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You "read faster" with a longer line length but "prefer" shorter

Have you ever had to decide how wide a column of text you should use on a screen? Should you use a wide column with 100 characters per line? or a short column with 50 characters per line?
It turns out that the answer depends on whether you want people to read faster or whether you want them to like the page!

Research (see reference below) demonstrates that 100 characters per line is the optimal length for on-screen reading speed; but it’s not what people prefer. People read faster with longer line lengths (100 characters per line), but they prefer a short or medium line length (45 to 72 characters per line). In the example above from the New York Times Reader, the line length averages 39 characters per line.

The research also shows that people can read one single wide column faster than multiple columns, but they prefer multiple columns (like the New York Times Reader above).
So if you ask people which they prefer they will say multiple columns with short line lengths. Interestingly, if you ask them which they read faster, they will insist it is also the multiple columns with short line lengths, even though the data shows otherwise.

It’s a quandary: Do you give people what they prefer or go against their own preference and intuition, knowing that they will read faster if you use a longer line length and one column?

What would you do?

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You Have “Inattention Blindness”

This is an example of what is called “inattention blindness” or “change blindness”. The idea is that people often miss large changes in their visual field. This has been shown in many experiments.

So what does this mean if you are designing a website or something on a computer screen? It means that you can’t assume that just because something is on the screen means that people see it. This is especially true when you refresh a screen and make one change on it. People may not realize they are even looking at a different screen. Remember, just because something happens in the visual field doesn’t mean that people are consciously aware of it.

Source HERE
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Of capitalism and 'Money'

(Excuse me for the long post)

The generation of our parents, this generation of the 40's and 50's is mostly a generation that experienced a hard time with capitalism and the effort to earn their living. And by that I do not mean that the rate of consumerism was high, yes, people needed to consume, but mostly we'll find that the means of luxury were very, very simple; a gum with less than one piaster, a small ball to play in the streets - if there was balls in the first place.

Money to them meant nothing more than something not very essential, so long as they are blessed with the gift of life and don't need more than their basic needs, which are already there..kind of. Life was simple. People were less of consumerists and more of human beings.
Those are the people who grew up to have the clash with our generation, that of the 80's and 90's. Technology played the essential role for consumerism, first personal computers and phones, then laptops, smartphones, iPods and iPads. Being technology freaks was the companies' aim to rise with consumerism and the abuse of simple minds. You accepted it, I accepted it, we all did, unwittingly and defeated. It has become essential to use technology to be able to keep one's pace with the world, and even with work, which is the main capitalistic world, you cannot have a job without "Computer skills", and anything of that sort.

Back to parents and us: what I want to say here (Don't mind that I usually go off track and forget my main points!) is that this non-consumerist generation-our parents-has become, to us, some sort of tight-fisted society, while to us consumerism means to keep yourself updated with the rest of the world.
We are the money wasters and they are the tight-fisted. And nothing comes in between to pacify or save this gap.

What Capitalism does here, other than enslavement, is that it indirectly or even directly broadens this gap between us, and inside the same generation of ours. We're not equal, basic life needs to us are not basic life needs to our parents or to the poor. The more money we got, the bigger these basics are, and the bigger the basics are, the less aware we are of the poor. That's what Capitalism wants. That's what the governments want. And that's how exactly it is going.

I'm currently reading-almost done though-"Utopia" for Ahmed Khaled Tawfiq, and despite the fact that this novel is way more disgusting that I thought, and way darker than I imagined (I really had struggles at the middle and even thought of not finishing it), the novel describes exactly the course of the present into the future. I can't say nor want to believe it will be really like that, but after all the rich are already building their own colonies, the poor is dying yet still want to believe one of this new generation will revolt and save the planet. And we all wait.

On a final note, I loudly admit I'm an iPhone user and I'm a consumerist like we all are. But the point is to not dwell and to spend some time in being humans rather than money-wasters.
Think about it.
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Socialism [HBBC]

Meet the members here.
Topic by Windswept dreams AKA Noor El-Terk.

Disclaimer: I'm not a socialist. Not a communist. And definitely not a capitalist. I'm a part of the society, part of capitalism, yes, but never was pro. A mere human being, can't I be?

A few days ago I tweeted that what I got from the concept of Socialism was that it's the opposite of Capitalism (don't worry, I'm the one who got it wrong).
Out of nowhere, I got this reply:

Then I came across this: "Capitalism and communism stand at opposite poles. Their essential difference is this: The communist, seeing the rich man and his fine home, says: 'No man should have so much.' The capitalist, seeing the same thing, says: 'All men should have as much.' "Phelps Adams

So, I asked the person to explain more, I got this:

And finally, a nice definition of Capitalism:

I've been roaming all week long between websites about Capitalism, Communism and Socialism. To be honest, I'm all against any political or economical system, but unfortunately I have to know about anything, even bullshit systems.
So here we go:
  • Capitalism: is generally defined as the economic system where the means of production are privately owned, operated for profit from investment, and in competitive markets.
  • Socialism: is an economic system in which the means of production are commonly owned and controlled cooperatively; or a political philosophy advocating such a system.
What makes the capitalist is the economic relationship between the people who work and the people who own the workplaces. Under capitalism those are two different groups. Under socialism they are one and the same.
We all know that Capitalist systems are the enslavement systems, which is why it's the dominating system globally.

Socialism, however, according to Karl Marx and Friedrich Engels: believed the consciousness of those who earn a wage or salary (the "working class" in the broadest Marxist sense) would be molded by their "conditions" of "wage-slavery", leading to a tendency to seek their freedom or "emancipation" by throwing off the capitalist ownership of society. Conditions determine consciousness and ending the role of the capitalist class leads eventually to a classless society in which the state would wither away.

Now I'm more confused than ever. I'll just go read the other perspectives!
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خلط المفاهيم - HBBC

للعلم : الأعضاء النشطين اللي أسماؤهم بالبنط العريض

....يانهار مفاهيم مغلوطة
معلش إعذروني أنني مؤخراً أكتب بالعربية فقط و لكن كما قالت صديقتي إنجي "واضح إنك بتكتبي بالعربي لما تبقي مفروسة من حاجة".بس عامة أنا برضو بحاول أتعود أكتب بالعربي كتير عشان إن شاء الله أتحول لكتابة شعر بالعربية أو مقالات فكرية عن قريب.
أولاَ ، كلما أتذكر عبارة "خلط المفاهيم" بتذكّر فيديو قبيح نفسي يتشال من على يوتيوب أو حد يقول للناس إن الشخص (المُدّعي أنه شيخ) اللي فيه بيتكلم كلام لا عقلاني و جنوني.
" الليبرالية يعني أُمك متلبسش حجاب"...طب بالله عليكم لما حد يسمع جملة زي دي يقول إيه؟ فرضاً إنه حد بيحب الشيخ دا قوي و فرضاً إنه مؤمن بما يقوله الشيخ. أنا حزنت بجد ، الشيوخ أصبحوا بيستغلوا شهرتهم على حساب تطبيق ما يرونه صحيح ، و المصيــــبـــة الكبرى إن كل دا بيبقى باسم الدين. آه يا حسرة قلبي.
نظرية خلط المفاهيم لها علاقة شوية بنظرية التعميم- أو النمطية -بمعنى .. ممكن حد ييجي يقولك المسيحيين دول كفرة ؛ إزاي عرفت؟ في مسيحيين مؤمنيين بالأنبياء كلهم و مؤمنين بسيدنا محمد عليه الصلاة و السلام بس ببساطة شديدة مقتنعين بدينهم ، زي ما إحنا مسلمين و بنؤمن بالأنبياء و الرسل جميعاً بس إخترنا الإسلام. هي نظرية تعميم و خلط مفاهيم في نفس الوقت ، مش كُل مسيحي كافر و مش كُل كُفر معناه سوء أخلاق. على فكرة في ناس مش مؤمنة بس بتفكّر ، و في نفس الوقت في ناس مسلمة بس بتمشي وراء شيوخ عِمياني (اقرأ بداية المقال).
حاجة ثالثة ، إختلاف مفهوم ما عند شخص عن الآخر يقارب لإختلاف وجهات النظر في قضية ما من شخص لآخر ، بس الإختلاف هنا يأتي من جانب أن هذا المفهوم شيء مُسلّم به و لا تختلف القواميس و المعاجم على تعريفه. و لو لقيت شيخ أو شخص مرموق قام بتعريف مفهوم ما و قرأته في القواميس و وجدته شيء مختلف تماماً ، اعلم أن هذا الشخص مخطئ ، حتى لو كان عالِماً ، فلا يوجد إنسان معصوم من الأخطاء أو زلة اللسان.

