Life

ROOT to perform a shell command a macro

2012-02-01T19:59:00.000-08:00

You can make a ROOT macro execute another root macro or a shell command using the following line:

gROOT->ProcessLine("!shell_command");
or
gROOT->ProcceLine("ThisRootMacro()");

Don't forget that the macro needs to be uploaded first:
gROOT->LoadMaco(ThisRootMacro.C);

Running two separate verions of firefox on linux

2012-01-10T01:43:00.000-08:00

In many cases of active web and software usage you might need to run an older version of a web browser. In this case I needed a to run Firefox 8 and I didn't want to remove my current version. here is what to do:

1- Create a separate directory and move to it:
$ mkdir /home/mzakaria/opt/firefox8
$ cd ~/opt/firefox8/

2- go to Mozilla FTP server at ftp://ftp.mozilla.org/pub/mozilla.org/firefox/releases/. and look up the release you want

3- get the folder using wget:
$ wget ftp://ftp.mozilla.org/pub/mozilla.org/firefox/releases/8.0/linux-i686/en-US/firefox-8.0.tar.bz2 (I got the one with i686 b/c I am using a 32bit machine, you can check that with the command uname -m; it will give you i686 if it was a 32bit)

4- untar the package:
$ tar xvjf firefox-8.0.tar.bz2

5- move the unpacked folder to a folder with the name you chose (in case you are bringing more than one release)
$ mv firefox firefox8

6- Each version needs a separate user profile — otherwise, it won’t be possible to run them simultaneously, and worse, it might break the default profile which is used by the system version. For our version:
$ firefox -no-remote -CreateProfile firefox8

7- That's it! change to the folder again and run it:
$ cd firefox8/
$ ./firefox -no-remote -P firefox8

Notice that this will create a completely separate browser, you might want to move some bookmarks or certificates.

How to record a live stream

2011-12-02T02:13:00.000-08:00

I found a lovely post on how to record a live stream or to record whatever audio is:

I'm using the Sound Recorder application that comes in standard Ubuntu installations. To set this up using other programs (like audacity) just substitute it in these instructions.

Install pavucontrol (PulseAudio Volume Control) using apt-get or the Ubuntu Software Center.
Open PulseAudio Volume Control. It should be in the applications menu under Sound and Video.
Open Sound Recorder and start recording. Playing any sound at this point would be helpful, as your level indicator should react once you have finished.
Go to the "Recording" tab in the PulseAudio Volume Control window.
Make sure that "Applications" is selected in the drop down menu on the "Recording" tab.
Choose "Monitor of Internal Audio Analog Atereo" from the "Record Stream from" menu in the Sound Recorder entry of the application list.

This appears to be persistent so that you will only have to do this once, but you will have to repeat these steps to record in another application.

After this I notice that my mice is disconnected from skype. Consider this as a fix:Open “Sound Preferences” -> “Hardware” -> “Change Profile to Analog Stereo Input” -> test -> “Change Profile to Analog Stereo Duplex” -> test again.

Updating Firefox on Ubuntu

2011-07-30T08:27:00.000-07:00

I can't find a solid reason to update my browser (unless some site or software that I use asks me to). Today I got tempted by a message on my gmail account asking me to do that. So here is how to do it:

sudo add-apt-repository ppa:mozillateam/firefox-stable

sudo apt-get update

sudo apt-get upgrade

This was method 2 among 3 ways to do it that I found under this post.

One new feature Firefox5 has is the Sync feature. So now you can have all your tabs and browsing needs saved (safely as I hope) and you can access then from any machine.

Editing PDF files on linux, Two solutions

2011-07-12T07:58:00.000-07:00

Since most our meetings and seminars are presented as PDF files. I finally realised that I need some way to edit them on Linux. Something as simple as adding comments and such would do. couple of research attempts lead me to the following link:
http://www.cyberciti.biz/tips/open-source-linux-pdf-writer.html

I tried PDFedit instantly and it did deliver what it promised. the only problem is the limited selection of arrow shapes (hard to use for Feynman diagrams).

To install and run:
$ sudo apt-get install pdfedit
$ pdfedit /path/to/pdf.file &

The code runs smoothly but has it's limits; If the document had symbols unrecognised by it (Say Japanese characters or Math symbols). It will open but with many of it's functions missing.

Another option is Open office! They new release (3.0 and after) has a package that is able to open PDF files on a drawing pad. you will even get to stick comments and such. This approach also suffers when opening some unrecognised set of fonts or objects. It will still be fully functional but the locations will be misset up as well as missing some symbols.

We conclude this note with Images. Where your best bed is with GIMP. Which is a standard release in UBUNTU. Once you do the changes make sure to save as xcf. then using the command:

$ convert file.xcf file.pdf

You will get he new file in the required form.

ROOT after a little bit of C++

2011-07-03T22:19:00.000-07:00

I made a recent revision for Malik's excellent book about C++. This time I made it up to chapter 14 where I learned a lot about pointers. It turns out that this concept is heavily used in ROOT. For example here is a snippet of a code I am using to create plots of publication quality:

#include
#include "TInterpreter.h"
#include "TCanvas.h"
#include "TLatex.h"
#include "TROOT.h"
#include "TH2F.h"
#include "TGraphErrors.h"
#include "TLegend.h"
#include "TPad.h"

These are preprocessor statements to include libraries and header files. the <> symbol is doe standard libraries. and the ones between quotes "" is for libraries made.
void readRFPAS2RHWZ2() {

This starts the function of the type void called readRFPAS2RHWZ2()

float x = 0.446127; //The coordinate of 900GeV labe (t1d, t2d, etc)
float y = 0.190389;
float x1 = 0.2000; //The coordinates for the legends.
float y1 = 0.326465;
float x2 = 0.50275;
float y2 = 0.551054;

Simple variable declaration.

