Arab Journalism Awards Invites and Now Open for Submissions in 12 Categories

Press Release:

The General Secretariat of the Arab Journalism Awards today announced it is accepting entries in 12 categories for the eighth edition of the annual event. The deadline for submission to the Awards has been set to 15 January, 2009.

The region’s most coveted recognition for journalistic excellence will give away cash prizes totaling AED863,000 (US$235,000) for best works in politics, business, investigative journalism, IT, columnist, culture, sports, environment, photo-journalism, caricature, interview and children’s journalism.

Maryam Bin Fahad, Executive Director, Arab Journalism Awards, said the recognition aims to acknowledge journalists who take the responsibility of portraying an accurate image of the Arab world in the region and beyond.

She added through the past seven editions, the Arab Journalism Awards have consistently endeavoured to contribute to the progress of journalism in the Arab world, while motivating media persons in the region to excel by honouring the most outstanding achievers among them. Bin Fahad said: “With every year, the Arab Journalism Awards are gaining wider recognition and appeal. Aiming to sustain, if not exceed, last year’s record participation, key members of the General Secretariat will soon embark upon a region-wide road show and visit a number of Arab countries to meet with editors, publishers, media associations and press clubs. We urge the print media to ensure active participation at the 2009 Awards that will globally spotlight the premium quality work produced by our people.”

The 8th Arab Journalism Awards will be held on 15 April, 2009 as a fitting finale to the two day annual Arab Media Forum that serves as a key platform for constructive dialogue among Arab and international media experts.

In 2007, the Awards attracted 2,609 participations from 18 Arab countries. Egypt proved to be the most prolific participant, followed by the UAE and the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia.

New from Nikon DSLR - Nikon D60

NEW NIKON D60 DIGITAL SLR CAMERA MAKES CAPTURING BEAUTIFUL PICTURES FUN AND EASY

Extraordinary 10.2-Megapixel DX-format Nikon Picture Quality: Nikon's high-performance, 10.2-megapixel DX-format CCD imaging sensor and exclusive EXPEED image processing concept provide added cropping freedom and the ability to make larger prints.



Fast Startup and Split-Second Shutter Response: With fast startup and split-second shutter response, the D60 eliminates the frustration of shutter delay, capturing moments that other cameras miss.



Shoot Continuously at up to 3 Frames per Second: Capture sports action, precious moments and fleeting expressions at up to 3 frames per second, for as many as 100 consecutive JPEG images.



Active Dust Reduction System with Airflow Control: Nikon's Active Dust Reduction System activates automatically, along with Airflow Control technology to reduce the amount of dust that reaches the sensor.



Easy Operation with Intuitive Controls: Intuitive controls and an onboard HELP Menu System with Assist Images make the D60 truly easy to use, enabling everyone to capture beautiful memories perfectly.



Digital-Vari Program Automatic Shooting Modes: Eight Digital Vari-Program Modes include: Auto, Auto Flash-OFF, Portrait, Landscape, Child, Sports, Close Up and Night Portrait; each of which adjusts automatically for optimal results for everyday shooting situations. Each mode considers lighting conditions and possibilities, aperture, shutter speed, white balance, hue, tone, sharpening and more to make creative photography as simple as rotating the mode dial.



Nikon's Smallest Digital SLR Ever! Beautifully styled, the D60 makes high-performance digital SLR photography easier and more convenient than ever. You'll be amazed at the power packed into a camera that weighs just over 16 ounces.



2.5-Inch, 230,000-Dot Color LCD Monitor with 170-Degree Wide-Angle Viewing: Playback images are easy to see and function menus are easier to use with a larger and brighter color LCD monitor. The large 2.5-inch LCD monitor enables image preview at up to 19 times magnification and has large type fonts with easy-to-view menus. Auto rotating LCD display provides automatic horizontal and vertical graphic display orientation.

Canon EOS 50D

The Canon 50D is now a reality, announced as a follow up to the very popular 40D professional digital SLR. The 50D improves on that model with an all-new, faster DIGIC 4 image processor and a 15 megapixel CMOS sensor, while retaining such amenities as the 3.0-inch live view LCD display.

