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Happy and Prosperous 2010

Women in Technology - Lebanon wishes you and your family a happy and prosperous new year.

May 2010 be full of peace and success.








You can Join our Facebook Page :
http://www.facebook.com/pages/Women-in-Technology-Lebanon/92326546200

Be the first to add your own greeting card to our 2010 Greeting Cards Album

http://www.facebook.com/album.php?aid=181736&id=92326546200

Technology is a woman

This is a Guest Blog post by Dania Al Kadi


Technology is a woman: she is the ultimate multitasker and helps men communicate, but if so why are there such few women in the technology industry?


One can count many barriers, but maybe the biggest are perceived gender roles: computer studies, like other sciences, are regarded as a male pursuit and most little girls are taught early on in life to look the other way for their education and their interests.


Yet, the past decade and more specifically the advent of web 2.0 have changed all this. The internet revolution allowed computers into millions of households, and mobile telephony placed powerful communication devices in most people’s pockets. Today, the PC and the mobile phone have converged and technology permeates everything we do: from college students conducting research in Harvard to farmers checking market prices or the weather forecast in rural India.


For us women, this means empowerment at all levels: technology is no longer a subject to be studied in school but a natural enabler to life. Whether you are a hard core engineer passionate about building the latest gadget or a “sitt beyt” who wants to share her thoughts, child rearing tips or recipes on-line, having technology skills will enable you to achieve your goal and reach out to the wider world.


Of all the developments currently taking place, mobile applications are the most exciting and they’re full of promise for the entrepreneurial woman. Requiring relatively limited software development skills, mobile apps provide creative minds with the opportunity to turn any idea, small or big, into an application that can be published and marketed directly to consumers.


So do you have a good suggestion about how to place orders with suppliers on the go, or avoid rush hour traffic in your city, maybe you’ve created a nice game for your children that can be digitized and enjoyed by other kids? Now is the time to go for it, especially inLebanon and the Arab world, where we have the opportunity to create a lot of regionally relevant content in Arabic. An enormous amount of resources and information is available on-line to help you get started and if you feel you don’t have the right skill sets for softwaredevelopment, a simple training program will enable you to acquire the knowledge you need to be a mover and shaker in the next wave of digital transformation.

********************************************************


About Dania:


Based in London, Dania El-Kadi works for Nokia as Senior Marketing Manager in the Global Marketing Activation team where she’s responsible for driving the company’s marketing deployment strategies for email and business. Prior to relocating to the UK, Dania headed Nokia’s enterprise solutions marketing in the Middle East and Africa.

Dania held several positions in the IT industry before joining Nokia, including Marketing and PR management roles for Intel Corporation in the Middle East and North Africa.

She holds a Bachelor of Arts degree from the American University of Beirut and misses Lebanon every day

Start blogging and add a picture.




اضافة صورة

how to start a blog on blogger.com

إنشاء المدونة
الخطوة الاولى: زيارة موقع http://wwww.blogger.com
اذا كان لديكم حسابgmail يمكنكم استخدام اسم المستخدم وكلمة السر ذاتها

وإلا فيجب عليكن فتح حساب جديد عبر الضغط على “ إنشاء مدونة الكترونية” وتعبئة الخانات التالية:

يمكنكن إختيار اسم للمدونة مثلاً مدونة لبنان او الشباب والبيئة او” المرأة والتكنولوجيا” أو حتى تسميتها باسمكن. ثم عليكن إختيار عنوان للمدونة يكون بمثابة عنوان لكن على شبكة الانترنت.


الخطوة الاخيرة هي إختيار تصميم أو قالب لمدونتكن. يمكن معاينة التصاميم قبل إختيارها ويمكن تعديلها لاحقا. لاختيار احد القوالب عليكن الضغط في الدائرة الصغيرة قربه ثم الضغط على استمرار.



