System is smart & Not funny, are you worried yet? #DigitalSecurity #Egypt

If you haven’t read the article by Mohamed lofty describing the current pre-Jan25 2016 scene in Egypt then you should now.

I’d commence my post from his description:

“Today in Egypt, human rights activists, lawyers, political activists and independent journalists all have to live with their phone calls being tapped, endless smear campaigns and hate speech from state-affiliated media, as well as continuous harassment and intimidation from the authorities.”

The description lands at no exaggeration, as reports of many Facebook page admins and using Facebook posts as evidence of incrimination in the police interrogation.

It’s worthy of saying that Cyber security awareness for the majority of the Human rights workers is not as firm as it should be, they mistakenly mix it their motive of transparency; a derive though noble yet irrelevant.

“As the need for your house to have Doors and locks, has nothing to do with whether or not you’re questioned for doing obscene things in your house”.

Let me make myself clear, this is not just important or urgent for those who work in Human rights! Taping is Taping, Everyone is a suspect, and if not a suspect, everyone is a nice nasty toy to play around with, listen to their calls with their boyfriend/girlfriend, those secret love words you whisper to you girl/woman, you don’t need to lower your voice, be sure there are at least 2 ministries listening to this Real-time, if not your service company as well.

Are we the only country doing that? Hell no! We’re learning from people like Russia, China and the US.

Phone: (Discussion of sensitive or insensitive material without the use of VoIP, Whatsapp)

Online Browsing:  (Facebook communications, Skype conferencing, Viber calls)

 On another hand, The Shorouk Newspaper dated 20/1/2016 1^st page featured “Parliament members use very old Nokia Phones to communicate”, let me explain that to non-cyber readers.

1. Very old Nokia: All Phones manufactured After 2001 have a little piece that can make any phone traceable anywhere in the world (on GPS), this has nothing to do with the other piece that provides you with WI-FI (which by the way is also capable of geo locating you)
2. This makes the parliament memebers’ communication very discreet anywhere, if we also added no. 3
3. The article explained that the Communication Network used in these devices prohibits any Incoming or Outgoing calls, outside the zone of the Ministers and Parliamentarians.

One would ask: “But that can mean that the Service providing company (Mobinil, Vodafone etc.) can listen!” That might be true, though on this level of VIP users, and in a level where the ministry of interior and ministry of communications are in total control of the communication service companies, these calls can be either totally encrypted (cyphered), or the calls could be recorded solely in the records of either ministries to be used against any parliamentarian in the needed time. The last option, however will not be needed, considering the blind loyalty of this parliament to the system, and them being already vital members of it, whether in Media or Law.

Back to those who are in one way or another considered anti-government, Hossam Bahgat have mentioned last August in one of his daily commentary articles for Mada Masr, that a group of youngsters were arrested under the allegations of belonging to the –now named terrorist- “Muslim Brotherhood”, the new, worthy of notice thing in this was not them being caught or the allegations, but the charges that included “Using TOR and means of Proxy and VPN in browsing the internet”, I’ll explain what that means, but first let me identify that This above mentioned quote is NEVER a crime anywhere in the world and not even in Egypt.

• Tor: a browser that bases its browsing ability on blinding the internet service provider from tracking you, by simply walking you through a tangled random web servers that juggle you with different IP (internet protocol address) till you reach the destination website with an IP that would say you’re maybe from the Bahamas, or Germany etc. People use that to research for Videos that are Geographically unavailable, or research papers for their study (I use it this way, for my study) etc. It’s not harmful in itself, and Not wanting to be tracked –again- is a right, not a crime in itself.

• Proxy: is the way tor works

• VPN: Virtual Private Network: is like a tunnel that gets built away from the internet service provider (TE DATA etc.) where you can –somehow- browse more privately. (P.S All Windows 10 update has VPN Settings built in, check it in the taskbar)

(Other Similar vocabulary and their meaning in Arabic Here )

On another hand, lots of young police officers that the ministry see as smart with electronics are being now transferred to work in the Internet police, and being trained as CEH (Certified Ethical Hackers). Y'all feeling the “Ethical” part here?!

• CEHs are those employees at your company that work behind desks trying to ban any virus or hacking attempt to your computer or network. Briefly, they are the Carpenter trying to build that door I was talking about in the beginning of the article, for you.

