Let's Pull an All Nighter in Beirut

We are geeks, we love marathons (where we don't run!). How about a marathon where the only thing that runs is our code?

Bring your coffee mugs, and prepare for a long time of extreme coding, debugging, and lots of cursing & expletives!

I'm talking about the new and upcoming overnight developers competition that will be held in the ArabNet Digital Summit 2012 (Beirut), starting on the 27th of March, from 8PM until 8 AM the next day (28th).

Competitors will build a simple web or mobile app in just 12 hours!There will be valuable prizes for winners in this competition, but the details of these prizes, as of the time of this writing, are undefined.

OK, I like to code, where to start?


1- Submit your details on this signup form
     Note: Developer Days attendees are also required to register for this competition.
     However, their e-ticket is not required since they will have a conference badge
2- Check your inbox for a confirmation email
     You’ll receive another email that includes your e-ticket after your registration is approved
4- On the day of the competition, a list of projects will be revealed for competitors. Some of the speakers during the Developer Day will also be available for consultation during the competition.

Seriously, we have been looking for such competitions in the Middle East region for so long now. If you like to code and have good trust in your web or mobile development skills, sign up and try, they won't bite you (as far as I know).

More details can be found here. 

Oh, and there will be coffee.... Lots of coffee

جرب استخدام حزمة متصفح تور المعربة

بعد أن قمت بإكمال تعريب مشروع تور بالكامل خلال الاسبوع الماضي، قام مطورو تور الرسميين من إصدار نسخة تحتوي على التعريب الكامل. يمكنكم جميعاً أن تحملوها من هنا.

و لكن ما هي حزمة متصفح تور؟ و ما هو تور أصلاً؟ 

تور هي شبكة لحفظ أمن و خصوصية المستخدم بالكامل. شبكة تور عبارة من مجموعة من الأجهزة و الشبكات المتصلة مع بعض، و التي تستخدم التشفير و العشوائية لمنع قدرة أي موقع من تعقب مستخدميه، و أيضاً لمنع أي مزود انترنت  أو حكومة من تعقب و مراقبة بياناتهم أو المواقع التي يدخلون عليها. شبكة تور يستخدمها الكثير، و لكن لا يزال عليك اتخاذ الحذر حين ادخال أي معلومة قد تفصح عن هويتك الحقيقية، و لا تقم بإدخال كلماتك السرية بأي موقع إلا إذا كنت متصلاً عن طريق التشفير https .

إذاً ما هي حزمة متصفح تور؟

لتسهيل استخدام شبكة تور دون الحاجة لضبط الشبكة و مواجهة الصعوبات، أو ضبط تور بطريقة خاطئة تتسبب في فضح هويتك و نقض خصوصيتك، قام مطورو تور بعمل هذه الحزمة التي تشغل لك متصفح فايرفوكس Firefox مع إعدادات تور الصحيحة
تلقائياً. (يدرون أنك راح تعفس الدنيا و تخرب على نفسك!)

يعني بكل اختصار تنزل حزمة متصفح تور، تشغلها و تبدي باستخدام التصفح بكامل الخصوصية!

للتنزيل ادخل هنا. بدايةً يجب عليكم اختيار اللغة العربية من قائمة اختيار اللغات كما هو موضح هنا بالصورة.

قم باختيار المجلد الذي تريد وضع حزمة متصفح تور فيه:

ادخل على المجلد الذي اخترته، و قم بالضغط على Start Tor Browser: 

ستشتغل واجهة حزمة متصفح تور، و ستقوم تلقائياً بالاتصال ثم تشغيل متصفح فايرفوكس مع اعدادات تور جاهزة للاستخدام. تنويه: قد تحتاج لإغلاق متصفح فايرفوكس لديك قبل تشغيل حزمة متصفح تور:

و أخيراً سيشتغل فايرفوكس مع إعدادات تور و سيقوم تلقائياً بفحص صحة اتصالك بشكبة تور:

حسناً هنا نكون وصلنا إلى نهاية هذا الشرح الموجز، قم باستخدام تور و تمتع بالتصفح بخصوصية! 

تابعنا على تويتر للمزيد من المعلومات.

