Alaeddin's Blog

Push away annoying buttons and dialogs

2007-12-31T07:50:41Z

This tip is part of an automation series I’m running to showcase 24 of my most useful computer automation tips.

I want you to stop for a second and think about this: when you boot your computer, how many windows do you have to push away until you can get a clean desktop to start working with?

How about this: do you remember the last time you were working on a task and some stupid window popped up asking for some kind of confirmation? Do you get this window often? Don’t you wish the computer was smart enough to remember your choice and not display it over and over again?

If you resonate with any of the above, then today’s automation tip will fit you just perfectly.

Automation tip #3: Push away annoying buttons and dialogs with Push The Freaking Button
Level: Intermediate
Approximate time saving: 2 – 10 seconds per window or dialog
Tools required: Push the Freakin Button (PTFB)

Setup

Download and install PTFB (works on all versions of Windows)
For this example, I will use an annoying log in window from Gmail Notifier which pops up every time the application starts even though it remembers all my login credentials! Here is a screen shot:
You won’t believe how easy it is to get rid of this window once and for all! After installing PTFB, find the big button on the upper left which says Single Press:
Now simply click on the that pesky OK button in the Gmail Notifier dialog.
PTFB now added a record for this window and will auto-click this window for you after 1 second (by default).
To test it, leave the Gmail Notifier window open. Click on Start Watching in PTFB. Viola, that login screen’s gone! (come on, you have to admit that was pretty cool. Somebody’s clicking away things for you!)

Tips

If 1 second (the default time it takes PTFB to click away the window for you) is too long, you can reduce it. Simply select the line matching the Gmail Notifier target in the PTFB, and click on Edit. Now select Triggers tab:

Side Notes

So okey you caught me, I’m still running a trial version of PTFB. It costs $30 to get the full version. For me, I’ve seen enough value from this software to convince me it’s worth the money. For everybody else, the 30-days trial period should give you a pretty good idea whether it really makes your life easier (hint: the more windows you have “targeted”, the more difference this software will make for you).

The quickest way ever to launch any application or website

2008-01-01T12:38:14Z

This tip is part of an automation series I’m running to showcase 24 of my most useful computer automation tips.

In the first post of this series, I’ve talked about how you can find and access any file in a split second using Google Desktop. While Google Desktop can also be used as an application launcher, it doesn’t do a very good job at that.

If you’re unfamiliar with what an application launcher is, here is a short description:

Application Launcher is a fancy term for a simple tool – a piece of software that stays in the background and, when you type a given key combination, gets up and helps you find the right application, file or action you want to execute. Instead of moving your mouse around, aiming and clicking at things, you just type a shortcut (usually Ctrl+Space), start typing the name of the program you want to execute and hit Enter. Simple and fast, and takes a tenth of the time you’d have needed to search the shortcut with your mouse.

Now if you’re wondering whether the title of this post is somewhat exaggerated, then let me break it down for you:

I did my homework: I’ve surveyed most of the popular Windows application launchers, including my all-time favorite one, ENSO. It turns out that the application launcher I’m presenting today requires by the far the least amount of keystrokes to do the job. Why? Simply because it doesn’t require you to type any shortcut (like the Ctrl+Space mentioned above) before you start typing the name of the application you want to launch. So let’s see how that’s possible.

Automation tip #2: Quickly launch your favorite applications and websites using Direct Access
Level: Intermediate
Approximate time saving: 8+ seconds per application or website
Tools required: Direct Access

Setup

Download and install Direct Access (works on Windows XP and Vista, requires .NET Framework 2.0)
The default application screen will look something like this:
For this example, I’m going to show you how to launch Internet Explorer. Assuming you’re running Windows Vista (this also works on XP), find Internet Explorer shortcut in the Start Menu. Right click on the shortcut and select: Add a New Abbreviation to Direct Access.
You will now get the Add New Command screen. Direct Access has already filled some of the details for you and all you have to do is type an abbreviation that sounds natural to you for the application you want to launch (in this case, Internet Explorer). I’ve chosen simply ‘ie‘. Click Save when done.

Usage

Once you’ve set up your abbreviation for any applicaiton you commonly use, you can type that abbreviation from anywhere, anytime (literally speaking!) to launch the application.Suppose you’re working on a Word document, and you had to Google something, the fastest way now to launch Internet Explorer is to simply type ‘ie’ in your Word document or wherever you are. Here is what you will get:
That red square is a little unobtrusive hint that says if you meant to launch Internet Explorer, then would you please just hit the Shift key. When you do that, Direct Access will remove the ‘ie’ abbreviation you typed and .. wait for it ..launch Internet Explorer :)

Tips

If you happen to choose one freakishly odd abbreviation that you wouldn’t normally type anywhere, you can launch your application even faster by telling Direct Access to ignore the confirmation pop up (that red square). To do that, simply uncheck Confirm in the Add New Command dialog (see the screen shot above). Now anytime you type that abbreviation, your application will automatically launch without bothering you to confirm with the Shift key (which by the way is configurable).
To add a command to launch your favorite website, copy the website address from the location bar in your browser and add it to Direct Access by clicking New Command > Open Website on the toolbar:

Paste the address of the website in the address field and type any abbreviation you would like to use for this website:

Click Save. That’s all. Now you can use type the word ‘face‘, as in the example above, anywhere and anytime followed by Shift to access Facebook.
By now, you’ve probably seen something new in your desktop: an orange ball setting on the bottom right:

Play with this ball for a while. Try right clicking on it and see what options you get (hint: anything you drag to this magic ball can be magically turned into a wicked command!)

Side Notes

The power of Direct Access doesn’t stop here. As a matter of fact, I’ll be using it to demonstrate another automation tip in the coming days. So stay tuned!
There’s a hefty price tag on Direct Access: $40. Yeah I know, too much! But hey, I’ve found this piece of software so useful that it made sense to invest that amount of money in something that would save me cumulatively hours of clicking labor. Incidentally, Direct Access goes as far as calculating really how much time it has saved you so far!

Find and access any file in a split second

2007-12-29T09:35:13Z

This tip is part of an automation series I’m running to showcase 24 of my most useful computer automation tips.How long on average do you spend finding a particular file or a document? What if you don’t remember the location where you placed this file? How long will it take you then?

No one really measures these kinds of things, but you’d be surprised to learn that I’ve personally watched countless people (including my mom) navigate mazes of complex folder hierarchy to get to some file or a document they’ve been working on. Worst yet, some of my very own coworkers still manage to use this old-school way of accessing files. And for the record, I work in a software development house. Imagine my frustration when I ask someone I’m working with to find me a file or an e-mail in their archive and they spend the next 10 minutes or so going through their folder mess, most of the time giving up at the end and asking me: “do you really need it?”.

So I decided enough is enough. Hey everybody, there’s a much much … much faster way to find and access any kind of file in your entire hard drive in a split second, even if you don’t recall the name of the file! Stop for a second and take a wild guess what that is. (Hint: it’s not this stupid dog)

Automation tip #1: Use Google Desktop to find and access any file in a split second
Level: Beginner
Approximate time saving: 5 seconds – 1+ minute
Tools required: Google Desktop

Setup

Download and install Google Desktop (recommended for Windows XP, Vista, Mac and Linux)
Allow up to 2 hours of idle time (first use only) for Google Desktop to scan and index your entire hard drive in the background.

Usage

My preferred method is to double tap the Ctrl key (in Windows) to bring up the big rounded search box from anywhere.
Start typing either the file name or a word from its content. As you type, the most relevant search results are listed below.
If the file you’re looking for is listed, navigate to it with the arrow keys and press Enter to launch it.
Otherwise, select the first choice in the menu (Search Desktop for your search term). This will be bring up a complete list of all file matches.

Tips

For more advanced search (like if you remember the date you created the file as opposed to its name), follow step 4 above and click on ‘Advanced Search‘
Google Desktop also integrates into Microsoft Outlook and searches your entire e-mail archive, so you can just as easily find an e-mail in a split second.
If you’re part of a home or office network, you can just as well search shared folders with the same speed. Just go to Google Desktop Preferences and add the address of those shared folders to the list of scanned folders
Geeks only: Google Desktop has some cool advanced search operators for more granular searching results. Click here to learn how to master Google Desktop.

Side Notes

If you’re using Vista, rest assured Google Desktop works way faster and is more usable than Vista’s built-in search indexing feature. Trust me, I’ve tested it myself. I strongly suggest you disable Vista’s built-in search indexing feature and use Google Desktop instead.

24 ways to automate your digital life

2007-12-31T07:43:48Z

Ever since my post about my secret to productivity (automation), I’ve been meaning to compile and present the complete list of all my automation tools and tricks. In that post, I’ve mentioned briefly some of the things that I automate in my desktop and browser.

This time around, to celebrate the relaunch of the blog, I’m starting a 24-day post series (the biggest I’ve ever embarked upon) with 24 ways you can use to automate your digital life.

With “digital life”, I mean your daily interaction with your PC, including the desktop operating system and the browser. So essentially the tips in this post series are categorized as either Windows- or Web-related. It’d be interesting to see how many of the Windows-related tips can be applied to the Mac. However, all Web-related tips should be relevant to anybody using any popular operating system.

Every one of these automation tips is explained in dead simple terms with a step-by-step procedure for implementing it. Non-tech savvies as well as geeks should find this material useful and come out with at least one or two automation tricks under their belts.

So what do I mean by automation and what’s in it for you?

What’s automation?

In this context,

automation is the process of letting your computer take care of things you usually bother with on a regular basis.

That’s about as simple as a made-up definition can be :) Of course, feel free to read the more nerdy one.

To reiterate on my previous post:

By automation, I mean putting an end to manually doing those nasty repetitive tasks that kill your productivity by wasting your time and sucking up your energy.

What’s in it for me?

I live by a rule that says if something I do on my computer occasionally or frequently can be streamlined or completely automated, then that’s the way it’s has to be done. There are many advantages to this rule, including:

Not feeling like a donkey doing repetitive donkey work. We’re humans and we’re capable of so much creative thinking. How about we leave the “donkey” tasks to the computers and we focus on more important things?
Reducing your mental and information overload. In this hectic digital age, having so much to do on your mind inevitably boosts your stress level. Automation can help you forget about things computers can take care of so you can check one more thing off your to do list.
Reducing your overall daily interactions with computers. I used to be the opposite, but now I believe that life’s too short to spend it in front of a speechless monitor. When you look back at your younger years, it will seem like it’s gone by in a blast when you only get to interact most your day with a piece of equipment. Don’t trade your life for tech.

What can I automate?

The possibilities are endless. Various tasks can be completely or partially automated. It’s just a matter of spotting those tasks and knowing which tools to use to help you with them.

