On my way home Wednesday, my taxi driver was commenting on the prisoner exchange between Israel and Hezbollah. He thought it was too good to be true, and that Israel must be getting something else behind the scenes. I think the problem is that like many who celebrated the exchange, he suffers from a short-term memory.

What makes this warped analysis of such glaring figures more poignant is that it’s not the first time. Here is a list of earlier exchanges between Lebanon and Israel courtesy of the Globe & Mail. I added the right column with the ratio.

Is this victory ? Is it really ? I leave you with some related quotes and my thoughts on each.

The victory march will continue until the Palestinian flag flies in Jerusalem and in all of Palestine.
Yasser Arafat
>> Only if our definition of Palestine changes.

If you live long enough, you’ll see that every victory turns into a defeat.
Simone de Beauvoir
>> people remember the failures forever, and forget the victories almost instantly.

Vengeance is not the point; change is. But the trouble is that in most people’s minds the thought of victory and the thought of punishing the enemy coincide.
Barbara Deming
>> Hatred of one type or another fuels most wars, vengeance goes very well with hate.

He is senseless who would match himself against a stronger man; for he is deprived of victory and adds suffering to disgrace.
Hesiod
>> There must be so many senseless people in the world.

It is not truth that matters, but victory.
Adolf Hitler
>> Is it enough to claim victory to have it ?

If a victory is told in detail, one can no longer distinguish it from a defeat.
Jean-Paul Sartre
>> How can anyone celebrate death ?

We chose this road, and will end with martyrdom or victory.
Sheikh A. Yassin
>> For men such as Yassin, even a defeat will be victory in the after-life, but only if his idea of God is accurate. I don’t think it is.

I wanted to somehow express all this music in my head. My parents were generous enough to provide piano lessons. I didn’t do very well though partly due to lack of practice. I wanted to play my music and not Beethoven or Chopin. I was also too naive to realize that once you properly learned to play the classics, you could later write and play your own music.

The teacher was an Armenian named Vahee, and he would sing the notes out loud while we played, but he was an albino (the disease where skin/hair are completely devoid of color making someone resemble a ghost), and this scared me at the time. So began my whistling stage.

Some time in the 80s, I went to England for the summer, and Madonna’s (Like a prayer) was at the top of the UK charts at the time. I had a chance to hear it, and also to listen to Elvis and the Beatles for the first time. Both would continue to inspire me.

A few years later, I headed for Montreal with my family. I realized that I had started to appreciate a lot of the music I couldn’t tolerate as a child. At first it was classical music (Beethoven, Mozart, and Tchaikovsky), but I also listened to legends like Abd Il-Halim, and Fairuz. It helped that I was home-sick, and needed anything to try to hold on to my identity. I still couldn’t appreciate Um Kulthoom though. The only contemporary Arabic singer I liked was Majida Al-Roumy mostly because of the album Kalimat (Words) in which she sang the words of Nizar Qabbani.

Abd Al-Halim and Fairuz weren’t exactly good looking (see above), but then again without video clips to film they didn’t have to be. Rather than watching video clips, I liked to listen to a popular radio show called KC’s Countdown in which KC Kasem would list and play the top songs on the Adult Contemporary (AC) charts as well as some older music listing interesting facts about the songs and artists along the way. On this show, I heard the song that would mark the first time I was in love (Please Don’t Go by KC & The Sunshine).

I also started doing a lot of karaoke. I used a Korean software called real orche that would play a format called .kar which is essentially a midi file containing the music behind a popular song, the words are embedded in the kar file as text. Real Orche highlighted the part you should sing. At the end of the song, it would rate how well you sang. I even bought a 10 band Equalizer Stereo deck to use for voice cancellation. This was fun for a while, but both the software and the kar format lost their popularity, and the trend died.

	As I started to acclimate to my surroundings in Quebec, I became fond of Celine Dion who had just released her first popular English Album (The Color of My Love). She was discovered at age 12 by Renee Angelil who became her manager. When she turned 26, she married Renee who was exactly twice her age at the time.

By 1996 I began building up a CD collection of various genres. I didn’t care how old or unpopular an album was. The only problem was each CD cost $12-$25, and on average had 7-12 songs with 1-3 good ones. This hardly seemed fair, but there was no alternative. It was on this year that I first heard and admired Diana Haddad. This would only last 4 years between her Saken (1996), and Shater (1999) albums. After that, she pretty much sold out her Lebanese roots and started singing in Khaleeji (gulf dialect).

By 1997 an mp3 software called Winamp was released. I liked it so much that I converted all of my CDs to MP3s (Fraunhoffer codec) keeping only my favorite songs of each album. I then gave away all my CDs to my brother.

In 1998 I purchased the first (popular) MP3 player on the market (the Diamond-PMP 300). The music recording companies sued the manufacturer almost instantly and lost! Around the same time, my cousin introduced me to Jewel Kilcher’s music. Her (Foolish Games) song would mark the second and last time I fell in love!

The next major development was in 1999 when Napster was released. My song collection was now in the thousands, and unlike the CD collection where most of the songs on each CD were lousy,  I liked every single one. I looked up the song charts for every year from 1930-2000, and got every top 10 song for each year (700 songs in all). My favorite are the 60s.

The worst thing about the 90s (musically) was that rap and hip hop became mainstream. What a shame that black musicians moved from beautiful eloquent Jazz to ugly violent hateful Rap. The first time it hit me. I was in a movie theatre with a friend waiting for the movie (a romantic comedy) to start, and suddenly the speakers started blaring (I’ve got my bitches, I’ve got my guns, I Got my homies by my side).

Not only isn’t that music, it’s a stretch to even call it poetry. If that wasn’t bad enough, they were shouting the words out. The dancers “shaking their booty” next to the rappers made the sleazy lyrics even worse. I remember discussing this with a rap music fan once, who insisted that there are Rap love songs. Although I dislike Heavy Metal (the creepy vocals, not the skillful guitar playing)  just as much, it just never became as popular as rap, so it didn’t matter.

Today in the CD/DVD stores of old Amman, you could buy the entire discography of a Fairuz, or Abdul Halim on a single DVD for 1JD. It seems that the news of the plan to close these stores down was greatly exaggerated. It’s staggering that someone’s entire life’s work can be broken down to less than $2. The artists must be shaking in their graves.

I have never been to any concert. I made a list below of the 100 concerts I would want to go to. An exclamation mark (!) designates the ones that are off limits due to death, old age, retirement, expiry, etc.

Diana Krall: I became fond of this Canadian Jazz-Pianist in 2001 when I first heard her cover of the song (The look of love) in a TV commercial. I got the album of the same name, and have been a fan ever since. I will be attending Diana’s concert in Amman within 2 weeks. This will be my first concert ever.

! Abd Il-Halim Hafez: His music will live forever, but he died of Schistosomiasis in 1977.