مرة كنت بتفرج على برنامج على قناة الإخوان المسلمين - مصر 25 - و كانت السيدة الفاضلة بتتكلم في موضوع ، و في النص تطرّقت لِذكر السياسة و أشارت أنها ضد العلمانية ، ولكنها قالت "مش هنسيب مصر أبداً تبقى دولة عِلمانية"..ساعتها كان بقالي كذا يوم بتناقش مع زميلتي في الشغل (زميلة مثقفة و بثِق في رأيها كتير)على الفرق بين العِلمانية و العَلمانية و كيف أن العديد من الشيوخ و الشخصيات المرموقة و بدون ذكر أسماء ، كثيراً ما يختلط لديها المفهومين. العَلمانية يا حضرات و كلنا عارفين إنها فصل الدين عن سياسة الدولة ، و على فكرة العلمانية في فرنسا مثلاً تختلف عن العلمانية في بريطانيا و عن العلمانية في تركيا. فالعلمانية في فرنسا تعادي الدين بشكلٍ شرس ، أما في بريطانيا فالملكة هي رئيسة الكنيسة ، و في تركيا شكل ثالث خالص (مقتبس من مقالة لفهمي هويدي على بوابة الشروق) . أما في عصور بداية ظهور العَلمانية كان المصطلح غير كل دا برضه.
أما العِلمانية فهي عكس ما كانت تطبقه الكنيسة في أوروبا في العصور الوسطى (إتهام العلماء بالإلحاد إذا خرجوا عن فِكر الكنيسة) فالعِلمانية ببساطة هي ربط الدين بالدولة ( و يارب ماكونش بافتي!!) و مكتوب في ويكيبيديا إن العِلمانية تعتبر ديانة لوحدها اصلاً.

خلاصة الموضوع إن مصدر واحد للمعلومات مش كفاية عشان نبني فكرة معينة عن مفهوم ما ، و كما يقول المثل..متاخُدش المشكلة من طرف واحد ، اسمعها من طرفين ، و يا حبذا لو من ثلاثة كمان. فهقول لا تستعِن بمصدر واحد لبناء فكرة أو رأي ، اقرأ من مصادر كتير ، و ياريت تكوّن فكرة تحتوي كُل حاجة قرأتها ، متنحازش لحاجة واحدة و تقفل مخك بالجزمة. فكر شوية ، فكر كمان ، و إوعى تنسى إنك هتغلط ، بس المهم تدرك غلطتك و تفهم إن المفاهيم إللى في دماغك مش كلها صح. اللهم ارزقنا طولة البال.
و دمتم
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عن الحرية المغلوطة

أنا جاية أتكلم عن موضوع أعتقد إن ناس كتير هتعارضني فيه أو مش هتتفق مع وجهة نظري. بس عامةً أنا مش جاية هنا عشان أقنع حد ، لكم كل الحرية في الإختلاف مع وجهة نظري أو إبداء آرائكم الشخصية ، كله حلو منكم والله J الموضوع عن التحرش الجنسي ، بشكل غير مباشر شوية.

فاكرين من سنتين موضوع البنت التي تم التحرش فيها بشارع قريب من بيتها في الخليفة المأمون ، و استطاعت البنت الهرب ، بس ساعتها ناس كتير إختلفت آراءهم حول ما حدث؟ طبعاً الأهالي الكبار أو الناس المتشددة أو كده قالت ساعتها إن البنت راكبها الغلط من ساسها لرأسها و إنها يا نهار أزرق إزاي تلبس اللبس الفاجر اللي هي كانت لابساه دا ، على الرغم من أنني أتذكر جيداً إنها كانت لابسة لبس عادي جداً جداً مفيهوش أي حاجة بس الفكرة إنها مش محجبة ، و ممكن كانت جميلة شكلاً شوية فلفتت الأنظار أكثر (على الرغم من إن دا مش مبرر خالص و من إن مش دا اللي أنا عايزة أتكلم فيه).

الي عايزة أتكلم فيه و مضايقني من فترة بسبب أنني سمعت الموضوع من كذا حد ، إن البنات وجهة نظرها في الموضوع دا كالآتي: و الناس مالها؟ ماتلبس اللي هي عايزاه و المفروض الرجالة يغضوا البصر.

مش عارفة ، بصراحة أنا شايفة إننا كبنات بنضحك على نفسنا شويتين. فأولاً كدا ، لو هتقولي للناس كدا هتقولّك طب ما هو ياعيني مش لاقي يتجوز و دي غلطة المجتمع. أكيد إحنا هنعتبر التبرير دا تبرير فاشل جداً و مش منطقي. بس معلش ، مش برضو في التكوين الجسماني للبني آدم و هرموناته و شهواته ، مش كلنا عارفين إن الرغبة الشهوانية للرجال أكثر بكثير من النساء؟ بدليل إن حوادث الإغتصاب بتحصل من رجال مش من نساء.

حاجة تانية ، إنتي لو شايفة إنه المفروض يغضّ بصره و يتّقي ربنا..مش المفروض إنّك إنتي كمان تعملي اللي عليكي و تقدّري إن دي فعلاً حاجة صعبة على الرجال مش زي ما إنتي متخيلة؟ أنا يا جدعان مش بدافع بتاتاً-على الرغم من إنكم ممكن تفتكروا كدا- بس بجد أنا شايفة إن الحرية بحدود ؛ فا زي ما إنتي تعديتي حدودك و لبستي اللي يلفت نظره ، هوا هيتعدى حدوده و يجري وراء شهوته. و خلاصة الأمر إنني مقتنعة مئة بالمئة إن الحرية لا تعني شيئاً طالما آذت الآخرين و إستفزتهم لعمل حاجات مش كويسة. مفهوم الحرية عندنا مفهوم شخصي بس ، زي ما إنتي شايفة إنك حرة في لبسك (مع إنك بتجرحي الراجل اللي قدامك) هو برضو هيشوف إنه ليه حقّ يبصبص (مع إنه بيجرحك).

خلاصة القول ، الموضوع دا مشكلة من عند الطرفين ، إلا إذا كانت البنت-و اللي زي حالاتي و حالات كل صحابي و معارفي- لبسها عادي جداً و ممكن يوصل لعبايات كمان ، و لا زالت بتتعاكس ، فدا موضوع تاني تماماً مبغلّطش فيه البنت أكيد أكيد. و ربنا يهدي الجميع. و لنا الله.

