Nemo

Sunset at Santa Monica (29-Dec-11)

2011-12-31T21:39:00.000+03:00

This is my first sunset experience althu I hate all sunset pics including these, I just don't like the sunset!
(photos are taken with my iphone 3gs)

2011 - The second most stressful year of my life (so far?)

2011-12-31T20:33:00.005+03:00

Inspired by http://www.bloggylife.com/2011/12/31/resolutions-thoughts/

I decided to spend an hour writing this:

I can’t go thru everything I have experienced and everything I’m experiencing right now but these are only "some" of the things:

A) The graduate application process is torture. (Well I guess every step is painful):

Getting recommendation letters is the worst part I believe specially when you’re not a recent graduate.
Writing the statement of purpose when you don’t yet have a clear research plan is pain.
Waiting is the most painful part of the process. (You’d wait for 3-4 months).
I had a stressful situation with the school I wanted to attend. The graduate division rejected my initial department recommendation and it took me two months to convince them that I deserve a chance.

B) Leaving your job is hard:

You’d think it’s easy but It’s not specially when you have worked really hard to reach your current position.
I don’t have to explain the insecurities associated with leaving a job.
Although graduate school is an investment but spending all your savings to go to graduate school is a bit scary. (What if it’s not worth it?).
Having an acceptance to the same program at KU didn’t help. (Everyone was like why are you doing this?).

C) Moving is hard:

Living alone is not easy and living with a stranger is not fun specially when she’s so annoying!
Meeting your colleagues who are mostly recent graduates was not encouraging.
Many grad students are depressed and I didn’t know that, I guess I met the wrong mix at first.
& I miss my family & friends.

D) Going back to school is hard:

Doing assignments, reading and listening to lectures is so hard after all these years. Nothing is easy or straight forward as it used to be. My first exam was a horrible experience, it was a disaster!
Having a crush on a professor doesn't help, it is a distraction!

E) Future uncertainties:

I need a job and I hope I get one soon otherwise I’m going to be broke next year.
I really want to work with professor X but I need to work so hard for it since I don’t have any background in his field. (The most stressful thing right now).
My classes next term are so difficult and I don’t have the prerequisites but I need to take them!
I need to apply for funding although I haven’t found anything I’m eligible for (coming from a rich country doesn’t help).
Next fall I’ll again have to apply for PhD programs, another graduate application process. I just hope I can keep a good GPA to be able to apply.
Also, the hair I'm losing due to stress is freaking me out, I hope it stops!

Information Is Beautiful: Evidence for Popular Dietary Supplements

2011-05-18T12:50:00.000+03:00

A beautiful chart from a beautiful website.

The chart shows graphically the scientific evidence for some popular dietary supplements. Check it out:

http://www.informationisbeautiful.net/play/snake-oil-supplements/

I have for example looked up the elements for mental health and googled the ones with strong to promising evidence:

*According to wikipedia, "St. John's wort" is a herbal treatment for depression and PMS. (Strong Evidence)

*Creatine which is found in meat and fish boosts brain power. "Vegetarians and vegans do not get any creatine from food sources. Creatine levels in blood plasma are very low in these populations."

*Tyrosine is found in many food sources. "Low Tyrosine leads to conditions, such as muscle weakness, muscle loss, mood disorders, ...etc."

Shutting Down Your Awareness

2011-05-07T12:17:00.000+03:00

I read this interesting piece from the book: “Mindsight” by Dr. Daniel Siegel.

Chapter 7: Cut Off From the Neck Down, Reconnecting the Mind and the Body.

The chapter starts with this patient who came saying that her life felt empty and meaningless. She seemed disconnected and cold. In details the author talks about how the patient’s early life was filled with unfair opportunities. The turning point for the patient was when she promised herself that she "would never feel anything again". She was 11.

The author explains: to cope with those difficult situations we build our own defensive mechanisms whether for example by ignoring the situation, concentrating on the positive side (optimism) or by projecting those experience on others and then hating them for it.

By building these defense mechanisms, we build a firewall around our awareness to protect us from those feelings, but by doing that you filter out both the good and the bad feelings. The ACC “Anterior Cingular Cortex”, located in the middle prefrontal cortex in the brain, regulates our awareness.

The ACC is responsible for many things:

The pain for social rejection and the physical pain are both in the ACC.
“It's the area between our thinking cortex and our feeling limbic regions.”
“It registers physical sensations from the body and feelings from our social interactions.”
“It regulates the focus of our attention.”
“It links body, emotion attention social awareness.”
It’s responsible for letting us feel connected.

The problem with shutting down the ACC is not only with filtering the good feelings out but with the fact that even if you removed the pain from your awareness it still has an affect on you, your decision making and your body. Feelings will still be there in our nervous system, brainstem and the limbic areas. You’re eliminating the awareness only.

Think about it!

*note: There are so many other details in the chapter*.

Are younger generations getting shorter or taller? (Short Time)

2011-04-17T15:59:00.001+03:00

If you think that kids are now shorter or taller than how your generation used to be, read this:

Galton’s experiment:

In 1875, Galton (Google Him) distributed packets of sweet pea pods of uniform size and weight to seven friends. Galton then measured the seeds of the successive generation. He noticed that the median diameter of the large seeds was less than that of the parents while the median diameter of the small seeds were greater that of the parents.

He continued to notice the same effect in the height of humans that is if one’s measurement is far from its mean, the other will closer to its mean “regression toward the mean”. The process doesn’t go out of control. People don’t get dumber or smarter over short periods of time. And the same can be applied to intelligence, artistic talent, etc.

So for example, if the parents are tall, their kids would not necessarily be as tall and if the parents are short, their kids would not be necessarily as short.

Source: Book: The Drunkard's Walk: How Randomness Rules Our Lives by Leonard Mlodinow

Puzzle: The Monty Hall Problem

2011-04-14T20:25:00.000+03:00

"Ask Marilyn” is a famous column where Marilyn answers readers’ questions. (Marilyn is listed as the world’s highest recorded IQ: 228). One of the questions was inspired by the game show “Let’s Make Deal” hosted by Monty Hall.

In the game, there are 3 doors with 2 goats and 1 car. You start by choosing one door; the host then opens of the “goat” doors. You are now left with 2 doors. The host asks if you would like to switch the door?

Is it better to switch or not?

You would think that it makes no difference. Marilyn said that it is better to switch. Almost 10,000 readers of which are 1000 PhD holders were upset with Marilyn’s answer. One of them even said, “If all those PhD holders are wrong then the country is in serious trouble”! but at the end Marilyn was right J

Easy Explanation

Scenario One: You are lucky, you choose the door with the car and you win (probability: 1/3)

Scenario Two: You are not lucky (probability 2/3), you choose the door with the goat, at this point the host opens the “goat” door, and hence you are left with the “car” door and so it’s better to switch.

