Bloggers4Oman Review 4

Blog Review 17 - umqusai (Arabian Princess)

Umqusai started up http://umqusai.blogspot.com/ as a collection of her thoughts and stories, vowing from the start not to flood her site with internet junk mail.

A patriotic and respectable married lady holding passionately to her Muslim and Arab identity with a proud dignity that shines through writings and thoughts. You get the sense of a person that has succeeded in separating the dream world & fantasies from the reality she is living, despite choosing to remain the anonymous Arabian Princess indefinitely.


From: http://umqusai.blogspot.com/

Title: When I die ...


The hadith that says that only three things would benefit you when you did really makes me worried .. what did I do till now to benefit me if I died, lets say tom.?One of the things that I wanna do is a knowledge that would be useful for future generation. I want to write something, that would be influential .. something that would make my thawab run forever!!Inshallah .. Inshallah .. Inshallah I will!! This is the hadith:

‏قوله صلى الله عليه وسلم : إذا مات الإنسان انقطع عمله إلا من ثلاثة إلا من صدقة جارية أو علم ينتفع به أو ولد صالح يدعو له

posted by Arabian Princess @ 5:27 PM Sunday, March 13, 2005

The early writings of Umqusai over the past 6 months of blogging are in Arabic and the later mostly in English. She touches deeply into her personal thoughts, poems and sayings. In fact she named her blog on Addiction to Olives a “light post”. An indication of how intense and well thought of most of her blogs are especially in Arabic.

In her own words: “I am not a person who hates life or something, its just that I like life to be taken seriously. If we kept on joking we are not going to reach anywhere … posted by Arabian Princess @ 12:51 PM Friday, April 01, 2005. Regardless of her serious take on life, she seems to lead her life with a smile…. This blog will bring many pleasant smiles to your face as well..



Blog Review 16 - Blue-chi


Law & Music is the title of this blog http://blue-chi.blogspot.com/ started up by Blue-Chi, a 21 year old Law student. It's very accurately described as "The legal diary of a music fan". In his own words he started this weblog "to concentrate on certain aspects of my studies as well as use it to write several misc thoughts, reviews, and news regarding various topics"
posted by Blue Chi at 7:47 PM Wednesday, February 16, 2005


An original blog that is very well written with Blue Chi's personal opinion, as opposed to "cut&paste" articles. It also provides a good introduction to certain aspects of law for the novice and curious.


From: http://blue-chi.blogspot.com/

Title: Criminal Law - Defenses - intoxication

There are two forms of intoxication; involuntary intoxication (where D is unaware that he has consumed an intoxicant) and voluntary intoxication (where D knowingly consumed an intoxicant, even if he is unaware of its level).

Involuntary intoxication is usually a defense, while voluntary intoxication is only a defense for offences that require specific intent (as opposed to offences requiring basic intent). The distinction between specific and basic intent is hard to understand and seems at many instances arbitrary due to the desire of the court to not let 'drinkers' get away with their irresponsible actions. It is claimed that more serious offences require specific intent, while less serious offences require only basic intent, but is manslaughter a 'less-serious-offence'?!!
posted by Blue Chi at 11:09 PM Monday, February 21, 2005


Phew...! My heads spinning...!

In other words, if you're going to prison for being a drunkard, don't even attempt to defend your self or even understand why you're guilty, as the court can arbitrarily put you away at their whim...!

Blue Chi is also an excellant IT/graphic expert, yet he's chosen not to showcase his expertise at this blog. Maybe http://blue-chi.blogspot.com/ will evolve into "Law, Music & Graphics" in the future.



Blog Review 15 - Mawali / Love Your Mind (LYM)


Lym's blog @ http://mawali.blogspot.com/ currently covers the early undergraduate stages of this very interesting female Omani student living away from home. Lym provides an insight into her life at home with her loving family, the tribulations of exams&lectures, the movies&music that take up a lot of her time, her feelings on good&sad messages from home, regular close encounters with a strangers babies, life at the gym etc etc .... You get a complete and wonderful flavour of the student life of this social and open minded independent young lady.


