Yazan Malakha's Journal

I've packed my bags....

2006-02-17T13:23:00.000+02:00

and moved. Yazan Malakha's Journal is now Tech#

Windows Defender Beta 2 is Out

2006-02-14T16:43:00.000+02:00

Fresh out of the Oven, Windows Defender Beta 2 is out. Review coming soon. Download Now

Google and the End of Privacy

2006-02-14T09:25:00.000+02:00

I'm not particularly fond of Google or their business model; but I make it a point to discuss them every once in a while and chronicle their eventual domination of the world and end privacy. A couple of days ago Google released Google Desktop 3.0 with a significant change. It now provides users with the ability to store their hard drive index on the Google Grid. This of course provides the convenience of being able to search your hard drive index from a remote computer; say you want to search your office computer from home. Although that might be very convenient for some; me included. Google is touching on a sensitive privacy subject; perhaps ending privacy completely. Compare their old statement: “These combined results can be seen only from your own computer; your computer’s content is never sent to Google (or anyone else).” With their explanation of "search across computers" feature.

In order to share your indexed files between your computers, we first copy this content to Google Desktop servers located at Google. This is necessary, for example, if one of your computers is turned off or otherwise offline when new or updated items are indexed on another of your machines. We store this data temporarily on Google Desktop servers and automatically delete older flies, and your data is never accessible by anyone doing a Google search.

Not evil enough? How does the idea of a Gmail hosted service sound like? Yes Google is running a limited public beta of this service. Indexing the content of your Gmail was not enough; Google seeks to index your corporate email too! More on the Gmail blog And the rumor mill keeps on going. Google are to launch an AJAX based WYSIWYG web page editor, a new calendar built into Gmail, Wifi in major cities. It seems Google is going at it in everyway. They're even branching out to traditional media. And have recently acquired dMarc, a radio advertising broker for $102 million dollars, and will shell out an extra $1 billion if they sell enough advertising, with TV advertising in the horizon. So what does Google know about you? Your searches, browsing pattern, email contents, Gtalk conversations (speech2text), my social network (Gtalk and Orkut), desktop content, blog contents, appointments, and location. What you listen to on Radio and what you watch on TV. I wouldn't be surprised if they acquire podscope in the near future to index what podcasts I listen to. All of this is used to serve me the best targeted Adsense Ads possible. All of this available to agencies like the FBI, CIA, etc. Ten days ago, an article in Business Week caught my attention, the author described Google as a race car driver with dreams of the checkered flag, but until his debut on the NASCAR circuit, he pays the bills by trolling the back alleys behind the wheel of a cab and I cannot agree more. Now I wonder when will someone rise up and stop them, or are we to wait for the apocalypse and await a new future where Google's monopoly out shadow’s Microsoft's. Digg It Related Links: EPIC 2014 Google Desktop Reloaded Gilmor Daily A New Desktop

Free Robot Sex

2006-02-13T22:19:00.000+02:00

None geeks should be able to get a kick out of this 01010111 01101000 01100001 01110100 00100000 01110100 01101000 01100101 00100000 01100110 01110101 01100011 01101011 00111111 [translate]

Vote for Paradise Now

2006-02-05T23:39:00.000+02:00

"Paradise Now" has been nominated in the best foreign language film category in this year's Oscars. Co-written and directed by Hany Abu-Assad, "Paradise Now" is a very intense movie that delivers a strong insight into a difficult subject -the Palestinian/Israeli conflict- while keeping a level of drama that makes it impossible not to be stirred. The directing is also brilliant, full of fascinating symbology. It is our duty to encourage such peaceful ways in educating the world about the Plestinian/ Israeli conflict, as well as encourage more voices and views such as that of Abu-Assad's to share their unique outlooks on life and events. If you agree with me, please give "Paradise Now" a vote. Vote for the Palestinian movie “Paradise Now” as best foreign language film in this years Oscars.

First Looks: Internet Explorer 7.0 Beta 2 Preview

2006-02-01T17:23:00.000+02:00

Earlier on Microsoft released a public beta of Internet Explorer 7.0 with web developers as the main target. At a first glance you can see the long wait was worth it. IE7 is better in terms of aesthetics, functionality and performance. It loads much faster than IE 6 and Firefox 1.5. Some might argue that IE loads much faster than Firefox since it's a part of windows; which is a myth disproved by Opera's performance. (to date opera is the fastest graphical browser) Aesthetics First thing that drew my attention (prior to even loading IE 7) is the logo change (new one on the left). I personally find think the new one is better, but I'm not graphics expert. Upon opening the browser you will notice a change to the interface. The simplicity is mind blowing, some might argue this looks like FF, I personally think it looks more like Opera. The menu bar is hidden by default (still accessible via shortcuts / tools > toolbar > classic menu), the location of the bar is peculiar. When enabled the menu will be shown under the address bar, which needs a little bit of getting used to. I won't place much importance on this as I think the average user doesn't actually need the menu bar. Another thing that caught my attention was the use of Mozilla's RSS icon, apparently the guys at Microsoft visited Mozilla offices and agreed that a unified RSS icon is in the user's best interest, as opposed to the originally proposed icons found here. The button placement is well thought of, placing the ones you need most to the left side and the ones you would use less on the right. Tabbed Browsing At Last! We finally have what we've been wanting for years. Although Tabbed Browsing has been available for IE 6 for a while now (through MSN Search Bar or 3rd Party Plugings). Worth noting that Netcaptor were the first to introduce Tabbed Browsing back in 1997, while Opera developed it back in 1995 and introduced it in Opera 4 in 2000, Avant Browser and Maxthon also had this feature long before FireFox arrived in 2004. Quicktabs This is probably my favorite feature. Quicktabs (accessible via ctrl+q, or the third icon from the left) is a preview feature that allows you to see what's on your tabs, very handy, this is similar to Firefox’s foXpose extension. Web Standards Compliance & CSS Fixes Gone are the days IE would render stuff like this. According to the IE blog Microsoft intends to fully comply with web standards, CSS 2 in particular (CSS 2.1 once it's recommended) . DHTML rendering noticabely improved. The only site I visited today which didn't render properly was http://uk.msn.com/ I presume it would work out fine with most hacked and non-hacked CSS code. I didn't thoroughly test this, so this is just a presumption; you can read more on this on the IE Blog I would appreciate your feedback on this. RSS (Really Simple Syndication) For those of you who don't know what RSS is, I suggest you check the wikipedia entry RSS functionality in IE 7 is superb. It allows for OPML import and export meaning that Microsoft won't lock you in and force you to use their platform. It allows for enclosures which can potentially make it a great Podcasts aggregator. And according to this video it seems to be cross application. It allows communications with other applications using the RSS API, basically this means if you add an RSS feed to your IE7 and you have another application that utilizes IE7's RSS API it will be added their too. IE7 automatically formats RSS feeds in a nice readable formats, it even highlights changes since last check, very useful! I did have a problem with Jordan Planet's RSS feed, their ATOM feed worked fine though. You can check Dave Winer's opinion on IE7's RSS ClearType & Zooming IE7 utilizes ClearType which makes webpages more readable especially on LCD Screens. The zooming feature is very useful but quite jittery when used on machines with no graphics acceleration. ClearType Screenshot Magnifying Screenshot Multi Engine Search Bar The title says it all. Search providers can be found at http://www.microsoft.com/windows/ie/searchguide/default_new.mspx notably missing are Google's Logo next to their link ;-) Technorati & Wikipedia (I'm sure it will have Encarta at some point)! I hope these will be added soon. Security Now before we go on with this one I want to emphasise that security is an ongoing job, anyone who claims their product is 100% secure is just being arrogant. Microsoft had it's downs, but so did all other rivals, including Firefox which had 26 security vulnerabilities 6 of which were marked as Highly Critical! Microsoft is doing a great job at securing IE 7 here are a few pointers

ActiveX controls are disabled by default in Internet Explorer Version 7. The ActiveX Input TYPE=FILE control no longer submits a fully-qualified path; it now submits only a filename. The ActiveX control for XEnroll certificate enrollment was removed from Windows Vista and replaced with a new control.
Antiphishing Filter Built In Cyota Inc, Internet Identity and MarkMonitor will regularly supply information to Microsoft on thousands of confirmed phishiping websites to help ensure the URL reputation service is running with the latest information on known attackers (more at: http://blogs.msdn.com/ie/archive/2005/11/17/494040.aspx )
Safer Protocol Defaults: Weaker SSLv2 protocol are disabled, TLSv1 protocol are enabled. Hence IE users will negotiate HTTPS connections using SSLv3 or TLSv1; you will not notice any difference in the user experience, it's a silent improvement in security.

You can find more at http://msdn.microsoft.com/ie/releasenotes/default.aspx Better AJAX Support IE7 support a scriptable native version of XMLHTTP. This can be instantiated using the same syntax across different browsers. The addition of XMLHttpRequest is very nice, but for really advanced AJAX applications to run without ActiveX alerts XMLDocument and XSLDocument are needed as well. International Domain Names with no Add ons So you can finally use those non-latin domains you've registered (example arabic domains) http://blogs.msdn.com/ie/archive/2005/12/19/505564.aspx Oh and I forgot.... PRINTING ;) What's Missing/What's Wrong! Missing:

The absence of a download manager and ability to pause downloads. (Note: IE6 & 7 do resume downloads if the server supports it, provided that you do not try downloading until the connection is resumed)
XMLHttpRequest is only half of the AJAX toolkit!
We still have that awkward find popup screen with no highlighting capability
Viewing source code displays the source in an unformatted colorless notepad!
Ability to rearrange the tabs in toolbar is missing
IE7 Still Lacks the Shift + Enter for sites that end with .net (if anyone knows of a key for that or .org please let me know)
Like I said before it doesn't have wikipedia or technorati in search options which is a bit of a disappointment.
Themes! I cannot stress this enough, loads of people end up downloading spyware/adware just because they want to customize their IE experience.

Bugs So Far:

Inability to open drupal RSS 2.0 feeds
One site rendering funny (http://uk.msn.com/)
Blogger editor doesn't display what you're typing!
Incompatible with MSN Messenger Produced Chat Logs (Same with MSN Messenger Live)
I didn't experience this myself but I heard some people had trouble uninstalling

Downside of all this:

You need to have a genuine version of windows in order to test drive IE 7.0
You still have to reboot after installing IE, but I guess that's because it's part of windows.
Available for I32 bit platform on Windows XP only. WinXP 64 and 2003 Server editions coming soon

Internet Explorer 7.0 Beta 2 publicly available

2006-02-01T05:14:00.000+02:00

Title says it all Download Here Note: You need a valid copy of windows in order to install.. review coming soon [Via The IE Blog] [Check Channel 9 Interview]

Toyota Hilux Deisel vs Top Gear blokes

2006-01-29T15:43:00.000+02:00

Behold a 13 year old Toyota Hilux Diesel vs. Top Gear blokes strength test. Now it should be noted that the guys somehow avoided direct hits to the engine, it's still interesting that it kept running after being bashed in the streets of Bristol, drowned in salt water, smashed with a caravan and then a wrecking ball. They even set it on fire and strapped it to the top of a 240 foot building scheduled for demolition and it still worked! Now I'd like to see a modern day car do that!

File this under “N” for No Comment

2006-01-27T21:53:00.000+02:00

No comment!

The IT Crowd

2006-01-27T20:46:00.000+02:00

UK's Channel 4 is airing a new comedy, "The I.T. Crowd", on the web a week before it's TV broadcast. The I.T. Crowd is a new sitcom from Graham Linehan (Father Ted, Black Books) and producer Ash Atalla (The Office). Sounds promisng!

The high-rise towers of Reynholm Industries are full of go-getters, success stories, and winners... apart from in the basement. While their beautiful colleagues work in fantastic surroundings, Jen, Roy and Moss lurk below ground, scorned and mocked by their co-workers as geeky losers, doomed never to make it back into normal society.

Watch Here

Why I love bots

2006-01-27T18:37:00.000+02:00

Yazan says: who created you? Encarta® Instant Answers says: I was built by Conversagent, Inc. in Sunnyvale, CA and New York, NY. Yazan says: not by god? Encarta® Instant Answers says: [Service too busy] Yazan says: didn't god create you? Encarta® Instant Answers says: I am a simple computer. Let humans worry about theological matters, I say. OK, should we get back to the kind of questions I was designed to answer? :-) What is the country with the smallest area? If you don't know, just ask me.

