Zied

Tunisie-Maroc, ou regarder le match a Montreal.

2005-10-04T13:49:00.000-04:00

Est-ce que quelqu'un sait on peut regarder le match tunisie-maroc a Montreal (cafe...). Et est-ce que vous avez une idee si les etudiants a l'universite de montreal organize quelque chose (regardez les match quelque part??)

Racisme en Tunisie

2005-09-16T16:23:00.000-04:00

Ce que j'ai remarque cet ete en tunisie, et je le remarque chaque fois que je rentre, c'est le racisme en Tunisie:Par exemle, quand je vais avec des copains au cafe, et quand on a besoin d'appeller le serveur, et quand celui-ci est africain, mes copains l'appellent "Kehla, brabo tlatha kissan kahwa", voulant dire, "Eh, noir, trois cafes". Enfin, en arabe, ca parrait tres grave, mais comme vous le voyez, en Francais, ca parrait tres horrible. Le truc est qu'ils ne le disent pas avec un ton raciste. Mais, c'est du racisme quand meme. Les tunisiens ont l'habitude de dire ca, et c'est devenu normal, meme si je trouve ca anormal. Imaginez, un serveur Tunisien a Paris, et des ados francais l'appelle, "Eh l'arabe, 2 cafes". Je te jure, ils sont morts.

De plus, j'ai une copine dont la peau est plus foncee que celle des tunisiens (meme si notre peau est assez foncee...), et beaucoup me demandent comment ca se fait je suis copin avec une "black", meme si elle n'est pas noir, mais juste un peu plus foncee. J'etais choque. Oui, choque quand on ma dit.. J'ai presque jamais entendu ca a New York, mais je l'ai entendu au bled...

Pensesz-vous que les tunisiens sont racistes.

Tennis: Championnats arabes seniors (1ère Journée)

2005-09-16T11:15:00.000-04:00

Le tirage au sort des épreuves par équipes des championnats arabes seniors a été effectué hier soir. La composition des poules a été tiré comme suit :
Poule 1
1 -Tunisie
2 -Bahreïn
3 -Arabie Saoudite
4 -Liban
5 -Jordanie

Poule 2
1. -Koweït
2. -Syrie
3. -Qatar
4. -Irak
5. -Emirats Arabe Unis

Le tirage au sort des épreuves des simples messieurs aura lieu le Jeudi à 18h, sachant que Malek JAZIRI est Classé tête de Série N° 1 du tournoi.

Résultats de l équipe tunisienne lors de la première journée du championnat arabe épreuve par équipe Tunisie bat Bahreïn 3-0, voici les détails de cette victoire:
En simple :
• Fares ZAIER bat Khaled YOUSSEF 63 63
• Malek JAZIRI bat Abdelkarim ABDENNABI 63 60
En double :
• Fares ZAIER et Hakim REZGUI battent Khaled YOUSSEF et Abdellatif MOHAMED 62 61
Le tirage au sort du tableau des simples messieurs a donné les rencontres suivantes:
Malek JAZIRI (tête de série n° 1) contre Abdallah REDHA (JOR)
Adel LAHDHIRI contre Fahd ESSAAD (A-S)
Fares ZAIER contre Omar EL AMINE (MAU)
Hakim REZGUI contre QUALIF 1
Vendredi après -midi aura lieu la rencontre Tunisie -Jordanie épreuve par équipe.

Ftt.org.tn

Les parents

2005-09-15T19:38:00.000-04:00

Honnetement, on se rend compte de l'importance de nos parents dans la vie quand on est loins d'eux. Je ne vais pas mentir, avant de partir a Montreal, j'etais content que je serrais loins de mes parents, dans le sens que je vais ete tout seul, etre responsable de moi-meme, sans les conseils que je trouvait betes, sans les obligations tels que rentrer a une heure precise.

Mais, mes parents me manquent beaucoup. De plus, c'est a ce moment precis que je me rend compte qu'ils avaient raison...c'est a ce moment precis qu'on comprend leur importance et leur poids dans notre coeur.

Ces sentiments de manque me rassurent.

Blogsome

2005-09-15T17:57:00.000-04:00

I have been tempted to switch from blogger to blogsome, because it has integrated wordpress and it's free (just google ads). So, I created an account, but now, I want to change the default template with another wordpress template that is free to download and implement. The thing is that I am having a hard time doing it. So, if someone wants to help, I will be very thankfull. The template I want to use is "connection". This guy, who is using blogsome and the connection template has some posts explaining how to implement the template, but I am still having a hard time following. Plus, it seems that it is a long process. So, in a way, it is hard to make someone help me, but if someone can do it, he of course can take all the time he needs (1 week to "n" months), and he gets a gift, lol. I want the template so bad. These are all the posts he wrote about implementing "connectiong" to blogsome.

This Zied the dreamer blog will stay as a french blog. However, the new bog, Zied Avicenna is my new English blog. See you there!

Printing Problems.

2005-09-15T14:40:00.000-04:00

All my lectures depend on notes that need to be printed beforehand. Well, It seems I don’t have luck with printing, and I lost at least 2 hours because of that.

First of all, I ordered a printer from McGill’s computer store. It was supposed to be shipped last Thursday. It has been a week, and they still didn’t receive it. I go to the Burnside building on-campus where we can print for free, but all printers are not working.

I go to the library to print, and for some reason, I can’t print.

I hate days like that where all the odds are against you!

Getting back to reality

2005-09-14T22:01:00.000-04:00

Books 2, originally uploaded by zizou.

You really don't know how hard it is to get back to the studying mode after a great summer. One is used to sleeping late, gossiping with friends, playing tennis, and going to the beach. You have no paper deadlines to meet, no assignments to do and no test to worry about.

However, when one comes back to reality, as the human reality consists of working in order to live, one is having a hard time to follow. There are readings to be done, lectures to be revised, and word to be memorized.

It all depends on one's ability to adjust to the situations. But, my point is, I am having a hard time switching to the full studying mode. But, I think I am getting there.

The picture shows how the volume of my course books. And I am telling you, it's a lot.

Mcgill University

2005-09-10T13:20:00.000-04:00

I have had one week of class in Mcgill University, and I like it a lot. My profs seem to be very smart, very motivated, and friendly. The student as well are focusing in class, and making the learning process easier. I like the fact that all the lectures are video tapped, and powerpoint slides are shown when the video is running (online). My courses are really hard though, and a lot of reading to do.

The only negative thing is that this trimester’s courses are all big one, with lectures in the biggest lecture room on campus, holding up to 800 people (I think, to be confirmed). But, there are conference hours where the professor is available to answer personal questions.

This is my first impression of Mcgill University. I’ll talk about university again later on. My major is “Anatomy and Cell Biology”, doing pre-med and I have 17 credits this semester.

Discussions Portable (Fr)

2005-09-10T13:04:00.000-04:00

Ce qui me m’ennuis le plus quand je parle avec mes copain en Tunisie est le fait que les discussions sur les portables dominent nos soirées. Moi, qui connais rien sur les portables, leur numéro de série, que ce soit un Nokia 3000 quelque chose ou un Sony Ericsson je ne sais guère quel référence. On dirait que le gens n’ont rien d’autre à faire d’autre que de savoir quel le dernier portable est sortie, d’où trouver le meilleur prix, s’il a bluetooth ou pas. Aux USA, quand quelqu’un achète un portable, c’est comme s’il a acheté une baguette chez le boulanger du coins…a la limite, on lui dit « ah il est cool ton nouveau portable, et ça finit la bas. En Tunisie, on te dit mabrouk comme si ta acheté une voiture, puis on te demande de le faire passer pour voir ce qu’il y a dedans, et puis on te demande s’il supporte ceci ou cela (mp3, video, quality of the camera…), puis on te demande a combien tu la acheté, et puis on te dit pourquoi tu ne l’as pas acheté de quelque part d’autre ou quelqu’un l’a vu a moins cher, et puis on te dit qu’il ne fallait pas acheté ce modèle, mai un autre plus cool. Moi, ça me tue les conversations portables, surtout le fait qu’elle dure au moins une demi heure.

N’en parlons pas des conversations football et leurs supporteurs…à suivre…

Friends Forever 2

2005-09-08T21:25:00.000-04:00

Friends Forever 2, originally uploaded by zizou.

My friend's father organized a photo shoot for us before everybody went to college.
It presents friends forever.

Films d'horreur

2005-09-08T19:15:00.000-04:00

Je ne sais pas pourquoi les gens aiment tellement les films d'horreur. L'histoire est toujours la meme, les "techniques" d'horreur ne changent pas. Une fois un esprit, une autre fois un "serial killer" qui se sort de temps en temps de chez pas ou, comme un esprit d'ailleurs.

