September 30, 2007
Posted on September 30, 2007 10:17 PM under:
Books
I finished reading "The Kite Runner", the debut novel by Khaled Hosseini this morning. I heard a lot about this book and have been wanting to read it for so long, and the fact that the movie will be out soon made me want to read it even sooner. The Kite Runner follows the story of Amir, the privileged son of a wealthy businessman in Kabul, and Hassan, the son of Amir's father's servant. As children in the relatively stable Afghanistan of the early 1970s, the boys are inseparable. They spend idyllic days running kites and telling stories of mystical...
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September 28, 2007
I just found this interesting post on Pick the Brain that lists 10 writing tips from some of the masters of the art. Their tips for better writing go as follows: 1. Cut the boring parts 2. Eliminate unnecessary words 3. Write with passion 4. Paint a picture 5. Keep it simple 6. Do it for love 7. Learn to thrive on criticism 8. Write all the time 9. Write what you know … or what you want to know 10. Be unique and unpredictable Read the full post: The Art of Writing: 10 Tips from the Masters....
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September 26, 2007
I just came across this really interesting riddle that I thought I'd share here. There is an island that is considered to be paradise. All the inhibitants of the island are Perfect Logicians, and every knows of every that they are Perfect Logicans. Exactly 100 of these persons have blue eyes, 100 have brown eyes, and 1 has green eyes. The inhibitants do not know what his/her color eyes is. Everyone is constantly aware of everyone elses eye color but no person knows that there are 100 blue eyed, 100 brown eyed, and 1 green eyed person on the island....
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September 24, 2007
Brainstorming is an essential element in any creative process, it allows the flow of different ideas between all team members without the limits of a tightly structured meeting, only using general guidelines and a common goal as a framework for the exchange. BrainReactions.net is a new service that allows you to take your brainstorming sessions online, keep track of them and even tap into the intelligence of the crowds. Using their tool, you can create your own private Brainstorming rooms, in which you set your question/topic and invite your team members or the people you want to work with in...
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September 23, 2007
Yesterday I popped in the video game "God Of War II" in my PlayStation 2 to check it out and see what it's all about and maybe play away a few minutes while waiting for dinner. I never played the first installment of the game, so other than what I saw in trailers or heard from my friends, in addition to the obvious violence that the name hints at, I didn't really know what to expect. So now that I've played the game for two days and gotten quite well into it, I can say that it's a really fun...
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Mango is a newly launched online web service that provides free enterprise level language learning courses. It initially provides a choice of 11 language courses, each course made up of 100 lessons, and each lesson including between 70 and 150 slides. The 11 languages covered are: Spanish, Russian, French, Italian, Mandarin Chinese, German, Japanese, Brazilian Portuguese, Greek, English for Spanish speakers, and English for Polish speakers. Like other language learning software, Mango shows and plays conversations between two people in a number of social setups and situations. Then it goes into detail in the following slides, dissecting and recombining the...
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September 21, 2007
Want to making your writing style more and more effective? Who better to give you tips than one of the masters of the art himself: George Orwell. Here are the 5 tips he gives for effective writing style: 1. Never use a metaphor, simile, or other figure of speech which you are used to seeing in print. 2. Never use a long word where a short one will do. 3. If it is possible to cut a word out, always cut it out. 4. Never use the passive where you can use the active. 5. Never use a foreign phrase,...
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With proprietary operating systems increasingly designed to restrict and control the user, with digital 'restrictions' management, their users are subjugated even more now than before. If you don't want chains on your hand and foot, your only escape is to switch to a free operating system. -- Richard Stallman...
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September 20, 2007
The United Arab Emirates has just contracted with a Swiss firm, CSEM to purchase a floating solar island. The island, which will basically float an a ring-shaped raft, was conceptualized a while ago by CSEM, but until now they haven't found any buyers. The prototype being commissioned by the UAE will first be tested in a nearby desert before the concept is moved onto the ocean. It's one tenth the size of the concept pictured below, only costing $5M and about 100 meters wide with a peak power generation of roughly 1 megawatt. The plant will produce energy by concentrating...
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September 19, 2007
I just came across a great list of things every new programmer should know for their first job on Apple Matters, and I thought I'd share it with you guys here. I personally confirm all the ten points in the list from my own experience. The list goes as follows: 1. Being liked is easy 2. Being respected is hard 3. Everything you learned in college is useless 4. Never stop learning 5. You live or die by your text editor, so choose wisely 6. No one really cares what college you went to 7. Silence never goes out of...
