicators pointing to strong growth in startups and other new digital businesses in the UAE, the region’s hub for digital investment and innovation is to again host the region’s key digital event, the ArabNet Digital Summit. “The digital opportunity in the GCC is undoubtedly here and that’s precisely the opportunity we’ll be exploring at the ArabNet Digital Summit in Dubai,” said Omar Christidis, CEO and Founder of ArabNet. The Summit is set to convene more than 1,000 executives, investors, entrepreneurs, and media from the four corners of the world, on June 3-5 at Atlantis the Palm, Dubai. More than 130 international and regional speakers will gather to discuss the latest digital opportunities shaping the Arab digital industry. “The UAE has built the backbone for a sustainable entrepreneurship ecosystem with its world class infrastructure,” said Christidis. Indeed, the UAE has proven itself to be the region’s most competitive environment for businesses. It rose five places in the World Economic Forum’s Global Competitiveness Report 2013 to 19th place, and was listed as the 22nd easiest place in the world and first in the Arab region for starting investment projects, according to the World Bank’s Ease of Starting Business Index 2013. The UAE, located strategically between the
world’s rapidly growing markets, is the center for business development in the Middle East and North Africa region (MENA). With its business-friendly, pro-investment approach and macroeconomics stability, the UAE has been able to progress dramatically over the last three decades and transform itself into the
to be the best cities to invest in, leaping over other cities like New York, Zurich, and Geneva, according to the Reputation Institute. As of 2013, the value of Foreign Direct Investment (FDI) inflows to UAE grew by 25 percent to reach a whopping $9.6 billion. Together with Saudi Arabia, the UAE FDI inflows accounted for 83% of the total FDI inflows to the GCC region. One particular industry demonstrating significant growth in the UAE is the ICT and technology industry, with expenditures in these sectors forecasted to grow to a staggering $15 billion in 2014, up by 5 percent that last year. 2013 has seen significant developments within
Gulf’s leading multi-purpose business center and regional hub. “The Emirates has positioned itself as the Middle East’s business hub by creating the bridges for global investors to connect with regional markets. It is where investors will come to do business and where entrepreneurs will begin to scale their startups,” added Omar. In particular, Dubai and Abu Dhabi were found
the industry with more than 180 new companies registering in Dubai Internet City (DIC) and Dubai Outsource Zone (DOZ) over the past year, and His Highness Sheikh Mohammed bin Rashid Al Maktoum announcing that Dubai would be developed into a Smart City to further drive the digital industry in the country. One of the highlights of the Summit is the Digital Showcase, which exposes more than 70 fast-growing digital SMEs to global and regional influential investors who will help them take their business to the next stage of development.
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EVENTS
AUB OUTDOORS: THE UNIVERSITY’S BIGGEST ON-CAMPUS EVENT GOES ONLINE AUB Outdoors is one of the biggest independent, student-organized events in the Middle East. A festival launched in 1981, AUB Outdoors has become a legacy, with hundreds of students signing up to work in the different teams. The event is highly anticipated by AUB students and attendees, with over 20,000 people flooding the campus every year over the two-day period. The AUB Outdoors team of 2014 is anticipating one of biggest turnouts of its history on May 24 and 25. Built on the solid pillars of the Five F’s (fun, folklore, friends, funky music and food), this year the event is venturing into a 6th F: fans. AUB Outdoors has become a brand adored by people of all ages and it wants to stay true to all of them—attending or not—and there’s no better way to do it than through social media. A couple of campaigns have already been launched to redirect fans to the online pages. Yellow post-its, with a stripe of a checkerboard pattern, were hung all over campus as teasers for this year’s theme.
