Month: April 2007

James Morrison – Undiscovered

One of the CDs I’ve been listening to a lot in the car recently is “Undiscovered” by English singer/songwriter James Morrison.

I came to know James Morrison through his song “You Give Me Something” which is a really cool song, and then after hearing another of his songs called “Wonderful World”, I just had to buy the album. I wasn’t let down, the whole album is a magnificent ride through a set of great tunes and lyrics.

James’ style reminds me a lot of James Blunt and KT Tunstall with evident influences by greats like Cat Stevens, Otis Redding and Van Morrison; it’s a mix of pop/rock and soul music, with a layer of simple yet powerful and touching lyrics on top.

I can’t say which songs are my favourites because I appreciate every song on this album and enjoy it greatly, but the ones I listen to the most I guess are still “You Give Me Something” and “Wonderful World”.

I really recommend this album for people into the pop/rock or soul genres, or who enjoyed music by the likes of James Blunt and KT Tunstall; you won’t be dissapointed, this album is a delight.

My score for this album would be 8.5/10.

You can buy this album here: James Morrison (Undiscovered).

Meetings: Types And Tips

It’s incredible how much companies love meetings. So much time is spent in meetings, you can’t but think that it’s sometimes a waste of time, and that is often true if these meetings are not productive enough and give no results.

Seth Godin identifies 6 different types of meetings:

– Just so everyone knows
– What are you up to
– What does everyone think?
– We need a decision right now.
– Hanging out meetings.
– To hear myself talk meetings.

He goes on into further detail on each type and gives some tips on how to make meetings more productive.

Ben Yoskovitz also suggests 7 ways to avoid pointless meetings:

– Make sure the meeting has a clear purpose.
– Avoid suspense.
– Document what

Bully for Playstation 2

Last weekend I bought “Bully“, a game for Playstation 2 that I had seen advertised a number of times and which I thought looked cool; I’ve been playing it ever since.
The game is by Rockstar Games (Take 2), the people behind the famous Grand Theft Auto games.

Bully opens with 15-year-old troublemaker Jimmy Hopkins, getting dumped off at Bullworth Academy, a boarding school full of trouble-makers, by his newly remarried mother and her rich husband.
It’s up to him (you, the player) to stand up to the bullies of the school, go to class, do different missions and along the way rise to the top of the school’s social scene.

The animation and gameplay are really good and quite similar to GTA, it’s the setting and storyline though that make this game special and truly fun to play.

Overall, this is a really fun game that I recommend for gamers who are into role-playing games like this.

My score for this game would be: 8/10.

Fascist America In 10 Easy Steps

An interesting article by Naomi Wolf in The Guardian:

… If you look at history, you can see that there is essentially a blueprint for turning an open society into a dictatorship. That blueprint has been used again and again in more and less bloody, more and less terrifying ways. But it is always effective. It is very difficult and arduous to create and sustain a democracy – but history shows that closing one down is much simpler. You simply have to be willing to take the 10 steps.

[…]

1. Invoke a terrifying internal and external enemy
2. Create a gulag
3. Develop a thug caste
4. Set up an internal surveillance system
5. Harass citizens’ groups
6. Engage in arbitrary detention and release
7. Target key individuals
8. Control the press
9. Dissent equals treason
10. Suspend the rule of law

[Source: The Guardian]

[Via: Hou-Hou Blog]

How To Have A Better Life

I was just surfing around Scribd when I came across a really interesting post by Joe Mazzella, called “A Better Life“.

I’ve been thinking about the issue of happiness and what a person can do to have a better life quite often lately, and I think Joe sums it up really well and in a beautiful way.

…the only way to have a better life is to live a better life, and only way to give your children a better life is to show them how to live a better life as well.

How do you live a better life? You start by living more for your soul and less for your wallet. You spend more time hugging and less time buying.

You turn off the television and take a walk with your children. You smile more and worry less. You spend more time with your loved ones and less time at the office. You laugh longer and more often.

You look in your heart more and in the mirror less. You make your first job spreading joy rather than earning money. You realize just how much God loves you and you spend your days sharing that love with everyone you meet. And you always remember that your life is a gift from God and how you live it is your gift back.

I couldn’t agree more…

Arab Firms Project to be launched in Tunisia

Interesting news…

AIESEC, an international platform for young people
to discover and develop their potential, announced that the Arab Firms project will be launched soon in Tunisia.

Including the economic, international cooperation, high education ministries as well as Arab embassies in Tunisia, the project will attempt at creating possibilities of cooperation between Arab firms and offering opportunities to Arab students to get a training in one of the different countries in which AIESEC is operating (Morocco, Egypt, UAE, Bahrain, Qatar, Jordan).

The concept of “Arab Firms” is centered on the idea that there should be a mutual interaction between the various Arab firms in order to attract investors and further enhance economic ties between the Arab states.

[Source: Al Arab Online]

I think the keyword in this article is “cooperation”, and whenever it’s for a good cause and wherever it can be inserted between the Arab countries, it is always more than welcome.

Google Web History

Google has just announced the launch of Web History, a new feature for Google Account users that makes it easy to view and search across the pages they previously visited. This will help users find things they remember seeing online a lot faster from anywhere.

To use this new feature, all that’s needed is a Google Account and the Google Toolbar with PageRank enabled.

Search History users will notice that it has been renamed to Web History to reflect this new functionality, where they will find both their search history and their browsing history.

Of course a number of people have their usual privacy concerns, but personally I think the benefits of this service outweigh the concerns.

If you’re interested, you can check it out here: Google Web History.