It has been soo long since I've opened this page; actually i tried to open it once but somehow I just forgot how.
One year has passed so quickly. Can't beleive how time passes. During the past year a lot has happened!
I remember the fall semester was the fastest semester ever. It was cold but it was nice. Got to know new people. Got to live alone. Got to know new places. Enjoyed Rugby games on cold friday nights; it was nice.
Spring semester was soo long. Had a very bad room-shit not room-mate! I'm sure that every guy is way cleaner than her! On the other hand it was a nice semester as well despite this room thing. Some action took place in my life. A lot of projects; a lot of work to do but the semester ended in a good way. By the way in case ur wondering the girl moved from my room :)
Summer semester was hot and fun! Spent all the weekends down in Beirut. Only one weekend in Balamand and it was the Graduation of the University so it wasn't that bad at all and I remember the exact next day was my first management exam i got 92; that was a surprise. Adding to that a lot of people came and they kept us busy durin the weekends. First our friend came, then my uncle's family, then my parents and later on my mom's whole family so it was really nice. Enjoyed the beach a lot; especially the tanning part!
Now i'm at home, relaxing. Enjoyin time with my family and friends. Watched Prison Break season 3 which i was suppose to finished in the summer semester but didn't have time. Even started with season 4. Gonna start Grey's anatomy season 4 soon maybe from Saturday :)
Finished a book called "The Choice" by Nicholas Sparks very good book btw. Now i'm reading "The Call" by Oriah - challenging one. So summer in Amman is going reallly goood. Almost forgot to mention that im watchin 2 Syrian Movies now in Ramadan. :)
Now there's nothing left about 2 weeks and i'll be going back to Leb. Our parents are going to come with us, spend about 4 days then they'll come back here while we go back to Uni life which i kinda miss. Hope this coming fall semester will bring more action into my life and most importantly that it will pass quickly.
That's it for now. Can't believe that this is the summary for a whole year! Intresting actually :)
It's about 2 p.m now and im not feeling sleepy at all but i'm going to bed anyway.
Tuesday, September 16, 2008
Monday, June 9, 2008
NBA
Lets turn on to Basketball. The most important basketball tournamrnt in the world is the NBA or National Basketball Association.The final is hapenning right now between Los angeles Lakers and Boston celtics.
LOS ANGELES, June 10, 2008 -- You don’t want to date ugly and you certainly don’t want to marry ugly, but sometimes winning ugly is where it’s at.
The Lakers’ 87-81 victory in Game 3 on Tuesday was painful to watch, but a slash mark in the W column to draw the series to 2-1 has to be a sight for sore eyes for L.A. fans.
After all, it had been 12 days since the Lakers last experienced a triumph back in Game 5 of the Western Conference Finals and L.A.’s haphazard play for most of Game 3 made you think that Kobe and Co. had forgotten how to win.
L.A. missed 39 of its 69 shot attempts (.435) and bricked an equally paltry 13 of its 34 free throw tries (.618).
The only place you’ll see a worse group of numbers these days is on the pricing billboard at a gas station.
If the Lakers were upset with the refs because they only took 10 foul shots in all of Game 2, they’ll look back at the tape from Tuesday and can only curse themselves for missing 10 freebies in the first half alone.
Speaking of the game tape, after the coaching staffs watch it, they might just want to use the DVDs as coasters. (They may need a stiff drink after that one.) Or they could put them under the uneven legs on their desks so that they don’t wobble anymore. No need to save this one for the video archives.
There are instant classics and then there are anti classics. Tuesday was the latter.
It looked like the last pickup run of the day, you know, the one plagued by slow feet, mistimed passes, forced shots and guys that want to go home.
It was at times as sloppy as a freshman dorm room.
Most of the action as unpleasant to look at as Jabba the Hutt’s fat rolls.
Lakers coach Phil Jackson made the understatement of the decade when describing Game 3:
“It was not a beautiful ballgame.”
But somehow through it all, Kobe Bryant emerged with a 36-point, seven-rebound, two-steal night and a clutch performance that made him like the flower that manages to grow through a crack in the sidewalk on a dilapitated city block.
