I am in the process of writing a paper on neutrality and reliability of news coverage and I need your help. If you are willing to contribute some of your free time to participate in this project, read further to know more and to see what you can get out of it. If you are a businessman (or a budget holder) interested in the world of media and you may want to fund, sponsor or invest in this project, please read further as well.

The paper will study in detail the characteristics of a “good” news article taking into consideration Impartiality, information, and related information. This process is currently done by common-sense because there is no objective scientific way to measure this. To be frank a computer will not be able to do this job, but we will be pursuing the objective scientific way of doing it by a human.

The aim of this project is to put a near to perfect definition of a good news coverage. The final paper will include a detailed explanation on how to study the reliability of a news article in addition to studies and statistics about major news providers. I will start by examining the following aspects:

• Neutrality and Bias
  • Statements that express a “point of view” (or “POV”) of the writer
  • The use of images, metaphors, comparisons and representations
  • Conveying of assumptions
  • Putting reasonably enough effort to cover the multiple faces of the story, or in the case of conflicts presenting objectively the position of all parties.
  • Inclusion of other stories (relevant or otherwise) to emphasize a certain POV

• Information
  • How much effort has been made to get the info
  • How reliable the sources of info are
  • Inclusion of references
  • Giving background information about the story
  • Linking to related stories about the same subject

The project consists of several phases.

The first phase: organize the team

The first phase will be dedicated to organizing the team and defining the tools of our work. Basically we will use the freely available tools to discuss, collaborate, share files, etc. For example a closed Google group for the team.

The second phase: criteria

We will hold extensive discussions, experiments, trials, case studies to come up with detailed discretion of the elements of a news article/ report.

This project does not depend on any other related studies or standards available. We will attempt to reinvent those standards by:

• Defining how to spot flaws in a news article and what aspects to look at in a study. We will also agree on a marking system to be followed in case studies.
• Define the widely used keywords that hold negative or positive meanings to influence a POV
• Define a way to spot embedded assumptions in an article and read between the lines
• Define the criteria to validate primary and secondary information
• And much more ..

Third phase and more!!

After finishing the second phase there will be other phases we won’t talk about now. Some of those phases are not yet defined.

However, you will need to know that if you join the team you will be involved in studying random articles from several news providers. Each article will be reviewed by two or three people ideally familiar with the subject matter of the article. The reviewers will put notes, do background reading, and follow the agreed criteria to put marks. No one of the reviewers will know about the work of the others results until everyone finishes. Results are then aggregated.

This is a very brief overview of the project if you are interested to join, please let me know. You will know much more details when you join

What’s in it for you?

• A chance to self learn, polish and practice your research skills
• Your name will be mentioned on the final paper
• You will get a share of the money, “in case” this project was able to attract any funding
• This project is part of a bigger business plan. You will have the priority to participate in any future business model based on this initiative

If you have any interest in the world of media, you speak very good English, you are open to new ideas and you like playing within a team, I would like to hear from you. Please send me an email.

If you want to put funding in this project, I will be happy to discuss any business idea for profit or non-profit. As I mentioned this project is part of a bigger business plan. If you are interested, let me know.

You can send me an email to: m@hooz.me

“lessons you wouldn’t learn in business school – 03″

In our day-to-day lives we tend to make several business decisions. The decision making process has had enough attention by researchers. Many studies types of decision making and the circumstances around the decision and the consequences of each type of decision made.

Other than decisions we also make forecasts. Based on those forecasts we plan our actions or reactions.

I wouldn’t want to discuss what is right or what is wrong in decision making. For me, the only guideline is that the decision should lead to best achievable result considering the cost of alternatives and the information in hand.

What I want to focus on in this article is forecasts or expectations. We tend to make a lot of logical expectations about the state of the market, sales activities, market segment requirements, and so on. The thing is markets are rarely predictable. Recent events in the global economy are a good proof of this. Who could foresee a barrel of oil skyrocket to 140$ in less than 6 month and “free fall” back to the 40ies in about the same timeframe.

