These are my links for January 22nd through January 23rd:

• How to Set up Twitter - Five basic steps


• يالالاللي: الي هينزل معرض الكتاب ذنبه علي جنبه - Cairo's Bookfair held amid un-fucking-believable police presence to abort any protest..


• Jaiku | يشرفني أن أكرر إهانتي لهيئة المخابرات العامة المصرية وباقولها من تاني دا جهاز وسخ بيخدم على نظام سياسي أوسخ... دي بديهيات يا اخوانا - صح.. كس أم مخابرات حسني مبارك


• China prepares for year of decline | Business | guardian.co.uk - Collapsing exports to the west caused China's GDP growth to slide to just 6.8% in the final quarter of 2008, underlining the rising economic giant's vulnerability to the global downturn.


• Israel may swap prisoners for soldier | World news | The Guardian - Israel might be prepared to swap hundreds of jailed Palestinians for Gilad Shalit, the Israeli soldier who has been held in captivity in the Gaza Strip for more than two years, senior Israeli officials indicated yesterday.


• UCU - University and College Union - Strike date set at 11 further education colleges in pay row - Eleven colleges across the country will be brought to a standstill on Thursday 5 February in a row over their failure to honour a pay deal agreed over four years ago.


• Upload from your desktop — more better! « Flickr Blog -


• Facebook Now Nearly Twice The Size Of MySpace Worldwide - Facebook now has nearly 100 million more worldwide users than MySpace, which added 4 million new users in December to 125 million total. The page view difference is more dramatic - Facebook had 80 billion monthly page views in December v. 43 billion for MySpace. Just six months ago the sites were about the same size.


• Fatah fears Gaza conflict has put Hamas in the ascendancy - Middle East, World - The Independent - The Islamic movement Hamas is taking over from Fatah, the party created by Yasser Arafat, as the main Palestinian national organisation as a result of the war in Gaza, says a leading Fatah militant.


• Obama orders CIA to stop torturing terror suspects - Americas - Independent.co.uk - As if it's gonna stop by an "order".. It's systematized and institutionalized, and we'll see what his boys are gonna do in Afghanistan...


• 3rd Arab Free Press Forum - Egypt needs more newspaper readers - Egypt has 81 million people, but newspaper circulation is only 1 million daily.


• Scobleizer — Tech geek blogger » Blog Archive Can VuVox save photojournalism? « - I've started trying VuVox, and I gotta say it's awesome.. It is the future of story telling...


• Britain Defends Odd Place Names, Even if There’s No Delivery to Butt Hole Road - NYTimes.com - These include Crotch Crescent, Oxford; Titty Ho, Northamptonshire; Wetwang, Yorkshire; Slutshole Lane, Norfolk; and Thong, Kent. And, in a country that delights in lavatory humor, particularly if the word “bottom” is involved, there is Pratts Bottom, in Kent, doubly cursed because “prat” is slang for buffoon.


• Tax Collectors’ Eid عيد الضرائب العقارية at 3arabawy - Egypt's Real Estate Tax Collectors celebrate the first anniversary of their downtown sit-in...


• MABROUK!!! at 3arabawy - The Free Union declared...


• Making History at 3arabawy - Kamal Abu Eita declaring the Free Union


• يا أشرف الناس at 3arabawy -


• Blogs, YouTube: the new battleground of Gaza conflict | csmonitor.com - The recent battle in Gaza between Israel and Hamas wasn't only fought with bullets, bombs, and missiles, but also with keystrokes. Observers say that through Facebook, YouTube, and other Web-based applications, the online community participated in shaping the news, and was enlisted in the effort to influence public opinion


• Hamas: Obama does not represent change - Haaretz - Israel News - Hamas says President Barack Obama's position toward the Palestinians does not represent change and will lead to the same mistakes as his predecessor.


• Al Jazeera English - Europe - Iceland police and protesters clash - Anti-government protesters in Iceland have clashed with police during a demonstration outside parliament in Reykjavik, the country's capital.


• BBC NEWS | Business | Google profits hit by low revenue - Net profit for period was $382m (£275m), down from $1.21bn for the same period in 2007, a fall of 68%.