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...There is only one sin, only one. And that is theft. Every other sin is a variation of theft... When you kill a man, you steal a life. You steal his wife's right to a husband, rob his children of a father. When you tell a lie, you steal someone's right to the truth. When you cheat, you steal the right to fairness. -- From The Kite Runner by Khaled Hosseini...
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September 18, 2007
Good to see some people are thinking of moving beyond petroleum... As part of an admirable but highly optimistic plan for a "Zero-Carbon Britain" by the year 2050, British Liberal Democrats announced plans to completely abolish gasoline- and diesel-powered cars by 2040. To aid them in their quest, the politicians proposed increasing Britain's car tax by £2000 (or roughly $4000) for the least efficient sport-utility vehicles. Nobody has yet mentioned the specifics of such a plan, except to note that it would mandate automakers to cease production (in Britain, at least) and importation of gasoline- or diesel-powered cars, in favor...
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One of the problems a lot of people face, especially those who freelance, work from home and have their own businesses, is that the line between their professional and personal lives becomes so blurred, and almost non-existent. This affects both their lives, how much they're able to enjoy them and even how much they're able to give in them. An interesting post that I found on Web Worker Daily gives a list of 10 ways to achieve a better work-life balance, that I think applies to everyone. 1. Don't always be connected. 2. Limit work; Set working hours. 3. Make...
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After a long time coming (long in terms of our internet era time) Google has finally launched the third piece in their online office suite: Google Presentations (or Presently as some people are calling it), a presentation product that targets the needs of the audience using Microsoft's PowerPoint. Presentations can be imported from existing files or created using the new slide editor. They can be edited, shared, and published using the familiar Google Docs interface, with several collaborators working on a slide deck simultaneously, in real time. When presenting the slides, participants can simply click a link to follow along...
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September 17, 2007
Great health news from India... Dr Indrani Sarkar has has every reason to be excited. Her PhD thesis, which started in 2002 at the Max Planck Institute in Dresden, Germany, has thrown open the doors for developing enzymes that can destroy the dreaded Human Immuno-deficiency Virus or HIV within infected cells permanently. Indrani and a team of scientists have developed an enzyme called Tre. Tre is a custom enzyme capable of detecting, recognising and destroying HIV, much like a pair of molecular scissors. [Source: IBN] This is really great news... It's a shame though that it might take from 5...
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Posted on September 17, 2007 02:31 PM under:
Books
This morning, before going to work, I finished reading "Seras-tu là ?" (Will You Be There?) by French novelist Guillaume Musso. The idea of the book revolves around an essential question that almost everybody must have asked themselves at some point in their lives: If you had the opportunity to, what would you change in your life? If you had to do it again, what remorse, what regret would you choose to obliterate? The story follows Elliott, a successful 60 year old surgeon, who lives in San Francisco and whose life is illuminated by his daughter Angie. He would be...
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September 15, 2007
Making money isn't hard in itself, what's hard is to earn it doing something worth devoting your life to. -- From the book The Shadow of the Wind by Carlos Ruiz Zafón...
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September 14, 2007
Posted on September 14, 2007 07:15 PM under:
Everyday Me
On a day like today, exactly five years ago, I got married to the one girl I ever fell in love with and who actually made me feel like settling down; my one and only Eman. Before meeting her, I never even thought about marriage; I was very happy on my own, having all the fun in the world; And then, we met, and it just hit me: I want to spend the rest of my life with her. Now, five great years after our wedding day, I'm even more sure of it; we've come a long way, we've gone...
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Google.org, Google's philanthropic arm, has announced that it will offer $10M to start-ups offering the best ideas for advancing "sustainable transportation." The company has issued a request for proposals (RFP) from entrepreneurs and for-profit companies for ideas to support the technologies, products and services needed to accelerate plug-in hybrid electric vehicle commercialization while promoting societal and environmental change. "The severity of global warming requires solutions from NGOs, governments, individuals and (very importantly) the private sector," the company said in a statement. "While $10 million is a fraction of the total investment needed to transform our transportation sector, we hope this...
