The Madinat Al-Muslimeen forum is hosting a series of Ramadan diary entries. The idea behind the diaries is to encourage people to

“sign up for one day in the month of Ramadan to write a ‘journal entry’ type thing about their day, reflections and thoughts, their experiences…

This is an interesting means of exploring the diverse experience of Muslims during the sacred month of Ramadan. Imagine reading entries from around the world showcasing a day of purification and sacrifice… An important note from the moderator of the forum:

Again, like last year if everyone signs up and all the days are taken we can make the diaries public. Otherwise they will be in the Ramadan Tent Forum and only those who signed up can read other people’s diaries!

At the time of this posting, there are some slots available during the last 10 days of Ramadan. So, if you are an established or aspiring author, blogger or writer, use the link below to sign up.

Ramadan DIARIES 2007 — SIGN UP here thread!!

Click the links below to read diary entries from previous years:

Ramadan Diaries 2005
Ramadan Diaries 2004
Ramadan Diaries 2002

And while visiting the forum, don’t forget to crunch this thread.

 We have added an IslamCrunch Network bar at the top of this page. Alhamdulillah, we have grown across the web and we have our presence across several sites. You can view the various social networks, multimedia and affiliations by clicking the respective scroll menus.

 If you are on Pownce, Twitter, StumbleUpon, MyBlogLog, Jaiku or MuslimSpace, we would be honored if you added us to your network. IslamCrunch is on a variety of other social networks, for a sampling just search here: http://www.younanimous.com/search/web/islamcrunch/

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

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