j a m s h a i d’s blog

This was the most spectacular match so far.

Brazil's star striker - Ronaldo relieved the pressure he was playing under in this world cup when he made two awesome goals. He made the first equaliser goal at 45' and the other at 81'. This was a remarkable come back of Ronaldo after criticisms of being over weight and not playing well. He proved to the world that he is still one of the best.

The other two goals were made by Juninho at 53' and Gilberto at 59'. Robinho was doing great too and he made several unsuccessful attempts to score for his country.

The Brazilian team realized that they have to stop playing "individually" as they were playing in the first half. A good "team play" and short passes allowed them to make 3 more goals in the second half of the match. Though the Japanese had placed a strong defense and despite having a good goal keeper, they couldn't stand the continuos attacks by the Brazilian strikers. So the Japanese had to say sayonara to the world cup. They were left with only 1 point where Brazil remained at the top of the group with 9 points. Brazil now faces Ghana in the second round of matches on 27th June.

Brazil: Dida (Rogerio 82), Lucio, Juan, Cicinho, Gilberto, Kaka (Ze Roberto 71), Ronaldinho (Ricardinho 71), Silva, Juninho, Ronaldo, Robinho.
Subs Not Used: Adriano, Cafu, Carlos, Cris, Emerson, Fred, Julio Cesar, Luisao, Mineiro.

Booked: Gilberto.

Goals: Ronaldo 45, Juninho 53, Gilberto 59, Ronaldo 81.
Japan: Kawaguchi, Santos, Tsuboi, Kaji, Nakazawa, Hidetoshi Nakata, Ogasawara (Koji Nakata 56), Nakamura, Inamoto, Maki (Takahara 60), Tamada, Takahara (Oguro 66).
Subs Not Used: Doi, Endo, Fukunishi, Komano, Moniwa, Narazaki, Ono, Yanagisawa.

Booked: Kaji.

Goals: Tamada 33.

Fifa man of match: Ronaldo

Att: 65,000.

Ref: Eric Poulat (France).

Possession: 63% Brazil; 37% Japan

Stumbled upon this article about some of the hundreds of cool things you can do here in Dubai inorder to beat this summer's heat.

1. Try ice-skating
What better way to combat the heat than ice skating? And the cool prices at the Galleria Ice Rink located in the Galleria shopping complex at the Hyatt Regency (Dh25 an hour) should be very tempting. They even have a team of professional ice-skaters for private skating lessons.
Timings: 10am-1.30pm; 2-5.30 pm; 6-9.30pm.

2. Paint while you snack
For all the artistic ones - skilled or amateur - visit Cafe Ceramique. Located in Town Centre, Jumeirah, and at the Mall of the Emirates, this is a cafe-cum-art studio, where you can choose white ceramic vases to paint on while you sip coffee.

The café offers an innovative menu of bagels, home-made soups, sandwiches and desserts and a large selection of gourmet coffees and exotic beverages at a very low price. An espresso is Dh8, flavoured cafe au-latte is Dh16. A personal favourite is Tea in a Box priced at Dh8. Try it out!

There is a 50 per cent discount on studio fees on a weekday. If you can't shake free of babysitting your younger siblings, bring them along. They can discover their inner artist while you hang out with your friends.

3.Catch sports action
Champions is the first American sports and action restaurant with games and 23 TV screens broadcasting live sporting events.

With the football World Cup round the corner, it is the place. You're assured of good times, good food and great sports.
Location: B1 Level, Hamarain Centre.
Timings: 12.30-4pm and 6pm till late.

4. Read in peace
This cafe offers an intimate atmosphere with foot-tapping music, a tempting food display and exciting art exhibitions. And while you consider the menu's many joys, you could catch up on your reading or flip through the latest magazines that can be borrowed from the bistro's impressive library, free of charge.

Prices range from Dh9 for coffee to juices and sandwiches ranging from Dh12 to Dh15. Not to forget the cakes you get for Dh4. Simply delightful!

5. Bowling anyone?
After a hard day shopping at the Sahara Centre you could try unwinding at Bowling City, which claims to be the finest cosmic bowling alley in the UAE.

The place is equipped with high-tech machinery specially customised for entertainment and tournaments. There is also a large billiards area, a fully equipped skating rink and an electronic and network gaming area.

The charge is Dh15 per frame or Dh40 per hour for bowling. You can skate or unwind with billiards for Dh20. If this isn't good enough the in-house cafeteria Momento has some lip-smacking savouries at very reasonable prices. Coffee is priced at Dh10, a meal of pasta or pizza at Dh17 and Dh19 respectively.

6. Throw a beach party
While you may not enjoy getting burned in the scorching summer sun, in the evening the beach becomes the venue for a cool, splashy party. Economical, with a lot of fun, it is probably the best way to stay cool this summer and show off your funky beachwear.

Leave barbeques for the winter months. Take a nice picnic and enjoy!

7. Tee off at night
Even if this one does burn a hole in your pocket, die-hard golf fans won't mind the expense. The Nad Al Sheba Golf and Racing Club offers special night sessions for the summer. They even have off peak rates of Dh375 per hour. Well, this might be too taxing for your budgets but if you can shell out the bucks then it's definitely a great way to spend the summer nights. Source: Notes

Activity no.2 and 4 doesn't sound very cool to me but better than nothing. Might do them if i run out of options, hope this doesn't happen this summer.

