Egypt: Surveillance Cameras in Suez Canal Installed.

Egypt has begun installing surveillance cameras to monitor traffic through the strategic Suez Canal after the killing of an Egyptian by a US Navy-chartered ship last week, an official announced on Friday.

The cameras, in addition to a radar system already deployed in the region, "will provide for closer surveillance of the canal and a better view" of maritime traffic, the official said on condition of anonymity.

Mohammed Moqtar Afifi was killed on Monday when the "Global Patriot" transport vessel chartered by the US Navy fired warning shots at a small boat trying to sell merchandise, as it waited to transit the Suez Canal.

US President George W. Bush called his Egyptian counterpart Hosni Mubarak on Thursday to express regret over the incident, in which two other Egyptians were wounded.

The Suez Canal, which opened in 1869, is Egypt's third-largest source of revenue after tourism and remittances from expatriate workers, and currently about 7.5 percent of global trade passes through the waterway.

The canal is also a key supply line for the US military in the Gulf, in particular Kuwait, and in Iraq.

+Source

April 6 - Egypt on Strike - ...لاجل مصر

Update: Someone named "Kazilar" commented on this post a minute after I posted it, and the comment was an amateur attempt to break into my computer with a virus or spyware or something stupid like that. I deleted the comment but kept his name for future reference. DO NOT view his profile or his blog link, they lead to the same virus. Again, DO NOT CLICK HIS NAME.

وربما جاء يوم نجلس فيه معاً لا لكي نتفاخر ونتباهى، ولكن لكي نتذكر وندرس ونعلم أولادنا وأحفادنا جيلاً بعد جيل، قصة الكفاح ومشاقة، مرارة الهزيمة وآلامها، وحلاوة النصروآماله. نعم سوف يجئ يوم نجلس فيه لنقص ونروى ماذا فعل كل منا في موقعه ... وكيف حمل كل منا أمانته وأدى دوره، كيف خرج الأبطال من هذا الشعب وهذه الأمة في فترة حالكة ساد فيها الظلام، ليحملوا مشاعل النور وليضيئوا الطريق حتى تستطيع أمتهم أن تعبر الجسر ما بين اليأس والرجاء
- محمد أنور السادات

Yes, this day WILL COME. Its about time somebody did something. This wasn't what president Sadat had hoped for after all what he did for this country to prosper and establish itself as a powerful country once again after the 1973 war and the victory. He would have never expected that 28 years later, its would get that bad, because of the people he chose to lead the country after him.

You would wonder, why do I have this tone now? Its true that people like me aren't affected much, we can afford to live well even if it got as shitty as it is right now, how many among the 78 million Egyptians is living that well these days? Not even a quarter.

The country is doing good, but the people are feeling its doing worse everyday, because some people's greed increases by time or something. I won't say more I don't wanna get involved in anything or get arrested or something, I've got enough shit to deal with anyways, I don't wanna get thrown in jail. So all I'm gonna do is announce what I\ve been seeing around on the internet lately, and what I would have participated in if I was back home in Egypt right now.

APRIL 6th 2008 - ALL EGYPTIANS ON STRIKE.
No work, No university. No school. No spending. No outting. Nothing.
Either stay at home or be part of the protest in the streets.
For better salaries and wages.For less prices. For proper education. For less poverty. For more jobs.
For a better life. For a lot of things.

Thats what the planners of the strike had to say. More than 40,000 Egyptians from facebook ALONE are participating in the strike, and hopefully all Egyptians will get in too. This is the first all-Egyptian protest since the last protest was held in the late 70s against the same issue, rising prices. And back then, the protest worked because every single Egyptian participated. Hopefully, this will be the case this time. This is the facebook group for the strike.

Now you know. Others don't. Tell them, be a part of this. If we all do it, we will make a difference.

FOR EGYPT...
...عشان مصر

EgyptAir Rebranding (By Me - Unofficial)

Update: THEY ACTUALLY DID IT! http://infliktora.blogspot.com/2008/05/egyptair-redesigns-finally.html
------
EgyptAir has recently celebrated its 75th anniversary, being the 7th air carrier in the World and the very first in the Middle East, it has a rich history and many firsts.

