The End of Internet is Near.

(kredit)

What's SOPA? Is it soup? A new brand of soap? or perhaps a cheap show soap opera on the television.

Pssshh. Naw. That ain't even close. This thing we have here is a problem that's recently facing the world. The Internet world A.K.A the Intarwebs. If you're an internet geek like me, you'd in the least have heard about it.

Last night(18/1), I happened to be doing some studies, researches and whatnot, when I accidentally stumbled on Wikipedia's temporary notice. If you had tried it too, you'd know that the site (english part) went down for a day.

wikipedia's awareness campaign.

Regardless, I'll just give a brief summary on it.

SOPA actually stands for Stop Online Pirating Act.
Also goes by the name PIPA, whatever.
Well, according to the news, some guy- not just some guy. An American House Judiciary Committee Chair Representative - Lamar S. Smith from the United States House of Representatives & some other people, announced this act late November last year.

"SOPA is an anti-piracy bill working its way through Congress...
that would grant content creators extraordinary power over the internet..."

It is an act of waging war against piracy pertaining to anything that is copied, or pirated. including written materials, intellectual property, counterfeit goods and in particular, music, videos and images. The whole internet's been raging about it. Even top industries, sports, music, seems like a big deal.

Some companies/websites on the anti-SOPA movements are Mozilla, Wikipedia, Yahoo!, Paypal, Google, Facebook,..several game companies.. more etc2. Even teachers and educators are opposed to this act.

But not all company are against it. Some company giants to list a few, are in support of this act, such as Apple, Intel, Dell, Microsoft etc. Wow... that's definitely gonna leave a dent.

 

So what? Why should I care?

Well, for starters, those of you reading this, most of you are are internet users, maybe casual or heavy users. who had probably used it for studies-researches, social networking, downloads, or to just have fun reading comics (or mangas) and whatnot. And probably frequent these websites: google, wikipedia, facebook Youtube or other well-known websites.

Not exactly sure how it'll affect other countries outside the U.S, but know this, most of the top website and companies are located and centered in U.S; therefore will be subject to the act, so the law of U.S affecting those sites will affect their service, and in the end, though the changes may not be noticeable right away, the worldwide users who are frequently visit those sites would also feel some of the damages caused.

Imagine this, let's say you're on Facebook. You decided to share a great new song you just heard. Or a picture of a town, or a news article, or an inspirational quote, or a motivational video, whatever. But if those stuffs are copyrighted, you can't post it. Because any images, any citations from a copyrighted material... videos, songs or ANYTHING that's copyrighted, could be object to these laws. It'll be considered piracy to do these normal things. Goodbye freedom, goodbye internet.

In short, everyone who have access to the internet will be affected.
Your usual peaceful-happy day life, Heck, if a monkey had a Facebook account it'd be affected by it too. While its intention to protect the rights of the owners, It may be just too irrational.

A question in the rise, would this really effectively stop actual piracy?

Actual pirate websites for illegal distributions and downloads of copyrighted stuff, that was blocked and shutdown, could just be back on- under a different name. And their piracy activities go on as usual. Then what?

----------------------

It would ultimately alter the life we have today.
Wonder how the rest of the years going to be?

The voting's for the bill's on 24th January. Lets hope SOPA won't get it's way.
That would suck BIGTIME. Wheew.

Those sites including Wikipedia are back on as usual. The news should be all over the internet by now.
If you want more info, just google it, to find out that SOPA is actually an act of Zalim.
Well, considering it is taking people's rights, is that really a wrong description for it?

Will this blog be taken down too, considering it also took some information from other sites?
.......
.......

That's all for today.

z.

:UPDATE:

-Megaupload,, an online web-sharing website has been shut down.
-The Stop Online Piracy Act bill has been pulled (for now). Click here to read the news.

2012 : The End?

Salam brothers dan sisters sekalian.

Petang tadi aku jalan-jalan dekat tepi kawasan padang berpasir kat Muqatom. padang berpasir, boleh kira padang pasir dah la. Bila kawasan banyak pasir time tu la angin suka bertiup. Oleh itu mata aku sakit akibat dimasuki pasir. Tapi takpelah sekali sekala berjalan. Sebenarnya aku ikut jaulah sekitar kaherah, bersama dengan member se-batch juga ustaz-ustaz yang semart kacak bergaya. Penat jugak lah lepas jaulah sehari suntuk. Sampai tersengguk-sengguk dalam van. Tapi banyak manfaatnye jadi syukurlah juga.

Hmm... aku ada kisah nak kongsi ni. Tak ada kaitan dengan jaulah siang tadi pun.

Suatu hari seorang sahabat aku yang non-muslim, non-egyptian bertanya kepadaku.