In fact, that’s what I’m here for! Let me give you a rundown of all of the automation tips I’m going to share with you over the next 24 blog posts:

Windows-related:

Locate files faster
Push annoying buttons and dialogs
Launch applications faster
Backup important files
Maintain and clean up your PC
Check for updated version of installed software
Change computer settings in different networks
Watch your favorite TV shows
Synchronize your music collection
Avoid typing common phrases
Resize multiple images at once
Reduce your clicking in half

Web-related:

Keep up with news and web sites
Simply scroll instead of repeatedly clicking ’Next’
Fill out entire forms automatically
Comment and follow up on a post’s comments
Synchronize your bookmarks
Delete unwanted recurring e-mail messages
Auto-login to websites
Post links to multiple social news sites
Browse photos on Flickr faster
Save and share Office documents online
Set text size and encoding once for any given site
Generate random, disposable e-mail address for registration on annoying sites

Stay tuned!

You can bookmark this post, as each point will be updated with a link pointing to the detailed instruction post. As an alternative, you can subscribe to this blog to get all those cool automation tips delivered to your e-mail or feed reader.

25: a year in review

2007-12-02T13:03:07Z

It’s that time of the year again. In fact, today marks a special milestone for me: I’m finally turning 25, that is, two and half decades!

It’s become a tradition here on the blog for me to write a “reflection” post on the year that’s passed by. I always start wondering how fast the year has passed by, and this one is no different. Well, except that 2007, the year I turned 25, has ended on a high note. It was such a dramatic year. However, if I were to make a theme for 2007, it would be this:

2007 is the year I stopped looking at the world in black and white, and starting seeing the different shades of gray within.

More on this later. For now, here’s a brief outline for the rest of this post:

Good things happen at last
The different shades of gray
Major accomplishments
2008: the crystallizing year

Good things happen at last

I mentioned earlier that this year ended on a high note. If you’re wondering what that is, I got some great news: I got an offer for a position that’s a major step up for me!

It just happened last week. For the past few months, I’ve been on the road again hunting for a job that will offer me more challenges than I’m already used to in my current company. The plan was to find one by the end of the year by the time my contract ends. When hope was almost lost and I was prepping myself emotionally for another year here, along came an IT startup that has a solid vision and a plan to revolutionize how IT solution services are delivered in this country. The CEO did a pretty good job at pitching his vision and plan for me and I was drawn by his enthusiastic attitude and the promise for a tremendous experience working with the latest Microsoft technologies.

The best part of it is, it’s a managerial position that’d give me a chance to practice all of what I’ve been preaching on about proper management tactics and ethics. And since it’s a startup, there’s also an overlap of responsibilities that will expose me to numerous challenges in development and analysis along the way. Finally, it pays much better than my current salary. What more could I ask for?

Getting this job has taught me few lessons:

Network still rules when it comes to job hunting. Even though I kept track of at least 4 sites on a daily basis and submitted countless applications, the job I got simply came from a close friend of mine who just happened to know one of the cofounders. Job networking can never be overrated!
Enjoy what you’ve got (but always look up). There came a time when I really wanted to quit my current job, even if it meant unemployment. I learned later by talking to my close friend Basheer that given my current circumstances, it’d much wiser to stick with what I have, try to make the best of it and see the positive in it. Meanwhile, I could be looking for next best thing and hope that I land a decent job in the near future, which I did (yay!).
Believe in yourself. The position I was offered requires much more responsibility and dedication. For the average Joe, this can be overwhelming. But thanks to a recent training course I took in building self-confidence, I wasn’t so much reluctant to take on the new challenge as I was excited to be trusted enough to play this role. I firmly believe I will do a decent job at it because I’ve got what it takes.

Anyways, I’m starting this new job on the first day of next year. A fresh start for a new life.

The different shades of gray

Stepping away from my career life for a second, I’d like to share with you an important “discovery” I made in my personal life front. I don’t know when it happened or what caused it, but I’ve started seeing the shades of gray that lie between the things that I love the most and things that I utterly hate.

What does this mean?

Well for starters by “things” I mean everything in life including people that surround me and experiences that happen to me.

In terms of people, I used to judge them on a binary scale: I either love this person, or I can’t stand to be near that person. Of course, since not everybody’s like me, this has driven more and more people away from me. Out of my firm belief that when you’re gone you’re not as much remembered by the work you’ve done than by the lives you’ve affected, I made a conscious decision to a make an effort to be around the people which I sometimes despise.

I decided to see the good in everyone, to focus on the positives and as much as possible put up with the things that piss me off. I also made a list of things I need to improve in order to build better and lasting relationships with people around me. This list so far includes:

Greet everyone I know with an eye contact and a smile
Call friends and relatives on regular basis (I’m so bad at this!)
Don’t interrupt someone or put down their ideas

Now as far as seeing the shades of gray in the experiences I go through in life, I’ve learned that nothing can be perfect. I’m going to change my perfectionism lifestyle. If I’m looking for that perfect job at that perfect company, for instance, that’s just not going to happen. There’s always a compromise, and when you choose to compromise you’re making a decision to see the positive in what you’ve got and make the best of it while it lasts.

A good example of this type of thinking comes from the CEO of my new company. During my first interview which happened last week, we got sidetracked into talking about meetings and their horror stories. He said to me:

If I go to attend any meeting, I need to know there’s a need for me, an agenda that we’re going through, and a list of actionable tasks that result from the meeting. If some or none of those things are there, I’m usually pretty pissed. However, I still try to convince myself that the meeting is worthwhile. If for nothing, it’s at least good for strengthening my relationship with my fellow colleagues.

This kind of thinking focuses on seeing the positive in every experience. Essentially, that’s like seeing the shades of gray, or the positive things, between a “black” or “white” life experience.

Major accomplishments

From a career perspective, probably the most notable achievement this year is pursuing my newfound passion for the science of usability (more broadly known as Human-Computer Interaction) which culminated in traveling to India for a two weeks training in this field. It was such a wonderful experience. When I came back, I had the chance to prep myself for the certification exam which I successfully passed in September 13th. It was a mission well planned and executed from start to end. But it doesn’t end here, I’m just getting started on this road.

From a personal perspective, I’d say that keeping a healthy relationship with my family and friends all throughout the year is definitely an unprecedented achievement for me. I’ve learned to treat every relationship like a plant which needs watering every now and then to keep it healthy and alive. Do you remember my post about using Facebook for the purpose of strengthening our relationships with the people who we care about? This is where that came from.

2008: the crystallizing year

In my rearview mirror
My life is getting clearer
I finally found my way
Said goodbye to yesterday

I love these lines from Bon Jovi’s song, Lost Highway. They accurately represent the transition I’m going through in life as I move along and learn to be a better person each step along the way.

2008 will be the year I make the full transition to adulthood. For the past several years since I graduated from college, I’ve been learning that some of my characteristics I carried over from college are not appreciated by society. Take for example my ignorance of responsibility and deferring it to someone else or some other time. I must start to take on more responsibility if I’m ever going to start a family someday.

Speaking of family, my goal for 2008 is to meet and get to know my future wife. I know she’s out there somewhere writing a similar post. If you ever get to read this, my future wife, please use my contact form to send me your “resume”. (Damn, all that job hunting has gotten to me!)

Conclusion

Every year I dedicate a song I love to summarize the year to come. Last year it was Better Days by Goo Goo Dolls. I was looking for better days and a better life. And now that I found what will get me there, Switchfoot’s inspirational song This Is Your Life comes to mind. Enjoy!

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yesterday is a wrinkle on your forehead
yesterday is a promise that you’ve broken
don’t close your eyes, don’t close your eyes
this is your life and today is all you’ve got now
yeah, and today is all you’ll ever have
don’t close your eyes
don’t close your eyes
this is your life, are you who you want to be
this is your life, are you who you want to be
this is your life, is it everything you dreamed that it would be
when the world was younger and you had everything to lose
yesterday is a kid in the corner
yesterday is dead and over
this is your life, are you who you want to be
this is your life, are you who you want to be
this is your life, is it everything you dreamed that it would be
when the world was younger and you had everything to lose
don’t close your eyes
don’t close your eyes
don’t close your eyes
don’t close your eyes
this is your life are you who you want to be
this is your life are you who you want to be
this is your life, are you who you want to be
this is your life, are you who you want to be
this is your life, is it everything you dreamed it would be
when the world was younger and you had everything to lose
and you had everything to lose

Download: Switchfoot – This Is Your Life.mp3

Maroon 5 – Wake Up Call

2007-11-16T13:16:49Z

Since getting hooked on their popular single, She Will Be Loved, from their debut album, I’ve been kind of a fan of some of Maroon5’s work ever since. Even though I don’t necessarily agree with how far they take their songs with explicit lyrics and musical videos, I’m simply a fan of their soulful pop-rock sound and lead singer Adam Levine’s unique vocal abilities.

Wake Up A Call is the second single from their follow up second album, It Won’t Be Soon Before Long, which details the response to catching one’s lover with another and the accompanying lack of remorse for actions taken. In the song’s video, designed as a film trailer, Maroon 5 lead singer Adam Levine pays for his murderous response.

Even though the insistent, pounding, keyboard-centered soul-rock approach of the music fits the lyrical intensity of the song well, the question I’m left with is whether Wake Up Call unnecessarily glorifies the violent content of both song and video.

In any case, the song’s still so catchy it gets in your head the first time you hear it!

Listen

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Download

Download: Maroon 5 – Wake Up Call.mp3

Lyrics

I didn’t hear what you were saying
I live on raw emotion baby
I answer questions never maybe
And I’m not kind if you betray me
So who the hell are you to say we
Never would have made it babe

If you needed love, well then ask for love
Could have given love, now I’m taking love
And it’s not my fault, cause you both deserve
What’s coming now, so don’t say a word

Wake up call
Caught you in the morning with another one in my bed
Don’t you care about me anymore
Don’t you care about me
I don’t think so

Six foot tall
Came without a warning, so I had to shoot him dead
He won’t come around here anymore
Come around here
I don’t think so

Would’ve bled to make you happy
You didn’t need to treat me that way
And now you beat me at my own game
And now I find you sleeping soundly
And you’re lovers screaming loudly
Hear a sound and hit the ground

If you needed love, well then ask for love
Could have given love, now I’m taking love
And it’s not my fault, cause you both deserve
What’s coming now, so don’t say a word

Wake up call
Caught you in the morning with another one in my bed
Don’t you care about me anymore
Don’t you care about me
I don’t think so

Six foot tall
Came without a warning, so I had to shoot him dead
He won’t come around here anymore
Come around here
I don’t feel so bad
I don’t feel so bad
I don’t feel so bad

I’m so sorry darling
Did I do the wrong thing
Oh what was I thinking
Is his heart still beating

Wake up call
Caught you in the morning with another one in my bed
Don’t you care about me anymore
Don’t you care about me
I don’t think so [Repeat]

Six foot tall
Came without a warning, so I had to shoot him dead
He won’t come around here anymore
Come around here
I don’t feel so bad

Other Recommended Songs

Maroon 5 – She Will Be Loved
Maroon 5 – This Love

Backstreet Boys – Downpour

2007-11-16T11:55:30Z

The Backstreet Boys are back with an undeniably strong album (Associated Content)

Pound for pound and song for song, Unbreakable may just be the best pop album of the year so far (SputnikMusic)

If you are looking for an album of pure pop pleasure, you can not do much better with current releases than Unbreakable (About.com)

The list goes on. Everybody’s talking how great BSB’s new sixth album, Unbreakable, is. BSB has never done such an exceptional job producing authentic music before. Ironically, it took the departure of former member, Kevin Richardson, on June 2006 for the band to reach this heightened level of surreal music production. I’m not saying he wasn’t an influence, I’m just saying the band’s just doing as good as (and even better than) ever!