Door 1	Door 2	Door 3	result if switching	result if staying
Car	Goat	Goat	Goat	Car
Goat	Car	Goat	Car	Goat
Goat	Goat	Car	Car	Goat

The table is taken from the Wikipedia

Which clearly shows that if you switched, the chance of getting the car would be (2/3 or 66%) while if you didn’t switch, the chance of getting the car would be (1/3 or 33%)

Does it make sense? J

Source: Book: The Drunkard's Walk: How Randomness Rules Our Lives

Kuwaiti Documentary: TOKAI

2011-04-05T20:28:00.000+03:00

Part 1: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=hbFlrW8UWCI&feature=related

Part 2: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=31-1pieS-HI&feature=related

“There are 200,000 Bangladeshi workers in Kuwait

Workers from other third world countries flock to this oil rich nations in hopes of fulfilling their dreams

The injustice goes on”

When will this cruelty end?

When will the government do something about these companies?

Why can’t they have their rights?

Don’t tell me that they live in much worse conditions in their countries; it doesn’t give you the right to oppress them like that.

Thank you Abdul Rahman Al Ajeel Al Askar

Abeer Tebawi

Vachan Sharma

Thank you Mark for posting the short documentary

More about “Left Mind vs. Right Mind”

2011-04-02T12:03:00.000+03:00

From the book: “My Stroke of Insight” by Jill Bolte Taylo, Chapter 16.

Right Mind:

It’s all about right here, right now, the richness of the moment, filled with gratitude for my life and every one in it.
It smiles a lot and is extremely friendly.
Compassionate, nurturing and eternally optimistic
It observes without judgment. No judgment of good/bad or right/wrong.
It is sensitive to non-verbal communication, and accurately decodes emotion.
It is your intuition and higher consciousness.
Highly creative: thinks out of the box. Not limited by the rules of regulations set by the left mind.
Free, not bogged by the past or fearful of what the future may bring or not bring.
Thinks in images/pictures.
Looks at the big picture and how things relate to each other.
The Extreme Right Mind: seldom connect to a common reality and spend most of our time with head in the clouds.

Left Mind:

Preoccupied with details and runs your life on a tight schedule.
The more serious side.
It defines boundaries and judges everything as right/wrong or good/bad.
Responsible for transforming all the information and possibilities into something manageable.
It is what you use to communicate to the external world.
Thinks in language and speaks to you constantly.
Your organizer: has the ability to organize, categorize, describe, judge and critically analyze everything.
Has the ability to multitask.
Identifies patterns.
Processes large volumes of information (much faster that that the right mind).
The storyteller: brilliant at making up stories, filling the blanks where there are gaps in data and generating alternative scenarios.
Genius at generating What-if possibilities and drawing conclusions.
Your ego center.
Your critical analytical mind.
The Extreme Left Mind: exhibits extremely rigid thinking patterns that are analytically critical.

Tonight's Moon

2011-03-19T20:05:00.000+03:00

"The moon will make its closest approach to Earth in 18 years—making the so-called supermoon the biggest full moon in years."

http://news.nationalgeographic.com/news/2011/03/110318-supermoon-earth-japan-earthquake-tsunami-science-space-biggest-full-moon/?source=link_tw20110318news-moon

Don't Miss It, It's Gorgeous

Brain Memory and Stress ...

2011-03-15T20:03:00.000+03:00

Stress and depression lead to long-term memory loss. How?

Hippocampus is an area in the brain that turns our short-term explicit memories into long-term explicit memories.

Stress, depression and childhood trauma all release glucocorticoids, which kill cells in the hippocampus leading to memory loss.

The longer people are depressed, the small their hippocampus gets.

But …

After recovery from stress or depression, neurons can grow back in the hippocampus.

Physical exercise helps re-generate new neurons in the hippocampus while learning helps keeping those new neurons alive.

Source: The Brain That Changes Itself By Dr. Norman Doidge

Dr. Edward Taub

2011-03-07T13:41:00.000+03:00

Stroke is one of the leading causes of disabilities in adults. Once the brain damage happens, there is little help that modern science can provide until Dr. Edward Taub invented his treatment (CI Therapy).

Dr. Taub’s treatment helped patients re-wire their brains. Patients who were paralyzed for years and were told they would never walk again began to walk.

Dr. Taub started working on his idea while he was a graduate student. The theory that explained our physical movement at the time was Dr. Sherrington’s Reflexological Theory of Movement.

Dr. Sherrington’s experiment was to cut all the sensory nerves in a monkey’s arm (a process called Defferentation). After the experiment, the monkey couldn’t move his arm although the sensory nerves were cut and not the motor nerves (which control the movement). Dr. Sherrington suggested that the movement must be based or initiated by the sensory part and that the monkey couldn’t move his arm because he had destroyed this part.

Dr. Taub modified the experiment by placing the good arm after the operation in a sling to restrain it. The monkey was then able to start using the affected arm. This is really critical because it implies that stroke patients with treatment can use their damaged parts again.

In the book Dr. Taub’s treatment is explained in details and recovery cases are also mentioned.

I was hesitant to post about Dr. Taub because there are so many details that you need to read in order to get the full picture.

Reference: Book: The Brain That Changes Itself By Dr. Norman Doige

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Edward_Taub

Book: The Brain That Changes Itself, Chapter 3

2011-03-04T21:19:00.001+03:00

I just wanted to share some very interesting things that I have learned from the book "The Brain That Changes Itself"- Chapter 2.

(0) The brain is plastic. It can change its structure for better or for worse. We can change the structure of our brain and increase its capacity to learn.

(1) “If we stop exercising our mental skills, we don’t just forget them, the brain map space used for those skills is taken over by the skills we practice”.

(2) The reason why learning a new language when we get older is more difficult is not because the brain can’t change itself. It’s because when we’re older our native language has already dominated our linguistic map space and hence we really need to work harder in order to master the new language.

(3) At the beginning of learning a new task you need more neurons to do the work. After practicing, neurons become faster and more efficient and eventually fewer neurons are needed for the task.

(4) Merzenich knew that there is a critical time or window during infancy when the brain map gets its shape. During that period the brain can learn just by being exposed to the world. “The learning machinery” is always on for them and that’s why they are able to pay attention to literally everything around them.

