Another though day!

A very though day, working from 8 morning to 5 evening, 45 min lunch break and hammering all the day! While I was crushing my samples, I was thinking we haven’t changed so much! Mortars and pestle is being used for 1000 years for grinding materials and still is used! Although we have mobile, car, microwave etc, we still are using many things which were invented 1000 years ago! How about ourselves? Is the way we are thinking has changes so much since 1000 years ago?

The Expanding Universe

For thousands of years, astronomers wrestled with basic questions about the size and age of the universe. Does the universe go on forever, or does it have an edge somewhere? Has it always existed, or did it come to being some time in the past? In 1929, Edwin Hubble, an astronomer at Caltech, made a critical discovery that soon led to scientific answers for these questions: he discovered that the universe is expanding.

Well, for definite I know the universe is expanding and its expansion rate is increasing (recently discovered by British scientists). But does this universal law apply to our life too? Are we excepted from this law? Are we getting farer from each other? For fact I think we are expanding too! Many many years ago, our ancestors used to live together in a group, in a cave. We used to live with our family. Even if we had our own family, we wouldn’t go too far. Most of the families used to live in one house, one city, one area. But today, we don’t live with our family. Even our friends are in the other part of the world. Our brother or sister is living in another city or country. Our life style has changes dramatically. The gap is getting bigger and bigger. We think mobile phone, email, video chat etc. are the solution. I can call him any time I want to. But do we really communicate with each other? Or we just use the technology to get news from each other. Do we really call our friend to see how they are or we call them to see how they are doing?

For one fact, I am sure we are not excepted and we as part of the universe are expanding with it. One day brotherhood won’t mean anything. Our selfishness will lead us to that point; we will live alone although we will have all necessary technologies to communicate to each other on this planet.

Whose fault is this?

Internet invented 15 years ago and today it is hard to think of life without it! Today, I was surfing on the net and saw this link. I was speechless and for several hours I didn’t know what to say, shall I hate it or shall I enjoy it! Then I asked myself is that the picture of Iranians which other people have got in their mind? Is that the way they see Iranians? Well as far as I know I don’t know any Iranian around myself like the one in the picture but perhaps Lay Leno from NBC knows one. But really whose fault is this? The only people I can blame are Iranians and no one else! I think this is Iranian’s fault which they allow a TV man represents and degrades them like this in a national TV. I am not saying Iranians are prefect but the picture is far far far away from the reality.

No more word for now,

Bye

Link chart

Enjoy the dance....

Civil War

"What we've got here is failure

to communicate.

Some men you just can't reach...

So, you get what we had here last week, which is the way he wants it!

Well, he gets it!

N' I don't like it any more than you men." *

Look at your young men fighting

Look at your women crying

Look at your young men dying

The way they've always done before

Look at the hate we're breeding

Look at the fear we're feeding

Look at the lives we're leading

The way we've always done before

My hands are tied

The billions shift from side to side

And the wars go on with brainwashed pride

For the love of God and our human rights

And all these things are swept aside

By bloody hands time can't deny

And are washed away by your genocide

And history hides the lies of our civil wars

D'you wear a black armband

When they shot the man

Who said "Peace could last forever"

And in my first memories

They shot Kennedy

I went numb when I learned to see

So I never fell for Vietnam

We got the wall of D.C. to remind us all

That you can't trust freedom

When it's not in your hands

When everybody's fightin'

For their promised land

And, I don't need your civil war

It feeds the rich while it buries the poor

Your power hungry sellin' soldiers

In a human grocery store

Ain't that fresh

I don't need your civil war

Look at the shoes your filling

Look at the blood we're spilling

Look at the world we're killing

The way we've always done before

Look in the doubt we've wallowed

Look at the leaders we've followed

Look at the lies we've swallowed

And I don't want to hear no more

My hands are tied

For all I've seen has changed my mind

But still the wars go on as the years go by

With no love of God or human rights

'Cause all these dreams are swept aside

By bloody hands of the hypnotized

Who carry the cross of homicide

And history bears the scars of our civil wars

"We practice selective annihilation of mayors and government officials

for example to create a vacuum

then we fill that vacuum

as popular war advances

peace is closer" **

I don't need your civil war

It feeds the rich while it buries the poor

Your power hungry sellin' soldiers

In a human grocery store

Ain't that fresh

And I don't need your civil war

I don't need your civil war I don't need your civil war

Your power hungry sellin' soldiers

In a human grocery store

Ain't that fresh

I don't need your civil war

I don't need one more war
I don't need one more war

Whaz so civil 'bout war anyway

Guns N' Roses: Use Your Illusion - II 1991

Breaking News!

