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8月15日 More Importantly, It's DefectiveAs a result of the latest wave of incidents involving Muslims, many so called experts have come out publicizing their push for racial profiling. They say it would make our skies safer, and less susceptible to a terrorist attack. They couldn't be farther from the truth. I applaud those who use the Constitution of the United States as a defense in fighting those critics; however, for me, it is not a matter of righteousness. Even though it states that all people are equal, I do not wish to use the premise of defending our principles and credo. I like to focus more on the effectiveness of such procedure. It simply would not work. Islam differs from many other religions in that its followers are immensely diverse. Muslims account for 20.19+% (2005, CIA) of the total global population. Significant portions of Asia, Africa, Europe, Australia, and North America are Muslim. There is not a single image that can encompass races from those continents. Stereotypical judgment is a failure and should never be taken seriously. John Walker Lindh, Jose Padilla, and Richard Reid, for example, do not fit the “stereotype” of Arabs or Muslims. Their capture should teach us something about combating terrorism. I also despise the fact many of those experts state, “Not all Muslims are terrorists, but all terrorists are Muslim”. I cannot even begin to comprehend such misleading thinking. Do they intentionally leave out the IRA? ETA? The Tamil Tigers? What about the Serbian genocide of Muslims? Those are a few examples of non-Muslim terror in recent history; there are many more such incidents that would further strengthen my position. I want to eradicate terrorism, for the sake of my religion and the security of the masses, but we can be smarter about going about it. Technological advances in security measures will aid in that effort. The future in such sector looks promising. 7月2日 World Population As of today, the global population is estimated to be around 6.525 billion. To put that number in perspective, the five billion mark was reached in 1987; It took a mere 19 years for us to increase our size by 30.5%. By the year 2050, the United Nations projects a population of over nine billion.
The following curve depicts the immense growth humanity has experienced through a 12,000-year period ending with the year 2000,
The data set begins with 4 million inhabitants in 10000 BC and ends with 6.07 billion. Amid plagues, wars, natural disasters, and natural deaths, we have still been able to manage an exponential growth rate of such proportion. I just wonder how long we can sustain such growth.
Image source: Wikipedia 6月8日 BD vs. HD DVD Optical discs have been in constant innovation over the past years. Out of the multiple formats developed, blu-ray discs and high definition DVD's have emerged as the most heavily marketed. Their main objective is to deliver high definition capabilities that regular DVD's lack.
A blu-ray disc utilizes a high frequency blue-violet laser that allows it to store large amounts of data. Each layer on a disc has a capacity of 25 GB; an eight-layer disc has been developed to hold 200 GB. Alongside its relatively huge storage capacity, the format is strongly backed by numerous companies that form the Blu-ray Disc Association (BDA). Those entities include Sony, Dell, Apple, Pioneer, and many more. Sony's upcoming PlayStation 3 will be capable of playing such format. The first blu-ray disc player is scheduled to debut by mid-summer for a hefty 1000 dollar price tag.
HD DVD's are similar in that they also accomplish the objective discussed above. Both formats do, however, share distinct differences. Although HD DVD's have cheaper production costs and thus lower prices for the consumer, it cannot store as much information as a BD. Each layer has a maximum capacity of 15 GB, and the current limit is four layers. The format is presently sponsored by Microsoft, Toshiba, Intel, and a few others. It does have non-exclusive backers that promote the usage of both formats. HD DVD players are already on the market and they sell for about half the price of what a BD one will cost.
As for myself, I am leaning more towards the blu-ray format. My reason is simple: More storage. I am a man that will pass over a 7,200 RPM 100 GB hard drive for a 4,200 RPM 200 GB one.