Yup, Micheal Jackson has lost it!

2006-01-27T15:20:00.000+02:00

I'm sure this is getting old... Pictured above, Michael Jackson shops at a mall in Manama, Bahrain, wearing an abaya, the traditional Arabic womans veil and robe. You have to admit, this is weird - even for him. [via Kabobfest]

Review: Windows Live Messenger

2006-01-27T13:06:00.000+02:00

So awaiting in my inbox today was an invitation to test Windows Live Messenger (WLM from now on). Just when MSN started to become a verb in certain regions of the world, at least mine anyway. Microsoft decides to change the name into Windows Live Messenger. The program still installs on "C:\Program Files\MSN Messenger". The name also suggests it won't be available for other platforms. Naming aside I'm not that impressed. Click to expand Design: By default the top bar is hideous shade of bright orange, which can be changed with a few mouse clicks; I've changed mine into blue as you can see from the screenshots. What annoyed me most is that Groups & Contacts kept on expanding when I hovered them, thankfully the later can be disabled from the options menu, and the first can avoided by moving your mouse outside of the MSN box. There's no way to hide your tabs unless you declare your computer as a shared computer which in turn won't save your messages / contact list / login information. Features: Here's a list of the few notable features of WLM.

Better Contact Management [screenshot here] You can now add your contact into a group immediately, those who sort their contacts by group will benefit from this feature, you will no longer have to add a user then drag them into the appropriate group afterwards. You can also attach contact information to any user on your list, there will be immediately synchronized with your hotmail or Live Mail contacts. Surprisingly adding a birth date to a contact doesn't immediately reflect on your calendar, but then again this is just a beta.
File Sharing [screenshot here] This is rather amusing, WLM was unable to recognize my antivirus software ("Windows OneCare") and offered me a free Antivirus Software which turned out to be Windows OneCare again! Now with file sharing you create folders for each contact and files into them, files will be automatically synchronized with them, very useful if say you're working on the same files / projects. As always .exe, .pif, etc are blocked to prevent sharing virus infected files.
Offline Messaging Name says it all, you can now send instant messages to your offline contacts and they'll receive them once they get online. This feature is nothing new it was built into ICQ back in 1998!
Search Contacts Box This is quite useful for those who manage huge lists, or if you want to send a message to an offline contact. You can type in part of the name/email address of any contact you have on your list and your list will be narrowed down to them.

How to Get It

Legal Way: is to either wait for the final version, or request to beta test it on www.live.com
Not So Legal Way: Download MSN Messenger 8 off Microsoft, then use MSN Proxy patch

Lotus Exige vs. Apache Gunship

2006-01-27T12:10:00.000+02:00

Unf@!king believable! Fast forward towards the mid of the clip where ther question is raised as to whether a Lotus Exige can stay out of the Apache's Radar lock, and watch two of the ugliest machines man ever created battle it out. Amazing!

$5678 Bucks for running Windows XP on MacTel

2006-01-25T12:13:00.000+02:00

As of this posting $5678 USD have been pledged by several bloggers if you can get Windows XP to boot on a MacTel. Some people might wonder why anyone would want to dual boot Mac OS X with Windows, and the answer is quite simple. Just because you can. Or perhaps just because you need to. For instance Keynote is miles ahead of Microsoft PowerPoint. On the other hand many enterprise software available for Windwos isn't available for Mac. Having the two on the same machine can save you time and money. Contest Rules Some sites that can put you on the right track:

Free VOIP by VOIP Stunt

2006-01-25T11:05:00.000+02:00

It seems a new player is jumping into the VoIP bandwagon almost everyday now. Skype, Gizmo, OpenWengo, Google Talk, you name it. Clearly Skype is the market leader. By offering free PC-2-PC VoIP calls and dirt cheap SkypeOut service Skype managed to create a ripple effect all across the internet, but cheap is not free. Enter VOIP Stunt Hideous interface aside; it seems VOIP stunt is offering free calling to landlines in 36 countries, including Australia, Austria, Ireland, Spain and the United Kingdom (Canada and the United States are on the list as well). Sweet? It gets even better! The software promises no adware, malware, or spyware, which is a major plus, but I still attach my standard privacy policy warning. I still haven't tested the service due to bandwidth congestion at the office, so I can't really recommend it (I might review it later on) but feel free to Try It

A good addition to your mobile bookmarks

2006-01-14T14:26:00.000+02:00

Are you an internet junkie? Can't stop checking blogs using your mobile/pda/etc.? Google to the rescue! It seems Google has a Skweezer like service, that will optimize any website for viewing on a mobile phone or PDA Try It (http://www.google.com/gwt/n)

9/11 the movie

2006-01-13T05:44:00.000+02:00

First off, it is repugnant to make a spectacle of these events and plan to make money on top of it. And since we have no real way of knowing what /actually/ happened on the flight, action for action, Hollywood will do a botched job trying to make the story sensational. So, in the end, they’ll take an interesting story and turn it into typical Hollywood crap action flick. What a great way to portray victims of terrorism. Come on! People board plane, terrorists take over plane, people take over plane, plane crashes. Now who wants to go watch a movie of such plot? Sounds like an exciting 1 hour and 30 minutes, I can’t wait to sleep/make out through. View Trailer

No one gets my sense of humor...

2006-01-13T05:18:00.000+02:00

at least not when I’m drunk or half drunk, here's an example. me: if you had two wishes that can become true, what would you wish for? her: i guess, a successful and fulfilling career her: and fulfilling relationships for the rest of my life, you? me: i want the power to give a woman an orgasm just by looking at her me: and unlimited tickets to Oprah tapings, cause that would be funny her: huh? ....and I wonder why

Correct me if I'm wrong...

2006-01-12T02:24:00.000+02:00

But last time I checked KDE was copying Windows. Times must have changed; it seems Vista is copying KDE. Click here to download video [WMV 25 MB; 20 Minutes] Moving on... I won't even comment on Timberlake's presence! A Music Partnership with MTV? I'm presuming you've watched the video, if not check this , here's an excerpt:

Bill Gates: "With music, having MTV as a partner is a great thing. We think they can get the word out, do some neat things. We're also doing a lot in Messenger to make it so you can share playlists, so you can listen to different things. The next version of Messenger has music as one of the big breakthrough scenarios."

Yeah Right! Except partnering with MTV for music expertise is laughable, stupid and very very lame. You can't FIND music on MTV anymore. Check their schedule, Next, followed by the Real World, followed by My Own, followed by another episode of Next, Punk'd, and the list goes on. These are all reality-based television shows. Where's the F@!?ING music? Teaming up with MTV for music is like teaming up with McDonalds for tacos. Sure if this were 1984, partnering with MTV would be totally sweet. But in 2006 it's just sad. Once again, Bill is behind the curve. Apple is flying high with iTunes, so now Microsoft has to do yet another "me too" by making their own music store (apparently MSN Music didn't work out?)... except they team up with a has-been and give it a lamer name like "URGE" When is Microsoft going to stop being the bloated whore of the tech industry so they can be lean, hungry, and bleeding edge? When is Bill Gates going to understand that these sloppy "partnerships" are irrelevant when we're talking about a ship that's already sailed. I'm tired of Bill being late to the dock, then renting a little rowboat thinking that he'll be able to catch up... all the while screaming to the media about how Microsoft is doing all this cool shit that, in reality, is only cool to him. Bill I think you should stick to fighting Ballmer (10 MB; 5:41 min, you really should watch this). Man McTacos would be sweet.

Somebody give Google Money

2006-01-12T00:54:00.000+02:00

Much to Jameed's dismay, it looks like Google is heading towards an everything-casual-PC-users-need' on their desktop pack. Scott already made excellent comments on the bundle so I won't repeat his comments other than to say Acrobat is not 'that' evil (unlikeReal Player), and bundling Norton Antivirus sounds quite fishy, a counter-WindowsOneCare campaign perhaps? So it appears Google is attempting to get the proles hooked on their easy install software - it looks like it will auto-update eventually providing a maintenance free PC. It already notifies of new versions available for download - nice! Now fast forward to eighteen months from now: 80% of regular internet users have the Google Pack installed, and by then it has good office capabilities (certainly possible if Google throws 300 cheap Indian engineers at Open Office).

Today several apps in Google Pack already exist in Linux. When Google Pack is a comprehensive desktop suite and identical software exists in Linux what is stopping a free Google OS based on Linux? Imagine a Net PC like Larry Ellison tried to offer in the nineties; it will be cheap, secure (because of intense peer review) and do everything 90% of internet users require. Would you like another prediction? In 2006 Google will make in-roads into their own DRM solution(s) - they need this before big-studios allow content on Google's OS.

On a side note; it seems Google are in a desperate need for cash, check out their Macworld booth.

Macbook Pro running Windows... hmmm

2006-01-11T23:25:00.000+02:00

This just in. The new Macbooks have been confirmed to run Intel's EFI Bios replacement. EFI can apparently emulate a BIOS using a compatibility layer; presumably this is how the Macbooks will be able to boot (blah) Windows. Read More More on Intel EFI

Macworld 2006 Predictions

2006-01-10T19:40:00.000+02:00

According to Kevin Rose, the following will make their appearance on the “red carpet” at Macwrold 2006: 1. 15″ intel Macbook - order tomorrow, ships Feb (thinner, dual core) 2. iPod FM receiver 3. iWork/Life ‘06 4. New remote of some type 5. Photocasting (iPhoto) 6. OS X.4.4 w/new widgets Countdown… Argh the anticipation is gut wrenching.

Podcast: The Kungfu Sheep

2006-01-10T06:49:00.001+02:00

Happy Eid Everyone كل عام وأنتم بخير Download the file & stick it in your ear. Yazan Malakha & The Kung fu Sheep Sheep sound effects stolen off Jameed's Post

On Marriage

2006-01-08T23:25:00.000+02:00

Sharon Dies...

2006-01-05T12:10:00.000+02:00

Although his death is still not confirmed by the Israeli government; a report from Al Arabiya claims a press release/conference will be held to confirm it within the next couple of hours. It looks like a lot of people got their new year's wish this year. http://www.alarabiya.net/Articles/2006/01/05/20082.htm (arabic) I hope peace prevails in Palestine this year. Happy New Year folks.

this post has no title

2006-01-04T12:17:00.000+02:00

Do you find yourself constantly disappointed by men and their irresponsible behavior? Are you unhappy with your current partner? Can’t put up with the affair he’s having with his keyboard/cell phone/joystick/ or your best friend (who by the way happens to have a fantastic rack and better curves)? Are you old and have no prospects? Are you losing hope? Do you like fish? Go Marry a Dolphin! That’s what Sharon Tendler did! "In a modest ceremony at Dolphin Reef in the southern Israeli port of Eilat, Tendler, a 41-year-old British citizen, apparently became the world’s first person to “marry” a dolphin. Dressed in a white dress, a veil and pink flowers in her hair, Tendler got down on one knee on the dock and gave Cindy a kiss. And a piece of herring." Rumor has it that next week we’re going to hear of a woman & goldfish in wedlock. Read More

Podcast: Prey. Slay. Display. Hilton.

2005-12-30T17:42:00.000+02:00

2005 is over; the White House has been oral-sex-free for the past 5 years, Paris Hilton stars in The House of Wax. Micheal Jackson is free. Katrina shakes the world up. The universe conspires to kill my sex drive. War here, war there. Sounds like a rant? Things I've Learned This Year Stick it in your ear.

XMas Party Mashup

2005-12-25T19:34:00.000+02:00

"Mashups are so good, they should be illegal..." What happens when you mix Boney M, 50 Cent, Mariah Carey, Johny Cash, Gwen Stifani, Black Eyed Peas, Will Smith, Aerosmith, Run DMC all together? Download 192 Kbps Version No comments on Vanilla Ice please ;-)

Merry miXmas 2005

2005-12-25T19:11:00.000+02:00

I realize it's a bit late, this was supposed to be posted on the 23rd. This is my second annual christmas mix (and the first published one) with songs in English, Arabic, Spanish and Japanese with greetings from the podcasting community. Have a merry Mixmass.