TInterpreter::Instance() -> LoadMacro("tdrstyle.C");
This is a bit odd as an expression. I am not sure how to interpret it but here is a try. There is a space TInterpreter with an class Instance that has an object LoadMacro. it is called as a pointer:

(*TInterpreter::Instance).LodMacro = tdrstyle.C

What this does is to ask our code to use that macro.
gROOT -> Reset();

Basically calling another pointer.
(*gROOT).Reset();
TInterpreter::Instance() -> Execute ("setTDRStyle","");

Same as above.

TCanvas *c1 = new TCanvas("c1","different scales hists",600,600);

new means we are creating a dynamic variable. in this case of the type TCanvas. it is assigned to the pointer c1.

c1->Range(-100,-100,10,10);

now c1 points to another object in TCanvas.
(*c1).Range = (-100,-100,10,10);

TH1F *Dist_Nch_pT20_ = new TH1F("Dist_Nch_pT20_","title",100,-0.5,30);

also TH1F is a data type. with the pointer Dist_Nch_pT20_ is set with the address of the class named Dist_Nch_pT20_ with the parameters needed. next we assign the objects:
Dist_Nch_pT20_->SetXTitle("N_{ch}");

etc.

So we conclude it is nothing but a bunch of dynamic classes assigned by pointers.

Fixing touch pad from shell

2011-02-11T04:45:00.000-08:00

Today while I was working while watching a movie online. suddenly my touch-pad frozen. More specifically the left button option on my Dell Inspiron E1505. As hard as it was to surf the web this way. I found a lovely fix:

gconftool-2 --set --type boolean /desktop/gnome/peripherals/touchpad/touchpad_enabled true

Thanks to Ubuntu's website!

Starting Open Offie from shell

2011-01-17T15:29:00.000-08:00

I ran across this excellent reference on how to start OO from shell. instead of that silly file name I just opened it on my desktop and dumped the code. What it worth mentioning is that it opens whatever release you currently have. for completion the code it below:

################
import com.sun.star.bridge.XUnoUrlResolver;
import com.sun.star.lang.XMultiComponentFactory;
import com.sun.star.uno.UnoRuntime;
import com.sun.star.uno.XComponentContext;

import java.io.IOException;
import java.io.InputStream;

/**
*
* @author bobohead2
*/
public class StartOpenOffice {

private String unoUrl =
"uno:socket,host=localhost,port=8100;urp;StarOffice.ServiceManager";

/** Creates a new instance of StartOpenOffice */
public StartOpenOffice() {
}

public boolean startOpenOffice(String p_scriptpfad){
boolean loaded = false;
try {
// loads the script
String cmd = p_scriptpfad //home/bobohead2/OpenOffice.org1.1/ListenOffice.sh";
Process process = Runtime.getRuntime().exec(cmd);
InputStream processOut = process.getInputStream();
InputStream processErr = process.getErrorStream();

} catch (IOException ioe) {
ioe.printStackTrace(System.out);
}
while(loaded == false){
try{
// open Office may take a while to open
XComponentContext xLocalContext =
com.sun.star.comp.helper.Bootstrap.createInitialComponentContext(null);

XMultiComponentFactory xLocalServiceManager = xLocalContext.getServiceManager();

Object urlResolver = xLocalServiceManager.createInstanceWithContext(
"com.sun.star.bridge.UnoUrlResolver", xLocalContext );
// query XUnoUrlResolver interface from urlResolver object
XUnoUrlResolver xUnoUrlResolver = (XUnoUrlResolver) UnoRuntime.queryInterface(
XUnoUrlResolver.class, urlResolver );

// Second step: use xUrlResolver interface to import the remote StarOffice.ServiceManager,
// retrieve its property DefaultContext and get the remote servicemanager
Object initialObject = xUnoUrlResolver.resolve( unoUrl );
loaded = true;
}catch(Exception e){
// open office is not ready yet
loaded = false;
// wait a liitle bit and try again
for(int i=0;i< 10000;i++){

}
}
}
return loaded;
}
}
##########################

and to run it just type:
#!/bin/sh
/opt/openoffice.org2.0/program/soffice "-accept=socket,port=8100;urp;"

fixing linux's shell worst pitfal: rm

2010-12-16T15:02:00.000-08:00

When I started working with shell few yeas ago, I remember the first thing people warned me about: the rm command has no backup. So there is no copy saved in the Recycle bin or in Trash. Many books and tutorial will share this warning, and also the wisdom that no matter how careful you are. It is bound to happen that you will delete an important file wasting the work of hours or days.

Today I thought of a solution of this for my UBUNTU 9.10. We might mention that alias doesn't work since it doesn't take arguments. Also we should make the effort to find where "Trash" is, a matter that wasn't so simple [1] [2] So the next solution is to write a function and save it in .bashrc:

function rmv () { scp $* ~/.local/share/Trash/files/; }

so now:
$rmv test.f

will put it in the trash instead of deleting it forever. If you are an extensive user of rm you should be careful not to fill up the Trash directory so maybe writing a command that will clean it say every 24 hours or few days. Maybe I will do that one day...

fixing your webcam for skype

2010-12-14T21:52:00.000-08:00

After updating to UBUNTU 9.10. Skype started running without any interferences. So the next step is to tackle the issue of webcams.Here is a good resource:

https://wiki.ubuntu.com/SkypeWebCams

so now using lsusb:
Bus 003 Device 003: ID 045e:00f7 Microsoft Corp. LifeCam VX-1000

i get the details of my webcam and the link associated with it:
http://ubuntuforums.org/archive/index.php/t-914952.html
it turned out that the needed fix is to have the following command:
env LD_PRELOAD=/usr/lib/libv4l/v4l1compat.so skype

so i fixed it for the alias:
alias skype='env LD_PRELOAD=/usr/lib/libv4l/v4l1compat.so skype'

and i fixed it on the launching pas:
System->Preference->Mainmenu.
I removed skype and put instead the required command.

my skype has a webcam access and life is good.

