Category Archives: Random

Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows – Part 2 Begins Oscar Campaign

Well, not officially. I’m pretty sure that’s going on behind the scenes. But fans over at Potterish have come up with this awesome poster in preparation for the Oscar season, which the final movie of the Harry Potter series is part of, featuring the Oscar statuette holding the Elder wand.

You know, the year is almost up and I know most award-worthy movies are still waiting to be released but nothing has come close to how great Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows Part 2 has been. You can read my review here.

In the meantime, check the fanmade poster in support for Harry Potter’s best picture quest:

Well, accio oscar!

MTC Touch Donates $10,000 to the Jeita Vote

Now that we’ve established that the N7W competition is not scam and that you have more than enough reasons to vote for Jeita, I believe we need to commend MTC on its announcement today, which translates as follows:

Lebanese Mobile telecommunications company “MTC Touch” announced its contribution of $ 10,000 dollars, which represent 100,000 SMS, to support the Jeita Grotto voting campaign, aimed at making the cave one of the seven wonders of the world of nature.

The company said in a statement that the initiative came to reaffirm “the company’s permanent commitment toward Lebanese society and its continued support for its growth and prosperity and is participating today through this contribution in reaffirming the Jeita Grotto site as a fundamental pillar of natural tourism. In doing so, MTC Touch provides a catalyst for the voting campaign as it enters its last stage.”

Voting ends on Friday, 11/11/11. Results should be announced later that day. If you’re in Lebanon, you can text “Jeita” to 1070, which costs $0.1.

If you’re outside Lebanon, you can consult the following image:

Samsung Shamelessly Ripping Off Apple – Again

Despite being sued by Apple almost everywhere and them resisting, Samsung have apparently not learned from their lawyers who couldn’t differentiate between an iPad and a Galaxy Tab.
This time, for their MP3 player, they didn’t just copy the iPod Touch’s design, they also copied the ad that introduced the iTouch, even the folding of earphones around the iPod.

They say a picture is worth a 1000 words. So here you go:

20111107-225655.jpg

Now Samsung needs to get their engineers & designers to put their their thinking caps on because this is getting ridiculous. While I will never dignify them by buying a product of theirs, they either need to acknowledge the fact that are uninspired and, therefore, stop churning out Galaxy products faster than rabbits breeding or they need to get a grip with their counter-lawsuits.

Lebanese & Halloween

Over the past five years or so, Halloween grew exponentially in popularity among the Lebanese population. Halloween parties started to take place a couple of days in advance with people celebrating the holiday – like – well, like Americans.

Part of what bothers me about this is that most Lebanese nag about losing some of our culture and traditions in the shuffle of globalization. And that is apparent the most when it comes to Halloween. After all, it is not a holiday that is Lebanese. There’s nothing Lebanese about it to be exact. It’s like many of those other things we take in like a sponge: Halloween is cool. Let’s celebrate it.

Back in my days, which are still here since I’m only 21, our version of “Halloween” although different in meaning yet very similar in form, took place on December 3rd. I remember going house to house with my friends and sitting on sofas in the warmth of stoves, waiting as those families tried to know who was behind the mask.

Do any of the people celebrating Halloween today (or celebrated it over the weekend) actually celebrate the “Lebanese” version of that day, which holds some significance by being St. Barbara’s day, a Christian martyr who had to disguise herself to escape the king’s persecution?
I guess not. After all, it’s much “cooler” to celebrate something where getting wasted under a mask than to go all rustic and knock on people’s doors to let them guess who you are…

Call me old-fashioned, but if there’s something I would like to keep “Lebanese,” it’s the day where we wear masks just for the fun of it. There’s no reason for us to copy other people’s holidays just because it has been shoved down our throats in movies, series, pop culture… to the point where it has officially been deemed cool by the masses.

What’s the difference between wearing a Jack Sparrow costume on October 31st and December 3rd, other than the date? A whole cultural identity.

Lebanon’s Alfa Telecom Announces 3G Packages

Alfa Telecom, one of Lebanon’s two mobile carriers, has announced its 3G packages, ahead of the service launch on November 1st.

5 packages are being offered ranging from 100MB to 5 GB in quota and from $10 to $99 in prices, as well as a pay as you go plan, which is tariffed per MB.

Alfa will also be offering data sim cards for users for dongles that connect to laptops, as well as 3G-equipped tablets such as the iPad 3G.

It is important to note, however, that you will not be able to accumulate any MBs that remain and add them up to your upcoming month’s quota. You can also continue using these plans, beyond their allocated quotas, and be charged per extra MB.

These plans are available for both prepaid and postpaid subscribers.

As for 3G coverage, starting November 1st, Alfa will have Beirut city covered, as well as most of Mount Lebanon and Tripoli, with coverage to increase in the coming months.

MTC, on the other hand, has announced it will be covering Beirut, Tripoli and Saida in its first phase starting November 1st and its packages will most probably be the same – although they have only confirmed the $10 and $19 packages.

For more info on 3G in Lebanon, you can check this post.