Last night I, along with bloggers Ayesha Saldanhaand Deonna Kelli Sayed, was invited to participate in a special Elhamevent regarding the role of blogging in cultural development, with particular emphasis on the literary aspect of online writing. I read several of my posts and answered some very interesting questions from the attendees. This was my second Elham participation (I participated in the first Elham gathering in November of last year.) As usual, Deonna Kelli Sayed, Phoebe Boswell,Al Riwaq Galleryand of course Ali Al Saeed(who unfortunately couldn’t make it as he was abroad,) did a wonderful job of organizing it.

Infomania Nymphomania? No, no! INFO-mania Oh, I see what is it then? Blackberry push email get through push me out of sleep out of hours and days out of life Sacrifice all for some crack- berry Answer quick always on but switched off Neither here nor there Always trying to make one last check until the end of days when nothing crosses the ether When signals are no more when all’s gone forever

And so she is. Some countries are not unlike a bashful debutante. It seems that in the midst of a technological storm that’s bridging people, cultures and countries; some governments are all frets over people discussing, opinionating, debating, and shredding to bits the actions (including follies) of politicians and the like. You could almost hear certain quarters of governments say, “Oh, why would anyone want to speak in a popular and benevolent manner of such matters as rights, freedoms, conspiracies and other such fancies?

Many might have kid about Bahrain’s most popular blog, Mahmood’s Den, being blocked one day. It seems that day will be tomorrow according to a ministerial order. While one can only speculate on the reasons for the block, some have pointed out that it most likely has to do with the Bandargatescandal. Mahmood has been quite outspoken about the issue on his weblog, and has also started the much commended Just Bahrainicampaign.

From the very first time computers said hello to each other, to the internet as we know it today, their seems to be no limit as to what we can find halfway across the world. In his The YouTube Poem_,_ Robert Bruce writes: It seems there is now nothing I cannot witness Read the rest at Bruce’s site, KnifeGunPen.

I got my first comment abuse(tasteless vulgarities and obscene language) last night, around seven in the evening. I didn’t imagine a personal attack on me so soon after starting this weblog, it’s only been a week. But then again, I didn’t expect to have over 400 visitors on my first week either, which is way more than I ever anticipated! So, I guess I’m doing something right 🙂 And thank you to all who have so far visited, commented, subscribed and criticized on- and off-line.

Text or graphic, perhaps the subtelities of writing should not be sabotaged by blatant smile symbols. For what purpose does it serve other than to undermine finely crafted textual utterances? If the meaning of a sentence lends itself to a smile, is it necessary? The graphic smile is a pet peeve of mine (particularly when software writers assume that you would want all your textual smiles substituted automatically.) The text version; however, is something that harkens back to the early days of networks.