Lapotops & Spinach?
According to US researchers Laptops can actually be powered by spinach. If you’re interested in knowing how Click Here
According to US researchers Laptops can actually be powered by spinach. If you’re interested in knowing how Click Here
Yesterday my husband and I went to Monastir (around 3 hours driving from Tunis) to meet my Bulgarian friend Iva. I met her while I was in Mannheim-Germany back in year 1999. Ever since then we met twice, where? In TUNISIA 🙂 yes, it was so un expected for us to meet again after Germany, but we did and it was really strange to meet here in Tunisia. This girl has been a true friend, although the time we spent together was only one month. She never stopped emailing me and sending me post cards from everywhere she goes. A real good friend. Only 30 days together, and she never stopped offering me help and support. She got a job in a tourism agency, and lucky me, she dropped by last year and stayed for few months in Monastir. We met once last year, and this year she’s back, again in Monastir and we met yesterday. She’ll be staying till September, hope we’ll meet more often 🙂
Monastir happened to be the city from which the former Tunisian President Habib Bourgiba comes. It’s quite a big city, with lovely blue sea, and tidy wide streets. It’s so calm, and compared to Tunis, Monastir has more hills. Just like Hammamet, Monastir has a wide range of lovely hotels, almost most of them are in a part of Monastir called : Skanes.
Tunisia just amazes me with the many weird and strange names they have, most of the names are strange because they are Phoenicians.
Monastir also has a lovely port for yachts 🙂 And what we have noticed is that the Germans are the majority of the yacht owners. In this port, like in “Yasmine Hammamet†and “Qantaoui Port†of Sousse, the yacht owners could stay at beautiful apartments and small villas with a range of restaurants, cafés and little shops surrounding them.
It was around 38 degrees in Monastir yesterday, and around 35 in Tunis. “Luckily†the A.C. in our car didn’t work, so my husband had to drive 3 hours in the heat, with windows open for some air. The noise was unbelievable, and my dear husband had his left arm (the one getting more sunlight) burned. So now he has a red-brown arm and another white one 😛 but still we enjoyed the trip and had fun.
The funniest part was when we were at a restaurant and Iva sang along with an Arabic song, she doesn’t speak Arabic, but she’s been listening to Arabic music in the Hotel all the time, that she finally was able to sing along with it, it was really funny.
In her first visit, she was still not used to the heat and the Arab culture, but now she’s happier, enjoys her time more, knows the Tunisian food, says: aslema (hi), shbeek (what’s wrong), tosbeh ala kheer (nighty) and stuff like that 🙂
As for the heat, she still suffers a bit, even Tunisians do 😛 but she’s managing I guess 😉
After spending 4 hours with her, we got back to Tunis. On our way, there was this beautiful Gas Station called: Sidi Khleefa. Our poor car was so damn thirsty, and we stepped out to rest from the long time drive. The station had EVERYTHING. Oh, no, not only for cars, but also humans 🙂 From drinks, to nutritious products, to newspapers, magazines, tapes, toys, skin care products, car tools, swimming stuff, they even had a food court for smokers and another one for non-smokers, and a small café & desert corner. It was BEAUTIFUL, the view was so nice and all people who are on long trips in their cars or busses stopped there. It reminded me of the stop at the free zone between Jordan and Syria 🙂 The place was so great and cooooooooooooooooooool, it was really refreshing. 🙂
The only terrible part about yesterday was that I felt like eating, I mean I really ate too much, that I got my stomach looking like I was 3 months pregnant 😛 It was hurting me like hell and I was scared I’d die. But thank God today it was somehow back to normal, but I’ve decided to eat very light stuff to make sure everything will be fine.
Anyway, if you haven’t been to Monastir then follow my advice and waste no more time. The place is really beautiful 🙂 If you don’t want to drive your car then you have other options like the train or the airplane 🙂 Oh, one more thing, don’t forget your sun-glasses so that you wont wake up next day with burning red eyes :PPPP
I remember when I got my first job in Tunisia, which lasted for 1 month only –thank God- I had so little things to do. Because others didn’t want to teach me things so that I wont replace them, on one hand, and because the whole work was going through a difficult stage on the other hand. Anyway, one day my direct manager comes to me with a BIIIIG smile on his face. Back then I didn’t know that when this person in particular has a smile, then it means: “a disaster is coming your wayâ€, and I wasn’t aware that the bigger the smile, the bigger the disaster…
Anyway, he goes like: I heard you speak German, are you good at it?
