July 31, 2006
July 30, 2006. At least 54 civilians died in Qana, most of them are children... The death toll rose to approximately 750 civilians in a result of the continuous Israeli aggression on Lebanon... More than 800,000 displaced... 200,000 have left the country... 3 airports bombed... 62 bridges destroyed... 5,000 homes damaged... And the world is still watching......
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July 30, 2006
The other day someone I don't know added me on MSN, after finding my msn email on the blog. After a small introduction and all, this person asked me to tell them about myself. Being pretty sure the little profile I had on my blog's "About" page was enough, I sent them its link. The person told me they had already read it, but what they wanted to know is "Who is Marwen?" Me being at work at the time, and that being an opener for a very long chat, I apologized that I wouldn't be able to chat much...
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"At which point may we use the expression ‘War crime’? How many children must be lacerated in the debris of the Israeli air raids before we reject the obscene formula "collateral damage" and consider taking legal action for crimes against humanity? " Robert Fisk, In Beyrouth, The Independent, July 20, 2006...
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July 29, 2006
Almost 13 years of dominance in the desktop processors' area ended yesterday for Intel’s Pentium, with the launch of their next generation Core 2 Duo chips, that more or less emobody Intel's new corporate slogan, "Leap Ahead". The official debut of Core 2 Duo, based on the new Core Microarchitecture, is one of the biggest moves for Intel in more than a decade, marking their hope to regain the crown from rival AMD. The essential evolution for Core Microarchitecture is the reduction in energy consumption, combined with a more efficient computing power using parallel systems. I remember when Pentium processors...
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Thanks mostly to U.S. President Harry S. Truman and his “susceptibility to Zionist influence,” Israel came into existence in 1948. Humanity, and in particular, the Palestinians, have paid dearly for his decision. The land on which the Palestinians had been living for centuries, in peace, with a minority Jewish population, has been gradually transformed into an Apartheid state by the machinations of the Zionist Movement. That Apartheid state, in turn, is today dominated by Israel’s Death-Mayhem-and- Occupation Machine. What would the world look like today, if the state of Israel had not been created in 1948? 1. The U.S. would...
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July 27, 2006
"I hereby declare that I am withdrawing my recognition of Israel. It is not a state. It is a criminal enterprise, more dangerous than any known mafia. A mafia family may bribe one judge. Israel has bought the whole (American) system, which has installed itself as judge to the world. Israel is not the only democracy in the Middle East, as it is touted. It is institutionalized state terrorism. [...] Today Israel has become a malignant cancer eating away at the body of the Middle East. I still consider myself a peacenik, and as such I will not call...
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All day long we've basically been hearing nothing but the news about the four UN observers who were killed in Southern Lebanon by an Israeli strike and how everyone condemns it. The world was shaken today for four people... Yet for days tens and hundreds of our brothers in Lebanon and Palestine have been bombed and killed, and basically no one cares or even gives it a second thought... In fact, no occasion is spared by this country or that to try and justify the brutality taking place or give Israel the full right to all it's doing... It seems...
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July 26, 2006
"I, Tsilli Goldenberg, Israeli citizen Accuse you - Ehud Olmert, Prime Minister of Israel, Amir Peretz, Minister of Defense, Dan Halutz Head of Staff Chief Commander of the Israeli Army, of committing this bestial barbaric slaughter in Lebanon. I accuse you of committing Crimes against Humanity towards the Palestinian People. I accuse you of deserting our soldiers, when their lives could be saved by negotiations, and I accuse you of starting an unjustified war in my name." -- Tsilli Goldenberg [Via: Sabbah]...
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Posted on July 26, 2006 11:32 AM under:
Cinema
Last night, I rented and watched "Lucky Number Slevin" featuring an all-star cast with Bruce Willis, Josh Hartnett, Ben Kingsley, Morgan Freeman and Lucy Liu. I'm going to quote IMDB's plot outline for this one because it says it as it should be said without ruining the movie: A case of mistaken identity lands Slevin (Josh Hartnett) into the middle of a war being plotted by two of the city's most rival crime bosses: The Rabbi (Ben Kingsley) and The Boss (Morgan Freeman). Slevin is under constant surveillance by relentless Detective Brikowski (Stanley Tucci) as well as the infamous assassin...