! Barbra Streisand: De Facto Retired, but still does a concert for charity every now and then.

! Billie Holiday: The greatest female Jazz Singer ever, but she was penniless when she died of liver cirrhosis in 1959.

! Bob Marley: His music is more spiritual to me than any Gregorian Chant or Quran Recitation I’ve ever heard. He died of cancer in 1981.

Celine Dion: At the height of her career, she temporarily retired to manufacture babies. When she was done, she became just another Vegas act. Still her talent shines anywhere.

! Dalida: Committed suicide in 1987. What a waste of a beautiful voice.

! Elvis Presley: Died in 1977 due to abuse of prescription-drugs.

! Fairuz: Still does concerts occasionally but I couldn’t bare to listen to her voice now and would rather remember how perfect it used to be.

! Frank Sinatra: His last concert was in 1995. He died in 1998 at the age of 82. His tombstone inscription says “the best is yet to come”.

Jewel Kilcher: Her first 3 folksy albums (Pieces of you, Spirit, This Way) were original and inspiring. Then she realized corny music doesn’t sell well in this millennium. She sold out to commercialized pop with songs like Intuition (supposedly a parody). To make things worse she then released a country music album. Still I adore her.

! John Denver: Country roads or not his voice will always “take you home”. He died in a plane crash in 1997.

! Luciano Pavarotti: Some say there were 3, others 4. To me there can only be 1 and now he’s gone. He died of cancer in 2007.

! Madonna: Although she is known for re-inventing herself across 3 decades, the Madonna I know and loved sang between 1984-2000, and should have retired rather than try to keep up with the talentless Britneys out there.

Pink (Alecia Moore): Still touring, and M!ssundaztood as ever!

! Queen (Freddy Mercury): Died in 1991 twenty four hours after releasing a statement confirming he was HIV positive. I mourn him to this day.

Shania Twain: Hasn’t released anything new in 4 years although she said she will this year. It’s too bad she made it singing country music first. Her voice is lovely in any genre.

Sheryl Crow: She’s approaching 50, but even if she just sings her oldies, it’ll make me ecstatic.

! The Beatles (John Lennon): They will never be equaled. No one can quite get away with the flowery lyrics they sang, and still make it sound really cool. John Lennon was assassinated in 1980.

! The Corries: Roy Williamson, one of the two singers in this Scottish duo died of a brain tumor in 1990.

The Cranberries (Dolores O’Riordan):The band broke up in 2003, but aside from a brief interruption due to illness in Winter 2007, Dolores continues to tour solo.

! The Doors (Jim Morrison): Jim died at 27 years of age of a heroin overdose in 1971.

! The Eagles: Released their last album in 2007. It was the only album they released in 28 years. Although the 2 original vocalists (Don Henley and Glenn Frey) are alive, they’re nearly 60 years old. So I’d rather listen to the recordings.

The Pretenders (Chrissie Hynde): Chrissie is 56 and the pretenders last hit was in 1999. Still I’d love to hear her sing (Back on the Chain Gang) one more time.

Weezer (Rivers Cuomo): If anyone can take the corny type of lyrics the Beatles used to sing and make them rock it’s weezer. They’ve released their latest (red album) a couple of weeks ago.

! Whitney Houston: Although she’s still trying to “come back”, her career and brilliant voice was destroyed by drug addiction.

Here are the other 74 in alphabetical order:

The administrator of any site you visit can find out your IP (then your location, place of work, ISP), hostname, language settings, operating system, browser/version, screen resolution, referrer (site you came from), and exit page (site you left to). A prolific advertising system can find out even more since they can track your movement across several websites to get an overall picture of what you are interested in, and allow them to target you with relevant advertising.

The first spyware started out as a simple persistent browser cookie which assisted in doing this. Over the years the line between spyware, viruses, and email worms was so blurred that the terms became interchangeable. Today any self-respecting antivirus package will include a module dedicated to detecting spyware.

To me, Spyware is any unwanted part of a software package that is installed, or launched without user consent that doesn’t have a simple built-in method to remove or stop it. At best, this will needlessly consume memory and CPU resources slowing down both your PC and internet connection. At worst, it will forcibly flood you with advertising, render your system helpless, and/or turn your PC into a spam mail distribution drone which will get your IP blacklisted on many mail servers. In some cases it will distribute itself to all your email contacts (including family and business associates). I’ve listed below some helpful tips and my favorite software to detect and counter-act this type of threat on windows XP.

Know Your Startups:

Startups are programs which are launched automatically with windows. Some of them announce their presence by displaying an icon next to your system clock. Others just lurk silently consuming your resources. If you don’t want a particular piece of software to launch automatically, first look within its options for any setting to disable automatic startup. If you can’t find any such option you’ll have to stop the program from starting up manually.

While you can look within the startup folder on the start menu, or use the built-in msconfig tool, or even check the run/runonce keys within your registry, but you will only be scratching the surface. The best and simplest tool to detect and disable startups is called Autoruns. It can be downloaded freely here.

Autoruns was created by an outfit called sysinternals which not long ago was taken over by Microsoft. Luckily MS decided to maintain and update their utilities as freeware. Once you run it, autoruns will automatically scan your system and within a few seconds have a list of all startups categorized by type.

Click thumbnail to enlarge:

Unless you know what you’re removing the recommended method is to uncheck the checkbox next to a particular startup (as opposed to deleting it), and if on the next reboot you find that you want it back, you can simply check it. The difficult part is telling which startups it is safe to remove. To assist with this, autoruns will display the full path of each item, which company it was manufactured by, and if you right click the item, and select search online, it will automatically search for that item within your browser. (on firefox it will use whichever search engine is listed first on your search bar). Alternately you can export the list and email it to someone more technical to review. Autoruns will even allow you to remove annoying items from your windows/IE context (right-click) menu.

What is Currently Running:

You should always have a general idea which processes are running when you startup your PC so that if anything extra shows up there, you’ll know that something may be amiss. You can use the built-in Task Manager tool by right-clicking an empty part of the start bar, and selecting Task Manager. Make sure the (show processes from all users) is checked, and that you have the (peak memory usage) option enabled. (click the view menu, select columns, and check the box).

Click thumbnail to enlarge:

This will show you what the maximum amount of memory used by a particular process as opposed to only how much it is currently using. The CPU column shows how much CPU power is used by that process. If you right click a process you will have the option of ending it.

You will notice several svchost.exe processes. This process is a generic windows process that can represent one or more application (DLLs) that are running. One way to find out what lurks behind each svchost.exe is to open a command prompt, and enter the (tasklist /svc) command. A better method to track all processes in general is using another free utility also created by sysinternals called Process Explorer which can be downloaded here.