So you get everyone, The government is getting smarter in realizing the power of network communication system. This is not a battle of who’s hacking who, by now you should understand the You already are being tapped, but it’s a matter of you gaining your right for a private phone call, to know that your chat with your son, wife, sister, boss, employees, lover is NOT being anything but Private.

Think of this as the BATHROOM, How comfortable will you feel with the whole building watching you take a leek?

نحتاج إلى اساليب جديدة لمناقشة التصميم- مقال مترجم

المقال الأصلى بقلم: دانيالا سانجيورجى Daniela Sangiorgi. 

محاضرة عليا بالتصميم الخدمى، جامعة لانكاستر، إتجلترا

ترجمة: رضوى فودة

ضم التصميم فى خلال العقدين الأخيرين الكثير من الممارسات الجديدة. فأصبح الفهم التقليدى للتصميم كممارسة جمالية لا غير محل جدل.

يشكل التصميم اليوم ستراتيجيات المؤسسات الكبرى- حيث يستخدم فى خلق خدمات مبتكرة، طرح المشاكل الاجتماعية، أو حتى لتشكيل طريقة خدمات أو سياسات افضل.

يوجد كجزء من هذا المسعى ثلاث طرق لمناقشة ذلك التغيير فى هوية التصميم الذى حدث مؤخراً:

1- مد أفق التصيميم:

أثبتت المشاكل التى تواجهنا فى الوقت الحديث مثل التقلب الاقتصادى، التقدم العمرى بأغلب التعداد، أو التغير المناخى أن الوضع اعقد بكثير من أن يحل بإجابة واحدة. وقد فتح ذلك المجال أمام الحلول متعددة التوجه التى يمكن أن يطرحها التصميم.

يمثل حالياً النموذج الشهير Design Orders model الذى صممه ريشارد بوتشنان "Richard Buchnan" التطور فى التصميم من الرسوميات (الجرافيك) والمنتجات إلى الخدمات، والتجربة وتصميم النظم.

كذلك يشرح تصميم المركز الدنماركى للتصميم "نموذج التصميم السلمى"، والذى وضع ضمن تقرير "التصميم للخير العام"، وصف النقلة التى حدثت فى دور التصميم من التشغيلية (Operational) إلى الستراتيجية (Strategic)التى تخاطب كلا من السوق و المشاكل الإجتماعية.

تعرف الدراسة فى نتائجها، مراحل ثلاث من تطبيق التصميم فى القطاع العام، من أول إستخدام التدخل التصميمى كحل جذرى لمشكلة ما، مروراً بتطوير قدرات حلول تصميمية على مستوى المؤسسات، ووصولا إلى إرساء استخدام التصميم على المستويين الإستراتيجى والتظامى.

2- مساهمة التصميم فى الابتكار:

يمكن رؤية نمو دور التصميم أيضا من خلال مناقشة مفهوم "التفكير التصميمى" (Design Thinking). إتُخذ هذا المفهوم المستوحى من دراسات أنماط تفكير المصممية وعملهم كطريقة للإدارة فى الكثير من المجالات التى تبحث عن خطط تعامل بديلة للتغيير والإبتكار، وهى مبنية على فكرة أن المصممين لديهم رؤية معتمدة على الإبداع والإختراع التى يشكلونها خصيصا لتخطى عقبات الوقت الراهن. كذلك يقدر الحل التصميمى لكونه يحمل الطابع التشاركى، مما بشجع على الحلول العملية المعتمدة على التجريب- وهى خصائص مثالية لإيجاد حلولاً لمشاكلنا المعقدة المعاصرة.

3- الطبيعة الإنتشارية للتصميم:

تم التعارف من قديم الأزل أن التصميم هو فعل إنسانى معتاد. أقر "هربرت سيمونهاد" (Herbert Simonhad) فى 1969 أن:

"كل شخص هو مصمم يقوم بإعمال مجموعة من الأفعال لتحويل وضع حالى لوضع أكثر تقبلاً"

يساعد هذا الوصف على إعادة النظر فى وضع التصميم كممارسة تطبق بالفعل فى الكثير من المواقف المختلفة بأشكال تختلف حسب كل وظيفة والأخرى. كان قطاع "صنع السياسات" من أواخر القطاعات التى توصف بقيامها بـ "عملية تصميمية"، حيث تسعى من خلال توليد السياسات الجديدة فى تحويل وضع حالى لوضع أفضل. وتجادل "سابين يونينجر" (Sabine Junginger) أن ربط صناعة السياسات بالتصميم يفتح المجال حول التساؤل عن إمكانية التفكير التصميمى لأن يقوم بالتعليم والتعريف عن طريقة تصرفات وممارسات الحكومة بالأساس.

