not sure how I got here...

... but it's a hilarious read: rock, paper, scissors on wikipedia.

100 days of...

(in no particular order...)

joy, happiness and laughter

learning

rain and more rain

service

hello and good bye

good friends and flatmates

prayer, meditation and spirituality

lovely pilgrims

difficulties? sure, that too :)

there's something beautiful about this picture

something about how the petal has kept the area around it moist, while everything else has dried out. parallels to how we should be perhaps?



what do you think?

usability notes

so I'm looking more into design and usability now, which is also what I've studied... two interesting quotations:

"Making the simple complicated is commonplace; making the complicated simple, awesomely simple, that's creativity."
- Charles Mingus


"In most cases, if a user could achieve his goals magically, without your product, he would."
- Alan Cooper

definition of design from dictionary.com:
To create or execute in an artistic or highly skilled manner.

and a link to design patterns.

when the student is ready...

... the teacher will appear.
a Buddhist proverb that I think really deserves a moment of contemplation.

there.

it's all about being ready for what may appear in front of us, what passes before us, or something that is said. obviously also in relation to this post...

I think one of the best examples of this is newton's apple story which got him to formulate the universal law of gravitation. since this happened in the 1660s, I can assure you that there had been plenty of apples falling, and plenty of people seeing them. but what happened? they just weren't ready to figure out what happened, and why.

what have you missed today?

I'm linked!

ok, very, very random... looking a bit at usability here and there, and surprisingly enough I found my thesis paper! paul hibbitts works with usability and stuff, and on his webpage he has a bunch of resources and links, and if you go to his links about usability and distance, and scroll down a bit, you'll see "Remote user studies". over there you have my paper, overcoming distance in user-centered design. cool stuff!

no more questions?

it seems my faq was so exhaustive that there's nothing more to ask? :)

if you have anything, post a comment and I'll respond in a new post.

pearls before breakfast

you've probably heard the "if a tree falls in the forest and no one hears it, does it make a sound?", but what about "if a great musician plays great music but no one hears... was he really any good?"

that's what this very interesting article talks about. joshua bell, world famous violinist was asked to take part in washington post's study. one morning, he "dressed up" in jeans, a long-sleeved t-shirt and a baseball cap, and played beautiful music on his million-dollar violin outside one of the metro stops in washington dc. what were the reactions? shockingly enough: not too many. excerpts from the article:

What is this life if, full of care,
We have no time to stand and stare.
-- from "Leisure," by W.H. Davies

If we can't take the time out of our lives to stay a moment and listen to one of the best musicians on Earth play some of the best music ever written; if the surge of modern life so overpowers us that we are deaf and blind to something like that -- then what else are we missing?


read the article, even though it is very long, it's worth thinking about what makes us stop and think in life. do we not notice when something beautiful passes right in front of us (or we pass right in front of it), but just keep being so extremely busy in our own lives that we forget to look around us. and as the article says, what else are we missing if we miss something so obviously close to us?

reminds me of this short post of mine...

I feel compelled to make a reference to where I am, and what I am experiencing. being so close to this beautiful place of spiritual significance, it's very easy to take things for granted. I try to keep myself aware of where I am, why I'm here, and what I'm doing. but tell you the truth, it's difficult at times, because it easily becomes routine/habit to just walk up to work, do your thing, and then come back home. it's important to keep one's head up, at all times, in case something passes by that you really shouldn't miss.

beautiful picture

I took this shot before our orientation started, in the end of october, just haven't had a chance to put it up. but here it goes, it's an absolutely beautiful picture of the Shrine of the Báb:

trust your instincts...

... drink sprite?

no, that's not what this post is about... but there's a book called blink, that deals with trusting instinct and making split-second decision, through "thin-slicing" pieces of information and quickly making a decision. it's a really interesting book, well worth reading and thinking about how it affects you and the decisions you make.

now, why is this relevant? well, it's an issue I've been struggling with now... I'm evaluating two pieces of software, and like one more than the other. both have good qualities and functions, the other one even perhaps slightly better, but I just like the first one more and seem to enjoy working with it more...

how well can I trust my instincts? because it's a bit difficult to base quite a big decision on it, saying "I just felt like this one was the better", even though in the end it might've been the right decision. have to keep on evaluating and testing, and try to be detached and unbiased. it's difficult.

the breach

based on a true story, about the most damaging spy in the course of US history, how he was found, yada yada yada. two words: don't bother. even though it got 7.3 on imdb...

slick?

