Internet users around the world are working on projects to help Egyptians bypass the government shutdown of Internet and cellular communications. You don't need to necessarily be a networking whiz or engineer to help, such as setting up an anonymized Tor server. Some of the projects on our radar:
#openmesh Egypt – Engineers brainstorming how to bring a mesh network to Egypt via the site forums and Twitter, using the hashtag #openmesh.
How to set up a Tor relay – Tor is a system that provides anonymized Internet access. According to ReadWriteWeb, use of Tor in Egypt has skyrocketed. You can donate bandwidth as a Tor relay using just about any operating system.
Wiki of resources, IRC chat rooms, and alternate communications platforms, such as ham radio.
Further reading:
How the Internet went out in Egypt (ZDNet)
Egypt Shut Down Its Net With a Series of Phone Calls (Wired Threat Level)
Tunisia, Egypt, Miami: The Importance of Internet Choke Points (The Atlantic)
How to foil a nationwide Internet shutdown (Lifehacker)
Alex Howard's Twitter feed is full of news about efforts to get Egyptians online
Douglas Rushkoff's The Next Net, which argues that we need to build a new Internet outside of government and corporate control
If you know about other projects, please share in the comments.