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An uncanny reference to the famous New York taxi’s, the theme was out! The post-its had #AUBOutdoors2014 on them, and the AUB Outdoors Facebook page announced an Instagram competition encouraging students to “get creative” with them. Students reacted brilliantly, flooding Instagram with pictures. A few days later, Spiderman and King Kong ran loose around AUB, wearing stickers with the hashtag. Students followed their every move all over campus on Instagram, with countless selfies being taken with the two Hollywood stars. A video camera followed their every move all over campus, with a video being released a couple of days later highlighting their favorite moments with the two stars. People are excited and are asking for more, and the AUB Outdoors 2014 team refuses to disappoint. Saving the best for last, the team is partnering up with newly launched LiveLoveAUB for the next campaign. An engaging online competition, whose details cannot be disclosed yet, will
reward the winners with exclusive first editions of LiveLoveAUB bracelets. The bracelets will also serve as free entry to the event. For the first time, students not working with the Outdoors team are being involved and the buzz can be felt all over campus. Online, it is the same story. Everyone wants a piece of this year’s Outdoors before it even starts. The AUB Outdoors 2014 team has promised to keep on track. They plan to have live tweets providing full coverage of the event, meaning no one will have to miss a thing and everyone can be everywhere at once, so to say. They have promised to stay true to their fans and give them the complete AUB Outdoors experience, whether they attend the event or not. AUB’s biggest on-campus event is going online, and we cannot wait. Stay tuned on #AUBOutdoors2014!
EVENTS
BEIRUT SLUSH: A GLOBAL COMPETITION AND AN OPPORTUNITY TO SEIZE
SO WHAT EXACTLY IS BITCOIN AGAIN?
By Paul Gadalla
By Paul Gadalla
@paulinbeirut
Experts briefly explain
@paulinbeirut
We still hear a whole lot about Bitcoin, but at the end of the day how many of us actually understand what it is? Here’s where AltCity steps in, presenting us with Bitcoin 10. Gathering at their Mezzanine Café, AltCity brought together three lively speakers to a packed house about what exactly Bitcoin is, how to use it, and its positives and negatives. Now that the situation has begun to calm in Beirut, it is a great time to get the entrepreneurial scene back together. AltCity decided to do this by hosting SLUSH Beirut, a networking and pitching competition. So how did this differ from all the other pitching contests we have been hearing about around the city? First, SLUSH is a major global. Instead of just winning investment money, the winner gets a one-month acceleration at the famous business accelerator “Startup Sauna” and the opportunity to pitch at SLUSH, one of the biggest start-investor meet-up events in Europe. Both are in Helsinki, Finland. SLUSH tours 22 cities around the world, and picks the best startups to come along. What also makes this different is that Lebanese startups will be competing with other startups from around the world. Rules were standard, though. Three minutes to pitch and 4 to entertain questions. Judges were Fadi Bizri from Bader Young Entrepreneurs Program, Samer Azar of AltCity, Zeina Mouallem of Berytech, Abdallah Jabbour from Lebanon for Entrepreneurs, and last but not least Martin Talvari of SLUSH and Startup Sauna.
So what were the nine startups that participated? • Awadem.com, an e-commerce website where Lebanese artists can sell their work to the Lebanese diaspora abroad • BeeplApp, a networking app that helps organize your contacts • Hadzup, an app for businesses and customers to communicate better through push notifications
• Ki, an offline secure password management device • Presella, kickstarter for events • Referd, a private professional referral tool • serVme, provides data analytics to restaurants, bars, and clubs, to allow them to collect data, analyze trends, and better understand their customer habits and preferences while enabling them to decrease their market costs and in turn target specific customer groups • Shakkel, a program for helping digitizing Arabic content • Web Apps Center, Google Play for web applications AltCity really stuck to the time constraints, which I really praise them for. It was very disappointing to see that many startups had not practiced to keep their pitches under 3 minutes, and could not really sell the product to the judges. Three minutes should be enough to sell your idea and convince everyone why they need your app and how it will generate income; a mere general explanation almost never pays the bill. Definite standouts were Beepl, Ki, serVme, and Shakkel. As SLUSH’s Martin Talvari put it, “Lebanese are at a huge advantage because they speak multiple languages and have access to good education. But there were a lot of great ideas out there that got wiped out because the pitch sucked.” Please, entrepreneurs, note that there are great competitions out there so next time make sure to practice before you pitch.