I: I believe I am.
He: So you speak it, you write it and you’re like capable of translating?
I: yes, sure I can translate.
(he shows me a folder with around 50 pages or so)
He: See this?
(I get so excited that finally I’ll be getting some work to prove my skills and be busy, more than that it’s something I love, it’s translation)
I: Yes, you want me to translate these?
He: Yep, INTO FRENCH!
(I was SHOCKED, I thought he was definitely crazy)
Then he simply left without even caring to hear what I have to say. So I went to his office…
I: Sir, I guess you gave me the wrong papers, I can’t translate into French, I only have basic knowledge in it.
He: Maybe you don’t know coz you’re new, I DO NOT MAKE MISTAKES!
I: Then what do you call that?
He: I call it W O R K.
I: Sorry but you know since I was hired for my Arabic & Ebglish not for French. You knew that my French is not that good. And actually you were asking me about my German, can you please explain what’s going wrong in here?
He: You being here arguing with me over work you MUST do is the wrong thing.
I: I’m afraid you didn’t get my point, I can’t translate all these official documents into French!!
He: There are dictionaries upstairs.
I: So you don’t care how would these important documents turn out when you give them to the people concerned. Or maybe you’ll just blame the bad results on me!!
He: All I care about is to have these documents translated… How? Not my problem. What would the impressions be? None of your business.
If I didn’t need that job, I would’ve turned around and quit right away, but I thought of it and decided not to let that loser ruin my career. Now if I don’t do this and complain to the head manager instead, then I wont win anything coz I was hired 1 week ago. And if I do the work and hand it out with all these mistakes I’ll be taking a huge responsibility and might get fired coz I didn’t explain. So I went upstairs, got around 4 dictionaries, each specialized in the professional expressions, official terms and definitions, each dictionary of a certain field. I translated them alone, and after I was done, I enclosed a paper in the end saying it was my work under my direct manager’s supervision.
Then I emailed the head manager and all those who are possibly getting these documents explaining I was forced to do this, though I didn’t know good French, and that I clear my responsibility.
I didn’t get any reaction whatsoever, but at least I didn’t have to do translation into French for official documents again 😉
Remember the story of the street we live in. How it’s constantly being repaired, and that the water is cut and telephone lines are affected because of this. Well ever since then (ever since we lived there since 8 months) this poor street is not yet repaired. Enough is enough! Not only are we, the people living there suffering from the annoying reparations, but also water is wasted in the streets every now and then, the place has become all dusty, which is causing pollution to the poor people living right there. Thank God it’s just a way to our place and not where we actually live. Add to this the huge financial loss of the government. They spend a fortune on repairing this thing and then after a couple of days one can see the repairing trucks again breaking the infrastructure and digging down the ground.
I’m really FED UP! Therefore I’ve made up my mind to write a petition, complaining about the status of the street and requesting serious and immediate interference in repairing it once and for all. It’s ready to be handed out to the people in charge. My only problem is: I DON’T KNOW WHO ARE THESE PEOPLE IN CHARGE!!!
Im März 1996 sind die Kultusminister und die Ministerpräsidenten der Bundesländer übereingekommen: Die deutsche Rechtschreibung wird reformiert. Das Reformwerk wurde am 1.7.1996 unterzeichnet; in den deutschen Schulen wird die neue Orthographie seit August 1998 gelehrt. Die alte Schreibung soll bis zum Jahre 2005 als überholt, aber nicht als falsch gelten.
Die Rechtschreibreform betrifft 6 Bereiche, für viele Leute ist sie sehr kompliziert, meiner Meinung nach, die Reform der deutschen Rechtschreibung ist weder zu einfach, noch zu komliziert. Ich finde sie gut, aber nicht ganz notwendig, und glaube, dass man nur viel üben soll, um die Rechtschreibreform zu meistern.
