Immortalization

from Blogger.com to WordPress.com

2006-10-01T20:12:00.000+03:00

I'm completed migrating from Blogger.com to WordPress.com WordPress.com provides verity of features that I find handy. Therefore I stopped bogging here, and moved all the posts to Khloud.WordPress.com.

However, I'm still keeping an eye on Blogger Beta. So, don't stop visiting us :) Looking forward to seeing you at Khloud.WordPress.com

Regards, Khloud

Space Elevator

2006-09-27T13:20:00.000+03:00

A space elevator is a theoretical structure designed to transport material from a planet's surface into space. Many different types of space elevators have been proposed. They all share the goal of replacing rocket propulsion with the traversal of a fixed structure via a mechanism not unlike an elevator in order to move material into or beyond orbit. Space elevators have also sometimes been referred to as beanstalks, space bridges, space lifts, space ladders or orbital towers. The most common proposal is a tether, usually in the form of a cable or ribbon, spanning from the surface to a point beyond geosynchronous orbit. As the planet rotates, the inertia at the end of the tether counteracts gravity and keeps the cable taut via centrifugal force. Vehicles can then climb the tether and escape the planet's gravity without the use of rocket propulsion. Such a structure could eventually permit delivery of great quantities of cargo and people to orbit, and with transportation costs of a fraction of the traditional methods of launching a payload into orbit. A space elevator would consist of a cable attached to Earth's surface, reaching into space. By attaching a counterweight at the end (or by further extending the cable for the same purpose), centrifugal force ensures that the cable remains stretched taut, countering the gravitational pull on the lower sections, thus allowing the elevator to remain in geostationary orbit. Once beyond the gravitational midpoint, carriage would be accelerated further by the planet's rotation. Diagram not to scale. Read about the Space elevator @ Wikipedia and How Stuff Works Special Thanks to Omar for shareing the links.

Army Ants

2006-09-27T10:47:00.000+03:00

Text and photographs by Mark W. Moffett At the pinnacle of social cooperation, army ants overwhelm their prey through their sheer force of numbers. Get a taste of what awaits you in print from this compelling excerpt. Forget lions, tigers, and bears. Forget even our own famously aggressive species. When it comes to the art of war, it's army ants that will make you break into a cold sweat. Armored tough, with machete jaws, these masterful fighters hack and dice prey vastly larger than themselves by acting in numbers beyond easy comprehension. Imagine hordes of spear-wielding humans at a wooly mammoth's feet. That's the scale of army ant operations when they're attacking a tarantula or scorpion. Army ant colonies succeed at making tens of thousands such kills each day. Folklore to the contrary, their prowess does have limits. Their dragnets don't take down livestock or people (though some African species occasionally live up to that image). (Army Ants Vedio)

Financial Freedom

2006-09-26T22:22:00.000+03:00

"When it comes to money, freedom starts to happen when what you do, think, and say are one. You'll never be free if you say that you have more than enough, then act as if and think you don't. You'll never be free if you think you don't have enough, then act as if and say you do. You will have enough when you believe you will and take the actions to express that belief. And you'll have more than enough when you realize that you can be rich at any income because you are more than your money, you are more than your job or title, than the car you drive or the clothing you wear. Your own power and worth are not judged by what money can sell and what money can buy; true freedom cannot be bought or sold at any price. True freedom, true wealth, is that which can never be lost." The 9 Steps to Financial Freedom: Practical and Spiritual Steps So You Can Stop Worrying By: Orman, Suze Published By: Crown Publishing Group Available as an e-Book at eBooks.com Paperback at Amazon.com and Audio Book at LearnOutLoud.com

Photographs from 9/11 and simple diagrams: basic and undeniable laws of physics

2006-09-26T19:13:00.000+03:00


This segment uses photographs from 9/11 and simple diagrams together with the basic and undeniable laws of physics and chemistry to demonstrate that the official story of 9/11 cannot possibly be true.

Why did WTC buildings 1, 2 and 7 collapse?: Were there explosives planted?

2006-09-26T18:31:00.000+03:00


This video focus is particularly on the collapse of WTC 7 which was not hit by a plane and had only a few small fires. The reason for the collapse of this building is officially unexplained to this day. Unofficially, the video and the associated evidence indicate that the collapse was most likely the result of explosives planted in the building ahead of time.

Ctrl Alt Delete maker

2006-09-26T16:39:00.000+03:00


An Interview with the CTRL+ALT+DEL maker

25 of the top MBA Distance-Learning programmes from Financial Times

2006-09-25T17:24:00.000+03:00

Click on the title for Distance Learning Schools PDF File. Or check FT.com for more details.

"Googol" not Google

2006-09-25T15:20:00.000+03:00

Googol: A googol is the large number 10^100 (10 to the power of 100), that is, the digit 1 followed by one hundred zeros (in decimal representation). One way of grasping its size is that it is equivalent to multiplying the product of 1 million by 1 million 15 times, then further multiplying that by ten thousand. The term was coined in 1920 by nine-year-old Milton Sirotta, nephew of American mathematician Edward Kasner. Kasner popularized the concept in his book Mathematics and the Imagination. Googolplex The Googolplex is 10^googol (10 to the power of googol) Since a googolplex is one followed by a googol zeroes, it would not be possible to write down or store a googolplex in decimal notation, even if all the matter in the known universe were converted into paper and ink or disk drives. What about "Google"? Google is a play on the word googol. Google Inc. refers to its headquarters as the "Googleplex". Welcome to Googleplex :-)

Brand Camp cartoon: "Brand Architecture"

2006-09-25T14:32:00.000+03:00

I love the cartoons of Tom Fishburne "skydeckcartoons.com". I happen to always forward them to my colleagues @ work. Like Dilbert's , they always illustrate something that you can relate to at your company and work environment. Enjoy, Khloud

Osama Bin Laden Family Guy! (Cartoon from FOX)

2006-09-24T16:59:00.000+03:00

Ramadhan Mubarak

2006-09-23T17:45:00.000+03:00

May the divine blessings of Allah fill your life with peace and Happiness. Wishing you a joyous Ramadan. Khloud

Jake Jarvis - An Impressive Young Man

2006-09-21T16:15:00.000+03:00

About Jake I have always had a strong bond with computers. At the age of four, I began to experiment with an old Power Macintosh. Following that age, I tracked each Windows operating system as it was developed, from Windows 95 to Windows Vista. Now, at the age of 14, I have excelled in the world of web programming and design, creating professional websites for churches, bloggers, and even Santas (no, I didn't choose the colors) using HTML, CSS, PHP & mySQL, Adobe Photoshop, and more. I am also proficient in programming languages such as PHP, C++, Visual Basic, and BASIC, as well as some JavaScript. I am currently a freshman at Ridge High School in Basking Ridge, NJ. Also in Basking Ridge, I volunteer at Liberty Corner Computing, maintaining the website and instructing all ages in everything from FrontPage to PHP. Liberty Corner Computing provides after school enrichment activities as well as summer camps and gaming events every Wednesday and Friday nights. As of July 2005, I have discovered that I am a Mac addict at heart and have been from the moment I set my hands on my shiny, new eMac. Since then, I am always looking for new tricks to improve the already great OS X with everything from freeware to commonly-known keyboard shortcuts. Although I am a faithful Apple fanboy, I am still working towards my Microsoft Certified Desktop Support Technician (MCDST) certification. I plan to take the test by the end of 2006. In my free time, you can find me biking, playing tennis, listening to music, reading, or playing around with computers.

