Parents Name Their New born Baby ‘Hashtag’

A brand new Hashtag has made the rounds on the social media circuit, the likes of which has never been seen on any social network before.

A new born baby girl has been named ‘Hashtag’ by her mother, a report on Mashable.com has said, after the hashtag ( # ) symbol, used to mark keywords or topics on Twitter. However, instead of taking to Twitter, the mother posted the news via Facebook post, which to us suggests her apparent #Fail.

It would not be the first time parents have used social media as inspiration for baby naming. Although yet to be confirmed if “Hashtag” is the baby girl’s legal name, a typo or a joke, she’s in good company nevertheless – An Israeli couple named their girl ‘Like’ after the popular facebook button and last year, an Egyptian man named his son Facebook after the social media platform’s role in his country’s uprising in 2011. It can only be a matter of time before someone names their child Twitter or Tumblr.

Read more here: parents-name-baby-hashtag

Psy’s Gangnam Style Is Most Viewed YouTube Video of All Time

820 million views. That figure, fellow readers, is the total number racked in by the most-viewed video in YouTube history, as of Saturday – “Gangnam Style”, the South Korean pop video that took the internet by storm last July.
The video, in which Park Jae-Sang, better known by his stage name PSY performs his now famous horse-riding dance, claimed the title from Canadian singer Justin Bieber’s ‘Baby’, which has more than 803 million views. Psy’s song, which pokes fun at the consumerism of Gangnam, an affluent suburb of the South Korean capital Seoul, has topped charts around the world.

The effect the video has on society has been astounding. With reports on numerous flash mob dances across the globe, praise from celebrities and appearances at weddings, it’s little surprise to us that this catchy song and entertaining video, has spawned a burgeoning number of parodies and tribute clips.

Here are some shining examples by folks from our home turf, Dubai and the rest of the Middle East region:

The success of ‘Gangnam Style’ is truly a testament, to the power of the Internet and social media.

Read more here: http://mashable.com/2012/11/24/gangnam-style-most-viewed/

UAE’s 41st National Day

This weekend, residents of The UAE will celebrate the nation’s 41st National Day on December 2nd, with nationwide celebrations, including parades, heritage events, patriotic flag hoisting, shows and competitions, among other various events. In addition, a number of United Arab Emirates based companies are planning events and programmes to join the celebrations of the 41st UAE National Day.

S uce boutique, a multi-brand fashion and lifestyle concept, in Dubai, got together and sang a UAE-specific version of one of their favourite songs! The song is dedicated to the 7 sheikhs who founded the UAE, their sons and brothers who continue their legacy, and all the people who have made the UAE their home over the past 41 years:

Du, the second largest telecom operator in the UAE has developed a vast UAE National Day campaign to mark the historic occasion. And as part of the campaign bandwagon, Du launched a nationwide “National Song” contest which kicked off on November 8th to invite the people of the UAE to write lyrics expressing their love of the nation. The lyrics will then be compiled by renowned Emirati poet Ali Al Khawar, and sung by Emirati musician Shamma Hamdan. Emirati musician Fawaz Al Saeed will compose the music. The competition is in line with Du’s aim to bring people together and connect to form a national song that appreciates the UAE with the company receiving great positive response.

In a press release detailing the innovative competition which is the first of its kind in the entire region, Ahmad Bin Byat, Chairman, Du said:

“This is the first time that the people of our nation have been invited to create a song to portray their patriotic spirit. We created this competition as the ideal channel for people to express their feelings of love and loyalty to the UAE, and to give voice to their gratitude to our country’s leadership for their wise direction.”

Read more here: du-launches-national-song-contest-celebrate-318229

Google Announces ‘Arab Web Days’

An initiative to boost the amount of Arabic content online was recently launched by Google, by providing an Arabic-centric web platform called ‘Arab Web Days’.

The month-long series will encompass of online and offline events, such as a YouTube tweet up in Qatar, activities on Google+ Hangouts and commendable initiatives from the education and broadcast sectors in the MENA region. This is to encourage and invite users to join the movement, and accelerate digital Arabic content creation across MENA.

“The purpose of Arabic Web Days is to inspire the community to increase Arabic content on the internet,” says Google’s Head of Communications in MENA, Maha Abouelenein. “It’s all about the users, she added, we want the Internet to be relevant for Arabic speaking users.”
In recent years, Arabic has become one the fastest growing languages on the Web, albeit there is still a big gap between the number of Arabic-speaking Web users and the amount of Arabic content online.

Abed Agha, Arabic Web Days co-creator said: “‘Arabic Web Days’ is just the beginning – we hope to keep the momentum beyond just this month – the talent in MENA is strong and we have yet to realize the economic potential that the web can create”.