Meanwhile, in ammaroland..

It's been a busy few weeks over at ammaroland, as life manages to throw everything and anything at The ammaro. This is not necessarily a bad thing, however, but it just means the ammaro has been kept busier than a restroom in a very, very busy Indian restaurant (hence the lag in posts over the past few days). A lot of risks have been taken, but so far things seem to be going good.. Let's take a look at what's been going on,

1- BahrainTalent; if you don't already know this, it's a site I put together a while ago to bring together underground Bahraini musicians and give them some well deserved exposure. So far it's been up and running, featured a few artists, and just yesterday launched a weekly radio show (click here to listen). We're also working with a few big companies to organize a few events, and launch some services you might find pretty interesting. Besides that, we have more artists ready to be featured over the next few days. Keep your eyes peeled.

2- Hala-Bahrain Magazine; this has been kept under wraps for a while now, but should be launched in the next few days. HalaBahrain is a free online lifestyle magazine, covering places to go, restaurants, events, etc all to do with Bahrain. It's also got local news, competitions, entertainment, and lots more. You can get it sent directly to your email as soon as it is launched (in the next few days), so make sure to sign up your email address for a copy!

3- Music; Been working with a few people, some small names, some big names, on a few interesting concepts. Can't really say much about it at this point, but it's going to be pretty big. Will let you all know as things develop.

4- Collaborating on a few huge projects, which are gonna change the way a few things are being done here.

5- A million and one other things that aren't significant enough for their own point, but nonetheless all together take up quite a bit of time and effort.

All in all, some exciting stuff; I just realized this was all a little vague, but hey, it should all get clearer as time goes by! Keep checking the site out for some really interesting developments in the coming few weeks, but for now make sure to check out BahTalent Radio and HalaBahrain Magazine!

We're All The Same

Looks like a silly video at first. Some random guy dancing in one country, then in another, then in another. But keep watching...


Where the Hell is Matt? (2008) from Matthew Harding on Vimeo.

There's something deeply moving about it; look at the joy on the people's faces, their smiles, their happiness. Doesn't matter what language barriers there are, or what cultural differences exist. Nothing. They all danced, they all smiled, they all connected. Didn't matter if it was young children dancing in Africa, or grown adults dancing in the UK; everyone was the same.

In this world of people separating themselves from each other, fighting going on over race, religion, skin color, language, and so on, it just brings a tear to see the whole world connecting over such a small dance. It brings a tear to see poor African children who have nothing, filled with laughs and joy over such a small dance. It brings a tear to see stuck-up businessmen let go of their stress and pride, filled with laughs and joy over such a small dance. It brings a tear to see a video of people dancing in Israel, followed by people dancing on the East Bank. It just puts out such a strong message; stop the fighting, stop the pain, stop the differences. We're all human, we're all the same.

You have been BANNED From using the Internet

You've all done it, whether you like to admit it or not. You've all downloaded music or some other form of digital content illegaly sometime or the other.

It's fun, this whole digital revolution thing, and you gotta admit that it is pretty satisfying getting your dose of entertainment for free. Unfortunately, the past few years have screwed over most of the music companies, who've been getting most of their money through physical album sales.

Now, trying to enforce legistlation over the internet concerned with the download of illegal files is pretty damn tough. Sure, there have been a few cases where individuals have been taken to court, but as a percentage of total people who do download illegally, that hardly scratches the surface. France, however, has decided to take this whole thing to the extreme:

France to ban illegal downloaders from using the internet
June 19, 2008

Anyone who persists in illicit downloading of music or films will be barred from broadband access under a controversial new law that makes France a pioneer in combating internet piracy.

“There is no reason that the internet should be a lawless zone,” President Sarkozy told his Cabinet yesterday as it endorsed the “three-strikes-and-you’re-out” scheme that from next January will hit illegal downloaders where it hurts.

Under a cross-industry agreement, internet service providers (ISPs) must cut off access for up to a year for third-time offenders.

The law has strong backing from Mr Sarkozy, who has taken a close interest in artists’ rights since marrying Carla Bruni, a model and folk singer. However, it has run into opposition from a range of bodies including the state data protection agency, consumer and civil liberties groups and the European Parliament. Big web companies, including Google, and Dailymotion, the video-sharing firm, refused to sign up to the 40-member industry accord last November.

Full Article Here

Technically, that means that you get three strikes, and then you're out without internet access for a year. Give it to the French to come up with a harsh law like that.

But thinking more deeply into the issue, what sort of effects could this have? Will this sort of legistlation promote other governments to enforce similar penalties? Or are people going to resent this so deeply that France is going to have to revoke it? How about when a kid downloads a few illegal songs, do the rest of his family have to suffer? What if I manage to catch an unsecured wireless network and download illegally through there?

Again, the whole issue of restraining the internet is too complex to comprehend, and obviously whoever set this law has no idea how the internet works. Even if my access is 'banned', I could still share music and content over WAN's and LAN's, copy it from a friend through a flash disk or CD, or pop over to the local Starbucks and download music from their network (unless someone has already done that, and Starbucks get their access banned too).

Will it work? Could it possibly work? Is there any way of restraining the internet? And what are your thoughts on this?

How to/not to take care of your baby

In the news over the past few weeks, there have been a number of cases where parents accidentally caused their baby children injury, harm, or even death. Although seemingly an obvious task, taking care of a baby is a huge responsibility. Here we will go over a few basic guidelines on what and what not to do when you do have to take care of a baby:

Follow these guidelines, and stay safe!

Justified Stealing?

Ok everyone, let's have a bit of a morality check up:

1- Stealing, is it right or wrong?

I'm assuming most of you reading would say wrong. A few would probably think it's fine, and some might even enjoy it, although deep down you probably all know that it's wrong.

2- Let's say someone was making money from an immoral activity; selling drugs to children, ripping off an old woman from her retirement money, or anything else.

Now, is stealing the money from this person right or wrong?

Here, i'm assuming some would be divided, let's hear your ideas and thoughts on why you think it's right or wrong.

3- Now, if you thought stealing money from those people is WRONG, let's say you use it for some random good purpose; ie, helping the homeless, building a childrens hospital (musta been a lot of money!) or anything else good.

Is it right or wrong now?



PS. Don't worry guys, i'm not stealing, or planning to steal, anything from anyone. Just a weird dilemma I thought up in my head full of twisted ideas, and I think it would make for very interesting discussion! So let's hear your thoughts; drop a comment below and tell us what you think.