So as you can tell, I had a hard time picking out a featured song. Should I have gone with the first single, Inconsolable, which received massive radio playback and which everybody by now have hard, or the less heard, bonus track, Downpour, which I simply fell in love with by the first listen. Well, I chose the latter. Hope you enjoy it :)

Listen

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Download

Download: Backstreet Boys – Downpour.mp3

Video

Lyrics

I been walking around
Inside a haze
Between the lines of reason
Hiding from the ghost
Of yesterday
Feels like I’m barely breathing

I-I wanna feel the rain again
I-I wanna feel the water on my skin<
And let it all just wash away
In a downpour
I wanna feel the rain
Na na na na
Feel the rain
Na na na na

I’ve been losin days
The shades pulled down
I still can’t face the sun

But I-I’m goin crazy
I can’t stay here
I’ve gone completely numb
I just wanna need someone

[Repeat Chorus]

Oh no
I thought you were the only one girl
But now I think I was wrong
Cause life goes on
Na na na na na…

I’ve been walking around inside a haze

Oh I…

In a downpour feel the rain
Feel the rain

I wanna feel the rain

Other Recommended Songs

Backstreet Boys – Inconsolable
Backstreet Boys – Something That I Already Know
Backstreet Boys – Any Other Way
Backstreet Boys – One In A Million
Backstreet Boys – Unmistakable
Backstreet Boys – Unsuspecting Sunday Afternoon

LeAnn Rimes – Doesn’t Everybody

2007-11-15T12:29:14Z

I’ve had an eye out for LeAnn’s work ever since being completely hooked by her fabulous single: I Need You. I completely fell in love with her strong vibrant voice which she is famous for. That’s why I’ve been waiting to check out her latest 2007 album, Family, for a while now.

Now that I’ve got a copy of the album, I can safely say it falls nothing short of the high expectations placed on this country music singer and Grammy Award winner. For the first time, LeAnn wrote or co-wrote every song on the album. While the album is incredibly personal, LeAnn managed to create music that is incredibly universal.

Doesn’t Everybody is the song I’ve picked to showcase her latest record. In addition to the catchy upbeat rhythm, it does pack a very powerful message in simple words, which is no matter what course of life we choose to pursue, the bottom line is that somehow or another we’re looking for to be loved and cherished. I think if you think about it, that’s what it always boils down to, no matter how high or low life takes us.

Listen

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Download

Download: LeAnn Rimes – Doesn’t Everybody.mp3

Lyrics

You may have a tabloid life
Pay for all your friends
You may be a suburban wife
With your white picket fence
You may be a suit and tie
Paying off your high rise rent

When it all comes down
When it all comes down, baby
When it all comes down to it
Doesn’t everybody want the same thing
To be loved
Doesn’t everybody want the same thing
Why isn’t that enough
Doesn’t everybody want the same thing

You may be a night shift waitress
To send your kid through school
You may be a stubborn doctor
Pushing for the cure
You may be a bitter divorce
Wondering what he saw in her

When it all comes down
When it all comes down, baby
When it all comes down to it
Doesn’t everybody want the same thing
To be loved
Doesn’t everybody want the same thing
Why isn’t that enough
Doesn’t everybody want the same thing

When it all comes down
When it all comes down
When it all comes down to it
Doesn’t everybody want the same thing
To be loved
Doesn’t everybody want the same thing
Why isn’t that enough
Doesn’t everybody want the same thing
To be loved
Doesn’t everybody want the same thing
Why isn’t that enough
doesn’t everybody want the same thing
Doesn’t everybody want the same thing
Doesn’t everybody
Doesn’t everybody

We all want the same thing

Other Recommended Songs

LeAnn Rimes – I Need You
LeAnn Rimes – Pretty Things
LeAnn Rimes – What I Cannot Change
LeAnn Rimes – ‘Til We’re Not Strangers Anymore
LeAnn Rimes – Cant Fight The Moonlight
LeAnn Rimes – One Of These Days
LeAnn Rimes – How Do I Breathe Without You

Bon Jovi – Lost Highway

2007-11-09T21:18:55Z

How does one do Bon Jovi a justifiable review in one post? That’s what I started asking myself when I got to writing this post, where I’m bringing you the first single from Bon Jovi’s 10 studio album, Lost Highway.

The good thing about Bon Jovi though is that you don’t need to introduce him to anyone, since they’re most likely been to one of his 2500 concerts in over 50 countries world-wide, bought one of his 10 studio albums which sold 125 million copies all around the world, or simply heard one of his hit singles being played on radio. So let’s skip the introductions and get right down to it.

Lost Highway is album with a haunting set of 12 new and original sounding songs, is a stunning, multi-layered look into the nature of love and life in all its glory. It focuses on the light that love brings. The first single on this album, Lost Highway, is spectacular song to say the least, both in terms of meaning and melody.

In my rearview mirror
My life is getting clearer

I finally found my way
Said goodbye to yesterday

I’m turning 25 in a month, and I couldn’t possibly find better words to describe my life so far than these simple meaningful words. I’ve done a lot of growing up since my college graduation and I still have a lot more to do, but the amount of change that I’ve gone through seems gigantic in retrospect.

Don’t know where I’m going
But I know where I’ve been
I’m afraid of going back again
So I drive (drive drive)

I do know where I’m going, or at least what I want from life. But I don’t know what life has in store for me. Nobody does. So we just go about "driving" this "lost highway" and hope we get to that nice little town we’ve always dreamed of living in.

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Video

Lyrics

In my rearview mirror
My life is getting clearer
The sunset sighs and slowly disappears
These trinkets once were treasure
Life changes like the weather
You grow up, grow old, or you hit the road ’round here
So I drive (drive drive)
Watching white lines passing by
My plastic dashboard Jesus
Waiting there to greet us

Hey Hey
I finally found my way
Said goodbye to yesterday
Hit the gas, there ain’t no brakes on this lost highway
Yeah, I’m busting loose, I’m lettin go
Out on this open road
It’s independence day on this lost highway
Hey hey, hey hey

Don’t know where I’m going
But I know where I’ve been
I’m afraid of going back again
So I drive (drive drive)
Years and miles are flying by
And waiting there to greet us
Is my plastic dashboard Jesus

Hey Hey
Hey Hey I finally found my way
Said goodbye to yesterday
Hit the gas, there ain’t no brakes on this lost highway
Hell, I’m busting loose, I’m lettin go
Out on this open road
It’s independence day on this lost highway
Hey hey
hey, hey

Oh patron saint of lonely souls
Tell this boy which way to go
Guide the car, you’ve got the keys
Farewell to mediocrity
Kicking off the cruise control
And turning up the radio
Got just enough religion
And a half a tank of gas
Come on
Let’s go

I finally found my way
Said goodbye to yesterday
Hit the gas, there ain’t no brakes on this lost highway
I’m busting loose, I’m lettin go
When I’m out on this open road
It’s independence day on this lost highway
Hey hey

Other Recommended Songs

Bon Jovi – (You Want To) Make A Memory
Bon Jovi – Whole Lot Of Leaving
Bon Jovi – We Got It Going On
Bon Jovi – Any Other Day
Bon Jovi – Everybody’s Broken
Bon Jovi – Til We Ain’t Strangers Anymore
Bon Jovi – One Step Closer
Bon Jovi – Its My Life

Bruce Springsteen – You’ll Be Comin’ Down

2007-11-09T16:52:35Z

It’s been quite some time since my last music post, so I thought I’d liven up things over the next couple of weeks with exclusive recommended top hits from the top albums in 2007.

First up on my list, the one and mighty Bruce Springsteen with a hit song from his latest 2007 album, You’ll Be Comin’ Down. To be fair, I said "one" and "mighty" even I haven’t really followed Bruce’s music in the past or even knew of his wide open popularity in the U.S and around the globe. But I came across this album called Magic one day and since I heard his name a lot, I thought I’d give it a try.

Bruce is clearly an established icon in the music community. Thirty-five years as a justifiable rock musician affords Bruce Springsteen incredible number of fans and followers all around the world, and for a good reason.

His music is a cross between rock and heartland rock. What’s heartland rock? Well it’s that kind of rock music that is "characterized by a straightforward musical style, a concern with the average, blue collar American life, and a conviction that rock music has a social or communal purpose beyond just entertainment". In short, it’s a rock music with a purpose. Hmm, I like that!

You’ll Be Comin’ Down is a mid-tempo, head-bopping number with a nice, little sax break swooping in near the end. In this song, Bruce alludes to the young starlets who seem to always be in the news for all the wrong reasons.

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Download: Bruce Springsteen – You’ll Be Comin’ Down.mp3

Lyrics

White roses and misty blue eyes
Red mornings and nothing but grey skies
A cup of coffee, your heart shot clean through
Jacket you bought me gone daisy grey-blue
You’re smilin’ now but you’ll find out
They’ll use you up and spit you out now
Your head’s spinnin’ in diamonds and clouds
But pretty soon it turns out

You’ll be comin’ down now baby
You’ll be comin’ down
What goes around it comes around and
You’ll be comin’ down

Easy street and quick buck and true lies
Smile’s as sad as those dusky blue skies
A silver plate of pearls my golden child
It’s all yours at least for a little while
You’ll be fine long as your pretty face holds out
Then it’s gonna get pretty cold out
Endless streams of stars shootin’ by
You got your hopes on high

You’ll be comin’ down now baby
You’ll be comin’ down
What goes around it comes around and
You’ll be comin’ down
For a while you’ll go sparkling by
Just another pretty thing on high

[Sax solo]

Like a thief on a Sunday morning
It all falls apart with no warning
Satin sky’s gone candy-apple green
The crushed metal of your little fine machine

You’ll be comin’ down now baby
You’ll be comin’ down
What goes around it comes around and
You’ll be comin’ down

You’ll be comin’ down now baby
You’ll be comin’ down
What goes around it comes around and
You’ll be comin’ down

Other Recommended Songs

Bruce Springsteen – Magic
Bruce Springsteen – Secret Garden

How to be an Accomplished Perfectionist

2007-11-09T13:35:13Z

In in my last post about perfectionism, I’ve ended up posing a question: what makes an accomplished perfectionist? In other words, how does one balance the act of accomplishment with a strive for perfection? It’s a pretty thin line if you ask me, and in this post, I’m going to shed light on some of the techniques you can use to achieve that.

