forget the last post - this one is better

At New York’s Kennedy Airport today, an individual was arrested trying to board a flight while in possession of a ruler, a protractor, a setsquare, a slide rule, and a calculator. At a morning press conference, Attorney General John Ashcroft said he believes the man is a member of
the notorious al-gebra movement.9 He is being charged by the FBI with carrying weapons of math instruction.

“Al-gebra is a fearsome cult,” Ashcroft said. “They desire average solutions by means and extremes, and sometimes go off on tangents in a search of absolute value. They use secret code names like ‘x’ and ‘y’ and refer to themselves as ‘unknowns’, but we have determined they belong to a common denominator of the axis with coordinates in every country. As the Greek philanderer Isosceles used to say, there are three sides to every triangle,” Ashcroft declared.

When asked to comment on the arrest, President Bush said, “If God had wanted us to have letter weapons of math instruction, He would have given us more fingers and toes. I am gratified that our government has given us a sine that it is intent on protracting us from those who are willing to disintegrate us with calculus disregard. Under the circumferences, we must differentiate their root, make our point, and draw the line.” President Bush warned, “These weapons of math instruction have the potential to decimal everything in their math on
a scalene never before seen unless we become exponents of a higher power and begin to factor in random facts of vertex.”

Attorney General Ashcroft said, “Read my ellipse. Their days are numbered as the hypotenuse tightens around their necks.”

Math P J

A group of Polish tourists is flying on a small airplane
through the Grand Canyon on a sightseeing tour. The tour
guide announces: “On the right of the airplane, you can
see the famous Bright Angle Falls.” The tourists leap out
of their seats and crowd to the windows on the right side.
This causes a dynamic imbalance, and the plane violently
rolls to the side and crashes into the canyon wall. All
aboard are lost. The moral of this episode is: always keep
your poles off the right side of the plane.

I wouldn't blame you if you did not laugh!!
http://www.ams.org/notices/200501/fea-dundes.pdf

TechnoPolitician

I have been doing a lot of technical and techno-political (if that exists) reading. Partly this interest lies from me being away from it for quite some time (read married life). Apart from the bashing of PS3 and praise for Wii from either camps, and unnnecessary praise for eveything Apple (iT1, iJingoCheetah etc), I came across a couple of links that were interesting.

Though "Support OPEC, buy an SUV" sounds good on paper, hydro, electric and hybrid energy are enthusiastic endeavours. Alas Oil companies and Big Brother does not support this as seen from the following link
Link 0 - http://easygrowhouseplants.blogspot.com/2006/12/inventor-of-water-powered-car-murdered.html

Link 1 - A very very nice interview with Tim Berners-Lee about his story about developing the WWW.
http://www.w3.org/People/Berners-Lee/FAQ.html#Examples

Old Joke - but good laughs

------Jocks vs Nerds----
Michael Jordan having "retired," with $40 million in endorsements, makes $178,100 a day, working or not.

If he sleeps 7 hours a night, he makes $52,000 every night while visions of sugarplums dance in his head.

If he goes to see a movie, it'll cost him $7.00, but he'll make $18,550 while he's there.
If he decides to have a 5-minute egg, he'll make $618 while boiling it.

He makes $7,415/hr more than minimum wage.
He'll make $3,710 while watching each episode of Friends.

If he wanted to save up for a new Acura NSX ($90,000) it would take him a whole 12 hours.
If someone were to hand him his salary and endorsement money, they would have to do it at the rate of $2.00 every second.

He'll probably pay around $200 for a nice round of golf, but will be reimbursed $33,390 for that round.

Assuming he puts the federal maximum of 15% of his income into a tax deferred account (401k), his contributions will hit the federal cap of $9500 at 8:30 a.m. on January 1st.

If you were given a penny for every 10 dollars he made, you'd be living comfortably at $65,000 a year.
He'll make about $19.60 while watching the 100 meter dash in the Olympics, and about $15,600 during the Boston Marathon.

While the common person is spending about $20 for a meal in his trendy Chicago restaurant, he'll pull in about $5600.

This year, he'll make more than twice as much as all U.S. past presidents for all of their terms combined. Amazing isn't it?

However...If Jordan saves 100% of his income for the next 450 years, he'll still have less than Bill Gates has today.

$$$ Game over. Nerd wins.

3+3= whirlwind

The days of fattening the newlyweds with the choicest of dishes + visa appointment. As you can see we survived both and the whirlwind ended.

Now i feel fine about writing udder stuff on the blog.

3+3+3=whirlwind

The second 3 days is where things turn a little bit more interesting. Now many people will agree with me and many wont, but I put my foot down for that custom/rivaaj called as mehendi where sisters+aunts+cousins of the bride come to my house and subject me to a round of mehendi, grabbing a finger in the end and demanding money to end the torture. (hehe). Henna fine, custom not fine, reason don’t ask. So you would believe that there would be an outcry from the bride’s family about it. Gosh the only outcry was that from my family. No one could explain why this custom came around, no one could explain why green bangles are the norm – but all they were scared off were some superstitions. Surprisingly I found support from all my cousin brudders. Each one had opposed it, but fallen to it in the end, but was happy that I was still standing. In the end all the womenfolk from my house went to A1’s house and had a good time. Good ending to a useless debate.

Day of the nikaah, people were still arriving and we were still picking them up from the railway station. (its India – airports are luxuries). 3 hours to nikaah, and we brothers decide to take a little detour – a detour to find out what are the preps at A1’s house. (Our nikaah was at A1’s house itself). Detour was fine, peeped into their preps, and then zoomed off. Coming home we discover that my contemporaries from my in-laws had come to probably trade my wedding clothes for useful moolah. Since I was out on a detour I missed them, and they probably left disappointed. Feel bad about missing them – because this was not like a blind rivaaj/custom but just some fun time with no superstitions attached. When we reach home – the elders remind me that some picky maulanas will not accept anything except hard cash for mahar – and that was not what we had planned. It is great to have brilliant minds that have experience plenty of weddings to classify the maulanas into useful categories. Last minute arrangements were made. There was still a problem with number of drivers and number of cars. Just the usual at weddings since we always have more guests than the cars to transport them and public transport (rickshaws/taxis) don’t always suffice. Turns out that being the groom I cannot drive, and hence I am at the mercy of others. Things get resolved and we arrive to the nikaah. Stage is set, paperwork gets introduced, maulana wants cash, maulana gets debate from elders, maulana explains his position, cash he gets, wakil etc get signatures, T1 is staring through all these procedures, and gullibly signs on the dotted line when his turn arrives, T1 tests mic, T1 proclaims his nikaah, T1 reads dua with maulana surprised that he did not have to repeat, maulana hugs T1, T1 hugs everyone else in the long line, everyone else in the long line hug T1’s dad/mamoo/wakil. In this organized confusion, A1 magically appears on the stage and T1 heaves a sigh of relief. Now time to stare into the light and smile at every guest on the stage, posing with a few as necessary. C+D+N+S+K arrive and ask about the food and also wish us (Never was happier). Lots of photos, thanks to WK. Great food in the end and a non-tearful bidaaii. Cousins smuggle some money out from me for allowing us to enter into the house. No rituals are allowed (right somebody spoke of kicking milk can) only entering with the Koran.

Day of walima was even better. Jetlag finally gets to me, and I pass out at 3pm and wake up at 6pm. The walima invite mentions 7pm as the time, and I am identifying myself with all the people whom I had labeled as late-latifs. Turns out I am pretty quick after a nap. We were present at the open air garden at 7:15pm. Quite impressive, huh!! Guests pour in, faces that were kids in front of us are suddenly standing 3-5 inches above my head. Good reunion follows with all the people, but then the light on our faces becomes unbearable. M-the photographer remarks occasionally on my sullen face. Again C+D+N+S+K wish me, and then return after savoring the food and all their lip-smacking made me wonder if A1 could manage the stage by herself while I took a small walk to the food. Here is where married life comes into the picture and then I wonder about the food but mention it not to A1. Finally we take a big Sheikh family photo spanning multiple generations and then food. Food never tasted better. And then TaDaaah welcome to real married life. Festivities are done.

Seriously parents rock!!!! To bring about so much for their son sitting far away takes a lot of energy and inspiration and hardwork. If you really feel that this was anyways a fun event (and even if you don’t), please remember my parents in your duas/prayers as this is the only gift that I can give them.

