Subzero Blue

Save The Whales

The blue whales of the Antarctic are still at less than 1 percent of their original abundance despite 40 years of complete protection. Some populations of whales are recovering but some are not. Only one population, the East Pacific grey whale, is thought to be near its original abundance but the closely related West Pacific grey whale population is the most endangered in the world hovering on the edge of extinction with just over 100 remaining. The number of Antarctic whales is less than 10 percent of what it was before whaling began.

The International Whaling Commission imposed a moratorium on commercial whaling in 1986. However, Japan has continued hunting for what it calls scientific research – a claim rejected by critics.

“Japan is flouting international agreements and public opinion by escalating its slaughter of whales, especially when everyone knows their claims of scientific research are just an excuse to get fresh whale meat on to Japanese dinner plates,” said Greens leader, Jeanette Fitzsimons.

Despite international protests, Japan has this year more than doubled its planned catch of minke whales to 935. It has also added 10 endangered fin whales and plans to eventually lift the number to 50, along with 50 rare humpback whales.

[More: Greenpeace]
[Via: Pourquoi Pas?]

Freedom Of Racism?!

A Norwegian Christian magazine has published a set of controversial caricatures of the prophet Mohammed after months of uproar in the Muslim world over a Danish paper’s decision to print the same cartoons.

Repeating a move by conservative Danish paper Jyllands-Posten last September, Magazinet published the controversial drawings in the name of “freedom of expression”.

The editor said he was not afraid of the prospect of facing the same indignation and even death threats that faced the Danish paper after it published the cartoons.

[Source: Al Jazeera]

Since when has racism and disrespect for other people’s beliefs and religions been incorporated into the definition of freedom of expression?!!

[Via: Sabbah]

Levi’s iPod RedWire DLX Jeans

So, what do you know? The Apple iPod has gone to bed with a pair of Levi Strauss jeans, and the result is the world’s first iPod-compatible pair of jeans, called the RedWire DLX.

Designed for both men and women, The RedWire DLX jean comes complete with a built-in docking cradle, retractable headphones and a joystick in the watch pocket to enable easy operation.

The new Levi’s RedWire DLX jeans have been developed to be practical and leading-edge in their aesthetic. A crisp white leather patch and joystick, bluffed back pockets with hidden stitching, and clean minimalist buttons and rivets allude to the iPod’s famously pure design. Special care has been taken to marry the physical design with a great-fitting jean. Or so they say…

This is yet another iPod-based fashion apparel; after the haute couture fashion houses’ pricey iPod carrying cases, Burton Snowboards’ iPod-compatible waterproof snowboarding jacket, and Kenpo’s men’s jackets featuring iPod controls on the sleeve.

I wonder if Victoria’s Secret will be incorporating the iPod into some of its designs 😉

[Sources: Reuters, MacDailyNews]

The Brothers Grimm

Today I watched “The Brothers Grimm” featuring Matt Damon, Heath Ledger and Monica Bellucci.
The reviews I read about the movie weren’t that good, but I went on and rented it anyway, I don’t know why. And no, it’s not because Monica Bellucci is in it. Maybe it’s because I was a fan of the Grimm tales when I was a kid.

Anyway, the reviews were right, this movie sort of sucks.
It tells the story of brothers Will and Jake Grimm who are travelling con-artists, and how they encounter a genuine fairy-tale curse which requires genuine courage instead of their usual bogus exorcisms.

The sets are well done, the design and era is good, the special effects were nice, but the script and directing didn’t make good use of it all, making it a boring and pointless movie.

If you’re expecting Grimm tales in this movie, you’ll get nothing but small references or snips here and there.

If you were thinking of watching this one, go get something else. It’s not worth the time.

My score for it: 3/10.

Still, if you’re interested you can buy the DVD here.

BioDiesel in Tunisia

The prices of fuel keep on rising all over the world, and no one is winning except the big oil companies.
The consumer is losing more and more money on fuel for transport and other uses, and the environment continues to be suffocated by our fuel emissions. It’s just those big oil companies that happily sit on very fat wallets while the whole world goes to hell.

Us Tunisians are luckier than others because the government subsidizes a percentage of the fuel price to keep it lower for us, but the country won’t be able to go on doing that forever, as prices soar even higher and demand continues to grow.
That’s why, just like the rest of the world, we should be looking for alternative fuel and energy options.

There are many directions that companies and governments around the world are pursuing to get rid of the human dependency on petroleum based fuels, ranging from the simple to the really sophisticated.

An option that I find really accessible for a country like Tunisia, that can’t afford to invest a lot of money in hydrogen-powered fuel cells for example, is BioDiesel.

Biodiesel is fuel made from renewable materials such as vegetable oils or animal fats, or even recycled fryer oil. It is biodegradable and non-toxic, and has significantly fewer emissions than petroleum-based diesel when burned. It also functions in current diesel engines and reduces engine wear by as much as one half.

Biodiesel is made through a process called transesterification whereby the glycerine is separated from the vegetable oil. The process leaves behind two products – biodiesel (Mono-alkyl ester) and glycerine (a valuable by-product used in soaps and other products).

I really wish the government or some private companies would explore this option and maybe other ones too that could help reduce our dependency on environment-unfriendly foreign fuel and keep the fuel prices low.

