Last month, 7iber launched an initiative to collect citizen-generated photographs that capture Jordan from behind their lens. Throughout June we received an endless amount of pictures with the objective of picking the best 10 and printing them as postcards to be sold in the marketplace, with any profits going towards future community projects.
Then we […]

Well tonight should be an interesting night. Jordanian bloggers via 7iber, have teamed up with some amazing artists to put on a never-before-untypical-unprecedented show tonight at the Al-Hussein Cultural Center in Ras Il-Ein. It’s a show that makes an attempt of merging the online and offline worlds in Jordan - bringing an online conversation to […]

It’s a hot and dusty day here at the dead sea but in case anyone’s interested, around eighteen 7iber-trained, young, citizen journalists from all over the Arab world, are right here at the World Economic Forum covering the three-day event and its sessions. We’ve got bloggers, live bloggers, flip cameramen, interviews, watweting and more. Check […]

It’s been a long week so far. I’m here in London to attend two different conferences and it’s been an interesting ride. I apologize for the lack of posting but, on the other hand, I’ve also been getting a lot of fascinating feedback on some of the posts published here lately. The general tone of […]

Likely one of the most pertinent issues of our time and our specific region, Reporters Without Borders and Amnesty International are launching the second annual World Day Against Cyber Censorship. Last year, if some of you recall, RWB put together an interesting, 24-hour virtual demonstration.
This year, RWB have updated their annual list of “Internet Enemies” […]

The other day I received an invitation to a meeting with the Prime Minister only a few hours before the meeting was actually held. Apparently, the point was for “electronic news sites” as our government loves to call them, to have a chat with Prime Minister Nader Dahabi. The post-meeting analysis was a brilliant review […]

A belated birthday.
The fourth year ends.
The fifth year begins.
And I find myself wondering if there’s anything more left to say…
p.s. thank you all for putting up with me

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I wrote this post in my head while sitting at a table at the Jordan Web Awards the other night. It was surely a proud moment to be honored unexpectedly like that but I have realized recently that 7iber is in fact life-changing. It’s an incredible journey and just watching it, which ever way it […]

Right now, medical supplies are in high demand in Gaza, even more so than food. I know a lot of people in Jordan have been asking how they can donate medical supplies. Fortunately, blogger Umm Farouq has managed to pull together a great initiative with “Pharmacy One”. So, if you’re in Jordan, you can now […]

It took me a while to figure out how to write this post. The campaign has been an interesting learning experience and even a glimpse in to a few truths I was glad to have restored. One absolute truth stands out: there is a population of this country, perhaps not enormous but definitely large enough, […]

Dear Readers,
This morning, the 7iber crew will be hosting a little workshop on social networking in Jordan. Some of the topics that will be introduced and debated include privacy and ethics, the use of Facebook in social movements, the business community, and the political sphere, as well as its impact on Jordanian youth and the […]

Two sites were brought to my attention recently, both having similar missions in mind: a Jordanian bloggers association and a Jordanian bloggers union. Both are hosted on Maktoob blogs, and looking through them briefly I read their respective charters. The idea is fairly unique as you don’t see too many blogging associations or unions in […]

More universal proof that the readers make up at least half of a blog’s identity. My deepest gratitude to all of you who voted for the Black Iris as the best blog in the Middle East. It is probably not, but it was indeed fortunate enough to be nominated by the readers and voted for […]

Dear Readers,
You probably noticed that little box in the sidebar these past few days that says this little blog has been nominated for a 2008 Brass Crescent Award in the Middle East category. I am nominated amongst some pretty great blogs, including two of my personal favorite Jordanian blogs (Sabbah and Southern Muslimah), which is […]

So I’m here in Barcelona for the next 48 hours and I was lucky enough to attend the 14th Nokia World event. Less than an hour ago Nokia released it’s N97, probably, from the looks and specs of it, the most powerful device in the world. I’m actually blogging this from my N95 and it’s […]

Even since the King held a meeting earlier this month with the chief editors of the Kingdom’s dailies, there has been some movement with regards to media reform. I have to say, I wouldn’t really call it media reform any more. Media in Jordan, at this point, is what it is. There seems to be […]