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The processes are color-coded by type, the color coding and columns displayed for each process are configurable. Besides the manufacturer, the full path to the process is displayed along with a lot of additional information. Right clicking a processes, and selecting properties will allow you to see any windows services associated with it, along with plenty of other information like whether it is opening any connections to the internet and where it’s connecting, how much resources it is using, or even what text strings it has in memory.

What connections are currently open to the network or the internet:

While many applications call home to check for updates and such, if you suspect something is amiss, or your internet connection is slower than usual, you may want to check what connections are being made to and from your PC. One way to do this is to open a command prompt and type the netstat command, but a better way is to use yet another free sysinternals utility called TCPview which can be downloaded here.

Anti-Spyware:

There are countless different anti-spyware packages out there, and none can detect every single threat. My favorite is Spybot Search and Destroy. Aside from being free, it’s a community effort, and gets updated on a regular basis. I recommend getting this utility and performing a scan at least once a week.

What makes it really special is its immunization feature. Without doing a regular scan, and without having any additional software running in the background, you can be safe from a large percentage of the threats out there just by immunizing. One way immunization works is by automatically blacklisting the most common spyware sites. This means that if you visit a website with embedded links to spyware, you will be safe since the embedded links will be automatically ignored by your browser. Spybot currently allows immunization from over 72,000 different threats.

To enable immunization:

1. Download spybot from one of the mirrors listed here.
2. Run the installation
3. Do a full update selecting all options
4. click the Immunize icon on the left navigator
5. Click the Immunize (+) icon on the top toolbar
6. Re-update, and immunize at least once a week

Browser Choice:

I recommend sticking to Firefox and only using Internet Explorer for sites that don’t work in Firefox (like windows update). This can be accomplished unobtrusively using Firefox plugins like IEtab, firefoxview, and IEview (more on that in an upcoming post dedicated to Firefox plugins). It’s not that Firefox is more secure since both IE/FF have security problems that are uncovered on a regular basis. Rather IE is the most popular, so most spyware, and viruses tend to explicitly target it. Also Firefox doesn’t support Activex which is used by a large number of spyware threats.

Browser Options:

Even on Firefox, turning off options like java/javascript/Activex and only enabling them for sites where you actually use them can prevent various spyware from being installed in the first place. In IE, this can be done from the security tab within the options. on Firefox java/javascript can be disabled from the content tab within options.

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However this is not practical since it’s too much trouble to go to options every time you want to use javascript or java. A Firefox plugin called Prefbar can simplify matters by adding a toolbar with checkboxes to instantly enable/disable options like (java/javascript/animations/flash/cookies) on the fly without having to open any options screen.

Mail:

There was a time when free web mail accounts (like Yahoo or Hotmail, or Gmail) were looked down upon and considered stingy and less prestigious. That time has passed. Web mail is safer both for you (attachments will be auto scanned with an updated antivirus), and your contacts. No incidents have been reported of a virus or worm automatically spreading itself to web mail contacts. However thousands have occurred where such a threat will propagate to your local mail client’s address book and attempt to infect all your acquaintances. Hence, it would be wise to avoid using local full blown mail clients like the plague.

Antivirus:

Having an antivirus and firewall solution is essential. There are many out there, so I won’t go into details other than to recommend Eset Smart Security which provides a complete solution with Antivirus, Firewall, and Anti-spyware all in one. Unlike the other utilities I listed, eset isn’t free, but I particularly like that it keeps a low profile which means it doesn’t use much resources, and won’t bombard you with so many messages that you decide to disable it!

A firewall can prevent many types of spyware from activating even after infection simply by blocking the network ports popular threats are known to utilize. It is best to leave the (automatic update) and (on the fly scanning) options enabled. Downloading and executing files from questionable sources (like an email from a stranger) should be avoided.

What if IE is Hijacked:

Various spyware threats can take over internet explorer doing things like forcing a specific homepage and not allowing you to change it, or forcing a certain search provider so every time you type something into the URL bar, it takes you to more spyware and ad sites, or simply bombarding you with pop-up ads. The first thing to try if you are using IE7 is to use the Reset option (which is much more comprehensive and effective than the equivalent IE6 option, nobody should be on IE6 anyway). This will automatically disable any addons or toolbars that latched on to your internet explorer. You can reach this option by opening the tools menu, options, Advanced, Click Reset, click Ok to the confirmation.

Besides your regular spyware utilities mentioned above, a tool called (Hijackthis) is dedicated to finding and correcting Internet Explorer Hijack issues. It can be downloaded here.

Santize:

Many viruses and spyware will lurk in your user/windows temp folder because even restricted users usually have full access to their own temp folder. This is one reason to clean your temp folders on a regular basis.

Click to enlarge

Another reason is to save space, and improve performance. One free utility that allows you to clear both browser and windows temporary folders instantly is ATF Cleaner. It can be downloaded here.

Force Delete/Rename:

Occasionally you may use the tools above to track down the exact location of a specific virus or spyware, however windows may not allow you to delete it because it is in use. Terminating the process using it will not be an option since it may be a system process like winlogon (which will automatically reboot the system if terminated). The solution is to use a free utility called Unlocker. It will allow you to delete the file even when it is in use. When even Unlocker can’t delete a file it will usually let you rename it, and then delete it. You can download unlocker here.

Lock up your registry:

Some spyware is so persistent, it will latch on to a system process, and automatically add entries to your registry to restart itself on reboot. Even if you remove the entries, they get re-added immediately. The solution is to lockup your registry. The aforementioned spybot Search&Destory software comes with a companion utility called Teatimer. If you enable it, it will not allow any software to edit the registry without your permission. This would be too annoying to leave running constantly but in a crunch, it can be very helpful until you manage to remove the registry entries, reboot, then delete the spyware files.

Ask the Experts:

Spywareinfo has a forum dedicated to fighting spyware complete with a helpful and knowledgeable community of friendly nerds!

1. Viewing Time: On average I watch about 20 minutes of live TV per week, and even then only because I happen to be in the living room when one of my sisters is watching.

2. Favorite Program: The perfect TV station plays nothing but Star Trek from all its incarnations (except Enterprise). I recently acquired 5 complete seasons of DS9 as a first step towards setting up my own 24 hour Star Trek Channel! Beyond that I like the Satellite movie channels (on Showtime/Orbit).

3. Commercial Break: One reason I don’t like TV is that I despise commercials. I normally mute the TV during the breaks. In a sense we are the sum of our memories. Some people watch 2-4 hours of TV per day. This means they are subjected to a minimum of 30-60 minutes of commercials. A study where people were shown the first 5 seconds of various commercials established that they were able to recollect the rest of the commercial, even when it’s 10-20 year old. The same people often could not recall what they had for lunch 2 days ago.