5月15日 The 2006 World Cup I'm extremely excited as we approach the commencement of the 2006 FIFA World Cup. Group A will ignite the start of the most popular sports tournament in the world on June 9th. The Saudi Arabian national team, which won every single game in qualifying, shows promise in making another strong appearance this time around. It will be tough to advance as it has to play the likes of Spain and Ukraine. I'm going to take a leap of faith and predict the winners to be those wearing the yellow, green, and blue. The first round schedule is as follows,  4月23日 China's Economic GrowthThe People's Republic of China is growing at a rate of 9.3% annually. With a GDP of 8.182 trillion dollars, over 9% of growth is not something to overlook. China is predicted to be the largest consumer of oil by the year 2020 as the United States is the current leader in that department with about 21 million barrels a day. In the end of 2004, China had an estimated 94 million internet users. That number today has exploded to 150-200 million and is growing by 18% every year. That is precisely the reason behind Google's criticized compliance with the Chinese Government to do business there. This demonstrates how rapid the development process is going inside the country. Wal-Mart is also finding new growth possiblities within the Chinese borders. With supply and demand issues, frequent natural disasters, and terrorism weighing on our minds, oil is truly transforming itself into its title of black gold. Oil on Friday closed at an all-time numerical high of $75.17. China recently signed deals with Saudi Arabia, Venezuela, Nigeria, and Canada to ensure that its oil imports are quenching the thirst of its economy and residents. I am Saudi so I cannot complain much about high oil prices but I am worried about how much longer the nation can sustain itself with its current oil reserves when nations like China and India are growing at such rates. Here is a chart showing the growth of Chinese oil imports and the price per barrel over time  Just to point it out, that almost seems to fit an exponential curve in the end. I do not believe 2005 numbers are out on oil imports but I am sure that they are larger than 6.65 million barrels per day. China, without a doubt, will in the near future become the world's largest superpower. I just hope that that power is not misdirected. 4月1日 ROMs and Emulators If you're a person who places sentimental value on about everything you own, then this is the blog for you. I reminisce on the good ol' days in which I would play Nintendo, Super Nintendo, and Sega Genesis alongside my Grandmother and siblings. The horrible part is...those consoles went through extreme torture over the years and are now unable to operate. I would like to share with you some emulators and ROMs that I have personally found to be great.
Sega Genesis:
Emulator of choice: Fusion 3.51 299 KB (also compatible with Saturn, Sega CD, and Gamegear)
Various ROMs that I personally love:
- Aladdin
Nintendo:
Emulator of Choice: FCEU 0.98.12 292 KB
Various ROMs that I personally love:
Super Nintendo:
Emulator of Choice: SNES9X 1.43 733 KB
Various ROMs that I personally love:
- Super Mario All-Stars (Includes Original Super Mario Bros)
More ROMs and Emulators can be found at:
You can also download Nintendo 64 and Atari games. 3月2日 WOM Pack I love Google, I would love to work at Google, but the fairly recent introduction of Google Pack led me to thinking....what were they thinkin'? Don't get me wrong now, I love the fact they included Firefox in their bouquet but the whole concept is kind of weak if you ask me. All Google did was get together some software applications that it thought to be essential to one's computer needs and positioned them all under one update service. There is nothing special or "Googly" about that. In light of the collection they are offering ---and have been for relatively a while, I would like to share with you the main applications that I would have chosen if I had a WOM Pack on the market: - Firefox...Of course, it is my favorite browser ever for many reasons. In short, it is fast, reliable, secure, extremely customizable, and its rendering engine, Gecko, is just awesome. I would never use anything but Firefox. -Sygate Personal Firewall...You probably use another good 3rd-party firewall like Zone Alarm or the Symantec Norton one but I love Sygate. I love the way it configures IP address options and performs whois. It is simple to use and can simply run in the background. It works well with the semi-firewall Service Pack 2 provides for Windows XP. -SpywareBlaster...Rather than wait until malware has infiltrated your computer system, why not prevent it in the first place? This program does so very efficiently and it works along with Firefox and Internet Explorer. -Spybot: Search and Destroy...I personally use a multitude of different and effective programs to eliminate spyware and adware once they have broken through the first two layers of defense, but this is the one I would recommend most. It is capable of many more things beyond spyware eradication including immunization and control of various essential system settings. -CCleaner (short for Crap Cleaner)... It does as its title depicts, it deletes temporary files from your computer, your history, cookies, etc.. It also deletes unnecessary files that are stored by other applications you use frequently. CCleaner, unlike many similar freewares I have used, scans for issues in the registry which you could delete after backing them up. and last but not least, - AVG Free Edition...Best anti-virus program on the market bar none. New definition updates roll out almost daily and it scans every bit of data you have on your hard drive. It attains a resident shield and an e-mail scanner for greater security. 2月9日 Tell Me Why...There has not been one era in our existence as human beings in which conflict did not take place, since Adam's two sons for that matter. Why though? Why so much hatred in this world? Why so much distaste for each other? I myself have no hate in me whatsoever, even towards those whom I consider to be "non-friendly" to me. I'm not looking for a utopia here, that's a childish thought in my perspective, but I am looking for a rational reason for such feeling. Hate is an emotion instilled in people for many reasons. Many express it because of racial, sexual, and religious differences while others hate because of others' actions towards them. There are approximately 6.45 billion people on Earth and I only account for about .0000000155% of that; I don't expect many to think or even feel the way I do. With that said, I don't care whether you're Muslim, Christian, Jewish, or a secularist, I'll only see you as person and I will only judge you, yes judge, by your actions and mentality. I'm only 19 years of age so the only huge real life occurrences in which hate has been a key player have involved terrorism by those who are trying to destroy the peaceful image of Islam. I truly hope hatred can be minimized so I don't have to directly experience it in my life. You know what? I'll take my claim back. I do have hate in me, I detest those who hate for unjustifiable reasons. 1月17日 The "Betrayal" of Creation I read a poem a while back titled Hiroshima written by Agyeya. The poet discusses how the materials (specifically the atomic bomb) we created turned back on us to kill hundreds of thousands of people in the two Japanese cities of Hiroshima and Nagasaki. Over the duration of our existence, we have used many of the things we essentially created to harm one another. Artillery, explosives, machines, and such have been used to possibly kill billions of people.