I feel Happy reading about young people like Jake. I wish I could see someone like him here in Saudi Arabia. I have heard about several kids who are as smart. Sadly, we don't have a system that helps them to flourish. To Yazeed, the "Special Youngman" in my Family, I wish you success in your study. I'm very confident that you can do amazing stuff. All what you need is to continue as dedicated and enthusiastic about your study. You could make a great programmer.

Blogs Will Change Your Business

2006-09-21T15:52:00.000+03:00

BusinessWeek - ISSUE DATE: May 2, 2005 Look past the yakkers, hobbyists, and political mobs. Your customers and rivals are figuring blogs out. Our advice: Catch up...or catch you later

U.S. Health-Care System Gets a "D"

2006-09-21T15:29:00.000+03:00

By Catherine Arnst A new report from the Commonwealth Fund points out shameful inconsistencies and inadequacies in the care given in the richest nation The U.S. health-care system is doing poorly by virtually every measure. That's the conclusion of a national report card on the U.S. health-care system, released Sept. 20. Although there are pockets of excellence, the report, commissioned by the non-profit and non-partisan Commonwealth Fund, gave the U.S. system low grades on outcomes, quality of care, access to care, and efficiency, compared to other industrialized nations or generally accepted standards of care. Bottom line: U.S. health care barely passes with an overall grade of 66 out of 100.

Why is me time such a big deal?

2006-09-18T13:12:00.000+03:00

By Emily Yoffe Health.com A piece of essential wisdom about our lives is broadcast every time a plane takes off. No, it's not about your tray table. It's this: If the oxygen mask drops and you're traveling with small kids, put yours on first -- before you help them. Too many women, single or married, childless or mothers, are endlessly fulfilling every obligation except the one to themselves. For your mental, physical, and psychological well-being, you sometimes just need to stop. Then you need to do something you want to do. You need to take some Me Time. Like many things, Me Time is all the more wanted the rarer it gets. In their recent book, What Women Really Want, pollsters Celinda Lake and Kellyanne Conway discovered that women across all strata of society feel overwhelmed with the insatiable demands on them. When they asked what women wanted more of in their lives, the two most popular answers were "peace" and "time." They were talking about a sense of serenity and control over their lives. The women polled also said they would like more sleep, and that they battle the "guilt that creeps in whenever they take a break."

People Have the Power to Change Govt Policies

2006-09-14T13:44:00.000+03:00

by: Khaled Batarfi Why do you hate us?” asked the American lady in the next seat after she found I was an Arab. “But I don’t’ hate you?” I responded. “You hate my country that is the same thing?” She countered. “No,” I explained, “Your country is too large and diverse for anyone to hate. You have some eight million Muslim Americans, not including residents. Your country helped the world end two great wars, and your scientists saved it from epidemic diseases and gave us electricity and so many other great advancements. You can’t hate a country as a whole, let alone a great one like yours.” “Then who do you hate in America?” She demanded. “It is rather what,” I clarified. “I know some of us confuse the issues, maybe intentionally, but the majority don’t. A poll after poll showed that most Muslims hate certain US foreign policies, just like most people in the planet — from its disregard of global treaties on environment and human rights, to exporting war and fear, to its blind support of Israel. Change of policies will change attitudes. Trust might take longer, but cooperation will fly right away.” “I hate war. I don’t understand politics and have no say in the making of such policies. Why would I walk in any Arab street afraid of what people may do or say to me?” “People in the street won’t harm you, but they might tell you what they think of your government’s policies. Since you are a taxpaying citizen in a democratic country, you do have a say and a vote. And you should use them.” I told her a story. After 9/11, I visited Eugene, Oregon, where I lived and studied for five happy years till the end of 1999 — two years before the terrorist attacks. I was afraid that the wonderful liberal, friendly environment had changed. Not at all, I was pleasantly surprised to hear my Arab and Muslim friends tell me. Right after the event, many concerned citizens surrounded the mosque to protect it from possible attacks. Emotions were running high, and those beautiful Americans were afraid some militant groups or angry individuals might take revenge. The good people of Eugene sat up daily vigilance for more than a week. The mayor and police officers attended a number of Friday prayers and reassured the Islamic Center management and Muslim residents of their commitment to protect them and allow free and safe access to the mosque. The University of Oregon administration showered its Arab and Muslim students with care, support and sympathy. So did professors and fellow students. Proactive actions like this, especially when coming from ordinary American citizens, improved the attitude of Muslims toward their host country, and defeated the terrorists’ attempt to breed hatred and mistrust on both sides. Other actions, like street demonstrations, as we witnessed in Europe, Australia, South America and the Far East, distance citizens from wrong state policies. There are other ways of influence, like writing campaign letters and making protest calls to concerned legislative and state departments as well as the media. In democracy, the people are the basis of the whole system, the source of all powers. Before 9/11 some may have accepted the notion that Americans did not know or care about what went on in the rest of the world. Now that the world is visiting the homeland, that is not an option or an excuse any more. To say I have nothing to do with my government cannot be acceptable or believed even by the average man in streets of Third World countries.” The lady sitting next to me was silent for a while, looking ahead and ignoring me. Then suddenly she turned around smiling, shook my hand and introduced herself as “your American friend.” She didn’t promise anything, but in her now glittering eyes I saw a strong determination to change. More importantly, at that moment she seemed to understand that we don’t hate her or her fellow Americans — we only disagree with certain government positions and actions. I never ceased to be amazed by the power of people-to-people communication. I am also amazed by the power citizens can exercise if well informed on domestic and international affairs, well aware of the game of power, and well trained in the tools of democratic influence. The Internet, another great American invention, provides us with the tools we need to overcome not only physical obstacles, but also establish mass communication monopolies, such as media. Today, we could know more; work better, faster and more organized to make our voice heard and our wishes respected by states and leaders. Power to the people!