Based on American statistics, the average 30 second TV commercial costs a quarter of a million dollars (2.5 million during major sporting events). So what can these companies do in 30 seconds to make you buy their product ? If you’re a kid, it can be as simple as a silly jingle that gets stuck in your head. If they’re targeting mommies, they usually try to make her feel guilty that she wouldn’t be a good mother if she didn’t buy this product for her child. If they’re selling an anti-aging product, they will hire a super-model to make middle-aged women feel ugly. If they are targeting teenagers, they will hawk the “coolness factor” (think of what happens in a soda commercial before and after they open the soda can). Essentially commercials are designed to make you feel guilty, inadequate, unpopular, and sad so that you can compensate by buying their product. Why would you willingly subject yourself to this type of brainwashing ?

4. TV Set: I haven’t owned or purchased a TV for 12 years now. Instead I have been using various “TV cards” which allow  you to watch TV on your PC. Right now I’m using a 21″ Samsung SyncMaster 1100DF CRT, but I plan to buy a 30″ LCD soon.

5. Snack Food: I have the urge to consume copious quantities of food while watching TV. It just adds to the entertainment value. In an attempt to keep my thus far unsuccessful diet in tact, I am resorting to fiber rich all-grain crackers!

6. Multi-tasking: One of the advantages of watching TV on my PC is that I can leave the TV software running in a small window in the corner while I browse the net.

If the idea of writing about your quirks appeals to you, please consider yourself tagged!

I was napping when I heard a knock. I reluctantly got up, and opened the door only to find a total stranger. He introduced himself and explained he’s from out of town, and works with my sister. We shook hands and then without further introductions he asked me what I do, and who I work for. He then asked how much money I make! I was half asleep, so I told him. He then excused himself, and left towards the living room. I went back to sleep making a mental note to ask my sister about this later.

What kind of person asks someone they’ve never met, and will likely never see again how much money they make ? Why would they care ? I always considered this question something only your bank, accountant, parent, or prospective inlaws may ask. Yet I know several people who ask it on a regular basis, and one person in particular (a multimillionaire) who asks for an update every time I see him.

It pains me to see hypocrisy or deception, but I always thought being materialistic is something to be ashamed of. They say the eyes are windows to the soul. I look in these people’s eyes, and I only see dollar signs.

In January Tala reported that google sent a delegation to Jordan university to discuss the possibility of a new regional office. This month, Google posted 3 Job Positions in the (Middle East) region. These are under a separate category from job listings for its existing offices in Egypt and UAE. The open positions are: Site Director, Software Engineer, and Tech Lead Manager. The Site Director listing includes the wording (fit well in an informal startup environment) which implies a new site. Fluency in Arabic is required for two of the positions, and recommended for the third which eliminates the possibility of a European office.

Posts advertising the opening have appeared across the net on employment sites like Bayt, Monster, and blogs like Jazzarah and even Jordanblogs . Many are attributed to Executive Google Recruiter Nabil Khatib listed in (Linkedin) and (ZoomInfo). One posting dated last week appears on Jordan’s own Linux User Group. It indicates that Google is “strongly leaning toward a location in Amman, Jordan”.

A few days ago, I was discussing with a colleague what it would be like working at the Googleplex - Google’s 47,000 sq. m. HQ in California. Employees enjoy 3 gourmet meals a day, snack rooms packed with free chocolate, candy, fruits, nuts etc. Swimming pools, Foosball, and pool tables, Gym, Laundry rooms, beach volleyball court, and even subsidized massages. They get to travel in google’s own 767 jet, and  are permitted to bring their dog with them to work! The Decor includes lava lamps and giant rubber ball chairs for relaxation. For more about the Googleplex, look here, here, and here.

If Google as a leader in search engine and internet technology, decides to go ahead with this move, it will be a great boon for Amman which is often overlooked by corporations in favor of Dubai or Cairo.

Operation Hopeless Case (Amman): I had previously defined the concept of baggism where some establishments will allow women entry with their hand bags, but deny men the same privilege. Since I don’t own a car, I always carry a bag with me to hold my belongings (wallet, phone, camera, hat, gum, mp3 player, book, calculator, pen, paper, lip balm, spare change and other essentials).

Last night I got back from work at around 11:30PM and decided to stop at the Safeway for groceries. The security guard at the gate patted me down, searched my bag, then insisted I hand it to someone at the front counter for “safekeeping”. I explained that it contains my wallet, and mobile and other stuff. He insisted that they sell electronics upstairs, and that it would cause problems if he let me in with the bag.

I spotted a woman coming in with a hand bag 4 times larger than mine. I knew what was going to happen, but I stepped back and let the woman and her family pass by the guard. He didn’t so much as look at her bag. I asked him why he let her shop with her hand bag. He replied: “You know women, they are full of problems, but young men like you are different”. Ok, so that’s his explanation ? Women are full of problems ? I should mention that I’ve encountered this same issue at several safeway branches, but never at Cozmo, or Carrefour.

On the way home, I thought of what I was going to say in the email below. Sultan Center seems to be the Kuwaiti company that owns the Jordanian safeway, Brian Dowling is the spokesperson for Safeway, and Steve Burd is the CEO. I don’t expect any response mainly because I don’t think the main safeway corporation has any sway over the Sultan Center, but I still wanted to do my part. It wasn’t a particularly eloquent email since it was past midnight, and I was somewhat tired.

From    Hani Obaid
to    eyadmj@safeway.com(dot)jo
cc    customer-support@sultan-center(dot)com, lisa@sultan-center(dot)com,
business.ethics@safeway(dot)com,brian.dowling@safeway(dot)com, steve.burd@safeway(dot)com
date    Sat, May 24, 2008 at 12:33 AM
subject    Customers seriously mistreated by Safeway security guards

To whom it may concern,

I encountered a serious lack of respect from the security guards of 2 Jordanian branches of Safeway (Al-Madina Circle, and Jubaiha) on multiple occasions. I always head to Safeway from my place of work carrying my business suitcase. In both these branches the security guard would not let me shop unless I gave him my suitcase at the front counter.Do you seriously expect me to hand my suitcase with my wallet, and personal items to a total stranger on the front counter ? If this was a general policy that would be one thing, but the problem is that the security guards at those 2 branches are only applying the policy on men. I see them let women shop with their hand bags even though their handbags are several times larger than my business suitcase.

I asked the guard at (Al_madina Circle) branch why he is letting the women shop with their bags. He said that it is because women make lots of problems. After consistently getting discriminated against, I will go to other stores that let me shop with my business suitcase. Stores like Carrefour, and Cozmo don’t seem to have any problems treating  their customers with respect regardless of their gender. Why can’t you ? I think you’re ruining Safeway’s reputation in the region with this type of policy. It is not only sexist, but simply uncivilized.

Please consider respecting your customers just a little bit more than that.