Je peux comprendre que ca doit etre amusant, stimulant, ou meme motivant de regarder ses films pour les gens qui les adorent, mais moi, j'en ai marre de voir des pubs de films d'horreur, car ils sont devenus plus frequents.

Montreal day 1

2005-08-26T16:28:00.000-04:00

Ca commence plutot mal. Deja, je trouve pas une de mes valises quand j'arive a New York (hier, le 25 aout). Et par hasard, c'est celle ou j'ai mis mes affaires que j'allais prendre avec moi a montreal. J'ai rien a porter a part des un jean et des t-shirts.

J'arrive a Montreal, aujourd'hui, le 26 aout, a 3 heure du math!!!

Je me leve a 7h30, pour aller faire mon student ID a Mcgill. Tout ce passe comme prevu. Je vais plus tard a la Banque (RBC) pour ouvrir un compte d'etudiant. Ca se passe comme prevu aussi.

Je vais plus tard voir ma chambre de residence. Et la c'est de la merde. ...

A suivre

Yes, mon bac

2005-06-18T23:28:00.000-04:00

Ouf, j'ai eu mon bac, avec mention. Je vais aller a Mcgill. J'y pense plus, meme si je pouvais tellement mieux faire.... Bonne Chance au lyceens en Tunisie demain.

2005-06-18T09:43:00.001-04:00

Les resutats de mon Bac seront annonces ce soir au lycee francais de ny a 19H. Je stresse. Il me faut au moins le 12, sinon je suis dans la merde. Oui, dans la merde.

Si je l'ai, ben alors, mon blogging passera a un niveau plus haut que maintenant, enfin je l'espere. Mais bon, le blogging maintenant, c'est pas mon souci.

2005-06-18T09:43:00.000-04:00

Passe le bac a 13 ans

2005-06-08T14:12:00.000-04:00

PARIS (AFP) - mercredi 8 juin 2005 - Elénie Godzaridis n'a que 13 ans et pourtant elle figure parmi les quelque 620.000 candidats au baccalauréat 2005: cette Parisienne est la plus jeune de tous.
Elénie, en série scientifique, se concentre dans l'attente de l'épreuve de philo qui inaugure jeudi 9 juin la session et ne doit pas être dérangée. Mais sa maman, Catherine Bertrand, a plaisir à parler de cette petite fille "née comme ça", qui "savait ses lettres à un an et lisait comme vous et moi à 3 ans", qui "a réussi la dictée de Pivot sans fautes à 5 ans".

"Elénie est épanouie, équilibrée, heureuse de vivre. Elle est forte et elle s'assume. Elle a des amis et elle vit bien sa différence. De plus, elle est jolie, c'est objectif bien que moi, sa mère, je pense qu'elle est très belle", confie à l'AFP Catherine Bertrand.
..........

Totalement bilingue français-anglais (c'est venu comme ça encore) excellente en français, en dessin, en maths et sciences mais ne s'intéressant absolument pas à l'histoire, disant "aimer la philo mais elle ne m'aime pas", Elénie travaille seule, sans l'aide de maman. "Non seulement, je ne la pousse pas mais elle m'a dépassée. Je ne m'occupe pas de sa scolarité, elle assume comme elle l'a voulu et nous partageons des moments agréables", souligne-t-elle.

Elénie lit beaucoup, romans adultes et revues pour ados mais aussi documents médicaux. Passionnée de génétique depuis l'âge de 7 ans, elle veut se consacrer à la recherche dans ce domaine. Elle est préinscrite en chimie-biologie à l'université Paris VII (Pierre et Marie Curie) mais elle n'ira probablement pas. L'an prochain, Catherine et Elénie partent au Québec et ce sera l'université Laval qui acueillera la jeune fille. [H.com]

Made In Tunisie Forum

2005-06-08T10:51:00.000-04:00

Normalement, je ne suis pas trop fan des forum, mais celui-la me parrait cool. En plus, j'ai eu un accueil de roi quand je me suis inscrit. Donc, je fais un peu de pub. Inscivez-vous dans le Made In Tunisia Forum. :)

Tellement chaud

2005-06-07T22:07:00.000-04:00

Il fait tellement chaud en ce moment à New York, que hier soir, pendant un moment, je me croyais à Tunis. Eh ben non. Enfin bon, ça me rappelle la chaleur de Tunis. Ca me rappelle les matchs de tennis à 2 heures de l'après-midi au Tennis Club de Tunis. Ca me rappelle les nuits au Festival de Carthage. Ca me rappelle les nuits à Hammamet. Ca me rappelle la plage a hammam plage (j'ai pas fait exprès pour cette dernière rime si on peut la qualifier de cela, mais j'habite en effet a Hammam plage).

Il me reste deux semaines avant mon départ à Tunis. J'espère j'ai au moins la mention au bac pour aller a Mcgill, merde ça me tue....

Pas de vie?

2005-06-07T21:54:00.000-04:00

A man here found a unique way for getting his name registered in the Guinness Book of World Records. He has sent 1,82,689 SMS in one month.
Deepak Sharma aims to increase the number to 3,00,000 in the coming month.

"At first I sent 50,000 SMS, after that I reached the figure of 1,13,000 and now I have reached the figure of 1,82,689 in one month. That makes it to 6000 SMS daily. Now I am aiming to send 3 lakh SMS which makes it to daily of 10,000 so that I can register my name in Guinness Book of World Records", said Deepak Sharma. [Webindia123]

Je ne suis pas sur c'est quoi la profession de ce type, mais je peux assumer qu'il a beaucoup de temps libre pour faire ca....

Bac....

2005-05-27T16:15:00.000-04:00

J'ai passe mon Bac de philo hier. Je pensais avoir fait hors-sujet mais la prof m'a rassure. Aujourd'hui, j'ai en Histoire-Geo, 4 heures. En geo, on avais "the North-South Divide", sujet tres interessant. J'ai reussit a integrer les blogs dedans. En histoire, on a eu un sujet qu'on a pas fait en cours... et ben, pas bien fait, et on va tous engueler le prof... Sinon, je viens de me rendre compte, trop tard d'ailleurs pour le bac, que j'ai tellement change...quand j'etais en tunisie ou meme mes premieres annees ici, j'etais le type d'eleve qui voulait les meilleurs notes, qui voulait etre premier de la classe....mais depuis l'annee derniere, j'ai change...je m'en fou un peu des notes...je me tappe un 13 en math, c'est satisfaisant pour,je pose pas de question....j'etais et je suis plus motive....y'a 3 ans, je voulait mention tres bien, la je vais avoir le bac avec mention assez bien, voir passable...c'est malheureux, et c'est minable...mais la, pendant mon bac, je pense a ca des fois, c'est pas le bon moment mais bon....le jour des resultats, je vais etre triste, avec une note mediocre....Et ca me casse les c****, ca me casse les c*****, ca me casse les c******
D'ailleurs, il me faut minimum 12 pour aller a mcgill, sinon je me tapper medecine en france, mais peut-etre je devrais aller la-bas pour me re-motiver et bosser serieusement, parce que si ca continue comme a l'universite, je serais un simple cadre quelque part, qui apporte rien a la societe, et qui ca travailler pour salaire de merdre pour vivre comme une merde. Et le plus ironique, c'est que je fais le clown satisfait d'avoir 13 de moyenne pendant l'annee sans bosser. Eh ebn si dieu ma donner un peu d'intelligence, et ben c poour s'investir et m'ameliorer. Allez, peace, ca m'ennerve.

TP de Biologie

2005-05-20T17:59:00.000-04:00

J'ai passe une epreuve de TP de Bio, qui compte sur 4 points de la note de Bio au bac. J'ai plutot bien fait. Un bon debut, enfin j'espere. J'etais assez stresse, meme trop pendant un moment. Meme le prof, tres gentil d'ailleurs, et venue me dire que ca serre a rien de stresser que ma coupe de cellule que j'avais prepare etait bien faite. Enfi bon, j'espere vraiment avoir une mention bien dans a mon bac, meme si honnetement, c'est la premiere fois de ma vie que je passe une annee a rien faire. C'est decevant, mais j'ai eu presque une mention bien a mon bac blanc en revisant la nuit d'avant pour chaque epreuve, donc j'espere ca ira. C'est stressant quand meme cette merde. Mais, j'avais rate mon TP de bio, j'aurais tellement jurer de ne pas faire medecine, mais bon, j'ai pas rate. A plus

2005-05-17T19:09:00.000-04:00

I guess he will be getting a speeding ticket?