(5) Levi-Montalcini discovered the brain-derived neurotropic factor, or BDNF. BDNF is responsible for reinforcing plastic changes made in the brain during the critical period.

-BDNF release consolidates the connections between neurons and helps wiring them so that they fire together.

-BDNF promotes the growth of a thin layer around every neuron to speed up the transmission of electrical signals.

-BDNF turns on the “nucleus basalis” that allows us to focus our attention and keeps it on during the entire critical period.

-Finally BDNF helps close the critical period once the main connections are established, hence less plasticity in the system.

(7) Merzenich argues that some external factors during the critical period lead to the “massive premature release of BDNF” causing the critical period to close prematurely and the child is left with so many development disorders.

(8) Merzenich suggests that noise is a factor in the premature release of BDNF. Studies have shown that kids who live near the airports or train stations had lower intelligence.

This is not everything in chapter 3, there is a lot more!
Share your thoughts!

Your IMDB Page: Share Your Voting History

2011-01-28T15:11:00.000+03:00

You can now share your movies with your friends by making your "voting history" page public.

please do so and send me your link :)

My Movies:

http://www.imdb.com/mymovies/list?l=47167494

Events: Solar Eclipse (January 4th 2010) [Pictures]

2011-01-04T16:39:00.000+03:00

These beautiful photos were taken by my colleague today at 12:10-12:15PM. (I still don't have a camera)

We used both an x-ray with the glass door to be able watch the solar eclipse.

The eclipse started at 10:44 AM

The maximum eclipse was at 12:10 PM

The eclipse ended at 13:34 PM

Enjoy :)

Georgia's Aquarium [Pictures]

2010-08-31T22:57:00.000+03:00

I had visited Georgia's Aquarium when I was in Atlanta last year. All the pictures were taken inside The Ocean Voyager Exhibit. The viewing window inside is the second largest viewing window in the world. This is one of the most beautiful, breathtaking aquariums.

Ocean Voyager Exhibit Description:

"This exhibit was specially designed to house whale sharks, the largest fish species in the world. Schools of predatory trevally jacks, squadrons of small and large stingrays, enormous goliath grouper and hammerhead sharks all ply the waters of this ocean habitat containing more than six million gallons of saltwater. With 4,574 square feet of viewing windows, a 100-foot-long underwater tunnel, 185 tons of acrylic windows and the second largest viewing window in the world at 23 feet tall by 61 feet wide and 2 feet thick, visitors will have multiple opportunities to view all of these magnificent animals. No other aquarium in the world has ever attempted to manage the variety and size of fish in this major exhibit."

The Aquarium is a must if you ever had the chance to visit Atlanta.

http://www.georgiaaquarium.org

Few Work Related Tips - The 4-Hour Work Week

2010-08-29T22:27:00.001+03:00

I'm being so unproductive, unfocused, and unmotivated (Summer started, I took my vacation and now Ramadan). I decided to read this book after seeing it on the Amazon bestsellers list. The book is definitely fun to read. (still reading, finished 40%).

Here are some tips that I would like try:

1- Prepare a short to-do list one day ahead. use a small sticky note so you can't write more than 2-3 major items.

2- Try to check your email 2-3 times per day, preferably at 11 AM and again at 3 PM (if you work from 8-4). (Less Interruption).

3- Try to do step 2 with phone calls as well. (I'll definitely try but I know that I won't be able to that, end users will keep calling until I pickup or they'll just surprise me by coming to my office).

4- Don't check email or news first thing in the morning. The first couple of hours in the morning are the best to finish major tasks.

5- Set shorter deadlines for your tasks. (Parkinson's Law).

6- Avoid Multitasking.

7- Avoid Meetings whenever possible (by using email).

Some of these tips are not new: true, but the author has included examples, tricks and tools that will help you apply those and many other tips as well.

Amazon Link

The New Amazon Kindle (6-inch)

2010-08-28T04:53:00.000+03:00

Kindle 3 is finally here :D

Wifi edition price: $139 (I bought kindle 2 for $389 in feb 09)

Amazon Highlights:

* 50% better contrast than any other e-reader. (what i'm looking for)

* New crisper, darker fonts. (what i'm looking for)

* 21% smaller body while keeping the same 6" size reading area.

* A single charge lasts up to one month with wireless off.

* Double the Storage (4 GB) ... Up to 3,500 Books.

* Built-In Wifi.

* 20% Faster Page Turns.

* Enhanced PDF Reader – With dictionary lookup, notes, and highlights.

The Engadget Review:

http://www.engadget.com/2010/08/27/amazon-kindle-review/

Pictures:

http://www.engadget.com/photos/amazon-kindle-unboxing-and-hands-on/

I've already placed my order on August 15th and I'm still waiting for my kindle to be shipped, hopefully today :)

Question on Working Hours?

2010-08-26T01:56:00.000+03:00

If you work 8 hours a day and you are able to finish your tasks in lets say half the time (by pressuring yourself, working harder, smarter and being super efficient). Is it ethical to use the time left for yourself?

If it's not ethical => Naturally you will finish the tasks in the 8 hours that you have ... you won't pressure yourself.

And even If it's ethical => You will end up with more tasks from your boss anyways.

What do you think?

Blogs: Q8Bookers

2010-08-25T14:25:00.000+03:00

http://q8bookers.wordpress.com

A new blog about books

For anyone who likes to read

Floral Mugs - Home Selection, Al Raya

2010-08-22T23:05:00.000+03:00

Got these cute floral mugs from Home Selection, Al Raya.

price: KD 1.250

Picture of the Day: Cat Tanning, Messila Beach

2010-07-17T21:14:00.000+03:00

Ordering a MacBook Pro

2010-05-21T15:10:00.004+03:00

So I've decided to order a MacBook Pro and here is what I did:

1- I first checked Digits, Alghanim, Electrozan and Virgin. All had the older model. (price: 640-670 KD). I wanted the newest model (intel core i5). (Update: The new models have arrived: http://www.frankom.com/?p=12535)

2- I then checked kuwait-mall.com but after reading the negative reviews I decided to order it myself.

3- I chose the following: MacBook Pro (price: $1729).

4- I choose DHL over Aramex since I would skip paying the New York tax ($150). I've placed my order on Tuesday (May 11th) and it was delivered on May 12th using Amazon Prime).

4- Here are the DHL tracking details:(The tracking number was posted two days after my mac was delivered to my mailbox, Friday (May 14th)).

5- Here is the invoice from my borderlinx account:

6- Here are the invoices from DHL:

7- Total: ~570 KD.