فييل فري تو شير يور أوبينيون!

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Stereotype [HBBC: 6]

الموضوع دا من إختيار حضرتي...بما إنه معضلة في البلد الجميلة اللي إحنا فيها دي
للتعرف على بقية الشلّة اضغط هنا

ستيريوتايب باللغة العربية اللي هي النمطية ، أي كل فكرة لا علاقة لها بالفِكر بمعنى أصحّ. إمبارح و أنا و الشلّة قاعدين على تويتر دار بيننا حوار مثير للجدل و استمتعت به قوي بصراحة ، كان الحوار بين الستيريوتابس و الكليشيهات (بما إن الموضوع اللي قبل دا كان الكليشيهات) ، بعض الناس قالت إن المصطلحين قريبين من بعض قوي و يكادوا يكونوا واحد ، و البعض الآخر - زي حضرتي - شايف إن المصطلحين فيهم إختلاف ، ولو كان بسيط ، بس إلى حدٍ ما مرئي وواضح. أنا بالنسبالي الكليشيهات هي المبتذل من الكلام ؛ أي كل كلام أو فعل كان زمان حلو قوي و ليه طعمه ، بس من كُتر تكراره فقد المعنى و الإحساس بجماله.
أما الستيريوتايب و هي النمطية ، فهي ، من وجهة نظري ، عبارة عن كلمات معممة على الخلق كله ، وهي من رأيي نوع من أنواع الجهل و نظريات التعميم الخاطئة و التي تأتي لمجرد المقاوحة السخيفة.

أنا هجيب شوية أمثلة بقى عن النمطية و أتكلم عنها هنا :
1) الآيات الكريمة اللي الجنس الآخر بيرددها من غير تفكير و على حسب المصالح الشخصية و أولها "و اضربوهنّ" وإن من أزواجِكم و أولادكم عدواً لكم فاحذروهم" و ما إلى ذلك من آيات كتيرة قوي فاهمينها غلط و بنرددها و خلاص
2) الأحاديث الشريفة اللي برضو بنفسرها على مزاجنا و منها "النساء ناقصات عقل و دين".
3) الأقوال الكثيرة المترددة في المجتمع اللذيذ الجميل بتاعنا و هي لا تُعدّ و لا تحصى...أي و الله...إحنا شعوب بتحب العنصرية و التعميم على كل فئة من المجتمع ولو كانت أحسن مننا

طب هاحكي لكم موقف طريف ، ولكن مؤلم ، حصل في الشغل من فترة:
من ضمن الحكاوي اللي بتتحي وقت الفطار اللذيذ و الذي لا يخلوا من مناقشات جدلية تدعوا إلى الأفش و التنشنة و السخافة ، كنا بنتكلم عادي جداً على زميلتي اللي مبتحبش تبقى برة لما الدنيا تظلم ، و بتحب تقعد في البيت أكثر مما بتحب الخروج و كدا ، جِه مديري قال "أنا زمان كُنت شايف إن الست مترجعش البيت بعد الساعة سبعة" ، طبعاً كلنا رحنا باصينله كدا و اللي هوا...نعم؟؟ إزاي يعني؟ ما علينا أنا ماستغربتش قوي عشان أنا عارفة إن في رجالة كتير بتفكر كدا. بس الصاعقة اللي جت على نافوخنا كُلنا لم قال الكلمتين الجايين دول..سِكِت كدا شوية و راح قايل "و بعدين لو هنتكلم بالدين بقى و كدا...الآية بتقول وَقَرنَ في بُيوتِكنّ"...عايزين تعرفوا أنا قد إيه كنت شايطة ساعتها و عايزة أقوله والنبي بطّلو الجهل اللي فيكو دا بقى!!!! المهم رَُحت بصّاله كدا و قلت "معلش يا محمد أنا مش موافقة ، ولو هنتكلم بالمبدأ دا يبقى منشتغلش بقى...ولا إيه؟" راح طبعاً قايل لأ الشغل دا زي الفل و ضحك...كنت عايزة أقول لفظ قبيح ، بس سكتّ. يعني هوا بسلامة قدركو كدا ،عايزين الستات تنزل عشان الفلوس بس ، و عشان تقضي مصالح تهمكم ، و بعد كدا تفكروا في قال الله و قال الرسول؟ الله...هوا دا الدين بتاعنا و هوا دا تفكير الرجالة اللي بتصطنع التدين. بعدين بس بقى بلاش أتكلم عالإحصائيات اللي بتورينا الستات قد إيه مش واخدين حقهم في الشغل أصلاً ولا بياخدوا نُص الأتعاب.

أنا لاحظت إن معظم النمطيات اللي الناس بتستخدمها لها علاقة وثيقة جداً بالعنصرية سواءاً كانت ضد الدين أو الجنس الآخر أو اللون أو الحجم أو أو أو...اللي يقولّك مسيحي بس كويس ، و اللي تقولّك هوا أسمر بس قمور ، و اللي يقول المسلمين دول إرهابيين. كلها حاجات بتجيب أمراض نفسية و عقلية متعددة و أهمها الجهل

آخر حاجة عايزة أقولها عشان واضح إن الموضوع دا مالهوش نهاية و بصراحة ممكن أفقد هدوئي في النهاية. ممكن بس نفكّر شوية قبل ما نتكلم؟ ممكن نحطّ مشاعر الناس أولوية في حياتنا؟ عشان كلّنا بقينا متقمّصين دور العارف كل حاجة و مش عايز يعرف تاني. نبطّل جهل بقى..و ندّور و نبحث و نجيب أدلّة..و أديني بأوجّه الكلام لنفسي برضو... بطّلي جهل يا نعمة. و شكراً

بي.إس : البوست دا نمطي قوي

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The dream that consumed me!

Two days have passed and I still can't forget the death I dreamt about; was it really death that made me so persistent and made me hold on to life more, or was it just a metaphor in the dream, telling me to be stronger, in hard times? I don't know.
Of course I don't know how it started, but in the middle of the dream I was gun-shot three times in less than a moment of time; the first was straight at my heart, the second at my chest, the third at my chest from the right side a little bit. Thing is, I know that if you are dying in a dream and you don't wake up before you actually lose your last breath, you die in real life, which is a fact that I experienced before. I once was shot at my heart as well and was bleeding on a bathroom floor to death, and then I woke up with the most terrible heart and left arm pain ever.
Anyway, I didn't die in the dream, instead I kept walking and walking down the streets, and the best thing in the dream was that I uttered the Shahada even twice while walking. I tried to fix things, do things. I don't really remember dying in the dream (most probably I didn't, since I'm alive now and here), I remember, though, saying the Shahada for the third time before something critical happened.
My dreams are generally insignificant and without a meaning, but some dreams are really hard to forget - only because you feel like they tell something, rather than speculate something!
Ever since this dream, I don't know, I have one of the weirdest feelings ever; I do wanna die a decent death - and by that I mean martyrdom. But it was great, it was really great dying with bullets and uttering Shahada knowing that I was dying for a purpose.
Confession: Death dreams are consuming my sleep so much lately, and especially gunshot dreams, I don't know why. Does this have to do with anything related to the revolution? But I've had those dreams even before that, I remember pretty well. And Does this mean anything about death itself, or it's actually related to life?