لدعوة اي شخص لزيارة مدونتكن يجب إعطائهم العنوان كاملا مثلا:

http://witlebanon.blogspot.com

From WIT to Work




Have you accomplished WOMEN IN TECHNOLOGY Program training?

And you’re looking for a job?
Or
You want to start your own business?

WOMEN IN IT is glad to offer jobs and helps in starting a business for a limited number of women
With the collaboration of Women in technology Program
“FROM WIT TO WORK”

FREE training sessions to help you entering the market depending on your needs
Free counseling services
a consultant ready to offer you support to start your own business
Orientation and job opportunities

Those interested in participating in this project, should call Ms.Christelle El Jbeily: 71/167603 or 01/612500 ext 1984 or register their names at one of our partners'centers:



































Mount LebanonABadiehAbadieh Scout clubTEL: 70/914120 Mail: hhamzeh@bdl.gov.lb
SOUTHDer kanon Al Nahr
Der Kanon Al Nahr cultural center
TEL : 03/268707 Mail: Kassirh@inco.com.lb
NORTHTripoliIT LebanonTEL: 03/859796 Mail: ashahin10@yahoo.com
BEKAADer Al AhmarWomen Association of Der Al Ahmar (WADA)TEL: 03/622369 Mail: dykhoury@yahoo.com
BEIRUTTayounehAl Moltaka AL NisaiiTEL: 03/089086 Mail:almoltakans@hotmail.com
BEIRUTSanayehZICO HOUSETEL: 01/750442
KESERWANJBEIL
YWCA
TEL: 03/491141TEL: 70/914120 Mail: ywcajbeil@hotmail.com





Deadline for registration: November 25/2009 and then 60 women will be chosen depending on their willingness to learn and their commitment.



akkar 27 may 09 021akkar 27 may 09 023akkar 27 may 09 003

WIT Interview on Future TV

Watch Tawassol program on Future News this evening @ 7:00pm Beirut time

Mr. Khalil Abdelmassih

( Citizenship Lead for NEPA Region-Microsoft)

will be talking about Microsoft & Women in Technology Program partnership

In addition to Interventions with Nadine andraos ( citizenship Lead-Microsoft Lebanon)

& Nada Hamzeh ( Women in Technology Manager-Lebanon)

Graduation Ceremony in Abadieh

Article about Women in Technology in Magazine



One woman's struggle to achieve independence

By Nayla Baraki
Special to The Daily Star
Friday, September 04, 2009

For one woman growing up in the backwaters of a tiny Baabda village in the 1940s, it was a fight to get a high school education. Being female, she was told from a young age that “no girls should leave the village for the sake of education,” and unfortunately, she listened. These early restrictions placed upon her are precisely what prompted Najla Abou Hamzeh to dedicate her life to empowering Lebanese women.

Born in Ebadieh in 1941, Hamzeh has been instrumental in founding the local Ebadieh Day Nursery, the first such institution in that part of Mount Lebanon. She went on from there to front local activism and international trade organizations, and even briefly dabbled in municipal-level politics. But the lack of support she received at the start of her life set a dangerous precedent for the rest of her career.

“In my day, girls weren’t allowed to leave town to finish their high school studies, and since we had no high school in our village, I had to quit school,” Hamzeh says. “I was a victim of traditions, since I was born in a traditional family.”

Hamzeh dates the beginning of her activism to 1977 – a surprising time – just two years into the country’s 15-year Civil War.

“In 1977, I attended the first meeting of the Lebanese Women’s Rights Committee,” she recalled. “That’s when I felt I was able to fulfill my ambitions and express several opinions and ideas that had been suppressed inside me ever since I was a little girl.”

She called the committee a constant source of support, as the group helped her “reach higher positions, and serve my cause in every possible way.”

Now Hamzeh is a serving member of a 15-seat executive board, responsible for taking national-level decisions.

One of Hamzeh’s major concerns is the economic dependence that women face.

