On and Beyond..

~ A Gift

2011-01-07T07:36:00.000-08:00

"my dear deer,
paste query:

polar plot 2 - 2 sin t + sin t sqrt (abs(cos t))/(sin t + 1.4)

in wolframalpha search engine.

umm..
& thats all.
its my gift for you.
:)

salam "

~*~*~*~*~~*~*~*~*~

~ Tube Scoop

2011-01-06T21:39:00.000-08:00

asalam alaikum,

Its easy to play your way thru making your life easy, with some simple straight-forward no-nonsense trix.
Here I lay them out for you.

you might as well know many of 'em handy, but it never gets old.

1. Adding a Time stamp:

Want to share a specific part with someone?
Cut the chase and link to the interesting part by adding syntax #t=?m?s at the end of the url (where ? stands for the specific minute & second you want the clip to start off from.)
To wit;
a vid with a url http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=blablabla
& at 34 seconds it has the thing you wanna share, then you'll tweak it like so;
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=blablabla#t=0m22s

2. Skipping to a specific minute:

Bored out yawning?
Just press any number on your keyboard & the vid slide bar will move a lil before that specific minute. To wit:
pressing 2 on my keyboard while watching the vid, lands me to 1 minute & 50ish secs or so.

2. Watch videos full screen:

Simply change delete the “watch?v=” part and replace it with “v/” instead.
To wit:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=blablabla
to
http://www.youtube.com/v/blablabla

see what i did there?

Although there is another way - the popup way; but i've got no clue why people would ever like to go for that one, specially since it destroys the resolution by literally popping em out..er..the pixels i mean.
Just add "_popup" in the url like so;
http://www.youtube.com/watch_popup?v=blablabla

[Notice the resolution destruction to 280p.]

3. View High Res Videos:

Though you can switch to high quality videos for some of the videos anytime you want, by selecting the resolution options at the bottom right of the vid -- nonetheless, you can tweak the url for that purpose by appending “&fmt=18“(stereo, 480 x 270 resolution) or “&fmt=22″(stereo, 1280 x 720 resolution) for even higher quality.

2. Embed Higher Res Videos:

While the above trick works for playback, if however you want to embed hig quality vids to your blog for instance, you need to append “&ap=%2526fmt%3D18″ and “&ap=%2526fmt%3D22″ to the embeded url.

5. Embedding only a part of Vid?

Just add '&start=blabla' at the end of the url in embed code. blabla being the number of secs you wanna skip.
To wit; Appending ‘&start=30′ will skip first 30s of the video.

6. Autoplay an embedded video:

Make the video play automatically by adding ‘&autoplay=1′ to the url part of the embed code.

7. Loop an embedded video:

Append ‘&loop=1′ at the end of the url part of code, to make the video start again without user intervention after it reaches the end.

4. Hide the search box:

The search box appears when you hover over an embedded video. To hide the search box just add “&showsearch=0” to the embed url.

8. Disable Related Vids:

While embedding vids, the related vids suggestions that prop up at the end of the vid are sometimes pretty annoying.
Gnawing the annoying is not too hard though.
Simply adds ‘&rel=0′ at the end of the url, & VOILA !
You're done.

pretty neat gig. eh?

Guess its enough for today.
There are some other pretty neat tips & trix aswell.
Hope to find some more time out to jot those down from top of my head - when its in a somewhat better form, bub'logging [bubbling with blog ideas] that is.

Meanwhile, happy tweaking !

~*~*~*~*~~*~*~*~*~

~ Al-Uqsur

2010-12-15T13:31:00.000-08:00

Salam alaikum,

so they like to call it Luxor in english.. though the term itself is from Qasr (palace), err.. a superlative form of 'fortified' Qasr, i suppose.

on a semi crazy side note though, these semantics here remind me of the word 'Thug'; The english word Thug comes from the Indian subcontinent word 'Thuggee'. The thuggee(s) were described as a cult of people engaged in the multiple murder & looting/robbery of travelers.
o well..

- Resuming;

cairo sky-view

cairo to luxor

oh.. qabristaan :)

alexandria sky-view

landed

luxor street-view

getting all set to visit the place around, inshAllah.
stuffed some warm clothes, just in case.

Its a nice rare chance to observe the youm Ashoora fast at the very place where Musa alehi salam (Moses) & his nation were ultimately saved from the ultimate tyrant & his ill-willed ilk.

Aside from the faraaina's (pharoas) fancy palaces making it an open air museum (of ibrat :p i suppose) & what not.. there are some ancient 12th century Masaajid im really interested in.

Masjid Al Hajjaj

I'll inshAllah be posting more about their history, sharing snaps etc..
[i mean i certainly would prefer these to the dog-faced dead-guys rampant over here ^_^ ]

Right frikin' now though, i need to focus on this flamboyant presentation preoccupying me from much of my sharing mood..

room-view

door-way

presentation doodads

outlook

nile-view

another shot showing cruise

terrace mise en scène

~*~*~*~*~~*~*~*~*~

~ Coolish

2010-12-14T22:54:00.000-08:00

Salam alaikum,

was just checking egypt weather forecasts on Wolfram Alpha, I came to know that Wolfram alpha can now input TeX too.

This is awesome addition to the search tool.
For someone who is familiar with TeX syntax, it is pretty easy to manipulate with functions, play around with plots & datasets.

Even MS Words equation editor supports LaTeX commands..
:) makes your life worth living with equations like so;

coolish.. init?

~*~*~*~*~~*~*~*~*~

~ Fun with Fone

2010-12-14T11:56:00.000-08:00

Al salam alaikum,

just givin' this blog a blurb style instead.. since i might not find enough time to be a raconteur all the time :)

i've been tweaking mod'ing around with my doodad lately.
sharing here the lock & home-screens, just sirey-raahey(btw).

[click to zoom in]

~*~*~*~*~~*~*~*~*~

~ Hajj; the journey of Hearts

2010-11-10T23:31:00.000-08:00

Salam alaik,

'Hajj' literally means to set out..
And there is a major difference between setting out & hanging out (for the heck of it).
For setting out is with a sincere solid intention -- infact ambition -- to go out & about to achieve something.
[ keep repeating these semantics to myself; helps me to purify my intention from time to time.]

1800's oldest snaps ever of Kabah tuLLAh

As we age, our life journey exerts an effect on us of types, we grow get seasoned so on & so forth.
Likely so, the journeys we embark on for places of kinds, render our thoughts & the way we look at our lives & ourselves mature enough to get the best out of our days ahead of us..

closeup

Hajj journey is one such life-changing event.
I don't even consider it a journey.. its more than that.. its odyssey.. an ongoing never ending one.
Uniformity, simplicity, serenity.. all packed at one place at one time.. its amazing.

[& uniform reminds me of this vid & the dude in it on wearing ihram.]

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=AJ-74409sjM

No particular plans to write an all elaborated evocative article on Hajj today.
Just sharing the feel here & some Hajj tips i've learnt to keep handy;

Shukar (thankfulness) - Always do shukar, try remembering & recalling all the blessings of Allah.

Sabr (patience) - Increase ur sabr scope & span [as in; What are the things you do sabr on? What are the ones on which you lose it? List them, and then start moving things into sabr list]

Dua (prayer) - "O Allah, make the last part of my life the best part in front of u, and the last deed the best deed in front of u."

Time/Places for Dua:

1. After drinking Zamzam water.
2. Looking at Kabah-tu-LLah
3. During Tawaf (circumambulation), b/w Rukn-al-Yamani & Hijr-ul-Aswad
4. While standing on Safa & Marwa hills.
5. Youm al Arafah.
6. In Muzdalifah.
7. After stoning Jamarah.

I find this link particularly useful;
The_inner_dimensions_of_hajj

Take the Quiz in the Extras top tab, & lets see how well you fare in your general knowledge of Hajj, & doing so get the yummy cookie of unlocking the 'Hidden Extras'..

Quran recitation from 1885;

~*~*~*~*~~*~*~*~*~

~ To a Research Rookie

2010-09-26T14:35:00.000-07:00

Salam alaikum,

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=NugRZGDbPFU

so i got this pm from someone somewhere the other day, that went like so;

On 09/14/10 8:14 PM, He wrote:

Hi...
I am a undergrad. fresh mechanical engineer from NUST-PNEC and I've keen interest in R&D but the problem is I don't want to go abroad or join defence organizations due to some personal reasons... I had the following questions in my mind:

1. How can I actively participate in R&D?
2. What is the advantage of writing a research paper?

Thnx in Advance..

--------------------

On the fly, i wrote back;

wa alaikum salam warahmatuLLAh brother,

am traveling, hence the delayed response.
its best to start with a salam -- if it ain't a generic statement you've sent to many besides me.
your questions are intriguing & need a detailed response, which i will inshallah, once feasible.
meanwhile, i'll be interested to know those personal reasons that hinder you from joining defense orgz back home.

wa'salam
- bother the brevity, courtesy of my doodad..err..iphone.

--------------------

I received yet another swift one this time;

5:33 AM, He wrote:

Asalam-o-Aliekm,

Jazakallah for correcting me... Well, I contacted professionals already in this field and i found that u were one of them... :)

I can wait for ur response.. but pls reply as soon as possible.

About defense, I ve seen some results like Dr. AQ Khan, therefore i feel uncomfortable.

Wsa'lam

--------------------

So yeah, once in shape i had to reply, which went like so;

Wa alaikum salam warahmatuLLAh,

wa iyyak, & here is the detailed reply i promised earlier on;

There are several ways of participating in R&D.
But prior to pointing em all, you first need to evaluate yourself, your skill-set and aptitude / interests to figure out if you are:

a) a theoretical guy
b) a practical guy
c) or both.

If you love to read n understand equations working behind a system, without giving a bunny's bum to the reality of the system / you are clueless about the where abouts of stuff in a car engine / never messed up with your computer hardware and OS for the fear of it -- then you should go into theoretical research.

If equations give you creeps and you love to destroy and fix things -- then you should be doing experimental research.

If you are jack of all -- then you are one great resource for this country.

Next you need to evaluate:
what are you interested in?
Solar energy / wind turbines / engineering design / structures / control systems, ... the list goes on & ever.
The best way is to shortlist the areas.

Finally, you need to see if you've acquired enough to carryout research in your area of interest. You need to either join a group already working in the area (in a university or a company), or find people / professionals / classmates interested in the same topic.

Now, in order to share your idea with other people for them to understand your thoughts, you need to write it down.

For that, first you need to jot down quite briefly what do you want to achieve?
what approach you will take?
and what do you expect?
this should be the first para and will be the abstract of the document.

Next, you need to write the introduction section, which will provide the motivation behind the idea ;
- why is this idea important? whats the need?
if anyone else has already worked on the idea, then;
- what did they do? and what are the shortcomings of their work if any?
& then your own approach in simplest words;
- whats soo new about it? and what are its advantages?

You'll then provide your method of tackling the problem, and give a prediction about its performance.

The most important thing is clarity of the document, i.e., when given to different people, each gets the same picture of your approach. Now thats not easy! (but not impossible either)

Why to go through so much pain?
So that, others can understand your idea, your approach and help you improve your idea. Someone can tell you its already thought about, giving you critical feedback; your approach lacks this and that. Someone could just suggest other possible approaches etc.
This will give you an idea if your idea is worth it or not.

Once the groundwork for your research has been laid down, you can carry it out, be it derivations, or making a system, or both.

Last but not the least, you need to tell the world what you did. This will require you to write a research paper, which will target a wider audience, and will provide more diverse feedback and thus your research will continue to improve on...inshAllah.

hth..
n good luck!
---
by the by, some suggested reads;
~ tips for technical paper
~ how to have a bad carrier in research

~*~*~*~*~~*~*~*~*~

~ Reality of Calamity

2010-08-18T07:19:00.000-07:00

Salam alaik,

no place to take a nap.. :/

Just encountered this on my surf-slide;
Viewpoint Column..

Calamity clears out the reality of a man, just like rage reflects the inner self.

The irony seeps in, when after every any calamity a group of people - who (rest assured) ain't even remotely affected by that calamity themselves, leading an absolutely 'eat drink n be merry' lifestyle - start crowing out together, categorizing any said calamity as a test only & mocking at the other set of people doing istighfaar. Sometimes even ending up (out of sheer ignorance or arrogance - whichever that is) jesting & jeering the obligation & Beloved's Sunnah of repentance itself.

No body gives (or should give) a dead dime or a bunny's bum on what such intellectually-dishonest among us have got to say out of their skewed sense of Ahkaam of Islam, but when it comes down to open mockery of Quran & Sunnah...then may Allah guide them or wipe them (out)

Without delving into much of that hoopla; a trash tarnishing our national demeanour, i'd jot down few bullet-points here to clear out once n for all;

Allaah says (interpretation of the meanings):

“Whatever of good reaches you, is from Allaah, but whatever of evil befalls you, is from yourself”
[al-Nisaa’ 4:79]

Allaah says (interpretation of the meanings):

“And whatever of misfortune befalls you, it is because of what your hands have earned. And He pardons much”
[al-Shoora 42:30]

Allah says, translation of which is;

“And We sent not the signs except to warn”
[al-Israa’ 17:59]

And Allaah says (interpretation of the meaning):

“Did the people of the towns then feel secure against the coming of Our punishment by night while they were asleep? Or, did the people of the towns then feel secure against the coming of Our punishment in the forenoon while they were playing? Did they then feel secure against the Plan of Allaah? None feels secure from the Plan of Allaah except the people who are the losers.”

[al-A’raaf 7:97-99]

Allaah says (interpretation of meaning):

“Verily, We sent (Messengers) to many nations before you (O Muhammad صلى الله عليه وسلم). And We seized them with extreme poverty (or loss in wealth) and loss in health (with calamities) so that they might humble themselves (believe with humility).
When Our Torment reached them, why then did they not humble themselves (believe with humility)? But their hearts became hardened, and Shaytaan (Satan) made fair‑seeming to them that which they used to do.
So, when they forgot (the warning) with which they had been reminded, We opened for them the gates of every (pleasant) thing, until in the midst of their enjoyment in that which they were given, all of a sudden, We took them (in punishment), and lo! They were plunged into destruction with deep regrets and sorrows”
[al-An’aam 6:42-44]

Allah says, translation of which is;

“Say: ‘He has power to send torment on you from above or from under your feet, or to cover you with confusion in party strife, and make you to taste the violence of one another.’”
[al-An’aam 6:65]

Allah says, translation of which is;

“Evil (sins and disobedience to Allaah) has appeared on land and sea because of what the hands of men have earned (by oppression and evil deeds), that He (Allaah) may make them taste a part of that which they have done, in order that they may return (by repenting to Allaah, and begging His Pardon)”
[al-Room 30:41]

Allah says, translation of which is;

“We will show them Our Signs in the universe, and in their own selves, until it becomes manifest to them that this (the Qur’aan) is the truth. Is it not sufficient in regard to your Lord that He is a Witness over all things?”
[Fussilat 41:53]

And Allaah said concerning the nations of the past, translation of which is:

“So We punished each (of them) for his sins, of them were some on whom We sent Haasib (a violent wind with shower of stones) [as on the people of Loot (Lot)], and of them were some who were overtaken by As-Saihah [torment — awful cry, (as Thamood or Shu‘ayb’s people)], and of them were some whom We caused the earth to swallow [as Qaaroon (Korah)], and of them were some whom We drowned [as the people of Nooh (Noah), or Fir‘aun (Pharaoh) and his people]. It was not Allaah Who wronged them, but they wronged themselves.”
[al-‘Ankaboot 29:40]

Al-Bukhaari narrated in his Saheeh from Jaabir ibn ‘Abd-Allaah (may Allaah be pleased with him) that when the aayah (interpretation of the meaning) “Say: ‘He has power to send torment on you from above” was revealed, the Prophet (peace and blessings of Allaah be upon him) said, “A’oodhu bi wajhika (I seek refuge in Your Face”; “or from under your feet”, he said, “A’oodhu bi wajhika (I seek refuge in Your Face).” (Saheeh al-Bukhaari, 5/193).

(Abu’l-Shaykh al-Isbahaani narrated from Mujaahid concerning the Tafseer of this aayah, “Say: ‘He has power to send torment on you from above”: (this means) al-Sayhah (the shout or tumult), stones and strong wind; “or from under your feet”, (means) earthquakes and being swallowed up by the earth.)

The great scholar Zakariya al-Ansaari (may Allaah have mercy on him) said:

It is mustahabb for everyone to beseech Allaah in supplication and so on when earthquakes and similar events, such as thunderbolts and strong winds, happen, and to offer prayers on his own in his house lest he be negligent, because the Prophet (blessings and peace of Allaah be upon him) said, when the wind blew strongly: “O Allaah, I ask You for its good and the good of what is in it and the good of what it is sent with, and I seek refuge in You from its evil and the evil of what is in it and the evil of what it is sent with.” Narrated by Muslim.
End quote.
[Asna al-Mataalib Sharh Rawd al-Taalib (1/288). See also Tuhfat al-Muhtaaj (3/65).]

Al-‘Allaamah Ibn al-Qayyim (may Allaah have mercy on him) said: “Allaah sometimes gives the earth permission to breathe, which is when major earthquakes happen; this makes people feel scared, so they repent, give up sins, pray to Allaah and feel regret [for their sins]. When there had been an earthquake, some of the Salaf said: your Lord is warning you. When Madeenah was struck by an earthquake, ‘Umar ibn al-Khattaab (may Allaah be pleased with you) addressed the people and said: if there is another earthquake, I will not stay here with you.”
[mentioned by Ibn al-Jawzi in al-Muntazam, among the events of the year 20 AH.]

And there are many similar reportes from the Salaf.