A top automotive engineer declined Toyota’s job offer today says Toyota spokesman. Our financial and economical correspondent at Cranfield reports that Toyota’s stock price is going down at Tehran Stock Exchange Market. Also there are rumours that Shahab Khodro (Iranian Car Manufacture) is planning to buy Toyota after this decline.

Loss....

Mr. Zarnegar left us last week. He was a great man. His many years of experience work meant he was a limitless resource of knowledge, especially in journalism. He passed away in US.

No Comment!

Accident in Tehran (Topkhaneh)

Atomised (Elementarteilchen)

Dir. Oskar Roehler

1h 49 mins

Germany

The movive is based on Michel Houellebecq's controversial novel. It is a very powerful film and if you are tired of Superman and looking for story of regular people which I believe they are the real superman then watch it.

No Comment!

Best Cover (Hijab)!

Islamic Fashion Week in Tehran, Iran (Photo from Irna)

Inside Iran

The follwoing report is taken from Zogby website.
----------------------------------------------------

While Iran’s nuclear program grabs headlines around the world, a new Reader’s Digest-Zogby International survey reports that Iranians (41%) said reforming their national economy so it operates more efficiently is more important than nuclear capability. A smaller number, 27%, said the country’s top priority should be to develop an arsenal of nuclear weapons, and 23% said the top goal for their government should be to expand the freedoms of its citizens.

These and other opinions were documented in a wide-ranging survey of Iranian citizens that revealed a sharp diversity of views consistent with a nation that is undergoing profound changes. The survey, which focused on a variety of subjects, including nuclear and regional politics, America, Israel and other nations, and cultural issues, included 810 Iranian adults, and carries a margin of error of +/- 3.5 percentage points. The results are included in exclusive reports on Iran published in the August issue of Reader’s Digest magazine. Full results can be found online at rd.com and zogby.com.

“The Zogby poll presents a fascinating glimpse into public opinion in this vitally important part of the world,” said Conrad Kiechel, Editorial Director, Reader’s Digest International Editions. “The evening headlines typically frame the views of world leaders, but this survey provides an illuminating picture of what citizens are saying – and believing.”

The poll revealed a country divided on many issues, although united on the role that Iran should play in the region. Iranians said they believe their country should lead the region “diplomatically and militarily” – 56% supported this view, and only 12% said their country should not be the dominant regional power. Nearly equal percentages of respondents want Iran to become more secular and liberal (31%) as want the country to become more religious and conservative (36%).
On one question, Iranians showed almost total agreement, regardless of age or gender. When asked if the state of Israel is illegitimate and should not exist, 67% agreed and only 9% disagreed.

Despite tensions between the United States and Iran, most Iranians – nearly two thirds – said they don’t believe that the two countries will go to war in the next decade.
Iranian men were more interested than women in making the economy work better. Among men, 47% said the economy should be a top government priority, while just 33% of women agreed. The older the respondent, the less important they considered development of a nuclear arsenal.

A majority said they would be willing to suffer through a bad economy if that were the price the country had to pay to develop its nuclear program. Also, 25% said they would blame the United States if the United Nations imposed nuclear-related sanctions, although nearly 40% said they were not sure whom to blame. Only one in six would blame Iran’s own government. If their country were to develop nuclear weapons, 25% said it would make the Middle East a safer place, but 35% disagreed with that statement.
When it came to their view of the United States, there was a split between the generations. Older Iranians were much more likely to admire the American people and society than younger Iranians. John Zogby, President and CEO of Zogby International, hypothesized that this generational split may be due in part to the lack of exposure to Americans over the past two decades.

Younger and older Iranians would favor a more conservative, religious society, while those aged 30–49 said they would favor a more liberal, secular culture. What is striking is that just 15% said Iranian culture should stay just the way it is right now. Women were more likely than men to say they wanted a more liberal, secular society. Among those Iranians with Internet access, 41% said they wanted a more religious culture, compared to 33% who said they wanted a more secular society.

“The poll illustrates the impact of 25 years of separation,” said Zogby. “The attitudes of younger Iranians toward the government, people and policies of the United States have been shaped by years of isolation, largely conservative religious leadership, and anti-U.S. rhetoric. This group is consistently more negative in its attitudes towards Americans and the American government than are older Iranians. However, new technology, including satellite television and the Internet, could be used as tools that connect young Iranians with other nations in the region, and the West.”

Those technologies – Internet access and satellite TV ownership – appeared to influence attitudes among Iranians, as did gender. Iranians with access to the Internet or satellite TV were significantly more likely than their “unconnected” compatriots to identify the United States as the country they admire the most. They were also significantly less likely to pick the U.S. government as the one they admire the least: one in three Iranians without Internet access (34%) chose the United States as least admired, compared with fewer than one in five Iranians with Internet access (18%), the poll shows.