Accomplished perfectionism is the fusion of two separate genes: those that empower a person to get things done as quickly and efficiently as possible, and those that compels him or her to do their best possible job on these things.

To illustrate, take a look at the following phrases which are more likely to be said or thought by a carrier of each of these two genes:

Aspect	Perfectionist	Accomplished
General thinking	"All or nothing"	"Best I can get"
Evaluation	"I can’t see beyond these little imperfections"	"This is perfect enough. What’s next?"
Standards	"I have to aim very high"	"I’ll do my best at what’s possible"
Results	"I’m so paranoid about getting it just right"	"Let’s have fun doing what we do best"
Reaching goals	"No use. I couldn’t do it the way it had to be done"	"It’s not what I wanted. But that’s alright. I’ll improve it and do better next time"
Failure	"Failure is not an option!"	"I’ll manage to do my best and learn if I fail"
Criticism	"I don’t think you know what you’re talking about"	"Thanks for your constructive criticism. I’ll see what I can do"
Lifestyle	"I’m not good enough. I know it. Life sucks"	"It’s amazing how far I’ve come. What’s the next step?"

Being a perfectionist myself, I totally resonate with the phrases said or thought in the Perfectionist column. That’s why I set out to research practical ways to help me make the transition to be a high achiever while maintaining an adequate sense of perfectionism. I’ve found many resources on this subject, so I thought I’d do myself and my readers a favor by compiling all findings in a comprehensible format which can be quickly learned and adopted to create the best possible mutation of these two genes.

Personal Attitudes

Change starts from within. If you really want to lose your neurotic perfectionism and embrace a more healthy one, then there are few things you need to change on the inside. Elizabeth Scott has set of great tips on how to tackle your inner change:

See the Positive. If you’re struggling with perfectionism, you probably have honed the skill of spotting mistakes in even the best works of others and of yourself. You may just naturally look for it, and notice it above all other things. While this habit may be difficult to just stop, you can soften your tendency to notice the bad by making a conscious effort to notice all that is good with your work and the achievements of others. If you notice something you don’t like about yourself or your work, for example, look for five other qualities that you do like. This will balance out your critical focus and become a positive new habit.

Work Habits

The next things you need to work on are your everyday working habits. Whether you work as a freelancer or at large multi-national cooperation, you need to consider implementing the following changes in order to accomplish more and be happy about it:

Do no more than what is necessary. It couldn’t get simpler than that. But since that’s easier said than done, Donald Latumahina at Lifehack has few more tips regarding this:
1. Set a clear expected output.
2. Write down the expected output in a prominent place.
3. Realign yourself with the expected output every now and then.
4. Stop when you already get the expected output.
Work with inverted pyramid structure. This is actually a very useful tip if you think about it. The idea is to do the subtasks from the most important down to the least important.
Set a deadline. By setting a deadline, you are forced to prioritize the things you are doing. This way, if the time is up you can still deliver the best possible output.
Maintain focus on completion, because that’s what matters. At the end of the day, people who master the art of the finish will be recognized, no matter how relatively imperfect their jobs were.

Conclusion

I hope during the course of this and my previous post, I’ve given all of you perfectionists out there a reason to rethink your strategy towards work and life and making appropriate changes that will ultimate lead to a happier and more peaceful life.

I’d like to end this post by sharing a fabulous quote from Stephen Manes’s book: Be a Perfect Person in Just Three Days:

Congratulations! You’re not perfect! It’s ridiculous to want to be perfect anyway. But then, everybody’s ridiculous sometimes, except perfect people. You know what perfect is? Perfect is not eating or drinking or talking or moving a muscle or making even the teensiest mistake. Perfect is never doing anything wrong – which means never doing anything at all. Perfect is boring! So you’re not perfect! Wonderful! Have fun! Eat things that give you bad breath! Trip over your own shoelaces! Laugh! Let somebody else laugh at you! Perfect people never do any of those things. All they do is sit around and sip weak tea and think about how perfect they are. But they’re really not one-hundred-percent perfect anyway. You should see them when they get the hiccups! Phooey! Who needs ‘em? You can drink pickle juice and imitate gorillas and do silly dances and sing stupid songs and wear funny hats and be as imperfect as you please and still be a good person. Good people are hard to find nowadays. And they’re a lot more fun than perfect people any day of the week.

Perfectionism

2007-10-26T15:08:24Z

Are you a perfectionist? You know, are you the type of person who seeks completeness and flawlessness in every project and every single task you do? Do you obsess about the smallest of details, often times to the point of exhaustion? And does that often lead you to miss important deadlines, because “good” is simply just not “good enough”, at least for you?

If you’re anything like me, then you’ll resonate with symptoms of what’s called perfectionism. Being a perfectionist at work and college is something I’ve been very proud of, despite not being fully aware of it. Everybody I came to deal with including my boss and colleagues was impressed by the level of sophistication and professionalism I’d go about completing my tasks.

This, of course, also had its toll on me most of time. Long working hours in the office (by choice) trying to get that deliverable up to my standards and still meeting that deadline was the norm for me.

Then a couple of days ago I came across an article that was like a revelation. It made me realize that now I’m at this point in my career life where I have to make serious changes to my work habits if I want to be an accomplished person. This post is me trying to analyze that change and hopefully helping fellow perfectionists along the way.

I’m pretty sure you are probably wondering now: why is being a perfectionist something you would want to change? How does it ruin one’s professional life? Doesn’t it make you, I don’t know.. better than the others?

If you think about it (or have experienced it yourself) then you’d probably agree with me on this: perfectionism can get in the way of accomplishment. Well, at least a certain kind of perfectionism.

Neurotic perfectionism

In this life, there’s always the good and the bad, and when something good turn into a bad one, it’s because someone’s abused it.

Perfectionism works along the same lines. When abused, it turns into neurotic perfectionism. You’d know that kind when you notice:

a constant need for approval from others.
standards too high to achieve.
endless anxiety about making mistakes with no way to cope.
no role models of others who handle failures or successes well.
your coworker’s office looking like this:

A common mistake people make is to associate any kind of perfectionism with neurotic perfectionism. As you’ll see later on, there’s a healthy kind of perfectionism that I think we all should strive to embody.

Does the world need perfectionists or achievers?

Think about this: which one of the following two (hypothetical) people is more likely to get hired in, say, a high-profile fortune 500 company:

Niddeala is a college graduate, experienced .NET developer who has very professional attitude and delivers professional results. He is, to a certain degree, obsessed about maintaining the quality of work he’s known for, and thus spends an awful lot of time perfecting his job. His end-results are fabulous and quite often superior to his colleagues’.
Reehsab is a college graduate, experienced .NET developer who has worked with several companies on various .NET-based projects, including ERP and stock charting. He has a track record of successfully completed projects which he’s proud of and uses as his main selling point during interviews. However, he lacks dedication for creating quality results (in programming terms, for instance, that means the last thing he worries about are code comments and documentation). He is simply happy to get the task done and start a new one, because let’s face, he will not withstand working on the same task for far too long.

Any experienced hiring manager should be able to spot the clear sign of difference in perfectionism during the interview. But which one would he pick? Surely that depends on many other factors, including the manager’s past experiences with perfectionists.

But let’s say the manager’s given a third choice. All of the sudden, a third person named Reedeala pops in. The manager, still not decided who to go with, gives this guy a shot at an interview. After all, his CV looks quite interesting.

Reedeala’s work speaks for itself. His 4 year experience working for 2 high-profile companies and helping them deliver .NET-based solutions to the market is impressive. He considers himself “a go-getter with attention to details”. His work is often praised for promptness and completeness. His previous managers speak well of his professional attitutde towards business.

As you can see, Reedeala carries the best qualities of Niddeala and Reehsab (hence his weird name).

So what am I getting at?

Perfectionist + Achiever = Every employer’s fantasy dream

No, not that kind of dream.

It just means: Reedeala’ is getting the job.

The reason is quite obvious, and it’s really the point I’d like to make in this post:

The world is now looking for the best people who can accomplish their jobs and still manage to deliver quality results. Those people are capable of spending just the right amount of time and energy on every task at hand in order to produce their best possible work in the shortest amount of time, or for meeting deadlines.

The world isn’t looking for perfectionists who abuse the time they’re given for each task trying to satisfy their desire for attention by worrying about smallest of irrelevant details and things that are just nice to have.

And just as much, the world isn’t looking for uninspired, unmotivated people who just want to get by.

The world is looking for.. accomplished perfectionists!

In the next post, we will dig deep to find out exactly what makes an accomplished perfectionist, which is the term I’m using to describe the person who gets the job done with a higher than ordinary level of perfectionism.

Conclusion

Back when I was in school, we were taught this little ditty: Good, better, best, never let it rest, ’till your good is better, and your better is best.

But my experiences so far have forced me to pose this question: is “the best” always better than “good” and “better”?

In other words, there’s a line that we always have to draw somewhere between excelling at our jobs and going over the line to becoming neurotic perfectionists.

See you next time!

Going through the motions: is productivity the key to accomplishment?

2007-10-25T16:52:05Z

I realized something a couple of days ago by reading an article that came as a sort of a wake-up call for me: being productive doesn’t necessarily make you an accomplished person!

I will elaborate on that so it makes little more sense to you:

There’s a common phrase I use quite often (especially at work) to describe the thing where you pretend to do something by acting as if you were really doing it, but never actually getting it done. It’s called going through the motions.

It amazes me how often we find ourselves inadvertently going through the motions of achieving things, doing everything we know we’re supposed or told to do, but eventually not reaching the finish line, or reaching it a bit too late.

I wasn’t aware of how guilty I am of this until I started my current job a couple of years ago and started to learn about the environment and work culture. Two years down the road, I’ve realized that what we actually do here at the company is far from trying to get projects done. We obsess very little about end results and a lot more about methodologies, frameworks, work policies, clearing our responsibilities and basically just getting the ball on to the other side.

Make no mistake, we do like to feel accomplished, and we’re actually getting paid to do so. But we’re lousy at that, and you know why? Because we think that by going through the motions of working on various projects, clearing many seemingly important tasks, being all productive and punctual, we’re bound to drive projects to the finish line. The only problem is, we usually don’t. Our projects carry on for years (I’m not exaggerating!). So what is it we’re doing wrong? Or to put it in a more general way:

How does going through the motions of accomplishing things not help us accomplish them?

Speaking for myself, I have always thought that by being productive, for instance, I should see flow of results and accomplishments. After all, I have just the right system, with just the right calendar technology, and to-do notebook, and task management philosophy. I can just turn the system on and watch it churn out what needs to be done.

What I didn’t realize though is that productivity is overrated. It’s not the goal but the means to an end. And so are all the other things that we do that don’t bring us that much closer to seeing our projects through.

It takes a really critical eye to spot those things, and it takes guts and bravery to decide that we’re no longer doing them, but instead focusing on more important things or tasks that are sure to drive our projects home.