Undoubtedly, the earthquakes & such calmaties that are happening these days are among the signs which Allaah uses to frighten His slaves. All the earthquakes and other things which happen and cause harm and injury to people are because of shirk and sins, as Allaah says (interpretation of the meanings):

“And whatever of misfortune befalls you, it is because of what your hands have earned. And He pardons much” [al-Shoora 42:30]
“Whatever of good reaches you, is from Allaah, but whatever of evil befalls you, is from yourself” [al-Nisaa’ 4:79]

Solution:

Shaykh Ibn Baaz (may Allaah have mercy on him) said:

"What must be done at the time of an earthquake or other calamity, or an eclipse, strong wind or flood is to repent to Allaah, may He be glorified, and to beseech Him and ask Him for well-being, and to remember Him a great deal and ask Him for forgiveness, as the Prophet (blessings and peace of Allaah be upon him) said at the time of an eclipse: “When you see that, then turn to remembrance of Allaah and call upon Him and ask for His forgiveness.” Agreed upon. It is also mustahabb to show compassion to the poor and needy, and to give charity to them, because the Prophet (blessings and peace of Allaah be upon him) said: “Show mercy, you will be shown mercy.” (Narrated by Ahmad) And he said: “Those who show mercy will be shown mercy by the Most Merciful. Show mercy to those who are on earth and the One Who is in heaven will show mercy to you.” Narrated by al-Tirmidhi. And he (blessings and peace of Allaah be upon him) said: “The one who does not show mercy will not be shown mercy.” Narrated by al-Bukhaari. It was related from ‘Umar ibn ‘Abd al-‘Azeez (may Allaah have mercy on him) that he used to write to his emirs when earthquakes took place telling them to give charity.

One of the means of being safe and sound from all evils is for those in authority to hasten to restrain and impose an immediate crack-down on the foolish elements in society, & compel them to behave & adhere to the truth, and to implement the laws of Allaah among them, enjoining what is good and forbidding what is evil [Amr bil Ma'roof wa nahi anil Munakr], as Allaah says interpretation of the meaning is:

“The believers, men and women, are Awliyaa’ (helpers, supporters, friends, protectors) of one another; they enjoin (on the people) Al‑Ma‘roof (i.e. Islamic Monotheism and all that Islam orders one to do), and forbid (people) from Al‑Munkar (i.e. polytheism and disbelief of all kinds, and all that Islam has forbidden); they perform As-Salaah (Iqaamat-as-Salaah), and give the Zakaah, and obey Allaah and His Messenger. Allaah will have His Mercy on them. Surely, Allaah is All-Mighty, All-Wise”
[al-Tawbah 9:71]

“Verily, Allaah will help those who help His (Cause). Truly, Allaah is All‑Strong, All‑Mighty.
Those (Muslim rulers) who, if We give them power in the land, (they) enjoin Iqamat‑as‑Salaah [i.e. to perform the five compulsory congregational Salaah (prayers) (the males in mosques)], to pay the Zakaah and they enjoin Al‑Ma‘roof (i.e. Islamic Monotheism and all that Islam orders one to do), and forbid Al‑Munkar (i.e. disbelief, polytheism and all that Islam has forbidden) [i.e. they make the Qur’aan as the law of their country in all the spheres of life]. And with Allaah rests the end of (all) matters (of creatures)”
[al-Hajj 22:40-41]

“And whosoever fears Allaah and keeps his duty to Him, He will make a way for him to get out (from every difficulty).
And He will provide him from (sources) he never could imagine. And whosoever puts his trust in Allaah, then He will suffice him. Verily, Allaah will accomplish his purpose. Indeed Allaah has set a measure for all things”
[al-Talaaq 65:2-3]

And there are many verses with similar meanings."

End quote.
[Majmoo’ Fataawa Ibn Baaz (9/150-152).]

Earthquakes (or floods) are one of the great signs of Allaah in this universe, with which He tests His slaves as a reminder or to instil fear of Him or as a punishment. Man must remember, when the signs occur, his weakness, incapability, humble status before Allaah and his need of Him, so he turns to Allaah, may He be exalted and glorified, in supplication, beseeching and humility, in the hope that Allaah will lift this great distress from the people.

Hence,

What Muslims and others who are accountable and of sound mind must do is to; repent to Allaah, adhere firmly to His Religion and avoid all that He has forbidden of Shirk and sin, so that they may be safe and attain salvation from all evils in this world and the next, and so that Allaah will ward off from them all harm, and bless them with all good. Allaah says (interpretation of the meaning):

“And if the people of the towns had believed and had the Taqwaa (piety), certainly, We should have opened for them blessings from the heaven and the earth, but they belied (the Messengers). So We took them (with punishment) for what they used to earn (polytheism and crimes).” [al-A’raaf 7:96]

And Allaah says concerning the People of the Book (interpretation of the meaning):

“And if only they had acted according to the Tawraah (Torah), the Injeel (Gospel), and what has (now) been sent down to them from their Lord (the Qur’ân), they would surely, have gotten provision from above them and from underneath their feet” [al-Maa’idah 5:66].

In light of overwhelming evidence form Quran & Sunnah, Scholars respond that when there is an earthquake or some other sign such as an eclipse, strong winds or floods, one should hasten to repent to Allaah and pray to Him for safety, and to remember Him much and seek His forgiveness, as the Prophet (peace and blessings of Allaah be upon him) said when there was an eclipse:
“If you see anything like that, hasten to remember Him, call on Him and seek His forgiveness.”
(Part of an agreed-upon hadeeth narrated by al-Bukhaari (2/30) and Muslim (2/628)).

It is also mustahabb (recommended, encouraged) to show compassion to the poor and needy, and to give charity to them, because the Prophet (peace and blessings of Allaah be upon him) said:

“Show mercy, you will be shown mercy.”
(Narrated by Imaam Ahmad, 2/165)

“Those who are merciful will be shown mercy by the Most Merciful. Have mercy on those who are on earth, and the One Who is in heaven will show mercy to you.”
(Narrated by Abu Dawood (13/285), al-Tirmidhi (6/43)).

“Whoever does not show mercy will not be shown mercy.” (Narrated by al-Bukhaari (5/75), Muslim (4/1809)).

It was reported that when there was an earthquake, ‘Umar ibn ‘Abd al-‘Azeez (may Allaah have mercy on him) would write to his governors telling them to give in charity.

The Prophet ( peace and blessings of Allaah be upon him) said: “Whoever meets the need of his brother, Allaah will meet his needs.” (Agreed upon; al-Bukhaari, 3/98; Muslim, 4/1996).

And he ( peace and blessings of Allaah be upon him) said: “Whoever relieves a believer of some of the distress of this world, Allaah will relieve him of some of the distress of the Day of Resurrection. Whoever makes things easier for one who is suffering hardship, Allaah will make things easier for him in this world and in the Hereafter. Whoever conceals a Muslim’s faults, Allaah will conceal his faults in this world and in the Hereafter. Allaah will help a person so long as he helps his brother.”
(Narrated by Muslim, 4/2074). And there are many ahaadeeth on this topic.

One should offer du’aa’ as inspired by Allaah to ask for mercy and help from Allaah, may He be exalted and glorified, so that He might divert this calamity from the people.

Allaah is the only One Whom we ask to reform the affairs of all the Muslims and to bless them with proper understanding of Islam and help them to adhere steadfastly to it and repent to Allaah from all their sins. We ask Him to reform all those who are in authority over the Muslims’ affairs and to support the Truth and eradicate falsehood through them, and to help them to rule the people according to the laws of sharee’ah, and to protect them and all the Muslims from misguidance and temptation and the tricks of the Shaytaan, for He is Able to do all that.

May the blessings and peace of Allaah be upon our Prophet Muhammad, and upon his family and companions, and those who follow them in truth until the Day of Resurrection.

And Allaah knows best.

~*~*~*~*~~*~*~*~*~

~ The Suicidal Assassins

2010-08-02T14:27:00.000-07:00

Salam alaikum,

They are amongst us; as family members, as friends, as sibling, as parents, as children.
Beware! since these assassins attempt to victimize themselves and those around them to a slow painful death.

Personally they are perfectly normal humans, with no wish to inflict damage to their near and dear ones.
But they choose to embrace a dis-ease which is like a slow-mo suicide.
The affecting effect is long-term, with long-reach & is devastating.
Even people of high intellect get infected to it by choice, and in doing so prove that education, knowledge & intelligence can't rid one of stupidity.

Do you recognize them?
These are the people puffing n coughing deadly smoke out of their mouths every now n then, hurting themselves & people around them through passive smoking, knowing its hazards all along; .. these are the cigarette addicts, commonly called the (active) Smokers.

A smoker is guilty of several accounts, a few are listed like so:

Life and health is trusted from Allah to humans, taking care of it is a duty. A smoker ignores this duty.
Smoking is slow suicide which is forbidden in Islam.
Smoking is an addiction which is forbidden in Islam
Smoking is a waste of time.
Spending money on smoking is a waste of money; 'israaf'.
A smoker ignores the warning given by people around him, and on the cigarette packs, and therefore holds complete responsibility for his actions.
A smoker is a threat to the life of his wife and lil children.
A smoker is a threat to his friends and colleagues.
A smoker has a foul smelling mouth which causes discomfort to Allah's creatures while praying in congregation.
A smoker is a potential fire hazard.
A smoker is harmful to nature around him, such as, plants, birds etc.

I, by no means, am attempting or tempting to create hatred against smokers, rather these sick people need our attention & care; we need to brain-storm a way to knock some sense into them.
May Allah rid all the smokers of their addiction.
Amin.

~*~*~*~*~~*~*~*~*~

~ Innovation exploitation

2010-07-29T06:23:00.000-07:00

Salam alaik,

Prediction or extrapolation offers the ultimate test of the information-content one possesses.
This process is most evident in toddlers, trying to explore the world around learning to walk n talk.
The ability that the Creator; Allah, has bestowed upon them is to be curious enough to learn_by_making_mistakes.
In other words, this ability allows one to compare an expected_out_come against actual _out_come.

Herez a make up example to explain: a child has some cool toy with black n white colors on it which he likes. Now he looks at the black n white colored stove & ponders, "hmmm... this (stove) looks cool, must be playable." Poor child burns his hand but learns a great deal - albeit the hard way - that all black n white stuff ain't so cool.
There was an error in the prediction - a great deal in this case - but lesson learnt was lasting nonetheless.

A less forgiving case is that of exercise questions at the end of chapters, written by seasoned authors.
A student uses the information given in the chapter to solve the exercise questions (which are not plug_this_formula_n_get_answer sort), only to find out that he couldn't quite get hold of it.
He goes back, reads up the same info over again from the perspective of the question, & try giving it another shot based on that info.
He, actually, is predicting & then improving on his grip about the subject from his initial error.

Same is the concept of Kalman filtering, i'm into these days.

Its a probability-based digital filter capable of filtering 'white noise', using its own error-information.

Here, the difference between a prediction and reality is called "innovation", & learning is all about exploiting that "innovation".

~ Soaring the Simulation

2010-07-23T13:36:00.000-07:00

Salam alaik,

Thinking Vectors & Matrices.. its either my way or MATLAB's way..

On a semi-sarcastic side note though, Guys having C or Java background write a MATLAB script just as they'd do that in C, i.e. using loops.
MATLAB is all about vectors & matrices.. so loops could be avoided consideably.
To wit - Consider this simple example;

Lets say we've got two vectors, like so;

a = [1 2 3]' and, b = [4 5 6]'

Now if we wantna take the dot product in C, we would write something like this for loop in C;

c[i] = a[i]*b[i];

While in MATLAB its simply;

c = a'*b; %(a Transposed x b),

So, in essence it does the looping for us.. clean & simple.

Coming back to Simulations..
A cool tool for writing communication system simulations; MATLAB, offers two approaches to do so;

1. MATLAB scripting language.
2. Simulink blocksets.

The former is recommended for the proof_of_concept development usually required in academic & research projects, while the latter is for rapid prototyping in time-constrained industrial projects.
I, for one, usually use the first approach, as my work involves research & development.
The key to make a script time-efficient is to;

a. Think in vectors and matrices.
b. Avoid unnecessary loops here & there.
c. Initialize large vectors and matrices before use.

With these simple tips one could make life quite easy.

Happy scripting...

But wait..

Sometimes the curves you get from MATLAB simulations aren't smooth enough, even after several 100th of runs. I usually smooth them out using:

sgolayfilt(your_variable, m, F)

where m=2,F=21.

Result: cool looking curves, at the expense of one additional line in simulation section of your paper.

Furthermore, I also change the font size & width of the curves using;

h = plot(my_x, my_y); hold on; grid on;
set(h, 'linewidth', 3);
set(get(h, 'parent'), 'fontsize', 14);

Result: .. even cooler

;o)

~*~*~*~*~~*~*~*~*~

~ Casting out the Colors

2010-07-21T13:04:00.000-07:00

Salam alaik,

MATLAB generates cool looking colored ps-files.
Unfortunately thoguh, most of the conferences & periodicals ask for gray scale images instead.
It gives you a big pain_in_the_neck tryna find suitable colors that could be distinguished at gray-scale level, esp in cases when markers don't serve the purpose well enough.

So..
I've discovered a simple Color to gray scale trick.
How to get around it is a little more tricky.
& by the end of the toil u'll get MATLAB generated PS-files, by editing the ps file directly.

First off, search for lines similar to;

/c8 { 1.00000 0.000000 0.000000 sr} bdef

Now lets dissect down this piece by piece..

/c8: According to my calculations '/c' means color here and '8' is numbering that may vary.

{1.00000 0.000000 0.000000 sr}: The RGB values; all values should be same & less than one for grey-scale. Note that all 'zeros' mean black, and all 'ones' mean white. Darker values are harder to distinguish, so I suggest giving more gap in values chosen between 0-0.5. While, less gaps can be afforded for values between 0.5-1.0.

That little doo-dad will clear the remainder of the picture. Like so;
Here is an example of a color image;

Now ,we require 6 gray-scale values. I used [0 0.3 0.55 0.65 0.75 0.85], & VOILA!
Here is the result;

aint that a neat trick right there?
It actually isn't much of a trick..
see if u could come up with more trix.

~*~*~*~*~~*~*~*~*~

~ Fiddling with Figures

2010-07-17T04:33:00.000-07:00

Salam alaik,

People've got an awesome practice of saving figures in the simulation script just after results are finalized.

Its a jolly good habit for all i can tell, since it pretty much prevents a lot of future headache.

No rocket science there..
The function to save a MATLAB figure file "saveas"; can save in several formats including fig (matlab figure), bmp (bitmap - though not recommended), ai (adobe illustrator), psc2 (colored post-script - recommended for latex), so on n so forth.

Fig files are useful in another sense, i.e., the data is automatically secured with it. n i'll show you in a minute -inshAllah- how data could be extracted from the saved fig files;

Open the saved .fig file using open function. e.g., open abc.fig
Use gcf to get the current figure pointer/handler and save it in a variable, e.g., h = gcf
Use get command to get hold of the children of the gcf, H = get(h, 'children')
Finally, search for the handle of the child which containts all the plots.
Suppose H(2) is the child with all the plots, then use H2 = get(H(2), 'children')
Now use set(H2(i)), where i = 1 to number of plots, to list all the properties and change their values.
Similarly, use the get(H2(i)) to fetch the values of all the properties.

For example, the script below extracts data from the plots.

clear all;
% open the .fig file
open test.fig; 
% get the current graph handle
h = gcf; 
% get the children of the figure file
H = get(h, 'Children');
% For this specific case the 2nd child has all the plots
H2 = get(H(2), 'Children');

Y = [];
for i = 1:length(H2)
% get the data of y-axis
    Y = [Y; get(H2(i), 'YData')];
end

Here is a test.fig, i fiddled with using the above script;

..enjoy.
n happy scripting!

~*~*~*~*~~*~*~*~*~

~ M-ary Constellations

2010-07-15T02:39:00.000-07:00

Salam alaik,

M-ary Phase shift keying (PSK) is not only simple but mathematically elegant too.

The symbol values are the Mth root of unity & is given like so:

exp(j.2.\pi.m/M), where m = 0, ..., M-1.

Use the same expression in MATLAB with a bit of rotation for fun :p

% the number of constellation points
M = 16;
m = 0:M-1;

% obtaining the constellation points with pi/M rotation
PSK_16 = exp(j*2*pi*m/M - j*pi/M);

Here is the plot I quickly designed; the Mth roots of unity with rotation..

Try out this 'M-ary_Quadrature_Amplitude_Modulated_Constellation' construction for yourself, & lemme know how good you go.

~*~*~*~*~~*~*~*~*~

~ Communication..

2010-07-13T09:06:00.000-07:00

Salam alaik,

have been a happy man ever since the advent of VoIP..

VoIP is a wonderful thing for people whose role in life is to be on top of things.
But not for me; my role is to be on the bottom of things.
What I do takes long hours of studying and uninterruptible concentration. I try to learn certain areas of digital communications exhaustively; then I try to digest that knowledge into a form that is accessible to people who don't have time for such study.

Otoh, I need to communicate with hundreds of people all over the world as I write my periodicals.
I also want to be responsive to the people who read & review those articles and have questions or comments.

My goal is to do this communication efficiently, in batch mode --- like, one day every three months. So if you want to talk to me about any topic, please use good ol' snail mail and send a letter to my postal address..
You might also try faxing me. Chances are that it'll be seen last, perhaps once every six months instead of three.
:o)

~*~*~*~*~~*~*~*~*~

~ G-volution

2010-06-06T15:12:00.000-07:00

Asalam alaikum,

The other day i was thoroughly amazed to know that my audi A6 mechanic is infact a molecular biologist
:O
i asked him as to what on earth was he doing in a car-ridden garage instead?
To my unsurprise though, he pointed towards his awesomely handsome earnings, his BMW & his yemeni nationality barring him from government run high-profile specialized (& saudialized) laboratories.
He asked me to teach him english linguistic skills (on top of presenting a persian cat as a gift).
I asked him to teach me arabic instead, & keep his pet since his lil kids were all teary on their father's decision.

On the more -
I'm interested in this system;
(a want & not a need)

►http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Kyy8Z-39aOs

Returning -

Telecommunications, especially mobile communication has been through drastic changes in recent years, & there is no sign of stopping to rest anytime sooner.

Remember the days when mobile unit was hard to fit in deepest of pockets with a single technology? & now a palm device holds a whole plethora of multiple technologies!..

The vision of doing better, & faster has lead us from narrow band digital 2G, to wide-band 3G with internet access, with us knocking the doors of all IP packet switched network; Next-Gen ultra-boardband 4G - where G stands for generation & not just guesstimation.

Fourth-generation (4G) mobile systems dictate entirely new approaches & novel infrastructure solutions to seamlessly integrate the existing wireless technologies including wireless broadband (WiBro), 802.16e, CDMA, wireless LAN, Bluetooth, and etc.