3+3+3+3=whirlwind

Three days from the time I land till the time life lands on me. The last time family used this same flight, they reached an hour early. But the VIP that I am, the plane is delayed in Heathrow due to bad weather and subsequently we were waiting for air traffic control to give us the go ahead to land. The taxi from airport was booked for 11 am and there I walk out at 1:30 pm. Why was I worried about this 2 hours? Patience junta that’s coming. So Mr. Cabbie was sleeping under a tree, and when I wake him up lo and Behold!!! He happens to be the same one who picked me up and dropped me back the last time. A joyful reunion follows, and all the broken marathi flows freely as if nothing has changed. Over home-grown peanuts, the journey to Pune lasts 3.5 hours. An even more joyous reunion follows – dad,mom,gmom,sis etc etc. nice cuppa tea and time for me to drive the car. (left hand drive usa – right hand drive India). Time for me to get wedding clothes stitched. Plan was to leave 2 hours earlier for all of this since shops close at 8-9 pm in my dear old Pune. People normally have their clothes all ready 3 days before the wedding, but kya karen videsi dulha plane late. So count 5400 seconds and shopping was completed – from the head to the toe!!!!

Remaining important shopping was scheduled for next day. Sherwani time at a super store is quite interesting. Apparently another dulha like me was also searching for a sherwani and lets just say that I was 5 inches taller than him on any normal day. Now sherwani tends to make you appear a little short. So ultimately looking at me, he decided that jodhpuri was more his style, whereas vice versa I decided against a jodhpuri. Anyways it was a nice time to stand on a lighted ramp in front of a body length mirror in a room of a grooms to be, each chatting with his own family.

At home, surprises abound – cousins not seen for 20 years make a magical appearance. Obviously, I remember no one, and they remember the 4 foot T1. Not-so-niche-comments like – “Oh so he is the dulha?” flow freely. All the pent-up guilt of not knowing could not be hidden from the faces. But it was great to see my gdad’s generation at my wedding.

Flame Fractals

http://content.techrepublic.com.com/2346-10878_11-33277-37.html

Amazing fractals for better desktop backgrounds!!

please dont kill me as yet for not writing about my hectic two weeks at india. its already old so may not be of interest and i am all for skipping it. :)

living the life of an arees

All Ramadaan i was glad that my weight was being kept under control and whoopeee over a weekend all that flab has reappeared. partly i am to be blamed as well - i could have gone with a salad, but then red lobster with endless shrimp was like a sweet juicy carrot dangling in front of me. i fell for it reminding myself that i had a week to recover. but i have seriously no excuse for that wonderful delicious dessert called as icecream. what fitna!!! No it is time for LA fitna ... sorry LA fitness.

actually the arees thingy started a day before when people started asking me for tickets to india and i politely started selling the place that i had inside my suitcases. till now 4 people have committed to occupying the suitcases.

i never knew how this thing spreads - circa icc picnic - everything from biryani to roast lamb to advice to personal stories to apartment to tension (and the absence of it) to clothes and i forget the others. yes and imad did not make it any easier. now even at isha those little cub scouts come walking to me - not knowing how to congratulate me - but inquiring whether what they heard is true. and the pleasure they derive from hearing it from the horse's mouth!!!

and the less said about chat the better. when i went back to india for the first time - there was this set of questions tht were to be expected from everyone. i have now become aware of the next set of questions. (hitting-head-on-chair-smiley)

speculation theory

I promise this will be my only speculation - but the rove machine surely is going to use the impending trial decision of saddam to twist the tide in the two days prior to nov 7.

vote for bloggers

[1] http://www.scholarships-ar-us.org/blog/2006/10/31/vote-for-the-winner-of-the-blogging-scholarship/
These 10 finalists have a few good blogs. let me not be biased towards anyone, but have a look at what they have to offer. some same stuff like ours, one apple fan.....

[2] http://www.intelbloggerchallenge.com/
6 blogs - 5 weeks - you decide who is worth the prize.

Tag is dangerous - dont play

Subhanallah, tag is now declared by one an Attleboro elementary school to be violent for the kids. Reminds me of those times we played hide&seek, and to take the denner out, we ran, skinned our knees, elbows, cried and then went back to play. How far are we going to shield our children??? There is already the rule of "spare the rod and spoil the child" (and babysitters are gnashing right now). It seems all topsy turvy here.

Vending machine no more

coming off from ramadaan, some old habits die hard - especially the one of seeing a $1 note being sucked into a vending machine and a bottle of refreshing dr pepper being ejected noisely down a chute. too bad they raised the price of a bottle to $1.35. That extra jingle from 35 cents drove me away. seems like costco zindabad from now on.

An article why muslimness is thrust in the face

Nice Article - http://www.indianexpress.com/story/15271.html

From the article -
Indian Muslims from being mishal-e-raah (pathfinders) have, over the last 60 years, become raah ke pathar (stones on the path). The slide has been unrelenting, and neither the community itself nor its leaders have made any move to arrest this. Nor has the media. The Gudiyas and Imranas have hogged headlines. Images of veiled women appear with or without reason, to titillate readers. An aggregate of the two confirms stereotypes of “retrograde Islam”. But very few scribes and producers have bothered to highlight the Malegaons. They are present in every one of our 600 districts and yet they remain invisible to all.
The onus is equally on the Muslims. What are they going to do to better their circumstances? The first word of the Quran is ‘Igra’ which means ‘read’. It seems that the time for that has at last arrived.

On a lighter note - why is it that you get benefits for muslim women education and not men?

a distraction to make your day

http://www.hemmy.net/2006/10/15/creative-advertisements-around-the-world/

best one - people move away from your body odour and the mini

worst one -those dubai designers

Dear X

If my thanking God for His blessings is a blessing,

then I must thank Him again in the same measure again.

How can one thank Him save by His grace

as time goes on and life goes by?

If a good thing comes, I rejoice heartily;

if a bad thing comes, I receive a reward.

In both cases He gives me a gift too large

for the minds of men, and the land and sea.

- Mahmud al-Warraq

Everyday of the year we come across many blessings that we don't even acknowledge. There were numberous fund-raisers so that we will have enough funds for the year to come, but how many of us thought about those people who started that masjid, fund, organisation that actually is benefitting us today. I am guilty over here itself since this was brought to my attention over a casual iftar, by a person who was coming for the first time.

This post is to remind us of "X" who contributed for the masjid that I pray in today, who made possible my iftar, who made material available for free for the sake of knowledge, who stand up for me in the places I dont know, who help me in becoming a better person either directly or indirectly, who teach me knowingly and unknowingly, who think they are better than others and use their talent likewise, who refuse to acknowledge their worth but always are like the hidden gems, who unify people for a common goal either for sport or recreation or anything constructive, who work without pay, who run events because they like to, who give a smile whenever they can, and who thank you for what you have done.

Dear Sister

Muslim relates on the authority of 'Abdallah ibn Amr (ra) that the Prophet saws said " whoever does not show compassion to our young, and does not know the rights of elders. is not one of us."

One of the distasteful features today is the worship of youth and its indifference towards the elderly. We have strong sentiments of independent views among the youth but lack of mental ability to counter the consequences that these views bring about. The resentment towards authority, and the overnight disappearance of the trust that existed before the rebellous teenage 'I-am-right' years. Elderly folks are given all avenues of "easy-assisted" living but the main pillars of their assistance get their jobs done by a monthly payment to the shelter.

People come into your life for a reason, a season, or a lifetime. People around you help you grow, and only in the weirdest of places will they be unsupportive of everyone's wish to live a better life.

This post goes towards all the people that I know have made my life better - to my sister who cared for me, played with me, quarrelled with me, scolded me, shared her icecream when mine got over, taught me- to my cousins who all contributed to make the diverse family in terms of education and non-education, closely familial and distantly familial, urban and rural - to grandparents that were an example by themselves, teachers like no others, and pamperers of grandchildren - to those people whom you never know how they are related, but are always seen at family gatherings, and who always support your family - to those friends from elementary, secondary,high,undergrad and grad schools who played, competed etc - to those friends who did not have to be in your school to be friends with you.

What you are today is partly a product of what you were surrounded with. Those people who have shaped your life deserve a round of thought in your prayers for mercy from Allah swt.

Dear Mom

After Rasulallah, sallallahu 'alayhi wa sallam, moved onto ar-Rafiq al-'Ala, the Ummah was tested with humans that tried to corrupt, discredit, or amputate the Sunnah from Islam.

And from the depths of the Ummah's men and women, Allah ta'ala - from His mercy to the Ummah of Muhammad - raised up warriors that would stand in the face of the most vicious of the enemies of the Sunnah.