I. Laut-Buchstaben-Zuordnungen (einschließlich Fremdwortschreibung)
Unregelmäßigkeiten in der Laut-Buchstaben-Zuordnung (keine Entsprechung von Laut und Buchstabe) sollen möglichst beseitigt werden (rau, wie grau, schlau usw., bisher: rauh; Känguru, wie Gnu, Kakadu, bisher: Känguruh). Dabei soll die Schreibung des Wortes am Stammprinzip ausgerichtet sein (überschwänglich, zu Überschwang, bisher: überschwenglich; nummerieren, zu Nummer, bisher: numerieren; platzieren, zu Platz, bisher: plazieren; schnäuzen, zu Schnauze, großschnäuzig, bisher: schneuzen). Diese Orientierung an der Stammschreibung des Wortes gilt auch für Zusammensetzungen, bei denen drei gleiche Buchstaben aufeinander treffen. Künftig bleiben alle drei erhalten (Stofffetzen, bisher: Stoffetzen, da auf die drei gleichen Konsonanten ein Vokal folgt); genusssüchtig, bisher: genußsüchtig; Seeelefant/See-Elefant, bisher: See-Elefant). Das ß wird nach kurzem Vokal durch ss ersetzt (er muss, zu müssen, bisher: er muß; dass, bisher: daß). Endet das Stammwort einer Ableitung auf -z, so kann neben der Endung -tial, -tiell künftig auch -zial, -ziell geschrieben werden (essenziell, zu Essenz, bisher nur: essentiell). Die Angleichung der Schreibung an die Aussprache betrifft in besonderem Maße die Fremdwörter. Dabei sollen auch nach Inkrafttreten der Reform die alten Formen neben den neuen Gültigkeit haben.
(1) So kann ai durch ä ersetzt werden (Necessaire/Nessessär, bisher nur: Necessaire, wie schon jetzt: Sekretär).
(2) f, t, r, g kann in einigen Fällen ph, th, rh, gh ersetzen (Delfin/Delphin, bisher nur: Delphin; Panter/Panther, bisher nur: Panther; Hämorriden/Hämorrhoiden, bisher nur: Hämorrhoiden; Jogurt/Joghurt, bisher nur: Joghurt). Dies gilt vor allem für Wörter mit den Stämmen phon, phot und graph (Megafon/Megaphon, bisher nur: Megaphon, wie schon jetzt: Telefon; Fotometrie/Photometrie, bisher nur: Photometrie;wie schon jetzt: Fotographie; Geografie/Geographie, bisher nur: Geographie, wie schon jetzt: Grafik).
(3) ee kann é, ée ersetzen (Exposee/Exposé, bisher nur: Exposé, wie schon jetzt: Armee) ·
(4) u kann ou ersetzen (Buklee/Bouclé, bisher nur: Bouclé, wie schon jetzt: Nugat) ·
(5) ss kann c ersetzen (Fassette/Facette, bisher nur: Facette, wie schon jetzt: Fassade) ·
(6) sch kann ch ersetzen (Ketschup/Ketchup, bisher nur: Ketchup, wie schon jetzt: Broschüre) ·
(7) k kann qu ersetzen (Kommunikee/Kommuniqué, bisher nur: Kommuniqué, wie schon jetzt: Likör) ·
(8) Pluralendung -ys ersetzt -ies (Babys, bisher: Babies).
(9) Begriffe aus Fachsprachen werden allerdings weiterhin wie bisher geschrieben (Philosophie, Theologie, Phänomen, Sphäre).
II. Getrennt- und Zusammenschreibung
Im Gegensatz zu der bisherigen, sehr uneinheitlichen Handhabung werden Wortverbindungen künftig in der Regel getrennt geschrieben (z.B. Eis laufen, bisher: eislaufen; Auto fahren; Rad fahren, bisher: radfahren; kennen lernen, bisher: kennenlernen).
III. Schreibung mit Bindestrich
Die Verwendung des Bindestrichs soll grundsätzlich freier als bisher gehandhabt werden (Ichsucht oder Ich-Sucht; Seeelefant oder See-Elefant; Shoppingcenter oder Shopping-Center). In Zusammensetzungen mit Ziffern wird künftig i.d.R. ein Bindestrich gesetzt (30-jährig, 100-prozentig).