The key features of 4G mobile systems can be summarized as follows.
First, 4G mobile systems are all-IP based heterogeneous networks that allow users to use any system at any time and anywhere.
Then, 4G mobile systems provide end-users with high-speed, large volume, good quality, global coverage, and flexibility to roam between different types of technologies.
Finally, 4G mobile systems provide high-data-rate services to accommodate numerous multimedia applications such as video conferencing, on-line gaming, etc.

Yet the vision still continues...

What comes up is 5G..
& what stores in for 5G?
Well, for one, one of the candidate candy ideas is the use of 'Cognition' in communicating mobile.
The vision to give emotions & feelings to the mobile set itself to sense its surroundings.

The motivation behind cognition is efficient utilization of one of the most precious (& costly for telecom companies for that matter) resources in telecom; the frequency band. Since even at its busiest, current technology is not capable to consume the alloted band completely & every now & then chunks of this precious resource are left unused here & there; referred to as spectrum holes.

5G promises to utilize this otherwise wasted portions of frequency, by putting intelligence or cognition in a mobile set. Two types of users are envisioned in this recent paradigm; primary users, secondary users.

Primary users have priority over secondary users, i.e.; secondary users could only gobble up the leftover pieces of the pie (frequency band).
The challenge is in finding those left-overs portions, as they keep on changing their position and size.
This calls on for sensing of the environment (radio sensing), and then analyzing it (radio scene analysis) and finally predicting the next empty slot. Only then 5G technology will have the ability carryout a meaningful communication.

Cognitive Radio is the new hype..
cog. rad. band wagon is now the focus of attention & tremendous research efforts are going down this direction.

wonder how many generations will come n go..
& like ever propping up dimensions (specially after the discovery of quantum mechanics) we'll end up with like 15 G or something..

So lets just make hay while the sun shines!

~*~*~*~*~~*~*~*~*~

~ AlhamduliLLAh

2010-06-04T06:05:00.000-07:00

Asalam alaikum,

The day is a heavy day..
i just received a reply for my application.. stating that all faculty positions are full.
AlhamduliLLAh..
'but' its hard & Allah knows..

In comparison, this weak alhamduliLLAh of mine reminds me of a lady, who lives here & worked at a local school.
I came to know that she was a widow with two sons & a daughter.
Her elder son, on whom she invested much, & who grew up to get a good education & nice job with a cool '0' meter flashy car, met with a horribly fatal accident on Yanbu highway & died on spot.
The guy was 25 & his mother was in pakistan to shop for the upcoming marriage of his engaged son.
He was burried in Makkah Mukarramah alongside his father.

Life went on..

Her daughter got married.. & the younger son grew up to be independent with a car of his own & both mother & son went to Madinah Munawwarah.
On their way back, they met with a horrible accident.. mother survived, boy din't.
He was 25, engaged & soon to be married.
When she woke up in the hospital & was able enough to bear the burden of the news, the doctors told her about it & told her to do Sabr & say 'AlhamduliLLAH', so they can proceed with the burial.
She din't say it right away.. for her grief won't let her believe..
The docs asked her to say 'AlhamduliLLAH', so they can proceed with the burial, because they couldn't proceed if not given the consent of the mother (in form of AlhmaduliLLAh).
Eventually.. she uttered AlhamduliLLah..
And it was then, that he was buried in Madinah Munawwarah.

The power of alhamduliLLAH.. & life goes on with her today.

~*~*~*~*~~*~*~*~*~

~ Med Shred #1

2010-06-02T06:58:00.000-07:00

Salam alaikum,

Thought to revisit here after a sporadic hiatus owing to a bit of blogathy & more of blogstipation really.

Its been a while since I've been ~~pestering~~ insisting my spouse to maintain an online collection of her learning experiences. Not only will it serve as a first hand experience narrative, but may prove to be priceless resource in the long run too (inshAllah).

But, as it turns out.. there are some time issues in way of sitting & organizing thoughts, i suppose - a difficult thing indeed.

Nonetheless, every now & then i'll be posting here whatever bits I receive from her & reproduce them as is (albeit a lil face-lifting though :p) on this blog of mine, till such time i set up a new one for her own personal use.

Title of such entries will remain the same, as in; 'Med Shreds' with a sequel #.
Here goes the first one;
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

By: Dr. Naz. S.

I got convinced lately, that there are not many informal cancer resources online. None in Riyadh that I know of.
I've been told that jotting down daily learning in a bullet form, will help boost the response in upcoming challenges.
I've also been told that if I do that, it'll be like an online encyclopedia for people to cross reference on things I've recollected over time.
So, after making a good intention, of sharing knowledge in which ever way possible for the greater benefit of humanity, I will be writing (inshAllah) from now onwards.

He was an inspirational speaker, a visionary & carried out revolutionary work in health & education sectors.
Its been long since King Faisal died an unexpected death.
But his hospital which was inaugurated in 1975, still continues to be (sadqah jariyah) one of he best in whole of the middle east, its research center being the only recognized center of excellence in the whole region (besides israel).

The other day I heard Dr saheb ask tess; "Is the new physician at her seat?.. if yes send her in!"
I kind of felt like being summoned for another viva. But times have changed. Gone are the golden soul crushing days of med school life.

The discussion that day was just about how things were going with me, & if i was finding the patient follow up work interesting at all.

Dr. Saheb, who is an Allama Iqbal med school graduate, a Brooklyn Downstate hospital trained M.D., a Medical Oncologist Consultant, was narrating how the center has achieved yet another prestigious membership of an International Cancer Research body, & the amount of effort placed into it in terms of patient follow up & data collection.

In the course, he asked me to define a one liner difference between a tumor stage & a tumor grade, also asked me to describe in a sentence whats a tumour marker, where is it produced, its role?

Then went on to ask for types & phases of clinical trial (of which i was unaware, as i am fairly new to this kind of stuff)

He gently asked me to go grab a gist of what a clinical trial is, its origin prerequisites, & get a grip of its phases etc, & get back to him with whatever i gained..

I started exploring & reading & came to know the basic salient stand points that demarcate Clinical trials on humans from those on animals.

Although it is understandable to focus on goals of contributing to the field of science, keeping in mind our society values & the rights and welfare of individuals, but it is not considered ethical behavior to use humans solely as means to an end.
So, in order to exhibit & lay down the importance of demonstrating respect for research participants, there are certain set of principles used to define ethical research and the regulations, policies, and guidance.

In my self study session for the given assignment, I came to know that the first ever concept of a Clinical Trial (more so an ethical clinical trial) was introduced by Ibn e Seena (Aivcenna) in 1025 A.D in his bool Al-Qanoon fi al-Tibb (The Canon of Medicine).

It was a time when Muslim world was the pioneer in Research & Development.

He laid down rules for the experimental use and testing of drugs on human subjects, and wrote a precise scientific guide for practical experimentation for discovering and proving the effectiveness of medical drugs.
Ibn Abd Allah ibn Sina simple rules and principles for testing the effectiveness of new medications form the basis of modern clinical trials:

The drug must be free from any extraneous accidental quality.
It must be used on a simple, not a composite, disease.
The drug must be tested with two contrary types of diseases, because sometimes a drug cures one disease by its essential qualities and another by its accidental ones.
The quality of the drug must correspond to the strength of the disease. For example, there are some drugs whose heat is less than the coldness of certain diseases, so that they would have no effect on them.
The time of action must be observed, so that essence and accident are not confused.
The effect of the drug must be seen to occur constantly or in many cases, for if this did not happen, it was an accidental effect.
The experimentation must be done with the human body, for testing a drug on a lion or a horse might not prove anything about its effect on man.

Qanoon (which means "law" in Arabic), the Canon of Medicine remained a medical authority up until early 19th century. It set the standards for medicine in Europe and the Islamic world, and is Abu Ali ibn AbduLLAh's most renowned written work alongside Kitab al-Shifa (The Book of Healing).
Qanoon was used at many medical schools—at University of Montpellier, France for instance, as late as 1650, to understand the basis & ethics of research. Much of the book was also translated into Chinese as the Huihui Yaofang (Prescriptions of the Hui Nationality). The Canon also formed the basis of Unani medicine, a form of traditional medicine practiced in subcontinent.
The principles of medicine described by the Qanoon ten centuries ago are still taught at UCLA and Yale University, among others, as part of the history of medicine.

Then I came to know that physician Frederick Akbar Mahomed of subcontinent origin, who worked at Guy's Hospital in London made substantial contributions to the study of high blood pressure during his short professional career from 1872 to 1884, when he died at the age of 35.
In the process of clinical trials during his detailed clinical studies, he separated chronic nephritis with secondary hypertension from what we now term in medical as 'essential hypertension'.
He also founded 'the Collective Investigation Record for the British Medical Association'; this organization collected data from physicians practicing outside the hospital setting (extramural) and was the precursor of modern collaborative clinical trials & medical transcription.

Another famous clinical trial was James Lind's demonstration in 1747 that citrus fruits cure scurvy disease. He compared the effects of various different acidic substances, ranging from vinegar to cider, on groups of afflicted sailors, and found that the group who were given oranges and lemons had largely recovered from scurvy after 6 days.

Dr. Saheb asked me to take a 3 hours online certification exam on 'Protecting Human Research Participants in clinical trials.'
It was basically a test of medical ethics, mainly regarding how to be gentle, generous & at the same time meticulous with your patients.
Questions revolved around some basic qualities like Justice, Beneficence & Respect for persons, their medical rights, their Anonymity & their Autonomy.
I scored 20 out of 21 (alhamduliLLAh).

Its just the beginning of the journey full of learning & serving & sawab (hopefully)

~*~*~*~*~~*~*~*~*~

~ SubhanAllah

2010-05-21T16:41:00.000-07:00

Salam alaikum,

Even in the events surrounding us are signs for those who ponder..

Allah is uniting us through the name of his beloved Rasool (salaLLAhu alehi wa alihi wassalam - fidaa ummi wa abi) & the cause for his honor.. some 1,500 years after him.

The phenomenal activism is just mind blowing & its pretty humbling, i'd say, to see Muslims of all colors, races, ethnicities & Jama'at platforms left & right unifying for this cause.. subhanAllah.

Video

Rulings & Jurisprudence;

Our attitude concerning mockery of the Prophet (peace and blessings of Allaah be upon him)
http://www.islamqa.com/en/ref/86109

Regarding the hadeeth about the blind man who killed his slave woman because she reviled the Prophet (peace and blessings of Allaah be upon him)
http://www.islamqa.com/en/ref/103739

Confusion about the hadeeth of the blind man
http://www.islamqa.com/en/ref/111252

Ruling on one who insults the Prophet (peace and blessings of Allaah be upon him)
http://www.islamqa.com/en/ref/22809

~*~*~*~*~~*~*~*~*~

~ The Secret Door

2010-05-16T12:13:00.000-07:00

Salam alaikum,

Much has been going on this past week in my head (& in real life ofcourse :p), specially since a journal dead-line is fast approaching & the time is neigh.

I was mulling over multiple speedy options including telecommuting (which - unlike the general perception - needs a lot of freelance selfemployed selfdiscipline), specially when my dean will be on a hiatus, flying off to france pretty soon, only to return next month - inshAllah.

It was close to getting all overwhelming & before i'd freak out, I was provided with this nice read by my consort from one of her med handbooks & clinical training manuals.. & somehow it all made quite a relevant sense to me in these times, even though i've nothing to do with this field whatsoever.

Here goes the refreshing read;

On being busy: Corrigan’s secret door;

“I work much better in chaos”..
- Francis Bacon.

Chaos is not always an enemy: certainly there is no shortage of it in hospitals, consulting rooms, and other battle-grounds.

Can we prepare ourselves to use chaos well? Being fore-warned allows us to be fore-armed, enabling us to adapt to being busy, or at least to wink at each other as we slide down the cascade of long hours--> excessive paperwork--> too few beds--> effort_reward_imbalance--> compromised care from too few resources--> trouble with superiors--> difficult patients--> too many deaths--> failure to reconcile personal and family life with professional roles.

Thus, Logistic regression shows our consequent problems are predicted by 5 stressors:
1 Lack of recognition of own contribution by others.
2 Too much responsibility.
3 Difficulties keeping up to date.
4 Making the right decision alone.
5 Effects of stress on personal/family life.

We may think that it is modern medicine that makes us ever busier, but doctors have always been busy.
Dr. James Paget, for example, would regularly see over patients each day, sometimes travelling many miles, on his horse, to their bedsides.

Dr. Dominic Corrigan was so busy 180 years ago that he had a secret door made in his consulting room to escape the ever-growing queue of eager patients.

We are all familiar with the phenomenon of being hopelessly over-stretched, and of wanting Corrigan’s secret door. Competing, urgent, and simultaneous demands make carrying out any task all but impossible: the junior doctor is trying to put up an intravenous infusion on a shocked patient when his ‘bleep’ sounds. On his way to the phone a patient is falling out of bed, being held in, apparently, only by his visibly lengthening catheter (which had taken the doctor an hour to insert). He knows he should stop to help but, instead, as he picks up the phone, he starts to tell Sister about “this man dangling from his catheter” (knowing in his heart that the worst will have already happened). But he is interrupted by a thud coming from the bed of the lady who has just had her varicose veins attended to: however, it is not her, but her visiting husband who has collapsed and is now having a seizure. In despair, he turns to the nurse and groans:
“There must be some way out of here!!”..

At times like this we all need Corrigan to take us by the shadow of our hand, and walk with us through a metaphorical secret door into a calm inner world. To enable this to happen, make things as easy as possible for yourself—as follows;

First, however lonely you feel, you are not usually alone. Do not pride yourself on not asking for help. If a decision is a hard one, share it with a colleague.

Second, take any chance you get to sit down and rest. Have a cup of coffee with other members of staff, or with a friendly patient (patients are sources of renewal, not just devourers of your energies).

Third, do not miss meals. If there is no time to go to the canteen, ensure that food is put aside for you to eat when you can: hard work and sleeplessness are twice as bad when you are hungry.

Fourth, avoid making work for yourself. It is too easy for junior doctors, trapped in their image of excessive work and blackmailed by misplaced guilt, to remain on the wards reclerking patients, rewriting notes, or rechecking results at an hour when the priority should be caring for themselves.

Fifth, when a bad part of the rota is looming, plan a good time for when you are off duty, to look forward to during the long nights.

However busy the ‘on take’ or 'on call', your period of duty will end.
For you, as for Macbeth:

'come what come may,

time and the hour runs through the roughest day.'

Riding the wave;

In Macbeth, toil and trouble go hand in hand, but sometimes we work best when we are busy. This is recognized in the aphorism that if you want a job done quickly, give it to a busy (wo)man. Observe your colleagues and yourself during a busy day. Sometimes our energy achieves nothing but our own inundation. At other times, by jettisoning everything non-essential, we get airborne and accomplish marvellous feats. As with any sport, we have to break into a sweat before we can get into the zone, where every action meets its mark.

But note that what keeps us riding the wave of a busy day is not what we jettison but what we retain: humour, courtesy, a recognition of the work of others, and an ability to twinkle.

A smile causes no delays, and reaches far beyond our lips.

In our public medical personas, we often act as though morality consisted only in following society’s conventions: we do this not so much out of laziness but because we recognize that it is better that the public think of doctors as old-fashioned or stupid, than that they should think us evil. But in the silences of our consultations, when it is we ourselves who are under the microscope, then, wriggle as we may, we cannot escape our destiny, which is to lead as often as to follow, in the sphere of ethics. To do this, we need to return to first principles, and not go with the flow of society’s expectations.

To give us courage in this enterprise, we can recall the aviator’s and the seagull’s law:
'it is only by facing the prevailing wind that we can become airborne, and achieve a new vantage point from which to survey our world.'

Our analysis starts with our aim: to do good by making people healthy. 'Good' is the most general term of commendation, and entails four cardinal duties:
1 Not doing harm. We owe this duty to all people, not just our patients.
2 Doing good by positive actions. We particularly owe this to our patients.
3 Promoting justice—i.e. distributing scarce resources fairly and respecting rights: legal rights, rights to confidentiality, rights to be informed, to be offered all the options, and to be told the truth...
4. Promoting autonomy.

Don’t think of good and evil as forever opposite; good can come out of evil, and vice versa - this fundamental mix-up explains why we learn more from our dissolute patients than we do from saints..

[...so on & so forth]

Source

~*~*~*~*~~*~*~*~*~

~ Projects

2010-05-15T10:38:00.000-07:00

Salam alaikum,

While having a lil light chit chat with a good friend of mine, he sent some funny stuff my way.
A disgruntled I.T dude, as he is, its kinda expected coming form him.
umm..
a bit too gynecological (or obstetric?) perspective of IT, i dare say :D.. but here goes nothing;

I.T. Designations:

1) Project Manager is a person who thinks nine women can deliver a baby in One month.

2) Developer is a person who thinks it will take 18 months to deliver a baby.

3) Onsite Coordinator is one who thinks a single woman can deliver nine babies in one month.

4) Client is the one who doesn't even know why he wants a baby.

5) Marketing Manager is a guy who thinks he can deliver a baby even if no man and woman are available.

6) Resource Optimization Team reckons they don't need a man or woman; they'll produce a child with zero resources.

7) Documentation Team deems they don't care whether the child is delivered, they'll just document 9 months.

8) Quality Auditor is the person who is never happy with the PROCESS of baby production.

And lastly..

9) Tester is a person who always tells his spouse that this is not the Right baby!

The How's :

>> How a web-design goes straight to hell?

That's how !

>> How projects really work?
click the below to zoom..

~*~*~*~*~~*~*~*~*~

~ Busy Behind the Wheel

2010-05-02T12:05:00.000-07:00

Salam alaikum,

Over & over again, i get warned by my family not to attend my cell while driving.. not that i compose sms or text something, but some calls from professors are just too important.

I ignore this advice saying that i can handle & am too good for this lil distraction & sometimes even dismiss it as too much ado about nothing..

Not until i was asked to play this lil game, which i played twice.. & scored.. well not too bad enough.. alhamduliLLAh :p

(gates missed the first time were 0% too, with an average delay while texting..)

But still not too good either, since real life is sorta different & makes me think i should really rethink my cell strategy from behind the wheel..

Its Distracted_Driver game by NYT to gauge your distraction while you're texting on the road. The game puts you driving on a road having to negotiate a number of toll booths along the way, to see how good you go. And thus it tests your ability to drive through the correct gates without any distractions, and then it makes you write a couple of text messages whilst still having to negotiate the booths.
After you finish the game, you get a comparison of your result with everyone else who has played so far.
P.S; I did see the gray lady the first time but failed the second time..