From those people that Allah ta'ala raised was a young boy named Ahmad. Ahmad lived in Baghdad over a thousand years ago. On those cold wintery nights, his mother - the blessed Mu'minah that she was - would wake long before Fajr to warm the water for her son. Then - again long before Fajr - she would wake him to make Wudhu, then she would wrap him in shawls and off through the molten dark alleys of Baghdad they would carefully make their way to the Masjid.

There was no male to escort him (he was an orphan), so Ahmad's mother would take him that early so that he could get a good seat in the hadith halaqah after Fajr. Then she would wait for him long after the sun rose to safely escort him back home. Her son grew up to be one of these warrior defenders of the Sunnah, one of the four Imams of this Din, Imam Ahmad ibn Hanbal.

So when was the last time you appreciated your mom and all that she does behind the scenes for you? How ever much we undergo for our moms, we dont even come any close to what she has done for us. When she has left her job to look after me, cleaned up after I messed things up, taught me my first words, deciphered what I actually meant at that time (and now as well), made eid special, cooked hot rotis at sahri, listened to all the complains I had, gave me a good whacking when I was rude with whatever she could lay her hand on, made me realize the value of home, bought me goodies that only I appreciated, and still does more things. Alhamdulillah for the boon/gift/etc called as parents.

Dear Dad

http://cjcphoto.com/can/
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=f4B-r8KJhlE

Taken from the article:
Eighty-five times Dick Hoyt has pushed his disabled son, Rick, 26.2 miles in marathons. Eight times he's not only pushed him 26.2 miles in a wheelchair but also towed him 2.4 miles in a dinghy while swimming and pedaled him 112 miles in a seat on the handlebars--all in the same day.

This year, at ages 65 and 43, Dick and Rick finished their 24th Boston Marathon, in 5,083rd place out of more than 20,000 starters. Their best time'? Two hours, 40 minutes in 1992--only 35 minutes off the world record, which, in case you don't keep track of these things, happens to be held by a guy who was not pushing another man in a wheelchair at the time.


Like Dick Hoyt, our own dads have a tale of their own - about how our lives have changed together. From the time when he changed nappies for the first time, rushed me to the doctor when I sneezed and coughed, protected me from the terrible howling winds and rains of the monsoons, taught me the first alphabets, read to me from 'Tell me Why', brought the first trainset, took me to the first day of school, took me home after the first day of school, travelled with me in our vacations, gave me a taste of punishment so that i dont do that thing again, and many more. All the time managing the pressures of a job, and family, and extended family!!!! They are superhumans- Not the insulting way dads are portrayed in the form of Homer Simpson.

Remember the mercy of Allah SWT in the form of your dad, and how your life was easier because of his presence. There are different levels of engagement - the least is to pray for him regularly.

My initial plan was to write about Imam Ghazaali's dad but last minute changes happen.

Shyamapana festival

The last 10 days of Ramadaan are just a wink away. Though each one of us will be striving to maximise this time either in prayers, Quran, duas, I would also like to take the step of asking for forgiveness from each one of you - for anything I may have done intentionally and unintentionally, for anything I may have said but not meant, for anything that I may have written. We live a very busy, worldly life. In the process, we accumulate a lot of mental and emotional clutter. We gather unnecessary baggage of pride, fear, animosity, greed, ego and delusions in our thoughts and feelings.

So over the last year if I would have hurt your feelings in any way or form, please forgive me – "Verzeihen Sie mir bitte", “Perdóneme por favor” and give me mandate to start a new score!!

Shyamapana is a festival of forgiveness; it's popular in folks of Jain faith.

auctions at fundraisers

Ahamdulillah the last two auctions at MAS and PMIS were entertaining. SH should get the compliments for this.Bravo!!! and his attentive companion HN - Bravo!!

But the auction can also be a distraction to the actual fundraising. The same person who donated lets say $500 towards PMIS is left wondering why he did not wait till the auction to donate the same amount. Yes niyat matters, no doubt. But if you are inviting guests over and then tempting them with auction rather than fundraising then the event should be named as an auction. (there is nothing wrong with calling it an auction, its a noble cause). Everyone can argue that the donor (not the auction winner) wanted to soften his heart and extend his generosity and uplift the community and he does it only for the sake of Allah swt (hey this is one of the branches of faith). But arent we ridiculing his intention and making it more difficult for future donors to give in the noble cause without taking anything back in return?

How to wear a lungi

http://www.lungi425.com/how2wear.htm

insurance logic

Anyone ever understood the reasoning behind increasing insurance premium when you change addresses. I moved from Chandler to Tempe and they (AAA) said that insurance will be higher because it is Tempe. I move back to chandler and they put the same argument once more. Cheaters!! If they did not give the lowest rates I would shift away.

Bill Clinton takes on chris wallace

http://www.crooksandliars.com/2006/09/22/president-clinton-blasts-chris-wallace/

The best answer till date:

WJC : Well, every even number year–right before an election–they come up with some security issue. In 2000, right before the election. In 2002, our party supported them in undertaking weapon inspections in Iraq and were 100% behind them in Afghanistan and they didn’t have any way to make us look like we didn’t care about terror. And so they decided they would [push] the Homeland Security bill that they opposed and they put some pill in it that we wouldn’t pass–like taking the job rights away from 170,000 people–and then [they could] say that we were weak on terror if we weren’t for it. This year I think they wanted to make the question of prisoner treatment and intercepted communications the same sort of issue until John Warner came and Lindsey Graham got in there and it turns out there were some Republicans who believe in the Constitution and their convictions…some ideas about how best to fight terror.

Please DIGG

Start DIGGING please

http://digg.com/videos_educational/Realization_of_Ramadaan

Nerd? Geek? or Dork?

Pure Nerd 60 % Nerd, 30% Geek, 26% Dork

For The Record: A Nerd is someone who is passionate about learning/being smart/academia. A Geek is someone who is passionate about some particular area or subject, often an obscure or difficult one. A Dork is someone who has difficulty with common social expectations/interactions. You scored better than half in Nerd, earning you the title of: Pure Nerd. The times, they are a-changing. It used to be that being exceptionally smart led to being unpopular, which would ultimately lead to picking up all of the traits and tendences associated with the "dork." No-longer. Being smart isn't as socially crippling as it once was, and even more so as you get older: eventually being a Pure Nerd will likely be replaced with the following label: Purely Successful. Congratulations!

Real-life ‘Iqbal’ lets his pace bowling do the talking

http://www.indianexpress.com/story/13121.html

Never thought it was impossible but didnot think it would follow so soon. Probably the movie iqbal had something to do with changing the mindsets. Gosh India has so many fast bowlers, its time they also won us some matches - I mean with the bowling not batting. :)

In memory of ...

Names of children under the age of 18 killed during the operations mounted by the Israeli military in Gaza since 25 June, according to the Palestinian Centre of Human Rights