Unleashed

2005-05-17T08:45:00.000-04:00

Well, before going to see this movie, I thought I'll be sitting in the cool theatre watching a pure Martial Art/Action movie. What struck me is that there is a story and it makes actually think, or at least a bit. Well, I should same saw that before, as Morgan Freeman wouldn't be starring in a movie that has no acting in it, right?
So, this came as a good surprise. Here is the description:

This is the story of Danny (Li), a slave who has lived his whole life without any sort of normal human education, with the mind and personality of a young child, with only one lesson learned: how to fight. Treated like a dog by his owner/boss, Bart (Hoskins) which includes having to wear a collar, Danny has been raised to be a lethal fighting machine who fights in illegal gladiator-style fight clubs, where he earns lots of money for Bart as the undisputed champion. After a car accident that lands Bart in a coma, however, Danny meets a kind elderly blind piano tuner (Freeman) on the run because he knows secrets some bad guys don't want known, who uses music to teach Danny some things about the world and about being human.[Yahoo]

I was pretty impressed, as usual, by Jet li's fighting scenes, but I was even more impressed by his acting, or at least by the fact that he can act.

Score: 8/10

ca vous arrive?

2005-05-16T22:45:00.000-04:00

Ca vous arrive de vouloir lire un livre pendant une periode d'examens? Ca vous arrive que cet envis est incontrolable? Ca vous arrive de ne pas reviser a la fin, et de choisir de lire ce putain de livre a la place?

PS3 Pics

2005-05-16T22:32:00.000-04:00

Pictures of the new PS3 are out. And I must admit it looks hot.

If I was to buy it, I would take the black one.


Uhm, the controller looks damn ugly. Hopefully, in real, it will look better. I think I might be looking forward to buy it.
[Gizmodo]

Hate this kurds, sunni, shite thing

2005-05-12T21:25:00.000-04:00

What I hate the most, is when I see articles and tv hosts talking about the demographic of Iraq. All I hear is: there are this many Sunni, with this many Kurds and with this many Shiites. Well, Can't you fucking see that Kurds are Sunni for god's sake. Is it a way to somehow give Sunni less importance in Iraq, even though I have nothing against Shiite representing 60 % of the Iraqi population, or that's what the CIA worldbook says, a source that I wouldn't trust that much. My point is: the next time I hear someone dividing Iraq into Sunnis, Kurds, and Shiite, I'll torture him, metaphorically speaking of course. Ever you say there is Arab 70%-75%, Kurdish 20%-25%, Turkoman, Assyrian or other 5%. Or Muslim 93-95% (Shi'ite 60%, Sunni 40%), Christian,Yezidi or other 5-7%.
Sorry about the swearing, I am in a bad mood, and I had enough of hearing this bullshit.

2 semaines avant le bac

2005-05-12T20:43:00.000-04:00

Ca commence a chauffer, je suis a deux semaines de ma premiere epreuve de Bac, philosophie. Mais bon, la philo, d'une facon ou du autre, ca me derrange pas trop, vue le cooefficient 3. Mais, je veux absolument me tapper des bonnes notes en math (coeff 7), biologie (coeff 8 puisque je suis en specialite bio), physique-chimie (coeff 6), mais surtout Anglais OIB (Bac Option Internationale. coeff 9!!!! meme si je suis en filiere scientifique). Pour la moyenne generale, j'aimerais bien avoir au moins 14, Je ne demande pas plus, vue que je en bosse pas beaucoup meme si je me debrouille toujours bien (ou presque) et que je suis deja accepter pour Mcgill a Montreal, que j'ai choisit sur Universite de toronto ou meme fac de medecine de Paris. La morale de l'histoire, une citation de notre proviseur, "on est dans la derniere ligne droite, le ballon est dans votre camps." Sans blague! Allez, souhaitez-moi bonne chance.

2005-05-01T15:57:00.000-04:00

My brother playing tennis. He plays very well, but doesn't listen well to others' advice.

2005-05-01T15:56:00.000-04:00

Good weather. Photo taken from the window of my room. Click to see it larger.

Philosophie: Pourquoi?

2005-04-28T18:20:00.000-04:00

Je ne sais pas pourquoi je m'intéresse pas a la philosophie. Je sais que c'est important comme matière. Je sais aussi que c'est important pour comprendre nos sentiments, nos problèmes de société, notre monde. Mais, je n'arrive pas. Cette matière ne m'intéresse pas. Est-ce que parce que je poursuit le chemin scientifique. Et alors; je me dit toujours, aucun rapport: Pascal le mathématicien Français était philosophe, Descartes était philosophe, Avicenne l'était aussi. Et ben alors, c'est quoi mon problème. Remarque que la seule partie de philo qui m'intéresse est celle qui concerne les sciences. Je pensais ce matin dans le train a ce sujet (d'ailleurs, j'avais rate mon train, et donc je me suis trouve tout seul quand j'ai pris celui d'après, et c'est pour cela j'ai eu ce moment de réflexion), je me rends compte que la philo sera la seule matière ou je risquais d'avoir en dessous de la moyenne. Pas les maths, pas la physique, pas la bio, même pas le français. Juste la philo. A un mois de l'épreuve de philo, je m'inquiète pour ma note, mais je me demande pourquoi je n’aime pas cette matière. Peut-être je ne suis pas encore mure pour la comprendre et de l'aimer. Peut-être que d’un point de vue philosophique, je suis pas assez intelligent pour aimer cette matière. Enfin, je n'arrive même pas a comprendre pourquoi cette matière m'ennuis.

P.S: ce post est mon premier en Français. Je ferais quelques posts en Français, enfin que quelques bloggeurs tunisiens puissent lire mon blog. Mais aussi, pour que je n'oublies pas le français, au du moins comment écrire en Français, vu que j'étudie dans une université anglophone l'année prochaine. J'ai un clavier "americain", donc les accents seront fréquemment absents, mais les jours ou j'aurait du temps pour relire et faire des accents a l'aide des combinaisons de touches "ctrl" et d'autres afin de faire un accent, je le ferais. Excusez les fautes d'orthographe flagrantes qui domineront mes posts en Français, je ferais de mon mieux.Cet ete, je compte ecrire plusieurs posts sur Tunis, et la Tunisie en general, du point de vue d'un tunisen a l'etranger , age de 18 ans. J'ecrirais en Englais, et les posts seront traduits en Francais, car ils
concerneront les Tunisiens, qui tendent a lire en Français, au du moins qui le trouve plus facile a comprendre.

Main Web Site Hackers Are Schoolboys

2005-04-26T08:43:00.000-04:00

LONDON (Reuters) - Attacks on company and government Internet sites spike
during school holidays when the main culprits -- schoolboys -- spend time in
front of their computers rather than in the classroom.

"A lot of 15- and 16-year-old guys are smart enough to have strong
political opinions," Roberto Preatoni, Zone-H founder, told Reuters Monday.

The main targets are U.S. military Web sites, which are attacked by anti-Iraq
war protesters, and large companies and governments, which attract
anti-globalization protesters.
Preatoni said the tools needed to hack into
and change Web sites were available on the Internet and were easy to use.
"For the average person it sounds complicated but if you know what you are
doing it's really quite easy," he said. [Yahoo]

Well, It's not like 15 and 16 years-old student can't have strong political views. As a matter of fact,most of teenagers began building their political view at that time. Add to that the fact that pc are affordable, that hacking tools are as available as pcs, and you get script kiddies using their knowledge to show their political views. It's not like itis new or anything, you have to look at it from that point of view, because otherwise, as a non-hacker, you fall in the trap of the caracterization of hackers as people who destroy things for the fun of it. That is what the Big Brother wants you to believe, and many have a negative idea about hackers.

Mcgill, here I come

2005-04-25T19:38:00.000-04:00

So, after being accepted to Mcgill and University of Toronto, I had to choose where to study next year. So, I have decided to go to Mcgill University in Montreal. I hopefully will be at Montreal August 27th, after passing my vacation in Tunisia and maybe France with friends. Anyways, I choose Mcgill because it is a very good school, in a hot city from a student's point of view. Indeed, Montreal has a good reputation among students. So, after 11 years from leaving Quebec when my father was doing his PhD in Laval University, I will be back. Mcgill/Montreal, here I come.

THE 1 MILLION DOWNLOAD CHALLENGE

2005-04-25T19:18:00.000-04:00

Before the weekend, Opera's CEO, Jon S. von Tetzchner boldy proclaimed at a company meeting that if download numbers of Opera 8 reached 1 million within four days he would swim from Norway to the USA [press release]. Opera's communications department could not resist the temptation, and made his statement public. As any respectable CEO and gentlemen, Mr. Tetzchner stands by his word.
DOWNLOADS: 1,050,000: Target reached by April 23 0900 CET!

