By Nermeen Kamel
JRMC 270 (Online Communication)
Dr. Rasha A. Abdulla
The American University in Cairo
Journalism and Mass Communication Department
Fall 2008
People can chat online via many programs such as MSN, Yahoo Messenger, ICQ, Skype as well as chatting rooms available on many websites such as Hotmail, Yahoo or Facebook.
However, each phenomenon of these has its own characteristics, features and uses. And so, they differ from each other in so many ways and people also use them in differently.
MSN and Yahoo Messenger for example are used to communicate with your contacts whenever you want to but you have to have a hotmail acoount to be able to sign up for MSN or a yahoo account to sign up for yahoo messenger. However, the one most important feature in both, is that you get to add or be added by your friends and the people you want to contact only and you the ability to confirm an adding request, and so not anybody can add you. The adding thing happens by clicking on the "Add a contact" button and then you get to write the email of the person you want to add, he/she accepts, and that's it, done.
Messenger is very useful for people who live abroad. They get to communicate with their friends and family by talking online through msn or yahoo. It is very easy for them to agree on a time in which they both would be online and have a talk with each other, exchange news and updates. Also, you can chat via msn and yahoo for hours and hours, at any time and anywhere without any problems. Despite, the extreme simple and easy use of messenger, and its beneficial use of being able to keep contact with your friends abroad, some people do not think its the best idea because it lacks the sense of interaction and expression and tone of voice, because in the end you are just typing words on a screen!
And here comes Skype which is a software that enables people to make telephone calls through the internet for free. But, in order to do such calls with a person, the person also has to have skype downloaded at his end. So if both people have Skype, then they can make calls free of charge. That is a perfect tool of communication for people living abroad, because they now have it all for free. They do not have to type everything they want to say display emotion faces in order to deliver the message to the other person on a screen. Now, they can talk to each other and stay for hours and hours without paying anything.
ICQ is completely different from previously mentioned ways of chatting, because in ICQ, people chat to people they simply do not know. Via ICQ any person can send you a message and start a coversation without even knowing you. People are completely strangers and start to get to know each other starting from the name, age and the gender. And so, the main problem with ICQ is that anybody can just say any name on earth, claim things that are totally untrue and you wouldnt even know it. I think that is why very few people still use it nowadays.
Communicating online is very significant, it facilitates the process of communication and makes it way easier than before. People no longer have to dail a number and try to reach a person through phone calls where actually the person would probably be online somewhere on the Internet.
Thursday, December 18, 2008
Wednesday, December 17, 2008
YouTube!
By Nermeen Kamel
JRMC 270 (Online Communication)
Dr. Rasha A. Abdulla
The American University in Cairo
Journalism and Mass Communication Department
Fall 2008
YouTube is a website that enables people to upload, share, comment on and view videos. Although, it has been created only three years ago, it has a quite impressive impact on people and it had spread among them really fast. YouTube gives the chance for only registered members to upload as many videos as they want on the website, however, unregistered members are able to view videos and comment on them but not to upload any.
Because YouTube gives people the oppurtunity to upload whatever videos they want on any subject, some countries chose to block the access to it. Like Turkey for example. Such countries beleive that there are videos which criticize the governement harshly, insult public figures, and people just should not be allowed to view these videos that easily so they blocked Youtube. Also, other countries such as China, Iran and Morocco block Youtube for the controvery around it and the problems it creates.
Before YouTube was created, uploading videos was not as easy for normal computer users. However, now through YouTube with its easy to use interface, it is possible for anyone to upload videos that million of people around the world could watch within few minutes.
One of the recent very controversial videos uploaded on YouTube now is the one of George Bush being thrown at by a shoe! The incident itself shocked the world and it was in the news everywhere. However, anyone who didnt see this moment on the news on TV would automatically log onto Youtube to see the video there. Therefore, YouTube made it very easy for people to watch anything they have missed in the news and have easier access to it. The good thing is, you can see the video as many times as want too and maybe save it in your computer as well.
Also, the comments part on the videos is very important. You get to see what do people think of the videos, their opinions and so on, but sometmes people use very bad language in commenting over a video or stating their opinions which is a disadvantage of youtube. Like the comments of the Bush video, almost all the commentors considered the Iraqi reporter who threw the shoe a hero and started insulting George Bush and reflect their hatred to him.
