Eid -ul-Fitr Celebration

Eid -ul-Fitri is one of the important festivals of Muslims. After Ramadan, the month of fasting Muslims celebrate Eid-Ul-Fitri. Eid-ul-fitri is celebrated on the first day of Shawwal, the tenth month of the Islamic calendar, which Muslims follow. The sighting of the new crescent moon marks the beginning of the month. In Arabic the meaning of Eid is Festivity and Fitr means to break in English. Eid-Ul-Fitri means to celebrate the breaking of the month of fasting On the Eid day early in the morning all the Muslims take a bath and wear their new clothes which they have got stitched beforehand.after dressing they have breakfast which includes dates and then proceed to the Mosque (masjid) for a Eid prayer ceremony and recite the takbeerat “allahu akbar, allahu akbar” meaning Allah is the greatest. Apart from this many other Eid prayers are recited to remember Allah on this occasion.(Ramadan). Eidul Fitri in Malaysia is a colourful event, everyone dressed up in new and colourful traditional attire of 'baju melayu, samping and songkok' while the ladies in traditional 'baju kurung or kebaya'. Everyone proceed to the nearest mosque for the morning Eidul Fitri prayer before meeting and greeting to ask for forgiveness. They then proceed to fiends and family homes for the traditional feast of 'ketupat, kuah kacang, lodeh, and rendang'. Not forgetting the 'kuih raya' and of course the 'duit raya'. Most have an open house to all guest, friends and neighbours. Everyone enjoys Raya food, the one things that binds Malaysians well. Eidul Fitri is truly a One Malaysia event that everybody love. hamid 3rd Syawal 1430

End of Ramadhan, Welcome Syawal and Hello Utah

How time flies. It felt like we were just a week into fasting and adjusting to Tarawekh prayer very night, suddenly its already a month! Now we are into the 3rd day of Syawal 1430. Lots of things been happening during Ramadhan. I had to break fast in my car three times over the month just to indicate how much work we need to finish off before Syawal, making me late to leave office and be on time for breakfasting. Off late the weather didn't help either, raining almost every afternoon, making driving home takes longer time than usual, i.e more than an hour an a half from Cyberjaya to Setapak Indah. At least the work on OeC has produced fruits and we are packaging it for the Utah trip.

Having said that, i'm sure we'll get it done no matter what. My personal thanks to some hardworking team members. The raya break has given me some breathing space to be with family and enjoy the kinship, getting updates on family matters, new additions among family members,

seeing who is having more grey hairs, just seeing and saying hello. And of course the open houses, raya food and photos. Not to mention the travel nightmares to endure going back one's kampung. But it's all worth it, wouldn't you agree? Thanks to those who have sent their greetings and wishes, thank you for the thought.

Selamat Hari Raya

hamid

Hong Kong named world's spam capital

Again we get to see and hear more and more of this abuse of the Net by unethical people. It gives you the creep of what is going to happen as more and more people taking on the cyber world without any sense of good ethics, self respect and respect of others. Cyber world provides the platform for people to express themselves to a larger world and audience that never before possible. It also provides the 'shade' from prying eyes of their true identity thus making them feel brave to do things that they 'knowingly' know would adversersely affect others and unintentionally gain them the title "World's Spam Capital"

AFP - Thursday, September 10

HONG KONG (AFP) - - Hong Kong is under siege from legions of "zombies" attacking people with spam and leaving in their wake a trail of destruction costing millions of dollars a year, analysts have warned. It sounds like the plot of a surrealist B-movie but it is the worrying scenario computer users are facing in a city which has been awarded the unenviable title of spam capital of the world.

The problem has taken a sinister new twist with the rise of so-called zombies -- computers infected by a virus that are sending reams of spam, or unsolicited emails, without their users' knowledge.

There are an estimated 4,000 zombies active in Hong Kong and their criminal puppet masters use them to fire off thousands of messages offering products ranging from jewellery to pornography.

Full Story and photo credit: http://malaysia.news.yahoo.com/afp/20090910/ttc-hongkong-crime-spam-internet-0de2eff_1.html

eCampus News: Student can re-enroll after blog dispute

Student can re-enroll after blog dispute. Judge says student’s online writing did not violate school’s honor code. eCN • September 2009 • www.eCampusNews..com, Law & Ethics, pg.34.

A University of Louisville nursing student expelled over blog posts about an assignment to follow a woman the day she gave birth has won the right to return to school from a federal judge. U.S. District Judge Charles Simpson ruled Aug. 3 that Nina Yoder, who was dismissed from school on March 2, can re-enroll because the school violated a contractual agreement with her in the dismissal.

Yoder was dismissed after the university ran across her blog on a MySpace page. The blog covered a variety of topics, including religion, sex, guns, and politics. She mentioned the university several times but revealed no patient names in postings. In dismissing Yoder, the university said in a letter that she violated the school’s honor code and confidentiality agreement by posting blog items concerning patient activities and naming the university on her MySpace page. The judge sidestepped the constitutional and free-speech questions raised in the lawsuit. Instead, he focused on how the honor code and confidentiality agreement that students must sign are written and explained.

“Upon review of the relevant texts, the court finds that the blog post does not violate either of these two agreements,” Simpson wrote in a 12-page decision.The blog post that resulted in Yoder’s dismissal involved an assignment to follow a pregnant woman through the birthing process. In the post, Yoder criticizes the woman she finds to follow, as well as pregnant women at the hospital in general. “I came to work, overwhelmed with emotions and new knowledge and experience,”

Yoder wrote. “I sat down, looked around and once again proved that women are FREAKING STUPID and don’t learn from their past mistakes. I said: ‘I want another baby!

David L. Hudson, Jr., a scholar at the First Amendment Center and an author of 20 books, said the University of Louisville case is the latest in a series of questionable decisions by higher-education officials when faced with students’ web-based writing. “The whole situation is emblematic of a growing trend of punishing people for their online expression,” said Hudson, who teaches courses at Vanderbilt University Law School and the Nashville School of Law.

“Many people act as if the internet is a legal-free zone, and it is anything but.” Hudson said he did not expect Simpson’s decision to affect future cases that pit student blogs against educational institutions. “This was a well-reasoned decision, though it did not reach larger constitutional free speech issues,” he said. “The judge pointed out that the school could apply its honor code more broadly if it changed the policy and provided fair notice.

Hmm..exactly the reason why we are embarking to champion this Digital Citizenship cause. What other justification do we need? Right.

hamid

An Interesting Digital Weekend

I'm dead tired today. Didn't realized it until we finished the workshop and got home. Fell asleep on the couch until woken up to send Muiz back to boarding school at 4.00pm. Luckily today a holiday. We were working on the Digital Citizenship with a group of people. It was an interesting session, which all believed gonna get better. We do need more feedback from the youth group. The body of knowledge is growing. The more we look at it the more we realize how important it is to us in a plural society. The Capstone activity suggested and the use of real local scenarios tops it all. Thank you guys.