During my two weeks in Farafra oasis, this was a recurring conversation: “Who are you?We are group of international volunteers Do you get paid?It wouldn’t be volunteerism if we did. Egypt needs more people like you. Volunteerism, a concept that has recently resurfaced despite it being rooted in many religions, remains alien to a lot …

Apple recently announced that by April, all music purchased on iTunes store will be DRM-free. Digital Rights Management (DRM) first came as a response to the colossal intellectual property theft using the ubiquitous internet. It is simply an amendment to media formats that sets the rules of who can play it, how many times as …

Middle-aged people who drink moderate amounts of coffee significantly reduce their risk of developing Alzheimer s disease, a study by Finnish and Swedish researchers showed Thursday. Middle-aged people who drank between three and five cups of coffee a day lowered their risk of developing dementia and Alzheimer s disease by between 60 and 65 percent …

When Nintendo started its WiiWare download service last May, the range of its original games was laudable, with the action, puzzle, strategy and simulation genres all represented. The games themselves weren t all that great, but the promise was there. Eight months later, the WiiWare library has more than 60 titles, some first-rate, some mediocre …

The simple woolen knit that was handmade with love by your grandmother; those ever-elusive silk scarves and delicate pashmina throws are more than just fashion or weather dictates. Silk scarves are synonymous with elegant French women shopping on Avenue Montaigne, tied short and tightly in a perfect sailor’s knot around a very slim neck. There …

Forty-eight hours is little time to do credit to any city, especially one the size of the Indian capital. But if you do decide to undertake that Herculean task there are a few places you must see. First the basics. In the absence of private transport, Delhi can be navigated through hand-pulled rickshaws for short …

Last Monday, Egypt’s foremost jewelry designer Azza Fahmy celebrated the opening of her newest retail branch in Zamalek. “Today, we’re celebrating the opening of our sixth boutique in Egypt together with a viewing of our Exclusive 2009 collection, produced in limited numbers to offer you the luxury of owning a limited edition piece, said Fahmy …

As you stroll down most high-end department stores on a trip abroad, it’s not uncommon to find the label marked “100% Egyptian Cotton in the linens section. It is also not uncommon to do a double-take when your eyes catch the shockingly high price tag. “The term Egyptian cotton refers to the extra long staple …

Fluff up the pillows and pull up the covers. Preventing the common cold may be as easy as getting more sleep. Researchers paid healthy adults $800 to have cold viruses sprayed up their noses, then wait five days in a hotel to see if they got sick. Habitual eight-hour sleepers were much less likely to …

There s a touch of aristocracy to the house of Bajocchi, a family jewelry business that was established in Egypt in 1900 and to this day stands regally in its historic location on 45 Abdel Khalek Tharwat St. in the heart of Downtown Cairo. Hailing from Italy, the family of Bajocchi have been jewelers for …

Like so many American creations – baseball, comic books, rock n roll – the video game is a mongrel art form. Literature, music, art and film all get jumbled together in this relatively new medium, but even that isn t enough: Designers have to figure out how to make the whole package interactive as well. …

What does Auld Lang Syne mean, anyway? And who knows the lyrics beyond the first verse? Don t you want something a little livelier at your party? Wouldn t, say, Queen s Another One Bites the Dust be more appropriate after a largely dismal year? Thanks to the current wave of musical games, you can …

Fashion designer Ted Lapidus, whose career soared in the 1960s and 1970s with the unisex and safari look, died Monday at age 79 in a hospital in Cannes on the French Rivera, his family said. He died at 2:30 pm. He had suffered for several years from leukemia and died of respiratory failure, said Rose …

It has been an interesting year for fashion: taste has become more refined as styles sailed away from once celebrated notions of excess. Bling is out, and lady like elegance is back in vogue. Séances of fashion spirits have taken place on both runways and in the workplace as Audrey Hepburn elegance and Jackie O. …

Making self-improvement New Year s resolutions often leaves people feeling worse, the British mental health charity Mind has warned. Mind urged people not to make resolutions focusing on physical imperfections -such as attempting to lose weight – because they create a negative self image and lead to feelings of low self-esteem, hopelessness and even mild …