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July 25, 2006
"Israeli Jews have always taken the view – and happily tell any outsiders as much – that the "Arabs" lost the right to their homes in the war of 1948 because they "fled" (in fact many were forcibly expelled, but let that drop for the moment). The Israeli government has adopted much the same view, even refusing to allow the 250,000 of its own Arab citizens who are classified as internal refugees -- their ancestors fled the fighting in 1948 but have citizenship because they stayed inside what is today Israel -- to return to their original homes and land....
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July 23, 2006
So, today, I finally caught up with the rest of the world and finished watching the second season of the hit TV show "Lost". I can't wait for Season Three to begin and for me to get to see it. The second season just got us deeper into it all, multiplied the questions and confusion and left us wanting more and more. This series is one of the best I've watched, and I really like the whole idea of it and how it's made. And after two seasons it remains as intriguing and interesting as it started out to...
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On July 20, the U.S. House of Representatives, by an overwhelming 410-8 margin, voted to unconditionally endorse Israel's ongoing attacks on Lebanon and the Gaza Strip. The Senate passed a similar resolution defending the Israeli attack earlier in the week by a voice vote, but included a clause that “urges all sides to protect innocent civilian life and infrastructure.” By contrast, the House version omits this section and even praises Israel for “minimizing civilian loss,” despite overwhelming evidence to the contrary. The resolution also praises President George W. Bush for “fully supporting Israel,” even though Bush has blocked diplomatic efforts...
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After many rumours and leaked information and photos, Microsoft has finally confirmed the existence of Zune, its planned media player and iPod killer. Under the Zune brand, Microsoft will be delivering a family of hardware and software products, the first of which, the media player, will be available this year. Pyxis is the codename for their iPod nano competitor which would also include video capabilities; Alexandria is the codename for the software that powers the Zune experience. The device will have hard drive-based storage and integrated WiFi. The WiFi will be used for community-based music sharing/streaming, as well as internet...
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July 19, 2006
"What they need to do is get Syria to get Hezbollah to stop doing this shit, and it's over." George W. Bush US "President" What you need to do Mr. Bush, is shut the hell up with your dumb comments already and get Israel to stop doing the shit it's doing, that's when it'll really be over!...
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The real aim is to change the regime in Lebanon and to install a puppet government. That was the aim of Ariel Sharon's invasion of Lebanon in 1982. It failed. But Sharon and his pupils in the military and political leadership have never really given up on it... As in 1982, the present operation, too, was planned and is being carried out in full coordination with the US. As then, there is no doubt that it is coordinated with a part of the Lebanese elite... On the eve of the 1982 invasion, Secretary of State Alexander Haig told Ariel...
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Hewlett-Packard unveiled a memory chip the size of a tomato seed in its Palo Alto laboratories. The tiny chip, called the Memory Spot, can be attached unobtrusively to any object and carry media or data. The Memory Spot will rival RFID tags in carrying information on movable physical objects. It has a 10 megabits-per-second data-transfer rate and can store up to 4 megabits of data. The chip has an integrated antenna, which is why it is so much smaller than an RFID chip, which gets most of its size from the separately attached antennae. It receives power through inductive coupling...
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To commemorate the three-year anniversary of the creation of the Mozilla Foundation on July 15, the open-source group announced that if a Firefox user persuades a friend to download the browser, both the user and the friend's names will be added to the source code of the next version of the browser, Firefox 2.0. To nominate a friend, you have to go to the Firefox Day website and choose one friend who doesn't have Firefox, and who you'll be sure will go ahead and download it. Firefox has a global usage share of 12.93 percent, and this could boost that...
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July 18, 2006
CNN is at it again: choosing its words and images carefully to remain safely well within the officially accepted and sanctioned storyline: Israel is reacting to provocation -- perhaps a bit heavy-handedly -- but reacting all the same. [PMWatch] Has CNN gotten to the point where it won't report pertinent facts that are essential to putting a story in context? Facts that certainly would have helped viewers understand some of the international criticism Israel was coming under for what the European Union called a "disproportionate" military response to the conflict at hand. [The Huffington Post] The CNN representatives expressed concern...