نص المقال الأصلى

كما أنصح بالإطلاع على التقارير والمقالات الملحقة بالروابط

who will pick my body up as i fall

we've been to demo's, in the past four years, we grew.
we saw people fall around us, people we knew. people who we know people who knew them.
People who didn't fall in combat, but in the after shocks (depression, suicide, chronic health issues, psychiatric traumas etc.) one by one you and i see them, lost, drugged, in prison or just hanging there trying to stay strong.

I came to realize that death sometimes is a privilege, you die, and that's it!
Yes, you leave people grieving and stuff, but they will have each other, they'll recover, or they won't but that's life.

But this post is mainly about what i think in an almost losing my life moment...
For me, I think my only problem is that I don't want to die in interrogation... i.e in torture.
I don't want to be killed by some bastard who'll be sending his hounds to rape me, then enjoy the torturing session after, and I can tell you that by now I have developed a very fertile, stinky, sickening subconscious of torturing techniques, weather on me, or me trying to get out of it, or -wierdly- me Doing it! (Which it the part i'm waiting and not waiting to try... the part that suits my vision of human beings as a subject of study)
I want to die standing, a shot in the head or chest, or a heart attack at work, boom, done.
but i wonder only then...who will catch me as i fall?
i know i'm loved as a daughter, as a friend, as a sister may be... but am i loved as me? or as who i show i am?
am i loved as a lover? no, not really.

....
Just as I write those words nw, i just knew that a friend was arrested yesterday over a "Protesting" case of which happened over a year ago, he was convicted for "breaking the protest law" and sent along with so many others, most notably "Alaa Abdel-Fattah" to a 15 years of prison... that friend is younger than me, much younger. they just raided his house and got him.

This is almost every week, and certainly no Month would pass without this happening.
*silence*
...

The thing is that all this made me appreciate every loving moment i cross by, at first I used to be scared to tell someone I loved them, but now I don't, because when they pass away I want them to know they were, and because when I fall, i want them to know they we loved, and because before I go, I want to feel and know that I have said that to someone..
I wanted them to know they were loved as brothers and sisters,
they had someone right here, they looked nice in that dress on the other day
they were funny when they were lost in words,
they were loved even though our love would never be possible
I became more cherishing to the moments I get to tell people THEY MATTER when we are Both still Breathing.


But still, who will it be who catch me as I fall?
will it be some soldier dragging me off to the morgue
will it be some anonymous guy who doesn't know who i am, or where i live
or will it be this one person who might be the representation of "perfect" and "ah!"
or will it be a friend who might have and might have not known about me for a long time.

