Author: Mohamed Marwen Meddah

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

US To Block Anti-Poverty Campaign

US will block Brown campaign to beat poverty with gold sale…

Gordon Brown’s year-long anti-poverty crusade is in jeopardy this week, as the US prepares to block his plans for a sale of International Monetary Fund gold reserves to raise cash for debt relief.

Striking a deal to sell or revalue some of the IMF’s $9 billion of gold reserves in Washington, at the spring gathering of the IMF and World Bank, was meant to be the first victory in Brown’s campaign to increase spending on aid, and offer debt relief to the poorest countries.

An IMF feasibility study, commissioned by G7 finance ministers, has given the thumbs-up to gold sales. But the US Treasury has been urged to oppose the idea by gold-mining firms who fear that a sell-off could depress global prices for the metal.

[Source: The Guardian]
[Via: AquaCool]

So let me get this straight, the US government is ready to protect the interests of filthy rich gold mining firms, without even thinking about the millions of poor people in countries that are head over heels in debt.

Of course. After all it’s the rich who donate millions for these greedy people’s election campaigns. The poor can give them nothing but prayers and smiles.

Spammer Sentenced to Nine Years in Prison

Yes, yes, yes!!!

A man convicted in the US’s first felony case against illegal spamming was sentenced to nine years in prison Friday for bombarding Internet users with millions of junk e-mails.

A jury had recommended the nine-year term for the Raleigh, N.C., man.

Jeremy Jaynes, 30, who was considered among the top 10 spammers in the world at the time of his arrest, used the Internet to peddle pornography and sham products and services such as a “FedEx refund processor,” prosecutors said.

Jaynes was convicted in November for using false Internet addresses and aliases to send mass e-mail ads through an AOL server in Loudoun County.

[Source: My Way News]

Spammers truly deserve to be thrown into jail for what they do. In fact, if it were up to me, they deserve to rot in hell too.

Anyway, I hope other spammers learn from this and stop sending us their shitty emails about Viagra, organ enlargement and getting out of debt.

Oh and one last thought, I wish this guy gets stuck with one huge horny cellmate, who especially hates spammers. Ouch! 😛

links for 2005-04-10

Sony to Beam Information Directly into Brain?

Sony aims to beam sensory information directly into the brain…

Sony Corp. has been granted a patent for beaming sensory information directly into the brain.

The technique could one day be used to create video games in which you can smell, taste, and touch, or to help people who are blind or deaf.

The U.S. patent, granted to Sony researcher Thomas Dawson, describes a technique for aiming ultrasonic pulses at specific areas of the brain to induce “sensory experiences” such as smells, sounds and images.

A Sony Electronics spokeswoman told the magazine that no experiments had been conducted, and that the patent “was based on an inspiration that this may someday be the direction that technology will take us.”

[Source: CNN]

Well, I think that if this ever becomes possible, it should be heavily regulated. It could be a very dangerous tool in the wrong hands.

I certainly wouldn’t like to buy a game system that ends up playing with my brain instead of me playing with it.

The fact that someone can use this technology to screw around with people’s heads is really scary and unacceptable.

Anyway, I do think that other medical uses for it, that can help people with certain disabilities, can be a really great step forward for mankind.

links for 2005-04-09

Star Academy: Vote for Amani Souissi

Amani Souissi

So, it seems like next Friday will be the final prime in this season of the Middle East Star Academy on LBC.

The two students left are Amani Souissi from Tunisia and Hisham Abdel Rahman from Saudi Arabia. Voting for the winner goes on from tonight till next Friday.

From day one of the competition Amani Souissi stood out with her strong and beautiful voice, always getting better and better from prime to prime. This fact is what assured that she got to the finals without ever getting nominated by the academy’s instructors.

I think Amani has one of the most beautiful voices in the Arabic music scene, and I truly wish she was on a show like Superstar instead of Star Academy where she could show her real talent and compete with other great voices.
Anyway, in Star Academy, when compared with all of this year’s contestants as well as all the ones from last year, she beats them all hands down.

So please visit the LBC Star Academy 2 site and vote for her. She truly deserves it.

First Middle East Sex Survey Results

The results of the first Middle East Sex survey are out, and here are some numbers I found interesting:

– 36.2% think Beirut is the most romantic city in the Middle East.
– 36.3% think that Black hair is sexier, with Blonde hair coming in third with 21.7%.
– 12.1% have sex at least once a day.
– 53.1% are worried about HIV/Aids most.
– 21.2% have had, or been the cause of an unwanted pregnancy.
– 18.7% think the sexiest feature in a person is their breasts/chest. A toned body comes second with 15.7%.
– 11.1% think that Angelina Jolie is the sexiest interntational celebrity.

[More: First Middle East Sex Survey Results]
[Via: Ammar]

Office Space

Yesterday, I watched “Office Space” again. And man, do I love this movie, lol…

It’s a comedy about a programmer who works in a tech company, hates his job like hell and just wants to break out of it all.

It hits all the right chords, making fun of all the stuff that can really make any job a shitty one.
It’s really funny, the acting is very good, the soundtrack is cool; in short it’s a great movie.

I totally recommend watching this movie.
My score for it would be: 9/10.

People I Respect…

I respect:

– Poor strong-willed people who work really hard to make their lives better.
– People who take their jobs seriously and do them with a lot of passion and dedication.
– Self-built rich people who never forget their beginnings and always stay down to earth.
– People who stand up for themselves and stick to their principles no matter what.
– People who choose brains over power, peace over war.
– People who live in the present yet never forget their origins.
– Parents who understand how big and important an investment it is to love and raise their children in the right way.
– People who always keep their word.
– People who are always honest.
– People who have a just cause and are whole-heartedly dedicated to it.