Digging through some papers i figured that the science of mobile phone use whilst driving is a developing field, with most of the recent research suggesting that you are just as impaired - or more so - if texting or using a hand-held mobile as you are if you are disillusioned or semiconscious (sleepy).

A couple of great resources if you are interested at all:

SWOV Fact sheet: Use of mobile phone while driving was published in 2008 by The national road safety research institute (SWOV). It contains a great deal of up-to-date research. Their conclusion is that the negative effects of mobile phone use whilst driving are caused by both physical and cognitive distraction. Although physical distraction can be reduced through the use of such aids as handsfree phones and speed dialling, cognitive distraction remains the crucial problem. They conclude that handsfree phones do not have significant safety advantages over handheld phones. They also point towards research suggesting that talking on a mobile phone is associated with cognitive distraction that may undermine pedestrian safety.
Applied Cognition Laboratory, Department of Psychology, University of Utah - has published a wealth of research on the impact of using in-car technologies on driving performance and traffic safety. It is well worth a browse of their published articles.

Oh n before i forget, check out the Distracted_Driver game & try it out yourself - if you too are into tech_behind_wheel ailment.

~*~*~*~*~~*~*~*~*~

~ Mind the Gap plz

2010-05-01T08:26:00.000-07:00

Asalm alaikum,

Whether we want to believe it or no; Much of the world has been engulfed into globalization, for good or for worse.

As I've been scribbling & has scribbled in past that application of statistics is mind-numbingly dull, but statistics can be quite interesting when you dig deep down into the foundations..& a way - i might add - to understand the world better.

While wolframalpha has achieved a milestone in this statistical analysis - & i've been pleased to share info with my peeps - Minding the gaps (as opposed to mind-mapping) has been an awesome way of bridging such statistical gaps that prevailed the stat-horizon in yesteryears.

Gapminder
[Say no if /when asked for aborting of the flash-script.]

Here is what I tested

So, as the gap-minder guru Hans says;

"It seems you move much faster up the graph if you're healthy first than if you're wealthy first. And health can't be bought at a supermarket, you've to invest in health & educate the population."

Apparently Professor Hans talking here [Toggle full-screen in top right corner of vid-box to see subtitles clearly] uses world Development Indicators from The World Bank :/ (& UN & certain NGOs)

You will see a scatterplot where each bubble represents a country.
The position of the bubble is determined by the indicators on the axes.
The size of the bubble represents the population of the country.
And then you can play the whole thing to see the trail_of_trend.

As it turns out, recently the world bank has opened up its world-data for the world out there, based upon this same work from Hans. And they did that under the pretext of; 'being informed about the world stats is the first step towards a better humanity..' yada yada.

No matter how flashy slogans they use, its not that such usury-driven, lust-ridden capitalist can offer anything better to the world, except for forced abortions & vigorous family-plannings to their credit.

Anywho, you can put together a prototype Gapminder chart in your Excel too.

~*~*~*~*~~*~*~*~*~

~ My Miscellany..

2010-04-30T14:15:00.000-07:00

Salam alaikum,

SubhanAllah..
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=iH1aBTKpWtw&hl

Sweet..
MashAllah
http://www.youtube.com/v/5cxNWc72iww&hl

Big things come in small packets..
awesome transformation!
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Lg9qnWg9kak&hl

~*~*~*~*~~*~*~*~*~

~ TIC

2010-04-28T22:02:00.000-07:00

Asalam alaikum,

Sitting in marriot conference hall, attending international symposium on cancer research (on earnest ~~pestering~~ insistence of my consort), getting virtually wounded by bro @yousaf who'se imploring me to get back to my office ASAP owing to a visit from TIC guys.

What's that makes the Technical_Innovation_Center people special?

Well, pretty much everything from boost in our salaries to a whole advancement in our work-place to a new housing-scheme (perhaps i get to stay there), to a whole new technology park, so on & so forth.

Not that my current work-place ain't comfortable enough, competent or equipped enough...

Its just that once our researcher-team gets to get selected in this nation-wide selection & competition_for_excellence, we'll get a chance to implore a whole new world & new technological horizons.

For the past couple of weeks, i was busy scribbling down a 100-page report & preparing some slides for these guys. Its interesting when you get into the writing business as a researcher, your writing will & skill blooms (just like anyother thing you spend much of your time on, for that matter.) - which explains the reason behind creativity (complexity?) of prose, peeps have been asking about.

TIC Lab view;

The nation-wide lucky guy(s) or research teams will be chosen next week.

Lets see how it turns out to be.

May Allah make them decide whatever is beneficial for us all.

~*~*~*~*~~*~*~*~*~

~ MBA

2010-04-26T00:07:00.000-07:00

Salam alaikum warahmatuLLAh,

My life un-plugged is quite a life (& all praises to Allah), but ever since i've gone all MBA (& no it ain't the one you're thinking :p), i had to tweak few things here & there before i was all good to go.

The experience is nothing short of epic (as of today), & the calis' & chinese have got another satisfied customer, so to speak.

After migrating all my data from dell (served me well, so i won't call it a dell-hell) & selling the old granny off (RIP), i updated software on the new machine, calibrated display etc etc & then went on with the tweaking process.

Here is list of things i installed & troubleshoots i ran;

Installations;

Right Zoom - Full screen zooms
MacPar Deluxe - unRars the Rars
TextEdit - so far so good.
Coolbook - so far so cool; a cooling software improves mba's battery life.
Chrome - pre-installed safari is all good, but a backup browser would do just fine.
Google_voice_video_plugin
Skype
Configured iChat - along with some other customizable configurations.

..so on & so forth.

As for the troubles & troubleshoots, well they do come handy in gizmos (& everyone of 'em has a fair share of those);
The airport (wifi) kept disconnecting every once in a while, causing much discomfort at this end.
I tried running network diagnostics, playing around with network preferences all for nada though.
I was left with lil option than to change my fully functional STC's WPA-router to that of WPA2 one (as i read someone suggesting in troubleshoot forums).

Disgruntled by the mba's continuos connection-hiccups, I called bros at STC in middle of the night & asked them for a new upgraded router.
At about 8 am next morning, the technician was at my doorstep with a brand new router.
He set it up & when i asked him for router charges said; "No Sir, its free."
When i tried returning him the older (functioning) one, he said since i got it as part of initial installation-package its all mine too.
wooot!

New one looks pretty much like a snap-frame;

AlhamduliLLAh, thereafter the mba's ariport din't hitch at all, & is soaring pretty smooth on a swift connection.

Btw, news is that these guys are responsible for the arranged-marriage of geeky technology with stylish aesthetic-sense.

Check out;

Look closer;

And closer.. some more;

Its a vase.. its a flower.. its a .. naaah!
[what did u think?]

Its a Router / Modem, with artificial flowers (& not the real ones) as antennas blooming out.

tadaaaah!

Just wondering out loud when this will be out.. since i'd sure love to try one [provided its for free too :D haha].

~*~*~*~*~~*~*~*~*~

~ Math Mood

2010-04-22T10:54:00.000-07:00

Asalam alaikum,

Its raining cats & dogs here..

And while people are fancying to eat pakoras.. i'm getting an all math-mood.

Every once in a while, i feel like touching mathly subjects of interest to me.. even if it sounds or smells like blaah to anyone among my regular readers..

n I wonder why but lately this word blaah reminds me of;

cool expression.. eh?

Here are few things you didn't know about linear algebra..

[excuse me if you did already]

The heart of Google is an enormous linear algebra problem. PageRank is essentially an eigenvalue problem.
Many practical problems — optimization, differential equations, signal processing, etc. — boil down to solving linear systems, even when the original problems are non-linear.
Practical applications often require solving enormous systems of equations, millions or even billions of variables.
A system of a million equations can sometimes be solved on an ordinary PC in under a millisecond, depending on the structure of the equations.
Iterative methods, methods that in theory require an infinite number of steps to solve a problem, are often faster and more accurate than direct methods, methods that in theory produce an exact answer in a finite number of steps.
There are many theorems bounding the error in solutions produced on real computers. That is, the theorems don’t just bound the error from hypothetical calculations carried out in exact arithmetic but bound the error from arithmetic as carried out in floating point arithmetic on computer hardware.
There is remarkably mature software for numerical linear algebra. People have worked on this software for many years.

And if you're interested enough in the subject, then surely you'll find these suggested reads beneficial -

Linear algebra book - easy to read and has a good mix of theory and application.

Applied Numerical Linear Algebra - that is if you want to jump into numerical linear algebra, at all.

Matrix Calculations - classic.

And this video too;

Watch it on Academic Earth

~*~*~*~*~~*~*~*~*~

~ Yawn

2010-04-20T11:32:00.000-07:00

Salam alaikum,

Being a busy person does hinder one to delve deep into social matters at home or otherwise.
Nonetheless, it doesn't hamper one's observation altogether.

At these testing & kinda tug_of_war times on the globo-politico-sphere (& blogo-sphere), one gets particularly bemused at the common denominator & rampant redundant equations when one lends an ear to the (so called) voices of change.

Exceptions do exist - & naturally so - but generally speaking the common pattern is that the group of people most concerned/ outspoken/ going_out_of_their_way (& trousers for that matter) against establishment of Islam as_a_way_of_life & segregation are mostly expatriate christians, usually white blondes (married to rich saudi men), & almost always belonging to some village (or what's_its_name city) of far west.
:D

The locals that join in the not_so_melodious noise band-wagon are mostly shias, usually disgruntled dissatisfied west-impressed youth, occasionally women.

interesting init?
yeah, you bet.

AlhamduliLLAh, I've traveled round the world (except for the far west ofocurse) & frankly enough whenever I go around any foreign country, I respect it's laws / taxes / people and never criticize their way_of_life or mock n make fun of them or their women's dressing yadayada, since I'm only a guest in that country.
And if I feel uncomfortable, I leave.. simple.

I can't simply fathom what's the dual-faced problematic hoopla all about?

Saudia this Saudia that !
Free-dom this Free-dom that.. blah blah yada yada .. yawn.

A befitting response would be - as someone rightly quoted;
"Westerners - get over it. Nobody ever died from gender segregation. Live with it or leave it."

Yeah, get over it already !
Yet as it seems, it takes a while for the poor lil cry_baby to grow up, after all.

I, for one, won't be insecure or even surprised if tomorrow people here go all co-ed, co-work, co-spa err.. co-sports, so on & so forth.
I mean, heck, even the Ottoman Caliphate degenerated into a miserable wimpy mundane mess.

But I won't, for a second, bi*ch about if the journey down the gravity hill ain't swift enough or smooth enough, as per "my" calculations or "my" estimation "my" whims or "my" criteria or "my" definition of human rights or "my" understanding of how certain people should act.

That's the difference - i hope - that sets me apart from whiners, as a mentally & spiritually stable well-focused (doc?) dude.
AlhamduliLLAh..

That said -
Seriously, plz get a life.. (& a real job in this country perhaps, besides wasting hours online regurgitating nauseating theories & remedies.)

And leave Muslim matters to us Muslims.. (its not like we owe you something or need your brains/ assistance/ culture/ your religion to figure things out here.)