Info Edu Day 25th April 2010

2010-04-18T17:41:00.000+03:00

http://www.infocenter.com.kw/2010infoeduday/

Only if you're free ...

To: Marina Mall's Owner

2010-03-26T13:55:00.000+03:00

*lesh el halaga?*

Book: Manners for Men

2010-02-06T19:40:00.000+03:00

If you're bored, check out this book when you go to Virgin :p (amazon link).

There was a similar book called "Etiquette for Girls" which was available 3 weeks ago but I couldn't find it today. (amazon link).

Seinfeld Marathon

2010-02-03T18:24:00.000+03:00

I'm finally done with the "Seinfeld Marathon" (S01-S09) which took over the last 2-3 months. I will always love this show. It is the BEST.

iPhone: TouchMouse

2010-02-02T20:54:00.001+03:00

This application will turn your iPhone into a wireless trackpad/keyboard. I decided to try the application after reading about it on engadget.

0- Install the free application on your iPhone. (TouchMouse).

1- Install "logitech touch mouse server" on your PC. (download here).

2- Both your iPhone and your PC should be connected to the same wireless network.

Screenshots:

Remember to disconnect when you're done :)

iPhone: Flixster

2010-02-01T21:41:00.000+03:00

This is one of my favorite applications. This is not like the IMDB application (which I like as well). Here, you get the list of the current box office movies, the list of the upcoming movies and the list of the "new releases" on DVD (the list that i like).

In addition to the basic movie info (cast, plot) and reviews, you can watch the movie trailer.

Info: US Store, Free

Info Connect 2010: Quality Net Prices

2010-01-31T19:23:00.002+03:00

2-4 mb depends on the line

*update*

Complete List of Prices:
http://uptill1.com/2010/02/01/dsl-prices-in-kuwait/

Kuwait: Rare Weather

2010-01-31T10:53:00.000+03:00

Kuwait disappears in Fog. (kind of :p)

7:40 AM

Remember This?

2010-01-30T14:39:00.000+03:00

مجلة ميكي - الصديق المميز

LOL

CNN Breaking News? iPad?

2010-01-27T21:24:00.000+03:00

They made it to the CNN breaking news!

The perfect sticky notes!

2010-01-26T20:36:00.001+03:00

Virgin Megastore

WTH: The girl who wants to marry her Macbook?

2010-01-25T11:38:00.000+03:00

The 24-year old girl is so much in love with her Macbook that she wants to marry (it).

Video

Which gadget would you marry?

(I think I would choose my kindle :s)

Via Gizomoda

Cutest iPhone Case?

2010-01-24T18:21:00.000+03:00

$39.95 @ zazzle

via chipchick

Book: 1001 ridiculous ways to die!

2010-01-23T22:22:00.000+03:00

Saw this book today @ Virgin. It's a strange book (not sure if it's funny :s). It arranges deaths into "top 10" lists (top 10 ridiculous deaths in sports / history / crime ... etc).

Thoughts: What do you guys do in IT?

2010-01-22T11:51:00.001+03:00

Someone asked me today "btw, what do you guys do in IT exactly?"

I thought for 5 seconds and then I said:

"Well, we do everything in order to frustrate our users, we like to see them suffer"

:)

*update*
(to MBH :p)
'I do realize that this is only 'wishful thinking', in reality, its the users who drive us crazy and make us suffer'

A Quote

2010-01-17T20:55:00.000+03:00

*Life is a comedy for those who think and a tragedy for those who feel.*

Horace Walpole

How do you see life?

I came across this quote while reading "Emotional Intelligence" by Daniel Goleman
(I'm still in Chapter 2)

Love vs Desire

2010-01-16T22:39:00.002+03:00

“What is commonly called “falling in love” is in most cases an intensification of egoic wanting and needing. You become addicted to another person, or rather to your image of that person. It has nothing to do with true love, which contains no wanting whatsoever. The Spanish language is the most honest in regard to conventional notions of love: 'Te quiero' means “I want you” as well as “I love you”. The other expression for “I love you”, 'tea mo', which does not have ambiguity is rarely used-perhaps because true love is just as rare.”

From the book, A New Earth Awakening to Your Life’s Purpose.

Bose® Mobile In-Ear Headset

2010-01-16T14:46:00.000+03:00

Amazon Link

I bought these today (KD 39) and when I first tried them I hated them! The sound wasn't clear. I was so disappointed because I already have Bose quiet comfort 3 and I love them. But when I went back to the manual and followed the instructions it totally changed my experience. I honestly didn't know that the way I wear the headset is that important (maybe because I never had any)

Kuwait: Solar Eclipse on the 15th of January 2010, Pictures

2010-01-15T09:52:00.000+03:00

I took these pictures from my bedroom using an old x-ray (I was too sick to go anywhere)

eclipse will end at 10:53am

*enjoy*

Kuwait: Solar Eclipse on the 15th of January 2010

2010-01-11T18:17:00.000+03:00

Get Ready for the first solar eclipse of the year :)

Hopefully I'm not wrong but the timings are:

Partial Solar Eclipse begins at 08:18:25

Maximum Eclipse at 09:31:17

Partial Eclipse ends at 10:53:36

*Best view of the eclipse will be from the Maldives*

Sources:

http://eclipse.gsfc.nasa.gov/SEmono/ASE2010/ASE2010.html

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Solar_eclipse_of_January_15,_2010

http://eclipse.gsfc.nasa.gov/SEmono/ASE2010/ASE2010tab/ASE2010-tab211.pdf

http://www.hindu-blog.com/2010/01/gulf-solar-eclipse-january-15-2010-time.html

History: Hammurabi's Marriage Law

2010-01-10T19:51:00.000+03:00

Mesopotamian Civilization, 3000-1200 B.C.E

In 1790 B.C.E, Hammurabi became the king of Babylonians. To establish unity among his kingdom, Hammurabi created a set of Laws under a single legal system. out of the 282 laws, 49 Dealt with marriage:

* Men were permitted to have two wives but women were only allowed one husband.

* If the wife was childless, her husband could pay her about a pound of gold for a divorce or take a second wife who would rank beneath the first wife.

* If a wife became incapacitated by disease, a husband could marry a second wife but had to support the first wife as long as she lived.

* A man who divorced his wife who had borne him children, had to support her until the children were raised, she then received part of his property so she could marry the man of her heart.

* A woman who ruined her house, neglected her husband and was judicially convicted could be divorced but would be forced to remain with her ex-husband as a servant even if he remarried.

* A woman whose husband left her received a divorce, but a woman who left husband was thrown into the river (and presumably drowned).

