This is a little “mysterious” thing I've got by mail, and have kept in my files for years. It is supposed to “read your mind” ;)

It looked real to me, but soon after I discovered what is it about :)

Click here to view The Flash Mind Reader

Try to think of it before reading the comments because I will be posting the secret soon. Feel free to comment if you found an explanation, or if you’re just too desperate to know :P

Need for Speed is one of few computer games that I have always adored. I first heard of the game in early school days long before I got my first computer. My younger brother, who was (and still is) a big car enthusiast, was dazzled by the people’s talk about the game. He bought the CD and asked me to install it for him on our dad’s computer at work.

My dad had to go for a couple of hours every Friday to finish off some paper work in his office, and since he is the head of his department he had keys to all other offices. We joined him several times to enjoy Need for Speed for a limited time while he finished his work.

There were computers everywhere in the building, each with a modem connected to the telephone line. I remember I used to use the internal call redirection inside the department to establish modem-to-modem connections and play the game with my brother. It was a lot of fun :)

Years ago, I had no big interest in cars. I thought of them as a mean of transportation in real life, and merely objects with variable speeds in game. I always thought that the one who keeps his car moving at a higher speed for a longer time will win the race, but I lost most of the time for thinking so. My brother had a deeper knowledge than I had, and always considered gearing and skidding, and was thus “mysteriously” unbeatable back then.

I loved Need for Speed 3 “Hot Pursuit”, 4 “High Stakes”, and 5 “Porsche Unleashed”. I didn’t like the sixth version “Hot Pursuit 2”, and I hated Underground and the following generations because the game went off from focusing on smooth and realistic driving to heavy graphics and complexity. For me, after the Porsche version the game has become like any other obsolete driving game, it lost its taste.

What brought upon Need for Speed and uncovered all those memories is that my brother found an old installation of Porsche Unleashed and started playing it a couple of days ago. Today I had my turn and spent a long time playing, and it was the first time I played the game after I had my driving license and drove an actual car.

All I can say is that the game is more realistic and awesome than I ever thought it was. According to Wikipedia (Link), the handling of cars in Need for Speed Porsche Unleashed is more realistic than handling in all other versions, including newer ones. The driving aspects of the game are very close to some actual driving aspects: el low gears begawmo a7san, el sayyara “bet3arred” bil handbrake, o “betshallef” o “betjalles”.


Unfortunately, today’s game developers are putting enormous efforts on graphics that they stopped paying enough attention to other aspects of games. Many have forgotten that what makes a good game is the core idea that the graphic is trying to convey, not the graphic itself. Graphics are continuously evolving and will never reach a top; therefore every high-graphics technology will oneday become out-dated. On contrary, the ideas that make good games will always be as much enjoyable as they were in their earlier days; the thing that explains why people always turn back to old classics like Need for Speed.

First of all, let me start by saying that I have absolutely zero-interest in football and I know nothing about it. I didn’t watch any of the world cup matches, not even the final match! Actually, I can’t recall that I ever fully watched a football match. Sometimes I watched for minutes, and other times I queried about the result out of curiosity, but honestly I never had an interest in any football match or league. During the world cup’s final match, I was far away from the event playing guitar with a friend who shares my zero football enthusiasm :)

This post is not about football, I told you I know nothing about it. This post is about an incidence that took place there on the green field, an incidence that someone reacted to with great courage, proving the world that dignity is much more important than a stupid cup :)

Although I know nothing about football, I couldn’t but stay in touch with the world cup updates. News are just everywhere and everybody is talking about the heating matches. I couldn’t but stay in touch …

As I said, I didn’t watch the match. But I did see a video playback for the incidence that shocked the millions. As I watched the video, I knew exactly what he was thinking at every second of his last minute on the field … Zidane.

If you think that Zidane did what he did because of a word, check the news and think again! :)

Many of you can’t tell, but I can … I can tell the difference between someone who reacts emotionally to a verbal offense and someone who thinks sensibly and acts courageously to defend something that matters to him more than the world cup in his final match. Rumors say that Materazzi uttered a racist note, or cursed Zidane’s mom, but Zidane never told anybody what was it! To him, it was more important to keep his red line, at all costs, sacrificing everything in his last stand, than to explain himself and brag about it to the media. He remained calm, and content … I couldn’t be any more impressed …

Although I do like Italy and I believe their performance was superb in this world cup, Italy’s win against France was a void one. All you Italy fans out there: Haven't any of you played Eight-ball billiard before?

How happy would you feel to win if your opponent mistakenly pocketed the black ball during the first few strokes of the game? Does it feel as good as having a long round and winning by pocketing all the balls yourself? … I don’t think so.

It’s the same as playing against France with Zidane out.

This is not to stay that Italy didn’t deserve the cup, but it’s also not to say that they deserved it. The correct answer is: we didn’t know :)

It’s so unfortunate that what happened to Zidane was stupidly interpreted by many. I thought of writing this post to provide a rare neutral point of view on the subject as I neither root for France, nor for Italy.

Zidane won the Golden Ball award for the World Cup 2006 Best Player (Link). People of France and the journalists whose votes gave him the award still think of him as a champion, and so do I.

