Subzero Blue

Blogger Relaunched

So Blogger have relaunched themselves in a new look and with a bunch of new features.

Blogger is the place where I seriously started blogging, even though the first blog I created was at Blog City, but I never wrote anything there.
My wife still uses blogger and all of a sudden, I kind of feel jealous because she’ll be enjoying all the new stuff 😛

Among the goodies are a ton of new cool templates by design Gods Zeldman, Doug Bowman, Dan Cederholm, Dave Shea, …etc.
They also added comments, individual post pages, blogger profile page and email blogging.
For more details, go here.

The blogger site re-design is a collaboration between Stopdesign and Adaptive Path, and well the least I can say is that it rocks.
It’s cleaner, friendlier and well simply delicious.
Definitely a lot of nice CSS in there.

The logo and visual identity have also been slightly modified.
I think it’s better this way.

All in all, I think this is a truly great thing that Blogger have done.
I think it’ll push them even further ahead of their competition.

Anti-occupation Iraqi group forms

About 500 Iraqis met in Baghdad on Saturday to set up a national political force free of US influence to push for a handover of sovereignty under the auspices of the United Nations.

The United Iraqi Scholars Group – which appointed a 16-strong leadership panel – has vowed to boycott any political group set up by the US and called for a stronger army than the small force envisioned by the US-led coalition.

After a five-hour conference, the group said its agenda was based on “legitimate resistance to end the occupation” and keep Iraq united.

The group of moderate Shia and Sunni Muslims as well as Kurds also demanded the US-appointed Governing Council should be sidelined.

Shaikh Jawad al-Khalisi, a senior Shia cleric who will head the group, said it wanted the handover of power to Iraqis on 30 June “done under the umbrella of the United Nations and not the CPA”, the US-led occupying authority since last March’s invasion.

[Source: Al Jazeera]

Friguia Park

Today, we woke up and found some really nice weather outside which made us feel like going out, so we called some friends and suggested we go out somewhere to enjoy the weather.

We suggested we go to either the Friguia Park or Hammamet or Korbous, although we felt more like going to Friguia Park because we heard a lot about it, but never got to check it out.
Anyway, we ended up going there.

Friguia (meaning Africa) is another zoo that opened last year in Tunisia, and almost everyone who ever checked it out said that it was really nice.
And well, I agree.
It doesn’t have more animals than the Tunis zoo (Belvedere), in fact it has less, although it has some animals you won’t find at the Tunis zoo.
But the setting is really nice and they’re taking better care of it.

There is a nice souvenirs shop that has some really nice stuff but which I thought was over-priced, especially that I saw some of the same stuff in other places at really cheaper prices.

We had lunch in a restaurant inside the park which actually had some good food despite all the jokes I made about it before tasting the food.

It’s quite big and by the time we finished, our feet were aching and we were dying to get home and rest.

It was really fun discovering the place, seeing the animals and catching up with our friends.

US soldiers abused young girl at Iraqi prison

A 12 year old girl was stripped and beaten by U.S. military personnel in the Abu Ghraib prison in Baghdad, Iraq.

Suhaib al-Baz, a journalist for the al-Jazeera television network, claims to have been tortured at the Abu Ghraib prison, based west of Baghdad, while held there for 54 days.

Mr al-Baz was arrested when reporting clashes between insurgents and coalition forces in November.

He said: “They brought a 12-year-old girl into our cellblock late at night. Her brother was a prisoner in the other cells.

“She was naked and screaming and calling out to him as they beat her. Her brother was helpless and could only hear her cries. This affected all of us because she was just a child.”

Mr al-Baz claims the guards at the prison were keen to take photographs of the abuse and turned it into a competition.

“They were enjoying taking photographs of the torture. There was a daily competition to see who could take the most gruesome picture.

“The winner’s photo would be stuck on a wall and also put on their laptop computers as a screensaver.

This is so disgusting. These people are animals and should be executed!
Even that would be too little for them!

Culture has no price

A group of online freedom of speech advocates in France have launched a “response logo” as a reply to the campaign that the French Phonographic Syndicate organization launched.
The response logo says: “Culture has no price / Don’t buy any CDs.”

Weblogs throughout France are displaying the logo as a gesture of solidarity against the French Phonographic Syndicate organization’s anti-P2P campaign.

“You sell us mediocre music at exorbitant prices,” the banner exclaims in French, “Reduce the price of CDs, and start placing a higher priority on the quality of artists instead of the quantity of money you’re cramming in your pockets.”