Thanks,
Hani Obaid

*Updated*: The first business day after the above email was sent. A woman identifying herself as Safeway’s Regional Marketing Manager called to discuss it. She confirmed that the security guards weren’t acting of their own accord, and that it is in fact official Safeway policy to allow women to shop with their handbags but to deny men the same privilege. She still insisted that this isn’t discrimination (her level of English suggested she should know better). She also tried to confuse the issue by informing me that the Jordanian Government requires them to search every single man who walks into the store but not necessarily every woman. I explained that I don’t have a problem with the search since all the other stores do that, but only with requiring me to leave me bag with their front desk. I then asked her to explain why Safeway Corporation decided to apply this policy only to men. She insisted that a woman’s handbag is considered private but that a man’s isn’t. She also explained that they receive a lot of complaints from women but not from men (which she apparently thinks justifies such discrimination in treating customers by Safeway). She also explained that this is based on the recommendations of Safeway’s security division which is not a separate company, meaning that Safeway trusts it’s female customers more than it’s male customers. She then tried to make an excuse that other stores (she mentioned City Mall) wouldn’t allow me in with my bag. I told her that all of Safeway’s competition in the city allowed me in including Cozmo, Carrefour, and C-Town. She then gave up and said that my feedback is appreciated (a straight lie), and that they’re willing to take any suggestions about anything other than this issue into consideration. Overall the call made my impression of Safeway’s unethical policy even worse since their regional marketing manager confirmed it was official, and that they don’t realize that listening to their customers is the most important measure of quality.

Operation Money Back Guaranteed (Toronto): When I was in college, everyone was required to pay a fee for health insurance along with their tuition. People who already had insurance must fill out a form to get a refund within a month. Ss a Canadian I already had health insurance from the government, so I filled out the form. Eight months later, and after several visits to the relevant department, the employee responsible kept giving me the run-around. He had a new excuse every month. Worse yet, he was extremely rude about it. I went home, turned on my PC. I got his boss’s email, and his boss’s boss, and that of the representative for student affairs in my discipline for good measure. I wrote a page-length email copying all of the above, explaining the situation, naming the employee, describing his response, and left the slightest insinuation that the students money may be going somewhere it shouldn’t. The next day, I got a phone call from the head of the financial department, who was very nice about it. He apologized for the trouble, and asked me to come to the office and pickup my refund!

Operation Tax This (Montreal): Intuit is an American company that makes some of the most popular accounting software there is (Quicken, Quickbooks, Turbotax, Quicktax, etc..). The nice things about its software is that you don’t need an accountant, you can just answer the simple questions Quicktax asks and it will fill out the forms for you. It also auto-updates to get the US/Canadian government’s latest forms. Best of all, it allows you to submit electronically over the Internet. As a student I never had to pay any taxes, instead the government always sent me a refund, and with electronic filing, I didn’t even have to leave tho house. The refund gets deposited directly into my bank account. The only catch is that each year I had to buy the new Quicktax software for around $20. The refund was usually around $60 so it worked out.

Intuit got tired of people using pirated copies of their software, so they implemented anti-piracy measures that made changes at the sector level of the hard disk which were undetectable to the user. As a computer science student I had both Windows and Linux installed on my machine, and their software couldn’t deal with Linux being there. When I started Quicktax, it simply implied that the copy was pirated. So I called their support line and explained the situation. They took the details, created a helpdesk ticket, and said they’d call me back. Within an hour I got a call from an angry software engineer telling me that he thinks I was trying to bypass their anti-piracy measures. When I explained that I had Linux installed he wouldn’t even listen. So once again it was time for a letter writing campaign.

This time I emailed the standard support email, copied the PR email of Intuit Canada, the regional office in Alberta, and the HQ in the US. I explained that I am a loyal paying customer who buys their software every year, and that I don’t appreciate being treated like a thief. Within an hour someone from the US HQ called me, apologized, and said they’d put me in touch with someone in the Canadian office to quickly rectify the situation, and that I can call them back if I am not satisfied. Sure enough, I called the contact, they asked me to fax them a copy of my receipt, and the original software CD. As soon as I did, they emailed back a software tool which essentially disables their entire copy protection mechanism. This is the equivalent of a safe making company giving you instructions on how to open the safe without knowing the combination. Still i really appreciated the gesture. The following year Quicktax became available as an online site requiring only credit card registration.

Operation Broke Bank (Amman): Not only don’t I own a car, I don’t even have a driving license. Each day I take a taxi to work, and back. The only problem is that you always have to have exact change for the cabbies. Each month I would head to my Bank (HSBC 5th circle), and ask to withdraw 50JD in 1JD bills. I would always explain that it’s for a cab. One month, after lining up for 20 minutes at a teller counter, I said Good Morning, gave the teller my ATM card, and asked for my usual withdrawal. This time the teller looked offended, and asked me to go use the machine. I gently explained that the machine does not dispense 1JD bills. He insisted (unbelievably) that the bank had run out of money, and that he didn’t have any 1JD bills to give me. I explained that each month the tellers don’t usually have that much change, but that they always get it from the back. He shook his head, and said that there weren’t any 1JD bills in the back. So I gave up and left.

When I got home, I went to HSBCs site, and picked up their customer service email. I wrote a letter explaining what the teller did, and included all my other issues with their bank: They charge an annual fee for their visa card while several other banks don’t, you can’t pay your phone or electricity bills at the teller counters like other banks, their online banking service also doesn’t allow bill payment. On filling out the bank account and credit card request they not only asked for a signed letter from my employer stating my salary and how long I worked there (which is standard), but they got upset because the letter my employer wrote was addressed to whom it may concern instead of HSBC (ridiculous), they also demanded that the bank my company uses to dispense the salary has to stamp the letter (too much), and they called the bank to confirm. They also did not accept my standard signature and insisted on one that was easier to reproduce. They also insisted I agree to allow them to automatically withdraw the minimal credit card monthly payment automatically from my savings account. Even though i don’t maintain a balance, I’d prefer to make payments of my own accord. Finally they insisted on sending my credit card to my place of work via courier, my ATM card to my post office box, and my pin numbers also to the POB but in a separate letter. Compared to my previous bank it was a nightmare dealing with HSBC.

They called me the next day and threw me a bone. They would waive the annual credit card fee for 1 year, and leave a note at the teller counters to make sure they give me change when I ask for it. I stopped withdrawing change from the teller each month, and instead use incentive psychology on the cabbies. If they give me change I gave them a tip. If they say they don’t have change, I give them the exact fare. You’d be surprised how many cabbies tell you they don’t have change, and then quickly take it out once they know you’ll give them the exact fare.

Conclustion: Although regionally we seem to care much less about customer service. I think this is slowly changing. We even have a consumer advocacy group (جمعية حماية المستهلك) here in Amman. I guess the main point when filing a complaint is to try to stay polite and objective. For me it is about justice.

Bonus: Below is an email sent twice yesterday through my blog’s contact page from someone with a complaint against Pakistanis. Since I am not Pakistani, I assume he just picked the first Pakistani sounding name he could find to get mad at. Not sure about his strange IP address though (yes it is most likely a man).