There are two (of many reasons) for the unpredictability of the markets:

• Herding

Many studied the herding behavior of the market. Most recently the International Monetary Fund – IMF made a study on financial markets reaching the conclusion that the status of the market may not be an exact reflection of the true state of the fundamentals. According to their research, people tend to take buying decisions not based on actual information they have but according to other people’s actions.

• The emotional factor

Many researchers have made the point that when taking “hot” decisions (that is a decision in a short timeframe with no adequate time for research) people tend to be more emotional than rational. And they tend to be influenced emotional factors rather than by information they already have in hand.

Lessons you wouldn’t learn in business school:

• Dig deep in the study of the market and the culture. Learn the people and how they take decisions in the market segment you are targeting. It is very dangerous to think you know what you really don’t know.
• Do not take business decisions based on what others are doing.

• Build an emotional relationship with your customer. You will most probably win even if your competitor has better options.

This Article is part of the series “Lessons you wouldn’t learn in business schools”. Previous Articles:

Circles of business knowledge

The Danger of Average

“lessons you wouldn’t learn in business school – 02″

The average of two numbers is the total of those numbers divided by two. But is it that simple?

Business managers use the average function in countless places around the daily process. We average sales per week, output number of products per day, cost per piece, average time consumed, etc. Some key performance indicators (KPI) are also an average. It is used so frequently because it is a useful simple way to get a general idea about a certain situation. But it comes with a price.

It has two main dangers:

1. we tend to make quick averages which are not always correct mathematically

For example: you have a car which go a distance of 60km up the hill with a speed of 60km/h and descends the same hill with a speed of 120km/h. what is the average speed of the car for the whole journey? You may be tempted (I did) to sum the two speeds and divide by 2 getting an average speed of 100km/h.

The correct way to calculate the average speed is: total distance divided by the total time. The total distance is 120 km and the total time is 1.5 hours. So the average speed is 120 / 1.5 = 80km/h.

Result: values are two types: simple values and compound values. Be careful when you want to average compound values.

1. The average is an indicator which does not represent its components

Let’s say that a company decides to operate a plane to a certain destination. The flight departs with the following passenger number on board each month (percentage to actual number of seats):

The average fullness of the plane is 63%. But does this number give any idea about any of the individual months?

Many business leaders get lost analyzing the 63% fullness (or 37% emptiness) and they forget about the month where they may have lost passengers because there are no seats; or those days where the flight left nearly empty.

We have the same result of 63% which may make sense if you are studying the cost for example. But if you want to analyze the traffic, you have two wholly different scenario (and results). One approach is to study the 63%; another is to study the monthly break down. And guess which result would be more accurate?

Lessons you wouldn’t learn in business schools:

• KPIs are good, but it’s always good to get down to details (of course only to the level of significant details)
• Stop at every step of your analysis and recheck. You may have made an incorrect average (or a bad assumption). It gets dangerous when other results or assumption are based on this one.

This Article is part of the series “Lessons you wouldn’t learn in business schools”. Previous Articles:

Circles of business knowledge

“lessons you wouldn’t learn in business school – 01″

Managing business is a piece of cake if you have an MBA. Or at least this is the perception.

Personally speaking, I have nothing against MBAs in general or MBA graduates in particular. The thing is that the rise in the number of the so called “professional managers” is raising a number of questions in the circles of business. Those questions have been given a rise in the last period after the global economic crisis. This crisis which started in Aug 07 with the collapse of the sub-prime mortgage market has its effects so huge today more than a year after. Many people think that the roots of the crisis lie in bad decisions made by this new generation of business leaders equipped with a certificate and who lack what the CEO of General Electric calls “Domain knowledge”.

I always thought that one science is never isolated from other sciences. Marketing, business management, cultural studies, social studies, economics, politics, psychology are all related to each other. Philosophy is still the mother of all sciences being the systematic examination of basic concepts.