JRMC 270 (Online Communication)
Dr. Rasha A. Abdulla
The American University in Cairo
Journalism and Mass Communication Department
Fall 2008
YouTube is a website that enables people to upload, share, comment on and view videos. Although, it has been created only three years ago, it has a quite impressive impact on people and it had spread among them really fast. YouTube gives the chance for only registered members to upload as many videos as they want on the website, however, unregistered members are able to view videos and comment on them but not to upload any.
Because YouTube gives people the oppurtunity to upload whatever videos they want on any subject, some countries chose to block the access to it. Like Turkey for example. Such countries beleive that there are videos which criticize the governement harshly, insult public figures, and people just should not be allowed to view these videos that easily so they blocked Youtube. Also, other countries such as China, Iran and Morocco block Youtube for the controvery around it and the problems it creates.
Before YouTube was created, uploading videos was not as easy for normal computer users. However, now through YouTube with its easy to use interface, it is possible for anyone to upload videos that million of people around the world could watch within few minutes.
One of the recent very controversial videos uploaded on YouTube now is the one of George Bush being thrown at by a shoe! The incident itself shocked the world and it was in the news everywhere. However, anyone who didnt see this moment on the news on TV would automatically log onto Youtube to see the video there. Therefore, YouTube made it very easy for people to watch anything they have missed in the news and have easier access to it. The good thing is, you can see the video as many times as want too and maybe save it in your computer as well.
Also, the comments part on the videos is very important. You get to see what do people think of the videos, their opinions and so on, but sometmes people use very bad language in commenting over a video or stating their opinions which is a disadvantage of youtube. Like the comments of the Bush video, almost all the commentors considered the Iraqi reporter who threw the shoe a hero and started insulting George Bush and reflect their hatred to him.
Saturday, December 13, 2008
Hackers have noble motives...!
By Nermeen Kamel
For JRMC 270 (Online Communication)
Dr. Rasha A. Abdulla
The American University in Cairo
Journalism and Mass Communication Department
Fall 2008
Computer hacking is the practice of trying to change or adjust a computer's software or hardware for purposes that are not of the creator himself. Everybody knows about computer hacking, but not everybody acknowledge that hackers are not only people who are out there to steal your personal information, send you viruses, hack your msn or hotmail, and destroy your computers' software completely. They are always viewed as evil people who break into peoples' computers for no apparent reason and obliterate it. Truth is, a great number of them actually do that and their only aim is just to hack any computer for the sake of fun or wasting time, however, not all of them are like that.
Some hackers have noble motives. Yes thats true. Because hackers are technology geniuses and they always are in search of any new information that would enable them to develop and enhance their knowledge about computers, softwares, hardwares and hacking, they sometimes are used by large companies to help out. Some companies do employ computer hackers in their technical support staff, they use their knowledge and skills to fix any flaws in the company's security system. And, they won' t find better than computer hackers to ensure a perfectly safe and protected security system. Such computer hackers who use their skills for noble and ethical purposes are called White Hat Hackers.
Computer hackers also contribute in the development of operating systems and the internet in general as they constantly learn more about computers and how they work and they choose whether to use their skills positively or negatively.
Some hackers choose to use their computer skills for harmful purposes and are specialized in accessing information systems illegally. These are called Black Hat Hackers. They can be hired to change a company's financial data for example or break security codes to have unauthorized network access, they also can steal confidential information or damage a corporation's operating and security systems. On the other hand, they can do such things but in a smaller scale and for less important reasons when they just hack an individual's computer for the sake of nothing but their desire to do so.
The last type of computer hackers are the Grey Hat. These are very skilled hackers that are between the two concepts of black and white. They sometimes use their knowledge and skills ethically and legally, and other occasionally times they use it for harmful purposes to damage and commit crimes.
For JRMC 270 (Online Communication)
Dr. Rasha A. Abdulla
The American University in Cairo
Journalism and Mass Communication Department
Fall 2008
Computer hacking is the practice of trying to change or adjust a computer's software or hardware for purposes that are not of the creator himself. Everybody knows about computer hacking, but not everybody acknowledge that hackers are not only people who are out there to steal your personal information, send you viruses, hack your msn or hotmail, and destroy your computers' software completely. They are always viewed as evil people who break into peoples' computers for no apparent reason and obliterate it. Truth is, a great number of them actually do that and their only aim is just to hack any computer for the sake of fun or wasting time, however, not all of them are like that.
