Confessions of a Dangerous Mind

این پیمان عزیز دل انگیز، طی یک پیغام سیسیلی، من رو به بازی شب یلدا دعوت کرده. من اصلا نمی دونم این بازی کی در اومد. ولی دیگه نمیشه کاریش کرد ... این هم اعترافات بنده، هرچند همش هم اعتراف نیست

- من تا ۱۴، ۱۵ سالگی توی خونه با توپ تنیس فوتبال بازی می کردم. دیگه برگردون و قیچی و هر چیزی که فکرش رو بکنین. با اون توپ فقط یه دونه قاب عکس شکستم که ربطی به فوتبال نداشت. همینجوری اومدم هنرنمایی کنم که گند زدم

- تا ۱۱ سالگی می رقصیدم (اونم فقط خارجی، نه ایرانی ... یعنی ایرانی بلد نبودم برقصم) بعد دیگه نرقصیدم تا ۲ سال پیش. الان فقط ایرانی ... هرچند هنوزم بلد نیستم

- من تا ۳-۴ سالگی فارسی حرف نمی زدم ... اصلا زبونی که حرف می زدم ربطی به ایران نداشت هرچند همونجا بزرگ شدم

- سوال های امتحان جغرافی یکی از ثلث های سال سوم دبیرستان رو می دونستم، بازم گند زدم

- من بلد نیستم فارسی تایپ بکنم، این رو همین امروز فهمیدم

One Word ...

One Word breaks the code of silence,
Silence tells me all I need to know.
One Word,
One Word, tells me all I need to know.

It is not the way that I want it,
It is just the way that I need it.
Day after day.

One lie tells a thousand stories,
The greatest stories that were ever told.
One Lie,
One Lie, tells the greatest stories that ever told.

Kelly Osbourne Lyrics

They may or may not know ...

آنانکه که محیط فضل و آداب شدند
در جمع کمال شمع اصحاب شدند
ره زین شب تاریک نبردند به روز
گفتند فسانه ای و در خواب شدند

خیام

When more is less

Dragonflies have six legs but can not walk ...

Little did he know ...

Little did he know, but this simple, seemingly innocent act would lead to his imminent death.

Part of the movie script:
Stranger than fiction

Be like water

Don't get set into one form, adapt it and build your own, and let it grow, be like water.

Bruce Lee

Kiosk

Iran suspended by FIFA

Iran have been suspended from all international football activity because of government interference in running the game in the country.
In a statement, Fifa said it had decided to "suspend the Islamic Republic of Iran Football Federation (IRIFF) from all international activity due to government interference in football matters and violation of Article 17 of the Fifa Statutes."
For more detail refer to BBC Sport News.

Loneliness

We might be very happy because we have a lot of friends or family with us, or we may feel insecure since we have nobody to lean on. Either way, when it comes full circle, nobody can help us even if they want to. In fact, on some level we are all alone; we just don't know it yet.

Survey!

Ello, my name a Borat! I come from Kazakhstan! I like sex!

- Oh my God! It was disgusting! I hardly could watch it.
-(me) So what were you doing then?
- I was laughing.
-(me) How come you were laughing? you said it was disgusting.
- Yeah, I know! I couldn't do anything else.

Part of my discussion with almost everyone who has watched "Borat".

Triskaidekaphobia

Don't bother yourself if you can't read the title. I just did it once and won't do it ever again. But if you're wondering what it is, it is the fear of number 13. In most cultures 13 is assumed to be a bad number. (perhaps I have to change all the 13's to 12+1)
A reason that people consider it a bad number is that it is more than 12 which is a number commonly used and sometimes a sacred number. Besides, if you divide 13 objects into many groups, there is always one left alone which should be kind of scary!! Actually, I am a little suspicious about all prime numbers.
Some people consider the failure of Apollo 13's mission as an example that 13 is a cursed number. Even in Formula 1 there is no car with the number 13. The number has been removed after two drivers were killed in crashes both having the number 13.
Anyway, the fear of the Friday the 13th is called paraskavedekatriaphobia which is so hard to read that makes it less scary.