Konami’s Penguin Adventure

Penguin Adventure I spent a big part of this past weekend playing Pro Evolution Soccer 5 on Playstation 2, which is a really cool game, although I think I’ve worn out my beginner’s luck in it now, and it seems that the more I play, the worse I’m getting at it.

Anyway, PES5 was developed by a company called Konami, and well the first thing that comes to my mind when I hear the name Konami is this game they developed back in 1986 which was called “Penguin Adventure“.
The story of the game follows Pentarou, a cute penguin who has to go on a quest to bring home a golden apple in order to cure Penko Hime (the Penguin Princess).

The game was for the MSX computer platform, and it must’ve been one of the best and most popular games of its time. It was a sequel for an arcade game by the name of “Antartic Adventure“.
I remember endless days playing that game with my sister and cousin. It was so much fun and so cool at the time.

The graphics were great (by 1986 standards) and the gameplay, depth and variety were really good.

I think it is certainly one of the games that could be revived today, especially on mobile phones.

That penguin is a legend that will live in my memory and the memories of many others forever, representing a beautiful time in our lives, when I guess we too thought life was just a quest to find some golden apple.

I don’t think we were too far from the truth anyway, as everyone of us has his own golden apple waiting for him at the end of one of life’s roads.

Eid El Adha Mubarak

Eid El Adha, or the big Eid, as we Tunisians call it, is tomorrow.
The big Eid comes with the end of the Hajj, and is the day in which muslims worldwide sacrifice sheep in commemoration of the prophet Abraham’s story with his son.
It’s also a day of sharing, as people are supposed to give away some of the sheep meat to the poor.

Prices for sheep have sky-rocketed this year, even more than previous years, it’s as if they run on oil or something. Yet that hasn’t stood in the way of Tunisians obsessively competing to buy their sheep.

As usual, we’ll be going to my parent’s place for lunch, then visiting some close relatives.

Eid Mubarak to everyone.
May it be a happy and blessed Eid for you all.

And hey, take it easy on your stomachs…

Wishes for Tunisian Blogosphere in 2006

The year 2005 was a very important year for the Tunisian blogosphere, with the number of bloggers growing amazingly and quickly.
A Tunisian blog directory and aggregator were launched, we started having our regular monthly meetups, a Tunisian blog service was created; and the first building blocks of a vibrant blogger community were put in place.

Towards the end of 2005 and the beginning of this year, the number of blogs is still rising, with an even quicker pace. And it looks like 2006 is shaping up to be the year of the Tunisian blogosphere.

Karim has put up a list of the things he hopes to see happening in the Tunisian blogosphere this year; I thought that was a great idea, and I thought I’d share my vision and hopes for this year too.

I hope:

– to get to spread blogging even more between Tunisians.
– to get more Tunisian bloggers from outside the capital.
– to see some new bloggers outside the average age fork (20s, 30s).
– all bloggers actively try to spread blogging between the people they know.
– we see the creation of more professional theme specific blogs.
– some public or famous Tunisian figures take up blogging.
– we see more diversity and more different profiles among new Tunisian bloggers.
– some more creative blog-centric projects start popping up in Tunisia.
– to see more coverage about local stories and events in blogs.
– more photos are taken and some photologs are created.
– to see Tunisian bloggers becoming more active in the international blogging scene.

That’s what came to mind right now. I’m sure I can come up with a lot more if I think more about it.
I wish that all our hopes for the Tunisian blogosphere start coming true this year.

The Alchemist – Paulo Coelho

Last night, I finished reading “The Alchemist” by Paulo Coelho. Ok, I know you can’t believe I only read it now, everyone already said that to me, and looked at me in that weird way as if I was living on Mars for the last few years. But well, I only got to read it now, and I totally loved it.

A friend of mine told me a few days ago when I started reading “The Alchemist” that it was the kind of book that would either change your life or change your conception of things. Well, he was right, it did both to me.

This is a really light yet important read, which is very well written and extremely inspirational. As I read in a review somewhere, this book is deceptively simple, yet its ideas are deep ones.

This book came to me in a crossroad in my life, and revived my will to pursue my dreams and bring them to reality. The book talks about our dreams, how the universe gives us omens all the time about how we should follow our dreams and conspires to help us realize them; this book was such an omen for me.

I realize now why everyone who reads this book falls in love with Paulo Coelho’s style and starts reading all his other books. His writing style is beautiful and smooth, and his ideas are clear and powerful.
I think I’ll be doing the same thing too.

My rating for this book would be: 9.5/10.

No To Spam!

No, I don’t want to buy any Viagra, Cialis, Xanax or whatever other bullshit you’re selling! Maybe in 50 years, I’ll give it a thought, but now, I’m fine!

No, I don’t need any of your organ enhancement or enlargement products! I’m happy with all my organs the way they are now!

No, I’m not interested in getting the lowest mortgage rates in the USA! Firstly because I’m not a US citizen, and secondly because I don’t have anything to mortgage!

No, I don’t believe that your stupid rip-off money making scheme will make me rich quick! It’ll get me screwed quicker and get you rich instead!

No, I don’t believe your dead ex-president dictator husband or father left you a fortune in some bank that only I can get out for you! And even if he did, I’d rather you died too unable to touch a penny of it!

No, I haven’t won in your inexisting dumbass lottery program, so keep your hundreds of thousands of dollars to yourself, and stuff them where the sun don’t shine!

No, I don’t understand Mandarin! So please don’t send me your Chinese spam too, I have enough English spam to cover a lifetime!