Jamal's Personal Blog

I AM 31

2009-11-18T09:34:00.001+03:30

It’s my birthday - November 18. And this post is my first thing morning…

I also checked my 30th birthday anniversary (http://blog2.mavadat.net/2008/11/happy-birthday-to-me.html) and realised how painful aging can be. I remember when I was a teenager I liked to age perhaps out of curiosity or to seek some independence. I also remember when I was 22~23 I liked birthdays as reminders of moving towards maturity.

But hang on!!! I have lost that brave generous feeling, and I cannot take aging this easy anymore… deep down, something huge has changed I suspect… the era between 28~30 was like a target achieved for a few years and now I’m losing it! An increasing distance is being put every year with no hope for a second visit. When I flash through my lived life back, I admit this “COULD” have been done better. Not arguing that I’m doing it the wrong way, but considering some lessons I’ve learned it’s no surprise things could be handled more efficiently and it could have been lived way more satisfactory. Though, in general, I think I was gifted a successful life [so far], eventually there’s no excuse with not investing on potentials. I understand 31 is generally accepted as being young and there’s heaps of upcoming days to be spent, used, and wasted; but, even at this biological age my body senses little wears and tears, and to me that’s a warning sign, and a call for some change to avoid freaking future blameworthy feeling.

I’ve always believed LIVING a LIFE has coincidentally all the characteristics of a project. You’ve got resources, budget, timeframe, prioritisation, risks, disasters, requirements, plans, milestones, product, etc… and I still do believe in this, surprisingly with few minor changes with major influences and that, my friends, is the fact that unlike a normal project, with your life there is no pre-defined level of final product quality… you are allowed and sometimes expected not to ever be satisfied by your achievements… in other words, living your very life needs endless effort to produce best results possible within your specific timeframe which is unknown till the last moment.

Anyways…

It’s my birthday, and “HAPPY BIRTHDAY TO ME!!!” don’t know why Sarah hasn’t waked up yet, gotta check on her… chao…

Some Weekend Shots

2009-06-01T19:52:00.001+04:30

Nothing cheers me up so bad like spending relaxing and non-happening weekend in a beautiful spot. Ramsar and surroundings were great weekend gateway to Sarah and I and frankly speaking I was dying to get my head out of this routine life.

Now, I decided to share some of the shots which were amongst my best. Some others would also be shared through my Facebook profile later time. And please feel free to download 3072x1728 (wide) versions.

Last word: If you enjoy these pics then please make some time (aprx. 20mins) and checkout these series of videos and think about it: http://www.messfree.com/

Technorati Tags: Environment,Global Warming,Nature,Photos,Weather

A Facebook Twitter App Feature Request

2009-04-17T18:44:00.001+04:30

Twitter: Since I started my twitter profile I’ve posted 800+ updates. I’ve kept this attitude of posting both personal and professional related stuff from the very beginning: from what I am eating right now or doing in my personal life, to what I’m thinking or doing professionally.

To twit, I usually use Yahoo’s Twitter widget by simply pressing F8 and typing an update, sometimes Windows Mobile TinyTwitter, and rarely twitter’s web panel. According to Wikipedia’s article on Twitter, compete.com blog entry ranked twitter as third most-used social network after Facebook and MySpace. And here is a good list of micro-blogging services; there are 200+ twitter-like services world-wide which I reckon twitter is the most famous amongst all. So, I still tend to keep my twitter profile running.

Facebook: At the other hand there is my Facebook profile. Some of you may have already noticed I recently activated my Facebook profile – what an out of date luddite you say, huh?! Why, thank you then!!! When I started my Facebook life, I had this strategy not to live my professional life there and therefore shouldn’t be posting work-related/professional material. Very soon I linked my twitter profile to my facebook so that every single twitter update appears in my Facebook profile too. I like this configuration since it gives me the same convenience of posting twitter updates (from my Laptop, Pocket PC, public computers, …) to my facebook posts. But wait, there are cons as well: I need my professional twitter updates stop coming to my facebook profile. Honestly this is kinda spamming my facebook friends. Maybe, they’re not computer geeks or maybe don’t like to hear anything about software innovations. Why should they be concerned about software innovations which they don’t understand or techniques and tricks which they an’t interested on?!