• Gaza solidarity ups street vending, changes fashion trends | Menassat - Street vendors and shop owners in both Europe and the Arab world are making big gains as people rush to buy Palestinian Keffiyeh scarves, flags, and other symbolic items that demonstrate their support for the people of Gaza


• Grande Finale of Inauguralpalooza: God, Gays and Gaza - The Sleuth - Affleck was railing about the Israeli invasion of Gaza. And, thanks to his special access, he said he has already registered his concerns with the highest echelons of the Obama administration. He said he gave White House chief of staff Rahm Emanuel an earful about Israel at a private dinner the night before.


• المغربية ■ احتجاجات وإضرابات تستأنف اليوم وتستمر في فبراير - نقابات تستعرض الأوضاع وتأسف لفشل الحوار الاجتماعي - Strikes in Morocco...


• 3 نقابات تعلن عن إضراب في القطاعات الوزارية والمجالس البلدية بالمغرب, أخبــــــار - Labor Unions to strike in Morocco...


• Iceland banking crisis video and more 2008 and 2009: Protests in Iceland - Tear gas was used last night, for the first time since 1949, when parliament agreed to join NATO


• YouTube - Still riots in Iceland january 21 2009 -


• Can New Whitehouse.gov Deliver on Its Promises? | Newsweek Politics: The Obama Presidency | Newsweek.com -


• الأمن المصري يستجوب جرحى غزة عن سلاح المقاومة -


• Twitter / Hussein: We won. All demands have b ... - Tweet announcing the victory of the Oxford U occupation...


• "Staff Finds White House in the Technological Dark Ages" By Anne E. Kornblut - If the Obama campaign represented a sleek, new iPhone kind of future, the first day of the Obama administration looked more like the rotary-dial past.


• المخابرات المصرية تبتز جرحى غزة للإدلاء بمعلومات عن سلاح المقاومة - قال جرحى فلسطينيون تلقوا العلاج في مستشفيات مصرية وعادوا إلى قطاع غزة إن قوى الأمن المصرية حققت مع بعضهم وطالبتهم بمعلومات عن أماكن تصنيع الصواريخ وكيفية تهريب الأسلحة إلى القطاع.


• Digg to cut workforce 10%, hire new sales team | Webware - CNET - Digg CEO Jay Adelson on Thursday morning is announcing that the social media site is laying off a "very small" portion of its workforce


• Daily News Egypt - Policewomen on the job - Haven't seen those before!


• Videogate -


• YouTube - Kobba Police Brutality - Videogate continues...


• Victory « Oxford Occupation in Solidarity with Gaza! - At around 6.30pm GMT we reached a successful agreement with Oxford University officials and ended the occupation. Victory! More info coming soon


• LSE Solidarity with Gaza!: Breaking News - Leeds under occupation - At 4.30pm today around 30 people occupied the Botany House building (near the Student Union) at Leeds University in protest against the attacks on Gaza.


• FREE MAN MET: Students in Occupation for Gaza!: The Seige Is Broken! -


• BBC NEWS | Africa | Libya's wireless web access leap - Libya Telecom and Technology said the new service would cost $30 (£21) per month - twice the existing cost of broadband - although prices are expected to drop in the long-run.
  The BBC correspondent says it will be difficult for the average Libyan to afford the initial cost of the new WiMax service. It requires a one-year advance payment of around $400 (£290), including the cost of a USB device.


• Solomon's Mindfield: Most recent uni's to occupy. Student occupations are on the up again - That's 12 so far....


• Daily News Egypt - Meet Fadi Gwanny, Egypt’s premier wedding photographer - Born and raised in the United Arab Emirates to an Egyptian father and Lebanese mother, Gwanny’s passion began with his first photography class at the American University in Dubai. He decided to go for a double major in photography and graphic design.


• LEBANON: Arab world's most prominent English-language newspaper closes | Babylon & Beyond | Los Angeles Times - One morning last week, without notice, the Daily Star was simply no longer available on newspaper stands. And it has not been published since that date, Jan. 14. The website has not been updated either.