Knowing how to manage a business is a circle trapped between two circles.

1. Environmental and cultural knowledge.

Whether you run a local, national or a global business it is important to know the culture of the nations, the economical trends, the political history, etc. You also need to know the perception of things in the minds of people (which may vary from an area to another), the way people understand and handle things and the practice by which they do relevant things. And by the way, this is not only a study to be put in the business plan under the header “macro-environmental studies”.

2. Domain specific knowledge

Each domain of business has its own specialties, technicalities and jargon. Sometimes those are even different from place to place. Most successful business leaders say that they have made their way from the bottom up and that’s what was most useful in their professional life.

Lessons you wouldn’t learn in business schools:

• Business management knowledge is not all you need to know to excel in your career.
• If you take a management role in a company, try to spend some time at the bottom of the pyramid and in several parts of the supply chain.

جاء أخيرا .. و بعد انتظار طويل .. نظر في عينيها بهدوء و نظرت هي .. و كانت تفكر كيف ابتعد عنها بسبب ظروف الحياة القاسية .. و كيف كان يمكن أن تاخذه منها امرأة أخرى .. و لكن كل هذا لا يهم فهو الآن معها. قال لها أحبك و قالت له أحبك. و عاشا معا في سعادة طوال الحياة.

هكذا انتهى الفلم المصري في دار السينما حيث كانت أعين الفتيات تكاد تغرورق بالدموع من شدة التأثر و أعين الفتيان ذابلة لشدة البلاهة.

علاقة الرجل بالمرأة:

الأمير الذي يقع في غرام الفتاة البسيطة من أول نظرة و يأخذها إلى قصره و يحبها مدى الحياة موجود فقط في الروايات و في مخيلة بعض الشعراء. و إن كان موجودا فالأمر ليس بتلك البساطة لأن الحياة أعقد من هذا بكثير. و خاصة مع متطلبات عصرنا الحديث. أن الرجل العصري الناضج (فارس الأحلام) القادر على تلبية رغبة الفتاة بالرعاية و المساندة و الثقة لديه أيضا رغباته و توقعاته من ناحية الجنس اللطيف. تنسى الفتيات هذه الأيام أحيانا أن لهن مثل ما عليهن.

كنت دائما أتسائل: هل هي السياسة أم الثقافة أم التربية أم الدين هو ما يبقي المرأة في حالة ركود. هل القصص و الروايات و الأفلام المصرية و غيرها هي من جعل حياة الكثير من الفتيات مرهونة بقدوم فارس الأحلام. هذا الفارس الذي من المفترض أن ينقذ الفتاة من حالة الأنتطار اللعين و يأخذها إلى أبعد أبعاد السعادة. هذا الفارس الذي عليه أن يرعاها و يدللها و يغمرها بالحنان الأبدي. المشكلة ليست أن الصورة المثالية التي رسمت في الفلم غير موجودة على أرض الواقع. و لكن المشكلة أننا نتأثر بهذه الفكرة و ننصبها في مكانة الوضع الإفتراضي و نتفاجأ إذا لم تكن.

بحكم معرفتي المتواضعة بالنساء وجدت أن معظمهن يعرفن أن الحياة ليست بهذه البساطة. الكثير وصلوا إلى مراحل متطورة من الوعي و النجاح العلمي و العملي. معظم الفتيات يعرفن أن الشاب هو أيضا خليط من المشاعر و أن لديه عديدا من الرغبات و التوقعات من الجنس الآخر. و معظم الفتيات أقدر بكثير من الفتيان بمعرفة الطرف المقابل من تفاصيل دقيقة لا تخطر على بال الشاب. و لكن حياتنا الثقافية و الإجتماعية غيرت الكثير من شروط التعايش و السعادة. و للأسف (وأنا أتحدث بشكل عام) أن المرأة و خاصة في مجتمعاتنا لم تصل بعد إلى مرحلة النضوج العاطفي و الفكري لتتعامل مع متطلبات الحياة العاطفية و العملية في آن معا.

