Waleg Numbers

Microsoft Gets Largest Percentage of Time Spent Online

2009-11-11T12:37:11Z

Do you have any idea which company dominates the web it comes to online statistics? Is it really Facebook or Google? If that is what you think, you are misled. According to recent figures from comScore, a leader in measuring the digital world, Microsoft is the true winner. Microsoft has captured 15% of the time spent online in September alone. This percentage is based on a global scale. 15% is equivalent to 3.9billion hours. Out of the total 27 billion hours spent online, this figure is already very substantial.

]]> Google gathered 9.3% of the total. This is equivalent to 2.5 billion hours. Next one is Yahoo which gathered 1.7 billion hours. Contrary to your idea about Facebook, your favourite networking site just comes fourth with 1.4 billion hours.

After these major sites are Tencent Inc., AOL LLC, EBay, Fox Interactive Media, Baidu.com Inc, and Lycos Sites.

Internet Nearly 500 Billion GB and Expected to Double

2009-05-21T18:18:02Z

Do you ever wonder how much data is present in the World Wide Web? Maybe you�ll be shocked to know that its 487 billion gigabytes, nearly 500 billion GB. That�s a lot, right?! Imagine having a 19 billion pieces of fully-loaded Blu-ray DVDs, that how big Internet data is today. Another comparison that would make you visualize are printed and bound books stacked from the Earth to Pluto. And think of that stack stretching 10 times. And that doesn�t stop there. As more and more people takes an interest in the Internet, this amount of data is still expected to grow double every 18 months, that�s according to a study done by research consultancy IDC and sponsor EMC.

]]> What actually comprises these 487 billion gigabytes of data, you might ask. It�s not a secret how social networking sites burgeoned in recent years and months. All these sites are heavy with data from its users. Also take into account the numerous Internet-enabled handsets as well as government surveillance systems. The most data are large files from digital cameras and surveillance cameras.

Can you see the Internet slowing down in the coming years? I don�t think so. There�s only one thing that�s going to happen to the so-called digital universe, and that to grow bigger and hopefully, better.

What do you think?

Britney Spears No. 1 Again in Yahoo Search List for 2008

2008-12-04T14:21:03Z

What have you been keying in on the Yahoo search? For sure celebrities is one of them; Britney Spears perhaps? If that is so, you helped in making her No. 1 on Yahoo�s list of top 10 overall searches! 2008 is a great year for Britney. As we have observed she�s making a huge progress and the change in her is just great so, it�s natural for people to be interested in knowing what the latest about her is. FYI, she�s been Yahoo�s No. 1 for seven years now.

Next to Britney is WWE (World Wrestling Entertainment) which has been on the No. 2 spot for three years in a row. No. 3 placer is new President-elect Barack Obama. It�s really interesting to see that from being a relative new comer on the national scene, he became the new president-elect. Taker of No. 4 spot is Miley Cyrus. She�s a new entry to the Yahoo list. No. 5 is the multi-player role-playing game RuneScape.

Here�s the rest of Yahoo�s top 10 list:

]]> 6. Jessica Alba (No. 10 in 2007)
7. Naruto (No. 4 I 2007)
8. Lindsay Lohan (No. 6 in 2007)
9. Angelina Jolie (new to the list)
10. American Idol (new to the list)

5 hours Internet Surfing in Saudi!

2008-09-22T09:49:59Z

Everything is good in moderation, especially the internet! I mean had it not been for the internet you could not be reading this article. But in all honesty 5 hours a day spent online is a bit of a waste! You may be wondering who exactly spends such excessive time on the internet. Well the answer is 38% of the Saudi Arabian population according to a recent study!

]]> The same study also showed that a whopping 88% of the Saudi Arabian population know how to access and use the internet. Now it begs to question is this as good as it sounds? In a way it means that the youth in Saudi no longer have to be cut off the rest of the world and can gain an insight into different cultures. But misuse of the internet is bound to increase. Apparently by 2011, 2 billion people will own and use computers, so if the percentage was not so high then Saudi would be very much behind.

By Karim

Earth Population, 7 billion in 2012!

2008-07-17T13:00:41Z

Its hard to think that people go on reproducing without actually realizing what the implications of this is! According to specialists the population of the Earth will hit 7 billion by 2012! That is only four years from now! And what is worrying about this all is that this increase in population comes at a time when we have not discovered a way of growing sustainably. What this means is we are going to be increasing the pressure on our already fragile planet by nearly a billion in four years!

]]> Don�t get me wrong I don�t think we should stop reproducing after all it is what we were �designed� to do. I mean this increase in the population should make us think more seriously what the state of the world we are bringing our children in to is! But who knows, maybe amongst those born in the next four years will be a leader who manages to do something about our problems and not just talk about them!

By Karim

Facebook Surpasses MySpace�s Popularity

2008-06-30T12:07:48Z

If you are an internet addict, you�re probably aware that two of the closely competing networking sites are Facebook and MySpace. And maybe you are wondering which of them is the most popular. The latest survey done by metrics firm ComScore show that Facebook�s popularity has surpassed MySpace. For the month of May, Facebook had 123.9 million unique visitors while MySpace only had 114.6. Moreover, Facebook had more page views than MySpace. The former had 50.6 billion while the latter had 45.6 billion only.

