Time has flown

Time has flown since I last blogged. The world has spun out of control lately. The following took place:

- 525 has ended...successfully el humdulilah.

- Imagine Cup has taken a twisted turn, bringing with it a dream. Unfortunately with every dream there comes a sacrifice or a time of great hardship. Next week we are supposed to be meeting a prominent and world-famous figure. I would rather not talking about it before it actually happens. InshAllah no obstacles block our path. Right now I'm drowning in my own stress and tension as we are preparing for this major event. Ill tell you all about it after it happens and happens successfully inshAllah.

- Im changing jobs, this week may be my last here at IBM. I feel weird. This could be because I'm listening to the latest Linkin Park album and filling up with emotions.
I will definitely miss the people here. But life is a bunch of stepping stones, moving from one phase to the next, ultimately trying to optimize your condition.

Time is limited as usual. Life is a perpetual battle against the element of this universe that cannot be overcome (TIME). I will do my best...

525

Just a number? Hardly a number! Its the number of a course. Its not just a course. Its more! CSCI 525 is a graduate (master's degree) course given in The American University in Cairo.

This course has been the most mind-boggling course I have ever taken. It has been one of the hardest and most demanding. At the same time it has been very displeasing. On the other hand I don't think I have ever enjoyed a course like this. It has been so challenging to the extent my mind was not powerful enough. LOL, I find this relevant to the subtitle of my blog: "An insight into a mind. A powerful tool, but only when tamed". Despite the tiring mind-boggling stress I managed to pull off a good grade in the second midterm. I was pleased with this...el humdulilah. There is still the daunting task of preparing for the final exam which is comprehensive and writing a literature survey paper of the Weighted Max-Sat problem. The person who writes the best paper will win a bump up in his end grade. WOW, I would love that. Fortunately and unfortunately I'm up against a lot of competition and im short of time since I have another final next week.

Life is hardship. If things came easy, there would be no self-pride and success...

Nitros time >>>>>

Its time for Nitrous time. The start of another phase of the project I'm on is starting at work. It is starting next week and unfortunately I have my masters final exams next week too. So i'm in a bit of a swamp... I got a paper due on Saturday, a paper due on Monday, and exam on Tuesday and my last one on the Saturday after that. Ufffff...Its going to be a few days in hell.

There is a possibility I maybe changing jobs. We will see what happens next week as I'm expecting InshAllah a reply from them. Wish me luck everyone! Thanx for the support. I know no one reads my blog but it feels good to report on life's events. I hope to enrich my blog a bit with clips, images, ...etc.

Its now time to push the button and go into Nitrous mode to be able to compress time into my current being and finish studying and work as soon as possible in time to be ready for the finals and deadlines!!!!!!!!!!!

Einstein proved it with his law of relativity. The faster you run, the slower time flies by. So the faster I work, the better Ill do InshAllah!

Korea...here we hum

Seoul is coming up soon. The competition is in two and a half months and no progress so far. We have been putting it off since we are all getting screwed in finals and work. I hope we quit the humming and start something concrete soon!!!!!!!

thats why!

I know the title of this entry may not make much sense to most people, but it does to me - so your going to have to lump it this time. The night of the 16th of April was one of the best nights of my life. I had been working hard for the Imagine Cup competition and it finally paid off. My team and I won the local Egypt competition. I seriously did not expect to win at all. My mind was being tormented with thoughts of quiting and wasting my time. Thank goodness I did not. We were the best el humdulilah. My only hope now is to continue this hard work and win the world cup in South Korea inshAllah. Wish us luck and Ill update you every few steps of the journey. We are already winners, all we need to do now is excel and enhance this win into something that will change the world we live in.

Looking back - I see the reasons my life took the agonizing twists it did in December. I fell into a depression due to the unfortunate events that happened in that month. Now, I see why...SobhanAllah! I see why it all happened! At the time, I was thinking what the hell could be waiting down the road to prevent me from working for the company I was looking forward to joining. Now I understand, I comprehend that something bigger, better and more promising lay waiting further down the road. El humdulilah!

At the time, I was blinded by what I wanted more than anything. When I failed the last interview I was so angry at myself. I was so depressed. Now I see that if you fail to achieve something you want so badly, this could just be because a bigger and better thing awaits you. So don't get all depressed about it - "All good things come to those who wait".

El humdulilah

Out of the mud

Finally I passed the SOA Solution Designer exam. I am now a SOA solution designer. The youngest in IBM, el humulilah. People who have it are years ahead of me (IT architects). Thank goodness I passed after failing many times. It's finally over and I have at last updated my CV.

Its amazing how time conquers everything. Every time I face a problem in my life, somehow time sorts it out and the next thing I know is Im looking back down the staircase at the steps I have accomplished. But then I look back up the staircase still unchartered and I go back into pessimism. Life is a rollercoaster!

