Happy New Year - Yes, Yesterday Has Passed

It is finished, the year is over, yesterday has passed. I really hope that everyone will have a great new year, a great 2005.

Every December 31st, I sit and think about how another year has passed; another 12 months, another 365 days, another New Year's Eve.
I find it mind-blowing.
Think about it…Time is such an abstract concept; minutes crawl, weeks fly, days start, and years end. Yet, we still assess this colossal conception we call "time" in static formulas that I believe serve only as limits to what we can accomplish in a certain frame.

Ok, enough blabbering. So how was your 2004? Mine was alright, it wasn't too great a year- I definitely preferred 2003. The last few weeks have also been kinda bad, but maybe I'm just saying that because I'm not in the best of moods as I'm writing this(regarding issues pertaining to misuse of authority, AHH!)

The New Year certainly seems appealing though, with January starting off with the arrival of people I care about, and who I haven't seen for too long. The summer also holds a promise to bring over someone I haven't seen since August 2003, so that should be really nice as well. I'm also really excited about having a Lord of The Rings movie marathon when my friend Sami comes this January as almost none of my Jordan friends agreed to have
a marathon with me(2al they couldn't stay awake through one LotR movie, bleh)

So basically, I won't be lighting my fireworks for the idea of another 365 more days of my life going down the drain, rather for the fact that this not-too-great-a-year is over.

As for resolutions, I'm not much of a resolution person. I don’t drink, I d'n’t smoke, and I'm generally quite happy with my life and with who I am, so I have none and hopefully will never be one of the people who needs to have a resolution to accomplish something.

At the end of 2004, I would like to share with you parts of the lyrics of a No Doubt song called Six Feet Under. It's rather pessimistic, and I'm a very optimistic person, but it portrays the frame of mind I'm in at this time of the year:

In the morning I wake up
And in the night I sleep
Since the day that I was born
Repeat, repeat, repeat
Brought to this life
Born to this life
Where was I before?
Non-existent? Not at all?
Will I ever know?

Subconsciously motivated natural instinct
Alter nature for the pleasure
Orthocycline
Flirt with conception
Slow the cycle
Will the baby grow?
Social tradition interference
Control, control, control

Spinning, spinning
Before I can recall
All the unknown chemicals
Control the cycle
The successive generations
From dust to dust
Burying my grandma
Then give birth to my own daughter

And I get one every year
And some day…
Hard to believe
But I’ll be buried six feet underground
I’ll be dead and gone, no longer around

Have a great 2005.

Happy Birthday Superstar

I really love comfort shoes, and the Adidas Superstar is one of my favorites. They're also so incredibly creative with the Superstar designs, which I love.
Anyway, to celebrate the 35th anniversary of the Superstar, Adidas is releasing 35 new color/styleways in several different series. The latest includes 7 customs dedicated to the cities most responsible for making the Superstar a classic; London, Berlin, NY, Boston, Buenos Aires, Tokyo, and Paris.






Check out more details at the Adidas Superstar website(and look at the rest of the collection), or check out Cool Hutning, probably my favorite design blog around.

To my sheer annoyance though(yeah, I know, DUH), Adidas didn't make an "I love Amman" shoe. Ok, so we didn't contribute in making it go mainstream, but I'm still a tad jealous, so I took matters into my own hands:



Hetta/Shmagh/ghutra because it represents not only Jordan, but a huge portion of the Arab world, and red because red is my favorite color.
I love Amman :)

Reminiscing - To Auntie Eman With Love

After a phonecall from Auntie Eman from Canada, I couldn't help but find my self reminiscing about the days of Riyadh(Auntie, we miss you guys so much).

Usually when I reminisce, the first thing I do is browse through the thousands of digital photographs piled up over the years, and I thought I'd share these with you guys(maybe to lessen your hate for the Gulf, look everyone's having fun):
Click on images for larger image


A neighbor pot-luck dinner we used to have often in the compound we used to live in in Riyadh



BBQing chestnuts by the pool at the compound during the cold desert nights. I really love this photograph



I still get my brother's RYSA sports activities emailed to my inbox although its been years already since we've lived in Riyadh

Invade the World Using... Shoes

Some French guy started spreading his fascination with Space Invaders(the video game) by finding ways to invade the world, city by city, with the little aliens. He has already invaded Paris, and has frighteningly good maps for all the other invasions he plans. He travels around putting up small mosaics of the old-school space alien logo. He's already tagged six of the nine letters of the infamous Hollywood sign in LA, although he wouldn't consider what he does graffiti.



A small part of his Earth invading scheme is this shoe. On the sole of each shoe are an alien and the words "10 points" in relief so that every time you walk on wet cement, sand, or whatever you leave your invasion mark! Each shoebox is signed, and only 1500 were produced.
This is one guy I would love to meet.

Check out the website at space-invaders.com
Via Cool Hunting

Amman Goes Opera

I'm really impressed by the recent authority initiative to acquaint the Jordanian audience with world-renowned musical standards of classical music. I think its amazing that there is interest in enriching the cultural life of Jordanians, especially in Amman.
The latest cultural awareness initiative was organized by the Embassy of the Russian Federation and the Municipality of Greater Amman who presented two opera soloists- Vladimir Malchenko and Nickolai Semenov accompanied by Elena Alkhimova on the piano. The concert was held at Al-Hussein Cultural Center, and in my opinion, it was a huge success.
Both soloists were amazing, especially Semenov who gave me goosebumps the whole time he was singing. It's unbelievable what passion adds to everything in life. The theatre was also full, with practically no seats to spare.
I hope there will be many more similar concerts to come.

Top Ten Movies of 2004

Here now are the top ten flicks that made the most green, thanks in large part to a certain, um, green ogre:

10) TROY
$133 million

9) I, ROBOT
$144 million

8) SHARK TALE
$154 million

7) THE BOURNE SUPREMACY
$175 million

6) THE DAY AFTER TOMORROW
$186 million

5) THE INCREDIBLES
$214 million (and counting)

4) HARRY POTTER AND THE PRISONER OF AZKABAN
$249 million

3) THE PASSION OF THE CHRIST
$370 million

2) SPIDER-MAN 2
$373 million

1) SHREK 2
$436 million

Salon Des Refusé

The Salon is the official exhibition of art sponsored by the Academy of Fine Arts in France and held almost once every year from the 17th through the 19th centuries.

The Salon Des Refuse is an art exhibition held in 1863 in Paris by command of Napoleon III for those artists whose works had been refused by the jury of the official Salon.

Among the exhibitors were Camille Pissarro, Henri Fantin-Latour, Monet, Degas, Renoir, James M. Whistler, and Édouard Manet, whose scandalous Le Déjeuner sur l'herbe was officially regarded as an affront to taste.

Yes, Manet, Renoir, Degas, and Pissarro were rejects.

Relativity and irony.