The American government also appeared to attract more admiration from Iranians who favor a more secular or liberal direction for Iran.

Link chart

Jason Hawkes is wellknown for aerial photography. You have access to thousands of images from around the world searchable by keyword.

No Comment!

Giving water to a boy, North of Baghdad, Iraq (from bbc.co.uk, 2006)

Quote Chart

Sapere Aude! [dare to know] "Have courage to use your own understanding!"

Immanuel Kant (1724 - 1804)

Quote Chart

'What man can conceive and believe, he can achieve.' Napoleon Hill (1883-1970)

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Censor of internet in Iran!

Life....

No Comment!

Removing a beggar in Tehran.

Sunshine in Sheffield

Today I couldn't stay in! So I took my camera and walked in the city to hunt nice pictures. The atmosphere of the city was amazing. People were enjoying nice weather and trying to forget what's going to happen tomorrow. People were so relax seemed the day would last forever. Although I didn't know anyone there, I wasn't a stranger. No one blocked my view. People were laughing and they were happy. We all were there out for one thing: The Sun! No one could sell it or cover it. There was no competition over it. It was plenty of sunshine for everyone and each person was enjoying in its own way.

If you want the other photos taken today just click here.

Link Chart!

Sohrab Sepehri Online

Life is a pleasant custom
Life wears wings as wide as death
It leaps to the dimensions of love
Life is nothing that might from my mind and your mind in the tip of habit’s shelf
Life is the attraction of a hand that reaps
Life is the first black fig in the acrid mouth of summer
Life is the dimension of a tree in the eyes of an insect
Life is the experience of bat in the darkness
Life is a strange sense experienced by a migrating bird
Life is the whistling of a train ringing in the sleep of a bridge
Life is like looking at a garden through the closed window of an airplane
The news of a rocket flying to the space
Touching the solitude of moon
The thought of smelling the flower in other planets

Life is washing a plate

Life is finding a penny in the street gutter
Life is the square of the mirror
Life is the flower multiplied to eternity
Life is the earth multiplied in our heartbeats
Life is a simple and monotonous geometry of breaths

Where I am, let it be so
The sky is mine
The window, thought, air, love, earth is mine
What signifies?
If mushrooms of nostalgia
Sometimes grow?

Results of my color test!

I did a color test few days ago and the following answer came up:

Your color is black! The color of night. Serene and mysterious, black conjures up images of elegant evening gowns, dashing tuxedos, and gleaming limousines. Traditionally a symbol of success, black also represents power and uncompromising demand for perfection. Not surprisingly, you tend to get challenging goals for yourself and do whatever it takes to achieve them - your strenght of character is second to none. This unfaltering determination, along with your natural elegence, impress people. Black, is the color of professionalism and achievement!

Hello Goofy

Hope!

Two papers ready to publish on my desk, few positions on the web ready to apply for and plenty of time but I am sitting on my black sofa doing nothing. I need time to recover. Recovery from what? From something which I knew it! From something that I predicted according to all facts that I knew! Then what’s wrong with me? I feel cold just like black coal. I had a wonderful weekend with my friends and I knew what I will be told today morning but everything changed when I heard that news. I am not going to share the news with you and I am sorry for that but I think there is something that I am missing here. A very very dear friend told me that I am negative! I don’t know. Believe me or not I had a great hope although I had predicted the result. I knew it but I did not want to accept it. I predicted but I didn’t prepare myself for it. Now I have to accept it because it happened, I was informed officially and nothing on the earth can change it. Do I know myself? Or there is something else? We know something but we don’t want to accept it? We feel a pain but we ignore it? Things passing on back of my mind so fast in few seconds, trying to analyse the situation. Then asking my self what’s the point of hoping when we know something? Or we shouldn’t hope to something when we already know the results! Is there something else? Or its our nature? Business rules say don’t bet on loosing horse. Then why we bet, cross our finger and hope that something change it? There should be something. A gravity or energy that drives us to try harder and hope to changes. I know I will be fine and this is not the end of the world but! Why we are hoping? We feel something, we know something and then we hope we get something else out of it! I wonder if I know myself enough! How is that possible to feel so heavy when I already knew it? This is the closest thing to craziness that ever happened to me. I wish I could answer it. Is it because I don’t like loosing? I have learned that more mistakes I make better I get. I learned a lot from this experience regardless of its result. It told me that I have a great potential and good skills and its only lack of experience which stops me from getting it. But still I can’t get over it. The hope bubble has exploded although I knew it would happen. I wasn’t ready for that explosion or I didn’t want to accept it regardless of all those known facts. There is something else and I am going to find it out.