From the book, Making Europe Volume 1

Nature vs Nurture or (Parenting vs Genetics)

2010-01-09T14:24:00.000+03:00

Where do our personal characteristics (personality, intelligence, feelings, talents) come from? Is it our genes or the environment that we were raised in? This is an interesting topic that is really important to read about specially if you're a parent. Studies suggest that genes are important and are responsible for around 50% of your child's personality. And because they are important, it means that different parenting methods are required for different children.

In his book Freakonomics, Levitt studies the relationship between parents' characteristics and test scores. Levitt wants to show that it's not always parenting, taking your kid to museums doesn't necessarily mean that your child will score better at school. Levitt shows that the factors, which were correlated with test scores, had to do with what parents are while the factors that didn't matter were related to what parents do.

Some of the factors that did matter:

The child's has highly educated parents.

The child's parents have high socioeconomic status.

The child's mother was 30 years or older at the time of the first child's birth.

The child has many books at home.

....

Some of the factors that didn't matter:

The child is regulary spanked.

The child's parents read to him nearly every day.

The child's parents recently moved into a better neighborhood.

The child's mother didn't work work between birth and kindergarten.

...

Levitt goes on to explain each and every factor (he takes the factors two by two). I enjoyed reading the analysis and the chapter was really interesting.

More on the topic:
Freakonomics, Chapter 5: What makes a perfect parent?
http://www.newsweek.com/id/151758/
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Nature_versus_nurture
http://wilderdom.com/personality/L4-1IntelligenceNatureVsNurture.html

iPhone: Redlaser

2010-01-08T14:19:00.000+03:00

This is another application, Redlaser ($1.99). Scan the bar code of any product and get instant results about it. (I know that I can just Google any product I want but this application is fun :p, scanning everything I come across is fun :p)

Scan ...

Results

iPhone: iMeet

2010-01-08T12:15:00.001+03:00

This is one of the very useful applications. Just add your friends and know where they are! (that's if they want to add u :p). You will need this specially when you're all meeting at a new place and you don't want to waste time finding the location. (I'm very bad with directions).

It will display your location on the map along with your friends. (you will need to create an account with iMeet to start using the application).

You can leave a message on the map as well.

There is an option too for signing in with twitter but I didn't try it since I don't use twitter.

Why Nexus?

2010-01-06T21:01:00.001+03:00

I don't know why but I kept wondering all day about the "Google's Nexus" name. From the articles I've read, it turns out that the name "may" have came from a 1968 novel called "Do Androids Dream of Electric Sheep? The author's daughter is actually thinking of suing Google for the name!! (mako sh'3l :p)

"On another note, Why can't Google make their mobile look more fancier ...it's boring"

Article One
Article Two

The Roman Marriage

2010-01-06T20:20:00.000+03:00

735-509 B.C.E

* Girls were permitted to marry at a young age (12+) while men waited until around 30.

* For a marriage to be legally valid, both parties have to be Roman citizens. you would lose your legal rights otherwise.

* The parents of the girl usually provided a dowry.

* The women were expected to be loyal, obedient, modest.and to bear children, as many as they can. Poor women were expected to have at least 10 children because of the high infant mortality.

* Either party in a marriage could obtain a divorce by declaring "I divorce you" 3 times!

* If the husband declared a divorce without a reason, he was required to return the entire dowry but if the wife was guilty of adultery, the husband could keep one-sixth of the dowry.

* After the divorce, the children went to the father and a divorced woman had no right to see them again.

* Children were taught at home. The girls were taught household economy and spinning wool to make the family clothes while the boys were taught law, history and were engaged in physical training to be prepared for the military.

From the book: Making Europe, Volume 1

How did the Romans name their daughters?

2010-01-05T19:48:00.000+03:00

Shortly after birth, Roman infants received a first name. The first names of boys came from a standard list of 22 names such as Marcus or Gaius. Female children, on the other hand, were simply identified by sequence numbers. Thus the second daughter of a Marcus Julius would be Julia Secunda.! (I'll be number 1, cool!!).

From the book: Making Europe Volume 1

Recieved By Email: Legislative Fellows Program

2010-01-05T19:06:00.002+03:00

1. Applicant must be a Kuwaiti citizen

2. Applicant must be 25-40 years of age

3. Applicant must be a college graduate (Bachelor's degree or higher)

4. Applicant must possess proficiency to function fully and professionally in an English-speaking work environment, as demonstrated on application and during interview

5. Applicant must demonstrate leadership abilities and relevant experience in and commitment to a career in the public sector such as participation in civic education activities, citizen advocacy groups, campaigns, or service organizations.

6. Applicant must have a minimum of 3 years of professional experience, and current employment, in relevant field.

7. Applicant must currently be established with a potentially interested audience -- or in a position to secure one—having the ability to convene 20 or more colleagues for post-trip briefings, presentations, and project work.

tell your friends

**update**

For any inquiries about the program, please feel free to contact Ms. Rasha Zalzala via email on: rzalzala@amideast.org or by phone on: 2575-0670 Ext. 6815/6819/6820.

***

Spring?

2010-01-03T12:50:00.000+03:00

I woke-up this morning to see these, isn't it too early?

Fun: Colors Exercise

2010-01-03T12:13:00.000+03:00

Every night, before going to bed, think about your day and give it a color. Don't give it too much thought, just choose a color. As time goes (1-2 Months), you may find that you've used all the colors or some of the colors. you need to check if any colors are missing or not used enough, because every color of the rainbow has a certain effect on you. Missing colors:

Red:

If red is missing, you are exhausted or overtired, get some sleep or have some exercise to raise your energy level.

Orange:

if orange is missing, your confidence and self-esteem are likely to be low or missing. dancing is a good exercise here.

Yellow:

If yellow is missing, you are likely to be nervous or suffering from stress. massage the area just above your navel.

Green:

If green is missing, you may have relationship problems. Have a walk in the park, walk barefoot on the grass and enjoy the healing that comes from the greens you see.

Blue:

If blue is missing, you are likely to feel unsupported or let down by someone close to you. walk near the water, sit beside a fountain or take a walk along the beach.

Indigo:

If indigo is missing, you are being taken advantage of or not fully appreciated by people close to you. take some time out by yourself.

Purple:

if purple is missing, you have temporarily lost contact with your spiritual self. spend sometime alone in a place that is spiritual to you.

*Note to self: What about colorless days*

Source: Color Magic for Beginners By Richard Webster.

Washing Hands Before Surgery: The Story

2010-01-01T15:28:00.000+03:00

You may have assumed that washing hands before surgery is the most natural thing to do (I did) but it wasn't. The credit goes to the Austrian physician Ignaz Semmelwies.