Let me get to the point, there is a song by Joe Nichols, the country artist, called "If Nobody Believed in You". The song's main purpose is to demonstrate how we as a society are betraying God, our creator. People who do not believe in Him have numerously litigated world governments to do away with His name and essence. Is this just some vicious cycle in which the creation conflicts with the creator?
I personally come from an ultra-conservative country so God will remain a huge part of my culture for a very long time; however, many other societies can care less about Him. I do understand that a large portion of the globe does not believe in God but those countries with majorities that do are guilty of this as well. I don't know, but like Nichols says, "I wonder how much He will take."
12月26日 31,536,000 Seconds Ago A year ago, one of the greatest natural disasters to ever take place in recorded history ravaged South Eastern Asia. An underwater earthquake caused a powerful tsunami that killed approximately 216,000 people and displaced tens of millions more. In commemoration of the travesty, a wailing siren preceding a moment of silence was appropriate in the worst-hit area of Banda Aceh in Indonesia. If such a warning system was in place that day, many of those lost could have been spared the unexpected fait of death; I hope this would be the case in future natural disasters. Below is a map detailing the epicenter of the earthquake and those nations affected by the resulting tsunami.
The positive aspect of this tragedy, if there could be one, is the fact the whole world joined hands and pledged the most relief aid for a natural disaster in history. We should learn from this experience to be less mischievous towards one another. 12月11日 The Ultimate Dilemma The ESPN movie "CodeBreakers" highlighted a circumstance in which great adversity is faced. The story is of a West Point Academy cadet discovering that most of the football team, including his roommate and friend, is breaching the honor code by cheating to achieve their passing grades. As a result, that student is standing in the middle of a frightening situation, betray his friend and fellow cadets or place the "honor" back in the honor code?
I would not have the slightest clue if I were placed in that position. As Dante asserts in The Divine Comedy, those who betrayed Jesus and Julius Caesar were receiving their eternal punishment alongside/in Satan himself in the 9th circle of Hell; the murderers were in the 7th circle I believe. Although this case isn't as severe as Cassius, Brutus, and Judas betraying through "murder", it is treason nonetheless. Is betrayal worse than being dishonorable or is it the other way around? 11月23日 In Celebration of Its 20th Anniversary It all started in 1985 with Windows 1.0, the progenitor for what is now the most used, most "reliable", and the best operating system on the globe. I didn't actually start using computers period until Windows 3.1 came out in the 90's but I have tried out every single Windows OS to ever be released. This is a screenshot of what 1.0 looked like.. This is a screenshot of Vista....
What I want to be noticed is the level of sophistication and progression in the user interface that has been achieved in just a mere 2 decades. What the screenshot of Vista doesn't show is the various abilities the OS will be able to perform. Many extra features (although not as much as announced in the beginning) are included in it that weren't previously available. I wish 20^3 more years for the Windows brand, the best OS to ever be written. 10月8日 An Elevator into Space?? Not too long ago, researchers published an article relating to a great progression in the science field. Rather than sending objects into space on board of capsules that are launched, they have come out with a concept that would allow us to do so via an elevator....yes, an elevator.
It is of course a while away before any construction can take place with our limited technological capabilities but the elevator will consist of carbon nanotubes. Carbon nanotubes will have the potential of being 100 times stronger than steel yet as flexible as plastic. The actual apparatus will be based on an offshore platform and is expected to go up 62,000 miles (100,000 Km) into space.
The space elevator will be constructed by LiftPort Group, which has set a date of April 12, 2018 for the first ever lift (do not invest in this company until April 13, 2018 and only if success follows). One of the main reasons for this exploration is efficiency; it costs way too much to launch shuttles and such when needed. This will be more convenient in that it can be used more easily and will cost about 10% as much as NASA pays now for its launches.
Nanotechnology is the way to the future now and many more other extraordinary engineering marvels will arise in the midst of it. If you are interested in reading more about this idea or viewing designs of it, you can visit this webpage.
