It’s that time of the school year when kids are not allowed to stay online as much as they want to.  So my rusty technical expertise were required to configure my neighbor’s  Linksys wireless router to setup some “Access Restrictions.”  I though it would be a piece of cake. I mean how hard can it be to “Allow Access” from xx:xx PM until xx:xx PM?  WRONG!!  As it turns out, life is not that simple.

To cut a long story short, and after much trial and error I managed to accomplish the task by applying multiple Access Polcies:

1. Allow Access to my neighbor’s IP address 24/7
2. Allow Access to the rest of the network from XX:XX PM to XX:XX PM during weekdays.
3. Allow Access to the rest of the network from YY:YY AM to YY:YY PM on weekends.
4. Deny Access to ALL 24 hrs/day.

The router executes the policies sequentially.  It looks at the 1st policy, which grants unrestricted access to my neighbor’s laptop.  The router will then grant the required access depending on each policy it encounters.  The last policy denies access to everything that does not match any of the above policies.

In my particular situation I had to complicate my policies a little bit since I had different conditions for each day of the weekend, depending on my neighbor’s requirements, but the whole thing follows the same logic as above.

So far it’s working like a charm.  I want to see if this thing will hold for a whole week.

Some of the programs I use only run on windows, so I had to install parallels Desktop and Windows Vista on my Macbook Pro, which is not what i bought my MAC for, but that’s life.

I ran into a problem typing in Arabic since Windows MAC uses a different keyboard layout, so much for standardization!  After suffering for so long I accidentally typed the correct word combination in Google and (drum roll) ……….. I found it!

The kindhearted people at Microsoft actually created a keyboard Arabic layout for MAC keyboards.  I downloaded it, followed the instructions, and now I can type without having to keep a windows keyboard next to me every time I need to type something in Arabic.  Life is good all over again 🙂

Being the technology buff that I am, I can’t stay away from new shiny toys and gadgets even if they’re gonna set me back a great deal. Last night I got me a brand-new 17″ MacBook Pro 2.5. Now talk about a technological piece of art! The keyboard alone is a good enough reason for me to stay glued to the machine for hours on end. Needless to say, the new acquisition did not go glitch-free, I had my share of disappointments and near misses along the way.

First, I had to wrestle with the rumor that Apple are redesigning their whole laptop line and will release the new designs over the summer (bummer no. 1). This rumor kept me away from the MBP for almost 20 days (that’s exhibiting a lot of self restrain on my part). But then it hit me, if the rumor is true, and the new laptops will hit the streets in June, it will take anywhere from 2 to 3 months to reach us all the way in Kuwait. By then we will be in September! That’s a long time to wait, especially since my Macbook is getting relay old, and my 3 year old has taken possession of it! There, that settled it. I called the Apple store and reserved the last “17 MBP they had. That felt REAL good =)

So far so good. But then I realized that local Mac dealers charge at least 25% more than the prices shown on the Apple web site (bummer no. 2). OK, that’s a price I have to pay if I want local delivery, service and customization. That didn’t feel real good =(

When I finally unpacked my long-awaited 17″ MBP, I found that it does not fit in any of my laptop bags, and I have plenty of them (bummer no. 3). This baby is HUGE! Oh well, this gives me a reason to go shopping for a bag. Actually that felt KINDA good =)

I lost contact with my surroundings, focusing on my new laptop, installing my favorite software, I reached for my Photoshop CS3 installation DVDs, dang! I already activated this software on my iMac. I can only use it on one machine? This defies the whole purpose of buying a laptop to start with (bummer no. 4). Franticly reading the licensing information that came with the DVD, and on Adobe’s web site I discovered, to my great relief, that the kind hearted people at Adobe allow you to install this software on 2 machines. Aaaah, that felt REAL good =)

