September 30, 2006
"Trying to make everyone happy makes no one happy" I'm not sure who originally said that, but I couldn't agree with it more. If you spend your life trying to please and make everyone around you happy, you'll end up leading a miserable life, plus no one will be happy because it's impossible to make everyone happy. But why do we sometimes go down that path and attempt to make everyone around us happy? Is it fueled by insecurity, an intense spiritual passion or compassion? Is it because we believe we'll only be happy if everyone around us is? Is...
Continue reading this entry...
September 29, 2006
I read about this a couple of days ago and have been wanting to write about it ever since. Microsoft has sealed a deal with director Peter Jackson, of "Lord of the Rings" and "King Kong" fame, that calls for him to create two new interactive entertainment series for Xbox 360 and Xbox Live. Jackson will be working with longtime collaborator and screenwriter Fran Walsh and Microsoft Game Studios to develop these series. The first series will be a collaborative effort with Bungie Studios to co-create the next chapter in the "Halo" universe (Halo 3). The second series will be...
Continue reading this entry...
September 27, 2006
Just came across this on Flickr: Ernest Hemingway was once prodded to compose a complete story in six words. His answer, personally felt to be his best prose ever, was "For sale: baby shoes, never used." Some people say it was to settle a bar bet. Others say it was a personal challenge directed at other famous authors. The flickr group asks people to post photos with a Six Word Story in the title section of the photo, with those few words telling the whole tale, and the picture being its visual interpretation. First of all, I'm still amazed at...
Continue reading this entry...
Posted on September 27, 2006 05:57 PM under:
Tunisia
Tunisia has the most competitive Arab and African economy according to The Global Competitiveness Report 2006-2007, published by the World Economic Forum. The rankings are drawn from a combination of publicly available hard data and the results of a comprehensive annual survey conducted by the World Economic Forum, together with leading research institutes and business organizations. The report, which polled 11 thousand business leaders, enjoys high credibility in international business mediums and among decision-makers in the finance business. Internationally, Tunisia ranked number 30 out of 125 countries, climbing seven positions compared to last year’s ranking results; ahead of Arab countries...
Continue reading this entry...
Need a custom-made fatwa (religious decree) to fit your needs? Apparently you can get that in India for the great price of $22 per fatwa. This month being Ramadan and all, I bet you could get a special offer if you order a bunch, sort of like a "buy 2 get 1 for free" or something. Among the fatwas bought were decrees saying Muslims may not use credit cards or double beds. One cleric issued a fatwa in support of watching TV; another wrote one against. So let your imagination run wild and order the fatwa you want as long...
Continue reading this entry...
Moixa Energy, the renewable and portable energy solution specialist, have announced the launch of the USBCELL – a new concept in batteries. This revolutionary rechargeable battery can charge from any USB port without the need for any recharging devices, cradles or cables. Simply pop the lid to reveal a built in connector and charger, plug into any powered USB port on your desktop, laptop, keyboard or games console, to charge the battery. USBCELL can be used exactly like a normal battery meaning there is now no need to purchase huge packs of alkaline batteries, or invest in or carry a...
Continue reading this entry...
September 26, 2006
The world's temperature has increased to levels not seen in at least 12,000 years, U.S. climate scientists report in today's issue of "Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences." Rapid warming has occurred in the past 30 years, the researchers said, and there is little doubt that human activities are the primary factor. Study coauthor James Hansen of NASA's Goddard Institute for Space Studies said the new findings imply that the world is "getting close to dangerous levels" of manmade greenhouse gases. The study concludes the Earth is now reaching and passing through the warmest levels in the current interglacial...
Continue reading this entry...
September 24, 2006
Post-9/11 anti-Islamic and anti-Middle Eastern sentiment hasn't just taken an emotional toll on Muslim and Arab men living in the United States. It has also put a dent in their checkbooks, a study indicates. Arab and Muslim men saw their wages and weekly earnings drop by 10 percent after the Sept. 11, 2001, terrorist attacks, the research reveals. The largest decreases, according to the data collected from over 4,000 men between 1997 and 2005, occurred in locations that reported higher rates of ethnic and religious-based hate crimes. Part of the reason pay fell is that these men, mostly from predominantly...
Continue reading this entry...
September 23, 2006
Posted on September 23, 2006 11:16 PM under:
Everyday Me
The holy month of Ramadan starts tomorrow in Tunisia. It already started today in Saudi Arabia and a number of other Arab countries. So as usual, we've started another Ramadan with the whole crescent appearing/disappearing act. Ramadan Mubarak to everyone. May it be a happy and blessed month for you all. This Ramadan is even more special for us this year because it's our first as a small family with the addition of Adam. It might not really change much in reality, but it just feels great. Ramadan is a great time of year, and a great chance for people...
Continue reading this entry...
September 21, 2006
Posted on September 21, 2006 05:00 PM under:
Tunisia
Columbian pop star Shakira will be performing live in Tunisia soon; most probably this November 2006 at the Menzah stadium, where others like Michael Jackson, Sting and Mariah Carey performed before her. (Or at least that's what WebManagerCenter are reporting, based on information from a trusted source.) Personally, I think this should be a more successful and fun concert than both of Mariah's concerts put together, which more or less were a flop from what I've heard. If this turns out to be true and I'm in the mood at the time, I think I just might go; Shakira's got...
Continue reading this entry...
September 20, 2006
Posted on September 20, 2006 11:00 PM under:
Everyday Me
Continue reading this entry...