“We are still suffering from gender discrimination. When women reach a state of financial independence, no obstacles will stand in their way and they’ll be able to achieve their goals,” she said.

“Lebanon will remain like it is unless women arrive at high-ranking positions and play an effective role in decision-making,” she continued. But while awareness is one thing, Hamzeh looks back on a record of activism as well.

In the height of the Civil War, Hamzeh said one urgent need was to help women gain this financial independence – if they had to stay home and care for children, it would never come about, which jump-started Hamzeh into founding a nursery in 1987, to ease the burden on working mothers.

“This [nursery] was established so that working mothers would feel reassured when leaving their children all day long,” she said. “There was no day nursery at the time in the Aley region of Mount Lebanon at the time, and working women were mostly teachers.”

She then set up a library in the nursery serving the needs of children from the ages of 1 to 4.

“The financial support all came from activities that we carried out, and [from] the members’ contributions,” she fondly recalled.

Read the rest of the article about Women in Technology on our website.

Abadieh PDN - Al-Houda Exhibition 2009

Under the patronnage of Minister Ghazi Aridi

Al Houda Charitable Association

is glad to invite you to its 8th exhibition for Handicrafts-Paintings & Antiques-Rural food-Books

Saturday,August 8/2009 @ 6:30pm-Abadieh Hall.

The exhibition opens daily from 6:00pm till 11:00pm from August8 till August 14/2009

Build a Website: Why Joomla

Joomla,is an open source CMS (Content Management System) that make it relatively easier to create, manage, and update a website.


Here is why, we chose Joomla for our website:

Media Sponsor Swag FTW - Joomla! Day Vancouver...Image by miss604 via Flickr


  • Award Wining CMS: chosen as one of the best CMS applications.
  • Active Vibrant Community: Joomla is one of the most popular CMS with over 200,000 community users and contributors; who are ready to help solve problems or answer questions.
  • Ease to use: Joomla is user friendly and anyone can learn it and use it. You can try the online demo on Opensource CMS

JoomlaImage via Wikipedia















  • Out of the Box Features: You can check the core features and the large number of joomla extensions.
  • Open Source: this reduce the CMS limitations and increase its flexibility.


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Build a Website: CMS vs Custom Websites

What is a CMS?

CMS stands for Content Management System: a web application for creating and managing websites. You can check it on Wikipedia:CMS


Why use a CMS?

Here is a simple comparison between CMS and Custom Websites:

Ease of Use: CMS make it easier for people with little or no technical skills to create and edit web pages. While with custom websites, they will need to know HTML, CSS and sometimes Javascript and some programming languages such as PHP or ASP.

Extensibility: adding new functionality to your website is easier and faster by using CMS modules and plugins, while it has to be coded from scratch with custom websites, most of the times.

Flexibility: Custom websites might have more flexibility and you can modify the code without worrying about the CMS limitations. Although with open source CMS, such as Joomla or Drupal, you can workaround these limitations most of the times.

Changing Design: in a good CMS, content is separate from design, and I can change the design with a click of a button. This is much harder with a custom website, even if the custom site is completly CSS based.

Time: custom websites take more time to build than a CMS.

For example, adding a membership section to the Women in Technology Lebanon website is a matter of minutes, or couple of hours if some advanced configuration and customization should be made. While adding a membership section on a custom built website, will require that you know html, css, and be able to create and configure a database.

I strongly believe and recommend that every website should use a CMS, even for tech savvy people.

What do you think?

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PDN Activity in Deir Kanoon Nahr : Hand Made Accessories

Hand Made Accessories from a PDN activities in Deir Kanoon el Nahr Center in South Lebanon. Click on the image to see the whole album.

