ELECTRONIC MAIL, or e-mail, is well-known among many people for its innumerable advantages. Ask any novice Internet user and the virtues of e-mail will start flowing in: it is quicker to type, more convenient, reaches its destination more quickly and the list goes on. Most of the people are all too happy that they don’t, in many cases, have to adhere to the usual hassle of checking spelling and grammar. Instead, they’re more relaxed in e-mail interaction. What most people don’t realize is that even though no one is very rigid about spelling and grammar mistakes with e-mail, a breach of the code of e-mail etiquette can be a serious offence, especially if you’re sending a formal e-mail. So what are all those necessary rules which constitute e-mail etiquette in today’s e-correspondence?
One web site to start your quest for the answer to the above question is http:// www.emailreplies.com/. This is one web site dedicated to e-mail etiquette. After explaining the reasons why e-mail etiquette is so important, it gives you 32 rules of etiquette. These rules are explained in detail as well. Some of these rules include instructions to give a personal touch to e-mail, be to the point, refrain from forwarding chain letters, avoid discussion of controversial subjects through e-mail and avoid run-on sentences. This web site also includes links to paid disclaimer software and replies tools which you can use to spruce up your e-mail management skills. In the end, there are loads of links to similar websites around the Internet.
Another useful web site which claims to tell you how to make a positive impact when sending e-mail is at http://www.emailaddresses.com/guide_etiquette.htm. It has some different tips to offer from the above web sites. For instance, did you know that you should never write e-mail addresses of all your friends in the “To” line since this exposes them to possible spam? Or do you realize that if you quote large chunks of text from the original e-mail with a one-line reply, it gets really irritating? This web site has all such kinds of advice and more.
This web site, http://owl.english.purdue.edu/handouts/pw/p_emailett.html, speaks of e-mail etiquette mainly from the academic point of view. But nonetheless, there is some very useful stuff here as well. For instance, some pertinent questions like ‘when should you not send e-mail?’ are discussed. The concept of e-mail flaming is discussed in detail as well, with instructions to strictly refrain from it. There is also a section of how long the e-mails should be — another useful question. You can access more e-mail etiquette at http://www.learnthenet.com/english/html/65mailet.htm. Apart from what you have already read, this one delves on the broader aspect of e-mail etiquette. Using smilies in the appropriate places, avoiding nasty e-mails and avoiding all capital letters are some of the tips it gives out.
I know this may sound incredulous, but obeying some rules of e-mail etiquette may mean breaking some rules of grammar. “A Beginner’s Guide to Effective Email” at http://www.webfoot.com/advice/email.top.html is a very comprehensive web site, detailing the minute aspects of e-mail. In particular the “Format section” argues that you must be very careful about the technicalities of the e-mail software you and the recipient of your e-mail are using. Yep, you cannot in many cases confirm that they are compatible with each other. But the trick of the trade is to play it safe. For that, you must try not to use punctuation marks too frequently, format your text too much or type in URLs without “http.” Formatting the text essentially refers to underlining the text, changing the colours and using fancy fonts. Remember that even if you do break these rules, your e-mail will reach its destination in a total mess. And it won’t create a very good impression either. Apart from that, there is a useful section on what makes e-mail different from conventional means of communication, the importance of useful subject lines and proper greetings and signatures.
Did you know that your career may actually depend on how well you write your e-mails? Check out http://careerplanning.about.com/library/weekly/aa050401a.htm whose first pages answers this question in the affirmative. Poorly written e-mails create a very bad impression on the prospective employer. The next three pages go on to brief you about the important things to bear in mind while interacting through e-mail. Specifically it talks about using the right tone, minding your manners, keeping to the point, not using abbreviations whose meanings are not well-known, and minding your spelling and grammar. Yep, that’s really important to remember: your friend may forgive a few mistakes there, but a prospective employer or your professor certainly won’t.
Now, it is time to test yourself. Did you actually learn something from the above web sites? Netiquette Quizzes at http://www.20ishparents.com/archives/net1.shtml and http://www.bucks.edu/distance/dlresources/etiquette.htm
Are two places to find out where you stand for yourself. There is also a Yahoo Mail Netiquette Quiz at http://rc.yahoo.com/promotions/netiquette/ for the same purpose. These quizzes include MCQs as well as situations designed to test your knowledge as well as understanding.
In the end, http://www.dynamoo.com/technical/etiquette.htm offers a quick checklist of do’s and don’t’s concerned with e-mail. It would be a very good idea to print it out and stick it somewhere near your PC so you don’t forget it in a hurry.
Sunday, January 16, 2005
Saturday, January 15, 2005
Orkutlery
“WHAT is the point of Orkut?” I cried in frustration after signing up for an account to become part of an online community that is fast becoming a very popular online hangout.
“Joining and being active in communities,” said my sister rather casually.
From that day (which was about two months ago) onwards, I’ve been literally addicted to Orkut. Come rain, hail or storm, I never take a break from signing into my account at least twice a day. Back when I started signing up for communities, I joined about two dozen of them. So one can only imagine the amount of internet time required to keep up with those two dozen communities on a daily basis.