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"We could have withdrawn from Gaza through negotiations and coordination, while strengthening the existing Palestinian leadership, but we refused to do so. And now, we complain about 'a lack of leadership?' We did everything we could to undermine their society and leadership, making sure as much as possible that the disengagement would not be a new chapter in our relationship with the neighboring nation, and now we are amazed by the violence and hatred that we sowed with our own hands." Gideon Levy Who Started? (Ha'aretz) July 15, 2006 [Via: Billmon]...
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Israeli girls write messages on a shell at a heavy artillery position near Kiryat Shmona, in northern Israel, next to the Lebanese border, Monday, July 17, 2006. (AP Photo/Sebastian Scheiner) [Via: Sabbah]...
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July 15, 2006
Our fellow Tunisian blogger and friend Zied, who's currently stranded in Beirut, appeals to the Tunisian government to help evacuate Tunisians in Lebanon and get them home safely. All countries are currently evacuating or planning to evacuate their citizens from Lebanon, and he wishes that Tunisia would take steps to do the same too. He asks for the government to organize through the embassy and it's contacts with the neighbouring countries ways to get Tunisians out of Lebanon and onto flights back to Tunisia. His post is a cry for help, and I would like to pass on this message...
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Over these past couple of days, I've been following the news coming out of the Middle East, and it just makes me more and more dissapointed in mankind and in this world we're living in today. We're on the verge of a war, if it hasn't already started; rockets, bombs, sieges, people dying, lives ruined, buildings up in flames, ashes of what was; a sick appetite for destruction that is never satisfied. Media on both sides spinning off stories, biased to this side or the other, propaganda and hot air; the truth as always gets lost in between, just like...
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July 12, 2006
Posted on July 12, 2006 09:18 PM under:
Link Dump
The Big Religion Comparison Chart A quick-reference comparison chart of the world's major religions and belief systems. (tags: religion comparison beliefs reference) Solve Sudoku without even thinking Step by step instructions to complete a Sudoku puzzle by simple process of elimination. (tags: sudoku games howto puzzle puzzles instructions tips) How to Treat a Mosquito Bite What you should do when you get bit by one of those annoying tiny flying bastards. (tags: howto health mosquitoes tips bites mosquito) Heatseek A pornography focused browser to make porn browsing more efficent and more secure. (tags: browser porn adult tools sex software...
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July 11, 2006
Life is full of difficult decisions for us to make, and no matter how simple we try to make our lives, how many self help books or articles we read, how much we try to learn from other people's experience, ...etc; we always end up confronted with a hard decision to take. There simply is no escaping it. Taking decisions is a complicated process, and so many things come into play. We first have this gut feeling generated by our adaptive unconscious, some of us follow it, and some of us hesitate and need to think more, sort things out...
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Extortr: Upload a scandalous photo or video. Set a price, then email an anonymous threat. If they don't pay, your upload goes public. Finally a useful Web2.0 startup, lol. [Via: Loic Le Meur]...
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July 10, 2006
China has launched a Web site offering free Chinese lessons and materials to promote the study and use of its language abroad. The site, called Linese, includes audio-visual presentations, interactive exercises and advice for teachers of Mandarin Chinese, with photographs and descriptions of cultural icons such as the Great Wall, kung fu actor Jackie Chan and basketball star Yao Ming. The launch of this site comes as a move from China to try and expand its cultural influence along with its growing economic power in the world. China is also setting up a network of "Confucius Institutes" around the world...
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The World Cup came to an end last night, crowning the Italian team as champions of the world for the next 4 years, after their penalty shootout victory over France. This is the fourth time Italy wins the title, making them second only to Brazil that got it 5 times up to now. I didn't write much about the World Cup while it was going on, but I thought I'd give a little roundup of my impressions of this big event now that it's over. Starting from last night's final match; personally I didn't want either team to win, but...
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July 07, 2006
Posted on July 7, 2006 09:18 PM under:
Link Dump
activeCollab An easy to use, web based, open source collaboration and project management tool. (tags: collaboration opensource project management tools php) The difference between PHP, ASP and other scripting languages A simple comparison between the different web scripting languages explaining the differences between them. (tags: programming php asp cf coldfusion perl jsp scripting web comparison) The Ten Commandments of cell phone etiquette All the things you should not do when you have a cell phone. I couldn't agree more. (tags: cellphone etiquette handy phone mobile) 20 Years Of PC Viruses A view at the 20 year history of pc...