I want to thank each and every one of the one million plus people who have downloaded Opera 8 over the last days. I am proud to say that this is the most successful browser launch in the ten-year history of Opera. I have received numerous requests over the weekend on whether or not I am going to swim to the USA should we reach one million downloads. Although I blatantly admit that my promise was based more on joy and enthusiasm than my swimming abilities and physical health, I will do my very best to keep it.

- Jon S. von Tetzchner, CEO

Alright, this seems crazy, but at least the man stands by his word (not as most of arab people, and I mean it). One can see it as an intelligent business plan. One can see at as madness. I see it as a man's determination to complete his goal. I hope it wasn't a 25-days late April Fool's Day, and I hope he does accomplish it.

Tunis Open

2005-04-24T11:26:00.000-04:00

For all the tennis fans in Tunis, I would recommend you to attend a week of highly competive tennis. A tournament is organized by the "Tennis Club of Tunis" from April 25th to May 1st. A lot of high ranked players are participing along with two tunisian players, Malek Jaziri and Haythem Abid.
The TCT is located at "20 Rue Alain Savary, Tunis". The tournament has a website tct.org.tn
However, I find the design so ugly, that I was wondering who this webdesigner was. It turns out the webmaster is Faouzi Ayeche. I have heard his name before, but his design for the tct website is average work on my opinion, and i am not talking about his skills, only about his work for the TCT website.
If I was in Tunisia, I would have attended the tournament, but I guess not lol. And I really like the TCT location and its court, the best in Tunisia, beating Tennis Club of Carthage.
However, for those wondering about the price, it is not free because it's a good tournament with players like Arnaud Clement and Gael Monfils attending. So check the prices here. I really encourage you to go, it is worth it.

Hisham detained?

2005-04-24T10:49:00.000-04:00

According to Sabbah's blog, Hisham has been detained;

Saudi singer Hisham Abdel Rahman poses by his ‘Star Academy’ award upon his arrival at Jiddah airport, Saudi Arabia, in this file picture dated Saturday April 16, 2005. Religious authorities briefly detained Saudi singer Hisham Abdel Rahman, made famous in the Arab World by winning this year’s ‘Star Academy’ reality TV show for causing an indecent scene, a Riyadh police official said Saturday. ‘Star Academy’ is based on a French show of the same name and as wildly popular in the Arab world as the like-minded U.S. show, ‘American Idol.’ (AP Photo)

Well, I am not sure what was the indecent act, but I think this is all bad publicity for the Saudi government, because it is not like he kissed a girl or went beyong that. Whatever.

Update: According to Gulf News:

Saudi Arabia's religious police apparently escorted the star out of the shopping mall to the offices of the Committee for the Propagation of Virtue and the Prevention of Vice for interviewing, according to Arab news sources. Saudi star Hisham Abdel Rahman, winner of this year's Star Academy was reportedly arrested for causing a commotion in a shopping mall in Riyadh....

An LBC spokesperson confirmed the confrontation in the shopping mall had taken place.
However Hisham told the Saudi-owned Asharq Al Awsat that the story was purposeful rumour saying "What really happened was that a Committee member approached me, with all due respect, and asked me not to stay among a big crowd.
I took my family members (away)... until the crowd disappeared and then we left for Jeddah as if nothing had happened," he said.

Ok, the whole thing was a rumor.

Busy

2005-04-23T19:28:00.000-04:00

As you have noticed, I haven't written for quite some time. That is because I had a week of "Bac Blanc", a preparation for the real "Bac" which starts on May 26th with philosophy (Oh great) and finishes around June 10th with Orals in Geography/History and English. It is tough, and apparently, the results of the Bac Blancs were not so great. Anyway, As I am entering my last month of High School, I am planning on studying a lot. So, my posts will be less frequent, until I finish my bac, and then you'll see a flow of writing (well, hopefully). Wish me luck.

It's a flat world after all

2005-04-09T13:27:00.000-04:00

Ok, normally, i would never link to anything that Thomas Friedman writes, because I think that he is overrated and especially I tend to disagree with his political columns. This is more about economy, and it is quite interesting. Nonetheless, what he writes is never innovation, but he tends to sum up things in a good way, and his writing is quite clever. The article is "It's a flat world after all".

Only 30 years ago, if you had a choice of being born a B student in Boston or a genius in Bangalore or Beijing, you probably would have chosen Boston, because a genius in Beijing or Bangalore could not really take advantage of his or her talent. They could not plug and play globally. Not anymore. Not when the world is flat, and anyone with smarts, access to Google and a cheap wireless laptop can join the innovation fray.

This is true and it is a good thing, (unless you are a B student from Boston and you feel that a non-American took your place. But guess what, you can't do anything about, because that non-american kid doesn't live in American, and thus you can't make him leave your country)

(And thus),

When the world is flat, you can innovate without having to emigrate

Also:

“The percentage of a population with a college degree is important, but so are sheer numbers. In 2001, India graduated almost a million more students from college than the United States did. China graduates twice as many students with bachelor’s degrees as the U.S., and they have six times as many graduates majoring in engineering. In the international competition to have the biggest and best supply of knowledge workers, America is falling behind.”

So indeed, Americans seem to be falling behind, which is true in a way, because they were not used to competition from developing countries, in sectors such as technology. Also, even though outsourcing jobs represent only 1 percent of jobs in America, in an economy that seems to be low, this is not a good sign for the Americans. And I think it can be considered justice that an excellent student from India/outside the USA would be able to benefit from his knowledge in the same way an American/student from a rich developed country would benefit from his knowledge.

Picture above from [Acts of Violation]

Mac Ad

2005-04-08T11:42:00.000-04:00

Once you go Mac, you never go back.
I think it's a bit funny, depending on the mood you are on.

Hot places through Google Maps

2005-04-08T11:31:00.000-04:00

Again, trough Bombast, I found these cool Google Maps images. So I thought I would share them.

Area 51

Mount St. Helens

Launch complex 39B, somewhere at the Kennedy Space Center

Death Valley

Hoover Dam

Disney World and Disneyland

Yellowstone National Park

Niagra Falls

The Grand Canyon

Mount Rushmore

The Monty Hall Problem

2005-04-08T11:14:00.000-04:00

Ok, I found this interesting math problem on Bombast. The original problem was not written the way he did, but his way of telling the problem is amusing. It took me 3 minutes to understand the logic behind this problem. So, seriously, people that want to solve it or should I say understand and succeed, then leave a comment saying how much did it take to understand, and if you understand it in the first place. I will post additional links to some pages that explains, and the original way that it was written. So, here is Bombast's version:

Tom, a high school student, walks into the local book store to study, even though he knows it’s impossible to accomplish anything there. But it’s his lucky day – he spots the beautiful girl in his stats class and decides to ask her for help on the upcoming test.

“Hi, you might remember me from your stats class. Would you mind helping me study for the test?”

The girl raises her eyebrows skeptically and responds, “I need to know if you’re worth helping. So tell you what. I’ll write my phone number on one sheet of paper, while I’ll leave 2 other sheets of paper blank. If you choose the right one, I’ll help you.”

This seems unreasonable to Tom, since it’s a 1/3 chance that he’ll get it right, but he’s desperate.

“Alright, I’ll pick paper C.”

“You sure about that choice? How about this:”

She turns over paper A. “This paper is blank. Now you have at least a 50/50 chance. Do you want to change your choice to the other piece of paper?”

Tom stops and thinks. Ah, she’s testing me. She knows that the remaining pieces of paper have the same chances of being the right one. She just wants to see if I’m confident in myself.

“I’ll stay with my answer. C.”

The girl sighs in exasperation. “Tom, Tom. If you had changed your choice to the other piece of paper, I would’ve given you my number even if it was wrong. You should’ve known that if you had changed your choice, your chances would have been greater. Sorry, you’re doomed to fail the test. There’s no way I can help you.”

Now, the girl is a snob, but is the girl right?

She certainly is. If Tom had switched his choice to the other piece of paper, he would have a greater chance of getting both an excellent tutor and a hot date.

Now, the question is: Why?

This is a link to a graphical way of telling the same problem.

Wikipedia's post about the Monty Hall Problem.

This a solution to understand too.

Yet Another simplified answer.

