Optical Disc Poster - Alex Broadhurst

An anonymous reader writes "Students studying computing in the UK and US are outsourcing their university coursework to graduates in India and Romania. Work is being contracted out for as little as £5 on contract coding websites usually used by businesses. Students are outsourcing everything from simple coursework to full blown final year dissertations.

Diana Ghazzawi, a Gazan blogger who is now based in North America, shares with us her worries that she might not meet her relatives in Gaza one day, if they don't get lucky from the strategic Israeli shelling on the Gazans:

Against all odds, there are still blog posts coming out of Gaza, and bloggers are vividly describing the fear they are filled with in the face of ongoing Israeli attacks.

Exiled says he is no hero:

على قيد الحياة ولكني لست بخير

وقد اكون في اي لحظة على قيد الموت لاكون بخير

فالاموات وحدهم آمنون في غزة

تركت شقتي وذهبت انا وزوجتي الى بيت العائلة،ليس بحثا عن مكانا آمناً من القصف

احب ان اكون بجانب امي في هذه الاحوال

Twitter is the new blogging, or so the story goes. Never has that been more apparent than in times of crisis: During the Mumbai attacks, Twitter users provided up-to-the-minute coverage, and today, as Israeli airstrikes continue to hit Gaza, the Twittersphere is deep in discussion.

It is quite a remarkable feeling to watch as the pieces fall into place and the picture, anticipated for so long, is finally revealed in all its splendour. As with any jigsaw that lacked a guiding picture on the box, the final result is that inevitable mix of vindication and surprise.