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Posted on September 14, 2007 10:19 AM under:
Tunisia
The first International Environmental Investment Forum also dubbed "Green Ifriqiya 2007", will be held in Tunisia from November 9 to 11, 2007 at the El Kram Exhibition Hall. The event which is jointly organized by the Tunisian Ministry of the environment and sustainable development, as well as the German Technical Cooperation Agency (GTZ) with the help other regional and international organizations, will be attended by 300 Tunisian and foreign enterprises. "Green Ifriqiya" aims to stimulate new economic opportunities through green investments, as well as developing technological innovation and cooperation for environmental protection and explore new business opportunities on the African...
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September 13, 2007
Posted on September 13, 2007 03:08 PM under:
Tunisia
Zitouna FM, a new private Tunisian radio station for the Holy Koran was launched today, September 13th 2007, the first day of Ramadan, 1428 of Hegira, broadcasting its programmes non-stop, covering more than 90% of the Tunisian population. The radio station is based in Carthage, where it will be broadcasting from. Its programmes will be 80% focused on the Holy Book, with you Tunisians reciting the Koran. The other programmes will be devoted to the Sira of Prophet Mohamed, accounts of the prophets and invocations, in addition to courses in phonetics and Koran psalmody, as part of interactive programmes with...
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Posted on September 13, 2007 02:03 PM under:
Tunisia
Other than the abundance of great food and sweets, Ramadan in Tunisia is also marked by the great music festivals and cultural events that take place after the breaking of fast. One of these events is Musiqat, a mix of traditional and neo-traditional music by musicians and groups from around the world. This year's edition will be taking place from September 19th to October 6th at the Ennejma Ezzahra Palace in Sidi Bou Said. The event programme is as follows: 19/09 : Zohra Lajnaf : Tunisia : Traditional songs from Gafsa 20/09 : Halil Karaduman : Turkey : Instrumental Turkish...
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September 12, 2007
Posted on September 12, 2007 10:35 PM under:
Everyday Me
Ramadan starts tomorrow in Tunisia, and in most Arab & Muslim countries as well. It's a month of fasting, praying, reading the Koran and worship for some people; and a month of eating, sleeping, watching TV, and eating some more for others. So to everyone, no matter what this month ahead means to them exactly, I'd like to wish you a blessed Ramadan; and may it be a happy and great month for you all. I'll be fasting as usual, and again I'll be trying to start and stick to praying, hoping that this time it will work. Take it...
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September 11, 2007
I am forever walking upon these shores, Betwixt the sand and the foam, The high tide will erase my foot-prints, And the wind will blow away the foam. But the sea and the shore will remain Forever. From "Sand And Foam"; the book of aphorisms, poems, and parables; by Khalil Gibran [Amazon: Sand And Foam (Kahlil Gibran)]...
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A really interesting and promising bit of news... An Erie cancer researcher has found a way to burn salt water, a novel invention that is being touted by one chemist as the "most remarkable" water science discovery in a century. John Kanzius happened upon the discovery accidentally when he tried to desalinate seawater with a radio-frequency generator he developed to treat cancer. He discovered that as long as the salt water was exposed to the radio frequencies, it would burn. The discovery has scientists excited by the prospect of using salt water, the most abundant resource on earth, as a...
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September 10, 2007
Transport is so unpractical in our world nowadays. It just takes too long to get from a certain point A to another point B. I can't believe that over the years, mankind haven't been able to invent a faster method of transportation than the airplane. A dream method of transportation for me would be a teleportation device. There would be public ones, phone booth like structures that you find on every street corner, or private ones that you could buy and use from the luxury of your home. You'd walk into one of these booths, to find a little ATM...
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Posted on September 10, 2007 01:07 PM under:
Books
Last night, I finished reading "The Shadow of the Wind" by Spanish novelist Carlos Ruiz Zafon. I first came across this book in a Waterstone's in London, and it seemed very interesting, still I didn't buy it because I had already bought a bunch of books and couldn't keep going forever putting things in the already heavy shopping basket. A year and a bit more later, early this year, I encountered the book again at another Waterstone's, only this time in Manchester, and it that's when I bought it. The events of the story take place in Barcelona in the...
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September 08, 2007
You can’t just ask customers what they want and then try to give that to them. By the time you get it built, they’ll want something new. -- Steve Jobs...
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For the fun of it, I thought I'd compile a list of 10 things that a person could do to lose their job. At some point or another in my career I've met people who have done one or more of these things; some of them eventually lost their jobs, others didn't. Anyway, personally, I think these ten reasons should be a sure way out for anyone. 1. Go to work late; put your stuff on your desk and directly go out for a long coffee break; daily. Bonus points if you go out for long lunches too, have another...
