Wanted Dead or Alive by Microsoft!

yup! I'm wanted Dead or alive by Microsoft!
ok , ok , don't go that far now,, here's the story..

being a very active Open Source activist, & even more active & wild Anti-Microsoft activist in my university ,,, the wildest even .... last week Microsoft Jordan have called the chief of my department at University & asked him to get full information about me, in order to give me a “training” session during this summer @ Microsoft Jordan!!!!!!

They actually have chosen 2 student from the Hashemite University, one is an already graduated colleague of mine, or ex-colleague since he graduated, who was for the past semester the chief of Microsoft .NET club in the Hashemite University & who is a Die hard Microsoftist, & the other is .... ME!

now I don't know why did they really choose ... I mean , I have 10s of colleagues that got deeply into .NET technology & who might be dreaming of such a training session!
hmmm,, god knows whats in those jordanian Microsofters mind !!!

I don't have any details yet .... therefore, I didnt decide whether i'll go for it or not .... but i guess i'll go & give it a shot!
hehe, If they're thinking they can wash up my mind then they must be dreaming , but it's an opportunity that i don't wanna waste .... & who knows, maybe they'll make me increase my Anti-Microsoft campaign by this training session :P

& hey for those of U who don't know,, Im not really that .NET dumb! I'm powerful in VB6 & VB.NET ( & By the way, VB is one of the most things I hate in Microsoft Technologies! its just too stupid!) , & I've V.Good command in C#.NET (which is 100% imitation of Java)...

ahh,, I remember, Dr Tahat, My Dep chief said sth about SQL servers !! hmm,, let's try it! esp that i had MySQL 5.0 on my self study plan during this summer ;)

Hey Man Look@me Rockin' On the RADIOOOOO!

Yeah, I was on LC (Listeners Choice) with Dj Safana Bustami (SAFANA THE BANDANA;) on Radio Jordan 96.3 FM last Friday from 11 – 2 PM.

it's actually my 4th time on the airwaves of a radio station (the whole 4 times were on Jordan FM of course) & the 3rd time on the Funkiest show on the Jordanian airwaves, LC ;) the other time being on the Friday Special.... well, when there was a Friday special on Jordan FM !

It was BaNaNas as Safana says;) I really enjoyed my time in there to the max ... Safana is a wonderful entertainer, freak music lover “yeah like me, a lil' bit more even ;)”, a dedicated hard worker, at the service of each & every listener & tough enough to make her show resist among the jammed jordanian airwaves with all those stations ... keeping her position at the top of the rating. Not forgetting Mudar Momani as a prof Mix Master, & a very highly tech-cultured technician.

LC is just a perfect show... Let's not forget that it is the one & only show on Jordan FM that resisted the “Black Spell” upon Jordan FM last Fall-Winter 2004/2005 ... for all those years of school, adolescence, Tawjihi, & Now Campus... LC was always a show to be tuned in whatever the situation was, during the exams, during the holiday, during meditation, in the Car, in the bedroom, in the kitchen, over Ajlun mountains, on Aqaba seashores, on the Ammani boulevards, on the Desert highway, thru the internet, on the West-European short wave even being in Eastern europe! simply ... it was the Original Sound Track of My Life, along with 10s & maybe 100s of thousands of Jordanians & non jordanians living in or outside jordan.

& Dj Safana is just the perfect entertainer for such a show that was part of all our lives, emailers, callers, or just silent listeners .

to be honest with you, if Dj Safana wasn't on the airwaves at the moment, I think I would have quited listening to Jordan FM at a certain moment of Time,,,, Maybe quited being interested in radio in general... or maybe I was one of those Idiot Junkies sending Stupid SMS to those ****** Musical Arabic TV Stations.

what do I have to say now,,,,,?
3 phrases.....

LC is (a Culture) people, it's not a simple dedications show, it's about how to express your self in music & get to know others thru their music.

Safana the BaNdan@ ,, thanx for everything,, U've got the touch ,, we love you cool dudate :*

I really missed Studio Nr 1 since My last visit in 2002, more particularly 29 Sep 2002 (it was the day I got registered in Uni) ,, & sth deep inside in me really needed to get this visit I did last Friday.

Cool is the Rule....
Keep Rockin' .......

The Impossible A+

For those who don't know, my University, the Hashemite University, has changed the grading system from: (A, B+, B, C+, C, D+, D, F) that started from 4/4 given for an 'A', and a difference of 0.5 points between each grade, this old grading system has been placed by a so-called “modernized” new grading system starting the 1st semester of the academic year 2004/2005 to be (A+, A, A-, B+, B, B-, C+, C, C-, D+, D, F) with a difference of 0.25 points between each grade now.

This new system made the weak students have higher marks since the 'D' in the new system equals 1.5 / 4 instead of 1 / 4 in the old one, & made the geeky students drop down since the 'A' now doesn't equal 4 any more but 3.75, & the B+ wont be “such a TAISANE” because it equals 3.25 now ,, I.E. : hell for the GPA!