It has also been a crappy carrier throughout the 90s, and was famous for flight delays and poor service. Nowadays, and since 2004, EgyptAir has been rejuvenating, with a new fleet and improved services. E-ticketing is a standard and the flights are amazingly on time, and the on-board service can't be better. They have changed a lot in the past few years and have improved noticeably.

But when you board and EgyptAir plane, your first impression would be that Egypt Air seriously needs to consider a rebranding. The brand is tired and outdated, and it does not live up to the country’s reputation as a tourist destination that attracts millions of visitors every year. Seriously their branding is crappy. I mean look at other airlines! Learn something!!! They still couldn't get it through their dense brains that THIS logo from the 70s HAS TO CHANGE!

I have to admit, EgyptAir isn't as classy as Emirates. Singapore Airlines or even the Royal Jordanian, its what you can say a more "casual" airline. This is reflected in the logo and the service, and though it recently joined Star Alliance, I don't think its considered a 5-star airline (or anywhre close to 5 stars).

So I gave it a shot and did a slight rebranding for the logo. I know they will never give up their precious eagle, so I decided to keep it and play aith it a little, and change that stupid font they have been using for ages. I decided to give it a more professional look and make it look "cool"... :P

So here you go:

(click to enlarge)

Tell me what you think :)
+ Source (some written material)

Turn your lights off for one hour, March 29.

This time I'm posting in this weird yellow color. This is important. Watch the video. Be a part of it.
I'll probably do like Moey and gather with my friends and light up candles and play some Monopoly.

Don't say I'm just one person. Everyone counts. Spread this, repost it, and suggest to your friends. We can make a difference.




Everyone at 8PM, your local time. I signed up to represent Egypt, and I'm doing it on Egypt's local time. You too, Join Us!

The new facebook..!

Recently, people's profiles have been jammed up with a lot of stuff and weirdness...
I know some people whom if I need to reach their wall to write something, I have to wander through a big fat huge profile looking for the wall, hoping to find it between all those applications, fun wall, super wall, idiot wall, the "What kind of banana peel are you" quiz and the "Who Smells Nicer" ratings...

So facebook, I guess it being a better website than Hi5 (that I never used) and Myspace (that I only have for the band), are redesigning the profile pages to make them neat and able to hold all the junk that people have. Its basically what Firefox has done... The magical TABBED BROWSING (ta daaa!)

There will be tabs for the About Me section, The Wall, and Photos.

Also, there will be a cool new photo album layout (since most of my photos are on facebook, thats what I'm psyched about)... Other than that I don't really care much. But overall, I like the new design, they stuck to the website's overall look and customized it to be cleaner.

The new design will be imlemented in the next few weeks, but for now, I'll leave you with the gallery. (click on the thumbnails to enlarge)



fb1: The About Me section.
fb2: The Wall
fb3: The Photos
fb4: Closer look at the wall.

Culture vs. Islam

I don't usually blog about those issues but this was interesting.

Why is Islam misunderstood, especially in the west?
Because Muslims representing Islam give a wrong image and impression about it.
Why is that?
Because many people mix their cultures with Islam and come up with a weird mix and label it "Islam"... and Islam isn't true if you add to or remove from it.

This is a video I found, explaining this, in a humorous form :)



from www.UmmahFilms.com

Nice one by Tantric.

I came across this song on Yahoo! Radio and decided to post it. I downloaded their full discography, most of it not a great as this song, but generally nice.

Down & Out by Tantric. From the Album "The End Begins".
Enjoy

Labels...

Is labeling people fair? No. Even if you learn to live with the stereotypes. you still get pulled down. Just because people think all "Metalheads" are involved in cults and worship the devil, get high and kill themselves, or that all Arabs/Muslims have bombs strapped to them waiting for their Big Mac to be late to blow McDonalds and the whole block up, instantly they slap a sign n someone's forehead and label them...

I'm skinny, so I must be bulemic/anorexic.

I'm fat, so I must eat everything I see.

I'm emo, so I must cut my wrists.

I'm a goth, so I must listen to nothing but heavy metal.

I'm black, so I must be on welfare.

I'm Hispanic, so I must be dirty.

I'm Asian, so I must love math.

I'm Jewish, so I must be good with money.

I'm Muslim, so I must kill you.