بعض التعريفات الحاسوبية ومعناها المبسط Some Arabic computer terms

• Malware أو البرامج الخبيثة: هى برامج صممت خصيصاً لإتلاف الحواسيب مثل (الفيروسات، وأحصنة طروادة)
• فيروس: هى برمجية أو كود يلصق نفسه بالبرنامج أو الملف دون أن تدرى، وبكده بيقدر ينسخ نفسه فى كل جهاز بيتنقل له، مستخدما أى وسيلة نقل (البريد، الأقراص الصلبة، وفلاشات الميمورى) ولكنها لا تستطيع أن تبدأ العدوى من دون أن يقوم المستخدم بفتح الملف المريض.
• حصان طروادة Trojan Horseأو Trojan: كما فى القصة اليونانية أحصنة طروادة هى برامج تظهر لك فى شكل حميد ولكن ما إن فتحتها وجدت أنها تدمر حاسوبك، أشهرها: تلك التى توهمك بأنها تمحى الفيروسات، والتروجان ليس مثل الفيروسات فهو لا ينسخ نفسه تلقائياً، ولكنه ليس أقل تدميراً. ومن المعروف عن التروجان إنها تخلق لنفسها باباً خلفياً فى حاسوبك لتمكن المبرمج الخبيث من السيطرة على حاسوبك، أغلب الوقت ليسيطر على معلومات شخصية. 
• الدودة Worm: تعتبر فئة ثانية ملحقة بالفيروسات، ولكن على خلاف الفيروس، لا تحتاج الديدان إلى تفاعل بشرى لتنتشر، فهى تفرض سيطرتها وتتوالد بداخل حاسوبك، أو الحواسيب الأخرى أو قائمة بريدك كاملة بمجرد الوجود فى وسيط متنقل حامل للعدوى.
• حشرة أو "ثغرة" Bug: هو خطأ يصيب البرمجيات أو الأجهزة مما يتسبب فى تعطل برنامج ما، عادة ما تكون الحشرات بسبب تضارب بين برنامجين يعملان جنباً إلى جنب، وعندما يجد المستخدم ثغرة ببرنامج ما "خاصة البرامج قيد التطوير التجريبى" من المفترض أن يبلغ الفريق المصمم للبرنامج فيقومون بإصلاحه فى النسخ التالية.
• الأمان: الأمان الحاسوبى أو الرقمى، هى مجموعة الإجراءات التى يتخذها المستخدم لحماية جهازه من البرمجيات الخبيثة وحماية الآخرين، وهو إجراء بفترض أن يعرفه كل مستخدم للحاسوب أو الشبكات العنكبوتية.
• الخصوصية: هو مفهوم يدخل تحته مفهوم الأمان الرقمى، ولكنه يشمل إلى جانب إجراءات التأمين إجراءات المجهولية، والحماية من التتبع، و الحماية من الولوج إلى الحاسوب من الخارج، الحماية من المراقبة، الترميز أو التشفير للملفات المرسلة أو الأقراص الصلبة… إلخ
• بروكسى (أو خدوم البروكسى): فى الأغلب أن الكلمة تأتى من الإنجليزية "لتقريب" والبروكسى هو عبارة عن خدوم يجلس بين تطبيق المستخدم ( مثال: متصفح) و بين الخدوم الرئيسى، فيعترض طريق المعلومة المطلوبة المرسلة إلى الخدوم الرئيسى ويقرر ما إذا كان لديه هذه المعلومة (فيرسلها إلى المستخدم فوراً) أو إذا لم تكن لديه (فيحول المعلومة على الخدوم الرئيسى)

وهذا من شأنه: 1- توفير الوقت للمستخدم، والمستخدمين التاليين الذين سيطلبون نفس المعلومة. أو 2- فلترة المعلومات: فيمكن لشركة ما أن تستخدم خدوم بروكسى لحجب بعض المواقع عن الموظفين.

• VPN (Virtual Private Network): الشبكة الافتراضية المؤمنة هى شبكة تستخدم الأسلاك العادية (مثل أسلاك الإنترنت) لتوصلك لشبكة أكثر خصوصية (مثل الإنترنت الخاص بشركة ما) وهناك العديد من الأنظمة التى تساعدنا على إستخدام الإنترنت كوسيط لنقل البيانات، إلا أن الVPN يستخدم تقنيات مثل التشفير وتقنيات تأمين أخرى لضمان وصول البيانات للأشخاص المصرح لها فقط، وأنه لا يمكن إعتراض طريق البيانات من مستخدم لآخر.
• GNU PG: هو نظام حر، يعملGNU Privacy Guard على إنشاء مفتاح لتشفير الملفات والأقراص الصلبة.

إذا عندك أى معلومات حابب تعرفها عن المصطلحات أوالأمن الرقمى ممكن تكتبها فى "التعليقات" وهعمل تدوينة بيها أو أبعتلك رد

#Tahrir Command and Conquer

عن صورة #شيماء_الصباغ : تلك اللحظة التى لن اضطر فيها للموت ثانية

إمبارح لما شفت صورة شيماء الصباغ -الله يرحمها- تجسد قدامى مشهد حضرنى فى كل مرة كنت بنزل مسيرة ولا مظاهرة، تجسد قدامى لحظة موتى كما أتخيلها دائما...