In the 1840s, Semmelwies studied maternity clinics in Vienna, he noticed that clinic B had a mortality rate of only 4% while clinic A's rate was 10%. Both clinics were the same but Semmelweis noticed that patients were more likely to die when doctors treated them just after leaving the autopsy room. He found out that mortality rate dropped from 12% to 2% if doctors and nurses at the clinic washed their hands before seeing each patient!

Semmelweis found huge resistance, maybe because he didn't effectively know how to explain his point of view. Doctors didn't see why would they need to wash their hands that many times, they thought it was only a waste of their valuable time. Semmelweis was eventually forced to leave. After a nervous breakdown, he ended up in a mental hospital and died at the age of 47.

I read the story in the book: Super Crunchers By Ian Ayres.
The full story with all the details is available in Wikipedia.

Happy New Year 2010

2010-01-01T00:00:00.000+03:00

iTunes: You can't re-download deleted songs

2009-12-31T13:48:00.005+03:00

http://support.apple.com/kb/HT1469

I didn't Know That!

You can re-download your deleted applications why not your music??

Why????

Where do you buy/download your music from?

---

*UPDATE*

No Comment!

Full Body Scanners @ US Airports

2009-12-31T13:01:00.003+03:00

Check This!

Via ChipChick

Stylish External Hard Disk

2009-12-30T21:10:00.004+03:00

Stylish and Elegant 250 GB

available @ Digits Store

40 KD

Amazon Link

Aqua Notes!

2009-12-30T20:40:00.003+03:00

I Want This!

Via Gizmodiva

Movie: (500) Days of Summer

2009-12-30T20:29:00.003+03:00

This is not your typical romantic comedy movie! It's the real life / true romantic comedy.
*Great Movie*

Nominated for 2 Golden Globes.

Full Details @ IMDB

Movie: The Magic of Ordinary Days

2009-12-29T11:36:00.005+03:00

This is the story of Livy who got pregnant and who was forced into an arranged marriage as a result.

Genre: Drama, Romance.

This movie is not a huge production. This is a sweet movie which I really enjoyed. I loved Keri Russel in the movie. If you loved her movie, The Waitress, you will certainly love this one as well.

*I wish I can find Ray in real life :p*

IMDB Link

Who invented the seven-day week?

2009-12-28T16:22:00.004+03:00

Who: The Babylonians who lived in Mesopotamia.

How: The Babylonians worshiped the Sun, the Moon and the Stars. They believed that those stars were so special and magical that they affected destinies of men and they also believed that they can predict the future by studying those stars. To them, Mars meant war and Venus meant love.

Five planets were known to them at that time and for each of the planets they dedicated a day, with the Sun and the Moon that made 7 days. Note that Sun-day refers to the Sun, Mon-day refers to the Moon and Satur-day refers to Saturn. In French and Italian, the rest of the days still refer to the other planets.

Source: A little History of the World, by E. F. Gombrich.

So if the all of the planets were known to them, we could have ended up with an 11-day week and probably with a 3-day weekend :p

Book: Freakonomics

2009-12-27T15:10:00.005+03:00

I finally started reading Freakonomics By Steven Levitt. Who said that economics can't be interesting? This is interesting book that answers some interesting questions in every chapter.

Question from the book: The crime rate started to fall in the 90s instead of rising as was expected. Why?

The crime rate in the States kept rising since the 70s and everyone was expecting the rate to rise even more but what happened in the 90s was unexpected. The crime rate began to fall and fall even more. The number of crimes reported in 1990 was 2245. In 2003 it was 596. The author presents the theories that came up analyzing what happened from the 90s strong economy to police strategies and gun control but none of these did matter. Levitt tells you that it’s the legalization of abortion in 1973 that made all of this. Children who would eventually end up being criminals were not born!

I'm not done yet with the book (Still in Chapter 4) but I just wanted to share one story from the book with you.

Right Brain vs Left Brain

2009-12-26T12:08:00.003+03:00

I'm reading a book called "My Stroke of Insight" and while reading chapter 3 (Hemispheric Asymmetries) I remembered taking this test to know which hemisphere do I use more. It's interesting :)

Some Facts from the book (chapter 3):

* Over 85% of the right handed people in the U.S. are left hemisphere dominant and over 60% of left handed people are also left hemisphere. (I'm a left handed person with a right hemisphere dominance) .

* The right hemisphere is all about capturing the moment (feel, smell, taste ... ) while the left hemisphere is all about capturing the details (time, order, reason, dimension, patterns ... ).

* The right hemishphere is concerned about the big picture while the left hemisphere is concerned about the details and more details about the details.

* Your left hemisphere is the center of your ego. It provides you with an internal awareness of who you are.

* The right hemisphere complements the left hemisphere language center by interpreting the non-verbal communication. the right hemisphere evaluates the tone, facial expression and body language.

* People can live normally with with one cerebral hemisphere only.

If you see the lady spinning clockwise know that you have used your right hemisphere otherwise (anti-clockwise) it's your left hemisphere. (Source)

tell me which hemisphere do you use more

So True :p

2009-12-20T11:42:00.004+03:00

This was shared by Pink from this blog :)

iPhone: Star Walk

2009-12-19T22:01:00.002+03:00

One of the greatest applications on the iPhone (3GS) is Star Walk:

Once you open it, you'll get data about the sun, the current moon phase and 4 main planets.

You can point your iPhone toward any direction and you will get how the sky looks like from your location (isn't that cool?)

Click on any star you're interested in and check out some basic info about it ...

You can also go back in time to check the different stars ... :)

Star Walk

you must admit now that iPhone is really cool :p

New York 2009

2009-09-11T00:56:00.007+03:00

Here are some pictures I've taken. I have lost all the pictures from the trip except for those (29/30-JUN-09 :s). (I wish I had posted some before losing all of them :s)

Greeks and Math

2009-09-02T22:59:00.002+03:00

In one of the ancient Greek civilizations,they believed that the gods demanded precise solutions of mathematical problems in return for granting relief from catastrophes!

so Imagine at that time, if you were in trouble, you would need to pray to God thru solving a math problem!

Source: A First Course in Abstract Algebra, Joseph J. Rotman

Our Special Moon (Luna)

2009-08-30T21:08:00.004+03:00

When you stare at our beautiful Moon tonight don't only appreciate how beautiful it is but also know that we can't live without our Moon (Luna).

Facts:

0) The Moon is considered Huge when compared to Earth (1/4 of the size of the earth). (this is why the Moon has a huge impact on earth).

