enoch-moses

(Please install Google Earth before you click on couple of the links - Thanks) Today I updated my Google Earth desktop client and then I decided to surf the world. I first went to view the Pyramids in Egypt and then surfed other places in northeastern Africa and Sudan. I then went to Libya and clicked on a National Geographic Flash movie on Libya . After watching the video, I was reminded of my days when I grew up in Libya. I was in Libya from 1978 to 1981 and afterwhich I use to visit my parents every summer and winter till 1984. We use to live in a town called Al Bayda . Anyway here are somethings I remember: Seeing my first snow fall there The days when we didn't could find anything grocery stores and waited in lines to buy rationed foods. Getting stopped at every 15 km by young Libyan soldiers with machine guns pointing my dad and asking for our "papers. Listening to Ghaddafi speaks for hours in Arabic to the youth (mind you I didn't understand a word) Asked to...

Well here is another entry about the Super Bowl XLI . I am not going to talk about who is going to win, lose, going to get fired or win the MVP award. In this entry I am going to talk about the practical things. Do you want to get tickets to the Super Bowl? If you are then you should go to StubHub.com and buy yourself couple of tickets. While I was writing this blog entry, the tickets ranged from $2700 - $464718 for each ticket. The median was around $3000 per ticket. I then went to Hotels.com and checked out room prices from Wednesday to Monday of this week and the price for a room was $171 to $960 for the week. Well here is a summary of the things I found on the web: Tickets: $2700 - $464718 per ticket; source: StubHub.com Hotel stay for the week: $171 - $960 for the week; source: Hotels.com Round trip Plane tickets from Dc to Miami: $339 - $1147 per ticket; source: Orbitz.com Car Rental: $117 to $216 for the week; source: Orbitz.com Spending money: $500 As you can see, i...

A few months ago I signed up for a MySpace.com account. As I was searching for people, who I know, to increase my personal networks, I came across Don Henderson 's (I know him from church) MySpace page. Don has Johnny Cash's "I walk the line" song on his MySpace.com page. It was the first time I heard the song and I really liked it. Unlike Edith Piaf's song, I believe most of you will agree that Johnny Cash's song, "I walk the line" is quite good. Anyway here is a little bit more about the song. According to Wikipedia , the song was written by Johnny Cash and recorded in 1956. This was Johnny Cash's first number one hit and I believe it is a classic. The rthym is based on "boom-chicka-boom" or "freight train" rthym style which is common in Johnny Cash's songs. I got the lyrics for "I walk the line" song from LyricsOnDemand.com I keep a close watch on this heart of mine I keep my eyes wide open all the ...

Last night while I was channel surfing, I came across an Ebay commerical which was playing Edith Piaf's famous song "Non, Je ne regrette rien". I remember first hearing this song in my 10th grade French class and ever since then I have really liked Edith's song and tune. I love Edith's voice and yesterday when I heard the song again, I decided to write about that song in my blog. Here are the lyrics of the song which I got from AskLyrics.com : Non, Rien De Rien, Non, Je Ne Regrette Rien Ni Le Bien Qu`on M`a Fait, Ni Le Mal Tout Ca M`est Bien Egal Non, Rien De Rien, Non, Je Ne Regrette Rien C`est Paye, Balaye, Oublie, Je Me Fous Du Passe Avec Mes Souvenirs J`ai Allume Le Feu Mes Shagrins, Mes Plaisirs, Je N`ai Plus Besoin D`eux Balaye Les Amours Avec Leurs Tremolos Balaye Pour Toujours Je Reparas A Zero Non, Rien De Rien, Non, Je Ne Regrette Rien Ni Le Bien Qu`on M`a Fait, Ni Le Mal Tout Ca M`est Bien Egal Non, Rien De Rien, Non, Je Ne Regrette Rien Car Ma Vie,...

After living in the world comprised of Starbucks stores, it is easy to get tempted by their gourmet coffee. Gourmet Coffee? What is that? According Arabica.com , gourmet coffee is high quality coffee. Hmmm...High quality coffee I guess has a stronger coffee taste, flavor and aroma. I am also guessing that gourmet coffee is made from the best of coffee beans, roasted to perfection, and processed precisely and tastes the best. I, personally, can taste good coffee and bad coffee. I can also tell the difference between various types of coffee. Does that make me a coffee connoisseur? Who knows?! All I know is that we as a society are marketed to get the best of everthing including the best coffee. Don't get me wrong. I enjoy my usual Starbucks Coffee , which is a grande White Chocolate Mocha with soy milk and whipped cream; but while I sit at a Starbucks store staring at pedestrians and drinking "gourmet" coffee, I wonder if I am contributing to a bigger problem...

Do you remember the days when a loved one is engrossed doing a crossword puzzle and they would occassionaly interrupt you to ask you a question? Do you know the capital for a certain country which is five letters long and it starts with a "B"? When someone asks me a question like that, I wonder who takes their time to create such brain teasers. Do these "crossword creaters" just say, "let there be this crossword puzzle", or take 2 years crafting clues to their crossword answers? I finally met someone who answered my question. This person actually works with me and creates crosswords which have been published in New York Times , Washington Post , USAToday , Los Angeles Times , etc., and etc., He generates his crossword puzzles with a J2EE program which he wrote. That's pretty awesome! Technology to create entertaining crosswords.

