In the meantime, more delectable reads:

just another angry black muslim woman? shares the story of Aqaba village, students imaging "whirled peace" and her thoughts on Palestine while living in the Middle East.

Goatmilk lands an exclusive with journalist Robert Fisk.

The Pakistani Spectator interviews our very own dear brother Irving of Darvish.

Mind.Body.Soul motivates our spiritual ambition.

No Impact Man thinks about living in gratitude instead of desire.

Newsweek's Christopher Dickey on Christian rage and Muslim moderation.

And, Avari recommends The Case for Islamo-Christian Civilization, and says that the NYT, not Daniel Pipes, is the problem.

Which is a long way of saying I'm busy. Not in a terse "I'm BUSY," way, but more of a sighing "I'm busy" way, usually said while reaching for another coffee.

So, work: busy. Double busy. Perhaps even triple busy. It's not bad busy, because that would be "I'M BUSY!!!!!!!!!" and a lot of this business will be worth it in the end, and the other bit is good experience, good fun, and something I've been wanting to do for ages.

But it still means I'm busy.

And then outside of work I'm busy. Not "I'M BUSY" or "I'm BUSY" or even "I'M busy", and there's no sighing. But I'm just busy.

And the sun was shining on Saturday, so I went to the park to drink beer and kick a ball around, which isn't strictly busy but would have been a dereliction of duty not to have done so. And a good time was had by all.

Anyway, outside of work I'm busy because of football. Now, football isn't usually the biggest draw for this blog. That I appreciate. So, I've tried to keep talk of this to a minimum, but Exeter City's securing of a playoff position and their double-header against Torquay this Thursday is taking up a lot of my spare time, and what spare time that isn't taken up with Exeter City is being taken up with playing football, nipping down the pub, cinema, and cooking.

And I'm committing myself to do some comprehensive and balanced punditry over at Soccerlens for the Conference playoffs.

Do you see where this is leading...?

So, I'm sorry. I don't want to bore you all with Exeter City woe and joy and other such nuggets, and even if I did want to bore you with them I wouldn't have time anyway.

If there's not much being posted until about next, oooooh, Wednesday, there'll be a good reason.

I'm busy.

And for the ten to fifteen regular readers on here, I'm sorry about that. Normal-to-average service will be resumed at some point next week.

Education, entertainment and a way to save the world. What's not to like, especially in light of recent food shortages and riots?

Slate asks "Does going to Mecca make Muslims more moderate?"

Hop over to Islamosphere and add yourself to the cool new directory of Muslim/Islam-friendly bloggers.

Awesome guerrilla gardeners raid unused urban landscapes and till it with their imagination and seed bombs. May 1st marks their 2nd International Sunflower Guerrilla Day, they have a a training manual, and run-ins with the law in SF.

Grab a cup of coffee - and a purring feline - in Tokyo's cat cafes. (Please let this catch on in SF!)

The Squaw Valley Writers' Workshop deadline is coming up on May 10th.

The San Francisco International Film Festival is in full flow - locals take the festival very seriously so show up well ahead of time or risk your seats being resold. We saw the French film Two Ladies yesterday - a lovely film about Kosher-cooking Muslims and Koran-reading Jews.

And, hear Maithri, writer of the one of my all-time favorite blogs, the inspirational Soaring Impulse, reveal yet another amazing talent at Don't Die with Your Music in You.

Swindle Magazine has two articles on British Muslims, who make up almost 10% of London's population. Half of the city’s Muslim population is under 24—the youngest age profile in the capital.

In the article London's Muslim Girl Power, interviewee Kalisha Hyatt says, “There are definitely people out there who are picking up on Islam just because it’s fashionable. There are a lot of people generally interested in Islam now.”

Swindle's second article is on British Muslim artist Sarah Maple whose career took off with a series of campaign posters culminating in “Vote for Me or You’re an IslamaphobaSexistRacialist” and who continues to confront religious identity in unique ways. [Swindle HT to Ilmgirl]

Tabsir profiles Iranian photographer Shadi Ghadirian (Iran, b. 1974). She is well-known for her Qajar Series of portraits and has said of her work, “My pictures became a mirror reflecting how I felt: we are stuck between tradition and modernity.”

The World profiles The Kominas, an American Muslim punk band from Boston.