Some hackers have noble motives. Yes thats true. Because hackers are technology geniuses and they always are in search of any new information that would enable them to develop and enhance their knowledge about computers, softwares, hardwares and hacking, they sometimes are used by large companies to help out. Some companies do employ computer hackers in their technical support staff, they use their knowledge and skills to fix any flaws in the company's security system. And, they won' t find better than computer hackers to ensure a perfectly safe and protected security system. Such computer hackers who use their skills for noble and ethical purposes are called White Hat Hackers.
Computer hackers also contribute in the development of operating systems and the internet in general as they constantly learn more about computers and how they work and they choose whether to use their skills positively or negatively.
Some hackers choose to use their computer skills for harmful purposes and are specialized in accessing information systems illegally. These are called Black Hat Hackers. They can be hired to change a company's financial data for example or break security codes to have unauthorized network access, they also can steal confidential information or damage a corporation's operating and security systems. On the other hand, they can do such things but in a smaller scale and for less important reasons when they just hack an individual's computer for the sake of nothing but their desire to do so.
The last type of computer hackers are the Grey Hat. These are very skilled hackers that are between the two concepts of black and white. They sometimes use their knowledge and skills ethically and legally, and other occasionally times they use it for harmful purposes to damage and commit crimes.
Wednesday, December 10, 2008
Why do people blog!
By Nermeen Kamel
For JRMC 270 (Online Communication)
Dr. Rasha A. Abdulla
The American University in Cairo
Journalism and Mass Communication Department
Fall 2008
Blogging is a phenomenon that has given people all the over the world the chance to express their opinons freely and speak their minds openly in a variety of issues. Sometimes, people are not able to state their opinions plainly in some subjects because of cultural and traditional obstacles, and so they consider 'blogs' their only ground to say whatever they want to say without any restrictions and boundaries.
Subjects about religion, politics, government and sex are not talked about so openly in our Middle Eastern culture so people directly run to blogging websites where they think their opinions should be. That exactly is why blogs in the Middle East has increased rapidly. Many bloggers now would write about the government, criticizing it and may talk about the president himself and state their opinions honestly without worrying about any restrictions or what might happen to them. They also do think that they won't get caught anyways because they dont mention anything about their personal information, not even their names. Everything remains anonymous.
For other people, blogs are nothing but an online dairy for them. Some people create blogs just to write about their daily experiences, what happened to them through the day and what situations they've been through. They write just to share their experiences, speak out their problems and discuss it with their friends or other fellow bloggers that became online friends too. They just do it for the sake of fun and nothing more than that. They wouldn't care to write a blog entry about the US elections and Obama for example.
However, some bloggers write about nothing but politics. These are pure political blogs where the authors only discuss the latest news on El Gezira channel, CNN or BBC. They write about the government and criticize it so freely and harshly. They write about Palestine, Iraq, Israel, the United States and the conflict that never reaches an end between them all. I think that these blogs are the most popular because they certainly are the most controversial and interesting as they display entries about issues that are considered taboos.
On the other hand, some blogs are all about the latest gossip in town, who is doing what, who is dating who, who is throwing a party when and so on. These blogs are also among the most popular because people are by instinct interested in gossip and curious to know the latest updates happening in the social community.
Blogging became very significant for many people around the world. They represent a social phenomenon and so they are in a constant evolution. Today blogs are being used for all sorts of purposes. You have companies that use blogs to communicate and interact with customers and other stake holders. Newspapers that incorporated blogs to their main website to offer a new channel for their writers. Individuals that created a blog to share with the world their expertise on specific topics. And so on.
For JRMC 270 (Online Communication)
Dr. Rasha A. Abdulla
The American University in Cairo
Journalism and Mass Communication Department
Fall 2008
Blogging is a phenomenon that has given people all the over the world the chance to express their opinons freely and speak their minds openly in a variety of issues. Sometimes, people are not able to state their opinions plainly in some subjects because of cultural and traditional obstacles, and so they consider 'blogs' their only ground to say whatever they want to say without any restrictions and boundaries.
Subjects about religion, politics, government and sex are not talked about so openly in our Middle Eastern culture so people directly run to blogging websites where they think their opinions should be. That exactly is why blogs in the Middle East has increased rapidly. Many bloggers now would write about the government, criticizing it and may talk about the president himself and state their opinions honestly without worrying about any restrictions or what might happen to them. They also do think that they won't get caught anyways because they dont mention anything about their personal information, not even their names. Everything remains anonymous.
