Year: 2005

Gillette Unveils 5-bladed Razor

Gillette FusionGillette has unveiled a new line of razors with five blades and a lubricating strip on both the front and back.

The razor, known as the Fusion, has blades spaced 30 percent closer than Gillette’s current MACH3Turbo system. It also has a single blade on the back of the cartridge for shaving sideburns or trimming under the nose.

The Fusion will also be available in a power version and features a micro-chip that regulates the voltage and blade action. Other high-tech features include a low battery indicator light and a safety switch that shuts the razor down after eight minutes of continuous operation.

It seems that everytime a razor company runs into the obstacle of coming up with a new product to out-do their competition, the only thing they can think of is adding an extra blade.

But then again, what could they do?
It’s just a razor for God’s sake!
I mean, they already added the lubricating strips, they made it’s shape aerodynamic, they made it’s head flexible, they made it vibrate, what else can they do but keep piling up the blades?

In a few years time we’ll end up with 20-blade razors that would serve better as a Ninja weapon.

I really don’t know why all this is needed, I personally think the 2-bladed Gillette Sensor Excel was really good enough. Now that i’m using the Mach3, shaving is not getting any better, in fact you lose precision with the extra blade.

L’étranger (Albert Camus)

Last night I finished reading “L’étranger” by Albert Camus. Thanks to my dear friend Saqf for giving me this book too.

I haven’t read in French for a very long time. The last time I did, I started reading “The Lord of the Rings” and then stopped halfway through the first chapter because it just didn’t feel right.
In books, like movies, I think it’s best to always read or watch it in its original language; A lot of things are always lost in translation.

Anyway this was a really good read. I really like the style in which it was written and how the story was told. 
It totally sucked me in from the opening sentence.

I somehow connected with the main character, Mr. Meursault, who represents the writer’s views, although he is very different from me, but I guess I just understood him, his vision and thoughts about life and the world around us.

It looks at life from an existentialist point of view, from which God doesn’t exist, there are no principles, nothing in life really matters and no matter what everyone’s going to end up dead anyway.

That means that people may only be judged or defined by their actions and choices, and human choices are the ultimate evaluator, and so behaviour doesn’t need to be regulated. Everything becomes relative.

Of course, I don’t fully agree with this opinion, but the book certainly makes you think a lot about life, principles, laws …etc.

I found it really worth the read.
And btw, an English version of the book, “The Stranger”, is available too for those who are interested in reading it but don’t know French.

My score for it: 7/10.

Three Years Of Bliss

Today is our third marriage anniversary.

It’s amazing how time flies by yet seems so slow at the same time. I mean it’s already three years since we got married, yet it feels like the wedding day was yesterday; It’s only three years of marriage, yet it feels like we’ve been together for a lifetime.

To my sweet and lovely wife: “Love”, as a word, doesn’t even come close to describing how much feelings I have for you.
Thank you for making my life as beautiful and complete as you have.

eBay Buys Skype

eBay will be acquiring Skype, the global Internet communications company, for approximately $2.6 billion in up-front cash and eBay stock.
It will make a further payout of up to $1.5 billion if certain financial targets are met.

I’m not too sure what to think about this.
Everyone seems to be jumping on the messaging and VoIP bandwagon with or without a goal nowadays.

The press release says a lot about how great a combination the two companies are although I honestly can’t see how.

Ok, there could be an integration between eBay’s auction services and the Skype messenger allowing people to directly get in touch with each other through the messenger or for auction notifications to pop up while you’re chatting.
But I don’t really see this as a good enough reason to go and toss out all that money.

Some people think eBay might be after the 52 million people who downloaded Skype, but I don’t really think so.
I think the Skype users who do buy or sell online through auctions are most probably already eBay users, and those who aren’t won’t really buy or sell online because of this, they’ll only do it when they need to.

Anyway I guess we’ll just have to wait and see how this plays out in the end.

The Simpsons in Arabic

A few days ago while watching MBC, they were showing some of the stuff they’ll be airing in Ramadhan, which is just around the corner now, and to my surprise an Arabic version of “The Simpsons” is in the schedule.

It will be called “Al Shamshoon” and dubbed in the Egyptian Accent.