So, first things first. What exactly is Bitcoin? Bitcoin is a digital currency that can be bought and sold. It is borderless. All you have to do is set up a Bitcoin wallet and depending on the supply of Bitcoins available, you can purchase as much as you need in your own currency. There are even Bitcoin ATMs popping up across the globe where one can withdraw the value of their Bitcoins in local currency. The first speaker of the night, David Achkar of Bitcoin Lebanon, started with a great introduction to Bitcoin, showing a video of Conan O’Brian mocking Bitcoin users and how this digital currency is still confusing to most people. He then used an example of being robbed while traveling. Since his wallet was stolen, he had to call his sister asking her to wire money to him, but she could not because banks were closed on the weekend. He then went through the scenario again, but this time he added Bitcoin to the scenario. With Bitcoin, his sister can easily send him currency and he can use the Bitcoins wherever those are accepted, or even exchange them for money. David then had participants set up their own Bitcoin wallets. Up next was Dr. Seif Amous, a professor of economics at the Lebanese American Univerity (LAU), who explained the science behind Bitcoin. He explained how prices fluctuate, the limits of supply of Bitcoin, and how Bitcoin came to be. He pointed out one vital detail: there are no charge backs for Bitcoin. If somehow someone manages to take your Bitcoins, there is no way to get them back. But to counter the criticism, it is noteworthy that Bitcoin is one of the safest ways to deal with money and so far there has only been one occurrence of someone’s bitcoins being stolen. The final speaker was Ulaa Doudin, who runs Bitcoin Jordan. She talked about the impact Bitcoin can have on small business and entrepreneurs who could travel around the world just using one currency and never having to worry about transfer or exchange fees. The event was very smooth, and was well advertised, and AltCity was packed. Speakers were very social and used good visuals. The Q&A section was very interactive and speakers continued to speak with audience members well after the event was over. Hopefully AltCity hosts more informative events like this. 75 CLOUD961
EVENTS
EUROMED BUSINESS OPPORTUNITIES ROADSHOW TAKES PLACE IN BEIRUT FOR THE 1ST TIME By Joelle Hajji
PROJECT SHAAMS’ BERYTECH AND PARTNERS MEET DURING ENERGYMED IN NAPOLI By Joelle Hajji
@joellehajji
WWF and the SHAAMS project partners called on governments and decision makers to move faster towards the use of renewable sources, in particular solar energy during EnergyMed, the international fair on renewable sources and energy efficiency in the Mediterranean. During 3 days in Naples, the conservation organization and partners presented the first results of an expert study looking particularly at the situation of solar cells—mainly photovoltaic—in Jordan, Lebanon and Egypt, in the presence of Thomas Stocker, member of the International Panel on Climate Change (IPCC) and an adviser for the United Nations. SHAAMS is an EU-funded project, in partnership with Berytech, which is handling the communication plan and WWF and facilitating the take-up of solar technologies in the Mediterranean. A transition to alternative energy resources, including renewable, will be a matter of necessity sooner or later. The potential of photovoltaic energy in Lebanon could reach up to 110 GW, almost 15 times the current generation from the thermal power plants of the country. “A major effort is required of all parties—electric power companies, legislative and regulative bodies, research institutes, universities, solar energy companies, financing institutions—but the future of energy in the Mediterranean lies in innovative and sustainable approaches. With the number of sunny days we have, there is a fantastic opportunity to lead a shift with a global impact,” concluded Cristian Bardají, Project Coordinator at Barcelona Chamber of Commerce, the lead partner of SHAAMS consortium.
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@joellehajji
Beirut Creative Cluster and Anima Investment Network organized, for the first time in Lebanon, a cross-border business event, Euromed Business Opportunities Roadshow, bringing together regional SMEs, international groups, start-ups, entrepreneurs, talents, innovation clusters, investors and VC funds, from all over the Euro-Mediterranean region. The opening ceremony took place on March 20 at Hotel Monroe, Beirut under the patronage of the Lebanese Ministry of Economy and Trade, featuring: • Emmanuel Noutary, Director, ANIMA Investment Network • Maroun N. Chammas, Chairman & CEO, Berytech, Lebanon • Marcello Mori, Deputy-Head of the Operation Section, EU-delegation, Lebanon Industry leaders, investors and experts from international networks animated key workshops and technology panels, showcasing the latest innovations and emerging trends in high-growth-potential sectors.
NOKIA X LAUNCH EVENT Nokia Lebanon officially launched Nokia X in Beirut on April 4th at The Smallville Hotel and invited bloggers and members of the media for an in-depth look on the Android-compatible smartphone. The event was organized by Fait par Fées.
