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The Egyptian blogosphere has been agitated by the events in Alexandria that shook the country. Four died (3 killed by riot poilce), tens wounded and 100 detained after 5000 angry Muslim protesters demonstrated against a play that the protesters considered offensive to Islam. Protesters demanded an official apology from the Pope.

[Continue reading a round up of what the Egyptian blogs are saying about the tragic events|http://cyber.law.harvard.edu/globalvoices/2005/10/24/religious-harmony-severed-in-egypt/]

First, some of you already know what is ROC. [I wrote about it here|http://mostafa.foolab.org/roc]. In a few words it is a volunteer driven undergraduate medical research course that aims to help medical students learn proper scientific research skills and qualify as research assistants.

As we are in desperate need for proper funding. I think we need to come up with a sort of "business model". Although we don't aim any profits. We aim to be very valuable. So after surfing the wide web. The [network effect|http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Network_effects_business_model] is probably the most appropriate. The wikipedia article heavily inspired what is written below to the extent that it could be considered a derivitave work.

The network effect will cause ROC to have a value to a potential funding agency depending on the number of ROC graduates. The total value of ROC will be proportional to the number of ROC graduates and current students.

Was responsible for many bruises I have right now.

[http://mostafa.foolab.org/files/fall.JPG]

Today, windsurfing was fantastic, but really harsh for me. I returned home exhausted, fatigued and discovered a good number of bruises.

[http://mostafa.foolab.org/files/greenpeace-s-sv-anna-arrivin.jpg]

[Anna|http://weblog.greenpeace.org/medpeacefulenergytour/] should have docked in front of the Manesterly palace today. She is a Greenpeace sail boat, originally built in 1901, staying 3 days in Cairo to raise awareness about climate change.

Cockroaches are said to be stinky, disgusting and repulsive pests that can carry cholera, typhoid, salmonella and even more pathogens. But if you look beyond this. You will find:

I passed in front of the usual police and security personnel to enter and join the crowd. I noticed fewer cameras. Or was the number of journalists dissolved by the number of protesters ? I noticed copies of the "[Batel|http://mostafa.foolab.org/node/148]" poster. I started searching for other banners I made while searching for [Alaa|http://manalaa.net] or [Mohammed|http://digressing.blogspot.com] among the crowd, took me a while to find Alaa. I found [Noura|http://norayounis.com], [Mohammed|http://digressing.blogspot.com], [Amr|http://journal.gharbeia.org] and [Ahmed|http://zamakan.blogspot.com]. I was introduced to [Sandmonkey|http://egyptiansandmonkey.blogspot.com] and [Shamoussa|http://shamoussa.blogspot.com/] for the first time. I couldn't stop bragging about my posters. I felt I don't need to shout any of the slogan, I shouted already but visually!

The following graphics would better exist in the public domain. I volunteered to do a single poster after [Nora|http://nourayounis.com] asked, but it turned out to be several posters. They made an excellent impact [today at the protest|http://mostafa.foolab.org/node/149]. They were all created with [Inkscape|http://www.inkscape.org] graphics software which is a free/open source application that works on both windows and GNU/Linux. It is a very easy to use graphics application.

I found about [300 Egyptian blogs|http://www.xanga.com/groups/group.aspx?id=57544&s=2] not in the [blogring|http://egybloggers.com]. Most of the blogs are by Egyptians born or living in U.S. Many of them R stILL iN sCHOol dUDE with horrible graphics and style. Some even don't render properly and I think all of these blogs are not standard compliant. Despite this it is a little bit interesting reading how these young men and women are spending their time. They also post lots of photos. But I warn you these blogs are major waste of time.

I just finished reading the [Handbook For Bloggers and Cyber-Dissidents|http://www.rsf.org/rubrique.php3?id_rubrique=542] released today by [Reporters Without Borders|http://www.rsf.org]. The 86 pages PDF is easy to read, although written by several authors, most of the authors did a good job in this area.

Before I started reading it, I expected it to introduce people to blogging, lead the reader to start a blog easily and help him/her connect to the blogosphere.

The handbook was more than that. It starts with an introduction about blogs as a new media that stands between a means of self-expression and journalism. A good and simple introduction to what is a blog. A chapter about terminology. Insufficient and short review of blogging services. Then a good article about journalism compared to blogging and ethics of both. Very clear explanation to technical matters like getting picked up by search engines. Some nice tips and ideas about how to increase the readership of your blog.

Wow, it is a superb feeling just as soon as the wind pushes your sail and your board start running fast on the surface of the water.

I am going to take windsurfing more seriously. I finished 3 courses till now. Although I don't stay for long on the board, those few minutes makes it incredibly addictive.

The first rush was in [Dahab|http://mostafa.foolab.org/node/120].

From now on. Small posts, more frequent blogging.