Now that the world cup is over, my congratulations go to Italy and all of its fans. Italy is a great team and did amazing in this world cup, but truth be told: they never defeated Zidane. Zinedine Zidane came out of his final match with something much more precious than the world cup …


Note: this post is not meant to be a thread for football rants; comments discussing the football aspects related to the incidence or the world cup are not welcomed and will be eagerly removed.

This is my new Ibanez Gio RG170DX electric guitar, I found it on eBay more than six months ago and since then I was engaged in the process of buying and shipping it to Jordan.

Bringing this guitar to my hands was a tough challenge. Believe me there were times where I was sure I’ll fail to get it as am sure I do have it now. This was because the buying transaction didn’t go smoothly at all! The seller didn’t accept credit cards or bank/cash transfers as a method of payment so my only way as an international buyer to pay him was to send him a check by mail, and I wish I never did …

I waited for months but the check didn’t arrive at its destination. Only 5 months later I decided to give up and cancel the check for good. During the subsequent month I was heavily researching payment methods and cash transfer services and trying to convince the seller to accept other forms of payment, but he didn’t. He said he could only accept PayPal or cashier checks. PayPal is not available in Jordan and I didn’t want to give the postal service another try, so there I began to see the end of the eBay transaction.

Later on I decided to order the guitar from a web site store, and ship it through Aramex. On eBay, the guitar was listed for $335 including shipping fees. Through Aramex, however, it would have cost me $570 which is like +70%.

More or less I was determined to get it, and I would have proceeded through Aramex paying all those extra bucks if not for the miraculous return of my friend JoooJ (Jubrail) from the US :D

JoooJ is one of my best friends, we were at school together, but he left in the 8th grade (6 years ago) to the US.

Since then I’ve had little contact with him and I never thought he would come back, but actually he did, and guess what …

He had a PayPal account :D

JoooJ let me make the payment using his account, and I paid him in cash. He saved me a lot of trouble. JoooJ if you’re reading this Thanks a million man!

The guitar arrived today! I got a call in the morning from the shipping company telling me that a package in my name has arrived and is ready for pickup. I went as lightening and brought it!

I can’t describe how I felt to hold it for the first time! I spent the whole day playing!

Maybe you’re wondering why I put so much effort into buying this guitar while I simply could have bought it from Freddy or any local store. The answer is: This guitar is a top of the notch and is not available locally. The price that I got this guitar for is very low compared to its brand, quality and performance. That’s why I was willing to buy it even with $570! Now that I got it with $335 I feel I made the best deal of my life :)

The guitar feels and sounds amazing! Gio RG170DX (Link) is a super-Stratocaster style electric guitar, 24 frets, HSH pickups, shark tooth inlays, bass wood body, maple neck, whammy bar, chrome hardware and most proudly marked “Ibanez”.

My amplifier is a Roland 2 Watt MicroCube (Link), and is also an amazing deal (sorry but I bought the last one from Freddy :P). It has many built it effects: Chorus, Flanger, Phaser, Tremelo, Delay, and Reverb. This amplifier can rock on batteries for 20 hours!! I got it for only 100 JDs! It's the best companion for my guitar :)



My lovely Ibanez is the instrument I just needed. My guitar-playing development slowed down a bit in the last months because I branched into playing metal and I was pushing my acoustic guitar too hard with the solos :P. I think I’ll be doing much better with my electric guitar! :)

About two weeks ago Microsoft released the final version of Windows Live Messenger (WLM). The new Messenger is now out of the beta (testing) phase, which means that there are no more serious bugs, and that people can start using and enjoying this new Live product!

The New Messenger

Windows Live Messenger
Home Page - Download - Screenshot

Messenger now has a more appealing Vista-style interface! It’s something you’d want to keep staring at even if you’re not chatting. I’ve always adored the designs of MSN Messenger and appreciated the fact that the Messenger team understand the importance of the interface to the instant messaging experience, and that they put considerable effort into creating new sleek and nice interfaces once in a while, with every major upgrade, as much as they put effort into adding and enhancing functionality.

The new Messenger is loaded with new ideas, options and features. You’ll need sometime to explore all of them. Below are two features I personally found interesting:

• Offline Messaging: the ability to send messages to offline contacts, and have messages sent to you when you’re offline. It’s pretty much the same concept as email, but simpler to use. Offline messages are delivered next time the offline contact signs in.
  

• Sharing folders: this is a method of exchanging files more easily, swiftly and in a more organized way than single file transfers.
  

Apart from the new features, the quality of the messaging system is better now. Messenger Live signs in and out and performs other online operations obviously much faster than MSN Messenger. The service has already been optimized for Messenger Live I guess.

If you still haven't checked Windows Live Messenger then it's a good time to do so :)


Favorite Add-ons

For me, there are things that I couldn’t use MSN Messenger and won’t use Live Messenger without. They are two add-ons that add to the functionality of Live Messenger and more importantly: clean the interface of all the nagging advertisement banners and branding links.