EVENTS
TEDXBEIRUT: THE EIGHTH SALON “Living Art” Lara Al Sous
@ElleSous
The TEDxBeirut team moderated their 8th Salon on April 10, 2014 at Ashkal Alwan in Jisr El Wati. As a reference of cultural panorama and an arts education center, Ashkal Alwan’s 2000 m² served as a perfect hub for “Living Art”. The venue echoed the theme flawlessly and paved way for the audience to convert their focus from hindrance of problem-solving into an enthused solution. This kind of drive escalated through the choice of talks and activities held during the salon. TEDxBeirut’s co-curators were committed to present design solutions that blend art and design beautifully through individuals who have been tackling our everyday problems by calling to the stage George Ghafary from Chreek and Ziad Abi Chaker from Cedar Environmental. Their local projects to recycle and upcycle wastes in Lebanon not only proposed possible solutions to waste management in Lebanon, but also exposed creative possible outcomes when creativity and art meet imagination. The videos streamed during the salon were: “Vik Muniz: Art with Wire, Sugar, Chocolate and String”; Alexa Meade: “Your body is my canvas”; and, Aparna Rao: “Art that craves your attention”. The videos were followed by a lively discussion that encouraged individuals to think about their own experiences and engage with one another to build on each other’s ideas. Why was the venue Ashkal Alwan
chosen for the theme Living Art We wanted to match the ambience of the venue to the theme of this salon. Ashkal Alwan is an arts education center and exhibition space so there›s a big Art factor in the space itself which we felt we can echo in our choice of talks and activities. We also wanted to showcase design solutions that blend Art and Design beautifully, and that›s where our live speakers fit in perfectly. Their local projects to upcycle and recycle waste here in Lebanon not only suggest possible solutions to our waste management problems but they also show us the incredibly creative things that become possible when we apply our creativity and imagination to a problem of any scale.
And that›s when we hear the best ideas coming from our audience. We shift the focus from passive frustration about a problem, to proactive solutions that people start offering when they feel empowered. We also see people building on each other›s ideas, which shows that they›re really listening and engaging with one another. That›s the kind of momentum we try to build in our salons, because we believe that people start feeling much more confident and comfortable with their «crazy» ideas when they know that they›re not the only ones thinking or doing things differently.
As for the live speakers, what was their sole added value to the related theme? What did you want the audience to We like to think of TEDxBeirut as the explore from the venue, streamed bearer of good news in Lebanon, and we always try to show that the ideas talks and the activities? and innovations we talk about in our There›s always a common thread in salons aren›t just happening someevery salon that runs across the TED where remote or that we have to travel talks we screen, the live speakers we far to see change in action. welcome on stage, and the activities No matter what bold ideas we raise and discussions we have with our through TED Talks in our salons, we audience. always tap into real success stories For this salon, we wanted to explore the possibilities that open up when we here in Lebanon that echo those ideas, and introduce people to the unsung let our creativity and imagination run heroes who work every day to solve wild. You see this idea resonate again and again in the TED talks we screened problems that really matter to all of us. That›s what makes TEDxBeirut so and with our live speakers. And then powerful, that instead of desperation, you see it put to action in our discussions and activities with our audience. we can offer inspiration that we then hope people will use to go out and make We build these interactive moments into our salons to allow each person to change in their own lives. That›s the power of ideas worth spreading. think about their own experience and how they relate to the speakers and ideas we›re bringing to the discussion. 77 CLOUD961
EVENTS
MICROSOFT LEBANON LAUNCHES ITS FIRST EDITION OF NATIONAL CLOUD SUMMIT Helping governments cut costs and improve overall mobility and connectivity Microsoft Lebanon held a workshop on Cloud Technology and its effectiveness of governments and the public sector on Wednesday March 26, 2014 at their offices in Downtown, Beirut. The workshop, which incorporated a series of lectures on the benefits of National Cloud in governmental departments as well as public and private sectors in Lebanon, gathered key decision makers in the Lebanese government. Over the past few years, government entities all over the world have been exploring new methods to boost development and fulfill as much as possible people’s needs and requirements. Cloud computing isincreasingly becoming the number one solution for refining Information and Communication Technologies (ICT’s) infrastructure for governments, reducing costs and creating new innovations. Consequently, global governmental spending on cloud services is expected to rise from $22billion in 2010 to nearly $73billion in 2015, rep78 CLOUD961
resenting an annual growth rate of 27.6 percent. “We pride ourselves in providing top notch services at the governmental level. Microsoft has invested heavily in cloud computing for over a decade, and we currently run some of the largest cloud services in the region,” said Hoda Younan, Microsoft Lebanon Country Manager. “With 15 years of experience in cloud computing, Microsoft has hosted some of the world’s largest cloud services with reliability and security, and we aim at implementing that in Lebanon by offering the largest cloud capacity at the lowest possible cost,” she continued. A key feature of cloud is its potential to increase the efficiency of infrastructure usage, as well as fundamental cost reduction. These features help governments boost their development process and improve data quality through centralization and uniformity. “Governments across the
region started to use Cloud services strategically to improve government service delivery by eliminating redundancy, increasing agility and providing IT services at a cheaper cost,” said Hany Morcos, Cloud Technologies Director, Microsoft Middle East and Africa. “Microsoft works with many governments in the formation and implementation of a cloud computing environment at a national level. We focus not only on cloud adoption but also to leverage the existing infrastructure and we work with governments on appropriate policies in each country covering legal, contractual, and data sovereignty aspects of cloud computing,” he added. Migrating to the could enables governments to become more effective and globally competitive by having a service delivery that provides end-to-end solutions with common user experiences, and offers the ability to grow dynamically to fit into the ever chang-
ing governmental needs. It also reduces costs, which in turn increases hardware utilization and staff efficiency. With private and public clouds, data and applications can be available on-premises, permitting agencies to configure to the combination most compatible with their needs.