What kind of things are considered as “going through the motions”?

I’ll give you few examples to make my point a little more concrete. I’ll draw from my own experiences at work or in my personal life, and I welcome you to share your own in the comments.

Productivity always leads to more accomplishment. “If you are productive without harboring this intense desire for completion, you will end up just being busy. We all know the feeling. You work all day off of your to-do list. Everything is organized. Everything is scheduled. Yet, still, months pass with no important projects getting accomplished.”
More time spent equals more accomplishment. I will never understand why so many companies go to great lengths to emphasize importance of being punctual and sticking with the shift schedule, most of the time at the expense of employees’ productivity.
In my opinion, one of the most important decisions any company must make is whether being punctual is more or less important than being productive. It’s unfair to expect employees to be strictly punctual and highly productive, especially if you’re making them work long hours.
Work policies. All those work policies that a company may (or may not) have in place to control its internal business operations do nothing but hinder employees performance most of the time. I’m talking about things like complex and intertwined organization hierarchy that forces employees to go through complex channels to achieve the simplest of tasks like making a purchase request, all in the name of “consolidating internal communication”.
The trick is to be constantly re-evaluating the company’s internal policies, paying close attention to feedback from actual employees and their supervisors, and making appropriate changes as fast as possible to help employees stay focused on accomplishing their jobs.

But despite what’s mentioned above, the road to really being accomplished starts with you knowing what makes an accomplished person or company.

Accomplished people are different “species”!

To quote the author of the article that inspired this post:

From my experience, the most common trait you will consistently observe in accomplished people is an obsession with completion. Once a project falls into their horizon, they crave, almost compulsively, to finish it. If they’re organized, this might happen in scheduled chunks. If they’re not — like many — this might happen in all-nighters. But they get it done. Fast and consistently.

It’s this constant stream of finishing that begins, over time, to unlock more and more interesting opportunities and eventually leads to their big scores.

I took liberty of highlighting certain keywords in the quote that, when put together, gives you the traits of this species:

obsession
completion
crave
compulsive
finish
organized
fast
consistent
big scores

What connects all of the above traits, which is also the point I’d like to make in this post, is the following observation:

To be an accomplished person, you have to see each and every task you do for a project in light of the expected project outcome. If it should contribute significantly to what you’re trying to accomplish, then go for it. Otherwise, skip it altogether or replace it with something more likely to get you there faster. Never go through the motions of accomplishing your project by performing needless or marginally significant tasks. Always crave to reach the finish line, or at least before that turtle does :)

A framework for being an accomplished person

In that inspirational post titled: The Art of the Finish: How to Go From Busy to Accomplished, guest writer Cal explains an overly simple framework for cultivating a passion and dedication for accomplishment.

I’ll be personally giving this framework a shot over the coming months. However, I may have a preference towards keeping the list described in the framework in a digital format using my PDA rather than plain paper, because I’m a fan of carrying less things around and making the most use of what I already have.

Conclusion

The truth is that being accomplished is hard work. It’s not pretty. If you really want join the elite group of accomplished people, then you have to be willing to put in whatever effort necessary to see the light at the end of the tunnel, whilst avoiding unnecessary diversions.

OK, enough serious talk. Time for some words fun.

I’ve told you how we use the phrase “going through the motions” a lot at work to vent off our frustration with the system. Well, we also came up with a whole list of abbreviations and derivative words for that: (dictionaries aside please)

Motion is a reference for the longer phrase (going through the motions).
Motionable refers to a task that (potentially) involves needless activities.
Motionization is how a whole bunch of needless activities fill the void left by removing the actually useful ones. Quite a mouthful, I know :)
Motionlessness is sort of a utopia where every task contributes directly to the accomplishment of our projects, and all those other pesky little insignificant tasks that suck up our energy are left in the dark for the rats to feed on (metaphorically).

Vanessa Carlton – Heroes & Thieves (Full Album)

2007-10-25T19:26:40Z

You know the kind of album that’s so good you listen to back to back without skipping a single song, the kind that only comes once or twice a year to remind you that such damn good music and lyrics aren’t long lost nowadays. Well folks, I’m really excited to bring you one today, courtesy of the fabulous Vanessa Carlton.

She’s an American pop singer, songwriter, and pianist best known for the single “A Thousand Miles” from her debut album, Be Not Nobody (2002). Since then, she’s been on and off with albums that achieved mild commercial success. Well, that’s until October 2007, when she released her third studio album, titled Heroes and Thieves. This is the album I’m bringing you today, and it’s the album I think you will simply fall in love with!

Heroes and Thieves sees Vanessa departing from the Goth-influenced darker stuff she was once loved for in her previous albums. Instead, she has now embraced a more romance-inspired, piano-driven mainstream classic pop that is simply brilliant. A lot of improvements are very apparent in this album. The lyrics are very connective and well-related to people of her generation, and she focuses mainly on just love songs instead of overrated “hater songs” we get so many these days.

My favorite song on the album is the second one, Hands On Me. A beautiful song with a catchy arrangement and heart-warming lyrics.

Another great song (actually it’s Vanessa’s favorite from the album) is called Home. A decent song that really captures the elusive meaning of really being “home”.

In the album’s title song, Heroes and Thieves, Vanessa says it’s a song about assessing, to put it in a dramatic way, the Heroes and Thieves in your life. It is about her personal evolution, and her deciding how she wants to lead her life and the people with whom she wants to share it.

A lot of more fabulous songs in this albums are just a click away, so go ahead and enjoy it. I highly recommend purchasing this album to show Vanessa how much you appreciate her efforts of putting together not just a collection of songs, but a body of work!

Download

It’s done: the blog is (re)launched!

2008-01-04T15:54:14Z

Welcome to the latest incarnation of Alaeddin’s Blog!

It’s been almost a week since I took the old site down and started working on it. Since this is a major redesign of the old version, taking it down was necessary to maintain consistency between my local and remote version, so I apologize for any inconvenience this might have caused.

This is a snapshot of the old version, which suffered from many problems:

I’ve worked hard on designing this new new version. I spent a couple of days picking out a nice-looking theme from the hundreds of available WordPress themes out there. Then I spent about a week tweaking the theme’s guts until I got something out of it that lives up to my standards and everything I’ve learned about blogging, SEO and web usability so far.

In short, I’ve focused on few key points when tweaking this theme:

Clear, simple and contextual navigation.
Separation of different topics since my blog is quite diverse in nature.
Bringing the content forth and make it easy to read and scan.
Increase the stickiness of the blog (see point 1) and make it easy to subscribe.
Increase the loading speed of the pages.

It’s really been a wonderful (although a bit tiring) experience to unleash the developer in me and let him work out some PHP, XHTML, and CSS magic. Of course, let’s not forget WordPress, the greatest open-source blogging platform ever made.

Having said that, I’m dying now to find out what you guys have to say about my new (vs. old) blog design. Don’t hesitate to be constructively critical, I’ve been known to be one so I naturally expect it from other people. It may also help to know this is still a work in progress so I’m not really emotionally attached to it (OK, maybe just a little bit).

Looking forward to your comments and feedback.

How to turn your Facebook obsession into something useful

2007-09-27T15:49:06Z

Facebook is a wonderful social network. I’d even go as far as saying it’s one of a kind. In less than 2 months, I’ve gone from being indifferent, to trying and hating it, to giving it a second shot and actually falling in love with it, until finally I became obsessed with it and started spreading the word about it in my social circles.

So given this newfound obsession with Facebook, how can we, if not cure it, find a way to make it worthwhile?

I had this simple idea a while ago which was: why not we actually use Facebook for what it was intended? That is, why not use Facebook to maintain and grow our relationships with the people we care about?

Instead of going on a mission to show off just how many “friends” we have added (if they’re indeed real-life friends), it’s much better to take advantage of the critical mass Facebook has achieved (i.e., the number of people we know who are on Facebook) by constantly staying in touch with them through various means and features available in Facebook.

As a matter of fact, I plan on doing just that. I have about 60 friends on my Facebook. Not much, right? I don’t care! As long as they’re all friends I care about (some being more than the others), I inted to use whatever resources Facebook gives me in order to keep a healthy and steady relationships with all of them, despite the distances that now set us apart and our busy lives.

If this sounds like something you would want to do, then let me share with you 3 effective ways you and I can use Facebook to do that:

1. Everyday, do at least 1 thing to someone in your friends list to let them know you’re thinking about them.

It can be a simple poke (which is a neat little way of saying hello, i have nothing to say but hi). Or you can go all the way and send a personal message to them asking about how they’ve been, what they’re up to, etc.

Between those two, there are countless other ways (e.g., Walls, Super Wall, Graffiti) to make touchpoints with a friend in Facebook. Just remember, the more time you dedicate for a gesture, the more it will be appreciated by your friend and the better your relationship will grow as a result of that.

2. Take advantage of special occasions

A thoughtful “virtual” balloons, cake or flowers with a simple message, sent on a friend’s birthday, can do wonders to your relationship. You can use the Free Gifts application as an alternative to Facebook’s pay-per-gif module (1 dollar for a virtual gift, you must be kidding me!). The right sidebar on the home screen in your Facebook shows a list of upcoming birthdays for your friends. Never miss those!

If you’re also aware of a happy or sad occasion a friend of yours is going through, then you can leverage those as well. I’ve found that people usually post their current state of affairs on their Facebook status message, or they do that using certain Facebook applications, like Moods.

Keeping in touch on special occasions is by far the most powerful means to strengthen any relationship. If relationships were like a video game, those will get you the most “points” (like running over an old lady with a tank few times in GTA).

3. Get to know your friends a bit more

Believe it or not, Facebook can tell you a whole lot about your friends you didn’t know about in direct contact. This of course assuming that:

You both have fairly completed and customized profiles.
You have added applications that describe your personality, such as Likeness, and invited others to add them too.

Though not necessarily filed under “keeping in touch”, those little activities we do together, like taking personality quizzes and stuff, keep us indirectly interacting with each other, which is great for keeping the momentum of our friendship alive and kicking.

But why not just get a life, a real one!

I felt like I have to clarify this: what I’m trying to do with Facebook isn’t meant to replace going out and meeting your friends in real life and having a good time. It’s just meant to complement it.

However, in cases where that isn’t possible any more, like when we are distance apart, then the role of Facebook becomes even stronger in helping us stay in touch all the time, almost to the point where distance fades away and it feels like the fire of our relationship is burning all over again.

Conclusion

I hope I’ve been able to get you to buy the idea of using Facebook primarily for keeping your existing relationships strong and going, instead of endlessly adding new, most of the time superficial, ones.

Though we may continue to be obsessed with using Facebook, we can at least tweak this obsession to be a means to end, which is having ever-lasting strong relationships with the people we care about now, or the people who were once very close to us, but have since drifted apart.

I passed the CUA exam!

2007-09-21T13:36:32Z

Despite my doubts and anxiety about the exam, I proved once again that I’m up for anything I set my mind to: I have successfully passed the Certified Usability Analyst (CUA) exam yesterday!