Messenger Plus! Live Extension
Home Page - Download - Screenshot

Messenger Plus! Live Extension, developed by Patchou, is a widely spread and well known add-on for Messenger that almost everybody knows about. This add-on nicely molds in Windows Live Messenger and doubles the features and options you have. The new features are countless, but among the most amazing ones is the scripting feature: developers can now code scripts with syntax similar to Java to control Messenger. I already started to dig into this, and I can see some very neat applications!

Warning: Do NOT accept to install the sponsor program during the installation of Messenger Plus! Live Extension. The sponsor program is considered a malware, and is hard to get rid of once it is installed.


Mess Patch
Home Page - Download - Screenshot

Next comes the most widely spread and the best patch for Messenger. This patch will cleanse the lovely Messenger interface and keep only the things that you use and that matter to you. It will get rid of all the advertisements and links that ruin your Messenger interface! This patch combines a set of powerful tweaks that I personally couldn’t use Messenger without.

To use the patch, quit Messenger (Right click tray icon then Exit), run the patch and select your options, then click “Patch” and run Messenger again.

If you don’t feel like going through the patching options, I’ve prepared a custom patching profile with the suitable ad-remove options selected (Download Here). Use the “Load” button to read options from this profile then click “Apply”.

Few points you need to understand about patching:

• Patching means applying changes to the Messenger program. It is not about installing a plugin or a program that will add/remove features.
• You will have to re-apply the patch if you re-installed Messenger.
• There is a separate patch for every single version of Messenger. Always make sure you’re using the right patch for your current Messenger version.
• If you installed a newer version of Messenger, get the appropriate newer version of the patch and apply it.

The Mess Patch is maintained by www.mess.be which is a big community for Messenger tools and utilities. Check there for newer versions of the patch.

Enjoy Windows Live Messenger! :)

If you thought about Viagra, then by the time you complete reading this sentence you’ll have read enough of this post :)

The Blue Pill is a proof of concept malware developed by Joanna Rutkowska (Blog Link), a researcher at COSEINC. This malware is claimed to have the ability to bypass the OS layer and not only deal directly with hardware and be invisible to the OS, but emulate hardware for the operating system. By acquiring this level, the malware becomes completely undetectable and almost unstoppable. The installation is asserted to be in real-time, without a re-boot! Joanna says the malware does that using legitimate methods, and does not make use of any security exploits.

Quote from Joanna’s Post (Link):

The idea behind Blue Pill is simple: your operating system swallows the Blue Pill and it awakes inside the Matrix controlled by the ultra thin Blue Pill hypervisor. This all happens on-the-fly (i.e. without restarting the system) and there is no performance penalty and all the devices, like graphics card, are fully accessible to the operating system, which is now executing inside virtual machine. This is all possible thanks to the latest virtualization technology from AMD called SVM/Pacifica.

I went through this times and times but I still don’t get it! Something there doesn’t make sense :S

Last year I was trying to interface simple circuit boards to my computer through the parallel port (Post Link). I researched a bit and came across two basic IO functions in C++, which are _inp and _outp. These functions are direct implementations of the assembly instructions IN and OUT and are used to send and retrieve bytes of data from and to any port address.

One of the restrictions on the _inp and _outp functions (due to restrictions on the IN and OUT instructions themselves) is that they do not run under Windows XP (Windows NT generally). This is because Windows XP implements a protection scheme that prevents direct interfacing with the IO ports. The idea wasn’t quiet new for me; I already knew that Windows XP emulates almost every aspect of the hardware, and that every single driver (even the processor driver) is nothing but emulation. That is, applications can’t at any time deal with the hardware directly; data must always pass through the OS layer. This Emulation concept is adopted by many operating systems and even some programs. It has great advantages, to name few: security, performance, optimization... etc

The thing that I did NOT get that time was a 3rd party library named Inpout32 which had a solution to the Windows XP problem with the IO ports, check this out:

http://www.logix4u.net/inpout32.htm

This library provides two functions Inp32 and Outp32 that work exactly as _inp and _outp except that they DO WORK under Windows XP?!?!

Reading the How Inpout32.dll Works page really changed many of the thoughts I had about Windows architecture. I didn’t know there is such a thing as a “Kernel-Level” driver. The word “Kernel-Level” itself didn’t make sense to me! Since when did Kernel – the core of the operating system- had a level that can be attained by applications? And why would the operating system allow this to happen in this first place?

The thing that the Inpout32.dll library does is just a tiny portion of what the Blue Pill is claimed to do. The Inpout32.dll library bypasses the IO port restriction by loading some code at the same hardware-software layer the OS executes in. The Blue Pill, on the other hand, loads itself “lower” than the operating system, i.e. it’s closer to hardware than the OS itself!

The question is: how come such an execution is legitimately possible? Why would the operating system allow a program to take control over it? If this is really possible then it’s like saying that the OS enforces hardware security but made available a key to bypass it! What’s the use of implementing security in the first place then?

In matrix terms, it’s like saying that the programmers of the matrix provided a key inside the matrix that can put the matrix as a whole into simulation … why would they do that?

Waiting to hear more on the Blue Pill thing, but till then …


"I don't believe it. It's not possible!"