The only bright spot for L.A. other than Kobe and the myriad celebrities in attendance at STAPLES Center (Sylvester Stallone and Eddie Murphy were sitting side by side, with no buffer seat in between them - that's how you know the stars are really out in full force, the lack of buffer seats) was Sasha Vujacic who had 20 points on 7-for-10 shooting, including a big three with two minutes remaining.
But it wasn't as big as what Kobe did down the stretch.
With the Lakers holding a five-point lead and only a minute left on the clock, Bryant connected on a jumper to push the lead to seven.
The Celtics’ Eddie House (who played his first minutes of The Finals thanks to a Rajon Rondo turned ankle) banged a 3-pointer to draw Boston back to within four.
The ball went back to Bryant who had Ray Allen checking him one on one. Mr. Mamba slithered into the lane, got Allen to bite on a pump fake and flipped in a back-breaking leaner that sealed the win for the Lakers.
Fittingly, even Kobe’s night was flawed as he was one of the main culprits in the Lakers’ foul line ineptitude. Bryant went just 11-for-18 from the charity stripe and said that he felt like he was in a “foreign territory” after coming up empty at the line so often.
“It's like somebody took me and just dropped me off in the middle of Shanghai with no translator,” Bryant said.
Bryant didn’t appear nearly as lost as his teammates Lamar Odom and Pau Gasol.
The not-so-dynamic duo combined to score just 13 points on 5-for-18 shooting with eight turnovers.
Gasol had more missed free throws (five) than he had made field goals (three) and Odom had more turnovers (five) than he had points (four).
"We're playing a great defensive team," Bryant said. "They're going to take something away. The important thing for us is to figure out how to win despite that, and that's the key if you want to win a championship. We've got to figure out how to win ballgames when we don't shoot particularly well, when Lamar is in foul trouble, when Pau is in foul trouble. We still have to figure out how to win."
The poor play was infectious, as the Celtics’ Big Three was operating at similar one-third capacity to the Lakers’ trio turned solo of Bryant, Gasol and Odom. Like Kobe, Ray Allen showed up with 25 points, but Kevin Garnett and Paul Pierce came up as small if not smaller than Odom and Gasol, combining for 19 points on 8-for-35 shooting, seven fouls and six turnovers.
“Throughout the game and throughout the series there’s going to be ups and downs and you just have to find a way to gut them out, gut them out, gut them out,” Odom said. “We did that tonight.”
Thanks to L.A. gutting it out on Tuesday, the Lakers will have a chance to tie up the series in Game 4 on Thursday (9 p.m. ET, ABC).
The prospect of an NBA Finals between the Lakers and the Celtics knotted at 2-2?
Now that’s a beautiful thing.
http://www.nba.com/finals2008/lakers_080610.html
LOS ANGELES, June 10, 2008 -- You don’t want to date ugly and you certainly don’t want to marry ugly, but sometimes winning ugly is where it’s at.
The Lakers’ 87-81 victory in Game 3 on Tuesday was painful to watch, but a slash mark in the W column to draw the series to 2-1 has to be a sight for sore eyes for L.A. fans.
After all, it had been 12 days since the Lakers last experienced a triumph back in Game 5 of the Western Conference Finals and L.A.’s haphazard play for most of Game 3 made you think that Kobe and Co. had forgotten how to win.
L.A. missed 39 of its 69 shot attempts (.435) and bricked an equally paltry 13 of its 34 free throw tries (.618).
The only place you’ll see a worse group of numbers these days is on the pricing billboard at a gas station.
If the Lakers were upset with the refs because they only took 10 foul shots in all of Game 2, they’ll look back at the tape from Tuesday and can only curse themselves for missing 10 freebies in the first half alone.
Speaking of the game tape, after the coaching staffs watch it, they might just want to use the DVDs as coasters. (They may need a stiff drink after that one.) Or they could put them under the uneven legs on their desks so that they don’t wobble anymore. No need to save this one for the video archives.
There are instant classics and then there are anti classics. Tuesday was the latter.
It looked like the last pickup run of the day, you know, the one plagued by slow feet, mistimed passes, forced shots and guys that want to go home.
It was at times as sloppy as a freshman dorm room.
Most of the action as unpleasant to look at as Jabba the Hutt’s fat rolls.