The good part of Santa's Testdrive gone wrong
Dominick the Italian Christmas Donkey
Cool Yule
Karim Arafat's Personal Greeting
South Park's Santa Claus is on His Way
Silver Bells
Christmas is the Time
Rudolph the Red Nosed Reindeer
Chris' Greeting
Jill Par- Do You Hear What I Hear
Insanity Over Christmas
Donde Esta Santa Claus
George Akra's Personal Greeting
Laylet 3eed
Jingle Bells [Joined in by the singing dogs at 25:36]
Jingle Bell Hustle
Santa and the Satellite
All I Want for Christmas
Adel Zabalawi's Alter Ego Greeting
Ayad Il Layl
Dima's XMAS Greeting
Pod Safe For Peace - If Christmas Was Everyday
Jameed's Hishek Bishek Jingle Bells [Mohammed Ali St. Mix]
Bonus

Download the 64 Kbits Version Download the 96 Kbits Version [Recommended] Buy the Pod Safe for Peace track, all proceeds will be doanted to Unicef

This post will have loads of comments...

2005-12-21T23:34:00.000+02:00

15:24 EST! WTF?

Dagdigni Episode 1.5 or Steert Mirror 1.0

2005-12-03T00:13:00.001+02:00

This podcast; Street Mirror, is presented by two friends of ours; Ali Abdel-Haq & Sadeq Abu Eida. Some university students in Amman have this passion for cars and car racing. Ali & Sadeq decided to make fun of these young university students, as they remember their university days. Ali works in the field of Information Systems and Sadeq works in auditing and consultancy. Although the podcast is funny, it is also trying to send out a hidden message that this passion for cars is all sad and disgusting.

A must listen to... check it out at http://www.ninish.com or subscribe to http://www.ninish.com/ninish/rss.xml via iPodder Lemon or iTunes

Kill Bill: Get Firefox 1.5

2005-12-01T09:42:00.000+02:00

Firefox 1.5 is finally out! Download from http://www.mozilla.com/firefox/

A Palestinian Podcast

2005-11-29T13:22:00.000+02:00

A while ago I blogged about the revolution taking place across our western border lead by the Palestian Lyrical Front. Today I received a comment from Iron Sheik who seems to have started Kabobfest, a blog and a podcast from a Palestinain perspective. Worth listening to:

Check out Kabobfest at http://www.kabobfest.com/ or subscribe to the podcast via iPodder/iTunes at http://www.kabobfest.blogspot.com/atom.xml Stick it in your ear [Note: atom.xml doesn't seem to be iPodder compaliant, you can subscribe using http://feeds.feedburner.com/ymalakha, up until Iron Sheik publishes his Feed]

random thought...

2005-11-29T01:27:00.000+02:00

I wish Google would index my apartment, things would be much easier to find!

Smaller = Better?

2005-11-27T16:20:00.000+02:00

Sony Vaio: All Things Microsoft
Originally uploaded by Yazan Malakha.

I must admit I’m quite impressed, although I rarely am. I got my hands on this nice next generation toy earlier this morning; actually I had it for four days but I never bothered to check it out until today.

Now I should point out that this device is designed to be a media center on the go, and although it has built in Wifi, browsing can be quite difficult given the fact the device has no built in keyboard (it has a touch-sensitive screen, with an on screen keyboard, but I found it to be cumbersome), the resolution is way too high for a 5” screen, which can bother you while reading emails/long articles.

Navigation using the built in pointing stick was quite easy, although it takes a little bit of getting used to. DivX movies played perfectly in different lighting situations. The device runs hot, so you might want to wear oven mittens while holding in.

Few things I appreciated having built in were the SD/CD card readers and the single USB port. So you’re traveling somewhere sitting at a café with Wifi, you can pop out your CF card, pop into the Vaio and upload them straight to Flickr.

What impressed me most was the form factor/size. Imagine an Intel Celeron M 900 Mhz computer with 20Gb of diskspace, 512 MB of RAM, 20 GB HD, Wifi, SD/CF Readers, 5” screen all crammed into 6”x4” frame. Impressed?

Talk about ancient

2005-11-27T15:23:00.000+02:00

Apple Macintosh Color Classic
Originally uploaded by Yazan Malakha.

Found on one of the basement shelves

I’ll check whether it’s still in a working condition during the weekend perhaps.

Openmind: Common Sense

2005-11-26T21:13:00.000+02:00

Computers today are just plain dumb! The Open Mind Commonsense project is an attempt to make computers smarter by making it easy and fun for people all over the world to work together to give computers the millions of pieces of ordinary knowledge that constitute "common-sense", all those aspects of the world that we all understand so well we take them for granted. This repository of knowledge will enable us to create more intelligent and sociable software, build human-like robots, and better understand the structure our own minds.

I should commend the chaps at MIT for creating an AI project that allows everyone to take part in. Log-in and it starts asking you questions, you just answer the questions and it learns what we humans refer to as common sense. Creating a huge database of general knowledge to fuel future AI engines. Fascinating and addicting way to speed us on toward Technological Singularity Participate Here

Back to Geek: XBox 360 Linux Hack?

2005-11-26T14:13:00.000+02:00

The chaps at Microsoft (or Micro$hit as some of you prefer) have been busy securing their XBox360; which the Free60 Project aims to crack and port an open operating system to (Linux, Darwin, BSD come to mind), so far they've gathered a lot of useful and detailed information on the inner workings of the XBox360, which seems to be seured down by:

The flash is encrypted with a per-box key
The key is stored inside the CPU
The boot ROM is stored inside the CPU
Also inside the CPU is a hypervisor that verifies the running state of the kernel, making sure there is no modification (RAM checksums), else the Xbox360 panics and blows up!
The CPU contains ROM inside of it to store the checksums
All interrupt/exception handling is done by the hypervisor
All code runs in kernel mode
The emulator for first generation games can be updated via an official Microsoft download burned to CD by the user, though the CDs’ content will be encrypted and signed with public key cryptography.The boot ROM is stored inside the CPU

This will be an interesting project to watch over the next couple of months. The XBox360 will make a rather handsome tripple core server. I'm positive, impenetrable as it may seem, some rather geekish bloke will be able to circumvent this, as they did with OSx86. I'm betting apple will use the same technology to protect against Mac OS X for intel running on regular PCs [read more] On a side note, Sony will demonstrate their PS3 at CES 2006

Dagdegni Episode One

2005-11-26T00:48:00.000+02:00

The guys are at it again... Lo, and behold ladies and gentlemen, an enthralling drive with the one of the most loved and hated aspects of the Jordanian street; a conversation with a Amman taxi driver for the audio voyeur. Listen to Dagdegni here.

I am that fool…

2005-11-26T00:39:00.000+02:00

Yup, I am that fool tapping away his Diet-Pepsi can. Why? Because quite some time ago, back in school to be more specific. I hung out with a couple of friends whom I credit for teaching me the unwritten secrets and rules of this world. One of which was in order to prevent your carbonated beverage from exploding all over you; you must (and this is vital) tap a couple of times on the top of your Pepsi can, or risk becoming the butt of all jokes. A couple of taps, that’s all! Surprisingly this habit stuck with me all those years. But “Does it work?” you might ask. It brings me back to the age-old philosophical question “If a man says something, and no woman is there to hear him, is he still wrong?”. Similarly, if you don’t tap the cap of your Pepsi can a couple of times, will it explode all over the place? Interesting question; you can try of course. But you’d risk having to clean up the mess. It has always been safer to just tap-tap-tap and everything is hunky-dory. Come to think of it. Don’t we do things like that all the time without even knowing if they actually work, just because someone somewhere claimed they would? How about drinking a glass of water with another's palms against one's ears to cure a hiccup? How about placing a blue bead on all of your possessions to protect you from the envious hordes. How about not opening your umbrella indoors? That’s a preventive measure that I don’t think anyone can prove actually works. What about staying at home and not going to clubs, hotels, showrooms, or canceling events altogether just to stay safe? Well Whoop-Tee-Dee-Do. I just tied tapping on my Diet Pepsi can, to post-terrorism-trauma. I find it amusing how we spend our lives doing all sorts of things to protect us from all sorts of evils. Whether those evils are self detonating terrorists, spirits from beyond or a huge stream of carbonated beverage in our face. I guess I can safely conclude we’re a bunch of trusting people. And I wonder is that a problem?

The Power of Nightmares: The Rise of Politics of Fear

2005-11-25T19:46:00.001+02:00

In the past our politicians offered us dreams of a better world. Now they promise to protect us from nightmares. The most frightening of these is the threat of an international terror network. But just as the dreams were not true, neither are these nightmares. In a new series, the Power of Nightmares explores how the idea that we are threatened by a hidden and organised terrorist network is an illusion.

Length: 1 Hour / Episode Starring: Sayed Ktob, Leo Strauss, Neo-Conservatism, Jahiliya, Ayman Zawahri, Osama Bin Ladin, Abu Mus'ab Al Zarqawi, George Bush, Tony Blair. Highly Recommended in Video, requires Quicktime Episode I: Baby It's Cold Outside (Video (180 MB) | Audio (28 MB)) Episode II: The Phantom Victory (Video (180 MB)| Audio (28 MB)) Episode III: The Shadows in the cave (Video (180 MB) | Audio (28 MB))

It was a rainy day today..

2005-11-21T23:59:00.000+02:00

Oh, by the way, manties.

Today's thoughts on Ché Guevara

2005-11-21T02:05:00.000+02:00

Everyone is a Marxist nowadays! Shmisani Kids, East Los Ammanyatos (that’s Spanish, I think). Even Zarqawi’s in some cases (people emerging from Los De Zarqa, not to be confused with the stupid terrorist who's head I’m offering $10 bucks on). Everyone is a revolutionary fighter of power. Everyone is hooked on anti-capitalism. And everyone is strutting around in a Ché Guevara top. Viva Ché, El Comandate Amigo. You’ve seen all those Ché Guevara tops around haven’t you? The all have that signature Alberto Diaz Gutierrez’s Photograph; with Ché’s eyes gazing into the distance like a prophet. Today, and due to kind weather one of my colleagues; who shall forever be unnamed *cough* Mohammed *cough* walked in wearing one. Following is the conversation we had: Me: Nice top you’ve got there, you listen to him? Him: Oh yeah, but I like Metallica much better (A long thoughtful beat, then-) Me: Yeah Metallica kicks ass! It’s kinda sad James Hetfeild doesn’t wear a beret. Cause those things are, like, so fucking cool. Him: Spot on man, spot on! Me: It’s a sad thing he died. Him: He did? No fucking way! Me: Yeah, it’s a sad world we live in mate. (We both agree and part ways) I can’t deny Ché is a cool name, we don’t see t-shirts that sprout “Viva Ernesto” for a reason. I can’t deny he’s quite a looker either, (that fucking cool) beret, beard and long hair do not hurt his looks. He’s indeed the perfect rock star revolutionary. What troubles me is the fact that most people I’ve met don’t know who he is. Those who did couldn't even provide a 10 seconds bio of him! Are we going to cluelessly start wearing images of Adolph Hitler, Josef Stalin and Charles Manson as a fashion statement? I can go on and on and on about this. I personally don’t have a Guevara top, for I’m still not a Cuban Marxist party member. I also don’t think wearing his photo is the best way to express solidarity with him. So unless you are the first person to ever wear a Ché Guevara T-shirt, you should probably know that you’re a total tool. Oh yeah. You revolutionary, power fighting Ché Guevara T-Shirt wearing bad-ass! You’re a total tool and I hate to break it to you but in your case, ass doesn’t take the prefix “bad”; it takes the suffix “hole”

Hmmm....

2005-11-20T02:10:00.001+02:00

This is not a joke! A new study claims oral sex is linked to mouth cancer

Certain cases of mouth cancer appear to be caused by a virus that can be contracted during oral sex, media reported, quoting a new Swedish study. “You should avoid having oral sex,” dentist and researcher Kerstin Rosenquist, who headed the study, told Swedish news agency TT.

Die Hard Capturing Bin Laden

2005-11-20T01:28:00.001+02:00

What’s the underlying motive here eh Bruce?

Actor Bruce Willis has offered $1 million to anyone who turns in al-Qaeda terror leaders. The patriotic “Die Hard” star will pay out for information on the whereabouts of Osama Bin Laden, Aymen Al-Zawahiri or Abu Musab Al-zarqawi, the alleged brains behind the 9/11 atrocity.