Basic Instinct

Basic instinct is one of the strongest desires that human has. Its shape and our taste have not changed after centuries although some of us are using new toys to take the pleasure more or are using tools to control it. I think now you know what I am talking about. Yes the basic instinct is still tempting and we are not yet independent of it because it is part of our nature. I agree we can’t do much about it but also eating is one of our basic needs but it has changed a lot. But this one has not and if you don’t believe me just pay a visit to Sex Museum in Amsterdam.

All right let's back to the subject again. How far are we ready to go to response to this strong desire? Of course one of the ways or the most common one is having relationship with some one else. Yes that is right according to our nature and it is the healthy one. But there is a question mark over there. Well I am always asking myself is that the only reason for starting a relationship or there are more reasons for beginning a relationship with some one else. If I am going for a relationship shall I hide it? Shall I inform all my friends about it? How serious might the relationship get?

Did you get me? Ok, let me just say my question on the other words. Is responding to our basic instinct the aim of the relationship or having a good healthy relationship will response to the Basic Instinct and we will be satisfied? And if the answer is Yes, then do I have to tell the others or it would be better to hide it?

I think apart from our basic instincts we have much stronger emotions such as love that we have to response to them as well. I am sure a relationship on the basis of our Basic Instinct is not able of responding to our higher needs and it has got nothing else to offer us. We would feel cheap in these type of relationships because it just responses to our basic need and it doesn't offer anything else. These relationships do not last long and we usually recall them with regret. We usually don't talk about it with others and we hide it. Even we don’t inform our closest friends about it. Because the other side of the relationship might not be our type too as he or she is also following his or her basic instinct too. Here the old story might repeat and our feelings might hurt. It is so difficult to recover from this type of relationships as we exchange our great feeling and dignity with the basic instinct. We do not have much to share with the partner except when we get to the point of responding the basic instinct. On the other hand the only thing in common is Basic Instinct.

In contrast, there are other types of relationships that response to emotions such as love. These types of relationships of course have potential of responding to our basic instinct but they offer more than that. They offer us companion, courage, trust, respect, love, support, share and compromise. We never regret them and if they do don’t last long for some reason we just regret why it didn't last. They are sweet and we are proud of that. We don't hide them and they usually end up into long friendship or even more such as marriage which is a kind of formal announcement. To have such a relationship we need to spend more time and be patient.

Bottom line, those who starts a relationship in response to their basic instinct, will be dependent forever because they just are at the first stage. The old story will repeat for them all the time. They are afraid of talking about it with their friends or even they upset their friends. Having a relationship is normal and every one should have a healthy one. But before starting a one ask yourself what exactly you are looking for and what’s the price? If you are not sure about it just have a nice conversation with your friends about it. I am sure they will understand you and your needs and they will do their best to help you!

We are lucky!

Close your eyes for a moment and think! Think about those who are not born yet. Think about those who will never be born in this world. Think about all those processes and events happened until you were born. Then you will see how lucky we are. We are more than lucky that we came to this born. It could be someone else. It could be another person. So don’t waste your time. Go ahead; know the world you are living in. Explore your environment. Try to communicate with other people and understand them. Know yourself; explore all your potentials and feelings. You have only one life in this world and if you will be born again, it won’t be the same. Don’t make yourself busy with small things. The world is yours to discover it. See how the world is working. The sky, the earth, oceans; all are yours while you are in this world. Ignore all those sadness and try to love this world. Believe me nothing will go wrong. There is no absolute and the rules are created by the others who came before us. So, love people, enjoy your time and try to see as many as people you can. We have only one life and we are so lucky that we are here at this time.

Happy Norouz 1385

To help or not to help!

Have you ever been in a situation asking yourself to help or not to help? Then you told yourself “Oh, shut up, of course you must help and you should participate if you can, so do it, do it”. All right you decided finally after not a very long argue with yourself. You step forward with pride, you announce that you are ready to help. Up to here everything is fine, done and done! Is it really? I mean if you are not helping! What do I mean? I am sure you know what I mean. After few days, few hours or few second you realise that you did not help and just made the case worse! I remember once I was driving in a motorway close to my home in Tehran. I saw a blind walking on the shoulder of the motorway. It was a dangerous situation and he could get killed. I stopped my car, I went to him, asked him if he needed help, took his hand and helped him to find the pedestrian crossing. He yelled on me that he wanted to stay in the motorway! Now, did I help or I did not. I have been to many situations like this which I didn’t know I shall help or not to. Sometimes I am so conservative and I prefer not to help. But it is difficult seeing a friend of yours asking for help and you pretend that you don’t know. Sometimes I do my best in order to help a friend but usually something goes wrong. I wish I could sit in my time machine, going back and diverting anything I had done before! But there is no time machine and I have to face it, I have to accept its responsibility or I have to stop helping!