Question

Somebody told me once that whenever you ask God for something and he doesn't give you that, most probably that request is no good for you and you just don't know it yet. Someday you'll understand. Like a mother who won't give her child poison, no matter how hard the child cries for it. Someday, though not necessarily very soon, the child will understand.
Believe me I've been there many many times. Looking back in my life and wondering what the hell was I thinking? and of course thanking God for not giving me what I wanted.
But here is the thing that I don't understand. Isn't God the mighty of all? So he should be able to provide our request without any bad consequences. I mean after all, he is GOD!

Internet Explorer 7

Most likely you've either downloaded IE7 or heard about it somewhere. specially because of the large number of articles comparing IE7 and Firefox2. Just let me add here some exciting features or behaviors I noticed about IE7. Whenever you log in or log out of a Google service in one tab, it automatically does the same thing for other google services open in other tabs and refreshes them too.
The other thing is its ability to zoom in or out of a page. I am not sure if Firefox has such an extension but it comes handy sometimes, especially when you want to look at a small picture.
Although I am still a fan of Firefox, I recommend you to explore the new IE7 yourself.

For a few dollars more!

This week, TIME magazine has published some interesting statistics on American people. Since money is all that I think about!, here the one with the money ...

How much time at work does it take to make $1,000?


Dr. Phil ......................... 2 min. 42 sec.
Brad Pitt ....................... 4 min. 48 sec.
Maria Sharapova ........... 6 min.
Chief Executive .............. 2 hr. 55 min.
High School Teacher ...... 43 hours
Farmer ........................... 57 hours

For more refer to TIME Magazine.

UC Berkeley courses at Google Video

Well, I have to confess that I have a weired feeling about this post, but who cares let's enjoy the material as somebody once said: It is the material that matters!
UC Berkeley is offering public a lot of videos including course videos on Google video for free. Here is the link, take a look and I am pretty sure you will find something out of it.

Good deed

Whenever you do a good deed, take a receipt. You may need it in Heaven, especially if it is something like IRS.

No comment ...

Writely - Online Word Processing

Last night I noticed that Writely.com is up and working. You can use your Google account to sign in. It is a word processing software similar to Microsoft Word but it is online and free. I played a little bit with its features and liked it a lot. It has many useful tools such as tables, variety of fonts and you can publish your blogs through it. A very useful feature is its real-time multi-collaborator capability. You can also share your document with others instantly. On the other hand, it is possible to upload your Word documents into it and edit them and save your files as a PDF file.

Headbutt phenomenon

I was playing with Google Trends and I searched for Zidane. As you may remeber, he headbutted Materazzi, Italian player, in the World Cup final match. Here is the search history for Zidane and Materazzi according to Google. I would like to call it Headbutt phenomenon.

Click to enlarge

Noble Prize in Medicine for 2006

" The Noble Assembly awarded the Noble Prize in Physiology or Medicine for 2006 to Andrew Fire , PhD, of Stanford University School of Medicine and Craig C. Mello, PhD, of the University of Massachusetts Medical School, for their discoveries related to RNA interference."

" Fire, 47, professor of pathology and of genetics at Stanford, is part of a team of researchers credited with recognizing that certain RNA molecules could be used to turn off specific genes in animal cells. The discovery marked the first time that biologists were able to selectively silence the voice of one gene in the cacophony of the tens of thousands that pilot a cell throughout its development and death. This development opened up previously impossible areas of research."

from Stanford University School of Medicine website, for more detail on this news follow this link .

Iranian Stand-up Comedian

I am in fact the only Iranian Comedian in the world, that's actually three more than Germany.

Omid Djalili

Recently, I watched some stand up comedies from Omid Djalili. Apparently I am little behind here because I didn't know him before. There are a couple of short clips in his website. You can also find many short ones in YouTube or Google Video. Here is the one that I liked a lot, although it is an old joke and I remember it since high school, but he tells it magnificently. In case you've watched "Over the Hedge", he is the voice of the Persian kitty.
By the way, I know there are other Iranian stand up comedians around such as Maz Jobrani, so don't blame me for the quote here.

Uncertainty

We are required to be maximally uncertain about what we do not know. This is the most honest thing to do!

Entropy Optimization Principles
with Applications
by Kapur and Kesavan

Rise and Fall

Our greatest glory is not in the never falling but in rising every time we fall

Confucius

No Comments ...

Browzar ...