EVENTS
THINGS NOBODY WILL TELL YOU ABOUT SOCIAL MEDIA with Dr. Maria Frangieh LAU Byblos
Cloud961 Magazine and the IEEE Club at the Lebanese American University, Byblos, hosted a conference entitled “Things Nobody Will Tell You about Social Media”. The event covered different social media topics that are usually not known to the public, especially students, about Facebook, Twitter, Google, Instagram and other social
media platforms. The seminar was held at the Selina Kurban Theatre, where students and professors engaged in live online activities, giving them a real touch of what they are learning. “We had so much fun posting selfies on
Twitter and discovering which celebrities had fake followers and so on. It was a great mix of fun and learning at the same time,” said one of the participants. Students also engaged in some on-stage activities discovering the true power of social media. Some also got to win prizes offered by Fiesta Group.
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DR. CLOUD Hi! I’m Dr. Cloud. I don’t usually have too much time to check out everything or answer all questions but I heard they named this magazine after me so I had to be in control.
I don’t know if TUC realizes what their Facebook ad could imply. Are they telling us to TUC them? Or does it simple mean “TUC Middle East”? Because “Middle East” could have easily fit in the ad title. Did they want to stir up controversy or is their ad booking person so lazy to type it out fully?
They say I lose my temper too quickly but truth is I’m probably too wise to be born at this time. I can feel it. Don’t take me wrong, I do appreciate when good stuff is done but I just can’t handle it when anything insults my intelligence. I make my living from online business. So when business goes bad, Dr. Cloud goes bad too. Whenever you spot anything that’s worth a critic, make sure to email me on dr@cloud961.com or tweet it to me on@drcloud961 or just share it on my facebook page. Don’t ask me about other social media because I just never really liked them. My son is signing me up soon on Instagram and that’s it for me! I’ll be there to say what they wouldn’t dare say. And I just don’t give a Cloud! Talk to me soon! Dr. Cloud
After the ad wars of the Lebanese sweets shops, it seems that Douaihy was trying so hard to stay on top of the game once they launched their e-store, but failed miserably in an attempt to play on words for Easter and e-store. US Airways also had a major mishap. Their community manager “accidentally” tweeted a porn photo in a customer service tweet that went viral. I have taken the liberty to censor it because this is not Cloud69, but I’m sure your naughty fingertips can manage to find it online. I wonder what the fate of this community manager would be.
It has not been a good month for airlines in the States. American Airlines caused the arrest of a teenage girl who jokingly tweeted them about Al-Qaida and caused a major stir online. Even a parody Bin Laden account joined the conversation. 80 CLOUD961
Companies are getting creative with ways to attract people to like their pages, but I’m not sure how effective it is to print a Facebook logo on your ice-cream stick.
Le Gray Beirut should be looking for a social media consultant to advise them on their social media strategy. A respectable hotel should be using online advertising to gain targeted followers instead of forcing their employees to spam their personal contacts to follow Le Gray’s pages. It also seems that the person who has access to their Twitter account has nothing better to do than spam our timelines with Labor Day tweets to their every single follower.
CROSSWORD
INSTRUCTIONS:
Find all the 25 words and names in this crossword puzzle.