Bara Nasser Habib, 3 (hit by shrapnel to the head and body, Gaza City, 26 July)
Shahed Saleh Al-Sheikh Eid, 3 days old (bled to death after airstrike, Al-Shouka, 4 August)
Rajaa Salam Abu Shaban, 3 (died of fractured skull in air raid, Gaza City, 9 August)
Jihad Selmi Abu Snaima, 14 (killed by a shell, Al-Shoukha, 10 september)
Khaled Nidal Wahba, 15 months (died of wounds from an airstrike, 10 July)
Rawan Farid Hajjaj, 6 (killed with his mother and sister in an airstrike, Gaza City, 8 July)
Anwar Ismail Abdul Ghani Atallah, 12 (shot in the head, Erez, 5 July)
Shadi Yousef Omar 16 (shot in the chest by IDF, Beit Lahya, 7 July)
Mahfouth Farid Nuseir, 16 (killed by missile while playing football, Beit Hanoun, 11 July)
Ahmad Ghalib Abu Amsha, 16, (killed by missile while playing football, Beit Hanoun, 11 July)
Ahmad Fathi Shabat, 16 (killed by missile while playing football, Beit Hanoun, 11 July)
Walid Mahmoud El-Zeinati, 12 (died of shrapnel wounds, Gaza City, 11 July)
Basma Salmeya, 16 (killed in Israeli airstrike, 12 July, Jabalia)
Somaya Salmeya, 17 (killed in Israeli airstrike, 12 July, Jabalia)
Aya Salmeya, 9 (killed in Israeli airstrike, Jabalia, 12 July)
Yehya Salmeya, 10 (killed in Israeli airstrike, Jabalia, 12 July)
Nasr Salmeya, 7 (killed in Israeli airstrike, Jabalia, 12 July)
Huda Salmeya, 13 (killed in Israeli airstrike, Jabalia, 12 July)
Eman Salmeya, 12 (killed in Israeli airstrike, Jabalia, 12 July)
Raji Omar Jaber Daifallah, 16 (died of shrapnel wounds from missile, Gaza City, 13 July)
Ali Kamel Al-Najjar, 16 (killed by Israeli tank shell, Al-Maghazi refugee camp, 19 July)
Ahmed Ali Al-Na'ami, 16 (killed by Israeli tank shell, Al-Maghazi refugee camp, 19 July)
Ahmed Rawhi Abu Abdu, 14 (killed by drone missile, Al Nusairat refugee camp, 19 July)
Mohammed 'awad Muhra, 14 (killed by Israeli bullet to the chest, Al-Maghazi refugee camp, 20 July)
Fadwa Faisal Al-'arrouqi, 13 (died from shrapnel wounds, Gaza City, 20 July)
Saleh Ibrahim Nasser, 14 (killed by artillery fire, Beit Hanoun, 24 July)
Khitam Mohammed Rebhi Tayeh, 11 (killed by artillery fire, Beit Hanoun, 24 July)
Ashraf 'abdullah 'awad Abu Zaher, 14 (shot in the back, Khan Younis, 25 July)
Nahid Mohammed Fawzi Al-Shanbari, 16 (killed by artillery fire, Beit Hanoun, 31 July)
'aaref Ahmed Abu Qaida, 14 (killed by artillery fire, Beit Hanoun, 1 August)
Anis Salem Abu Awad, 12 (killed by airstike, Al-Shouka, 2 August)
Ammar Rajaa Al-Natour, 17 (killed by drone missile, Al Shouka, 5 August)
Kifah Rajaa Al-Natour, 15 (killed by drone missile, Al Shouka, 5 August)
Ibrahim Suleiman Al-Rumailat, 13 (killed by drone missile, Al Shouka, 5 August)
Ahmed Yousef 'abed 'aashour, 13 (killed by missile fire, Beit Hanoun, 14 August)
Mohammed 'abdullah Al-Ziq, 14 (killed by drone missile, Gaza City, 29 August)
Nidal 'abdul 'aziz Al-Dahdouh, 14 (killed by rifle fire, Gaza City, 30 August)
Jihad Selmi Abu Snaima, 14 (killed by artillery fire, Rafah, 10 September)

http://news.independent.co.uk/world/middle_east/article1619227.ece

A hole in the wall

A good concept about spreading computer literacy among the have-nots.

http://www.ibnlive.com/videos/21860/itsmorethanjustaholeinthewall.html

I really dont know who does the computer maintainance, or who reboots the machine when windows crashes. I would not be surprised if the local NIIT center handles such requests on a regular basis.

For the know-nots, NIIT is like this computer education institute (like our local ITT tech etc). Once upon a time this used to be the biggest private education center. The dot-com bubble burts has changed things since.

Honda Ads

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A different shower

Imam al-Shafi'i writes at the beginning of his Treatise (Risala) - "Praise be to God, Who, whenever He is thanked for one of his blessings, provides another blessing which in turn obliges one to thank Him again!"

Learning of the outing - If you give cub/boy-scouts with a place to start a fire and chairs around it, and a long stick each, they can spend hours just watching their stick catch fire. And once they have parked themselves, there are very few things that can distract them away from the allure of dry sticks flickering across the fire. Alhamdullilah that food had to be cooked for by themselves, and there was a strict rule about cleaning up. A few of them had never been close to a gas stove before, and a few did not know that dishes could be cleaned outside of a dishwasher!!! But then there is always a first time, and they were quite appreciative of this fact. Hopefully they follow it up at their homes, and realize the good work that their parents put in.

Due to a strange twist, the three elders, get the small tent and the boys get the other two big tents. Surprisingly the boys were on time for all the events and even found stuff at the Geronimo camp that we had not noticed before. Apples from the tree were absolutely delicious!!! (supposedly blackberry picking season comes around in Oct-Nov. Seems like a good time for another outing.)

Wind in the Willows - The temperature drops to 40 in the night and the wind starts howling through the woods. Awesome!!! Add the stars in the sky, at which you could stare at forever. And imagine doing wudoo with the water that exists. Just so many things that you can be thankful for.

Its all topsy turvy

Countless attempts to prioritize blogging over mundane tasks over the period of the last 604,800 seconds met with a futile end. On one part you are happy that one organization gets the funds they wanted (and layoff their intern). On the other you are reminded of a mom, who has two jobs – in the day she teaches at a school and at night works at a Call-Center. Surprising that I don’t get the rude ones and don’t do myself a favor by slapping myself. You are happy at Roger Federer winning the USOPEN and also lolling in front of the TV recounting your abilities as a couch-potato (and your ability to convince people to become one). A new pragma opens the world of scripting even further, dousing you with enough enthusiasm to burn the midnight oil, all in the pursuit of achieving balance between commitments as an employee and a volunteer and a student. And yet in the midst of all developments, the social aspect of stigmas, of heart-aches, of collective grief, all join hands in synchronizing harmony with something that makes us feel human. You try to comfort the loss of a friend; still dabble your way with limited vocabulary when you have to comfort your parents, but will be tongue-tied when you have to comfort your grandmother. SubhanAllah!!

 

Off to Payson to live in the wild with the wild like the wild i.e. with a few boy scouts.

 

.................................

 (~._.~)  T1

 _( Y )_  

()_~*~_()

 (_)-(_) 

 

 

The dilemma in India

Singing Vande Mataram is now an election issue; Forcing people to sing it is now a sign of patriotism. This is the sorry state of affairs that has cropped up in India, and again who are not patriotic - without doubt point the fingers to the muslims!!! South India categorically rejects hindi as a national language, and will have no qualms in skipping vande mataram in schools. But no dont look over there - point those fingers on superficial patriotism definitions.

C's last post obviously reflects on the double standards faced in the media. Sania Mirza is like any other teen in india from the middle/upper-middle class. I (with the wee bit of knowldge) love to talk to my contemporaries in the socio-family network, about the absolute simplest of things in Islam such as namaaz. Many of them will be defensive behind the statement - "But Islam is a moderate religion". Ask them what is meant by Islam, you get a vague explanation extending into pages but nothing noteworthy. Ask them about 'moderate', and be prepared to listen to ideas that contradict the teachings of islam. And, I am supposed to accept the answer from the likes of Ms Mirza!!! These same people have a very good understanding when it comes to inter-religion dialogue - eg namaste to elders, happy new year atleast 5 times a year, cricket on gandhi jayanti etc - and thats a proud trademark of Indians. So how does learning about islam and standing for whats wrong (eg ladies tennis skirt), suddenly break this trademark?

Indian Express is running this series of articles on muslims in India. Obvious coverage is given to exploitation of triple talaq in the low-income class, fatwa-giving-mullahs and how substituting arabic (Allah) for persian (Khuda) is a matter of grave concern. It feels the same way as reporting on muslims in USA - dont ask the intellectuals or the educated class, bias the article on the exploiting and exploited ones and portray that as Islam.
http://www.indianexpress.com/story/12036.html
http://www.indianexpress.com/story/12102.html

Roti [v], Kapda [v], Makaan[X]

For all those who are staying by themselves and have to pay the rent every month - start saving more. The rents in Tempe, Chandler area have gone up by approx $70-$90 -- and that is on a 12 month lease!!! It is again quite unfortunate that interest rates have sky-rocketed and now even the rents. I know keeping away from interest is the best, but this is just to pose the situation that we find ourselves in. They are not even offering Move-In Specials.

Whats happening

For the last two months (i guess) there have been articles in the Muslim Voice, either lamenting about the sorry state of affairs of the Mulsim cemetery or the experience of some individual when he wished to finish the final rites.

As a volunteer we tried our best to beautify it, but in the light of the two articles, beautification is the minor issue. I know for a fact that when I was distributing flyers, in the summer sun after jummah, this individual comes up and tells me that it is way too early to come for volunteering - this was 6:30 am in summer on a Sunday. There were many more catch-22 situations that demanded that I only act as the quiet messenger.

But the recent issue, has Br. John Atik's experience, and this seems rather disturbing. He is lamenting about the issue of having less hands and his fear of the grave collapsing. Less hands!!!! how? why?

Extreme Origami

The picture at the side is an Origami creation!!!! This dude with background in lasers and stuff at caltech etc., creates this computer program for Origami. It results in the need of a better (read as thinner and more flexible) paper and so he starts doing that!!!!

Good article on the world of origami and the japanese prodigy who is currently number 1 in the world along with this dude.