Saudi Children and TV: Questions Raised by a Survey

2006-09-14T13:34:00.000+03:00

by: Abeer Mishkhas I recently came across an article in the Arabic daily, Al-Hayat, which I found interesting. Entitled “Saudi Children Get Their Cultural Knowledge from Cartoons,” the article focused on a survey conducted by the regional office of the Islamic Literature League based in Riyadh. The survey found that 69 percent of Saudi children’s cultural knowledge or information came from TV. The article went on to enumerate the values children absorb from children’s programs on TV and especially cartoons. What the report aimed to discover — to determine what Saudi children learn and their sources — is something that is of real value. On the other hand, we are unsure of exactly how the survey was carried out. The number — 69 percent — is certainly alarming but in the context of Saudi Arabia, unfortunately not surprising. There is after all hardly any place where children can seek information; few of them read anything but schoolbooks — almost no reading for pleasure. Nor are there museums or exhibitions that might stimulate children’s interests in a wide variety of subjects. The sad truth is that we seldom see Saudi children who are interested in anything except TV programs, music, films and football. Many of them spend their waking hours in front of a TV screen or play station until they develop the symptoms and behavior of zombies — and that is considered normal. But before I go on, let us look more closely at the report. It says that 70 percent of the cartoons and animated films watched by children come from “outside” — that means outside the Kingdom. Can everybody guess what comes next? It is certainly well known that “outside” — and following is a quote — “does not conform to our way of life or values.” In other words, the cartoons are condemned not because some of them use violence to solve problems or because they lead children to stop thinking. They are condemned for the simple reason that they come from outside Saudi Arabia. And as good Saudi people who do not produce our own entertainment, we are also asked not to import it. If what we see on our TV screens were only what is produced in Saudi Arabia, the screens would be empty for much of the day. The second and a very debatable point the report makes is that “those cartoons and dubbed animations have the gravest influences on our children which starts with destabilizing the Islamic faith in the children and defaming the image of religious people.” Now I have my own opinion of cartoons — mostly that a great number of them are trivial — but I have to admit that there are others that provide fun and information in a simple and pleasant way. I myself have never seen a cartoon that featured religious people, either bad or good, and the report evidently stressed the point by going on to say that religious people are always portrayed as “thieves and bad guys who run after women.” All jokes aside, I do not know what kind of cartoons the people who made the report saw or where they found those cartoons. And to continue with the criticism of these so-called “unsuitable” cartoons — “they arouse sexual thoughts in children by showing scenes of flirting and kissing and they encourage girls to beautify themselves in an indecent way” — I know some families who are not comfortable about the way cartoons present the relations between young boys and girls. At the same time I must also say that many generations have loved the tales of Cinderella, Snow White, Sleeping Beauty and The Little Mermaid without major damage to their moral characters. Nonetheless, for the sake of argument, if the family feels that certain cartoons are not suitable for their children, they should simply exercise parental control on what their children watch. Isn’t that part of the job of being a parent anyway? By the same token, it is naive to expect ideals in everything; there is always good and bad and intelligent people are expected to make a choice. The report also mentions how some children imitate the cartoons and that, for some of them, crimes become a “cool” way of behaving. I do agree that some cartoons present violence and crime as normal and in such cases, measures should be taken to protect young children. As an example of what I am talking about, in British newspapers a short time ago, there were articles about removing scenes from Tom and Jerry cartoons that show the characters smoking. The British TV watchdog, Ofcom, made a formal complaint and in response those scenes were cut. Smoking was seen as something which should not be encouraged in children and it was dealt with accordingly. This is perhaps the only point which is to the credit of the report other than the fact that sitting in front of TV screens for unsupervised hour after unsupervised hour is surely harmful for children. The last complaint is an absurd one and I seriously do not know what those who conducted the survey were thinking of when they included this point. If we are to believe them, the cartoons have “broken the mental barrier between children and animals such as pigs, bears and dogs which are presented in a nice way.” Now who said that children should have any kind of “mental barrier” to animals or hater them? It is certainly true that Muslims do not eat the meat of a pig but it is not forbidden to see one. Whether we eat it or not, a pig is still God’s creation. And the same goes for dogs that are generally friendly animals which many people keep as pets. When it comes to bears, I am mystified and just cannot figure out what they did — or didn’t do — in order to get themselves on the list.

Benefit from Negative Feedback

2006-09-14T11:45:00.000+03:00

by Joanne Murray Monster Contributing Writer Accomplished managers know that giving feedback to staff -- both positive and critical -- is key to a department's productivity and improvement. But how you handle getting feedback as a manager is just as important as how you give feedback. The ability to respond effectively to feedback is essential to every manager's portfolio of skills. Tapping into negative feedback heightens your awareness of barriers to your success and allows you to address them. Still, negative feedback can be hard to swallow. Jaye Roseborough, executive director of career services at Middlebury College and a consultant on leadership development and management, encourages her clients to resist their first tendency to be defensive when hearing negative feedback. "Listen, listen and then listen some more," she advises. "Rather than focusing on how the person providing the feedback may be incorrect, listen to the message he is trying to convey." Roseborough identifies the following steps to turning negative feedback into a source for positive change:

Get the Facts. Effective managers focus on understanding the facts. Ask questions to determine the nature and scope of the problem. Identify how long the problem has been occurring. When possible, ask for specific examples that describe the problem area. However, be cautious about appearing to require proof or questioning the validity of the feedback.

Resist Responding Immediately. Roseborough recommends that it is best to respond by thanking your supervisor for sharing the feedback with you and letting him know you will look into the stated areas in need of improvement. Further, say you will get back with a response. Taking the time to look into the situation allows you to investigate the feedback's legitimacy and plan a thoughtful response. "Immediate responses are more likely to be defensive rather than comprehensive," says Roseborough, who stresses the importance of following up with your supervisor in a timely manner.

Formulate an Action Plan. Take the time to carefully consider the feedback and be willing to accept it might be on the mark. If you confirm that the feedback is accurate, formulate a plan for how you will address what's in need of improvement. This may be as easy as realigning your work around new priorities, or as difficult as addressing a problematic characteristic of your personality or management style. It may mean broadening your skill base to better meet needs. Take responsibility and initiative for putting a comprehensive plan into place, complete with time frame, for turning around the situation. After your examination, if you believe the feedback you have been given is based on incorrect information or assumptions, factor this into your plan of action. Avoid dismissing the feedback's validity entirely, though, since the perception of a problem remains a critical issue to be addressed.

Gain Consensus on Your Plan. Present your proposed action plan to your supervisor with the goal of gaining his support for how you will move forward to rectify the problematic situation. Be open to modifying the plan based on your supervisor's suggestions. Agree on a time frame, and ask your supervisor for help in making a successful transition to more effective performance. Let your supervisor know you look forward to addressing the matter and regaining your reputation as a positive contributor. Effective managers accept negative feedback as an opportunity to improve, not as an indictment of their ability. While positive feedback might be a nice stroke of the ego, negative feedback is fodder for career growth.