I discovered many long-lost friends, made new ones and congratulated myself on finally finding something constructive to do with my time. But all that changed when the true meaning of “beta” began to dawn on me.
One fine day I logged on to my Orkut account, and started checking out the latest topics on the different communities. Soon, I was typing a reply to one of them. However, after about five minutes when I finished writing a “mini-thesis” (a common word on Orkut for long replies), and clicked on “send,” I was in for a surprise. The screen in front me said “User account blocked.” It went on to inform me that I had been abusing my account (?) and as a penalty my account had been blocked.
Before I could fall out of my chair the last paragraph somewhat pacified me — their alarm could be triggered by mistake and in that case I could write to them. Rest assured, I wasted no time in doing just that. However, three days passed and still I did not hear from them. Imagine having to read interesting threads knowing I couldn’t reply.
I came across loads of friends whom I couldn’t add to my list. Worst of all were the times when I forgot my account was blocked and I wrote a few nice long posts only to realize later that they had to sit patiently on my desktop till I was out of the “Orkut jail.” Suffice it to say that after a painfully long wait, my imprisonment ended.
If you’re thinking that this was a one-time issue, guess again. To date, I’ve lost count of the number of times my account has been blocked. The only intelligent thing I have discovered about this whole fiasco is what actually triggers their alarm. Imagine this scenario — your cable net server refuses to budge after you have typed a scrapbook entry. You click on “send” once, twice, thrice and finally on the tenth attempt, the server decides to have mercy on you. Upon refreshing the scrapbook, you realize that one entry has been posted ten times. You painstakingly delete the nine extra entries, but by that time the Orkut alarm has been triggered.
Apparently the webmasters is oblivious to the phenomenon of my-cable-net-doesn’t-feel-like-working, so clicking on”send” 10 times is counted as spam. Now you can bang your head against your PC when I write this, but any time your ISP or cable refuses to work while you’re on Orkut, don’t even try pressing any buttons more than twice or you risk being blocked for what seems like an eternity.
Another problem with Orkut is session expiry every thirty minutes. Now I don’t mind re-entering my username and password after every thirty minutes, but the problem with this screen is that it pops up after every five minutes and sometimes proceeds to tell you that the page you wanted to access has expired. If this isn’t annoying, I don’t know what is, and if you’re like me and have a dozen windows open, this screen will pop up in all of them.
The trick here is to enter your username and password in just one window and for the rest, click the back button and then re-click to go to wherever you wanted. Remember, if you re-enter your username and password a dozen times, the Orkut alarm will be triggered once again for some inexplicable reason that I have yet to learn about.
Another bug I’ve discovered is that whenever I try to send anyone a message, and my thirty minutes happen to expire then and there, I re-enter my username and password. Now, instead of the “sent box” page, it gives me a blank “compose” page. The sent box however does show the message written in it. Of course don’t let yourself be fooled by that for your message has not been sent. Maybe it will go through, maybe it won’t — you just have to keep trying your luck.
Then there are the usual problems of communities not being sub-divided. Searching for a community can only be done effectively if you know of some good techniques. Type “KU” in the search box and you’ll get all sorts of weird communities in various languages. Even typing in “Orkut” can turn up some pretty confusing results.
Of course, many of us are also familiar with Orkut’s trademark feature; the “bad, bad server” window. I literally know the whole error message by heart because it has popped up so many times. To date, I don’t understand why Orkut allows an infinite number of invites when its server cannot handle extra traffic.
However, one thing is for sure; it’s very irritating when you’re trying to open different communities in different windows, and this message shows up in nine out of 10 windows, and you can’t even refresh the page.
All this is not meant to scare you off Orkut. It is certainly an excellent place to get in touch with long-lost friends and maintain contact with present ones. The communities are a very interesting past time and the fact that it is a closed network is also a feather in its cap. Having said that, you can honestly tell that it is a beta service for the innumerable bugs are sure to drive you up the wall on more than one occasion.
“Joining and being active in communities,” said my sister rather casually.
From that day (which was about two months ago) onwards, I’ve been literally addicted to Orkut. Come rain, hail or storm, I never take a break from signing into my account at least twice a day. Back when I started signing up for communities, I joined about two dozen of them. So one can only imagine the amount of internet time required to keep up with those two dozen communities on a daily basis.
I discovered many long-lost friends, made new ones and congratulated myself on finally finding something constructive to do with my time. But all that changed when the true meaning of “beta” began to dawn on me.
One fine day I logged on to my Orkut account, and started checking out the latest topics on the different communities. Soon, I was typing a reply to one of them. However, after about five minutes when I finished writing a “mini-thesis” (a common word on Orkut for long replies), and clicked on “send,” I was in for a surprise. The screen in front me said “User account blocked.” It went on to inform me that I had been abusing my account (?) and as a penalty my account had been blocked.
Before I could fall out of my chair the last paragraph somewhat pacified me — their alarm could be triggered by mistake and in that case I could write to them. Rest assured, I wasted no time in doing just that. However, three days passed and still I did not hear from them. Imagine having to read interesting threads knowing I couldn’t reply.
