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Womulus8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. |
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