Analysis of the Digg Effect and Users

2006-09-14T11:16:00.000+03:00

"Digg users are primarily tech savvy; they define the web trend just as cheer leaders define school fashion. Hence, analysis of average screen resolutions, browser types, operating systems, connection speeds, etc. provide a good stream of statistics for extrapolating data on Internet usage by tomorrow's mainstream users."

read more | digg story

Muslimah Writers Alliance Grand Mosque Equal Access for Women Project

2006-09-13T13:39:00.000+03:00

To: King Abdullah bin Abdul Aziz, Custodian of the Two Holy Mosques and Panel Members from the Makkah Governorate, the Presidency of the Two Holy Mosques Affairs, and the King Fahd Institute for Haj Research proposing to prohibit women from praying inside the As I/we feel certain you are aware, the religion of Islam was revealed for both men and women. Both sexes are equal when it comes to the performance religious duties and in terms of rewards and punishments. The Prophet (peace be upon him) also instructed that women must not be banned from mosques. Yet it has come to my/our attention that a committee in Makkah has proposed to restrict the prayers of women and limit the areas where they can pray in the Grand Mosque. Whatever the reasoning behind such a proposal, we cannot seriously present to the world the idea that the presence of women in the innermost area of the Haram is any less disturbing to worshippers and visitors than the presence of men! Neither would we dare to presume that the prayers of men are somehow better than those of women. And yet the best proposal that can be offered by a panel of men comprised of representatives from the Makkah Governorate, the Presidency of the Two Holy Mosques Affairs, and the King Fahd Institute for Haj Research, is to eliminate the presence of women altogether. Would there be any harm in considering the addition of selected women for the panel, or a proposed resolution from a woman? As it happens, Hatoon Al-Fassi, a Saudi writer and historian based in Riyadh, offered a counter-proposal in her Arab News published article of August 30. http://www.arabnews.com/ Ms. Al-Fassi stated, "In order to allow women to pray in the Grand Mosque in the proper manner, let us allocate a special area for them beginning from the Kaaba and ending at masaa (the running area between Safa and Marwa). The width of this area could be determined based on field studies conducted by the Haj Research Institute on the number of women who come to pray at the mosque. If this were done, the equality of sexes promulgated by Islam would be achieved."It would also protect women from prejudice and ensure that no men prayed behind them. Moreover, women would be able to pray in comfort, sit closer to the Kaaba and achieve maximum devotion and closeness to God. "I/we reiterate the request of Ms. Al-Fassi, that her suggestion be considered with open hearts and minds. Alternatively the panel could be allowed to re-convene with the addition of female representation. Surely a proposal such as the one currently on the table cannot be accepted as a final, as it is, indeed, a violation of the spirit and message of Islam that was sent for all of humanity without any discrimination. May Allah guide us all. Amin. PETITIONERS INTERESTED IN ADDITIONAL INFORMATION ON HOW TO PARTICIPATE IN THE MUSLIMAH WRITER'S ALLIANCE GRAND MOSQUE EQUAL ACCESS FOR WOMEN (GMEA4W) PROJECT ARE INVITED TO VISIT THE CAMPAIGN'SWEBSITE. http://www.muslimahwritersalliance.com/MWA-GMEA4W/Home.html Sincerely, The Undersigned

The Truth of Israel's War....

2006-08-20T17:07:00.000+03:00

Wednesday August 02, 2006 Anwaar Hussain eagleeye@emirates.net.ae The truth is that organizations like Hizbollah and Hamas are there because Israel is there and not vice versa. As the land of Lebanon continues to be drenched with the blood of its own children, the world stands in a hushed silence watching this murderous crime from the safety of the sidelines. The Muslim world itself, with nary a peep from it's corpulent leadership, remains busy in brave exchanges of 'please-say-no-to-Israeli-aggression' emails and imploring Allah to come to the aid of Israel's victims. It is time to shout the truth of Israel's war from the rooftops. The truth is that organizations like Hizbollah and Hamas are there because Israel is there and not vice versa. The truth is that the West created Israel out of its guilt of what it did, or allowed to be done, to the Jews and the Palestinians had no part in it. The truth is that the holocaust was THE REASON because of which Western powers helped establish the Jewish state as a refuge for the Jews and their own consciences. The truth is that for the redemption of their guilt, if the holocaust did really occur, the Western powers should have formed a state of Israel in their own backyard and not deprived 5 million Palestinians of their homeland. The truth is that these same Western powers now want the entire world to accept the status quo and submit to the reality because the washed out glories of World War II are still around. The truth is that while these same powers wielding the whip of anti-Semitism disallow even a discussion on the subject of holocaust, the fact remains that the issues of holocaust and Palestine are intimately interconnected. The roots of the Palestinian conflict must be sought in history and no solution to the conflict is possible unless historical wrongs are addressed first. The truth is that the German peoples are still being punished for the crimes of a few as if the 3rd Reich was representative of all past, present and future generations of Germans and as if the entire German history is made up of the 12 years of the 3rd Reich's rule. The truth is that along with the Germans, five million Palestinians have been made to pay reparations for the holocaust for 60 years, and will have to keep paying up for another 1000 years if nothing is done, yet the West continues to remain blind to the interconnection between the two issues. The truth is that the dominant West today refuses to see the simple logic that if the holocaust did indeed occur, then Europe must bear the consequences and not the Palestinian people. And if it did not occur, then the Jews have no claim to the Palestinian's land. The truth is that some sixty million people died in the gigantic crime of Second World War yet a few million Jews continue to remain the center of attention with the other over 90% of victims promptly forgotten. The truth is that though it is difficult to put across the scale and effect of Israel's abuses of Palestinian lives through statistics alone yet these are appalling enough: since the year 2000 alone, in addition to hundreds of acres of farmland destroyed and 25,000 Palestinian homes demolished, nearly 4,000 Palestinians have been killed, 30,000 injured and 400 assassinated. An overwhelming number of these casualties remained women and children. The truth is that despite the fact that Zionist controlled media reports just 13% of Palestinian children's' massacre and 88% of Israeli children's deaths, the numbers tell a horrifying tale; for 121 Israeli children reportedly killed by Palestinians, close to 800 Palestinian children have been killed by Israelis. The truth is that while zero Israeli homes have been demolished by Palestinians, 25000 Palestinian homes have been demolished by Israel and while two Israelis are being held prisoners by the Palestinians, 9,599 Palestinians are currently imprisoned by Israel. The truth is that the great benefactor of Israel, the United States of America, gives more than $15 million per day to the Israeli government and military while the Palestinian NGOs get a miserly $232,290 per day to care for the victims of Israeli aggression. The truth is that while Israel reportedly possesses upward of 400 WMDs, the Palestinian have none and while there are 65 UN resolutions against Israel, there are none against Palestinians The truth is that while Israel bemoans that four rockets that fell on its territory were made in Iran, it has received upward of 17 billion dollars of arms from the United States alone over the last 10 years. The truth is that virtually every bullet and every shrapnel that ricochets through the Palestinian's flesh and blood is linked to the United States of America one way or the other. The truth is that no other country could avoid the wrath of the resident bully of planet earth, the United States of America, with one thousandth of what Israel does for breakfast every day. The truth is that while Kofi Annan of United Nations of America (UNA) could find time in the thick of these atrocities to issue a deadline to Iran on its nuclear activities, he is powerless to even broker a temporary ceasefire to pause the unremitting bloodletting of innocent Lebanese. The truth is that the twin evils joined at the hip, the United States and Israel, have together caused so much mischief in the world in the past few decades that one is forced to draw the conclusion that devil does indeed exist. And if there is a devil, there must be a God--a God that watches their devilment in divine silence. For now at least.