Thank you & Good ridd..er.. night.

~~~~~~

A Day Into The Life Of A Muslim Wife In Saudi Arabia; (part1)
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Mv4Mb_TAfbU

And part 2
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=P6OJECs98S4

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~ 3 News bits

2010-04-19T05:18:00.000-07:00

Asalam alaikum,

I have 3 news bits infront of me..

One is dated 11th apr, which goes something like this (& my.. its such a big 3 lined headline in the paper);

Top Headline of 11th

Oh boy oh boy!

59 this time?? !!

What an achievement !!

The casualty count is misreported though, as we'll see shortly inshAllah.

Also notice the emotionally charged tone of media; as in labeling & dismissing the outcry of political figures of tribes as a mere 'ilzaam' in the headline (& its almost hysterical haste to label all the slain as 'dehshat-gurd').

I've another bit infornt of me dated 18th apr.

This one goes something like this (a pretty small wee-size blot on the front page of paper);

Wee-size news post on 18th

Too bad the paid mercenaries hit their own "paid" jirga people.. & then hit the rescue teams too..
For the shame !

Reminds me of recent Iraq vid where rescue people were hit along with the kids van.. with kids inside!

I wonder though what happened to the kids of these slain tribal bread-winners & head-figures of their respective families?

Did they go all revengeful to avenge the blood of their fathers?

hmm...

I've yet another news bit of the same date when this lil so-called small apology was made, which looks something like this (a big 3 lined headline);

Main headline of 18th

tsk tsk..

& then we wonder why we are such losers & so insecure in our very homes?

41 *shaheed* ?! ..
like for real?
yeah sure, but what about the tribes-men who were 'marey gaye' & by default 'dehshat-gard' etc etc??
Answer is;
one is thought to be human.. other is dismissed & being treated as sub-human for the sake of... peanuts.

Thankyou sipah_salar_e_azaam (sic) for making us all the more secure & protected in our own provinces.

Thankyou for your 7 (long) days late apology.. (but then better late than never, init?)

Atleast it finally occurred to you that your ~~over~~-ambitious, ~~blood-thirsty~~ lives-preserving (?) jawaans were ~~blind~~ all-seeing enough to differentiate sajjan from dushman..

Oh thankyou thankyou.. & now plz i feel like kissing your hand your excellency (not) !

May Allah rid us from such oppressors..

& give us hidayah & heal us from our wrapped_up_mentalities to shoot our own foot & then cry a river to the nations around... for peanuts (again).

sigh.. what have we (de)generated into?

~*~*~*~*~~*~*~*~*~

~ T.V vs T.B

2010-04-16T09:28:00.000-07:00

Salam alaikum warahmatuLLAh,

just sharing some wise words from a fellow bro;

Bismillah-hir-rahmaan-nirahim (In the name of Allah, the Beneficient, the Merciful).

"And whoever fears Allah He will make him a way out. And will give him provision in such a manner he cannot anticipate. And whoever relies on Allah He suffices him."

[Surah 65 Ayat 2-3]

About Me:

Aslamualaikum to all the muslims and greetings to the non-muslims, welcome to my space.

I was born in the 1980s and have lived in England all my life.

I am a university graduate and I have a degree in Computer Science. Ask me anything you like about computers. Chances are I won't know the answer but I'll make up something to convince you that I do :p

I am a muslim (alhamdulillah) and have recently started practising my religion. It has given me the happiness, peace and tranquility that I have been craving for all my life.

I am often left annoyed and frustrated by various groups (media, evil armies who murder innocent people, politicians etc) who are out to misrepresent my religion and try to give it a bad name. I get particularly annoyed when quranic verses are distorted and misquoted, fake 'islamic experts' are interviewed by the media to give this beautiful religion a bad name. The so-called 'islamic experts' are often people who look like a muslim but are not (e.g. arab christian or arab jew or even an atheist wearing a turban!) being interviewed to talk about Islam. It is for this reason that I have decided to make this space, to help educate non-muslims about Islam. Hopefully by working together and showing justice and understanding, we can do our bit to bring peace and order to this increasingly chaotic world.

As well as non-muslims, I also hope to learn from and to educate muslims about Islam. Insha-Allah by working together, we can increase our imaan and solve all our problems with the help of Allah.

I am completely against women being forced to wear the Niqab. In the same way I am completely against women being forced to REMOVE the hijab. From my personal point of view, no woman is more beautiful than a muslim woman who wears a hijab. I pray to Allah that He gives all my muslim brothers a pious wife who is secure in herself to cover her face & body from other men. What could give a man more satisfaction than knowing that his wife's beauty is only for his eyes. Will that not guarantee a man's loyalty? I am convinced it will. Secondly, if a woman is wearing a short skirt and kissing other men who are "just friends", how is a man supposed to respect and be faithful to that woman? Just does not make sense to me. Also another point is that men must be loyal and lower their gaze and not flirt with the opposite sex either. Just my opinion, you don't have to agree! Whenever I see a woman who covers herself, instantly my heart is filled with respect for that woman and no bad thoughts come into my mind. On the other hand, if I see a woman who is walking half naked down the street, how can I not look at her or think about her in a bad way? In my opinion, the women's liberation in the west is just a form of manipulation and degradation in the guise of liberating and making them independent. What is so liberating about a woman having to wax her legs, go to gym, have breast enlargement operations just to impress strangers and even people she does not like. Somebody please explain to me because it's not making sense. Some celebrities are adopting children to keep fit and maintain their figures. Why? To impress me and you? They adopt and do not have their own children to impress me? Lol why? It's kinda funny and sorta stupid.

I also want to remind my muslim brothers: respect your wives. Cherish them. They are a gift and blessing from Allah. Love them, always respect them, never shout at them, never hit them, always make time for them. Treat them, buy them gifts, be romantic to them. Flowers, chocolates, whatever it takes do it. Keep them happy. Do it today, do something special today. Help them with the housework. That's a REAL man. I'm also reminding myself too, so don't think I am lecturing! Love your children, teach them good manners. Teach them how to enjoy life and be confident and to be happy. Educate them and teach them about Deen. It's your duty boys, remember that!

Islam teaches us to respect and honour women. I often read comments from non-muslims saying 'Islam oppresses women, you dnt respect women blah blah blah'. When I click on the profiles of the commenters who are 'defending womens' rights', I often find videos such as 'Girl in bra shaking it' and 'Russian teen sisters mudwrestling' in their favourites. You call THAT 'respect and freedom'? yeah right !

The hypocrisy is there for all to see. But don't take my word for it. Next time you see a comment, click on the persons profile, you might get surprised by what you see.

Hobbies:

Right well, I love going out to the park, places of natural beauty. I love eating at restaurants and enjoy takeaway food (I love chicken, don't think I could live without it). I love talking and socialising as long as the conversation is good. I could talk for a whole week non-stop if I happen to meet an interesting person. I love meeting intelligent people who are educated and have good manners. I hate people who lie and have poor manners, really annoys me. I love travelling and hope to travel more in the near future insha-Allah. I used to love working out but have not done so for over a year now. Sometimes I enjoy taking naps, especially in the summer oooooh satisfying love it lol. Love chilling, but then who doesn't?

Movies:

I tend not to watch television since I am dissapointed with the way it is corrupting society..

For example, WWE, the wrestling .. they had a match between two women. The winner is the one who removes the others clothes down to her underwear. Now why would I want to watch that?

Sex and the city ... teaching women to become prostitutes in the guise of being 'independent and liberated'? Nope, no thanks, not for me.

But seriously all I see on TV is people getting killed to make me feel depressed, naked women so I lose respect for women and think about them as sexual objects and celebrities with huge mansions so I become ungrateful for what Allah has blessed me with. Everywhere you look, celebrities celebrities celebrities. Fame, money, bling bling. Looks good on the outside, but is it really? If it was then would Britney Spears and Lyndsey Lohan always be in Rehab? Would they always be on drugs to escape reality? That's all I need to say on that one.

There are shows called 'Wife Swap'? 'Wife swap' serious! CRAZY! Why would I want to watch that??

And on TV, even if something good is on, for example I like football, then you have the inappropriate advertisements. Advertisements of toilet paper with a naked woman, advertisements of shaving foam and they show a man's butt. Completely uncalled for! Shows like Jerry Springer and all the other talk shows, showing the worst of society to set people a bad example. It influences us all. We might not realise it but it does. It is for this reason that I avoid TV whenever possible. The media is being used to strip away Islam and peace from peoples' lives by corrupting them. It is taking away everything good from non-western cultures and replacing them with filth from the west by glamourising it. You're not fooling me, I've switched off & unplugged and won't let anybody ruin nor dictate my life. I watch PeaceTv sometimes, especially if Hussain Ye is lecturing, he is very humble and intelligent masha-Allah.

Music:

I try to avoid music whenever possible since I have noticed it weakens my imaan. I have also noticed that it makes me daydream and start feeling false emotions that I am really not feeling. I prefer to listen to the quran and my favourite reciter is Abdul Basit. Listen to the first video in my Quranic Recitations playlist, you'll know what I mean.

Books:

Quran, hadeeth. I keep in touch with the news, but not too much since it can get depressing. What else do I read, umm don't really like reading unless I have to. I'll read your comments and your messages though, so feel free to send me your messages and thoughts. If you love Islam or want to learn more about the religion, you can add me as a friend.
Peace! SubhaanAllah, Alhamdulillah, Allahuakbar.

***A REMINDER FOR MYSELF AND OTHERS***

The more I learn about Islam the more I fall in love. When a person turns towards Allah and seeks knowledge, Allah guides that person. Make a start with your intention.

Always stay paak (clean and pure). because Allah likes those who are clean and pure.

If you are single, try to get married. Marriage completes half of your Deen. If you are unable to get married, keep voluntary fasts (fast every other day). Fasting will help you control your desires? and help improve your character insha-Allah. Do not? degrade yourself by dating. If you are married remember to always treat your wife with kindness. For the sisters: love your husband, guard your beauty and charm for your husband's eyes exclusively and raise the next generation of beautiful children with islamic knowledge and values.

Dont eat too much, limit how much you eat. Eat small meals spread throughout the day. This will help you to look better, feel healthier and help improve your character insha-Allah.

Thank Allah for all you have,? the more grateful you are, the more Allah will give you insha-Allah. Give charity, whatever you have even if it is just one dollar.

WHAT HELPED ME TURN TO ISLAM?

I had everything in life alhamdulillah. But I was never happy, something was always missing. I started to think about things in detail, just sit down and contemplate.

I started to think about why I was here. I started to think about how the sun rises daily, then the day becomes night and night becomes day. At sunset time I watch how it gets dark with fascination, I even do it to this day. I knew Allah is doing this. I used to look at the sun and my eyes would hurt. I would think, I can't even look at the sun, it's so powerful. If the sun was closer it would burn us all, it is at the perfect distance. I would think about how humans are created from a dirty fluid, yet we turn out so beautiful and unique. I would get a cut on my hand and watch it heal itself. I would think about water, how we all need it. Yet it falls from the sky. All these are signs of Allah. I thought about all of these things. I contemplated about these things and it made me want to learn about Allah. Try to think about the things I mentioned.

THE WORLD TODAY:

I also observe people. I see married women at work, they kiss/hug other men etc. I do not want my wife doing this. Guys film down women's tops secretly on their phones and then show to all their friends. Things like this disgust me. When a decent woman covers herself, people look at her as if she is a freak, whereas when women wear such clothes that expose their nudity, people think it is cool. That is weird and wrong. Media has brainwashed us all. There are many examples like this. When a man respects and loves his mother, the media try to laugh at it and call people mummys' boys. What kind of rubbish is that? In Islam we are taught that a mother deserves the most love. Don't fall into the trap. Don't be a blind sheep like everyone else. Stand up for the truth. Be a leader, become an example. Be good and be proud of it. Alhamdullilah.

CHILDREN:

I hope to have children one day insha-Allah and I used to think, what if tomorrow my son came home from school and said "Dad I'm gay!" Or what if my son came home from school drunk?? Or what if my daughter turned 18 and wanted to star in an adult movie? Astaghfirullah! may Allah protect us from all evil. I thought about who I learnt about Islam from, it were my parents. I grew up watching them pray and prayed with them. Now tomorrow if I have kids and I am not praying, will my kids pray? If I do not teach my children about Islam then I cannot shout at them if they are gay or if they do bad stuff. So this is why I started to learn about Islam, to protect myself and my future children. If you have children or want to have children in the future, remember when that child enters this world, he/she will not know anything, you will have to teach that child everything. That should be our motivation, to save ourself from Hell fire and to save our beautiful children, friends and family.

HOW CAN I INCREASE MY KNOWLEDGE ABOUT ISLAM?

My advice to you would be that you read the quran with translation and more importantly the tafseer (commentary). The tafseer is important since it explains things that are complicated. All you have to do is read 5 lines a day, that is all. If you can't read 5 lines, just read 3 daily. But do it daily, make it a habit. Insha-Allah day by day your knowledge about Deen will increase.

Other than the quran, read hadeeth and books about afterlife. Read islamic books and watch Islamic videos on YouTube. On my channel I have many videos, feel free to browse them, there is a lot of knowledge in them. Learn about Islam, then use 'Windows movie maker' or any other software to make a video to share your knowledge with others.

Always remember not to make religion a burden. If you make it a burden, then you will run away from it. Do as much as you can, even if you can only read an islamic book for 5 minutes, then read for 5 minutes only. Don't force yourself. Make it easy for yourself.

Remember Islam is here to make your life easy, not to make it difficult.

Try to always read your 5 prayers on time. If you currently read 0, then start reading 1.
Keep reading 1 then move to 2. If you currently read 2 prayers, then try to read 3 etc. Build it up slowly. But start today, do not delay. A trick of the shaitaan is to make us think "i'll do this tomorrow" and then when tomorrow comes.. he makes us forget. No do it today, don't let the shaitaan trick you.

Another thing I would recommend (if possible) is to go to Saudi Arabia with your family for Hajj / pilgrimage.

Allah knows what is best for us. If a small baby asks for a knife to play with, would you give the baby the knife? The baby will cry and cry asking for the knife but you won't give it because you know that it is bad for the baby. In the same way, Allah knows things like alchohol, drugs, dating etc are bad for us so he has forbidden them.

Television?

I feel it is a bad influence and is corrupting and demoralising us all. Try to limit how much and what you watch.

Follow the sunnah (the way of the Prophet Muhammad p.b.u.h). I have an entire playlist with sunnats of the Prophet Muhammad (P.b.u.h). By following the sunnah you will get the best of this life and the hereafter. Dont let shaitaan (devil) trick you into thinking that? if you follow islam you get the afterlife but nothing in this world. This is a huge trick of the shaitaan (devil). If you follow Islam, you will get the best in this world AND the hereafter. Keep praying to Allah that He guides you. May Allah bless you and me and the entire ummah. Ameen.

~*~*~*~*~~*~*~*~*~

~ Finally..

2010-04-15T01:56:00.000-07:00

Salam alaikum warahmatuLLAh,

Over the past couple of months i grew so very weary of 'theses' word, that i wanted to scratch it out from peep's vocabulary.

But that would've been pretty much an exercise_in_futile, since mothers & spouses have extraordinary memory (& vocabulary).

Today, after submitting it finally (for iterations & acceptance) i can safely exhale a sigh of relief..
After doing my part, I've left the rest to Allah..
& I guess i can relax now.. alhamduliLLAh.

I feel like going out for swinging while standing on the swing-seat, blowing bubbles & what not.

..I guess, im just too overwhelmed & should go take a nap instead.

But before i get going, i need to say jazakAllah khair to everyone.. specially my family for supporting me, bearing up with me & praying for me over the years.. & also to my brother-some friends.

JazakAllah khairan ahsan al jaza..

~*~*~*~*~~*~*~*~*~

~ Dr. Israr Ahmed (rahimuhuLLAH)

2010-04-14T21:35:00.000-07:00

Salam alaikum warahmatuLLAh,

I don't consider myself to hold any significance when it comes to his eulogy.. much less over here, & far less on this lil online scribble of mine..

But ever since yesterday, something somewhere was lingering ..impelling me to write about the voice that taught Quran for the past 60 years, & my father.. infact my grandfather too, used to go attend his halaqah of Quran..

The voice never trembled & seldom went quiet.. & inshAllah will never die out.

Aside from making an utmost dua, I can't say if he is among the people of illiyeen or Firdaus or will indeed go to heaven etc [sheesh! i can't even say this for myself or my loved ones for that matter :/ ], since its not my place to judge or to have any say, whatsoever.

All i can say, however, is what beloved Rasool Allah (salaLLAhu alehi wa alihi wassalam) said, narrated in Sahih al Bukhari;

Noble Companion Uthman bin `Affan (May Allah be pleased with him) reported: The Messenger of Allah (salaLLahu alehi wa alihi wassalam) said;

"The best amongst you is the one who learns the Qur'an and teaches it."

The numerous perils pakis are in, right now as we speak; are hard to hold for math's sake.
Nonetheless, the stance was clear when his locality & his place was hit hard with disaster on March 8th 2010.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=WIa4NVYrkIs

>> Download to watch Video.

Its some 10 mins video - but if you're on a time crunch listen from 6 min onwards.

* Such an ahsan Gumaan he had with his fellow brothers..
[a good reminder for quick_in_blame_game folks, to hold on their hissy horses & get a lil less indoctrinated by zaid's broad brushed allegations.]

And if you ain't busy enough [even if you are..still] take some time out to listen to his last Khutbaa Jum'a Here;

& his Last public speech Here;

Its but amazing that his last Khutbah of his last Juma'h on this earth, was on 1st Surah of Quran.. & that too its 1st Ayah..

Its been 24 hours since my cell buzzed up for news of his passing..
It was Tahajjud time here & Fajer time there..

Just before the Dawn broke here & people got going for Fajer Namaz.. behind teary eyes a shining thought struck somewhere;
'It dawns first over there in pak ... before it even dawns here! '

Yaa Raab! your slave Israr Ahmed believed in peace through Khilafat there... & tranquility & prosperity.. Your slave migrated on foot.. eating drinking scant for 20 days straight, to cross that blood-border along with million others with a gleam of dream still strong.. somewhere.

Accept his work.. his Duas.. him!

And before i get all overwhelmed again [which is a good thing though if followed by good deeds], i wind this post up with a dua;

"May Allah bless him with Jannat ul Firdaus.. & enable us to follow the teachings of Quran & Sunnah & establish the Quran & Sunnah as supreme law, in our individual & collective lives."

~*~*~*~*~~*~*~*~*~

~ Emotional Quotient

2010-04-13T11:58:00.000-07:00

Asalam alaikum,

Speaking of IQ - intelligence quotient that is - men are usually intellectually_intelligent but low on emotional_intelligence.

Ladies on the other hand, tend to depict reverse_transformation of the above mentioned equation..
(not that im saying they are low on intellectual intelligence.. heck nooo!)

That said, it comes as a relief that I ain't alone in the wide world..
.. i suppose :p

~*~*~*~*~~*~*~*~*~

~ Let it Rain

2010-04-12T14:52:00.001-07:00

Salam alaikum,

Ever since it rained, i was itching to change the layout here.
Here goes nothing..
[might as well change it back if i feel like it]

Oh & before the clouds came drenching here, it rained in Beloved's city first (salaLLAhu alehi wa alihi wassalam); Madinah Munawwarah..

I hope these clouds came all the way from there :]

salaLLAhu alehi wa alihi wassalam

~*~*~*~*~~*~*~*~*~

~ Keep it simple, Silly! [kiss :p]

2010-04-11T09:13:00.000-07:00

Asalam alaikum,

People ask me simple questions.. so overwhelmingly simple that i get all overwhelmed answering them..
Hence i've formulated the following for the ease of it all;

How to tell your Grand Mother what are Adaptive Filters?

Problem Statement: There are two pots of soup placed side by side. There are some spices that are added in one of the pots, the other one has none.
How is it possible to add exactly the same amount of spices?
Since this setup is imaginary enough, therefore it is assumed that the spices can be added or subtracted from the pot. It can be safely assumed that all spices contained within, can be quantified in terms of tea spoons and only integer number of tea spoons are allowed.

Solution: Here are the steps for one of the possible ways of doing it.
1. Add/subtract tea spoon(s) of spices,
2. Taste both soups,
3. Judge which spices are missing, or which are extra, then goto step 1.

These three steps are exactly followed in an Adaptive Filter algorithm.
Lets get into a bit of a detail here;

We can fix the number of tea spoons that can be added or subtracted. To wit; always 5 tea spoons would be added/subtracted. In Adaptive filter theory, we like to call this specific number; step_size. This might help to reach the desired number of spices very quickly, but it might also lead to disaster, that is to say; we might never be able to find the correct number of spices if it is not multiple of 5. In that case we'd say that we couldn't converge, and at the end of the day, the soup would taste awful.
So, to be on safest side, the smallest possible step size should be chosen.
[Never mind if it takes more time]

Returning -
Tasting both soups gives us the difference in spices contained in them, or as we say in Adaptive Filtering terms; the error between the desired soup spices and our guess of spices.
So, our brain uses this error to make a rough guess about the amount of spices to be added in next step.
In Adaptive filters a formula acts as the "brain", thus providing us with the amount of spices to be added in next step.

How to tell your mother what are algorithms?

Compare it to a recipe.. An algorithm is made up of instructions that determine how to proceed step by step in seeking the answer to a question (or preparing a mouth-watering meal for instance).
In the computer world the important thing is to tackle all problems in the most efficient way possible, to find the solution in the quickest possible way. That's where algorithms come into play.

Oh n one more thing, never fret if your cooking experiment fails altogether, since algorithms are based upon falsifiable hypotheses anyway :p

~*~*~*~*~~*~*~*~*~

~ Basking in Bakery

2010-04-10T09:39:00.000-07:00

Salam alaikum,

After praying Namaz e Jum'ah at Jam'e Masjid with a spiritually uplifting Adhaan & reciting Surah Al Kahf on youm al Jum'ah (Friday), we went down to the bakery to have some lunch, prior to heading upto the centuries old meteorite-crater site (its scoop later sometime, inshAllah).

The bakery is unique in its outlook, its stylish aura & ofcourse its family lounge :p

Nothing extraordinary, but the soft bread rampant in there, with its rich mouth-watering taste and crispy aroma, is the specialty which makes the wooden bakery stand out from rest of its contemporaries.

oh & there is an interesting story attributed to its origins too - much of it could be a fancy though, since its a Lebanese franchise so;

In a secluded well-covered nook & the en-girdling calm mood, the surroundings were well-lit in accordance with brunch timings;

We ordered some stuffed chicken burger & 'labna' sandwich, & side ordered cream coffee. Grainy textured fries & a gooey thick sauce were served as accompaniments.

A thing we specifically love in Muslim countries in contrast to europe.. you just go for any cuisine & Halal is exclusively abundant.. eat drink & be merry.

All in all we enjoyed our feast there, & got rejuvenated to head up to our next venture..

'AlhamduliLLAhi ladhi at'amanaa wa saqanaa wa ja'alnaa minal muslimeen'

[All praises & thankx to the One who fed us, & quenched our thirsts & made us among the Muslims]

View 'Zoomed' in a larger map.

~*~*~*~*~~*~*~*~*~

~ Polly Wants a Cracker

2010-04-07T10:40:00.000-07:00

Asalam alaikum,

Cramming is demonized all around as a despicable lil duress to our greater conceptual clarity & development.
not that i'm saying no to its negation.. if u get what i mean :p

just that.. i think turning the toss coin would indeed help us see the exception to this generalization.

Down the line of years its usefulness has been downplayed by people from all walks of life, calling it the enemy of intellect.

I dare to defend the art_of_memorizing by mentioning few of its advantages here, leaving rest of the pros as a homework for the readers;

The first n foremost 'plus' is the ability to analyze a complex problem.
A complex equation / piece of code / text / poetry yada yada when stored and imprinted in our grey-mater... cooks, evolves and dis-solves.

Debugging codes, deriving mathematical derivations & similar tasks are greatly enhanced & improved by formulas-cramming capabilities.

The second merit is the ability to survive as a loner in tough world surrounding us.
This situation might arise out of misfortunes (i.e. sudden change of HQ's) or mishaps (e.g., crashed HDD) etc.

