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Jakob Nielsen lists the top 10 usability bloopers in movies nowadays.
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TIME lists the 5 things that went from buzz to bust in 2006. The PS3 is on the list of course.
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A site that offers older versions of software, because newer is not always better. Really good idea and very uiseful.
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Some of the best css-based web designs created in 2006.
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An interactive online radio that plays you music according to your mood.
Author: Mohamed Marwen Meddah
Mohamed Marwen Meddah is a Tunisian-Canadian, web aficionado, software engineering leader, blogger, and amateur photographer.
This Eid Ul-Adha, You Can Sacrifice Animals Online
Eid Ul-Adha is just around the corner and will be coinciding with the end of the year this time around.
This Eid marks the end of the Hajj (pilgrimage) each year to Mecca and is known as the feast of sacrifice. Muslims who can afford it buy and slaughter animals and distribute the meat among the poor and relatives.
However, many Muslims in Western countries are unable to perform the ritual because of the laws of the countries they live in.
A number of Pakistani groups are offering these Muslims a “solution”: they can now buy an animal over the Internet and even watch it being slaughtered, before its meat is given away.
Animals are available on the Web sites for between $100 for a goat and $450 for a cow.
I don’t know what to think about this really; I know a lot of people could end up using this, and it’s somehow funny too, but on the other hand it just feels a bit weird and somewhat wrong; I guess the only reaction I have for the time being is a sarcastic smile and a shake of the head.
[Source: CNet News]
Esata, A New Language
While surfing around the net, I came across this new language called Esata.
Esata is a newly designed ‘constructed language’, developed by Pafu. It is a bare bones version of the English language, which has also been internationalized to a high degree. In the target language, Esata is a ‘phrase word’ meaning ‘know (how to) speak.’
In Esata a compromise is being sought between the now globally dominant English, and the rest of the world’s major languages.
There are several features of Esata that should interest researchers in the area
of artificial languages. It is regular and highly compact, with text lengths considerably shorter than those of English.
A novel feature is the use of ‘phrase words’ abbreviated forms allowing definition of new vocabulary and concepts, both from English and from all the world’s major languages. Esata also contains an (optional) new alphabet, which can represent up to 4 normal letters in a compact yet easy to read matrix.
Words are formed from syllables of consonant plus vowel. The normal English
alphabet is used, but vowels have only one sound, and some consonants have
different sounds (c as ch, x as sh).
For more about Esata, check the following links:
– Esata
– Esata Language Description
– Esata (Lang Maker)
It’s interesting how some people still think we need more and more languages to communicate, when I think the problem is not in the lack of languages but rather in our unwillingness to communicate and listen to each other.
From Kofi Annan’s U.N. Farewell Address
Some interestings bits and quotes from Kofi Annan’s farewell address to the United Nations:
“…in today
Making A Living From World of Warcraft Gold Trade
Wow…
This is incredible…
“… an astounding half million Chinese now make a living – about $100 a month – from the acquisition and sale of WoW (World of Warcraft) gold to US and EU gamers. Why is this is the future of work online? Consider the numbers, youth, and low wages of the gold farmers, and the growing interest in outsourcing tasks online.
[…]
… these gold farms indicate that the game platform has the potential to engage more people in Internet-driven economy. The gaming workers in China don
Muhammad Yunus’ Nobel Peace Prize
Economist Muhammad Yunus accepted the Nobel Peace Prize yesterday for his breakthrough program to lift the poor through tiny loans, saying he hoped the award would inspire “bold initiatives” to eradicate a problem at the root of terrorism.
Yunus shared the award with his Grameen Bank, which for more than two decades has helped impoverished people start businesses by providing small, usually unsecured loans known as microcredit.
He is the first and so far only Bangladeshi to win the prestigious award. The award also marked a shift away from the conventions by awarding it to someone who worked to promote peace indirectly through economic upliftment of the masses.
The 65-year-old economist said he would use part of his share of the $1.4 million award to create a company to make low-cost, high-nutrition food for the poor. The rest would go toward setting up an eye hospital for the poor in Bangladesh, he said. The food company, to be known as Social Business Enterprise, will sell food for a nominal price.
His Nobel lecture is available in text and video formats here: Nobelprize.org.
For those of you who are interested, you can also buy the book: “Banker to the Poor: Micro-Lending and the Battle Against World Poverty” by Muhammad Yunus.
Another Bookworm Tag
So another bookworm tag is making the rounds; I’ve been tagged by Reflect Upon.
Tag rules: Grab the closest book to you, open page 123, scroll down to the 5th sentence, post the next 3 sentences on your blog, name the book and author, then tag 3 people.
So here goes…
“They came to a low room with a sloping roof (a penthouse, it seemed, built on to the north end of the house). Its walls were of clean stone, but they were mostly covered with green hanging mats and yellow curtains.”
— The Lord Of The Rings, J.R.R. Tolkien
I’ll tag: AquaCool, Sleepless Jojo and Tom.
France 24: Beyond The News
France 24, the new French 24-hour international satellite news channel has just gone live in two languages: English and French, with an Arabic channel launching soon and a Spanish one later. The channel started broadcasting online yesterday though.
France 24 wants to characterize itself by respect for diversity and attention to political and cultural differences and identities. It’s goal is to offer an in-depth analysis of current events, aiming to uncover what lies beneath the surface and reveal what the public is not used to seeing, knowing or understanding. It will also be giving special attention to culture and lifestyle.
The France 24 website comes in 3 languages (English, French and Arabic) and is really well done. It mostly follows the new simplistic graphic trends we’re seeing in web design these days, and it’s obviously influenced by the world of blogging, especially evident through it’s tag cloud presentation of the hottest topics.
I think it’s great that more world class players are entering the media market, I hope it will help create a balance and counter the monopoly US media has over news, bringing another view of the world events to the viewers.
I’ve just watched France 24 for a few minutes now and my first impression is a really good one; It’s looking very professional and feels quite promising.
Along with a number of other bloggers from around the world, I was invited to Paris last week to visit the channel’s studios, meet some of the staff and record a show about bloggers, but time was a bit tight and it wasn’t enough for me to get a visa to France.
But if that invitation shows anything, it shows the importance France 24 is giving to bloggers, and the recognition that blogs can be a serious source of information and an important player in the global media market.
The World’s 40 Best Directors
The Guardian compiles a list of the world’s 40 best directors. Personally, I don’t fully agree with their list, and there are many cited directors whose works I’m not familiar with, but here’s how it goes according to them:
1. David Lynch
2. Martin Scorsese
3. Joel and Ethan Coen
4. Steven Soderbergh
5. Terrence Malick
6. Abbas Kiarostami
7. Errol Morris
8. Hayao Miyazaki
9. David Cronenberg
10. Terence Davies
Believing In God
Some people believe in God…
You can’t but respect their beliefs even if they don’t coincide with yours…
Some people don’t believe in God…
You can’t but respect their right to believe what they think is fact…
And then there are some people who don’t want to believe in God… Meaning, they believe in God, but they don’t want to… They try to convince themselves that God doesn’t exist… For different reasons… Mainly not to feel guilty for whatever wrong they’re doing…
People like that simply can’t earn your respect…