Year: 2006

How To Be Good (Nick Hornby)

In the halftime of the England-Sweden match last night, I finished reading “How To Be Good” by Nick Hornby.
I’m quite a fan of Nick Hornby and his style of writing. I also really like the movie adaptations of his books.
Thanks to my friend Sleepless Jojo for lending me this book.

I’m going to quote some of the Amazon review on this one because it basically says all I have to say about the book’s story.

How to Be Good, Katie Carr is certainly trying to be. That’s why she became a GP. That’s why she cares about Third World debt and homelessness, and struggles to raise her children with a conscience. It’s also why she puts up with her husband David, the self-styled Angriest Man in Holloway.

But one fateful day, she finds herself in a Leeds parking lot, having just slept with another man. What Katie doesn’t yet realize is that her fall from grace is just the first step on a spiritual journey more torturous than the interstate at rush hour. Because, prompted by his wife’s actions, David is about to stop being angry. He’s about to become good–not politically correct, organic-food-eating good, but good in the fashion of the Gospels.

Back to what I think, well I really liked the book, very enjoyable just like Nick’s other books and very humourous.
This book also makes you think about “good” and “bad” and what lies in between, and where the line should be drawn between being a saint and your personal life.

I recommend this book as well as almost every other book by Nick Hornby. And as we’re on the subject, I also recommend watching the movie “High Fidelity” and “About A Boy” that are based on two of his bestselling novels.

links for 2006-06-20

Bachelor’s Degree In Computer Hacking

Abertay University in Dundee, England, is offering the country’s first degree in computer hacking.

Classes in the major will teach students how to find out passwords and log-in information, and how to shut down computer systems; the aim is to produce hackers that could work for the government against computer criminals.

However, even teachers in the discipline say teaching criminal activities could produce more criminals.

Well, personally, I think it’s a good idea, but well they should make the name of the degree friendlier by maybe calling it “Computer Security” or something like that.

As for the idea that maybe teaching it could result in more criminals, I think it’s pretty much nonsense.

[Via: Thysdrus]

links for 2006-06-19

Summer And Its Disgusting Weather

The weather is disgusting…
I can’t find a better suited word to describe the weather today.

The heat is unbearable…
It almost feels like hell’s doors are wide open outside…
It’s near impossible to breathe; suffocating is more like what we’re doing…
Humidity is taking over, making you feel all yucky and sticky even if you still aren’t…
And what’s worse is that this is just the beginning…

Days like this aren’t meant to be work days.

I should be floating on the ice cold waters of the Mediterranean sea, on one of Bizerte’s beautiful beaches, relaxing and enjoying the refreshing feeling of the cool gentle waves surrounding and carrying my body, daydreaming about whatever fantasy I have at the moment.

I hate summer…
Or maybe, what I hate is not being able to enjoy summer like I used to when I was a kid in school’s summer break…

Resident Evil 4 for PlayStation 2

I just finished playing Resident Evil 4 on PlayStation 2.
I played Resident Evil 2 on the pc some years ago, and I remember really liking it too, so when a friend from work recommended this sequel me, I got it right away, and it turned out as good as he said it was. I really enjoyed playing it.

Leon S. Kennedy, the character from Resident Evil 2, returns in this sequel, and he has become a Federal agent. When the President’s daughter is kidnapped, Leon tracks her to a remote, hidden fortress in Europe – where he’ll relive the horror he faced six years before in Raccoon city.

The graphics are great, some of the best I’ve seen on PS2 so far, the gameplay is very good and quite easy, the plot is interesting and enjoyable, the sound is pretty realistic, and has great replay value.
After finishing the game, more stuff is unlocked, letting you play with other characters as well as replay the game at a harder level with better weapons.

I had fun playing the game and it was a problem letting go each time, so I in turn recommend it to people who are into this type of video games.

Lost – First Season

Ok, so I’m probably the last person on Earth to watch the first season of hit TV show Lost, but well it’s not like anyone aired it and I chose not to watch, plus I’m not into watching crappy quality pirated french versions of it, so I had to wait for it to come out on DVD and for one of the stores I rent from to get it.

Anyway, I can see what the whole fuss is about. It’s very well done and I truly enjoyed watching every episode of it.
It sucks you in from the very beginning, and the mystery keeps you wanting more and more.

I can’t wait to watch Season 2 of the show to know what will happen to the characters and how the story will further develop.

I really like how the insight into each character’s life gives you a parallel series of it’s own, and how they get entangled through certain events.

I recommend watching this to whoever else is left in the world who has not seen this.

How Do You Deal With Stress?

People have different ways of dealing with the stress in their lives:

– Some suck it all in and let it eat away at them from the inside.
– Some bang on tables or whatever surfaces they find near to them.
– Some break things they find lying around them, glass objects are a favourite.
– Some shout their lungs out, obscenities galore.
– Some bang their heads on a wall.
– Some start a fight with the first person that crosses their path.
– Some rush for the fridge and have all they can eat.
– Some unleash it through sex or masturbation.
– Some do Yoga or meditation.
– Some pray and go all spiritual.
– Some go to anger management.
– Some go on a psychotic killing spree.
– Some pull out hair from their heads, eyebrows or elsewhere.
– Some run away from their lives, go to a far away village and become fishermen.

And some just don’t do anything about it and have a nervous breakdown.

Google News in Arabic

Google have finally rolled out an Arabic version of Google News. I checked the list of languages the service is available in this morning, as I always do when reading the news there, and found it was added.

The Arabic version pulls articles from 150 Arabic news sources, which is relatively very good, even though it’s a humble number compared to the 4500 sources for the English version.

I think it’s great to see Google’s evident push into Arabic recently with it launching an Arabic version of Gmail, English-Arabic / Arabic-English translation and now Google News.

I read a lot of my news from Google News, and now with this version, I’ll be able to keep up with what’s being written in Arabic news sources.

Hopefully more and more services will follow from Google and others, helping to give Arabic web presence a push.

links for 2006-06-12