Leave your comments :)

Penguins

2005-04-07T12:48:00.000-04:00

Emperor penguins look up at a giant imposter at Tokyo's Ueno Zoo, Japan. Zoo director Teruyuki Komiya dressed up for a stint in the penguin enclosure for the annual April Fool event to display a human being at the zoo(AFP/Yoshikazu Tsuno)-[Yahoo]

I am not sure what he was trying to do, it looks funny. If he is trying to fool them, I am sure that they kicked his ass later on.

Famed Graffiti Artist Paints Pope Tribute

2005-04-07T12:42:00.000-04:00


This is really cool:

A renowned graffiti artist, arrested last year for defacing the facade of a Bronx building, is back in everyone's good graces after spray-painting — with permission — a bright red-and-gold tribute to Pope John Paul II. James De La Vega's latest work, painted on the security gate of a Spanish Harlem storefront, was created to bring hope to the poor and struggling in his Manhattan neighborhood, he said Wednesday. [Yahoo]

Why I choose to study in Canada and not the US

2005-04-05T16:13:00.000-04:00

This article just sums up why i want to go to study in Mcgill University rather than an Ivy League in the United States.

Facing U.S. security hurdles, top students flock to Canada

Canada’s top universities are seeing a huge influx of applications from high-quality international graduate students as many try to avoid the layers of security checks and visa problems introduced in the United States after the Sept. 11, 2001, terrorist attacks.

Foreign applications to the University of Toronto and McGill University have doubled in the past four years. And at the University of British Columbia, they have climbed by about 25 per cent.

“There’s no doubt that the difficulties in the U.S. have been Canada’s gain in terms of interest from international students,” said Jenny Phelps, director of student academic services for the faculty of graduate studies at UBC.

International graduate enrolment climbed almost 20 per cent at Canadian universities between the academic year 2002-03 and 2003-04, according to a survey of seven universities done by the Canadian Association for Graduate Studies.

At the same time, institutions in the United States are struggling with a 6-per-cent decline in enrolment after a decade of steady growth.

Portuguese resident David da Silva can rhyme off a list of reasons for choosing to complete his PhD at McGill University rather than an Ivy League U.S. school: engaging professors, cutting-edge research and a notable biology program. But the reason that stands out is that the foreign student wanted to avoid the security hassles that came with studying in the United States.

“With the present international situation about terrorism . . . you kind of think twice before wanting to go to the States,” said Mr. da Silva, 29. His university in Portugal, the University of Coimbra, requires him to do part of his research in developmental biology outside his home country.

“Most of the very good scientists are in the States. That’s true. But I think Canada and Montreal and McGill for me is a good compromise between being in North America and not being in the States,” Mr. da Silva said.

The same holds true for California native Joshua Caulkins. The political climate in the United States helped sway his decision to move to Vancouver and do his PhD at UBC, he said. He has found that other Americans doing their graduate studies in Canada share his political views.

“I feel really lucky to be here during this time of turmoil in the world. It feels so safe to be in Canada,” said Mr. Caulkins, 28. “I don’t like what’s going on down there, and I’m glad I’m here during this time.”

The United States’s loss is Canada’s gain, university officials say.

“It’s more like politics was a kind of a wake-up call or a catalyst for [foreign] students to start noticing that there were options outside of the United States,” said Susan Pfeiffer, dean of graduate studies at the University of Toronto.
[Proud To Be Canadian]

Well actually, it missed one point though. For me, these are very good reasons, add the fact that I am going to pay a little over 20000$ per year to go to Mcgill (tuition + room + personal expenses...), which is half what I would have paid if I chose to go to an American University(40000$). It wasn't the primary concern, but if add all those reasons (fear of racial profiling because I am arab, insecurity ect and money too), it encouraged me to go to canada. I also like Canada better the US, as I lived there before, and liked it a lot.

Google Maps with Sattelite image

2005-04-05T00:35:00.000-04:00

Holy ****, omg. This is the best thing ever, seriously, it's so hot. Google Maps, are now with satellite imagery. Wow, I checked my home address and it gave this image, and it's indeed my home. Damn, google is so good. And for those who are wondering why it seems like the countryside and not New york City, well because I live 30 minutes from Manhattan, because there is the French American School of New York there, so my brothers and sister could get their knowledge up there, and because it is calm. Also, to accomodate a somewhat big family, a big house outside of new york is cooler (adjective:cool) than an apartment in the city. And plus, there is less pollutiom, more tennis courts and parks so that my brothers can practice whenever they want to. It is really a nice place. (Wow, the post went from Google integrating an sattelite image to why I live as shown in the image. Wherever...)

Nadal Vs federer

2005-04-03T16:31:00.000-04:00

I just watched one of the best games of tennis. It was the final of Nasdaq-100, a master series tournament in Miami. The final featured number 1, the Swiss Roger Federer, 22 years-old, who only lost one match since September 2004, and Rafael Nadal, my favorite player, 18 years old Spaniard, number 30 in the ATP standing. As you can see, the score is pretty tight. Nadal dominated in the first two sets, playing fantastic, even unbelievable tennis. He made an immortal Roger Federer look mortal in this match, running from the two sides of the court, hitting every possible shot, and making others that seemed impossible to hit. I was pumped up. My father, who hasnt been excited about a sports match since last years NBA play-off, was kind of excited, and he had a good reason to do. Honestly, at 18, Nadal is very promising. I discovered him when he won his first ATP match at 15. And since then, I followed his journey in the professional tennis world. He is the next big thing. If I was a businessman, I would have invested on him 3 years ago, which is what Nike did. Anyhow, back at the match. Federer got back at his feet, and won the third game at 7-6. It was the turning point. Federer somehow gained back his momentum and aced through the last two sets. Nadal let it go in the last set, and Federer got a scare that he though, or maybe that we thought, would never get him. Anyhow, a very good match, in a very good day in Miami - nope, not here is New York, its raining at hell. I would have liked Nadal to win, but it was a lesson: Never give up until the end, and never think that you already won, because maybe youll lose even if you have a match point. (Below is Roger Federer -1st picture- and Rafael Nadal -second picture-). And by the way, I love his pants, and I am going to buy those for this summer.

been alive

2005-04-03T15:35:00.000-04:00

I have just discovered the day of the week I came to this world. It was a thursday! (gosh, what a discovery, for a minute, you though I discovered a new continent hein?)
Anyways, I have been alive for 6842 days, 19 hours, 34 minutes and 30 seconds Or 591219270 seconds or 9853654 minutes or 164227 hours

Word! that seems a lot! check out yours. Calculate yours :)

Israel Exposes Palestinians to Killer Radiations

2005-04-03T11:28:00.000-04:00

By Adel Zaarab, IOL Correspondent

GAZA CITY, April 2, 2005 – Amidst stark warnings of potential outbreak of chronic and deadly diseases, Israeli occupation troops have recently set up a “radioactive” glass room at the main Rafah crossing through which Palestinians have to pass to enter or exit the Gaza Strip.

Palestinian medics said that potential diseases include thrombocytopenic, sterility, congenital anomalies, cancer, leukemia, mental retardation and ductless glands disorder, warning that Palestinians are slipping toward slow death.

“I was forced by Israeli occupation troops to enter this scary room-like radiating device, which consists of glass and barbed wire,” Mohammad Al-Sadoudi, 40, told IslamOnline.net.

“Israeli troops were at least 10 meters away and Israeli citizens are not allowed to enter this room. I fear that I might be inflicted with cancer as I frequently use the (Rafah) crossing.”

Radioactive War

Osama Al-Assar, the administrative director of Rafah crossing, said Israel is launching a “radioactive war” against the Palestinians.

“It seems as if their daily incursions are not enough,” he told IOL. “We urge media and NGOs to expose these blatant aggressions against our people.”

“I’m so worried about the generations to come as many pregnant women are passing through this obnoxious room day in and day out,” Assar added.

Walid Al-Salhi, the director of preventive security at the Rafah crossing, said the room is made of lead-coated glass and is holding inside it a one-meter high cylinder-shaped device.

“Doctors warned that this device produces life-threatening, bone-piercing rays and Israeli troops can easily see the body parts of Palestinians, using the infra-red technology,” Salhi said.

The Gaza Community Mental Health Program has launched a campaign against the Israeli use of radiation inspection system at Rafah Crossing.

As a first practical step, GCMHP initiated a request from its partner organization Physicians for Human Rights in Israel to pursue the Israeli authorities to request examining the danger of such apparatus.

In case the Israeli authority did not respond to such demands, it will resort to filing a compliant to the Supreme Court of Israel to send a qualified professional team or a neutral medical committee in an attempt to halt the use of such hazardous inspection system.

To the suffering of thousands of Palestinians, Israel usually closes the Rafah crossing under security pretexts.