Friend : "Hey Ramz. Tell you what, I'm confused. Didn't we celebrate new year a few months back? But next week's supposed to be the end of 2011. Then why was there 2 new years celebration man? These guys... really... crazy Egyptians."

aku tersenyum dan ber-'facepalm' dengan penuh sopan.

....lalu aku menjawab,

Me : "Well, that's cuz we muslims got another calendar we use.. the Hijri/Lunar calendar. And most of those crazy egyptians are muslims. So, yeah. we celebrate 2 new years. One is 'Hijri' and next week's the 'Masihi'/Western calendar. That's something you'll get used to here eventually.

Friend : "Wow these guys are so greedy. Just kidding! hahaha." *hi-fives*
So.. which celebration's better?

Me: "Uhh, not sure? Yet I think the Hijri calendar has more meaning, and more accurate cuz it follows the monthly flow of the moon. But really, the only thing I liked about the Western new year celebration is the holidays. and we're not getting any here."

Friend : "Ohh. Is that so. No holidays? So, are we f***d, my friend?"

Me : "Yes, yes we are."

</endconversation>


Camtu lah kisahnya.

Hah, tak ada apa yang nak dceritakan lagi.
Eh, tunggu kejap.

aku rasa macam ada termakan lipas semalam.
..........
..........

terfikir, kenapa aku masih hidup lagi?

hmmm...
tak kisahlah.
apa-apa pun, just nak ucapkan..


Selamat tahun baru.

Hadapilah tahun baru dengan azam dan semangat yang baru dan lebih kental.

YEAHH!

[credit]

</endpost>

Weeks and The Night of Nights

Welcome.

You’re about to see  a guy who’s lost his mind.

A sorrowful insanity.

Bismillah al Rahman al Rahim.

It’s a quiet night. 

I’m still wide awake.. silently typing on my laptop, under a dimly lit lamp. 
while others are sound asleep. I want to get this entry off my chest before dawn breaks.

Viewing back, this will be a recount of my activities these past two weeks.

-----------------


  

So, after the exams ended, comes the summer holidays.


you’d picture peacefulness and serenity of the mind.
The feeling of content like no other.

Like how yer freedom reaches its peak, like a bird soaring thru the limitless sky. 

Total "freedom".

Wrong. 

Who’d thought there was still more tasks left-over.

-----------------

Let’s get started.

I finished an impossible task. 
I was put in charge to handle the “transportation & musyrif” unit

 of a grand event of the first year cairo university students. 

Our X-nite, a cool abbreviation of gen X or gen 10.

Now, for me to handle such big responsibility in my lifetime.. I just couldn’t take it. 

It had caused me a great deal of stress. 

Long realizing that I’m not suited for the job, I tried my all. 

In the end, it wasn’t perfect, heck it was perfectly flawed, 

but hey anything to get the job done.

So I learned how to do some new stuff from that. 
Bling bling. 
Experience is gained not bought!

Getting the transport on track wasn’t exactly easy to do. It involved finding the right supplier, reasoning & negotiation to get the best deals for the right price, and dealing with the driver. (note that these guys don’t speak any language except arabic.) 
Alhamdulillah, I managed to do it all, but not without the help of my friends.

The event ; it went on in the most unplanned way it can get. But it finished without any casualty.

So then a post-mortem meeting was made. Hearing the comments from all committee members.. somehow, it made me feel relieved. To know that my unit wasn't the only one which went through many troubles. Everyone actually had their own problems. And while knowing that, we overcame these obstacles. It was the most satisfying feeling ever, like I’ve never felt before. 


An achievement. 


All in all, it was truly a remarkable, marvelous night.


A splendid memory worth to be cherished.




-----------------

Now that everything’s out of the way, no problems. 
No exams nearing, no class, with everything’s sorted out… 
Somehow I feel empty. 
Like the world was distant, and there’s this small agony boiling inside me. 
Well actually it just means I’m bored.

Finding the cure to this boredom’s pretty hardy. Tried cooking, it took some blood n grit. Tried inter-networking, ended up cursing relentlessly at TE Data for being such rip-off as they are.

Dear TE Data, you dissapoint me.

But soon, I found the cure. I went to H7 due to some invitation to liqa’ Mahabbah aka LiMah. It was exactly what I needed. It’s called- human interaction. Magical stuff it is. I met with companions, as they’re my friends & teachers who I haven’t seen in a long time..

-----------------

What’s newest.. I’m equipping myself to go on a journey, far far away, as a pilgrim, going to the holy land. That’s right, I’m going for umrah, not yet the hajj. I’ve always dreamed of going there.. to set foot on the place where the prophet Muhammad SAW once made home. The Holy Land of Makkah and Medina al-Munawwarah. Long I’ve learned the Sirah of the prophets.. I want to see with my eyes, the Masjidil Haram and Masjidil Nabawi. And performing the umrah.. it is an act of obedience to Allah the Almighty. I pray that my umrah will be a mabrur one.. that is, one blessed by Allah. InsyaAllah -Godwilling.

