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Yet another one of those beautiful weather posts. It makes me really happy that we get weather like this in October (and that too at the very end of October).
In other news, I was Terlouw for Halloween. Pictures coming soon, if I can get them from those that actually had the camera(s). lol
Remember this picture?
Probably not lol...it's from a post back in December of last year.
Anyway, that was made by my mom...this is my edition (of course I was too lazy to boil potatoes).
After seeing one of my housemates make Kraft Dinner, I decided to make it also. This was followed by another housemate making the abominable excuse for dinner.
Now, "Hey, make KD. You'll be the fourth person to make it tonight!"
In Tokyo, A 43-year-old Japanese woman whose sudden divorce in a virtual game world made her so angry that she killed her online husband’s digital persona has been arrested on suspicion of hacking.
The woman, who is jailed on suspicion of illegally accessing a computer and manipulating electronic data, used his identification and password to log onto popular interactive game “Maple Story” to carry out the virtual murder in mid-May, a police official in northern Sapporo said on condition of anonymity, citing department policy.
“I was suddenly divorced, without a word of warning. That made me so angry,” the official quoted her as telling investigators and admitting the allegations.
The woman had not plotted any revenge in the real world, the official said.
She has not yet been formally charged, but if convicted could face a prison term of up to five years or a fine up to $5,000.
Players in “Maple Story” raise and manipulate digital images called “avatars” that represent themselves, while engaging in relationships, social activities and fighting against monsters and other obstacles.
The woman used login information she got from the 33-year-old office worker when their characters were happily married, and killed the character. The man complained to police when he discovered that his beloved online avatar was dead.
Source: Associated Press and this blog
Abid is happy 
I really need to show status updates on the blog...
To follow up on this post:
No deadline issued for stranded Filipinos
By Binsal Abdul KaderStaff Reporter
Published: October 25, 2008, 23:33Abu Dhabi - The Philippine government has not issued any deadline to the Filipinos, stranded in Iran and Oman to get ready for repatriation back home, as most want to wait for a visa to the UAE, a senior official at Philippine Embassy in Abu Dhabi told Gulf News.
"Although the Philippine Foreign Affairs Department in Manila decided to repatriate the stranded countrymen, only a few of them wanted to go back home because they hope to return to the UAE to join a job," said Adelio Cruz, First Secretary and Consul at the Embassy. "Still, no deadline has been issued to them to make up their mind".
He said the Philippine Foreign Affairs Department has the funds to repatriate the countrymen stranded anywhere in the world.
Hundreds of people, mostly Filipinos, were stranded in Buraimi in Oman and Kish Island in Iran since August after they failed to renew their visit visa, following new UAE visa regulations that took effect in July.
So sad...
Somehow while browsing the Internet on a lazy Saturday (probably through some blog I was reading), I came across the website for some mall in Dubai which features an Ice Lounge.
This Ice Lounge is touted to be amazing - just read the highlighted words in the picture above! How amazing, you ask?
Well, for starters, the temperature is -6 degrees C. Oh no! Not -6 Celsius! In Canada the fewest freezing days are in Vancouver, BC (via this) at 46 days. So, even one of the warmest cities in the country is cooler than the ice lounge for 1/8 of the year.
Next, they provide thermal gear to help keep warm. Unless you live in the Yukon or Nunavut, no thermal gear is needed for temperatures as high as -6 C. In fact, -6 feels like +6 and the basic rule applies that winter attire shouldn't come out when the mercury is positive.
They also helpfully advise visitors to "spend a few minutes in the Buffer Zone (5C) to get acclimatized".
See previous paragraph. As I said, +6 and -6 feel the same, so what's the point of acclimatizing? Just get in there!
But I shouldn't make fun. When the average low in the summer months is 25 degrees C, they probably need an ice lounge to feel better about themselves. Also I am being hypocritical - it is 11 degrees C in Hamilton right now and I am sitting here with the heater set to 28. (In my defense, the heater doesn't actually heat to what it's set to; setting 28 actually gets you probably 23)
[Link to website]
In the long run, we're all dead.
So annoying studying for this linguistics midterm on a Saturday...
No time to do anything - cook, read blogs or study =(
School, school, sleep, school...
Lots of people know about Engrish, which is the name for the Japanese and Chinese phenomenon of writing unintentionally funny English, specially on public signs.
It is called Engrish, because it reflects the Japanese and Chinese pronunciation of the word English (see Japanese Phonology if bored!). In short, speakers of those languages can't say /l/ or /r/ but have a letter somewhere in the middle of those two.
So, is this picture - credit goes to Auhgal (one of the blogs I read; rather 'view' because it's a photoblog) - Enjlish?
I say 'Enjlish' because Arabs cannot pronounce the soft /g/.
I'm bored... 
