January 31, 2007
Posted on January 31, 2007 12:02 PM under:
Tunisia
For about three years, the Ministry of Youth and Sports has been conducting a survey of around 10,000 young people ranging in age from 15 to 25. The survey encompasses five areas of focus: youth and participation; youth, identity and the values scale; youth and development; youth and the information society; and youth and the Tunisia of tomorrow. Some of the numbers that came out of this study are very interesting: - More than 72% of respondents said they refuse to engage in politics or join political and social parties. - Only 16% said they belong to NGOs. - Only...
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Tunisian man is first Arab to be nominated for holocaust honor for risking his life to save Tunisian Jews from Nazi persecution. At the height of World War II, Khaled Abdelwahhab hid a group of Jews on his farm in a small Tunisian town, saving them from the Nazi troops occupying the North African nation. Now, Abdelwahhab has become the first Arab nominated for recognition as ''Righteous Among the Nations,'' an honor bestowed on non-Jews who risked their lives to save Jews from Nazi persecution. [...] ... Abdelwahhab, the son of an aristocratic family was 32 when German troops arrived...
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January 30, 2007
An interesting and motivating article on Psychology Today, under the name "You 2.0" shares tips on how to become a self-starter and radically improve your life. The article kicks off with this: You may feel bound to your timid demeanor, your stifling job, or your rancorous relationship, but there is one realm over which you unquestionably have control: your own head. I totally agree with that, and I think that any change, no matter how big or small it is, starts from within your own head, from how you think of things and how you perceive them. The whole article...
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January 29, 2007
A good friend of mine and I were chatting earlier today when the subject turned to how so many countries and people are losing their identity. This is a true problem that I've been seeing all over the world, and the main reason behind it is unfortunately Globalization. I'm no anti-globalization activist or anything, in fact, I'm totally for globalization, economically and industrially speaking, but we can't neglect the negative effects it has on culture and society. In this globalized world, cities are becoming clones of each other, and people are converging into fake stereotypes; gone are the unique cities...
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January 28, 2007
Kyle from LifeHack has published a list of 10 diet tips, that aren't what you're used to reading in diet programs. I think the list is quite interesting and could work for a lot of people looking to lose some weight. The list goes as follows: - Buy a digital scale - Weigh yourself everyday - Drink 8 glasses of water everyday - Make your diet public - Don't diet on the weekends - Don't sacrifice your life for your diet - Make the small changes - Gain perspective by understanding the fractions - Rationalize your workouts - Have a...
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January 26, 2007
Posted on January 26, 2007 07:28 PM under:
Cinema
Upon recommendation from my friends at the DVD rental store, I saw the movie "The Guardian" last night, featuring Kevin Costner and Ashton Kutcher. Personally, I wasn't planning on renting the movie until they told me what a great movie it was. I'm a big fan of Kevin Costner and his movies, I actually think he's one of the best actors out there, still some of his latest movies haven't been as good as I expected, and always quite long. With that in mind, and the fact that I wasn't expecting much from a movie about coast guards, I didn't...
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January 25, 2007
After some years of work experience, some people's natural professional progression or aim is to become a manager, sometimes it's a decision they have to take, and some other times it's something that the company wants because they believe in them, even though it wasn't something they were planning for. Erin Malone from Boxes and Arrows shares some excellent insight and ideas about the various things you need to consider when moving into management. The post is from a designer's point of view, but it applies to everyone from every field really. I'll try to sum it up for someone...
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Studies going back over 50 years have repeatedly arrived at the same conclusion -- racists have lower IQs than non-racists. The average intelligence quotient (IQ) of all members of the human race is 100 on the Stanford-Binet scale, as illustrated in the bell curves in the figure below. The average IQ of racists is up to 4 IQ points less than this. The reasons this is true are not entirely clear. Does racism attract the unintelligent or do the unintelligent default into racist mentalities? [Source: Students and Youth Against Racism] [Via: Hou-Hou Blog]...
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January 24, 2007
The BBC, through CBBC, the channel for 7-12 year olds, will be launching an online virtual world for children, quite similar to Second Life. CBBC World, as it will be called, will offer youngsters a safe environment to explore, and provide them with different zones offering CBBC content. As in Second Life, children will be able to create virtual versions of themselves on-screen, called avatars. Their characters can then move around CBBC World. They will also be able to take part in games, animations, videos and music, create their own content and send their work to other CBBC World users...
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I came across another one of those thingies that tell you what this or that means based on nothing but pure bullshit, and here's what it says my birth date (March 11) means: Spiritual and thoughtful, you tend to take a step back from the world. You're very sensitive to what's going on around you, yet you remain calm. Although you are brilliant, it may take you a while to find your niche. Your creativity is supreme, but it sometimes makes it hard for you to get things done. Your strength: Your inner peace Your weakness: You get stuck in...
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Posted on January 24, 2007 01:04 PM under:
Music
An album, actually double-album, I've been listening to a lot these past days is "Stadium Arcadium" by the Red Hot Chili Peppers; I'm a big fan of RHCP and their music, and this album just oozes more of their trademark cool tunes, rhymes and lyrics. Almost four years passed between the release of their last album "By The Way" and this one, and the band recorded enough songs for three albums over that period, which explains why they went ahead and released this two-hour, 28-track double-disc collection (Disc 1: Jupiter / Disc 2: Mars). The album is a mix between...
