Year: 2008

New Wind Farms To Be Built Throughout Tunisia

Some more good eco-friendly news from Tunisia…

Three wind farms with a total capacity of 120 megawatts of electricity will be built by 2009 in Bizerta, Jendouba and Beja.

Tunisia’s wind power energy strategy aims at increasing the total electricity production resulting from this non polluting form of energy to 175 MW by 2010, thus amounting to some 4,2% of the electricity production in the country.

[…]

… the Tunisian government has so far pledged some 18 million dollars of funds for setting up the project.

[Source: Tunisia Online News]

Tunisia already has one wind farm in Hawariya (Cap Bon), that was built 15 years ago, and began producing 8.7 megawatts (MW) of electricty. In 2003, the government further developed the site further; it is expected to produce 34 MW of electricity by next year.

I personally think it’s great the country is investing in these clean, natural sources of energy, both cutting costs and playing a role in protecting the environment.

Does Israel Have A Right To Exist?

“Does Israel have a right to exist?” people ask. What does that mean? Do countries really have rights, or do people have rights? The Jewish people have a right to exist, the Israeli people have a right to exist, but what does “Israel” mean? Israel defines itself as the state of the Jewish people. It is not a state of its citizens. It is a state of many people who are not its citizens, like myself, and is not the state of many people who are its citizens, like the 20 percent of its population that is Palestinian. So if we ask a Palestinian person, “Do you recognize the right for there to be a country on your historic homeland that explicitly excludes you?” what kind of response should we expect?

— The end of Israel? by Hannah Mermelstein; EI, 19 December 2007.

[Via: Lawrence of Cyberia]

Kyocera To Supply 500 Solar Systems To Households In Tunisia

Kyocera Corporation just announced that it will supply and install its solar power generating systems in Tunisia under a yen-loan project by the Japanese government through Itochu Corporation.

Starting in April 2008, Kyocera will successively install its solar power generating systems in 500 households in villages that do not currently have electricity in the three Tunisian governorates of Kef, Siliana and Beja. These systems will charge storage batteries using power generated during daylight hours and make the power available for residential lighting and other needs at night. Anticipated benefits include new freedom to engage in nighttime studies and side jobs, improved quality of life, and enhanced growth and development for the villages.

[Source: Digital Producer]

I think this is great news, such projects are always more than welcome. Definitely wish more projects like this would pop up around the globe, it’d be a great service to mankind, bringing clean effective solutions to problems in rural areas.

[Via: Groovy Green]

The Kite Runner, The Movie

Last night, I got to watch ‘The Kite Runner‘, the movie adaptation of Khaled Hosseini’s marvelous novel, directed by Marc Forster.

‘The Kite Runner’ follows the story of Amir, the privileged son of a wealthy businessman in Kabul, and Hassan, the son of Amir’s father’s servant. As children in the relatively stable Afghanistan of the early 1970s, the boys are inseparable. They spend idyllic days running kites and telling stories of mystical places and powerful warriors until an unspeakable event changes the nature of their relationship forever, and eventually cements their bond in ways neither boy could have ever predicted.

Even after Amir and his father flee to America, Amir remains haunted by his cowardly actions and disloyalty. In part, it is these demons and the sometimes impossible quest for forgiveness that bring him back to his war-torn native land after it comes under Taliban rule.

This is one of the best movie adaptations of a book that I have ever seen, really well done, very nice directing, great acting, very good casting, beautiful soundtrack; everything is really well done.
The book is still even richer and better, of course, and there are bits I think should have been in the movie that aren’t, but overall, a very successful adaptation, and a great movie, truly worth watching.

I totally recommend reading the book and watching the movie; both great works of art, very touching and unforgettable.

You can check my review of the book here.

[More: Amazon, IMDB]

uTest – Software Testing Community – Get Paid To Find Bugs

uTestuTest, a global marketplace for software application testing, as they define themselves, is now open for business.

The startup takes a crowd-sourcing approach to testing software bugs coupled with a Pay Per Bug business model; Anyone can sign up to test software and make some cash along the way.

On the other hand uTest’s customers gain access to a large, diverse and global community of software testing individuals, who will help with their QA testing over uTest’s secure testing platform, which provides a hosted infrastructure to manage complete software QA cycles and projects.

Software application testers who are part of the uTest professional testers community will be able to test applications in a completely flexible work environment, earn significant additional income and improve technical expertise.
uTest estimates that its testers will be able to rake in anywhere from a few hundred to a few thousand dollars per month, depending on tester-expertise and bug pricing.

I personally think this is a really cool idea and very interesting approach to QA testing, that could help a lot of companies who don’t have internal QA departments and want to tap into the expertise of the crowd for more extensive quality assurance.
It’s also really interesting for the people who will best testing because they’ll be earning money, accumulating experience and building up their public profiles.

[Via: TechCrunch

Volvo’s New Crash-Proof Car

Swedish car-maker Volvo has come up with a crash-proof family car which should go on sale in the autumn of this year.

The car’s secret is a laser-guidance system to spot vehicles in front that are too close or stopping suddenly. When it does, the car will automatically stop to avoid a crash.

The CitySafety system, as it is called, kicks in at speeds of up to 20mph and is designed for urban driving. Volvo say that the system has the potential to prevent half of all rear-end collisions, that make up 29 per cent of all reported car accidents..

The laser sensor is built into the windscreen and reacts to traffic in front of the car that is either stationary or moving in the same direction.

It scans up to six yards ahead and, sensing the difference in speed between it and a vehicle in front, it makes 50 calculations a second to determine the braking force needed to avoid crashing.

If the driver fails to slow down, the system brakes automatically and disables the accelerator.

The system will be a standard option in the XC60 car, that has a price tag starting from

The Great Debaters

The Great Debaters

A few days ago, I got to watch “The Great Debaters“, a movie directed by Denzel Washington, starring himself, Forest Whitaker, and a number of upcoming actors.

The movie is based on the true story of Melvin B. Tolson, a professor at Wiley College Texas. In 1935, he inspired students to form the school’s first debate team, which went on to challenge Harvard in the national championship.

If you’re following me on twitter, you probably already know that I really liked the movie.

The directing and acting are very good, and the story is a really nice one that keeps you engaged throughout it all.
Denzel Washington proves he’s great both in front of and behind the camera, Forest Whitaker is perfect as usual, and all the other actors do very good jobs as well.

I personally think it’s really worth checking out. Overall I think I’d give it a score of:

StarStarStarStarNo Star

[More: IMDB]