I came across loads of friends whom I couldn’t add to my list. Worst of all were the times when I forgot my account was blocked and I wrote a few nice long posts only to realize later that they had to sit patiently on my desktop till I was out of the “Orkut jail.” Suffice it to say that after a painfully long wait, my imprisonment ended.
If you’re thinking that this was a one-time issue, guess again. To date, I’ve lost count of the number of times my account has been blocked. The only intelligent thing I have discovered about this whole fiasco is what actually triggers their alarm. Imagine this scenario — your cable net server refuses to budge after you have typed a scrapbook entry. You click on “send” once, twice, thrice and finally on the tenth attempt, the server decides to have mercy on you. Upon refreshing the scrapbook, you realize that one entry has been posted ten times. You painstakingly delete the nine extra entries, but by that time the Orkut alarm has been triggered.
Apparently the webmasters is oblivious to the phenomenon of my-cable-net-doesn’t-feel-like-working, so clicking on”send” 10 times is counted as spam. Now you can bang your head against your PC when I write this, but any time your ISP or cable refuses to work while you’re on Orkut, don’t even try pressing any buttons more than twice or you risk being blocked for what seems like an eternity.
Another problem with Orkut is session expiry every thirty minutes. Now I don’t mind re-entering my username and password after every thirty minutes, but the problem with this screen is that it pops up after every five minutes and sometimes proceeds to tell you that the page you wanted to access has expired. If this isn’t annoying, I don’t know what is, and if you’re like me and have a dozen windows open, this screen will pop up in all of them.
The trick here is to enter your username and password in just one window and for the rest, click the back button and then re-click to go to wherever you wanted. Remember, if you re-enter your username and password a dozen times, the Orkut alarm will be triggered once again for some inexplicable reason that I have yet to learn about.
Another bug I’ve discovered is that whenever I try to send anyone a message, and my thirty minutes happen to expire then and there, I re-enter my username and password. Now, instead of the “sent box” page, it gives me a blank “compose” page. The sent box however does show the message written in it. Of course don’t let yourself be fooled by that for your message has not been sent. Maybe it will go through, maybe it won’t — you just have to keep trying your luck.
Then there are the usual problems of communities not being sub-divided. Searching for a community can only be done effectively if you know of some good techniques. Type “KU” in the search box and you’ll get all sorts of weird communities in various languages. Even typing in “Orkut” can turn up some pretty confusing results.
Of course, many of us are also familiar with Orkut’s trademark feature; the “bad, bad server” window. I literally know the whole error message by heart because it has popped up so many times. To date, I don’t understand why Orkut allows an infinite number of invites when its server cannot handle extra traffic.
However, one thing is for sure; it’s very irritating when you’re trying to open different communities in different windows, and this message shows up in nine out of 10 windows, and you can’t even refresh the page.
All this is not meant to scare you off Orkut. It is certainly an excellent place to get in touch with long-lost friends and maintain contact with present ones. The communities are a very interesting past time and the fact that it is a closed network is also a feather in its cap. Having said that, you can honestly tell that it is a beta service for the innumerable bugs are sure to drive you up the wall on more than one occasion.
Saturday, December 25, 2004
And the ‘Bloggie’ goes to...
HONESTLY speaking, when almost everyone in any field can receive an award for excellence, why should bloggers be left out? After all, there are many bloggers out there who put in a tremendous amount of work into their blogs.
While some like to tinker with their templates, adding new interactive features every now and then, others take ages to type their entries to provide an entertaining and intellectually stimulating read to their visitors.
It seems as though some webmasters are thinking along similar lines. A quick search on the internet shows that there are now certain websites which are completely dedicated to giving out blog awards.
One such website is Asia Weblog Awards . Awards here are quite analogous to the “Viewers’ Choice Awards” which is a popular feature on most television channels. Similarly, these are “Bloggers’ Choice Awards.”
Probing further into this website, one can’t help but wonder why these awards are being given out in the first place. According to the webmaster Phil Ingram, director and co-founder of Upstart Design, a Hong Kong-based company, “someone was doing something similar in the US — and 95 per cent of the world was in the foreign category so while sitting in the bath I suddenly thought why not do something closer to home? I coded the whole thing in a day.”
Categories anyone?: There are about 26 categories including “best essayist,” “best political blog,” “best designed blog” to name a few. There are national categories too, “best Pakistani blog,” being one of them. So how did Ingram decide on these diverse categories? “The categories were just what came to me. I added a few by popular request over time,” he explains.
Of course one has the right to be a tad sceptical about the winners.
After all, voting is done through the internet and its quite possible that one person casts his/her vote an indefinite number of times, especially if there isn’t a foolproof system to prevent this. So how did the webmaster manage?
“Voting control was done though a combination of IP recording, cookies, and going through 24000 votes by eye, sorting them by different fields, looking for obvious patterns. I’d say I was 99 per cent accurate.”
The “Best Pakistani Blog” Award went to Zackaria Ajmal (http://zackvision.com/weblog/). When asked about his thoughts on the fairness of the voting process, he replied, “Any internet voting process cannot, by definition, be fair. However, Phil did his best to weed out spurious votes. My guess is that it should have removed a majority of vote stuffing.