Any Solution: Well, I cannot double my twitter accounts – one personal and one professional account. Asking why?! Well, after a while I realised there are non-explicit professional posts for which there’s no clear border of their “personal vs. professional” nature; and that, my friends, was just non-stop as I was posting more and more updates. So I decided to keep my single-twitter-profile strategy.

Then I thought maybe a new client application is all I need to selectively (on a per-post basis) publish my updates to twitter, facebook, or both. Yet didn’t find such a thing off the shelf to get rid of this shortcoming. However, I considered a Firefox add-on named FireStatus which seems to do the same but I did NOT like it since it’s only an extension to a browser. It won’t work on my Pocket PC and it’s not even convenient when not surfing the web and hence my browser is not running. Plus, it’s not installed on public computers by default.

Maybe a self-made application is all I need! But NOPE again!!! Because I’m very poor when it comes to time. Besides, I’d probably be reinventing the wheels! I have to develop both Windows NT and Windows Mobile editions, not to mention I’ll need a web interface as well for public computers. No thanks, not a brilliant idea at all!!!

Maybe a new Facebook application to import twitter updates based on a criterion (say a fixed update prefix) works fine. Foretunately, Facebook’s Twitter Application has everything I need except this lacking feature I’m talking about, to filter those twitter posts out before importing to Facebook! I’d say a prefix such as #nofb in twitter updates is enough to workaround this shortcoming. Even then, twitter is more likely to display that frustrating prefix which is not welcome. But I’d probably be okay with that, till I find a trio set of micro-blogging client applications, 1- Windows NT, 2- Windows Mobile, and 3- web-interface become available, everyone of which allows to selectively post updates to twitter, Facebook, or both profiles.

Technorati Tags: Facebook,Twitter,Blogging

My Concert - In Dreams

2008-12-16T15:04:00.001+03:30

About eight years ago on September 2000, I had a music concert namely "In Dreams"! At the moment, I was a piano player (usually electric/keyboard) and also the composer of a dozen pieces. Today I just felt like loving to share some of my own fries. But before we begin, I'm gonna ask you lower your expectation as I had never received musical training...

Sleeping Dolly
One of the simplest pieces was this scene of a little girl sleeping with her Barbie dolly, named “sleeping dolly”. It also accompanied a music video screened at the concert hall. IMHO the main point with this piece is the simplicity of the music harmonised with the pureness of children. I'll be more than happy to share:

Download MP3 - 890 KB

Anahita, the castle
The next piece of music I'd like to share is the ending of the concert. It was named "Anahita" after the name of a historical place which was not treated well enough at the time. Few friends of mine and myself, made a journey to visit the place and realise how fantastic the castle used to be, like covering lots of untold tragic stories. Unfortunately, the place was not officially recorded as a historical value, encouraging the whole band to do something about it. The tone and colour of this music is very middle-eastern, and starts with the old pride of the castle during its time, slowly passing through its future and sad destiny. I'll be more than happy to share - sorry for the low audio quality and technical downsides:

Download MP3 - 1,622 KB

You might be surprised to find out this concert is where Sarah and I met! She was the most lovely member of the whole 30-people team - working on live graphics and video effects. If you've enjoyed this post, then please subscribe to Glen's blog - Climate Change and Global Warming Portal: www.climatearg.com/blog

Technorati Tags: Concert,In Dreams,Music

Happy Birthday to Me

2008-11-17T09:24:00.001+03:30

I'm now 30 years YOUNG!

Based on the Persian calendar (Jalali calendar) it's my birthday (1387-08-27), and in the Gregorian calendar that would be first thing tomorrow to smile for the same reason (18 November, 2008); this one-day diff sometimes happen wherever leap years step in.