Back in April Facebook went ahead of MySpace by only a hair�s breadth. Unfortunately, MySpace was not able to recover. Maybe it will be downhill for them from now on. What do you think?

]]> Both Facebook and MySpace are U.S.-based companies. However, ComScore notes that most of the online visitors of Facebook are overseas. Translated versions of the site are also contributory factors to Facebook�s overseas popularity these days. Facebook has something like 20 translations, including French, Chinese, and Russian versions.

Egypt: ADSL Sharers!

2008-04-30T18:48:19Z

If you have ever been to Egypt you will have been stunned by the sheer number of people who have Broadband which is quite an expensive service everywhere! However, we Egyptians are caring beings and believe in loving our neighbours so households share internet connections and split the cost. This socially acceptable �fad� was recently proven by the �Egypt Households Telecoms and Media Survey Report 2008'. The survey basically showed that nearly 1 million households in Egypt have access to ADSL which is great news for a somewhat �developing company�.

]]> The survey also showed that over 63% shared their lines with their neighbours and over 80% of those people shared the connection with more than three people! These results of course clearly show how important �Internet Cafes� in Egyptian society as 27.8% of internet users in the land of the Pharaohs relied on these Cafes for their internet access. Another interesting fact that this survey revealed is that 81.2% of the users preferred to browse internet web pages in Arabic language.

By Karim

$2.7 Million Camel!

2008-04-16T15:03:26Z

Well everything goes in the UAE or so they say, we saw number plates being sold for millions before and now a camel has been bought for the equivalent to $2.7 million! Those of you who are camel enthusiasts �if they indeed exist- will know of a beauty pageant strictly for camels that occurs in Abu Dhabi offering prizes for the best of the breed.

]]> The prizes range from cash to cars but the true winner of the jackpot was Sari Al Mazrouie who sold the $ 2.7 million to none other but the Crown Prince of Dubai Sheikh Hamdan bin Mohammed bin Rashed Al-Maktoum. The UAE is really moving forward in the way of camels, they recently produced a test tube camel and they even now use robots as jockeys in camel races, as opposed to children.

What do you think is it too extravagant to spend so much on a camel when children are dying in Africa?

These are photos of the camel whose name is 'Mashofan' who was the most expensive camel in Saudi Arabia, he was valued at more than $4.5 million, i'm using was because he died a couple of months ago.

By Karim

Ahmed El Saka Steals First Place

2008-04-02T17:33:48Z

To be honest although many have argued that the quality of Egyptian cinema is deteriorating, it appears that the public always know whose movies are worth watching and those movies come up on top. In this season of movies Ahmed El Saka�s movie �El Gezeera� (The Island) has taken first place with ticket sales worth a whopping 222,740,00 E.P in Egypt alone after 13 weeks of being in cinemas. Not too far behind was Kareem Abdel Aziz�s �Khareg An El Kanoon� (Outlaw) which made 191,170,00 E.P. Controversy is a movie maker�s best friend they say and �Heena Maysara� which takes third place in the Egyptian Box office saw a lot of controversy regarding the presence of homosexual scenes, the movie made 169,030,00 E.P.

]]> �Heya Fawda� ,a slightly more political movie, and �Tabakh El Rayes� came in fourth and fifth place respectively. Nicole Saba�s movie made 342,700,0 E.P in only eight weeks putting it in sixth place followed by �Klashenkov� starring Ghada Adel. �Share� 18� which starred the relatively new faces of Mays Hamdan and Donya Sameer Ghanem still managed to sit in eighth place. Ola Ghanem�s movie �Lahathat Onotha� made 660,000 E.P after only three weeks. The real shocker to me was Noor�s movie �Noktat Rogoo� which is in 10th place and has made only 600,000 E.P even though movies she usually stars in do much better.

As for the last two places, well they go to prove that looking good doesn�t mean you can act. The movie in the eleventh place stars was Razan�s �Hassan Tayara� as for last place it goes to another newbie to the acting world Rola Saad. Her movie �Ghorfa 707� made a petty 390,000 E.P in four weeks. Well the competition is hot and with some movies being in there longer than others there is still room for change.

By Karim

Top 5 Richest People According to Fortune Magazine

2008-03-11T14:03:27Z

Would you feel sorry for Bill Gates now that he�s no longer the richest bloke in the world? It�s true he�s no longer the richest man according to Forbes�s 22nd annual ranking. The list includes so many names, so we�ll only focus on the top 5 to make things easy to remember. Let�s take it from the top. Holding the most coveted number one is Warren Edward Buffet from the United States of America. This man has $60.0 billion dollars in his name. A lot of people in the investment world know of this man since Buffet is an investor who owns the firms Fruit of the Loom and ice cream Dairy Queen. He is considered as the most beloved investor in America. Even though he is the son of a politician, Warren Edward Buffet delivered newspapers as a boy. He strived to make his business as good as it is today that is why he is now richer than his friend Bill Gates.