Women in IT is recruiting: HR Officer & Administrative Assistant

Position 1: HR Officer (Ref: jobHR)

Contract Period: 1 year Full time Employee
Location: Mathaf, Beirut

The Human Resources officer supports in planning and implementing policies which select, develop and retain the right candidates and client needed to meet the objectives of the project

Required Qualifications

  • Bachelor degree in HR, BA, Sociology or any related field;
  • Minimum of 3 years experience preferably in a recruitment agency
  • Has an understanding and knowledge of the staffing and recruiting business
  • Team Work Spirit, Ethical & Discreet
  • Excellent Public Relation
  • Good oral and written communication skills in English and Arabic (French is an asset)
Job Description
  • Develops relationships with : Job placement entities (public, private, web based, etc.), NGOs specializing in women empowerment and NGOs specializing in entrepreneurship
  • Maintain daily update of the project
  • Assisting the project manager in research and any other relevant activity for the project
  • Participate in set the criteria and the selection of the project beneficiaries
  • Performs survey on market to reveal the needs
  • Is responsible for the placement of project beneficiaries
  • Is responsible to set up procedures and channels to insure sustainability of job placement and entrepreneurship goals of the project
  • Assess the current status of the candidates and advise on required trainings
  • Create Job units / CV archive
  • Written and verbal communication skills in English and French
  • Proficiency in the use of Microsoft Office and the internet

2. Position: Administrative Assistant (Ref: jobADMN)

Contract Period : 1 year Full time Employee
Location: Mathaf, Beirut

The administrative Assistant will assist the project responsible in the daily management and coordinate the project activities

Required Qualifications
  • Good command of English and Arabic (French is an asset)
  • Experience working in a non-profit environment is highly desirable
  • Good communication skills
  • Computer skills
Job Description
  • Provide administrative and general assistance to the members
  • Perform general office administrative duties such as handling calls, faxes and incoming and outgoing mail, ensuring an adequate level of office supplies
  • Prepare and file correspondence, forms, contracts, official documents…
  • Handle minor accounting activities
  • Create and update WIT’s database (WIT contacts lists, WIT publications, library, documentaries, slides, filing of digital photos…)
  • Ensure proper handling and availability of needed equipment, arrange for equipment maintenance and insurance
  • Arrange meetings and workshops
  • Compile and disseminate monthly board minutes of meeting
  • Compile financial reports to the executive committee, project coordinators and donors with the help of the projects officer and coordinators

Interested candidates please send your CV + picture to: info@wit.org.lb before 5 August 2009. Please mention the Ref in the subject of the e-mail.

Twitter Guide in Arabic

The DigiActive Guide to Twitter has been translated to Arabic by Social Media Exchange

Check it below and post any comments or questions if you have.
[Embargoed] - Arabic Twitter Guide (Beta) - please comment!

1000 Facebook Fans

Hello,

Visit our Page: http://www.facebook.com/pages/Women-in-Technology-Lebanon/92326546200 and Suggest it/ invite 5 of your friends to become supporters/fans.

We are rolling a plan to make a small difference by using the Web 2.0 tools. Would you like to be part of a successful case study?

The first simple task/test is to have 1000 Fans before the end of July 2009.

So, if you like the WIT Lebanon program, please invite at least 5 of your friends, when you receive this message/update.

We are 351 members now, so if everyone of us invite only 5 of our friends, we can be more than a 1000 members in a fast and easy way.

Click on this link :http://www.facebook.com/pages/Women-in-Technology-Lebanon/92326546200

on the left menu, under the logo, click on Suggest to Friends and invite at least 5 of your friends.

Thank you and lets see what we can do.

3 Steps to broaden you from Viral Attacks

1- Motivation:

USB keys are Hot Plug-and-Play devices that are easy to install and use on the move.
Not only that but also, USB keys are made of FLASH technologies, that means they can be easily written, erased & re-written again and again. These factors appealed viruses’ developers so much as they constitute an easy path to a physical medium allowing them to spread their viruses.

