Today is Blog Action Day, and I thought I'd use this day to post 10 simple rules that we can all apply in our everyday lives to help our environment. Of course there are more than 10 things we can all do, and we should do, but well we can start with these really easy ten, and then move on step by step. So here goes the list: 1. Take showers rather than baths: This way you’ll conserve water, as well as the electricity needed to heat up the water. 2. Walk to places instead of driving whenever you can:...
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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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In the tech circles, we almost always get carried away by all the greatness of Google and its products, that we forget that Google too is not perfect. Yep, Google too have made a number of big mistakes; and here's the top 10 list according to me, a loyal fan. 1. Google Web accelerator: The idea behind this product was to speed up page loading for users and all as it name suggests, but the product went down amid privacy concerns, web application problems resulting from the system and Google's announced inability to handle all the traffic. 2. Picasa Web...
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The other day we were shopping at one of the big stores, and I went on to pick up a bottle of skimmed milk; I was just checking the expiry date and other stuff when I found a little something I'm not used to finding on Tunisian products. There was this little message informing customers that the same company also sold 0% Fat Yogurt with different flavors. This isn't a form of marketing you usually find on Tunisian products, even though I find it one of the most targeted, unobtrusive and interesting forms of advertising and marketing around because you're...
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So many people underestimate the power and importance of a smile, that simple little facial expression characterized by an upward curving of the corners of the mouth. A smile has many meanings: pleasure, friendliness, welcome, amusement, and many more; and it is part of a universal body language that doesn't need any extra interpretation. Plus a smile, with all its simplcity and beauty, can be a very important factor in many aspects of our lives: - You fall in love with a new country you visit because its people greet you with a welcoming smile everywhere you go; other countries...
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Here's to the crazy ones, the misfits, the rebels, the troublemakers, the round pegs in the square holes... the ones who see things differently -- they're not fond of rules... You can quote them, disagree with them, glorify or vilify them, but the only thing you can't do is ignore them because they change things... they push the human race forward, and while some may see them as the crazy ones, we see genius, because the ones who are crazy enough to think that they can change the world, are the ones who do. -- Steve Jobs...
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A couple of days ago I was flipping through tv channels when I came across this show that was just beginning; the show was about biofuel, and the presenter listing the different points of the show went on about how they would talk about how cost-effective biofuel is and whether the outcome justifies the cost. This is an approach that I've been seeing in a number of places by a number of people, and I'm totally against it, because we don't really have an option anymore; this is not a business issue where you evaluate what you're going to get...
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The individual has always had to struggle to keep from being overwhelmed by the tribe. If you try it, you will be lonely often, and sometimes frightened. But no price is too high to pay for the privilege of owning yourself. Friedrich Nietzsche...
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Imagine a future in which wireless power transfer is feasible: cell phones, household robots, mp3 players, laptop computers, and other portable electronics capable of charging themselves without ever being plugged in, freeing us from that final, ubiquitous power wire. Some of these devices might not even need their bulky batteries to operate. Well that future could be just around the corner; A team at MIT led by Prof. Marin Soljacic has experimentally demonstrated an important step toward accomplishing this vision of the future, they were able to light a 60W light-bulb from a power source more than 2 meters away,...
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I think one of the biggest problems of the Arab world today is the "Do whatever you want as long as I don't catch you doing it" mentality and attitude that's being applied to a wide variety of things we just don't want to handle. This problem exists at all levels of our Arab societies, and it's simply a way of avoiding to face the issues and problems that exist and taking the necessary steps to address or solve them. An example I've seen so many times at the family level: The tough father forbids his son to smoke; but...
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It takes 20 years of hard work to become an overnight success. Diana Rankin, Writer and public speaker So, so, so, so, sooooo true! Nothing and no one is an overnight success. It just doesn't work that way....
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Never doubt that a small group of thoughtful, committed citizens can change the world. Indeed, it is the only thing that ever has. Margaret Mead, US anthropologist...
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For anyone who hasn't already seen this great interview with George Galloway on SkyNews about the Israel-Lebanon conflict, you have to see it, it's amazing. This guy is just awesome. A quote from the interview: "One man’s terrorist is another man’s freedom fighter. You are totally wrong in saying that in most people’s eyes Hezbollah are terrorists. In most people’s eyes Israel is a terrorist state. It’s the fact that you cannot comprehend that fact that leads to bias that runs through all of your reporting and every question that you’ve asked me in this interview!" More about: George Galloway....
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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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The prices of fuel keep on rising all over the world, and no one is winning except the big oil companies. The consumer is losing more and more money on fuel for transport and other uses, and the environment continues to be suffocated by our fuel emissions. It's just those big oil companies that happily sit on very fat wallets while the whole world goes to hell. Us Tunisians are luckier than others because the government subsidizes a percentage of the fuel price to keep it lower for us, but the country won't be able to go on doing that...
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Every now and then, I come across an article, a blog or someone talking about how there should be a new modernized version of Islam. Some go as far as taking out verses from the Koran that talk about war, while on the other side of the spectrum some seem to limit it to making things like the hijab optional, and of course there are many thoughts in between those two. Some countries are taking steps forward with some of these ideas, with some of them taking out certain Koranic verses from school curriculums, some others trying to make the...
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Today, I went to the dentist's for another one of my seemingly endless appointments for dental work. Sometimes I feel like I have some sort of membership card. Anyway, as I entered the waiting room, I found this cute little 9 year old kid who was flipping through a French magazine, mainly focusing on the many pictures, flying by some and looking closer at some others. I said hi and sat next to him and pulled a magazine from the stack too and started flipping through it myself. The boy came across this perfume ad with a guy holding up...