Updating ROOT on your machine.

2010-12-02T12:25:00.000-08:00

I was running ROOT 5.18 on my laptop and it has the interesting issue of saving the plots 90 degrees rotated. I never bothered myself with this until someone brought the issue on CMS's hypernews. The solutions she got were:

1- You can change the size of the canvas to be rectangle
TCanvas *c = new TCanvas("c","",800,850); Quite easy but we need to remember that the TDR style for CMS papers is 600 by 600.

2- It turned out that this issue is solved in the new releases (after 5.22).

So the challenge was to try to update my old ROOT release. These days they have clear instructions about installing ROOT. The problem is that this is not a full package and installing without care will create a mess! so doing the instructions you can use that release in the current shell. but not if you opened a new one.

I wanted something more "default". So here is the trick:

in 'root' edit file names: .bashrc
and at the bottom i added:
. $HOME/Desktop/Research/ROOT522/root/bin/thisroot.sh

which is the place where the new installation is.

The point behind TomBoy

2010-11-19T17:57:00.000-08:00

I've started using TomBoy over a year ago. it sounded a very reasonable tool to make my own "wiki". As it grew larger and larger, I was wondering of a way to move it to other computers I use.

That wish materialized one day after some research. I needed to define a path where all my files are stored. It turned out that this option was killed in my version (a very old one). After some research I managed to renew it. Then you would do the following:
Edit->Preferences->Synchronization and set a path for that file.
Then you can send a copy of that file to your second machine. And through the same process, set your TomBoy to "see" that folder.
Done! and life is good.

An Easy Recipe to install ROOT

2010-11-19T17:53:00.000-08:00

#I am assuming you are using tcsh
cd somedir
wget ftp://root.cern.ch/root/root_v5.26.00c.source.tar.gz
tar xzf root_v5.26.00c.source.tar.gz
setenv ROOTSYS $PWD/root
setenv PATH $ROOTSYS/bin:$PATH
cd root
./configure
make

Insatalling a 1700 Dell laser printer on ubuntu

2010-05-25T21:26:00.000-07:00

I found this link to give an exceptional help

http://www.edwardstafford.com/2009/08/31/add-a-network-printer-to-an-ubuntu-desktop-the-easy-way/comment-page-1/#comment-9047

The only issue was that I had slightly different names probably due to different version of Ubuntu.

How to fix skype on ubuntu

2010-02-27T02:35:00.000-08:00

for two years I've been sweating in an effort to fix skype on my Ubuntu. The reception was fine, but the mic never worked. This happened also on my ubntu installation in my office and for more elite services like EVO. Finally I figured out that it was all due to Audiopules. accordign to the ubuntu forum I can delete it and install another package called esound:

killall pulseaudio
sudo aptitude remove pulseaudio
sudo aptitude install esound
sudo aptitude remove /etc/X11/Xsession.d/70pulseaudio

Now skype works like magic! Lets hope that I will get the same luck with Evo.

what to do when your cell-phone contract expires.

2009-11-30T15:33:00.000-08:00

I had a 2 year contract with ATT. The contract just ended last month and I thought that I had to renew it or else I will lose the service, and more important my number. I surfed the ATT website to see what kind of deals they have, and it took me some self restrain to stop myself from renewing with a cool cell-phone and a 2 year commitment (they charge some hefty fee to cancel your service while in contract). Finally, I did some research online and found the following:
1- You don't have to call to renew your contract. What will happen is that they will keep charging you with the usual terms month by month.
2- Cell phone companies have some cheaper plans that they don't promote. So I called ATT (CB7017) made sure that the service will remain there, on a month per month basis, as long as I am paying my bill, and no cancellation fees since I did respect my 2 year contract.

I was able to get a 200 minutes (with 1000 minutes for weekends and nights) plan for a monthly rate of 29$ instead of my 450 minutes plan that I hardly use and was able to save 10$ per month! I only lost the roll-over I used to have and I never needed to use.

This looks closer to a slight victory, but I am a deep believer in optimizing my needs and in informed consumerism. And since my old cell-phone is still running, I might as well invest a bit in it or just enjoy the 240$ I will save in 2 years.

Changing you cell-phones battery

2009-09-22T03:36:00.000-07:00

My singular8125 started to act up few weeks ago. It will die on me after 10 minutes of usage and it keeps rebooting each time it searches for a signal. Before tossing of my 2 year old investment I decided to consider getting a new battery.

It was a bit surprising to see a range of prices from 2$ up to 30$. So I decided to get something around 10$. My purchase was done at Buy.com. The service was good, but it took USPS almost 2 weeks to arrive!

Yesterday I tried the new thing and it seems to be working. I did some research to see the best way to use a new battery, only to discover the following facts:

1. First off, if you need a new battery after following all the recommendations below, make sure you buy a new battery. Most online resellers are selling used batteries and calling them OEM. The battery you will receive will be wrapped in bubble wrap or paper. Make sure your battery comes in a retail package. You don't want to replace a used battery with someone else's used battery. And that was my first mistake since I got something that was manually wrapped in a plastic bag.