If you ask me whether I feel okay watching all these years behind, I'd say yes and no, to be perfectly superhonest. The first 10 years were such a mess I cannot easily remember. The next 10 years bundled as an era to find myself, stupid war and disaster (earthquake) included as big highlights too. And the last piece of 10-years was like my bread and butter days. In short, there are both good and bad kinda memories. They say good/bad is a relative comparison situation, so if that's the case, then thanks to the "bad" for making me feel the "good."

Take a look at events, births, and deaths of November 18: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/November_18
Check out what happened at the year/month I was born: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/1978
Look what celebrities share their birthday with me: http://www.celebrity-link.com/birthday_day-18_month-11.html

Technorati Tags: Happy Birthday,November 18

Moved to the New Flat

2008-09-20T09:44:00.001+04:30

Yesterday was a hard day! Hard work of packaging all stuff to move to the new flat, the move itself, and opening all packs was just a nightmare, and now, glad everything is organised... It did worth moving here, plenty of space (50% bigger) plus lovely neighbours.

SURPRISE!!! We just feel like we're back in home. Actually we have a history here in this new flat, cause this is the place we rented for a period of 24 months 3 years back. That's it, we've moved back to the old place again.

Technorati Tags: Home,Move

Marriage of Two Friends!

2008-09-17T20:58:00.002+04:30

Yesterday, two lovely coworkers of mine at DPK, Aria and Viola, got married! Don't really know how to put my happiness for them into words:

Dearest Aria and Viola, I am wishing you every happiness for all the moments you build your togetherness, future, dreams, and your new life as a couple.

Technorati Tags: Marriage,Coworker

Lovely Weekend Shots

2008-09-08T20:57:00.001+04:30

The whole family made fantastic moments by last weekend. A 2-hours-drive small town called Duna was such an amazing place to visit and a little bit freezing-in-summer!

I'd love to share some of the eye-catching shots with you guys. Feel free to click and download the 3072x1728 (wide) versions. If you download my pics, then please subscribe to Glen's blog - Climate Change and Global Warming Portal: www.climatearg.com/blog

Technorati Tags: Weather,Summer,Duna,Global Warming,Nature,Photos

Toyota iQ

2008-08-22T12:54:00.003+04:30

I love both cars and environment which are settled historical enemies! Sarah and I already own a Peugeot 206 and are thirsty for something bigger!!! Someone should be getting the hell confused out of me, what are we human beings supposed to do?! In a world of "bigger" is always "better" how car manufacturing should be dealing this?! Did the world really need current crazy petrol prices start pushing?!

The tiny Toyota iQ is supposed to be world's smallest 4 passenger mass-produced car - 3 adults plus a child! It's ultra-compact - 2.985 meters in length! Toyota has made it a reality by the mercy of 6 clever engineering innovations to save space.

Are you in favor of small hi-tech cars, or big GMT-like ones? Do you even think we do need cars or public transportation easily beats private vehicles?

Technorati Tags: Cars,Global Warming,Environment,Toyota iQ

Sarah's Uncle is Gone

2008-08-20T20:10:00.002+04:30

Today we had sad news making my Sarah full of anxiety and depression. Sarah's uncle has just passed away after a period of illness!!! Muhammad Seyed (in Persian: سید محمد سید) was a great guy and fantastic in poetry authoring amazing books and papers. The maker has now met the Maker! Those who knew him will definitely miss him greatly! Sarah has left to attend his mourning ceremonies.

Technorati Tags: Uncle,Passed Away

My Dad is Coming

2008-08-04T07:04:00.001+04:30

It's now 7am and we're toasting as dad is coming in a couple of hours. Most of his life he's been to work in Kuwait! Sarah and I are sooo happy and it's really cheered up our day as finally gonna see him after such a long time - say half a dozen years, you won't believe it, huh?!