And, Lahore Nama celebrates the grand traditions and the current forms of one of my favorite cities in the world.

And, if you haven't yet, hop over to TalkIslam and join the conversation.

Tangent: The final seasons of Lost and Battlestar Galactica are both back on the air (and available free, on-line) - yay!

But pre-empting this came guardian.co.uk's sport editor, Sean Ingle, with an excellent example of how to engage and interact with your online readership. His blog post explained why they'd mad the changes, what was new and asked for feedback.

And feedback he got. Lots of it. But, here's the impressive thing, a regular intervals Ingle popped up in the comments to address the assorted points brought up, explaining why certain things couldn't be done, noting small tweaks that could be made, and on a couple of occasions , thanking people in the comments who'd pointed out a few missing bits or oversights. One comment cheekily asked if the sports site was hiring, to which Ingle responded 'Maybe. Send me your CV.'

The thread was one of the most civil and intelligent I've seen, and benefited both the site and the readership but engaging with regular users and taking their points on board seriously. I've lost count of the number of defensive responses I've seen in other places when change has been made - Ingle's thread should be held up as a model example of why bloggers and columnists should engage in the comments on their threads., as both sides can get an great deal out of the resulting discussion.

[And yes, I like the Guardian's football and sport sites as lot. It's intelligent, funny, and one of the first sites I visit every morning, and while the redesign does take a bit of adjusting to, I reckon the site will get even better].

Umm Layth on Earth Day 2008.

No Impact Man discusses 42 Ways to Not Make Trash and asks, Is it in your nature to try?

Environmental protection in Islamic tradition and practice in God is Green.

Meghan Rose shares her moving thoughts on disabled parenting. [HT: Aaminah]

And the SF Chron's weekly feature Finding My Religion speaks to Shakina Reinhertz, 62, author of "Women Called to the Path of Rumi."

Happy Earth Day!

Susan Carland, with her husband Waleed Aly, and children Zayd and Aisha. [Photo: Craig Abraham]

Soaring Impulse posts a loving tribute to Suze, his dear friend who converted to Islam while they were in college together, and who is one of the compères of the Australian TV show Salam Cafe, a lecturer in politics at Monash University, and wife of Waleed Aly, author of People Like Us, How Arrogance is Dividing Islam and the West.

The first series of Salam Cafe airs on Wednesday, May 7th on SBS and will be available on-line for overseas viewers.

Ever wonder what Muslim women think, feel, and say? Writeous Sister Aaminah Hernández amplifies the voices of practicing and proud Muslim women in the 3rd Muslimahs Speak Up! Carnival.

Samaha highlights two Muslim women artists with very different approaches to Arabic calligraphy: Uzma Mirza and Rabea Chaudhry.

And, Velveteen Rabbi takes the Iraqi or Afghani Sefardic custom of asking three questions at the start of the seder and writes her own electrifying answers.

---

On the home front, Reema recommended Health Now Medical Center, a place that combines internal medicine, clinical nutrition, physical therapy, and chiropractic and seeks the root causes of medical conditions.

It's a hike down to South Bay Desiland suburbia, but I've been in for two evaluations thus far, with two more scheduled for next week. Looking at psychological, dietary, environmental, and physical reasons behind disease is not something most mainstream doctors want to do, and, to be fair, most patients aren't looking for a lifestyle change as much as a magic pill.

But I am a sum of all of my parts and believe that prescriptions often only mask the real problem. Happy as I am with Health Now thus far, I'm really hoping that they don't tell me that I'm allergic to my daily delight of dark chocolate as they did poor Reema!

I also just signed Basil and myself up for home deliveries of locally-produced, organic fruits and vegetables from family-owned Capay Farms every other week

Have I mentioned that I love living in California?

[A quick bit of background here, if you haven't just gone through and read his long piece. On the day of the July 7 bombings, Nosemonkey ended up liveblogging the event due to conflicting reports on news channels, plus the general sense of confusion that abound. It was, and still is, a great example of how blgging and/or citizen journalism can work and is possibly one of the best posts to emerge from the blogosphere].

What's refreshing is his mixture of cynicism and enthusiasm for blogging. Much as I'm a proponent for all that is Web 2.0, it's always useful to step back and ask: "So, we can do this. What is it actually achieiving?" In the case of social bookmarking especially it's a great way to share stories (an update on cutting a story out of the newspaper and passing it onto a friend), find great content, and, for journalists, track what users believe to be important. Slow burning stories can also be picked up this way.

