Twitter - Tweet stats

I came across Tweetstats by accident - while reading @warzabidul's blog
- and I love it.

The site (made by "Damon aka (dacort)") gives any user a visual (graphs) representation of their Twitter activities, featuring stats for: general timeline, hourly tweets, direct replies and interface used - Plain brilliant.

I would love to see a widget I can embed in my blog - and why not a Facebook app?

Check out your Twitter stats here :)

Note: As you can see, I've been pretty busy Twittering in Jan, hence the few posts on the blog ;)

Google - Lego logo!

The Lego brick turns 50 today and this is - by far - the best Google logo re-design I've seen in a long time :)

Just for fun, check out some *real* Google Lego logos here

Web 2.0 - Wikia Search launched

Wikia Search launched on the 7th of January - I know, we're the 13th.
I always have good excuses: I was too busy testing/enjoying/loving search, so
I delayed reporting about the hottest/most awaited for launch of 2008.

The net.. The blogoshpere.. The universe.. They were all on fire. Literally. Press releases, interviews, posts, debates. Some loved it and others hated it.

Detractors built their case mainly on the fact that the results were not accurate, and that it was too soon to launch the Alpha version of Search (omitting one little detail: Alpha comes before Beta, and doesn't mean anything but "very early stage of development").

The social networking component (you can customize a profile page and add friends once you sign up) was also very widely criticized: does the world need another Facebook?

In my *humble* opinion, they failed to see the big picture: this open source human powered search engine IS the next big thing.

Of course, it will take time to be perfect, and Jimmy Wales gave a clear warning about the matter (yes, at this stage, the search results are bad); Wikipedia was not built in one day.

I see it having mainly two types of users: the ones who search and the ones who influence the search results. Just like the Wikipedia model, the active community will be very protective of its inputs, which will lead to high quality search results.

As far as the social networking part of the site is concerned, I totally see its benefit if it is linked to search in some way, shape or form.

Most of the features are not launched/implemented yet, so it is definitely too early for the "web authorities" to judge. Sit back, relax and wait for it to grow to its full potential.

Hail to the Wikia team and for the great job they've done :)

Check out Wikia search, register and add me a as a friend!
(Look for Stephanie T.)

Note: read more about the launch here

Wikia

Google - HNY 2008

Happy New Year everybody!

Google - Holiday season

Here are a couple of Google-holiday logos.
Waiting to see what they'll come up with for NY.

Random - Xmas gift

Santa Ezzat spoilt me big time and got me the greatest gift ever for Xmas: A Nikon D40X - The camera of my dreams, with a ton of cool accessories that go with it.

Expect lots of pictures to be uploaded soon on Flickr :)

Thoughts - My dream came true

I am very lucky.
The highlight of my trip is that I had the chance to meet in person Jimmy Wales, my "internet hero" - and this is priceless.

There are not enough words that can describe the admiration and respect I have for him.

What is even more important than founding Wikipedia, is the work and thinking that goes behind it. The bigger picture. The fact that he and his team fight to keep the cultures, languages and knowledge alive and accessible to everybody. The Wikipedia Academies - It would take me months to list the great things that he does for humanity (with a simplicity that I can't even begin to describe).

This is by far the most noble cause of all.

Please take a minute to make a donation to the Wikimedia foundation to keep this amazing project running.

He is also the founder of Wikia and there is no doubt about the fact that he will soon be taking over the world "one click at a time" ;) - stay tuned for January the 7th...

Jimmy Wales . Wikipedia

Thoughts - Did you miss me?

It's been a while, I know..
I've -literally- been all over the place for the past month - and I've been lazy.

I did have a lot of things to share and blog about, but I was too overwhelmed by "the moment", for some reason :)

In a nutshell:
Vegas - San Fransisco for 10 days:
I attended BlogWorld, which was extremely interesting (and I finally met @mmcallen, the coolest Twitter buddy). We also went on a Silicon Valley "tour" on the week-end: Apple, Googleplex, Twitter, Facebook, HP and of course (my favorite of all), Wikia (I do have loads of pictures to share, but didn't have the time to upload them yet).

We took off after that to Europe: Barcelona, Paris, Brussels and London. Another great break in the cities I love (you can have a look at a couple of Barcelona pictures here).

I am now in Lebanon for the holidays, and will be back in Dubai on the 2nd of January - I will then be sharing again all my findings :)

Merry xmas and Happy New Year everyone!