This is why you don't come to class early:
Random (fobby) Arab Guy who was already in class: You have class here?
Me: Yes...
RAG: Me too. I just had computer science
Me: Okay...
RAG: Very hard, this computer science
Me: Yep.
RAG: [some heavy accented English I couldn't understand]
Me: Haha...yeah you are right!
RAG: What class you have now?
Me: Chemistry
RAG: Ohhhhh!
Me: Yea...
RAG: I have exam for computer science. Must go study now.
Me: Yep.
RAG: Studying is so difficult
Me: Yeah it is...
RAG: OK Thanks for everything.
Me: You're welcome ?! Cya! (when will I ever see him again though I don't know)
RAG: See you too! Bye
I absolutely detest rocks. I hate classifying them, studying them, reading about them, learning about them, and anything else that can go here. lol
Wikipedia is not working! How am I supposed to study for this midterm on Monday for Geo?
"Ooohhh Kayyy. Quiet down everybody!"
I love Patak's!
Thanks to them, dishes like this (butter chicken) can be made in as little as half an hour.
Also, please don't ask why I am eating butter chicken with rice (there was no roti in the fridge, and I didn't feel like buying any either because it is raining outside and I dont want to walk to the grocery store).
It's the last day that my MacBook is the latest and greatest Apple has to offer in the notebook department. Tomorrow, a new laptop is being unveiled, (poised to be) featuring a new design, new specs and even a new manufacturing process!
Stay tuned!
On the subject of parents being ungrateful to God for the kids they have been bestowed with, here is today's cartoon:
Police rescue four children locked in cars during holidays
By Alia Al Theeb, Staff Reporter
Published: October 11, 2008, 23:29Dubai: The police had to rescue a number of children locked and forgotten in their cars by their parents during the Eid holidays, a senior officer said. "We had to rescue four children locked up in cars, which is a strange occurrence in such a short time," said Major Ahmad Atiq Bu Reqaibah, Deputy Director of Dubai Police Rescue Department. "The keys were still inside," he added. "We had to use special equipment and open the doors." The police officer advised parents to pay more attention to their children, specially during the holidays when everyone is busy having a good time.
[...]It took the Civil Defence several hours to get the door open as the child cried on the other side. The mother hugged her child and vowed to be careful in the future.
Keep an eye on your children all the time
You are responsible for your child
Keep keys out of reach of children
Do not leave children alone in rooms
Lack of oxygen could lead to partial damage of the brain
Windows and balcony doors must be closed
[and the best one for last!]
Do not leave children in cars and lock them in while you shop
I just find it sad that parents need to be told that they should be more careful regarding their kids during holidays.
These are the times evolution should be working - kids die because of parents' stupidity, and the parents' genes do not get passed on into the gene pool.
For Blackberry addicts, here are 121 tips!
1. Delete Multiple Messages: Search for messages, then press Delete Prior to delete all of the messages in the results.
2. Read "A Wired-In Guy Getting Set for a Big Date": Stick your wet BlackBerry, or any other doomed device, (turned off) in a bowl of uncooked rice overnight, and it will suck out the moisture.
3. Navigate Your Calendar Quickly: First, enable Quick Entry, then press "D" for day, "W" for week, "M" for month and "A" for agenda.
Click the link above to read more.
There is a new section on the blog now, called Password Protected, accessible here.
Obviously to read the posts, you need the password, which can only be given to two kinds of people - those I really like and know well (because I can tell them anything) and those that I don't know at all (because it doesn't matter if they know what I think since I don't know them!).
Enjoy!
Rather, I almost got scammed...I think...
Today I almost got scammed in the following manner, which is apparently very common in other parts of the world also:
Via Snopes
You're refueling your car at the local gas station when you find your eye caught by a somewhat bedraggled looking 20-something gal...the gal smiles in an embarrassed way, then hesitantly makes her way over to you.
"Mister, can you help me? Me and my husband ran out of gas, and we've no money to buy any. Her voice drops a bit. "It's just a loan I'm asking for, mister. I'll mail it right back to you, soon as I get my paycheck this Friday."
Your kind heart says to give this young woman the twenty dollars she asks for. But your common sense says otherwise. So which do you listen to?
If you're like a great many folks, you fork over the twenty ... only to later discover you've been had.
So today I was walking home at 7:00 PM from school, something I've done every day for the last month. Just as I cut the corner around the IT building, I saw a shady Filipino guy strolling about 100 feet ahead of me.
As I continued walking, I eventually came within conversational distance to him. At this, he slowly walked towards me, and, in broken English, asked if I lived in the area. I obviously replied to this question in the affirmative, to which he started explaining that he was stuck in Hamilton and he had no gas in the car and no money for gas.
He then pulled out a cell phone (as if he needed to prove something) and asked to borrow $10. The man then proceeded to state that he would return the money tomorrow at my house.