Are you worried about leaving a trace of what you've browsed on the web when you're using a friend's computer? Browzar claims that it won't leave anything behind. Just simply download it and run it without installing anyting. The only catch is that if you're one of those people who are worried about leaving a trace, you probably know how to clean up your trace after using IE or Firefox. So, ignore this post and wait for the next one!

Memories ...

Sometimes, I think I am getting drowned in my memories, but I like it. At least I will die in a sweet thing. It is becoming a game more or less, to go down as far as I can, to remember things deep inside. The other day, I remembered the classical music played by Keyvan Saket with TAR which is a Persian music instrument. Believe me it is hard, more than you can imagine. I found some of his audio clips on the web. Here is the link ... Enjoy.

First Dell then Apple

Short after Dell recalled 4.1 million laptop batteries, Apple also recalled 1.8 million batteries. In both cases, the batteries were made by Sony Energy Devices Corp. of Japan. Both recalls are expected to cost Sony between $172 million and $278 million.
I am wondering what happens if God recalls human hearts for unexpected failure and catching fire!! Perhaps, whenever there is a war somewhere, it is basically a battery recall. The only difference is that there is no replacement.

The blue screen

Well, it is a bit of a technical note but is worth mentioning. Recently, I've seen two IBM laptops (T series) both of them having an exact same problem with their wireless driver causing the famous blue screen error. The strange thing was that the problem had come out of no where. My guess is that a windows update or an upgrade in a software had caused it. Anyway, new wireless drivers solved the issue and I have to confess that I was very lucky to pinpoint the source of the problem. So, here is an experience: If you have a T series IBM laptop and you are getting blue screen error, it may have something to do with the wireless drivers.

(The Image is a sample blue screen error, not related to the problem described above)

Microsoft Office 2007

Last week I did a brave thing and installed Microsoft Office 2007 (beta). I say a brave thing because I had a very bad experience with new Windows Media player 11 that eventually I un-installed it.
Anyway, it has a lot of good features that I may post later but one strange thing was that Microsoft Outlook kept crashing each time I opened one email. After searching around, it turned out to has something to do with Adobe Acrobat 6.0 add-in, although I have to say that I didn't find the solution in microsoft.com. Anyway, for those who are willing to test office 2007 (which I recommend) here is a good resource in case of any problems with Outlook.

The end ...

When memories exceed dreams, the end is near

One thing that tells me a company is in trouble is when they tell me how good they were in the past. Same with countries. You don't want to forget your identity. I am glad you were great in the fourteenth century, but that was then and this is now. When memories exceed dreams, the end is near.

Michael Hammer
from the book: The World is flat
by: Thomas Friedman

Wikimapia

Take a look at this Wikimapia web site. It has a high resolution satellite picture of the world with a lot of comments and information boxes on the map. Of course since it is a wiki you can also put your own comment boxes on the map. It is time to get global and let every body know where is your home and where you usually sit to watch TV!! It might be a little slow though. But it is fun after all. Here, I have zoomed on Sharif University and I am highlighting its soccer field.

Click to enlarge ...
(Picture: Screen snapshot from wikipedia.org)

No need for an apology!

Stand for nothing

Those who stand for nothing fall for anything.

Alexander Hamilton

Laddies rule

I think car manufacturers should put the window switches on the front passenger's seat side, not on the driver's seat side. Because most of the time it is the lady who is sitting on the passenger's seat and she is the one who decides almost everything, including the closed and open windows.

Friends are the best

Friends are the best in our life. You can call them when you need them. You can count on them when you are in trouble. You don't have any legal binding to them. You can end the whole friendship anytime and they are the first ones you stop calling when you are busy.

All Breakups are off

Due to recent heat wave in the area, local government officials announced yesterday that no breakup is permitted during next week and all breakups done during the last week are considered annulled! Restaurant managers will also be responsible for the breakups taken place in their restaurants. Apparently there has been many reports on people getting crazy because of hot weather and breaking up!
Government speaker also advised people to use more water to avoid dehydration and its terrible consequences.

Neils Bohr

I read this quote from Neils Bohr ,

Prediction is very difficult, especially if it's about the future.

What do you think?
The guy was real genius.

Please ...

Idiots

The trouble with idiots is, they're too idiotic to see their own idiocity.

Jakob Arjoni
from the book "Idiots"

Toopkhaneh Sq.