Roba's First Il-Balad Excursion

I finally did something I've been wanting to do for ages, something I should have done years ago.
I finally went to Il-Balad - downtown Amman.
What can I say... WOW! I love it. I love it. I love it! Why the heck do we go to Syria and Egypt when we have this perfect heaven 10 minutes away from modern Amman's Jbaal? Ah... The hustle and bustle, the amazingly yummy smells, the crowds and the little things they sell... AH! I'm willing to go there every day for the next year to get to know every single little nook and cranny in its many allies and streets.
I will share some photographs I took today. I felt like a tourist in my own country :\ The photographs are gorgeous anyway although it was a gloomy day :)
Check out the rest of the picture on the Jordan album on my flickR account(yes, I'm finally becoming more familiar with flickR)





Love it.

More on Il-Balad: One Fine Day!

JU's Fine Arts&Design's Music Concert

Below are some photographs I took on Wednesday December 22nd, 2004 at our department's annual music concert held at The Royal Cultural Center in Amman:



Basil Khoury on the Violin and Maria Momani on the piano


Basil Khoury on the violin and Tala Tutanji on the piano

Come Together

I love vampires, I love Anne Rice, and I love Anne Rice's vampires.
Today I become the proud collector of all of the seventeen books that make up The Vampire Chronicles. All thanks goes to Titles, who have bothered to actually have these books.

The Latest and last books added:

In another feat of hypnotic storytelling, Anne Rice continues the extraordinary Vampire Chronicles.
Lestat speaks. Vampire-hero, enchanter, seducer of mortals. For centuries he has been a courted prince in the dark and flourishing universe of the living dead. Lestat is alone. And suddenly all his vampire rationale--everything he has come to believe and feel safe with--is called into question. In his overwhelming need to destroy his doubts and his loneliness, Lestat embarks on the most dangerous enterprise he has undertaken in all the danger-haunted years of his long existence.

Ummm sounds so good!


Demonstrating, once again, her gift for spellbinding storytelling and the creation of legend, Anne Rice makes real for us a great dynasty of witches--a family given to poetry and to incest, to murder and to philosophy; a family that, over the ages, is itself haunted by a powerful, dangerous, and seductive being. On the veranda of a great New Orleans house, now faded, a mute and fragile woman sits rocking . . . and The Witching Hour begins.
Through peril and escape, tension and release--there swirl around us the echoes of eternal war: innocence versus the corruption of the spirit, sanity against madness, life against death. With a dreamlike power, the novel draws us, through circuitous, twilight paths.


Wow. I can't wait till I dig in! I already know everything that happens in both books, because they are relatively in the beginning of the seventeen book chronicle, but I honestly can't wait anyway.
Any suggestions on where I should start? I can't decide.

Lestat, are you out there?

When Art Goes Beyond The Canvas...

Marcel DuChamp is one of my very favorite artists, so I thought I'd share some of his amazing works here. I wish there was more art awareness in the Arab world.


Nude Descending a Staircase by Marcel DuChamp, 1912, oil on canvas

I love this painting, and although I love too many paintings to decide which is my favorite, this one definitly goes on my list of top 5.

Nude Descending a Staircase shows a human figure in motion; a woman going down the stairswas. It was painted using a cubist-inspired technique for depicting motion, and it was one of the very first paintings that started another art movement- Abstract Art.
There are several reasons as to why I love this painting. For one thing, I love the abstract lines and planes, and DuChamp's complete disregard for human anatomy. The lines and planes not only create a figure in the mind's eye, but they also create a rhythmatic sense of motion and give depth, volume, and weight.
Beautiful.

First Annual Music Concert

Originally uploaded by Roobee.

Yesterday was the first Annual Faculty and Students Recital of The Fine Arts and Design Department's Music Department.
Although I wasn't able to attend the whole show, I was really impressed by the musical pieces I got to hear. The freshmen(sanafer) especially impressed me, it's hard to believe that they've only been learning for 2 months.
Way to go Music Department! Proud of you guys.

Samsung Goes Artsy

This is one of designer Diane von Furstenburg's Samsung VM-A680 phones. They are exclusive (just 1000 in existence); and they carry an Andy Warhol print, and they have a black and red colour palette. Damn. Triple great deal.
I love pop art, I love Andy Warhol, and I love red.
Looking good.
Cheers to Samsung for supporting beautiful art, and cheers to the late Andy Warhol for his inspiration.

A Day At Arts

Ok, I love the Fine Arts and Design Faculty at Jordan University(click on for enlargment):

The faculty's garden:


The Main Entrance:


Inside the faculty:


Muhanna Al-Durra's Hall:


Yeah, even the bathroom:

Flickr Photoblog

Inspired by MMM and Haitham, and annoyed with my friends nagging to burn them CDs of photographs, I have finally created a Flickr photoblog. It's nothing fancy of course, and most of the pictures so far are of the Egypt trip so that my friends would stop nagging already, but well, I guess it's better than nothing. So there you go, yet another window into my life.
Check it out here.

Reebok Has a Good Marketing Executive

Via AraBlog

Tech Proposals

Ok, so this isn't exactly romantic or sweet(although I'm a sucker for this kind of sweetness rather than roses and all that crap), but what can I say, the Engadget.com dude just cracks me up, so I can't resist but post this:



We were planning on doing something way more romantic, like ripping off CmdrTaco and proposing to our special lady on Engadget, but after reading this story about some dude in Norway who asked his girlfriend to marry him by way of an engraving on the back of a 20GB iPod (she said yes), now we’re thinking that we’ll just write something on the back our Treo with a sharpie or maybe send a text message or whatever. We’re pretty sure that women love it when you go all out like that. Best part is that some day this guy’s kids are going to ask him about how he proposed to their mother, and they’re going to be totally incredulous at the thought of an iPod that can only hold 20GB.

[Via Engadget]

Sneaker Art

I Drive on Her Streets

Taken from The Red Hot Chili Pepper's Under the Bridge, dedicated to Amman(I'm becoming a freak):

Sometimes I feel
Like my only friend
Is the city I live in

I drive on her streets
'Cause she's my companion
I walk through her hills
'Cause she knows who I am
She sees my good deeds
And she kisses me windy

Take me to the place I love
Take me all the way

At least I have her love
The city she loves me

The Worst Event of 2004 According to Us

Source: MSN Arabia

Love Everybody

Eyeball Jewelry

The latest craze in body modification: eyeball jewelry(and I thought the permanently attached to the nose glasses were bad). I'm not talking pierced eyelids or eyebrows -- that's child's play at this point. Hehe, I'm talking jewelry placed directly in the eyeball! Yeah, it's getting really freaky.

Here's how it works. An ophthalmologist anesthetizes your eye, then makes a microscopic incision in the conjunctiva, the eye's transparent outer membrane. The doctor drops a tiny piece of jewelry (called JewelEye) into the incision, and the procedure is over. It takes 10 minutes and costs about $4,000, and you spend the next week feeling as if you have a piece of sand in your eye. When the conjunctiva heals, you can't feel it (even when you rub your eye).