I don't know if you, the reader of this blog, saw Monday's 24 episode. If you didn't and are planning to see it sometime then please don't read this blog entry. Anyway back to Monday night's episode, the viewer got to see Jack Bauer's brother Graem Bauer . Graem Bauer was the bad guy in Season 5 and he was "advicing" Season 5's US President . Here is the quick bio on the character: Jack Bauer's brother Bad Guy Marilyn Bauer, his wife, who had a crush on Jack before she was married with Graem Wears glasses Has a son He is bald After watching the show, I felt for the guy. He always felt that he was inferior to his brother "Jack". Even his wife had feeling for "Jack". Jack this and Jack that. To top it all of, Graem is bald. How bad can it get? The dude looses his hair, looses his girl's heart and looses out to his "better" brother. This made me thinking. Other than Vin Diesel (the actor who cannot act), there is...

It's finally here. A yearly ritual of watching " the greatest sporting event " on TV. This year it is going to be between Indianapolis Colts and the Chicago Bears . A high powered Colts offense verses a super stingy Bears defense. It's a great matchup between Urlacher and the Colts running tandem and Urlacher verses Colts short passing game. I think the matchup is pretty even. I however think that the Colts will blow the Bears out of this universe by pressuring Rex "Boy am I confident!" Grossman . Rex will get rattled and he will fumble, throw interceptions and I think Rex's career is pretty much over with the Bears after the Super Bowl. I believe Colts "Cover 2" defense will confuse Senor Grossman and Dwight Freeney 's pressure will cause havoc with this young, still quiet green, quarterback. I also think Thomas Jones and "Mr. Longhorn" Cedric Benson will be have an "okay" game. I believe the Bears ...

Dear Bloggers, Hope you are enjoying blogging, As for me, I have been blogging for couple of weeks and it is great. I tried blogging before on Xanga.com and Myspace.com and both are not too good. As a software developer who has worked on the web tier, data source tier and every tier in between, I believe that Xanga.com and Myspace.com are quite restrictive. I don't get the freedom to actually add anything cool. For example, I have been tracking my blog everyday to see how it is doing. I have had hits from Europe and other places in the US. I use Google Analytics . It's great and I recommend that you try to add it to your sites. I have also incorporated AdSense to try generate some revenue for this site. Well that's all for now. Please keep blogging since I am enjoying your sites. Sincerely, Enoch Moses

In a Reuters article today, scientists moved the Doomsday Clock two minutes ahead because they felt that global warming and other political events have increased our, the human race, rate for self annihilation. Hmmm... our time to self destruction is sooner than before. The question whether we can slow down or even stop the Doomsday Clock. I don't think that is possible since fear motivates us to work harder for a better future. This fear helps us eat healthier, be more environmentally conscious, live healthier, save the trees, save the endangered species, erradicate diseases (isn't that right Mr. and Mrs. Gates ), eliminate poverty and have world peace. Realistically is this possible? We can individually make a difference but as a society we cannot. There is too much corruptions, self interests, and greed. What is the solution? You know what my solution is (hint: it involves Christ). I would love to hear everyone's comments. On the lighter side, I believe the D...

After reading this article on Victoria "Posh Spice" Beckham , I appreciate my wonderful wife. She is great! She is a supportive wife and a wonderful mother. My kids Tabitha and Seth love her. For example today my daughter was crying during dinner saying she didn't want to eat pasta. I was stern with her however my wife Michelle was patient enough to actually have a good conversation how it is important for Tabitha to eat. Small things like that amaze me about her. She brings the sparkle in my life and a great foundation. If she is reading this entry then this is what I say to her, "Michelle, thanks for being such a wonderful wife and being patient with me and the kids. Everyday I realize I love you more and more."

Today I spoke in Church on Exodus 16 . I spoke on how the Nation of Israel reacted instinctively rather than to always turn to the Lord. As you are aware, Israelities were slaves to the Egyptians during the time of Moses. The Israelities were slaves for multiple generations and culturally speaking the Israelities had a slave cultures where they learnt how to survive in the harshest conditions. Once they had their freedom they still relied on their instincts and not completely on the Lord. We should be aware that sometimes we rely on ourselves rather than Lord. Let's pray that we don't do that. Tonight I watched the first two hours of the show "24" season six . It's good where the characters have evolved to their conditions and at the same time the characters had their recognizable traits like: Jack's survival instincts Chloe's weird habits, Bill Buchanan's leadership It's a great show!