1) We only see one side of our Moon. (Why? the time the moon takes to rotate around its axis is the same as the time the moon takes to rotate around the earth).

2) Scientists are still not sure about whether the moon has originated from the Earth or if it came from the outer space. the most recent hypothesis is the Giant Impact.

3) The Moon is slowly getting away from us every year by 3.8 cm. billions of years ago the Moon was much closer and thus the earth rotation around its axis was faster (example: the day was 21.9 hours 620 million years ago).

4) The Moon stabilizes the Earth rotation and by that it stabilizes our climate. (by keeping the tilt of the earth rotation axis constant (23.4°)).

5) The Moon has no atmosphere so the sky will always be black on the Moon and there will not be a medium to carry out your sound waves.

6) The dark spots on the moon are called Maria (Latin word means seas).

7) The Moon is responsible for our ocean tides.

Numbers:

Distance from Earth: 234,000 miles.
Travel time: 3 space days.
Diameter: 2,160 miles.
Day Length: 27.3 days.
Temperature: (270° to -240°).
Gravity: 1/6 of Earth.
Orbits Earth at an average speed of 2,300 miles per hour.

More on the Moon:
*) http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Moon
*) The Universe by the History Channel (Episode 5).

Perseids - 12th of August 2009

2009-08-12T15:37:00.002+03:00

http://theperseids.com/p130420-the-perseids-strange-facts.cfm

This is so amazing although I'm not not sure about what is the best time to view perseids in kuwait?

The best location would be away from the city lights, in the desert maybe.

The Most Exciting Thing I have Ever Done!

2009-06-30T20:24:00.003+03:00

The landing into JFK (New York) from the cabin of the pilot

Book: Regards from the Dead Princess

2009-06-24T20:05:00.003+03:00

This is the best biography I have read this year. I bought the Arabic version (حياة أميرة عثمانية في المنفى) from Lebanon in March. An amazing life and an amazing story. I loved it much more than "Stolen Lives". I'm not going to ruin the book for you but her life was really amazing. (highly recommended).

Book: Outliers

2009-06-24T19:50:00.002+03:00

What are the factors behind success? skill, hard work and intelligence? or maybe being born at the right time? or maybe having the right opportunity at the right time? This is definitely not a boring book. the author explains to you by example various cases of successful people like Bill Gates and explains the "unknown" reasons behind their success. A very interesting book and everyone should read it. (highly recommended).

The Link

2009-06-20T21:58:00.003+03:00

I have finally watched the "The Link" which was about the famous 47 million years old fossil scientists have recently presented as the missing link in the human evolution.

Ida was discovered in Messel pit, Germany in the 1980s. A private collector presented Ida to Prof Hurum at the annual fossil fair in Germany in 2006. Prof Hurum and a team of scientists had been studying Ida for 2 years.

"Ida" has nails, a hand, an opposable thumb and most importantly the "talus" bone which humans still have and which directly links Ida to humans as they claim.

The fossil has been named "Darwinius masillae" in honor of Darwin's 200th birthday.

The documentary explains the process of how they have discovered Ida and how they have reached the conclusion of "Ida" being the missing link in the human evolution.

Ida is currently displayed at the American Museum of Natural History (New York).

Batman is for sale too!

2009-06-20T15:34:00.003+03:00

694 KD (virgin)
i think he is cute :p

*picture taken by my uncle*

Gizmodiva

2009-06-19T18:17:00.003+03:00

this is really a cool blog if you're interested in cute gadgets and so many other cute stuff :)

http://www.gizmodiva.com/

The "Joker" is for Sale!

2009-06-19T18:07:00.002+03:00

Who is going to buy the Joker for 647 KD!
(Virgin Megastore)

A new Kindle in the Family

2009-06-19T15:17:00.001+03:00

p.s. its my uncle's kindle :)

HSBC FEA Program

2009-04-24T21:37:00.004+03:00

Program:
AMIDEAST is pleased to announce that we are accepting applications for HSBC’s Financial and Entrepreneurship Awareness Program, a unique two-week educational opportunity in July 2009, for up to 30 first year college women from the UAE, Oman, Qatar, Kuwait, Lebanon and Jordan. In this program students will get an in-depth experience in the worlds of entrepreneurship, banking and financial services, while, developing significant leadership skills that will serve them throughout their careers. The program is funded by HSBC and is administered by AMIDEAST. It will be conducted primarily at the all-women’s Wilson College in Chambersburg, PA, with visits to Washington, D.C. and HSBC Headquarters in Chicago, IL.

Criteria:

In-country nationals of Kuwait
Have very good English (minimum: ITP score of 500 or equivalent IELTS/iBT/TOEIC) Note: If you have not taken your local/international TOEFL test, please contact us to register for the upcoming testing session, which will take place on Sunday, the 26^th of April 2009!
Be a female first-year college student
Have high academic achievement
Be available to travel to the U.S. for two weeks from July 4^th to July 21^st, 2009
Be a goal-oriented woman who demonstrates an interest in learning and self-improvement

Deadline: Thursday, April 30, 2009.

Bloggers Meeting :)

2009-04-24T21:22:00.003+03:00

It was really nice meeting you girls

(Shaymaa, Bloggylife, Rania and Nosayba)

I had so much fun today :)

My Kindle ... So Far

2009-04-04T11:22:00.004+03:00

Kindle is perfect for reading novels.

In order to read pdf files on my kindle, I need to use a software to convert them to the kindle format, the output is not the same as the original pdf file, its not good specially when there are pictures.

Text to speech is not that great, its just like any text to speech software on the net, audio books are different. (Why are they suing amazon?!)

Battery life is great. with a single charge it can stay up for a week.

Storage is around 1.4 GB. enough for kindle books but not enough for my MP3s.

Reading technical books on my kindle is hard, specially because I tend to go faster thru technical books and I only read specific pages/articles. Kindle is slow for that.

I had to travel two times this month and I enjoyed having my kindle with me. It's light! and I had so many choices on it.

I can now buy any magazine from amazon, the format is different on the kindle, you only get a list of articles from the magazine. (tried newsweek)

Writing notes on the kindle is hard, the keyboard is hard to use and kindle is slow.

Lebanon (3) - Final

2009-04-04T10:54:00.004+03:00

The way to Jeita

You can view Tripoli city from this location

Lebanon (2)

2009-04-01T13:07:00.003+03:00

Harissa

Jbeil

Lebanon (1)

2009-03-30T11:16:00.011+03:00

Pictures taken from:

Bhamdoun

Jounieh

Aley

Rawsha

Faraya

U.S. UNIVERSITY FAIR - March 17th

2009-03-16T19:24:00.003+03:00

Marina Hotel, Salmiya

March 17, 2009
Fair Time: 6 p.m.–9 p.m.