Apparently, the risk of infection is lower with JewelEye than with ear piercing, because JewelEye is sealed in the eye and never exposed to bacteria. It doesn't migrate, even after millions of blinks and countless eye rubbings, and it's removable.

Hmmmm... I honestly thought diamonds in the teeth were taking it over the top. What's next I wonder? Is there anything left?

Source NYTimes

10 Things You Didn't Know About Me

Inspired by Subzero Blue:

1. I've recently developed a very picky taste when it comes to music, and I can't stand hip-hop/RNB (and I know who to thank for that :P)

2. I'm a no-fuss person; I don't do heels, make-up, or nice hair.

3. I was a registered student at American University of Beirut's Architecture department and changed my mind and decided to go to JU to do Fine Arts during the last week before AUB's orientation.

4. I hate being human, and I wish I was a vampire, a faery, or an elve.

5. I'm very quiet.

6. I'm addicted to soda.

7. I don't watch TV or talk on the phone.

8. I can't stand whining, slacking, and people who are always late.

9. I'm partially a misandrist.

10. I would love to visit Japan.

Nose Piercing Mounted Glasses

"The perfect thing for all those near-sighted neo-tribalists out there, James Sooy designed a pair of piercing-mounted eyeglasses that attach to that hunk of metal you hopefully already have spiked through the bridge of your nose. Also a good option for anyone without ears, but who needs glasses and doesn’t want to have to resort to wearing something as barbaric as goggles."

Via Engadget

This is nasty! Ok, I'm one of those people who hates having to wear glasses and loves piercings, but hehe, what the hell....

Dedicated to Noor, Sami, Sudairy, and the Dabkeh People

I talked to an old friend of mine today, and it's been a while since we talked. She told me that she loves Lebanon but that she really misses Riyadh, and asked me if I feel the same way. I said no. I didn’t even think before saying no. I love Jordan, I love Jordan to death, so why would I miss Riyadh?
Moving from a country you've lived in all your life to a country you've never lived in yet always considered home is weird. It's not homesickness; it's just a deep longing for the stuff I did all my life and took for granted (Rand, I miss going to Faisaleyeh with you too).
But do I miss Riyadh?
Ok, Noor, I do. I miss the hours spent at Starbucks. I miss sitting in Manarat's hallways(although now I'm quite sure that highschool was the worst experience of my life). I miss the wild parties, the endless shopping, and ordering Pizza Inn every weekend. I miss dabkeh parties and dabkeh gatherings. Most of all though, I miss the people of Riyadh. I miss the compound, I miss you guys, and I miss dabkeh people(I miss you dabkeh people more than you can imagine!). I miss Sami, I miss Nissy and Ghanameh, and I even miss the little compound boys.
But do I want to go and live back in Riyadh? No, I don’t. It's too fake a life, and I really enjoy having a car :P
I do though miss the years when all we cared about was our next dabkeh show and all we did was sit in "the box" and sip Frappaccinos.

3aladal3ona!

Herbawi, Amman was better when you were here.


For Sami, Zeina*2, Beeso, Hisham, Omar, Gus, Dina, Ghanameh, Noor, Noor * 2, Marwa, Yasmine, Massa, Noura, Tamara, Farah, Basma, Hasan, Abu Deyeh, Ameer, Abu Il-Heija, Ahmad, Nisreen, Layal, and most especially Rand and Herbawi.
It's also for Sudairy, one of the most amazing people I met. Tibi Ommik, huh?
Love you guys.

Run

From Run, by Collective Soul:

Are these times contagious?
I've never been this bored before.
Now as the hours passing,
there's nothing left here to insure.

Have I got a long way to run?
Yeah, I run

Is there a cure among us
from this processed sanity?

Now in this world of purchase
I'm going to buy back memories
To awaken some old qualities
Have I got a long way to run
Yeah, I run

2004 in Ideas

Usually around New Year's eve, lists start popping up; Worst Events of The Year,Best Dressed List, and so on and so forth. I never really read these lists as I never seem to find them interesting enough, but this year a certain list caught my eyes: The year in ideas.
Yes, so here's what 2004 paved for the coming year. Here's how 2004 might affect us in coming years. It's definitly more interesting than best-dressed lists.

Yet more of Jordan

Natasha and Jeff just uploaded a new Jordan photo gallery, called A Window On Jordan, and I can't resist posting my favorites from their gallery, because they're simply breath taking shots. Jeff, you are an amazing photographer. Looking forward to seeing more of your work, and I hope you'll take good Amman pictures when you and Natasha visit this month.

I won't save the best for last, so I'll post my very favorite photograph in the gallery first:

I love how loving this picture is :)


Wadi Rum and The Dead Sea


Iraq Il Emir and Wadi Rum

Go Liberal Arts

Few questions make liberal arts majors wince more than the time-honored ''But what are you going to do with that?'' (As the accounting student said to the English major.) Now, with tuition costs rising as fast as parental anxiety levels, colleges have begun asking the same question -- and helping their students answer it through professional training programs that look ahead to the day after graduation.

Colleges say they aren't abandoning the liberal arts education but rather bringing the ideal slightly more in line with the job-market reality.

Yet others aren't entirely convinced. ''To dilute the power of the liberal arts with premature professionalism will deprive our society of the thoughtful leadership it needs,'' Anthony Marx, the president of Amherst College, was quoted as saying in The Times earlier this year. If they have the luxury of time, he said, students should ''go deeper into the liberal arts, because that is the seed corn of an intellectual life and informed citizenship.'' After all, college is breathlessly short, and working life increasingly long. How many professionals think back fondly to those industry-specific lingo-training courses of their undergraduate days?

Source: New York Times

The Blogo Ad

Blogs are known for their brutal honesty, independence of spirit and genuine emotional conviction. None of these attributes play much of a role in corporate advertising, of course, but they are values that corporate advertisers strive to imitate -- and, where possible, co-opt.

So it wasn't all that shocking when Nike launched a blog this June. As a brand, Nike is youthful and forward-looking, and blogs are a great way to reach the young, hip and carefully shod -- those who bristle when products get pitched at them but enjoy discovering cool new things on their own. Nike's blogo ad, titled ''Art of Speed,'' ran for 20 days, posting short films, speed-related trivia, inspirational athlete stories and so forth.

So far so good, until October saw a blog launched by . . . General Motors. Not your father's Oldsmobile, indeed. Why would an earnest corporate dinosaur like G.M. get involved with an upstart medium like the blog? It's clearly blogging by car geeks, for car geeks. But it turns out that geek to geek, informal and honest, is a pretty good model for the blogo ad.

From a marketing perspective, blogs make perfect sense. They are cheap to produce, immersive and interactive. It's easy to measure their readership and response rates. For small companies, blogs are a quick and dirty promotional tool that cuts out the middleman; for big companies, blogs are a tool of humanization -- an informal, chatty, down-to-earth voice amid the din of bland corporate-speak.