I was just called slick-looking by another guy... do you agree?

frequently asked questions

after being here for 3 months now (!), there're a few questions that seem to come up repeatedly. to make your (and my) life easier, I decided to make a small FAQ. here are a few answered questions:

where are you now?
in haifa, israel

why are you there?
I serve at the Baha'i World Centre

and what do you do?
I serve at the information services department, ISD

and what exactly do you do?
right now I'm working on a few internal projects for the department. what I will be doing later on is in God's hands...

how much do you work?
our week starts on sunday (confusing at first, but you get used to it), and we do 44 hour weeks. usually half day every other friday, the other one off.

where do you live?
slightly down the mountain, about 15 minute walk.

how do you live?
I used to share with three flatmates, but now since one of moved out, we're two sharing and waiting for whenever the third one will move in.

what do you do during your free time?
something I like about being here is that there's always something to do. twice a week there are pilgrim talks (which we can attend), there're classes on almost any and every subject you can think of, there are talks on various topics, etc etc. there's so much one can learn, it's really great.
the past two months I've been working on my project (it's going well, I assure you). beyond that, I've had hebrew classes with the last one now on sunday. I started taking spanish (8 classes, once a week), so hopefully soon I'll be fluent there ;)

is that all you do?
no, there's so much more to do here. we've had the barbeque, and a lot of random social events and dinners and fun here and there. and of course sports and stuff too.

are you happy?
oh yes, very much so. everyone is really friendly and wonderful, and it's so easy to get in contact with and talk to people. it's an amazing atmosphere, and I really wish more people could come and experience it.

that'll have to do for now. do you have any more questions you want to ask? go for it!

movie reviews!

here are some short movie reviews of what I've seen while being here so far:

shrek 2 (for the second or third time) - if you haven't seen it yet, you definintely should. it's animated, funny, and well worth watching. more than twice.

hoodwinked - the true story of little red riding hood? not sure about that part, but it was definitely funny. it's a bit of a modernized version of it, with some random twists and turns. quite funny comments and references here and there, kept me entertained throughout the whole movie.

premonition - sandra bullock is a housewife living a seemingly perfect life. one day she wakes up and gets news from a police officer that her husband is dead. next morning that she wakes up, she sees her husband in the kitchen having breakfast. realizing that something is wrong somewhere, she goes about trying to figure out what is what...
it's a good movie that keeps you wondering for a while what's going on and what's going to happen. we figured things out quite a lot faster than she did, but it was still nice to see how it ended. only disadvantage of this one was that I dreamt one of my friends was dead... :-/

next - nicholas cage is a magician that has the ability to see 2 minutes into the future, but if the events are concerning himself. however, he's able to see further into the future when it relates to a girl, whom he now spends his time and effort to find. at the same time, a bunch of french-speaking russians (?) have gotten ahold of a nuclear bomb and want to detonate it in LA. as FBI are trying to get ahold of him to predict what's going to happen, so do these terrorists, while he's trying to find this girl. interesting unfolding of events as they all find each other...
I don't know what to think of it... it's slightly ridiculous at times, as things work out perfectly for him when he's doing his things (obviously because he's already seen them happening). it got me laughing quite many times actually because of that. then there are also some animation scenes that are poorly done. and I think it would actually have been more interesting if he would have to choose between saving the world or being with the girl that he loves... now he gets both.

decorated plate...

... or just a lot of food? you decide:


my sandwich for dinner last night... tasted quite good actually!

bahji shots

two beautiful shots from friday, sunset around the Shrine of Bahá'u'lláh:


and the other one, a little bit later, and a bit more to the right:


I actually can't make up my mind which one I like the most...

whole food signatures

here's an interesting post about how certain types of foods not only look like parts of the human body, but actually also are good for that body part! read on:


A sliced Carrot looks like the human eye.  The pupil, iris and radiating lines look just like the human eye...and YES science now shows that carrots greatly enhance blood flow to and function of the eyes.



A Tomato has four chambers and is red.  The heart is red and has four chambers.  All of the research shows tomatoes are indeed pure heart and blood food.