2. DO NOT fully discharge a lithium-ion battery! Unlike Ni-Cd batteries, lithium-ion batteries' life is shortened every time you fully discharge them. Instead, charge them when the battery meter shows one bar left. Lithium-ion batteries, like most rechargeable batteries have a set amount of chargers in them.

3. When buying lithium ion batteries, be aware that oxidation begins at the time of manufacture, not the time of first use. As such, older lithium batteries will have reduced capacity (about 20% per year stored at room temperature). If you buy a battery at a clearance sale price, expect that you will get less life out of the mobile phone.

I felt a bit concerned after reading such material. But it is only 10$ after all, I will see how long this battery will last me. I guess one more year will be acceptable. Then it might be the time to switch to a new phone.

Sourse: http://www.wikihow.com/Make-Your-Cell-Phone-Battery-Last-Longer

Things to do to solve "honor" crimes.

2009-07-17T10:04:00.000-07:00

Honor Crimes still exist in many countries including the Middle East and Pakistan. Where the law gives preferential treatment to the murderer so that they will end up with reduced sentences. Unfortunately these crimes are still popular and have support to some extent in the society. I think it is a fight for the intellects to change such believes. Few suggestions include:

1- Find a more expressing name rather than "Honor Crimes". It should be a name that gives a negative label to this crime.

2- Show condemnation in public while these people are courted. This might include protesting in front of the court or at the murderer's house. and posting the pics of the victim in public places.

3- Send a clear message that this killing is against Islamic believes, the scripture is clear that only the governor can apply punishments after a court. Ironically, KSA - one of the most radical Islamic counties, has no tolerance to this crime.

We all have a part in this relatively reasonable confrontation with one of the most striking signs of repression.

Losing your SIM card abroad

2009-05-12T12:18:00.000-07:00

I had a visit to Jordan and I ended up staying for 4 months over there. Before leaving the US, I called my wireless provider AT&T asking for the cracking code for my cell phone as I was intending to use a local cell phone provider. The tech support representative was kind enough to offer the code after offering me an international roaming plan that I declined using.

Once I arrived Jordan I took off the SIM card and kept it in my camera's case. I was following my bills every month since I was on a plan. The day of my travel I discovered at the airport that I lost my SIM card. I didn't think it was a big deal back then and assumed that I must have misplaced it home when i was packing for my return trip.

I went to AT&T local branch and was a bit upset that I had to pay $25 for a new SIM card but I was glad that my cell phone is back running. This turned out to be my least problems since I received a bill of the amount of $7500 for the month of March. I felt a bit numb once I read the amount, and I realized that I must have lost my SIM card while doing a trip to PETRA in late march. The detailed calling list showed that the SIM was used from the last 3rd of March. It appeared that the person that found it treated himself well doing so many calls in 10 days or so, and my account was charged for that using a large international roaming charge.

I called the customer service at AT&T and I was starting to freak out. The guy answering the phone was shocked by the amount as I was, and he started filling a case to dispute that amount. he was a nice person to soothe me and to tell me that he thinks that I will end up paying nothing. After that call I went home and made some Online research about similar cases and I was really worried. Here you are with cases of people ending up paying at least a portion of their bill after a huge fight with those multi-million dollar companies. But I got some very good tips such as this web page. What I also found while reviewing the case of one guy with Cingular that one of his strong basis to dispute the charges was the he didn't authorize international roaming! I felt very happy about that since it was my case and now instead of begging for sympathy I have some legal basis for my claim. I also learned that is VERY IMPORTANT to keep a written record of all your phone correspondence with the company (time of the call, name and ID number of the receiver and a summery of the call, and the number of the case). You also need to check if these guys are doing their job. In my case I called the next day asking if the case was submitted, it appeared that it was lost in the system! So I ended up submitting another case. I also got the company to flag my account as being under dispute so that they won't disconnect the service before a resolution is there. I was informed about the expected day of resolution and I got a phone call few days before that stating that my march bell has been resolved and all int. charges are dropped.

Time to celebrate? Not yet! since the mis-usage was done between late March and the middle of April, and my bill covers only the end of March, there was the possibility that my April bill will have the same issue.

And it sure did; I got a bill of almost $5000. This time I had a bit more confidence and I called for a dispute and made a case. Seems that there was a mistake in filling the case since they called back saying there were some missing details and that I had to file another case, that been done and I made sure to refer them to the previous resolution. The next day I got a SMS from the company that my case was resolved. A $5000 worth SMS.

If there is one practical lesson to learn it is that you have to treat your cell-phone just like a credit card. i usually put a lock on my phone but now I will try to learn how to lock my SIM card so that no one can use without the phone. One other thing is the value of a good customer service. When I bought my 2 year plan I felt that I was paying a bit too much for minutes that I hardly use, but now seeing how AT&T was gracious in dealing with this crises it made me value their service even more. And this will weigh in my decision in renewing my plan with them or simply go to a pre-paid option, where even if the SIM was missing you won't freak out.

I am very hopeful to be able to get back to Jordan one day, and maybe I will do some effort to locate that rascal that started all this.

Things to say about being detained/imprisoned in Jordan

2009-04-07T04:24:00.000-07:00

In The Black Iris today, Nas gave a good point about the case of human rights in Jordan. Personally, I believe that Capital punishment should be eliminated unless there were indisputable evidence or unforced confessions. I also think that 10 years should be given before the execution to give time for any further developments and that judges should investigate whether confessions were made under torture or not.