I'm Arab, so I must be a terrorist.

I'm old, so I probably cant drive.

I'm religious, so I must shove my beliefs down your throat.

I'm republican, so I must not care about poor people.

I'm democrat, so I must not believe in being responsible.

I take anti-deppressants, so I must be crazy.

I'm a guy, so I only want to get into your pants.

I'm a girl, so I must think irrationally.

I'm Irish, so I must have a bad drinking problem.

I'm Indian, so I either drive a cab.

I'm Native American, so I must dance around a fire screaming like a savage, or be apart of a gaming casino.

I'm a teenager, so I must drink and do drugs.

I'm a cheerleader, so I must be a whore.

I'm a punk, so I must do drugs.

I'm young, so I must be naive.

I'm rich, so I must be a snob, conceited.

I wear black, so I must be gothic.

Im a black male, so i must be a thief.

I'm a girl and I roll wit alot of dudes, so i must be easy

I wear what i want (diffrent styles) so i must be a poser!

I'm a jock, so i must be strong.

I'm a Metalhead, so I must worship the devil.

I'm Persian, so I must own a club.

I'm African so I must click!

I'm from South America, so I must be white trash.

I'm Canadian so my English has to be screwed!

I'm Egyptian, so I have to live in the Pyramids and have a pet Camel in my backyard.

I'm good friends with a person from the opposite gender, we must be secretly in love.

I'm from the Arabian Gulf, so I must drink petrol in my tent in the desert.

Bottom line is that stereotypes are WRONG. Put this on your blog/site/facebook notes if you feel the same. Change whatever you need to change to fit what people label you. People need to know that you're not "Emo", "Goth", "Black" or whatever. People need to know that you are YOU.

It would be kind of you to link back :)

Oh Crap..!!! I Got a Job!!!

Shouldn't I be happy and put like a happy expression maybe in this title, maybe because I'm maybe so freakin happy with this..? Nooooo... I must show that I'm freaked out for no reason.
And speaking of which...holy shit I got a job and I am on fire!! Not just that I designed a flyer for a certain event, now that it has gone official, and I got the original PSD files to the band's logos and photos so I can add them to the posters, and make other posters for the event, I was also hired by Music Gates as the grapics designer for the rest of their flyers, and for every single Metal Accord event from now on. I will also be participating in organising future events by the company. I am on the Music Gates team!!!

I will also be getting backstage passes for the Vader concert, AND my the band INFLIKTORA will have a great chance when debuting on Metal Accord's stage! I'm psyched!!

Now the next job for me, is redesigning Metal Gates' and Metal Accord's logos. Plus I have to deal with the stupid group that was recently created by some weirdos against Vader coming to Egypt. So, too much work for me right now (considering I still didn't give up on Medicine :P)

Soon I will be posting the new logos when I'm done and they're approved, or maybe I'll have to wait for Metal Accord 9 before I can do anything, just for the sake of not burning the logo too fast. Just let us clear out from Vader, because this event is taking too much effort from everyone on MG, and then we'll see what happens.


Wish me luck... (lots of it)... =D

The First Real Metal Concert In Egypt. Its Vader!!

This is about one of the greatest Death Metal bands in history. One of the only few bands that was able to sustain and remain ON FIRE for as long as 25 years. We're speaking about the famous Polish metal band VADER. The best selling European Death Metal band ever.

Vader, touring to celebrate their 25th anniversary, will stop by in Egypt, for a first time performance! The progress is great, from the government banning metal music a few years ago, to now, when real international bands are performing in Egypt!

And, opening for them will be 3 great bands, Nervecell (all the way from Dubai) as well ass Dark Philosophy and Worm! Isn't this amazing!!

Just like Tiesto and David Guetta came like a gazillion times for techno/house fans, Craig David for RnB fans, and others whom have been making the best concerts in the region, its time for Metal fans to get something..! And its April 11th of this year. It will be huge!

Plus, this gig is organized by a friend of mine, Ahmed Gamal! I seriously applaud Ahmed Gamal and Sammy Sayyed for their work on the metal scene in Egypt so far!! Egypt Metal Gates, Music Gates, and Metal Accord are simple amazing you guys... Its worth mentioning that Sammy Sayyed is the Vocalist for the band Scarab (formerly HateSuffocation) one of the best Metal bands in Egypt, and have performed in this years Dubai Desert Rock Festival '08.