From: http://mawali.blogspot.com/

Title: Guess who ?

Yesterday, I left my physics exam smiling mindlessly because I never made up so much bullshit. Einstein would turn in his grave, if he knew that I twisted the laws of physics according to my own 'assumptions'. LolHow Ironic? The teacher assumed I did well, because I was smiling.If he only knew …

Guess Who? The movie

Lol, I can pretend all I want, that I am an independent strong woman with an attitude, but I cannot lie to myself and deny that I am ‘gay’ and romantic at heart.When ‘Simon Green’ was romancing his fiancé, I found myself oohhhing and ahhhhhhhing the whole time. And my cousin would look at me oddly and smile. posted by Lym at 1:10 AM Friday, April 15, 2005


Despite being an "ex-nerd" (by her own admission) and an A+ student at High School, she could very well end up with a degree in Janitorian law from a Mickey Mouse College back in Oman, especially if she over does her fun and flunks her exams (very unlikely of course).

Lym in essence is very strongly independent, fun loving romantic at heart and a genius in the making at the “cross-road” of discovering her true self and potential.

With another 5 years to go in Australia, if Lym keeps blogging @ http://mawali.blogspot.com/, we're set for a roller-coaster of a ride.... My favorite blog to date for its clarity and accuracy in depicting an Omani students life abroad.

Bloggers4Oman Review 3

Blog Review 12 - A Woman in black


A Woman in black and friend of Oman @ http://onewomaninblack.blogspot.com/ is a new blog truly worth following. With only one month since its conception, you still get a fascinating insight into the life and times of this 20 something year old revert to Islam from the southern US, who has relocated to a beautiful country in the Arabian Gulf.

This blog covers some of the culture shock of everyday life in the ME for an Amreekiya Maskeena and the adjustment needed for her relocation. She truly is a black sheep with the best of 2 worlds and Insha'Allah a reward for embrassing both in the hearafter. Witty and informative. Let's hope she doesn't delete this blog at a later date as she did her previous journal when aged 17.


From: http://onewomaninblack.blogspot.com/
Title: An Orphan with OCD


Save Water !!!!

My husband drives me crazy sometimes ! He splashes about 5 gallons of water all around the bathroom, even leaving drops all over the just "windexed" mirror thats over the sink while making wudu (making ablution,or washing, before prayer).

I'm always telling him "Ohhhhhhh that's not good, you shouldn't use so much water to make wudu.....just enough to make it (wudu) correctly without wasting.... I think there is a hadith about that....."
posted by A. Woman in black @ 3/30/2005 09:21:00 AM



Blog Review 13 - art4nabs (NaBHaN)

http://art4nabs.blogspot.com/ is an extremely well designed blog that reflects the graphic artwork and creative mind of a gifted artist, NaBHaN Abdullatif. An Omani student currently in Jordan who expresses himself better and fully through his art. His Surreal artwork, which is on display with an example on how it's developed, sets him apart from other Omani bloggers.

In his own words, NaBHaN said: u never know the whole truth about a design till you understand his circumstances and surrounding. ...posted by NaBHaN @ 5:29 AM Friday, March 25, 2005.
So don't bother understanding just enjoy it.

From: http://art4nabs.blogspot.com/
Title: I think i'm going crazy!

.. But recently I started developing this habit of analyzing everything graphically! I see a book and I start looking at the fonts used, the colors, the arrangement of the graphics on it..and if I don't like what I see I just get turned off and forget about it. Same goes to drinks , food and everything else out there. The other day I was buying washing powder from the market, and I think I spent around 15 minutes just looking at which one looked better graphically.

Even when I walk down the street I start analyzing stuff around me graphically and wondering how everything would look if it was done using graphic software.
..posted by NaBHaN @ 3:04 PM Monday, April 04, 2005

Ladies and Gentlemen, we have a genius of an artist coming of age. Miss updates to this blog at your peril!