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January 22, 2007
Well I'm back home in Tunis again, with my beloved son and wife; I got back from Manchester yesterday afternoon. The trip was on Air France, an airlines I used to like back in the 80's but that sucks more and more these days, especially on flights to and from the Arab world; it's so tight, seating is not comfortable, the food they serve borders on disgusting, no in-flight entertainment, ...etc. I liked Manchester, not as much as I did London, but still it's a nice city, that I wouldn't mind living in. I wish I had more time to...
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January 16, 2007
I haven't blogged for a few days, and that's because I've been away from home on a trip to Manchester, UK. I'm here to attend a series of workshops that are being held under the umbrella of the Reachout project. The programme has been pretty tiring and I haven't had a chance to really go out and discover Manchester that much yet, but hopefully I will be trying to go out more and see more of the city in the coming days. I'll be taking as many photos as possible and sharing them with you once I'm home. I miss...
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January 13, 2007
The keepers of the "Doomsday Clock" plan to move its hands forward next Wednesday to reflect what they call worsening nuclear and climate threats to the world. The symbolic clock, maintained by the Bulletin of Atomic Scientists, currently is set at seven minutes to midnight, with midnight marking global catastrophe. The major new step reflects growing concerns about a 'Second Nuclear Age' marked by grave threats, including: nuclear ambitions in Iran and North Korea, unsecured nuclear materials in Russia and elsewhere, the continuing 'launch-ready' status of 2,000 of the 25,000 nuclear weapons held by the U.S. and Russia, escalating terrorism,...
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January 12, 2007
Posted on January 12, 2007 10:36 AM under:
Music
The fourth season of Future TV's Arab Super Star show will be kicking off in a few days. The first episode will be on Sunday, January 14th. The contestants have been chosen from 8 different countries after a number of auditions in several countries including the US and Canada. The judges this season will be the same as in the last season: Elias El Rahbani, Ziad Boutros, Fadia Tanab and Abdallah El Qa’oud. Ayman Qayssouni will be presenting the show throughout its 20 episodes until the winner of the title is announced. For this year's season, I have launched a...
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January 10, 2007
Apple has used the CES to finally confirm the existence of the iPhone and to release details and specifications. The full specs are as follows: Screen size: 3.5 inches Screen resolution: 320 by 480 at 160 ppi Input method: Multi-touch Operating system: OS X Storage: 4GB or 8GB GSM: Quad-band (MHz: 850, 900, 1800, 1900) Wireless data: Wi-Fi (802.11b/g) + EDGE + Bluetooth 2.0 Camera: 2.0 megapixels Battery: Up to 5 hours Talk / Video / Browsing, Up to 16 hours Audio playback Dimensions: 4.5 x 2.4 x 0.46 inches Weight: 4.8 ounces / 135 grams The iPhone is actually...
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January 08, 2007
Posted on January 8, 2007 06:34 PM under:
Tunisia
A round-up of some of the interesting news coming out of Tunisia these days... A new Tunisian literary prize dubbed the “Grand prix du roman tunisien” (Grand Prize of the Tunisian novel), has been created in 2006. The new prize which is awarded to a novel written in French and in Arabic went this year to Azza Filali for her novel entitled “Chroniques d'un decalage” (Chronicles of a discrepancy) and to Hassanine Ben Ammou for his historical romance, based on the life of the great Tunisian historian Ibn Khaldoun “Al Ghouroub El Khaled” (The eternal dawn). Libya and Tunisia are...
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Posted on January 8, 2007 10:51 AM under:
Cinema
Last night, I finally watched M. Night Shyamalan's last movie "Lady In The Water", featuring Paul Giamatti, Bryce Dallas Howard and M. Night Shyamalan himself. The reviews I read after the movie's release were pretty mixed, and even a friend who saw it last week told me that it was so-so, but personally, I really really liked it. The movie is about a depressed apartment superintendent who discovers a narf, a sea-nymph out of a bedtime story, who may hold the key to humanity's hopeful future. What I really liked about the movie is that it talks to the inner...
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January 04, 2007
Another great post on Ririan Project listing the ten commandments for living a bold life. The list goes as follows: I. You shall not quit, because it ain’t over till it’s over. II. You shall think before you speak. III. You shall not try to save someone from himself, because you will fail. IV. You shall surround yourself with good people. V. You shall not think life is fair, because it isn’t. VI. You shall always consider the source. VII. You shall get over yourself. VIII. You shall shut up and play. IX. You shall not try to please everyone....
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January 03, 2007
For a very long time, I hated mobile phones and didn't see much use for them, and honestly speaking, I still don't like them that much to this very day. I only got my first mobile phone after my first to-be-employer emailed me saying they were trying to call me on my home line to set up a job interview but weren't able to get a hold of me. After that, the idea of a mobile phone for me was mainly a device that I could use to contact whoever I wanted, anytime, anywhere I was, but as I'm not...
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