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Posted on July 7, 2006 03:16 PM under:
Music
These past days I've been listening to this album "One More Once" by Michel Camilo non stop in the car, it's just amazing. I got the cd a few days ago, after the guy I rent DVDs from gave me a taste of his music, and I was hooked right away. This album actually dates back to 1994, but has a fresh feeling to it that makes it as delightful to listen to now as I imagine it was back when it came out. Michel Camilo is a pianist and composer from Santo Domingo, Dominican Republic. His music is...
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July 06, 2006
Posted on July 6, 2006 06:16 PM under:
Cinema
The Yacoubian Building, a movie based on Alaa Al-Aswani's bestselling novel, is to be reviewed by the Egyptian parliament after 112 MPs demanded censorship of the homosexual scenes in the movie. They have criticised the movie saying it defames Egypt by portraying homosexuality, terrorism and corruption. MP Mustafa Bakri, who led a campaign against the film, said it was "spreading obscenity and debauchery". He added: "As a citizen I felt hurt when I watched it. This is complete nonsense and it makes me sick: all the novel and movie do is reflect, through the interlinked lives of the residents...
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I just came across a neat new web2.0 app called billQ that enables you to track your bills online, through a cool ajax based interface. I took it for a small spin, and I like it's simplicity and it's user friendly interface, pretty straight forward and to the point, as most new web apps are becoming, which is great. The way it works is that you basically add bills to your account, can organize them by group, and then receive notification of upcoming payments you have to make by email or sms. It also handles bills involving multiple people, by...
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People living in the city want to move to the country side, and people living in the country side want to move to the city... People in their home countries want to emigrate, and people abroad want to come back. Young people want to grow up, and old people want to be young again. Working people want to retire, and retired people want to go back to work again. And the list goes on... It seems like unsatisfaction rests at the core of every human being's existence. We're almost never happy with what we have or where we are in...
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July 05, 2006
It's that time of the year when the north coastal town of Tabarka welcomes Jazz musicians and fans from all over the world in it's famous Tabarka Jazz Festival, and everyone has started planning for the concerts they're going to attend. The schedule this year is as follows: 08/07/2006: Neilo FEEL Project (Tunisia), IVISIONARI (Italy), Stanley Clarke & George Duke (USA) 09/07/2006: Karim Ziad (Algeria/France) 11/07/2006: Tigrita project (Poland), B Connected (Switzerland) 12/07/2006: O.Loundstreman Orchestra (Russia), Randy Weston (USA) 13/07/2006: Nabil Khmir (Tunisia/Holland), Mem Shannon (USA) 14/07/2006: Tiefland (Austria), Popa Chubby (USA) 15/07/2006: Sunshine [Abdou Selim & Judy Blairè] (USA),...
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July 03, 2006
Posted on July 3, 2006 11:47 PM under:
Tunisia
It truly amazes me how many Tunisians live their whole lives in debt; I don't think there's anywhere in the world like it. A regular Tunisian does the following: - He starts off with a loan to be able to get the list of demands required for him to get married. - He takes a big loan (even double loan) from a bank to buy or build a house, that he spends over a third of his life paying for. - He takes another loan to buy a car. - If his wife is naggy, he'll have to go for...
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Posted on July 3, 2006 03:42 PM under:
Tunisia
The 14th Tunisian blogger meetup, which was organized by our friend Mochekes, was held last evening in the Platinum Café in Al Nasr. This is the only meetup that has had a 100% male turnout, mostly from the IT sector, which made it sound more like some IT user group meeting than our usual blogger meetups. All in all we were 13 bloggers: Sahha Kho, Hatem, Tom, Nostradamus, imperator, Staka, Marouen, Karim, Marouenitto, Biduile, Swifty, Mochekes and myself. The issues we talked about revolved mainly about IT, but we did go off topic to talk about other stuff as well,...
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July 01, 2006
Posted on July 1, 2006 12:38 PM under:
Books
I just finished reading "Blink : The Power of Thinking Without Thinking" by Malcolm Gladwell. The book is about the kinds of decisions and snap judgements we take in the first fractions of seconds we're confronted with something, how that happens, and how we have this hidden ability to "thin slice" situations, mind read the people in front of us and react according to a wealth of information that is stocked away behind a closed door in what is called our "adaptive unconscious". It goes on to tell us to trust these snap judgements of ours more often, and...
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