I waited till today to write about it because it took a little while to sink in. I mean, it’s over! The ambitious plan that started early this year with my attempt to get into the field of usability and gain some credentials has now been realized.

For new readers of this blog, Certified Usability Analyst (CUA) is a certification offered by the world-renowned usability consulting company called Human Factors International as an entry-level certification for usability professionals. It’s the perfect kick-start for people who are passionate about this field of science like me.

My plan to achieve this certification involved traveling all the way to India for a 10-days training course in July. That went pretty well. I came back and had about 2 months to study for and prepare for the certification exam. I wasted no effort reviewing all the course materials and reading lots of online and offline literature on this subject. Finally, I devised a strategy for taking the exam that involved creating a reference sheet (PDF) to lookup any piece of information I may need during the exam (it’s an open-book one). The latter proved very useful during the 2.5 hours, 100 questions exam.

With this certification under my belt, I’m now ready to delve into the world of usability and human-computer interaction. As a matter of fact, I already have a blueprint for a usability career plan. The steps of this plan go something like this:

Establish professional credibility by way of certification and actual practice.
Work towards bringing usability knowledge and practices into my workplace.
Start a dedicated blog and write regularly about different topics in usability such as user-centered design.
When I feel confident with enough usability work to back me up, I will start giving public speeches and training sessions.

What I’m really hoping to achieve is something bigger which is to bring the science of usability into this part of the world and make people (especially those involved in IT) aware of it’s critical importance. I honestly hope to look back on this post one day and say with confidence that I’m at least one step closer to achieving this grand plan of mine. It’s not completely selfless, as I’ll hopefully become famous for this effort. But in doing so, I’ll also make the lives of many, many people easier since the institutionalization of usability means we will start making (and using) many products that are usable, useful and effective. Everybody’s life will be easier. It’s what computers were always meant to do, and it’s up to us to make them do just that.

Beginning countdown for my CUA exam on Thursday 13 Sept

2007-09-22T18:42:53Z

This week is going to be a silent one at Alaeddin’s Blog as the countdown begins for my long-awaited Certified Usability Analyst exam. If you guys remember, the whole point of my trip to India in July was to take a bunch of courses to prepare me for this exam.

I’ve already been through the courses’ material twice. I read countless articles and white papers, and I’ve been through couple of fantastic books about the subject. It only seems fair to believe that I’m well-prepared for taking on and passing the exam.

However, no matter what I do I can’t seem to shake off the feeling of anxiety and anticipation. It seems that no matter what you do, exams usually have their dreadful sensation which you can’t get rid of. For me, this is mainly caused by the fear of failing. Although I do have the option of retaking the exam after 3 days in case of failure, failing this exam does a couple of things to me:

It shakes my confidence in the career path I’ve decided upon and chose to begin with this certification.
It sends a bad message to my friends and coworkers, possibly lowering the credibility I’m trying to establish in the field of usability.

Not to sound pessimistic, I do however believe in my knowledge and ability to pass the exam with flying colors. I’m just skeptic, that’s all. A healthy dose of skepticism is important to ground our egos in reality and level-off our expectations, don’t you think?

Embrace – Nature’s Law

2007-11-10T07:44:01Z

I can’t believe I went this far with my music recommendations without featuring one of my all-time favorite bands, ever!

It puzzles me why the indie English alternative rock band, Embrace, have not received such world-wide recognition and appeal like similar bands such as Coldplay, Keane and Snow Patrol. To date they have released 5 studio albums. If you were to ask me, I’d say Embrace’s signature style of music, mostly based on piano rock, is a fabulous one that produced some fine collection of mostly amazing and well-crafted songs (check the recommended songs below). In fact, today’s featured song, Nature’s Law, is a true testament to that.

Nature’s Law is the leading single from Embrace’s latest 2006 studio album, This New Day. It was released a week prior to the album release charting at number 2 in the UK Singles Chart, the band’s highest chart entry to date (although there’s some controversy that it should have been a number 1 single).

I remember when this song came out in 2006 and I got to hear the sample in a promotional page for the song, I was completely and utterly hooked to the melody right in the first few seconds. In a way, it’s a sturdy, uplifting song with a powerful message (although one might disagree with the song’s invitation to simply follow "nature’s law", wherever that path might lead you into).

There are also some other fabulous songs in this album, which collectivly contribute to making This New Day one of Embrace’s finest and most successful records to date!

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Download: Embrace – Nature’s Law.mp3

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Lyrics

I tried to fight the feeling, a feeling took me down
I struggled and I lost the day you knocked me out

Now everything’s got meaning, and meanings bring me down
I’m watching as a screening of my life plays out.

Everyday I fight these feelings
For your sake I will hide the real thing
You can run all your life, all mine I will chase

You should never fight your feelings
When your very bones believe them
You should never fight your feelings
You have to follow nature’s law

I’ll live with never knowing, if knowing’s gonna change
Or stop a feeling growing I will stay away

Like a broken record stuck before a song
A million beginnings none of them the one

Everyday I fight these feelings
For your sake I will hide the real thing
You can run all your life, all mine I will chase

You should never fight your feelings
When your very bones believe them
You should never fight your feelings
You have to follow nature’s law

I wrote her letters and tried to send them
In a bottle I place my hope
An SOS full of good intentions sinking
Will you give it to me, don’t make me wait
You built me up, knocked me down
But I will stand my ground
And guard this light that I’ve found

You should never fight your feelings
When your very bones believe them
If you let them show, you’ll keep them
I know your hurt but soon you’ll rise again, again, again.

You should never fight your feelings
When your very bones believe them
You should never fight your feelings
You have to follow nature’s law.

Other Recommended Songs

Embrace – A Glorious Day
Embrace – Ashes
Embrace – Celebrate
Embrace – Come Back To What You Know
Embrace – Drawn From Memory
Embrace – Fireworks
Embrace – Gravity
Embrace – Happiness Will Get You In The End
Embrace – Hey What You’re Trying To Say
Embrace – I Can’t Come Down
Embrace – I Had a Time
Embrace – I Hope Youre Happy Now
Embrace – I Wouldn’t Wanna Happen To You
Embrace – Keeping
Embrace – Liars Tears
Embrace – Looking As You Are
Embrace – Make It Last
Embrace – Many Will Learn
Embrace – My Weakness Is None Of Your Business
Embrace – Now You’re Nobody
Embrace – Out Of Nothing
Embrace – Satellites
Embrace – Spell It Out
Embrace – Target
Embrace – That’s All Changed Forever
Embrace – The End Is Near
Embrace – The Good Will Out
Embrace – The Love It Takes
Embrace – Wonder
Embrace – You’re Not Alone

Travis – Closer

2007-09-28T12:55:18Z

Travis is a British indie pop band that’s been awarded British album of the year twice at the annual BRIT Awards. They’re often credited with having paved the way for bands such as Coldplay, Keane and Snow Patrol, all of which are all-time favorite bands of mine. I actually came to know of Travis when I was browsing a Keane forum site back in 2004.

Closer is the first single from their 2007 studio album, The Boy with No Name. I have to admit that very few songs of Travis’s material appeal to me, but this song was an instant favorite when I heard it for the first time. It has a gorgeous chorus melody that’s very heart-warming. Unfortunately, this is about the only song that stands out from their latest album, which forces me to file Travis under "bands with occasional decent records".

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Download: Travis – Closer.mp3

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Lyrics

I’ve had enough of this parade
I’m thinking of the words to say
We open up unfinished parts
Broken up
It’s only love

And when I see you then I know it will be next to me
And when I need you then I know you will be there with me
I’ll never leave you
Just need to get

Closer, closer
Lean on me now
Lean on me now
Closer, closer
Lean on me now
Lean on me now

Keep waking up (waking up) without you here (without you here)
Another day (another day) another year (another year)
I seek the truth (seek the truth), we set apart (we set apart)
Second dance
A second chance (a second chance)

And when I see you then I know it will be next to me
And when I need you then I know you will be there with me
I’ll never leave you
Just need to get

Closer, closer
Lean on me now
Lean on me now
Closer, closer
Lean on me now
Lean on me now
Lean on me now

And when I see you then I know it will be next to me
And when I need you then I know you will be there with me
I’ll never leave you
Just need to get

Closer, closer
Lean on me now
Lean on me now
Closer, closer
Lean on me now
Lean on me now
Lean of me now

Closer, closer
Closer, closer

Other Recommended Songs

Travis – Turn
Travis – Side
Travis – My Eyes
Travis – Out In Space

Ryan Adams – La Cienega Just Smiled

2007-09-22T18:43:15Z

Not to be confused with my other favorite Bryan Adams, Ryan Adams is a country and rock and roll singer/songwriter. I haven’t heard of him or his music until one of his songs was featured in the first season of Alias (yeah I know, Alias has given me a wonderful selection of tunes to post on this blog).

Admittedly, Ryan’s music did not quite appeal to me. However, the song I’m featuring in this post, called La Cienega Just Smiled, is an exception. When I heard it on Alias, it immediately caught my ears due to its beautiful laid-back and easy-listening nature. It’s a song to kickback and relax to. I hope you enjoy it.

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Download: Ryan Adams – La Cienega Just Smiled.mp3

Lyrics

Oh the night, here it comes again
It’s on with the jeans, the jacket and the shirt
How’d I end up feeling so bad
For such a little girl
And I hold you close in the back of my mind
Feels so good but damn it makes me hurt
And I’m too scared to know how I feel about you now

La Cienega just smiled
See ya around

And I hold you close in the back of my mind
Raise my glass ’cause either way I’m dead
Neither of you really help me to sleep anymore
One breaks my body and the other breaks my soul

La Cienega just smiles
As it waves goodbye

Oh the night, here it comes again
It’s off with the jeans, the jacket, and the shirt
How’d I end up feeling so bad
For such a little girl
And I hold you close in the back of my mind
Feels so good but damn it makes me hurt
And I’m too scared to know how I feel about you now
How I feel about you now

La Cienega just smiles
And says "I’ll see you around"

Shayne Ward – A Better Man

2007-09-22T18:43:21Z

Here is a living proof that reality TV shows can indeed bring out talented singers to the spotlights. Winner of the UK talent show, The X Factor, for 2005, Shayne Ward is just a musical wonder. Even though he may still be considered a youngster having produced only his debut album, he is by far way above the average. He has one of the most extraordinary voices I’ve heard in a long time. He also sings with such passion you can almost say this guy’s been through what’s he’s singing about.

The song in this post is from his debut self-titled 2006 album. It’s called A Better Man. It kind of reminds me of my old favorite Robbie William’s song: Better Man. Speaking of whom, Robbie has made a comment that Shayne Ward is on his way to become a "future star". That’s big coming from such a international musical icon.

Overall, I’ll be watching for more to come from Shayne. He really struck a cord with me, and I’m sure he will with you or anybody who appreciates good old pop music full of meaning, melody and passion.