SOLUTION TO LAST MONTH’S CROSSWORD PUZZLE 1. Nada Ai Saleh 2. Lebtivity 3. Reserve Out 4. Nouchaline 5. Sami Tueini 6. Tech Ticker 7. Atheer One 8. Moujaz 9. Arabnet 10. Dropbox 11. Chouchic 12. Windows XP 13. Altcity 24. Wikipedia 15. Wally 16. Virgin 17. Developer 18. Donner Sang Compter 19. Turkey 20. Wamda / Live Love Beirut 21. Etob 22. Oculus VR 23. Angie Nassar 24. Naharnet 25. Office 26. Lebanese Memes 27. Nokia 28. Lenovo 29. Tinder 30. Anghami 31. Vines 32. Entrepreneur 33. Instagram 34. Notification 35. Hangout 36. Mashable 37. Google 38. Stream 39. Gear 40. Beiruting 41. Alfa 42. Yahoo 43. Diwanee 44. Reddit 45. Milk
The winner of last month’s crossword puzzle is: Mohamad Gharbieh
@gharbieh
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HOROSCOPES FIRE
WATER
Aries (March 21 – April 19) Your disconnectedness from the offline world and abrupt communication style is sure to annoy some of your colleagues at work this month, so put down your phone and move away from your screen from time to time for some quality face-to-face conversation. Your associates are always more than happy to offer you assistance, so make the effort to meet them halfway.
Taurus (April 20 – May 20) 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.
Gemini (May 21 – June 21) 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.
Cancer (June 22-July 22) This month is a good time to separate the good people in your life from the bad ones. You have all the time you need and recent events have provided you with the information you need to make the distinction. You can start by going through your Facebook friends list and removing all those so-called “friends” who only contact you when they need a favor, like voting for them in some cheesy competition.
Leo (July 23 – August 22) You may have to sacrifice some privacy this month, but it will be for a worthy cause. Your company is in high demand, and you’ll have to step out into the social spotlight to do some networking. If you’re feeling outgoing, it’s your time to shine so go out there and get those names, numbers and emails that may just open new doors to your future.
Virgo (August 23-September 22) Your concentration isn’t the best these days, and you find yourself working on one specific task for a few minutes, and then switching to another. In order to avoid wasting your time and energy, do yourself a favor and get organized! Evernote is just one example of an organizational app that can help you become more productive and keep track of those tasks!
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EARTH
AIR
Libra (September 23- October 22) This month may bring an uncharacteristic emotional meltdown with it, so just ride the wave and it’ll be over before you know it. Venting always helps, so contact your bestie (Whatsapp or Google Chat works best if you’re at work or in class) and rant until you feel better. It’ll allow you to get back to business with a much lighter heart.
Scorpio (October 23 – November 21) There is some serious acting happening on your timeline lately. One or two people, who appear to be bright and cheerful on the outside, may hide alternate personas. The happier they appear, the more negative, depressed or twisted they may truly be. Also, be cautious about getting yourself involved with new tweeps, especially when it comes to certain commitments.
Sagittarius (November 22 – December 21) You may be famous for your charming ways on social media, but practicing some self-control won’t hurt, unless you want to risk coming across as egotistic. There’s no need for drastic changes, just try toning you enthusiasm down a notch. Self-control is all about learning when to speak and when to stop talking or in your case, tweeting.
Capricorn (December 22 – January 19) You may be feeling strongly about certain topics, happenings and events lately; why not let others know instead of keeping it to yourself? Twitter’s 140 characters may not be enough, so go ahead and start your own blog. Wordpress, Blogger and Tumblr are all blog-publishing services that offer different features and themes you can use to finally get your thoughts out there.
Aquarius (January 20 – February 18) This month you’re feeling particularly passionate about your job and thus taking on more responsibility without too much additional effort. However, you feel eager to do things in a new way. Tap into the power of social media and you’ll be surprised how much potential there is out there and how much social media has to offer. It also gives you the opportunity to outshine your conventional coworkers.
Pisces (February 19 – March 20) You’ve been dreaming about that vacation for a while now, so it’s time to make it happen. Choose your destination and start planning the trip as soon as possible. Apps like Tripomatic will help you by allowing you to enter a destination, the period of your stay and will then plot out all the attractions and things you can do on a map. Pretty nifty, eh?
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