Category: Here & There

Macvaysia passed on this meme to me.

It goes something like this: “What follows is a list of different occupations. The reader must select at least five of them. The reader may add more if they like to the list before they pass it on (after the reader selects five of the items as it was passed to the reader). Of the five selected, the reader is to finish each phrase with what he would do as a member of that profession. Then pass it on to three other bloggers.”

Ok. Here’s the list:

If [Reader] could be a scientist // If [Reader] could be a farmer
If [Reader] could be a musician // If [Reader] could be a doctor
If [Reader] could be a painter // If [Reader] could be a gardener
If [Reader] could be a missionary // If [Reader] could be a chef
If [Reader] could be an architect // If [Reader] could be a linguist
If [Reader] could be a psychologist // If [Reader] could be a librarian
If [Reader] could be an athlete // If [Reader] could be a lawyer
If [Reader] could be an innkeeper // If [Reader] could be a professor
If [Reader] could be a writer // If [Reader] could be a backup dancer
If [Reader] could be a llama-rider // If [Reader] could be a bonnie pirate
If [Reader] could be a midget stripper // If [Reader] could be a proctologist
If [Reader] could be a TV-Chat Show host // If [Reader] could be a pariah
If [Reader] could be an actor // If [Reader] could be a judge
If [Reader] could be a Jedi // If [Reader] could be a mob boss
If [Reader] could be a backup singer // If [Reader] could be a CEO
If [Reader] could be a movie reviewer // If [Reader] could be a monkey

Every day, goods are trashed in one part of the world that could ease suffering in another.

Global Hand wants to see those goods reach people in need.

I think this is a great idea.
I totally agree with their way of thinking, and it has crossed my mind many times how some people sometimes get rid of stuff that others really need and how great it would be if someone could interface between them to maximize the benefit.

I hope a lot of people start working with Global Hand to help each other out and make this world a bit better.

In a glitzy ceremony held at Sony’s film studios yesterday, the company released eagerly anticipated details of its upcoming PlayStation 3 and said the console would reach shelves in spring 2006.

According to the company, the new console will have wireless controllers, a detachable 2.5-inch hard drive, slots for compact flash and Sony’s memory stick media and a built-in Wi-Fi connection that can connect to the Playstation Portable.

The system will include USB 2.0 and gigabit Ethernet connections, and will support games made for previous generations of PlayStation systems. It will include support for up to seven controllers at once, providing much-expanded possibilities for multiplayer games. It’s core processor will run at 3.2GHz.

This baby seems like a winner.
It looks great, just like almost every other Sony product, and has a bunch of cool features packed in it.

[More: Engadget, CNet News]

So they’ve added iPod vending machines to some airports in the US.
I think that’s a really cool way to market iPods and get more of them out there.

Apple mostly has a thing for coming out with good products but not distributing them well enough. Especially in our parts of the world.

In Tunisia for example, the iPod and other Apple products have barely been marketed and distribution is pretty poor with only a few products available and at very high prices.

I was very interested in getting an iPod, but when I checked with the official distributor here, I only found iPod mini’s at a price much more expensive than that of the iPod.

Ok maybe, Tunisia isn’t such a big market for Apple, but the gulf is a potentially big one for them that they’re not really taking enough care of either.

[Via: Boing Boing]

Nike, which sponsors a number of football (soccer for you Americans) players is testing coloured contact lenses for top players. The firm says red, yellow and amber lenses can help them see the ball better, particularly in bright sunlight.

Brian Roberts, of US basketball team Baltimore Orioles, who has tested the lenses, said: “They’re like wearing sunglasses without wearing sunglasses. I could see such a huge difference right away.”

The lenses, which have been under development for seven years, could be used in Britain this year by Premiership players. Nike is working with contact-lens company Bausch & Lomb to sell them through opticians.

Nike has also signed up tennis star Roger Federer and golfer Justin Leonard to test the lenses. It claims that while the red lenses are ideal for fast-moving sports such as football, grey lenses are the key to golfers being able to discern the lie of the land on a putting green.

[Via: And Far Away, Agenda Inc]

Wishing does not make a poor man rich.

Write the bad things that are done to you in sand, but write the good things on marble.

When what you want doesn’t happen, learn to want what does.

The wound of words is worse than the wound of swords.

The wound that bleeds inwardly is the most dangerous.

Only the tent pitched by your own hands will stand.

Only three things in life are certain birth, death and change.

Seek counsel of him who makes you weep, and not of him who makes you laugh.

He who has health has hope; and he who has hope, has everything.

Hmmm…

So?!
Why am I even blogging about this?
Well it reminds me of something, that’s why. It reminds me of a hit song from the 90’s called “Alarma” by a group called 666.
I never really liked the song, but still I have a somewhat unforgettable story with it.

Some years ago, I bought this new mix tape with all the recent hits and stuff. I was driving around with a friend of mine, listening to the music, and enjoying a really nice Tunisian summer afternoon. After a while the song “Alarma” came on and just seconds into the song BAM!!!, this car came out of nowhere and we crashed into each other head on. Damn!!!

Fast forward to a year later or so. Eman, My wife (wife-to-be back then), and I were having lunch in one of the fast food places in front of the university, and as we were leaving the place, we heard the song.
After that, I went home and she went to turn in some papers she was translating. I then remembered what happened to me the last time I heard the song, and got very worried about Eman, but then I thought to myself “Nah! Don’t be too superstitious”.
Just a few minutes later though, I got a call from her telling me that she just had a car accident!!

So, in the end, whether the number of the beast is 666 or 616, I don’t really care, all I know is that damned song is one that I hate to hear!

I just found this interesting new blog called “The Arab Beyond” by a Palestinian in the U.S.