I told him that I didn't have money (which was true because I had broken the $10 I had for buying food), politely apologized and kept walking.
Ding ding ding!!
If a shady stranger wants money from me after dusk for a shady reason and also wants to know where I live so he can return that money, and if all this isn't a warning sign, then I don't know what is!
Secondly, why would you need ten dollars for gas? Gas costs roughly $1.30 per liter, so for $10, you can buy more than SEVEN liters! Now even if your car is a shit truck and it does 15 miles per gallon, you can still go almost 50 kilometers! So I made these maps to illustrate:
In sum, you can get anywhere in Hamilton with only a toonie and a bad car even on an empty tank, and with $5 anywhere in Mississauga or Guelph. In sum, I don't know why this guy wanted ten dollars.
My new favorite food is burritos!
They are so easy to make - shred some cheese, scoop some sour cream, cut some tomatoes and get some lettuce. The hardest part is the meat, and even that's almost as simple as instant noodles; brown the meat and add the package contents!
That is what I have been having for three days now 
Now there are many absurd uses of computers in movies. For example, this site lists about 30 absurdities, while this one has quite a few also bloopers. This topic shows up on Digg from time to time, also. One thread on Slashdot even tries to list movies that have done computers right.
BUT, has chemistry (my major) been done right in movies?
To be honest, I don't watch enough TV/movies to know for sure, but there sure as hell is one example of chemistry NOT done right in TV shows. This is from the most recent episode of Heroes, the popular NBC sci-fi/drama show.
If you hate chemistry (like many people) and can't find out the problem in the structure above, then I have also arrow-ed it out for you Categories:
Videos Rants and Opinions Internet & Computers
Bill is as clueless in this as in any segment on his 'show'. But we knew that, right? Categories:
Videos News
Now I could have called this out about two months ago when the new visa laws were being implemented.
Why was is so bound-to-happen? Simply because the new visa laws were probably something a modern country might have, while most of the UAE's government employees (and this includes visa issuing officers) are among the most incompetent people on this earth.
Hundreds left stranded in Oman waiting for UAE visasBy Aftab Kazmi, Bureau Chief
Published: October 01, 2008, 00:02Al Ain: More than 200 people, mainly Filipinos, are stranded in a hotel on the outskirts of the border town of Buraimi in Oman as they attempt to get new UAE visas.
Every day they hope to return to the UAE where they work and live, but many are worried as their money is running out and charity organisations here are trying to get them some assistance.
"It's a desperate situation," said Lina J.P., a 43-year-old Filipina.
The hotels have renewed their Omani visas for them as these people are here on a so-called 'visa run' from the UAE.
Hundreds of expats are stranded at about four hotels here. Filipino diplomats did visit and took down their names but never came again, say the angry Filipinos.
Many of the UAE visit visa aspirants were working in Dubai, Abu Dhabi and other UAE cities and got caught unaware of the new visa regulations. It is now mandatory to exit the UAE for one month before applying for a new visa.
Thousands of Filipinos, Indians, and people from other nationalities have become stranded in Buraimi and the Iranian Kish Island - the two most popular visa change destinations among the UAE expatriates.
According to new rules and regulations, those who wish to obtain a fresh visit visa to the UAE must leave for one month before being issued another visa. Shiju KT from Jaas Tourism who arranges visa changes, said they did not know about the new rule until last month.
According to him, people who got stranded in Kish and Oman are directly flying to their home countries as they cannot enter the UAE for a period of one month. The agency is still being approached by people who are not aware of the new rules, Shiju added.
I absolutely LOVE Gmail!!
As visible in the last email, I have Gmail set up to sync with Mail.app (on my mac). This helps because I can access my mail when there is no Internet available.
Unfortunately, today it just stopped working - I tried recreating the account, using another mail client, everything else, but it just wouldn't work.
I could still check mail on the website, but that is no usable when I don't have Internet (the point is that I want my attachments and the email that the attachment came with at all times).
Thankfully, Google's free support helped (this is probably the first time free support has worked for me).
Also, I am currently listening (and have been) to this song for the last 4 hours (Pehli Nazar by Atif Aslam), which I got off my brother's 'mobile' using Bluetooth (damn I feel non-North American lol).
Pictures from Eid 2008. This is about as personal as this blog gets (uploaded because someone requested them). All pictures taken in our living room. 
Click on a picture to enlarge
My brother in his red shalwar kameez.
Me and my brother, posing for another picture. I am donning the dishdasha that I purchased from the UAE (which is why these pictures are being taken.
My brother, close up.
Me, again.
My parents.
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Hey! That's me up there!
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My name is Abid and I am a 20-something chemistry student at a semi-big research university.
This website is my personal blog. It has my rants, opinions, musings, photos, and predictions.
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