Grapes hang in a cluster that has the shape of the heart.  Each grape looks like a blood cell and all of the research today shows that grapes are also profound heart and blood vitalizing food.




A Walnut looks like a little brain, a left and right hemisphere, upper cerebrums and lower cerebelums.  Even the wrinkles or folds are on the nut just like the neo-cortex.  We now know that walnuts help develop over 3 dozen neuro-transmitters for brain function.




Kidney Beans actually heal and help maintain kidney function and yes, they look exactly like the human kidneys.




Celery, Bok Choy, Rhubarb and more look just like bones.  These foods specifically target bone strength.  Bones are 23% sodium and these foods are 23% sodium.  If you don't have enough sodium in your diet the body pulls it from the bones, making them weak.  These foods replenish the skeletal needs of the body.

Egg Plant, Avocadoes and Pears target the health and function of the womb and cervix of the female - they look just like these organs.  Today's research shows that when a woman eats 1 avocado a week, it balances hormones, sheds unwanted birth weight and prevents cervicle cancers.  And how profound is this? .... it takes exactly 9 months to grow an Avocado from blossom to ripened fruit. There are over 14,000 phytolytic chemical constituents of nutrition in each one of these foods (modern science has only studied and named about 141 of them).




Figs are full of seeds and hang in twos when they grow.  Figs increase the motility of male sperm and increase the numbers of sperm as well to overcome male sterility.




Sweet Potatoes look like the pancreas and actually balance the glycemic index of diabetics.




Olives assist the health and function of the ovaries




Grapefruits, Oranges, and other Citrus fruits look just like the mamary glands of the female and actually assist the health of the breasts and the movement of lymph in and out of the breasts.




Onions look like body cells.  Todays research shows that onions help clear waste materials from all of the body cells.  They even produce tears which wash the epithelial lasyers of the eyes




Bananas, Cucumber, Zuchini and more target the size and strengh of the male sexual organ.  It's true!




Peanuts have a profound effect on the testicles and sexual libido. Peanuts were banned as a food for males by the church ofin during the middle ages. Most people don't realize that arginine, the main component of Viagra, comes from peanuts.


and here is the source.

steve is no more

steve, the name of our flat, has been retired. one of my flatmates moved to akka, to be closer to where he's serving. that means the end of our flat. he was the "ve" in steve (I'm "te").

a few have asked me if I will miss him now that he's over there. well, of course I will. we've had a lot of fun together, both in the flat and outside. this means we'll see less of him, probably once or twice a week, instead of every evening. life goes on though, we'll see who dares to move in with us... ;)

and why steve? check the over the hedge trivia:
Hammy suggests calling the hedge "Steve", saying that "Steve is a nice name". Hammy is voiced by Steve Carell.

archive visit!

one of the great bounties and blessings of serving at the Bahá'í World Centre (more of those coming later) is the opportunity to go on so-called staff visits to Holy Places. together with 10 others, we had the great blessing of visiting the archives, which contains authentic relics (Tablets, clothes, personal belongings, etc) from Bahá'u'lláh, The Báb, 'Abdu'l-Bahá, Shoghi Effendi, and other central figures of the Faith. and above all, it contains a picture of Bahá'u'lláh:

"For Bahá’ís, the station of Bahá’u’lláh is such that even His photograph is very precious. It should, therefore, only be viewed with the utmost reverence and respect and not displayed openly, even in the private homes of Bahá’ís." (bahaullah.org)

even though it was only 7 months ago I was on pilgrimage, it still felt so great to see all these relics again. I think it's really something that strikes me about the Faith, that since it's so recent, we have access to all these historical artifacts, that we know are authentic. and walking around here on the same paths, being able to breathe the same air is just... amazing. I'm so blessed to be here.

risk time!

so last night we played risk, this is how it looked like right in the beginning:


it was the first time I played in probably more than 10 years, so just the fact of being there was exciting enough for me to start with. the game started slowly, rules were a bit unclear at times, and people were attacking each other left and right without much strategy it seemed. as people got a bit more tired, we decided to speed up the game a bit - you got a new card for each country you conquered.

needless to say, that did speed things up quite a lot. suddenly, the guy who seemed the weakest, managed to conquer a few countries, take over all the countries of another player, and was going to be able to cash in about 100+ armies. we stopped playing when that happened :)

but risk is a really fun game, and hopefully we'll have more playing opportunities soon. just need to balance it a little bit...

