Author: Mohamed Marwen Meddah

Mohamed Marwen Meddah is a Tunisian-Canadian, web aficionado, software engineering leader, blogger, and amateur photographer.

Saddam Half-Naked Photos

Saddam in underpantsAll the talk today is about the photos of Saddam half-naked in only his underpants doing his washing in a prison cell.

The photos were published in the UK tabloid newspaper The Sun and then carried by the NY Post in the US.

The Sun is pointing to the US Military for a conspired release of the photos to humilate the Iraqi Insurgency. The US Military is denying it played an organized role in the release of the photos, saying it is aggressively investigating who leaked the photos.

I think this is disgusting and very low.
This kind of humiliation and degradation is unacceptable and illegal under Geneva Convention rules no matter who the person is and how many bad things he’s done.
The people behind this should be held accountable for their actions.

[More: CNN, BBC News, Hou-Hou Blog (FR)]

links for 2005-05-20

You know…

One morning, something can change, something has changed… You turn your face, your eyes, your heart and your hopes towards another Reality. One instant, one second, far from human beings, from their doubts, from their wounds. And the Universe speaks to you of the heart of its evidences:

Lemony Snicket’s A Series of Unfortunate Events

Last night we watched Lemony Snicket’s A Series of Unfortunate Events, and man did I love it.

I saw the previews and trailers for this movie many times, but never thought it’d turn out this good.

It’s an adventure/comedy/fantasy about three wealthy children whose parents are killed in a fire. When they are sent to a distant relative Count Olaf (Jim Carrey), they find out that he is plotting to kill them and seize their fortune.

It’s based on the first three books in the “Lemony Snicket’s A Series of Unfortunate Events” book series: The Bad Beginning, The Reptile Room, The Wide Window.

The story is very well told, the movie very well made and shot, the acting is great, it’s all just perfect.

All the actors do a really great job, but Jim Carrey does an amazing job in this one. He rocks big time as Count Olaf.
This is one of his best performances to this day. A big bravo to him.

I’ve always liked Jim Carrey and believed in him as a magnificent actor, and it’s roles like this that bring it out of him.

This movie is a must see. I highly recommend it.

My score for this movie is: 9.5/10.

If I Could Be…

Macvaysia passed on this meme to me.

It goes something like this: “What follows is a list of different occupations. The reader must select at least five of them. The reader may add more if they like to the list before they pass it on (after the reader selects five of the items as it was passed to the reader). Of the five selected, the reader is to finish each phrase with what he would do as a member of that profession. Then pass it on to three other bloggers.”

Ok. Here’s the list:

If [Reader] could be a scientist // If [Reader] could be a farmer
If [Reader] could be a musician // If [Reader] could be a doctor
If [Reader] could be a painter // If [Reader] could be a gardener
If [Reader] could be a missionary // If [Reader] could be a chef
If [Reader] could be an architect // If [Reader] could be a linguist
If [Reader] could be a psychologist // If [Reader] could be a librarian
If [Reader] could be an athlete // If [Reader] could be a lawyer
If [Reader] could be an innkeeper // If [Reader] could be a professor
If [Reader] could be a writer // If [Reader] could be a backup dancer
If [Reader] could be a llama-rider // If [Reader] could be a bonnie pirate
If [Reader] could be a midget stripper // If [Reader] could be a proctologist
If [Reader] could be a TV-Chat Show host // If [Reader] could be a pariah
If [Reader] could be an actor // If [Reader] could be a judge
If [Reader] could be a Jedi // If [Reader] could be a mob boss
If [Reader] could be a backup singer // If [Reader] could be a CEO
If [Reader] could be a movie reviewer // If [Reader] could be a monkey

Third Of Software Is Pirated

A survey conducted by the Business Software Alliance shows that one out of every three software programs that people use around the world is pirated.

The survey showed that the global piracy rate decreased by one percentage point last year, but piracy related losses grew $4 billion to a record $33 billion for the year thanks mostly to currency falls in the US dollar.

Vietnam, China, Indonesia, Ukraine, and Zimbabwe had incredibly high amounts of piracy with rates ranging between 87 and 92% while the United States, New Zealand, Austria, Sweden, and the UK only ranged between 21 to 27%. The markets in these countries are much larger, however.

Damn!
That’s a lot of pirated software…
I never knew software piracy was this bad.
Anyway, it’s obvious most piracy is happening in developing countries where high software prices and unavailability of the software push people towards pirated software. I think software companies should think of this point and price their software better depending on the country they’re selling in.

