Learn the hard way!

My external hard drive is screwed, it made a really strange noise and the worst part is I did not backup the data. There are important files in there... O man! Why???
I do not know how this happen. Based on my crime scene knowledge, it seem like someone might have tripped on the power cable causing the hard drive to drop... Ouchh! and did not even bother to tell me.

Today's lesson:

• Always backup your data (unexpected thing might happen)
  
• Place hard drive on safe spot
• Tidy the cable
  
• Keep the hard drive if not in use

Why special?

To start off, lets no forget that the most miraculous event in the history occur in this holy place, Isra and Mi'raj where Prophet Muhammad PBUH traveled from Mecca to Jerusalem, was taken to the heavens and brought back to Mecca in just one night. In which muslims are commanded to pray 5 times a day. History also shows that every great civilization had conquer Jerusalem as it was belived that whoever posses Jerusalem has the capability to rule the world. It is no difference in todays era where Israel already taken half of Palestine, dominating the world. More importantly Palestine is the symbol of muslims strength and unity, something that Islamic factions and movements in the world have in common, the responsiblility towards Palestine.

Tiredness can kill so I am going to carry on with the historic events of Palestine, a continuation from the previous post but I definitely have more reasons to write.

Solomon PBUH succeeded David his father, finished the re-construction of Al-Aqsa Mosque (Temple of Solomon). He reigned from 978 until 938 B.C.
Son of Solomon PBUH, Rehoboam was crowned but the Jewish tribe fractionalised. In 922 B.C. the kingdom was split to two. The northern part became Israel (later called Samaria) and the south became Judea with Jerusalem as its capital.
In 722 B.C., Samaria was conquered by the Assyrian. Judea remained united but overcame by irreligious corruption. In 586 B.C., Judea was destroyed by Nebuchadnezzar of Babylon. The Temple (Al-Aqsa) was destroyed and the population was carried in chain to babylon. (1st destruction of Jews)
Shah Cyrus of the Persia occupied Babylon in 550 B.C., including Canaan and Jerusalem. The Persians were sympathetic to the Jews, allowed them to return to Jerusalem, and helped the Jews to build the Second Temple.
Alexander the Great, king of Macedonia defeated the Persians, captured Jerusalem in 333 B.C. and later, the rest of the world. Alexander brought Hellenistic culture that influenced the Jews. Greek language replaced Hebrew and Greek gods is placed in the Temple of Jerusalem. The Jews also engaged in numerous internal conflicts between different sects of jews.
In 63 B.C. the Roman conquered Palestine and oppressed the public through their representative, the Procurators. Mary gave birth to Jesus PBUH. Jesus PBUH called back the Jews to obey the One and Only God through the spirits of laws of Moses PBUH. The Jews tried to capture Jesus PBUH and get the Roman (Pontius Pilates, the Procurator at that time) to crucify Jesus PBUH but the Lord saved Jesus PBUH.
In 66 A.D. the people of Palestine (consisted of the non-Jews, Jews and Edomites) revolted against Roman. General Titus led the Roman army in 70 A.D. to put down the revolt. The whole Jerusalem was flattened and the Jews were deported from Palestine and were forbidden to enter the Holy City. (2nd Destruction of jews)
Roman Emperor Constantine embraced Cristianity in 320 A.D. He stopped the persecution of the Christians and made Christian as the official religion of the empire. Churches were built in Palestine, attracted numerous pilgrims and Palestine prospered. But the Jews were still barred from Jerusalem.
Prophet Muhammad PBUH was born in Mecca in 570 A.D. and received the first revelation of Koran 40 years later.
The Roman became weak due to internal factions and the Persian attacked the Roman. The Jews helped the Persian to enter Jerusalem in 614 A.D., the Christians were massacred and Christian prisoners were taken to Persia. Heraclius of Byzantine defeated the Persians in 627 A.D. and liberated the Christians to practise their religion. Again, the Jews were banished from Jerusalem.
By 637 A.D. (5 years after the death of Prophet Muhammad PBUH), the Muslim already had control of Persia (Iraq and Iran), most of al-Shams (Syria, Lebanon, Jordan and Palestine) and were at the gates of Jerusalem.
The Second Caliph, Umar entered Jerusalem without bloodshed or harrasment of the inhabitant. Umar commissioned the construction of a wooden mosque at the spot where present-day Mosque of Al-Aqsa stands. For the first time in 500 years, the Jews were allowed to practise their religion freely in the vicinity of jerusalem.

Next will be the last.

Never Ending Story - Lost

I could feel the warmth of sunshine as the sun ray showered over my face. My eyes darted to the clock. It was nearly nine o’clock.
My head felt a little dizzy and I did not remember much what happened yesterday causing me to misplace my sense of time again. I hate when this happened.
My gut feeling told me today is an important day, more than anything else.

Moving from the bed, my body felt slight pain.
Morning air blew breezily into the room as I opened the window to an extent it no longer can be pushed.
The vacant chair was in need of someone to sit on, and I switched on my laptop and waited for the laptop to boot.
Looking through the window, I saw traffics, public, the law enforcement all were busy with their everyday routine and I could hear lots of unpleasant noises penetrated my head through the ears like a needle piercing through the skull.
These entire dilemmas made me missed the sound of birds singing, the smell of sweet lavender, the view of inspiring river and mountain in the countryside, where the pleasure of tranquillity can be reached.