Canon 50D Specifications
15 megapixels

JPEG and RAW file formats

Canon EF/EF-S lens mount
DIGIC 4 Image Processor

ISO levels expandable up to 12800

3.0-inch live view LCD display

Lithium-ion battery

More Details:
canon.com

Oil Discovery in the Philippines

While reading the news from the internet I saw a news regarding a new discoveries in the Philiipines. A litle bit happy since it's all about Oil and it was tittle Tittle "Nido's Philippines well flows crude". When I was in my homeland and working as Territory Specialist in one of Oil companies Philippine based I already heared about this company "NIDO Philippines" which started drilling in the Philiipines since 1976.

And Last 23 Sept. 2008 Nido Petroleum Ltd, the Australian explorer focusing on the Philippines, confirmed it made a discovery at the Yakal-1 well, the first oil-find in the southeast Asian nation in 14 years.

Actually oil and natural gas discovery is not new in the Philiipines since Shell was already pumping a natrural gas in the Philippines since September 2001 at the Malampalaya Gas Field located 80km off the coast of Palawan Island.

The Philippine Petroleum Resource Assessment Project developed a petroleum resource classification system and established an inventory of Philippine petroleum resources.
The results showed that the country’s total risked petroleum resources is about nine billion barrels fuel oil equivalent (bfoe). More than half of these or about five billion bfoe is estimated to occur in the offshore West

Palawan and Sulu Sea regions.

TOTAL RESOURCES
(9 Billion bfoe)
Gas 57% , Condensate 2% , Oil 41%

Nikon D90 - new line up for Nikon DSLR Family

UAE Price at: AED 5,999.00 body + Kit lens nikkor 18-55mm

The New Nikon D90 Key Features:

12.3-megapixel DX-format CMOS imaging sensor: Coupled with Nikon's EXPEED image processing technologies and NIKKOR optics, breathtaking image fidelity is assured.

Continuous shooting as fast as 4.5 frames-per-second: Combined with fast 0.15ms power-up and split-second 65ms shooting lag, dramatic action and decisive moments are captured easily.

D-Movie Mode—Cinematic 24fps HD with sound: Record cinematic-quality movie clips at up to 720p HD (1280 x 720 pixels) in Motion JPEG format, enhanced by NIKKOR interchangeable lens quality and versatility.

Low noise ISO sensitivity from 200 to 3200: High signal-to-noise components and design deliver exceptional performance, even at high ISO setting.

3-inch super-density 920,000-dot color LCD monitor: High resolution, 170-degree wide-angle viewing guarantees confident image review and movie playback.

Built-in image sensor cleaning: Effective 4-frequency, ultrasonic sensor cleaning frees image degrading dust particles from the sensor's optical low pass filter.

11-point AF system with Face Priority: Consistently fast and accurate autofocus, reinforced by the Nikon Scene Recognition System, delivers razor sharpness in a wide variety of conditions.

One-button Live View: Easy to use Live View activates access to 3 contrast detection focus modes including Face Priority AF.

Nikon 3D Color Matrix Metering II with Scene Recognition System: Nikon's renowned 420-pixel RGB 3D Color Matrix Metering II, teamed with the exclusive Scene Recognition System, evaluates images, referencing an on-board database of over 30,000 photographic scenes, for unmatched exposure accuracy.

Comprehensive exposure control: Five advanced scene modes plus Program Auto, Shutter Priority, Aperture Priority and Manual.

Auto Active D-Lighting: Selectable and Automatic, Active D-Lighting optimizes details within shadows and highlights, taming high-contrast situations in real time.

Durable, high precision shutter: Testing to over 100,000 cycles assures shutter life and accuracy.

In-Camera Image Editing: Creative freedom stems from exclusive in-camera image editing, featuring Fisheye effect, Straighten and Distortion Control as well as D-Lighting, Red-eye Reduction, Image Overlay, Monochrome and more.

GPS geo-tagging: GP-1 GPS unit (optional) provides automatic real-time geo-tagging.


To read the Full Specs Click Here