Regarding the issue of torture and miss-treatment for prisoners and detainees I think that the country did take few good steps towards fixing the problem. The most comprehensive coverage is given by Amnesty International and Amman Center for Human Rights Studies. The later has a very detailed account on the problem and the steps taken to fix it, few steps are:

1- Building new prisons that are more adequate. This point was kinda surprising for the authors since "the building structures in most prisons appeared adequate, with the exception of Juwaida and parts of Qafqafa, and sanitary facilities." So instead of fixing a small problem, our Gov. decided to build things from scratch hmmm...

2- One new prison is going to be a Super-maximum security prison (in Muaqqar). These became trendy in the US starting from the 80's and human rights organizations have many issues with them. But I guess it's a step to separate dangerous prisoners from other less-violent detainees...Don't be so sure since the Secretary-General of the Ministry of Interior Mukhaimer Abu Jammous said that this prison is for certain crimes, not for certain criminal natures...After concerns being made, the gov. stated that this facility will be used only for violent criminals. I wonder if we will start seeing criminals in orange suits.

These reports are lacking one crucial point; They didn't tackle the claimed torture during crime investigations in police departments and other security services. In that field I can say that the General Intelligence Department (GID) had taken few referendums in it's ways and they are trying to come back from a notorious reputation. I had a friend that got arrested by them and spent 4 days in their hospitality. He was satisfied with the treatment he got: He had his own cell, own clean bathroom, meals on time, he had his holly book and they told him that he can fast if he wants and they would cut his breakfast and lunch and give him a double dinner at breakfast time! Now that's impressive. He seemed by far less happy about the following days in "Preventive Security" cells where he reported torture and the few days he ahd to spend in Al-Jafer (which is closed now). A relative of mine reported on his visit to the GID by saying: "it was something close to a job interview". Few questions about some people he knew and then off you go.

To sum things up. I think that Jordan did take few good steps in this historic soar thumb to our image as a modern civilized country. Further processing must be demand and monitored, especially on issues regarding detention.

Names of Jordanian Territories and there "Translations"

2009-04-05T16:50:00.000-07:00

The difficulty
العقبة

Blue City
الزرقاء

Rounded
المدورة

Clouds City
مدينة سحاب

Units
الوحدات

Immigrants
المهاجرين

Green Mountain
جبل الاخضر

Clean Mountain
جبل النظيف

Mars Mountain
جبل المريخ

Crown Mountain
جبل التاج

Picnic Mountain
جبل النزهة

Iron Mountain
جبل الحديد

Vinegar Blasphemy
كفر خل

Heaven's Eye
عين جنة

Goat's Eye
عين التيس

General's Eye
عين الباشا

Linttellete
العدسية

Fork
المفرق

Starch triangle
مثلث النشا

Immortal hospital
مستشفى الخالدي

The lowerer area
حي نزال

Dust Monastery
دير غبار

The Chair
الكرسي

the decent of the camper
نزول الخيام

The ceiling of the stream
سقف السيل

The hole
الجورة

The station Street
شارع المحطة

Happy Preacher Street
شارع سعيد المفتي

The furnace
المحرقة

The Blue
الأزرق

The hot
السخنة

The Egyptian Area
حي المصاروة

The reservoir Circle
دوار الحاووز

Internal Circle
دوار الداخلية

Horses
الحصن

The round belt
الحزام الدائري

Traffic Vally
وادي السير

Rain Vally
وادي الشتا

The Bar
العارضة

And still looking for the translation of
(قفقفا)

You know your Arab if

2009-04-03T22:00:00.001-07:00

You know you are an Arab if :

You go to Arabic restaurants, tell the owners you're Arab, and think you're
going to get free food.

You have to constantly remind your American friends to take off their shoes when they enter your house.

You flip out when someone mistakes you for a Mexican or Indian.

You say "bolice" instead of "police".

You inherited or will inherit land in your country.

You brag about your kids even if they are bad.

Your spouse is also your first cousin.

You're fat and blame it on the kids, or you're bald and blame it on the stress.

Your aunt asks you when she can dance at your wedding.

You smoke as if it were your last day on earth...and you only smoke Marlboro.

You think its cool to dance and smoke at the same time.

You wear more cologne than deodorant.

You fight over who pays the dinner bill.

You pronounce "comfortable" cun-fort-a-bull.

You say the letter "h" like "etch."

You put olive oil in and on everything and brag about how healthy it is.

You gossip about your own family...with members of your own family.

You cook a meal that lasts 3 days.

You pity anyone who is not an Arab and think all other cultures are morally corrupt.

You have fruit trees in your backyard and when they are in season you live off them.

You don't use the word "tease" in English cause you feel weird.

Your father swears at you with words that effect himself (Ibn-Kalb).

You have 500,000,000 cousins.

Your relatives alone could populate a small city.

At weddings it takes the bride and groom 4 hours to kiss all the guests.

You "get down" from the car instead of "getting out" of it.

You have a gold necklace of your name written in Arabic.

Your middle name is your father's first name.

If you are male, you're named after your grandfather or great-grandfather.

You play cards till the break of dawn.

You can't have a meal without bread.

You never run out of bizzir.

You get offended when Americans call Arabic bread "Pita bread"

If you are an Arab woman, you dye your hair an obviously fake shade of blonde that is nonexistent in nature and swear that it's natural.

You feel proud when someone famous or a celebrity has any Arabic blood in them.

You teach your American friends Arabic words (mostly bad ones) and get happy when they use them in normal conversations.

Your Mom has a creative nickname for you like "Natoosheh," or "Tuntooneh."

You have a difficult Arabic name so you come up with an Americanized version of it like "Sam" or "Mike."

You have someone tell you your fortune through your coffee cup.