تنسى الفتيات أن عليهن كما على الرجل واجبات أسمى تجاه المجتمع و الأسرة و حتى تجاه الرجل فارس الأحلام. أن حرية الفتاة و حقوقها مرتبطة بما تفعله للحصول على هذه الحرية.

و لكن ماذا يهم الرجال (في الوضع الطبيعي)؟ بعض الرجال تهمهم الثقافة. يعجبون بالمرأة المهتمة باللغات أو الفلسفة أو الدين أو العمل. و تشدهم المرأة القادرة على الحديث في شتى المجالات و يرون فيها أماً مناسبة لأولادهم. أخرون يبحثون عن المرأة “ست البيت” ذات الحس الفني و اللمسة الجميلة التي تقلب البيت جنة. تعجبهم المرأة التي تحب المطبخ و تبدع فيه و يرون فيها ركنا مهما من أركان الأسرة الناجحة. الجانب الأخر المهم في المرأة هو جمالها و اعتناؤها بمظهرها و صحتها و ترتيبها ضمن حدود الحشمة (بالتأكيد هذه الحدود تختلف بين المجتمعات و الأماكن و لكنها بكل تأكيد تثير احترام الرجل للمرأة بدلا من أن تثير غريزته).

هذه الجوانب الثلاثة هي أهم ميزات المرأة في نظر الشاب و لكن أيا منها لا يكفي إلا بوجود اللمسة السحرية التي تعزز هذه الأشياء و تعطيها الوقود الكافي لتشعل طريق علاقة سعيدة. إنه الحب. و بالحديث عن الحب سوف أكتفي لغرض هذا المقال بالمفهوم العلمي للحب. و يعجبني في هذا السياق مفهوم صديقنا “سيغموند فرويد” الذي قال أن غاية السعادة اللاواعية لأي رجل هي أن يعود إلى حضن أمه و يتكور داخله.

إنها تلك العاطفة و الحنان التي يلمسها الرجل مع المرأة هي ما يشعل داخله لهيب الحب. و ذلك اللهيب هو نفسه الذي يسعد المرأة و يعزز أنوثتها و عواطفها.

حقوق المرأة:

لم أكن يوما من أنصار ما يسمى “بحقوق المرأة” و بصراحة أكثر لا أظن أن هنالك امرأتين اثنتين يتفقان على تعريف صريح و واضح لحقوق المرأة. و رأيي الشخصي أن المطالبة بحقوق المرأة هذه الأيام خطأ لأنه يعزز فكرة أن هناك رجل و مرأة مختلفين و يتناقض مع فكرة أن لا نفرق بالتعامل مع الناس من منطلق جنسي. و لكنني كنت و ما زلت من أنصار حرية الإنسان.

الكل يعرف (و حتى النساء) أن المرأة ليست كالرجل. صورة المرأة بشكل عام مرتبطة بالدموع و العواطف و الغيرة و الخضوع. و لكن هل هذه الفروقات وراثية تخلق مع المرأة أم هي من فرض العوامل الإجتماعية؟ هل الفرق بين الجنسين هو مجرد فرق جسدي و الإختلاف هو نتيجة التربية و المجتمع؟ أم أن هذا الفرق الجسدي أدى إلى هذه الفروقات النفسية و العملية؟ من الواضح أنه مزيج من الإثنين و لكن هذه الأسئلة هي من أعقد الألغاز التي لم أجد بعد لها حلا.

و لكي أحلل هذا الأمر رجعت إلى التاريخ لأرى كيف تتطورت الأمور.

في البداية كانت المرأة تعيش في ظل هيمنة شبه كاملة في عالم الرجل. كانت الأمور مثالية و مرضية للطرفين حيث كانت الحياة البسيطة بكل نواحيها تساعد الجميع على العيش بسعادة. كانت المرأة سعيدة في كنف رعاية الرجل لها و كانت راضية بهيمنته مقابل هذه الرعاية. في المقابل كان الرجل سعيدا بهذه المسؤولية التي عززت من رجولته و اعتزازه بنفسه.