Infact, I've witnessed a genius friend of mine re-producing, in a jiffy, the lost C-code for a video-standard which he had been writing for past few weeks, with the deadline looming large and the hard-disk that got all phuff into hot smokes.

moral pretty much would be;

next time you meet a crammer.. don't get all grumpy about it & avoid tripping.
steer clear of broad generalizations in branding all part-time crammers as counter-productive.

~*~*~*~*~~*~*~*~*~

~ Desert voice & the Dominion

2010-04-06T18:33:00.000-07:00

Salam alaikum,

Returning from dinner last night, was listening to Sheikh Sa'ad..

Qur'an in his voice.. & the desert aroma around..
.. really, what more could one ask for serenity sake;

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=IBbEYpGI3LI

Update;

Someone pointed out a good point;

"He recites in 'Hafs' I think, and what an amazing recitation for sure.
While 'Warsh' form of recitation is used in Morocco & Egypt.. the 'Qaloon' recitation is used in Algeria.
All these type of recitations are taught by various Quran teachers with Isnaad reaching back to the Prophet salaLLAhu alehi wa alihi wassalam.
(I suggest you find one, and learn from him)

A Moroccan child reciting in 'Warsh':
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=v8VLeUm1RSg

A Saudi child reciting in 'Hafs' in an international competition held in Masjid al Nabawi Shareef:
http://www.youtube.com/watch_popup?v=MbkuBq0Mcw4 "

~*~*~*~*~~*~*~*~*~

~ The Healer

2010-04-05T07:45:00.000-07:00

Asalam alaikum warahmatuLLAh,

As we got a confirmation call from the oncology research-center for hiring (alhamduliLLAh), lil did we know that a loved one will come up with a diagnosis of cancer itself.

The 60 years old lady is like a second mum to my consort - though not related by bond of blood - nonetheless, took care of her while she was away form home completing her studies.

that's how things look so far;
privacy blanked out, here is the cytology report - [click to zoom]

& the biopsy report -

In legal proceedings one is innocent until proved guilty.
In medical findings, however, dysplasia or atypical cells are cancer cells until proved otherwise (or so i've been told).

Although 70 - 80% of such patients are diagnosed in stage 0-1 (thats pretty early stage & optimal for cure) with an 80 - 90% survival rate after surgery..
but still, the chills this 'c-word' diagnosis throws down one's system, are indescribable.

ain't sure about this lady's stage, but may Allah bless her with complete health.
..Verily He is the Healer.

Plz pray for her too, in case you're reading this.

I close this with the reply of Prophet Ibraheem (Abraham) alehi salam to his nation, when he said;

"Who has created me, and it is He Who guides me.
And it is He Who feeds me and gives me to drink.
And when I am ill, it is He who cures me.
And Who will cause me to die, and then will bring me to life (again).
And Who, I hope, will forgive me my faults on the Day of Recompense (the Day of Resurrection).
My Lord! Bestow Hukm (religious knowledge, right judgement of the affairs and Prophethood) on me, and join me with the righteous."

{سورة الشعراء ; Ash-Shuara; The Poets, Ayah 78-83}

~*~*~*~*~~*~*~*~*~

~ Off to Abhur (Obhur)

2010-04-03T16:02:00.000-07:00

Salam alaikum warahmatuLLAh,

"Look! Allah has ordered the ocean not to cross THIS boundary & it obeys..

& when the order is lifted.. then there comes what u call tsunami."

.. amidst the wild whooshes of calm waves, someone whispered near my ear, pointing towards the beach line of the Red Sea.. & the words sent thankful chills down my spine.

alhamduliLLAH, for Imaan, for life & love, for family & friends & for every blessing He has bestowed upon us..

A flash trip to Uroos_bahr_ul_ahmar 'the bride of Red sea'; Jiddah (literally meaning 'Grandmother' - a name taken up because of Amma Hawwa alehi salam; Eve alehi salam resting abode) ended up in an awesome day out of 4-5 families at the red sea itself.

Red sea; so named for its dramatic red coral, possesses warm, safe and fish-abundant waters & has a pleasant climatic aura about it thats ideal for swimming, sailing and fishing almost all year round.

After praying Salatul Jum'ah, we headed off to north Abhur.

Our picnic spot was Abhur creek also called Sharm Obhur (where sharm means the creek.. & not the urdu one :p)

People spell it with an 'o', but i'm pretty comfortable with my spellings, & besides its an arabic word so..

The word literally means 'sailed' & a sixth century traveler 'Ibn Juabir' talked about his experience in Abhur waters in his travelogue like so;

أرسينا بمرسى يعرف بأبحر, وهو على بعد يوم من جدة, وهو من أعجب المراسي وضعاً وذلك أن خليجاً من البحر يدخل إلى البر والبر مُطيف به, من كلتا حافتيه, فترسي الجلاب منه في قرارة مكنة هادئة. فلما كان سحر يوم الإثنين بعده أقلعنا منه على بركة الله تعالى بريح فاترة, والله الميسر ولا رب سواه. فلما جنَّ الليل أرسينا على مقربة من جدة وهي بمرأى العين منا. وحالت الريح صبيحة يوم الثلاثاء بعده بيننا وبين دخول مرساها, ودخول هذه المرسى صعب المرام بسبب كثرة الشعاب والتفافها

not that im perfect in my translation.. but if you could try your best shot, now is your turn :p

Its an 11 km long beach, less than 30 km from main city & is studded with fantastic sites well-supplied with hotels and resorts.

Jet-skiing & scuba diving enthusiasts are no less in number either.

People say they hit the sunny beaches where they occupy themselves keeping the sun off their skin, the saltwater off their bodies, and the sand out of their belongings... but that wans't the case here.

Not only did we dip.. we dipped deep :p

.. & with a biryani, sweet rice (xarda), tea & some cake we throughly enjoyed our stay there.

oh & there was a camp setting up too, for those who needed a time off from all the fun.. it remained vacant for almost all the while though :p

We have had a lil competition of hold_your_breath_underwater thing & gladly i won :p alhamduliLLAh.

(an approx 60 sec of turmoil, had me wondering about the water-boarded victims.. May Allah rid the captives from the captivity of their evil captors.. amin)

Its true that by and large, mothers and housewives are the only workers who do not have regular time off. They are the great vacation-less class... seriously.

.. we left the shores behind in the evening as the sun prostrated for Maghrib :)

A day out on fantastic sunny sands - and the rest of the year on financial rocks : /

All in all, an epic experience..
& alhamduliLLAH for that.

~*~*~*~*~

Other bits of the album:

Take a peak at my full-screen Abhur gallery slide-show. [click 'Show Info' in left upper bar in there, to view the captions.]

or enjoy this cool 3d wall down here instead;

~*~*~*~*~~*~*~*~*~

~ The 'C' word

2010-03-27T22:29:00.000-07:00

Asalam alaikum warahmatuLLAh,

We walked beyond those steal gates into the oncology (cancer) research center_of_excellence, with thumping hearts & warm feet - after being lost in the huge specialist hospital complex.

The interview (more like an informal chit chat, me sitting inside the room to observe) went fine, except for a funny moment when on constant questioning of the american hired Director of Research to my consort as to why she got interested in research at all & not perusing clinical side after achieving much in her clinical studies... her sixer reply was;

"umm.. err.. actually.. sir.. i mean doctor saheb.. i'm done with my license exam, but i don't want to specialize & end up being a grey-headed professor for the rest of my life.."

.. too late to recognize that he himself had a grey head.. And was a professor!

ooopsy!!!

lol
But the cool guy meticulously changed the subject altogether.. haha

Needless to say that he was impressed (or depressed?) & has asked us to come later :p

After taking some suggestions from me & others on job selection, this is what she wrote;

'Thinking about professional working, investing time & exerting skills generally, I have ranked the following which I personally find most useful spending my life getting at something, making a difference & bringing a smile on a sick countenance (if i can as a clinical researcher.. or a physician).
– where 1 is most important, 8 is the least:'

Salary (Incentive, Facilities)	4
Job Satisfaction (Feeling more fulfilling in doing what I’m doing)	2
Work Environment (Leg-saving / Politics-free)	---------------------- 1
Institute’s Reputation	3
Real Research & not a ‘clap research’	5
Encouragement	6
Outcomes (Making a solid difference in lives)	3
Training	8

seeing this table, it seems one sure doesn't like people patronizing her..
hah! thats for sure ;)

Returning -
my exposure with cancer research dates back (& was largely limited to) years when we have had wholesome family dinners, after an exerting day of student life; where my father while peeling fruits would discuss about his cancer research experience & the nitty gritties of food 'carcinogens' (? or whatever he called them back then)

It went on as in..

.. reading few bits here & there regarding the non-radiation non-invasive 'breakthroughs' in curing strategy etc. A four page interview transcript here.
More here & here
[Now that the radio man is no more, i got hold of some of Dr. S. Curley's research papers here, here & here.. oh & also a patent]

Its interesting though, when the search for cure is none other than the natural means & not machines, for instance; using carrots as a cure to cancer, & then the research on a protein that gives a certain species of jellyfish a faint glow thats presumed to be useful in curing cancer and other diseases, as mentioned in this episode of Science and the Sea podcast..
Or the one made from toad venom; a traditional Chinese medicine for treating cancers, & its Clinical trial.
Plus the research on patients with Down’s syndrome (since most types of cancer are much less common among these people) - here is the related abstract on this issue (this genetic stuff reminds me of the nice slick flash demo with a slider bar a dear friend sent my way).
Then a research on rodents-genes vs. cancer-cells & on & on...

I do think though, that biostatistics is a separate field of statistics.
We as an engineering scientists, can't fully comprehend the 'ethical tension' thats part & parcel of clinical research.
Rules are different while experimenting on people.
FTW, clinical trials will often use statistical designs that sacrifice some statistical power in order to protect the people participating in the trial.
Ethical constraints & limitations is what make biostatistics challenging, i suppose.

anywayz.. this all reminds me of a familiar thing;

~*~*~*~*~~*~*~*~*~

~ An apple a day keeps you pocket-dismay

2010-03-24T19:48:00.000-07:00

Asalam alaikum,

Q. What’s the difference between a mechanical engineer and a civil engineer?

A. Mechanical engineers build weapons. Civil engineers build targets.

And a quote one runs across in the book Operating Systems;

When an engineer builds a building, it’s very well built, but it’s so ugly that the people tear it down; when an architect builds a building, it’s very beautiful, but it falls down!

back then i heard; 'an apple a day keeps the doctor away..'
but then, since my consort ain't a dentist, i think im pretty contended with the variation in this familiar theme;
'an apple a day keeps the dentist away'
:)

so, here's my bit about the new purchase i made - thankx to mani for helping me out in placing the order online for much less infact.

its slick, its slim, its..its a supermaaan.. NOT.
:p
its air.
& its neat.

doesn't come handy though..
a bit overpriced, i dare say.. (got it much cheaper nonetheless :p)
but considering the world's slimiest AND a duo core, i thnk its worth it.

wasn't a knee jerk investment, neither a coincidence.
it was well planned & after much shuffling & reshuffling of choices, we finally landed on this piece of art err..air.

for some it dares to buck_the_trend, setting a new standard for mobile computing.
and others are annoyed & negatively reviewing, disgruntled that..

..that its an all american way to bilk the people who have more credit than sense.

well.. for one, this notebook (& not merely a netbook) ain't for everyone.
other than financing the american empire, its a lightweight fairly speedy slim-book with emphasis on 'lightweight' & 'slimbook'.. if its not that difficult to grasp the meaning.

its for those who're tired of carrying a heavy laptop around.
as for those who've *never* traveled for an extended period with a laptop – you just don’t know or you don't care.
Holding it in a store for a minute is *not* the same thing as schlepping a 5 lb or 7 lb laptop from room to room and then around a giant building at your work place – that’s when you wonder; how much weight are those extra memory slots or how many peripherals do I need to plug into this thing at once?

At the store, holding it for a minute, you simply can’t justify spending hundreds extra, but try running down a mile-long airport terminal or carrying a bag full of printed collateral and then ask yourself if 2 lbs, 4 lbs extra is worth the difference?

Until you’re at that point, you simply don’t need an Air or any other ultraportable stuff for that matter.

it's all about utility really.

Cosmetically its a crisp with backlit keys, & a shiny back logo
oh n its color customizable, but im pretty cool with the default one.

With a 2.13GHz & an Intel Core 2 Duo processor having 1066MHz frontside bus, a RAM of 2GB & a 128GB solid-state drive (an accessory of a USB Superdrive), the integration of NVIDIA GeForce 9400M graphics, a nifty 13" LED screen & a mere 3 lbs (1.36 kg) weight.. its not going to be Adam's apple anytime sooner. (inshAllah)

am not sure how the experience with unix based os turns out to be in the long run.. but given all the high hype around it, taking risks is what im supposed to do in professional life, now aint I?

here is bunch of cool predictions a jigz of mine sent my way .. lol

~*~*~*~*~~*~*~*~*~

~ The Deep, the Dull & the Disturbia

2010-03-23T01:14:00.000-07:00

Salam alaikum,

Sometimes somethings need to be dug into, there has to be a commencing point to solutions no matter how dull they initially seem or smell..
And in this short bit here, Peter is tryna come up with some nice examples concerning that.
[The guy seems to gesticulate much though.. a habit im trying to rid myself of :p ]

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=jbwpRlEMNS0

As R.Feynman would put it;

"..nearly everything is really interesting if you go into it deeply enough."

Deeper enough or farther enough.. here is what Newton said;

"If I have seen farther than others it is because I have stood on the shoulders of giants."

Later Mathematician R. W. Hamming added;

"Mathematicians stand on each other’s shoulders while computer scientists stand on each other’s toes."

Finally, computer scientist Hal Abelson quipped;

"If I have not seen farther, it is because giants were standing on my shoulders.."

Well, nice way to place the blame i guess :p
But really, deeply enough doesn't necessarily correspond to originality or perfectionism.

Leonard’s in his lil booklet Mastery quotes like so:

"...the essence of boredom is to be found in the obsessive search for novelty.
Satisfaction lies in the discovery of endless riches and subtle variations on familiar themes."

Rote application of statistics is mind-numbingly dull, yes, but statistics can be quite interesting when you dig deep down to the foundations.

Back in the day one of my supervisors used to exhort us to volunteer to teach freshman courses. Most people want to teach the more advanced courses instead, but he said that some of his best inspiration came from teaching the most foundational courses.

Focusing on depth of the basics is a jolly hard work and few people would want to do it.
People usually focus more on originality of it all..

Paul Graham in the intro to Founders at Work.

"People like the idea of innovation in the abstract, but when you present them with any specific innovation, they tend to reject it because it doesn’t fit with what they already know. … As Howard Aiken said, “Don’t worry about people stealing your ideas [plagiarism]. If your ideas are any good, you’ll have to ram them down people’s throats anyway.”

If you strive to be original, you might achieve it in some technical sense, but end up with something nobody cares about.
Strive for persistence and excellence instead, and VOILA.. you’re more likely to do something valuable.

C. S. Lewis in The Weight of Glory says;

"No man who values originality will ever be original. But try to tell the truth as you see it, try to do any bit of work as well as it can be done for the work’s sake, and what men call originality will come unsought."

Here’s an awesome quote from Twyla Tharp’s book The Creative Habit.

"Honey, it’s all been done before. Nothing’s really original. Not Homer or Shakespeare and certainly not you. Get over yourself."

Frankly, trying to be completely original is paralyzing, and not even possible.
Only the Al Mighty Creator creates ex-nihilo.
Everyone else starts with something somewhere.
Lets not try to be Al Mighty... lets try to be humans instead.

And last but not the least, speaking about the thin line between depth & the delusion; this quote from W. C. Fields is refreshing to the very bone:

"If at first you don’t succeed, try, try again. Then quit. No use being a damn fool about it."

heh.. im soo frigging loving the originality of this last one.
lol.

~*~*~*~*~~*~*~*~*~

~ The Blame Game

2010-03-17T21:43:00.000-07:00

Salam alaikum,

SubhanAllah..
i was reading this in Shaih al Bukhari (Kitaab ul A'thaan) today.
and was genuinely upset & quite taken aback actually.. for many of us, in our ignorance & casual laid back styles, are quick to blame their fellow brethren & even Noble Companions..
May Allah save us from such blatant misguidance.
And forgive our mistakes.

‏حدثنا ‏ ‏موسى ‏ ‏قال حدثنا ‏ ‏أبو عوانة ‏ ‏قال حدثنا ‏ ‏عبد الملك بن عمير ‏ ‏عن ‏ ‏جابر بن سمرة ‏ ‏قال ‏
‏شكا ‏ ‏أهل ‏ ‏الكوفة ‏ ‏سعدا ‏ ‏إلى ‏ ‏عمر ‏ ‏رضي الله عنه ‏ ‏فعزله واستعمل عليهم ‏ ‏عمارا ‏ ‏فشكوا حتى ذكروا أنه لا يحسن ‏ ‏يصلي فأرسل إليه فقال يا ‏ ‏أبا إسحاق ‏ ‏إن هؤلاء يزعمون أنك لا تحسن تصلي قال ‏ ‏أبو إسحاق ‏ ‏أما أنا والله ‏ ‏فإني كنت أصلي بهم صلاة رسول الله ‏ ‏صلى الله عليه وسلم ‏ ‏ما ‏ ‏أخرم ‏ ‏عنها أصلي صلاة العشاء ‏ ‏فأركد ‏ ‏في الأوليين وأخف في الأخريين قال ذاك الظن بك يا ‏ ‏أبا إسحاق ‏ ‏فأرسل معه رجلا أو رجالا إلى ‏ ‏الكوفة ‏ ‏فسأل عنه ‏ ‏أهل ‏ ‏الكوفة ‏ ‏ولم يدع مسجدا إلا سأل عنه ويثنون معروفا حتى دخل مسجدا ‏ ‏لبني عبس ‏ ‏فقام رجل منهم يقال له ‏ ‏أسامة بن قتادة ‏ ‏يكنى ‏ ‏أبا سعدة ‏ ‏قال أما إذ نشدتنا فإن ‏ ‏سعدا ‏ ‏كان لا يسير ‏ ‏بالسرية ‏ ‏ولا يقسم بالسوية ولا يعدل في القضية قال ‏ ‏سعد ‏ ‏أما والله لأدعون بثلاث اللهم إن كان عبدك هذا كاذبا قام رياء وسمعة فأطل عمره وأطل فقره وعرضه بالفتن وكان بعد إذا سئل يقول شيخ كبير مفتون أصابتني دعوة ‏ ‏سعد ‏
‏قال ‏ ‏عبد الملك ‏ ‏فأنا رأيته بعد قد سقط حاجباه على عينيه من الكبر وإنه ليتعرض للجواري في الطرق يغمزهن

713 ,صحيح البخاري, الأذان, وجوب القراءة للإمام والمأموم في الصلوات كلها في الحضر

Narrated Companion Jabir bin Samura (May Allah be pleased with him):
The People of Kufa complained against [governor] Sa'd (radiAllah) to Caliph 'Umar (radiAllah) and the latter dismissed him and appointed 'Ammar as their chief. They lodged many complaints against Sa'd and they even alleged that he did not pray properly.
'Umar (radiAllah) sent for him and said, "O Aba Ishaq! (surname of Sa'd) These people claim that you do not pray properly."
Abu Ishaq (radiAllah) replied; "By Allah, I used to pray with them a prayer similar to that of Allah's Apostle and I never reduced anything of it. I used to prolong the first two Rakat of 'Isha prayer and shorten the last two Rakat."
To which 'Umar said, "O Aba Ishaq, this was what I thought about you."
And then he sent one or more persons with him (back) to Kufa so as to ask the people (testimony) about him. So they went there and did not leave any Masjid without asking about him.
All the people praised him till they came to the Mosque of the tribe of Bani 'Abs; one of the men called Usama bin Qatada with a surname of Aba Sa'da stood up and said; "As you have put us under an oath; I am bound to tell you that Sa'd never went himself with the army and never distributed (the war booty) equally and never did justice in legal verdicts."
(On hearing it) Noble comapnion Sa'd (may Allah be pleased with him) said; "I pray to Allah for three things: O Allah! If this slave of yours is a liar and got up for showing off, give him a long life, increase his poverty and put him to trials."
(And so it happened).
Later on when that person was asked how he was, he used to reply that he was an old man in trial as the result of Sa'd's dua. 'Abdul Malik, the sub narrator, said that he had seen him afterwards and his eyebrows were over-hanging his eyes owing to old age and he used to tease and assault the small girls in the way.

[Sahih al Bukhari, Book of Call to Prayers, Hadith 713]

~*~*~*~*~~*~*~*~*~

~ The Woody

2010-03-17T01:38:00.000-07:00

Salam alaikum,

aahh..
Sometimes I so feel like that woodpecker Seth talks about in The Dip; tapping on a thousand trees..staying busy but getting nowhere :/

He quotes on a starving woodpecker like so;

"A woodpecker can tap twenty times on a thousand trees and get nowhere, but stay busy. Or he can tap twenty thousand times on one tree and get dinner."

Lets see now, where to place the blame for this incessant inability in persistence :p
ahaa yes..
I think part of it is to be blamed on multitasking.
The F-state to be precise.

E.Hallowell coined two great terms in his work Crazy Busy;
C-state and F-state.

C-state is clear, calm, cool, collected, consistent, concentrated, convivial, careful, curious, creative, courteous, and coordinated.

F-state fractures focus, is frenzied, feckless, flailing, fearful, forgetful, flustered, furious, fractious, feverish, and frantic.

Pretty neat, init?

So, multitasking leads to F-state and activates different parts of the brain than C-state.
Just giving F-state a name and being aware of it helps to back out of it.

Countless articles tell a tale how multitasking makes us..

..less efficient — we’re not as good at multitasking as we suppose we would.
But here is a brand new criticism; multitasking makes us shallow too. (by 'us' read men :p)

"If you don’t want to sink, you learn to surf; you have to. You learn how to go fast, but smooth, through a huge amount of stuff — at work, at home, in the store, in the street. Multitasking means learning how to double back and reshuffle at the least hint of resistance, it means missing most of what goes on around you but learning not to regret it because nothing is that much more valuable than anything else, it means learning how to coast through meetings on zero information .. You are compensated for the loss of buffers and boundaries built into the old real world of separated times and spaces, by an overall muffling of experience in general.."

From Mediated by T.D.Zengotita.

Well, i guess now here is something of a feminine domain we simply can't win over.
and neither should we try.
Hands down..

~*~*~*~*~~*~*~*~*~

~ Only in there

2010-03-13T21:55:00.000-08:00

Asalam alaikum warahmatuLLAh,

Only in Madinah Tayyibah..

~*~*~*~*~~*~*~*~*~

~ Youm e Jum'ah

2010-03-11T22:23:00.000-08:00

Salam alaikum warahmatuLLAh,

It was narrated that Abu Hurayrah and Hudhayfah (may Allaah be pleased with them both) said: The Messenger of Allaah (peace and blessings of Allaah be upon him) said:

“Allaah led those who came before us away from Friday. The Jews had Saturday, and the Christians had Sunday. Then Allaah brought us and Allaah guided us to Friday. So there is Friday, Saturday and Sunday, and thus they will follow us on the Day of Resurrection. We are the last of the people of this world but we will be the first on the Day of Resurrection, and we will be dealt with before all others.”

[Sahih Muslim, Hadith #856]

It was narrated that Abu Lubaabah ibn ‘Abd al-Mundhir said: The Prophet (peace and blessings of Allaah be upon him) said:

“Friday is the master of days, and the greatest of them before Allaah. It is greater before Allaah than the day of al-Adha and the day of al-Fitr. It has five characteristics: on this day Allaah created Adam, on it He sent Adam down to the earth, on it Allaah caused Adam to die, on it there is a time when a person does not ask Allaah for anything but He gives it to him, so long as he does not ask for anything haraam, and on it the Hour will begin. There is no angel who is close to Allaah, no heaven, no earth, no wind, no mountain and no sea that does not fear Friday.”

[Narrated by Ibn Maajah, 1084; classed as hasan by Shaykh al-Albaani in Saheeh al-Jaami’, #2279]

The virtues of this day include the following:

1 – On it is Salaat al-Jumu’ah (Friday prayer), which is the best of prayer.

Allaah says (interpretation of the meaning):

“O you who believe (Muslims)! When the call is proclaimed for the Salaah (prayer) on Friday (Jumu‘ah prayer), come to the remembrance of Allaah [Jumu‘ah religious talk (Khutbah) and Salaah (prayer)] and leave off business (and every other thing). That is better for you if you did but know!”

[Surah al-Jumu’ah, Chapter 62, ayah 9]

Narrated Abu Hurayrah (may Allaah be pleased with him) that the Messenger of Allaah (peace and blessings of Allaah be upon him) said:

“The five daily prayers and from one Jumu’ah to the next is an expiation for whatever sins come in between them, so long as one does not commit a major sin.”

[Sahih Muslim, Hadith #233]

It was narrated from ‘Abd-Allaah ibn ‘Umar and Abu Hurayrah (may Allaah be pleased with them both) that they heard the Messenger of Allaah (peace and blessings of Allaah be upon him) say on the minbar:

“Let people stop neglecting Jumu’ah, or Allaah will place a seal on their hearts, then they will be among those who are neglectful.”

[Sahih Muslim, Hadith # 865]

It was narrated from Abu’l-Ja’d al-Damari (may Allah be pleased with him)– who was a companion of the Prophet (peace and blessings of Allaah be upon him) – that the Prophet (peace and blessings of Allaah be upon him) said:

“Whoever neglects three Jumu’ahs, Allaah will place a seal on his heart.”

[Narrated by Abu Dawood, 1052; classed as saheeh by al-Albaani in Saheeh Abi Dawood, 928]

2 – Making a lot of du’aa’.

On this day there is a time when a person’s Lord will answer his du’aa’ – by Allaah’s leave.

It was narrated from Abu Hurayrah (may Allaah be pleased with him) that the Messenger of Allaah (peace and blessings of Allaah be upon him) mentioned Friday and said:

“On this day there is a time when no Muslim stands and prays, asking Allaah for something, but Allaah will grant him it” – and he gestured with his hands to indicate how short that time is.

[Sahih al-Bukhaari, Hadith #893; Sahih Muslim, 852 ]

3 – Reading Soorat al-Kahf.

It was narrated from Abu Sa’eed al-Khduri that the Prophet (peace and blessings of Allaah be upon him) said:

“Whoever reads Soorat al-Kahf on Friday, he will be illuminated with light between the two Fridays.”

[Narrated by al-Haakim; classed as saheeh by al-Albaani in Saheeh al-Targheeb, #836]

4 – Sending a lot of blessings upon the Prophet (peace and blessings of Allaah be upon him).

It was narrated from Aws ibn Aws that the Prophet (peace and blessings of Allaah be upon him) said:

“The best of your days is Friday. On that day Adam (peace be upon him) was created; on that day he died; on that day the Trumpet will be blown; and on that day all of creation will swoon. So send a great deal of blessings upon me, for your blessings will be shown to me.”
They said, “O Messenger of Allaah, how will our blessings upon you be shown to you when you have turned to dust?” He said, “Allaah has forbidden the earth to consume the bodies of the Prophets, peace be upon them.”

[Narrated by Abu Dawood, 1047; classed as saheeh by Ibn al-Qayyim in his comments on Sunan Abi Dawood, 4/273; classed as saheeh by al-Albaani in Saheeh Abi Dawood, 925.]

5 – Praying Fajr in congregation on Fridays is the best prayer that the Muslim can pray during the week.

It was narrated that Ibn ‘Umar said: The Messenger (peace and blessings of Allaah be upon him) said:

“The best prayer before Allaah is Fajr prayer on Friday in congregation.”

[Narrated by al-Bayhaqi in Shu’ab al-Eemaan; classed as saheeh by al-Albaani in Saheeh al-Jaami’, 1119]

One of the special features of Fajr prayer on Friday is that it is Sunnah to recite Soorat al-Sajdah in the first rak’ah and Soorat al-Insaan in the second.

It was narrated from Abu Hurayrah (may Allaah be pleased with him) that the Prophet (peace and blessings of Allaah be upon him) used to recite in Fajr prayer in Fridays Alif-Laam-Meem Tanzeel (Soorat al-Sajdah) in the first rak’ah and Hal ata ‘ala’l-insaan heenun min al-dahr lam yakun shay’an madhkooran (Soorat al-Insaan) in the second.

[Recorded in Sahih al-Bukhaari, 851; Sahih al Muslim, 880]

Al-Haafiz Ibn Hajar said:

It was said that the reason why these two soorahs are recited is because they mention the creation of Adam and what will happen on the Day of Resurrection, because that will come to pass on a Friday.

6 – Whoever dies during the day or night of Friday, Allaah will protect him from the trial of the grave.

It was narrated that ‘Abd-Allaah ibn ‘Amr said: The Messenger of Allaah (peace and blessings of Allaah be upon him) said:

“There is no Muslim who dies during the day of Friday or the night of Friday but Allaah will protect him from the trial of the grave.”

[Narrated by al-Tirmidhi, 1074; classed as saheeh by al-Albaani in Ahkaam al-Janaa’iz, p. 49, 50]

Along with these virtues and acts of worship, the Prophet (peace and blessings of Allaah be upon him) forbade singling out Friday for fasting, or singling out the night of Friday for doing acts of worship that are not narrated in sharee’ah.

It was narrated from Abu Hurayrah that the Prophet (peace and blessings of Allaah be upon him) said: “Do not single out the night of Friday for qiyaam al-layl, and do not single out the day of Friday for fasting, unless that is part of the habitual fasting of any one of you.”

(Narrated by Muslim, 1144).

And Allah knows best.

any good i've posted is from Allah's mercy.

any error is from my own erring nafs.

~*~*~*~*~~*~*~*~*~

~ Awesome

2010-03-10T23:26:00.000-08:00

Asalam alaikum warahmatuLLAh,

Simply awesome recitation

~*~*~*~*~~*~*~*~*~

~ Thin line between Calm & Panic

2010-03-09T01:26:00.000-08:00

Asalam alaikum,

At times it so happens that we get besieged by situations seeminlgy taking control over us.

Thoughts are overwhelmed by fear, senses numbed, and actions simply falling apart.

This can happen virtually any where, any time, & at any place; a small unexpected event can trigger a surge of fear inside us, and if not addressed properly could precipitate a panic attack.

A tough question from the audience and phoof! all the points to present are gone!

An unforced error, and suddenly the seasoned player starts acting like a novice!

A slight variation in waves and the experienced swimmer finds himself haplessly helpless, a few poor performances and the batsman looses his touch.

A famous tennis star who just won her first set with a 40-love & a triple set point; a small unforced error took the best of her & she got so overwhelmed that there followed a trail of errors & the situation worsened till her defeat.

Panic reduced a giant of tennis star into a naive novice.

A world champion swimmer once got caught in the current just as he swam beyond the surf, he found himself being pulled out into the sea & started fighting the water..

It was then he realized recalling the basic rule that if he keeps his calm he could just float..

& he did exactly that saving his energies & ultimately his life..

Sometimes life's testing tides are to be kept as such.. just let them pass, keeping your calm & your patience.

Once the panic sets in, therez only Allah's help to bring you back.

In testing times just bank_on_the_instincts and move_back_to_basics.

Basic idea of the subject in question will give a clue to the presenter stuck with blanks.

Well, easier said than done.. specially when i've to conduct & present a mind storming 4 hour long bla bla tomorrow.

baaah!!

~*~*~*~*~~*~*~*~*~

~ Dust is my Bed

2010-03-08T17:26:00.001-08:00

Salam alaikum warahmatuLLAh,

Lets value life & all the blessings Allah has blessed us with as human beings...

Nasheed 'Dust is my bed' by Mishary Al-Arada.

Translation;
Dust is my bed, embracing me & is my cover now,
The sand surrounds me, enveloping me from over & above.

And the grave presents darkness in its isolation,
And the Guidance was elucidated in His Book
but I forgot my meeting with Him……
oh I forgot my meeting with Him……

And the family.. where is their sympathy?
they sold my loyalty..
And the companions..where is their companionship?
they relinquished my brotherhood..oh my brotherhood

And the wealth.. where is its joy?
it was left behind
oh it was left behind..
And the reputation..where is its shine?
between praises

This is my end..this is my bed..

-Repeats-
oh I forgot my meeting with Him……

And love farewells its longing..my eulogizing wailed
And the tears went dry after the crying.
oh the tears went dry..

The universe became narrow in its expanse and so was my space,
The grave became my earth and my sky.

This is my end..
Dust is my bed

-Repeats-
oh I forgot my meeting with Him……

Fear fills my estrangement and grief is my ailment
I hope firmness and I swear it’s my cure

And to Allah i call faithfully; You are my hope !
Allah! I desire heaven, in it is bliss

And to Allah i call faithfully; You are my hope !
Allah! I desire heaven, in it is bliss

~*~*~*~*~~*~*~*~*~

~ Simply put

2010-03-08T16:54:00.000-08:00

Salam alaikum warahmatuLLAh,

Qari Mishary Rashid Al Afasy's Nasheed.
"Ana Al-'Abd" meaning "I am the Slave".
Poetry by Ibn 'Abdil Qawiyy.
Translated & subtitled by Awakening Visions Productions.

Positively beautiful containing a beneficial theme for all of us, inshaAllah.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=8OMXWrI8Nd4

~*~*~*~*~~*~*~*~*~

~ All Roads Lead to Madinah

2010-03-07T19:02:00.000-08:00

SallaLLahu alehi wa alihi wassalam..

O beloved !..
I'm hesitant to say something lest it should cross the limits..
and am unable to hold back what words fail me to express..

Lowing lamps flicker;

entire galaxies

madly float

in hearts brimming

with adulation.

tears spill in the Garden

oh that they mingle

where his blessed tears

fell as raindrops

where his wise counseling

was a melodious river

where his numinous light

still illuminates even the most wretched

where scent still rises

from his every footprint

where pillars still yearn

for his embrace

where the earth still sighs

from the touch of his muddied forehead

where his smile still dances in the air

where his stroke

subdued the wildest ego

snuffed the flames of disbelief

united warring fractions

and harmony was finally defined

Praised and Praiseworthy..

Muhammed - salaLLAhu alehi wa alihi wassalam

our darood & our salaams

are meek compared to your esteem

our salutations

sullied

within a darkened stupor

our only hope

is the hope from Allah's Mercy

that dazzles

from yearning to drink

from your hands

on Kauthar

- inshAllah

إِنَّ اللَّهَ وَمَلَائِكَتَهُ يُصَلُّونَ عَلَى النَّبِيِّ ۚ يَا أَيُّهَا الَّذِينَ آمَنُوا صَلُّوا عَلَيْهِ وَسَلِّمُوا تَسْلِيمًا

"Allah sends His Salat (Graces, Honours, Blessings, Mercy) on the Prophet (Muhammad صلى الله عليه وسلم), and also His angels (ask Allah to bless and forgive him). O you who believe! Send your Salat on (ask Allah to bless) him, and greet (salute) him with the Islamic way of greeting (i.e. As-Salamu 'Alaikum )."

(سورہ الاحزاب; The Coalition, Chapter 33: Ayah 56-57)

... All roads lead to Madinah

~*~*~*~*~~*~*~*~*~

~ Search Again

2010-03-06T10:18:00.000-08:00

Salam alaikum,

"I worked on a similar kind of shiite during my Ph.D., & trust me no one's gonna read it except yourself & your poor poor supervisor.
Just so you know..
oh btw, its been more than a decade & was until recently still trying to solve 'that bit' i wrote in my thesis.. until i gave up all hope!"

I was left breathless.. well almost.

Research is pretty much a whole new search of virtually anything you're interested in - as long as you have enough time & funds for that matter :)

And if you're ready to do it without time or funds; then your research morphs into passion.
Much like the case with my brazilian professor, who was still solving a problem 11 years down the line.. & curiously he still smiles :p

The research strategy has usually three main pillars. Together they create an environment which ensures that good ideas can pass as rapidly as possible from a lab to a stage where they are of real social (or economic) benefit.

The first pillar is the basic and fundamental research.
It takes place in dark dedicated dungeons (err..labs) inside concrete campuses, behind closed doors & up in our heads somewhere..

The second pillar is applied research.
More like a bridge between the first & the third pillar, since getting from that basic fundamental research to technology commercialization can often take a hefty long time.
The physical set up of this applied research is usually through multi-party partnerships forming a dedicated center_of_excellence and not through a hierarchy of single academic institution or a corpse of corporation.

The third pillar is commercialization & technology development.
That is where almost anything promising thrown up by the basic research can be incubated in companies (or corporations for that matter) to produce an outcome.

And this is where I'd like to dedicate my today's post.
What benefit would it be if my research reeks off novelty but in the end proves to be just an addition in an already stocked up pile of non_sense?

I'm increasingly getting concerned as to what_next in terms of my withering problem_facing skills (& problem_solving too, if you're wondering).
Ftw, i don't want to end up like my professor.. heck no.
I need my results .. & if not in my life time.. then perhaps an wee assurance that what i'm doing will be of benefit to humanity in years to come, after i'm no more.

Till then, lets just re-search on & keep fingers crossed..hoping..
for hope sustains the whole wide world.

Time Line of Muslim Scientist of Middle Ages.

Image-shot of original manuscript of Muslim Surgeon & his surgical instruments.

The Astrolabe is one of the most important scientific instruments developed by Muslims used widely in the West until modern times.

Quran on Embryonic Development

& on origin of the universe.

~*~*~*~*~~*~*~*~*~

~ 8 Gates

2010-03-05T15:49:00.000-08:00

Asalam alaikum,

After 500 interviews & some 7 long years, he presented his results by churning down a 2 hour presentation into a lil over 3 minutes tidbit here.

The outline:

~ Passion - do it for love, money will come anyway.
~ Work - don't be a workaholic, be a 'workafrolic'.
~ Good - practice practice practice.
~ Focus - on one thing at a time.
~ Push - thanks Allah who made mothers :) & then spouses.
~ Serve - "Best Muslim is who benefits his brother"
~ Ideas - be curious, a good listener & a good observer
~ Persist - thru failiure, thru crap.

Pretty neat.. eh?

~*~*~*~*~~*~*~*~*~

~ Shift Happens the Paradigm way

2010-03-04T10:51:00.000-08:00

Salam alaikum,

It snowed furiously the night before I left over for my new found love.

It was mid-November, so the snow was wet and slushy, not dry enough to stick. But the moisture stained the soft soil at the trailhead a dove gray, and spiced the air with the scent of ponderosa pine.

On the proviso that I would return sooner, my grey-headed professor lemme go. But then the condition wasn't much of a *my way or the highway* sort, so i changed my mind & stayed instead.

Just a wee while ago, someone asked me - again - why i came over to reside here? And I started recapitulating the almost natural move.

The work environment back there was cool & so were the...

The work environment back there was cool & so were the researchers around, the accommodation by the sea was akin to dreams, scholarship was sufficient enough to let me afford a sports neo besides fulfilling the basics for the two of us. Summers were green, with rocks spouting vegetation.
Winters ... dark and gloomy, chilled air, and tons of snow.
My professor was a cool chap, my post-doc supervisor was an easy going boss, and colleagues were friendly bunch of people.

Despite all that, November of 2008 saw me frantically packing my stuff up to board a Turkish airlines off to Arabia.

It came naturally, since the body had its hands full in comfort, while the soul was left in tatters.
I was at the mercy of my computer screen to tell me the time for prayers, the time to fast, the time to consummate the fast, the time for err.. everything.
The only sanctuary for the soul was the Friday prayer.
And though, I tried to pray in the Masjid .. still I could feel my schedule & the miles of driving barricading me from having such a luxury more than once a day.

After applying to a more than 3 dozen vacancies.. i was finally good_to_go.

So there I were with my TEK Scholar credentials, in a nearly empty arena in a deep desert town, sitting infront of that bearded gentle old man briefing me on how & where to begin, making his pitch.

Beside him on the office table sat a chunk of paper weight & a card holder the size of home plate. Dozens of purple and white cards push up from it
stared out at me like shards of stencils. "You're welcome here" he said. "But we need to start working ... like now!"
The three or four other post docs glanced past their screens, thinking it over: 'Should they offer their services too?'
Above the place, a sign read, "Researchers' Den - where research roars & researchers excel."

The realization of doing applied & useful research could be seen all over here.

Proposals were being scribbled down for prestigious projects announced by funding bodies, infrastructures were being built, and researchers were working at full throttle, with a cinche of doubt still loaming around in their hearts.

Then, one fine morning our group won several projects worth 2M SRs, alhamduliLLAh.
And so, we were pushing to gain center_of_excellence status; a novel paradigm introduced by the higher ups, targeted to fund three institutes from all over KSA with exceptional research team, research plans & credentials.
[ & Kudos to you guys too! - you know who you are]

I for one, was also quite frankly pleased to see their bulk of research related to water conservation; though a local issue, yet with a great global impact in future.

The main objective right now is to replicate the systems that already exist, minimizing the influence of the west.

Unfortunately, these guys are at the very inception for now, & there are only so many people pushing this idea ahead.

I do hope though, down the line of time it'll become more & more obvious for the masses to realize that dependence on others for tech. is rather a bane.

Even with lot of hiccups & hiatuses, the torch-bearers of this *change* are able to accumulate enough funding & future seems to be promising - inshAllah.

To wit;

~ King Saud University seeks waste water-reuse.
~ State space analysis of soil water content & textural fractions & other research stuff.
~ KSU, Yale and Nanyang University Forge Research Relations.
~ The Inauguration of ACWA Power Chair for Water & Energy, KSU.
~ Cooperation between the Ministry of Water & Electricity and Azzamil Chair at KSU.

Otoh, Pakistan lies on the other side of the spectrum, as in very many well-wit & educated people with an independent thinking are tryna come up with something useful for this Ummah & country.

There are numerous xamples in one pak city alone;
I came to know about a guy who holds a mere B.Com trying to generate electricity harnessing solar energy.
His roof top is his lab.

Then there was an Agri-Engineer who single handedly developed machines from water-sprinkler systems to a full-fledge mini-tractor.

Similarly, there are lot of people out there in chemical industry, trying to come up with alternatives for the market chemicals.
Then there are electrical engineers & on & on.

Real problem there, nevertheless, ain't that people don't know what's useful & what's not - its the funding & acceptance at the government level.
Thats where the dawn goes dimmer under duress.

At this point, i'd wish that organizations like OIC quit being 'oh i see' & start really working - trying to find talent & fund raisers alike -
within our Ummah.

Curiously, if wishes were arabian horses the beggars would ride...wouldn't they? hmm?

Wishes can't be realized unless we start taking things in our own hands.
I'd therefore urge my brothers excelling in technical knowledge sitting in west to come back & contribute for the Ummah!

Never mind, if u get wages less than there, or limited scholarships.
Never mind, if this or that is not up_to_your_expectations.
کُچھ پانے کیلیے کُچھ کھونا تو پڑتا ہے

Hasn't the time arrived yet to help your people?
Ask not what your people can do for you - but what you can do for your people.

So, here I am..& its a home away from home..
The best part of the story has gone untouched & is yet to be narrated..
[will soon inshAllah]
And that is being near Harmain Shareefain; Hijaaz - my dream place & a Raison D'être to move here.

~*~*~*~*~~*~*~*~*~

~ The Dithering Dichotomy

2010-03-03T07:43:00.000-08:00

Salam alaikum,

Years ago someone told me that he never learned algebra & has never had a need for it.
But I’ve learned algebra and used it constantly.
It’s a lucky thing I was the one who learned algebra since I ended up needing it.
But of course it’s not 'being lucky' per se, since I'd not have had any use for it either, had I not learned it :/

Broadly speaking there are two types of thinking processes;
The straight thinking & the lateral thinking. [more on it laterz inshAllah]

Just like that there are two types of learning behaviors we can spot in our daily lives out there;
First one, is the more traditional school based learning approach. We learn something with a hope that it'll be needed in future someday; this is to learn just_in_case.

The other one, is learning only when we need to learn; thats just_in_time learning.

Its a perfect dichotomy i dare say, & we all have our own experiences of both types of learnings..

In general, we learn things in school just...

In general, we learn things in school just_in_case we’ll need them later. Then once we get a job, we learn more things just_in_time when we need them.

Software developers, for instance, prefer just_in_time learning - they rightly should.
There’s so much out there that you simply ain’t going to need. You can’t learn every nifty detail of every operating system out there, every programming language, every library etc. before you do any real work. You can only remember so much arbitrary info without a specific need for it. Even if you could learn it all in the abstract, you’d be decades into your career without having produced anything.
On top of that, tech info has a pretty short shelf life, so it’s not worthwhile to learn too much that you’re not sure you have a need for.

{P.S; some software developers & programmers are an exception to this generalization though :p
They write a lot of code that is never used. There are numerous reasons for this. In Peter Seibel’s book 'Coders at Work', Peter Norvig gives his take on why this happens.

SL: "Why is it so tempting to solve a problem we don’t really have?"

NG: "You want to be clever and you want closure; you want to complete something and move on to something else. I think people are built to only handle a certain amount of stuff and you want to say “This is completely done; I can put it out of my mind and then I can move on.”

Sometimes software developers believe there’s a high probability that some unrequested feature will be needed in the future. In general, they over-estimate such probabilities. The acronym YAGNI — you aren’t gonna need it — is meant to remind developers of this tendency.

Norvig rightfully points out the down-side of seeking closure. Maybe the last 2% is intellectually satisfying but horribly difficult and not worth the effort.
I’ve erred on both sides though.
Years ago I often erred on the side of developing functionality that was never used. Then reading Kent Beck convinced me that YAGNI is usually true. Since then I’ve erred on the side of wishing I’d done more while a project was fresh on my mind.}

Returning -
When you learn just_in_time, you’re highly motivated. There’s no need to imagine whether you might apply what you’re learning since the application came first. But you can’t learn everything just in time. You have to learn some things before you can imagine using them. You need to have certain patterns in your head before you can recognize them in the wild.

So far the pros of just_in_time learning are as follows;
~ motivation to solve prompts you to learn.
~ there is no abstraction associated with it, since the problem came first.

The cons being that;
~ we tend to learn just the bit required and move ahead, unable to grasp the learned content in full.
~ cannot be done without having a priori knowledge base [you need to know what’s available, even if you’re only going to learn the details just in time. You can’t say “I need to learn about version control system now” if you don’t even know what version control is.]

.. & here comes the importance of just_in_case learning.

Just_in_case is like training, while just_in_time is like trying..
You can’t run a marathon by trying hard. The first person who tried that, sadly died. You have to get yourself trained for it. You can’t just say that you’ll run 20 miles when you need to and do nothing until then.

Upshot;

In today's fast pace world just_in_time learning makes so much more sense, as the number of new softwares, programming languages, & tools are being updated and developed at an astonishing speed. And all can't be learned swiftly enough.
But value can be added by adding a bit of a just-in-case to your just-in-time efforts, i.e., learn a bit here and there to have that stronger *feel* of your acquired knowledge. The difference is perhaps only in minutes, but advantages for future might span upto months.

And lastly, to wit; you need to have a survey knowledge of technology just_in_case.
But you can learn APIs just_in_ time.
But therez a big gray area in between where it’s hard to know what is worthwhile to learn and when.

~*~*~*~*~~*~*~*~*~

~ The Configurable Cognizant

2010-03-02T01:41:00.000-08:00

Asalam alaikum,

So, are you in your elements?
Yeah, you ! the one reading this :p

First, he gave a tedster talk back in 06' that led to his writing 'The Element'.

Ken Robinson’s catch phrase pretty much is;

"Don’t standardize education, personalize it."

Here are a couple quotes from his book concerning standardized education..

The fact is that given the challenges we face, education doesn’t need to be reformed — it needs to be transformed. The key to this transformation is not to standardize education but to personalize it, to build achievement on discovering the individual talents of each child, to put students in an environment where they want to learn and where they can naturally discover their true passions.

Learning happens in the minds and souls of individuals — not in the databases of multiple-choice tests. I doubt there are many children who leap out of bed in the morning wondering what they can do to raise the reading score for their state. Learning is a personal process …

Seems like this rising concept of home_schooling among western Muslims - is for the better i suppose.. a return of middle age research boom in Muslim lands.

Though i don't agree with all the dance rants in there :p, yet tis' true that the research ability has rather been brutally blistered by modern school-education hierarchy creating an essential research myopia in masses or worse; a complete research blackout en' masse.

First off, its the quality & not the quantity that should be strived for;
And as a fellow blogllegue T.Peters puts it:

You will be remembered in the long haul for the quality of your work, not the quantity of your work—the quantity part is just your defective ego talking—no one evaluates Picasso based on the number of paintings he churned out.

The whole public school evaluation system needs an urgent revision too

The three ways to evaluate a person’s performance are;

~ How good are they at their worst?
~ How good are they on average?
~ How good are they at their best?

Schools use the first two criteria, but the world out there uses the third.

Schools evaluate people at their worst, as in teachers average grades to come up with semester grades, and semester grades feed into a grade point average. So in some sense schools evaluate average performance.

But in more subtle ways; schools evaluate students by how good they are at their worst.

To graduate, your lowest course grade in all your required courses must be passing. No amount of brilliance in one area can compensate for a failing grade in another area. Your creative writing grades are excellent, Mr. Shakespeare, but we cannot let you graduate until you pass physics.

How do you get on the honor roll? Your lowest grade has to be above a certain level. Again, what matters is how good you are at your worst.

How do you get to be valedictorian? Be good enough at every class to get an A. You have to be pretty good at virtually everything, but you don’t have to be truly exceptional at anything.

Thus, schools encourage perfectionism, not excellence. They encourage people to avoid mistakes, not to be creative.

Otoh, the world at large (markets for instance) evaluate people at their best, as in if you write 100 obscure novels and one best-seller, you’re a best-selling author !
If you consistently write moderately popular novels, you’re not.
If you write one really good novel, you might get a Nobel prize.

Imagine the Nobel committee evaluating a writer saying “Yeah, these two novels were brilliant, world-changing. But he also wrote this one novel that was mediocre. Let’s give the prize to someone whose books are consistently pretty good.”

The Ford F150 did poorly in focus groups. The average rating wasn’t good. But the people who liked it really liked it. And the F150 went on to be the most popular truck in history. All that matters in business is people who like your product enough to buy it. You don’t make any money by being everyone’s second choice.

If a company has one product that is a runaway success, the company is a success.
If it has two or three runaway successes, even better.
But a company can produce a few dismal failures (think Microsoft Bob or the Apple Newton) and still do quite well if their flagship products succeed.The same is true of the people behind these products. Someone can make a successful career with one big win even if they have a number of failures.

We all want others to see the best in us.
There are ethical (and economic) reasons to look for the best in others..
But years of public school education can incline us to look for the worst in others.

oh & Speaking of autodidactism, the author of 'Secrets of a Buccaneer Scholar', gives out an interesting message;

“Education is important. School is optional.”

~*~*~*~*~~*~*~*~*~

~ حافظ صاحب اور ہم

2010-03-01T22:25:00.000-08:00

"
اللہ کا شُکر ہے میری تو تیاری ہو گئ ہے۔ ۔ کوئ سوال مُشکل ہو تو مجھے بھی بلا لینا ۔ ۔ ویسے تاش ہے؟ ۔ ۔ کھیلیں "؟

یہ حافظ صاحب بھی کمال ہی تھے۔ ۔

ہم لوگ امتحان سے ایک رات پہلے سخت ٹینشن میں پڑھ رہے ہوتے تھے۔

اور حافط صاحب کہیں سے سیٹی بجاتے نمودار ہوتے، تو ہماری سڑ جاتی کہ ایک ہم ہیں اور ایک یہ حافط ہے۔

وقت کی مُنصفانہ تقسیم کے اتنے پابند ہیں؛

کہ امتحان کے دن بھی انکے ناول پڑھنے کا ٹایم نہیں بدلے گا ۔

one of the best time managers i've...

..i've seen among my entourage - mashAllah.. & it doesn't stop here;

سُنا ہےاپنی پروفیشنل زندگی میں بھی ڈیڈ لاین سے پہلے ہی کام 'مُکا' چکے ہوتے ہیں۔

حافط جیسے لوگوں کیلیے ڈیڈ لاین ایک بے ضرر چیز ہے ۔

ماشاءااللہ ماشاءااللہ

چشم بد دُوور ۔

اللہ برکت اور آسانیاں دے اور ہماری کوتاہیوں کو دُور فرماے