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Download: Shayne Ward – A Better Man.mp3

Lyrics

Until the oceans all run dry
Until the stars fall from the sky
Even if words dont seem to rhyme
Ill be addicted to your smile

And if the wind blows out the sun
Ill still believe you are the one
No matter what we’re going through
I’ll plan to spend my nights with you

I promise you my heart wont fade
I swear to you my soul always
It isnt hard to understand
You’re making me a better man

Baby my love will say it all
I’ll always catch you when you fall
And if the hard times get too much
I’ll still be craving for your touch

I promise you my heart wont fade
I swear to you my soul always
It isnt hard to understand
You’re making me a better man

I dedicate my world
I dedicate my all
For every moment
Your leaving me breathless

I dedicate my touch
Forevers not enough
I wanna hold on
I just wanna hold on to you

I promise you my heart wont fade
I swear to you my soul always
It isnt hard to understand
You’re making me a better man

It isnt hard to understand, your making me a better man

Other Recommended Songs

Shayne Ward – Thats My Goal
Shayne Ward – No Promises
Shayne Ward – Stand by Me
Shayne Ward – I Cry
Shayne Ward – Someone to Love
Shayne Ward – Something Worth Living for

Coldplay – Swallowed In The Sea

2007-09-22T18:43:30Z

Coldplay is one of my all-time favorite alternative rock bands. There’s just no doubt about that. While most of their earlier material wasn’t so appealing to me, their latest record, X&Y, was a huge hit with me, as it was with the 1270+ customers at Amazon who rated it an overall score of 4/5.

Almost all of the songs in this record are worth posting. However, I had to pick the song that scored the most playback time for me. In this case, it was Swallowed by the Sea.

This song, apart from being a really catchy tune, contains a lot of meaning and symbolism, which can be interpreted in a number of different ways. Personally, this song holds a special meaning for me and that person who walked into my life and "made me realize what I could not see".

I also like the part where he sings:

Oh what good is it to live
With nothing left to give
Forget but not forgive
Not loving all you see

These simple words tell the story of how we as human beings strive for self-fulfillment through giving and caring. We’re also creatures of forgetfulness and that’s a blessing from God, because not all times we can forgive those who we cared about but hurt us. And through these experiences, we keep learning that not everything is what it seems to be and we’re not supposed to fall in love with everything we see.

Three powerful messages in 4 simple lines, this song is simply amazing!

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Download: Coldplay – Swallowed In The Sea.mp3

Lyrics

You cut me down a tree
And brought it back to me
And that’s what made me see where I was going wrong

You put me on a shelf
And kept me for yourself
I can only blame myself
You could only blame me

And I could write a song
A hundred miles long
Well, that’s where I belong
And you belong with me

And I could write it down
Or spread it all around
Get lost and then get found
Or get swallowed in the sea

You put me on the line
And hung me out to dry
And darling that’s where I
Decided to go to see you

You cut me down to size
And opened up my eyes
Made me realize
What I could not see

And I could write a book
The one they’ll say that shook
The world, and then it took
It took it back from me

And I could write it down
Or spread it all around
Get lost and then get found
And you’ll come back to me
Not swallowed in the sea

And I could write a song
A hundred miles long
That’s where I belong
And you belong with me

The streets your walking on
A thousand houses long
Well that’s where I belong
And you belong with me

Oh what good is it to live
With nothing left to give
Forget but not forgive
Not loving all you see

Are the streets your walking on
A thousand houses long
Well that’s where I belong
And you belong with me
Not swallowed in the sea

You belong with me
Not swallowed in the sea
Yeah, you belong with me
Not swallowed in the sea

Other Recommended Songs

Coldplay – A Message
Coldplay – Fix You
Coldplay – Hardest Part
Coldplay – Speed Of Sound
Coldplay – Square One
Coldplay – Talk
Coldplay – Till Kingdom Come
Coldplay – What if?
Coldplay – White Shadows
Coldplay – X&Y

30 of my best MP3 ringtones

2007-09-22T18:44:26Z

I’m an avid music lover, so I have a knack for spotting parts of songs that would make great ringtones. Since getting my Sony Ericsson K750i in 2004, I’ve been gradually building up a library of personally crafted ringtones.

The process is simple: when I’m listening to a great song and part of it just sounds like a perfect ringtone, I’d launch up my free and trustworthy Audacity. Audacity is a free, open-source audio editing and mixing application. Then I’ll load up the song in Audacity, find the part that seems perfect for a ringtone, cut out either ends and apply fade-in/out as necessary to perfect it.

Using this method, I’ve compiled over 30 ringtones from various songs in the English and Arabic musical worlds. It just occurred to me yesterday that I’ve yet to share those MP3 ringtones with you guys, so here they are. I hope you like them:

English ringtones

a1 – Take On Me
Ace of Base – Beautiful Life
ATB – Sax
ludwig van beethoven – bagatelle for piano in a minor
Bryan Adams – I’ll Always Be Right There
Dario G – Sunchyme
Embrace – Glorious Day
Gerard Jolling – Spanish Heart
Gigi D’Agostino – La Passion
Gigi D’Agostino – Natural
Gregorian – Track6
Josh Groban – Remember when it rained
Paul Simon – The Lion Sleeps Tonight
Mon Amour
New Age – Dust In The Wind
Nightwish – Nymphomaniac Fantasia
Ronan Keating – Keep Walking
Sting – Mad About You
Yanni – With An Orchid

Download: Alaeddin_English_Ringtones.zip (15.2 MB)

Arabic ringtones

Amr Diab – Rohy Mertahalak
Karol Samaha – Qadish
Kazem Al-Saher – Sabahuki Sukkar
Marwan Khouri – Khedni Ma3ak
Middle Eastern Message Dance
Morning
Morning2
Sami Yousuf – Munajat
Sesame Street
STC Express
Wael Kfouri – Omri Kollo

Download: Alaeddin_Arabic_Ringtones.zip (5.44 MB)

Major relaunch planned for Alaeddin’s Blog

2007-09-28T23:30:30Z

While I’ve been busy lately preparing for my Certified Usability Analyst (CUA) exam on September 13, I’ve been quietly studying this blog’s performance, vision and roadmap.

I’ll admit that in the blogsphere there’s not much room for a personal blog to thrive, but my idea is that if this is the case, then I might as well build and maintain the best possible personal blog out there that provides kick-ass content and value to my friends and readers.

To that end, there are many things that need fixing (both technical and otherwise), that have piled over the last few months. For example:

Optimize load time - Last time I checked, this blog’s load time stands at a whopping 25 seconds!
Easier navigation – While current one isn’t all bad, I’m not fond of the menu labeling. I have ideas for improving navigation, mostly inspired by Steve Krug’s awesome book, Don’t Make Me Think.
Browser compatibility – This problems continues to exist in minor forms, despite changing theme last May.
Clear purpose - I want to further focus this blog and I want new readers to get at a glance what this blog’s about and where to find valuable content (again, navigation).

So in my spare time, I’ve been planning out steps I will take to meet those goals:

I will start by switching to a more browser-friendly, fast-loading and awesome-looking theme. I already got a theme picked out.
I will make sure everything that’s wrong with the current theme is permanently fixed in the new one upon launching.
To celebrate the new launch, I will start writing a massive post series that’s going to be really valuable for virtually anybody who uses a computer. Stay tuned.
To go along the post series, I will embark on a massive ad and marketing campaign to bring in fresh and interesting new readers to spice up the community around this blog.

It’s all about you!

Yes, without you, the lovely readers of this little blog, I wouldn’t have the motivation to plan and do all of this.

Recently, I’ve done something I’m really proud of: I’ve reached out to a fresh new reader of this blog and thanked him for having the interest to follow my blog. Then I asked him of what he thought of the blog, what he liked best and least. I was really amazed that he took the time and effort to reply, thoroughly describing his experience with the blog so far. He suggested some very good points that kind of reaffirmed my existing suspicions.

So now I want to generalize this concept:

In the comments, write at least one thing you like about this blog and (more importantly), one thing you’d like to see changed. Be brutal, I can take that (as long as it’s constructive).

Your comments and suggestions will feed into my lists above and the relaunch of this blog will see most of the things you like reinforced and the things you disliked hopefully patched up.

Vertical Horizon – Give You Back

2007-09-22T18:44:37Z

Give You Back is yet another great song from the soundtrack of the first episode of Alias. It was an immediate favorite and I had to check out the band, called Vertical Horizon. I listened to more of their stuff. They play alternative rock along the lines of Goo Goo Dolls (another favorite band of mine, who by the way I haven’t featured yet!).

For more great stuff from Vertical Horizon, check out the recommended songs section.

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Download: Vertical Horizon – Give You Back.mp3

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Lyrics

I need to know if you were real
’cause I’ve been known to get it wrong
When the memory comes
I’ll say I’m always in the dark
You got me now

Chorus:
I want to give you back
I want to give you back
somewhere out of here
I want to give you
I want to give you
I want to give you back

I can’t remember how it went
You looked like everything I wanted
And as you came along
slowly everything began to change
I got you now

Chorus (1x)

That’s enough
just talking about it
I don’t mind
I don’t mind, no I
laugh enough
just dreaming about it

I need to know if you were real
I’d hate to think that I’d been fooled again
And as the vision fades
I’ll say I was blinded by your eyes
I felt them burn

Chorus (1x)

Somewhere out of here
You gotta get on out of here
Get on out of here
Get on out of here
Get on out of

Other Recommended Songs

Vertical Horizon – Best I Ever Had (Grey Sky Morning)
Vertical Horizon – Everything You Want
Vertical Horizon – Falling Down
Vertical Horizon – Finding Me
Vertical Horizon – Goodbye Again
Vertical Horizon – It’s Over
Vertical Horizon – Miracle
Vertical Horizon – Underwater
Vertical Horizon – Wont Go Away
Vertical Horizon – You Say

Check out my daily favorite Flickr photos

2007-10-22T10:46:41Z

God bless Web 2.0 for giving us the technology to share our passion easily with the rest of the world.

Some of you, even my friends, don’t know that I am passionate about photography ever since high school. At that time, I won the photography class award for creating a portrait photo composition of my brother, using a darkroom technique of combining two negatives to create transparency effect in the composite photo (anybody know what that technique is called?). The winning photo was also featured as a Photo of the Day on PhotoPoint.com in October 6 2001. However, I lost that precious photo when that site went out of business on December 2001. I still hope of finding that photo stashed somewhere, someday.

Anyways, fast forward to 2007, my interest in photography is still on and that’s why I hang out at Flickr almost daily. I don’t take photos anymore, but I enjoy browsing interesting photos. Coincidently, “interestingness” is the exact term Flickr uses to describe a regularly updated patch of the most “beautiful, amazing, moving and striking” new photos on Flickr.

