What people get wrong about the internet

Monday, September 16th, 2024

11:19 AM

This is an article published on the MEC Newsletter.

Grooming, doxxing, and other troubling content galore, the Internet is much more than its darker elements!

For Gen Z and Gen Alpha, the Internet is constantly shaping their worldviews. While you may know some of the slang or social media they use, the online culture is richer than 'digital brainrot,' a term used when being chronically online bleeds into real life.

I've been active on the Internet since I was nine. I chatted with kids my age who were just as immersed online, engaging in various online fandoms related to movies, TV shows, and video games. I even got into online debates, like when I snuck into a Nazbol fan group chat, a political movement that combines ultranationalism and Bolshevik communism, allowing me to explore a world I wouldn’t otherwise experience.

More recently, I've embraced the Internet as a hub for art and knowledge. I access PDFs of almost every kind of book, find solutions to specific problems people had years ago, and read academic journals and articles. I also learn from content creators who produce video essays, independent web animations, shows, etc., that support and uplift other web artists.

For Muslims, the Internet is a big resource filled with countless Islamic books and hadiths, while platforms like SalamTalk and Zad Academy connect our ummah and help us study the deen. With all this information, deciding who to follow, who to listen to, and who to strive to be can be difficult. The Internet is a double-edged sword that offers a wealth of information, including misinformation and harmful content. Ultimately, the Internet is what you make of it, so choose wisely and let it be a tool for growth, creativity, and meaningful connection.

A Small Update + Prologue to my blog

Thursday, August 29th, 2024

6:42 pm

So, i'm in college now studying design. Nothing else to say other than that. Updates may be slow but since classes have started and i'm taking American Gov and Politics as a class, there might be more motivation to be active on this blog. (infodump incoming).

On my interest of the Salafis

Disclaimer: this article is still a work in progress, some errors may be present

I really want to focus on online radicalization and Salafism, a stricter form of Islam that relies on a more literalist and strict interpretation of the Quran and Hadiths. The name Salafism comes from the Arabic word 'Salaf', a term used by Muslims to refer to the first three generations of muslims. Salafi's tend to emphasize certain tenents of Islam more than the mainstream Muslim, such as: relying on stricter interpretations of the Quran and Sunnah, rejecting all Bi'dah (innovation), emphasizing Tawheed (oneness of Allah), and returning to learning from "The scholars".

A misconception about Salafism is that they're people who have rigid social norms such as big beards or being against music, but as Yasir Qadhi says in his video regarding Salafism and the Arab Spring, this is a wrong way to look at it (23:17-25:23). These are opinions and beliefs which are held by mainstream Muslims as well. Also to mention, mainstream scholars may emphasize these tenents as well but that doesn't necessarily mean they are Salafi. As an outsider, it's confusing, but when you're an insider it's clear.

Salafis have been mainstream in the online space for a while, even to the point that influential figures such as Daniel Haqiqtajou (The Muslim Skeptic) have also talked about "The Madkhali Virus" (Madkhalism being a sect of Salafism). In fact If you go on youtube you can even see a video by him and a few other speakers that are from 1-3 years ago about this.

After getting in touch with my local Masjids and organizations, it made me re-think and helped reassure me that this wasn't the only path to Jannah. It's very important to be in touch with local masjids, and connect more on a moderate levels of Islam. It's also important to critically think and see what may work for one person, may not work for you. Just because someone found peace in being a Salafi, doesn't mean you have to go that route as well. Carve your own path of Islam, and see where it will lead you to.

Links to videos and articles about Salafism

Big Changes coming

Wednesday, August 14th, 2024

5:25 am

After being inactive for 6 months, I have decided to resume this blog. Big changes are coming, so stay tuned.

Blog post #3: So Apparently I Don't like Human Genetics and I'm Frustrated with My Art

Wednesday, March 6th, 2024

8:10 pm

So I found out I actually don't like Human Genetics, kind of embarassed after I was rambling so much about it. Chromosomes would still be fun to draw though, if I could actually get myself to draw

It's like I have all these ideas for art but executing them is a lot harder. I realized that I probably need to start off with some practice pieces, since I don't think i've done high-quality digital art in a while. If anything I make little doodles on MSPaint. MSPaint is actually the only program I can draw with honestly, don't know why.

So I need to start practicing, but today the moment I touched the canvas it felt like I knew what I wanted to draw. It didn't turn out how I wanted it to look like but I felt like my ideas were out there eitherway. Then later I just drew a bit more and I had another idea out.

When it comes to traditional art, I can usually freehand my drawings, but I guess with digital I need to put more effort into it; like sketch out and choose a color pallete and stuff. Also need to get used to the feel of the tablet, that's something I never got

So anyways here are some examples of stuff i'm trying to work on. I have no goal in mind, just try to draw whatever and see if I can get an idea going

Blog post #2: Human Genetics is mildly interesting

Sunday, February 18th, 2024

11:00am

Hello Internet, i'm taking Human Genetics this year and it's actually pretty interesting. For the most part i'm trying to get through the material and finish the assignments ASAP, but if I were to take the time to sit down and watch a few videos about what we're learning about it would probably be fun. Right now I just finished working an assignment going over different kinds of mutations. Once again I sped through the assignment so I can't really say much about it but the gist I got was that there were different mutations and ways to repair them in the DNA, and if anything goes wrong they can alter certain parts of the DNA sequence, causing a change in physical traits. I think that's it.

In my earlier units we were going over cell division and I didn't know Microbiology was an actual study. It's like studying the biosphere of micro organisms in your body like Eukaryotic and Prokaryotic cells. Each cell is also different too. Skin cells, Blood cells, Muscle cells, Nerve cells, etc. You have a lot of cells in your body.

It's strange because originally I thought the class would be tough. The videos were around 40mins-1hr long, but now it's usually around 20-50mins. I'm handing it pretty well. One of the other things I like about this class is the subject matter it gives me. I love drawing chromosomes and giving them their unique characteristics. Here's some doodles I did of them.

You know, I know a lot of people who are going on to be doctors, it was an encouraged profession in my family. I thought I couldn't do it because it's hard, but i've been getting better at managing my time and studying. I could be an anatomy artist or do science diagrams, that would be fun.

That's all I'm gonna say for now, idk whether i'm genuinely interested or not but it was something which I thought I could write about on here. I'm going to stop typing before I say more. See you all nextime, have a good day

Blog post #1

February 16th, 2024

5:15pm

Hello Internet, pretty nervous about making my first blog post on here, but it's worth a shot. I'm pretty new to HTML. Learned it last year, and only know the barebones for making a webpage. I have this book about HTML and CSS which can help me learn more about making a website. I kind of want to do more development so it doesn't look so bad but you got to start somewhere, and here I start.

I have no clue how i'm going to do these posts. Apparently you need to code the entire article in the HTML? That blew my mind. I thought you needed to code a feature to post your stuff, like what all platforms have such as Instagram or Tumblr.

More about the book, they gave me recommendations about ways to get started with Javascript. I have a lot of ideas I want to make with Javascript, specifically games. Right now i'm making a calculator but I'm having issues with getting it to work. Might post an image about that later.

So, this is my first blog post. Tomorrow? maybe or maybe not blog post #2.

Thanks for reading, have a good day.