The best blogs too aren't the ones that claim to be breaking the news or searching for bias, but the ones that have a genuine knowledge and passion for their subject (which is why I think niche sites will be the next big thing, internet wise this year).

And yes, in these cases they often surpass coverage in the traditional media because the blogger is more au fait with the subject than the journalist (assuming the blog isn't already hosted on a major site). Other citizen journalism is more a case of being in the right place at the right time and happening to have a blog.

The concept of citizen journalism from a few years ago is probably near to vanishing. Those blogs that do, on occasions, break news stories, are largely well-known and well-staffed (and often pick up their sources from other blogs or websites, they just don't bother running them through the laywers first). More often well-known bloggers use their site as a shop window and earn their corn thanks to their blog but not because of it.

But blogging is still a great medium, whether you're running a personal blog for three or four friends, covering a niche topic, or attracting a large readership as an expert on the topic. It's a great way of carrying on the conversation beyond the news article (which I still think should be kept as separate from comment as possible), can provide a great lead for a story, or a change to gauge the depth of feeling if you're a journo or PR. It also makes it easier to pick up on errors of poor writing.

I'm still positive about the bloggersphere and Web 2.0 as both a journalism and a publicity medium, and it's great to see the media embracing new trends and experimenting with them, a la Birmingham Post and delicious.

But it still doesn't hurt to be cynical about the Web. For every trend that works, there's half a dozen that the media will jump aboard only for it to be a less than stellar success. In some respects you could say the philosophy of scientific testing and paradigm shifts applies just as much to internet trends as it does to biochemistry and physics. Eventually the problems with citizen journalism or a Web 2.0 trend will collapse under the weight of all the problematic rocks that have been thrown at it.

I'm not quite sure what point or conclusion I'm trying to come to here, other than embrace Web 2.0 but also question why, how, and what you want to achieve at every step of the way.

[1] I emailed Nosemonkey with a similar request several years ago when I was doing a similar piece for my postgrad course. If I kept the post from the now defunct Coffee and PC, I'll post it up here. It'd be interesting to see if his views have changed since then.

But this post isn't just to push his site, it's also to pick up on one of his comments in the article:

"I do believe that social networks are the next big thing when it comes to specific interests. They are just so dynamic and take traditional outlets like magazines - often the glue for interest groups - onto the next level. The wisdom of the crowds thing really means that niche social nets have tremendous value. "

It's a view I'd agree with as well. Now that sites like Facebook and MySpace have peaked, some areas of the media talk about them being in decline. They're not, they've just plateaued as you'd expect with any kind of similar service.

But as users find the limitations of the big one-size-catches-all social networks, so they'll turn elsewhere to networking with people with similar interests. While Facebook is great for keeping up with friends, organising parties, events and other suchlikes, one area it falls down on is the groups for like-minded users to share interests.

The groups that work well are the petition or long-standing fan groups, or the small groups either set up for, say, charity sponsorship (I'm running the marathon, please donate - that kind of thing). The rest tend to muddle around, starting off strongly before petering out, which normally works ok for petitions, but very few of them build a proper community [1]. The rest tend to be inactive personal statements.

Take my own profile: I'm a member of two Exeter City fan groups (and, until I did a mini group cull, a further three) both of which have a similar crossover in terms of membership. In addition, I'm also a 'fan' of Exeter City as well as Exeweb, the independent fans forum, which has a healthy social side to it. Unsurprisingly, the same faces pop up in these areas as well. I'm also on the City fans mailing list, Gnet, and subscribed to the official site. [2]

So, now I've got over half a dozen different Exeter City fan groups/forums on and off Facebook all of which are slightly different to the others; that is simply too many to realistically keep track off. Exeweb and Gnet are both useful outside of Facebook but they don't allow me to post videos, blogs, or build a supporter profile, or even create a micro-group (post-match Old Timers drinkers, Birmingham Exiles, that sort of thing).