ربنا يرزقنا حسن الخاتمة
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10 Things You Didn't Know About Sleep

  1. We can only dream about faces we have already seen, whether we actively remember them or not.
  2. Parasomnia is a type of sleep disorder that makes you do unnatural movements despite being asleep.
  3. 12% of people dream only in black and white. This number used to be higher but since the advent of colored television, more people dream in color than before.
  4. People who do not dream generally have personality disorder.
  5. British soldiers were the first to develop a method in staying up 36 hours without sleep; when fatigued, they put on special visors that emulated the brightness of a sunrise and it woke them up.
  6. It takes two weeks to starve to death, but 10 days without sleep will kill you.
  7. Within 5 minute of waking up, 50% of your dream is forgotten, within 10 minutes, 90% is gone.
  8. Men have dreams about other men 70% of the time. But women dream about men and women equally.
  9. People who are born blind experience dreams involving emotion, sound, smell and touch instead of sight.
  10. What goes on in your sleep is this: Your brain recharges, your cells repair themselves and your body releases important hormones.

Source HERE
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Dow Chemical: Unethical actions

Dow Chemical already had a sinister reputation before they acquired Union Carbide, in 2001. Dow Chemical put a lot of money into its development and manufacturing of napalm for the U.S. military, a chemical which was infamous in the Vietnam War for giving people horrific burns and damaging a generation of unborn babies.

Union Carbide, though, is directly responsible for the deaths of around 8,000 Indian people in December 1984, and the birth defects that followed. The Bhopal disaster occurred when a pesticide factory in Bhopal, India, owned and operated by Union Carbide Corporation, leaked large and deadly amounts of Methyl isocyanate, a highly poisonous gas. So many people were affected because the workers at the plant were so poor that their families set up homes outside the factory gates.

Union Carbide offered $350 million in compensation, the Government of India said that the damages cost $3.3 billion; the Government, in the end, had to settle for $470 million. Throughout the years, UCC have had to fund hospitals and response centers after being nagged by officials, but many still say that what UCC have donated is negligible when compared to the human cost of the disaster.

Dow Chemical, who are the wealthier new owners of Union Carbide, have yet to make significant reparations to the people of Bhopal.

--I'm posting this because Dow Chemical is one of the companies we, at my company, publicly get news about, and I do recognize it's one of the biggest Chemical companies worldwide. FML!

Source: Listverse
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Plutchik's Wheel of Emotions

This is a wheel for emotions created by the professor Robert Plutchik, where you can find 8 basic emotions and 8 advanced emotions composed of two basic ones.

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عُقدة الخَواجة -HBBC: 3

.اضغط هنا للتعرّف على بقية الأعضاء

. الخواجة المتعقد : موضوع من إختيار الأخت الكريمة مروة

الأسبوع اللي فات و إحنا قاعدين بنفطر في الشغل.. طبعاً لازم السياسة تدخل مع كل حتة جبنة في الزور ، مديري قال جملة ، أو وجهة نظر بعض الناس بتقولها مؤخراً عن الثورات العربية ، أنا عن نفسي مقتنعتش بيها بس حسيتها منطقية إلى حدٍ ما ، على الرغم من إنها مبالغ في تقديرها.. وجهة النظر تأتي كالآتي : بعض الناس شايفة إن الثورات العربية الحالية ما هي إلا مؤامرة من أمريكا و دول العالم الأول للثورة على الديكتاتوريين و تحرر الشعوب بأنفسها لتتحول فيما بعد إلى دول علمانية لا دينية تنسى الهوية الإسلامية و الهوية العربية
بِغض النظر إني لا أتفق مع وجهة النظر دي ، بس معرفش ليه من ساعة ما سمعتها و أنا فعلاً أفكار نظرية المؤامرة مش راضية تطلع من نفوخ أمي

أولاً كده ، أنا هربط صلة بين اللي قلته دا و بين عقدة سي الخواجة : أنا بالنسبة لي مبدأ عقدة الخواجة ما هو إلا ناتج من نتائج و أهداف نظرية المؤامرة السحيقة ، بمعنى ، اللي أخدناه دا مش من أجانب برضو ؟ و مش كثير منه من إحتلال برضو ؟ نفس فكرة دول المغرب العربي اللي مش عارفين يتكلموا لغة عربية صح بسبب الإحتلال الفرنسي ، لكن للأسف الإحتلال الفكري أسوأ بكثير من الإحتلال الواقعي الحقيقي.
عارفين الناس اللي بتقول مبارك عيّشنا في سِلم لمدة ثلاثين سنة و أمريكا و إسرائيل مدخلوش مصر أبداً طول الفترة دي؟ طيب...الكلام دا هرتلة في هرتلة...عشان كلنا عارفين إن أمريكا مش محتاجة تدخل بجيوش عشان تموّتنا ، بس ممكن تدخل فكرياً و تدخّلنا في متاهة خمسين ألف عقدة خواجة : فساد الأخلاق و عدم وجود هوية واضحة للشعب - إحنا بجد شعب "كونفيوزد" و مش عارفين نمشي ورا مين ولاّ مين ، بس أهم حاجة...إحنا لازم نمشي ورا حد ، لازم نبقى ذيل حد ، مش صح إننا يبقى لينا هويتنا المستقلة ، بس يا سلام لو مشينا وراهم...اللي هما نفسهم اللي "بيقولوا" و مصدر "سمعت كذا"...ولاّ إيه؟

المهم إن نظرية المؤامرة بتلعب دورها داخلياً بشكل قذر ، إزاي؟ هتلاقي أبسط حاجة في محلات الملابس..الهدوم الطويلة و الجيبات إبتدت تتلاشى و تنعدم من السوق. التيشرتات الي بِكُم إبتدت تبقى ظاهرة نادرة أو غير موجودة من أساسه
نيجي على لحظة دخول المحال : إنتَ يا إما هتسمعلك أغنية مصري سيس من بتوع إسمو إيه دا اللي كلنا عارفينه ، أو أغنية إنجليزي سيس فحت برضو ، أو أسبانية أو فرنساوية أو ما إلا غيره ، بس في الغالب بتبقى سلو- على الرغم من إني مسمعتش الأخيرة دي كتير
علامة "صنع في" : التجار يقولولك دا تركي أو إيطالي أصلي يا فندم، وهو محصّلش إنتاج أوسخ حتة فيكي يا مصر ، طب بالنسبة للكواليتي؟ مالاحظتوش أن محلات الماركات بنلاقي فيها حاجة كده زي بواقي البضاعة؟ يعني مش إحتلال فكري و نظريات مؤامرة بس ، لأ و كمان عامليننا زبالة العالم!
و الأنيل و الأضلّ إن الناس بتحب الخامات الرديئة دي لمجرد إننا مجبرين ، و بتشوف أسعارها هايلة ، و يا سلام لو كان فيه تخفيضات على الأسعار ، الدنيا تزقطط في عيون الغلابة اللي مستحوذ عليهم فكر عمره ما هيسيبهم طالما إنهم قابلينه أصلاً

خلاصة الكلام ، تحرر الشعوب مش من برة ، و مش بس من تغيير أنظمة ، عشان مينفعش نغيّر و منتغيّرش ، دا إسمه تخلف فكري و تراجع دولة مش بناء دولة. فبما إننا في وضع ثورات و كده..ممكن نثور على هويتنا ، قصدي هويتهم ، و نبني إحنا هويتنا من أول و جديد؟

! بس كده
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Things I don't tell about Myself - LBC

This is my weekly post with the Loose Bloggers Consortium (LBC) including Rummuser, Anu, Ashkok, Gaelikka, Grannymar, Conrad, Padmum, Anki, Will Knott, Maria The Silver Fox, Noor,Paul, Plain Joe, Rohit, Magpie, Delirious, and myself, where we have a Weekly topic to discuss. Please visit their blogs to get different views about this. This Friday's topic has been chosen by Gaelikka and Anu.
I'm so mad I actually missed last Friday's topic on the culture shock, too bad I was having such a hard time.