Blog Review 14 - Kazablanka

The daily ramblings at Kazablanka's blog http://kazablanka.blogspot.com/ stopped me in my tracks for a second and forced me to consider if I should be reading personal blogs without a persons permission, let alone giving my unwanted review.... This full of life and popular blogger gives an insight into the life of 21 year old Arab girl (non-Omani living in Oman) under pressure from her parents to get married, whilst still beaming with the prospect of doing so much more in life. A well liked blogger with both a fun outlook on life and a very enthusiastic group of web friends and admirers.


From: http://kazablanka.blogspot.com/ /
Title: Blog Whore

My goal in life had become to have my blog viewed 1000 times. .. ok so now that my goal in life has been achieved, what do I do now?? I feel so lost. I need another goal in life.

My brother has resorted to calling me a Blog Whore. I take offense to that. Not because of what a whore implies, but because I don't get paid like one.
posted by Kazablanka @ 12:08 PM Monday, April 04, 2005

Maybe she should hold back on some of her statements just a little bit, then again that probably just wouldn't be Kaza.

Bloggers4Oman Review 2

Blog Review 9 - shalloola

The Desert Times @ http://shalloola.blogdrive.com/ is truly an eye opener into Omani Society from the perspective of a mother with unruly house maids in the midst of both an Omani and Omanized-Expat community. The articles by Shalloola smack you in the face and force you to open your mind and to digest issues that are rarely if ever discussed in our very conservative Omani society that is bent on preserving the closed mouths.

These articles by Shalloola can completely change your outlook on life in Oman as it forces you confront taboo issues openly and honestly…….


From: http://shalloola.blogdrive.com/
Title: Ponderings

I'm brash and blunt...and I don't give a damn. I'm not always polite...or politically correct...and I have opinions and convictions that are VERY strong. I piss people off and make people laugh with the truth and reality....all the while, trying very hard to show the beauty of life in Oman through words. Posted at 12:14 pm by shalloola Saturday, February 05, 2005

And how truly beautiful Oman is through her "thoughts, ideas and daily musings", because by her own words: "I let most of it all out....yes, I said most...not all". This blog truly opens up the closed Omani shell.

She truly strikes a cord whether she's talking about her housemaids, body odor or vain people as she takes a critical inwards look into faults in our society and surroundings... Do not miss the comment to her articles.

Sadly in her last publication she was contemplating stopping her blog, because she's been unintentionally thrown into the limelight and her veil removed. Being exposed to vicious mouths is never comfortable.
It would be a great loss to us all if she truly did stop...!


From: http://shalloola.blogdrive.com/
Title: The Cutting Generation

But all of these SI peeps (as well as their non-self injuring counterparts) are living lives that are meant to be as "closed" as possible....meaning that they are told not to speak of any "peculiar" behaviors or happenings. You can't let anyone think that you or your family is "odd" in any way, shape or form. So, no talking to ANYONE about ANY problems within the family....because here in Oman, gossip and innuendo travel faster than the common cold......and getting help from a professional has such a stigma on it that most people lie about the fact that they are seeking help, if they are brave enough to go against the grain and do it at all.
Posted at 09:03 pm Friday, December 17, 2004 by shalloola


Blog Review 10 - m-pac

This blog by M-Pac has very much stayed within his intention of starting it. Giving a brief yet interesting glimpse into his life to his family and friends. He touches on some of his interests and opinion on life in general, keeping the blog relatively active.

From: http://m-pac.blogspot.com/
Title: Life Impressions (re-edited)

In conclusion, not one event or thing can inspire a person's life but rather a series of event even though they aren’t related. This leaves an ever-lasting impression on a person's life, for them to look back and recollect on their past achievements and mistakes. I hope to reach that stage of my life. Insh'Allah.
posted by M-Pac @ 12:13 AM Friday, March 11, 2005

Insha’Allah you attain your goals in life. I must add that his PC housekeeping advise helped me tremendously to clean up the spyware from my PC. I'd strognly advise everyone to do the same.