(لكن فى الحقيقة لحظتى بتبقى فى شارع محمد محمود أو عند مجلس الوزراء مش فى طلعت حرب)

المهم إنى كتبن اللى أنا حسيت إنها حسته فى اللحظة دى بالضبط، كتبته بالإنجليزى وإتنشر هنا: WLUML

وهنا هترجم اللى كتبته بالعربى:

أشعر بذلك، أعتقد أننى أشعر بها حالياً، فى لحظة تكون واقفاً هناك حاملاً يافطة مع أصدقائك، هم مثلك الأعلى، ليس لديكم جميعا سوى تلك اليافطة التى جمعتم أموالها سوياً، وبضعة أصوات وعقيدة.

فى اللحظة التالية يبدأون فى فض وقفتكم، الكل يجرى، نتشتت، وأنت أيضا تجرى متمنياً ألا بصيب أحداً منهم مكروهاً تلك المرة، ثم لن تشعر بشىء، ربما وخزة خفيفة فى رأسك أو صدرك...

يبدأ بعدها ألما فى التزايد، ولكنك لا تستوعب، تتسلل إليك شعوراً بالبرد، وتفكر: "لا! أنا جيد، هذا لا يمكن أن يحدث، لن أجعلهم يحزنون على أنا، لن أكون السبب فى ذلك، هيا! قف على قدمك! اركض!"

 ذلك الشعور بالبرد يجعلك غير قادر على تحريك قدمك، أو أطرافك، يمر الوقت ببطئ، ولكنك تشعر أيضاً ولأول مرة منذ زمن أنك... تسترخى!

"ربما إذا إستلقيت ها هنا لبرهة سأتحسن"، تشعر بأحد ما يحاول حملك، ولكن لأول مرة فى حياتك، تلك المرة فقط، لا تستطيع أن تقاوم الرغبة الملحة فى أن "تنام".

"ليس برداً ما أشعر به الآن، هو بالأحرى..."خدر" خدر يتسلل ببطئ لنصف صدرى، الآن سأغلق عينى..."

لقد مت العديد من المرات حتى صرت أنتظر حقاً تلك المرة التى لن أضطر فيها للموت ثانية

فى 25 يناير 2015: الشرطة..ضرع الوطن

صديقتى على الفيسبوك خدت صورة لتليفزيونها وكان فيه مكتوب "الشرطة...درع الوطن" أنا لقيت الصورة من هنا وفتحت الفوتوشوب من هنا :)

حتى الآن وأنا أرسل تلك التدوينة مات اليوم 15 شخص وجرح 35 شخص.

الصور اللى فوق ماليش أى حق فيها كفتوغرافيا، لكن الكلام والتعديلات بتاعتى.
الصور 1،2، 3 من إنجيل متى الإصحاح السادس

وربنا يتوب علينا

Governments and their LGBT / NGOs Fetish

*Deep Breath*
Usually I do not consume the writing habit unless I am highly provoked to do so, recently alot of atrocities has been going on around me, and some seemingly good things as well; But thanks for Leil’s POST for being the last straw to write this post.

Let’s start by the most recent good thing, which was a trip to Tunisia, a country I've always wanted to visit, and there I learnt- through a workshop- the International Mechanisms of Human rights. This trip was enlightening in so many ways, and it had memories and company I’d like to keep.

When you read that you might think “It’s a pleasant thing to know more about your rights” but the unfortunate realization that came to me the deeper I dug into that workshop was not Pleasant, but more or less disappointing, which was:

To realize that all my rights: to love, to live safely and in privacy, to own a choice, to have access to a fair trial or good water, or good innovative education, all that and more is nothing but a bunch of Declarations and Pacts debated between politicians that run the world based on personal interests (also called Diplomacy) and fought over by a Bunch of people who dare enough to fight those politicians (Also called NGOs or CSOs) and who has -in order to win a nibble of the golden ticket for their cause (a.k.a your right)- to Use that very same Despicable Lingo of those politicians!

Honestly, I did not want to come back to my own country, nor stay in Tunisia. I wanted to perish, I could not believe that I have to go back to that hideous spot of evolving pessimism called Egypt after all that I learned now about the whole world. And I did not want to even remember anything remotely related to anything I have lived, loved or cared of... I wanted a Reformat.

What I just mentioned is what Every person might be passing through, now or through a phase of his/her life, it's more constant when you’re a Human Rights defender, and Even More and More constant when you fall into what Micheal Foucault called “Person in Crisis” in other words “a Social reject”... And here I mean when you find out you’re Gay/Lesbian/Trans or Queer.