و لكن و كما يحدث دائما في التاريخ فإن الناس ليسوا دائما على القدر الكافي من المسؤولية. استغل الرجل ضعف المرأة و خضوعها و تحولت الرعاية إلى استغلال و قمع و عنف. تحولت المرأة في بعض الجتمعات إلى بضاعة و في مجتمعات أخرى أنكر وجودها. وضعت القوانين و الخطوط الحمراء للسيطرة عليها ومنعها من التعلم و التملك و القيادة و حتى التعبير عن الوجود. أصبحت حياتها مسخرة لخدمة عائلتها (الرجل) و الحفاظ عليه و على “سمعته”. و كما هي الحال في جميع الأنظمة الظالمة فإن هذه الحدود لاتنطبق على الرجل لأنه واع و يعرف ما يفعل.

و كما هي الحال أيضا في التاريخ فإن المظلوم لا يبقى مظلوما إلى الأبد. حيث ساهمت الثورات الإجتماعية و سقوط الكثير من الأنظمة و الملوك و التيارات الفكرية في القرن الثامن عشر و التاسع عشر بإعطاء الفرصة للمرأة للتعبير. و ساعدت الثورات التي قامت في عدة مناطق من العالم (مثل الثورة الفرنسية و غيرها) بأعطاء حجة للنساء بأن مبادئ الثورة من حرية و عدل و مساواة يجب أن تنطبق على الجميع.

في أيامنا هذه وصلت المرأة إلى مراحل أبعد بكثير من حق التصويت الذي طالبت به منذ أكثر من مئة عام. المرأة اليوم قادرة على التعبير و التصرف بحرية و حتى الوصول إلى مراكز قيادية في معظم المجتمعات. هي اليوم ذات شخصية مستقلة لا يجرؤ أحد على المساس بها.

و لكن و كما أقول دائما: الحرية يقابلها المسؤولية. المرأة اليوم في المجتمعات المتقدمة مطالبة بالإنتاج كفرد من المجتمع بغض النظر عن الجنس. المرأة في تلك المجتمعات ذات شخصية مستقلة مطالبة بالثقافة و العلم و العمل و المساهمة بالأسرة.

و تبقى مجتمعاتنا كالعادة حائرة في أمرها. و تبقى المرأة في مجتمعاتنا أسيرة للأسرة و المجتمع. فالمرأة حرة و لكن تحت إشراف الرجل. و يحق للرجل أشياء كثيرة لا تحق للمرأة.

هنالك دور لثقافة المجتمع و دور للرجل في حالة المرأة.

المجتمع الفاسد المنحل ثقافيا يبقي قيمة المرأة عند الشكل الخارجي و يدفعها للمساهمة في إرضاء ذوق الرجل لا المساهمة في بناء المجتمع. المجتمع الذي يرضع منذ الصغر الأفلام المصرية و الفيديو كليب و حالات الحب الخافتة هو ما يملي على المرأة طريقة حياة ترضي هذا الذوق العام.

على الجانب الآخر من المؤسف أن نرى بعض البلدان العربية تعيش في مجتمع سلفي متزمت رافض لكل ما يتعارض مع الموروثات الفكرية التي وضعها رجال الدين و هي ليست من الدين في شئ. من المؤسف أن نرى المرأة في هذه البلدان و بعد كل ما حققته المرأة في المجتمعات المتقدمة تعيش كما عاشت المرأة منذ قرون في الحضارات الغربية.

دور الرجل هو دفع المرأة و خلق الرغبة عندها للتطور. و للأسف فإن الرجل في متجمعاتنا مهتم فقط بغرائزه و يوحي للمرأة في معظم الأحيان أن الفتاة المثالية هي الفتاة الجميلة المثيرة و التي هي في نفس الوقت خاضعة تماما لرأيه و له. ليس من المطلوب منها أن تكون فعالة و لا يتوقع أن يكون لها رأي. هذا ما أدى و يؤدي بكل أسف إلى الفشل في العلاقات و الخيانة و غير ذلك من الأمراض الإجتماعية.