IV. Groß- und Kleinschreibung
Substantive und Substantivierungen in Verbindung mit einem Artikel, einer Präposition oder einem Verb sollen in der Regel großgeschrieben werden (mit Bezug auf, wie schon bisher; in Bezug auf, bisher: in bezug auf; Rad fahren, bisher: radfahren; im Allgemeinen, bisher: im allgemeinen; der Einzelne, bisher: der einzelne). Bezeichnungen für Tageszeiten in Verbindung mit gestern, heute, morgen werden künftig ebenfalls großgeschrieben (heute Abend).
V. Zeichensetzung
Hier soll dem Schreibenden ein größerer Entscheidungsspielraum zugebilligt werden. So brauchen mit und oder oder verbundene Hauptsätze nicht mehr durch ein Komma getrennt zu werden. Auch bei erweiterten Infinitiv- und Partizipialgruppen ist kein Komma mehr erforderlich, doch kann es gesetzt werden, um die Absicht des Schreibenden zu verdeutlichen (“Er riet ihm (,) die Einladung anzunehmen.”)
VI. Worttrennung am Zeilenende
(1) st darf künftig getrennt werden (Fens-ter, Kas-ten, Kos-ten).
(2) ck soll nicht mehr in k-k aufgelöst werden (Zu-cker, le-cken, tro-cken).
(3) Ein einzelner Vokal am Wortanfang darf künftig abgetrennt werden (O-fen, U-fer).
(4) Bei Fremdwörtern gelten in Zukunft neben den Trennungen, die der Herkunftssprache Rechnung tragen, auch die deutschen Trennungsregeln (bisher: Chir-urg; neu: Chir-urg/Chi-rurg; bisher: Päd-ago-gik, neu: Päd-a-go-gik / Pä-da-go-gik).
Quelle: Wissen.DE
Ich muss zugeben, dass ich viele Fehler machen 😀 Ich versuche aber meine Rechtschreibung zu verbessern.
Sie können ein Schnellkurs mit den 10 wichtigsten Regeln der Reform machen. Ausserdem gibt es auch ein Online-Diktat , in dem die Regeln der “Neuen Deutschen Rechtschreibung” gelten… Viel Spaß 😉
The World Summit on the Information Society (WSIS) is held in two phases. The first phase of WSIS took place in Geneva hosted by the Government of Switzerland from 10 to 12 December 2003. It addressed the broad range of themes concerning the Information Society and adopted a Declaration of Principles and Plan of Action. The second phase will take place in Tunis hosted by the Government of Tunisia, from 16 to 18 November 2005.
The preparatory meeting (PrepCom1) of the second phase of the WSIS, will be held at the Medina Conference Center (Centre des Congrès), Yasmine Hammamet, Tunisia, on June 24-26, 2004. This meeting will address the process of implementing the Geneva plan of action, the expected results of the second phase as well as the Summit preparatory process.
There are 800 registrations to attend the WSIS PrepCom meeting up to now.
More details and information about the WSIS in Tunisia are available at the official website of the host country Tunisia : Tunis2005 where you can also register for participation and make reservations for your stay in Tunisia.
You can also read news headlines about the WSIS in Tunis in Arabic at: Aljazeera
I meet so many people who do not believe in God. It’s not my duty to judge them, but I give myself the right to help them think of what maybe circumstances, people around them or their minds prevent them from thinking of.
All I can say is the relationship between a person and God needs no outer interference. It’s not built on interests (or at least from God’s side), neither does it need consultation. It’s all about the belief in one fact: even if the whole world gave up on you, there is only one power stronger than all other powers that will stand by your side and help you survive, for nothing in return but your faith.
Don’t switch religions or create new ones or decide to follow the idea that nature has created itself just because it’s a cool thing to do, or because the ones you love did it, or simply because you find it easier that way. Take only few minutes of meditation, alone, by yourself, and don’t be afraid to ask yourself whatever question, and don’t be scared of knowing the truth.
Look at the universe with all what it has, look at everything around you, start with yourself, look at your hair, eyes, hands, feet, stomach, skin, veins, think of the thousands of processes that take place inside your body, think of the great link between the senses and the existence, look at the plants, animals, and other human beings. Think of weather, think of coincidence, think of luck, think of health, think of life and death. You will find that only one of the things above is enough for you to sense the presence of God.