Most people will talk about the imperfections, right? The paranoid part of us that gets us feeling everyone's hatred on their way to our hearts when we mention our negative traits, no? I don't know but, I think the positive parts are the ones supposed to be hidden.
Someone once told me about a man who proposed to a girl and told her about all his flaws, literally, whether he smoked, was an easily-provoked person..everything, and then let her decide. Some people would say this is so like low self-esteem, but I actually liked what the guy did; and like they say "If you can identify your own flaws, then you've already won half the battle", or something of that sort..

If I actually tell you the things I don't tell about myself here, the contradiction here would be just perfect. So let's give a hint: I don't always talk about the things that obsess me, or the things I do excessively yet find absolutely ridiculous and lame. I don't talk about my feminine side, especially that I don't always like it. I don't talk about emotions, and not always insecurities.
I don't talk about my negativities nor posotivities, I talk about anything that would hide neither, yet reveal both.
And..Don't ask me to make sense here please :D
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Forgive and Forget [HBBC:2]

Welcome to The Half-Baked Bloggers Consortium's (HBBC) second post. Meet the members here.
This week's topic is Forgive and forget, chosen by Noor Al Zubaidy. Please take the time to view the members' blogs just as you viewed mine in order to get different perspectives about the same topic.

The Forgs
I don't know which comes first actually, do we forgive first then forget? or forget then forgive? Do you first remember the pain, feel the hatred and then remember that you'll never be able to forgive? Or you feel the hatred then remember the pain and know that you'll never forget?
Personally, for those past couple of weeks, miserable weeks if you ask me, I completely felt the bliss of having the capability to forget. And now that we're taking the forgetfulness part first, I got this question in mind: Have you ever wondered about the pain of those who always say the words "I never forget a face"? Have you ever thought that this is, at times, not a great thing to brag about? And that it's actually an obvious lie?
Sometimes the people who have the most beautiful faces, are the ones you really need to forget, are the ones you really need to know that your ability to never forget a face can turn into a curse, to fall upon you and haunt you in your dreams and turn their sweetness into ebony nightmares. Don't brag about not forgetting a thing; this is something Allah has granted us with. Forgetfulness is a true bliss.

If we take it linguistically, forgetting comes before forgiving, but if we take it emotionally, I guess you need to forgive that person for the certain emotions they evoked within you, or forgive the emotion itself for how it shifted everything good in your life into terribleness. And then comes the lame, yet true saying, it's about time we forget.
Okay, I hate cliches, but let's be real, if there was no God and there was no time, how will we actually forget?

Then comes lessons, if you forgive and forget, and also forget the lessons, you are a curse of your own kind, and a curse to your own poor self. The lessons come with the package, so if you lose them, know that your forgs have lost the uncommon letters and become one common word that does not even make sense.
You need to know how the process goes. Or else, forget about forgetfulness, and don't mind forgiveness.

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On Death..

A dear college colleague of mine passed away. The saddest part is, I didn't even know she was sick.
إنا لله و إنّا إليه راجعون
There is definitely something wrong in this world, with the death of too many young people. I guess the end really is that near..

اللهم أعِنّا على طاعتك و ارزقنا الجنة..ولا تحرمنا من النظر إلى وجهك الكريم
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HBBC: Introduction for the articles [Edited]

Welcome to The Half-Baked Bloggers Consortium's (HBBC) first post, where Maha Mohamed, Ammar Al-Majali, Rana Safi, Maryam, Yara Hani, Noha Hanafy, Noor Al Zubaidy, Deppy, Nouran Ziad, Noor El terk, Salima Al Masrouri, Mariam Tarek, Sara Amr, Yasmine Fayez, Rania Khaled, Engi Amin, Ibhog, Abeer Zaki, Hea, Christ, Hagar Haggag Yomna Arbad, Salma M San, My Essam and I voice our opinions about a weekly topic chosen by various members. This weekend's topic is Self-love, chosen by Nema (me). Please take the time to view thier blogs just as you viewed mine in order to get different perspectives about the same topic.


Apologies again for the lack of words and positivity I'm going through. Soon insha'allah it shall fade.
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After a year and half - What the blog means..

Since many people/followers asked me to explain the blog title and I had to dig deep with details..here's what it means:
Haiku is a Japanese poetic form that I never really seemed to fathom nor did I ever attempt to write. I still don't have the capacity to hide so much in so little words.

Haiku 俳句 is also a Japanese word that means hurry up or quickly (hī'kū).

I share here everything random, yet useful I find online, which is still a very very small part of this huge world, but still makes a difference to know; and there comes the description of the blog: The teeny tiny things that matter.

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Meet the HBBC Members [Updated]

HBBC: The half-baked bloggers Consortium. Where bloggers and non-bloggers will be posting their points of views about political, economical, social, sarcastic, psychological and religious topics.
We'll be tackling an issue/topic every weekend insha'allah.

First and foremost, special and deep thanks to my friend Noor Al Zubaidy for introducing me to the original Consortium Members, some awesome bloggers and pretty decent people :)

HBBC Members and their blogs (if they are bloggers):
  1. Abeer Zaki
  2. Ammar Al-Majali
  3. Christina
  4. Deppy
  5. Engi Amin
  6. Ibhog
  7. Maha Mohamed
  8. Maryam
  9. Nema (me)
  10. Noha Hanafy
  11. Noor Al Zubaidy
  12. Noor El terk
  13. Nouran Ziad
  14. Rana Safi
  15. Rania Khaled
  16. Salima Al Masrouri
  17. Sara Amr
  18. Shireen Zayed
  19. Yara Hani
  20. Yasmine Fayez
  21. Hagar Haggag
Please take the time to visit the blogs, and take the links from here so you can share them when we take off insha'allah on the 2nd of September :)
Thank you all for the support and positivity!
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Illusion of asymmetric insight

The Misconception: You celebrate diversity and respect others’ points of view.

The Truth: You are driven to create and form groups and then believe others are wrong just because they are others.

The illusion of asymmetric insight is a cognitive bias that involves the fact that people perceive their knowledge of others to surpass other people's knowledge of them. The source for this bias seems to stem from the fact that observed behaviors of others are more revealing than one's own similar behaviors.
Relatedly, people seem to believe that they know themselves better than their peers know themselves and that their social group knows and understands other social groups better than other social groups know them.

Sources: YouAreNotSoSmart and Wiki.
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Pompeii: The Cloud of Death (Part II)

This documentary explains the whole story, without me philosophizing. Here is what you might want to know.
Some words and definitions you might want to know:

Pumice: A light, porous, glassy lava, used in solid form as an abrasive and in powdered form as a polish and an abrasive.

Pyroclastic Surge: a fluidized mass of turbulent gas and rock fragments which is ejected during some volcanic eruptions.

Plinian Eruption: also known as 'Vesuvian eruptions', are volcanic eruptions marked by their similarity to the eruption of Mount Vesuvius in AD 79 (as described in a letter written by Pliny the Younger.

Credit goes to the awesome blogger Deppy for sharing the link with me on Part I :)

From the religious side, the experts explanations on the eruption did not honestly convince me; it cannot be a coincidence that the eruption happens every two thousand years which means if we calculate it properly, we're about to witness another volcanic eruption of Vesuvius pretty soon. AND, I think the documentary explains the corruption of the nation. Which if we measure it this way..a corruption always leads to eruption.

