Here is an interesting site on Arab history and culture. I tried to learn Arabic when I was in Bahrain, but it is a very difficult language to master. I only managed to pick up some everyday phrases and numbers.

One other link. It looks like the Voyager 1 space probe is about to leave the solar system. That's pretty neat that a man-made object is shooting out of the Milky Way and into the vastness of outer space.