• الكشف عن تورط ضباط من الأجهزة السابقة ومن "فتح" بتقديم تفصيلات للاحتلال خلال الحرب -


• The Siege of Arts LR4 - Birmingham occupation ends « Birmingham Solidarity with Gaza - The occupation ended at around 9pm on Tuesday night after 12 hours in. At 7pm on Tuesday the university and West Midlands police colluded together, as negotiations with the university continued, to lay siege to the occupation.


• قيادي بالجهاد: أمن السلطة يمارس دور الاحتلال من جديد رغم الحرب الأخيرة على غزة - اتهم قيادي بحركة الجهاد الإسلامي في شمال الضفة الغربية المحتلة، أجهزة أمن السلطة في الضفة الغربية بمواصلة ممارسة دورها الأمني لصالح الاحتلال الصيهوني من خلال الحملات العلنية ضد المقاومين.


• Real Estate Tax Strikers’ Victory Opens New Door for Civil Servants’ Struggle انتصار الضرائب العقارية يفتح الطريق لنضال المهنيين at 3arabawy - Revolutionary Socialists' statement following the victory of the tax strike in Jan 2008.. The blog posting included a call for establishing an independent union...


• Real Estate Tax Collectors' Strike - a set on Flickr - Photos by Jano Charbel, December 2007


• STUDENTS GOING TO OCCUPY MANCHESTER UNIVERITY on Vimeo -


• Stats -


• Absolutely Delicious Tools Collection - Social bookmarking tools


• Join us in Free MMU « Complex System Of Pipes - Students are occupying lecture theatre 7 of the Geoffrey Manton Building, Manchester Metropolitian university in solidarity with Palestinian students.


• Migrations هجرات at 3arabawy - Max Richter...


• Microsoft Lost Nearly $500 Million On The Web Last Quarter - The Client division (Windows) took the biggest hit, with operating profits down $440 million to $2.95 billion. (Windows revenues were down 8 percent to $3.98 billion). But Microsoft’s Online Services business (which includes MSN, online advertising, and search) tied for the company’s second biggest loser along with Entertainment and Devices Division (Xbox, Zune)—both saw operating profit declines of $224 million in the quarter.


• جريدة البديل - تجديد حبس نقيب الشرطة المتهم بقتل تاجر الطيور في أسوان 15 يوماً - أصدر المستشار محمد برسيم، رئيس محكمة أسوان الابتدائية أمس، قراراً بتجديد حبس النقيب محمد لبيب معاون مكتب مكافحة المخدرات 15 يوماً، في قضية مقتل عبدالوهاب عبدالرازق، تاجر الطيور بمنزله في السيل الريفي.


• جريدة البديل - إضراب 140 سجيناً أجنبياً في «القناطر» لليوم الخامس - 140 foreign detainees are on a hunger strike in el-Qanater Prison for the fifth day on the row, demanding meeting represantatives from their embassies or from the Egyptian presidency to settle their situation..


• جريدة البديل - سيارة شرطة تدهس طالبة جامعية في المحلة الكبري وتتسبب في بتر ساقها - المدينة تحولت إلي ثكنة عسكرية لمنع التظاهر من أجل غزة.. وإحياء ذكري انتفاضة 18 و 19 يناير


• جريدة البديل - مدير إدارة إسرائيل الأسبق بـ «الخارجية»: العدوان علي غزة كان معلوماً لمصر قبل 8 شهور - قال السفير حسن عيسي، مدير المركز القومي لدراسات الشرق الأوسط، ومدير إدارة إسرائيل الأسبق بوزارة الخارجية: إن الحرب الإسرائيلية ضد غزة وحركة حماس كانت معلومة قبلها بثمانية شهور، وأن الحكومة المصرية أبلغت حماس بوقف إطلاق الصواريخ وقبول الهدنة. وأضاف عيسي خلال لقائه بأعضاء نادي ليونز الجيزة أمس الأول، أن هناك احتمالا لعودة العمليات العسكرية الإسرائيلية في حالة معاودة حركة حماس إطلاق الصواريخ علي إسرائيل.


