For me, and other bloggers here in Doha to attend the 2nd Al Jazeera Forum, the panel that I look forward to the most will be the one on blogs. The New Media: Bloggers and Participatory Journalism panel will be the first of its kind in the Arab World, and to be frank, I was really surprised that a traditional media organization such as Al Jazeera would care enough about blogging to dedicate a whole panel for this topic. It is the very first time for me to attend an event like this, and with this big number of people here, the whole thing is just a little bit overwhelming to me. So, I’m off now to have my breakfast, and then attend the first panel this morning. Meanwhile, check out this interesting post on Kottke blog on the competition between citizen media and traditional media.

Today I will travel to Doha, Qatar, to attend the 2nd Al Jazeera Forum (Arabic). The theme for this year’s forum will be “Defending Freedom, Defining Responsibility,” and it’s supposed to be interesting. I’m also looking forward to meet some online friends for the first time.

Back to Hassa, and not much to talk about. Except this: While I was there, my friends at KFUPM told me that all the academic buildings in the university are now equipped with Wi-Fi connection. They say the students dorms are next. Meanwhile, everything related to IT in KSU is an absolute awful state.

Last night I left Hassa. I’m writing this from the KFUPM students dorm in Dhahran. I’ve got something to do in Khobar this morning, and then I’ll come back to Hassa in a few hours inshallah.

A very good piece on friendship from the one and only Dave Winer.

Check out The “Impeach Bush” Van. Funny. (via Buzz Machine)

Did you know that Google has a page for music search. I was looking for some info about an album, and I noticed there was an additional button at the top says “Search Music.” It is nice. They have pages for artists, where you can find their albums, photos, and more. Maybe it was there before but I never seen it till today. Check it out.