Toopkhaneh Sq. - Iran, Tehran - July 18th
For details refer to this link.

Chador

No comments ...
(photo from BBC)

Kindness

"What is the reason that we are kind to some people? If I tell you that you're kind to me because you fear loosing me as a friend, do you start defending yourself or you take it as a complement? I mean, is it wrong to be kind to people because we fear loosing them?"
She said that and continued eating her salad ...

Letter to Einstein from his son

Dear Papa,
Imagine, Tete can already multiply and divide, and I am doing geometetry (geometry) as Tete says. Mama assigns me problems; we have a little booklet; I could do the same with you then as well. But why haven't you written us anything lately? I just think: "At Easter you're going to be here and we'll have a Papa again."
Yours, Adu!

The letter was sent to Einstein from his older son Hans Albert (known as Adu) at 1915, when Einstein was working on his General Theory of Relativity. His younger son Eduard was known as Tete. For more details on Einstein and his personal life crisis at that time refer to www.time.com

Henry's comment on Zidane

You can take the man out of the rough neighborhood, but you can't take the rough neighborhood out of the man

Thierry Henry
Commenting on Zidane's headbutt
during the World Cup final match

My friend and his new friend

A friend of mine has met a very beautiful girl recently. Apparently, they have talked and agreed to be friends from August 4th. I am very happy for them. There are some rumors that they may call each other meantime but both parties have denied it officially.

Flash

Have you seen people in stadiums taking pictures? I always wonder what they think by leaving the camera flash on. Do they really think that the flash will light up the whole stadium? The point is that most of them are using "Point and Shot" digital cameras. These cameras automatically change ISO (which controls digital camera sensitivity to light) and aperture ( which controls the amount of light that reaches the camera) settings and make the shutter speed faster. So if your flash can not brighten up the scene, you will get a dark photo. That's why when you take a picture during a cloudy day and leave your flasher on, your photo looks like a photo taken during the night.

Bye Bye World Cup

( photos from Yahoo!)

Good News

Yesterday, my fortune in Orkut was:
" You and your wife will be happy in your life together. "
I am dying to tell her this fabulous news. Does any body know her by any chance?

Roozonline.com

Roozonline.com is one of the news sites that rarely put a reference for its news. Suddenly today, they have this big reference thing there under the Germany - Italy news. I am wondering who may need a reference for it. I mean is there really some one who may doubt the fact that Germany received two goals during the last two minutes and wants to check the whole thing up on fifaworldcup.com?

Grande Cappuccino ...

Today I asked for a non-trimethylxanthine Cappuccino and the waiter looked me in the eye as if I was asking him to lunch Discovery shuttle. I was just asking for a decaf Cappuccino.
By the way, did you know that caffeine is basically an addictive drug and stimulate your brain the same way that heroin and cocaine do? So, watch out my friend, you may want your coffee decaf for a while.

FIFA suspends Greece from world play

Same thing can happen to Iran:

European champion Greece has been suspended from international competition by soccer's ruling body because of government interference in the domestic administration of the sport.

For the full story refer to this link.

Life ...

Click to enlarge ...
(photo taken: 07/29/2004 - Iran)

Dream ...

I had this weird dream last night that I am playing poker with God. At one point, I had royal straight flush on the flop so I raised and God without any hesitation put me all in!
I asked:
- God don't you know everything? don't you know that I will win this hand?
God said while smiling:
- Yes, I know everything. But how much do you think your all is worth?

June 29th

I am in negotiation with those in power to remove June 29th from my calendar. Hopefully, I won't have any June 29th next year. That means I will go directly from 28th to 30th.
So don't call me or leave me any messages on June 29th because I most likely won't get them.

If you go away ...

If you go away on this summer day
Then you might as well take the sun away
All the birds that flew in the summer sky
...

But if you stay, I'll make you a day
Like no day has been, or will be again
We'll sail the sun, we'll ride on the rain
We'll talk to the trees and worship the wind.
Then if you go, I'll understand
Leave me just enough love to fill up my hand
If you go away, if you go away, if you go away.

In the memory of my mother ...

Part of the lyrics
Song: "If you go away"
Artist: "Jack Jones"

Very high resolution photo!!

Here we go!! Traffic jam on the way to Chaalous ...

Break Up ...