“Ring…ring…ring…”
The sound of my alarm clock broke the silent.
It’s nine o’clock sharp.
Getting up off my chair, I switched off the alarm.

“Grrooorr”,
My stomach made a loud noise demanded to be filled, causing me to enter the kitchen right away.
Turning the kitchen tap hastily, water flowed with a sudden, hit the bottom of sink, splashed outward that the lower part of my shirt was wet. Water pouring into my hand, I gently swept my face and neck, allowing the freshness of each droplet absorbed through the skin of my face, I felt vigorous.

“What’s for breakfast?” I thought.
A bowl of cereal would certainly help me throughout the day, grabbing a box of Honey Flakes and shook it quickly. From the sound it made I could tell that there was not much cereal left in the box.
Opening the fridge door, I could see load of raw foods were inside the fridge but my eyes continue to search every inch inside the freeze box for milk.
“What, no milk?” I whispered to myself.
To prevent starvation getting worse, I had a slice of bread with butter and a glass of orange juice.

“Kring, kring, kring.”
The sound of the doorbell interrupted me having a pleasant breakfast.
The door was opened for my expected visitor, the hardworking and punctual postman who came to visit me at the exact time everyday.
“A package for you, sir” he said.
“Thank you.” I answered.
“A… Hey, do you know what day is today?” I asked kindly.
“Sorry, I’ve no idea,” he replied, walked away in a rush continue to deliver letters at the neighbourhood.
“Well, that helps.” I wondered sarcastically.
The weighty package, with no address of the sender printed on the envelope, puzzled me.
I returned to my room with the package firmly in my grasp.

“What?” I said in disbelieved.
The laptop screen was all in blue with a warning message asking to be shut. It was the well known Blue Screen of Death disease, effecting old and outdated computer.
It was not surprising that this happened to the laptop as it was an old piece of junk, I should’ve bought a new one.

The clock hands pointed to nine and six.
The chair was filled again, I started to wonder.
Trying to find back the lost memory and put the pieces together, felt like I fought a battle I already loss, knowing that my mind was playing with me seeing that my memory was not getting better that the ‘hole’ inside me was getting darker.

Snapping back to reality, with my eyes closed, I pulled out a random book from the shelves, hoped that it was a readable book. The odd of chose the only novel I have out of the other books really surprised me, as I randomly selected Kaleidoscope, a novel written by Danielle Steel which I have not finished read yet.
The brain just could not accept the words, undoubtedly since I could not understand a single word after read couple of the phrases, the mood was missing, causing me to return the book where it belongs.

The mysterious package, with my name and address written on it, I unwrapped carefully, made sure I did not tear or break whatever inside the package, only to find out that it was a book titled ‘Lost for Dummies’. Reading the book title, not knowing the sender, I sensed the curiosity inside me was growing.

“Tick, tick, tick.” The clock was ticking.
Every second pass swiftly while I wasted my time wandered in my own little world, searched for a light at the end of this illusion dark tunnel.

Easier said than done

Yesterday was the start of a new season for English football. Great football played overall but the Liverpool game got my attention. Not bad la... Well, this was the only best move made by Gerrard on the day anyway.


Stevie G V. Aston Villa - August, 11, 2007 - Watch the top videos of the week here

"Superb! A great piece of engineering."

He makes freekick looks simple but the point is 'Practice makes perfect'.

Know Her, Love Her

Near the end of Kingdom of Heaven Balian asks Saladin "What is Jerusalem worth?". Saladin answers "Nothing." and walks away. He then turns back and, gesturing towards himself, says "Everything".

When talking about Palestine with muslims especially, there are two types of person I usually met; first are the well informed one; second are the kind that have no idea what happens there. I think as a muslim each of us should make an effort to gain knowledge about the history and the current state of Palestine. Many significant event in Islamic history happens here. Well, this is the muslims second holy place after all.
"If you don't know her, then you don't love her" correct? Why is Palestine so special?
Right... let see what happens from the beginning and know Palestine, shall we? Some of the events are included in the Qur'an verse.

• Adam PBUH built the first house of worship in Mecca, the Ka'aba and forty years later he built the Al-Aqsa Mosque in Jerusalem.
  