On a side note, blogger was inviting people to test out their new blogger that has tags to classify your post among other improvements.

Calculations for Ramadaan

Position of the Fiqh Council of North America

According to the calculation criteria for determining the Islamic Lunar dates adopted by the Fiqh Council of North America, following are the dates for Ramadan and Eidul Fitr for the year 1427.

Ramadan 1427 - First of Fasting September 23, 2006
Eidul Fitr 1427 - First of Shawwal October 23, 2006

For more - visit this link . I am sure many will have conflicting opinions about this method ..

Battling Murphy

Out of town trips are cool. Especially in this heat.

Whatever the trip holds in store, when I return back on terrible tuesday, there is a seemingly unending battle in store with Murphy. A late flight prevents a good sleep, an early morning meeting ridicules my idea of giving up coffee, things beyond control only pepper up the pent up frustration. And then my laptop decides to ignore my requests to log in. Gee, thats a big huge problem. In the process found another file in the wonderful windows system that causes such interesting phenomenon, and now want to try it on an unwitting bakra. :)

All thanks to RSat,(P&V)Gupta and (N&J)Vora for guiding me around town, while I missed exits and tried alternate routes, and blamed the CA road signs for all the mess. Chaat and Paan and bhel-puri rock. Khajoor paan is another thing that has me hooked.

If you are having a bad day...

http://stage6.divx.com/members/17146/videos/1059

The sequel to Matt Harding's original "Dancing" from 2005, which gained wide Internet popularity. Matt's first video of him dancing around the world was so inspiring that he actually got sponsorship to go on a second trip. Hence, this new 2006 video.

Masjid Omar is looking for donors

An extended prayer room, new tile work and little book shop (urdu and english). Yeah Masjid Omar is getting renovated and a facelift. Did I ever mention the 15+ trees that were planted this summer, and are still green. And to top it a carpet selection was held tonight after isha. Many people opted for a red carpet with little spots - and also gave their opinion on the tilework that should go towards that-area-where-imam-prays. Now donations are needed for the carpet. Spread the word.

two hours with mali

Out of nowhere, at 10:30 am, mali messages me about being in a chandler conference room, meeting another local engineer. Mali obviously hasn't change one bit since we last met in June 2004. A bit relaxed but the usual self. Unfortunately for mali, the lunch break started only at 12:40pm and till that time I was already stuffed with lasun sev. Yet had a jolly lunch talking about everyone from Jmeeel pai and Brother and everyone else.

yeah - whatever

YouTube Revolution

Normally I would prefer Google above everything else, but google video is still beta whereas youtube is not. till the time google comes out, i am going gaga over youtube. Yes there were videos of our own community brothers dancing to chaiya chaiyya (thanks RN), but there is more stuff besides this fun stuff as well.

There are many videos from bbc, reuters, india etc that have either not been shown due to political influences or are just too bold (translate violent-hateful-but-true). Whatever they may be, video hosting services are suddenly - for me - better than watching reruns on the tv. You cannot see cricket and football highlights on the tv but besides this as well there is stuff that piques your interest.

The only problem that i face with videos is that i cannot see that in my car while i am driving unlike lectures/readingbooks etc. It gives rise to a severe paucity of time to do anything else in and out of the house.

Currently what has piqued my interest is this 6 part BBC documentary dealing with the gensis and history of two movements that we today find on a collision course - the "Islamist" and the American Neo-conservatives. Extremely absorbing (and worth forwarding/spreading).

Part I (a) Baby It's Cold Outside
Part I (b) Baby It's Cold Outside
Part II (a) The Phantom Victory
Part III (a) The Shadows In The Cave
Part III (b) The Shadows In The Cave

Poetry

Sahl ibn 'Abdullah said,
"The sign of the love of Allah is love of the Qur'an.
The sign of love of the Qur'an is love of the Prophet.
The sign of love of the Prophet is love of the Sunna.
The sign of love of the Sunna is love of the Next World.
The sign of love of the Next World is hatred for this world.
The sign of hatred for this world is that you do not store up any of it except for provision and what you need to arrive safely in the Next World." 

Too beautiful to skip it and not share it with others. It does not come as a surprise but those who are able to convey their ideas in the best of manners are those who are well conversant with poetry and literature. I had even read somewhere that the appreciation of the Quran 
also lies in its rhythmic flow - but dont quote me about this.

Another link to keep myself busy while driving - http://www.masbayarea.org/multiMedia.asp .

Crazier flying regulations

FAA Considering Passenger Ban

George Galloway on Sky news

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=69WPZe_zYFo

George Galloway on Sky news - aka fox sister network.

embedding it on my blog causes big badwidth bottleneck, as i experienced in india. Sorry for that

chugging along

[5] The traffic in Pune just keeps getting worse. To add mirchi to it, the roads are in a pathetic state. It rains as much in countries like singapore etc etc, but the roads in pune are the only ones that depict the intensity of rainfall.
[4] Take 300 pencils and make them stand lengthwise as close to each other as possible. Place them on an undulating surface and coat them with glass- What do you get?? ---- viola you have HongKong. Nice place to see what USA could not achieve in terms of public transportation and other businesses.
[3] Geravli has changed majorly from the last time I visited it. The optical telescope is now operational, and this was probably the last guided tour i will ever get. The scenery outside is still the same and--- I will posts pictures soon.
[2] C&D&KRV&R rock. D was upset about my comments on india and i apologise for it. Unfortunately Bangalore traffic was as bad as Pune and I could not squeeze in a trip to N or Poons. Family was even better when it comes to pulling my leg. Congrats to Rif and Dr. P - great wedding for a great cousin and all the greatness that comes with the great cousins around her.
[1] Welcome to A1. I had to relinquish some of my control to A1 and as ppl would like to say - she is my better half. Lots of bouncing around regarding multiple issues, but alhamdulillah that atleast somethings worked and subhanallah for the things that can only improve. Current visa interview appointments only make things difficult but inshallah we will have to work it out.

PS - posted while i am stranded in hongkong due to the effect of typhoon in hongkong, rains in mumbai causing incremental delays.

stop and go

"Science tells me God must exist. My mind tells me I will never understand God. My Heart tells me I am never meant to."

M2BPL

wot saved sunday

Whoever thinks about moving it a notch up should see Roger Federer. Amazing game in which he broke Nadal 3 times in the first set, kept up with Nadal for the next two sets and then Moved one gear up in the 4th.

Zidane wins the Golden Ball as the best player of the World Cup!! Watching matches in a group always beats watching it solo - i.e. if you can take it as a sport.

and sometime sunday, some team called italy played their usual boring defensive game to only win the cup via penalty kicks - terrible!

Story sent in to me

Father : I want you to marry a girl of my choice
Son : "I will choose my own bride!"
Father: "But the girl is Bill Gates's daughter."
Son : "Well, in that case...ok"

Next Father approaches Bill Gates.

Father: "I have a husband for your daughter."
Bill Gates: "But my daughter is too young to marry!"
Father: "But this young man is a vice-president of the World Bank."
Bill Gates: "Ah, in that case...ok"

Finally Father goes to see the president of the World Bank.

Father: "I have a young man to be recommended as a vice-president."
President: "But I already have more vice- presidents than I need!"
Father: "But this young man is Bill Gates's son-in-law."
President: "Ah, in that case...ok"

This is how business is done!!
Moral: Even If you have nothing, You can get Anything.
But your attitude should be positive.

---

Do you Yahoo!?
Next-gen email? Have it all with the all-new Yahoo! Mail Beta.

---

Sneak preview the all-new Yahoo.com. It's not radically different. Just radically better.

close to lake tahoe

nice lake.

i know bombay is like this right now, hope things clear up

40 to 110 in 3.5 days

1. Fireworks at Tempe Lake are overwhelmed by nature's thunderstorms :)
   
2. The Log Cabin at King's beach at Lake Tahoe gets 10/10 for lunch and icecream. Family setup, super different menu, super duper icecream. - taste laajawaab.
3. Superman has improved but still lacks baty and spidey. Sounded so much better at Imax
4. Be Prepared when you want to camp at 40 F 50 metres from a lake. It is going to be veree cold and the tent is naat a bade of roses. dont crib dont come.
   
5. go France!!!
   

Imagine the jhatka of leaving at 69F and arriving at 110F

Brazil lost its france time

Brazil lost its france time now

flurry of post 2 - Mumbai kare pareshaan

A nice rebuttal to a story rocking desiland. mumbai gets labelled as the rudest city - oh sorry diplomatically correct - mumbai is the least polite city.

http://www.indianexpress.com/story/7117.html

You can search online for how polite is defined in three questions:
[1] does anyone help you if your file falls down?
[2] does anyone hold the door for you?
[3] does the shopkeeper says thank you?