Prague is rediscovering the taste of long-forgotten Czech delicacies thanks to traditional cafes and sweet shops, closed during the communist era, that have reopened in the heart of capital. We are witness to a resurrection of Czech gastronomy, said Pavel Maurer, perhaps the country s most influential foodie and the man behind the much-touted Pavel …

For some of us, New Year s Eve, a time for plunging into boisterous crowds bathed in loud music, means turning to an old friend and hearing things like this: Did you know (BOOM-da-da-BOOM) went over (Bob! You look wonder-) so she said (clink-clink) and then I (Here, have another one) what would you do? …

The team that presented Cairo with Club 35 has recently celebrated the opening of their new restaurant, Indigo, in First Mall, Giza providing a venue similar in style and feel to some of those one makes a special trek to in London or Paris. The spacious restaurant overlooks a stunning view of the Nile, making …

The site www.urbanvegan.net provides vegan recipes of all sorts by a woman who follows a vegan lifestyle herself. With daily recipes added, its one woman’s shared efforts about the struggles of keeping vegan in a carnivorous world with innovative recipes that modify typical meat and dairy recipes with vegan substitutes. Stumbleupon is like a remote …

Ever spent endless hours and two pay checks’ worth of money on that one stunning outfit for an important dinner only to find some one else wearing the exact same dress? Well, Soho, the newest boutique in Zamalek, could be your solution to avoid such disappointment. Tucked away in a thin alley off 26th July …

MEXICO CITY – Move over greasy tacos and tacky trinkets: Mexico City is home to a vast network of chic museums, top-notch restaurants and trendy night clubs. There s even an Icebar. What s more, the city remains one of the globe s best budget stops. With just a few pesos – preferably hidden deep …

It is the print of the Scots and geriatrics, slightly formal and often derided as being wholly ‘uncool’ for young fashionistas; but today, plaid is back with a vengeance. Yes the term is plaid if you reside in North America, but it is tartan if you are in Scotland or Europe. Plaid is a material …

Should you ever run out of caustic things to say, you ll find ample inspiration at http://www.passiveaggressivenotes.com. An evil twin of postsecret.com, the site houses painfully polite and hilariously hostile writing from shared spaces the world over. Also check out their blogroll for similar sites. To have your personalized notes illustrated – usually featuring a …

The success stories of Azza Fahmy and Dima Rachid are ones that inspire jewelry makers and are the reason behind the renaissance of jewelry design in Egypt; with more and more designers testing the industry waters with the new lines. Egypt’s own Fahmy was able to bring back attention to the fine craftsmanship and designing …

Strolling down the runways of prestigious international fashion weeks this year alongside the likes of Chanel, Burberry, Matthew Williamson and Stella McCartney were collections by Egyptian designers Marie Louis and the new kid on the block Heba Elawadi, both of whom lured in urban fashionistas and won the acknowledgement of the industry’s leading critics. Renowned …

It has been a delightful year for any foodie living in Cairo. By foodie, I mean anyone with a keen curiosity about all things food related. From cooking it to eating it, 2008 was witness to Cairo’s finest restaurants growing from strong to stronger, making a foodie such as myself quite indulged throughout the year. …

A French clothing company was ordered to pay Carla Bruni-Sarkozy ?40,000 ($58,000) in damages on Thursday over a shopping bag featuring a photo of the first lady in the nude. The wife of President Nicolas Sarkozy filed suit this month against the fashion firm Pardon, based on the Indian Ocean island of Reunion, arguing that …

Some people love shopping for Christmas gifts. They get a kind of festive cheer from it, a tingle of excitement at the prospect of lighting up somebody’s face with that perfect present. For others, Christmas shopping is akin to having bamboo inserted beneath the fingernails, only more painful, and it tends to go on for …

During Eid Al-Adha, I skipped slaying sheep in the streets of Cairo and went to visit my girlfriend in Japan instead. Culture shock hit me like a 50-kilo sack of rice five minutes after I stepped off the plane in Osaka, when the customs agent digitally scanned my fingerprints and my retinas, then found my …

Every time the word iPod is mentioned in a conversation someone has to interrupt, sigh and say dreamily: “I love my iPod. The truth is the iPod is one of the most overrated devices known to man. Most people have been brain washed into thinking that the best MP3 players are produced by Apple Computers, …