For other people, blogs are nothing but an online dairy for them. Some people create blogs just to write about their daily experiences, what happened to them through the day and what situations they've been through. They write just to share their experiences, speak out their problems and discuss it with their friends or other fellow bloggers that became online friends too. They just do it for the sake of fun and nothing more than that. They wouldn't care to write a blog entry about the US elections and Obama for example.
However, some bloggers write about nothing but politics. These are pure political blogs where the authors only discuss the latest news on El Gezira channel, CNN or BBC. They write about the government and criticize it so freely and harshly. They write about Palestine, Iraq, Israel, the United States and the conflict that never reaches an end between them all. I think that these blogs are the most popular because they certainly are the most controversial and interesting as they display entries about issues that are considered taboos.
On the other hand, some blogs are all about the latest gossip in town, who is doing what, who is dating who, who is throwing a party when and so on. These blogs are also among the most popular because people are by instinct interested in gossip and curious to know the latest updates happening in the social community.
Blogging became very significant for many people around the world. They represent a social phenomenon and so they are in a constant evolution. Today blogs are being used for all sorts of purposes. You have companies that use blogs to communicate and interact with customers and other stake holders. Newspapers that incorporated blogs to their main website to offer a new channel for their writers. Individuals that created a blog to share with the world their expertise on specific topics. And so on.
Tuesday, December 2, 2008
Facebook instead of Newspapers!
By Nermeen Kamel
For JRMC 270 (Online Communication)
Dr. Rasha A. Abdulla
The American University in Cairo
Journalism and Mass Communication Department
Fall 2008
Less than a week ago, two young girls, Nadine and Heba were killed in an apartement in El Sheikh Zayed, El nada compound. It was Nadine's house and Heba, her friend, was sleeping over. The News about this incident were everywhere, people telling each other, rumors came up, fabrications about what happened to them started to spread and the incident was the subject that everybody talked about.
However, what I noticed is that many people did know about the incident through Facebook, not from the newspapers, TV or word of mouth, but Facebook. Their source of news was this social networking website, that became very popular and obssessed over that every single thing happens in the world would be found in it somewhere.
Through this website you can easily know who got engaged, married, divorced, who delivered a new born baby, who died and how, who travelled where, who is working where and so many other personal information about people who are in your friend list or even if they are not. Through facebook, people know what are the latest news about the world, when Obama won the United States elections, facebook was all flooded with groups about this incident, statuses of people who are either happy he won or angry he did and discussions about the subject and so on.
Going back to the incident of the two girls who got killed. Some friends told me that they didnt know anything about it until they one day, like everyday actually, they were checking their facebook account, and they saw in the News feed the following statement " ....of your friends joined the group "SHOCKING...Nadeen and Heba got killed!!!" ", another group is "RIP Nadeen Khaled and Heba. We love you. Pray for them." So being curious, which is the case for anyone who uses facebook, they enter the group and get the news. Others knew from their friends' statuses or events created for the wake or funeral.
Facebook made it very easy for news to spread over and it sometimes is a source for people to get the news. However, because the murder of these two girls is very controversial and until yesterday they didnt know who did it, rumors came up on newspapers as well as facebook, people started making up stories about the two girls, that they were drinking and doing drugs before the murderer broke into the house at dawn and killed them both. Some said that the violent and aggressive way they were killed with showed that it was clearly and obviously for revenge. Others said it must e a theif or something. Also, one of the rumors was that that Heba was married secretly and Nadeen was not a virgin.
That was all proven wrong when the autopsy or the medical examination of the bodies proved that these things are just made up and are not true. Today, the police arrested the murderer and announced that he killed them because he wanted to rob the house but when they tried to resist him he killed them. The killer is of a very low social class and he was suffering from terrible financial problems and he wanted to get married but he hadnt got enough money so he decided to go steal some money from any randomn apartement in a compound in El sheikh Zayed that he used to previously work at. He only stole 200 pounds and a cell phone.
However, after announcing the news tonight on TV shows, (still not yet in newspapers) and on facebook groups which are all swamped by people writting strange assumptions on walls, some people think that the police faked this whole thing and they just got anyone to arrest to close the case and put an end to it. On facebook groups, people started posting discussion boards about who might be the real murderer and how the police is trying to fool everybody, which I think in my humble opinion is stupid. I cant actually believe that people has so much free time to waste on trying to find who the real murderer is and post it in some discussion board in some group on facebook! That is just lame! And, why would the police do that anyways, they have eligible proofs that proves that the one they arrested is the criminal.