Is Virtual Life Better Than Reality?

2006-08-14T17:14:00.000+03:00

(CBS) When reality gets hard to take, there's an escape to a parallel universe — a virtual world without end where real people create online personas called avatars. Anything is possible. Check CBS News

Time Magazine's 50 Coolest Websites

2006-08-14T11:46:00.000+03:00

Time Magazine has put together a list of 50 coolest websites from six different categories. Many of them are Web 2.0 sites, others aren't.

"The Eye of the Dragon" Symbol

2006-08-14T10:41:00.000+03:00

The eye of the dragon, according to Koch (see bibliography), is an ancient Germanic sign. We can analyse this sign as a combination of the "Triangle" for threat and "Y" for the choice between good and evil.

"Setting Brand Strategy"

2006-08-14T10:06:00.000+03:00

I love his cartoons, Check them out @ http://www.skydeckcartoons.com/

Stereogram

2006-08-13T20:44:00.000+03:00

Café Wall Illusion

2006-08-13T12:56:00.000+03:00

The image above shows a picture of a building in Melbourne, Australia designed to exhibit this illusion (C. L. Taylor, pers. comm., Aug. 5, 2006).

Inflection Point (Mathematical Definition)

2006-08-13T12:28:00.000+03:00

An inflection point, or point of inflection (or inflexion) can be defined in any of the following ways:

a point on a curve at which the tangent crosses the curve itself.
a point on a curve at which the curvature changes sign. The curve changes from being concave upwards (positive curvature) to concave downwards (negative curvature), or vice versa. If one imagines driving a vehicle along the curve, it is a point at which the steering-wheel is momentarily 'straight', being turned from left to right or vice versa.
a point on a curve at which the second derivative changes sign. This is very similar to the previous definition, since the sign of the curvature is always the same as the sign of the second derivative, but note that the curvature is not the same as the second derivative.
a point (x,y) on a function, f(x), at which the first derivative, f'(x), is at an extremum, i.e. a minimum or maximum. (This is not the same as saying that y is at an extremum, and in fact implies that y is not at an extremum).

The start-up inflection point

2006-08-13T12:02:00.000+03:00

Dozens of tech-sector companies are stuck in this trap and have been for years. They have manager to programmer ratios of 15 to 1, undiagramable networks of overlaping virtual teams, and decision making models so consensus driven that the brillance of many programmers is averaged away. For awhile the fast pace of direction changes hides these problems, but these folks are smart: they soon realize effectiveness, real effectiveness of individuals, is nothing like what it used to be, and that there might be ways to fix it. So what’s the solution?

Only the Paranoid Survive: Book Preface

2006-08-13T11:56:00.000+03:00

by Andrew S. Grove Strategic inflection points can be caused by technological change but they are more than technological change. They can be caused by competitors but they are more than just competition. They are full-scale changes in the way business is conducted, so that simply adopting new technology or fighting the competition as you used to may be insufficient. They build up force so insidiously that you may have a hard time even putting a finger on what has changed, yet you know that something has. Let's not mince words: A strategic inflection point can be deadly when unattended to. Companies that begin a decline as a result of its changes rarely recover their previous greatness.

Israel - 'We Are Untouchable'

2006-08-08T16:42:00.000+03:00

By Tanya Hsu - ArabNews.com 8-5-6 We are Israel. We are untouchable. No matter what we do the international community will not act against us. Oh, there will be talks at the United Nations but we know that the United States will intervene on our behalf. There will be Arab League discussions but we know that no state will take action against us. There will be mass protests and demonstrations; there will be activists and advocates begging for peace; there will be rallies and fundraisers to help the targets of our bombs. And we know that nothing will make a difference because we are Jews - we are victims of the Holocaust. We have suffered such that we have the right to make the rest of the world pay (even though organised Zionism officially declared war on Germany in 1933, long before Hitler's Final Solution). Because we are victims. Yes, we know that peoples all over the world have suffered worse crimes than ours, but they were not the Chosen People. We know that over 22 million Russians were killed under Stalin, 15 million Chinese killed by the Japanese, millions elsewhere in the world who suffer the same fate in the bloodiest 20th century. We know that Zionism is an athiest Marxist creation using Judaism as its weapon; that we were founded upon terrorism and our leaders became Israel's prime ministers and Nobel Peace Prize winners; that less than 10% of Jews worldwide supported the Zionist cause for decades until WWII. We know that the crimes committed by Hitler equally affected Communists, gypsies, the handicapped, and political prisoners.That does not matter - we are special. The rest of the world will not touch us because they are terrified of the label "anti-Semite". World leaders: terrified of this most glorious ad hominem even though we are mostly not Semitic peoples. Jews of Israel, the Sephardim Jews, were almost non existant when we arrived from Russia, Poland, Austria-Hungary and elsewhere in the 20th century and demanded Arab land. They had spread out and moved on. We did not come from Yemen, Ethiopia or Iraq, but who cares? We are the victims and that is all that counts. Time and again we wonder at how far American gullibility will take us. We push it to the limits on cable television and get away with it repeatedly. We know that the majority of the world is aware we blatantly lie when we express our "deepest regrets" because "terrorists" were hiding in the villages we destroy. We even have the gall to pick the precise same targets as a decade ago, ignoring the cries of outrage from America and the West. We'll just repeat the mantra "a tragic mistake". Honestly, we, too, are rather surprised to see that America patiently sits back and buys our words each time. We have trained our diplomats well, not only in the art of deception to the media, but by using powerful strong arm behind the scenes tactics to mold the views of US Congressmen and women in our favour. We have worked on this for decades and it has been perfected for the one place it counts: our bank America. We rely upon those weapons; we need to create constant conflict so as to receive a perpetual $13 billion annual aid package from the US, including unsecured loans that we have never been, nor ever will be, required to pay back. We are living a dream: what we want is given to us on a silver patter because we are Jews, and we have the Holocaust. The above is only daring in that it is never voiced publicly in the West. The world is watching as Israel incinerates the Lebanese, next the Syrians and Palestinians, then Iran. Diplomats call for peace, a cease -fire, and negotiations. They speak the language of non committance. It takes a few brave men and women in leadership positions to dare to speak the truth; losing that AIPAC support in government is the kiss of death, and academics who dare write the facts know that their tenured careers are over. Israel is in the position of dominating the US government to an extent never before seen in history, creating a regime who will fully fund a "new Middle East" which in reality means Eretz Israel consisting of Palestine, Lebanon, Syria, Jordan, northern Saudi Arabia and even Cyprus by some accounts. There is nothing speculative about these plans for hegemony - everything has been laid out, written down, and presented for years.This war will not end with a cease-fire next week. This war will not end with a security zone controlled by the UN. This war will not end if Hezbollah and Hamas disappeared tomorrow. This war will not end as long as leaders and diplomats continue to fear the trump card charge of anti-Semitism by Israel. So, when hundreds of children are torn apart by uranium tipped missiles provided courtesy of the US government, look in the mirror. Have you dared to offend Israel? Have you risked? Ask yourself what role you may have played in contributing to this global disaster. Nothing will change until you do. Tanya Cariina Hsu is a British Saudi-US Political Analyst. She lives in Riyadh, Saudi Arabia.