Mohamed Heneidi will be lending his voice to Homer (Omar in the Arabic version), Hanan Turk to Bart and Lisa, and Rojeena to Marge.

The Arabized, or should I say Egyptianized, versions of animations that I’ve seen before were pretty decent and sometimes funny, but I’m not so sure about how “The Simpsons’ would turn out.

Shows like “The Simpsons”, “Futurama” and “Southpark” for example aren’t really the kind of shows that could be translated well into our language and culture, especially when you mean to show it in Ramadhan.
A lot of references to Alcohol, sex, God and other taboos that just won’t fit in.

“Southpark” was actually arabized in Kuwait, but they took the idea and redid the whole thing with new characters and another approach to its humor.
Maybe it would have been better to do something like that with “The Simpsons’.

Anyway, I’ll be checking it out, and I hope it turns out good, although the bits I saw in the preview weren’t too promising.

Other blogs talking about this: Savior Machine, Symbols.

Robot Sex Dolls

German inventor and aircraft mechanic Michael Harriman from Nuremberg claims that he has created the world’s most sophisticated robot sex doll.

The sex androids have “hearts” that beat harder during sex, breathe harder and have internal heaters to raise the body temperature – but their feet stay cold “just like in real life”.

The dolls sold under the Andy brand name are on offer for US$7,350 each for the basic model, with extra charges for adaptations like extra large breasts.

The model can also be made to move by remote control, wiggling her hips under the bedclothes and making other suggestive movements – all at the touch of a button.

The inventor says: “They are almost impossible to distinguish from the real thing, but I am still developing improvements and I will only be happy when what I have is better than the real thing.”

What do I think?
Pathetic and crazy…
Couldn’t this guy find anything more useful for humanity to invent?

[Source: Ananova]

The Gate of the Sun

La Porte du Soleil

Today we watched a French produced Arabic movie called Bab El Shams (La Porte du Soleil, The Gate of the Sun). It’s based on the novel by Elias Khoury and directed by Yousry Nasrallah.

The movie tells a number of people’s intertwined stories, and through their stories tells the story of Palestine and the Palestinian people.

The whole story is told pretty objectively and touches on all sides.

It starts when Palestine was under British colonization, when the whole Zionist-state idea started coming into place, and shows how the Palestinian people suffered and were thrown out of their homes and lands under the pretense that Israel was securing its borders (which reminds us of the apartheid wall today).

The movie goes on to show how Arabs didn’t do enough to help Palestinians and that many armies were just sitting around doing nothing while Palestinians were being killed and driven out of their lands, just because they didn’t have any orders from their leaders.

It then follows the journey of Palestinians and how they were thrown in different countries where they were never accepted and were hated. It talks of how some of these Arab countries totally supported the Palestinian cause but hated Palestinians.

It also shows how Palestinians then found themselves having to work for Israelis on their own lands to survive.

The movie isn’t a political one though, it’s a bunch of life stories, through which history is told, but it talks about so much more, it talks about love, hope, traditions, values, women and so much more.
It’s not a movie against Jews, just like one of the characters in the movie says: “Palestinians are not anti-semitic”. In fact it shows how they were better educated, more organized and civilized in their camps.

The movie is very well done; Technically marvelous, great directing, wonderful photography, really nice soundtrack and wonderful acting by the whole cast.

It must be one of the best Arabic movies ever made, and I totally recommend watching it.

My score for it: 8.5/10.

Over the Border of Tunisia

“Over the Border of Tunisia”, a series of Oud concerts, that look at the oud from three different angles, will take place starting from October 30 in Amsterdam.

The event will start on October 30th with the concert of Rabih Abou-Khalil, which is entitled “Jazz Ballads from the East”. In his contemporary jazz and non-Western quintet, the oud is the leading instrument in the concert.

On December 11th, Hesperion XXI’s concert entitled “the Lost Paradise”, the oud is played as an accompanying and ensemble instrument, along with a few improvised solos based on manuscripts from the 13th century.

And on April 9th, Dhafer Youssef’s concert entitled “Echo from the Past”, the oud returns to its origins, in the stirring, spiritual and plaintive melodies of Tunisia and other Arabic cultures, as well as in his own compositions.

More info on the event and tickets is available here.