Our glorious “Ministry of Love” has been playing around with what seems to be their new "GIG", Catching and Crashing any remotely reported “Faggots gathering spot” (They use that term in the headlines) , Demeaning them in every unethical way possible, usually Forensically and by the use of the Media they bless.

Questions here are: - Have they found out that publishing the details of a detainee and exposing their faces and full names illegal? Noooo!
- Have they thought of the Facebook (that is not even so ethical in its own) policy that "Forbids publishing of any homophobic content", and allows - on report- to erase that content? Hell no, man. NSA is my bitch!
- Are they actually sure that the “Accusations” they allege are actually true, or is it just another “Mona Iraqi” Propaganda that ended up ruining innocent men lives, who weren’t even Gay as they presumed?
- And finally, do they realize that there is no legal code in Egypt that prohibits Homosexuality, albeit, Transsexualism being actually legal according to the Syndicate of Medics?

The Majority of you might know of "Youm 7" newspaper, that has been noticeably focusing on homo/trans crashes performed by the police recently, starting the infamous "Gay wedding video" a few months ago. The newspaper's editor in chief Khaled Saleh and a long list of executive editors in chiefs, desk manager, editorial managers...etc. non of them find any shame or blame in publishing any info, fake or true about people and ruining their lives, the worse, is that they never get caught, or accused, nothing! 

Here are captions of the latest “Gig” of which youm7 published, but it wasn't as "boastful" as the Media office of the Ministry of Interior:

And be my guest and Try to report that and wait for them to have your IP Address from the FB Administration.

This is not the only thing that makes Egypt a live animate tar monster crawling over your body, the crack down on Activists and Activism Spaces weather Law Assistance or even non-profit community work is escalating day after day:

-The 2 years of imprisonment for Al-Ittehadiya Peaceful Protesting, Hanan Mostafa, Nahed El-Sherif (Bibo), Yara Sallam, Salwa Mehrez, Sanaa Seif (who just turned 21) along w/ 18 others all Under the age 40.

- The crack down ordered by Gov. officials against “Nebny Foundation” that has built a school in a dumpster (Literally) to teach kids who were going to their prep. education and didn’t know how to read and write their names, and they taught them reading, writing fluently in just few month, knowing that everything in their work was legal and the Minister of man-power actually attended their celebration LINK 

These sort of systematic violations of human rights of which i have only mentioned a very few, should stop, and it will stop, by any and every way possible and impossible. One would be mistaken if they thought that any one can accept such a filthy way of living, and such a disgraceful judiciary system.

Last but not least, just like I usually say- and now it is Def. proven to me via Legal procedures internationally- That countries do NOT accept LGBTIQs or apparently respect human rights or condemn their violations out of its own desire for so called “Democracy”, “Tolerance” or “Development”, But out of PURE DIPLOMACY (It’s all a matter of a Global Image not to be ruined in the favor of Interests being fulfilled) because they themselves are either violating rights of their own, and/or have a long Cultural history of Homophobia, and Racism (Israel, and US for Example).

So, this is a Salute to all the frontline defenders, those who defend their lives for things they didn’t choose, to those who realized that you don’t have to be Black to defend Ferguson, You don’t have to be an Ikhwan to defend people of an Islamic background to have a fair trial even if you disagree with them drastically, to this one who suggested that we don’t send Mona Iraqi to trial because of how atrocious our judiciary system has become :) To all those who will revenge their torture and humiliation in police stations, to every student being thrown in prison because of a ham headed hound who thinks a university campus is a football pitch owned by his family.

A Spotlight on Digital Security and Online Privacy Scene in Egypt

As I prepare for this blogpost now listening to “sexy and I know it” track, I think of Big Brother listening to the track with me, and hoping he doesn't arrest me for “Poor musical taste”, and recently it's not just me, but everyone in the 89M Egypt's population should be thinking about that, Why?
That's what I'm here for...