I installed Photoshop CS3, Adobe Lightroom trial, and then started to import my 10,000+ photos. Usually, this is a very stressful time for me since this process takes a long time and anything can go wrong; and it did. All of a sudden, the trackpad started acting weird. It wouldn’t scroll properly, and became none responsive at times. Needless to say, I started to panic. This is the last laptop they had, and I will not have them “repair” a brand-new machine. The depression!! I call the store up and the lady tells me that their technicians have left already and I have to call back tomorrow (THE MOTHER OF ALL BUMMERS). You can only imagine what kind of a mental state I was in. A few minutes later I regained my composer and decided to do what any sensible geek would do: Ask Uncle Google! Sure enough, after some elaborate keyword searches I found an article that describes this very problem and it turns out to be … are you ready for this? … a grounding issue! Seemingly, since the MBP has a metallic body it has to be properly grounded or the trackpad becomes unresponsive! I was using my Macbook power adapter to power up the MBP, and that’s what caused the problem. As soon as I replaced the power adapter the problem went away. Now that felt REAL GOOD =)

This post was typed on my 17″ MacBook Pro 2.5 Laptop =)

I just watched the ending of an episode of ER. Dr. “balding spot” is in the elevator with a trauma patient who’s having a cardiac arrest. Apparently this patient is a “bad bad man” who went on a rampage, shooting and killing everyone who had to do with social services taking away his son. Dr. “balding spot’s” wife was one of the victims. Anyway, they’re alone in the elevator and Dr. “balding spot” is holding the human-jumper-cable thingies and is waiting for them to charge. They’re charged. He holds them up in front of the “bad bad man” and discharges them into the air, while looking him straight in the eyes. The human-jumper-cable thingies are charged again, and he discharges them again. The “bad bad man’s” blue eyes (that is all you could see, his face is covered with an oxygen mask) are wide opened with terror. The ECG squiggly lines are getting shallower, his eye lids are getting heavier. You could hear the human-jumper-cable thingies charging up a 3rd time. A 3rd discharge. The episode ends.

An out-of-body experience. I get transported inside that “bad bad man’s” body, and I can see through his eyes. My vision is getting blurry, my chest is getting heavier with each breath, I’m feeling increasingly lite headed, I see the human-jumper-cable thingies discharging but not on my chest as they’re supposed to. Why isn’t this doctor saving me? The terror, am I going to die? I’m slipping… chest… heavy… breathing… difficult. Slipping… Dieing… Silence… … … Darkness.

The whole seen was less than 30 seconds. But it felt much longer. I literally had trouble breathing during and after this scene.

I stood in the doorway, waiting for my turn to collect some overdue papers, as I watched her arrange some artificial flowers in a cheap vase. There was nothing remarkable except that she was taking her time arranging each individual flower. Handling each flower separately. She carefully removed the leaves surrounding the flowers and placed them in the vase. Then she turned to the leaves and arranged them eloquently around the edges of the vase. She took every leaf, straightened it with her fingers, bent it ever so slightly to give it a more natural look, and then placed it within the arrangement.

I stood there, for God knows how long, mesmerized by the almost hypnotic movements of her hands and fingers as she continued to arrange the flowers. She knew exactly where to place each flower as if she was duplicating an image that only she could see. Patiently she continued her work paying little or no attention her surroundings. She didn’t look at all worried about the end result, rather she was enjoying herself. I was able to see it clearly in her smile, and in her relaxed movements; she was having fun.

Imagine if we could go about our everyday lives with the same manner. Taking the time to relish every moment; letting it sink in. Just doing what we have to do, and do it well. Not worrying about the end result. Perfection will certainly follow. They call this “living in the now,” where one concentrates on the moment and not think about everything else. Let’s think about this for a moment: what’s passed is history which we cannot change, and the future is unknown. The only thing we have control over is “now”, so why not pay enough attention to it and really live it?

watching

Originally uploaded by garoh

When ever we’re out I’m always in a struggle between a) having fun with my kid, or b) documenting these precious moments. Lugging a huge camera and running behind a 3 year old is not an easy thing to do, but every once in a while I come out with a photo that makes it all worth while. Alas, I usually end up watching all the activities through my camera lens, missing out on the fun.

This picture was taken in The Avenues Mall, Kuwait, April 5, 2008.