Read More Here You know what? I may have just realized what the problem with this country is... no one has ever offered a bounty on a terrorist's head... so here's 10 bucks out of my own pocket. Bring me the head of Zarqawi! I wonna drink beer out of his empty head! I wonna have a Zarqawi Skull Keg Party at my apartment, ok? He bombs, you hunt, we party. On a side note, any idea how's Bin Laden? Did he survive Pakistan's earthquake? I certainly hope he's getting his kidney medication and dialysis done; all untraced by the CIA, NSA, MI5, MI6 and other intelligence agnecies working on this of course...

Today’s thoughts on terrorism (For mature audiences only)

2005-11-19T05:12:00.000+02:00

After half a dozen emails fired back and forth with Zarqawi. I received an enigmatic package in the mail yesterday. It was beaten, battered, and covered in dirt. Inside hundreds of worn pages written in an ancient tongue. The title read “The hitchhikers Guide to Terrorism”

I enlisted the help of all the people that I know, and came in contact with many others intent on deciphering the secret as well. There were moments where we sincerely doubted we’d be able to figure it out, there were moments of chronic laughter, and others filled with fear (especially when we went looking for a book in the attic and came across a spider). But alas, before long, the ancient tongue was deciphered. The commandments read:

“Thou shalt not watch the tube” Or take notice of the false ceiling at the wedding and realize false ceilings do not kill 30 human beings.

“Thou shalt not take notice of word-of-mouth epidemic” Or realize that Amman is a small community where everyone knows everyone, or at least know someone who knows someone; that facts are hardly obtained from the media, and that altering the truth won’t help. “Thou shalt belittle the IBF (Israel & Bush Factor)” And neglect the fact that Israel would have loved to cry forever about its casualties, and that Bush needs every reason to justify keeping his troops in the Middle East. (Play Contemplative Sound Track Here) I don’t know about you, but I hate missing 24 and I’m not willing to give up my TV rights or my brain just yet. So, I guess I’ll just hang out here and smoke some pot, and leave terrorism to some lunatic determined on disrupting lives of hundreds maybe thousands of innocent civilians.

Footnotes:

This is fiction, no actual emails were exchanged with anyone, well aside from porno webmasters who are so intent on ripping me off! But you disregarded the “for mature audiences only” warning didn’t you?
I personally hate spiders; they just give me the willies. No spiders were hurt in this production… No tree/animal huggers on my back please, thank you
I have no contemplative soundtracks.

9/11Amman

2005-11-09T22:24:00.000+02:00

I’m not going to echo what’s already been said on the Jordanian Blogosphere. The posts on JordanPlanet.com say it all. Did anyone notice that today is 911 in Arabic? I can only wonder if this is just a happenstance or a reminder that freedom has a price, which I'm sure you'll all disagree with.

So what's blogging to you?

2005-10-07T02:12:00.000+03:00

Blogging is a catharsis, a community, a way to keep an always-racing brain engaged. Its big stories that affect the public, trivial diversions that kill some time, personal accounts that might help an unknown soul. It’s a lot of things to a lot of people. Blogging is a homicide preventive therapy to Iyas, a self edited form of journalism to Lina, and a medium of self expression to Roba. Blogging is also like eating cereals. Cereals come in a box just as your computer does; which enables you to run the software needed to blog. Cereals can be sweet. And so is the taste of revenge as you post entries about all your ex(es), their weird behavior, gruesome manners and irritating personality quirks. Cereals are fragile and so is your ego when you don’t receive positive comments (or none at all) on a post you deem important. Cereals come in different colors and textures; just like you do.

Straight facts from Skynews, and more

2005-09-10T12:44:00.000+03:00

For the lack of a better post, I decided to post a few pictures.

The media finally gets the facts straight and sees the truth. The image below is from Sky News. I wouldn’t expect ABC or CNN to mistakenly air that type of headline.

Via [The Talent Show]

Ruining Public Commuting 101

Tags [Bush] [George Bush] [GAW (Gobshites & Arseholes of the world)]

And the winner is....

2005-09-09T18:00:00.000+03:00

About a week ago I've pledged to give away a $25 USD gift certificate to whoever comes up with the funniest comment on the photo below. Most, if not all, comments were lame. And as I couldn't be arsed to create a poll for readers to vote, I asked a very good friend of mine to help. The winner got selected based on effort and creativity, not humor unfortunately.

And the winning comment is: "nice work johnson, weve been after this hamburglar for months" By Dantana Runner-Up comment is: "officer: shu keef al shu'3ol ma3ak abu shryek? MacMan: ya zalmeh oskout khalyha 3ala allah, tezey mesh 3aref a7kouha." By Ibrahim Owais

Unfortunately, Dantana couldn't be reached as his/her blogger profile is not enabled. Dantana, you have 3 days to contact me with your details, otherwise the prize will go to Ibrahim.

Tags [Contest] [Winner]

why i love flickr

2005-09-08T12:09:00.000+03:00

Flickr! Brilliant fucking idea, well exectued... bla bla bla!

The reason I worship Flickr however is that technical mumbo jumbo is constantly replaced with humorous banter. I logged on last night to find this:

You can’t be cross reading that can ya?!

While you're at it, check this out You can replace yazan with whatever you like, no spaces: ;-)

JordanPlanet Bloggers fight for popularity

2005-09-08T01:37:00.000+03:00

The lights dim and the crowds cheer as 4 brave bloggers enter the boxing arena. Every Planet Citizen anxiously awaiting and speculating the result of the battle. I should warn you ladies and gentlemen the scene is gory and not for the timid; contestants will fight till the last blogger is standing. Roba Assi vs Lina Ejeilat [Click here to watch the fight] On the left side; we have our challenger for the title Roba Assi on the right side Lina Ejeilat. The bell rings, and the fighters approach; Lina takes a Jab at Roba. Roba quickly maneuvers out of the way and put an end to the battle with a quick knockout! 1-2-3 … that has got to go down as the shortest boxing match in history! The referee tries to stop Roba as she tries to spray paint Lina with her pink signature. Roba Assi vs Jameed [Click here to watch the fight] Enter the Karaki Stallion…. Roba be prepared you’re about to face one of the toughest opponents of your career… Jameed dances around Roba looking for an opening and lands a punch that knocks her to the floor. Roba quickly gets up and confuses her opponent with art terminology, and surprises him with a direct hit that knocks him down. For the final match Roba is going to face our defending champion Roba Assi vs Ahmad Humeid [Click here to watch the fight] Eager to win, Roba quickly approaches Ahmad and lays a punch, only to be blocked by a wave of sound generated from his iPod Shuffle. Artsy words do not confuse our champion. Nor do quick punches. Ahmad smiles victoriously at the lame attempts of his challenger; his music shield impenetrable, and his punches unblocked. Roba falls down on the ground and pulls out a can of turpentine and sprays the chemical of happiness around Ahmad. He falls laughing on the floor and breaks the Shuffle; and suddenly the music stops and the crowd gasp. The referee is counting, Ahmad is still laughing… 3-2-1 we have a winner ladies and gentlemen. More Interesting Battles: - Microsoft vs Linux - Microsoft vs God - Bill Gates vs Linus Torvalds - Britney Spears vs Shakira - Oprah vs Dr. Phil - Work vs Holiday Note: This is a twisted and bizarre post about GoogleFight. Bloggers were selected randomly; I didn't enlist myself because I'm too cool and cannot be arsed; sore losers and angry crowds can direct their hate mail to the comments segment.

Fast & furious influenced smart-car

2005-09-07T10:47:00.000+03:00

It’s called the “Smartuki”, and is the brainchild of Peter Bee an Englishman who who works for MHP exhausts. Although smitten with the Smart car in its mild mannered state he felt the urge to take it to the edge by having Z cars drop in the engine of a Suzuki motorcycle. The tweaked Suzuki GSXR1000 engine produces 180 hp of power - nearly 120 more hp than a stock Smart car. The result is a microcar that goes from 0 to 60 mph in 4.2 seconds and takes 12.4 seconds through a quarter mile and tops out at 132mph. Impressive Mod! It nearly matched a Mistubishi Evo FQ-330 in an Autosport Magazine head-to-head test. Read more about the project. Tags [Car Mod] [Smart Car] [Suzuki] [Peter Bee] [GSXR1000] [Fast Cars] [Fast & Furious] [Smartuki]

Movie: An independent filmmaker talks about movie piracy

2005-09-07T01:18:00.000+03:00

This is an instant classic. Probably one of the best web mini-movies I've seen yet.

You need Quicktime to watch this movie. Download the movie by right clicking and selecting save as Tags [Piracy] [Movies] [Independant Movie] [Funny] [Stupid]

An Arabic Trojan Butts Porn

2005-09-06T16:36:00.000+03:00

I finally know why my browser kept closing on me last night! God Damn it! Those sneaky bastards have definately crossed the line! It’s one thing to try to hijack a strangers computer and siphon credit card numbers… But damn it! Now you have to go and bother innocent internet users while their enjoying porn?! Come on!

Security experts today issued a warning after detecting a malicious Trojan horse which tries to interrupt the surfing of adult websites by displaying messages from the Koran. The Yusufali-A Trojan monitors users’ surfing habits by examining the title bar of the active window. If the Trojan finds a key word such as ‘teen’, ‘xxx’, ’sex’ or ‘penis’, it minimises the window so that the user cannot see its content and displays a message from the Koran instead.

Hey at least it doesn't pull up some Christian Fanatics Website complete with the "I've healed you my son, step off your wheel chair videos" right? No offence ;-) This is the virus to get if you're worried about your kids surfing habits. Read More Tags: [Religious Virus] [Virus] [Trojan] [Yusufali-A] [Yusufali] [Porn]

OpenWengo: An Open-Source / Open-Standards Skype Alternative?

2005-09-06T14:13:00.000+03:00

From Wengo comes WengoPhone (WP) an open source Voice over IP aletrantive to Skype. Although lacking in several areas in my opinion especially GUI wise, WP brings the ability to make and receive SIP calls, send SMS as well as video conferencing. I'm not going to debate whether open-source code is good or bad for you. I'm perfectly fine with a closed-source code solution provided that it follows industry standards. What makes VoIP potentially disruptive to the communication industry as we know it today, is the existence of SIP (Session Initiation Protocol). SIP allows different VoIP services to interoperate over the internet directly without ever hitting the traditional phone network (PSTN). Simply providing the kind of interoperability and interconnectivity we have come to expect from the Internet. So what's the big deal? Skype and several other VoIP services DO NOT ALLOW their users to call anyone outside their service over the internet. For example, if you're a Voiceglo user you cannot call a Skype user without hitting PSTN. If that didn't paint a crystal clear picture it might be useful to think of Skype as an island excluded from the rest of the world. WengoPhone on the other hand is an Open-Standards Platform, which means that you're able to call and receive calls from users that are not using the same software. The media has not yet grasped the significance of this, and still report about VoIP in the same old terms; still considering the traditional PSTN as the only means to interconnect. OpenWengo is currently available for Windows Only, and with Linux, OSX and WinCE clients in the work. Related

Tags: [Softphone] [VoIP] [Skype] [OpenWengo] [SIP] [Session Initiation Protocol] [Voice over IP]

Die Hard 4 draft anticipates flooding of New Orleans?

2005-09-06T11:07:00.000+03:00

I just read this on cenimatical; apparently an early draft of the script for Die Hard 4 is making the rounds, and in one scene, New Orleans gets flooded in in a matter of seconds. The draft is currently undergoing a rewrite by Bruce Willis' clean-up man Doug Richardson, so it would seem highly likely that all references to New Orleans would be wiped from any draft used for shooting. Quite creepy given last week's events. Related Posts:

Tags: [Die Hard] [Die Hard 4] [Die Hard IV] [Bruce Willis] [Rumors] [Katrina] [Hurricane Katrina]

Apple iPod Nano Photo

2005-09-06T10:02:00.000+03:00

I can't wait to lay my hand on one of these (Note: this is a mock up, not the actual product) Click here to enlarge Tags [Apple] [iPod] [iTunes] [Nano] [Rocker] [Motorolla] [ROKR]

Tomorrow's Announcement: What to expect from Apple?