And that's where Ben's site, built using a simple Ning platform, comes in. Ben's site provides all the social networking sites a niche site needs. You can just stick to the forums, or you can get really involved and video bog from Seesmic, post videos, photos, comment on blogs, or create your own group to complain about the signage in Camden, all while building up your own profile, which isn't available on a forum, but may not be specific enough on Facebook or Myspace.

If Facebook could sort of their groups, they'd have another powerful tool in their social media behemoth. As it is, if you're a cyclist or an Exeter City fan, you have to trawl through several groups of low to medium activity that vary in quality and don't quite give that social media feel you were looking for. Niche networks, while unlikely to be as phenomenally successful as Facebook et al and certainly won't overtake them, nonetheless fill a gap in the market and some even have the potential to make a bit of money. Why place a biking equipment advert on Facebook when you can target the social network that solely consist of the exact people you're looking to target?

[1] That isn't to say the groups can't be a good PR tool, but you're still reliant on getting the numbers in.

[2] Interestingly, the two Facebook groups I've joined that have a lively and active community are A Cup of Tea Solves Everything and I'm Sorry I Haven't a Clue Appreciation Society. They're an excellent example of how a group can work well.

Anyway, that got me thinking. I've now got accounts with several social media platforms (Facebook, Twitter, delicious, blog, Digg, StumbleUpon, Netvibes) even if some I've only got a vague idea of the best way to utilise them.

So, here's a question for the regular 25 or so readers on here: What sites do you find are most useful for

1. PR & publicity purposes
2. Journalism
3. Personal stuff

And, to reverse this, which sites do you rarely use or can't find a great deal of use for in one or more of the categories above.

And finally, which sites (and don't necessarily use the ones I've listed - I'm always interested in finding out more) do you think have the most potential over the coming months/years? Personally, I like the sound of Nysght and have a lot of time for Ning, while Ben has been raving about Seesmic.

Any more for any more?

Hop over to TalkIslam and have your say - another great community-building effort from City of Brass!

Mr. Moo lists the top five men that Muslim women lurve.

Velveteen Rabbi was chosen as one of Time.com's Top 25 Blogs yesterday and today has written a meditation on the limitations of personal experience.

This year's Webby nominations are open for voting, and My Inner Adult's workplace Speaking of Faith has been nominated for a Webby on the heels of a Peabody win! Congrats!

Check out the 7th Carnival of MS Bloggers and support Writeous Sister by sending in your contribution by Sunday for next week's Muslimah Speak Up! Blog Carnival. More details, here.

Also, do read the excellent entry,  Stepford Religion.

Esimerkiksi äsken kirjoitin Kirjastot.fi:n Tekijänoikeus -palstalle tälläistä:

Re:Jos se olisi yksinkertaista, se olisi jo tehty (mace, 8.4.2008 2:20:38)

Tommi Viitamies: "Minustakin piraatti-termin käyttö osoittaa poliittiseksi vaikuttajaksi pyrkivältä huonoa harkintaa ja toimii todennäköisesti liikettä itseään vastaan."

Piraatti-termi on tekijänoikeudenhaltijoiden lanseeraama termi mustamaalaamista varten. "Piraatit" eivät tätä pelästyneet, vaan askartelivat levykkeistä itselleen veikeät silmälaput ja integroivat vastustajansa retoriikan omaansa. Arrr!

Piraatit käyttävät yleensä termiä "jakaminen".

Varsinaisena piratismina pidetään yleensä sen kaltaista liiketoimintaa, jossa on tarkoitus myydä väärennöksiä vaikkapa torilla tai netitse "alkuperäisinä" tuotteina. Vaikkapa äänitteitä, elokuvia, kelloja, laukkuja, siis fyysisiä esineitä. Jopa TTVK:n Piratismi-sivun[0] neljästä ranskalaisesta "piratismia on mm." -viivasta peräti kolme kuvaa nimenomaan tälläistä toimintaa ja "faktoja" -osio on hyvin samansisältöinen. Muistattehan, että TTVK on luotettavaksi tunnustettu taho, sillä se toimii suomalainen peruskoululaitos toimii sen kanssa yhteistyössä[1][2].

Kaikkihan ymmärtävät ettei digitaalisessa sisällönjakelussa "alkuperäisyys" ole millään tavoin mielekäs käsite.

