Archive for May, 2006

Picasa? Not in Mi Casa

Friday, May 26th, 2006

Google has announced that they’ve released a “port” of their photo management software Picasa for GNU/Linux.
There are a couple of sad things to note about this sorry-excuse-for-a-port.
1. It’s not free (as in freedom that is). It’s proprietary…about like installing Opera as your web browser.
2. It hasn’t actually been ported, despite their claims. […]

Mahmoud Abbas Announces Darth Vader is Luke’s Father

Friday, May 26th, 2006

…or that is basically how this news of his comes. He has supposedly given Hamas an ultimatum: “Recognize Israel, or else.” First of all, or else what? Secondly, he is asking that Hamas recognize Israel so long as Israel meets certain conditions (returning to the 1967 borders, East Jerusalem as the capital […]

Independent Women and the Battle of the Camel

Thursday, May 25th, 2006

Sunni Sister has a post that links to the Question and Answer section of “Sunni Path.” The inquisitor asks if women’s rights declined after the incident of the Battle of the Camel because people apparently frowned upon the Mother of the Believers, Aisha, for being involved in a “political” matter. The answer was […]

Reforming Islam Revisited

Sunday, May 21st, 2006

Many months ago, I posted some thoughts on “Reforming Islam” from the perspective of “Progressive Muslims.” This is not all that different from the perspective of an ex-Muslim, namely Ayaan Hirsi Ali, but it is profoundly more alarming to the average Muslim to hear someone who claims to be an ex-Muslim (although even that […]

Wacom VS. XGL

Sunday, May 21st, 2006

In this corner, weighing in at about 2 pounds, the Wacom Graphire 4×5, and in this corner, the 400lb gorilla, X-G-L!!!!!
OK, seriously, my wife gave me an early birthday present (guess she couldn’t wait), the Wacom Graphire 4×5. It’s silver and oh so hot (you’d think my wife would be jealous). Anyway, the […]

Writers Cafe

Thursday, May 18th, 2006

Here is another site where I will be posting some of my writing, inshaAllah. This is for general works (i.e. not necessarily about Islam). It is called WritersCafe.org. They are currently having a contest, and the first prize is $100.

The United States of Israel

Tuesday, May 16th, 2006

“…the US has been willing to set aside its own security and that of many of its allies in order to advance the interests of Israel, that Israel is a liability in the “war on terror”, that the biggest Israeli lobby group, Aipac (the American Israel Public Affairs Committee), is in fact the agent of […]

Reagan Supported Apartheid

Tuesday, May 16th, 2006

“Throughout his presidency, Reagan supported the apartheid government in South Africa and even labeled Nelson Mandela’s African National Congress a notorious terrorist organization.”
Listen to the segment at Democracy Now!
Read the transcript

Kubuntu House

Sunday, May 14th, 2006

As many of you might already know, SuSE 10.1 has been released. I hurredly downloaded the 5 (yes 5) CDs, burned them, and began my usual upgrade. I’ve done this millions of times before (even back to my Fedora days), but this time, it hosed my system. I mean, it seriously cracked.
Anyway, […]

Library Secrets

Wednesday, May 10th, 2006

Girl (standing at the circulation desk about to checkout a book): “Wait, hold on. I want to get another book.”
Me: “OK, sure.”
The girl walks all the way to the back of the library to the “collective biographies” section and then returns with a Gossip Girl book.
Me: “Where did you get that?”
Girl […]