~~~~

With that said -

i'd really like Hafiz saheb to tell us - once n for all - his time scheduling secret ..

oh plz.. tell tell

{more so when im in bit of a time crunch these days in need of such tips & trix more than ever..}

~*~*~*~*~~*~*~*~*~

~ Gestures

2010-02-28T10:31:00.000-08:00

Aslam alaikum,

With one of my siblings having 40% hearing loss in one ear, & an adamant attitude of not going for a cochlear implant ; being perfectly comfortable between the ears & under the skin..
.. i say gestures are important - more so if used with multi-touch interfaces :p

Gesturecons - icons for a multi touch world.

~*~*~*~*~~*~*~*~*~

~ A Brief illustrated Guide

2010-02-27T22:15:00.000-08:00

Asalam alaikum warahmatuLLAh,

check out this awesome guide; [You could read full here]

~*~*~*~*~~*~*~*~*~

~ The duo core

2010-02-26T18:31:00.000-08:00

Aslam alaikum,

& no it ain't the pc duo core..
its the family duo core under discussion here..
since its this family unit that satan sweats hard to regress & cause repercussions in kids..

The Healthy Marriage ~

~*~*~*~*~~*~*~*~*~

~ Winning Hearts

2010-02-25T04:56:00.000-08:00

Asalam alaikum,

'Yes for flattery. No for arguing.'
'Look good and smell great..'
'Expect & respect.. the jealousy.'

now that just makes sense.. init?

81 Ways To Win Your Wife's Heart

Thats like very many ways right there :)

oh & it doesn't end here..
therez more to it.. since it goes both ways.

but this time the ways are comparatively fewer..
60 Ways To Win Your Husband's Heart

~*~*~*~*~~*~*~*~*~

~ Impressive

2010-02-24T18:22:00.000-08:00

Salam alaikum,

I was pretty amazed at the health standards & most notably the personalized care provided at the dental clinic here.

First off, its free of cost!
Now thats a feat yet to be achieved by the countries that boast to be welfare states; yup I'm pointing towards scandinavia - where my teeth took a tough toll on my pocket :(

Secondly, my dentist; a young arab apprentice of a much seasoned professional doctor, seems so concerned & caring, that he calls by night before the appointment time; conveying the details of the procedure... & well, he doesn't stop there, he also calls in the morning an hour before the appointment time to make sure that his client is on his way.

So much for the unfounded bias against these people & their system.

~*~*~*~*~~*~*~*~*~

~ Wasting Time

2010-02-23T11:16:00.000-08:00

Salam alaikum,

Its a half an hour awesome lecture..
I found it pretty relevant, so to speak.
you too, take some 'time' out to lend it an ear :p

Wasting Time by Br. Nauman Ali Khan

or check this embedded audio right here;

~*~*~*~*~~*~*~*~*~

~ Shoppe !

2010-02-22T21:07:00.000-08:00

Aslam alaikum,

so on my way back home, i thought of throwing a nice surprise ..to my book shelf :p
i bought this;

& this;

& this; ..

VOILA!

& then..
well, how about a nice cozy embracing cushion to lay back n read? :D

~*~*~*~*~~*~*~*~*~

~ زوجتی ; my consort

2010-02-21T00:10:00.000-08:00

Asalam alaikum,

waLLAh! Bukhatir said it all & said it right :p

~*~*~*~*~~*~*~*~*~