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Future Arab SuperStar 3

A year has passed since the 2004 season of SuperStar, the Arab version of “Pop Idol”, which is known as “American Idol” in the US.

Last year’s winner was Libyan Ayman El Aatar, whose debut single called “Ahebbak” was released a few weeks ago.

Now, the new season of SuperStar will start airing on Lebanese Future TV this Sunday, 25th of September.

What they’ll be doing in the first episodes is airing a selection of the thousands of auditions, which is really funny, and showing the people who made it through to the second stage.

I can’t wait for the new season to begin. SuperStar is the best musical talent show as the people who make it through are really talented and have great voices unlike other stupid shows like Star Academy or whatever.

Plus I love how it brings us all to know and appreciate our Arab music more.

I fully covered the show last year and will most probably be covering it this year too.

Dentist, Finally…

Today, I finally went to a dentist…
And what a small world it is; It turns out his older brother used to work in the Tunisian embassy in Jordan and I know him very well.

He took a look at my teeth and told me there was a lot of work to be done, as if I didn’t know that already. In fact, I could’ve told him what each tooth needed, but well, I’m paying him for that, so no need to help him out.

He said it seemed like I really liked sweets and that I must’ve been to many dentists in my lifetime; I just smiled, I thought it better to keep my feelings of hatred towards dentists to myself at this moment, especially with me lying on a horizontal chair and him staring into my mouth with a bunch of drills nearby.

I told him which tooth was hurting me the most, and we decided to start with that one.
I knew it needed root canal treatment, and I knew the exact procedure so well I could’ve actually guided him through it, so I didn’t even bother to ask what he was going to do and he didn’t elaborate much either.

After injecting around my tooth with a local anesthetic, he started drilling, drilling and drilling until I felt like there was nothing actually left of my tooth.
I remember feeling that same feeling the last time I had a root canal treatment on the parallel tooth a few years back in Jordan.
That’s when he pulled out this tiny screw-like thingie, that hints at his hidden intentions with this tool. He injected more anesthetic into the tooth (Ouch! Pain!) and started cleaning up the 3 root canals (Yucky feeling!).

Then he just stuffed some cotton in my tooth and told me to go home and come back next week for more work and to finish that tooth up.

I’m now at home writing this, still not feeling the left side of my mouth and with a numb lower lip and tongue, passionately waiting for next week’s appointment.

Aren’t dentists just a bunch of fun to be around?!

Opera Browser Goes Free

Opera, one of the coolest browsers out there after Firefox, has finally gone free.

With version 8.5 of the Opera browser, which was released today, the company removed banner ads from its free edition.
Previously, Opera customers had to pay, or find a pirated serial number or crack, to eliminate the ads.

This move comes to try and position Opera as a better competitor to the other browsers in the market, although I think it’s just a bit late.
They should have done this some time ago before Firefox came out and became popular, that way they would have become the browser of choice for people instead of Firefox.

I used to use Opera as my main browser before Firefox was launched, and I really liked it. The best thing about it is it’s speed, it’s even faster than Firefox.
And we must not forget that Opera led the way in browser innovation, while other browsers played catch-up.
But then Firefox came out and it had more stuff going for it, so I converted.

Anyway, this is a good move, and I’ll be checking out this new version, which also has voice capabilities and other innovative features.

The mobile version of Opera will still be a paid product.

[Via: I’ll Blog Your Mind]
[Download: Opera]

Fantastic Four

Last night, I finally got to watch the “Fantastic Four” movie.

As frequent readers of my blog already know, I’m a big fan of superhero movies, so I just couldn’t let this one pass by me unwatched.

The reviews I read about the movie weren’t that good and so I wasn’t expecting much really, but well it exceeded my expectations, and it didn’t turn out as bad as I expected.

I never read the Fantastic Four comics nor watched the animated series, I was always more of a Spiderman and Superman guy, so it was cool getting to know them for the first time, although I didn’t really find the characters that catchy.

The movie is an ok one I guess, good enough to kill some extra time, but it just lacks the magic of a superhero movie; The discovery of their new forces is just not done well enough, Not enough use of their forces, Not enough confrontation with the villain…etc.
In short, all the coolest elements of any superhero movie weren’t done well enough in this movie.

Anyway, if you’re into movies like this, you should check it out anyway.

My score for it would be: 6/10.

Hong Kong Chinese Restaurant

On our wedding anniversary, we decided to treat ourselves to a dinner at the Hong Kong Chinese Restaurant in dowtown Tunis, in the Belvedere area.

We passed in front of it many times before but never actually went and tried it out.

It’s a small nice cosy place, decorated with a lot of chinese paintings, lanterns, fans, writings, …etc.; No chinese people though, unless they’re back in the kitchen somewhere.

The food was pretty good, although their “sweet and sour” was a bit light, lacking the beautiful sting that it should have, but all in all, it was a good meal.
I really liked the Wonton soup with shrimps. I was hoping they had Shark fin soup as I really liked that (Ok all you animal rights and environmentalist people, I know it’s unfair, but they taste as delicious to us as we do to them :P)

The prices are just a bit expensive, but well for a change in taste every once in a while, I guess it’s ok.
This is not meant as one of those Chinese take-away places after all.

Roman Ruins Found With Google Earth

Using satellite images from Google Maps and Google Earth, an Italian computer programmer has stumbled upon the remains of an ancient villa. Luca Mori was studying maps of the region around his town of Sorbolo, near Parma, when he noticed a prominent, oval, shaded form more than 500 metres long. It was the meander of an ancient river, visible because former watercourses absorb different amounts of moisture from the air than their surroundings do.

His eye was caught by unusual ‘rectangular shadows’ nearby. Curious, he analysed the image further, and concluded that the lines must represent a buried structure of human origin. Eventually, he traced out what looked like the inner courtyards of a villa.

Mori contacted archaeologists, including experts at the National Archaeological Museum of Parma. They confirmed the find. At first it was thought to be a Bronze Age village, but an inspection of the site turned up ceramic pieces that indicated it was a Roman villa.

[Source: Nature.com]

Meebo, An Ajax-based Instant Messenger

I just came across Meebo, which is a browser-based IM client built using Ajax.

Meebo is sort of like Trillian, but inside the browser window. It integrates a user

G.W. Bush’s Bathroom Break

U.S. President George W. Bush writes a note to Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice during a Security Council meeting at the 2005 World Summit and 60th General Assembly of the United Nations in New York September 14, 2005.

World leaders are exploring ways to revitalize the United Nations at a summit on Wednesday but their blueprint falls short of Secretary-General Kofi Annan’s vision of freedom from want, persecution and war.

This is real, and yes you read it right, it says:

I think I may need a bathroom break?
Is this possible…

Of course you can Mr. Bush, after all that’s the only way you give a shit about the world, freedom and peace; Literally.

Gillette Unveils 5-bladed Razor

Gillette Fusion Gillette 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.