Proof

There are only three types of proofs:

1. Proof by Induction
2. Proof by Contradiction
3. Proof by Direct Method (simple linear steps)

People who prove a problem by Induction are considered the elite and elegant people of the mathematical society. And then comes proof by contradiction and then the commoners are the people who use direct method to prove.

Its been ten years...

Today a friend of mine from high school added me on facebook. Its been around ten years since I last saw him in The Continental School (later renamed to The British International School of Jeddah). WOW...its been ages! Im surprised his name is still in my brain. Time flies! When I added him on facebook, I found a bunch of other people who were in my class back in upper school. Im just speechless now...Nostalgia!! The memories are flowing!!!!

Give developers their private space!!!

The article is about how giving private space to developers is a major enhancement to any software development organization....hope u enjoy it :D

Check it out!

Nine Things Developers Want More Than Money

Check it out!

TIME

If someone was to master time, he or she would master it all. Its amazing how many times I wish I could go back to the old days and change something. It is true that a person does not understand the true value of things until many years later. No good spreading tears because of this nostalgic feeling, instead I will look to the future...

2007...

2007 has come and my resolutions feel stronger than ever. For some unknown reason I feel this year to be a great and successful one. I believe I will finally loose weight, I feel I will do better in work and in masters and will be accepted in the company I really want to go to. We will see what 2007 has in store for me. I hope its all good, inshAllah, ya Rab...

Hmmm...Interesting...

My mind is still plagued by the events of December. I cant help looking through time at the moments I wish to happen next year (inshAllah). I will do my best (Ya Rab). This technical blog has turned out better than I thought. I'm sticking to it and learning quite a bunch of things in the process. I hope I continue...

Roadtrip...

This last December was a month to remember. It was the first time I was rejected a job opportunity. Truth is, I haven't done many interviews, but I was accepted in the three I did after graduating from AUC. This company rejected me a position in Egypt and America. I don't blame them for not accepting me here in Egypt. For some reason I totally messed up on the last interview, even though I was so far into the process. I went further than anyone of my friends, except one. The Egyptian HR manager recommended me to the HR team from USA. Unfortunately they told me I was not accepted in the position in Egypt but recommended for the USA interviews the next day. I was notified at 2pm that my interviews would be the next day at 8am. I was not prepared at all and had no idea of what to expect. I decided to go for it.

I don't know if the decision to go for it was the right one. Deep down in me, I knew it was a chance not to meddle with. It was an excellent opportunity abroad at the HQ of a major corporation.

Unfortunately I was turned down. Now I cant help thinking about the opportunity I threw down the drain. My plan was that I would try my best to get accepted so that next year I would go. I wasn't going to accept the offer straight away, but at least they would have a record of me being accepted which I could use later on when I finished my masters. Anyway, things turned out as they did and I think about it everyday now, especially since my current job is soo obnoxiously uninteresting.

Now, I have to wait for one year before I can reapply. I really hope I get accepted in this company in USA. InshAllah kheir.

Ive started a new program which is designed to help me learn more, to kind of get me prepared for next year and enhance my skills. I read about things I'm not really sure of and blog them down for later reference. I'm also hopefully going into a worldwide Microsoft competition and ACM training sessions to try and become what I want to be deep down inside of me.

I hope I will someday get to where I want to go. InshAllah kheir and Ya Rab I get into this company next year

Slaves...

Work is soo annoying these days. We are being treated like the computers we work on. The team leader comes in; switches us on, speeds us up, kills some of our tasks, creates new ones and shuts us down. We are no longer humans. We are a generation of androids. The rights that humans claimed other humans had, have been revoked by God-knows-who. I'm just sick and tired...

I hope something better comes up the drain...

a twig cries after a pause of silence

Its been a long time since I posted anything on this blog. I think it is about time I start writing again.

The worst thing to happen to me in a long time that has made me depressed for sometime now is failing the Microsoft Egypt and Microsoft USA interviews. Somethings were not meant to happen at particular times in ones life. All I can say is I'm going to do my utmost best to get the job when I reapply next year. InshAllah kheir. I will succeed, Ya Rab.

This is a short entry, but please bare with me and stay tuned for an update to my perilous journey through good, bad and unknown.