Knowing that a USB Key is considered as a removable hard disk, it might host an “AUTORUN.INF” – an automatically running file that might contain a link to an executable which could be run when double clicking the USB KEY icon on opening.
The Basic idea for prevention is through storing an empty “AUTORUN.INF” file that is READ-ONLY & HIDDEN which cannot be overwritten in order to forbid viruses from copying themselves to your USB & proliferating on each USB usage.

2- Implementation

A. Create an EMPTY text file on your USB KEY called “AUTORUN.INF” with Read-only, and Hidden attributes.
B. Convert the USB KEY to NTFS in order to avoid overwriting of this file by issuing the following command from a Command prompt.
o CONVERT G: /FS:NTFS
o For Graphical implementation, Cf. Appendix-4-1.
C. Change the attributes of this file to deny overwriting by issuing the following command from a Command prompt.
o CACLS AUTORUN.INF /D everyone
o For Graphical implementation, Cf. Appendix-4-2.

3 Steps to broaden you from Viral Attacks

Rule of Thumb:

Never double click the icon of a USB key, always use, Right-Click & Open.
This is also applicable in our case when an empty “Autorun.inf” file is created in order not to fool Windows by asking to run an empty FILE.
Doing so might produce some difficulties when ejecting the USB Key.

3- Conclusion

Computer viruses are small software programs that are designed to spread from one computer to another and to interfere with computer operation.

A virus might corrupt or delete data on your computer, use your e-mail program to spread itself to other computers, or even erase everything on your hard disk.

Viruses are most easily spread by attachments in e-mail messages or instant messaging messages or USB Keys. That is why it is essential that you never open e-mail attachments unless you know who it's from and you are expecting it.

Viruses can be disguised as attachments of funny images, greeting cards, or audio and video files.
Viruses also spread through downloads on the Internet. They can be hidden in illicit software or other files or programs you might download.

Prevention is better than cure, so, common sense is needed & all precautions should be taken when handling unsecured files.

Good Luck,
BR,
Nazih SALHAB
***********************************************************************
Applying this procedure means that you agree and consent to GNU GENERAL PUBLIC LICENSE, Sections Disclaimer of Warranty & Limitation of Liability.
This Procedure is distributed in the hope that it will be useful, but WITHOUT ANY WARRANTY; without even the implied warranty of MERCHANTABILITY or FITNESS FOR A PARTICULAR PURPOSE. See the GNU General Public License for more details at http://www.gnu.org/licenses or write to the Free Software Foundation,Inc., 51 Franklin Street, Fifth Floor, Boston, MA 02110-1301 USA
************************************************************************
4- Appendix:

4.1.How to enable USB drive with NTFS?

1. You need to connect your USB device to your computer, that's for sure. Right-click on My Computer from the desktop and choose Manage.

2. Click on "Device Manager" and expand out "Disk Drives". There is maybe couple of drives depending on how many USB drive & hard drive connected to your PC.

3. Right click on USB drive and select "properties". After that, click on the "Policies" tab and choose "Optimize for performance" radio button. Finally click OK and you are done!

4. Click OK. 5. Open My Computer. 6. If you right-click on USB drive and select "Format...” you will see NTFS is now available.

Written by: Nazih SALHAB

3 Steps to broaden you from Viral Attacks

4.2.How to Deny overwriting from Everyone?

1- Right click on the “AUTORUN.INF” file & choose Properties
2- Choose the Security Tab
3- If “Everyone” user doesn’t exist, just add
4- Select all the DENY permissions for this user.

Written by: Nazih SALHAB

Blog Competition for WIT Participants

WIT Lebanon is launching a blogging competition to encourage participants to post more and optimize their blogs. It is a fun competition with some good prizes. If you like to join the competition, please register.

Rules:

• Registration is open to WIT participants only.
• Blogs should post at least once a week till end of the competition.
• Blogs can be in Arabic, English or French.

