Author: Mohamed Marwen Meddah

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

Canon 350D: My Digital Rebel

Finally, and after so much waiting and delaying, I got myself a DSLR camera; I am now the proud owner of a Canon 350D…

Canon 350D

I simply love it… This is a great and fun camera… And it covers all my needs for the time being…

The kit comes with a Canon 18-55mm lens, and I also got it a Tamron 70-300mm lens, a tripod and a really nice Mekko bag.

Expect more photos here and on my flickr from now on as I discover the different settings of the camera and go wild snapping shots of everything around me.

30 Year Continuous Power Laptop Battery

Now this would be really cool and efficient…

Your next laptop could have a continuous power battery that lasts for 30 years without a single recharge thanks to work being funded by the U.S. Air Force Research Laboratory. The breakthrough betavoltaic power cells are constructed from semiconductors and use radioisotopes as the energy source. As the radioactive material decays it emits beta particles that transform into electric power capable of fueling an electrical device like a laptop for years.

Although betavoltaic batteries sound Nuclear they

Pay What You Want For What You Want

British rock act Radiohead has a new album coming out soon called “In Rainbows”. The album will initially only be available on their site in the form of online downloads without copy restriction software, in other words no DRM (Digital Rights Management).

But even cooler than all that is that Radiohead is letting the buyers choose their own price for the online album, thereby asking fans to establish a monetary value for their music, even when widespread piracy means that it would be available free.

Personally, I think this is the way it should be done, and it should be applied to everything not just music.

Value is a two-sided concept; the creator sees a certain value in his creation, and the consumer/buyer sees another value in it that could be pretty different just like it could be very near.

The way business is done now, the final value of a product/service is totally in the hands of the creator/provider which is unfair to the consumer/buyer.

So, the way I think things should happen is that the seller can set a minimum value for what he has created that covers what he spent to make it, and then leave the rest to the buyer to set based on its value to them.
This way the whole process is fairer to both sides.

[Source: NY Times]

New Zealand Commits to 90% Renewable Energy by 2025

New Zealand Prime Minister Helen Clarke announced New Zealand’s intention to commit to 90% renewable electricity by 2025.

The country already uses 70% renewable electricity, primarily hydro- and geothermal power and will continue to increase its use of renewables over the next 20 years.

The Prime Minister also gave a brief outline of further goals, which included a 2040 target of reducing by half per capita emissions from transport and widely introducing electric vehicles. She also stated the goal of achieving a net increase in forest area of 250,000 hectares (617,000 acres) by 2020.

This is the kind of news we need to be hearing more and more of from all over the world. That’s when we’ll know there is hope for our planet.

[Source: Renewable Energy Access]
[Via: EcoGeek]

Paris, Once Again

Back in Paris again for work…
The timing is a bit bad, with it being Ramadan and all… but well…

I got here yesterday on an Air France flight; and guess what they’ve changed their Arabic in-flight instructions. I don’t know if this post of mine has anything to do with it or not, anyway it’s good to see they’ve changed them; they’ve got good proper/classic Arabic ones now.

I’ll be in Paris for a week, so basically I’ll be doing the usual stuff: working, cinema going, book shopping, eating, and getting some gifts for my wife and son.

In addition to all that I’ll finally be buying a DSLR Camera, a Canon 350D, and on the same note, I’ll be going to “Salon de la Photo” which will be held from 3rd