Fateful Embarassment

Saturday the 4th of March was a day pouring with tear-drops. The heavens and celestial clouds showered upon us with disgrace, embarassment and misfortune. It was the second round of the auditions for the talent show. It was held in Howard Cafe in the Main Campus of AUC. Our spirits were high although I dreaded Howard Cafe. I wasnt worried about the lyrics. The only tension I felt was when I tried to remember the tune and melody of our song. I didnt bother about the sequence of verses because I was sure i would get it right. A call from my rhythm guitarist outside Howard Cafe brought all the trembling to my limbs. I had done it before and reassured myself with the musical highlight of last year. We setup the instruments and tested them cautiously infront of staring eyes so, so close. All eyes were peircing me as I tried to dodge them. I tested the mic and checked the sound. After a round robin of checks we decided it was time to start. "one-two-three", a breathe and then I started. My voice came out quivering and untuned at first but slowly it got better. All I remember somewhere in the middle of the song was looking to my left and seeing Momtaz not playing. I was like, "What the hell is going on?". It was the beginning of another verse and he was standing there paused in disbelief and confusion. He started playing the verse and then I somehow thought that we had entered the last verse of the song, so I started singing the last verse instead of the verse before last. We finished and with ill spirit the guitarist finished the song, with a "shokran ya gama3!!!". We left embarassed, heads-down and cursing the day we started playing music. It was over. It ended with a fall we were not ready for. I exited the building from a rear door and sat in silence. I didnt even know I had skipped one whole verse of the song until David brought me the unfortunate tidings. It was then that I felt the unbelievable betrayal of time and the curse of concentration. I had messed up bigtime. I was too embarassed to walk back and see my friends play. I sat imagining that each person I passed would call out, "Oh look, there's the looser!!!". When I decided to go back and whitness the rest of the auditions I got some believe-it-or-not positive feedback and ofcourse the negative that I already knew. The drummer screwed the tempo of the song. The guitarists sucked mud. Anyways, maybe afterall this was for the good. I had tonnes of other stressful things to finish and put aside.
Arga3 wa a2ool El-Humdulilah!!! It could have been worse.
I know it is impossible, but there is always a part of me that doubts truth. Sometimes I believe in miracles, but in this day and age miracles are extraordinarily rare. You never know what the future holds for us. Life has mysterious ways of revealing itself to its victims.
InshAllah Kheir

The Real World Wide Web and The Katakeet Invasion!!!

The world of politics is the real World Wide Web. Confusing, delirious and insane as it is, it creates a web of uncertainity, illusion and deception. Today, Secretary of State Rice arrived in the Middle East and tries to police her way to the so called "right". It is not right for one country to police the world. :x

A historian is arrested for denying the holocaust. They call him anti-semitic!!! The Semite Languages constitutes Hebrew, Amharic, Aramaic AND ARABIC. Why was nothing done when a Danish newspaper published comics ridiculing Prophet Mohamed (PBUH) while anti-Jewish sentiments are suppressed with excessive force immediately. The majority of the Arabic-speaking population is Muslim as the Hebrew-speaking population is Jewish. This is the web that has caught people upside down, inside out and diagonally inverted. Who is to blame? Well...western media, sinister zionist Jews (read The Protocols of Zionism for God's sake!!! Read about the conspiracy that lies embedded in the word controlling it with coaxing evil!!!), anti-Islamic and anti-Arab movements, Muslim fundamentalists...are some. This is the web that has the world in an intertwined cauldron of glue. Politics is dirty! Thats one thing I'm certain of.

This week Egypt has been occupied by Avian Flu (aka Bird Flu). Katakeet are terrorizing people everywhere! They have entered the streets of Cairo! Beware of the Katkoot el sharess who leads this rebellion against man. Today the Egyptian government or I dont know who spread the rumour, said that the Nile waters are infected and should not be drunk. Interesting that only now the Nile waters have become undrinkable. How many dead horses have I seen in the river? I wonder...

History Repeats Itself

This passed weekend was going to be a relaxing one. To my delight it proved to be quite the oppositte. I got a phone call Thursday night and with the drum beat I heard in the background history smacked me accross the face. The auditions for The Talent Show turned out to be the next day. I met the band (BeAtLesS) and jammed for about two hours. The next day we played infront of the judges. It was history repeating itself. I discovered an ecstatic flame light up inside me as it had lit up a year prior. A flame to sing, to perform, to be on stage again and feel the power of controlling 2,300 people like sheep beneath me. It was the ultimate feeling standing above a sea of people cheering you like energetic bobbing heads and arms. I will never forget that night. Now, looking back upon that day, I only wish it to happen again. I was informed yesterday that we had made it passed the initial auditions to ROUND 1 on the 3rd of March. Its much tougher this year; they only want five bands so I'll be crossing my fingers and InshAllah kheir.

At The Foot of a Ladder

Well this is my first entry. I really hope I carry on blogging my life onto the internet for the whole world to see. Tonnes of thanx go directly to Mai Dawood for introducing me to this wonderful way of portraying thoughts, idea...etc. Thanx a million Mai! Anywayz as usual got work tomorrow and it's already 1 am so I got to "hit the sack" as ShuShu would put it.

I hope to write an entry every now and then when something interesting takes place in my life so stay tuned...