As an avid sports fan, I am happy for Major League Soccer and their signing of David Beckham . I enjoy watching and playing soccer. I have been following soccer from early 1980s where my dad and I followed Seria A in Libya . When my parents and I lived in Libya , there wasn't much entertainment on TV and therefore we use to watch Italian and Greek soccer. I remember watching Paolo Rossi. However I still say that I Diego Maradona was "out of this world" in the 1986 World Cup. I haven't seen many players like him. I equate Diego Maradona to Barry Sanders of the Detroit Lions. Check out this video of Diego Maradona: and now of Barry Sanders: Anyway back to MLS and David Beckham. It is a good move on MLS' part to acquire him and David Beckham to come out here to the States. There are alot Americans who out right hate soccer. They call it boring and a snooze fest. These same people enjoy a Major League Baseball game. I enjoy baseball and soccer since e...

I had to go to DC again today for work. I had a meeting from 8am to 5pm. Anyway the meeting was near Chinatown in Washington, DC and I decided to take a brisk walk through Chinatown. Eventhough the Chinatown in DC is alot smaller than its New York cousin , it's still a great place to take a walk. I always enjoy watching people walking in and out of various businesses on the few busy streets in Chinatown. I also love the fact that there is so much "Americana" in a place surrounded by Chinese signs. It's unique. To top of my Chinese experience for today, I went to the California Tortilla to eat one of their unique burritos with the complimenting spice sauce. I have been looking for Dave's Insanity sauce which has a rating of 17 on a scale from 1 (very mild) to 10 (super spicy). Unfortunately I didn't any of the fire sauce. Well that was my trip to DC where I spent close to $8.50 for the meal. The meal also included Nachos and Queso! I want to clo...

I don't know if you saw yesterday's debacle on the College gridion. Don't get me wrong. I think University of Florida Gators played a great game. They had an awesome defense and it looked like they wanted it more. Unfortunately it wasn't this year's Heisman Trophy winner Troy Smith or his fellow Ohio State University Buckeyes who looked bad, rather it was the National Collegiate Athetelic Association (NCAA) who looked bad. Their bowl system doesn't work. Rather than declaring an "out-right" champion, every year millions of college football fans (including myself) wonder and ponder who deserves to be the real champion. Floridians may claim that their beloved Gators are the NCAA champions but so do Southern Californians' Trojans or Idaho's "People's Champion" Boise State Broncos. These teams should have be in the playoffs (no order): University of Florida Ohio State University University of Southern California University...

Yesterday and I today I haven't been feeling too good. I went to the doctor's today and he prescribed: Allegra Nasex Azithromycin The Pharmaceutical Companies are making a descent amount last year and they will continue to make alot more since more people are getting older and living longer. Therefore is anyone of you investing in Pharmaceutical stock? I will consider when I start investing in the stock market.

Today I went to Washington, DC for work related matters. I have to say that it is expensive going to Washington, DC from Maryland suburbs. I took the metro and it cost me: $3.35 for the Washington Metro ticket from Maryland to DC $3.35 for the Washington Metro ticket from DC to Maryland $4.00 for car parking at the Metro station Total = $10.70 for my trip to DC After taking of my work related matters, I walked to Whole Foods and had some lunch. I bought: Spicy Tuna with Brown Rice Sushi Slice of Silician Pizza Bolthouse Farms' Hazelnut Latte with Whey Protein Total = $12.98 including tax In the end, Mr. Moses spent $23.68 for his trip to Washington, DC . I think that was an expensive trip. If you want, you can make a donation to Mr. Moses' fortunes. Mind you I am NOT a non profit organization.

"I am not interested in the Alabama job" was Nick Saban's reply a few days ago. However I read the news today that he is infact taking the Alabama job. The dude is indecisive and I first saw that when he took his sweet time in throwing the replay flag in the Dolphins first game in 2006 season verses the Pittsburgh Steelers . I strongly believe that game had an impact on the rest of the Dolphins season. In July, 2006, I was in Miami visiting family and while I was there, I saw Saban being interviewed. He talked about being positive and doing everything to get ready for the season. Unfortunately his "positiveness" was overshadowed by his "indecisiveness". One piece of advice for the good coach, "Nick don't hesitate and 'Just do it!'"

I have been enjoying my commute to work lately. It's a beautiful drive from New Market, Maryland (MD) to Chantilly, Virginia (VA) . I drive by wineries, small towns and beautiful pastures. This is a quite the contrast from the everyday bustle of the Washington, DC beltway. It's a pleasant drive. Sure it has its bad days but overall it's quite good. Am I getting spoiled? Maybe but I did get an email (spam) from TooSpoiled.com for a Customer Service Representative position. I don't know where they got my resume but I am J2EE developer/data architect. Anyway their site is a riot. They also need to mine their resumes better.

Today I took it easy and spent some time playing with blogger.com and seeing what are its limits. I did add some new features to my blog by adding JavaScript. I wish Blogger would add Google Maps functionality to its interface. I have become a huge fan of Google and its gadgets since their programmatic interfaces are clean and quite modular and they are always expanding functionality to their products. The best part is that most of their services are free. If Google is looking for a XML data modeler and someone who enjoys to build products "out-side-the-box" then please give me a call.