P.S the translation at the bottom is Norwegian, just in case you were wondering =D
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Animosity - Loose Bloggers Consortium (LBC)

This is my weekly post with the Loose Bloggers Consortium (LBC) including Rummuser, Anu, Ashkok, Gaelikka, Grannymar, Conrad, Padmum, Anki, Will Knott, Maria The Silver Fox, Noor, Paul, Plain Joe, Rohit and myself, where we have a Weekly topic to discuss. This Friday's topic is Animosity. Please take the time to view the other bloggers' points of views about it as well :-)

Your heart is sick, it needs to be healed somehow, perhaps by curing your soul. Just don't let go.
I remember Moez Massoud's episode about envy and animosity (A Muslims activist and preacher who holds a program called Revolution on the self), the way he described animosity and how we generally degrade the greatness of the trait made me feel bitter; like we're actually degrading everything bad we're doing, maybe even on a daily basis.
I don't know how bad is that within me, but to be brutally honest, I do know it exists, and it can creep up inside any one of us and consumes their soul. Some things are hard to control, and that's why fighting the self is one of the hardest things in life.
You know that the simplest thing to do to make others despise you is to be a failure fighter against your own self, you will procrastinate fixing anything within you and enjoy watching life goes by, and only earn more enemies than friends.
Without further ado, because I didn't think I can actually blog about this, I wish we'd understand the self more in order to understand each other better.
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Pompeii (Part I)

I'm trying to do a research on the Italian city Pompeii, during the Roman Empire, a city buried underneath a massive volcanic eruption. The reason why I'm interested in such a thing is that it's nearly impossible to believe that a whole city was buried under a volcano just like that; there must be a godlike wisdom and reason for this.
Here is a brief history taken from here:
Pompeii, also known as the forgotten city, was a Roman settlement that was devastated by volcanic eruptions in 79 A.D. The city was first occupied by Romans in the 6th century and converted into a Resort city. The volcano that was responsible for the destruction of Pompeii is called Mount Vesuvius. The eruptions from the volcano were so strong that the buildings and the people were covered in twelve thick layers of mud and ash. After the city was covered in volcanic ashes, it was slowly forgotten and erased from the history books until it got rediscovered in 1738 by workers working for King of Naples.
Before Pompeii succumbed to the eruptions, it used to be a blossoming township and a progressive commercial port of the Sarno River in Italy. The most notable buildings that have been excavated from the ashes are a Roman basilica and an amphitheatre. The excavations also include many intact wall paintings, pottery and coinage. Pompeii was one of the earliest excavated cities in the world, where archeological work started in 1738.
The above picture is a neat one from now. Here are a couple of pictures of the buried nation..

And even animals..

What I'm trying to grasp is the info my sister told me; she did a research on that some time ago and read that the people of the city were so engulfed in lust, ecstasy and a worldly life lived completely to the fullest. Paintings of concrete sexual intercourse were easily seen on walls. Everything was just about satiating their needs. And that's what I'll try to get info about in part two insha'allah.
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Though it literally translates to “fear of chemicals,” this term is used by some psychologists, scientists and organizations to describe those concerned about the “industrial,” “synthetic,” “artificial,” and “man-made” particularly with regards to food and drink. An article by the American Enterprise Institute on chemophobia boldly states “The false idea that our bodies have become ‘toxic waste dumps’ is not just wrong but counterproductive.” Do they really think there’s no correlation between the skyrocketing rates of cancer and the increase of chemical additives in the food supply? It’s probably only a matter of time before psychiatrists use this word to describe people who resist chemotherapy for cancer (i.e. Daniel Hauser has “chemophobia”).

In the third world countries like us, what would we say about this?

Source: Listverse

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قصيدة من الطفولة

أنا مش هتكلّم كتير هنا ، هحكي بس قصة الأنشودة ، أو القصيدة دي
القصيدة دي من ذكريات طفولتي التي مش هنساها ، الذكرى الحلوة ، بالرغم من إن القصيدة مؤلمة و حزينة ، لكن لا زالت بتعبّر عن حالنا الحالي. ببساطة شديدة القصة اللي عمري ما هنساها إبتدت في عربيّتنا هناك لما كنت لسه في الإمارات ، كنت تقريباً لسه في أولى إبتدائي و مكنتش فاهمة حاجة في الدنياالمعقدة -الخالية من البراءة يعني - إلا إن في ناس في فلسطين بتتقتّل و العالم ساكن و مبيتكلمش من حرب 48 و من قبل كده بكتير. بابا سمعنا القصيدة في سيارتنا ...أنا فاكرة الشريط كان لونه إيه و فاكرة إحساسي ساعتها قوي قوي قوي زي ما يكون حلم بيتردد كل ليلة في نومي. جسمي قشعر ، على الرغم من إنّي دلوقتي بفكّر إزاي بابا كان بيسمّعنا حاجات كثيبة كده ، بس لما كبرت فهمت إنّي فعلاّ كنت محتاجة أسمعها ، عشان لو أنا مش عايشة في وسطهم و حاسّة بيهم ، لازم أحس بيهم في أي حاجة و أكبر على كده عشان أتعود و لما تقوم الثورة العربية الكبرى أبقى مبسوطة بجد. الحمد لله إن لسه الناس فيها أمل أصلاً تغير!
دقِّة الأنشودة مش على قد كدا بس دا اللي لقيته للأسف ، لو حد لقى دقة أفضل أبقى شاكرة والله.

آخر حاجة ، أنا عايزة بس أكتب مقطعين بحبهم في القصيدة و شايفة إنهم معبّرين قوي في الزمن دا. ممكن لو مش هتسمعو القصيدة كلها تقرأوا الكام بيت دول

الحـــــــــــــرُ يعـــــــرف ما تريــــد المحكمــــــــة
وقُضاتـــــــــه سلفـــــــــاً قــــــــد ارتشفــوا دمه
لا يرتجي دفعاً لبهتان رمـــــــــاه به الطغـــــــــاة
المجرمون الجالسون على كراسي القضـــــــــاة
حكموا بما شاءوا وسيق أبوك في أغلالـــــــــــه

دا واحد...و الثاني

كذبوا وقالوا عـــن بطولتــــــــــه خيانــــــــــــــــة
وأمامنا التقريـــــــــر ينطــــــــــــق بالإدانــــــــــة
هذا الذي قالوه عنه غداً يردد عـن ســــــــــــواه
ما دمت تبحث عن أبِيٍّ في البلاد ولا تــــــــــراه

اسم القصيدة "نم يا صغيري" و لينك القصيدة كاملة هنا
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Art and Artists are two different things!