Video: Gates to hand over reins by mid-2008

2006-06-16T20:34:00.000+03:00

"I'm not leaving Microsoft" Bill Gates explains how he came to the decision to focus his time as a philanthropist at the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation. Gates foresees that the hand-over to Ray Ozzie and Craig Mundie over the next two years will be smooth. He will continue as chairman until June 2008. 4 minutes 22 seconds Jun 15, 2006 3:22:00 PM

Yahoo Hack Day Today

2006-06-16T20:14:00.000+03:00

Yahoo has had a a couple of regional “Hack Days”, which are day long events where engineers stop everything they are doing and just build stuff that they think is cool. The idea was first popularized by Jot last year, and a number of companies have picked up on the idea as a great way to stoke innovation and creativity in a semi-organized way. The goal? Take something from idea to prototype in 24 hours.

Forget What You Know About H2O

2006-06-16T20:05:00.000+03:00

Despite its ubiquity, we still have a lot to learn about water. We take the properties of water for granted. Yet scientists assure us that we have a lot to learn about our biologically essential old friend. "Liquid water is one of the most mysterious substances in our world."

read more | digg story

Getting to Know Ray Ozzie : Microsofts New Chief Software Architect

2006-06-16T19:57:00.000+03:00

On June 15, 2006, Ozzie assumed the title of Microsoft chief software architect previously held by Chairman Bill Gates, and is working side by side with Gates on all technical architecture and product oversight responsibilities in anticipation of Gatesâ?? departure from a day-to-day role in Microsoft in July 2008.

read more | digg story

Bill Gates Gets Schooled

2006-06-16T19:22:00.000+03:00

Why he and other execs have struggled in their school reform efforts, and why they keep trying

Editor's Note: On June 15, William H. Gates III announced that he would give up his day-to-day responsibilities at Microsoft Corp., by stepping down as the company's chief software architect. He plans to continue as chairman of the company through 2008, when he will cede any leadership role at the company he co-founded 31 years ago. The following story shines a spotlight on Gates's post-Microsoft future. He is giving up the chief software architect role, so that he can concentrate his time on the charitable activities of the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation. One of the $29 billion foundation's key initiatives is improving high-school education in the U. S. Here's a look at how Bill and Melinda Gates have become personally involved in this Herculean task.

Five minutes to develop an application? Way too slow

2006-06-16T19:10:00.000+03:00

by ZDNet's Joe McKendrick Never one to miss a trend, IBM unveiled a new mashup prototype, based on Web 2.0 technologies, designed for enterprise computing. IBM's so-called 'Enterprise Mashup' is a framework that uses Web services and wiki technology.

Egocentrism Over E-Mail: Can We Communicate as Well as We Think?

2006-06-15T23:49:00.000+03:00

What is an Ontology?

2006-06-14T22:01:00.000+03:00

by Tom Gruber

Short answer: An ontology is a specification of a conceptualization.

The word "ontology" seems to generate a lot of controversy in discussions about AI. It has a long history in philosophy, in which it refers to the subject of existence. It is also often confused with epistemology, which is about knowledge and knowing. In the context of knowledge sharing, I use the term ontology to mean a specification of a conceptualization. That is, an ontology is a description (like a formal specification of a program) of the concepts and relationships that can exist for an agent or a community of agents. This definition is consistent with the usage of ontology as set-of-concept-definitions, but more general. And it is certainly a different sense of the word than its use in philosophy. What is important is what an ontology is for. My colleagues and I have been designing ontologies for the purpose of enabling knowledge sharing and reuse. In that context, an ontology is a specification used for making ontological commitments. The formal definition of ontological commitment is given below. For pragmetic reasons, we choose to write an ontology as a set of definitions of formal vocabulary. Although this isn't the only way to specify a conceptualization, it has some nice properties for knowledge sharing among AI software (e.g., semantics independent of reader and context). Practically, an ontological commitment is an agreement to use a vocabulary (i.e., ask queries and make assertions) in a way that is consistent (but not complete) with respect to the theory specified by an ontology. We build agents that commit to ontologies. We design ontologies so we can share knowledge with and among these agents.

Stress Management Strategies

2006-06-11T22:33:00.000+03:00

Suzanna Smith and Joe Pergola University of Florida WHAT IS STRESS? Stress! What does it mean to you? Traffic jams, deadlines, eating on the run, bills to pay, job changes, endless chores and errands, and demands, demands, demands. Stress is the body's response to any demand or pressure. These demands are called stressors. Stressors include major life events, such as a divorce or the birth of a child. They also include chronic strains that last over a period of time, such as living on unemployment. And stressors include daily or occasional strains, like taking care of a sick child. Whatever the stressor is, it requires the body to make physical and chemical adjustments in order to maintain the necessary physiological balance for survival. A racing heart, a burst of energy, and muscle tension are the body's physical responses to demands. When faced with danger, some of the first stress reactions are a rise in blood pressure, quicker breathing and heart beat, and dilated pupils. Sight and hearing become more alert. This reaction is an instinctive response that protects us from threats to survival. Physiological changes are part of the "fight or flight" response, which prepares and energizes a person to confront or flee from danger. After the threat has passed or a change takes place, the "alarm" signs disappear. The body is still aroused but is adapting to the change. However, if high levels of stress continue, the energy to adapt runs out. Exhaustion occurs, causing damage to the person's physical and emotional well-being. Entire families may experience distress from tensions and pressures on the family to change. Surprising as it seems, some stress has positive outcomes. "Good stress" can give an athlete the energy to excel in physical competition. It can stimulate a scientist's thinking or a composer's creative energy. It can give many people the energy to solve problems and to finish hard work. Often, however, our lives are filled with many demands that continue over a long period of time. Demands such as work overload may result in negative stress, which is called distress. Unrelieved stress can take an emotional as well as physical toll, in the form of anxiety or depression%2 AM I UNDER STRESS? [...]

Zaadz: Quotes on Courage

2006-06-11T22:24:00.000+03:00

LearnOutLoud.com and zaadz.com present Zaadz: Quotes on Courage. Quotes on Courage is an audio compilation of Brian Johnson's favorite quotes on courage. Brian also narrates this collection which includes quotes from Joseph Campbell, Leo Buscaglia, Ayn Rand and many others. For more of Brian's writings and thousands of additional quotes, visit zaadz.com.