This is no excuse for stealing people’s software, but it could be a reason why it’s happening that should be looked into.

[Sources: TechWorld, WebProNews]

Programming Today

“Programming today is a race between software engineers striving to build better and bigger idiot-proof programs, and the Universe trying to produce bigger and better idiots. So far, the Universe is winning.”

– Rick Cook

looooool…
I loved this one…
Very very true…

[Via: Zaid Amireh]

Top 12 Things A Klingon Programmer Would Say

12. Specifications are for the weak and timid!

11. This machine is a piece of GAGH! I need dual processors if I am to do battle with this code!

10. You cannot really appreciate Dilbert unless you’ve read it in the original Klingon.

9. Indentation?! — I will show you how to indent when I indent your skull!

8. What is this talk of ‘release’? Klingons do not make software ‘releases’. Our software ‘escapes’ leaving a bloody trail of designers and quality assurance people in its wake.

7. Klingon function calls do not have ‘parameters’ — they have ‘arguments’ — and they ALWAYS WIN THEM.

6. Debugging? Klingons do not debug. Our software does not coddle the weak.

5. I have challenged the entire quality assurance team to a Bat-Leth contest. They will not concern us again.

4. A TRUE Klingon Warrior does not comment his code!

3. By filing this SCR you have challenged the honor of my family. Prepare to die!

2. You question the worthiness of my code? I should kill you where you stand!

1. Our users will know fear and cower before our software. Ship it! Ship it, and let them flee like the dogs they are!

looooool…
Good one…

Note: For those of you who aren’t sci-fi fans, Klingons are a race of humanoids in the Star Trek universe.

[Via: eclecticism, Slashdot]

Koran Desecrated in Guantanamo Or Not?

Everyone has heard of Newsweek’s May 9 story about the desecration of the Koran in Guantanamo bay that said American interrogators put copies of the Quran on toilets or in one case, flushed one down a toilet in an attempt to rattle suspects.

Newsweek’s article cited “sources” as saying a report from a military investigation into allegations of prisoner abuse revealed that interrogators, “in an attempt to rattle suspects, flushed a Quran down a toilet.”

The article sparked massive anti-American riots in Afghanistan, Palestine, Egypt, Sudan, Pakistan, Indonesia and elsewhere in the Muslim world last week.

In its May 23 issue, Newsweek reported that its senior government source had backed away from his initial story, saying he couldn’t remember if the toilet allegations were in the particular report from the investigation.

And after pressure from the Bush administration, Newsweek disavowed the whole story on Monday. And Newsweek’s Washington bureau chief, says the magazine is taking preventive action in the aftermath of the incident, going back to learn from the mistakes they made.

White House Press Secretary Scott McClellan acknowledged there are still other ongoing investigations into other reports of religious intolerance — including desecration of the Koran — by interrogators at Guantanamo Bay.

What do I think?
Well, I think this whole story is most probably true, but that the US government has put so much pressure onto everyone involved to just break the whole thing down and invalidate it.

[Sources: CNN, Al Jazeera]

Aren’t You Ashamed?


Uri Avnery and Gush Shalom group demonstrating. – A symbolic blood stain on the national flag. – More Photos by Rachel Avnery.

The car stopped for a moment. An elderly lady pushed her head out of the window and shouted; “Aren’t you ashamed of yourselves? Today is Holocaust Day, and you are demonstrating for Arabs?!”

“How can one demonstrate for Arabs, especially on Holocaust Day?
Well, it’s a good question. And there is a good answer.

The answer expresses one of the lessons to be drawn from the Holocaust, a lesson that should be raised like a banner on Holocaust Day:

– That decent persons must come to the aid of a persecuted minority.
– That loyalty to your country does not justify agreement with the occupation of another country and the oppression of another people.
– That you must not accept an ideology telling you that you belong to a master nation, to a superior race, to a chosen people – and that other people are inferior and subhuman.

… But Palestinians, and Arabs generally, are not considered full human beings…”

— Uri Avnery

Uri Avnery is a longtime Israeli peace activist. Since 1948 has advocated the setting up of a Palestinian state alongside Israel. In 1974, Uri Avnery was the first Israeli to establish contact with PLO leadership. In 1982 he was the first Israeli ever to meet Yassir Arafat. He served 3 terms in the Israeli Parliament (Knesset), and is the founder of Gush Shalom (Peace Bloc)

[Via: Je Blog]