Meem Music & Audio is conducting a Ramadan competition! Win free stuff including autographed CDs, Seven 8 Six T-shirts and much more. More details will be revealed soon, insha’Allah. Watch this space or visit Meem Music & Audio :::: Producers & Distributors of Fine Islamic Nasheeds & Audio to keep updated. IslamCrunch is proud to co-sponsor this competition alongside Nasheeds.com during the blessed month of fasting and purification.
As promised in our earlier post about Pibb, here is the embedded Islam Channel from Pibb. As of this posting, we have only discovered one other Muslim using Pibb. If you are interested in new technology, new methods of communication or love using instant messaging, you should try Pibb, it’s all of the above and more.
Always looking for new technology, we recently discovered Pibb, a new communication utility. We found Kevin Fox online and pulled him aside, Pibb style (you can do this by clicking on a username and having a private chat discussion). Kevin handles Product Development at JanRain, the developers of Pibb, Jyte and MyOpenID. Kevin has graced us with an interview; this the first ever interview discussing Pibb. We are honored with this opportunity to showcase Pibb.
Two things to watch for: an embedded chat here on IslamCrunch and apps for many social network sites.
IslamCrunch challenge: Using Pibb to communicate with others during an Islamic event. Pibb can be used to document what transpires at an event, anyone can log on and read/interact with the attendees.
Here is the interview with Kevin of JanRain:
IslamCrunch: What is your web application/service about?
Pibb is about making it easy for people to communicate online. It has a unique feature set that brings together the familiarity of forums, power of blogs, flexibility of email and convenience of instant messaging all in one browser window.
Pibb is a comprehensive solution for all your communication needs; one-on-one chat, communication backchannel for conferences, support tool, or for community based private/public discussions, Pibb is the answer.
If you have something to say, we want you to ‘Say it on Pibb’.
IslamCrunch: Why did you start this project?
There was a need for an OpenID communications platform to complement our Jyte (claim and credibility engine) and MyOpenID (OpenID account provider) products. The communications space is very interesting and has lots of room for growth.
IslamCrunch: How much time do you devote to its growth?
As much as possible, if you can’t find me on Pibb (https://pibb.com/me/kfox.myopenid.com) there is likely a another JanRain’er who can help on the ‘Pibb Discussion’ channel (http://archive.pibb.com/Pibb+Discussion/General/)
IslamCrunch: How large is your team and what are your backgrounds?
12 people (http://janrain.com/about). Varying backgrounds, I have a Computer Science degree and an MBA, Jason Mckerr has an background in finance and an MBA, tons of awesome engineering talent (Python, Ruby, Perl, Ajax, etc.), Michael Graves and Larry Drebes have both done successful startups in the past.
IslamCrunch: What is your design/service philosophy?
Our goal is to create products that are valuable to people and help to grow communities. Always engage and listen to the community, they are our biggest asset. Our philosophy is to keep things open and make Pibb as intuitive to use as possible. Specifically we want users to own their content and we try to always make it easy for people to get content in and out of Pibb.
IslamCrunch: What technologies are you currently using?
Pibb is built using GWT (Google Web Toolkit), Python, Ruby on Rails
In what looks like an attempt to simplify the Facebook profile, Facebook has quietly added mini icons. Nothing is mentioned on their ‘Featured Updates’ page or Facebook’s blog. The social networking news blog, Mashable, also had no mention of this new Facebook feature.
These icons show the apps on the user’s profile page. From a design perspective, this not only simplifies the profile page but gives the page a better aesthetic appeal. With Facebook users going app-crazy, the icons are an easier navigation tool as you browse your friend’s profile. (Facebook allows users to re-arrange the layout of the apps and features on their profile). Instead of searching for the app on the page, the icons will help you navigate to a specific app.
A news article appeared in the UK media that has brought our religion under scrutiny (again). The article discusses an upcoming TV documentary that will portray Jesus through an Islamic perspective. The article was written by Riazat Butt, who also delivers the Islamophonic podcast for the Guardian.
“A forthcoming ITV documentary will portray Jesus as Muslims see him.
With the Koran as a main source and drawing on interviews with scholars and historians, the Muslim Jesus explores how Islam honours Christ as a prophet but not as the son of God.
The director and producer, Irshad Ashraf, said the film was an attempt to shift the focus away from extremism to the spiritual side of Islam. “Jesus is loved and respected by Muslims and he’s one of the most important prophets in our religion.”
To read the complete article: TV airing for Islam’s story of Christ | Special reports | Guardian Unlimited
The Higher Criticism blog makes a good point about the Prophet Jesus’ status as the Messiah (the correct Quranic reference should be Chapter 3, Verse 45 and Allah knows best) and the flaw in the news article.
To see Irshad Ashraf’s CV, click here: http://www.productionbase.co.uk/cv/irshadashraf. He has a diverse background, as you will see, with his references of Bollywood, Oxfam, Japan, rock bands and the Arabic language.
Related material:
Update: View the documentary on Muxlim.tv – http://beta.muxlim.tv/search?q=messiah+christ