The suffering swelled in August when the occupation army closed the checkpoint for up to 17 consecutive days.

Some 3,000 men, women and children of all ages were crammed into a parking lot about half the size of a soccer field with only two doors for ventilation and straw mats serving as beds. [IO]

To Read: Gaza Community Mental Health Programme Campaign Press Release

To Do: Tell the World...

1. Trackback it on YOUR blog & spread it thru the Blogosphere

2. Email Media sources the GCMP Press Release:

Yahoo 360 Invites

2005-04-03T11:11:00.000-04:00

Ok, I have some invites (not sure how many though) to Yahoo 360, the so-called new social networking sevice from Yahoo. So, if anyone wants an invite to try it out, just leave a comment or send me an email at zaydoun@gmail.com I assume that invites are limited...
Update: I actually know how many invites I have left. 99! so, everyone can ask lol

BrainGate plugs brains into computers

2005-03-29T12:01:00.000-05:00

"A Foxborough, Mass., company has developed technology that plugs a human brain into a desktop computer, the Chicago Sun-Times reported.
Cyberkinetics Neurotechnology Systems has developed BrainGate, a product aimed at enabling quadriplegics to do things like surf the Web, write e-mails, play video games and operate TV remotes and telephones just by thinking..." [The Washington Times]

This should be a good idea, but I wonder if someone suddenly thinks about porn for example (not that I do that), will this mean that automatically, a porn website will appear?.

always open

2005-03-28T21:01:00.000-05:00

always open, originally uploaded from The Rocketeer.

I find this somewhat funny, maybe because I have been studying for 2 hours on my biology.

Photoshop CS2

2005-03-28T13:51:00.000-05:00

 According to BetaNews,
an upgrade of Photoshop CS is going to be announced this week. The article states that
"

Dubbed Adobe Photoshop CS2, the new release promises better tools to fix common image problems such as red eye and blemishes, as well as updated support for raw, or uncompressed, images. The software is expected to start shipping in May. Adobe says it added numerous features to Photoshop CS2 in response to requests from users and the changing needs of the digital imaging industry."

Well, I am a photoshop user, and for sure, Photoshop CS didn't have anything new from Photoshop 7, and photoshop 7 was even better. Also, even though there are some new features, the update will probably cost between 50 to 150$, which is too much for the features they include. I am no more a fan of Adobe.

Vacation! or not :(

2005-03-28T00:04:00.000-05:00

I am on vacation for the next two weeks. But my next two weeks cant be called vacation, apart from the fact that I will not be attending school. In two months, I will be passing my bac (end of High school exams on all subjects, thats math, physics, chemistry, biology, history, geography, English, philosophy), which means that I really need to study these 2 weeks, gosh! But, anyway, I tell myself: Hey Zied, you can study the next 2 weeks, and then youll pass your Bac, and then youll have a very good vacation during the summer, playing tennis and going to the beach in the morning, and partying at night. You just need to work a lot for two months, and then its done. So, psychologically, I am ready. I have to add that I will be partying at night for the next two weeks. So, it wont be that horrible. I will try to at least post once a day
P.S: That's me in the picture, supposedly, in both studying and revolutionary mode!

English Oral

2005-03-21T18:19:00.000-05:00

As part of the OIB curiculum, OIB being "Option internationale duc Bacalaureat/International Option ogf the Baccalaureate", I had my English Oral "Bac Blanc"today. I had to close read a text, and prepare the close reading for 30 minutes, in order to present to an AP English teacher, AP being "Advanced Placement". I had an excerpt of scene 2 Act III of King Lear. It was a bit hard, but I managed to do well. Then for 15 minutes, we had a discussion about "Heart of Darkness" by Conrad, a very hard book that I actually like, and "The Bluest Eye", another great book. Overall, I am really happy, as I did better than I expected, as I do not talk a lot in English class, and not to mention that my teacher said that I was a good writer and usualy have done good analysis, but that she was afraid of the english Oral exam. I guess she was wrong.

Graduation

2005-03-21T18:17:00.000-05:00

Graduation, originally uploaded by zizou.

Ok, you'll not see a lot of pictures of me , but I feel that blog readers want to see who's writing behind the blog. Here is one picture, of my graduation speech two years ago, when I was a tenth grader. I am the arab guy on the left, not the french friend who's on the right. Click on the image to see it on my Flickr account, and then see it bigger by selecting a different size...

Yahoo aquires Flickr

2005-03-20T20:21:00.000-05:00

Well, It is official, according to the Flickr Blog, Yahoo bought Flickr. They say that the free accounts will have more storage space and more uploads, the same for the pro accounts. Also, they say that Flickr will not change, and will not become Yahoo Photos, although Yahoo Photos will include in the future some Flickr features, thus it will be flickerized. Anyway, I do not know if this is a good move, but hopefully it will benefit bloggers, because I really like flickr....

banoota

2005-03-20T12:26:00.000-05:00

banoota, originally uploaded by zizou.

Ok, two weeks ago, I was checking the Macintosh Flickr Group, and it led me to Banoota's Flickr photos. I checked her profile, and saw that she live in the UAE. SO I checked her website, and damn I like it. Seriously, the mix of the colors, the design, and the camphone photos are really hot. Check it out and tell me what you think. Banoota's blog and webdesign site. And you'd prefer to have broadband in order to access her site, because it might take some time.

Bombing in Doha

2005-03-20T08:56:00.000-05:00

I was checking Natasha's blog, and she is reporting a blast in Doha that she heard. It was done not far from Al-jazeera TV. Take a look at Natasha's report. Here are some of the photos she took.

Annoying Advertisements.

2005-03-19T19:35:00.000-05:00

It always amazes me how companies in the US know a lot about you. For example, an insurance company knew that I was going to college next year, and contacted my parents to offer them an insurance plan for college stuff that my father didn’t try to understand it, and just kept watching basketball for 3 minutes, until the guy in the phone finished his offer, and to get a back a clear response by my father, “no thank you, I am not interested, have a good time, sir “

Also, some tuxedo rental company sent me a brochure, and that is because they knew I was a senior in High School, and thus they thought I might need a tuxedo from prom (prom is an end of year senior party where you have ask a girl and you wear formal dress, thus tuxedo). Anyhow, I lot of companies send you advertisement by mail, and that is because they know a lot about you. This probably the consequence of me signing up for a certain magazine, and maybe not fully reading their policy and agreement statement, where it states somewhere that It can sell to other companies the information I used to subscribe to their magazine unless I asked them not to.

Anyhow, I find this intrusion of privacy a very disturbing thing (at least for me), but I that is how business work in the US.

Where to go?

2005-03-19T19:33:00.000-05:00

I am in the process of making a decision whether I should go to McGill University or University of Toronto. I know that University of Toronto is the best Medical and Research University in Canada, but McGill is a close second, and It seems that big universities in the US know about McGill more than U of Toronto. Also, It seems that there are a lot of advantages in going to McGill. Even though it is a university that teaches in English, a lot of the students speak French, and Montreal is a bilingual city. This is a bonus, as I do not want to lose my French, but also because I want to study in English. Also, four of my close friends got accepted there also, and it is a really cool thing to see them every weekend for the next 3 years. Also, a lot of Arab students study in Montreal, and It should be cool to chill out with some Arab students for the next three years. Life in Montreal is great, and it seems to be less expansive than Toronto, which is a bonus for a university students. Anyway, I still have to discuss with my parents, who actually want me to go to McGill also.

Admitted Part 2

2005-03-17T21:58:00.000-05:00

Well, today, I have been admitted to the best university in Canada: University of Toronto. Even though in the beginning of the year I wanted to go there, I am leaning toward Mcgill University (Montreal) right now. I have to take a decision. Anyway, I have a lot of exams this week and next week also, so blogging time is limited. I'll be blogging more frequently a week from now, when I'll be on vacation.

43 Folders

2005-03-13T10:18:00.000-05:00

Inspired by Subzeroblue, I made my list of short-term as well as long term-goals. I made it with 43Things, a website where you can make a list of your goals and the stuff that you want to do in your life. So here is my list. Make up your own too.

Admitted

2005-03-11T18:47:00.000-05:00

Well, I have been stressing out a lot for a week because I was waiting for the decision of Mcgill University. Yes, I applied to Mcgill University aka "Harvard of the North" in Canada. It is the second best university in Canada (just behind Toronto University, where I applied also, and still waitinf for the April 1st decision, that should be a yes also). It was my first choice and I thought for some time that I will not be accepted because I had some bad grades (between 10 and 13 on 20) this year in math, a subject I was very good at the previous years. Thank god I had good grades in second trimester. Today, I got admitted to "Bachelor of Science", Biology major (probably going to switch to genetics) and I am going to do Pre-Med, and hopefully go to Medical School after 3 years. The reason I didn't apply top Med School in Mcgill directly is because I am Tunisian, and they don't allow international students to enter Med School directly. So, I am doing it the American way! Yay, I am so happy! I still need to get 12 in the French Baccalaureat in June in order to skip freshman year (1st year), but I never got less than 13 in all my school years, so incha'llah no worries. I am happy to go back to Canada after 11 years from leaving Quebec!