Lakers coach Phil Jackson made the understatement of the decade when describing Game 3:
“It was not a beautiful ballgame.”
But somehow through it all, Kobe Bryant emerged with a 36-point, seven-rebound, two-steal night and a clutch performance that made him like the flower that manages to grow through a crack in the sidewalk on a dilapitated city block.
The only bright spot for L.A. other than Kobe and the myriad celebrities in attendance at STAPLES Center (Sylvester Stallone and Eddie Murphy were sitting side by side, with no buffer seat in between them - that's how you know the stars are really out in full force, the lack of buffer seats) was Sasha Vujacic who had 20 points on 7-for-10 shooting, including a big three with two minutes remaining.
But it wasn't as big as what Kobe did down the stretch.
With the Lakers holding a five-point lead and only a minute left on the clock, Bryant connected on a jumper to push the lead to seven.
The Celtics’ Eddie House (who played his first minutes of The Finals thanks to a Rajon Rondo turned ankle) banged a 3-pointer to draw Boston back to within four.
The ball went back to Bryant who had Ray Allen checking him one on one. Mr. Mamba slithered into the lane, got Allen to bite on a pump fake and flipped in a back-breaking leaner that sealed the win for the Lakers.
Fittingly, even Kobe’s night was flawed as he was one of the main culprits in the Lakers’ foul line ineptitude. Bryant went just 11-for-18 from the charity stripe and said that he felt like he was in a “foreign territory” after coming up empty at the line so often.
“It's like somebody took me and just dropped me off in the middle of Shanghai with no translator,” Bryant said.
Bryant didn’t appear nearly as lost as his teammates Lamar Odom and Pau Gasol.
The not-so-dynamic duo combined to score just 13 points on 5-for-18 shooting with eight turnovers.
Gasol had more missed free throws (five) than he had made field goals (three) and Odom had more turnovers (five) than he had points (four).
"We're playing a great defensive team," Bryant said. "They're going to take something away. The important thing for us is to figure out how to win despite that, and that's the key if you want to win a championship. We've got to figure out how to win ballgames when we don't shoot particularly well, when Lamar is in foul trouble, when Pau is in foul trouble. We still have to figure out how to win."
The poor play was infectious, as the Celtics’ Big Three was operating at similar one-third capacity to the Lakers’ trio turned solo of Bryant, Gasol and Odom. Like Kobe, Ray Allen showed up with 25 points, but Kevin Garnett and Paul Pierce came up as small if not smaller than Odom and Gasol, combining for 19 points on 8-for-35 shooting, seven fouls and six turnovers.
“Throughout the game and throughout the series there’s going to be ups and downs and you just have to find a way to gut them out, gut them out, gut them out,” Odom said. “We did that tonight.”
Thanks to L.A. gutting it out on Tuesday, the Lakers will have a chance to tie up the series in Game 4 on Thursday (9 p.m. ET, ABC).
The prospect of an NBA Finals between the Lakers and the Celtics knotted at 2-2?
Now that’s a beautiful thing.
http://www.nba.com/finals2008/lakers_080610.html
Wednesday, June 4, 2008
Euro 2008
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As most of you know, the Euro 2008 tournament is starting in 07-06-2008. The tournament is happining in Austria and Switzerland. The teams qualified to this tournament are:
In group A: Czech Republic, Portugal, Switzerland, Turkey
In group B : Austria, Croatia, Germany, Poland
In group C : France, Italy, Netherlands, Romania
In group D : Greece, Russia, Spain, Sweden
Note: You can click on each country to know more about it's team.
Each team plays 3 games in its group. The teams gain 3 points for a winner, 1 point for a draw and nothing in case of losing. The first two teams from each group qualify to the quarter finals.The first of groupA plays against the second from group B and viseversa.The two winners play in the semi finals.Same thing happens in groups C and D.1 team from groups A and B qualify to play the final with one team from groups C and D.
In group A: Czech Republic, Portugal, Switzerland, Turkey
In group B : Austria, Croatia, Germany, Poland
In group C : France, Italy, Netherlands, Romania
In group D : Greece, Russia, Spain, Sweden
Note: You can click on each country to know more about it's team.