Iranian-born Anousheh Ansari made history last thursday, when she became the first Muslim woman to reach the International Space Station on board Russian Soyuz spacecraft along with two astronauts. Ansari is also the world's first female space tourist. She accompanied NASA's Michael Lopez-Alegria and Russia's Mikhail Tyurin. The three blasted off on Monday from Russia's Baikonur cosmodrome in Kazakhstan. Their TMA-9 space vehicle docked successfully with the ISS at 0521 GMT. Ansari, who owns a telecom company in the US, paid $20 million to make her space dream come true after a six-month course of Russian language and cosmonaut at...
Continue reading this entry...
September 18, 2006
Some promising news from the DVD standards front... The electronics industry is in a fine mess, with two blue-laser disc standards (Blu-ray and HD-DVD) competing to succeed ordinary red-laser DVDs. However, two top Warner engineers, Alan Bell and Lewis Ostrover, have been working on a cheaper and more elegant solution. Blu-ray uses a 405-nanometre wavelength laser to read data from tracks 0.1-millimetres-deep on the top surface of a disc. HD-DVD, on the other hand, uses the same wavelength to read recordings at a depth of 0.6 mm. Warner’s plan is to create a disc with a Blu-ray top layer that...
Continue reading this entry...
Radio Jawhara FM, Tunisia’s second private radio station has launched its website with a live broadcast and a live webcam from its studios. The website also offers a bunch of images, fresh news and interviews; attempting to make the website more journal-like and to attract more people online; aiming to significantly expand its audience, which has been limited to the Sahel region up to now. According to the latest Mediascan statistics, Jawhara FM has managed to attract 77,6% of the larger Sousse area listeners. Well I'm always supportive of such online ventures, and there is no reason for me to...
Continue reading this entry...
September 14, 2006
Posted on September 14, 2006 01:10 PM under:
Everyday Me
On this day exactly four years ago, Eman and I got married... Yep, today is our fourth marriage anniversary... Four years of bliss and happiness... We've come a long way over the past four years, we've gone through many events, we've accomplished many things; even though time has flown by and it still feels like we got married yesterday. This year's anniversary is extra special because we were given a very precious gift from God, our son Adam, and now we've moved on from "couple" to "small family", and it feels amazing. To my dear wife: I can't imagine myself...
Continue reading this entry...
September 13, 2006
More cleaner energy efforts, this time from BMW... German automaker BMW said that it would begin distributing the world's first hydrogen-burning cars to selected users in the U.S. and Europe next year. The cars are 7-Series sedans powered by 12-cylinder internal-combustion engines capable of burning gasoline or liquefied hydrogen. BMW, which has been working on hydrogen fuel technology since 1978, will build and distribute about 100 of the vehicles for a variety of uses. Users, who would not be charged for the cars, could include politicians, celebrities, drivers in corporate fleets and members of the public. Some would receive the...
Continue reading this entry...
September 08, 2006
Amazon.com have finally released their online video download service by the name of Amazon Unbox. Amazon Unbox will offer content from six major Hollywood studios, including 20th Century Fox and Warner Bros., as well as TV networks such as CBS and Fox and cable channels like Comedy Central and E! Entertainment. It's obvious Amazon.com rushed this service out quickly this week in an attempt to beat Apple to the market by a few days. I haven't had the chance to try it out yet, but it doesn't look that promising from what I've read on Techdirt. Apparently it brings nothing...
Continue reading this entry...
September 06, 2006
Europe gets its AIPAC... A new organization named "European Friends of Israel" is expected to be inaugurated next week in Brussels with the aim of becoming an AIPAC-type pro-Israel lobby in Europe. Several pro-Israel European Union parliament members who were recently joined by a number of Jewish businessmen sponsoring their activity have decided to institutionalize their endeavor in order to boost cooperation between pro-Israel parliamentarians throughout the continent and help in improving Israel’s image there. The organization's representative in Israel, Yehoshua Ben-Yosef said Tuesday that to this day 150 European parliament members have joined the lobby. Source: ynet As we...
Continue reading this entry...
"Programming can be fun, so can cryptography; however they should not be combined." -- Kreitzberg and Shneiderman "Computers are good at following instructions, but not at reading your mind." -- Donald Knuth "The first 90% of the code accounts for the first 90% of the development time. The remaining 10% of the code accounts for the other 90% of the development time." -- Tom Cargill "Before software can be reusable it first has to be usable." -- Ralph Johnson "Programmers are in a race with the Universe to create bigger and better idiot-proof programs, while the Universe is trying to...
Continue reading this entry...
September 05, 2006
This is a list of the most common sounds you'll hear from a bunch of developers in a programming environment with a little explanation of each sound. - "Aaaaaah!": Someone finally found the dumb reason why something was acting weird. - "Hmmmm": A new thing to solve, a new programming challenge. Good. - "Grrrrrrr!": A new bug has just been reported by Mr. Stick-up-his-ass QA guy. - "Huh??!" or "What the ...!!!": Something weird/unexpected just happened. No need to be alarmed yet. - "Bang!" (on keyboard or desk) or sudden swearing: PC crashed before the developer got to save his...
Continue reading this entry...
September 04, 2006
Posted on September 4, 2006 06:07 PM under:
Everyday Me
It's been a week since my baby son was born, and I've pretty much taken a break from everything in this world but him, which explains the lack of blog entries recently. First of all, I'd like to thank everybody who took the time to either leave a comment on the blog, call, email or chat on IM to congratulate Eman and me on the birth of our baby boy. We both truly appreciate your wishes and thank you greatly. The mother and son are doing really good, thank God. As for me I'm great, I'm still as excited and...
Continue reading this entry...