I tried to recount below some random memories related to my somewhat sheltered childhood under the occupation, and subsequently. They’re disjointed, and ordered by recollection.

My father’s family lived in a large multi-story house in Jerusalem which they were forced to leave at gunpoint. Several families of Jewish settlers now live in that house. Our house.

I sang (بلاد العرب أوطاني) (The Lands of the Arabs are my homeland) at school, and actually meant every word. As an adult, I reconciled such empty poetry with our harsh reality.

Occasionally the Israeli Army would announce a general curfew. We would hear the loudspeaker announcements on regular intervals (ممنوع التجول). it was terrifying in itself. I remember one time risking going out in curfew just to get to school. I liked school although i didn’t like homework. The only time I pretended to be sick so that I wouldn’t have to go to school. My mom came to wake me up in the morning and I just held my arm and screamed “it hurts it hurts”. I think my mom knew there was nothing wrong with me but let me stay anyway. Thanks mom!

During the Intifada, the general strikes became so frequent that at one point, we only went to school for 2 days a week. The leaflets announcing the strikes would magically appear on the floor all over. There were apparently real leaflets and fake leaflets, and the only way to decide which leaflets were real was if you agreed with what it said! Naturally different political factions would announce strikes on different days.

My dad fearing our education would suffer, and believing that a good education is the most valuable thing he could give us, moved us to an International school in Jerusalem. Due to the Israeli Army checkpoints, the daily commute to school took 1.5-2 hours instead of the actual 30 minutes of travel time. Each day our driver would try find a new shortcut around the checkpoints.

I saw an Israeli school bus carrying school children. The bus had metal wire mesh on its windows, and it was escorted by an army jeep. it looked more like a vehicle to transport prison convicts.

In my previous Arab school, I had only learned about Islam, in moving me to this International school, my dad didn’t realize that learning about Christianity, and contrasting it with Islam, coupled with later travels to different parts of the world along with the chance to meet all sorts of people of different beliefs would eventually lead to my current atheist/agnostic beliefs. I wonder if in retrospect,  he would have preferred my education to suffer the regular strikes instead ?

My father worked at a hospital in Ramallah, each day he would recount the intifada related injuries they would have to deal with. Everything from rubber/plastic bullets, tear gas asphyxiation, to full gunshot wounds, and worse.

No post about any place would be complete without mentioning food, glorious food. Whether it was Nabulsi Kunafeh/white-cheese, Khaleeli Qidreh/grapes, olive oil from the villages, or ice cream from Rukab in Ramallah. I will never forget the taste and smell as long as I live.

Someone threw a Molotov cocktail at an Israeli Army jeep close to where I live. Soon dozens soldiers were canvassing the whole neighbourhood randomly arresting males. Our neighbours called to warn us that the soldiers are coming. My dad immediately asked my brother and I to go and put our pajamas on. When the soldiers rang the bell, we all stood there as a family so as not to give the impression my brother and I were hiding. 3 soldiers walked in, holding their rifles, fingers near the trigger. Without introductions, one of them looked at my dad, then looked at my brother, pointed his rifle, and told my brother to get in the jeep. My brave dad in a terrifying moment that I will never forget put himself between the rifle’s muzzle and my brother, and tried to reason with the soldier. The soldier argued with my dad. At that point I thought the soldier behind him looked in my mom’s eyes, and saw that she was terrified. He said something in Hebrew to the first soldier, and they left.

I went with my cousin Nader to see the Aqsa mosque, we wanted to get inside not to pray, but just to see what it was like. I had never been there before. The guard at the door talked to my cousin, I just shook his hand and then tried to follow my cousin inside, but the guard stopped me and insisted I speak Arabic to him first so that he can make sure I’m not Israeli. It seems that this was out of fear from some orthodox Jewish groups that were intent on burning down the mosque since to them it is the site of the Jewish Temple, and they had made such attempts previously.

Nader was arrested by the Israeli army. His crime ? He was seen by an Israeli Army jeep walking underneath a telephone pole that had the Palestinian flag on it. I think the sentence for this was 3 months in jail, but they decided to be “nice” to him because he was a kid. He told me that inside the jail, an Israeli showed him 8 canes which increased in thickness, and asked him which one he wants to be hit with.

Our school went on a hiking trip (can’t remember where now), part of the trip was hiking through the rocks and mountains. My friend Rami from Bethlehem was climbing next to me and we weren’t alone on the mountain as there were other tourist groups and people. An Israeli soldier needed to use both hands to climb a rock. Without giving it a second thought, he handed my friend Rami his rifle, climbed up the rock, took the rifle from Rami, then held out his hand to help Rami up. I assumed he did not know he was handing his rifle to an Arab. Then again, do we look that different?

My family owned a large share of the bus company that traveled between Ramallah and Jerusalem. The cool thing was that I could get on any bus say the secret word, and get to ride for free. I didn’t understand how this would prevent others from using the secret word they overheard since it never changed! In contrast whenever I rode an Israeli bus (Eged), I could feel the other passengers eyes looking at me and my schoolbag suspiciously wondering if I had a bomb in there. It wasn’t a nice feeling. I imagine it wasn’t nice for them either.

I was visiting a friend on the 6th floor of an office building in downtown Ramallah. Suddenly I felt a burning sensation in my eyes, and I found I could barely breathe. My friend opened the balcony door and took me there. We talked to the people in the next balcony who also rushed out for fresh air. We heard gunfire. It turns out the Israeli Army was chasing someone, and fired a tear gas grenade into the building. The kind of grenade that can be lethal when fired indoors!

My neighbour’s son asked me to go have pizza with him at a place in Jerusalem. He drove there, we had the pizzas, and left pretty quickly. Later, I found out the pizza place where we went was blown up not long after we left. As an adult I dwelled on the fact that the bomb would not distinguish between Palestinian and Israeli. It would kill us all.

I went to summer camp in the UK, and there I met a kid from Israel. The camp instructors had everyone draw their flag on a piece of paper and wave them. Foolish child that I was, I thought I could single-handedly bring peace to the world by handing him my flag to carry and holding up his. By the end of the camp, the Israeli Kid was calling me names like (dirty Arab). Nowadays, no matter how I answer the question (where do you come from), someone will get upset, so I developed an aversion to flags.

I met a Canadian Jew named Elliott in college. Despite our background, we became chums. Then one day, Elliott and I were reading the news, an Israeli Army Transport Helicopter crashed on its way to attack Lebanon killing all the Israeli soldiers on board. I said: “Helicopters are notoriously hard to fly, seasoned pilots have been known to crash in even perfect conditions”. Suddenly Elliott started shouting at me, he apparently detected pleasure in my comment about the helicopter. He proceeded to lecture me. I thought it amusing that a Jew who never lived in Palestine would feel so strongly about the subject. I later found out that he went to some sort of (find your Zionist roots) camp every few years as a kid. Apparently subliminal messages like (Arabs hate us), and (we must hate Arabs) were part of the indoctrination curriculum.