Few days ago I did something and I am so angry of myself. I wish I could do something about it. But too late and there is no time machine.

Operation Dinner

Recipe:

Go to the closest Sainsbury’s and buy the following items:
- chicken nuggets
- root
- mushroom
- potato croquettes
- mozzarella
- tomato
- cucumber
- onion

Shopping time: 20 min (including queuing)
Preparation and cooking time: 45 min (including chopping)
Eating time: 8 min

Enjoy!

New logo

24 silver ocean

Allow me to welcome "24 silver ocean" . Hope to hear alot from it.

A message

A very good friend of mine (PC) sent me this great message, I just want to share it with you:

The paradox of our time in history is that we have taller buildings but shorter tempers, wider freeways, but narrower viewpoints. We spend more, but have less, we buy more, but enjoy less. We have bigger houses and smaller families, more conveniences, but less time. We have more degrees but less sense, more knowledge, but less judgment, more experts, yet more problems, more medicine, but less wellness.
We drink too much, smoke too much, spend too recklessly, laugh too little, drive too fast, get too angry, stay up too late, get up too tired, read too little, watch TV too much, and pray too seldom. We have multiplied our possessions, but reduced our values. We talk too much, love too seldom, and hate too often. We've learned how to make a living, but not a life.
We've added years to life not life to years. We've been all the way to the moon and back, but have trouble crossing the street to meet a new neighbour. We conquered outer space but not inner space. We've done larger things, but not better things.
We've cleaned up the air, but polluted the soul. We've conquered the atom, but not our prejudice. We write more, but learn less. We plan more, but accomplish less. We've learned to rush, but not to wait. We build more computers to hold more information, to produce more copies than ever, but we communicate less and less.
These are the times of fast foods and slow digestion, big men and small character, steep profits and shallow relationships. These are the days of two incomes but more divorce, fancier houses, but broken homes. These are days of quick trips, disposable diapers, throwaway morality, one night stands, overweight bodies, and pills that do everything from cheer, to quiet, to kill.
It is a time when there is much in the showroom window and nothing in the stockroom. A time when technology can bring this letter to you, and a time when you can choose either to share this insight, or to just hit delete. Remember, spend some time with your loved ones, because they are not going to be around forever.
Remember, say a kind word to someone who looks up to > you in awe, because that little person soon will grow up and leave your side.
Remember, to give a warm hug to the one next to you,because that is the only treasure you can give with your heart and it doesn't cost a cent.
Remember, to say, "I love you" to your partner and your loved ones, but most of all mean it. A kiss and an embrace will mend hurt when it comes from deep inside of you.
Remember to hold hands and cherish the moment for someday that person will not be there again. Give time to love, give time to speak, and give time to share the precious thoughts in your mind.
AND ALWAYS REMEMBER:
Life is not measured by the number of breaths we take, but by the moments that take our breath away.

by George Carlin

Religion

Physicist and Nobel prizewinner Stephen Weinberg describes religion as an insult to human dignity. ‘Without it,’ he says, ‘you’d have good people doing good things and evil people doing evil things. But for good people to do evil things, it takes religion.’

What if!

I was sitting on my couch and thinking of absolutely nothing. I am only away few sentences from finishing my thesis correction. I have done major corrections and I need to go through few minor corrections. It is only matter of few hours! But I can’t work tonight! I can’t do anything tonight! I am hibernated! My brain is frozen and is not working! So I put my thesis side. Nothing interesting on TV, not even a fifth class Hollywood movie! Then I decided to take shower. May be it helps, but it didn’t. So again on the couch and staring on switched off TV. Then I remembered my earlier conversation with AMN. What if the world was different? No, the world is fine, I believe! What if people of the earth were different? What if people were more friendly, more trustful and honest? Why we can’t trust each other? Why we abuse our friends? Why few of us are working so hard and the rest doing nothing? I know we are not perfect and even if we were perfect then the life was so boring. But I think we could use our talent and power to do more positive and constructive things than destroying each other! We could do many things and anybody could be part of it. But everyday we see people lying and hurting each other. People are becoming more and more selfish. We know that we can’t reach out objectives without others but we do not respect their objectives and ideas. We just want to reach our targets by the cheapest way in the shortest time! What if all people I knew and I met were still here and I could trust them!

PS There is a good movie on TV and I have to go!