Each team plays 3 games in its group. The teams gain 3 points for a winner, 1 point for a draw and nothing in case of losing. The first two teams from each group qualify to the quarter finals.The first of groupA plays against the second from group B and viseversa.The two winners play in the semi finals.Same thing happens in groups C and D.1 team from groups A and B qualify to play the final with one team from groups C and D.
Anyway, here is the whole schedule of the tournament:
Saturday 7 June 2008
1 Grp A Switzerland 18:00 Czech Republic Basel - St. Jakob-Park
2 Grp A Portugal 20:45 Turkey Geneva - Stade de Genève
Sunday 8 June 2008
3 Grp B Austria 18:00 Croatia Vienna - Ernst Happel
4 Grp B Germany 20:45 Poland Klagenfurt - Wörthersee
3 Grp B Austria 18:00 Croatia Vienna - Ernst Happel
4 Grp B Germany 20:45 Poland Klagenfurt - Wörthersee
Monday 9 June 2008
5 Grp C Romania 18:00 France Zurich - Letzigrund
6 Grp C Netherlands 20:45 Italy Berne - Stade de Suisse
5 Grp C Romania 18:00 France Zurich - Letzigrund
6 Grp C Netherlands 20:45 Italy Berne - Stade de Suisse
Tuesday 10 June 2008
7 Grp D Spain 18:00 Russia Innsbruck - Tivoli Neu
8 Grp D Greece 20:45 Sweden Salzburg - EM Stadion Wals-Siezenheim
7 Grp D Spain 18:00 Russia Innsbruck - Tivoli Neu
8 Grp D Greece 20:45 Sweden Salzburg - EM Stadion Wals-Siezenheim
Wednesday 11 June 2008
9 Grp A Czech Republic 18:00 Portugal Geneva - Stade de Genève
10 Grp A Switzerland 20:45 Turkey Basel - St. Jakob-Park
9 Grp A Czech Republic 18:00 Portugal Geneva - Stade de Genève
10 Grp A Switzerland 20:45 Turkey Basel - St. Jakob-Park
Thursday 12 June 2008
11 Grp B Croatia 18:00 Germany Klagenfurt - Wörthersee
12 Grp B Austria 20:45 Poland Vienna - Ernst Happel
11 Grp B Croatia 18:00 Germany Klagenfurt - Wörthersee
12 Grp B Austria 20:45 Poland Vienna - Ernst Happel
Friday 13 June 2008
13 Grp C Italy 18:00 Romania Zurich - Letzigrund
14 Grp C Netherlands 20:45 France Berne - Stade de Suisse
13 Grp C Italy 18:00 Romania Zurich - Letzigrund
14 Grp C Netherlands 20:45 France Berne - Stade de Suisse
Saturday 14 June 2008
15 Grp D Sweden 18:00 Spain Innsbruck - Tivoli Neu
16 Grp D Greece 20:45 Russia Salzburg - EM Stadion Wals-Siezenheim
15 Grp D Sweden 18:00 Spain Innsbruck - Tivoli Neu
16 Grp D Greece 20:45 Russia Salzburg - EM Stadion Wals-Siezenheim
Sunday 15 June 2008
17 Grp A Switzerland 20:45 Portugal Basel - St. Jakob-Park
18 Grp A Turkey 20:45 Czech Republic Geneva - Stade de Genève
17 Grp A Switzerland 20:45 Portugal Basel - St. Jakob-Park
18 Grp A Turkey 20:45 Czech Republic Geneva - Stade de Genève
Monday 16 June 2008
19 Grp B Poland 20:45 Croatia Klagenfurt - Wörthersee
20 Grp B Austria 20:45 Germany Vienna - Ernst Happel
19 Grp B Poland 20:45 Croatia Klagenfurt - Wörthersee
20 Grp B Austria 20:45 Germany Vienna - Ernst Happel
Tuesday 17 June 2008
21 Grp C Netherlands 20:45 Romania Berne - Stade de Suisse
22 Grp C France 20:45 Italy Zurich - Letzigrund
21 Grp C Netherlands 20:45 Romania Berne - Stade de Suisse
22 Grp C France 20:45 Italy Zurich - Letzigrund
Wednesday 18 June 2008
23 Grp D Greece 20:45 Spain Salzburg - EM Stadion Wals-Siezenheim
24 Grp D Russia 20:45 Sweden Innsbruck - Tivoli Neu
23 Grp D Greece 20:45 Spain Salzburg - EM Stadion Wals-Siezenheim
24 Grp D Russia 20:45 Sweden Innsbruck - Tivoli Neu
Sunday 29 June 2008
31 F Winner #29 20:45 Winner #30 Vienna - Ernst Happel
http:www.euro2008.uefa.com/tournament/matches/index.html
31 F Winner #29 20:45 Winner #30 Vienna - Ernst Happel
http:www.euro2008.uefa.com/tournament/matches/index.html
I made some statistics my self. The area of the statistics was the men dorms here in balamand.