You love Um Kalthoom and if you don't, your dad makes you listen to her and tries to translate the words into English so you can appreciate her as much as he does.

Three or more relatives live in your neighborhood.
If you're a single Arab guy, you tell women you're a "successful businessman" or that you "own a successful business back home" even if you're an unemployed goat herder.

You get real happy and call the whole family to the room when there is a special or documentary on Arabs or anything Arabic related on CNN or PBS.

Your mother yells at the top of her lungs to call you to dinner even if you're in the next room.

You arrive one or two hours late to a party and think it's normal.

You are standing next to the largest suitcases at the Airport.

You talk for an hour at the front door when leaving someone's house.

You say bye 17 times on the phone.

Your parents still scream at the top of their lungs when making long distance calls.

You always say "open the light" instead of "turn the light on".

You've had a shoe thrown at you by your mother.

When your parents meet strangers and talk for a few minutes, you discover they know one of your uncles back home.

Your mother does everything for you if you are male.

You do all the housework and cooking if you are female.

You refer to your dad's friends as Amoo.

You still came back home to live with your parents after you graduate.

You have an endless supply of pistachios, dates, and pumpkin seeds.

Your parents say you're becoming westernized anytime you get into trouble.

You curse at your teachers or strangers in Arabic.

You have at least thirty cousins.

Your parents want you to become a doctor or engineer.

You use your forehead and eyebrows to point something out.

Your parents drink 6 cups of tea a day.

You can spot an Arab a mile away and they have spotted you because they keep staring.

After a family meal, the women fight to the death over who should wash the dishes while the men sit on their behinds and discuss politics, waiting for their tea.

You have to constantly remind your American friends to take off their shoes when they enter your house.

Poetry Reading in Darat Alfunun, Mourid Barghouthi

2009-03-31T13:21:00.000-07:00

Today was a fine day for poetry! I arrived at Darat Alfunun few minutes late. never-the-less they started 10 minutes after my arrival. The place was kinda easy to reach without a car! just go to Al-webdih Service line and let them take you there (or you can enjoy a 15 minute hike!).

Dar Al-funun is a very small place, it got crowded with the 50+ people that were in before the evening starts! It took us few minutes to go around the building and sit in the other room (usually designed for the audio equipment and logistics).

The poet Mourid Barghouthi is actually one of the known Palestinian voices in modern literature. His recital was very good and the poems were great. He presented a collection of his poems through his 25 year old experience. Some of his famous poems where included such as: صنمٌ رخاميّ (A Marble Pagan) and فكرة أعدائي (My Enemies Thought). The audience seemed to enjoy the poems that directly talk about the Palestinian cause. But his last recital, the best one in my opinion, was his ode to Mahmoud Darwish it it was a grand finale. I certainly hope to hear it one more time.

To sum things up, it was a decent evening. It could have been better if it was more publicized (I only knew about it from a friend and 7iber. This guy certainly deserved to read in the Roman theater. I know that Darwish - Whom the evening was dedicated to - would be happy about it.

Earth hour in Amman

2009-03-29T11:24:00.000-07:00

Couple of weeks ago I read in some Jordanian Blog that Amman is going with the trend of turning the electricity off for an hour on the 28th of March. Between 8:30-9:30PM, all participants will turn of their lights as a sign of awareness. the initiative web site reads:"For the first time in history, people of all ages, nationalities, race and background have the opportunity to use their light switch as their vote – Switching off your lights is a vote for Earth, or leaving them on is a vote for global warming. WWF are urging the world to VOTE EARTH and reach the target of 1 billion votes, which will be presented to world leaders at the Global Climate Change Conference in Copenhagen 2009."

The Jordanian official side decided to turn the lights off on few streets and to organize a candle march in Rainbow street. This event went unnoticed by most people and many environment advocates were disappointed. And most of the population knew nothing about it and probably won't participate even if they did.

Should we get disappointed by this outcome? You shouldn't!

Jordan ranks around 85 in the world consumption of energy per capita! So why would a Jordanian man turn the light off and use a candle (probably a more expensive thing to do) just to be involved in this global Hippocratic lets-share-the-guilt kind of act? The first way to solve a problem is to find the real causes, and in this case it wasn't us, then you need to use effective ways to solve it. Most of the nations involved are Democratic nations. So their leaders will only listen to their votes, in their national elections. Not some symbolic - immeasurable - act of turning your light off at night (many people sleep at that time by the way!).

Jordan needs environment awareness of its own problems such is recycling and water preservation. And if Jordanian pro-west and West-Amman based intelligentsia couldn't realize that, then they ought to be...disappointed...

Renewing your VISA to the states

2008-12-17T17:04:00.000-08:00

Going through the process of filing for a VISA to the US is one of the most depressing paper work experiences I went through as a grad student in the US. I have only my tax filling process to match that.

The process starts online by visiting the US embassy website:
of particular interest is the "how to apply to a visa" link. this link has all of instructions in a crudely ordered fashion. I hope this blog will help you to go through these steps:

1- there are 3 separate forms to be filled; The Electronic Visa Application Form (EVAF) or DS156, the DS157, and the DS158 (for students). one thing to notice is that only the first one of them gives you the capacity to save your work and printing it. The other two forces you to print them without saving them. For a person that makes a lot of mistakes and needs a continues revision, this is a real headache. I managed to print the DS157 through UBUNTU. One of the forms ask you to write your name in your native language.

2- You need to do some research before filling these papers. you need the phone numbers and complete addresses of all your close family, last 3 employers, and two non relative contacts. make sure to answer all the questions. if they don't apply simply type "n/a". I had some problem with DS157 where you need to write you name in native language. for some reason neither windows nor Ubuntu where able to do it properly in Arabic. one easy solution is to write it by your hand! or type your name on a small label, glue it to the form and them make a photocopy of it, or use paint to copy and paste it.