I have just read this beautiful post at Azlan Adnan called On Faith, I thought it was worth reading. Enjoy 🙂
An atheist professor of philosophy speaks to his class on the problem science has with God, The Almighty. He asks one of his Muslim students to stand and…
Professor: You are a Muslim, aren’t you, son?
Student: Yes, sir.
Professor: So you believe in God?
Student: Absolutely, sir.
Professor: Is God good?
Student: Sure.
Professor: Is God all-powerful?
Student: Yes.
Professor: My brother died of cancer even though he prayed to God to heal him. Most of us would attempt to help others who are ill. But God didn’t. How is this God good then? Hmm?
(Student is silent.)
Professor: You can’t answer, can you? Let’s start again, young fella. Is God good?
Student: Yes.
Professor: Is Satan good?
Student: No.
Professor: Where does Satan come from?
Student: From… God…
Professor: That’s right. Tell me son, is there evil in this world?
Student: Yes.
Professor: Evil is everywhere, isn’t it? And God did make everything. Correct?
Student: Yes.
Professor: So who created evil? (Student does not answer.)
Professor: Is there sickness? Immorality? Hatred? Ugliness? All these terrible things exist in the world, don’t they?
Student: Yes, sir.
Professor: So, who created them?
(Student has no answer.)
Professor: Science says you have five senses you use to identify and observe the world around you. Tell me, son… Have you ever seen God?
Student: No, sir.
Professor: Tell us if you have ever heard your God?
Student: No , sir.
Professor: Have you ever felt your God, tasted your God, smelt your God? Have you ever had any sensory perception of God for that matter?
Student: No, sir. I’m afraid I haven’t.
Professor: Yet you still believe in Him?
Student: Yes.
Professor: According to empirical, testable, demonstrable protocol, science says your GOD doesn’t exist. What do you say to that, son?
Student: Nothing. I only have my faith.
Professor: Yes. Faith. And that is the problem science has.
Student: Professor, is there such a thing as heat?
Professor: Yes.
Student: And is there such a thing as cold?
Professor: Yes.
Student: No sir. There isn’t.
Student: Sir, you can have lots of heat, even more heat, superheat, mega heat, white heat, a little heat or no heat. But we don’t have anything called cold. We can hit 458 degrees below zero which is no heat, but we can’t go any further after that. There is no such thing as cold. Cold is only a word we use to describe the absence of heat. We cannot measure cold. Heat is energy. Cold is not the opposite of heat, sir, just the absence of it.
Student: What about darkness, Professor? Is there such a thing as darkness?
Professor: Yes. What is night if there isn’t darkness?
Student: You’re wrong again, sir. Darkness is the absence of something. You can have low light, normal light, bright light, flashing light… But if you have no light constantly, you have nothing and it’s called darkness, isn’t it? In reality, darkness isn’t. If it were you would be able to make darkness darker, wouldn’t you?
Professor: So what is the point you are making, young man?
Student: Sir, my point is your philosophical premise is flawed.
Professor: Flawed? Can you explain how?
Student: Sir, you are working on the premise of duality. You argue there is life and then there is death, a good God and a bad God. You are viewing the concept of God as something finite, something we can measure. Sir, science can’t even explain a thought. It uses electricity and magnetism, but has never seen, much less fully understood either one.. To view death as the opposite of life is to be ignorant of the fact that death cannot exist as a substantive thing. Death is not the opposite of life: just the absence of it. Now tell me, Professor. Do you teach your students that they evolved from a monkey?
Professor: If you are referring to the natural evolutionary process, yes, of course, I do.
Student: Have you ever observed evolution with your own eyes, sir?
(The Professor shakes his head with a smile, beginning to realize where the argument is going.)
Student: Since no one has ever observed the process of evolution at work and cannot even prove that this process is an on-going endeavour, are you not teaching your opinion, sir? Are you not a scientist but a preacher?
Student: Is there anyone in the class who has ever seen the Professor’s brain?
Student: Is there anyone here who has ever heard the Professor’s brain, felt it, touched or smelt it? No one appears to have done so. So, according to the established rules of empirical, stable, demonstrable protocol, science says that you have no brain, sir. With all due respect, sir, how do we then trust your lectures, sir?
Professor: I guess you’ll have to take them on faith, son.
Student: That is it sir. The link between man & god is FAITH. That is all that keeps things moving and alive.