I asked 50 guys who is their favorite team in this tournament. The results were as the following:
60% were with germany
20% with Italy
16% with Netherlands
1% with portugal
1% with turkey
1% with Spain
1% with Check Republic
Well I am with germany. The main reason is that I have the german nationality. But it is also because they are tough, serious, and dont give up until the last second. The statement "impossible is not german" is a proof for what I said.
Books...
A lot of people felt the need to write about these crimes. Felt that they had the power to raise their voices so that the world would wake up one day…
I read two stories till now about these crimes one of them called “The Forbidden Love” and the other one called “Burned Alive -- Souad"
There are a loot of books considering this subject if you want to find out more go to:-
http://www.amazon.com/s?ie=UTF8&index=books&field-keywords=Honor%20killings&page=1
You can even check some articles; go to:-
http://www.ppl.nl/catalogue.php?ppn=076241424&keyword=Honour%20killings&pagename=keyword-catalogue
I really hope that these crimes would end soon, and that some action would take place to the murderers who kill without even giving a damn if this was their daughter, mother, or even their sister!
Dana.
I read two stories till now about these crimes one of them called “The Forbidden Love” and the other one called “Burned Alive -- Souad"
This book by Norma Khouri it talks about a Muslim girl falls in love with a Christian boy in Jordan and their story continues for a while until her dad knows about it and takes some action against it! A love sotry that ends in a tragedy...
While Burned Alive it talks about Souad --a girl falls in love, makes a certain plan to meet her lover until the 4th month when her tummy starts to grow! Souad survived her own death! And as the title shows she was Burned Alive!
There are a loot of books considering this subject if you want to find out more go to:-
http://www.amazon.com/s?ie=UTF8&index=books&field-keywords=Honor%20killings&page=1
You can even check some articles; go to:-
http://www.ppl.nl/catalogue.php?ppn=076241424&keyword=Honour%20killings&pagename=keyword-catalogue
I really hope that these crimes would end soon, and that some action would take place to the murderers who kill without even giving a damn if this was their daughter, mother, or even their sister!
Dana.
Some Pictures...
I am going to post a couple of pictures on these Horrible Crimes...
These are only a sample of the truth, if these pictures moved u; if only for a while how about the real pictures that we don’t see? How about the real truth that we don’t hear?
Dana.
Monday, June 2, 2008
Pictures From Mobile Phones lead to Honor Killings!
Saturday, 17th of May 2008 not so long ago a devastating story took place in the Kurdish city of Sulaymaniyah in Iraq. When Ronak was going to a woman’s shelter in that city since she was accused of adultery by her husband, “was shot three times by a man hiding on the roof of a nearby building.” A pool of blood and a fallen red scarf marked the place where Ronaks’ life supposed to be stopped – but God’s will is always bigger than the human plans. Ronak survived after a four-hour operation – she was “wounded by bullets in the neck, side and leg.” To make things more clearer she was shot from 20ft away!
There are many ways in how these woman might die – some are strangled others are shot while others are burned alive by having petrol poured into them!
The United Nations estimates that at least 255 women died in honor-related killings in Kurdistan, in the first six months of 2007 alone.
What is even more surprising was to me is the massive increase of these crimes because of the mobile phones that are able to take pictures. How this happens? Very easily simply “men photograph themselves making love to their girlfriends and pass the pictures to their friends.”