Oh and another story, I wouldn’t miss writing this down; I recently got a taste of an arab fist. A quick jab straight to my face. It kinda bruised my nose. Which was cool.

….And that’s that. 

See ye in 2 weeks or so. 

Assalamualaikum.








p/s: Enjoy these photos of "the night". Gen X Nite.

 

Dr Mona Sarkis & Dr Nabila Youssef

Committee

with friends

Jejaka Idaman

Soulful singing~

Rocking it

credit to these awsum photographers =)

Pewarisan takhta Ketua Batch

ITS OUR NIGHT!!

-End-

The Going of a Revolution

Its been a while. I suddenly got the urge to write up about things that have happened these past few months. Since I actually have -something- to write about. Stuff you may've heard across the news. Seems like lots have changed since i've left my country. This is a recount of my journey through the land of egypt, after 4 months.

Some out of many memorable moments. To list all is almost impossible.

-jaulah sekitar Mesir

-kuliah days.

-Eidul Adha.

-pindah - H7 ke Abou Rish

-my birthday.

-dreaded mid-year exam.

-and a winter break gone wrong. Really, really wrong.

This was my experience watching egypt's rise to turmoil. It all started during the end of the month of january. I was still facing the first of challenges in university life, the mid-year exam. It was tuesday night, 25^th of Jan 2011 and I've just went through my 3^rd paper. People had posted news of muzaharat on facebook walls that night. My impression was like- cool, demonstration at Tahrir. But that was before vids of gunshot witnessings were posted.

Then an arab friend invited me to a group on facebook. Stated there was, friday would be the date when they'd hold another large muzoharat (demonstration). time ni awal2 lagi. Layaan je la walaupun tak phm sangat.

Walking to the university thursday morning, I didn't notice anything different. I sat for my last paper in peace then went to Hayyu 'asyir- H10 (10^th district) promptly that evening to settle some unfinished business, then straight to H7 - rumah selangor. Things still look as they would usually, no demonstation anywhere yet. Things were peaceful enough for me to hang out with friends over a late dinner at Pizza Master's – Awal 'Abbas. Catch up, tahu perkembangan2 semua. Cuz It's been at least a month last I've been to H7. And since midyear exam is over, it marks the start of winter break! Or so I thought.

27^th Jan after friday prayer, I witnessed by my own eyes, groups of people marching along the streets. These people were expressing their anger and sorrow by protesting, shouting words I don't really understand. Subhanallah. This at H7, and I didn't stay there long. I was ready to go home when I took a ride on a tramco to my next location.

Demerdash metro station. Not quite, the tramco was stopped by the police before even there at Jamek el-Nur. Large groups of people, or parades as I'd call it, can be seen heading towards the metro station. This demonstration was larger scaled, as it happened in the city area. Its said that people should be careful to take photos of stuffs in egypt, for fear that police will catch those doing so. I say what the hell, everyone there was holding up their phones in 'photoshoot mode' at the time. So I took out my phone then captured videos and photos as I came across things.

the scene : Demerdash Station.

Waves after waves. It seems like theres no end to these mobs. They shouted to the spectators on windows and jejantas who only sat by and watched, "entum misri walla eh?" Are you all egyptian or what? Then came the tanks. It struck me then, if theres any revolution happening in egypt, I was witnessing it then.

Sayeda Zeinab, Abou Rish a.k.a belakang umah.

Mobs, everywhere. People were shouting "inzil-inzil mobarak" 'down with mobarak'. I went as far down the road to Jamek Sayeda Zeinab and tasted the salty, wicked, sensation of smoke bombs & tear gas. Rasa macam pedih potong, darabkan tu dengan 27. Pedih gila kau.

Smoke grenades, tear gas shells. 

the scene : Abou Rish

Clearly the sound of gunfire could be heard. Though they were non-lethal, the pain was surreal; my friend got hit by one in the leg. Sakit sangat sampai takleh bangun, tapi kesannya tak lama. Syukur dia okey. Its the kind of gun that the bullet would spread, splits up into tiny fragments when fired.

Buildings, balai syurtoh, were burnt down. Vehicles destroyed. I saw people trying to topple a truck down. When it didn't work, they resorted to burning it instead. My home was on the 11^th floor, I lived with 6 other housemates. I went up riding the elevator only to find that the internet wasn't working no more. Fi internet? La'-ah.. musy syaghal. =(

Houses, buildings on fire.