There are still ways to vote multiple times but it requires a bit more effort. There is also an extra bias based on which internet users find out about the voting and are motivated enough to vote. That means only readers and friends of those bloggers who publicized the awards would vote.”
Furthermore, he pointed out that “a blog award is not an Oscar. I think of these awards more in terms of the publicity they give the nominated bloggers than in terms of winning. For example, I got quite a few visitors from the Asia Weblog Awards website. I hope some of them stick around and become regular readers” (the official website of this year’s Asia Weblog Awards is http://2004weblogawards.com).
Apart from Asia Weblog Awards, there are many national websites awarding bloggers. Two notable websites in this regard are the Philippine Blog Awards and Australian Blog Awards .
The Guardian also held its second British blog awards . Of course the downside of these localized awards is the limited number of blogs to which one can relate to, unless there is an award in the foreign category. Websites which award bloggers from around the world are more extensive and have a wider range of interesting blogs to bookmark.
One example of the latter which has already held its fourth blog awards ceremony is Weblog Awards
.com/>.
It picks out the best in the blogging world during a year and then awards them as “Bloggie.” Aspiring bloggers can submit their nominations via the website. Some of the fascinating categories include “Best Weblog Directory,” “Best Article or Essay about Weblog,” “Best Web Application for Weblogs,” “Best Programming of a Weblog site” and “Best Group Weblog.”
What is interesting to note is that the website gives out awards not only with respect to their content, layout and programming, but it also awards those websites which offer a blog-related service such as commenting and blog directories. Bloggers are also awarded according to region such as “Best Asian Blog” and “Best American Blog.”
Although there are no cameras or lights and no victory speeches, getting a blog award is definitely an ego booster. One hopes that such awards will become more popular and will be publicized more effectively around the internet.
It is after all, the competition spurred by the awards, which will go a long way in improving the quality of blogs in general. And the average internet user will ultimately benefit from more thought-provoking content presented in a creative way.
While some like to tinker with their templates, adding new interactive features every now and then, others take ages to type their entries to provide an entertaining and intellectually stimulating read to their visitors.
It seems as though some webmasters are thinking along similar lines. A quick search on the internet shows that there are now certain websites which are completely dedicated to giving out blog awards.
One such website is Asia Weblog Awards . Awards here are quite analogous to the “Viewers’ Choice Awards” which is a popular feature on most television channels. Similarly, these are “Bloggers’ Choice Awards.”
Probing further into this website, one can’t help but wonder why these awards are being given out in the first place. According to the webmaster Phil Ingram, director and co-founder of Upstart Design, a Hong Kong-based company, “someone was doing something similar in the US — and 95 per cent of the world was in the foreign category so while sitting in the bath I suddenly thought why not do something closer to home? I coded the whole thing in a day.”
Categories anyone?: There are about 26 categories including “best essayist,” “best political blog,” “best designed blog” to name a few. There are national categories too, “best Pakistani blog,” being one of them. So how did Ingram decide on these diverse categories? “The categories were just what came to me. I added a few by popular request over time,” he explains.
Of course one has the right to be a tad sceptical about the winners.
After all, voting is done through the internet and its quite possible that one person casts his/her vote an indefinite number of times, especially if there isn’t a foolproof system to prevent this. So how did the webmaster manage?
“Voting control was done though a combination of IP recording, cookies, and going through 24000 votes by eye, sorting them by different fields, looking for obvious patterns. I’d say I was 99 per cent accurate.”
The “Best Pakistani Blog” Award went to Zackaria Ajmal (http://zackvision.com/weblog/). When asked about his thoughts on the fairness of the voting process, he replied, “Any internet voting process cannot, by definition, be fair. However, Phil did his best to weed out spurious votes. My guess is that it should have removed a majority of vote stuffing.
There are still ways to vote multiple times but it requires a bit more effort. There is also an extra bias based on which internet users find out about the voting and are motivated enough to vote. That means only readers and friends of those bloggers who publicized the awards would vote.”
Furthermore, he pointed out that “a blog award is not an Oscar. I think of these awards more in terms of the publicity they give the nominated bloggers than in terms of winning. For example, I got quite a few visitors from the Asia Weblog Awards website. I hope some of them stick around and become regular readers” (the official website of this year’s Asia Weblog Awards is http://2004weblogawards.com).
Apart from Asia Weblog Awards, there are many national websites awarding bloggers. Two notable websites in this regard are the Philippine Blog Awards and Australian Blog Awards .
The Guardian also held its second British blog awards . Of course the downside of these localized awards is the limited number of blogs to which one can relate to, unless there is an award in the foreign category. Websites which award bloggers from around the world are more extensive and have a wider range of interesting blogs to bookmark.
One example of the latter which has already held its fourth blog awards ceremony is Weblog Awards
.com/>.
It picks out the best in the blogging world during a year and then awards them as “Bloggie.” Aspiring bloggers can submit their nominations via the website. Some of the fascinating categories include “Best Weblog Directory,” “Best Article or Essay about Weblog,” “Best Web Application for Weblogs,” “Best Programming of a Weblog site” and “Best Group Weblog.”