Participating Universities:

• Florida Institute of Technology
• Kutztown University of Pennsylvania
• Lasell University
• Marquette University
In cooperation with
• Ohio State University
• Score Plus / Princeton Review
• San Jose State University
• University at Buffalo, The State University of New York
• Roger Williams University
• University of Bridgeport
• University of California, Riverside
• University of Kentucky
• University of New Haven
• University of South Carolina
• Virginia Commonwealth University
• West Virginia University

March Equinox

2009-03-16T15:18:00.003+03:00

Today is the day when night and day are of equal length. It's called the "March Equinox"

More on the topic:
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Equinox
http://www.timeanddate.com/calendar/march-equinox.html

Source: Weather Forecaster Essa Ramadan

More Cute Stuff

2009-03-15T19:55:00.004+03:00

Robot Dreamy Tina 2 GB USB Memory @ $180

Stuffed Care Bears head @ $13
Hello Kitty USB HUB @ $49.99

"Who has the biggest brain" for the iPhone and iPod touch

2009-03-15T19:04:00.004+03:00

"Who Has The Biggest Brain? is available for $4.99 from Apple's App Store on iPhone or iPod touch at http://www.itunes.com/appstore" - playfish

Official Press Release is Here

Mars in Google Earth!

2009-03-15T18:39:00.005+03:00

Yes You can view Mars in Google Earth 5.0 According to the official Google Blog!

".. You can travel back in time to see the sketches of early astronomers like Schiaparelli and Percival Lowell in the 'Historical Maps' layer. You can also fast-forward more than a century with the 'Live from Mars' layer to view the latest images from NASA's THEMIS camera on board the Mars Odyssey spacecraft, sometimes just hours after NASA receives them .." - Google Blog

More @ http://earth.google.com/mars/

How to Buy Books for Your Kindle

2009-03-13T22:07:00.004+03:00

Problem: We could not process your order because of geographical restrictions on the product which you were attempting to purchase. Please refer to the terms of use for this product to determine the geographical restrictions.

Solution: I first tried entropay.com and it didn't work for me. but the following way worked for me:

I bought an amazon gift card for myself.
I created a new amazon account and registered my kindle.
I redeemed my gift card in my new amazon account.
I made sure no credit cards are saved in my new account and the default payment method is not set for my kindle.
I was able then to buy books :)))))))) Amazon will check the gift card balance if no credit card is set for the kindle.

March's Books - The List

2009-03-13T13:03:00.004+03:00

In addition to January's Books and February's Books,

Here is the new list. This list is dedicated to my cousin who really reads a lot :D

Title

Author

Recommended by

Confessions of a Shopaholic

Sophie Kinsella

Elizabeth Gilbert

Tom Rob Smith

John Grogan

Alexandra Potter

Daniel H. Pink

The One Minute Entrepreneur

Bashar

The One Minute Manager

Kenneth H. Blanchard

Linus Torvalds

Emily Giffin

Emily Giffin

Sophie Kinsella

Vladimir Nabokov

Crime and Punishment

Fyodor Dostoyevsky

zuz

All books by

Sophie Kinsella

FourMe

Enjoy :)

Beautiful USB Hub :)

2009-03-10T15:32:00.001+03:00

$22 @ here

Source: chipchick

Movie: Marley and Me

2009-03-09T20:24:00.003+03:00

A true, beautiful "family/drama/comedy" movie and although I'm not really into family movies but I really enjoyed this one. take your family to the movie and you won't regret it :) more details are here.

Mishref EduCare 2009

2009-03-08T18:17:00.005+03:00

8 - 11 March 2009

Some of the participants:

American University of Kuwait
Gulf University for Science and Technology
Australian College of Kuwait
American University of The Middle East
Kuwait University
Box Hill College Kuwait
Kuwait-Maastricht Business School
Michigan State University
Lebanese American University

Info Center Edu-Day, March 28th

2009-03-08T17:52:00.003+03:00

Info Center are preparing for an educational day on Saturday, March 28th. There will be many sessions coverings various technologies. I didn't find anything interesting for me but you may find some interesting sessions :)

Book Cafe [pictures] & March Books

2009-03-07T22:51:00.005+03:00

I was invited to a facebook group called the "Book Cafe", we liked the idea and today we decided to check the place out. Book Cafe is located at the Omniya Center next to Sultan Center - Salmiya. Here are the pictures:

We didn't stay there, we only wanted to check the place, instead we went here (infront of the cafe):

and we ended up stitching in chocolate bar - marina mall.

Hope you all enjoyed ur weekend :)

and please recommend some books you've read and liked for March. I'm going to post a new list by next week :) the list will be dedicated to my cousin who reads alot :)

My Kindle

2009-03-03T18:28:00.002+03:00

My kindle has arrived yesterday :)

Advantages:

I can read any book I want, no more aramex shipping costs.
The text to speech feature is awesome! I can let the kindle read the book for me.
I can carry many books in this tiny device.
The built in dictionary which you can use while reading is nice.

Disadvantages:

I can only buy the books with a US credit card. I have used my friend's american express this morning.
I can't read pdf files on the kindle. (I will look for a solution)

* there will still be more things but I will need at least a month to give you a good review.

* If anyone is interested in the e-slick please tell me

Work & Eid Celebrations

2009-02-25T18:40:00.008+03:00

I'm not sure if its because I said that I hate the server room twice this morning :p but they called me at 2 pm to tell me that two main applications stopped working after they upgraded the Coreswitch at work so I had to go there.

on my way to work:

Server Room: *I love you*, a restart + starting all services needed solved the issue.

My way back:

Enjoy the holidays :)

Happy National and Liberation Days

2009-02-25T11:10:00.002+03:00

Academy Awards Winners

2009-02-23T08:13:00.004+03:00

Slumdog Millionaire (8 Awards)
The Curious Case of Benjamin Button (3 Awards)
Milk (2 Awards)
The Reader (1 Award)
The Dark Knight (2 Awards)
Vicky Cristina Barcelona (1 Award)
The Duchess (1 Award)
WALL.E (1 Award)

Detailed Results

Cafe: Living Room [Pictures]

2009-02-21T19:18:00.005+03:00

You all must have visited Living Room cafe by now. These are some pictures from the place:

This morning's rain.

Outside view.

Inside view, today I made them play "Fairuz's dvd" twice for me :)
(my favorite lady of all time, I love you)