Rumors-rumors. Malaysian's been robbed, raped, died etc. those are some of the rumours I've heard back then. Nauzubillah. How horrible if it was true. I've heard that way back, before the first muzaharat, searches for IM people had been going on, one of my contacts reported he was asked by an SB mabahis. These spies had been actively asking malaysians whether they'd joined with IM or not. Who knows what'd happen if one was caught. Because of the circumstances back then, we'd believe anything we hear. Whether true or not, who knows. 

On the 29^th though, me & friends went to Dream Park, a theme park in 6^th October (name tempat). Great fun. Four or five different thrilling rides, screamed & shouted as loud as I could, lol. We'd plan to go there even before the mid-year exam. Unfortunately the park got closed early that day, 2pm as supposed to the usual 5pm. That was the time we first knew about the restrict order-perintah berkurung. We weren't really that wary about the state Egypt was currently in then, so we were like- wth? The attendant informed us that we'd be caught if we're on the street during the restriction order. Visa pun dah mati mase ni. Mmg bagus. Zzz.. Everyone rushed home then. Looking back, wow, I can't believe we did all that with all the commotion going on then. Hilarious I'd say, and kinda dumb. But it was experience nonetheless, and that's what counts.

Dream Park roller coaster!!

Restriction order. Daily activities thwarted. Chaotic nights. Food's effected slightly. At a time supposedly to be our winter break. You couldn't be outside after 5pm. Robbers are out there, breaking in shops and premises. Great. We only went out during the day to buy food and supplies. I discovered how boring it can be to stay indoors all the time. But a new feature was available. Mob watching, that is watching the chaos below from our 11-storey tower. My area wasn't what you'd call safe during the nights. Street fights, more like mob wars on the street. It's scary how shiny their knives and machetes were when watched from way above. Every guy had a weapon, knives, stick+nails, bottles, chairs even guns.

Watching mobs throwing flaming bottles/molotov cocktails to each other. Though, much as exciting as that was, we weren't sure what we're watching. Whats going on? I mean why are the people fighting each other? hurting each other? Everything seems so messed up. We don't have TV nor do we have the internet. We lost the phone network for several days during the early phase. We were literally cut off from any news. Later it became known that these fights were between the pro-change & pro-muborak faction. These people were desperate for change. For 30 years they've been under the rule of dictatorship. Life is hard, for them. We should be grateful just knowing the fact that we live in a more peaceful country.

Then came the tanks.

Evacuating Egypt. Darn. Feel like the longest-boring period of my life. I don't even wanna mention it. Okay in short, patience was tested to the limits. Cairo-Jeddah transition took like 31 hours. We got the chance to ride the C-130 Charlie of the RMAF. 3 hours flight. Mcm sardin, heh. Alrite. Next, Markaz Tabung Haji, we're placed in the furthest, highest block one could find here, where theres lack of water. Flight token numbered by the 6 thousandth. Hmm... seems we get the short end of the stick everytime. (when compared to other ppl). Things could've gone better.

I was in Jeddah when I wrote this entry cuz I didn't have anything better to do. Patiently waiting till the end. My job is, makan & tido. Did I mention that the food here is great? I'm gonna have some weight issues after this. All in all, I was stranded there in Markaz Madinatul Hujjaj, for no less than a week.

11^th Feb, the focus suddenly shifted to something else. When it was announced that Murtabak actually stepped down from the governance dept, everyone was suprised.. or atleast I was. The days of rage were over. The people's demand for the regime to step down. Guess everyone's prayers finally got through. I'm very blessed indeed to have witnessed such a glorious phenomenon. A revolution that will change the history of a nation. Egyptians that had sacrificed their lives on the road of Jihad, Rabbina maakum. You've the right to be proud! Together we pray that this revolution would give rise to a new Islamic nation, and inspire other country to follow suit. InsyaAllah. Later on, it will be dubbed the famous 25th January Revolution, the date when it all started. This date will forever be inscribed as an epic historical event for Egypt and the story will be passed on to the next generation.

Finally hearing the announcement we'd been waiting for, our turns are up. The next day, flight MAS – B747 was ready. It was time to say goodbye to the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia. A flight direct to KLIA was waiting for us.

Returning home ticket!!

Well that's all for now.

I advance my sincere apology if some find this post to be untrue or unjust. These are just the things that had occured through my untrained perspective, things I've chanced upon and experienced.

N.B : Murtabak / Muborak - bukan nama sebenar.

----------------

Now, I've come home, kembali ke tanah air. A bit too early methinks. Will be staying here for about 1 month if not more. This has been a great journey for me. And this wont be the end, for sure. Jika tiada aral melintang, kita bertemu kembali wahai sang ardhu kinanah. InsyaAllah. Wallahua'lam.