What is interesting to note is that the website gives out awards not only with respect to their content, layout and programming, but it also awards those websites which offer a blog-related service such as commenting and blog directories. Bloggers are also awarded according to region such as “Best Asian Blog” and “Best American Blog.”
Although there are no cameras or lights and no victory speeches, getting a blog award is definitely an ego booster. One hopes that such awards will become more popular and will be publicized more effectively around the internet.
It is after all, the competition spurred by the awards, which will go a long way in improving the quality of blogs in general. And the average internet user will ultimately benefit from more thought-provoking content presented in a creative way.
Monday, November 1, 2004
Radio Islam
There was a time when one could actually differentiate between radio and internet as two different mass media. With sophisticated technology associated with sound and video cards on the rise, internet radio is catching on fast. With nearly 15 days to go before Ramadan concludes, you can still add a spiritual touch to your web experience by tuning into Islamic broadcasting networks on the net.
Islamic Broadcasting Network
www.ibn.net
IBN has a wide variety of shows catering to different age groups. The website features schedules and highlights of different shows. You can also access shows from the IBN archives and rate them. There is a separate website for IBN Youth which has programs tailor-made for a younger audience. Some notable programs discuss book reviews, international law, Muslim identity in the West, internships and careers, family and community issues.
Radio Islam
www.radioislam.org
This is another 24/7 radio station which focuses on a variety of different subjects. From Quranic ayats with tafsir to ahadis and their explanation to Islamic songs and discussions on various issues. You can also apply for a radio program and become a reporter. Some interesting shows include “Talk Radio” which discusses topics regarding why new Muslims leave Islam and the different challenges Muslims face today. Apart from that, there are short stories, lectures from different scholars and news reports from the Muslim point of view.
Window on Islam
www.windowonislam.com
Window on Islam is a weekly radio show which you can tune into online. You can browse through the show’s complete catalogue and access old audio files from the archives. Some of the topics discussed here include the fundamentals of Islam, women’s rights in Islam, stories of Prophets and misconceptions about Islam.
Multimedia Centre
www.islamicity.com/multimedia
This website not only offers radio programs, but you can also view the broadcasts online as well. There are loads of lectures, audio and video, as well as live Taraweeh in Ramadan, religious debates, coverage of conferences, documentaries and Quran recitation and translation.
Islamic Broadcasting Network
www.ibn.net
IBN has a wide variety of shows catering to different age groups. The website features schedules and highlights of different shows. You can also access shows from the IBN archives and rate them. There is a separate website for IBN Youth which has programs tailor-made for a younger audience. Some notable programs discuss book reviews, international law, Muslim identity in the West, internships and careers, family and community issues.
Radio Islam
www.radioislam.org
This is another 24/7 radio station which focuses on a variety of different subjects. From Quranic ayats with tafsir to ahadis and their explanation to Islamic songs and discussions on various issues. You can also apply for a radio program and become a reporter. Some interesting shows include “Talk Radio” which discusses topics regarding why new Muslims leave Islam and the different challenges Muslims face today. Apart from that, there are short stories, lectures from different scholars and news reports from the Muslim point of view.
Window on Islam
www.windowonislam.com
Window on Islam is a weekly radio show which you can tune into online. You can browse through the show’s complete catalogue and access old audio files from the archives. Some of the topics discussed here include the fundamentals of Islam, women’s rights in Islam, stories of Prophets and misconceptions about Islam.
Multimedia Centre
www.islamicity.com/multimedia
This website not only offers radio programs, but you can also view the broadcasts online as well. There are loads of lectures, audio and video, as well as live Taraweeh in Ramadan, religious debates, coverage of conferences, documentaries and Quran recitation and translation.
Sunday, October 24, 2004
Ramazan on the web
FOR millions of Muslims around the world the holy month of Ramazan signifies a total rescheduling of our daily routine as we start paying more attention to our spiritual endeavours. Ninth month of the lunar year, the month is significant in many aspects: fasting, one of the five pillars of Islam, is ordained in this month, each good deed carries extra rewards, the Taraweeh prayers are held and most importantly, there is the Night of Power (Lailat-ul-Qadr) during which the first revelation of the Quran was sent down upon Prophet Muhammad (Peace be upon him). And you can know all about it though some really comprehensive web sites around.
One web site which is definitely worth starting off with is http://www.ramadan.co.uk/. This place is totally dedicated to the month; you can not only read about the significance of Ramazan, but you can also pore through the articles on how to prepare for it and how to ensure that you don’t miss out on doing the smallest good deed.
There is an extensive audio section where you can listen to the recitation of the Quran, various supplications and Islamic songs. For children, there is an interesting collection of stories and activities related to Ramazan. Plus, the Salaam E-Cards section is there for you to wish a blessed Ramazan to your friends and relatives across the globe. Finally, if you can’t think of what to prepare for iftari, there is a whole Ramadan Recipes section featuring dishes from the cuisines of different countries. For more Ramazan special recipes you can access http://www.paknet.com.pk/recipies/ramadan.php. And for a more vast collection of e-cards, the Ramazan e-cards section on http://www.eidmubarak.com and http://www.eidmubarak.net will definitely suffice.