Source: How Stuff Works 9月13日 The Saudi I Know I was born and partially raised in the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia and I do intend to go back once my academic goals have been achieved. It saddens me that many Westerners see Saudi as a hostile place vulnerable to terrorist attacks on any given day. The truth of the matter is, a very small minority of Saudis are extremists, do not allow 100,000 or so terrorists from hundreds of nationalities set a stereotype for 300 million+ (2001 est.) Arabs. Over 100,000 American and European expatriates currently reside within our borders and most will tell you that Saudi is being misrepresented by the global media.
Although you may disagree, Saudi Arabia can be associated with peace and tranquility; such attributes are rarely found these days. I had the best childhood anyone could imagine and I don't believe I would've had it anywhere else. Furthermore, I used to be able to go out in the middle of the night without having to worry about a murderer or a kidnapper waiting for me around the corner...How many people can truly generalize that about their country? I myself grew up in the city of Jeddah, nicknamed the bride of the Red Sea. Basically, my life consisted of the American way of life without having the stress of taxes. I used to regularly go to the arcade, I used to play my PlayStation, I used to go to the amusement parks lined up against the beach, etc. I have American, British, and German friends that love it in the country.
The Kingdom will begin to issue tourist visas next year to revive the sagging tourism sector of the economy. Whether you desire to walk on the beaches of Obhur, tour the vast array of shopping venues, or simply experience the essence of the Middle East, you'll find that and more in Saudi. Besides, 6.5% of annual real GDP growth will do wonders to the modernization process that's already in its latter stages.
I have a collection of pictures on the left-hand side of this blog. 9月9日 Firefox 1.5 Beta 1 is out!! Late yesterday, September 8th, the first beta of Firefox version 1.5 was released by the Mozillia Corporation (it became an entity recently). I have downloaded it myself and I love it. Again, it's only in beta, but I cannot begin to tell you how much better it has become. Some of the new features added include:
- Drag-and-drop tab reorganization capability.
- Enhanced pop-up blocker and improved security protection.
- Faster browsing (and I have noticed a huge difference) with newer technology integrated.
- More developer tools.
 9月1日 "One of the Worst Natural Disasters in our Nation's history" Hurricane Katrina made landfall in the early morning hours of Monday destroying everything and everyone on its path. The city of New Orleans is experiencing horrific circumstances in which 85% of the city is under water and its roughly 2 million residents are in shambles. This storm was so impressive and intense that it ranks among the top four lethal/strongest hurricanes in recorded history. The total death toll is now estimated to be in the thousands while a little over 200 have been confirmed. Moreover, Katrina did not only have direct effects on the people of Louisiana, Mississippi, Alabama, and Florida, but it also disrupted life nationally. Here in Irmo, gas prices last week were at around $2.50 and now it has surged to almost 3 dollars as a result. The reason for that is Katrina shut off power and caused damage to 8 refineries in the region and that disrupted power is used to pump gas to the rest of the broader country. Those 8 refineries account for more than 75% of the United States' gasoline source so the increase is comprehensible. President Bush stated that he will tap the SPR(Strategic Petroleum Reserve) to ease the gas shortage and lower their prices. As you may expect, this has only caused sweet crude's prices to lower while gas is still shooting up. This tragedy has caused myself deep emotional pain witnessing people on television crying, lost, with nowhere to go. Yesterday, CNN presented a man who had apparently lost his wife and his house in the strong winds and flood; his story touched me in a way nothing has before. I always thank God for the blessings in my life and viewing the reality of the hurricane has drawn me closer to Him. I pray for those whom were affected by this storm and I hope that they can recover and rebuild. May God be with you. 
8月25日 Pat Robertson= Osama Bin Laden? As many of you know, there has been a controversy whirling in the political realm this week. A few days ago, Christian Broadcast Network founder and televangelist Pat Robertson called for the assassination of Venezuelan President Hugo Chavez on his broadcast; a storm erupted immediately following his unexpected tirade. With that action, Robertson just emulated Osama Bin Laden in that he called for murder without actually being the doer.
Bin Laden is a terrorist who does not murder people himself but orders his crazed followers to do so. Robertson did exactly that as he stated on his show, "If he thinks we're trying to assassinate him [Chavez], I think we really ought to go ahead and do it." He, the influential man that he is, claims that we should kill a person breaking the "Thou shall not kill" principle. His Television show ratings amount to about 1 million viewers a day so obviously many people look up to him. The only thing that really worries me is their position in society. Osama Bin Laden is a "political" figure rather than a religious one though he attempts to justify his atrocious actions through Islam (which does not condone his immorality). Pat Robertson on the other hand IS a religious figure who often intervenes politically. All I am saying is if people globally, including myself, call Bin Laden a terrorist, why can't the same thing apply to Pat?