The biggest problem now is in this A+, maybe the problem is more in the lecturers for understanding the new grading system wrongly so that for the 2nd semester in a row there are lecturers who simply BANNED the A+ with a single explanation “Ma Fee Mostawa!”.

Last semester I had the Algorithms course, in which I was simply The ruler of the course, helping everyone & keeping the lead for my self with about 8-10 marks of difference between me & the 2nd position, & finally I didnt get more than an A in it! Grrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrr...... what is my fault if all the students in the sections were out of it... it was a simple piece of cake for me, I didnt study on any of its exam ,,, no even the final & everything was going perfect with me!

This past semester the story got repeated with the Operating Systems course, it was an ugly course because this stupid Doc knows nothing about Computers & Operating Systems.. he's at the age of my father, he is a “Jew Iraqi” that left iraq to London & got his PhD there in the 1980s ... I dunno how he got this PhD because he knows nothing about computers. Imagine, he doesn't know the meaning of “FORK” command in Unix systems,,,, to be more accurate he knows nothing but MS-DOS, but even this, he doesn't know that MS-DOS is actually an IBM Operating System that Microsoft simply stole & sold back to IBM! The Guy can't differentiate Disk Scheduling Algorithms, he told us that LRU (Least Recently Used) algorithm is Just Like the Optimal Algorithm where they are absolutely different since LRU looks to the “history” of system calls while the Optimal looks to the processes yet to be fetched!

Damn it! He is so Stupid! besides, he cant compile a proper English structured question tho he spent all those years in England!

The Final exam was more Like “Figure my street Language” Vs. “Remember My architecture course in september!” .... yeah, we had a question in the final that he got us from the Architecture course, & got it only those who took architecture with him (inc me) coz he got it for us in 1 of the exams then, despite it has nothing to do with that course neither !

finally I've collected 87 marks, & My buddy & Linux freak 3amr got 86.... last Wednesday the OS mark was out.... he gave me A, an A- for 3amr ... & dropped the rest of the students less than B ! & of course banned the A+ becoz he is the wise grandpa!

This is what doctors do, & even if they give the A+ they give it to 1 or 2 among 150 students, there are some that give it to who really deserve it even if all the section students do... & that is what is right & how it should be, but unfortunately those lecturers are rare :/
they (The University management) could simply make the A+= 4.25 & let the A = 4 .... by that only the unique & magnificent student would get the A+ which will be a bonus for his efforts without affecting the other hundreds of students,,,

ain't I talking right in here! just tell me dear readers!

National Doze of Fine Arts

Earlier this month, walking desperately in Webdeh, looking for IT & Tech companies to apply for training during this summer (I must write a critique-based post specially for this issue: over 80 Tech companies in Jordan,,, or that's what they claim at least!) , I passed by the rehabilitated “National Gallery of Fine Arts” ... for those uncultured people reading my post, this Jordanian National Gallery of Fine Arts exists since 1980, rehabilitated & extended widely this year & officially reopened on the 15th of May.

So, I passed by & decided to give up looking for the damn IT companies & get My self a BIG doze of relaxation & food for my mind & soul , ART!

Now after this reopening, the Gallery consists of 2 buildings, the same Old one which is on the side of the so-called “Park Circle” (dawwar el-montazah) in Webdeh, which doesnt really look as a Dawwar as anyone who doesnt know the area may think! & a completely new building right on the other side of this Park opposite of the old building, & last but not least: what is between the 2 buildings !!!!! Yup , The Park is part of the gallery now! COOL:)

This “National Doze of Fine Arts” as U may call it now also includes a terrace Cafe on the roof of the new building, titled (Point of View) the terrace has a view on Southern Webdeh & Jabal Amman, awesome! it also includes a Cafe & a Restaurant on a side of the park, this was yet under construction when i passed by on the 1st of June, it looked a nice place, especially with the nice smell of Lime Trees around it, & by the way, it is called “Canvas” ,,, very artistic title, even in Soft-Arts for us ITers ;) Not forgetting a Library in the new Building & a Zara Gift Shop Branch in the Old one.

Talking about the park, which is the Link Between the main 2 buildings, the Park is just Perfect, it has well managed Play Area for the kids, Very Clean, Information about each & every Planted item in it (which are all water conservative plants),also includes a Japanese Garden, an Open air stage, & a fountain, I guess its Andalusian..... in brief, Just PERFECT!

Unfortunately,I didn't had that time to tour all around this Doze of Art & Culture since I had to go home having to complete a ton of projects & with the finals around the corner. So I had the chance to enjoy the Old Building only & in a hurry!! but the 3 floors of the old building took me over an hour! really magnificent, I stared at one of paintings about 15 minutes despite it was simply (a woman facing a blank wall & giving her back to the viewer, with chock X/O game on the wall!!) ,,, believe it or not, I've discovered even the 5th dimension in this painting!!!!