Last night, We decided to break up some time next month. We also rehearsed almost everything. We are supposed to go to a fancy restaurant and break up. She was so kind to me and let me start the "it is not you, it is me" routine. The only thing that I am worried about is that she may order just a salad.

Google Earth - Tehran

Finally Google Earth has a sharp image of Tehran. For me who has been away from Iran and especially Tehran for a while, it is going to be a lot of fun. You know, wandering around the city and having a look from above.
Here are snapshots of Sharif University and Enghelab Sq. By the way, take a look at this snapshot of Enghelab Sq. Look how empty it is. I am wondering when they have taken the picture.



And to be honest, I absolutely have no clue why I am putting Sharif and Enghelab photos here. I should look like a total looser!! Anyway, don't blame me for it, just take it easy.

Top Secret Report - No Comment ...

For the full story follow this link.
Source: www.roozonline.com

Life, Girls and Poker

In Texas Hold'em Poker, usually you raise and even re-raise when you have a big pair (two aces, two kings ...) preflop. The funny thing about some girls is that whenever they have a winning hand preflop in life, they raise and re-raise so badly that there will be no wise one left in the game to play with. The funniest of all is that those who don't fold are going to lose and they just don't know it yet.

I am going to Curb My Enthusiasm

I am watching this comedy show "Curb Your Enthusiasm", created and played by Larry David. Larry David is Co-producer and Co-creator of Seinfeld.
Well, it seems that he is telling the story of my life; A life full of misunderstandings by others and misfortunes.
The only difference is that whenever he says:
-Do you watch Seinfeld? I've created it.
I have to say:
-Do you watch Seinfeld? I watch it too.

Anyway, interesting show. Try to watch it sometime.

(photo from HBO.com)

Ronaldo is back ...

Today he scored two goals and is standing by Gerd Muller with 14 World Cup goals as all time leading scorers. (photos from Yahoo!)

Iran, World Cup and ABC News!!!!

I found this story on ABC News talking about security issues in Germany. Here is a part of it:

The elimination of Iran was a relief to World Cup security organizers along with the United States, England and Saudi Arabia, Iran has been receiving extra protection. Saudi Arabia also failed to advance.

ABC News Website

Well, to be honest, the elimination of Iran was a relief to me too!! I don't have to use extra medication to prevent heart attack. For the whole story refer to this link.

Iran - Angula (1 - 1)

Ratatouille (rat . a . too . ee)

Pixar's new movie for summer 2007 is Ratatouille (rat.a.too.ee). You can watch its trailer here. I am already excited about it. Don't blame me if you've not watched the trailer yet.

Monkey Man

Thousands of people are flocking to an impoverished Indian village in eastern West Bengal state to worship a man they believe possesses divine powers because he climbs up trees in seconds, gobbles up bananas and has a "tail." - KOLKATA (Reuters)
For the complete news follow this link.

Batman ...

Well, a guy who dresses up like a bat clearly has issues.

from the movie "Batman Begins"

Feminism

Sometimes I think it is good to be a man, I don't have to worry about this feminism thing. But don't get me wrong here, I have other serious problems to worry about.

Cars

Hilarious ... ! Last year, when I watched its trailer for the first time before watching "The Incredibles" in theater, I thought it would be the first Pixar movie that I wouldn't like. Today I watched it and I am gonna watch it again and again.

If you've not watched it yet, hurry up. It will make your day.

Love and Gravitaion

Falling in love is not at all the most stupid thing that people do -- but gravitation cannot be held responsible for it.

Albert Einstein

Defeat

Defeat is momentarily

It has nothing to do with Iran in the World Cup ...

Father's Day

The older I get, the smarter my father seems to get.

Tim Russert

Although, I would like to change the word father to mother in this quote.

Distraction

Did you know that on average we are distracted every 11 - 12 minutes by something and we spend 20 - 25 minutes on it?
Well, I bet you don't care about it cause you're reading this blog now ...

Silence

Look into the other's eyes, many frustrations
Read between the lines, no words just vibrations
Don't ignore hiddent desires,
Pay attention, you're playing with fire.
Silence must be heard, noise should be observed.
The time has come to learn, that silence must be heard
Or dimonds will burn, friendly cards will turn
Cause silence has the right to be heard.

part of the lyrics ...
Album: "The screen behind the mirror"
Song: "silence must be hear"
Artist: Enigma

World Cup on BBC

Are you following World Cup news? BBC is offering 3D animations of match highlights. Follow this link for highlights on Iran-Mexico game.