"This is a post from deep within"

I often wonder about the conclusion or the consequence I will get from writing all those thoughts down on my blogs. I often confuse writing my own thoughts with writing thoughts that would address humanity in a way that is unforgettable, with feelings that are palpable and words that are thinkable. I never got to experience the importance of my writings two years from today; every word was a mere consolation to my own struggles, or shall I say, simple experiences.
I think the first thing that tugs every artist into that precise kind of art is the self-struggle they are put through along the phases of their lives. There is always a need to run away from everything, to find shelter and a beautiful escape into something - and then the escape becomes the addiction, the habit, the talent. Everything then takes a path that we all know: casual pieces (either in music, writing, painting or drawing..etc) that are shared only on a personal level. And then things go step by step until you find yourself unable to be extremely happy UNLESS you're doing your own special art. It's a cure, but only if you know perfectly well how to take advantage of that.
Then you get to a point where you suffer with your incapability to create -- another phase of life probably interferes with your artistic thoughts, and then you either become numb, or you become so miserably exhausted from all the attempts that are left on your desktop or your folder as drafts. Too many draft. Just too many that you sense failure dragging you downwards, though inwardly, you're hysterically addicted. Still are.
This is the point I need to talk about the most in this article; the point where you start questioning your own talent and whether or not it's doing people any good.
Does your music inspire people to write more purposeful lyrics to be sung?
Do your portraits speak about something beautiful God has created, for people to ponder, deeply?
Do your writings hold ideas that can change the world in a way, or lessons and stories that let people know they are never alone? That we're all in this together and all we need is to understand that our thoughts are just about the same in different minds?
Let's face it, many of us never had these purposes when we started loving that artistic difference within us. Perhaps none of us now thinks they can truly, thoroughly change the world with some mere artistic piece. But you know, you can only achieve what you really believe in. Or say, what you really fight for before death's visit, let's just not be idealistic here.
For now, please remember that your art isn't yours, or let's say it's not yours alone. Your art is for the whole world, even if you think it's awful. The way we have different tastes is the reason why artists are still creating, because some people will loathe them, other people will fall in love.
Please right your purposes if they're wrong, or create them if you only use your art for your own consolation. Please put in mind that your art is an important factor in the lives of others. Compose lovingly. Portray inspiringly. Write wholeheartedly.
On a final note, never forget that you're a great source of inspiration to everyone, even if you don't get to see that. Here is me telling you.

Inspire on!

Image Source

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My Childhood - Loose Bloggers Consortium (LBC)


I remember writing a blogpost here some time ago that partially talked about my childhood in a way.
Like everyone else, I wanted to grow up, no matter what that meant to anyone. At some point in my life, I really wanted people to stop telling me "You only get to understand this when you grow up". Sad how I can now repeat the same thing, only to myself though.
I thought the worst words you can tell to a broken heart were those words, no consolation or, like the quote in The Book Thief, any wordly tricks to make us feel better. Sometimes all you do need is an honest consolation for the pain, and then when reality strikes you numb, you'll surely get to learn what that consolation actually meant.

To be quite frank, I was one stubborn child, I knew that what I had in mind must happen. I knew that I wanted to be different, insanely different. I remember back then when I used to live outside Egypt (UAE), I had a friend who was way older than myself, and by that I mean that she was 19 or something. And I was 6.
She was my neighbor. She was Algerian, which means I was lucky enough to understand her language. She talked Arabic too well with me. (In case you don't know, Algerians talk French more than Arabic, because of the French colonization). Mum used to tell me off for the age difference between us.
Which makes me jump to the conclusion question: What difference did it make, if we had the same definition of a true friendship?
I probably will never forget how beautiful she was, how nice she was to me, as a child. We will never meet again, however, I will never forget how she taught me what friendship meant no matter how old.

I dreamt of being a Gynecologist. Reason? Because I knew too many women are shy enough to go to male doctors. Yes, dreams of a child are so innocent!
And then somehow, and I really don't know why or how did that start, my story with poetry took off.
It was every Friday. Coincidence? I don't think so!
There was a weekly newspaper dad used to buy, it had many writings of young poets. I used to collect them and guard them in my desk. Then I started writing them down on my agenda so that I may memorize them or read them whenever I wanted to remember war and martyrs, because most of them were about Palestine, the martyrs of Palestine, and war on Arabs.
I still remember a few lines of one of them:
أبُثُّ إليك وفاة العرب فهل يا نِزار توارى الغضب
أبُثُّ إليك وفاة أبي و أمي و أختي بِلامَ سبب
فهل يا نزارُتوارى النهار و هل يا نزار تموت الشُعب

I probably will never forget them!
I remember them more than I remember the very first piece I ever wrote. And I remember that back then, mourning the Arab world has become my ultimate thought.
Maybe that's the only reason for my poetry having this dismal touch?

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Kübler-Ross model

In other words, the Five Stages of Grief. We all know them, but I just felt like they are important now, in this stage of our lives. Please consider.

1. Denial — "I feel fine."; "This can't be happening, not to me."

Denial is usually only a temporary defense for the individual. This feeling is generally replaced with heightened awareness of possessions and individuals that will be left behind after death.

2. Anger — "Why me? It's not fair!"; "How can this happen to me?"; '"Who is to blame?"


3. Bargaining — "I'll do anything for a few more years."; "I will give my life savings if..."

The third stage involves the hope that the individual can somehow postpone or delay death. Usually, the negotiation for an extended life is made with a higher power in exchange for a reformed lifestyle. Psychologically, the individual is saying, "I understand I will die, but if I could just do something to buy more time..."

4. Depression — "I'm so sad, why bother with anything?"; "I'm going to die... What's the point?"; "I miss my loved one, why go on?"

During the fourth stage, the dying person begins to understand the certainty of death. Because of this, the individual may become silent, refuse visitors and spend much of the time crying and grieving. This process allows the dying person to disconnect from things of love and affection. It is not recommended to attempt to cheer up an individual who is in this stage. It is an important time for grieving that must be processed.

5. Acceptance — "It's going to be okay."; "I can't fight it, I may as well prepare for it."

In this last stage, the individual begins to come to terms with her/his mortality or that of a loved one.

Source: Wiki
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Changing Education Paradigms - RSA Videos

This is a pretty interesting way of thinking. Gotta watch!

If you want to follow them on youtube
And there's also an iPhone app, it's pretty awesome!
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The Not-so-political post

Today I woke up with this thought. I really don't know whether it was a thought or it really was a dream that paved its way through reality and struck me numb.
So let's call it a dream; it was about calling a friend whom I haven't called for three months (this is true) and finding out that she had passed away some time ago. I was of course too speechless to react or say anything, not even an Al baqaa' lellah. I was left with too many regrets that tore at my heart without a single consequence, or at least not a moral lesson for now.
Is this really what's happening now? I mean, I know it's always been a possible eternal farewell once we leave a friend go their separate way, but at these current circumstances, you never really know what's gonna happen next on the political side.
It could've been me, it could've been you. If today it didn't happen, there is a greater chance tomorrow that we'll be in this together, maybe even carried by the same people who will try to help us get some medical aid. You don't know why they won't go after you, because if you think about what you do on daily basis, you're no less than any other human being that wanted freedom before and was brutally punished for going public about it. You just don't know.

You know when you try to do something good and you fail, and then you do it over and over and over until you get this slight flicker of light that guides you through to keep going? Well, it's equally there, for the good and the bad. We're going in a parallel lane now; just as we'll try hard enough to topple the whole regime not just the leaders, the remnants and thugs of Mubarak's regime will always try to seek that flicker of light somewhere.

"If you don't know how to do it, use the ignorant first, then you'll drive a whole ignorant society that fights freedom, involuntarily "
You'll always find this, and the system is playing its dirty games and they're working perfectly fine. It's a way to go, isn't it? It's easier to try to play on the side of the naive and ignorant so you can guarantee a great success. It's always been this way: If something happens with the system, we'll always find that particular category in the society to educate. Educate..

It's such a confusion to decide whether you're too tired (though on a personal level, I've done nothing of what the activists, for example, did and still do) of this drama, stupid dirty and lame games, or too energetic to die another day for this country - though either way, it's just another day to fight. And another day to pray for the future of our Beloved.