Facebook gives such people the chance to talk about two girls who are already dead ( May they rest in Peace) in a bad way, initiate rumors about them that really are disgraceful and accuse the police of being unethical and the whole thing is none of their business. They should just pray for the girls or remain silent.
This is one of the negative aspects of Facebook; and I think such website shouldnt be anything more than a social network that friends talk to eachother through and not a ground to discuss such controversial incidents that are very sensitive, especially in this case where any fallacious information would affect the reputation of the girls and their families. I also think that Facebook should not be a source of news for anyone because simply it is not credible at all and it is full of blabbering and shallow opinions of people. Facebook has recently been more negative than positive in affecting people and they should be more cautious in using it.
For JRMC 270 (Online Communication)
Dr. Rasha A. Abdulla
The American University in Cairo
Journalism and Mass Communication Department
Fall 2008
Less than a week ago, two young girls, Nadine and Heba were killed in an apartement in El Sheikh Zayed, El nada compound. It was Nadine's house and Heba, her friend, was sleeping over. The News about this incident were everywhere, people telling each other, rumors came up, fabrications about what happened to them started to spread and the incident was the subject that everybody talked about.
However, what I noticed is that many people did know about the incident through Facebook, not from the newspapers, TV or word of mouth, but Facebook. Their source of news was this social networking website, that became very popular and obssessed over that every single thing happens in the world would be found in it somewhere.
Through this website you can easily know who got engaged, married, divorced, who delivered a new born baby, who died and how, who travelled where, who is working where and so many other personal information about people who are in your friend list or even if they are not. Through facebook, people know what are the latest news about the world, when Obama won the United States elections, facebook was all flooded with groups about this incident, statuses of people who are either happy he won or angry he did and discussions about the subject and so on.
Going back to the incident of the two girls who got killed. Some friends told me that they didnt know anything about it until they one day, like everyday actually, they were checking their facebook account, and they saw in the News feed the following statement " ....of your friends joined the group "SHOCKING...Nadeen and Heba got killed!!!" ", another group is "RIP Nadeen Khaled and Heba. We love you. Pray for them." So being curious, which is the case for anyone who uses facebook, they enter the group and get the news. Others knew from their friends' statuses or events created for the wake or funeral.
Facebook made it very easy for news to spread over and it sometimes is a source for people to get the news. However, because the murder of these two girls is very controversial and until yesterday they didnt know who did it, rumors came up on newspapers as well as facebook, people started making up stories about the two girls, that they were drinking and doing drugs before the murderer broke into the house at dawn and killed them both. Some said that the violent and aggressive way they were killed with showed that it was clearly and obviously for revenge. Others said it must e a theif or something. Also, one of the rumors was that that Heba was married secretly and Nadeen was not a virgin.
That was all proven wrong when the autopsy or the medical examination of the bodies proved that these things are just made up and are not true. Today, the police arrested the murderer and announced that he killed them because he wanted to rob the house but when they tried to resist him he killed them. The killer is of a very low social class and he was suffering from terrible financial problems and he wanted to get married but he hadnt got enough money so he decided to go steal some money from any randomn apartement in a compound in El sheikh Zayed that he used to previously work at. He only stole 200 pounds and a cell phone.
However, after announcing the news tonight on TV shows, (still not yet in newspapers) and on facebook groups which are all swamped by people writting strange assumptions on walls, some people think that the police faked this whole thing and they just got anyone to arrest to close the case and put an end to it. On facebook groups, people started posting discussion boards about who might be the real murderer and how the police is trying to fool everybody, which I think in my humble opinion is stupid. I cant actually believe that people has so much free time to waste on trying to find who the real murderer is and post it in some discussion board in some group on facebook! That is just lame! And, why would the police do that anyways, they have eligible proofs that proves that the one they arrested is the criminal.
Facebook gives such people the chance to talk about two girls who are already dead ( May they rest in Peace) in a bad way, initiate rumors about them that really are disgraceful and accuse the police of being unethical and the whole thing is none of their business. They should just pray for the girls or remain silent.
This is one of the negative aspects of Facebook; and I think such website shouldnt be anything more than a social network that friends talk to eachother through and not a ground to discuss such controversial incidents that are very sensitive, especially in this case where any fallacious information would affect the reputation of the girls and their families. I also think that Facebook should not be a source of news for anyone because simply it is not credible at all and it is full of blabbering and shallow opinions of people. Facebook has recently been more negative than positive in affecting people and they should be more cautious in using it.
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