To find out more about Ramazan, the online Ramazan information centre at http://www.islamicity.com/ramadan/ is a very extensive web site. Here, you can listen to Quranic recitation with translation as well as memorize verses and learn Quranic Arabic. An interesting section Ramadan Around the World will detail you on how Muslims in different countries carry out the obligatory fast. Also available are some valuable references of the Quran and Hadith regarding fasting, health aspects of Ramazan, guidelines on how to develop one’s character during Ramazan and the merits of the Night of Power.
Some more details on the different aspects of fasting are discussed in the e-book 70 Matters Related to Fasting available online at http://www.islam-qa.com/Books/seyam/english.shtml. This book explains in detail the definition, benefits and virtues of fasting. It also delves on the proper etiquette of fasting, like having sehri, not delaying iftar, refraining from verbal vices while fasting, ensuring that the time during which we are fasting is spent in constructive activities etc. There are various rulings given here too, pertaining to the fast of the travellers, the sick and the elderly. There is also a detailed list of things which can break the fast. All in all, it’s a very helpful and informative e-book available for immediate reference.
Where fasting is concerned, there are many questions related to fiqh that spring to mind. If someone moves to a different country during Ramazan and there is a difference of dates, then what? What is the right age to start fasting regularly? Can one brush teeth while fasting? All these questions and loads more are answered on http://www.islam-qa.com/cgi-local/view-sub?/5|Jurisprudence_and_Islamic_Rulings(Fiqh)/Sawm_(_Fasting_). If you don’t find the answer to your question, you can check out the timings at which the web site accepts questions from the readers and then submit your own.
Health factor is extremely important where Ramazan is concerned. To ensure that you’re fit enough to fast and pray extensively during Ramazan, keep checking out http://www.muhajabah.com/ramadan-health.htm. This web site is a pretty informative health guide detailing which kinds of foods to avoid and the causes and remedies of common ailments which may strike during Ramazan. The address also explains the medical benefits of fasting as well as taraweeh prayers.
Speaking of taraweeh, listening to the taraweeh prayers broadcast from Makkah and Madina are a treat for many. And if you’re one of those people, then you can listen to the prayers at the site http://www.saudiembassy.net/Media/SaudiTV.asp. The people here claim the site will “provide a live feed of Saudi Television wherever possible.” All you need is Real Player and a sound card. If you don’t have the former, the web site has a link which you can follow to download it.
Finally, any web sites’ collection of Ramazan would be incomplete without a reference to http://www.soundvision.com/info/ramadan/. One of the most comprehensive web sites on the subject, this one not only talks about the usual aspects of fasting but also encourages you to do something for the community as a whole. If you’re a teacher, then there many Ramazan-related school projects which you can check out. If you’re a parent, there are some tips to familiarize your children with Ramazan. There are guidelines on sharing Ramazan with your neighbours and colleagues. There is also a collection of duas which you choose from to recite on the Night of Power. To follow some of the instructions on this web site, you can download, print and distribute a very good brochure from http://www.youngmuslims.ca/publications/ramadan.pdf
I hope this collection of web sites will be of help to all of you.
One web site which is definitely worth starting off with is http://www.ramadan.co.uk/. This place is totally dedicated to the month; you can not only read about the significance of Ramazan, but you can also pore through the articles on how to prepare for it and how to ensure that you don’t miss out on doing the smallest good deed.
There is an extensive audio section where you can listen to the recitation of the Quran, various supplications and Islamic songs. For children, there is an interesting collection of stories and activities related to Ramazan. Plus, the Salaam E-Cards section is there for you to wish a blessed Ramazan to your friends and relatives across the globe. Finally, if you can’t think of what to prepare for iftari, there is a whole Ramadan Recipes section featuring dishes from the cuisines of different countries. For more Ramazan special recipes you can access http://www.paknet.com.pk/recipies/ramadan.php. And for a more vast collection of e-cards, the Ramazan e-cards section on http://www.eidmubarak.com and http://www.eidmubarak.net will definitely suffice.
To find out more about Ramazan, the online Ramazan information centre at http://www.islamicity.com/ramadan/ is a very extensive web site. Here, you can listen to Quranic recitation with translation as well as memorize verses and learn Quranic Arabic. An interesting section Ramadan Around the World will detail you on how Muslims in different countries carry out the obligatory fast. Also available are some valuable references of the Quran and Hadith regarding fasting, health aspects of Ramazan, guidelines on how to develop one’s character during Ramazan and the merits of the Night of Power.
Some more details on the different aspects of fasting are discussed in the e-book 70 Matters Related to Fasting available online at http://www.islam-qa.com/Books/seyam/english.shtml. This book explains in detail the definition, benefits and virtues of fasting. It also delves on the proper etiquette of fasting, like having sehri, not delaying iftar, refraining from verbal vices while fasting, ensuring that the time during which we are fasting is spent in constructive activities etc. There are various rulings given here too, pertaining to the fast of the travellers, the sick and the elderly. There is also a detailed list of things which can break the fast. All in all, it’s a very helpful and informative e-book available for immediate reference.