Sorry

2005-03-09T20:07:00.000-05:00

I wanted to let you know that the next time I'll post is going to be next Friday, as I am in the middle of a week filled with exams, homework, dissapointment, pressure and depression.

Surfers ride giant board into record books

2005-03-07T05:18:00.000-05:00

World Championship Tour surfers and locals surfers ride on the world's longest surfboard to set an unofficial Guinness World Record of 47 surfers on the 40-foot board shaped by Gold Coast shaper Nev Hyman at Snapper Rock on the Gold Coast, Saturday, March 5, 2005. The record attempt is part of the 'Tsunamirun,' a charity set up to raise funds for Tsunami victims. (AP Photo/Steve Holland)

Object Dock

2005-03-06T15:02:00.000-05:00

Because I liked the dock used in apple computers, I thought I should have one, even though it is on windows. I found this one, and I really like it: ObjectDock is a free program that allows you to have a nice animated launchbar/taskbar on your screen that reacts to your mouse when you mouse over it. Look below to see how it looks on my desktop. Click on it to see it in a bigger size.

2005-03-06T14:52:00.000-05:00

For some reason I lost my template, so I had to put a back-up version saved one week ago. So,
Haloscan commenting and trackback have been re-installed to this blog.

Overheard

2005-03-05T20:43:00.000-05:00

That is what I heard in subway station two days ago:

Mom (Caucasian): You have a babysitter tonight, because we are going out.

Son: I am afraid of babysitters.

Mom: Come on, you can’t be afraid of your babysitter. It’s not like he is black to scare you.

Well I am not sure if you consider this as racism or not, but I DO.

iPod and Zied

2005-03-05T20:34:00.000-05:00

My iPod became so important to me that when i forget it at home one day, I'll feel like I lost something. I feel as if something is missing. That's not a good sign. This probably the first picture of me, even though you can see nothing, and that is why I put in the first place :P

Go Girls!

2005-03-05T20:27:00.000-05:00

I was checking my photos on the computer and I found this picture of a game of the Lycee's Girls' Basketball team, and I thought I would put it online, as I like it a lot.

Red book and the marijuana leaf

2005-03-01T06:13:00.000-05:00

While talking about communism and china in class, the teacher showed us Mao's Little Red Book. While going through the book, we found this leaf. We thought for a moment that it was marijuana, but it was not.

Lost My phone

2005-03-01T05:59:00.000-05:00

Yesterday, while stepping out of the car to take the train, I dropped my motorola phone. Well, I called my phone 5 minutes later, and a guy picked up. He told me he was a taxi driver and that he was going to put the phone in the office of the taxi compagny, that is in front of the train station. I had luck this time! And I kept thinking that if I had lost it in Tunisia, and even if a taxi driver picked it up, he would have probably kept it for himself. I should not be thinking like that, because there are still good people in this world, and in Tunisia too.

Notes

2005-03-01T05:55:00.000-05:00

When you don't feel like taking notes in class, you take a picture of them when the teacher is not looking.

Where do you see yourself 10 years from now?

2005-02-28T01:00:00.000-05:00

Ten years from now, I see my self, in Tunisia, working as a doctor, hopefully giving lectures medicine lecture in university. Ten years from now, I see my self sitting in my home at night, in my home-office, having a big library with a lot of books, and computer (hopefully a mac lol and I had to integrate computers in this) and trying to contribute to the “Science in the Quran” field. This is where I see my self ten years from now and this is what I dream of becoming.

So where do you see yourself ten years from now?

Michael and the Jurors

2005-02-27T15:29:00.000-05:00


That's what I just read in Yahoo :

A 12-person jury was seated Wednesday in Michael Jackson' s child-molestation trial.

The eight women and four men will be responsible for weighing volumes of evidence over the next several months to determine if the world's most famous performer is guilty of 10 felony counts involving a 13-year-old cancer patient and his family.

In addition to molestation, Jackson, 46, is accused of plying the boy with alcohol and conspiring to hold his family against their will. He has pleaded innocent to all charges.

The panel, ranging in age from 20 to 79, is surprisingly diverse for the largely homogeneous Santa Barbara County: seven whites, three Latinos and one Asian (the final member did not list an ethnicity), but no African-Americans. Seven jurors are married and eight of them have children. Six of the jurors have full-time jobs, two are retired, one is a student and two are unemployed. Three jurors have graduate degrees. Nearly all of them said they didn't regularly watch TV news and only had a limited knowledge of the Jackson case.

Alright, this seems a bit weird. Knowing that the jurors have the power to decide if Jackson is guilty or not (yep, for the people who do not know the US, the jurors have more power than the judge!), a lot of the jurors have children. Do you see emotional interference with the case? Also, there are no juror from and African-American background. Does it look like that race is going to play a role in this case? Or is it just a coincidence. Anyhow, I just don't feel that the decision will be fair to Michael Jackson. But let's wait and see what happens.

Bad image

2005-02-27T14:49:00.000-05:00

A friend of mine gave me the complete second season of 24. I really liked it but what bothered me is he fact that they are, once again, portraying Muslims as murderers, as the story talks about an explosion of a nuclear bomb outside of L.A and how the main character Jack Bauer is trying to save the US... Anyway, even though they clarify in the movie that only extremist think about killing people, I still think that it gives a bad image of Muslims. That was the second season, which aired after 2001. Right now, they are airing the fourth season and even though I am not watching it, the story involves also around Muslim terrorists. So, I feel that in a time where Muslim are seen in the US as terrorists, as uncivilized and barbarous people, the media is pushing this situation further by their negative portraying of Muslims in their movies. And for those who will try to argue that people in the US do not think that Muslims are terrorists, just look around the web, like online forums and you'll see what I am talking about. And of course, I am not saying that all the people think that, but many do. Back to the subject, I feel that this negative portraying of us by the media and the film industry doesn't stop here. They even want to show that Muslims and Arabs are bad from the beginning of times. Just watch the subject of some of the up-coming movies. For example, there is "Kingdom of Heaven", due on May 6th, 2005, where the story is about the crusade. Or what about Spielberg pushing forward with 1972 Munich Olympics movie, where he will be probably portraying all Palestinians as terrorist through the event of Munich in 1972. And here too, even though I do not know for sure what the point of view of these two movies will be, the second one being obvious, I still think that there is negative portraying of Arabs and Muslims in the US, which will not make our world better. That is for sure.

Djerba

2005-02-27T09:23:00.000-05:00

This picture was taken last summer (2004) in Djerba, Tunisia, during my stay in Aldiana Club for a tennis tournament. was very beautiful.

Comments work

2005-02-26T15:01:00.000-05:00

The comments finally work. Thanks Subzeroblue for your help :)

World's highest tennis court

2005-02-24T20:56:00.000-05:00

As a tennis player for 10 years, I cannot find this amazing. It the world's highest tennis court. Click here or at the photo to see better images of it, and of Andre Agassi and Roger Federer, two of the best, playing on it. And guess where this court is located... At the top of Burj Al Arab, the worlds most luxurious hotel (Dubai).

American Mile Markers...

2005-02-24T14:56:00.000-05:00

I found this website of photographer Matt Frondorf who went from the Statue of Liberty (NYC) to the Golden Gate Bridge (San Francisco), taking a picture every mile, accumulating 3304 pictures. I find this very interesting and I guess it could be a good idea to do this from Tunis to Touzeur for example. Anyhow, check it out by clicking on the picture above.

2005-02-24T14:25:00.000-05:00

Even though people might not like the fact that I find this picture funny because they think making fun of someone is bad, I still think it is funny to see our Khaled Badra in this situation. Sorry if I offend someone...

2005-02-24T14:21:00.000-05:00

That is what my friends had fun doing during physics class.

2005-02-22T22:17:00.000-05:00

At about 9 pm, my lovely mom put this on my desk. It's, I guess, supposed to be a Tunisian tea style presentation. However, I see it more like the English way. However, the tea she made was indeed tunisian (green tea) and add to that the Fennel seeds. As a supplement, there was some almonds and banana chips and other things that I do not know the name but I am too tired to even search what they are called. Anyway, thanks mom for the tea that keeps me awake and warm and the for supplement that gives me energy to finish this essay I am writing, about "Heart od Darkness" by Conrad.