SWiSH-DB.com

2006-06-11T10:47:00.000+03:00

SWiSH-DB is community website where you can find complete webdesigning instant support and free downloads. Its the largest and the most active community of SWiSH users, who gather to share their ideas and create outstanding applications using swish. Download thousands of files and read hundreds of free tutorials

3 Roads to Retirement

2006-06-10T20:12:00.000+03:00

By Hope Nelson-Pope (TMFLucky11) June 10, 2006 Two roads diverged in a wood, and I -- I took the one less traveled by, and that has made all the difference. -- Robert Frost, "The Road Not Taken" When planning for your retirement, it's easy to start out on the straight and narrow and then find yourself faced with a divergence. Unlike Frost's famous work, however, the retirement superhighway can split into many more roads than just two. Should you throw all your money into a savings account? Open up an IRA? Will Social Security be your savior? Are you waiting until you buy a house, pay off your credit cards, and hammer out a new budget before you begin your retirement plan? And then comes the crystal-ball portion of the planning process. Where do you want to be several decades from now? How do you want to live? And, based on your savings at this point, how can you afford to live? You've got a lot of choices to make, to be sure. And each one will have a significant impact on your future earnings potential and lifestyle. But three main retirement options hover above all the day-to-day choices you make. Which road are you on?

How to Double Your Money?

2006-06-10T20:02:00.000+03:00

By Stephen D. Simpson, CFA (TMFWildWeasel) June 10, 2006 Doubling your money -- a "two-bagger" in investing lingo -- is a popular investing aspiration. I fondly remember my first double, EMC, and I'm always looking to repeat the experience. The number is seductive. But the question remains: How do you get a double? The key is to buy shares of companies with above-average business potential, then hold them for as long as possible (ideally forever). When you do that, performance tends to take care of itself -- just take a look at the track records of master investors such as Warren Buffett, James Gipson, and Fred Olstein. [...]

While in Surgery, Do You Prefer Abba or Verdi?

2006-06-10T19:17:00.000+03:00

It was a normal day at NewYork-Presbyterian Hospital in Washington Heights, where music fills the operating rooms much of the time, as it does in other hospitals. Like most of modern life, surgery has acquired a soundtrack, whether it be Sinatra or Vivaldi, Mozart or Bob Marley, "La Bohème" or the Beatles. Surgeons say it relaxes them, focuses their attention and helps pass the time.

Mention of the subject in medical journals goes back 50 years, and a growing body of recent research shows mild benefits for the patient going under the knife as well as for the surgeon holding it. The topic also figures in hospital television shows like "Chicago Hope" and "Grey's Anatomy."

Less examined are the rituals and protocols about how music is played and who decides the program.

Music can become a subtle bone of contention among the members of the surgical team or a practical aid. Loud rock 'n' roll is good for routine operations, they say, Mozart for trickier ones. There is even a genre called "closing music": raucous sounds to suture by.

ITIL: What It Is and Why You Should Care

2006-06-10T08:00:00.000+03:00

ITIL is becoming the next big thing in Information Technology. This paper outlines the origin of ITIL, who controls its contents, who are the biggest users, and why you should care. Source: Global Knowledge Network Pages: 8 Requires FREE Registration at ZDNet.com

Video blogs or "Vlogs"

2006-06-09T20:25:00.000+03:00

Video blogs, "vlogs," are just like regular blogs in almost every way. They're interactive online diaries, archived in chronological order with the most recent entry on top. The difference is that in place of text, or in addition to it, video blogs consistently offer original video clips, which can range from short feature films to news reports to raw footage of everyday life.

How-to Pick the Best Mutual Funds Guide!

2006-06-08T19:46:00.000+03:00

Lesson 1: Demystifying Mutual Funds
Lesson 2: How to Measure Performance
Lesson 3: Don't Pay Too Much
Lesson 4: All About Index Funds
Lesson 5: Five Criteria to Evaluate Managed Funds
Lesson 6: Funds We Like
Lesson 7: The Whole Tax Thing
Lesson 8: Now What?

The Stockdale Paradox

2006-06-06T23:05:00.000+03:00

Good To Great, by Jim Collins Chapter 4, pages 83–85 The name refers to Admiral Jim Stockdale, who was the highest ranking United States military officer in the “Hanoi Hilton” prisoner-of-war camp during the height of the Vietnam War. Tortured over 20 times during his eight-year imprisonment from 1965 to 1973, Stockdale lived out the war without any prisoner's rights, no set release date, and no certainty as to whether he would even survive to see his family again. He shouldered the burden of command, doing everything he could to create conditions that would increase the number of prisoners who would survive unbroken, while fighting an internal war against his captors and their attempts to use the prisoners for propaganda. At one point, he beat himself with a stool and cut himself with a razor, deliberately disfiguring himself, so that he could not be put on videotape as an example of a “well-treated prisoner.” He exchanged secret intelligence information with his wife through their letters, knowing that discovery would mean more torture and perhaps death. He instituted rules that would help people to deal with torture (no one can resist torture indefinitely, so he created a step-wise system—after x minutes, you can say certain things—that gave the men milestones to survive toward). He instituted an elaborate internal communications system to reduce the sense of isolation that their captors tried to create, which used a five-by-five matrix of tap codes for alpha characters. (Tap-tap equals the letter a, tap-pause-tap-tap equals the letter b, tap-tap-pause-tap equals the letter f, and so forth, for 25 letters, c doubling for k.) At one point, during an imposed silence, the prisoners mopped and swept the central yard using the code, swish-swashing out “We love you” to Stockdale, on the third anniversary of his being shot down. After his release, Stockdale became the first three-star officer in the history of the navy to wear both aviator wings and the Congressional Medal of Honor. You can understand, then, my anticipation at the prospect of spending part of an afternoon with Stockdale. One of my students had written his paper on Stockdale, who happened to be a senior research fellow studying the Stoic philosophers at the Hoover Institution right across the street from my office, and Stockdale invited the two of us for lunch. In preparation, I read In Love and War, the book Stockdale and his wife had written in alternating chapters, chronicling their experiences during those eight years. As I moved through the book, I found myself getting depressed. It just seemed so bleak—the uncertainty of his fate, the brutality of his captors, and so forth. And then, it dawned on me: “Here I am sitting in my warm and comfortable office, looking out over the beautiful Stanford campus on a beautiful Saturday afternoon. I’m getting depressed reading this, and I know the end of the story! I know that he gets out, reunites with his family, becomes a national hero, and gets to spend the later years of his life studying philosophy on this same beautiful campus. If it feels depressing for me, how on earth did he deal with it when he was actually there and did not know the end of the story?” “I never lost faith in the end of the story,” he said, when I asked him. “I never doubted not only that I would get out, but also that I would prevail in the end and turn the experience into the defining event of my life, which, in retrospect, I would not trade.”