Here is where Web 2.0 comes into play:

I needed a way to get those photos delivered to me as soon as there is a new patch. Naturally, I was looking for an RSS feed for only the interesting photos on Flickr. While that wasn’t available on Flickr website, a simple search in Google returned a result of some guy who posted this very exact RSS feed. Here is the address:

http://feeds.feedburner.com/InterestingFlickr

So I subscribed to this feed and I usually receive 100+ new photos a day in my Google Reader. Granted, not all of them are interesting to me. However, there are usually 5-10 photos a day that simply stand out as plain gorgeous and amazing. I usually add those ones to my Flickr favorites collection, and I’ve been doing that for the past couple of months.

Now here is the punch line: if you like what you see, then you can too subscribe to my favorite photos stream using this RSS feed:

http://feeds.feedburner.com/AlaeddinFavPhotos

Think of this collection as the combined goodness of Flickr’s finest photos, excluding the almost-pornographical ones that might get you fired at work. I promise to keep this stream of photos consistently fresh and interesting.
How to get your own favorite photos feed:

Get Firefox browser.
Install Greasemonkey extension.
Install Flickr user favorites feed script.
Find and share your favorites RSS feed link in your Flickr favorites page.

A. R. Rahman – Bombay Theme

2007-09-22T18:44:54Z

In time for my return from India, I thought this would be a perfect opportunity to explore world music, starting with Indian music. When I was leaving to India, a friend of mine asked me to get some instrumental Indian music. Granted, this type of oriental music can be really soothing at times.

One of my training instructors was a music lover. He used to play music on his laptop until everybody gathered in the morning. I asked him once if he could recommend any such type of music. I was looking specifically for instrumental music, because as far as Indian singing is concerned:

I don’t understand a word of it.
It annoys the hell out of me (I’m talking specifically about those high-pitched female Indian vocalists).

So in the last day of training, the trainer played a beautiful composition that took my breath away. I asked him about the artist and he said it was A. R. Rahman, an Indian internationally renowned musician, best known for composing film scores and soundtracks. The song playing, Bombay Theme, was from the soundtrack of the award-winning 1995 feature film, Bombay. I haven’t seen the movie, but I have seen how enormously talented A. R. Rahman is. I have recently downloaded more of his film scores and he literally blew me away with the sophistication and diversity of his instrumental composition. I also like the fact that he is a converted Muslim (according to his Wikipedia page), which just makes me proud, especially seeing the many achievements he’s made along his career path.

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Back from India: Mission debrief

2007-09-22T18:46:54Z

I’m back from India!

I’ve been on a 2-week trip to India attending a 10-day course series offered by the renowned usability consulting firm called Human Factors International (HFI) (read more in my original post).

So I’m now in Dubai airport with 8 hours of waiting time till my connecting flight back home. That’s plenty of time to reflect on the whole trip and that’s what I’m going to try and do here.

Overall, I’m really glad to say that objective of the trip was achieved in excess of what I’ve expected. I got out of the courses with such solid foundation of the material that it feels like money well spent. But what’s more important is that it reaffirmed my passion for this field since it was my first official exposure to the principles and methodologies followed in the world of usability and human-computer interaction design. I can safely say now that I’ve truly found my career passion!

For the rest of this post, I’m going to make a quick run through some of my observations and experiences during the trip in general. The outline will be as follows:

Training courses
First impressions
Hotel
Food
City (Bangalore)
People
Funniest moments

Training courses

It’s really been a while since I was thoroughly impressed by the quality of an onsite training. For the past year and half, I was plagued with a streak of really bad training sessions that were in consistently horrible quality, both in terms of content and presentation.

This might be part of the reason HFI’s training seemed so impressive to me. But that’s not to deny they were actually well thought-out and presented. We had 3 instructors for the 4 courses, and they were all experienced working usability engineers with impressive academic background.

Honestly, my biggest fear going to India was finding it difficult or impossible to understand their unique English accent. However, none of that was ever an issue. All of the instructors were really easy to understand and their vocabulary was really good they could deliver complex concepts like a breeze.

My only complaint about the training is HFI’s decision to hand us the material (slides and supplements) in paper. By the end of the course, we had a huge pile of training material, so huge I had to pay for a 10 KG excess luggage weight that costed me a hefty amount at the Bangalore airport. I was really pissed off!

First impressions

It’s funny: my biggest mistake going to India was going through Dubai! It was a huge downgrade leaving Dubai airport and being greeted in Bangalore airport. The difference is impossible to describe in simple words, but Bangalore’s airport can be described in a simple analogy: a glorified mall, with planes instead of shopping carts!

For example:

It is too small travelers actually stumble upon each other trying to move around the place. Also, some of check-in lines extended beyond the doors to outside the airport!
It is so dirty in and out it made me question whether the department of sanitation was on a strike.
It had all these complex procedures and pointless forms you have to fill when you’re coming in or out. Really aggravating when no other airport you’ve been through made you go through them.

Hotel

HFI recommended that I stay at this hotel which is a walking distance away from the training center. It’s supposed to be the best business hotel in Bangalore, and it’s really not that far from it. Although it’s a little bit on the expensive side, my experience staying in it for two weeks was generally positive. The best part is availability of broadband wireless internet in the rooms which really helped me stay in touch with family and friends.

Food

The hotel had a complementary breakfast, which wasn’t too bad. However, the training center served the same exact 5 meals for lunch for 2 weeks. All were traditional Indian meals. Speaking of which, next time somebody asks you to describe Indian food, go ahead and use the following pointers:

Tell them it’s spicy. No actually too spicy. You know what, just tell them it’s spicy enough to build a nuclear bomb, provided sufficient Uranium.
Tell them it’s too oily. If you have a minor form of cholesterol like I do, Indian food would be your best option to step up the game!
Tell them it’s too sweet. Their dessert menu will almost always have that 1 item that makes you think you’re digesting loads of sugar.

I thought I was going to starve there the first couple of days. Then I realized the hotel had it’s own restaurant which served some humanly meals like good-old burgers and noodles. What a life saver!

City

Bangalore is an industrial city. It’s heart of India’s IT industry. Many big corporations have offices there and Microsoft is even building its very own university. When I read all that on the Web I thought I was going to a very hi-tech city, or at least something in that category.

With all the development that’s going in, you’d think the government would pay attention to to the outlook of the city, or at least provide it with uninterrupted stream of power supply. I guess that was too much to ask, because power interruption was very normal for them, but very frustrating for me.

I used to walk back and forth from the training center everyday. I’ll admit that I’ve never seen the larger portion of Bangalore, but from what I’ve seen, the city is extremely poorly-maintained. Streets look like they were last paved in celebration of India’s independence. The largest crack I could spot in one of the streets was enough to replicate a mini swimming pool in your backyard. It didn’t look far from that especially when it rained. I was tempted!

Pollution is another thing you can’t help but painfully notice walking down the street. There are apparently no rules imposing regular maintenance of automobiles and those 3-wheeler things.

Traffic is more of a fun movie to watch than an absolute disaster. At a big intersection that I used to pass, there used to be these traffic contentions, involving the following:

Cars
Bikes
Bicycles
3-wheelers (whatever they’re called)
People crossing
Cows (also crossing)
Dogs (just screwing around)

One of those days I just stood watching how the traffic contention would clear out. I’m telling you it was the most fun I had while being there. I’m pretty sure I was there for several minutes while dogs were dancing to the rhythm of the horns. The cows got their way in the end. Fair enough.

People

The most interaction I had was with the people who were taking the courses with me. The general impression I got is that Indian people are very social and welcoming. In these kind of courses, I usually stay away from emotional attachment due to the short time we have together. But some of our class mates insisted we go out for bowling. On another day, he suggested we stay after the course for some open heart-to-heart discussions, which was really fun. On the last day, he even arranged for a McDonald’s meal which was a breath of fresh air for me, albeit a spicy one.

Funniest moment

The funniest moment I can remember was that night when I was watching TV in my room. Here is what I saw:

I was flipping through the channels; lots of boring stuff. Then I stopped on a channel where an Indian version of American Idol was on. I curiously watched it for few minutes as some aspiring Indian singer was giving a performance. One of the judges seemed to be a popular Indian singer and he was really into that guy’s singing. He really loved the song that he felt the need to go out on stage in the middle and start dancing with the guy who’s singing. So he started making all these trademarked Indian dancy moves, until he did that move that just cracked me up. Here is what he did:

He pulled a scarf the singing guy was wearing. He pulled it from his neck and literally cleaned his balls with it! I’m not kidding. He held it from end to end and rubbed it again his balls in a dancy move. Right after that he returned the scarf to the guy and put it around his neck again. That’s it. He did all that and everybody in the audience chanted and clapped for that "cool move". Man, am I missing something here?!

Conclusion

The short version of all of this is:

Training was awesome.
Country wasn’t even close.

I realize now that Middle Eastern culture is far different than Indian’s culture. We’re so different in many ways. Sure, we share some family values but as far as everything else is concerned, we have more in common with the Western culture than the Indian counterpart. This isn’t meant to offend anybody, it’s just my observation and it’s just the way it is.

Below is the photo album for my entire trip. Enjoy!

Trip to India

WordPress plugin: Welcome Visitor! Reloaded (new version)

2007-12-23T06:56:41Z

I had a little time tonight to revisit my old plugin, Welcome Visitor! Reloaded, and enhance it with couple of nice features. My original post about this plugin explains how the need for such plugin originated. Basically this plugin displays custom welcome message in the sidebar or anywhere in your blog for new or returning visitors. Kind of neat thing if you want to create a positive atmosphere for new or returning visitors, don’t you think?

As a result of this upgrade, I’ve trimmed down on some options in the previous version that are now pretty much unnecessary. So this new version (1.1) is much more simpler to setup and use.

Features

New features in this version are:

Widget support.
Welcome-back message for returning visitors.
Ability to add a visitor’s name anywhere in the message.
Ability to add a visitor’s MyBlogLog avatar anywhere in the message.
Display Dashboard/Logout links for logged-in users.

Since this version is a major rewrite of the old one, many of the old features are not removed, including:

Title for the welcome message.
Message status (Published, Title only, Content only, Private)
HTML Style (div or unordered list)
Display options (on home page only, to registered users, use of content filtering)
Hiding message after specifable number of visits

Download

Download: Welcome Visitor! Reloaded v1.1.1

Installation/Upgrade

If you’re upgrading from old version, make sure to save your old welcome message somewhere safe before you continue.
Unzip the downloaded folder and upload it to your wp-content/plugins folder in your WordPress installation. You should have this folder structure at the end (wp-content/plugins/welcome-visitor-reloaded/).
Go to the plugins administration page and activate the plugin.
Set your custom welcome messages under Options > Welcome Visitor! Reloaded
To display your welcome message, do one of the following:
- If you use Widgets, go to the widget panel and add the Welcome Visitor! Reloaded module
- Call the following function in the theme template where you’d like it displayed:
  <?php echo welcome_visitor_reloaded(); ?>

As always, I’m more than happy to help you with any questions or comments you may have.

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