95 vuoden suoja-aika on varmasti liian pitkä. Samoin 50 vuoden. Viisi kuulostaa aika hyvälle, eikä 14[3] kuulosta aivan kamalalle sekään. Tekijänoikeuksien periytyminen perikunnille on feodalismia, joka on eräänlainen mielisairaus.

En ymmärrä miksi vaikkapa suoja-aikaa pitäisi pidentää. Emme vielä tiedä mitä vaikutuksia sillä yhteiskuntaamme olisi. Emme myöskään tiedä mitä vaikutuksia lyhentämisellä olisi. Jos haluamme ottaa tälläisen loikan tuntemattomaan, miksi emme valitsisi lyhentämistä? Yhteiskunta /on/ koe, jonka tehtävä on kehittyä paremmaksi (mukautuvammaksi, tehokkaammaksi) yhteiskunnaksi.

Toivottavasti tekijänoikeudesta voidaan täällä jatkossakin puhua avoimesti ja tuoda esille erilaisia näkemyksiä. Selvää on, että tekijänoikeus on kirjastotoimen kannalta erittäin merkittävä lain (ja sopimusoikeuden) osa-alue ja että kirjastoinstituutio on hyvin mielenkiintoinen elementti tekijänoikeuspohdiskelussa.

"näillä palstoilla aika ajoin propagoidaan nettipiratismia rauhassa ja vastaväitteittä, mikä saattaa vaikuttaa ulospäin syntyvään mielikuvaan kirjastolaitoksesta jonain muuna kuin neutraalina välittäjänä"

Kirjastolaitos näyttäytyisi paljon huonommassa valossa, ellei se osoittaisi olevansa tietoinen erittäin laajasta, monipuolisesta ja elinvoimaisesta tekijänoikeusargumentoinnista jota /tuolla ulkona/ on käyty jo vuosi(kymmeni)en ajan.

Emme varmastikaan voi vaieta keskustelemasta näistä asioista sen vuoksi, että saattaisimme näyttää pahalta näitä avoimia foorumeita lukevien ulkopuolisen silmiin. Se tuskin olisi kovin ammattimaista. Jos Kirjastot.fin palstojen tehtävä olisi olla kirjaston mainos, pelin henkeen kuuluisi salailu, peittely, vääristely ja mielikuvien manipulointi. Kirjastot.fin keskustelupalstat ovat kuitenkin sisäinen työkalu, eivät mainos.

Jep. Erittäin mielenkiintoinen vivahde keskustelussa ovat Creative Commonsin, GNU GPL:n, copyleftin ja muun lisensointikeskustelun myötä paremmin esiin noussut ymmärrys, että tekijällä /itsellään/ on oikeus määritellä millä ehdoilla hänen tekosiaan voi käyttää. Tekijä on emansipoitunut. Myös akateemiselta puolelta virtaa paljon hyvää, Open Access -hommat ja niin edelleen, akateemisen ihanteen mukaisesti. Keskustelun näkeminen non-interventionististen neoliberaalien (piraattien) ja fasistien (tekijänoikeuden haltijat) välisenä, polaarisena taisteluna on typerää ja melko mielenkiinnotonta eikä Kirjastot.fi:ssä onneksi tuollalailla asiaa nähdäkään. Juuri siksi, että kirjasto on käyttäjät vs. haltijat -taistelussa ulkopuolinen taho joka kuitenkin on erittäin riippuvainen noiden kahden puolen keskenäisistä sopimuksista (so. tekijänoikeudesta).

Itse toivoisin että näillä palstoilla liikkuisi enemmänkin osallistujia, jotka eivät ole kirjastolaisia. Pidän ihmeenä, jopa tragediana, että olemme saaneet olla täällä hiekkalaatikossamme näin kauan ilman että mukaan on liittynyt merkittäviä määriä vaikkapa tutkijoita, lakimiehiä tai toimittajia, tuottajia tai artisteja tai niitä piraatteja. Osaisimmekohan ensinkään suhtautua jos nämä Kirjastot.fi:ssä käymämme keskustelut alkaisivat jostain syystä kiinnostaa "ulkopuolisia" vai vetäytyisimmekö kilpikonnapuolustukseen salasanojen taakse.

Piraattipuoluetta ei itse aio äänestää, samasta syystä kuin en aio äänestää mitään tai ketään muutakaan eduskuntavaaleissa; kansallisvaltiollinen parlamentarismi ei vastaa käsitystäni politiikasta, eli asioiden hoitamisesta[4].