Where fasting is concerned, there are many questions related to fiqh that spring to mind. If someone moves to a different country during Ramazan and there is a difference of dates, then what? What is the right age to start fasting regularly? Can one brush teeth while fasting? All these questions and loads more are answered on http://www.islam-qa.com/cgi-local/view-sub?/5|Jurisprudence_and_Islamic_Rulings(Fiqh)/Sawm_(_Fasting_). If you don’t find the answer to your question, you can check out the timings at which the web site accepts questions from the readers and then submit your own.
Health factor is extremely important where Ramazan is concerned. To ensure that you’re fit enough to fast and pray extensively during Ramazan, keep checking out http://www.muhajabah.com/ramadan-health.htm. This web site is a pretty informative health guide detailing which kinds of foods to avoid and the causes and remedies of common ailments which may strike during Ramazan. The address also explains the medical benefits of fasting as well as taraweeh prayers.
Speaking of taraweeh, listening to the taraweeh prayers broadcast from Makkah and Madina are a treat for many. And if you’re one of those people, then you can listen to the prayers at the site http://www.saudiembassy.net/Media/SaudiTV.asp. The people here claim the site will “provide a live feed of Saudi Television wherever possible.” All you need is Real Player and a sound card. If you don’t have the former, the web site has a link which you can follow to download it.
Finally, any web sites’ collection of Ramazan would be incomplete without a reference to http://www.soundvision.com/info/ramadan/. One of the most comprehensive web sites on the subject, this one not only talks about the usual aspects of fasting but also encourages you to do something for the community as a whole. If you’re a teacher, then there many Ramazan-related school projects which you can check out. If you’re a parent, there are some tips to familiarize your children with Ramazan. There are guidelines on sharing Ramazan with your neighbours and colleagues. There is also a collection of duas which you choose from to recite on the Night of Power. To follow some of the instructions on this web site, you can download, print and distribute a very good brochure from http://www.youngmuslims.ca/publications/ramadan.pdf
I hope this collection of web sites will be of help to all of you.
Thursday, July 1, 2004
Hijacked
Homepage hijackers are basically those codes or pieces of software that cause your default homepage setting in Internet Explorer to change from your settings to the hijackers’ settings. Even if you manually change IE’s default homepage setting, it will simply revert once you restart your PC. And trust me, the websites set by the hijackers to be your default homepage can be pretty sick.
So what causes your homepage to be hijacked?
The single most important factor is spyware. (Read more in Spider’s October 2003 issue). Spyware which sends information about your surfing habits can just as easily send information about your PC, hence ensuring that a third party has access to your browser’s settings.
Cookies also play an important role. You have no clue as to how many cookies are installed on your PC when you are visiting any website. Any of these cookies can be the culprit.
A program installed on your PC ensures that the hijacker’s homepage remains the default one. This program can come from any source (spyware mostly).
Some programs use the Windows startup registry. They put a reference to their hijacking program in the registry, hence every time you start Windows, this program will run and your default settings will be changed.
Hijacks can also happen if you’ve downloaded an executable file that promised to enhance the abilities of your browsers or update it. Such executable files are nothing but a means of hijacking your browser.
Some hijackers exploit a security loophole in Internet Explorer. This loophole allows the hijacking program to be installed on your PC while you are viewing a website, or by changing your system’s settings, cause the hijacker’s commands to run. Through this program, they will install one or more files which have an .hta extension. These files will be run on Startup by Windows Scripting Host and hijack your browser’s settings.
Detection and Removal
1) Install a good anti-hijack software and keep on updating and running it.
2) Perform a “*.hta” search on all your drives and see if you can locate the files with “.hta” extensions. If you find such files on any your hard drives, then change their extension to either “.hta1” or “hta_1” so that they cannot be accessed by any malicious code.
3) Edit your Windows registry so that the hijack program does not load every time you start your PC. For more technical details on how to edit your registry, check out the sites listed in this article. A word of caution here: if you don’t know what you’re doing, then you’d better not mess with the Windows registry. When my PC got hijacked, I used a combination of the following software before I got rid of the annoying homepages:
Cool Web Search Shredder
HijackThis 1.97.7
Lavasoft Ad-Aware 6.0
Spyware Blaster
Spyware Guard
SpyBot Search and Destroy
Zone Alarm Firewall
Long-term measures
1) Be very vigilant about installing any new software, especially if it makes tall claims.
2) Make sure you have good spyware detection and removal software installed and running.
3) Set your Internet Explorer’s Privacy Level to High (Tools => Internet Options => Privacy). And then click on the “Edit” button below. You can use the Edit option to enable cookies for websites you normally have to visit for example. Hotmail or Yahoo and disable the option for the rest of the websites.
4) Update your copy of Windows. I know it is a hassle but there are many security patches to correct the loopholes within your present operating system which may fall prey to a hijack attempt.
5) Beware of installing these notorious spyware programs on your system: BonziBuddy, Comet Cursors, Direct Dialer, Gator, Kazaa Media Desktop, and ZapSpot Games.