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So the holy month of Ramadan is on the doorstep, starting tomorrow or the day after, depending on whether they see the crescent today or not. Now, just this once, I want to get this whole crescent thing off my chest because it's bugging the hell out of me! Every year, religious insititutions in all Muslim countries go out and start looking out for the crescent that marks the beginning of the holy month of Ramadan. But of course, they won't all be able to see the crescent from all over the world on the same day, and we end...
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Yesterday, I found these really interesting numbers about Tunisian emigration on Zizou from Djerba's blog. - 80% of Tunisian youth would like to emigrate. - 80.000 to 100.000 Tunisian youth leave Tunisia each year (Some come back of course). - 25 to 35% of Tunisians abroad are jobless. According to statistics from 2003, the number of Tunisians abroad is 850,000. 6000 of them are students. Even though these numbers might not be 100% accurate, I do believe that they are pretty close to reality and I think they're very interesting. I'm sure numbers like these are reflected throughout the Arab...
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A distant relative of mine passed away, God bless his soul, and yesterday I attended his funeral. Funerals must be one of the most depressing things in life. Just the thought that a person you knew to be so full of life, energy, kindness and good has passed away and is being lowered a stiff lifeless body into a hole in the ground is a very depressing thought. Most people start thinking of their own deaths, and they get more and more scared of it, fearing it could come and take them by surprise at any second. As for me,...
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Something that really annoys me in the world today is how people just have to think of themselves in terms of belonging to very specific seperate groups and how they get too obsessed with it all. Not only that, but this seperation also results in ethnocentrism, where everyone thinks their group is superior to others, thus creating this ugly stupid form of racism. It comes in many forms, from belonging to religious groups and their subgroups to belonging to geographical areas, countries in those areas, cities in those countries, towns in those cities, neighbourhoods in those towns, families...etc. I understand...
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Is there such a thing as absolute truth? People always seem to have different perceptions of what the truth is. There are always different sides and versions of every story, different points of view, and every version is further interpreted in various ways by the people learning of it. So how can there be one absolute truth? How can anyone ever be sure which version is the true one? How can anyone be sure that their intrepretation of the truth is true? I guess the only things we can be sure are absolutely true are things that are fixed, invariable,...
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"The most perfidious way of harming a cause consists of defending it deliberately with faulty arguments." -- Friedrich Nietzsche I couldn't agree more. Applying this to the case of Islam in the world, I think one of the things harming it these days is the number of clueless people who think they are qualified to defend it. These people who go on and try to portray themselves as scholars of Islam when they basically don't have the necessary background or knowledge for it are just making things worse everytime they open their mouths. People should be really careful about...
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"Let there be no compulsion in religion. Truth has been made clear from error. Whoever rejects false worship and believes in Allah has grasped the most trustworthy handhold that never breaks. And Allah hears and knows all things." [The Koran: Sûrah al-Baqarah: 256] "The Messenger’s duty is but to proclaim the Message." [The Koran: Sûrah al-Mâ’idah: 99] These verses from the Holy Koran clearly state that no one can be compelled to accept Islam. It is the duty of Muslims to establish the proof of Islam to the people so that truth can be made clear from falsehood. After...
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... Unfortunately, the West does not know what every Muslim scholar knows; that the worst enemies of Islam are from within. The worst of these are the khawaarij who delude others by the deeply dyed religious exterior that they project. [...] Our Prophet said, peace be upon him, “Beware of extremism in your religion.” Islam is the middle way between excess and neglect. Zealots are a plague upon religion. These extremists come in two types. The first is a reactionary extremist who falls far right of a center-point. Reactionary extremists do not want any pluralism; they view the world in...
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How true is it when we say that the future is what we make of it? And that our past has nothing to do with it and that it should not haunt us? I think it's true that our present is the result of the decisions we took in our past, and that the future is the result of the decisions we take today. But, still our decisions today are based on whatever elements and consequences we have today, which have come to exist because of our old decision in our past. Let's say a person took the decision to...
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What is the definition of a home? And why do we always have to have a clear answer for that which is limited by a certain place for us to build our lives around? The concept of a home is strongly rooted in us and in so many of our major decisions. A home country, a home city, a home town, a home team, and the list goes on. But what actually ties us to a certain place to make it our home? What defines a home country? A home country to most is the place they were born, a...
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Floating in the sea Lying on my back My eyes are shut The cool deep waters carry me The tidal waves caress my body The peaceful silence soothes my soul This moment is perfect The world around me ceases to exist No more responsibilites, no more troubles No more complexity, no more madness Nothing exists anymore Everything melts into the vastness of the sea And everything is what I imagine it to be I don't exist anymore I'm just another tiny part of it all I'm part of nature And nature is part of me This is where I belong...
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"Religion is very easy and whoever overburdens himself in his religion will not be able to continue in that way. So you should not be extremists, but try to be near to perfection and receive the good tidings that you will be rewarded." Prophet Mohamed (PBUH) Sahih Bukhari, Volume 1, Book 2, Number 38...
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I think i've always been a very open person when it comes to religion, willing to listen and learn more about all religions and beliefs, a topic that truly interests me. As a muslim, i find Christianity and Judaism very close to Islam, which is only normal as they are all the words of the same God, and as Islam tells us to believe in all the prophets that were sent by God including Jesus and Moses. The only differences between these religions' holy books and teachings are the ones that were influenced and changed with time, resulting in a...
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There's a big misconception when it comes to the position of women in Islam, and how this religion portrays women and their role in society. Foreign media is full of wrong information suggesting that the woman has no rights or dignity in Islam, and I just wanted to post something about it to try and set the record straight. I'm a muslim by inheritance actually, no sheikh or anything, and I don't even practice my religion fully, like most people in this money-crazed world, but I’ve read the Quran and I have studied the religion, and I know what the...
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