We always had interesting wall graffiti, anything from announcing someone in a certain house was a collaborator, to proclaiming a political group superior to another, or even religious symbols. The ones I liked, the ever rare calls for peace. I remember the first time I saw (Make Love Not War) on a wall, and how out of place it looked.

I hope our grandchildren grow up in a better world.

Thanks go to Za3tar for the (Blog about Palestine) idea, and Qwaider for inspiring it with the original (Blog about Jordan).

Natural Selection is the term Darwin proposed to describe the idea that favorable inherited (genetic) traits would become more common after several generations, because the unfavorable traits would make it less likely to survive. Keep in mind that the definition of favorable varies based on your location, and its “stress factors”. Basicaly anything that can affect survival (too much sun, not enough water, etc…)

Can the principals of natural selection be applied to modern day humans ? Research published in the past few years has not only found evidence of very recent natural selection in the human genome, but several studies even suggested geographic origin (African, Asian, or European) can be linked to both the rate of selection, and the type of genes that are undergoing changes.

However, such research is restricted to biological traits. Humans are too socially complex to be judged based only on their genetic makeup. What about other inherited social, cultural, and geographic traits that greatly influence our survival, quality of life, and even our frequency of reproduction ?

I tried to think of a few such factors and how they interact.

1. Education: People with a higher education tend to reproduce less often, and are more likely to use contraceptives.
2. Healthcare: Better healthcare means longer life. Free universal healthcare neutralizes this as a factor.
3. Wealth: Poor people are less educated, and have more children. Wealthier individuals have access to better healthcare, but eat more fatty foods, and do less manual labor (excercise).
4. Religion: Most religions ban abortion, but they also ban extra-marital sex. Overall, religious people tend to have more children than secular people. Also wealthier individuals (and nations) tend to be less religious.

Social Status is the equivalent of geographic isolation when it comes to natural selection in humans. Each status comes with its own matching “stress factors”. For example, one person may be worried about whether they can find food for their family today, while another may be worried about finding the right suit for a job interview. Since people only mate with those of similar status, we can think of them as different social species.

It boils down to reproduction creating people, and only disease/aging killing them. Weighing the above factors based on their tendency to make us reproduce more, and get sick less often, one would predict ending up with a large population of poor, uneducated, religious people. Let’s call them the Gorillas. The Gorillas are ruled by a second smaller, wealthier, more secular, and better-educated group. Let’s call them the Chimps. The 3rd groups is caught in the middle, too well off to be Gorillas, but still not good enough to be chimps.

The Gorillas outnumber everyone, so what is to prevent them from using their demographic bomb to take over ? Well, there are so many Gorillas, but they don’t agree on much. These divisions make them easier to control by the Gimps with the right form of news and entertainment. The Gimps do this because the chimps  convinced them the Gorillas are out to get them too, and because the ambitious gimps secretly want to be be chimps too. Besides, nowadays numeric advantage is irrelevant when faced with technological superiority. Of course if all else fails, the chimps can send their Gorillas to fight someone else’s Gorillas.

So, are you a Chimp, a Gimp, or a Gorilla ?

(To enlarge, click image, then click the “full size” link at the bottom)

I will be discussing pigs next. Stay tuned, same bat time, same bat channel!

Nearly 45 minutes later, we came back:

Hani: The horse is still there, poor thing.
S: That’s not a horse it’s a mule (Ba3′el).
Hani: Who works harder, the mule or us?
S: We do. It’s out enjoying the fresh air, it will only have to go for a stroll.
Hani: Are you seriously envying a mule ?
W: Hey, at most they’ll whip its ass a couple of times.
H: Well, at least they could put it with a female mule (ba3′leh).
S: Mules are produced when a donkey rides a horse, they can’t mate.
W: They’re sterile.
Hani: (Thinking: where does one learn about donkey mating rituals, my youth has been wasted)
Hani: Damn, not only does it have to stand there tied up in the sun, it can’t have sex, and you were envying it!
W: It doesn’t have a penis! Why are we discussing mule penises! Who brought up this subject?
(all laughing)

I’m not tied to a tree, I sit in a cubicle. It’s a very nice air-conditioned cubicle with a comfortable chair, but still a cubicle. I’m not sterile, but I’m single, so I might as well be.

I had the urge to go to the mule owner (Abu 3awadh), buy the mule and set it free, but then he or someone else would catch it and set it to work, or send it to the glue factory, or wherever they send mules…

Still, at the restaurant we had cows (Moooooooooooo) and chickens (Bawwwwwwwwwwk) for lunch, and it tasted quite good. Our friend, the mule probably had hay,or grass. Nobody asked it what that tastes like. Yet, it doesn’t eat other living creatures. It doesn’t try to kill other mules!

Then again it’s not trying to break its restraint and leave the tree. When did it give up? Was it born without hope, or did they break it? What about us ?

My name is Bugs, king of Rabbits, Look upon my ears, oh ye mighty, and despair!

Why does a rabbit need gloves ?

B. Yellow Rubber Ducky

Why is the duck smiling ? Why is it yellow ? How does an infant know what to do with the duck ? What made bath time fun when you were a kid ? If you are asking yourself these questions, then clearly you are too old to own a yellow rubber ducky. What to do ?

Two words: Splash-proof Shower-Radio. For you sadistic ones, no it is not submersible, it can just withstand a small splash! Don’t just shower, dance………….. glllllllllllllide ……….sing!

C. Mixed Signals

Can the same facebook contact add an application called (The Latest Hunk) and within the same day join a group called (Proud to be a Muslim) ?

D. Women in the workplace

• I work at a company with 80 something employees including more than a dozen women. Recently a female colleague joined who comes to work wearing jeans as opposed to traditional Muslim female garb. Like all, she still wears a veil. Unfortunately some male colleagues objected to hiring someone wearing jeans, well women wearing jeans to be more specific. I wonder what chaos would ensue if a colleague came to work wearing a skirt! This reminded me of my English literature teacher in school. She once covered some literature from the middle ages and there was an odd scene by today’s standards (something about the gallant knight blushing when he saw the maiden’s exposed ankle!). Then again ankles are underrated. When is the last time you’ve seen a guy tell a woman she has stunning ankles ?
• One of the nice things where I work is that most employees sit together on different tables based on the project they are currently working on. The other day I was sitting at one of those tables, and female colleague sat next to our male colleague to answer some questions about one of our projects. I’ve never seen a human being change color so quickly. His cheeks turned a bright red instantly, and he was somewhat embarrassed when another male colleague asked him about it. Sometimes it astounds me, but there are still some men raised traditionally with little or no contact with any female that the mere sight of one no matter how modestly dressed is enough to produce this type of reaction.
• La Vie en Rose: The other day I also remarked that some male colleagues where wondering why a female colleague not only wears pink all the time (pink veil, pink traditional dress), but that everything she owns (mobile, pen, keychain etc…) is also pink!