• جريدة البديل - رئيس «السكك الحديدية» ينفي وعد عائشة بتدبير مكافأة القيادة للسائقين - نفي المهندس محمود سامي، رئيس هيئة السكك الحديدية في اتصال هاتفي مع «البديل» أمس ما تردد عن وعد عائشة عبدالهادي، وزير القوي العاملة لرمضان الجندي، رئيس النقابة العامة للعاملين بالسكك الحديدية تدبير مبلغ 7 ملايين جنيه الخاص بمكافأة القيادة للسائقين خلال 10 أيام. وكانت الأنباء التي ترددت حول وعود الوزيرة قد أنهت إضرابا للسائقين استمر 5 ساعات مساء أمس الأول. بعد قرار رئيس الهيئة صرف 50% من المكافأة في أول يوليو.. بالمقابل أكد رمضان الجندي رئيس النقابة العاملة للعاملين بالسكك الحديدية وعود الوزيرة قائلا في تصريحات خاصة لـ«البديل»: «إن الوزيرة وعدتني في التليفون بهذا الأمر».


• جريدة البديل - مبارك يغيب عن افتتاح معرض الكتاب لأول مرة منذ 4 سنوات - Too sick to show up?


• Iceland's ruling party expects early election - By Omar R. Valdimarsson REYKJAVIK (Reuters) - Iceland's main ruling party said on Thursday it expected an early election this year, amid protests demanding that the government step down because of its failure to prevent a catastrophic financial...


• Jaiku | this may come as a surprise to u guys, but windows sucks. it really really sucks - Fuck Windows...


• جريدة البديل - والدة سجين في وادي النطرون تتهم إدارة السجن بتعذيب ابنها - Torture in Wadi El-Natroun Prison


• LSE Solidarity with Gaza!: Breaking News - Manchester Met in occupation - MMU Students are currently in occupation of the Geoffrey Manton building.


• أخبار الأخيرة | ردود دينية متباينة حول قرار يمنع مكبرات المساجد بمحافظة مصرية - أثار قرار محافظ الشرقية بمصر المستشار يحيى عبد المجيد، بمنع رفع الأذن بمبكرات الصوت في المساجد للقضاء على التلوث السمعي والاكتفاء باستخدام سماعات داخلية فقط في الأذان، ردود فعل متباينة في الأوساط الدينية المصرية.


• Update: Protesters take over University building (From The Oxford Times) -


• LSE Solidarity with Gaza!: Breaking News - Oxford and Newcastle in occupation - Students from Oxford and Newcastle universities have gone into occupation.


• Adobe Photoshop Tutorials - Best Of | Tutorials | Smashing Magazine -


• Al Jazeera English - Middle East - UN releases Gaza attack photos - The United Nations has released images of white phosphorus munitions raining down on one of its compounds during Israel's war on Gaza.


• BBC NEWS | Business | Intel shedding up to 6,000 jobs - Chipmaker Intel is closing five plants in the US and Asia, with the loss of between 5,000 and 6,000 jobs, as it responds to falling computer sales


• Obama to Shut Guantánamo Site and C.I.A. Prisons - NYTimes.com - President Obama is expected to sign executive orders Thursday directing the Central Intelligence Agency to shut what remains of its network of secret prisons and ordering the closing of the Guantánamo detention camp within a year, government officials said.


• BBC NEWS | South Asia | Indian soldier 'kills comrades' - A member of an elite Indian army unit has shot dead six other soldiers in a shooting incident in the north-eastern state of Manipur, the army says.


• تأجيل قضية خرق حظر النشر للمرافعة فى نهاية شهر يناير | مركز هشام مبارك للقانون - قررت اليوم محكمة جنح السيدة زينب اليوم تأجيل القضية رقم 17532 جنح السيدة زينب والمتهم فيها خمسة من الصحفيين(من جريدتى المصري اليوم والوفد) لجلسة يوم29/1/2009 للاطلاع على مذكرة النيابة بحفظ البلاغ المقدم ضد جرائد"الأهرام"و"الأخبار"و"الجمهورية كما نبهت على الدفاع بالاستعداد للمرافعة.،يذكر أن هيئة الدفاع عن الصحفيين(ومنهم محامين من مركز هشام مبارك) قد طلبوا سماع شهادة "صلاح منتصر" عضو المجلس الأعلى للصحافة و"مكرم محمد أحمد" نقيب الصحفيين ورئيس تحرير المصور السابق،بالإضافة إلى بعض الطلبات الأخرى،بالجلسة السابقة (8/1/2009) إلا أن المحكمة قررت رفض جميع الطلبات وتأجيل القضية للمرافعة،فتمسك الدفاع بطلباته،فقررت المحكمة قرارها المتقدم.


