Sunday, December 27, 2015

Muslims around the world respond brilliantly to Isis leader's call to arms

Independent, Muslims around the world respond brilliantly to Isis leader's call to arms, 27 Dec 2015 " ... in a reminder that the overwhelming majority of people follow Islam peacefully and detest the message that Isis spreads, hundreds of Muslims have mocked Baghdadi's message on social media."

Tuesday, December 15, 2015

Qlb

mic.com, Meet the Genius Who Created the First Fully Functioning Arabic Programming Language "Unlike programming languages meant for web development like HTML and CSS, Qlb is "Turing complete," which means that it's a fully-fledged language that can potentially create as complex programs as any other language."

"The Decline in Islamic State Media Output"

Aaron Zelin, ICSR Insight - The Decline in Islamic State Media Output, 4 Dec 2015 "Put together, there are signs that IS’s much vaunted media machine has declined over the past half year. It remains very active, of course, but there seems to have been a peak between mid-spring and mid-summer this year." Analysis/opinion

Monday, December 14, 2015

'Renegotiating shariʿa-based Normative Guidelines in Cyberspace: The Case of Women's ʿawra'

New and noted:

S Damir-Geilsdorf, L Tramontini, 'Renegotiating shariʿa-based Normative Guidelines in Cyberspace: The Case of Women's ʿawra' - Online-Heidelberg Journal of Religions on the Internet, 2015

Haven't had a chance to read this in full yet. The link above is the abstract, which also points to the PDF.

Americans Attracted to ISIS Find an ‘Echo Chamber’ on Social Media

nytimes.com, Americans Attracted to ISIS Find an ‘Echo Chamber’ on Social Media, 9 Dec 2015

Banksy artwork at migrant camp reminds us Steve Jobs' father was Syrian

jobs_02mashable.com, Banksy artwork at migrant camp reminds us Steve Jobs' father was Syrian "The image was created on the wall of a makeshift camp in Calais known as "The Jungle" that has become a symbol of the Europe's failure to process the refugees and migrants seeking safety and economic opportunity in France and the UK. Thousands have been camped there for months in increasingly bad conditions, hoping to make their way to the UK."

Turkey fines Twitter over 'terrorist propaganda'

BBC News, Turkey fines Twitter over 'terrorist propaganda' "Turkey's communications regulator has fined Twitter 150,000 lira (£33,000) for failing to remove "terrorist propaganda"."

Tuesday, December 08, 2015

Hackers Find Hidden ISIS Propaganda App

dcinno, Hackers Find Hidden ISIS Propaganda App, 4 Dec 2015 "Ghost Security Group, a collective of cyber specialists in counter terrorism networks, has reportedly discovered the existence of an ISIS smartphone app intended for Android phones, according to the Christian Science Monitor."



Also see Gilad Shiloach, Vocativ, This New ISIS App Brings Terror Straight To Your Cell Phone, 30 Nov 2015 "Vocativ tried the app, which isn’t available on the Google Play Store but instead is distributed by APK files that can be installed on Android-powered devices manually. It is easy to use, and appears to be easily accessible: On Twitter, at least 40 posts by ISIS loyalists have included links to download the app, indicating that it’s circulating widely in online ISIS networks."

Isis uses young boys to kill prisoners in ruined Syrian castle

Independent, Isis uses young boys to kill prisoners in ruined Syrian castle, 5 Dec 2015

The Isis papers: leaked documents show how Isis is building its state

Guardian, The Isis papers: leaked documents show how Isis is building its state

Tuesday, December 01, 2015

BRISMES Conference 2016

BRISMES Annual Conference 2016 will take place at the University of Wales Trinity St David, Lampeter Campus, on 13 – 15 July: Networks: Connecting the Middle East through Time, Space and Cyberspace "The 2016 BRISMES Annual Conference seeks to place networks at the centre of the discussion, encouraging proposals for papers and panels that take up this theme in innovative ways. The conference organisers encourage submissions that highlight the connections between the Middle East and other areas of the globe, as well as ties within the region, be they between individual countries or between sub-regions."

Blackberry to 'exit' Pakistan over data-retention row

Blackberry to 'exit' Pakistan over data-retention row - BBC News

Hacker sent 'death to the Jews' text messages after breach in phone network

Guardian, Hacker sent 'death to the Jews' text messages after breach in phone network "Data stolen from a global telecommunications company in 2013 led to messages being sent to mobile numbers across Middle East two years later."