Sir Tim Beners-lee (The world wide web inventor) has recently called for a new Magna-Carta for online privacy (Magna carta is a charter that was written in 1215 and accepted by King John of England, and is considered the basis of individual rights and a part of the English Constitution where there is no written constitution)
http://uk.reuters.com/article/2014/03/12/us-internet-bernerslee-idUKBREA2B0PC20140312

Egyptian Ministry of Interior (MOI) has issued earlier this year (May 2014) an advertising calling for a bid on companies working on surveillance software to help it develop its online surveillance on the Social Media platforms as well as common personal communication software like (Whatsapp and Viber), to maintain a stronger grip on what it called “People who Disturb the public safety” and “Users who spread destructive ideas” and Stated a list of the activities it considered “disturbing for public safety and public standards of morality” (Found here http://www.elwatannews.com/news/details/495659 ) The project was called “Security risks monitoring to social media project– The Public opinion measurement system”, and Later it was declared that a company called “Systems Engineering of Egypt” has won the bid (A daughter company for the American based Blue Coat Systems) beating out the British Gamma System, and the Israeli-founded Narus System. (Ref. Buzz feed News).

MOI has stated in its previously mentioned issuing that the axes of its project were “Tracking, Monitoring, analysis, as well as execution, combating, and denial on one hand, and the ability to perform periodical checks and polls that enables it to know the amount of youth affected by a specific idea or a group of ideas that they consider “destructive”, and that are published over the Social media networks, and to interact with that informative and enlightened more patriotic youth, to track down the destructive ideas spread over social media, and discuss ways for refuting and combating them”

The methodology they stated for doing that was:
- Search for idioms and keywords that are considered illegal or outside the “publicly known traditions and bonds” (No, Egypt does not have a booklet of socially normative behavior, so “Publicly known” isn't exactly specified here!)

- Provide an analytical tool for the Opinions and directions of the social media members, where special statistics will be performed regarding the Most popular topics as well as what directions prevails in these discussions and what don't. (That is shortly, Monitoring Everything w/ statistics)

- Decision making assistance, and future focus on the reports that will help take these decisions.

- “The Security risk monitoring system” is a Central system, related to research destinations and integrated with the Security system destinations in the MOI.

- Improving the performance of the Monitoring system staff via trainings

- Provide progressive technical assistance.

- Database protection, so it's impermeable by every newly developed hacking system.

- (Again) The analysis of all the security information that comes from the Monitoring system reports.

The publication was very unspecific and the discourse used by the MOI Officials never denied such an attempt for privacy invasion, on the contrary.

On the other hand, Online Privacy and Open knowledge activists and bloggers, wrote about the threats such decision makes on Freedom of Speech and Expression, as well as stating the previous history of Internet governance practices, such bloggers like : Ramy Raoof (Article) and Ahmed Ezzat (Article) mentioned previous incidences that dates back before the 2011 Rev. and after the rev. till now, as well as stating basic Q&A style on what privacy is and what's the difference between Censorship and surveillance...etc.

Moreover the Twitter community has launched a parody hashtag (#إحنا_متراقبين - #مخبرك_الخاص) (#We're watched – #Your private informant) as well as the recent hashtag of (#ضد_المراقبة) (Against surveillance) on 28 september 2014, alongside a petition/site protesting the Repressive maneuver. (Privacy Egypt)

It is also worthy of mentioning that MOI has been performing Mass arrests on LGBT (Specially Gays) community using Applications like Grindr (an android application for Gay dating) to set traps for them, sentencing them under allegations of prostitution and debauchery. Latest was arrest over a Youtube video of a Gay Marriage Celebration on a Nile felluca, and the notorious El youm el sabea' (youm7) Newspaper publishing full info and photos of the arrested people, not just for that case, but also all the other cases.

This puts a MAJOR threat on LGBT Bloggers and even regular (non-active) members of the community, which fueled the trigger to launch the Hashtag and an Online Blogging campaign aiming to “Protest the Arrest of LGBT” (#ضد_حبس_المثليين) since as Scott long puts it “You practically can’t have sex these days unless you own at least a smartphone.”

I wonder though what the Same security system is going to track from the MOI Officials themselves, knowing that in the past months alone there has been over 11 law suits against police officers (high and low ranks) accused of various crimes from Harassment and Rape all the way to Desecration of a Man's corpse (Also posted on Youtube)!