[Via Boing Boing]

Adidas 1: The Smart Shoe

Adidas says it has created the world’s first “smart shoe” by mating it with a computer chip that adapts its cushioning level to a runner’s size and stride.

The Adidas 1 is the product of a three-year secret project the German company developed at its U.S. headquarters in Portland, Oregon.

The microprocessor is located in the arch of the shoe, and drives a tiny screw and cable system that adjusts the heel cushion depending on the signals sent back by an electric sensor coupled to a magnet.

It is powered by a battery that conserves power by adjusting the shoe while it is in the air during a runner’s stride, avoiding resistance from the ground.

The entire assembly weighs no more than 40 grams — just 10 percent of the 400-gram total weight of the shoe, to keep it light enough for distance runners.

Very very interesting, beautiful even.
A true work of genius.

Friends Ends

Last night the finale for the cult comedy show “Friends” was aired on NBC, bringing with it an end to the 10 years of fun.

I know a lot of people think that Friends is over-rated, and that it’s not really such a great comedy, but I honestly disagree.

Friends was so much fun, and brought this really cool humour to our screens. The chemistry between the actors was a great one and they rocked together.
I don’t think I’ve ever enjoyed any other comedy show as much as I enjoy Friends.

So, it’s a shame that it’s coming to an end, although I understand that it can’t go on forever and that the actors want to move on to different things. I would do the same too.

Anyway, as only the US got the finale yesterday and that the rest of the world will have to wait to see it for a while (long or short depends on where the person is in the world), here are the major plot lines of the finale.

Ross and Rachel realized they loved each other and pledged to stay together “for good.”
Rachel initially brushed off Ross’ sentimental airport confession but fought her way off the plane bound for Paris to return home.
“We’re done being stupid?” Ross asked as the on-again off-again couple hugged. But then he added, “unless we’re on a break.”

A second story line followed Monica and Chandler as they packed their belongings to leave New York.
Monica and Chandler had been expecting to adopt a baby throughout the final season so it wasn’t a shock that there was a hospital scene and a birth.
But the twist came as the couple had twins — a boy and a girl, or “one of each,” as Chandler described it.

Phoebe finished the show happily married. She agreed to have children with her husband, as many as he wants.

The one character who did not find closure was Joey. Viewers know he must be going to Los Angeles to pursue his acting career because NBC has already added the spin-off, “Joey,” to its fall schedule.
And, so he did.

In the end, the “Friends” left an empty apartment and the show faded to black.

Coke Phone

Coke has received FCC approval for a soda can-shaped GPS-equipped cellphone that they custom-made for a contest they’re running this summer.

They’re going to start putting a few of the sodaphones in 12-packs this summer in the U.S., and if you find one of them you press a button which instantly connects you to an operator who’ll tell you that you’ve just won a Chevy SUV. Another button activates the a GPS homing beacon on the can so that Coke can immediately deliver the prize to your location.

[Via Boing Boing, Via Engadget]

Extra Special Day

Everyone has their special days in the year, days when they feel happy and joyful, days when they celebrate and enjoy life, days when they feel like they’re floating above the clouds.

But no day is like today, no day can even compare to May 6th.

Because on this day, an angel was born, a beautiful wonderful angel that God created with me in mind, my amazing wife 🙂

So, Happy Birthday Honey 🙂
I wish this birthday brings you all you ever wished for and more and that I’m able to make you the happiest woman alive.

I’m truly blessed to have you, and I can never imagine my life without you.
You’re the reason behind every smile that’s ever drawn on my face 🙂
You truly light up my life.

I love you.

Happy Birthday Sweetheart 🙂

Disney Says No to “Fahrenheit 9/11”

The Walt Disney Company has blocked distribution of Michael Moore’s new film “Fahrenheit 9/11” simply because it is critical of the U.S. President George W. Bush.

The film — which links Bush with powerful Saudi families, including that of Osama bin Laden — is set to debut at the Cannes Film Festival in France later this month.

The reason?
According to today’s edition of The New York Times, it might ‘endanger’ millions of dollars of tax breaks Disney receives from the state of Florida because the film will ‘anger’ the governor of Florida, Jeb Bush.

It’s amazing how the U.S. teaches us new forms of democracy each and every single day. I’m totally awed.

Moore won an Oscar for best documentary feature at last year’s Academy Awards for his film “Bowling for Columbine.”

[More: CNN]