I'm in love

check out the new macbook air - looks absolutely beautiful. and so thin and light...


a bit on the upside when it comes to price, but it'll go down in a while, and then it just might be worth it...

10k by next month?

according to clustrmaps' info, these are my stats: Running total of visits to the above URL since 15 Feb 2007: 7,618:


can I make it up to 10k by feb 15th? I don't know, my average over these 11 months has been ~23 visitors per day, although as of recently it's been up to about 40-50 a day (who are you people reading this?). I'm going to need ~80 visits a day to make it, so I'm quite doubtful actually...

maybe I'll update you on my project if I manage... ;)

coincidences will never stop

so here we go again - two more weird things happening, both yesterday. first off, the night before, I'm thinking of a friend I haven't heard from in a long time. what happens? I get an e-mail the next day. just very much out of the blue.

second thing is probably even more surprising. I read this text from the Writings in the morning (my bolding):

I say unto you that any one who will rise up in the Cause of God at this time shall be filled with the spirit of God, and that He will send His hosts from heaven to help you, and that nothing shall be impossible to you if you have faith. And now I give you a commandment which shall be for a Covenant between you and me: that ye have faith; that you faith be steadfast as a rock that no storms can move, that nothing can disturb, and that it endure through all things even to the end; even should ye hear that your Lord has been crucified, be not shaken in your faith; for I am with you always, whether living or dead; I am with you to the end. As ye have faith so shall your powers and blessings be. This is the standard -- this is the standard -- this is the standard.

the part in bold, I even wrote down in my phone for my bedroom quotes. so what happens? in the pilgrim talk in evening, this exact same quote was read!

running the numbers

a project in just how much waste is produced can't be interesting - can it? well, check out chris jordan's Running the Numbers - An American Self-Portrait, because it is really interesting. his images project something that statistics cannot really do, and it really gives a connection and meaning to the numbers. go check it out!

The Twin Birthdays

on thursday and friday we celebrated the Twin Birthdays of the Báb, forerunner of the Faith, and Bahá'u'lláh, founder of the Bahá'í Faith. this is what it says in the Kitáb-i-Aqdas, the Most Holy Book:

"All Feasts have attained their consummation in the two Most Great Festivals, and in the two other Festivals that fall on the twin days -- the first of the Most Great Festivals being those days whereon the All-Merciful shed upon the whole of creation the effulgent glory of His most excellent Names and His most exalted Attributes, and the second being that day on which We raised up the One Who announced unto mankind the glad tidings of this Name, through which the dead have been resurrected and all who are in the heavens and on earth have been gathered together. Thus hath it been decreed by Him Who is the Ordainer, the Omniscient."

a note to the verse:
The "two other Festivals" are the anniversaries of the births of Bahá'u'lláh and the Báb. In the Muslim lunar calendar these fall on consecutive days, the birth of Bahá'u'lláh on the second day of the month of Muharram 1233 A.H. (12 November 1817), and the birth of the Báb on the first day of the same month 1235 A.H. (20 October 1819), respectively. They are thus referred to as the "Twin Birthdays" and Bahá'u'lláh states that these two days are accounted as one in the sight of God . He states that, should they fall within the month of fasting, the command to fast shall not apply on those days. Given that the Bahá'í calendar is a solar calendar, it remains for the Universal House of Justice to determine whether the Twin Holy Birthdays are to be celebrated on a solar or lunar basis.

since some of the Holy Days here are celebrated according to the lunar calendar, first and second of muharram switch around, and this year they occured on 11th and 12th of january. (what's funny is that "next year's" will be on the 29th and 30th of december :))
the first of these, the birth of the Báb, was celebrated in Haifa. pilgrims, visitors and staff were gathered inside the Seat of the Universal House of Justice, and prayers and readings were said, as well as two performances by the choir. after the Tablets of Visitation were read, we circumambulated the Shrine and then it was open for people to go pray, meditate and later on socialize.

on friday we all headed out to Bahji, for the celebration of the birth of Bahá'u'lláh. it was cold, but a very beautiful surrounding and atmosphere:


after prayers, Tablet of Visitation and circumambulation, everyone went inside for some socializing and thawing up. the visitor's centre was absolutely filled with people, and it was amazing to see everyone so happy and joyful.