TETRO

2005-02-22T20:51:00.000-05:00

We were learning about Japan in Geography class (I know that this is my second post having geography as a theme but don’t assume that I am obsessed with Geography class, but found this interesting…). One of the things that we learned about Japan’s economy is the “JETRO”, the Japanese External Trade Organization. One of its missions is the implementation of Japanese companies abroad. Well, seeing that a lot of Japanese conglomerates are doing so well in the international business and financial fields, I think that Tunisia should be doing the same thing. That is assuming that it has not been done yet. Indeed, how many times, when I go shopping in New York City, do I imagine a big “Tunisian Traditional Craft Store” being opened in 5^th Avenue like the NBA Store for example? Wouldn’t Tunisia make a lot of money with it, while publicizing about our country, its customs and make people want to come visit, a country that benefits a lot from tourism. Maybe creating “TETRO”, The Tunisian External Trade Organization would help?

Commenting

2005-02-22T19:08:00.000-05:00

Ok, I am officially tired of the commenting problem. I have tried a lot of things, and none worked. I don't know what's the problem with the template, which honestly I find it beautiful and do not want to change it. So, If someone wants to help him, check out what the problem is, I can give him my password to look for the problem. A blog is not blog if there are no comments... So, please, someone help me. My email is zaydoun@gmail.com. Please Help !!!!

Free song after buying a Pepsi.

2005-02-21T20:16:00.000-05:00

Well, a friend of mine took a 1 min 53 seconds one man show of me doing stupid things in the train back home on a Friday night after a week filled with tests and homework (wow I am writing à la francaise with this long sentence). Anyways, as you can see, I am holding my free iTunes song code. Guess what I bought ? See below

2005-02-21T20:15:00.000-05:00

The free song was "Accross the Universe" performed during the Grammys and dedicated to the Tsuanmi victims.

Being Quoted

2005-02-21T17:39:00.000-05:00

Well, something really made my day. For the first time of my life, and thus my blogging career- that is 3 days - someone quoted what I wrote. Its not that I did a masterpiece, but it still encourages me to blog and to write. So, thanks Houssein (Hou Hou Blog) for quoting my blog. Not only for that, I should be thanking him for accepting as part of the "Tunisian Blogs Directory", and we all (Tunisian bloggers) should thank him for his support to the Tunisian blogging field.

My Blog's Name

2005-02-21T11:10:00.000-05:00

Because There is another Zaydoun in the arab blogging field, and because he came before, I am changing my blog's name, to "Zied The Dreamer", until I come up with something more original, thus more interesting.

Also, I have noticed that my comments do not work. I am not sure why, but I'll try to figure that out. Anyways, I really have to find a more interesting name... damn, the sooner I find it, the better...

Snow !

2005-02-21T09:56:00.000-05:00

Well, woke up early this morning. I opened my window to find this. Enjoy !

3 Links

2005-02-20T19:25:00.000-05:00

Every Sunday, I'll be putting some links that i find interesting. This Sunday's links are:

- Article: Counterpoint by Mahmoud Darwish, as a Homage to Edward Said.
- Think Secret article: iPod mini moves to color screen with pending update.
- McAfee wireless network scan: web-based Wi-Fi Scan which finds security holes in your wireless network.

View from my window

2005-02-20T18:54:00.000-05:00

view from my window, originally uploaded by zizou.

This is the view from my window. As you can see, it seems like an autumn day. Indeed, it was cold today, and that's why I stayed home, finishing "Out of Place" by Edward Said, and doing some Biology homework. I'll try to take another picture of the same view, but on a sunny day. I also plan on taking a lot of picture of New York City, and my daily commuting to my High School. As you can see, I do not live in New York City, but in Westchester County, a very quiet neighborhood, so quite that it is rare to hear the noise of passing car.

Med Diaries

2005-02-20T14:55:00.000-05:00

I plan on being a pre-med student next, if I am accepted at the Universities I applied to in Canada. And one of the way that give an idea at what to expect is this site, where actual pre-med, med, dentistry students as well as residents talk about their everyday life in a more diary like style than a blog. So, if you plan on being a med student, check it out.

Zaydoun in Trouble ?

2005-02-20T13:34:00.000-05:00

I was surfing the web searching for arab blogs, and came accross a page linking to "famous arab blogs". And guess what I found, another blog that the owner used "zaydoun" as a username. Well, apparently, he is "The author of Kuwait Unplugged (formerly known as Live from Kuwait) is by all means a celebrity Arab blogger. His start was as a warblogger during the American invasion of Iraq, and that gained a him an interview by The Guardian. When the war ended, the sarcastic "failed writer" took a break and then decided to change the interest of his blog, by focusing more on local Kuwaiti issues. His blog inspired many Kuwaitis to start blogging, helping in shaping one of the most active blogging communities of the Arab blogosphere. Recently, he began to post in Arabic every once in a while." Well, I never intended to use the name "zaydoun" because I knew about his blog. And actually if I knew about his blog, I wouldn't have used it. It is just that my name is Zied and in Tunisia, they sometimes call me zaydoun. If the author of Kuwait Unplugged doesn't want anyone else to use "zaydoun" as apparently he is famous in the blogging world, I'll have no problem changing it. Anyways, I can change it to "zitouna" or even "zizi" lol

2005-02-20T11:10:00.000-05:00

I have always wanted to see people's desktop pictures. So here is mine. What do you think?

99.6 Jordanian radio station

2005-02-20T10:55:00.000-05:00

While visiting Ahmed Humeid's Weblog, I found a link to a Jordanian radio station, 99.6, which is streaming online. Well, what I found shocking, even though using the word shocking might be an exaggeration, is the fact that the host in the radio seems to be British. Well, I said seems because I am not 100 % sure, but nevertheless I am almost sure that he is, not only because he has a British accent, but because he was having a hard time saying Arabic names. So, assuming that he is British, I think that its not both logical and original to put a British host and not a Jordanian one. Also, what I found bizarre is the fact that the advertisements are so similar to the American ones. As a result, my overall impression was that I was listening to an American radio station, and not a Jordanian one, which is disappointing. It seems that the radio reflects the fact that there is a dominance of the American culture on Jordan. Hopefully, I am wrong in my analysis.

In the other hand, I must admit that the design of the website of the radio is really nice. I mean, it's simple, with an animation that looks good. Thumbs Up for the designer. I wonder if it is Ahmed Humeid. Maybe he can comfirm that?

Geography

2005-02-20T09:30:00.000-05:00

It always strikes me how people in the US know very little about geography. I mean, it is really incomprehensible to see the World’s dominating power “not teaching” geography in class. Yes, my fellow readers, geography is not taught in high schools in the US !!

I am not sure why, but It might be that the US thinks that people should know about her, but that her citizens do not need to know about the world which their country is leading. Also, what’s funny is that because I am an OIB student in The Lycee Francais of New York, OIB meaning Bac Option Internationale, my English class is considered an Honor/AP (Advanced Placement) class, and my History and Geography class are taught in English and not French. And guess what the teacher tells us “…. Be reminded that the teachers that are going to correct you geography test are not geography teachers, because there are no geography teachers in The United States, at least not before University level.”

As a result, this is how a conversation goes in the street or during a party:

Girl: Where are you from?

Me: Tunisia

Girl: Where is that?

Me: North Africa

Girl: How come you are not black?

Or,

Man: So, where are you from?

Me: Tunisia

Man: And where is that?

Me: 40 miles from Miama, Florida

Man: Oh, that little town not very far from Miami, of course I know it.

That is why I think High School student should be taught geography is High School….

Best 3 gadgets

2005-02-19T20:39:00.000-05:00

Best 3 gadgets, originally uploaded by zizou.

These are my best 3 gadgets:
The 20 GB iPOD
The Motorola v551 phone
The Compaq Presario R3000 with its 2.8-GHz Pentium 4 processor, 512 MB Ram, and 9000 IGP ATI Moblity Radeon graphic card. To be honnest, I am very happy with it, even though I am determined to buy a powerbook as my next laptop.

My desk

2005-02-19T20:23:00.000-05:00

My desk, originally uploaded by zizou.

This is a picture of my desk during a weekend in January 2005 spent studying for my bac blanc... As you can see, my laptop is put aside so I can really study otherwise I would have spent the weekend working with my computer (indeed, it seems I am addicted lol). Also, you can see all the books (annabacs), wich help me a lot :)
Also, as you can see, it is a little mess (not a lot though ??)