''It's a dream come true,'' says Bob Cargill, senior creative director for Yellowfin Direct Marketing. ''You can embed yourself smack-dab in the middle of your customers, form an ongoing relationship with them and hear exactly what they think of your brand.''

Source: NY Times

Fascinating.

And why does Bloggers spellcheck tool not contain the word "blog"?

I know what you're typing

Computer security is an abstract concept. Firewalls? Passwords? Antivirus softwares? Maybe, but now add a silencer to the list. It is now possible to eavesdrop on a typist's keystrokes and, by exploiting minute variations in the sounds made by different keys, distinguish and decipher what is being typed. Damn.

Credit for this discovery goes to Dmitri Asonov, a computer-security researcher for I.B.M. at the Almaden Research Center in San Jose, Calif. The principle is a simple one. Keyboards are a bit like drums: the keys rest atop a plastic plate; different areas of the plate yield different sounds when struck. The human ear can't tell the difference, but if the sounds are recorded and processed by a highly sophisticated computer program, the computer can, with a little bit of practice, learn to translate the sounds of keystrokes into the appropriate letters and symbols.

This means that firewalls and passwords will amount to nothing if someone manages to bug a room and record the cacophony of keystrokes.

Ah, another sound I enjoy Eman; keystrokes.
The age of technology.

How To Install An A/C In Cairo

[Via Sabbah's Blog]

Lol!!!

World cellphone usage doubles

You’ve probably already figured this out, given the number of shouted conversations you’re forced to listen to each day, but now it’s official: The International Telecommunications Union has announced that global cellphone usage has doubled over the past four years, to nearly 1.5 billion customers. While you might assume that the majority of those customers are in your face, er, neighborhood, most of the growth has actually been in emerging markets, including China, India and Russia. China has 310 million cellphone users, or about a quarter of its population. Developing countries now account for 56% of all cellphone users, and for 79% of usage growth, according to the ITU.

[Via Engadget]

In 3rd world countries? Interesting. I'll tell you what though, from my personal experience while dealing with the phones of friends who live in the US, Jordanian service providers Fastlink and Mobilcom are doing a heck of a great job.

Guts

"Timothy Liles is a RISD student who's been dabbling in all sorts of hot shit. He makes objects, drawings, graphics, prints, movies, grilled cheese sandwiches and magic. There's a superb molded metal bench in his portfolio right alongside some pretty wacky t-shirts with build..."

[Via Cool Hunting]

Jordan is...

WOW! I just recieved some of the most beautiful and diverse photographs I've ever seen of Jordan (Thanks Jad!)
I know it seems like And Far Away... is turning into a photoblog, but God, who can resist sharing such beautiful sights?
Like usual, click on image to view fullsize.

Did You Ever See an Iceburg From Top to Bottom?

An Iceberg From Top To Bottom by Ralph Clevenger

Read about how this photograph was possible at Diane Farris Gallery website.

What can I say. Sub7anAllah.

Jordan the Beautiful

Although my search for worthy Amman photographs was futile, my friend m7ammad managed to find a cool and very interesting website about the flora of Jordan.
The site is a beautiful story about the natural flora of a wonderful country, and it really is a must-visit. Below are the photographs I found most marvelous:

(Click on images to view original size)


Pella, Jordan


Ajloun, Jordan



Karak, Jordan





All Photographs from Jordanflora.com
For more photographs of Jordan, check out Natasha's album here.

Messy Desk Contest

(click on image for larger scale)

Yes, that's my project space.
I never got an apple for neatness, or a star for the matter. I'm just not a neat person, but a lot of people don't understand how messiness is actually more than a habit, it's a way of life.
So anyway, while browsing this afternoon, I came across a site literally composed of messy desks. Bash.org has you vote for the messiest desk, and it's actually really interesting. So what do you think? Am I messy enough to compete?

Happy Hour

Ok, I'm happy. Very, very happy. While going to BlueFig today, a friend spotted... drumroll... Starbucks!
Yes, and the beautiful signs and the great typography are up and everything!
Darn, I haven't had Starbucks since March! Me first one there.

Cury Flavored Toothpaste

Toothpaste flavors generally don't stray much from varieties of mint, and Margaret Josefin finds that so boring, she designed a breath "palette" with 31 flavors. Here is a partial list of flavors in the palette:

Sweet Salt
Fresh Yogurt
First Crop Green Tea
Cafe Au Lait
Indian Curry
Bitter Chocolate
Lemon Tea
Cola
Vanilla
Caramel
White Peach

[Via Popgadget]

Huh? Curry? Dark Chocolate? Cola? Aren't these the stinks we aim to get rid of when we brush our teeth?

Amman Highschool Basketball Championship

Not sure how long this has been going on, but I was certainly impressed when I found out that there is an annual championship where Amman's highschools compete in basketball. I honestly believe that extracurricular activities are as important as academic times spent at school.
So anyway, in todays newspaper, there was a follow-up with this cover(basically translates to Amman's Highschool Championship):



And look, who are these cuties?

(Click on for larger view)

To make things even better, there was a committee that chose Amman's best highschool basketball players to form an all-star national team. My two brothers were picked from Montessori Schools.
Proud of you guys. Keep it up.

Where's Amman?

Been wanting to post a picture of Amman in all her glory. Why aren't there any photographs of Amman looking beautiful online?
I found some nice photographs, but none of them capture the actual loveliness of Amman.

Interesting Blogs

shinyshiny.tv: the gadget blog for women(really witty too).

Shoewawa: the shoe blog.

Designed for....

Yeah, so the T-Mac technology shoes are amazing in terms of practicality, but I definitely wouldn't wear them.
These though... Ah, I'd probably live in them. They're so creative, artistic, and unique.
Gorgeous.

Engineered for Tracy McGrady

Shoes and technology, amazing combination.
My brother Gus drove me nuts with the new T-Mac Adidas shoes, basically we go to the mall every week to see if they have arrived or not. Today, and after months of waiting, they were finally there, and I can see why he went crazy over them.
Check out the amazing "Hug" technology, where you can tighten your shoes for either "performance" or "comfort". Practical.
Check out the demo's here.

Men. Children.

Six Marks & Spencer stores throughout the UK are now offering for your bored companion a "crèche" where the poor love can watch TV and play with Scalextric, remote control bikes and walkie talkie sets.

"We recognise that tensions can sometimes be high when couples go shopping together at Christmas. Some men object to traipsing around a shop and waiting outside changing rooms," explains M&S spokeswoman Clare Wilkes. "Providing a place where customers can chill out and relax is a fun way to give something back."

In BBC News
Via Popgadget


Lol, who knows that Asala song, Nizar Qabani poem, comparing men to children?

Pictures of Today

View at the IT building in Jordan University


Nutella-stuffed crepe with icecream at Watchamacallit Mecca Mall. YUMMY!


Mecca mall today

Bad Parker? Me?