In a country where the ignorant are cocksure and the intelligent are so full of doubt;
Please hold your faith in your heart and play on the good side!
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The Book Thief [Full Review]

Something you should know

This novel is narrated by Death -Literally-

The book thief, as the back cover says, is a story of Liesel, a girl whose job is to steal books, amid war, street bombing and Jews. About too many Jews.
What caught my attention was first a friend, then the title of the book, and then a comment on Goodreads.

It's about addicting books, about addicting words, thinking they're our only savior. Sometimes they actually are, but other times they're a curse.
I could really relate to this novel and to many of the girl's thoughts because I always seem to be struggling with words that I once wrote this quote to myself: "Everything is so much easier in words than how it really seems alive".
To not spoil anything, bookworms and writers would really understand this novel perfectly well as it is written and weep with it along each chapter and/or part.
What I liked best while reading was the tragedy and pain mixed with hilariousness and comedy, perhaps black comedy, but it made me-literally-laugh out loud. Yet at the very end I had to cry, and if you know me pretty well..I don't really cry in movies and barely in books.
The end was a shock to me, it taught me too many things that we keep forgetting as life keeps sucking the breath out of us each and every single day. I'll mention some down here.

The language:
I learned some German words! Mostly some cussing, but I honestly felt like I want to learn German, even for a flick of a second.
The overall language wasn't that hard, it was very neatly chosen and, as usual, I've got a dozen new words to learn.

The Symbolism:
The comment on Goodreads said this: "heavy-handed on the symbolism."
I knew once I read this sentence that this book is for people like me. I do agree at first it was not that easy to understand what this symbolic phrase meant, but as I went by, phrases seemed to be working just fine in my head and well interpreted. If they tell you "Don't judge a book by its cover", I'd say, in this novel, don't judge it by the first few chapters, because by the time you understood the plot very well, it won't be hard to get the hidden meanings within the phrases.

The Narrator:
At first you won't get how this is going, but this novel really is narrated by the life-taker aka Death; which makes it way more interesting than any other novel. He seemed to be a friend or a lover first, and then an enemy, or just the fate everyone will one day meet. Death, in this novel, is a great lesson.

  • If you're certain that what you'll do isn't wrong, do it here, do it now, because tomorrow may just be a little too late.
  • When there is pain, there is also a hidden consolation, or a warm hug out there.
  • Friendship, it's way more than how you define it..
  • Sometimes words will fail you, but there will always be a chance to right the wrong.
  • You'll certainly get mad at the wrong people sometime.
  • Fate is a beautiful thing to understand.

"But then, is there cowardice in the acknowledgement of fear? Is there cowardice in being glad that you lived?"

"A book thief requires many things.
Stealth. Nerve. Speed.
More important than any of those things, however, was one final requirement.

"Imagine smiling after a slap in the face. Then think of doing it twenty-four hours a day.
That was the business of hiding a Jew"

"There is air like plastic, a horizon like setting glue. There are skies manufactured by people, punctured and leaking and there are soft, coal-coloured clouds, beating like black hearts.
And then.
There is death.
Making his way through all of it.
On the surface: unflappable, unwavering.
Below: unnerved, untied and undone."

"Certainly, war meant dying, but it always shifted the ground beneath a person's feet when it was someone who had once lived and breathed in close proximity."

"For some reason, dying men always ask questions they know the answer to. Perhaps it's so they can die being right."

"Tell me something. Because I don't understand . . . Tell me, how she can sit there ready to die while I still want to live? Why do I want to live? I shouldn't want to, but I do."

"I see their ugliness and their beauty, and I wonder how the same thing can be both. Still, they have one thing that I envy. Humans, if nothing else, have the good sense to die."

"The words. Why did they have to exist? Without them, there wouldn't be any of this. Without words, the Fuhrer was nothing. There would be no limping prisoners, no need for consolation or wordly tricks to make us feel better."

On a final note:
I would certainly read this novel again, and entitle it as one of my favorite reads.

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Entry #6

— Bertrand Russell

"In the space between yes and no, there’s a lifetime. It’s the difference between the path you walk and the one you leave behind; it’s the gap between who you thought you could be and who you really are; its the legroom for the lies you’ll tell yourself in the future."
— Jodi Picoult (Change of Heart)
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10 Movie Characters From Real Life

1. Lucy
Movie: 50 First Dates
Real name: Michelle Philpots

2. Zorro
Movie: The Mask of Zorro
Real name: Joaquin Murrieta

3. Viktor Navorski
Movie: The Terminal
Real name: Mehran Nasseri

4. Rocky Balboa
Movie: Rocky
Real name: Chuck Wepner

5. Indiana Jones (1981-2008)
Real name: Hiram Bingham III

6. Danny Ocean
Movie: Ocean’s Eleven
Real name: Vicotr Lusting In Real Life

7. James Bond
Real name: Sidney Reilly

8. Lt. Pete “Maverick” Mitchell
Movie: Top Gun
Real name: Randy “Duke” Cunningham

9. Andy Dufresne
Movie: The Shawshank Redemption
Real name: David McMillan

10. Doc Emmet Brown
Movie: Back To The Future
Real name: Ronald Mallett

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Modern Art - Impressionism

The impressionist style of painting is characterized chiefly by concentration on the general impression produced by a scene or object and the use of unmixed primary colors and small strokes to simulate actual reflected light.

Impressionism is a major movement, first in painting and later in music, that developed chiefly in France during the late 19th and early 20th centuries. Impressionist painting comprises the work produced between about 1867 and 1886 by a group of artists who shared a set of related approaches and techniques. The most conspicuous characteristic of Impressionism was an attempt to accurately and objectively record visual reality in terms of transient effects of light and colour. The principal Impressionist painters were Claude Monet, Pierre Auguste Renoir, Camille Pissarro, Alfred Sisley, Berthe Morisot, Armand Guillaumin, and Frédéric Bazille, who worked together, influenced each other, and exhibited together independently. Edgar Degas and Paul Cézanne also painted in an Impressionist style for a time in the early 1870s. The established painter Édouard Manet, whose work in the 1860s greatly influenced Monet and others of the group, himself adopted the Impressionist approach about 1873.


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Prosopagnosia: is a phenomenon in which a person is unable to recognize faces of people or objects that they should know. People experiencing this disorder are usually able to use their other senses to recognize people – such as a person’s perfume, the shape or style of their hair, the sound of their voice, or even their gait. A classic case of this disorder was presented in the 1998 book (and later Opera by Michael Nyman) called “The man who mistook his wife for a hat”.

P.S sometimes I come very close to this point! :D
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Freedom Tunnel

The Freedom Tunnel
is the name given to the Amtrak tunnel under Riverside Park in Manhattan, New York City. It got its name because the graffiti artist Chris "Freedom" Pape used the tunnel walls to create some of his most notable artwork. The name may also be a reference to the freedom one may find in this tunnel, the freedom to live unobserved, the freedom to create artwork, and freedom from rent.

Often, the artwork is centered under the light giving the space the feeling of a chapel or great cathedral.

Source: Wikipedia.
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Over the Edge

What shape did medieval people believe the earth was?

Wrong. Since around the fourth century BC, almost no-one, anywhere has believed the earth to be flat. This misconception that people where ignorant of the shape of the earth comes from the partially fictional text ‘The Life And Voyages Of Christopher Columbus’ (1828), which incorrectly stated that Columbus set out to prove the earth was round. Truth is, nobody would have disputed the theory. Evidence shows that almost all cultures of the world worked out, through mathematics or just observation, the spherical nature of the Earth.

Source: Listverse again!


"There is no medicine like hope, no incentive so great, and no tonic so powerful as expectation of something better tomorrow." -Orison Swett Marden