و لكن ما جعلني أكتب هذا المقال أن المرأة في مجتمعاتنا هي أيضا أسيرة نفسها. هي أسيرة الحالة المثالية التي تحلم بها و تعيش لأجلها. أسيرة الإطار الخارجي الذي وضعت فيه حيث من المظاهر الفارغة و الشكل خارجي الذي كلما كان ملفت للنظر أكثر كلما تيسرت أمورها دون عناء.

إن الأمر المؤسف أن ميل المرأة للمثالية و الرومنسية دفعها بعيدا عن التفكير بواجها الإنساني. دفعها بعيدا عن بناء شخصيتها المنتجة الغنية و جعلها أسيرة لهذا الحلم.

هل نحن بعيدون عن زمان يتعايش فيه الناس (ذكورا و إناثا) في مجتمع واحد يفرقهم فيه فقط قدرتهم على العطاء في العمل و في الجامعة و في المنزل. هل سيأتي يوم نترك فيها خانة الجنس فارغة لأنه فعلا .. غير مهم.

ما رأيك؟ يمكنك ترك تعليق في الأسفل؟ و يمكنك إرسال عنوان هذا المقال على الإنترنت لأصدقائك:

http://ezigo.wordpress.com/2008/05/17/sex-not-important/

And a review of the Fitna Movie

I am writing to you after I saw your movie “Fitna”.

I will start by introducing my self, I am a moderate Muslem from Syria and I am speaking to you in the name of moderate Muslems around the world.

The purpose of this message is to clarify to you some of the misconceptions and inconsistencies in your film and return it to its correct historical context.

First I would say that I agree with you that there is a global need to identify and fight those extremists who continue to attack the peace of all nations around the world. It is a real pain in the heart of every human to see those hostilities taking place in our 21^st century world. And it is more painful to see the ideology behind those actions spreading in several cultures. But … it is a historical mistake to condemn a whole nation with the actions of a small minority.

For the purpose of this letter, I expect you to be a bit far from perceptions and stereotyping which clearly marked your film.

Nations or cultures were never tagged by the actions of few people in a comparatively short period of history. The years of extremism (or the so called “terrorism”) are very short comparing to 1500 years in the long history of Islam.

Your movie is pouring oil on an already huge burning fire. And I have two reasons to say this.

Those radical movements and extremist people have became so hostile to the “other” whether it was the Americans or the Jews because of the hostilities they see in all sorts of media about killing and torturing of there fellow Muslems, especially in Israel and Iraq. Unfortunately, they will become more hostile and defiant in there attacks when they see works of people like you.

In turn, western people who will see your movie will be in the same position and there will be extremists between them to fight Muslems because of those scenes just like what happen to Muslems with the Media.

My first reason is that the extremist media in the Muslem world and the “other” world (hereby represented by your movie) is consistently widening the gap and enlarging the fire. They are playing with the fate of billions of people and this may lead to a worldwide destruction and war.

While your condemning violence by those people, you are in fact encouraging violence in your own country (and others) by telling people to kick out Muslems from the Netherlands. Linking those aggressive terrifying images to the images of peaceful Muslem people walking in the street or entering a mosque is so dangerous, and it purposely encourages hatred and promotes violence.

The inconsistency in your film lies in two things.

First of all you took verses from the Koran without referring to the context from which it was taken. If you go back to textual context and the historical context you will find that none may be interpreted as a call for violence toward non-Muslems.

For example the verse you brought about torture after life for sinners does not contradict with the after death punishment in Christianity. In all religions in the world there is an afterlife punishment for a sin. Another example is the verse about preparing for the enemy. All countries in the world prepare itself militarily and the nuclear horrors which the world have seen are no less terrible.

