As part of my LSE Masters program, I am in the middle of researching for my thesis which looks at new media, such as online blogging, in Egypt and its role, presuming that there is one, in inspiring or shaping the country's political reform processes.

I am in need of members of the general public to fill out a survey that I have prepared - nothing too formal and will take no more than 15 minutes to fill out. You may remain anonymous should you wish to do so. If you have read Egyptian blogs, or if you are an Egyptian blogger, or if you are interested in this topic, PLEASE do get in touch with me on my email address: emanebed@gmail.com .

Other comments and questions are also welcome. The deadline to fill out the survey is Monday, 16 July 2007.

So its official, I finished off the largest chunk of my 2 year Masters at the LSE... the exams. I sincerely hope that I wont have to do another exam for a VERY long time, if ever. It's been a really good experience, a little on the long side, but definitely worth spent. Thanks to everyone who has given me those encouraging words when I needed to hear them and to all those who made me see the bright side and made me laugh when things got tough!

I will still be based in London, working at the Civility Programme on Middle East reform, and I am definitely looking forward to a new beginning, though my passion and interests remain as always on youth in the Arab World. If you have not had the chance, then be sure to check out some of the latest statistics from the UN that only serve to prove how pressing this issue is. Needless to say, the debate is not new, yet the statistics show how the situation in the Arab region has in fact worsened post- the declaration of the UN MDGs. Reform will not be possible in the region unless we involve young people in the policy debate, but we first ought to inspire them to get involved as the level of apathy has risen tremendously alongside the levels of unemployment and brain drain.

The 2012 Olympics (that will be held in London) logo was revealed yesterday and I must say, with all the hype around it, it was surprisingly disappointing! And to think that it cost about £400,000. I have been trying to find out who actually designed it, but cant seem to find any information on that, but I am pretty sure that it was not a young person - who incidentally is in the group that the organizers are claiming to be targetting with the logo.

To me, one of the issues at stake here is how the Olympics committee, and one could argue, society at large defines young people. If you read the coverage that this logo has received, it becomes evident that they define young people as children/kids, not as an independent group who has creative ideas and a range of talents. Why didnt we run some sort of competition encouraging young artists to submit their logo ideas and then encorporate the best ones into a logo? Now that would have been a neat idea. Instead, what we have is a logo that apparently resembles one from the children's programme 'Tiswas' of the 70s and 80s. Young people will undoubtedly see right through the logo concept, and it may actually be seen as patronising. The committee could have also taken advantage of the diversity within young people in the UK - the LSE alone prides itself on having over 150 nationalities present on campus. I dont see how the pink and yellow represents any of London's diversity, something that most large cities would dream to have.

Its high time that young people are treated not just an ambivalent group of kids, but a group that can actually make a useful, if not powerful, contribution in the societies around them. Revamping the 2012 Olympics Logo would be a start.

It was announced yesterday that the film "4 Months, 3 Weeks, and 2 Days" (4 luni, 3 săptămâni şi 2 zile) won the Palme d'Or at this year's Cannes Film Festival. Synopsis: The film follows the story of Otilia (Anamaria Marinca) and Găbiţă (Laura Vasiliu) - two university friends in a small town in Romania. The film is set in 1987, one of the last years of the Ceauşescu regime. When Găbiţă falls pregnant, the two girls arrange a meeting with Mr. Bebe (Vlad Ivanov) in a cheap hotel, where he is to perform an illegal abortion.

A feeling of patriotism and pride has admittedly come over me, even though I havent seen the film yet. It is high time that the arts, music, and culture of Romania shine again, as the country has seen a history of great artists, musicians, producers, etc, though they havent always been able to express their ideas and/or they havent received the credit that they deserved. I am sure that this is just the beginning of a new era, not only for Romanian cinema but for a renewed sense of what it means to be Romanian - particularly as another Romanian film, Cristian Nemescu's "California Dreamin'", won the Un Certain Regard Prix, also at the 2007 Cannes Film Festival. Sadly, Cristian was not there to enjoy the fruits of his labour as he died late last year in a car accident in Bucharest - when a British citizen decided to drive 60km (at least) over the speed limit and crash into the taxi that Cristian was in.

Another film that I would recommend is "Cover Boy: L'Ultima Revoluzione" - I watched it last weekend. It depicts the journey of a young Romanian man - from the time of the revolution (and how it affected him) to his making it in today's world (as he goes to Italy to seek a better opportunity). I thought it was indicative of how the revolution was not what it was cut out to be. Many promises of a better life have still not been realised as many now struggle to earn a living - something that was (somehow) guaranteed under the old regime. And like many Romanians that leave the country, the man's only dream is to return to the homeland (a little more wealthy than he left) - having realised that things can be just as bad on the outside, and sometimes, they are even better on the inside.

I have been bombarded with emails and requests from friends and people I havent been in touch with for what seems like centuries to join a growing empire of faces.. yes, I am talking about Facebook. I think I am one of the only few people out there who is not part of the network and so much so, that at this point, I refuse to be a part of it.

I come in to the LSE library "which is meant to be a studious place", and instead people are talking about the search for Orlando Bloom, the posting of messages, and the poking, all on Facebook. While this is not to say that the network does not have any advantages to becoming a member, but at this point, I feel that it has become just that - just another network, one of the many online. Wait until the next one comes along and steals all of Facebook's members. In an article in the London paper yesterday evening, Facebook was given the credit for starting this new global social phenomenon. Please!! It started a long time ago, with far more worthy causes attached.

I am reading a lot of literature nowadays from Manuel Castells (great book by the way) to Chris Atton to Andrew Chadwick (a must read) on alternative media and the internet, and the power that they can have in changing our notion of community and in instilling change in our social environments. So perhaps that is why I am growing skeptical of Facbook, which seems to me, all about the popularity aspect and not really about trying to make the world a smaller place using low cost technologies and at a faster speed. What could have added value to the alternative media debate has now turned to yet another mainstream medium, making $50 million a year from banner ad sales and sponsorship deals and with its worth far exceeding $2 billion.