Rant: 3 March 2007

I have been thinking about something for quite some time now. There are some readers of this blog who know my real identity and because of it, I sometimes find it difficult to say or discuss some things. Such as my dangerously extreme personal political, religious, and social views/opinions etc. So, I think I've have come to a decision that I will start another blog, where I will try to remain extremely anonymous as long and as best as possible. I'm not going to end this blog, but I think I will not be able to contribute much to it anymore. Maybe sometime in the future, on a rare occasion, I'll post about something now and then.

Recently, I've noticed that there is sort of a darkness growing inside me. With each passing day, I feel it changes me, where, my privately held opinions and beliefs become stronger and more rigid. And I can no longer tolerate anyone else's dissenting views. Especially in regards to discussions I have with people, where I want to tell them, either accept my way or expect to be ruined.

Anyway, the next thing to do would be to create a new gmail account and think up of a new cool user and blog name.

Rant: 9 March 2006

The last week of classes became so hectic by the end of the semester. I had two huge assignments due before Friday and I wasn't even half finished. I sat up 8 to 11 hours on the computer typing one huge report on the new Blu-Ray Disc and then one huge C++ program about a water tank cleaning business over the weekend. It was like this, my first exam was on Monday morning and here I was coding a thousand lines program on Sunday evening. I still can't believe how could I have messed up the first two simple exams so horribly. Shit! There goes my GPA all over again. Can't believe I screwed up my second chance at a 4.0 GPA. The last two exams went incredibly awesome though. Sometimes I think I have reached the limits of my intellect and that is why I can't get good grades in all the courses per semester. Nah! That can't be it. Anyway, never ever again Inshallah.

After exams, we made a trip to Geelong and Apollo Bay on the very next weekend. I have seen many beaches before, but the beach on Apollo Bay is AWESOME! Can't believe beaches like that existed outside of a National Geographic magazine picture. The landscape is unbelievable and there weren't many tourists over there, which was perfect. The weather was perfect, it wasn't neither too cold or warm. We stopped at the beach for just an hour then we had to leave before it got dark.

You know that nauseating salty sea air smell you smell at the beach? Well, it wasn't as much nauseating over there as it usually is on typical beaches. Probably the sea water was so clear and pure because it came from Antarctica or something.

On our way back, we decided to take a different route back home. We decided to take a very narrow and zigzag road through Beeac Forest. We drove deep into the forest, driving through a dense tall trees on the sides of cliffs and ravines. We got so deep into the forest that we lost all radio and cell phone reception for about half an hour. I rolled down the window and inhaled such a high oxygen content filled fresh air that I have never inhaled before. It was like one whiff and I the mind got so ever clear. Although, I didn't see any flowers, but there was this sweet smell all around. Must have been the smell of the greenery. And then I noticed something strange, I didn't here any sound of birds or animals all the while at Beeac Forrest.

I have been through such dense forest drives in America also, but there is always this hint of some toxic chemical smell in nature, at least around Mobile, Alabama. Probably because, the corporate polluters have sprayed those beautiful places with God knows what.

Winter's approaching soon, I think I'll go and spend at least two nights there next summer. I'll probably post some pictures and links about the place. If anyone wants to go on a vacation then I would recommend Australia, this place is unbelievable and I've only scratched the surface till now.

After the weekend, I had the following week off. I spent the whole week running errands, looking up courses to register next week when classes start. All in all, I think this past week went rather well. I did everything I planned out and didn't miss anything. Probably because, I made a "things to do" list on paper and checked off each item accordingly. I'm so proud of myself.

Now all I have to do is to go to the Uni on Monday and register for classes and hope I pass in all the courses on the 10 March grade results. It would be such a waste if I fail in any course. Oh God please don't fail me now.

I found this website www.youtube.com and its awesome. People can upload video clips on it of 100mb size. I have found many interesting clips on it. I think I'll post some of them on this blog. This gives me an idea to start a video blog.