Criteria:

• Content
• Layout
• Overall Quality

How to enter the contest:

• Fill the form below.
• Write a post on your blog about the competition.
• Publish a post every week

Winners:

3 winners will be chosen by our jury and by visitors votes.

Prizes:

Digital Camera
Blogging Book
more..

Also, there will be a prize for the best comment. :)




If you have any questions or suggestions, please post them in the comments below.

Zemanta : Blog Smarter

A firefox plugin to help you blog smarter.

Simple point & click enrichment of your blog posts (and emails). In real-time, while you type. Zemanta suggest tags, links, photos, and related articles. You save time and aspirin.

5M+ pictures, 5M+ articles. 10M+ possibilities. Dont need to worry about copyrights, images are licensed under common creatives.

You can download it from http://www.zemanta.com/

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Live On MTV or Online


WHAT ARE YOU GOING TO DO 2 DAYS PRIOR TO THE ELECTIONS?????????????????????????????????????



Watch the interview with Nada Hamzeh, The PM of Women in Technology in Lebanon

Live On MTV OR ONLINE:



This Friday, JUNE 5 @ 10.20am (Beirut Time)


to talk about Women in Technology Program.



Amazing cases will be shown



DON'T MISS IT!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

Meet the Most Influencial Women in Web 2.0

WIT Awards: Tell the World that you have made a difference



اخبر العالم انك حققت تغييراً

حفل تكنولوجي بامتياز بمبادرة من التجمع النسائي لتكنولوجيا المعلومات - WIT تخلله تكريم رواد واطلاق مبادرات عالمية

أقام التجمع النسائي لتكنولوجيا المعلومات حفل تكريم عدد من الرواد في مجال تكنولوجيا المعلومات لانجازاتهم ومساهمتهم في الحقول التالية:




1. جائزة أفضل مساهمة نسائية في حقل تكنولوجيا المعلومات في لبنان، حازت عليها السيدة هيام خشن في مصرف لبنان وذلك لقيامها خلال عملها في مصرف لبنان بتأسيس وتطوير برامج مالية للقطاع المصرفي اللبناني



2. جائزة أفضل مساهمة لتمكين المرأة من خلال تكنولوجيا المعلومات، حازت عليها السيدة ندى حمزه مديرة برنامج المرأة والتكنولوجيا الذي ساهم في تدريب وتمكين لأكثر من 400 أمرأة خلال عام واحد على مهارات في تكنولوجيا المعلومات والتدريب الوظيفي


3. جائزة تميّز وابداع لافضل فكرة جديدة في مجال تكنولوجيا المعلومات، حاز عليها السيد ايلي خوري لابتكاره صفحة الكترونية woopra.com للاحصاء الفوري لزائري الانترنت وقد سبق ان كتبت صحيفة

Financial timesعن هذا الابتكار اللبناني الرائع!



كما تخلل الحفل اعلان حدثين بارزين في عالم التكنولوجيا :

- اجتماع اقليمي لتشغيل الشبكات في الشرق الاوسط "ريب أن سي سي ومينوغ"

- اطلاق مبادرة عالمية عن مدونة تدعى" كون المرأة الخاص"



أعلنت السيدة تيريز صليبا " مدير عام شركة " IDMعن اجتماع "ريب أن سي سي ومينوغ" الذي سينعقد ولاول مرة في لبنان
بالتعاون مع التجمع النسائي لتكنولوجيا المعلومات –
WIT . ويشكل هذا الاجتماع فرصة لصناع القرار في الشرق الاوسط للمشاركة في وضع سياسيات تساهم في حماية نمو اقتصاد المنطقة عن طريق تبني رؤى مستقبلية مسؤولة لتطوير البنية الاساسية لشبكات الانترنت .وبهذه المناسبة، قالت السيدة صليبا: يعتبر دخول هذه الخدمات ضرورة ملحة في منطقة الشرق الاوسط في ظل الاقتصاد العالمي مرتبط بتطوير شبكة الانترنت وفقاً لأرقى المعايير العالمية".