8月17日 The Exploitation of Windows As a Windows user who regularly tweaks his computer to provide optimum
security, this new wave of viruses are somewhat intriguing. Sunday,
August 14th, three versions of Zotob were intercepted by cyber security
institutions; they were later called Zotob.a, Zotob.b, and Zotob.c. All
three focused their mischief on computers running Windows 2000 and
early forms of XP that have port 445 open, which is associated with
file sharing. The worm takes control of the plug and play feature and
some reports suggest that it disables the viewing of certain websites
such as Windows Update. Yesterday afternoon, another alteration of the same virus was released. The code of it is very similar to that of Zotob; the only difference was that it continuously reboots the infected computer. Windows is used by over a billion people globally and 8 to 10% of them depend on Windows 2000 as their primary OS. About 53% of all businesses and other vital networks use 2000 so this might cause them to consider upgrading to the more recent XP. Some of those affected include Capitol Hill, CNN, The New York Times, and ABC News. Microsoft released a statement claiming that the effect is "low-impact" a short while following the worms' discovery. It has also posted a patch to mitigate the issue. Many doubts have arisen when it comes to whether it is more beneficial to switch over to Linux or Mac for security purposes. Personally, I wouldn't make that move. As long as one uses a firewall, anti-spyware, anti-virus, and patches their Windows system once a month, the computer will not be as vulnerable to these frequent attacks. Attackers always focus more on what is popular and no OS is fully safe to use. 8月10日 Up, Up, and AwayOver the past year or so, we have witnessed an
astonishing climb in sweet crude prices. I can recall in the year of
2002 as I was reading in the Saudi Aramco newsletter about how oil
prices were leveling off at 27 dollars. Those days are long gone... With the rapid growth in the global economy and the present lack of stability in oil exporting nations, oil prices will probably continue to increase. As of the early hours of trading today, the price for one barrel of oil stands at 63.70 after reaching an overnight record of 64.27 (CNBC). Many economists have projected a price of over 100 dollars by the end of this decade if no more reserves are discovered. Saudi Arabia, the leading producer of oil with 9.6 mb/d, just signed a contract to explore the Empty Quarter region for more oil. Also, the nation has spent billions of dollars on new technology that can assist in extracting more oil out of the already operating fields. Furthermore, Iraq holds a huge amount of oil beneath it that could lead to a huge ease in prices. The current state of the country impedes its production dramatically especially with these frequent pipeline attacks. Venezuela is a nation led by a corrupt government that has publicly showed its dislike for the United States. Chavez has repeatedly threatened the US with termination of its oil production if it doesn't appease him. The world's oil consumption is approximately 78 mb/d daily and with China's economy growing at 9.5% annually, our consumption has nowhere to go but up. The nation of which I'm a citizen, Saudi Arabia, is also growing rapidly at a rate of about 5-8% every year. The increasing number of drivers, the growth in businesses, and the limited supply will guide prices to continue this trend for the foreseeable future.  8月7日 Is Racial Profiling Really the Solution? After the terror attacks in London
during the month of
July, many people switched their focus from airport security to the
subway system. About 3.4 million passengers go through the New York
subways every workday, which make it very difficult for any
conventional methods of security to be used. Metal and bomb detectors
would basically halt all traffic and many riders would just shun away
and use other means of transportation. Currently, a random search
procedure has been implemented where security officials search every
5th
or 10th person entering to board. Until newer technology and smaller
more efficient apparatus arise, there isn't any effective solution to
prevent these
attacks.......or is there? Many politicians and people alike have
suggested that racial profiling to be used. The obvious profile would a
Middle Eastern Male between the ages of 18-35 years. As soon as that
concept was brought about, the ACLU (as to be expected) erupted and
began to fight any
civil rights violations. I believe racial profiling will be ineffective
because of the many gaps present in that solution. Many of the
terrorists out there don't attain any Arab features--Germain Lindsay
who was involved in the 7/7 London attacks was of Jamaican decent.
Those future perpetrators can just slip through the security cracks.
Also, evil organizations like AlQaeda will just avoid using bombers that
fit that profile. I'm a Middle Eastern man myself and if I were stopped
as a result of profiling, I'd be glad to help and follow any orders
to help protect this country that I love. I understand that Arabs are
the new scapegoats of the early 21st century just like many groups of
people were in the past so I'm not really opposed to this idea. I'm
just saying that politicians should formulate a better solution that
can effectively halt any diabolical operations without affecting the
stampede during rush hour and infringe people's rights. |
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