Limks:

• Geelong
• Great Ocean Road
• Apollo Bay

Rant: 15 January 2006

• Holy Moly! Hubba Hubba! Worked on an assignment the whole weekend non-stop. Just finished and submitted it this morning. Damn that was one tiring weekend. I tell myself never again and then I end up doing it at the last minute all over again. I've got two short on-line quizzes due by tomorrow morning at 9:00 am and I don't have the slightest brain power to do them anytime soon. I've tried sleeping in order to be all refreshed up but, I'm still God Damn tired! Oh well, I think I'm going to watch a little TV and try to relax.
• I noticed something very strange here about Australians. What is up with Australians and their David Hasselhoff obsession? Australians are mad-crazy fans of Hasselhoff. Hasselhoff is actually a huge celebrity like what Brad Pitt is in America. I don't understand it. The guy hasn't done anything ratings worthy since Baywatch. Let me give you guys an idea how huge Hasselhoff is in Australia, like he is on all the latest Pepsi billboards. Worst yet, he knows that he is huge in the land down under. Whenever I get the chance, I'm going to ask one of his local fans the big question "why are Australians so crazy about that guy?".
• I met this guy at the "Uni" -yeah you heard right. That is what people call our University Campus because our campus is basically a 10 story building right in the middle of the city and you can't call it a campus exactly. So, about this guy, the guy knows a lot about programming, computers and, designing stuff. I asked him if he could redesign my blog template for me because I'm just too damn lazy to do it and he said he hasn't had much experience designing stuff, therefore he can't promise anything. But, he would like to work on it for the experience. So, I said yeah sure knock yourself out. Turns out he's also from Jeddah, Saudi Arabia. From the brief chat I had with him, he unloaded his whole career vision on me and I was like "sounds good, let me know if I can help". So, he thought we'll work on something together, make the big money, start a systems design company, hire employees and I said stop! You had me at "money". Later I was like...man he's my kind of guy.
• I spent the whole of the last two days trying to configure my router settings to point to my local web server and it kept pointing towards the router administration login box. I don't understand it. I searched the Internet about fixing that problem and every link describes the exact method I've been doing all along. The last 50 times I did this it worked without any trouble, but that was on a LinkSys router. Now, I'm using a NetComm NB1300 router on ADSL. Somebody who knows how to configure a web server on a WAN with this particular router then please help me. Damn it I've even read the whole manual on that router and it says nothing about opening access for a local web server on a WAN. I've tried port forwarding and all that and it still won't budge.
• I've recently started to talk a little in third person. Some people look at me funny whenever I do. I'm like "Knightmare likes food" or "You think Knightmare would like a sandwich right about now?". Crazy, just insane.
• Damn these assignments! They are driving me crazy! Four more and then I'm done for the semester.
• I really like Melbourne, Australia. I really do. I've seen four very distinct parts of the world and Melbourne is the best. I've been to all over Saudi Arabia, seen India, been to Syria, Jordan, lived and seen all over USA for the past 5 years. I feel more happy and at peace here than anywhere I've been to in the past. When I was living in the US, it was the first western country I had been to. After canvassing the place, I thought maybe it doesn't get better than this even with all the crap that one finds in the US. Now, I know it actually does get a whole lot better than the US. After reaching Australia and mixing with the locals I have come to a conclusion that AMERICANS ARE ASSHOLES! They have always been Assholes, they are Assholes, and they will remain Assholes until their final demise. Now, that I look back on it, I'm glad I left America because I don't think I would have been able to bare another second of that ignorant southern drawl rant. Up till now, I thought all westerners were more or the same arrogant, narcissist, blood thirsty as the Americans. It turns out that is not true. Aussies are 10 folds better than any White American Bastard I have ever come across. For those of you who don't understand how someone like Bush become president of the most militarily powerful country in the world then allow me to explain. America is full of Gun-Toting-Redneck-Racist pigs and the country's leader reflects the people.

Rant: October 17, 2005

1. I had a very long and vivid nightmare last night. It had me scared and running through the whole night. When I woke up this morning, I was very exhausted, mentally drained, and all shook up. Whenever I dream, I never seem to recall anything of what I had dreamt as soon as I wake up. But, this time the nightmare was clear and literary very creative. If some how I manage to write it down into a book then I think it might make the best seller list, that's how creative and horrifying my last night's dream was. It will make Stephen King look like a wimp, as if he is not one already. When I woke up, I couldn't believe the level of creativity and originality of it. Then a few minutes later it struck me that it was probably inspired by a "Night Visions" episode(A View Through The Window) I had seen a few months earlier. Wow! Last night was some trip!
2. I downloaded season 4 of Smallville, the whole 22 episodes. I've been watching two or three episodes everyday for the past week and I haven't even got down to episode 15 yet.
3. There is a new WB show that is beginning to grow on me --Supernatural. It has a nice premise but the creators could do a whole lot better with it. I mean the third episode was so lame!
4. There are a couple of shows that I watch punctually, which are House MD, Lost, Smallville, and Supernatural. While the rest of the shows on TV are crap that I don't care for.
5. Some how I feel that the makers of Lost are just trying to milk the show by stretching one episode into three. Seems to me that Lost is a kind of show that should have not exceeded one season. They should have ended the show in the first season.