أما الاعلان الثاني فهو اطلاق مبادرة عالمية من لبنان الا وهي مدونة تدعى" كون المرأة الخاص" وهو موقع الكتروني اجتماعي يضم مدونات نساء من كل اطراف العالم



ختمت السيدة سلام يموت رئييسة التجمع النسائي لتكنولوجيا المعلومات – WIT بشكرها لجميع شركاء الجمعية على الثقة والتعاون المشترك من أجل مجتمع أفضل. كما أنها دعت الجميع إلى المبادرة والمسارعة في تقديم النفع والخير
للآخرين،
بقولها: " التطوع هو من أبرز السمات التي يقاس بها المجتمع ... يسمح في الزيادة من قدرة الإنسان على التفاعل والتواصل مع الآخرين والحد من النزوع إلى الفردية وتنمية الحس الاجتماعي. لذا أدعوكم أن تطوعوا ... "


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Jobs in Lebanon: WIT Lebanon Jobs Board

The WIT's Lebanon Jobs board is ready now, you can post any job opportunities you have, especially if it is related to IT and oriented to women, but feel free to post any career opportunities and forward the website to your contacts.

Three reasons to post at our jobs site:
  • Free: post a job for 30 days completely free
  • Easy: it takes one minute to signup and post the job.
  • Effective: jobs will be promoted to WIT's participants across Lebanon and the Middle East.
  • WIT Lebanon is a non-profit program aims to empower women and expand their participation in the workforce through IT and professional development training.

    Thank you and if you have any questions, please don't hesitate to contact us. Start your search for Jobs in Lebanon.

Training of Trainers in Citizen Media with SMEX

In May the Social Media Exchange will launch a new capacity-building project for Lebanese civil society and community-based organizations who want to leverage the Internet to support a stronger civil society, especially with regard to peacebuilding and youth activism.

To do this, SMEX will lead a free training of trainers (TOT) in citizen media. The 10-week course, held both online and offline, will familiarize participants with the precepts of social media for social change and provide an opportunity for in-depth and hands-on experience using and applying a variety of digital and social media tools in specific contexts.

We're looking for participants from all over Lebanon who can devote a few hours a week to online coursework as well as a few days this summer to meeting in person to enhance facilitation and media production skills. We'll also ask you to do some teaching.

View the full announcement, selection criteria, and online application form at www.socialmediaexchange.org. Please take a look to see if this opportunity can benefit you, your organization, or someone you know.

We'll be in touch as we launch a more sustainable SMEX with more training and capacity-building opportunities. Meanwhile, thanks for your continued support.

Deir Kanon Nahr Graduation Ceremony

Another graduation ceremony was held also in Deir Kanoun Nahr, South Lebanon for 32 women who successfully finished their training in Microsoft Unlimited Potential and Professional Development.

The women aged between 14 and 50, got their training at the Social & Cultural Center and you can watch some of their testimonials in the videos on the right.

The ceremony was attended by the participant's parents, vice president of Deir Kanoun Nahr municipality, and representatives of local NGOs.

The manager of the Social & Cultural Center, Hussein Kassir, congratulated the women and promised to continue providing these training programs.

Then Nada Hamzeh, WIT program manager in Lebanon, explained more about the program and the training.

After that, participants received their certificates.


Mabrook :)

The participants will join WIT PDN group to enjoy networking, sharing ideas and experiences and assisting each other.

You can read it in Arabic and check more pictures on: http://deirqanounalnahr.jeeran.com/takhrij_mountada_3_2009.html

YWCA: Graduation Ceremony for 90 Women

YWCA-JBEIL & Women in Technology-Lebanon celebrated the graduation of 90 women who participated in the WIT training.

