Author: Mohamed Marwen Meddah

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

Google Suggest

Google have launched a beta of yet another cool feature for their search engine called Google Suggest.

When someone starts typing a request into the search box, a drop-down menu appears with suggestions as to what that person could be looking for with the number of results that search would yield.

Google uses a wide range of information to predict queries including data about the overall popularity of various searches.

I’ve tried it out and it’s really cool.
Google have taken search and taken it to a whole other level with their creativity and great technology.
These guys rock so much!

The 6 Myths Of Creativity

A list of 6 myths of creativity that were busted by a study held by Teresa Amabile, head of the Entrepreneurial Management Unit at Harvard Business School, and a team of PhDs, graduate students, and managers from various companies.

1. Creativity Comes From Creative Types
2. Money Is a Creativity Motivator
3. Time Pressure Fuels Creativity
4. Fear Forces Breakthroughs
5. Competition Beats Collaboration
6. A Streamlined Organization Is a Creative Organization

I totally agree with the results of this study and think that anyone running a company should really take them into consideration.

[Details: Fast Company]

Katty ko, Miss Digital World 2004

Katty ko, designed by Flavio Parra from Chile has been voted Miss Digital World 2004 by the online jury at the Miss Digital World contest.

According to them, Katty ko is the contemporary icon of virtual beauty.

From the models that were submitted for this contest, I too agree that Katty ko is the best.
I also liked Judith Pixelle by another designer from Chile.

It seems South Americans rock in 3D modelling of humans.

Israeli soldiers shoot boy for fun

From the “Only Democracy” in the Middle East!

A group of Israeli soldiers serving in the Gaza Strip have reportedly admitted killing a 15-year-old Palestinian in Khan Yunus for sport.

According to the Israeli newspaper Yediot Ahronoth, the incident took place in March when an undisclosed number of Givati brigade soldiers shot and killed Khalid Sulaiman Mahdi while he was working with his father on their farm.

The boy’s father, Sulaiman Mahdi, told the paper the killing was “just for the sake of it”.

“Seven bullets pierced my son’s head, so you can’t talk here about a mistake or random gunfire. This was an act of direct and clear sharp shooting,” he said.

According to soldiers interviewed by Yediot Ahronoth, there were no operational purposes for the shooting and no justification, since the boy and his family posed no threat to the soldiers.

An Israeli army spokesman said the army had investigated the incident, but admitted that no arrests were made.

This is so disgusting!
Where is the world when things like this happen?!
Or is the blood of the Palestinian people and children too cheap to care about?!

[Source: Al Jazeera]
[Via: Je Blog]

Imaginary Friends

Sixty-five percent of children say that by age seven, they’ve played with an imaginary companion.

Children interviewed for a study by psychologists at the University of Washington and University of Oregon were considered to have an imaginary companion if they were able to discuss its psychological traits, such as ‘She is nice to me.’

The study also showed that:

  • While preschool girls were more likely to have an imaginary companion, by age 7 boys were just as likely as girls to have one.
  • 27 percent of the children described an imaginary friend that their parents did not know about.
  • 57 percent of the imaginary companions of school-age youngsters were humans and 41 percent were animals. One companion was a human capable of transforming herself into any animal the child wanted.
  • Not all imaginary companions are friendly. A number were quite uncontrollable and some were a nuisance.

[Source: University of Washington News]

This is a very interesting study.
I knew a number of kids who had imaginary friends.

As for myself, I don’t remember ever having one when I was a kid, although I do now.
I don’t know his name, but he’s from Nigeria, and he pisses me off every night because that’s when he feels like turning the TV on loud to watch CNN or some African tribal videos.
Well, actually he’s not my imaginary friend, he’s my upstairs neighbour, but I try to convince myself he’s imaginary to keep myself from rushing up to kill the shithead.

What I’ve Learned…

As I’ve Matured…

I’ve learned that you cannot make someone love you. All you can do is stalk them and hope they panic and give in…

I’ve learned that no matter how much I care, some people are just jackasses.

I’ve learned that you shouldn’t compare yourself to others – they are more screwed up than you think.

I’ve learned age is a very high price to pay for maturity.

I’ve learned that I don’t suffer from insanity, I enjoy it.

I’ve learned that artificial intelligence is no match for natural stupidity.

I’ve learned that the people you care most about in life are taken from you too soon and all the less important ones just never go away. And the real pains in the ass are permanent.

Continue reading What I’ve Learned…