Oh, and by the way, the flyer above is the official flyer for the event, and is designed by MEEEEEEE!! :P (what do u think??)

Too bad I won't be able to make it to this concert either, as I am still stuck in Ukraine. I can't love this country more!

Support Bloggers' Island!

Once upon a time, a rebellious different blogger had a dream that she took to the next level. You browse the internet and see that there are whole islands for sale, for filthy rich people to escape their super luxurious comfortable lifestyle and its hassle, and go have an even more comfortable time away from everything and everyone.

BUT... We, the community of normal people, who happen to have thoughts that might actually be worth reading, decided to blog and and express ourselves on the only channel that we could do that on, easily.

We build, maintain and update blogs (although its obvious that I'm using a template, well I can design one, I've made dozens of websites before, but this is just easier). Anyways I'm talking about every blogger. Bloggers have many things in common, they all share the thing of having too much thoughts to be kept inside, being creative, artistic, different, and not everyone is blogging material.

Now back to The story... She had a dream to buy one of those islands and make it a Bloggers' Island. Weird? Yes. Possible? Yes! This could happen.
Since my Paypal account is always zilch these days because I don't use it cuz I'm in Ukraine, this is what I can do to help...

So people, bloggers or readers, interested or not... We want you to donate one dollar.

It’s only a dollar. You can find it on the street tomorrow walking to the coffee shop wasting 5 bucks on novelty coffees! If everyone in the internet world donated a dollar, then maybe I can get an island. Then we will have a blogger gathering! Free stay! We would be blog alumnus by then!
--Mona (Rebellious Arab Girl)

So, please support us, and donate you ONE DOLLARS :)

(click to donate right from here!)

www.RebelliousArabGirl.net

* Now maybe Mona will reserve a little piece on the island for me!! :D
No seriously, we kinda need this island, especially her :)

Whole Cities "WiMAXed" !!!

Now, Luxor and Sharm are WiMaxed!!

"While in Egypt, Stay Connected" - a program started in 2006 as the first implementation of the WiMax technology in the Middle East. The networks were completed last summer and were in the testing phase, and since the beginning of 2008 they're fully fledged ready to serve.

Now, the 2 most highly visited tourist cities of Egypt, Sharm El Sheikh and Luxor, are fully covered with WiMax netowrks. This means that each city has been turned into a huge WiFi Hotspot, so you won't have to search for one! In other words, every inch of those cities has wireless internet connectivity, at no extra rates from two ISPs so far, TEData (Owned by Telecom Egypt) and EgyNet.

The project is to be implemented in Cairo, Alexandria, Marina, and all Red-Sea resort cities next.

Also, back in 2006, all 4, 5, 6, and 7 star hotels in Egypt were required by the Ministry of Tourism to provide wireless internet connectivity to all rooms and lounges.

Official Website : Connected-Egypt.org

My Starbucks & Snickers. Rumors.

Some time about a year ago (specifically in May) , Masterfoods Inc., producer of Mars, M&M's, Snickers, Bounty, Twix, announced that their chocolates will not be suitable for vegetarians.

Masterfoods said it had started to use animal product "Rennet" (a chemical -enzyme- sourced from calves' stomachs) to make its chocolate products. They said the change was due to it switching the sourcing of its ingredients and the admission was a "principled decision" on its part.
--BBC News Website

i didn't get annoyed at the time, because I'm not a vegetarian, in fact I like calves' meat.
Why am I bringing this up? Let me ask a question first... What are calves?

The term "Calf" is most commonly used to refer to the young of cattle. A cattle calf is the offspring of a cow and a bull This terminology is also used for other species where the young is called a calf. Those are bison, camels, dolphins, elephants, giraffes, hippopotamuses, moose, rhinoceroses, whales, and yaks.
--Wikipedia

Do you see the words Pig/Pork in this? Because I don't. Does any of the information above even hint to the use of pork? So now, in March 2008, and I get an email saying that Masterfoods' products are "Haram" and no suitable for consumption by Muslims because they are using Pork in it... shoudln't I flip off???