• LSE Solidarity with Gaza!: Press release - LSE occupation ends in victory as more universities begin occupations -


• Twitter use in the UK explodes by ten times says Hitwise - UK Internet traffic to Twitter has increased 10-fold over past last 12 months, according to Hitwise. For the week ending 17/01/09 Twitter ranked as the 291st most visited website in the UK, up from a ranking of 2,953 for the week ending 19/01/08. UK Internet traffic to the website has increased by a staggering 974% over this period.


• Twitter and YouTube « Oxford Occupation in Solidarity with Gaza! - The Oxford students launched a Twitter account and YouTube channel to spread info about their occupation... Excellent move...


• Twitter / husseinoxford - Twittering the Oxford University Occupation


• Solomon's Mindfield: breaking news: OXFORD UNIVERSITY STUDENTS OCCUPY BUILDING IN SOLIDARITY WITH GAZA -


• Oxford University students occupy building in solidarity with GAZA -


• Photography is Not a Crime — It’s a First Amendment Right - Anti-Police Brutality blog, run by US photographer


• "الأونروا" تنفي سرقة المساعدات التي تصل غزة وبيعها في الأسواق - أكد سامي المشعشع، الناطق بلسان وكالة الأمم المتحدة لغوث وتشغيل اللاجئين الفلسطينيين (الأونروا)، على أن المساعدات العربية للشعب الفلسطيني تصل إلى الوكالة التي تقوم بدورها بتوزيع هذه المساعدات على السكان في غزة، نافياً بذلك إشاعات عن سرقة هذه المساعدات.


• TALES OF IRAQ WAR by LATUFF: 410 children killed by Israel in Gaza - New cartoon by Carlos Latuff...


• Iceland banking crisis video and more 2008 and 2009: Riot in Reykjavik 21 january 2009 iceland - Icelandic intifada continues..


• Caravan - The AUC Caravan newsletter blog


• AUC: Food fight at the new campus « Friday in Cairo -


• Latin America and the struggles to come - Today Uruguay, Chile, Paraguay, Brazil, Bolivia, Ecuador, Venezuela and Nicaragua are run by governments claiming to be committed to change and social justice.


• Letter from Greece - Anger at the government's neoliberal policies and police brutality has electrified Greece, reports Giorgos Pittas.


• Israel's Accidental YouTube War | Danger Room from Wired.com - Spokesmen are now video-blogging in English and in Arabic. And there's talk in the IDF of a crafting a real-life master plan to invade social media.


• The Liberal Defence of Murder - One form of collateral damage from the "war on terror" has been the proliferation of pro-war liberals. These supposedly enlightened intellectuals and former left wingers have used access to the media to justify indiscriminate bombing and colonial occupation in the name of anti-fascism, women's liberation and Western values of freedom and democracy.
  Richard Seymour's valuable book traces the roots of such arguments and shows that they have a long and ignoble heritage.


• ((i)) Indymedia :: Athens :: Newswire :: Πρεσβεία Καΐρου: Διαμαρτυρία για Αστακό - Greek Embassy in Cairo protest


• Inanities: Loose change - Sarah Carr on Kefaya's death..


• Egypt and beyond: Mahalla and the struggle for free unions - Per reports...


• Exclusive: YouTube Will Soon Let Big Content Partners Bring Their Own Ads -


• CRUEL JUDGMENT AGAINST BLOGGER IN DEFAMATION CASE - Al Zohor court of misdemeanors yesterday fined blogger Mohammed Mabrouk author of the blog hakika masriyah LE 2,500 with a further LE40,000 awarded in compensation to Trust Chemicals Company in a libel case filed by the company in June 2008.


• Saving Iceland -


• Protest | World news | guardian.co.uk - Round up of protest news...


• Change?!! | يساري مصري - Fuck Obama...