The sites
Ad-Aware http://www.lavasoftusa.com/
Cool Web Search Shredder www.spywareinfo.com/~merijn/downloads.html
HijackThis 1.97.7 www.soft32.com/download_19015.html
Merjin www.spywareinfo.com/~merijn/index.html
SpywareBlaster www.javacoolsoftware.com/spywareblaster.html
SpywareGuard www.javacoolsoftware.com/spywareguard.html
Spybot Search & Destroy http://www.safer-networking.org/
Spy Sweeper www.webroot.com/wb/products/spysweeper/index.php
Windows Update windowsupdate.microsoft.com
Zone Alarm Firewall http://spider.tm/jul2004/popwindow.html?pgsrc=www.zonelabs.com&submenu=none
So what causes your homepage to be hijacked?
The single most important factor is spyware. (Read more in Spider’s October 2003 issue). Spyware which sends information about your surfing habits can just as easily send information about your PC, hence ensuring that a third party has access to your browser’s settings.
Cookies also play an important role. You have no clue as to how many cookies are installed on your PC when you are visiting any website. Any of these cookies can be the culprit.
A program installed on your PC ensures that the hijacker’s homepage remains the default one. This program can come from any source (spyware mostly).
Some programs use the Windows startup registry. They put a reference to their hijacking program in the registry, hence every time you start Windows, this program will run and your default settings will be changed.
Hijacks can also happen if you’ve downloaded an executable file that promised to enhance the abilities of your browsers or update it. Such executable files are nothing but a means of hijacking your browser.
Some hijackers exploit a security loophole in Internet Explorer. This loophole allows the hijacking program to be installed on your PC while you are viewing a website, or by changing your system’s settings, cause the hijacker’s commands to run. Through this program, they will install one or more files which have an .hta extension. These files will be run on Startup by Windows Scripting Host and hijack your browser’s settings.
Detection and Removal
1) Install a good anti-hijack software and keep on updating and running it.
2) Perform a “*.hta” search on all your drives and see if you can locate the files with “.hta” extensions. If you find such files on any your hard drives, then change their extension to either “.hta1” or “hta_1” so that they cannot be accessed by any malicious code.
3) Edit your Windows registry so that the hijack program does not load every time you start your PC. For more technical details on how to edit your registry, check out the sites listed in this article. A word of caution here: if you don’t know what you’re doing, then you’d better not mess with the Windows registry. When my PC got hijacked, I used a combination of the following software before I got rid of the annoying homepages:
Cool Web Search Shredder
HijackThis 1.97.7
Lavasoft Ad-Aware 6.0
Spyware Blaster
Spyware Guard
SpyBot Search and Destroy
Zone Alarm Firewall
Long-term measures
1) Be very vigilant about installing any new software, especially if it makes tall claims.
2) Make sure you have good spyware detection and removal software installed and running.
3) Set your Internet Explorer’s Privacy Level to High (Tools => Internet Options => Privacy). And then click on the “Edit” button below. You can use the Edit option to enable cookies for websites you normally have to visit for example. Hotmail or Yahoo and disable the option for the rest of the websites.
4) Update your copy of Windows. I know it is a hassle but there are many security patches to correct the loopholes within your present operating system which may fall prey to a hijack attempt.
5) Beware of installing these notorious spyware programs on your system: BonziBuddy, Comet Cursors, Direct Dialer, Gator, Kazaa Media Desktop, and ZapSpot Games.
The sites
Ad-Aware http://www.lavasoftusa.com/
Cool Web Search Shredder www.spywareinfo.com/~merijn/downloads.html
HijackThis 1.97.7 www.soft32.com/download_19015.html
Merjin www.spywareinfo.com/~merijn/index.html
SpywareBlaster www.javacoolsoftware.com/spywareblaster.html
SpywareGuard www.javacoolsoftware.com/spywareguard.html
Spybot Search & Destroy http://www.safer-networking.org/
Spy Sweeper www.webroot.com/wb/products/spysweeper/index.php
Windows Update windowsupdate.microsoft.com
Zone Alarm Firewall http://spider.tm/jul2004/popwindow.html?pgsrc=www.zonelabs.com&submenu=none
Thursday, June 10, 2004
Eight Days a Week - Website
Just how careful does one need to be in one’s day-to-day life? The website www.safewithin.com should give you some idea. The website is entirely dedicated to disseminating information on the how-to of keeping yourself secure from various threats. The “Auto Safety” section will brief you on safe driving. The “Child Safety” section is for all those parents who want to make sure their child is safe when they’re not around. The “Home Safety” section is all about securing your house from various overt and covert threats. If you have a pet, then check out the “Pet Safety” section as well. But don’t miss the “Personal Safety” section which will help en route to physical safety and healthy eating habits. Is there something you should be watching out for, especially in this season? The “Seasonal Safety” section has the answer. The “Senior Safety” section addresses health concerns of elderly parents and grandparents. And finally, if you are planning to go abroad this summer, check out the “Travel Safety” section. It is definitely a very comprehensive website, but make sure you don’t become a safety freak by the time you’re done browsing this website.
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)