Rant: October 5, 2005

1. Ramadan is here. The first three fasts are the hardest. After three days, your body gets used to the routine. It's like giving up smoking, the first three days are the hardest then after that your good.
2. This blogger plugin for MS Word is useless. What is the point of it if you can't upload pictures with it?
3. Yesterday I went to relieve myself in the library restroom. I got in the stall and locked the door. After I was done, tried to unlock the door and the handle came off. But the door was still locked. I tried pushing and it didn't work. Frustrated, I kicked the door two times lightly. Not realizing my own strength, the third time I kicked, it broke the door off from the hinges and fell down on the restroom floor. No one else was there to see it so, I just walked out without telling anyone. That door had it coming anyway.
4. I feel mentally drain now a days.
5. I have to study and CLEP a course by the end of this month and I haven't even started studying for it.
6. I have to read a book called "Unequal Protection: The Rise of Corporate Dominance and The Theft of Human Rights" by Thom Hartman and write a five paged book report on it by the end of this month. I haven't even finished reading half of the book yet. The author is some big shot I guess and has his own syndicated liberal radio talk show on Sirius.

Rant: Incoherent Thought

Education->Job->Money->Power->Freedom->Independence->World Domination.

Rant: Something Beautiful

I came across these quotes from two famous historical Indian figures, Nehru and Gandhi. The two quotes are so similar that I got confused between the two and also to who said what to whom. The quotes goes like this.

John F. Kennedy: "What do you think of our Peace Corps?"
Jawaharlal Nehru: "A good idea, privileged young Americans could learn a lot from the poor villagers of South Asia."

An English Reporter: "What do you think of Western Civilization, Mr. Gandhi."
Mohandas Gandhi: "I think it would be a very good idea."

Good, I got that cleared out. Although, I pretty much doubt the quote from Gandhi because I could not find the name of the reporter that asked that question anywhere on the Internet or any authentic source.

If some reporter had asked me that question then I would have replied with one of these answers:

1. "How could something so beautiful ever be so ugly?"
2. "How could something so beautiful spurt out so much evil?"
3. "How could something so marvelous cause so much death and destruction?"

Rant: Defective Hardware

The month of June began and I thought I now finally had the time to do something constructive, or at least what I wanted to do in a long time. Just when I thought I could afford to pick-up a serious hobby like photography, my digital camera broke down in someway. Damn! What the hell am I going do now? I really hate it when good essential equipment breaks down and there is nothing anyone could do about it except buy a new one. I have 2 broken laptops and who knows what's wrong with them.

I bought the Kodak EasyShare CX7300 (3.2 MP) digital Camera for around a $100 about 6 months ago. The first 4 months after purchase, it worked flawlessly. Now, for some reason it drains the batteries within minutes and new batteries doesn't exactly fix the problem. Although, there is a 1 year warranty on it, but I threw away the receipt and therefore have no proof of purchase anymore in order for a refund.

I went online to see whether I'm the only one who has this problem and it turned out that there are many more people who also had the very same battery related flaw. It seems to me that Kodak sold a product with a major hardware defect and suspiciously on purpose. Some consumer rights group should sue these bastards. Damn it! Where else am I going to get a digital camera? Awe screw it.

Rant: Possesed CD Writer Drive

My CD W/R is gone whack. It keeps going in and out and stops on it's own then starts all over again. CLICKITTY CLACK, RACKATTY RACK RACKATTY RACK... ARGH! Make it stop! Make it stop! Find a happy place, find a happy place. It's getting on my nerves. Correction....It is on my nerves. This is sooooooo anoying!

Rant: What Is The Deal With Drowning?