Furthermore, if we go back to history; the crusades occupied the world under the flag of the cross. They convinced people with a guarantee to go to heaven if they died for the political cause of the crusades. Nobody described them as terrorists. The law in several areas in Europe didn’t recognize any right for a married woman in what may be called today as basic human rights. And the English common law called execution for crimes like the theft of 5 shillings. All this was in a time when Muslem societies lived in integrity and guaranteed human rights to its people from all religions.

I would advice you to read the Koran. And if you already did, I advice you to read it again without being biased and without a preset mind to find hostilities in the verses. The Koran, contrary to your depiction, has a lot of verses which call for social unity and human respect.

Secondly, the actions of those radical extremists do not by all means reflect the core of the Islamic religion. And if in fact the billion Muslems in the world were terrorists, the world would have ended long ago.

Wise men do not launch war on the result of a problem. They try to extinguish the reason of it. You know as well as I do that those terrorists were brought to life by many political and social reasons apart from the orders of the Koran. In fact those people, just like you did, take those verses from the Koran to justify there actions to themselves and to their followers.

At last I would say that the only good that your movie will make is for some Muslem communities to denounce the culture of violence. It may give a wake-up shake for some followers of those radical murderers. Some Muslem communities needed an extremist from the other side (like you) to think again.

Unless we find some way to embrace our differences and spread human communication and love, our world is heading towards a real disaster and the history will take long time before registering a peaceful world again.

I am calling upon the human inside you, be a responsible man and wipe this historical mistake off the human race.

Please add your comments on the original post here.

This is my 50^th article which is interesting to me because it coincides with the 100^th comment on my blog. And it coincides with the end of year 2007 which held a lot of great experiences for me on the personal level.

Back when I started my blog in July this year, I wrote an article titled: “I learned – 2006“. I will tell you one little secret of mine; all through the year when I write my diaries I keep little notes about what I learned in special occasions. I summed it up for you in 2006 and here we go for the 2007.

But before I go on, I just want to thank all of you guys who commented or criticized me on my blog or in real life. You are the reason for what I am now and what I will be. Each time I write a new article and exchange ideas with you, it certainly makes me bigger in mind and in soul.

One important thing I learned is that short sighted people usually look for there glasses in the light. They can’t look in the dark “undiscovered” zones. That’s why they often don’t reach their target. I learned to be bald enough to search all of the dark and light places in order to reach my purpose.

Open your eyes and your heart and cruise the seas of the unknown.

What else I learned in 2007:

• Worry often gives small things a big shadow.
• The key to success is to be responsible of what you do.
• Two things form more than 80% of someone’s personality:
  Appearance: presentation, shape, cloth, general image, attitude …
  Knowledge: Education, experience and perception.
• Wrong matters become the norm if remain unchallenged.
• The memory of people after they’re gone is shaped by people’s passions as to what they want or wish their image to be.
• “When you do the common things in life in an uncommon way, you will command the attention of the world” George Washington Carver
• A value system is to be kept and guarded. And that’s what Sheikhs and priests are for.
• If you want somebody to do something it doesn’t always work to tell him to do so.
• The idea is stronger than the human. It can move nations forward or backward. People die because of the ideas and people live for it.
• Say less; Do more.
• “It is better to deserve an honor and not have it, than to have it and not deserve it.”
• If you win everything and loose yourself, you lost everything.
• Love makes a totally different person out of you. It returns you to what you really are.
• One man can make a difference
• The most beautiful things in person’s life happen in his imagination
• Art does not lie in the recording of a things, but in the way of analyzing what is recorded
• As long as we carry the worn assumptions and traditions of the past, the errors of the past will be repeated.
• “To judge rightly what is right and to choose between right and evil that is all it takes to be human” – Edward Bond
• Try not to be a prisoner of yesterday, nor be stuck waiting for tomorrow
• You can test a man’s courage if he can express his opinion to a man he fears or a woman he loves.
• The 10:90 principle: 90% of what happens in your life is controlled by your reaction to 10% of unavoidable things that happen.
• Love can’t be taken; it can only be willingly given.
• Don’t be conceived about how many people are around you; they only judge your outside. Only YOU know what’s inside.
• “The problem with academics and commentators is that they care more about whether ideas are interesting than whether they are true” The Philosopher Isaiah Berlin
• Strategic marketing is about two issues: opportunity & capability
• We find it easy to believe things we like or we want.
• “The human is the base of the life, and the objective of the life.” Hafez Al Asad
• The difference between what’s right and what’s wrong is that we can write our name when we do the right thing and tell everybody about it.
• The way we deal with current challenges is what will shape our future.