The ceremony was held last Saturday at the "St. Coeur" school in Jbeil, started with the Lebanese anthem, then the following speakers:
  • Maysson Naaman from YWCA welcoming the guests.
  • Elham Karam Nassar, president of YWCA spoke about the organization mission and history.
  • Salam Yamout, President of WIT, congratulating the graduates and thanking everyone who contributed to the success of this program.
  • Bill Grant, from the US Embassy in Beirut, who also congratulated the participants and thanked the sponsors especially Microsoft.
  • Nada Hamzeh, WIT's program manager in Lebanon, mentioning that some men are also holding the Women in Technology certification, which is a sign of how successful the program is going in an eastern society.
The participants got their certificates in : Professional Development and Microsoft Unlimited Potential.

Mabrook (Congratulation) :)

What is RSS?

RSS stands for Really Simple Syndication and it can help you read blogs and news from different sources in one place.

Also, webmasters and bloggers can publish your RSS feeds on their own websites and blogs which will help you reach a wider audience.

Watch this short video and subscribe to our RSS.

How to Blog?


The easiest way to start a blog is to sign up for one of the hosted services shown in the image on the left.

They have free and paid plans and my favorites are:

  • Blogger.com: owned by Google, so you can sign in with your gmail account.
  • Wordpress.com : one of the leading blogging platforms..

The other platforms are good too, you can check them on:

These hosted services have less flexibility than hosting the blog on your own server/hosting account but there are some advantages for using hosted services: easier, they handle security issues and backup, and being part of a blogging community can help drive traffic and build relationships.

Do you have a favorite blogging platform or tool? Let us know.

What is a Blog?


The short answer is: You are reading a blog! :)

ok, I will try to explain it more:

A blog is a short for web log, an online journal or diary to share ideas, opinions and news. Blogs can include text, images, videos and interactive items.

Blogging is a type of websites with some patterns or characteristics:

  • Easy: even people with no technical skills and dont know html or web programming can start a blog.
  • Reverse Chronology: items are listed from the most recent to the oldest.
  • Comments: one of the main features of blogs, although now it is incorporated into websites, but blogs make it easy to post comments.

Allowing comments on your blog and posting comments on others blogs is an easy way to engage with people and start a conversation.

Try it, leave a comment on this blog. :)

Opening New Center in Tripoli Lebanon

IT Lebanon, our partner in Tripoli, North Lebanon, opened a new training center to better serve the WIT program participants.

Dr. Ahmad Chahin, president of IT Lebanon spoke about the importance of women's contributions to professional life. He said that more than a 100 women participated in the WIT training program in Tripoli since it's beginning one year ago.

Then, Nada Hamzeh, program manager of WIT in Lebanon, explained in details the training program which includes Microsoft's Unlimited Potential and Personal Development curriculum and is available in 9 Arab countries since 2005. Also, the program will include Blogging and Entrepreneurship courses.

After that, Abed el Ghani Kabara, representative of Future Movement in North, thanked the deputy Saad Hariri for his contribution to center and thanked everyone who added to the success of this program.

Then, Bill Grant from the American Embassy, said he was happy to be in Tripoli for the launch of this new center and how the US embassy and the MEPI are working on social development in different regions in Lebanon to create job opportunities for people.

Attendants in the opening ceremony
Attendants in the opening ceremony
Participants in WIT program in IT Lebanon new center
Participants in WIT program in IT Lebanon new center

The ceremony was attended by representatives of different NGOs in North Lebanon, university professors, media representatives and WIT program participants.

You can read some press coverage in Arabic on:

http://www.echobeirut.com/news.php?action=show&id=2054

http://www.lebanonfiles.com/news_desc.php?id=87219

http://www.almustaqbal.com/stories.aspx?StoryID=338174

http://www.almustaqbal.org/news_details.php?id=MzMwMzg=

http://www.albaladonline.com/html/story.php?sid=55576

http://www.elnashra.com/news-1-275880.html

http://www.nna-leb.gov.lb/phpfolder/loadpage.php?page=JOU24.html

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