Year: 2004

Getting Over Blogger’s Block

Just like any writer, a blogger too can go through a period of writer’s block, or as maybe we should call it blogger’s block.

In fact a blogger is even more stressed by it because he feels some sort of obligation to blog whenever he’s in front of a pc with an internet connection 😛

Here are some things I do for inspiration. It doesn’t always work, but well, it helps a lot of times.

1. Check out the latest world news from my selected news sources.
2. Go through some blog indexes and community blogs to check out what other bloggers are linking to and talking about.
3. Take a spin through the blogs on my blogroll.
4. Go through some random blogs from my friend’s blogrolls.
5. Go back to my email inbox for interesting forwards.
6. Capture the first thought that crosses my mind.
7. Travel back in time through my memories.
8. Remember what stuff from my recent everyday life left an impression on me.

Any other ideas you’d like to share?

Dead wife as a coffee table

Jeff Green is a 32 year old american, in Arizona, whose wife passed away.
Due to the great pain he suffered due to her death, he did something totally out of character for a normal and sane person.

He said, “I could no longer take the pain that my wife’s death caused me and I brought her back home.” This is where Jeff’s story takes a twisted turn.
His wife, Lucy, was born with a heart condition that cut her life at the young age of 29. Lucy’s last words to Jeff were, “We will meet again in heaven.” These words served of no consolation to Jeff’s despair.

At the funeral, in an act of desperation, Jeff decided that he would not let Lucy leave him. “I called the cemetary caretaker and explained my feelings. I spoke with the authorities and got special permission to take my wife home with me. They thought it was strange, but I was allowed to take her with me. I’d rather have her at home than seven feet under ground. Lucy had a great sense of humor and I’m sure she would appreciate being my coffee table.” Jeff ordered a special glass casing that eliminates the decomposition of a dead body. “It cost me about $6,000.00, but it was worth it.”

Some of his friends and relatives, filled with fear, stop visiting Jeff. His true friends respected his decision and continue visiting him. Some even coment that it is a nice piece of furniture.

Now if this guy isn’t a twisted sick freak, I don’t know what is!

Ilkone Islamic Mobile Phone

Some time ago, while I was looking for a new mobile phone, I found this new brand of mobile phones called Ilkone. I had never heard of them before, and so even though they looked really nice, I just moved on to the next brand.

A couple of days later I found some ads about them in the local newspaper presenting their features and all.

It turns out this brand is rolling out some really cool looking, feature rich Islamic mobile phones.

Among its many features, ilkone’s i800 offers automatic precise prayer timing anywhere in the world, an alarm option which can be set to sound before and after the call to prayer (Azan) with actual Azan voice which could be automatically set to silence throughout prayer. It is also capable of establishing Qibla directions from anywhere in the world, automatically pointing towards Mecca, giving full text of the Holy Qur

Google Suggest

Google have launched a beta of yet another cool feature for their search engine called Google Suggest.

When someone starts typing a request into the search box, a drop-down menu appears with suggestions as to what that person could be looking for with the number of results that search would yield.

Google uses a wide range of information to predict queries including data about the overall popularity of various searches.

I’ve tried it out and it’s really cool.
Google have taken search and taken it to a whole other level with their creativity and great technology.
These guys rock so much!

The 6 Myths Of Creativity

A list of 6 myths of creativity that were busted by a study held by Teresa Amabile, head of the Entrepreneurial Management Unit at Harvard Business School, and a team of PhDs, graduate students, and managers from various companies.

1. Creativity Comes From Creative Types
2. Money Is a Creativity Motivator
3. Time Pressure Fuels Creativity
4. Fear Forces Breakthroughs
5. Competition Beats Collaboration
6. A Streamlined Organization Is a Creative Organization

I totally agree with the results of this study and think that anyone running a company should really take them into consideration.

[Details: Fast Company]

Katty ko, Miss Digital World 2004

Katty ko, designed by Flavio Parra from Chile has been voted Miss Digital World 2004 by the online jury at the Miss Digital World contest.

According to them, Katty ko is the contemporary icon of virtual beauty.

From the models that were submitted for this contest, I too agree that Katty ko is the best.
I also liked Judith Pixelle by another designer from Chile.

It seems South Americans rock in 3D modelling of humans.

Israeli soldiers shoot boy for fun

From the “Only Democracy” in the Middle East!

A group of Israeli soldiers serving in the Gaza Strip have reportedly admitted killing a 15-year-old Palestinian in Khan Yunus for sport.

According to the Israeli newspaper Yediot Ahronoth, the incident took place in March when an undisclosed number of Givati brigade soldiers shot and killed Khalid Sulaiman Mahdi while he was working with his father on their farm.

The boy’s father, Sulaiman Mahdi, told the paper the killing was “just for the sake of it”.

“Seven bullets pierced my son’s head, so you can’t talk here about a mistake or random gunfire. This was an act of direct and clear sharp shooting,” he said.

According to soldiers interviewed by Yediot Ahronoth, there were no operational purposes for the shooting and no justification, since the boy and his family posed no threat to the soldiers.

An Israeli army spokesman said the army had investigated the incident, but admitted that no arrests were made.

This is so disgusting!
Where is the world when things like this happen?!
Or is the blood of the Palestinian people and children too cheap to care about?!

[Source: Al Jazeera]
[Via: Je Blog]