So, what did YOU learn in 2007? Do you have an idea or a story to share? Share it.

Happy new year everybody

I admit, this is one of my mistakes, I have been skimming.

I recently noticed that I don’t remember little details about some issues. I asked myself what’s the reason for this and I found out. I have been reading everything from daily news to books and reports so quickly. I think pressure and lack of time are main reasons for this attitude.

I’m confessing my mistake and I promise to be more professional in my reading in the future.

I heared that there are special courses to teach people fast reading or skimming. I mean do we have to attend a course to do that? Don’t we do this on daily basis without even thinking about it? Our time is running ridiculously out of our hand and we do a lot of things as quickly as we can?

My philosophy was always to give the right time to everything I do. Working, reading, learning, eating, sleeping, relaxing, everything has a time of its own.

I learned that skimming can make people aware of certain things and can make them able to talk the language and understand what is told to them, but it will never make you know practically knowledgeable.

The other day I was chatting with my friend Qusai about the situation of a certain artist. I don’t want to mention the name of the artist as it is not relevant to my point.

He told me that this artist was neglected by the media for more than seven years now after all what she was in a certain stage in her life. I said: “who cares about her. After all she’s not that brilliant artist according to the measures today”.  He told me that today’s measures are not important as much as what this person did and contributed to the artistic movement in a certain time. I think he’s right.

The world is full of great leaders, politicians, artists, philosophers who are forgotten only because they were silent contributors. There are people who spent there live in hard work for changing the world but their efforts were rarely appreciated.

The example that I always think about is composers and musicians who make a great song. The singer gets all the credit and they go unnoticed.

I told my friend about a man who is remembered till now as a hero because he put his life under the wheels of tanks to defy his country. I said that this man for me is an emotional man who over reacted while he may have made more effect if he found more rational ways to fight his enemy.

What do you think? If the whole purpose of the human being’s life is to make a difference, why shouldn’t we do what makes us remembered? Why shouldn’t we forget the hard-working long way and concentrate on distinguishing ourselves?

You’re right !!! that’s what most people do. But is it justified?

Guess what, those days I’m practicing my new habit of communicating with people. It’s a new game I’m beginning to love. I used to watch people “from a safe distant” like a silent observer of people and their social activities. But I found out recently that I can learn a lot more by getting closer.

One of the things I learned is that people don’t see you as you are; they rather see you as a pile of collective experiences.

This is one story: I wanted to buy a new phone when I met a nervous guy. He was the sales person that I had to deal with. Because I care so much about customer service I concluded the very brief meeting and I walked away. I ended up with a negative impression.

Unfortunately I had no other choice but to return back to the same company to buy the phone as they were the only providers of iPhones in the area. (This is my way to tell you that I bought an iPhone ,  a cracked one of course).

When I came back after a couple of days he was apparently in a better mood but still I couldn’t deal with him. In short, after some time we were friends and he turned out to be a nice guy.

When I think about it, the guy was “null” in my memory before I meet him. When I met him, the only representative of him in my memory is a “frown”. It’s funny to me, how an entire human being, full of experiences and dimensions, is only represented by a frown.

This is an advice for everyone (including myself); never take off a smile, it may be the only picture of you. And you never know who’s watching!