[0] http://www.antipiracy.fi/tekijanoikeusjapirat...ratismi.html
[1] http://www.antipiracy.fi/ajankohtaista/uutinen.html?id=8112
[2] http://www.tekijanoikeus.fi/
[3] http://www.google.com/search?q=cambridge+%221...22+copyright
[4] http://dictionary.reference.com/search?q=politics

Haluaisin, että blogini olisi todellinen weblog, siis loki web-presenssistäni ja laajemminkin!
Unelmani on, että minulla olisi pelkkä fiidi ilman minkäänlaista blogi-sivua. Haluaisin julkaista itseäni RSS:nä. Olenko lähestymässä jotain, jonka voin toteuttaa Jaiku+del.icio.us+Flickr -yhdistelmällä?

Quite how I found them is interesting in itself. They subscribed to my Twitter feed - either they're devoted readers of this blog, if such a description isn't an oxymoron,  or they just saw me on a couple of feeds I follow and thought 'bugger it, this chap looks like he's interested in the media'. Either way, I'm quite glad they did.

One day, an e e cummings poem on my site was linked to by a men's discussion thread. Subject: The work of art that has gotten you laid the most.

The number of hits I got from there was outrageous.

Something about a godblog being swarmed by hundreds of horny men calculating the worth of a beautiful love poem made me sick.

That was just one of the reasons why I left.

My own feeling is that any regulation probably wouldn't work, because the web moves too fast, and probably wouldn't solve long-standing problems or fears about the number of children using social network sites.

[Although you could also argue that as these kids have been using the internet all their lives, they're probably a hell of a lot more switched on and web-literate than most of us adults.]

If any social network wants to get a bit of good PR, they should develop/announce new privacy controls, get a bit of positive press, and chances are the media will move on elsewhere if they think the issue's being sorted, and the government may well forget about it, and find something else equally evil to turn their sites upon.

Quite what privacy controls or codes or conduct or whatever else they could put it place is a moot point. In the comments, I suggested that a privacy tour that explains exactly how privacy settings work and how you can protect yourself and your personal details might be the best interim solution.

David also muses that firstly, parents should take more responsibility, and also that if social networks started from a point of locked down info, that might be another solution. Although he also concedes it would give a greater learning curve so could discourage new users.

One thing is clear: the fact that not even those who work with or around the sites on a regular basis can see an immediate solution means those who don't (ie Gordon and other politicians) [1] shouldn't rush in with ill-thought through and knee-jerk regulation and legislation.

I won't hold my breath.

[1] Perhaps they should put the person who runs 10 Downing Street's Twitter and Flickr feeds in charge of web strategy. At least it's somebody who a) knows how to use a Web 2.0 service and b) Seems to understand how Web 2.0 works.

Breath still not being held. 

I wrote it in 2003, shortly after my first Devic's exacerbation left me paralyzed from the waist down. Re-reading what I wrote then brought back so many memories: the painful bodily breakdown, the emotional and mental fog, and just how terrified and lost Basil and I were throughout, newlyweds clutching at each other for comfort and only ending up feeling more alone.

Why "sex, drugs, rock 'n' roll?" My pre-illness lifestyle was obsessed with the world and the worldly. Reading Morphine I realize again what a shock it was to be paralyzed, to confront the "impenetrable solitude" that lies within each of us, to see my life as empty...and to begin to slowly stumble towards God from that place of solitude and brokenness.

---

Two other posts of interest at o|m are Love Vs. Infatuation and Regarding those who Insult the Prophets -p- and Our Responses.

Click the link to the left to see the wonderful photoblog Absolutely Nothing that is my pick o' the week, and check out these two fabulous, thoughtful, and bracingly honest denizens of Blogistan:

Me Again, Beasley and The Muppie Chronicles.

Hop over and introduce yourself if you haven't already.

Debatten om Geert Wilders film har virkelig tiltrukket folk til bloggen.

As with most social networking Web 2.0 sites, once you start building up your network you'll get a lot out of it. Currently in my network Nosemonkey is the only one who publishes his public RSS feeds, which means I've got no excuse for not getting up to speed on the EU.