And apparently, for their use of pork, God has punished them and gave us a sign... which is that those new bars went bad really quickly and grew fungus even in their wrapping!!!! WOOOOOOOOW!!!!

Bleaah!!!! You go on circulating wrong rumors about my favorite chocolate, and criticize me when you see me eating a Snickers bar because of some stupid lunatic who started a chain email that has been forwarded to you!! No thanks.

I did buy Masterfoods' chocolates from Saudi Arabia well through 2007, months after they started using calves' Renet. KSA doesn't let in any Non-Halal products by the way.

And another funny thing about that email, was in a list of Masterfoods' products, try to guess what was on the list... KIT KAT and LION!!! So that big ass Nestle logo on the picture didn't click in you head before attaching it to the false email, Mr RumorGuy!!!! Some people have reached a level way beyond self-inflicted retardedness!!!

Just like the Starbucks boycotters who believed the rumor that they support the Israeli Millitary... Arabs usually believe everything and anything, and they just go with the flow with any rumor involving a corporate name along with the word ”Israel” or the word "Pork"…

They seriously get to my nerves. I found a note on the Starbucks website operated by AL-Shaya (the franchisee of Starbucks in the Middle East, Turkey and Russia) that states that the rumors are not true. Showed them to people and the response I got was that Al-Shaya was trying to improve their image in the middle east so they wouldn’t loose revenue… So I dug deeper and found the same page on the original Starbucks website that says:

Rumor Response: Misinformation on Israeli Armed Forces Support

You may have heard a rumor or seen a web posting linking Howard Schultz and Starbucks with the Israeli Armed Forces.

These allegations are false.

As the premier purveyor of the finest coffee and with stores in over 37 countries around the world, Starbucks customers are people of diverse ethnic, income and age groups. Our primary focus is delivering the best customer experience. Starbucks is a non-political organization and does not support political causes.

If you don't believe me, here's the link: http://www.starbucks.com/aboutus/pressdesc.asp?id=668&rumor=true/

American corporates PROUDLY state that they support Israel IF THEY DO, but Starbucks has denied it. This has been going on for a year and a half now, and I'm sick of it!!

Howard Schulz [who is Jewish, but his] alleged funding of Israel is theoretically not possible, he is the Starbucks CEO (that is chief executive officer - in other words). He DOES NOT control the company’s income, he might be giving money to Israel from his own money, but thats his business.
--moeys.net

The fact that they donated a store to serve the American military in Iraq is that the company is American after all, and it will support its country’s troops wherever they are.

So people please use your heads, and do some research and Googling, before you go on believing everything you hear!! Jeez!!!!

I am a Starbucks fan boy and for me if some one decides to believe the rumors and stop enjoying the best coffee ever, I will not.
And I will still eat Snickers and Enjoy my colroful M&Ms, and not share my 2 Twix bars!!

Stupid people should be eradicated from Earth!!

sources: my brain and (wikipedia) (bbc news) (moeys)

A Lot of !!!! Puctuation Lesson...

I use exclamation marks too much! << See, here we go again. I'm always happy for excited for some reason on that weird blog. And even if I'm sad or angry, I'm worked up about it too. It really annoys me when I attempt to read over my blog posts, but I can't be bothered to change them. Posts come spontaneously when I feel like writing something, and I just like to keep them the way they are, with the typos and stuff.

Its a habit that I need to get rid of... Oh, and I use too many triple periods too ( ... ). Its like I never have a complete sentence. Maybe I'm keeping a space for you guys to wonder, to use your imagination and guess what I might have wanted to say next... Oh bull crap, now I have 2 writing habits to get rid of.

I'm angry now! OMG look at the title of the post!!!

Realization... I ♥ ME!!

(Does the heart in the title look gay? - I don't care...)

I have gotten into a weird state of extra self confidence and self-love... Its kind of freaking me out!! I suddenly love myself for no apparent reason! Hmmm... I don't think I've got this feeling ever before!! like, I'd rather not be someone else. I love being me! Where was that feeling back in 8th grade, when I seriously wished I was anyone on earth except for ME! This gradually changed over time to become "I LOVE ME!'... Weird isn't it??

