I wondered how the Arab world uses the internet and wanted to spot interesting facts. I collected and analyzed the data from the Alexa page rankings. I calculated the rankings giving more weight to websites that were ranked higher more often.

The Data

* Data was current as of July 22, 2008.

Interesting Facts

• All 18 countries have Google, Yahoo!, Windows Live, & MSN in their Top 10
• Google is #1 in 14 countries (7 of them are localized)
• Yahoo is #1 in 3 countries
• Facebook is #1 in Lebanon
• Google France is in the Top 4 for Algeria, Morocco, & Tunisia
• Facebook is not in the Top 10 for Algeria, Libya, Oman, Syria, & Yemen
• YouTube is not in the Top 10 for Tunisia
• kooora.com is in the Top 10 for 7 countries
• Wikipedia is only in the Top 10 for Lebanon
• Google is localized for 8 Arab Countries
• Lebanon is the only country that has political websites in the Top 10

The Rankings

1. Google*
2. Yahoo!
3. Windows Live
4. YouTube
5. MSN
6. Facebook
7. Maktoob
8. Rapidshare
9. kooora.com
10. PerfSpot

* Includes localized Google websites

Tags: alexa, alexa page rank, Algeria, Bahrain, data, Egypt, facebook, France, google, Iraq, Jordan, kooora, Kuwait, lebanon, Libya, Maroc, Morocco, Oman, Palestine, panarab, Qatar, rankings, Saudi Arabia, Sudan, Syria, Tunisia, UAE, yahoo!, youtube

Battle revisited with Linux thrown in the mix.

Tags: apple, battle, humor, linux, macintosh, microsoft, operating systems, technology

A picture illustrating the difference between microsoft and macintosh. The concept is about right but it could use better details.

Tags: apple, caricature, humour, macintosh, microsoft, technology

Google launched a virtual world chatting program. It lets users interact with each other using an idea similar to yahoo’s animated personality avatars. However, this allows you to interact in 3D where you could chat with your friends and meet people online in rooms that you decorate and fully customize from a catalog of avatars, outfits, furniture, and rooms to build up.

http://www.lively.com

Tags: friends, google, idea, lively, people online, rooms, virtual world

I happen to watch the first one that came out last year before the hype started. It caught my attention because,

1. it was not in formal Arabic (fus7a) which was burnt by all the Mexican series broadcasted over the years.
2. it was something I could relate to coming from a similar culture.

Today, a total of 5 Turkish series broadcast on Arabic satellite channels. It will probably spread like the Mexican series in a few years. Where is all the Arabic production going? Where are the writers and directors? It would be nice to see Arabic works that could compete with these dubbed series.

Tags: arabic, arabic satellite channels, broadcast, culture, dubbed, hype, production, satellite, turkish, tv series

Rawshe Rocks in Beirut, also called Pigeon’s Rocks. Its the classic look I see in most posters. I took the photo when I was in Lebanon in August 2007.

Tags: beirut, d40, lebanon, photography, pigeon rocks, places, travel