So I scored a 182 where as the average test score is 146.5 :P Thus, I am a better driver than most women and men.
Yeah, sure, I might hit people with my mirrors and honk like crazy at people walking around, and I might avoid driving anywhere without a valet and taking a cab to school on Thursdays, but I'm still an above-average driver.
Ha, in your face Hisham!

Take the test here.

Via Jad

Pictures I Took in Egypt

Reflection of an old Cairo church


Mehrab of Al-Azhar Mosque in Cairo



The Pyramids of Giza


More pictures later :)

A new president for UJ

Professor Abdelrahim A. Hunaiti has been appointed president of the University of Jordan. The decision was made last Thursday (December 2, 2004) at a meeting of the Higher Education Council. Professor Hunaiti assumed his responsibilities at UJ on Sunday, December 5, 2004. Professor Hunaiti replaces Professor Abdullah Al-Musa who has been president since February 2002.

[Source: JU.edu.jo]

Longbottom

Check out this website on how to get ready for a Lord of The Rings Party.

Yay, I want to have an LOTR movie marathon...

Us Lazy Arabs

How often do you exercise?

Everyday 12.948% (491) Votes
More than 5 times a week 4.800% (182) Votes
2 - 4 times a week 15.216% (577) Votes
Once a week 14.188% (538) Votes
I don't exercise 52.848% (2004) Votes

[Source: MSN Arabia]
Ha. Sadly, I was the 2004th vote for "I don't exercise".

Book Cover

Although my book cover design project has been done for over a month, I've been to lazy to upload until now.
The book I redesigned was Judith Miller's Color:


(click on image for larger view)

After an extended analysis, many concepts, and too many experiments, here was my end result:

(click on it for larger view)

The concept I settled for was "Movement of color in interior design". Can you see the motion of the chair? Yeah, so I was quite pleased with the result, and I got the highest grade :)

Our next project is to redesign a food package, and I'm redesigning Yan Yan. For those of you who have any childhood memories with Yan Yan, read a halarious review of it here.

Ugly, ugly, ugly!

On Islam II

"This is the second article of Stern.de, it’s called A religion under suspicion. It’s a bit more neutral towards Islam. But still, it’s somehow limited to personal experiences of people who are not happy with their Religion, Islam. Again, I always encourage mentioning all point of views, whether positive or negative. But when it comes to Islam, I’ve noticed that the discussion revolves around the negative opinions mostly. And what I’m doing here is an attempt to change that and a chance to list the positive opinions as well.
“The fear of the Muslims living here (in Germany) grows bigger with every assassination attempt by Islamic fundamentalists”… I totally understand such a reaction, but why do Muslims have to understand such sentiments and yet be blamed for having a problem in accepting the west when most of what Muslims see is the torture of Iraqis, the monstrous treatment of the Guantanamo prisoners, the unfair treatment of Arab students and passengers in the west!
They mentioned some personal stories and statements of people who are from Turkish origins, one caught my attention. It’s the statement of a girl who is recalling her headscarf “hijab” experience. She said: “I remember how I cried when I was forced to wear hijab. I was a kid but they treated me as a woman. They always say Hijab preserves innocence, I believe it labels little girls as sex objects”… Again, it’s so wrong and biased to quote only negative opinions, specially if the links are made to provide information about Islam. Anyway, I know what people think of hijab, and a small post can’t refer to all reasons of wearing hijab. Let me limit my comment to noting that there’s a timing for hijab, Islam doesn’t force little girls to wear it. Also when it’s time, conversation is a must. She has to know the reasons and be well prepared, and the way to convince her must be kind and loving.
Commenting on the same little girl story: “If this girl were a German cow instead of a German kid, she would’ve been protected from Islam’s influence. Although the Federal Constitutional Court approved the slaughter of sheep for Muslims, cows are excluded”… so Islam’s influence is a threat? And it is wished that the girl would’ve been a COW to be protected?! And then they pretend to be neutral and fair! Even if we disagree with the father forcing his little daughter to wear hijab, that’s not enough for us to misjudge Islam and start posting information on the net about its “influence”, this is really unprofessional!
“Usually it is violence that reminds the Germans of the fact that over three million Muslims live here”… why is that? Are Muslims good for nothing but fitting this bad picture spread about them? Don’t they invent? Don’t they work? Don’t they pay taxes? Don’t they teach? Don’t they buy? Don’t they sell? Don’t they produce? Don’t they help in any way? Aren’t they neighbors? Aren’t they friend? Aren’t they employers and employees playing their role in building a healthy society? I think it’s so unfair to forget all good things of people and remember only the bad acts of some who do not represent them in any way! Again, I hope any references would be fair and neutral enough to mention both negative and positive opinions, to quote both fundamentalist and moderate Muslims, tell the story of those who love and those who hate Islam. Let history, facts, and minds have a fair discussion to defend this religion. And on a side note for all non-Muslims and Muslims who have negative feelings towards Islam: learn about the religion, pick the right and responsible references. If you think Islam is that bad, and if you believe Islam is the worst religion, then why waste your time mocking it, fighting it, and criticizing it. Save yourself the efforts and be whatever you want to be. No one is forcing you to become Muslim. Lead a happy successful life, and leave Muslims lead their happy successful lives too."

[Via AquaCool]

Paper Vase

Hand crafted from recycled 'design magazines'. How apt! Each one is unique. And chances are you’d want to...

[Via Treehugger]

The Teddy Bear Chair

There is nothing I love more than an object made of something unlikely, like the "War bowl" made of little G.I.Joes:



The latest object made of other objects is the Teddy Bear Chair, designed by Brazilian brothers Fernando and Humberto Campana design.



Cute, huh?
It comes with a very hefty price tag though at a price range of $7,900.00 to $11,350.00.


Via Popgadget

Tareq Abu Rahmeh

I was really pleased today when I found a comment from Tareq Abu Rahmeh, the piano player of the Palestinian band at the "Amman Goes Jazz" concert. Tareq is 16 years old, making him only one year younger than the bass player.
Tareq, I'm really sorry I misjudged your age.

Black

Black
Pearl Jam


Hey...oooh...
Sheets of empty canvas, untouched sheets of clay
Were laid spread out before me as her body once did
All five horizons revolved around her soul
As the earth to the sun
Now the air I tasted and breathed has taken a turn
Ooh, and all I taught her was everything
Ooh, I know she gave me all that she wore
And now my bitter hands chafe beneath the clouds
Of what was everything?
Oh, the pictures have all been washed in black, tattooed everything...

I take a walk outside
I’m surrounded by some kids at play
I can feel their laughter, so why do I sear
Oh, and twisted thoughts that spin round my head
I’m spinning, oh, I’m spinning
How quick the sun can, drop away
And now my bitter hands cradle broken glass
Of what was everything (note the lack of question mark)
All the pictures have all been washed in black, tattooed everything...
All the love gone bad turned my world to black
Tattooed all I see, all that I am, all I’ll ever be...yeah...