After living here, the quesitons should be:
[1] have you said hi to your neighbor even once and asked if they were doing ok? (what i have a neighbor?!!)
[2] do you even smile/wish the minimum-wage-worker working for your hoa? (ooh we dont know what their criminal profile maybe)

Talk about smiles plastered for occasions with internal revulsion for doing that action. See all the newspaper photos with chamkeelay batteesi.

flurry of post 1

I need feedback if this link is credible.

PepsiCoke

Basic argument is whether they contain alcohol - to cause intoxication !?!?!!?

I can automatically see someone posting that sodas are harmful and how they are cleansing themselves by sticking to lemonade.

Brazil fans Unite

For all the brazil fans
http://www.minimalsworld.net/BrazilName/brazilian.shtml

Mine was Tanwaldo or Shaisco (depending upon a few permutations and combinations)

altoid mango sours

Br. Anas has started a weekly halaqa at everyone's favorite masjid aka masjod Omar :) on Saturday. And good part is that you get the sawaab of on umrah while listening to islamic talk. Open to all the sleepy heads who make excuses. What better time than Fajr time!!!

americans against natural light

Yes and this is not in response to blog police patrolling across the blogs. To balance the facts that had me off-balance, came a pleasant surprise from the graduating batch of 1995 from St Vincent. Correspondence with around 20 old-timers kept me occupied and excited. So excited was I that I even completed Godfather from chapter 7 onwards. (Actually C's reassurance that the movie had only started at that point had more to me watching it). But it was nice to see so many folks around in the states and seems that i can do a amrika-yatra without needing any hotel bookings!! One of them was living in tempe and i came to know about him after he had left.

So people will ask how was gfather - if you have three hours at your disposal you can have elaborate shaadis, slow movements and character developments.

worst of all, i was so excited that i watched nacho libre and man it was painful. i will rate this movie only after anger management as one of the worst "comedies". T2 enjoyed it - why because of the Eagle scene. all hava went phusssssss.

the broken nail

Keeping a blog means that you have to overcome all the distressing facts that effect your life, just so that you dont get a ticket from the blog update police. Some facts are distressing and you cannot go publishing them on public spaces- in short too personal to discuss here.

Two weeks ago my top three teams for FIFA WC 2006 were

1. Brazil,
2. Holland
   
3. USA

Two weeks are a long time and if you see fat ronaldo kicking in the air then you know that Brazil will be kicked out soon. Ronaldo is a great, but if he is not fit, he should be on the bench. And however much i dislike the other two teams, my current analysis is

1. holland
2. Argentina
3. Germany

Also enjoying the fact that my DVR went online JIT and over that coming home for lunch to watch the first half of the lunch games!!

WhyIslam Dawah Workshop

Islamic Circle of North America [ICNA] presents

DAWAH WORKSHOP I
And
Introduction to the renowned
Why Islam Project
at
ICC TEMPE MASJID MEETING ROOM
On 17th of June 2006 starting at
10:00AM to 1:00PM
Please come and join us to find out how you can help !
Lunch will be served. Baby sitting available.
Registration will start at 9:30AM at the lobby of ICC Tempe Masjid, 131 E 6th St Tempe, AZ 85281, for directions and map to ICC, please visit http://www.tempemasjid.com/Directions.htm

cars

If you ever laughed on Asterix and Obelix, then this movie is for you. There is plenty of humor and directed at everything related to cars - for example, about the hummer shivers at the prospect of off-roading!! Excellent imagination and remember to look at the entire screen rather than only who is talking. There are so many things pointed out around the screen. Its good to see that a mexican employee is now a part of american movies!! its fun to listen the mexican shout "peet stop". Plenty of other jokes but surely something that anyone who has driven around the usa will find amusing. Since the same highway concept is rolling into India with traditional dhabas losing their business, I am sure that it will connect to people there as well.

Brad Paisley - Find yourself - at the end of the movie is reflective.

And wait till the very final credit rolls over - you should see "rendered using Intel". Fulto paisa vasool

opinionated

One Iraq story is dominating the headlines today. Comments aside, I was surprised by this news anchor trying to coerce an answer from a father that lost his son. Its as if he held the interview with a prepared mindset that this father will be everything that he wants his show to have. I am astonished that an inteviewer is out there to collect answers that he wants rather than to accept what his interviewee wants to say.

It reminds me awfully of the case in Outfoxxed where O reilly is wants an answer but that son stood up to what he felt correct and did not bow to Oreilly.

finally

If any computer assembly takes more than 1 hour from the time you have everything ready to the time you start using it, then that product needs major overhaul. This is my opinion (obviously this is on my blog). However knowledgeable or dumb i am, sustaining an interest in getting something done is stretched if things dont start working in the first hour.

So how did I reach that conclusion? For the last five evenings I have been trying to bring up my pc cum pvr for the upcoming world cup. Its basically using an ATI motherboard with a Hauppauge PVR. This PVR works seamlessly, fabulously, pleasantly on my Intel motherboard but put it on the ATI and it took me all of 10-12 hours just to figure out stuff on it. By some wire extensions I could finally connect it to the internet and grab some "updates" that made life simpler for me, but i would not be surprised if more people came across such setup problems.

I have nothing against ATI - they have some good technology way beyond Intel. But if I wanted simple seamless integration, I would go for Intel processor on an Intel motherboard anyday. Obvious critics would point out that high end gaming systems are mostly not Intel. But the fact is I am not a PC gamer, and neither a wannabe gamer. So my recommendation is Intel. And to silence my critics, independent reviews are available online under keywords conroe, and broadwater. find for yourself and be amazed. 40% improvement over the competition is noteworthy.

Now Let the World Cup begin - Braazeel la la

anyone know what this is

Took it from my flight to LA

procrastination

So after the big hiatus, it does not count whether my last story should be continued or not. gist of the remaining story is that naheed, my ex-1182-mate, also turns out to be second cousin on dadi's side- and I know of this after two years of staying with him. Subhanallah. yes, yes all the usual suspects will point to the fact that boys dont share information and blah blah blah etc (which is unfortunately not true), the fact is that he mentioned a different dehaat and so we never went beyond that while we were there.

Blame it on procrastination that I could not publish this story earlier - but i am still floating around on an imaginary cloud still trying to fathom the fact that naheed is no more mr enthu but boleto bhai.

Also blame it on procraastination that i could not write about an impromptu decision to go to disneyland and cursing the exit signs of the piece of crap called Cali. But an impromptu decision is an impromptu one and brings with it a piece of excitement - excitement such as leaving your belt and hairbrush behind etc etc. Right now they have plenty of mickey mice and i dont know why that is the happiest place on the planet. i was happy because i got my share of cotton candy.

Just trying from cellphone

Just trying from cellphone

daayein haath ka til

Scene: N's wedding in LA (with Jb)
Time: Around after Nikaah
Background: Just as the regular socializing MC, MS (n's relative), T1, S(n's cousin) are getting to know each other.

MC - you are from gujarat?
MS - yes
T1 - I am 1/3 gujju
MS - where did you do your undergrad from?
MC - Nirma, in Ahmedabad
T1 - (that place) in Pune
T1 - where was yours from?
MS - VVM, vidyanagar
T1 - that place that has a muslim principal?
MS - yes, why?
T1 - oh he is family.
MS - Really!!!!!
T1 - yes why?
MS - he is my dad!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! Mr AMS - right?
T1 - REALLY!!! that means you are my second cousin on dada's side!!!!!
MS - YOU ARE AWS's son!!!!!
click - click - click - kodak moment

(continue talking about cousins in USA and so on)

Subhanallah!!! Takbir Allahuakbar.

to be contd.

Summer vacations

you know summer vacations have started when you hear loud screams of joy from teenagers on the streets and in their cars, as if they have conquered the whole world... those pesky teenagers!!!!

But there is nothing like school where they give you two months to rewind and chill and relax and play all day. Everyone feels really happy that they have completed school but the irony is that school is where the fun lies.

Anyway, this is probably the last post C and D will read on mainland usa before starting around 1/2 the world in 24 hours!! Bon voyage.

to do nothing

The best solution for insomnia is to watch godfather. Whoever wants to say whatever about convergence of individuality and role playing and all bloated jargon, my take on this movie is that it is extremely dry boring. On a positive front, I have reached scene 7 (out of 23) before falling asleep. The best part of the movie is the theme music, and probably that is why i get suckered into watching it.