“The first known case of sex recorded on a mobile leading to murder was in 2004. Film of a boy making love with a 17-year-old girl circulated in the Kurdish capital, Arbil. Two days later she was killed by her family and a week later he was murdered by his.”
From that day on there was an increase in the number of women who died from this thing and usually it is the women who suffer from this since there pictures are being recorded on the mobile phones!
According to some statistics that took place in 2007, about 350 women suffered from violence as a result of pictures from mobile phones! This number may not even be close to the real number that nobody knows about!
What makes all of this even worse is that some women feel that there is no escape for them and because of this according to Sherizaan Minwalla, a lawyer with the Heartland Alliance in Sulaymaniyah says: “Suicide may seem a rational choice and even a form of protest."
Dana.
There are many ways in how these woman might die – some are strangled others are shot while others are burned alive by having petrol poured into them!
The United Nations estimates that at least 255 women died in honor-related killings in Kurdistan, in the first six months of 2007 alone.
What is even more surprising was to me is the massive increase of these crimes because of the mobile phones that are able to take pictures. How this happens? Very easily simply “men photograph themselves making love to their girlfriends and pass the pictures to their friends.”
“The first known case of sex recorded on a mobile leading to murder was in 2004. Film of a boy making love with a 17-year-old girl circulated in the Kurdish capital, Arbil. Two days later she was killed by her family and a week later he was murdered by his.”
From that day on there was an increase in the number of women who died from this thing and usually it is the women who suffer from this since there pictures are being recorded on the mobile phones!
According to some statistics that took place in 2007, about 350 women suffered from violence as a result of pictures from mobile phones! This number may not even be close to the real number that nobody knows about!
What makes all of this even worse is that some women feel that there is no escape for them and because of this according to Sherizaan Minwalla, a lawyer with the Heartland Alliance in Sulaymaniyah says: “Suicide may seem a rational choice and even a form of protest."
Dana.
Thursday, May 29, 2008
Zune
Hi , in this post my subject will be Zune , a new technology launched by Microsoft . According to www.zunemax.com Zune is a 30-gigabyte model portable media player capable of playing ASF, MP3, WMA, WMA Pro (2 channel), MP4, WMV, MPEG4, JPEG and AAC files.
Unlike other portable players , Zune supports Wi-Fi connectivity. If you visit the same site mentioned in the first paragraph you will see that yhe Wi-Fi communication feature enables limited sharing of multimedia files to other Zune users within the 30feet radius. Image files can be distributed without any constraint but with music and video files, recipients can only play the file three times for three days and then the file expires. However, recipients can save the filenames of expired audio files for later purchase at Zune Marketplace. Zune users can also stream multimedia contents to Xbox 360 game console via USB or from a PC via Zune Software on a home network.
This technology first appeared in the us market on November,14,2006.The Zune system was sold at US$249.99 during the first release. However , it is getting cheaper day after day due to slugish sales.Zune players come in three different casing colors: brown, black and white . Orange, pink and red players also appeared as limited editions recently. The Zune system has 3-inch 320 x 240 screen resolution QVGA LCD display that can show over 65,000 colors . It has a dimension of 4.4 × 2.4 × 0.58-inch (11.2 × 6.1 × 1.4 cm) and weighs 5.6 ounces (158.8 grams) . The Zune comes with USB data cable, carrying bag and earphones .
www.zunemax.com
I made some interviews with some computer nurds in our university about their opinion in this technology . They all agreed that it is great, and liked the Wi-Fi connectivity in it . But still , there are some things they didn't like about it . For example ,they said : it is not backward compatible with WMA-DRM9 , it can't be used as a hard drive, it no podcast directory , it's maximum capacity of 30GB . It appeared that some of the people I interviwed have already buyed this technology . I asked them if they advise me to buy it , their answer was three letters "yes" . For this reason I am willing to buy a zune system as soon as possible .
If you are interested in buying this technology , you can visit www.cliczune.com or www.zunezone.com .
The next post wil be special . It is about some statistics I made . I am not gonna say more , just read it when it is published .
Note: The link option is not working in this post . I don't know the reason but I will solve this problem as soon as posible .
Done by Marwan Faissal
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