Uh huh...uh huh...ooh...
I know someday you’ll have a beautiful life, I know you’ll be a star
In somebody else’s sky, but why
Why, why can’t it be, why can’t it be mine



This is my all-time-favorite song. The lyrics are amazing aren't they?
Anyone has any idea what "All five horizons revolved around her soul
As the earth to the sun" exactly refers to?

Which Character Are You?

Putting your appointed path ahead of any inner conflicts, you make your own rules for the benefit of all.

"If my life or death I can protect you, I will."

Aragorn is a character in the Middle-Earth universe.

Take the test yourself at http://www.tk421.net/character/ .

Yummy!
The Lord of the Rings is my favorite book, my favorite movie, and Aragorn is one of my all time favorite characters.

AraBlog ReBlog

My time as a guest reBlogger at AraBlog.net is now over, and I have enjoyed the time I spent there as a reBlogger drastically. Sadly, during the last two weeks of my stay, I wasn't able to give AraBlog the attention it deserves, mainly because we spent the Eid time in the Dead Sea then went to Egypt after that.
As for my experience, it was amazing. I was very surprised at how different being a reBlogger is from being a regular blogger. When I was a reBlog, I was more of a searcher, combing through cyberspace to find interesting posts, and getting surprised by the amount of interesting posts running around the net. When I blog on AndFarAway, I just blog whatever I accidentally come upon that I find interesting, and of course, voice my opinions and feelings.
During the last month, I got introduced to so many new blogs that I now love to follow, such as Engadget and Wooster Collective. I also learned how to use Movable Type, how to read RSS feedbacks instead of visiting each website separately(although I'm back to reading each website separately because it's a much richer experience), and got acquainted with a-hell-of-a-software that is FireFox.
Don't forget to check out AraBlogs amazing new design.

andfaraway.tk

"I just registered the domain chanad.tk. Why? Well it's a bit annoying when someone asks me what the URL of the blog is and I have to give them the full long address: http://chanadbahraini.blogspot.com/. So now you need only type in http://chanad.tk/ to get here.

The other reason I registered the domain is because it's FREE. I don't think I get to keep the domain forever, and I don't think it's officially under my name, and there are probably a million other catches... but it's FREE. So if you want to get your own free .TK domain then sign up here."

[Via Chan'ad Bahrini]

For ease of access, check out andfaraway.tk as well.

TV Shows on DVD

There was a time when you lost your beloved television show forever after its final episode. If you were lucky, it would get the M*A*S*H or Cheers treatment, syndicated sometime, somewhere in the wee morning hours. Cable channels like Nickelodeon and TV Land eased the pain of those longing for a favorite defunct series. But things changed forever with the magic of DVD. Who could have known that the little disc would restore those treasured old episodes and -- especially these days -- some current loves, too. Viewers aren't the only happy ones, either. The studios can't seem to empty their archives -- or fill their coffers -- fast enough. In fact, television DVDs are the fastest growing segment of the DVD industry. They're projected to bring in $2.3 billion this year, and some gleeful analysts think that's only the beginning.

You can't flip a channel these days without hearing about Seinfeld's DVD release, yet another season of Friends out on the shelves, or Carnivale's availability for rental. The Golden Girls has shuffled in, The O.C. is primping and preening, and fans are growing stubble for Miami Vice's release in February.

DVDs have moved in on the small screen and the Search box. Among the top 50 TV searches spiking over the past week, we find a mix of current and retro shows and series available on DVD:

Boy Meets World (+438%)
That '70s Show (+214%)
Northern Exposure (+102%)
Tom and Jerry (+96%)
Band of Brothers (+90%)
Bear in the Big House (+80%)
Fresh Prince of Bel Air (+65%)
I Love Lucy (+60%)
Cheers (+48%)
Little House on the Prairie (+46%)

[Via Yahoo! Buzz]

The Skeletar

Yikes!
I used to think that there's no way a guitar could be anything but beautiful, but this guitar certainly changed my mind. Damn, its twisted!
The Skeletar was created by Peter McGilton and it epitomizes Death Rock(Now, that's someone I wouldn't like to meet!)

[Via Music Thing]

Retro Pod

Sadly, this genius idea is no longer available because Sony had to whine.

Absolute End

Although I think the Absolute advertising campaign was one of the most successful this decade in terms of great designs and good concepts, I am, of course, still anti-drinking. I found these spoof Absolute advertisements on adbusters.org and couldn't help but share:

Firefox is Catching Fire

Firefox is catching fire -- pardon the pun -- and for good reason. Web surfers looking for a reliable alternative to Microsoft's Internet Explorer have been busy over the last month downloading the new version of the Web browser. The Mozilla Foundation, a network of programmers jointly developing open-source technology, reports more than 8 million people have downloaded the program since early November.
I became addicted to FireFox while reBlogging at AraBlog due to Haitham's urges. Amazing software that everyone should try.

[Source: Fool]

Female Brains

Girls are taking colleges by storm. They're streaming to campuses in greater numbers, earning better grades and graduating more often. The same phenomenal success shows in high schools, where girls dominate honor rolls, hold more student government spots and rake in most of the academic awards.
The phenomenon is most serious in inner cities, but it's evident in even the wealthiest school districts. And it's not confined to the United States. The same trend is turning up throughout the industrialized world.
Even in Jordan University, the number of females is dramatically more than the number of males. In this current school year of 2003-2004, there are 18893 females enrolled and 13429 males, and this is actually a huge improvement from 2001-2002, when there were 14,419 females and only 9492 males.
Still impressive and quite pleasing.

[Sources: USA Today and Jordan University]

Riyadh Memories

Yay, came upon these photographs of Riyadh, Saudi Arabia while surfing the net. Although I got over my "homesickness" for Riyadh, these photographs made me feel all warm and fuzzy inside. After all, I did spend all of my life there.


Our home was somewhere around the center of this photo...




I spent limitless hours in this mall.




It's been a while. I forgot how gorgeous Riyadh could be.

Wonder Set to Release First Album in Decade

After several delays, Stevie Wonder's new studio album, "A Time 2 Love," his first in a decade, is expected to be out in April via Motown.
"A Time 2 Love" will be Wonder's first studio set since 1995's "Conversation Peace," which debuted at No. 16 on The Billboard 200.

[Source: Yahoo! News]

Smoking Will Kill You

TouchGuard

Lexar's JumpDrive TouchGuard is a 256 mb USB flash drive with biometric security features. Once you authenticate and encrypt your fingerprint of choice, you can use the TouchGuard to securely access password-protected websites as well as encrypted files. The drive stores your browser favorites so they'll be available from any computer.

The TouchGuard is about $55 and should be widely available soon.

[Via Popgadget]

How cool can technology get?

On Islam...