3- make sure your I-20 is up to date. and signed by the international adviser. that you have all your passports are with you.

4- Once filling the EVAF you may make an appointment for your interview. They can take appointments for 2 weeks in advance or so.

5- I'd suggest making an appointment ASAP. It might take some long time for them to process your application.

6- keep the peanuts they give you at your flight back home. you will use them as a snack while waiting for the interview.

7- make sure to head to the embassy half an hour before your interview. there will be a long line before you otherwise. They will take your phone upon entry and return it back after you are done, so bring something to read. They will keep you waiting for an hour inside before they start calling the names.

8- The interview is mostly an easy one. Especially if you have a teaching assistantship or some form of support from YOUR university. keep your answers short and to the point. They should have no questions beyond what you have already answered.

9- I had the officer telling me that my application will have to go for further processing. This means they need to make further checkup on me in DC. The process takes anytime between 2 to 12 weeks. They will give you a link to check the status of your application. If you are coming back home for a short break, this will probably mean you will have to be prepared for the possibility that you will lose the whole semester as it is quite possible not to be able to return back on time.

10- Mine came back after 6 weeks, Including Christmas break. I tried many things to reduce that period but it was useless. The embassy in Amman makes it almost impossible to have a one to one interaction. I really don't know what are the criteria to put you up for the extra processing. Me and 2 of my friends (All males applying for an F1 VISA) went through it the first time. The second time they both passed without that time consuming process. So the only thing that might have worked is to try to challenge that yellow paper once they give it to you. In my case, I wish that I was aware of this early enough to tell him that I have been in the US for 3 years non-stop (since they gave me the first VISA). Or even ask why did they screen you for this process. We can get much more info if people can get more information about it.

11- I find it appropriate to advice you to take an account for such a possible delay. Bring some work or research material with you just in case you will be delayed for few months. Keep your spirits up, and use the time to reflect on your experience in the US so far. It is quite amazing the conclusions you might get to when you are analyzing the system from the outside.

Good luck!

Kitab Fi Jarida

2008-11-27T11:37:00.001-08:00

One of the most fortunate incidents of my youth back in Jordan is being exposed to "Kitab Fi Jarida" (a book in a newspaper). Where you get a free book printed in a tabloid form. This great feast of culture is selected by a group of most known and respectable Arabic intellects. Kitab Fi Jarida helped me grow intellectually to a great extent as it offers a cheap and reliable source for Arabic culture.

Unfortunately I had to get disconnected from Kitab Fi Jarida when I moved abroad. This bitterness came to an end when I found out that they are now publishing their production online www.kitabfijarida.com. So now any Arabic reader would still get the chance to enjoy their cultural products. The website still has few pitfalls in terms of it didn't cover all their serier back to the beginning. And that it is hard to go over the books without first downloading them as a PDF. open the document, then see what the title of the book is. To overcome the second difficulty, I will be using this blog as a memoir for the number of issues that I particularly enjoy and hence recommend.

115
121

The Innocents Abroad

2008-11-10T21:45:00.000-08:00

I am currently reading The Innocents Abroad, by Mark Twain. The book shows a great style of writing an a good sense of humor. As I read through the book, I will type the quotes of it that made me laugh!

-...They were like nearly all Frenchwomen I ever saw-homely. They had large hands, large feet, large mouths; they had pug noses as a general thing, and mustaches that not even good breeding could overlook...p120

- ... The gentle reader will never, never know what a consummate ass he can become, until he goes abroad. I speak now, of course, in the supposition that the gentle reader has not been abroad, and therefore is not a consummate ass. If the case be otherwise, I beg his pardon and extend to him the cordial hand of fellowship and call him brother.

- ... As far as I can see, Italy, for fifteen hundred years, has turned all her energies, all her energies, all her finances, and all her industry to the building up of a vast array of wonderful church edifices, and starving half her citizens to accomplish it...p202

- ... Look at the grand Duomo of Florence - a vast pile that has been sapping the purses of her citizens for five hundred years, and is not nearly finished yet. Like all other men, I fell down and worshiped it, but when the filthy beggars swarmed around me the contrast was too striking, too suggestive, and I said, "O, sons of classic Italy, is the spirit of enterprise, of self-reliance, of noble endeavor, utterly dead within ye? Curse your indolent worthlessness, why don't you rob your church?"...p203

- ... We never read of Pomprii but we think of that of that soldier; we can not write of Pompeii without the natural impulse to grant to him the mention he so well deserve. Let us remember that he was a soldier - not a policeman - and so, praise him. Being a soldier, he staid, - because the warrior instinct forbade hom to fly. Had he been a policeman he would have staid, also - because he would have been asleep. ... p265

a sad F1 story

2008-10-20T21:30:00.000-07:00

Few months ago, a friend of mine asked me to go with her to the Bahamas on Christmas. She was paying for the whole fair and we haven't met for a while. I guess it was her surprise that I apologized as I won't be able to do that. The reason was simple. My student VISA has expired for a while. and I thought that this will not enable me to leave the continental US and come back. So I apologized to that friend and we went in our lives.

Recently I was doing some research on the procedures I need to take to renew my VISA. I discovered that my F1 VISA, even though it has expired, will never be a basis to deny me coming back to Florida after visiting Canada, Mexico, The Bahamas, and many other islands nearby. As long as my I-20 was maintained in the proper way. So I guess this was one of those moments where God's invisible hand was the upper hand. I will never know if not taking that trip with that friend , whom is enjoying the company of her new bf these days, would have changed my life to the better or to the worse. But it will definitely give me some story to tell.