From: http://m-pac.blogspot.com/
Topic PC Housekeeping

Many people complain that their PC's are running slow. This is due to many factors. Most significant would be the amount of adware/spyware present in their PC.Here is a short tutorial on effective PC Housekeeping written and compiled personally:

1. Get AdAware ........
2. Get Spybot - Search & Destroy ........
3. Get Antivirus Softwarelike for example, Norton Antivirus 2005 or McAfee, or you could use Avast which is free.........
4. Delete cookies and browser cache.......
5. Never download malicious programs........
6. Always download programs from trusted sites........
posted by M-Pac @ 12:07 AM Saturday, April 02, 2005

Please visit http://m-pac.blogspot.com/ for complete details.



Blog Review 11 - Wardat_il'7leej


Into the lil pink submarine of Wardat_il'7leej (or The Gulf Rose). This site conveys a very transparent picture of her family & web life. She unselfishly shares her true self at http://wardatkhaleej.blogspot.com/ with her fellow bloggers in what seems to be a close knit friendly weblog centered around family and her web friends.
Wardat_il'7leej also has the sweetest pictures of the most adorable cats, not to be missed…! A truly inspiring and well thought of family oriented Blog. A Strong Woman with a valid opinion.


From: http://wardatkhaleej.blogspot.com/
Title: Revelation and Memories

April fool came and went with no she-bang or pranks to be played by anyone around me. Strange how it just passed like that since we do enjoy playing silly jokes on other members of the family even though I must admit that they have now labeled it as Bid3a (non-Islamic or imitation of the West).We seem to be able to wish others Xmas, enjoy with the festivities of New Years, indulge in a turkey (sandwich) on Thanksgiving, dress up for Halloween and even crave and yearn for Easter Eggs, but when it comes to April fools its considered as something not to be encouraged. posted by Wardat_il'7leej @ 4/4/2005 09:16:00 AM

Bloggers4Oman Review 1

Blog Review 1 - Muscati

To kick off this first review of Omani and Oman related Blogs, I'm starting with what is arguably the best personal Omani blog I have come across http://muscati.blogspot.com/, that ofcourse is according to my current limited knowledge of Omani Blogs. It is best described as a "He said She said" blog. Muscati & Wife give you their "Random ramblings, musing and outbursts from the land called Oh-man!" (Oman). In fact the archive goes back a year to their post-graduate time in Glasgow. Muscati gives a crisp clear perspective of Oman from a businessman and bankers view point (albeit with an agenda), whilst Oceandream provides the most wonderful introspective ramble on her/their life and adding much needed color to the blog.


From: http://muscati.blogspot.com/
Title: On the subject of Omani blogs, again

I've bookmarked every Omani blog that I've come across and I go back to check every single one of them as often as I can. The good news is that the number of Omani bloggers is increasing rapidly. The not so good news is that for most a blog is just a scribble pad on which they write random thoughts or otherwise use as an online diary. I am still waiting for the arrival of Omani commentators who have something to say to all of us, not just random strangers and close friends.
posted by muscati @ 1/18/2005 04:48:49 PM

I couldn’t agree more, but for now, check out http://muscati.blogspot.com/ for a template on the direction Omani blogs should be heading.



Blog Review 2 - devilishwicked

Next we have another he & she (unmarried) blog http://devilishwicked.blogspot.com/, with Devilish, the self described “sarcastic” male car enthusiast, born in the year of the snake and Wicked the extremely talkative and spontaneously interesting female, born in the year of the Ox.

This blog is mostly about their personal everyday life and surrounding events, with Devilish further touching on issues he passionately feels strongly about and Wicked providing a most interesting and honest insight into her daily life and intriguing thoughts. Diverse and an enjoyable read. Check out the confessions....