2005-09-06T09:12:00.000+03:00

Why wait till Wednesday to know what products Apple has in store for you? - Cingular will announce an iTunes compatible phone called the "Rocker" or "ROKR" - A new Flash memory based 2GB iPod called "Nano" will be launched. It's a mesh between the iPod Mini and the Shuffle, estimated price is $199 USD. Click here for a photo of Nano. - No video iPod will be launched. [Digg this story] Tags [Apple] [iPod] [iTunes] [Nano] [Rocker] [Motorolla] [ROKR]

Linspire 5.0: Linux Evolution or Windows on Steroids?

2005-09-05T20:54:00.000+03:00

Yazan Malakha takes Linspire FIVE-O for a spin If you've missed it, the people at Linspire (Previously Lindows) are giving away free digital download version of their latest operating system, a $49 USD value, for a limited time. After countless attempts to register on their website; I finally managed to download and install the much-hyped-about Linspire 5.0 (For some reason or another their Linux based servers has difficulties coping with 250 concurrent users, what a bummer). Downloading frustration aside, I was actually impressed by how lucid and unbelievably simple their installation is. The CD offers 2 options, a live feature which allows you to run the operating system directly off your CD Drive. And an installer option similar to the one you’d find on Windows XP CD, it took approximately 10 minutes to install the software on VMWare, and less than 2 minutes to configure it, although booting was unusually slow for a Linux system. Hardware support was trouble-free: all my peripherals (except for the webcam and satellite card) were detected and worked without a hitch, in both VMWare and Native mode. Now before I go on, I should point out that I’m all about Gnome; I’ve used KDE in its early stages, but never long enough to form an opinion. What struck me upon booting the system was the resemblance this system bears to Windows XP! Aside from using Windows XP naming conventions like (“My Computer”, “My Documents”, “My Music” and so on); everything has been copied or mimicked. The login screen almost looks identical, the green start menu button, bookmarks in the file explorer, some of the icons are a complete knock-off. It also starts off with an audio tutorial demonstrating all of the OS features. On the other hand the system does have a close resemblance to Mac OS. The curvy look of windows, the circular shaped minimize/maximize buttons, the inclusion of multimedia programs such as Lphoto and Lmusic (iPhoto and iTunes anyone?), not to mention the Load Screen, which reminded me of OS 8/9 days. I should mention that it comes with instant messaging software and open office, making the system ready for an average user. One of the most impressive features was CNR, which stands for Click-N-Run; it takes exactly one click to install an application, again quite similar to Mac (a click and a drag). They offer a CNR library that spans hundreds of Linux programs that provide alternatives to just about any Windows application you’ll ever need. So what impact can Linspire cause in a world full of Linux Distros? Can Linspire live up to it’s goal of delivering a system that won’t make Linux users wish they had paid their Windows tax? I think so, although I think there’s still room for improvement. The clean interface, simple installation, and resemblance to windows, makes switching to linux a breeze, even for the novice user. No more will Linux be reserved for the technically-advantaged. At a fraction of the cost of Windows XP; you get an operating system that includes all the tools you need to perform any type of computer work. In a simple and user-friendly interface. Perfect for a newbie or a bargain-hunter. Some Screen Shots Tags: [Linux] [Linspire] [Freespire] [Windows] [MacOS] [OSx86] [Lindows]

Reblog: U.S. gave the Israelis a wall, and New Orleans gets Flooded!

2005-09-05T20:04:00.000+03:00

Here's a great article you should read

Sorry, Israel, the clash of civilizations will not happen. Despite all your efforts and the Zionist money to pit Arab against Americans, Arabs Do Not Hate Americans. Contrary to that, Arabs Care About Americans. Have you heard of the donations from Arabs to Katrina victims? From Saudi Arabia, Kuwait, Oman, Qatar, UAE, Libya, Egypt, Algeria, Tunisia, Jordan, Bahrain, Syria, Morocco, Lebanon and Palestine. Almost $ 3 Billion worth of aid from Arab countries! That’s not all: The 22-member Arab League called on Arab nations to provide relief to the U.S. Its secretary-general, Amr Moussa, sent a cable of “deep condolences and regret to the U.S. administration over the effect of Hurricane Katrina.” Even Libya that was bombed by the US because Israel killed Americans and then forged a “message of confession” from Libya. Even Syria that Israel wants America to invade. Read the Complete Article on Sabbah's Blog Tags: [Katrina] [Katrina Hurricane] [New Orleans] [Arabs] [Zionism]

How Apple may deal with the dreaded "intel inside" sticker

2005-09-05T19:33:00.000+03:00

Click for a larger view Photo Credits: www.joyoftech.com Tags [Apple] [Mac] [Intel] [Intel Inside] [Mac OSx86]

Contest Update: 25 Bucks for the funniest comment

2005-09-05T12:26:00.000+03:00

So far there has been 8 maybe 9 sorry attempts to make me laugh; none of which resulted in a popped spleen (not even a smirk in some cases). It's quite obvious Jordanian Grumpiness has taken over the best of you; there's still enough room to prove me wrong though. So feel free to drop a comment here. Notes: - Winner will be announced on Friday 9th September 2005 - If sorry arse comments are to continue, the best four will be polled for a winner. - Anonymous entries will be disregarded, if you're a non blogger, leave your name or email address. - Prize is a $25 USD gift certificate at any place where a Jordanian-Issued Credit Card is accepted. - May the funniest (wo)man win. Good Luck :-) Tags [Contest]

Microsoft Ventures in VoIP

2005-09-05T10:49:00.000+03:00

Intel is not the only one venturing into VoIP, last wednesday Microsoft announced the purchase of VoIP software and service provider Teleo. Microsoft will work on integrating Teleo’s technology into its own VoIP products and IM clients. Teleo's ability to make PC-to-Phone calls will position Microsoft as a direct competitor to Skype; and they're definately not wasting any time, they expect to have Teleo technology integrated into MSN Messenger by the end of this year. You can expect Microsoft to leverage the relationship it already has with businesses through its Microsoft Office Suite by integrating VoIP features. They're in a powerful position to offer communication solutions to their customers; it's surprising it's coming to the game so late with this purchase. If anything, this is a sure sign that VoIP is gaining momentum. Related Links [Microsoft Press Release] [Teleo] [eWeek's Article] Tags: [VoIP] [Skype] [Teleo] [MSN Messenger] [Voice Over IP]

Vacation Is Over: An open letter to Bush

2005-09-05T10:40:00.000+03:00

Any idea where all our helicopters are? It’s Day 5 of Hurricane Katrina and thousands remain stranded in New Orleans and need to be airlifted. Where on earth could you have misplaced all our military choppers? Do you need help finding them? I once lost my car in a Sears parking lot. Man, was that a drag. Also, any idea where all our national guard soldiers are? We could really use them right now for the type of thing they signed up to do like helping with national disasters. How come they weren’t there to begin with? I especially like how, the day after the hurricane, instead of flying to Louisiana, you flew to San Diego to party with your business peeps. Don’t let people criticize you for this — after all, the hurricane was over and what the heck could you do, put your finger in the dike? And don’t listen to those who, in the coming days, will reveal how you specifically reduced the Army Corps of Engineers’ budget for New Orleans this summer for the third year in a row. You just tell them that even if you hadn’t cut the money to fix those levees, there weren’t going to be any Army engineers to fix them anyway because you had a much more important construction job for them — BUILDING DEMOCRACY IN IRAQ! You hang in there, Mr. Bush. Just try to find a few of our Army helicopters and send them there. Pretend the people of New Orleans and the Gulf Coast are near Tikrit [Iraq]. Read More

Weekly Technological Roundup: Does Apple Even Own iPod, Intel's stake at Skpye, FreeSpire and more..

2005-09-04T01:40:00.000+03:00

Does Apple Even Own iPod? Earlier on I've blogged about Microsoft patenting iPod Interface; Creative Technologies decided to raise another legal threat to the iPod music player, and has been awarded a U.S. patent for a song-navigation technology it claims is used on Apple Computer's market-leading devices. "Apple tried to claim invention, but this patent dispels that," said Craig McHugh, president of Creative Labs, a Milpitas-based subsidiary. "We are going to look at all the alternatives that the patent provides. We can look at legal remedies." No word yet on how Creative intends on enforcing it's patent. More iPod Related Stories: [Apple's Secret is Out] [iPod Phone] [Microsoft Patents iPod Technology] Google Maps Update New Orleans Google Maps has updated its service by adding a ‘Katrina’ button alongside the current ‘Map’, ‘Satellite’, and ‘Hybrid’ options. Satellite images were taken on August 31. In order to view the new images enter “New Orleans” in the search bar. To view a “before & after” click the satellite button to view older images. More Katrina Stories: [In the Wake of a Storm] [Katrina in the News] More Google Related Stories: [Google Eying Talent] [Google Talk] [Google Knows] FreeSpire, a free copy of Linspire (Limited Time) The people at Linspire are giving Linspire 5.0 away for free (digital download only) until September 6th. Simply go to purchase the $49.95 digital edition, and then enter coupon code ‘freespire’ to receive a $49.95 discount.” More on Freespire [Freespire Press Release] [Linspire] Intel's Disruption Trying to repeat the success of its Centrino brand for notebook computers, Intel said it will launch a set of technologies geared specifically for entertainment PCs. Look out for "Intel Viiv" sticker, coming to a computer near you. Intel also seems to have bought a stake in the in internet phone phenomenon Skype Tags: [iPod] [Linux] [Freespire] [Google Maps] [Technology News] [Intel] [Skype]

Missing out on Russian Love? Download this Widget!

2005-09-02T20:48:00.000+03:00

I'm all about widgets; a great deal of the ones out there can be put to good use (think weather, conversion, etc.). Unfortunately, as in everyhting else in life, the bad outweighs the good. Check out the latest Russian Bride Widget! Designed to keep you up to date with the latest offerings from Mother Russia. Download NOW! You wouldn't want to miss your next dream wife now, would you? Tags [Widgets] [Russians] [Russian Brides]

Katrina in the News

2005-09-02T18:23:00.000+03:00

A good friend of mine send me this BBC compilation of quotes on Hurricane Katrina. Taipei's Taiwan News “New Orleans may go down in history as the first major city in an advanced country to be lost to the process of global warming... We sincerely hope that the Bush administration will take the call from Hurricane Katrina and reconsider its energy and environmental policies and replace ostrich-like escapism with leadership in the global effort to deal with the crisis of global climatic change.” Hong Kong's Ta Kung Pao “This Katrina hurricane is a 'warning' by God over President Bush's reactionary behavior on the Kyoto Protocol. The US government should wake up from this big disaster, truly take up its responsibilities as a great nation, and become the forerunner in protecting the global climate.” China's Renmin Wang “This hurricane disaster, while bringing huge harm to human resources and property for the residents of New Orleans, has also provided a rare opportunity for the White House to regain extensive popular support... the losses are far greater than in the 9/11 terrorist attack, therefore 'Katrina' has brought a most arduous test for Bush.” Denmark's Kristeligt Dagblad “Every natural disaster comes in two waves. First the wind and rain arrives, then the political storm.” France's Le Monde “The disaster could become a trump card for the White House if it allows the Iraq war and its opponents to fade into the background.” Germany's Sueddeutsche Zeitung “But if he [Bush] fails to get a grip on the chaos within a few days, his words could become his undoing.” Germany's Die Tageszeitung “The fast and safe evacuation was white, leaving behind poor black people, as if time had stood still between the racial unrest of the sixties and today.” Prague's Hospodarske Noviny “Not even the monstrous Katrina will drag the USA into recession.” Romania's Gardianul “Bush's desperate efforts to redress the situation did not stop the virulent criticism aimed at his 'indifference'... on the first day of the hurricane [he] was still on holiday.” Palestinian Al-Hayat al-Jadidah “We sympathize with the American people in their predicament after Hurricane Katrina. But the real hurricane is the Iraqi resistance that does not target innocent [Americans]. “ Australia's The Sydney Morning Herald “Though its death toll is much lower [than the Asian tsunami], in one respect Katrina may be more shocking: the possibility that human activity contributed to the hurricane's strength... Even small changes in temperature can produce disproportionately large weather events.” South Africa's Mercury “There must be truth to the adage that when the United States of America sneezes, the whole world will catch its cold.” El Salvador El Diario de Hoy “It is difficult to make light of one fact: that climate changes are at play, which are causing increasingly violent events... Katrina was just a warning.” Tags [Katrina] [Hurricane Katrina] [Katrina News]

Reblog: Are Arabs Human Beings?