Done Translating the Tor Project into Arabic

الحمدلله انتهيت من ترجمة كل ما يتعلق بمشروع تور و برنامج أوربوت إلى اللغة العربية. تور هو أهم  أداة و شبكة تستخدم اليوم للحفاظ على خفاء الهوية و الحماية من الملاحقة و التجسس أثناء التصفح، و لطالما أردت أن أساعد على كسر حاجز اللغة خصوصاً عند اعتبار الحاجة الملحة و الشديدة جداً لاستخدام مثل هـذه الأدوات بوطننا العربي.

يمكنك معرفة المزيد عن تور هنا.

باذن الله سيتم ادخال تعريباتي بالنسخ التجريبية لتور و سأقوم بتجربتها و شرحها هنا بالمدونة باذن الله.

لمزيد من التحديثات تابعني على تويتر.

Calling All Developers & Designers in the Middle East!

Hello everyone! If you are not based in the Middle East, go away!


.. Just kidding, keep reading!

At the end of March, a big event will take place, an event that should pique the interest of developers, designers and entrepreneurs in the Middle East. That event is the ArabNet Digital Summit 2012!

The ArabNet Digital Summit 2012 is a conference that will take place in Beirut (27 - 31 of March). The topics of this conference revolve around technology in the Middle East, topics such as programming, web & mobile development, tech & design startups, Arabization of technology and entrepreneurship.
Last year’s summit brought over 1000 attendees, 100 speakers, featured 18 panels and 17 talks, in addition to 20 entrepreneurs pitching their ideas and startups.

Why should I care?

Well, for one reason: I will participate in it! I have been invited to participate as an Official Blogger in the event (Ha! So writing blogs can be useful!), and I am also planning to participate in one of their signature Lightning Talks and present a talk about my contribution to Open Source software, Arabization of tech projects and of course user privacy.

I am planning to present a talk about the effort I've been doing Arabizing privacy tools that were made by the awesome guys at the Guardian Project. Tools such as Orbot, Gibberbot and ObscuraCam.

Why the hell should I care?

Woah, calm down there! If you want to miss my coverage of the event and my talk, there is still lots to do there. There will be panel discussions (No, they won't bore you to death), workshops, competitions and food. Lots and lots of sweet, sweet food. My stomach is grumbling as we speak.

Basically it's cut up into the following slices (still thinking about pizza... Mmmmm):

- Developer days: Two Developer Days with technical discussions and workshops for programmers and engineers.
- Industry Day: Focus on the way that web and mobile are transforming traditional industries, including healthcare, banking, travel, education, and government.
- Two Forum Days: The largest gathering of digital business leaders in the region featuring over 100 globally renowned speakers covering the latest trends and technologies in web and mobile platforms.
- Community Day: Community Day is a day of free activities for students, NGOs and the general public, raising awareness about and providing training in digital technologies.

Naah, doesn't interest me. What else?

You're starting to get on my nerve, but you know what? The conference has three interactive events that you will surely love; one of which is an event I'm trying to participate in.

Ideathon: Got a brilliant idea for a web company? This is your chance to make it happen!  Submit your idea to the ArabNet Digital Summit 2012 Ideathon competition! The top 10 finalists will be invited to pitch their ideas in a series of rapid-fire back-to-back presentations at the summit, where each finalist will have 2 minutes in the spotlight to prove that their idea is innovative and has strong business potential. The top three pitches will win cash prizes and great ideas will get the attention of investors, incubators, and developers.

Startup Demo: Got a promising startup that needs a push? This is your chance to take your startup to the next level!
Submit your startup to the ArabNet Digital Summit 2012 Startup Demo competition! The top 10 finalists will have 5 minutes on stage to showcase their product and convince an audience of investors, incubators, and media of its strong market potential.

Lightning Talks:  Lightning Talks are independent, community organized presentations that will take place during the first day of the ArabNet Developer Days.
Lightning Talks are short, fast-paced, 5-minute talks given by experienced developers, engineers, or designers from the community about a specific case-study or experience that they've encountered throughout their career.
We’re looking for proposals that relate to web or mobile development or design, from novice to advanced levels.

Wait! I'm a blogger too! Not fair =(

Calm down! Are you an awesome blogging pirate like myself? Probably not.... But you still can participate as an Official Blogger and attend the whole event for free! (Plus food. ).
What you need to do is fill the Official Blogger Signup form, which can be easily found here.

 That's it for now! I hope to see you there in beautiful Beirut in March! If you want to meet me there and get to know me, just drop me a line and we will have a nice stimulating chat while drinking tea.