From: http://devilishwicked.blogspot.com/
Title: My Wedding

I'm not the one getting married but I've had to set a side a budget to this wedding, two nights, meaning two dresses, shoes, makeup and hair for both nights. And this isn’t just any wedding where I can get all that done at home and look fine. Not that I really care what other ppl think I look like. Inside I feel like a million bucks, but nobody wants to look any less from the other few hundred or +1000 women there. So we go through all that torture!
posted by WickeD @ 11:46:00 PM Tuesday, March 15, 2005

Huh...!! Torture? I thought Omani women enjoyed weddings?!

Blog Review 3 - myroadthroughislam

Next is a friend of Oman from Italy, Bilqis. Her blog http://myroadthroughislam.blogspot.com/ touches on her remarkable journey through Islam and her fluid thought of reasoning on religious issues. In her blog titled: My Islam, she said: Islam is not mine at all, but we do belong to each other. posted by Balqis 7:59:04 PM Sunday January 09, 2005. I say: You reverted to Islam and it adopted you as its true daughter.

For everything else in Bilqis's parallel life she has another blog http://myrandomsillythoughts.blogspot.com/


From: http://myroadthroughislam.blogspot.com/
Title: How it started

When Ramadan came, i noticed some sort of change in my virtual friends: they started talking of fasting, stayed up till early morning, last days (waiting forLaylatul Qadri ) not sleeping at all.
I became curious about that event and later about Islam: they gave me some sites where to start to learn fundamentals and whenever i had doubts, they were ready to help. I was in a moment of my life in which Christianity didn't answer all my question, on the contrary Islam did and in a very detailed way, cause Islam is a way of life:
posted by Balqis 9:00:01 PM Friday, February 04, 2005


Blog Review 4 - titaj & omci etc
This Omani Blogger, with a UAE perspective, has 6 blogs to her name! Shahad has segmented her interested and developed separate blogs for each, http://maqaalahajabatni.blogspot.com/ for Arabic articles of interest; http://titaj.blogspot.com/ on computing & technology, which she considers her favorite; http://omci.blogspot.com/ an Omani Citizen Intelligence Newsreel....!! http://myinbox.blogspot.com/ with all the junk mail and spam from her inbox; http://bits-of-reality.blogspot.com with General News; http://muqtatafaat.blogspot.com/ Arabic general news and finally http://aqwaal.blogspot.com/ for Arabic poems, Lyrics, quotes, etc, which is still empty as of date......!! I'll be watching to see if she keeps them all growing exponentially together... She always has been and remains a very active blogger indeed.


From: http://bits-of-reality.blogspot.com/
Title: Schools can not expel pupils

Private schools can not expel pupils without permission from the UAE Ministry of Education, officials told Gulf News. They said that if they did expel pupils then parents should file a complaint against the school. Only in cases of major offences such as rape would expulsion be allowed, they added.
posted by Shahad on Thursday, December 30, 2004


Blog Review 5 - chulupu

For your film reviews, none can match the quality of http://chulupu.blogspot.com/, although still in its infancy. This blog is basically about reviews of movies "chulupu" saw, books "chulupu" read & gadgets "chulupu" bought etc.....


From: http://chulupu.blogspot.com/
Title: The Sopranos (TV Series): Rating: 10/10

I cant say more, its that type of series that cannot be described. All I can say if you found God Father one of the best movie every made, that SOPRANOS is a thing for you, and trust me when I tell you it will literally change your life. I actually using words such as Salute, Cumare, the Sit Down, in my ordinary day to day life, so go figure!
posted by Chulupu @ 8:15 PM Sunday, April 03, 2005

Mind you, not all of the films are rated 10/10. The first review I read had a rating for; Story: 9, Acting: 7, Direction: 8, Visual: 8, Overall: 8/10.....!!! I thought it was truly remarkable for anyone to put such an effort (your weekly oscars at http://chulupu.blogspot.com/), before realising the detailed rating was done for only one film! The site contains good personal reviews for the movie goers and it doesn't disclose the story. Salute Chulupu...!