• City of Jericho was established at what's now called the West Bank by the ancestor of Arabs, the Natufians about 10000 B.C.. The city of Jerusalem was fortified in about 8000 B.C., indicating an inhabitation.
• The Canaanites, who migrated from today Syria and Lebanon, began occupying present day Palestine around 3000 B.C.. They were Semites, and they invented the linear alphabets we use today.
• Sumer was conquered by the Amorites (a group of Semite) around 2000B.C. and later in 1790B.C., Hammurabi of Babylon captured Sumer from the Amorites. Around this period, Abraham PBUH was born in the city of Ur, capital of Sumer civilization. The Babylonian people of Ur went against Abraham PBUH teaching, therefore he, his wife and his cousin, Lut PBUH migrated to the land of Canaan.
• Abraham PBUH settled in Jerusalem. He had two sons; Ishmael PBUH settled in Arabia and Isaac PBUH succeeded Abraham PBUH in Palestine. Abraham PBUH re-built the Ka'aba in Mecca with Ishmael PBUH and with Isaac PBUH, he re-built Al-Aqsa Mosque in Jerusalem.
• Isaac PBUH was succeeded by his son, Jacob PBUH. Jacob's son, Joseph PBUH settled in Egypt and later called his father and brothers from Palestine to come over to Egypt.
• In 1500B.C., while Palestine still under Egyptian rules, the Pharaoh started harassing the descendent of Jacob PBUH (Children of Israel). Moses PBUH led his people across the Red Sea and they are saved from the pursuit of Pharaoh and his army.
• The Lord directed Moses PBUH to lead his follower to Palestine, which is promised for the pious among the descendent of Abraham PBUH, and fight against the Canaanites. The Children of Israel refused to follow the order of the Lord. They were banished to wander in desert for forty years (the Diaspora).
• In Greece around 1200B.C., the Greek civilization collapsed due to Trojan War and the Filistine (one of the Greek communities) migrated to Canaan. The Filistine defeated the Israelites and controlled them for 20 years.
• King Saul (Talut) united the Isrelites to challenge the Filistine. David PBUH led the Israelites army and defeated Goliath (Jalut) of Filistine. Saul became the first King of Israelites but became jealous of David. He attacked David PBUH.
• David PBUH formed a coalition with Filistine and killed Saul. David PBUH became the second King of Israelites, united the Israelites, and led them to Jurusalem. From 1018 to 978B.C. David made Jerusalem as his capital and re-constructed Al-Aqsa Mosque.

To be continue... Next>

Care to change your luck?

I was looking for a job for a month now. I apply like 10... 15... maybe even 20 jobs, one after another. Its kind of depressing when you try your best and accomplish nothing. I feel like I am the most unlucky person in the world. Am I?

Is there such thing as luck?

I read an article by Richard Wiseman. Yup... It's his name 'wiseman'. He is a psychology professor in University of Hertfordshire. If you visit his website, he might looks familiar to you... wonder where did you see him? Actually he is quite famous and features in various television programmes especially documentary series. Right... nuff about him, his article is about creating your luck and quite interesting.

The first thing he mention is chance. Most people pointed their fingers at 'chance' when something happen to them. Is there any distinction between chance and luck? Yes. Chance is events. It is like a lottery ticket. You buy a ticket and thats it. You don't have any control of the outcome of the event. And chance don't consistenly happen to the same person. But when it does it is because of something that you do. Chance is just 10% of your life.

What is luck then? Well... Its more like a way of thinking. Lucky people tend to try new things and open to opportunities whereas unlucky people think in a routine. Two person walk on the same road to a same destination. Suddenly there is a small road shows a sign 'shortcut to destination'. Lucky people will notice this and take the junction while most unlucky people either did not notice or do not care. Depends on your life background, both ways of thinking are unconscious and automatic. So you can practice and make your own luck. Say you attend a job interview. How you think before and after the interview usually determine the outcome.

What about saying, "Just think positive, and you'll be successful"? Hmm... In my oppinon positive thinking might be a good or a bad thing for you. I agree that its a bit overlapping with the "counterfactual thinking" but i am sure that there is a difference. When you practice positive thinking, what you are doing is telling yourself that everything is fine and under control. So what is the problem then? There is no problem with that but at the same time you are trying to solve problems with the easiest possible solution. There is no critical thinking happens in your brain and this might be harmful to your brain. It's more like "Feel lucky and you'll be successful".

According to Richard Wiseman there are 4 principles to create your good fortune.

1. Maximize chance opportunities
2. Listen to your lucky hunches (instinct)
   
3. Expect good fortune
4. Turn bad luck into good

This remind me of my Physics teacher in college. She is scottish by the way. One day she came into her class, brought a 'cat' and put it in the class. Its a cat statue; you know... the sitting cat that has one hand raise and wears an amulet. Cat have hands? We were told that it was a lucky cat and hopefully bring good fortunes. I think its a Chinese believe. Some of us found it really hilarious. If only it was that easy to be lucky. Good LUCK!

It just happen

Sometimes you just don't realize what you are talking about. You know... when you talk nonsense. Usually it happens when answering question without thinking. I like to call it a 'slip of the tongue'. Did it ever occur to you? I have, and I'm sure everybody have as well. Here's a series of events that really happen to a friend of a friend of mine.

At a coffee shop

Waiter: Do you like tea or coffee?

Customer: I like it in a cup.

and more stories...

Waiter: Do you like black or white coffee, sir?

Customer: I like a white coffee but with milk please.

At a bank

A friend walks into a bank to draw some cash from the cashier. The conversation went well until the end...

Cashier: How would you like you money, sir?

Customer: I like it very much.

I find it really funny. So, the moral of the story is drink Pepsi and use ATM machine. Instant and no fuss.