Anyway, we must be catching him at the airport after a one-hour drive... fantastic moments are on the way...

Tags: Hello Dad

Nice Weather in Tehran

2008-07-31T19:25:00.004+04:30

It's been few weeks it was HOT HOT HOT killing all my energy when switching between clients around 1pm. Made me crazy enough to arrange spending whole-day per client - a temp plan. But finally, few days ago (or a week) we had fantastic weather in summer Tehran. It was all raining messing up my car to the hell. At the end of the day clouds were flying away gifting eye-catching sceneries which I MUST be sharing. Here we go - click to download 3072x1728 versions:

If you enjoyed this post then please subscribe to Glen's blog - Climate Change and Global Warming Portal: www.climateark.org/blog

Tags: Weather Summer Tehran Global Warming

My Wife is Back

2008-06-21T22:53:00.001+04:30

My lovely wife, Sarah, is finally back from Shiraz. Saying ta-ta to mom and hello to her husband! I guess Sarah's journey took around 36 days. Well, finally after a nervewracking 1:30~2:00 hours delay she landed at Tehran.

This is my post after my very special welcome...

Hello, Goodbye, Yes, No!!!

2008-06-06T23:16:00.001+04:30

I just liked to share the following links:

Did you enjoy? So checkout the whole list...

Cheers everybody,
Goodbye (English), Khoda Hafez (Persian), Adiós (Spanish), Au revoir (French), Auf Wiedersehen (German), Joi gin (Chinese), ... (ok, that's enough!!!)

Sarah's Birthday

2008-06-01T21:27:00.002+04:30

June 2nd, is Sarah's birthday! She's now turning 27! Yeah, it's her birthday whilst not home and too far from me!

Happy birthday to you, honey...
Jamal :)

Here's few June 2 events from Wikipedia:

The Derby horse race is held for the first time.
Guglielmo Marconi receives a patent for his invention, Radio.
Surveyor 1 lands in Oceanus Procellarum on the Moon, becoming the first US spacecraft to soft land on another world.
The CIH computer virus is discovered in Taiwan.
Europe launches its first voyage to Mars.

And here's from Wikipedia about the name, Sarah, which can also be spelled "Sara" (used by less than 20% of folks):

The Hebrew word sarah indicates a woman of high rank, and is sometimes translated as "princess" or goddess, or "high holy one". It also means pleasant in Arabic, and pure and excellent in Persian.

Sarah Heading Down to Shiraz

2008-05-15T21:49:00.000+04:30

My lovely wife, Sarah, is now on the road to Shiraz. She'll be staying there for as long as 4 weeks I guess, for some personal stuff. The bye-bye part was sooo sad and I almost cannot forget the last "eye-contact" we made whilst she was leaving!

Here she is:

Feeling so poor and lonely at home... :(

Feeling Like a Luddite!

2008-04-21T09:16:00.000+04:30

Today as I was introducing this personal blog to some of the friends and colleagues, I was wondering maybe must be feeling like a luddite running such a blog so late! Hey?! What do you expect from a busy and time-poor guy like me?! By the way, this is a "personal" blog and not supposed to be about computer, computer, computer!!! Oh, so sick of it! How about these hard-working black ants?! Working all the time for nothing, or maybe something! What do you think? This is a shot I took during my recent Nowrouz (Persian New Year) vacation. Drop me a short line at jamal@mavadat.net if you like the 3072x1728 version.

Cheers everybody!

2008-04-17T12:47:00.000+04:30

Hi there, And finally I decided to enter the blogosphere publishing my personal issues, ideas, thoughts, opinions, and family life. My expected readers are friends, colleagues, fans, family and relatives. I recommend you subscribe to the Atom syndication feed of this blog for your own convenience: http://blog2.mavadat.net/atom.xml I'll definitely be more than happy to receive your friendly comments here; however, let me please deserve the right to nicely moderate your comments. Cheers everybody, Jamal