Ravi Shankar's visit to Gainesville

2008-10-19T23:19:00.000-07:00

I was fortunate enough to get tickets for Ravi's performance at the University of Florida Performing Arts center. It was a great opportunity to see this man that is an established mark on Indian music. The party was to start at 7:30 October 14th. We arrived on time and took our seats at the auditorium. While it was expected to see many people from Indian subcontinent as we have a big community here in Gainesville. I was taken by so many people from other races, especially the women, that were dressed with the traditional Sari. I am not sure what was the reason behind that. And I couldn't help but to relate to orientalism. What makes you wear the national outfit of other nation? Is it a sign of respect? Do you think that this shows that you relate to those people by buying their clothes (most of them are probably manufactured in China). And is it the same to say that you are pro-India even without knowing anything about this great nation, with its many flaws and we doings, just b/c you read about Ghandi or saw one or two movies about it?

If I was an Indian, I would have been annoyed little bit about that. Indian clothes have a good symbolic meaning for freedom and Independence as it was a symbol for rejecting colonialism in the last century. And this symbol should be kept for people that truly know India. Not some westerns with an unhealthy mixture of fantasies and some peaces of information here and there.

The same dogma had a negative contribution to the concert. Where you had people clapping and showing their respect in some immature way, such as clapping and standing for the master's pupil as he was the first to show up to, well, put up his masters sikar. Also when the drum player Mr. Tanmoy Bose, a great performer, had some high pitched sequence, he was interrupted by clapping while playing. It was sad to see Mr. Ravi raising his hand asking them to be quite until the man finishes his peace. This is a spiritual music, not a rock concert, I can hear him say.

India , through its great peace movement and it amazing achievements, had a great effect on my life. Especially through her great son Mr. Gandhi and his decedents. And I do feel some great spiritual attachments to the country. An attachment that I hope I would never spoil by showing a false affiliation to it by wearing the Turbin and a Duti one day to a concert. or by leaving my emotions un-attained and spoiling a part from some other fellows evening.

The concert itself showed some great music. Where there was less tructure than I was sued to. And the performence was planned to be more spontaneous between Ravi and his daughter. You see them playing their intruments together and back and forth with some great harmoney.

here is a link for some performence of his, long time ago http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=4gWCiLexilY

Islam and Economy

2008-10-12T18:33:00.000-07:00

Amid the recent market crises. I heard some voices on Arabic media saying that this is the natural end for capitalism and that Islam is the right way for planning socio-economical policies. While I don't intend to defend capitalism. I do have a small question for those people: If Islam had such a great financial system embedded in its policies and teaching, Why aren't people using it? Even more: when did people use it and showed that it was successful? 1400 years ago? What proves that it will work for the current size of trading we whitness. Until these answers are given, that claim seems more like a political nostalgia rather than a credible statement.

how to weigh overweight.

2008-06-09T17:31:00.000-07:00

My first account with people hiving weight problems gets back to 4th grade. I had a class mate with this problem. I don't remember that any one caused him a problem except the teachers that might slide a comment or two, and might borrow his shoe if they decided to participate in a soccer game. Other than that my step mother was voluptuous for few years during my teen years and managed to get back to her usual looks. Back in the time Jordan didn't have any issues with weight as a nation. And we would be looking at TV commercials on American channels as something that doesn't relate to us. and my impression was that the US is filled with people with weights issues as it shows from the media and press reports.

That was in the back of my mind when I came to the US few years ago. But to my surprise, most of the students I met on campus were in great shape. I was later told that this is a very competitive area for both guys and girls so they try their best to stay in a good physique. and that I need to go to shopping centers or down town to see a clearer image. and that was true to some extent.

Recently I read that having few extra pounds might mean reducing your chances in life. Several studies show that overweight people have less chances of being employed or getting attention as possible mates. Some even go to the limit of saying that this is the new discrimination societies will face.

I understand why someones look can be a factor in getting a position such as a spokesperson or external relations manager. Things get less clear for desk jobs, unless there is a correlation between overweight and laziness. More important to my case is having an affair with some one that has problems controlling his/her weight. Would you commit yourself to someone that has a great persona, good future, fun, but has this image problem? It took me sometime to think about it when a similar situation happened to me. I was generally against that for few reasons.

If you want to go beyond the obvious issues such as physical attraction (as it is a matter of taste after all) it needs to be stated that there is probably a huge case of self-control behind that extra luggage. Most people know better than to get involved with a smoker or a heavy drinker because of the health issues their partner will face sooner or later. Same thing applies for obesity. I don't know how someone can overlook the fact that his partner is so careless about his/her own life and social looks. or that s/he cannot act to stop him/her self from destroying their bodies and their health.

What Friendship Means

2008-05-31T19:14:00.000-07:00

Hello,

Some how you'd think that you are done with issues concerning how dignified a friend should be after you grew up beyond high school and teen years. That wasn't the case last week. When a girl I knew for almost a year came to visit some tourist attraction near my city with her boy friend. I don't know if it was my mistake, but i couldn't get over the fact that she didn't tell me about that. Even if she didn't want to see me, wouldn't it be the decent thing to send a message and say: "Hello, I am sorry I won't be able to meet you this time".

For many years, I considered my self surrounded with good friends. Maybe not the kinds that will stand in the way of a bullet for you, but the kind that will visit you in the hospital -or the sematary - if one hits you. What Roxy did takes her from that circle. I am glad if it took me all this long to find one bad friendship. this might indicate that I have a good taste for friends.