Netvibes Ginger is the kind of site I hope takes off because, unlike a lot of Web 2.0 stuff that I've taken a while to get, I've automatically understood why it's useful to your common or garden web user, and how to use it. Don't underestimate simplicity. Used in conjunction with something like delicious, Digg, or Mixx (one for your RSS feeds, one for bookmarking - and Netvibes allows you to publish your delicious feed) and you've got one hell of a tool at your fingertips, plus the chance to discover some great blogs via your friends.It does tend to slow up in IE a bit, but Firefox and Safari have no such problems, which is just another reason to ditch IE, as if you needed one.

Once I was near a computer, I twittered about the double booking of seats and the general chaos on the journey. Had I got round to setting up Twitter on my phone, it would have gone up even earlier, probably around the same time as I text my old colleague.

And that, there, is precisely why Twitter could be a great tool, for both regional and national journalists, especially if you've got a good mix of people in your network.

So, say I was scrabbling around for a story to fill the bank holiday weekend. Say I've got a friend on Twitter and got the feed I'd typed. Hey presto - a nice rail chaos story to tide over a quiet news weekend. Get a good network in your Twitter community and you never know what stories can land in your lap.

Interestingly, Joanna Geary's Twitter feed today is largely concerned with just that. Earlier she posed the question:

"What would you say to a religious affairs writer who says there's no point her joining Twitter "because my community is not on there"?"

before thanking her fellow Twitterers for all the suggestions and concluding:

"It's more than a tool for tech heads."

And think of what can be done the other end. Get your newsroom set up with a Twitter account and you can send out a Tweet about travel chaos, etc etc. It's all very easy and as more people take to Twitter (and it looks as if it's starting to move into the mainstream) you've got a great way to hook in a loyal audience and give them more reasons to visit their website or tune in.

And, while we're here, a further reason why it's a good idea to get your Technorati or RSS feeds delivered to your inbox, or get yourself a netvibes account: Kent Councillor John Ward's resignation after a post appeared on his blog advocating sterilisation for parents on benefits.

As more councillors and MPs set up blogs, the greater the chance you'll be able to get a good story out of their writings. And if that's landing in your inbox before your competitors have even thought to check the councillor's website, you've got a nice exclusive in front out you.

Vis jeres smukke ansigter frem på den måde, så det ikke kun de konservative kræfter, der fylder lærredet. Medierne har vist også en stor rolle at spille i dette faktum, men alligevel har i muslimer også en rolle, et ansvar overfor jeres medmennesker, jer selv, overfor samfundet og overfor Herren. Gud elsker regulære gode gerninger selvom de er små, og hvilken god gerning er det ikke, at få åbnet øjnene for den sandhed, som bliver skjult, tilbageholdt, som den strålende måne, som dækkes af de mørke skyer i en kold storm vejr.

Abu Hurairah reported: Messenger of Allah (pbuh) said, "Hasten to do good deeds before you are overtaken by one of the seven afflictions.'' Then (giving a warning) he said, "Are you waiting for such poverty which will make you unmindful of devotion; or prosperity which will make you corrupt, or disease as will disable you, or such senility as will make you mentally unstable, or sudden death,

Narrated 'Aisha: The Prophet was asked, "What deeds are loved most by Allah?" He said, "The most regular constant deeds even though they may be few." He added,'Don't take upon yourselves, except the deeds which are within your ability."

"So hasten towards all that is good". (Quran 2:148)

Lad freden og sandheden af en muslims rette natur spredes til alle verdens hjørner, alle kontinenter, alle hjerter via pennens magt.  Lyset skal frem og lyse på alle uvidende sjæle, som desværre ikke kan se hvad vi virkelig består af, hvad vores tanker er skabt af.

Derudover er der kommet en ny muslimsk blogger til, Mohammed Jawads taletid, og denne bror er på kort tid allerede i top 100 listen over wordpress mest voksende blogge. Flot!

Gode gerninger er som sagt også at hjælpe andre i nød, give husly til den rejsende, fjerne grene på befærdede veje, give omsorg overfor fattige, ældre og syge, give dyrene deres rettigheder og ja jeg kan jo blive ved. En god gerning løfter hjertet op ved at lade velsignelsen af den gode gerning strømme igennem hjertets kar og fylde det med indre fred.

Her Native Deen med sangen "Good deeds":