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September 06, 2007
Mirrors are all around us, and there isn't a day that goes by without us taking a look at ourselves in at least one of them. Some people spend more time in front of the mirror than others, while some just take a quick glimpse while walking by. Most times, when you look at the mirror, you see a dumb reflection of yourself, you straighten your hair, check out your smile, sweep your tongue over your teeth in an attempt to make them even whiter or shinier, maybe wink at yourself if you're the kind that does that, and then...
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"We must always make clear our commitment to the security of Israel, but we cannot be peacemakers if American government leaders are seen as knee-jerk supporters of every action or policy of whatever Israeli government happens to be in power at the moment [...] Under AIPAC pressure, there are few significant countervailing voices in the public arena, and any balanced debate is still practically nonexistent in the U.S. Congress or among presidential hopefuls [...] The American friends of Israel who demand such subservience are in many cases sincere and well-intentioned people, but on this crucial issue, they are tragically...
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September 05, 2007
The first World Map of Happiness has been published by scholars from the University of Leicester. The map is a global projection of subjective well-being (SWB), taken from a variety of recent sources, and compared with related data from UNESCO, the UN and even the CIA. [Via: Technovelgy]...
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A twist on the famous list of the 7 habits of highly effective people, gives us the 7 habits every person should avoid in order to remain effective. The list of no-no's goes as follows: 1. Not showing up. 2. Procrastinating half the day. 3. When actually doing something, doing something that isn’t the most important thing right now. 4. Thinking too much. 5. Seeing the negative and downsides in just about anything. 6. Clinging to your own thoughts and being closed to outside influences. 7. Constantly on information overload. Read the full post here: 7 Habits of Highly Ineffective...
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September 04, 2007
Something I've noticed many times over the years is how some people seem to slip into different personalities when they change or assume different roles in life, work or elsewhere. It's as if a dial in some imaginary control room is turned, switching the person to another completely different personality. And in most cases it doesn't feel natural at all, it's just an act the person is putting up, just because he thinks he should be acting in a certain new way, because of their new status. I've seen this in newly married friends, colleagues who got a work promotion,...
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Posted on September 4, 2007 01:10 PM under:
Cinema
Last night, I finally got around to watching "1408", a movie based on Stephen King's short story of the same name, and featuring John Cusack and Samuel L. Jackson. I'm a fan of John Cusack's, especially his lighter comedy roles, he's a great actor who can take on many different roles so naturally, and who picks his roles really well; so I try to never miss a movie he's in. I can't claim to be a big fan of Stephen King though; I loved some of his works and their movie adaptations, but I was also let down a number...
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September 03, 2007
Posted on September 3, 2007 06:34 PM under:
Tunisia
Yesterday, we thought we'd go check out the Aquarium in Carthage, the Fish Museum as they call it, or "Dar El Hout" (Fish House) as it's called in Arabic. It's located in Carthage near the old Punic Ports. A number of people told me about the place before, and I was expecting a really cool aquarium, but I was somewhat let down, as it turned out to be pretty mediocre. The "Fish Museum" is divided into three parts; a Historic one giving insight into the maritime/marine history of Tunisia, Fresh water fish and salt water fish. There aren't really that...
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September 02, 2007
Posted on September 2, 2007 08:53 PM under:
Tunisia
On our way back home today, we were both a bit hungry and felt especially like having some Indian food. Being in Tunisia, the options in this area are very limited, and the only place we could think of was this new Indian restaurant called "Dumpukht" that opened in Les Berges du Lac a few months ago. The place is really nice, pretty well decorated, has Zee TV playing Indian music videos on a flat screen, and has this nice comfy feel to it. The waiters are all Tunisian, dressed in Indian clothes though, and the chef is Indian, which...
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September 01, 2007
We should drop the motto "In God We Trust" and adopt a new one, "Let Us Mind Our Own Business." -- Charley Reese, A New Motto for America...
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Ex-Reagan Aide Calls Bush a "Mass Murderer"... Bush is too self-righteous to see the dark humor in his denunciations of Iran for threatening "the security of nations everywhere" and of the Iraqi resistance for "a vision that rejects tolerance, crushes all dissent, and justifies the murder of innocent men, women, and children in the pursuit of political power." Those are precisely the words that most of the world applies to Bush and his Brownshirt administration. The Pew Foundation's world polls show that despite all the American and Israeli propaganda against Iran, the US and Israel are regarded as no less...
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