2005-09-02T17:15:00.000+03:00

As the deadly aftermath of Hurricane Katrina left the Gulf Coast reeling with power outages, floodwaters, thousands of refugees and a thousand dead, another tragedy unfolded on the other side of the world, as more than 800 Iraqi Shiite pilgrims were trampled or drowned to death in a stampede caused by fear of insurgent attacks and severe overcrowding.

But it appears that the Shiite tragedy in northern Baghdad was a mere blip on the radar screen among some news organizations, revealing to any impartial observer the true depths of bias and prejudice among some mainstream media outlets - and the audiences that depend on them. Below is a brief overview of the online coverage provided by domestic and international outlets when the news first broke; at the end of this article is a link to what these homepages looked like at specific times.

On Wednesday afternoon EST, the online coverage provided by most of the large American media was, relatively speaking, acceptable enough: prominent space was given to the massive domestic emergency crisis in Louisiana and Mississippi, along with some kind of clearly visible notice about the pilgrimage incident in Iraq. The top, immediately visible part of the website homepage for The New York Times, for instance, contained several stories about the hurricane’s effects, the fate of its victims, and a related photo. At the very top, though, there was a news alert about the Iraq stampede with a small explanation. Yet the “liberal” Times’ homepage was actually weaker in giving space to the tragedy in Iraq than two of its competitors.

On the MSNBC website, the homepage featured two large images: one of the “nightmare” in New Orleans; the other of the “Baghdad Stampede.” Most of the links below the images were concerned with the hurricane, but the Iraq photo was clickable for a story. Again, in the same time frame, the Washington Post website homepage presented a main image and story titled, “Houston Astrodome Opened for Flood Refugees,” flanked by feature stories about the crisis. The stampede in Iraq was somewhat prominently placed below this section, in the middle of the homepage.

Fox News, however, was an entirely different story. Its homepage featured a gigantic image of rescue efforts in New Orleans, flanked by a “latest headlines” section which featured various links about hurricane-related events. Underneath this part of the homepage, one scrolls down to see the rest: two more articles on Katrina, along with some celebrity, entertainment, and sports coverage, followed by business coverage and stocks statistics. Had Fox News forgotten about the Arabs - at least when they could not be featured as demons of the day? Well, not entirely. Tucked away in the second half of a right-hand column, in small type, underneath all the secondary Katrina links, was one, four-word link about the death of hundreds of Shiites in Iraq.

Guesstimating with the eye, one could fit approximately fifteen links of the size Fox provided for the mass death in Iraq into the box which appears in the upper-left corner of its homepage. That box reads: “Fair & Balanced.”

A look at the international coverage also proves revealing. On the website of the British daily, The Independent, the top story was ” ‘More than 600 killed in Baghdad bridge stampede’” and the top photo was of a grieving Iraqi woman. Directly underneath this story was one titled, “Katrina, America’s ‘greatest natural disaster.’” Another British daily, The Guardian, followed a similar line. The top photo, story, and map pertained to the Iraqi disaster; the ones immediately below it, of the same size, were about the American one.

The French publication, Le Monde, featured a top photo and title about Baghdad on its homepage. The next story on that page, immediately below, was about New Orleans. Another French paper, Le Figaro, ran the Iraqi and American tragedies side by side; the Iraqi one was in bold title and text, and the American one was a large photo of damage caused by Katrina.

Of course, all four papers mentioned above are thousands of miles removed - indeed, not even on the same continent - as Iraq, yet each of them devoted significant, priority space to what happened to those Shiites on pilgrimage in northern Baghdad.

It is illuminating, then, to look at the coverage provided by two papers from a country that is only a couple hundred kilometers away from Iraq, one that sits in the center of the Arab world: Israel. The website of the Israeli daily, The Jerusalem Post, contained a top story titled, “American immigrant sets himself on fire in Jerusalem,” apparently in protest of the Gaza pullout. The homepage photo was of a settler rally. Underneath this were two related pieces about the pullout. This was followed by an announcement of the new school year. Finally, the next link was about the Baghdad stampede.

Then there is Haaretz, Israel’s largest “left” daily paper. The main photo on its website was of a corpulent Sharon presiding over some Knesset vote. The top story read, “MKs okay Philadelphi deal on Egyptian deployment.” Underneath this story were three other stories, none of them having anything to do with the stampede in Iraq. To the right was a small section titled “More Headlines,” where, at the very bottom of the list, after mundane news about comptrollers, political bickering, and settler protests, there was a note about the rising death toll in the Shiite procession in Baghdad.

In the evening EST, the English version of Israel’s largest tabloid, Yedioth Ahronoth ran a top story and photo about some recent statements by Mahmoud Abbas. This was followed by two big links about Israeli politicians meeting in Jerusalem and kids going back to school. After all this, in a set of small links, and underneath the self-immolating protester story link, is one titled, “Iraq: Eyewitness recalls bridge disaster.” Also, the top four scrolling news alerts on the website were as follows: Bush releases oil; Islamist indicted for attack; Bush calls Katrina disaster historic; Shalom sends condolences to America (no one in Israel apparently bothered to send any condolences to Iraq). Indeed, the Iraq incident is not even mentioned in the scrolling update list.

Is this not telling? The four leading papers a continent removed devoted front and center space to hundreds of Shiites, mostly women and children, killed in a stampede of fear and desperation. And yet, in a country a stone’s throw away from Iraq, its three leading papers offered a paltry and pathetic mere inch or two of online web space to the tragedy.

Where was Israel’s supposed vast reservoir of humanity and sympathy at this hour? Alas - where was Elie Wiesel?

These signs of disregard for Arab life in the right-wing American press and the entire Israeli press are a small but unmistakable reminder that, for all the Western bluster about democracy and freedom, there doubtless remains a kind of global apartheid, in which the racial Other is worthy of not pity, not sympathy, but only abuse - including the abuse of indifference.

Via Roads To Iraq Related Link From one tragedy to the next

To help out donate to the Red Cross International Relief Fund or International Federation of Red Cross and Red Crescent Societies Tags [Iraq] [Bridge Stampede]

In the wake of a storm: Hurrican Katrina

2005-09-02T16:56:00.001+03:00

Sue Brame cries after seeing what remains of her home, Gulfport, MS, 9-1-05, by Joe Raedle Originally uploaded by Lotus Lynn.

Undoubtedly you have read a handful of articles on the devastating aftermath of hurricane Katrina. I refrained from posting anything due to the fact that I am still wading through hundreds of feeds ranging from journalistic views to personal accounts of the event. This recent Seattle Times article paints a crystal clear image of the current conditions.

“We pee on the floor. We are like animals,” Taffany Smith, 25, said as she cradled her 3-week-old son, Terry. […] Baby supplies are running low; one mother said she was given two diapers and told to scrape them off when they got dirty and use them again. At least two people, including a child, have been raped as the arena darkened at night. At least three people have died, including one man who jumped 50 feet to his death, saying he had nothing left to live for. […] There is no sanitation. The stench is overwhelming. The city’s water supply, which had held up since Sunday, gave out early yesterday, and toilets in the Dome became inoperable and began to overflow. […] “You have to fend people off constantly,” she said. “You have to fight for your life. I wake up in the morning, and the first thing I say is: ‘Where are my babies? Is everyone here?’ “

Following are a few related links: // American Red Cross - Donate directly to the Red Cross Relief Fund // Katrina Relief Auction - The Flickr community is responding to the devastation of Hurricane Katrina with the Katrina Relief Auction Group raising funds for American Red Cross Emergency Relief. // Anarchy in the USA - It’s strange to see that the USA is not capable to handle the impact of Katrina. There is no water, no food, no medicine and no nothing! People are looting shops, fighting and shooting at each other and the police. // Satellite Imagery of New Orleans - Satellite images of the city before and after Hurricane Katrina and flood-related damage. Click thumbnails for larger views. // Technorati Tag: Hurricane Katrina - Hurricane Katrina on Technorati Tags: [Kartina] [Hurricane Katrina] Note: Photo 2 & 3 are taken from Business Week 12th September 2005 Edition

Reminiscing the Good Old Days: The Evolution of Mac

2005-09-02T16:35:00.000+03:00

Such a difference a zero makes, the following site takes you back in time and demonstrates how Mac OS evolved from version 1.0 to 10.4 [Via Indigo 3d]

Google Eying Veteran or Fresh Talent?

2005-09-02T05:10:00.000+03:00

Now here’s a creative way to snatch new talent. Adorn a page with a “Work at Google” ad upon a vanity search; or perhaps snatch up those interested in their careers? Google any of the following names:

Udi Manber, head of Amazon.com's A9 search subsidary
Prabhakar Raghavan, Yahoo's research head
Or Susan Dumais, on of Microsoft's top search researchers.

A bold move to snatch away top talent from competitors and academia and those interested in them? It's a novel recruiting tactic!! Amazon.com serves up a similar ad alongside a couple of these names, but Microsoft and Yahoo are no where to be found. Reference: Google's Crafty Star Search By Ben Elgin: Business Week September 12th 2005 Edition

Contest: 25 Bucks for the funniest comment

2005-09-02T03:02:00.000+03:00

Here's a challenging picture that I couldn't come up with a comment for. I’m dedicating a $25 USD Amazon gift certificate (or from another site if desired) to whoever comes up with the most humorous comment on the picture below. You have to make me laugh hard enough to pop my spleen. There must be at least 3 people that enter for a prize to be handed out. Otherwise, the only recognition will be a dedicated post for your humorous comment.

Note: Prize will be handed out in a week. Fairplay Baybee! Note 2: Please refrain from posting anonymously. If you're a none-blogger user please add your email address to the comment in the following format youraddress [at] somewhere [dot] com example:john.doe [at] gmail [dot] com. Invalid addresses and Anonymous Comments will be disqualified.

Me wants....

2005-09-01T23:35:00.000+03:00

Your friends will love it and will poke at it when you're not looking. Your girlfriend will probably think you're a pervert.

What's your poison: How much caffeine would it take to kill you?

2005-09-01T18:01:00.000+03:00

Amusing little caffeine factoid engine which spits out how much of your favorite caffeinated beverage would kill you. First you select your beverage from the drop down menu, enter your weight, and click the appropriate ‘Kill Me’ button.

According to Energy Fiend, it would take 334.37 cans of Diet Pepsi, 150.47 cans of Red Bull or 48.15 cups of Starbucks Short Coffee to set me free of all my troubles.

There is a science behind the “Death by Caffeine Calculator”:

The lethal dose is based on the LD_50 for oral ingestion of caffeine, and a lot of studies report different numbers. The one I’m using is about 150mg/kg. If you were to get caffeine injected into your bloodstream, as little as 2 grams can kill a grown adult. LD_50 is a medical term to indicate the dose that kills 50% of the test subjects. I’m not sure how they figured it out for people
The number of cans/bottles/etc the calculator gives you assumes you can drink it all immediately, or one-after-another. Physical limitations mean that you probably can’t drink enough of anything to kill you, but you can certainly start freaking out, hallucinating, go into shock or seizure, all sorts of cool things.