* * *

I didn’t say anything for many minutes, and we continued the slow walk toward the faculty club, Stockdale limping and arc-swinging his stiff leg that had never fully recovered from repeated torture. Finally, after about a hundred meters of silence, I asked, “Who didn’t make it out?” “Oh, that’s easy,” he said. “The optimists.” “The optimists? I don’t understand,” I said, now completely confused, given what he’d said a hundred meters earlier. “The optimists. Oh, they were the ones who said, ‘We’re going to be out by Christmas.’ And Christmas would come, and Christmas would go. Then they’d say,‘We’re going to be out by Easter.’ And Easter would come, and Easter would go. And then Thanksgiving, and then it would be Christmas again. And they died of a broken heart.” Another long pause, and more walking. Then he turned to me and said, “This is a very important lesson. You must never confuse faith that you will prevail in the end—which you can never afford to lose—with the discipline to confront the most brutal facts of your current reality, whatever they might be.” To this day, I carry a mental image of Stockdale admonishing the optimists: “We’re not getting out by Christmas; deal with it!”

Trial and Error, Ego and Awareness

2006-06-06T15:20:00.000+03:00

Steve Pavlina September 25th, 2005 One of the most tried and true methods for problem solving is the trial and error method. Despite its lack of sophistication, sometimes it’s the most efficient choice, especially because it can succeed where other methods fail. With trial and error, you’re always guaranteed a learning experience, and you’ll often identify multiple solutions as you experiment. Yet how often do we fail to proceed to the trial phase because we’re afraid of experiencing the error? We make the mistake of believing that the error is somehow harmful to us, when it is actually helpful. Each error is the feedback we need to formulate a new trial, one that will hopefully lead to new errors and new trials until we ultimately converge on an acceptable solution. So an error is not a failure. An error is in fact merely a step on the path to a success. No errors usually means no successes.

UN Report to Focus on the Development of Women in the Arab World

2006-06-04T22:24:00.000+03:00

By Manal Homeidan Jeddah, Asharq Al-Awsat The Arab Human Development report, expected to be published in June, will focus on the position of women across the Arab world and will examine the different issues related to the development of women in Arab societies, according to Dr. Mohammed Kamel Aref, science and technology advisor at the United Nations Development Program. in Saudi Arabia on a fact-finding mission, Aref told Asharq al Awsat on Wednesday that he had witnessed firsthand the activities of women researchers and scientists in Saudi Arabia and was surprised how much they had achieved in scientific areas in a short space of time. Another Referance: Saudi-US Relations Information Service - Newsletter #158 http://www.saudi-us-relations.org/newsletters/2006/newsletter-158.html

نساء سعوديات اجتزن بوابة العلم

2006-06-04T22:13:00.000+03:00

محمد عارف - مستشار في العلوم والتكنولوجيا

في عقول نساء العلم السعوديات، وفي قلوبهن، أفكار، وأحلام، وعواطف، وقصائد، وأغاني تفوق أضعاف ما في رواية "بنت الرياض". هذا هو الانطباع، الذي عُدتُ به أخيراً من بعثة إلى السعودية لإعداد دراسة، بتكليف من إحدى منظمات الأمم المتحدة عن نساء العلم في البلدان العربية. وقد تكون رواية "بنت الرياض"، التي صدرت طبعتها الخامسة ظريفة، عابثة، أو ملعونة، لكنها ليست أكثر من "دردشة إنترنت" بالمقارنة مع ملحمة نساء العلوم والطب والهندسة في السعودية. وفيما تستمر الدردشة حول ضرورة تحقيق المساواة بين الجنسين تتفوق أعداد طالبات التعليم العالي في السعودية على الطلاب. في العام الدراسي الماضي 2004-2005 اجتاز العدد الإجمالي لطلاب الجامعات والمعاهد العليا السعودية حاجز نصف المليون، وبلغ 571813 بينهم 334817 طالبة، مقابل 236996 طالب. ويثير الدهشة عدد طالبات الرياضيات والإحصاء 4320، الذي يعادل نحو خمسة أضعاف الطلاب 867، وتبلغ النسبة ثلاثة أضعاف في الفيزياء، حيث عدد الطالبات 2880 مقابل 975 طالب. وبلغ إجمالي الخريجات في العام الماضي 43823 مقابل 38798 من الخريجين الذكور.

The Way of Peace

2006-06-03T23:00:00.000+03:00

by James Allen (A Recommended Free Auidobook) The Way of Peace is an inspirational classic that should not be missed by anyone interested in accessing spiritual transcendence. Here James Allen (author of As a Man Thinketh) details how one might reverse the pain that comes from living for the self. After identifying life's common spiritual traps, he then teaches how to overcome these obstacles and enter a world free of pain, hate and fear. Endlessly thought-provoking, Way of Peace is a treasure-trove of wisdom from a voice informed by truth. Chapter Headings: Chapter 1: The Power of Meditation Chapter 2: The Two Masters, Self and Truth Chapter 3: The Acquirement of Spiritual Power Chapter 4: The Realization of Selfless Love Chapter 5: Entering Into the Infinite Chapter 6: Saints, Sages, and Saviors Chapter 7: The Realization of Perfect Peace About the Author: Born in 1864, James Allen is just now gaining recognition for a small but still prescient body of inspirational books and poetry. Living his life in England, Allen worked as an executive secretary until retiring at the age of 38 to live out the rest of his days in quiet contemplation. The result of these 9 years of self-examination is a body of work that has finally found its way to popular attention. Allen died at the age of 48 in 1912, leaving behind a legacy that would help inspire the modern self-help movement.

Economics and You

2006-06-03T19:48:00.000+03:00

By Dan Caplinger June 3, 2006 Many people find the study of economics intimidating. The very term suggests endless streams of statistical data, along with formulas, charts, tables, and ongoing attempts to synthesize and extract useful conclusions that apply to everyday situations. Economists are often seen as modern-day fortune tellers. As one joke goes, it takes two economists to replace a light bulb -- one to change the bulb, and one to forecast how long it will last. No matter how arcane the science of economics may seem, everyone uses economics in their daily lives. In its original sense, economics refers simply to how you manage your personal affairs. So whether you consciously think about it or not, everyone continually engages in economic analysis in helping to make decisions.

Quotes

2006-05-30T21:24:00.000+03:00

Quotes that shape my views:

“You can bind my body, tie my hands, govern my actions: you are the strongest, and society adds to your power; but with my will, sir, you can do nothing.” George Sand quotes (French Romantic writer, 1804-1876)

“Don't wait until everything is just right. It will never be perfect. There will always be challenges, obstacles and less than perfect conditions. So what. Get started now. With each step you take, you will grow stronger and stronger, more and more skilled, more and more self-confident and more and more successful.” Mark Victor Hansen

“It's not enough to have a dream unless I'm willing to pursue it. It's not enough to know what's right unless I'm strong enough to do it. It's not enough to join the crowd, to be acknowledged and accepted. I must be true to my ideals, even if I'm excluded and rejected. It's not enough to learn the truth unless I also learn to live it. It's not enough to reach for love unless I care enough to give it.”

“The difference between perseverance and obstinacy is that one often comes from a strong will, and the other from a strong won't.” Henry Ward Beecher (Liberal US Congregational minister, 1813-1887)

Source: http://www.thinkexist.com/