Anyways, another thing I wanted to write about in a long time was the fact that "shat" IS a word, its the past tense of "shit"!! Can you believe that!! Also, "commonest" ISN'T a word you bloody Russians!!! I seriously need a break or my English language knowledge will be ruined for life! I'm already scarred enough from the Russianized English I've been hearing for more than 4 months now!!!

Another interesting fact about life... Samsung mp3 players (not talking about high end models, just 2GB flash memory stick-like weird players) sound waaaay better than iPods (quality wise)... I compared it to a 30GB iPod video and it beat the crap out of the iPod I must say. Call me an Apple hater (which I am)... but this doesn't change the truth. Don\t believe me? Head to the electronics store near you and try it for yourself. I never believed in Korean electronics, and especially Samsung (LG could pull it through), but this time I had to admit it...

Anyways its SONY all the way for me!!! My purple [NWA3000] Mp3 Walkman and my white [MDR-NC22] Noise-Canceling Earbuds are all what I need!! My gear is "the shit" people... TRUST ME!! :P


And the best part is that my Walkman is sold out of everywhere on earth even Amazon.com... and finding it is like finding Kryptonite or something, and my headphones aren't available everywhere and people freak out when they see them!!! They think I'm coming from space!!! A player with a screen that comes out of nowhere, and a freaky pair of headphones that make them virtually in another world!!

I was gonna get a pair of Skull Candy from Virgin Megastore last summer, but... WHO CARES!!!

So how did this turn into a gadget thing? I don't know. Basically what I'm trying to say here is that I love myself, I love my life, and I love my stuff!!! I think I'm a happy guy now :)

Enough for now... I actually had nothing in mind now, and just started chucking in random thoughts :)

Cairo Festival City... The "Dubai-ness" of Cairo!

The Dubai-Based Al Futtaim Group is bringing Dubai's Festival City to Egypt! Yes... The Cairo Festival City, set to be fully operating by the end of 2010, has the same concept of Dubai Festival City.


This investment of $3 Billion consists of a 700 fedan mixed-use, residential, commercial, hospitality and retail development under construction in New Cairo City on the Eastern Ring Road.


The Cairo festival City will be about half the size of the DFC, owing the reduction in size to the decreased seas-shore space, as the CFC will be built in the middle of the desert. However, the CFC will have twice as large retail space and leisure center, and 1-2 hotels compared to 5 in Dubai.

The DFC has been a landmark in Dubai, having attracted many exhibitions over the past years, including this month's Dubai Desert Rock Festival.

Similar projects have been established over the last couple of years which will, through the next decade, change the face of Egypt, and turn it into a second Manhattan of the Middle East, after Dubai. This movement has begun, with the Middle East, Arica, and Europe's largest Shopping Mall Complex to Date, City Stars, which is partly owned by Al-Sharbatly of Sauid Arabia and Golden Pyramids Plaza, Egypt.

They were followed by mostly Gulf investors from Dubai (Emaar Misr, Damac, Futtaim, Dubai Holdings) and Egyptian investors such as Talaat Mustafa, who is for the first time building a whole new city, Madinaty, compared to his previous residential complexes, as well as heavy contributions from the Egyptian government. As per February 2008, the total real estate investment for mega projects is US$ 51.8 Billion!

Links:
Cairo Festival City's Website
Dubai Festival City's Website

Smoke-Free Formula 1!!

Arabian Business reports that tobacco advertising on billboards related to Formula One motor racing have been banned in Bahrain, in a move to reduce smoking in the kingdom, where one in three adults smoke.

This decision is part of a long-term campaign to remove cigarette and tobacco advertising at all of the kingdom's sporting events. There is already a blanket ban on tobacco advertising in Europe and many F1 teams are no longer sponsored by tobacco companies.

A ban on all tobacco sponsorship in F1 will come into affect in 2009. The government first drafted an anti-smoking law in 1994, but it was not implemented. The new draft is a combination of the original draft and a new law proposed by the parliament.

The proposed anti-smoking law will see smokers fined up to 50 Bahraini dinars ($132) for lighting up in specified public areas, while restaurants which fail to properly separate smoking and non-smoking areas will be fined up to 5,000 dinars and closed for up to two months.

So, will the Ferrari team remove the Marlboro Ad from its cars?