E. Negotiation

When I’m on night shift (2 weeks per month), I always return home with the same cab driver, Abu Hassan. Abu Hassan is a nice guy, but loves to talk about anything. He can go on and on for hours given the chance. He also has the most remarkable stories (things like the people selling gum on the traffic light going home in taxis and owning entire apartment buildings, or stories about sexual mayhem in government offices). Tonight at around 11:15PM we stopped at a traffic light, and a government SUV stopped next to us and from the passenger-side window told Abu Hassan to stop on the right after the traffic light. Abu Hassan stopped.

The man who was wearing a uniform but not that of traffic police came out of the SUV and asked for Abu Hassan’s license and registration. Abu Hassan asked what was wrong, and the man told him, get me your papers, come with me, and then I’ll tell you what’s wrong. Next Abu Hassan (visibly distressed and very worried) got his papers, walked out of the car. The man told him that he changed lanes at the traffic light, and that he could have caused him to rear-end his taxi and end up in jail, and that he was going to give him a ticket for improperly changing lanes. The man proceeded to take out a plain-paper notebook, and was writing down Abu Hassan’s name, the number on the plates, etc… Abu Hassan started pleading with him. Everything from what did I do, I didn’t do anything wrong, you shouldn’t have been speeding, there was no one behind me why should I use the turn signal, it’s 11PM, I can barely afford to buy food, etc… Eventually the man decided to not give him a ticket and left.

Abu Hassan came back quite upset, he was humiliated at having to beg a man one third his age to not get a ticket. The truth is that 75% of the lane changes I see on the roads in Amman are illegally executed (no turn signal, no checking mirrors, speeding, swerving etc…). Poor Abu Hassan just happened to do it in front of the wrong SUV. Of course the SUV was also breaking the law by speeding and tailgaiting, and the man wasn’t really a traffic policeman. Picture an FBI agent stopping you for parking on the wrong lane in the US. Something not quite right about that. Still Abu Hassan managed to talk his way out of it.

F. Star Crossed Lovers

- Whenever I think of Romeo and Juliet I instantly flashback to the scene where they meet. As portrayed by the 1996 modern interpretation with Claire Danes and Leo Di Caprio (who was admittedly a bit of a boob back then)! I remember watching this with a friend who remarked “This isn’t love”.

Exchanging glances at the aquarium

Of course the first film interpretation I’ve seen was Franco Zeffirelli’s 1968 movie with Olivia Hussey as Juliet. I remember my English teacher hearing some cat whistles from the boys in our English class warning   us that the actress was now nearly 40, and that dwelling on women is a sin!

Palm to Palm is Holy Palmers Kiss

Posed

O happy dagger! This is thy sheath;there rust, and let me die.

G. Wherefore Art Thou Hani

Recently I’ve been writing one post per week, but this month I haven’t written in more than three. what have I been doing ?

• At first I was busy with a strategy computer game called Civilization 3 complete. Of course it wasn’t enough to play it, it comes with an editor that let’s you pretty much recreate entirely different reincarnations of the game. I decided to take a modern map of the world with accurate starting locations for each civilization and replaced the Barbarians with the terrorists, and for fun kept the old civilizations like Rome, Babylon, and the Maya.

The pyramids, the great wall, the colossus, in one city along with a rail system!

• I took a firefox extension called (custom Buttons 2), and started building my own buttons to do some things that will make my life easier as well as add some buttons that other users have created like one that instantly translates any page to English (automatically detecting its language).
• I was writing two blog posts that may never be finished. The first is on the 10 commandments, and the second is on the Modified General Theory of Kipple. I’m gonna set those aside until I can give them enough attention.
• Finally Windows Service Pack 3 was released on 21-April, and I was using a tool called nlite to setup a customised Windows XP CD with Service Pack 3 pre-integrated as well as IE7, Windows Media Player 11, and all the latest hotfixes. This required using a software called virtual PC to simulate a virtual new machine that can be formatted as many times as needed to test the CD until I’m sure it works correctly. It even automatically enters the license key on its own and auto activates. This is necessary since installing xp SP2 on a new machine leaves you quite vulnerable to attack, and by the time you install the security fixes, it may already be too late.

H. That time of the year

This is not a shoe blog! I only buy a single shoe each year and wear it every day. Normally black running shoes. I prefer Addidas. Of course I’m always reluctant to do it because old shoes (even with holes on the side) are more comfortable. This year my mom kept calling from Ramallah to ask me to go buy shoes! I finally got a boring pair, completely black, and here’s the proof to set my mom at ease.

Joe asked why I blog. In case you haven’t guessed, I find it entertaining!

10 Random facts about me (Tagged by Lost Within):

1. I put on a pair of headphones when I use my PC even if I’m not listening to anything. It’s a matter of habit.

2. I’ve had several nicknames (Honey, Keeko, Nunu, Hunhun, Abu Al Hun, Hino, Hannibal, Honey Money Dancing Shoes), and I hate all of them. My name is Hani!

3. I have about 30 pairs of socks for winter and another 30 for summer (very short ankle length). They’re all the same color (black), size, and type. Why mess with a good thing ?

4. My aunt was killed in the first gulf war. She was in a bus full of women and children escaping to Jordan, and was attacked with a rocket and machine gun fire as part of an air raid to enforce the US embargo. I hate all wars.

5. I always sleep in underwear on the left side with all the lights off, and the door closed/locked.

6. My dad taught me the multiplication tables by locking me up in the dining room. Whenever I wanted to get out, he would ask me a multiplication question, and if I couldn’t answer it, I had to get back inside. The next day at school, our class of 35 students had a contest, the teacher would ask a multiplication question to each kid in turn, and if they got it wrong, they were out. After several rounds, I was the only one left. My dad also taught me how to tie my shoes. I still don’t know how to tie a tie.

7. I used to whistle for hours at a time none stop (you have to know how to whistle breathing in and out to do that). My favorite song to whistle is Ahwak by Abd Ul Halim. I lost the ability or will to whistle for no apparent reason.

8. When we were kids, my brother and I slept in the same room. His bed was on the right side, mine was on the left. Whenever I have to consider anything to do with left/right, my mind flashes back to the orientation of that bed which I haven’t seen in decades.

9. I have a tiny scar that’s nearly invisible on the palm of my left hand. It looks like popeye’s tattoo. It is the remnant of stitches I had to get as a kid when the skin on my palm got torn by a rusty nail while breaking apart large fruit crates along with my cousin Basil for fun. Kids are silly!

10. I’m right handed, but I wear my watch on my right hand, and so did my grandfather, and my oldest