I just finished watching "The Perfect Storm" movie again for the fourth time. At the start of the movie, it said the movie is based on a true story. But, at the end of the movie the whole crew of the ship drowned and died in the storm. So, I ask you. Who survived to tell the tale from the perspective of the doomed seamen?

Speaking of drowning, I thought about the number of times I almost accidentally drowned, it comes around to at least 8 times and all in my attempts to learn how to swim. Each time I was drowning, there has always been someone to pull me out of the water. I can still recall the panic that kicks in as soon as the mind realizes the state of complete helplessness and inevitability. No matter how much breath of air I'm holding in, as soon as panic strikes it's always a reflex action to exhale and then immediately inhale, which fills the lungs with water. The disorientation caused by the water filled lungs impairs the thought process. I mean the brain somehow forgets to paddle in sync and to a specific direction. But, the last time I was drowning, I some how managed to stay calm even with the very little breath I had and paddled to safety. And oh yes, I still can't swim.

Rant: I've Gone Over To The Dark Side

Living in a race conscious country such as America has had a immense negative impact on me. Before I came to America, I was color blind and held a profound belief that all men were equal before God. But, it's not the case anymore. Now I find African-Americans a bit repulsive. I know it's stupid to hold that attitude based on some of their behavior. Anyway I'm going off topic.

I am always awed at the creative racial slurs that come from people around here particularly from Whites. It seems to me that Whites have this natural ability to be very creative racists, a quality that seems to be passed on from one generation to another, although it's scientifically not possible. The Whites come up with such racial slurs that seems to be derived from a very distinctive quality of that certain race. Like for example: Coon, Beaner, Rag head, Camel Jockey, and many more.

I live in an apartment complex with a swimming pool. I'm one of those people who doesn't like to be in the pool with strangers. Last Thursday I felt like taking a swim and when I got close to the swimming pool I noticed that it wasn't empty. There were some White folks already in the pool. In my frustration, I murmured something so profoundly racist. After I had said it, I couldn't believe my brain was capable of coming up with something of this caliber. Unconsciously I had said "God Damn those STD infected pork-eating bastards!".

I had fought so hard to stay a decent human being in this land of freedom and vice. Now I have succumbed to the dark-side and become a racist, not just any racist at that, but a very creative one.

On a related topic. Whenever I go swimming, this thought always crosses my mind. Since, it's a public pool and some of it's ceramic tiles are rough and one could get a few cuts or bruises by it. I know I always do. Suppose if a HIV infected person got into the pool and got a cut in the water, would that contaminate the whole pool water? If so then would I get infected if I accidentally cut myself in the HIV contaminated pool?

Rant: An Open Plea

Can anyone out there do me a big favor? I don't care who you are, but for God's sake please grant me this simple wish. Can anyone redesign my blog template and make it resolution independent and add another sidebar to the left side. I do it myself, but I am so damn tired of looking at code that I can't even bare to look at one single line of code in any language. My whole career involves programming and software development and I'm about to shoot myself if I ever see another line of code. Is it just me who feels this way or are there some people who feel the same way I do.

I used to be fluent on every programming language. Other people like me will tell the same story, that learning the first programming is always the hardest. After that your on a roll and on your own. The first programming language I learned was C++ in high school. After I got a whiff of the power of Visual Basic 6.0, I immediately got down to read the book on it while still in high school. I played around with VB and designed so many applications that VB became like a second language to me. After VB I got on to MS SQL and MS Access. By the time I got into college, I started to learn Java and DHTML. I finished learning Java in just 6 hours. By now I had read four books on VB, three books on C++, and HTML in just two days. My reading span had stretched to 12 hours without a break of more than five minutes. By the end of my freshman year I had acquired almost all computer knowledge and a long list of applications and then finally I burnt out. Even to this day I can't read a book for more the 15 minutes. It's like my mind just wanders out after five minutes of reading. I don't have that stamina anymore. And worst of all, I can no longer stomach the design interface of anything on a computer anymore. I can now safely and confidently say that I am the grandfather of all computer knowledge.