Movies should be like Munnabhai mbbs - where you challenged to fall asleep. I finally got around to watching it (before switching to fogdather). Yeah yeah many of you will be sighing a relief that i finally saw this and there is still some hope left for me in the movie watching field. And since you are already reading this - let me tell you the alternative ending in the Da vinci movie - (tom hanks is killed by the albino in the end). The rest of the movie is a page -per -page from this novel.

But DaVinci movie also places a unique dilemma upon me. This movie has a conspiracy theory attached to the Christianity structure but is not denigrating to Jesus (PBUH). Did Jesus (PBUH) have a wife? or is that an assumption or the first step into fiction? Is it wrong to assume something like this islamically?

driving arizona

First i noticed that i was doing it. I am driving in the rightmost lane; the driver in front of me wishes to take a right turn. Instead of slowing down, my first reaction is to look in the rear vierw mirror to see if anyone is behind me, in the left lane and immediately swerve into it. Then I tried that with a stationary bus and after that decided that slowing down was the best for me. Now when I am taking a right turn myself I like to look in the rearview mirror myself and it is so strange to see other people behind me trying to swerve into the left lane using the procedure mentioned above.

P.S. - Yes this is a crappy post and I wish to keep it that way.

Life as a mail-in rebate

MIR are an amazing way to cheat people with false prices. The best one I have ever seen is the case where I bought some stuff for which the mail in rebate had to go out after 2 months but before three months from purchase date. So now it is not merely simple to say that i come home and send the MIR asap. MIR (as we know it) surely sounds like some martketing grad student had nothing to do.

But there is one rebate that you are assured of and you dont even have to mail it in!! Its our good deeds in our life-time that will act as a rebate on that final day. Guess that what keeps us going.

thoughts from leadership

Its amazing how whenever a leader is appointed to his position he has all these ideas to do all these things and all these changes that are to be brought about..... And when their term gets over, they still talk about all the ideas that they still have and as if they have not performed their duty etc.

One thing that I learnt from the managing committee that I was a part of for the last year was simple - concentrate on the one thing that is important for your group. Fulfill your duty to achieve that objective and feel happy about completing it at the end of the year. Ideas will always be popping out and the best place to brainstorm their potential is over an informal setting. People are more open about things.

mid week contd

Frankly I do not know how the last got posted. Too late in the night with the head swinging to other tunes!!

Carrying on, this republican guy and democratic guy are arguing about gas prices and ethanol etc etc. Mr R guy quotes that reilly guy from fox mentioning that Brazil is the best example where 100% of cars run on ethanol and they dont have oil dependence. Now this was too much bluff for me, and I asked him to search online for an equivalent report. I personally could never find a report like that and he did not get one to show us either so tat just solidifies the overdepedence of people on TV. Brings back to mind of an ex-colleague who mentioned that only stupid people gain their knowledge from TV.

mid-week

The news article mentioned that Fox, al Jazeera and BBC are the most trusted source of news!! As mush as I hate Fox for their ultra-rightist view , Al Jazeera is not an angel either. It has fed off the distrust that Fox generated. So that leaves BBC - and we have seen last year or the year before that where they fired the editor on grounds that he was not honest in his reporting. So ultimately who are we trusting? Simple answer google-news :)

this discussion actually resulted among friends over lunchtime. It was strange to hear that people move out of AZ because it is republican and others had left democrat states to be with fellow republicans. Wow !! no such brand loyalty among indians!! Simple rule - follow where the heart goes - or even better your job!! Even strange would be if indians applied this rule in India - with only 30 states, only 30 parties can be accomodated.

Summer of 2006

Time to say alvida to the many friends and community members who will be leaving town, state and country. Two of them are already imagining their seats on BA, another is ready to ship a CRV. Another is already driving. Add to them the two families that have already left. Sniff Sniff.

mopeddding in usa

The price of gas has started pinching my pocket a lot and hence to counter that i have started closing myself in within the walls of my room for longer periods of time. What I am trying to actually imply is that I am sleeping a lot, more importantly cleaning my room, and lastly catching up on a lot of PS2.

But meeting up with a couple of bros who sell mopeds, I thought I had the solution to tackle the gas prices. Add moped-pooling and it is a sone-pe-suhaaga situation. However safe driving like the one that Miracles101 reported, exists in India, and the americans in their massive SUVs are still dangerous on the road. I know that these mopeds cannot be driven on the freeways as I will be sucked into the 18 wheelers. But keeping this thought aside, what actually convinced me from not buying a moped was the second accident I witnessed in as many months. Only today's accident was terrible. The intersection was the one that I visit everyday and was actually heading towards it. One person was killed after being rescued from his vehicle and the other person was lying on the pavement. One diligent police officer was running the rescue operations and common people were out there redirecting traffic away. The Car soon burst into flames - and frankly till that moment i beleived that happened only in Hollywood movies. The Black smoke and fire was eye opening. We were shooed off from the scene as soon as the fire personnel arrived. I guess i can leave all the moped riding for India in the upcoming months.

What exacerbated this, was my chat with another fajr-brother who survived one such crash (Alhamdulillah) but is handicapped in many aspects.

Each time such an incident happens I am taken aback and am reflecting back about all the things that may not be in accordance with what I believe in and wonder if this was the eye-opener that I need to stick more firmly with my beliefs. May Allah protect me on these streets of USA.

we are veree innovative

how do you politely ignore someone who is giving out flyers for a noble task within the community?

I have seen many tactics, such as staring down to the ground and walk as if you are searching for something that you dropped earlier. Or talk with friends and ignore you, as if they want to devote all their attention to the friend. But this Friday, I saw a newer one - Take one shoe in each hand, and walk confidently out. If the guy distributing the flyers offers you one, then just raise both hands signalling an inability to carry anymore. Subhanallah!!!

but on a positive note - ICC did an amazing job to lead,clean and beautify the cemetary. Thanks to all the people from the community that showed up. Inshallah it will soon be an oasis in the desert.

Zizou for President!!!!

Axel F with Crazy frog

Cannot help but notice

Been in the business for some time and quite frankly have run out of good topics to post on many occasions. but looking at some newcomers, it surprises me that most of them are posting philosophical thoughts or stuff that has deep meaning or posting rhetorical queries. If that is the life that you all live then you all belong in the himalayas contemplating life. If that is not the life that you live, then your queries belong to google answers or yahoo questions....

Dang, i just answered some of those rhetorical questions... and i am posting one myself :)

bee veree scared

Invasion of privacy by a company we all use.

http://blog.washingtonpost.com/securityfix/2006/04/microsoft_expands_antipiracy_p.html

In short, it is time each one of us installs ZoneAlarm on our computers to see which programs are accessing the internet without our knowledge. And please shut the "automatic download and install" option and rather keep an "automatic notify for availability of updates"

just to keep busy

Actually there were two questions zipping in the head -
[1] Dawah inside the community or outside the community?
I feel there is a big human analysis that can be used to describe this situation (PHD material) - Dint get a decent childhood and hence is inclination towards "inside" the community and other such philosophical jargon just to say that this person needs to be corrected.

[2] why are the workers in whole food/organic stores all tattooed and pierced with long unkept hair or prmoting gothic cultures?

keeping busy

No human analysis, no geeky stuff addition, no more good stories.
just
[1] Arsenal
[2] Phoenix Suns - Playoff was awesome!! Now only professional football and professional wrestling left to be seen live.
[3] New Boss (at work)
[4] A good Quran competition.

Nice story

A new family in town comes to a masjid for a halaqa hoping to meet atleast one new person. They come early, pray, sit through the halaqa and then wait and then leave. They are slightly disappointed and wonder if they were white americans they would have had someone receive them with a smiling face, or if they were recent reverts then people would have been more inviting. They wonder if there was some other masjid that probably has more to offer.

One thing that I like about Toastmasters is that every officer that holds a position has one important job - Greet Guests with a smiling face and invite them to speak about their opinion on the meeting. There are many more things that we can learn positively from the toastmaster handbook. But this stands out - Greet Guests and give a voice to their face.

The above story was first evident in L.A. Basic assumption was that the community there was huge and hence no one really bothered. Dr. Hassan Hathout actually in one of his khutbahs had pointed out the growing indifference that we had created to the person beside us. We did not even shake hands with them after prayer, let alone know his name. He had enforced a strict reminder for that khutbah that we shake hands and introduce ourselves to the two people beside you. That had helped. I never thought I would need to refer to something like this again.

An american muslim identity exists mostly on paper (as yet); the above story was enacted on two different desi families who had visited ICC over the last month, but somehow the brownies dawah factor was missing.

