Yesterday, as I was sitting at my desk in the WNYC offices, I experienced a moment I never thought I would in my lifetime. The events taking place in Libya right now are historic, but for my family they are life changing.

A few weeks ago, WNYC’s own John Keefe appeared on our program and wrote a blog about how easily he hacked into the voicemails of AT&T and Sprint cell phones. Now it appears that AT&T is changing the default setting on new phones, so that users will automatically have password protection on their voicemails unless they turn the feature off.

Apparently the reason regular people don’t look like the models and celebrities in cosmetics ads is because cosmetics ads are photoshopped. Who knew? Well, actually, everyone knew. But still, there is something alluring about the possibility that the product advertised could work for you. Perhaps that’s why the Advertising Standards Authority, which regulates advertising in the UK, has banned two makeup ads from future publication in Britain.

The satirical newspaper The Onion has yet to win the coveted Pulitzer Prize, despite its self-proclaimed status as “America’s finest news source.”  A new campaign launched by the non-profit organization Americans for Fairness in Awarding Journalism Prizes is lobbying the Pulitzer committee to recognize The Onion’s excellence in journalism, with testimonial videos from fans and celebrities alike. Onion Features editor Joe Garden sat down with Brooke to discuss the new campaign.

After the jump, take a look at our favorite celebrity Onion testimonial videos, including our very own Brooke Gladstone.

So this is pretty unusual.  I just got back to my hotel room and got a Skype call from John Scott-Railton, the guy behind @Jan25voices, who I work with on my @feb17voices Twitter feed.  I was on a call with my mom so I didn't answer right away, but he sent me a frantic message saying that he just heard I was arrested.

Friday at Tahrir Square was intense.  The sun, the crowds, the emotion.  It was incredible to finally be in the center of it all, to be on the ground after having grown accustomed to the view from above that was broadcast all over the news during the revolution.

If time is money, then I think that dollars are not the only currency that we need to convert upon arriving in Egypt.  We also have to convert our time currency, throwing out our very American desire to be on time (though admittedly I have never been able to quite master that skill even in the States.)

One thing we planned to do while in Egypt was to go to the University of Cairo's journalism school to see how media professionals are trained and talk to the new generation of would-be journalists.  But when we got to town, we found out from another reporter that security on the campus was high and journalists were not being permitted.  Turns out, like many other institutions in the country, the University of Cairo was dealing with its own mini-revolution, with student protesters holding a sit-in that has lasted for nearly a month, calling for the dean of the media school to step down.

Last night we finally got to meet Mona Seif, a 25-year-old Egyptian activist, blogger and tweep who spoke to OTM from Tahrir Square at the height of the revolution.  And as if her digital activism wasn't enough, she also does a bit of breast cancer research on the side.

OTM has finally arrived in Cairo.  Words can't describe this city and the energy felt all around us.  Having never been to Cairo before, I can't say for sure if the excitement that I am feeling is a result of the recent revolution or is simply the status quo for this bustling metropolis, but I feel fairly certain that there is a newfound sense of optimism among Egyptians--despite the repeated acknowledgment from the people I have spoken with that there is still a great deal of work left to do.

Sarah Abdurrahman, producer for WNYC's On the Media, discusses her work as a Libyan American, trying to get information out of her homeland and connect the Arab diaspora in the wake of the pro-Democracy protests. She's been contributing to the @Feb17voices Twitter feed.