The power of blogging

This article discusses the events in history which have lead up to recent political unrest in Egypt, but as Hirschkind states, "it did not come out of the blue."  Many of the activists (both Islamic and secular) in this movement were utilizing the social web in order to make their statements. In 2004 a group of  Islamic groups such as the Muslim Brotherhood, and secular leftist organizations found a common ground in support of one another.  Although these groups had much to quarrel about, they agreed on one thing: to end the Mubarack regime. Their coming together is known as the Kiyafa movement.  Many human rights issues in Egypt had been questioned prior but always denied.  However a local Egyptian uploaded a video to his blog of a prisoner being physically and sexually abused by police.  Within a year, these blogs jumped into the hundreds.  Many of these bloggers played huge roles in the recent events. Clearly new forms of media have made tremendous changes globally.
http://blogs.ssrc.org/tif/2011/02/09/the-road-to-tahrir/

Early Writing Systems of South America

The earliest form of a writing system found in the Incan Empire of South America prior to colonialism was the Quipu. Although writing system may not be fitting, it served as some sort of a "transmittal system."  The quipu is colored strings made of wool and cotton which are joined in many different ways and knotted in order to communicate. Several South American societies were capable of reading it. 

Upon the arrival of the Spanish in 1531, the conquistadors were suspicious of the quipu and burned most of them.  To this day, only 300 quipu's remain. 

As to what the Incans were communicating with each other about, archaeologists remain uncertain.  They do know however that they were used for administrative purposes such as tracking tributes. They might also have been used as maps or legends to be told orally in the future. Little is still known about this fascinating system of communication.