Rant: Christian Rhetoric etc

I am so sick of watching Christian channels on cable. Its the same low budget contradictory nonsense over and over again. I'm not a particular fan of atheists but, I just can't bare to watch atheists and Christians bicker on issues that clearly seems me that both of them are wrong on. I don't even believe that queers should be allowed to live in society let alone have the legal right to marriage. But, when Christians throwing this lame statement "Its Adam and Eve not Adam and Steve" at these queer advocates as an argument that's when I feel like puking. I mean its bad enough to here those queer activist say something half-ass to support their cause, where these Christians come along and say the stupidest thing and try to pass them off as intelligent counter arguments. Enough is enough. Moreover, Dude what's the deal with the "700 club"? What's the deal with the evangelical rhetoric in this country?

Sometimes when I watch Larry King Live on CNN, that show looks so tabloid like for a show on such a reputable news network. Why hasn't Ted Turner fired that old geezer wrapped in oversized suspenders?

From the look of the corporate culture in American firms, I can't help but notice it's parallelism to a cult culture. Does anyone else notice this or is it just me?

There are two more weeks for the semester to end and I am already burnt out. Now a days I look back 4 or 5 years ago and wonder. How did I ever get into the computer field? What was I thinking? It's not like I found it hard, boring, or over my head. I think it's just that programming and computers became my life in other words I got sucked in to the illusion the it would have solved my major problems. But, by the time reality sank in, I lost interest. Now, I can't even stomach the sight of any code or programming interface.

On a related topic, I have tried so hard and long to make my PC work as a web hosting server, and it won't just budge. I have setup the IIS and FTP services, but it keeps crashing every few months. I spend 80% of my time fixing and trouble shooting my web server than designing my own complex web applications. It's been 2 years since I started to work on this digital masterpiece. But, I have made no real progress. What a waste!

Rant: TV America Sucks

The TV really sucks in the US. I thought coming to America would have given me access to a broad range of choices for information. Bullocks! I am more isolated from global news than when I was living in Jeddah. All the major news networks like CNN, CBS, NBC, Fox, and MSNBC have the same irrelevant news stories on 24/7. When I was living in Jeddah, I got up-to-date news via CNN International from around the world. I saw so many documentaries about every subject on CNN and BBC. CNN and BBC are the ones who opened my eyes to the world.

Only Fox News is the one news network which actually dedicates 80 seconds to news around the world in their "Around the World in 80 Seconds" section. Oh chee thanks Fox for those measly 80 seconds! I really hate Fox News channel.

How ironic. Living in such an isolated society like Saudi Arabia, I knew more about the world than the country itself. Now that I'm outside the country, thanks to 9/11 I get more news about Saudi Arabia than I get about the world.

CNN International is way better than CNN National. Judging by the TV in America, the outside world does not exists. Now I can understand why Americans think that the world revolves around the them.

Once an American asked me how people celebrated Christmas in Saudi Arabia. I told her they don't because there aren't enough Christians to celebrate and she couldn't even imagine the thought of a place where Christmas was not observed. And I couldn't believe that it was so hard for her to imagine that?

On a very unrelated note. For those Americans who have never been to Saudi Arabia and cry like baby that the Abaya/Burka restricts the freedoms of women or is a very barbaric practice, let me tell you something. For someone who was born and raised in that country, I have heard the women bitch about a lot of things, but I have never ever heard them complain about the Abaya/Burka hindering their freedoms. They complain about how they can't drive, can't go to places, their children, husbands, money, no jobs, unemployment rate, economy, dresses, how much they're fat, broken nail, and what not. But, never the Abaya!

Rant: Allergy Season

This allergy season has really taken a toll on me. My eyes are red, chest is itchy, nose is runny if not stuffy from the pollen. I have taken so much medication in these past two weeks. Some of that medication makes me so drowsy that it made me stay semiconscious most of the day. I am taking Nyquil, Benadryl, and Zyrtec for allergy symptoms. When your nose is clogged most of the time, it is very hard to get a good night's sleep. On an average, I wake up 20 to 30 times a night because of the lack of oxygen. Because of these sleepless nights, my life has become a living hell.

Went to Supercuts the other day and shaved my head. Pollen gets stuck in my hair and that probably causes the allergic reaction. I noticed my hairline has receded too much since my last head shaving. It seems to me that my allergies get worse every year.

Went to Walgreens to buy medicine. The Zyrtec and some Tetracyclene pills came to cost around $91.00. Great! That just gave me another reason to hate the pharmaceutical companies and the Bush Administration.