Today ...

Today, I ordered a pasta preceded by roasted-pumpkin chowder with sprinkling of celery and onion, finished with creme fraiche and bacon-braised cranberry beans garnished with diced pumpkin, fried sage, and toasted pumpkin seeds.
She just had a salad.

Mature man

Sometimes I hear or see things that force me to confront my principles in life and I have to confess that I hate them. It simply means that I am in trouble or something is wrong in my life. Today, I heard a quote from Wilhelm Stekel, a famous psychologist:

The mark of the immature man is that he wants to die nobly for a cause, while the mark of the mature man is that he wants to live humbly for one.

Since hearing it, I have been thinking about it. I am not even sure whether I agree with him or not. This "Ology" thing is the source of my problems I guess.

Guy Goma was not hired for the IT job ...

It is a while that I want to write something about Guy Goma. But I was busy playing with my Birthday gifts and watching world cup soccer that I lost my enthusiasm. So do me a favor and take a look at this link at Wikipedia. It is funny.
You may want to refer to this link at BBC for the actual interview.

(photo from bbc.com)

Thanks

Have you ever tried to make a new folder and call it "con" in Windows?
God! thank you for creating this world without reserved words. Assume that you couldn't name your child "Amir" because it was a reserved keyword. To be honest, When I think more I feel that I like it that way!

(Thanks to Naeim for his comment, I changed this post a little bit ... )

Shuffle

Have you ever been shuffled like a deck of cards? if so, let me know please. I desperately need to know how it feels when you're being shuffled. I have heard that you can't see anywhere for a while. Is that true?

United States - Czeck (0 - 3)

Boy, Ohh Boy!!!
I feel relaxed today. I admit that Iran played an awful soccer yesterday against Mexico, especially during the second half. But believe me those nonsense stuff that the reporter said hurt me even more. They even showed a part of US soccer team's training in the middle of Iran-Mexico match.
But today was fun. Today was real fun ...
By the way, my sympathies to Japanese soccer fans ...

Iran - Mexico (no comment)

What was keeping me busy? ...

First of all, don't think that I am a Google fan or something like that. I downloaded this "Sketch up" thing and it has been keeping me busy for a while. I just can't stop playing with it. It may cost me a "no credit" in my only course this quarter.
Well, to be honest, you may still want to work with "Inventor" for some more professional things but Sketch up is very easy to work with. I did this thing just a couple of hours after working with it for the first time.

Windows Vista

Heyyyyy, Windows Vista (beta version) is out for testing purposes. You can download it through this link. Although, I doubt you want to sit for more than 9 hours in front of your computer to download new Windows and blow your computer off ...
But take a minute and review its features, you can find them here.

Google Spreadsheets

Did you know about this Google Spreadsheets? Well, don't get too happy because you can't use it yet. But you can follow this link, have a sneak peek and put your name on the sign up waiting list which is on a first come first serve base.

Introducing Mr. Ramkal and his wife

(photo taken by me, Feb. 28, 2006)

I think I agree with president bush; Immigrants should learn English.

Two Rainbows

I took this photo a while ago with my cell phone camera.
If you take a closer look you can see that there are two rainbows in the sky at the same time.
Cool, isn't it?

Whatever ...

I hate this "whatever" thing.
Imaging yourself talking to a friend and complaining about a problem. After a long long conversation, you use this magic word. You use it as though it is going to put an end to everything, heal your heart, eliminate your problem. But, after saying it, the "whatever" is gone and nothing has changed. You still want to talk about your problem and your friend is looking for a way to excuse herself.
I hate this "whatever" word.

Ology

My friend says that I have to start studying some kind of "ology" thing; Sociology, physiology, psychology, ...
Apparently I am not a "ing" type of guy.

Mouse

Have you ever been to Borders in University Ave., Palo Alto? (If not please do me a favore and use your imagination power!!)
There is an information desk with two very old-fashion monitors on it. You know what I am talking about, two big, huge, spacy white montiors. There is a Post-it on each of them saying:

"Don't forget to use the mouse, it is not a touch screen monitor"