For a different perspective on this you may check Lina’s Coffee soon to be considered a Health Drink

OSx86: The Ultimate Guide on how to get OS X up and running on your Intel Box

2005-09-01T17:07:00.000+03:00

Ever since I put up Screenshots of Mac OS X running under Windows a few weeks back, I’ve been bombarded with all sorts of questions on how to get it installed, what kind of machine is needed to get it up and running, and most importantly where do I find the files needed for this and so on. Here’s an attempt to answer all of your questions please let me know if there’s anything I’ve missed. Question 1: Where do I get MacOSx86? Authorized users should obtain the OSX files from Apple. It is illegal to obtain them from torrent sites by searching under and of the following keyword combinations: "VMWare files for patched Mac OS X Tiger Intel" or “Deadmoo” or “OSx86” Question 2: What kind of machine do I need to run Mac OS X? Any machines that has SSE2 is able to run OS X86, you will need SSE3 in order to run Rosetta, a workaround to run Rosetta on SSE2 is available. Its CPU intense however as it translates every SSE3 instruction into SSE2 Question 3: How do I find out if my machine has SSE2/SSE3? Download the About CPU-Z application and run it on your machine, it will tell you what kind of instructions your CPU has (see screenshot below). Question 4: I have a Prescott CPU and I’m unable to run Rosetta! I ran into the same problem on my installation, Mac OS X is unable to resolve whether you have SSE3 or not if your motherboard has an 865PE chipset. You can either replace your motherboard or run the SS3 2 SSE2 Patch Question 5: What’s the ultimate machine to run Mac OS X on? I’m not sure if this is the ultimate configuration, these are the specs for the machine that Apple is currently leasing to developers. CPU: must support SSE3 Chipset: Intel 915 chipset (others may work if they support ich4 or ich5) GPU: Intel Graphics Media Accelerator 900 Motherboard: Intel D915GUXLK I would definitely recommend having at least 1 Gigabyte of RAM, although we ran this emulated on a laptop with 256 MB and several applications running in the background. Question 6: How would I know if my current hardware would run? Well there’s no official hardware compatibility list, OSx86 Project and several other sites rely on Wiki to report whether hardware would work or not. You can check HCL | NON-COMPATIBLE HARDWARE LIST Question 7: There’s no Networking or Sound on VMWare! Yes, VMWare was not designed to run bootlegged operating systems. There are no drivers for sound and networking on VMWare, I don’t think anyone has bothered to write drivers for it; as it can be run Natively. Here’s a list of soundcards and Ethernet cards that would work with a native OS X installation: Sound: -ADI AD1985 -Audiotrak Maya 5.1 USB Audio -C-media AC’97 -C-Media USB Audio -Creative SB Live! 24-Bit External USB -Griffin iMic -Intel ICH4/ICH5/ICH5R/ -Intel ICH6 AC’97 -M-Audio Revolution 7.1 (Uses OSX drivers) -Realtek AC’97 Audio for VIA a.k.a VT8235 (try SPDIF-output) -Realtek ALC650 -Realtek ALC655 -Realtek ALC850 (nForce4 Audio, needs edited kext) -Realtek ALC855 -Realtek ALC860 -Sigmatel C-Major Audio (copy over AppleAC97 kext from Darwin) -Sonica Theater (USB) -SoundMax Integrated Digital Audio (AC97) -VIA VT8233, VT8237 Ethernet: -3Com 3c900 (10mbit only) -3Com 3c905/3c905B/3c905C NIC -3Com 3c920 10/100 Integrated -Broadcom BCM4400 10/100 integrated controller -Broadcom NetXtreme BCM5705M Gigabit Ethernet -Intel 82559-based NIC (EtherExpress Pro/100+) -Intel PRO/100 VE and PRO/1000 -Intel 82557 EE PRO/100 -Intel 82540EM Gigabit Ethernet -Intel 82547EI/82562EZ -National Semiconductor DP83816 “MacPhyter” -Netgear FA311 - ( http://homepage.mac.com/yukidon/mac/en/dp8381x.html ) -Realtek RTL8139/810x Family Fast Ethernet NIC -Realtek 8100C -Realtek 8139 - D-Link DFE-530TX+, also many generics/onboard -Realtek 8169/8169S - Gigabit NIC’s (Netgear GA311) - -SMC-1211TX (Recognized as RTL8139 [Realtek] -Surecom EP-320X-R 100/10/M Video cards/chipsets: - Integrated i915G Intel GMA900 (works with all resolutions, Quartz Extreme, Core-Graphics and 2d/3d acceleration) - Almost all other video cards will work properly, but no hardware acceleration is used Question 8: How do I install OSx86 natively? There are several guides on to do this here’s one of my favorites http://www.xplodenet.com/blog/?page_id=11 Question 9: These look very complicated is there an easier way? Well you can replicate the tiger-x86 image onto a separate hard driver (Separate partition will not do). You can lookup the guide on www.osx86-project.org Question 10: But that requires Linux and looks complicated! Isn’t there a way to do this on windows? Well I’m not particularly a fan of making things complicated; again you will need a separate harddrive, a separate partiontion will not do! I repeat will not do. You can also use an external drive if you wish (make sure your BIOS supports booting from USB devices)

Obtain the OSX files from Apple. It’s illegal to get the from torrent.
Unrar the files to the root of your C Drive
Download the Forensic Acquisition Utilities or Rawrite DD (http://uranus.it.swin.edu.au/~jn/linux/rawwrite/dd.htm)

Unzip these files and copy dd.exe (as well as every file in that directory to the root of c: drive as well)

Download WMI Tools from Microsoft, and install them; go to programs > WMI Tools and run WMI Object Brower, an Internet Explorer page will fire up (if you have SP2 installed allow the blocked content)

Select WIN32_SystemPartitions.PartComponent in the left column then right-click on the drive device id (Disk #0, Partition #0, etc) in the right column and select Go to Object

The device window will open and click the associations tab

Exploring with this tool you should be able to match drive letters (Win32_LogicalDisk.DeviceID = “C:”) to its physicaldisk reference (Win32_DiskDrive.DeviceID = “\\\\.\\PHYSICALDRIVE0”)

Now that you know the Physical ID of the drive you want to use the following command to do it: dd if=c:\tiger-x86-flat.img of=\\.\PhysicalDriveSomething Where something is the Physical Drive ID

The command will seem to hang, but you’ll notice your drive is firing up, just let it complete it’s business, it would take anytime from 10 minutes to hours depending on your hardware configuration

Once it’s done, reboot and select the new drive as your boot drive, Voila! You’re done

Question 11: My friend has Mac OS X86 installed on his machine, can I replicate it from there? Yes you can! You can even map a real hard disk to your virtual machine and replicate it from there check this guide: http://www.bombich.com/mactips/image.html Question 12: You mentioned windows applications running on Mac OS X86 is this true? Yes, buggy but true. I managed to run a few applications, nothing too hardcore. Darwine allows the Windows API to be created in x11 terminal, and thus run win32 applications through the help of Winehelper. I would like to take the opportunity to thank the Darwine team for their great achievements of porting the open-source Wine (http://www.winehq.org) to Mac OS X. I bow to you guys!

Winston's Lego Computer

2005-09-01T12:29:00.000+03:00

The lengths to which some Lego enthusiasts go to build their plastic sculptures are often as amazing as the structures themselves. From replicas of Taj Mahal to Homer Simpson. Below is probably the one that impressed me the most. A modded computer case built entirely using Lego Blocks. Lego Computer Case Documentation Site

Apple's Secret is Out

2005-09-01T12:16:00.000+03:00

The secret is out, but is it JUST the iTunes phone? Would the be launching the video iPod too? Click the image for Apple Insider's Article == Update 1:25PM - Links have been updated. It should take you to the correct article now.

Only for today: Free Opera Browser

2005-08-30T21:37:00.000+03:00

For those of you eager to switch from Internet Explorer; comes a one day only promotion from Opera. They're celebrating their 10th birthday and offering an Ad free version of their browser (Normally $39USD) via download.com Simply e-mail registerme@opera.com to obtain a registration code. Click here for more information

Microsoft & Nokia vs Motorola & Apple: New iPod phone on the horizon?

2005-08-30T21:15:00.000+03:00

As you're probably aware Nokia licensed Windows Media technology from Microsoft last February; in an attempt to build a widely distributed iPod class contender and squeeze out any major MP3 player out of business. But why would Nokia choose one of its biggest competitors as an ally? If Nokia really wanted to go for market share in music, surely they would approach Apple? No doubt, Nokia tried and Apple nixed the idea. But, why would Apple say no to a partnership with the world's largest cell phone maker? If you consider the iPod as a platform for listening to music, the logical next step of the evolution is the cell phone? News started to surface on the internet about a possible iPod phone; the Motorola ROKR is set to launch next week. Nokia rolls out approximately 690 million phones a year, Microsoft Windows Media is subscription based unlike iTunes, and 3G is out in the open and on the horizon at many countries. Given the customer loyalty Nokia has and Microsoft market-share; I think this can be a possible iPod Killer. However, If there is one lesson CEO Steve Jobs has learned the hard way, it is that being first rarely pays in technology markets (remember Newton?). Part of the success of the iPod was exactly that it did not come first, and it is likely that Steve Jobs will play this game the same way. For More:

Photo of the Day: The Real Romeo & Juliet

2005-08-30T15:19:00.000+03:00

Juliet: “Oh Romeo, Romeo. Wherefore art thou Romeo?” Romeo : “Mmphf… I’m here Juliet!”

When you pass by a statue like the one above, you think: “What an interesting art piece. I wonder what the artist was trying to portray? Would you pass the Merlot?” On the other hand, if you get two real people to mimic the body positions of that same statue in real life, you get something along the lines of “You disgusting pigs!”

Original Here

Tagging: the chain letters of the blogosphere

2005-08-30T14:54:00.000+03:00

Yazan Malakha Ranting and raving about a contaminated blogosphere. Intoxicated by their newly struck friendships; and attempting to create better personal connections, Arab bloggers managed to contaminate the blogosphere with a new form of junk, forgetting what blogging is all about. Chain letters infuriate me probably more than any other piece of spam I ever encountered. I still can’t get over how intelligent grown men and women, lose all sense of reality and forward along these ridiculous, badly written, error-ridden pieces of garbage. I find it peculiar that those inbox fillers have managed to find their way to blogs. Let me remind you of what blogging is all about: From a technical side; blogging is all about posting, subscribing and tagging (not to be mixed with the chain-letter phenomena); these are the three fundamental building blocks for all the different kinds of blogging. Posting came first; people have been blogging in some form since the advent of the Internet. Creating Geocities pages for instance was as early forms of blogging. Then came subscribing; RSS is a big deal, but it’s a technology not a human behavior, it’s an enabler; subscribing is a human behavior and is fundamental to the whole blogging equation. Tagging is the third and final leg of the stool. With well over ten million bloggers posting a couple of times a week (on average), how do you keep track of all the content generated? You can’t, not in an absolute sense anyway. But you can establish a framework for user generated content and build on top of it. There are two forms of Tagging, self tagging and aggregated tagging; both equally important, Think how difficult it would be to find photos on Flickr without tagging, get the picture? Now think how Technorati simplified blog search. There are several forms of blogging, it’s not limited to posting a short blast of text into your favorite software be it blogger, typepad or wordpress. Podcasting is blogging, posting photos on Flickr is blogging, hell even posting a video of your dog is blogging. To blog is to chronicle your thoughts, your opinions, maybe your activities and personal life, either in the hopes of enlightening yourself and others, or because your ego is the size of Texas. I fail to see how chain-letters would serve to do either. The ease of use of web logging tools and the lower entry barrier should not be abused to create a new problem of internet communication. Use it to engage wider audience, tackle the incredible amount of misinformation being tossed about, or to find the true facts behind the stories! Enrich your lives and others. Break the chain, nothing bad is going to happen, I promise. Or at least find a new name for your "chain-letter" trend. Till next time.. Tagging who?

The wisdom of Malakha

2005-08-30T03:39:00.000+03:00

Well everyone has been throwing quotes left and right, here's one of the wisest things ever said: “Give a man a link and he can waste an afternoon. Teach a man to Google and he can waste a lifetime.” Yazan Malakha (1979 - ) - Some MSN conversation

Yay, Rant Time: Now Flick Off!

2005-08-30T01:17:00.000+03:00

As you probably know Ludicorp (creator of Flickr) got into bed with Yahoo last march, later on it moved from it's home in Vancouver to Yahoo's Sunnyvale's campus. A couple of months ago Yahoo issued the following statement on Flickr's website.

"Please note that we will be migrating all independent Flickr accounts to Yahoo!'s network in 2006. At that time, if you have not done so already, you will be asked to create a Yahoo! ID (or link your account to your Yahoo! ID if you already have one) in order to continue using your account. We'll provide further details about the merge as the date approaches."

Angered by the new requirement some Flickrites are planning to kill off their identities before they can be moved into the new family. "If Flickr really forces me to join Yahoo in 2006 in order to still use my account, I will quit 24 hours before the deadline," wrote Thomas Müller, a Hamburg, Germany-based artist and creator of the protest group "Flick Off!"