Since last month before our exams we have been planning for the beach party (activity no.6) and was delayed several times. Finally happened last thursday but unfortunately I couldn't attend it :(, was too busy this week and i think i will be so in the coming weeks too. Anyways, my friends had a hell of a time out there. The more they describe it to me the more they make me……gosh! i wish i was there.

An old Arab man lives close to New York City for more than 40 years. He would love to plant potatoes in his garden, but he is alone, old and weak. His son is in college in Paris, so the old man sends him an e-mail. He explains the problem:

"Beloved son,

I am very sad, because I can't plant potatoes in my garden. I am sure, if only you were here; you helped me and dig up the garden for me.

I love you,

your father."

The following day, the old man receives a response e-mail from his son:

"Beloved father,

please don't touch the garden. It's there that I have hidden 'the THING'.

I love you, too,

Ahmed".

At 4 p.m. the US Army, the Marines, the FBI, the CIA and the Rangers visit the house of the old man, take the whole garden apart, search every inch, but can't find anything. Disappointed they leave the house. A day later, the old man receives another e-mail from his son.

"Beloved father,

I hope the garden is dug up by now and you can plant your potatoes. That's all I could do for you from here.

I love you,

Ahmed."

From "Men of the World" to the "Women of the world"

{ 1. From 9 June to 9 July 2006, you should read the sports section of the
newspaper so that you are aware of what is going on regarding the World Cup,
and that way you will be able to join in the conversations. If you fail to
do this, then you will be looked at in a bad way, or you will be totally
ignored. DO NOT complain about not receiving any attention.

2. During the World Cup, the television is mine, at all times, without any
exceptions. If you even take a glimpse of the remote control, you will lose
it (your eye).

3. If you have to pass by in front of the TV during a game, I don't mind, as
long as you do it crawling on the floor and without distracting me. If you
decide to stand nude in front of the TV, make sure you put clothes on right
after because if you catch a cold, I wont have time to take you to the
doctor or look after you during the World Cup month.

4. During the games I will be blind, deaf and mute, unless I require a
refill of my drink or something to eat. You are out of your mind if you
expect me to listen to you, open the door, answer the telephone, or pick up
the baby that just fell from the second floor….it wont happen.

5. It would be a good idea for you to keep at least 2 six packs in the
fridge at all times, as well as plenty of things to nibble on, and please do
not make any funny faces to my friends when they come over to watch the
games. In return, you will be allowed to use the TV between 12am and 6am,
unless they replay a good game that I missed during the day.

6. Please, please, please!! if you see me upset because one of my teams is
losing, DO NOT say "get over it, its only a game", or "don't worry, they'll
win next time". If you say these things, you will only make me angrier and I
will love you less. Remember, you will never ever know more about football
than me and your so called "words of encouragement" will only lead to a
break up or divorce.

7. You are welcome to sit with me to watch one game and you can talk to me
during halftime but only when the commercials are on, and only if the
halftime score is pleasing me. In addition, please note I am saying "one"
game, hence do not use the World Cup as a nice cheesy excuse to "spend time
together".

8.The replays of the goals are very important. I don't care if I have seen
them or I haven't seen them, I want to see them again. Many times.

9. Tell your friends NOT to have any babies, or any other child related
parties or gatherings that requires my attendance because:

a) I will not go, b) I will not go, and c) I will not go.

10. But, if a friend of mine invites us to his house on a Sunday to watch a
game and his television and sound system is better than mine, we will be
there in a flash.

11. The daily World Cup highlights show on TV every night is just as
important as the games themselves. Do not even think about saying "but you
have already seen this…why don't you change the channel to something we
can all watch??", the reply will be: "Refer to Rule #2 of this list".

12. And finally, please save your expressions such as "Thank God the World
Cup is only every 4 years". I am immune to these words, because after this
comes the Champions League, Italian League, Spanish League, Premier League,
etc etc.

Thank you for your cooperation.

Regards,

Men of the World }

Source: socialtext 

Articles:

• Ball Physics: The science behind the swerve
• 100,000 years old: Tooth gives up oldest human DNA
• 06/06/06: The Nick of time , 666 day inspires demonic releases

Clips:

• Multi-Touch Interaction Research 
• Intro to Mackbook Pro
• Just for fun

Others:

• The Press Photographer's Year 2006
• Mango How To
• Download Firefox extensions 

I like this one the most

Two more cool commercials:

• Pepsi Football Commercial
• Pepsi Monk Commercial

Today I found these tips on how to learn a difficult subject quickly, which I wish had found them a month ago when I was breaking my head reading textbooks for board exams. Still its not late, my exams are going on and I have two difficult papers, one on 26th and the other on 31st. Have to read/revise the whole book for them.

Here's a strategy I've found useful for learning dry and difficult material quickly. At various times, I've used it to build up my knowledge of subjects like economics, investing, writing and computer programming languages. Some people have been surprised at how fast I can learn these kinds of skills, but I think anyone can do it with the right plan. Of course, you can use this to teach yourself interesting things as well, but most people don't have any problem learning stuff that's fun.

Okay, here are the steps…

Step 1: Bombard yourself with information
Many people try to slowly and methodically digest difficult material. They underline things and re-read paragraphs ten times to try and understand. This approach might eventually work, but most people get fed up with it and give up before finishing. Our brains hate this way of learning.

Instead, try to get through the material as quickly as possible. Don't worry if you don't understand everything, just keep reading on. Push yourself to get the damn textbook finished, and don't worry too much about how much you take in…..[read the rest here]