May Allah give us the ability to be better (dawah givers -sorry dont know the correct words).

we bow to thee oh workaholic

ACM Programming contest

Visit the link please for the winners.

What surprises me is that Bangladesh University of Engineering and Technology is ranked higher that Caltech and all the IITs that participated. Sharif University, Iran is above BUET.

Wot say !!!

Scream time

Angel Sweets - on dobson and chandler has great Mango icecream and pineapple and many more. Slightly better than the think coldstone stuff.

Bahama (something) on Elliot and Rural has some 42 flavors for shaved ice and i recommend cream with it.

Over an out - not using my brains too much right now.

Not important

Our local Imam, went to great extent to explain how the Salaf showed their love for Muhammad (Peace Be upon him). However he did not take a definite stance towards the celebration that results on his birthday. So I want to share the Link that vehemently exhorts us not to introduce innovations in Islam.

The main point from this article is:
With regard to celebrating the day on which the Prophet (peace and blessings of Allaah be upon him) was born, it should be noted that he (peace and blessings of Allaah be upon him) did not tell us to celebrate this day, and he himself (peace and blessings of Allaah be upon him) did not celebrate it, nor did his companions (may Allaah be pleased with them). They loved the Prophet (peace and blessings of Allaah be upon him) far more than we do, yet despite that they did not celebrate this day. Hence we do not celebrate this day, in obedience to the command of Allaah Who has commanded us to follow the commands of His Prophet. Allaah says (interpretation of the meaning):
“And whatsoever the Messenger (Muhammad) gives you, take it; and whatsoever he forbids you, abstain (from it)” [al-Hashr 59:7]

This is the reason why I do not believe that the Naqshbandiya Foundation is correct. In my opinion they have isolated this artificial day of importance as an annual event to talk about/celebrate this sole subject. I would be really glad if they could organize another one of their lectures on some other days.

I also would like to hear opinions of oppposition if anyone has any.

One Nation

Dragging myself on some days to the office, I come across one bumper sticker that gets my mood up - ONE NATION UNDER EDUCATED.

I never really bothered to spend further time, since it was the election season, and what-the-heck the politicians will do anything to get them votes.

But in the last two days the One Nation Under my skin is haunting me- one nation under survelliance, one nation under therapy, one nation under DEBT.

Though there is one thing that is not under - One Nation Over-Weight

Critical Thinking

Critical thinking and ridiculing - Are these the same? The first time I landed in America, i was taken aback with the fascination/dependence of america on paper. I was ridiculing the consumption of paper in this society. Forgetting the restroom, paper flyers/coupons, records, paper trail, packaging etc etc. Over time carnivorous animals were taking center stage and no matter what mr T-rex did, he was always the villian. A lion was only on the prowl, and would kill every thing in sight. Alligators, crocodiles, snakes all were out there ready to pounce on you and so on. Then came deluge of videos that wanted to make me thin. Frankly if i became any thinner, I should invest in some wings. There is not a single video out there that helps you gain weight to a reasonable level to make me healthier. Why is it that only all the fat people of this world should become healthier? Ok the word 'fat' may not be diplomatically correct, but since i am not taking names that should be fine. Gee, i am sure that each of you reading the blog thinks that i am calling you fat. :D!!!

Ok I forgot the part of critical thinking in all the side topics. Laters when I recall that.

BTW Wrestle Mania this week :)

guess what?!!?

Through the course of the week, my last post somehow got plagiarized and appears on BK's blog as the latest post - no harm done and I will go back to one of the current debates.

the British came to India, and started to instigate one kingdom against another. Soon no kingdom had a right to govern themselves and in the following wars nearly all of India was taken over. Then indians were recruited into the army to serve the British. Then there was a period where Hindus and Muslims (supposedly) did not trust each other. Indians were rising against the british and were labeled terrorists and were sentenced to be hanged.

Ask any 7th or 8th standard student and he will tell you the rest.

Substitute british with american forces, india with iraq, the local communities etc etc , and suddenly history is not old anymore!! And they are reporting that a civil war is raging. Isnt this just feeding off american history where Americans from the north were in war with the americans from the south - and the entire battle was limited only to a small portion of the usa. go figure!!

Halal Lamb at Outback

Good day!  Here is some information about our Halal lamb:

Good Day,

Lamb served in all of the domestic Outback locations in the United States is
imported from New Zealand. The lamb has received its Certification of Halal
Accreditation from The Federation of Islamic Associations of New Zealand.

Customers who desire Halal preparation should ask that the lamb be prepared in
separate sauté pan instead of on the grill in order to make sure there is in
cross contamination from other products. Please understand that the
preparation time for the lamb in the sauté pan will be longer than if it were
prepared on the grill. Also, please ask that the steamed vegetables be
prepared without the "seasoned butter", which contains a bit of bacon in the
seasoning.

The steaks and chicken used at Outback are not Halal.

Please remember to order your lamb WITHOUT the cabernet sauce.

We have gotten a number of emails on Halal lamb in the past weeks, and are
trying to get this information out to our field ASAP.

Thank you
Michelle Robinson
Outback Steakhouse Inc.
Purchasing/ R & D/ Communications

Passion and Possessive

Passion is when your love for something is infectious and brings more people to love the same. Possessiveness is when your love prevents people for loving the same.

So for example my lego modules were free for anyone to try and play with them. I would love to give more information about, history, etc etc and could see someone else get inspired and try that for himself. Possessiveness is where everyone else could see them, but if they crossed the line and asked me about where i got those unique parts from, that was it!!!. Ok this is an imaginary example - my bhanjaa has perused my collection sufficiently well that I cannot find some things. A better example would be - Br. Thomas in general is quite passionate about Shareeah, Islam, Dawah and that radiance is evident in his talk.

Back on this topic, passion and possessiveness are two aspects that are very evident in a persons speech. The words and emotions match perfectly for each quality. With passion, there will be hope that the world is big enough for all of us and more is merrier. With possessiveness, customer service is lacking.

Now passion and possessiveness are not limted to individuals but are equally applied to groups. These groups can be managing groups aka the organising committee aka the 'elders'. In passion the managing group takes responsibility for carrying out the main event but at the same time encourages others (sometimes forcefully) to be a part of the event. With passion comes the understanding to include more people at all points of the program, but to be ready to fall back on the core managing group if things do not work out right. Under possessiveness the same group does not even look out for external assistance. The assistance may be lying under their noses but they refuse to sniff it.

This post started off with one method to address a coterie that develops over time, that is not flexible enough to extend its outreach, with the problem lying in the substitution of passion for possessiveness.

Is possessiveness bad? No, it is needed at many times where the job/situation demands that.

Mappila Songs

Courtesy Sandgroper and his in-house mallu expert!!! Thanks

Mappila Songs
From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
(Redirected from Mappilapaattu)

Mappila Paattukal or Mappila Songs are folklore Muslim devotional songs in the Malayalam language. These are sung by Muslims (Mappilas) of Malabar.
The first Gramaphone record in Malayalam Language was a Mappila song. In 1925, Gul Mohammed, father of celebrity artist KG Sathar recorded his voice in Gramaphone. Even though millions of Mappila songs were released thereafter on records, only few of them are considered as authentic Mappila Songs.
Mappila songs are composed in colloquial Malayalam and are sung in a distinctive tune. They are composed in a mixture of Malayalam and Arabic and have a special charm of their own. They deal with diverse themes such as religion, love, satire, heroism, etc.
Prominent Mappila Singers:
Azeez Thayineri
Moyinkutty Vaidyar
Eranholi Moosa
Kannur Sharif
MA Gafoor
Rehna

Gist of the story - Nasheeds Mappila bhai bhai

Silly musings of an overworked mind

The last injury I received was a deep gash across my palm. In traditional palmistry, the parabolic line circling the thumb is supposed to indicate the life span for that individual. So the wound got me wondering about the effects it may have on my life span, had it cut the same. Since astrology is haraam in Islam, I gave palmistry an innocent until proven guilty treatment. To make palmistry innocent, I dropped in the assumption that the very pointed end was my last day, i.e. today. So now solving for the wonderful y=ax^2, you could find the point of intersection of that gash with your lifeline. Only problem then is that you died at that point - so what am I doing now??? Seems to remind me awfully of the heisenberg uncertainity principle, where you did not know whether the electron was inside or outside the container. I never understood that principle at all, and had studied raman effect (as the option question). So that killed further progress on this interesting problem.

Why did I remember the equation of the parabola - blame the ASU student I had coached last semester.

N.B to add theoretical physics to my list of after-retirement-activities?