Now in my humble opinion keeping your personal data on someone else's machine implies a continual set of readjustments of the contract between the you two. Web-based social neighborhoods will change as much as local cities neighborhoods do, remember the old old Usenet/AOL invasion, or the more recent Yahoo and Geocities acquisition?

I personally don’t see why they can’t just create a Y! account and move on with thier lives (or lack thereof). What would you do? Leave a comment

And the Plot Thickens: Windows Applications on MacOS X86

2005-08-29T03:05:00.000+03:00

By adapting the Wine compatibility layer for Windows, a method to run windows programs under OS X for Intel has been developed. Could this be Apple's plot behind releasing a not-so-secure developers’ kit? Porting Wine to OSx86 requires serious tweaking, which still results in very unstable programs, work such as this opens a range of possibilities in the future. Since future versions of OS X will be built around the same Intel Processors that power Windows. Will we be able to run Windows apps as if they were native to OS X? Or perhaps the other way around? Will be able to double, or triple boot? It would be Apple’s dream come true if they’re able to actually have all Windows Applications available run under Mac OS X NATIVELY! I wonder what Bill Gates have to say about this, buy Apple Stock? More Here

The Palestinian Lyrical Front: A Step in the right direction

2005-08-29T01:05:00.000+03:00

It’s times like these that I wish I poses a journalist’s writing skills and reach to describe the revolution taking place on the Palestinian end, for decades Palestinians have been outgunned and never outspoken, but not anymore. Armed with powerful words, singing in Arabic, English and Hebrew with topics ranging from history and politics to love; The Palestinian Lyrical Front, comprising of 10 rap artists/bands aims to break the silence with Slingshot, a Hip Hop documentary focusing on the struggle and daily life of Palestinians living in Gaza, the west bank and Israel. Their willingness to experiment with a new medium, the absence of religious scrapping, and the ability to differentiate between Zionism and Judaism is awe inspiring. These kids know their & peace’s enemy. Here’s a sample of their lyrics حرام يا شعبي حرام, عشان جدادنا اذا بشفونا بتألبوا بالقبور كيف هم اخترعوا الصفر واحفادهم صاروا صفور For the benefit of non-arab readers this means (it’s a pity how things have turned, if our grandfathers saw us they’d roll in their graves, they invented the zero and that’s what we’ve become) Although their music may lack the immediacy of other rap songs, it’s still a veritable storm of apt samples, grumbling percussion, memorable riffs, and powerful lyrics. Songs like “olive trees” describe the uprooting of the Palestinians from their land, much in the same way Israeli settlers are uprooting olive trees today. Ironically, olive trees are an international symbol of peace. Here's a list of some of their songs. Right click and select Save as to download. By the way (DAM stands for Da Arab Mc’s not Blood as I initially thought) 1- Slingshot A Hip Hop Documentary (Trailer) (Windows Media Quicktime) 2- MBS + DAM – Boomerang 3- DAM - Meen Erhabe? (Who’s the terrorist) 4- DAM - ANA EW INTI 5- DAM - BORN HERE (ARABIC VERSION) 6- DAM – BORN HERE VIDEO (A MUST SEE) 7 - IRON SHEIK -OLIVE TREES 8 - IRON SHEIK - THE TALE OF THREE MUHAMMEDS (A MUST) For More Visit: Iron Sheik, DAM, Slingshot Please feel free to copy this into your website if you don't feel like rewriting.

Perfect photo for a Sunday post

2005-08-28T18:34:00.000+03:00

8 Simple Rules for RENTING My Teenage Daughter

2005-08-28T18:18:00.000+03:00

Yes you've read it right, RENT MY DAUGHTER!! I’m not particularly sure if there is any validity to these services. It's quite humorous to think about though. Who hasn’t wished for a little runt to pick up around the house? Or possibly a faux family to impress the boss at that next company picnic? You can email Jill, who specializes in parties and proms, if you need a date for your zit-full, annoying no girl would look at twice kid. Or perhaps invite Candace who specializes in birthday parties and playing in the park to play with your kids.

Why Bush Got a Second Term

2005-08-28T12:30:00.000+03:00

Let's see, mullet, sub-high school education, incipient beer gut... Yep, he's a republican; anyone who wonders how Bush got a second term can use this as a reality check:

Mullet. Check. Star spangled bandana. Check. Go USA sign. Check. “Get A BRAIN!” with Moron spelled Mor-A-n. Check check!!!

Source: It's Recess Time Somewhere

Do pubes sell jeans?

2005-08-27T00:30:00.000+03:00

Do pubes sell jeans? That's what Dolce & Gabbana seem to think.

Pull up your pants son! What are you thinking? Don't you know how uncomfortable and risky it is for a guy to go commando while wearing a pair of jeans? You can definitely run into trouble when doing the quick shake n’ zip. Mayday! Mayday! Man down! Man down!

Mountain Dew: Elixir of Life?

2005-08-27T00:14:00.000+03:00

I’m not sure if this is at all possible. Nonetheless, it’s still freakishly entertaining to watch. The video starts out with an innocent goldfish in a bowl. The water is slowly sucked out of the bowl causing the fish to suffocate; up until it passes. Afterwhich a guy empties a can of Mountain Due into the bowl and lets the fish marinate for a bit, then replaces the Mountain due with water, and zaps the fish back to life using a 9 volts battery.

So are there any goldfish torture professionals with know how or experience in this area? Or is Mountain Dew the elixir of life? Which is by the way rumored to shrink your manhood.

Watch the Video (Quicktime Required)

How To: Google Talk Tips & Tricks

2005-08-26T23:09:00.000+03:00

Yet Another Google Post! How To: Setup Google on Mac OSX iChat Several people have been complaining about not being able to get Talk to run on their iChat despite following Google's setup guide step by step. Well apparently iChat doesn't translate the IP for talk.google.com properly and connects to the website IP instead of the Jabber service. By using 216.239.37.125 as the server I was able to connect to Talk (Screenshot below) How To: Run multiple instances of Google Talk This might not be useful for all of you, but for those who keep two addresses; or like messing with their friends by claiming to be a hottie, starting multiple instances of Talk is quite easy. If you have a desktop shortcut for Google Talk, right-click on the icon, go to ‘Properties’, and find the ‘Target’ field. Add /nomutex to the end of the target string. See the screenshot below. Now simply double click on the icon, and another Google Talk instance will fire up. How To: Replace Google Talk's Logo? By using Resource Hacker, I was able to replace Google's Logo with a different logo, or remove the logo all together (Not exactly legal). How To: Find Chat History Location Chat logs are stored here: C:\Documents and settings\[username]\local settings\application data\Google\GTalk\chatlogs

Father Brian: The red pill or the blue pill son?

2005-08-26T03:55:00.000+03:00

Thought it would be nice to post a non-tech article everyonce in a while; an edgy poster showing a somber Catholic priest in full black cassock and sunglasses posed like “The Matrix” star Keanu Reeves is proving so popular that the U.S. Conference of Catholic Bishops has snapped up 5,000 of them. Rated R for “restricted to those radically in love with Jesus Christ.” Running time is “all eternity,” and its title reads, “The Catholic priesthood: The answer is out there … and it’s calling you.” No offense to the church, but that last line about it being rated-R is a tad on the cheesy side. Read More

Unlimited Free iTunes Songs!

2005-08-25T01:20:00.000+03:00

Wish you can legitimately download all the songs you want without paying a penny? Well now you can! Thank you Wells Fargo!!!! Sign up here, use multiple email addresses (or aliases). Name does not have to be changed ;-) ======= Note: Due to greed; apparently the guys at Wells Fargo ran out of iTunes Downloads. I'm keeping this for historical purposes. Sorry for the inconvenience

Let's talk about Google Talk!

2005-08-24T19:24:00.000+03:00

Alright, privacy issues aside; Google Talk's GUI design is very intuitive and nothing short of brilliant! The application allows you to circulate between your contacts using a keyboard shortcut (Ctrl+tab); you no longer have to go through the million browser windows open to get to another contact's window using the keyboard! Other than that the ability to stick chat windows to each other and to the primary window is amazing. You can pretty much arrange windows whichever way you like, check out the screenshots below. By double clicking on a contact's window, it would either open/close the chat window! If contact windows are minimized and stuck together, clicking on the person's name in the main window, will enlarge their window, clicking on another perosn's name will minimize the open one and enlarge the person you've clicked!

On a Further Note: Google Talk

2005-08-24T11:06:00.000+03:00

I never thought I'd actually say this, but what about a Mac OSX Client?! Let me stress the fact that Google Talk is a JABBER based IM Client which means it would work with any JABBER client that already exists. You'd be able to login and chat, but you won't benefit from other features of the client. I was able to log on to the Google Jabber server using my existing Google username and password few hours before its launch. When checking my offline contacts using Google’s Jabber server, it lists email addresses I’ve emailed within the last few hours. How to setup Google IM on Jabber based clients?

Add an account, select "Jabber" as the protocol
Your screen name is everything before the "@gmail.com"
Server is "Gmail.com"
Click "Show more options" and make sure "use TLS if available" is checked.
Leave "Force old SSL" and "allow plaintext.." unchecked for now
Connection port should be 5222, connection server should be "talk.google.com"
Ta-Da! You're good to go

For a list of clients for other OS(s) go to: http://www.google.com/talk/otherclients.html

Google Introduces Google Talk [Instant Messenger]

2005-08-24T10:45:00.000+03:00

Let's face it, Google wouldn’t have been “complete” without one right? I mean, Yahoo, MSN, and AOL have it. Why not Google? Let’s face the truth. Hello, Google’s photo sharing application, can’t really be considered a chat application. It’s not like anyone says “hey I’ll be on Hello when I get home, send me a message.”

I really can’t imagine what it’s like to work for Google right now. They’re churning out services like Oompa Loompas candy at Charlie’s Chocolate Factory. I’m still amazed by the recent Google Desktop Search application with an interegrated sidebar complete with developer extensibility.

I’ve spent the last hour or so playing around with the new Google IM client and have a few thoughts. First of all, although not as "pretty" or "feature full" (look below) as other chat clients I've used; I’d like to commend Google for creating a clean, ad-free, Gmail integrated chat client. Gmail contacts are indexed and easily accessible through the chat client. Multiple chat windows make use of a slick sliding “tabbed” interface navigated using the Tab and Ctrl + Tab combo. The client also serves as a Gmail notification utility.

As of today, you’re only able to text chat / audio chat with other Google users. According to this Google Talk help page future support for mutli-protocol chat is being worked on. I’ve also discovered that inviting non-Google users to Google Talk will send them a Gmail invite. That means unlimited Gmail invites. Who doesn’t have a Gmail account that is still looking?

I’m sure Google will slowly integrate all of its online services into the Google Talk client within the next few months. Download your copy here!

--- Edit (12:00 PM / 24th August 2005) Talk's interface is very simple and doesn't have rich features such as emotion icons, winks etc. Simple is good of course! A very intuitive feature that I liked was; if you place two Talk windows underneath each other they would glue, and you'd be able to drag them both around.What's missing? Multiple party chats and file transfers! It also could use a video conferencing feature. VOIP quality is fair; although a trial with a friend of mine, Karim, resulted in static and irreversible damage to my ear.

--- Edit (1:03 PM / 24th August 2005) Privacy Anyone? I'm not exactly sure if this is true, so please feel free to correct me; Google Talk has the "save chat history" enabled by default; no where do they state where the files will be saved. I checked the registry and my hard drive and was unable to find saved history files; which leads me to believe these are actually stored on google's server!!!!! If true, I wouldn't be surprised if they get slammed with a privacy lawsuit.

Google Knows!

2005-08-23T21:58:00.000+03:00

Back in 2004 searching for "Paris Hilton isn't a whore" would trigger google's suggestion as seen below! The bewildering amount of people that have blogged about it eliminated the need for the suggestion; that or her publicist

On the other hand.. has anyone tried to google "failure" recently? Try it and check out the first result.

Governmental Job Title Generator

2005-08-23T13:34:00.000+03:00

Senior Accountability Orchestrator? Huh? Have a new hiring rec? Can’t think of an exciting title? Have a friend or relative you want to hire but they have no skills? Generate their title right here! Job Title Generator