Few minutes ago I have known that my brother and sister have passed and got excellent results. My brother now goes for his summer course, as for my sister she’ll be preparing for her graduation party which will be taking place soon 🙂 I’m so proud they got these high grades 🙂 CONGRATULATIONS brother and sister, and good luck 🙂
The other day the manager’s brother, who happens to be a TV & cinema director dropped by the office with a couple of people.
He entered the room next to me and left the doors open. It turned out the other two people were an actor and the writer of a certain script he was working on. Now the thing is, they were all gathered in an attempt to find a way to end the story 😛 I wasn’t spying, I just overheard them talking. At that day, I had loads of undone work to do, still I couldn’t but think along with them. What annoyed me is no one of the three could come up with something, while I came up with at least 3 ways to end it: a happy ending, or a sad ending or a mysterious ending. I must say, that although I thought this one passion of mine: “writing†has died, but it’s still as strong as before.
Anyway, they spend 3 hours discussing possibilities in the room, and I was just wishing someone would come to me and ask: “so what do you think!” which didn’t happen 😀
The fact that they left the door open and were speaking loudly wasn’t enough for me to go share them my ideas. I was afraid of many things, such as them considering this step as spying, or interfering, or simply giving myself the right to discuss a professional writer and a well-known director. Another thing I didn’t want to happen was them thinking: look at her, instead of doing the loads of work she has to do, she’s just wasting time listening to what we say. So I decided to mind my own business and I just waited for them till they totally lost hope, said bye and left the office.
Whenever I remember this I just hope I had the courage to interfere, but then again not all people are prepared to welcome your opinion, specially if you had nothing to do with their work and profession. Well maybe if you know the people well and you’re close enough then it’s ok, but while at work, overhearing people you barely know and giving your “unasked” opinion wont be always as impressive as you wish it will be…
I don’t know if it happens to you too, but it happens to me in most of the situations I go through in my life.
It’s when you’re asked a certain embarrassing question or when you’re asked your opinion in a sticky situation, or when you have to make a very serious comment, or simply when you’re writing the answer to a tricky question in the exam, you do something, and when you’re out of the room, or when the situation is to an end, you find yourself hitting your head against the wall, shouting: “GOD!! WHY DIDN’T I THINK OF THAT†or “WHY DIDN’T I SAY THAT INSTEAD!”. So many times, I comment in a certain way, or I write down something, but when the situation is over, I find myself finding better options for my comments or answers, SPECIALLY when I have this feeling that I said something really great, to find out few minutes later that I said the worst thing ever, and have fallen for the trick, which the other part of the conversation has planned for. AAAH! I get so angry when I realize I could’ve said better things, or I could’ve dealt with a situation in a better way. And sometimes instead of feeling angry I can’t stop laughing, when I know what I said wont give a bad impression about me, nor would it result is bad consequences, so I think: ooops, that must have sounded really stupid!
I guess the reason behind this regret is the time factor. Sometimes we rush into conclusions, or we simply don’t give ourselves enough time to think the issue through because of being emotionally driven, or maybe because the situation itself is so urgent that we have no time to think enough.
And when we’re in a hurry, or when we let our feelings (anger, anxiety, fear, embarrassment, or love) be in charge, then we end up feeling not much satisfied of our ways in handling situations, or we feel bad about the words we’ve said concerning certain issues. Therefore, and no matter how hard it might be, one should take enough time to think the answer through first, if for any reason it was impossible to take time thinking, then at least try to control your feelings specially anger and fear.
And well, do what I do, no matter how embarrassed or angry I’d feel after saying something, I let it go so fast by saying one of these magical sentences: “I’m only humanâ€, or “worse things could’ve happenedâ€, or “I’m still aliveâ€, or “I’ll make it up somehow†🙂 Making mistakes is part of our adventurous life, don’t be ashamed of that, but do your best to avoid as much mistakes as you can, at least by not repeating the same mistake twice. And if you’re making no mistakes at all, then it’s either you’re an out of this world person, lucky you, and stay like that 🙂 OR you can be some kind of a freak believing you’re right and all are wrong, lol, in that case, take more time and try to look at things from different angles 🙂
Good luck to all and have a wonderful weekend 🙂 IT IS FRIDAAAAAAAAAAAY 😀