afterwards we went to a couple of friends' place for a nice dinner and socializing - watching some simpsons and stuff. it was a really good time, great food and I think everyone enjoyed it. the album is here. I decided to take lots of pictures of myself with friends this time around, although I wish I could've gotten a shot of the Shrine of the Báb at night, as it was on full light. next time!

and what about my birthday being on thursday? lunar calendar! I'm born on the first of muharram :)
it's actually my brother's birthday too, as he's born 2 years before me with a 22 day difference. the lunar calendar and the solar differ by about 11 days per year, so we're actually born on the same day... :)

it's actually my birthday today

I'll get back with more info later... maybe.

this is funny

A South African man walked into a police station, claiming he'd been mugged and that his cell phone had been stolen. When the police called the number he provided them, his pocket started ringing.

true story? I don't know... hopefully :)
(source)

dawnbreaker collective performance!

we had the great honor of having a few people from the dawnbreaker collective performing for us last night. the dawnbreaker collective are a group of solo artists who gathered to create a "straight-up Baha'i album." it's a mixture of many different music genres, all with a spiritual theme. they show that it's possible to be cool, true to your religion - and still do well in the entertainment industry.

and they performed for us last night!


it was really amazing to have them there, not only for their musical ability and skills (great voices, freestyling talents and guitar skills), but also for their messages - both in their lyrics and when presenting the songs. I think it was very inspiring for us all there, to see these guys and girls showing us that you can make it as a Baha'i in the entertainment industry, without compromising your beliefs. it was also really great to see how much they enjoyed each other's music and performances, randomly jumping in and singing along, and really just going for it. amazing stuff! :)

my album from last night is here, videos will be coming up later on facebook. read a bit more here, and on their official website, where you can also buy their cd (you should!). I bet you these guys will be around for quite some time!

sweet reunions!

I was on pilgrimage almost 12 years ago, in april '96. besides my brother, I only remember hanging out with one other person during that time. and back then there weren't really all these opportunities to keep in contact with people, but somehow we managed to stay in touch on and off, first through random e-mails here and there, later on through msn and eventually facebook. and now, he came here on a 3-day visit (as his wife was on pilgrimage), and we managed to meet up:


to his great surprise (and mine too actually), I had even kept the pieces of paper that he wrote down his name, e-mail and website address on. after almost 12 years, they were still intact and whole! (of course I knew he was going to come here when I was here, hence why I brought it with me.) cool stuff, so I gave them to him to remember :)

who knows, maybe we'll meet up again in 10-12 years on pilgrimage, maybe with small kids running around?

and then I also had the joy of seeing my cousin from australia, together with his wife and kids. haven't seen them since my visit there in 2002, and the kids have really grown since then - barely recognized them!


hopefully I can go down under sometime soon, really miss everyone there! would be a great vacation :)

check the album for more shots of people.

more Shrine shots

I put up some more shots of and around the Shrine. here's my favorite from this round:


the album is also updated. enjoy!

I seem to have an eating disorder

this is the second time I've spilled food on myself. luckily it seems to coincide with wednesdays, which is when I do my laundry. swift change of clothes, and we're back to normal :)

me, me, me, me!

I had this post previously about the borna virus/disease in march last year. I'm going to try and keep an annual update about borna on wikipedia, to see what happens. here's today's results:

Borna, a town in Saxony, Germany - maybe I should go visit myself? :)

A part of Bahretal in the Sächsische Schweiz district, Saxony, Germany - has apparently changed owners quite a lot...

Borna disease, an infection neurological of warm-blooded animals caused by the Borna virus

Borna Bartolović, a Croatian breakdancer - this article is empty right now

Borna of Croatia, a Medieval Slavic Prince of Dalmatia - wow!

A Persian word meaning "young." Can also be used as a name. - yupps, that's me

let's see how this evolves over the years!

up, and down!

so I went up to the top of the terraces last night, planning on watching fireworks and hanging out with people there. well, there were people, but not so much fireworks. met up with my swedish friends, and we decided to walk all the way down to the bottom. it was quite wonderful I must say, being on the terraces right at the stroke of midnight. here's one of my absolute favorite shots:

(album here)

it's quite a different new year's from other times, very special. and there's no other place I'd rather be.