]]> Coming second is Mexican telecoms magnate Carlos Slim who is worth $60.0 billion. This man is a widower and a father of six children. His prosperity started when he bought fixed-line operator Telefons de Mexico or Telmex. This year�s third richest is someone we all know about. He is none other than Microsoft tycoon William H. Gates III whose wealth amounts to $58.0 billion. In the fourth spot is Lakshmi Mittal of India. He owns the world�s largest steelmaker ArcelorMittal. His fortune is worth $45.0 billion. And the fifth is Mukesh Ambani alsoof India who is worth $43.0 billion. This man owns India�s most important company Reliance Industries.

So, these are the top five richest people in the world. Hope you can easily remember their names.

Expensive Love with Swarovski Crystals!

2008-03-07T14:52:42Z

Well we all know that Dubai is the land of extravagance especially after the hefty sum the wealthy businessman paid for the No. 1 plate. However, extravagance reached an all time high when Iranian artist Farhad Moshiri�s artwork titled 'Eshgh' or �Love� sold for a whopping $1.05 million as opposed to the $200,000 which was the �reserve� amount. The auction took place in Dubai and a lot of records for prices of Middle Eastern artists work were set.

]]> A Pakistani artist by the name Gulgee sold his painting titled �Polo Player� for $336,000 setting the record fro most expensive painting by a Pakistani artist. The interesting part is that this work of art is actually made up of a Swarovski crystals and glitter on canvas! Regardless of the beauty of this work of art, it is obviously not as valuable as the number plate with �No. 1�!

By Karim

$14.5 million For Plate No.1!

2008-02-27T11:20:19Z

Out of all the simple luxuries in life I never thought car number plates would be the most expensive, however, businessman Saeed Khoury would disagree after paying $14.5 million for the number plate that held the number �1�! It would make sense to me if he had bought it as an investment to sell it on later for a higher price, but he says that although he is sure its value will double within the next two years he will be using it as opposed to reselling! The plate was sold at an auction in the UAE and there was a lot of hype as people waited to see if the bidding would exceed the record amount of 11 million dirham- and it did by a lot!

]]> There were no regrets for Mr Khoury who claims he would have been willing to pay double the amount he did for the plate! And I still do not understand why?! However, I will admit that these sales were for a good cause as all proceeds are going to setting up a rehabilitation centre for road accident victims! A good idea to raise money for an excellent cause! I guess congratulations are in order for Mr. Saeed!

By Karim

Most Expensive Hollywood Movies

2008-02-20T10:59:54Z

- Spider Man 2 .. Budget: $207 Million. Earnings: $778.5 Million.
- Pirates of the Caribbean: Dead Man's Chest .. Budget: $217 Million. Earings: $973 Million.
- Titanic .. Budget: $243.5 Million. Earnings: $2.3 Billion!
- Superman Returns .. Budget: $261 Million. Earnings: $389 Million.
- Cleopatra (1963) .. Budget: $282 Million. Profits barely covered production costs!
But Elizabeth Taylor was the 1st ever star to be paid a whopping $1 Million to star in a movie!

The Richest Arab Socialites!

2008-02-13T11:21:11Z

Obviously the perks of being a singer in the Arab world are numerous; there is the devotion of the fans, the advertising contracts and of course: the cash!
Recently Arab singers� fortunes have been revealed by Arabian Business Magazine, that also ranked them from the richest to the ... not so rich!
Amr Diab has been Number 1 for a lot of things but now he also has the biggest fortune worth a whopping $37 million!
The singer holding the second place position has been on the scene for a much longer period of time and has had many amazing successes.
This singer is none other than Lebanese legend Fayrouz, whose fortune is worth $34 million!

]]> Hani Shaker comes in third place with a fortune worth $32 million.
The fourth place position went to Elissa and was no surprise especially after the star's advertising contracts with Pepsi and Lazordi.
As for George Wassouf, his fortune is worth a �mere� $27 million and he came in fifth place. I'm sure that if you were to ask these artists they would bear witness that the love of their fans is for more valuable then all their money!

By Karim

MBC at the Top!

2007-12-07T13:18:30Z

According to a study conducted to calculate which channel had the highest number of viewers M.B.C had the biggest percentage of viewers over 15 years of age! But MBC�s star show was �Tash 15� which gained a whopping 48.6% of viewers. This was quite expected as viewers in our day of age seem to lean more towards comedies that make them forget their problems. �Bab El Hara 2� came on top of the Ramadan dramas this year but other series such as �Sultan El Gharam� and �El Malek Farouk� still had high numbers of viewers.

]]> Probably as a result of this MBC is allowing all of those viewers who didn�t have time to watch their series in Ramadan to catch up in their own time. They are doing this by providing every episode of their Ramadan shows online for free just for your viewing pleasure.

I think that it is great that Arab media is beginning to use the internet.

By Karim