As a Muslim, I hate it when Islam and Muslims are stereotyped because of a few bad apples.
A German article about Islam as a belief is one such stereotypical object that misleads when it comes to Islam. It's unfortunately in German, and I can't read German, so I will post Eman's excellent commentary on the article:

"As usual, wrong definitions of Islam, and a very destructive perspective that is spreading annoying clichés about the religion. I believe we ought to know what others think of Islam, and since the articles are in German, I thought I’d post a translation of the most important points, with my personal comments.

Comments on the article about Islam as a belief:

“Muslims don’t speak the same language, they don’t have the same skin color”… Are Muslims the only ones like that? On the other hand, Muslims should be proud that Islam is not limited to one skin color or one culture.

“Nothing unites them, except for the strive to fulfill the 5 basic elements of Islam: the proof of belief “Shahada”, the daily prayers 5 times aday, fasting in the month of Ramadan, donating money for the poor “Zakat”, and the pilgrimage “Hadj” to Mekka”… hmm, not so much to untie Muslims indeed!

“Mohammad on the other hand, caravan leader by profession…”… the prophet was a shepherd, and there was nothing wrong about it, because Islam is not limited for certain classes of society.

“To the fundamentalists it’s not Islam that should become modern, it’s modernity that should be Islamic, and what Islamic is, is something fundamentalists will only determine”…I agree with you on the fundamentalism perspective, but just for the record, if you know Islam, you’ll be sure it’s a modern religion. On the other hand, your articles are to provide information about Islam and Muslims, all I can see is info about fundamentalists and their opinions! Fair enough huh!

“There’s no fun, no laughter, and no humor in Islam, everything’s prohibited”…if with “fun” you were referring to getting naked, having premarital relationships, cheating on your wife, losing your money in poker, or torturing innocent people and taking pics of them, well, then I’m proud to say, yes, there’s no such “fun” in Islam.

“Ayatollah said: Executions in Islam are a blessing of God”… Hitler said:Jews should should be all executed, does that make Christianity a brutal religion that sees executions as a blessing of God!

“The Islamic culture area which lies in the third world, suffers from discredited regimes, land fleeing, corruption, unemployment, and overpopulation (approximately 40% of the Arab population is under 15 years old)”… corruption, and unemployment are everywhere. As for land fleeing, I really wish they dig for the reasons before condemning. Answer is war, and their support to injustice. The population is young, something to be really proud of, better than ending up with a threat of vanishing and beginning couples to settle down and have babies like the case in most of the European countries, specially Italy.

“since September 11th, Islam has appeared only as an embodiment of destruction and death. All Arabic literature and traces of great Arabic works were buried under the ruins of the World Trade Center, just like 6000 innocent people” … I guess those 6000 are the only innocent ones buried, the thousands being killed for fun in Iraq, the millions that have been killed and are still being killed everyday in Palestine don’t count, for they belong to Arabs and Islam!

“Saying that Islam has nothing to do with fundamentalism, is as absurd as saying that Rabbis murdering Yitzhak Rabin has nothing to do with Judaism”… All I can say is, Islam is a moderate religion, and fundamentalism is an extreme, so it has nothing to do with Islam.

“Islamic civilization will never get a place it deserves as long as every progressive move and every non-religious move is not accepted and fought in the third world, and its leaders are supporting terror groups”… again, blame it on the terror, and claim the third world rejects progression. It rejects war, it rejects colonization, there’s a big difference.

There are many other quotes of Osama Bin Laden, Taliban and a lot of fundamentalists, I think the article doesn’t aim at informing as much as showing the side of a group of Fundamentalists, which helps give a very bad reputation to Islam.
Therefore I ask everybody to always refer to the right, non-biased, well-informed resources before spreading any information. After all, writing is responsibility."

[Via AquaCool]

Beautiful, Eman. Looking forward to reading more of your commentary on other articles.

Vote for Mental Mayhem

Natasha's Mental mayhem has been nominated for the Weblog 2004 award category 'Best Middle Eastern and African blog.' If you think this blog deserves to win please vote for it.

Amman Goes Jazz

I just got back from a concert/workshop called "Amman Goes Jazz". LOL, I think half of the audience were the students of my department :)
The National Music Conservatory/Noor Al Hussein Foundation, Goethe Institute and the German Embassy presented a forum, workshops, jam sessions and the final concert which washeld at Zara Auditorium tonight. The concert included bands from Jordan, Syria, Palestine, and Lebanon.
It was excellent, I'm really impressed. There are so many Arab talents around waiting to be uncovered, and tonight was a great oppurtunity for some of these amazing talents to shine.
Unfortunately, I wasn't able to stay through out the whole show, so I missed the last segment which included the Lebanese band.


A Syrian band called Mosaic were the openers, and they were really good. They blended so perfectly into their music, except for the drummer, who drummed too loud for the rest of the instruments thus getting on my nerves. The bass player was my favorite in the Syrian band; his solos were really fascinating, and he is so passionate about his cello it gave me shivers.
Next came a Jordanian player/singer called Yazan Al-Roosan(?), and darn, he sucked. His lyrics were so bad you couldn't do anything but laugh. He started with singing about getting stopped by a cop and asked for his ID and license and stuff and how he got into trouble because he didn't have them, then he critisized popular music like Haifa and Nancy, then he sung "Karate, Karate!" It was too silly, and a huge let down after how amazing the Syrian band were.
Fortunately for us Jordanians, the third band was also Jordanian, Sign of Thyme(?), and they were amazing. They had a beautiful jazzy mix of "oud", acoustic guitar, and electric guitar. It was very oriental, and very different from anything you would ever hear. Their drummer is the cutest thing I've seen in ages, he gets so into his drumming and seems to forget everything happening around him.
I'd definitly buy their album.


The Palestinian band came after Sign of Thyme, and they were also good. At 16, their piano player was the youngest in the concert, which was a really nice change. It makes me happy to know that such talent comes out of a country so suffocated by occupation. Good luck to them.

The real star of the show though was a member of the Syrian band, a girl called Rasha. What can I say... WOW! Everyone in the hall was dumbfounded when she started singing, she just has the most captivating voice! It is so amazingly beautiful, so deep, and so rich. It is practically an instrument by its own right. It reminded me of the maddening-yet-utterly-beautiful Gaelic yodel of The Cranberries' Zombie.
Rasha, you rock. I hope we will hear a lot more from you.
I took a few very dark(and very small) videos, but you can still hear the music in them, so if anyone is interested, I can send some to your GMails or through MSN Messenger.
LOL, it's funny, but I wish Natasha was there.