P.S. Upon discussing such a topic, I mean to discuss the Egyptian position as a part of the Whole messed up situations across the Globe, It is worthy of mentioning that US, Russian and Chinese Governments represent the Empires of Internet surveillance and monitoring, one can only put it in similarity with George Orwell's image of OCEANIA, where:

WAR IS PEACE

FREEDOM IS SLAVERY

IGNORANCE IS STRENGTH

Further Reading
- Scott long Blog: Paper-bird.net
- Ramy Raoof: “Simplifying the Interior Ministry’s quest for surveillance: In Qs and As” on Mada Masr
- Ahmed Ezzat: "ما الجديد في الرقابة على الإنترنت في مصر؟" on Mada Masr

From WALTER BENJAMIN - Art at the age of Mechanical Reproduction - 1935

On Fascism, Art and War

The growing proletarianization (from Proletariat = Working class) of modern man and the increasing formation of masses are two aspects of the same process. Fascism attempts to organize the newly created proletarian masses without affecting the property structure which the masses strive to eliminate.
Fascism sees its salvation in giving these masses not their right, but instead a chance to express themselves. The masses have a right to change property relations; Fascism seeks to give them an expression while preserving property. The logical result of Fascism is the introduction of aesthetics into political life. The violation of the masses, whom Fascism, with its 'Fuhrer' cult, forces to their knees, has its counterpart in the violation of an apparatus which is pressed into the production of ritual values.

All efforts to render politics aesthetic culminate in one thing: war. War and war only can set a goal for mass movements on the largest scale while respecting the traditional property system. This is the political formula for the situation. The technological formula may be stated as follows: Only war makes it possible to mobilize all of today’s technical resources while maintaining the property system. It goes without saying that the Fascist apotheosis (the making of a god or a leader) of war does not employ such arguments.

Still, Marinetti says in his manifesto on the Ethiopian colonial war:

For twenty-seven years we Futurists have rebelled against the branding of war as antiaesthetic ... Accordingly we state: ... War is beautiful because it establishes man’s dominion over the subjugated machinery by means of gas masks, terrifying megaphones, flame throwers, and small tanks. War is beautiful because it initiates the dream—of metalization of the human body. War is beautiful because it enriches a flowering meadow with the fiery orchids of machine guns. War is beautiful because it combines the gunfire, the cannonades, the cease- fire, the scents, and the stench of putrefaction into a symphony. War is beautiful because it creates new architecture, like that of the big tanks, the geometrical formation flights, the smoke spirals from burning villages, and many others ... Poets and artists of Futurism! ... remember these principles of an aesthetics of war so that your struggle for a new literature and a new graphic art... may be illumined by them!

Fiat ars—pereat mundus (Let art be, though the world perishes) says Fascism, and, as Marinetti admits, expects war to supply the artistic gratification of a sense perception that has been changed by technology.
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The above text reminded me of a text I wrote Earlier in my pre-master stage, for the History of Civilization Class (Which was lectured to us By my Favorite History Prof. Dr. Nabil Mostafa), In the lectures he told us that -basically- "At times of Peace, Art flourishes, and At time of War Art diminishes"

For me this wasn't 100% right, and there was my assignment, to Prove that During the Worst War of All (the World War II) - Not before and not After- There has been a Great and Immense deal of ART and Technology in this War, It was as Immense as the Lives lost in it! It was almost as if Global and Opposing Powers were on a Pageant of Tech. and Art.

Did I by that Promoted War... Definitely No! But I just could not deny the Fact that without Bletchley park, Alan Turing, Enigma, Nazi and Propaganda Art, Soviet Art etc. We (i.e the world) Could have reached Things like Internet, Programming, Cybernetics, the concept of Vernacular art, etc.

And as I studied that, and as I study that text now, The world still lives in the mentality of the WWII, and A country is not graded by anything but by Its Possession of Knowledge and Information (be that in the form of Art, Technology, Science, or Even the Public Paradigm of Craving for Development and Invention), And this is What We Need Now, as A country! BUT, We should be aware of what Marinetti (Above) mentioned, These stuff were made my People, Monopolized by War Lords (AKA Leaders or Fuhrers), and that IS NOT What I'm Suggesting here... If War is What motivates for such a Global turn, then it's Revolution that Makes a Local one, Revolution not only in Regimes, but in Systems, bearing in Mind -Really well- that not all what's past or Old, is to be Left behind, or disposed of. If we as Public, Revolutionized Now - in our non war time-  this will cost us LOTS of Effort at times of War (Which is only a matter of time before we get involved in) and will save us being Foolishly Monopolized perhaps into a direction that might lead to our doom. We should be Our Victory.