I invite U all to this nice artistic & cultural place in the artistic heart of the Capital, Webdeh. I will be dedicating a big part of this time for this nice place soon hopefully,if not a full day maybe; it really worths it! & for those couples reading my post, try discovering your partner from the deepest point in his/her personality in this place.

Before ending this long post, The gallery deposits just over 2000 artworks from 85 countries, so expect artworks to be changed each in a while. The gallery is open all days but Tuesday 9 – 19 & Fridays 10-17 , entry is free for students & artists, 1 JD for Jordanians & 3 for non residents.

Go & discover the deepest point in your self!

XML Rocks & Rolls!

Finally I got personal my RSS/XML blog running! Enough XHTML! Especially after I’ve been treated by XHTML questions in my Web programming final exam ;P
For those who have been following my Radio Guide Page on nasimjo.itgo.com , I’ll be posting my radio guide updates on this Blog as well concurrently with my posts on the HTML radio guide.
This blog maybe not apply my vision of a Blog at this moment but will soon indeed! It’s just that I had to start it! I’m sick of having an unutilized account on blogger & Jordan Planet!

I hope I’ll keep committed to blogging with accuracy & frequency aiming to serve my community with my views.
Hopefully this blog will have its place in my new website version which will be uploaded soon as well, nasimjo.itgo.2.0 will be out by the beginning of July hopefully.

As for now , for those who never got to view my HTML radio guide posts, I’m adding some of them here in my 1st post on this blog (I’m adding those interesting ones only!) , with the approximate time they were published (since I didn’t have a timing service on that page) ; to view the Jordanian Radio Guide page it self U can visit www.nasimjo.itgo.com/radioguide.html#NEWS :

30 – Jan – 2005
*A very undesirable problem hit Play FM on the dawn-morning of 29 Jan, that is, the station went simply BLANK! Seems it was a problem in the System concerned with "playing" the continuous Non-Stop Hits PLAY went famous for in its soft-opening last October. "EL 7AMDELLA 3AL SALAME" anyway, maybe it's a lesson for them to never trust Microsoft Windows Based Systems, Windows were made to be broken after all !

15 – Feb – 2005
*Terrible Valentine spirits on the Jordanian Radios! Play & Jordan FM got into it just after midnight (when it's considered that we got into the 15th actually! ). Jordan FM spoiled its after midnight collection with some Arabic old songs UNFORTUNATELY! exactly at the time when FANN FM was playing western Love songs! (I thought for a moment there's something wrong with my radio!) .... while Beat FM had enough playing some slow & old songs (some even not related to love) around midnight. THE ONLY Love station was MOOD FM, its a word to be said, they played a very special Valentine collection all day & night long, & held up a very successful valentine event.... LOVE TO YOUR MOOD ;)

20 – Mar – 2005
*a New Arabic Station in town! Sout Al-Ghad started it soft transmission on the frequency of 99.3 FM in the Greater Amman Area. seems its an extension to Radio Sout Al-Ghad Lebanon. I don't really know what's this policy Radio Stations Managements are following! We were talking about Play for choosing a frequency close to Amman FM's 99.0 FM, & now we got something in between even with an only 0.3 Mhz "space"!!! not forgetting Beats choice of only a 0.4 Mhz gap from the Giant FANN FM's 102.1 FM ,,,,,,,,, weird!

29 – Mar – 2005
*And Yet another Arabic Radio station on the airwaves,with more problems! a frequency problem (being only 0.3 Mhz away from RMC. & a naming problem...(AHLAN) or "welcome" as a name of an FM radio station!!? No creativity!

5 – Apr – 2005
*seems someone is hearing me;) (SOUT AL GHAD) has shifted to 101.5 FM

20 – Apr – 2005
* & Yet another 99.* dark spell! Radio Nagham , a new FM station started its MONO transmission on 99.9 FM . Taking a quick spin on the dial, we can feel the weekness of sout Al-Ghad's transmission (despite its powered by a wealthy Media company: LBC!) ... play 99.6 is back strong again. While about the transmission qualities ,still the western stations Are way much better than the arabic,U can feel a nice Stereo experience being tuned to 92.0 ,96.3 ,102.5 or 99.6 ...from the arabic station,only Fann FM is to be compared with those 4...I heard about a re-licensing for the Army's Fann FM,,I don't know any details yet,may be its for creating a broad FM freq for all the areas,,,,we will wait to see !

9 – May – 2005
* Upon the visit of his majesty the king to Al-Hussein University in Ma'an , a local Radio Station by the name of sout ma'an was launched on the FM Band..I dunno yet what is the frequency they are broadcasting on (that's why its not included in the table above).. I didn’t find any resources telling me the frequency ,, & I didn’t pass by the area since 3 years now … if any1 happens to go there or pass by it ,, plz update me.. the transmission covers Ma'an & the University's Area.