Blog Review 6 - kvk007

“My Self and I, in a Nutshell”, is how Khalid Al-Khoury (alias kvk007) very accurately describes his blog http://kvk007.net/blog/ hosted at his own website http://www.omanserv.com/. This Blogs mainly touches on his Muslims faith and Christianity background entangled into the Lebanese political sphere.

An added value to this blog are his, IT Articles and Tutorials, which truly reflect his expertise in the IT field. The self written articles cover hardware, software, programming and webmastering. Another section for essential downloads is also available and do not miss his philosophy.


From: http://kvk007.net/blog/
Title: Jesus the modified

To Christians, Jesus is God, but he came in the form of humans to save the humans from their sins. I once was told he is the son of God, but started getting confused about him being the son only, or God himself.

On the other hand, Islam says Jesus was merely a prophet.
posted by kvk007 @ 9:14 PM Sunday January 30th 2005


Blog Review 7 - cokemaniac & sleeplessinmuscat

Ali Mehdi (alias Ghosty, as he is known to many) has a remarkable blog with his own poems http://cokemaniac.blogspot.com/ I could sum up his blog with 3 words; his love, his sadness and his fun, but it's the sadness that touches you the most. Deep thoughtful poems that cut deep into your soul. Ali Mehdi's other blog http://sleeplessinmuscat.blogspot.com/ concentrates on issues surrounding his every day life which is a good read (little sadness) with some serious issues. This is where you find the "real" thoughts of this interesting and truly courageous man.


From: http://cokemaniac.blogspot.com/
Title: There Is No Reason To Smile

There is no reason to smile
Anymore
There is no life
No spring in my bottom
No galore

Life is life
As atrocious as it may be
The things I used to love and like
Have all gone. Now, it's just me
posted by Ghosty at 01:17 August 24, 2004


From: http://cokemaniac.blogspot.com/
Title: DEAR GOD

DEAR GOD

I KNOW THIS IS JUST A WRITTEN PRAYER
AND I DON’T KNOW WHETHER IT WOULD COUNT OR NOT IN YOUR BOOK
BUT I HOPE YOU WILL ANSWER THIS PRAYER
FOR I KNOW YOU ARE MERCIFUL, LOVING TO YOUR SUBJECTS – ALWAYS WANTING FOR THEM WHAT IS GOOD

AMEN
posted by Ghosty at 01:47 August 24, 2004



Blog Review 8 - kermeey

Lastly, is another friend of Oman blogger fazli. His blog http://kermeey.blogspot.com/ provides a remarkable in-depth look into the CEYLONESE (or is it SINHALESE) history, culture and people. Despite the accuracy of the historical fact, I'll leave you with an abstract from an article which wrongly names the Arab settlers of Ceylon "Moors", in line with the error of Early European writers, who attributed the name Moors (Arabs located in Northern Africa) to Arabs in the Indian Ocean.


From: http://kermeey.blogspot.com/
Title: The Moors of Ceylon

However meager the material available, there is sufficient evidence to show, to the unprejudiced mind, that the Ceylon Moors had their origin from among the Arab traders and settlers of old who traveled across the seas in search of trade and barter during the earliest times of the history of Ceylon.
posted by Fazli at 11:59 PM Wednesday, January 12, 2005


It's very likely that these so called “Moors” of Ceylon originated from Oman, as Omanis had very widely spread throughout nations on the Indian Ocean shores.

Fazli, you most probably have Omani blood in you, if you have family ties to these Ceylon Moors ….?!

A Blog to track Omani blogs

This blog was created to keep track of all Oman related blogs.

With the blog world growing day by day in the vast cyberworld and more and more Omanis starting up their personal blogs, it's time to have our own hub to give a flavour of the wide vareity of Oman related blogs.

I've started by requesting for blogs at www.omanforum.com, I'll then do the same at other sites, until I gather enough blogs to regularly update this site with breif newsletters.

If you are an Omani, or have any links to Oman or Omanis, kindly provide us with your blog and assist us in building this blog community.