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Showing posts with label Egypt. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Egypt. Show all posts

29 January 2006

Egyptian Hackers

The following post has been published on Eglug (Egyptian Linux Users Group) by printf@drupal.org,
I was just wondering if anybody would be interested in such an event? Basically, it should be something like DEF CON, but with more focus on introducing the concepts of and raising the public awareness about the digital world's (in)security as well as providing some means of legal entertainment for the ones with advanced skills. My initial plan was to organize a 2-3 days event with talk sessions/discussion forums about different topics in computer security and on the side a series of challenging games to test the players skills and knowledge.
It is really nice idea to have such kind of events here in Egypt, but the problem is that it is only few people who know what hacking really is. Most of the people here in Egypt and the Middle East think of hacking as the art of using some software tools to get some credit cards numbers or send zillions of packets to a web server to take it out of service. For me, hacking is the art of pushing a system beyond its limits, or forcing it to do things beyond the normal usage of it. I think we may encourage people to participate in some projects like porting linux to new hardwares (smart phones, play station, DSL modems, etc), writing some kernel modules, finding back-doors in some protocols or standards and create tools to use such vulnerabilities, etc.

However we may arrange for such meetings in parallel. A good starting point is a Call for Papers where people shall send some articles or ideas for topics they may talk about. One more thing is having a wiki, which is already there, but more people are encouraged to participate and share their ideas there.

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28 November 2005

Adam and Eve's Origins

A German, a Frenchman, an Englishman, and an Egyptian went to an Art museum and were spending some time in front of the painting of Adam and Eve in the Garden of Eden.
After observing the painting for a while an intrigued observer asked the four men where they thought Adam and Eve's origins could be from.
The German said: "Look at the perfection of theirbodies. She with her slender and well-formed figure and he with that athletic body and bulging muscles. There is no doubt they must be of German origin."
Immediately the Frenchman reacts! "C'est Impossible! One can clearly see the eroticism that is exuding from both figures... She so feminine? He so masculine... And both so aware of the impending temptation... They must be French!"
Shaking his head in disagreement, the Englishman comments: "Oh No, Chaps it can't be! Note the serenity on their faces, their delicate pose, the sobriety in their gestures. They could only be English."
After a few more seconds of contemplation, the Egyptian exclaims: "I do NOT agree with ANY of your theories! Look closer, they do not have clothes, they do not have shoes, and they do not even have shelter. All they have is ONE apple to eat and to top it all off it is prohibited! They don't protest and they STILL think they are in Paradise!?? Clearly, these two can only be Egyptians!!!"

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16 August 2005

If you're not listening, tell me to turn off the radio

I've noticed lately that there are many Egyptians who have their own bloggers. It looks like some kind of hype or "hey people, I am here !!". These blogs can be categorized as follows:

A huge number of them are political ones and they talk mainly - may be only - about "kefaya" movement and the re-election of Mubarak, etc.

Another major part is what I call "Egyptian Popular Art" blogs which publish poems for "Salah Jaheen", "Ahmad Fouad Nejm", etc and talk about concerts in the "Sawi Cultural Wheel".

After that there are the personal ones where people write their thoughts and may be their daily life.

Finally there are religious ones.

There are some points that I've noticed in this, one of them is that the religious blogs are very few compared to the presence of the religion in the daily talk of people in the streets. Also there are no - or at least very few - technical - ones that talk about new technologies, open source projects, etc. - nor scientific blogs as far as I know, which is expected but very disappointing.

At last, the question now compared to the number of these blogs and their owners, how many one reads them and is this number significant or it is like the Arabic pop singers phenomenon where singers are much more than their listeners.

03 June 2005

Vodafone Egypt - Network Hidden Codes

Vodafone Egypt - Network Hidden Codes
Try dialing the following codes on your mobile: *CODE# (Where CODE={100,111,150,etc})

100: Current Time
111: SIM Card
150: Last Call
500: HLR
501: VLR
777: Activating MCK (Missed Call Keeping)

Also if you can find more code please tell me and their usage if any.