Spotted in Cairo

Microsoft Gets in on Blogging Phenomenon

Microsoft is becoming the latest company aiming to bring blogging to the masses with a free new tool that lets people easily set up Web journals.
MSN Spaces, which debuts in test form Thursday, is targeted at home users who want to share things like vacation pictures, text journals or a list of favorite songs. The service, free to anyone with a Hotmail e-mail or MSN Messenger account, is part of Microsoft's effort to keep people in a Microsoft-branded universe for all their online communication needs.
Microsoft rival AOL has provided its members with a tool since mid-2003, and search engine leader Google Inc. — another key Microsoft compeditor — offers a free service through its Blogger.com site. Movable Type offers the popular TypePad service, starting at $4.95 a month.
Michael Gartenberg, research director with Jupiter Research, said he thinks Microsoft has learned from where it initially missed the boat on some technologies, such as Web search, that it's important to offer consumers these products early, or risk losing them to rival services.
Although Microsoft is trailing Google and AOL, Gartenberg said it's not too late since blogging is only just catching on with mainstream users.
The final version of MSN Spaces is expected by next June. For now, Irving said the company plans to keep MSN Spaces as a free service, but he wouldn't rule out the idea of creating a paid, premium blog service down the road.
Ha!

[Source: USA Today]

Chanel No5

Ok, I'm in love with Chanel's No5 perfume advert. It's just so beautiful!
Everything about it is amazing; the directing, the clothes, the idea, Kidman... Watch it at http://www.ad-awards.com/ under "Cosmetics".
Seriously though, talk about excellent advertising. This is the only perfume ad second to Eternity's ad that ever made me want to go and buy the perfume advertised. This one also makes me want to buy the dress and the necklace... Utterly gorgeous.
Here are some print screens for those of you too lazy to download the advert:

Group Shot

Group shot of Egypt trip.

The mosque seen behind the group is the Mohammad Ali(Alabaster) Mosque in Cairo. The Mohammad Ali (Alabaster) Mosque in the Citadel was begun in 1830 (finished in 1857) in the Ottoman style by Mohammad Ali Pasha, ruler of Egypt, and founder of the country's last dynasty of Khedives and Kings. From the arcaded courtyard, you can see a magnificent view across the city to the pyramids in Giza. Just off the courtyard is the vast prayer hall with an Ottoman style dome which is 170 feet above.

Updated Sidebar

I've been wanting to add a section with all the really cool design websites I follow for a while, but laziness always kicked in. Today, I finally added a "Design & More" blogroll and updated the links in the "Blogs I Follow" blogroll.
Most of the links in the "Design & More" section are great blogs, Cool Hunting, Popgadget and Engadget being my favorite three. Sensory Impact is amazing when they bother to update, but unfortunately, they barely ever do. I also really like the fact that they are based in Dubai, it's great to see amazing weblogs around the Arab world. Treehugger is interesting as well, especially for the green, and Textually is great for the mobile lovers out there, it's always interesting and provides a broad insight into the world of cellphone technology.
Mocoloco and Reluct are both strictly design blogs, but they're both very inspiring if you ever need to be inspired. We Make Money Not Art is also a great blog, but I don't like their layout.
The only blog in the list that's not a design blog is Wooster Collective.Wooster Collective is a "celebration of street art". It's very fascinating and everyone must check it out. I got acquainted with it while I was a reblogger at AraBlog ReBloglast month(Check out AraBlog's redesign, it's really cool). I've become very interested in street art after checking out Wooster Collective.
Enjoy the links, although I'm sure that anyone who reads my blog often is well acquainted with them, because I love reblogging their posts :)

Billboards with Infrared Tags in London

People have been putting up billboards that can wirelessly beam info to PDAs for a while now, but Transport for London is just now taking the plunge and putting up 25 posters embedded with “Hypertags” that via infrared can beam to cellphones the number for a hotline where tube passengers can get information about how to travel safely at night. Apparently the big selling point of Hypertags are that they use infrared and aren’t dependent on being connected to a cellphone network to work, making them perfect for the subway tunnels where Transport for London is planning to place the posters. The only thing is that beaming people a phone number for a hotline to call won’t do them much good when they’re riding the subway, and when was it so hard to just scribble down a number or enter it into your phone, anyway? Anyway, Hypertag, the company behind the Hypertags, says that the posters can also be used to beam stuff like coupons, business cards, ringtones, or games to people’s phones.

[Via Engadget]

Minority Report anyone?

Nicole Kidman and Chanel

Nicole Kidman has made it into the Guinness Book of World Records. The Aussie actress gained an entry in the 50th anniversary edition of the book for her part in the Chanel No5 advert, which made her the world's highest paid actress in a commercial. Nicole scooped £2 million for her starring role in the Baz Luhrmann-helmed project - that's a massive £502,000 per minute.
Darn. Watch the advertisement on http://www.ad-awards.com/home.php, where it's under "Cosmetics".
Isn't that the most beautiful dress you've ever seen?

'Blog' is No. 1 Word of the Year

Merriam-Webster Inc. said on Tuesday that blog, defined as "a Web site that contains an online personal journal with reflections, comments and often hyperlinks," was one of the most looked-up words on its Internet sites this year.

Springfield, Massachusetts-based Merriam-Webster compiles the list of the 10 words of each year by taking the most researched words on its Web sites and then excluding perennials such as affect/effect and profanity.

Blog will be a new entry in the 2005 version of the Merriam-Webster Collegiate Dictionary, Eleventh Edition.

The complete list of words of the year is available here.

[Via Subzero Blue]

Interesting :) I was one of the people who looked it up when I stumbled across MMM's Subzero Blue in the first quarter of the year.

Jordan Sweet Jordan

Our 6 day Egypt excursion came to an end yesterday when we came back home to Amman, Jordan.
The trip was wonderful; it was culturally and aesthetically enriching, it was inspiring, and it was fun. I got to see a lot of art work, architecture, and historical monuments that I am very lucky to have had the opportunity to see. I'm really impressed at how much the Egyptian government cares about the fine arts, but sadly, the Egyptian public doesn't seem to have any cultural awareness.
Egypt's nature is gorgeous. The River Nile is one of the most stunning things I've ever seen, and Egypt has startling vegetation and a lot of beautiful gardens. Egypt's sky is marvelous, it's so high and it always looks so good. Why is Egypt's sky higher than Jordan's?
Old Egypt is also amazing, and it's a lot like old Damascus. It has the most splendid mosques and churches(more about that later), and of course, a lot of history. We spent a lot of time in areas like Khan Il Khalili and the Cornish, and it was a lot of fun. We also went to Al-Madeenah Al-I3lameyah, which is a very impressive movie set, and we got to see a few famous singers.
The people are generally very friendly, but too flirty and they try to use tourists. They also have too much humor for us un-humorous Jordanians. Although Egypt is only an hour away by plane, and although we're all Arabs, the Egyptian culture is very different from ours (as in Bilad Il Sham, or Greater Syria), and almost foreign.
As for Egypt as a country, I'm not sure I liked modern Egypt; it's too crowded, too polluted, and terribly planned. The buildings are all way too high, too dirty, and either incomplete or just pure ugly. Egyptians are also the craziest drivers I've ever seen, I will never cuss out a Jordanian cab or bus ever again. Another con was the fact that we didn’t eat much, the food being much too different for us (although we did eat a lot of Hardee's).
More on the trip and some pictures later, I need to catch up on my sleep now.